ROCK   SPRINGS   COAL   FIELD,    WYOMING.  277 
HALLVILLE. 
The  old  Hall  mine,  about  4  miles  northwest  of  Black  Buttes,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  railroad,  was  opened  in  1868.  Four  beds  of 
coal  were  discovered  at  this  place.  The  upper  bed,  4  feet  8  inches 
thick,  near  the  surface,  was  never  developed,  as  the  coal  was  con- 
sidered of  inferior  quality.  A  bed  5h  feet  thick  was  worked  to  con- 
siderable extent.  The  third  bed,  12  feet  below  the  second,  is  9  feet 
8  inches  thick,  and  a  still  lower  bed  is  approximately  3  feet  thick. 
This  mine  was  worked  for  only  a  short  time  and  was  then  abandoned. 
In  1906  a  mine  was  opened  in  a  Black  Rock  coal  bed  east  of  the 
railroad,  in  sec.  28,  T.  19  N.,  R.  100  W.,  by  the  Sioux  City-Rock 
Springs  Mining  Company.  This  mine  is  south  of  a  large  fault,  which 
here  as  well  as  at  the  old  Hall  mine  carries  the  beds  on  the  south 
side  several  miles  to  the  west.  The  company  soon  became  involved 
in  litigation  and  all  development  work  was  abandoned. 
POINT  OF  ROCKS. 
As  early  as  1868  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  opened  a 
mine  at  Point  of  Rocks  and  built  a  spur  to  it  from  the  main  line.  In 
the  hill  at  this  place  five  coal  beds  occur  within  a  vertical  height  of 
80  feet;  the  lowest  is  approximately  100  feet  above  the  bed  of  the 
creek.  The  mine  was  operated  for  a  short  time  and  then  abandoned, 
as  better  coal  was  obtained  at  Rock  Springs. 
During  the  summer  of  1907  the  Rock  Springs  and  Wyoming  Coal 
Company  reopened  this  mine,  built  a  new  spur  track  from  the  main 
line,  and  expected  to  ship  coal  by  January  1,  1908.  Two  beds  are 
worked  at  present,  the  upper  being  6  feet  4  inches  and  the  lower  5 
feet  1  inch  thick;  between  these  two  occurs  a  third  or  middle  bed, 
about  4  feet  4  inches  thick. 
SUPERIOR. 
The  work  of  opening  the  Superior  mines  was  started  early  in  1906. 
Considerable  prospecting  had  been  carried  on  in  this  region  before 
this  time,  but  no  mining  was  attempted  until  the  Superior  branch 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  built  up  Horsethief  Canyon. 
Acknowledgment  is  due  to  Superintendent  Frank  A.  Manley  and 
Assistant  Superintendent  W.  D.  Brennan,  of  the  Superior  Coal  Com- 
pany, for  the  information  on  which  the  following  description  of  the 
four  mines  at  this  place  is  based. 
"a"  mine. 
The  "A"  mine  consists  of  drift  and  slope  openings  on  No.  7  bed 
and  a  drift  opening  on  No.  1  bed,  which  is  about  2,500  feet  farther 
up  the  canyon  and  250  feet  vertically  above  No.  7  bed.  Work  was 
begun  February  3,  1906,  and  the  first  coal  shipped  October  6,  1906. 
The  daily  output  at  present  is  600  tons. 
