118         CONTRIBUTIONS   TO   ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,  1907,   PART   II. 
above  Lewistown  and  on  McDonald  Creek  in  the  early  eighties,  but 
as  the  demand  was  purely  local,  mining  operations  were  not  exten- 
sive, and  this  limited  demand  remained  without  material  increase 
until  the  completion  of  the  Montana  Railroad  into  Lewistown  in  the 
spring  of  1904.  Since  then  this  railroad  has  obtained  its  steam  coal 
from  the  Spring  Creek  mine,  and  is  now  using  about  125  tons  per  day. 
Practically  all  the  coal  mined  by  the  Spring  Creek  Company  is  loaded 
direct  on  cars  at  the  mine  for  the  use  of  the  railroad,  the  small 
remainder  being  sold  chiefly  in  Lewistown.  The  greater  amount  of 
fuel  supply  for  that  town  comes  from  Brew  &  Parson's  mine  at  the 
base  of  the  Judith  Mountains,  or  from  a  number  of  small  mines — the 
Sharp,  Flaherty,  Cox,  Hamilton,  and  Black  Diamond — near  the  head 
of  McDonald  Creek. 
An  opening  known  as  the  Harmon  mine  is  located  about  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  southeast  of  the  Spring  Creek  Company's  property. 
Formerly  this  supplied  a  small  amount  of  coal,  but  of  late  years  it 
has  been  practically  abandoned.  At  the  time  the  investigation  was 
made,  however,  the  mine  was  under  lease  and  renewal  of  mining 
operations  was  expected. 
Other  mines  near  Giltedge  supply  that  vicinity.  These  are  the 
Sherman,  Shearson,  Cliffe,  and  Company  mines,  the  latter  so  called 
because  it  is  owned  and  operated  by  the  Gold  Reef  Mining  and  Milling 
Company.  Three  other  mines,  the  Hill,  Peiper,  and  Hobson,  are 
located  on  McDonald  Creek  or  its  branches  near  the  southern  limits 
of  the  field.  All  the  mines  in  the  McDonald  Creek  district,  except 
those  operated  by  the  Spring  Creek  and  Gold  Reef  companies,  are 
worked  but  little  during  the  summer  months. 
The  mines  of  the  McDonald  Creek  district  have  been  the  chief  factor 
in  the  coal  production  of  Fergus  County.  The  following  table  shows 
the  amount  of  coal  produced  in  this  county  for  the  period  from  1889 
to  1906,  inclusive: 
Coal  production  of  Fergus  County,  Mont.,  from  1889  to  1906,  inclusive.^ 
Year. 
Short 
tons. 
Year. 
Short 
tons. 
1889 
460 
1,260 
250 
400 
200 
325 
1898. 
950 
1890 
1899.. 
900 
1891 
1900... 
1892.   . 
1901 
500 
1893.   .                        
1902 
5  200 
1894...                    
1903 
9,374 
19,109 
15, 228 
29, 182 
1895 
1904. 
1896 
1905... 
1897 
1906 
a  Mineral  Resources  U.  S.,  1889-1906,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey.    Statistics  prior  to  1889  not  obtainable. 
Fergus  County  ranks  fourth  in  the  coal-producing  counties  of  the 
State,  and  the  average  price  per  ton  in  that  county  is  considerably 
