COAL  FIELDS  OF  THE  SOUTHWEST   SIDE  OF  THE 
BIGHORN  BASIN,  WYOMING. 
By  E.  G.  Woodruff. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The  paper  here  presented  is  a  preliminary  report  of  a  detailed 
reconnaissance  survey  of  the  coal  fields  of  the  southwest  side  of  the  Big- 
horn Basin  in  Wyoming.0  C.  A.  Fisher  exercised  general  supervision 
over  the  work  and  J.  Ernest  Carman  and  E.  L.  De  Golyer  assisted  the 
writer  in  collecting  the  data  here  set  forth.  The  primary  purpose  of 
the  survey  was  to  determine  what  lands  in  the  area  are  underlain  by 
coal  and  to  segregate  and  classify  such  lands  by  legal  subdivisions 
(40-acre  tracts).     Land  surveys  were  used  as  a  basis  of  the  work. 
In  the  field  work,  surveys  were  tied  to  land  corners  that  were  located 
by  meandering  such  lines  across  each  township  in  east-west  or  north- 
south  directions.  Where  rough  topography  prevented  the  usual 
method,  irregular  traverses  were  made,  and  connected  to  land  corners 
wherever  possible.  Coal  outcrops  were  meandered  and  located  with 
reference  to  land  corners  and  sections  were  measured  at  short  intervals. 
The  locations  of  the  coal  outcrop  and  of  part  of  the  sections  measured 
are  shown  on  PI.  XI.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  land  corners  between 
Tps.  44  and  45  N.  and  between  Tps.  52  and  57  N.  are  not  well  marked, 
and  many  of  the  corner  stones  and  posts  are  not  in  proper  place ; 
consequently  less  dependence  should  be  placed  on  that  part  of  the 
map  which  represents  those  areas  than  on  other  parts. 
LOCATION   AND   EXTENT. 
The  coal  fields  described  in  this  report  are  situated  on  the  southwest 
side  of  the  Bighorn  Basin  at  the  base  of  the  Shoshone-Rattlesnake  Moun- 
tain Range.  They  form  a  zone  of  irregular  outline  from  6  to  15  miles 
wide,  extending  from  a  point  2  miles  north  of  Clark  Fork  of  Yellow- 
stone River  110  miles  southeastward  to  Bighorn  River,  near  Kirby. 
As  shown  on  PI.  XI,  they  comprise  an  area  of  about  1,300  square 
miles.     The  chief  towns  in  the  area  are  Cody,  the  terminus  of  the 
a  A  detailed  report  is  now  in  course  of  preparation  and  will  be  issued  as  a  separate  bulletin. 
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