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GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



and have a few hours to examine the shearing plant which stands 

 just north of the station, he might change his mind, for this is the 

 center of a large sheep industry. It is said that 100,000 sheep were 

 sheared at this plant during the season of 1916 and that many sheep 

 were turned away. 



It must be remembered, however, that the sheep sheared here do 

 not depend upon this immediate vicinity for their pasture, for the 

 sheep herder wanders with his flock during the summer into the 

 high country of the San Rafael Swell (see PI. LXXXVI. A) and 

 in the winter seeks the protection of the lower valleys. The sheep 

 would soon starve on a small area, but there is much open range — 

 that is. unfenced Government land — in this country and by constant 

 migration the sheep do well. 



From the vicinity of Mounds the traveler may see that the Book 

 Cliffs, which he has been following, continue northward only a few 

 miles beyond the mine at Sunnyside, which generally can be located 

 by its smoke, and there swing to the northwest to the head of Price 

 Eiver. near Helper, and there again change their course to a direc- 

 tion a little west of south — that is. they encircle the north end of 

 the San Rafael Swell. The name Book Cliffs, however, is applied 

 only to the part that lies east and north of the Denver & Rio Grande 

 Western Railroad ; the part that lies south of the railroad is known 

 as the edge of the Wasatch Plateau. All these features can readily 

 be seen from the train in the vicinity of Mounds. 



Sunnyside branch, about 18 miles east 

 of Mounds. Two beds of bituminous 

 coking coal, separated by 5 to 25 feet 

 of sandstone and shale, are mined here. 

 The lower and thicker coal bed ranges 

 in thickness from 5 to 14 feet and the 

 upper bed from 3 to 6 feet. 



Mine development has been rapid 

 and continuous since the beginning, 

 and now the workings cover several 

 square miles. An electric plant fur- 

 nishes power for hoists and hauling 

 motors, and light for town and mines. 

 Power is also carried by a high-voltage 

 line eastward over the mountain into 

 Range Creek, a distance of 5 miles, 

 where it drives pumps which deliver 

 all the water used at Sunnyside for 

 domestic purposes and for steam boil- 

 ers. The daily output of the mines is 

 about 2,500 tons of coal, most of which 

 is converted into coke in beehive ovens. 



The coke and coal are hauled by 

 " locals " from the mines to Helper, 

 where through freight trains are made 

 up. Most of the coke from Sunnyside 

 is shipped to the smelter at Anaconda, 

 Mont 



The coal at Sunnyside and through- 

 out the Book Cliffs has been generally 

 burned at the outcrop, producing a 

 reddish color in the associated rocks. 

 The burning has advanced inward 

 along the coal bed at many points for 

 more than 1,000 feet and beneath 

 l.CMX) feet of overlying material. The 

 mine workings at Sunnyside have in 

 several places surrounded the burned- 

 out areas, thus showing the extent of 

 the burning. The fire has penetrated 

 the coal farther on the points of ridges 

 between drainage channels than it did 

 where the coal outcrop crosses the 

 stream courses. 



