362 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



The geological notes of Dr. C. M. Hines, in the same report, mention 

 beds of lignite in a number of sections in the same country ; the thick- 

 nes.'s and quality of the material are not given. He says, however, of the 

 beds on Tullock's Creek, that the lignite in this vicinity approaches 

 more nearly to coal, and, the beds increase in depth ; of those of Clear 

 Fork of Powder Eiver, that the outcrop of lignite is of better quality 

 than any before seen, and that for some distance above the first camp 

 on the Clear Fork to the junction with Powder Eiver proper, there is a 

 thick outcrop of lignite of the depth of 6 feet and upward, somewhat 

 resembling Cumberland coal, but of looser texture and containing less 

 bitumen. Eight miles below the camp, this coal was seen to be on fire. 

 Considerable smoke issued therefrom, having a strong sulphurous smell. 

 " The heat at this point was so intense that we could not stand with com- 

 fort within 20 feet from whence the smoke issued. A thick layer of 

 sandstone lying immediately above it was completely calcined." 



Passing from the northern part of the Lignitic to its southern division, 

 extending along the base of the Kocky Mountains from the Black Hills 

 to JSTew Mexico, we have, especially on the lines of the different rail- 

 roads, detailed records on the coal-strata, mostly made with care by 

 competent geologists. I have already quoted the most interesting of 

 these reports : Notes on the Geology from Smoky Hill River to Eio 

 Grande, by Dr. John Leconte, February, 1862, soon followed by the 

 preliminary report of Dr. F. V. Hayden, on the United States Geolog- 

 ical Survey of Colorado and ]^ew Mexico, 1869. As my own explora- 

 tions have been directed on about the same ground surveyed by these 

 geologists, I shall now make use of my own notes on the distribution of 

 the coal, using, however, former reports, either for comparison or for 

 references for the sections of country which I have not visited. 



§ 2. The New Mexico Lignitic BAsm. 



In the Eaton and south of these mountains. Dr. F. V. Hayden* men- 

 tions, near the toll-gate south of Trinidad, a bed of coal 4 feet thick, of 

 excellent quality.t Near the Vermejo Creek, six beds of coal are 

 marked in a section of the same report, one of the beds from 6 to 10 

 feet thick, and another, the lowest, 4 feet. Dr. Hayden remarks that 

 the coal of that vicinity is equal to any ever discovered west of the 

 Missouri River, except that of the Placiere Mountains of New Mexico. 

 Of this last bed, which has been partly transformed into anthracite by 

 the immediate contact of a large dike of volcanic rocks, this geologist 

 gives a detailed section, marking its thickness at 5 to 6 feet on the 

 northwest side of the Placiere Mountains, at a distance from the dike 

 and where the lignite has not as yet been disturbed and changed by 

 heat. At another place in contact to the dike, the lignite (anthracite) 

 is a little more than 3 feet thick. Of this same bed Dr. Leconte has a 

 section {loc. cit.) indicating 4 feet of anthracite, with a lower bed of the 

 same material, of which 14 inches only could be seen, the bottom being 

 covered. In his report, too, for the survey of the Union Pacific Eail- 

 way, the same geologist mentions : First. A bed of lignite 3 feet thick, 

 4 miles south of the toll-gate of the Eaton Pass. Second. Another bed, 

 8 feet thick, five miles southwest of the same place. Third. The lignite- 

 beds of the Vermejo Caiiou, visited with General Palmer, where, in a 

 section of 275 feet, we find marked two beds of partly poor coal, 

 respectively 10 and 15 feet thick, and two beds of excellent lignite, each 



* Geological Report, 1869. 



t This coal is also reported by Dr. ijeconte ; Notes on the Geolosty, Sec, p, 21. 



