and massive, with no appearance of a vein or "lead," would apply very well to the localities I afterward examined on South Boulder and Rock creeks, Colorado, and I imagine the ores of the two districts are of the same character. I was afterward directed by two other old explorers of these regions to the same locality, as the only one where they had observed any iron ores, and another pointed out the same district as containing coal also. It therefore appears to be the most promising spot for subsequent explorations north of the stage route.* At several other localities in the plains there are reports of coal being found. Somewhere on Lodge Pole creek it is actually worked, to a small extent, for supplying in the winter the stage stations near the mouth of this stream. There is also a bed in the plains about seven miles north from the stage road, between Laporte and Latham. This I endeavored to find, but there was no road to it and the country was covered with snow. A number of these localities are designated upon the map on both sides the Black Hills, as also north of the range on a small branch of the north fork of the Platte, known as Trading-house creek. They indicate satisfactorily the great extent of the area over which beds of coal may be sought with good prospect of finding it. It has been supposed that a bed of it might be found in the black shales exposed along the road eight miles south from Laporte, but the few imperfect fossils I found here discourage this expectation, as they are referred by Professor Hall to the tertiary formation. It is only in the vicinity of Denver, which affords a market for this fuel, that beds of it are worked to any extent. On Coal creek and on South Boulder creek, both about 22 miles north from this town, a number of beds are opened on the former creek, about 14 miles east from the base of the mountains, and on the latter within three miles of it. On Coal creek the outcrop of the coal is at the base of a high hill or ridge, rising back toward the east, and washed at its foot by the creek, which seems to have excavated its bed for some distance in the soft materials of the coal and of the fire-clay beds that underlie and overlie it. One of the openings commences at the base of this ridge in a heavy body of blue fire-clay, which forms the roof of the coal; and penetrating this, passes into the coal bed itself, which presents a thickness of five feet ten inches pure coal, with no mixture of slate. The tunnel has been carried in over one hundred feet, and for this distance the strata are seen to incline at a gentle dip not exceeding 20 or 30 toward the north. The coal is of a brilliant jet black, and is easily mined in large lumps, which appear to be firm and sound. I am informed, however, that after exposure a few weeks to the air, the lumps crumble to fine coal, and for this reason no large stock of it is kept in the coal-yards at Denver. Should the coal not be found to improve in this respect when mined to greater depths, or in other beds not yet opened, there may be difficulties in applying it to the smelting of iron ore, from the small particles clogging the furnace; it may also work to disadvantage in locomotives by sifting through the grate bars. The coal seems to contain but little bitumen, burning with little smoke, no unpleasant odor, and a yellow flame. It does not melt or coke, and, however high the draught, produces no clinker. The ashes of most of the beds are usually white and bulky. A blacksmith, who uses it, informed me that he can obtain a welding heat with it in a forge, but with difficulty. Sulphur is observed in it in small quantity in the form of exceedingly thin disks of iron pyrites disseminated through the seams. Particles of mineral rosin are much more abundant, scattered through the coal, the pieces being of the size of pinheads. Several other beds of coal bave been discovered in the same vicinity; and one of these, a few rods to the southeast from the point already described,

*On referring to the report of Captain Stansbury since the above was written, I find on the closing page the following remarks respecting the locality: "In the bed of the Chugwater, and on the sides of the adjacent hills, were found immense numbers of rounded black nodules of magnetic iron ore, which seemed of unusual richness."

H. Ex Doc. 253-4

is worked to some extent. This coal bed appears to be an upper one, but though so near the other it has an entirely different dip, which is about 18° east. It is in two positions, the upper being seven feet thickness of coal, separated from the lower, which is 4 feet thick by a stratum of dark blue fire-clay 18 inches thick. The fire-clay appears to be of excellent quality for the manufacture of fire-brick. The mine is worked by following the coal-bed down the slope, and the coal is drawn up on cars by a capstan. No trouble is experienced from water, though the opening already extends about 100 feet under the hill. The other bed also is dry. I found the workmen attempting to coke the coal of the second bed described, which they thought possessed a better coking quality than that of the other bed. The coke, though very inferior, and obtained only in small pieces, was purchased by the blacksmiths around in preference to the raw coal. A strong fuel, such as good coke, is of great value in this region, as is shown by the fact of its transportation all the way from Kansas to the machine shops at Central City, in the Colorado gold region, where more than 100 tons of it have already been consumed, at a cost of $160 per tou.

