A Report On Washington Territory Part 12

[Sidenote: And another.]

Andrew's bed could only be seen at a point 200 feet above the railroad.

It is nearest to the metamorphic axis of the mountain, and hence is the bottom seam in the group. It is said to be wanting at Newcastle. The coal is in two benches, descending:

UPPER BENCH.

Slate roof: FT. INS.

Coal 0 5 Bone 0 0-1/16 Coal 0 4 Bone 0 3 Coal 1 8 Pyrite 0 1-1/2 Coal 1 2 Slate 0 5 Coal 4 4 ---------- Total 8 ft. 8-9/16 ins.

LOWER BENCH.

FT. INS.

Fire-clay 0 6 Coal 1 4 Clay 0 1 Coal 0 4 Clay 0 0-1/2 Coal 1 1 Bone 0 1 Coal 1 9 ---------- Total 4 ft. 8-1/2 ins.

The lower bench would probably be neglected for the present, but the upper bench is worthy of immediate development. The coal is of good quality. Perhaps on a.n.a.lysis it would be cla.s.sed with bituminous coals, although the woody structure is discernible in places. It burns freely.

The outcrop of this bed is visible lower down the creek in a crushed condition.

[Sidenote: Large body of valuable coal.]

My visit was rather premature for a proper study of the group; but there can be no doubt that there is here a large body of valuable coal. The quant.i.ty is estimated by the mining engineer, Mr. Whitworth, at 10,500,000 tons. I saw no other coal beds in the territory so favorably situated for mining and loading. Of course, coal standing at an angle of forty degrees cannot be mined so cheaply as if it were horizontal; but all the mines in Was.h.i.+ngton Territory must contend with this disadvantage, and in all cases coming under my observation, except this one, the mining had to be done on the down grade, which involved much hoisting, pumping, bad air, etc., which can be avoided at the Gilman Mines.

An incidental advantage, also, is that the Squak Valley furnishes any amount of timber for building, propping, railroad ties, etc., and when more generally cultivated, a superabundance of agricultural products.

The experience of Newcastle, and the rapid growth of the market, indicate that these mines may be enlarged in their operations, almost without limit.

[Sidenote: Was.h.i.+ngton Mines.]

Was.h.i.+ngton Mines, on one of the upper branches of Squak Creek, show the outcroppings of three seams of lignite coal, dipping S. of W. I did not visit this place, but was informed that a company, known as the Was.h.i.+ngton Coal Company, was engaged in cutting these seams; but I am not informed as to what are their prospects.

[Sidenote: Raging River coals.]

The Raging River Coals. Six miles east of Gilman Mines, where the railroad enters the Raging River Valley, is found another group of coal seams, older than the Squak coals, and perhaps corresponding in age with the Franklin and Black Diamond coals, though apparently more bituminous than they. Raging River is about twelve miles long, and the railroad first approaches it about midway its length. There are indications of local metamorphism, if not intrusion, visible in the rocks between Squak Creek and Raging River, and this is further indicated by an outcrop of anthracite at the north end of the coal seams, within a mile of the road. Mr. Whitworth represents this anthracite seam as five feet thick, but crushed and fragile. Its structure is laminated, and it breaks into small cubes. He spoke, also, of another seam of anthracite high up on Raging River, three feet thick, with three inches slate six inches from the top. He mined in on this for thirty feet without observing any change. The outcrop of this group of coal seams extends from near the line of the railroad, up the west side of the valley, parallel with the river, and about a mile from it, and lying in high hills. This coal property is also owned by the Seattle Coal and Iron Company. The princ.i.p.al mining camp is near the head of the valley, ten miles above Falls City, six miles above the line of railway. Here I saw the coal seams, which had been uncovered without having been cut into sufficiently to determine fully their character. One seam is open in a ravine, half way up the mountain, but most of them near the top, at an elevation of about 800 feet above the river. There are at least six seams, and if the one on the mountain side be a different seam, there are seven. The coal generally is of good quality: bituminous, with cubical fracture; but its value is greatly diminished by numerous slate partings, and some of the seams are too thin for profitable mining. The dip is to the southwest at high angles: about eighty degrees on the mountain side--less in the top seams.

[Sidenote: Details.]

The seam on the mountain side showed a total thickness of seven feet with sandstone over and under; but of this there was only about 2 feet 8 inches of good coal in a body, and the rest coal and slate interleaved.

Near the top of the mountain there are six seams open near a rivulet, and quite near together. Reaching the top of the mountain, I found the upper opening (geologically the under opening), No. 1, to contain about two feet of good black coal, with one slate parting of an inch thick.

No. 2. This seam shows a total thickness of eight feet, but it contains so many slate partings that I could not estimate the bed highly.

No. 3. Here I saw fifteen inches of coal, with slate partings.

No. 4. An irregular bed, four to seven feet in thickness, crushed, and probably dislocated, and so slaty as to be of doubtful value.

No. 5. Another crushed and irregular exposure, four to six feet thick.

The coal looks better, and promises to be a good seam when found in its natural state.

No. 6. A two-foot seam resembling No. 1.

Mr. Whitworth furnished me the following details of an opening near the camp on Raging River, which was not in a condition to be seen during my visit, but which has since been gone in upon for about fifteen feet.

From bed-rock, ascending:

FT. INS.

