100         CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1907,   PART   II. 
Owing  to  the  peculiar  topographic  features  discussed  above  the 
development  of  this  field  began  on  the  west  side  of  the  divide,  around 
Red  Lodge,  and  has  recently  been  extended  to  the  east  side,  on  the 
headwaters  of  Bear  Creek  and  its  branches. 
RED  LODGE  DISTRICT. 
Coal  has  been  mined  in  the  Red  Lodge  district  for  more  than  twenty- 
five  years.  The  first  mine  was  opened  previous  to  1882,  but  up  to 
1889  operations  were  conducted  on  a  small  scale.  In  the  latter  year 
the  output  was  6,000  tons,  and  it  has  steadily  increased  until  in  1905 
590,035  tons  were  mined  in  a  working  period  of  302  days,  with  480 
men  employed  inside  and  120  outsider 
The  mine  at  Red  Lodge  owned  by  the  Northwestern  Improvement 
Company  is  located  on  the  east  side  of  Rock  Creek.  The  main  opening 
of  the  mine  is  in  a  bluff  that  rises  steeply  back  of  the  mine  buildings. 
The  underground  workings  are  reached  by  one  main  gangway,  which 
extends  2,500  feet  down  the  dip  on  bed  No.  4.  Crosscuts  lead  to  the 
beds  above  and  below  and  entries  extend  along  the  strike.  The 
entries  are  .mostly  worked  near  the  main  gangways,  but  one  long 
entry  extends  1 1  miles  to  the  east  and  another  passes  beneath  Rock 
Creek,  extending  an  equal  distance  to  the  west.  A  large  number  of 
entries  have  been  opened  along  the  beds,  and  the  adjacent  rooms  have 
been  worked  out,  so  that  now  the  underground  workings  cover  a 
considerable  area.  Coal  has  been  mined  from  beds  Nos.  1,  1  J,  2,  3,  4, 
4J,  5,  6,  and  7,  but  the  main  operations  have  been  confined  to  Nos. 
1,  2,  and  4. 
The  mine  is  well  equipped,  with  electric  and  mule  haulage  in  the 
rooms  and  entries  and  cable  haulage  in  the  main  gangway.  Water 
is  removed  from  the  mine  by  a  pump  operated  by  electricity,  installed 
at  a  low  point  near  the  bottom  of  the  main  gangway,  and  all  the  main 
entries  are  provided  with  electric  lights.  The  mine  cars  are  brought 
from  the  mine  to  the  tipple,  where  they  are  unloaded  by  rotary  dump 
into  a  chute  which  leads  to  a  shaking  screen,  from  which  the  coal 
passes  to  picking  tables  where  the  lump  coal  is  assorted  for  shipment. 
The  lump  coal  is  loaded  directly  into  coal  cars  or  into  box  cars  by  a 
gravity  box-car  loader,  and  the  screenings  are  sent  to  a  washer,  where 
the  impurities,  which  consist  of  shale,  bone,  and  pieces  of  sandstone, 
are  removed.  Steam  and  electricity  are  generated  by  an  extensive 
power  plant  located  near  the  mouth  of  the  mine. 
During  the  fall  of  1907  a  new  mine  was  opened  and  buildings  were 
constructed  at  the  edge  of  the  terrace  on  the  west  side  of  the  town. 
From  this  mine  it  is  planned  to  work  the  various  beds  to  the  west. 
The  foundations  for  a  large  tipple  and  other  outside  buildings  have 
been  laid,  and  when  this  plant  is   completed   and  in  operation  it 
a  McDermott,  J.  B.  Bienn.  Rept.  Inspector  of  Coal  Mines  of  Montana,  1905-6. 
