The geography of the Ozark highland of Missouri

Front matter

Class Jl47^

Cojfyrigta V."

Ci)PUUGHT EEPCSIT.

Preface

This volume is a study in regional geography, the most urgent field of geographic inquiry. Geography is among the youngest of the sciences. It is not ready, therefore, to announce many generalizations, but must concentrate on the systematic and comprehensive scrutiny of individual areas, inquiring into the conditions of the past as well as into those now existing. The collection of facts in this manner, and in this manner only, will lead to the establishment of the principles of geography. Such a study implies the attitude of the judge of conditions rather than of the advocate of theories. It is concerned with the impartial analysis of the conditions of life in a region, not with the enunciation of a theory for which evidence is to be adduced. It does not attempt to make out a case for the potency of any particular element of the environment, but contents itself with asking, What are the advantages and handicaps that are inherent in the region in question? The purposes of such a study are to furnish an adequate explanation of the conditions of hfe in a given area and to contribute proved statements which will aid in working out fundamental principles.

The preparation of regional monographs, numerously represented in European countries, has hardly commenced in America. A century ago the conditions and resources of various parts of our country engaged the attention of many observant writers. These accounts of early travelers constitute in fact the greater part of our geographic literature to this day. As faciUties for observation increased, their number was reduced, until at present there is almost no contemporary geographic Hterature other than brief papers. If the curiosity which attaches to the unknown has disappeared, the need of correlated information about the parts of our country has increased as its parts have become settled and developed. This it is the province and the duty of the geographer to supply. The present paper considers a single geographic unit. The Ozark Highland of Missouri was selected because of its unusual wealth of geographic responses and because little is known concerning its conditions and possibiHties. The size of the area, larger than Scotland and as large as Ireland, has precluded an exhaustive treatment of the subject. It is rather a reconnaissance, which, it is hoped, may lead to more detailed studies.

Vlll PREFACE

The topic is treated in three parts. The first is an outline of the environment, that is, a sketch of the region and a statement of the geographic factors. Only those things which are pertinent to an understanding of the conditions under which the people live are introduced. Rock formations are of significance in this connection in so far as they have determined topographic features, soils, and mineral resources, and in so far only. No attempt is made to sketch the physiographic history except as it contributes to the explanation of surface features, drainage conditions, and soils. The mineral resources need discussion only in so far as they have been a factor in the development of the region. Whatever is more than this may be of geologic, physiographic, or mineralogic interest, but is not pertinent to geography. The various factors of the environment differ in importance in different parts of the area. By evaluating them singly and collectively it is possible to establish contrasts between parts of the highland and thus to determine a number of smaller unit areas. Each of these subdivisions has internal unity of geographic conditions, and is set off from its neighbors by important points of contrast. These natural subregions become the units of observation in the sections that follow, in which their past and present utilization is observed and compared.'

The second part considers the influences of environment on the settlement and development of the different parts of the highland. Certain portions have had continuous advantages, as others have been permanently retarded in development. In some parts certain geographic opportunities resulted in a period of early growth, soon arrested, whereas other sections, later in securing a start, have forged to the front rapidly. Three racial groups have possessed a part of the area in turn, with curious contrasts in their fortunes under the same environing conditions. This historical portion develops its argument by the fullest possible use of source materials. Wherever possible, statements from original sources are employed to bring out the thread of geographic influences that runs through the history of the region.

Finally, economic conditions are represented as they exist today, together with their explanation in so far as they are not merely the continuation of institutions the beginnings of which were traced in the historical section. In conclusion, a forecast is offered of the lines along which the future of the region will be worked out.

The study here submitted is the outgrowth of long acquaintance with the area and of deep affection for it. It is, in fact, a study in home geography, a study of the old home with its many and vivid associations.

