Fergus County Democrat., 1911-10-31
GUS coal in the underlying Lance


| formation.
The field now attracting the most
attention and the one that is destined
to supply large part of the coal
mined in the state, is located In the
Bull mountains in Yellowstone coun-
ty. This field lies chiefly south of
Musselshell river, between Roundup
and Musselshell postoffices, and ex-
tends southwark for distance OF
about 25 miles. 1t is estimated to
contain between 500 and 600 square
miles. In the mountain region IA dis
tinct beds of coal have thickness of
two feet or more. Some of these
measure from to feet, and one, the
Mammoth seam," is from 8 to Is feet
thick
The most important field, from a
commercial standpoint, at the present
time, is Carbon county in the vicinity
of Red Lodge and Bear creek. This
is generally known as the Red Lodge
field. 1t contains seven distinct beds
of coal varying in thickness from 3
to II feet and covering an area esti-
mated to be 80 square miles. Several
extensive mines have been developed
at Red Lodge and Bear creek.
At the present time about 1000
miners are employed in the field. The
coal of this field Is sub-bituminous in
line between sub-bituminous and
bituminous that it is rather difficult
to classify. 1t carries considerable
moisture and upon exposure to wealth
er slacks or breaks down in a very
short time It is about the same
quality as the coal of the Bull noun
tain field, and both are classed as
high-grade sub-bituminous Goals.
The Bridger field in the valley of
Clark's Fork contains one bed of coal
which has been mined near the town
of Bridger for many years. The area
of this field is probably not very great.
The Great Falls field in Cascade
county is one of the most important
in the state. Extensive mines are To-
Gated at Sand Coulee, Stockett and
Belt, and SO per cent. of the produc-
tion of the state in 1907 was credited
to this county. In 1910, however,
owing to increased production in Car
bon, Fergus and Yellowstone coun-
ties, Cascade county's production has
decreased to 80 per cent. This field
extends to the eastward nearly across
Fergus county, and southwark for
number Of miles up Hound creek.
The completion of the Billings & Nor
thern railroad through Judith Gap has
afforded transportation facilities for
the most of this field, but the coal,
while bituminous, is generally dirty
and not in great demand. The coal
occurs in the Kootenai formation, and
is the oldest coal in the state, except
that on the north fork of the Flathead
river.
Some coal is mined in the Milk
River valley in the vicinity of Havre
and Chinook, but the coal is low grade
-bituminous and the containing for
nations are so broken by faults that
it seems probable that this field will
never become an extensive producer.
High-grade coal is present in the
Trail creek and Electric fields. These
fields are small, the coal beds are bad
ly disturbed, and the cost Of mining is
such that many Of the mines have
been abandoned.
The geological survey estimates that
$4,000 square miles of Montana are un-
derlaid by coal beds more than two
feet in thickness.
That coal mining in Montana is still
in it's infancy is shown by the fact that
the estimated original coal supply of
Montana was O3,O6O,OO0,OO0 short
tons, from which there has been
mined, to the close of 1910, total of
2,134, ,233 tons, or total, including
waste, of about 4S,OOO,OOO tons, or
O.O16 per cent of the original supply.
With less than one-fiftieth of l per