Salt Lake Tribune | 1909-01-03 | Page 47 | Wyoming and What It Has Done the Past Year

I Wyoming and What it Has Done the Past Year I Bft "With the voles cast at tho November fB election indicating an increase of 10.000 population, ami with the development jHS of its industries proceeding steadily, do- LB spite unforseen setbacks, "Wyoming h comes to the close of I90S with the 2jpLn feeling that the 3'enr has been satis- lRf " factory iu the niaiu, and tlmt it is the jBt ' predecessor of a cycle which will prq- ii9H duco advancement, heretofore unpreco-'dented. unpreco-'dented. Tho total valuo of the state's products during tho year is a round fjHs ,$G0.000,000, or more than IG0 i'or.oach rtj9fl oC its inhabitants, which is remarkable iiaW in view of tho large percentage of tho nB population not engaged in any of tho t9H ' three principal revenue-producing in- sBB dustrics contributing to the $00,000,000 eH production. 'Jm ! An important fe.itnro of the state's sK development during tho present year is r,9Jt that live stock raising has boon deposed iVsH from lirst place in the Wyoming re venue producers, having been surpassed this jBI ; year by both mining and agriculture. Jn ft"M ; " ho forty years since t,ho settlement of sflB, ' 'the state this condition has not pro- 0jH . vailed beforo. BB Throe great industries arc "Wyoming's u9 main dependency, aside from ilin -M ; ' revenue derived from tho railroads "by MB I their thousands of employees. Tn the BJ ; order of their present impurtanco thoy ' ! nro .mining, agriculturo and live stock T9jt raising. To tho list a fourth, and not htTB j j very important producer of revenue fgm manufacturing- mas'- bo added. These Sm industries, during tho present year, have 'tm I produced as follows: XM Industry. Revenue. 9 Ilntngr S2t.-Uiij.000 a ' 'Aurlculturo 1U.000.000 "BJJ Livestock 18.507,125 w Idanufacturca 1.000.00U ' Total Strt.9D7.125 - Mr e oreRinC statistics aro based on 'SI stimates with tho exception of live :mk Ptock, whwb is partially estimated, bub St Tnay bo accepted as as reasonablv ao-rurato ao-rurato as may bo obtainud. there being '- no nctual statistics in exigence. M Coal Mines of S'.atc. &l Alining, the greatest rcvenun producer . of tho present, year, may bo almost said al) ,-to bo entirely coal mining, so much' jBB greater is the development of tho coal ;wKL. vesources of tho state than that, of iff other x'aluable geological formations. Of B the total mine production of $21,4fl0,000. I I 'coal mining provided $20,000,000. and that despite a shut-down for one entire month of practically every coal mine in the state and other circumstances which reduced tho possible output. Had CIO0S been as auspicious for the coal industry in-dustry of the state as was 1907. tho production would have been largely increased, in-creased, instead of remaining stationary. Tot practically stationary tho production produc-tion has been, not surpassing tho 15,500,-O00-ton mark set by 1907. Thcro wero Goveral reasons for tho failure of tho i prruction to increase. . lJuring almost tho entire mouth of A'ugust every largo mine in tho slato was idle because of a disagreement between be-tween the Mine Owners' association and the United Mino Workers of America relative to a new wage agreement, and this idleness detracted heavily from tho rear's total production. In March tho great No. 1 mino at llauna, with a daily output of nioro than 1000 tons, was wrecked by two explosions, tho resulting result-ing damage causing it to remain closed to date, and subtracting :i00,000 tons from iho year's output. Lato in November No-vember a "squeeze" stopped work in No. 1 mino at Cumberland, another 3000 tons a day colliery, and this further reduced producti6n. Other untoward un-toward occurreucen of the year caused further curtailment. As an offset for tho production lost through the strike aud accidents, a number of new mines wero opened during dur-ing the year, and tho production of many old collieries was iuereased. Among the new mines arc tho Gebo, Kooi, Gunn, Citizons and Indian, the first in Big Horn county, second jn Sheridan