The strata accompanying the coal-beds differ in some respects, so far as I could see them, from the strata of the true coal formation. There was the same variety of fire-clay, but the beds of it under the coal contained none of the stigmarial everywhere else found in this position. I saw no stems and leaves of ferns, but in the fire-clay, over the coal, I obtained imperfect fragments of blackened deciduous leaves. Clay-iron stone in nodules and layers occurs in the fire-clay. I was told of two layers, together 18 inches thick in depth of fire-clay. I saw no beds of black shale, nor are any of limestone found in this formation; a few feet above the upper coal-bed is a crumbly standstone of a light gray color. On the extension of this ridge, 24 miles further north, I examined some ledges which projected through the snow, the position of which I judge is over the coal, and not very far from it. These are thin bedded sandstones of yellowish color, and other layers more compact of bluish shade. The latter contained fossil shells, the substance of which is sometimes well preserved. They are recognized by Professor Hall as belonging to the genera cardium, cucullea, maetra, nucula, tellina, and ammonite; thus designating the formation to be as old as the cretaceous period. The deciduous leaves in the fire-clay determine the coal, or rather lignite beds, as belonging to the same formation.

The other coal district is in the hills along South Boulder creek, only 2 miles from the base of the Rocky mountains. Several beds have been opened, and two of them are worked for the supply of the Denver market. This locality also affords an abundance of iron ores, and has been selected for the establishment of the first blast furnace erected in the Territory. This is nearly completed, and will probably go into operation in March. The principal coal-bed is opened a few rods southeast from the furnace, and has been worked 100 feet down a slope of about 100 from the horizontal toward the east. The bed is 12 feet thick, almost uniform in quality, with no intermixture of slate, and presents a beautiful appearance in the brilliant lustre of the coal. A little sulphur (pyrites) may here be detected in the seams. It was from this bed that the first specimen analyzed by Dr. Torrey, whose report accompanies this, was obtained.

A second bed is opened about half a mile from the furnace towards Denver. Though further from the mountains, this bed is nearly vertical; it is about 7 feet thick, and has been worked to the depth of 50 feet, the coal being raised by means of a horse-whim.

A third bed, 3 to 4 feet thick, just opened on the north side of the next hill, east from the first-named coal-bed, is found to be nearly horizontal at its outcrop. This promises to afford coal of a firmer quality than is obtained from the beds heretofore worked.

Other beds are known in this vicinity; and both here and at Coal creek some

of them, I was informed, are consumed by fire, caused, it is supposed, by spontaneous combustion, produced by oxidation of the pyrites in the coal.

The fire-clay beds contain the clay iron-stone, as on Coal creek, but no attempts have been made to ascertain its quantity or quality, and I could not anywhere see it in place. The dependence of the furnace is upon irregular deposits of a shelly hematite, locally known as "top-hill ore," found scattered over the summits, ends, and slopes of many of the ridges which border South Boulder creek and Rock creek. These deposits extend to a depth of only one to three feet, and as they evidently do not form a part of the strata in the hills, it is impossible to make any estimate of the quantity of ore they will afford.

One can judge only from seeing numbers of acres thus covered that supplies may be obtained for one or more blast furnaces for several years; but extended observations would be necessary before positively asserting that large works could be supported from this source. The ore is found in pieces of all sizes, up to masses of half a ton weight, and large quantities of it are so fine that it would have to be collected for the furnace by screening.