PREFACE IX

Later residence outside of Missouri has supplied a more objective viewpoint without destroying the old familiarity. Systematic field work in the fall of 1 9 14 and summer of 191 5 has supplemented the earher acquaintance. To consider the region as an outsider has been impossible and will always be. With the increasing distance interposed by time and space there yet remain forever green the scenes of early years. The old white church, astride its rocky point, overtopped by cedars that grow on the warm rock ledges, forever looks forth upon the fairest valley. The lower slopes are abloom with red clover, or golden with wheat. Wide fields of blue-green corn border the shaded stream, where the bass lurk in transparent pools. In the distance forests of oak mantle the hillsides, up which, past spacious farmhouses, the country roads wind. The people who move upon the scene of this account are homefolks ^ one and all. Some have succeeded better than others, some give greater promise than others, but they are all well worth knowing, and in all cases an understanding of their various problems of making a living goes far to explain their contrasted conditions. In this spirit the study is undertaken.

The first draft of the manuscript was presented before the Seminar in Geography at the University of Chicago in 191 5 and there subjected to much helpful discussion. The several parts have profited by intensive reading and criticism at the hands of Professors W. S. Tower, H. H, Barrows, and J. Paul Goode. It is difficult for me to express in any adequate way the great debt I owe to my old teacher and friendly counselor. Professor R. D. SaHsbury, in the carrying out of this work. From its first planning to its publication his aid has been freely given in many ways. Grateful acknowledgments are due also to the Geographic Society of Chicago for making possible the publication of this volume, a study in a field in which avenues of publication have not yet been established.

Table Of Contents

PAGE

List of Illustrations ^^

Part I. The Environment Chapter

I. Introduction 3

Location 3

General Character of the Ozark Highland 5

11. Rock Formations; Their Influence on Topography and Soil 8

Structure of the Area ^

CrystaUine Core ^°

Sedimentary Formations 12

Physiographic Significance of the Chert 16

Solubility as Affecting Underground Drainage and Topographic Forms ^°

III. Erosion Cycles and Their Topographic Results . . . 21

Grade-Levels ^^

Present Stage of Dissection 22

Characteristics of Streams and Their Valleys .... 23

IV. Climate 27

Winds and Storms 27

Temperature Conditions 28

Humidity and Precipitation 31

V. Material Resources 3^

SoUs 36

Residual Soils 36

Cherty Limestone Soils 3^

Non-cherty Limestone Soils 3 8

Sandstone Soils 39

Igneous Rock Soils *. . 4°

Transported Soils 4°

Loess 40

Alluvial Soils 40

Ridge-top and Prairie SoUs of Uncertain Origin . . 41

Influence of Slope and Exposure 4i

Land Values ^ • 43

xi

Xll

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VI.

Minerals

Lead and Zinc Ores; Baryte; Copper

Iron Ore

Stone

Clay

Tripoli

Salt

Coal

Variety of Mineral Resources Waters

Streams

Springs and Underground Waters

Ponds

Native Life

Distribution of Woodland and Prairie

Forest Associations

Game and Fish . . .

Geographic Regions ....

Bases of Subdivision Missouri River Border .

Mississippi River Border Springfield Plain ....

St. Francois Knob and Basin Region

Courtois HUls

Osage- Gasconade Hills . . .

White River Hills ....

Central Plateau ....

65 66 67 68 68 69 70

Part II. Settlement And Development

VII. French Colonization

Beginnings of Settlement

Settlement of Ste. Genevieve and Adjacent Region Occupations in the Ste. Genevieve District

Salt Making

Lead Mining

Agriculture

Trade

Cape Girardeau, and Settlements on the Meramec French in the Missouri Valley ....

IMode of Habitation . . . . .

Condition of the French Settlements and Its Causes Present Distribution of the French Stock .

91 92

TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER PAGE

VIII. American Settlements in the Missouri and Mississippi Borders AND IN THE St. FrANCOIS ReGION 96

Bases of Immigration g6

Character of the Immigrant Stock loi

Nuclei of Settlement in the Mississippi Border and the St.

