PHOSPHATE    DEPOSITS    IN    WESTERN    UNITED    STATES.  461 
In  early  days  the  dark  shales  associated  with  the  phosphate  were, 
owing  to  their  bituminous  odor,  frequently  taken  to  indicate  the 
presence  of  oil  or  coal,  and  the  deposits  at  Montpelier  were  hied  on  as 
coal  lands  and  considerable  work  was  done  in  the  effort  to  find  that 
material. 
As  the  dip  is  low  at  this  place,  the  beds  are  worked  as  an  ordinary 
flat  coal  seam  with  pillar  and  stall.  The  phosphate  is  mined  by 
both  open-quarry  and  underground  workings.  A  loading  platform 
is  placed  at  the  foot  of  a  gravity  tramway  running  up  the  slope  of 
the  hill,  the  top  of  the  platform  being  on  a  level  with  the  main 
working  tunnel.  The  phosphate  rock  is  delivered  at  the  platform  in 
ordinary  standard  ore  cars  from  both  quarry  and  mine  and  loaded 
directly  into  the  wagons  through  a  chute.  It  is  then  hauled  about 
4  J  miles  to  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad  at  Montpelier  and 
dumped  into  the  cars  through  a  door  in  a  loading  bridge  built  over 
the  siding.  It  is  now  being  shipped  to  the  works  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco Chemical  Company  at  Martinez,  Contra  Costa  County,  Cal., 
and  there  made  into  superphosphates  to  be  used  as  fertilizers. 
HOT    SPRINGS,  IDAHO. 
The  phosphate  series  is.  found  at  Hot  Springs,  Idaho,  near  the 
north  end  of  Bear  Lake  on  its  east  side,  14  miles  south  of  Montpelier, 
forming  the  continuation  of  the  series  seen  at  the  latter  place  and 
having  the  same  general  characters,  but  dipping  at  higher  angles  to 
the  west.     The  deposits  are  extensive. 
BENNINGTON    AND    GEORGETOWN,  IDAHO. 
To  the  north  along  the  general  line  of  strike  the  phosphate  series  is 
seen  near  Bennington,  Idaho,  about  5  miles  from  Montpelier,  where 
it  is  apparently  considerably  broken  and  faulted,  and  again  in  a 
steep  canyon  some  miles  east  of  Georgetown,  which  is  11  miles 
northwest  of  Montpelier. 
VICINITY    OF    SWAN    LAKES,  IDAHO. 
About  4  miles  east  of  Manson,  a  small  siding  on  the  Oregon  Short 
Line  Railroad,  a  mile  south  of  the  line  between  Bannock  and  Bear 
Lake  counties,  Idaho,  the  phosphate  series  is  exposed  in  a  high 
range  of  hills.  The  strata  are  much  faulted  and  folded,  but  little 
development  work  has  yet  been  done,  and  the  detailed  structure  is 
therefore  not  yet  satisfactorily  worked  out.  The  series  has  been 
traced  for  several  miles  along  the  flanks  of  the  range,  which  is  cut 
by  deep  gulches,  and  also,  owing  to  the  folding,  is  found  on  the  high 
ground.     The  general  line  of  strike  swings  more  to  the  west  than  at 
Bull.  315—07 30 