county, third in Sweetwntur county", fourth "in .Albany county and fifth in Fremont county. "The mines increasing in-creasing their production included tho Monarch and Kcarneyvillo, in Sheridan county, the Almy in Uinta county, the Hudson in Fremont county and tho lin-wreckod lin-wreckod Nos. 2 and 8 at Hanna nnd Nos. 2 and It at pumberland. Tho Diamondvillc mines and those of tho camps in the neighborhood of Diamondvillo Diamond-villo also output ted increased production, produc-tion, and altogether tho total tonnago for the year was brought to about equal that of ' the preceding year. Plans for 1909 include increased production for nearly every largo mine and the opening open-ing of valuable coal measures hitherto untouched. Metal Mining. In metal mining, the most important development of .the year was the increase in-crease of the production of the Colorado Fuel and Iron company's open pit hematite hema-tite mine at Sunrise to 5000 tons daily. All of this ore is shipped to Pueblo, Colo., nnd during tho present year nearly 1,000,000 tons has been produced. The present .year witnessed increased activity in the Willow Creek, Copper Mountain and lesser cooper and gold nrodueing districts, and tho Kirwin, Sunlight, South Pass and Douglas Creek gold districts. In direct contrast was marked apathy in tho Encampment copper district, beforo this year tho busiest metal mining district of tho state. In the Encampment district thcro was little work of importance aside from that nfc-the Fcrris-Haggnrty mine, which operated more than half tho year and kept un its Tocord for conper r-rr lue-tion. lue-tion. Irs ores were smelted at Encampment. Encamp-ment. whro (.ho Pcnn-Wyoming company, com-pany, owner of the mine, has a com-pleto com-pleto smelter plant. Both tho mico and smelter have been shut down for tho winter. Tnt tho Copper Mountniu district tho Willinms-Luman mine became a stronger biddor for rank over tho Ferris- Haggarty as th most valuable propertv of tho stato. This mino is not a producer, pro-ducer, its owners having ample capital to develop "without marketing until cheap transportation for their ore may be available, but it is in condition to output a largo daily tonnago of high-grado high-grado copper ore. At the uresent time a producer gas plant is being installed at the Williams-Lumau. and when it is in operation tho shaft is to be sunk an additional 1-500 feet to a total depth of moro fhau 1500 feet, all through oro. Next to tho Williams-Lunian tho greatest development of a Copper Mountnin propertv during tho year wu"s that of the Gold Nugget, better known as the Hale mine. Here a large amount of oro was taken out and is on tho dump, awaiting tho completion of a cynniding plant. There was a great deal of scattered development in tho Copper Mountain district and tho adjoining ad-joining Willow Creek district. At Bo3-sen, between the two districts, work was pushed on the promising propertv prop-ertv which Asmus Boyscn has capitalized capi-talized at $25,000,000. and on the power plant of tho Big Horn Power company, which is to generato 5000 electrical horse-power from the flow of the Big Horn river. This plant will be com-nletcd com-nletcd earlv in the spring, and will sell power to the mines of the neighboring dipt riots. At South Pass, the famous Miners' Delight mino was unwatcrod during tho first half of (ho year, and crosscut development de-velopment proved tho continuance of its great low-grade ore body nnd tho high-grado high-grado lenses which occur at frequent intervals. in-tervals. This propertv, which is credited with a production of 1.000.000 in gold, is to be worked ex'tcnsivoly during t he coming year. An important factor in the development of tho South Pass district dis-trict will be the pow-r plant which tho Popo Agio Oil & Power company ia erecting in tho adjacent Dallas oil field. This plant will generato 10.000 olectric horsepower from crude oil fuel aud will distributo it to a dozen settlements and the mines in tho vicinity of South Pasy, including the Miners' Delight. In the Douglas Creek field, in southern south-ern Albany county, tho