Francois Region 103

Settlement of the Missouri River Border 109

Location and Improvement of the Homestead . . . . 112

Productive Occupations u6

Hunting and Fishing 116

Field Agriculture 117

Stock Raising 121

Lead Mining 123

Iron Mining 126

Other Industries 128

Trade and Transportation 129

IX. Settlement of the Springfield Plain 138

Routes of Immigration and Pioneer Locations . . . 138

Nativity of the Early Settlers 140

Pioneer Occupations 141

Development since 1850 143

X. Settlement of the Ozark Center . " 148

Hunter Frontiersmen 149

Early Lumbering and Mining 152

Crop Farming, Stock Raising, and Permanent Settlement . 155

XL German Immigration 164

Whitewater Dutch 164

Immigration, 1830 to 1850 165

Later Immigration; Spread of the German Settlements . . 170

Part III. Recent Economic Conditions

XII. The Unimproved Land and Its Uses 177

Distribution and Ownership 177

Timber and Its Uses 179

Hunting and Trapping 184

The Free Range 185

Promotion Schemes 186 xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XIII. Farming Conditions i88

Sizes and Values of Farms i88

Crop Growing 191

Animal Industries 198

Truck and Fruit Farming 204

Conditions of Rural Life 205

XIV. Mining and Manufacturing 209

Importance of Mining Industry . 209

Southwestern Mining Region 209

Southeastern Mining Region 211

Quarries and Associated Industries 213

Minor Mineral Industries 214

Water-Power Development 215

Manufactures Not Dependent on Mining . . , . .216

XV. Transportation and Commerce 218

Waterways 218

Railroads 218

Roads 223

Commercial Centers 225

Commercial Relations of the Highland to St. Louis and

Kansas City 228

XVI. The Ozarks as Recreation Ground 230

Fishing and Hunting 230

Family Resorts 231

Proposals of a State Park 232

Conclusion 234

Index , 241

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Topography of the Ozark Highland 4

Geologic Formations 9

Section across Ozark Highland 9

Relation of Igneous and Sedimentary Rocks in a Portion OF the St. Francois Region 12

Intrenched Course of the Osage River above Bagnell 24

Block Diagram of an Intrenched Meander . . . 25

January Isotherms 29

Temperature Record for Springfield for Nineteen- Year Period 29

Average Annual Precipitation 30

Record of Precipitation at Springfield for Nineteen- Year Period, 1888-1906 32

Soil Map • • • 37

Assessed Value of Land per Acre in Osage County 42

Soil Map of Osage County 42

Assessed Value of Land per Acre in Pulaski County . 43

Soil Map of Pulaski County 43

Assessed Value of Land per Acre in Iron County . . 44

Soil Map of Iron County 45

■Distribution of Prairie and Woodland in Cooper

County 54

Distribution of Prairie and Woodland in Miller

County 55

"Pineries" in Ozark County, 1855 57

Geographic Provinces of the Ozark Highland of

Missouri 62

Profile across Missouri River Border from Warrenton through Bourbon to the Meramec River . . 63 Contact between Missouri River Border and Osage- Gasconade River Hills at Versailles .... 64 ■Distribution of French Influence in Missouri . . 94 Areas Having a Population of More than Ten to the

Square Mile in 1800 97

XV

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 23 Fig. 24 Fig. 25 Fig. 26 Fig. 27

Fig. 28 Fig. 29

Fig. 30 Fig. 31 Fig. 32 Fig. 33 Fig. 34 Fig. 35

-Population OF Missouri, 1820-21 98

-Population of Missouri, 1830 99

-Order of Land Entries in Osage County .... 104

-Order of Land Entries in Hickory County . . 157 -Distribution of Population in Missouri of Foreign

Birth or Parentage 173

-Land Too Rough for Field Cultivation . . . 177 -Relation of Cleared Land to Forest in a Portion of

THE Clarksville Soil Area 179

-Percentage of Land in Farms in Missouri . . . 180

-Average Size of Farms 181

-Average Number of Acres of Improved Land per Farm 182

-Land Values in Missouri, 1910 190

-Yield of Corn per Square Mile of Improved Farmlands 193 -Yield of Wheat per Square Mile of Improved Farmlands 194

