Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1869-06-10
From the Omaha 1le-
The COaI Fields Of the Trans
Missouri

Europe, be long to the true carbOnifer-
Gus age. The histOryof the Que is en-
tirely different from the other. The
earth in those prehistoric days was
undergoing such changes under the
hand Of the creator, That the earth Of
the carbOniferOus age, with its atmOs-
phere, its land and waters, its animal
and vegetable life was essentially an
other earth from the tertiary age. Cur
coal fields have therefore q history of
their own independent and unlike
any other now known.
In studying that history &c ought
properly to be divided Into two parts,
prehistoric and historic. In the first
we are carried away back Of the age of
man and the animals that now inhab-
it the earth. We enter a new world.
Instead Of the lofty mountains with
their everlasting SHOWS, it is one vast
plain. Instead Of the temperate Gle
mate we are in the heated tropics.
Instead Of the dry and parched eartll,
we see vast lag0Ons and marshes. IN
place Of the present stunted vegeta-
ton we find q gigantic tropic yerdure
that dwarfs that Of the iunglas Of the
present age in India, Africa and South
America. 1t was one vast forest Of
lofty palms, whose leaves were broad
5r than the palm trees Of cur simesl
and whose shadows darkened the
land like the shadows Of night. The
aquatic vegetation cOrrespOuded to
that Of the land, nor was the flora
alOns Of the giant order. the Fauna,
the animals-bOth of the land and va
ter-were giants too. Here was the
DenOtheruinee Gigantum. the largest
of animals who dWarfed In size the
Mammoth and MastodOn, armed with
enormous tusks and toes he could
live in the water Ike the HippOpOt-
tamus, upon the Juicy vegetation
there, or roam among the palms on
the land. Here was also the AnOplO-
theOiUm, the RabOthevium and their
contemporaries - all worthy Of the
name Of gigantum. In the water
there lived and spOrted an
imals Of the same immense size. "A
shark has been discovered and des-
eribed, belonging to this age, y feet
long. Such is a glimpse Of the early
ages of the tertiary coal.
These vast palm forests, by some
great chemical process In natures la
bOratOry, have been converted into
coal, and the likeness of these animals
have been handed down to Us on the
pages of this Coal Book. Much Of this
book has been read by geOlOgists, our
own Hayden and others, and given 10
US, but still much remains to be read.
So much for the prehistoric Of our
coal. Now for the historic. In 1SO7-8
Lewis and Clark found Iignite on the
banks of all the tributarses Of the Up
1 per Missouri. Fremont in all three Of
I hisexpiditiOns reported that It existed
in vast quantities in all the country
/ known as the "Great Ignite Basin.n
| Prof. Hayden, with Lieutenant, now
! General Warren, found it on the Yell
/ lOwstOne, Big Horn, Powder and
/ Tongue river, Wind River, North
and South Platte, Medicine Bow,
/ Rock Creek and as far south as the.
/ Arkansas, covering an extent Of cOun-
/ try 700 miles north and 500 miles
/ south, and east and west, giving g.
coal field Of 80, 600 square miles. Un-
der how much of this vast field coal
lies, the pick and shovel can alone de-
termine. Prof. Hayden reports eleven
distinct veins in Boulder county, Col
oradO, from five TO nine feet thick,
and at Carbon, in Wyoming Terrific
ry, seven veins from nine TO eleven
feet thick. One vein twenty-One feet
i'm thickness has been opened further
west. Enough is known Of its guam
/ tity to pronounce it ineXhaustible for
thousands of years. 1t is also found
west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains,
/ but it is not in veins Of any thickness,
and in the great upheval, even these,
their veins have been broken up and
l'sO displaced, that mining is very un-
certain. There must either have been
an exception, 50 far as the gigantic
flora of the tertiary period is concern
ed in that region, or else the great
process of nature in forming coal was
failure there. In o trip over the Union
Pacific Railroad, q passenger can see
everywhere evidences of the coal de-
posit.
In the banks Of Rock creek, Medi-
cine Bow, Rattle Snake creek, North
I Platte and Seperative creek, the vein
of coal can be seen cut cropping,
awaiting only the strong arm Of the
miner to give up its wealth. aa
But, it is on the Red Desert and in
the valley Of Bitter creek, where now
hardly q specimen Of animal or vege-
table life exists, where the alkali sands
are parched and burned, that the fos-
| illiZed pages Of history records that
the great lagoOns with their BIavind
and aquatic plants and the Galen for
ests were the most iuXuriant. 3
/ There you may see two distinct
veins, one above the other, at various
inclines as they were left when they
were thrown up from their place Of
/ repOse Of the untold centuries.
Side by side of these coal deposits
we have great pits of iron, such as are
found on the Chug Water, as though
/ puTpOsely thrown together by nature
/ there In her most liberal mood.
/ When we look at the network Of
/ Railroads that viii soon cover the
trans-MissOuri country, we can hardly
Oyerestimate the the Importance Of
these great contiguous depOsites in re-
/ placing the rails.
1 have heretofore given you the
opinion of the first chemists Of the
/ country, Dr. Torrey, Of II. Y, and
/ Prof. Silleman, Of Y ale, as to the quail
/ ity of it's coal, and / have also given
| you the opinions of the great geOlOg-
/ lists, Hayden and Hall, as TO its extent,
I therefore / viii not copy it here. I
am sure that In two years, when these
/ depOsites have been fully developed
when this country is dotted with its
hundreds OF villages for cOlliers-
when the whole length Of the 1900
miles Of mountain range is checked
with mining machinery using tertiary
! cOal-when the many thousands Of
/ stock men and herders use It for their
homes-When the millions Of acres Of
fertile lands on the many streams Of
the mountains are cultivated, and
their hearths and fresides are warmed
and made cheerful by this same coal,
then Its discovery and development
viii rank with the foremost of the
| great events Of the 18th century.
ii. LATHAHl.
Surg. u. p. u. R.
! To MEASURE A CRIB OF Corn
An estimate OF the contents Of q crib
n of corn In the essP may be raade a. foT-