The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-09-09
STATE OIL SURVEY.
'NEARS COMPLETION
FIELD WORK is ABOUT FINISH
ED; PREPARATIONS FOR PUB
LISTING TO BE RUSHED
Territory Included Takes in All OF
Montana East of the Rocky Noun
tains; Area of Hundred Thousand
Square Miles Is Being Surveyed
and Mapped.

That the survey of the oil and
gas formations of the state of Mon
tana now being carried on by the
state bureau of mines and metal
lurgy is progressing rapidly and
will be completed early in Septem-
Der as far as the field work is con-
cerned, is the word just received
from President c. H. Clapp of the
School of Mines, who is in charge
of the survey and who is now in the
eastern part of Montana. This
work was undertaken last spring
because of the deep interest now
being shown in these natural re-
sources and because the maps Of
the United States geological sur
vey completed some years ago,
left many gaps in listing possible
oil and gas formations.
The territory being covered is
very large, comprising all of that
part of the state from the eastern
side of the mountain wall in the
west to the Dakota boundaries and
from the southern tier of counties
in the headwaters of the Missouri
river and along the valley of the
Yellowstone river to the Canadian
boundary. This has been divided
into 80 sections following approx
mately the lines of latitude and
longitude in the state and each sec
ton is being mapped as fast as it
is surveyed. At present the CEN
trail sections have been finished
and work is being done on the
southern one
Professor Arthur Bevan of the
department of geology at the state
university at Missoula and Pro-
fessor Gerald S. Lambert of the
department of geology at the
school of mines are covering the
sections extending from the noun
tain wall to the junction of the Big
Horn river with the Yellowstone
while President Clapp with Ralph
Wade of the junior class at the
school of mines as his assistant is
studying the territory east of the
Big Horn to the state line. When
this is done there will remain to be
covered some territory in the north
eastern part of the state.
All in all the survey will include
about one hundred thousand square
miles nearly seventy thousand of
are now done. Considering
the extent of the territory covered
The work is being well and accur-
ately completed and the maps
will result will be very re-
liable. Of course they will be lack
.ng in much detailed information
can be obtained only by
ong and careful study of limited
areas, but they will be the basis for
Ill such detailed studies which de-
velopment companies and others
nay wish to make. The bureau is
cooperating with the United
States geological survey and with
many private concerns which in
yestigated sections of the state in
he effort to gain as much infor-
nation as possible. Since coal for
nations usually are found along
With oil and gas formations the
maps when finished will also show
heir locations in a general way.
After the field work is completed
here will be considerable work to
10 in compiling and comparing re-
'orts before the results of the sur
-ey will be ready for publication.
it is hoped that this work
an be pushed along rapidly so that
he people in the state who are in
crested in this information may
ave it at an early date.
/