-Yield of Oats per Square Mile of Improved Farmlands 195

-Yield of Hay per Square Mile of Improved Farmlands 197

-Number of Cattle per Square Mile 200

-Dairy Products 201

-Number of Hogs per Square Mile ...*... 202

-Value of Poultry and Eggs 203

-Principal Areas of Mineral Production . . . .210

-Air-Line Distances from Railroads 219

-Population in 1910 235

Plate I. — a, Pilot Knob. A Noted Porphyry Elevation of Typically Symmetrical Form; b, Shut-in Portion of St. Francois Valley in St. Francois County.

Plate II. — a, b, At a Shut-in near Hunt's Farm, Reynolds County; c, Outline of Cherty Limestone, Probably Potosi, in the Farmington Basin.

Plate III. — a, Cedar Glade, Typical of Chert-free Limestone Areas. Bonne Terre Formation, Ste. Genevieve County; b, Spring at Waynesville, Pulaski County, Issuing from Base of Cliff of Gasconade Cherty Limestone.

Plate IV. — a, Little Piney Creek near Newburg; b, Chert-floored Bed of Roubidoux Creek at Waynesville.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XVH

Plate V.^a, Cave at Ozark, Missouri; b, Upland Scene near Sullivan, Franklin County, Showing Characteristic Even Sky Line of the

OZARKS.

Plate YI. — a, Undissected Upland South of Licking, Texas County, in the Heart of the Ozarks; b, Abandoned Farm on Berryville Soil, near Forsyth, Taney County.

Plate VII. — a, Intrenched Meander of James River above Galena; b, Meander Loop on James River at Virgin Bluff.

Plate VIIL— a, Bluff on Big Piney Fork of Gasconade above Newtown, Pulaski County; b, Bluff on James River below Galena.

Plate IX. — a, Field in Howell Soil near Ava, Douglas County; b, Pasture and Stone Fence on Howell Soil, near Ava, Douglas County.

Plate X.—a, Loess Slopes South of Missouri River, Gasconade County; b, Bottom Field Undercut by Roubidoux Creek, Pulaski County.

Plate XI. — a, Contrast in Stoniness Agreeing with Contrasted Exposure OF Slope; b, Big Blue Spring, near Bourbon.

Plate XIL— a. Sink Hole near Newtown, Pulaski County; b, Upland Scene in Missouri Rwer Border near Hermann.

Plate XIII. — 'Mississippi River Bluffs near McCoy.

Plate XIV. — a, Rugged Flint Hills at Hahatonka, Camden County; b, On the Western Edge of the Central Plateau, Cedar Gap.

Plate XV. — a, Floating Out Ties at Boss, on Huzzah Creek; b, Clearing Land in Howell County.

Plate XVL— a. Clearing South of Vienna, Maries County; b, Cornfields NEAR Lebanon, Laclede County.

Plate XVII. — u, Upland Pasture near Bourbon, Crawford County; b, Angora Goats in Laclede County.

Plate XVIII.—c, Horse Show at Licking, Texas County; b, Apple Orchard at Lebanon

Plate XIX.— a, Picking Peaches in Southeastern Missouri; b, Spring- House NEAR Sullivan.

Plate XX.— o, Log House in Big River Township, St. Francois Countyb, Log House and Log Smokehouse near Galena, Stone County.

Plate XXI.^Hill Farm in Polk County.

Plate XXII. — a, Prairie Farm near Sullivan, Franklin County; b, ScHLiCHT Springs Mill, Pulaski County.

xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Plate XXIII. — a, Frisco Railroad Approaching the Gasconade Valley FROM THE East by Descending Little Piney Creek; b, Frisco Railroad, Kansas City-Memphis Branch, Located on Divide between Gasconade and White River Basins, at Cedar Gap.

Plate XXIV. — -a, Road along the Crest of a Flint Ridge near Hahatonka; b, Unimproved Chert-surfaced Road, Characteristic of All Parts of the Ozarks Which Have a Cherty Soil.

