Geology and Niineral Resources Freltiont County, Wyo
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Bulletin 2 Series B Geology and NIineral Resources of a Portion of FrelTIOnt County, Wyo. c. E .•JAMISON I' State Geologist CHEYENNE, W"\"O. THE S. A. BRISTOL CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS 19II J '. 'WYOMING STATE GEOLOGIST. BULLETIN 2, BERIES B. PLATE I BIG PoPO AGIE RIVER NEAR HEAD OF POPO AGIE CANYON. , . ~ ... ... -, ." CONTENTS PAGE Introduction ...................... 5 Acknowledgments ~. 6 History.. .. ..... .... 6 Bibliography ................................................... .12 Topography .. ......... .. 16 Drainage ......... .. 16 Climate.. .. 18 Plants and animals. .21 I rrigation and crops .. 22 Grazing.. .23 Resources ".......... ......... .23 Towns and villages. ........... 23 Geology .. 26 pre-Cambrian rocks 29 Cambrian System.. .29 Deadwood formation .. ........... .29 Ordovician System .. .................................. .30 Bighorn limestone. .30 Carboniferous System ......... .30 Madison limestone ...................... .30 AmBden formation ................ .. 31 . Tensleep sandstone. .......... .. 31 Embar formation .32 • Triassic System. 34 Chugwater formation .. .. 34 Jurassic System. .......... .. 37 Sundance formation. ................................... .. .37 Morrison formation ........ .39 Cretaceous System .. .............. .39 Lower Cretaceous rocks 39 Dakota sandstone. 39 Mancos group, ... .41 Fort Benton shales '. .42 Greenhorn limestone ...42 Niobrara formation, . .. 42 Fort Pierre shales.. .42 Mesaverde formation.. ................................. .. .44 Tertiary System ......... 45 Structural Geology ". 45 Wind River Mountains .45 Sage Creek district .46 Plunkett field .47 Dallas field .47 Lander valley 48 Geologic History. .48 Pre-Cambrian time ,.... .49 .. Cambrian sea 49 Ordovician sea .......... .. 49 Carboniferous sea.. .50 Triassic sea 50 • Jurassic sea .............. 50 Cretaceous conditions 51 Tertiary conditions... .52 -4- PAGE Mineral Resources .. ................... ..... 52 ~l ......~ History of development 53 Dallas field .. ....................... 53 Sage Creek field 56· Plunkett field .......... .. 59' Geologic relations. .61 Quality. ... .. .. ........ ... ....... ..... ..63 Yield ... 68- Pipe lines . ................ .. 69 Storage. ........................ 69 Practical suggestions ....................... 70, Origin. ............................................ 71 Organic theory _. 71 Inorganic theory. _. __ 72 Accumulation .. _. __ . _. _. _.. _. _. _73 Movement in porous rocks .......... _.-73 Places of accumulation ..... _. __ .. 75' Gold . _. _. _. _75 Coal ._....................... _ __ 81 Copper _. _.... __ .. _. ._.81 Iron Ore ___ ... ..82 Gilsonite _ __ .. 82 Building stones . _83 Gypsum _. __ _. _ . _. _. 84 Asbestos ___.. __ ... _ _.................. .._85 Clay .. .85 I Washakie Hot Spring _ _85 Surface waters. _ _._._ _ ._._.__86 '" Underground waters. _. _ 89- ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATE I. Big Popo Agie River above the "Sinks" Frontispiece PLATE II. Map showing area discussed. _. Facing page 6 PLATE III. Oil well in the Plunkett field. Washakie oil spring in the right middle ground Facing page 22 PLATE IV. The "Sinks"; Madison limestone. _ Facing page 30 PLATE V. Tensleep sandstone in Big Popo Agie canyon _ Facing page 32 PLATE VI. A-A canyon wall formed by Tensleep sandstone B-Juniper Butte, showing trough of the sec- ondary syncline in the Sage Creek Oil field .. Facing page 46· PLATE VII. Massive gypsum near the top of the Chugwater formation on Little Wind River .. __ . _. _ Facing page 50 PLATE VIII. Hogbapk of Dakota sandstone Facing page 52 PLATE IX. Diagram illustrating faulting in Sage Creek field Facing page 58 PLATE X. Oil wells in the: Plunkett field _ Facing page 60 PLATE XI. The Shoshone anticline in the Sage Creek field Facing page 66· PLATE XII. Crest of the Shoshone anticline, Plunkett field Facing page 74 PLATE XIII. General view of a portion of the South Pass dis- trict . .. Facing page 78- PLATE XIV. A-Old la-stamp mill driven by overshot water wheel. B-A part of the Big Popo Agie Falls .. Facing page 85 PLATE XV. Geologic map of a portion of Fremont County, Wyoming. ... In pocket (Geology and Mineral Resources of a Portion of Frenlont County, Wyoming By C. E. JAMISON INTRODUCTION. This report, based upon field work carried on during ,.. the summer of 1911, discusses an area of about 500 square miles, situated in the south central portion of· Fremont County, Wyoming, and extending from the vicinity of I • South Pass City, some 35 miles south of Lander, to Sage Creek, about 6 miles north of the Wind River Indian Agency. (Plate 2.) A portion of the oil fields embraced in this. area lies in the Wind River Indian Reservation, where work can be carried on only under lease from the Indian Council, subject to the rules and regulations of the Department of the Interior. The immediate cause for taking up the work in this .section was the