Sheridan County Research Articles

Report of Two Meteorite Finds from Sheridan County, Kansas

During the early part of 1963 two reported meteorite finds from Sheridan County, Kansas were brought to the attention of the Geochemistry laboratory of the Kansas Geological Survey. The first find, reported by Mr. Charles L. Cummings of Morland, Kansas, is a chondrite. The specimen was found in Sheridan County by his deceased grandfather, Mr. N. J. Cummings of Hoxie, Kansas. Mr. Cummings stated that his grandfather had witnessed the fall and recovered the meteorite years ago on his farm southwest of Hoxie, but additional information on the exact location and date of the fall are unavailable. The Hoxie meteorite is a flat based, subconical mass (Fig. 1A), slightly magnetic, weighing 266.1 g and having a specific gravity of 3.49. It measures 7.8 cm long by 5.2 cm wide and is 4.3 cm high. It is well preserved with the exception of one edge and part of the base which were chipped away and fractured after recovery, but the fused meteoric crust is intact over the rest of the surface. Surface striae and flow marks indicate that the meteorite was oriented and entered the

Notes on a Recent Collection of a Black-Footed Ferret

A male black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) was caught by Clifford Karnes on December 31, 1957, and given to the author. Mr. Karnes saw the ferret running down a road-side ditch (NE1/4 Sect. 28; R-26; T-7) as he was driving to Studley, Sheridan County, Kansas. He was able to stop his truck, pursue the ferret on foot, and capture it in his gloved hand. The ferret was put in a burlap bag, but it died overnight.

A Saber-Tooth Cat from South-Central Kansas

This new discovery, a fragment of the right jaw containing the fourth premolar and first molar (No. 9977, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas), was collected by Clyde T. Williams of Wichita, Kansas, in the W. 1/2 sec. 10, T. 34 S., R. 14 W., Barber County, Kansas. A definitive study of the Pleistocene geology in Barber County has not been completed, but observations to date indicate that the specimen came from gravel beds deposited in the last half of the Pleistocene-probably during early Wisconsinan time. An earlier age for the specimen seems unlikely, but an age as early as Illinoian should not be ruled out yet. No. 9977 lacks the anterior and posterior ends of the jaw. The fracture at the anterior end is diagonal, extending from a point 13 mm. anterior to the premolar downward and forward to a point 40 mm. anterior to the tooth row. Thus, enough of the upper border of the jaw is present to show that the third premolar was not present, and enough of the lower part of the jaw is present to indicate that the mental foramen was 20 to 25 mm. anterior to the tooth row. Nothing can be determined concerning the depth of the jaw below the diastema. The rounded appearance (transversely) of the border below the diastema suggests that the flange and symphysis were not particularly well-developed. The deep concave curvature (anteroposteriorly) of the lower border suggests that the diastema might have been relatively shorter than the diastema of specimens from Rancho La Brea. Matthew (1918) noted this same feature in a specimen, Smilodon nebrascensis from Hay Springs Quarry, Sheridan County, Nebraska. Both teeth on No. 9977 have the tips of the crowns fractured and lost, and little can be ascertained concerning the cutting edges of the teeth or the cusps. Posteriorly, a vertical break behind the molar left approximately two centimeters of the masseteric fossa. The dimensions of the specimen are:

The Ash Creek Oil Field, Sheridan County, Wyoming: ABSTRACT

The Ash Creek oil field is located in the northernmost part of Sheridan County, Wyoming. Discovered in April, 1952, the field had seven producing wells as of January, 1953, and development drilling was continuing as of that date. The wells produce from an Upper Cretaceous sandstone 20 feet thick at a depth of approximately 4,700 feet. Production from the field has been curtailed to less than 100 barrels per day pending completion of arrangements to transport the oil. The oil accumulation is the result of a structural trap consisting of a broad, plunging nose cut by a transverse zone of normal faulting. The exploration methods used in mapping the geology of this area include photogeology, surface geologic mapping, seismic work, core drilling, and wildcat drilling. End_of_Article - Last_Page 2614------------

