CHAPTER VI 



ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 



By George 11. Eldridge. 



SECTION I.— COAL. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BASIN. 



The date of the discovery of coal in Colorado can not be authenticated, 

 but it was probably prior to 1860, actual mining- operations having been 

 traced back to this year. The location 1 is said to have been on Coal 

 (upper Sand) Creek, in T. 4 S., R. '>"> W., at a prominent lignite outcrop 

 still visible in the north bank of the creek between 1 and 2 miles above the 

 mouth of Murphy Creek. 



Among the earliest producers were the Marshall mines, in operation in 

 L863, assuming importance in 1865; the Murphy mine, on Ralston Creek; 

 and the mines at Golden, discovered in L861-62. The product of these 

 mines for the years 1864-1869, inclusive — the earliest record attainable — is 

 reported as follows: 



Coal product of Marshall, Murphy, and Golden mines, Colorado, 1864-1869. 



Short toDs. 



1864 500 



1865 1.200 



1866 6, 400 



1S67 17, 000 



1868 10, 500 



1869 s. (i(«i 



1 Geol. Survey of the Territories, F. V. Hay den, Report for 1873, p. 121. 



317 



