RED   LODGE    COAL   FIELD,    MONTANA.  93 
of  the  main  tributaries  of  the  Yellowstone.  It  extends  for  a  distance 
of  8  miles  from  north  to  south  and  an  equal  distance  from  east  to 
west.  About  one-half  of  the  area,  or  32  square  miles,  is  underlain 
by  workable  coal.  The  beds  are  known  to  extend  to  the  northwest 
beyond  Red  Lodge,  but  adjacent  to  that  city  they  are  concealed  by 
material  washed  down  from  the  mountains.  Therefore  the  western 
limit  of  the  field  as  discussed  in  this  report  is  arbitrarily  drawn  near 
that  place.  Within  the  coal  field  there  are  two  centers  of  produc- 
tion— Red  Lodge,  a  city  of  2,000  inhabitants,  the  terminus  of  a  branch 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  and  Bear  Creek,  a  small  coal-mining 
town  on  the  Yellowstone  Park  Railroad.  These  two  railroads,  which 
enter  the  field  one  from  the  north  and  the  other  from  the  east,  are  less4 
than  2  miles  apart,  but  they  are  separated  by  topographic  features 
which  prevent  their  connection. 
SURFACE  FEATURES. 
The  Red  Lodge  coal  field  consists  mainly  of  hilly  country,  with  a 
few  small  interstream  areas  composed  of  level,  gravel-capped  terraces 
in  the  southwestern  part  and  on  both  sides  of  Rock  Creek.  The 
rough  country  in  the  eastern  and  central  parts  of  the  field  consists 
of  deep,  narrow  valleys  between  high,  irregular  ridges  and  spurs  that 
have  a  general  northeasterly  trend.  The  area  is  so  irregular  that  it 
is  traversed  with  difficulty  except  along  the  valleys,  and  even  there 
travel  is  interrupted  at  many  places  by  the  steepness  of  the  valley 
sides  or  the  projection  of  ledges  of  rock.  To  the  southwest  the  hilly 
country  merges  into  a  terrace  plain  which  rises  gradually  to  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Beartooth  Mountains.  To  the  west  also  rugged  topog- 
raphy gives  way  to  a  high  terrace  remnant  which  forms  a  narrow 
divide  between  the  head  of  Bear  Creek  and  the  valley  of  Rock  Creek. 
West  of  Rock  Creek  there  is  a  broad,  gravel-covered  terrace  consider- 
ably lower  than  the  one  on  the  east,  which  slopes  gently  northward. 
Rock  Creek,  the  largest  stream  of  the  field,  emerges  from  a  moun- 
tain canyon  3  miles  above  Red  Lodge  and  flows  northeastward  in  a 
valley  one-half  mile  wide  bordered  by  steep  bluffs  100  to  200  feet  high. 
It  drains  that  portion  of  the  field  west  of  the  high  divide;  to  the  east 
the  drainage  flows  into  Bear,  Wolf,  and  Grove  creeks.  Bear  Creek 
rises  in  the  west-central  part  of  the  field  and  flows  northeastward  in 
a  depression  which  is  shallow  near  the  mountains,  but  which  rapidly 
deepens  until  in  the  center  of  the  field  this  stream  and  its  branches 
occupy  narrow  valleys  600  to  700  feet  below  the  valley  of  Rock  Creek 
at  Red  Lodge.  Wolf  Creek,  the  next  stream  to  the  south,  is  similar  to 
Bear  Creek,  but  much  smaller.  Grove  Creek  occupies  a  broad,  shallow 
valley  on  the  southern  edge  of  the  coal-bearing  area. 
Owing  chiefly  to  the  topographic  features,  two  separate  mining 
districts  have  developed  in  this  field.     The  first  development  occurred 
