COAL   NEAR   CRAZY    MOUNTAINS,   MONTANA.  85 
around  gopher  holes.  Three  miles  farther  along  the  outcrop,  in 
Widdicombe  Brothers'  80-acre  field  in  sec.  17,  T.  6  N.,  R.  16  E.,  a 
coal  bloom  was  seen  at  the  point  where  a  small  gully  cuts  across  the 
Eagle  sandstone  south  of  the  road.  The  coal  bed  may  be  at  the  top 
of  the  formation,  for  three  massive  sandstones  separated  by  shale  and 
having  a  thickness  of  about  216  feet  lie  below  it.  It  seems  to  be  noth- 
ing more  than  a  streak  of  coaly  material,  perhaps  6  inches  thick. 
Two  miles  farther  west,  in  sec.  13,  T.  6  N.,  R.  15  E.,  a  coal  bloom 
was  uncovered  close  to  the  top  of  the  ridge  along  which  runs  an  east- 
west  road.  The  outcrop,  which  ranges  from  26  to  28  inches  in  thick- 
ness, suggests  a  low-grade,  dirty  coal,  probably  subbituminous.  As 
the  exposure  occurs  at  the  grass  roots  and  the  rocks  stand  at  an  angle 
of  50°,  the  quality  of  the  coal  was  not  definitely  determined.  Cer- 
tainly the  bed  is  too  thin  to  be  of  value,  and  the  steep  dip  makes  it 
difficult  of  access.    It  occurs  at  the  base  of  the  Judith  River  formation. 
Four  miles  southeast  of  Harlowton,  in  the  eastern  part  of  sec.  1, 
T.  7  N.,  R.  15  E.,  there  is  a  5-inch  bed  of  coal  in  the  Eagle  sandstone. 
At  Harlowton  it  was  reported  that  Joseph  La  Brie  stripped  several 
tons  of  coal  on  his  ranch,  in  T.  6  N.,  R.  15  E.,  in  the  winter  of  1906-7 ; 
but  on  investigation  it  was  found  that,  although  the  statement  was 
true,  the  bed  of  coal  is  only  4  inches  thick.  This  coal  is  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  township,  and  is  believed  to  be  in  the  Judith  River 
formation. 
A  coal  bed  having  a  total  thickness  of  2  feet  2  inches,  half  a  mile 
east  of  Big  Elk  post-office,  among  the  ledges  of  Eagle  sandstone,  has 
been  uncovered  by  Frank  Williams.  An  8-inch  clay  parting  reduces 
the  amount  of  coal  to  4  inches  at  the  top  and  14  inches  at  the  bottom, 
and  takes  it  out  of  the  class  of  workable  beds.  What  little  coal  there 
is  here  is  subbituminous.  Farther  down  Big  Elk  Creek,  on  the  Shoe- 
maker ranch,  coaly  shale  has  been  found  in  two  or  three  places,  but 
nowhere  is  it  more  than  4  or  5  inches  thick.  It  is  black  sandy  shale, 
with  paper-thin  laminse  of  carbon,  and  consequently  is  not  com- 
bustible. On  a  branch  of  Big  Elk  Creek  which  flows  through  a  small 
canyon  in  sec.  10,  T.  6  N.,  R.  13  E.,  the  Cretaceous  beds  are  well 
exposed  and  the  Eagle  sandstone  makes  the  first  ridge,  the  rocks 
dipping  south  at  a  high  angle.  In  a  small  coulee  on  the  east,  150 
yards  from  the  stream,  C.  A.  Fisher  found  in  the  Eagle  sandstone  a 
coal  bed  having  a  thickness  of  7  feet.  It  is  composed,  however,  of 
alternating  1  to  3  inch  bands  of  shale  and  low-grade  coal,  and  hence 
has  no  commercial  value. 
Coal  prospects  are  reported  at  the  north  end  of  the  Crazy  Moun- 
tains, in  sec.  21,  T.  7  N.,  R.  10  E.,  but  on  investigation  they  were 
found  to  be  pits  driven  on  black  shale  and  showing  three  or  four 
bands  of  bright  coal  not  over  one-half  inch  thick.  These  are  in  the 
Fort  Union  formation.     The  P^agle  coal  was  discovered  in  the  NE.  £ 
