the shaft rather than the outcrops in the coulee, where the coal The following is an analysis of the

is more or less weathered.

dried lignites from this opening:

The other mines of this area are situated on the north side of Dogden Butte. Mr. F. B. Mosteller has filed on a coal claim in Township 150, Range 79, Section 2. The seam measures four feet at this opening. At the opening owned by Mr. Parks, two miles northwest of the Mosteller mine, the seam also has a thickness of four feet.

The James and Bently Mine. When the James mine was visited, its operator Mr. Bently, was actively engaged in stripping the overlying fifteen feet of boulder clay from a large area of the lignite. This mine shows the following section:

This mine is located just over the line of McHenry county, in Township 151, Range 79, Section 32. The seam outcrops for several rods along the coulee, and though it is but two or three feet above the creek level, it is well drained at the present time, as only a small quantity of water issues from the coal. The mine has been worked for four years and about 2,000 tons of lignite removed. Not the least of the conveniences which the enterprising manager, Mr. Bently, has arranged is that of selecting a trail that follows low ground almost on a direct line. to Balfour, thus shortening the haul and furnishing a level road for customers. The analysis of the dried lignite from this mine. is as follows:

One other outcrop of coal was reported from this section, lying eight miles to the east, near water level in a coulee that drains to the sloughs north of the butte. Such an outcrop is not.

improbable, and is even to be expected from the level of the area intervening between the Dogden Butte mines and Balfour. This area includes a stretch of hilly ground, which, though drift covered, probably contains the lignite-bearing Laramie series, lying at an elevation considerably above that assigned for the mines at Dogden Butte. The record of several wells of moderate depth in this area shows no lignite, but these wells all stop short at the water-bearing gravel, thus failing to penetrate the deeper clays that might contain the lignite.

LIGNITE DEPOSITS OF MERCER COUNTY.

Field work in Mercer county this summer was necessarily restricted to a small area, but statements obtained from reliable sources add materially to the data personally collected. The county will be studied carefully next summer, when it is proposed to follow the Knife river through the county from southwest to northeast, and to examine carefully the bluffs of the Missouri river which form its northern and part of its eastern boundary.

Lignite is distributed abundantly through Mercer county, and one of the first attempts to develop it on a large scale was made at Mannhaven, on the Missouri river. A number of years ago the Plenty mine, in Township 145, Range 84, Sections 5 and 9, near Mannhaven, was opened by eastern enterprise, and preparations were made to install an elaborate equipment. Flatboats were made to carry the lignite to points in South Dakota, and even farther down the river, but their construction being faulty they sank on their first trip and the enterprise was abandoned. The coal seam at this mine is reported as thirteen feet thick with six inches of clay in the center. It is situated sixty feet above the waters of the Missouri. The Mannhaven Mercantile Company owns a mine near Mannhaven, in Township 146, Range 84, Section 7. The seam here mined, which is visible along the river for a mile and a half, is five feet above summer water level at its southern end, while it touches the water farther north. Its thickness is seven feet and the quality of the coal is reported as good. The mine is directly on the river and is worked during each winter, the amount of lignite taken out annually amounting to about 1,000 tons. Above the lignite lies a sandy clay.

In Township 145, Range 87, Section 31, lignite in workable seams is said to outcrop frequently, good springs occurring with

it in great abundance. In Township 145, Range 86, Section 32, eight feet of lignite outcrop on a coulee. A coal bank is opened up here, the lignite being obtained by removing from eight to nine feet of clay. From Township 145, Range 85, Section 33, three feet of lignite of rather inferior quality are reported. Mr. W. H. Mann, the founder of Mannhaven, is authority for the occurrence of a twelve-foot seam in Township 144, Range 87, Section 29, near the banks of the Knife river, and for another of the same size which outcrops in Township 144, Range 85, one mile south of the town of Deapolis.

LIGNITE DEPOSITS OF OLIVER COUNTY.

Opportunities for natural exposures of the abundant lignite seams of this county are given by the Missouri river on the eastern boundary, and by Square Butte creek, a tributary of the Missouri, and branches of the Knife river. Most of the information at present available in regard to this county was furnished by Mr. W. H. Mann, of New Salem, whose standing in the community and long acquaintance with the county make his statements of great value. The following seams are reported by him:

The county will be included in the field work of the State Geological Survey next summer, and work in this area promises to be very fruitful.

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON WARD COUNTY AND ADJACENT TERRITORY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE LIGNITE.

BY L. H. WOOD.

POSITION OF WARD COUNTY WITH RESPECT TO THE LIGNITE AREA OF THE STATE.

Ward County lies almost entirely within the lignite area of western North Dakota. Its eastern boundary line is a part of the line generally designated as the eastern limit of the lignite, while a survey of its other sounding lines would take one almost continuously across lignite seams outcropping very near the surface. Exceptions to this last statement are found in those places where the Coteau crosses the borders of the county. Outcrops are not known between the Makee Brother's mine ten miles west of Portal and the northeast corner of the county, though lignite may exist beneath the surface. A glance at the accompanying map of the county will show that extensive outcrops of lignite occur in the western and southeastern parts along the Des Lacs Valley and in the northwestern corner.

The lignite field of North Dakota occupies the western half of the state and is divided by the Missouri river into two nearly equal parts, and of the northern, Ward county forms about half. The lignite area of Canada is continuous with that of North Dakota, the Roche Peree mines being but six miles north of the Makee Brother's mine, located but a few rods from the international boundary. Several outcrops occur between these two mines, showing that the seams are in the same horizon. Other areas closely associated with Ward county in respect to topography and deposits of lignite will be briefly referred to in this report.

AREA OF WARD COUNTY.

This is one of the largest counties of North Dakota. Were it situated next to Connecticut or New Jersey it would be plain that it outranks the former, and compares favorably with the latter in area. Exclusive of the Indian Reservation, the county contains about 5,500 square miles, or a little less than onetwelfth of the area of the state.

SOME INTERESTING GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY.

Maps of the county suggest but few of its interesting geological features. There are, first of all, over 240 miles of river