The New York herald., 1869-12-27
The Great Coal Lands Of the
West.
Abundance OF COal-Early Discoveries
Geological Formation Of the Coal
Lands-Direrence OF Opinion as to
the Age OF the Formations
Great Extent Of the Lig.
mite Beds.

A"~A' - SSAhch aAoS Alo WdS eSsCuhdi ~ tue
due performances OF religious rites. Burnt" Offer
ings were the means employed to stay the hand OF
avenging justice. pillar OF fire by night guided
the children OF Israel to the Promised Land. When
some OF the Ute indians went away from their re-
servation last season on a hunt the direction In
wnlch the others were TO follow was shown by the
nres klndled by the van. Some or The Cuban lead
ers told me that the signal for openly inaugurating
the revolution which Cespedes preciptated before
the time was 10 have been the sight or 1res on the
nils in different portions or the sle. Fire is the
nrst consideration under various circumstances.
Abraham set the wood order the altar before he
intimated the nature or the intended victim 20 his
son. When the days march IL ended the first
thought OF the soldier Is the campfire. In the morn
ing the fire is the first thing that the atten-
ton OF the servant or the housewife. Preside" is
everywhere synonymous with 'homsr Without
cheerful fire III the evening where would be
the happiness OF family reunions and tRa Joy OF all
the Juveniles at the coming Christmas timef And,
IN commercial sense, fire generates motive power
for great factories and mills, steamboats, and rail-
road trains. Fire has Tevolutionzcd the labor OF
the world.
Fuel therefore, Is q substance OF paramount i'm
portance TO us all. IL has been source Of great
concern 20 the people OF the West. Pioneers across
the Continent travelled for days without even sap
ling being seen. Sage brush was ine only combust.
bic material they could depend upon. Scarcity or
wooi has Oeen the only obvious objection to the
Plains. one or the lovellest little valleys IN North
eastern NebrasSa-the valley OF the Logan-was
completely neglected by the Germans because 1t had
scarcely any timber but 1t subsequently settled
by the swedes. The Plains proper are destitute OF
trees. Grass and prairie flowers are the only vege-
tatlon Oh the uplands for hundreds OF miles. Con-
a1nrahp m har no n,arp of
many OF the streams. Forests are found only
among the mountains; and they are remote
from many or the settlements. Tue cost or trans.
porting wood to the Plains Is Item or considerable
importance. ALI the wood that was brought into
Salt Lake City last winter was eagerly purchased at
twenty-five dollars per cord ln Kansas and Ne.
braska fertility OF soil being assured wood was the
thing that decided the locations OF many OF the i'm
migrants. But the timber along oil the rivers and
all the slopes OF the Serras would never be suf-
cent TO meet the demands OF the future inhabitants
for fuel People prophesled that the supply would
soon become exhausted and the question was, What
them Nature, however, is equal to all emergencies.
Prophecies may fall but nature never does. During
long prehistoric ages, compared With one OF which the
longest life OF is Infinitely less than the shortest
OF the insect that in single summers day completes
It's circle or existence, Nature was silently solving
the problem which was troublesome to mOrtals.
In many thousand acres destitute OF timber sub
stitute exists beneath the surface. scarcity or
wood ID more than counterbalanced by abundance
OF coal.
Indications Of kind OF coal were reported nearly
seventy years ago BY those earliest adventurous ex-
plOrers Lewis and Clark and later, from time to
time, by Generals Fremont, Emory, warren and
Reynold and Drs. owen and Hayden aud others;
but as TO extent OF the deposits the quality or
the coal little was known. Early Investigations
showed a singular absence OF coal In the old car
b0niferous or coal-bearing period. and 1T not
expected to appear In formations OF any Otner.
