270  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,    1905. 
Inii  contains  a  few  shale  intercalations.     No.  7,  the  lowest  in  the  series,  is  85  feet  1  hick 
of  clean  coal.     Below  this  (here  are  several  small  seams  which  are  not  of  workable  thickness 
Development. — Coal  was  discovered  in  this  general  region  in  1884  and  the  first  opening 
was  made  in  1887  at  "Yankee  Jim  Claim,"  which  occupied  the  present  site  of  the  Ked 
Lodge  mine.  During  the  two  succeeding  years  the  output  of  this  mine  was  small,  but  in 
1889  shipments  were  begun  and  since  that  time  there  has  been  an  average  annual  pro- 
duction of  600,000  tons.  This  mine  is  now  owned  by  the  Northwestern  Improvement 
Company.  While  the  coal  deposits  of  the  Ked  Lodge  district  were  known  to  extend  to 
the  south  and  some  prospecting  had  been  done  in  the  head  of  Bear  Creek,  no  materia 
development  took  place  in  this  field  until  1900,  when  the  Montana  Fuel  and  Iron  Company 
opened  a  small  mine  and  began  shipping  coal.  During  the  last  four  years  the  total  product 
of  this  mine  has  probably  exceeded  6,000  tons,  having  a  market  value  of  $3.30  a  ton. 
As  Ked  Lodge  is  the  nearest  shipping  point  to  the  Bear  Creek  mine,  it  was  necessary  to 
haul  the  coal  a  distance  of  1  miles  over  a  xvvy  hilly  road.  This  materially  increased  the 
cost  "f  production  and  made  it  necessary  to  place  the  coal  on  the  market  at  a  higher  price 
than  the  Red  Lodge  coal,  which  has  a  shipping  value  of  aboul  $2  a  ton. 
At  present  tin1  Yellowstone  Park  Railroad  Company  is  building  a  railroad  from  Bridge! 
Mont ..  up  Clark  Fork  Valley  and  thence  up  Bear  Creek  to  the  mines,  a  distance  of  about  25 
miles.  Two  town  site^  have  been  laid  out  along  the  hew  line,  one  at  the  mines,  known 
as  Bear  Creek,  and  another  called  Belfry,  at  the  mouth  of  Lear  Creek.  A  huge  plant  is 
now  being  built  one-half  mile  west  of  the  town  of  Lear  Creek  by  the  Bear  Creek  Coali 
Company,  and  is  to  be  equipped  with  all  modern  appliances  for  mining  coal  of  this  character. 
The  company  has  about  1,600  feel  of  gangways  driven  on  seams  Nos.  2  and  3  and,  as  a 
result  of  this  development,  several  thousand  tons  of  coal  are  now  at  the  mines  ready  for 
shipment.  Substantial  quarters  are  being  constructed  for  a  large  force  of  miners  and  the 
company  expects  to  ha\  e  a  large  tonnage  of  coal  ready  for  shipment  when  (he  new  railroad 
is  completed. 
Four  companies  have  extensive  holdings  in  the  Bear  Creek  fields.  They  are  the  Bear 
Creek  Coal  Coinpaiiv,  i  he  Moii  ana  Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  the  Northwestern  Improve! 
nieiii  Company  (the  present  owners  of  the  Ked  Lodge  coal  mines),  and  the  Anaconda 
Copper  Company,  also  known  as  the  Amalgamated.  Of  these  companies,  only  tin1  Bear 
Creek  Coal  Company  is  making  preparations  to  develop,  but  the  Montana  Fuel  and  Iron 
Company  expects  to  increase  its  output  as  soon  as  railroad  facilities  are  available. 
