Some Montana Coal Felds. — Rowe. 3"/2> 
valuable natural product. The geologic age of the lignite- beds 
in this county is undoubtedly Xeocene, probably White river. 
Ravalli County. 
This county, with Hamilton as its county seat located on a 
spur of the Northern Pacific Ry., lies directly south of Missoula 
county. It has in its southern part some of the best lignite de- 
posits in the state. They are nearly all easily accessible and the 
beds range from a few inches to 12 to 14 feet in thickness. 
One of the best of these southern fields is found on Coal creek, 
and measures T3 feet in thickness. This property has been 
worked to some extent. The material and geological formation 
is practically the same as found in Missoula county. 
Teton County. 
Here is found some Cretaceous coal of a semi-bituminous 
nature, a few miles south and west of the town of Chouteau — 
between the 112th and 113th meridians W., and the 47th and 
48th parallels N. This outcrop is just north of the northern fields 
in Lewis and Clarke county, and at the eastern base of the 
Rocky mountains. 
Granite Comity. 
This county is crossed by the Northern Pacific Ry. which 
has a spur from Drummond to Philipsburg ; the latter town is 
located at the head of Hellgate valley and is the county seat 
of Granite county. There are man}' mines in this region but 
none yield a good grade of coal. The writer visited several 
mines and saw many samples, all of which were lignite. A 
great deal of prospecting is being done here, but the valley is 
an old Neocene lake bed and part of the lignite is undoubtedly 
Miocene vegetation. The lignite is a poorer grade than found 
in Ravalli and Missoula counties, and has a dull lustre and is 
quite friable. The mines in this county are near Drummond, 
a small town on the main line of the Northern Pacific Ry. ; 
New Chicago, a small town up the valley from Drummond ; 
Hall, a station on the Philipsburg branch, and Philipsburg. 
Much work at all of these places has been done during the past 
year, but none of the material lias yet paid for the digging. 
Professor N. H. Winchell, during the past summer, visited 
some of the new coal prospects south of New Chicago and 
thinks the formation Jura-Trias. The Cretaceous occurs high- 