There is scarcely any intermixture of foreign stony materials in these deposits. The quality of the ore is generally pretty good, though the larger masses are not so fine grained and pure as the smaller ore. I should judge that an average of three tous would be required to make a ton of iron. The ore is in excellent condition for the blast furnace, its long exposure at the surface having prepared it for smelting almost as thoroughly as if it had been roasted. Its unusual mode of occurrence, unconnected with the strata in the hills, was for some time a source of perplexity; and it seemed necessary to explain it correctly in order to judge better of the probability of the ore being found in large quantities in other places on the range of these formations. On examining the country up to the base of the mountains, I discovered what I believe is the true explanation. At the distance of two and a half miles from the mines, the marginal ridge, already noticed, rises suddenly with a very steep face and dip of its strata, as represented in the section. The surface at its foot is covered with large, rounded boulders from the granite rocks of the mountains. Some, also, are of the red sandstones and conglomerates of the outer ridge. They decrease in size and numbers towards the east, indicating the movement in that direction of vast bodies of water or ice. These, together with the evidences of denudation I had observed further north-evidently not referable to the diluvial or drift formation-appeared to me as more strongly-marked evidences of glacial action than I had ever before seen. The extension of this over the hills near the furnace must have excavated the soft beds, of which they are in great part composed, and the light, clayey materials of the strata containing the iron ores being swept away by currents of water, these, by their weight, were left behind, and are now found spread over the surface of the hills. By long exposure they have been oxidized and converted from the clay iron-stone, or "blue-core ore," as it is here called, into the shelly hematite. Such a derivation of the ore, if correct, must itself make the quantity in any locality always uncertain. Found as it is, it is collected and delivered at the furnace at a cost of $3 per ton, making about $9 to the ton of iron.

Most of the materials required for constructing and supplying blast furnaces are found in great abundance at this locality. Sandstone of superior quality for building is quarried from extensive ledges that outcrop on the summit of a ridge within a few rods of the furnace. Blocks of it of uniform thickness are obtained of any desired size. It presents a fine apperance when cut, as seen in the small furnace, which is built of stone thus prepared. The fire-clay beds afford material for fire brick with which the furnace is lined, and stones, supposed to be sufficiently refractory, found near by, are used for the hearth and boshes of the furnace. An excellent limestome, both for mortar and flux, is found in a little ridge close at the foot of the marginal sandstone hill, along the

edge of the mountains, the position and form of which are indicated in the scction. In the quarries just opened into this rock I was so fortunate as to find a few well-marked fossil shells, which will probably determine the age of this formation, as well as of what I believe to be the same limestone before described as occurring on both sides of the Black hills. Good clay for common brick is abundant throughout this region. It is largely worked about Denver, where bricks are sold for $8 to $10 per thousand. On Rock creek, a few miles from the furnace, at the crossing of the road to Denver, an establishment has been in operation for the manufacture of coarse articles of pottery. It is, however, now abandoned. The fuel with which it is intended to supply the furnace is charcoal, made from the pines of the mountains. The owners of the works, requiring only a moderate supply of good iron for their foundry and machineshop at Central City, are not disposed to try experiments at once with the mineral coal so near at hand. They estimate the cost of charcoal at the furnace at 10 cents per bushel. The wood is cut by contract at $1 per cord, which is about 3 cents to the bushel of coal. The coaling will cost 3 to 4 cents per bushel, and the hauling the remainder. A difficulty is experienced in making charcoal in this region from the want of good turf for covering the pits. The light soil of the prairies or gravel of the mountains soon falls through among the wood when this is fired. The furnace, owned by Messrs. Langford, Lee & Marshall, is a very small stack, of daily capacity of only 4 or 5 tons of pig iron. It is 20 feet square at base, 22 feet high, and 7 feet diameter at the boshes. The hearth is 5 feet high and 18 inches diameter. It is intended to work the furnace with cold blast, and the consumption of charcoal will probably be from 250 to 300 bushels to the ton of iron. The cost of fuel in this case will be from $25 to $30, while that of ore, as above stated, may be rated at $9. The cost of the limestone for flux will probably not exceed 50 cents, and the remaining items of labor, repairs, &c., may be estimated at about $7. The total cost will probably be about $45 per ton of pig metal. In large establishments the expenses would be less, especially if the raw mineral coal could be substituted. wholly or in part for the charcoal. The quantity of fuel, too, would be diminished by the use of the hot blast. The prairie country bordering the mountain toward the east, which presents the same geological and topographical features through Colorado to the north fork of the Platte river, will no doubt be found to afford, throughout this extent, similar resources for the support of a population dependent upon agricultural and manufacturing pursuits. Though deficient in forests, the lack of wood will be compensated by the abundant supplies of mineral coal, the existence of which has already been detected, even to the southern portions of Colorado. In that region there are also found springs of petroleum, and the manufacture of kerosene oil is already carried on to small extent, near Cañon City, for the supply of the Denver market.