Later Investigations however, have proved the ex
stence OF immense deposits OF hgnite strata OF
recent epocn Tnis coal crops out in places ali along
the base OF the Rocky Mountain ranges on their cast
the best years Of busy llfe In pursuing geological
explorations west OF the Missouri, who seeks with
more assiduity for fossils than the miner for
gold, and with whom l mad the pleasure
this year OF passing over the richest dis
covered coal fields in the West, has traced them
distinctly over estimated area Of 500 square
miles. The same sort OF ignite deposits which were
found on the Upper Missouri, rs lar north as the
British line have been recognized on the RIO Grands
eastern side OF the Rocky Mountains these coal lands
lie as near as may be along the parallel OF longitude
1o4 degrees west from Greenwich, north and south.
distance OF over 1000 miles. Tney are being worked
with success in various places westward from
Boulder, near Denver, in Colorado, 70 Coalvle, In
Utah. q distance OF more than 800 miles, And be-
yond some beds have been opened at dliIerent
points as TAR west as Monte Diabo. The finest neds
thus far discovered are east Of the sierra Nevada
mountains. 1t ID not unlikely tnat Ignite
deposits underlie the surface here and there, within
the SHADOW OF Sue mOunIduS, lTOIu Chpe uOTu
north TO the Arctic ocean across the Continent
rom the eastern base OF the Sierra Madre mountains
west to the Pacific Certain 1t Is shss beds nave
been opened on the eastern side OF the Sierra Madre
ana at the foot Of intermediate ranges. For we
must ever bear in mind the conformation OF this
country, that out OF the vast elevated plateau form
ing the interior OF the Continent aud which we call
The West. rise series OF great mountain ranges
having general trend to the northeast and south
west, each composed or many minor ranges, with
local dips In all directions
nave heretofore referred to the coal in Colo
x.f and eea
peculiar characteristics All the gnltes OF tae West
are similar in substance. Very naturally the pro-
portions OF their component parts vary In different
piaces as the result or local causes. The COM
mercla value OF the coal found at certain points Ia
more or less according to how mucn the organic
matter has been compressed and carbonized
While the total meridian extent OF these Ignite
beds has been found to be limited thus far only by
that or explorations. their local autudinal extent Is
generally believed to be within fifteen miles on both
sides OF each major and minor mountain ranges
axis To illustrate the manner in which tho coal
crops out:-Suppose the successive strata lying hor
zontay ono upon the other: an internal power OF
nature then forces them upwards, in some places
the upneaving material breaking through the sed-
mentary rocks and protruding on the surface, IN
other places not; in the one case changing the hort
zonta positions OF the strata into acute angles, In
the other antclinas: the subsequent erosion OF
the glacial period washes away and levels or the
Jagged edges OF the Ignite beds which had
bean disrupted; so that the whole presents at
present the appearance OF diagonal sections
mootn on the surface. Going irom the Plains
towards the mountains You irsl pass over
the horizontal strata OF the tertiary period.
becoming more and more inclined az you
get nearer to the ranges; and then in order you
come In many places 10 the fossils and formations
OF the crstaceous urassio and trisssc perious and
DAILY To the metamorphc granite. As IN the
anatomy OF the body you 20 from the skin TO the
homo so IN the anatomy OF the earth you 20 from
the surface TO the original rocks And az doctors OF
medicine diner In tner opinions, so do those doc
tors OF physical sctence-the Reologists They dis
sect the anatomy OF the eartn and come to dlersnt
conclusions And they have O monster subject in
the world Itself These Ignite veins covering the
backbone OF the Continent. are the cause OF some
difference OF opinion among them at the present.
The veins generally appear between layers OF draD
coior0d clay ana rusty sandstone, among the de-
poslfs which form tho junction between the Gre
taceous and the tertiary ages; and as the transition
from TO the other 10 30 gradual II is difficult
to draw the line OF daMarcauon With positive
distinctness. LIE COME and NowbeTy claim them TO
be cretaceous Ike all other carDonierous deposits,
VINE Hayden Clarence King and others VINO have
examined them assign them rather TO the tertiary
period. ] have not Rcard Agasslz give any opinion