EOCK   SPRINGS    COAL   FIELD,    WYOMING.  275 
Springs  coal,  as  a  locomotive  fuel  or  steam  coal,  has  few  superiors  in 
the  West.  It  operates  under  a  forced  draft  without  heavy  sparking 
and  is  a  quick  steamer,  leaving  but  little  ash.  In  this  respect  it  differs 
decidedly  from  some  of  the  " Upper  Laramie"  coals  of  Carbon  County 
and  from  the  coals  in  Montana  and  northern  Wyoming  in  the  vicinity 
of  Sheridan,  Wyo.  At  Dana  and  Carbon  the  coal  is  so  light  that  in 
the  forced  draft  of  a  railroad  locomotive  it  nearly  all  goes  out  of  the 
smokestack,  covering  the  cars  with  showers  of  sparks  and  causing 
many  disastrous  fires.  However,  by  means  of  special  grates,  coal  of 
this  character  can  be  used  for  locomotives,  and  the  Hanna  and  Sheri- 
dan coals  are  extensively  and  satisfactorily  used  at  present  in  the 
locomotives  of  the  Union  Pacific  and  Burlington  railroads,  respec- 
tively. Although  the  coal  is  very  light  for  such  work,  it  has  proved 
very  successful  when  used  under  natural  draft  for  heating  purposes, 
and  has  developed  a  large  trade. 
The  coals  of  the  Almond,  Black  Buttes,  and  Black  Rock  groups, 
although  very  little  used  at  present,  are  no  doubt  much  like  the 
11  Upper  Laramie"  coals  of  the  Hanna  field. a 
HISTORY   OF  DEVELOPMENT. 
Coal  has  been  known  in  this  region  since  the  early  explorations  of 
the  United  States  Engineering  Corps  during  the  first  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Actual  mining,  however,  did  not  begin  until 
the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  across  Wyoming  in  1868, 
and  from  that  time  until  1900  all  the  mining  camps  within  this  area 
have  been  located  on  the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  in  Bitter 
Creek  valley.  In  1900  a  branch  was  built  from  the  main  line  up 
Horsethief  Canyon  to  the  Superior  mining  camp,  this  being  the  first 
and  only  mining  locality  opened  more  than  a  mile  away  from  the 
main  line.  Mines  in  this  region  have  been  opened  at  Rock  Springs, 
Superior,  Point  of  Rocks,  Hallville,  and  Black  Buttes. 
ROCK   SPRINGS. 
One  of  the  first  mines  opened  in  the  vicinity  of  Rock  Springs  was 
the  old  Van  Dyke  mine,  about  2  miles  east  of  the  town.  This  mine 
was  opened  in  1868.  There  are  three  coal  beds  here,  but  only  the 
lower  one,  3  feet  10  inches  to  4  feet  thick,  was  worked.  The  mine 
was  soon  abandoned  and  other  mines  were  opened  farther  west. 
In  Rock  Springs  there  are  a  large  number  of  coal  beds,  many  of 
which  have  not  been  opened.  Besides  the  thicker  beds  there  are  an 
indefinite  number  of  smaller  ones,  from  3  feet  to  a  fraction  of  an  inch 
thick.  Mines  have  been  opened  on  six  of  the  coal  beds  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  town.  These  six  beds  are  locally  known,  from 
the  base  upward,  as  the  Van  Dyke,  No.  7,  No.  1,  No.  3,  No.  5,  and 
aVcatch,  A.  C,  Coal  fields  of  east-central  Carbon  County,  Wyo.;  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  316, 
1907,  pp.  253-259. 