Nebraska Newspaper Names

rrHE LIST of Nebraska publications to be £ound in the State Historical 1 Society Library at Lincoln is a veritable mine for anyone interested in collecting names. There are ingenious names and flippant and ambitious names, but a majority of Nebraska newspapermen preferred stolids conservative headings. By far the m(}st popular title is News, e.g. the Alexandria News, Grafton News, Waterloo News, Cedar County News, Dannebrog News. I tallied 211 papers called by this name. Herald ran second and Times third. Republican was fourth, leading Democrat by only one. Other names which were selected by more than forty papers were Journal, Tribune, Enterprise, Gazette, Independent Press, Record, Leader Advocate, Sun, Sentinel, and Courier.l Credit goes to Civilian Conservation Corps camps of the middle thirties for amusing titles reflecting youthful exuberance: witness the Super Snooper, published by Camp 758 at Alma; Wild Cat Tails, of the Wildcat Camp in Banner County; Bugle Call Rag Camp e736, at Ponca; the Stcoop} Camp 2738, at Denton. Among the lighter names is Summer Breeze, started at Ashland in 1895.2 More invigorating, to judge from its title, would be the WIilford Ozone, established in 1884. Blair's The Knocker, a Journal for Cranks (lgo) should have been lively reading if it lived up to its title. Florence's Tattler (lgls) and Bloomington's Prickly Pear (1899) gave promise of stirring up a little excitement in their home townss as did the daily Snort which published a few issues in Brownville in 18S,9. Beatrice and Louisville had their Kickers, both established in the nineties and both short-lived. DeWitt, Friend, and Rosalie were buzzed at by Rip-Saws.3 Under humorous titles belong also the Falls City Bazoo, which published several issues in 189a, the Nebraska Razoo, appearing at Alma in 1893, and the Farnam Caprice (1889). The longest ar;d most detailed explanatory name is that of an advertising pamphlet put out in the 1890S by a Sheridan County dealer in Indian

Woodlands in Northwestern Nebraska

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa scopulorum Engelm.) and certain associated shrubs, forbs, and grasses characteristic of the Black Hills and Rocky Mountains occur in isolated stands in the Great Plains of Nebraska as far east as the zone of transition between the mixed and true prairies (Fig. 1). The major stands are in the canyons and rough, stony land of Pine Ridge in northwestern Nebraska and in the Niobrara and upper Platte drainages, but isolated groves also occur in the valleys of the Dismal, Calamus, North Loup, South Loup, Lodgepole, and Republican rivers (Bessey, '95). Some small stands have been destroyed since the advent of the white man. Deciduous trees occur along all the streams and drainages where their roots have access to a permanent water table near the surface, and they are more widely distributed than the pine community. The region intensively investigated was in northwestern Nebraska on the Pine Ridge escarpments in Sioux, Dawes, and Sheridan counties, but observations were made also in other areas where pine occurs (Tolstead, '42). Composition and development of woodlands were studied, and data were obtained on density, age, rate of growth, and diameter of trunks of trees at breast height. The composition and amount of under cover of shrubs, grasses, and forbs were correlated with the density of the tree stand. Other studies on the vegetation of Pine Ridge have been made by Pound and Clements ('00) and Hayes ('16). Samplings were made at random within the wooded areas. Density of trees was obtained in 1/10-acre transects 336 ft. long x 13 ft. wide. Diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) in inches was measured by a mgtal tape, and height was estimated in feet by a scaling ruler. Age was ascertained by use of an increment borer. The percentage of ground covered by grasses, forbs, and shrubs beneath the trees was estimated according to the square-foot density method of Stewart and Hutchings ('36) on circular plots of 50 square feet. 1 Contribution from the Conservation and Survey Division, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. 2 Formerly with the Conservation and Survey Division, now with Midland College, Fremont, Nebraska.

Paleocene freshwater mollusks from Sheridan County, Wyoming

Paleocene freshwater mollusks from Sheridan County, Wyoming

Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1945

Kansas produced 98,429,869 barrels of oil and casinghead gasoline in 1945, which is the fourth highest yield in its history. Gas production amounted to 124,100,219,000 cubic feet. Operators showed a disposition to further hold back production especially after the termination of hostilities. Potential tests of many wells do not compare with those of previous years because operators are not desirous of building up allowables. The Kansas exploration program slackened off in the latter part of the year from the active pace maintained during the war. Most significant discoveries were in the western part of the state from Mississippian limestone. First oil and gas production in Meade County, as indicated by wells in process of completion at the end of the year, opens up large areas in Oklahoma and Kansas on the north flank of the Anadarko basin. The most extensively developed pool discovered during the year was the Ryan pool in Rush and Pawnee counties. Many minor extensions on the Central Kansas uplift were made. Development of Lansing-Kansas City production in Rooks and Sheridan counties improved prospects for profitable production in these areas in which heavy oil is generally found in Arbuckle dolomite. Drilling-up of many fields discovered during the war on 20-acre patterns was underway. Developments of a technological nature were limited to increased use of gamma-neutron logs and electrical logs. Exploration by the Amerada Petroleum Corporation of its large blocks in Dawes County, Nebraska, was the outstanding feature of a quiet year in those states of this province outside of Kansas.

Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1944

Kansas failed to produce as much oil in 1944 as it did in 1943, although the total of 101,896,704 barrels was about equal to that of 1942. This is indicative of a downward trend in production, which can be arrested only by the discovery of important new reserves. Most Kansas fields are now producing at capacity. The Kansas exploration program in 1944 was disappointing and many of the 1943 discoveries failed to live up to expectations. The most significant discovery was the Adell pool in Sheridan County, which indicates that Lansing-Kansas City production in prolific amounts may be expected in this part of the state, despite the poor showing of the nearby Studley pool, which was discovered in 1943. Wildcat drilling increased over the previous year. The dry hole percentage increased from 48 per cent to 50.5 per cent. Potential production per well suffered another decline, being 672 barrels compared with 900 barrels in 1943. There were no important developments in Missouri, Iowa, or Nebraska during the year.

Developments in North Mid-Continent in 1943

Kansas established another production record in 1943 with a total production of 108,441,648 barrels, over 9,500,000 barrels more than the previous year. The peak daily average production was 319,272 barrels in March, but by December had fallen to 278,229 barrels per day, or the lowest daily average by months of the year. Most Kansas fields are now producing as much oil as should be taken from them according to good production practice. The Kansas exploration program was more fruitful in 1943 than in several recent years, both because of the discovery of pools in non-productive counties and also because some of the new pools developed into areas of more than average productivity. Although 19 of the 57 discoveries may be classified as extensions, many of the other pool-openers are outside the limits of the intensively drilled portion of the Central Kansas uplift. The discovery of the Carmi and Chitwood pools and extension of the Iuka pool sustained interest in Pratt County. It also encouraged development in Barber County on the south where several pools of questionable merit were being developed at the end of the year. The Carmi pool was the most important development of the year in the state. Several townships around the common corners of Rooks, Ellis, Graham, and Trego counties were active in 1944 as the result of the discovery, in 1943, of the Palco, Marcotte, and Kriley pools of Rooks County, and the extension of the Ellis, Morel, and Berry pools. Early in 1944 the Ellis Northwest pool was found in Trego County, and the Hobart and Zurich Townsite pools in Rooks County. If these pools are as large and as prolific as similar Arbuckle dolomite pools on the Central Kansas uplift, important reserves have been found. Commercial oil pools were found for the first time in Saline and Dickinson counties in which exploration has gone on intermittently for 25 years. A small pool in T. 8, R. 26 W., was the first pool to be found in Sheridan County. It encouraged development in northwestern Kansas. Several small fields were found in Stafford County. There were the customary number of extensions in Russell, Barton, and Rice counties. A Mississippi lime discovery started a lease play in Ness and adjacent counties. Outside capital was more willing than established oil companies to assume the risks of wildcatting in 1943. This explains in part the increase in wildcat completions from 333 to 436, and the fact that 38 per cent of all wildcats were drilled without geologic background. Most of the important d scoveries of the year can be attributed to the core drill. Subsurface geology is responsible for the largest number of new pools and extensions. Seismic work assisted in the discovery of more pools than heretofore, but they are of minor importance. As in other states, development of Kansas pools is hampered by war-time restrictions, governmental red tape, shortage of materials and manpower. The dry-hole percentage increased from 40 per cent to 48 per cent due, in part, to the 40-acre spacing ruling. Potential production per well suffered another decline, being 900 barrels per day compared with 1,106 barrels in 1942. There were no important developments in Missouri or Iowa. Twenty-nine dry wildcats were completed in Nebraska, mostly on geophysical information. Inside developments of Nebraska pools had nearly ceased by the end of 1943.

The Occurrence of Citellus richardsonii (Sabine) in the Pleistocene of Sheridan County, Kansas

The Occurrence of Citellus richardsonii (Sabine) in the Pleistocene of Sheridan County, Kansas

