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} PRELIMINARY REPORT
7
) PM

/

OF THE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

OF

WYOMING,

AND

PORTIONS OF CONTIGUOUS TERRITORIES,

(BEING A SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRESS.)

CONDUCTED

UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR,

BY

1 eV SE A EN

UNITED STATES GEOLOGIST.
/

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1872.

LETTER TO THE SECRETARY.
?

WASHINGTON, January 1, 1871.

Srr: In accordance with your instructions dated July 15, 1870, I
have the honor to present the* second annual report of progress of the
United States geological survey of the Territories, conducted under
your direction during the present season.

In the field work I have been guided by the following directions, con-
tained in your letter of instructions: /

“The area of your exploration must necessarily be discretionary to
some extent; but owing to the lateness of the season and the limited
time for iguana it is thought advisable by this Department that the
field of your labor be confined principally to Wyoming and sueh portions
of contiguous territories as may be deemed desirable. You will be re-
quired to secure as full material as possible for the illustration of your
final report, such as sketches, photographs, &c. It is desirable that
your collections in all departments should be as complete as possible,
and you will forward them to the Smithsonian Institution, to be classified
and arranged according to law. You will be expected to prepare a pre-
liminary report of your labors, which will be ready for publication by
January 1, 1871. You are referred to your instructions of last season for
the details of your duties in the field.”

The bill making the appropriation for the survey was not signed by
the President until the 15th of July, and immediately thereafter I pro-
ceeded to Cheyenne, Wromine Territory, in accordance with the above
instructions.

My party was organized as follows:

James Stevenson, managing director; Henry W. Elliott, artist; Prof.
Cyrus Thomas, agriculturist ; Wm. H. Jackson, photographer; John H.
Beaman, meteorologist; Charles 8. Turnbull, secretary; Arthur L.
Ford, mineralogist; C. P. Carrington, zodlogist; Henry D. Schmidt,
naturalist; L. A. Bartlett, general assistant. Mr. 8S. R. Gifford, land-
scape artist, of New York City, accompanied the party as guest from
Cheyenne to Fort Bridger. My employés were, one wagon-master, four
teamsters, and three cooks and laborers. At Fort Fetterman I employed
an old mountaineer as guide and interpreter, through that portion of
the country supposed to be infested with hostile Indians.

*This is really a fourth annual report of progress of the United States geological
survey of the Territories. The first and second annual reports will be found incor-
porated in the reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the years
1867 and 1868. The thrd is the report of the survey of Colorado and New Mexico,
published last winter.

4. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

The greater part of our outfit was obtained at Cheyenne. Through the
generous kindness of the depot quartermaster at Fort Russell, Colonel C.
A. Reynolds, we were enabled to start on our journey, fully equipped, —
August 6th, The previous year our course had been southward from
this point, along the eastern base of the mountains to Santa Fé, in
order to study the fine exposures of the rocks of different ages, as they
were lifted up by the elevation of the mountain chains. In order that
the labors of the two seasons might he connected together, it seemed best
to proceed northward along the eastern base of the Laramie range, by
way of Chugwater Creek, Laramie Peak, North Platte, Sweetwater, and
South Pass. The country along the immediate line of our route was —
examined with as much care as possible, and frequent excursions were
made up the valleys of the little streams to their sources in the mount-
ains, thus obtaining cross-sections from the central nucleus of the mount-
ain ranges extending into the plains. In this way we explored the
North Platte and its numerous branches to the Red Buttes; thence we
struck across the divide to the valley of the Sweetwater; thence up
that stream to its source in the Wind River Mountains. The geological
structure of the Sweetwater Valley, although simple, was very interest-
ing, and afforded ample scope for the imagination in reconstructing the
numerous phases which it has assumed in past ages. We gave a hasty
glance at the Sweetwater mines and the southern portion of the Wind
River Mountains, and passed down the Big and Little Sandy Creeks to
Green River, and thence by way of Church Buttes to Fort Bridger.
Here we established a permanent camp for about twenty days, made
numerous side excursions up the Bear River, Muddy Creek, Black’s Fork,
and Smith’s Fork, thus exploring, with considerable care, the northern
slope of the Uinta Mountains. This range is one of wonderful beauty,
a unique creation, without a parallel in the West, so far as I have yet seen.
From ‘Fort Bridger we proceeded southward to Henry’s Fork, explored
that stream to its source in the axis of the Uintas, then descended its
valley to Green River, explored the latter stream to Brown’s Hole,
and then returned up the river to the Union Pacific Railroad. The
scenery and geology of this region are grand and instructive in the
highest degree. From Green River Station we followed the old stage
road up Bitter Creek, via Bridger’s Pass, Medicine Bow Mountains,
across the Laramie Plains, through the Laramie range, by way of Chey-
enne Pass, to our point of departure, where we arrived about the 1st of
November. Here the party was broken up, most of its members returning
to their homes. A portion of the month of November was occupied in
studying the more interesting geological features along the line of the
Union Pacific Railroad from Cheyenne to Salt Lake Valley. Mr. Elliott
constructed an excellent pictorial section of the entire road, bringing
out all the surface features with remarkable clearness and beauty. In
addition to hundreds of local sketches and sections, Mr. Elliott has de-
lineated three continuous pictorial sections across the territory of Wyo-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 5

ming which, if properly engraved, will form a new era in the exhibition
of structural geology. The collections in geology and natural history
. were very large, and many new forms, recent as well as fossil, were added
to science. Some idea of the extent of the collections may be obtained
from the catalogues which are appended to thisreport. I take pleasure
in acknowledging the great fidelity of all my assistants to the interests
of the survey, and their efficient aid throughout the entire trip. My
principal assistant, and associate for many years on the plains, Mr.
James Stevenson, rendered me the same faithful and indispensable ser-
vices that have characterized his labors in previous expeditions. Mr.
Elliott, the artist, worked with untiring zeal, and his sketches and see-
tions have never been surpassed for beauty or clearness in any country.

The valuable report of Prof. Thomas will furnish ample proof of his
constant fidelity to his duties. -I regard his report as of great practi-
cal interest to the country.

Mr. William H. Jackson performed his duties throughout the entire
trip with a true enthusiasm for his art, and the result is about 400 nega-
tives that have hardly been surpassed for beauty or perfection. These
pictures throw great light on the singular geographical and geological
features of the West, and are, in my opinion, a real contribution to
science as well as to landscape photography.

Mr. Gifford, although accompanying the party by invitation for the
purpose of studying the grand scenery of the Rocky Mountains in an
artistic sense, rendered us most efficient aid, and by his genial nature
endeared himself to all.

To Mr. Beaman was assigned the duty of meteorologist, and his report
on the subject, herewith appended, will show his zeal inythe work. The
elevations, though only approximately true, must be regarded as of great
value, extending as they do over a country in which very few observations
had previously been made. For alarge part of the season we followed the
old routes of Frémont and Stansbury, and in our examinations we found
their reports of great service. So far as the general geographical
features of the country are concerned, and the leading facts useful to
the emigrant, we found them to be remarkably accurate, and I take
pleasure in bearing my hearty testimony to the zeal and ability of these
eminent explorers. So far, however, as the geological structure of
the country is concerned, but little of a definite character can be found
in their reports.

In my report of last year I spoke of the great value of the assistance
rendered me by the military authorities of the West. I take pleasure in
again thanking them for still more valuable kindnesses the present sea-
son. Before leaving Washington I called upon the honorable Secretary
of War, General Belknap, with a letter from the Secretary of the In-
terior, requesting such assistance from the military authorities of the
West as could be afforded me without detriment to the service. The
Secretary of War at once issued orders in accordance with this request,

6 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

which were distributed to the different military posts of the West.
These orders were indorsed by General Meigs and General Eaton at
Washington, by General Sheridan at Chicago, and by General George D.
Ruggles, in the absence of General Augur, at Omaha.

My outfit was obtained of Colonel C. A. Reynolds, depot quartermas-
ter, stationed at Fort Russell, and most cordially do I thank him for the
friendly interest he took in our welfare. The outfit we obtained here
could not have been purchased in the country, however large our appro-
priation; and besides the great saving to the appropriation, the real
interest that both he and his subordinates manifested in providing
everything for our comfort and success, called forth the gratitude of
the whole party. At every military post we visited we were received
with great attention, and the numerous favors, so indispensable in
the performance of our duties, were granted us everywhere. In this
connection, in addition to those already referred to, Imay more especially
mention Colonel Chambers, in command of Fort Fetterman, and Lieu-
tenant O’Brien, quartermaster, Captain Gordon and Lieutenant Gregg,
of Camp Stambaugh, Lieutenant Shepard, of Fort Bridger, Colonel
Bradley, of Fort Steele, and Lieutenant Bubb, of Fort Sanders.

Although the appropriation for the exploration of the year 1870 was
very liberal compared with those of former years, I did not feel war-
ranted in employing a topographer, and therefore was able to contribute
little of importance toward the improvement of our maps. The maps
already constructed by the Engineer Bureau of the Army are undoubt-
edly the best of any published in America, but in attempting to express
the geology of the mountain districts of the West upon them, they are
found to be quite inadequate. It has already been shown by the ablest
geographers in the Old World, that any topographical map that is not
constructed in accordance with well-established laws of geological strue-
ture, must be of approximate value only. It is proposed to prepare a
map of the districts explored, on a scale of two miles to the inch, not
only to express the details of the geology with suitable colors, but also
to show, for the benefit of our legislators, the amount of land that can
be redeemed by irrigation, timber land, bottom land, &c. Such a map
would be of great importance in determining the value of land grants
to railroads and other corporations, and would save to our Government
many times the cost of the entire survey.

My explorations of the country west of the Mississippi began in the
spring of 1853, prior to the organization of Kansas and Nebraska as
‘Territories, and I have watched the growth of this portion of the West
_year by year, from the first rude cabin of the squatter to the beautiful
villages and cities which we now see scattered so thickly over that
country. We have beheld, within the past fifteen years, a rapidity of
-growth and development in the Northwest which is without a parallel in
‘the history of the globe. Never has my faith in the grand future that
awaits the entire West been so strong as it is at the present time, and

lord

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. (
it is my earnest desire to devote the remainder of the working days of
my life to the development of its scientific and material interests, until
I shall see every Territory, which is now organized, a State in the Union.
. Out of the portions of the continent which lie to the northward and
southward of the great central mass, other Territories will, in the mean
time, be carved, until we shall embrace within our limits the entire
country from the Arctic Circle to the Isthmus of Darien.

Tt will not be possible for me in this report to give full credit to all
for the numerous favors and courtesies which have been extended to
my party, not only during the present season, but for the many years
' of the past that I have been exploring the West. Many of them were
indispensable to my success, and a great source of saving in the expendi-
ture of my limited appropriations. I take this occasion to state that
every favor extended to myself or my party by the citizens of the coun-
try, by the military authorities, or by railroad corporations, has been in
the past and will be in the future credited to the cause which I have
endeavored toadvance. Every dollar that could besaved Ihave regarded
as So much power given me to place before the world in a proper light
the magnificent resources, scientific and practical, of our vast domain
in the West.

To Hon. Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, and Charles Crocker,
of the Central Pacific Road: to Hon. John D. Perry and Gen-
eral A. Anderson, of the psn Pacific Railway; and to Gen-
eral John Pierce and Colonel Fisher, of the Denver Pacific Railroad, I
would tender my grateful thanks for the generous manner in which
most important favors were extended to me and to my party, thereby
saving hundreds of dollars to the Government.

To the officers of the Union Pacific Railroad, in years past, I have been
greatly indebted for free transportation and other courtesies. From
General G. M. Dodge, of Council Bluffs, to whom the West is indebted
for its material advancement as much as to any one living man, I have
- always received the warmest sympathy and aid. I have also e thank
Dr. T. ©. Durant and Webster Snyder, former superintendent of the
road, for marked courtesies in the line of my scientific investigations.
Scientific men who are truly devoted to their calling cannot be specu-
lators or ardently given to pecuniary gains. Citizens of the country
and great corporations must ever be largely the recipients of the mate-
rial benefits of these labors. Generosity on the part of such corpora-
tions toward men who are devoted to the advancement of knowledge or
the good of the world, may be regarded as the index of their tone and
character. Iam glad ‘to say that, with comparatively few exceptions,
I have received from the railroad men of the West every mark of ap-
preciation I could desire. In former reports I have frequently men-
tioned the cordial sympathy of the citizens of the Territories in my
labors. Iam obliged to speak the truth as I read it in the great book
of nature, whether it is in accordance with the preconceived notions of

8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the inhabitants of a district or not, and I cannot depart from this inex-
- orable law for fear or favor. It is my earnest wish at all times to report
that which will be most pleasing to the people of the West, providing
there is any foundation for it in nature. When I cannot do so, I shall
wait for time to place me right in their estimation.

To Dr. G. L. Miller, editor of the Omaha Herald, and Captain William
Wilcox and William Stephens, of the firm of Stephens & Wilcox, Omaha,
Colonel I. W. French, of Cheyenne, and Miers Fisher, of Denver, Colo-
rado, my entire party have been indebted, from time to time, for material
favors of great value. My thanks are also due to Hon. 8. F. Nuckolls, of
Cheyenne, Dr. Hiram Latham, of Laramie City, J. W. Watson, of °
Georgetown, D. C. Collier, of Central City, and J. M. Marshall, of
Black Hawk, Colorado. The gentlemen connected with the press of
the whole West, with very few exceptions, have always given me the
most hearty sympathy and assistance in all my labors, and to them I
extend my cordial thanks.

I have thought it best to make these preliminary reports the vehicle
of much detailed matter which L believe to be useful, upon which I shall
hereafter base many generalizations, but which cannot be repeated in a
more elaborate final report. The object of these reports seems to me
to be to bring before the people at as early a date as possible immediate
practical results. I have also endeavored to render them as free from
technical language as possible consistent with scientific accuracy. By the
hundreds of thoughtful minds all over our country the essays of Leidy,
Cope, Lesquereux, Hodge, and Newberry will be read with deep interest.
If this report is not as complete as could be desired, I would respect-
fully direct your attention to the fact that the entire exploration has
been made and the report submitted to you in a little less than six
months from the date of the passage of the bill authorizing it. It is my
hope to be able to continue these reports from year to year, and to make
them more complete and more useful to science and to the country.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
FF. V. HAYDEN,
United States Geologist.

Hon. COLUMBUS DELANO,

Secretary of the Interior.

CAO Sys ay

=

REPORT OF F. V. HAYDEN.

CHAPTER—
I. FROM CHEYENNE TO FORT FETTERMAN.
IJ. FROM FORT FETTERMAN TO SOUTH PASS.
Il]. FROM SOUTH PASS TO FORT BRIDGER.

IV. FORT BRIDGER AND THE UINTA MOUNTAINS.

VY. FROM FORT BRIDGER TO UINTA MOUNTAINS, HENRY’S FORK, GREEN
RIVER, AND BROWN’S HOLE TO GREEN RIVER STATION ON THE
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.

VI. FROM GREEN RIVER STATION, via BRIDGER’S PASS, TO CHEYENNE,
WYOMING TERRITORY:

ot

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

CHAPTER I.

FROM CHEYENNE TO FORT FETTERMAN.

During the summer of 1869 my explorations were directed southward
from Fort D. A. Russell, near Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, along the
eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, through Colorado into New Mex-
ico, as far as the Placier Mountains. In order that I might trace the
different geological formations northward in their geographical exten-
sion and connect the results of the two seasons’ examinations, I thought
it best to commence the labors of the present year at the same point and
proceed northward, by way of Laramie Peak and South Pass.

Fort D. A. Russell is located on the north bank of Crow Creek, a small
tributary of the South Platte. The rocks which underlie the country in
every direction are evidently of modern date, and belong to the upper
tertiary. They are cut through by the little streams, and we find ex-
posed a moderately thick deposit of gravel and boulders resting upon an
irregular surface of the indurated marls, sands, and clays of the lake
sediments. This.is the case in the valley of Crow Creek near the fort,
where the vertical bluffs are formed of aluminous marl, with a greater
or less admixture of sand. There are also layers of fine indurated sand-
stone, with small cavities filled with clay and irregular seams of whitish
silicious material scattered through all the beds. Near the base of the
mountains are small fragments of feldspar. Resting upon what ap-
pear to be true tertiary strata are beds of greater or less thickness,
composed of sand, gravel, and water-worn boulders, passing up into two
to four feet of unstratified marl, with a foot or so of soil. Our course
from Cheyenne was directly north along the military wagon-road to Fort
Laramie, and our first camp was on Lodge Pole Creek. The surface of
the country is beautifully undulating, consisting of rounded hills, ridges,
and valleys; but not a tree or bush is to be seen. The same formations
occur on Lodge Pole Creek that are noted above on Crow Creek. The
strata are the same on all the branches from the foot of the mountains to
the North Platte. Horse Creek and its branches are nearly desti-
tute of trees of any kind, and the water is so low that it can hardly
be called a running stream; still the soil is good, the bottoms quite
broad, and grass fine. For pastoral purposes this valley is very de-
sirable. In order that we may study the geological structure of the
country with success we must travel along the base of the mountains,
where the different strata are exposed by the elevation of the mountain
ranges. ‘To explore the more mountainous portions, we must travel on
horseback, and make the road in the plains, which our wagons must
adhere to, our base of operations. We can thus make side trips with
pack animals to any portion of the country, however rugged the surface,
if it presents any objects of interest.

August 7.—This morning the train proceeded across the plains north-
ward to the Chugwater, a distance of about thirty-five miles. With
Mr. Gifford and four or five assistants I followed the valley of Lodge
Pole Creek to the foot of the mountains, about sixteen miles distant.
The surface of the country was undulating and covered with afair growth

12 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

of grass; here and there in the valley of the creek, or some side ravine,
the rocks are exposed, revealing their age to be upper tertiary. Cream-col-
ored marls and sometimes deep, ferruginous sands are seen, but the pre- ©
vailing color of the rock material is light drab-yellow. The valley of the
Lodge Pole Creek will average about six miles in width from bluff to .
bluff. The surface of the highlands is covered to a greater or less ex-

tent with gravel and stray boulders of moderate size, varying from that

of a pin’s head to a foot in diameter. Masses of carboniferous lime-

stone are yery abundant, showing that these beds were very accessible

to the waters durmg the later drift period. Some of these limestone

masses are quite full of fossils, as crinoidal stems, Athyris subtilita,

Orthis, and Chonetes. A careful examination of the stray boulders seat-

tered upon the plains will enable one to determine with a great degree

of certainty what formations are revealed along the flanks of the moun-

tains. I take the position that these superficial deposits are the result of
forces acting from the mountains toward the plains, and that in sweep-

ing down from the flanks across the upturned edges of the beds -of
different geological periods, as there exposed, they carry portions of each

formation with them, and strew them over the plains. Wherever a form-

ation is well developed and exposed, there the more fragments of it will

predominate. When the red sandstones are largely exposed, then the

drift will be filled with fragments of red sandstone, and the same is in-

variably the case with the carboniferous strata.

The Laramie Mountains, or Black Hills, as they are usually called,
form one of the shore lines of a great fresh-water lake, which covered
an enormous area on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains during
the middle and upper tertiary epoch. When the waters were drained
away from this lake basin, a vast thickness of clays, marls, sands, and
sandstones was left high on the sides of the mountains, sometimes
reaching nearly to the crest or divide. In many localities the beds have
not been subjected to as much denudation as in others, and in that case
they jut up against the mountain sides so as to conceal all the older un-
changed strata, and not unfrequently concealitig the metamorphic rocks
over large areas.

Along the immediate line of the Union Pacific Railroad, the tertiary
beds form a sort of bench, which rises gradually from Cheyenne neatly
to Granite Station. The tertiary beds are stripped off only to a moderate
extent, revealing a bed or two of carboniferous limestone. A vertical
section would show the upper tertiary deposits resting directly, though
unconformably, on the carboniferous limestones, and the latter lying
on the granites. But on either side, north or south, not only the car-
boniferous rocks are exposed, but the red beds and, perhaps, the triassic
or cretaceous. All along the flanks ofthe mountains, from Granite Caton
Station northward to the northern boundary of this lake basin, we know
thatformations of the ageof carboniferous, triassic, Jurassic, cretaceous,
and perhaps lignite tertiary, exist, whether exposed by the denudation of
the White River tertiary beds or not. It is proper, therefore, to color all
these formations on a geological map by bands or zones along the sides
of mountain ranges. Though if a map were constructed on a large scale
and the geology colored in detail upon it, these bands would be some-
what interrupted here and there by the concealment of one or more of
the formations, by modern tertiary, or drift deposits. The valleys or
the little streams, as they extend down into the plains from the moun-
tains, are usually quite rugged at first, but become less so until the sides
are rounded and grass-covered. But along the immediate base of the
mountains there is often a valley at right angles to the valleys of the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 13

streams and parallel with the mountain ranges, and evidently scooped
out by forces acting from them. . From the head of Crow Creek to the
Chugwater, there is a well-marked illustration of this type of valley.
It averages from five to ten miles in width, and the surface is gently
rolling, and usually covered with grass. The little streams as they pass
across it do not cut deep channels. The eastern side is a high, abrupt,
irreeular wall of White River tertiary beds, oftentimes so eroded as
to present in some degree the architectural appearance of the “bad lands.”
Through this wall the little streams have cut their channels, and flow
down through the plains in valleys with more or less bluff-like hills on
either side, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in height.
Where these parallel valleys occur at the foot of the mountains, the
changed as well as unchanged rocks have suffered great erosion. Here
and there they are omitted for some reason, and again appear in their
- full proportions. Immediately north of Horse Creek there is a remnant
of the main “hog-back,” or ridge remaining, composed of the triassic and
carboniferous beds, extending for about five miles, which is divided into
three parts by the channels of streams flowing through it at right angles
from the mountains. Its trend is nearly north and south, and its dip
east; and immediately west the granites and gneiss rise gradually
toward the crest of the range. This fragment of the main ridge shows
that but for erosion it would have been continuous all along the flanks
of the mountains. ;

An interesting question arises as to the manner in which these parailel
valleys have been scooped out. That it must have occurred after the
deposition of the latest tertiary beds is evident, from the fact that the
streams which form the outlets have cut their way through them. As
I have before stated, the mountains formed the western shore of the
great fresh-water lakes of the middle and upper tertiary periods. As
the mountains were slowly elevated, so that the waters receded, there
was a depression at the immediate base of the mountains, of greater or
less depth, that received the drainage. The water-course would be
gradually formed for the principal streams and their branches. The
waters in the parallel valleys formed a sort of lake-like expansion of
the little streams, and the waters of the lake performed their work of
erosion at the same time that the streams wore their channels through
the plains. It is probable that since the close of ‘the tertiary period,
and the commencement of the present era, the climate of the west has
been much colder; that ice and snow accumulated on the mountain
ranges in vast quantities; and that the quantity of water to produce
the results which we find indicated by erosion and in the drift was far
greater than at present. It may be thatice was not the most important
agency, and though the evidence is clear that it performed an active
part, yet water was the principal agent, and the present existence of an
occasional moderate-sized boulder in the plains, too large to be trans-
ported by water alone, indicates that an iceberg was now and then
drifted out on thé waters to the plains. The grooves, scratches, and
smooth sides of the mountain valleys in Colorado and other portions ot
the Rocky Mountains point to the same conclusion.

From Horse Creek we proceeded northward to the Chugwater, nine
miles distant. The road is a perfectly smooth one for wagons. On our
right are continuous walls of White River tertiary, pierced here and there
by some little branch. On the left the granite rocks are seen in long,
irregular ranges, rising very, gradually nearly to the summit. The un-
changed beds seem to have been worn away to the level of the valley and
the edges covered with a deposit of drift. Here and there, however, they

14 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

are exposed from beneath the White River beds and the cretaceous
strata, with the usual ferruginous concretionary masses, which have
fallen in pieces; and from these latter have fallen out very good speci-
mens of Baculites ovatus and Inoceramus.

Near the sources of the Chugwater are some very rich iron mines,
which may prove of great value to the country in the future. The fact
of their existence has been known for some years, but no definite
knowledge of them has been given to the world. In Stansbury’s Report,
page 2 266, there is the following paragraph: ‘In the bed of the Chug-
water, and on the sides of the adjacent hills, were found immense num-
bers of rounded black nodules of magnetic iron ore, which seemed of
unusual richness.” In the winter of 1859-’60, while attached to the
exploring expedition of General W. F. Raynolds, I made a trip to the
sources of the Chugwater, and found great numbers of these worn masses
of iron ore; but not until a comparatively recent period were they
traced to their souree in the mountains. During the construction of
the Union Pacific Railroad some of the engineers visited the mines
and spoke of their future value. In the summer of 1868 I had an op-
portunity of examining this region in company with Dr. Latham and
Judge Whitehead, of Wyoming, and found the mines much richer and
more extensive than had previously been supposed. Wecommenced our
examinations in the valleys of the smaller branches of the “Chug” as
they emerge from the mountains, and found that the stray masses of
iron ore were confined to one of them. Following the branch up into
the range we soon came to the ore beds themselves, which we found to
be interstratified among the red feldspathic granites which compose—
the nucleus of the range. The ore beds incline in the same direction
_ with the granites, and have the same joints and cleavage, and the ex-
amples of slicken-sides are numerous. They are not continuous, and
are confined to a restricted area, yet Mr. Whitehead traced one of the
beds a distance of over one and a half miles. The ore is located much
like that in the Lake Superior region, and is probably of the age of
the Laurentian rocks of Canada. The quantity of ore in this locality
appears to be unlimited. Thousands of tons have been washed down
into the valley of the “‘Chug” and distributed among the superficial
drift. As we leave the ore beds themselves these stray masses are
larger and more angular, and as we pass down the “Chug” they dwindle
to minute pebbles and disappear. Mr. J. P. Carson, of New York, an
assistant in the survey of 1868, made the following analysis of this
ore, at the school of mines, Columbia College:

SESOUMOXG ME OL ICOM: Sciuye cereal he 2 orn = eae eat ben pe 45.03
HBO LOMO C eee oie a ope een vs reac baple fayette eae ee 17.96
SURG 5) SVB Semel nh Ba lle ANN ch MAO a « biesay tit ee gre eee 0.76
MIMATU CMCLON aoe eof eye yes icte Bemis Ns cae are ea yaet er Ral 23.49
81S TITTLE Wee ee ns, ORY ein et are Vat ES NE SY Ss 3.98
SesqMloxtGe Ob Chromium esse los eee ieee seek a 2.45
Sesquioxideot manganese... 5-07. 2 js2-- ae Bie <fensdte oycley wee 1.53
JOAEATYD $5 Siena GE Sen a afd INR A ak a ae UA ld ee ie Ad
Osa TO ANG eee eae a cn 0.47
IV ISOS A RR ene eke iohigs span coer Sire uhh Ret soo rr 1.56
SATU OUOTDUDS 4 2s sie eRe RT SRS RIA rey RRB bel SPR = = - 1.44
HOSP HORUS meses Mee pi See el aay whe oe apes cee a trace

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ey

It gvill be seen by this analysis that-the ore is very rich in metallic
iron, but it is supposed that it will be reduced with some difficulty.
Professor Silliman is of the opinion that the brown ore or limonite can
be employed with it, as a flux, with favorable results. Should the time
ever arrive when this ore is absolutly demanded by the country it will
be easily accessible from numerous points.

It is probable, however, that the branch railroad from Cheyenne to
Montana will create a demand for these mines, and then the ore can be
taken down the valley of the Chugwater with ease. The Chugwater
Creek has its origin high upin the crest or divide of the range, and flows
for several miles along a rift or valley of upheaval. It then cuts through
a high ridge of sandstone of lower cretaceous age, and then wears its
channel through horizontal strata of White River tertiary to its junc-
tion with the North Platte.

From Cache ala Poudre to the Chugwater, the Laramie Mountains pre-
serve a remarkable degree of regularity. The line of fracture seems to
have been pretty nearly north and south. The singular parallel valley,
previously described, ends with the ‘“Chug,” and on the north side, ex-
tending for four or five miles, are lofty ridges of carboniferous and triassic
rocks, trending nearly northeast and southwest, and dipping at a high
angle to the southward. From the “‘Chug” nearly to the Laramie River,
these ridges are enormously developed, having almost entirely escaped
erosion, and the entire series of sedimentary beds to the summit of the
cretaceous can be studied with ease. The most conspicuous feature
which we notice in descending the valley is the high wall of lower ere-
taceous sandstone, which stretches away toward the northeast like a
huge wall, and the jointage is so regular that it presents the appear-
ance of a massive mason-work gradually falling to decay. These lower
cretaceous rocks, or No. 1, are composed of two beds of sandstone, in-
closing thin layers of clay and sand, with seams of vegetable matter or
impure coal. Just outside of this wall is a remnant of yellow, chalky,
calcareous shale, of No. 3 cretaceous, which escaped erosion when the
valley between it and the tertiary wall was scooped out. After the
Chugwater emerges from this ridge the valley becomes purely one of
erosion, passing through walls of whitish sandstone and marly clays,
the layers of sandstone projecting from the sides of the bluffs like shelves.
From this point tothe entrance into the Laramie River, the “‘ Chug” flows
through the same tertiary beds, and they vary here and there in their
lithological composition. Near the crossing of the *“‘ Chug,” where troops
are stationed, a hill of brown sandstone appears on the summit of the
bluffs, which has protected the underlying softer marls and sands.
The sides of these sandstone walls are forty to sixty feet perpendicular,
sometimes overhanging, and large masses have broken off and fallen
to the base. The most striking feature, however, is the tendency to
weather into the most picturesque castellated forms. One isolated hill
is circular, and the perfectly flat summit suggested for it the name of
‘The Round Table.”

Another isolated portion of yellow marl, still lower down, stands out
so conspicuously to the view of the traveler that it has received the
name of “ The Pulpit.” The marly layers indicate rather quiet waters
for their deposition, but the sandstones show currents of greater or less
velocity; sometimes they are quite fine and easily decompesed, so that the
surface of the plains in the vicinity is very sandy; then they are quite
coarse, forming a conglomerate, or pudding stone, mostly of small water-
worn pebbles, with now and then a mass six inches in diameter. They
also lie irregularly on the arenaceous marls below, as if the surface had

16 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

been much denuded prior to the deposition of the sandstone. I think, -
however, there has been no want of continuity in the beds, and that the
irregularity is caused ,by the change from quiet to turbulent waters.
Sometimes there is a sudden jog, so that the sandstone projects down
two to four feet, into the underlying bed of marl, or it will thin out
into indurated marl, to a great extent. For about ten miles these rocks
are worn by atmospheric influences into the singular formation de-
scribed, and then the cap of sandstone disappears, and the surface is
more rounded and covered with grass. The texture of the rocks deter-
mines everywhere the surface outlines of the country. In the walls
of sandstone and marl are deep vertical fissures, much like those in the
metamorphic rocks. Sometimes they pass up through the sandstone
cap, and at others are checked by it. They are often filled with par-
tially crystallized material, or charged with fine arenaceous sediment _
from above. The direction of these fissures, or shrinkage-cracks, is
northwest and southeast. The plains everywhere present the appear-
ance of remarkable tablelands, as if the surface had originally keen
planed off with great regularity, and the valleys have been grad-
ually worn out by water. The mountains immediately north of the
‘‘Chug” present a fine illustration of the style of flexure which is not un-
common throughout the Rocky Mountain district. The ridges of un-
changed formations seem to have suffered scarcely any erosion for a
distance of ten or fifteen miles north of the “‘Chug,” and die out in the
plains, with a trend northeast and southwest. This causes a jog of about
ten miles to the eastward. The pivotal point seems to be Laramie Peak.
Long lines of ridges may be seen running out from the main axis, nearly.
to the head of Bitter Cottonwood; and the trend of the axis extends
northwest. These flexures in most cases afford the best opportunities
for studying the unchanged rocks of different ages, in their order of se-
quence, from the granites to the most recent tertiary.

In all my examinations, however, I have not detected the lignite ter-
tiary along the base of the mountains north of Cheyenne, until it makes
its appearance from beneath the White River beds, about three miles
south of Fort Fetterman.

The Chugwater has a valley about one hundred miles long. It has
been for many years a favorite locality for wintering stock, not only on
account of the excellence of the grass and water, but also from the fact
that the climate is mild throughout the winter. Cattle and horses thrive
well all winter without hay or shelter.

The high walls or bluffs which inclose the rather broad valley protect
it from the strong cold winds. The soil is everywhere fertile, and, where
the surface can be irrigated, good crops of all kinds of cereals and
hardy vegetables can be raised without difficulty. From the Chugwater
we cross the table-like plains foyten miles, and descend to the beautiful
valley of the Laramie. From the plains the Laramie range comes out
in full view, with the Laramie Peak near the center, towering far above
all the other ranges. The main range, with the numerous minor ranges,
trend about northwest and southeast. The tertiary rocks on the Lara-
mie, near the crossing, have weathered into quite remarkable architec-
tural forms, much like those on White River. The texture is similar,
also, with marls and calcareous concretions passing up into fine sand-
stones, which decompose so readily, that the valleys and the hills are
covered with loose sand. In the harder layers of sandstone are singular
waitish, concretion-like sticks and twigs. A few fossil remains were
found—as the teeth of Oreodon culbertsoniit and Testudo nebrascensis.
Other bones were collected, which have not been determined. There are

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 17

also masses of sandstone which appear like mud-rock, and layers like
impure white limestone, probably composed largely of sulphate of lime
and magnesia. From our camp on the Laramie we enjoyed one of the
beautiful sunsets which are not uncommon in this western country.
But this was a rare occasion, for the sun passed down directly behind
the summit of Laramie Peak. The whole range was gilded with a
golden light, and the haziness of the atmosphere gave to the whole
scene a deeper beauty. Such a scene as this could occur but once in a
lifetime. From Laramie River to the Bitter Cottonwood our road
extends over broad, grassy plains, entirely underlaid by the recent ter-
tiary beds. Upon our left the mountains are in full view, and the grassy
plains seem to extend to the granite foot-hills. As the Bitter Cottonwood
Creek seemed to be the nearest point to the Laramie Peak, we camped
here two days to make an examination of that region. On the morning
of August 12th I started for Laramie Peak with Messrs. Gifford, Jack-
son, Elliot, Turnbull, and Ford; passed up the valley of the Cottonwood
to the foot-hills of the mountains. Mr. Jackson made a large number
of excellent photographic views, which will prove of interest not only
to science but also to all lovers of “the picturesque in nature.” The:
scenery in this region is very attractive as well as instructive. The:
valley of the Bitter Cottonwood, as well as the numerous little ravines,
that flow into it, are inclosed by rather high bluff-like banks, which
show no rocks older than the White River tertiary, until we reach the
base of the mountains. Still there is a great thickness of what we have-
called “local drift,” which increases to the base of the mountains,.
and to a great extent conceals all other rocks. This superficial drift
becomes coarser and the stray rocks less worn the higher we. ascend.
The difference in elevation between our camp on the Cottonwood, and
the base of Laramie Peak—a distance of twenty-five miles—is about
one thousand eight hundred feet. I have previously noticed the enor-.
mous development of the sedimentary ridges north of the Chugwater,
and the flexure of the mountains around to the north and northwest;
also, the dying out of the ridges in the plains one after the other in the.
usual en echelon manner. Between Laramie Cafion and Horseshoe Creek.
these ridges are not seen at all, rising above the surrounding country, .
and they are exposed only in one locality, to a limited extent, by one of.
the branches of the Cottonwood, cutting a deep valley through the:
superficial drift and tertiary beds, just at the base of the mountains.
The red beds and carboniferous limestones only, are seen on each side of |
the road which leads from Fort Laramie to Laramie Peak. Here are two
small rounded hills capped with carboniferous limestones. Still, for the
most part, the drift and tertiary beds jut up against the granite foot-hills,
and the long, table-like benches extend down for miles with a gradual
but rather rapid descent, giving a far-extended but beautiful and pic-.
turesque appearance to the scene.
Between the Chugwater and the Laramie River the surface seems to
_ have escaped erosion to a great extent, while between Laramie River
and the Bitter Cottonwood Creek the erosion has been tremendous.
All the ridges, which must have been from five hundred to one thousand
feet in height, have been smoothed down and concealed, and the gneiss
and granites which form the foot-hills or lower ranges have been worn
away so that they project but little above the surface. We have there-
fore a belt of country underlaid by metamorphic rocks, five to ten
miles in width, covered with most excellent grass, as level as the plains,
and very desirable for settlement; which, but for erosion, would have
been as rugged as any portion of the mountainous district. As we
2G

18 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

approach the mountains, we pass over many beds of quartz, black gneiss,
seams of feldspar, with now and then a bed of massive feldspathic
granite. These rocks are nearly vertical in position, and in most cases
project above the superficial drift so as to be barely visible, with a
strike nearly north and south. The intercalated beds of massive un-
stratified feldspathic granites are thin at first, while the gneissic beds
are the most prominent; but as we approach the base of the mountains
the red feldspathic granites rise in thick picturesque ridges, fifty to one
hundred feet high, like ruined walls, lending a peculiar as well as pictur-
esque appearance to the landscape. These granites afford most excel-
lent rock studies of their kind. The tendency to weather into rounded
forms by exfoliation and the jointing are shown very finely. The
principal lines of fracture are most continuous, and have a strike east
and west, and southeast and northwest, while the other set trend nearly
north and south, or northeast and southwest. The tendency to exfolia-
tion by the stripping off of thin concentric layers has enlarged the
openings sometimes several feet. The granites are thus divided into
rather regular rhomboidal masses, many of which have fallen down at
the foot of the ridges, and by exfoliation have been so rounded that they
appear like immense transported boulders. The texture of the rock is
really an aggregate of large crystals of reddish feldspar, with quartz
and mica; the feldspar so predominating that it gives the character to
the rock. The mica usually occurs in small masses and in limited quan-
tities. The gneissic rocks are divided by the jointing into more regular
euboidal blocks, and have suffered comparatively little from exfoliation.
The gneissie strata diminish while the massive granites increase as we
approach the main range, which is composed almost entirely of the
latter. The examples of anticlinals and synclinals in the metamorphic
rocks are nowhere better shown than around Laramie Peak. It would
require a detailed geographical as well as geological survey, with maps
and seetions constructed on a large scale, to show the various axes of
upheaval.

The valley of the Cottonwood Creek, which extends along the east
base of Laramie Peak and rises about five miles south of it in the main
crest, is a beautiful synelinal. A series of short parallel ridges rise to
the very summit of Laramie Peak, on the east side, inclining eastward,
while on the opposite side is a similar series of ridges, although much
lower, dipping to the westward. These anticlinal and synelinal open-
ings give passage to the little streams and ravines or form the open
grassy plains which are so pleasant to the Indian. Sometimes these
valleys expand out into beautiful oval, park-like areas, which at the pres-
ent time are the favorite resorts of the wild game, and, if the country
were ever settled, would attract a pastoral people. Emigrants from the
mountainous districts of the Old World would find here a scenery not un-
like that of their own country, with pure air and water and a mild and
extremely healthy climate. Cereals and roots of all kinds could be raised
sufficient to supply the wants of such people, while the raising of stock
would be a source of wealth both to them and to the country. It is
somewhat strange that the Laramie range should give origin to no im-
portant stream. Both the Platte and the Laramie Rivers flow directly —
through it. While the springs or little streams are not uncommon, this
range cannot be regarded as well watered, and in the autumn the water
supply is somewhat limited. This may be accounted for from the fact
that the snows of winter are very light and the amount of rain falling
during the year quite moderate. Laramie Peak, which is the highest
point ‘horth of Long’s Peak, is not more than ten thousand feet high,

- GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 19

and usually retains no snow on its summit after May. One fact is quite
clearly shown, along the immediate base of the mountains from the
Chugwater to the Bitter Cottonwood, that when a flexure in a mountain
range occurs, a portion of the foot-hills and ridges have suffered very
little erosion, and can be studied in their full development. For a dis-
tance of fifteen miles north of the Chugwater the local erosion from the
mountains was very limited, while from Laramie River to the Bitter Cot-
tonwood, about fifteen to twenty miles, the erosion has been tremendous.
This difference can be accounted for, perhaps, from the fact that the
passage of the waters from the mountains was through the anticlinal
and synclinal valleys which extend nearly north, and swept over the
plains between the Cottonwood and the Laramie Rivers. Long parallel
benches, with remarkably regular, table-like surfaces, extend down from
the base of the mountains between the valleys of the streams. Their uni-
formity over such large areas is a striking feature in the landscape.
North of the Cottonwood these long benches have a singularly regular
series of side furrows, which extend for miles, and give to the surface
the appearance of the sea swept by a gentle breeze. . We have not before
observed this feature, so well marked, although the parallel benches are
not uncommon.

On the morning of the 14th we left Cottonwood Creek for the La
Bonté. The wagon-road, although several miles from the Platte River,
is still ten to fifteen miles distant from the foot of the mountains. The
White River tertiary beds prevail, for the most part, and here and there
are high hills, or’ *‘ buttes,” of marls and sandstones, weathering into the
castellated forms, before described, but to a limited extent. Still, these
beds continue to possess a thickness sufficient to conceal the underlying
older formations. Between the Cottonwood and Horseshoe Creeks these
deposits are overlaid by a heavy thickness of local drift, and jut up
against the granites until we come to the immediate valley of the
Horseshoe, where it emerges from the foot-hills. Here is a singular val-
ley of erosion on the south side. A small branch flows into the Horse-
shoe, uncovering the ridges of carboniferous limestones and red beds,
over an area of about a mile in length and half a mile in width; still,
on the opposite or north side of the Horseshoe, the drift juts full against
the granite sides. This example shows clearly, that even where they
cannot be seen at the present time these sedimentary ridges exist in
greater or less force all along the mountain flanks. There is no water
in this little branch for a great portion of the year, yet all the superficial
drift or White River sediments have been washed out, leaving the skele-
ton-like ridges of the older rocks. In one place the limestones rest
directly on the granites. The dip of the ridges is about 60°, and they are
two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in height above the bed of
Horseshoe Creek. That the Jurassic and cretaceous beds exist all along
here we cannot doubt, but they are entirely concealed. The valley of
the Horseshoe is about three miles wide from bluff to bluff. The cream-
colored marls lie close up to the granite rocks. We have usually observed
that the sediments of the later tertiary strata were coarser the nearer
we approach the base of the mountains; but this does not seem to be
the rule. In some localities the finest marls and sands rest directly
upon the metamorphic rocks or fill up the inequalities in the surface far
up among the foot-hills nearly to the crest. This range of mountains,
however, seems to have formed a well-defined shore line for the lake, for
we can find no evidence that the waters passed the divide in the Laramie
Plains, although they washed the flanks far up toward the summit.

From the north side of the Horseshoe. Creek we have the most in-

20 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

posing view of Laramie Peak, with the intervening mountain ridges.
They show a trend about southeast and northwest. Between Horseshoe
and La Bonté the black gneiss beds must be two thousand to three
thousand feet in thickness, extending in long lines across the country
nearly north and south, just projecting above the surface, nearly vertical.
For ten miles or more the White River tertiary beds conceal the moun-
tain flanks; but from five to fifteen miles northeast of the range, toward
the Platte River, the older beds are uncovered over very restricted areas.
At the head of a little branch of La Bonté two ridges of reddish sand-
stone and limestone rise up from beneath the tertiary beds, inclining 10°
to 15° east of north. The little dry branch has cut through the rift
between the ridges caused by the uplift, showing one of them to be com-
posed mostly of bright brick-red sandstone, with a layer of light gray
sandstone tinged with red, (triassic;) while the other ridge is made up
of carboniferous limestones and sandstones. In the limestones are
seams of chalcedony, from which most of the varieties of flint scattered
through the drift are doubtless derived. Sometimes these isolated hills
are elevated in such a way that the two sides incline in opposite direc-
tions, forming a fissure at the summit, through which the waters find
their way, thus wearing out a gorge or cafion. In the interval between
Horseshoe and La Bonté Creeks, and west of the Platte River, the older
sedimentary rocks, as carboniferous, triassic, Jurassic, and cretaceous,
are uncovered in spots by denudation, always inclining from the moun-
tains at a high angle. The pine forests in the mountains at the sources
of the Horseshoe and the La Bonté are more dense, and the timber
larger, than in any other portion of the range that we have seen. Great
abundance of ties for railroad purposes could be procured. Our camp
in the valley of the La Bonté was a pleasant one; a fine, luxuriant
growth of grass covered the immediate bottoms of the creek, and our
animals found excellent grazing on the uplands also. The creek is bor-
dered with bitter and sweet cottonwood, box elder, and large tree wil-
lows to a considerable extent. The soil is certainly fertile enough, and
where it can be irrigated, will produce fine crops of all kinds. This
will prove one of the best valleys along the North Platte, both for agri-
cultural and pastoral purposes.

On the morning of the 16th we left La Bonté Creek for Fort Fetter-
man, which is located near the junction of La Prele with the North
Platte. The atmosphere was very smoky, limiting our range of vision
considerably, so that we could not see the mountains distinetly. Just
north of the La Bonté are a series of anticlinals and syncelinals, which
are somewhat different from any before observed. The road passes
along a synclinal valley, with the red sandstones (triassic) inclining
Southwest on our left, and the Jurassic, with an outcropping of the
red beds at the base, about a mile distant, on our right, dipping north-
east. The beds on our left dip about 30°, while those on the right not
more than 10° or 15°.

The end of one ridge inclining southwest apparently juts up against
another inclining northeast. These irregularities are local, and are due,
perhaps, to the variableness of the internal forces that produced theele-
vations and the different degrees of strength of the earth’s crust.

There is an immense ridge, or “hog-back,” extending from the La
Bonté to the Red Buttes, which forms an illustration of these apparent
irregularities in the exhibition of the interior forces, on alarge scale. We
can express them no better than to call them “ puffs,” or local risings of
the earth’s surface, which cause a fracture along the central axis in
rather reguar lines, and this fracture gives access to atmospheric influ-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 2

ences which gradually wear out an anticlinal valley. These anticlinals
vary from a few hundred yards to many miles in length, involving a few
beds or all of them down to the granite. We regard each great range of
mountains, as the Laramie range, Black Hills, Wind River range, Big
Horn range, &c., anticlinals on a grand scale; all the ridges, whether
composed of changed or unchanged rocks, inclining, step-like, from one
central axis.

In the distance, near the North Platte, a bluff-like wall can be seen,
composed of the White River tertiary beds, nearly horizontal or inclin-
ing at a very small angle. This abrupt wall is more or less continuous
all along the shore of this ancient fresh-water lake, and marks steps in
the progress after erosion. It shows that the sediments once extended
up to the flanks of the mountains, with a thickness of several hundred
feet more than at present. Between this wall and the sides of the
mountains, which vary in distance from two to twenty miles, there
are always remnants more or less continuous, with greater or less thick-
ness. It is from underneath these beds that the older rocks appear, here
and there, over an area sometimes of only a few hundred feet, or extend-
ing several miles. About five miles north of La Bonté, close by the
traveled road, there is a somewhat remarkable conical butte, composed of
fine gray sandstones, portions of it approaching a quartzite. The butte
is about fifty feet high, with a dip 35° to the northeast, and looks like
a mass of rocks that had been transported from some other locality and
lodged there, for there are no others of the kind for a considerable dis-
tance on either side. The explanation appears to be, that this is an
isolated portion left after the erosion or denudation of this valley. About
half a mile to our left there is a long parallel ridge inclining northeast
toward the Platte, with the basset edges of the rocky layers on the
southwest side towards the road. At the base a small portion of the
red beds is visible; above them the Jurassic series. Over the red beds,
and forming a sort of transition or bed of passage between them and
the Jurassic series above, is a layer of this same sandstone, thirty to
fifty feet in thickness. This anticlinal valley is about five miles in
length and a mile in width, and is now occupied almost entirely by the
red beds, while the gray sandstones, and doubtless the more recent
formations, Jurassic and cretaceous, extend over the whole area; and
this butte, with a few masses of sandstone on some low elevations close
by it, is all that is left at the present time. I call them remnants, mon-
uments, or landmarks, left after erosion to assist us in reconstructing
the ancient form of the earth’s surface. We cannot say that, because a
formation or series of formations do not exist over certain areas at the
present time, they did not once exist there, and that too in their full
development. How these isolated portions escaped the general erosion
it is Somewhat difficult to determine. The currents of water, which seem
to have come from the direction of the mountain range, were perhaps
turned aside by some obstruction thus passing around them ; no debris of
any kind has lodged on the sides of the butte. The entire plain country
of the West affords examples of these buttes, and I have often alluded
to them in former reports. Bijoux Hills, on the Missouri River, Turtle
Hill, Deers Ears, Thunder Butte, Church Buttes, Pulpit Rock, and many
others which have been regarded as worthy of a place on our best
geographical maps, are examples of this kind.

A glance at the map will show that the Laramie Mountains have bent
around westward so as to cause the upheaved ridges to incline about north-
east, and as the range continues to curve the ridges to incline north and
even to the northwest, following the bend of the axis of elevation. Inthe

22 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

red beds, between the La Bonté and La Prele, are some layers of fine white
amorphous gypsum. About ten miles from La Bonté we cross Spring»
Creek, a small stream without wood, where travelers sometimes halt
for lunch or rest. The most conspicuous feature here is the bluff
wall of tertiary, which extends up westward so as to form the high hills
on the north side of the valley. The waters have worn deep into the
cream-colored marls, so that we have over a restricted area miniature
““bad lands.” The dome-like hills and the numberless furrows down the
sides, the harder layers projecting out like verandahs, are well shown.
Three miles before reaching Fort Fetterman, the lignite beds make their
appearance from beneath the more modern deposits, exhibiting their
peculiar lithological characters in a marked degree. The strata dip 209°
northeast, and where seen in apposition, the White River tertiaries do
not conform. Seams of lignite and great quantities of brown iron ore
occur here. Some of the iron ore is quite rich, but most of it is very
lean. The prevailing constituent in all the rocks, sands, sandstones,
clays, &c., is iron, presenting every shade of color that can be derived
from that mineral, the yellow iron-rust color predominating. There are,
however, some layers of quartzite or coarse sandstone, which is very
compact and nearly black, and some of it contains a fair percentage of
iron. Assoon as we come to these beds, the entire surface of the country
presents a somber hue, more rugged and less fertile ; due probably to the
greatly diminished amount of calcareous matter. Much of the country
has a burnt appearance, due, probably, to the oxidation of theiron. Fort
Fetterman is pleasantly located on a bench-like point between the La
Prele and the North Platte, near their junction. It commands a fine
view of the country in every direction, but more especially up the Platte
Valley, which can be seen for ten miles or more, with its sinuosities and
its pretty fringe of fresh green foliage. All the underlying rocks on
both sides of the Platte, as well as the La Prele, for several miles around,
belong to the eocene or lignite tertiary period. The soil everywhere
seems to be productive. Several of the officers at Fort Fetterman have
made experiments in raising vegetables in a small way with success.
It is the opinion of Colonel Chambers, the commander of the post, that
with suitable irrigation, all the more important crops can be raised with
ease.

On the morning of the 17th we made a short side trip from the fort
up the valley, to the canon of the La Prele. Lieutenant O’Brien and
Captain Wells accompanied us to point out the location of a remarkable
natural bridge, which was said to rival the famous one in Virginia, with -
which every school-boy is familiar. We found it even more wonderful
than we had anticipated, and it is a matter of surprise that so great
a natural curiosity should have failed to attract the attention it de-
serves. The cafion is about ten miles from the fort, and is formed
by the passage of La Prele Creek through a long ridge that extends
from the La Bonté to Red Buttes. The cafion is one of upheaval and
erosion. The ridge is a long, local anticlinal or “puff,” and the strata
incline from each side of the summit. The gorge is very irregular and
tortuous, filled with huge masses of rock that have fallen down, obstruct-
ing the passage. Where the stream has cut through the rocks direct
we have vertical walls on each side and a narrow gorge; but where
the channel passes along a rift the valley expands out several bun-
dred feet. Where the La Prele emerges from the cafion it cuts
through the limestones and red-beds at right angles, forming a regular
gorge, with walls fifty to one hundred and fifty feet high. At the head
of this gorge the stream has at some time changed its bed, passing

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 25

directly through a point of rocks that extends across the channel. The
old bed is now overgrown with trees and bushes, but is fifty feet higher
than the present one. The little creek must have changed its course
slightly, for some reason not apparent now, so that its waters were
brought against this point or wall of rock, and finding a fissure or open-
ing ‘through, it gradually wore its present channel. It is certainly as
perfect a natural bridge as could be desired. The opening under the
bridge is about one hundred and fifty feet wide and fifty feet high. The
old bed is about three hundred feet to the northwest. It is also plain
that the water at one time flowed over the top of the bridge, which is
fifty to one hundred feet lower than the top of the gorge, so that we
have here some of the intermediate steps which a stream takes in the
process of wearing out a gorge or channel. The rocks are mostly lime-
stone, quite pure, arenaceous limestone, and at the base very cherty
limestone. I found a few fossils in the cation in a blue limestone, as
Hemipronites crassus, Productus nodosus Myalina perattenuata, &c. 1
think all the rocks are of carboniferous age, although some of them may
be Silurian. Whatever the age of the rocks may be, there seems to be a
great thickening of them as we go westward. This ridge, which is
twelve hundred feet above the base, is composed entirely of what I have
usually classified as carboniferous rocks, and nowhere in the cafion,
which is at least half a mile in length in a straight line, have the waters
worn through to the granites. On the west side of this ridge the beds
incline west, northwest, and southwest, and between it and the main
mountain range there is an interval of ten to fifteen miles in width,
with one or two ridges of limestone and sandstone dipping from the
mountains. This broad interval forms a beautiful, grassy valley, which
is a great resort for game, and will some time afford fine pasturage for
stock. The metamorphic rocks soon make their appearance. On the
northeast side of the ridges the White River beds lap on the flanks in
many places, but here and there they are stripped off so as to reveal the
red-beds, Jurassic marls, and the cretaceous. Six miles of the valley
between the caiion is covered with the modern deposits, and the remain-
der of the way to the fort, with the lignite beds, which are shown in high,
cut bluffs of ferruginous sands and sandstones. We were indebted to
the hospitable officers of Fort Fetterman for a very pleasant and instruct-
ive day.

We will now notice briefly the geological character of some of the weil-
known localities contiguous to but not immediately on the route. The
_ White River group, which we have had oceasion to mention so often,
extends from La Prele Creek eastward nearly to the Missouri River.
It is therefore the prevailing formation in this region. Scott’s Bluffs,
Chimney Rock, and Court-house Rocks are well-known landmarks on
the North Platte, belonging to the White River group. A few miles
north, or northwest, of Fort Laramie is a group of high hills rising
above the tertiary beds, exposing a considerable thickness of carbonif-
erous rocks, with an extensive series of gneissic strata; and here and
there a nucleus of feldspathic granites. Raw Hide Butte, which gives
origin to several streams, as Raw Hide Creek and a branch of the Nio
brara River, rises above the surrounding country six hundred to eight
hundred feet, and exposes a nucleus of reddish feldspathic granite, with
gneissic strata inclining from its sides, with carboniferous limestones
reposing unconformably upon the upturned edges. In some cases the
limestones are elevated to the summits of the hills in a nearly horizontal
position. All these isolated mountains seem to have been islands in this
great tertiary lake. There is no doubt that all the formations that suc-
ceed the carboniferous period, as triassic, Jurassic, cretaceous and lower

24 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE .TERRITORIES.

tertiary, once covered them in their full thickness, but they have all
been swept away. Now the more modern tertiary beds jut up against
their sides or are deposited high up in the ravines, indicating by their
position that this lake existed here after the mountains had attained
nearly their present elevation. There is also an anticlinal valley more
or less distinct, extending across the intervening country, connecting
those elevations with the Black Hills and the Laramie Range. The fact
that nearly all of the ranges, however small they may be or distinet
from each other, are connected together by some link however obscure,
illustrates the unity and simplicity of the Rocky Mountain system.

CHAPTER II.

FROM FORT FETTERMAN TO SOUTH PASS.

On the morning of the 20th we left Fort Fetterman for the South Pass
by way of the Sweetwater. Our first camp was on Box Elder .
Creek, twelve and one-third miles up the valley of the North Platte.
The lignite tertiary beds are the only rocks exposed, and they incline
north and northwest 5° to 15°. They are composed of rusty sands and
sandstones, arenaceous clays, with some seams of impure lignite. Some
of the sandstones are largely concretionary, and break in pieces readily
on exposure. The high ridge to the west of us trends about north-
east and southwest. Along the base of the ridge are some terrace-like
benches, perhaps broken fragments of higher levels not swept away.
They extend at intervals as far as Fort Casper. In some instances
they jut up closely and even lap on to the flanks of the ridge
They are remnants of the White River group, which once extended un-
interruptedly over the whole valley close up to the ridge, but which has
been washed away, except these fragments. They now seem to give
that beautiful bench-like aspect to the surface, which, contrasting with
the rugged features of the ridge, adds interest to the scenery. They
nowhere incline more than 5°, and in most instances are horizontal,
never conforming with the older formations. It is most interesting, by
means of these remnants, to trace the old shore-line of the lake, which
can be done as perfectly and as clearly as that of any of the northern
lakes of the present time. This hog-back or ridge seems to have formed
an effectual barrier to these waters on the north side of the Laramie
Mountains.

The Box Elder Cation affords a good section through the ridge. It is
a much more regular gorge than the cafion of the La Prele, and is purely
one of erosion, and is six hundred to eight hundred feet in depth. It ig
So narrow that it is difficult to pass through it on foot, and the sides are
perpendicular, and sometimes overhanging. The predominating rocks
are sandstones, or calcareous sandstones, with some layers of quite fine
limestones, but there is a great variety of texture. Some of the layers
indicate very quiet deposition for forty or fifty feet, but the greater por-
tion of the sandstones is full of irregular layers, showing clearly the
nature of the waters at the time. The prevailing color is light yellow,
varying to a deep rusty hue, but there is often a tinge of brick red which
is marked at some localities. The sandstones are full of beautiful sili-
ceous geodes. The crystals of quartz are mostly small, but very clear,
and are set in a layer of amorphous silica or chalcedony as a paste. In
the cherty limestones are very distinct fossils, as Athyris, Orthoceras,

A

\
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 25

and others. Near the summit of the ridges the gorge becomes very deep

and narrow, and the granite rocks are well exposed, with the unchanged

beds directly in contact. In the valley of a small stream about four miles

above, the unchanged beds extend only up to the foot-hills, while their

relation to the metamorphic rocks is perfectly clear. Resting directly

upon the granite rocks is a bed of reddish sandstone and quartzite,

sometimes so coarse as to be called a pudding-stone, which I have no

doubt is Lower Silurian, (Potsdam.) No fossils could be found, but the

character and position of the rock render it most probable that it is of

that age. Above it, without any apparent unconformability, are beds
of limestone and sandstone, which I have regarded as carboniferous, |
though a portion may be of older date. Receding from the foot-hills

is a series of low ridges, of Jurassic, cretaceous, and lignite strata, as far

as the eye can reach—far across the Platte. The red beds are not clearly

shown, but there are remnants of them on the flanks to show they once

existed here. The White River beds which jut up against the sides of
the ridge are largely made up of reddish, indurated sand, no doubt de-

rived from the ground-up materials of the red beds. Among the car-

boniferous rocks of this region are beds that could be made useful for

economical purposes. The yellow, rather chalky limestone near the

summit of the ridge is rather magnesian, and could easily be wrought

into fine building materials. It somewhat resembles the magnesian

limestone so much in use near Junction City, Kansas, but it is more

chalky. It contains a few small cavities filled with quartz crystals, but
not to such an extent as to prove an injury. The surface exposed to the
atmosphere is covered with beautiful, basin-like depressions, in which
the rain-water accumulates, showing that it is acted upon readily by the
atmosphere. The mountain ridge which we have been examining runs

out in the valkey of Deer Creek, about fifteen miles above the Box Elder,

producing a jog. A second ridge comes in about five miles back of
this, which fronts the Platte for ten miles, where the Casper Ridge

juts in abruptly and ends with the Red Buttes. This jog occupies an
area about five miles wide and ten miles long, and has been so smoothed
by denudation that it is very beautiful to the eye, and always has been
an attractive place for herdsmen.

Eleven years ago I passed a portion of the winter in this valley, con-
nected as an assistant with an exploring party under the command of
Captain W. F. Raynolds, United States Engineers. Our stock, which
amounted to nearly two hundred mules and horses, was wintered very
nicely in the valley of Deer Creek near this jog, without a particle of
hay or grain, with only the grass which they gathered from day to day.
The climate was mild and the snow never deep, so that the ground was
always exposed to some extent. The present season the hay for winter
use at Fort Fetterman is obtained from this valley. The geology of the
valley of Deer Creek is very interesting in its details, and I regretted
that I could not spend more time at this point. From its junction with
the North Platte for five miles of the valley the lignite beds are well
developed, revealing the usual sandstones, indurated clays, &c. Near the
mouth of Deer Creek a coal-bed was on fire in the winter of 1859-60, and
I was informed that it is still burning. The surface is heated and much of
the earth baked a brick-red color for a considerable space. Five miles
up the valley the black clays of No. 4, capped with a thin bed of ferru-
ginous arenaceous clays, No. 5, is exposed in the bluffs by the creek.
Underlying a long bench which extends down from the foot of the
upheaved ridges are two quite striking beds of sandstone. The lower
one is concretionary entirely; that is, it is filled with spherical masses

26 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

of sandstone of all sizes from a few inches in diameter to several feet,
which split horizontally into thin lamine. The indurated sandy clay
in which these concretions are inclosed exhibits the same concretionary,
character so that the rocks weather into curiously fantastic forms. This
bed is undoubtedly cretaceous, and is probably a bed of passage to the
lignite tertiary. A few fossils are found in the harder masses, as Inocer-
amus, Baculites, &c. Above this bed is a thick group of grayish-brown
sandstones, with rusty brown concretions, which also weather into curi-
ous architectural forms. These benches extend nearly to the foot of the
upheaved ridge, with only a slight inclination, perhaps 5°, The older
beds are exposed forming a very narrow belt.

“Our camp on the night of August 21 was near the mouth of Muddy
Creek, on the North Platte, thirty-four and one-fourth miles northeast
of Fort Fetterman. Muddy Creek rises in the Laramie range, cutting
a remarkable cation through the eastern end of Casper Mountain, one of
upheaval and erosion combined. The eastern end of this singular ridge
is about fifteen miles southwest of the mouth of Muddy Creek, and con-
tinues nearly parallel with the Platte for twenty miles or more until it
ceases at the Red Buttes. About noon of the 22d we left the Platte near
the mouth of the Muddy and struck across the intervening country in a
southeast direction, to make an examination of this interesting ridge.
The scenery at the head of the Muddy is very remarkable, and, so far as —
dynamical geology is concerned, would well repay a week or two of dili-
gent study. Casper Ridge seems to trend nearly northeast and south-
west, and the rocks which cap the ridge dip slightly southeast. The
ridge is capped with carboniferous limestones and Potsdam sandstones,
and these form a high wall abutting northwest toward the Platte, as if
the whole mass had been lifted up eight hundred to one thousand feet
above the plains below, in a nearly horizontal position, and the edges had
been broken off all round, and the fragments are now found lying against
the sides in a highly inclined position, or have been washed away. The
eastern end has escaped erosion, for the ridges are here quite large. The
Muddy flows through anarrow valley, for a mile ortwo over a portion of the
red beds—a high ridge on the left, composed of heavy beds of bluish
limestone, red argillaceous sands and sandstones; immense beds, capped
with a massive bed of fine pudding stone, which I have usually regarded
as the bed of passage between the Jurassic and cretaceous. This is the
first time I have noticed these pudding-stone beds north of Cache a la
Poudre. They are well developed and persistent through Colorado and
New Mexico, but apparently disappear, in part or entirely north of the
Union Pacific Railroad. But here we find them appearing quite suddenly
in full development. Immense cubical masses have fallen from the
ridge, twenty feet thick. This pudding-stone is composed of smoothly
worn pebbles cemented in a paste of sand, and disintegrates slowly, and is
so hard that a fracture passes through the pebbles. It would polish well,
and make an excellent building rock. These tilted ridges seem to bend
around toward the south side of the Casper Ridge, and I have no doubt
it may be regarded as an oblong quaquaversal. The edges which have
broken off, or bent down, incline from all sides of the central portion.

The Muddy Creek issues from Casper Ridge in two branches, cutting
deep and most picturesque gorges through the yellow and reddish car-
boniferous rocks. The walls of the cations show on the outside the
beds inclining 40° to 66°, but in the ridge the beds are nearly hori-
zontal from base to summit, five hundred to six hundred feet. These
gorges show quite clearly the anatomy of the ridges. Passing from the
east end of the ridge westward, we find that for about a mile the broken

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Pe |

portions lap on to the sides of the ridge in regular order, then for
about five miles they have been entirely. swept away, revealing the
metamorphic rocks ia places and the contact of the unchanged beds
with them. An immense deposit of debris covers the lower ridges at
the base and juts up against the sides of the ridge; the nearly vertical
edges of the fragmentary ridges project above the debris, as remnants
left after erosion. The debris or superficial drift is so great that it juts
up against the side of the ridge at least six hundred feet above the bed
of the Platte, concealing, to a great extent, the underlying forma-
tions. Still portions crop out occasionally, showing that they exist. The
ridges of cretaceous and lignite tertiary are very distinct in the piains,
inclining from the mountain at asmall angle. Near the Platte, about
ten miles above the Muddy Creek, there is a considerable area covered
with light-gray sandstones, which have weathered into most unique
forms. They resemble the ruins of some old village, portions of the
stone walls with the chimneys remaining. One mass of rock we called
the “ Blacksmith’s Forge.” The material is a fine gray sandstone, with
very irregular layers of deposition. No single lamina can be traced
continuously more than a few feet. The rock is also full of rusty, ferru-
ginous, hollow nodules. It has been weathered full of holes and caves,
which give it a picturesque appearance. ‘These afford fine places
of retreat for wild animals. The sandstone is so soft they have been
enabled to extend the natural cavities at pleasure. When exam-
ined with a glass the sandstone shows small particles of quartz, with
a few grains of feldspar and mica, loosely held together. The dip of
all the tertiary beds is northeast 5° to 20°. A bed of lignite crops out
in many places. Near old Fort Casper the long benches that extend
down from the base of the ridge toward the Platte form a marked fea-
ture in the surface. They are composed of tertiary and cretaceous beds,
and the latter formation is better shown here than at any other point
north of the Chugwater. These benches are really table-lands, their
surface appearing even and smooth to the eye. Justabove the bridge are
some high bluffs on the left bank of the Platte, composed of lower creta-
ceous clays, No. 2, On the summit of the hills, about four miles east of
the Red Buttes, are some quite prominent ledges of yellow ferruginous
sandstone with Inoceramus and huge rusty concretions; underneath
them are the black shaly clays of No. 2, with all the evidence of barren-
ness which they carry with them. There seems to be an unusual ex-
posure of the cretaceous beds for about fifteen miles, and they jut up
close to the base of Casper Ridge. The beds incline from the ridge in
regular order, and follow its flexures. _

Our camp near the Red Buttes was an interesting and instructive one.
We were located on a broad, grassy bottom of the Platte, ina sort of
amphitheater, with the rocky beds rising to a great elevation all around -
us. The Red Buttes areso called from the high ridges or groups of ridges
which are separated by the channel of the Platte. The basset edges of
the beds bear eastward toward our camp, and a layer of the brick-red
argillaceous shales is exposed. AS we approached them from the east
in the afternoon, the rays of the setting sun greatly heightened their
color and brought them out in relief, so that we could readily see why
they have been such prominent landmarks and have so long attracted
the attention of the traveler. These buttes, taken together, may be
regarded as an irregular anticlinal, with one side formed of quite
lofty ridges, and the opposite side fragments of low ridges, which look
aS though they had broken off of the edges of the opposite portion
during the upheaval. The red beds are well exposed, with a thickness

28 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

of four hundred feet, and above them are the Jurassic beds, with Pec-
ten, Belemnites densus, and a small species of Ostrea in great numbers.
The summit is capped with the thick layer of pudding-stone described as
occurring near the source of the Muddy, huge masses of which have fallen
on theside and at the base of theridge, looking like gigantic boulders. One
of these masses is twenty-eight feet in all its dimensions, and is com-
posed cf water-worn pebbles, varying in size from a grain of quartz to
an inch in diameter, set in acement of sand. The large, amphitheater-
like area inclosed by the Red Buttes and vicinity might be called an im-
perfect quaquaversal, composed of a number of anticlinals and partial
quaquaversals. On the north side of the Platte an anticlinal extends
off toward the northwest, showing in a small area the upper portion of
the Jurassic with a full development of the cretaceous. The two sides
come together in a distance of five or six miles and finally die out in
the plains. The Platte passes through this anticlinal. On the south
side of the river the two sides of the anticlinal are well shown, but
only the cretaceous and Jurassic beds are exposed. In the former are
four or five layers of sandstone with interpolated beds of.indurated sandy
clay, and separating the two formations is a massive bed of quartzite
or sandstone, of variable thickness as well as texture, ten to thirty feet.
On the east side of the Platte is quite a remarable gorge or cation, which
was first observed by the zealous photographer of the expedition, Mr.
Jackson of Omaha, and in whose honor we called it Jackson’s Caiion.
The waters of a former period (for the gorge is adry one at the present
time) have cut directly down through the limestone, much as they
have at Box Elder and at the head of the Muddy. The gorge is two
hundred feet wide at the top, and sixty to seventy feet at the bottom,
and three hundred and fifty feet to four hundred feet deep. From the
canon the red beds incline in a series of ridges which form one-half
a circle. These red beds contain irregular seams of gypsum. Far
to the northwest the Big Horn Mountains can be dimly seen, and the
intermediate space between them and the Platte is slightly disturbed by
lines extending across the plain toward the range. ‘These lines of dis-
turbance, or anticlinals, seldom bring to the surface rocks older than cre-
taceous. At Piney Butte the Jurassic beds are exposed over a very
small area. It appears that at this point the Laramie range breaks up
into several lines of disturbance, extending far across the plain toward
the Big Horn range. So far as I can ascertain, the ranges are there
more intimately connected than with any others to the westward. They
both form the outer or eastern border ranges.

On the morning of the 26th we left our pleasant camp near the Red
Buttes, and passed over the high ground to the westward, with the
Buttes on our left, and the ranges of the Big Horn dimly visible on our
right. In looking back from the west, eastward, on the ridge of which
the Red Buttes form a part, we can see that the general dip is about
southeast or south, inclining gently down to the plain. About four miles
west of the Red Buttes, on the north side of the road, are the most re-
markable semi-quaquaversals, one of which looks much like a erater.
The northwest side forms a perfect rim, while the southeast is open,
with a dry valley alongside, into which the materials within the rim
have been washed, so that it forms half an amphitheater, with the in-
closed space smoothed off and grassed over. The southeast end of Piney
Butte Ridge is separated by a synclinal, not more than one hundred
yards wide. The ridges form a complete half circle, and they extend
across the country far to the northwest. Between the Red Buttes and
the Yellow Springs, a distance of sixteen miles, there is a series of low

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 29

ridges, forming several anticlinals. The long walls of sandstone extend
across the country northwest and southeast, inclining 30° to 509. The
sandstones are mostly of the age of the lignite tertiary, gray and rusty
brown color, with all kinds of texture and modes of deposition.

About five miles west of the buttes a new formation appears of later
date, the latter dipping 5° to 10° in the same direction, but not con-
forming to the older beds. Long ridges and benches extend down nearly
parallel with the course of the Sweetwater, composed mostly of in-
durated argillaceous sands of a lighter color and less variable materi-
als than the lignite beds. The high ridges around our camp are capped
with a thick bed of quartzite sandstones, sometimes approaching a
pudding-stone. West of Willow Springs we ascend a high hill covered
with a thick bed of quartzitic sandstones in drift, and capped with the
coarse sandstones. It is quite probable that we have been passing over
the eastern rim of an ancient fresh-water lake, the rock materials of which
are incidental with the trend of their deposits. Long high benches, com-
posed of these beds, extend far southward as the eye can reach, parallel
with the North Platte and the Sweetwater. It is plain that they jut up
close against the sides of the ridge that borders the north side of the
Platte, near the junction of the Sweetwater. Here and there the creta-
ceous or lignite ridges rise above the more modern deposits, always in-
clining at a large angle, showing unmistakable discordaney. Ascending
an elevation of about four hundred feet, west of Willow Springs, we de-
scend a long slope, into the valley of the Sweetwater, which, in some
respects, is one of the most interesting geological districts I have ever
examined in the west. Thereisahigh ridge or divide between the drainage
of Wind River, North Platte, and Sweetwater, three hundred to four
hundred feet above the channels of these streams, which is composed of
the tertiary beds. The Sweetwater forms a distinct concavity, with this
high divide on the north and east, and the valley has been scooped out
so that until we reach the Sweetwater Cafion, near the South Pass, only
the massive granite ridges rise up among the modern tertiary beds which
jut close up against their base. This is most emphatically a valley of
denudation, over a space of at least thirty to fifty miles in width. All
the unchanged formations, from the lignite tertiary down to the massive
feldspathic granites, have been worn away, leaving the granites scat-
tered over the valley in the isolated ridges. At that time there was a
fresh-water lake which occupied the entire valley, much as Salt Lake once
occupied the great basin, concealing most of the granite ridges, while
others rose above the waters like islands. Then was deposited what
might be called the Sweetwater group, or perhaps a series of beds identical
with the upper portion of the Wind River deposits. These were scooped
out again in time, and the pliocene marls and sands were deposited ; and
then again there was an other scooping out of the valley, and finally a coy-
ering the hills with drift. In thepliocene marls and sands are quite abund-
ant remains of mammals, similar to those which are found en the Niobrara
River, in Nebraska. The Seminole and Sweetwater mountains, although
covered all about their flanks with tertiary beds, show, higher: up, the
elevated ridges of Potsdam sandstone and carboniferous limestones. The
whole range is comparatively smooth and grassed over, as if it had been
too high above the waters to have been affected to any extent by the
later forces that scooped out the valley; so, too, the Sweetwater Moun-
tains, or hills as they should be called, simply expose the Potsdam sand-
stone, carboniferous, red beds, with very small areas of the Jurassic, cre-
taceous, and granites. Indeed, the Sweetwater valleyisasort of anticlinal,
with the Seminole and Sweetwater hills on the south side, and the divide

30 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

between the Wind River and Sweetwater on the north. The northern
portion of the anticlinal is seen only for ten to twenty miles near the
Three Crossings, where the lower Silurian and carboniferous beds are
shown over a restricted area. The numerous granite ridges which are
seattered all through this valley are most probably remnants of a vast
mountain nucleus, from which the unchanged rocks inclined on either
side.

We pass over a level surface for the most part, through the deep sands, ~
which are the result of the disintegration of the tertiary sandstones.
Large areas are covered with the alkali efflorescence, so that they are
white as snow. From Willow Springs we camped at Independence
Rock, a noted landmark for travelers for many years past. I was
anxious to understand the geology of this wonderful spot, and on that
account was delighted to find my tents pitched at its base. The Sweet-
water flows immediately along the southern end of it, although on the
opposite side of the stream another ridge continues toward the south-
west, which, I have no doubt, was once connected with it. Independence
Rock is really one of the granite ridges in this valley, and is a remnant
of much larger mountains. It now looks like an enormous boulder lying
outin the plain. Itisa vast but most excellent illustration of the theory
of disintegration by exfoliation, for it is rounded and resembles an
oblong hay-stack with the layers of rock lapping over the top and
sides of the mass like the layers of hay on a stack. Thin layers have
been broken off in part, and huge masses are scattered all around it;
but on somé portions of the sides they lap down to the ground with
so gentle a descent that I was able to lead my horse nearly to the sum-
mit, about two hundred feet. Two sets of fissures are plainly seen in
this rock, one set east and west and the other north and south.

The entire mass, as well as all the granite ridges in the valley, may be
called feldspathic; that is, the red and white feldspar predominate, while
the mica occurs in very small quantities. It is quite probable that the
vast quantities of this alkaline efflorescence were derived from the de-
composition of the feldspars. Stansbury gathered some of these salts,
which he called “efflorescence from a saleratus pond,” on Sweetwater
river. Dr. Gale found them “to be composed of the sesquicarbonate of
soda, mixed with sulphate of soda and chloride of sodium, and is one of
the salts called Trona, found in the natron lakes in Hungary, Africa, and
other countries.” These salts are not perceptible to the taste in the water
of the stream itseif. The granite ridges south of Independence Rock,
and on the opposite side of the Sweetwater, I estimated to be from one
thousand to fifteen hundred feet above the bed of the stream. Iascended
one of the loftiest of the ranges, with great difficulty, on account of the
smoothness of the rocks and the abruptness of the sides. From the
summit as far as the eye could reach in every direction granite ranges
could be seen, of varying lengths, from one hundred to fifteen hundred
feet above the surrounding plains. Far away to the southeast, dimly
seen and overtopping all the rest, was arange of mountains which I sup-
pose were the Medicine Bow range. All around the flanks of these
granite ranges the same tertiary beds jut up without any interruption,
and are smooth and even, so that the granite masses seem to rise abruptly
out of the plains. In some of the broad intervals are the most beautiful
terraces or benches, sloping gently down from the base of the mountains
to the valley. Not a sign of water could be seen in any of these moun-
tains at the present time. A few cottonwoods and groups of quaking
aSps, in some of the ravines on the sides, gave evidence that water issues
from them at certain seasons of the year. A few stunted pines struggled

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. oi

for existence among the crevices, and some rare shrubs and ferns were
all the vegetable life observed. It seems as though the Sweetwater
flowed through this valley for fifty miles or more with scarcely a tribu-
tary to add to its volume.

These granite ridges present the finest opportunity for the study of
rocks. Huge fissures, which have been enlarged by atmospheric agencies
so that they vary in width from a few inches to several feet, seam and
furrow their sides.

On the summits vast masses, of one hundred tons weight, appear just
ready to topple down. Many of these fragments look like gigantic
boulders, so rounded have they become by the process of exfoliation, and
such they would be called if they could be tr ransported from the tops of
these mountains by water and ice to the prairies of Illinois, without any
further change in their form. Some of these masses are now covered
with thin scales or layers, which are ready to fall off, and multitudes of
fragments are scattered around. Before leaving Independence Rock we
endeavored to obtain an approximate idea of its dimensions. The cir-
cumference, measured with the odometer, is fifteen hundred and fifty
two yards, and the barometer indicated the height of the north end to
be one hundred and ninety-three feet, and the “south end one hundred
and sixty-seven feet. The trend of the mass is about northeast and
southwest. There is a depression near the middle which cannot be
more than sixty feet high. The huge fissures which pass through the
rock in various directions seem to form channels for water, and remind
one of a river and its branches. Although there is enough of red feld
spar to give the whole a reddish tinge, yet the white or soda feldspa,
occurs in great quantities. Five miles up the valley we came to an
other well-known locality, the Devil’s Gate, a cation which the Sweet
water seems to have worn through the granite range. The road passe¢
through a depression in the mountain which is about thirty feet higher
than the bed of the stream, and I am inclined to believe that the Sweet-
water once flowed through it, but for some reason, not very obvious,
changed its channel. Perhaps the water found some fissure through
which it began to flow, and gradually wore its way through, as we
see it at the present time, or it may have vibrated its way from point
to point. Now the stream flows between these lofty walls with a low,
gentle murmur, which cannot be regarded as the roar of a torrent.
Indeed, it gave forth a soothing music not common to mountain streams.
The current is not strong, and finds its way among the huge masses
which have fallen down from above without difficulty. The left wall is
somewhat higher than the right. The cation is about northeast and
southwest, as if the waters had passed through a sort of dike fissure,
and the northeast end shows the gate more perfectly, where the walls
on either side are nearly vertical, and the width of the bottom is not
more than one hundred feet. The southeast end is worn out to some
extent, and is two hundred to three hundred feet wide. By the barom-
eter Mr. J. W. Beaman made the right wall three hundred feet high,
and the opposite one to be a few feet higher. In the gate or canon is a
wide dike or trap, which has a trend about northeast and southwest, in
which the channel of the river may have started originally. At the
present time the waters have cut across the dike so that the southeast
portion still remains on the right side. These granite ranges are not
unfrequently banded with old trap dikes, trending about northeast and
southwest, and varying in width from a few feet to two or three
hundred feet. Some of them yield quite readily to atmospheric agencies,
and many conspicuous depressions are produced in the ranges, thus

32 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES,

adding much to the picturesqueness of the scenery. These dikes are
quite common in some of the ranges, and all have a peculiar black ap-
pearance in the distance; but the difference in texture is shown by the
influence of the atmosphere upon them. Some of them stand up as_
sharp and angular as ever, but most of them have been so rounded off
that the loose masses are nearly spherical, and the thin coats are fall-
ing off like the layers of an onion. Sometimes the materials are coarse,
and the rock falls in pieces; again the mass is round and smooth,
glistening like black opaque quartz. There is no evidence at the pres-
ent time of the age of these dikes, except that the material was thrust
up through the fissures in the granite. They may be of different ages
or of the same age. We find they have been subject to the same
erosion as the granite, and extend ‘across the country in regular bands.
From the Devil’s Gate we traveled westward along the bottoms of
the Sweetwater to the ‘‘ Cloven Peak,” a conspicuous landmark for the
traveler. On our right hand we were walled in most effectually by the
granite ridges; on our left, in the distance, about fifteen miles, was the
Seminole range, or hills, as I have regarded them in this report. They
rise high above the surrounding country, but seem to have formed the
south side of the tremendous erosive forces which once swept through
this valley. The outlines of these hills are so different from any others
that are within the range of vision, that they excite the attention of
the observer at once. There are no ridges of upheaval along the flanks,
as in the case of the Laramie range, but the grassy plains jut up close
to them, and the very summits are, for the most part, rounded and
grassed over. No timber clothes them, except now and then a group
of poplars. The north side is very abrupt, while the south side
slopes off into the plains. Near the Three Crossings there is a low
point or pass in the hills which extends for about ten or fifteen miles,
where a second range commences, called the Sweetwater Hills, and
continues to the South Pass. The Seminole Hills rise about fifteen hun-
dred feet above the Sweetwater Valley, while the Sweetwater Hills vary
from eight hundred to twelve hundred feet. Near Cloven Peak, fifteen
miles west of Devil’s Gate, there are some high bluff banks on the south
side of the Sweetwater, about one hundred feet high, which indicate
the existence of quite modern tertiary beds, like those on the Niobrara
River. They are composed of indurated sands and marls of a light-
gray or cream color, and are in appearance precisely like those seen on
the Laramie River, and many other places, which I have usually re-
garded as of the pliocene age. Still farther to the westward are numer-
ous exposures of these beds, which are weathered into the usual fortifi-
cation-like forms, and scattered around their base are large numbers of
remains of extinct mammals and turtles, apparently identical with those
found on the Niobrara. They occur in the same beautiful state of pre-
servation. These beds are full also of oddly-shaped concretions of sand-
stones of all sizes. The sandy beds disintegrate very readily, and the
bottoms, as well as the road, are made up of loose sand, which is readily
moved by the wind, rendering traveling difficult. Indeed, the entire
valley of the Sweetwater, below St. Mary’s Station, is more or less
covered with moving sands, the result of the disintegration of these
pliocene beds. The appearance of the surface is similar to that seen on
the Niobrara River and the head of the Loup Fork in Nebraska. I am
inclined to believe that these pliocene beds are a deposit made subse-
quent to the somber brown indurated sands, and the conglomerate sand-
stone which forms the outer rim of the Sweetwater basin. The pliocene
beds are best shown in the valley itself near the stream, while no traces

‘

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Fi

of it were seen (on the high divide west) about the rim of the valley.
The granites form the boldest and most barren-looking ridges I have
ever seen; some of the peaks are true dome-shaped, and are apparently
as smooth and as bare as a church dome. No water is to be found in
or around them, and here and there a few stunted pines manage to ex-
tract a scanty nourishment from among the fissures. On our left the
most magnificent benches extend down from the Seminole Mountains

_ for ten miles cr more. This range is smoothed and grassed over, and
some portions are thickly covered with pines.

West of the Seminole Mountains is another detached range or group
of hills ten to fifteen miles long, parallel with the Sweetwater; then
near the Three Crossings there is another range, low and covered thickly
with pines. Still farther west is another detached group of hills, which
extend to the South Pass. These hills undoubtedly form the southern
rim of the Sweetwater basin. I think this basin varies from thirty to
fifty miles in width. In one of these detached groups of hills we can
see a high ridge of limestone, with a strike northwest and southeast,
while the group of hills trends about northeast and southwest. Near
the Three Crossings the high granite ridges are on our right, and rise

seven hundred to eight hundred feet above the bed of the Sweetwater.
From the tops of theridges, far to the westward, we can see the Wind River
range, and feel the cool breeze that comes sweeping down the valley, la-
dened with the icy chill from the snow-clad summits. Small lakes are also
visible in the plains, some of which seem to be fresh water, while all around
,the shores of others there is a thick efflorescence like snow. Far dis-
tant to the north and northwest there is another rim of this basin, which
I have called the north rim or side. The granites near the Three Cross-
ings seem to be somewhat peculiar. There are two principal sets of
joints, one of which is horizontal and the other vertical, dividing the
granite range into cubical blocks, and giving to the sides of the ridges
somewhat the appearance of mason work. Sometimes the very compact
feldspathie beds separate into columnar forms, which are quite pic-
turesque. Thé peculiar mason-like appearance of the granite valley is
entirely due to the vertical and horizontal fissures. This feature is more
marked at this locality than at any other point we have examined.

On the 5ist we made an examination of the lower range of hills which
extend up to the South Pass on the south side of the Sweetwater. We
found the granites occupying a very restricted area, and inclining from
them a larger thickness of Potsdam sandstone with Obolella nana and
alingula. Inclining against the Silurian sandstone was a massive bed
of compact bluish and yellow limestone, with a strike northeast and
southwest. At one locality I found the beds had been tipped past ver- -
ticality 20°. The red beds were also shown here quite well developed.
It would seem that the range of hills on the south side of the Sweet-
water valley forms one side of the anticlinal, and the axis of elevation
is not far from the channel of the stream. A pretty little branch with
a considerable volume of water, and crowded with beaver dams, has
excavated a valley near this point. It has a fork also, which is fringed
with little cottonwoods, a feature quite unusual in the Sweetwater valley.
Jutting up against the sides, and penetrating every valley or gorge in
the outline of the mountains, are the brown indurated sands of the Wind
River deposits; among them are impure seams of lignite or carbon-
aceous Clay, with layers of coarse sandstone or an aggregate of particles
of quartz. The disintegration of the harder beds has covered the sur-
face with small fragments of rock. A little farther to the southward a
huge hill, with almost vertical sides, is composed of light gyay ands

3G

34 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

and worn erystals of quartz, with a thickness of from four hundred to
six hundred feet. Here indurated quartzose sands have been weathered
into most fantastic columns fifty to sixty feet high, giving to the group
in the distance the appearance of white marble monuments in a chureh-
yard. Much of the rock looks like the decomposed gangue of silver and
gold lodes as seen in Colorado, that is, small fragments of quartz in a
feldspar paste. On the side of this almost perpendicular hill, the summit
of which is eight hundred to one thousand feet above the Sweetwater
Valley, are enormous granite boulders of all kinds, gray and red feld-
spathic massive rocks. Notonly the granites but also the sandstones de-
eompose by exfoliation. In the brown beds are seams of rust-brown
pudding-stone, which disintegrates on the low hills and in the valleys,
eovering the surface with small smooth pebbles and fragments of clay.
This entire. range of hills has the north side very abrupt and high
toward Sweetwater valley, but the south side slopes gently down
into the plains. I have no doubt that the nucleus of this range of hills
is composed of the older rocks, as Silurian, carboniferous, or red beds,
&c.; but, so far as we can see at this time, the modern tertiary beds
seem to conceal them from view. Some of the valleys of erosion parallel
to the hills show by thé high walls a great thickness of tertiary beds. .
From the summits the eye extends far southward, fifty miles or more, over
a most desolate, barren plain, with here and there a table-top butte to
show that the surface was once much higher than at present. It is cut
up into innumerable valleys, which give to the surface an irregular, wavy
appearance. Not a tree or shrub greets the vision over this vast desert
waste. The immense quantities of granite boulders, red and gray, which
literally cover the tops and sides of this range of hills, must have been
swept down from the Wind River Mountains. Some of these granite
masses are ten to fifteen feet in diameter; others are sunk so deep in the
earth that they appear to bein place. Across the plains, at least one hun-
dred miles distant to the southwest, two or three low ranges of mountains
or hills are visible. Toward the west end and on the north side of the
range of hills I noticed a peculiar semicircular depression, about twenty-
five feet below the summit, which affords an example of a land-slide on
a large scale. This slide covers an area of about a milein length and
a fourth of a mile.in width, and is covered with groves of the aspen.
Above the Three Crossings, on the north side of the Sweetwater, are

several quite conspicuous granite ridges, but they soon disappear.
Soon the beds of Potsdam sandstone, with carboniferous limestones and
portions of the triassic, make their appearance, inclining at an angle of
20° to 30° northwest, and, in a short distance, pass beneath the Wind
River deposits. We could not ascertain that any rocks older than the
miocene tertiary beds occur along the northern rim of the valley from
Willow Springs up to this point.

From the Three Crossings to St. Mary’s Station the valley bottom of
the Sweetwater is about half a mile in width and looks like a meadow, as
usuaJ. Our camp on the night of the 30th was near the point where the
stream comes out of the first ridge. Hitherto it has flowed through an
anticlinal valley, with the Sweetwater mountains or hills on the south
side, and the granite ridges, capped with Potsdam sandstone ridges near
South Pass. One of the most conspicuous features are the long benches
that come down from the Sweetwater hills so regular, so high, and
evenly rounded that they strike the eye at once. They are composed of
modern tertiary marls, probably pliccene.

About four miles below St. Mary’s Station the Sweetwater flows
through a ridge of Potsdam sandstone with a trend nearly east and

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 35D
west, inclining north 75°. The rock is rusty, reddish quartzite, or an
ageregate of particles of quartz. The Silurian and carboniferous rocks
appear here and there, but the tertiary beds are the most conspicuous.
Near St. Mary’s Station the beds of conglomerate project out of the
bluffs, on both sides of the Sweetwater, quite conspicuously. On the
distant hills the arenaceous marls are much exposed in the form of naked
hills, at the base of which Mr. Elliot discovered some very interesting
turtle remains. About a mile above St. Mary’s Station the Sweetwater
flows out of a deep gorge or caion, cutting the ridges of older rocks at
right angles. The strike is northwest and southeast, dip northeast.

The limestones and sandstones are very conspicuous. On the north
side we pass over the upturned edges of an enormous thickness for three.
fourths of a mile, inclining 30° to 40°. These ridges form the east side
of the anticlinal that runs down from the Wind River Mountains.
Indeed it is a portion of the range itself. So far as the east side is con-
cerned I have never seen a more perfect anticlinal. The series of ridges
of carboniferous limestones and Potsdam sandstones extends across the
country in regular lines, and the erosion has been such that the out-
cropping edges are but little above the general surface, so that they can
be studied.with ease. The main road passes across the edges of all the
rocks at right angles. Not far distant to the northwest the snowy peaks
of the Wind River range rise high above the surrounding country.
Here and there, resting upon the edges of the older rocks, are patches of
the modern tertiary deposits, remnants of the last period of erosion.
AS we approach the base of the mountains there-is a s.ight dip in these
tertiary beds 3° to 5°, as if the last movements were subsequent to their
deposition. There is a deep valley from the base of the mountains to
the Sweetwater, which marks the line of separation between the Silurian
and carboniferous ridges, completely separates them, but indicates no
discordanecy. Inside of these ridges is an immense thickness of slates
standing nearly vertical, with a strike northeast and southwest, inclining
slightly northwest. Extending to the northeast toward the Wind River
Valley could be seen ridge after ridge of cretaceous and tertiary beds.

CHAPTER III.

FROM SOUTH PASS TO FORT BRIDGER.

Like the Black Hills of Dakota and the Laramie range, the Wind
River Mountains form a complete anticlinal. It is so regular that when
once the key to its structure is obtained it is studied with great ease.
So far as my observations have extended, all the ranges with a north-
west and southeast axis are simple and regular in their structure. They
may be defined briefly as a nucleus of granite or gneissic rocks, rising
step by step on either side toward a central axis, and on each side of
the nucleus the various unchanged rocks inclining ata variety of angles.
Sometimes extensive erosion and the subsequent deposition of modern
tertiary beds or drift obscures the study, and we shall find that this is
the case with the Wind River range. The Black Hills of Dakota is the
most complete illustration of an anticlinal, not complicated by other
influences, that I have met with in the West. The nucleus is massive
feldspathic granite, with a series of gneissic beds outside of it; these ~
incline in every direction from this nucleus, a sort of narrow, ova)
guaquaversal, and all the unchanged beds known 1n this portion of the

36 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

west from the Potsdam sandstones inclusive to the top of the lignite
tertiaries. The trend of the Wind River range is northwest and south-
east. The portion in which the South Pass is located is about ten
mniles wide, and is composed mostly of metamorphic slates in a nearly
or quite vertical position. It is in these slates that the gold mines are
found. The gulch diggings are quite extensive, and although much has
been done in that way, yet there is a most extended field open yet for
the enterprising miner or laborer.

The facilities for placer mining are very great on account of the
supply of water. The gold-bearing rocks are composed of thin gneissic
slates, which occupy a somewhat restricted area about ten miles
wide and twenty to thirty miles long. Some of the slates are very thin
and might be made useful for building purposes; others are more silicious
and fracture into columnar masses. Veins of white quartz run through
these slates very frequently, and it is in these the gold is feund. The
most celebrated lodes in this district are the Cariso and ‘‘ The Miner’s
Delight.” The Cariso lode is about four feet wide; the shaft has been
sunk one htindred and forty feet; the quartz yields $50 to $75 per ton.
About $75,000 has been taken out of the mine by its owners. The lode
has a strike northeast and southwest, and a dip of 70°. It was dis-
covered in 1867, and has been worked two years. The lode itself is
mostly composed of white quartz with some iron pyrites, while the
country rock consists of gneiss. It will be seen at once that the great
value of these ores les in the ease with which the gold can be extracted.
I shall describe these mines more in detail in a subsequent portion of
this report, and simply allude to them now in their geological relations.

The elevations, as taken by Mr. J. W. Beaman, are of some interést.
At “St. Mary’s Station,” on the Sweetwater, 6,590 feet. Ascending
from ridge to ridge for ten or fifteen miles, 6,894, 7,149, 7,356, 7,405, —
and 7,52 4 feet, a oradual ascent, and probably approximately correct.
‘At Fort Stambaugh the elevationis 7,714 feet; Atlantic City, 7,666 feet ;
South Pass City, 7,857. <At Washakie? SI Camp, at the base, main range
8,158 feet, and the high ridges below the central ridge, 10,215 feet.
This central portion of the South Pass district, or the area occupied
mostly by the metamorphic slates, I have estimated at ten miles in width
and twenty to thirty in length. The surface is somewhat rolling, but
cannot be called rugged, “and bears evidence of remarkable ero-
sion. In many places long lines or rounded elevations extend across
the surface like the ripples of alake. The surface has been so worn
down by erosion, and the irregularities filled with a heavy drift deposit,
that these ridges or outcropping edges just project above the surface.
Usually the surface is well erassed over, and in the valleys of the
streams large quantities of hay are obtained. The timber consists
principally of groves of aspen here and there, which give a beautiful
appearance to the scenery.

September 1.—We arrived at Fort Stambangh, and by the kind per-
mission of Major Gordon, the commander of the post, pitched our camp
near a fine spring, three hundred yards below the fort, and about three
miles from Atlantic City. This post was named in memory of a gallant
officer, Lieutenant Stambaugh, who was killed by Indians not far from
this place during the past year. It is finely located in one of the most
romantic spots in this region, surrounded by high hills, with beautiful
eroves of aspen on their sides. Springs of pure water are abundant.

September 3.—We left our camp at this locality, with a small pack-
train, for a short trip to the Wind River Mountains; our direction was
northwest about ten miles, across the metamorphic slates, until we came

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. i |

to the foot-hills; here the granites prevail. At first they have a fissile
structure to some extent, but soon become massive, like the granites of
Sweetwater Valley, except that the feldspar is white. The mass of the
Wind River Mountains is gray granite, with here and there some red
feldspathic seams; but as I found it in 1860, when crossing the range
near the source of Wind River, to the head of Lewis’ Fork of the
Columbia, the central mass is mostly gray granite and wonderfully uni-
form in texture. Small masses of black gneiss are distributed through
the, granite. After entering the foot-hills we moved up the valley of
one of the various branches of the Sweetwater, through most rugged
scenery, among thick pines and over vast quantities of broken rocks or
debris. At last we reached a high ridge which forms the divide between
the waters that flow into the Sweetwater and those of the Sandy, and
near this ridge, at an elevation of over 10,000 feet above the sea, we had
a complete and near view of the Wind River range. Far above us rose
the snow-capped ridges of the axis of the range, with Frémont’s and Snow
Peaks full in view. Frémont has given in his report the elevation of
Snow Peak, which is probably the highest of the range, as 13,570 feet.
One of the peculiar features of these mountains is the dense growth of a
kind of “‘nut-pine,” which furnishes food for innumerable birds and
squirrels, and supplies the Indians with their favorite food.

Washakie’s band of Shoshones had been up in the mountains only a
few days before, and hundreds of the trees had been cut down for the
nuts. J should judge that the limits of arborescent vegetation is about
11,000 feet. On the south side of the range there is not much perpetual
snow, only here and there a patch; but on the north side snow-banks
are extensive.

From this high ridge we had a most remarkable as well as instruct-
ive view of the southwest side of the range. Far out in the plains the
long parallel ridges of the white tertiary marls could be seen, then
step by step the ridges of granite rising to the summit. The outline of
these granite ridges revealed most clearly the anticlinal character of the
range, their sharp summits pointing toward the snowy crest above
them. On the east: side of the anticlinal the outcropping edges of a
high ridge of carboniferous limestone extend down toward the Sweet-
water near St. Mary’s Station. The Silurian and carboniferous rocks
form a conspicuous wall on the east side; on the west side, far up to the
head-waters of the Sandy, they seem to be concealed by modern tertiary
deposits. Not only the sides of the lower ridges, but the top and sides
of the central mass are covered so thickly and continuously with frag-
ments of granite that this becomes one of the most conspicuous features.
Both Snow and Frémont’s Peak are one mass of debris. During the day
Mr. Jackson, with the assistance of the fine artistic taste of Mr. Gifford,
secured some most beautiful photographic views, which will prove of
great value to the artist as well as the geologist. We made our camp
at night near the foot of Fremont’s Peak, by the side of a spring of the
purest crystal water, surrounded with a thick growth of fresh green
grass, that gave a manifest delight to our animals. We were on the Pa-
cific slope, and as the waters of the little spring passed by us, within a
few feet of our camp-fire, in the stillness of the night, we imagined we
could hear in its rippling music the faint echo of that of the great
ocean to which it was hastening. Among the numerous plants which
grew here, many of them with handsome flowers, I was attracted by the
great abundance of a species of trifolium, with a white blossom, about
the size of our domestic red clover of the States. There was also a
large species of allium which I have not observed before in the West.

38 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Although the geology as well as the mineralogy of the Wind River
range is very simple, yet we turned our backs upon it with regret. I
shall always retain in view the hope that Imay yet be permitted to spend
several months inthis interesting range, so prepared that I can work
out its topography as well as geology. In studying these mountain sys-
tems, the geology is the anatomy, and we must have the topography
with it to clothe the skeleton and give it an expressive form.

On our way up the valley we passed several saw-mills which belonged
to Mr. W. N. Hinman, of Atlantic City, one of the old pioneers of the Far
West. Thirteen years ago I met him near the base of Laramie Peak,
where he was engaged, as director of a saw-mill, by the commanding
officer at Fort Laramie. His experience in the Rocky Mountain lumber
business has been more extensive than that of any one else, and from him
I obtained some valuable information. He informed me that the Rocky
Mountain pines made lumber of about average quality; that the trees
were of young growth, from two to three feet in diameter; that the
boards dress smoothly and easily, and endure well, and are mostly free
from pitch. The lumber can be produced at about $50 per 1,000 feet.
He always explores the ravines and cafions on the north side of the
mountains for the large tall pines, while on the south side they are liable
to be scrubby and knotty. The agricultural capacities of this mountain
region do not differ materially from those of the mining districts of
Colorado. The grazing is excellent everywhere. Potatoes, turnips,
peas, beans, and all kinds of garden vegetables that do not require a
long season grow remarkably well in the valley of the Wind River, and
are produced in considerable quantities at the present time.

At the time of our visit here Washaxie’s band of the Shoshones was
encamped in the valley of one of the branches of the Sweetwater, where
it emerges from the foot-hills of the mountains. Through the kind aid
of Major Gordon, Mr. Jackson was able to secure a remarkable series
of photographic views of these Indians and their camp in their native
haunts. Most of the views have the Wind River Mountains as a back-
eround, and also show the women and children as they are naturally
distributed about the village. Ivegard this series of views as a real
contribution to Indian history.

On the morning of September 5th we left Fort Stambaugh, and fol-
towed the old emigrant road toward Fort Bridger. We had received
every attention, and much assistance that was of great value to us, from
the gentlemanly officers of the post. To Major Gregg, the quarter-
master, we were especially indebted, not only for many social courtesies,
but for that kind of aid which is so indispensable to our success, and -
which it is in the power of that officer to grant. Major G. kindly caused
all of our wagons to be repaired, and furnished abundant supplies for
our animals and ourselves.

West of South Pass City we cross over gneissic slates that dip north-
east 10° to 25°. A little farther on we come to granites which incline
in the same direction. Near the crossing of the Sweetwater are thick
beds of reddish feldspar and white quartz imbedded with the gneiss.
The white quartz extends across the country in bands, about northeast
and southwest. The quartz seams in the massive granites are quite
conspicuous, and trend in the same direction. The dip is southwest 20°
to 30°. The granites and gneisses continued nearly to the Pacific
Springs. The massive granites intercalated among the stratified gneis-
Sic rocks are the same in color and texture as those forming the central
mass of the Wind River range, and I regard them as all of sedimentary
origin.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ag

South Pass is a gradual elevation, like a divide, between the streams
to the plains. Indeed, the whole country is an elevated plain, gently
undulating, and the traveler passes the true divide or line of separation
between the valleys of the two oceans without observing it.

On the evening of the 5th we arrived at Pacific Springs, one of the
sources of the Sanéy, a branch of Green River, a long, low, boggy piece
of ground full of springs, and a notable camping place for emigrants. We
have spoken of the low ridges of granite and gneiss, which are distrib-
uted here and there along our route, from South Pass to Pacific Springs.
Seattered over this surface, forming the water divide or pass, and filling
up the irregularities, is a superficial deposit of modern date, probably
pliocene, which once covered the area occupied by the metamorphic
rocks in considerable thickness. This deposit is composed of drift un-
derlaid by yellowish-white arenaceous marls, with greenish clay. Wells
are dug near Fort Stambaugh through a great thickness of this light
marly clay, which is undoubtedly the result of the decomposition of the
feldspathic granites. Just west of the pass we have several hundred feet
of these modern beds, which form long parallei ridges, with rather
marked naked white surfaces, evidently denuded of vegetation, by the
perpetual winds that sweep down from the northwest. Extending
nearly east and west, or northwest and southeast, and inclining gently
to the south and southwest, is a broken ridge seven hundred feet above
the springs, capped with a bed of coarse, rusty sandstone, evidently of
modern age. This ridge is covered over with huge granite boulders of
various textures, which seem to have come from the northeast. Just
south of the ridge is a still higher one, with strata horizontal, and so
denuded that the surface resembles ‘bad lands,” with red, indurated
arenaceous clays at the base, rising up into light yellow marly clays,
weathering into the usual fantastic forms. The highest point to the
southward is Table Rock, or Steamboat Buttes, as they have been
named by the emigrants, rising high above the surrounding plains, a
monument to perpetuate a portion of the former thickness of the middle
tertiary formations in this region. The strata are nearly horizontal,
and must have reached a thickness of one thousand feet or more, extend.
ing over the country far to the south and southwest toward the
railroad. I regard the western side of the Wind River anticlinal as
the eastern shore of the second series or lower miocene tertiaries, which
reach all over the basin drained by the Green River and its tributaries,
southward to the junction of Henry’s Fork. The northeast side of the
shore line is very steep and abrupt, inclining slightly, 3° to 5°, covered
with immense granite boulders, but little worn, which evidently came
from the Wind River range. The white and yellow marls and clays rest
on the metamorphic rocks, are of pliocene age, and they extend far to the
northwest, parallel with the range. The same formations occur near the
Three Crossings in the Sweetwater Valley, and are rich in remains of
extinct mammals, similar to or identical with those of the Loup Fork
group. The reddish or India ocher clays, with leaden gray bands, form
the base of the lower miocene group. Above them is an extensive Sse-
ries of yellowish marls and rusty-drab limestone, filled with a species of
Lythinella, Viviparus, and other fresh-water shells, with silicified wood.
One of the peculiar features of the lower clays, near this shore line,
which does not oceur farther inland, is the numerous seams of small
rounded pebbles, held together loosely with fine sand. As we descend
the valley below Pacific Springs it soon expands into a broad meadow,
which yields a vast quantity of hay. Winding through the meadow is
a fine stream of water, which increases in size continually from springs

40 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

until it unites withthe Sandy. On the Little and Big Sandy the forma-
tions are like those near Bryan and on Green River, and on the denuded
hills the remains of turtles were found. At our camp on the Big Sandy,
September 7th, we caught the best view of the Wind River mountains we
have yet seen. As the morning sun shone on them and scattered the
mist and smoke from their summits, they seemed not far distant, and
loomed up along the horizon with a sharp, clear outline, that rendered
the view most grand and imposing. Frémont’s and Snow Peaks were
clearly defined, and the series of sharp peaks that project from the
main ridge seemed to diminish in height far toward the sources of Green
River. In no country in the world, it seems to me, can such a compre-
hensive view be presented to the eye at a glance as at this point, where
it can take in one of the loftiest of the ranges which form the main
chain of the Rocky Mountains, stretching along the horizon for at
least one hundred and fifty miles. I could not ascertain that any of the
older sedimentary rocks are exposed along the western side of‘ this
range, from the South Pass to the sources of Green River. Ridges of
the lower miocene tertiary strata along the western limit of the meta-
morphic rocks form an unmistakable shore line of the ancient lake.
Between this shore line and the foot-hills of the mountains is a belt of
metamorphic slates and gneiss, covered here and there with pliocene
marls. The erosion all along the western side of the mountains has
been tremendous, sweeping down in a northeast direction to the Sweet-
water Valley. In a preceding chapter I described the Sweetwater Val-
ley as one of erosion, on a most remarkably grand scale, and that the
Sweetwater and Seminole Hills formed the south side of the anticlinal, .
and that the north side is seen at the present time only in fragments
here and there, most of it having been swept away or concealed by the
Wind River deposits. I am also inclined to believe that the Sweet-
water Valley is only an extension to the east or south of east, of the
axis of the Wind River range.

From the Big Sandy to our camp on Black’s Fork, near Granger Sta-
tion, we passed over the Green River beds, capped here and there with
ridges of the leaden-gray, indurated arenaceous clays of the Bridger
group. In the Green River beds are quite abundant remains of reptiles,
as Crocodilus Elliotti,and the fragments of fishes, Untios, Melanias, Palu-
dinas, Planorbis, &c., and found in the lower miocenee, and Unios, Lymneas,
and remains of turtles and mammals in the Bridger group. On either side
of our road we can see in the far distance a high ridge or table-top butte,
like the Pilot Buttes which the erosive forces have passed by as remnants
of the old surface. Among the rugged hills along the Big Sandy, and
in many other localities, are long cylindrical concretions, which look much
like silicified wood. They form the central portions of high, rusty-drab
concretionary sandstones, and on exposure the sandstone exfoliates from
the brown silicified interior, and the latter breaks in pieces, oftentimes in
sections, which show the most perfect concentric rings, like the layers of
growth in wood, with cavities filled with chalcedony. Most beautiful spe-
cimens can be obtained of what appears to be a thin, woody, exterior
shell, covered with bark, and lined inside with beautiful crystals of quartz
or chalcedony. Similar concretions occur in the Wasatch group near
Piedmont, on the railroad. It is not surprising that Stansbury (see
Report, p. 72) should have mistaken these singular concretions for silici-
fied trunks of trees, which they very closely resemble. All over the
surface, and especially on the tops of the hills, are distributed immense
quantities of partially-worn flint rocks, which come from the debris of
these concretions. Itis from these rocks that the masses of chalcedony,

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 41

as wellas the “moss agates,” have their origin. Along the railroad and
about Church Buttes the surface in many places is literally paved with
small fragments of a dark-brown, shiny, flinty rock, somewhat worn,
among which the “moss agates” are found; all these rocks originate
in the Bridger group.

We found our camps on the Sandy Creeks and Green River very
pleasant, with abundant grass for our animals. The bottoms are usually
quite broad, and though covered with the white alkaline efflorescence
so common to this countr y, the soil has all the elements of extreme fer-
tility. Indeed this entire Green River basin, which seems to the eye
so utterly desolate and barren, would produce all the crops that the
climate will permit, most abundantly, if it could be irrigated; and the time
may yet come when this apparently desert region may “ blossom as the
rose.” Whether this state of things can ever occur or not, it is sufficient
for me to state, that the soil, whether upland or lowland, contains in
greater proportions the elements of fertility than that of Salt Lake Val-
ley, which has been found so wonderfully productive.

The 10th and 11th of September we camped on Black’s Fork near
Church Buttes, and spent the time most industriously and successfully,
exploring the remarkable “bad lands” for fossil remains, as turtles, mam-
mals, and fresh-water shells, of which we gathered great quantities.
Mr. Elliott made a fine series of panoramic. sketches and sections, and
Messrs. Jackson and Gifford procured seventeen beautiful photographic
negatives of the most rugged portions of this unique scenery. The ma-
terials for the illustration of the different groups of strata are very com-
plete, and will add greatly to our knowledge of the geology of some of
the most interesting regions in the West.

On the evening of the 12th of September we arrived safely at Fort
Bridger, the western terminus of our present explorations.

CHAPTER IV.

FORT BRIDGER AND THE UINTA MOUNTAINS.

On the morning of September 16 we left Fort Bridger for the Uinta
Mountains, under the guidance of Judge W. A. Carter, whose long resi-
dence at Fort Bridger and intimate knowledge of the surrounding coun-
try proved of great value to us in our explorations.

Our course was alittle east of north, across the plateau divide between
Black’s Fork and Smith’s Fork. <A distance of six miles from Bridger we
crossed over the interval to Little Cottonwood Creek, a branch of Smith’s
Fork, and passed up that valley to the foot-hills of the mountains about
seven miles farther. The valleys of these streams are broad and ex-
ceedingly fertile. The soil is arich vegetable mold, and all the vege-
tation reaches a luxuriant growth. Large areas have been under culti-
vation by Judge Carter for years. Wheat , oats, barley, and all the roots,
can be raised here in great abundance and with ease. Hay can be
obtained in the meadows or damp places in unlimited quantities, and
the grazing cannot be surpassed. That portion of the country between
Fort Bridger and the foot-hills of the mountains may be divided into
bottom land and table land; that is, the bottoms are very broad, vary-
ing from two to five miles in width, and the table lands are sort of ter-
race divides, which look in the distance as level as a table top, and de-
scend very gradually from the foot-hills. These plateaus are covered

42 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

with sage at this time, but every acre of them could be cultivated by
irrigation, and the soil is as fertile as any of the fruitful lands of Salt
Lake Valley. The miocene beds of the Bridger Group jut up against the
sides of the mountains in a nearly horizontal position. Up among the
foot-hills I found the bones of a turtle, the teeth and jaws of a mammal,
and an abundance of fresh-water shells, of the genus Planorbis. I am
now inclined to think that the long high ridges that extend down from the
flanks of the mountains between each main stream or its branches, are
composed of modern tertiary beds. Still they are so smooth and so
thickly grassed over, and covered with groves of pine and aspen, that I
could never find a locality where the rocks were exposed, so that I could
obtain a connected section. The surface is covered very thickly with
rounded boulders of reddish sandstone and quartzite, with some masses
of carboniferous limestone. The ascent is very gradual, and the roads
excellent, almost to the summits of the range, at least to an elevation
of 11,000 feet above the sea.

Both Smith’s and Black’s Forks separate into numerous branches, and
between each one is a lofty, precipitous ridge, which extends down from
near the summit of the mountains in the form of steps or abrupt points.
Pheasant Point and Porcupine Point are examples of this kind. It isa
curious fact, however, that none of these ridges ever reveal their interior
character, being clothed with a dense growth of pine and aspen, or in the
open places, on hill or in valley, thickly with grass and a deep soil. For
ten miles at least not a trace of the basis rocks could be found in the
channels of the streams. Spruce Ridge, between the sources of the Muddy
and the valley of Bear River, revealed the fact that there is an immense
deposit of drift covering a belt along the flanks of the mountains from
ten to twenty miles in width, extending in some places nearly to the
crest of the range. The upper portion of this drift is composed of fine
arenaceous clays, covered with a deep, rich, vegetable soil. It therefore
sustains a luxuriant vegetation up to an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet.
The mountain rises in steps, because there are ridges of elevation ;
hence, Judge Carter has given this range the appropriate name of
‘¢Terrace Mountains.”

Thus we have.two kinds of ridges; those of elevation, which are par-
allel with the axis, and those of erosion, which are parallel with the
valleys of the streams, and radiate from the axis at right angles to the
ridges of elevation. The first locality, between Smith’s Fork and Black’s
Fork, that we observed rocks in place. was at Photograph ridge; a lofty
upheaval of carboniferous limestone, inclining at an angle of 40°. The
elevation of the crest was determined by the barometer to be 10,829 feet.
This ridge extends across Black’s Fork, with a trend about northeast
and southwest. From this ridge to the axis of elevation there is a
series of sandstone ridges, passing gradually into red and gray quartz-
ites. These ridges rise, like steps, to the crest of the range.

The first ridge is composed of dull, purplish sandstone of various
degrees of texture, from a compact sandstone to a pebbly conglomerate.
The quantity of broken rocks and debris is wonderful, rising like a wall
one hundred to two hundred feet high.. Then comes a broad, grassy
valley and a second ridge of sandstone, though a portion of this ridge
is covered with the drift deposit, so that the sandstones are seen only
in the sides of the valleys of Smith’s and Black’s Forks. The inclination
of these sandstones is about 35° northwest. At the foot of the ridge
next to the crest of the mountains there is a broad valley like a plateau.
This has the appearance of an elegantly prepared lawn, so thickly and

evenly isit covered with grass. It is 11,869 feet, and 1,100 feet above the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 43

limit efarborescent vegetation. Thisalsoformsone of theradiatingridges,
which extends down from the axis of the range to the plains, and sepa-
rates the valleys of Smith’s and Black’s Forks. Sometimes it is several
miles in width, but toward the crest of the range the ridge of separation
is not more than two hundred yards wide. Standing on either side of this
ridge, the view that meets the eye toward the sources of these streams
can hardly be surpassed for ruggedness and picturesque beauty. The
valley of Smith’s Fork seems to be altogether one of erosion, cutting
through the uplifted strata nearly at right angles. The beds are weil
shown in the sides of the valley for miles, inclining at angles from 20°
to 35°. At the very sources of both Smith’s and Black’s Forks are
pyramidal or conical peaks most distinctly stratified, and apparently
horizontal, or nearly so, with the summits above the limits of perpetual
snow, and from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet above the springs
that give origin to the streams below. These peaks or cones are vast
piles of purplish compact quartzite, resembling much Hgyptian pyra-
mids on a gigantic scale, without a trace of soil, vegetation, or water.
One of these remarkable structures stands out isolated from the rest, in
the middle of the valley of Smith’s Fork, which we estimated to rise
fifteen hundred feet above its base; and so much like a Gothic church
did it appear, that the members of my party gave it the name of Hay-
den’s Cathedral.

From Carter’s Plateau I descended into the valley of Smith’s Fork,
and after traveling about three miles over ridge after ridge of sand-
stone and quartzite, nclining at various angles from 20° to 30°, I came
within a short distance of the base of this cathedral, when I found that
it formed the south side of an anticlinal, and that the trend of the
valley was northeast and southwest. It would seem that while all the
beds on the north side of the anticlinal dip at a large angle, those on the
south side were forced up in a nearly horizontal position, inclining
southwest only 3° to 5°. The valley is full of little lakes, which form
an interesting feature of the scenery of the Uintas. In most cases they
are the result of land-slides, and occur at different elevations, depend-
ing upon the conditions that bring them into existence. Carter’s Lake
is a beautiful sheet of water, inclosed on one side by a semicircular wall
of purplish sandstone and slates, and on the other bya dense growth of
spruce trees. The depression for the accumulation of the waters of this
lake was formed by an immense mass of rock sliding down from the
ridges above. The side of the mass opposite the ridge from which it
was detached would be the highest, forming a rim for the depression.
Springs of water ooze out of the sides of the ridge, snows melt, and
the waters flow down and gather here, and soon a little lake is formed.
This one is three hundred and fifty yards in length, and eighty yards in
width.

It is quite plain that these slides have been the chief agency in
enlarging these valleys, for even at this time we see the evidences of it
every where, both at the head of Smith’s and Black’s Fork. The valley
extends from halfa mile to a mile above the anticlinal valley, and in
the dry season of autumn, far above the existence of water. Iam inclined
to believe that the origin of the stream and its valley began in this
anticlinal opening, and that the valley has extended up above it by the
sliding down of vast masses of rock which were swept downward by the
waters. On the west side of the valley of Smith’s Fork, near its head, is
a vast semicircular notch or indentation, nearly half a mile deep, which
has been wholly formed by these slides. In the valley below, which is
five hundred to eight hundred feet deep, are half a Clozen lakes, occupy-

44 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ing the depressions of these slides at different elevations. The day that
we explored the valley, was quite warm, and the sides were covered with
banks of snow twelve to fifteen feet deep, from the edges of which were
flowing streams of water into these little lakes or pools. From the sides
of the valleyissued beautiful springs also, which contributed their portion.
From these lakes flowed little streams, which gradually concentrated
into the main channel of Smith’s Fork. The same description will apply
to the valley of Black’s Fork, except that a portion of the east side seems
to ve formed of the sloping side of one of the inclined ridges of sandstone,
thus showing that itis not altogether one of erosion. The west side reveals
all the quartzites and sandstones in their regular order of sequence, for
several miles, inclining at various angles from 20° to 40°. From the high
peaks of the crest of the range we can look down the deep, almost straight
valleys of Smith’s and Black’s Forks, southward into the plains, and
follow the remarkably tortuous course of the little streams that flow
down them. There are no real mountain torrents in this range, no
picturesque waterfalls or narrow gorges; but the valleys are deep and
wide, with almost vertical sides, eight hundred to twelve hundred feet
high. Yet the lower portions below the quartzitic belt are covered thickly
with trees or grass, so that the underlying rocks are concealed. The
fall of the water is so slight in the streams that they are not only ex-
ceedingly tortuous, but frequently accumulate in little lake-like expan-
sions, which add much to the beauty of the scenery, especially as the
waters glisten when the morning sunlight fallsupon them. In a volume
entitled “Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery,” illustrated with
_ photographs, I have included two views, taken at the head of the west

branch of Bear River, by Mr. A. J. Russell, as types of Uinta Mountam
scenery. Sun pictures No. 1 and No. 14 exhibit Moore’s Lake with
the quartzite mountain in the background. The stratification can be
seen perfectly. This work, though very costly, can be found in most of
our public libraries and can be referred to by those who may be inter-
ested in the scenery of the Uinta Mountains. Mr. Jackson, photographer
to the survey, has taken a large number of views in this range, illustrating
every variety of form which the texture of the rocks would admit of, in
the process of erosion or weathering. These views, I hope, will be given
to the world in some form at no distant day. As studies of the geologi-
cal and geographical features of the country they will prove of great
value, and their fidelity to nature cannot be denied.

We descended the dividing ridge between Black’s and Smith’s Forks
by the same road we passed up, but nowhere below Photograph Ridge
did we see any of the rocks underlying the drift. Iam confident that,
could the immense deposit of drift be stripped off, we should find the
regular series of formations, as triassic or red beds, Jurassic, cretaceous,
and older tertiary, and possibly coal-beds. Yet so thick a deposit of
drift and modern tertiary covers the sides and foot-hills of the range
that these formations do not probably affect the outline of the surface.
It is quite certain, however, that they will be found cropping out some-
where, even on the north side of the range, or perhaps on the south
side in the Uinta Valley. I regret very much that my time would not
permit me to make a thorough exploration of both sides of this most
interesting range. Some problems which now are obscure might thus be
made plain

TRIP TO THE HEAD OF BEAR RIVER, UINTA MOUNTAINS.

We left Fort Bridger on the morning of the 24th of September,
with a small pack train, and pursued a north course up the valley of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. A5

Black’s Fork for fourteen miles. This is a beautiful and fertile valley,
varying from three-fourths to a mile in width. Every foot of the
bottom land could be cultivated with ease, and Black’s Fork would
supply. an abundance of water for irrigation. The soil, like that of all
the valleys of the Uinta range, is a rich black vegetable mold, which
always sustains a heavy g erowth of native vegetation. The creek itself
is fringed with a handsome border of cottonwoods and aspens; spruce
and pine come in, which, mingled with the deciduous trees, give a pleas-
ant variety to the foliage. Hach of the streams that flow down the
slopes of the Uintas separate into numerous branches, and between each
braneh there is a dividing ridge which extends down from the moun-
tains and breaks off abruptly at the base. The Bridger group extends
up to the base of these ridges and juts up against the foot-hills. Then
come the grass-covered and woody ridges, which are composed of strata
of yellow and green arenaceous clays, with thin layers of sandstone pro-
jecting from the sides. The grass and other vegetation covers the sur-
face so uniformly that it is difficult to find a connected section of the
Strata, but it is probable that there are lower tertiary beds, which form
a portion of the coal series.

