, 1864-03-06

Large BedA or Camel Coal Found In
the Minnesota Valley.

From the St. Paul Press, Ma1ch11
With great satisfaction we announce to oul
readers t.1ia morning the dssenyerY OF iarg<
beds Of coal on t4e Cottonwood river, nea'
1act that viii call thrill Of pleasure to ever,
one who can appreciate the fmmense-thc al
most Observation-Disclosures to flow from sucE
IN important discovery-one TINT will create
In onr State new sources Of wealth, and sup.
ply the only element which Was lacking to
sources On which rests the future greatness
and prosperity OF this State.
Before further pursuing the subject Of the
immense value md importance Of the mines,
aud their effect on the future destiny Of the
State, We will turn back and briefly sketch
the manner of their discovery.
Row THE COAL WAS DISCOVERED.
In the month Of February-1s6s- s6s-John s.
Prince, Esq, Of this city, was in Vfncennes,
Ind, on business, and one evening happened
in a store, when q gentleman came ID, and
throwing down some fine Jumps OF coal on q
liable said: II told you that VIC should find
coal there at fifty feet, aud we struck It at
49," At this Mr. Princes attention was
aroused, and he eoon secured an introduction
TO the gentleman, who proved to be Mr. Il.
Enmes, q well-knoWn gcologist, who, in
company with his brother Of no less repute
a8 geologist, has spent bis entire life, both
in England and the United States In e1plor-
iQE 4V1 ENA& AuA A44CElAAE AltAAAtS 1P]AAssO4A93
and who has made 1t q a"speclality'' with
great success.
Mr, Prince at once had an Interview with
Mr. Eames, and told him that 1t was believed
that there must be large coal mines some
where In Minnesota, but no thorough geo
had yet been made, and there ";ss no donbt
that if made, it would result IN finding coal ::
.ddfng. that ns soon as Mr.. Eames' engage
ments in that neighborhood would allow
| him, he should be glad to see him In St.
ranl, where he would pledge him sufficient
Of the State. Mr.. Eancs agreed to come out
| IN the following May. and accordingly during
that month made his appearance here.
Mr Prince at ouce interested Gen. Sibley,
Col, c, E. Oakes. Frank Steele, Esq, and
others in the project, and seFeral thousand
dollars were raised and placed in Mr.. Eames'
hands.
At once commenced. It began by rapid
and general exploration Of nearly the entire
State, to ascertain where the best indications
Of coal existed Starting from St. Paul on
Mar Goth, Nj. Eames first examined the Tal-
ley Of Crow. River, and then went to Carver,
where he examined oil the streams In that
county flowing Into the 3tiuuesota, extending
he went to the Blue Earth river and examined
the whole Of that stream and ita tributaries to
the Iowa line. On all these streams DRIFT coal
was found in abundance and Of good quality
Indicating that somewhere not far distant
there must exist coal formation, from which
these fragments had been torn by the floods
OF the Diluvian period. Returning to St Paul
Mr. Eames went to Red Wing, whence he
prosecuted his explorations along the valleys
Of the Cannon, Vcrmillion and Zumbro, but
with no greater success.
The greatest cautiousness was used hy Mr..
T. - f.rS&o otf11
impossible to prevent persons from diyfnlng
the cause Of the survey. OF course he was
importuRed at every point By some town site
spectators to be sure aud lind coal In their
particular locality, and offered handsome
bonuses In case he should succeed, and for 4
Share in whatever discoveries he might make.
The entire summer was consumed In these
surveys, and seEeral thousand dollars expend-
ed. Other valuable mineral deposits were
discovered during the survey, OF which we
cannot now speak.
Ayailing himself of the hints afforded by
the geology of. the districts already trayersed
he struck across tile country westward up the
Little Cottonwood as far west as Lake Shetek,
whence, moving northWard, he descended
the Big Cottonwood Here last fall his assid~
uous search was at last rewarded by unmis-
taxable Indications Of carhoniferous forma-
tion under the deep deposit OF drift which
covers these regions.
COAL FOUND At LAST.
4 more thorough survey soon resulted in
discovering vein of coal, eighteen inches
thick outcropptng from the bank, and lying
partly in the bed Of the creek The quality
was good, but the vein was too small to pay
for working II. As 1t was supposed to indi-
cate larger bed Of mineral not fur of, the
survey went on with redoubled energy, and
a spot was found about thirty miles west Of
New Dlm. where Nr. Eames decided to run
n ssshaft,' down. and after procuring work
men and machinery did so. 4 few days since
1t . depth Of 50 feet, ane bed OF bituminous
coal, Of good quality was struck, and proved
to be nearly four teet in thickness! which Ia
about the thickness of the Iowa coal meas
u1cs, Of which It Is probably continuation.
This bed, be 1t understood, was found tsin
place. that Is to say, In Its natural position
In the geological series. and Of course indi-
tic Drift in that section Of the country. Tho
following is the series Of rocks which oEerlie
the coal stratum: