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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, February 4, 1931.

I hereby certify that the annexed copy of affidavit, filed under Denver 032575, formerly Glenwood Springs 018827, is a true and literal exemplification of the original on file in this office.

In test mony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of this office to be affixed, at the city of Washington, on the day and year above written.

THOS. C. HAVELL,

Assistant Commissioner of the General Land Office.

Before the Department of the Interior. A-6597, involving Glenwood Springs 018825 and 018827.

J. D. Freeman, placer claimant, v. George L. Summers, homestead entryman. STATE OF COLORADO,

City and County of Denver, 88:

AFFIDAVIT OF H. K. SAVAGE

H. K. Savage, being duly sworn upon oath, deposes and states:

That he is personally familiar with the De Beque-Grand Valley oil-shale field, having had charge of certain field work and development on similar properties in the immediate vicinity of the oil-shale placer claims involved in the above-entitled contest.

Deponent states that he visited the De Beque district between January 20 and February 1, 1925, and knows of his own knowledge that climatic conditions in the region of these claims are such that it is almost impossible and at least very impracticable to conduct any examination and sampling at this time. Deponent states that at present there is at least 1 foot of snow on the level in the lower valleys; that all trails to the top lands are blocked with snow and ice and that it would be impossible to get any horses over these trails for the carrying of supplies or samples.

Deponent further states that all assessment holes, Government corners and outcroppings on these claims are covered with snow to a depth of several feet. Deponent further states that from previous four years' experience, May 15th would be the earliest date practical for a complete examination.

H. K. SAVAGE.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of February, 1925. MARION E. BARNHART, Notary Public

My commission expires August 11, 1927.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, February 4, 1931.

I hereby certify that the annexed copy of letter, filed under Denver 032575, formerly Glenwood Springs, 018827, is a true and literal exemplification of the original on file in this office.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of this office to be affixed, at the City of Washington, on the day and year above written.

THOS. C. HAVELL, Assistant Commissioner of the General Land Office.

CONSAUL & HELTMAN,

ATTORNEYS AT LAW, Washington, March 14, 1925.

A-6957. J. D. Freeman and Standard Shale Products Co. v. George L. Summers. File 504.

HONORABLE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

Sir: In support of petitions for rehearing and for new trial heretofore filed in the above-described case, we have the honor to file herewith supplemental

affidavit of J. D Freeman, with accompanying two plats, and various photographs.

These complete the case so far as supplemental showing is concerned, it being the desire of our clients to adduce all further testimony at a new hearing before the local land office.

Respectfully,

CONSAUL & HELTMAN, Attorneys for J. D. Freeman et al.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, February 4, 1931.

I hereby certify that the annexed copy of affidavit, filed under Denver 032575, formerly Glenwood Springs 018827, is a true and literal exemplification of the original on file in this office.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of this office to be affixed, at the city of Washington, on the day and year above written.

THOS. C. HAVELL,

Assistant Commissioner of the General Land Office.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 88:

J. D. Freeman, being first duly sworn according to law, deposes and says: That he is the identical J. D. Freeman who is a party to the case entitled J. D. Freeman v. George L. Summers, pending before the Secretary of the Interior and designated by docket number as A-6957, involving Glenwood Springs $18825 and 018827.

That this affidavit is made in support of affiant's petition heretofore filed in said case praying a rehearing or a new trial.

That in the light of the decision heretofore rendered in this case by the Secretary of the Interior, affiant perceives that in the submission of testimony before the local land office in this case, affiant and the Standard Shale Products Co. failed to submit such testimony as the Interior Department evidently requires in such a case as this.

That prior to the commencement of the hearing before the Glenwood Springs land office, Mr. C. W. Darrow, attorney, representing affiant and said Standard Shale Products Co., in the presence of affiant, conferred with the register of the Glenwood Springs land office, Mr. Spencer, with regard to the scope of testimony to be adduced; that while affiant is unable at the present time to quote the precise language used either by Mr. Darrow or by Mr. Spencer, the purport of the statements made by Mr. Spencer at that time was that the issue to be determined, and concerning which testimony should be submitted, was the relative value of the land involved, either for agricultural or grazing purposes on the one hand or for mineral purposes on the other hand.

That in a large measure the submission of testimony in behalf of affiant and of said company at said hearing pertains to the issue mentioned; that testimony dealing with discoveries of oil-bearing shales upon the land, and pertaining to performance of annual labor upon the placer claims involved, was submitted at the instance of affiant's counsel for the purpose of showing good faith in connection with the location and maintenance of said shale placer claims.

That, as indicated by testimony in the matter of said hearing, the contestee, Summers, refused to permit mining-development work to be conducted upon his so-called homestead claim, which fact rendered it almost impossible to perform work within the limits of said homestead thereafter, although some prospecting work had been done upon said homestead claim prior to the making of threats by said Summers.

That since the decision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office in this case, adverse to said homestead claimant, rendered April 26, 1924, said Summers has not resided upon his said homestead, but has been absent therefrom and from this immediate vicinity; that the absence of said Summers from said homestead and from this immediate vicinity has made it possible for affiant and said company to do additional prospecting work upon those portions of the mining claims involved in conflict with the homestead claim of said Summers.

That affiant attaches to this affidavit and makes a part hereof a blue print plat showing said homestead and conflicting shale placer claims and also showing various mining workings thereon.

That since the submission of testimony to said hearing, the following workings have been excavated upon said claims upon oil-bearing shale beds, which are indicated upon said attached plat as follows, to wit:

On F. D. No. 7 placer, excavations Nos. 19, 20, and 21, situate upon the ground in conflict with said Summers homestead, done as assessment work for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1924, and June 30, 1925; that one of said excavations had been previously commenced before the men working thereon had been driven therefrom by said Summers, and after said Summers departed from the vicinity that work was completed.

On J. D. No. 3 placer, workings Nos. 9 and 10 upon the area in conflict with said homestead.

On J. D. No. 2 placer, workings Nos. 5 and 7 upon said homestead conflict. On J. D. No. 3 placer, workings Nos. 9 and 10 upon the area in conflict with said homestead.

On J. D. No. 5 placer, workings Nos. 15 and 16 upon area in conflict with said homestead.

That the showings in said excavations are corroborative of the showings previously secured in earlier workings described the testimony submitted at said hearing, and tend to show with all reasonable certainty the existence in said claims, and on the land in conflict with said homestead, of oil-bearing shale of economic value.

That in addition to said new excavations, which so corroborate the earlier testimony, this entire vicinity since the date of said hearing in this case, has been made the subject of careful personal examination and study by Mr. G. M. Kintz, mineral examiner of the General Land office; that Mr. Kintz has made detailed examination of work performed upon these claims and in the immediate vicinity, and if consistent with the policy of the Interior Department, affiant would request that Mr. Kintz be called by the Government as a witness, if a new trial is ordered in this case, for the purpose of submitting testimony of a disinterested Government official to show what he has actually found upon the ground.

If the Secretary will remand this case with instructions that leave be granted to submit further testimony, it is the intent of affiant to further demonsrate the existence of oil shales in this land, of economic value, by further sampling to be accompanied by precise assays showing actual oil contents, accompanied by positive evidence as to the precise points from which each sample is taken.

That affiant also files herewith as a part of this affidavit, a topographic and property plat, entitled, "Oil Shale Area District of De Beque, Colo., showing escarpment."

As the record shows, the area here involved is in secs. 1, 2, and 3, T. 5 S., R. 97 W., indicated by the marginal note-" Summers contest" at the top of the plat.

Affiant calls attention to the escarpment lying a short distance to the east and a short distance to the south, and a short distance to the south and west of the land involved, which escarpment is that of the famous Book Cliffs; that aside from actual disclosures of oil shales upon the land involved, it is known as a matter of geology that the entire formation carrying numerous beds of oil shale extends from one escarpment to the other and through the land involved, these shale formations being even more uniform in their continuity than are coal-bearing formations.

That in the immediate vicinity of the land involved numerous oil shale placer claims have been patented, many of which claims comprise "back lands," i.e., lands not containing the escarpment or face of Book Cliffs.

That affiant files herewith a panorama photograph, taken from a point in sec. 25, T. 5 S., R. 96 W., the center of the picture looking northerly through the middle fork of Parachute Creek, the canyon on the left side of the picture being the left fork of Parachute Creek. Affiant files this photograph for the purpose of showing the rugged character of the land, the height of the canyon walls or escarpment, the continuity of formation, and asks attention to the elevation of the canyon walls as contrasted with the size of the horse shown in the middle foreground. Said photograph is marked "J. D. F. 1.”

Affiant further files a photograph marked "J. D. F. 2," taken from a point in sec. 13, T. 6 S., R. 98 W., the canyon at the right side of the picture being

that shown by the plat to be immediately south of the property of J. W. Hess, the view covering a scope of about 2 miles. This photograph is likewise filed to show continuity of formation and character of the escarpment.

That affiant files herewith photograph marked. "J. D. F. 3," showing pack train of Mineral Examiner Kintz en route to camp in September, 1924, on a trail along the face of Book Cliffs.

Photograph marked “J. D. F. 4," herewith submitted, shows camp used by Mineral Examiner Kintz during his work in this immediate vicinity.

Small kodak photograph "J. D. F. 5," shows Mineral Examiner Kintz and affiant on the trail, indicating the character of the country.

Small kodak photograph "J. D. F. 6" shows Mineral Examiner Kintz and affiant examining an assessment working or excavation.

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Affiant submits small kodak photograph "J. D. F. 7" and calls attention to the point marked X," showing outcropping in center background, on which were excavated holes 19, 20, and 21, mentioned in the earlier portion of this affidavit as excavated upon the homestead conflict since the first hearing.

Affiant files large photograph "J. D. F. 8," showing the end of the canyon in sec. 9, T. 5 S., R. 96 W., lying east of the land involved, being the nearest escarpment east of the land here involved.