Leaving Black’s Fork we ascended the dividing ridge westward to
Muddy Creek, and followed an old trail just under the foot-hills of the
mountains. The elevation of the summit of the ridge is 7,857 feet.
This ridge is most beautifully diversified with groups of aspen trees.
The suriace is covered with loose water-worn rocks, mostly the red
sandstones and quartzites that must have been drifted from the crest of
‘the mountains. On the west side of this ridge is a singular table-top
butte, with an elevation of 7,977 feet, and five hundred feet above the
waters of the Muddy, which flows along its western base. It is evidently
a fragment of an upbeaved ridge of middle tertiary strata, inclining from
the mountains at a small angle. The southwest side is very abrupt, and
- the strata are exposed so that a moderately good section can be studied.
The summit is covered thickly with water-worn boulders, which seem to
have lodged there on their way from the Uintas. The deposit of drift
is at least “fifty feet thick, and the greatest accumulation of the boulders is
onthe abrupt edge toward the ranges. Below the driftare alternate layers
ot light-gray argillaceous limestone, sandstone, and laminated arenaceous
clays. In one of the upper beds of limestone is a thin seam of black
chert or flint, with fresh-water shells, and plants. A thickness of two
hundred feet of the base of the hill is composed of arenaceous clays
with a light pinkish tinge, which is peculiar to a vast series of beds
west of the rim of the basin. From the top of this butte the view is very
extended in every direction. To the south are the Uinta Mountains,
with the foot-hills or ridges gradually sloping down into the plains,
covered with aspen groves and pines, with here and there grassy,
meadow-like openings. ‘To the west and north, as far as the eye can
reach, thirty to fifty miles, we see only the modern tertiary beds. These
all show a slight inclination from the range, with the southwest side of
the projecting ridges abrupt and denuded, and the northeast side
sloping gently down and covered thickly with grass. On one of the
little branches of the Muddy the carboniferous limestones crop out
somewhat obscurely, but sufficient to show that they exist underneath
this vast deposit of drift and tertiary strata. I have no doubt that the
entire series of unchanged beds known in this region, either do exist or
have existed on the flanks of the Uintas, although at this time they
may have been eroded away. We know that along the railroad, near
Aspen Station, the cretaceous rocks are brought to the sur face, and in the ~

46 . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

valley ofthe Weber the Jurassic, triassic, carboniferous, &c., are enormous-
ly developed. We then ascended the west branch of the "Muddy, along
one of the most beautiful mountain valleys we have yet seen. It is
quite narrow, inclosed between high ridges, the sides descending in
step-like slopes to the stream. The little groves of aspen were dis-
tributed over it with the most delicate artistic taste, and the varieties of
autumn coloring of the foliage surpassed every power of description.
One could look ‘for hours upon them, and yet there were no marked
salient points, and the charm consisted more in a kind of esthetic
feeling which no pen or pencil can portray. The grass is excellent, and
the water pure from mountain springs. The sage shrub grows very
rank, which also indicates the fertility-of the soil. We camped in a
little grove of aspens, and all the party were so well pleased that they
united i in calling it Camp Elliott, in honor of the artist of our expedition.
The elevation was ascertained to be 8,194 feet. The next morning,
September 25th, we continued up this branch of the Muddy for about
two miles, and then struck across the divide to the west branch, and
followed that up to Spruce Ridge, the high divide between the waters of
the Muddy and Bear River. Here we caught a full view of the range of
mountains, with the sharp peaks covered withsnow. This was just the
point we had desired to reach where we could take a careful survey of
the country, and determine our point.of destination. I had with me a
most excellent field glass, and so useful have I found it in my explora-
tions that it has become my inseparable companion. With it I could
extend my vision over a vast area. Far to the northward, one hundred
and eighty miles distant, the white snow-clad mountains of Wind River
were distinctly visible extending along the horizon. The intermediate
space resembles in its surface the irregular broken waves of a sea. To
the west, not more than fifty miles distant, the Wasatch range can be
clearly seen, while the beautiful broad valley of Bear River and its
branches are spread out beneath us. It is difficult for one to fully
appreciate the wenderful extent of country over which the eye can travel
through the pure atmosphere in this open country without having
visited it. Itseems to me that no other portion of the world can present
so much surface of country to asingle grasp of the vision. Spruce Ridge
explains so much that has hitherto been obscure in regard to the foot-
hills of the Uintas, that I wil! describe it more minutely.

Smith’s Fork, Black’s Fork, and Bear liver take their rise in the main
divide of the Uinta range among the snow peaks. Each one of these
streams has its smaller branches, which originate from springs -issuing
from the lower foot-hills. Between Black’s Fork and Bear River is the
Muddy Creek, which drains a broad valley, and separates into half a
dozen branches, most of which extend up tothe mainrange. The range
itself consists of a central belt or zone of peaks and ridges, more rugged
and inaccessible than most mountain ranges. This belt varies from five
to fifteen miles in width, and has a eeneral trend about east and west, or
northeast and southwest. Below this zone, the mountains are composed
of step-like terraces or ridges, which are so covered with drift material,
and sustain such a erowth « of : grass and timber, that the basis rocks are
seldom if ever exposed to the eye. Thus we have two kinds of ridges—
the ridges of upheaval, which incline away from the central axis and are
par allel with it, and the ridges of erosion which radiate down into the
plains from the rugged belt ‘before described as forming the crést of the
mountains. Spruce Ridge extends from this central belt with a some-
what irregular outline down into the plains between the drainage of
Black’s Fork and Bear River. All along the sides of this ridge, nearly

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 47

to the summit, thousands of beautiful springs of water gush out, and,
concentrating in some valley, form quite large streams, and really are the
main sources of these rivers. Sometimes “these ridges are only a few
feet in width at the summit, as between the waters ‘of the Muddy and
the east branch of Bear River. Here a little further up the mountain
it expands out to a width of four to six miles, and is covered with
large forests of pine and aspen groves, with meadow-like openin gs,
varying in size from fifty to one thousand acres each. Then again,
to the sources of the main branches near the mountain crest, these
ridges become very narrow, merely separating the waters of the
streams. Upon these ridges are trails or roads, “made by men or wild
animals, which lead one with comparative ease up the rugged mountain
divide. Spruce Ridge is formed of a great thickness of drift conglom-
erate. This consists of quite large masses of purplish and gray sand-
stone, quartzites, and carboniferous limestones with fossils, with now
and then a granitoid or gneissic rock. The boulders are not usually
large, varying in size from a small pebble to two feet in diameter. The
rocks are mostly the purplish sandstone, quartzites, and limestones from
the carboniferous ridges. These rocks are more or less water-worn;
some of them are quite angular, as if they had not been transported far
or rolled in the waters, others are much rounded. They are set in an
arenaceous pudding-stone paste, mostly decomposed feldspar and quartz
of a grayish-white color. The whole mass is not closely cemented and
yields readily to atmospheric agencies. The entire thickness of this
modern deposit, as shown by this ridge, must be very great, from four hun-
dred to eight hundred feet. It, however, varies much in thickness in differ-
sent portions of the range. I have mentioned the different kinds of
rocks in this ridge from the fact that such deposits are almost certain
to contain specimens from all the geological formations which come
within the scope of the agencies which deposited it. I have found by
experience that I can anticipate the existence of nearly all the rocks of
different formations or those of different ages, ina mountain, by examining
the drift materials distributed over the base or foot-hills of the range.
This ridge also presents a marked illustration of the influence of land-
slides in shaping the surface of the sides of this range. These slides
are doubtless caused by the numberless springs which ooze out of the
sides at every point of elevation from the plains to the main divide.
They also give the peculiar, terrace-like, or step-like character to the slopes
which has suggested the name of “ terrace range” for these mountains.
These Steps are usually very gradual and smooth, but in some cases they
give an extreme ruggedness to the surface. The east side of Spruce
Ridge is nearly vertical for two hundred feet or more, and the conglom-
-erate beds project out of the sides in horizontal layers. The east side is
very Steep, but slopes down to the plains without any very abrupt break,
and is covered with grass or forests of aspen or pine; but the west side is
covered, as far as the valley of Bear River, with a series of abrupt steps,
which would appear to be of comparatively modern date or of different
dates within our present period. These landslides, on the west side of
this ridge, extend a width of three to five miles before reaching the east
branch of Bear River; and from the summit of this ridge we had a most
excellent opportunity ‘to study the effects. An immense 1 mass of the drift
conglomerate has slipped off from the ridge and fallen down; the detached
mass opposite the main ridge is the highest, forming a sort of sharp, low
ridge, sloping toward a depressed center ; thus a depression is made for
the accumulation of waters from the drainage of a small area; and thus
others—most of the little lakes that have given such celebrity to these

48 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

mountains—have been formed. Carter’s Lake, amost beautiful little sheet
of water at the head of Smith’s Fork, is formed in that way; it is about
three hundred yards long, and fifty to one hundred wide. These little
accumulations of water occur at all elevations from the foot of the
mountains to the crest; and in looking from the high mountain divide,
down the valleys of Bear River or Black’s Fork, theysappear like gems
set in the landscape as their waters glisten in the sunlight. In many
instances these little lakes are surrounded with tall pines, which east
their shadows across the waters with such sharp outlines that they have
become favorite subjects for the photographer; thus we have the
beautiful pictures of ‘shadow lakes.” I have described this ridge more
in detail from the fact that it supplied me with a key to an important
portion of the history of this curious mountainous range which was
before very obscure.

I think the Uinta Mountains might be divided into three belts or
zones, parallel with the axis: 1. The tertiary beds at the base lap-
ping on the sides of the foot-hills for a short distance; 2. A broad belt,
fifteen to twenty miles in width, covered with a vast deposit of drift, and
so covered with vegetation, and so smoothed down to the water’s edge
of all the streams, that the basis rocks are entirely concealed from view,
and it is only by the accident of a land slide the character or ex-
tent of this modern drift deposite can be ascertained, but inasmuch as
it has given the most prominent surface feature to this range it is worthy
of our careful study. The third belt comprises the central portion, which
is covered with sharp peaks rising eleven thousand to twelve thousand
feet above the sea, varying in width from ten to twenty miles. This is
the most rugged and inaccessible portion of the range, and is composed
of high ridges of upheaval, parallel to the axis of elevation, and the
strata inclining fromit. These three belts will be described in detail as
we proceed from point to point.

Leaving that portion of the ridge that separates the waters of Bear
River and Muddy Creek, we passed along a sharp crest to a broad,
sloping, plateau-like area between Black’s Fork and the east branch
of Bear River. We thus see at a glance that not only the greater part
of the water of the main streams that issue from the mountain origi-
nates in this second or middle belt, but that some of the important
streams are entirely fed from springs that flow out of these grassy or
wooded slopes. In ascending the * plateau slope” above mentioned we
pass around the fountains of half a dozen branches of Muddy River, which
in the plains become quite important trout streams, varying from ‘ten to
thirty feetin width. As we passed up this ridge toward the water divide,
sometimes it would expand out three to five miles in width, with thick
forests of pine or broad, meadow-like openings covered witha thick growth
of grass. ‘Then it would become so narrow that we could look into the
magnificent, gorge-like valleys of the rivers on either side. The surface
is covered thickly with transported rocks, mostly of reddish sandstones
and quartzites of the mountain nucleus. We made our camp in the edge of
the spruce forest, at the upper side of a beautiful grassy meadow of about
one thousand acres in extent, near a fine spring, ten thousand three
hundred and eight feet above tide water. The sky was clear and the
weather mild. We slept on the ground in the open air with a satisfac-
tion which we shall not soon forget. Our animals drank the mountain
water and cropped the sweet, nutritious grass as delighted as ourselves.
We were about ten miles in a direct line from the axis of elevation. The
course of Black’s Fork is nearly north, while the branches of Bear

tiver flow northwest. Our camp was within a few hundred yards of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 49

the west bank of the valley of Black’s Fork, and from the margin we
obtained a most instructive view of the third or central belt. The west
side of the valley of Black’s Fork is very steep, rising from eight hun-
dred to one thousand feet above the channel. Itis cov “ered very thickly
with transported boulders, most of which are but little worn. Here
and there are quite broad terraces, produced by land-slides. On the
opposite side are the high ridges of limestone which have been furrowed
down the sides by atmospheric forces in a somewhat striking manner.
The color and general appearance of the mass across the valley led me
to believe that it was the result of an outburst of igneous rocks, but on
closer examination I found it was an extension “westwar d of Photo-
eaph Ridge from Smith’s Fork, and was composed of limestones of
carboniferous age. About two miles further up the west side of Black’s
Fork we came to an exposure of the red-beds or triassic, the first dis-
play of them I have been able to find in the mountains. They are
shown here from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in thickness,
passing into grey sandstones quartzites and indurated arenaceous
clays; then alternate thin beds of gray limestone and sandstone, and
finally into the massive limestone that forms one of the most conspic-
uous ridges. The inclination of the beds appeared to be 46° northwest,
with a trend northeast and southwest. The red-beds being composed of
yielding sands and clays, are here worn away so that a low, narrow pass
was formed across the ridge between the west branch of Black’s Fork
and the east branch of Bear River, revealing the beds of sandstone and.
gray quartzites, the vertical layers projecting above the general level like
walls, and their height depended upon the power of the rock to resist the
atmosphere. Further up toward the sources of these rivers, where the
strata are finely exposed, we could see clearly that the limestones formed
a ridge of upheaval parallel with the axis of the mountains, and extend -
off far to the southwest across all the branches of Bear River toward.
the Wasatch range.

Among the numerous fossils that occur here in the limestones are
Zaphventis, Productus Prattenianus, &c. Some of the layers of an
aShen-grey, compact limestone were mostly composed of fragments of
remains. ‘The fossils, therefore, fix the age of the limestones that con-
stitute thisridge there, beyondadoubt. The same limestones undoubtedly
extend all over the Utah basin, along the western side of the Uintas,
along the flanks of the Wasatch range and about Salt Lake. Many of
the fossils appear to be identical with those from Salt Lake, described
by Hall in Stansbury’s Report. The succeeding series of rocks I have
not found it so easy to locate in the geological scale. They consist of
dull, purplish sandstones, with a series of thin layers of slate and clay,
gradually passing down into quartzites. The upper beds are nearly
ali sandstones of various degrees of texture; some very fine and com-
pact, others an aggregation of small worn particles of quartz; then a
complete pudding-stone, consistin g of water-worn quartz pebbles set in
a Silicious paste. As we proceeded toward the crest of the mountains,
the sandstones are very clearly shown in the sides of the valleys of both
Black’s Fork and Bear River. As these diminish in importance, the
quartzites increase until the beds of reddish and gray quartzites are very
thick and massive, while the sandstones and slaty clays are thin and
unimportant, until we arrive at the main divide, where the rocks are:
reddish quartzites alone. Between the east branch of Black’s Fork and:
the east branch of Bear River the ridge is not more than one hundred
to five hundred yards in width for a distance of three miles in a straight.
line. In this distance are ten or twelve ridges of upheaval which both

4G

50 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

valleys cut at right angles. Each ridge contains a massive bed of
quartzite, which in some cases rises to a great height, and between the
alternate ridges is a thin series of slates and sandstones, which, yielding
more readily to the atmospherie agents, have been worn away, form-
ing a narrow depression or pass from one valley to the other.

At the head of the streams the rocks that form the divide seem to
have been elevated in a horizontal position, and they exhibit the most
remarkable architectural forms as cones, pyramids, castles, cathedrals,
&c. The strata are clearly shown, and are perfectly horizontal in most
cases, Sometimes inclining slightly to the southwest. Nowhere else in
the West have I ever seen rocks assuming these peculiar forms. The
scenery has an artificial appearance, so uniformly regular is the shape of
some of the pyramids. These rocks most effectually shut off all water
communication between the north and south side of the Uinta range.
The distance from the red-beds or triassic, including the carboniferous
limestones, to the crest of the mountains, I estimated at five miles in a
‘straight line, and the inclination varies from 40° to 75°. In all this
‘series of strata, from the red-beds to the oldest quartzites, I was able to
‘detect no unconformability. The connection of the sandstones with
the carboniferous limestones was perfect, so far as could be ascertained
by the eye, whatever may have been the chasm in time. Not a trace of
-a fossil was found below the limestones, although I strongly suspect the
purplish sandstones to be of Lower Silurian age. The texture of the
‘upper beds of sandstone is so much like the Potsdam sandstones, as
‘may beobserved in other portions of the Rocky Mountain region, I was
lead to suspect that the upper portion might be Lower Silurian. The sec-
‘tion along the valley of Black’s Fork is clear, inasmuch as the rocks are
-cutthrough at right angles to the strata and they all present an unbroken
series from the oldest quartzites exposed to the carboniferous limestones;
‘and close to the oldest quartzites are thin beds of sandstone, apparently
unchanged or only partially so, and resembling in texture and color the
‘upper sandstones, which I am inclined to regard as Silurian. I have
estimated the entire thickness of stratified rocks exposed here at ten
thousand feet. If this is true, about eight thousand feet consist of the
sandstones and quartzites rising to an elevation of over twelve thousand
feet above tide-water.

I am inclined to believe that the upper beds are Silurian, that they
‘pass gradually down without any break in the sequence of time to
‘rocks of Huronian age. The purplish quartzites are almost precisely
like those which occur at the Sioux Falls in Dakota, and at the Pipe-
‘stone quarry, in color and texture, which Professor Hall .regards as
‘Huronian age. At any rate, [have never observed such a series of
‘rocks in any other portion of the West, and am inclined to think they
‘are confined to the Uinta range. The Uinta Mountains are not far
from the Wasatch range, and apparently join on to that range; yet I
‘have passed through the Wasatch range at right angles at different
points, and was able to discover no such series of strata. The precise
-or approximate age of these rocks is a very interesting problem to me,
-and I regret that my time will not permit me to make a more thorough
‘examination of the range. <A careful study of the southern slope, and -
the intermediate country southward into the Uinta basin, might afford
some clue to their age, but I suspect that there are no fossiliferous strata
in the series.

As Thave before stated, two of the main branches of Black’s Fork
‘and Bear River take their rise in the axis of elevation at precisely the
‘same point, run parallel for about five or six miles and then diverge, the

*.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 51

former running north toward Fort Bridger, the latter northwest. Both
have carved out for themselves wonderfully deep and picturesque val-
leys. They can hardly be called gorges or canons from the fact that
the sides are not usually vertical. In some places there are large semi-
circular indentations in the sides of the valley, caused by the sliding
down of masses of earth; and in looking down from the plateau above,
the eye meets with beautiful lakes, surrounded by small groves of pine or as-
pen. In the sides of the valley the strata may be studied with great clear-
ness, usually inclining at a greater or less angle. These valleys are largely
those of erosion, but not entirely so. The waters in former times have
cut through a vast thickness of strata at right angles, but a portion of
the way the valley lies between the ridges of upheaval, which I have
termed monoclinals. Some of the smaller branches start in the mono-
clinal intervals, and flexing around northward cut through the ridge at
right angles to the plains. In one instance a small branch of Black’s
Fork starts between two ridges of carboniferous limestones, wears out a
valley eight hundred feet in depth and an eighth of a mile in width,
flows a little north of east into the main branch, which runs about due
north. Atthe same point commences a small branch of Bear River
between the same two ridges of limestone, and flows a little northof
west into one of the east branches of Bear River, although these two
small branches run in opposite directions. The ridge of separation is
not thirty feet above the principal valleys of Black’s Fork and Bear
River. There is another interesting feature just here which should be
noticed. These small branches, four in number, completely isolate a
large fragment of the limestone ridge. It rises up in the form of a cone
eleven thousand feet above .the sea, and seven hundred and _ fifty
feet above the valley at its base. The inclination of the limestones
is 45° to 50° northwest. .

There are two important thoughts suggested by the study of this
upper belt. First, the amount of debris found by the broken fragments
of the sandstone and quartzites is immense, beyond any instance I have
observed before. Not only the ridges, but also the sides of the deep
valleys, are covered to an unknown thickness with fragments of quartz-
ite, sandstone, and limestone, of all sizes from that of a pea to several
cubical feet. Scattered over the surface of valley and ridges are also
great quantities of the same -rocks in a more or less worn condition, and
the deposit of drift which extends up to the third belt, close to the
erest, and varies in thickness from a few feet to 1,000 or 1,200, is
composed to a great extent of these rocks. Along the northern slope of
the Uinta Mountains, extending into the plains, these worn rocks cover
an area at least one hundred miles in length from east to west and fifty
from north to south. These stray masses are more worn, the further
we recede into the plains northward from the mountains. In the
region of Echo and Weber Creeks is a vast deposit of conglomerate,
probably three thousand to five thousand feet in thickness, the most re-
markable group of rocks of that character I have ever seen on this con-
tinent. The question has often arisen in my mind from whence the
materials were derived. I cannot answer the question even yet, but
the debris of the Uinta Mountains, if transported to some lake basin,
would make a mass of conglomerate of equal thickness and cover
an equal area.

The second thought suggested is the apparently excellent illustration
of the gradual transition from unchanged to changed or metamorphic
rocks. We have athickness of about one thousand feet of carboniferous
limestones unchanged. Passing upward to the crest of the mountains,

.

52 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

but downward in a geological sense, we observe a series of purplish sand-
stones and slates, perfectly conformable to the limestones, and appa-
rently unchanged. These sandstones gradually pass to thick beds of
gray and purplish quartzites, which are exceedingly brittle in fracture,
and plainly metamorphosed by heat. Intercalated among the beds of
quartzite are thin layers of quartzitic sandstone and clay slate. As we
proceed toward the crest of the mountains, where the rocks have been
elevated from a great depth, the slates and sandstones become thinner
until they disappear. I am therefore inclined to regard this as a re-
markable example of the gradual transition of tmaltered into meta-
morphic rocks. It would seem also that the finer the texture of the
rock the more readily is it affected by metamorphic action.

On the morning of the 27th we descended from the high plateau into
the valley of the small side branches of the east fork of Bear River, with
the high, steeply inclined limestone ridge on the left, and the gray sand-
stone, and red argillaceous sandy clays on our left. The surface is so
covered with fragments of rocks that the traveling is difficult. Our
course was nearly due west for about three miles, when the valley flexes to
the northwest. When we left our camp in the morning we were about
two miles above the source of this branch. At our noon camp the little
stream was two feet wide. For about ten or fifteen miles the stream
flows between ridges twelVe hundred to fifteen hundred feet above the
valley, covered with pines and aspens, with no exposures of the under-
lying rocks. The same vast deposit of drift covers the valley and ridges
all over the drainage of Bear River. As soon as we come out into the
plains the valley expards to a width of several miles, and the tertiary
beds jut against the foot-hills with a slight inclination from the range.
Sulphur Creek is the most eastern part of Bear River, and rises in
Spruce Ridge, flows northwest, and empties into Bear River near Bear
River City. On the east side of Sulphur Creek, about two miles north
of the railroad, there is a high ridge of sandstone one hundred to one —
hundred and fifty feet high, with an inclination of 20° to 25° west to
northwest. It extends across the railroad a little east of north, and
joins on to a range of hills, of which Medicine Butte forms a part. On
the summit of this ridge is a layer of rusty brown arenaceous limestone,
composed largely of a species of Ostrea. This ridge is the first indica-
tion of cretaceous rocks I have seen in the vicinity of the Uinta range.

From Sulphur Creek to the ‘rim of the basin,” a series of modern
tertiary beds are deposited unconformably upon the lower tertiary and
cretaceous, filling up all the inequalities of the surface, and jutting up
against the foot-hills of the Uintas. They are mostly horizontal in posi-
tion, but sometimes dip 5°. This most characteristic feature is the
light pinkish hue by which they are detected as far as the eye can reach.

In completing our section of the Uinta range and connecting it with
the formations of the plains, the only period wanting is the Jurassic,
no indication of which has been observed. The geologieal features of
this region will be discussed more fully in a succeeding chapter, in.con-
nection with the belt of country along the line of, and contiguous to, the
Union Pacific Railroad. The study of the Uinta range has been full of
interest. It has been sometimes called the Alpine Mountain of America,
though we miss the vast masses of snow and the glaciers; butin an artistic
sense, no range that I have ever seen on this continent can compare
withit in beauty. There isa far more rugged grandeur about the Wind
River, the Sierra Nevada, or the Coast ranges; but in none of them is
there such simplicity of structure, nor the contrasts so pleasing to the
eye. ’

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. BB:

As have before stated, there seem to be three belts or zones of country
which one passes over in traveling southward from Fort Bridger to the crest
of the Uintas. 1. Themodern tertiary formations which jut up against the
foot-hills, and are so denuded as to present tothe eye an arid, naked appear-
ance. We then passsuddenly tothe second belt, which we ascend by a con-
tinued but almost uninterrupted ascent to an elevation of over eleven
thousand feet. The lower portion of this zone is covered to a greater
or less extent with groves of aspen, mingled with the spruce and pine.
As we ascend the aspens cease and the pines become more dense. Here
and there we find most beautiful meadow-like openings, with springs of
water andaluxuriant growth of grass. Some of these meadows occupy two
thousand aeres. Looking down from some high peak across the belt,
these openings meet the eye continually, and contrast most beautifully
by the tawny color of their autumn dress with the dark, sombre foliage of
the pines: The great luxuriance of the vegetation reveals the fertility
of the soil. The third belt, which forms the crest, contrasts again by the
almost entire absence of vegetation or water and the excessive rug gged-
ness of the surface. In no other portion of our continent have T ever
seen such types of scenery. Cones, pyramids, domes, and cathedrals,
sometimes as sharply cut as if they had been wrought by art, occur at
the sourees of all the streams that rise in the anticlinal fissure.

The height of Gilbert’s Peak, at the head of Henry’s Fork, was ascer-
tained by ‘Mn. Beaman, with the barometer, to be 13,182 feet. Cox’s
Peak, at the head the middle branch of Black’s Fork, rises like an im-
mense dome above the surr ounding country, 13,250 feet ‘above tide-water.
Dawe’s Peak, on the dividing Ttidge between the west branch of
Black’s Fork and the east branch of ‘Bear River, sends its sharp cone-
like summit still higher, 13,300 feet. Logan’s Peak marks the source of
the middle branch of Bear River and is 13,250 feet above tide-water.
All these are covered to a greater or less extent with perpetual snow.
From a higher ridge that extends from the crest on the west side of the
Uinta range there 1 is one peak still loftier than any of those named,
which we estimated to be 13,500 feet.

Nearly all the important streams that flow from either side of the —
range have their origin within a short distance of each other» From
the ‘summit of any of these peaks we can see the sources of them all at
a glance. Looking at this range from the Union Pacific Railroad, or
from Fort Bridger, thirty-five to forty miles distant, there is a very. ereat
difference in the clearness with which the summits can be seen at different
periods of the year and upon different days. Sometimes, as the early
sunlight falls upon them, they appear so near, through the clear atmos- |
phere of this region, that they seem almost within our grasp. Again
they are obscured with clouds or fog and are so faintly visible that they
appear as a dim outline on the horizon.

An interesting feature in connection with this range is the limit of
arborescent vegetation. On the north side of the range we determined
the highest point, where low trailing shrubs grew, to be 10,769 feet,
and estimated 10,500 feet as the limit of upright trees. As we ascend
above this line the pines begin to dwindle until they trail upon the
ground, and exhibit all the symptoms of a desperate struggle for exist-
ence, and finally disappear entirely. As we pass above the borders of
upright trees, the stunted pines gather in groups, sometimes not more
than four to six feet in height, forming the most unique but scragg)
forms. In one instance about twenty of these trees formed a complete
circle, inclosing a clear space of about fifteen feet in diameter; the tops,
leaning toward the center, made a complete shelter. I gave it the some-

54 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

what poetical name of the “Uinta’s Bower.” At the extreme limit the
groups of pines spread out along the ground, and always toward the
east, showing that the winds in “these mountains are mostly from the
vest. The pines and the aspens constituting nearly all the tree vegeta-
tion of the mountains, it becomes an interesting matter to determine
the highest limit of the growth of the latter also. Observations with
the barometer near the sources of the Muddy Creek showed the highest.
limit at one point to be 9,623 feet; at another 9,302. Probably
an average of the two obser vations would be the correct one. There is
considerable variation in the extreme limits, on account of the differ-
ence in position in relation to the sun. A southern exposure is most
favorable, and, in consequence, the limit is extended upward.

I will not close my description of this interesting region without a
word in regard to its future prospects. Judge Carter has introduced a
bill into Congress asking for a charter for the Fort Bridger and Uinta
Mountain Railroad, extending from some point on the Union Pacific
Railroad, up the valley of Smith’s or Black’s Forks, to some point toward
the sources of these streams. He also asks the very moderate grant of
the alternate sections of land for four miles on each side of the road. It
would be hardly possible for Congress to refuse a request which would
be of such inestimable value to this portion of the country. Besides, it
would bring into market eventually at least one hundred thousand acres of
ag erieultural, grazing, and timber land for the Government, which would
otherwise remain undeveloped for an indefinite period of time. In the

valleys of Smith’s and Black’s Forks and their branches are thousands of
acres of very fertile land, which could not fail to be occupied by the
farmer; and all the intervening plateaus, comprising many thousands of
acres of equally fertile soil, could be made fruitful by irrigation. By
means of this railroad the vast quantities of timber and wood that
cover the slope of the mountains would be accessibie. Millions of feet of
timber could be obtained for the Union Pacific Railroad at a trifling cost.
The deficiency of wood for fuel over so great a portion of this country “could
be abundantly supplied from this source. As a summer resort for in-
valids, or those desiring rest from laborious duties, these mountains
cannot be surpassed. Pure, clear, exhilarating atmosphere, ever-flowing
springs of water, streams filled with fine trout, the woods stocked with
all kinds of game, the most beautiful scenery in America, and the most
accessible, offer attractions for all, and I am convinced that the time is
not far distant when this country will be visited by thousands of seek-
ers of health and pleasure. To the artist it would open a new world of
beauty, supplying a variety and abundance of material for landscape
studies which can be found in no other portion of the West.

CHAPTER V.

FROM FORT BRIDGER TO UINTA MOUNTAINS, HENRY’S FORK, GREEN RIVER,
AND BROWN’S HOLE, TO GREEN RIVER STATION ON THE U. P. B. R.

On the morning of October 1st we left the hospitable post of Fort
Bridger for the valley of Henry’s Fork, about twenty-five miles to the
southward. The principal portion of our party had remained near the
fort since September 12, making repairs and recruiting our animals. In
the meantime we had made most interesting explorations of the Uinta
Mountains, the valleys of Smith’s, Black’s, and Bear Rivers, with their

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 55

tributaries. We had obtained a pretty clear idea of the geology of the
north slope of the Uintas and a part of the shore line of the Bridger
_ basin and this gave us an earnest desire to trace it to Green River, to
ascertain its connection with the “Green River beds,” and the lignite or
lower tertiaries. I take great pleasure in acknowledging here my great
obligations to Lieutenant Shepard, the quartermaster of Fort Bridger,
for numerous courtesies and favors which were indispensable to us, and
which, in a country like this, money will not purchase. From Captain
Olift, the commanding officer, and Dr. J. K. Corson, the surgeon of the
post, myself and party were the recipients of many kindnesses. I have
already spoken of my obligations to Judge Carter, to whom I was indebted
for many favors and much valuable information. ‘To him this portion of
the West has been in the past, and will be in the future, more indebted
for its prosperity and development than to all others. I take pleasure
here in adding my testimony to the fidelity and truthfulness of his state-
ments in regard to its resources.

Fort Bridger is quite pleasantly located in what appears to the eye a
sort of basin inclosed by high, arid table lands, but reaily in a central
portion of the drainage of Black’s Fork. These beautiful valleys, Smith’s,
Biack’s, and Muddy, have been carved out the horizontal strata, and be-
tween the streams are terraces and flat table lands which give a singular
as well as instructive outline to the surface of the country. No forces
now in operation in this vicinity could have given the existing features to
the surface of the country, and the cause must have been local, proceed-
ing from the northern slope of the Uintas. The beautiful table-top
divides between the valleys and streams are extensions into the plains of
the radiating ridges of the mountain slope, and are literaily paved, in
many places, with the water-worn boulders of the purplish sandstones and
quartzites, and with the carboniferous limestones that compose the nucieus
of the Uinta range. Here and there we can see a flat-topped butte cut
off by erosion from some of the intervening ridges and rising above the
surrounding country as a partial witness to the extent of the denuda-
tion. A little south of west of Fort Bridger is an isolated butte called
Bridger’s Butte, which forms a prominent landmark to the traveler,
and according to the barometer, rises seven hundred and fifty feet
above the valley of Black’s Fork at the fort. The summit appears per-
fectiy level, and was estimated to be about two miles in length from
north to south, and about a fourth of a mile in width from east to west.
The upper portion of the butte is composed of the somber brown in-
durated arenaceous clays, grey and rusty brown sandstones of the
Bridger group, passing down into limestones and marls of the Green
River beds. In the brown clays are abundant remains of turtles, with a
few fragments of other vertebrate remains. The terraces along the
valley of Black’s Fork are composed of yellowish and whitish-gray marls
and chalky limestones, some of the layers mostly formed of Unios and
other fresh-water shells. A few plants were found in the valley of
Smith’s Fork, in thin, black flinty layers, mostly ferns and leaves of
deciduous trees. Between Fort Bridger and Henry’s Fork the indurated
arenaceous clays of the Bridger group are weathered into remarkably
unique forms. The absence of harder layers of sandstone did not admit of
the weathering into pinnacles, turrets, steeples, domes, &c., as we observe
near Church Buttes. The surface, though very rugged and almost im-
passable except along the valleys of the streams, is much more rounded ;
the hills are more dome or pyramid shaped, and entirely destitute ot
vegetation, except the sage and several varieties of chenopodiaceous
shrubs. As we passed up the Cottonwood Fork the marls and limestones

56 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. B
made their appearance for a short distance in the bluffs. The divide be-
. tween the drainage of Smith’s Fork and Henry’s Fork, is a high ridge of the
leaden-brown clays of the Bridger group, which extends up and juts
against the base of the Uinta Mountains. Passing over this divide we
descended quickly to the valley of Henry’s Fork, and camped near the
point where it issues from the foot-hills of the’ Uinta, Mountains, 29
miles southwest of Fort Bridger. Thisis a beautiful valley, quite broad,
a large portion being meadow, and the surrounding hills, especially on
the south side, cover red with grass, rendering ita favorite place for years
past for procuring hay and grazing stock. Hundreds of tons of hay
have been cut and cured for winter use in this valley the present year.
The time cannot be far distant when it will be occupied by settlers from
its mouth nearly to its source. The view of the Uinta range from our
camp was as beautiful and inviting as from Fort Bridger.

On the morning of the 2d I started up the valley with a small pack-
train. The geology did not differ materially from that of the portions of
the range already described. Up among the foot-hills is an isolated butte
— about three hundred feet high, capped with the brown clays of the Bridger
group passing down into the calcareous layers of what I have termed
Green River beds, containing an abundance of turtle shells, with teeth,
jaws, and vertebra of some extinctmammal. These chalky limestones are
also filled with large Planorbis in a perfect state of preservation. These’
beds along the flanks of the mountains have been slightly elevated or
carried up in the later stages of the elevation of the range. They
usually incline about 3° to 50. The radiating ridge on the north side of
the valley is covered with land-slides, which show a heavy deposit of
reddish clays with narrow whitish bands, evidently a modern deposit,
pliocene or quarternary overlapping the well-defined tertiary beds.
These extend up a few miles and are again overlapped with the drift
deposit described in the preceding chapters; the same dense groves of
pines and aspens, the same open meadows, deep ravines, fallen timber, and
great quantities of rocks on the surface occur, rendering traveling exceed-
ingly diffieult, which we have before noted. ‘We passed the ridge of lime-
stone into the belt of sandstone, with the lofty piles of debris, ‘eradually
ascending to the banks of perpetual snow, where the pines dwindle down
and trail upon the ground. We rode our horses up to a point above the
limits of arborescent vegetation, toward them, to a point 12,265 feet above
the sea, and ascended to the summit of Gilbert’s Peak.

We camped the night of the 3d in a beautiful open meadow, at the
sources of one of the branches of Henry’s Fork, 9,833 feet. The lime-
stone or continuation of Photograph Ridge was 9,986 feet, while the
valley between the carboniferous limestone? ridge ae the inner purplish
sandstone ridge was found to be 9,453 feet. We found tat the extreme
limit of tree vegetation was higher here than farther west, 11,106 feet;
and the point where the upright trees break off rather abruptly was
about two hundred feet Tower As a general rule the trees dwindle m
height to about twenty or thirty feet and then fall off abruptly to the
trailing form, which usua Ts extends up two hundred or three hundred
feet higher in straggling bunches or groups. From the summit of Gil-
bert’s Peak with my excellent field-glass I could look far over the surround-
ing country and study the pr incipal ¢ geological and geographical features
in their relations to each other. There are three main branches. of
Henry’s Fork that rise in the axis of the range. The east branch has
its souree at the base of Gilbert’s Peak on the northeast side and flows
nearly nerth for ten or fifteen miles. The middle branch rises on the
south side of the peak, flows west for a short distance, and bends around

7

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. AF

to the north. The west branch rises in the axis, runs parallel with the
middle branch, with a sharp narrow ridge between them. All the
branches of all the streams that flow down the Uinta Mountains from tlre
quartzite belt cut the carboniferous limestone ridge at right angles ou
their way to the plains. At the southeast base rises one of the main
branches of the Uinta River, runs east for about three miles, flexes sout
ward or a little west of south, and flows down the southern slope of the
range into the main Uinta. On the south side of this branch there is a

rather shar p ridge, with six or seven conical points rising one hundred
to two hundred feet higher than Gilbert’s Peak, and culminating in a
rounded, dome-like peal, which I estimated to be 13,500 feet. All the

valleys of the streams that rise around this peak are more purely valleys
of erosion than any I have seen in thisrange. The strata of Gilbert's
Peak and the. ridges and peaks in the immediate vicinity are nearly
horizontal or incline southeast 4° or 5°. The principal peaks belong to
the southeastern side of the axis. The two sides of the anticlinal are
somewhat unequal. A narrow belt, comprising the highest peaks and
ridges, with the curves, pyramids, and cones, seems to have been lifted
up by forces acting nearly vertical, but the strata incline slightly to the
southeast side, so that the streams that flow down the north slo pe of the
range really extend their valleysa litile past the anticlinal opening. Atthe
sources of Smith’s, Black’s, and Bear Rivers the strata incline from the
northwest side of ‘this axis at a considerable angle. Here they incline
slightly for about five miles, when they dip 20° to 30°. I have no doubt
that these streams originated in this anticlinal opening, gradually cutting
their channels through the beds of quartzite and sandstone at right angles.
The quartzites as well as the sandstones are divided quite finely by
joints, so that they break readily into cubical masses of moderate size.
Besides they are very brittle, fracturing easily, as is shown by the vast
amount of debris. Probably water accumulating in these fissures or joints

would cause the debris to fall down into the anticlinal valley and be
swept down the channels of the streams of the northern slope. This
process of wearing away the horizontal quartzites from the northwest
side of the southeast anticlinal has continued until some of the gorges
extend up half a mile to a mile beyond the axis. In the beds ‘of the
branches of Henry’s Fork the descent is by steps from one layer of quartz-
ite to another down to the axis, like the horizontal layers of rock which
form the rapids in many of our streams. At the present time there is
seldom any greatamount of water, in some cases none, above this axis;
sometimes there is a little lake, the accumulated waters of the melting
SOWS.

From this high elevation, with such a vast area of country within our
range of vision, one could glance back into the abyss of time, and trace,
step by step, the origin and slow erosion of these wonderful, gorge-like
valleys, one thousand to twelve hundred feet deep, and speculate upon
the beginning and growth of this beautiful mountain itself. The study
of the northern slope of the Uintas has been such a source of pleasure
and instruction, that I regretted my time would not permit me to ex-
amine the southern side also, but a glance over into the the Uinta Val-
ley showed quite plainly that the southern side is nearly or quite the
counterpart of the other. In all these valleys are numerous small lakes,
which add greatly to their picturesque beauty. At the base of Gilbert's
Peak, in the valley of the east branch of Henry’s Fork, is one of the
most beautiful of these lakes, which reflects the peak and ‘the surround-
ing pines in its tr ansparent waters. Mr. Jackson succeeded in catching
a view of the peak and the lake, with the shadows, with his camera.

58 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

On account of its exceeding beauty and poetic surroundings, I have
called itLake “Annie.” The barometer makes its elevation just 11,000
féet. This shows that the summit of the Peak is twenty-one hun-
dred feet above the base at the head of this valley. We descended
with great difficulty a sort of ravine on the steep sides of this valley to
the bottoms, and followed the little stream from its source at the base
of the peak to its junction with the main fork in the plains. As Ihave
stated above, the strata of the peak are nearly horizontal, and for sey-
eral miles down the valley the sides are six hundred to eight hundred
feet high and nearly vertical, with the strata inclining at a very small
angle. The bottom of the valley is full of the evidences of huge slides.
Immense masses of rock seem to fall down gradually, something like
the movement of a glacier, a certain distance each year, until they reach
the channel of the stream, and the debris is swept down by the spring
floods. Large semicircular notches in the sides or walls of the valley
show most plainly how it has been enlarged in process of time. We
passed on our way down the valley through a dense growth of pines
and aspens, over boulders and among fallen timber, for about ten miles,
when we passed through the gorge of Photograph Ridge, and came
out into the wide, grassy, open foot-hills which led to our camp in the
main valley of Henry’s Fork, in the plains.

October 4.—We started down the valley of Henry’s Fork to its june-
tion with Green River. Ihave previously mentioned the ridge or divide
between Smith’s and Henry’s Forks, which carries the tertiary beds up
against the foot-hills of the range. From this ridge to Green River the
valley of Henry’s Fork forms a remarkable line of separation between
the Bridger group and the lower miocene beds. This line of separation ~
is somewhat of a surface one, yet it is so marked as to attract the atten-
tion of the commonest observer. The valley is quite broad, and on the
south side the surface of the country to the summits of the mountains
appear smoothed downward, in part grassed over. <A close examina-
tion will detect some thin remnants of ‘the Bridger group, underiaid by
the lower tertiary beds, which have a tendency to weather into rounded,
gently-sloping hills. On the north side, the arid, rugged, “bad lands”
are very conspicuous, and rise up somewhat abruptly like a high wall.
On the north side of the creek, thereis a greatthickness of the indurated
clays which I have inctuded in the Bridger group. All the divisions
that I make are somewhat arbitrary. I can find no well-defined line of
demarkation., There seems to be no unconformability, and the dif-
ferent beds pass from one to the other gradually; but to the leaden-gray, °
sombre, indurated arenaceous clays which cover a large area east of
Fort Bridger and weather into such unique architectual forms, and con-
tain a large variety of vertebrate remains, I have given the provisional
name of the “ Bridger group.” These beds I shall also regard as upper
miocene, and the calcareous layers which underlie the Bridger group
are so well displayed lower down on Henry’s Fork that I regard them
as a portion of the Green River group and lower miocene. Below all
these beds, is an.immense thickness of sandstone and clays, which I
group together as eocene, extending down to the cretaceous clays.
Interealated with the clays of the Bridger group are beds of rusty-brown
and gray sandstones, all tending to a ‘concretionary structure, and dis-
integrating by exfoliation in thin concentric layers. Sometimes there
are beds of sandstone which form an aggregate of concretions. In the
whole mass, arenaceous materials predominate. As we descend, the eal-
careous sediments prevail, until chalky limestones and marl are greatly
in excess. The lower miocene beds are also of a lighter color. By the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 59

barometer the highest point on the north side of the creek is 8,583 feet.
Our camp at the base near the creek is 7,615 feet, so that we have a ver-
tical thickness of the tertiary beds of over one thousand feet. On the
summit of the hillis a large accumulation of drift material, cemented with
a calcareous cement into a coarse conglomerate. It is composed mostly of
the sandstones, quartzites, and carboniferous limestones from the Uinta
Mountains. These conglomerates are two hundred to two hundred and
fifty feet in thickness, and are weathered into columns, sharp-pointed
peaks, domes, &c., much like the conglomerates in Echo Cajon.

The summit of this high wall is a sort of table land covered with a
deposit of fine reddish sand, plainly derived by erosion from the sand-
stones and quartzites of the Uintas. The surtace is covered with grass,
and slopes gently northward for several miles. From this high point I
could comprehend to some extent the tremendous erosive forces that
had been in operation here at a comparatively modern date. All the
tertiary beds probably once extended uninterruptedly across the val-
ley of Henry’s Fork and jutted up against the sides of the Uinta range,
and this immense deposit of conglomerate which caps the summit
passed across and connected with the drift materials high up on the
radiating ridges. It is an interesting fact that if we make a careful
examination of the country we shall always find some remnants of the
formations that may have existed, however great the erosion may have
been. They seem to be left as monuments to aid us in reconstructing
the surface as it really existed at different periods of the past; and this
fact adds much to the charm of the study of the geology of the West.
There is a slight inclination of the beds, which shows that they partook
somewhat of the later movements of the mountains. As we descend,
following the stream, we pass below the leaden-gray indurated clays of
the Bridger group into a series of lighter-colored marls, with layers of
laminated chalky limestone. These marls and limestones are somewhat
arenaceous at first, but the sand diminishes and the lime inereases in
the descent. All the beds assume a lighter and more cheerful color,
although there is some variety from rusty yellow to white. Henry’s
Fork flows about fifteen miles from its source nearly north, when it
bends around a little north of east for about forty-five miles to its en-
trance into Green River. Most of the way it passes through a narrow
valley about one-quarter of a mile wide, with abrupt, wall-like terraces
on either side. These vary from eighty to one hundred and fifty feet
in height. The bottom itself is quite pretty, covered with a thick
- growth of grass and large bitter cottonwoods. The grass in some places
is Six feet high and very thick. Hundreds of tons of hay are procured
from this valley every season, and it is a favorite resort for herds of
cattle and sheep in the autumn and winter. The soil is as rich as any
in the West, being formed of the sands and clays of the Bridger group,
with the calcareous materials of the Green River beds, as well as con-
tributions from the limestones and quartzites of the Uintas. The mix-
ture seems to be suitable for the production of a luxuriant vegetation
under favorable circumstances.

At our camp, October 4th, the lower miocene beds rise up on the north
side of the creek to a height of four hundred to five hundred feet. Near
tne base are layers of thinly-laminated slate, limestone, and some beds
or cherty limestones with plants. There are also several thin seams of
earthy lignite. There are several thin layers, especially near the lignite
seams, which vary from an inch to six inches in thickness, composed
mostly of small fresh-water shells, Melanias and Unios. These layers of
Shells continue nearly to the mouth of Henry’s Fork, and masses of them

.

/
60 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

are found in every ravine and creek. No experience of my own among
fresh-water Shells of the present day has revealed them in such marvel-
ous profusion as they must have existed in or near this great lake in
tertiary times. Intercalated in the marly layers are thin seams of fibrous
calcite and selenite; some of the seams of calcite are three inches thick.
Three principal features appear in the rocks as we descend the creek:
1. A large increase of lime; 2. Silica in the form of black chert or flint;
3. The appearance of impure lignite. There are also petrified wood,
masses of stems of plants aggregated together, yet the beds are all
purely fresh-water. The style of weathering of the upper and lower
miocene is well contrasted by the character of the surface. The surface
eccupied by both formations is equally arid and barren, but that of the
former is very rugged, forming what is usually termed “‘bad lands,” while
that of the latter is more rounded and far less rugged. At the junction
of Henry’s Fork with Green River the geological structure is very com-
plicated and presents one of the most interesting studies I have met
with on the trip. At first glance the formations seem to have been
thrown into utter chaos, but a careful examination shows the system of
formations to be more complete and consecutive than in any other per-
tion of the West. The ridges of upheaval extend from the Uinta Range
aeross Green River, and seem to have almost entirely escaped erosion,
so that they are left for our examination nearly as they were thrown up
by the internal forces that elevated the Uinta Mountains.

All along the northern slope of the Uintas, from Bear River to Hen-

ry’s Fork, I have sought for the absent members of the geological

series, and noted the evidences of erosions which are displayed on such
a stupendous scale. Not only are several members of the geological
series swept away, but also the surface is covered with an enor-
mous deposit of drift. But not until we come to Green River can we
realize the vast extent of the erosion along the northern slope of the
Uintas. ;

About eight miles above the meuth of Henry’s Fork the caleareous
layers gradually disappear or cap the summits of the hills, and
beds with a predominance of arenaceous sediments come in. Beds of
massive yellow and gray sandstones rise above the water level as we
descend, until they reach a great thickness, three hundred to five hun-
dred feet. About four miles before reaching the mouth of the creek
the valley expands out on either side. On the north side the upper
portion of the bluff is a massive sandstone with a reddish tinge, inclin-
ing at an angle of 5° to 10°, while at the base the layers seem to have
been pushed up abruptly, as if there was some degree of discordancy.
The same beds that dip at a small angle on the north side of the stream
incline 50° to 70° on the south side and extend southwest toward the foot
of the Uintas. Then comes an open area of about four miles, occupied by
rather soft beds of yellow and steel-gray indurated clays, which I have
regarded as of cretaceous age, although I did not discover a fossil in
them. On the south side of Henry’s Fork, at its junction with Green
River, is a remarkable exhibition of the ridges or hog-backs, which rise,
ridge by ridge, to the distant summits of the quartzite nucleus of the
Uintas. The formations at first sight seem to have been lifted up in
such a chaotic manner that [ could not unravel any system for some time.

We followed the channel of Green River down among the cations, with
the walls on each side rising twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet,
but only triassic and carboniferous rocks were seen. At last we found a

deep dry gorge which had been worn through the ridges, on the west-

side of Green River, at right angles, thus exposing all the beds in their

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 61

order ‘of sequence, from the triassic to the cretaceous inclusive. In study-

ing the section from the north side, commencing with the open area,
which we supposed to be occupied with upper eretaceous clays, the first
ridge is a yellowish-gray sandstone, ee 30° west-northwest.

2. A series of steel. gray slaty shales, (No. 2 eretaceous section.) The
usual scales and other remains of fishes are abundant, fixing this bed
as positively lower cretaceous—one hundred and fifty feet in thickness.

3. The yellow-gray and gray sandstones of the lower cretaceous, (No.
1,) inclining 35°, two hundred feet.

4, A series of ‘layers of remarkably variegated clays, with one of the
layers of rusty S sandstone.

5. A bed of fine gray sandstone, weathering brown, four feet, passing
into clay, with a slight reddish tinge, inclining 30°. In these beds are
some thin layers of “siliceous limestone, mostly made up of a species of
ribbed Terebratula, undoubtedly Jurassic, eighty feet.

6. Then comes about one hundred and fifty feet of alternate layers of
fine gray sandstone and yellow gray arenaceous clay, dipping 50°.
Jurassic fossils abundant.

7. A singular-looking series of variegating clays, about fifty feet
thick, varymg from a chalky white gray, ashen gray, light red, deep
red, purple, in alternate bands; the colors giving a picturesque ‘effect
to the eye. They weather into curious rounded ridges, inclining 65°.

. A thick bed, two hundred feet; grayish sandstone, weatheri ng
brown, inclining 40°,

9. A grassy ‘interval, composed of soft beds, somewhat variegated,
with thin layers of limestone, with Terebratula, Ostrea, and other Jurassic
fossils. There is a considerable increase of lime in these beds. Just
over these marls is a thick bed of somewhat laminated limestone, with
fossils—fifty feet thick—dipping 26°. Above the limestone is another
series of sandstones, marls, and clays, fifty feet thick, with thin layers
of limestone, made up of Jurassic fossils. Then comes a series of sand-
Stones, massive; a portion of them weathering with a reddish hue,
forming a ridge, ‘which rises one thousand feet above the channel of
Henry’s Fork, inclining 26°. Above this sandstone is a thin series,
fifty feet, of alternate layers of sandstone, limestone, and argillaceous
marls, with Zerebratula, Ostrea, and other Jurassic fossils. This l regard
as the upper line of the Jurassic beds.

10. The gray sandstone, weathering yellow, which form the upper
portion of the triassic ridges, is very thick and massive. It is exposed
here so as to be studied to the best advantage. I have never seen
finer illustrations of oblique layers of deposition. The sandstone shows
a vertical slice through it, one hundred feet or more, where all the irregu-
larities are as perfect as possible. On the opposite side of the gorge
the sandstone has an interesting cave in the side, at least fifty feet in
every direction, and showing equally as clear the conditions of the depo-
sition of the sediments. The cave is full of holes and crevices, which give
shelter to multitudes of bats and other animals. Masses of their excre-
ment project from the crevices, and sometimes run down the walls of the
cave. In many instances this black excrement of bats has been mistaken —
for indications of petroleum. This cave has also been a favorite resort
for Indians, as is shown by the fires, the walls of stone laid up for de-
fense, the chipped flints and arrow-heads scattered about, and the rude
images marked upon the walls. The sides of the ridge are very rugged
and | picturesque, weathered into a varicty of architectural forms. The
texture of the sandstone is quite soft, yielding readily to the atmos-
phere, and the valley is filled with loose sand. ‘This ridge forms the di-

62 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

viding line between the triassic and carboniferous beds. It rises to the
height of one thousand three hundred feet above the bed of Green
River, which runs along its western base. Below the sandstones, well
shown in the Green River cafion, is a considerable thickness of the
brick-red arenaceous clays which I have so often described in former
reports as characteristic of the triassic period in other portions of the
West. These red beds pass down into a series of rather variegated aren-
aceous clays, with thin beds of sandstone and one or two beds of bluish
siliceous limestone. The river sometimes flows for a short distance be-
tween the ridges, inclining in the same direction, or, as I have termed it,

a monoclinal rift; then it cuts its way directly through a ridge, forming
& harrow channel, with high vertical walls on either ‘side ; then making
a flexure and taking a monoclinal valley again. I do not see that the
waters made any difference in their course, “whether they flow through a
valley originally prepared for them or cut their way through ridges at
right angles. The next ridge to the southwest of the triassic one is
composed of limestones and calcareous sandstones of carboniferous age.
These rocks in the aggregate really form but one of the ridges of up-
heaval, yet it is separated into numerous fragments, but without any dis-
tinct and continuous valley of separation, as between it and the triassic
ridges. Then comes a series of ridges, of purplish sandstone and quartz-
ites, reaching to the snow-covered axis of the range. The southwest ab-

rupt face of ‘the triassic ridges, at the entrance of Green River into the
caiion, exhibits a remarkable example of the flexures of the layers, all
the triassic and Jurassic beds forming a bow orarch. Pictorial sections
were made of all the ridges, their surface, forms, inclination, and any
local peculiarities. These are intended to be engraved for the final
reports, and then my descriptions of this most interesting geological
region will become more clear. From the summit of the triassic ridge,
one thousand three hundred feet above the valley of Henry’s Fork, we were
able to gather within the limits of our vision a most interesting group
of geological facts. This ridge is very tortuous in its outline, but its true
trend is about southwest and northeast, parallel with the axis of the Uinta
range. Theangle or dip varies in different localities, but it is usually 20°
to 30°. Taken at different points the strike of this ridge varies from east
to west by way of north. At the junction of Henry’s Fork with Green
River the latter stream flows nearly east, yet if passes through this
nearly at right angles. From the summit one can pass the eye over the
upturned edges of an almost endless series of ridges across a rugged
and picturesque surface. Far to the south the main range of the Uin-
tas cuts off the view, while in the interval the ridges of sandstone and
quartzite, with the usual thick growth of pines, rise like steps to the
axis. Between the sandstones and the triassic ridge we look across
the steep, jagged ridges of carboniferous limestones, inclining at various
angles from 10° to 259°.

Not unfrequently, along the sides of the river where the channel passes
through the ridges at right angles, the strata reveal very graceful curves
or arches, as they pass “down beneath the more recent beds. Looking
west we can see how these ridges connect with the Uinta Mountains,
and that without doubt all the northern slope of the range from Bear
River was once as rugged and bristled with as sharp ridges as this portion
on Green River.

We thus have some standard by which to estimate the extent of the
erosion that must have occurred. The eye can run along the sandstone
and quartzite ridges, and connect them without interruption far west
toward the Wasatechrange. The ridge of carboniferous limestone which

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 63

erosses Green River to the southeast, though interrupted from time to
time by portions swept away, is plainly a portionof what we have called
Photograph Ridge all along the northern slope of the Uintas. The dif-
ference in the texture of the carboniferous rocks on Green River, and
those forming the high ridges on Black’s Fork and Bear. River, indicates
that the latter were partially changed by heat. The lofty triassic ridge
facing Green River, from which we take this extended view, reaches off
to the south of west, about fifteen miles, in full size, when it is breken
into fragments and disappears on the surface. In descending the valley
of Henry’s Fork, we noticed a high fragment of a ridge to the south,
rising about two thousand feet above the bed of the creek, which seems
to have been cut off from the north side of Photograph Ridge, but is
now so covered with drift that no sign of the basis rocks can be
detected. The upper portion is covered with a belt of dense pines, and
the remainder is smoothed down and covered with a good growth of
grass. It isa beautiful ridge to the eye, without a sharp or angular
point. I have no doubt that its nucleus is triassic. It is about fif-
teen miles in length, and breaks off quite abruptly, when the well-
defined triassie ridge commences and continues in a somewhat tor-
tuous line across Green River near the mouth of Henry’s Fork. The
only other indications of this ridge are the rather faint traces of it on
Black’s Fork and Bear River. The Jurassic and cretaceous ridges
extend westward only five to ten miles, and disappear, not to be
seen again until we reach Bear River and beyond. Intermediate be-
tween the lower cretaceous ridges and the lower tertiary beds is a
broad, open, valley-like space, three to five miles wide, which is occupied
by yellow and brown indurated clays. This valley-like space extends
from the base of the Uinta Mountains, across Henry’s Fork near its
mouth, and over Green River in a southwest and northeast direction.

It would appear to have been a valley of denudation from forces hav-
ing their origin in the Uintas. In this interval are numerous fragments
of ridges which must have been once continuous, and which are now
left to show the vast amount of rocky material which has been swept
away. Over the surface is a considerable thickness of drift, composed
of the well-worn boulders of sandstones, quartzites, and limestones
which undoubtedly came from the Uintas. Still farther to the west, are
the full series of miocene and tertiary beds, not less than three thousand
to five thousand feet in thickness, extending to Fort Bridger and beyond.

If we were to extend this tremendous development of the geological
formations from the quartzites to the tertiaries, as shown at Green River,
where they appear to have suffered comparatively little erosion, all along
the northern slope of the Uintas, far west to the Wasatch range, we
should be doubtless reconstructing the former conditions of the surface ;
and we may thus form a dim conception of the tremendous erosive forces
which have operated in this region. We may thus account for the vast
thickness of drift and immense quantities of stray boulders which are
scattered over the sides and foot-hills of the mountains far out into the
plains. The further these worn rocks are found from the mountains, the
smaller and more rounded they are, at once revealing the source from
whence they came.

On the morning of October 8 we left our camp at the mouth of Henry’s
Fork taking a small pack-train for a three days’ trip down the Green
River to Brown’s Hole. Crossing Green River we followed an Indian
trail, which led us over the high ridge that forms the northern
wall of the broad valley or hole at the junction of Henry’s Fork with
Green River. The general course of the ridge for the first thirty miles

64 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

is about east to the lower end of Brown’s Hole, where it seems to bend off
south of east. After crossing this high triassic ridge our course was neary
east, parallel with the river on the north side, thus passing diagonally
across the different formations. We soon have on our left hand a frag-
ment of the purplish sandstone, and outside of that a high ridge of
carboniferous limestones, rising six hundred feet, and inclining 459,
with a trend about southwest and northeast. On our right were the
ridges of the purplish sandstones and quartzites, rising step by step to
the axis of the mountains, where the strata appear nearly horizontal, as
at the source of Henry’s Fork. Stunted cedars are quite thick upon
the mountain sides, and for the first time this season we met with the
“Pinon,” (Pinus edulis,) or nut-pine, so common in New Mexico. The
trail was a rugged one, leading over broken rocks, and up and down
precipitous hills.

Browws Hole is an expansion of the valley of Green River, and is
about five miles wide and thirty in length. Just before reaching the main
valley there is a small expansion called Little Brown’s Hole. These are
names given to these localities by the old trappers, forty years ago or
more. Far north, in the mountains at the sources of the Columbia, are
beautiful valleys of a similar character, called Pierre’s Hole, Jackson’s
Hole, &¢c. These were all favorite wintering places for the trappers.
But little snow fall in them, and they are so surrounded by high moun-
tains that the bleak winds of winter can not reach them. Brown’s Hole
has been a favorite locality for wintering stock for many years, and the
day we visited it, twenty-two hundred head of Texas cattle were driven
into it from the east, to remain during the winter, and destined for the
California market in thespring. Itis covered with wild sage and cheno-
podiaceous shrubs, with scattered bunch-grass. A small number of
cattle or horses could find abundant food for winter, but so large a
number as were in it at the time we visited it must consume all the
grass in a few weeks. : The strata of red quartzite are distinctly shown
on each side of the valley. It would appear that there had been
originally a sort of monoclinal opening, the beds on the north side dip-
ping northwest 20° to 30°. They present their upturned edges, there-
fore, to the valley, and here and there beds of gneiss and white quartz
have been thrust up, sometimes to a great height, so that the sides of
the mountains have a somewhat variegated appearance. At first glance
I supposed some of the modern tertiary beds had been lifted high on -
the sides. On the south side of the valley the quartzites dip gently
down to the eastern end of the wall, and apparently pass under the modern
tertiary beds. In the process of erosion the waters have cut diagonally
across the sides of the quartzite beds, so that they appear somewhat like
the opposite side of the anticlinal; but I am convinced that it is an
inner ridge, inclining originally in the same direction, and extended over
a portion of the south side of the valley.

The gorge from which the Green River issues, near the mouth of Ver-
million Creek, is very beautiful. The waters have cut a channel directly
through the rocks, showing the layers.most perfectly on each side, in-
clining at a moderate angle. Mr. Jackson was very fortunate in securing
an excellent photograph of this cation, which will express its geological
characters perfectly. In this valley there is an extensive modern de-
posit, which I suppose to be of pliocene age. It is composed of beds of
fine sand or very friable sandstone, light gray, yellowish gray, with
brown sandstone in thin laminew, &e. The whole deposit seems to be
sand, with some mixture of clay, and weathering in the usual style of
these deposits into rounded hills with deeply and regularly-farrowed

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. _ 65

sides or ‘bad lands,” as the surface is usually called. On the summit is
@ thick bed of conglomerate, composed of the rocks of the mountains,
purplish sandstones, quartzites, carboniferous limestones, and quartz.
Toward the upper end of the valley this drift conglomerate is one hun-
dred and fifty to two hundred feet thick, and becomes thinner as we
descend.

Along the north side of the valley this drift deposit is quite thick all
the way down, but it is scarcely seen in the immediate vicinity of the
river. The tertiary beds jut up against the sides of the mountains,
slightly elevated and inclining 3° to 5°. They were borne up to some
extent during the later movements of the internal forces that elevated
the mountains. f :

On the south side there are remnants of the tertiary beds, apparently
perfectly horizontal. I have estimated these modern tertiary deposits
to be six hundred to eight hundred feet in thickness. It is probable
that Brown’s Hole formed a sort of “bay,” into which the waters of the
tertiary lake to the west and southwest set up. These modern deposits
are not uncommon among the mountain valleys. The Arkansas marls,
in the valley of the Arkansas, similar deposits in the Middle Park, in
the mountain valleys at the source of the Missouri, in Salt Lake basin,
&e., are all, doubtless, of similar character and origin.

At one point on the north side of the valley, close to the base of the
mountains, these beds are weathered into unusually beautiful architec-
tural forms, like the ruins of pyramids, &c. They: are usually smoothed
off on the upper surface into table lands, but this one locality will strike
the eye of the traveler at once as a style of weathering of unusual
beauty and regularity. There is but little timber along the immediate
valley of Green River—only a few bitter cottonwoods and willows; but
on the hills there is a thick growth of the low pinon and cedars. In the
mountains above, as well as in the valley, there is a universal growth of
the sage, (Artemisia tridentata,) greasewood, (Sarcobatus vermicularis, )
and Linosyris. The sage grows to the height of eight and ten feet, and is
sometimes six inches in diameter. There were some remarkabée clumps
of the Rhus trilobata, ten to twelve feet high, growing over the Green
River bottoms.

On our return we passed out of Brown’s Hole by way of the Henry’s
Fork road, as it is called in this country, which led us up the canon of
Red Creek. Here we have the largest display of whitish quartz that I
haveever seen in the West. The sides of the cafion rise up eight hundred
feet or more, massive quartz. At the entrance, one side of the cafon
presents the appearance of a cathedral. This style of weathering, for
quartz, is unique. There is here an outburst of old trap, and some
beds of gneiss. There are also layers of true mica schists. The incli-
nation is 60° to 75° northwest. The first quartz, gneiss, and trap that
I have seen in connection with the Uinta Mountains oecur at Brown’s
Hole, in this portion of the range. The Red Creek seems to wind its
very tortuous way among the monoclinal rifts for about five miles, where
the mountains cease abruptly.

As we pass up the Red Cafion the sides rise to the height of eight
hundred to one thousand feet, composed of white quartz, with a remark-
able number of intrusions of trap. The igneous matter has protruded
itself into every opening or fissure, in every possible direction, some-
times between the strata and sometimes across them, in thin layers or
in huge, branching masses. Most of the way for a distance of five miles
these high, nearly vertical sides were spotted with the black trap, con-
trasting with the white quartz. Nowhere else have I ever seen such

5G : >

66 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

clear, well-marked exhibitions of the trap protrusions, and they deserved
a much longer study than I could give them. I believe that this igne-
ous material was protruded among “the quartz beds prior to their - up-
heaval. At the entrance of Red “Cation Creek from Brown’s Hole the

elevation is 5,897 feet, and very nearly the highest point of the range was |

8,073 feet, and the bottom of Green River, about ten miles below, was
5, 175 feet's so that by these elevations we may estimate approximately
the heights of these mountains above the surrounding country.

AS we emerged from the Red Creek Cafion, we came out into a sort
of semicireular area, occupied by yellow-brown clays, the same as those
occurring in a similar locality at the mouth of Henry’s Fork. The north-
east side of this quartz range is very abrupt, and no rocks appear to be
exposed between the quartz rocks aad the erétaceous. Red Creek runs
through the widest portion of this semicircular area, about two miles on
the south side. The ridges of cretaceous and tertiary soon close up
against the sides of the mountains, and about four miles up a litle
branch of Red Creek, which flows parallel with the range between the
ridges, the same beds jut up against the range in the same manner. The
southeast wall of this semicircle is formed by a massive bed of tertiary
(lower) sandstones, one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet thiek,
south of the Red Creek, dipping about 10°. The soft clays are shown
under the sandstones for thirty to fifty feet in thickness.

As far as the eye could reach from the summit of the highest moun-
tains these ridges of tertiary extend off ridge after ridge, each one
inclining at a moderate angle, and having an open valley or space
between, which seems to be composed of soft beds. We have, therefore,
the cretaceous clays occupying the first open semicircular space; this is
walled in by a ridge of lower tertiary sandstone one hundred aud fifty

to two hundred feet, inclining northeast 10° to 15°; then an interval of

a quarter of a mile, which is occupied by variegated clays, with thin
layers of soft sandstone. The whole weathers smoothly and is covered
with grass. The next ridge is composed of sandstones, pudding-stones,

and conglomerates, rising two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet,

inclining 10°. The rocks of this ridge have a reddish tinge and remind
one of the conglomerates and sandstones of Echo Catton.
I find it difficult to account for this tremendous development of quartz

with gneiss at the eastern end of the Uinta range. The white quartz .

beds rise abruptly from beneath the red quartzites, occupying a belt five
to nine miles in width, and end as abruptly as they commence. I do
not know why they should appear at this locality, when further to the
west, at the sources of Black’s Fork and Bear River, where the rocks
rise to an elevation of over 13,000 feet, no trace of them can be seen.
Here the red quartzites and the ‘white quartz beds seem to conform, and
on the side fronting Brown’s Hole the red quartzites present an enorm-
ous thickness. On the summit, toward the outer portion of the white
quartz belt, there is only a thin remnant remaining. I could not spare
the time to study this portion of the range to my satisfaction, but Iam
inclined to believe that the immense thickness of quartz was thrust up
beneath the red quartzites, carrying the latter so high up that they
have been swept away by erosion, except the remnant now remaining.
When we passed over the high ridges on our way to Brown’s Hole
from Henry’s Fork we spoke of a high carboniferous limestone ridge on
our left or north side. ‘This extends down the river about five miles
and juts up against the quartz ridges and disappears. Below this
point there is a space of ten miles or more, where all the formations from
the cretaceous to the Guantaites, inclusive, seem to have been swept

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 67

away, and as I have previously stated, the eretaceous clays jut up
against the sides of the quartz ridges. The geology of this portion
of the Uinta range is very complicated and intere sting. To have solved
the problem to my entire satisfaction would have required a week or
two. To understand the whole structure clearly my examinations
should have been extended to Bear River and beyond. J have no doubt
that after a little interval these quartz ridges connect with the range
of mountains south of the Vermillion Creek.

Green River cutsa channel through the eastern end of the Uinta Moun-
ee diagonally. At the upper end the unchanged rocks only lie on the

east side of the river, but before reaching Brown’s Hole the river a
through the great thickness of the red quartzites. We thus have here
most interesting semi-quaquaversal, on a large scale, including within it
several smaller ones. South of Henry’s Fork, and east of Green River,
the principal ridges incline to the northwest. They gradually flex around
until at Red Creek they dip to the northeast, thus forming nearly a
semicircle from west to east by way of north.

Red Creek passes directly through one small semicircle or semi-qua-
quaversal, the general dip of which is northeast. Hach end bends
around so as to jut up against the mountains. At the head of the little
branch that flows into Red Creek from the north, between the massive
ridges of brown tertiary sandstones and the quartz beds, thereis a singular
feature, which is an apparent non-conformity—fer about four miles up
the stream, on the left or east side rising at first one hundred and fifty
to two hundred feet, and dipping about 10°. As we approach the head
of the bench, this ridge slopes down to the valley and apparently passes
beneath the softer beds. At this point commences a series of nearly
vertical ridges trending to northwest, and growing thicker and thicker
until the lower and middle tertiary ridges are included. The distance
between the northern end of the ridge, dipping 10°, and the south end
of the same ridge, holding a vertical position, and in some cases passing
a vertical 10°, is not more than one hundred yards. There is a similar
illustration about five miles up the valley of Henry’s Fork. On the north
side of the Creek the beds dip at a small angle. while on the opposite
side they extend up to the westward, inclining at an angle of 60° to 75°.

On the highridges at the head of the little branch of Red Creek, I found
in arusty sandstone impressions of deciduous leaves, among them a Plata-
nus; also a species of poplar, and a Sabal, the same species probably
which occurs in the coal-bearing beds near Point of Rocks, on the Union
Pacific Railroad. There are also some thin seams of coal here, but the
indications of coal are nowhere very marked in the vicinity of this por-
tion of Green River. On the east side* of Green River, opposite the
mouth of Henry’s Fork, there is another fine example of a series of semi-
circular ridges on asmall scale. At this point all the formations from the
quartzite nucleus of the Uinta rang ge, far to the northward until the
middle tertiary beds become horizontal, follow each other in perfect order
of sequence. The angle of inclination varies much, but the change is so
gradual, and the ridges follow each other with such regularity, that no
want of conformity can be detected. The geological structure of this
portion of the Green River country is very complicated, but interest-
ing. J have already shown that members of all the formations of the
geological scale, known to exist in this portion of the West, are largely
developed here; that the erosion has been so slight, compar atively, that
they are all turned up to the scrutiny of the geologist.

Before leaving this portion of the country I will say a word in
regard to its ‘supposed mineral resources. So far as the physi

68 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

cal evidence is concerned the practical miner would pronounce the
quartz range of Green River one of the richest localities for gold and
silver in the West. About a year ago a large number of men prospected
it with the usual enthusiasm, but most of them returned disappointed.
At the present time a few miners are exploring the range near Vermillion
Creek with some success. The following lodes have been located near
Vermillion Creek, in what is called the Brown’s Hole district:

1. “Lone Star Lode,” twenty-five feet wide. Both walls composed
of gneiss. Dip 75°, strike north of west, or nearly northwest and south-

east. 2. “Bull of the Woods.” South wall well defined. Crevice.

twelve inches wide on the surface, increasing to three feet as the shaft
was sunk twenty feet. 3. ‘‘ Miner’s Glory.” Neither wall known.
Crevice six feet wide at present. 4. ‘Green Oil Lode.” South wall
well defined, six feet wide. An analysis of some of the ore from one
of the lodes showed the existence of $12 in silver, and $1 50 in gold.
That there is enough of the precious metals here to attract the miners
for a time, there seems to be no doubt; but my impression is that they
will never prove rich enough to reward the expenditure of much labor
or capital. Still, only the most superficial examinations have been made
up to this time, and the future may show richer developments.

Although the tertiary beds are so well exposed in the vicinity of this
portion of Green River, there are very few indications of coal, and these
are quite obscure. Ona branch of Red Creek are two or three seams
of dark clay or carbonaceous shale, which might lead to thin beds of
coal, but no marked signs, as are seen along the railroad at Rock
Springs, Point of Rocks, &e.

October 11.—We left Henry’s Fork for Green River Station, on the
Union Pacific Railread. It had been our intention to cross the country
on the east side of Green River to the head of Bitter Creek, but the reports
of its extreme ruggedness and the lateness of the season prevented us.
We concluded that it would be safer to take our teams over a well-trav-
eled road, on the west side of Green River, which led us to the old stage
road near Bryan. As we ascend the hills on the west side of Green River
from our camp on Henry’s Fork, we pass over the outcropping edges of
the tertiary beds, forming a splendid section. The lower hills, which rise
in terraces and are underlaid with dark brown clays, I believe to be of
upper cretaceous age, though I was unable to find asingle fossil in them.
This opinion is strengthened by the fact that the first upheaved ridges
south of Henry’s Fork, which must lie geologically directly under these
clays, is plainly lower cretaceous. ‘The first hard bed above the creta-
ceous clays is a rusty yellow sandstone, then comes aseries of alternate
beds of drab-brown indurated clay, with thin beds of rusty-brown sand-
stone; some of the rocks slightly calcareous, inclining at an angle of
60° to 75°, and extending across Green River, with a trend east and
west. The sandstonesvary in thickness from a few inches to several feet,
while the clays vary from a few feet to fifty or one hundred feet in thick-
ness. Then come beds of massive sandstones, reddish-gray, with seams
of clay between, one hundred and fifty feet thick; then a light-gray, fine-
grained, massive sandstone, weathering by exfoliation—fifty feet; then
a harder bed of iron-rust-yellow sandstone, projecting above the other
rocks, with a tendency to a coneretionary structure, and weathering into
grotesque forms—with cavities one hundred feet; then a series of thin
beds of yellow drab sandstones, with a reddish layer, with partings of
clay. These sandstones, as they stretch across the country, present a
marked banded appearance. All these beds incline at various angles
at different localities. Here they are nearly vertical, but on the east

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 69

side of Green River the same beds incline at an angle of 15° to 209.
The series of beds above described are plainly lower tertiary, and are
separated from a succeeding series by a valley about one-fourth of a
mile in width. On the border of this valley, some of the upper beds of
this first series incline past a perpendicular 45°. This excessive dip is
not uncommon among ail the stratified rocks in the vicinity of the moun-
tainranges, but I suspect it is confined to the surface, and that some dis-
tance in ‘the earth the beds have their normal dip. it was unable to find
any fossils in this series of beds, nor any indications of coal. Crossing the
valley we come to a second series of variegated sandstones, mostly yel-
low and rusty brown, standing nearly vertical with the same strike as
the first series, and about five iniles up Henry’s Fork. This interesting
valley is filled up with beds which show a perfect conforinity. The fir st
bed is a yellow-brown, rather fine-grained sandstone, dipping 75°, a lit-
tie west of north. Then comes a series of yellow and light-gray arena:
ceous or marly clays, with beds of yellow-brown and light-¢ gray sand-
stones projecting somewhat above the surface. Alternating with these
layers of sandstone, are quite thick beds of pudding-stone and congiom-
erate, composed of rounded pebbles:of all the older formations. But
what surprised me most were the large masses of purplish sandstones
and quartzites, and the carboniferous limestones, sometimes forming the
greater portion of thick beds of the conglomerate, four feet in diameter,
somewhat worn, evidently derived from the nucleus. of the Uinta
Mountains. These conglomerate beds are interealated among the sand-
stones through three hundred or four hundred feet in thickness, and
are probably of upper eocene age. Abovethem are atleast five hundred
feet of sandstones, which have a diminished dip 20° to 36°, and then
pass up into the calcareous layers of the middle tertiary or Green River
‘group. We thus see that the aqueous forces that deposited the sedi-
ments of the upper eocene beds were brought to bear on the summits of
the Uintas, and we can form some conception of the vast period of
time they have been subjected to erosion. Since that time all the mid-
dle and tertiary beds, comprising many thousands of feet of strata, have
been deposited in this region. At the base of this second series of sand-
stones is a thin bed of carbonaceous clay, and above and below it are
layers of sandstone a foot thick or more, composed almost wholly of
Melanias, Paludinas, and Unios, with some reptilian remains. We thus
reach a point downward where we can decide that the waters in which
these sediments were deposited were purely fresh-water. Green River
flows between high vertical walls of these beds, and the opportunity to
follow them, step by step in their order of sequence, is excellent.

We pass gradually up to the Green River beds, where lime forms a
large constituent. About two miles north of Henry’s Fork the strata
become nearly horizontal, and continue so far up Caren River toward
its source.

AS we pass over the uplands on our way northward toward the railroad,
we have on our left hand or west side a Jong, high, broken ridge of the
brown indurated clays of the Bridger group, three hundred to four hun-
dred feet high, which seems at the “present time to form the eastern limit
of this group.. That it continued eastward at one time, perhaps far across
Green River, I have no doubt, because remnants of it are seen high up
near the banks of Green River; and on the Big and Little Sandy Creeks,
which rise in the Wind River ] "Mountains, are quite extensive develop-
ments of this group, with an abundance of the peculiar vertebrate fos-
sils. Itis quite possible, also, that the long, high ridges, which so closely
resemble them, south of the old stage-road. near La Clede and Dug

70 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Spring Station, which extend off toward Muddy and Bear Rivers, of
which Hay Stack Butte forms a part, are portions of the same group;
if so it is a matter of great interest to trace the results of the denuding
forces, which have operated so energetically all over this country in
geological times. It forms one of the greatest charms of the study of
the geology of the West to trace the connections of different groups of
beds across intervening spaces, where they have been removed by

erosion alone or by the upheaval of mountain ranges, to take up the .

broken links in the history and unite them together. AsI have before
stated, we gradually pass up through the second series of sandstones to
a third series of laminated marls, with thin layers of chalky limestone.
Near the middle of these marls are some layers of chalcedony, composed
mostly of Goniobasis, masses of which are strewed over the surface in
great quantities. Fragments a foot square are covered on both sides
with beautiful specimens of Goniobasis, while about ten feet below is an-
other layer of limestone filled with Unios, witha few Goniobasis. Frag-
ments of turtle shells are quite abundant in the marly clays. These
laminated marls reach a thickness of two hundred or three hundred feet,
and weather into very symmetrical rounded hills or buttes, contrasting
quite strongly with the style of form of the Bridger clays, though sim-
ilar in type. Their shaly character is always noticeable, and their radi-
ating furrows, so characteristic of indurated clays, are wanting.

Before reaching the crossing of Green River, nineteen miles north of

our camp near the mouth of Henry’s Fork, a thick bed of rusty-yellow
sandstone makes its appearance. This sandstone is well shown on the
banks of Green River. It caps the high bluffs along the river near the
station on the railroad, and assists in giving the peculiar forms to the
hills. On Black’s Fork the disintegration of this sand bed, as it comes
to the surface, has produced large banks of loose sand. The surface of
the country along Black’s Fork and up to Green River Station is quite
sandy. No portion of the country over which we have traveled seems
to be so entirely destitute of vegetation as that between Henry’s Fork
and the railroad, and yet the soil possesses all the elements of extreme
fertility. Ifit could be well irrigated it would produce forty bushels of
wheat per acre. The bottoms of the streams produce good grass, and
are now occupied by numerous herds of cattle.

CHAPTER VI.

FROM GREEN RIVER STATION, VIA BRIDGER’S PASS, TO CHEYENNE,
WYOMING TERRITORY.

From this point to Black Buttes, a distance of seventy miles, we fol-
lew the valley of Bitter Creek, along the immediate line of the Union
Pacific Railroad. The geological features of this region are of great in-
terest, and, inasmuch as the detailed account of them is included in the
chapiers on the third belt, along the road from Cheyenne to Salt Lake, I
shall pass over this portion with only a few general remarks, sufficient
to connect the geological formations of the two points.

The Green River group can be studied to the best advantage along
the valley of Green River, where the sides of the bluff banks rise to a
perpendicular height of five hundred feet or more. The “cuts” along
the railroad, from Rock Springs to Bryan Station, aid us very much in
reading the true history of the strata and securing their fossil remains.

|

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. fil

Ten miles east of Green River Station, the Green River group disappears
abruptly on the south side of Bitter Creek, and the coal formations eome
up to view. On the north side, the eastern limit of the Green River
beds is most sharply marked by a long, high, white bluff, that extends
off, far to the northeast, toward the South Pass.

The dip varies from 3° to 5°, and the laminated calcareous shales
gradually pass down into yellow, gray, and brown indurated arenaceous
clays, sands, and sandstones, until the well-defined coal strata are ex
posed, without the least appearance of discordancy.

Both the middle and the lower tertiary beds incline to the northwest.
At Rock Springs the extensive and valuable mines of the Wyoming
Coal Company are located. The lignite coal beds continue for a dis-
tance ef about six miles east of Rock Springs, with a dip of 10°, where
a series of yellow and drab-brown indurated clays rise up from beneath
the sandstones, and continue for eight miles, to a point about two miles
east of Salt Wells Station. This interval forms a sort of low, valley-
like space, which is well marked, om account of the rounded and far less
rugged style of weathering which extends off to the northeast of the
railroad, on one side, and southwest on the opposite side. Hast of Salt
Wells the coal-bearing beds appear again, with an opposite incli-
nation, about 16° to the southwest, proving this interval to be a true
anticlinal valley. Not a fossil was discovered in these clays to fix their
age with certainty, but I have no doubt that they belong to the upper
eretaceous period, and are an extension, to the north or northeast, of
those cretaceous clays already noticed as occurring near the mouth of
Henry’s Fork, on Green River. I believe it to be the extension north-
eastward of the axis of elevation of the Uinta Mountains. I think, how-
ever, that it dies out, or is concealed by more modern tertiary beds, be-
fore reaching the Sweetwater Valley.

Continuing eastward from Salt Wells Station, the gradual inclination
of the strata exposes a splendid section of the eocene coal beds. Not
less than 1,000 to 1,500 feet of sandstones and clays are passed over
before we come to the valuable coal beds near Black Buttes. At this
point the old stage road diverges to the south of the railroad, follow-
ing up the south branch of Bitter Creek.

Soon after leaving Black Buttes we cross the western rim of the series
of middle tertiary beds, which I have named the “ Washakie group.”
The transition from the coal beds is through a series of indurated are-
naceous clays, with beds of sandstones of all colors and texture, bearing
upon their surface the evidence of their more modern date. The in-
clination is in the same direction and in accordance with the lower
tertiaries, but the dip is not more than 3° to 5°.

At Big Pond Station, fourteen miles east of Black Buttes, the deserted
buildings of the old stage station are entirely built of rocks composed

of fresh-water shells. There are two kinds of rock, viz, a calcareous:

sandstone, formed of an aggregate of Unios, Viviparas, Goniobasis, &e.,
but all casts, the sandstone being so porous that the calcareous shell
has been entirely dissolved away; still the rock itself effervesces very
briskly on the application of hydrochloric acid. Another bed, varying
in thickness from six to twelve inches, is a very compact limestone,
somewhat siliceous. Thisis simply an aggregate of Goniobasis cemented
with a little lime and silica. The texture of the rock is so close that
it is difficult to obtain any perfect shells.

Table Rock is a high, flat-topped ‘“ butte” north of this point. The
underlying yielding clays are protected from erosion by these beds of
shell rock. All the rocks used for building parposes along the railroad

€

(2. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

at Table Rock and Red Desert, and on the old stage road at Big Pond
and La Clede, were taken from these shell beds. These layers of rock
extend over hundreds of square miles, and all the buildings for large
cities might be constructed from the aggregate remains of these little
fresh-water animals. Marine limestones of great thickness, composed
entirely of organic remains, are not uncommon in various portions of
our own county, but I have never known such extensive beds of rock
made up entirely of a few species of fresh-water shéils. At the present
time both fresh-water and land shells are very rare in this country;

the physical conditions seem to be very unfavorable, except at the
sources of some of the tributaries of the Missouri River that come in
from the north, as the James, Vermillion, and Big Sioux Rivers. These
streams are filled with Unios, Viviparas, Lymneas, Planorbis, Physas,
&e.; and yet the conditions seem to have been more favorable in years
past for this kind of life than at present. In the fine vegetable matter
that accumulates along the Missouri River from the annual floods, Ihave
seen bushels of minute Helices, Pupas, Succineas, &c., and yet I have
looked in vain for any of these shells alive in the little streams in the
Vicinity. In the banks of the streams that flow into the Lower Missouri,
as Big Sioux, Vermillion, and others, large accumulations of fresh-water
and land shells are found buried fifteen to twenty feet beneath the sur-
face; yet it seems to me, thatif all that have ever existed in this region
were gathered together, they would not cover a large area. In the Mis-
sourl River, from the base of the mountains to its entrance into the

Mississippi, scarcely a shell can be found, and very few ever are seen in.

any of the branches that flow in from the south. The inference is, that
the impurity of the waters over the greater portion of the West is such
at the present time that this class of life cannot exist. Hew favorable,
then, must have been the conditions for the increase cf molluscous life in
these old tertiary times! Not only were the waters pure, but tirough-
. out all the vast thickness of middle and upper tertiary deposits in the
beds of clay and sandstones, there is more or less calcareous matter, as
is shown by the application of an acid; proving that lime, which is so
essential to these animals, must have existed in the waters of that period.
About six miles east of Big Pond Station, a well-marked bed of reddish
clay is exposed, which can be seen extending across the country, over
the sides of the bluff-like hills, for many miles. I call attention to
this red band of clay, from the fact that it seems to mark the appear-
ance of the lower portion of the middle tertiary, and increases or dimin-
ishes in importance in different localities. On the east side of Green
River, opposite the mouth of Henry’s Fork, these clays, with a reddish
tinge and bands of light brown, reach a thickness of one hundred to one
hundred and fifty feet, and weather into quite regular and picturesque
orms

On the west side of the South Pass these light-red clays are well dis-
played near the base of the middle tertiaries, and in some calcareous
layers above them are multitudes of fresh-water shells. This band is
also seen at the eastern terminus of the Green River group, near Rock
Springs, and near the sources of the Muddy west of Bridger’s Pass. It
also gives name to the station on the Union Pacifie Railroad, ‘Red Des-
eri ‘from the fact that the contiguous hills receive their color from it.

Whether these formations are “connected geographically or chrono-
logically with the vast series of red beds west of the eastern rim of
the Great Sait Lake Basin, a more extended exploration must determine.
The shell beds lie above this in all the localities that I have examinetl
except near the South Pass, where a bed of very porous sandstone

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 73

occurs near the base of the series, made up of casts of Unios, Lym-neas,
Sco

Between LaClede and Barrel Springs the strata are very nearly hori-
zontal. The surface is less rugged; still to the south of the road are high,
rather abrupt ridges, and in the distance are quite pointed ridges three
hundred feet high, composed of the somber, hard, indurated, rusty
arenaceous clays which characterize the Bridger group. Indeed, from its
_ form and style of weathering, and the color of its sediments, it could not

be distinguished from the high ridges of Bridger beds west of our road
from Henry’s Fork to Green River Station. Although I have hitherto
regarded the group of beds which I have denominated the “ Washakie
group,” as separated from those of Greeen River and to the westward,
yet I am now inclined to believe that the upper series is either an exten-
sion eastward of the Bridger group or synchronous with it. Fragments
of turtles and other vertebrate remains are not uncommon.

Near Barrel Springs a very good section of the laminated, chalky
clays is exposed in the valley of the Muddy; seams of shells as Unio tel-
linoides, Goniobasis tenera, G.nodulifera, and G. Carteri, four inches thick,
occur above and below thin layers of rotten vegetable matter. These shells
occur through fifty to one hundred feet of these chalky beds. Remains
of turtles, also vertebree of fishes and reptiles, are found; a few obscure
plants, like blades of grass, stems of rushes, &c., occur in the clays; still
higher on the tops of the hills that border the stream, are some thin,
chalky clays, crowded full of plants, as ferns, rushes, grasses, palms, &e.,
finely preserved. Fragments of palm-wood and those of deciduous trees
are scattered over the surface in great profusion. I think I have never
seen vegetable remains more abundant or more easily obtained in any
portion of the West than at this locality. There was about two feet of
strata composed of them, and they split into very thin regular layers,
as light as dry vegetable matter could be, and each side of the thin
layers was covered with beautiful impressions of leaves in a remarkably
fine state of preservation. Upon these weathered hills were literally
bushels of very pretty Goniobasis and Unios, which one could gather to his
entire satisfaction. I regretted very much that my party could not
remain a day in this interesting region; but the almost entire absence
of grass and the alkaline water compelled us to hasten on with our half-
starved animals.

From Barrel Springs we descend geologically, the dip of the rocks being
reversed, and the same beds rise to view that we saw in traveling east-
ward from Black Buttes. As we descend into the valley toward Duck
Lake, the pinkish bed makes its appearance, and on the left of the road is
an isolated mass of sandstone, about twenty feet cube, which forms a sort
of landmark. Although this red layer is a conspicuous feature in this
region for miles along the valley of the Muddy, yet this isolated mass is
the only example of hardened rock connected with the red band in this
region. There must have been some local cause originally for the greater
tenacity of the cementing material in this restricted locality.

The water divide of this region is undoubtedly Bridger’s Pass, but the
geological divide I regard as located between La Clede and Dug Spring
Station. Here the strata are nearly horizontal, or from what might be
called a synelinal. Along the Union Pacific Railroad at Dodge’s Sum-
mit, the water and geological divide are identical. The strata west of
this divide incline slightly northeast, and on the east side southwest.
As Ihave already stated in a preceding chapter in describing the tertiary
formation from Bridger to Green River, they may be separated provision-
ally into four series.

74 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

First series.—The coal strata, lower eocene, characterized by numerous
impressions of deciduous leaves, marine and fresh-water mollusea.

Second series.—Arenaceous, upper eocene, characterized by a profusion
of fresh-water shells, as Unios, Goniobasis, Viviparas, Lymneas, &e.; a
portion of these being casts.

Third series—Calcareous, lower miocene, containing the greatest
abundance of fresh-water shells, plants, fishes, &e.

Fourth sevies—Arenaceous clays—upper miocene—turtle shells; no
other fossils observed. The third series of beds contains the plants and
shells that were found in such profusion near Barrel Springs on the
Muddy.

Continuing our way eastward, we descend aeross valleys and over
ridges, with the outcropping edges of bed after bed of sandstone and
clay rising to view, until we come to the coal strata near Washakie
Station, on a branch of the Muddy flowing down from Bridger’s Pass.
The, dip is hardly perceptible at first, but gradually it reaches 5°.

Through the eocene and cretaceous beds, even to the granites,
the inclination may increase, or in some cases diminish. In‘ some
instances the eocene beds are vertical, while the carboniferous strata
beneath, incline at a small angle. There is no apparent discordancy
between the four series of tertiary beds noted above. Along Green
River, at Rock Springs, Black Buttes, and west of Bridger’s Pass,
no want of conformability could be ascertained. Yet there must be
some discordanee between the upper tertiaries and the older beds,
from the fact that the Bridger group and the Monument Creek group,
as well as the upper portions of the White River group, jut up against
the older beds in many places in a horizontal position or incline at an
angie of 3°to 5°. Thisis the case along the eastern flanks of the Laramie
range, and on the sides of other mountains in numerous localities. Near
Fort Laramie the White River beds, which may possibly be of pliocene
age, have been deposited high up, in the ravines, on granites, or on the
upturned edges of carboniferous limestones, and yet in the plains these
same beds seem to conform perfectly to the old tertiaries, and the latter
conform perfectly to the cretaceous, Jurassic, triassic, carboniferous, and
Silurian beds.

After passing Duck Lake Station we ascend barometrically, although
we descend geologically, lower and lower beds rising to view continu-
ally, and just before reaching Washakie Station the lower tertiaries or
lignite beds make their appearance, with a dip of about 10°. I think
the fresh-water shells that occur here in sandstones so abundantly be-
long to the third series of upper eocene beds that gradually pass down into
the coal strata. About a mile west of Washakie the beds of coal are ex-
posed, and the examples of the baking, and even the melting, of the
adjacent rocks by the spontaneous ignition of the coal-beds, are very
common. The ridges are covered with these red or burnt places, which
look like piles of cinders. In some beds of gray calcareous sandstone
over the coal I collected great quantities of large deciduous leaves of
trees belonging to the genera Platanus, Populus, Tilia, &c., evidently the
Same species as those found in other localities connected with the coal
formations. The coal strata reach a great thickness around Bridger’s
Pass, and are composed of alternate beds of sandstone with layers and
concretions of calcareous sandstone. In the upper portions the clays
predominate and contain the coal seams, which vary in thickness from
a few inches to ten or twelve feet. As we descend toward the ecreta-
ceous beds, the sandstones begin to predominate, until they rise on our
left hand, as we ascend the “pass,” in lofty, nearly vertical walls. The

os

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 1D

trend of the ridges is about northeast and southwest. The branch of
the Muddy, which rises in the “ pass,” seems to form the line of separa-
tion between the coal-beds and those of well-known cretaceous age.
A bed of massive sandstone forms a wall on the north side nearly to the
head of the Muddy, where the softer clays of the cretaceous seem to rise
from beneath it. On the south side of the road is a high, rugged group
of hills, which weather into rounded forms, which are plainly upper
eretaceous. Since leaving Washakie there has been a decided im-
provement in the vegetation; grass grows quite abundantly on the hills
and in the valleys, and the shrubs and trees have the healthy growth
peculiar to the foot-hills of the mountains.

Between Bridger’s Pass and Pine Grove the wall on the north side
continues much the same, but the cretaceous clays seem to underlie the
sandstone; but on the south side the eretaceous beds rise up abruptly
to the height of about eight hundred feet above the road; and on the
summit is a broad plateau, covered with a deposit of drift material, and
well grassed over. Here and there we see beautiful groves of aspen
and pine. The belt of cretaceous beds is very wide. In the vicinity of
Bridger’s Pass there is an enormous thickness of the coal strata, which I
have estimated at three thousand to five thousand feet. The inclina-
tion is 10° to 15°. The cretaceous clays are also very largely developed
fifteen hundred to two thousand feet. Near Aspen Grove I found Bacu-
lites ovatus and some undetermined marine shells. At Pine Grove the wall
on the north side extends across the country, towards Rawlings’ Springs,
in one of the most handsome and symmetrical anticlinals I have ob-
served in the West. The valley is about four miles wide between the
outcropping walls, and forms a sort of rolling prairie, which shows the
style of surface weathering when underlaid by the soft, yielding, creta-
ceous clays. The trend of the valley is northeast and southwest, and
forms an extension of the axis of elevation of some range of moun-
tains near Bear River.

About northeast of Pine Grove there is a small lake in this valley,
half a mile long and nearly the same width, the shores of which are
covered with an alkaline efflorescence. This anticlinal valley is of the
same character as the one that forms the extension of the axis of the
Uinta range at Salt Wells. on the Union Pacific Railroad. Here we see
the same smooth, rounded appearance to the surface from Rock Springs to
a point about two miles east of Salt Wells, where the outcropping
edges of the coal-bearing rock appear. Passing up the South Fork of
- Bitter Creek, we have the more modern tertiary beds inclining at a
small angle. Near La Clede Station is a high ridge, extending acrass
the country like a low range of mountains, composed of the somber indu-
rated, sandy clays of the upper miocene, of which Haystack Butte forms
apart. Continuing our way eastward, we descend again across the edges
of the same beds we saw on Bitter Creek, and gradually passing through
a tremendous thickness of eocene coal strata, reach the soft clays of
the cretaceous group. The exact line of separation between the true cre-
taceous and tertiary beds in this region I cannot positively determine.
We know that fossils, brackish and sometimes purely fresh-water, char-
acterize the upper eocene above the thickest coal beds; that at Hallville,
in the dark clays or slates, above one of the most valuable coal beds, there
is a profusion of Cyrenas and other brackish-water fossils; that, as we de-
scend in the coal strata, beds of several species of Ostrea are found ;
showing clearly that the great lake at this time had access to the salt sea.
J am not able to draw the exact line of separation between the tertiary and
the cretaceous beds in this region, and I am inclined to believe that there

\ a

~%6 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

is a considerable thickness of what may properly be called transition beds,
or beds of passage, which will probably remain a long time in doubt.

From Pine Grove we continue on our course to the eastward, with the
high wall of sandstone on the left and the plateau on the right. Nearly
opposite Pine Grove Station the anticlinal that extends off toward
Rawlings’ Springs forms a notch or triangular area, in which the ere-
taceous clays are worn into three singular, terrace-like ridges on the
west side, with a strike southwest and northeast, and on the east side,
northwest and southeast.

The valley of Sage Creek is three to six miles wide. On the North
Platte there is a fine exhibition of the sandstones or transition beds.
Near the crossing of the old stage road there are vertical bluffs eighty
to one hundred feet, composed of grayish-brown sandstone, which exhib-
its, in the most remarkable degree, the various signs of shallow-water
depositions, as ripple, rain, and mud-markings, with what appear to be
trails of worms, &c. Broad, flat masses of sandstone lie at the base of
the bluff fifteen or twenty feet square, with the surface covered with
these peculiar markings; oblique layers are not uncommon. The in-
durated clays of well-known cretaceous origin are well shown here, ex-
tending up the North Platte for fifteen or twenty miles to the south-
ward, while, to the north, ridge after ridge extends as far as the eye can
reach. There are alternate beds of sandstone and a steel-brown indu-
rated clay. In the second bed of sandstone from the bottom are great
quantities of a species of Ostrea. AS we pass up in the series we find
irregular concretionary beds of rusty calcareous sandstone, with some
fossils, especially Ostrea, and a few other marine or brackish-water spe-
cies. Everywhere in the West the oldest or lowest coal beds contain#
more or less marine fossils, most of which belong to the genus Ostrea.
They are found, in about the same position, from latitude 49° to New
Mexico. Where the beds are studied with some care, in a favorable
locality, we soon find that the marine evidences disappear, and the
organic remains are purely fresh- water or terrestrial.

On the morning of October 23 we left our camp on the North Platte
and wound across the plains a little north of east to Pass Creek. To
the west and southwest, as far as the eye can reach, there is a rolling
or partial plain country, occupied by cretaceous beds. From the high
ridges on the east side of Platte we can cast a glance back along the
route we have traveled, over one of the most comprehensive views I have
observed in the West. On the north side is the continuous wall of sand-
stone, from Bridger’s Pass to Medicine Bow, extending up the Platte
River, and retreating with a gentle dip northeast, like descending steps,
or rather like chopped waves. The clays underneath the sandstone
ridges are undoubtedly of cretaceous age; but I have been inclined
to regard the group of alternate beds of sandstones and clays, which are
So conspicuous from Bridger’s Pass to Medicine Bow River, and give
the characteristic surface features to a very Jarge area, as transition
beds or beds of passage from the true cretaceous era to the tertiary.
It is true that we find here and there a specimen of Znoceramus or Baculite
and numerous beds of several species of Ostrea ; yet the time which
must have been required to bring about the changes in the sediments
and animal life, from a purely marine condition to that of purely fresh-
water, must have been immense. That a few of the more hardy marine
forms of molluseca should have lingered on up into the period of the
coal, would not and need not surprise geologists. So consecutive do the
different beds appear to be, that 1 am of the opinion that, however
minutely they may be studied hereafter, the line of separation between

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Ul

the true ecretaceous and tertiary beds will be arbitrary. There are
many localites in the West where the line of demarkation is so well
defined by the absence of some beds that it cannot be mistaken, but I
will discuss this question more fully hereafter.

Through the broad valley winds the North Platte River with re-
markably picturesque beauty, with grassy bottoms, and here and there
a group of large bitter cottonwoods. To the south and southeast is a
snow-covered range of mountains, walling in the North Park, and form-
ing a portion of the water-shed of the continent. Far up the Platte
Valley, for thirty or forty miles, the surface is slightly broken, with the
appearance that the soft cretaceous clays would give it.

There is a broad belt of the cretaceous beds extending along the base
of the mountains and running across the course of the Platte. To the
eastward rise the four rounded mountains of the Medicine Bow range,
of which Elk Mountain forms a part. To the north and west the ridges
of transition sandstone pass into the true tertiary toward Fort Steele on
the Union Pacific Railroad.

The bottoms of the North Platte are quite fertile, and produce excel-
lent grass. The timber is not abundant, but taken in the aggregate
there is enough to supply the sparse population that will be likely to
settle in this region. The mountains would furnish a most abundant
supply. :

The sandstones as seen along the Platte are somewhat variable in
color and texture. The three lowest and most massive beds, fifty to
eighty feet in thickness, are drab brown; the fourth one is yellowish
gray, very friable, separated into thin layers, and weathered into some-
what fantastic forms, one of which resembles a human face. This bed
of sandstone is full of large, rusty-brown, concretionary masses, which
are also divided into thin layers, but are calcareous, really arenaceous
limestones. In looking at the surface features of this portion of the
country, these four beds of sandstone mentioned above stand out in
relief, and give force to the scenery. Between them are some thin
layers of sandstone and arenaceous limestone, with seams of dark-brown
siliceous clay, more or less slaty. The dip of these beds is persistently
northeast.

Leaving the North Platte we traveled in a northeast direction over
uplifted ridges for a time. Soon they are so worn down that they are
only faintly shown above the surface, and for about twelve miies before
reaching Pass Creek our road was over a level plain covered with a
thick deposit of drift. The evidences of erosion are very conspicuous
between the North Platte and Pass Creek. ‘The broad, level plain was
once covered with ridges of cretaceous beds inclining at a large angle.
On the east side of the plain the ridges dip west and northwest from
the mountains. On the southwest side of Klk Mountain are very high
ridges of sedimentary rocks, but they are only a few miles in extent.
The main ridge, which lies next to the granite, is composed of carbonifer-
ous limestone. The valley near it, is formed by the scooping out of the
soft, red, arenaceous clays of the triassic; then comes Jurassic, eretace-
ous, and lastly the tertiary beds, gently inclining toward the plains.

These formations are more or less conspicuously shown, depending
upon the texture of the materials. The granite mountains rise up about
two thousand feet above the base; the ridge of carboniferous limestone
is five hundred to eight hundred feet; the third ridge is cretaceous, che
hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, while the drab sandstones of the
transition group pass off northward in a series of low ridges.

Leaving Pass Creek, we enter Rattle Snake Pass, with the drab sand-

78 -—S« GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

stones, underlaid by well known upper eretaceous clays, outcropping on
the left hand, and the rather curious, mound-like ridges of the dark plastie
clays of the lower cretaceous, on the right. Along the flanks of the
mountains it is quite seldom that all the formations are clearly shown.
Sometimes portions have been removed by erosion or concealed by drift
deposits; or all the beds are so crushed together that only two er three of
them are exposed to the eye. At this “locality for a short distance,

perhaps one or two miles, the lower cretaceous clays are remarkably —

weil shown, lying on the sides of the mountains; while the Jurassie, red-
beds, and carboniferous are scarcely seen or are “concealed entirely. We
know that they must exist here in their full development, for just west
of Rattlesnake Creek all these formations are very clearly shown in
lofty, well-defined ridges, inclining at an angle of 20° to 40°. These facts
show the importance of careful detailed study of the geology of all the
mountain districts, and the necessity also for the construction of a suita-
ble topographical map on a sufiiciently large scale to show these changes
clearly.

Near Fort Halleck the carboniferous limestones rise high up on the
sides of the mountains, resting upon the granite. All the more recent
beds are worn, away or so concealed as not to be visible. Hast of
Fort Halleck the ridges of sandstone bend off to the northwest, while
to the east and southeast the sedimentary rocks jut up against the sides
of the foot-hills of the mountains.

From Elk Mountain to Little Laramie River there are no remarkable
exhibitions of the uplifted sedimentary rocks. For the most part the
foot-hills near the base of the mountains are quite smoothly rounded
off, and covered with grass; and only here and there are any of the beds
exposed. High up in ‘the mountains, toward the sources of the Big and
Little Laramie rivers, are some fine exposures of the entire series of sed-
imentary beds; but these will be described more fully in a subsequent
portion of this report.

Along the flanks of Elk Mountain there is exposed, in one or two
localities, a vertical ridge of gray sandstone and quartzite, which I have
regarded as No. 1, or lower cretaceous. The rock does not differ in tex-
ture from the same formations as seen along the eastern slope of the
Laramie range from Red Buttes to Cache ala Poudre and southward ;
but in this instance it forms, for a short distance, a high vertical wall,
pressing up close to the granite nucleus, while the carboniferous lime-
stones are carried up on the tops of the granite to the summit of the
mountain.

Our camp on the Medicine Bow Creek was a pleasant one, with an
abundance of timber, and the greatest supply of grass for our animals.
The bottoms are wide and of inexhaustible fertility. The valleys of all
the little branches fnrnish the most extensive and valuable pastoral
districts for stock. Beaver dams occur everywhere, and sometimes flood
a space half a mile in width. In the branches of the Medicine Bow the
plastic clays of the lower cretaceous prevail, in a horizontal position. All
the formations seem to jut up against the mountain sides with very
little inclination. The river emerges from a sort of jog in the range,
ten miles or more south of Elk Mountain, and the cretaceous beds, nearly
horizontal, extend down into the plains in long, grassy, bench-like ridges.
On the Wagon Hound Creek are some beds” of sandstone in a nearly
vertical position, or inclining at a high angle from the mountains, which
are intercalated with beds of clay and coal seams, evidently the beds of
passage to the tertiary.

After passing the Medicine Bow Creek eastward, the country assumes

| GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 719

a more cheerful aspect; the water is as pure as crystal, and grass covers
the surface very thickly. Dense groves of aspen are abundant among
the foot-hills, and the little streams are all fringed with timber. From
the summit of a high hill on the west side of Rock Creek we have the
finest view of the Laramie Piains I have ever seen. .We reached Rock
Creek on one of those clear days after a rain-storm, when the sun shines
out with that wonderful brightness which is peculiar to this country.
The entire area of the Laramie Plains was spread out before us like a pan-
orama. The Laramie range forms a perfect wall on the east and north
side, and marks the horizon from the east, around to northwest, and
apparently dies out. Tothe north, Laramie Peak is as plainly visible as
it is from Fort Laramie on the opposite side of the range, and rises high
above any other portion. The entire surface of the plains east of the
Medicine Bow, encircled by the main Rocky Mountains on the south,
and the Laramie range on the east and north, has been smoothed off by
denudation and grassed over, so that it forms one vast pasture-ground
about sixty miles in extent from east to west, and nearly the same dis-
tance from north to south. From the mountains on the south side de-
scend, parallel with the valleys of the streams, beautiful benches,
with smooth, table-like summits; while forming a portion of the foot-hills
of the mountains are numerous rounded hills, grassed over, and paved
on the tops and south side with the different kinds of rocks which con-
stitute the nucleus of the mountain range, as garnetiferous gneiss,
quartzites of all colors, red and gray granites, with quartz, trap rocks
of various textures, fibrous gneiss, &c. These rocks are quite well worn,
and they seem to lie on the summits of the hills as they were dropped
by an iceberg, and present the appearance of leaning to the northward
as if on the move. The shape of the hill and the position of the stray
masses impresses one with the thought that they were only delayed for
a time on their way from the mountains to the plains. ‘These examples
of local drift or erratic blocks are very common and well defined in the
Laramie Piains. Indeed, I have never seen any evidences in the Rocky
Mountain region of any foreign drift. All the superficial deposits belong-
ing to the quarternary period, seem to me to be local in their origin.
Rock Creek Valley is very beautiful and picturesque. The stream
emerges from a very narrow gorge in the mountains, which is covered
with a dense growth of pines. AS we look down the stream from the
gorge the valley seems to expand to two or three miles in width, and there
are three belts of trees winding through it as if there were aS many
separate streams. The other portions of the valley are like a meadow.
About baif a mile, along the old stage road, on Rock Creek, the meta-
morphic rocks are well shown, holding a nearly vertical position. There
are gray and reddish feldspar beds, inclining 60°. There are also beds
of what appears to be ancient trap. These ridges form steps which lead
up to the Snowy range. No sedimentary rocks older than the creta-
ceous are seen in the valley of Rock Creek. The valley is literally cov-
ered with water-worn boulders of all kinds, mostly metamorphic, and
hence its name. These boulders diminish in size as we descend the
creek until they nearly or quite disappear. All the hills on either side
Show accumulations of these worn rocks on the side facing the moun-
tains. On the east side of Rock Creek the yellow sandstone which un-
derlies the long bench is undoubtedly cretaceous No. 5, and contaims a
few fossils, among which are the usual Znoceramus and Baculites ovatus.
On the east side of Cooper’s Creek there is a long, high ridge, with its
abrupt side toward the mountains, and covered thickly with the rounded
boulders—a marked ilustration of the direction from which the bould-

80 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ers were derived. The valley of Cooper’s Creek is a broad, meadow-like
expansion, and produces a thick growth of grass, which supplies an
abundant provision for stock in the winter. All these streams emerge
from the mountains through narrow canons. From Elk Mountain to
Big Laramie I doubt whether any rocks older than the cretaceous are
exposed on the flanks of the mountains, and these in many places are
obscured by heavy deposits of drift.

The valley of the Little Laramie is now mostly occupied by ranches.
Thousands of cattle wander over its broad meadows and on the up-
land plains, and hundreds of tons of hay are prepared every year. It

is probable that this region is destined to become celebrated as one of -

the finest pastoral districts i in America.

Leaving Big Laramie we ascended the western slope of the Laramie
range by way of Cheyenne Pass, across the cretaceous, Jurassic, and
triassic or red beds. The latter gives a bright brick-red appearance to
a wide belt along the east side of the road for 30 to 40 miles. A bed
of bluish limestone covers the western slope of the Laramie range with
remarkable uniformity, like the roof of a house, inclining 10° to 15°.
Underneath this, toward the summit, a bed of yellowish-white limestone
appears, with well-marked carboniferous fossils. Toward the summit
of the range we pass over a depression or valley of considerable depth,
which seems here to separate the changed from the unchanged rocks.
We then come to reddish micaceous feldspathic granites. Indeed, all
varieties and textures of granitic rocks occur on the summit of this
range. We continue to travel over ridge after ridge of metamorphic
rocks—some very fine in texture, others quite coarse—until we come to
the smooth, plain-like area which forms the central portion. This grassy
belt constitutes the real crest or divide, and after passing this we travel
over ridge after ridge of metamorphic rocks similar to those on the
west side, but with a reversed dip, showing a distinct anticlinal; and
at the east end of the pass, at the sources of Lodge Pole Creek, the
metamorphic rocks rise up from beneath the red sands and limestones
in perfect conformity, so far as they are visible to the eye. On the
east slope are broken ridges, which show the carboniferous limestones
inclining 38° to 10°. Curiously rounded ravines, carved out of the
ridges by water, separate them into picturesque fragments. The road
through Cheyenne Pass is excellent, and is paved with crystals of feld
spar. The soil is fertile and the grass is good.

South of Laramie Peak there is a great scarcity of timber on this
range, so that it does not deserve the name of ‘“ Black Hills,” which is
often applied to it.

Just south of Crow Creek there is an illustration of the granite rocks
carrying up the carboniferous limestones on their summits in a nearly
horizontal position. The tertiary beds jut up against the base of the
range, entirely concealing all traces of older rocks, so that larger areas
of older formations are broken off and lifted up far above the plains on
the summits of the mountains. This is not an uncommon occurrence
along the flanks of all the mountainranges. It only shows how interest-
ing and complicated are the details of the study of these ranges, however
simple their structure may seem to be in the aggregate.

Leaving Cheyenne Pass, we cross over a remarkable parallel valley,
or one which has been scooped out near the base of the mountains and
extends along parallel with it. It extends from the ridge south of the
drainage of Crow Creek to the Chugwater. The modern tertiary beds
extend down to Cheyenne, a distance of fifteen miles.

We have now (November 1,) reached our point of departure on the 6th

7

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. $1

of August last. Two belts of country have been explored: 1. North of
the railroad by way of North Platte, Red Buttes, Sweetwater, South Pass,
to Fert Bridger. 2. Southof therailroad, from Fort Bridger via Henry’s
Fork, Green River, Bitter Creek, Bridger’s Pass, Medicine Bow Moun-
tains, Cheyenne Pass, to Cheyenne again.

We shall occupy ourselves next with a description of the third or mid-
dle belt connecting the two already described, extending from Cheyenne
to Salt Lake Valley along the line of the Union Pacific Railroad.

We shall also gather up some of the fragments from point to point
which may have been omitted, or not fully explained, in the preceding
portions of this report.

6G

Seawacd aga hy iia be

CHAPTER—
VII. GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOLOGY OF THE MISSOURI Ven Bis

Vill. FROM OMAHA TO CHEYENNE.
IX. OVER THE FIRST RANGE.
X. THE LARAMIE PLAINS.
XI. WESTWARD TO BEAR RIVER.
XII. BEAR RIVER TO GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY.
XIII. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY FROM OMAHA

TO SALT LAKE VALLEY.
XIV. OBSERVATIONS ON MINES. —ANALYSES OF COALS, ORES, AND SALTS.

GEOLOGY OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY.

CHAPTER VII.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOLOGY OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY.

In order that our description of the geology of that belt of country
bordering the line of the Union Pacific Railroad may be more clearly
understood, we may in this chapter take a somewhat hasty glance at the
principal geological features of the vast area drained by the Missouri
River and its tributaries. The geologist is dependent for his knowlédge
of the earth’s crust, either on natural sections formed by the ehannels
of rivers, or the upheavals of mountain chains, or on the artificial cuts
along railways, or artesian borings. The great Missouri cuts a section
from its source in the mountains to the Mississippi, a distance of nearly
3,000 miles, affording an excellent opportunity for studying the various
geological formations which occurin the Northwest. The branches also,
which make their way from distant points on either side of the Missouri,
cut the country up in every direction, so thatit is hardly possible to fail
in obtaining at least, an approximately correct interpretation of the
records. The cuts along the line of the railroad are, as it were, slices
in the earth’s crust which often reveal the nature of the underlying
formations with wonderful clearness, throwing a flood of light upon ob-
seure points. Many of the observations also, which were made for prac-
tical purposes by the engineers, as well as the exploration for useful
minerals in the vicinity of the road, may be brought into the service of
science. Thus the elevations which have been taken with great care
across the continent from Omaha to San Francisco are very useful.
Along a well-known line of travel, the attention of the student of
geology will most likely be attracted toward the principal geological
features, and on this account I hope to make the succeeding chapters a
sort of guide in this respect. My observations, which have extended

_ over a period of about three years, may be regarded as correct in the main,
though every year new facts will be added.

Before starting on our westward tour let us study for a little time the
wonderful section which is revealed to us along the channel of the Mis-
souri River. It has iong been known that the northeastern portion of
Nebraska is underlaid by rocks of the upper coal measures. These
rocks are well shown from the south line of the State to the mouth of
the Platte River, where they are partially concealed by a great thick-
ness of recent deposits. They gradually disappear beneath the water-
level near De Soto, about thirty miles aboveOmaha. If we ascend the
Platte River for a short distance we shall find the carboniferous lime-
stones finely exposed, and the opportunities for their study are very
much aided by the numerous quarries which have been opened. They,
in their turn, pass beneath the water-level of the river, near the mouth
of the Elkhorn, and are not again visible until they are exposed along
flanks of the mountain ranges. So far as Nebraska is concerned, the
carboniferous rocks seem to be directly overlaid by the rusty sandstones
of the lower cretaceous, No.1. In the valley of the Big and Little Blue

2

86 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Rivers some yellow and buff magnesian limestones occur, which are sug-
gestive of permian relations, but it is quite doubtful whether rocks of
that age extend up into Nebraska, although they occur in Kansas. On
my geological map I have usually colored a small strip of permian
extending up into Southern Nebraska, but our present knowledge would
indicate that it might be omitted. Although some of the fossils seem
to possess permian affinities, they all extend down into the coal measures,
and therefore are not peculiarly characteristic. As we have before re-
marked, the carboniferous rocks along the Missouri River are immediately
overlapped by formations of cretaceous age. These rocks as revealed
along the Missouri, have been separated into five well-marked divisions,
which have been designated by numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and by groups,
as Dakota Group, Fort Pierre Group, and Fox Hills Group. Inasmuch
as we shall have occasion to refer to these groups in describing rocks in
the cretaceous epoch in other portions of the West, we will introduce here
a general section of the cretaceous rocks along the Missouri River, as pre-
pared by Mr. Meek and the writer several years since, and published in
previous reports. There are so many students of western geology
scattered over the country at the present time, most of whom cannot
gain access to the memoirs in which these sections have been pub-
lished, that this will be a sufficient reason for reproducing them in
this connection. Not only in this report, but also in subsequent reports,
we shall have constant occasion to refer to these sections, and the differ-
ent groups of rocks. The sections were based on characters cbtained
from a careful study of the groups as exposed along the Missouri River,
and it is here that their typical characters are found. As we depart
from this center in any direction these characters are modified more or
less. As we go southward into the Laramie Plains, Colorado, or New
Mexico, these divisions are not as well defined, and Drs. Newberry and
Leconte have very properly divided the whole cretaceous group, as
there developed, into upper, middle, and lower cretaceous. Yet, to
one familiar with the typical divisions as seen on the Upper Missouri,
geographical extension never modifies them so that they do not still
possess some traces of their original characters.

Formation No. 1, as seen all along the flanks of the mountains from
the Big Horn and Wind River ranges to New Mexico, has never yielded
a single characteristic fossil, and the lithological characters are quite
different in many respects from those which are peculiar to the group,
as shown near Sioux City andsouthward into Kansas. Again, in their
southward extension, the division into upper and lower cretaceous
groups would probably best accord with the facts as we know them at
the present time.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ‘THE TERRITORIES.

General section of the cretaceous rocks of the Northwest.

87

Fox Hills beds,
Formation No. 5.

Upper series.
i

Fort Pierre Group.
Formation No. 4.

eco—

Niobrara division.
Formation No. 3.

Lower series.
Fort Benton Group.

Formation No. 2.

Dakota Group.
Formation No.1.

———

Middle zone nearly barren of fossils
Lower fossiliferous zone, containing Ammon-

Divisions and subdivisions.

Gray, ferruginous, and yellowish sandstone,

and arenaceous clays, containing Belemni-
tella bulbosa, Nautilus Dekayt, Ammonites
placenta, A. lobatus, Scaphites Conradi, S.
Nicolletti, Baculites grandis, Busycon Bairdi,
Fusus Culbertson, F. Newberryi, Aporrhais
Americana, Pseudo-buccinum, Nebrascensis,
Mactra Warrenana, Cardium subquadra-
tum, anda great number of other molluscous
fossils, together with bones of Mosasaurus
Missouriensis, &c.

Dark-gray and bluish plastic clays, containing,

near the upper part, Nautilus Dekayt, Am-
monites placenta, Baculites ovatus, B. com-
pressus, Scaphites nodosus, Dentalium gra-
cile, Crassatella Hvansi, Cuculleea Nebrascen-
sis, Inoceramus Sagensis, I. Nébrascensis, I.
Vanuxemi, bones of Mosasaurus Missouri-
ensis, éc.

ites complexus, Baculites ovatus, B. compres-
sus, Helioceras Mortont, H. tortum, H. wm-
bilicatum, H. cochleatum, Ptychoceras Mor-
toni, Fusus vinculum, Anisomyon borealis,
Amauropsis paludiniformis, Inoceranus
sublevus, I. tenui-lineatus, bones of Mosa-
saurus Missouriensis, éc.

Dark bed of very fine unctuous clay, contain-

ing much carbonaceous matter, with veins
and seams of gypsum, masses of sulphtret
iron, and numerous small scales, fishes,
local, filling depressions in the bed below.

Lead-gray calcareous marl, weathering to a yel-

lowish or whitish chalky appearance above,
ponkaiing large scales and other remains of
fishes, and numerous species of Ostrea con-
gesta attached to fragments of Inoceramus.
Passing down into light yellowish and
whitish limestone, containing great num-
bers of Inoceramus problematicus, I. pseudo-
mytiloides, I. aviculoides, and Ostrea con-
gesta, fish scales, &c.

Dark-gray laminated clays, sometimes alter-

nating near the upper part with seams and
layers of soft gray and light-colored lime-
stone, Inoceramus problematicus, I. tenuiros-
tratus, I. latus, I. fragilis, Ostrea congesta,
Venilia Mortoni, Pholadomya papyracea,
Ammonites Mullani, A. percarinatus, A.
vespertinus, Scaphites Warrent, S. larve-
Formis, S. ventricosus, S. vermiformis, Nauti-
lus elegans, (2) &c.

Yellowish, reddish, and occasionally white

sandstone, with, at places, alternations of
various colored clays and beds and seams
of impure lignite; also silicified wood and
great numbers of leaves of the higher types
of dicotyledonous trees, with casts of Phar-
ella (?) Dakotensis, Axinaea Siouxensis, and
Cyprina arenarea.

Localities.

Fox Hills, near Moreau Riv-
er, near Long Lake, above
Fort Pierre, along base
Big Horn Mountains, and
on Northand South Platte
Rivers.

Sage Creek, Cheyenne River,
and on White River above
the Mauvaises Terres.

Fort Pierre and out to Bad
‘ Lands, down the Missouri,
on the high country, to
Great Bend.
Great Bend of the Missouri,
below Fort Pierre.

Near Bijou Hill, on the Mis-
souri.

Bluffs along the Missouri,
below the Great Bend, to
the vicinity of Big Sioux
River; also below there
on the tops of the hills.

Extensively developed near
Fort Benton, on the Upper
Missouri; also along the
latter from ten miles above
James River to Big Sioux
River, and along the east-
ern slope of the Rocky
Mountains as well as at
the Black Hills.

Hills back of the town of
Dakota; also extensivel:
developed in the surround-
ing country, in Dakota
County, below the mouth
of Big Sioux River, thence
extending southward into |

northeastern Kansas and |

beyond.

Estimated
thickness

hy
ag
=
i

ot
S
aq

200

800

400

a a a a nn

Eq. upper or white chalk and Maestricht Senonien, D’Orbigny.

om

—_:

Eq. lower or gray chalk (and upper gray

Cay

beds.

sts. Turo-

andstone) of British geologi
nien and Cenomanien (2) of D’Orbigny.

8

The names which are given to these groups, both in the cretaceous
and tertiary rocks, are always provisional, and are intended as specific
points around which to group such facts as may add to our own knowl-
edge from year to year; and when it shall have been found that any of
them have served their purpose, and are no longer needed, they will be
dropped from the list. Objections may be made to the use of local geo-
graphical names, but they have been found by experience to serve our

83). GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES?

purpose best. In Nebraska the sandstones of the Dakota Group rest
directly upon rocks of the age of the coal measures. Although they do
not appear in full force until we reach a point near De Soto and beyond,
yet remnants of the sandstones make their appearance within five or
ten miles of Omaha at any point north of the Platte River. It is quite
probable that they once extended all over Nebraska, passing across into
Jowa, and how much further eastward we have not definite data to de-
termine. The coal-measure limestones are thus exposed in northeastern
Nebraska by the erosion of the cretaceous rocks. This is a very import-
ant matter in a practical point of view, for the sandstones of the cretace-
ous group are seldom of much value for building purposes, and the ex-
posure of large areas of the carboniferous rocks in the most fertile por-
tions of the State is a fact of inestimable value.