Plate XXV. — -a, Gullied Road near Hermitage; b, Road South of Doe Run.

Plate XXVI. — a, Ford on Spring Branch, White River; b, Road Located along Valley Side, beyond Reach of Floods.

Introduction

LOCATION

The Ozark Highland, locally known as "the Ozarks," lies in five states, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Illinois. The boundaries are for the most part ill-defined, and estimates of area therefore may vary considerably: the northern limit is placed usually near Glasgow, Missouri, in Lat. 39° 15' N.,' and the southern limit lies near Van Buren, Arkansas, in Lat. 35° 30'. On the east Shawnee town, lUinois, in Long. 88° 15' W., may be taken as the extreme limit, and on the west the Neosho River of Oklahoma, in Long. 95° 15'.^ The highland as thus limited forms a rude parallelogram, the long axis running northeast and southwest. The total area may be estimated at 50,000 square miles, of which about 33,000 are in southern Missouri, 13,000 in northern Arkansas,^ 3,000 in northeastern Oklahoma, and the remainder in the Shawnee Hills of southern Illinois and in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The highland occupies nearly half of the area of Missouri and all of the state south of the Missouri River, except the Southeastern Lowlands and a triangular area in the Osage Plain on the west (Fig. i).

The region is a few hundred miles southeast of the center of the United States and constitutes the most centrally located highland of the country. Together with the adjacent Ouachita Mountains, it forms the only extensive tract of elevated land between the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountains. The distance to the Gulf of Mexico is, on the average, little more than five hundred miles.

With regard to lines of communication the location of the area is singular. If the Shawnee Hills are disregarded, the boundaries of the Ozark region are outlined roughly by navigable rivers. These are, on the east the Mississippi, on the north the Missouri, on the south the Arkansas, and on the west the Arkansas, Neosho, and Osage. Great lines of land travel gird the area similarly. The most historic route to

' Marbut, Missouri Geol. Surv., X, Plate II; Adams, U.S. Geol. Surv., Twenty-second Ann. Kept., Part II, Plate VIII.

^ Snider, Oklahoma Geol. Surv., Bull, g, chap. ii.

3 Estimated from IMarbut, Soil Reconnaissance of the Ozark Region (Bureau of Soils, 1911), Fig. 2.

the Far West follows the northern margin of the Ozarks. At St, Louis routes from Chicago and the upper Mississippi Valley converge, and thence, skirting the eastern border of the Ozarks, lead to New Orleans and other points in the lower Mississippi Valley. Routes between Kansas City and the South flank the Ozarks on the west. All of these highways are located marginally to the highland, alijiost irrespective of

Fig. I. — Topography of the Ozark Highland. Contour interval, 250 feet (after U.S. Geol. Surv., Folio iig, and Dictionary of Altitudes, JIf mown" Geol. Surv.,YTiX). The area of this study is inclosed by a solid black line.

its topographic character. Only two important direct lines of communication extend across the Ozarks, one between St. Louis and the Southwest, the other between Kansas City and the Southeast. One railroad trunk line from St. Louis to the Southwest, the "Frisco," crosses the •Ozarks. Due to the fact that the long axis of the Ozarks runs nearly parallel to this line, three other rail routes, which serve the same territory but go around the highland, are almost as direct. From Kansas

INTRODUCTION S

City there are two railroads running southeast across the Ozarks. These roads, however, are recent and are^not as yet of great commercial importance. The Ozarks occupy, therefore, almost an insular position with reference to great thoroughfares, being closely surrounded, but hardly invaded, by them. This condition is due in part to the obstacles which the region presents to travel, but more largely to its accidental location outside of direct Hnes of communication between important points.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE OZARK HIGHLAND

Because of the complex topography and other readily apparent contrasts between its different parts, the Ozark region has been given various appellations. The term "mountains" is the oldest, and is most employed in the very rugged Arkansas portion, where the name "Ozark" also originated.^ It is not appropriate to the Missouri part of the Ozarks, has never been in common use there, and is resented by the inhabitants. The term "plateau" properly describes only the western third and is so limited in local usage. For the remainder of the area it is correct only in a technical physiographic sense, and is decidedly misleading otherwise. For certain large but discontinuous tracts the name "hills" is appropriately used. "Dome" and "uplift" are geologic, not geographic, expressions. The name best suited, because not too specific, is "highland." It is applicable to the mountain, plateau, and hill sections, as well as to the gently sloping border areas.

