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Show Government Experts AYill Mako I Study of Utah, Colorado j and Wyoming. Hi INTERESTING DATA j WILL BE GATHERED j Inquiry Fronf the Country Sets . on Foot Important Move Soon. The demand for information regard- Hf the co;il lands of the Western Hj States, both by the Government, and tbc public at large, has been po presa-ing presa-ing that the United Stales geological purvey has undertaken to devote aj largo amount of its appropriation dur- j ing tho coming fiscal year to their investigation. This work is under the general direction of M. I?. Campbell, find" will be carried on in the various states and Territories as follows: The coal fields of Wyoming arc of great extent and value at the present time, but ma 3" be of even greater value when they shall bo more fully dovel-oped. dovel-oped. It is planned to put six parties ntn the coal fields of this State. A party under the direction of li. G. Woodruff will examine the south-western south-western side of the Bighorn Basin, be-ginning be-ginning work near the Montana line j and extending it southward through 1 ( ody and Metcctso to the southern -nd of the basin. This field is exceed-infib exceed-infib promising and already has rail-road rail-road connection through branch lines if the Burlington to Cody and also to Thcmiopolis, in the southern end of B Lhe field. Tho coals are of fairlj- good quality and altogether this field hns a most hopeful prospect. A party under the direction of Chester w. Washhurne will examine B the northeastern side of the Bighorn ; Basin from near the Montana lino as j far southward as the season will per-mi.r- According 10 report, tho coal on this side of the basin is of poorer H quality than that on tho western side, but this field now has the advantage 1 of railroad connection throughout almost its entiro length by reason of the recent construction of' the branch Bl line of the Burlington road up Big- Hj horn river. A party under the direction of Joseph A. Taff will examino the Sheridan field, on the main line of tho Burlington railroad. This part will map an area of about 1500 square H! miles, extending from the west line of -the coal field in the vicinit of Sheri-dan Sheri-dan to Powdor river and' lying on both sides of tho Burlington' railroad. Tho coal is extensively developed in the vicinity of Sheridan, .but farther east its, quality is not so good and little mining or even prospecting has been done. Along Powder river, however, it is reported that, there are Hj thick beds of coal that mny be called Hj sub-bituminous a term adopted by the geological survey for the class of coal usually called "bhlck lignite" and it seems probable that in the future those may bo important. All work in the southern part; 'of "Wyoming will be under the general directiou of A. C. Vcalch. who will personally superintend parties located at ( aspef. Rawlins and Rock Springs. The field about Casper is a part of the great' lignitc-sub-bitmninous area Hl of North and South Dakota and east- cm Montana. Active mining is carried on at Big Muddy and Glen Bock, on iho line of the Chicago nnd North-western North-western railwnj'. The coal is of com-parativcly com-parativcly low grade, but, according to reports, is oT considerable extent and may at the same time be important. Tho area surveyed will amount to 1000 or 1500 square miles, most of it lying north of Aorth Platte river. The Rawlins field is very extensive. It lies mainly west, of the town of Rawlins, on the Union Pacific rail-road, rail-road, in Carbon county. Tho coal in its northern part is little known, for it bears a heavy cover of tertia' sediments, but the' field extends south-ward south-ward into Colorado and connects with the somewhat famous Yampa field in Routt county, 'flio coal field in H the vicinity of the Union Pacific rail- road has been prospected but. has not j been developed owing to tho prox- I imify of better coals in the Rock j Springs and Uanna fields. South of j the railroad coal has been mined to some extent in the Encampment re-1 gion, but generally the field is 11 n-, touched. It const itulcs (he eastern limb of a great synclinal basin, which extends southward into Colorado and westward as far as JCcnimcrer. on the Oregon Short. Lino railroad. 1 Throughout most of the central part B of this basin the coal beds arc sup- posed to be too far below the surface 1 to be accessible, but. this supposition 1 is based largcdy on h.ypothcsis, and it is hoped that a geological examination of the field will throw light on this question. The Rock Springs area is a local dome near tho center of this great synclinal basin. The doming of the rocks has brought tho coal beds to the fl surface and the coal is extensively H mined by the Union Pacific Coal com- pany for the use of tho railroad and. for shipment both East and West. It is a high-grade bitumiuouH steam coal and is considered the type for much of th "Western country. This H field is of limited extent and will be H thoroughly examined during the com- H ing season by one of Mr. Vcatch's H Tiarlies. Tho coal fields of Colorado a 10 fairly well known, largely on account of the f:.ft that many of them contain high-H high-H grade coals which have been cxten- H Hively developed by the Colorado Fuel H and 'Iron company and other coal H companies in tho tatc. The largest 1 and Jcast known area is in Routt H county, iu the northv.-estcrn part of the Stale. Part of this field has al-1 H read' beeij examined by the gcolog- H ical survey, aud during the coming H season it in proposed that a party H under the direction of Hoyt S. Gale H slmll begin work iu the vicinity of H Meeker, .in Rio Blanco county, cxnm- H inc the western end of the Yampa field H ami then turn westward and cxulorc H the northern rim of the great Uinta ba.sin, carrying tho work into Utah. 1 Along the southern foot of the Uinta 1 tnosMitains the coal-bearing rocks arc. 1'irecly, if not wholly, covered by later H hcdiiiients or v.-astc brought down 1 from the mountain slopes. Mr. Gale H will explore tho region as far as the '-lap beds arc visible and will cross 1 "R I'mta mountaius and exumiuo the small field known as the Henry Fork coal field, located west, of Green River and at tho northern base of the Uinta range. Another little-known coal field extends ex-tends southeastward from Grand Junction to the vicinity of Crested Butto, in Gunnison county. This field is 011 the southern limb of the Great Uinta sj-nclinc and is supposed to carry valuable coal beds, it is, however, capped by an enormous lava flow, which forms a high plateau and makes the coal almost inaccessible. inac-cessible. According to the plans, a party under the .direction of Willis f. Lee will begin work al Grand Junction and follow the outcrop of tho coal beds eastward as far as time and money will permit. For a number of years coal of high grade has beon miiicd in and about Durango. in the southern part of the State. The rocks at Durango dip southward into an enormous basin having a length north and south of about 120 miles nnd a breadth cast, and west of about 100 miles. The main body of this field terminates near Gallup, on tho Santn Fe railroad, but a point extends southward beyond the Zuni Indian reservation. Throughout Through-out moat of this field the coal is of sub-bituminouH quality, but along its northern border, in the vicinity of Durango, it, is a high-grade seen 111 and coking coal. A party under the direction of James 11. Gardner will begin work at; Durango and follow the outcrop of the coal'bearing rocks eastward east-ward and southward, giving particular attention to the location of the .coal beds of Colorado aud then tracing their extension southward into Nov Mexico. If time permits, Mr. Gardner will traverso the entire eastern border of the field, closing his work in the vi'init3' of the Santa Fo railroad. For a numbor of years high-grade bituminous aud anthracite coals have been reported from Iron county, in the Boutliwcstern part of Utah. Previous Previ-ous to the construction of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake railroad there was little hope of commercial com-mercial development, of this field, .but since this road has been built the field can be reached by a shorts branch line, nnd it seems probable that in tho near future it will be developed. The field will be examined by a party under the direction of G'corgc B. Richardson, who will begin work in the anthracite field near Cedar Citv and carry it eastward into the bituminous bitumin-ous field along the Colob plateau as far as tho season will permit. |