Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1902-02-12
Fergus County is Rich In Coal as In
Other Mlnerals-Many New and
Valuable Finds.
LEWIsToWN WELL PROVIDED
Some Of the Largest Coal Fields in
Fergus County are Situated
Near lewistown.

The coal mining industry is yet In
its infancy in Fergus county and par
ticularIy is this fact noticed by anyone
who will visit any of the extensive
coal fields in the vicinity of Lewis
town. The demand for this useful
product has been somewhat limited
heretofore owing to the fact that wood
was plentiful and cheap and the sur
face coal was not of hrst-class quail
ity.
This was the cause Of a compare
lively small amount of development
work being accomplished and many
coal fields now laying almost idle will,
no doubt, be operated in the near fu-
ture to their full capacity, owing to
the rapidly increasing demand for the
cCal as an article of fuel. Like all
the product of partially developed coal
fields. the coal at first in this section
was an inferior article, but is now, on
penetrating deeper into the coal bod
les, rapidly becoming a first-class va
riety of the BLACK Diamond"
As with other minerals, Fergus
county is rich in coal and within two
miles of the city of Lewistown are
situated some of the largest coal
fields in this section of the state, the
output of which is highly satisfactory
in every way. Between Casino and
Spring creek, about a mile and a half
from town, John Borg owns a hundred
acres of as good coal land as can be
found. which he is rapidly developing
and has now a four foot ten inch seam
of valuable coal, from which he de-
riyes a large supply. A short dis
lance above the Borg property is the
coal mine formerly owned by. j. ID.
Shank and now the property of Jake
Harmon, who is conducting develop
ment work with satisfactory results.
The headquarters of the Lewistown
coal supply is in the Mcdonald creek
district, where a number of valuable
properties are located. The largest
and most worked of these are the coal
fields of the Lewistown Fuel Com
pany, which are $40 acres in extent
and contain a good quality Of coal.
The working vein on this property is
four feet in extent and the supply is
simply inexhaustible.
To the east of Mcdonald creek and
about seven miles from Lewistown
are situated what is known as the
Mexican mines, which are now being
operated by Crowder & Trajero with
success. The coal fields belonging to
Thomas Murray are also located in
the coal belt of the Mcdonald creek
district and what is known as the
Black Diamond coal is procured from
this property in large quantities.
On Boyd creek a short distance
from town are the Frank Moshner
mines, which have been operated with
unqualified success for the past Ave
years and from which a large output
is extracted yearly.
The whole country adjacent to Lew
istown seems to be thoroughly i'm
~pregnated with coal and many claims
have been recorded during the past
year. which are now being developed
and as the demand for coal increases
will no doubt be able to put a good
class of fuel on the market. The Fer
gus Land & Live Stock Co. are now
opening up a promising property in
the Bald Butte country, which was
lately discovered on land owned by
them in that section. At the head OF
Rock creek Sam Powell is working on
a good find and on Cottonwood Ben
ljamin and William Jones have a coal