Clay 0 2 Coal, crushed 0 5 Black bone 0 1 Coal, crushed 0 11 Black bone 0 1 Coal, hard 0 6 Sand rock 0 3 Coal, good 0 10 Bone 0 2 Coal, good 0 6 Bone 0 1-1/2 Coal, good 0 6 Bone 0 1 Coal, crushed 0 36 Clay and rock (diminis.h.i.+ng) 4 6 Coal, crushed 3 0 Strike, north, 76-1/2 east.

Dip 22 to south.

Mr. Whitworth says that the coal improved as he went in, and he is quite hopeful about this seam. But his record reads to me like the description of a slide; still it may not be so.

The show upon the whole, as seen by me, was not satisfactory--and yet the beds might possibly improve inward; and if the coal should c.o.ke well, it might pay to wash it; as could easily be done at Raging River.

[Sidenote: Snoqualmie Mountain Coal Group.]

The Snoqualmie Coal Group outcrops some hundreds of feet up the west side of Snoqualmie Mountain, and about three miles southwest of Hop Ranch. The outcrop has been traced perhaps one mile. There are five seams here running north and south with the strike of the mountain rocks. The seams dip west at an angle of 45, _i.e._, away from the axis of the mountain.

[Sidenote: Details.]

[Sidenote: Good c.o.king coal.]

Seam No. 3 is the third seam from the bottom. A side entry had been driven in on the coal for 60 feet, but water now barred the entrance and prevented a thorough scrutiny of the seam. Its thickness was about 3 feet 6 inches, of which there was a band of lignitic coal of three-quarters of an inch near the top, and five inches of the same near the bottom. The weathered outcrop of this, as of the coal-beds of Was.h.i.+ngton Territory generally, had a brownish hue, but the fresh surfaces showed a good black bituminous coal. It lies firm and regular in its bed. When dug and handled, it goes to small pieces, and may generally be crushed to powder in the hand; which, of itself, is no bad sign of a good c.o.king coal.

Seam No. 4, the second seam from the bottom, descending:

FT. INS.

Roof, Slate 2 0 Bone 2 0 Coal 0 6 Fine-grained Sandstone, average 2 2 Natural c.o.ke 0 6 Bituminous Shale 0 6 Coal 4 2 Bottom, Sandstone.

The coal of this seam is soft, black and l.u.s.trous. An entry was driven in 50 feet, which required much propping, the roof being bad. At the end of this distance we came squarely against a wall of sandstone, showing a fault. At this point six inches of the top coal is thrown up vertically, which showed that the seam thus far had dropped, and that the continuation was to be looked for at a higher level. Mining upward through the soft material, the coal had been again struck at an elevation of 16 feet, but not the full thickness of the seam, and not in its true position; but after following it upward 4 feet more the seam was found in its natural state.

There seems to be no slate in this seam, but occasionally there is found in it a ball of "n.i.g.g.e.r-head," or hard sulphurous matter, from the size of a man's head down.

[Sidenote: Also good c.o.king coal.]

An experiment of c.o.king this coal in a small pit at the mouth of this bank was made by Mr. Kirke and his coal-bank manager, with as satisfactory results as could be expected from so imperfect a trial. I found pieces of the c.o.ke lying near, and saw better samples which have been brought from here. While, of course, the c.o.ke thus made is not the best quality, it certainly promises well.

[Sidenote: Large and valuable bed.]

Seam No. 2, descending:

Roof, fine-grained Sandstone, under which is seven inches Black Slate. FT. INS.

Coal 0 6 Slate 2 0 Coal 0 7 Slate 0 4 Coal 0 5 Slate 0 5 Argillaceous and Ferruginous Rock 1 7 Coal 0 1-1/2 Bone 0 5 Coal (main bench) of good quality 7 0 n.i.g.g.e.r-head 0 2 Coal 1 0 Slate 0 1-1/2 Coal, good 0 6 Slate and Clay 0 7 Lignite (brown coal) 2 1 Bituminous Slate 1 8 Coal 0 1/2 n.i.g.g.e.r-head 0 4-1/2 Clay and Bony Slate 0 7 Coal 0 1 n.i.g.g.e.r-head 0 1-1/2 Coal 0 1/16 Bituminous Slate 1 2 Coal 0 1 Slate 0 7 Coal 0 7 Slate and Sandstone bottom. --------------- Total 23 ft. 1-9/16 in.

[Sidenote: Another good bed.]

Seam No. 1 is only partially exposed, the workings having caved in; but enough of the seam was visible to show that it was a bright, soft, friable, bituminous coal, of good quality, containing some slate and n.i.g.g.e.r-head. Its fracture would be called _dicey_ by some geologists, because it breaks readily into small cubes, even smaller than dice. The seam is probably about five feet in thickness.

[Sidenote: Geological relations.]

This group probably corresponds geologically with the Kirke Mines, on Green River; but, judging by the eye, it is a more bituminous coal and better suited to c.o.king. The large bed here may correspond with one of the large beds at the Kirke Mines.

I fear that faults are numerous in the coal rocks of this group, which, of course, would add to the expense of mining. But if, as expected, it furnishes a good smelting c.o.ke, the field will be extremely valuable from its contiguity to the magnetic ores of the Cascade Mountains and the scarcity of c.o.king coals.