Chalk Bluffs, Cretaceous No. 1, near Blackbird Hill, Nebraska.

Along the banks of the Missouri River, on the Indian Reserve, is a
lotty escarpment of yellow, rotten, coarse-grained sandstone, sometimes
ealled Chalk Bluffs, from their whitish chalky appearance in the dis-
tance. They are from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in
height, and about half way up, or at least fifty feet above the water, and.
as much from the top of this perpendicular wall, are carved out numer-
ous Indian hieroglyphics, as pipes, canoes, various kinds of animals, rude
representations of the Indians themselves, &c. The question at once
arises, who carved them here? The Indians now living cannot account
for them, and call the rocks “ Medicine,” a term which they apply to
all things that are mysterious tothem. The characters closely resembie
those on their robes worn at the present day, and are doubtless emblem-
atical of some important event in Indian history. These figures must
have been carved here many centuries ago, when that portion of the
escarpment was accessible from beneath in some way, all trace of which
has been effaced by the water. Similar ones are still to be seen in other
localities, especially in the mountains. A small creek, which flows into
the Missouri a few miles below the “ Running Water,” has an Indian
name which signifies “‘ Where the dead have worked,” from the fact,
that upon the high chalky walls that form its banks are some of the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 89

same mysterious carvings. These soft sandstones, or chalky limestones,
are well adapted for recording their hieroglyphical history.

But these rocks bear upon them far plainer characters than those de-
scribed above, and characters which carry the history of events infi-
nitely farther back into the past than any ever carved upon stone by hu-
man hands. Near the Blackbird Mission, and in other localities above
and below this place, has been found a remarkable series of fossil plants
embedded in the sandstones and quartzites, which has thrown much
light upon the ancient flora of thisregion. These sandstones all belong
te the lower cretaceous or chalk, period, and it is now well ascertained
that with the beginning of that era, began upon our continent the dawn
of existing deciduous fruit and forest trees, as did also the present race
ef edible fishes, as the herrring, perch, &c. We find impressions
of leaves in rocks, remarkably well preserved, representing the genera
Platanus, Populus, Fagus, Liriodendron, Sassafras, Magnolia, Ficus, and
others. Some of these plants indicate a warmer climate at one time in
this region than at present, though hardly tropical, or, as Dr. Newberry
has shown, not even sub-tropical, although on the Pacific coast species
of the palm and cinnamon, indicative of a tropical climate, are found.
Té may be that when these rocks are more thoroughly studied, plants
of a tropical or sub-tropical character will be found. I take pleasure
in transcribing the following paragraph from Dr. Newberry’s able report
on these plants:

At the base of the cretaceous series in New Jersey, occur a coarse, sort sandstone
and beds of sandy clay which contain a large number of fossil leaves, many of which,
collected by Professor George H. Cook, of New Brunswick, by Messrs. Meek, Hayden,
and ethers, have been submitted to me for examination. Unfortunately most of these
leaves are inclosed in a material so coarse and friable that they have been much broken
and are scarcely susceptible of accurate study. They form, however, quite a rich flora.
which includes a number of species not yet obtained from the cretaceous beds of the
West, with others that are apparently identical with some obtained by myseif on the
banks of the Whetstone Creek in Western Kansas. Among these plants is a beautiful
conifer, generically new, as indicated by its cones, which are in a good state of preser-
vation. The plants from this district have not as yet been carefully studied, and they
form an attractive subject for future investigation. In the circumstances of their fos-
silization they resemble the plants of the West, and apparently indicate an invasion
_ of the ocean, occasioned by a subsidence by which the limits of the continent were con-

tracted, but to what extent on its eastern margin, we have no means of determining
accurately.

By referring to the list of plants on a preceding page it will be seen that the ere-
taceous strata of the west coast include some forms not yet discovered in the Kansas
and Nebraska beds. Among these, Salisburia, Sabal, Cinnamomum, &c., are indicative
ofa warm climate. Possibly these genera may hereafter be detected in the plant beds
of Kansas, Nebraska and New Mexico, but as yet we have no intimation of their exist-
ence, and there is nothing now known in the cretaceous flora of that region which
gives it a tropical or even sub-tropical character.

It will be remembered that this vegetation grew upon a broad continental surface
of which the central portion was considerably elevated. This would give us a physical
condition not unlike that of the continent at the present day, and it would seem to be
inevitable that the isothermal lines should be curved over the surface somewhat as
they are at present. It may very well happen, therefore, that we shall find the palms
and cinnamons restricted to the western margin of the cretaceous continent. It will
be seen by the notes now given of the tertiary flora of our’ continent that at a later
date palms grew in the same region where these cretaceous plants are found, but cin-
namon and other tropical plants seem to be entirely wanting in the tertiary flora of the
central parts of the continent, while on the west coast both palms and cinnamons
lived during the tertiary period as far north as the British line. We have, therefore,

negative evidence from these facts—though it may be reversed at an early day by
further observations—that the climate of the interior of our continent during the
tertiary age was somewhat warmer than during the cretaceous period, and that during
both the same relative differences of climate prevailed between the central and western
portions that exist at the present day.

Near the entrance of the Big Sioux River into the Missouri the

\

90 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Dakota Group disappears beneath the water-level, and is succeeded by
a series of black, plastic, laminated clays, with lighter-colored arenaceous
partings and thin layers of sandstone. Near the mouth of the Ver-
million River the upper portion becomes more calcareous, and gradually
passes up into the next group. This formation has been called No. 2,
or Fort Benton Group. It is often immensely thickened in the vicin-
ity of the mountains from the north line to New Mexico, but on the

Lower Missouri, where it was first observed by geologists, it never

reaches a thickness of more than one hundred and fifty or two hun-
dred feet. In New Mexico it occurs as the most conspicuous of the
cretaceous divisions, and along the line of the Kansas Pacific Railway,
in Kansas, it has yielded large quantities of the most remarkable rep-
tilian remains. In the chapter on the geology of that route I shall
have oceasion to dwell more minutely on the interesting facts connected
with this group. On the Missouri River it has yielded a number of
species of Inoceramus, Scaphites, Amonites, and some thin layers are
made up of remains of the scales and teeth of fishes. Farther up the
Missouri River, near the mouth of the Niobrara, and resting on these
sandstones and clays, is a thick bed of chalky limestone, containing
vast quantities of a small species of oyster, and a large bivalve, Ino-
ceramus problematicus, which is identical in species, or closely allied
with one found in many portions of Europe. Some remarkable forms of
fishes, not unlike our shad or herring, also sharks’ teeth, have been
found in abundance. A few other shells have been described in various
localities in this chalk, and all of them are of a strictly marine charac-
ter Much of this limestone, though colored extensively with oxide of
iron, is soft, and leaves a mark on a blackboard or cloth like our com-
mon chalk of commerce. It is also composed largely of infusorial
remains, as distinctly shown under the microscope. ‘This formation, as
well as the sandstone, is very widely distributed over the plain country
in Nebraska, Dakota, and Kansas, and its influence on the agricultural
prosperity of these regions is very great. The fertility of the soil is
largely due to the calcareous matter of the one mingled with the silica
derived from the other. The bluff-like character of these chalky lime-
stones, as Shown along the channel of the Missouri from the mouth of the
Niobrara to the mouth of White River, is well illustrated by Figure 2.

Fig. 2.

Bluffs of Niobrara Group, or C

This is one of the most interesting of the cretaceous divisions. It is
found in some form wherever the cretaceous beds occur, from the north

retaceous No. 3.

Ore

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. oil

line to New Mexico, and probably much farther. As it is developed on
the Lower Missouri, and southward through Nebraska, Kansas, into
Texas and the Indian Territory, it contains thick, massive beds of
chalky limestone. On the Kansas Pacific Railway, at Forts Hays and
Wallace, this limestone is sawed into blocks of any desirable size with
a common saw, and used for building purposes; but along the flanks of
the mountains, or in the far West, it never reveals its chalky character.
It is found in thin, slaty, calcareous layers, but universally character-
ized by the presence of the oyster, Ostrea congesta, and also some
form of Inoceramus, or a few fish remains, but the little oyster is
ubiquitous. We have spoken briefly of the lower series of cretaceous
rocks, as shown in the section. In these three divisions there seems to
be no well-marked line of separation, and the more we study them the
more intimately do they seem to be blended together. We shall here-
after refer to the seams of coal that have ‘been found in the Dakota
Group; and we will state just here that one local bed of carbonaceous
clay, which was used to some extent as fuel, was found in No. 2, on the’
Nebraska side of the Missouri, about thirty miles above Sioux City.
In no other portion of the West have we ever seen anything that ap-
proached coal in this group.

The Fort Pierre Group begins to overlap the Niobrara Group below
the mouth of the Niobrara, and above that point, although the river cuts
deep down into the chalk limestone, and long lines of cone-like blufis
extend up nearly to the Great Bend, yet the distant hills on either side of
the river show plainly the dark, shaly clays of No.4. This formation coy-
ers a vast area of country, perhaps fifty thousand square miles or more,
and wherever it prevails it gives to the surface the aspect of desolation.
The entire thickness of the group is filled with the alkaline material
which is so well known in the West, and wherever the water accumulates
in little depressions and evaporates the surface is covered with a deposit
of the salt varying from an inch to several inches in thickness. The
water that flows through these clays is usually impregnated with these
salts and thus rendered unfit for use. Although these clays seem to be
so sterile, and in the dry season are typical of extreme aridity, yet they
are by no means destitute of vegetation. The various species of chen-
opodiaceous shrubs and herbs that are peculiar to the West find their natu-
ral habitat in these clays, and grow most luxuriantly. The sarcobatus
reaches its highest growth in this region. It is probable, however, that
the country underlaid by rocks of this group will prove fertile when
it can be irrigated. The somber appearance given to the country by
the black clays is unfavorable to it. Nowhere except on the Upper
Missouri have I seen this formation so well defined or so fruitful in or-
ganic remains. The two zones mentioned in the section may be said to
exist geographically as well as geologically. At the Great Bend there
is a large thickness of the strata filled with coneretions that are made
up mostly of an aggregate of fossils, as Ammonites, Baculites, &c. Near
Chain de Roche Creek these concretions have been swept down into the
Missouri by the swift current during the spring floods, and in the low
water of autumn they present a picturesque appearance, as is shown in
Fig. 3.

This fossil zone extends across the country in a nearly east and west
direction. Passing above this point very few fossils, except here and
there a baculite or bones of the Mosasaurus, are found for one hundred
and fifty to two hundred miles, when another belt or zone of fossils ex-
tends across the country in the same direction. These zones undoubtedly
represent certain depths of the waters in the great cretaceous sea, which

~ 92 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

were peculiarly favorable for the production and existence of animal
life. Although the rivers cut deep channels through the different forma-
tions, we do not meet with the Fox Hills Group along the Missouri until we
reach nearly up to the mouth of Cannon Ball River, yet fifty miles or

Fig. 3.

TTT
i
H

== = ——— === —— SS
==> SS = = ——=S
= = = a

Concretions in Missourri River, near Chain de Roche Creek.

more before reaching that point it has overlapped the Fort Pierre
Group. In traveling across the plain country westward from Fort
Pierre we find it occupying the entire area. Very soon after passing
west of the Big Cheyenne River the traveler will readily recognize
its presence by the more cheerful appearance that it gives to the surface,
as well as by the greatly increased growth of vegetation. The water is
pure and good, and springs beceme quite common in the hilis. In this
group also there is*a remarkable zone of fossils, exending across the ‘
country in either direction from the Missouri River. Near the mouth
of the Cannon Ball River, the surface is covered with rounded conere-
tions of rusty-brown arenaceous limestone, crowded with beautiful mo-
luscous fossils. This belt is quite narrow and extends eastward toward
the Coteau de Prairie, and westward between the Big Cheyenne and
Grand Rivers, along the north side of the Black Hills. I have thus
given the typical features which those groups assume on the Missouri
River. As we recede from this region southward there are many
modifications, especially lithologically; yet to one familiar with them
they never lose all their characters, so that they cannot be detected.
Like the human face, neither time nor distance can so change it that
it does not retain some trace of its original features. In my explora-
tions I have traced these groups over hundreds of miles in every direc-
tion, and I have no doubt that they extend from the Arctic Circle to
the Isthmus of Darien; and that at some future period they will be so
carefully studied at different points that they may be cennected into
one harmonious group. All the facts that I have been able to gather
up to this time tend toward the unity and simplicity of the geology of
the entire Rocky Mountain system.

If the reader has the patience and interest to follow me through this
report, he will find frequent allusions to all these groups in the deserip-
tion of the geology of various localities. Some of these groups come

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. aS

to the surface very often, not unfrequently in unexpected localities, as
is observed on the Yellowstone, where the fossiliferous beds of No. 4 are
exposed in the channel of the stream for a distance of sixty miles.
Nowhere south of the Missouri River have I seen any locality where a
distinct line of separation could be drawn between the upper and lower
series, and it is probable that this line will be best shown on the Upper
Missouri of any portion of the West. The break here is quite plain,
lithologically, and so far as the organic remains are concerned, our ex-
plorations have not yet been able to secure a single species that passes
from one to the other. The next important feature in the geology of
the West are the great lake basins, which seem to set in the older forma-
tions and in each other like dishes, and these are most properly called
basins. The principal one is the Fort Union, or Great Lignite Group,
which forms the transition group from thestrictly marine condition of the
cretaceous period to the epoch of the numerous fresh-water lakes which
were scattered all over the country west of the Mississippi. Now that
the attention of explorers has been called to this remarkable system of
lakes, I have no doubt they will be found to have existed all over the
western portion of the continent, from the extreme north to the far
south. In the chapter by Dr. Newberry on the ancient lakes of the
West there is a most graphic description, to which the reader is referred.
The following general section conveys a clear idea of the different groups,
so far as they were known, up to the time of its first publication in the
proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, December, 1861. As
these groups will be frequently referred to in this report as well as suc-
ceeding reports, and as each year’s explorations extends their area or
adds new facts to our knowledge of them, it will be a matter of interest.

General section of the tertiary roéks of Nebraska.

: E
z Be
Names. sf Subdivisions. 3 Localities. gs
° Sen
1 es
S ate
H 3

Feet.
Loup River | Fine loose sand, with some layers of lime- | 300t0400 | On Loup fork of Platte River,

from living species. Also Helix, Physa, Platte.
Succinea, probably of recent species.
All fresh-water and land types.
White Riv-| White and light-drab clays, with some | 1,000 Bad Lands of White River,

beds. stone; contains bones of Canis, Felis, Cas- extending north to Niobrara || ¢
tor, Equus, Mastodon, Testudo, &c., some River, and south to an un- a

of which are scarcely distinguishable known distance beyond the | ¢

a

er Group. beds of sandstone and local layers of | or more. under the Loup River beds,
limestone. Fossils: Oreodon, Titanothe- on Niobrara, and across the
rium, Cheropotamus, Rhinoceros, Anchi- country to the Platte.

therium, Hyenodon, Machairodus, Tri-
onyx, Testudo, Helix, Planorbis, Limnea,
petrified wood, &c. All extinct. No
brackish-water or marine remains.
Wind River| Light-gray and ash-colored sandstones, 1,500 | Wind River Valley; also west
deposits. with more or less argillaceous layers. to of Wind River Mountains.
Fossils: fragments of Trionyx, Testudo, 2, 000
with large Helix, Vivipara, petrified
wood, &c. Nomarine or brackish-water

types.
Fort Union | Beds of clay and sand, with round ferru- | 2,000 | Occupies the whole country |

Miocene.

oT)

or Great ginous concretions, and numerous beds, | or more. around Fort Union, extend- |

Lignite seams, and local deposits of lignite, great ing north into the British || _

Group. numbers of dycotyledonous leaves, possessions to unknown dis- | | =
stems, &c., of the genera Platanus, Acer, tances; also southward to as
Ulmus, Populus, dc., with very large Fort Clark. Seen under the 8
leaves of true fan palms. Also Helix, WhiteRiver Group on North 3
Melania, Vivipara, Corbicula, Unio, Os- Platte River above Fort || 5
trea, Corbula, and scales of TLepido- Laramie. Also on west side
tus, with bones of Trionyx, Emys, Comp- of Wind River Mountains.

—-—— «Se

semys, Crocodilus, éc.

=

94 _ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

“The passage from the brackish to the fresh-water beds in the oldest.
member of the tertiary of this region seems not to be marked by any
material alteration in the nature of the sediments. Nor have we, so
far as is yet known, any reasons for believing that any climatic or other
important physical changes beyond the slow rising of the land, and the
consequent recession of the salt and brackish water, took place during
the deposition of the whole of the oldest member of the tertiary here,
since we find a considerable proportion of the species of fresh-water
mollusca ranging through this whole lower member. The principal dif-
ference between the fossils of its upper and lower beds consists in the
gradual disappearance of strictly brackish-water types as we ascend from
the inferior strata. The entire series of Nebraska tertiary rocks con-
sists of three or four groups, three of which, at least, (and probably
four,) evidently belong to separate and distinct epochs. They usually
occur in isolated basins, but have, with one exception, all been seen in
such connection as to leave no doubts in regard to their order of super-
position.”

The most important thought evolved from the study of this Fort
Union Group is the fact, which we now believe is well established, that
it contains the history of the growth, step by step, of a most important
period of our continent. The area which it occupies is not yet known,
but every year it is extended north, south, and west. It is also charac-
terized by numerous beds of coal, or lignite as it was formerly called,
and, so far as the Upper Missouri is concerned, most of the coal is true
lignite. Itis quite probable that the coal-making period began in the
latter portion of the cretaceous era, and extended up into the tertiary.
The observations of geologists in New Mexico and Utah point to the
conclusion that large deposits of excellent coal occur in the upper cre-
taceous series. The field for minute study in this direction is immense,
and we must await the results of future explorations before we can de-
cide positively. Another interesting feature connected with this group
is the splendid series of fossil plants which it has yielded, showing the
existence during the early tertiary period, on these now treeless plains, of
forests ofalmost subtropical character and luxuriance. Dr. Newberry, the
celebrated geologist and botanist, has already described more than fifty
species of plants from this group, which were collected on the Yellow-
stone and Missouri Rivers, many of them indicating forests of huge
growth. Among them are not less than eight species of Populus, (pop-
lars,) four species of Platanus, a sycamore, and a species of fan palm,
the leaves of which must have had a spread of nearly twelve feet. The
very interesting remarks of Dr. Newberry in this connection will be read
with pleasure and instruction by every student of geology :

These fossils are generally well preserved in a calcareo-argillaceous rock of a light-
drab color, upon which the leaves are delineated with a distinctness that renders them
pleasant objects of study, as well as attractive specimens for the cabinet. They are
usually detached with their petioles in such numbers and forms as indicate maturity,
and a common cause of fall, such as an annual frost. The mollusks associated with
them show that they were deposited in the sediment which accumulated at the bottom
of some fresh-water stream or lake, and they are generally spread out so smoothly and
so entire, that it is evident no violence, not even the action of a rapid current, could
have been attendant upon their deposition. The sediment which inclosed them was
usually very fine; a fact also indicative of a tranquil state of the water in which they
were suspended.

The explorations of Dr. Hayden prove that this miocene lignite formation occupies
the beds of extensive lakes, which filled deep basins on the surface of the continent
when it had but recently emerged from the eretaceous sea. As has been remarked
elsewhere, the lower members of the series contain a few estuary shells, showing the
access of salt water at the period of their formation ; but during the deposition of by far
the greater portion of these beds, the water of the ocean was entirely excluded from

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 95

“the basins in which they accumulated. By tracing the outline of these deposits, Dr.
Hayden has demonstrated that sheets of fresh water once covered surfaces in this por-
tion of the continent which, in extent, rivaled the great chain of fresh-water lakes
which exist elsewhere in our country at the presentday. There is, therefore, every rea-
son to believe that the remains of ligneous plants which compose this collection were
derived from trees which grew along the shores of the lakes and streams of the tertiary
continent; that then, as now, alternations of seasons prevailed, by which the foliage |
of these trees was periodically detached, and that, falling into the waters beneath, or
near them, and sinking to the bottom, they were enveloped in mud precisely as leaves '
of our sycamores, willows, oaks, &c., accumulate at the bottom of our streams and .
lakes at present. ‘

_ In comparing the group of plants here presented to us with those now living upon
the surface of the earth, any one will be at once struck with the resemblance which
they present to the flora of the temperate zone, and more particularly with that of our
own country. In their study I have constantly found that on making comparisons
with the plants of remote, and especially tropical countries, an entire want of resem-
blance or affinity at once discovered itself, and the only instructive comparisons made
have been with the present vegetation of our country, that of the miocene tertiaries of
Europe, and with the living plants of China and Japan. There is every reason to be-
lieve that future observations will make immense additions to this flora, and satis-
factory comparisons and generalizations will only be possible when a far more com-
plete series of its plants can be subjected to study. It is also true that as yet little
other than the leaves of these plants have been collected and employed in the deduc-
tionsmadefromthem. From the character of the sediments which inclose these leaves,
it is quite certain that the fruit and seeds are also preserved in the strata from which
they were derived; but as they are less conspicuous and noticeable than the leaves, they
are little likely to be found unless especially sought, and it will only be when they are
made the special objects of searchthat they will be discovered, and lend their import-
ant assistance in the solution of the problems which the leaves present. For the
want of such information as these organs would supply, some of the material included
in the collection does not now admit of satisfactory classification, and the references of
some of the leaves to the genera under which they are placed must be regarded as pro-
visional and liable to modification by further research. Quite a number of these plants
are, however, so largely represented in the collection, so well preserved, and so clearly
allied to the genera and species with which we are familiar, that they constitute fair
material from which to infer the general characters and affinity of the flora of which
they form a part. In this list may be mentioned the Glyptostrobus, of which the stems,
bearing the leaves of different forms, the cones and the sterile capitula are all present,
and so closely resemble the specimens described by Professor Heer from the miocene of
Europe, that they might also be considered the originals from which his figures were
taken. The living analogue of this is G. heterophyllus of China.

The Taxodium now described is evidently a close analogue of Taxodium dubium of the
miocene of Europe; differing from that well-known species only in the uniform round-
ing of the bases and summits of the leaves.

The fossil which has been doubtfully referred to Sequoia Langsdorfii would probably
be regarded by foreign botanists as identical with that species, but for the reason given
in the remarks upon that plant, it seems to me quite doubtful whether it was a Sequoia,
and more probable that it was a Taxodiwm allied to our deciduous cypress.

The great fan palm (Sabal Campbelli) collected by Dr. Hayden seems to be a repre-
‘sentative of Sabal major of the European tertiaries, and Sabal palmetto of our Southern
States. From both these, however, it is distinguished by the large number of folds in
the leaves, and from S. major by its flat, unkeeled petiole. The plate now given of this
species represents the under surface of the leaf and petiole, but the collection also con-
tains fragments showing the upper surface; and in the collections of the northwestern
boundary commission are specimens obtained from the coast near Frazer’s River, which
exhibit in fine preservation the upper surface of the base of the leaf and a large portion
of the petiole. From these latter specimens the species was originally described in the
journal of the Boston Natural History Society.

The numerous species of Populus, of which figures are now given, will not fail to
attract the attention of those whose interest runs in this direction. Several of them
seem to be new to science, and show, for the most part, a greater affinity with the for-
eign poplars, P. alba, &c., than with the specimens more common on this continent,
though a single one, P. genatrix, evidently belongs to the group of which our balsam
poplar may be taken asa type. The little species described under the name P. rotun-
difolia presents some anomalies in form and structure as compared with most of our
poplars, but its resemblance to another species contained in this collection, P. elliptica,
and one contained in the collection of the Northwest Boundary Commission, which I
described under the name P. flabellum, have induced me to class them together. Among
living species it has a striking analogue in Populus pruinosa now growing in Songaria.

The several species of Platanus which the collection contains form a striking and in-

96 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

teresting portion of this group of plants, and all seem to be quite distinct from the
fossil species hitherto described, or any now living. Of our American sycamores, the
leaves of P. occidentalis are much more toothed, while those of P. racemosa are more
deeply lobed than any of these. P. aceroides, a species from the tertiaries of Europe, is
more closely allied to our living ones than these seem to be. The largest and finest of
those now described (P. nobilis,) in its smoothness of surface, crowded and parallel
nervation, departs more widely from the typical species of Platanus than the others,
and has more the appearance of a tropical plant. An extensive series of comparisons
has, however, suggested no affinities closer than those with the living, Platanus, and
I have little doubt that in these leaves, of which the collection contains a large num-
ber; we have representatives of the noblest and most beautiful species of the genus.

Two of the species of Corylws present no characters by which they can be distin-
guished from the two now distributed over the temperate portions of our continent (C.
rostrata and C. Americana,) and I have, therefore, not felt justified in considering them
distinct. The Carya, figured, seems to me clearly to belong to this genus, and to be
closely allied to one of our living species. The Tilia also is not far removed from 7,
heterophylla, one of our southern living species; while the Negundo, Sapindus, &c., seem
to be the representatives of the genera and species now growing near the regions from
which these fossils come.

From this flora, considering it the analogue and progenitor of that which now occu-
pies our territory, we miss some important elements, and such as we may confidently
expect will be supplied by future collectors. Among the most striking of these
deficiencies may be mentioned Acer, Quercus, Magnolia, Liriodendron, Liqudambar, Sassafras
&c., some of which, as we know, began their life upon the continent during the creta-
ceous period, and all of them were members of the miocene flora of the Old World.
Liquidambar, Quercus, and Magnolia occur in the pliocene beds of New Jersey, Magnolia
and Quercus in the miocene strata of the Mississippi Valley; Fagus also, which is want-
ing in the collection, has been obtained from the eocene by Mr. Lesquereux.

On comparing this flora with that of the miocene rocks of the west coast, we find
Smilax, Quercus, Salix, Oreodaphne, Acer, and Cinnamomwm—all of which are represented
there—to be wanting here, while the Sabal, Glyptostrobus, and Taxodium are common to
the two floras.

Until further collections shall be made from the plant beds of the Upper Missouri, it
is evident that the deductions from the negative evidence of absent genera and species
must be regarded as unsatisfactory, but it is a fact, not without its significance, that
the genus Cinnamomum, which was largely represented in both the cretaceous and ter-
tiary deposits of the west coast, and in the eocene of the eastern portion of the conti-
nent, should be entirely absent from the large amount of material collected by Dr.
Hayden.*

We are at least justified in saying that from the evidence now before us, we must
conclude that the flora of the banks of these inland lakes of the miocene period was
that of a temperate climate, not warmer than that of the middle portion of our South-
ern States, and somewhat less warm than that of the eastern portion of our continent
during the eocene period, or the western during the miocene age.

The notes on some of the species contained in the collection made by Dr. Hayden,
Sequoia Langsdorfii, Sabal campbellit, Onoclea sensibilis, &c., have a bearing on the general
questions to which reference has been made in the preceding pages, but the occurrence
of an Onoclea among these miocene plants, and a species which I cannot distinguish
from the living one, seems to me a fact of so much importance as to require some addi-
tional comments.

The fern frond found by the Duke of Argyle in the leaf beds of the Island of Mull,
and figured by Professor E. Forbes in the Journal of the Geological Society of London,
(vol. vii, 1851, p. 103; Pl. Il, Figs. 2a, 2b,) and named by him Jelicites (?) hebridicus, is
unquestionably identical with this. The specimen from which the figures I have re-
ferred to were taken seems to have puzzled Professor Forbes somewhat, for he doubted
if it was a fern; and Professor Heer, in his reference to the fossil plants of the Island
of Mull, (Ilor. Tert., Helvet., vol. iii, p. 314,) says: “The most remarkable species is
Felicites (?) hebridicus, a fern which by its nervation differs greatly from those of the
continent.” Ail these facts give this fossil special interest, for, in addition to its rela-
tions to its living representatives—of which we cannot but consider it the progenitor—
it adds another to the list of plants common to the miocene strata of Hurope and
America.

Of these—either representative or identical species—the number is now so great that
they plainly indicate a land connection between the continents at that period; and
since many genera, and this, with probably some other species, at that time common
to the Old and New Worlds, have disappeared from Europe while they continue to
flourish here, it would seem to follow that these were American types which had colo-

*If it is true, as now seems probable, that a large part of the Bellingham Bay deposits are cretaceous,
that would account for this marked difference between the plants collected by Dr. Evans, Mr. Gibbs,
&c., from those collected by Dr. Hayden. :

.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, Si

nized Europe by migration ; and that when their connection with their mother country
was severed they were overpowered and exterminated by the present flora of Europe,
which, as Professor Gray has shown, is mainly of North Asiatic origin.

The fact to which reference has just been made, viz, the occurrence of Onoclea sensi-
bilis on the Island of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland, while it has not been found
in the tertiary beds of other parts of Europe, is indicative, so far as it goes, not only
of an American connection during the miocene period, but of an American origin for
that species; and so, by inference, of the other genera and species common to the two
continents during that epoch.

If this inference should be confirmed by future observations, we should then see how
the eocene tropical or subtropical flora of Europe was crowded off the stage by the
temperate flora of the miocene, which latter, accompanying a depression of tempera-
ture, had migrated from America, while the eocene flora retreated south and east, and
is now represented by the living Indo-Australian flora—characterized by its Hakew,
Dynandre, Ucalypti, &c., &c., which form so conspicuous an element in the eocene flora
of Europe. . This theory would account for the presence of these tropical forms in
the lower miocene of Europe, while, so far as yet observed, they are entirely absent
from the miocene flora of America. In Europe a few of the eocene forms lingered be-
hind in the grand exodus of that flora, and mingled with the more boreal and occi-
dental barbarians by which the country was overrun, while in America these which
we now call Asiatic forms never had an existence.

That this bridge between America and Europe was im a tefnperate climate is proved
by the character of the plants which passed over it. On referring to a terrestrial globe
it will be seen that by way of Greenland, Iceland, and the Hebrides, there are no very
wide gaps to be spanned; but a connection by that route would carry us so far into the
Arctic zone that none of the plants which we suppose to have made that journey could
have withstood the cold if the climate had been the same as at present. We have con-
elusive evidence, however, that it was not so, for on McKenzie’s River, Disco Island,
on Iceland and the Island of Mull, we have, in the recurrence of parts of the very flora
under consideration, proof, not only of a warmer climate at the far north during the
miocene epoch, but that a part of the plants which formed the miocene flora of europe
actually did travel that road; at least, that they visited all these localities, and, in the
buried remains of generations which were never to see the promised land, left us imper-
ishable records of the reality of this migration.

That we cannot, without further study, assign a cause for this great change of climate
in the northern part of our continent, is no proof against its existence, for the facts
still remain ; the cause of the phenomena is simply a thing to be learned. Several pos- -
sible causes might be mentioned, but of those which suggest themselves, the deflection
of the Gulf Stream seems to me the most natural, simple, and best to account for an
elevation of the temperature of Greenland, Iceland, &c. Whether this cause would be
sufficient to account for all the phenomena is at least doubtful. A diminution of the
land surface at the north, if it could be proved, would help to solve the enigma. Prob-
ably several causes conspired to produce this effect, but they were apparently local, or
at least terrestrial, as a cosmical cause, producing a general elevation of temperature
on the earth’s surface, would have given us a tropical flora on the Upper Missouri,
whereas we find in the miocene flora there, as yet, really no tropical plants.

There is one other basin near the sources of the Missouri River which
has already yielded many fossils of great interest, but which seems to be
isolated from the others. This is what I have called the Judith basin,
and inasmuch as it seems to be one of the ancient lake deposits, and
characterized by a peculiar group of organic remains, I will designate
the strata as the Judith Group. The sediments do not differ materially
from those of the Fort Union Group, and they contain impure beds of
lignite, fresh water mollusca, and a few leaves of deciduous trees. But
the most remarkable feature of this group is the number and variety of
the curious reptilian remains, of which we have only yet caught a
glimpse. There is probably no portion of the West that furnishes such
a harvest of fossil remains and instructive geological facts as the coun-
try bordering on the Missouri River, from the mouth of the Yellowstone
to the foot of the mountains above the great falls of the Missouri; and
as this country is reserved for examination the coming season, 1
will leave the obscurity which now invests it to be cleared in the next
annual report.

All the groups of rocks now known to occur iv. the Northwest are well
shown along the flanks and among the foot-hil’s of the mountains. The

7G

se

98 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

smaller ranges, as the Little Rocky, Judith, Bear’s Paw, and Belt ranges,
form the most interesting studies. Asa rule, a central mass or nucleus
of metamorphic rocks is elevated above the surrounding plain, and
around these nuclei are exposed the Jurassic, triassic, carboniferous, and
Potsdam rocks, in their order of sequence. Butnothing short of a topo-
graphical survey, in connection with the geology, will make the struc-
ture of this region clear to the scientific world.

The Black Hills of Dakota will form one of the most interesting ~

studies on this continent. There is so much regularity in the upheaval
that all obscurity is removed and all the formations known in the West
are revealed in zones or belts around the granitic nucleus in their fullest
development. A careful detailed topographical and geological survey
of this range would be a.most valuable contribution to science. In all
the western country I have never seen the cretaceous, Jurassic, triassic, or
red-beds, the carboniferous and Potsdam rocks, so well exposed for study
as around the Black Hills.

.

CHAPTER VIII.

.* FROM OMAHA TO CHEYENNE.

In the preceding chapter I have given a brief review of the geologi-
cal formations of the Northwest, as revealed by that grand natural sec-
tion, the valley of the Missouri River. We are now prepared to pro-
ceed on our journey westward. .

The city of Omaha is most beautifully located on the western bank of

the Missouri River, on a second terrace, about fifty feet above the water-
level of the river. Terraces of the kind alluded to form a peculiar fea-
ture along the Missouri River and its tributaries, and are found from
the foot of the mountains to its mouth, andin many instances they seem
to afford most beautiful natural sites for cities. I will not, at this time,
enter into an explanation of the causes which produce these terraces,
but simply remark that they perhaps indicate oscillations of level in
the surface, or the gradual recession of the: waters toward the sea,
and that, far back in the past, each one of them has at one time formed
the bed of the river. They also seem to indicate that formerly the Mis-
souri carried to the ocean a vastly greater volume of water than at pres-
ent. Another feature will at once catch the eye of the observing trav-
eler, and that is the marvelous fertility of all this region. The wide
grassy bottoms are black with rich vegetable matter to an almost inde-
finite depth, while the upland terraces and hills are covered with a de-
posit of yellow marl, varying from twenty to one hundred and fifty feet
in thickness. There seems to be evidence that the ocean or a lake once
extended up the valley of the Mississippi, and up the Missouri beyond
the reach of tidal influences nearly to Fort Pierre, and that the myriads
of mountain streams poured their fresh waters into the great arm of
the sea, or estuary. These numerous streams, flowing through the soft
-maris, sands, and clays of the great plain country, mingling 1 their sedi-
ments in the waters, and deposited them in the bottom of this estuary.

*In chapters VIII to XIII inclusive, numerous extracts have been taken from the
text of a volume entitled “‘Sun-Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery,” and an article
published in the proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Feb-
ruary 19, 1869, by the writer. These papers necessarily have a very limited circulation,
and as these official reports are designed for distribution far and wide among the people,
this will be a sufficient excuse for introducing them in this connection.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 99

The channels of all the larger rivers had been marked out prior to this
time, for we find that these superficial deposits reach their greatest
thickness in the immediate valley of the Missouri River and thin out as
we pass up the valleys of its tributaries on the east and west side, while
they almost cease to appear near the mouth of White Earth River.

The question at once occurs, at what time did this geographical con-
dition of the country exist? We believe that it forms a part of what
is called the quarternary period in geology, which, though very modern,
geologically speaking, really extended far back .in the “past before the
existence of man on this continent, judging from the evidence we have
been able to secure up to the present time. If we examine the numer-
ous cuts, or washed bluffs, whic] we. find everywhere, we shall discover
a great variety of fresh-water and land sheils, as Helices, Paludinas,
Succinneas, &e., and here and there the remains of the mastedon and
elephant. In the year 1867, while prosecuting the geological survey of
Nebraska, under the General Government, I obtained from these maris
fine specimens of the molar teeth of the Hlephas americanus or Ameri-
can elephant, ‘and the mastodon, MW. americanus. These remains of
gigantic extinct animals are mingled with those of animals existing in
this region at the present time, such as rabbits, mice, gophers, beavers,
buffaloes, deer, &c., which have been found in great quantities. Nearly
all the sheils are identical with living species ; which are abundant in
some of the streams flowing into the Missouri and the Mississippi. In
the banks of some of the little streams, oftentimes buried ten to twenty
feet beneath the surface, are large accumulations of shells, as snails, fresh-
water mussels, &c., while very few and perhaps none exist at the present
time in the immediate vicinity. Sometimes, in the fine vegetable matter
that accumulates along the Missouri River from the annual floods, can
be seen bushels of minute snail shells, yet not a snail can now be found
alive anywhere in that region. We account for this by some change
in the physical conditions which were once very favorable for their exist-
ence and increase. The waters of the little streams were far clearer
and purer than at present. Now, at certain seasons of the year, they
become so charged with sediment that molluscous life cannot exist.
This is the case with the Missouri River from the foot of the mountains
‘to its mouth, and scarcely a shell can be found in its waters; but in
some of its tributaries, as the Big Sioux, James, Vermillion, &c., that
flow in from the north, there is the greatest abundance.

‘The traveler will very naturally inquire, why, with all this wonder-
ful fertility of soil, these broad, grass-covered plains do not contain a
suitable supply of forest trees. We will endeavor to answer this ques-
tion in another place. He will find, as he travels over the State of Ne-
braska, that the time is not very distant when portions of the country
will be covered with beautiful artificial forests, and we will attempt to
show that this is only a restoration of conditions that once existed far
in the geological past.

Before leaving the Missouri River I will refer briefly to an interesting
phenomenon which [ shall work up in detail at some future time. The
proofs of glacial action in the West are not common or very remarka-
ble in their character; still they are shown to a certain extent, not only
in the mountains but also in the plains. Along the Platte River, below
Omaha, and on the Missouri, near the city, the carboniferous limestones
have had their upper surface so thoroughly smoothed by glacial action
that they can be quarried out and used for caps and sills without any
further finish to them. And the process seems to have been carried on
with wonderful uniformity, for the upper surface seems to be as level as:

2

100 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

if it had been wrought with aplumbline. There area few small grodves
or scratches, and by means of a compass I ascertained the direction to
be about 27° west of north, or about northeast and southwest. There
seem also to be two sets of scratches crossing each other at different
angles.

It would appear, from the evidence we have, that all the limestones
underneath the yellow marl and pebble deposits around Omaha, and
south to the Platte River, were smoothed or planed off by immense
masses of ice passing over them, for wherever these superficial deposits
have been stripped, the upper rocky layers are planed off with remark-
able smoothness. In. the mountains proper, the evidences of glacial
action are not uncommon, especially owthe sides of the deep valleys and
gorges, but the causes were local and operated when the temperature of
the climate was much lower than it is at present.

Westward from Omaha we wend our way among the rounded grassy
hills which rise in wave-like undulations as far as the eye can reach in
every direction. The first glance at such a scene strikes the stranger
with astonishment at its wonderful beauty, but it soon becomes so mon-
otonous that any flat plain or rugged mountain is a relief. About thirty
miles to the westward the road passes out of the hills into the valley of
the Platte, and the journey westward is one gradual ascent to the moun-
tains, walled on either side by more or less abrupt hills or bluffs. Here
we may stop for a while to discuss some of the more important geologi-
cal features for the first one hundred miles of our route. The surface
deposits over this area possess no small degree of interest, both in an
economical as well as scientific point of view, Dut [ have already suffi-
ciently explained their character. They seem, however, to occupy a
very large area in this portion of Nebraska, concealing almost entirely
the underlyi ing or basis rocks. The geology, therefore, becomes some-
what obseure, - and can be studied only at a few outcroppings, from point
to point. The principal exposures are along the Platte, where the river
has cut a wide and deep channel through the surface of the country.

he fact, however, that the strata are very nearly horizontal, that there
are no upheavals nor mountain elevations to disturb the original posi-
tions of the beds, aids us much in our investigations. We believe that
the whole of Douglas County is underlaid by the limestones of the upper
coal measures, with perhaps a moderate thickness of the rusty sand-
stones of the lower cretaceous or Dakota Group lying above them in the
western portion of the county. At the mouth of the Platte these coal-_
measure limestones are very conspicuous, and supply the greater por-
tion of the building stones of this region. The dip, if any, is quite gen-
tle toward the northwest, and at the mouth of the Elkhorn River the
carboniferous limestones have passed beneath the water-level of the
Platte, not to be seen again until we arrive at the eastern margins of
the Rocky Mountains. Overlying these are the ferruginous sandstones
which contain the impressions of deciduous leaves. Near the mouth of
Elkhorn are some of the abrupt bluffs of this sandstone, and the soft,
yielding nature of the rock has enabled the Indian to record on it his
curious hieroglyphical history.

Fig. 4 illustrates the sandstone bluffs as they occur on Little Blue
River in the southern portion of Nebraska.

The question often arises in the minds of visitors to this region, how
the law of compensation supples the want of fuel in the absence of trees
for that use. Many persons have taken the position that the Creator
never made such a vast country, with a soil of such wonderful fertility,
and rendered it so suitable for the abode of man, without storing in the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 101

earth beds of carbon for his needs. If this idea could be shown to be
true in any case, we would ask why are the immense beds of coal stored
away in the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia, while at the same
time the surface is covered with dense forests of timber? Wenow know

that this law does not apply to the natural world, and if it did, this
western country would be a remarkable exception. The State of Ne-
braska seems to be located on the western rim of the great coal basin
of the West, and cnly thin seams of poor coal will probably ever be
found. But in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, in Wyoming and
Colorado, coal in immense quantities has been hidden away for ages,
and the Union Pacific Railroad has now brought it near the door of
every man’s dwelling.

These Rocky Mountain coal beds will one day supply an abundance
of fuel for more than one hundred thousand square miles along the Mis-
souri River of the most fertile agricultural land in the world. Every
acre of land in Eastern Nebraska is already in possession of the thriv-
ing farmer, and some of the most beautiful farms in the West can now
be seen there. Although comparatively new, it looks like an old settled
country. Farm-houses and small villages meet the eye in every direc-
tion, and the great interest which the more intelligent and enterprising
citizens have taken in tree-planting is covering the once naked hills with
the most elegant artificial groves. The time is not far distant when
Nebraska will be noted all over the world for the grandeur and beauty
of its agricultural portions. Being composed entirely of plain country,
with rocks of comparatively modern age, all holding a horizontal posi-
tion, or nearly so, without a single mountain range within its bounda-
ries, Nebraska can never ke remarkable in any way for its mineral re-
sources. It is true that it has its salt springs, Which are annually be-
coming more important and valuable. These springs are located near
Lincoln, the capital of the State, and the saline water flowing from them
into Salt Creek has given character to quite an important tributary of
the Platte for thirty miles or more. This stream flows through a most
beautiful, rolling, fertile region, covered with splendid farms, and has a

102 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

deep channel, with steep muddy banks, a kind of forbidden object. Not
@ being can drink its waters, nor until near its entrance into the Platte
do they, by accession of little streams and springs, become sufficiently
freshened for the use of animals.

The valley of the Platte is a natural avenue through the country,
from the foot of the mountains to the Missouri, and all the earthy mate-
rials which could possibly have existed over this vast area, from the
summits of the highest hills on either side, and I know not how much
more, have, in the lapse of ages, been swept down into the Missouri
River and then conveyed to the ocean, to be distributed over its bottom
to form layers for the study of future geologists. We may arrive ap-
proximately at the number of square miles of sediment which have been
removed from this valley. It is at least five hundred miles in length,
and from bluff to bluff will average more than four miles in width for
the entire distance. Taking this low estimate as a basis, we have two
thousand square miles of area literally carved out and carried away.
We cannot compute the thickness of the sediment at less than one thou-
sand feet, and it is altogether probable that it was much more. This vast
change gives evidence of the tremendous forces of nature that have been
continually at work all over this region. West of the mouth of the Elk
Horn River the valley of the Platte expands widely. The hills on either
side are quite low, rounded, and clothed with a thick carpet of grass.
But we shall look in vain for any large natural groves of forest trees, there
being only a very narrow fringe of willows or cottonwocds along the
little streams. The Elk Horn rises far to the northwest in the prairie
near the Niobrara, and flows for a distance of nearly two hundred miles
through some of the most fertile and beautiful lands in Nebraska.
Hach of its more important branches, as Mapie, Pebble, and Logan
Creeks, has carved out for itself broad, finely-rounded valleys, so that
almost every acre may be brought under the highest state of cultiva-
tion. The great need here will be timber for fuel and other economical
purposes, and also rock material for building. Still the resources of
this region are so vast that the enterprising settler will devise plans to
remedy all these deficiencies. He will plant trees, and thus raise his
own forests and improve his lands in accordance with his wants and
necessities.

These valleys have always been the favorite places of abode for nu-
merous tribes of Indians from time immemorial, and the sites of their old
villages are still to be seen in many localities. The buffalo, deer, elk,
antelope, and other kinds of wild game, swarmed here in the greatest
numbers, and as they recede farther to the westward into the more arid
and barren plains beyend the reach of civilization, the wild nomadic
Indian is obliged to follow. Geese, ducks, and other kinds of wild fowl,
with now and then a stray antelope or red deer, may yet be seen, and
the enterprising hunter may treat himself to a large amount of toil and
a small amount of game. The underlying rocks, as far west as Colum-
bus and beyond, though very seldom visible, are well known to belong
to the chalk period, and consist of yielding sands, clays, and chalky lime-
stones. These soft rocks, so readily erumbling under the atmospheric
influences, have given-a very gently-undulating and rounded appearance
to the entire surface. One may travel for days in this region and not
find a stone large enough to toss at a bird, and very seldom a bush suf
ficient in size to furnish a cane. Yet this region is settling up with
emigrants with great rapidity; railroads are now in progress of con-
struction, or are in contemplation, and villages are springing up in nu-
merous localities. The principal ones at the present time are Frémont

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 193

and Columbus. The latter, from its supposed central geographical posi-
tion, has been regarded as the possible seat of the capital of the United
States in case of “its removal to the West.

Soon after leaving Columbus we:cross Loup Fork or Wolf River, an
important branch of the Platte, which rises in the Sand Hills, one hun-
dred.and fifty to two hundred miles to.the northwest, and drains a large
area of country. dn the summer of 1857 I had the opportunity of fol-
lowing it up from mouth to source in connection with an expedition
under the command of Lieutenant (now General) G. K. Warren, United
States Army. Its lower portion passes through an extremely fertile
region, but: above the Pawnee Reservation the Sand Hills begin to mo-
nopolize the country and render it unfit for settlement.

We now pass the eastern shore of one of the most interesting and
most wonderful of those great lake basins which are found all over the
West from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast; there is no water
in it at the present time, and its existence is only known to the student
of geology. During the tertiary period it occupied an area of at least
one hundred thousand, and very possibly one hundred and fifty thou-
sand, square miles. It will thus be seen that our greatest northern
lakes, of which we so proudly boast, are but ponds in comparison with
some "that once existed in this mountain region. ‘The close observer
will notice at once that he is passing into a district the rock formations
of which are quite different from any that he has seen before. He finds,
also, that he is passing beyond the signs of great fertility, luxuriant
vegetation, fine far ms, and fields of grain, toa comparatively arid, sterile
region; still, the broad bottoms of. the Platte are covered with a fair
growth of eras, but the chances for the successful cultivation of crops.
of any of the cereals are very small. The soil becomes too thin, sandy,
and arid for the growth of anything more than a scanty vegetation.

We might linger here for a moment and inquire into some of the
causes that have produced this scantiness of vegetation and almost
entire absence of trees over so large an area. There is quite a remark-
able belt or zone of country along the eastern base of the Rocky Mount-
ains, extending from the Arctic Sea far south to Mexico, upon which
but a small amount of moisture ever falls. This has often been denom-
inated the Great American Desert. In years past this belt was sup-
posed to comprise the greater portion of the area lying between the Mis-
souri River and the foot of the mountains, but every year as we know
more and more of the country this belt becomes narrower and narrower,
and as a continuous area it has already ceased to exist, even in imagina-
tion. There are, however, large portions of the country that are com-
paratively worthless and arid, which may be called barren or sterile.
1t is now pretty well understood that. the cause of the absence of timber
in this great region is want of moisture. A very clear explanation of
this subject, and one which seems in accordance with the facts, is given
by Professor Dana in Silliman’s Journal, vol. 40, page 393. If we were
to examine a rain chart we should find that where the forests are most
luxuriant, as along the Atlantic coast in the southern portion of the
Mississippi Valley, the greatest amount of rain falls annually—say fifty
to sixty-five inches ; and as soon as we approach any of the interior basins
of the western continent, or any portion of this dry belt, we observe that
the amount of moisture diminishes to thirty, twenty, fifteen, ten, and in
some cases to as low as five inches, annually. Again, along the Mis-
souri River, where the vegetation is quite extensive and the forest trees
abundant, we have twenty to thirty inches of rain; but as soon as we
pass to the westward three hundred miles we have but ten or fifteen

104 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

inches. On the Pacific coast of Oregon and Washington, whose gigantic
forests are celebrated all over the world, we find that from fifty-five to
sixty-five inches of rain fall annually. We might multiply these illus-
trations, but the evidence seems to be conclusive.

There is another point that may be worthy of note here, and that is
the prevailing impression among all the inhabitants of the West of a
gradual change of climate by settlement and the cultivation of the soil.
It is true, that over a width of one hundred miles or more along the
Missouri River the little groves of timber are extending their area; that
springs of water are continually issuing from the ground where none
were ever known before; and that the ‘distribution of rain throughout
the year is more equable. Such being the case, time may work import-
ant changes, and settlements may at | some time cause a large portion
of that belt which has hitherto been regarded as given up to sterility to
become of value for the abode of man.

The valleys of the Loup Fork and the Niobrara Rivers, although
largely uninhabitable, are full of interest to the geologist. Located
along these rivers is one of those grand cemeteries of extinct animals
which have excited the wonder of intelligent men all over the world.
Further to the northwest, on White Earth River, is another of these
far-famed bone deposits. These two interesting localities bear such a
relation to each other in the order of time and the relationship of the
animals preserved in them, that they should be described in the same
eonnection. I will therefore take the reader at once to the valley of
White Earth River, near the southwestern base of the Black Hills, and
there we shall behold one of the wildest regions on this continent. It
has always gone by the name of “Bad Lands;” by the Canadian
French as “ Mauvaises Terres ;” in the Dakota tongue, “ Ma-kod-si-tcha.” —
These words signify a very difficult country to travel through, not only
from the ruggedness of the surface, but also from the absence of any
good water and the small supply of wood and game. In the summer
the sun pours its rays on the bare white walls, which are reflected on the
weary traveler with double intensity, not only oppressing him with the
heat, but so dazzling his eyes that he is not unfrequently affeeted with
temporary blindness. LI have spent many days exploring this region
when the thermometer was 112° in the shade and there was no water
suitable for drinking purposes within fifteen miles. But it is only to
the geologist that this place can have any permanent attractions. He
can wind his way through the wonderful catons among some of the
grandest ruins in the world. Indeed, it resembles a gigantic city fallen
to decay. Domes, towers, minarets and spires may be seen on every
side, w hich assume a great variety of shapes when viewed in the distance.
Not ‘unfrequently the. rising or the setting sun will light up these grand
old ruins with a wild, strange beauty, reminding one of a city illumin-
ated in the night when seen from some high point. The harder layers
project from the sides of the valley or caton with such regularity that
they appear like seats, one above the other, of some vast amphitheater.
It is at the foot of these apparent architectural ruins that the curious
fossil treasures are found. In the oldest beds we find the teeth and
jaws of a Hyopotamus, a river horse much like the Hippopotamus, which
must have sported in his pride in the marshes that bordered this lake.
So, too, the Titanotherium,a gigantic pachyderm, was associated with a
species of hornless Rhinoceros. These huge rhinoceroid animals appear
at first to have monopolized this entire region, and the plastic, sticky
clay of the lowest bed of this basin, in which the remains were found,
seems to have formed a suitable bottom of the lake in which these thick-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 105

skinned monsters could wallow at pleasure. As we pass higher up in
the sediments, we find the remains of a great variety of land animals
mingled with those that were aquatic in their nature. In a bed of flesh-
colored marl which is visible for a great distance, like a broad band in
the sides of these washed hills, thousands of turtles were imbedded, and
are. preserved to the present time with surprising perfection, the hard
portions of them being as complete as when they were swimming about
in these tertiary waters hundreds of thousands of years ago. They
vary in size from an inch or two in length across the back to three or
four feet. But one species has ever been discovered in this basin, and
so far as we know these reptiles made up in numbers what they lacked
in variety. Associated with the remains of the turtles, are those of a
number of ruminants, all belonging to extinct genera. and possessing
peculiar characters which ally them to the deer and the hog. Indeed,
Dr. Leidy calls them ruminating hogs. Like the domestic species, they
were provided with cutting teeth and canines, but the grinding teeth
are constructed after the same pattern as those of all living ruminants.
The feet of these animals were also provided with four toes as in the
hog, and none of them possessed horns or antlers. They appear to
have existed in immense numbers, and to have lived in great herds like
the bison of the West. Remains of more than seven hundred individuals
of one species have been already studied and described by Dr. Leidy.
Their enemies were numerous wolves, hyzhodons and saber-tooth tigers.

If we pass for a moment southward into the valleys of the Niobrara
and Loup Fork, we shall find a fauna closely allied, yet entirely distinct
from the one on White River, and plainly intermediate between that of
the latter and of the present period; one appears to have lived during
the middle or miocene tertiary period, and the other at a later time in
what is called the pliocene. In the later fauna were the remains of.a
number of species of extinct camels, one of which was of the size of the
Arabian camel, a second about two-thirds as large, also a smaller one.
The only animals akin to the camels at the present time in the western
hemisphere are the llama and its allies in South America. Not less inter-
esting are the remains of a great variety of forms of the horse family,
one of which was about as large as the ordinary domestic animal, and
the smallest not more than two or two and a half feet in height, with
every intermediate grade in size. There was still another animal allied
to the horse, about the size of a Newfoundland dog, which was provided
with three hoofs to each foot, though the lateral hoofs were rudimental.
Although no horses were known to exist on this continent prior to its
discovery by Europeans, yet Dr. Leidy has shown that before the age of
man this was emphatically the country of horses. Dr. Leidy has re-
ported twenty-seven species of the horse family which are known to have
lived on this continent prior to the advent of man—about three times
aS Many as are now found living throughout the world.

Among the carnivores were several foxes and wolves, one of which
was larger than any now living; three species of Hyenodon—animals
whose teeth indicate that they were of remarkably rapacious habits;
also five animals of the cat tribe were found, one about the size of a
small panther, and another as large as the largest wolf. Several of the
Skulls of the tiger-like animals exhibited the marks of terrible conflicts
with the cotemporary Hyznodons.

Among the rodents were a porcupine, small beaver, rabbit, mouse, &e.

The pachyderms, or thick-skinned animals, were quite numerous and
of great interest, from the fact that none of them are living on this
continent at the present time, and yet here we find the remains of sev-

106 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

eral animals allied to the domestic hog, one about the size of this animal,
another as large as the African Fae AU arte and a third not much
larger than the domestic cat. :

Five species of the Rhinoceros roamed through these marshes, ranging
from a small, hornless species, about the size ‘of our black bear, to the
largest, which was about the sizeof the existing unicorn of India. No
animals of the kind now inhabit the western hemisphere.

Among the thick-skinned animals were the remains of a mastodon
and a large elephant, distinct from any others heretofore discovered in
any part of the world. Dr. Leidy says that “it-is remarkable that
among the remains of mammals and turtles there are none of crocodiles.
Where were these creatures when the shores of the ancient Dakotan
and Nebraskan waters teemed with such an abundant provision of sa-
vory ruminating hogs?” During the tertiary period Nebraska and
Dakota were the homes of a race of animals more closely allied to those
inhabiting Asia and Africa now, and from their character we may sup-
pose that during that period the climate was considerably warmer than
it is at present. The inference is also drawn that our world, which is
usually called the new, is in reality the old world, older than the eastern
hemisphere.

Ever since the commencement of creation, constant changes of form
have been going on in our earth. Oceans and mountains have disap-
peared and. others have taken their place. Entire groups of animal and
vegetable life Have passed away and new forms have come into exist-
ence, through a series of years which no finite mind can number. To
enable the mind to realize the physical condition of our planet during
all these past ages is the highest end to be attained by the study of
geological facts. It has been well said by an eloquent historian that
he who calls the past back again into being, enjoys a bliss like that of
creating.

We may attempt to form some idea of the physical geography of this
region at the time when these animals wandered over the country, and
to speculate as to the manner in which their remains have been so beau-
tifully preserved for our examination. We may suppose that here was
a large fresh-water lake during the middle tertiary period; that it began
near the southeastern side of the Black Hills, not large at first nordeep,
but as a marsh or mud-wallow for the gigantic pachyderms that lived
at the time; that as time passed on it became deeper and expanded its
limits until it covered the vast area which its sediments indicate. We
cannot attempt to point out in detail all the changes through which we
may suppose, from the facts given us, this lake has passed, during the
thousands of years that elapsed from its beginning to its extinction, time
long enough for two distinct faune to have commenced their existence
and passed away in succession, not a single species passing from one
into the other. Even that small fraction of geological time seems infi-
nite toa finite mind. We believe that the great range of mountains
that now lies to the west of this basin was not as lofty as now; that
doubtless the treeless plains were covered with forests or grassy meadows
upon which the vast herds of gregarious ruminants cropped their food.
Into this great lake on every side poured many little streams from broad
valleys, fine ranging ground for the numerous varieties of creatures
that existed at that time. Large numbers of fierce carnivorous beasts
mingled with the multitudes of gregarious ruminants, constantly devour-
ing them as food. As many of the bones, either through death by vio-
lence or natural causes, were left in the valleys, they would be swept
down by the first high waters into the lake and ‘enveloped in the sedi- ©

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 107

ments at the bottom. As the gregarious ruminants came down to the
little streams or by the shores of the lake to quench their thirst, they
would be pounced upon by the flesh-loving Hyzenodon, Drepanodon, o1
Dinictis. It was probably near this place also that these animals would
meet in fierce conflicts, the evidences of which remain to the present
time in the cavities which the skulls reveal; one of these, of a huge
cat, shows on either side the holes through the bony coveting which had
partially healed before the animal perished, and the cavities seem to
correspond in form and position with the teeth of the largest Hyzenodon.

The remains of those animals which, from their very nature, could not
have existed in great numbers, are not abundant in the fossil state,
while those of the ruminants occur in the greatest abundance and are
widely diffused in the sediments not only geographically, but vertically.
The chances for the preservation of the remains of a species seem to
depend upon the number of individuals that existed. The remains of
ruminants already obtained comprise at least nine-tenths of the entire
collection, while of one species, portions of at least seven hundred indi-
viduals have been discovered. We might take examples from the ani-
mals that exist in this region at the present time that would illustrate
the point. The wolves watch the deer, antelope, and other feebler ani-
mals as they go down to the little streams for water, and all over the
wide bottoms their skeletons are distributed in a more or less perfect
condition. Whenever a bison becomes too feeble by disease or age to
offer a successful resistance, the wolves soon dispatch him, and his bones
are left bleaching on the ground. In most cases these animals when
pursued betake themselves to the water, where they are not unfrequently
drowned, or dispatched on a sand-bar or island. Annually, thousands
of buffaloes, in attempting to cross the Missouri River and some of its
lagee tributaries on the ice as it is breaking up in the spring, are
drowned. For many days their bodies are seen floating down the river
by Fort Union or Fort Clark, and lodging on some of the islands or
sand-bars fill the air with the stench of their decay. In the spring of
1857 thousands of their bodies floated down the Kansas River past Fort
Riley and were carried into the Missouri River. These animalsare often
mired in the marshes or the muddy shores of lakes or streams in great
numbers. We know what vast numbers of the mastodon have been
preserved in the Big Bone Licks of Kentucky,.and of the trish elk in
the bogs of Ireland. We might instance hundreds of examples to show
how easily these animals, roaming and feeding along the numerous
Streams flowing into some great lake, could be transported in part or
entire into the lake, and sinking to the bottom would be enveloped: in
the muddy sediments.

There is another interesting feature in regard to these remarkable
fossils, and that is the beauty and perfection of their preservation; the
bones are so clean and white and the teeth so perfect that, when ex-
posed upon the surface, they present the appearance of having bleached
only for a season. They could not have been transported from a great
distance, neither could the waters have been swift and turbulent, for
the bones seldom show any signs of having been water worn, and the
nice sharp points and angles are as perfect as in life. I have dwelt thus
long on the details of this great lake basin, not only on account of the ©
universal interest that invests it, and the wonderful treasures of the
past which it has revealed to the world, but because its history is ap-
plicable in the main to the numbers of the other fresh-water lake basins
of the geological past which are distributed throughout the Rocky Moun-
tain region.

~ 108 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Before leaving this subject, there is another interesting topic of in-
quiry: why such a beautiful series of vertebrate remains should be so
perfectly preserved in this lake deposit, and yet the remains of other
forms of animal and vegetable life be almost entirely absent. The sedi-
ments seem to be peculiarly adapted to the preservation of a full series
of documents bearing upon the history of those times. And yet in the
older beds, where the mammalian remains are most abundant, only one
small species of snail, a land shell, is found preserved. Where is the
evidence of the swarms of fishes that must have filled the streams and
lakes of that time? Of the vegetable life, if any existed, only now and
then a fragment of silicified w ood is found, and that, too, in the latest
deposits. I am prepared to believe that the broad plains’ were, even at
the time of the existence of these animals, as treeless as at present, yet
I am quite unprepared to explain the almost entire absence of vegetable
remains. We know that fresh-water shells, much like those existing in
the little clear streams of the present time, as well as some remains of
fishes, are found in some limestones on the summits of hills near Pinos
Spring on the northern rim of the lake.

Another interesting question occurs to me in this connection, how
was it that a complete fauna, comprising more than forty species of ani-
mals, was introduced upon the earth, lived through its legitimate period,
entirely perished or was swept out of existence, and an entirely new
fauna, comprising about the same number and variety, was again intro-
duced in the same region? It, too, lived out its period of “existence,
which must have been hundreds of thousands of years, and yet every
one of this group of animals disappeared from the globe, leaving no-
thing behind to tell the tale but fragments of their bony skeletons, acci-
dentally enveloped in the sediment at the bottom of an estuary or lake.

It will be seen at a glance that this is a fruitful topic for speculation,
and I leave it with the reader. Some of the species of animals fouid
in the latest deposits seem to have lived very nearly up to our present
period. The horns of a deer and the bones of a sand-hill crane have
such a modern aspect that the thought arises, where was man when
these animals were roaming over this region? Recent investigations
show quite conclusively that man was an inhabitant of Europe cotem-
poraneously with many of the extinct animals of the quarternary period,
but it is doubtful whether we have ever found any evidence that he lived
at a very remote period on this continent. Indeed, so far as we know
at present, the West is singularly silent as to the existence of man in
what are now understood as pre-historic times.

But let us move our camp further south and toward the Platte Valley
again, and on our way just glance at a desolate and almost barren but
interesting region called the Sand Hills. They cover an area of about
twenty thousand square miles on both sides of the Niobrara River, and
are composed of loose, moving sand, which is blown by the winds into
round, conical hilis with considerable regularity. As far as the eye can
reach the surface presents the appearance of a multitude of round tops,
some of them scooped out by the whirling winds so as to resemble cra-
ters. These sand hills have been from time immemorial a favorite resort
of the buffalo, which feeds upon the scanty but very nutritious grasses
in the little valleys and intervals among these hills. There is, for the
most part, an abundant supply of water in the little lakes that are scat-
tered throughout this region. Some of them are alkaline in the highest
degree, and the fresh can be detected from the salt lakes by the pres-
ence or absence of vegetation in and around the borders. These hills
are sometimes protected from the winds by a considerable giowth of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 109

vegetation on their sides, especially the ‘“Yuccas, or Spanish Needles,”
which seem to grow luxuriantly in these almost soilless regions. No
portion of the country is so barren or soilless as to be destitute of its
peculiar vegetation, and even those portions that appear most sterile

nH

== = ——

— aE Ss
Sand Hills on the N

jiobrara River.

have some forms, which flourish there best, and would perhaps perish
if transported to a richer district. In the ‘‘Bad Lands” the soft, suc-
culent cactus, which’ draws most of its nourishment from the atmos-
phere, often covers the bald, dome-like hills as if it would conceal their
nakedness and sterility. These large moving bodies of sand are not
uncommon in the West; in the North Park there is quite a large area
completely covered with them, and as the surface reilects the light of
the sun’s rays, they appear in the distance like somg extensive lake.
Near the Mosca Pass in the San Luis Valley is another group of sand
hills which is quite conspicuous. The winds seem to delight in playing
their antics in these places, throwing up the sand in the most beautiful
wave-like furrows. Sometimes the strong winds that sweep over these
vast plains will fill the air with a storm of sand so as to impede the
traveler’s progress for the time, and again they whirl it in circular col-
umns far out of sight.

We shall now continue our way up the valley of the Platte with a
good deal of rapidity. The country is monotonous, and yet now and
then a fact of some interest might be gathered. We soon pass into what
is called the alkali district, where the ground is covered in places with a
white efflorescence, which looks in the distance like snow. Ifthe traveler
were to ascend the high hills that border the valley and cast his eyes
in every direction, he would see nothing but a gently rolling prairie,
without a tree or shrub as far as they could reach. No cozy farm-houses,
with all the signs of cultivated fields, greet the eye; no groves of timber
dot the landscape. For more than two hundred miles along the valley
of the Platte it would be difficult to find wood enough to kindle a fire.
Fuel for the supply of Fort Sedgwick and the city of Julesburg, during
the winter of 18656, when it was in its glory, was hauled from the moun-
tains near Denver, Colorado, a distance of more than two hundred miles,
at a cost from one to two hundred dollars per cord.

a)

110 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

The surface of the country is sometimes weathered by atmospheric
agencies into peculiar fantastic shapes. The rock formations are en-
tirely composed of the whitish and yellowish-white clays, marls, and
sandstones of the more recent beds of the great tertiary lake basin.

a = =
5 C2 im TOE

Ta G—

> _

The most striking examples are in the vicinity: of Scotts Bluff and
Chimney Rock, which have been noted landmarks for years. The
surface is here washed out into the form of domes, towers, churches, and
fortifications, and it is hardly possible to persuade oneself that the
hand of art has not been busy here. Chimney Rock shoots up its
tall, white spire from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. The
strata are perfftly horizontal, and, therefore, we may infer that the
surface of the whole country was originally on a level with the summit
at least, and that these landmarks are monuments left after erosion.
These picturesque views south of White River are not extensive, although
on both sides the north and south forks of the Platte they occur in cer-
tain localities. A few fossil turtles and the bones of some huge animal,
probably the elephant. or mastodon, have been washed from the bluffs.
At Antelope Station, near Pine Bluffs, about four hundred and seventy
miles west of Omaha, a collection of curious bones was taken out of a
well sixty-eight feet below the surface, which were at once regarded by
the people in the vicinity as human remains. These bones were dis-
tributed throughout the country and furnished many a sensational par-
agraph for the daily press. About two years ago, Professor Marsh, in
visiting this country, made inquiry for them, and succeeded in obtaining
a few fragments, from which he determined the existence of a small
species of horse, which must have been originally about two or two and
a half feet high.

From amass of sediment sixty-eight feet below the surface, ten feet in
diameter and six feet thick, Professor Marsh obtained a quantity of
fragments of bones belonging to seventeen different species of animals. |
In it were those of four varieties of the horse family, one of which was
as large as the living domestic horse; one or two species of rhinoceros;

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Jil

an animal allied to a camel, and one resembling a hog; two carnivores,
one about as large as a lynx, the other greater than any living carnivore,
even the lion. Such a quantity of remains, so varied in species and
stowed away in so small a space, has never been found before.

What a world of fossil treasures could be gathered if the whole area
south of the Platte and between the Platte and White Rivers were care-
fully examined by men of science! And even then, only those which are
exposed to the eye of the geologist by atmospheric agencies would be
found, while the great mass of rock material which underlies the entire
surface i is equally filled with them, and undoubtedly contains some forms
that will never be recorded in the annals of science.

If we now take the cars@ve shall pass over asimilar plain country until
we reach Cheyenne, an important and rather remarkable city, near the
foot of the mountains, five hundred and sixteen miles west of Omaha,
one thousand two hundred and fifty nine miles east from Sacramento,
and one hundred and ten miles north from Denver. ‘This city is located
in the open plain, near Crow Creek, a branch of the Platte, the hills as-
cending gently back to the mountains proper, which are plainly visible
from the town. On the 4th day of July, 1867, there was but one house
in this place; within three months there were at least three thousand
inhabitants, with the bustle and confusion of a city of ten thousand. Itis
now improving rapidly, and promises a suecessfulfuture. Again, looking
at the profile section of the railroad, we find that Omaha is nine hundred
feet above the sea-level. At Cheyenne we have reached an elevation of
five thousand nine hundred and thirty-one feet, yet the ascent has been
so gradual over an apparently level plain, that we have not for a moment
realized that we were ascending at the rate of nearly ten feet to the mile.
If the traveler has observed closely, he will have seen that nature had
already performed most of the work of the road, and that there was not
much more to be done but to lay the track, and that for the entire dis-
tance of more than five hundred miles there were no rock beds to blast.

Before concluding this chapter, we will throw a momentary glance
back upon the ground over which we have just passed. Nebraska may
be divided into two portions—agricultural and pastoral. The eastern
part contains some of the most beautiful, gently-rolling, fertile agricul-
tural lands in America, the very garden spot of the country. But the
western part is a treeless, almost waterless plain ; yet, thick, low, sweet,
nutritious grasses cover the entire surface, and for the raising of large
herds of stock, as horses, cattle and sheep, this country is admirably
adapted. Not more than fifteen to twenty inches of moisture fall here
annually; the snows of winter are very light and soon pass away, the
winds rapidly gathering them into the valleys or gorges, leaving vast
areas entirely bare. ‘The grasses, instead of decaying as in all countries
with a humid climate, slowly dry up, retaining all their nutritious quali-
ties, and thus continue until April or May, so that all kinds of stock
thrive throughout the winter in the open fields without other care than
that of the herdsman. The time cannot be remote when Western Ne-
braska, also Wyoming and Colorado, will be appreciated as a wool-
' growing region far surpassing any portion of the Kast.

In the autumn many of the streams of the plains dry up for the most
part, although at long intervals water may be found. In ascending the
valley the water of Lodge Pole Creek will appear and disappear almost
like magic. Here We find it a swift-running stream several yards in
width, and then for a considerable distance nothing is to be seen but its
dry and dusty bed. Even the broad Platte has so far forgotten itself
for several seasons as to cease to be arunning stream. It is not uncom-

112 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

mon for a river to be considerably larger toward its source than at its
mouth. Many of the important streams that flow from the Black Hills
into the Missouri are lost on their way through the plains. This is
especially the case with rivers in the arid regions of New Mexico and
Arizona.

CHAPTER IX.
OVER THE FIRST RANGE.

In the preceding chapter I have endeavor@l to convey some idea of
the remarkable character of the great fresh-water lake basin which
occupies so great an area in Nebraska. We have seen that the earbon-
iferous limestones pass beneath the lower cretaceous sandstones near
the mouth of the Elk Horn, about thirty miles west of Omaha; that the
cretaceous rocks extend westward about eighty miles farther, where
they are overlapped by the marls and clays of the White River Group.
These form an unbroken mass to the very margins of the first range of
mountains west of Cheyenne. Up to this point our ascent has been so
gradual that it is har dly perceptible to the common observer, and yet
the grade has been upward at the rate of nearly twelve feet per mile.
Tf we examine the excellent profile of the Union Pacific Railroad con-
structed under the supervision of the distinguished engineer, General
G. M. Dodge, we shall find that Omaha, the eastern terminus of the
road, is nine hundred and sixty-six feet above tide-water. At Cheyenne,
which is five hundred and seventeen miles west of Omaha, the eleva-
tion is six thousand and seventy-two feet; west of Chey enne the as-
cent increases with great rapidity; at Sherman Station, near the
summit of Laramie range, the height is eight thousand two hun-
dred and forty-two feet; so that within a distance of thirty-three
miles we have a difference of elevation of two thousand one hun-
dred and seventy feet, or an ascending grade of nearly sixty-six
feet per mile. <A prefile section across the country east and west
from the Missouri River, from the north line to Mexico, would show
the same graded ascent, illustrating with great clearness the long-
continued but regular upheaval of the oreat original plateau west of
the Mississippi. If we were to stand on the spot where the city of Den-
ver is located, five thousand four hundred and thirteen feet above the sea,
and look to the north, south, or east, we shall see only a broad, appar-
ently level plain, with no perceptible ascent; but turning our eyes to the
westward, the ranges of the main Rocky Mountain chain seem to rise
abruptly out of the plain, showing very clearly that when the crust of
this great original plateau had been stretched to its utmost tension, these
lofty ranges burst through the superincumbent sedimentary strata as the
germ breaks through the hard-trodden earth above it. The series of
nidges which are so well exposed along the base of the mountains show
plainly that all the formations from the summits of the lignite tertiary to
the granites extended uninterruptedly across the area now occupied by
these ranges prior to their elevation, and probably up to the close of the
cretaceous epoch, and possibly somewhat later. This important fact is
better illustrated near Denver than at any point north along the main
traveled routes, because the mountains form a portion of the great water-
shed of the continent, while the Laramie range west of Cheyenne is a
detached portion, seldom rising over eight thousand feet above the sea.
This range, however, forms a perfect anticlinal, and must be studied in

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 113

detail in order that its beauty and regularity may be understood; and
althoguh I regard it, as well as the Black Hills of Dakota, a more perfect
iHustration of my theory of the elevation of the Rocky Mountain system,
yetitis not as conspicuous an example to the casual observer as he lofty
ranges west of Denver.

Brom Cheyenne to Granite Canton, near the summit of the first range,
the grade of ascent is greater than between any other points along the
Union Pacific Railroad. The distance is about nineteen miles, and the
difference of elevation between the two places is one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven feet, or a grade of more than ninety feet per
mile. The recent tertiary beds lie close up to the flanks of the moun-
tains, over a belt of several miles, affording accomparatively easy transi-
tion from the newer formations to the granite nucleus.

For hundreds of miles either north or south of this line it would
be difficult or perhaps impossible to build a railroad across the
mountains, but here nature seems to have provided an easy inclined
plain to the very margin of the mountain summit. The ridges are very
nearly concealed, while on either side they can be seen as formidable
as anywhere along the eastern base.

Close up to the “sides of the mountains this more recent formation is
composed of water-worn boulders and pebbles, varying much in size,
but as we recede eastward toward the plain they disappear for the
most part. The same is the case with the drift, which shows clearly
that the causes which led to the deposition of these beds operated in the
vicinity, and the materials are derived from the mountains near by.

On either side of this inclined plain, north or south, we can see the
upturned edges of the different sedimentary rocks in this region.
Between Granite Caiion and Cache la Poudre, about forty miles along
the foot of the mountains, not only is the scenery rugged and grand to
the eye, but the complications of geological structure are very interest-
ing. There seems here to have been a jog in the minor ranges which
compose the aggregate range, and several of these smaller ones disap-
pear in the plains. The belt of upheaved ridges is here ten to fifteen
miles’ wide, revealing all the sedimentary rocks, from the carboniferous
limestones to the most recent tertiary beds. The peculiar brick-red
color of the sandstones, which are supposed to be of the triassic age,
gives a Singular appearance to the scenery. We have here the carbon-
iferous limestones resting upon the granites; then a series of brick-red
sandstones inclining at different angles, with beautiful grassy valleys
between the ridges, and little streams cutting through nearly at right
angles; then a thin group of sand and mars, which may be ‘Jurassic ;
then the whole series of cretaceous beds with their characteristic
remains; then the lignite tertiary beds with coal, all conforming to each
other, and all inclining from the mountains at different angles. All the
veds just alluded to perfectly conform to each other, but the light-colored
rocks, which most attract the eye of the traveler at Cheyenne do not
conform, and were of course deposited subsequent to the uplifting of
the mountain ranges. We cau see, therefore, that the eastern flanks of
these mountains formed a shore line for a great fresh-water lake.

If we make our investigations still north of this line, we shall find, for
two hundred miles or more, that these recent beds jut up against the older
sedimentary beds, and in many places rest upon the granites. Sometimes
the whitish rocks have been removed by erosion, so as to expose the
older ones, but near Laramie Peak they entirely conceal all but the
granites. In many places these recent beds are found high up on the
flanks of the mountains, in a nearly horizontal position, as if many of

8G

4

114 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the outer peaks were mere islands in this great lake, much like those in
salt Lake at the present time. I have said enough here to show the
reader that from Cheyenne to the summit of the first range he is passing
over a thick shore deposit of an ancient lake, which once covered a vast
area, very much larger than that of any of our fresh-water lakes of the
present day. The cuts along the road do not show all the formations
in this vicinity. The traveler must stop a day and wander away from
the line of the road, if he would nA his sealonieel observations com-
plete.

The recent beds rest directly on a stratum of white limestone of car-
boniferous age. This limestone is very useful to the citizens of the
Territory, inasmuch as it can be burned into lime of the finest quality.
The walls of houses plastered with it are as white as snow, and it is a
great favorite with masons. The supply is inexhaustible, although it
is net exposed anywhere along the mountains in any very Sree thick-

DeSS.

These limestones are regarded as of the same age as those we ‘saw at
Omaha and along the Platte, and if so, they must have been concealed
over this long distance, at least five hundred miles, and had it not been
for the upheaval of these mountains, would never have been exposed to
the eye of man.

Before leaving that portion of Wyoming Territory which lies east of
the first range I will say a word in regard to its agricultural and pas-
toral resources. The soil is fertile and must be quite productive where
itcan beirrigated. Better pasturage does not exist in the known world,
and sooner or later this portion of the Territory must become celebrated
not only for the. quantity but the quality of its stock. Along under
the mountains and in the valleys of the little streams that fiow there-
from, as the Lodge Pole, Chugwater, and others, very little snow falls
all winter, and the grass remains very nutritious until late in the spring.
All the roots and most of the cereals can be raised on the east side of
the mountains. The city of Cheyenne cannot hope for a permanency
until the surrounding country is settled by a thriving farming popula-
tion, and the time is not far distant when the valleys of Crow Creek,
Pole Creek, and others will be occupied with farm-houses and the bot-
toms covered with excellent crops. Plans have already been made by
the citizens forirrigating large areas of the upland. The healthful change
which will at once be produced in the country will encourage others, until
all the available farming land will be brought under cultivation, and the
prosperity of the Territory will be rendered certain. However valuable
rivers may be to a country, and however great the impulse arailroad may
give to the first settlement of a region, the basis of all permanent pros-
perity seems to rest upon the pr oducts of the soil.
~ The science of geology continually shows how entirely dependent upon
causes which were in ‘operation many ages ago are the most practical
results of man. Like the ripe fruits which so many pluck from the tree,
and enjoy without a further thought, so these important benefits are
accepted by mankind, and how few are thoughtful enough to inquire
from whence they come ! ;

The stupen idous erosive agencies which have in most cases scooped
out deep valleys just at the foot of the mountains, have left this portion
remaining of the inclined plain which I have described as extending from
Cheyenne to Granite Caton, and underlying the western shore of a great
lake, and thereby rendered it possible for the Pacific Railroad to pass
over the range, saving to its enterprising builders millions of dollars.

We shall endeavor to show along the line of the route that this great

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 115

road was really constructed in far past geological times, and it was left
for man to discover and avail himself of the advantages of the secret
workings of nature. The summit of this range presents some scenery
which is quite unique and remarkable, differing in many of its features
from that at any other point along the road. It would well repay the
tourist, and especially the artist, to spend several days here; the air is
delightfully exhilarating and cool, the water pure as crystal, and all
parts easily accessible. The little streams are full of fish, especially
trout, and game is noderately abundant; biack-tailed deer, red deer,
and antelope are yet found, though becoming less abundant every year,
and with two or three kinds of grouse and woodcock will reward the
sportsman. i

The rocks which compose the nucleus of this range are granites, or,
inasmuch as they present a great variety of texture, I have chosen to call
them granitoid. Sometimes the rocks are made of large crystals of feld-
spar and quartz, with very little or no mica, forming a coarse feldspathic
granite; sometimes the constituents will be quite uniform, and a fine-
grained, compact, and most durable rock will be the result. Again, some
constituent of iron will prevail, and disintegration is rapidly effected by
atmospheric agencies. The surface of this range is literally paved with
small fragments of rock, and the natural roads that are made in the
mountains are macadamized with feldspar. Building materials are
abundant, and as extensive as the mountains themselves. On each
side are massive hills of syenite, which look in the distance like the ruins
of some gigantic old castle. This is a close, compact, massive granite, ©
rather fine-grained and susceptible of polish, much like the Scottish
syenite.

bd

-
Fig.

EAA ee

EE

ee
DSSS it | ss
Granite Caiion, near Syenite Station, Union Pacific Railroad.

i

116 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. — ;

The directors of the Union Pacific Railroad contemplate transporting
_ this beautiful rock to Omaha, to construct with it the piers of the bridge
across the Missouri River. I believe it will prove as durable and far
more elegant, on account of its brighter color, than Quincey granite.

The cuts along the road furnish excellent opportunities for rock study.
They are, as it were, portions carved out of the crust, and we can thus
obtain more accurate notions of its geology than in any other way. The
surface has often been so changed by erosion that the loose material
that has fallen down the sides of natural gorges, in almost all cases, ob-
scures, to a greater or less extent, the true character of the rocks, and I
have found these excavations of the greatest importance in my exami-
nations, correcting many an erroneous View.

Figure 7 is an excellent illustration of a eaten through the different
kinds of granite. On the right side of the tract the rock has been dis-
integrated for a considerable distance down by moisture, and the feld-
spathic crystals project from its sides with great distinctness. A heavy
vein of quartzite is also distinctly shown. In the distance we catch a
faint glimpse of one of these massive granite piles, which are so well
shown in Figure 9. The character of the surface of this range of moun-
tains, which is about twenty to thirty miles in width, is also well shown.
Large areas are comparatively level, and covered with a thick growth of
grass, with here and there a thin grove of pines. ‘These trees are hardly
ever more than from fifty to sixty feet high, and seldom more than two
feet in diameter at the base. Further up in the higher ranges the white
spruce and several other species of coniferous trees are found.

Virginia Dale, Summit Laramie Mountains.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. SEALY

Figure 9 forms an excellent rock study, and it is a fine illustration
of the style of weathering of the feldspathic granites. These massive
piles, like the ruins of old castles, are scattered all over the summit of
the Laramie range, and the difference in texture of the rock is such as
to give a most pleasing variety, hardly any of these piles being alike.
These rocks were once angular masses, probably nearly cubical blocks,
and they have been rounded to their present form in the process of dis-
integration by exfoliation. Nature seems to abhor all sharp corners or
angles, and with her the curve is the line of beauty. Time wears off
all the sharp points in thin, spherical layers year after year. Skull Rock
is another example of the Tudenes to wear into singular shapes. This
rock, which has given name to one of these striking rock mas sses, has been
peeled off, coat by coat, by the fingers of Time until it presents a very
close resemblance to human cranium. If we were to descend the
beautiful valley of Dale Creek we should find the scenery even more
romantic, and the granites worn into more fantastic forms. There is one
portion of this valley which has long been celebrated for the beauty of
its scenery, and known to the country as Virginia Dale.

The swiftly-flowing stream winds its way through the over-hanging
rocks, which sometimes run up a thousand feet or more, with nearly
vertical sides, and among these massive granite piles are grassy, oval,
park-like areas, which “must become at some future period favorite
places of resort. The character of the scenery and the style of weath-
ering of the rocks are well shown in

Fig. 9.

TiN p
ne iN i
i OHSS

Granite Rocks, Sherman Station, Laramie Mountains.

Sherman Station, situated on the summit, is well known as the highest
point over which the railroad passes s between Omaha and Salt Lake Val-
ley, and appropriately bears the honored name of the Commander-in-
chief of the Armies of the United States.

We might linger for a time here and admire the beautiful and unique
scenery which is unfolded to us on every side. We shall not meet with

118 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

its like again in any other part of the West. Long’s Peak, with its double
spires, rises above the limits of vegetation into the regions of perpetual
snow, more than fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. All
around are less lofty cones, many of them so covered with pines that
they look black and somber in the distance. Far to the southwest are
the snowy ranges that surround the North Park, and in the interme
diate space are groups of lower peaks or cones, rising like steps to the
higher ranges. There is an interesting thought just here as to the real
origin of these granitic, ruin-like piles that give the peculiar distinction
to the plateau ; surface of the Laramie Mountains. I believe it is entirely
due to erosive forces, which have operated here on a gigantie scale, and:
these cones and natural temples are the monuments that are left to tell
the tale. J am convinced that the surface was at one time at least on
a level with the highest of them. How much more has been removed
it is now impossible to tell, but I am convinced that comparatively few
geologists have fairly estimated the immensity of the time required and
the vastness of the amount of material removed from the surface by
erosion.

Three miles west of Sherman we cross the head of Dale Creek, a
small stream which flows through a wide, gorge-like valley in the gran-
itic rocks. Spanning: the valley is a bridge six hundred and fifty feet in
length, and one hundred and twenty-six feet above the little stream.
This bridge, which is well worthy of examination, forms one of the most
beautiful structures of the kind along this road, and always attracts the
attention of the traveler, who looks down from it upon a beautiful
grassy valley, through which winds a small stream, the whole walled in
with massive eranite, like that before described. After crossing the
Dale Creek bri dge we descend rapidly to the plains. On the west side
of the mountains we pass across the inclined edges of formations which
appear to be counterparts of those already alluded to on the east side.
We find the sandstones resting upon the granite, and inclining at a
greater or less angle westward; we also find the whitish and yellowish-
white limestones of the carboniferous period; also the red sandstones,
which have usually been regarded as' Triassic, though I suspect that the
upper portion, at least, is Ju ILASsiC 5 then come lcose red s: ands, extend-
ing a considerable distance into the plains. If we continue on toward
the Big and Little Laramie Rivers, we shall find the eretaceous beds, in
full developmen t, ina nearly horizontal position, and about thirty miles

still farther west the coal beds of the tertiary period are seen.

But before we commence our general remarks in regard to this
mountain range let us linger for a time among the singular and gro-
tesque forms which nature has hewn out of the sandstones on this
western slope. Here we may study some excellent illustrations of the
Wearing away of sandstones through atmospheric agencies. We wish
as far as possible to present to the reader type examples of the influence
which the atm osphere, in its varied phases, has in shaping the features
of the landscape.

We have illustrated some of the granitoid rocks of the mountain’s
nucleus which have been metamorphosed by heat. Figure 9 is
exceedingly instructive in many points of view. The rock itself is a
moderately fine-grained sandstone, and varies in color from a yellowish
white to a light brick-red, and is probably of Jurassic age. No organie
remains have ever been found in the sandstones, although I have traced
them along the mountain sides from our north line to Santa Fé. The
reason why y I eall them Jurassic is, that a bed of limestone, which
inclines from the flank of the mountain higher up, seems to hold a lower

-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 119
geologi¢al position, and contains the remains of crinoids, which Pro-
fessor Agassiz refers to the genus Apiocrinites, which is Jurassic. To this
place has been given the name of Dial Rock, on account of the peculiar
dial-shaped form into which one of the columns has been worn. We see
at a glance that these rocks are stratified; that they hold a nearly hori-
zontal position; that they stand out in the plains nearly isolated,
although in the immediate vicinity are other equally fantastic forms,
covering quite an extensive area. ‘Where are the intermediate portions
of the rock out of which these singular monuments have been carved
by the chisel of time? ‘These level plains, covered now with grass and
wild sage, were once on a level with the summits of these sandstones at
least, while the vast mass of sandstone which filled up the general level
has been swept away, who knows where? Who can estimate the forces
that have wrought this mighty work, or the immensity of the time that
it required? How-many myriads of ages have the winds and storms
beaten against the sides of these rocks, gnawing out the cavities and
giving them the fantastic shapes they now possess? Every year smaller
portions crumble off and are mingled with the soil below, and in time all
these remnants of the past will be removed. It will be noticed that the
larger mass is worn into a form that can easily be imagined a human
face, and an American might fancy he saw in it some resemblance to
that of the Father of his Country.

It is not an uncommon thing for the rocks of all textures in this coun-
try to weather into the forms which call to mind human beings and
animals.

Fig. 10.

UA 2

(riassic sandstones, west slope, Laramie range.

These sandstones also afford a fine illustration of what is called irreg-
ular layers of deposition, and the materials are supposed te have been
brought here and deposited in turbulent waters. If we were to study
the actions of currents of water along our streams, or of the waves of.
the sea-shore, we should continually find examples of the deposition of

120 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

sandy material over an inclined plain; sometimes on one side of a ridge
or elevation, and sometimes on the other. Now, if this sand. were
molded into rock, these layers of deposition would show distinetly
this same irregularity. Not far distant from this point is another group
of these weathered sandstones which show still more clearly these irreg-
wlar layers. The softer portions have been worn away, causing each
thin layer to stand out of the sides of the rocks with great distinetness.
Sometimes the thin layers incline in one direction, sometimes in another.
These sandstones vary in height from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet.
On their summits the eagles are fond of building their nests, where they
will be inaccessible to their human enemies. Before closing our deserip-
tion of Figure 10, I ought to allude to the wild sage bush, which so pe-
culiarly characterizes these almost treeless plains. We are here more
than seven thousand five hundred feet above tide-water; at this eleva-
tion we find a species of sage which takes the place of the one on the
plains east of the mountains. Itiscalled Artemisia tridentata on account
of its small, three-toothed leaf. It grows about the same size and very
much resembles the other species. This sage, as well as two or three
kinds of shrubs peculiar to the high places, are well shown in the figure.

We have now described briefly the different sedimentary formations
as they incline on each side of this mountain range. It may be well to
remind the reader that this range is an excellent illustration of the plan
of development of these mountains. We find a series of formations
inclining from the eastern slope of the mountains; we pass over the

range and we again find the corresponding portions dipping in an oppo-

site direction over the western slope. We at once come to the conclu-
sion that these formations at some former period extended uninter-
ruptedly across the area now occupied by the granitic rocks, and that
the intermediate portions have been removed by erosion. Then the
query arises, at what time were these events brought about? It seems
to me it must have occurred as the surface was slowly emerging from
the waters of the ocean. As the bottom of the ancient sea along the
line of this mountain range slowly arose, the waters became shallow,
and they would be more easily disturbed by the winds and the erosive
forces be proportionately increased, and if the rocks arose above the sur
face the waves would dash against their sides and prove still more effeec-
tive. The sediments would be wafted away and deposited in some other
part of the ocean, to enter into the composition of more recent rocks.

The Laramie range, extending from a point near Long’s Peak north-
ward to the Red Buttes on the North Platte and the Black Hills of
Dakota, form the most simple and complete examples of true anticlinals
on a gigantic scale that I have ever met with in my explorations. These
ranges are less complicated with basaltic outbursts than any others.
Some of the peaks, like Laramie Peak, are quite lofty, but as a general
rule they are low mountains, and for the most part composed of a nuclei
of massive red feldspathic granites inclosed on each side with true
gneissic strata. All these mountain ranges require a few more detailed
examinations than I have ever been able to give them, but the statements
that I have here made will, I think, prove to be mainly correct.

‘ =!
ee

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. gt

CHAPTER X.

THE LARAMIE PLAINS.

In our last chapter we descended the western slope of the first moun-
tain range to a broad, open expanse of mountain prairie known as the
Laramie Plains. This great area might be called a park; it is enclosed
on three sides by extensive mountain ranges, but on the west its limits
are not well defined, inasmuch as no mountain ranges of any importance
intervene until we come to the Wasatch range, in Utah. It is usually
understood to extend westward almost to the Medicine Bow River, and
thus comprises an area about fifty miles from east to west, and one
hundred from north to south, the Laramie range or Black Hills forming
the eastern boundary. As we ride on the cars through the plains, these
mountains, with their comparatively uniform and gently sloping sides,
seem for many miles to bend around so as to inclose us within their
walls. On the south side are the Medicine Bow Mountains, which are
far more formidable and lofty than the others; indeed, the ranges this
side are quite irregular and fragmentary, and are known by different
names, as Sheephead Mountains, Elk Mountains, &e. Many of these
lofty peaks and ranges have not yet been explored geologically or geo-
graphically, and these magnificent fields are ripe and waiting for the
harvest of science. The far West is vast, but the laborers are few.

Before proceeding, we might for a moment trace to their sources in
the mountains some of the beautiful rivers that wind their way through
the plains. We shall find to our surprise that, although we have erossed
a range of mountains the highest along the line of the road, we are still
in the great valley of the Platte in which we started on our : journey.

The main branch of the North Platte rises in the range of mountains
which forms the north side of the Middle Park, very near Long’s Peak.
It takes a course a little west of north, flows through the middle of the
North Park, cutting its way through immense canons between the
North Park and the Laramie Plains. It then continues nearly a north
course, through tertiary as well as cretaceous rocks, to its junction with
the Sweetwater, where it bends around to the east, so that near the Red
Buttes its course is nearly southeast until it reaches the main Platte,
near longitude 101°.

The Sweetwater, which is the principal branch of the North Platte,
rises in the southern end of the Wind River Mountains, and flows ne: arly
east and unites with the North Platte near Independence Rock. These
streams flow through nearly every variety of geological formation
which oceurs in the West. From the junction of the Sweetwater to the
Red Buttes it flows through granite, Carboniferous limestone, red beds,
Jurassic marls, and W hite River ter tiary beds; and from the zed
Buttes through lignite tertiary to a point about one hundred miles
northwest of Fort Laramie. There the White River tertiary beds over-
lap the lignite tertiary, and then continue to the forks of the Platte.

The Medicine Bow and the two Laramies are important branches of
the North Platte, and take their rise in the lofty, snow-capped mountains
on the south side of the Laramie Plains. The region north of the North
Platte is mostly a vast sage plain, and but few small’ branches flow in
from that direction, but a “multitude of small streams cut deep channels
through the sides of the Laramie range and flow into the North Platte.

From Red Buttes to Fort Laramie, a distance of one hundred and fifty
miles, many beautiful little streams rise in the Laramie range and pour a
good volume of water into the Platte. These creeks occur every few

122 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

mites, and in their passage from the mountain they have not only worn
a deep channel in the steep side of the mountain, sometimes one thou-
sand feet or more in depth, but they have also scooped out a wide, deep
valley, which affords the best of pasture-ground for stock im summer,
and warm, sheitered places i in winter.

The main branch of the South Platte rises in the range of mountains

which bounds the west side of the South Park, and flows about northeast:

to Cache a la Poudre, and there bends around slightly toward the east and
joins the main Platte. The little branches that flow from the mountain
‘sides are very numerous, and each one cuts a tremendous channel through
the sides of the mountain, affording most excellent sections of the strata
for the geologist. Nearly all the “branches that rise in the plains have
very wide valleys, but are mostly dry, especially in the latter part of
summer and autumn. Although the Platte River is never navigable at
any season of the year, yet the area drained by it is immense, being
nearly three hundred thousand square miles; and yet it is one of the
minor branches of the Missouri River.

The South Platte flows through the different formations along the
flanks of the mountain; and in its course through the plains cuts the
lignite tertiary for fifty miles or more, when the White Jtiver tertiary
overlaps the plains to the junction.

These brief remarks are intended principally to show by the geography
the gigantic scale upon which everything in this western country is
planned; that even the district drained by the Platte and its branches
is larger than all New England, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Myriads of little streams rise in springs on the summits of all the

mountain ranges, and, flowing down the sides, gash out deep gorges, which
attord most splendid sections of the rocks for the study of the geologist.
And as for beautiful scenery, there is no limit to it. If we were to trace
these streams to their source in the mountains, through gorges and
chasms, into beautiful oval grassy valleys, up the precipitous flanks
where they expand in numerous little branches , rushing and tumbling
over the rocks, we Should involuntarily pronounce each one at the time
more grand, more beautiful, and more instructive than any we had ever
seen before. Jt is impossible to deseribe to the reader the pleasure one
enjoys in wandering among these mountain valleys, climbing the almost
vertical cliffs and studying the almost unlimited variety of forms which
the masses of rock present. Then, too, the vegetation, seen in summer,
has the green, fresh appearance that is so inviting and grateful; the
grass, flowers, and trees, all wear that healthy look which is only to be met
in the mountains. Although the Laramie plains are at too high an eleva-
tion ever to become noted for their agricultural resourees, yet the few
attempts to raise certain crops have met with moderate SUCCESS.

In the summer of 1868 a few farmers in the valley of Rock Creek,
along the line of the old stage read, sueceeded in raising some very ood
vegetables, as potatoes, turnips, cabbage, &e., and they would have
remained there contented, had they not been driven away by the Indians.
But it is doubtful if these plains will ever become a favorite abode for
farmers, though for the raising of stock I believe they are unsurpassed.
Horses cattle, angl sheep have already been raised here of the finest kind,
and in the beautiful sheltered valleys they find the most secure re etreats
from the severity of the winter's cold. Thousands of tons of excellent
hay can be cut every year along the bottoms of any of these streams.

There is a beautiful view of the plains proper, as seen in the valley
of the Little Laramie, near Sheephead Mountain. We see here the
meanderings of the little stream; the fringes of cottonwoods, willows,

2 ae

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 123

and a few shrubs in theimmediate bottom, the level, lawn-like terraces
covered with a thick carpet of grass,and gradually ascending to the hills
on either side. The entire surface has been so perfectly softened down
by time that the beauty of the scene is perfect. It is true, the plains are
not at all times as uniformly smooth as this view wonld indicate. Not
unfrequently the surface is rugged in places; masses of sandstone or
limestone with steep sides rising in the midst of the plai
left after the action of the waters that have smoothed down these beaniital
landscapes. It would seem that they are left to aid us in reconstructing
the geography of past geological times.

Near the middle of these plains, on Cooper’s Creek, are some quite re-
markable exhibitions of the chalk cliffs of the middle eretaceous period, in
which are oyster-shells, fish scales, and the bones of a huge Saurian rep-
tile. A little farther to the west is a long line of yellow sandstone bluffs
two hundred to three hundred feet high, forming beds of transition or pass-
age between the cretaceous and tertiary periods; and still farther west are
morerugged hills in which are found beds ofcoal. We see, too, every where
indications of the action of water on the surface of the plains. In many
places rounded boulders of all sizes, from the minute pebble to a mass two
or three feetdn diameter, are found ‘scattered profusely over the ground.
Sometimes these rocks accumulate i in vast quantities on the side of a hill,
literally paving it; then again in long lines or rows, as if they had been
carried by swift water or dropped from an iceberg. Everywhere in the
Vicinity of the mountains are abundant indications that the last act in
the drama was the existence of large bodies of water everywhere among
the mountains, which must have come from the mountains themselves,
Inasmuch as the drift material indicates a local origin. We may suppose
that prior to the present period the temperature of the climate was very
much lower; that vast bodies of snow and ice accumulated in the mount-
ainous portions of our continent, and as the climate became more mild,
the ice and snow slowly melted, transporting icebergs filled with rocks all
over the plains, and when one of these vast icebergs would lodge and
melt, the accumulations of worn rocks and debris would be great. In
almost all cases the slope of the hill opposite the mountain range is the
one covered with the debris, as if the mass of ice in floating down passed

over the summit of the ridge and lodged on the opposite side. But it
would be impossible for us to linger in all these pleasant places; entire
volumes could be written illustrating the details of the geology of these
plains; our only object is to gather along our route such facts as will
illustrate our views and link our story tegether.

Before we again start on our way w estward, we ought to take a glanee
at the North Park, which is only about fitty miles to the southwest of
Fort Sanders. The journey is quite easily made in two days, and even
in one day on horseback, which is by far the best method of traveling in
this mountainous region. In August, 1868, I made a tour to the North
Parle with a small party of Army officers, and I shall not soon forget the
scene of beauty that was opened to my vision from the summits ‘of the
mountains surrounding the park. I was the more desirous of visiting
this region because so little was known in regard to it, and, although my
visit was Short and my examinations necessarily limited, I had the sat-

isfaction of giving to the world the first accurate knowledge ever obtained
by personal investigation of the geology of that inter esting region.

Our course from Fort Sanders was nearly southeast, up the Big Lara-
mie River, toward its souree in the mountains. The eeology of the plain
eountry through which the Big Laramie flows is very similar to that of
the Little Laramie, about fifteen miles to the westward. There are

124 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

comparatively few exposures of the basis rocks, on account of the super-
ficial drift which covers all this country. Still we find along the banks of
the river, near the stage station, the same black plastic cretaceous clays

with Ostrea congesta and a few remains of fishes; also the chalky marls;
7d about two miles above, the long high ridges, on either side, extend-
ing up for several miles, composed of the rusty yellow sands and sand-
stone of the lower eretaceous. The dip of these beds is very gentle,
hardly perceptible to the eye. |

The Big Laramie is a very clear stream, about fifty yards in width and
averaging about two feet in depth, easily forded in most places. Like
most of the western streams, the difference between high and low-water
mark is very great. In spring and early summer, when the snows of the
mountains melt, these streams become formidable rivers. The soil along
the bottoms appears to be very good; the grass grows quite heavily, and
hundreds of tons of hay are cut here by the settlers for winter use. The
grazing is excellent, and numerous ranches have been started all through
the valley for the purpose of raising stock. Even at this season of the
year a great variety of flowers covers the surface. The Composite and
Leguminose prevail in numbers, and yellow is the dominant color. As
we appro oached the foot-hills of the mountains the transition keds appeared
onthe ridge, rocks of more recent date having been swept away by erosion.
Fragments of pudding stone and rusty- colored masses of sandstone were
scattered here and there; then beneath them were exposed about four
hundred feet of variegated arenaceous layers of uncertain age, perhaps
Jurassic; then a little higher up the side of the mountains were revealed
the red beds, fifteen hundred feet or more in thick kness, presenting won-
derfully picturesque scenery. All these beds seem to have been lifted up
in a nearly horizontal position, so that they present lofty escarpments,
sometimes cone-like or pyramidal in shape, revealing each layer in the
order of succession. The harder layers yielding less re adily to atmo-
spheric ee project out from the sides, adding much to the nov-
elty of the vie "Most of the beds incline from the fla anks of the moun-
tains at bad angles, 3°, 8°, 15°, and then continue along the river,
winding for twenty-five miles among the mountains almost to the foot
of the snow-covered peaks.

On either side can be seen a number ef syenitic nuclei, but J did not
find the unchanged rocks so clearly in contact with them that I could
define their relation to each other.

Before reaching the mountains we passed a series of aikaline lakes,
which are simply ‘shallow depressions, receiving the drainage of a small
area without any outlet. From these shallow lakes the water is evapo-
rated, so that in the autumn the bottoms are dry and covered with a white _
inerustation which looks much like water in the distance. One of these
lakes still contained water and seems to have a fair supply at all seasons.
It is almost a mile in length and halfa mile in width. In the spring
these lakes are quite large and are filled by the overflow of the branches
of the Big Laramie, which are greatly swollen by the melting snows.
Great quantities of fish are swept into these lakes from the neighbor-
ing streams, and in the autumn the water becomes so alkaline by evap-
oration that the fish die in great numbers along the shore. Itis a
curious fact that not a single trout has ever been taken in any of the
branches of the North Platte, unless afew have been caught in the
Sweetwater, while the branches of the South Platte are filled with
them.

After entering the foot hills of the mountains, the Big Laramie and
its branches wind their way through the narrow valleys or gorges

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 125

formed by the anticlinals and synclinals produced by the upheaval of
the unchanged rocks.

All the lower beds are more or less arenaceous and of a brick-red
color, with only three layers of a light-gray sandstone. No fossils can
be found in any of the rocks, so that it is difficult to determine their age
with certainty. We believe that the lower beds are carboniferous, and
have received their red color from the sediments which were doubtless
derived from the disintegration of the red siemitic rocks upon which they
rest. It is alsu quite possible that a portion of the red beds are triassic,
and also that the yellow, gray, and rusty sands and sandstones above,
are Jurassic.

Lying above the supposed Jurassic and beneath the well-defined cre-
taeceous, there is a large thickness of sandstone which I have called
transition strata, because they occupy the position of the lower creta-
ceous, as Shown on the Missouri River and in Middle Kansas. These
beds are well developed and quite uniform in their lithological character
all along the mountain sides from latitude 48° to the Arkansas, yet
they have never yielded a single characteristic fossil that would deter-
mine their age. I have, therefore, called them provisionally lower cre-
taceous, or beds of transition from one great period of geological history
to another, and the characters of the sediments which compose them
justify the name.

Near our camp on the Big Laramie, which was about thirty-five miles
southwest of Fort Sanders, and about fifteen miles above the foot of
the hills, are some singular illustrations of the dynamics of geoiogy.
On the southwest side of the stream, and inclining eastward or south-
eastward, the entire series of red and variegated beds are shown in their
order of succession one thousand five hundred to two thousand feet in
height. At the foot of this escarpment is a low ridge of the red material,
which is so grassed over that the connection with the sienitic nucleus can-
not be seen. ‘This covers a belt of sienite about two hundred yards
wide and three to five miles long, the jagged masses of rock reaching a
height of one thousand feet or more, and standing nearly vertical or
dipping slightly to the southeast. Between the sienitic beds and the
river are the two low ridges of cretaceous Nos. 2 and 3, which seems to
have been lifted up with the sienite, but to have fallen back past a ver-
tical position, so that they now incline from the sienite ridge, while on
the opposite side the beds have a regular dip from the ridge. ‘This pecu-
liarity seems to be common in various localities, owing to the fact that
the metamorphic beds which compose the central portion of all the moun-
tains have suffered upheaval, prior to the deposition of the unchanged
beds. Therefore, in the quiet elevation of the mountain ranges, the
beds are merely lifted up in the direction of the dip of the older rocks
on one side, while they are, as it were, pushed away from the opposite
side, forming what may be called an abrupt or incomplete anticlinal.

On the opposite or south side of the river there is a gradual slope of
two thousand feet above the bed of the stream, the strata inclining 5°
until we reach the nucleus of another mountain range; so that we have
here, as it were, two huge monoclinals. These monoclinals form local
anticlinals, inasmuch as, in some places, all the beds incline for a short
distance from a common axis. .

On the north side of the river, and east for ten to twenty miles, the
flanks of the mountain ranges are covered with the unchanged rocks,
which give comparatively gentle grassy slopes, owing to the readiness
with which they yield to atmospheric agencies. Through these slopes

126 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

many little streams cut their way, forming huge caiions, which exhibit
along their sides the series of beds in their order of succession.

From a point near the source, for twenty or thirty miles, the river
flows through a synclinal valley, the conspicuous red beds dipping from
either side. Along the valley of the river are marked deposits of drift,
the result of elacial action; but the most beautiful feature is the well
defined terraces, about fitty feet high and smoothed off like a lawn.
These terraces are covered with a considerable deposit of drift; but
when they are cut through by streams the basis rocks are shown.

The scenery on either side of this valley is beautiful beyond descrip-
tion. On the west side are the snow-clad peaks of the Medicine Bow
range in the distance, with numerous intervening lower ranges ascend-
ing like steps. The snowy mountains are mostly destitute of vegetation
and are covered with eternal snow, but the lower mountain ridges are
covered mostly with what may be called groves of pine. Indeed, the
pine groves and grassy openings are so arranged and proportioned
that the whole scene appears as if it might have been partially the work
of art, and the traveler imagines himself in a sparsely-settled mountain-
ous district instead of the unexplored Rocky Mountain region. These
openings and grassy slopes will make excellent pasture g erounds, for the
grass is good, and they are watered with the finest of mountain streams
and springs. I would again remark that the pine forests of these
mountains must at some period be an object of earnest pursuit. Two
years ago the mountain sides were antl of tie-cutters, who cut and floated
hundreds of thousands of ties down the mountain stre eams, fifty to one

hundred miles, to the Union Pacific Railroad, whence they were trans- _

ported by railroad to any desired point.

In the moist ravines of the mountain sides are patches of the aspen,
Populus tremuloides, which, from its peculiar mode of growth, forms a
striking feature in the landscape. It grows very thickly, seldom at-
taining a height of more than forty or fifty feet, and not more than
twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. The body is very smooth and
nearly white, and the top forms a rounded, cone-shaped mass of foliage.
These aspen groves are the favorite resort of deer, elk, grouse, and all
kinds of game.

On the east side, also, is the snow-ciad range, which, in its southward
extension, includes Long’s Peak and numerous other peaks in the
vicinity. On each side ‘of these lofty ranges, which often rise above
the limit of vegetation, ave a number of successive lower ridges which
descend like steps. There is such a wonderful uniformity in the struc-
ture of the mountains that a detailed description of a portion applies
for the most part to all.

Our course along the Cherokee Trail was about southwest from the
Big Laramie iver, over ridge after ridge, and after traveling twenty-
five miles we entered the Nortl Park through some of the most beau-
ful scenery ot that interesting region. From the summit of the high
ridgés on the north we look to the sonthward over a series of lofty cones
or pyramids, as it were, all clothed with a dense growth of pine. The
metamorphic rocks of which these mountains are composed, disinte-
grate so easily that the surface is covered with a deposit of loose mate-
vial, as fine earth and fragments of rock. The hills have, therecore,
been so smoothed down that it is difficult to see the bass rocks in con-
tinuous lines. | We saw enough, however, to show us that red sienite in
its various forms constitutes the principal rocks, while now and then a
bed of hornblendic gneiss, white quartz or greenstone, occurs. All
through the mountain region are small open areas, sometimes on the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 12%

hills and sometimes in the lower grounds, forming meadow-like spots,
which the various kinds of animals love to frequent, to feed on the
abundant grass. The Old Cherokee Trail derives its name from the
fact that a party of those Indians cut its way through the thick pines,
about thirty years ago, with a train of three hundred wagons. :

The traveling was difficult at this time, owing to the ruggedness of
the surface and - the obstruction from the fallen pines.

So far as I could ascertain, the trend of the upland mountain ridges
of sienite is nearly east and west, and the dip nearly north. The North
Park is oval or nearly quadrangular in shape, about fifty miles in extent
from east to west, and thirty from north to south, cccupying an area of
about one thousand five hundred square miles. Viewed from one of the
high mountains on its border it appears to be a vast depression which
might once have formed the bed of alake. Its surface is rather rugged,
yet there are broad bottoms along the streams, especially the North
Platte and its branches. Searcely a tree is to be seen over the whole
area, while the mountains which wall it in on every side are dotted with a
dense growth of pine. The grass grows in the park quite luxurianily,
often yielding two tons of hay to the acre. Streams of the purest water
flow through it, a few of them forming good-sized streams where they
issue from the ground, and I am quite confident that this entire park
would make an excellent grazing region for at least six or eight months
of the year. Myriads of antelope were quietly feeding in this great
pasture ground like flocks of sheep. The soil is very rich, but the sea-
sons are too. brief for the successful cultivation of any crops. Indeed,
there is frost here nearly every night, and snow falls every month of the
year.

As I have before stated, the park is surrounded with lofty ranges of
mountains as by gigantic wails. On the north and east sides may be
seen the snow-covered ranges rising far above all the rest, their sum-
mits touching the clouds. On the west side there is also a short snowy
range. The snowy ranges on its east border have*their nerth sides
abrupt; the south sides are less so as seen from a distance, and the mas-
Sive, rocky, lower hills appear inclining southward. All along the north
side the hills incline southwestward, while the higher ranges are quite
steep, and correspond in the apparent dip of the beds to the lofty snow-
clad mountains on the east, which incline south or southwestward. The
inclination of the metamorphic beds composing the higher ranges is
from 60° to 80°. On the west side of the park long ridges seem to siope
gradually down, so that they die out in the plain, forming a sort of er
echelon arrangement. It is due to this fact that the area inclysed
receives its oval shape.

The general trend of all the continuous mountain ranges is nearly
northwest and southeast on all sides, but there are many local dips and
variations from this direction.

I was much interested to know whether any of the unchanged rocks,
which are so well developed in the Laramie Plain, occur in the North
Park. (I found that the entire series of red and variegated beds, includ-
ing’a portion of the cretaceous strata, were fully represented, all in-
clining from the flanks of the mountains and gradually assumi: 1g a hor-
izontal position, or nearly so, toward the central portion of the park.
The transition beds or lower cretaceous, form quite conspicucns ridges,
inclining 19° to the southwest. They are composed of a very beautiful
pudding stone of small rounded pebbles, most of them ilint, cemented
together with a silicious paste. On the north side are quite large areas
covered with loose sand, which is blown about by the wind, resembling

128 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF TEE TERRITORIES.

the Sand Hills on the Niobrara River. A close examination of the sand
shows, that it is composed mostly of worn particles of quartz -and feld-
spar. The surface contains little or no vegetation, presenting a peculiar
barren appearance, the sand moving readily with the wind.

Hitherto it has been impossible to color on any geological map the
geological formation of any part of this mountain region, and no infor.
mation has ever been given in regard to the structure of the North Park.
It will be impossible even now, with the imperfect topography of any
of the maps, to coler the geology in detail, but these explorations will
enable a geologist to fix the outline of the tormations in a general way
with a good degree of accuracy.

During the summer of 1863 an excitement was created at Laramie
City by the supposed discovery of rich placer mines far up in the moun-
tains, near the Snowy ranges, to the southwest of the plains. <A large
party was formed at Fort Sanders, directed by Generals Gibbon and
Potter cf the United States Army, and accompanied by Professor
James Hall of New York, to visit the region and ascertain the truth of
the reports. The time was most favorable, in midsummer, when the
mountain vegetation presents a spring aspect.

Camping with our wagons at the base of the main range of mountains,
near the source of the Little Laramie, we prepared to ascend the moun-
tains on horseback tothe gold mines. We rode a distance of abcut ten
miles before we came in view of the “diggings,” and to reach them
made an ascent of about two thousand feet above the bed of the ereek.
We were thea between 10,000 and 11,060 feet above the sea, very near
the elevation of perpetual snow, and ‘where frost occurs every night of
the year. On the summits of these lofty mountains are some most beau-
tiful open spots, without a tree and covered with grass and flowers.
After passing through dense pine forests for nearly ten miles we sud-
denly emerged into one of these park-like areas. - Justin the edge of the
forest which skirted it were banks of snow six feet deep, compact like
a glacier, and within a few feet were muititudes of flowers, and even the
common strawberry seemed to flourish. These mountains are full of little
streams of the purest water, and for six months of the year good pas-
turage for stock could be found.

The gold is sought after in gulches, formed by the-little streams that
flow from the Medicine Bow and other showy mountains, most of which
empty into the North Platte. We labored for two days to discover the
quartz seams, which we supposed to be the source of the stray lumps of
gold, but the great thickness of superficial drift which covers all these
mountains eoncealed them from our view. The gold, as far as known
in this district, seems to be confined to the lower glacial drift. That
valuable mines will be found in these mountains at no distant day seems
very probable. The geological evidence is quite conclusive, and the
mountains are a continuation northward of the same range in which
the rich mines of Colorado are located. :

Not only in the more lofty ranges, but also in the lower mountains,
are large forests of pine timber, whieh will ever ntually become qf great
value to this country. Vast quantities of this pine in the form of rail-
road ties are floated down the various streams to the Union Pacifie Rail-
road. One gentleman alone contracted for 550,009 ties, all of which he
floated down the stream from the mountains along the southern side of the
Laramie Plains. The Big and Little Laramie, Rock Creek x, and Medicine
Bow River, with their branches, here liter -ally filied with ties at one time,
and I was informed that in the season of high water they can be taken to
the raliroad from the mountains, after being cut and placed i in the water,

|

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 129

at the rate of from one to three cents each. These are important facts,
inasmuch, as they show the ease with which these vast bodies of timber
may be brought to the plains below and converted into lumber, should
future settlement of the country demand it.

There are several species of pine trees and one spruce or balsam fir,
Abies Douglassi. The latter is a beautiful and symmetrical tree, rising
to the height of one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, and as
straight as an arrow. ‘The ties that are made from this spruce are of
the best quality.

We will now return to Fort Sanders, and continue on our westward
way. From Fort Sanders to Cooper’s Lake Station the distance is about
twenty-eight miles. On our right hand we can see, with great distinct-
ness, the Laramie Mountains as they flex around westward, preserving
a remarkably symmetrical appearance. A heavy bed of limestone,
which appears not to have suffered greatly from erosion, covers the
flanks high up to the margins of the summit, and seems to have pro-
tected their rounded sloping form. Here and there may be seen a deep
gorge cut through at right angles by some little stream, that has its
source in a spring on the summit. Along the base of the mountains,
on the east side of the road, patches of the brick-red beds are very
abundant, giving a picturesque appearance to the view. After crossing
the Big Laramie the surface is quite uniformly level or rolling, and cov-
ered with thick grass or sage. The country is underlaid with upper cre-
taceous rocks, and possibly in some places there may be small patches
or remnants of tertiary beds. Weseem to be gliding along over a nearly
level, monotonous country, with scarcely anything to intercept the vision.
Far to the westward the dim outlines of the Medicine Bow range can be
seen, reminding us that we are walled in by lofty mountains. But the
road is fine, and sometimes for long distances the track seems as straight
as an air-line. These broad, grassy plains are not yet entirely destitute
of their former inhabitants ;. flocks of antelope still feed on the rich nu-
tritious grasses, but the buffalo, which once roamed here by thousands,
have disappeared forever. No trace of them is now left but the old trails,
which pass across the country in every direction, and the bleached skulls
which are scattered here and there over the ground. These traces are
fast passing away. The skulls are decaying rapidly, and this once pe-
culiar feature of the landscape in the West will be lost. Two years ago
I collected a large quantity of these bleached skulls and distributed
them to several of our museums, in order to insure their preservation.

There is also a singular ethnological fact connected with these skulls.
We shall observe that the greater part of them have the forehead broken
in for a space of three or four inches in diameter. Whenever an Indian
kills a buffalo he fractures the skull with his tomahawk and extracts the
brains, which he devours in a raw state.

Indians or old trappers traveling through the enemy’s country always
fear to build a fire, lest the smoke attract the notice of the foe. The
consequence is that they have contracted the' habit of eating certain
_ parts of an animal in an uncooked condition. I have estimated that
six men may make a full meal from a baffalo without lighting a fire.
The ribs on one side are taken out with a knife, and the concavity serves
asa dish. The brains are taken out of the skull, and the marrow from
the leg bones, and the two are chopped together in the rib-dish. The
liver and lungs are eaten with a keen relish, also certain portions of the
intestines, and the blood supplies an @ellent and nutritious drink.
Both Indian and buffalo have probably disappeared forever from these
_plains. Elk, black-tailed deer, red deer, mountain sheep, wolves, and
9G

PERRAL ee

130 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the smaller animals are still quite abundant, especially in the valleys of
the small streams, where they flow down through the mountains; Elk
Mountain and Sheephead Mountain have always been noted localities for
these animals.

The traveler will have his attention called to Carmichael’s Cut, an
excavation through the arenaceous clays and sandstones of the upper
cretaceous deposit, which has become noted for the wonderful fossils
found there. Baculites, At:monites, Inocerami, and a great variety of
marine shells, glistening with the iridescent hue of mother-of-pearl, are
found in aggregated masses, as if this had been a portion of the creta-
ceous sea. Farther on, at Miser Station, these beautiful fossils occur
again in the greatest abundance, and thousands of them have been gath-
ered and carried away by curiosity-seekers. Near Medicine Bow the
lower cretaceous clays prevail, and in the hills bordering the Medicine
Bow Creek a large singularly tuberculated ammonite is found asscciated
with a species of scaphites or boat-shaped shell, looking very much like

a large worm coiled up, and hence its name, S. Larveeformis. These.

Shells have received all sorts of names in the country, and the most
wonderful tales are related of petrified snakes, &c.

All over this Rocky Mountain region, from the Arectie Circle to the

Isthmus of Darien, these remarkable marine shells are found, and in
some instances upon the summits of the loftiest ranges.

The valleys of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers have
already yielded nearly four hundred varieties of these sea-shells. We
have, therefore, the most ample evidence that in past geological times
the great ocean rolled ‘all over the area now occupied by the mountain
ranges..

After passing Cooper’s Creek Station we come into the black clays of
the lower cretaceous, and the appearance of the country becomes
dreary and sterile in the extreme. The waters are alkaline, and there
is no timber along the creeks except stinted willows, and very little
grass or vegetation except chenopodiaceous shrubs, which are fond of
this alkaline soil. As far as the eye can reach nothing can be seen but
these somber, plastic clays. The surface also presents the characteristic
monotonous appearance which is common wherever these clays prevail.
Six miles before reaching Como we come to an interesting quarry of
sandstone, from which the materials for the construction of the exten-
Sive railroad buildings at Laramie City and Cheyenne are obtained.
The rock is gray, coarse, and friable, and one would suppose not durable
enough for such important structures, but it is easily wrought into any
determinate form. This isa locality to which I call the special attention
of the geologist as one in which there is an interesting problem to work
out, viz: What is the exact position of this sandstone in the geological
series? It is filled with fragments of vegetable impressions, with some-
times quite distinct deciduous leaves, much like those already noticed
in Chapter II as occurring at Blackbird Hill, on the Missouri River.
The leaves of the willow and. poplar are quite distinct, reminding one
of those growing along our little streams at the present day, and yet
they are all of extinct species. These sandstones are local and seem to
have been deposited over a small area, inasmuch as they occur nowhere
else on the plains, so far as I have observed.

The black shales filled with remains of fishes and marine shells occur
above and below the sandstones, showing very clearly that they are of
lower cretaceous age. Still it would be a matter of interest to attempt
the construction of the physical conditions which were necessary in
those old cretaceous times, myriads of ages ago, for the ocean waters to

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ~ ge ak

deposit such an accumulation of sandy material in this locality. The
scenery is Somewhat changed also; the little stream which cuts through
the rocks flows through vertical walls of the sandstone one hundred to
two hundred feet high.

Farther on toward Como we see on our right hand the brick-red beds
which are so common along the slopes of the first range. At Como
Station the road runs through a curious anticlinal valley, the strata
inclining in opposite directions about northeast and southwest. The
southwest side displays the most complete series of the beds. They
are composed for the most part of alternate layers of sands and some
harder beds of sandstone, but there are a few of these beds of marl, or
limestone, in which are found great quantities of fossil shells, Ostrea
Pentacrinus asteriscus and Belemnites densus. The oyster is a very
small one; the star-fish is very beautiful but imperfect; and the Belem-
nite or ancient cuttle-fish is more abundant and more characteristic than
the others. ‘Chey are all of well-known Jurassic types. AJl around the
shores of the pretty little lake thousands of these sharp-pointed Belem-
nites have been gathered and given to travelers. These fossils are very
abundant in some parts of Hurope, where they are called “ Ladies’ Fin-
gers,” from their long, slender, symmetrical shape. These fragments
are all that remain of an animal that was probably quite large and
complicated in its structure, much like the cuttle-fish of our present
seas. It undoubtedly had the power to secrete a black liquid, a sort of
ink or sepia, which it could emit at pleasure, and thus provide a place
of concealment when pursued by foes.