large and increasing demand for infor mation in regard to the several oil fields tributary to Lander, and especial attention was given to the Sage Creek and Plunkett fields. Field work was commenced June 10, 1911, with L. 1VI. Trask as field assistant and Oscar Woolery • as teamster, and was closed at Lander July 2l. The oil bearing area is divided naturally into three fields, known as the Dallas field (Popo Agie field of Knight*; * Knight, W. C., The Petroleum of the Shoshone Anticlinal; School of Mines., Univ. of Wyoming, Petroleum series-Bulletin No.2,. Laramie, Wyo., 1897. -6-' Little Popo Agie district of Woodruff*), the Plunkett field (Lander field of Knight; Big Popo Agie district of Woodruff), and the Sage. Creek field (Shoshone field of Knight; Little Wind River district of Woodruff). The names Dallas, Plunkett and Sage Creek are here used because it is by these names the various oil fields are best known to the residents of the Lander district. On account of the small amount of time that could be devoted' to the entire district, no detailed study of the geology of the mining camps was made. As a large pro portion of the mines are idle and filled with water, the descriptions of most of them are based on information supplied by residents of the district. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. I . The writer is indebted to Mr. Chas. Swanson of Lander, <> to Mr. Jas. MacFarlane of South Pass City, and to Capt. O. M. Beck of Atlantic City, for information and assistance in the South Pass mining district; to Mr. J. H. Sharp and Mr. Geo. D. Case of Lander, and. to all of the oil operators for information in regard to the Lander district; to Mr. E. E. Jones, Assistant Engineer U. S. 1. S., for maps of the Wind River Indian Reservation; to Mr. E. W. Hains worth of Lander for maps of Fremont County; to Col. E. H. Power of Lander for' maps of the Dallas oil field; and to a lesser degree to nearly all of the residents of the Lander valley. J HISTORY. The first recorded visit of white men to this region a was in 1744, Sieur de la Verendrye having equipped and * Woodruff, E. G., The Lander Oil Field; U. S. Geo!. Survey Bulletin No. 452, 1911. WYOMING STATEJGEOLOGIST. BULLETIN 2, SERIES B. PLATE II rr~-I /'""" ./ I I -_..J "-! i '~ \ ll.I .J \ I o \ I I 4: Iw o I r-«-' I \ ~ ~ (;--1I \ o Green Riv6r ).. 1 o Roc\:Springs -y 'J 0 E:vein'Oton oLarami6 __ ----=-:EYENNE I ~ -- o 0 MAP OF WYOMING, ,'HOWING AREA DISCUSSED. , • o -7- sent out an expedition from Canada for the purpose of trading with the Indians. This expedition reached the Wind River valley early in the year 1744, where they met the Shoshone Indians, who advised them that a band of the war-like Sioux were encamped at a pass in the moun tains-----:-probably South Pass. After exploring several of the canyons on the east flank of the Wind River Mountains the expedition returned to Canada, and no further e~plora tions were carried on from th.at quarter. The earliest extended knowledge of this region was probably that obtained by Gen. Wm. Ashley, Robt~ Camp bell, Wm. Sublette, Jim Bridger and others, who trapped I on all of the streams tributary to Big Wind River as early as 18!Z2, but the first authentic information given to the public was that which resulted from the explorations of .. Capt. Bonneville in 1833. Capt. Bonneville's first trip to this section, his visit to the "Tar Springs" in the Dallas oil field, and his discovery of the Washakie Hot Spring are described by Washington Irving* in the following language: "On the 25th of July, 1833, Capt. Bonneville struck his tents and set out on his route for the Big Horn, at the head of a party of fifty-six men. He proceeded along the south point of the Wind River Mountains, and t~rning to the north-east, soon came upon the waters of the Popo Agi'e. This stream takes its rise in the Wind River Moun tains. Its name, like most Indian names, is characteristic. Popo, in the Crow language, signifying head; Agie, river. It is the head of a long river, extending from the south end of the Wind River Mountains in a north-east direction, until it falls into the Yellowstone. Its course is generally through plains, but twice it is crossed by chains of moun tains; the first the Little Horn, the second the Big Horn. * The Rocky Mountains, or Scenes, Incidents and Adventures in the Far West. Philadelphia, 1837. -8- After it has forced its way through the first chain, it is called the Horn River; after the second chain, it is called the Big Hom River. Its passage through this 'last chain is rough and violent; making repeated falls, and rushing down long and furious rapids which threaten destruction to the navigator; though a hardy trapper is said to have shot down them in a canoe. "Proceeding dovvn the Popo Agie, Capt. Bonneville came again in full view of the 'Bluffs', as they are called, extending from the base of the 'Vind River Mountains far away to the east, and presenting to the eye a confusion of hills ·and cliffs of red sandstone, some peaked and angular, some round.