80 



east of tlio Rocky Moimtains is available, aud no reliable estimates liave been made 

 of the areas underlaid by workable coal beds. It has been surmised that the total 

 area of the coal-fields of this district is between 200,000 aud 300,000 square miles, but 

 this estimate is little more than a guess. 



The total production, exclusive of colliery consumption, in each State aud Terri- 

 tory, and corresponding value at the mines in 1886, are shown in the following 

 tables : 



States and Territories. 



Colorado — 

 "Wyoming .. 

 New Mexico 



Utali 



Montana — 

 Idaho 



Total . 



Total pro- 





duction not 



Value of 



including 



coal at 



colliery con- 



mines. 



sumption. 





Short tons. 



Dollars. 



1, 368, 338 



3, 215, 594 



829, 35.5 



2, 488, 065 



271, 285 



813, 855 



200, 000 



420, 000 



41,846 



174, 460 



1, 500 



6. 000 



2, 720, 324 



7, 117, 974 



In the Rocky Mountain region the production of coal is dependent exclusively upon 

 the demand of the local trade. This varies not only on account of the growth and 

 decline of the local industries, but upon the variable freight tariffs which have per- 

 mitted the importation to Rocky Mountain points of more distant and superior coals 

 at prices advantageous to the consumer. 



Colorado. — The general prosperity of Colorado in 1886 has in no way been better 

 shown than in the great development of the coal-fields of the State, although this 

 development w^as begun too late to show a very great increase in the production for 

 1886 over 1885. While the mines in the northeastern portion of the State have only 

 held their own, those of southeastern Colorado have materially increased their oitt- 

 put in response to the steadily increasing demand from points in western Kansas and 

 Nebraska. The greatest amount (>f new work has been done, however, west of Pitkin 

 and the Continental Divide, in w^hat is known as the Glenwood field. 



Noteworthy discoveries of coking coal have also been made in Gunnison County, on 

 Ohio Creek, and of anthracite of good quality, in a region where its existence has only 

 been suspected — the basalt-covered tract southwest of Hahn's Peak, in Routt County. 

 The more remote coal-fields, although known to jiroduce excellent coals of varying qual- 

 ities, have been hitherto neglected, because of the remote prospect of railway com- 

 munication, which is necessary to bring their j)roduct into competition with that 

 from well-opened mines. 



The great activity in railway building in the direction of Garfield, Routt, and Pit- 

 kin Counties has spurred on the work of opening the coal beds in these counties, in 

 order to meet the demand which the comx)letion of the three railways now being built 

 in that direction will bring. The superior quality of the coke made from the coal from 

 themines inPitkin and Garfield Counties, and the accessibility, low altitude, and thick- 

 ness of the beds in the anthracite districts of Routt Couuty will meet a commercial 

 demand from the smelting aud manufacturing centers of Colorado, aud also from 

 those in the adjoining States and Territories. 



Total product of mines operated in the interest of railways iu Colorado for 1886 w^as 

 1,115,267 tons; increase of 0.7 per cent, over 1885. The increase in railway produc- 

 tion is very slight indeed. The coal area has been variously estimated at from 20,000 

 to 50,000 square miles. The known and partially developed coal-fields cover about 

 1,000 square miles, while the area of the Laramie, Fox Hills, and Colorado cretaceous 

 formations, which are coal-bearing, comprises about one-third of the surface of the 

 State, or approximately 35,000 square miles. 