The Ozark Highland has three distinguishing characteristics of surface: (i) elevation generally higher than that of the surrounding regions; (2) greater rehef; and (3) general accordance of summit levels.^

» The abbreviation of place-names is common with the French of America. For instance, the old village of Cahokia, across the river from St. Louis, was known as Caho (Stirling [1765], in Illinois Historical Collections, XI, 125). Kaskaskia was spoken of occasionally as Cas (Alliott, in Roberts, Louisiana under Spain, France, and the United States, p. 133). Many French place-names were proper nouns compounded by means of a preposition with a common descriptive noun, as prairie, river, portage, post, etc. In such cases popular usage not uncommonly retained only the preposition and part of the proper name. The village on the Kaskaskia became shortened to Au Ka (Monette, History of the Valley of the Mississippi, 1, 43), the river landing being still known as Okaw. Similarly, the French post on the Arkansas, and the river, were shortened to "aux Arcs" or " Aux-arcs" (Bradbury, in Thwaites, Early Western Travels, V, 36). In pioneer days the names "Arkansas" and "Ozark" were used interchangeably, and were applied to the Arkansas River, its drainage basin, the highland north of it, and the post near its mouth (cf. Ashe, Travels in America, pp. 273, 275, 276; also Cuming, "Tour of the Western Country," in Early Western Travels, IV, 299). It is noteworthy that the region first received a distinctive name in its most rugged portion, although this was not the first part to be explored nor to be settled.

Genetically the highland is an elevated peneplain, developed upon domed rocks, which are for the most part highly resistant to erosion. It has been uplifted very unevenly, and, being composed of different rocks situated at exceedingly varying distances from vigorous drainage lines, its various portions have been modified in different ways and to different degrees by erosion.'

The general character of the topography is shown in Fig. i. The highest elevations are in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas and are about 2,300 feet above sea-level. The average elevation of the Boston Mountains is about 1,800 feet, and the height above the adjoining Arkansas Valley 1,400 to 1,800 feet. This section has been sculptured into truly mountainous forms by the Arkansas and White river systems. The Ozark region proper lies for the most part north of the White River. It forms a broad elliptical shield, the main axis of which extends from the northwestern corner of Arkansas through Springfield and Cedar Gap, Missouri, to the Mississippi River in Ste. Genevieve County. This axis is also the principal watershed. Near its eastern end are several isolated knobs more than 1,700 feet above sea-level, one, Taum Sauk, in Iron County, being approximately 1,800 feet. In the southwestern part of Missouri, in Wright County, are a number of elevations about 1,700 feet above the sea. The average elevation of the crest is estimated at 1,300 feet.^ The northern slope of the shield is more gentle than the southern, because it is longer and also because the elevation of the glacial prairies, which are adjacent to it on the north, is four to five hundred feet above that of the lowlands of the Mississippi Embayment which lie at its southeastern margin; Most of the eastern crest lies well below the average of the whole western flank.

The western part of the Missouri Ozarks, although highest on the whole, is most remote from drainage lines, and has therefore been eroded only slightly, whereas most of the eastern region is maturely dissected. The western part is still a plateau; the eastern, on the other hand, is principally rough hill country, formed by the intricate dissection of the .plateau surface. The borders have in general a less rugged topography than the interior sections, because of lower original elevation, and, excepting the western border, because their erosion is well past the stage of greatest relief.

' Bradbury, in Early Western Travels, V, 244-45, first expressed the true character of the Ozarks. Comparing them to the plains, he said: "Although the surface is more broken and uneven, it is entirely owing to the more powerful action of the streams."

