A Report On Washington Territory Part 13

This property was for sale when I visited it, and would have been sold but for a claim of owners.h.i.+p set up by the Northern Pacific Railroad, which, however, in the opinion of good lawyers, had no foundation.

[Sidenote: This the bottom group.]

This is the bottom group of the Was.h.i.+ngton Territory coal field. It will be seen that, taking the Gilman group, the Raging River group, and the Snoqualmie group on one line, and the Cedar River, Carbon River, and Green River group on another line, it may be fairly claimed that there are at least fifteen working seams of three feet and upward in the Was.h.i.+ngton Territory coal field.

_e. The Yakima and Wenatchie Group._ This field lies on the east flank of the Cascade Mountains, on the waters of the Yakima and its tributaries, Cle-ellum and Teanaway. It is believed to extend also into the Wenatchie Valley, although the area here is probably disconnected from the Yakima area. I purposely refrained from visiting this region, and for my statements I am indebted chiefly to Bailey Willis, F. H.

Whitworth, Charles Burch, and Mr. Jamieson of the Kirke Mines.

[Sidenote: Yakima or Roslyn coal field.]

The Yakima area lies north of the Yakima River, near to the Northern Pacific Railroad, and to the projected line of the Seattle, Lake Sh.o.r.e and Eastern Railway, and extends about sixty miles east and west, and six miles north and south. Its dip is gentle, say twelve to twenty degrees. It holds three coal seams of 2 feet 6 inches, and 5 feet and 5 feet respectively. There is not much evidence of fracture in any part of the field. The total thickness of the coal-bearing rocks is estimated by Bailey Willis to be 1,000 feet. This is evidently the lower part of the coal series, the upper part having been carried away. The best seam is mined at Roslyn, four miles north of the Northern Pacific Railroad, in the interest of that railroad.

The seam here furnishes upward of four feet of good coal. The coal is bituminous, dull black, firm, and free burning. Mr. Jamieson thinks it will not make good c.o.ke. Others, however, think that it will, and these are supported partially by the laboratory test in Was.h.i.+ngton City, D. C.

(See Table of Coal a.n.a.lyses, page 107.) It is called in the table Roslyn coal.

This coal is used chiefly in the locomotives; but the popular demand for it is very great in the plateau country of East Was.h.i.+ngton.

[Sidenote: Coal on the Wenatchie.]

I have no knowledge of the coal on Wenatchie River except what I obtained from Mr. Burch, who says that there are two seams of coal exposed in that valley, one of eight feet and one of three feet. The coal-bearing rocks extend for thirty-five miles up the river, and have a width of ten miles.

[Sidenote: Coal under the Great Bend country.]

The coal is reported by Mr. Burch to appear east of the Columbia River, opposite to the fields just described, and to disappear under the basalt. If so, here is a resource for the future. Concerning the importance of this coal field to the Seattle, Lake Sh.o.r.e and Eastern Railway, I will speak in another connection.

[Sidenote: The first mining on Bellingham Bay.]

_f. Bellingham Bay, Skagit River, and other Coal Fields._ The first s.h.i.+pping of coal from Was.h.i.+ngton Territory was done from the Seahome Mines, on Bellingham Bay, Puget Sound, about twenty-five miles south of the Canada line. The mines were very badly managed; they took fire on several occasions. The coal was of the lignitic grade, but not of the best quality, and when other mines of better coal were opened the Bellingham Bay mines were closed. It is reported that c.o.king coal has been found some distance back from the bay.

[Sidenote: Coal on Skagit River.]

Coal has also been found on Skagit River, which, I suspect, from a sample which I saw and from what I heard (some of it), is good, and possibly might c.o.ke well. One of the coal properties is held by A. Ford and others. The following description is furnished by Mr. Norman B.

Kelly.