That owing to the elevation of the vicinity of the land involved, affiant requests that if the case is remanded for the purpose of permitting submission of further testimony, such instructions be given as will permit the new trial to occur during the coming summer, in order that witnesses may be taken upon and over the ground to qualify themselves to give testimony of the definite character desired by the department; that in all probability it would be impracticable to do any work upon these claims prior to the middle of May.

As bearing upon the matter of affiant's good faith, and that of the Standard Shale Products Co., affiant's neighbor, affiant further states that title to this land is sought for the sole purpose of shale production and to secure material for operation of shale production plants. No effort is being made to sell any shares or stock to the public. So far as affiant is concerned, it is his desire to retain control of shale property, which he now holds under the mining law, with view to its development, for the purposes mentioned; that affiant has devoted years to the shale industry and hopes to assist in bringing that industry to a point of economic importance.

J. D. FREEMAN.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of Mar., 1925.

My commission expires June 12, 1928.

HERMAN C. GAUSS, Notary Public.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, February 4, 1931.

I hereby certify that the annexed copy of letter, filed under Denver 032575, formerly Glenwood Springs 018827, is a true and literal exemplification of the original on file in this office.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of this office to be affixed, at the city of Washington, on the day and year above written.

THOMAS C. HAVELL, Assistant Commissioner of the General Land Office.

WASHINGTON, D. C., February 26, 1925.

Standard Shales Products Co. v. George L. Summers.

Glenwood Springs 018826.

Our file, 504.

Honorable SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

SIR: With our letter of yesterday, we filed certain affidavits in connection with the above-described consolidated case, and stated that other affidavits were expected and would be filed immediately upon their receipts.

46780-31-9

We now file herewith affidavit of Mr. J. B. Jenson, with accompanying exhibits received by this morning's mail. We may say that these papers were mailed at Salt Lake City, February 22, 1925, and were sent by air mail. Asking that they be considered with the other papers in the case, we remain, Very respectfully,

CONSAUL & HELTMAN,

Attorneys for Standard Shales Product Co. et al.

STATE OF UTAH,

County of Salt Lake, 88:

J. B. Jenson, of Salt Lake City, Utah, being first duly sworn, deposes and says that he is a mining engineer specializing in oil shales and hydrocarbons, and that he has personally examined the property of the Standard Shale Products Co., and particularly the Triumph claims Nos. 21 and 22, located in Garfield County, Colo.

That he knows it to be a fact that the upper and final ledge or measure, of the first or upper member of the oil-shale deposits of the Green River formation, does exist on these two claims and the adjacent claims, the same being exposed continuously along the road at the upper portion of the hill shown to the left on the photo containing the Summers cabin and constituting one of the exhibits in the Summers homestead case.

That this measure which is found regularly, throughout the entire Uinta Basin within approximately 50 feet immediately below the Tower sandstone or cap rock, does never exist as far as his observation goes except where the second and third underlying member also exist and that the shale engineer usually first seeks this measure commonly known as the black-warty shale in order to obtain his horizon or position in the shale measure, it varies in thickness from a few inches to approximately 22 feet and assays usually about 70 gallons to the ton.

That he has examined the escarpment in many hundreds of places in the Green River deposits in the Uinta Basin and has never found the black warty shales without the other regular members also existing in their sequence and comprising both lean and rich shales. These examinations have been made on escarpments over practically the entire Uinta Basin which comprises the lake bottom sediments containing the petroleum laid down in Eocene times on the bottom of the Uinta Lake, and which area as at present disclosed extends from Rifle, Colo., on the east to Juab, Utah, on the west and some distance beyond Green River, Wyo., on the north.

That this black warty shale is considered positive proof the underlying measures just as much so as if a complete book might be cut into a number of sections and in which case the various leaves bear their regular relation to each other in the different sections. Reference is made to a photo engraving page 1 of Commercial and Engineering Aspects of the New Oil Shale Industry of the Western Slope, copy of which is appended hereto. The foreground shows a portion of the upper member and a portion of the lower member of the shale members while the escarpment on the opposite side of the gulch to the left shows all three members, upper, middle and lower, reaching approximately one-half of the distance downward through the picture. The black warty shale and the shales referred to in the evidence exist in the rolling hills to the left in the background, these hills containing many measures though thinner than those exposed in the escarpment, but, nevertheless, reaching a thickness of several feet of commercially valuable shales. Almost without an exception there is an increase in oil yield as the penetration of the escarpment or exposure is affected. This holds true on the claims in question as far as we are able to judge. The rolling hills shown in the background are identical with those of the land in question, the arroyos reaching a depth of from 50 to 100 feet and in which the assays contained in the evidence of the case were obtained.

That the black warty ledge is considered positive proof of the underlying members and it of itself on account of its high yield is considered a commercially valuable measure; that it is easily mined and retorted and owing to its richness requires less thickness of ledge to be commercially profitable than the leaner members.

Also that he has personally taken samples of the leaner measures assay certificates of one of which is attached hereto in substantiation of his testi

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