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Note on the Mart and Bluff MeteoritesShow simple item record

dc.creatorTexas Academy of Science. Transactions
dc.creatorCharlton, O. C.
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-12T18:10:18Z
dc.date.available2024-02-12T18:10:18Z
dc.date.issuedn.d.
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/63086
dc.descriptionArticle by O. C. Charlton exploring the history of the Fayette County or Bluff meteorite and Mart meteorite from Texas.
dc.relationOscar Monnig Papers (MS 124)
dc.rightsPrior written permission from TCU Special Collections required to use any document or photograph.
dc.sourceSeries III, Box 06, Fayette Co., Texas literature folder
dc.subjectMeteorite
dc.subjectFayette County meteorite
dc.subjectFayette County (Tex.)
dc.subjectBluff meteorites
dc.subjectMart meteorite
dc.subjectCharlton, O. C.
dc.subjectMerrill, George P.
dc.titleNote on the Mart and Bluff Meteorites
dc.typeArticle
dc.description.transcription[Trans. Of Tex. Acad. Sci. For 1900 Vol IV pt. 1 r. 83.4] Note on the Mart and Bluff Meteorites. O. C. CHARLTON, Professor of Science. Baylor University, Waco, Texas. In January, 1888, the meteorite now known as the Fayette County, or Bluff Meteorite, was purchased by the Ward Natural History establishment of Rochester, New York, from Mr. H. Hensoldt, who had been teaching near Bluff, Fayette county, Texas. It had been found some ten years previously on a farm then owned by Mr. Frank Rainocet, who now lives on another farm near Bluff. When secured by the Wards the stone weighed about 280 pounds. It is listed in their catalogue as a Siderolite. It wag described by Mr. J. E. Whitfield and Mr. Geo. P. Merrill in the American Journal of Science, August, 1888. They found it to "consist essentially of enstatite and olivine with a good deal of nickel, iron and some pyrrhotite." The iron contained over fifteen per cent. of nickel and two per cent. of cobalt. A large part of the original mass has been cut into slices and quite widely distributed, though the Wards still have over fifty pounds of the stone. Early this year (1900) Mr. C. L. Melcher, of Swiss Alp, near Bluff, sent me two stones which he supposed to be meteorites. Fragments from them were examined by Mr. George P. Merrill, of the United States National Museum, who concluded that the two stones were parts of the fall which had furnished the large Bluff meteorite of twelve years ago. The total weight of these two stones, and a third small stone recently found, is 311 pounds. The largest one of these is now owned by Mr. Henry A. Ward, of Rochester, the other two by Baylor University. The Mart Iron Meteorite was found by Mr. Watts Vaughan while ploughing on a farm south of Mart, Texas, in 1895. It lay about eight inches beneath the surface of the ground, and its presence was made known by the plow scraping against it. During the summer of 1899 it was sent to the United States National Museum, where it was examined by Mr. George P. Merrill. In September, 1899, the ownership of the iron was transferred to Baylor University, after which Mr. Merrill photographed it, prepared a cast of it, cut a slice from it and polished and etched the exposed surface of the principal mass. The slice was retained for use in the preparation of a full report, which report is, perhaps, now ready for publication. Recently Mr. Henry A. Ward cut off about four pounds for himself and one slice for me. The slice and principal mass are retained by Baylor University. The Widmanstätten figures are shown quite well on all etched surfaces. The weight of the Mart iron when found was 15 pounds 9 ounces. Baylor University, Waco, Texas, June 16, 1900.


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  • Records of the Monnig Meteorite Gallery [2825]
    The files are arranged alphabetically, usually according to the location of discovery of the meteorite. The files contain correspondence and research material on the meteorites in the collection.

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