It is found about three miles north of the Skagit River, and about five miles from Sedro. The country is hilly. There are at least six or eight coal seams, perhaps more. Those examined run from eighteen inches to thirty inches, and are thought to be clean coal. The seams lie between sandrocks. The outcrops begin near the level of the valley, and continue in a series to an alt.i.tude of 550 feet above the valley. The highest outcrops are those of the lowest seams geologically. The strike is north sixty degrees west. At the foot of the hill, the seams dip forty-five degrees to the southwest, but the angle becomes steeper on the mountain side, until finally they are vertical. All the outcrops are within 1,500 feet horizontal distance. Blacksmiths use the coal and p.r.o.nounce it equal to c.u.mberland. It c.o.kes readily in the open fire; burns with a bright, hot, but small flame, and seems to leave but little ash.

Of course, the thinness of these seams is an objection. There is coal, also, upon the south side of the river; but there has been but little development in this field. An a.n.a.lysis of this coal is given in the table preceding, but I cannot say from what seam the sample was derived.

The following a.n.a.lysis of coal of the Crystal Mine, near Sterling, is said to have been made by Mr. Wm. G. Tenne, a.s.sayer, of Portland, Oregon:

c.o.ke 71.31 Combustible gases 23.17 Ash 5.31 Moisture .21

A very fine showing.

[Sidenote: Coal south of Puget Sound.]

It has long been known that there are considerable areas of coal south and southwest of Puget Sound. But they have not been very highly esteemed, the coals being lignite of not the best quality. There are at least two seams of seven to twelve feet thickness, and they lie at an angle of five degrees, with good roof and floor. Some effort is now making on Skook.u.mchuck and Chehalis rivers to develop these seams.

[Sidenote: Total s.h.i.+pments of coal from Was.h.i.+ngton Territory.]

Governor Semple, in his report for 1887, gives as the total s.h.i.+pment for the year ending June 30, 1887, the amount 525,705 tons. And he gives as the total output of coal from all the Was.h.i.+ngton Territory mines from the beginning of s.h.i.+pments to June 30, 1887:

MINES. TONS.

Newcastle 1,308,178 Franklin 46,272 Black Diamond 148,418 Renton 35,015 Talbot 10,000 Cedar River 64,816 Carbonado 402,207 South Prairie 139,792 Wilkeson 10,372 Bucoda 4,550 Roslyn 40,987 Bellingham Bay (estimated) 250,000 Clallam Bay 500 ---------- Total 2,461,108

I have now given a sketch of all the coal mines and coal areas of Was.h.i.+ngton Territory, and will conclude with a few words on the coal of Vancouver's Island.

[Sidenote: Coal on Vancouver's Island.]

_g._ _Coal Seams in British Columbia._ The productive coal field is on Vancouver's Island, on the east side of the Gulf of Georgia. There are three mines in operation as given below:

ANNUAL OUTPUT.

SHORT TONS.

Nanaimo Colliery 112,761 Wellington Colliery 185,846 East Wellington Colliery 28,029

This coal is marketed chiefly in California. The coal is lignitic; and yet it is said to c.o.ke well. It is also good stocking coal. The beds dip from 5 to 30 southward. The cost of transportation to San Francisco is about the same as from Seattle, and the cost of delivering on board s.h.i.+p about the same as from the Newcastle mines. The tariff of 75 cents per ton on foreign coal is regarded with satisfaction by the coal men of Was.h.i.+ngton Territory. The repeal of this tariff would inflict a heavy blow upon the mining industry of the Territory.

[Sidenote: The Iron Ores.]

II. IRON ORE.--The iron ores of Was.h.i.+ngton Territory consist of Bog ore, Brown ore (Limonite), some Red, or Specular ore (Hemat.i.te), and Magnetic ore (Magnet.i.te). The bog ore has been found in considerable quant.i.ties underlying the flats bordering Puget Sound, and has been worked in a furnace on Bellingham Bay. These ores, no doubt, come from the decomposition of the limonites, the magnet.i.tes and the basaltic rocks of the high lands, especially on the Cascade Mountains. These Bellingham Bay ores generally have an excess of phosphorus, and yield about 42 per cent. of metallic iron. Brown ore is reported on the Skagit River, sufficiently abundant, perhaps, but not containing more than 40 per cent. metallic iron. I saw a remarkable deposit of brown ore on the Willamette, near Portland, Oregon. It is a horizontal stratum varying from 4 to 20 feet in thickness, lying between ma.s.ses of basalt. It has been worked in the Oswego furnace, but yielded only about 40 per cent.

metallic iron. I did not see any specular ore in place in Was.h.i.+ngton Territory, but saw samples, said to have been brought from near the Middle Fork of Snoqualmie River.

