THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 83 
The traveler has now passed the axis of the great Pryor Mountain 
anticline, which brings to light the Colorado shale south of Billings, 
and the rocks dip gently and regularly toward the west. Under the 
influence of this westward dip the shale (Colorado) visible in the bluffs 
on the south side of the river soon passes below water level, and the 
cliffs of sandstone (Eagle) on the north begin to approach the rail- 
way. Near milepost 20 the cliff is about 2 
miles distant and consists of three beds of 
sandstone with intervening shale or soft sand- 
stone, as shown in figure 11. As the dip is 
low, only about 10°, the Eagle 
sandstone approaches the 
river slowly, but at milepost 
25 it can be seen in the hills 
on the south side of the river. 
The top of the sandstone passes below water 
level at a siding called Youngs Point, beyond Park City (see 
sheet 14, p. 86), and here about 300 feet of shale and another 
sandstone immediately overlying the Eagle are visible across the 
river. These beds make up the lower part of the Claggett forma- 
tion, which dips gently westward and gradually disappears be- 
neath water level. At milepost 32 all the white sandstone has 
passed from view and the hill slopes are comprised of the oyer- 
Park City. 
Elevation 3,410 feet. 
Population 903.* 
St. Paul 915 miles. 
11.—Eagle sandstone 
FIGURE 
north of Park City, Mont. 
lying Judith River formation. 
to a section measured in the bluffs on 
the east side of Rock Creek in and be- 
low the town of Red Lodge and in the 
mine workings there is 90 feet of coal in 
beds 3 feet or more in thickness. The 
beds vary greatly in size, being thicker 
near Red Lodge than in any other part of 
the field so far explored, but the quality 
is somewhat better about Bear Creek, in 
the eastern part. 
These coal beds (in the Fort Union for- 
mation) are made up of the same sort of 
vegetation as the great lignite beds of 
North Dakota, but being nearer to the 
mountains the coal is of much better qual- 
ity, for the reason given on page 71. The 
coal beds dip from 10° to 20° toward the 
southwest, or into the mountain, which is 
separated from the coal field by an im- 
mense fault. 
Although mining at Red Lodge was be- 
gun before 1882, it was conducted on a 
small scale until 1889, when railway con- 
nection was established and some large 
This formation has no decided 
mines opened. Since then the field has 
been developed steadily until now it is 
first in point of production in the State. 
The coal production of Carbon County, 
which includes the Red Lodge field, in 
1913 amounted to 1,304,524 short tons. 
It is estimated that the amount of coal 
in the Red Lodge field before mining be- 
gan was 1,691,800,000 short tons. If from 
this is deducted 12,544,796 short tons, the 
ee | 4 * Lge ea A anf 1012 (‘th 
. 
latest statistics yet compiled), and about 
4,000,000 tons that was rendered unayail- 
able through mining operations, there 
would still remain about 1,675,000,000 
short tons. Not all of this can be regard 
as minable, for in mining some coal is 
practice only from 60 to 80 per cent of — 
the coal in the ground is mined, but as 
methods improve more and more of the 
coal will become available. 
