The Daily state register. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1870-1872, 1872-02-13
THE Ignite OF@THE INTERIOR
Basin

has already been opened IN that
county, which is considered sutficl-
emily valuable to warrant the con-
struction of a branch railroad from
the Central Pacific tothe mine. The
evidences Of the existence of coal
deposits along the line of the rail-
road through Nevada are abundant,
and in time they will constitute an
important element in the aggregate
of the productive elements of this
SIZE.
The coal now in use in this State
is derived from the deposits near the
railroad through Wyoming Terri
tory, mainly from Evanston. In
view of the similarity of the rock
formations throughout the whole of
the great basin of the interior. geo
logical investigations of any portion
of this immense district are interest
lag. and valuable aids in forming a
Judgment as to the probability OF
discovering coal deposits in this
State, and Improbable character and
value of such beds.
Every observaut traveller who
crossed The plains along the line OF
the Old stage road throughthe Bitter
Creek country viii remember the
dark and gloomy walls which hedge
in that desolate region. 1t seemed
10 be the last place IN the world to
look for coal. The whole country
appeared to the eye already burned
bv internal files-the mountains i'm
menae clinkers, theplains ash heaps,
81 ewn with fragments of a dead
void. When coal was first talked
OF III that region people We're natur-
ally incredulous aud it required
sesea ii years 20 convince the public
that the coal dealers were not trying
to Speculate on their ctedulity.
Ddt the coal his come into general
Use, and though in some respects in
fetior to that Of the Alle9hanys, it
is rapidly s~uperceding the use of
wood, even as far west as Virginia
City.
This general doubt of the perma-
nency of the Wyoming coal deposits
was mainly owing to the fact that the
mines were not located in the coal
measures of the carboniferous for
nation, but in rock of a much later
period, giving to the country a very
different physical aspect from that
which usually marks a coal region.
1t is possible that this may be true
of Nevada ; hat some of these
scorched, repulsive districts may
contain wealth hitherto undreamed of.
Some months ago we received a
copy of the preliminary field report
OF the Z. S. Geological survey of
COLORADO and New Mexico, by Prof.
Hayden, recently completed. Prof.
Hayden has been engaged in a geo.
logical survey of the Rocky Noun
tain region for many years, and has
studied lis characteristics closely.
His familiarity with every portion of
the interior of the continent enables
him to form acomplehensive idea of
the formation and geological history
of the interior Easin on both sides
of the Rocky Mountains.
Prof. Hayden is decidedly of the
opinion that the geological age of
these western Ignite deposits is IN
doubleday Heterogeneous or lower
tertiary, occasionally extending up
wardlnto miocene, ormiddlet tertiary.
He believes that all the Ignite, ter
tiary beds of the West are but frag-
ments OF one great basin, interrupt
ed here and there by the upheaval of
mountain chains, OF concealed by
the deposition of newer formations.
He fiads ample evidence to sustain
the olt-rePedted assertion of Geolo-
Gists that this western country dur