Description
Mineral deposits of the Western Slope. 78 pages. 2 plates (1:1,000,000). Digital PDF download. B-22D
From the Introduction:
This bulletin was prepared with a view of furnishing the public with information concerning the location of these deposits. It is not exhaustive in its location of the various deposits, nor is the bibliography which accompanies the bulletin exhaustive as to the sources of information concerning the deposits.
The Western Slope is divided by natural barriers into three distinct districts; the Southwestern, the Western, and the Northwestern parts of the State. These barriers have so seriously impeded transportation facilities as to limit the areas which may be served by the various railroads.
The three districts are practically isolated from each other as far as railroad transportation is concerned, while the Southwestern and Northwestern parts are at times isolated from the “Eastern Slope,” through heavy snows blockading the railroads on the Continental divide.
The general effect of these barriers is to not only impede transportation, but to increase the costs of transportation between the “Western and Eastern Slopes.”
In the early 1900s, railroads formed the major transportation routes to the Western Slope. Based on the geographic limitations placed on railroad construction, the report is organized into three chapters: Chapter I. Mineral Deposits of Northwestern Colorado, Chapter II. Mineral Deposits of Western Colorado, and Chapter III. Mineral Deposits of Southwestern Colorado. Included is a table showing mineral production of the Western Slope by county up to 1917. The two plates present the coal fields and the mineral deposits of the Western Slope.