American Gold Placer Mining company, during the summer, sum-mer, installed tho most complete placer mining equipment in tho stato and washed a large production. Two new varieties of mining in Wyoming Wyo-ming were nndortaken during the your, the. North American Asbestos company, a $12,000,000 concern, beginning development devel-opment of the Casper mountain asbestos deposits, probably the largest and most vnlimble in the United States: and tho United States Sulphur company, erecting erect-ing a plant near Thermopolis and beginning be-ginning tho refining of crude sulphur at tho rale of ten tons daily. Both enterprises en-terprises will bo pushed and expanded during 1909. The mineral resources of tho state contributed .to tho total of $21,400.000 rovenuo, derived during tho year, ns follows, fol-lows, tho figures, aside from coal aud , iron, being estimates based on the best obtninablo information: Coal 520,000.000 Iron 1 0.000 Copper nou.ooo Gold 100,000 Stone 75.000 OU 50,000 Silver :iu.HK 1 Mlscellaneoua 25,000 Total ...$21,-I90,000 Devoioping Oil Fields. Development in oil was not extensive during the 3roar in comparison with tho area and value of the Btnto'n oil fields, this industry having been discouraged by lack of a market: and Standard Oil competition. In tho Spring Valley field, Uintah countj-, whero tho highest grado illuminating oil known is found, tho most conspicuous development was b3 tho International Consolidated Oil com-panj com-panj which sRnk ten wells, all producers; pro-ducers; installed a central pumping plant, and built a four-mile pipo lino to the refiners at, Spring Vallo3. This company will sink ten additional wells as rapidly as the holes can bo put down. Tn tho Dallas Held in Fremont county, tho Popo Agio Oil & Power company began be-gan sinking a series of wells from which to securo fuel oil for the power plaut it is erecting. Tn tho Salt Creek field, in Natrona county, tho Holland conipan- discovered discov-ered illuminating oil by sinking through tho stratum from which the field for 3'ears has surmlied lubricating oil. This discovery will result in extensive development de-velopment in 1909.' Tn tho Grc3-bull field, in Big Horn count3 Alford Bros. & Lamb, tapped a natural gas .flow with a well that is producing millions of cubic feet of gas a day. The sumo concern will sink other wells and proposes to supply tho entiro Big Horn basin with heat and light. Dry and Wet Fantiiug. Until about two years ago, irrigation and agriculturo wero E3nononious in W3-omiug, but during tho past two years drj'.farming has taken firm root in tho statq and ia rapidly spreading. The present 3'car has seen several thousand eastern farmers settle in Laramie count', where dry farming is most suc-cossfuli' suc-cossfuli' practiced, and tho first crops these settlers produced, added to the largo yield obtained by those who began be-gan dr' farming a -oar, or two years, earlier," added materially to the agricultural agri-cultural products of tho sfale. But iu irrigation lies tho great future of agriculture in Wyoming, and it was to irrigation that tho stato 's growth of 3il0.000.000 worth of agricultural products during the present 3-ear was chiefly due. Thcro aro uo statistics covering tho classified production of crops in 190S. but tho estimate of $19,-000,000 $19,-000,000 worth is based on incompleto returns in 1907, when iho production was placed at; moro than $17,000,000 worth. The 190S estimate probabl' i$ cousid orably below tho actual 'aluo of I tho 3'ear's crops. Tho agricultural growth of the stato will bo much more rapid in 1909 than in 1903. and will increase in increased proportion each year thereafter, because of the completion of great irrigation projects now in courso of construction or projected. Probably within five years the crops of the state will have been doubled. Ton million acres of W3-oiuing is irrigable and u'nl' one-quarter one-quarter of this acreage has been put under ditch. Irrigation Projects. During tho prosvnt year much progress pro-gress has been made toward tho completion com-pletion of the federal North Plalto (Pathfinder) and Shoshone proiecis. Tho latter, which will water 1G0.U00 acres, ir Jtf per cent completed, and beforo be-foro the passage of another 3'car, probably prob-ably the entire tract will have been settled. Settlement of tho first 20,-000 20,-000 acres unit was begun this 3-car and tho greater part of this unit has been located and will be in crops next year. Splendid crops wore raised b' the earlier settlers this year. Of the 250,000 acres which, will bo waterod 1)3' the Pathfinder project, one-fifth one-fifth is now under cultivation, 20,000 acres having been seeded this yenr for tho first time. During tho present yc.iv work has progressed rapidly on tho Eden project, which will reclaim 120.000 acres in Sweetwater count-, aud several thousand thou-sand acres of the land has been watered and settled; tho Pole dam, which will conserve water for (30,000 acres in Con-verso Con-verso count', has boon beguu and will bo completed before spring; tho Wyo-mining Wyo-mining Development company has put 12,000 acres under ditch in Laramie county; the- Tnlmndc-Butin company has begun work on tho .Tames lako project, which will water 100.000 acres in Albany Al-bany county; tho Indians of .tho AVind L'ivbr reservation arc completing a bj-s-' torn which will irrigate 15.0U0 acres, and man3' thousands of acres have been brought under water by tho efforts oL smaller concerns and independent set- During thf present month Iho Wyoming Wyo-ming Central Irrigation company has completed surveys for a system which will reclaim 230,000 acres iu Fremont county, and work on-this system is to begin in tho spring. Tho main canal Tvin l.n :nn foot. wide, carry fourteen feet of water and follow Iho AVind Uiver bench for forty-five miles. Tho company already has a few thousand acres watered by an emergency ditch. Proiccts, on which work' will bogin during tho coming 3ear, aro tho Diamond Dia-mond Caltlo compain-, to water 7;,000 acres iu Albany county; Saratoga valley, val-ley, to water S3.000 acres in Carbon county; Fpper Cfreon Uiver, to water 50.000 ac,Tes in Unitah county; Carbon county, to water -10,000 acres in Carbon Car-bon and Albany counties, and aoveral scoro of lessor projects. A disappointment of tho present year was tho failure of tho Big Horn Basin Development company, which undertook under-took to reclaim 3G0.000 acres in Big Horn county through construction of the Oregon basin project. Tho company is now in tho hands of a receiver, but there is assurance that it will be reorganized re-organized and its great work, earned to'succcEsfnl completion. Livestock aud Wool. That tho revenue derived from tho livestock industry in AVyoming this year was onb' sufficient to givo tho industry third rank in importance, in- SiCau 01 Jlibl. 113 111 ,iv'"ui was due entirely to the depreciation in prices of shcep and wool. Other classifications class-ifications of livestock show an increase over 1907, while tho sheep and wool valuation fell sevonil million dollars below the 1907 record. Despite the disappointing financial returns from wool and mutton, Wyoming Wyo-ming during tho present year became the leading wool-producing stato of the union, surpassing Montana in both the weight of tho clip and in valuo of clip. In 1907 AVyoming lod iu weight of clip, but tho Montana clip sold for more mone' than that of this state. During tho shearing season of tho present j'ear, approximately -1,651,02$ sheep wero shorn in AVyoming, producing produc-ing 27.2l3.02i pounds of wool, the valuo of which was $6,00-1 ,081, or $1.-2U7,(5S9 $1.-2U7,(5S9 less than the valuo of the 1907 clip. During tho year 901,245 sheep and lambs havo been exported, bringing bring-ing to tho flockmnstors $:5,$43,012. Tho total derived by tho sheepmcu of tho stale from tho salo of sheep and wool during tho year was $9,8-17,125. j Tho exports of cattle froni AVyoming . during tho present year have been approximately ap-proximately 250.000' head, of tho value of $8,200,000, tho year's n.-i-oipta showing show-ing an iucrease of about $200,000 over those of 1907. At I ho closing of the vear there aro in tho stato probabb $50,000 head of cattle. Tho stato 's exports of horses during 1903 total about. 