HARTVILLE    IRON-ORE    RANGE,  WYOMING.  191 
Smith,  W.  S.  T.,  and  Darton,  N.  H.,  Description  of  the  Hartville  quadrangle,  folio  91, 
U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1903.  Describes  the  general  geology,  geological  history,  and 
economic  geology  of  the  Hartville  quadrangle.     The  iron  ore  is  briefly  described. 
Beeler,  Henry  C,  Wyoming  mines  and  minerals  in  brief,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  1904, 
p.  6. 
Beeler.  Henry  C,  Report  of  the  State  Geologist  of  Wyoming,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming, 
1904,  p.  37. 
Brooks,  Bryant  B.,  The  State  of  Wyoming,  1905,  Sheridan,  Wyoming,  pp.  94-95. 
GEOGRAPHY    AND   HISTORY. 
The  Hartville  iron  range,  lying  north  and  east  of  North  Platte 
River,  is  situated  in  Laramie  County,  in  east-central  Wyoming.  It 
forms  a  portion  of  the  Hartville  uplift,  a  broad  and  low  domal  moun- 
tain mass  similar  in  many  respects  to  the  Black  Hills  in  South 
Dakota.  The  maximum  height  of  the  uplift  is  about  6,000  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  the  region  is  one  of  comparatively  little  relief. 
Near  the  iron  mines  erosion  has  detached  many  hills  from  the  Car- 
boniferous plateau.  These  are  sharp  granite  peaks  or  flat-topped 
buttes  capped  by  horizontal  Carboniferous  rocks.  The  area  is  dis- 
sected by  intermittent  streams,  some  with  narrow  gu]  ?hes  and  others 
with  broad,  wide  valleys.  The  climate  is  semiarid,  and  in  conse- 
quence timber  is  confined  to  the  higher  peaks.  Lower  elevations  are 
covered  sparsely  by  bunch  grass,  cactus,  and  low  desert  shrubbery. 
The  iron  range  extends  from  Guernsey  to  Frederick,  a  distance  of 
8  miles.  "  The  iron-bearing  rocks  reach  a  maximum  exposed  width  of 
3  miles.  The  productive  area  is,  however,  considerably  smaller  and 
extends  from  Sunrise  northeastward  2  miles  and  from  the  same  point 
southeastward  1  mile.  The  towns  of  the  iron  range  are  Sunrise, 
Hartville,  Ironton,  and  Guernsey.  The  principal  mine  of  the  range 
and  the  local  offices  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  are  at 
Sunrise,  a  village  having  a  population  of  1,500.  Hartville,  a  town  of 
150  people,  is  supported  by  the  miners  of  Sunrise.  Ironton  is  the 
mining  camp  of  the  Chicago  mine.  Guernsey  is  an  ore-shipping  town 
of  150  people.  The  Hartville  iron  range  has  two  railroads;  the  Colo- 
rado and  Wyoming  Railroad  extends  from  the  Colorado  and  Southern 
Railroad  at  Hartville  Junction  to  Sunrise  and  is  the  line  by  which  the 
Sunrise  ore  is  shipped;  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad 
has  built  a  branch  from  its  present  terminus  at  Guernsey  to  the 
Chicago  mine. 
The  history  of  the  Hartville  iron  range  may  be  divided  into  four 
periods:  (1)  That  during  which  the  Indians  mined  soft  ore  for  war 
paint;  (2)  a  period  stretching  from  1880  to  1887,  during  which  the 
range  was  a  copper-mining  district;  (3)  an  iron-prospecting  period 
extending  from  1888  to  1897,  and,  lastly,  the  period  of  productive 
mining,  from  1898  to  the  present  day. 