[Sidenote: The great magnetic ore beds of Cascade Mountains.]

[Sidenote: Resembles the Cranberry ore deposits.]

But unquestionably the most important, as well as the largest, are the magnetic ore beds on the Cascade Mountains. These ores are found 1,000 to 1,500 feet above the chief water-courses on those high ridges and peaks which make up the Cascade Range along the headwaters of the Snoqualmie, on the west side of the mountain, and of the Yakima on the east flank of the mountain. These ores are underlaid by syenite and quartzite, and overlaid by limestone. The ore itself is found in conditions similar to that of the Cranberry ore in the Unaka Mountains of North Carolina; that is, it lies in pockets of various sizes in hornblendic, porphyritic and epidotic rocks.

[Sidenote: Guye Mine on Mount Logan.]

I visited two exposures of this ore, one on Mount Logan and the other on Mount Denny. These are only a mile or two from the line of the railroad.

On Mount Logan there was only one large outcrop of iron-bearing rocks, but float was seen at numerous points on the mountain. The main exposure showed an ore-bearing rock, presenting a horizontal front some sixty feet in length, and forty to fifty feet in height or thickness. At one place a considerable area in this s.p.a.ce seemed to be pure ore. For the rest, the pockets were smaller, and, of course, the amount of rock proportionally larger. What is to be found on going in from the surface can never be told in advance in ore beds of this sort. In working the great mine of Cranberry, North Carolina, the largest body of ore was reached 100 to 200 feet from the surface.

This bed of ore is known as The Summit, or Guye Mine. Its elevation is 1,250 feet above the grade of the Lake Sh.o.r.e Railroad, and about 1,000 feet above the small stream at the foot of the mountain. There would be no difficulty in building an inclined plane from the ore bank to the small valley below. The snow in winter might interfere with mining.

Ascending the mountain above the main exposure, I found what seemed to be another level of iron ore 100 feet higher; but possibly it may be the same bed displaced. Still higher appeared to be a third level of ore, and higher still, I observed a little float ore at a point nearly 2,000 feet above the grade of the railroad, on what may be called the summit of Mount Logan, at a point which my barometer made 4,700 feet above Puget Sound.

[Sidenote: Denny Mine.]

The Denny Mine is on a different mountain, somewhat farther to the west, but about the same distance from the railroad. It is reached also by a narrow valley from which a steep ascent of nearly 1,100 feet is made to the main exposure, which shows an edge of pure fine-grained magnet.i.te, about twenty feet thick, with limestone above, and also beneath, apparently. Fragments of epidote, porphyry and flinty quartzite lay around. The limestone did not show so large here as on Mount Logan. The ore dips steeply toward the south, and seemed to encrust the mountain for a distance of, perhaps, 225 feet, but with a somewhat broken surface. It then pa.s.sed with its limestone under quartzite cliffs which crest the mountain. The bed might have been followed around the mountain, where it is said to show at a number of places. It seemed to pa.s.s into a matrix of chert.

[Sidenote: Chair Peak, or Kelly Mine.]

I did not visit the Chair Peak, or Kelly Mine, which is some miles distant; but I conversed with probably every man who ever saw it, some half a dozen, including Mr. Whitworth, who made a survey of the property. It is reported as probably the largest and purest of all the deposits of magnetic ore, and lies at about the same height on the mountains. This ore would come out by way of the Middle Fork of Snoqualmie.

[Sidenote: Middle Fork Mines.]