There are other attractions here, of which the traveler will be in-
formed long before he reaches the locality. The “ fish with legs” are
the only inhabitants of the lake, and numbers of persons make it a
business to catch and sell them to travelers. During the summer sea-
son they congregate in great numbers in the shallow water among the
weeds and grass near the shore, and can be easily caught, but in cold

‘weather they retire to the deeper portions of the lake and are not seen
again until spring. These little animals are possessed of gills, and were:
it not for the legs, would most nearly resemble a miniature cat-fish.
But when warm weather comes, a form closely resembling them, but
entirely destitute of gills, may be seen in the water swimming, or creep-
ing clumsily about on land. Sometimes they travel long distances and
are found in towns, near springs or wet places, usually one at a time,
while those with gills are never seen except in the alkaline lakes which
are So common all over the West. Professor O. C. Marsh, of Yale Col-
lege, Connecticut, an eminent vaturalist, while on an excursion along
the line of the Union Pacific Railroad two years ago, observed a num-
ber of the gilled forms or Stredons, and taking them to New Haven,
watched their remarkable transformation into the more mature condi-
tion without gills. These animals belong to the family of Salamanders,
a group allied to the frogs, and the first form bears about the same re-
lation to the last that the tadpole does to the mature frog. Professor
Marsh’s very interesting and detailed account of these singular animals
can be found in the “American Journal of Science” for November, 1868,
and from his article I have taken the following extracts:

“The first indications of any change were observed in one of the smaller specimens,
about six inches in length; and the metamorphosis had apparently commenced during
the journey from Lake Como to New Haven, which lasted about a week. Small round
spots of dark brown were first noticed on the sides of the tail, and the color of the en-
tire animal gradually assumed a darker hue. The broad thin membrane along the

back, and above and below the tail, gradually began to diminish by absorption; the
external branchial appendages soon became similarly affected, especially at the ends,

132 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

and the animal came more frequently to the surface of the water for air. As the change
went on, the dark spots increased in number and size, and gradually extended over the
whole upper part of the body. The membrane on the back and tail entirely disap-
peared, leaving in its place in the dorsal region a sharp groove. The branchiz also
continued to diminish, and at the same time the internal branchial arches began to
be absorbed, and shortly after the openings on the neck closed up. In the mean time the
head became more rounded above, and more oval in outline, the muzzle narrower and
more pointed, and the eyes more convex and prominent. The body also decreased in
bulk, and the costal grooves became more distinct. The thin external skin was shed,
and the secretion of mucus from the surface sensibly diminished. During these
changes the animal showed an increasing desire to leave the water, often remaining for
some time with its external nostrils above the surface, and occasionally making violent
struggles to escape. Aided by a heavy rain at night it at last succeeded, and thus put
an end to further observations, just at a time when it had lost the generic characters of
Siredon, and become a true Amblystoma, two forms of batrachians usually regarded hith-
erto as belonging to distinct families.”

Fortunately, a few days later, several other specimens of various sizes began, nearly
at the same time, to show unmistakable indications of a similar transformation, and
this afforded an opportunity of noting the successive phases of the change more fully,
as well as observing the physical conditions which seemed to promote or retard it.
Two of the specimens were placed ina glass jar, and left in a strong light, and five
others were kept in a cooler place in the shade, the temperature of the two, however,
differing but afew degrees. At the end of three weeks those in the glass vessel had
apparently completed their metamorphosis, while of the others less favorably situated .
three only were partially altered, and at the present time, or nearly three weeks later,
they still retain tubercular remnants of the external branchie, although in most other
respects the change appears to be complete. The two remaining specimens, however,
which had throughout been kept with the three last, showed no distinct signs of chang-
ing, although the probability of their doing so, and the importance of retaining some
tangible evidence of the original condition, led to the transfer of one of them to a jar
of alcohol after the first week, a precaution, as the result showed, quite unnecessary in
the case of the other, which at the time of writing (October 5) still remains a typical
Siredon, with no alterations more important than a single appearance in a new epi- -
dermis.

Similar observations had already been made by a celebrated French
naturalist, Professor Dumeril, on an allied species, found on the table-
lands of Mexico; and it was a matter of no small interest to Professor
Marsh to ascertain whether this species would undergo a similar change
when placed under different physical conditions, hence these creatures
were watched with great care.

Among the more important changes which occurred during the metamorphosis may
be mentioned the decrease in the size of the entire body, which was very marked, a
perceptible increase in the distinctness of the costal grooves corresponding to the ver-
tebree, and the gradual ossification of the carpus and tarsus. The feet also became less
palmate, and the toes less depressed. During the transformation, moreover, and espe-
cially after its completion, all the specimens shed the thin, transparent epidermis, some
of them very frequently ; one, indeed, which had been kept in a strong light, lost this
covering three times in the ten days immediately following the metamorphosis.

The change in the habits of the Siredon in passing into the Amblystoma state was
scarcely less marked than the alteration in its physical characters. As soon as the ab-
sorption of the external branchie commenced, the animal came more frequently to the
top of the water and took a mouthful of air; and not long afterwards would occa-
sionally float for some time at an angle of about 45°, with the external nostrils above
the surface. Frequent efforts to leave the water soon followed, and an opportunity of
so doing was in most instances speedily improved, and the change then seemed to pro-
gress more rapidly. One or two specimens, however, showed for some time, especially
in cool weather, much less inclination to desert their native element, apparently suf-
fering little or no inconvenience from remaining under water, if allowed to come to
the surface about once in five minutes. The pugnacicus prepensities of the Siredons
which at first led to occasional assaults on one another, appeared to diminish as the
change progressed, and the more sluggish nature of salamanders at last predominated ;
although the altered forms at times showed no little celerity of movement, and when _
irritated, especially when held by the tail, would often turn and snap at the hand with
a rapidity that would have done no discredit to a reptile of much higher organization.

The effect on the metamorphosis of a variation in light and temperature has already
been alluded to. During asuccession of very warm days, about the first of September,
the change progressed with great rapidity, but it apparently ceased, or made very slight
progress, in the cool week that followed. While, moreover, the two specimens most

a
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 133

favored in regard to light and warmth passed apparently through the entire trans-
formation in about twenty days, those which commenced at the same time, but were
less favorably situated, required at least twice that time for its completion. The only
living specimen still remaining unchanged has twice shown slight indications of an
approaching metamorphosis, but with the exception of some spots, these have appa-
rently soon disappeared after a transfer to a dark and cooler place.

AS we pass on westward we come into the eastern border of the great
coal fields of the Rocky Mountains, and inasmuch as they are of vast
importance to this great thoroughfare, as well as to the country, I will
make them the subject of the next chapter.

CHAPTER Xi.

WESTWARD TO BEAR RIVER.

Soon after passing Medicine Bow Station, the dark, somber appear-
ance of the surface of the country ceases, and the more cheerful aspect
produced by the overlapping of the tertiary beds is seen. We move on
rapidly through inclined ridges of sandstone and shaly clays, dipping
westward from 30° to 50°. Here we begin to discover indications of
coal in the black bands of carbonaceous clay that crop out on either side
of the road. But the most marked development of the coal beds will be
observed at Carbon Station, about one hundred miles west of Laramie.
The first openings were made about three hundred yards from the rail-
road track, where a bed of coal was discovered nine feet in thickness.
The demand for the coal was such that it was thought advisable by the
company to sink a shaft close by the track, and now the coal is taken
out in large quantities daily for the use of locomotives. <A thriving little
town has been built up here by the coal trade alone.

The coal which is taken out of this mine is of the best quality of the
tertiary brown kind, and is very compact and pure. It is not as hard
as anthracite, but the miners informed me that it was more difficult to
work than the bituminous coals of Pennsylvania. The engineers speak
in high terms of it as fuel for locomotive use.

Just over the coal is an earthy bed of what the miners call “slate,”
which breaks into slabs, showing a woody fiber, and much of it looks
like charred wood or soft charcoal. A little higher up we find thin
layers composed almost entirely of fragments of deciduous leaves, and
above these come various kinds of clays and sands. Beneath the coal
there are indurated clays and rocky strata, in which occur thousands of
impressions of leaves much like those of our common forest trees, but
belonging to species long since extinct. They belong, however, to
genera such as Populus, Platanus, Tilia, with many others, most perfectly
preserved, and all plainly pointing to a period far back in the geologi-
cal past when these vast, treeless regions of the present time were cov-
ered with dense forests, surpassing even those now growing in Ohio and
Kentucky. Some of the layers of rock, two to four inches in thickness,
are almost entirely made up of these leaves, and the condition in which
they have been preserved shows that they could not have been trans-
ported any distance, but must have fallen from trees that grew in the
vicinity. Indeed, there is no doubt, for myriads of ages in the past,
gigantic poplars, sycamores, lindens, 0 oaks and others spread their
broad branches over the shores of some little streams or lakes, and shed
their foliage in the shallow waters in the same manner as they do at the
present day. Inthe autumn I have seen the sandy bottoms of the little

(134 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

streams that flow into the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers filled with
the leaves of the cottonwood and elm in a perfect state of preservation, -
and had the conditions been favorable for compacting these sediments
into rocky layers, the geologist might have split them open with his
hammer, ‘and revealed the leaf impressions as perfectly preserved in
every part as if they had been carefully pressed in a lady’s herbarium.
The traveler will find it profitable and instructive to remain at this
locality a day.

The coalis not confined to the neighborhood of the road. It crops
out in many localities for twenty or thirty miles on either side, so that
we see there is an abundant supply of fuel stored away for future use
‘ beneath this apparently barren surface. When we reflect that nearly
all the wood or timber that is used along the line of the road has to be
transported a distance of twenty to forty miles, and that even this scant
supply will be exhausted within a few years, we shall at once arrive at
the conclusion that the future success of this great thoroughfare is
entirely dependent on the supply of mineral fuel, and that its importance
for all time to come cannot be too highly estimated.

The coal formations extend along the line of the road to St. Mary’s
Station, a distance of twenty-five miles west of Carbon; from thence to
Rawlins’s Springs, about thirty miles, the road passes over strata which
are mostly of cretaceous age. To the geologist this entire region is one
of great interest. Even up to the present time it is invested with much
obscurity. Probably no rocks older than cretaceous or tertiary occur;
but the beds are so complicated by the forces that have elevated the
neighboring mountain ranges that it is difficult to unravel their rela-
tions.

Soon after leaving Ganon we pass through several cuts which show
the strata, sometimes inclining nearly west, and soon again in the op-
posite direction. We seem to be continually passing across a series of
anticlinal and synclinal axes. Just before reaching the North Platte
River we pass along the valley of one of the most remarkable anticlinals
in the West. On ‘either side of the road the rusty-gray sands and
sandstones incline at an angle of 10° to 15°. The strata rise like walls
on both sides to the height of seven hundred or eight hundred feet in
graduated ridges or steps. I have been informed that thin beds of coal
have been discovered within a few miles of Fort Steele; if this be so,
they must occur high up on the summits of these ridges. Near the
bridge over the North Platte the black, plastic clays of the lower creta-
ceous are distinctly seen, but following up the exposed edges of the
inclined ridges we find an oyster and an Jnoceramus which are peculiar
to the upper cretaceous beds. Passing up still higher, we shall dis-
cover thin layers made up wholly of a small species of oyster, which
seems to be characteristic of what I regard as transition or beds of pas-
sage between the strictly marine sediments of the cretaceous era, and
_the brackish and the fresh water which characterize the tertiary period.

We can see here a marked instance of a valley of erosion, or a long
natural opening, as if prepared in ages past for the passage of the road.
We ean reflect with what ease comparatively it has been constructed
across what would seem to be an impassable country, by following the
water-courses and their valleys of erosion, admiring the energy and
consummate skill of the engineers who first located ‘the road through
this wild and rugged region. >

We have not alluded to the scenery in this vicinity from the fact that
to the ordinary traveler there is little thatis attractive. To most
persons the whole country would appear like a barren waste. But if

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 135
we look far away southward toward the sources of the North Platte in
the North Park, we shall see some lofty ranges of mountains with peaks
that loom up in ’ solitar y grandeur. Hk Mountain is a noted landmark,
and seems to rise out of the plain as if it were an isolated peak. Iti is,
however, a portion of the Medicine Bow range, partially cut off from
the northern end. It is surrounded by rolling prairie, which is covered
the greater portion of the year with splendid grass. Hence all the
river valleys in this portion of the mountains have been noted places
for game of all kinds, as elk, deer, mountain sheep, &c. Fabulous sto-
ries are also told of the mines of gold and silver which have been dis-
covered. <As yet the geology is little known. The sides of these moun-
tains are covered with dense forests of pine, spruce, and hemlock; and
during the construction of the railroad thousands of ties were floated
down the branches of the North Platte into the main stream and thence
taken to their destination. The little streams that flow from the moun-
tains have in many places quite broad valleys, which afford an abun-
dance of hay and pasturage for all kinds of animals, wild and domestic.
The wild animals often descend into the beautiful grassy bottoms to
feed in large herds, and at the least approach of danger retire to the
almost inaccessible ravines and gorges of the mountains. The big-horn
or mountain sheep may often be seen in flocks, peering from some
mountain peak upon the traveler below. Tarly in the morning these
animals descend into the valleys to crop the moist grass, but during
the greater portion of the day they will be found, if discovered at all,
upon the most precipitous crags and ridges of the mountains. The
little streams are full of fine trout, which are easily caught, they not
having learned as yet the cunning arts of self-protection, like their east-
ern relatives. These ravines and gorges afford most excellent shelter,
both for Indians and animals, during the cold season of winter. The
close proximity of this delightful region to the railroad must make it a
desirable place of resort for “sportsmen during the summer.

There is another interesting feature connected with the North Platte
and its tributaries, as well as with most of the mountain streams, to
which I would call the attention of the inquiring traveler; and that is,
the abundant signs of the existence of that most sagacious animal, the
beaver. These mountain streams seem to abound: with them at the
present time, and their dams are very numerous, not unfrequently pro-
ducing a rise of the water, three to five feet. Extensive dams and
ponds are caused by these industrious animals, and sometimes quite
large areas in the valleys are overflowed, rendering the crossing diffi-
cult and dangerous. They sometimes strip off the usual fringe of cot-
tonwood and willows along the streams so completely that they are
obliged to emigrate to some other locality to secure food and materials
to repair their dams.

Not far from Fort Steele may be seen at this time cottonwood trees,
eighteen and twenty inches in diameter, which have been cut down by
them, and I have seen stumps in the valley of the Yellowstone thirty
inches in diameter. Their fur is of so little value at the present time
that they are not much sought for by trappers or Indians.

From St. Mary’s to Rawlings’ Springs, a distance of about thirty miles,
the railroad passes over rocks of cretaceous age. No coal beds need be
sought for in the immediate vicinity of the “yoad, although it is quite
possible that on the north side of the road isolated patches of tertiary
containing coal may be found. The railroad from a point about eight
miles east of Benton to Rawlings’ Springs passes through one of the
most beautiful anticlinal valleys I have seen in the West. On either

136 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

side the rusty-gray sands and sandstones dip away from the road at an
angle of 10° to: 15°. This anticlinal valley is most marked near Fort
Steele at the crossing of the North Platte.

About five miles east of Fort Steele I made a careful examination of
a railroad cut through a ridge of upheaval, which inclined about south
or a little east of south. We have exposed here, commencing at the
bottom—

1. Gray, fine-grained sandstone, rather massive and good for building
purposes, and easily worked, eighty feet thick—dip 25°.

2. A seam, two feet thick, of irregular, black, indurated slaty clay,
with layers of gypsum all through it, then two feet of arenaceous clay.

3. Ten feet of rusty-gray, compact sandstone.

4, Hight feet of clay and hard, arenaceous layers, very dark in color,
passing up into harder layers, which split into thin laminee, the surfaces
of which are covered with bits of vegetable matter.

5. About fifty feet of rusty, yellowish-gray sandstone. All these sand-
stones contain bits of vegetable matter scattered through them.

6. One hundred to one hundred and fifty feet of steel-brown indurated
clay with some iron concretions. The clay is mostly nodular in form.

7. A dark-brown arenaceous mud rock, quite hard, thirty feet.

From bed five, I obtained numerous species of marine shells, among
them a species of Ostrea and Inoceramus in great numbers. The upper
surfaces of the hard clay layers appeared as though crowded with im-
pressions of sea-weeds or mud markings. In another railroad cutting
about four miles east of Rawlings’ Springs I obtained the same Inocera-
mus and a large species of Ammonite. These fossils are important in es- .
tablishing the age of these rocks. Fort Steele is located on the north side
of the railroad, ‘and presents a pleasant and quite pretty appearance to
the traveler. I intended to make a more careful examination of the geo-
logical features of this interesting region, but failed for want of time.
The officers at this post have always “manifested great interest in hay-
ing the scientific as well as the practical resources of the surrounding
country examined, and their favors to my party have been very gener-
ous. I take great pleasure in thanking the commandant, Colonel L. A.
Bradley, of the Ninth Infantry, also Captain James Jackson, quarter-
master, for favors extended to me in time of need.

In the channel of the North Platte, near Fort Steele, the black clays
of the upper cretaceous are most distinctly shown, then gradually pass
up into the series of sandstones and clays that form the lofty walls or
ridges on the north side of the railroad. We can count from six to ten
beds of yellowish-brown sandstone, with inclining beds of arenaceous
clay. In the lower portions the Inoceramus or Baculite is rarely found,
the arenaceous character of the sediments seeming to have been unfayvor-
able to abundant animal life. Higher up a seam of oyster-shells of an
unknown species occurs. They are probably what I have regarded as
the transition or beds of passage from the cretaceous to the tertiary.
They are even better displayed from the west side of Bridger’s Pass to
Elk Mountain, along. the old overland stage road. Beds of coal are
known to crop out among the distant hills on either side. There is
undoubtedly a mingling of. the two formations to such an extent that a
careful detailed survey of this district is necessary to clear up all the
ebscure points. It is probable, however, that the North Platte cuts
down into the cretaceous beds most of the way, and possibly entirely,
from the mountains to the south, far north of the railroad:

Fig. 11 may be introduced in this connection to illustrate the style of
the erosion of the lower tertiary coal formations in the Laramie plain.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 137

The view is taken from the tertiary hills bordering the Missouri River,
near the mouth of the Yellowstone, but is typical of the “bad lands”
all over the West where this formation prevails, The little streams.
formed from the drainage of the hills cut deep gorges into the soft
superficial deposits at their base, and frequently produce great obstruc-
tions to trains of wagons.

As we move on west of Fort Steele, we can see on the north side the
outcropping beds of sandstone. About three miles west of the North
_ Platte this ridge gradually bends off toward the northwest. The cre-
taceous clays of No. 4 are weathered so that the surface has a smoothly
rounded appearance, and the anticlinal beds expand out into a broad
plain. The anticlinal extends a little east of south toward Pass Creek.
The erosive forces seem to have come from the southeast, between the
detached fragments of the Medicine Bow range, and extended across
the country toward the northwest. West of Fort Steele the road passes
along an anticlinal valley for about two miles; it then enters a mono-
clinal valley and continues for six or eight miles; then it cuts through
cretaceous ridges which incline northeast. Before reaching Rawlings’s
Springs the red beds are exposed on the north side of the road about a
mile distant. These anticlinals seem to pass across the intervening
country, connecting the ranges of mountains south with those far to the
north. Itis only here and there that rocks older than the cretaceous
or tertiary are exposed by them, until we come into the vicinity of
some important range. But at Rawlings’ Springs ali the formations
are exposed over a restricted area, from the granites to the cretaceous
inclusive. The elevating forces were exerted more powerfully here than
at any other point along the railroad from Laramie Station to the
Wasatch Mountains. To the south of the road are variegated gray,
brown, and reddish siliceous rocks dipping 5° to 10° southwest. A very
hard, bluish limestone resting upon them I have no doubt is earbonifer-
ous, although I was unable to find any fossils in this region. North of
the road ridges of upheaval stretch away toward the northwest, and at-
tain a height of twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet above the road.
On careful examination the red syenite may be found exposed in a num-
ber of places, and gives us the opportunity of studying the relation
which the unchanged rocks sustain to the metamorphic. ‘The syenite
beds dip 70° about southeast, the unchanged beds resting upon them
in nearly a horizontal position. The layers immediately on the syenite

138 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES

are a beautiful pudding-stone of rounded guartz pebbles and feldspar,
and above it layers of fine siliceous rock, with thin intercalations of clay,
the whole having the position and appearance of Potsdam sandstone.
I am inclined to believe that we have here Lower Silurian representatives.
In ail cases these rocks repose on the upturned edges of the syenite,
sometimes nearly horizontal; again inclining 3° to 10°. In one or two
places these Lower Silurian beds are lifted a thousand feet or more into
the air, still maintaining a nearly horizontal position. On the mountain
sides the beds are broken off so as to incline 50°, 60°, up to nearly 90°.

These siliceous rocks, covered with ripple marks, &c., afford excellent
building stone, and are much used by the railroad company. They
reach a thickness of five hundred to eight hundred feet. Upon them >
rests the blue limestone, thirty to forty feet thick; then variegated
sandstones; and the red beds in the distance.

From the tops of these ridges one can see numbers of both synclinal
and monoclinal valleys. There is one monoclinal valley, three to five
miles wide, which stretches far into the northwest, a smooth and level
grassy prairie. All these ridges have suifered great eroston, and the
Silurian beds are planed and grooved even to a greater extent than the
more recent beds. Everywhere the evidences of erosion during the
drift period are on a gigantic scale.

A fine sulphur spring from under the bed of blue limestone gives
name to the station. The water is clear and possesses excellent medi-
cinal properties. :

Some very interesting specimens of native copper have been found in
this ridge, which at one time produced no small degree of excitement.
among the inhabitants. The copper ore was found, on more carefal
investigation, to be of no special economic value. It seems to occur as
a sort of chemical precipitate in the reddish triassic quartzite near the
summit of the ridge; sometimes it is diffused through the reck in green
streaks in the form of green carbonate; sometimes coating largo
masses of calespar; there are also very pretty dendritic impressions.
Near the copper mines are some heavy beds of red oxide of iron, which
must at some period become of great value to the country. The beds
are four to six feet thick, and though they appear to be local, yet a
great amount of ore could be taken out at comparatively small cost.

It is an interesting fact that, although we are continually traveling
across what is usually regarded as the summit of the great Rocky
Mountain range, six thousand to seven thousand feet above tide-water,
yet this is the only locality along the road, between the Laramie Mount-
ains and the Wasatch Range, in Weber Valley, where we meet with
rocks older than Jurassic, and, except for a few miles near Lake Como,
none older than cretaceous. Rocks of ancient date seem to be the ex-
ception, while those of quite modern age, geologically speaking, prevail.

Leaving Rawlings’ Springs Station, the road passes through an anti-
clinal opening in the ridge, the south side inclining southeast 10° to 12°.
The lowest beds are yellowish-gray quartzose sandstones, overlaid by
carboniferous limestones. Still farther, south of the road, may be seen
the rounded hills composed of the cretaceous and tertiary beds, but the
intermediate formations, Jurassic and triassic, which are exposed on the
north side, are concealed. Perhaps the best example of an anticlinal
is seen soon after passing throngh the opening in the north side of the
road. The valley trends a little west of north, or northwest. It does
not show as distinctly on the north side of the road, with the exception
of the fragment of a ridge which is conspicuous on the south side of the
opening. Very soon the coal beds of the lower eocene appear on either

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 139

side, inclining at a moderate angle, at first 15°, On the north side
there is a plain, synelinal valley, extending off to the southwest. Pass-
ing across this anticlinal, we come out into an expansive, valley-like
plain, with a long cretaceous ridge extending off to the southeast, while
on the north side there is a low ridge of sandstone, with the str ata again
inclining to the northeast and trending to the northwest, thus forming
an open sage plain. The formations on the north side are mainly the
coal-bearing strata, with cretaceous clays cropping out at the base. On
the south side the cretaceous beds seem to extend off to the southward
as far as the eye can reach. In the distance the ridges which form the
high hills near Bridger’s Pass are distinctly visible, so that it is easy
to connect our south belt of exploration with the middle oné. It be-
comes still easier west of Separation, where the beds of the Washakie
group are nearly or quite horizontal, and extend undisturbed across the
country for nearly one hundred miles, from the Seminole and Sweetwater
ranges on the north to the high hills of Bridger’s Pass and the ranges
to the southwest. The lower eocene, or coal beds, seem to dip from the
mountains to the southward, if we glance across the country south of
the road; and gradually to the north of the road they flex around so
as to incline from the Seminole and Sweetwater Mountains. As usual,

the lower tertiary beds are quite variegated in color—yellow, rusty -yel.

low, rusty-brown, and drab—presenting an exceedingly uncomely look.

In the distance to the north the Seminole range can be seen quite clearly,
with a trend about northwest and southeast.

Near Separation, about ten miles west of Rawlings’ Springs, a coal
bed eleven feet thick has been opened, probably the same as the one
opened at Carbon, and near Rock and Cooper Creek. The dip is nearly
west about 10°. The opening being at the summit of the hiil, all the
coal will have to be drawn up a slope, and the difficulties of drainage
will be greatly increased. The coal is of excellent quality. Above and
below the coal is the usual drab indurated clay. Below the clay is a bed
of gray ferruginous sandstone.

On the summits of the hills in the vicinity are layers of fine-grained
siliceous rocks with arenaceous concretions, some of them containing
impressions of deciduous leaves.

The tertiary beds lie in ridges running across the country. The beds
are uplifted in every direction. A more desolate region I have not seen
in the West. Nothing seems to grow but sage bushes, and in some of
the valleys they grow very large. All over the surface of the hills and
in the plains are great quantities of water-worn pebbles. Many of these
valleys were scooped out by an amount of waters far in excess of any
known at the present day in this region. Some of the widest and deep-
est do not now contain any running stream.

The layers of fine-grained sandstone on the hills in this vicinity con-
tain more or less impressions of leaves, like Populus and Platanus, in a
good state of preservation.

West of Separation the dip of the tertiary beds diminishes. Before
reaching Creston, about thirteen miles west of Separation, they lie nearly
horizontal, and all the surrounding country presents more the appear-
ance of a plain. At that station the Union Pacific Railroad Company
have unk awell one hundred feet or more deep. At adepth of eighty-
three feet, the workmen passed through four feet of excellent coal
and four feet of coaly shale. The coal was of about the same
quality as that near Separation, probably from the same bed. If so,
coal at a depth of about eighty feet must underlie an area of at least
one hundred square miles. In this well, beds of bluish, arenaceous clay

140 ~ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

were passed through first, then black clay, with carbonaceous matter
throughout. Just over the coal was fine, bluish, indurated clay, with —
very distinct impressions of leaves, among which the most abundant |
were Populus and Platanus. The railroad cuts and the valleys them-
selves show very distinctly the character of the intermediate softer beds.
The erosion has been so great in this country, and all hills and canons
are so covered with debris, that it is almost impossible to obtain a clear
idea of the color and composition of the intermediate softer beds. The
harder sandstones, &¢., project from the surface, and are accessible to
the eye without much excavation. Marine and fresh-water tertiary
formations occupy the whole country along the line of the railroad to
Quaking Asp Summit, west of Fort Bridger, and also to Salt Lake to
a greater or less extent. :

From Creston to Bitter Creek Station, a distance of forty-five miles,
the beds are mostly fresh-water, and hold a nearly horizontal position.
West of Bitter Creek we come again upon marine tertiaries, dipping 3°
to 6° nearly east. We have, therefore, between Rawlings’ Springs and
Green River, a sort of synclinal basin, the marine tertiary dipping west
about 10° on the east side, and the same marine beds inclining east 3°
to 6° on the west side; while at Table Rock, Red Desert, and Washa-
kie, a considerable thickness of purely fresh-water beds are filled with
fresh-water shells Unio Washakeei, Goniobasis Simpsoni, and Viviparus.

Table Rock is a square butte lifting itself about four hundred feet
above the level of the road, composed of the beds of a sandstone which
in many instances is little more than an aggregation of fresh-water
shells.

After leaving Bitter Creek Station the hills approach nearer to the
road, and show the characteristic features of the marine tertiary again.
Seams of coal appear in many places, while yellow arenaceous marls,
light-gray sand with indurated clay beds, and more or less thick layers
of sandstone occur. The dip varies from 3° to 6° east or nearly east.

At Black Butte Station, on Bitter Creek, about fifteen miles west of
Bitter Creek Station, there is a heavy bed of yellow ferruginous sand-
stone, irregular in its thickness and in part concretionary, and full of
rusty concretions of sandstones of every size, from an inch to several
feet in diameter, mostly spherical, and when broken revealing large
cavities filled with oxide of iron loam. This sandstone, one hundred
and fifty to two hundred feet in thickness, forms nearly vertical bluffs,
and is worn by atmospheric agencies into the most fantastic shapes.
Above it are sands, clays, sandstones of every texture, and coal beds,
one of which, near the summit of the hiils, has been burned, baking
and melting the superincumbent beds. I found in several layers the
greatest abundance of deciduous leaves, and among them a fine palm
leaf, probably the same species which occurs in the coal beds on the
Upper Missouri, named by Dr. Newberry, Sabal Campbelli. There is
also a thin seam near one of the coal beds made up of a small species
of Ostrea.

The railroad passes down the Bitter Creek Valley, which from its chan-
nel through the tertiary beds, and on each side high walls can be seen
inclining at moderate angles. As we pass down the valley toward Green
River, the inclination brings to view lower and lower beds. These are
all plainly marine tertiaries, while an abundance of impressions of plants
are found everywhere. No strictly fresh-water shells occur, but seams
of Ostrea of various species.

In the final report, some detailed sections of these tertiary beds will
be given. Yet I am convinced that local sections are not very import-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 141

ant. The character is so changeable that two sections taken ten miles
apart would not be identical, and in some cases not even very similar.
The more recent the age ot formations the less persistent seém to be
their lithological characters over extended areas.

From Black Buttes to Point of Rocks the dip is southeast. About
five miles west the principal bed of gray-brown sandstone rises to the
surface. The railroad runs through what I have termed a monoclinal
valley, that is, an interval between two upheaved ridges inclining in
the same direction, the high outcropping hills on the north side, and
the sloping portion on the other. The principal coal beds lie above the
massive bed of sandstone, which forms a line of separation between the
‘clays above, which are full of beds of coal, and the alternate beds of
sandstone and clay beneath, in which there are few seams of coal.

The tendency of this sandstone to weather into curious forms and
cavities has given peculiar names to localities, as ‘‘ Hermit’s Grotto,”
“ Caves of the Sand,” “‘ Water-washed Caves of the Fairies,” all of whick
exhibit most singular, rounded cavities worn out of the sandstone,
sometimes extending into the bluff walls several feet. We may suppose
that most of these cavities originally contained a spherical concretion
which first determined their present rounded shape, and that the long-
continued action of the wind and storms has enlarged them to their
present dimensions. Perhaps, also, the trickling of water, or the process
of freezing and thawing, may have performed a part in disintegrating
the particles of sand. Here, too, we find preserved in the rocks the
greatest abundance of deciduous leaves of the poplar, ash, elm, maple,
&c., and among them some species which are found in the coal forma-
tions on the Upper Missouri. Among the fossil plants found is a spe-
cies of fan-palm, which, at the time it grew here, displayed a leaf of
enormous dimensions, sometimes having a spread of ten or twelve feet.
These gigantic palms seem to have formed a conspicuous feature among
the trees of these ancient forests.

At almost every station, from Bitter Creek to Rock Springs, coal
mines are opened, and an abundant supply for railroad purposes can be
easily obtained. At one locality, near Point of Rocks, five beds were
opened in the same bluff, within a vertical height of eighty feet. These
beds are respectively five, one, four, three, and six and a half feet in
thickness. Near the summit of the hill, just over the coal, is a seam of
oyster shells six inches in thickness. The oyster is of an extinct and
undescribed species, about the size of our common edible one.

There are also in this range of hills extensive beds of hard, tabular
layers of rock, which would make excellent flagging-stones. On the
surface are fine illustrations of wave and ripple markings, and at one
locality impressions which appear like the tracks of a mule on the soft
bottom ground. ‘There are others that might be attributed to a huge
bird, and others to some four-toed pachyderm. Seattered all through
the coal strata are seams and concretionary masses of brown iron ore,
sometimes local and sometimes persistent over extended areas; it occurs
mostly in a nodular form, and if the coal proves to possess sufficient
heating power to smelt it, the ore must become eventually of immense
economic value. There are also numerous chalybeate and sulphur
springs in the vicinity.

About ten miles east of Salt Wells Station the high hills or bluffs on
either side disappear, and it is plain that we are passing across an anti-
clinal valley in which only the yielding clays of the upper cretaceous
period are seen. These clays have permitted the surface to be so
rounded off that a distinct anticlinal valley can be seen extending

142 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

across the country northeast and southwest. This valley is about six
miles wide. Then the lower tertiary beds arise to the surface with a
reversed dip and gradually pass up through a Series of sandstones, clays,
and arenaceous clays to the Green River shales. At Rock Springs the
Wyoming Coal Company, under the direction of Mr. Thomas Wardell,

an experienced coal miner, has opened a yery valuable coal bed, which
is now furnishing large supplies of fuel to the railroad.

Very soon after leaving Rock Springs Station the Green River Group
is seen on the bluff hills on either side of the road to the entrance of Bitter
Creek into Green River. Inthe Green River Valley are seen remarkable
sections of strata. I have called this group the Green River shales,
because it is composed of thin layers, varying in thickness from that of
a knife-blade to several inches. The rocks all have a grayish-buff
color on exposure, sometimes with bands of dark brown. These darker
bands are saturated with an oily substance, which causes them to
ignite readily. At one time this material was used as a fuel in stoves,
and burned well, giving off a good supply of heat; but it was found
that the bulk of earthy matter, after the combustible portion was
burned out, was as great as the original mass, and rendered it too in-
convenient. One of the cuts along the railroad passes through a layer
of the cream-colored chalky limestone. There were one or two beds of
this petroleum earth.

. During the progress of the excavations the workmen built a fire
by the side of one of the walls, and this oily earth ignited and burned
for several days, giving light to the workmen by night, and filling
the valley with a dense smoke by day. The best display of the Green ~
River shales is near the station on the railroad. At the base of the
bluffs we have thin layers of arenaceous clay, with laminated sandstone,
with mud markings and other indications of shallow water or mud flats ;
color ashen brown, 100 feet. Above, lighter-colored layers with alterna-
tions of a greenish layer, fine white sand, the whole weathering a light
gray. AS we pass up we find a large increase of clay, and some lime,
with now and then a thin layer of pebbles or small nodules. The layers
vary from the thickness of a knife-blade to twelve inches, split easily
and regularly. There are also local beds, four to ten feet thick, of porous
limestone, which have the appearance of having been deposited from
springs during the tertiary period. There are also seams of very fine
limestone that are quite black, so thoroughly is the rock saturated with
petroleum. The combustible shales vary in thickness, from two to several
feet. Near the summit of the hill, under the yellow caleareous sandstone,
there are fifty feet of the shales that contain more or less of the oily
material. The hills all around are capped with a deep rusty-yellow ceal-

careous sandstone, which weathers into the peculiar castellated forms
which have given so much celebrity to the scenery in this region. The
different shades of color in the thin layers give to the vertical walis a
distinct banded appearance.

About two miles west of the station there is an excavation which has
been called the Petrified Fish Cut, on account of the thousands of beau-
tiful and perfect impressions of fishes which are shown on the surface
of the thin slabs, sometimes a dozen or two on an area of a square foot.
Impressious of insects and water plants are also found, as well as of a
remarkable specimen of a feather of a bird, which Professor Marsh
regards asa unique specimen, forming a most interesting addition to
the bird remains of North America. “It is the distal portion of a large
feather, with the shaft and vane in such excellent preservation that it
may perhaps indicate approximately the nature of the bird to which

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 143

it belonged.” My collection of fossil fishes from this cut is very large,
and my success was mostly due to the kind aid of Mr. A. W. Hilliard,
a gentleman of intelligence, who superintended the excavation along the
line of the railroad, and preserved from time to time such specimens of
value as came in his way. If the example of Mr. Hilliard had been
imitated all along the line of this railway thousands of most valuable
specimens would have been preserved which are now lost to science.
The existence of such vast quantities of animal life, during this period,

as those shaly layers would indicate, may account for the oily nature of
much of this rock. Ina portion of this cut there is an apparent dip
northwest about 18°, but I am disposed to regard it as local. At the
west end of the cut are some singular, dike-like openings, filled with loose
material from the rusty sandstone near the top of the hill. These fis-
sures are evidently due to jointage, and appear like regular mineral
lodes with well-defined walls. In most cases they extend up through the
shaly layers to the rusty-yellow arenaceous marls, and these fissures
have been so closely filled with this material that it must have occurred
from deposition, that is, the fissures were formed before the deposition
of the calcareous sandstone above.

For a most interesting account of the fossil fishes of this group the
reader is referred to the essay of Professor Cope in Part IV of this
report.

About a mile west of the “ Petrified Fish Bed” is a cut along the rail-
road which passes through a moderate thickness of buff, chalky lime-
stones, filled with impressions of leaves of deciduous trees. These rocks
hold a position about one hundred feet above the petroleum shales
which contain the fish remains, and therefore the date of their exist-
ence may be regarded as subsequent, though belonging to the same
basin. Professor J. 8S. Newberry, our best authority on the fossil vege-
tation of America, has given these plants a hasty examination, and com-
municated the following interesting notes in the form of a letter:

I have examined the plants from the rGiten River beds with as much care as the
limited time at my command would permit, and am surprised in not finding among
them a single species contained in any of your other great collections at the far West.
They thus far afford no certain criteria for collating the Green River tertiaries with
those of other localities where you have studied them. The plants from the rocks
inclosing the coal at Marshall’s mine are more significant, as they include species (Pla-
tanus haydeni, which is certainly different from Platanus aceroides) such as were found
by you at Carbon Station and at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Every collection of
fossil plants received from the tertiary of the West brings to light many new species,
and the great diversity which they exhibit proves either a number of plant-bearing
horizons, or great localization of the species in the tertiary flora.

Among your Green River plants are only some half dozen species so well preserved
as to be capable of satisfactory identification or comparison, but they form a very
interesting group. Among them I find two palms, both quite unlike anything before
found on this continent. One i is a new Pheniciles, resembling Heer’s Manicaria Formosa.
The other but an imperfect fragment, yet altogether new and strange tome. The most
abundant species contained in the ‘collection is a Magnolia, allied to I. tenuinervis,
Lesq., but more elongate and acute; also an oak resembling Quercus Saffordi of Lesq.
There 1s another oak in the collection, a laurel, (probably, ) and fragments of two ferns,
too imperfect for determination. On the whole, these plants resemble most those
described by Lesqueruex, from Mississippi, and I am inclined to suspect are of the same
age. This would make the Green River beds older than you lave thought them, and
I ‘should want more material before venturing anything more than a ‘suggestion to
that effect. I trust you will be able to make other collections from these plant beds
during the present season.

The specimens contained in the buff, marly limestones of the Green River series are
generally not well preserved, and yet, I think, careful search at the locality where ~
these plants sent me were obtained would result in the discovery of some fine things.
I would especially urge a search for fruits.

The aspect of the small group of plants now before me from Green River is more
tropical than any you have brought from the West, and as we have reason to believe

- “

144 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

that our eocene climate was warmer than the miocene, and that from the eocene epoch
to the glacial period a progression of temperature took place, the Green River beds
would seem to me to prove earlier than late miocene.

Geologists have as yet explored this interesting region only in the
most superficial way, and we have caught but a glimpse of the wonder-
ful treasures which will some time be brought to light. The strata are
nearly horizontal, and the rivers have cut such deep channels in them
that they can be studied with comparative ease. Professor Denton,
who made an exploration of the country about one hundred miles south
of the railroad, has given a graphic account of his discoveries, which
shows very clearly the geographical extension of this formation. Near
the junction of White and Green Rivers, partly in Colorado and partly
in Utah, he describes an immense tertiary deposit, composed of a series
of petroleum shales, one thousand feet in thickness, varying in color
from that of cream to the blackness of cannel coal. The shales abound
in the impressions of leaves and of various species of insects. Mr. Sam-
uel H. Scudder, of Boston, published in the American Naturalist for
February, 1868, a most interesting account of the insects collected by
Professor Denton. He says: ;

The masses of rock were crowded with remains of insects and leaves of deciduous
trees. Between sixty and seventy species of insects were brought home, representing
nearly all the different orders; about two-thirds of the species were flies, some of them
the perfect insect, others the maggot-like larve, but in no instance did the imago and
larvee of the same insect occur. The greater part of the beetles were quite small.
There were three or four kinds of Homeoptera, (allied to the treehoppers,) ants of two
different genera, and a poorly-preserved moth. Perhaps a minute Thrips, belonging to
a group which has neyer been found fossil in any part of the world, is of the greatest -
interest.

At the present day these tiny and almost microscopic insects live among the petals
of flowers, and one species is supposed by some entomologists to be injurious to the
wheat; others believe that they congregate in the wheat as well as in the flowers, in
the hope of finding food in the still smaller and more helpless insects which are found
there. It is astonishing that an insect so delicate and insignificant in size can be so
perfectly preserved in these stones; in the best specimens the body is crushed and dis-
placed, yet the wings remain uninjured, and every hair of their broad but microscopic
fringe can be counted.

Professor Denton also discovered in this region a deposit of petro-
leum coal, which appears identical with and would yield as much oil as
the Albertite coal of New Brunswick. Another bed, resembling cannelite,
was noticed, ten to twenty feet in thickness, which Professor Denton
believes would produce fifty or sixty gallons of oil to the ton. If so,a
single bed here would yield twenty million barrels of oil, or a thousand
times as much as America has produced since petroleum was discovered
in Pennsylvania. It is clear that these shales, with the fossil insects,
leaves, and petroleum, are only a southern extension of the beds which
we have so fine an opportunity to study around the Green River Station.
Dr. Palmer has brought fresh water shells, as Goniobasis Carteri, and
others from White River, which tends to strengthen this conclusion.

From Bryan we pass over a peculiar region, differing again in its
surface features from any previously seen on our route. Far distant to
the southward the singular, dome-like appearance of what we have usually
styled the “‘ bad lands” is visible, their brown and indurated sands and
clays having weathered into remarkable forms. One of these singular *
hills forms a noted landmark along the old stage road, which has received
the name of ‘‘ Church Buttes,” from its supposed resemblance to a church.
To this formation I have given the name of the “ Bridger Group,” and
I am convinced that this region was occupied by a vast fresh-water
lake about the same time that the one on White River existed. From
the indications derived from the fossil remains already discovered, this

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 145

group of beds is destined to yield a fauna second only to that of the
“bad lands” of Dakota. So far as yet known, all the remains appear
to be of middle tertiary age. Among these fossils those of turtles are
especially numerous. A multitude of fragments, together with several
forms, nearly entire, have been collected and sent to Professor Leidy,
of Philadelphia, for examination. The specimens have been referred to
three extinct species; the greater number pertain to a fresh-water tur-
tle which has been named Trionyx guttatus. The genus to which it
belongs is found at the present time living in the rivers of America,
Asia, and Africa. It is represented in our country by the Trionysx feroz,
or great soft-shelled turtle of the Mississippi and its tributaries. The
animal is noted for its voracity and feeds on fishes, snakes, and young
alligators. Its ancestor of the Bridger tertiary period no doubt was
equally predaceous in its habits.

Another turtle, of which a nearly complete specimen was discovered,
was more like our marsh terrapins in character. It, however, belongs
to an extinet genus and species, to which Professor Leidy has given the
name of Baptemys Wyomingensis, fromthe habit which it no doubt pos-
sessed, in common with most of its tribe, of at least taking an cccasional
plunge in some convenient bathing place. Some of the nearest living
relatives to this turtle are now found in Central America, the so-called
_ Dermatemys and Staurotypus of Vera Cruz and Tobasco. The third spe-

cies of turtle indicated by fragments Professor Leidy has referred to a
terrapin which he has named Hmys Stevensonensis, in honor of James
Stevenson, the companion and able assistant of the author during his
geological explorations of the interior of our continent.

From other fossil remains from the Bridger Group of rocks, Professor
Leidy reports the former existence of an animal presenting an affinity
to the hyena and panther. It was larger than our species of the latter,
and was evidently a predaceous animal of great strength and ferocity.
It has been*named Patriofelis ulta, which signifies the ancestral cat that
hath revenged itself. The remains of a small animal discovered by Mr.
J. A. Carter, of Fort Bridger, and sent to Professor Leidy, were referred
by him to an insect-eater related to the European hedgehog, to which
he has given the name of Omomys Carteri, in honer of its discoverer.

It will thus be seen that all the animals indicated by the fossils from
the Bridger bed, comprising three different turtles, a carnivorous and
an insectivorous mammal, are of species and genera previously unknown
to science. They, therefore, indicate an especial fauna, accompanied by
a peculiar flora, of which thus far we have seen but a trace. Further
researches will most probably give to us an interesting history of the
lost race of animals, of the former existence of which we now have an
‘intimation. Figure 13 presents a most excellent view ef the “bad
lands” as seen on White River, Dakota. This illustration may be
regarded as a typical one of the style of surface erosion of the White
River and Bridger Groups. The original sketch was taken on the spot
by Mr. F. B. Meek in 1853, and is published by permission of Professer
James Hall, of Albany, New York.

There are also beds of limestone, composed entirely of a small species
of Cypris which gives to the rock a beautiful odlitic structure. Of fresh-
water mussels, Unios, Goniobases, Viviparas, Planorbis, several species.
are found at different localities. Sometimes the Goniobases and Unios are-
found on a slab of limestone in great numbers, filled with chalcedony.
_ All the evidence that we can secure, points to the conclusion that all the
sediments of the Bridger Group were deposited in the bottom of a. purely
fresh-water lake, with no access to salt or even brackish water from any

10 G

146 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ieee

point. In regard to the extent of this great and most interesting lake —
basin very little i isknown. All the explorations have been, hitherto, of
a hurried and superficial character. We believe that the Uinta Moun-

Fig. 12.

tains form the southern ners and that it seeulie down to the valley
of Green River, at least to the entrance of White River, and probably
further. Professor Denton’s graphie deseription satisfies us that the
formations are identical with those around Church Buttes:

Looking from the summit of a high ridge on the east, a tract of country containing
five or six hundred square miles is distinctly visible. Ov er the whole surface is rock,
bare rock cut into ravines, cafions, gorges, and valleys, in magniticent* relief—terrace
upon terrace, pyramid beyond pyramid, rising to mountain heights; amphitheaters
that would hold a million spectators; walls, pillars, towers, castles everywhere. It
looks like some ruined city of the gods, blasted, bare, desolate, but grand, “beyond a
mortal’s telling.” Originally an elevated countr V5 composed of a number of soft beds
of sandstone of v arying thickness and softness, underlaid by immense beds of shale,
it has been worn down and cut out by rills, creeks, and streams, leaving this strange,
weird country to be the wonder of all generations.

But we must not leave this singularly interesting region without a
word in regard to the “moss agates” which cover the country from
Green River to Fort Bridger in the greatest profusion. The ground in
many places seems to be literally paved with nicely-rounded pebbles
and small boulders, mostly of agate flint, the largest not more than four
or five inches in diameter; there is a belt of about ten miles in width,
from east to west, including Churebh Buttes, and extending an unknown
distance, from nor th to south, over which these gems are found in the
greatest abundance and v ariety. Iam inclined to think they originate
in this modern tertiary formation. About six miles west of Carter’s
Station a cut in the railroad reveals a bed of tough, dark-gray, plastic
clays, and at the top a layer of flinty coneretions filled with smail seams
of chalcedony. In the ‘“‘bad lands” of White River are abundant
seams of fine chalcedony, which only need the oxide of iron or manga-
nese to make the choicest of moss agates. I am inclined to believe that
these agates originate in irregular seams in the tertiary beds somewhere
south of Church Buttes. The origin of all the drift material which
strikes the eye everywhere I regard as local, and that it was, probably
transported from the direction of the Uinta Mountains.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 147

Some of these gems are very beautiful, and the sprangles or dentritic
delineations are wonderfully like the stems of moss, and it is quite dif-
ficult for most travelers to believe that they are not actually plants im-
prisoned in the flinty mass. Most of the agates are of little value, but
occasionally one is found of great beauty that will sell for $50 or "875.
They are also found in the Middle and South Parks to some extent;
those in the Middle Park being regarded as by far the best. Beautiful
specimens of opal, semi-opal, or ‘opaline, occur, and when found are
especially attractive. A variety of opal of a milly -white color, and very
- transparent, was found in a lode of gold-bearing quartz, near Idaho,
Colorado, and was much sought after for a time.

CHAPTER XII.

BEAR RIVER TO GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY.

For more than two hundred miles we have passed over what appears
to’ be one of the most desolate regions of the West. Even the most enthu-
siastic of our companions in travel will not hesitate to pronounce it a
desert. Yet a careful analysis of the soil will show that it possesses the ele-
ments of fertility. Ifstreams of water could be made to circulate through
these broad, treeless, and almost plantless plains, and the same amount
of human industry employed as has been so remarkably exhibited by
the Mormons in Salt Lake Valley, there is no doubt they would become
productive. Whether in the great future this state of things can be
brought about by artesian wells and cheap labor is a question for the
people of that future to determine. It is my duty simply to present the
facts as [read them. As we proceed westward from Fort Bridger, we
note at once the favorable change that takes place in the aspect of the
country and of the vegetation. “Broad plains and sloping hills, crowded
thickly with grass, with an almost entire absence of the wild sage, are
now therule. Patches of the quaking asp appear here and there, and
along the streams are fringes of the cottonwood.

Soon after leaving Carter Station, toward the west, the pinkish beds
come in suddenly. They seem to rise from beneath the Bridger Group.
Their dip is about northeast 3° to 5°, and they have evidently been dis.
turbed slightly by the later movem ents which elevated the Uinta range.
This series of strata, to which I have given the provisional name of the
Wasatch Group, are composed of red, indurated, arenaceous Clays, with
beds of grayish and reddish gray sandstones alternating. Pinkish and
purplish clays are the dominant features, and give the lithological charac-
ter to the groups as far west as Echo Canon, when the conglomerates pre-
vail. The latter group is full of beds of sandstone, largely coneretionary,
but the sandstones or harder layers are seldom of a reddish color. Be-
fore reaching Bridger Station the strata on either side of the road are
horizontal, or nearly so. A long flat ridge extends down a little east of
north from the Uinta Mountains, between Black’s Fork and the Muddy.
This may be regarded as the geological divide between the waters of
the Great Salt Lake Basin and the drainage of Green River. The
Muddy is one of the branches of Black’s Fork, which flows into Green
River, and west of this stream we have Renal is called the eastern rim
of the Great Basin of Salt Lake. If we were to travel southward to
the foot of the Uinta Mountains from the railroad along this divide, we
should be able to detect no well-marked line of separation between the —

\

148 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Green River Group and the Wasatch Group. Bridger’s Butte, as well
as the entire eastern portion of this divide fronting the valley of Black’s
Fork, exhibit a large thickness of the somber, indurated sands, clays,
and sandstones of the Bridger Group, passing down into light, buff,
chalky layers, with Planorbis, Unio, Helix, Goniobasis, &e. Within’
a distance of ten miles to the west of this butte the little streams cut
through the pinkish beds of the Wasatch Group, then pass up into
whiter, indurated, marly clays, with numerous concretionary layers, dif-
fering from the chalky beds of the Bridger and Green River Basin. — I
am inclined to the opinion that this divide forms the junction of the
shores of two great fresh-water-lake basins which existed during the
upper miocene period; that here the sediments of the western shore
of one were so mingled with those of the eastern shore of the other
that they cannot now be separated.

The two great, basins may have been connected with each other at
different points at some stages of their growth, but there is an abrupt,
persistent, very marked difference in the character of the sediments of
the two basins. That the two great basins must have been synchronous
is inferred from the fact that the strata of both have been but slightly
disturbed by the elevation of the mountain ranges in the vicinity. The
want of conformity of the Wasatch Group with thecretaceous and eocene
beds will be shown hereafter to be well marked in a number of loeali-
ties. Both the Bridger and Green River Groups have yielded many or-
ganic remains, but the Wasatch Group, although it occupiesa very large
area, and has been excavated to a great extent along the line of the

railroad, has never, to my knowledge, “afforded any distinct paleontolog-
ical evidence of its age. Near Piedmont Station, in some arenaceous
clays which had been taken out of a cut, I found a few fragments of
turtle shells, which do not differ from those so common in the Green
River district. It seems that, throughout the West, rocks which are
characterized by this brick- red coloring matter are destitute of organic
remains. The red beds, or supposed triassic, which are so conspicuous
all along the flanks of the mountain ranges, are also singularly destitute
of fossils. It seems that wherever this ochreous color prevails in the
sediments, the physical conditions were not favorable for the existence
. of animal life, for if life existed, | can see nothing in the composition of the »
rocks why the remains should not have been preserved. At Bridger
Station, and from Bridger to Aspen, which is about twenty-four miles west
from Bridger Station, the ochreous beds of the Wasatch Group are well
‘exposed on both sides of the road, and will attract the attention of the
traveler. A few stunted cedars grow upon the hills and in the valleys
and plains. The alkali is as abundant as ever. There are also localities
where heavy deposits of drift ovcur, especially in the valleys of the
streams. This is shown along the road wherever extensive excavations
have been made, and these deposits will be simply mentioned from point
to point, to be referred to hereafter in another connection.

The valley through which the road passes from Piedmont to Aspen
is carved out of the beds of the Wasatch Group, and varies somewhat,
but seldom over a mile in width. The little stream that flows through
the valley is not more than ten or fifteen feet wide. From Aspen to
Evanston the change-in the general appearance of the surface of the
country will be noticed at once. The hills are more rounded and more
thickly grassed over, presenting an older appearance. At Aspen the
eretaceous makes its appearanee. The high hills on either side are
composed of eretaceous strata which seem to have been higher points
before the deposition of the sediments of the Wasatch Group, and also

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 149

to have been elevated to some extent since that time. For some
distance west of Aspen the red beds fill up the irregularities of the
cretaceous surface, but do not conform. About half a mile west of
Aspen Station the road cuts through a large exposure of the lower cre-
taceous shaly clays of No. 2, revealing abundant fish scales and fragments
of Inoceramus. These cretaceous beds are well shown for about four or
five miles, when the coal beds make their appearance near Bear River.
Near Sulphur Creek there is a ridge of sandstone which the road passes
through nearly at right angles. This ridge, which I have called Oyster
Ridge, trends about northeast and southwest, and the dip is west
northwest 20° to 25°. It is composed mostly of gray and yellow
gray sandstone, capped with a calcareous sandstone, filled with a small
species of Ostrea, and belongs, I think, to the upper portion of the
cretaceous group—probably No. 5. On the north side of the road there
is a high range of hills which are made up of the black clays of No.4. At
Bear River City, which is not more than four miles to the west, the
strata are nearly vertical and trend nearly northeast and southwest,
with a dip northwest. There is here a series of strata, which are still
invested with a good deal of obscurity. On the north of Sulphur Creek,
for three miles before it unites with Bear River, the black clays of No.
4 are extensively exposed, and above them a series of sandstones with
partings of clay, gradually passing up into the strata which contain
coal. That a portion of these sandstones belongs to the upper cretaceous
eroup I cannot doubt, but where the line of separation should be
drawn between the cretaceous rocks and those of tertiary age Il am
unable to decide. In the bed of sandstone which rests upon the well-
marked cretaceous clays are found a species Ostrea and a few other
marine species of shells, none of which are really peculiar to the creta-
ceous, but from their entirely marine character we regard them as such.
We then have from three hundred to five hundred feet of sandstones and
clays, with thin beds made up of marine shells, and among them a
species which sometimes reaches’a length of twelve inches, which Mr.
Meek has described under the name of QO. soleniscus. In this group are
a few thin seams of impure coal. The dip of these beds is northwest
about 50°. Then comes a large thickness of arenaceous clays with thin
layers of sandstone, with three or four seams of impure coal and large
quantities of brown iron ore or limonite. The seams of coal are from
one to three feet thick, with the usual clays above and below. Then
comes the bed of coal which is well known in this region, seven feet
thick, nearly vertical or with a dip of 82° northwest. The inclination
of the entire series of rocks from the Uinta range is quite plain.

This coal bed has been wrought for several years, and is so convenient
to the railroad that it ought to be of considerable value. The coal ap-
pears to be of good quality. Above and below it are thick beds of clay.
In the clay above the coal there is a seam of oyster shells, a species dis-
tinct from any that occurs below it, about 4 inches thick. Above the
clay there is a thick bed, two hundred feet, of gray sandstone, with irreg-
ular layers of deposition inclining at a very high angle—70° to 80°.
Then a valiey intervenes to the westward, in which Bear River City is
located, one-fourth to half a mile in width, which must have once been
occupied with a considerable thickness of soft material, which is now
quite concealed by grass and other vegetation. Still further west we
have a wonderful series of fresh-water beds, which have been tilted and
flexed in a most remarkable manner. These are shown in a railroad
cut a little west of the city, about two hundred or three hundred feet
long, where nearly two hundred layers are exposed, of almost every

”

150 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

variety of texture, from sandstone, clay, and fine sands, to earthy lignite,
and many of these sands are so crowded with fossil shells that they may
be gathered by the bushel. The sides of the cut are so peculiarly banded
that they look like the stripes of a zebra. At the east end these layers
are nearly vertical, but at the west end they seem to have been lapped
or bent down so as to form an abrupt cone, as if there had been tremen-
dous pressure from above. A little further to the westward we see a
ridge of the red beds and conglomerates, inclining gently to the west,
and resting unconformably upon the upturned edges of the rocks
in the cut. But along no other portion of our route have I ever seen so
rich a locality for fossil shells, of a few species. In the cut and on the
hills on either side of Bear River the ground is literally paved with
them, and the collector may gather them as he would the shells on the
seashore. They are mostly land and fresh-water species, many of them
as yet undescribed. Mr. I’. B. Meek has made out a partial list, and he
finds several species of fresh-water sheils, as Unio priscus, U. belliplicatus,
Goniobasis chrysalis, Melania humerosa, &c., and some interesting estuary
forms which indicate brackish water, or partial access to the « ocean in
those times. The conclusion, however, is that all these rocks are of
tertiary age.

The tollowing sections of these curiously variegated strata were made
at my request, by Mr. H. R. Durkee, a civil engineer of great skill in his
profession, and an excellent geologist. They were wrought out with much
care. The diagram will also assist in rendering more clear the position
of the strata. The second cut has been exposed by the excavations for
gravel made by the workmen on the railroad; ‘80 that both of them
may be considered as artificial exposures.

COMMENCING AT THE EASTERN EXTREMITY OF THE CUT. SECTION 1.

WH DD CT) OO 0 OC S OWE DW Top pA

No. Description. ee No. Description. vee

Ft. In. | Ft. In.

1 | Clay, grayish-black, contains frag- | || 83 | Limestone, fossiliferous, fossilssmall.| 1 8

ments of sandstone. ..-----.----2.. 10 0 ||} 84 | Gypseous earth, white ....-..-..-.--- 0 2

On limiimestones blur sean e es ee ee eee ee 2 0|| 85} Clay, stony, bluish-gray .....-------- 26

SHlCGlavwonavish- black ssene as anen nes 0 6 | 86 Clayashalemiblacke eens ener 0 10

4 Clay, brown, hard, and in large frag- 87 | Limestone, fossiliferous ...-..------- 0 8

FLED TUG basse eee ote it a a MSE re EN lO) 88h Clay ishalesiblack--e-secscseeeeeeeere 0 3

5 | Clay, black, hard, and in small frag- ||tS9n | uimestoneee esses aaeer EE ee eeEee ears 0 4

THOT Syne Ae ESE fea eed EON #590 |eitarly.clay.iblack= 22s s=ce=eeeeeee 0 2

6 | Limestone, blue, fossiliferous. --..--. 160i O10 eMiarlshi obtionayesssere-esereseee eee 0 23
NClay,, erayish-black ss pes 220 nee D292) Clayishale; vorayessesceemereseereeeee 0
8 Sandstone, frapmentary---s--o- 2: 0 2/]| 93 | Clay shale, black s:j20 cose eee 0
Ouii@layishalevorayeceee es aeece mere eee 100) |i94) | |ClaysshaleVorayesesoeese eee eeeeeeree 0
10 | Clay, erayish-black, very compact. -- 1 0] 95 | Clay shale, hlaclk! (ook seas 0
bal @lavishalesiblacksereesssecrceses ace | 010 || 96 | Gypseous earth, yellow.----.---.---- “()
12 | Marl, shells in fragments. ..---.-.--- 0887197) "Claydshallesilac cost aera 0

ish eClay/shaley black 25-5 = 2c -nesss-eeee 0 6 || 98] Gypseous earth, yellow.--------..--- 03
14 | Limestone, much shattered, and in 99.) TGimestone oo sos ee eee ae en ee il
angular pieceskaneeeseeeee=t eens eee I 22) 04) 100) \Clay/shalesbluete 2. -n-5---eeeeeaeeee 1
Syne lavashaletiblack..4.0 5 essen: Seen e 1 0''05|( 41015) snimestonesshe aes seen esse eee eee eee 0
16 | Limestone, angular fragments... ..--- 0) 1G3)|)102) Clay, shalesblueseeceeee s- eee ee eeeeee 0
17 | Clay shale, Prowl ete Poe CNL Aly aR I} 103))| tamestones eee oese eee ee eee 1
1g | Limestone, slightly fossiliferous...-. 1 -6 || 104 | Marl, gray ..-.. eal «OD
19 | Gypseous earth, contains crystals of || 105 | Shale, black. 0

IsSlemitowsaat sche o a Gane en SAE 0 3 || 106 | Sandstone .-- 0 3:

20 | White marl, shells fragmentary . yO) Woes) aiewalGse-55 54 0 3

21 | Limestone, very fossiliferous. ---- 0 6 || 108 | Shale, black.....-. 0 4

22 | Clay shale, black tne es ae Th Ce OO yal 5a 8 ae gee noe 20

23 Limestone, very fossiliferous. - 0 2) 110 | Shale, bituminous -.....=- Oe

24 | Clay shale, brown ...----.- oe 206) 410 || Marl S322. ot ches ene eeereee 0 2

25 | Sandstone, irasmentarye- -eassse sc 47072) | Swimestone 222-2 eee eee 0 8

26 | Clay shale, Tay -plac keen meee eee 2.04] 343") Marl: 252545 52 eee eee QS

27 | Gypseous earth, layer of crystals of j) 214.) Timestone: 243 ee ee 0 6

‘selenite on east side _....-_...-.--. 0) 1G |) eis d/l eo See eee 1 0

28 | Clay shale, contains streak of coal | Gs) Shales black-eee=.=—aese=eeer LO

and gypseous earth.-.....--------- 2 6 || 117 | Coal and shale. .--.:------:---- > 0 2

29 | Gypseous earth. contains streaks of | i 118) Limestone. eee ee eeeee ee ee aes 011

‘brown bituminous shale........--- 0 8 il 119 Marl .....-....-----+++2+2++4; Ages s536 0 6

.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Thick-

DUsmOlavy shales bluey) sos seen tate. =
51 | Sandstone, fragmentary --.---------
52 | Clay shale, blue and yellow..-....--
53 | Limestone, very fossiliferous. --..-

TEMES tO Cea eae a eta eee en ae

No. Description. AGRE. Description.

Ft. In.
30 | Clay shale, brown, very hard.--.- 6 ibamestone = see Se i ee ee
31 | Clay shale, black, bituminous --..-- 5) ATU Cio eh Ui = Mm AC
32 || Witidl pahyvegee sesbo sds Gaaces 4 soads 2 Clay shale, variegated, (purple, yel-
38) |! IhnimeRnie esses ssesscceesesootorss 10 low, &e.) SS SRN LUE a ESTE ea ae
34 | Clay, full of fossils.....-.-----.--- 3 Limestone, slightly fossiliferous. ---.
doy l@lay Shale; gray so-s2-1s-s=ssce=- 0 Gypseous earth. ee 0s ee oa
Soni C@layashales blue eeeeneaee ees 3 Limestone, slightly fossiliferous.....
37 | Sand, yellow Ps SN GIL EA ON ers a 2 Marl, bluish-black, hard eee
38 | Clay shale, g PAPIY cocconanes Sdoctas 0 COM eeossssoosscecncnduakeds sane eae
39 | Clay shale, gray, bituminous ---.-- 8 Gwpseousiearthen--s- = selec
40 Limestone, fossiliferous ......----- 6 CORE eee ee) Selon a Ib 2
41 | Clay shale and marl, fossiliferous, IAIN ESWOMG yas bo sboaoosseeoeoeoneeer
less fossils on west side.......... 6 pudlanng! Oop space susacusendepcesce
42 | Bituminous shale, contains streaks TIME SCONE pee eee eee
Olmblackycoalleernasnem-easeeeres- 4 Shale, bituminous, black .-.......--.
435) Clay shale; blue -4---- = --.2-=---2 6 Wihnali endl soos eoen bees beeen bee ose
44 | Gypseous Gait n eee Mice ECAR 13) iglle, WAG. jsce obese estes see
Aap Claysshale ples = i s1)5 eee = oe 1 IVD aii ese Se pce A SN Sat ie UN
ZB || AN Terrell 785, Cae eS gr ee 4 S Hral] Ge Bees eee is Tat aa eae eA cg
“ay || Cleny simile, wiht) See es soceessocesone 0 Limestone, very fossiliferous ........
48 | Marl, yellowish-white .....-....--- 3 Clay shale, blue, full of fossils..----.
49 | Sandstone, fossiliferous .-.-..--..- 9 Shale, bituminous, yellow and black.

2

8

6

6

2

54 | Clay, full Gietossil seek ee
55 | Bands, black, bituminous shale and

GiReNAL heise Re RMI sel AOS
OMe Mba Maye asain sae ins a mei
of | Slaty shale, black -....-..<---=--.-
58 | Limestone, very fossiliferous. -...-
59 | Slaty shale, TAY G ares a ier apes Saad sia eis)
60 | Shale, full oftossils) ooo eee
61 | Clay shale, bla cketes Saat sae eae
62 | Clay shale, yellowish-brown ..--.--
63 | Clay shale, \nlqray es ewalele Been SU IeG aE
64 | Coal and y ‘ellow shale in streaks.....
65 | Limestone, veay fossiliferous. --..-
GG) |) aN hdl ae tees Aaa ae cen areas

67 | Limestone, slightly fossiliferous, fos-
sils fragmentary A GS Se ae
68 | Nodular ‘Clay and shells, streaks of |
bitumincus shale on the west side.
Oe eiarl yellows shards 2 s-eeee cs se cei
AOm@Marl black (soft) =scecceeessses oe
71-| Clay ‘shale, black, bituminous. ....-
72 | Gypseous earth, yellow and white. .

73.) Wiayal Wen see oeaecusaasooreass
Age Marl Sontpe ssi crs es= ema see ne
75 | Clay ‘shale, AUN o5-cosssnosesencaue
76 | Clay and shale in-bands ...-..-----
Mme Vienne ae oe coe SEE USSU ie
78 | Gypseous earth, yellow....-.--.---
TD |) eel Ea ea ele eee Oy Gay
80 | Clay shale, black and blue, in bands.
81 | Clay, stony, EN evsko dase esueeaes
82 | Gypseous earth, yellow. -.-......---

From No. 173 to western end of cut, (which is made up of the reversed strata, but not in regular

order, some seem to be pinched out.)

ro

=

RPrROoCOOrFCOoOCOoW ecocorcercoeocoso ee Coorcoroocoor
—
WOODRFOCOCMORNAURS for) SOC AANTOWAINHA

—

SCWRNOCONORRPOCOCOF SSCS

poole

ShalleGslativaiolacicee sams seer
Shale, brown, full of fossils.-.--..--.
Shale wbluee ea ee he eee ana
DY eh ee ea ea Se SEE eae StS Ea
Gypseous earth 2222202202). 2s
Limestone, compact, streaks of marl

and coal, which run out..----------
Shalesslaibiyers wey see ete as ae eee

Bituminous shale and brown coal. --.
TIMeESHOMe Ree SS Nae eee teen on
Clay shale, contains scales of white
PV PSCOUS ear bheae eee se sees
AEE el ET RO ee eS AS ey a Noe
Shale, fossiliferous ...--..-----------
Clay, hard, fossiliferous .-.--.--..-.--.
@laycshalewblackiesseb ices eee eae
Clay, hard, fossiliferous .....---.-.--
Marl, OTe ls sine yen osieeiee ease enna sete
NERA bye eee teas ae Ah oe oe ecaos
Gypseous earth. awihiteysee eee coer
Clay hands iaee ae aae aaa a eeaee
WY Wel ices Ml eee aE ame resent ede
Coalt brow eseceo-e cease eee
Clay eA errno ann a epee epee
TMIMeStONes ese e eee eee eee eee eee
Gypseous earth and shale..-..-------
TAM EStOM ER seh eee ae ee Re
Sandstone, yellow ...-..-.--.--------
Wimestome sas wa yee aren aan eee
Gypseous earth and shale..--...---.-
MAM EStONE Wea seee ara eee
Clayishalesseceiy sts s yaa erubela
Bituminous shale.--..--.--.-.-.-.--.-
TAME S TOMS ee ses a hes Gan rae

im)
aos

—

(st)
bet TODO WO Re O Mop © el DD OH COBH 2D RO OO tO

a

SHROODOWVACOWO DH DON ARHHDOOWD CDOND

WOHRFORMSCHNWUWUSOSOSOSOSCSOSOCSOOWOH HORS, oocoeoworocoowoooooroocoocooco
=

152 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ORDER OF STRATA EXPOSED IN RAILROAD CUT, SECTION 2, (FROM EAST TO WEST.)

~ <erintt Thick- || 4, ands Thick-
No. Description. OSS No. Description. need
: Ft. In. Ft. In.
10) epriftysteel-colorediseeass-ssee eee oe ee 15 0 sal Sbales browses eee eee 2 0
2 | Sandstone, white .:-......----...--.. 12 0 19 | Sandstone; yellow -.----2----2--2--- 6 0
3 | Sandstone, yellow, containing frag- 20) i Shaleyibroymices eee. e sees 1 9
WANTON) Dc =sosedssqceucosssesaene 1 5 21 | Sandstone, steel- OTA): cis) See eee eee 40 0
4 | Shale. arenaceous, brown...-..------- 9 5 22 | Sandstone, white... 250. eens Onn
5 | Sandstone, coarse, yellow, in layers-.- 10 23 Sandstone, gray ih.-tk west eee 40
6 | Sandstone, fine, yellow, in thinlayers. iS) 24 | Shale, earthy, black -..1-1)_1.2.1207) to @
7 | Sandstone, coarse, containing irregu- 25 Gypseous earth, yelloweesepe soos eeee 0 5
lar streaks of brown shale, which 26) MShale sD laches ae ae 5
contains coal in fragments..--.---- 2 95 27 | Sandstone, contains shells in frag-
8 | Sandstone, fine, white ............... 18 0 Ments ss. ee eee eee 15 0
9 Sandstone, brown, contains brown HY eas} SORE ROWAN Sdocanoeascoceeseuescoss i ©
marksresembl’g bark and branches. Sy |b 2B) Olena nippaby Goose sees sg ccuacesossoc. ib
10 | Sandstone, _ steel-gray, contains | 30))||iSamd'stonernyelllow: sce neene eee 30 0
SUBSE) Ore INO; W) ERAS ee eeeeeeeoceose 40 0 || 3L | Shales and Clays) (earthyesessesueeeee 25 6
11 | Shale, black, and sandstone, steel- 321 iStalesmb royale ete eee 6 0
OMEN Vege peta eee epee ey eee ate evade ra ee 1 0 || 33 | Sandstone and gypseous earth. ....-- 20 0
12 | Sandstone, fine, white ..........-.. 4) 10))\| 345|;Shalesibituminous@ = sepa aseenee 170)
13 | Sandstone, in thin layers of varie- Iliredon|GaypSeous earths sss eee eee 3.0
sae ducolOrsesse sees esa see eee 6) 20)! 38) iSandstonessycllowme os ssseee aes 10 0
14 Sandstone, in broad layers of varie- loro, | Wandstone white assneeeeceee eee 8 0
aLCCKCOLOTS eee eee eee eee eee 21 0 38 | Marl, containing shells...-......2.-. 6 0
15 Sandstone, Steelcoraive sn see ener cee TON 2239 iGaypseousvearthte se: see eee eee 2 0
16 | Sandstone, in thin layers of varie- To end of cut, shale, clay, and arena-
gated SOLOS EIEN 5 0] ceous gypseous earth: --.--..22222: 60 0
17 | Sandstone, steel-gray, in layers, (con- |
tains streaks of coarser yellow in | Length of cut, 440 feet.
Layers) Pewee Ner sees eee eee suri: 35 0 | |
|

There is here another interesting feature, the oil springs of Bear
River, which have made this country famous for many years. More
than twenty thousand acres of oil lands, in claims of one hundred and
sixty acres each, have already been surveyed and located by different
parties. Companies have been formed and shafts sunk, preparatory
to an extensive business. The external appearances are certainly
very favorable. A considerable quantity of the crude oil flows from
these springs constantly, and accumulates in small depressions or in the
channels of the stream. When the oil first issues from the ground it has
a bright-green color, but it soon changes on exposure to a dark brown,
and has a slightly aromatic taste and smell. Similar springs occur in
the valleys of Wind River, of the Sweetwater, and also of the Arkansas
River, near Caton City, Colorado. At the latter locality about four
thousanc gallons of refined oil have been made per year for the past
three years. It is readily purchased by the inhabitants of the country,
who regard it in all respects as equal to our eastern oils for domestic
uses. I will not here attempt to explain the origin of these western oils,
but I suppose that they are derived from a similar source with those of
the East. Geologists differ as to whether the oil is derived from vege-
table or animal remains, but it is certain that it is not confined to any
particular formation or ¢ ‘eological period. In the valley of the Arkansas
the springs are located in rocks of cretaceous age, while in Bear River
Valley the oil flows up through tertiary strata, though in some instances
it evidently rises from beds as old at least as the cretaceous.

About twenty miles west of Fort Bridger, on the Overland Stage road,
there is a fine soda spring, yielding the most delicious water; it does not
differ materially from that of the soda springs in the valley of the
Fontaine qui Bouille, at the eastern base of Pike’s Peak.

Bear River Valley has been noted for many years for its numerous
mineral springs. Indeed, all Utah Territory is celebrated for them, but
in times past the numerous springs in this valley have attracted most
attention.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 153

About ten miles below the sta-
tion, on the right side of Bear
River, is Medicine Bow Butte,
which looms up conspicuously
above the surrounding country,
eight hundred to one thousand
feet above the bed of the stream.
It is undoubtedly composed, for
the most part, of strata belong-
ing to the coal series, which Lam
disposed to regard as of tertiary
age. It is well grassed over,
and is covered here and there
with dense groves of quaking
asp, &¢.

Passing along the stage road
westward from Bear Creek Sta-
tion, over beds nearly horizon-
tal, or inclining at a small angie,
we suddenly come to an up-
thrust of rocks, calléd ‘The
Needles,” which the traveler
coming from the East for the
first time will regard with aston-
ishment. Deep underneath an
extensive covering of more re-
cent deposits there seems to be
an immense bed of coarse con-
glomerates, and at this locality,
by upheaval, these conglomer-
ates have been thrust up through
the softer overlying beds ina
nearly vertical position several
hundred feet above the road,
and have been weathered by
atmospheric influences into a
number of sharp conical peaks,
which have given to this land-
mark the name of ‘The Nee-
dles.” J¢is made up of all kinds
of worn boulders and pebbles,
like those we see forming the
bed of any of our mountain
streams, varying in size from
that of a pea to a foot in diame-
ter. These rocks are held to-
gether somewhat loosely by a
kind of siliceous grit. Some of
the worn masses are themselves
an aggregate of worn pebbles,
proving that a portion of the
materials were derived from still

“PLOTPIEY OYTOVA Wor ‘AZID AoANY APog ye uoyvz suorjoag

‘S NOILOWS

‘T NoILOGg
3

MUSE RO SIRI

older conglomerates. Sometimes there is a thin local seam of coarse
sand containing only a few pebbles, but the greater part of the entire
inass, five hundred to one thousand feet thick, is a coarse conglomerate.
Itis situated near the Yellow Creek Station, and the ridge of upheaval

154 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

extends down from the Uinta range. As we go westward, examples of
these massive conglomerates will ‘not surprise us, and in Echo Canon
we shall find them three thousand to five thousand feet in thickness.
They are probably all of modern tertiary age.

From the hills about a mile west of Yellow Creek Station we have
some of the finest and most extensive views of the country. With a
good field-glass we can see objects with considerable distinctness on a
clear day for a distance of fifty to a hundred miles in every direction,
over a most rugged surface with high ridges and deep gorges, the strata
showing red, yellow, gray, and indeed every variety of color. Far to
the south we can see the Uinta Mountains, their summits covered with
snow the greater portion of the year, forming a most beautiful and sym-
metrical - background to our view. To the southwest, dimly seen, is
the Wasatch range, which separates us from one of the objects of our *
visit to this country—the Great Salt Lake. North of the road the
Goose Creek Mountains are faintly visible, but still loom up with sufficient
magnitude to invite our attention.

At Evanston we leave Bear River Valley and proceed on our way
westward, while the river flows far northward into Idaho to Port Neuf
Gap, near latitude 424° N., then it suddenly and almost abruptly flexes
about and flows southward until it empties into Bear River Bay, a por-
tion of Great Salt Lake.

We may step at Evanston and study the interesting coal mines with
profit: With one exception this is thé last point along the line of the
road before reaching the Pacific coast, where we shall have eé an opportu-
nity to examine coal mines possessed of any economic value. The coal —
is located about three miles from this place on the east bluif of Bear
River Valley, and is exposed over but a small area. It seems to have
been revealed by the inclination of the coal strata to the east, and the
entrances have been made at the base of the bluffs but a few feet above
the bed of the valley. <A, branch railroad has been constructed to these
mines, and there is now no limit to the amount of fuel they can furnish.

The mines have been opened with more system and at greater ex-
pense, and I regard them as more valuable and the coal of a better qual-
ity than any I have ever seen west of the Mississippi. Five entrances
have been made, each one showing a vertical front to the coal bed, va-
rying from twenty to twenty-six feet. The dip is about northeast, and
varies from 12° to 19°. Fora distance of about a mile along this ab-
rupt rocky bluff the coal seems to be exhibited on the grand scale above
described, but proceeding either way from that point it disappears or be-
comes almost inaccessible. About one hundred feet above the coal bed
there is a layer of calcareous sandstone filled with leaves, apparently
belonging to extinct species of the genera Magnolia, Tilia, Salix, Ulmus,
and Platanus, though very much resembling in form those of our exist-
ing forest trees. These leaves indicate that the rocks are of a tertiary
age.

The summits of the hills are capped with a thick bed of conglom-
erate, probably of the same age with that which forms “The Nee-
dies” near Yellow Creek, and also that shown so grandly in Echo and
Weber Valleys. At this point there is a broad expansion of Bear
River Valley, which makes it a most attractive site for a city. There
are here thousands of acres of fertile land that could be easily ‘irrigated,
and even now they form a vast meadow, covered during the summer and
autumn with a luxuriant crop of grass.

From Evanston we might branch off in any direction and visit places
of great interest of which but little is known as yet. Not far north-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 155

ward we might take a glance at Bear Lake Valley, which is destined
to be a point of great interest, not only to tourists from the grandeur
of the scenery and the beauty of the lake from which it takes its name,
but also to settlers on account of the fertility of its soil. This lake is
an expansion of a branch of Bear River, and is about fifteen miles long
and four or five in width, and well stocked with trout. About thirty
miles to the north are the far-famed soda springs of Idaho, which will
repay the time spent in visiting them.

Taking the cars again at Evanston we shall soon find ourselves at the
divide between Bear River and Echo Canon at an elevation of about
seven thousand feet above tide-water. The country we have passed
over presents nothing new or striking; the same reddish clays andsands
which we have seen before, seem to have been worn down into a fine
rolling surface, which is covered with a good growth of grass, giving
the whole scene a cheerful aspect. Game, as antelope, elk, deer, bear,
&c., was formerly abundant all over this region, and the experienced
wary hunter might discover some even at this time; but all along the
line of the railroad game of all kinds is fast disappearing.

The tunnel at the head of Echo Canon is cut through the reddish and
purplish indurated sands and clays of what I have called the Wasatch
Group, of miocene tertiary age. It is seven hundred and seventy feet in
length, and is the longest tunnel on the Union Pacificroad. After pass-
ing through it, the trains move slowly over the piers of trestle-work,
which creak and tremble beneath their load. One section is two hun-
dred and thirty feet long and thirty feet high, the other four hundred
and fifty feet in length and seventy-five feet high. We then enter one
of the narrow grassy valleys which leads soon into Echo Canon, and
then we sweep rapidly down between lofty conglomerate walls on either
side, which have been weathered into the most fantastic forms.

Indeed, this entire valley is, for the most part, one of erosion. The

water in past geological times has carved out of the massive conglom-.

erates its deep channel, and on either side the rocks rise walllike five
hupdred to one thousand feet. Some portion of the lower part of the
valley passes through a monoclinal rift; that is, the beds incline to the
northwest, so that on our right as we descend we see the projecting
edges. Ali these beds seem to have a greater or less dip to the north-
west, apparently from the Uinta range.

At the head of Echo Caiion the first objects that attract our attention
are the massive reddish sandstones on our right, five hundred to eight
hundred feet high, which have weathered into curiously castellated
forms, and to which the general name of Castle Rock is given. As we
pass down through some of the wildest scenery in the world, our eye
will be constantly arrested by some unique shape into which these
variegated sandstones and conglomerates have been worn by time.
Witches’ Rock, Eagle Rock, Hanging Rock, Conglomerate Peaks, Sen-
tinel Rock, Monument Rock, all greet us in turn as important land-
marks.

The Conglomerate Peaks of Echo present a near view of these con-
glomerates, so that even the depressions in the smoothly-worn surfaces
of the boulders can be distinctly seen. A little side stream has worn a
deep gorge, and scattered vast piles of debris below. The different
sizes of the pebbles are also well shown; its walls are about five hundred
feet high.

Monument Rock is one of the most remarkable landmarks in this
valley. It is a regular obelisk of conglomerate, standing at the junction
of the Hecho with the Weber Valley, nearly one thousand miles west of

s

156 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Omaha. It is about two hundred and fifty feet high, and forms another.
illustration of the peculiar style of weathering by which rocks assume
the appearance of animals. This column has been very aptly called the
Dog’s Head, to which it will be seen at a glance that the summit bears
a resemblance.

The peculiar form of stratification, with the varied texture, sometimes
a fine sandstone, then a fine pr udding- -stone, is well shown in many
localities, and the same variations of structure on a still larger scale
may be seen throughout the valley of Echo and portions of Weber Cafion.
The inclination of the strata is also well shown. The base is composed
of rather fine sandstone, but these sandy layers are not permament over
areas, but often within a distance of a few feet run into coarse, massive
conglomerate.

Hanging Rock presents to us one of the most striking views in this
region, and is a mass of coarse conglomerate, overhanging its base
about fifty feet. It overlooks Echo City and the valley of Weber, through
which a beautiful stream of pure mountain water winds its way. On
the opposite side of the Weber the partially-rounded, grassy foot-hills
of the Wasatch Mountains may be distinetly seen. The Weber River
also flows a portion of its way through a monoclinal valley, the abrupt, -
nearly perpendicular sides of the conglomerate bluffs rising up like
gigantic walls eight hundred to one thousand feet, while on the left the
gently-sloping sides of the inner series of ridges are well displayed.
The isolated rounded mass, which seems to stand alone, and almost
ready to tumble into the valley below, is quite firmly seated on its bed
of sandstone, and the corresponding portions may be seen forming the
base of the hanging rocks. I call attention to these strata of sandstone
as a matter of geological interest. High above the bed of the Weber,
eight hundred feet or more, rises the conglomerate bluff, with nearly
perpendicular sides, and from its summit one can survey the country
for a long distance in every direction, and enjoy the multitude of most
attractive views offered.

As we descend lcho Valley, we emerge from the canon around Pulpit
Rock, and shoot our way with wonderful rapidity down the picturesque

valley of the Weber. We shall observe that, as we descend the Echo
Canon, the more rugged picturesque scenery is exhibited on our right
hand, and as we descend the Weber, the same lofty perpendicular walls,
weathered here and there into all sorts of fantastic forms, continue to
the Narrows, where the Weber River makes a bend to the left, and the
conglomerates disappear. This formation, which in some respects is the
most remarkable one which I have ever seen in the West, must have
a thickness of three thousand to five thousand feet. The conglomerate
portion above must be one thousand five hundred to two thousand feet
in thickness. I have included in this group all the variegated beds
which we have observed west of Carter’s Station, and we have noticed
especially that some shade of red has prevailed in the clays and sands,
as well as in the conglomerates of this group. Some of the sandstones
in the upper portion of Echo Cation are noticeable for their deep yellow
hue. I have called this series of beds the Wasatch Group. How great .
the area occupied by these formations I have never ascertained. I
regard them, however, as forming the materials deposited in one of the
great lake basins of the middle tertiary period, the history of which, if
we knew it, would be too long and tedious for this volume. But if fine
sands require moving waters for their deposition, what kind of aqueous
forces must have been employed to transport these boulders into this
lake-basin? From whence were they derived, and what were the powers

GEOLQGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 157

that wrenched them from their parent beds, smoothed them into their
present rounded form, and then aggregated and cemented them together
into such huge masses as we find here ?

From the mouth of Echo up the valley the rocks seem to form a sort
of gentle anticlinal for about ten miles, and then the inclination is
reversed. The general dip, however, is 5° to 15° nearly northwest;
but for six miles below and three miles above Hanging Rock, it is
increased to 25°, and even to 35°. ‘

This formation, which differs somewhat lithologically from any with
which I am acquainted, must have an aggregate thickness of at least
three thousand feet. The conglomerate portion must be at least fifteen
hundred feet in thickness. It includes no beds of coal, and shows a few
fossils, which are ail impressions of deciduous trees, bnt no marine or
fresh-water shells.

Near Coalville, a little town in the valley of Weber River, five miles
above the mouth of Echo Creek, coal outcrops several times. At Spriggs’
Opening the dip is 20° or 30° east, and the coal bed about fifteen feet
thick, capped with gray sandstone, much of it charged with pebbles.
J was informed that in other places this pebbly sandstone rests directly
on the coal bed. A few hundred feet from Spriggs’ Opening a shaft to
strike the same bed has been sunk seventy-nine feet deep, through
twelve feet of gravel and sand, into black clay, growing harder down-
ward, and containing numerous specimens of a species of Inoceramus,
Ostrea, and Ammonites, showing that the black clays are certainly of
cretaceous age. If these beds do actually lie above the coal, as the dip
would indicate, then this formation of doubtful age, must be cretaceous,
and some of the finest. coal beds in the nee are in rocks of that age. It
is probable, ROWOUE, that the coal is really above the black cretaceous
clays of No. 2, and forms a a part of the upper cretaceous group.

The Weber River flo ws directly west, and the rocks incline in a sort
of half circle between north and south. Several beds of massive sand-
stone cap the high hills, and between them are layers of clay with a
reddish tinge. rt was informed that there were in this section six or
seven beds of coal, varying in thickness from eighteen inches to fifteen
feet.

Passing down the Weber Valley the dip would carry down the Coal-
ville coal beds, in a distance of five miles, that is, at Echo City, to a
depth of from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet beneath the sur-
face. So that the coal area that can ever be made available for eco-
nomical purposes in this region must be very limited.

An interesting feature along the Weber River is its terraces. Near
Echo City there is a rather narrow bottom near the river; then an
abrupt ascent of thirty feet; then a level plain or bottom of two hun-

*dred to four hundred yards; then a gentle ascent to the rock bluffs.
The summit of the first. bluff at Echo is five hundred feet high; it then
slopes back to the plains beyond.

Passing down the Weber Valley, about a mile below Echo Station
the beds’ begin to dip 25° northeast. The whole valley is filled with
rounded boulders, some of them three to four feet in diameter. The
Weber River throughout the greater part of its course seems to flow
through a monoclinal valley; but just before reaching the entrance of
Lost Creek it seems to pass along a local synelinal valley. A long ridge
of conglomerate extends down from the direction of the Wasatch
Mountains, nearly northeast and southwest, inclining northeast 5° to
10°. At this point the Weber, instead of continuing in the syn-
_clinal valley, cuts through the ridge, isolating a portion about half a

158 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRIBORIES.

mile in length and forming a huge chasm or gorge, which is called here
the Narrows. After passing through this ridge the Weber receives
Lost Creek, and makes an abrupt bend to the southward; and here is
exposed an immense thickness of the older rocks, in a nearly vertical
position. These rocks extend down the Weber River four miles or
more, when the beds abruptly change from the nearly vertical position
to a nearly horizontal one.

Commencing near the Nartows, at the mouth of Lost Creek, we have
a considerable thickness of the Jurassic limestones and marls, dipping
70° or 80° northeast, of a bluish ash color, very hard and brittle, cleay-
ing into thin layers and fracturing in every direction, so that the sides
of the hills are covered to a great depth with its debris. Then comes
series of mud shales, with ripple marks, some layers of very white

sandstone, and a thick bed of hard red sandstone, destined to take the
highest rank among the building stones of Utah. It can be easily
wrought into fine forms for culverts, fronts for buildings, caps and sills,
&e. Then comes a vast thickness of gray and dark-gray, mere or less
cherty limestones, which are probably carboniferous; and below these
again a very hard siliceous rock, oftentimes massive, portions of which
are filled with holes at right angles to the layers, very similar to much
of the Potsdam east of the Mississi ppi, pierced by Scolithus linearis. In
this quartzose group there is a bed of shaly limestone, six to ten feet
thick. A few indistinct mollusks were observed in the limestones and
the mud shales.

The distance from the mouth of Lost Creek to the end of the ean
vertical series of rocks is about three miles. So that we have here a
thickness of strata not much less than two miles in thickness from the
top of the Jurassic downwards, so as to include the carboniferous.

At the mouth of Lost Creek there is a remarkable example of non-
conformity in hills of different ages. The reddish conglomerate rests
directly upon the upturned e dges of the vertical beds described above,
and it is an important question what has become of all the intermediate
beds, containing the coal, which are so conspicuous about five miles
above Echo City.

Descending the Weber from the Narrows, we find some of the most
remarkably rugged scenery inthe West. The walls are very noticeable,
and are formed of two beds of limestone, projecting from the sides of
the valley at right angles, from between which ten or twelve feet of loose
material has been washed out. Near the tunnels the rocks on the left
side of the Weber dip about 10° nearly north, while on the other side
the strata incline in the opposite direction 3° to 5°, as if the valley was
anticlinal. Then again the valley would appear to be monoclinal, the
strata on the right side of the river inclining 20° south, and on the
opposite side, though presenting a nearly vertical front, inclining south
also. A little farther on down the valley, and on the right side of the
river, come beds of red sandstone; below these again gray sandstone,
with ‘a reddish tinge, the red sandstone dipping east 120. while on the
opposite side of the river the hills are open, rounded, and grass-covered.

The cherty crinoidal limestone extends to Morgan City and gradualiy
disappears. The red sandstones are seen among the foot-hills.

At Morgan City we come out of the principal canon of the Weber into
a broad open bottom, filled with little villages and farm-houses. The
soil is of great fertility. The hills on either side are smoothed off and
covered thickly with loose material and vegetation. The high vertical
exposures all ‘disappear. The Wasatch range seems to trend nearly
north and south; even the foot-hills of this range are so smoothed off

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 159

and covered with drift, and then with grass, that the underlying rocks
are not to be seen. The industry shown by ‘the Mormons in this valiey
is worthy of all praise. The little streams are made use of to irrigate
the rich bottom lands, which produce abundantly, and the houses look
neat and comfortable. Fruit cannot be raised to any extent in the
Weber Valley. The varieties of trees are confined mostly to the bitter
cottonwood, although from Echo City down we meet with a small dwarf
oak, box-elder, striped maple, and choke-therry.

Just below the little village of Enterprise [ saw in the hills, rocks
composed of an aggregate of quartz pebbles. Still farther down we
come to feldspathic rocks, indicating that the dip of the gneissic beds
of the Wasatch range is westward. The Wasatch range is composed of
gneiss, so far as the rocks can be seen along the Weber. The rocks are
beautifully banded everywhere. ‘There are also coarse ageregations of
quartz and feldspar, with large masses of tourmaline ; and all through
the gneiss, are seams of feldspar and quartz of various thicknesses.

The evidence is quite clear that from Morgan City to the entrance of
the Wasatch Canon stretched a lake, the waters of which must have
filled up the valley, rounded off the hills, and covered the sides of the
mountains with loose debris. Along the sides of the canon of the
Wasatch, four and a half miles long, are thick deposits of loose sand,
interspersed with water-worn boulders in many places. These deposits
have been cut through in making excavations by the railroad, and the
lines of current deposition are curiously well marked. About half way
through the cation there isa sudden bend in the Weber River, by which
a small portion of one of the gneissic ridges is cut off. Opposite this
ox-bow, a canon descends the mountain side, down which a vast quantity
of loose material has been swept, filling the channel of the river with
local drift, and probably driving the current through the gneissic ridges.
The Weber River, if its channel were straightened, would run through
this deposit of drift, which is about thirty feet thick; instead of which
it makes a bend and cuts its way through a massive gneissic ridge.

Extensive deposits of whitish, fine-blue and rusty-yellow sandstones,
hard enough for building purposes, with flesh-colored marls, probably of
pliocene age, and resembling very closely in many respects the more
recent tertiary beds along the Platte, occur in this valley. These recent
keds dip east or southeast. We thus learn that some of the later move-
ments in the elevation of these mountain ranges have been of compara-
tively modern date. Terraces continue to show themselves the entire
length of the Weber River, and they are probably synchronous with
those which surround the basin of Salt Lake Valley.

After emerging from the Wasatch Canon of the Weber valley, we
pursued a southerly ‘course along the base of the Wasatch range to Salt
Lake City. For twenty miles or more all the unchanged rocks have
been worn away from the flanks of the mountains, or completely con-
cealed by débris. All over the gentle slopes at the foot of the moun-
tains are strewn masses of rocks, all gneissic and evidently derived
from the central parts of the mountains. Terraces surround this basin
everywhere. There is one large one, with two or three smaller ones,
on the sides of the mountains; and from the lowest one downwards the
surface slopes gently to the lake. I was informed that the lake had
risen nine feet vertically since 1868, and of course the water has ag-
gressed upon the land to a’great distanee. I have heard no explanation
of this phenomenon. All the lakes in the West are said to be rising
more or less.

The carboniferous limestones begin to make their appearance along

160 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the flanks of the mountains about ten miles north of Salt Lake City, and
continue to a greater or less extent all around the rim of the basin.

On the flanks of the mountains east of the city are the red beds, and
probably a careful study would reveal Jurassic, cretaceous, and possi-
bly even tertiary beds. President Young has long since offered a
large reward to any one who would discover workable beds of coal
within a reasonable distance of the city, and a thorough search has been
made for them, but thus far without success. A bed of coaly clay only,
has been found near the city in the mountains. All the coal used in the
valley is transported in wagons from Coalville, on the Weber. The best
of red sandstone for building purposes is brought from Red Sandstone
Cation, just east of the town. I think itis of Triassic 2ge. The beanti-
ful gray granite which is used in the construction of the Mormon Tem-
ple is brought from Cottonwood Valley in the Wasatch Mountains. it
is zene of white feldspar, Gnas and black mica.

The surface of Salt Lake Valley has been rendered fruitful by the in-
dustry of the Mormons. Like the greater portion of the West, it was
originally avast sage plain. Now, by irrigation, all kinds of cereals and
roots grow luxuriantly, and there are no better apples, peaches, plums,
grapes, &c.,raisedin America. It may eventually become a vine-growing
region.

Following the stage road eastward, sixteen miles from Salt Lake City
to the Brewery at the mouth of Parley’s Canton, we reach the foot of
the mountain, over sand beds which are pr obably of post-pliocene age.
Here a little stream cuts through the sand beds, exposing a vertical
bluff two hundred feet high, composed of fine sand, horizontaily
stratified and overlaid with a great thickness of water-worn pebble con-
glomerate. There are indications ali along the flanks of the mountains
that nearly or quite all the formations already recognized as far west as
this point are here represented. At the entrance of the canon the
carboniferous limestones dip northeast 70° to 80°; over them lie the
purple and red sandstones and rusty-yellow layers, and under them red-
dish shales. Beneath these shales an immense thickness of dark-gray
silicious rock stands nearly vertical. Ali this vast thickness of older
rocks, in appearance semi-metamorphosed, is undoubtedly the counter-
part of the series described in the Weber Valley, just below the en-
trance of Lost Creek.

The road passes up a monoclinal wale between the ridges of quartzitic
rocks, having a brittle fracture, and the monoclinal slopes are covered
with debris. No gneissic rocks are noticeable along this road.

Before reaching the summits, in fact soon after we begin the ascent,
we come to the conglomerates and sandstones which accompanied us
down the Echo and Weber Valleys. Near the summit ail the hills are
rounded by erosion and grassed over, and water-worn boulders are seat-
tered about here and there, so that the underlying rocks are partially
concealed. Just beyond the summit we arrive ata “bro ad open exposure
in the valley of the stream called Parley’s Point, half a mile wide and
about seven thousand feet above sea level. Settlements are numerous
all along the road; but while there is very good grazing, few of the
cereals will grow. ,

All the rocks on the eastern slope incline at a greater or less angle
apparently toward the east. Just as we enter Silver Creek Valley we
come to numerous upthrusts of partially changed sandstones and con-
glomerates, the first indications that we get along our route of the neigh-
Dborhood of igneous rocks. Some of the masses of rock which go to make
up the conglomerate are of great size, very compact, and of a steel-gray

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 161

color, and are inclosed in a steel gray silicious paste ; but whether large or
small, all are angular. These might be called volcanic conglomerates,
for they are of igneous origin. They occur in the South Park and near
_ the sources of Lewis’s Fork of the Columbia River.

€

CHAPTER XIII.

GENERAL REVIEW OF THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY FROM OMAHA TO
SALT LAKE VALLEY.

In the preceding chapters I have endeavored to present a simple state-
ment of facts as I have been enabled to read them in nature. The
simplicity and unity of the Great Rocky Mountain system is such, that
when a sufficiently wide range of facts has been secured it will not be
difficult to derive trom them some generalizations of permanent value.
In this chapter I desire to recapitulate somewhat briefly the principal
geological features of the country from the Missouri to Salt Lake Valley,
stopping here and there to discuss some obscure points.

The upper coal measure limestones are seen at Omaha, near the water’s
edge, and quarried all along the Platte nearly to the Elk Horn River.
The lower cretaceous rusty sandstones of No.1 overlap the upper
carboniferous limestones about four miles above the mouth of the Platte,
and extend to the mouth of the Loup Fork; but the yellow marl deposit,
or loess, conceals for the most part the underlying rocks. A fine yellow-
ish sand, of the same age, or a little less recent, overlaps the cretaceous
near Columbus. ;

The chalky limestones of No. 3, with the characteristic Inoceramus
problematicus, here and there crop out, and some obscure exposures have
been detected in the Pawnee reservation, fifteen or twenty miles up the
Loup Fork.

This fine yellowish sand scon gives place to the pliocene beds of the Platte,
Loup Fork, and Niobrara Rivers, composed of indurated marls, sands, or
sandstones, which continue on as far as the margin of the Laramie range
of mountains, five hundred and thirty miles west of Omaha—that is, for
nearly four hundred and thirty miles along the line of the railroad. In
the grand anticlinal of the Laramie range, which I have already described,
they sometimes repose with a slight discordance on the older rocks; some-
times, as near the Laramie Peak, they rest directly on the granites, and
entirely conceal, for a distance of forty or fifty miles, all the unchanged
rocks of older date; but a careful study of the eastern flank, from Red
Buttes to Long’s Peak, will reveal all the Fie. 14
formations that are known to exist in this {pM ai je
part of the West, inclining from the sides = ==

of the granitic nucleus at various angles. == SSS SSS

igure 14 will illustrate the surface fea-= ==
tures of the Monument Creek Group. The =
recks are composed mostly of decomposed ==

granites, a feldspathic paste holding some ==

pebbles of quartzor feldspar. The columns =

—— pe

that are left standing over a large area, === J
are capped with a hard layer ofrusty yellow =>
sandstone, aS shownin thecut. This group 23 AV ii
covers the divide between the South Platte ==

to be of upper miocene or pliocene age.
11G.

\

‘162 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Figure 15 will serve to show the appearance of the ridges of upheaval,
or “hog backs,” as they are sometimes called in the west. These ridges

occur to a greater or less extent all along the eastern flanks of the Rocky

Mountains. They sometimes rise like steps to the crest, so that one
may walk from the tertiary formations in the plains, holding a horizon-
tal position, across the uplifted edges of ali the formations to the granite
nucleus. Between these ridges are, in many instances, beautiful grassy
valleys, varying from a few hundred yards to half a mile in width.

When exposed only on one side of a range I have called them mono-
clinal ridges and valleys.

Ridges of upheavei near Big Thompson Creek, Colorado.

The railroad then for forty miles passes over and cuts through a great
variety of syenites; some compact, beautiful building stones, almost
equal to the Scotch syenites, but the greater part ferruginous and easily
disintegrating on exposure. ;

On the west side of the Laramie range we pass across the uplifted
edges of the various formations seen on the eastern margin. We know
that. the carboniferous limestones occur here, for the fossils which,
though not abundant, are explicit as to their age. The limestones lie
all along the margins of the Laramie range up to the Red Buttes, and
sometimes slope so gently and cover the flanks so uniformly as to appear
like a sort of fiexible roof. Along the North Platte, above Laramie
Peak, the little streams have cut deep canons through the limestones
and sandstones of carboniferousage. In Box Elder Cafion, Hemipronites
crassus, Productus semieticulatus, Aviculapecten occidentalis, and other
well-known carponiferous forms occur. Between the granites and the

*

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Gan

limestones is a thin series of fine and coarse sandstone, the layers rest-
ing directly upon the granites, being composed of a sort of fine pudding-
stone consisting of an aggregate of quartz pebbles and rusty coarse
sand cemented with lime. his may possibly be a remnant of the Pots-
dam sandstone which oceurs so well developed farther north in the Big
Horn, Wind River, and Sweetwater ranges. This same sandstone is
observed far north to Red Buttes, but I have never been able to find any

trace of organic remains.
Fig. 16.

—— ee

Uplifted Carboniferous Ridges, Jefferson Fork, Upper Missouri.

ipa

Figurel6is introduced in this connection simply to show the ridges
of carboniferous limestone, as they are revealed along the flanks of the
mountains. This cut will apply to the ridges about ten miles west of
Elk Mountain, although the sketch was taken in the valley of Jefferson
fork of the Missouri River. Similar examples occur all along the east
and west sides of the Laramie range. The figures are introduced in this
connection to make more clear the theory of the upheaval of the Rocky
Mountain ranges, which has been expressed in this and previous re-
ports.

The red beds are well revealed all along the western flanks of the
Laramie range, and are always noticed by the traveler on account ot
their peculiar brick-red color. The harder layers of this rock are
much used for building purposes. I am unable to say yet whether
these red sandstones are triassic or Jurassic, though I believe that be-
tween these and the cretaceous formations, Jurassic beds occur. Along
the Big Laramie the cretaceous rocks come to the surface. The quartz-
ites and sandstones which I have usually referred to No. 1, or lower
cretaceous, underlie the plain just west of the railroad south of Fort
Sanders; and in the banks of the Big Laramie, near the old stage
station, No. 2, occurs withits dark plastic laminated clays, with thin lay-
ers of fibrous carbonate of lime, to the surface of which are attached
great numbers of the ubiquitous Ostrea congesta. In the level plain
west of the Big Laramie, No. 3 is exposed fifty to one hundred feet in

*

164 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

thickness, with its usual yellow chalky character; the usual Ostrea
congesta occurs in great abundance. Immediately along the line of the
railroad no indications of No. 3 have ever been observed. Nowhere in
the Laramie plains are any of the subdivigions of the cretaceous group. ©
well defined. These beds occupy the co®ntry along the line of the
road from Laramie City nearly to Como Station, a distance of sixty
miles; at this point the red beds and the true Jurassic rocks are >
brought to the surface, over a restricted area, by means of an anticlinal
which forms a valley through which the road passes. The strata in-
cline from either side. The south side of the road exposes the most
complete series of beds; a high ridge is composed of Jurassic beds,
mostly capped with the sandstones of No.1, while as far as the eye
can reach to the southward the low. wave-like ridges of No. 2 can be
seen. Towards the southwest, the anticlinal valley seems to close up,
but to the northeastward it expands indefinitely, and extends, no doubt,
to the Laramie range.

From a point about ten miles west of Como to St. Mary’s Station, a
distance of fifty miles, the tertiary coal beds, with the sands, sandstones,
and clays peculiar to them, occupy the country. The most important
coal mines are located at Carbon; no shells have ever been observed
in connection with the coal, but thousands of impressions of deciduous
leaves are found. Itis an important point to fix the age of the coal
beds in any one locality. So far as we can determine, the coal beds of
the Laramie plains are of eocene age, although the plants are more
closely allied to those of the miocene period in the Old World.

In the vicinity of Elk Mountain, along the Overland stage road, in
beds which I regard as belonging to the older tertiary, and holding a
position near the junction of the tertiary and cretaceous, and nearly or
quite on a parallel with the lower tertiary beds near Denver, Colorado,
I found a quantity of fossil leaves, among which Dr. Newberry identi-
fies Platanus Haydeni, Quercus aceroides, Magnolia tenerafolia, with frag-
ments of Cornus and kKhamnus. The same species occur in the upper
portion of the coal series on the west side of Bridger’s Pass. At Carbon
Populus cuneata, P. Nebrascensis, and Platanus Haydeni, are very abun-
dant. From St. Mary’s Station to Rawlings’ Springs, a distance of thirty
miles, the road passes over rocks of cretaceous age; although on the
hills on either side remnants of the coal strata may be found. About
two miles west of this point the coal beds begin to appear again, and at
Separation, Platanus Haydeni, Cornus acuminata, with other undeter-
mined species of plants, oceur. This point forms the eastern rim of a
basin which extends about one hundred and ten miles to the westward.
A new group comes in which I have named the Washakie Group, from
the fact that near this station are beds of calcareous sandstone and lime-
stone, composed of an aggregate of fresh-water shells. As they are
mostly casts it is difficult to identify the species, but Mr. Meek has
named the most abundant kind Unio Washakeet. Soon after leaving Bitter
Creek Station the coal strata of eocene age rise to the surface from be-
neath the miocene beds of the Washakie Group with a reversed dip. |
Here we find numerous beds of coal, and in the rocks above and below
the coal are great numbers of impressions of leaves, and in the clay
seams of oyster shells of several species. At Black Buttes Station, eight
hundred and fifty miles west of Omaha, we found Sabal Campbelli, Rham-
nus elegans, Cornus acuminata, Quercus aceroides, Tilia antiqua, with
other undescribed species. At Point of Rocks, fourteen miles farther
west, Platanus Haydeni, P. Nebrascensis, Cornus acuminata, Magnolia
tenerafolia,occur. At Haliville the black slaty clays, forming the roofof one

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 165

of the most valuable of the coal beds of this region, are crowded with bi-
valve shells, two species of which Mr. Meek has named Cyrena fracta, and
0. crassatelliformis, regarding them as tertiary. They are undoubtedly
brackish-water forms and show asort of middle position—that is, middle
or upper eocene. That there is a connection between all the coal beds
of the West I firmly believe, and I am convinced that in due time that
relation will be worked out and the links in the chain of evidence joined
together. That some of the older beds may be of upper cretaceous age
Iam prepared to believe, yet until much clearer light is thrown upon
their origin than any we have yet secured, I shall regard them as belong-
ing to my transition series or beds of passage between the true creta-
ceous and the tertiary. When the large collections of fossil plants from
the West, now in the possession of Dr. Newberry, are carefully studied,
we shall have a much better basis upon which to rest a conclusion. It
will be seen at once that one of the most important problems in the geol-
ogy of the West awaits solution, in detecting, withouta doubt, the age of
the coal series of the West, and the exact line of demarkation between
the eretaceous and tertiary periods.

The study of this question shows the importance of the continued
accumulation of facts and the collection of organic remains. Neither
can we place too rigid reliance on the teachings of the fossils, for it has
already been shown many times that the fauna and flora of the tertiary
deposits of this country, when compared with those of the Old World,
reach back one epoch into the past. We have already obliterated the
chasm between the permian and the carboniferous era, and shown that
there is a well-marked inosculation of organic forms—those of supposed
permian affinities passing down into well-known carboniferous strata,
and admitted carboniferous types passing up into the permian. We
believe that the careful study of these transition beds is destined to oblit-
erate the chasm between the cretaceous and tertiary periods, and that
there is a passing down into the cretaceous pericd of tertiary forms, and
an extending upward into the tertiary of those of cretaceous afiinities.
It appears also, that every distinct fauna or flora of a period ought
to contain within itself the evidence of its own age or time of existence,
with certain prophetic features which reach forward to the epoch about
to follow. If there is a strict uniformity in all the operations of nature
when taken in the aggregate, as I believe there is, then thisis simply in
accordance with the law of progress which in the case of the physical
changes wrought out in the geological history of the world has operated
so slowly that infinite ages have been required to produce any percep-
tible change. The position that I have taken in all my studies in the
West is that all evidences of sudden or paroxysmal movements, have
been local and are to be investigated as such, and have had no influence
on the great extended movements which I have regarded as general, uni-
form, and slow, and the results of which have given to the West its
present configuration. The splendid group of fossils obtained on the
Upper Missouri, from the Fox Hills Group or upper cretaceous beds,
illustrate the prophetic element I have mentioned above. Among them
are many true cretaceous forms, as Ammonites, Baculites, Inoceramus, &e.,
yet these all present such a modern facies that they seem plainly to look
forward into the succeeding epoch, which in the ease of our Atlantic
coast was Strictly marine. It was no fault of the fossils themselves that
they were mistaken in this instance.

We may suppose that near the close of the cretaceous period, the
ocean extended all over the area west of the Mississippi, from the Arc-
tic Circle to the Isthmus of Darien. How much of the country east of

166 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the Mississippi was beneath the ocean I will not now attempt to deter-
mine. Restricted portions of the western continent may have been
above the ocean level, and some of the mountains may have projected,
like rocky islands, above the waters. Near the close of the cretaceous
period the great water-shed of the continent was marked out, and the
marine waters were separated into more or less shallow seas, lakes, es-
tuaries, marshes, &c. Among the marshes sported the reptiles, the
remains of which are so abundant in the tertiary deposits; and on the
areas raised above the waters grew luxuriant forest trees and other
vegetation which contributed to the formation of the coal beds. We
shall attempt to show from time to time that, although the coal deposits
of the West occupy an enormous area, yet the profitable deposits of coal
hie in detached basins, some of which are quite restricted in, their area.
The study of these coal formations in nature shows most plainly that
some of the beds of coal extend, uninterruptedly, over enormous areas,
as if the vegetable matter had been deposited in a sea, or that the
physical conditions attending its occurrence were widespread and uni-
torm, while in other localities coal strata of great thickness clearly oc-
cupy but a limited area. We are aware that beds of coal, but a few
miles apart, and evidently synchronous, show no physical evidence of
ever having been connected with each other. There is another curious.
fact, that, while very nearly the same species of plants occur, the coal
strata are nearly, or quite all, marine or brackish, while far removed
from the mountain ranges the sediments very soon become purely tresh-
water. On the Upper Missouri, where the Goal-bearing group covers so
large an area with remarkable uniformity, only the lowest beds contain
marine forms, and very soon we pass up into strata with purely fresh-
water fossils. We may suppose that at an early period, during the ter-
tiary epoch, this portion was cut off from access to the salt water. If
our ideas of the physical geography of these epochs are correct, coal
strata of contemporaneous origin may be purely marine, purely fresh-
water or brackish, depending upon the proximity of the sea, lake, or
marsh, to the ocean waters.

We have already shown many times that there is no real physical
break in the deposition of the sediments between the well-marked ere-
taceous and tertiary groups. In some localities the continuity is clear
and beautiful in the highest degree. On Green River, and in the Bit-
ter Creek Valley, one can trace the continuity step by step, so far as the
strata are concerned, from the cretaceous through the greatest thick-
ness of clays, sands, and sandstones of the lower tertiary to the purely
fresh-water beds of Green River shales, Washakie or Bridger Groups.
In these localities the influence of the elevation of the mountain ranges
has been such as to expose the outcropping edges of all the strata from
the cretaceous to the sands of the most recent tertiary, like the
leaves of a book. We have already shown thatin the claysinterspersed
among the coal beds in the Bitter Creek Valley, are seams of oys-
ter shells of several species. A few other marine forms have been ob-
served. At Hallville, near Point of Rocks, we have seen that in the
slaty shales, above one of the coal beds, are proofs that at that period
the physical conditions were most favorable for the existence of a pro-
fusion of brackish-water life; that in this locality, from 3,000 to 4,000
feet of coal strata were deposited before the salt water ceased to have
access to these tertiary lakes. At Bear River, also, the same history is
written upon the rocky layers. We have well-defined cretaceous strata,
and from these we ascend through a series of sandstones and clays, with
an abundance of shells of the genus Ostrea, and afew other marine forms

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 167

resembling tertiary types aS much as cretaceous. Soon we come to the
coal beds, which, at this locality, are nearly vertical. Above them we
find seams of oyster shells, but no other marine forms. And finally,
high up in the upper beds of the coal group, we find the greatest profu-
sion of brackish and fresh-water life that we have observed in the West,
Unio priscus, U. belliplicatus, Cyrena durkeei, Corbula p UE &e.
So far as the Evanston coal mines are concerned, no shells have been
found in connection with them, so far as I know. "But last year, in the
caleareous sandstones above the huge 26-foot bed, I discovered a mag-

nificent series of fossil leaves, among which, Dr. New berry informed
me, he had detected species identical with those occurring in connection
with the coal beds of the Laramie Plains, and on the Upper Missouri.
No plants have been observed in the vicinity of Bear River City. What
relation the coal beds here sustain to those at Evanston, I cannot deter-
mine. As yet elieve is no evidence of any connection WEEE except
proximity.

The next locality sphere coal is exposed is at Coalville, a little town in
the valley of Weber River, five miles above the mouth of Echo Creek,
where it crops out ina number of places over a very restricted area.
The general dip of the beds is northwest, 10° to 18°. The most im-
portant opening of a coal vein is that of Mr. Spriggs. The coal bed
is fifteen feet thick, twelve feet of good coal, and the other three feet
somewhat impure, but useful as a fuel. The dip is 20° to 30°; the roof
is composed of yellowish gray sandstone, sometimes a pudding- stone,
with only about an inch or'so of elay between. An air shaft sunk by
Mr. Spriggs passed through the sandstone sixty feet. Mr. Spriggs in-
formed me that there were six different seams of coal in this region.
Just above the third seam there is a layer of oyster shells about four
feet thick ; the clay under the coal varies in thickness, sometimes sixteen
feet, again eighteen inches; below this is a yellowish-gray or brown
sandstone. Looking down the Weber Valley, the group of beds forma
sort of semicircle, dipping west and northwest. In the high ridge that
lies immediately north of Chalk Creek, we have a series of yellowish
-and brown-gray clays and sands, with one or two beds of light, brick-
red, arenaceous clay, the whole extending up two hundred and fifty
feet above the coal, apparently. On the summit of this ridge, and in
different layers along the outcropping edges of the ridge, are great
quantities of marine shells, which are regarded as of very modern cre-
taceous types. A few hundred feet south of Spriggs’s opening, a party
sunk a shaft eighty feet with the intention of cutting the bed of coal;
the shaft cut through the black clays of what I regard as cretaceous
No. 4. In the clays that were thrown out of the shaft. were great quan-
tities of Inoceramus, Ammonties, Ostrea, &c. The coal isevidently in close
proximity to these cretaceous clays, but, I think, above them. From
Chalk Creek to Echo City it is about four miles in a straight line;
about two and a half miles of it is occupied by eight to twelve ridges
of the coal strata, inclining 10° to 30°, averaging 20°. There is not less
than one thousand feet of them exposed here, but the coal is mostly,
and perhaps all the workable beds are, in the lower portion. There is
a sort of valley which forms the line of separation between the coal
strata and the Wasatch Group; the remaining one and a half miles is
composed of the Wasatch conglomerates. In ‘the group of coal strata,
all of which I suppose lie above the Coalville bed, shells of the gen-
era Anchura, Gyrodes, Inoceramus, and Ostrea, are found. The evi-
dence seems to point,to the cretaceous age of the coal group in Weber
Valley. It is the only locality in the West that has come under my ob-

a

168 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

servation where the proofs seem to be so conclusive; and yet i wish to
make a still more careful examination of this locality before | commit
myself fully. My reading of the rocks is, that they are either upper
cretaceous, above what we have usually regarded as No. 5, or a portion
of my transition series, more purely marine in their character than
usual.

If it is true that there must have been such a continuity in the pro-
gress of events during geological times that there can be no general phys-
ical line of separation between any of the great periods, and that the
names Jurassic, cretaceous, or tertiary are merely terms of convenience—
milestones, as it were, to mark steps of time—then why should not cer-
tain marine forms of life extend up into the lower eocene, or in other
words, did not the cretaceous deposits at certain localities continue on
up, unchanged, into tertiary time? Whether the coal strata of the
West are of cretaceous or tertiary age, or both, is a matter of indifference
to me; I ofiy wish to discuss the subject from time to time, as the occa-
sion offers, in the light of such facts as I can secure. The geologist is
simply the interpreter of nature. He must seek to read the records as
the Creator has written them upon the tablets of stone, and his ob- -
servations will be of permanent value only when he is able to arrive at
the true reading. Experience has shown that with a simple love of the
truth, untrammeled by tradition or preconceived notions one is led step
by step, slowly, perhaps, and through many difficulties, but eventually,
to the light.

We will now pass rapidly down the valley of the Weber River. The
geological structure is very complicated, and there is much that is
yet obscure. Weonly hope, at present, to contribute something toward
a knowledge of it. Every year we hope to gather more facts and ex-
tend our examinations over larger areas. Before proceeding further we
might say a word in regard to the conglomerates which form the most
conspicuous feature in the geology of this region. I now regard the
whole group as distinct from any other—a separate lake basin. . The east-
ern shore of it may be regarded as the same as the eastern rim of the
great basin, of which Salt Lake Valley forms a part. The great thick-
ness of variegated clays, sands, and sandstones, which we see from Car-
ter Station to the middle of Echo Caiion, lie beneath the vast body
of conglomerates in Echo and Weber Valleys. I have never been able
to find a single well-defined fossil in this group, only a few small frag-
ments of the shell of a fresh-water turtle. It occupies so large an area
that it seems to me more careful explorations must bring to light some
organic remains. From physical evidence I am inclined to the belief
that it began its existence after that of the Green River Group, but be-
fore the close of that period and extending up through the time of the
deposition of the Bridger Group ; that is, the conglomerates are prob-
ably on a parallel with the Bridger Group, or upper miocene. These
conglomerates originally extended entirely across the Wasatch Moun-
tains. In City Creek Cafon, on the west side of the range, these con-
glomerates are finely shown, a thousand feet or more in thickness, in-
clining from the range. There is the same evidence of want of con-
formity as is Shown near the “ Narrows,” but no rocks more recent than
the Jurassic limestones were observed between them. I do not doubt
that further to the southward both cretaceous and older tertiary beds
occur on the flanks of the mountains. The immense thickness of strata
exposed in the Weber Valley seems to be made up, so far as I can as-
certain, of Jurassic, triassic, and carboniferous rocks. Near Morgan
Station, in limestones which appear to hold a position at the base ef the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 169

series, I saw great quantities of fossils, among them several varieties
of Productus, Spirifer, &c., well-known carboniferous forms. Fossils of
the same age are quite abundant just over the range near Salt Lake
City, and in many other localities all over the valley. There may be
restricted areas in the Salt Lake basin where unchanged rocks of older
date than the carboniferous occur, but they have so far escaped my
observation, and we have no evidence of their existence from the ex-
aminations of other explorers.

In my last preliminary report I alluded briefly to a series of sands,
sandstones, marls, &e., in the Weber Valley, between Morgan Station
and Devil’s Gate, and also along the foot of the mountains in Salt
Lake Valley proper. That they form a separate group from all others
Ido not doubt, although in point of time they may Ve regarded as an
extension upward of the Wasatch Group. I have given these the name
of the Salt Lake Group, and I believe them to be of pliocene age. All
through the mountain districts these later pliocene deposits occur, com-
posed of light-colored clays, sands, marls, &c., not unfrequently yielding
numbers of vertebrate remains. The Salt Lake Group has so far revealed
but few fossils, only one species of Helix. During the middle tertiary
period, it seems probable that the metamorphic and granitic rocks
which form the nucleus of the mountain ranges were exposed to the
erosive action of the waters to a great extent, and thus their decomposi-
tion, mostly feldspar, supplied the materials for these pliocene deposits.
Their uniformity in composition and color is quiteremarkable. In most
cases these beds have been very slightly disturbed and do not conform
to the older rocks, though | think they conform to the conglomerates.
These recent beds underlie the benches or terraces which form so
marked a feature in Salt Lake Valley. There are still more recent
deposits in Salt Lake Valley, which, from their magnitude, deserve
mention. AS we emerge from the Weber Canon into Salt Lake Valley
we see on either hand high, rounded hills, which jut close up to the foot
of the mountains. All the older rocks seem to have been swept away,
leaving a very large area, from a point about ten miles north of Salt
Lake City to the mouth of Bear River, occupied only by the arenaceous -
clays of the quarternary period. The cuts along the railroad show
the character of these deposits quite clearly. ‘Still more recent,
and probably forming a portion of this deposit, are the immense accu-
mulations of loose sands and drift or worn pebbles and boulders which
are found everywhere in Salt Lake Valley and extend high up the
valleys of the streams which empty their waters into Salt Lake. From
the mouth of Echo Creek to the Salt Lake Valley, Weber Valley is
covered with a prodigious quantity of worn rocks of greater or less size,
from a small pebble to boulders two or three feet in diameter. The
terraces are composed of fine sediments, mingled with pebbles and
boulders. On the sides of the Weber River, in its passage through the
Wasatch range, we see fifty to one hundred feet of this fine sand, gravel,
and boulders, with a kind of irregular stratification, which indicates
deposition in moving waters. I mention these details to show with what
fidelity the records of the various changes, geographical and geological,
of this valley, have been preserved. We see that by careful examination
we can trace the history step by step far back, from the middle of the
tertiary period up to the present time. E

Let us for a moment glance at some of these intermediate steps and
ascertain what bearing they have on the progress of the growth of our
continent. The Salt Lake Group, which I have already described, I re-
gard as an important feature in the history.