^ Marbut, Soil Reconnaissance, p. 11.

INTRODUCTION 7

The Ozarks are bounded on all sides by plains. Except on the south and southeast the transition from highland to plain is very gradual. On the southeast the margin of the Mississippi Embayment forms a clear-cut boundary. On the south the Boston Mountains constitute a well-defined escarpment bordering on the Arkansas lowlands. On the basis of elevation the borders on the west, north, and east are transition zones many miles in width. With the aid of additional geographic criteria it is possible to limit these boundaries more narrowly (Figs, i and 17). For the state of Missouri they are determined as follows: (i) On the west, from the state line north of Joplin to the Rock Island Railroad north of Warsaw, the boundary is roughly at the contact between the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rock series and is marked approximately by the courses of the Spring and Sac rivers.^ (a) These rivers occupy a broad, shallow trough, which divides the Ozarks from the high prairies to the west, {h) To the east of the two rivers the soil is derived mostly from cherty limestones typical of the Ozarks. To the west it is formed from shales, yielding a type of soil almost unknown in the Ozarks. (c) Where dissected the Mississippian limestone gives rise to narrow, steep-sided valleys, whereas the Pennsylvanian shales result in wide, gently sloping valleys, {d) The chief mineral wealth of the region included within the western Ozarks is zinc and lead; in the adjacent regions the chief resources are coal, oil, and gas. (2) From the vicinity of Warsaw north to the Missouri River the boundary is drawn chiefly on the basis of contrasts in dissection and in soil, again based partly on differences in geologic formations. (3) Along the Missouri the belt of hills north of the river is included. Their narrow, winding ridges, capped with a heavy clay soil, their many deep valleys with cherty stream beds and numerous cliffs, and their rehef stamp these hills as a counterpart of the region south of the river. Their topography is the expression of a well-advanced dissection of rock formations. The country to the north of this belt is smooth glacial prairie.

In the following chapters of Part I the various geographic conditions which give individuality to the Ozark Highland of Missouri and differentiate its parts will be examined. The main thesis is taken up in Parts II and III and consists of an inquiry into the manner and extent of geographic influences in the past development and present utilization of the region by man.

' See geological map of Missouri; also soil map, in Marbut, Soil Reconnaissance.

Chapter II Rock Formations And Their Influence On Topography

AND SOIL

STRUCTURE OF THE AREA

Structurally the Ozarks are a broad, asymmetrical dome, whose apex is formed by the igneous rocks outcropping in St. Francois and adjacent counties (Fig. 3).* From this crystalline core the rocks dip outward in all directions, well beyond the limits of the area covered in this report (Fig. 2). Over a large part of the Ozark Highland the doming has been so slight that the rocks appear to the eye to be horizontal. On the margins dips in general are steeper than in the central parts (Fig. 3), and faults, minor folds, and fractures have developed.^ In the uplift is included the complete Paleozoic section of Missouri as well as a number of pre-Cambrian formations. This geologic diversity has expressed itself in extraordinarily varied surface features, soils, and mineral resources. Geologic structure therefore determines the principal geographic contrasts shown by different parts of the highland.

As a result of the doming and of the truncation of the dome by erosion, the rock outcrops are arranged in concentric belts (Fig. 2). Near the margins of the area the belts are most numerous and narrowest, and the contrasts in the resistance of the rock formations are greatest. Here the less resistant rocks have been worn down to lowland strips, whereas in places the more resistant ones form escarpments. Ste. Genevieve County, on the eastern border, has three escarpments and three lowlands, with an almost diagrammatic development of scarp faces, back slopes, and frontal lowlands.^ On the northern and eastern borders, in spite of the drainage, which is transverse to the strike of the rocks, several scarps are recognizable, and in places these form conspicuous features of the landscape. The largest escarpment of the Ozark region, as well as one of its most striking landmarks, is on the western margin, where the Burlington limestone forms a ridge several