The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-02
COAL MEASURES
Of WYOMING
Government Makes Report on
the East Central Carbon
County Field.

The coal field on the western edge of
the Rocky mountains in Wyoming, Just
east of the great Grand River field, was
surveyed during the summer of 1906 by a
party of government biologists. and a re-
port on the work has just been issued by
the United States geological survey as 4
chapter in bulletin No. 3l6, which forms
Part ii of Contributions to Economic
Geology 1906"
The area studied lies at the point where
the Rocky mountain ranges depart from
their north-south course, so characteristic
IN Colorado, and swing westward across
wyoming TO the, Yellowstone national
park At this point of change of direc-
ton the mountains are broken into q
number of dome and lOzenge-shaped
uplftS OF greater or less extent and OF
considerable variation in trend, and the
coal area of east-central Carbon county is
thus topographic and geologic basin,
with an average altitude between $500 and
100 1eet, almost completely trimmed by
upIfts ranging in elevation from 1900 to
more than II, 200 feet. The North Platte
river crosses the area surveyed west of its
center, its principal tributary within the
district being the Medicine, which drains
the northeastern quarter OF the field.
The surveying party consisted of Messrs.
a C. Veateh; in charge, Max w Ball.
Max A. Pishel and Spencer r. Logan. A
large number of coal samples were col
1ected and forwarded to the fuel-testing
plant of the survey at st. Louis and sub
analyses are Incorporated in the report
First Discoveries In 1e43.
Coal was discovered in this area by
Fremont in 1913, on Platte river, near the
mouth of Sage creek. at a point now
known as Coal Bluffs. In 1856 Lieutenant
r. I. Bryan of the topographic corps of
The United States army surveyed q road
from Fort Riley TO Bridger pass. He was
accompanied by II. Engelman, geolOgist
and they reported coal not only on Platte
river, but north of the present village of
Elk Mountain, near Medicine Bow river.
Bryan reports that on Aug. Is, 1856, they
camped for a few days on an island in
Platte river ito rest the animals and burn
coal for the forge" The coal beds opened
at this time were mined in a desultory
way by emigrants and by the Overland
Stage company, whose stage ran across
Inc southern portion or this territory from
the summer of 1862 until a short time aft
er the completion of the Union Pacific
railroad
Regarding the commercial development
of the coal in this region George r. Black
superintendent of the Union Pacific Coal
company, states:
Early Day Operations.
1.-THE first mines opened in Carbon
county, Wyoming, and worked to any eX-
tent were opened by this company in 1868
at and near the town of Carbon, the last
one being abandoned in 1902. There were
seven of them. While the coal is not of
the best il is certain that the mines in
ltldL VICINITY NOulQ sun De WOEklifS .ndQ
not the main line of the Union Pacific
Tailrosd passing through Carbon been va
Gated and taken farther to the north
where it passes through the Hanna coal
The mines at Dana, Carbon county. were
opened in 1889 and abandoned in 1891 on
account Of the coal sparkling too badly for
locomotive use. The Hanna mines were
opened in 1890 and are still lin operation"
The Goals of this field range from poor
10 hlgh-grade bituminous. They are as a
1ule bright brittle and non-cOking. The
best Goals in the area are found in the
formation called by the biologists the
Mesaverde. which contains also the high
grade Goals of the field in ROutt county
Colorado.
The natural commercial market for
Goals from this section of Wyoming is linn
lied on the east by Omaha, on the west
by Rawlins. on the north by the Black
hills and on the south by Denver. The
western outlet is today blocked to a large
degree by the higher-grade Goals of
Sweetwater and Uinta counties. At Den
Yer the Carbon county Goals come into
competition with the Colorado Goals, at
Omaha with those of the interior basin.
and at the Black hills with the Newcastle
and Sheridan Goals. The development of
the metalliferous deposits in the ranges
surrounding the basin may create a con-
siderable local demand for this coal.