The agricultural resources of the prairies are somewhat limited by the extreme dryness of the climate. Rain seldom falls, and were it not for the never-failing supplies of water in the numerous streams running from the snowy central range of the Rocky mountains, the country would be an uninhabitable desert. Yet the soil is in great part fertile, warm and mellow, and abounds in gypsum and salts of soda, which appear upon the surface in the form of a white incrustation resembling frost. This is particularly abundant around the edges of dried-up ponds. The alkaline salts affect the waters of many of the wells, rendering them nauseous to the taste and unwholesome, and mixing with the dust of the roads, this is said to be in the summer season very injurious to the eyes of travellers. It is remarkable, that notwithstanding the want of rain, no great trouble is experienced over the plains for the want of water at the ranches and stations along the roads. I crossed the Platte river at Fort Kearney in October, over its dry sandy bed, and yet the wells along the valley contained abundant water, and in general they were not twenty feet deep, their bottoms

not reaching to the level of the stream. It is difficult to explain from whence these supplies are derived. The dryness of the soil renders irrigation necessary for its successful cultivation, and this is already practiced to a considerable extent in Colorado after the system of the Mexicans, which consists in the excavation of acequias or ditches, often several miles in length, by which the water of the streams taken out at an upper level is carried at this elevation past the farming lands, over which it is let out as occasion requires by tapping the acequias at any desired points. The cultivation is thus limited to lands lying below the level of the acequias; and such lands are met with of considerable extent along most of the streams, spreading out to great width, even before these have fairly emerged from the mountains. Very productive and extensive farms thus situated are seen running up among the basaltic hills on Clear creek, and similar improvements extend all along this stream to its mouth below Denver. The streams north of it, so far as and including the Cache à Poudre, afford the same advantages for cultivation of the soil, and along most of them the lands are occupied in continuous lines of farms. In the newness of the country, which has been occupied only two or three years, the crops are limited to a few of the most necessary articles. Flour being supplied to the Territory from the States and New Mexico, the cultivation of wheat is not so important as of the more bulky articles, which will not pay for transportation from such distances. Some wheat, however, is raised, and the crop is a successful one. But attention is chiefly directed to procuring the large supplies of hay, corn, oats, and vegetables, required by the numerous gold-mining population in the mountains. The hay being made from the wild prairie grass, its supply is limited only, by the amount of labor employed in cutting and stacking it; still, owing to an overstock of it the previous year, the quantity put up in 1863 has proved too small for the demands of the country, increased as they are by the extraordinary accumulations of snow, which, covering the plains, cut off the herds of cattle and horses, with which the country is abundantly stocked, from their accustomed support by grazing during the winter. This, together with theobstructed condition of the roads, caused the price of hay in December last to rise to $105 per ton at the gold mines. Corn, which is a good crop, and may be raised to any extent along the streams, was worth at the same time nine or ten cents per pound. Potatoes are produced in abundance, as also onions, cabbages, and many other vegetables; but in this unpropitious season the prices. of all these range very high. Onions are raised with scarcely any of the labor attending their cultivation in the States, yet they were from ten to twelve cents a pound. They grow so luxuriantly that a single one often weighs more than a pound. Such prices cannot be sustained in a favorable season, and particularly when the country is supplied with a more numerous agricultural population. It is an important question, whether the cultivation of these prairies is always to be limited to those portions capable of being irrigated only by the system. now in use. The mountains, it appears, are abundantly provided with water, derived chiefly from the melting of the snows in the great Central Range. A large part of this. without doubt, penetrates under the stratified rocks, which on both sides dip away from the mountains. These waters probably flow in underground channels far from the mountains, and if tapped by artesian wells sunk down to them, they might reasonably be expected to rise to the surface in neverfailing springs. The stratification of the country is certainly remarkably encouraging to such an enterprise; and another inducement to its prosecution would be the discovery of the mineral beds, whatever they may be, beneath the surface. This would be a certain and most economical method of determining the existence or non-existence of beds of coal in localities where it might be especially desirable to obtain this fuel. Artesian wells must at some time be exceedingly useful at Laramie plains, which are not so well watered as the country east of the mountains. These plains, hitherto entirely uncultivated,