taff.]  COAL   WORK    IN   INDIAN   TERRITORY.  397 
coal  in  physical  characteristics.  A  very  thin  parting  of  bony  coal 
occurs  near  the  center,  separating  the  bed  into  two  benches.  The 
shale  gradually  grows  thicker  southward,  reaching  about  4  inches 
near  Mounds.  It  continues  to  increase  southward  beyond  Mounds 
at  the  expense  of  the  coal  until  the  latter  has  decreased  to  8  inches 
northwest  of  Beggs.  South  of  Mounds  the  Dawson  coal  is  not  known 
to  be  of  any  commercial  value.  Three  miles  south  of  Dawson  it  is 
2  feet  8  inches  thick,  and  is  being  exploited  in  a  strip  pit  and  a 
slope  mine.  At  points  6  and  9  miles  south  of  Red  Fork  the  coal  is 
2  feet  6  inches  to  3  feet  4  inches  thick,  and  3  feet  4  inches,  respectively, 
where  strippings  have  been  made.  Two  miles  northeast  of  Mounds 
the  Dawson  coal  is  2  feet  2  inches  to  2  feet  6  inches  thick  and  contains 
a  parting  of  shale  near  the  middle. 
A  coal  bed  very  near,  if  not  in,  the  stratigraphic  position  of  the 
Dawson  coal  has  been  mined  rather  extensively  by  stripping  in  the 
vicinity  of  Collinsville,  in  the  Cherokee  Nation.  The  coal  here  is  1 
foot  6  inches  thick,  and  28,900  tons  have  been  removed  by  strip  min- 
ing during  the  last  fiscal  year. 
Coal  has  been  prospected  near  Caney  River,  south  of  Bartlesville, 
but  no  definite  information  has  been  obtained  concerning  its  thickness 
or  quality.  Its  surface  location  indicates  that  it  is  stratigraphically 
above  the  Dawson  coal  bed. 
DEVELOPMENT. 
Coal  mining  on  a  commercial  scale  in  Indian  Territory  began  near 
McAlester  in  1872,  immediately  following  the  construction  of  the 
Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railroad.  Nearly  ten  years  later  mining 
operations  began  at  Savanna,  on  the  main  line,  and  at  Lehigh,  on  a 
branch  road  extending  from  Atoka. 
The  building  of  the  Choctaw,  Oklahoma  and  Gulf  Railroad  along 
the  strike  of  the  coal  beds  from  South  McAlester  eastward  gave  great 
impetus  to  coal  mining.  Mines  were  opened  at  Alderson,  Harts- 
horne,  Wilburton,  and  Howe,  and  more  recently  at  Dow,  Haileyville, 
and  Hughes.  This  road  was  finally  extended  eastward  to  Memphis 
and  westward  across  Oklahoma,  increasing  the  market  for  its  coal. 
The  construction  of  the  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  Railroad,  and 
still  later  of  the  Kansas  City  Southern,  across  the  east  end  of  the 
field  gave  additional  impetus  to  coal  development,  though  they  did 
not  take  part  in  mining  operations. 
These  four  railroads  were  the  only  lines  in  operation  in  the  Indian 
Territory  coal  field  when  detailed  investigations  by  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  were  begun  on  the  coal  in  1897.  At  that  time 
18  companies  and  individuals  were  mining  coal  on  a  commercial 
scale,  and  the  output  during  the  preceding  year  was  slightly  more 
