The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-15
NEW COAL FIELDS
TO BE DEVELOPED
RAILROAD SOON TO OPEN DE
POSTS IN Colorado
Nine Hundred square MiIes-It Ii pre-
dicted That Mining of Great De-
posit VIII Revolutionixe
Coal Industry.

1
/
New York Herald.
When the last spike of the "Moffat
| Railroad Is driven there will be open
4 ed to the world a virgin field of coal
which is undoubtedly the richest in
| the world, and beyond any question
will be responsible for a revolution in
the coal markets of the country such
| as has been unknown heretofore, or at
| least equal to that when the great re-
sources Of the Pennsylvania. fields
We're discovered.
For years. or since the first hunter
or prospector' set his foot in the noun
tain country west of Denver. Col, the
| existence of the great field of fuel
has been known, but not until the plan
Of building the Denver, Northwestern
and Pacific Railroad was definite
thing was there any possibility of de-
veloping the great beds at figure
which would benefit and not bankrupt
an operator for from the uttermost
| eastern range close up to the western
| terminal of the road nature has long
shielded her treasure with what has
heretofore been considered an impas-
sable barrier of rock.
| To add to the natural facilities for
| handling the great product 1t will not
be necessary, as in many of the great
fields of the world, to go deep into the
bowels of, the earth for the coal, for
in almost all cases the veins crop out
from mountain sides or show from the
earth's surface in the valleys and niea-
dows. and as many ranchmen and ne
quenters of the district do to-day, all
| that Will be necessary for the operator
of the future to do is to pry the rich
veins from their beds and load for
the market as is done in field of
similar nature in Southeastern Kansas.
A Rich Territory.
A good idea of the extent and rich
ness of the district. both in minerals
and agriculture, may be formed by ex-
| tracts from the report of w. Weston,
! an expert engineer, who says in a re-
port just finished:
Your road will pass through and
develop the central portion of two
belts of coal--one at the eastern base
of the Front range of the Rocky noun
tains. in which the coal is generally
| Ignite, and another west of the Park
| region, in Routt county called the
Tampa field. in which the Goals are
anthracite, bituminous and lignite-bi-
luminous. The area of this coal field
II estimate at nine hundred square
miles. There are three groups of veins
or coal measures, and by very careful
computation during nv two months
work in the field, estimate the thick
ness Of workable coal at IS feet.
The Yampa coal field proper. com
prises what may be divided into the
following groups or sections:
The Oak Creek section, the Trout
Creek section, the Twenty Mile Park,
which includes the Fish Creek seams !;
the Wolf Creek group, the Sage and
Dry Creeks group. the William Fork
/ group the Craig group on the river;
the Wallihan group, at Lay the Pilot
Knob anthracite fields, and the Flat
Top mountains group. which latter is
in the forest reserve and contains
about twenty feet of workable coal in
four beds. with an area of about so
square miles. but up to date unworked
and undeveloped.
UnderIies whole Field.
Three measures practically under
lie the whole field. but vary in size,
quality and position. according to To-
cal conditions, such as folding, up
lifts. volcanic outbursts. weathering
erosion. etc.
In nearly all the groups visited the
lay of the seams is horizontal, except
in' the Fish Creek. and Sage and Dry
creeks uptilted portion of these two
basins where the outcrop of the
seams is nearly vertical The coal
measures in the Elkhead and Dry
Creek region have been altered to an
thracite by the overflow of a sheet of
volcanic rock. I traced this lava flow
as far south of Pilot Knob (Which is
the highest peak of this volcanic out
burst) as the head of Wolf Creek, a
distance of eight miles, and it extends
north of Pilot Knob some four or Eve
miles, and 1t is probable. therefore
that all the coal under this lava flow
is more or less anthracite, and that
the size of the anthracite area has
hitherto been very much underrated
OF anthracite coal land. went
carefully into the matter and esti-
mated the area of anthracite coal land
at forty square miles, making this es-
innate from actual outcrops. Discov-
cry and development will probably
show this area to be a great deal
larger. An erroneous impression is
limited to eight square miles.
Ninety Million Tons.
Speaking of the anthracite POSSIBLE
tiles of the Crawford tract the report
| says:
Professor Etienne A. Ritter a very
capable French engineer. reported last
spring. and estimated 80, 900 tons of
anthracite to the acre. which If cor
rect. would make 10000, 900 tons in the
tract. there being forty feet thick of
workable coal. Professor Ritter saws
that they have three seams of a work.
able size of very high grade anthracite
and another of semi-anthracite.
| The upper vein. which has been
opened in five places for a distance of
5000 feet. was tested by Professor
Ritter for coke. and he got a very re-
markahle result from an open pit,
which he burned on the spot"
| In connection with the Yampa coal
helds and the wealth In carbonaceous
products which lie beneath the sand
! stones, the riches in present and pos
slnle products of the soil above must
not be forgotten. Mr.. Wallace says:
| These Goals are now found in
rocky region with a barren surface
but the bituminous Goals underlie
! oeaueful agricultural and pastoral
valleys and first and. second mesas.
! with the richest of soils, and the an
thraclte Goals, at a greater altitude,
are In the region of volcanic rocks
deep SHOWS in winter and consequent
abundance of streams, dense foliage
and forests
Fine Agricultural Land.
AT present the agricultural and
pastoral resources of Routt county are
only developed sufficiently to supply
local necessities. Without a railroad.
no shipments of hay. grain. vegetables
or fruit can be made any more than
| can the Goals Consequently only one
tenth OF the possible producing area
| OF the Hampa river valley and its trib-
utaries is being cultivated or utilized.
Inc same may be said of upper Snake
river valley, of which Honnold post