170 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES

The sediments reach a thickness of eight hundred to cne thousand
two hundred feet at least. It not only occupied a vast area in the great,
basin, but extended up the valleys of the numerous rivers that flow
therein. In the Weber Valley above the Devil’s Gate, or on the east
side of the Wasatch range, this group occupies an oval area of twelve
miles long and eight miles wide, or about one hundred square miles. It
forms one of the series of mountain lakes which occupied hundreds of
the oval areas, or parks as they are now called, in the great mountain
system which extends from the Arctic on the northto the Isthmus of
Darien on the south, and I presume also to Patagonia, in South America.

The Salt Lake Group I regard as of pliocene age and contemporane-
ous with the Niobrara, Arkansas, and Santa Fé Groups, with numerous
other small accumulations of marls and sands in the Middle Park, and
among the mountains far to the northward and throughout the Hum-
boldt Valley, Oregon, &c. All the proofs we can secure, up to the pres-
ent time, indicate their fresh-water origin. What geographical changes
have occurred in this long period of time we will not now attempt-to de-
. termine; we wish simply to express our belief that, at least since the
middle tertiary period, the salt ocean has not had access to this great
basin. If now we pass to what may be called for convenience the quar-
tenary period, or the one that gradually merges into the present, we
shall find that it presents geological features of no ordinary interest.
In descending the Weber Valley, after we emerge from the canon of the
Wasatch range into the open valley of Salt Lake, we observe on either
side thick bedsxof sands and arenaceous clays, which must have been de-
posited in the quiet waters of a lake,

In the valley of Salt Lake, and especially in that of the Weber River,
these drift deposits possess a thickness of several hundred feet, and of
these materials the terraces are formed. Near Salt Lake City, in dig-
ging a well, fresh-water shells were found in these deposits, forty feet
below the surface, and on the north side of the lake, where these deposits
are very largely exhibited, the cuts in the railroad, through the gravel
and sands, reveal the greatest abundance of fresh-water shells, showing
that at this time the physical conditions were unusually favorable for
the existence of fresh-water moliuscous life. So far as I could ascer-
tain, these conditions do not exist at the present time, or if they do, it
must be only to a limited extent.

Iam indebted to the kindness of Mr. George W. Tryon, jr., for the
identification of the species obtained from this drift :

1. Fluminicola fusca. This species seems to have been very abundant; ©

it exists at the present time in the mountain streams.

2. Pomatiopsis Cincinnatiensis.

3. Amnicola limosa.

4. Valvata sincera.

5. Limnea desidiosa.

6. Limnea catiscopium.

From these observations I infer that a vast fresh-water lake once oc-
cupied all this immense basin; that the smaller ranges of mountains
were scattered over it as isolated islands, their summits projecting above
the surface; that the waters have gradually and slowly passed away
by evaporation, and the terraces are left to reveal certain oscillations of
level and the steps of progress toward the present order of things; and
that the briny waters have concentrated in those lake basins, which have
no outlet. The entire country seems to be full of salt springs, which
have, in all probability, contributed a great share to the saline charac-
ter of the waters.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE ‘TERRITORIES. , lurch

But we must not omit to mention in thisconnection the Warm Springs,
which are located about a mile north of the city. They issue from the
limestone rocks near the foot of the mountains; all around the place
are tufa-like inerustations of sufficient hardness to be used for walls and
fences. The baths at this place are the most grateful I have ever enjoyed,
and I cannot well conceive of a more desirable locality for invalids in a
sanitary point of view. The following analysis of the water, made by
Dr. Charles 8. Jackson, of Boston, is posted on the walls of the bathing-
house, which any one can have the privilege of reading or copying:

Three fluid ounces of the water, on evaporating to entire dryness in a platina cap-
sule, gave &.25 grains of solid dry saline matter :

Carhbonatelonmlimerand! maAonesian es.) 2c ses eee enn nee sehen 0.240 1.280
RET ORIG CVO TOUR Mer eho eT ARS ean ON AINA AE I oes ob oa ek cab shy Von 0.040 0.208
TPAD) Sih Se NI ee Sd REE aye a POO EC Pe a RG EL aL 0.545 2.907
CON OUI @TETIAIe) 5 KG AP ee eA CORN Ses AI Se LPG Ce Aa PE tr MS 2/4 72 18.421
SOG 56 SoS SEE LL IONE a My Ane On Se A RAT See eM atta stele OES a7 15.344
IMITRMEST yep cp yaa se ee) cain Hele ee OURAN ALIA Na enn re ee bea OLS TO. 2.073
SSS apo MATT CENT UG eA Ge en NN) A RUHNU eA Ae NG eee I a ee Ean As Leen ONG Oep 3.748

8.229 43.981

It is slightly charged with hydro-sulphuric acid gas and with carbonic acid gas, and
is a pleasant, saline mineral water, having the vaiuable properties belonging to saline
sulphur springs.

The above is a true copy of the analysis, and the reader can extract
for himself whatever information of value it may contain.

About three miles north of the city are the Hot Springs, which are
well worth the examination of the traveler. The water boils up from
beneath beds of limestone at the base of the mountains, and it is only
necessary to thrust the hand into it to ascertain that it is boiling hot.
Meat is readily cooked in it, and eggs will be ready for the table in ‘three
minutes. The dense column of steam that rises perpetually will always
point out the locality of the springs. Quite a large volume of water
issues forth, forming a stream four or five feet in width and six inches in
depth. It flows into a beautiful lake not far distant to the west, called
Hot Spring Lake. This lake is supposed to be supplied to some extent
with water from hot springs beneath the surface. Still the hot water is
not sufficient to prevent the existence of some kinds of excellent fish,
among them fine large trout. Springs which, if they existed on the
Atlantic coast, would ‘be of great value, are so common throughout all
this region that they attract but little attention. Hot, warm, ‘and cold
springs frequently issue from the ground only a few yards apart.

In no portion of the inland West will the traveler so delight to linger
and enjoy the novelty and beauty of the scenery and the ‘exhilarating
influence of the atmosphere. But before leaving this pleasant region
we may devote a paragraph at least to the remarkable inland sea which
gives the name and fame to Central Utah.

Although such streams as the Jordan, Weber, and Bear Rivers, with
numerous smaller ones, have been for ages pouring a vast volume of
water into this lake, it is now well known that it has no visible outlet;
the question naturally arises, What becomes of all the water thus
gathered into this area? We believe that it all disappears by evapora-
tion. It seems, however, that of later years the evaporation has not been
going on as rapidly as in former times. It is stated by the railroad
engineers that the waters of the lake have risen nine vertical feet since
1864, and the general impression is, that all the lakes of the West are
rising more or less.

172 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

We might note, in this connection, many changes which this valley
must have been subjected to since the present configuration of the sur-
face was outlined by the elevation of the mountain chains. Several
times this valley must have been filled high up on the mountain sides
with water; water, too, with but very little of that saline character which
it possesses at this time. Indeed, i am convinced that, while the lake
itself is not of modern origin, yet as a salt lake, in its present condition,
it is of comparatively recent date. We find all along the flanks of the
mountains, and high up in the valleys of the ravines opening into this
basin, groups of strata hundreds of feet in thickness, which are doubtless
of fresh-water origin, dating back into the pliocene or upper tertiary
period. Then these beds have been disturbed by the elevations of the
mountains, showing that while these ranges formed shore lines for the
lakes of this period, they did not reach their present height until after
the deposition of these tertiary beds. Resting upon them, and appar-
ently deposited after the upheaval movements had ceased, are heavy
beds of sand and gravel, and the flanks of the mountains all around the
valley, as well as the sides of the mountains in the islands of the lake,
reveal numerous water lines, showing most clearly the elevations to
which the waters of the lake must have reached in later geological times.
We ean hardly suppose that during these periods the waters here were
sufficiently salt to differ from the other lakes inthe West. Jam inelined
to the belief, therefore, that the saline materials of a vast area have been
concentrated by time into the basin now occupied by Salt Lake, and
that it is owing to its partial evaporation that its water is become So salt.

Let us for a moment take a bird’s-eye view of the great inland basin
of which Salt Lake Valley forms only a part. We shall find that what
is termed the Great Basin of the West comprises the vast area inclosed
by the Wasatch Mountains on the east, and the Sierra Nevada on the
west, the crest or water divide of the Columbia on the north, and that
of the Colorado on the south. We shall also observe that this great
region has no visible outlet; that it is composed of a multitude of
smaller basins or valleys, each of which has its little lakes, springs, and
water-courses, their surplus water either evaporating or sinking beneath
the surface. If we examine the elevations in this region, we observe a
wonderful uniformity in the surface of the valleys, and find that none
of them are much above the level of the waters of Great Salt Lake. As
Captain Stansbury has remarked:

These plains are but little elevated above the present level of the lake, and have,
beyond question, at one time formed a part of it; an elevation of but a few feet above
the present level of the lake would float this entire flat to a great distance, thus forming
a vast inland sea.

It seems probable, also, that at a comparatively modern period the
briny waters spread out over a much larger area than at present,
for both Frémont and Stansbury make frequent mention of large tracts
covered with an incrustation of salt. The latter, in describing the broad
plain country to the west of Great Salt Lake, says:

The first part of the plain consisted simply of dried mud, with small crystals of salt
scattered thickly over the surface. Crossing this, we came upon another portion of it,
three miles in width, where the ground was entirely covered with a thin layer of salt
in a state of deliquescence, and of so soft a consistence that the feet of our mules sank
at every step into the mud beneath. But we soon came upon a portion of the plain
where the salt lay in a solid state in one unbroken sheet, extending, apparently, to its
western border. So firm and strong was this unique and snowy floor, that it sustained
the weight of our entire train without in the least giving way or cracking beneath the
pressure. Our mules walked upon it as upon a sheet of solid ice. The whole field was
crossed by a network of little ridges, projecting about half an inch, as if the salt had
expanded in the process of crystalization. I estimated this field to be at least seven

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Wie

miles wide and ten miles in length. How much farther it extended northward I could
not tell, but if it covered the plain in that direction as it did where we crossed, ics
extent must have been very much greater. The salt, which was very pure and white,
averaged from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in thickness, and was equal in all
respects to our finest specimens for table use. Assuming these data, the quantity that
here lay upon the ground in one body, exclusive of that in a deliquescent state,
amounted to over four and a half millions of cubic yards, or about one hundred
millions of bushels.

Areas of greater or less extent, covered with this saline incrustation,
oecur in numerous localities, so that we may infer that in all probability,
at no very distant period in the past the salt lake extended either con-
nectedly, or in isolated portions, over the greater part of the Great
Basin.

It would be a most interesting subject to trace the history of this
wonderful lake far back in the geological past ; from the records which
have been left in the sediments, I have obtained comparatively few facts
as yet, but they seem to be quite conclusive, and I believe that each
successive step in the changes which this great region has undergone can
be interpreted with accuracy from the records left in the surface deposits,
if they could be studied in detail.

One of the most conspicuous features in this basin, is the system of
terraces or benches which borders the valleys as well as the streams.
These terraces seem to form an independent system in this basin, discon-
nected, both in regard to time and the causes that produce them, from
those so well known along the Missouri and Columbia Rivers.

Not only do they seem to be universal over this great basin, but they
are all of about the same level. Ihavenever observed more than two or
three of these benches well defined, but Captain Stansbury speaks of
counting thirteen successive terraces at the northern end of the lake, the
highest about two hundred feet above the valley.

In volume II of the Pacific Railroad Reports, page 97, there is a most
interesting note in regard to these remarkable shore lines, which I am
sure will be as instructive to those who may read this volume as it has
been to me:

The old shore lines existing in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake present an interest-
ing study. Some of them are elevated but a few feet (from five to twenty) above the
present level of the lake, and are as distinct and well defined as its present beaches, whilst
their magnitude and smoothly-worn forms as unmistakably indicate the levels which
the waters maintained at their respective formations for very considerable periods.
In the Tuilla Valley, at the south end of the lake, they are so remarkably distinct
and peculiar in form and position that they attracted the attention of the least-informed
teamsters of my party, to whom they appeared artiticial. From these beaches the Tuilla
Valley ascends gradually toward the south, and in a few miles becomes blocked up by
a cross range of mountains, with passages at either side, leading, however, over quite
as remarkable beaches, into what is known to the Mormons as Rush Valley, in which
there are still small lakes or ponds, once doubtless forming part of the Great Salt Lake.

‘The recessions of the waters of the lake from the beaches at these comparatively
slight elevations must have taken place within a very modern geological period, and
the volume of the water of the lake at each subsidence—by whatever cause produced,
whether gradual or spasmodic—seems as plainly to have been diminished ; for its pres-
ent volume is not sufficient to form a lake of even two or three feet in depth over the
area indicated by these shores, and, if existing, would be anuually dried up during the
summer.

These banks are not peculiar to the vicinity of this lake of the basin, but were ob-
served near the lakes in Franklin Valley, and will probably be found near other lakes,
and in the numerous small basins which, united, form the Great Basin. They clearly
seem to have been formed and left dry within a period so recent that it would seem im-
possible for the waters which formed them to have escaped into the sea, either by great
convulsions opening passages for them, or by the gradual breaking up of the distant
shore, (rim of the basin,) thus draining them off, without leaving abundant records of
the escaping w aters, as legible at least as the old shores they formed.

But high above these diminutive banks of recent date are seen, on the mountains to
the east, south, and west, and on the islands of Great Salt Lake, formations preserving

~

174: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

apparently a uniform elevation as far as the eye can extend—formations which, hastily
examined, seem no less unmistakably than the former to indicate their shore origin.
They are elevated from two hundred or three hundred to six hundred or eight hundred
feet above the present lake, and may on careful examination afford the means of de-
termining the character of the sea by which they were formed, whether an internal
one, subsequently drained off by the breaking or wearing away of the rim of the basin,
or an arm of the main sea, which with the continent has been elevated to its present
position and drained by the successive steps indicated by these shores.

These terraces seem to be a marked feature of the valleys of streams
on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. In the valleys of the Missouri
River and its tributaries, even the smallest branch, they are to be seen
more or less conspicuous. Professor Dana describes them with much
care, as universal on the Pacific coast. So far as those terraces are con-
cerned which occur on the Pacific coast and the eastern slope of the
Rocky Mountains, I believe they have a common origin; but the ter-
races of this great inland basin might be synchronous or quite independ-
ent of the others. Still, as both must have been formed near the close
of the quarternary period, constituting the last act in the drama, we
might consider them all as having a common origin. If we were to ex-
amine the whole country west of the Mississippi, the broad plains of the
eastern slope rising gradually to the foot of the mountains and to the
very summits of the loftiest ranges, descend into the plains on the oppe-
site side, and explore the valleys of the inland streams, the parks and ba-
sins, we shall find everywhere, toa greater or lesser extent, the proofs of a
very modern drift deposit, or that among the latest events in the geo-
graphical history of our continent is the evidence that it was nearly or
quite submerged with water. Some of the highest peaks may have pro-
jected above the almost universal sea of waters; but the tops of the
highest mountains, as the Wind River, Big Horn, Uinta, show the drift
boulders at an elevation of twelve thousand feet above the sea. So far
as my own observations are concerned, all the evidences I have been able
to detect show that the superficial or quarternary deposits of the West are
oflocal origin. In the vicinity of the mountain ranges the proofs of the
origin of the vast mass of the boulder drift is veryapparent. The hills at
the base of the mountains are often covered with masses of rocks, usually
out slightly worn. And as we recede from the mountains these rocks
become smaller and more worn, until far out in the plains they are re-
duced to mere pebbles. But it is in the inland plains and parks, as
Laramie Plains, the Great Salt Lake Basin, North, Middle, and South
Parks, &c., that the greatest exhibition of this local drift action is best
shown. Inthe Missouri Valley, and especially north in Minnesota and
Dakota, these stray masses are scattered in the greatest profusion all
over the surface of those broad, treeless plains. The character of the
rocks themselves shows that they came from the mountains. Sometimes
these rocks are strewn in belts across the country, taking a uniform
direction. North of the Missouri River, from the Big Sioux River to
Fort Clark, there are districts where one might walk for miles across
the plains and over the hills without stepping upon the ground, so
closely paved is it with worn or partially-worn boulders. The cele-
brated Coteau de Prairie was no doubt outlined by these drift forces, and
scattered over the hills are masses of these rocks. The accompanying
figure 17 will convey an idea of a strip of country which forms a sort of
water divide between the drainage of the Missouri, Mississippi, and the
Red River of the North.

As we have previously remarked, we believe that the quaternary
period, although more difficult to study, will be found to be scarcely
second in importance to any of the previous great epochs in geology.

;

;
is
i
™

é

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 175

A careful study of these modern deposits will undoubtedly show consec-
utive links by which it was united te the tertiary period, in the same
manner as the cretaceous and tertiary are connected in the case of

NYE WN ENT RUITANSSEAN ESOC ALWIL TTR ors A eT eA OAT Lt cee

Coteau des Prairies, on the Missouri.

the great tertiary lake now indicated by the deposits on White and
Niobrara Rivers, in Nebraska, in which the waters continued to cover a
greater or less area through most of the quaternary period, at least,
as is shown by the thick deposits of fine sand, with bones of mammals
and shelis of existing species, on Loup Fork and its tributaries. The
same may be said of the bluff deposit, or loess, which is so well displayed
along the Missouri from Fort Pierre down below St. Louis, and, probably,
‘to the Gulf of Mexico. At a modern period itis probable that the
waters of the ocean swept high up inland, reaching nearly to the foot of
the mountains. The great water-courses had already been marked out,
consequently we find the yellow mar! or loess fifty to one hundred and fifty
feet thick in the immediate valley of the Missouri, but thinning out as we
recede from it, or the vaileys of any of its branches. The existence of
so many fresh-water mollusca and the entire absence of any marine
forms indicate that the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri were
either cut off from the direct access to the sea, or that the influx of such
avast quantity of fresh water as must have flowed down from the
mountain districts rendered completely fresh the iniand portions.

We may suppose the temperaturejust prior to the present period to have
been extremely low, and that the elevated portions of the West were
covered with vast masses of snow and ice; that as the temperature be-
came warmer this snow and ice melted, producing such an accession to
the already existing waters that they covered all the country, except-
ing, perhaps, the summits of the highest peaks; that masses of ice filled
with fragments of rocks, worn and unworn, floated off into this great
sea, and melting, scattered the contents over the hills and plains below;
that as the waters diminished these masses of ice would accumulate on
the summits of the foot-hills of the mountains, or at certain localities in
the plains; and thus account for the great local accumulations of stray
rocks at certain places. The materials, also, which must have been re-
moved from all portions of the West drained by the Missouri and its
tributaries by surface denudation, as is illustrated by the “ bad lands,”
&e., were also swept into this vast inland lake, and then, carried beyond
the reach of currents, would settle quietly to the bottom, almost with-
out lines of stratification, as we observe in the loess. The last act was
the recession of these waters to their present position, and the forma-
tion of the terraces. We believe the terraces constitute the last change

1

176 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

of any importance in the surface of the western continent. We suppose
that the channels of all the streams on the eastern slope of the Rocky
Mountains were at one time occupied with water from hill to hill, and
that the drainage was toward the sea. But in the Great Basin, which,
so far as we know, has no outlet, the drainage must have been by evap-
oration, for the evidence points | to the conclusion that it was entirely
filled with water high up on the sides of the mountains. There is
greater uniformity in the terraces in the Great Basin than in the valley

of the Missouri, which indicates a far more equable drainage. Still,

those along the flanks of the Wasatch Mountains number twe or three ©

principal ones, but these formations separate into five or six; and Stans-
bury mentions one locality where there are ten or twelve of them. In
the Missouri Valley, and along the eastern slope generally, the terraces
vary much in height and importance.

Fig. 18 shows the peculiar form of the main terrace as shown on the
Missouri River, just above Omaha.

The distant hills are composed of the yellow marl or loess, and the
surface has been weathered into the rounded, conical hills. This por-
tion is often covered with the drift’or stray rocks, or what I have called
in a former report the erratic block deposit. On the terraces these erratic
masses are scarcely ever found, and in the broad bottoms of the Missouri
River seldom if ever. This fact strengthens the opiniomthat the terraces
are really one of the latest features, and that they were formed during
the drainage of the waters toward the sea after the temperature had
reached nearly its present state. Oscillations of level may have contrib-
uted somewhat to the formation of the terraces, but I am inclined to
believe that the drainage or the contraction of the waters is the main
cause. Thisisan important point, and I hope hereafter to treat it more
fully when I have accumulated a greater number of facts. It has been
my belief for years, that not only the Missouri River, bat all the
branches, from the largest river, like the Yellowstone or Platte, that
flowed into it, to the smallest creek, that has cut its canon deep into
the sides of the mountains, were once filled with water from side to
side, but have gradually shrunk to their present diminutive proportions.
All over the West are large, dry beds which must have at one. time
given passage to vast bodies of water. The flanks of the mountains,
from the north line to Mexico, are gashed with gullies or canons, many

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. nb fy;

of which are now dry as the dusty road for the greater portion of the
year. I mention some of these details here simply to show how closely
the story of the physical growth of our western continent is linked
together, and that it needs only the careful, conscientious grouping
together of the facts to secure this history step by step from the earliest
commencement to the present time, and mold it into one harmonious
whole.

CHAPTER XIV.
OBSERVATIONS ON MINES—ANALYSES OF COALS, ORES, AND SALTS.

Although many valuable observations have been made in regard to
the gold and silver mines of the West, I shall not attempt to present
them in detail at this time. The elaborate and elegantly illustrated
‘‘ Report on Mining Industry,” prepared under the direction of Mr.
Clarence King, United States geologist of the 40th parallel, about to be
issued from the Public Printing Office, covers this ground far more
efficiently than my incidental labors could do. Mr. R. W. Raymond is
making a series of valuable reports as United States Commissioner of
Mining Statistics, and the one already published for the years 1869~70
is quite exhaustive, and to these works the reader is referred. The
latter report contains an excellent and lengthy statement of the condi-
tion of the mines of the Sweetwater district. In the preceding pages
some information is given in regard to those mines, and in this chapter
a few additional notes, taken by Mr. A. L. Ford, mineralogist of the
survey, will be of interest.

The object of this survey is to study the mineral regions more in
reference to their geological Telation's than with any special practical
end in view.

In a previous report the eiactaMné parallelism of the lodes was al-
luded to, and an attempt was made to show that this fact is only one link
ina chain of facts which may yet serve to unite the physical history of the
mountain regions of the West together. Hundreds of observations
were taken the past season, which serve to show the definite direction
of the two principal sets of fissures or clefts. The unity of the origin
of all these fissures, whether they assume the form of mineral lodes,
dikes, or lines of fracture of mountain ranges, is a thought around which
I wish to cluster all the facts that can be secured, Hereafter all these
observations will be carefully sifted, and Fig. 19.
those which seem to contain the elements ar
of truth will be found valuable. eas:

In this connection, two illustrations of > oe Z
these fissures may be introduced, which
will be of interest. They are made by the
Jewett line relief process, and are very ©
excellent. One of them presents a fine
section of the well-known Gregory lode
at Central City. This fissure has a strike
about northeast and southwest. The
country rock is true gneiss, while the rr pe Se
gangue of the lode is mostly feldspar and Gregory Lode, Central City,
quartz. So far as the history of its min- COLORADO.
eral contents is concerned, it is so wel] known that I need not describe:
it, and the cut will explain itself.

12 G

178 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

The dike is in the same mountain, not more than three hundred yards
from the Gregory lode. Itis exposed by an artificial cut for a road up
Fig. 20. the side of the mountain, and but for
A this circumstance would not have
been visible from the surface. It is
vertical, twenty feet high, and three
to four feet wide. The materials in-
closed in the dike are evidently very
old basalt, yellow buff color, with
cavities filled with decomposed feid-
spar. The country rock does not ap-
pear to have suffered changes, but the
lines of bedding are entirely inter-
rupted, and curved upward.

The following notes on the Sweet-
water Mines were taken by Mr. Ar-
ze thur L. Ford, the mineralogist of the
— me ~ expedition :

Dyke, near Central City, Cariso Mines.— Worked by Mr.
COLORADO. Roberts, of South Pass City. Shaft
‘one hundred and forty feet deep, sunk in vein of very refractory quartz-
ite averaging four and one-half feet in thickness; strike of vein north-
west and southeast, with dip of 70° to northeast. Cap rock and wall
rock consist of tough gneissoid slate containing a little free gold, and
occasionally showing a few small cubes of iron pyrites. The gold con-
taining the quartz is very finely disseminated, but is ‘‘ free” and very
pure, and hence easily amalgamated ; it contains about one-half ounee of
silver. About four tons of ore are being taken out daily, with an average
yield of $75 per ton, and sometimes doubling that amount. The quartz
is of remarkably even quality, seldom falling much below the average
yield. Mr. Roberts estimates the gold already produced to amount to
about $75,000. The mine makes very little water, about eight or ten
buckets being taken out hourly.

Young America Mine—Mr. Incath, manager. On same lode as the
Cariso; quartz contains considerable disseminated oxide of iron, but is
not on-that account less refractory. Ore averages about $23 per ton—not
visited. :

Hast End Mine—On Miner’s Delight lode, Mr. A. C. Hasey, manager.
Shaft sunk sixty feet, through slightly laminated, easily-worked quartz
of varying color, that having a clear blue tinge supposed to be the best,
especially if breaking easily into lamina of from one to one and one-
half inches in thickness. Strike of vein northwest and southeast, with
dip nearly perpendicular. Vein, like the Cariso, conforms with the
gneissoid slates which form the wall rock, and which are supplanted
toward the surface by a porphyritic gneiss holding small quantities of
gold and overlying the vein, though not forming a true cap rock. Very
small traces of pyrites are contained in both wall rock and quartz. All
gold, however, seems to be full. Seven tons per day of ore were being
taken out by hand labor, ore averaging $20 per ton. Gold not so pure
as that of Cariso, though very bright and easily amalgamated. A great
deal of the gold is in flakes of considerable size, especially between the
lamina of the quartz. The quartz is so soft that no blasting is needed.
A good deal of moss agate occurs in the vein, noticeable when the quartz
is clear.

Miner’s Delight Mine—Just west of preceding; the claims join. Lode
«is the same, but pinches to an average width of two feet. Vein stopped

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 179

down eighty-five feet, ore averaging $35 per ton. Mine not in opera-
tion at present, as buildings and machinery are in course of erection.
The superintendent expects to take out fifteen tons per day.

Young Canadian Mine—One-quarter of a mile west of the preceding.
Shaft sunk eighty feet through barren lode before reaching pay streak,
which was struck only two or three days before the mine was visited. The
ore had not been assayed, but was pronounced by all miners in the vicin-
ity to far exceed in richness any ore yet discovered in the neighborhood.

THE COALS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.*

The coals of the portion of our continent lying west of the Missouri
River are only just beginning to attract that attention which their im-
portance deserves. In the works heretofore published on the coal-fields
of the United States, they have been almost neglected, and even in
Dana’s last compendious work on mineralogy, he disposes of them with
the remark that “tertiary coal occurs on the Cowlitz in Oregon and in
many places on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, where a
‘lignite formation’ is very widely distributed; butitis rarely in beds of
economical importance.” In his enumeration of the coal-fields of the
United. States he mentions the Appalachian, the Illinois, the Rhode
Island, and the Michigan basins. To the former two he accords an area
of one hundred and twenty thousand square miles; to the latter five
thousand square miles; while the area of the Rhode Island basin is left
out of the account altogether; the total coal area of the United States
being given as about one hundred and twenty-five thousand square miles.
But besides these four basins there are the Eastern and Middle Rocky
Mountain, the Monte Diablo, and the Oregon and Alaska beds to be
considered. Those beds which occur on the east flank of the Rocky
Mountains have been followed for five hundred miles and more, north and
south; and if it be true that these are “‘fragments of one great basin,
interrupted here and there by the upheaval of mountain chains, or con-
cealed by the deposition of newer formations,”{+ then their extension
east and west, or from the eastern range of the Rocky Mountains or
Black Hills to Weber Cation, where an excellent coal is mined, will fall
but little short of five hundred miles. Throughout this extent these beds
of coal are found between the upper cretaceous and lower tertiary, (or
in the transition beds of Hayden,) wherever these transition beds occur,

- whether on the extreme flanks or in the valleys and parks between the
numerous mountain ranges. Assuming that the eroding agencies to-
gether have cut off one-half of the coal from this area, and taking one-
half of the remainder as their average longitudinal extent, we have over
fifty thousand square miles of coal-lands, accounting the latitudinal ex-
tent as only five hundred miles; whereas we have no reason to believe
that it terminates within these bounds, but on the contrary good reason
for supposing that it extends northward far into Canada and south-
ward with the Cordilleras. All this territory has been omitted in the
estimate of the extent of our coal-fields.

Classification of coals.

The best classification of the coals is that of Professor Rogers in the
second volume of his report on the geology of Pennsylvania.

* By Persifor Frazier, jr.
t Hayden’s Report on Geology of Colorado and New Mexico.

180 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ~

The basis of this division is partly chemical and partly structural, the
genera being derived from differences in chemical constitution, while
the species are made with reference to the physical properties of the
coals. Thus he separates all coals into—

1. Anthracites containing 2 to 10 per cent. of gaseous matter, of
which 1 to 2 per cent. is water; ash i in any ratio; specific grav-

I, ity 1.50.

2. Semi-anthracites containing 7 to 8 per cent. of volatile combusti-
ble matter; does not intumesce.
( i la carbon, 52 to 84 per cent.; volatile substances 16
IL. to 48 per cent.; ash, 2 to 20 per cent.; specific gravity, 1.269.
4 2. Semi-bituminous; volatile substances more than 11 to 12 per

l cent. and less than 18 per cent.
ll Hydrogenous; Me SHOISETEERS, 30 to 70 per cent.; specific
; gravity, 1.2

These varieties are ae ther split up, in the case of bituminous, into la,
gaking coal; 1b, cherry coal; and 1c, splint coal. The semi-bituminous
into 2a, semi-bituminous cherry coal; and 2), semi-bituminous splint
coal. The hydrogenous, 1, cannel coals; 2, hydrogenous shaly coals,
(Torbanehill, &c.;) and, 3, asphaltic coal, (Albert mine.)

This classification takes no account of ‘the age of the coals, but merely
considers the nature of the mineral. Accordingly it will be found con-
venient of application to coals about whose age there is yet some difter-
ence of opinion among geologists.

Mode of occurrence.

The coal of the Rocky Mountains is distributed along their flanks
as several leaves in the great book of folded strata and invariably
in the transition beds or between the tertiary and cretaceous. No-
where in the world is there such a vast development of the recent
coal measures, and in few places is their existence more necessary
to the advancement and improvement of the region in which they occur.
They lie regularly and in the main quite horizontally, though close to
the mountain the beds are naturally tilted. The coals are called vari-
ously lignites, brown, semi-bituminous and bituminous, though from
their chemical constitution they ally themselves much more nearly with
the latter. They are distinguished by their cleavage planes, which latter
are nearly perpendicular to the planes of lamination and to each other,
and give to the coal (which is usually friable) a stair form structure,
almost resembling the crystallization of some clusters of iron pyrites.
It is hardly worth while to say that these coals differ in different local-
ities as to general structure and chemical composition.

It would be an exceedingly interesting piece of work to follow up
those beds from their easternmost outcrop westward and to seek to
identify them in their different plications. Paleontologically these coals,
containing almost exclusively plant fossils, comparatively few shells
have been discovered, and those of species which leave the real question
of ‘“‘ cretaceous or tertiary” undecided. The great mass of the fossils
are of deciduous leaves, very much resembling now existing varieties.
Broad leaves like the oaks and even nuts transformed into dull. red
sandstone (San Lazaro) (in one case showing the kernel and shell beau-
tifully distinct from each other, where a fracture of the latter had ex-
posed the former to view) are met with in the drab clay and more espe-
cially in some dark-colored sandstones near the coal. Here, almost on

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 181
the threshold of our own era, the conditions are similar in many respects
to those which produced the long ago carboniferous age; the same
great cretaceous sand formation ushering in the coal as the Pennsylvania
No. 10 did the faise coal measures and the great conglomerate the real
ones. Here also we see mammoth veins and small veins, indicating a
longer or shorter period of deposition or a greater or less activity in
vegetable growth. Here, too, anthracites and semi-anthracites have been
reported, but occupying areas much more geographically restricted than
is the case in Pennsylvania. And stranger than all, here, too, are oil
wells, apparently the product of this same coal age, put whose supply
has trickled through the loose cretaceous and Jurassic formations and
found lodgment only in the impervious triassic beds, perhaps on the
granite itself. It has been stated above that these coals belong in the
main to the class of the bituminous coals, both by right of their chemical
constitution and their physical properties. Ali the specimens, from what-
ever quarter, which were obtained by your expedition belong to the bitumi-
nous class, so that the inference seems fair that only the middle member
of the Pennsylvaniaseries of anthracite, semi-anthracite, semi-bituminous,
bituminous, and hydrogenous are represented to any extent in this por-
tion of the Rocky Mountains. On the other hand Dr. Le Conte, in his
report, mentions a true.anthracite, (88 to $1 per centum of fixed carbon,)
and Hollister in his “ Mines of Colorado,” (the mineralogical part of
which was written by Mr. J. Alden Smith) speaks of albertine coal as
. occurring in certain parts of western Colorado. Albertine coal (or solid-
ified petroleum, as it is sometimes improperly called) is one of the most
hydrogenous coals known, and if it really exists, as Professor Denton of
Massachusetts asserts it ‘does in White River in West Colorado, the
extremes and middle members of the series-are to be found west of the
Missouri. Still the general character of these coals is bituminous. The
following are some analyses of them.

Bituminous coal from Old Placer Mines, San Lazaro toupee: New
Mexico.—This coal differs in appearance from all other coals found on
the flanks of the Rocky Mountains, both in color and fracture. The
former is jet black except on the conchoidal cleavage surfaces, where
the half metallic bronze lustre, similar to that of the anthracites, is
observable. Fracture conchoidal and uneven, splintery ; specific gravity
less than that of the Pennsyivania anthracites.

Milligram.
AUST OU iO COE fay OLE LeNIT ANS) i ae pases NRA A A es aI A BO 308, 6
Weight i in water wade planer atberib olin cys sse fae en ay aera lee ine rea aia 110.0
Weight of wire 7 milligrams, allowing for i milligram loss of weight of plat
wire in water, 6 milligrams rs Ware Aue AL AA IOUT ISAS ze Ad I 104. 0
338.6—104.0—234.6.
338.6—234,.6=1,443.3 specific gravity.
First analysis :
Per cent.
Water andavolabilersuibs tances) ears uaise ee sare ace aie nearer a Aa Ae 22.0
AIST eSepeicuset sere ene tees spc t wet aie 8 eat Lu oS ane ak Spa en Sie a 8.2
SIX CCUGAED OMe a marr metsae niurtied MM Ni Wa Cis eR Air, ana ae eae eC BEN 69.8
ADO ET Re ches ih he eects MESH TE a gH Ota NS UN Sk NU A ea ee 100. 0
Second analysis
\NIGIIGIE BBG CES BEER OG CASO COBO COCCI CERES EIER TI eae ste aria ner ta yr Ma ase aL MU TG ae 3.0
Nolabilegsiibstan cesta unre acmee me te NUR Aes ase GCL Ue OS RIB AM RLS 21.0
ANS)G1 Spe eA SERGI Tas UA RIL We AID EG OR 7.5
BEC ORC ADO (cle (it Et be eRe arama an MEIER Rue Rebun PORLIRW AE ty Ch EUR ee 68.4
oO bea ye it oie Fo Sate ECR mR nr Bae eR ean NG yh YRe hee (3/8 ee 8 bbe 100. 0

182 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Third analysis: F
Per cent.
Water! 2. ce eee ee Se ee ae uicic oclors of wie cine sla Se ee eae eye ee 3.0
Wolatile substances sccc asker arte n sets cere hawicl ec ie ate ete ee eee pe eee 92.0
PASTE hs tea oe ens Salcteare else Se eiapeae ate onin Gate wictebisw) aa Se See eis ear ee ee Wao
PIXE OS CALDOMG SSA ae Soe mace wee 6 cic wis Rees Blac e Sie clei Sa CS ee 67.5
Layers Sie Met Ae Se Ae ca At SUVS GR LEA a ae ON TE ARTS I 100. 0
Fourth analysis : :
Wiaterand volatile substances) sss en ee ao ee satis cc ose eee ee nee eee 22.0
SANG Teas et NEARY on a ee Eta ee Ses ees cee Zn cla Qe Ae a Hes)
A IEC CEC AT DOM Meee alee ce la alee ts ae oy eae erat et Ge Shaan cy Se 70.5
“4 EON TEE LS FS ek ee ee en eet Gree LS Oe on PORE ES Sg 100. 0
Fifth analysis:
WiriterandivolatileismbstanCeseceshece seee co ete eee ene. eee ee eee ees 93.0
ANGSH, 2 oS ha ce Ia See xg et nO ea a Melee Suey: SH fe Pai A ee Rd SN 7/5
(Corey OV af 2h ea he el TR PES Scat nes oh AO I SE HR EN a 69.5
ARC) ret Bs a ene at en ye ne Enea a Mod CS Ala a ee 2 ee Oa ssc 100. 0
* Sixth analysis, (F. P.:)
AVEC TB erie mera r pact ib a nie in ice ahaa reps eie le wine dareic siecle tere fare erecta ee 5)
Wolatile substances ues sk tse cin rk Sete Dies crete tee 20. 7d
ENGI 5 Ea ae an a a rh a UU SR Gy A EE PA AES so OG od 6. 40
TEUTIDCexG LORI 6] OPN a Were ey tes ea ee Is Dyk A I a a le Dale OS 5G 70. 60
MO GME eels cas eters Oo atattelecmisisinie nie Riek oecm is nies Oe ee ee eee 100. 00
Seventh analysis, (F. P. :)
NAV GW IGIE ar 2h A eu aN ee eRe ees an ee eRe A Oe boos 3.75
Wi@liawiad key "(shall oS RR aLeTe Pee ae ets ee re eee es eye a EPA NO oe 21.25
INGUIN), 5S SESE AME CRIES eee arene Sit aiwisteelineiyeceiceelee rete EERE ee Cee eet a eee 6. 00
ee 2x8 UEP Bl CVO oa ee Rene ae A a I A aes Ramee Aare Deetia Aha i of 68. 00
Boba BBB 35 cheers ies We ahs ee icleloicls ole OE ein c Oe Dennis te a Oe ee 100. 00
Average of seven analyses:
“AYE ECS) eyes ens res pa ER pL Dy ne PR Peete te all PE EE NE A AS Soe 3. 00
Volatile substances..---. pe ERO ERED EVE AHCe LICE 0) MORES SRR ML ei ec 20. 8d
INGO a RIS teh BASE A ScD gs Seite ERG Oe tees SA oe OE SLND e De REISE LL SL 8 Wa23
LBTOsCevEl COAT el 618) Ls yea ey Ree a aS yar Oy tne Sg Le Ree ee RERUN ro a scad 69. 09
BIRO Gal fos eon ote fs ore oe EES SE Geis delete fale ores eine ttale Seales CEE CE eee 100. 17

Of sulphur 0.72 per cent. was obtained.

Bituminous coal from Marshalls property near Boulder City, Colorado
Territory—This coal is black, (mm powder dark brown,) and when ex-
posed to the atmosphere friable, as are all of these tertiary coals. Its frac-
ture is conchoidal and the luster of the smooth surfaces of fracture
resinous.

NWCCHICIOTA WILY, eiemeee seem ereee eee mee eres eke eee eee m ere eae eae 1, 412
Weiotnibinvan sooo" ooo saree incinceeceinecisneetee tdeiew.c <2 eee 595. 06
\W/GIInig Tih WANIGIE SG aoe peaseaases cores Sab acd couSnbasSg006 heise Jee 173. 08

First analysis:

: Per cent.

WAL OTR ci cece wee i, Jee See a ee he ee 16. 00

ViolatllemsulosbanGesisee ces sees cc eee ee ee ee 38. 00

MimedvGarbomaee seemasasce wee bl soe ce eee eS a 42.00

oy atte erage oe St ae AO ae a A Oe RUN Annan. Falk | fr ae oy 4.00

Raye Se Se ae eM EERE i SL 8 odd aad 100. 00

*The analyses marked F. P. were made by Mr. Franklin Platt, jr.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 183

Per cent.

Second analysis:
V@SHiee GANG WOME) ENS Co 50 Us cone abo BeOS OO EO Cob nEbS autooouoos cos4 54. 00
ASIN Us Saba QRR SSPE See BCa ECC Dac ain eee Maa... Me iua aa St uy 4,06

Fixed carbon agcbosddecée soso cose case He Ooms co cd ooRp ESSE SsaUssseonod ener sue 42,00

“7 RCORTEN Les EEE Sam cer cet ui LA el pe AR Mie eR eA. MMOD ooo NIC 2. TICINO). (OB)

Third analysis:

\NY BURGE SSS EE CIO SUSE RD ICSE re NI aes eA eNO ey HEE 1 Ay pr RENE eT 16. 00
\VOLaimMle STONING coed osdoue cabodd beds HooSES boocescocuee Geos seb eebieabs tobe 38. 00
S80 coscseoasdnsoccs sas ccodbad onsen osobed HscotiedgE boogs0 bboc ooeeHonAboce 4,50
IP TOE CTA COM AeES Gees Sa SHOES OCT SS RICR CATS ERE Ace eens tise Ape a lhe aa Ae ey ee aR Al.5

BROTH po CS HC OBESE AS CECB O CASE UR IECHE a MLV a nH Mnmr RSs eS ati) in ee ke 100. 00

Fourth analysis:

\WETEE abo Sep SSS SSeS CUBA RS Sore ese talent Satay Ans auier es bra UMaine hase es ee hid (Uae 16. 00
Molatiletsmbstances2 2: 223522. 8252 bobo cone mobs neu nipapADo oes oon UdeScs 38. 00
ASIN soos CERB AE BOBS D AEE CSOSA Cees igi Bat rel vine ta DN A nN a OMe sk put 5. 60
JETSREGL GBT ONT Bis ricp eens er tae THER Te eS a TEN a EN a IAA EL be as UA A 41. 00

HTC byeni pee ceeceeesee (as area eR eho ie a ATUL ye ROE PIU AR GM cA Can ss NuONa ea ee pes() (YE) ()

Fifth analysis:

\WANIGIE. Lo 63 Hes Beto GEE SESE HEH Bey Stier rnin Aas imei aD EAE ek Cad a Zina oy COBO Ut 16. 00
OMA IVE VSM SHAINGCES see ots ete aA ea IM aI BW) SNES Ly oes GS a UTA Ue A Ly SETI 38. 00
ETERGOL GAIA DOMUNS Beers ae RESP n ny See A EUAN De Gl Da eK ek ina ack 41. 00
INE SopeSo QSOS RIES OEE GEA ee es cine ata Shi tal AAT aM OL Ry Rs aH MRM RE CCIAUL 5. 00

RGR SSR SES a i ae ees PaaS Mast eae an RTOS RU PREM oO 1 100. 00

VV GHIGR? 22 BESS SSS MEE CESSES em RE Ea RAN LS eae CUCU CIE ace a 16. 00
V7 CUEING ASU OSTIR TOKE es essen RO es ae es te HL UU HY De mea a 38. 00
ASIN SS 6S CEB SHAOGO SE ISS Bie ee ree so O Mar tee EIN als AA aN MORE aR NIC 4.50
TE TiSsereyal CTEY OO NN Se panes eee eee I ae aaa A UD ecg REL Ne atts a ce 41.50

"DIRE Ss ee Ph eA ae A Ure LUMO eC 100. 00

Naren aAndivOla til Gz:sUDSUAN CES! acco so cere Saar el be ay seers Gl Cie he kunls Se eiete i 50. 80
ASI Sp bheCUS Se ie SESE Ore mete aD Rye ELL Lal iG sean Pa Ul arse hala a ema ACCUM NU fot 3. 60
TETORECL CBI UOT pests rse ts ee Sees SE ee ree nla cen Iw BE Ata NPY A Og RI MUN UH eat ARE (eh op 45. 60

TRG TES SESS SAS ae Oe ee te MACHT UEC UE NMRA Ia ona AG STA TUAOR ADH O88 f 100. 00

Bituminous coal from Evanstown, Union Pacific Railroad.—This coal
is black, (even in powder,) has a highly resinous luster, and a fracture
like the other coals of this class, irregular and conchoidal. It appears
better able to resist the action of the atmosphere than the other tertiary
coals examined, and is not nearly so friable. Its specific gravity is 1.341.

: 4 Per cent.
First analysis:

\WEHIC PBC SSE AREAS CELA eS haa a ae Re ARO De ION eee ee LOA WON eis KW Be Ee ene 6. 00
Wella nmi leer opie navercrsy 95 SASS 5 58S Me Ns eo Os EN TE eR a SO ha 38. 00
LS) SS SPR ee ABE SAE EE eS ATEN oA Th Bering uae ist ey niveau A WEN REED ed a AL rN OD A DNL 8 7.50
LEE E CE CAL DOM to stalatyee tae ae tee re ht witha ath Gy MORI Naeme MAS STEM ey a 49, 50

100. 00

EDO en re oo ead mech SRR RT MVM UML NC at hy 0 ae 5. 50

184 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Per cent.

PAG aia aie iais ols lelmmiare eke slele etisiotelsreieteret traps einiaia aia cieie ts ia aie lane ala ae 7.70
Mixed CarbOmice lersdc Get pce eee hia ke wtetere bie le cress ietele Dine me che cane eee eee eee 49, 80
100. 00

Third analysis, F. P.: ‘

Wiateteecereere ae SO8S6.005 poco Soe SOE Sas OS SOC Noemoe UsoSEO shodoo soGses sace 6. 00
Volatileisubstamces see esos eee ee Sk Sl 37.00
TA eR ey arogey tae hata atotarer ciaturettnlete ya alek erage amt erets Lice velcie enone aR CES eae ee er 7.60
CORE DOM esa vaeietee erate ote male vatetera ote teleret tone toropate vacrotai cla Voimtote tel were Relate ee Ce 49, 40
100. 00

VAUD CT ee ei sone foie oie ised wise ciaisia erat n aie ts eerale an eme Gr re aan Saveincintaicierel css ee 5. 83
NOVatMerSUDSbANCES 22 Soles eee tee see ee ieee Mee ne Ly NU yee poly ene 37. 40
ANSTO cy eps eS Nae RE ps Ue LUO oe Nee nee BEA AE el dU eg a oo aa AN 8 Ly 7.46
PEE ONC AT DOM Mesias Cane) etait ts Mick reeset Ae ae ee Wee erent eae CAN 49. 50

100. 19

Coal from Elko.—A lignite of light-brown color and low specifie
gravity, possessing the feel and much of the appearance of wood; is
tough and tenacious when pounded or rubbed in a mortar. I is filled
with minute specks, of metallic color and luster.

As the coal had been kept a long time in a warm room, and had there-
fore altered in respect to its per centage of water, this and the volatile
substances were determined together.. A fresh specimen would proba-
bly contain from 7 to 10 per cent. water. .

Per cent,
NiVaheLan CsvOlabile, SUpPSLANGES hos pense aiolec ese alee ieee eee EEE EEE Eee 63. 50
Cie irel Oona oe BS 2k Pe A I NT I eh A Re ale Ae ae ae Ae ee ee os oSeooos 92.00
PAST 5 Mec Seth DD BO eal ee Oe A Ue Boo ee MR A Mba AEN NC ee Coe 14.50
CHT vy eRe cerh Ree ee SaaS aetna RA kee R ae nut me RY OS ein oes Oc 0. 82

100. 82

Ash is of a pure gray color, a fine dust-like powder, containing but a
small percentage of soluble salts.

Towa coals.—From specimens of coal sent by Mr. Miller, of the Omaha
Herald, from Des Moines and Ottumwa, lowa, the following analyses
were made, and may be interesting to compare with those of the Rocky
Mountain coals:

Per cent.
No. 1, (Ottumwa,) specific gravity, 1.327:

WATS y eee a) Aas a a ee a ee ia Be ae ae eee Gala Na a Soooeo 56 12. 00
Volatile substances.-...---.....-.- Sis Sok EUS EEE ANS Sa MRA a oc 32. 00
JASONS aes ere A Ae eee ee ae hE eR dE se oo 5 12. 00
BGP ECRGAT POM = cyst as og aS eed I Re SSH pe a ae Se eye ee 44, 00
TRON path ke OO easel WE ly I ia eee di ae SU ea a) 100. 00

No. 2, (Des Moines :) ;
RUIN MONEE epee ee ea ickte e's Dinime Se ninmisn ble Scie hak Re Mien ene eee eee ee 7.0
Volatilessubstancess 2 Lee L252 eee ee i I ee eee Ne 47.6
TDTBAeve hoe OLS Dees SS eas Se ee i he oe Cee Ae RS EE Se ‘ted 41.4
AH estan Sc EIN To SS Sea Ge Le ee 40.0
AWE ran Gg ute le ILLS SY ee a ep I ERIN ood ads 100. 0

Sulphur existed in both the specimens to the extent of, perhaps, 1 to
2 per cent., but was not quantitively determined.

e

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. . 185

Considerations affecting economic value of these coals.

A coal to be of value in the arts and as a domestic fuel should have
certain properties which render it easy of transportation, not easily nor
deleteriously affected by weather or climate; should be capable of rapid
ignition, and of having its combustion regulated to suit the different
circumstances attending its employment; should be capable of raising
proportionately to its bulk and weight a large amount of water to the
state of vapor, and should contain within itself the least quantities of
such substances as by contact with the grate bars at-a high heat would
injure them, or whose products of combustion are poisonous to vegeta-
tion, or to animal life, or are corrosive.

It follows from some of these conditions that the coal to be of the
greatest possible use must neither be crumbly nor so compact and tough
as to render its oxidation difficult by permitting a comparatively small
extent of coal surface to be brought in contact with the oxygen of the
draught. Also, for the same reasons, it must not cake or run together
so as to exclude the air from its interior parts, nor pulverize whereby
much loss is sustained by the dust being carried through the flame and
up the chimney without being consumed. Then the cleavage of the coal
should be such that a large amount can be stored without waste of room
in the interstices between the lumps, for it is evident that more material
can be packed in a given space when the form of the separate pieces is
somewhat regular and the surfaces are close together, than where each
lump touches the neighboring lump in only a few points, leaving an un-
occupied space between their surfaces. It should be:hard enough to ©
resist the grinding and pulverizing effect produced by motion as in the
bins of a steamer or the tender of a locomotive. In the article on the
subject in Professor Rogers’s report on the geological survey of Pennsyl-
vania, the author for many reasons leans to the belief that to the many
economic purposes the semi-bituminous coals are better adapted than
any others. Krom the blacksmith’s forge and the smelting and roasting
furnace to the uses of the locomotive or the kitchen, the Rocky Mount-
ain coals have been sufficiently proved in the last few years to ansver
admirably all the requirements made of them. As it is not possible
to obtain ail these good qualities in any single fuel, (see Rogers’s
report,) the problem in every case is to select that which possesses the
greatest number of them. ‘For instance, for railway purposes the coal
of the Real Dolores, though containing a higher percentage of fixed car-
bon, is less valuable than some of the semi-bituminous coals, because it
is neither so easily ignited nor is its combustion so easily regulated,
whereas for domestic and all other purposes where the hard dry coals
are preferred it is a most excellent fuel. Those coals which disintegrate
readily on exposure to the weather, (this includes most of the beds on
the eastern flanks of the Rocky Mountains, and in fact the majority of
the western coals everywhere,) are not so servicgable to the engine-
driver (whatever their percentage of carbon may be) as others with
more ash and water but also more power of resistance to atmospheric
influences.

The examination of two samples of brown coal from Wyoming Terri-
tory, by the very able chemist, Dr. F. A Genth, of Philadelphia, will be
useful for comparison in this connection: ;

1. Coal from seven miles east of Cooper Station, on the old stage road, Laramie

Plains, Wyoming Territory, gave:
Per cent.

186 _ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. -

Per cent
(CeO Se eeeoodoana Gade Gdbode osoU co ob Cone abaGoan Gude aMnoos SouGeadassouss se 7 Oe
Ash, aioe ISRO gS Sa soi 5 55450 4550gu Beeade sasdds S456 5 4403 ccse5ea5 soene 4,56
100. 00

Tt contains 1.38 per cent. of sulphur, which is equal to 2.59 per esi of pyrites.

A determination of the caloric power of this coal showed a reduction 22.20 parts of
lead from the oxide, by one part of coal, while pure carbon reduces 34 parts of lead.

2. Coal from Point of Rocks Station, North Pacific Railroad, Wyoming Territory,

gave:

Per cent.

IMIOISEUME Petrie 1c ecole ice o ecole ie, ars ha ere eee area le Siero e ee CY eo &. 54
Volatilebmatber .. 22s ce Ssictt Se) Sale SENS EAS SR Ae 30. 60
Gar pommeretnr ese ee ae De ci ee eee petal SG eee EE ee | eee A 52.34
WAST RUE DO ye 5) d.csaiseio bite! Swick ls ce Cre eislenela meine wie CaP yeeya lien svataiaia/e ale OSs Se 8. 52
100. 00

It contains a very minute quantity of sulphur, only 0.04 per cent., which is equal to
0.075 per cent. pyrites. One part of this coal is capable of reducing 21.80 parts of lead
from the oxide.

The following notes present the results of actual experiments on our
different western coals, by Mr. Samuel Purnell, superintendent of the
Omaha Gas Works. It will be seen at a glance that their practical
character renders them worthy of attention. It is my wish to include
in these reports all the information possible that will be likely to DEO T®
of practical interest to the West:

The results of the working of one ton of lignite, or Rocky Mountain coal, from
Evanston, Utah, in the Omaha Gas Works, are as follows:

WwW eight of coal used, 2,000 pounds; gas made, 7,400 cubic feet; time of charges 34
hours; “tested in clay retorts, at bright orange heat, (21 90°;) candle power of the gas
at the works, 7 to 8; but will not carry its carbon in the street mains, burning blue in
the town ; water produced from the coal, 20 gallons; tar produced, 1 gallon.

The eas possessed a most offensive sulphurous odor, which neither ‘lime nor oxide of
iron purification would remove, and which was neutral to test papers. The residue in
the retorts, as coke, consisted of 12 bushels of earthy breeze, in small cubes, which,
when put in the furnace fires, smothered them. The coke is worthless for heating pur-
poses. The coal is worthless for gas purposes.

Coal from Rock’ Springs, Wyoming, was also tested, and it is precisely similar.

I have carefully analyzed as sample of coal taken from a bed seven inches thick, nine
miles below Omaha, on the Omaha and Great Western Railroad.

Per cent.

NMolanilemmatbereeeaee see hoes Soe a eee ute rola ia Ian ae eh ay ske cae at et ae 42, 62
CO ran ker ee Ly a ae Pa A nH ey Hee A Se SO 54, 88
TANS nee ee heel tone areca Mune age ERI uy REALS CN, NER Vea, RED Cue a a ee ee 11,00
Sully eS Sse PPh se te bette tic dls, Geeta salem aioe Hiner tsa ae ae eae 00. 50
100. 00

The coal is black, bituminous, and contains in small quantity sulphide of lime, sul-
phide of iron, and oxide of iron. The coke is good, of moderate firmness, and of bright
luster. By the sujoined table of comparative “analyses, the coal is found to be almost
identical with the Missouri and Iowa coals.

Coal. Volatile matter. Coke. Ash
OETA 5 A/S oS BU Re Pa es RES mm cas rs Alacra 42, 87 46. 13 11. 00
MespVloines wow alas: Sasi eee Sl eee 44,00 47.50 8. 50
Gywimonwnn, ION a eee = SMe eat uae DNC ga NS ah 44,50 4A. 57 10. 93
red erickemlOwee eerste i nccetae cacao eae e 47. 67 42. 33 10. 00
Osage River, Missouri ------ SIRs arly Oey LE ee Ss Ase 3.50 51. 16 5-34
RocmMRiverwmillinoisgeesaenes ccc cence oe cee See ae 44,50 45. 50 10. 00

Clamkspommes, Wasi \ViteaiMe) 455.555 SoG cseossedaeconse 41. 65 56. 74 1. 60

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 187

ALKALI FROM PUNTIA PASS.*

The word alkali is used on the Plains to indicate a saline deposit
which covers often many miles of low, arid country, and appears in
streaks stretching far away in all directions and sometimes giving the
country the appearance of a plain covered by a sheet of snow. It is
very generally believed by the inhabitants that this alkali is the cause of
the sterility in connection with which it almost always occurs; but the
fact is that one circumstance favors its continuance upon the soil and
interferes with vegetation, and that is the want of rain. Any continu-
ous rain would undoubtedly dissolve this material and carry it away in
the streams or through the subsoil. It is not quite certain that a soil
charged with the salts of which this alkali is composed would not fur-
nish more nutriment than another to certain kinds of growth. At all
events, where the experiment has been tried the plants have grown re-
markably well upon it with proper treatment.

The probable origin of these deposits has. been thought to be the
evaporation of numerous shallow pools, perhaps left by the subsidence
of a large inland sea or system of lakes, and the analogy in chemical
constitution between this material and the deposit around the margins
. of still-existing pools (like the Soda Lake, twelve miles from Denver)
seems to bear out the hypothesis.

This alkali is a grayish-white deposit, mixed up with the dry roots
and stems of sage-brush and other vegetation, from which it derives
frequently a reddish-brown tinge. It is dry and efflorescent.

It has a decided alkaline and salty taste and low specific gravity.

Tf contains soda, lime, and magnesia, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric
acid, and a small quantity of nitric acid, and consists of sulphates of
soda, lime, and magnesia, chloride of sodium, and nitrate of soda.

SODA FROM SODA LAKE.
(12 miles from Denver, Colorado Territory.)
A white, efflorescent salt, failing to powder on exposure to the air, con-

taining sulphate of soda, sulphate of lime, sulphate of magnesia, and
chloride of sodium.

Per cent.
Suhplatevob, sod ayia hak ye Nos ys cps esr al a ee SS ey eames 63. 87
SUI L POWs) OLE GANS SI UPS RE re an ene LAE RIA A Bat 9.70
Wiateromcrystalization of) the efiloresence..2 52. so so2 2h. 32 See. eases cineceincee 21.88
Ciloridevowsodium, sulphateyot maonesian, & Ces. oss seees aces se ee sete eee aoe 4.55

tI inclose the results of the analysis of the specimens of alkali col-
lected during last summer’s survey of Wyoming Territory.

No. 1. From Alkaline Lake two miles east of Independence Rock, in
the Sweetwater Valley :

: Per cent.

Sulphateromsoda(NaOysiOsy) stacey eters ates oo area eee eee meee aeons 73.17
(Cioikoverovescast texoxe bummer) (ONE, (OM) oe Ne es Bee ei Sree MT Bee Re BO es eevee oes oe 3.85
Carbomatexotsoo ary C(oiyg loss) ye say or sae oem iiss eeoeh Lapa a glea Das Pyne Lice OIF 22. 98
100. 00

* Prepared by Persifor Frazer, jr.

t Prepared by Arther L. Ford, mineralogist to the survey.

; Owing to this specimen’s effervescing on being dissolved in water, it was impossi-
ble to determine the proportion of carbonic acid, but the salt seems to haye been a
sesquicarbonate, the whole specimen being probably identical with or similar to thvt
referred to by Dana in his mineralogy, under the head of Trona, as occurring near t}©
Sweetwater River.

188 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

No. 2. From alkaline effloresence on damp ground, seven miles west
of St. Mary’s Station, in the Sweetwater Valley :

Per cent,
Sulphaterorsoda,.@NaO ois) Ole. se eselste clea ieicecie ie eeiae eee eee eee 88. 93
Chloridejotysodium WONa CDN bose soe ceeticmiseeelncie ices ieee eee eee eee Eee 11.63
100, 56

No. 3. From deposit near Pacific Springs:
Per cent
Sulphabeyotesodan Nai; (SOs) saciesesac cee saincniea sn cae eee cicicieislae ceeel eee 82. 23
Chiorideyotjisodium,, (Na; Cl) Sosy eo ee oe eee. Seta ec eeinei ete eee eee 3 OS
Carbonaterotsoda, (by loss) eso 2 sense see sine eenalsieee see = cel scien eee -- 14.82
100. 00

No. 4. From deposit by evaporation of Aikaline Pond, near Big Sandy

River. i
No. 4, (a.) From upper part of bank, where deposition commenced :
Per cent
Sulphatelotisodasi@NaiO lS Os) esse ae cisce eae ee cleric ee eee ee ae epee 64. 65
Chiorideiofsodium,(Na, (Clio 22.) eee hs Sea siee cals seeiels oe eee eee Sy30546
100. 11

_ Per eent.

Sulphate) of soda, NaiO, 6/03) tec foe sure as ee ar
C@hiorideyorsodium (NaCl) ieee eel sea rleeisleia teenie nese cee e eee Eee ree 5. 23
100. 15

No. 4, (¢.) From lowest part of pond, when last deposition took place,
consists of slender orthorhombic prisms of pure sulphate of soda—she-
nardite:

Sulphatelot soda, ((NaiOs SiOs) heaton occas cccces ceeee cee eee eee cee eee 100. 00
All the specimens appear to be absolutely free from any salts of po-

tassa, al examination by the spectroscope even failing to show the pres-
ence of that base.

(Ae yo TO

REPORT OF PROFESSOR CYRUS THOMAS.

PART I.—AGRICULTURE.

PART I.—A LIST AND DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF ORTHOPTERA,
WITH REMARKS ON THE CALOPITENUS SPRETUS, OR “HATEFUL
GRASSHOPPER.”

REPORT.

DEAR Sir: [herewith present a report of my investigations in regard
to the agricultural capacity of that part of the Rocky Mountain region
over which your operations as United States geologist have extended
during the past season. Although the immediate route of this expedi-
tion was confined principally to Wyoming Territory, I have, in accord-
ance with your instructions, endeavored to complete my report on that
part of Colorado and New Mexico examined in 1869. By your direction
I also visited the Sait Lake basin, and have added a short account of
that interesting section, including a few items concerning other portions
. of Utah.

At the risk of being somewhat monotonous by the repetition of sim-
ilar details, I have endeavored to confine myself strictly within the lim-
its of the subject upon which I have been required to report.

Instead of giving details in a journalistic form, which would have
amounted tolittle more than an itinerary, I have endeavored to follow out
as far as possible the plan pursued in my report of last year, describing
the areas inthese Territories drained by the large rivers, as separate dis-
tricts. I have divided the entire region into two parts called “ divi-
sions,” one including the area east of the divide, between the waters of
the Atlantic and Pacific, and the other the area west of it. The east-
erm division contains. five districts, corresponding with the Rio Grande,
Arkansas, South Platte, North Platte, and. Wind Rivers. ‘The western
comprises the Green River District and Great Salt Lake basin.

I have attempted in most instances to make some estimate of the
amount of tillable lands in the different districts and sections.

As a matter’ of course I do not claim that these are anything more
than approximations, made in some instances upon slender data, yet
they are not mere guesses, but are made up from estimates of the smal-
ler subdivisions and separate areas, and are, at least, near enough the
correct amounts to give.a general idea of the agricultural value of the
different districts and sections. Although I exclude from these esti-
mmates any probable future success and use of artesian wells, yet I in-
clude ail possible present means of irrigation.

Respecting those parts of these sections which I was unable to visit
in person, 1 have endeavored to obtain the most reliable information
possible.

Your operations during the past season have developed the facet that
in regions which have generally been considered sterile and unproduc-
tive, there are large areas of land which by proper efforts may be ren-
dered tillable and made to produce useful crops.

In my investigations I have constantly looked forward to the con-
struction of a map of these Territories which will show the comparative
extent and locality of the irrigable areas, the pastoral lands, and the
timbered sections. Such amap, accompanied by a condensed state-
ment of all important facts connected therewith, would not only be of
great value to those who contemplate removing to the West, but would
be a valuable vade mecum for our public officers, Senators and Represen-
tatives, and the public generally.

192 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

The subject of irrigation is one inseparably connected with the aegri-

cultural development of this section, and deserves to be carefully stud-

ied. The time given for the preparation of this preliminary report has
been too short to enter upon a thorough discussion of it, but I have
added a few facts in my concluding remarks, in order to direct atten-
tion to the data needed in its investigation.

If you continue your surveys I would suggest the propriety of filling
up as rapidly as possible the vacuities in the data obtained in regard to
the sections already passed over. I am aware that you did not possess
the facilities for doing this in your previous expeditions, but the value of
your previous labors, so far as the agricultural investig ations go, will be
very much enhanced by doing this. I allude to the measurement of the
principal streams, their descent, volume, velocity, &c., and the compar-
ative altitude of the different levels and plains above the level of the
irrigating streams, by some instrument more accurate than the ba-
rometer.

I take pleasure in acknowledging my obligations to the citizens gen-
erally along our route, for information obtained from them, and espe-
cially to the officers and others at the military posts, for their uniform
kindness and willingness to assist me in my investigations. Iam also
under obligations to the Denver Pacific and the Kansas Pacifie Rail-
roads, for passes over these roads and information furnished. Nor can
I refrain from mentioning the fact that Iam indebted to Wm. N. Byers,
esq., of Denver, and Dr. Latham, of Laramie City, for valuabie ma-
terial furnished me for this report.

Iam aware this report bears marks of haste, and that it is far from
being complete, but trusting that it will prove satisfactory,

I remain yours, very ‘respectfully,
CYRUS THOMAS.

Professor F. V. HAYDEN,
United States Geologist.

PART I.—AGRICULTURE.
INTRODUCTION.

In studying the agricultural capacity of the vast Rocky Mountain
region and broad plains of the West, and calculating the probable
development of the same, it is necessary to lay aside, to a great extent,
all our ideas of agriculture based upon experience in the States. For
not only are the physical aspects of this portion of the West so different
from the eastern half of our country as to strike the most superficial
observer, but the climate is almost completely reversed, the thermom-
etric and hygrometrie conditions bearing no such relations to vegetation
and agriculture here as there.

Hence, the criteria by which we judge of the fertility and productive-
ness of the soil, and of its adaptation to given products, (except, perhaps,
the strictly chemical test,) do not hold good here. The pale appearance
of the soil, the barren look and stunted growth of a spot, are by no means
conclusive evidences of its sterility, for the application of water may
show it to be rich in vegetative force. Plants which are considered as
incompatible in other sections are often here found growing side by
side, while others usually associated are here never, or but seldom, found
together. Even the constants—latitude and elevat:on—eannot always

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 193

be taken as true indices of temperature and vegetable life, on account
of strong counteracting local influences. The temperature of a valley,
during the latter half of the summer and through autumn, may present
an average which would indicate a climate adapted to the production
of even tender fruits; while a record of the temperature of the same
place, during the spring and the first half of the summer, would show a
very different average. And even a knowledge of this fact may not
thoroughly acquaint us with the climate and the agricultural capacity
of the place, as the presence of lofty mountains near by, with snow-
covered summits, may reduce the temperature of the nights very low as
compared with that of the day, and thus retard the growth of crops
which otherwise would mature and produce well. On the contrary, at
other points a lofty range may act as a wall against the cold winds, and
under its cover may be found nestling little valleys with a comparatively
mild climate. Nor are these imaginary cases, for I could refer to numer-
ous instances of each class.

Hence, I conclude that any attempt to generalize by taking latitude
and elevation, or even the average annual temperature, would require
so many exceptions that the result would be of no practical value. Yet
these are by no means to be excluded.

On account of the reasons given, and others equally potent which
might be mentioned, the agricultural capacity of this region must be
studied from its own stand-point; and each section must be carefully
examined. Otherwise we are very apt, from our experience in other
portions of the country, to form erroneous conclusions. Injustice, on
this account, is often done to this section by travelers who pass hastily
through it, along the railroad lines, judging of the fertility and pro-
ductiveness of a spot by comparing it with the rain-moistened land of
the States. I recollect an incident which will serve to illustrate the
truth of this remark. Riding in the cars, along the slightly-elevated
bottom which flanked a little stream, but which, to the eye, had a very
barren appearance—being sparsely covered with “ grease-wood” (Obi-
one canescens) and little tufts of dry grass—I remarked to a passenger
that, notwithstanding its barren appearance, this bottom could be irri-
gated from the stream and would produce good crops of wheat, oats,
barley, and the hardier vegetables. I could see that this remark pro-
voked a sinile of derision on the countenances of those in ear-shot. Yet
if they had gone a few miles from the read they could have seen my
assertion verified. But this erroneous idea stops not with the uninter-
ested traveler, whois only anxious to reach the terminus of his journey ;
even official documents, issuing from quarters we would have supposed
best informed, have sometimes too hastily and in too general terms con-
demned this vast area as sterile and desolate.

The following extracts from an opinion deliberately penned, even after
the extensive surveys of 1853 and 1854, will stand in strong contrast
with the evidences of to-day : :

The concurring testimony of reliable observers had indicated that the second divis-
ion, or that called the sterile region, (the Plains), was so inferior in vegetation and
character of soil, and so deficient in moisture, that it had received, and probably de-
served, the name of desert. This opinion is confirmed by the results of recent explora-
tions, which prove that the soil of the greater part of this region is, from its constituent
parts, necessarily sterile ; and that of the remaining part, although well constituted for
fertility, is, from the absence of rains at certain seasons, except where capable of irri-
gation, as uncultivable and unproductive as the other. This general character of ex-
treme sterility likewise belongs to the country embraced in the mountain region.

The writer then proceeds to sum up the areas susceptible of cultiva-
tion as follows: Near the route of the 47th parallel one thousand square

13 6

194_ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

miles; along the 41st and 38th parallels only the Great Salt Lake basin,
estimated at one thousand one hundred and eight square miles; and
that in New Mexico at seven hundred square miles.

Experiments made during the fifteen years which have elapsed since
the above was written, have shown that about one-third of the entire
amount of arable land ‘mentioned can be found in the little triangle be-
tween the South Platte and the mountains, in Northern Colorado.

Startling as the statement may appear to those who have swept
across the continent along the barren-looking track of the Union Pacitie
Railroad, I assert it as my firm conviction that there are but few lands
in all this portion of the country which are really unproductive; that
wherever there is soil, if water can be applied to it, it will be found rich
in all the primary elements necessary to the production of useful crops
of.some kind. Without water as a matter of course it cannot be made
to yield, and the crops produced will vary with the climate; but these
facts do not affect the position I take in regard to the primitive fertility
of the soil.

As I have heretofore stated that the tests of fertility in the rain-
moistened regions would not apply here, the question may be asked, Upon
what is the assertion based that this soil possesses the elements of pro-
ductiveness? Upon numerous experiments, the only means I know by
which I could have been convinced of the fact.

It is only after a careful examination of a vast number of experiments
made in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, &c., that I am forced
to acknowledge what I before did not believe, viz: that wherever there
is sotl in these regions, tt is rich in the primary elements of fertility.

Emory, in his ‘‘ Reconnoissance in New Mexico and California,” speak-
ing of the Moro Valley, says: ‘*The plains were strewed with fragments of
brick-dust colored lava, scoriez, and slag; the hills to the lett capped
with white granular quartz. The plains are almost destitute of vege-
tation ; the hills bear a stunted growth of pinon and red cedar.” And
although he adds that rain had recently fallen, and that the grass in the
bottom was good, yet it fails to obliterate the picture of barrenness he
had drawn. But that which wore such a desolate appearance in 1846 is
now one of the richest ~vheat-growing valleys in the whole Territory,
its only rival being the Taos V alley . which was once covered with nothing
but sage-bushes, (dr temisia,) and was likewise counted as barren and
worthiess.

Nestling high amid the snow-erowned granite peaks of the Rocky
Mountains lies the little valley of the Upper Arkansas, where we would
scarcely expect to find an ule spot. Yet experiment proves that even
this elevated place, covered with the rough local drift from the barren
metamorphic peaks around it, when irrigated, is productive, and yields
rich crops of the cereals, potatoes, &c. The fossil-bearing deposits in
the Bridger basin, on account of their worn, washed, and barren ap-
pearance, have been compared with the Mauvaises Terres of Dakota,
and have generally been considered by travelers utterly worthless in an
agricultural point of view ; yet the pr oductive farms along Smith’s Fork
will suffice to convince the most incredulous of the error of this opin-
ion. Necessity for a supply of fresh vegetables to the mining popula-
tion around South Pass has brought out the fact that the valleys along
the tributaries of Wind River will produce fine and abundant erops of
all the hardier vegetables. And alinost on the mountain crest at Fort
Sanders the industrious officers and soldiers of the post have demon-
strated the fact.that, despite the barren appearance of the soil, the bleak —
winds of their elevated position, and the early frosts and snows of their

9 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 195

climate, useful crops can be produced even here; and prolonged exper-
iments have shown that even spots so: thickly frosted over with alka-
line deposits as to destroy vegetable and animal life can be rendered
fertile and made to produce abundant crops.

As a final illustration, I would refer to the efforts of the Mormons on
the Rio Virgin, along the Arizonian border, where I might truly say,
amid basaltic hills and drifting sands the dese rt is being ‘turned into a
blooming garden. Perhaps a more desolate-looking region than the
vicinity of St. George could scarcely have been selected ; yet the ap-
plication of water shows that here, as elsewhere, the soil is rich in the
mineral elements necessary to fertility.

Another fact with which our investigations must begin is, that as a
rule, which has but few exceptions, irrigation is necessary to the culti-
vation of the soil.

As water is, therefore, the great desideratum in the agricultural
development of this country, in the method of its distribution we shall
find the true key to the agricultural systems of the West, and its turn-
ing sheds the boundaries of the districts. I adopted this as the basis
of the plan of my report of last season, and subsequent and more ex-
tended observations and investigations have ponvee to confirm me in
the position then taken.

If I am correct in the foregoing opirions, then a general description
of the arable lands of this section implies a description of the portions
that can be irrigated. But a description of what may hereafter possi-
bly become arable widens the field and introduces the question of an
increase of moisture, with which I do not propose dealing at present,
but may allude to hereafter.

Although there is not one monotonous uniformity throughout this
vast extent of country, yet there is nothing like the variety to be found
between the Mississippi and Atlantic. To know that a given spot is
covered with a sufficient depth of soil, and is susceptible of irrigation,
is to know that it will produce the cereals, the common vegetables and
fruits, except so far as limited by climate. The change in soil and veg-
etation in passing from the eastern to the western slope of the great
divide between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific is far less than is
generally supposed.

During the two years I have been connected with the United States
eget) survey of these Territories, having traversed the country
north and south, from the banks of the Rio “Grande to the southern
tributaries of the Yellowstone; and east and west from the plains east
of the Rocky Mountains to the Great Salt Lake basin, I shall give, in
as full and comprehensive manner as possibile, in a short preliminary re-
port, a description of the various arable districts embraced within the
boundary mentioned, omitting what has already been reported upon.
Following out the plan already suggested, the different water-sheds,
and systems of valleys which lead ‘to the large streams that drain the
country, will form the districts to be considered separately. And these
are generally so well marked that but little difficulty is experienced
in tracing them.

The central axis of the Rocky Mountain chain divides this area into
two unequal and irregular divisions ; the eastern division being drained
by the following rivers: the Rio Grande, the Arkansas, the Platte,
and the Big Horn, which form the water systems of the eastern shed —
within the ‘territory under consideration. The western division com-
prises two very different systems, the one being drained by Green River,
whose waters ultimately reach the Pacific through the Gulf of Califor-

196 = GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 4 |
nia. The other is the Great Salt Lake basin, whose waters empty into
the lakes contained within it, or are lost in the sands of its plains.

THE EASTERN DIVISION.

As before stated, this division includes all the territory under consid-
eration which lies east of the divide between the waters of the Atlantic
and Pacific. It embraces the areas drained by the Rio Grande, the Ar-
kansas, the Platte, (or rather the Plattes.) and the Big Horn Rivers and
their tributaries. These areas, although very irregular and unequal, are
generally separated from each other “by very distinct boundaries, and
can be traced without difficulty.

The Rio Grande basin, although belonging to this division, because
its waters find their way "to the ‘Atlantic, - is in fact situated in a bifur-
cation of the Rocky Mountain range, pointing southward. And as the
larger and loftier extension of this “bifureation is the eastern prong, the
basin lies west of it. The western rim of this division, which is the
divide between the waters of the east and the west, beginning at the
southern extremity and going northward, runs about as follows: With
the Mimbres Mountains to the plains of San Augusta; thence slightly
northwest along the Zuni range to Campbell’s s Pass, where, turning north-
east, it passes “along Mesa Fachada to the Sierra de San Juan, which
forms the western rim of the San Luis Valley. From the vicinity of
Coochetopa Pass, running west of the Upper Arkansas Valley, and
west of South Park, it suddenly turns eastward and winds around Mid-
die Park, throwing this basin on the west. North of this itagain bends
westward areund the North Park, where the character of the range is
again changed. Losing its compact form, it breaks up into irresular
branches and broken chains, separated by elevated intervening plains,
which are traversed by short ridges and mountains. The main divide,
which is less elevated here than farther south, bends somewhat abruptly
to the northwest, connecting with the Wind River Mountains, near
South Pass. The latter range forms the western boundary of the Big
Horn basin, the northern district of the division under consideration.

The eastern boundary of this division, as fixed by nature, is the line
where irrigation becomes necessary as wemove west from the Mississippi.

But since this is difficult to determine definitely, I have limited my ex-’

aminations to the boundaries of the three Territories within which the
work of the expedition was principally confined during 1869 and 1870.
This embraces nearly all of New Mexico, the eastern half of Colorado,
and (by including the Powder River country) all of Wyoming, except
asmall triangular area in the southwest corner, and amounts in the
aggregate to about two hundred and fifty thousand square miles.

Of this area perhaps three-tenths, or seventy-five thousand square
miles, could not be cuitivated if every other obstacle except its rugged-
ness were removed. Of the remaining seven-tenths we may set down
five-tenths as at present without a sufficient supply of water for irriga-
tion. This leaves two-tenths, or about fifty thousand square miles, which
are, or may be rendered arable by irrigation, and which, at a moderate
estimate, would support a population of several millions. It is true that
this is but an estimate in round numbers, liable to be considerably modi-
fied, and which will, by many, be considered as exaggerated, but I make
.it after having traversed the entire division from one extremity to the
other; and I believe it will prove to be nearer correct than the limited
estimates which have heretofore been made in regard to the cultivable
lands of these Territories. And I think it quite probable that addi-

GEQLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. LOY

tional and new methods of obtaining, husbanding, and applying water,
as by reservoirs, wells, pumps, elevating machinery, &e., may show tha
even this estimate is far below the proper figures.

Efforts already made, and canals under way and projected in this
division, when completed, will demonstrate the feasibility of bringing
under culture a large extent of the lands in these Territories lying east
ef the mountains.

In order to avoid repetition and confusion I shall follow out the plan
adopted in my last report, using the term ‘“ district” to designate the
area drained by one of the large streams named, (the Plattes, north and
south, being described separately ;) the term ‘“ section” being applied to
the larger subdivisions of a district. The terms ‘tillable,” “arable,”
“susceptible of cultivation,” not being used as excluding the idea of the
future possibility of cultivating other portions, but simply to express
the fact that those portions so termed are now sufficiently supplied with
water for farming purposes.

e THE RIO GRANDE DISTRICT.

This district, although chiefly confined within the bounds of New
- Mexico, penetrates into the southern portion of Colorado. Beginning
at Poncho Pass, about 38° 30/ north latitude, it extends southward to
the southern boundary of the Territory, and is about five hundred miles
long. As far south as Santa Fé its width is tolerably uniform, averag-
ing very near one hundred miles; but here it begins to expand rapidly
on the eastern side to embrace the area drained by the Pecos, termin-
ating in this direction in the Llano Hstacado. Excluding the ‘‘Staked
Plains” from our calculation, the entire area of this district amounts to
about seventy thousand square miles, about five thousand five hundred
of which belong to Colorado, (according to the old boundary line.)

This district may conveniently be divided into three sections, corre-
sponding with the natural aspect of the country: First, the San Luis
Valley, (sometimes called the San Luis Park,) which constitutes that
portion of the district which lies north of the point where the Rio de
Taos enters into the Rio Grande; second, the central portion of the
Territory, including the Rio Grande Valley proper and the tributary
valleys leading into it between the southern rim of the San Luis Valley
and the southern boundary of the Territory; third, the Pecos Valley,
which, beginning east of the mountains, about opposite Santa Fé, runs
a little east of south to the Texas line, and includes only the area drained
by the Pecos River.

This district embraces nearly two-thirds of New Mexico, leaving a strip
along the western boundary varying from fifty to one hundred miles in
width, and drained by the tributaries of the Colorado and Gila Rivers,
and a triangular area in the northeast corner drained by the Canadian
River. It embraces the central, and, with the exception of a few val-
leys, the most productive portion of the Territory; and, although much
of it is occupied by broken ranges of mountains and elevated mesas, yet
there is a large portion which can be irrigated by the streams that
traverse it, and a still larger ratio which affords rich pasturage for sheep
and cattle. Here also can be found every variety of climate, from the
cold of the mountain region along its northern rim, to the tropical
valleys of its southern border.

SAN LUIS VALLEY.

This valley, or park, has been correctly described as ‘an immense

1

198 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

elliptical basin enveloping the sources of the Rio Grande.” Tis entire
length, in a direct line from the summit of Poncho Pass to the mouth
of the Rio de Taos, is about one hundred and fifty miles, and its great-
est width, counting from the crest of the rim, about one hundred miles;
but its surface area cannot properly be estimated at more than one hun-
dred and forty miles long, by an average width of sixty miles, giving an
area of eight thousand four hundred square miles. Of this amount
perhaps one-fourth, or about one million three hundred and fifty theu-
sand acres, can be irrigated and brought under cultivation by ordinary
means, and by damming up and drawing off in canals the waters of the
Rio Grande the area of cultivable land may be expanded above these
figures. s

The mesa plains, mountain foot-hills, and slopes afford nutritious
grasses Suitable to the pasturage of sheep and cattle. The average ele-
vation of the surface is about seven thousand feet above the level of the
sea.

The northern part of this section is occupied by an isolated basin of
considerable extent, to which the name San Luis Park is sometimes lim-
ited; itis also called the ‘‘ Rincon,” and “Sahwatch Basin.” The waters
of this basin, instead of entering the Rio Grande, are poured into a reser-
voir near the western base of the Sierra Blanca, which has received the
name Sahwatch Lake. For along time the very existence of this lake
was a matter of doubt, and even at the present day, with settlements
beginning around it, its extent is a matter of dispute, the estimates vary- .
ing from three to sixty miles. I cannot describe this singular basin and
reservoir in any better manner than by quoting the language of the
United States geologist, (chief of our expedition,) found in his prelimi-
nary report of last year: ‘This northern portion [of the San Luis Valley |
above the bow of the Rio Grande is about sixty miles in length, and has
an average width of fifteen or twenty miles. About the center (rather
in the scutheast part) of this park is a singular depression, about ten
miles wide and thirty miles long, which looks like one vast thicket of
grease-wood (Sarcobatus vernicularis) and other chenopodiaceous shrubs.
Into it flow some twelve or fifteen good-sized streams, and yet there is
no outlet, neither is there any large body of water visible. It seems to
be one vast Swamp or bog with a few small lakes, one of which is said
to be three miles in length. Although disconnected from any other
water system, the little streams are full of trout.”

The bogey nature of the broad margin, the shallowness of the streams
where they enter it, and want of interest on the part of those residing
in the vicinity, have probably prevented an examination sufficient to
determine, with any degree of accuracy, the extent of the lake or lakes
contained therein. During the spring and early part of summer the
streams which run into it must carry down a large amount of water,
part of which probably sinks into the margin which has dried during
the autumn, the rest evaporating into the dry atmosphere. The streams
on the east side generally dry up in the latter part of the season, but
those on the west and north are constant runners.

Commencing at Poncho Pass on the northern extremity of the section
and moving southward, we enter the valley of Homan’s (or San Luis)
Creek, which expands for a part of its length into what is called Homan’s
Park. This is about four or five miles wide at its broadest part, and
some seven or eight miles long. The arable portion, which lies chiefly
on the west side, although somewhat inclined, can be easily irrigated
from the little streams which descend across it to the principal channel.
The soil, though mixed with coarse sand, is quite good, and will produce

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. « 199

good crops of wheat, oats, and the hardy vegetables, the climate being
too cold tor anything of a tender nature. Some trees of a considerable
size, principally cottonwood, grow in the valley, while the mountains
around produce an abundance of pine.

The soil of the lower level, especially near the north end, is strongly
impregnated with alkali.

This isa most excellent point for a few stock ranches, as water is
abundant, and as not only the valley proper, but also the little openings
up into the mountains and slopes on the north and west, atford most
excellent grass, and would furnish pasturage for quite a number of cattle.

Below this point the valley contracts, but again expands near where
it opens into the Sahwatch Basin, affording a small area of arable land.
Here also are a number of hot springs which emit a strong vapor, the
temperature ranging at about 120° Fahrenheit.

Running in from the northwest is Sahwatch Creek, which affords a
rich valley some three or four miles wide and some ten or twelve miles
long. The bottoms which flank this stream are generally flat, and as
they are raised but slightly above the water-level, can be easily irriga-
ted, the supply of water being abundant. A settlement has already
been made here, and although the seasons are short, yet experiment has
‘proved that wheat, oats, &e., can be profitably raised, the yield being
good and the grain fine. I dislike to introduce. personal incidents into
a report of this kind, yet as they sometimes serve to give stronger im-
pressions than can otherwise be made, I trust I will be excused for in-
troducing one here to show how difficult it is to produce a belief in the
agricultural capacity of these regions. As we entered this valley from
the west, we noticed that the oats, which appeared to be of a very inferior
quality, had been cut quite green; this was late in the season, (Septem-
ber 30,) and the night was very cold and frosty. I at once concluded
that the climate was too cold and the seasons too short to produce the
cereals, and even the leader of our expedition, who had been exploring
the Rocky Mountain regions for fifteen years, and who long since had
gotten over first impressions, was inclined to the same opinion. Yet
next morning, when we passed over to the other side of the valley, we
were surprised to see some large fields of the finest quality of wheat.
Although it was being harvested at this late date, having been sowed
late in’ May, the grains were large and plump, and fully ripened.

The broad margin that surrounds the boggy basin before described,
is sufficiently level for agricultural purposes, “and, as far as the supply o!
water will go, can be easily irrigated and brought under cultivation.
The lands along the east side, which slope in from the base of the Sierra
Blanca, are rather sandy, and in places almost destitute of vegetation,
the supply of water on this side not being constant. Yet I think it
probable that during the spring and first of. summer, when most needed,
and while the snows on the west side of the mountain are melting, there
will be a sufficiency of water to irrigate a considerable breadth of land
even here.

On the west side are the Carnero and Gareta Creeks, pretty little
streams which pour down their pure, limpid waters through ditch-like
channels but a few feet below the surface of the plain, rendering the ir-
rigation of the bordering lands remarkably easy and inexpensive. The
soil here is very good, in some places being a dark, rich loam, covered -
with a tall and’ rank erow th of grass. The temperature is about the
same as in the Sahwatech Valley, | but although more open and perhaps
warmer during the day, is more subject to irregular early frosts, a fact

200 . GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

which is often noticed in comparing the climate of open plains with that
of adjacent mountain valleys.

Should the time come when there will be an urgent demand for land
in this vicinity, an encroachment could be made upon the marshy bor-
ders of the central basin, which if redeemed would afford several thou-
sands of acres of rich soil.

On the southwest this basin is bordered by a somewhat elevated,
gravelly plateau, varying in width from eight to fifteen miles, which,
beginning at the mountains on the west, passes eastward between the
Rio Grande and Gareta round the south end of the basin, separating it
from the Rio Grande bottoms. In regard to the possibility of irrigating
this ridge I will speak hereafter.

The Rio Grande, rising in the mountains to the west, flows directly
east until it reaches the ‘middle of the valley, where, making an abrupt
bend, it runs south through the entire length of the valley, dividing it
into nearly equal parts. ‘On the east side, “between the Sahwateh basin
and the Rio Costillo, lies a broad, slightly- inclined plain, averaging
about twenty miles in width. It is interrupted, in its southwest por-
tion, by a mesa of considerable extent, and by occasional foot-hills which
shoot out from the mountain on the east. The southern half is undulat-
ing, but the northern portion is composed of three levels: first and low-
est, the river bottom, some five or six miles wide; the second correspond-
ing with the plateau before mentioned, and which occupies the region
about Fort Garland, having an area of one hundred and fifty or two
hundred square miles; the third, which is the highest, lying south of
the second. The bottoms along the Rio Grande are composed of deep
rich soil, generally covered with tall grass, or thickets of bushes, with
here and there open groves of cottonwood. They can, without much
difficulty, be irrigated from the river, but I am of the opinion (and on
this account have been thus minute in my description of this locality)
that, by commencing a canal where the river emerges from the mount-
ains, and bringing it along the plateau and around the bend upon the
second level, not only the plateau and a great portion of the second
level, but the southern slope of Sahwatch basin and Rio Grande bottoms
might all be irrigated from it. It is possible there may be a depression
between the Rio Grande and Gareta at the upper portion, which would
necessitate the building of an aqueduct, and thus increase the expense,
but in regard to this I cannot speak positively. ‘This canal would irri-
gate at least five hundred thousand acres, at a moderate cost per acre.

From the Trenchera most of the eastern portion of the second level
can be irrigated; and it is possible a portion of the higher level might
be reached by water from this stream and the Culebra, near their
sources in the mountains.

An old Mexican claim extends over a considerable portion of this part
of the valley. Reaching from the south end of the Sierra Blanea to the
Rio Costillo, it embraces the entire valleys of the Trenchera, Culebra,
and Costillo, amounting to one million three hundred thousand aeres.

The Rio Culebra furnishes one of the prettiest and richest valleys of
this section, its chief expanse being along the eastern margin near the
mountains, from which numerous little tributaries pour down their cool,
clear waters. This expanse, lying between the mountains on the east
and the “ cerilios” on the west, has been very appropriately designated
the “vegas” or meadows, on account of the luxuriant growth of grass
that covers its soil. There is quite a settlement here, chiefly Mexican,
and a large portion of the valley at this point is already under cultiva-
tion. The county seat of Costillo County, San Luis, (or Culebra,) is lo-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 201

cated here. The second or upper level here, and also that bordering the
Costillo Valley, might be irrigated, thus i increasing the breadth of the
arable area. Near “the Rio Grande lie a succession of basaltic mesas and
ridges, through which the Culebra and Costillo have cut channels for
their waters. The Rio Grande affords no bottom along this part of its
course, its waters being confined to a deep narrow canon of basalt for
sixty-five miles, from La Joya to the crossing of the road to Conejos.
The Rio Colorado affords another valley of moderate width, which, like
the others, is broadest and most extensive at its upper end, narrowing
as it approaches the Rio Grande. Between this and the Taos Valley,
though a few spots of limited extent may be found which can be culti-
vated, the greater part is elevated and broken, and is covered with a
heavy growth of timber.

The area west of the Rio Grande is similar in character to that east.
It is watered by Pintado Creek, Rio de Jara, and the Conejos River, and
contains some as fine land as is to be found in the San Luis Valley.

The valleys of the Pintado and de Jara are of but moderate extent,
traversing a more uneven country than that farther south. The Conejos
River and its tributaries afford a valley which at its central part pre-
sents a broad and fertile area, where quite a number of Mexican settle-
ments have already been made. The southern portion of this side of
the San Luis Valley is principally an elevated basaltic plateau, or mesa,
which is covered with grass, and well adapted for grazing purposes, but
cannot be brought under'cultivation, as it is beyond the reach of irriga-
tion. But there is on this side, as on the east, a large extent of land,
principally on the second level, which by proper efforts might be irrigated,
thus adding a broad margin to the arable lands of this section.

The soil of the lower valleys and bottoms throughout the section is
generally composed of a rich sandy loam, containing more or less com-
minuted marl. That of the upper levels and ridges has more or less gravel
and coarse sand mingled with it.

Having an elevation of seven thousand feet above the level of the sea,
and being partially surrounded by mountains, whose summits bear upon
them snow throughout the year, this basin must necessarily have a
tolerably cold climate. Yet the days and the average temperature
during the growing season, as shown by the thermometer, would indicate
a more favorable climate than the surroundings do; but this is to a cer-
tain degree deceptive, as the nights during the warmer half of the year
are quite cold as compared with the temperature of the days. And this
fact, as will be seen, has an important bearing in estimating the agricul-
tural capacity of this section. Frosts generally set in between the 1st
and 10th of September, but snow seldom begins to fall on the plain
until December, and the amount that falls during the winter is small.

There is scarcely any portion of the valley that does not afford good
pasturage for cattle and sheep, and when every acre that can be irrigated
has been brought under cultivation, the higher ridges, mountain sides,
and elevated valleys will still furnish sufficient pasturage for numerous
herds and flocks; and if a means of reaching market is ever obtained,
few better places for the manufacture of butter and cheese than this can
be found.

From Mr. Stephen E. Sterrett, who has been acquainted with this
valley for eighteen years, and has resided here for the last ten years, I
obtained the following information in regard to the crops.

The principal products of the soil are wheat, oats, and potatoes, very
little corn being raised. Wheat is generally ‘sown between the Ist of
April and 10th of May, and harvested from 1st to the 20th of September,

202 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the average yield being thirty bushels, which he considers a low esti-
mate, as he has seen fields turn out as much as sixty bushels to the acre.
He says the reason why their harvest is so late is because the coid nights
in the spring check its growth, and in the latter part of the summer
retard its ripeming. Oats grow finely, and yield about forty bushels
to the acre. Some corn is raised, principally in the southern end of the
valley, yet the seasons are so short, and its growth so much retarded by
the cold nights, that it is often injured by autumnal frosts, and even
when it matures is of an inferior quality, and the yield light. He finds
by experience that in the northern part of the valley it is less Hable to
injury if planted near the mountain than on the open plain.

Irish potatoes do well, yielding moderate returns of fine-flavored tubers.
Turnips and Mexican squashes can be easily raised. Such garden vege-
tables as cabbages, beets, carrots, peas, &e., can be grown here without
difficulty ; and tomatoes and beans can be raised, but are liable to be
injured by the frosts. Very little fruit has hitherto been raised in the
valley, but I think if the proper varieties of apples were selected and
well managed, a sufficient quantity might be produced to supply the
local demand. Currants, raspberries, gooseberries, and strawberries
will grow here and produce fruit, but the cultivated varieties wiil have
to be planted, for although the mountain sides furnish an abundance of
the wild kinds, they appear to fail when transplanted to the Plains.

Ample water power for milling and manufacturing purposes can be
readily obtained; and a supply of timber can be had by going to the
mountains, especially at the northern and southern extremities of the
valley, and it is very probable a large amount of the better kind for
building purposes might be floated down the Rio Grande, as far as this
river has accessible points.

The roads within the valley are mostly good; and those which lead
out of it at Poncho and Sangre de Christo passes and at the south end
can be made good without any great expense.

I have been thus minute in my description of this basin because much
interest has been manifested concerning it of late years, and yet so lit-
tle in regard to its agricultural capacity seems to be known.

The reader will notice that I have omitted to speak of the Taos Val-
ley in my description of this basin, although in giving the boundaries
I included it. I did so because it is wholly distinct in its character
from the rest of the basin, and is almost completely isolated.

TAOS VALLEY.

“The valley in which Taos is situated may be said to be formed by a
notch or bend in the mountain range. On the southwest is the Picaris
Range, with a strike nearly northeast and southwest. The next range
east of this trends about north and south.” It is about eighteen miles
in extent from east to west and sixteen from north to south, the narrow
valley of the Arroyo Hondo forming its northern extremity. There is
also an open area, about eight miles wide, on the west side of the Rio
Grande, which may properly be counted as a part of it. The entire
area, including the strip west of the river, amounts to about two hun-
dred and fifty square miles, or one hundred and sixty thousand acres,
a large part of which may ultimately be brought under cultivation.

The deep arroyo or vailey at the north end is from one to two miles
wide, affording a fertile spot, easily irrigated, where there is a small
Mexican settlement and village.

The entire valley of the Taos seems to have been one broad field of
Sage, (Artemisea,) which, on the parts where it has not been disturbed,

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 203

excludes every other growth, giving a very barren appearance to the
landscape.

Besides Taos there are several other villages and settlements, chiefly
Mexican, in the southeast part of the valley. The amount of land in
cultivation is not more than fifteen thousand acres. Unless the cafon
through which the Rio Grande emerges into this valley should present
some insurmountable difficulty, the greater part of its area may be irri-
gated, the northern and western portion from this river, and that part
along the mountains from the streams that flow into it.

The soil is quite different from that of the valleys further north, being
very finely pulverized and loose; it also is of considerable depth and
very fertile. The cause of its fertility will be understood from the fol-
lowing quotation, made from the preliminary report of the United States
Geologist on the “ Geological Survey of Colorado and New Mexico,”
1869, p. 70:

The valley proper is scooped out of the Santa Fé marls, which must: at one time
have prevailed extensively, as in the country north of Santa Fé, but the surface has
been smoothed off, so that nowhere are the marls conspicuous; still they can be seen
all along the base of the mountains bordering the valley, where portions of the recent
deposits he high on the mountain side. No sedimentary rocks of older date are seen,
and the Santa Fé marls rest directly on the metamorphic rocks.

The effect of this marl upon the appearance and character of the soil
is plainly seen. The consequence is, that that which in its wild state
appears as but a barren sage plain, across which the wind sweeps the
fine particles of the light soil, piling it in little heaps around the bushes,
by the application of water is changed into a fertile field. And I think
Colonel Charles McClure justified in his statement to me, that sufficient
wheat to supply the Territory might be raised in this valley. It is con-
sidered the best wheat-growing region in New Mexico. The climate
appears to be milder here than in the San Luis Valley proper, although
but narrowly separated from each other, and the differences of latitude
and altitude being slight.

Having now completed my description of this great mountain basin,
it is proper I should refer to the report of Lieutenant BH. G. Beckwith,
aS published in Vol. If, Pacific Railroad Reports, whose opinion and
description differ somewhat from that I have given. He remarks that
“in our ride of over a hundred miles from El Sangre de Christo to this
place (Taos) we saw no grass in the valleys worth naming, the vegeta-
tion being confined almost exclusively to artemisia and a few varieties
of cacti, but chiefly the prickly pear; the pines of the mountains at
times extend well down to the plains. In the high small valleys of the
mountains the grass is Inxuriant and the flowers beautiful.”

There are parts of the open valley which are not well grassed and
that have upon them a tolerably thick growth of artemisia, and also
some spots grown up with chenopodiaceous shrubs; but as a whole it
may properly be called well grassed. In 1869 our party traveled over
exactly the same road here spoken of, camping one night in each of the
principal valleys, the Rio Colorado, Rio Costillo, and Culebra, having
no difficulty in either in obtaining sufficient grass for our stock. It is
true that it was not so rank and abundant in the first two as in the
last, which, outside of the cultivated fields, was one rich meadow. The
bottoms of the Rio Grande and western slope of the Sahwatch basin
we found covered with a very heavy growth of grass.

In summing up his view of this valley, although he calls it one of the
finest in New Mexico, yet he goes on to say:

The extensive valley of San Luis, lying between the Sierra Blanca on the east and
Sierra San Juan on the west, and watered by the Rio Grande del Norte and its numer-

204 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ous small tributaries, is,in general, one vast sage plain from the Rio Colorado to Gun-
nison’s Pass. The grass on the lower tributaries of the Rio del Norte, in this valley, is
very limited indeed. It is more abundant on the upper affluents, where a few fields
of prairie grass a mile or two in width were observed, and the authority of our guide
given for extensive grass prairies on the Rio del Norte itself. But all these grass fields, »
with the greatest amount of cultivation which can be supplied with water from the
little streams of this valley, can, under the most favorable circumstances, only support
a meager population.

It is evident from these remarks of Lieutenant Beckwith that he
bases his conclusions on his observations and experience in the States
where the soil is moistened bysrain, and that he considers the sage
ground as unfit for cultivation. But the experiments of the seventeen
years which have elapsed since he was there, have taught us that sage
land, when irrigated, is about as productive as the grass fields. And the

‘broad sage field that lies west of Fort Garland, (then Fort Massachu-
setts,) if redeemed by water, would soon give evidence of this fact.

I do not refer to the reports of others in any spirit of criticism, but
as far as possible to correct the impression made by these opinions,
which, though given in all candor, frequently did injustice to this
country.

VALLEY OF THE RIO GRANDE.

As I have traveled over but a small portion of this section I cannot
enter as minutely into details as I have in regard to the one north of it.
My description, therefore, will not only be more general, but made up in
part from such reliable information as I could obtain. But this defi-
ciency is, to a great degree, compensated by the narrative of Dr. As
Wislizenus, the reconnoissance of Lieutenant Emory, and the reports of
General Pope, Lieutenant Whipple, and others, in which notices of the
agriculture and arable lands of different parts of the section are to be
found.

The length from north to south, counting from the mouth of the Rio
de Taos to the Mexican line, is about three hundred and fifty miles,
with an average width of one hundred and ten miles. It is difficult to esti-
mate, even with approximate accuracy, the amount of arable land in this
area, as, with the exception of the comparatively narrow valley proper
of the Rio Grande, it lies in small irregular valleys and detached spots.
And, in addition to this difficulty, great diversity of opinion exists in
regard to the average width of this valley, varying from two to twenty
miles. Yet this difference is not wholly due to error in either party, as
the term “ valley” is used in different senses, some meaning thereby only
the bottoms immediately along the river, while others include the lower
terraces which at some points flank the bottoms. Perhaps the best
data we have upon which to base an estimate is to be found in the re-
port of Lieutenant Whipple, who, after a careful examination, estimates
the cultivable area of a belt thirty miles wide, and one hundred and
eighty miles long, east and west—reaching from Anton Chico to Camp-
bell’s Pass—at-three hundred and sixty square miles, or one-fifteenth of _
the whole area. As this belt reaches directly across the entire width of
the section under consideration, it may be taken as an average of the
whole; for, although it includes the valley of the San José on the west,
the east end stretches over the broad Mesa de la Vista almost from
Anton Chico to San Antonio. This proportion would give for the sec-
tion nearly two thousand six hundred square miles of tillable land, which
I think may be increased by the proper husbanding of water.

In order to understand properly the differences in climate and pro-
ductions observable in the different parts of this section, it is necessary,
not only to take into consideration the latitude, but also the variations

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES! 205

in altitude, and proximity to high mountains. Beginning at the San
Luis Valley, with an elevation of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea,
we find when we reach Santa Fé the height is still 6,840 feet, which is
higher than some of the valleys farther north. Keeping on the same
plateau, and moving south, the elevations of the principal points are as
follows: Gallisteo Village, 6,165; Los Cerillos, 5,804; Canton Blanco,
6,320, and a little southwest of the canon, near Laguna Blanca, 6,943
feet. Moving southwest from this point toward Albuquerque, we find
the elevation at San Antonio is 6,408 feet. But when we descend into
the immediate valley of the Rio Grande, as far north as Pena Blanca,
it is only 5,288 feet above the sea-level, or 1,552 lower than at Santa Fé.
At San Felipe it is 5,220; at Albuquerque, 5,026; at Isleta, 4,910; at
Socorro, 4,560; at Alamosa, 4,200; and at Hl Paso about 3,800. Strange
as it may appear, when we cross the ridge east of Santa Fé, to the
headwaters of the Pecos, we find the altitude at Pecos Village but 6,360
feet—about 500 feet lower than at Santa Fé; while at Anton Chico it is
only 5,372 feet, corresponding very nearly with that of the Rio Grande
valley at Pena Blanca.

I have given these particulars in regard to the elevation of this
region to show that, sweeping around the southern terminus of the Rocky
Mountain range, is an elevated plateau, or extended mesa, which, reach-
ing north along the inside of the basin for some distance, occupies both
sides of the river, but southward recedes from it. At Pena Blanca we
descend into the Rio Grande Valley proper, which continues along the
southern course of the river with little interruption throughout the rest
of the Territory. From this point south, fruits and the tenderer vege-
tables and plants are grown with ease, which fail no farther north than
Santa Fé.

But the difference in altitude is not the only influence tending to vary
the temperature and vegetation between the northern and southern
parts of the section, for about opposite the point where this lower level
begins, the mountain range on the east terminates, and, as a matter of
course, the depression of temperature and the cold of the nights, so far
as caused by the proximity of snowy peaks and icy waters, also cease.

From the region of the Galisteo south the features of the country
change; instead of the vast and lofty ranges of the Rocky Mountains,
a succession of shorter, narrower, and less lofty mountains forming a
chain which runs directly north and south a short distance east of the
river and almost parallel with it; and what is somewhat remarkable,
instead of corresponding with the range east of the San Luis Valley,
this chain runs almost directly in a line with the bottom of the valley.
While the mountains have thus diminished, on the other hand the minia-
ture table lands of the regions farther north are here replaced by vast
plateaus which spread over the country forming its general level, out of
which are scooped the valleys and basins.

On the east side of the Rio Grande, between the Taos Valley and
Joya, the country is broken and mountainous, mostly covered with a
heavy growth of timber, chiefly pine and fir. This area is traversed
east and west by a few small streams, which are bordered by narrow
Strips of cultivable lands. The three principal ones are the Penasco,
Pueblo, and Chumesal; the first being a vigorous creek which traverses
a valley varying in width from one to five miles, which is flanked on
each side by high bluffs. A good part of it is already under cultivation,
and, as the soil is fertile and the valley sheltered, the crops produced are
quite heavy. ‘The other two are small and less important than the
Pefiasco.

206 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Between this broken region and the Rio de Canado (or Santa Oruz)
on the south, lying along the Rio Grande, is a moderate breadth of arable
land, some of which is very fertile, and produces not only the hardier
cereals, as wheat, oats, and barley, but also corn, which grows large and
fine. The tillable area here could ‘be considerably enlarged by irrigation
from the Rio Grande, unless there is some impediment which I failed to
observe.

The Rio de Santa Fé, Rio Galisteo, and Tuerto Creek afford strips of
arable land, varying in width from one to ten miles; but here also I
think the amount might be increased by proper efforts and more ex-
tensive acequias.

I have not visited the valleys of the Rio de Chama and Rio Puerco.
The valley of the Rio Puerco, I understand, is flanked by elevated table
lands, and that its lower portion is not supplied with living water but a
part of the year; but its principal tributary, the San José, runs through
a fine wide valley, in which there is a considerable amount of cultivated
land and a number of villages, the breadth available for agricultural
purposes being equal to the capacity of the stream.

The average width of the immediate valley of the Rio Grande, as .

before stated, has received widely different estimates; Dr. Wislizenus
placing it as high as twenty miles, evidently including the lower terrace
which is sometimes present, while Colonel McClure stated to me that he
would not estimate it at more than two miles, including only the imme-
diate bottoms of the river. Lieutenant Whipple’s calculation would
give about eight or nine miles as the average, which is probably nearer
correct than either of the others.

The folowing memoranda in regard to various points along this valley,
though not very definite, may be of some interest to the reader.

At San Domingo it is quite narrow and continues so for about six
miles below San Felipe, where it again widens to six or seven miles, the
soil being quite sandy. At Bernalillo it is of considerable breadth, but
erows harrow in the vicinity of Zandia, again expanding and affording
a tolerably broad area at Alameda. From Alameda to a point some
distance below Isleta, there is a moderate width of good bottom land.
Contracting near Peralto, it widens again in the neighborhood of Tomé
with improved soil, the belt continuing with very little interruption
to the bend of the Rio Grande, below the mouth of the Puerco, where
the bordering hills close in upon it, reducing it to about one mile. At
Socorro there is a medium belt, which expands southward, presenting a
very fine agricultural section, which is interrupted in the vicinity of Fra
Cristobal Mountains. Between San Antonio and Dona Ana are some
of the finest portions of the whole valley, opposite which on the east
side stretch the sandy wastes of the dreaded Jornada del Muerto.
Near Mesilla and Dofia Afia are also some fine openings, which are par-
tially cultivated. In regard to the few small Heeb valleys below
the Rio Puerco, I know nothing.

The volume of water sent down by this river is sufficient to irrigate
an immense area of land. At Tomé Lieutenant Emory found by meas-
urement the entire volume, including two acequias, to be equal to a width
of ninety-three feet and depth of two feet, or the area of a transverse
section, one hundred and eighty-six square feet. The rate of fall be-
tween Petia Blanca and Isleta is nearly six feet to the mile; it may
therefore be possible to carry it to some portions of the higher ground,
but in regard to this Lam unable to speak positively. Judging from
the height of the bluff at San Felipe above the river level, one hundred

cee cb ied ‘ a

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. De

and ninety-six feet, it is not probable this is practicable except where
there are lower intermediate levels.

As a general thing the soil along the river is quite sandy, but when
well watered proves to be very fertile; and, although seemingly adapted
to the growth of wheat, this cereal does not prove as productive here as
farther north. Indian corn grows finely, and when the better varieties
are introduced and cultivated, large and remunerative crops may be
raised. Here is to be found one of the finest grape-growing sections in
the Union, its only rivals being the valleys of California. All the usual
varieties of fruit can be raised in abundance and with great ease. Mel-
ons, pumpkins, frijoles, and in the southern extremity cotton, can be
produced. In the greater part of this valley two crops of cereals can be
raised in one season.

THE PECOS VALLEY.

As I have visited only the northern part of this section, and have
received information in regard to some detached portions only of its
southern half, I can form no reliable estimate of the amount of arable
land it contains. Yet I am warranted, by what [have seen and learned,
in saying that the proportion is less than in either of the sections here-
tofore described. In fact, the valley of this river is one of erosion, worn
out of the broad plateau of this region, and presenting, north of thé
Guadalupe Mountains, the appearance of one vast arroyo. Its tribu-
taries are few, and, with the exception of two or three, of but little im-
portance in an agricultur al point of view.

The Gallinas River and its little tributaries afford narrow belts of fer-
tile soil, the area being equal to the supply of water. Around Las Vegas
a considerable breadth is under cultivation, corn being the chief crop.
The Pecos, to its junction with the Gallinas, runs through a very narrow
valley, which has been correctly described as “ribbon-like,” a few bay-
like expansions forming the only exceptions, as at San Miguel. The
valley bottom throughout this distance is generally flanked by high
bluffs, which sometimes, as in the neighborhood of La Cuesta, reach an
altitude of five hundred feet. Lieutenant Whipple, whose line of survey
crossed at Anton Chico, estimates the cultivable land in a belt thirty
miles wide and reaching directly across this section, from Pajarito Creek
to Anton Chico, at one-thirtieth of the area embraced. From an exam-
ination in person of a similar belt immediately north of it, 1 am inclined
to think this estimate very near correct; it may be a little too low, but
not much. In the neighborhood of Fort Sumner, as I was informed by
Mr. Maxwell, there is a considerable breadth of fertile land which can
be irrigated, ‘and which is well adapted to the growth of fruits and
grapes. Along the headwaters of the Rio Bonito there are some fertile
spots, where not only fine crops of cereals are raised, but where fruits,
grapes, and even sweet potatoes grow well. Very little appears to be
known in regard to the valley of the Penasco.

From the north end of the Guadalupe Mountains to the mouth of the
Delaware River the valley of the Peéos is level and very fertile, averag-
ing in width some three or four miles. But from all I can learn in re-
gard to this part of the section the tillable area could be extended far
beyond the immediate bottoms. For here the plateau, instead of ter-
minating in abrupt bluffs, descends gradually, and in a somewhat gen-
tle slope to the river bottom. The supply of water in the river being
ample, and the fall rapid in this part of its course, irrigating canals could
be carried far up the slope, if not to the top of the plateau. The soil on

208 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the upper level possesses all the ingredients necessary to productiveness,
except that furnished by water. Supply this and all the table lands of |
New Mexico will yield rich returns for the labor bestowed upon them.

IT am of the opinion that for a part of its course the Pecos is some-
what sluggish, but I may be mistaken in this, as I base it entirely on
the following data, viz, that from Anton Chico to the mouth of the Dela-

ware the fall amounts to one thousand two hundred and fifty feet,
which gives an average of but little more than four feet to the mile, but.
as the fall between the north end of the Guadalupe Mountains and the
mouth of the Delaware is very rapid, and at the upper portion is also
above the average, | infer that for a part of its intermediate distance
the fall is but little.

WESTERN NEW MEXICO.

Although this is net embraced in the Rio Grande district, it is per-
haps best to add here what few items IT have obtained in regard to its -
agricultural capacity.

The Rio San Juan, a tributary of the Colorado of the West, although
rising in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado Territory, bends south
and traverses the northwest portion of New Mexico, where it receives a
number of affluents. Colonel McClure and Governor Arny inform me
that these valleys afford a considerable breadth of very rich land, which
can be irrigated, and which will produce fine crops of the cereals, veg-
etables, and fruits usually grown in the Middle States. As this area
appears to be almost, if not entirely, unoccupied, it would present a
good point for a colony.

The upper tributaries of the Puerco of the West, a branch of Flax
River, are flanked by narrow belts of arable lands, but as the water of
this river sinks as it descends, it cannot be relied on for irrigating pur-
poses. But near the mountains here, as along the headwaters of the.
Zuni, crops may be raised without irrigation, as the supply of rain is
said to be generally sufficient for this purpose. Even around Zuni,
where an ample supply of water can be obtained from the Zuni River,
there are no acequias, the inhabitants relying on the rains to supply the
necessary moisture. There is probably some peculiarity connected with
the local atmospheric currents here which collects the moisture, or
causes its Separation and fall. The evidences of a former quite numer-
ous population, which have served to render this classic ground, when
we consider the fact that they are unaccompanied by the remains of
aqueducts, would indicate that formerly the amount of rain was sufficient
for agricultural purposes.

The Rio Mimbres runs through a beautiful valley of moderate width
and fertile soil, where all the productions of the Central States ean be
raised, and where even those things which belong to a more southern
climate can be grown without difficulty.

The Rio Gila, near where it leaves the Territory, has some good bot-
tom lands, but farther north, toward the Sierra Santa Rita, is pebbly
and inferior. In regard to the valleys along its head-waters I know
nothing.

= ‘ SOIL, CLIMATE, AND PRODUCTIONS.

Leaving the description of the Canadian section until I come to the
examination of the Arkansas district, I will close my account of the Rio
Grande district with a short summary of the information obtained in
reference to the soil, climate, and productions of the Territory.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 209

As a general thing the soil is sandy, and looks poor and sterile, giving
an impression of extreme barrenness, which it is difficult to remove until
the effect of irrigation and cultivation is seen. But the general state-
ment made in the introduction respecting the soil in the Rocky Moun-
tain region holds good here, for wherever sufficient water can be applied
the soil will prove fertile.

The best estimate I can make of the arable area of the Territory is
about as follows: in the Rio Grande district, one-twentieth, or about
two thousand eight hundred square miles; in the strip along the west-
ern border, one- fiftieth, or about six hundred square miles; in the north-
eastern trian gle, watered by the Canadian River, one- fifteenth, or about
one thousand four hundred square miles. This calculation excludes the
“Staked Plains,” and amounts in the aggregate to four thousand eight
hundred square miles, or nearly two million nine hundred thousand
acres. This, 1am aware, is larger than any previous estimate that I
have seen, but when the country is penetrated by one or two railroads,
and a more enterprising agricultural population is introduced, the fact
will soon be developed that many portions now considered beyond the
reach of irrigation will be reclaimed. I do not found this estimate
wholly upon the observations made in the small portions I have visited,,
but in addition thereto I have carefully examined the various reports.
made upon special sections, and have obtained ail the information I
could from intelligent persons who have resided in the Territory for a
number of years.

As the Territory ineludes in its bounds some portions of the Roeky-
Mountain range op which snow remains for a great part of the year,
and also a semi-tropical region along its southern boundry, there is, of
necessity, a wide difference in the extremes of temperature. But with.
the exception +f the cold seasons of the higher lands at the north, it is
temperate and regular. The summer days in the lower valleys are:
Sometimes quite warm, but as the dry atmosphere rapidly absorbs the
perspiration of the body, it prevents the debilitating effect experienced .
where the air is heavier and more saturated with moisture. The nights
are cool and refreshing. The winters, except in the mountainous por-
tions at the north, are moderate, but the difference between the north--
ern and southern sections during this season is greater than during the
summer. ‘The amount of snow that falls is hight and seldom remains.
on the ground longer than a few hours. The rains principally fall dur-
ing the months of J uly, August, and September, but the annual amount
is ‘small, seldom exceeding a few inches. When there are heavy snows
in the mountains during the winter, there will be good crops the follow-
ing summer, the supply of water being more abundant, and the quan-
tity of sediment earried down greater “than when the Snows are light.
Good crops appear to come in cycles, three or four following in succes-.
sion, then one or two inferior ones. During the autumn months the
wind is disagreeable in some places, especially near the openings between
high ridges, ‘and at the termini of or passes through mountain ranges.
There is, perhaps, no healthier section of country | to be found in the
United States than that embraced in the boundaries of Colorado and
New Mexico. In fact, I think I am justified in saying that this area
includes the healthiest portion of the Union. Perhapsitis not improper
for me to say that I have no personal ends to serve in making this state-
ment, not having one dollar invested in either of these Territories in
any way whatever. I make it simply because I believe it to. be true.
Nor would I wish to be understood as contrasting with other sections
of the Rocky Mountain region, only so far as these Territories have the

146

210 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

advantage in temperature. It is.possible Arizona should be induded,

but as it have not visited it I cannot speak of it. There is no better
place of resort for those suffering with pulmonary complaints than here.

Tt is time for the health-seekers of our country to learn and appreciate
the fact that within our own bounds are to be found all the elements of
health that can possibly be obtained by a tour to the eastern continent,
or any other part of the world. And that, in addition to the invigor.
ating air, is scenery as wild, grand, and varied as any found amid the
Alpine heights of Switzerland. And here too, from Middle Park to
Las Vegas, is a succession of mineral and het springs of almost every
character.

The productions of New Mexico, as might be inferred from the variety
of its climate, are varied, but the staples will evidently be cattle, sheep,
wool, and wine, for which it seems to be peculiarly adapted. The table-
lands and mountain valleys are covered throughout with the nutritious
gramma and other grasses, which, on account of the dryness of the soil,
cure upon the ground and afford an inexhaustible supply of food for
flocks and herds both summer and winter. The ease and comparatively
small cost with which they can be kept, the rapidity with which they
increase, and exemption from epidemic diseases, added to the fact that
winter feeding is not required, must make the raising of stock and wool-
growing a prominent business of the country; the only serious draw-
back at present being the fear of the hostile Indian tribes. But as these
remarks apply equally well to all these districts, I will speak further in
regard to this matter when I take up the subject of grazing in this
division.

The cattle and sheep of this Territory are small, because no care seems
to be taken to improve the breed. San Miguel County appears to be
the great pasturing ground for sheep, large numbers being driven here
from other counties to graze. Don Romaldo Baca estimates that be-
tween five hundred thousand and eight hundred thousand are annually
pastured here; about two-thirds of which are driven in from other sec-
tions. His own flocks number between thirty thousand and forty
thousand head; those of his nephew twenty-five thousand to thirty
thousand; Mr. Mariano Trisarry, of Bernalillo County, owns about fifty-
five thousand; and Mr. Gallegos, of Santa Fé, nearly seventy thousand
head.

Don Romaldo Baca stated to me that his flocks yielded him an annual
average of about one and a haif pounds of washed wool to the sheep ;
that the average price of sheep was not more than two dollars per head;
that the wool paid all expenses and left the increase, which is from fifty
to seventy-five per cent. per annum, as his profit. From these figures
some estimate may be formed of what improved sheep would yield.

Wheat and oats grow throughout the Territory, but the former does
not yield as heavily in the southern as in the northern part. If any
method of watering the higher plateau is ever discovered, I think that
it will produce heavier crops of wheat than the valley of the Rio Grande.

Corn is raised from the Vermijo on the east of the mountains around
to the Culebra on the inside; in fact, it is the principal crop of San
Miguel County, but the quality and yield is inferior to that which can
be produced in the Rio Grande Valley, and along the Rio Bonito. The
southern portion of the Rio Pecos Valley and the Canadian bottoms are
probably the best portions of the Territory for this cereal.

Apples will grow from the Taos Valley south; but peaches cannot be
raised to any advantage north of Bernalillo in the central section, but it
is likely they would do well along some of the tributaries and main

=

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Pai la |

valley of the Canadian River. They also appear to grow well and pro-
duce fruit without irrigation in the Zui country; and the valley of the
Mimbres is also adapted to their culture. Apricots and plums grow
wherever apples or peaches can be raised. I neglected to obtain any
information in regard to pears, but judging from the similarity of soil
and climate here to that of Utah and California, where this fruit grows
to perfection, I suppose that in the central and southern portions
it would do well. The grape will probably be the chief or at least
the most profitable product of the soil. The soil and climate appear
to be peculiarly adapted to its growth, and the probability is that as
a grape-growing and wine-producing section it will be second only to
California. From Colonel McClure I learned that the amount of wine
made in 1867 was about forty thousand gallons, and that the crop of 1869
would probably reach one hundred thousand gallons; 1 have not been
informed since whether his estimate was verified or not. A good many
vineyards were planted in 1869, at least double the number of 1858.
Several Americans, anticipating the building of a railroad through that
section, have engaged in this branch of agriculture. The wine that is
made here is said to be of an excellent quality.
Beets here, as in Colorado, grow to an enormous size, and it is quite
likely that the sugar beet would not only yield heavy crops, but also con-
tain a large per cent. of saccharine matter. Iam rather inclined to believe
that soil which is impregnated with alkaline matter will favor the pro-
duction of the saccharine principle. I base this opinion wholly on ob-
servations made in Utah in regard to its effect on fruit, therefore experi-
ments may prove that I am wholly mistaken. It is possible the experi-

‘ment has been tried; if so, I am not aware of it.

The Irish potatoes are inferior to those raised farther north. Cab-
bages grow large and fine. Onions from the Raton Mountains south
have the finest flavor of any I ever tasted, and therefore am not sur-
prised that Lieutenant Emory found the dishes at Bernalillo “‘ all dressed
with the everlasting onion.” But as to the “ chili” or pepper which is
so extensively raised and used in New Mexico, I beg to be excused, un-
less I can have my throat lined with something less sensitive than na-
ture’s coating. Sweet potatoes have been successfully tried in the
vicinity of Fort Sumner and along the head-waters of the Rio Bonito.
Melons, pumpkins, frijoles, &c., are raised in profusion in the lower vai-
leys; and I understand cotton was formerly grown in limited quantities.

