The Livingston enterprise., 1889-12-25
oswnAsAR COAL Aa,nes.
An Extensive neposie Of 1xcsllsnt Cok-
lug Coal Near the TeFmlaus Of
the Park Branch Road.
Ovens to he Erectsel and the Output Con-
verted into Coke During the
Coming Year.

The deposits Of coking coal in Park
are not all in the immediate
vicinity Of Livingston; although Of nee
essity they must becomes tributary in a
great measure to the city. About one
mile east Of Horr and almost directly |
across the river from the terminus OF
the Park branch Of the Northern Pa
cific, are located extensive coal measures
Of coking and fuel coal. These mines
are owned by Bowers & Robbins, and
are destined within q few years to be-
come no small factor in the coke produc
tion Of Park county. They were first
located in 1881 by Clark Switzler and
Henry Cramer, the latter sold his inter-
est in the discovery to Switzler, who did
but little work upon the property and
finally disposed Of il 10 George Reese.
In the winter Of 1884 Robert Bell, q
Gardiner merchant, came into possess
sion of the property and had survey
made of it. He held it for two years,
during which time he had some work
done upon it, and in the fall of 1885 sup
piled thu Gardiner schools with the out
put. As it was mined from near tie
surface, however, it proved unsatisfac-
tory and Bell, becoming discouraged,
abandoned the prospect Of mining, and
the property passed to the ownership Of
g. A. Wood. In the following year
Wood did some prospecting and devel-
opment, but only took out sufficient
quantity Of coal for his own use. Like
his predecessors he did not sink suffi-
cient depth to find the true body Of coal,
and last year disposed of his right to
the present owners, Messrs. Bowers 4
Robbins MIR. Bowers, who is the man
aging partner, had extensive experience
in coal mining in Ohio, prior to remov-
ing Dawson county, this state, where he
engaged in the stock raising. Owing
to the heavy losses occasioned by the
severe winter of 1857, he disposed of
his interests in that place and decided
to again engage in the more congenial
occupation Of mining. In looking over
the field for favorable location his at
tention was directed to the measures
above described, and as the property,
although never prospected by anyone
experienced in mining, showed outcrop-
pings of superior coal he concluded to
avail himself of Mr.. Woods offer and
purchased the coal lands. In November
Of last year work was begun and a slope
sunk upon the coal vein, which is locat-
ed on the north side of the creek. The
coal improved in quality almost from
the commencement of operations and at
depth of fifty feet good merchant
able article Was found. The slope was
sunk to depth of sixty-five feet, from
which point entries we're driven both
ways on the coal vein. The entry to the
west was so near the surface that little
good coal was exposed, while the entry
eastward showed large quantity Of ex-
cellent coal, large amount Of which
was shipped to the. Helena Gas Light
and Coke company, at Helena, Montana,
where it was used in the manufacture Of
gas and pronounced q good quality Of
gas and coking coal. The trend Of the
veins Of these measures is to the north,
at an angle Of seventy degrees. A tun-
mel ninety feet long crosses three other
veins, upon one Of which forty yards
of entry has been driven. The output
Of this vein is q block coal, very hard
and especially desirable for domestic
purposes. No work has yet been done
upon the other two veins, but they will
also be developed in the near future.
In October last work was resumed ON
the original slope and ut this time it has
reached depth Of 126 feet. The ground
ut this depth is less faulty, the coal
much harder and free from foreign sub
stances, the vein being solid coal three
feet in width. II 10 the intention Of the
proprietors to sink this slope to depth
Of 400 feet before entries are driven, un-
les water intereeres with operations,
which y highly improbable a. themouth
Of the slope II 500 feet above tho bed Of
%hn r;var The akrslra ~ khaaa s>r,al ,,o&na