The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-02-04
Geological Conditions Favorable.

| by exploring foi IT, And the effort 4
| mud II should be encouraged, for the dis
coNery OF so cheap and portable a fuel a
| petroleum In Nevada would rcVolutloniZ
the mining industry OF the State YER
quickly and multiply her population be-
SCnd her present dreams.
Nevada Needs More Fuel.
The thing that has kept Nevada back
ward IL not solcly the paucity OF water
but In much greater degree the absence
brought from Utah and is very eXpen
s.re, 1t Is, therefore most earnestly I,
be hoped that the effort TO discover oi
at Indian Springs may prove successful
Rcing so near the great camp of Bull
frog and the mines of the Funeral range
where cheap power ia needed to cXplol
their development big oil strike at In
dian Springs would at once double IN.
camps-camps which, though they nigh
not md way TO utilize the oil itself a
once. would Immediately use the olectri,
power generated with oil near the wells
Surface Indications
The surface indications at Indiar
Springs arc said TO be very strong, bu
| have not myself examined them Sur.
much I'm exploring for oil except as sGg.
gesting a geological study OF the locality
The oil is moro likely 10 be found IN
quantity some distance from the surface
Indications than close To them: that is
when by surface indications is meant q
soepaSe OF oil TO the surface The indl.
cations at Indian Springs are stated as
a strong petroleum SMELL in the surface
limestone and the formation OF a sort OF
asphalt oy the mixture OF something
with the dust OF the roadway
Chances of Discovery Good
These signs are valuable In a SuGgcs-
tive way, but the boring ought To cover
a considerable area 10 determine the mat
ter conclusvelr. for one or two or Sow
cIaI negative results would not prove tho
absence OF oil conclusiyoly. Such results
orc often obtained In close proximity to
vast OIL deposits. On geological grounds
aceording TO some of the accepted oil
theories, the likelihood or discovering
petroleum In many sections OF Nevada liz
strong enough to warrant persistent eN-
ploration
Indications in Elko County.
There Is a place in Butte valley, in the
southern part Of Elko county. where a
limestone occurs at the surface that car
hsNe seen this stone but have not been
10 the place where it occurs The locals
call IL stink stone and IL is mentioned
In Mr. Spurr's Geological Reconnais-
sancc" Omitted States geological survey
az "fetid limestone The stink" is the
odor Of petroleum clearly enough-un-
pleasant TO some people but generally
agreeable 10 those who have been much
around oil wells
Only Effort Ever Made,
\ few years ago some money was spenl
at Elko. the county seat exploring for
oil and some drill holes were sunk i'm
sight OF the town which. I believe did
develop a trifiing quantity OF oil hut
nothing OF commercial value. This is the
only effort that / know of to develop oil
IN Nevada, and from a cursory view or
the locality ] would not myself have
I thought 1t Hkely spot But there is n
way Is mined and sold In the town for
fuel and is said to make a hot fire III
mixed with portion of coal Used alone
the great amount OF ash smothers the
hrc IL was tho bltumlnous shale which
suggested the effort TO discover oil.
believe.
Coal in Nevada
That the great coal basin OF southern
Utah once covered considerable portion
Of southern Nevada is, geoloeicalIv very
probable If IT, did, 1t has mostly been
eyaded-drawn into the rcsistless NAV Of
the great Rio Colorado when that stream
rushed 10 the ocean In n channel forty in
sixty miles wide. probably with the force
colorado and Arizona, as well as south
crn Nevada, an the rise OF the interior
basin created rcsistlcss wash toward
the then Amazonian torrent
Is True Tertiary Coal.
The coal found In Esmeraldo county
NtNddu, south OF Columbia marsh and
near Silver Peak. is ! believe. a true
tertiary coal OF an inferior quality. but or
considerable fuel value in a place where
tuel Is so expensive. It has indications Of
being the remnant edge Of a coal b,sIn
ana suggests the probability that ii is
actually a remnant of the great Utah
colorado coal basin which may once have
extended across southern Nevada To that
point. II this theory prove tenabIe tben
II is moi improbable thai other small rem
nants may have escaped the great Rio
Colorado wash and II would be well to
search for them.
Would Not Be Expensive.
The search would be a simple and mex
Dcnsive matter To such as knew what Ia
ook for and where TO look for all the
Goals of western North America occur I'm
.hc same geological horizon-vory close
10 the dividing line between the cretace-
)us and the tertiary sometimes on one
side OF the line and sometimes on IN
other. so tbat they are I'm the hooks
called Tertiary Goals and some,
lines Cretaceous They almost uniformly
)ccur resting on one coarse grained
sandstone. called the basal
'dndstone' and covered by another sand
stone of similar character called tb. can
stone
Some interesting Geology.
The cretaceous formation Is very easily
enown by its own distinct character and
~ the fact that IT lies on top OF the
ura-trias series which can he recognized
niles away by their bright colors-red
md graylsh yellow or a creamy white
rhc jura-trias rocks are Of pretty firm
cxture and do not dissolve readily under
he action OF water and weather but the |
retlccoUS consists OF a series of thin
andstoncs and lines between deep bedded |
ITlta OF friable shales which offer little |
more resistance to water and weather |