As a general thing the mountains afford an abundance of pine for the
supply of lumber and fuel to those sufficiently near to them. Some of
the valleys have a limited amount of cottonwood growing along them.
In addition to pine, spruce and cottonwood, the stunted cedar and mes-
quit, which is found over a large area, may be used for fuel. The best
timbered portion of the Rio Grande Valley is between Socorro and Doiia
Aiia. The east side of the Guadalupe range has an abundant supply of
pine of large size. Around the head-waters of the Pecos is some excel-
lent timber. Walnut and oak are found in a few spots south, but in
limited quantities and of too small a size to be of much value. -

THE CANADIAN SECTION.

This section, in a strictly systematic arrangement, would be included
in the Arkansas district, to which it really belongs; but, for conveni-
ence, and that the plan of my report of last year may remain unchanged,
I describe it separately. It includes that part of New Mexico lying be-
tween the Raton Mountains on the north and the Pecos section, or

212 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

““ Llano Estacado” on the south and southwest, and contains about four-
teen thousand square miles. The amount of arable land in this section,
as heretofore stated, is estimated at about one thousand four hundred
square miles, or nine hundred thousand acres. This estimate is made
on very slender data, and therefore cannot be considered as very relia-
ble, but I am satisfied that it is not too large, and I think it is approxi-
mately correct.

. The Canadian River, rising in the Raton Mountains, runs southeast
for about one hundred and fifty miles, to Fort Bascom, where it turns
east, and passes out of the Territory, a little north of the thirty-fifth
parallel—its whole length within the limits of the Territory being about
two hundred miles. Most of its tributaries of any importance in an agri-
cultural point of view flow in from the west, of which the following are
the principal ones: Vermijo, Little Cimarron, Ocate, Rayada, (a branch
of the Ocate,) Moro, Rio Conchas, Pajarito Creek, and Tueumeari Creek.

As will be seen by a glance at the map of this region, its western part
slopes eastward, while the general descent is toward the south. Hence
the highest portion of its general surface is found in the northwest angle,
where the elevation is probably about five thousand feet above the sea-
level, while the southeast corner, which is the lowest, has an elevation
of only three thousand feet.

The fall of the river, from the mouth of Pajarito Creek east for about
two hundred miles, is about nine feet to the mile. The fail above this
is unknown, but it is evidently greater. It is therefore evident that the
amount of land which can be irrigated is limited only by the supply of
water, which is somewhat uncertain. I know but little in regard to the
valley of this river, but understand that, as a general thing, it, is not
extensive; that at many points the bluffs press closely upon it,
leaving but a narrow opening for the river, while at others they recede,
leaving broad and fertile bottoms. The bordering plains are generally
quite sandy, supporting but a scanty vegetation. The landscape is va-
ried by small elevated mesas rising from the comparatively level sur-
face, whose sharp outlines form a singular feature of this country.

The following description of the western border, across which our
expedition passed in 1869, will give a tolerably correct idea of the
section:

Starting from the crest of the Raton Mountains, immediately above
the source of the Canadian River, after passing down through a dense
forest of magnificent pines and firs, we enter a beautiful little valley
covered over with a thick sward of luxuriant grass. Here a considera-
ble amount is annually cut for hay and taken to Trinidad. But this
valley soon terminates, and the little stream and road enter a rugged
canon bordered by precipitous bluffs of gray sandstone, which continue
to the plains at the base of the mountain. Here a grand panoramic
view spreads out toward the south; a broad, valley-like plain slopes
southward as far as the vision will reach. Secarcely a tree or shrub is
to be seen; all is one smooth, grassy carpet, which, on the distant gentle
slopes, looks more like pale, pea-green velvet than anything else to
which I can compare it. Rising up from the broad base are two or
three huge basaltic tables, lifting their perfectly level surfaces one hun-
dred and fifty feet or more into the air, and all clothed in the same
velvety covering, but which fails to destrey the sharp. outline of circular
rim. The little stream, like a silvery thread, is seen winding its tortu- .
ous course along the gently descending plain, joined now and then by a
slender rill flowing down from the mountain on the west. It is a mag-
nificent pasture ground for sheep and cattle, where thousands might be

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 213

erazed and tended with but little trouble. But the stream is too small
to irrigate any great extent of the lands through which it passes, and
which could easily be reached if the supply of water was sufficient; yet
enough can be obtained to supply the wants of a moderate pastoral
settlement.

The first tributary we reach that will afford means of irrigation is a
small stream that flows in from the northwest along the base of the
variegated mural boundary that hems in the landscape on the west. I
believe it is called Uria. It has some very pretty bottoms, which are
quite fertile and can be easily irrigated to the full capacity of the
stream, which is but a few feet wide and a few inches deep.

The Little Cimarron and Vermijo afford considerable breadth of arable
land, the former presenting a valley some twenty-five or thirty miles
long, varying in width from one to six miles, which can be easily irri-
gated. The latter presents a valley of more uniform width, and bordered,
generally, by higher lands. It is about the same length as the former,
and where we crossed it about two miles wide, and very rich and fertile,
- the ereek supplying sufficient water to irrigate the whole of it.

The Rayada runs through a valley somewhat similar to that of the
Vermijo, the bottoms being very low and easily irrigated, but I think
they are subject to occasional overflows. ‘The creek is sufficient to
supply the lower level with water for irrigation, but the second level is
rather too high to be reached except by a lengthy canal.

The Ocate winds through a narrow valiey of erosion, the high border-
ing bluffs descending to it in steep curves, beautifully carpeted over
with grass. Not a tree or bush is to be seen; all is as smooth as a
meadowy lawn. The part of this valley which I visited is narrow, vary-
ing from one-half to a mile or so in width, but it may expand as it
approaches the river.

The Moro Valley is the finest in this section, and, next to the Taos
Valley, the best wheat-growing region in the Territory. The upper or
mountain portion of it is some eight or ten miles long and about three
miles wide. After passing out of this through a narrow gorge, the
ereek enters the more open plains, and is bordered for the greater part
of its length by a tolerably broad and very fertile valley. The entire
length is, perhaps, some sixty or seventy miles, and the width of the
irrigable lands that skirt the creek will probably average four or five
miles.

As the topography of this portion of the section has been somewhat
minutely described by Dr. Hayden, (see Preliminary Report, 1869, pp.
56-61,) it is unnecessary for me to repeat it here.

The comparatively low elevation and southeastern exposure of this
section, together with the mountain barriers west and north, give to it
amore moderate climate than that of the section immediately west.
Not only is wheat which is produced here remarkably fine, but maize
grows large, with full, fine ears. The fruits, if cultivated, would pro-
duce crops almost, if not quite, equal to those of the Rio Grande Valley.
And in the southeast part of the section, along the Canadian River,
grapes can be grown without any difficulty. The native grape, without
having the aid of irrigation, grows here in rich profusion, the stunted
vines often being loaded down with the clusters.

As heretofore intimated, the western border affords some of the finest
grazing fields in the Territory, especially for sheep.

THE ARKANSAS DISTRICT.
This district includes that part of Colorado Territory situated between

214 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the “Divide,” opposite South Park, and Raton Mountains, and lying
east of the dividing ridge of the Rocky Mountains. It not only embraces
the plains east of the base of the mountains, but also the Upper Arkansas
Valley or park lying within them. It contains about twenty-six thousand
square miles, of which about one-fourth, or six thousand square miles,
can be irrigated and brought under cultivation. It is being rapidly set-
tled up, and will ultimately prove to be the richest agricultural portion
of the Territory.

The Arkansas River, rising a little northwest of South Park, runs
southeast nearly to Poncho Pass, where, turning a little more toward
the east, it passes through a canon for about forty miles, emerging upon
the open country at Caton City. From this point to the eastern bound-
ary of the Territory it runs almost directly east.

‘The mountain valley has an elevation of between seven and eight
thousand feet above the sea, while that of the plain country lying east
of the range varies from six thousand near the base of the mountains to
about three thousand five hundred feet at the eastern boundary of the
Territory. This somewhat rapid descent of the plains eastward is a very
important item in estimating the agricultural capacity of this country;
for it was for some time a serious question in my mind whether the
descent on the broad open plains was sufficient, after leaving the moun-
tains for some distance, to carry the water of these rivers over the sandy
soil; but from a list of elevations along the Kansas Pacific Railroad,
kindly furnished Dr. Hayden by General Anderson, superintendent of
that road, I learn the following important facts: That from Denver to
Fort Hays, a distance of three hundred and forty-seven miles, the fall is
three thousand two hundred and seven feet, or a little over nine feet to
the mile, showing it possible to pour the waters of the South Platte into
the channel of Smoky Hill River. From Cheyenne Wells, near the
source of the Smoky Hill River, to the same place, a distance of one
hundred and seventy-three miles, the fall is one thousand two hundred
and eighty-three feet, or over seven feet to the mile, which is sufficient
to carry the water upon levels sixty, or even one hundred, feet above
the stream, where the supply is sufficient. The Arkasas River, from
the mouth of the Apishpa to the mouth of the Pawnee, a distance of two
hundred and six miles, has the remarkable fall of two thousand four
hundred and eight feet, or more than eleven feet to the mile. This is
sufficient to reach the highest extensive levels, so that, east of Pue-
blo, the extent of the irrigable land is limited only by the supply of
water, which confirms an opinion expressed by Mr. Byers in a commu-
nication to me concerning this valley.

The head-waters of the Arkansas are in an oval park situated directly
west of the South Park. The altitude of this basin is probably between
eight and nine thousand feet above the level of the sea; the length is
about fifty miles from north to south and twenty or thirty miles in width
at the middle or widest point. At the lower or southern end, an attempt
has been made to cultivate the soil, which bids fair to prove a suceess.
Around the Twin Lakes, at the extreme point, oats, wheat, barley, pota-
toes, and turnips have been raised, yielding very fair crops. Below this
basin the river, for twenty miles, passes through a narrow canon, along
which, with considerable difficulty, a road has been made. Hmerging
from this, it enters the ““Upper Arkansas Valley” proper, which is a
widening of the bottom lands from two to six or eight miles. This valley
is some forty or fifty miles in length and very fertile. Near the southern
extremity are some large boulder deposits, evidently forméd during its
lake period, ere the southeast barrier had broken away before the accu-

‘

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 215

mulated waters. The chief portion of the arable land lies on the west
side of the stream, which generally hugs closely the base of the eastern
range.

er eral streams of moderate size flow down from the Sahwateh range
on the west and cross the main vajJley. The largest of these is the South
Arkansas, up which an arm of the park or valley extends for several
miles. The average elevation is about seven thousand feet above the
level of the sea. There is already a considerable population there, two
or three small villages, a flouring mill, and at least one hundred farms.

Although somewhat elevated, this region is well protected from the
winds by the lofty mountain wall that hems it on every side, and stock
can be kept on the grazing fields most of the winter, shelter and feeding
being but seldom required, and that but for a short time. Passing
through here in October, 1869, we found it clear of snow and the weather
pleasant. We also procured here some of the finest potatoes I saw while
in the Territory. The extent of irrigable land may be estimated, in the
entire basin, at three hundred square miles.

Below this the mountains and hills again crowd down to the river,
leaving only a few small openings suitable for settlement. But, as is
generally the case with these little mountain valleys in this portion of
the country, they are very fertile.

Tt is probably forty or fifty miles from the lower end of this valley to
Cafion City, where the river leaves the mountains. Irom this point to
Pueblo, which is situated at the mouth of the “ Fountaine Qui Bouille,”
the distance is forty miles. The valley of the river during this part of
its course is very uneven and broken. At one point the bottom will
spread out for five or six miles in width; then again it is shut in by
rolling hills or elevated plateaus. Mr. Byers estimates the irrigable
lands in this part of the valley at two hundred square miles. But I am
inclined to think these elevated plateaus are not beyond the reach of
irrigation from the river. Take, for instance, the one immediately south
of Canon City, which, according to my present recollection, is about one
hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and fifty feet above the water
level, with the fall the river has in this part of its course, which cannot
be less than fifteen feet to the mile, I see no reason why the water could
not be carried upon it. But it is possible Mr. Byers includes these in
his estimate, which certainly is not extravagant.

From Pueblo eastward the valley is wide, with easy slopes right and
left to the elevated plains, much like the valley and bordering lands of
the South Platte. Therefore we may safely assume that, with a fall of
eleven feet to the mile, which the river has in this part of its course, the
extent of land which may be irrigated is only limited by the supply of
water. Starting from Pueblo with a width of two or three miles, there
is nothing to prevent widening the belt to thirty or forty miles, thus
giving between Canon City and the eastern boundary of the Territory
at least four thousand square miles, or two millions and a half acres of
irrigable land.

The fact that a large quantity of the water of a stream like this sinks
out on the plains, should not be set down as conclusive evidence that
the bordering lands cannot be irrigated from it; for, in the first place,
they generally have much more water in them during the season of the
year when irrigation is necessary than in the latter part of the summer
- and fall, when not required. And in the second place, all the water
that comes down from the mountains may be retained on the surface by
tapping the streams above the point where it sinks. Suppose all the
water which flows down from the mountains in the Arkansas and its

206 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

numerous tributaries was gathered into canals and equally distributed
over the broad plains of this part of the Territory, who will dare say that
four thousand square miles, yea almost twice four thousand, might not
be irrigated? Then the simple point to be determined is, can this be
done? I believe it can, and that when the demand for land in this dis-
trict requires it, it will be done; the great obstacle here, as elsewhere
in these Territories, being to bring together that amount of capital
or force sufficient to construct these canals at areasonable cost per acre.

The principal tributaries of the Arkansas that flow in from the south,
east of the mountains, are Hardscrabble and Greenhorn Creeks, (the St.
Charles is a branch of the latter,) Huerfano River, which has a large
tributary named Cuchara; Apishpa River, Timpas Creek, and Purgatory
River. On the north side, Fountain Qui Bouille River and Squirrel Creek
are the ‘principal streams affording water.

Hardserabble is a small stream running through a broken section, and
is skirted by narrow bottoms from a half to two miles in width, which
are low, easily irrigated, and quite fertile. The St. Charles is a larger
stream, which traverses some arable lands, but is occasionally hemmed
in by bluffs. As I crossed it only at a deep, narrow cut, [ am unable to
speak positively in regard to the extent of its valley, but I understand
considerable bodies of irrigable land are to be found along its course,
and that near its source is a valley of moderate size called Wet Moun-
tain Valley, which affords some good farming land. The Greenhorn
Valley also furnishes level land and irrigating facilities sufficient for
considerable agricultural settlements. The length of this valley is prob-
ably thirty miles, but what its average widthis I do not know. Along
the Huerfano and its chief tributary are some of the best farming lands
in the district. Huerfano Park, or, as it is sometimes called, the Upper
Hnuerfano Valley, which lies west of or behind the Wet Mountains, is
about fifteen miles long and from three to five miles wide, and is aiready
tolerably well settled. The valleys of these two streams are of moderate
width, but are occasionally interrupted for some distance by the upper
level, which presses close upon the streams, leaving only deep cuts or
cations. But as the fall is rapid, the water could, without much diffi-
culty, be brought upon the upper surface, thus largely increasing the
amount of tillable lands. Where we crossed the Cuchara, the bottom
was about one mile wide, but the second level, which is extensive, was |
not more than fifty feet above the stream, and, as I learn, is generally
less than this height.

in regard to the valley of the Purgatory I know but little, as I did
not have an opportunity of visiting it. Its upper portion, I believe, is
narrow, and occasionally the bluffs close in upon the stream for several
miles; but the lower moiety is broader, affording room for extensive
settlements. There is, I believe, as a general thing, an ample supply
of water for irrigating purposes, but during the latter part of the season
the flow becomes somewhat scanty.

Monument Creek, from its source to where it enters the Fountaine
Qui Bouiile, is about twenty-four miles long, and affords water sufficient
to irrigate an average of only half a mile on each side. For a part of its
course it runs through forests of pine, where the growth is tall and fine
and well suited for lumbering purposes. The Fountain Qui Bouille, which
rises in the mountains northwest of Colerado City, has a run of about
fifty miles, the immediate valley averaging about two miles. The plains
which flank it are generally of but moderate height and slope down
gently, and can be irrigated, with but little difficulty, to the full extent
of the water in the stream.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. rt

This entire district affords broad and extensive grazing fields for cattle
and sheep, and quite a number of herders and stock-raisers are begin-
ning already to spread out their flocks and herds over these broad areas
of rich and nutritious grasses. One of the finest meadows, of moderate
extent, that I saw in the Territory, was on the divide near the head of
Monument Creek, and near by was a large pond of cool, clear water.

The temperature of this section is somewhat similar to that of Northern
Missouri, and all the products grown there can be raised here, some with
a heavier yield and of a finer quality, as wheat, oats, &c., while others,
as corn, yield less and are inferior in quality.

An experiment made by Mr. John T. Smith, a short distance south of
Cafion City, proves conclusively that such fruits as apples, peaches,
pears, and cherries will grow here without difficulty, and produce
abundant crops of excellent quality. I saw here peach trees in fruit
the fourth year from the seed. :

SOUTH PLATTE DISTRICT.

As my report of 1869 covered this district, £ will only add such addi-
tional facts in regard to its agricultural prospects and development as I
gathered the present year. The impetus given to the settlement and
cultivation of this district by the completion of the Kansas Pacific and
Denver Pacific Railroads is already manifest. At the mouth of the
Caché a la Poudre, where last year only a ranch or two were to be seen,
is now a fine village. Farms are marked off in the valley and on the
plains, and extensive preparations made to test on a broad seale, next
season, the productive powers of this soil. A canal some fourteen or
fifteen miles long has been commenced and will shortly be completed.
This will bring water from the Cache a la Poudre and afford means of
irrigating some fifty or sixty thousand acres of the plains that lie north
of the Platte. And, if I am not wholly mistaken, that which has by
some been ridiculed as a barren cactus plain will produce crops of cereals
that will rival the heaviest yield of the richest lands of the States. I
may be mistaken, but will cling to the opinion, until contradicted by
fair experiments, that the uplands or ridges of this section, when prop-
erly irrigated and cultivated, will produce better wheat than the creek
bottoms.

The Kansas Pacific Railroad Company contemplate running a canal
from the mouth of Platte Cafion to some point near the head-waters of
the Republican Fork, a distance of one hundred and forty or one hun-
dred and fifty miles. The rise between Bijou and Denver Junction may
present some difficulty, but this can doubtless be overcome by bending
round to the north, where the elevation is less. And the fall between
the mouth of the cafion and Denver, which is probably two hundred
feet or more, may considerably lessen the flexure. If this great work is
completed we may see ere long the irrigated lands brought close to the
rain-moistened region; a belt of farms stretching from the Missouri
River to the Rocky Mountains. Such a consummation is certainly de-
sirable. The “Great American Desert” belted with fields of golden
grain and pleasant homes would be a result not anticipated ten years
ago, and the very mention of which is ridiculed by many now, but which
those who carefully study the country do not concede as impossible.

NORTH PLATTE DISTRICT.

The boundaries of this district are more difficult to describe than
those of either of the other districts of the eastern division. Not be-

218 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

cause they are any less definite, but because the water-sheds at some
points are not prominent, and have received no well-known and fixed
names. The following lines will designate the area embraced in the dis-
trict with sufficient accuracy for present purposes:

Commencing at Long’s Peak, it runs west, and then north, leaving
the North Park to the right; from thence northwest, by way of Bridger’s
Pass and Creston Station, it crosses over the plains to South Pass.
From this point it runs northeast between Little Popoagie and Sweet-
water, and passes round the Rattlesnake Hills between Bad-Water and
Poison Spring Creeks. From here, turning east, it passes along an
irregular range of hills to the southern extremity of the Big Horn Moun-
tains; then, turning southeast, passes between the waters of the Chey-
enne and North Platte Rivers to the eastern boundary of the Territory.
Following the boundary line of the Territory southward, we may prop-
erly include Lodge Pole Valley, as its upper portion appears to belong
more to the North Platte slope than that of the South Platte.

These boundaries embrace an area of about twenty-five thousand
square miles, and, exclusive of North Park, nearly one-fourth of Wyo-
ming Territory. With the exception of a few small sections, they in-
clude the most desirable portions of the Territory, and the greater part
of the arable lands.

This district is not only very irregular in its outline, but bears the
same varied and irregular character interiorly. The mighty convul-
sive force which heaved up these vast Rocky Mountain ranges seems to
have obtained slight breathing places for its imprisoned energies at the
parks of Colorado, while here, with one terrific throe, it has scattered
the mountains and hills in wild confusion as a giant would scatter
pebbles. In the eastern portion, stretching north and south, is a range
of rough and lofty mountains, which, at its northern extremity, is rent
into fragments and scattered in decreasing peaks and ridges to the
northwest. Along the southern border, turning in nearly every direc-
tion of the compass, are lofty ranges whose summits wear crowns of
perennial snow. Westward the mountain ranges trending northwest
sink beneath the immense deposit of local drift, which here covers the
mighty chasm, but they show themselves further north in the granite
peaks, which, like islands, shoot up from the Sweetwater Plains, and
further on emerge in the Wind River range. Between these irregular
surroundings lie the broad Laramie Plains, which might appropriately
be called the Great Park of Wyoming. Entirely east of the Black Hills
we enter upon the plains which slope toward the Missouri River.

The area west of the Black Hills, as shown by the course of the
streams, and also by the barometer, slopes north and east, pouring its
waters through the northeast angle of the district. The average level
of the entire district is higher than that of either of the others of this
division, the western portion being on an average about six thousand
five hundred feet above the level of the sea. The difference of level be-
tween the North Park and the mouth of the Sweetwater is about two
thousand feet; and between South Pass and the mouth of the Sweet-
water about one thousand five hundred feet. The area east of the moun-
tains varies from four thousand four hundred to six thousand feet above
the sea level.

On account of its altitude, and the direction and force of its atmo-
spheric currents, the temperature of this district is lower than that of the
other districts east of the divide, within the bounds under consideration.
And as a general thing only those products adapted to a cold climate
and short seasons can be raised to any advantage. Yet it is exceed-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ey 3 (5)

ingly important to know, not only that a mining section can produce
the principal cereals, as wheat, oats, and barley, and the more useful
vegetables sufficient to supply its own wants, but also to know something
in regard to the locality and extent of its arable Jands. A few acres of
productive soil in the vicinity of a rich mine will often yield a greater
profit to the cultivator than a large farm in Ohio or Illinois.

It is difficult to give any very reliable estimate of the land susceptible
of cultivation in the bounds of this district, as much of it is in small
bodies of irregular shape; yet I think that by proper efforts at least
three thousand square miles, or about two million acres, can be brought
under cultivation. This may be thought an exaggerated estimate, when
we take into consideration the large proportion of the area occupied by
mountains, the barren tract south of the Sweetwater, and the deficiency
in the supply of water on the plains east of the Black Hills. But when
more effectual means of husbanding the water are adopted, as by tap-
ping the streams nearer their exit from the mountains, and keeping it
above the surface, by forming reservoirs, &c., the supply will be found
greater than at present supposed, and the estimate given, instead of be-
ing too large, will most likely prove to be too small. The cold climate,
it is true, is a serious obstacle, yet there are but few arable spots in the
district that cannot be made to produce useful crops of some kind.

The district is naturally divided into four sections, as follows: The
North Park, the Laramie Plains, the Sweetwater region, and the plains
lying east of the Black Hills, forming, as it were, a winding series of
vast steps from the mountain height to the broad plains below.

NORTH PARK.

This elevated mountain basin, in which the North Platte takes its rise,
lies entirely within the bounds of Colorado Territory. It is about
fifty miles long from east to west, and thirty miles wide from north to
south, containing a surface area of some eight or nine hundred square
miles. The elevation varies from seven thousand five hundred feet to
nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, the average being about
eight thousand feet.

The following description of this mountain cove, from a former report
made by Dr. Hayden, will convey a better idea of it in a few words than
anv description of my own. And, although several years have passed
since it was made, and glowing descriptions have since been published,
there seems to be nothing new added:

The North Park is oval or nearly quadrangular in shape. Viewing it from one of the
high mountains on its border, it appears like a vast depression which might once have
formed the bed of a lake. Its surface is rather rugged, yet there are broad bottoms
along the streams, especially the North Platte and its branches. Secarcely a tree is to be
seen over the whole extent, while the mountains which wallit in on every side are dotted
with a dense growth of pine. The grass grows in the park quite abundantly, often
yielding at least two tons to the acre. Streams of the purest water flow through the
park, and there are some of the finest springs I have seen, a few of them forming good-
sized streams where they issue from the ground. I am quite confident that this entire
park would make an excellent grazing region for at least six or eight months of the
year. The soil is very rich, but the seasons must be too brief for the successftl culti-
vation of any crops. Indeed, there is frost there nearly every night, and snow falls
every month in the year. On the north and east sides may be seen the snow-covered
ranges rising far above all the rest, their summits touching the clouds. On the west
side there is also a short snowy range. On the west side long ridges come into the
park and die out in the plain, forming a sort of en echelon arrangement.

The soil is mixed with gravel and coarse sand on the ridges and upper
levels, but along the bottoms that flank the streams is rich and dark.
On the north side there is a quite sandy area. If future experiments

220 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

should prove that it is possible to raise valuable crops here, there will be
no difficulty in bringing the land under cultivation so far as the supply
of water is concerned, for this is ample, and the fall sufficient to irrigate
all the lands which can be cultivated. It may be thought visionary te
speak of agriculture in this elevated, snow-bound cove, and the remarks
quoted imply that Dr. Hayden, with all his experience in this region,
looks upon it as impossible. But it is not best to conclude too hastily,
for if a number of rich mines should be discovered here and worked for
a few years, the demand for fresh vegetables might bring about, in prac-
tice, that which is considered impossible in theory. At least the scope
of my plan requires me to give an account of the arable areas, and the
facts in regard to the seasons, so far as known, leaving the battle with
climate to be determined by experiments.

And it is possible that a record of the seasons may show that it is
really no colder here than in South Park, which has a greater elevation
than this park, and is also partially surrounded by snow-covered moun-
tains; but, as remarked in the introduction, latitude and elevation do
not always determine the climate in the Rocky Mountain regions. Be
this as it may, there is here a fine grazing field for cattle and sheep, but
these would require some feeding and occasional sheltering during the
winter months. Nature has provided amply the means to meet every
necessity in this direction; from the grassy valleys, at a nominal cost,
all the hay necessary could be cut; the mountain sides are bristling with
sturdy pines, and the rapid streams as they rush down from their foun-
tains afford all the power necessary to drive mills to saw the lumber.
Of course, places requiring this trouble and expense will not be selected
while others equally good, which do not require it, can be easily found.

The North Platte, from its point of exit from the park to where it
reaches the border of Laramie Plains, passes through a rugged, moun-
tainous region. Along the upper portion of its course its valley is very
narrow, sometimes amounting to nothing but a gorge. But as it de-
scends toward the northwest it is joined by several small tributaries, and
its valley widens, affording occasionally bottoms of moderate breadth,
especially near the entrance of Sage Creek, where there is a considera-
ble stretch of fine wooded bottoms.

LARAMIE PLAINS.

This section is bounded on the east and northeast by the Black Hills,
on the west by the West Rattlesnake Hills, and on the southwest by
Medicine Bow Mountains. It is somewhat quadrangular in shape, its
average length from southeast tonorthwest being about ninety miles, and
average width from northeast to southwest about seventy-five miles,
containing (exclusive of the surrounding mountains) a surface area of
about six thousand seven hundred and fifty square miles, or nearly four
million five hundred thousand acres. It is drained chiefly by the
Medicine Bow and Laramie Rivers and their tributaries, both affluents
of the North Platte, which also traverses the extreme western border.
’ The Laramie, rising in the mountains at the southwest angle, flows along
the eastern border to the northeast angle of the section, where it breaks
through the Black Hills and joins the North Platte in the plains beyond.
The Medicine Bow, receiving affluents from each side, but principally
from the south, flows through the western part of the section and joins
the North Platte on the western border; which latter stream makes its
exit at the northwest angle.

The surface varies considerably in character and elevation, some of it

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 2m

presenting beautiful meadowy expanses, while other portions are rolling
and hilly and but sparsely covered with vegetation. The average eleva-
tion, as before stated, is about six thousand five hundred feet above the
level of the sea; but, as will be seen below, different parts vary in height
as much as one thousand seven hundred feet, counting from the water
levels. As most of the streams in this section afford an ample supply of
water during the season when it is most needed for irrigation, their fall
becomes an important item in making up an estimate of the cultivable
lands. I therefore give the levels of the principal points of the three
larger. The North Platte at the railroad crossing has an elevation of six
thousand four hundred and seventy-seven feet, and at the mouth of the
Sweetwater nearly six thousand feet above the level of the sea, showing
a fall in this distance of about four hundred and eighty feet, or seven
feet to the mile. Medicine Bow River at Medicine Bow Station has an
elevation of six thousand six hundred and ninety-eight feet, and at its
junction with the Platte about six thousand three hundred feet, a differ-
ence of nearly four hundred feet, or about eight feet to the mile.
Laramie River at Laramie City is seven thousand one hundred and
twenty-three feet above the level of the sea, and at. the point where it
enters the Black Hillis about five thousand four hundred feet, a difference
of over one thousand seven hundred feet, giving the very rapid fall of
eighteen or twenty feet to the mile.*

These figures develop the important fact that not only the bottoms,
but also the upper levels, except where they are very high, can be irri-
gated. This must increase our estimate of the cultivable lands of the
section to an amount considerably beyond the area of the immediate
bottoms.

The southeast part, to which the name “ Laramie Plains” is some-
times limited, is decidedly the best portion of the section, and contains
much the largest proportion of arable land. Counting from the head
of the Laramie Valley to Rock Creek it is about seventy miles long, with
an average width of about twenty-five miles, giving an area of seven-
teen hundred and fifty square miles. Although the west end of this
area contains the dividing ridge between the Medicine Bow and the
Laramie, yet I think we may safely estimate that one-half of it can be
irrigated and brought under cultivation. The greater portion of this
beautifal valley is covered with a rich growth of grass, and presents the
appearance of one broad meadow, over which the numerous herds of
cattle which are being gathered here to graze can be seen roaming. The
western part of this sub-section beyond Cooper’s Lake presents a bar-
ren appearance until we reach the vicinity of Rock Creek. The ereek,
although bordered by occasional bluffs, during most of its course is mar-
gined by fertile bottoms of moderate width, and tolerably well timbered
along its upper portion. Some of the southern tributaries of Medicine —
Bow pass through fertile valleys, which can be easily irrigated and
brought under cultivation. The main stream passes for some distance
between rocky bluffs, with small bottoms on the alternate sides, but is
generally flanked by a moderately wide valley, with here and there
groves of cottonwood. I have not visited the valley of this stream or
that of the North Platte, north of the railroad, but from the informa-
tion obtained in regard to them, believe that by proper efforts they
would afford a considerable extent of tillable land. Ihave seen only a

* The elevations along the railroad are taken from the survey of that road. The
others are estimates made up from the barometric record kept by Mr. Beman during
the geological survey of the present season (1870,) and which he very kindly copied
and furnished me while in the field.

222 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

part of the northern extension of the Laramie Valley, but judging from
that, and its rapid fall and the general features of the surrounding coun-
try, L am satisfied that not only the bottoms, but that a large amount
on the lower ridges and plateaus may be irrigated and cultivated. But
I am inelined to think that along a part of its northern course the bor-
dering regions are quite broken, and that the belt of arable land there
issmall. The northwest angle of the section is also probably quite broken
and uneven, affording very little arable land.

The climate, as might be inferred from the elevation and surroundings
of this basin, is somewhat severe, and the seasons short. But the great-
est drawback does not appear to be from these causes taken generally,
but from the occasional untimely frosts and gusts of snow which nip
the growing crops in the spring, or injure them later in the season when
nearly matured. The cold nights, as is generally the case in these high
regions, retard the growth especially of the cereals. Yet, notwithstand-
ing these drawbacks, the repeated experiments made during the past
four years have shown conclusively that useful crops can be raised here.

I visited Laramie City August 3, for the purpose of examining the
garden of Dr. Latham, who has charge of a military hespital at this
place, and who is experimenting with various vegetables and cereals in
order to ascertain what can be raised here. I found this garden to be
quite extensive and in a flourishing condition. Here I saw a small
piece of barley, full-headed, well stooled, and of medium height; also a
similar piece of wheat, which, though sowed late, presented a very fine
appearance. The potatoes and turnips were remarkably fine. Peas
grow very large and thrifty, as I can testify from the excellent ones I
ate at the doctor’s table, and which I saw gathered from the vines in his
garden. His beets were making a vigorous growth, as were also the fol-
lowing vegetables: winter squashes, cabbages, beans, lettuce, onions,
carrots, radishes, &ec. I pulled some turnips in another field, which
were at least six inches in diameter, the seed from which they grew
having been sown the 15th day of May. The tops were remarkably
large and succulent. I did not have time to visit the garden under
charge of the officers stationed at Fort Sanders, but I understood it was
in a flourishing condition. These experiments, as I learn from a former
report made by Dr. Hayden, were commenced about 1866 by General
Gibbon, and have, with commendable zeal, been continued by the offi-
cers in command of the post.

Oats appear to grow and mature wherever tried in the valley.

These experiments, and others made along Laramie River, Rock
Creek, and at other points, continued as they have been for several
years, certainly settle the question as to the practicability of farming in
the Laramie Plains. The points where they have been made are the
highest on the Plains, and, I am rather inclined to believe, the coldest
portion. :

Although this section may not be an agricultural region in the broader
sense of the term, yet its situation renders it a matter of deep “interest
to know that the hardier vegetables, and such cereals as wheat, oats, and
barley, can be raised here; for, placed in the center of the mountains,
on the great thoroughfare between the Atlantic to the Pacific, with a
broad barren plain to the west, and a mountain stretch to the east, it
is very desirable to have here a halting place.

The business of the road necessary at the termini of divisions, stock-
raising, temporary grazing of passing herds, lumbering, and probably
coal-mining, will bring here a considerable population.

There is perhaps no finer grazing section in Wyoming than this. The

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 223

southeastern part is literally carpeted over with a compact growth of
rich and nutritious grasses, which the water of the numerous little
streams that sweep down from the mountains keeps constantly fresh.

And the rain-fall, I judge, is greater here than in any other part of the
Territory, and it seems to be on the increase, which also appears to be
truearound Cheyenne. Iunderstand that stock can be wintered here with-

out shelter and with very little feeding; in fact, large flocks of sheep and
herds of cattle, as will hereafter be shown, have passed the winter with
no other feed than the uncut grass of the valleys and plains. Hay in
abundance can be obtained along the creek bottoms at a nominal cost.
Dr. Latham informed me that his hay cost him this season, in the stack
where it was cut, but $3 per ton.

Timber, such as pine and fir, of an excellent quality, can be obtained
from the mountains along the southern border. A vast quantity is an-
nually cut and floated down the Little Laramie and other streams for
lumber, railroad ties, &c. Some of the streams, especially along the
southwest border, are margined by groves of cottonwood, which will
furnish fuel and fencing material for that locality.

THE SWEETWATER REGION.

I cannot define this section better than by saying that it includes the

valley and bordering plains through which the Sweetwater River passes,
from the vicinity of South Pass to its junction with the North Platte.
This stream rises a little northwest of the pass, and flows almost directly
east about one hundred and thirty miles, connecting with the North
Platte near the exit of the latter from the Laramie Plains. For about
twenty-five or thirty miles east of the pass, it flows through a rugged,
mountainous region, falling rapidly, and presenting no areas of import-
anee that can be brought under cultivation. A short distance west of
St. Mary’s Station it bursts from its mountain canons, and enters upon
a valley that continues, with some short interruptions, throughout its
course. The comparative uniformity of this valley will obviate the
necessity of any lengthy description of the different sections of it.
* Beginning at South Pass, (on the summit,) with an elevation of seven
thousand four hundred and ninety feet, when we reach the point where
the river emerges from the gorge, we are still six thousand six hundred
and fifty feet above the level of the sea, having descended but eight
hundred and forty feet. Yet, at this highest point of the section which
can be counted as arable, we are five hundred and thirteen feet lower
than Fort Sanders, and four hundred and seventy-three feet below Lara-
mie City. At the Three Crossings the height is only six thousand one
hundred and thirty-five feet, showing a fall between this point and the
head of the valley of five hundred and fifteen feet, or about twelve feet
to the mile. At Independence Rock the elevation has decreased to just
six thousand feet, giving a fall between this and the last-mentioned
point of scarcely five feet to the mile. From here to the point where
the river joins the Platte the fall is, probably, some five or six feet to the
mile, as it grows a little more rapid as it approaches its debouchure.
We may, therefore, estimate the average elevation of the valley at six
thousand three hundred feet above the sea level.

For ten or twelve miles below the point where the stream emerges
from the mountains there is a very pretty fertile valley, averaging
about one mile wide, bordered on the right, and part of its length on
the left, with high bluffs. Most of it is “covered over with a luxuriant
growth. of grass, from which a supply is drawn for South Pass City,

224 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Atlantie City, &c. Near the lower end of this opening the left bank ig
flanked by a second level or table, which might be reached by an irri-
gating ditch, a few miles long, and would give an additional amount of
farming land equal to the entire bottom. Below this the hills again
close in upon the valley for a few miles, and then separate, leaving a
very pretty triangular area, containing some forty or fifty square miles
‘of quite level and fertile land, which can easily be irrigated. Toward
the north and northwest the hills slope down so gradually that a con-
siderable area along their lower margins could be reached with water
if the river would supply a sufficient amount for this and the bottoms.
The stream here is about thirty feet wide and one foot deep, and the
fall some ten or twelve feet to the mile. Here, as also in the vicinity
of what is known as St. Mary’s Station, small colonies would find very
good locations; and by combining and digging large primary ditches
the land could be irrigated at a moderate expense. The only difficulty,
except the exposure to Indian depredations, would be the obtaining of
a supply of timber, which at the last point is scarce. Near St. Mary’s
no difficulty in this respect would be experienced.

From this point the river bends around to the northeast, passing
among the hills, and is flanked by alternate bottoms, of small extent.
To the south of the river, forming a chord to its circular bend, runs a
singular valley, which is some ten or twelve miles wide; and although
its surface looks exactly like the plateaus of this section, yet its general
appearance is that of the bed of a stream that was very broad and shal-
low. If the water of the river can be brought upon.this level, as much
land can be irrigated as the water of the river can supply. But asf
had no opportunity of ascertaining the height of this plain or valley
above the river level, I cannot say positively that the water can be
brought upon it.

Where the road again strikes the river, going east, there is a consid-
erable expanse of arable land; and, although there is very little imme-
diate bottom, the second level is quite broad and of moderate elevation,
which might be irrigated by cutting a ditch a few miles in length.
Below this, as we come near the “Three Crossings,” the granite hills
set in and continue to flank the valley as far as Independence Rock.
Near the west end of this irregular range, for some seven or eight miles,
the river breaks through it, and is closely walled in by lofty bluffs, with
here and there a little level plat containing a few hundred acres of fer-
tile soil. Around the south side of these bluffs runs an open plain,
several miles in width, which probably might be reached by a ditch
some twelve or fifteen miles in length. There is near the remains of the
old stage station (Three Crossings*) a very remarkable evidence of the
effect of the wind: an immense deposit of sand in a bend of the granite
hill, piled up against the bluif like a huge snow-drift.

After passing through the gorge here the river enters a broad and
beautiful valley, the upper portion of which is thickly covered with
chenopodiaceous shrubs, the lower part being covered with a tall and
thick growth of grass. The soil, though somewhat sandy, is very rich
and light, and if irrigated would produce heavy crops of such products
as are adapted to the climate. The immediate bottoms are narrow,
sometimes entirely absent, but the second level is not more than ten or
fifteen feet above the water, and could be reached by a ditch four or
five miles long. And I think it probable an area of 80 to 100 square

* These stations—St. Mary’s, Three Crossings, and Sweetwater—have been abandoned
for some years, but I use them to give names to the localities, as they are yet retained
on some maps.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 225

miles could be brought under cultivation here, and as timber could be
obtained from the neighboring hills this would be a good point for a
settlement. The Union Pacific Railroad is not more than sixty miles
distant from this place.

In the vicinity of Hayden’s Peaks,* the granite hills on one side and
bluffs on the other press close to the margin of the river for a short dis-
tanee, then receding from each other in a circular sweep again come
close together a few miles beyond, inclosing a beautiful circular area
containing some twenty or twenty-five square miles of fertile bottom
land, which, as it is but slightly elevated above the water, can be irri-
gated without difficulty.

Passing the gate-like opening of the little park just described, we
enter upon a broad valley, which continues without interruption to the
“ Devil’s Gate,” about four miles above Independence Rock. A good
part of this valley is covered with “ grease-wood” and sage, but the soil
is very fertile and will produce good crops. Muddy Creek, which comes.
in here from the south, has a tolerably broad margin of level land, but
I doubt about it affording water for irrigation. The breadth of land
here is probably equal to the supply of water. Around Independence
Rock and for several miles above and below it are fine bottoms which
can be irrigated. Between the river and Horse Creek there is a broad
delta, which has an average elevation of twenty or thirty feet above the
bed of the river, but less than that above the level of the creek. This
plateau, and, in fact, a considerable area east of Horse Creek, could be
reached by irrigating ditches, but the ditch from the river would require
two short aqueducts at the Devil’s Gate. The soil of this plain is
strongly impregnated in some places with alkali, otherwise it is rich in
the elements of fertility. At present it is covered with “ grease-wood ”
and sage, except in the little areas which are frosted over with alkaline
inerustations; but this is no longer a terror to the agriculturist, who
has learned how to manage it, if he only has an abundance of water and
sufficient drainage. Along the ridge lying north of this plain, around
the head-waters of Horse Creek and over the summit in the vicinity of
Willow Springs, are some excellent grazing lands. The country along
the Platte, from the mouth of Sweetwater to Poison Spring Creek, is
broken and mountainous, and the river for part of the way runs through
deep gorges and fails in this distance over four hundred feet, the fall
from Independence Rock to Red Buttes being about five hundred and
forty feet. ;

The length of the Sweetwater Valley, from its commencement above
St. Mary’s Station to the Platte, is about ninety miles, and the average
width of the land which ean be brought under cultivation may be safely
estimated at six miles. This would give a cultivable area of five hun-
dred and forty square miles, or about three hundred and fifty thousand
acres for this section, besides a few small areas on the upper portions
of the Sweetwater that may possibly be brought under cultivation and
mae to yield some of the hardier crops.

I am aware that the dreary and desolate appearance of some parts of

* Immediately north of Sweetwater River, about latitude 42° 28’, west longitude 107°
24’, the granite range bends around toward the west. On this semicircular portion there
are three peaks; the one to the west shoots up in a sharp point, the one to the east is
cleft by a deep notch, while the middle one is round and dome-like. As these promi-
nent points had previous to our arrival received no names, the members of the party
named them “ Hayden’s Peaks,” in honor of the leader of the expedition. On the map
compiled by Colonel William HE. Merrill, under order of General Sherman, entitled
“Map of Utah and Colorado,’ and published in 1869, they are included under the
general name, ‘“ Granite Ridges.”

1G -

226 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

this secticn which I have described as susceptible of cultivation will
have a tendeney to make some of the many who have traveled over this
old emigrant route mistrust my judgment. I may be mistaken in refer-
ence to the amount of land which can be brought under cultivation, for
this is only an estimate made up without measurement, (except the
direct distances as shown by the odometer,*) from estimates of the
various parts, but if the supply of water does not fall short, I think this
is not too large. And I have learned that the dreary look a covering
of sage and grease-wood gives to the landscape is not to be taken as
any evidence of the sterility of the soik Jam also pretty well satisfied
that the climate here will prove more favorable to agriculture than that
of Laramie Plains, and that the cereals (except corn) and the ordinary
vegetables can be raised without any diticulty. I know of no experi-
ments having been made in this section to: show what can be grown
here, therefore have to judge’ from the character of the soil, elevation,
latitude, surroundings, and the temperature so far as I could earn from
those who had passed through it.

AS a grazing region it is inferior to the Laramie Valley, yet the river
bottoms. and mountain slopes (the granite hills excepted) afford very
good grass. Timber is also scarce from the vicinity of St. Mary’s Sta-
tion to the mouth. Here dnd there are groves of willow, and in the
upper valleys a few cotton-wood trees, but those which formerly grew
along this route, and which are mentioned by Frémont, have nearly all
been. destroyed by the emigrants and others who have since traveled
the road. It is possible that when the stream is full timber may be
floated down from the mountains near‘South Pass.

THE EASTERN SECTION.

This section, the principal part of which lies east of the Black Hills,
constitutes the remaining portion of the district under consideration. It
consists of the valleys of the North Platte and its tributaries, from the
Red Buttes to the mouth of Horse Creek, on the eastern boundary of
the Territory. It also includes the valleys of Crow Creek, Larren’s
Fork, and Lodge Pole to the boundary line, and the intervening plains,
eontaining about nine thousand square miles, of which I estimate one-
sixth, or nearly one million acres, can be irrigated and rendered tillable.
ft was at first disposed to set down the amount of land in this section,
susceptible of cultivation, at considerably less than these figures, but
when I examined the barometric record showing the fail of the Platte I
felt assured my first estimate was too small. The elevation, as might
be inferred from the situation, varies considerably in the different parts,
the northwestern and southwestern angles presenting the highest points,

and the northeast the lowest. In order to give an idea of the topog-

raphy of the country, I herewith note the elevation of the principal
points bearing upon its facilities for irrigation ona large scale. Begin-
ning at Red Buttes amd following the Platte, which runs near the north-

east border of the section, the elevation above the sea level is as follows:
Red Buttes, 5,528 feet; five miles below the Old Bridge, 5,252 feet; river
bottom near Fort Fetterman, about 4,970 feet;+ Fort Laramie, accord-

to Frémont, 4,470 feet, and as given by Stansbury, 4,519 feet; mouth of

*T was careful to obtain the distances each day from Mr. Beaman, that my compari-
sons might be made on the ground.

+The barometric observation was taken on the La Prele, about two miles above Fort
Fetterman, where the elevation is just 5,012 fooks I have deducted 42 feet as the prob-
able fall to the river bottom. |

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Dob

Horse Creek, 4,395 feet. From which it appears that the entire fall
from Red Buttes to Horse Creek is 1,135 feet, or an average of about
seven feet to the mile. The fall between the intermediate points are as
follows: From Red Buttes to the Bridge, eighteen feet to the mile;
from the Bridge to Fort Fetterman, a little over seven feet to the mile;
from there to Horse Creek, about the same.

These figures develope a fact of the utmost importance in calculating
the agricultural capacity of this section. A fall of over one thousand
feet in less than one hundred and fifty miles, with the volume of water
found in this part of the river, will give the means of irrigating an
immense amount of land. But in regard to this I will speak more fully
when I come to the more minute description of this part of the section.

The elevation of Laramie bottom, at the mouth of Chugwater, is about
four thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea.* The Chug-
water Valley, where the stage road to Fort Laramie strikes it, has an
elevation of five thousand four hundred and sixty feet; Cheyenne, six
thousand and forty feet.

Poison Spring Creek is a small stream coming dow from the north-
west, and entering the North Platte at Red Buttes. It runs through a
very pretty valley, averaging about one mile wide, flanked on the west
by a broad plain, which gradually ascends as it recedes from the stream.
On the east the hills rise rapidly to a sharp ridge running parallel with
the creek. It has been stated that the water of this stream is poisonous,
but I noticed some of our animals drinking from it as we crossed it, and
I think one of the men also filled a canteen with the water for drinking
on the road. No bad effects followed. Some two or three species of
plants were also growing luxuriantly in the stream. The amount of
water at the time we passed it (August) was small, but sufficient to irri-
gate the immediate bottoms. The entire valley was covered with a rank
growth of grass.

Near the Red Buttes, in the bend of the North Platte, is a beautiful
bottom of perhaps one thousand two hundred or one thousand five hun-
dred acres of fertile soil. On one side of the river there is a thick grove
of cottonwood, willow, &c., but on the other (north) the timber has been
destroyed by emigrants and others who have camped at this point.

Immediately below this the river enters a gorge or caflon some eight
or tenemiles long, where, as a matter of course, no cultivable land worthy
of note is to be found. The slopes toward the river, except for a very
short distance, are not so precipitous as to present any serious obstacle
to the cutting of a canal around them, if it should be found necessary to
tap the river this high up. On the south side a canal could reach as far
up as the mouth of the caiion above Red Buttes, but on the north side
the depression at Poison Spring Creek would present a serious obstacle
if commenced higher up than the upper end of the cation. As the fall
between Red Buttes and the Old Bridge is nearly or quite four hundred

*The barometric readings taken by Mr. Beaman on the Laramie bottom, some two
or three miles above the mouth of the Chugwater, give four thousand five hundred and
thirteen feet as the elevation at that point. Four very uniform readings were obtained,
the weather being clear and cool. The distance from this point to Fort Laramie is

-about twenty-one or twenty-two miles. Mr. Frémont gives the elevation of Fort Lar-
amie as four thousand four hundred and seventy feet, while Stansbury, who, it seems,
camped on the same ground, or very near it, makes it four thousand five hundred and
nineteen feet. As we did not visit Fort Laramie, I have no means ot ascertaining where
the error lies. As Mr. Beaman’s instrument did not admit of accurate readings nearer
than one tenth, an error of fifty or sixty feet might have occurred in his calculations. |
As the Laramie runs pretty rapidly, the fall between Chugwater and the fort cannot
be less than one hundred feet.

228 GEOLOGICAL’ SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

feet, it would be sufficient to carry the water on the table lands which
spre ead out from here eastward. On the north side a short tunnel might
be necessary, but below this point, so far as I observed, there would be
no other difficulty than an occasional lengthy flexure round the head of
a dry ravine, and perhaps here and there a short aqueduct. On the
south side I think there would be less difficulty. Imake no pretensions
here to engineering accuracy, as I only had time to take hasty glances
at the country as we passed along in our somewhat rapid march. A
short distanee below the Old Bridge I made an approximate estimate
of the volume of water in the river. I found that a cross section at the
low stage of water of that season (August) was equal to one hundred
and sixty by two feet, or three hundred and twenty square feet, running
at the rate of three miles per hour, or a discharge of two hundred and
sixty-four cubic feet to the second, which, earlier in the season, when
most needed for irrigation, must be much greater. With this amount
of water, and the considerable fall there is in this part of the river,
making ample allowance for errors in the elevation, a vast body of land
can be irrigated and brought under cultivation.

tis true that all this land on the north side of the river lies in an
Indian reservation, but this renders a knowledge of the fact only the
more important; for, in my judgment, if the Indian problem is ‘ever
solved without destroying them, it will be by the aid of agriculture.

In order to show that the soil of this region is possessed of the ele-
ments of fertility, I quote the following remarks from General Frémont’s
report, which w ill doubtless be corr oborated by the report of the United
States geologist for the present year:

The nature of the soil may be inferred from its geological formation. The limestane
at the eastern limit of this section (between Fort Laramie and Red Buttes) is sueceeded
by limestone without fossils, a great variety of sandstone, consisting principally of red

sandstone and fine conglomerate. The red sandstone is argillaceous, with compact
gypsum or alabaster, very beautiful. The other sandstones are gray, yellow, and fer-
rug inous, sometimes very coarse. The apparent sterility of the country must therefore
be sought in other causes than the nature of the soil. The face of the country cannot
with propriety be called hilly. It is a succession of long ridges made by the numerous
streams which come down from the neighboring mountain range. [By this he alludes
to the south side.] The zvidges have an undulating surface, with some such appear-
ance as the ocean in an ordin: ary breeze.

I did not have an opportunity of seeing the North Platte bottoms

ut a part of the distance between the rnins of Fort Casper and the
boundary line. I will therefore limit myself to a description of these
portions, from which a pretty correct idea of the whole may be formed,
as they are said to be quite uniform throughout.

Tn the vicinity of Fort Casper, on the south side of the river, there is
a broad level bottom, some four or five miles in width, mostly covered
with a rank growth of grass mixed with tall weeds, showing the soil to
be quite fertile and that it contains a moderate proportion of vegetable
mold. Below this a second level sets in, which is raised but a few feet
above the lowest. This is cone entire sage plain, and spreads out to some
eight or nine miles in width. Before reaching Muddy Creek, the low,
rounded hills approach the river for a few miles, narrowing the bottom
to a mere strip. At Muddy it again expands to six or eight miles, and
is covered in part by a thick growth of greasewood. The creek, although
containing a considerable volume of water, is confined to a very narrow,
ditch-like channel, cut in the fine-grained soil, which here has a marly
appearance.

_ he opposite side of the river for most of this distance is bordered by
low blufis, which seem to be the escarpments of a plateau from a hun-
dred to a hundred and &fy feet high. At some points these recede from

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Pipe

the river, leaving a narrow belt of bottom land. For some distance
above Fort Fetterman there is a broad valley, partly bottom land and
partiy the second level, all of which could be easily irrigated, and would
afford a fine farming region.

I think we may safely estimate the average width of the immediate
valley of the river, from Fort Casper, or the Old Bridge, to the territo-
rial line, at four miles. This alone would give a cultivable area of six
hundred square miles. Add to this the additional amount which can be
brought into use by the canals heretofore proposed, and the estimate I
have given for this section will not appear too large.

West of Fort Fetterman, Deer and Box Elder Creeks flow into the
Platte from the south, each affording a narrow belt of irrigable land,
and fields of excellent pasturage, the principal supply of hay for the
fort being cut from the valley of Deer Creek. The La Prele, which con-
nects with the Platte near the fort, is bordered chiefly by high hills and
_ bluffs, its bottoms being narrow and irregular and the supply of water
small.

There is one thing which will probably have a tendency to retard the
settlement of this part of the Platte Valley; that is the wind. Our at-
tention was first called to this while crossing a broad valley a few miles
south of Fetterman, where a strong and constant wind swept down upon
us from the west. While camping on the La Prele this was of daily oc-
currence; and from Fetterman to Poison Spring Creek we felt its effects
each day, except when sheltered behind some bluff or ridge. While

rossing the river near old Fort Casper, and for a few miles along the
north bank, where we were directly opposite the mouth of the gorge,,.
the wind was so strong that we were compelled to tie our hats upon our
heads, yet the day was clear and sunny.

Frémont in his report says this place is celebrated for winds, of which
the prevailing ones are west; which corresponds with our experience,
with this exception, that when south of Fetterman they came from the
northwest. Stansbury, while in the vicinity of Box Elder Creek, speaks
of a “brsk wind from the northwest,” adding that the morning was
bright and cocl. And he also states that after he had passed through
the gap to the vicinity of Poison Spring Creek, “the wind rose from the
southwest and blew almost a hurricane the whole day, tearing up the
sand and gravel, and dashing it into our faces, as we rode, with such
violence as to cause sensible pain.” And the cause of this I think is
apparent. Here the mountain range is completely severed, and an open
gap exists between the western and eastern plains. Through this the
cooler surface atmosphere of the higher mountain plains rushes down to
fill the space left by the warmer ascending air of the broad eastern
plains. It is true this kind of movement is going on along the entire
mountain range, but it is in a quiet manner, while here the entire vol-
ume from a broad expanse is pressed through a narrow channel, and as
a necessary consequence the current is strong. Having passed through
the gap it expands upon the open space to the east, sending currents
along the valleys north and south.

Between Fort Fetterman and Laramie River a number of streams
rising in the Black Hills run east and empty into the Platte, the most
important of which are the La Bonté, Elkhorn, Horseshoe and Bitter
Cottonwood. The La Bonté drains a very pretty and fertile valley
which is of moderate width, and is covered at points with groves of
cottonwood, willow, &c. This valley is pretty well shielded, for most of
its length, by high hills which border it on each side, and pr esents a good
point for "a small farming settlement. Horseshoe and Elkhorn Creeks

230 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

are flanked by narrow bottoms, but as the supply of water is not con-
stant throughout their course they cannot be depended upon for irri-
gating purposes unless the water is brought down by ditches which be-
gin near the mountains.

The bottoms of Bitter Cottonwood are only of moderate width, but

for most of its length these are bordered by second levels of considera- .

ble width which are quite low. The water of this creek is probably suf-
ficient, in the first part of the summer, to irrigate the entire lands in
reach, but late in the season it would be deficient.

The soil in this valley is not so good as that of the La Bonté.

The valleys of the Laramie and its principal tributary, Chugwater,

present the most desirable points for agricultural purposes in the sec- —

tion. In fact I consider the short valley of the Laramie River, from the
mountains to the Platte, one of the atoiee spots of the entire district.
The elevation being about one thousand five hundred feet less than
Cheyenne, and two thousand six hundred feet lower than Laramie City ;
and shielded from the winds by the mountains on the west, and the high
bluffs and hills on the north and south, it possesses a climate several
degrees warmer than most of the section, and is not so Hable to be vis-
ited by those untimely frosts and snows which often do so much injury
to crops in this mountain district. The extent of the bottom is not very
great, the entire area probably not exceeding seventy-five or eighty
square miles, yet the fall of the river and “olume of water are sufficient
to irrigate much of the bordering table lands. The supply of timber is
ample, the mountain heights affording g an abundance of pine and fir for
_lumber, and the groves of the bottoms cottonwood for fuel, &c. :

Frémont bears testimony to the moderate climate, say ing, “The win-
ter here is remarkably mild for the latitude; but rainy weather is fre-
quent, and the place is celebrated for winds, of which the prevailing one
is west. An east wind in summer, and a south wind in winter, are said
to be always accompanied with rain.” What he says in regard to the
place being celebrated for winds is certainly true, as a general rule, and
while this may apply directly to the eastern end of this valley and the
table lands, i think the bottom lands are generally screened by the hills
and bluffs.

Stansbury, although unfavorably impressed with this region generally,
remarks in regard to the lower part of this valley, ‘“‘ That he has no
doubt that, with the aid of irrigation, the bottom land of Laramie Creek
may be made to produce abundant crops ;” and that “ hay is cut about
eight miles up the stream in quantity sufficient to supply the garrison.”

The Chugwater runs northeast for some thirty-five or forty miles
along the ba se of the Black Hills, watering a beautiful valley, which
averages about two miles wide. This valley is bordered on each side
by high bluffs, which wall itin for the greater part of its length. The
bottoms are very fertile and easily irrigated, and the supply of water is
probably sufficie nt for this purpose, although it appears to sink at some
points and then rise again, but if drawn off by irrigating ditches this
would be prevented and the supply would be constant.

Horse Creek and its affluents furnish a considerable amount of valley
land and levei bottoms, but, with the exception of that found along the
main branch, which rises in the mountains, little of it can be brought
into use by the usual system of irrigating, as the supply of water is net
constant. Reservoirs along the little affluents would be the means of
bringing a large body of land under culture. The same remarks will
apply to Larren’s Fork, which, as it is not a mountain stream, dries up
in the latter part of the season.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Zo

Lodge Pole Creek is an isolated stream rising near Cheyenne Pass
and flowing with a moderate fall eastward through a narrow valley,
bordered each side.by broad, rounded ridges. The amount of bottom
land is limited, but as much, perhaps, as the water in the stream will
supply. Itis probable that by commencing a canal near the mountain
a much larger and more constant supply “could be obtained; and the
upper lands and broad ridges can easily be reached if water can be
obtained,

Crow Creek rises in the Black Hills west of Cheyenne, and, running

east for a short distance beyond this city, bends south and passes into
Colorado. Although the valley is narrow and the stream small, its sit-
uation renders it important, and efforts are now in progress which will
probably develop the entire capability of the stream. If the supply of
water was sufficient the entire plains around the city could be irrigated
and the land made to produce useful crops.

I have been informed that the Union Pacific Railroad Company intend
shortly to take steps to irrigate some of their lands in the southeast
part of Wyoming by canals, but as they neglected to furnish any infor-
mation on this point, I can state nothing positively in regard to it.

Tam of the opinion that the rain-fall is on the increase in the imme-
diate vicinity of this city, and that as the land is irrigated and brought
under cultivation, this increase will become more rapid. And the import-
ance of the subject and locality will be sufficient excuse for my giving
my reasons for this opinion.

While remaining in camp at Fort D. A. Russell for several days in
1869, and also in 187 70, I noticed that the rains would generally commence
several miles to the west, and moving north for some distance would
wheel around eastward and then *bear down upon us from the north. I
think nine out of every ten followed this course during the time I no-
ticed them, which was in the months of July and August. As Cheyenne
Pass, which lies north of the fort a few miles, affords a depression
through which the air from the west rushes down, we may conclude that
a large eddy in the surface currents exists here. I know nothing in
regard to the course of the winter rains and storms. If I am right,
then the influx of population into the southern rim of this eddy will, by
increasing the evaporating surface of the water, increase the amount of
rain in this circuit. These remarks, as a matter of course, only apply
to the limited rains of the spring and summer.

This section has a milder climate than any other portion of the dis-
trict, yet its parts differ considerably in temperature, corresponding
somewhat to the elevation and freedom from prevailing winds. As the
population is confined almost exclusively to Cheyenne and vicinity, we
have no means of comparing records of the seasons.

All the agricultural products which can_be grown in the other sections
of the district can be raised here; and in addition to these it is very
probable that corn can be raised in the lower valleys.

Hine grazing fields are to be found throughout the section, in the val-
leys and along the slopes of the mountains, and even where there are
no running streams wells may be dug and water found at moderate
depths, which can easily be raised by wind-mills in sufficient quantity
to supply stock and possibly assist in irrigation.

Timber in abundance can be obtained along the mountains and on
some of the streams from Chugwater north. I believe some saw-mills
have already been erected on the upper portions of the last-named stream.

The soil and face of the country is very similar to the South Platte

2a2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

district until we pass Laramie River going north, when it begins to
assume the wave-like appearance noticed by. Frémont.

Some experiments have been made in farming and gardening around

Cheyenne, at Fort Fetterman and other points, which are, perhaps, the
coldest portions of the section, yet the results, so far as I can learn,
have been quite favorable.

THE WIND RIVER DISTRICT.

As I did not have an opportunity of visiting this district, I can only
give such information respecting it as I derived from others. The prin-
cipal facts in regard to its extent and productions were obtained from
Major Baldwin, who is thoroughly acquainted with it, and who has a
farm there under cultivation. I also saw specimens of its productions
in quantity, which were brought to South Pass City for sale, which veri-
fied the statements made to me respecting its climate and fertility. It
is drained by the Wind (or Big Horn*) River and its tributaries, and is
situated between the Wind River Mountains on the west and Big Horn
Mountains on the east. From the borders of Little Popoagie to the Big
Horn Cafion, its length is about one hundred and seventy-five miles, and
the average width of the country drained being about one hundred
miles, giving an area of seventeen thousand five hundred square miles.
It is supposed that one-twelfth of it, or about one thousand four hun-
dred square miles, can be irrigated and cultivated, but as I was unable
to obtain any estimate of its subdivisions, except that of the principal

valley, I cannot say that this is approximately correct, but I do not

think it exaggerated if the reports as to the supply of water be true.

Wind River rises in Wind River Mountains, on the west side of the
district, and, flowing a little south of east for some sixty or seventy
miles, bends abruptly 1 north, which is its general course from this point
until it passes out of the Territory. The length of its valley is estimated
at two hundred miles, and its width from two to fifteen, but it is inter-
rupted at some points, especially at the irregular range of hills or moun-
tains that crosses the district from east to west near the middle of its
length.

The following tributaries flow into the main stream on the north and
west side: The North Fork, Owl Creek, Gray Bull, and Stinking Water
Creeks. On the south and west side are the following affluents: South
Fork, Buffalo Bull Creek, Big Popoagie River, Beaver Cre eek, and No-
Ww ood River. Little Wind River and Little Popoagie Creeks are tribu-
taries of Big Popoagie. All of these streams are bordered by more or
less arable land, which is generally quite fertile and can be irrigated, as
the supply of water is ample. I understand the Indian agency here
intends cutting a canal and drawing the water from Wind River above
the bend, which, it is estimated, will irrigate several thousand acres.
All of these streams, except No-Wood River, are skirted by heavy
erowths of cottonwood and willow. Wheat, oats, and barley can be
raised with ease, the climate being sufficiently mild and the season of
sufficient length for them to mature, but it is rather severe for corn.
Potatoes and cabbages grow finely and of pretty good size, but the
turnips I saw, if a fair sample, did not indicate a favorable locality for
their production. Somewhat to my surprise, the beans raised here, of
which I examined several bushels in the green pods, were very large,
plump, and well filled, which would indicate a freedom from late frosts

*This stream is called Wind River until it passes through the first range of moun-
tains, north of which it has received the name of Big Horn River.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 233

I did not expect to find here. But since that time I have learned some
facts which go to show that there are some valleys and localities even
north of this, especially on the west side of the range, where the climate
is comparatively mild, and where not only the hardier cereals, but corn
can be raised, and will produce a moderately good crop.

I do not know what the elevation of this valley is, but am inclined to
believe that it is lower than that of the Sweetwater. Major Baldwin
thinks that it will not average more than five thousand feet above the
level of the sea. g

I believe the greater part of this district is embraced in an Indian
reservation; but, as I have heretofore remarked, this only makes a
knowledge of its agricultural capacity the more important.

THE WESTERN DIVISION.

A full consideration of the territory on the western slope of the great
divide, lying opposite to that in the eastern division, would include, not
only the Salt Lake basin, but also the vast district drained by the Rio
Colorado of the West and its numerous tributaries. But this [ am una-
ble to do, especially in regard to the latter; for while my observations
and information extended over the greater part of the Great Salt Lake
basin, they were limited, in the Rio Colorado district, to a part of the
Green River country, the valley of the Rio Virgin, and the head-waters
of the San Juan and Flax Rivers. The last two I have embraced in my
report on New Mexico, and the valley of the Rio Virgin I will include
in a description of the Salt Lake district, leaving only the Green River
section to be described separately. This, I am aware, breaks in upon
my plan of making each separate water system a district, but as l am
unable to carry it out in this case, I thought it best to throw the differ-
ent parts of the Territories together as much as possible consistent with
the general plan.

This division is a part of the great inter-alpine trough lying between
the Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada ranges, which terminates north
in the plains of the Columbia, and is lost in the south in the broad
plateaus of Arizona and Mexico. Its situation, so far from the imme-
diate Pacifie slope and Mississippi Valley, with immense rugged ranges
ef mountains on each side, and yet on the line of travel between the
Aftlantie and Pacific shores, renders a knowledge of its agricultura
capacity of great importance. And amore complete investigation on
this point by the Government would not be money spent in vain.

The lowest level of the area under consideration is reached in the Salt -
Lake Valley, which is about four thousand three hundred feet above the
sea, while various arable points in each district are found as high as
seven thousand feet.

THE GREEN RIVER DISTRICT.

I regret my inability to describe this district in full, not only because
without it my work is incomplete, but more particularly because I think
there is here a large body of irrigable land, which is unoccupied. It is
probable that the portion of the area, drained by Green River and its
tributaries, which lies within Wyoming Territory, amounts to some fit
teen thousand or sixteen thousand square miles. The southeastern
part consists principally of broad barren sage plains, with but little
water, and is, as a general thing, of but little value, unless it can be re-
deemed by means of artesian wells. The southern part is composed

234 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

chiefly of boulder ridges and plateaus, with washed and bluffy esearp-
ments, in consequence of which the term ‘ bad lands” is sometimes
applied to it. This section is partially supplied with streams berdered
with narrow arable strips, which can be irrigated, and, notwithstanding
jheir barren appearance, are really quite fertile. The southwest corner
is broken and mountainous and contains very little land that can be
cultivated, but includes some fine grazing fields. The northern triangu-
lar section, lying between the’ Wind River and Wahsatch Mountains,
contains the greater part of the arable land in the district, and is di-
vided into three distinct parts or sub-sections, as follows: the Green

River Valley, the Big Sandy Valley, and the broad, somewhat elevated ©

plains lying between them.

Green River, rising in the Wind River Mountains near Frémont’s

Peak, runs in a southerly direction for about one hundred and twenty
miles to the 42d parallel, where it turns southeast, and is joined by Big
Sandy, where it crosses the 110th meridian. It continues the same
course, aiter receiving the waters of the Big Sandy, to the crossing of the
Union Pacific Railroad, where it again turns south and passes out of
the Territory. Between its source and the 42d parallel it is jomed by a
number of small affluents that flow down from the mountains on’ the
west, the more important of which are, Lead Horse, Marshy, White
Clay, Butternut, Piney, La Barge, Fontenelle, and State Creeks.

Although I have not had an opportunity of a full examination of this
part of the section, yet I am satisfied there must be a large amount of
arable land that can be irrigated by the waters of these creeks. And
this opinion is strengthened by observing the volume of water in the
river above its junction with the Big Sandy, for where we crossed it in
September, (the time of year when its waters are low,) it was about one
hundred and twenty feet wide, with an average depth of fifteen inches,
and running very swiftly. There is but one stream of any importance—
the New Fork—that comes in from the east, but this is the longest trib-
utary north of the bend.

I do not know what the fall of the river is, but 1t must be considerable,
as its current is rapid and its bottom, where I saw it, covered with clean

round pebbles. I suppose it cannot be less than eight or ten feet to the ©

mile, which is sufficient to reach the surface of the broad plateau that
spreads out east of it. If I am correct in my conclusions, it will be pos-
sible to irrigate a body of land equal to the entire capacity of the stream,
and we may therefore safely estimate the amount of land in this section
which can can be brought under cultivation at eight or nine hundred
square miles. It is true this estimate is based on slender data, but I
think it cannot be too large, for the Green River bottoms alone will
make one-fourth of this amount, while the larger irrigable area is on the
second level or tabie lands, which vary from fifteen to fifty feet in height,
above the waters of the stream and spread out to great width. The
broad tract that spreads out between this river and Big Sandy is level
and sandy, presenting a barren and desolate appearance, on which ac-
count it is sometimes called ‘The Colorado Desert.” Itis covered with
a low growth of Artemisia, and a close examination of the soil shows that
it possesses the elements of fertility, and only needs the addition of water
to make it productive. Although the supply of water from Green River
is not sufficient to irrigate all this extensive tract it will furnish a broad
belt of it. The Big Sandy rises in the Wind River range a few miles to the
northwest of South Pass, and runs south until it is joined by the Little
Sandy—its principal tributary—when, bending southwest, it contimues
this course wntil it joins Green River. The upper portion passes almost

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 235

its entire length through a level sage plain, averaging about twenty-five
or thirty feet higher than the surface of the creek. The immediate bot-
toms are generally narrow, and often wanting on one side. The fall
of the creek here is sufficient to carry the water on the plains, but the
supply is not sufficient to irrigate a belt more than a mile or two in
width. The country bordering the upper portion of Little Sandy is
somewhat broken and hilly, particularly on the east side, but it enters
the plains before it is joined by Pacific Creek, and is flanked through-
out by all the level land its waters can irrigate.

The Big Sandy, from the point where it is joined by the little Sandy
to its mouth, runs through a narrow valley, generally flanked on one
side by tolerably high bluffs, which are the margins of the elevated
plains that here rise from seventy-five to one hundred feet above the
creek. The average width of the immediate bottoms is, perhaps, half a
mile, but the upper level can be reached with canals a few miles long,
and the breadth of cultivable land increased to the full extent of the
supply of water. The elevation of the little Sandy bottom, just above
its junction with Pacific Creek, is six thousand four hundred and fifty
feet above the sea, while that of Big Sandy bottom near Big Timbers—
twenty-five miles by the road from the former—is five thousand eight
hundred and eighteen feet. This shows that between these points
there is a fall of over twenty feet to the mile. Ten miles further down,
Where it empties into Green River, the altitude is five thousand five
hundred and six feet above the sea level, showing a fall of nearly thirty
feet to the mile, which is sufficient to reach the highest plateaus which
border the valiey.

Although I traveled over this sub-section, and noted carefully every-
thing observable bearing upon its agricultural capacity, yet Lam unable
to form any very reliable estimate of the area of its irrigable lands. This
difficulty arises from a want of information concerning the volume of
water these streams send down during the irrigating season. If, as is
probably the case, they are much larger at that season than when we
crossed them, ther the estimate of the tillable lands must be much
larger than if judged by the waiter at the time of our visit. Assuming
the larger volume, I would place the estimate at about one hundred and
twenty square miles in this sub-section.

The average elevation of this entire section is between five thousand
five hundred and six thousand five hundred feet above the sea level,
which is lower than that of the Laramie Plains, but the climate is not
so temperate as that of the Salt Lake basin. Wheat, oats, barley, and
such rocts and vegetables as are mentioned as growing at Laramie City,
can be raised here.

The north part of the Green River Valley may have some good graz-
ing fields, but neither the lower part of this valley nor that of the
Sandy afford any very extensive or valuable areas suitable for pasturage.

There is some cottonwood along the Green River and the lower part
of Big Sandy, but as a general thing this entire region is destitute of
timber, none being found nearer than the mountains.

The remainder of my report on this district relates only to such
detached portions as were visited by the expedition.

Black’s FKork, tothe point where it is joined by Ham’s Fork, is bor-
dered by a bottom of moderate width, which will afford space for a
number of farms, and a grazing area of considerable extent. At the
time of our visit to this place, a drove of one thousand cattle was rest-
ing and feeding here, preparatory to their departure west. This stream,
to its junction with Green River, is flanked by narrow bottoms, which

236 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

are fertile and well grassed, as a general thing, and which can easily be
irrigated. As there isa tolerably good supply of water during the grow-
ing season, it is probable.a portion of the uplands, where level, can be
irrigated, thus increasing the tillable area, The higher plateau between
this stream and Henry’s Fork is beyond the reach of irrigation, but
between this and the streams around it runs a lower level, varying in
breadth from a few rods to ten or twelve BOS and generally about
fifteen or twenty feet above the immediate creek bottoms. This level,
which is mostly covered with a thick growth of artemisia, can be irr i.
gated as far as the supply of water will, go. The broad expanse around
Church Butte can be reached by a canal some eight or ten miles in
length, but the supply of water in Black’s Fork is hardly sufficient
to justify the expense. A canal might probably be cut from Green
River, commencing some eighteen or twenty miles above the railroad,
which would not ‘only irrigate the broad level portions of the plains
lying west of the river and south of Ham’s Fork, but if a suitable place
for crossing Black’s Fork Valley with an aqueduct can be found, might
also supply the first level south of the latter stream.

Around Fort Bridger, on the head-waters of Black’s Fork and its
tributaries, Smith’s Fork and Cottonwood Creek, are some fine farming
lands, and on Smith’s Fork a number of farms are already in cultivation,
producing fine crops of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, &c. The tillable
area in this neighborhood amounts to several thousand acres.

A proposition has been made to run a branch railroad from some
point on the Union Pacific Railroad near Carter Station, up Smith’s
Fork, tothe Uintah Mountains, in order to reach the abundant supply.
of pine timber to be found there.

The altitude of Fort Bridger is about seven thousand feet above the
sea level.

Concerning the country east of Smith’s Fork I quote from the journal
of Dr. Turnbull, as during the passage of the expedition over this sec-
tion I was absent examining the lands of Utah:

““Hrom Fort Bridger to Henry’s Fork, with the exception of the valley
of Smith’s Fork, the countr y has a sterile appearance and is without
means of irrigation, being generally covered with a scattering and
stunted growth of artenvisia.

‘“‘Henry’s Fork traverses a beautiful valley, something like thirty miles .
long and from two to five miles wide, can be easily irrigated, and will
produce heavy crops of cereals and the hardy roots and vegetables.
At present it is covered with a Inxuriant growth of grass, from which
not only a supply for the military postis obtained, but also for shipment
to other points. During the time of our passage threugh this region,
some twenty-five hundred head of Texas cattle were resting and feeding
at Brown’s Hole.

‘“‘ The valley of Green River, between Black’s Fork and Bear River, is
generally narrow, varying in width from afew rods to three or four
miles, but as we approach the mouth of Vermillion Creek it widens out
into a broad, bay-like valley about twelve miles long and seven or eight
in width, which is one broad meadow. On the east side of the river,
between Currant and Red Creeks, there is a broad sage plain of moder-
ate elevation, which could be watered from the river by means of canals
a few miles long, and, although having a barren look, would doubtless
produce good crops.

“Brom Bitter Creek east, until we reach Muddy or Washakie Creek,
a tributary to Bear River, the country is desolate and yninviting, and
the water generally bad, being impregnated with alkaline matter. At

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Ok

the latter plenty of good grass is to be obtained, but the irrigable and
tillable area is limited.”

From the data obtained by the expedition while in this section, Tam
led to the conclusion that a thorough investigation of the northeast part
of Utah and northwest part of Colorado would reveal the fact that
there is a large area of land there which can be cultivated, not in ex-
tensive bodies, but in long narrow valleys and belts. But it is probable
the reports of others, who have been making some examinations of
this mountainous region, may supply that which we have to omit for
want of information.

Timber is abundant along the slopes of the Uintah Mountains, and
some of the valleys are tolerably well supplied with cottonwood.

SALT LAKE DISTRICT.

This district, which lies partly in Utah and partly in Nevada, is a
vast elliptical basin about three hundred and fifty miles in length from
north to south, and varying from fifty to three hundred miles in width,
being on an average about one hundred and eighty or one hundred and
ninety miles wide, and containing an area of some sixty-five thousand

square miles. As there is a large portion of this territory which is but
little known, and which has never been examined with a view of ascer-
taining its agricultural capacity, it is very difficult to give even an ap-
prox imate estimate of the cultivable lands within its bounds. Omitting
what may hereafter be discovered to be cultivable in the western section,
I think we may safely place the estimate at three thousand square miles,
or about two million acres.

An irregular range of hills or mountains starting from the west side
of Salt Lake runs south a little west of the 113th meridian to the Seth
parallel, when it bends southeast and forms an imperfect junction with
the southern extremity of the Wahsatch Mountains. By this range the
basin is divided into two unequal parts, that on the east, which contains
nearly all the known arable land, being much smaller than the western
section.

This latter portion consists chiefly of broad, flat, sandy plains, often
destitute of vegetation, and in many places covered with saline iner ie
tations, showing plainly that the lake formerly extended over a much
larger area in this direction than at present.

As this western section, so far as known, contains but very little
arable land—this being limited to the extreme southeast border—and as
the entire basin consists of minor basins with distinct water systems, I
shall not attempt to consider the district by sections, but will deseribe
it by the minor basins and valleys, so far as I have visited them and
obtained reliable information concerning them. Leaving out of the list
the broad northwestern plains, the following are the more important
minor basins: the Salt Lake Basin, Rush Valley, Sevier River Basin,
and Beaver River Basin.

SALT LAKE BASIN.

This basin embraces the territory immediately around the lake, and
that drained by the numerous streams that flow into it, of which the
principal ones are Bear, Weber, and Jordan Rivers, the last ineluding
as its tributaries the streams. that discharge their waters into Utah
Lake.

This basin is nearly two hundred miles in length, and covers over

238 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

one-fourth of the entire district; and within its jsonindls are contained
the choice lands and chief population of Utah.

Beginning at the north end of the lake, and wong east and then
south, [ will describe the country, so far as my observation and informa-
tion extend, by valleys, in the order in which they come.

I did not visit either Hansee Spring Valley or Blue Spring Valley,
which lie north of the promontory; nor did I sueceed in obtaining any
very definite information concerning the agricultural capacity of either;
but from all I could learn i am satisfied they contain very little arable
land. The former is not supplied with streams that will furnish water
for irrigation, and the principal stream in the latter is very strongly
impregnated with saline matter. The southern portions of these valleys
have a barren appearance, and are but sparsely covered with vegetation ;
the soil is also saturated with salt or alkali. Farther north there are
probably some better portions and some small areas susceptible of eul-
tivation, and grass may also be found near the mountains.

The Malade Valley, which extends north into Idaho, is drained by
the Malade River, and is a very pretty, fertile section; and, including
the shore of Bear River Bay, is about forty miles long, with an average
width of five miles. It contains about one hundred and fifty square
miles of land which may be irrigated, and in the northern part are some
fine fields of grass. Although the Malade River is narrow, it sends
down a considerable volume of water, sufficient, I think, to irrigate all
thé level land of the valley as far south as the “ gate,” or canon, through
which Bear River emerges. From this point water can be drawn from
the latter stream to irrigate the south end of the valley. Although a
portion of the land near the bay may be unfit for agricultural purposes,
yet several thonsand acres can be brought under cultivation in the
. vicinity of Corinne, where it would doubtless prove quite profitable.

The Cache Valley, the next one to the east, is an expansion of the
otherwise ribbon-like valley of Bear River, and extends north and south
from the divide between Muddy and Box Elder into the southern border
of Idaho. Its length from Paradise to the mountains above Franklin
is about fifty miles, varying in width from six to sixteen and averaging
as much as twelve miles. About one-half of its area, or three hundred
square miles, can be irrigated and rendered suitable for cultivation.
Not only can, the bottoms be irrigated, but the benches and uplands
between Paradise and Franklin may be reached by digging ditches a
few miles in length; for, in addition to the river, there are numerous
little streams running down into the valley from the Wahsatch Moun-
tains on the east, as “follows: Muddy, Blacksmith’s Fork, High Fork,
Gros Bois Creek, and Logan’s Fork, and Rush Creek from the west,

all of which afford water.

This is probably the finest grazing section in the entire basin, and sit-
uated asit is near the junction of three railroads, must become a ‘favorite
pasture ground for stock-raisers and stock-traders. Occasionally, feed-
ing may be required for a short time in the winter, on account of the
snow, but this seldom extends over three or four weeks during the sea-
son. This is also one of the best wheat-growing valleys in the district,
being second to none but the San Pete. It is colder than the valley of
the Jordan, as is also that of the Malade, and therefore not so well
adapted to fruit or corn as the sections farther south, yet apples and the
hardier fruits can be raised. The attractive features and situation of
this valley have drawn a considersble population here, so that already
between thirty and thirty-five thousand acres have been irrigated.

Box Elder, and the other little streams that connect with ‘it, are bor-

é
J

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 239

dered by some excellent lands which can be easily irrigated. A settle-
ment has been made here and some land is under cultivation, but what
amount | am unable to say.

Bear River rises in the Uintah Mountains, near the southwest corner
of Wyoming, and running north within Utah Territory, but very near
the eastern boundary, passes up into Idaho for forty or fifty miles, where,
bending suddenly southwest, it enters the Cache Valley Most of the
distance from where the Union Pacific Railroad enters a to its northern
bend, it is flanked by anarrow belt of bottom land, which occasionally,
as in the vicinity of Medicine Butte, and near the point where it er oe
the boundary line, expands te four or five miles in width, but for th
whole-length the average width cannot safely be estimated at more than
one mile. Its chief value will be as a erazing region when the broader
valleys have been taken up, its elev: ation and ‘Tnountainous surroundings
making it teo cold for any but the hardier cereals and vegetables.

The average fall of the river is about twelve feet to the mile, which
is sufficient to carry it upon any table lands that may border it which
are not more than one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high.

Tam not sufficiently acquainted with the country through which it
runs to state what is the probable amount of land that may thus be
rendered cultivable. I know there are occasional belts of the second
level, but I think these are limited. Around Bear River Lake there is
a strip of arable land and some grassy meadows.

Ogden’s Hole, which is a little park in the Wahsatch Mountains,
drained by Ogden Creek, is about fifteen miles long and seven miles
wide.

This beautiful valley is hemmed in on all sides by high mountains,
from which flow down little streams of crystal water sufficient to irri-
gate nearly the entire area. The greater part is covered over by a thick
growth of nutritious grass, and affords an excellent grazing field. The
remarks made in regard to the climate and products in Bear River Val-
ley will apply here.

“Weber River, along which the railroad runs for some distance—from
where it emerges from the cation to where it enters upon Salt Lake Val-
ley proper—passes through a very pretiy, and, for the most part, fertile
section, which is rapidly filling up with pullages and settlements, and is
so well known to every one who has traveled along the Union Paciiice
Railroad, that-any description of it would be superfluous.

The arable land in the valley, including the little spots on Echo Creek,

may be estimated at one hundred square miles, or sixty-four thousa md
ACreS.

i may add thatthe soil is very fertile, and, although the climate is
slightly colder than that of the Salt Lake Valley, apples and some other
fruits can be raised without difficulty.

In order to prevent confusion, I have limited the name “Salt Lake
Valley” to the strip of level land lying along the eastern shore between
the lake and the Wahsatch Mountains. Its length from Salt Lake City
to Willard City, in a direct line, is about fifty miles, varying In width
from two to fifteen miles, and averaging about ten.

Of this area I estimate three-fifths, or three hundred square miles, as
susceptible of cultivation. I am aware that with the present systems of
irrigation it would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain sufficient
water to irrigate this extent, but by making reservoirs and bringing
upon it all the water that is within reach from the streams north “and
south, my estimate will not be too large; and, by this means, part of

240 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the higher lands south of Weber River may be rendered fit for cul-
ture. E

The soil, although in many places covered with artemisia, and more
or less impregnated with saline matter, is very rich and productive, as
the farms already under cultivation show. —

The northern and southern portions contain the principal settlements,
as there the land is lowest and most easily irrigated.

As the productions of this and the remaining portions of the basin are
similar, I will speak of them after I have described the different sec-
tions.

The valley of the Jordan extends almost directly nerth and south from
Utah Lake to Great Sait Lake; the lofty peaks of Wahsatch range —
walling it in on the east, and the Oquirrh Mountains bounding it on the
west.

From the lower end of the canon to its northern extremity, where it
spreads out and becomes a part of what I have included in the Salt
Lake Valley, is about twenty-six miles, and its average width fully
fifteen miles. This gives nearly four hundred square miles as its area,
which may appear small to those who have read the glowing descrip-
tions of it. Lieutenant Beckwith gives thirty miles as its length, and
twenty as its width; but he counts from Utah Lake and includes the
mountain slopes, while I confine my estimate to the valley plains, four-
fifths of which can be irrigated; and [ also exclude from the calculation
that part of the lake shore bordering the river, which I have included
in the former section.

The direct length, by Government survey, from the base line which
runs near the north side of the city to the southern line of Salt Lake
County, which crosses near the canon, is just twenty-four miles.* ‘The
greater part of this beantiful valley can be irrigated, and I estimate its
cultivable area at four-fifths, or about three hundred square miles.

Most of the tributaries of the Jordan enter it from the east side, and
south of the creek that waters the city the only ones of any importance
are Mill, Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, and Willow Creeks.
Ditches have recently been made along the eastern border of the valley,
drawing the water from Cottonwood Creeks near the mountain and
carrying it on the plateau that occupies a considerable area on this side
of the river.

This effort has clearly demonstrated the possibility and practicability
of irrigating nearly every acre on the east side of the river, north of
Willow Creek. Although but little of this plateau or higher level has
been tilled, yet the primary canals and a number of the smaller ditches
are already made, and when I passed through the valley in September
last were filled with running water.

In the vicinity of Willow Creek there is a small area of slightly rolling
Jand, which probably cannot be irrigated from any of the streams, not
because of its elevation, but because this creek does not furnish suf
ficient water. Ifit is possible to establish reservoirs along the base of
the mountain there will be no necessity for even this remaining idle.

_An extensive canal is now in course of construction fer the purpose
of irrigating the great body of land on the west side of the river. Start-
ing within the canon, and but a few feet below the level of Utah Lake,
, the intention is to carry the water from the Jordan along the base of
the Oquirrh Mountains, at as high a level as possible. This will furnish

* The table of distances given in Stansbury’s Report, p. 29, makes the distance from
the State House to the summit of the hill at the cation twenty-five miles, which is the
correct road measure.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 241

water enough to irrigate the larger portion of the lands on this side;

but the fall is not sutticient to reach the higher margins of the sloping
lain. :

E When these works are completed and the fresh water from Utah

Lake has permeated the soil for a few years, this valley, seen from some

neighboring height, will truly appear as one vast garden.

The soil of the flat lands around the city, when the Mormons first
settled it, was so thoroughly saturated with saline matter that for
several years there were considerable areas upon which they could get
no crops to grow. But at length by experience they learned that by
sowing it in herd-grass and irrigating it freely it could be rendered
suitable for the culture of other crops. And Mr. R. L. Campbell, who
was for some years secretary, and is now, I believe, president of the
Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, informs me that lands which
were heretofore rejected on this account are now being rapidly occupied
for farms.

It is impossible to give the exact number of acres that have been irri-
gated in this valley, as no returns, so far as I could ascertain, have been
made since 1867. Omitting from the estimate the lands that may be
reached by the Jordan Canal, which is not completed, I suppose the
number at present amounts at least to twenty thousand or twenty-five
thousand acres.

Perhaps, before passing to the Utah basin, it would be best to include
the Tooele and Lone Rock Valleys, as they properly belong to this group
of arable tracts.

The Tooele Valley is about sixteen miles long and ten miles wide, and
is probably the most fertile spot in the Territory. The small streams
that run through it afford sufficient water to irrigate the greater part. of
its area, and therefore I estimate its agricultural lands at one hundred
and sixty square miles, or the full extent of the valley surface. The
soil appears to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of the cereals, it
being no uncommon thing to cut from sixty to seventy bushels of oats
from an acre, and last year one field of ninety acres averaged sixty
bushels to the acre. It is already pretty well settled up, having one
woolen manufactory and five grist-mills, and some fourteen or fifteen
thousand acres irrigated.

Lone Rock or Spring Valley, which lies at the southwest corner of
Salt Lake, does not appear to have attracted much attention, and is not
so well known as the others in this region, probably, on account of its
locality. Itis about twenty miles long and from eight to ten miles wide,
and, with the exception of its northern end, is well grassed over and
affords excellent grazing fields. A small area can be irrigated and
brought under cultivation around the southwest margin, but the central
portion is watered principally by springs, which render the surface
marshy in places. Ditching through the marshy parts would probably
draw off sufficient water to leave the ground firm and suitable for graz-
ing and, perhaps, for culture. ‘The northern portion, as it approaches the
lake, assumes a more barren appearance, and in some places is frosted
over with saline incrustations, while the southern end is much like Tintic
Valley.

UTAH LAKE VALLEY. -

Passing southward over the ridge at the upper end of the Jordan
Valley, we enter the Utah Lake Basin. The principal portion of the
arable lands of this basin or valley stretch along the eastern shore of
the lake, extending back from its margin to the foot of the mountains,

16 6G

242 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

which here descend abruptly to the plains. The length of this semicir-
cular belt, from the exit of the Jordan to Santaguin, is about fifty miles, |
with an average width of six. This entire area of three hundred square
miles can be irrigated, the numerous streams that rush down from the
mountain canons affording sufficient water to irrigate not only the lower
bottoms, but also the broad elevated plateau that extends from Battle
Creek to Provo River.* For a long time this plateau was supposed to
be beyond the reach of any of the streams in the vicinity, and was con-
signed to inutility, but a little energy has recently shown that this was
a mistake. A canal, commencing some distance up Provo Cafion, has
been constructed along the steep mountain slopes, and now brings the
water from Provo River to the highest point of this elevated plain, and
when I passed through here the secondary ditches were filled with water,
spreading here and there large pools over the dry plains. Although I
saw but one field in cultivation, farms were being marked off and prep-
arations made for cultivating the soil. And I believe that this onee
rejected plat will prove the best wheat-growing tract in the valley of
Utah Lake, and that ere long it will be ‘dotted over with farm: houses
and fields of golden grain.

The following is a list of the streams that run down from the moun-
tain and cross this shore-strip, given in the order in which they come,
beginning at the north end of the lake. Dry Creek, American Fork,
Battle Creek, Provo River, Spring Creek, Hobble Creek, Spanish Fork,
and Petenete Creek; Summit Creek, which crosses the road south of the
lake, is a tributary of the Petenete. These streams are bordered by no
valleys or bottoms within the mountains, for, with the exception of
Provo River, they do not reach beyond the first range, but rushing down
its slope enter suddenly upon the plain and sweep across it to the lake.

The soil is generally very fertile, that along the margin of the lake
having a large proportion of vegetable mold mixed with it; that near
the mountain and on the plateau is intermingled with small boulders,
but not to such a degree as to injure it. From Battle Creek north, and
from Provo River south, it is pretty well settled and most of the choice
bottom lands occupied, but there is a broad strip along the lake margin
not cultivated but used as meadow land to graze the cattle belonging
to the citizens of the little villages located on the creeks. Including
Tintic and Cedar Valleys there are at least twenty-five thousand acres
of irrigated land in Utah County, and even this estimate may fall con-
siderably below the true figures, for if the canal cut from the Provo is
of sufficient capacity to water the whole surface of the plateau, this
alone would amount to over twenty thousand acres, and would increase
my estimate to thirty-five thousand, as I include but ten thousand in the
first figures.

Tintic Valley, which lies southwest of Utah Lake, is a narrow, bay-
like indentation in the range of hills or low mountains that sweeps
around the west side of the basin. It is about twenty-five miles long
north and south, and four or five miles wide, and is watered principally
by springs. As there are very few streams from which water can be
érawn to irrigate the soil, a small portion only of the land can be brought
under culture, but as a grazing section it probably stands next to the
‘Cache Valley. The grass grows luxuriantly and is kept fresh and nu-
tritious by the water from the numerous springs, and the comparatively
mild climate prevents the necessity of winter feeding or shelter, as some-
times required in the north part of the Territory.

“This stream was formerly called the Timpanogas, and this is ; the name generally —
found on the maps and in public documents.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 243

Cedar Valley lies west of the lake, behind the range of hills that here
rises up near the shore, and is about thirty miles long from north to
south, and averages ten miles in width, and contains perhaps one hun-
dred and fifty square miles of land that can be cultivated. It is watered
by two small streams that run in from the west and northwest, and
which afford sutficient water to irrigate the northern and western por-
tions, especially around Crittenden and Cedar City. The land is good
and productive. The valley is partially settled, and there are already
two saw-mills and one flouring-mill in operation here. 1 did not have
an opportunity of visiting this locality, but obtained my information
from citizens of Provo, who are well acquainted with it. I neglected to
inquire about its water drainage, and am somewhat in doubt respecting
it. If there is any outlet for it to the lake, I failed to see it, and I am
satisfied there is none to the Jordan, therefore I presume itisa separate
basin, but as it may belong to the Utah basin, I have considered it in
connection with that system. It has a greater elevation than the Utah
Valley, but how much I do not know.

Moving southward from Santaguin, we enter the Juab Valley, which
extends from this point to the divide between Utah and Sevier basins,
a Short distance below Nephi. It is about fifty miles long and six
miles wide, and contains one hundred square miles of land that can be
irrigated, principally along Salt and Clover Creeks. The most of the
remainder is well grassed over, and affords good pasture lands for sheep
and cattle.

Reserving a fuller account of the productions of the Salt Lake, Jordan,
and Utah Valleys, until I have completed the description of the district,
I will only remark that everything that can be raised in the Middle
States can be raised here, and that these sections bear about the same
relations to the colder regions of the elevated mountain districts and
southern borders of our Territory that the Middle States do to New
England and Georgia.

Without detracting anything from the importance of the arable tracts
and grazing fields along the railroad line east of this in Wyoming, I
may truly call this basin, with all its drawbacks, (for it has some,) an
oasis on the great continental highway of trade and travel. Possessing
this advantage of situation, surrounded by mountains rich in the pre-
cious metals, and having a healthy climate, it must, in the course of a
few years, become densely populated. It is important, therefore, that
the Government should give all proper encouragement to its develop-
ment. I make these remarks here, because they are more particularly
applicable to the immediate basin of Salt Lake than to the rest of the
Territory, being the portion through which the railroad passes.

The general level of the Salt Lake Valley is about four thousand three
hundred feet above the sea level, and that of Utah Lake Valley between
nee thousand five hundred and fifty and four thousand six hundred

Cetae

In the mountains east of the Jordan are three little parks or elevated
valleys, Parley’s Park, Kamas Valley, and Round Prairie, which be-
long to the basin under consideration. Parley’s Park is elevated about
two thousand feet above Salt Lake, and is some five or six miles long
and from two to three miles wide. It is watered by Cafion Creek, and
could be easily irrigated, but on account of its elevation and mountain-

* In the barometric table accompanying Lieutenant Beckwith’s Report of Pacific Rail-
road Survey, vol. ii, part 1, p. 107, there are some errors, provably typographical.
For instance, the elevation at Provo is given as 4,362.6, when it certainly is at least
two hundred feet more.

244 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ous surroundings, it is too cold for any except the hardier productions.
The recent discovery of some mines in the mountains around it, how-
ever, may bring it into notice.

Kamas Valley, which is similar to Parley’s Park, is about ten miles
long and from two to four miles wide, and can also be irrigated. Both
are well grassed and afford good grazing fields, but, on account of the
difficulty in reaching them, and their small size, will not be of much
value in an agricultural point of view.

I know nothing in regard to Round Prairie.

RUSH VALLEY.

This valley appears to be a small isolated basin, having a distinct
water system of its own; Rush Lake, which lies in the north part, being
the reservoir. It is about forty or fifty miles in length from north to
south, and averages fifteen miles in width, a large portion of which can
be irrigated, and which I have estimated at three hundred square miles.
Clover Creek, which flows into Rush Lake, is a stream of considerable
size, and affords sufficient water, not only to irrigate a large extent of
land, but also power to drive machinery. The lake is about eight miles
long and some three or four miles wide. Some mines recently discov-
ered at the north end of this valley will, if they prove productive, fur-
nish a market for the farm products.

Stockton, at the north end of the lake, is a village of considerable
size. The farms in this locality are irrigated from a “stream that runs
from the mountains near by and empties into the lake.

SEVIER RIVER BASIN.

This comprises the country drained by the Sevier River and its trib-
utaries. This river, rising in the southwest corner of the Territory, runs a
little east of north between two ranges of the Wahsatch Mountains for
one hundred and fifty or one hundred and sixty miles, where it breaks
through the western ridge and runs southwest for forty or fifty miles
more, and empties into Sevier Lake. Its principal tributaries are the
San Pete River and Meadow Creek. The former, rising a little south of
Mount Nebo, runs southwest through the San Pete Valley and joins the
Sevier River near the crossing of the 112th meridian and 39th parallel.
The latter commences in the divide south of Rush Valley, and traverses
the plains west of the mountains, uniting at the bend. Very little ap-
pears to be known in regard to Sevier Lake, at least I have been unable
to ascertain anything of importance respecting it or the lower portion of
the river. The very irregular form of this basin and uncertainty in
regard to its western rim make it impossible for me to give an esti-
mate of its area that will amount to anything more than a mere guess.

The San Pete Valley, which is watered by the San Pete River and
numerous small tributaries, counting from Fountain Green to Gunnison,
is forty-four miles long and averages fully five miles in width. At least
two hrndred square miles, or nearly the entire surface area of this beauti-
ful and fertile valley, can be irrigated. The returns of the Agricultural
and Manufacturing Society for "186667 give nearly twenty thousand
acres as the number then under irrigation; the past three years have
increased this futly twenty-five per cent., so that we may safely estimate
the number now irrigatedat twenty-five thousand.

This valley, as a wheat- -growing section, stands next to Cache, its soil
being peculiarly adapted to the production of this cereal. Itis also one
of the best potato regions in the Territory..

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 245

Its altitude averages about five thousand feet above the level of the
sea, the elevation at the mouth of San Pete River being four thousand
nine hundred and sixty feet.

The Sevier River Valley is a long narrow belt lying between two
wings of the Wahsatch range, and extending northwest and northeast
one hundred and ten or one hundred and fifteen miles. I know but
little respecting the agricultural features of the upper portion of this
valley, but presume, judging from what I know of the surrounding
regions, that it is well grassed and well watered, so that all spots of
arable land to be found there can be irrigated. I think it probable that
some timber can be found in this part of the valley, although the lower
portions are very naked.

For about fifty or sixty miles above Gunnison it averages some six or
seven miles wide, but is wholly without timber, and has a very barren
appearance; even the artemisia being scattered and stunted. The river
channel is generally a deep, ditch- like cleft in the soil, some six or eight
feet below the surface of the plain, its immediate bottoms being very
narrow. With the considerable fall in the stream a great portion of the
valley can be irrigated, and, notwithstanding the present barren appear-
ance, after a few years’ irrigation, will become qyite fertile, and produce
good crops of wheat, oats, potatoes, &e. There are some settlements in
the north part of the valley, and a few thousand acres under cultivation
in Sevier and Piute Counties, which embrace this valley. What the
number of acres irrigated is I cannot say.

The elevation ranges from five thousand five hundred to four thou-
sand eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, and the volume .
of water in the river is ample for all purposes. From Gunnison to
Chicken Creek, a distance of forty miles, the valley of this River aver-
ages some three or four miles wide, and is similar in character to that
farther south.

Leaving the Sevier, and following the road over the ridge to the
southwest, we enter an isolated basin called Round or Lake Valley,
which appears to have little or no connection with the water systems
of the Sevier basin. This is some ten or twelve miles long and six or
seven wide, but for want of water only a limited portion of it can be
irrigated and brought under culture. There is probably sufficient to
supply a strip of ‘about a mile and a half in width. And there are
some small grazing fields dhhere. Passing westward out of this valley
we enter upon the margin of the plains, which spread out with a gentle
slope to the northwest. The little streams that run down from the
mountains and pass off into the plains afford a belt of arable. spots
_along the foot of the range, concerning which I obtained the following
particulars from Bishop Miller, of Provo:

Going south from the latter point, after passing for some ten miles
over the divide, we reach a little stream where there is a small settle-
ment and a small extent of arable land that can be irrigated, and an
area ten or twelve miles long and four or five wide, suitable for grazing
sheep or cattle. Passing over a dry level plain for about eight miles
farther, we reach Chalk Creek, which affords a valley eight or ten miles
long and about two miles wide, the greater part of which can be irri-
gated. Crossing another dry level of about four miles we reach Meadow
Creek,* which has but little bottom land adapted to agriculture, and
not sufficient water to irrigate more than a few hundred acres. But it

* This is a different stream from the Meadow Creek heretofore mentioned as coming
down from near Rush Valley.

)

246 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

is probable that a ditch could be brought round from Chalk Creek, by
which a considerable area of the upper level might be rendered tillable. *

Corn Creek, which is about five miles farther south, is flanked by a
moderately broad area of flat land, which can be irrigated to the full
extent of the supply of water. Cove Creek Valley, ten or twelve miles
farther on, furnishes but little farming land, but contains some good
grazing fields, and is already occupied, to a considerable extent, for
this purpose. Five or six miles south of this is another small stream
(probably Pine Creek,) where sufficient land for a few farms might be
irrigated.

Passing over a divide of some nine or ten miles we reach Indian
Creek, a tributary of Beaver River, which brings us into another basin.
Although there are two stage routes through this section, there seems
to be but little Known respecting its water system; in fact, the very
existence of Preuss Lake appears to be a matter of doubt, and future
investigation may show that this is but a part of Sevier River Basin.
Considering it as a separate system, it consists of Bear River and its
tributaries, which rise in the western slope of the range of mountains
before mentioned.

There is a considerable area of land on Beaver River that can be irri-
gated and cultivated, and the probability is that its breadth might be
increased by extending canals on the upper levels below the mountain
or ridge that crosses “here. Passing over Beaver Mountain we reach
Yellow Creek, where there is a fertile belt about ten miles long and six
or seven miles wide, reaching from the Creek about two miles south
of Parawan. Here, and at Beaver River, are some settlements and
some land already under cultivation. Between Parawan and Cedar
City there are a few arable ‘spots of small extent, which are already
partly occupied. Cedar City is situated on Cole Creek, a stream about
the size of the American Fork, which will irrigate some four or five
th8usand acres. Shirt’s Creek, which runs by Kanara, is flanked by a
considerable bottom, but the stream does not afford water suflicient to
irrigate but a part of it. West of this some twenty or twenty-five
miles, on another branch of Beaver River, are the celebrated Vegas de
Santa Clara, noted as a resting place after the fatigues of the desert
march from the West. By following these various streams, as they
move northwest toward some common reservoir, it is probable a num-
ber of irrigable spots may be found.

Crossing over the divide, which here sweeps round in a semicircular
form from a southwest to a northwest direction, we enter the valley
of the Rio Virgin, a part of the vast territory drained by the Rio Colo-
rado of the West. This stream, although sending down a considerable
volume of water, is wide and rapid and consequently shallow. It runs
through a country having a very barren appearance, here and there
cutting through rocky clitts and lava ridges, with occasional broad
stretches of sandy land covered with a very scanty growth of. vegeta-
tion. But, notwithstanding the unpromising appearance of this sec-
tion, there are several settlements here, some of which (as Washington
and St. George) number several thousand souls.

There are some arable spots which are very productive, and in fact

*All the maps I have seen, including even the very accurate map of Colorado and
Utah, prepared by order of General ‘Sherman, have an error in this section. They
have a number of small streams represented as rising in the plains west of the moun-
tains opposite Sevier River and running through the range to the River, to do which
it would be necessary for the water to run up hill. They rise in the range, and, run-
ning northwest into the plain, are lost in the sands, as all who kave traveled along the
stage route here know, and as Frémont shows in his report.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 247

wherever water can be obtained, and the land irrigated, the soil becomes
very fertile. The arable areas around Toqueville, and from there up
the river, are very limited, but about Washington and St. George they are
more extensive, and the entire Santa Clara Valley, for fifteen or twenty
milesin length and two or three miles in width, can be cultivated. And
one or two canals are being cut along the Rio Virgin which will add con-
siderably to the cultivable area. This section, on account of its semi-
tropical climate, is considered by the Mormons of great importance, for
they look to this for their supply of cotton, raisins, oranges, and other
products, which cannot be grown in the Salt Lake Valley.

In regard to the vast region east of the Wahsatch range, and south
of the Uintah Mountains belonging to the Rio Colorado district, I know
but very little. .

Strawberry Creek, a tributary of Uintah River, runs through a very
pretty valley for twenty or twenty-five miles, which averages seven or
eight miles in width. The greater portion of this area can be irrigated,
and would produce good crops of such things as are adapted to the climate,
which, on account of elevation and the proximity of mountains, is cold.

The Uintah Valley is more extensive, and has in it some very good
land, a large portion of which may be rendered suitable for culture by
irrigation, for which purpose the supply of water is ample.

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.

Within the Territory of Utah every grade of climate, from the cold
regions of the snowy Sierras to the semi-tropical region of the south-
ern plains, is to be found, but the central portion, where the greater part
of the cultivable land is situated, has a mild climate, which, as before
remarked, corresponds very nearly with that of the Middle States. As
we go north and northeast, ascending the mountain valleys, the climate
increases rapidly in severity, and the growing seasons become shorter.
As a general thing the annual fall of snow in the valleys is small, seldom
more than a few inches in depth, and it remains on the ground but few
hours, or days at farthest. In the vicinity of the higher mountains
there are occasional frosts that injure the crops.

Wheat, oats, potatoes, and fruit are the principal productions, which
not only grow readily and yield abundant crops, but of the very best
quality, the soil being naturally adapted to their culture. Something
over one million bushels of wheat was raised in the Territory in 1866,
but what the ratio of increase has been since that time I am unable to
say, but it has not been in proportion to the breadth of land sown, as
the grasshoppers have been very destructive for the past three years.
Not only have they injured the growing wheat, oats, &c., but, where the
ground has been replanted in something else, they have, in some in-
stances, cut it down for the sixth time in one season. The average
yield per acre, of favorable seasons, is from twenty-two to twenty-six
busheis, but in certain localities it will reach much higher figures.

Cache, San Pete, and Utah Counties are the principal wheat-growing
sections, not because they produce more to the acre, but because more
acres have been cultivated in this cereal in these counties than any
others. I did not have an opportunity of examining carefully the differ-
ent specimens of wheat grown in the Territory, but, judging by the
bread made from it, I presume it to be superior in some respects. It is
probable that the flavor and lightness of the bread are partly due to the
alkali with which the soil of the valleys is more or less impregnated.

As is generally the case throughout the Rocky Mountain regions, oats

248 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

grow luxuriantly, the average yield per acre in the Territory being faa
thirty to forty bushels. It is no uncommon occurrence for the farmer
here to cut an average crop of sixty bushels to the acre. Although a
large amount of corn is raised, and crops of forty and fifty pasha to
the acre produced, yet this cannot be considered a good corn-growing
country. And I may add that, so far as my observations have extended,
I have seen no really good corn section west of the rain-moistened por-
tion of the Mississippi Valley. That there are many places where toler-
ably good crops can be raised, and sufficient to supply local demands, is
true, but what I mean is that the corn of these Territories bears no such
comparison with the corn of the Mississippi Valley as the wheat does.

Sorghum appears to grow finely, and, as I have heretofore stated in
regard to beets, I 4m inclined to the belief that in this dry soil, consist-
ing principally of silicates, and containing alkali, the production of.
saccharine matter will be greater than in soil having a large proportion
of vegetable mold. And in this connection I may remark that the
plums grown here are the sweetest I ever tasted. The same variety
raised in California, although sweeter than those raised in the States
east, are inferior in this respect to those raised at Salt Lake City. But
in regard to pears the case is somewhat reversed as compared with Cali-
fornia, but not as compared with those of the States east of the mountains,
The same thing is traceable in apples but not in peaches.

Such fruits as apples, peaches, plums, pears, currants, gooseberries,
grapes, &c., can be raised in Salt Lake basin and south with ease, but
apples and peaches, especially the latter, will be the chief horticultural
product. The average yield of peaches to the acre, as shown by the re-
turns, is over three hundred bushels. Last year a gentleman in Provo”
City gathered three hundred bushels from the trees on a lot twelve rods
long by six rods wide. For the past three years the fruit has been se-
riously injured by the grasshoppers eating off the leaves of the trees,
but the injury was probably less than it would have been in a section
depending on rain to supply the requisite moisture.

As a grape-growing region this Territory cannot compete with Cali-
fornia or even with Southern New Mexico, yet very fine grapes can be
raised, and the Rio Virgin section ean produce a quality equal to any
part of the latter, but the area is limited.

The potatoes are as fine in quality as any I have ever met with; they
also grow large, and yield heavy crops.

I noticed a number of fields of lucerne, which j is used to feed the cat-
tle of the villages when the pasturage in the vicinity proves insufficient.

Very few of the valleys, except those in the mountains, furnish any
timber of importance, but, as a general thing, a supply can be obtained
from the neighboring ranges, chiefly pine and fir.

PASTORAL LANDS AND STOCK-RAISING.

It is apparent to every one who has paid any attention to the supply
of beef-cattle for the principal markets of our country, that this must
come from the grazing fields of the West. Having recently traveled
by different routes over the States between the Atlantic shore and Mis-
souri River, I have been astonished to find so few beef-cattle upon the
meadows. No doubt. the census returns will show heavy figures, yet
these are not made up from herds fed for beef, but mostly from the eat-
tle and oxen in use upon the farms. The lands of the States are becom-
ing too valuable to afford the room required for grazing cattle at a price
that will compete with the plains of the West and Southwest.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 249

Tt is therefore a fact conceded that the great bulk of our beef-cattle
must be raised upon the grazing fields of the States and Territories west
of the Mississippi.

As this report would be incomplete without some remarks upon this
subject, and as experience in the Territories is requisite to an accurate
knowledge of it, I give the following remarks taken principally from the
article of Dr. Latham of Laramie, and published in the Omaha Herald.
prefacing them with some judicious remarks from the pen of Mr. Byers
in the Rocky Mountain News:

After the mining interest, which must always take rank as the first productive
industry in the mountain territories of the West, stock-raising will doubtless con-
tinue next in importance. The peculiarities of climate and soil adapt the grass-covered
country west of the ninety-eighth degree of longitude especially to the growth and
highest perfection of horses, cattle, and sheep. The earliest civilized explorers found
the plains densely populated with buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope, their numbers
exceeding computation. Great nations of Indians subsisted almost entirely by the
fruits of the chase, but with the rude weapons used were incapable of diminishing
their numbers. With the advent of the white man and the introduction of fire-arms,
and to supply the demands of commerce, these wild cattle have been slaughtered by
the million, until their range, once six hundred miles wide from east to west, and
extending more than two thousand miles north and south, over which they moved in
solid columns, darkening the plains, has been diminished to an irregular belt, a hun-
dred and fifty miles wide, in which only scattering herds can be found, and they seldom
numbering ten thousand animals. There is no reason why domestic cattle may not take
their place. The climate, soil, and vegetation, are as well adapted to the tame As to
the wild. The latter lived and thrived the year round all the way up to latitude fifty
degrees north. Twenty years’ experience proves that the former do equally well upon
the same range, and with the same lack of care. Time, the settlement of the country,
the growing wauts of agriculture, the encroachment of tilled fields, will gradually nar-
row the range, as did semi-civilization that of the buffalo; first from the Mississippi
Valley westward, where that process is already seen, and then from the Rocky Moun-
tains toward the east; but as yet the range is practically unlimited, and for many years
to come there Will be room to fatten beeves to feed the world.

This great pasture land covers Western Texas, Indian Territory, Kansas, Nebraska,
and Dakota, Eastern New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, and extends far
into British America. The southerly and southeasterly portions produce the largest
growth of grass, but it lacks the nutritious qualities of that covering the higher and
drier lands farther north and west. Rank-growing and bottom-land grasses contain
mostly water; they remain green until killed by frost, when their substance flows back
to the root, or is destroyed by the action of the elements. The dwarf grass of the
higher plains makes but a small growth, but makes that very quickly in the early
spring, and then, as the rains diminish and the summer heat increases, it dies and cures
into hay where it stands; the seed even, in which it is very prolific, remains upon the
stalk, and, though very minute, is exceedingly nutritious.

In so far as the relative advantages of different portions of this wide region may be
thought by many to preponderate over one another, we do not appreciate them at all,
but would as soon risk a herd in the valley of the Upper Missouri, the Yellowstone, or
the Saskatchewan, as along the Arkansas, the Canadian, or Red River. . If any differ-
ence, the grass is better north than south. One year the winter may be more severe
in the extreme north; the next it may be equally so in the south, and the third it may
be most inclement midway between the two extremes; or, what is more common, the
severe storms and heavy snows may follow irregular streaks across the country at vari-
ous points. There are local causes and effects to be considered, such as permanently
affect certain localities favorably or the contrary. For instance, nearer the western
border of the plains there is less high wind, because the lofty mountain ranges form a
shelter or wind-breaker. Of local advantages, detached ranges of mountains, hills or
broken land, timber, brush, and deep ravines or stream-beds are the most important,
in supniatine shelter, and, as a general thing, better and always more varied pasture
ground.

There is never rain upon the middle and northern plains during the winter months.
When snow comes it is always dry, and never freezes to stock. The reverse is the case
in the Northern and Middle States, where winter storms often begin with rain, which
is followed by snow, and conclude with piercing wind and exceeding cold. Stock-men
can readily appreciate the effect of such weather upon stock exposed to its influence.

The soil of the plains is very much the same everywhere. To a casual observer it
looks sterile and unpromising, but when turned by the plow or spade is found very fer-
tile. Near the mountains it 1s filled with coarse rock particles, and under the action of

250 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the elements these become disproportionately prominent on the surface. Receding from
the mountains, it becomes gradually finer, until gravel and bits of broken stone are no
longer seen. Being made up from the wash and wearing away of the mountains, alka-
line earths enter largely into its composition, supplying inexhaustible quantities of
those properties which the eastern farmer can secure only by the application of plaster,

lime, and like manures. These make the rich, nutritious grasses upon which cattle
thrive so remarkably and to the constant wonder of new-comers, who cannot reconcile
the idea of such comparatively bare and barren-looking plains with the fat cattle that
roam over them.

Besides the plains there is a vast extent of pasture lands in the mountains. Wher-
ever there is soil enough to support vegetation grass is found in abundance, to a line
far above the limit of timber growth, and almost to the crest of the snowy range.
These high pastures, however, are suitable only for summer and autumn range; but in
portions of the great parks and large valleys, most parts of which lie below eight
thousand feet altitude above the sea, “cattle, horses, and sheep live and thrive the year
round. The cost of raising a steer to the age of five years, when he is at a prime age
for market, is believed to be about seven dollars and a half, or one dollar and a half
per year. ’A number of estimates given us by stock-men, running through several years,
place the average at about that figure. That contemplates a herd of four hundred or
more. Smaller lots of cattle will generally cost relatively more. The items of expense
are herding, branding, and salt—nothing for feed.

The following extracts from an article by Dr. H. Latham, in the Omaha
Daily Herald of June 5, 1870, give a description of the grazing lands in
the North Platte district:

The distance from the mouth of the North Platte, where it joins the South Platte on
the-Union Pacific Railroad, to its sources in the great Sierra Madre, whose lofty sides
form the North Park, in which this stream takes its rise, is more than eight hundred
miles. Its extreme southern tributaries head in the gorges of the mountains one
hundred miles south of the railroad, and receive their water from the melting snows
of these snow-capped ranges. Its extreme western tributaties rise in the Wahsatch
and Wind River ranges, sharing the honor of conveying the crystal snow-waters from
the continental divide with the Columbia and Colorado of the Pacific. Its northern’
tributaries start oceanward from the Big Horn Mountains, three hundred miles north
of the starting point of its southern sources.

It drains a country larger than all New England and New York together. East of
the Alleghany Mountains there is no. river comparable to this clear, ‘swift mountain
stream in its length or in the extent of country it drains.

The valleys of the North Platte—The main valley of the North Platte, two hundred
miles from its mouth to where it debouches through the Black Hills out on to the
great plains, is an average of ten miles wide. Nearly all this area, two thousand
square miles, is covered with a dense growth of grass, yielding thousands of tons of
hay. The bluffs bordering these intervals are rounded and grass-grown, gradually
smoothing out into great grassy plains extending north and south as far as the eye
can see.

Its tributaries.—The tributaries on the north side of the Platte are Blue Water, Cold-
water, Hill Creek, Raw Hide, Muddy Willow, Shawnee, Slate, and Sweetwater. On
the south they are Ash, Pumpkin, Larrons, Dry Horse, Cherry, Chugwater, Sybellie,
Big Laramie, Little Laramie, Carter, Cottonwood, Horse Shoe, Elk Horn, Rio a la Prelo,
Boisiee, Deer Creek, Medicine Bow, "Rock Creek, Douglass, and North, South, and Mia-
dle Forks of the main Platte.

These streams, with their smaller feeders, intersect in all directions a great pastural
land, interspersing it with rich, fertile valleys, and draining at least forty million acres,
affording water for countless herds. Most of the banks of these streams are bordered
with timber. Cattle have been wintered on these streams north of Cheyenne, along
the base of the Black Hills, around Fort Laramie, for twenty-five years.

Capacity for stock- raising. —Of this country Alexander Majors says, in a letter to the
writer of this article: “The favorite wintering grounds of my herders for the past
twenty years has been from the Caché a la Poudre on the south to Fort Fetterman on
the north, embracing all the country along the eastern base of the Black Hills.” It

was of this country that Mr. Seth E. Ward spoke when he says: “I am satisfied that
no country in the same latitude, or even far south of it, is comparable to it as a graz-
ing and stock-raising country. Cattle and stock generally are healthy, and require no
feeding the year round, the rich ‘bunch’ and ‘gramma’ grasses of the plains and
mountains keeping them ordinarily fat enough for beef during the entire winter.”

All this region east of the Black Hills is at an elevation less than five thousand feet.

The climate.—The climate, as reported from Fort Laramie for a period of twenty

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 251

years, is 50° Fahrenheit. The mean temperature for the spring months is 47°, for the
summer months 72°, for autumn 0°, for winter 31°.

The annual rain-fall is about eighteen inches, distributed as follows: Spring, 8.69
inches; summer, 5.70 inches; autumn, 3.69 inches. The snow-fall is eighteen inches.
It is of this region that Colonel C. H. Alden, post surgeon Fort D. A. Russell, speaks,
when he says: “The largest snow-fall so far, in one month, has been 3 97-1000 inches.
The snow in this vicinity rapidly disappears after falling, and it is very rare that there
is a sufficient quantity so that it remains long enough to give sleighing.”

All this country of the North Platte, east of the Black Hills, is within easy distance
of the railroad at Cheyenne, Pine Blufis, Sidney, and Julesburg. An abundance of
timber can be had in the Black Hills for fencing and building purposes for all ranca
and stock men in any of these valleys.

Extent and resources of the North Platte Basin.—There is in this North Platte Basin,
east of the Black Hills divide, at least eight million acres of pasturage, with the finest
and most lasting streams, and good shelter in the bluffs and cations. As*I have said
before, we can only judge of the extent and resources of such a single region by com-
parison. Ohio has six million sheep, yielding eighteen million pounds of wool, bring-
ing her farmers an aggregate of four and one-half million dollars. This eight million
acres of pasture would at least feed eight million sheep, yielding twenty-four million
pounds of wool, and at the same price as Ohio wool, six million dollars. Now, that
money, instead of going to build up ranches, stock farms, storehouses, wooden mills,
and all the components of a great and thrifty settlement, is sent by our wool-growers
and woollen manufacturers to Buenos Ayres, to Africa and Australia, to enrich other
people and other lands, while our wool-growing resources remain undeveloped.

The great Laramie Plains—As you follow the North Platte up through the Black
Hill Cation you come out on to the great Laramie Plains, which lie between the Black
Hills on the east and the Snowy Range on the west. These plains are ninety miles
north and south and sixty miles east and west. They are watered by the Big and
Little Laramie Rivers, Deer Creek, Rock Creek, Medicine Bow River, Cooper Creek,
and other tributuries of the North Platte. It is on the extreme northern portion of
these plains, in the valley of Deer Creek, that General Reynolds wintered curing the
winter of 1860, and of which he remarks, on pages seventy-four and seventy-five of his
“Explorations of the Yellowstone,” as follows:

General Reynolds’s Report.—Throughout the whole season’s march the subsistence of
our animals had been obtained by grazing after we had reached our camp in the after-
noon, and for an hour or two between the dawn of day and our time of starting. The
consequence was, that when we reached our winter quarters there were but few
animals in the train that were in a condition to have continued the march without a
generous grain diet. Poorer and more broken-down creatures it would be difficult to
find. In the spring they were in as fine condition for commencing another season’s
work as could be desired. <A greater change in their appearance could not have been
produced, even if they had been grain-fed and stable-housed all winter.. Only one was
lost, the furious storm of December coming on before it had gained sufficient strength
to endure it. The fact that seventy exhausted animals, turned out to winter on the
plains the first of November, came out in the spring in the best condition and with the
loss of but one of their number, is the most forcible commentary I can make on the
quality of the grass and the character of the winter.

These plains have been favorite herding grounds of the buffalo away back in the pre-
historic age of this country. Their bones lie bleaching in all directions, and their
paths, deeply worn, cover the whole plain like a net-work. Their “wallows,” where
these shaggy lords of animal creation tore deep pits into the surface of the ground, are
still to be seen. Elk, antelope, and deer still feed here, and the mountain sheep are
found on the mountain sides and in the more secluded valleys of the Sierra Madre
range, all proving conclusively that this has afforded winter pasturage from time im-
memorial. Since 1849 many herds of work oxen, belonging to emigrants, freighters,
and ranchmen, have grazed here each winter. It is on these plains, in the Laramie
Valley, that Messrs. Creighton and Hutton have their sheep, horses, and cattle, and of
which Mr. Edward Creighton, president of the First National Bank of Omaha, says:

| Extract from Edward Creighton’s letter.]

