[From _Ancient Annals of Kentucky_ (Frankfort, Kentucky, 1824)]
1. Every complete history of a country ought to include an account of
the physical changes and revolutions, which it may have undergone.
2. The documents for such geological survey, are to be found
everywhere in the bowels of the earth, its rocks and strata, with the
remains of organized bodies imbedded therein, which are now considered
as the medals of nature.
3. The soil of Kentucky shows, like many other countries, that it has
once been the bed of the sea. In James's Map, the primitive ocean is
supposed to have covered North America, by having a former level of
6000 feet above the actual level. Since the highest lands in Kentucky
do not exceed 1800 feet above the level of the actual ocean, they were
once covered with at least 4200 feet of water.
4. The study of the soil of Kentucky, proves evidently the successive
and gradual retreat of the salt waters, without evincing any proofs of
any very violent or sudden disruptions or emersions of land, nor
eruptions of the ocean, except some casual accidents, easily ascribed
to earthquakes, salses and submarine volcanoes.
5. There are no remains of land or burning volcanoes in Kentucky, nor
of any considerable fresh water lake. All the strata are nearly
horizontal, with valleys excavated by the tides and streams during the
soft state of the strata.
6. After these preliminary observations, I shall detail the successive
evolution of this soil and its productions, under six distinct periods
of time, which may be compared to the six epochs or days of creation,
and supposed to have lasted an indefinite number of ages.