242 



POTEST AND STREAM. 



[April 22, 1886. 



RAILROAD ROUTES TO THE CLARK'S FORK MINES. 



A BOOM FOR COOKE CITY. 

 rpHESE are great days for Cooke. That inconsiderable 

 and almost wholly undeveloped mining camp is broughtt 

 into undeserved prominence by the project to build a raS'- 

 ioad to it from Cinnabar, the end of the Northern Patiufe 

 Park line, up the Yellowstone River to the East Fork., and 

 up that and Soda Butte Creek almost to the divide. What 

 the mines at tne head of Clark's Fork may contain m> living 

 man knows to day. We have seen specimens of ore; said 

 .to be from this region, that were enormously inch, buiE 

 whether they came from these mines or not we- are unable to 

 say. Ore specimens are not difficult to obtain* in the West- 

 ern country, and there never was a prospec&or yet who lacked 

 specimens to show that his mine was Gee of tke most valu- 

 able ever discovered. Cooke City has been fortunate in that 

 a number of prominent men are interested in the mines on 

 the head of Clark's Fork, and they have brought to bear on 

 Congress influences which have resulted in a favorable re- 

 port by committees in the Senate and the House of Repre- 

 sentatives on a bill to. grant the right of way to a railroad 

 through the Park.. The rights of the people are thus most 

 seriously threatened. 



The practicability of this route is not r so far as we have 

 been able to learn, vouched for by any disinterested person. 

 On the other hand, we have the testimony of Mr. Arnold 

 Hague, of the TJ. S. Geological Survey, who has examined 

 the Third Canon of the Yellowstone River, that it is ex- 

 tremely rough, and that the construction of a railroad, 

 through it would be attended with very great difficulties.. * 

 Such a road even if constructed would be a mere side line;, 

 having no traffic except what it might draw from the mines-;, \ 

 and it is as yet wholly uncertain whether this would be mach: | 

 or little, whether it would or would not justify the constem--! 

 tion of this line. j 



So far as actual business possibilities go, any one of the 

 routes on the east side of the range, i. e , the Stillwater, the 

 Rocky Fotrk, or the Clark's Fork lines, is much more 

 favorable. The Stillwater route would tap the mines at the 

 foot of Hemderson Mountain, would open up a fine grazing 

 country, amd a region producing coal, marble and gypsum, 

 but would not for the present have much local traffic. The 

 Rocky Fork route would develop a coal region and would 

 tap all the mines of the district. The Clark's Fork route, 

 after running for about eighty miles over a level prairie, 

 where the cost of construction would be very slight, would 

 turn ^p tbe river, and, passing above the canon, proceed to 

 the mines. From this it would bring down their ore, and it 

 would be an easy route for the tourists who might wish to 

 ■visit the wonderful Hoodoo country. It would open up a 

 great stretch of valuable agricultural and grazing country 

 into which settlers would pour as soon as permitted by the 

 Government. A spur to Rocky Fork would develop the 

 •excellent coal mines of that region. Another spur to the 

 south would reach the new petroHeum fields of Wyoming, 

 whose development promises such rich results. The road 

 would not be dependent on the possible results of mining at 

 the head of Clark's Fork. It would have a far more certain, 

 substantial and enduring source of revenue than this. 



General Anderson, of the Northern Pacific R. R., is quoted 

 vas stating that there is no practicable route to those mines 

 .from the east side of the range; but General Anderson has 

 never in person been over the ground referred to, nor, so far 

 as we can learn, have any of his subordinates'. The U. S. 

 topographical surveys have been over the ground and their 

 reports speak of slight divides or easy passes between the 

 heads of Soda Butte Creek and Clark's Fork, and the same 

 is true of the heads of Soda Butte and of Stillwater. 



We print this week another map of the region under dis- 



cussion, showing the results of rough surveys of the three 

 routes on the east side of the range, with the approximate 

 lines to be followed and the length of each. As we have 

 already pointed out, the Stillwater line can be still further 

 extended up that stream to the foot of Henderson Mountain. 

 These plattings are the results of a careful examination of 

 the ground, and will be found to be approximately correct. 



There seems to be a very fair prospect that a road up 

 Clark's Fork will be built, whether the Cinnabar & Clark's 

 Fork Railroad obtains its right of way or not. Articles of 

 incorporation for the Billings, Clark's Fork & Cooke City 

 Railroad were recently filed at Billings by Messrs. Thomas 

 Hanlon, Philip M. Gallaher and Geo. B. Hulme, of Billings; 

 Geo. V. Sims, of New York, and Henry Kelley, of Phila- 

 delphia. The capital stock of the corporation is $1,000,000 

 in 10,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. This corpor- 

 ation has its engineer now in the field making surveys, and 

 it is stated that the work will be pushed forward as rapidly 

 as possible. Another road is projected up Stillwater, and 

 surveyors have been at work along this line. 



Under any circumstances, therefore, it seems probable that 

 Cooke will have its railroad, and on this point the capitalists 

 of that district and their friends in Congress may feel 

 easy in their minds. The development of the region does 

 not call for the giving away by Congress of a portion of the 

 people's pleasure ground. That must not be tampered with, 

 must not be taken away from those to whom it belongs, to 

 put dollars into the pockets of a few men. The region must 

 not be thrown open so that, as was the case last year, a lot 

 of people can rush in and stake out coal claims all over one 

 of the most beautiful and interesting portions of the Park. 

 The game and the timber, now so abundant along the East 

 Fork, must not be handed over to the tender care of the hide 

 hunter, the tie chopper and the charcoal burner. 



The Park must be preserved. 