“The last four winters I have been raising stock, and have had large herds of cows
and calves in the valley of the Laramie. The present winter I have wintered about
eight thousand head. They have done exceedingly well. We have lost very few
through the whole winter, and those lost were very thin when winter commenced. We
had no shelter but the bluffs and hills, and no feed but the wild uncut grass of the
country,

“We have had 3,000 sheep the past winter, and they are in the best of order; many
are being sold daily for mutton. Like the cattle, they require no food or shelter.

252 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

“The high, rolling character bf the country, and the dry climate, and short, sweet
grass of the numerous hillsides, are extremely favorable to sheep-raising and wool-
rowing.”
3 There are many other stock-raisers on the plains besides Creighton and Hutton,
and there is room for hundredsmore. On this plain the settler is near the great forests
of pine in the mountains, and in the coal fields of the Rocky Mountains, with several
kinds of iron ore, building stone, limestone, and fire-clay. The valleys of Rock Creek,
Medicine Bow, and the two Laramies afford large quantities’of hay. On these plains
alone there is, apparently, no limit to the grazing. The railroad bisects these pasture
lands about evenly east and west, giving good facilities for transportation.

North Park.—South of the Laramie Plains is the North Park, one of three great parks
of the Rocky Mountains, so fully described by Richardson, Bross, and Bowles. This
North Park is formed by the great Snowy Range. It is a valley from six to eight thou-
sand feet high, ninety miles long, and forty miles wide, surrounded by snowy mount-
ains from thirteen to fifteen thousand feet high. These mountain tops and sides are
completely cotered with dense growths of forests; the lower hillsides and this great
valley are covered with grasses. The forests and mountains afford ample shelter from
sweeping winds. Here as well as on the Laramie Plains the buffalo grazed in great
herds, and here the Ute hunters, from some hiding caiion, dashed down among them
on their trained and fleet ponies, shooting their arrows with unerring aim on all sides,
and having such glorious sport as kings might court and envy. The Indians are now
gone from this valley, and the buffalo nearly so. On the two million acres in this val-
ley not twenty head of cattle graze.

This great park, splendidly watered by the three forks of the Platte, and by a hun-
dred small streams that drain these lofty mountains of their snows and rains—rich in
all kinds of nutritious grasses; plentifully supplied with timber; on the tertiary coal
fields, with iron, copper, lead, and gold—has not one real settler. There are a few
miners, but where there should be flocks and herds of sheep and cattle without num-
ber, there is only the wild game—the. elk, antelope, and deer.

Demonstrated facts.—The season of 1870 has been a memorable one in the stock busi-
ness on the Plains. It commenced in doubt, but closes with unlimited confidence in ~
the complete practicability and profits of stock-growing and winter grazing.

Increase of cattle in the West.—The number of cattle in the country west of the Missouri
River and east of the Snowy Range is now double, if not four times larger than in 1869.
Its present magnitude and future prospects entitle it to a full share of public attention.

Shipments of beef to eastern markets.—T wo years ago our beef and cattle were brought
from the East. To-day, cattle buyers from Chicago and New York are stopping at
every station on our railroads, and buying cattle in all our valleys for eastern con-
sumption. It is safe to predict that 15,000 head of beeves will be shipped from our
valleys east {he present season. During the past week I have visited some of the great
herds on the Plains, and will give your readers an account of them.

The great herds.—The herds of Edward Creighton, Charles Hutton, and Thomas Alsop
are grazed on the Big Laramie, which is a tributary of the North Platte. The Laramie
Valley is between the Black Hills and the Medicine Bow Range. It is about one hun-
dred miles long and thirty miles wide. It is about midway in this valley, and six miles
from the railroad station at Laramie, that these gentlemen have located their stock
ranches. They have extensive houses, stables, and corrals. As we leave the station
on a beautiful August morning, (which is characterized by the clearest of blue skies
and golden sunlight,) you see Mount Agassiz directly in front of you, while Mount Dix
and Mount Dodge, with snow-covered tops, are respectively on the right and left.

We follow up the Laramie on a smooth road, which is like rolling the wheels over a
floor. We follow the windings of the stream, which is clear as crystal, and pure as the
snow from which its waters have just come. We first come to a heard of 4,000 half and
three-quarter-breed cows; that is, there are none more than one-half Texan, and many
only one-fourth. They are known among cattle dealers as short-horned Texas cattle.
There are 3,600 calves in this herd that are from three-eighths to one-half Durham.
These cows have been here on the Plains one winter and two summers. All the dry
cows are exceedingly fat, and many of the cows, with calves by their sides, are good
beef. In this herd are many two-year-olds and yearlings, all fat for the butcher, so far
as their condition is concerned. In all this herd there are as many as 9,000 head of
cattle—4,000 cows, 3,600 calves, 1,000 two-year-olds, and 500 yearlings.

Their habits—They range over a country fifteen by twenty miles. The cows and
calves run together the year around, and in fact are never separated, but run in families
of four, generally, cow, calf, yearling, and two-year-old. They are to be found on the
river bottoms in the middle of the day, where they had come about 11 o’clock for water.
They return about 4 o’clock in the afternoon to the high grounds, where the rich bunch
and nutritious gramma grasses are abundant, and feed till night and lie down on the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 253

warm sandy soil till next morning, when they feed till the heat of the day. It is inter-
esting to see the habits of these cattle when unrestrained by herders. They travel back
and forth to the water and grazing ground in families and little herds, in single file,
like their predecessors of the soil, the buffalo, forming deep paths or trails like them.
After having spent three or four hours looking at this herd we pass up the river to the
beef herd, which consists of 3,500 fat Texas cattle, in the very highest order at which
grass-fed cattle arrive in this world. These cattle have been here one or two seasons,
and will weigh upon an average, live weight, 1,300 pounds. They could all be sold
to-day for eastern markets at good figures. They have yet three months of good weather
to fatten this season, when, with 5,000 more, bought by these enterprising men and
on the way here, they will be sold east or slaughtered and sent east in the quarter.

There is, still higher up the stream and nearer the mountains, a stock herd of year-
lings and two-year-olds, that occupy our time for an hour or two.

Blooded stock cattle—Then we cross over to Sand Creek, a small branch of the Lara-
mie, and see the herd of American cattle, which, including Hutton’s and Alsop’s, num-
bers 400, mostly cows. They are as fine stock as can be found anywheres Among this
herd are several fine-graded Durham bulls and two thoroughbreds that were bought in
Ohio at high prices. These parties are owners of 300 blooded bulls, from which the
finest calves are being raised by the cross between them and the graded Texan cow.
It is interesting for the stock man to see these calves, which show the Durham so clearly
in every instance—another proof of the general law that the stronger and better blooded
of the two races will give form and impress to the progeny. This fact is remarkably
illustrated in these herds. Thesecond and third crosses, leaving no trace of the Texan
blood.

Here on this ranch are 300 brood mares, and some young stock, yearling and two-
year-old colts which have been raised here, and have never been fed nor sheltered.
They are as large and fine colts as are raised anywhere. These brood mares and colts
are herded, but never stabled nor fed winters.

Sheep.—-We next proceed to these flocks of sheep, which in all number more than
10,000 head, besides the lambs—of these there are 3,000—making in all 13,000. Some
of these are from New Mexico, but the great majority are from Iowa, and are fine
Merino sheep. They will average fully five pounds of wool per head. Ample shelters
have been provided them in case of storm. Much the larger number of these flocks are
ewes. The owners expect to raise 6,000 lambs, and to shear 65,000 pounds of wool next

ear.
2 These parties have about five miles of fence,inclosing hay grounds, pastures for
riding stock, and other purposes. They have, in all, more than $300,000 invested here,
which is a sufficient commentary upon their enterprise, foresight, and courage. They
are the great stock princes of the mountains. Of all living men they have done most
to solve this question of winter grazing.

We next proceed to the Little Laramie, where Messrs. Mautle & Bath have 400 head
of American and half-breed stock; they are at the old stage-road crossing, and have
some fine blooded stock. Above them, behind Sheep Mountain, directly under the
white top of Mount Dodge, named after General Dodge, on the head of the Little Lara-
mnie, is a valley twenty miles long and ten miles wide, divided about equally by the
north, middle, and south forks of that stream. These are rapid running streams that
never freeze in winter. They have groves of timber on their banks and bottom lands,
furnishing shade in summer and shelter in winter. This valley is a pocket in the
mountains, having only one point of ingress and no egress but by the same way. Here
are 2,900 cattle owned by Lambard & Gray, of New York, Captain Coates, of the Army,
and the subscriber. Three men are able to herd them, from the nature of the valley,
and it is certainly a cattle paradise. Of this herd, 1,200 are cows, 700 two-year-olds,
300 yearlings, and 700 calves. This stock is short-horned Texan, and a good lot of
stock cattle.

Lliff’s herds on Crow Creek.—After leaving this herd, we take a three-hours’ run on the
railroad, which takes us across the Black Hills to Cheyenne, which is the headquarters
of J. W. Wliff. His cattle range is down Crow Creek to the Platte, twenty to thirty
miles. On this grazing ground he has 6,700 cattle, classed as follows: 3,500 beeves,
2,000 cows, and 1,200 calves. The stock cattle are halfbreeds, except yearlings and
calves, which he has raised, and which show the Durham cross. The beeves are
heavy, fat cattle, ranging in live weight from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. This whole range
down Crow Creek, from Cheyenne to the Platte, affords the best of grasses, and the
creek bluffs shelter the stock completely from storms. Mr. Iliff has been the owner of
great herds of cattle in the last twelve years, and is firm in the faith that this is the
place to raise beef for eastern markets. His cattle have sold in Chicago market from
five to six cents per pound, live weight, this season. The whole 3,500 head of beeves
will be shipped east this fall. Mr. Iliff is another of those who have demonstrated to
the world that we have winter grazing, and in so doing he has made a fortune. Long
may such men live to enjoy their fortunes! ;

254 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

On the other side of the Platte, on the Bijou, are the herds of the Patterson Brothers,
Reynolds, and John Hitson. These herds number 8,000 head of cattle, 6,000 of them
being beef-cattle. The Patterson Brothers are great cattle-raisers and dealers. They
own ranches on the Arkansas River, at Bent’s Old Fort, and on the Pecos River, below
Fort Sumner, in New Mexico. They have handled hundreds of thousands of dollars’
worth of cattle in the last five years.

John Hitson is another of the great cattle-raisers and dealers in New Mexico. His
herds are numbered by the thousands. His operations are transferred to Colorado now,
and so are those of the Patterson Brothers. On Box Elder Creek, which is a branch of
the Caché la Poudre, is the ranch and stock range of Mr. Whitcombe, an old settler of
Colorado. He has 2,000 stock cattle and some fine blooded bulls. This range and
shelter are perfect. "

Reed & Wyatt, on the Platte, nearer Denver, have 1,000 head of stock and beef
cattle. They are about adding largely to their number.

Farwell Brothers, Greeley, have 200 head of fine American cattle.

Baily, on the south side of the Platte from Greeley, has 460 head of Durham and
Devon stock,'and 2,000 sheep.

Geary, on the Platte, has 300 head of American cattle.

The Lemons, at Greeley, have 400 head of American stock. In this neighborhood
Ashcraft has 400 head of American cattle; Munson has 800 head of cattle and 3,000
sheep. Up the Caché la Poudre are twenty large stock-raisers.

On the Big and Little Thompsons there are some five herds of blooded stock.

After you leave Evans and go south toward Denver, the whole country seems one
pasture covered with stock. I traveled over this same ground in 1869, and I am sure
there are fully three times as many cattle here now asthen. There are hundreds of
farmers on the Lone Tree Creek, Caché la Poudre, Big and Little Thompson’s Creeks,
St. Vrain’s, and the many other streams which flow from the mountains to the Platte,
who have from one hundred to one thousand head of cattle, a description of whose herds
and grazing grounds would take too much space in an article of this kind.

Shipments of cattle West.—Colorado has sold an immense number of cattle this season
to Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. It is safe to say that Montana will receive
twenty thousand head of cattle during the season of 1870, four-fifths of which are from
Colorado. Many have gone to Utah, Nevada, and Idaho from the same source, and yet,
ten years ago, the commercial and stock-growing people of the East did not know that
Colorado contained a thousand acres of grassland. To-day they have no idea of the
magnitude of her grazing resources.

Leaving Colorado we find some herds along the base of the Black Hills.

North of Cheyenne.—H. Kelly, on the “Chug,” has 500 stock cattle. Hesold 100 head
of American beeves at $70 per head.

Messrs. Ward & Bullock, at Fort Laramie, have 200 head of American cattle.

Adolph Cuny, so long a resident on the North Platte, has a herd of 1,000 stock cattle
between Forts Laramie and Fetterman.

Between Cheyenne and Sidney, on the line of the railroad, there are several small
herds. At Sidney are the Moore Brothers, who have 12,000 sheep and lambs, and 1,400
cattle; 400 of the latter are American and very fine. The sheep sheared an average of
five pounds of wool per head last spring. They are graded merinos, and are in fine
condition. There is no disease among them. The Moore Brothers were ranchmen on
the South Platte prior to the day of railroads, and are about returning to that stream
for grazing. Their place is the valley station of olden fame on the stage road. Above
them, on the Platte, at the old “Junction,” Mr. Mark Boughton has 2,500 stock cattle.
He has as fine a cattle range as there is in the world, not excluding the Pampas of
South America nor table lands of Australia.

Farther down the Platte, at O’Fallon’s Bluffs, on the north side of the South Platte,
Creighton & Parks have 3,500 stock cattle, 400 of which are Durhams. They range
twenty miles up and down the Platte. Near them, below, is the herd of Mr. Keith, of
North Platte Station, who has about 1,000 head.

Mr. M. H. Brown has 500 head of stock cattle and beeves near the same place.

Across the Platte, in the neighborhood of McPherson, the Bent Brothers have 1,000
head of stock cattle, and will add another 1,000 the present season.

Messrs. Carter & Coe have a large herd near there, which numbers near a thousand.

Mr. Benjamin Gallagher has 1,200 head at the old Gilman ranche, twelve miles from
McPherson.

Progress this season.—More real progress has been made in stock matters west of the
Missouri this season than in all time before. We have not only added to the numbers of
our herds and flocks, but we have given confidence to all our stock-growers and to
eastern people in the permanency and profit of grazing in the Trans-Missouri country.

We are now in easy reach of eastern markets. The railways are landing the heaviest
cattle in Chicago from the Rocky Mountains at $9 and $10 per head; we can sell thou-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 255

sands and tens of thousandsannually to the Pacific slope, and there is still an all-absorb-
ing home demand to stock our thousands of valleys.

The future.—As every country in the West receives a new emigrant, and his plow
turns the grass under, that corn and wheat may grow in its stead, the range of the
stock-grower is that much contracted and the area of grazing lessened. By reason of
the high value of Jands for grain-growing purposes the people of the country east of
the Mississippi River are already coming to us for beef andmutton. Chicago and New
York people are enjoying the juicy steaks from cattle fattened on our nutritious grasses
that grow in our valleys and on our mountain sides, close up to the perpetual snows of
the Rocky Mountains.

As immigration takes up more and more of the pastures east of us for grain, drovers
will be obliged more and more to come to us for beef. Texas, the great hive of cattle,
has received three hundred thousand settlers this season. The grazing area of that
State has been lessened at least a million acres thereby. Everywhere events point to
this Trans-Missouri country as the future dependence of the east for wool, beef, mutton,
and horses. “4

H. LATHAM,
Surgeon Union Pacific Railroad.

TEXAS CATTLE.

The following article from Dr. Latham on the cattle of Texas is very
interesting, and may be appropriately inserted here: ;

Texas is truly the cattle hive of North America. While New York, with her 4,900,000
inhabitants, and her settlements two and a half centuries old, has 748,000 oxen and
stock cattle; while Pennsylvania, with more than 3,000,000 people, has 721,000 cattle ;
while Ohio, with 3,000,000 people, has 749,000 cattle; while Illinois, with 2,800,000
people, has 867,000 cattle; and while Iowa, with 1,200,000 people, has 686,000 cattle,
Texas, and forty years of age, and with her 500,000 people, had 2,000,000 head of oxen
and other cattle, exclusive of cows, in 1867, as shown by the returns of the county as-
sessors. In 1870, allowing for the difference between the actual number of cattle owned
and the number returned for taxation, there must, be fully 3,000,000 head of beeves and
stock cattle. This is exclusive of cows, which, at the same time, are reported at 600,000
head. In 1870, they must number 800,000, making a grand total of 3,800,000 head of
cattle in Texas. One-fourth of these are beeves, one-fourth are. cows, and the other
two-fourths are yearlings and two-year-olds. There would, therefore, be 950,000 beeves,
,950,000 cows, and 1,900,000 young cattle.
There are annually raised and branded 750,000 calves.
These cattle are raised on the great plains of Texas, which contains 152,000,000 acres.

Where they live.—In the vast regions watered by the Rio Grande, Nueces, Gaudalupe,
San Antonio, Colorado, Leon, Brazos, Trinity, Sabine, and Red Rivers, these millions
of cattle graze upon almost tropical growths of vegetation. They are owned by the
ranchmen, who own from 1,000 to 75,000 head each. ,

Great ranches.—I will describe one or two of these great ranches, which will repre-
sent to your readers the large ranches of this cattle hive. On the Santa Catrutos River
is the ranch of Colonel Richard King, known as the “Santa Catrutos Ranch.” This
ranch consists of nineteen Spanish triggeus of land, or 84,132 acres. It is watered
plentifully by the Santa Catrutos River and its tributaries. On this ranch are the
immense number of 65,000 cattle, 10,000 horses, 7,000 sheep, and 8,000 goats. One
thousand saddle-horses and 300 Mexicans are constantly employed in heiding, gather-
ing, and driving this stock.

Colonel King brands annually 12,000 calves and sells 10,000 beef cattle yearly, and
invests the proceeds in stock cattle, thereby adding to his vast herds, in addition to
their natural increase.

O’Connor’s ranch, twenty miles below Goliad, on the San Antonio River, is another
princely estate. He had 40,000 cattle in 1862, and branded 11,772 calves, and was sell-
ing from $75,000 to $80,000 worth of beef-cattle annually. The foundations for this
wealth were laid in 1852, when he commenced grazing with 1,500 cattle.

The Robideaux ranch, on the Gulf, between the mouths of the Rio Grande and the
Nueces, owned by Mr. Kennedy, contains 142,840 acres. It is a fertile peninsula jut-
ting out into the Gulf, and is fenced on three sides by the waters of the Gulf. The other
side is fenced by thirty miles of plank fence; every three miles of this fence has a
little ranch for Mexican herders. In this inclosure are 30,000 beef cattle alone, besides
the other stock. These three are types of the men in the older cattle-growing region
near the Gulf.

The frontier counties are all rich in stock. Jack Young, Throgmorton, Stevens, Cal-

lahan, Coleman, Brown, Torrent, Elrath, Comanche, Palo Pinto, Hitt, and Johnson are

256 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

all great stock counties. These counties comprise the country drained by the thousands
of streams that form the Rio Grande, Nueces, Gaudalupe, San Antonio, Colorado, Leon,
Brazos, Trinity, Sabine, and Red Rivers, and is one of the best-watered regions in
America. The bluffs and table lands bordering and between these streams are covered
with “bunch,” “ buffalo,” and mesquit grasses.

The cattle princes of these counties are John Hittson, who has 50,000 cattle ; William
Hittson, who has 8,000 head; George Beavers, 6,000; Charles Rivers, 10,000; James
Brown, 15,000; C. J. Johnson, 8,000; S. E. Jackson, 4,000; Robert Sloan, 12,000, (halt
Durham stock); Anderson Brothers, 6,000; Coggins & Parks, 20,000; Samuel Vanghn,
6,000; Martin Childers, 10,000; Cunningham, 8,000; Mauskow, 8,000; Lacy & Colman,
12,000; John Chisholm, 30,000.

Jack Hittson.—John Hittson’s raneh is in Palo Pinto County, on the Brazos River,
where he has 50,000 cattle ; he has 300 saddle-horses and 50 herders. He drives about
10,000 head of cattle north annually. Eighteen years ago he was working from day-
light till dark in Rust County, Tennessee, a timbered section, felling trees, cutting,
roliing, and burning logs, and clearing the land to raise a little corn and wheat. From
experience in the forests of Tennessee, he knew that it would take the three score and
ten years of a natural life to clear away the trees and wear out the stumps, and not
fancying the doom of hard labor for life he sold his land, and with 60 Texan cows and
9 brood mares turned his face toward the setting sun and the grass regions of the
Brazos. Less than a score of years have passed and he has 50,000 head of cattle and
as many acres of land. Hittson is about forty years old, six feet in height, and broad-
shouldered. Has an honest, sunburnt face, with a square, firm-set under jaw, which,
as I looked at it, I thought was shut a little firmer, giving him a more determined look
than it would otherwise, but for a dozen or two encounters with the fierce and insatia-
ble Comanches, who knew Hittson and his old, long, muzzle-loading rifle well, and now
know him with his “Winchester.” [have often wondered what they thought when they
pounced on him with his new “‘ Winchester,” and received ten shots in a minute instead
of one in five minutes. They must have thought the old rifle bewitched. At any rate,
_ they will give him a wide berth, unless they can creep upon him as the hunter does
upon the buffalo bull he does not dare to face. Mr. Hittson is establishing a ranch on
the South Platte, near old Fort Morgan, for use as his general northern headquarters.
He will winter 5,000 cattle there this year, and bring 10,000 head there for sale next
season.

John Chisholm, on the Concho River, is another of the cattle-raisers and drivers of
Northwestern Texas, who carries on the business on a princely scale, and whose experi-
ence is much like that of Hittson.

Of the thousands of owners of the 3,800,000 head of cattle in Texas, not one hundred
commenced with large means. They have built themselves up from small beginnings,®
like Hittson and Chisholm.

Markets.—The surplus stock is disposed of by packing, by shipping by steamer to the
Gulf States, by driving due north to Abilene, Kansas, and Schuyler, Nebraska, and by
the northwestern route to the Pecos River, where the droves divide, some going to
Arizona and California by the southern route, the greater number, however, keeping a
northern course up the Pecos River to the Arkansas River, crossing at and above Bent’s
Old Fort, and thence along the eastern base of the mountains, through Colorado and
across the Black Hills to the Union Pacific Railroad, and on to the, great valleys and
markets of Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and the Pacific States.

Drovers of the northwestern trade.—The parties engaged in this trade are: John Hittson,
who has driven 7,000 cattle this season; John Chisholm, 6,000; Frank Turkersly, 1,500;
McKidrick, 1,500; Stephen Jones, 2,000; W. A. & W. P. Black, 1,500; James Hart,
1,100; Wilson, 800; J. B. Henderson, 1,600; William Forsythe, 1,500; C. C. Campbell,
3,000; Henry Martin, 1,000; Robert Wyte, 1,500; Samuel Goldston, 1,500; John Ander-
son, 1,500; James Patterson, 8,000; George F. Reynolds, 5,500; Charles Goodnight,
5,000, and Martin Caven, 1,200. Itis estimated by Texas drovers, who have had fine
opportunities to judge, that 100,000 cattle have been driven from Texas on this route
during the season of 1870. Of this number Montana has taken 20,000, Wyoming 8,000,
Utah 8,000, Idaho 11,000, Nevada 7,000, and California 10,000; the other 36,000 have
been sold in New Mexico and Colorado—principally in Colorado.

The beeves are selected out before the herds leave the Black Hills west. If fat, they
are at once shipped for Chicago and New York; if thin, they are left in the valleys of
Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska to fatten.

The amount of money handled by bankers along the base of the mountains from
Cheyenne to Trinidad isenormous. Ihave no data from which to calculate the amount,
but it cannot be less than $1,250,000. Every settler who comes into any of these moun-
tain Territories, every mine that is opened, every Indian who goes onto reserves and is
fed, every soldier who-is brought into the country, creates an additional demand for
stock cattle and beef. As astounding as the figures may seem, the supply has not been
nearly adequate to meet the demand.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 257

Great preparations are being made in Northwestern Texas to gather together herds
which in numbers have not been heard of before.

Abilene and Schuyler.—Abilene has been the great market this year. At that place
the receipts of cattle have reached the enormous figures of 200,000 head. The ship-
ments for the month of September amounted to 60,000 head, or 3,333 car loads, or 111
car loads per day, for the great corn-fields of Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. It is antici-
pated that the shipments will reach 75,000 in October.

This great cattle trade at Abilene, which has assumed such gigantic proportions, was
initiated in 1867, and has therefore counted only four.seasons. In 1867, 75,000 head of
stock were received; in 1868, 125,000; in 1869, 150,000; in 1870, 200,000. In 1869, one
bank alone in Kansas City handled $3,000,000 cattle money. The cattle driven and sold
here are from the eastern part of the State, from the Rio Grande to the Red Rivers.

At Schuyler, this year, which was an experiment only, 27,000 cattle were sold. The
First National Bank of Omaha handled $500,000 in consequence of this cattle business.
Iam informed by those who. know that 40,000 more cattle could have been sold if they
had been at Schuyler. Next year it is hoped the supply will reach 100,000, as the de-
mand for Nebraska, lowa, Southwestern Minnesota, and Dakota will certainly require
that number.

Packing is one of the great means of disposing of the cattle of Texas. Allen & Poole,
of Galveston, are packing immense numbers of cattle at Galveston, Indianola, and at
Shreveport and other places. J am informed that they own more cattle than any other
firm in the State. This salted beef finds market in our great castern cities, with our
navy and merchant marine, and in every beef-buying market of Europe.

Refrigerator cars are looked forward anxiously to, to take the place of live shipments
as cheaper, healthier, and with no loss by long travel without food. Tf such shipments
prove successful, every market east of the Missouri River and west of the Sierra
Nevadas will receive beef from Texas.

Such is the colossal cattle-raising, driving, and shipping in and from Texas, built up
where there were no markets and no railroads to stimulate it. What may we expect
it to be now that there is a demand for it in every valley and on every prairie west of
the Alleghany Mountains, and in every beef-buying market in the Atlantie States?

GENERAL REMARKS.
THE PLAINS.

At present one of the most important and interesting of the many
questions relating to the great West:is, How can the Plains be made
useful to man? And this, so far as it relates to agriculture, involves
two other inquiries, as follows: How much of it can be irrigated to
that extent required for the production of useful crops? And how
much of the remainder can be profitably used as pastoral lands? The
answers to these questions are of no small importance in the political
economy of the nation, but, on the contrary, deserve and should receive
the attention of our statesmen. That which adds to the material
wealth and productive energies of a nation is of far more importance
than that which simply represents value, although the latter often
receives more attention than the former.

Take, for instance, the broad belt of country situated between the
99th and 104th meridians, and reaching from the Big Horn Mountains
on the north to the Llano Hstacado on the south, containing about on
hundred and fifty thousand square miles. Must this vast area remain
forever unproductive and useless, without a vigorous effort being made
to redeem it and make it valuable? If but one-fifth of it could be
brought under culture and made productive, this alone, when fully im-
proved, would add $400,000,000 to the aggregate value of the lands
of the nation. And taking the lowest estimate of the cash value of
the crops of 1869 per acre,* it would give an addition of more than
$200,000,000 per annum to the aggregate value of our products.

But returning to the inquiries before us, I may state with all conii-
dence, in answer to the latter, that the extent of the pastoral lands is
fully equal to all the demands, for grazing purposes, of the population

*Agricultural Report, 1869.
17 G

258 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

that will ever occupy this region. The first inquiry cannot be correctly
answered until we have received more data than at present in our pos-
session. Yet the answer is not impossible, for it may be given with suffi-
cient approximation for practical purposes. Let the following statisties
be procured, and then the solution can easily be obtained by simple eal-
etulation.

First, the extent of the land sufficiently level for cultivation and irri-
gation upon which water can be brought from the streams of this sec-
tion; second, the rate of the descent of these streams and of the plains
across which they flow; third, the amount of the rain-fall during that
portion of the year when it is needed to supply the growing crops with
moisture ; fourth, the volume of water that flows down from the mount-
sins and enters upon the plains during the same season.

Sufficient statistics in the first, second, and third classes have already
been obtained to indicate the result; but, before presenting these I may
state, in order to limit our investigation as much as possible, that we
may confine them to that part of the Plains lying west of the 99th me-
ridian, as east of this the precipitation of rain is generally sufficient to
supply the demands of agriculture, and it is more than probable that
any deficiency that may exist there will be compensated by the increase
that will probably occur when the water is more equally distributed over
the western part of the Plains.

1. As to the extent of the levelland. The answer may be given, in
general terms, that this is equal to the utmost capacity of the streams
that traverse this section; nor is it worth while to give particulars to
prove this assertion, as a simple glance of the eye of the traveler, as he
passes across this broad expanse, will satisfy him of its truth. One
single view from a slightly-elevated point often embraces a territory
equal to one of the smaller States, taking in at one sweep millions of
actes. Eastern Colorado and Eastern Wyoming each contains as much
Jand sufficiently level for cultivation as the entire cultivated area of
Egypt.

2. Is the rate of descent of the streams sufficient to carry the water
upon these lands? In my description of the various sections I have
already answered this inquiry in part; but as these statements have °
principally applied to the country near the mountains, I will present
some statistics which are sufficient to give a general answer on this
point. The fall of the Arkansas from Cation City to the mouth
of Pawnee Fork (which is about the 99th meridian) varies from
fifteen to eleven feet to the mile. This is sufficient, with a canal one
hundred miles in length, to send its waters over a plain one thousand
feet high. The average fall of the Canadian is about the same. From
Denver Junction to Fort Hays, near the assumed meridian, the descent
is nine feet to the mile; sufficient, with a canal one hundred miles long,
to pour the waters of the South Platte on a plain six hundred feet high.
The fall of the South Platte between Denver and its junction with the
North Platte is about ten feet to the mile, and that of the North Platte
from Fort Fetterman to the same junction is a little over seven feet to
the mile. These figures give a favorable answer to the second inquiry,
showing that the descent of the streams and plains is sufficient to allow
even the higher table lands to be irrigated, leaving only the question of
a supply of water. I have not brought into this investigation the in-
quiry in regard to the productiveness of the soil, for I take it for granted
that wherever it can be irrigated it is productive.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 259

Water is the thing demanded, the only element needed except the
application of human energy, to render this broad area productive
Nature has supplied all the other elements, ready for use. But how
much water is necessary? From the best records at hand we learn that
the region around Washington City receives twenty-one inches rain-fall
‘during the spring and summer months; that around New York, 23; the
vicinity of Cincinnati, 25; Missouri, 26; Michigan, 15; and the region
around Leave aworth, 20. But George P. Marsh, € following the state-
ment of Boussingault, tells us that seventeen. and one- third inches suffice
for the sandy soil and dry climate of Egypt, counting one hundred and
fifty days as the length of the irrigating season. As there is no rain
there, this entire amount must be furnished by irrigation.

As shown by experience in Jumna, in India, a discharge of one cubic
foot of water per second is sufficient to irrigate two hundred and eighteen
acres—one hundred and fifty days here, aiso, being assumed as the irri-
gating season.t Thisis equivalent to about sixteen and one-third inches,
to which must be added one-fifth, (the rain supplying one-sixth of the
whole amount,) which gives a total of about nineteen and one-half
inches. This varies but little from the estimate given by Marsh, and
falls between the amounts as given for Michigan and Leavenworth.
Assuming the amount given by Marsh to be a sufficient supply for the
growing season on the Plains, we arrive at the third inquiry.

3. What portion of this is furnished by the rain-fall during this part
of the year? We have but little data upon this point, yet sufficient is
known to enable us to make an approximate estimate. The meteor-
ological records kept at Fort Laramie, Santa Fé, and Fort Lyon (as given
by Blodget, Foster, and Hlliot) show the average rain-fall for the spring
and summer, taken together, as follows:

Fort Laramie, 14.39 inches; Santa Fé, 11.73; Fort Lyon, 6.36. An
vverage of these three places is 10.82 inches, which, deducted from
17.54, the amount of water necessary, leaves 6.52 inches to be supplied
by irrigation. But I think this estimate of the rain-fall on the Plains is
too large, and that a further examination of the more recent observa-
tions and records will reduce it. I judge that seven inches, or, to make
the remainder a round number, 7.34 inches, will be much nearer the
correct figure. Nor do I arbitrarily assume this average, but from
incomplete data, not necessary to be repeated here. If too small, the
calculations based upon it are certainly safe; if too large, the error will
be much less than it would be if we assume the larger amount, and it
must be very near the iowest possible average, which, for the dryest
sections, is seldom placed less than five inches. This, then, will leave
10.34, or, in round numbers, ten inches to be supplied by irrigation.

4. Now, an answer to the fourth question—what is the volume of
water brought down by the streams during the spring and summer ?—
would enable us to tell at once the area that can be rendered tillable by
the aid of irrigation. But, unfortunately, at this point we are without
reliable statistics. Few or no streams have been accurately measured
with this object in view, and but few have even been roughly estimated.
While in Italy and India this has been a matter of careful study; the ~
necessity for irrigating any of our lands having been but recently felt,
it has not been attended to. But the rapid influx of population into
the great plains and mountain regions of the West is causing the im-
portance of attention not only to this, but to all that bears upon irri-
gation, to be felt more and more each year.

* Tn “Man and Nature.”
tSmith’s Italian hrigation, vol. I, p. 378.

260 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

The rough estimate I made of the volume of water in the North
Platte, near the Old Bridge, above Fort Fetterman, showed a discharge
of about fourteen hundred cubic feet per second. The width at a nar-
row and somewhat rapid point was Supposed to be about one hundred
and sixty feet; the average depth two feet; the rate of the eurrent
about three miles to the hour. The river at this season (August) was
low—at most, not more than two-thirds or one half its usual size in the
spring. Supposing it to have been two-thirds, this would give, as the
average discharge during the irrigating season, two thousand one hun-
dred eubie feet per second. Calculating by the rule given by Captain
Smith as applicable to the dryer sub-Himalayan districts—that one
enbic foot per second irrigates two hundred and eighteen acres—we
obtain the following result: As but ten-sixteenths of the water required
there is necessary here, it follows that one cubic foot will irrigate 348.8
acres, or, in round numbers, three hundred and fifty acres. This gives
the total amount which can be watered during the season of one hun-
dred and fifty days, by a canal drawing off the water at this point, at
seven hundred and thirty -five thousand acres, or nearly eleven hundred

and fifty square miles. As no area, when most densely populated and
in the highest state of cultivation, wili ever require more than one-half
of the land to be absolutely and fully watered each year, we may esti-
mate the territory that can be brought into use by such a canal at one
milion four hundred and seventy thousand acres, or two thousand three
hundred square miles; which would add at least $25,909,000 to the
value of our real estate, and fully $10,000,000 to the yearly value of our
productions.

Calculating by the method which Marsh has adopted, the result is
very nearly the same. The daily distribution would be .067 of an inch ;
at which rate the area irrigated would be eleven hundred and seventy
Square miles, or about seven hundred and forty-nine thousand acres.
These results show a difference of less than two per cent., which is
somewhat remarkable considering the entirely different stand-points
from which they start.

Jt may be argued that this calculation makes no allowance for the
loss; but that it is based upon the assumption that all the water is made
effective. This is a mistake, for it is based upon actual experiments,
showing the flow of water necessary to irrigate a given area, including
all loss except the absorption by the bottom and walls of the canals;
and this in India, even in the sandy districts, does not exceed five per
cent.

This calealation is certainly a safe one, as*the rain-fall is reduced
nearly one-third below that given by the authorities on the subject, and
the lowest figures are used in regard to every other item. The.point of
the Platte selected for observation was favorable, as it presented about
an average of velocity. Taking the average fall at only seven feet to
the mile, if we follow the rule given by Dwyer in his “ Treatise on
Hydraulic Engineering,” the velocity would be about two hundred and
ninety-five feet per minute, while I have assumed it to be but two hun-
dred and sixty four feet.

Another point connected with this subject, but wpon which I have no
information, is certainly worthy of investigation; it is this: What will
be the result in the bed of the stream below the point from which the
water is drawn? Will it contain only the water furnished by the irib-
utaries entering into it below this point? In the tract of country in
India lying along the base of the Siwalic Hills, both east and west of the
Gznges, it has been noticed that, although all the water was drawn

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 261

from the bed of the stream, below this water would commence issuing
from the porous soil. So large is this supply in some instances, that
the amount due to percolation in the Jumna is estimated at one thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty ertbic feet per second, while the total.
amount at the canal heads is placed at but three thousand four hundred
and ninety cubic feet; showing a restoration by percolation of over fifty
per cent. The same thing has been observed in Northern Italy. M.
Lombardini states that the Ticino at Tornavento, the Adda at Cassano,
and the Oglio at Torre Pallavina, in times of great dryness, are entirely
closed and exhausted. Yet, without the aid of any visible affluent
whatever, the streams soon reappear, formed by new supplies derived
from percolation through the banks and springs in the beds, so that
they early again become navigable.

While itis not probable this would be the case at that distance out
upon the Plains where the streams now begin to sink, yet there is noth-
ing to forbid the presumption that it would occur nearer the mountains
and along those streams which have their sources in the showy ranges.
But it is necessary to study carefully all these points before the agricul-
tural capacity of the great West can be known.

In my estimates of the heights which might be reached by irrigating
ditches I have confined myself to the rule generally adopted in the
West, of giving tothem a descent of from three to five feet to the mile.
But the longitudinal slope of the Ganges Canal varies from twelve to
fifteen inches; and the larger canals in Italy generally have a descent
of from seventeen to twenty-four inches to the mile. . :

LAND GRANTS.

It may not be improper for me to say something in respect to the in-
fluence of land grants upon agriculture in this part of the West.

While I believe that the laws granting homesteads to actual settlers
are Wise and proper, and should not be abridged, yet I do not think -
that a fear of encroaching upon them should prevent such judicious
grants in that section as would have a tendency to develop it. I am
no advocate for the indiscriminate granting of land all over our country
wherever asked for. But where there is a section which cannot be de-
veloped without some aid of this kind,then it is wise in the Government
to bring it into use, if every foot of the soil be required to doit. The
question in such places is reduced to this one point: Shall the soil for-
ever remain idle and valueless, or shall it be brought into use by giving
portions of it for its redemption. ?

_ As remarked in the introduction, there are facts and principles which
hold good in the rain-moistened sections which entirely fail in the West.
In the former each quarter-section can be brought under cultivation
without any other preparation than clearing it of timber, save the
swamps and rugged mountains. But in the latter water must be
brought to the lands by means of ditches and canals, which, as in the
case of the higher levels and broader plains, often costs an outlay of
thousands of dollars. Hence combination or capital is necessary, in
order to do this at a reasonable cost per acre. The immediate bottoms
of the streams can and will be brought into use chiefly by individual
efforts, as here each farm can have its own acequia at a moderate ex-
pense. But these compose only a small proportion of the lands that are
susceptible of irrigation and culture. The greater part of the remainder
will require ditches or canals varying from five to fifty or more miles in
length, yet by making these of proper dimensions and taking in as large

262 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

a scope of country s possible, the cost per acre al often be less than
that of the lower isa where each farmer digs his own ditch. Hence it
is not to be presumed that a man of small means, who is seeking a home-
stead under the law, will attempt to settle in a place where such an
outlay as this is required; and yet these lands when irrigated and eulti-
vated will generally prove as productive as the bottoms which skirt the
streams. Nomore likely is heto do this than he is to settlein a bog that
must be drained at a heavy expense before it can be rendered tillable.
Therefore, while I believe it is proper and right to give every possible in-
ducement to actual settlers of small means s, that they may have permanent
homes of their own, I also believe that the chief impetus that ean be
given to bring about the settlement and development of these Terri-
tories will be byj judicious land grants to colonies and railroad companies.
I know there is a strong prejudice growing up in the minds of a large
portion of the people against such grants, and probably not without
reason ; yet, while striving to avoid one extreme, an evil is seldom cured
by running to the other. And while I weuid advocate limited and judi-
cious grants in sections where irrigation 1s necessary, | do not include
the giving of aid by money or subsidies, for these in the end generally
do more har m than good, sometimes ab solutely retarding that develop-

ment of the country which would be made through the efforts of these
‘companies without such aid. Nor, as a general thing, i is it best to make
grants to railroad companies along the valley of one large stream for
any great distance, if the price of the alternate sections is thereby in-
creased, as this would abridge the privileges of settlers and purchasers

of small means. It would also present a strong temptation to the com-
pany to purchase the remaining sections and put up the price, and thus
fail to accomplish the very object for which such grants should be made.

I believe the true policy, so far as the country immediately east of
the Rocky Mountains is concerned, is to grant inducements to the con-
struction of roads north and south, at such a distance from the base of
these monntains as to compel the companies to cut canals of considera-
ble length in order to bring their lands into market. For example, a
very judicious grant might be made fora road from some point on the
Kansas Pacific Railroad east of Denver, (fifty or one hundred miles.)
by way of Cimarron Pass to Albuquerque, in New Mexico, if not allowed
torun too close to the mountains. But the question may be asked,
Why prevent it from running near the mountain base? Because here
the land is easily irrigated, and will be settled without this aid, and,
therefore, not only i is such a grant unnecessary to the development of
this section, but it abridges the rights eranted under the homestead
laws. Nor is it good policy, n account of the importance and influence
of an intermediate town or loca lity, to bend toe any great degree to meet
this demand, for the importance of the place will ultimately give it a
ailroad connection without Government aid, thus increasing ‘the rail-
road facilities under the same grant.

South of Albuquerque, any aid given should be for roads running
east and west, rather than north and south, as here the general course
of the streams is south instead of east. It would be improper for me, in
this report, to attempt any lengthy argument to prove this position;
nor is it necessary, for the careful study of any good map of this part
of the West, by one not interested in land erants or railroads there,
will convince him of the correctness of my position, if he takes agricul-
ture as his stand-point.

Another judicious grant might be made for a road running from
Cheyenve, or some point on the Union Pacific Railroad east of Cheyenne,

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ; 263

north into Montana, following here also the rule before laid down, that
is, not going too close to the mountains, and not allowing it to continue
in the North Platte Valley for any great distance.

Such I conceive to be the true policy, looking at the matter from an
agricultural point of view. But it may be said that the mining interests
demand roads into the mountains, and that Government should foster
this branch of industry as well as any other. This may be true in part,
but I think the Government should look first to the development of
that which has the most elements of permanency, and which, when once
put in motion, will continue to grow and increase by its own inherent
vitality, that which gives homes, happiness, and stability to its citizens.

And besides all this, if the main trunks are built along the plains
parallel with the ranges, local interests will induce .the construction of
shorter lines into the mountains wherever needed. It is not worth
while for me to elaborate these ideas, as the intelligent reader can
readily see their bearings.

The instances given are only used as illustrations, as there are other
sections where judicious grants might be made, and which would be
the means of bringing into use large bodies of land which will long remain
valueless without some aid of this kind. I mention these because they
are within the bounds of the territory under consideration in this report.
I might add, also, that a road from Salt Lake City to St. George, in
Utah, would greatly assist in opening up a very important section, and
would form one link in the great line which will some day traverse the
length of the great inter-alpine trough from the Dalles to the mouth of
the Colorado. And perhaps it might render valuable assistance in
solving a troublesome question; and it is always better to cure an evil
by benefiting, where it can be done, than by harsh measures, be they
ever So just.

These roads, wherever they pass through Indian countries, would
not. only greatly lessen the expense of military transportation, but
would also have a tendency to check their depredations. Therefore it
is not wise for the Government so to bind itself by treaties that the
right of way for railroads cannot be given through reservations. In
fact, it is my opinion that the policy of making treaties with them,-as
quasi-nationalities, is detrimental to the agricultural development and
best interests of the West. Perhaps I ought not to express my views
so strongly on a collateral topic. But the Indian question does have a
very important bearing on the subject of this report, and for this reason
I shall briefly allude to it again.

It is possible that some general law might be passed which would
induce colonies to settle isolated sections where bodies of arable lanc¢
of limited extent are to be found. Something of this kind is certainly
desirable in those portions of these Territories where there is no pros-
pect of railroads being extended to them for some time to come. Assist-
ance given by proper grants for the construction of leading canals, with
reserved rights to the settlers on the reserved sections, would certainly
be a means of bringing into market and into use large bodies of land
which will otherwise remain for a long time idle.

INDIANS.

The present Indian policy, which doubtless looks forward to the local-
izing and settlement of these roving tribes, is intimately connected with
the agricultural development of the West. Unless they are localized
and made to enter upon agricultural and pastoral pursuits they must
ultimately be exterminated. There is no middle ground between these

264 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

extremes—one or the other must be the final result. If this be so—and
I think it will be conceded by all who have given the subject any seri-
ous reflection—then it is very important that the agricuitural capacity
of the Territories, where they are to be found, should be ascertained as
soon as possible, and the extent and locality of the arable district
adapted to such settlement determined. But these roving sons of the
Plains know nothing of agriculture, they know nothing of the princi-
ples of irrigation, and hence they must be taught, and to do this the
locality for each tribe must be fixed, and the experiment tried. Some
of the Indian agents, I believe, have entered upon this work, which, if
properly managed, will in all probability resuit in more good than any
other that has been tried. But if persuasion, after a thorough trial,
fails to bring a tribe to terms, then compel them to it; for one restless,
roving band may destroy all the good that might be effected with half
a dozen others. Lend a heiping, fostering hand to all that are willing
to enter upon permanent settlements, but make no treaties and grant no
annuities to those that refuse to come to these terms. If extermina-
tion is the result of non-compliance, then compulsion is an act of mercy.
The how, I leave to others to decide. But looking at it from the agri-
cultural side of the question, ft certainly conceive it to be a necessity.

ARTESIAN WELLS.

The possibility of obtaining water upon the plains by means of arte-
sian wells has engaged the minds of many persons for a number of years,
but thus far the attempts have not proved successful. The one made by
General Pope on the Llano Estacado, in New Mexico, is well known, but
the failure in this case, if itean truly be called a failure, has not been suffi-
cient to decide the question, especially in regard to that portion of the coun-
try lying north of the “Staked Plains,” where the conditions are different.

The latest attempt of which I have any knowledge is the one recently
made at Kit Carson, on the line of the Kansas Pacific Railway. The
following account of this work I take from a recent communication on
the subject to Dr. F. V. Hayden, from Mr. R. 8. Klliot, industrial agent
ef this railroad company :

Strata passed through (including the wood conductor near the surface) are as follows:

Feet. ‘ Fest.

Conductor of wood from the surface. 40 | Gray sand rock...-..-.--2.----..--- 30

MES Du Gy aM Lae eee eR aS SESS 260) | Black slates 22222. eee = eee 100

Grayislatenssn seers serene eee 700 | Slate and shale mixed ...- 2222. 2222 100
Magnesian limestone......---.------ 70 | Black slate, (in which the boring stop-

ly ped)... 220). eke 160

Total’ depthsse sat 28 Se See eee ee hee once ae oe eee eee eee 1, 460

Captain Grant, who has charge of the work, states that at the depth of three hundred
feet a crevice was reached, another at three hundred and forty feet, and another at feur
hundred feet; and that at the depth of four hundred and fifty feet a fiow of salt water
was obtained, but that at no point has any fresh water been found. From the crevices
struck, and from the size of the pieces of shale, slate, &c., brought up, he infers that the
strata are inclined at a high angle. -When the work stopped the water arose above the
point at which it comes in, but how near the surface it stands has not been ascertained.
Whether the company will continue its operations here, or not, has not been determined.

Although this experiment does not decide the question, yet on the
whole the result is unfavorable, and indicates, to say the least, that to
obtain flowing fresh water a great depth will be required. I ar there-
fore inclined to think it is best not to count upon these as a means of
increasing the breadth of tillable land.

I believe an attempt has been made at Lincoln, in Nebraska, but am
not informed as to its progress or probability of success.

I—A LIST AND DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPECIES OF OR-
THOPTERA.

By Pror. Cyrus THOMAS.

JDUs} Ne

GRYLLIDES.

Stenopelmatus, Santa Fé, New Mexico. Too much mutilated to be determined.
Gryllus abbreviatus, Serv. Found throughout eastern Colorado.
Oecanthus niveus, Harr. Found along “the streams from Fort Fetterman to Raton
Mountains.
LOCUSTARLE.

Anabrus Haldemannii, Girard. South Park, Colorado, and near Laramie River east of the
Black Hills, Wyoming.

Anabrus Stevensonii, Thos. Northeastern New Mexico.

Anabrus ninutus, Thos. Northeastern New Mexico.

Thannotrizon (Anabrus) purpurasecens, Uhler. South Park, Colorado, and near Lara-
mie River, east of the Black Hills, Wyoming.

Thamnotrizon trilineatus, Thos. Northeastern New Mexico, and South Pass, Wyoming.

Ephippitytha gracilipes, Thos. Southeastern Colorado.

Orchelimwm vulgare, Harr. Found throughout the eastern part of Colorado and
Wyoming.

Xiphidium Fasciatum, Serv. Colorado.

Udeopsylla robusta, Hald. Throughout Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.

Ceuthophilus divergens, Scudd. Hardscrabble Creek, Colorado, and Red Buttes,
Wyoming.

.

ACRIDII.

Opomola neo-mexicana, Thos. Northern New Mexico, and along Cottonwood Creek,
Wyoming.

Acridium flavo-fasciatum, De Geer. Southeastern Colorado.

Caloptenus bivittatus, Say. Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.

Caloptenus spretus, Uhler. J have traced this species from the borders of Nevada and
Idaho on the west, to Missouri and Iowa on the east, and from the Raton Mountains
ou the south to the Big Horn Mountains on the north, but have discovered its limits
only toward the south and east.

Caloptenus fenur-rubrumn, De Geer. Common east of the Rocky Mountains.

Pezotettix borealis, Scudd. Mountains east of Middle Park.

Pezotetlix picta, Thos. From Cheyenne south to the Arkansas River.

Brachypeplus magnus, Girard. Along the head-waters of the Arkansas, and near the
Laramie River east of the Black Hills.

Boépedon nubilum, Thos. Near Canon City, Colorado.

Boipedon flavo-fasciatum, Thos. Southeastern Colorado.

Cedipoda Carolina, Linn. Found at a few points in Colorado, especially south of
Denver.

Oedipoda corallipes, Hald. Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.

Cedipoda aequatis, Say. Common in Colorado and Wyoming. This is an extremely
variable species.

Oedipoda trifasciata, Thos. Common throughout Wyoming, Colorado, Northern New
Mexico, and Northern Utah, on the elevated plateaus.

Cedipoda neglecta, Thos. Eastern Colorado and North Platte Valley, west of Fort
Fetterman. I have also collected some specimens in Southern Hlinois which appear
to be identical with this species.

Oedipoda carlingiana, Thos. Colorado and Wyoming.

Oedipoda cincta, Thos. Southeastern Colorado.

Tomonotus Mexicanus, Sauss. New Mexico.

Tomonotus nictanus, Sauss. Southeastern Colorado and Southeastern Wyoming

266 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Tomonotus pseudo-nietanus, Thos. Near Caton City, Colorado, and near Fort Fetterman,
Wyenine.

Stauronotus BU otti, Thos. Colorado and Wyoming.

(Gry vyllus) formosus, Say. Southeastern Colorado. “A new genus will have to be estab-
lished for the reception of this species.

Acrolophitus hirtipes, Thos. Near Caton City, Colorado, and at Fort D. A. Russell
Wyoming.

Stenobothrus obionus, Thos. Southern Colorado.

Sienobothrus brunneus, Thos. Colorado and Wyoming.

Stencbothrus quadrimaculatus, Thos. Colorado and Wyoming.

DESCRIPTIONS

Although most of the following species have been described by me,
and the des scriptions published in the ‘¢ Proceedings of the Academy of
Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,” for 1870, (pp. 74-84,) yet 1t is proper
that the deseriptions should be inserted here, as they constitute a part
of the work of the expedition. Those only will be marked as new which
are here described for the first time.

I follow the arrangement adopted by Scudder in hiscatalogu e, although
it is not altogether ‘the one I should prefer.

LOCUSTARIA.

ANABRUS, (HALD.) :
The characters of this genus were not fully given by Professor Hal-
deman when he established it, and those subsequently added by Gi-
rard are seareely sufficient to distinguish it from other closely allied
genera. Having both sexes of three species, I give the following as
the principal characters:

General character: Head large, smooth, advanced in front between the
antenne. Pronotum selliform, extending over the base of the abdomen ;
rounded and smooth; anterior portion of the sides reaching below the.
eyes; posterior margin and angles round. Prosternum bidentate; pos-
terior angles of the meso-sternum elevated and acute. LElytra very short,
having the form of scales in the males; covered by the pronotum in the
females. Antenne longer than the body, sometimes extending beyond
the ovipositor. Eyes ovate; labrum round; maxillary palpi twice the
leneth of the labial, the three outer joints nearly equal, terminal enlarged
at the tip. Abdomen stout, of moderate length; the sub-anal plate of
the male large, slightly notched at the tip, furnished laterally with filiform

appendages which appear to be articulated at the base; the cerei (or
substituted appendages) sub-cylindrical, enlarged and generally bifurcate
at the extremity. Ovipositor long, bent beyond the middle. Cerciin
the female small and generally hairy. Legs slender; posterior pair very
long; femora enlarged next the body, but slender and straight” beyond
the middle, as long as the body (ecu nss the -head); posterior tibia
long as the femora, slender; all the tibize provided with four rows of
spines, the anterior rows often scattered and irregular. A stout dentic-
uloid process above the anterior coxa. The tarsi ' broad, soles concave ;
third articulation cordate.

This genus differs so slightly, in description, from Thyreonotus (Serv.,)
that there is scarcely a necessity for its retention; but an examination
of the species is necessary to decide this point. A purpurascens (Uhler)
not having the prosternum-spined, has been removed to Thamnotrigon,
(Fisch.)

A. Stevensonit, Thos. Syn., A. Stevensonii, Thos. (Proc. Acad. Nat.
Sci., Phila., 1870, p. 75.)—Female: Purple mottled with yellow; form

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 267

and coloring somewhat similar to A. purpurascens, (Uhler,) but smaller
and slenderer in al! its parts. Face white, the transverse suture below
the front fuscus; tips of the mandibles piceous; palpi pale, the penul-
timate joints of the maxillary palpi striped with purple above; anten-
ne long and slender, reaching nearly to the extremity of the ovipositor,
dusky; cranium cinereous, with the vertex, and a line extending back
from each eye, dull white. Pronotum short, not carinated, a slight
transverse incision near the front; two oblique dorsal impressions, dark
and very narrow; surface smooth, lurid; a large black spot occupying
the central portions of the sides behind the transverse incision; lateral
margins broadly, and anterior margins narrowly bordered with pale
yellow; posterior angles tipped with piceous black. Hlytra hid beneath
the pronotum. Abdomen dull purple, somewhat darker along the sides.
Ovipositor slightly curved beyond the middle, piceous at the tip; cerci
slender, hairy; beneath dull white. Anterior and middle legs short;
femora slender and straight; posterior legs very long and slender; fe-
mora and tibiz, each the length of the body, omitting the head; all pale
purplish-yellow; femora smooth ; tibise with spines irregularly placed on
the angles, also on the rounded portion, black at the tips. The spine
above the anterior coxa pale, slender, and bent abruptly downward.

Length 1.13 inches; pronotum .26 inch; posterior femora .93 inch;
ovipositor .75 inch.

Habitat: Southern Colorado, on elevated grassy terraces near the
mountains and the parks. Named in honor of Mr. James Stevenson,
a member of the expedition, who has for a number of years accompanied
Dr. Hayden in his western explorations, and has been a diligent collector
of specimens in all departments of natural history.

A. minutus, Thos. Syn., A. minutus, Thos. (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.,
Phiia., 1870, p. 75.)—Male: Similar in coloring and appearance to the
A. Stevenson. Wace mottled with purple; a dark spot below each eye;
a narrow line running back from the upper corner of each eye; cranium
cinereous; head somewhat covered by the pronotum. Pronotum short,
rounded, smooth; transverse incision almost obliterated ; oblique dorsal
impressions irregular; dorsal portions cinereous ; sides with a triangular
black spot, interrupted by light spaces, broadly margined with dull white;
lateral angles tipped with piceous-black. Hlytra short, extending over
the second abdominal segment; margins pale yellow, central portions
brown. Abdomen cinereous, a darker line along the sides; notch of the
sub-anal plate very small; appendages small, hairy; the tip of the last
dorsal segment strongly bifid, denticulate. The cerci (1 use this term
for those appendages supplying the place of cerci) shughtly bent, bifurcate.
Legs same color as the abdomen and cranium; anterior pair quite short;
the middle pair a little longer; the posterior very long, femora marked
with a dark line along the upper carina; tibic slender, spines tipped with
brown. Antenne at least twice as long as the body.

Length, .75 inch; posterior femora, .62 inch; elytra, beyond the pro-
notum, .1 inch. 8

Female: Similar to the male in appearance, coloring, and size. Cerci
sinall, hairy. Ovipositor bent, slightly narrowed in the middle; brown
at the tip. Length as in the male; ovipositor, .55 inch.

Habitat: Elevated grassy terraces in Southern Colorado, South Park.

Some specimens of these two species have, on the under side of the
posterior femora, about four or five abortive spines, especially the older
or more mature ones. Sometimes the places of these spines are indicated
by mere points, visible only under a glass. This fact may be important
in fixing the position of this genus, which is evidently one of transition.

268) GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

THAMNOTRIZON, (FISCHER.)

T. purpurascens, Thos. Syn., Anabrus purpurascens, Uhler. (Proe. Acad.
Nat. Sci, Phila., p.—.)—Thave removed this species from Anabrus because
the prosternum is not spined, which must be a prominent character of
that genus to retain the other species. The original description by Mr.
Uhler is so full and clear that any addition is wholly unnecessary.

Found in South Park in considerable numbers, also in Wyoming, east
of the Black Hills, on elevated plateaus.

T. trilineatus, Thos. Syn., 7. trilineatus, Thos. (Proe. Acad. Nat. Sei.,
Phila., 1870, p. 76.)—Female: Small, somewhat like Anabrus minutus,
(Thos., ) but showing some impor tant. variations which place it in a differ.
ent genus. Head moderate size, immersed in the pronotum nearly to
the eyes; occiput very short, convex; vertex rounded between the
antenne, slightly advanced in front, this advanced portion triangular
and deflexed; face short, broad, smooth and somewhat convex ; labrum
large, round. Palpi rather longer than usual, slender, cylindrical, ter-
minal joint of the manillar ry palpi longest. Pronotum small, rounded,
not carinated; advanced in front over the back of the head, margin
round, or sub-ér unecate; posterior extremity advanced over the base. of
the abdomen, round; sides narrowed below, reaching down about as far
as the lower border of the eyes; posterior margin of the sides sloped quite
obliquely, slightly sinuate. Antenne reach the tip of the ovipositor.
Ovipositor about the len eth of the body, slightly bent; cerei short, stout,
covered with minute, , depressed hairs ; ‘the plate be Eween them trianeu-
lar. Prosternum not spined. Anterior t ibize with two spines in fronts
medial with two rows on the outside, 4 (counting the one at the base)
and 2. Posterior legs wanting in the only specimen obtained.

Color (Siccus *) testaceous green, striped and varied with pale yellow.
Face testaceous, palest below, with a brown spot at each lower corner.
Three pale, tolerably broad, yellow stripes reach from the head to the
end of the abdomen; one along the middle of the back, and one along
each side. Two oblique black marks on the back of the pronotum about
the middle; lower margins of the sides yellow; beneath pale. Ovipes-
itor fuscus. Antenne dusky. Legs purplish; tarsi piceous.

Dimensions: length, .75 inch; to the end of the pronotum from the
vertex, .34 inch; ovipositor, .73 inch.

Habitat: Southeast Colorado. Some specimens not yet examined,
which may belong to this species, found near South Pass.

EPHIPPITYTHA, (SERV.)

This group, which is given by Serville as a sub-genus of Phaneroptera,
is distinouished from the rest of the Phaneropteres by characters of suf-
ficient importance to justify me in raising, it to a genus. I have not
examined a sufiicient number of specimens to enable me to write out the
generic characters ia full, but wiil mention the following:

Pronotum selliform, somewhat scooped on the latter half, which is
slightly elevated, and rounded; femora more or less spined; vertex
tubereulate. Hlytra and wings ‘passing the abdomen, latter longest.

EB. gracilipes, Thos. Syn., Eg gracilipes, Thos. (Proc. ‘Acad, Nat. Sei. 55
Phila., 1870, p. 76.)—Male: Smail, slender; legs very long and delicate;
occiput short, convex, terminating ina triangular tubercle at the vertex,
not raised above the first joint of the antenne, nor passing between them ;
face vertical, straight, flat, terminating upward just above the central

ocellus in a sharp angle; ocellus situated exactly between the lower

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 969

borders of the folds around the base of the antenna. Pronotum sub-
cylindrical in front, widened and elevated posteriorly; a slight trans-
verse indenture each side, a little behind the middle; not carinated, but
a medium line is visible along the dorsum; surface smooth. Elytra v ery
narrow, nearly straight, passing the abdomen one-third their length.
Abdomen sub- cylindrical; the sub-anal plate notched and bi-spinose ;
cerci stout, hairy, curved and mucronate; upper plate semicircular.
Prosternum not spined; meso- and meta- sternum obliquely elevated at
the posterior angles, obtuse.

Color (siccus:) pale yellow. A roseate stripe on the frontal tubercle;
second joint of the antenne orange-yellow; a bright yellow curved | line
runs from the upper canthus of each eye to the pronotum, where they
meet with broader lines on the pronotum, which, converging posteriorly,
fade near the middle of the dorsum. Anterior portion ‘of the pronotum
dotted with red. Stridulating organs very small, roseate. Elytra and
wings pellucid. Abdomen minutely dotted with "reddish. brown. ‘Tips
of the cerci black.

Dimensions: length, .75 inch; to tip of the wings, 1.25 inch; wings
pass the elytra (about) .25 ineh;, femora, .1 inch; tibia, .95 inch.

Habitat: Southern Colorado. Unique, specimen.

ORCHELIMUM, (SERV.)

O. vulgare, Harr. —The specimens I have marked as dneloneane to this
species may prove to be new, as they vary considerably {rom the type.

w CEUTHOPHILUS, (SCUDD.)

0. divergens, Scudd.—My specimens vary from the description of this
species in having the hind femora of the females spined, the spines very
short. There are aiso one or two slender spines on the front part of the
anterior tibie not mentioned in Mr. Secudder’s description, yet I think
they belong to this species.

ACRIDID A.
(Truxalides.)
OPOMOLA, (SERV.)

O. neo-mexicana, Thos. Syn., O. neo-mexicana, Thos. (Proce. Acad.
Nat. Sci., Phiia., 1870, p. 77.)—Female: Long, slender, truxaloid. Head
conical; occiput convex, ascending to the somewhat. elevated vertex;
vertex convex, ascending, sub- margined, rotund, rather elongate before
the eyes; face very oblique ; frontal ridge distinet, sides parallel, slightly
sulcate; lateral carine distinct, obtuse, divergent, reaching the lower
corners of the face. Antenne strongly ensiform, triquetrous, reaching
to the tip of the pronotum; inserted in deep foveole under the front of
the cone. Pronotum about as long as the head; sides parallel; all its
parts very regular; tricarinate, carinze not elevated but distinct, all
about equal; obtusely rounded anteriorly and posteriorly. Elytra a
little shorter ‘than the abdomen; wings a little shorter than the elytra.
Posterior femora reach the extremity of the abdomen; very slender.
Prosternal point short and obtuse, scarcely more than a pointed
tubercle.

Color (immediately after being taken out of alcohol, in which it had
been immers>d for some months:) Face yellow, dotted with red; lateral

270 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

carine rosaceous; on the top of the head a faint roseate stripe runs
from the end of the cone to the pronotum, bordered on each side by a
yellow stripe; from the lower part of each eye starts a bright-red stripe,
which, running back across the head, continues along the upper portion
of the side of the pronotum to its extremity and is lost on the elytra.
Median carina of the pronotum red, the dorsal spaces yellow; lower
portion of the sides yellow. Elytra semi-transparent; base and stripe
along the dorsal margin roseate. Wings transparent; veins ochreous.
Abdomen dull yellow, reddish on the basal segments. Legs rufous;
posterior femora have a pale stripe along the upper edge; spines of the
posterior tibia tipped with black.

Dimensions: Length 1.62 inch; to tip of elytra 1.50 inch; to ex-
tremity of the pronotum, .52 inch; femora, .88 inch; tibia, .86 inch.

Habitat: Northeast New Mexico.

T have not seen the male. This species comes near O. mexicana,
(Sauss.,) but differs from it in the following respects: The antenne are
not rotundate, but sharply triquetrous; the pronotum is earinate, al-
though the carine are but raised lines, yet very distinct; and although
the posterior lobe is minutely punctured, the pronotum cannot be truly
called ‘densely punctate.” It approaches closely to Truxalis.

(Mucronati.)

PEZOTETTIX, (BURM.)

P. picta, Thos. Syn., P. picta, Thos.. (Proe. Acad. Nat. Sei., Phila.,-

1870, p. 78.)—Medium size, body elongate, stout sub-cylindrical, occiput
convex; vertex deflexed, flat and narrow between the eyes, suddenly
expanding in front, this advanced portion transverse and triangular;
the frontal ridge somewhat convex, with a very slight depression at the
central ocellus; eyes large, prominent, oval; antenne filiform, nearly as
long as the head and thorax. Sides of the pronotum parallel in the male,
and very slightly divergent posteriorly in the female; caring obliterated
by the sub-cylindrical form; posterior margins of the sides obliquely
sloped, but not sinuous; posterior angle rounded; a slight transverse
incision each side close to the front margin; the three usual transverse
incisions distinct. crossing the dorsum in the female, the posterior one only
crossing in the male; anterior margin and posterior lobe densely pune-
tate, remainder smoother and sparsely punctate. LElytra very small,
oblong-ovate, reaching the tip of the second segment; not meeting on
the back; nerves reticulate, prominent, wings minute. Posterior fem-
ora stout, short, not reaching the extremity of the abdomen. Sub-anal
plate of the male recurved with a kind of tubercle or prominence on
the convex surface; upper plate faleate; cerci small. Prosternal spine
stout, conical. in

Color (siccus:) alternating rings of dark purple and white. The dark
stripes are placed as follows: down the frontal ridge; on the occiput ;
down each cheek; two interrupted broad stripes running obliquely
upward and backward from the anterior margin and angle of the prono-
~tum; four spots on the base of each dorsal, and two on each ventral
segment of the abdomen, (sometimes running into a continuous ring ;)
posterior femora crossed by three broad bands. The nerves of the
elytra white, the spaces black. Colors of the male and female the same.

Dimensions: Female—length, 1.30 inch; femora, .6 inch; pronotum,
28 inch. Male—length, .95 to 1 inch; femora, .5 inch; pronotum, .26
inch.

Sn

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Pah

Habitat: From Cheynne south to Raton Mountains, on the plains and
foothills at the eastern base of the range.

When living this is a very pretty insect, the dark stripes being mar-
gined by red, which fades when immersed in alcohol, the black also be-
coming paler and assuming a purplish cast. This may possibly belong
to Dact ylotum, Charp, but T am not fully acquainted with the characters
of that genus.

(Mutici.)
BRACHYPEPLUS, (CHARP.)

As Charpentier, at the time he established this genus, failed to give
its characters, and the description of Girard is so short and deficient, I
give, from a large number of cee what I conceive to be the dis-
ting g ai ishing characteristics,

Generic “characters: Body very robust, acridoid. Occiput broad,
convex, smooth; vertex margined; frontal ridge broad, short, slightly
suleate, expanding below ; lateral carine distinet, with a sulcus behind
each; antennal foveolee deep, eblong; cheeks prominent. Pronotum
large, elongate, tricarinate; carina distinct, continnous; widest below,
expanding posteriorly, sides straight, generally chagrined above, with
the sides glabrous; no transverse incisions on the dorsum; anterior

margin rounded, extending slightly on the head; posterior margin
round. Elytra and wings rudimentary, (in the known species.) Legs
very robust; posterior ‘femora long as the abdomen, swollen; tibic
strongly spined nearly the entire length. Antenne filiform, joints dis-
tinet; long as the head and thorax. Sub-anal plate of the male tumid
entire; cerci very short; female appendages stout, broad. Palpi short,
joints all enlarged at the tip; the three outer joints of the maxillary
palpi nearly equal, the ultimate a little the longest. Prosternum neither
spined nor tuberculate. Abdomen somewhat compressed, carinated
above. A well-marked and distinct genus.

B. magnus, Girard. (Marey’s Expl. Red River of Lous., p. 260, Pl.
XV, figs. 1-4.)—This ponderous species is easily recognized by the
figures referred to, but the description is quite deficient; therefore, to
aid future investigations, I give it more minutely.

(Siccus.) Yellow, spotted with brown. Occiput convex, very slightly
scabrous, an indistinct line running along the middle to the vertex, a
few fine shallow punctures visible; the elevated margins of the vertex
meet in about aright angle at the front; frontal ridge, although nar-
row above and gradually expanding as it descends, is not narrowed
opposite the antenne; margins distinct, obtuse; sulcus shallow, expand-
ing and fading below, punctured. Pronotum with three distinct, con-
tinuous piceous carine ; dorsum strongly chagrined, yellowish, with eene-
ous luster; sometimes, especially in the females, there is a yellow hne
along each margin of the dorsum; sides purplish at the upper angles,
yellowish below. Hlytra ovate, reaching the third abdominal segment ;
nerves longitudinal, slightly branching near the extremity; ight brown,
spotted with black. Wings very small, yellow. Abdomen marked with
a brown spot each side of each segment; each segment is also margined
with a row of white dots. Legs as described by Girard.

Dimensions: Length, (female,) 2 inches; pronetum, .55 inch; elytra,
3 inch; femora, 1.25 inch. Males about one-fourth less. Size varies
considerably. .

Habitat: From Fort Laramie south to Santa Fé. The green and
brown varieties were both observed; but after being immer sed for some

272 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

time in alcohol these colors fade, and all distinctions between the two
are lost. ry

BOOPEDON, (THOS.)

Generic characters: Has somewhat the appearance of Pezotettix.
Body robust. Head large, exceeding the thorax in width, widest below ;
seen from the side presents a somewhat semicircular outline, deflexed
below; occiput convex; vertex sloping, broad, sometimes exhibiting a
shallow foveola, usually rhomboidal, with a slight median carina; frontal
ridge prominent, not suleate, margins obtuse and nearly parallel. An-
tenne nearly as long as the head and thorax, inserted in deep, oblong
foveole. Pronotum of medium length, sides parallel; subtruncate in
front; posterior angle obtuse; three transverse incisions; the postericr
about the middle, cutting the median carina; median carina distinet, bat
not elevated; lateral carinze obsolete. Elytra shorter than the abdomen
in the female, about the length of the abdetien in the male; inflated
near the base, narrowed at the apex ; two longitudinal veins dividing
the entire surface into three nearly equal fields. Posterior femora stout,
narrowed at the tip, passing the abdomen ;- tibia spined, enlarged at
the tip. Ultimate joint of the maxillary palpi enlarged at the end,
truncate. Prosternum with the anterior half tumid; the latter half
cleft by a longitudinal suleus. Pectus sub-convex or flat. Anal ap-
pendages of the female short and obtuse ; sub-anal plate of the male
keeled, trigonal, and turned up.

This i is a very distinct genus, having a somewhat acridoid appearance,
and forming, perhaps, the closest link between the Mucronati (Acridit
genuint) and the Mutici, (or Odipodes,) and in a strictly natural arrange-
ment should precede Lrachypeplus. It would connect between the
Pezotettigi or Caloptent and the Stenobothri.

B. nubilum, Thos. Syn., B. ngrum, Thos. (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.,
Phila., 1870, p. 83.)

Gryllus nubilus, Say. (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., [V, 308. Entom.
N. Am., Ed. Le Conte, I, 237.)—Having carefully examined the section
where Mr. Say found his species, [ do not know what insect he refers to,
unless this be the one. But when he remarks “that it ascends into the
atmosphere in great numbers,” he certainly cannot aliude to this species,
unless he refers to the short flig hts of the males as they poise themselves
in the air, a well-known habit of the Oc. equalis, and some other species.
There is another black species found in the same section, which flies
much in the air, (Tomonotus Nietanus, Sauss.,) but its bright red wings,
So apparent during flight, and its ample elytra, would seem to forbid
the supposition that this was the species intended. Yet I cannot ex-
plain Mr. Say’s remark, unless he has confounded the two.

As his description is rather short I will add some other points, chiefly
from my description, under the name of B. nigrum, in the Proc. Acad. Nat.
Sci., Phila.

Medium size, female much larger than the male.

Female: Occiput smooth,a few punctures on the vertex, a faint median
line visible; eyes about midway between the front and back margins ;
frontal ridge convex, with a very slight indentation at the ocellus, pune-
tured on the margins, reaching nearly to the cross suture, where it sud-
denly expands; lateral carine distinct, obtuse, sinuate and divergent ;
a deep sulcus below each eye. Pronotum nearly as broad as the head;
median carina distinct, stra ight; posterior lobe punctate; central por.
tions of the sides levigate: cross incisions one and two not reaching the.
median carina. Blytra narrow, covering about two-thirds the length of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 2h

the abdomen, lanceolate; the two longitudinal veins strong, approaching
each. other at the apex along the external margin; the reticulate veins
coarse. Wings shorter than the elytra.

Color (siccus): Dark ferruginous; lower angles of the face and side of
the labrum black; tips of the elytra black; apex of the wings dusky,
rest transparent ; two reddish spots inside the posterior femor a; tibia
transparent red.

Male: Similar in coloring, only darker. Elytra black, somewhat paler
at the base; wings transparent, cloudy at the apex.

Dimensions: Female—length, 1.5 inch; pronotum. 30 inch; elytra, .55
inch; femora, .95 inch ; tibia, 80 inch. ‘Male—length, 87 inch: ; prono-
tum, .25 inch ; elytra, BD inch; femora, .62 inch; tibia, 06 inch.

Habitat: Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico; mostly in the
valleys near the mountains.

{NorE.—I regret very much two mistakes that occur in my paper pub-
lished in the Proceedings of the Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1870, July. One
occurs on page 80, where I have described as a new species, under the
name Oe. pruinosa, Say’s Gryllus trifasciatus, which is notonly sufiiciently
described for identification, but 1s also figured. The other mistake is on
page 83, where I have described Gryllus nubilus of Say as a new species,
under the name of B. nigrum. I had examined them and determined
them, and laid them aside for the purpose of referring them to their
proper genera and had marked the place in Say’s Ent. where they are
described. Having to close up my article rapidly, preparatory to my
departure west, forgetting these facts, and finding them among those
examined and to be described, I proceeded to describe them without fur-
ther examination. <A few days after I became aware of the mistake and
immediately wrote a letter to Dr. Hayden, making the correction, and
forwarded it to him at Washington, as I had forwarded the original man-
uscript through him, but it did not reach him in time. The synonyms
will now have to stand, and I sincerely trust they may be the only ones
in that paper. |

B. flavo-fasciatum, Thos. Syn., B. flavo-fasciatum, Thos. (Proc. Acad.
Nat. Sci., Phila., 1870, p. 84.)—Female: Carving and figure much the
same as the female of B. nubilum, differing only in this, that the anterior
transverse incision (1) being more indistinct, and the incision on the side
of the pronotum near the front more distinct. Central foveola of vertex
very shallow, divided into two parts by a slight median carina; frontal
ridge convex, sparsely punctured.

Color (siccus:) Yellow, varied with brown. Head, yellow; lower
angles of the face black; a very distinct yellow line, starting from the
upper corner of each eye, reaches the posterior margin of the prono-
tum, bowing inward near the middle, bordered on each side by an irreg-
ular, dark-brown line; a dark line borders each eye posteriorly. Median
carina of the pronotum dark brown or piceous black; the transverse
incision black; rest of the pronotum brownish, paiest on the sides.
Elytra formed as in B. nubilum, brown, a pale-yellow stripe near the upper
and lower margins of each, the upper having a notch on its lower side;
three oblong yellow spots in a line or row along the middle, and a few
smaller spots of the same color near the apex; they reach the third ab-
dominal segment. Wings transparent, dusky at the tips. A brown
stripe along each side of the abdomen, near the dorsum; a yellow spot
in it on each segment near the upper border. Venter, yellow.

Male: Unknown.

Dimensions: Length, 1.5 inch; pronotum, 38 inch; elytra, .50 inch;
femora, .85 inch; tibia, .76 inch.

18 G

274 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Habitat: Found with the preceding, but a much rarer species. At first
glance, when seen hopping among the grass, the collector is apt to take
it for the pupa of Calop. bivittatus.

, OEDIPODA, (LATR.)

Oe. corallipes, Hald. (Stans. Rep. Salt Lake, p. 371, Pl. X, fig. 3.)\—
Dimensions: Female—length, 1.80 inch; femora, 90 inch ; tibia, Yi)
inch; to tip of elytra, 2 inches. Male about two-thirds the : size of the
female.

Habitat: Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.

The bright vermillion tint of the posterior legs fadesin aleohol. Iam
mclined to believe that Oe. pardalina (Sauss.) is synonymous with this
species, but do not feel satisfied to decide positively on this point.

Oe. trifasciata, Thos. Syn., Oe. pruinosa, Thos. (Proc. Acad. Nat.
Sci., Phila., 1870, p. 80.)—Gryllus trifasciatus, Say. (Amer. Ent. II,
Pl. XXXIV, fig. 3. (Ed. Le Conte, I, 78, Pl. XX XIV, fig. 3.)—The figure
given in the edition by Dr. Le Conte i is not a good one, nor, indeed, does it
correspond with the description, which is somewhat minute. I give the
following description, which I think will be sufficient to ideutify the
species:

About the size and somewhat similar in coloring and appearance to
Oe. aequalis, (Say,) but rather broader across the meso and meta thorax ;
head, viewed from the side, oblong; occiput convex, ascending; vertex
broadly triangular, flat, not foveolate, declined, slightly margined and
slightly contracted between the eyes; margins continuous with the frontal
ridge; frontal ridge prominent, rounded above and somewhat sulcate
below, expanding at ‘the ocellus; lateral carinz distinct, sinuous, and
divergent beiow, (in the males these carine are more distinct and ex-
tended than in the females). Pronotum short, sub-cylindrieal in front,
expanded and more angulate posteriorly; cross incisions | and 3 distinct,
2 very indistinct in the males, apparent on the sides in the females, 1
arcuate, above, 3 slightly sinuous and situated about the middle of the
pronotum ; median carina merely a raised line; lateral carine obliter-
ated in front, obtuse on the posterior lobe ; truncate in front, posterior
angle obtuse. Elytra and wings considerably longer than the abdomen.
Posterior femora broad, not reaching the extremity of the abdomen,
Antenne stout, central joints lengthened and distinct; reaching the
middle of the abdomen in the males, a little shorter in the females.

Color (siccus): Varies considerably; that which is described as green
by Say is often yellowish in the living insect, and pruinose after im-
mersion in alcohol; and that part of the head and thorax described by
him as brown often being a pale lilac, or mouse color. The intermedi-
ate cross band on the elytra is the broadest and darkest of the three.
The posterior femora are often pruinose at the base. (My remarks
apply to those dried after immersion in alcohol).

Since writing the description published in the Proceedings of the
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1570, p. 80, I have had an
epportunity of examining a number of specimens taken at widely dif-
ferent points in the W est, and find the species is subject to considerable
variations, some specimens approaching so near Oe. aequalis that it is
almost impossible to distinguish them from that species, if we rely upon
color.

Dimensions: Male—length, 1.10 inch; to tip of elytra, 1.42 inch; pro-
notum, .26 inch ; femora, 60 inch ; tibiee, .58 inch. Female—length,
1.48 inch; to tip of elytra, 1.70 ineb; ; pronotum, .34 inch; femora, . 76
inch; tibix, . 70 inch.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 275

Habitat: Found throughout Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Northern
New Mexico, on the elevated table lands and ridges.

[Norg.—For explanation in regard to my unfortunate mistake in des-
eribing this species as new, and thus adding another synonym to the
already too long list, see previous note under Bodpedon nubilum.|

The female is seldom pruinose; occiput, brown; pronotum, reddish-
brown, varied with dots and lines of yellow. The posterior lobe of the
pronotum in each sex is densely punctured, but that of the female inter-
sected by irregular, slightly-raised lines.

Oe. cincta, Thos. Syn., Oe.cincta, Thos. (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila.,
1870, p. 80.)—Female: Very similar in appearance and coloring to the
male of Oe. aequalis, (Say,) but in the carvings of the head approaching the
Tomonoti, (Sauss.,) of which Oe. sulphurea (Burm.) may be taken as the
North American type. The vertex channeled; the margins strongly
and sharply elevated, waved, descending; truncate squarely in front; a
slight median line visible. Frontal ridge vertical, straight, sulcate,
narrowed immediately below the antenne, expanding at the base,
reaching the transverse suture; lateral carine distinct, divergent. Pro-
notum rugose, tricarinate, truncate in front, angled at the posterior ex-
tremity; median carina only a raised line, cut by incisions 1 and 3;
lateral carine distinct on the posterior lobe, obliterated in front, coarc-
tate in front, expanding posteriorly; incision 3 situated before the
middle. Elytra narrow, passing the abdomen one-third their length.
Wings nearly the same length. Posterior femora not passing the ab-
domen. Antenne passing the pronotum slightly.

Color (siccus): Rusty brown, varied with lighter and darker shades.
Face and the sides of the pronotum yellow, mottled with brown; two
black bands pass round the front, one immediately above, and the other
just below the antenne, (the lower a little broader than the upper;) con-
verging behind these, they pass through the eye (plainly to be seen in a
fresh specimen) and become a single black stripe behind the eye, which
reaches to the posterior incision of the pronotum, decreasing in width
as it passes along the lateral angle. Pronotum ash-colored on the dor-
sum; posterior lobe palest, with minute brown tubercles scattered over
it; a dark-brown spot on each side. Elytra brown, darkest next the
base; semi-transparent at the apex. Wings transparent, yellow next
the base; apical half dusky; this dark marginal band is broad in front,
tapering toward the inner angle but does not reach it; stretches along
the front sub-margin nearly to the base; is somewhat darker at the
inner and outer borders, reaching to the apex. Posteriot femora red-
dish with two oblique darker bands on the outer face, and three black
bands inside.

Dimensions: Length, 1 inch; to tip of elytra, 1.26 inch; to end of
pronotum from vertex, .31 inch; femora, .54 inch; tibiz, .44 inch.

Habitat: Northeastern New Mexico. oh

Oe. carlingiana, Thos. Syn., Oe. carliniana, Thos. (Proce. Acad. Nat.
Sci., Phila., 1870, p. 81.)—Female: This species at first sight has much
the appearance of Oe. carolina, (Linn.,) but an examination of the head
or thorax, or spreading the wings, will soon undeceive the observer.
Although a little smaller than that species, it is more robust, compared
with its length. The carving of the head is much the same as Oe. cor-
allipes. Occiput short, sub-convex, not ascending; vertex very broad,
slightly deflexed; the broad, shallow, central foveola divided by a me-
dian carina into two elongate pentagonal spaces, the median carina and
margin next the eye being the longest sides; the lateral shallow foveole
triangular; at the top of the frontal ridge is a Junate depression ; frontal

276 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ridge somewhat broad, obtusely margined, expanded at the ocellus, yer-
tical, reaching the cross suture; lateral carine distinct, reaching the
corners of the face. Antenne filiform, sub-planate. Pronotum sub-
cylindrical in front, fat on the posterior lobe, expanded posteriorly, not
constricted; median carina, a raised line, cut by the cross incisions 1
and 5; posterior incision before the middle; lateral carine obliterated
in front, but distinct on the front of the posterior lobe; posterior lobe
densely punctate. Elytra and wings extend slightly beyond the abdo-
inen. Posterior femora short, not reaching the extremity of the abdo-
men; inflated.

Color (siccus): Ash-colored; vertex and posterior lobe of the pronotum
tinged with reddish brown. Elytra opaque and somewhat brownish at
the base, semi-transparent at the apex; dotted over with pale brown.
The wings, when fully expanded, present a very broad fuscus band across
the base, parallel with the body, the outer border lying a little beyond
the middle of the wing, (when thus expanded ;) a large triangular space
at the apex transparent, with dark and white veins. Posterior femora
spotted with black inside; tibiz yellowish.

Male: The male differs only in size, and in having the elytra crossed.
by irregular brownish bands, somewhat as in Oe. aequalis, but less
distinct. :

Dimensions: Female—length, 1.38 inch; to tip of the elytra, 1.58 inch;
to tip of the pronotum, from the vertex, .45inch; femora, .64inch. Male—
length, 1.16inch; to tip of elytra, 1.36inch; to tip of pronotum, .42 inch;
femora, .58 inch.

Habitat: Found in Colorado and Wyoming; somewhat rare in the
former, but abundant in the latter. It varies considerably in color,
sometimes assuming a very distinct purplish tinge throughout, but
especially on the elytra and wings; at other times a pale, dirty yellow,
with the spots on the elytra wanting. The purplish variety I observed
only in Wyoming, between Chugwater and South Pass. This species
belongs to that group of Oedipodes of which the Ce. aequalis (Say) may
be taken as the type; to this belong carolina at one extreme, and ¢ri-
Jasciata at the other, aequalis, carlingiana, and perhaps cincta and some
others.

Oe. neglecta, Thos. Syn., Oe. neglecta, Thos. (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.,
Phila., 1870, p.31.)—Female: Much like Oe. corallipes, (Hald.,) being about
the size of the male of that species, for which it has doubtless often been
taken. In its carvings, as well as size, it comes very near Oe. mexicana,
(Sauss.) Vertex very broad, transverse, foveolate; the large central
toveola divided, by the recurving margins, into three contiguous
foveole; these margins, seen from the front, form a W, with a line
across the middle angle; lateral foveole obsolete; frontal ridge bisul-
cate above the ocellus, suleate below, expanded at the ocellus. Prono-
tum flat above and rough; median carina a raised line, very distinetly
severed by cross incision 3, before the middle; incisions 2 and 5°come
together at the median carina; anterior portion rugose; posterior lobe
covered on the dorsum with elongate tubercles, its sides granulose.
Elytra and wings extend beyond the abdomen. Antenne filiform,
reaching the extremity of the pronotum. Posterior femora about the
length of the abdomen.

Color (siccus): Dirty brown, with fuscus spots. Each elytron has a
narrow yellow stripe near the dorsal border; base brown, fading toward
the apex, which is semi-transparent; marked with groups of fuscus
spots, which, at two points, are grouped so as to form irregular bands.
Wings yellow at base; a dark band of moderate width crossing just

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 2G

beyond the middle, curving inward to the posterior angle; apex trans-
parent, veins dusky. Posterior: femora crossed on the outside by two
very indistinct, oblique, reddish bands; inside, beneath, and tibiz orange
yellow; spines of the tibiz tipped with black. Antenne pale at base,
apical portion dusky.

Dimensions: Female—length, 1.16 inch; to tip of elytra, 1.38 inch.
to end of pronotum, from vertex, .44 inch; femora, .63 inch.

Habitat: Northeast New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. Since
my return home, I have taken here (Southern Ilinois) some specimens
which appear to belong to this species.

This species agrees so nearly with Oe. mexicana (Sauss.) that I would

-have marked my specimens as such, but for the fact that the wings are
yellow at the base.
STAURONOTUS, (FISCHER.)

S. Hlliotti, Thos. Syn., S. Hiliotti, Thos. (Proce. Acad. Nat. Sci.,
Phila., 1870, p. 82.)—Male and female: Medium size, robust, sub-angu-
late. Head large, widest below; face sub-vertical, strongly deflexed
below the transverse suture; occiput convex; vertex slightly declined,
foveolate; foveole shallow, the central broad, the lateral triangular,
the points of the three meeting in a sharp angle midway between the
upper angle of the eye and the base of the antenne; frontal ridge not
suleate, narrowed above; lateral carine distinct, strongly divergent be-
low; eyes medium size, ovate. Pronotum short, sub-truncate in front,
posterior angle obtuse and rounded ; the three transverse incisions dis-
tinct and closely approximate, 1 shortest, 2 and 3 connect at their ter-
mini on the side of the pronotum by an oblique depression; incision 3
about the middle of the pronotum ; median carina distinct, not elevated ;
lateral carine distinct on the anterior lobe, and front part of the pos-
terior lobe; the spaces on the anterior lobe between the median and
lateral carinze depressed like shallow basins. Elytra and wings about
as long as the abdomen. Posterior femora inflated near the base, atten-
uate near the tip. Pectus not broader than the head. Antenne fili-
form, reaching the end of the pronotum. Anal appendages of female
very short and blunt. Color (siccus) yellow, varied with brown. Head
yellow, occiput dotted with brown, sometimes forming imperfect waved
lines; antenne pale at the base, remainder brown. Pronotum with a
yellow cross on the back; beginning at the lateral angles of the poste-
rior lobe, the stripes converge anteriorly, and, crossing about the middle,
fade on the anterior lobe ; a triangular brown spot, between these stripes,
on the posterior lobe; sides brownish, fading below. Elytra brown, a
yellow stripe along the inner margin; lower half dotted with dark
brown. Wings transparent, veins white except at the apex, where they
are dusky. Posterior femora yellow, with two or three oblique brown-
ish spots near the upper edge, which cross and become distinct bands
on the inside; knee brown; tibis dusky above and at the tips, rest
yellow ; (i think bluish in the living specimens.)

Dimensions: Female—length, 1.07 inch; to tip of the elytra, 1.10 inch;
to end of pronotum, .34 inch; femur, .62 inch. Male—length .88 inch;
to tip of elytra, .88.inch; femur, .60 inch.

Habitat: Colorado and Wyoming.

Named in honor of Mr. Henry W. Elliott, artist of the expedition,
who, in addition to his arduous duties, was constant in his efforts to col-
lect. specimens of natural history, and who rendered me valuable assist-
ance in collecting plants and insects.

This sub-genus of Fischer (Orthop. Europ., p. 351) I have here given

278 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

as a genus, as the distinguishing characters are sufficient to separate it
from Stenobothrus. Hippopedon (Sausstire) approaches rather too near
this genus to remain as a Separate group.

ACROLOPHITUS, (NOV. GEN.)

Generic characters: Cidipodiform, head pyramidal, apex directed
upward. Occiputnarrowed anteriorly, ascending; vertex pyramidal, tri-
angular, pointing upward between the eyes and antenne; eyes ovate,
placed high and well forward; face vertical, carinated; frontal ridge,
sulcate. Maxillary palpi medium length, terminal joints sub-equal,
rather short; labial palpi proportionally longer, ultimate joint longest.
Antenne stout sub-planate, basal joint very large, triangular, inserted
in deep oblong foveole under the pyramidal vertex; medium length.
Pronotum of moderate length, coarctate; posterior lobe with the me-
dian carina elevated in the form of a crest arcuate on the top, the sharp
posterior angle extending over the base of the elytra; the anterior por-
tion rounded on the dorsum, not carinated; the three transverse incis-
ions distinct, two sinuous, three bent abruptly forward round the point
of the crest. - Elytra narrow, reaching beyond the abdomen; wings
ample; legs long, slender, and pilose. Prosternum not spined ; pectus
narrow. ; :

A. hirtipes, Thos. Syn. Gryllus hirtipes, Say. (Amer. Ent., IIT, Pl.
XXXIV, Le Conte’s Ed., I, 78, Pl. XXXIV, Fig. 1.)—The description
given by Mr. Say, with the figure, will enable the entomologist readily
to determine this species. The figure gives rather too dark a shade to -
the abdomen and thorax, which is also the case with the next figure on
the same plate, (Gryllus formosus ;) the color of these parts varies from
a pale greenish yellow to a brownish yellow. Ihave formed the genus
Acrolophitus for the reception of this species, which should no longer
remain buried in the old genus Gryllus, which is now restricted to proper
limits. I may be permitted to remark here that I had the good fortune
while in Colorado to pass over the same ground traversed by Mr. Say,
and to obtain specimens of all the species of Gryllus described by him,
viz: aqualis, bivittatus, formosus, hirtipes, nubilus, and trifasciatus.
All of these have now been placed in modern genera, except formosus,
‘for which probably a new genus will have to be formed,

TOMONOTUS, (SAUSS.)

T. nietanus, Sauss. (Orthop. Nov. Amer. II, 24. Rev. et Mag. de Zool.,
1861, p. 321.)

T. mexicanus, Sauss. (Orthop. Nov. Amer. II, 23. Rev. et Mag.
et de Zool., 1861, p. 321.)—I have specimens of two species of Tomo-
noti, which, I think, belong to the species thus named by Saus-
sure; they certainly agree very closely with his short descriptions.
The T. nietanus, when living, appears quite black ; its bright-red wings
being visible at a considerable distance when flying, and the sharp
notes of the males being easily recognized by the ear which has once
heard them. It is closely allied to the Oe. sulphurea Burm, which be-
longs to this genus; the notes of the male of this species can also be
recognized by the practiced ear. It is possible that the notes of the
males may, under some circumstances, enable us to determine whether
certain differences are specific or only of variety.

The generic characters by which Saussure proposes to distinguish
this genus are not well chosen, as they scarcely cover the group he evi-
dently intended to embrace; nor is the gap between COedipoda and
Gomphocerus or Tragocephala quite broad enough for the insertion of a

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 279

genus between them. Before a true natural arrangement can be ob-
tained the species of these genera and of the heterogeneous Oedipoda
will have to be thrown tog ether and then separated into groups by other
characters.

T. pseudo-nietanus, Thos. Syn., T. pseudo-nietanus, Thos. (Proc. Acad.

Nat. Sci., Phila., 1870, p. 82. )—Male: Size and appearance much like 7.
nictanus, (Sauss. . from which it differs only as follows: The facial costa is
slightly broader and less excavated below the ocellus; the occiput and
pronotum less rugose; the antenne nearer cylindrical. The color is
darker, the sides “being deep-black throughout to the extremity of the
elytra; ” the posterior part of the occiput “and dorsum of the pronotum
an ashy yellow, the front lobe and lateral margins of the pronotum
dotted with black; the upper edge of each posterior femur has two
yellow spots, the one next the base the lar ger; the entire under surface
a shining black; wings, as in nietanus ; base TOSaceous ; posterior mar-
gin broadly margined with black, and a facia of the same running along
the anterior sub-margin nearly to the base.

Dimensions. Male: Length, 1 inch; to tip of elytra, 1.25 inch; femur,

.67 inch.; tibia, .53 inch.

Habitat: Found near Canon City, Colorado, close to the mountains
in a cation; also near Fort Fetterman, Wyoming. I have not seen the
female. This may possibly be a variety of 7. nietanus, but from the
permanent difference in the color of the pronotum, and from the fact
that it was found at but one point in Colorado, and over a very limited
territory in Wyoming, while the other was found more generally distrib-
uted on the Plains, I conclude it is a different species.

{ NorE.— While passing from Fort Fetterman to Red Buttes, in Wyom-
ing, we encountered a vast swarm of Caloptenus spretus, not flying but
on the ground pairing. I noticed here, as I had under similar cireum-
stances before, that where these were very numerous, few specimens of
any other species were to be found. In this case almost the only species
to be seen were T. nietanus and Oe. trifasciata, whereas but a few miles
back other species could be found in abundance. |

STENOBOTHRUS, (FISCHER.)

a. Antennee filiform or sub-filiform.

b. Lateral foveole obsolete.

_[NorE.—It was with some hesitancy that I concluded to describe
any of the species which appear to belong to this genus. Although
Fischer is generally very careful and exact, the characters of this
genus, as given by him, show the difficulty he has fallen into by cling-
ing too closely to variations in a given part. The consequence is that
this genus has become the receptacle for a number of species varying
widely from the type. In fact, we may truly say that the distinguishing
character (if his italics are to be relied upon) is the exception instead of
the rule. Finding that neither Scudder nor Saussure had allowed them-
selves to be trammeled by this character, I have concluded to follow
them. The subdivisions given above are after Saussure, the latter
being in direct opposition to the leading character before alluded to.
But, “notwithstanding these strictures, I admit there is a marked group
for which Fischer evidently intended this genus, the similarity being
easily detected by the eye.|

St. obionus, nov. sp.—lKFemale: Head somewhat narrow, face sub-verti-
cal; vertex slightly deflexed, rounded in front, margins elevated, a slight
median line; frontal costa obtuse, convex above, with a very slight
depression at the ocellus; pronotum sub-truncate in front, posterior

280 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

extremity obtuse-angled; tricarinate; median carina slightly elevated,
entire; lateral carine conver ging before the middle, expanding pos.
teriorly, slightly arcuate in this part; cross incisions indistinct, and all
on the anteri ior half; anal appendages of moderate length ; ely: tra and
wings a little longer than the abdomen.

Color (siccus): Testaceous brown, varied with ashy green. Face
greenish, varied with light and dark shades; upper portion of the cheeks
and cranium brown; a very narrow yellow line running from the eye to
the lateral carina of the pronotum. Pronotum testaceous, the anterior
lobes being darkest; sides brown; posterior lobe an ashy green, with a
dusky median stripe. Elytra pale reddish brown, translucent at the
apex; fuscus spots along the middle field and lower border. Venter
and pectus dull yellow.

Male: Differs from the female only in size; in the face being more
rounded ; the upper portions of the head and pronotum being darker ;
and the spots on the inside of the femora not so dark.

Dimensions: Female—length, 1 ineh; to tip of the elytra, 1.1 inch; to
end of pronotum, .35 inch; ‘antenne, about the same; femur, .52 inch.
Male—length, .65 inch; femur, .40 inch.

Habitat: First seen on the Arkansas in the vicinity of Cafion City;
found in abundance on a species of Obdione.

St. brunneus, Nov. sp. —Female: Somewhat similar to St. propinquans
(Scudd.) in size and appearance, butratherlarger. Vertex broad, scarcely
expanding in front of the eyes; angle rounded; apex blunt, margins
raised; a faint median line visible. Frontal ridge convex, punctate on
the margins, expanding below, not depressed at the ocellus; seen from
the side arcuate. Pronotum sub-truneate in front, posterior angle
rounded; slightly convergent in the middle; the three carine about
equally prominent; the three transverse incisions visible on the dorsum ;
3 is situated about the middle and is the only one that cuts the median
carina. LElytra narrow, about the length of the abdomen; wings about
the same length. Posterior femora just the length of the abdomen.
Prosternum transversely convex in front; the posterior part slightly
excavated in the middle. The superior anal corniculi covered by the
hood-like extension of the last abdominal segment; lower pair rather -
short and slender. Antenne reach the tip of ‘the pronotum.

Color (siccus): Reddish brown. The vertex and the face bright red-
dish brown, bordered each side by a yellow stripe which descends i in
front of the eyes; ; parts of the mouth yellow ; cranium brown, palest in
the middle; a narrow yellow line runs ‘from the eye to the lateral carina
of the pronotum. Pronotum brown. Wings hyaline, the nerves of the
apical portion dark. Femora on the disk testaceous; beneath yellow;
inside crossed by two black bands. Tibiz surrounded by an indistinct
yellow ring below the knee; rest a dull yellow (probably blue when
alive.) Venter and pectus dull yellow.

Male: Differs only in size and as follows: the face more arcuate; the
upper portions of the head and pronotum darker; inside of the femora
not so dark.

Dimensions: Female—length, 1 inch; to tip of the elytra, 1.10 inch; to
end of pronotum, .55 inch; antenne, .35 inch; femur, .52; inch. Male—
lergth, .65 inch; femur, 40 inch.

Habitat: Found with preceding; and probably in Eastern Wyoniing.

St. quadri-maculatus, noy. sp.—A little smaller than St. obionus, simi-
lar in shape. Occiput convex, ascending; vertex of moderate width,
not expanded in front of the eyes, front margins raised, meeting in a
blunt right-angle; face slightly arcuate, deflexed below; frontal costa

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 281

prominent, flat, not suleate; margins parallel, punctate, slightly de-
pressed at the ocellus, reaching the clypeus; lateral carine distinct and
arcurate, reaching the lower angles. Pronotum short, truncate in front,
angle behind, tricarinate; median carina slightly elevated; the lateral
caring more obtuse, convergent a little in front of the middle, forming
an entering obtuse angle; divergent anteriorly and posteriorly ; cross
incision 3 sinuate, cutting all the caring, and situated about the middle;
incisions 1 and 2 represented on the dorsum by cross rows of punctures.
Elytra narrow, and shorter than the abdomen. Posterior femora not
passing the abdomen.

Color (siccus): Yellow with brownish spots and stripes. Face yellow ;
cheeks yellow and fuscus; a narrow fuscus stripe along the cranium ;
a broad stripe of the same reaching from each eye to the pronotum.
Pronotum with alternating dashes of yellow and brown; lateral carinze
yellow; corners of the posterior lobe brown; sides darkest above, yellow
below. Elytra pale reddish brown, fading toward the apex, with four
brown spots in a row along the middle field, and a little dash of the same
near the base. Wings hyaline; nerves mostly white. Abdomen with
rings of yellow and brown. Disk and two spots on the upper carina of
the posterior femur reddish-brown. Antenne yellow, darkest at the
tips. Under surface pale yellow.

Dimensions: Female, length .88 inch; to tip of the elytra, .75 inch;
femur, .50 inch.

Habitat: Southern Colorado and, I think, Eastern Wyoming.

[Notr.—The living insect is a pale pea-green where the dry is yellow.
This and all other species were placed in alcohol before being dried. |

Variety: a. Face nearly vertical; frontal costa more prominent and
somewhat suleate; lateral carine not so much bent or so divergent; cra-
nium not quite so convex. Lateral carine of the pronotum less con-
stricted. The yellow spaces broader and paler; the brown more
restricted. This may prove to be a distinct species, but the general
appearance is so much the same that I have preferred describing the
latter as a variety until more specimens can be obtained. Females
only seen.

REMARKS ON THE CALOPTENUS SPRETUS.

The following additional facts in regard to this destructive species
have been obtained since the publication of the report of last year. I
would remark, first, that a pretty full account of the incursions of this
insect into the Mississippi Valley has been published in the American
Entomologist by the lamented Walsh, who, after a thorough examina-
tion of all the data he could obtain, comes to the following conelusion,
which I quote in his-‘own words:

The above facts, and others which it would be tedious to particularize, sufficiently
show that the Hateful Grasshopper, when suddenly transferred from its native Alpine
home in the Rocky Mountains, some eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, to
the warm regions of the valley of the Mississippi, less than a theusand feet above the
sea level, gradually becomes diseased and barren, and loses, more or less, its natural
appetites and instincts. Why we do not observe the same phenomena in the case of
the Colorado potato bug, which was originally a denizen of the same cold Alpine
country, is not difficult toexplain. The former insect reaches the Mississippi lowlands
at one sudden flight, and in one season; it has therefore no opportunity to become
gradually acclimatized and inured to the new conditions of life under which it is called
upon to exist. Consequently, it begomes diseased and barren, and finally perishes.
The latter insect, on the other hand, has reached the Mississippi lowlands only by slow
and gradual approaches, breeding at every way-station on the road, and thus becom-
ing, generation after generation, more and more acclimatized to a higher temperature,
as indicated by the thermometer, and to a greater atmospheric pressure, as indicated
by the barometer. Consequently, it may now be considered as a permanently accli-
matized resident of our great western valley; though even here it thrives much better,

‘

282 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

and extends eastward much faster in a cold northerly than in a warm southerly lati-
tude. We have traced back the history of this insect as far as the year 1820; and in
all these forty-eight years, although no less than seven invasions of the country to the
east of the Rocky Mountains have taken place, namely, in 1820, 1856, 1857, 1864, 1866,
1867, and 1868, it has never yet got within one hundred and twelve miles of the Mis-
sissippi River; and there is no reason to suppose it will ever do so for the future.
There must necessarily be some limit or other to the powers of flight of this insect.
It would be absurd, for example, to suppose that it could fly, in one season, as far east-
ward as England or France, or even as far as the Atlantic Ocean. Consequently, as it
can be proved by historical records, that it has never, within the last half century,
reached within one hundred and twelve miles of the Mississippi, the fair and reason- _
able inference is that it never will do so in the future.

His views in regard to the hatching grounds or nativity of this insect
are strongly contested by William N. Byers, esquire, of Denver, who has
given the subject considerable attention. While Mr. Walsh believes the
mountain canons are the points from which they issue, (with which I at
first agreed,) Mr. Byers, on the contrary, thinks they come from the plains
west of the Rocky Mountains. I will hereafter give my present opinion,
my first view having been somewhat modified by subsequent investiga-
tion. Ihave received from Mr. Byers a full statement of his observations
in regard to the history and habits of this insect, from which I make the
following quotations:

They generally enter Colorado from some point between north and west, usually
about north 30° west. The most destructive flight we ever had here was in 1864.
Early in the season we heard of great swarms of grasshoppers hatching out upon the
plains of Montana, in the valleys of the Three Forks of the Missouri River, and along the
Yellowstone. Later we heard of their progress south and east. In August I was with
Professor Parry (now botanist of the Department of Agriculture) and Velie in an
attempt to ascend Long’s Peak. On the 21st we returned to the plains‘at the mouth of
St. Vrain’s Caiion, about fifty miles north of Denver. A man came up the valley, in the
evening, to where we stopped, and reported the grasshoppers entering the valley from
the north. The next morning, August 22d, I rode down the valley and found portions
of the corn fields and grass blackened by their nnmbers. About five days after,
August 27th, the swarm reached Denver, darkening the sky and often covering the
streets. They devoured corn, tomatoes, potato vines, onions, &c., almost entirely, and
within the space of three to five days. The column moved on, say ten miles per day,
and left the (then) settled portions of Colorado within the valley or basin of the
Arkansas. We heard no more of them. But myriads remained here, or continued
arriving from the northwest, and deposited their eggs in plowed fields and upon rolling,
sandy, and gravelly land, where the sod was unbroken. In September and October
most of them died, The first swarm devoured all that was green, but Colorado’s green
crops in August are of small value compared with those harvested in July and up to
August 10th. In March following the eggs deposited by them began hatching, first upon
sandy, and gravelly hillsides, facing the sun, and later in plowed fields and in colder
soils, the outcoming brood reaching too late in May. In walking over the ground the
young swarm rese about the feet like a gray mist or dust, the little creatures hopping
away like fleas. Where numercus they literally devoured every green thing. Ifa
wheat field (in which none were hatched) was attacked they moved across it, or from
the circumference to the center, with the regularity and the effect of advancing flames.

The flights of 1864 destroyed corn and other late crops; the young of 1865 ate up
wheat and other small grains. The comparative damage was probably as one to four,
the young brood being far the worst, simply because their opportunity was greatest.
Generally they move leisurely; their direction influenced largely by the direction of
the wind. In fact I attribute mainly their general course to the prevailing winds which
come during that portion of the season when they fly most, almost invariably from the
northwest. Along toward noon, in bright, warm days, they rise by cireular flights,
each seeming to act individually, to a considerable height, and then sail away, with
tolerable regularity, in one general direction. If there is no wind, many of them con-
tinue whirling about in the air, like bees swarming, but, away beyond, myriads can be
seen moving across the sun toward the southeast, looking like snow-dakes. If there
is 2 change in the atmosphere, such as the approach of a thunder-storm, or gale of
wind, they come down precipitately, seeming to fold their wings and fall by the force
of gravity, thousands being killed by the fall, if it is upon stone, or other hard surface.
If not interrupted by such causes they descend during the afternoon.

The swarm of August, 1864, and the brood of April and May, 1865, are the only gen-
eral visitations that have scourged Colorado. Similar ones, both flights and broods,

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. . 283

haye visited portions of the Territory each year since, but genera*ly confined to partic-
ular localities or narrow belts.

The swarms that invaded Kansas and portions of Western Iowa in 1867 were traced
from their hatching grounds in Western Dakota and Montana, along the east flank
of the Rocky Mountains, and in the valleys and plains of the Black Hills, and between
them and the main Rocky Mountain range.

The Hateful Grasshopper reaches perfection only in a hot dry atmosphere. The great-
er the heat of air and earth, the brighter the sun, the dryer everything, the more it
flourishes. The egg will hatch at a low temperature ; cold will probably not destroy
it; individual, insects will endure a wonderful degree of cold, some living through the
entire winter here; but under such circumstances I do not believe that the young will
become a perfect insect, capable of perpetuating its species. Heavy dews, frequent
showers with prevailing cloudy weather and humid atmosphere are very unfavorable
to their growth. Hence I argue that there is no danger of their ever becoming a gen-
eral or permanent scourge in ‘the United States. The. exceptional seasons, like that of
1867, when the season has favored their early development, and prevailing westerly
winds earry them steadily and rapidly on their journey, they may invade some of the
States of the Mississippi Valley. Theiregys deposited there may even hatch, but I think
the product will be a feeble and comparatively harmless generation, from which none’
will follow.

In 1852 I first observed the insect in question in the vally of the south fork of the
Columbia River, not far from Fort Hall. A swarm lasting two or three days passed
over from. about W. S. W., moving with the wind, at times darkening the sun, cover-
ing horses, cattle, and wagons, ag cainst which they were driven. The Digger and
Snake Indians were catherine ‘them for food. In 1865, when they hatched here, upon
- attaining about half ‘their fall size, they were attacked by a fly, which, stinging them
in the back between the root of the wings, deposited one or more eggs, which produced
a large white maggot. The worm subsisted upon the erasshopper, vfinally ¢ causing its
death, when it cut its way out and entered the earth. In this way probably half were
destroyed, often covering the ground and filling the furrows in plowed fields with their
careases. The remainder took to flight, moving southeast, when their wings were
sufficiently developed, and we lost trace of them on the g oreat Plains. In the same
year, about the last of Angust, I was in the valley of South Boulder Creek, close up to
the Snowy Range, and found the young grasshoppers very numerous, varying in size
from those just hatched to one-third grown. I know that winter caught and killed
them before they were able to fly out of the valley, or old enough to produce eggs. —-

In 1867 I observedthe same thing in the valleys west of the Snowy Range. Late in that
year the Middle Park was also invaded by full-grown grasshoppers that came from the
north west. They deposited eggs in favorable eround. In 1868 those eggs began hatching

in the lowest and warmest portions of the Park in J une, increasing in J uly, and con-
tinuing through August and into September in the higher portions of the Park, up to-
ward its rim, where snow and frost continue later in the spring and summer. The first
hatched moved from their native place up the Park eastward, but never got out of it.
The later broods never left their hatching ground. All were destroyed by the fall
snows. From the middle to the 25th of August, 1868, I was upon and near the Snowy
Range east of Middle Park, and on Long’s Peak. There wasa lar ge, daily flight of full-
grown grasshoppers, from ‘about W. N. W., reaching, apparently, to the highest limit
of vision when on the highest peaks. Daily showers prevailed of rain, snow and hail,

usually from 12 m.to 3 p.m., and most of the flying insects were beaten down by them,

when they became so chilled and benumbed that “they never rose again. The snow-
fields in many places were literally covered with the dead and dying. Bears were very
plentiful feeding and fattening upon them. Hundreds, yes, thousands of bushels might
have been shoveled up from the hard snow.

I know that they did not come from the adjacent Middle Park, because those bred
there had not then attained their full growth, and never did, as before stated. The
migrating swarms, therefore, must have come from beyond—from the Green River basin ;
or, aS I think, from the wide, hot, dry plains of Utah.

These notes by Mr. Byers contain so many important facts in respect
to the history of this species, that I have thought it best to make very
full quotations from them, that they may be on record for future exam-
ination. During the expedition of the present year, while traveling up
the North Platte, between Fort Fetterman and Red Buttes, (August
20-23), we observed vast nnmbers of this species. They were not on
the wing, having to all appearance ended their flight, and were now
pairing, doubtless intending to deposit their eggs there. Frémont en-
countered a similar swarm in passing over this part of the North
Platte Valley. He remarks, “This insect has been s@ numerous since

284 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

leaving Fort Laramie that the ground seemed alive with them;
and in walking a little moving cloud preceded our footsteps.” They
had probably ceased their flight; and were preparing to deposit their
eggs. By reference to my present report on the agriculture of this sec-
tion it will be seen that here there appears to be an almost constant
current of air sweeping down the Platte Valley from -the west. When
we reached South Pass City I learned from Major Baldwin that about
the first of the month (August) a large swarm had crossed over the
pass from the west, moving eastward, and that they had not gone to
Wind River Valley. I am satisfied that they did not go upon the Lar-
amie Plains, as I visited that section twice during the season. Nor did
we meet with any swarms during our passage up the Sweetwater; we
may, therefore, reasonably infer that those we saw on the North Platte
were the same that crossed the mountains at South Pass. From whénee
-did they come? As we heard nothing of them during our passage down ~
Big Sandy along the stage road, I infer that they must have come from
the northwest; but what distance I have no means of ascertaining. As
heretofore stated, they have been very destructive in Utah for the past
three years, not only injuring very materially the growing crops, but
eating the leaves from the fruit trees to such an extent as to injure the
fruit. From Dr. A. T. McDonald, of Provo City, I learned the follow- —
ing particulars in regard to the incursions of this insect into the Terri-
tory. That the prevailing cold and winter storms are from the north-
west, but that the grasshoppers seldom come from that direction. On
the contrary, they generally came from the northeast through the
canons, being brought in by the local currents which sweep through
these mountain openings, and that they generally pass off in a south-
west direction, though the swarms that come in often remain and de-
posit their eggs, from which another brood arises in the spring. Some-
times, after a swarm has departed to the southwest, the wind changes,
and they are driven back to be swallowed up in the lakes, or perish in
the vailey. The time of coming varies from the middle of May to the
middle of August. The eggs that are deposited here usually hatch out
in April and May. The growing crops receive their greatest injury
from the young, which are hatched in the valley. The usual method of
fighting these young gormands is to drive them into the irrigating
ditches, where they are drowned in the water. When they are a little
older they are often checked by scattering straw along the edge of the
ditches, and driving them into it early in the morning, and then firing
it; those which are not destroyed by the fire being caught in the water
of the ditch and drowned. but these methods of combating them are
practicable only when they are in the larve and pupa states.

Dr. McDonald says that in Utah, at least, the females deposit their
eggs in the ground in sacks—a fact heretofore noticed and published—
on the gravelly elevated plateaus, or foot-hills. And from my observa-
tions this season I am inclined to agree with him in the opinion that
these elevated table lands, which are composed of coarse sand’ and
gravel, and but slightly covered with vegetation, are the principal hatch-
ing grounds of the migratory swarms. The local broods are to be found
all over the Rocky Mountain region, from Raton Mountains as far north
as I have been, and as far west, at least, as Salt Lake Valley. These
are found hatching out in the grassy valleys and broad plains of the
lower lands, and up the mountain cafions almost to the snow limits.
And these broods appear to have little or no connection with the mi-
grating broods; but the solution of these questions will require more
extended observations by those who can distinguish the species.

=

1 ENG erhll A 1 Vel

SPECIAL REPORTS.

. PRELIMINARY PALEONTOLOGICAL REPORT. By F. B. MEEK.
. ON THE TERTIARY COALS OF THE WEST. By JAS. T! HODGE.
. ON THE ANCIENT LAKES OF WESTERN AMERICA: THEIR DEPOSITS

AND DRAINAGE. By J. 8S. NEWBERRY, LL.D.

. ON THE VERTEBRATE FOSSILS OF THE TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF

THE WEST. By JOSEPH LEIDY, LL.D.

. ON THE FOSSIL PLANTS OF THE CRETACEOUS AND TERTIARY FOR-

MATIONS OF KANSAS AND NEBRASKA. By MR. L. LESQUEREUX.

. ON THE FOSSIL REPTILES AND FISHES OF THE CRETACEOUS ROCKS

OF KANSAS. By PROF. E. D. COPE.

. ON THE FOSSIL FISHES OF THE GREEN RIVER GHOUE: By PROF. E.

D. COPE

. ON THE REPTILES AND FISHES OBTAINED BY THE NATURALISTS OF

THE EXPEDITION. By PROF. E. D. COPE.

. ON THE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF WESTERN KANSAS AND EAST-

ERN COLORADO. By MR. R.S. ELLIOTT.

IL—PRELIMINARY PALEONTOLOGICAL REPORT,
CONSISTING OF

LISTS OF FOSSILS, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW
TYPES, ETC.

By F. B. MEEK.

GENERAL REMARKS.*

The few Silurian fossils enumerated in the following list appear,
judging from their affinities, to belong to a low horizon in that series or
system of rocks. Ophileta complanata, as is well known, occurs in the
ealeiferous group of the Lower Silurian in New York. The specimens
in the collection referred to this shell are smaller than the usual size of
Vanuxem’s species, and may possibly belong to a distinct representative
form, though they seem to agree in all respects, excepting in size, with
O. complanata. An associated sub-discoid shell, belonging apparently
to the genus Raphistoma, is also nearly allied to a species found along
with O. complanata in rocks of about the age of the calciferous along
Lake Pepin in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Another little gasteropod,
however, found associated with those mentioned above, and for which I
have proposed the name Bucanella nana, is not only congeneric with, but
even specifically allied to one found in the Medina sandstone, and some
of the higher rocks in New York, though it is nevertheless specifically
distinct from the New York form. So far as these few fossils warrant
the expression of an opinion respecting the age of the roclt from which
they were obtained, I should be inclined to place it nearly on a parallel
with the calciferous division of the Lower Silurian.

The rock from which the single Orthis was obtained at Colorado City
is probably also Lower Silurian, as this shell belongs to a section of the
genus found in rocks of that age, and is unlike any carboniferous or
Devonian form known to me.

In regard to the carboniferous species mentioned in the following list,
I have elsewhere remarked that although some of them ‘are forms
known to be common to the lower carboniferous and the coal measures
of the Western States, they are all, with one or two exceptions, so far
as they have been identified, found in the coal measures of Hlinois, lowa,
Kansas, and Nebraska, while not a single one of them is identical with
any of the species peculiar to the carboniferous limestone series below
the horizon of the millstone grit in the Western States, though about
fourteen of them are peculiar to the coal measures there.” +

From these facts it would seem that if the lower carboniferous lime-
stones of the Mississippi Valley are represented at the localities from
which these collections were obtained, they probably contain few fossils,
and that the principal fossiliferous carboniferous strata there belong to
the horizon of the coal measures, as developed farther eastward. We

*T am under obligations to Professor Henry for the usual facilities at the Smithsonian

Institution, while preparing this paper.
t Proceed. Am. Philosoph. Soce., Phila., XI, p. 428, 1870.

288 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

have reason to believe that there are, however, in the region of the Great
Salt Lake, beds representing some of the higher members of the lower
carboniferous series of the Mississippi Valley. Colonel Simpson brought
from there, in a dark, very hard limestone matrix, specimens of one of
those curious, screw-shaped Polyzoa, known by the generic name Archim-
edes, SO common in the lower carboniferous limestones of the Western
States, but unknown in the coal measures. Some of the corals brought
by Colonel Simpson and others are also unlike any of those known in
the coal measures of the Mississippi Valley, and more nearly allied to
forms found in the upper members of the lower carboniferous lime-
stone series in the States east of the Rocky Mountains. -

Among all of the carboniferous fossils yet brought from any part of
the Rocky Mountains, as well as from localities west of there, I have
never seen a Single species indicating the existence there of any repre-
sentative of the Barlington limestone, which, with its great profusion
of beautiful crinoids, forms so marked a horizon in the carboniferous
rocks as developed in some of the States farther eastward. ‘This, how-
ever, is just what we might expect, since the Burlington limestone, even
in the States alluded to, is con nparatively limited i in its geographical
range, and evidently owes its origin to local physical conditions; while
the Chester, St. Louis, and Keokuk limestones have a much wider geo-
graphical range in the Mississippi Valley, and hence would be more “apt
to be represented at these distant western localities.

' Judging from the few fossils yet brought from the far West that be-
long to. the lower carboniferous, the evidence seems to favor the con-
clusion that the rocks from which they were collected rather represent
the Chester and St. Louis beds than any of the older divisions. It is
not improbable, however, that when the whole series of carboniferous
deposits in the Rocky Mountains can be thoroughly worked out in detail,
there may be found subdivisions there that have no representatives in
the Mississippi Valley, as we have reason to believe several nembers of
the series, as made out in the latter districts, may be wanting farther
westward. So far as yet known we have no reason to believe, from any
paleontological evidence, that the important oldest member of the car-
boniferous, known in Ohio as the Waverly group or series, occurs in the _
Rocky Mountain region.

The small collection of fossils I have placed in a separate list; under
the heading ‘“‘ Permo-carboniferous,” are contained in a brittle, whitish,
cherty matrix from Box Elder Station, on Platte River. Although
without exception, so far as they can be identified, forms that have an
extensive range in the coal measures of the Western States—most of
them even extending into the middle and lower coal measures, and one
even into the Chester limestone*—these fossils, when viewed together
as a group, point to a higher position in the series than those that pre-
cede them in the following lists. Indeed, there are probably few Huro-
pean geologists unacquainted with the range of these forms in the
carboniferous rocks of this country, that would hesitate to refer them to
the Permian. The genera Pseudo-monotis (Monotis of some, not of
Bronn) and Bakevellia are generally regarded in Europe as characteristic
of the Permian, while the Schizodus, Mh yalina and Pleurophorus, particu-
larly the former two, are specifically closely allied to foreign Permian
types. The fact, too, that we find among the specimens from this chert
but one species ‘of the Brachiopoda (Hemipronites crassus) SO very con-

*]T have recently identified Hemipronites crassus, from specimens showing both the in-
ternal and external characters, among some collections sent to me from Professor
Stevenson from the Chester limestone of West Virginia.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIDS. 289

mon in our western coal measures, and scarcely any of the coal-measure
Gasteropoda, and none of the Polyzoa, Foraminifera, corals or fish re-
mains. when viewed in connection with the affinities of the forms men-
tioned, certainly imparts quite a Permian aspect to this little group of
fossils.

On the other hand, when we bear in mind the fact above stated, that
all of the species, so far as they can be identified, are certainly known
to range far down into the unquestionable coal-measures of the western
States, while we here also find associated with them a Phillipsia, a
genus entirely unknown in the Permian of Europe, and even belonging
to an order or sub-order of Crustacea, not certainly known to have ex-
isted after the close of the Carboniferous epoch, we at once see the ne-
cessity for caution in referring this rock to the Permian, on such evi-
dence.

Every one familiar with the organic remains of the coal-measures of
the Mississippi Valley, is aware of the fact that we not unfrequently
meet with thin local beds and seams there, containing precisely such a
group of fossils, and yet overlaid, where there is not the slightest dis-
turbance of the strata, by hundreds of feet of unmistakable coal-meas-
ures, filled with their characteristic plants, Foraminifera, Brachiopoda,
Lamellibranchiata, Gasteropoda, Trilobites, fish remains, &c. Hence it is
more probable that the association of these ten or twelve fossils in this
bed of chert, and the absence, so far as known, of the other forms men-
tioned, resulted from some peculiar local physical conditions before, rather
than at or after the close of the carboniferous period. The probability is,
that this bed belongs to the same horizon as the rocks in Kansas, to which
we have applied the name Permo-carboniferous, though it may be even
somewhat older.

