Gilpin observer., 1906-11-29
Routt County Coal Fields.

taAo CouuIHuS III every TeSpeCC b report
made by w. Weston, the Denver mining
engineer who is in the employ of the
Moffat road. Both reports show there
are from 900 to 1900 square miles of
good bituminous and anthracite coal
beds in Routt county and that If .nec-
essary Colorado from this one source
could supply the nation.
Many persons took Mr.. Weston's re-
port with grain Of salt because he
was an employe of the road, but the
confirmation by the government report
proves Engineer Weston dealt solely
with facts.
From the present surveys it is be-
lieved that Colorado will, within few
years, be shipping anthracite coal
east as far as Missouri river points
and west to San Francisco and Salt
Lake as soon as the new Salt Lake,
San Pedro & Los Angeles line is COM
pleted.
In February, 1908, Mr. w. Weston,
mining engineer in charge of the in
dustrial, land and mineral department
of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific
railway, commenced the work of max
ing an exhaustive report to its presi-
dent, Mr.. D. III. Moffat, on what is now
known as the Yampa coalfield, in
Routt county, Colorado, through the
center of which the above railway line
is destined to have it's course. This
work occupied year, and the report
was made primarily for the purpose of
informing Mr.. Moffat as to what traf
fic he might expect from this source,
and later on, was published in booklet
form, for the use of the general public.
and those who desired information as
to the extent, thickness and quality Of
this coal, the greatest of the varied
and numerous industrial resources OF
the country traversed by the above
line of railway.
Naturally enough, perhaps, the pub
lished report being made by an engi-
neer in Mr.. Moffat's employ, was
looked on as an interested one, and
ing railway lines and the coal compa-
MES in which they are more or less in
terested, endeavoreG to cast discredit
on the same, their object being to OBJ
struct the building of the Moffat road,
and minimize the importance Of this,
the greatest coal field, and the only one
in which anthracite has been discov-
cred, on the western slope of the Rocky
Mountain range.
Now, however, all doubts on this
head are set at rest, and the railway
report is corroborated practically in
every particular by the preliminary re-
port of Messrs. Gale and Fenneman of
the United States Geological Survey.
who. with their party, spent the sum-
mer of 1905 in the coal field.
The statement in the railways re-
port which it's opponents more often
picked holes in was that which re-
ferred to the area Of the coal field.
This was stated to be 800 square miles,
which included forty square miles OF
anthracite lands, the balance being
high-grade bituminous and exclusive
of the lignites. The government re-
port above referred to says: "The
area covered by this survey of the field
is approximately 1900 square miles,
and this is practically the extent of the
Yampa coal field" And In another
place, "the Goals are for the most part
a good grade of bituminous and an
thracite Of good quality is known to
exist within a certain limited area"
The area Of the field, therefore. is no
longer a matter Of conjecture, or open
to discussion. The governments esti-
mate Of the acreage of the anthracite
field is very indefinite and largely con-
lecture, as must necessarily be the
case, for the actual existence of the
coal can only be proved by the out
crops, by the workings, or boreholes,
and these are practically limited to the
Crawford tract, lately purchased by
B. l.. Dorsey Of Alton. Illinois, whose
L.,
length on the anthracite seams, are
in positive evidence; and also on the
Shelton tract, four miles northeast or
the Crawford tract, which has been ex-
tensively exploited by pits and bore
holes, showing seams of very high
grade anthracite. Therefore, while in
all human probability. a very large
acreage between these two tracts is
underlaid with anthracite, In the alb
sence of development, there is no act.
ual proof Of 1t, and the government ex-
perts have dealt very fairly with the
problem.
The government report differs from
the railway report in one respect, viz:
That in the formers analysis, the
fixed carbon is generally lower. This
is explained by the fact that the sam
pies Of fresh coal cut from the face of
the seams and necessarily moist, were
quartered down at the mine. and then
sealed in air-tight cans, while the sam
pies taken for Mr.. Moffat's report
were air dried, thus making the mois-
|, ture In the former very much higher,
and the volatile matter and fixed car.
bon correspondingly lower. In any
case, however, the difference between
the two analyses is so slight as to be
unimportant.
In only one instance in the gov
ernment report is there any compari-
son made with eastern Goals, and that
is where, In speaking of the ten.foot
seam c'E') on the Crawford tract.
they say: "A comparison of these re-
suits with analyses of typical Pennsyl.