20.000 head, of the valuo of $4OD.O0O. Tho valuo of swine j exported during tho yoav is about $60,- 000, representing 6000 head. This brings tho total reviiiM- from tho livestock live-stock industry during J90S to $.18,507,-125. $.18,507,-125. Tho manufacturing establishments of j W'oming arc small and their output i limited, and the total value of their j products during tho year probably has , not exceeded $J00,U00. The largest , manufacturing concern in tho state, tli j titeol mills at Laramie, has been closed ! throughout the cut iro year, and when I a resumption of act ivity will take place is a matter not decided by tho bnion Pacific, which owns the plant. Railroad Construction. Only about 100 miles of railroad wero constructed in Wyoming this year. which was something of a disappointment, disappoint-ment, as iho year opened with promiso of much "moro extensive construction. It was believed at tho beginning at 1903 that the Burlington during, tho your would build a connecting link between be-tween its Big Horn Basin line and ita Guernsey Hue, which would havo involved in-volved the construction of about 300 miles of track, but this work was not done, and developments during tho present month raise a question US' to whuther it will over be dono, tho Burlington Bur-lington hnving secured control of tho Colorado & Southern, with tho probability proba-bility that tho latter line will bo extended ex-tended north to a connection with tho Billings line, instead of such a connection connec-tion being secured by tho extension of th'o Guernsey lino to a junction with tho Big Horn Bnsiiulino. Tho chief railroad construction in tho state during 1908 comprised tho completion of tho Union Pacific's Carr-Bonc Carr-Bonc cut-off, twenty miles; tho extension exten-sion of tho Laramie, Halm's Peak & Pacific to Albany, twent--four miles; the extension of" tho Saratoga & Encampment En-campment to Encampment, tWeut' miles and tho doublo tracking of the U'niOn Pacific, between Green Ttivcr nnd Granger, Gran-ger, thirty miles. Tho Carr-Boric cut-off connocis tho main line of tho Union Pacific at Borio, oloven miles wefit of Cheyenne, with the Cho3'enne-Dcnver lino at. Carr, twenty niilcs south of Choyonno. This cui-oft oliminates tho Athol hill grade, tho he.rvicst with which tho Union Pacific Pa-cific has contended in recent 3'care, and when tho track is placed in commission commis-sion at tho end of this year, freight traffic botweeu the west aud Donver and points south and ca6t of that place will no longer pass through Cheyenne. Tn fact, such traffic has not passed through Che.vcnne since early in tho present month, a leg of the Carr-Boric cut-off known as tho Carr-Corlctt cutoff, cut-off, and connecting tho main cut-Off with tho main line at Corlett. six miles west of Cheyenne, having been placed in commission early in December, and havhig been utilized for freight traffic during the past few days. The Carr-Corlett Carr-Corlett cut-off is primariij' intended f6r tho uo of only pasaengev trains and such freight shipments as pass between Denver aud Cheyenne and points north of tho latter plnce. Passenger trains from Denver to the main lino and viCo versa will not uso tho Cnrr-Borie cut off, but will run into Choyonno as hereto! here-to! ore, and then reach tho Donver lino via tho Carr-Corlett cut-off. Tho old lino over Athol hill, superceded by tho new cut-offs, has been abandoned and is to be torn up. , The extension of tho Larnmio, TIahn's Peak & Pacific to Albanj-, near tho AVyoming-Colorado boundary, provides but a section of this independent rail-way, rail-way, which is to bo extended into North Park, Colorado, as rapidly as construction can bo carried forward. Beforo tho ond of 1009 this railwaj' will have pvovidod an outlet for the vast coal measures of North Park, and will have opened up a soctiou of coun-tr- unsurpassed in Tidiness by an.v in tho Itocky Mountain region. A distinction distinc-tion of tho Laramio, llahn'a Peak & Pacific is that it will bo the first railroad rail-road over started in Wyoming and extended ex-tended into another state. Tho lino connects with tho Union Pacific at Laramie. Tho extension of tho Saratoga & Encampment En-campment to Encampment, gives a very rich mining section a rail outlot.