Quercus macrocarpa in Kansas

The spread of Quercus macrocarpa, or bur oak, in Kansas is shown in figure 1, which copies Gates' map of its distribution according to counties (2) based on collections in the Kansas State Herbarium, superposed on a photographic adaptation of Throckmorton's soil map lacking the differentiating colors of the original (7), gives the mean annual precipitation of each county up to 1930 and demarks the Shelterbelt Zone in Kansas. Fourteen major soil regions are shown on the map, classified according to the basic materials from which the soils are derived and the agents of their deposition (wind, water, glaciers, decay of rock already in position forming residual soil). Throckmorton calls attention to the fact that there are many minor varieties of soil in each region which cannot be shown because of the small scale of the map. He tells us that, while the soil in some places is barren, as a whole it originally was, and still is, in various degrees, fertile. Kansas has 105 counties. The bur oak occurs in at least fifty-six of these. Scanning the map we observe that if a line were drawn from its northwest to its southeast corner, the bur oak would be found in but nine counties of the southwest half while occurring in forty-seven counties of the northeast half. The average of the mean annual rainfall of the counties of the upper half is slightly over thirty-one inches, while that of the lower half is close to twenty-four inches, a difference of more than seven inches. Undoubtedly this difference must be an important factor causing the disparity in the spread of the bur oak in the two halves, but we may conclude it is not always the prevailing factor, for when we compare the counties individually we see that some counties with the bur oak have less rainfall than some others without it. Besides precipitation, evaporation, topography, and soil characters are influences of primary importance. As to the soil, figure 1 shows that the bur oak is found in all of our principal kinds, excepting three in the southwest corner, where extremely low rainfall would seem enough to exclude it. The farthest west the bur oak occurs in Kansas is in Sheridan county, a county of the shelterbelt zone, with a mean annual precipitation of 2024 inches, and it is found in no other county with a mean precipitation as low as that. The bur oak occurs nowhere in the Kansas section of the drainage basin of the Cimarron excepting in Barber and Harper counties, where a broken topography affords relatively moist areas due to seepage and protection from wind in depressions, draws and ravines; and, suprisingly, it occurs spontaneously nowhere in the vast drainage basin of the Arkansas river, excepting in the easternmost section in Sedgwick and Cowley counties. However, north of this basin the bur oak makes a westward advance along the valleys of the Smoky Hill and Saline rivers and the north and south forks of the Solomon river, and the creeks, ravines, and draws that drain into these rivers. Fastening our attention on the shelterbelt zone we find there twenty-nine whole or fractional counties, and the bur oak occurring in but eight of these

Additions to the Flora of Sheridan County, Kansas

In 1932, in volume 35 of the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, appeared an article entitled Flora of Sheridan county, Kansas. Since that time additional plants have been found in the county which I am including in this list. The question may be asked, how did the dust storms, the drought and the excessive heat of recent years affect plant life in the western part of Kansas? Naturally one could not expect the flora to flourish under such adverse circumstances. The trees suffered the most. Because of lack of moisture they grew but little. Many became infested with insects, especially the American elm, the honey locust, the cottonwood, and the silver-leaved and the Carolina poplars. Years ago, when driving along the roads, you could see here and there thickets of boxelders and rows of mulberry trees. They are practically all gone now. Many Chinese elms are withered, and to my surprise I found even several of the Chinese elms infested with borrers. Furthermore, in the depression which followed, many healthy trees along the streams were cut down for firewood. Plum trees, however, were an exception. They were loaded with plums last year (1939). I may add that by my observation the flora of Decatur, Norton, Thomas, and Rawlins counties varies little from that of Sheridan county.

Developments in Kansas, 1938

Drilling activity in Kansas dropped about 41 per cent below the previous year. The dry-hole percentage rose about 1 per cent and the average initial potential of oil wells fell nearly 100 barrels. The use of acid in the southwest Kansas gas area increased the initial potentials in this area about 25 per cent. The general oil-producing area of western Kansas was extended about 15 miles northwest by the discovery of the Morel pool in Sec. 15, T. 9 S., R. 21 W., Graham County. Activity continued in the Zenith pool where 90 wells were drilled during the year. Discovery of Arbuckle dolomite production in the old Hittle pool was an important development in Cowley County for the year. Early in the year there was considerable leasing activity in Graham, Sheridan, and Decatur counties which was caused by the discovery of the Morel pool. A very active leasing campaign was in progress at the close of the year in the Forest City basin in northeastern Kansas and adjoining areas.

The Flora of Sheridan County, Kansas

The staple crops are wheat and corn, while live-stock offers the second source of the county's wealth. Alfalfa is also grown on the lowland where the stately cottonwood lends its sheltering aid. Fruit as well as shade trees are industriously planted on farms. The white or silver leaf poplar, the Carolina poplar, the American elm, the slippery elm, the white ash, the black walnut, bqffaloberry, hackberry and red cedar seem well adapted for the county. The Chinese arbor vitaes suffered much from the blizzard of March, 1931. Honey locust and black locust are naturalized, the soft maple is less frequently found, the Chinese elm is of rather recent introduction.