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GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS IN MISSOURI.
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The year 1840 brings us to the date of publication of Owen's report on the Mineral Lands of the United States in portions of Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri,[1] following closely upon his report as state geologist of Indiana upon work of 1838 and 1839. In 1844, a second and revised edition of his Mineral Lands report was issued, and, in 1852, his final report on Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota appeared. These reports supplied the guiding lines along which later stratigraphic work in the Mississippi valley was done. Without attempting here to present the history of this work,[2] its bearing upon the future work in Missouri calls for brief mention. In the Indiana reports Owen makes a separation of the rocks, in harmony with the English classification, into: (1) Bituminous Coal formation; (2) Mountain limestone; (3) Grauwacke; (4) Crystalline and inferior stratified rocks. In the succeeding reports, as the results of wider observation and more thorough study, the classification was changed and differentiated until, in the final report, we find a classification which, not only in its general features, but in many of its details, is still adhered to in Missouri. The map accompanying this report attempts a representation of the areal geology of the northern half of the state. On this map the western margin, as far east as Wellington, is colored as belonging to the Upper Series of the Carboniferous limestone; along the Mississippi river a similar belt of both the Upper and Lower Series is represented; while, along the Missouri river, from above Jefferson City to Tower Rock, is an area of Lower Magnesian limestone. Between these a broad stretch of Coal Measures is shown.

The explorations and surveys thus far referred to were the results of private enterprise or were made under the auspices of the national government. The earliest record we have of action on the part of the state is in the message of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs in 1833. He there recommends an appropriation for

  1. ↑ House Exec. Doc., No. 239, 26th Congress, 1st Session.
  2. ↑ For summary concerning the Devonian and Carboniferous, see H. S. Williams, Bull. 80, U. S. Geol. Surv., p. 137 et seq.
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