-Tho outlot.-Tho SuratOga to Encampment is con-I con-I trolled by the Pclin-AVyoming Copper company, which owns tho smelter at Encampment and tho Forris-irafrirarty niino,, and ia entirely independent, its solo object being to connect the Encampment En-campment countr' with tho Union Pa-cilia Pa-cilia at AValcolt. Tho line is less thau si.vt.y miles iu length. The double tracking of tho Union Pacific between Green liiver and Granger Gran-ger is in line with the polic- of Uar-riman Uar-riman to ovcutuall- havo a double-track double-track railwa' from Omaha to Ogden. Several other sections of the AVyoming division of tho Union Pacific havo been doublo tracked in the past, the second tracking being so distributed as to come nt points whore there is the greatest great-est congestion of traffic. The Green River-Granger double track has not -et been placed in commission, some finishing fin-ishing touches remaining to be -ut before be-fore the second track can be utilized. Move By tho Burlington. By far the most important railroad development of the .year in W'oming is tho acquisition of the Colorado & Southern South-ern by the Burlington. The Colorado & Southern trackage in AVj-oming consists con-sists of only the 156 miles of line between be-tween Cheyenne and Orin Junction, but by the construction of thirty miles of track between Cheyenne and .Welling IH ton, Colo., the Wyoming line can be H connected with the main Colorado u. H Southern system, providing a direct out H let to tho Gulf of Galveston, Before' H the purchaso of tho Colorado & Southern H by tho Burlington the intention of the H latter road had been to build from i' H Guernsey lino, which terminates iu enst- jH ern AVyoming, to its Big Horn I3asn IH line, which terminates at Kirby, in tho IH north-central part of tho .state. This IH construction would have given a more IH direct route from tho cast to the north IH west thau that afforded bv -the H Billings linn. Bnt by extending the H newly acquired Colorado & Southern 1 from Orin Junction to Gillette, on the jH Billings line, a direct outlet- can b" IH secured to the northwest from both tin- jH Gulf and the east, nnd there seems h'- IH tie probability that Hill will not udon" lB this course, and probably abandon the H plans for the Guernse.y-Kirby connect- H 1 mg link. In connection with the direct H line from the cast and the Gulf to th 1 H northwest, the AVellingtou-Chcj'enue line ' tl must be constructed, and about fifteen M miles of line built to connect fro M Guernsey line with the Coloradp & M I Southern. The acquisition by tho Bin- H lington ot the Colorado & Southern ui" - H doubtcdlv means that the first great - - H railroad from Galveston into British H Columbia will pass through Wyoming H Shortly beforo the sale of the Colorado B & Southern tu the Burlington the formi B road made semi-official announcement H that it was its intention to build tho H Welirngton-Chcycnnc link and extend H from Orin Junction northward, but this H promised construction was considered . J more or less problematical, and the news - jBHH of the purchase of control of tho Colo jBBH rado & Southern by the Burlington wa- :BJBB welcome news in this state. VBI Tho extension of the Colorado ! Southern by the Burliugton is, of course, BBB tho most important Wyoming railroad BBBB probability for the coming year. The BBBB extension of the Laramie, Halm's Peak BBBI & Pacific into Colorado will be another BJBB important development, and the pos- 1 sible construction of a branch of the BABB Union' Pacific from Wamsutter into the BBB Steamboat Springs countrv- of Colorado B BB is a prospect of importance. A minor BAB1 prospect is that the Chicago & North- BAB1 western, during 1909, will build a MBAB fifteen-mile branch from its Lander line BJBI to Boyscn, tho outlet point for the Cop- BBBJ per Mountain and Willow Creek raining Bft districts. .