OIL  AND  ASPHALT  PROSPECTS  IN  SALT  LAKE  BASIN,  UTAH. 
By  J.  M.  Boutwell. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The  exposure  of  asphalt  by  the  recent  recession  of  Great  Salt 
Lake  has  stimulated  exploration  for  oil  and  bituminous  products  in 
Salt  Lake  basin.  Gas  occurs  at  several  points  along  the  east  shore 
of  Great  Salt  Lake  in  the  vicinity  of  Farmington;  oil  is  reported 
from  Skull  Valley,  southwest  of  the  Oquirrh  Range,  and  asphalt  is 
being  prospected  on  the  north  shore  of  Great  Salt  Lake  south  of 
Rozel  Hills.  Ground  has  been  extensively  located  in  each  of  these 
localities,  and  several  companies  have  been  organized  to  explore  for 
oil  and  asphalt.  One  company,  controlled  and  operated  by  the 
Gutfey  &  Galey  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  has  been  actively  engaged 
in  boring  for  about  a  year,  one  is  now  boring,  another  has  sunk  sev- 
eral test  borings  in  asphalt,  another  has  contracted  with  professional 
drillers  to  sink  three  wells  to  4,000  feet  if  necessary,  and  others  have 
been  chiefly  engaged  in  securing  properties  awaiting  developments. 
In  the  early  spring  of  11)04,  in  the  course  of  work  in  the  neighbor- 
ing Park  City  mining  district,  the  writer  visited  the  only  property 
where  exploration  was  then  actually  in  progress,  and  in  the  fall  of 
that  year  visited  the  oil  and  asphalt  prospects  at  Rozel  Hills.  This 
work  was  of  a  reconnaissance  character,  and  it  was  not  possible  dur- 
ing these  brief  visits  to  make  a  complete  study  of  the  geologic  prob- 
lems involved.  As  certain  general  facts  which  were  obtained  may 
be  of  immediate  service  in  future  exploration  in  this  region,  it  seems 
advisable  to  publish  them  at  once.  These  are  presented  in  the  fol- 
lowing sketch,  after  a  general  statement  on  the  geography  and 
geology  of  the  region,  under  descriptions  of  the  oil  prospect  near 
Farmington — so  far  as  known  the  next  deepest  boring  in  Utah — and 
of  the  oil  and  high-grade  asphalt  prospects  at  Rozel  Hills. 
GENERAL  GEOGRAPHY  AND  GEOLOGY. 
The  region  which  is  being  prospected  for  oil  and  asphalt  lies  in 
the  northwestern   part  of  IJtah,  along  the  eastern   and  northern 
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