MINERAL RESOURCES.
The first great rush of immigrants to Iowa was caused by the known existence of lead mines, in the formation known as the Galena limestone, which extends northwestward from the Mississippi river at Dubuque, along the valley of Turkey river, and is rarely over 200 feet in thickness. No development has been made, however, except in the vicinity of the Mississippi. The ore is usually found in vertical crevices, sometimes widening out into large cones, whose walls are coated with the sulphuret of lead. The Dubuque mines alone, which are included in an area of fifteen square miles, have produced 6,000,000 tons of ore, yielding 70 per cent of lead, but more than a century of time has been spent in securing the result. As with all mining projects, there is a seeming infatuation in this persistent quest for lead. Men have delved in the rocks for years without sufficient reward to buy salt for their families, and now and again the fortunate ones have broken through a bit of rock and disclosed a pocket of the shining ore that was a fortune in itself. But because of the uncertainty and consequent privation connected with lead mining, attention has been called to the great coal fields that so surely underlie a large part of the state. This product is now mined in nearly one-third of Iowa's counties, and the development is still in progress. The southern part of the state is in the coal belt which extends from the Mississippi river to Indian Territory. The mines yield a revenue of over $5,000,000 per year, placing Iowa fifth in the list of coal producing states. It is exceeded in output only by Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and West Virginia. The quality is not of the best bituminous type, but ranks as a good steam and heating coal. Iron ore has been discovered, especially in Alamakee county, in the extreme northeast section of the state, and plans for the opening up of a mine has been in the minds of capitalists for some time. A bed of gypsum twenty-five feet thick and of excellent quality has been opened up with great profit at Fort Dodge, and ledges of stone suitable for the manufacture of a fine article of mineral paint has been developed in the same city. There seems to be no lack of excellent clay for the production of brick, tile and earthenware, and the establishment of an immense plant at Mason City, at a cost of nearly $2,000,000, for the manufacture of cement, is an indication that the production of this factor in building operations, which is at once useful and durable, will call much capital into its service in the course of a few years.
PREV <== Continue ==> NEXT
Transcribed January, 2018 by Cheryl Siebrass from Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa, Together with Biographical Sketches of many of its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead by E. B. Stillman, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907, pp. 9-10. |