The few forms placed in the list under the heading “‘ Jurassic species,”
nearly all came from the same horizon, and some of them from the same
localities, as those we have figured and described in the paleontology of
the Upper Missouri, and there referred to the Jura. Although the spe-
cies known from these beds are amply sufficient to prove them to be
of Jurassic age, they scarcely warrant, or, at any rate, have not yet been
sufficiently compared with European Jurassic species to justify a positive
opinien in regard to their precise horizon in that great series of rocks,
though they appear to occupy a rather low position in the same, judging’
from their affinities. The single Ammonite from between Sacramento
and Summit Station, described by Mr. Gabb, under the name A. Neva-
densis, probably came.from the horizon of some part of the Lias.

The cretaceous species enumerated in the list belong to horizons rep-.
resenting all of the subdivisions of the cretaceous series as made out in
the Upper Missouri country, and serve to illustrate, to some extent, the
geographical extension of these several rocks or groups, southward and
westward from the original typical localities. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5, along the right-hand margin of the list, opposite the localities,
show to which member of the Upper Missouri cretaceous each species
belongs—the subdivisions of the Upper Missouri cretaceous having
been severally named and numbered from below upward, as follows:
No. 1, Dakota Group; No. 2, Fort Benton Group; No. 3, Niobrara Di-
vision; No. 4, Fort Pierre Group, and No. 5, Fox Hills Beds; the names
being derived from localities where the several formations are well de-
veloped.

The specimens from twelve miles southwest of Salina, Kansas, came
from a brown ferruginous sandstone belonging to the horizon of the:
Dakota Group, or oldest division of the Upper Missour. cretaceous series..

19G

=

290 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

For these we are under many obligations to Professor B. F. Mudge, of
the Kansas Agricultural College, at Manhattan.* They are especially
interesting, because we have hitherto known only a few of the Mollusca
of this horizon, though the remains of many species of forest trees had
been obtained from this rock, both on the Missouri and in the interior
of Kansas. The shells discovered by Professor Mudge are marine
types, with probably the exception of two species of Corbicula ; while
on the Missouri we have obtained from this rock only a few marine
types, such as Mactra and Awincea, associated with Cyrena, Unio, and
Pharella.

It is proper to remark here that, although we usually speak of this
Dakota Group or division as belonging to the earlier or lower cretaceous
of the Upper Missouri country, we do not thereby mean that it belongs
to the lower part of the cretaceous system, as understood in Europe;
‘but simply that itis the oldest member of the series yet certainly known
‘in the Upper Missouri country. It is probably not older than the lower
or gray chalk of British geologists, as we have elsewhere explained.

The specimens from near Fort Bridger and Medicine Bow River,
‘Wyoming, as well as from six miles west of Cation Station and Dodson’s
Ranch, show that the Fort Benton Group or division of the Upper Mis-.
souri cretaceous occurs at those localities. Among the specimens from
between Hardscrabble and St. Charles, from Fort Bascom, Medicine
Bow River, and Colorado City, there are characteristic forms of the
Niobrara Division; and from the mouth of Deer Creek, Wyoming, val-
ley of Fountain Creek, and Box Elder Creek, Colorado, there are Fort
Pierre forms. The Fox Hills beds are also shown to be represented at
Fountain Creek, and Colorado City, Colorado.

Some of the specimens from near Bear River, and at Coalville, Utah,
‘from a light-colored sandstone, containing beds of a good quality of
brown coal, appear to belong to a member of the cretaceous series not
‘corresponding to any of those named in the Upper Missouri country ;
though it is, as I believe, represented by a similar sandstone under the
‘oldest estuary tertiary beds at the mouth of the Judith River, on the
Upper Missouri. In 1860 Colonel Simpson brought from this rock, on
Sulphur Creek, a small tributary of Bear River, in Utah, some casts of
Inoceramus, and other fossils; and in some remarks on Colonel Simp-
.son’s collection, published by the writer, in connection with Mr. Henry
Engelmann, the geologist of Colonel Simpson’s survey,* we referred this
formation to the cretaceous. The collections that have since been
brought in from it, in Utah, by Mr. King’s and Dr. Hayden’s surveys,
-contirm the conclusion that it belongs to the eretaceous, as they contain,
-among other things, species of Inoceramus, Anchura, and Gyrodes—
genera that seem not to have survived the close of the cretaceous
‘period. In addition to this, there is among Dr. Hayden’s collections
‘from this rock, at Coalville, a Turritella that 1 cannot distinguish by the
figure and description, even specifically, from 7. Martinezensis, described
‘by Mr. Gabb, from one of the upper beds in California referred to the
-eretaceous. A Modiola from the same horizon also appears to be spe-
cifically identical with M. Pedernalis, of Roemer, from the cretaceous
of Texas. Dr. Hayden also has, from a little above the coal beds at
‘Coalville, specimens of oyster that seem much like O. Idriaensis and O.
Brewerii, of Gabb, from the upper beds of the California cretaceous.
_-As no other fossils were found directly associated with these oysters,

*T have prepared a quarto plate fully illustrating these fossils, to be published in
ithe Paleontology of the Upper Missouri.
* See Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1860.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 291

however, nor any strictly marine forms above them, it is possible that
they may belong to the lower tertiary.

From the affinities of some of these fossils to forms found in the latest
of the beds referred in California to the cretaceous, and the intimate
relations of these marine coal-bearing strata of Utah to the oldest ter-
tiary of the same region, and the apparent occurrence of equivalent
beds bearing the same relations to the oldest brackish-water tertiary
beds at the mouth of Judith River on the Upper Missouri,* I am in-
clined to believe that these Coalville beds occupy a higher horizon in
the cretaceous than even the Fox Hills beds of the Upper Missouri cere-
taceous series; or, in other words, that they belong to the closing or
latest member of the cretaceous.

All of the explorers of this region concur in the statement that the
above-mentioned cretaceous beds are intimately related to the sueceed-
ing brackish-water deposits that appear to belong to the oldest tertiary ;
the two formations, wherever they occur together, being conformable
and without any intermediate beds, so that the one seems to shade into
the other, without any abrupt or sharply-defined line of separation; the
change being mainly indicated by a gradual transition from beds con-
taining cretaceous types of only marine origin, to those with brackish
and fresh water types, apparently most nearly allied to early eocene spe-
cies of the Old World.

So far as yet known, there would appear to be no strictly marine ter-
tiary deposits in all this interior region of the continent; even the lower
parts of the surface here having been apparently gradually elevated
above the sea level at, or very near, the close of the cretaceous period.
For the same reason all of the beds hitherto referred with confidence to
the cretaceous are of undoubted marine origin, as they contain only
marine types.

These cretaceous gulfs or seas, however, evidently did not occupy the
whole country here, as we know from the absence of cretaceous deposits
throughout what were doubtless wide areas, or possibly, in some cases,
smaller islands of dry land at that time. As the whole surface was
gradually elevated, however, even the lowest portions rose finally to
near the tide level, thus, probably, leaving large inlets and estuaries of
brackish waters that subsequently became so far isolated by the contin-
ued elevation, and from sedimentary deposits, as to prevent the influx
of the tides and form fresh-water lakes, in which the later fresh-water
and terrestrial types of fossils only were deposited.

That this change from marine to brackish-water conditions was exactly
contemporaneous with the close of the cretaceous epoch, and the intro-
duction of the tertiary in Kurope, is not certain; nor is it necessary that
this should have been the case to constitute the older rock cretaceous and
the later tertiary, because in the use of these terms we have reference
rather to the order of succession of certain great physical changes, affect-
ing life in distantly-separated parts of the earth, than to the exact time
of the occurrence of these changes.

* Associated with the estuary beds at the mouth of Judith River, on the Upper Mis-
souri, there is a yellowish arenaceous rock, agreeing exactly in its lithological charac-
ters with the coal-bearing strata on Bear River, in Utah, and containing an oyster ap-
parently belonging to the same species as one found in the rock mentioned at the lat-
ter locality. All of the strata at this Judith River locality are upheaved, and more or
iess mingled together, and I have long suspected that some vertebrate remains found
there by Dr. Hayden, and supposed by Dr. Leidy to be cretaceous types, belong rather
to the sandstone, that appears to be an equivalent of the Bear River coal strata of
Utah, than to the estuary beds. It is even possible that equivalent beds at other
localities in the Upper Missouri country may have been, from the absence of charac-
teristic fossils, included along with the tertiary.

292 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

* The oldest beds in the Bear River country of Utah and Wyoming,
properly belonging to the tertiary, and, as above stated, so intimately
related to the latest eretaceous, contain species of Corbula, Cyrena, (Cor-
bicula), perhaps Ostrea and a univalve related to Melampus, directly asso-
ciated with several species of Goniobasis, two of Unio, one or two of Me-
lantho, several species of Viviparus, one of Tiara, &c., showing clearly
that these strata were deposited in brackish waters.t These shells also
exist in great numbers, and are preserved in a condition showing that

they could not have been transported far by currents, but that they must ©

have lived and died at least near where we now find them.

All paleontologists are aware of the fact that the remains of fresh and
brackish-water shells do not generally present such well-marked peculi-
arities of form, ornamentation, &e., in beds of different ages, as we see
in marine types, so that they cannot always be relied upon with the
same degree of confidence in identifying strata that we place in marine
forms; some of those from oldest cretaceous being, for instance, very
similar to existing species. So far as I have been able to compare the
species from this formation with described forms from other parts of the
world, they generally agree most nearly with lower eocene types; the
Corbiculas and Tiara being very similar to forms found in the lower
lignites of the Paris basin, and at the mouth of the Rhone in France. At
the same time it is worthy of note, that most of these shells are quite
unlike any of the known existing North American species, and one of
them (Tiara humerosa) belongs even to a genus entirely unknown among
the existing Melanians of the American continent, though found inhab-
iting the streams of Madagascar, the Fejee Islands, &c. One of the
Uniones (U. belliplicatus) resembles in its ornamentation some of the
South American species and the genus Castalia, much more nearly than
it does any of the recent North American species, although having the
form and hinge of a true Unio ; and another abundant bivalve, found in
the same associtiaon (Corbula Anisothyris pyriformis) seems to be allied
in some respects to a peculiar group recently described from a pliocene
or miocene formation on the Upper Amazon of South America, by Mr.
Gabb, under the name Pachydon, and afterward renamed Anisothyris by
Mr. Conrad, because the name Pachyodon had been previously used for
another genus.

This last-mentioned shell (Corbula pyriformis) was referred by me, pro-
visionally, to Azara, because it occurs in the sams beds with fresh and
brackish-water forms, and has the general aspect of some species of Cor-
bula, which group is believed by some good authorities on conchology
to include Azara as a sub-genus; while none of our specimens showed
the hinge. Among some of the latter collections, however, I found speci-
mens by which I was enabled with considerable difficulty to sueceed in
working out the hinge, and found that it does not agree with that of Azara,
but apparently conforms almost exactly with that of Corbula, with prob-
ably the exception of some regular furrows on the tooth of the right
valve. From its brackish-water habits, however, and its general simi-
larity of form to Anisothyris or (Pachydon) erectus, Conrad, I referred it, in
manuscript, to Anisothyris, placing that group as a sub-genus under
Corbula. Soon after I mentioned, in a letter to my friend Mr. Conrad,
that I had discovered that this shell does not possess the hinge of Azara,
and that I had referred it to Anisothyris.

* These remarks from this paragraph to the end of the first paragraph ending on
page 295, inclusive, were extracted and printed in pamphlet form, excepting the foot
notes, on the 18th February, 1871.

+ The conditions, however, might have been such that the saltness of these estuaries
was, at first, very little diluted by the streams that brought from the adjacent shores
the fresh-water types.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, 293

Subsequently I received a note from Mr. Conrad, informing me that
he had proposed, in manuscript, a sub-genus, Anisorhynchus, for this spe-
cies. If this separation from Corbula is necessary, however, on account of
the habits of the species, I would think it should still stand asa sub-genus
under that group, or, in other words, that the name of the species should
be written Corbula (Anisorhynchus) pyriformis, because it seems to me
even doubtful whether Anisothyris is more than sub-generically distinet
from Corbula ; while the species C. pyriformis is still more closely allied
to Corbula than Anisothyris is; in fact, it agrees almost exactly, in its
hinge, muscular, and pallial impressions, with Corbula, even in the very
few characters distinguishing Anisothyris from the same, and we have
almost nothing left but its Neara-like form, and brackish-water habits,
to separate it from Corbula ; while some marine species, such as C. ale-.
formis of Gabb, present almost exactly the same form.

it may be proper to remark in this connection that the South Ameri-
can group Anisothyris, or Pachydon, is much more nearly allied to Corbula
proper than was supposed by my friends Mr. Gabb and Mr. Conrad,
(although the latter placed it near Corbula) since they both thought it
had an external ligament, and no internal cartilage. On examining
good specimens of six of the South American species sent on by Pro-
fessor Orton to the Smithsonian Institution, however, I at once satis-
fied myself that these shells certainly had an internal cartilage in a pit
behind the tooth in the right valve, and attached to a process in the
left, exactly as in Corbula, excepting that the process 1s more oblique
and less flattened than is usual in that genus.*

On mentioning these facts in regard to the presence of an internal
cartilage, in a letter to Mr. Conrad, he wrote back that a further exami-
nation had satisfied him that I was right in this, and that he now rests
the group entirely upon its sub-spiral beaks, a kind of rudimentary
posterior lateral tooth in the right valve, and a small accessory scar at
the upper end of that of the posterior adductor, together with the
brackish-water habits of the species. It should be borne in mind, how-
ever, that this faint rudimentary posterior lateral tooth does not exist in
all the typical species; while it is obscurely represented in some marine

. tertiary species of Corbula ; nor have I been able to find the posterior
pedal muscular scar in them all, more clearly defined than in some
marine tertiary species of Corbula. ,

Several of the other forms found in these Bear River beds present
more marked peculiarities than are to be seen in Corbula pyriformis,
which may render it desirable to place them under separate sub-generic
groups; for instance, that I have described under the name Corbicula
Durkeeti, which is a remarkable trigonal, thick shell, has the posterior
dorsal margins of the valves inflected, and the cardinal teeth directed
more obliquely backward than we see in the recent species, while its
elongated lateral teeth are nearly or quite smooth, instead of being
transversely striated. The posterior lateral tooth of its left valve is
also mainly formed by the beveling of the inflected margin, instead of
standing out as a distinct tooth. In some respects this shell is more
like Verlorita, from which, however, it differs materially in others.

*In some interesting remarks, recently published by Mr. Henry Woodward of the
British Museum, in the Ann. and Mag., N. A., on the relations of Anisothyris to Corbule
and some allied groups, he mentions as one of the differences, that the latter have the
cardinal tooth in the left valve, while in Anisothyris it is in the right, and the socket vice
versa. This, however, is probably due to some typographical error, as there is certainly
no difference in the position of the cardinal tooth and socket, or in that of the cartilage
process with relation to each other, or to the two valves, between Corbula and Anis-
ars j ee having the tooth in the right valve, and the socket and cartilage process
in the left. :

294 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Tf it should be thought desirable to make it the type of a distinct sub-
genus, it may be called Corbicula ( Veloritina) Durkeei. In the same
way, if the proposed sections.of Unio should be sustained, the curiously
plicated species, described by me under the name U. belliplicata, may be
called U. (Lowxopleurus) belliplicatus.t

I have elsewhere proposed, in manuscript, tomake my Melampuspris-
cus from this formation, the type of a new group, under the name Rhy-
tophorus priscus, on account of its peculiar costated surface, smooth
outer lip, and single well-developed plait, and another obscure one, on
the columella.

Of the species of Tiara, already mentioned from this rock, thousands |

of specimens have been obtained, and yet it is remarkable that not a
single one of them shows the lip about the lower part of the aperture
unbroken, and entirely free from the matrix. Some of those I have re-
cently seen, however, appear to show a kind of angularity about the
base of the aperture not seen in the typical forms of Tiara, and some
appearance of a peculiar furrow along the outer edge of the base of the
columella. Ifthese are not due to accident—and they certainly seem
not to be—it may be found that this shell should be regarded as the
type of a sub-genus, bearing somewhat similar relations to Tiara to
those existing between Goniobasis and the elongated old world Melanians.
If so, it may be called Tiara (Pyrgulifera) humerosa.x

Of course, comparisons of the shells from this formation with those
of the tertiary beds of the Atlantic and Pacific slopes, afford no aid
whatever in fixing its precise position in the series, because the species
from the latter are, almost without exception, marine types. There is
less difficulty, however, in drawing parallels between it and the tertiary
deposits of the Upper Missouri country, by a comparison of fossils, al-
though the species are mainly different, so far as yet known, in these

two districts. At least two of the known forms, however, from the Utah ~

and Wyoming beds under consideration, are believed to be specifically
identical with species found in the oldest beds referred to the tertiary
at the mouth of Judith River on the Upper Missouri, under the name
Fort Union Group. These are Unio priscus and Viviparus Conradi. In
addition to this, the fossils at these two localities are in precisely the
same state of preservation, and have a more ancient appearance than
those of the later deposits of both districts, while they also agree exactly
in their mixture of brackish and fresh-water characters. Again, at both
localities, these deposits are intimately associated, as already stated,
with what appears to be the latest of the cretaceous series; while in

tI have had no opportunity to consult Spix’s work in which he proposed the group
Diplodon, but had supposed from the strongly alate-shell figured by Sowerley as an
illustration of the same, that it was founded on a widely distinct type from our Utah
shell. From the diagnosis of Diplodon, given by H. and A. Adams, however, I am led
to think it may possibly include our type, though I cannot believe the North American
species ranged by the above-named authors should be placed in the same section with
our species.

{Since these remarks were in type and issued in pamphlet form, Mr. Conrad kindly
‘sent me a sketch of a specimen of this species at the Philadelphia Academy of Science,
showing more of the lip and base of the aperture than I had seen, and expressed the
opinion that itis a good genus. Soon after I succeeded in working the matrix from
the aperture of a perfect very large specimen, and from this and Mr. Conrad’s sketch,
the inner lip is seen to be quite thick all the way up, but particularly below, and the
narrow base of the aperture sinnous. My specimen also shows that there is a shallow
marginal sinus of the outer lip at the termination of the shoulder, while below this it
isprominent. It is therefore evident, that with the distinctly turreted spire, shouldered
and coronate wheels, as well as the general aspect of Tiara, in its thickened inner
lip and some other characters, it resembles Lithasia, and constitutes a distinct genus
from both, in which opinion Mr. Conrad and Professor Gill concur.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 295

both districts they contain lignite, and are succeeded by later tertiary
beds of strictly fresh-water origin.

The fossils from the later tertiary deposits of Wyoming and Utah,
mentioned in the lists, came from Henry’s and Black’s Forks of Green
River, Church Buttes, Barrel Springs, Fort Bridger, Pacific Springs,
and other localities of the same region. They belong to the genera
Unio, Spherium, Goniobasis, Bythinella, Physa, Planorbis, &c., most of
which are very numerous in individuals, though there are not many
species of any one of these genera. From the entire absence of marine
and brackish-water types in these beds, it seems evident that they were
deposited in fresh-water lakes, entirely isolated from the influx of tides,
in basins that were raised above the level of the sea, in part by the ac-
cumulation of sedimentary deposits, and probably in part from the grad-
ual elevation of the whole country. These later beds may be susceptible
of subdivision into several subordinate groups, but the fossils yet known
show closer relations between the different beds of this series than be-
tween any of them and the brackish-water deposits beneath. Indeed, I
have not been able to identify a single species from the latter with any
of those from the strictly fresh-water beds under consideration, and they
are also equally distinct from all of those known from the Upper Mis-
souri country.

From the differences observable between the species found in these
fresh-water deposits and the older brackish-water beds of the same re-
gion, believed to belong to the eocene, and the superposition of the for-
mer, it is reasonable to infer that the later series belongs wholly or
mainly to the horizon of the miocene, especially as none of the fossils
contained in these beds are certainly known to belong to existing spe-
cies.

LISTS OF FOSSILS COLLECTED.

SILURIAN SPECIES.

. Orthis desmopleura, Meek!; Colorado City.

. Meristella or Merista (undetermined species); Crater’s Falls.
. Ophileta complanata, var. nana; Crater’s Falls.

. Bucanella nana, Meek?; Crater’s Falls.

. Raphistoma ; Crater’s Falls.

. Endoceras (undetermined species); Crater’s Falls.

D OUR 09 0D =

CARBONIFEROUS SPECIES.

. Fusulina cylindrica, Fischer ; Moleen Station.
. Syringopora (undetermined specimen); Moleen Station.
. Campophyllum, like C. torquium, Owen ; Hot Springs, Salinas Creek, Salt Lake.
. Zaphrentis (?); Head Black Fork Bear River, Utah.
. Crinoid columns ; Pecos Church, Mora Creek, and Hot Springs.
. Chetetes (undetermined massive and ramose forms); Moleen Station, Salinas
Creek.
7. Fenestella and Polypora; near Pecos Range, 10 miles south of Kosylowiski, New
Mexico, and Mora Station.
8. Synocladia (Septopora) Cestriensis, Prout (sp.); Mora River.
9. Orthis (undetermined species); Santa Fé, New Mexico.
p 10. Hemipronites crassus, M. and W.; Santa Fé, New Mexico, Box Elder Cafion, North
latte.
11. Chonetes (undetermined species); Santa Fé, New Mexico, Box Elder Cafion.
12, Productus Nebrascensis, Owen; Moleen Station, Santa Fé, New Mexico.
13. Productus punctatus, Martin, (sp.); Sangre de Christo Pass, Colorado.

TD) OU 09 0D

1, I proposed for this species the name O. Coloradoensis, in the Proceed. Am. Philosoph. Soc., xi, p.
425, 1870; but as Dr. Shumard had previously used that name for another species of this genus, it be-
comes necessary to make a change.

2. Proceed. Am. Philosoph. Soc., xi, p. 426, 1870.

296 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. :

14. Productus semireticulatus, Martin, (sp.); Sangre de Christo Pass, Colorado, and
Pecos Church, Mora City, Weber Mountains, Box Elder, North Platte.

15. Productus nodosus, Newberry; Mora Creek, New Mexico, Hot Springs, Salinas
Creek, Santa Fé, New Mexico. ;

16. Productus Prattenianus, N.; head Black’s Fork, Bear River, Utah.

17. Productus longispinus, Sow., Var. Wabashensis, N. and P.; Hot Springs, Salinas
Creek, Santa Fé, New Mexico.

18. Productus (two or more undetermined species); Santa Fé, New Mexico.

19. Spirifer (Martinia) like 8. planoconvexus, Shum.; Moleen Station.

20. Spirifer cameratus, Morton; Pecos Church, Mora Creek and River, New Mexico.

21. Spirifer Rocky-Montani, Marcou (?); Santa Fé, Mora Creek, New Mexico.

22. Athyris subtilita, Hall, (sp.); Santa Fé, Mora Creek, 10 miles south of Kosylo-
wiski; near Pecos, New Mexico, and Sangre de Christo Pass, Colorado.

23. Aviculopecten (andetermined species); near Pecos River, New Mexico.

24. Aviculopecten carbonarius, Stevens; near Pecos River, New Mexico.

25. Myalina Swallovi, McChesney; 10 miles south of Kosylowiski.

26. Avicula (undetermined species); 10 miles south of Kosylowiski.

27. Pleurophorus angulatus, M. and W.; 10 miles south of Kosylowiski.

28. Bellerophon (fragments of large undetermined species); Moleen Station.

PERMO-CARBONIFEROUS. (?)

. Fragments of Crinoid columns ; Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Hemipronites crassus, M. and H.; Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Aviculopecten occidentalis, Shum.; Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Myalina perattenuata, M. and H.; Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Pseudomonotis Hawni, M. and H.; Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Bakevellia (undetermined species); Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Pinna peracuta, Shum.; Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Schizodus curtus, M. and W.; Box Elder Station, Platte River.
. Edmondia Aspenwallensis, M. (New species; see description at end of list.) Box
Elder Station, Platte River.
10. Pleurophorus (?) (andetermined casts); Box Elder Station, Platte River.
11. Macrocheilus, (undetermined species); Box Elder Station, Platte River.
12. Orthoceras (?) (small undetermined species); Box Elder Station, Platte River.
13. Phillipsia (fragments of an undetermined species); Box Elder Station, Platte
River.

OMDANHAIP WW

JURASSIC SPECIES.

1. Ostrea (avery small, undetermined species, with beak truncated); mouth Henry’s
Fork of Green River, Dakota Teritory.

2. Camptonectes extenuatus, M. and H.; mouth Henry Fork of Green River, Dakota Ter-
ritory. 5;

3. Teamionectes bellistriatus, M. and W.; Red Buttes, Green River, Dakota Territory.

4, Trigonia (a small, undetermined species of jurassic type); Red Buttes, Green
River, Dakota Territory.

5. Bivalves (casts of several small, undetermined species); Red Buttes, Green River,
Dakota Territory.

6. Cardinia (?); Salinas Creek, Hot Springs.

7. Pholadomya (mere rude undeterminable casts); Salinas Creek, Hot Springs.

8. Belemnites densus, M. and W.; Como.

9. Ammonites Nevadensis, Gabb; between Sacramento and Summit Station.

CRETACEOUS SPECIES.

Ostrea congesta, Conrad; between Hardscrabble and St. Charles. Cret., No. 3.
Ostrea soleniscus, Meek; near Bear River, associated with coal. Cret., Ne.—(?)
Ostrea appressa, Gabb 22; Coalville. No.—(?)
Gryphea navia, Conrad; Fort Bascom. Cret., No. 3.
. Inoceramus Sagensis, Owen (?); Fountain Creek, Colorado City, Colorado. Cret.,
No. 4.

6. Inoceramus fragilis, H. and M.; Medicine Bow River. Cret., No. 3.

7. Inoceramus problematicus, Schloth, (sp); Fountain Creek, between Hardserable,
Dodson Ranch, and St. Charles. Cret., Nos. 2 and 3.

8. Inoceramus (andetermined species); six miles east Como Station, Union Pacifie
Railroad. Cret., No. 2.

9. Inoceramus deformis, Meek+; Colorado City. Cret., No. 3.

OMS COICO Ee

3. This may be either Mr. Gabb’s O. appressa or his O. Idriaensis, if they are distinct, as there are
among the specimens individuals that agree pretty well with both, and yet seem to be only varieties of
one species. These and QO. Soleniscus ave found just above a bed of brown coal, and may possibly be
lower tertiary, but are more probably upper cretaceous.

4. Sée Frémont’s Report, pl. iv, fig. 2.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORILS. 297

10. Inoceramus (undetermined species®); Cache la Poudre River, near Greeley, Den-
ver and Pacific Railroad. Cret., No. 3.
11. Inoceramus aultus, Meek; near Medicine Bow Station, Pacific Railroad. Cret.,
No. 3.
12, Cucullea (undetermined species); Dodson Ranch. Cret. No. 2.
13. Modiola Pedernalis, Roemer; Near Coalville. Cret., (?)
14. Nuculana (undetermined species); Near Coalville. Cret., (?)
15. Pachymya(?) truncata, Meek, (new species, see description,) (?) 4. Exact localiy
unknown.
16. Crassatellina oblonga, Meek, (new species, see description); twelve miles south-
west of Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No.1.
17. Unio Nebrascensis, Meek (new species, see description); opposite Sioux City, Da-
kota County, Nebraska. Cret. No. 1.
- 18. Arca (?) parallela, Meek (new species, see description); twelve miles southwest
of Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
19. Yoldia microdonta, Meck (new species, see description); twelve miles southwest
of Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
20. Cardium pauperculum, Meek (new species, see description); near Fort Bridger,
Wyoming. Cret. No. 2.
21. Cardium Kansasensis, Meek (new species, see description); twelve southwest of
Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
22. Cardium (Protocardia) salinens, Meek (new species, see description); twelve miles
southwest of Salina Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
23. Cyrena (Corbicula?) nucalis, Meek (new species, see description) ; twelve miles
southwest of Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
24. Cyrena (Corbicula?) subtrigonalis, Meek (new species, see description); twelve
miles southwest of Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
25. Mactra (?) Canonensis, Meek (new species, see description. )
26. Tapes Wyomingensis, Meek (new species, see description) ; mouth Deer Creek, Wy-
oming. Cret. No. 4.
27. Tellina subscitula, Meek (new species, see description); twelve miles southwest
of Salina Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
28. Tellina (?) mactroides, Meek (new species, see description) ; twelve miles southwest
of Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
29. Leptosolen Conradi, Meek (new species, see description); twelve miles southwest
of Salina, Kansas, Professor Mudge. Cret No. i.
30. Anchura(?) (undetermined species); Dodson’s Ranch.
31. Turritella Martinezensis, Gabb (?); Coalville, Utah.
32. Turritella Kansasensis, Meek (new species); twelve miles southwest of Salina, Kan-
sas, Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
33. Anisomyon centrale, Meek (new species); Valley of Fountain Creek and Box Elder
Creek, Colorado. Cret. No. 4.
34. Pleurotomaria (?) (undetermined species); near Coalville, Utah.
30. Turbo Mudgeanus, Meek (new species) ; twelve miles southwest of Salina, Kansas,
Professor Mudge. Cret. No. 1.
36. Baculites compressus, Say; Fountain Creek, Colorado City. Cret. No. 4.
a 37. meeulitics ovatus, Say; Fountain Creek, Colorado City, Miser Station, and Como.
ret. No. 4.
ie ae Seaphites (Discoscaphites) Conradi, Morton’; Fountain Creek, Colorado City. Cret.
0. 5.
Fi 39. Seaphites (Discoscaphites) Cheyennensis, Owen; Fountain Creek, Colorado City.
ret. No. 5.
40. Scaphites nodosus, Owen; Fountain Creek, Colorado. Cret. No. 4.
41. Scaphites Warrenanus, M. and H.; Medicine Bow River. Cret. No. 2.
42. Ammonites (undetermined, not a typical ammonite.) Fountain Creek, Colorado.

5. This is a rather large, longitudinally oblong or depressed suboval, very gibbous, equivalve species,
with a long, straight hinge line, and with posterior side long and subtruncated or more or less obliquely
rounded. Its beaks are equal, very gibbous, oblique, depressed, and almost terminal, while its internal
casts only show more or less irregular, sometimes obscure, concentric undulations. It seems to be dis-
tinct from all of the previously known far-western species, and if new may be called I. oblongus.

6. This is the type of a group of Scaphites, for which I have proposed (Proced. Am. Phil., Soc., xi, p.
429) the name Discoscaphites, compared with the typical species of Parkinson’s genus, such as S. equals,
Sowerby, these shells are seen to differ in having the characteristic extension of the body voiutions so
very slightly developed that they have often been referred to the genus Ammonites. They also differ
in having the peripheny, especially in the adult, more or less flattened, and the sides of the volutions
occupied by numerous small nodes, arranged in regular revolving rows. The group includes two see-
tions, the first of which (represented by §. Conradt) has the volutions so broad and deeply enveloping
as to leave only a very small umbilicus, while the second (represented by S. | Disco.] Cheyennensis, Owen,
and Amionites [ Disco.) Mandanensis, Morton) has a wider umbilicus, with the body volution very nar-
row and but little enveloping. 2

7. This may be regarded as the type of a group of Ammonites, for which I proposed (Proc. Philos.
Scc., xi, p. 429) the name Placentocerus. Compared with Ammonites bisuleatus, Bruguisre (which it
seems to me should be regarded as the type of that genus, because it was long back cited alone as the
typical form by Lamarck.) This shell will be observed to differ remarkably in several respects, par-
ticalarly in its bread, profoundly-enveloping volutions, with flattened non-costate sides, and very nar-

.

298 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

43. Ammonites (Placentocerus) placenta, DeKay’; Fountain Creek, Colorado City. Cret.

No. 4.
44, Ammonites (Plewroceras ?) serrato-carinatus, Meek 8; Medicine Bow Creek, 2.

TERTIARY SPECIES.

1. Unio priscus, M. and H.°; Limestone Hill, Bear River City, and Parley’s Park,
Utah, Gilmore, Wyoming. Eocene.

2. Unio Washakeei, Meek (new species, description at end of list); Washakee, Henry’s
Fork, Green River, and on the latter stream, Wyoming. Eocene.

3. Unio Haydeni, Meek; between Grand and Green Rivers, Fort Bridger.

4, Unio tellinoides, Hall (?) (sp.)!°; Barrel Springs, Muddy Creek, Wyoming.

5. Unio Leanus, Meek (new species, see end of list); Church Buttes, Henry’s Fork,
Barrel Springs, and other localities in Wyoming. Miocene.

6. Unio (Diplodon?) belliplicatus, Meek; Parley’s Park, Utah; Gilmore, Wyoming.
Eocene.

7. Corbicula ( Veloritina) Durkeei, Meek; Bear River City, Parley’s Park, Utah, and
Gilmore, Wyoming. Eocene. ,

8. Cyrena (Corbicula?) fracta, Meek (new species, see description); Hallville coal

mines. Eocene.
9. Cyrena (Corbicula?) crassatelliformis, Meek (new species); Hallville coal mines.

Eocene. :
10. Spherium (andetermined, perhaps 2 species); Elkton, Central Pacific railroad,

beyond Salt Lake. Miocene.

11. Spherium (undetermined species); Barrel Springs, Wyoming. Miocene.

12. Corbula (Anisorhynchus) pyriformis, Meek; Parley’s Park, Limestone Hill, and
Bear River City, Utah; Gilmore, Wyoming. Eocene.

Corbula (Anisorhynchus) pyriformis var. consentrica, Meek.

13. Corbula (Anisorhynchus) Engelmanni, Meek; Limestone Hill and Sulphur Creek,

Utah. Eocene.
14. Goniobasis Simpsoni, Meek; Fort Bridger, divide between Muddy and Black Forks.

Miocene.
15. Goniobasis tenera, Hall? (sp.)"; Barrel Springs, Wyoming. Miocene.

rowly-truncated and flattened, or slightly-concave periphery, small umbilicus, &c.; also in the much
more numerous lateral lobes of its septa, which increase in size to the third one inclusive, and thence be-
come gradually and regularly smaller to the umbilicus. It probably includes several cretaceous species.

In the same way, Ammonites lobatus of Tuomey may be regarded as the type of another group, ditfer-
ing from Placentocerus in having the periphery sharply cuneate all around, and the sinuses or saddles
between its numerous lateral lobes (which agree in number and proportional size with those in Placen-
tocerus), presenting very curious obtusely-lobed or uniform outlines. For this type I would propose the
name Sphenodiscus, in allusion to its sharply-cuneate periphery.

8. This isnot a true Ammonite, according to the latest classifications of this group of Cephalopoda, but
it is more nearly allied to some of the forms included by Mr. Hyatt in his group Pluroceras. Indeed, al-
though unquestionably a cretaceous species, I cannot see howit can be properly placed in a distinct group
from the middle liassic species A. spinatus, Brug., which Mr. Hyatt includes in Pluroceras, since it
seems only to differ specifically from that form in having its keel more prominent, and another series of
obscure nodes on the costa at their inner ends, with a few smaller intermediate cost, generally with-
out nodes, between the larger nodiferous ones. If, however, there is anything in the development of
these shells that would place them in different groups, the cretaceous group, including the form under
consideration, might be appropriately termed Prionocyclus, and would include A. percarinatus, H.and M.,
and A. Woolgavri, of the English gray chalk.

9. Tam led to think, from the comparison of more extensive collections that have come in since I pro-
posed the name Unio vetustus for one of the Utah forms, that it is only a more depressed variety of U.
priscus, M. and H.

10. It is with considerable doubt that I refer this shell to UV. tellinoides (=Mya tellinoides, Hall, in Fré-
mont’s Report, Pl. II, figs. 1 and 2), the mature specimens being generally three or four times as large
as that represented by Prof. Hall’s larger figure, and proportionally less depressed, with the posterior
margin more broadly rounded or subtruncated. Still, by following the lines of growth, it may be seen
that when the shell had only attained the same size as that figured by Prof. Hall, it must have pre-
sented a very similar outline. None of them, however; seem to have the beaks so nearly central, or
quite so elevated, as represented by his Figure 2, which may have been drawn from a distinct species
from that represented by Figure 1. 5 aie ‘

Our specimens are generally rather thin, smewhat compressed, longitudinally ovate in form, with
one rather oblique cardinal tooth in the right valve, and one or two smaller ones in the left. The lat-
eral teeth are long, a little arched, and consist of one in the right and two in the left valve. The sur-
face only shows lines of growth, and some traces of a few very small longitudinal wrinkles near the im-
mediate points of the beaks, which are rather depressed, and placed about one-third the length of the
valves from the anterior end. Should this form be found to be distinct from that named by Prof. Hall,
it may be called U. subeompressus.

It may be proper to remark here, that nearly or quite all of the shells figured by Prof. Hall, on Pl.
HI of Frémont’s Report, although there referred to marine genera, are really, as suspected by him,
fresh-water types.

11 This is probably the Cerithiwm tenerum, Hall (see Frémont’s Report), and isa true Goniobasis. Ina
genus like this, however, containing so many closely-allied species, it is scarcely possible to identify,
with confidence, a form only known from a three or four-line description and figures of imperfect speci-
mens. At one time I had supposed the species, for which I have here proposed the name G. chrysalis,
to be the tenera. But specimens of the form I have above referred doubtfully to that species, having
been brought in from that region among the later collections, I find, on comparison, that they agree more
nearly in most respects with the figures and description of the species tenera ; while, at the same time,
they are clearly distinct from that I had at first supposed to be the tenera, and hold a much higher posi-

\

i

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 299

16. Goniobasis nodulifera, Meek,!2; Barrel Springs, Wyoming. Miocene.

17. Goniobasis Carteri, Conrad; Barrel Springs, Wyoming. Miocene.

18. Goniobasis chrysalis, Meek; Sulphur Creek and Bear River, Utah. Eocene.

19. Goniobasis Simpsoni, Meck; Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

20. Pyrgulifera humerosa, Meek; Sulphur Creek, Bear River City, and Parley’s Park,
Utah, and Gilmore, Wyoming. Eocene.

21. Viviparus paludineformis, Hall? (sp.)!®, Henry’s Fork, and Green River, Arctic
Springs, &c., Wyoming. Eocene.

22. Viviparus Conradi, M. and H.; Sulphur Creek, on Bear River, Utah. Eocene.

23. Vivinarus? Wyomingenis, Meek, (new species, see description) ; Henry’s and Black’s
Forks, and Church Buttes. Miocene.

24. Melantho (Campeloma) macrospira, Meek (new species) ; Sulphur Creek, Bear River
City, and Parley’s Park, Utah. Locene.

25. Physa (one or two undetermined species); Church Buttes, Utah. Miocene.

26. Planorbis spectabilis, Meek; Henry’s Fork. Miocene.

27. Planorbis (undetermined species); Church Buttes. Miocene.

28. Rhytophorus priscus, Meek; Sulphur Creek, Utah. Eocene.

29. Bythinella? gregoria, Meek (new species, see description); Pacific Springs,
Wyoming. Miocene.

30. Cypris, (undetermined species); Fort Bridger and Pacific Springs. Miocene.

DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES AND GENERA.*
Carboniferous species.
EDMONDIA ASPENWALLENSIS, (MEEK.)

Shell ovate, moderately convex; anterior side short and subtruncated,
or more or less rounded; posterior margin rounded; pallial margin
forming a semiovate curve, being more abruptly rounded up anteriorly
than behind; cardinal border rather short, and rounding into the pos-
terior outline; beaks moderately. prominent, oblique, only about one-
fourth to one-fifth the length of the valves from the anterior margin.
Surface marked with more or less regular and distinct concentric ridges
and. strie.

Length, 1.40 inches; height, 1.04 inches; convexity, about 0.70 inch.

It may possibly have been a variety of this species that was figured
by Professor Geinitz under the name Astarte gibbosa (McCoy), in his
“* Carbonformation und Dyas in Nebraska” (PI. I, Fig. 23), as we know it
to occur at the same locality from which his specimen was obtained.
His figure, however, would seem to represent a more rounded or shorter
and less depressed shell, with a broader posterior outline and more gib-
bous beaks. At any rate, the shell under consideration is very distinct
from that named by Professor McCoy, and is certainly not an Astarte,
as its internal casts show no indications of the hinge characters of that
genus, but on the contrary, impressions apparently like those left by the

tion in the series. These specimens are also extremely abundant, while those of G. chrysalis are rare,
and hence it is more probable that the former is the species named in Frémont’s Report.

It is worthy of note, that the very abundant shell, here referred doubtfully to Professor Hall’s species,
is exceedingly variable in its ornamentation, some specimens having the vertical costz rather strongly
developed on all the volutions, while others have them only on the upper ones; and on still others they
are nearly or quite wanting on all the volutions so as to leave only the finer revolving lines, and yet we
see all gradations between these extremes. 4

12This is the form figured and described in Frémont’s Report under the name Cerithium nadulosum.
Asit is a true Goniobasis, however, and Doctor Lea had previously described a species of that genus
under the name nodulosa, it is necessary to propose a new name for the Utah species.

137+ is not possible, from the published figure and description of tho species called Turbo paludinefor-
mis, in Frémont’s Report, to decide, with confidence which one of several species of Vivizarus and
Melanitho, now known from the tertiary fresh-water deposits of the Green River country, that name
was originally proposed for. From the nature of the matrix, however, and its association with the
species described under the name Cerithium nodulosum, it is much more probable that the shell I have
here referred doubtfully to Viviparus patudinforeemis, is really the form originally described as Turbo
Ree UR sot ns, than the less-abundant species of Melantho, from the Bear beds, composed of a different
material.

* Drawings of these fossils are in course of preparation, to be published along with
full descriptions in final report.

300 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

cartilage processes, in the casts of Hdmondia, though I am not quite
sure that it belongs properly to the latter genus. Itis a rather thin
shell, that leaves impressions of the concentric ridges rather distinct on
internal casts, where very faint traces of radiating lines are also some-
times seen. Its muscular and pallial impressions are obscure, and not
well Known. ;

Locality and position. This shell has a very wide distribution in the
coal measures of this country, through nearly the entire thickness of which
it ranges. The typical specimen was found in the upper part of the coal
measures at Aspenwall, on the Missouri River, in Southeastern Nebraska.
Tt also occurs.at nearly all the other outcrops along the Missouri in that
region, as well’as in the upper and lower part of the coal measures of
Illinois; likewise in the lower part of the seres in West Virginia, and
apparently at Box Elder Cafion, on the North Platte, Wyoming. The
specimens from the latter locality, however, are shorter and more gib-
bous, and agree more nearly with Professor Geinitz’s figure.

Cretaceous forms.

GENUS CRASSATELLINA, (MEEK.)

Shell subtrapezoidal, equivalve, inequilateral, with the margins closed
and smooth within. Hinge with two cardial teeth and one elongated
anterior and posterior lateral teoth in each valve. Anterior cardinal
tooth of left valve trigonal and deeply emarginate below; posterior very
oblique, and separated from the other by an oblique pit divided longi-
tudinally by a thin lamina. Cardinal teeth of right valve diverging,
with a triangular pit between for the reception of the triangular eardi-
nal tooth of the other valve; anterior one small, and connected with the
anterior lateral tooth; posterior one larger, oblique, and divided longi-
tudinally by a deep slit for the reception of the lamina in the corres-
ponding pit of the other valve. Ligament external (?) Muscular im-
pressions shallow. Pallial line simple (?) Surface without radiating
markings.

The typical and only known species of this genus has very much the
external aspect of a Crassatella, from which, ‘however, it is widely re-
moved, generically, by its hinge character 8, though probably belonging
to the same family. Its muscular impressions are very faintly marked,
as is also the case with its pallial line, which I have not been able to
trace along its entire length, though enough of it can be seen to leave
little, if any, room for doubting that it is simple. Its lateral teeth are
elongated parallel to the cardinal margin, the posterior being rather
remote from the cardinal, while the anterior one in the right valve con-
nects at its posterior end with the small anterior cardinal, and in the
left extends back to the small pit for the reception of this anterior cardi-
nal tooth of the right valve, just in front of the larger, trigonal cardinal

tooth of the left valve. The Saeed ior lateral tooth of the right valve seents:

to fit under that of the left, and the posterior one of the right over that
of the left, though I am not positively sure of this. The cardinal teeth
are very peculiar, those of the right being rather widely diverging, with
the very oblique posterior and lar ger one so deeply divided longitudi-
nally by a very narrow slit, that it may possibly sometimes rather pre-
sent the character of two teeth, though the posterior half seems scarcely
prominent enough to be considered a distinct tooth. The prineipal or
anterior trigonal cardinal tooth of the left valve, which fits between the
two diverging ones of the right, is sometimes so deeply emarginate be-

Dr

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 301

low that it might almost be described as A -shaped, while the posterior
eardinal of this valve is directed very obliquely backward and down-
ward, and compressed. The thin lamina dividing longitudinally the pit
between this oblique tooth and the trigonal, emarginate one, is another
peculiar feature.

_ CRASSATELLINA OBLONGA, (MEHK.)

A shows hinge and interior of right valve; B hinge and interior of left valve; both
2 diam.

Shell small, short oblong-subtrapezoidal in outline, less than twice
as long as high; valves rather distinctly convex, with flattened sides;
anterior margin rounded; pallial margin nearly straight, or sometimes
slightly sinuous along the middle; posterior oblquely truncated above
and narrowly rounded below; dorsal outline sloping rather abruptly in
front of the beaks and less distinctly so behind; beaks moderately
prominent, and placed a little in advance of the middle; posterior um-
benal slopes prominently rounded from the beaks to posterior basal ex-
tremity ; posterior dorsal region above the umbonal prominences flat-
tened ; flanks sometimes a little concave toward the pallial margin.
Surface with rather distinct lines of growth.

Length, 0.73 inch; height, 0.32 inch; convexity, 0.30 inch.

Specifically, this shell is more nearly like the form I have described
from the cretaceous near Caiion City, under the name Mactra? Cano-
nensis, than it is like any other form with which I am_acquainted ;
though it differs too widely to be confounded with that shell, even where
the hinge could not be seen. They both have so much the appearance of
the genus Crassatella, externally, that few would hesitate to refer them
to that genus where their external characters only could be examined.

Locality and position: Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Saline
County, Kansas; Dakota Group of the Upper Missouri cretaceous
series. Collected by Professor B. F. Mudge.

PACHYMYA? TRUNCATA. (MEEK.)

Shell small, longitudinally oblong, very convex; posterior side long,
distinetly and rectangularly truncated, apparently closed; pallial mar-
gin nearly straight, and slightly sinuous along its entire length;
anterior margin truncated a little obliquely forward from the beaks to
the rather prominent and abruptly-rounded, or subangularly-anterior
basal extremity ; cardinal margin nearly straight and parallel to the
base; beaks depressed nearly to the horizon of the dorsal margin, very
oblique, somewhat compressed, and placed less than one-fifth the length
of the valves. behind the anterior extremity; posterior umbonal slopes
quite prominent or subangular, and continued obliquely to the posterior
basal angle, so as to divide the surface of each valve into two nearly
equal, elongated, inequilateral triangles, the lower of which forms the
concave flanks; anterior muscular scar small, but very deep; posterior
ditto, larger, shallow, suboval; pallial line not distinctly seen, but

302 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

apparently with a small sinus. Surface with rather coarse, irregular
marks of growth.

Length, 1.15 inches; height, 0.55 inch; convexity, 0.58 inch.

This shell is much smaller than the typical species of Sowerby’s genus
Pachymya, which it resembles in general habit and in the thickness of
its valves. Its ligament seems to have been short and rather deeply
inserted behind and between the beaks. I have not seen the hinge,
but judging from internal casts it would seem to be edentulous. Its
peculiar oblong form and squarely-truncated posterior margin give it
somewhat the aspect of a Saxicava, or a miniature Panopcea, but it
differs from these genera, in having thicker valves, and nearly or quite
closed margins. I am not sure that it belongs properly to the genus
Pachymya, though it must be nearly related to that genus, which seems
rather to belong to the Mytilide than to be nearly allied to Pholadomya
or Panopea, with which some have associated it.

Specifically, the shell under consideration will be readily distinguished
from all of our other known cretaceous forms by its peculiar oblong,
truncated form and prominent umbonal slopes, concave flanks, &c. The
only other form known to me that approaches it in these characters is
Mr. Gabb’s Remondia furcata, which is a much larger shell, with more
regular undulations, a more prominent base in front of the middle, a
less narrowly-rounded anterior basal extremity, and a more obliquely-
truncated posterior margin. Our shell also seems not to have the hinge
characters of Remondia.

Locality and position: The specimen was given to Dr. Hayden at the
Salt Lake, and was found in that region, but he could not ascertain.
the precise locality. It is almost certainly a cretaceous species.

INOCERAMUS ALTUS. (MEEK.)

Shell attaining a medium size, vertically, or adittle obliquely, subovate,
being in the adult higher than long, and widening from the hinge down-
ward; moderately convex; equivalve, very inequilateral; hinge very
short and ranging nearly at right angles to the longer axis in the adult,
but a little more oblique in young shells; anterior side straight, long,
and truncated vertically or nearly at right angles to the hinge, immedi-
ately in front of the beaks; base regularly rounded; posterior outline
forming a broad, somewhat oblique, gentle curve from the posterior
end of the hinge into the base; beaks nearly or quite equal, rising
little above the hinge line, pointed, obliquely incurved, and placed
immediately over the anterior margin. Surface of cast showing more
or less regular, rather obscure concentric undulations, and faint traces of
radiating markings, the latter probably not being defined on the exterior.

Height, about 6.50 inches; length, about 4.90 inches; convexity, 2.70
inches; length of hinge, about 2.40 inches.

This species belongs to the section of the genus that includes perna-
like forms; that is, shells with their vertical diameter greater than their
atero-posterior, and with a short hinge ranging nearly at right angles
to the longer (vertical) axis of the valves, terminal or anterior beaks, ete.
Tt differs, however, decidedly from all of the described species of that
type with whick I am acquainted, in being almost exactly equivalve, with
its beaks also very nearly if not quite equal. In size and general
appearance it reminds one of J. nobilis, Miinster, as figured in Goldfuss’
Petref. Germ., Pl. CEX, Fig. 4 and 4a; but it differs from that species,
not only in its equal beaks, but in having its truncated anterior side
straight instead of concave in outline, and its surface undulated instead
of merely striated.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 303

Locality and position: Near Medicine Bow Station, Union Pacific
Railroad; Fort Pierre Group of the Upper Missiouri cretaceous section.

UNIO (BAPHIA?) NEBRASCENSIS. (MEEK.)

Shell attaining a medium or larger size, cuneate-subovate, being in
the adult very gibbous anteriorly “and cuneate behind; anterior side
very short and rounded ; posterior sloping above obliquely from the end
of the hinge to the posteri ior basal extremity, which is narrowly rounded;
basal border sinuous behind the middle, and convex in front of it; car-
dinal margin rather short and nearly straight or slightly arched ; un-
bones very gibbous, but depressed, oblique, incurved, and placed near
the anterior extremity; posterior umbonal slopes subangular from the
beaks obliquely backward and downward to near the middle, beyond
which they are continued as broadly-rounded ridges to the posterior basal
extremity ; below and parallel to these ridges there are also, on the flanks,
one or two large, oblique, irregular, rounded plications or undulations,
that continue on to the sinuous posterior basal margin, to which they
sometimes impart a distorted or waved appearance. Surface otherwise
smooth, excepting moderately-distinct lines of growth, which are strongly
undulated in places, as they cross the oblique plications of the flanks.

Length, 4.10 inches; height, 2.36 inches; convexity, 2.07 inches.

Specimens of this large shell were brought by Dr. Hayden from Ne-
braska, some years back, but I have delayed describing it, with the hope
that other specimens would be found that might show the nature of the
hinge. It has so much the external aspect of the Unionide as strongly
to impress one with the belief that it belongs to the genus Unio, as un-
derstood in its wider signification. It certainly has an external ligament
exactly as we see in that genus; while one of the casts shows the im-
pression of a single compressed, oblique cardinal tooth in the right
valve just over the scar of the anterior adductor, and near the margin.
The anterior adductor sear is rather deep and also near the margin. I
have not, however, seen the small scar placed just behind that of the
anterior adductor of Unio, in the internal casts of this shell. So faras
can be made out from the casts, there would seem to have been no lateral
teeth, but the specimens are not in a condition to warrant a positive —
opinion on this point; nor do they show the nature of the pallial line.

Locality and position: Dakota Group, or No.1, of the Upper Mis-
souri cretaceous, opposite Sioux City, on the Missouri, i in Dakota County,
Nebraska, where it occurs associated with Cyrena arenaria.

ARCA? PARALLELA. (MEEK.)

Shell small, longitudinally oblong, being about twice and a half as
long as high, moderately convex; cardinal and pallial margins straight
and nearly parallel; anterior side short and rounding up regularly from
below and intersecting the cardinal margin at an obtuse angle above;
posterior side long, a little wider than the other, with its margin com-
pressed and obliquely truncated above, but rounded below ; beaks de-
pressed, somewhat flattened, incurved, not very remote, and placed
about one-fifth the length of the valves from the anterior margin ; car-
dinal area very narrow, and apparently smooth; muscular and pallial
impressions very obscure; hinge with denticles longest posteriorly, where
they are directed upward and backward at an angle of about forty-five:
degrees to the cardinal margin; from the posterior side they diminish
rather rapidly in size and length forward, so that they become very

304 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

minute and crowded between the beaks, which is as far forward as fae
have been traced in the specimens examined. Surface showing very
fine, crowded, radiating striz, with stronger marks of growth.

Length, 0.95 inch ; height, 0.57 inch; convexity, 0.27 inch.

This is not a typical Arca, if we follow conchologists in viewing A.
Noe as the type of the genus, because it wants the broad, divaricately-
furrowed cardinal area, and is not gaping in the anterior ventral region.
Its hinge denticles are also more oblique and longer posteriorly, more
like those of Scaphula. In form and general appearance it is very much
like some species of Macrodon, but its hinge characters are widely dif-
ferent. J know of no established section of the old genus Avrca into
which it could be properly placed, and if it is thought desirable to have
a section for such forms, they might be separated under the name
Arcina.

Locality and position: Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Saline
County, Kansas; Dakota Group of the Upper Missouri cretaceous series.
Professor B. F. Mudge.

YOLDIA MICRODONTA, (MEEK.)

Shell small, longitudinally subovate, rather compressed; anterior
margin more or less narrowly rounded, being generally more promi-
nent above the middle; pallial margin forming a semiovate curve,
being more prominent before than behind the middle, and curving up
gradually and obliquely at both ends; posterior side compressed, and
with its margin narrowly rounded, or almost subangular at its con-
nection with the hinge above; cardinal margin sloping gradually from
the beaks, the posterior slope being very slightly concave in outline,
and the anterior nearly straight ; beaks rather depressed and placed
a little in advance of the middle ; hinge line equaling about three-
fourths the entire length, and provided with very fine, regular, pointed
denticles, of which twenty-six may be counted behind and twenty be-
fore the beaks, in each valve. Muscular and pallial impressions very
obscure, and not visible on internal casts. Surface not well known.

Length, 0.50 inch; height, 0.28 inch; convexity, 0.14 inch.

In general outline, and the nearly central positions of its beaks, this
shell bears some relation to Yoldia bisulcata, M. and W., from the Fox
Hills Group of the Upper Missouri cretaceous, but it is a very decidedly
more compressed species; and, judging from impressions left in the ma-
trix, it was evidently less strongly striated. Indeed it seems to have
been nearly smooth, in which character, as well as in some other re-
spects, it is probably more nearly related to Y. Hvansi, M. and W., from
which it differs in being proportionally shorter, higher, and more com-
pressed. Among European species, it is represented by such forms as
Yoldia seapha (Nucula scapha, d’Orbigny, Paleont., Francaise, t.4ii, PI.
301, Fig. 1-3), from which it also differs in being more compressed, with
the ‘posterior side wider, and the posterior dorsal slope distinctly less
concave in outline.

Locality and position : Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Kansas, from
a brown sandstone of the age of the Dakota Group of the Upper Mis-
souri eretaceous. Discovered by Professor Mudge, of the Kansas Agri-
cultural College.

CORBICULA? NUCALIS, (MEEK.)

Shell small, trigonoid-subcircular, moderately gibbous, the greatest
convexity being above the middle; pallial margin forming a semi-elliptie

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 305

curve; posterior margin subtruncated or rounded; anterior margin
rather more narrowly rounded; dorsal outline sloping rather abruptly
and nearly equally, with slight convexity in front and rear of beaks, the
anterior slope being somewhat more abrupt than the other; beaks nearly
or quite central, curved inward. and slightly forward; posterior dorsal
surfaces a little flattened; post-umbonal slopes somewhat prominent, or
sometimes almost subangular in internal casts; muscular impressions
Shallow and oval; pallial line with a small obtuse sinus. External sur-
face unknown; surface of internal casts smooth.

length, 0.47 inch; height, 0.42 inch; convexity, 0.26 inch.

Iinpressions of the hinge of this little shell, left in the matrix, show
that it has elongated anterior and posterior lateral teeth that are striated
transversely, as in Corbicula. In the left valve there, is one elongated
anterior, and one similar posterior lateral tooth, each of which fits into
a corresponding furrow in the margin of the other valve. Immediately
above thisfurrow, in the posterior and anterior margin of the right valve,
there is a smaller linear, striated lateral tooth, while the margin below
the furrow seems hardly to project enough to be properly regarded as a
second anterior and posterior lateral tooth. The specimens of the im-
pressions of the cardinal teeth are not so clearly seen, being mainly
hidden behind the cast of the umbones, in the only specimen that I have
seen with this part of the hinge well preserved. So far as they can be
made out, they seem to be much as in the existing species of Corbicula,
excepting that the anterior cardinal tooth of the left valve is directed
almost horizontally forward instead of obliquely forward and downward;
it is also much compressed from above and below, and very prominent,
and curved upward. The corresponding tooth of the other valve is
much smaller and overlaps that of the right valve. Behind this promi-
nent anterior cardinal tooth of the left valve, I hink I have seen two
other diverging and emarginate cardinal teeth, with pits for two corres-
ponding diverging teeth in the right valve. The number and arrange-
ment of the teeth of the hinge would, therefore, if correctly understood
in the specimen, seem to be almost exactly as in Corbicula, with the
exception of the horizontal direction of the anterior cardinal teeth, and
the prominence of that of the left valve.

It is quite possible, however, that if we had specimens showing more
clearly the cardinal teeth, we might find differences enough to warrant
the establishment of a distinct section, allied to Corbicula.

Locality and position: Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Kansas;
Dakota Group of the Upper Missouri cretaceous series. Professor
Mudge.

CORBICULA? SUBTRIGONALIS, (MEEK.)

Shell oval-subtrigonal, about one-fourth longer than wide, rather
gibbous, the greatest convexity being above the middle; basal outline
forming a semi-elliptic curve; extremities rather narrowly and very
nearly equally rounded; beaks somewhat depressed and very nearly
central; dorsal outline sloping before and behind the beaks, the latter
slope being convex and the former nearly straight. Surface only show-
ing five lines of growth. Pallial line with a small, obtusely-subangular
sinus. :

Length, 1.16 inches; height, 0.90 inch; convexity, about 0.66 inch.

The only cast of the hinge of this species I have seen, is that of a left
valve. It shows the impressions of the same elongated and striated
lateral teeth seen in the last. The cardinal teeth, however, seem to
have unfortunately been much injured by maceration or erosion, before

20 G

> /

306 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

they left their imprint in the matrix. It shows the mold of a promi-
nent triangular anterior cardinal tooth in front, apparently like that of
the last, and behind this there are remains of two prominencés, that
look like they might be casts of two somewhat diverging cardinal teeth
in the right valve, with impressions for two other cardinal teeth in the
left ; henee, so far as can be made out, the teeth of the hinge seem to
agree with those of the last- described species. Specifically, however,
this form differs from the last in its more depressed and transverse out-
line, as well as in- having its lateral extremities more nearly equal and
more narrowly rounded + the posterior margin not being truncated as
in the last.

Locality and position: Same as last. Collected by Professor Mudge.

CARDIUM PAUPERCULUM, (MEEK.)

Shell small, very thin, rather compressed, subovate or subcircular;
beaks moderately prominent and nearly central ; surface or namented
by about thirty regular, simple, distinetly defined, radiating costae,
which about equal the intermediate furrows, and (owing to the thinness
of the valves) are well-defined internally, and thus impart a plicated or
erenated character to the margins; crossing these are numerous very
regular, well-defined, delicate marks of growth, that are usually less
distinct on the posterior third, but give a neatly crenulated appearance
to the cost farther forward.

The specimens yet seen of this little shell are rarely more than about
0.50 inch in diameter, and are all more or less flattened or otherwise
distorted. Sometimes they are distorted by antero-posterior pressure,
so as to present somewhat the appearance and outline of a Lima, being
higher than wide, and more or less oblique; while in other examples
they are distorted by vertical pressure, so as to present little or no
obliquity, and to show a greater antero-posterior diameter than height.
I have not seen the hinge, but some impressions in the matrix show
that it has anterior and posterior lateral teeth like those of Cardiun ;
it, however, does not belong properly to the typical section of that genus.

Locality and position: Fort Benton Group, or No. 2 of the Upper
Missouri cretaceous series, at the Oil Springs, twenty miles west of Fort
Bridger, Wyoming Territory.

CARDIUM (PROTOCARDIA) SALINAENSE, (MEEK.)

Shell small, orbicular-subtrigonal, slightly longer than high, rather
gibbous; pallial margin forming a semicircular curve; anterior margin
rounded, most prominent at or a little above the middle, where it is
sometimes inclined to be rather narrowly rounded, while below this it
curves off obliquely into the base; posterior margin broader than the
anterior, and faintly subtruneated, or broadly rounded; beaks moder-
ately prominent, convex, and incurved, located slightly in advance of
the middle; dorsal outline sloping more abruptly in front than behind
the beak’s; surface ornamented on the sides and front by comparatively
rather large, rounded, very regular, concentric costs, separated by
smaller furrows, and on the posterior side by sixteen to twenty-two
smaller radiating costs, that are provided with very regularly- disposed,
little, vaulted, scale- like prominences, formed by undulating marks of
growth.

Height, 0.66 inch; length, 0.68 inch; convexity, about 0.49 inch.

This little shell i is allied to O. peregrinosum, @VOrbigny, and C. Hilla-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 307

mum, Sowerby. It is much smaller than the latter, however, and has a
different outline, not being near so truncated behind, nor so regularly
rounded in front. Its concentric cost are likewise proportionally much
larger and less numerous, while the radiating ribs on its posterior side
differ in being provided with the numerous little projections mentioned
in the description. In the latter character it agrees more nearly with
C. peregrinosum, @Orbigny. It also differs from the latter, however, in
having its concentric cost proportionally much larger and less numer-
ous, and the radiating ones straighter and occupying a larger area of
the ‘valves, while the anterior margin is less broadly and regularly
rounded in outline.

Locality and position: Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Saline
County, Kansas; Dakota Group of cretaceous. Professor Mudge, col-

lector.
CARDIUM KANSASENSE, (MEEK.)

Shell rather small, oval-suborbicular, being generally slightly higher
than the antero- posterior diameter, and rather gibbons, with the greatest
convexity usually above the middle; pallial margin rounded, or sub-
semicircular in outline, being in most cases more prominent behind the
middle; anterior margin more or less regularly rounded; posterior out-
line rounded, or very faintly subtruncated; dorsal outline sloping
abruptly from the beaks before and behind; beaks elevated, gibbous,
incurved, and subcentral, or a little in advance of the middle, and but
slightly oblique; posterior dorsal slopes somewhat flattened; surface
marked by numerous regular, simple, radiating strie, or small coste,
that are sometimes interrupted by marks of growth. Hinge strong,
with cardinal and anterior lateral teeth stout; posterior lateral remote
and less prominent. Anterior muscular scar rather deep; posterior
shallow. Scar of pedal muscle (?) small, very deep, and situated on the
inner anterior side, and near the points of the beaks, almost opposite
the cardinal teeth.

Length, 0.94 inch; height, 1 inch; convexity, about 0.63 inch.

This and the last-described species are the two most common shells
found at the locality where they were obtained, and being, like the other
fossils with which they are associated, found in the condition of casts,
not always showing even traces of the surface markings, it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish them. Where any remains of the surface mark-
ings can be seen, “however, they can be at once distinguished by the con-
centric coste on the sides and front of the former, and the radiating
costz on the corresponding parts of that under consideration. The
latter seems also to have generally attained a somewhat larger size. —
The inner margins of both appear, from the casts, to be generally nearly
smooth, though some of the casts of the form under consideration show
faint traces of what seem to have been ecrenulations, near the middle of
the base. I at first thought the peculiar projecting point left by what
I have supposed might be the sear of the pedal mucles, near the point
of each beak of internal casts, might distinguish the form under consid-
eration; but this is also seen on some of the casts of the other species,
which, likewise, has the hinge teeth very similar, so that the only sure
means of distinguishing them seems to be the surface markings. These
markings are sometimes distinctly and sharply impressed in the matrix,
and by taking gutta-percha impressions from these molds, the nature
of the surface markings can be very clearly made out. No traces of
nodes, or projecting points of any kind, exist on the cost of this
species. In some respects it resembles C. Cottaldinum, VOrbigny (Pal.

308 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Fr. II, Pl. 1-4), from the Neocomian ; but it is rather more coarsely stri-
ated, and wants the posterior dorsal impression of that shell, from which
it also differs in being less evenly convex.

Locality and position: Same as last. Discovered by Professor Mudge.

MACTRA? CANONENSIS, (MEEK.)

Shell small, very thin, transversely subovate, rather compressed or
moderately convex, with length about once and a half the height;
anterior side rounded; posterior side longer, narrower, and obliquely
subtruncated at the extremity; pallial margin forming nearly a semi-
ovate curve, being most prominent anteriorly, straight or very slightly
sinuous behind the middle, and rounding up very abruptly to the lower
part of the truncated posterior margin; dorsal outline nearly straight
and sloping to the truncated posterior, and declining more abruptly in
- front; beaks small, moderately prominent, and placed one-third the
jJength of the valves from the anterior margin; posterior umbonal
slopes rather prominent to the posterior basal extremity, while the sides
in front of this prominence are flattened, or even very slightly coneave
below. Surface with rather regular but distinct lines and furrows of
growth. Muscular impressions shallow; posterior round-oval; anterior
narrower, with a slender prolongation above; pallial line with a shallow,
rather rounded sinus.

Length, 0.78 inch; height, 0.53 inch; convexity, 0.31 inch.

At the same time that I refer this species, for the present, to the
genus Mactra, I really do not believe that it belongs properly to that
genus, as restricted by late authorities on conchology. I merely place
it there, however, because its hinge is unknown, and it presents some
characters indicating relations to that group. In form it is very unlike
Mactra, and more nearly resembles Crassatella. Its thinness and sinu-
ous pallial line, however, at once forbid its reference to that group,
while the latter character, and especially a triangular fissure seen in the
hinge margin between the beaks, as in Jlactra (Schizodesma), indicate
relations to that genus. Its hinge, however, will probably be found
presenting characters that warrant its separation as a distinct genus,
judging from its general physiognomy.

Locality and position: Caton City.

GENUS ARCOPAGELLA, (MEEK.)

Shell equivalve, more or less nearly equilateral, longer than high,
with margins closed all around and smooth within. Hinge with two
cardinal, and one anterior and one posterior lateral teeth in each valve.
Left valve with anterior cardinal tooth larger than the posterior and
trigonal in form, but sometimes rather deeply emarginated below,
placed directly under the beak; posterior cardinal tooth small, slender,
and ranging obliquely backward and downward close to the lar ger one,
so as to leave only a slender pit between, corresponding to another on
the anterior side of the principal cardinal tooth, which two pits are for
the reception of the cardinal teeth of the right valve; anterior and
posterior lateral teeth both elongated parallel to the cardinal margin,
the former approaching more nearly to the cardinal teeth. Light valve
with, under the apex, two diverging, slender cardinal teeth, like the
posterior one of the other valve, with a triangular pit between them for
the reception of the principal cardinal tooth of the other valve; ante-
rior one more obiique than the other, and nearly or quite connecting

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 309

with the lateral tooth on that side; lateral teeth like those of the left
valve; the anterior one apparently fitting under that of the other
valve, and the posterior above that of the other. Muscular impressions
shallow; pallial impression with a moderate rounded sinus, directed
obliquely forward and upward. Ligament unknown, but believed to be
external. Surface without ornamentation.

After searching in vain to find some defined group under which I
could range this shell, with a reasonable degree of probability of its
properly belonging to the same, I have concluded to propose a new
genus for its reception. It seems to be related to Arcopagia, but differs
in having anterior and posterior lateral teeth in both valves, as well as
in the form of the anterior cardinal tooth of the left valve and its
arrangement with relation to the other. At first I was inclined to think
it might find a place in Mr. Conrad’s cretaceous genus Tellimera, but a
sketch of the hinge of his type received from him shows the latter to be
quite distinct, having a double anterior lateral tooth in the right valve,
and the cardinal teeth of the same consisting of one bifid very oblique
cardinal tooth, and immediately behind this a minute vertical second
eardinal. The hinge plate of his genus is also distinctly wider on the
anterior side than in the type under consideration.

It is somewhat remarkable that the hinge structure of the type of
this genus is, in most respects, very similar to that of the group for
which I have proposed the name Crassatellina, while the whole aspect
of the two shells is so entirely different that I can scarcely doubt that
they really belong to two distinct families—Crassatellina probably
belonging to the Crassatelledw, and Arcopagella, apparently to the Tel-
lunide. As closely as their hinges resemble, however, a critical compari-
son of the accompanying cuts will show them to present important dif-
ferences of details.

It is probable this genus will be found to include other tellinoid
eretaceous shells, the hinges of which are yet unknown.

ARCOPAGELLA MACTROIDES, (MEEK.)

A, hinge and interior of right valve.
B, hinge and interior of left valve; both nat. size.

Shell longitudinally-subovate, width or height about two-thirds the
length, rather compressed or moderately convex; pallial margin forming’
a regular semi-elliptic curve from end to end; anterior margin narrowly
rounded, with the most prominent part near the middle; posterior bor-
der more narrowly rounded than the anterior, particularly below, where
there seems to be the faintest possible tendency to form a flexure or
fold; beaks moderately prominent, located very nearly centrally; dor-
sal outline sloping almost equally before and behind the beaks, but with
the anterior slope slightly concave in outline above, and the posterior a
little convex; muscular impressions faintly marked and rather narrow
subovate; pallial line with its rather shallow, broadly-rounded sinus di-
rected very obliquely forward and upward. Surface apparently with
only fine lives of growth.

Length of one of the larger specimens, 0.78 inch; height, 0.53 inch ;
convexity, about 0.26 inch.

310 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

This shell will be readily distinguished from the Tellinas of our ere-
taceous rocks by its shorter, slightly more convex, subtrigonal, or sub-
ovate nearly equilateral form, even where its hinge cannot be seen. In
some respects it looks externally like a compressed and depressed Mac-
éra. Iam unacquainted with any tertiary species with a similar hinge.

Locality and position: Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Saline
County, Kansas; Dakota Group of Upper Missouri cretaceous. Profes-
sor B. F. Mudge.

TELLINA SUBSCITULA, (MEEK.)

Shell small; elliptic-suboval, much compressed ; pallial margin form-
ing a regular semi-elliptic curve; extremities narrowly rounded, the pos-
terior being a little shorter, with a very obscure flexure, and more ab-
ruptly or narrowly rounded below; dorsal outline sloping gently in both
directions from the beaks, the posterior slope being a little convex in
outline, and the anterior nearly straight; beaks depressed, compressed
and placed a little behind the middle; muscular impressions moderately
distinct, the posterior one being broader than the other; pallial sinus
very deep, nearly horizontal, and rather broadly rounded. Surface with
only fine lives of growth.

Length, 0.84 inch; height, 0.47 inch; convexity, about 0.15 inch.

This shell is much like Tellina seitula, M. and H., from the upper mem-
ber of the Upper Missouri cretaceous series ; but on comparison it is
found to be proportionally more depressed, while its pallial sinus is very
different, being much broader and more obtusely rounded at the end.
impressions of its surface in the matrix also indicate less strongly-de-
fined lines of growth. Casts show that it has no lateral teeth.

Locality and position: Same as last. Professor Mudge.

TAPES WYOMINGENSIS, (MEEK.)

_ Shell elongate-subelliptic in outline, much compressed; extremities
nearly equally rounded; pallial margin straight and nearly parallel to
the dorsal, but rounding up regularly at both ends; dorsal side straight,
or very slightly convex in outline; beaks depressed nearly or quite to
the dorsal margin, and placed about one-fourth the length of the valves
from the anterior end; anterior muscular impression ovate, rather well
defined, and with its longer diameter ranging vertically ; pedal scar
distinct’ near the upper end of that of the anterior adductor ; posterior
muscular impression very shallow; pallial line with its sinus rather
deep, horizontal, and obtuse at the end. Surface with lines and some
small ridges of erowth.

Length, 1.70 inches; height, 0.82 inch; convexity, about 0.28 inch.

The “only specimens of this species yet obtained are mainly casts re-
taining some portions of the shell. They give very little idea of the
nature of the hinge beyond the fact that it seems to have three diverging
cardinal teeth, the exact form and arrangement of which cannot be
made out. The general expression of the shell, however, is very nearly
that of some European cretaceous forms that seem to have essentially
the hinge characters of Tapes, though they may not be exactly congeneric
with the recent species of that genus. Among the foreign species our
shell seems to be most nearly represented by Venus fragilis, @’Orbigny
(irom the cretaceous of Fr ance), which is not a true Venus, but has been
referred by Mr. Zittel to the Sens Tapes. (See Bivalven der Gosaug.,
Nord Alpen.)

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Bali |

Compared with @’Orbigny’s figure and description of his V. fragilis,
given in the Paleont. Francaise, our shell differs in being regularly
rounded instead of truncated posteriorly. It is also straighter on the
basal margin, and more broadly rounded in front. In some of these
characters it agrees more nearly with Professor Zittel’s figures, which I
suspect may represent a distinct species from that figured by d’Orbigny.
Still it differs from Professor Zittell’s figures, in having its anterior
margin more broadly rounded, and its pallial margin straighter in out-
anes; 27!

Locality and position: Mouth of Deer Creek, on North Platte, in
Wyoming Territory ; Fox Hills Group of the Upper Missouri cretaceous
series.

LEPTOSOLEN CONRADI, (MEEK.)

Shell elongate-oblong, nearly three times as long as high, moderately
-convex; dorsal margin straight, pallial margin more or less nearly
straight, and subparallel to the dorsal, being alittle convex in outline in
front of the middle, thence ascending obliquely forward to the narrowly-
rounded anterior end; posterior margin truncated vertically, but
rounding abruptly into the dorsal and ventral borders above and below;
beaks not raised above the dorsal margin, and very inconspicuous, their
position only being indicated externally by the curves of the marks of
growth, located about one-third the length of the valves from the ante-
rior end ; surface only showing fine lines of growth.

Length, 1.04 inches; height, 0.36 inch; convexity, 0.28 inch.

Internal casts of this species show the impression of the strong
internal ridge, extending directly downward from the beaks, and grad-
ually dying out below the middle of the valves. These casts also show
the impression of a single small tooth in the right valve, just in front of
the upper termination of the deep furrow left by the strong internal
ridge. From these characters it is evident that this genus is allied to
Stliqua, Miihlfeldt (Leguminaria, Schum.), but differs, as pointed out
by Mr. Conrad, in having but a single hinge tooth in the right valve,
instead of three in each valve. It almost certainly includes Legumi-
naria Moreana, d’Orbigny (Pal. France Ter. Cret., III, Pl. 350, Figs.
8, 9, 10), and L. Petersi, Reuss (Siliqna -Petersi, Zittel, Bivalven der
Gos., Nordéstlien Alpen, taf. 1, Fig.3), both of which, like Mr. Conrad’s
type, are cretaceous species.

Compared with Mr. Conrad’s typical species, L. biplicata (Siliguaria
biplicata, Con., Jour. Acad. N. Sci., III, Pl. 34, Fig. 17), our shell is seen
not oniy to be much smaller and proportionally shorter, but to differ in
not having the two broad prominences radiating forward and downward
from the beak of each valve, as in that species, though it shows a single
very obscure, broad prominence extending directly downward under the
beaks, and widening as it descends. In front and behind this there is also,
in each valve, a scarcely perceptible concavity. This broad prominence
also imparts a slight convexity to the outline of the base, just at the
point where the base in Mr. Conrad’s species 1s sinuous.

It is probably more nearly allied to Leptosolen Moreana, d@Orbigny
(sp.), already cited, but differs from d’Orbigny’s figure in being decidedly
straighter on the dorsal margin, and wider, as well as more distinctly
truncated posteriorly. Compared with Dept. Petersi, Reuss (sp.), as
figured by Professor Zittel, our species will be readily distinguished by
having its internal ridge at right angles to the dorsal margin, instead of
extending obliquely backward and downward; also in having its dorsal

Sie GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

margin straight from end to end, instead of declining forward from the —
beaks.

Locality and position: Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Kansas;
Dakota Group of the cretaceous series of the Upper Missouri. Pro-
tessor Mudge.

ANISOMYON CENTRALE, (MEEK.)

Shell depressed, conical, somewhat wider than high, apex central, or
very nearly so; slopes nearly equal all around, or with sometimes the an-
terior and sometimes the posterior sides a little convex, and the others
more nearly straight; aperture circular ; surface apparently smooth, ex-
eepting obscure lines of growth, crossed by several irregular, diverging,
obscure, radiating ridges and more strongly defined furrows ; the former
being mainly on the posterior and the latter on the interior and lateral
slopes.

Breadth of largest specimen seen, 1.16 inches; height about 0.95 inch.

I have seen only two specimens of this species, and these are internal
casts, with merely some fragments of the very thin shell remaining, while
the extremeapex of bothisbrokenaway. Theradiating furrows arerather
distinctly defined on the anterior slope of the internal cast, while one
(apparently not exactly the middle one) is narrower aud distinctly deeper
than the others on each side of it, which latter are about twice as wide,
shallow, and often somewhat divided by asmall ridge down the center of
each. On the posterior slope one of the ridges is more strongly defined
than the others, especially near the apex, and seems to correspond to
the deeper furrows of the anterior slope, though not exactly opposite
to it. The broken apex in one of the specimens looks asif it might have
eurved a little backward, though in the other it evidently curved for-
ward at the point, if I have rightly determined the relative sides.

One of the specimens shows obscure traces of the oval muscular scar
on each side, and these are connected across the side I regard as the
anterior, by a slender line, but the specimen being a little worn on the
opposite or posterior side, I have been unable to make out the broader
interrupted band that ought to pass around the posterior side, if the
species really belongs to this genus.

This species will be readily distinguished from all of the others yet
known from the far western cretaceous rocks by its conical form and
elevated apex.

Locality and position: Box Elder and Colorado City, Colorado; Fox
Hills Group of the Upper Missouri cretaceous series.

TURRITELLA KANSASENSIS, (MEEK.)

Shell elongate-conical, or gradually and regularly tapering from below
to the apex, with the lateral slopes of the spire straight ; volutions eight
to ten, increasing regularly in size, flattened, or only very slightly convex ;
last one rounded below; suture nearly linear; aperture ovate. Surface
with small, thread-like, revolving lines, varying much in their arrange-
ment and distinctness, but usually more strongly defined on the lower
half of the last turn; lines of growth very fine, obscure, and strongly
arched or sigmoid, so as to indicate a rather deep sinuosity in the outer
lip above the middle. :

Length of large specimen, 1.10 inch; breadth, 0.34 inch; divergence
of slopes of the spire, about 22°.

This shell varies much in its surface marking, some of the specimens
appearing almost smooth, or only showing faint indications of a few

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, BG

revolving lines, while others show a few distantly-separated, very slen-
der, raised lines. In still others five or six well-defined slender lines
may be seen on some of the volutions, and a smaller number of less
' distinetly-defined ones on the other turns. The arrangement of these
lines and their comparative size on different individuals, as well as on
different parts of the same specimen, vary much.’ Usually the upper
turns near the apex of the spire appear to be smooth, ‘hous this may
be partly due to accidental erosion before the shells were imbedded in
the matrix.

Locality and position: Twelve miles southwest of Salina, Kansas ;
Dakota Group of cretaceous. Professor B. I. Mudge, collector.

TURBO MUDGEANUS, (MEEK.)

Shell small, turbinate, about as high as wide; spire moderately prom-
inent ; volutions, four and a-half te five, increasing rather rapidly in
size, convex ; last one somewhat obliquely flattened below, and laterally
compressed or flattened around the middle of the outer side ; ; suture
more or less channeled ; aperture circular; outer lip thin and oblique ;
columella arched and flattened below ; axis imperforate. Surface orna-
mented by strong, raised, oblique lines of growth, which are crossed by
four equidistant, rather sharp, revolving carine, only three of which are
seen on the volutions of the spire.

Height, 0.66 inch ; breadth, about 0.64 inch; divergence of slopes of
the spire ‘about o 50,

This shell is evidently related to Turbo tricostatus, d’Orbigny (Pale-
ont. Fr. Ter. Oret., t. II, Pl. 186 bis, fig. 5, 6), but clearly differs in hay-
ing its spire decidedly more depressed, and in having four revolving
carine on its body volution, instead of only three. Its body whorl is also
more rounded,’ in consequence of its greater convexity on the upper
side, which also imparts a more rounded outline to itsaperture. It like-
wise wants the small umbilicus said to exist in d’Orbigny’s species, and
does not show the lower carina of the body turn above the suture on
those of the spire.

The specific name is given in honor of Professor Mudge, of the Kan-
sas State Agricultural College, to whom I am indebted for the typical
specimens of this, as well as of the other species here described from the
same locality.

Locality and position: Same as last. Professor B. F. Mudge.

Tertiary species.
UNIO LEANUS, (MEEK.)

Shell attaining a medium size or larger, rather thin; longitudinally
ovate, being somewhat less than twice as long as high, with the widest
(highest) point in advance of the middle, rather distinctly convex ; an-
terior side wider than the other, and regularly rounded ; posterior margin
more narrowly rounded, or sometimes obliquely subtruncate above; basal
outline forming a broad, Semiovate curve, with the most prominent part in
advance of the middle ; beaks moderately depressed and placed between
one-third and one-fourth the length of the valves from the anterior
margin; surface smooth or only showing marks of growth; hinge
strong, cardinal teeth prominent, and leaving i in internal casts a very
profound impression, ranging vertically just behind the anterior museulat
sear; lateral teeth lon g and ‘straight ; two in the left and one in the right
valve.

314 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Length, 3.80 inches ; height, 2.20 inches ; convexity, 1.40 inches.

This will be readily distinguished from that I have provisionally
referred to U. tellinoides, H., by its proportionally longer and more con-
vex valves, stouter hinge, and particularly by having larger, thicker, and
more prominent cardinal teeth, ranging vertically, instead of very
obliquely forward and downward. The specific name is given in honor
of Dr. Isaac Lea, of Philadelphia.

Locality and position: Church Buttes, Wyoming Territory; miocene
tertiary, in a rather coarse, greenish grit.

UNIO WASHAKIENSIS, (MEEK.)

Shell scarcely attaining a medium size; thin, depressed, rather com-
pressed, longitudinally subovate ; anterior side short, rounded ; posterior
side long, with a narrowly-rounded or sometimes faintly subtruncated
extremity, the most prominent point being below the middle, while
above this there is usually an oblique slope from the posterior extremity
of the hinge; basal margin, forming a broad, semi-elliptic or semi-ovate
curve, in the latter case the most prominent part being a little in ad-
vance of the middle; dorsal or hinge margin straight from the beaks to
the upper slope of the posterior margin; beaks depressed nearly to the
dorsal margin, rather regularly convex, but not ventricose, and placed
about one. fourth the length of the valves from the anterior extremity ;
umbonal slopes moderately and evenly convex ; surface smooth, or only
showing more or less distinct marks of growth, excepting near ‘the im-
mediate points of the beaks, where well-preserved specimens show
traces of minute, regular, longitudinal wrinkles, which terminate pos-
teriorly at two faint, oblique, obsolescent, linear ridges; hinge, slender ;
cardinal teeth small, oblique, and apparently consisting of one in the
right and two in the left valve; lateral teeth straight, rather long, two
in the left, and one or two in the right valve.

Length of a large specimen, 2.37 inches; height, 1.26 inches; convex-
ity, 0.7 72 inch.

This species is related to U. priscus, M. & H., with which it agrees
nearly in form and surface characters. It is constantly smaller, how-
ever, and distinetly thinner, while its hinge is weaker and its cardinal
teeth smaller and much more oblique. The wrinkles on its beaks, and
the two oblique linear ridges on their posterior dorsal sides, are similar
to those on U. priscus, excepting that they are less distinctly defined
and occupy a much smaller space only near the points, instead of the
whole surface of the umbones, being in fact so obscure and so near the
points of the beaks as to be readily overlooked and entirely obsolete in
most cases.

It will be distinguished from U. Haydeni mainly by its constantly more
depressed and more elongated form. its stratigraphical position is also,
according to Dr. Hayden’s observations, one thousand to two thousand
feet lower in the series than that of U. Haydeni.

Locality and position: Washakie, Wyoming; also on Henry’s Fork
and on Green River, Wyoming Territory, at all of which places it is as-
sociated with Viviporus paludineformis (=Turbo paludineformis Hall)
and Goniobasis nodulifera (—=Cerithium nodulosum, Hall, not G. nodu
losa, Lea.)

CORBICULA? FRACTA, (MEEK.)

Shell attaining a rather large size, longitudinally ovate, wider
(higher) anteriorly, compressed, very thin and fragile; anterior margin

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 315

rounded; pallial margin semiovate in outline; posterior margin nar-
rower than the other, and subtruncate ; dorsal outline sloping gradually,
with slight convexity behind the beaks, and more abruptly in front;
beaks rather depressed, oblique, and placed about one-third the length
of the valves from the anterior extremity; surface only showing very
obscure lines and somewhat stronger ridges of growth.

Length, 2.24 inches; height at the beaks, 1.48 inches; convexity, ap-
parently about 0.40 inch.

The specimens of this species are all more or less flattened by acci-
dental compression, but show the outline and surface characters per-
fectly, even to remains of the thin epidermis. With considerable diffi-
culty I have succeeded in clearing away the matrix so far as to see that
the hinge margin is comparatively strong for so thin a shell. It shows
apparently three diverging cardinal teeth in each valve, and a linear
anterior lateral tooth extending parallel to the anterior margin, while
the posterior lateral teeth are somewhat remote from the cardinal, and
rather elongated. On these posterior lateral teeth I have seen fine trans-
verse strive, which doubtless also exist on the anterior lateral, though I
have not seen a specimen in a condition to show them.

Internal casts show the anterior muscular impression to be ovate, and
the posterior broader, or more nearly circular, while the pallial line
shows a shallow, rounded sinus, forming less than a semicircle.

Locality and position: Hallville coal mines, just above a bed of coal,
in a black, argillaceous, rather hard rock, that may be shaly at some
places.

CORBICULA? CRASSATELLIFORMIS, (MEEK.)

Shell attaining about a medium size, longitudinally ovate-subtrigonal-
compressed, very thin and fragile; anterior side rounded; pallial mar,
gin forming a semiovate curve, being more prominent anteriorly than be-
hind; posterior side longer than the other, but much narrower, being
very narrowly truncated at the immediate extremity; dorsal margin
forming along straight slope behind the beaks, and sloping more abrupt-
ly in front; beaks rather depressed, oblique, and located rather more
than one-third the length of the valves from the anterior margin ;
posterior umbonal slopes showing some tendency to form a very slight
prominence from the beaks toward the posterior basal extremity. Sur-
face marked with fine lines, and a few irregular, stronger ridges and
furrows of growth. Hinge not well made out.

Length, 0.95 inch; height, 0.60 inch; convexity, about 0.20 inch.

This form will be distinguished from the last, not only by its much
smaller size, but by its more trigonal outline (caused mainly by the
greater obliquity and straightness of its posterior dorsal slope), the
greater prominence of its post-umbonal slopes, and its proportionally
stronger ridges of growth. Ihave not seen its pallial line and know lit-
tle of its hinge, though some of the specimens seem to show indications
of three diverging cardinal teeth, as in the last. Like that species, it
is a very thin, fragile shell.

In form and general appearance, this shell is much like Cyrena (Cor-
bicula) angustata, Deshayes (An. Saus. Vert. Bassin de Paris, 1, p. 508,
‘Pl. XXXVII, Figs. 9, 10, 11 et 12), but it not only attains a larger size,
but differs in being more attenuated posteriorly, and more distinctly
truncated at the immediate extremity of the narrowed posterior end.

Both this and the last-described species very nearly resemble some of
the depressed, elongated species of Crassatella, in outline, and belong

316 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

to Deshayes’ section “ oblongues transverses” of Cyrena, which in-
cludes some very thin species from the Paris Basin.

It is a curious fact, that at the same time these forms differ so very
materially in form from the existing typical species of Corbicula, they
have the lateral teeth of the hinge, in most cases, like those of that
group, often even to the fine transverse strive, instead of like those of
the true Cyrenas. As Deshayes has remarked, the fossil species show
gradations in form and hinge characters, that seem to indicate that
those groups can scarcely be regarded as forming distinct genera, al-
though it may be convenient to distinguish them subgenerically. There:
would still, however, apparently be as good reasons for forming for
these longitudinally-ovate or subtrigonal, very thin shells, with hinge
teeth more like those of Corbicula, a third subgeneric section. If so, I
would propose for this group the name Leptesthes, with the first of the
foregoing species as its type.

Locality and position: Same as last.

GONIOBASIS CHYSALLIS, (MEEK.)

Shell generally almost cylindrical below the middle, but more abruptly
tapering above; volutions six or seven, flattened, with the upper margin
thickened, last one not angular, and scarcely larger than the next above
it; suture well defined. Surface ornamented by distinct vertical coste,
often ranging nearly in the same line all the way up the spire; these are
partly interrupted by an effort to form three, or rarely four, obscure re-
volving lines or ridges, the upper of which is larger and more prominent
than the others, which character, with the slightly enlarged upper ends
of the vertical costa, causes the thickened appearance of the upper mar-
gins of the volutions; several other slender and more distinet revolving
lines also occur on the under side of the last turn. Aperture somewhat
rhombic-ovate.

Length, about .60 inch; breadth, .18 inch.

I have seen no well-preserved specimens of this shell, but its peculiar
form and the thickened character of the upper margins of its volutions
distinguish it readily, even in very imperfect examples, from all of the
other known species of this region. I had long back referred it, with
much doubt, to Goniobasis tenera, Hall, (sp.,) (not Anthony ;) but as the
later collections brought from Utah and Wyoming contain a great
number of another, but clearly distinct species, that agrees more nearly
with Professor Hall’s figure, both in form and the number of revolving
lines ca each volution, I am led to think that he must have had the
latter species before him when he described his G. tenera. The fact, too,
that it occurs in vastly greater numbers than the form under consid-
eration, seems to sustain this conclusion.

Locality and positien: Bear River, near Sulphur Creek, Utah; Lower
tertiary.

GONIOBASIS NODULIFERA, (MEEK.) A

Cerithium nodulosum, Hall, 1845. Frémont’s Roport Explorations, p. 309, Pl. III, Figs.
11 and 12. (Not Goniobasis nodulosa, Lea, 1841.)

Shell attaining a rather large size, elongate-conical ; spire much pro-
duced; volutions seven or eight, convex, and increasing gradually and
regularly in size; last one not larger in proportion than the others, and
rounded; suture well defined and sometimes presenting a slightly banded
appearance ; aperture ovate; outer lip very strongly sinuous above the
middle, and prominent below it. Surface ornamented with rather dis-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. tL

tinct lines of growth, that arch strongly parallel to the margins of the
lip, and are crossed on the lower part of the last turn by from three or
four to about six distinct, raised revolving lines, and near the middle,
especially on those of the spire, by a small nodular carina or ridge.

Length of a large specimen, about 1.40 inches; breadth of same, 0.46
inch. Angie of spire regular, with a divergence of 18 to 20 degrees.

The surface markings of this shell, excepting sometimes the lines on
the lower part of the last turn, are not seen on internal casts; while on’
the exterior, the revolving, slightly-nodular ridge is often obsolete on the
last turn, and apparently sometimes nearly or quite so on some of those
above. The revolving lines of the under side of the last volution are
strongly defined, and it seems to be the upper one of these, continued
upon those of the spire, just above the suture, that, gives it the banded
appearance. In some instances a few smaller revolving lines are seen
farther up on the last turn, and even continued upon the lower half of
the exposed part of some of those of the spire. Where the nodular ridge
is most distinctly developed, the surface of the volutions above it is
sometimes slightly concave.

Professor Hall’s figures, especially his Fig. 12 of Cerithium nodu-
losum, represent the suture as being more oblique than in our specimens,
but this is probably due to lateral compression. None of his figures
show the strongly-arched lines of growth, hor more than one of the
revolving lines on the lower part of the last turn. Both are mentioned,
however, in his description. The arching character of the lines of growth
is a distinctly-marked feature in this shell.

As the name nodulosa had been used by Dr. Lea for a species now in-
cluded in the genus Goniobasis, it becomes necessary to find a new name
for the shell under consideration, in placing it in that genus, consequently
I have called it G. nodulifera.

Locality and position: Colonel Frémont’s specimens of this species,
according to his observations, came from latitude 41930’; longitude 111°
where they were found in a yellowish-gray oolitic limestone. Dr. Hay-
den’s collections of it came from a locality a short distance farther to the
southeast. They are in a yellowish-gray limestone, that sometimes
shows a few Oolitic grains. Dr. E. Palmer brought specimens of it from
White River, still farther southeast in Colorado, in a yellowish, distinctly
oolitic matrix. Lower tertiary.

BYTHINELLA GREGARIA, MEEK.

Shell small, conoid-subovate, spire rather elevated; volutions five,
rounded, or ‘very convex; suture strongly impressed; aperture ovate,
or slightly longer than wide, with the upper extremity subangular, and
the lower rounded; inner lip not reflected, and leaving by its side a very
small umbilical impression that seems not to perforate the axis. Sur-
face smooth, or only showing, under a strong magnifier, very minute
lines of growth.

Length, 0.15 inch; breadth, 0.08 inch; length of aperture, 0.06 inch;
breadth of aperture, scarcely 0.04 inch.

This little shell so nearly resembles, in form and proportions, the
figures of Bythinella tenuipes, of Couper, that it is with some hesitation
I have concluded to regard it as a distinct species. As that shell, how-
ever, is described as having its suture “ slightly impressed,” and as being
‘“‘ sub-umbilicated,” while that under consideration has its suture very
deep, and could not be properly described as even swb-umbilicated, I do.
not feel warranted in referring our tertiary form to the existing species.

318 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Of course we have no certain means of determining whether we ought
not to call this shell Amnicola gregaria, or Pomatiopsis gregaria, instead
of referring it to Bythinella, the distinctions between these groups being
mainly based on characters not apparent in the shell. The fact, how-
ever, that it is found in vast numbers associated with a small Planorbis,
and millions of the carapace-valves of a minute Cypris, would seem to
indicate that it was aquatic in its habits, like Bythinella and Amnicola.
It is true, terrestrial shells are often swept by streams into lakes, and
deposited along with those of aquatic species; but it is exceedingly im-
probable that millions of so small a terrestrial shell as this would have
been deposited all together, so as almost to form an entire bed of lime:
stone, especially without some other terrestrial types.

Locality and position: : Pacific Springs. Tertiary.

Il—ON THE TERTIARY COALS OF THE WEST.

By Jas. T. HopeE, Gronoaist.

The occurrence of coal in the Rocky Mountains was observed and re-
ported on by most of the early explorers on the different routes they
traversed across the continent. Little importance, however, was at-
tached to these discoveries, and, as the coal-beds were seen only in
their outcrop, little knowledge was acquired of their real character. It
was understood that they belonged, not to the true coal formation, but
either to the lower tertiary or upper cretaceous, and the coal was conse-
quently classed among the lignites or brown coals, and generally con-
sidered to be far inferior in quality to the genuine coals of the Eastern
and Middle States. As the country began to be settled, the scarcity of
timber soon caused these deposits of fuel to be looked up, and mines of
coal to be opened and worked in Utah and in Colorado. The construce-
tion of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads created a still
greater demand for fuel for the supply of their locomotives, and new
mines were opened along the line of the former road in Wyoming Terri-
tory, which, with those worked on the eastern border of Utah, near the
same road, supply both these long lines of road with all the coal they
require. No mines have been found near the Central Pacific Railroad,
either in Utah, Nevada, or California, so that this road is wholly depend-
ent for fuel upon the coals brought to it from the Union Pacific. Though
it is scarcely three years since these coal-mines began to be developed,
they have already produced large quantities of coal, and several among
them have the appearance of thriving collieries, well furnished with
powerful machinery for pumping and hoisting, and all the appliances
of first-class establishments.

In Colorado, mines were opened along the eastern base of the Rocky
Mountains about eight years since, and a number of them have been
worked to a moderate extent from that time, supplying Denver and the
settlements below the mountains. The coal was found very serviceable
for domestic purposes, but was deficient in caloric quantities, such as
are required for founderies and other metallurgical works. The writer
in 1863 found the blacksmiths for the most part unable to produce a
welding heat with the coal in their forges, and coke was brought from
Kansas for a foundery at Black Hawk at an expense of $160 per ton.
The coal-mines were then esteemed of very little value. The opening of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 319

the Kansas Pacific Railroad to Denver, of the Denver Pacific to Cheyenne,
and of the Colorado Central from Denver to Golden City, with the pros-
pect of its extension in another year to the mining towns in the mount-
ains, has greatly added to the importance of these mines, and led to
arrangements for working them upon a large scale. In September and
October last the writer again examined them, and also visited all the
coal-mines of importance in Wyoming and in Utah near the Union
Pacific road, and the following are some of the results of his investi-
gations and of the analyses he has made of the coals he has collected:

All these coal-mines are found in a series of sandstones and fire-clay,
probably of lower tertiary age. No limestones occur with these strata,
and black slate is met with in small quantity only. The sandstones are
generally somewhat friable in texture, and are often exposed in bold
cliffs, the faces of which have weathered in very irregular shapes, and
frequently present deep holes and cavernous depressions. Its color is
from a light-yellowish to reddish brown, and sometimes gray. In places
it is sufficiently sound and firm to make a good building stone. The
fossils it contains are chiefly leaves of deciduous trees. No ferns and
other fossil plants are found in the formation like those common to the
true coal-measures. The black slates forming the roof of a coal-bed at
one locality in Wyoming Territory are found filled with fossil Unios,
which, as the writer is informed by Dr. J. S. Newberry, are probably an
undescribed species. Fire-clay is perhaps the predominant material of
the formation. It occurs in beds of great thickness, especially in Col-
orado, and at Golden City it is manufactured into fire-bricks of excellent
quality. Clay iron-stone is occasionally interstratified with the clays
and black shales, and in Boulder County, Colorado, the summits and
sides of some of the hills near the coal-mines are partially covered with
masses of brown iron ore, that have the appearance of solid ledges, but
which were no doubt collections of clay iron-stone, left behind when the
lighter’ materials of the strata containing them were removed, and con-
verted subsequently by atmospheric agency into those brown hydrates.

The coal-beds are often of great size, the largest now worked being
twenty-six or twenty-seven feet thick. This is on Bear River, on the
eastern border of Utah. For the most part they are remarkably free
from impurities, it being not rare to see a face of eight or even ten feet
of clean coal of brilliant luster, perfectly sound and solid in the mine,
without a particle of slate or any visible foreign matter that would injure
it. Iron pyrites, however, may generally be detected in small flakes and
thin disks, but very rarely in sufficient quantity to be injurious. Mineral
resin is @ common ingredient of the Colorado coals, and was met with
at one of the mines only on the Union Pacific Railroad, that at Carbon.
The beds lie at an angle with the horizon; some are vertical, none were
observed level.

All the coals tend to crumble soon after being exposed to the weather;
but when protected they remain a long time unchanged, as is shown by
a large lump in the possession of the writer, which he obtained at a
mine in Boulder County, Colorado, in 1863, and which is still sound.
This tendency to crumble is the cause of great waste at the mines—all
the greater that these tertiary coals can scarcely ever be made to melt
and agglutinate into a firm coke. With rare exceptions, when submitted
to the coking process, they retain their form or crumble into a dry pow-
der. As seen by their analysis they all contain water in their composti-
tion, and this is very slowly given up even at the boiling temperature.
Its pressure necessarily detracts from the calorific power of the coals,
not merely by reason of the water taking the place of so much carbon,

=

320: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

but by the consumption of more to produce the heat required to expel
this water. Hence it is difficult to obtain a strong, concentrated heat,

such as is needed for welding iron in the forge-fire, and it is only by
particular care and skill that the blacksmiths have generally succeeded
in making it answer their purposes. At the machine shops of the Union
Pacific Railroad it is not yet admitted as a substitute for eastern bitu-
minous coals, though some of these are brought from Pennsylvania
mines, about two thousand miles distant, and the very best of the Rocky
Mountain coals are obtained directly on the line of the railroad. Asa
fuel for locomotives and for domestic purposes, including cooking as
well as warming, the coal in general answers very well. It kindles and
burns freely, making a bright fire, with a yellow blaze and comparatively
little smoke; the odor of this is not so strong or disagreeable as that of
the bituminous coals, and somewhat resembles the smell of burning peat.
The smoke is not always dark and thick, but is sometimes of a light gray
color. The ashes are remarkably light and bulky. The engineers of the
locomotives find that some varieties crumble more than others in the fire,
and sift through the grate bars; these require closer screens at the top
of the smoke-stacks. They endeavor to obtain the coal as freshly mined
as possible on account of its sounder condition. Clinkers sometimes
form sufficiently to be troublesome when the coals are obtained from
those mines that contain seams of slate. There have been a few cases
of combustion of refuse heaps of coal, supposed to have occurred spon-
taneously. The presence of iron pyrites in coals so easy to crumble and
ignite. as these cannot fail to suggest this danger, and the importance of
guarding all heaps of it from becoming wet. It is not unusual in the
Rocky Mountain region to meet among the strata of sandstones beds of
ashes, which are evidently the ruins of coal- beds, some of which are of
large ‘size. The writer has seen many such in the banks of the upper
part of the Missouri River.

The geological position of these coals, together with the considerable
proportion of water in their composition, places them in the class of
brown coals or lignites, which are for the most part distinguished by
their fibrous structure and close resemblance to the wood from which
they are derived. The braunkohle of the tertiary formations of Saxony
and Brandenburg, when dug and stacked in the fields, looks more like
brown logs of wood than like mineral coal. Other varieties are met with
in various conditions of change, and among them some that closely resem-
ble the ordinary bituminous coals in their compact texture, brilliant
luster, and black color, both of the coal and of its powder, thus differing
entirely in appearance from the brown coals or lignites that give a name
to the class. This is the general character of the coals of the Rocky
Mountains, and their composition shows they are far superior in quality
to what the name of the class would indicate. Indeed they appear
to be better than the best of the foreign coals of their own variety, and,
as they present a wonderful degree of uniformity over extensive terri-
tories, it seems they are really entitled to an appropriate name, that
should distinguish them, not merely from the common bituminous coals,
but from the other lignites also, to which they bear still less resemblance.

The European lignite deposits are ot very limited area, scattered here
and there through Prussia, France, Great Britain, &c., and in these
small basins the composition of the fuel is very variable. In the Prus-
sian provinces above named its value is rated at only one-third that of
the genuine coals; while in the north of Ireland it is considered to be
worth two-thirds as much as the bituminous coals. The weight of the
ash in the published analyses for the most part exceeds four per cent.,

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. BY4)

and ranges from this to twenty or thirty per cent., very rarely exceeding
forty per cent. The composition of the American varieties, so far as
found by the writer, is contained in the following table, which also gives

he localities of the principal mines worked and the thickness of the beds.
The water was determined by drying the coarsely-pulverized coal in an
oil bath below the temperature of boiling oil and above that of boiling
water, continuing the drying for several hours till the coal ceased to
lose weight. The fixed carbon in all these analyses is uncertain in
quantity, as its amount varies through a few per cent. according to the
greater or less heat employed in expelling the volatile matters.

ANALYSES OF COALS FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

8 S B di
Ss se (es 3
Rise 36 ive pie
Locality. 2 ees out lies & g Description.
eI Ss lsat ilies 4 e 5
TAD ae = iS 7) ‘o Ae
a H a i |

Golden City. C. T., 56 feet} 110S-..| 6 to 10) 1.32 | 13.43) 3.85 | 37.15, 45.57, Gray ash.
below surtace.
Goiden City, C. T.. north end |.-....-.. 6 to 10, 1.354) 13. 67) 4.00 | 34.75) 47.58

of 100 feet level.
JDO) suseeousoegesosuabod||saceneas 6 to 10).....-. 13. 10) 3.
Golden City. C. T., south end |...:.... 6 to 10)...-.- 12.70) 4.

Murpby’s, Ralston Creek,C. T.| 105 S../14 to 16) 1.345] 13.83] 5.85 | 35. 88) 44.44) Orange-colored ash.
DOO) S ase Sree a Meas He Ea Gs tent Ie IBY 70) CO ees Gsllaasaes
Sees ju Be BOS RSE S GS Ais| (be nesta eoBrae del eeaas PSEGO ANS One es seal pierre
Marshall's, Boulder Co.,C. T.| 965S.. 10 | 1.33 | 12. 00} 5.20 | 33.08] 49.72) Gray ash; light, bulky.
Briggs’s, Boulder Co., ©. TT...) 84S... 13 | 1.27 | 14.80) 3.40 | 34.50) 47.50 Orange-colored ash.
Baker’s, Boulder Co., C. T ---| 865-. 44) 1.32 | 15.00) 3.85 | 30.50) 50.65) Olive-brown ash;. coal
hard and toagh.
Warbonsawelae aaa ce ei 140 W. 7 | 1.33 | 6.80) 800 | 35. 48) 49.72) Peau SrAY ash; nearly
white.
Hallville, W. T., upper bed --.| 282 W. 6 | 1.32 | 12.12) 3.76 | 29.75) 54.37) Gray ash; smoke whit-
ish.
Hallville, W. T., lower bed -.|.-...--- 3 | 1.32 | 13.26) 4.87 | 29.46] 52. 41! Yellowish-gray ash.
WViameDyi<er Wiese 2) 313 W.- 43, 1.27 | 8.12! 2.00 | 36.65) 53. 23! eae ash ; these
Rock Springs, W: TL ..--.----- 315 W. 98 1.29 | 7.00) 1.73 | 36. 81) 54. 46 coals make coke.
vanstone Wiles seek eee, 442 W. 26 | 1.30 8.58) 6.30 | 35. 22) 49.90)
Crissman’s, Coalville, U. I ..| 480 W. 12 | 1.32 | 10.66) 3.11 | 38,23) 48. 00)
MicrcobUinbloy Callies yore ey ceus| au alest (lak 3,28] 4.71 | 47.05] 44.90) By W. ®: Blake, Janu:

ary,. 1867,

Texture frequently very apparent; specific gravity about 1.2. At the
temperature of boiling water they commonly lose about 3 per cent. In the
analyses given the water thus obtained goes with the volatile matters in
the second column. They do not generally melt by heat, but some of
them soften sufficiently for the particles to adhere together, and some
become fluid-like oils, at a moderate elevation of temperature. These
last seem to belong altogether to fresh-water limestone formations, and
to be nearly related to the petroleum found in the same formations.

Locality. Description...

h
Volatile.
Carbon

Utweiler, right bank of the Rhine.| 0.9 | 51.8 | 67.3 | Water, 5 per cent.; compact, black, shining,
5 specific gravity, 1:208.

Germany ..----------------------:-| 4.6 | 52.5 | 42.9 | Dull, brownish black; powder, same ; compact.

ash-brick color.

dow Charente ntsc erie 11.0 | 50.0 | 39.0 | Shining black,;- contains resin; compact, witha
thin, jet-like layers.

St. Lon, Lower Pyrenees...-.--..... 5.6 | 46.0 | 48.4 | Dull black ; fracture, smooth and dull.

Enfant Dort, mouths of the Rhone..} 3.9 | 46.8 | 49.3 | Black, with irregular, shining fracture.

Minerve L’Ande..-.-.-.-----.-...- 10.0 | 57.4 | 32.6 | Compact; brilliant black color; irregular frae-
ture; powder, brownish black; yields coke.

Dauphin, Lower Alps..---..-----.- 7.4 | 49.0 | 43.6 | Compact; black, greasy luster; powder, clean:

brown ; used by blacksmiths.

21 G

SON GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

DESCRIPTION OF LOCALITIES.

Colorado.—Coal has been found in Colorado both on the east and west
sides of the Platte River; but the only mines of importance are near
the eastern foot of the easternmost or Blue Hills range of the mount-
ains. The formation to which they belong is a series of sandstones and
fire-clay, probably of lower tertiary age, which ranges north and south,
and along its western margin is found uptilted in a vertical position,
and sometimes dipping toward the metamorphic rocks that make up
the steep mountain slope not half a mile distant. Farther away from
the mountains the inclination is eastward, and so gentle that the coal
strata overspread large tracts of country. The formation follows the
range of the mountains north and south to an undetermined extent,
and coal is met with in it for more than a hundred miles from Denver
in each direction; but the only mines of value, excepting a few to the

south, are at Golden City, fifteen miles west from Denver, and thence

north for ten to fifteen miles into Boulder County, along the banks of
the creeks that descend from the mountains eastward toward the Platte.
Golden City.—The first discoveries of coal at this place were several
small and nearly vertical beds near together in the steep bank of Clear
Creek, about half a mile below where it passes out from the mountains.
These were followed but a short distance under the bank toward the
south, when the extension of one of the beds in this direction was
opened at the summit of the ridge, a quarter of a mile from the creek.
‘The bed was here found so large—from ten to fourteen feet thick—that
the lower workings were abandoned, and a vertical shaft was sunk. on
the hill, one hundred feet deep in the coal bed, and levels have been
driven north and south from the bottom, and also fifty-six feet below the
surface. The bed proved to be very irregular in thickness, sometimes
pinching in to a few inches and then expanding to eight or ten feet.
Its average thickness is not probably more than five feet. A small
steam-engine is used for pumping and hoisting. Little water, however,
is encountered. A cross cut from the bottom, driven seventy feet east,
penetrated the following strata: clay, 4 feet thick ; sandstone, 4; coal, 2;
sandstone, 12; clay, 3; sandstone, 7; clay, 8; black slate, 3; clay, 4;
sandstone, 33 clay, 2; coal, 2; clay, 8; coal, 2; sandstone, 6. The last
stratum is probably the extension below of a heavy ledge of sand-
stone that forms the crest of the ridge. The clay is all fire-clay, of
pretty uniform and excellent quality, very similar in appearance to that
of the true coal-measures. It seems to be the prevailing material of
the formation, and is used for the manufacture of fire-brick in an exten-
sive manufactory at the base of the hill. The coal mine has been worked
only to the moderate extent of about ten tons a day, for the supply
chiefiy of the local demand. The appearance of the coal itself—of a
dull black without the bright luster common to the coals from the other
mines—has operated unfavorably to its reputation in the Denver mar-
ket, though no inferiority of quality is indicated by the analyses. It is
obtained, too, in pieces of very irregular shape, quite unlike the hand-
some rectangular blocks of the other coals. Like them. however, it is
almost entirely free from slate and iron pyrites. Resin occurs in it in
scattered particles and bunches more abundantly than in the coals of
the other mines. It may, perhaps, prove a better coal for gas than the
other mines afford, which will soon be ascertained, if it has not been
already, at the new gas works at Denver. The locality is very favorably
situated for supplying the mining towns in the mountains with fuel, so
soon as the railroad now in progress up the gorge of Clear Creek reaches

4

1
—

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 323

them. The pine woods there available have already been greatly thinned,
and the question of the future supply of fuel would be a serious one but
for the supplies promised by these mines below the mountains.

The range of the coal-belt to the north side of Clear Creek was traced
by the writer, in October last, and a point selected for trial shafts on the
hills half a mile from the creek. The line of these vertical beds is but
poorly indicated on the surface, and may be easily missed. Faint
streaks of coal-smut or blossom were in this instance followed to the
depth of seventy feet in fire-clay before they led to solid coal. The bed
was here found about ten feet thick. J'rom this side of the creek the

railroad will be most conveniently supplied.

The outcrop of coal has been detected at intervals between Golden
City and Ralston Creek, five miles to the north, and the formation evi-
dently coutinues through, but no mines are worked in the intervening
tracts.

Ralston Creek.—Two large coal beds are opened in the banks of this

stream, five miles north from Golden City, and about two miles below
the foot of the mountain range. They lie in a vertical position, about
twenty-five feet apart. The upper or western one has been followed
under the south bank some thirty feet, and was found to be about nine
feet thick of good coal. But the other bed, proving to be quite as good
as to quality of the coal, and affording in actual working full fourteen
feet free from slate and all foreign matters, it has been worked in pref-
erence. Other small beds have been met with farther up the stream ;
but these two are probably all of importance. The large bed is worked
on both sides of the creek, and on the north side a large shaft was sunk
the last season sixty feet deep in the coal, from the bottom of.which
levels are to be run north and south. The price paid for mining was
$1 50 per ton—the coal run out by the miners, who found their own
tools, powder, and lights. The timber required for stulls, &c., was pro-
vided by the owner trom the mountains. Not so much of this is re-
quired in working a vertical bed as is needed in one inclined. But, on
the other hand, the trouble, danger, and expense of working the former
are essentially greater, and the amount of coal available over large
areas materially less. In this case, estimating with allowance for waste,
that the production should average twelve feet of coal, and that a cubic
yard of this weighs two thousand pounds, the mine should afford, if
worked to the «¢ depth of two hundred yards and a mile in length, about
one million and fifty thousand tons. ‘The quantity obtained, however,
will depend very much upon the skill with which the work is conducted,
and the freedom from accidents, especially fire, the danger of which
has already been experienced. The coal appears very well, being of
deep-black color with brilliant luster. It soon crumbles, however, on
exposure, and the waste from fine coal in the mine has been so great
that, if continued, a larger deduction would have to be made than that
all owed in the above estimate. The coal has met with a ready sale at
the mine at $4 per ton, and $10 at Denver, fourteen miles distant. The
construction of the railroad to Golden City must so reduce the cost of
transportation that Denver will hereafter be supplied at lower rates.

Half a mile south from Ralston Creek, towards Golden, coal was dis-
covered some time ago directly on the range of the bed worked, of which
it is no doubt the continuation. The exploration thus made developed
a large bed with a gentle dip toward the mountains. Whenever this
is ecpened again it will be a matter of interest to trace out the extent of
this change of dip.

Leiden’s.—The next opening in the coal-bed to the north is ina gap

324 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

through the sandstone ridge about a mile and a half from Ralston Creek,
and is known as Leiden’s mine, from the name of the late owner, who
with two other men lost their lives by entering the mine last September,
when the air was foul in consequence of its having been left unworked.
Tt continued for some time inaccessible, and smoke was issuing from
the entrance, when the writer visited the place five days after the oceur-
rence mentioned above. The locality is of interest as showing the con-
tinuity of the coal. The formation is easily traced northward from this
point over a broad and highly-elevated open plateau, by the strata of
sandstone projecting in vertical layers above the surface; and the coal
ean, without doubt, be found anywhere against the western edge of the
strata, or in the depressions below the general level now occupied by
ponds. The lands, however, are not likely to be soon occupied, the soil
being filled and covered with small boulders from the mountains; still,
by irrigation, a considerable portion of them may be made productive;
and the fact that several ditches are already made across these tracts to
the lower and better lands to the east shows that water is available
even at their high levels. But the coal is more profitably obtained in
the valleys of the creeks than in the elevated divides.

In the next valley crossed by the belt, that of Coal Creek, some seven
miles from Ralston Creek, another opening is met with under the western
edge of the same sandstone ridge. The mine, however, is not now
worked, the owners finding it more convenient to develop their other
property near South Boulder Creek, two or three miles over the next
divide to the north.

Marshall’s.—The mines in the valley of South Boulder Creek, known
as Marshall’s, are among the earliest worked in Colorado. They were
in operation in 1865, and have continued without interruption to fur-
nish coal to Denver twenty-two miles distant, and to the neighboring
settlements. The locality is a little to the south of the creek, in the
hills bordering a small branch about two miles below the foot of the
mountains. As many as four beds of coal have here been opened, two
of which may, however, prove to be the same. One of them—the
highest in the series—is found just under the summit of the divide, dip-
ping gently toward the southeast. It is known as the Dabney bed—is
said to be nine feet thick, and when worked, furnished coal of a superior
quality, especially for blacksmiths’ use. At a lower level, and also
lower in the formation, is found the main bed, which is worked to the
thickness of ten feet, through the whole of which the coal is remarkably
clean and free from slate and other impurities. It contains very little
pyrites in their disks and some resin in small particles. In the mine
the freshiy-exposed face presents a beautifully brilliant appearance, and
the coal is so found that a cubic block of it, said to weigh over three
tons, was taken out for exhibition at the fair in Denver. It isused very
generally by the blacksmiths, who have overcome the diiiculty they
formerly experienced in not being able to get up a welding heat with it.
The mine is worked by two parallel headings, or levels, driven in from the
north side of the hill, and rising alittle up the slope of the bed. These
extend about six hundred feet in, and rooms are worked on each side,
but chiefly up the slope. In the other direction the bed passes under
a meadow, when the coal will have to be worked and drained by means
of vertical shafts. It is now mined for $1 25 per ton beside cost of
props and keeping the track, &c., in good condition.

A third bed of coal three feet thick is found across the meadow just
spoken of, in the hill to the east, not half a mile from the main bed. It
dips eastwardly into the hill, and has been toilowed down the slopesixty

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 325

or seventy feet, under a roof of fire-clay. This appears to lie between
the Dabney and the main bed.

The fourth bed is not far from the small bed just described, being a
little to the north of a line connecting it with the mine now worked. It
differs from the others in lying in a vertical position ; and it is not clear
where its position is in the series. A shaft was sunk upon the bed some
years ago to the depth of fifty feet, and the coal was raised by a horse-
whim. The bed was seven feet thick.

A small blast furnace was built at this place in 1863 for the purpose
of working the brown hematite iron ores found scattered about the hills
in the vicinity. It ran but a short time, when the enterprise was aban-
doned. Though the coal mines were so conveniently near, no attempts
were made to use the coal; but pine-wood charcoal from the mountains
was employed as fuel. The i iron made was of superior quality, and it is
evident from the appearance of the cinder heap that the furnace, not-
withstanding its diminutive size, must have worked well.

Wilson’s—From Marshall’s north it is less than a mile over the pla-
teau into the next depression, where the large coal-bed, easily traced
by the outcrop of the sandstone ledge that overlies it, is again opened
‘and worked. This place is known as Wilson’s mine. The bed has been
followed down the slope toward the south-southeast about two hundred
feet, and the-height of the excavation in the coal is from six to seven
feet. Probably the whole is not taken out. The coal itself is the same
in appearance as that obtained at Marshall’s.

The continuation of the coal-bearing belt toward the north hete ap-
pears to be interrupted, aS no more mines are opened in this direction.
The dip of the strata is with the slope of the surface toward the east, but
somewhat steeper, so that the coal beds are carried under and disap-
pear. It seems, however, that the dip must change and a sharp uprise
to the east take place, followed again bya long gentle slope in the same
direction ; for the surface of the country appears to indicate this in the
steepness of its short western slopes, and also the reappearance of large
coal beds some thirteen miles northeast of the last mine described.
These are found in the side of a steep hill that ranges along the east
side of Coal Creek, the same stream noticed before as being crossed by
the coal-bearing belt near the mountain range; and which below turns
from an eastern to a northerly course.

Briggs’s.—The most northern opening in these beds is that of the
Messrs. Briggs. Itis on the side of the hill facing the creek and fol-
lows the slope of the bed into the hill east-northeast, the inclination not
being so steep but one can walk easily down. The length of the head-
ing is about five hundred feet, and rooms have been worked to the right
and left. No water has yet been encountered in quantity to be trouble-
some. The coal-bed is about thirteen feet thick, including in this a seam
of slate a foot and three inches thick at three to three and a half feet
above the floor. The coal presents a handsome appearance, being of a
bright glistening black, and coming out in sound blocks of rectangular
fr acture. It has been mined for the Denver market, twenty-three miles
distant; and arrangements are now in progress for extending a branch
of the Denver Pacific Ktailroad to the mine.

Baker’s.—The Baker or Douglass coal-bed is three and a half miles
farther up the creek, toward the south, and on the same side of it with
the Briggs bed. It lies about two hundred feet lower down than this
in the formation, as the extension of the latter is found at this greater
elevation near by. The mine was originally opened in the bank of the
creek, and this being an inconvenient place to work it, an inclined shatt

Fi
326 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

was started on the bench above and carried down through the over-
lying fire-clays and sandstone to the coal, when it followed the regular

slope of the bed. A steam-engineis employed to hoist the coal and the —

water. The bed is four and a half to five feet thick, dips east into the
hill, and produces a coal very different in appearance from that of
the other mines. A part of it isa dull jet-black, hard and brittle, break-
ing in cuboidal fragments; and streaks of this cannel-like character are
seen in the more brilliant varieties that are also found. Ivron pyrites in
extremely thin disks and resin also are noticed in the coal.

Two or three other small beds of coal appear in the bank of the creek,
and in the slates or shales over them are courses of kidney iron ore that
may possibly prove sufficient for the support of a blast furnace.

Other coal-beds will doubtless be opened in this region, and also far-
ther back toward the other mines. The only one discovered the last
season was by Mr. Davidson, in exploring the strata near the highest
elevation of the country, probably far above the great coal-bed. It proved
to be a bed about three and a half feet thick.

Wyoming Territory.—Although the coal-belt of Colorado extends north
into Wyoming Territory, and indications of coal have been found near
the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, it has nowhere been found pro-
ductive of good coal to the east of the Black Hills. Beyond this range
of mountains, in the Laramie Valley, the same formation ‘is again met
with, and v aluable mines of coal are worked at intervals near the toad
even to Salt Lake Valley.

Carbon.—The first of these is at Carbon, a station one hundred an
forty miles by the road from Cheyenne, which is at the east foot of the
Black Hills. Here, by the side of the track, a large shaft has been sunk
seventy feet deep down to a coal bed seven feet thick; a steam-engine
for pumping and hoisting is in operation, and all the appliances are pro-
vided in the way of good machinery and buildings of a first-class col-
ery. A considerable proportion of the coal used on the railroad is here
obtained; and it is transported for sale to Omaha, five hundred and
fifty-six miles by railroad, and to Denver, two hundred and fifty miles.
The coal is in fair repute, though it makes some clinker, and the analysis
shows it has more mineral impurity than the other coals. This comes
in part from small seams of slate in the bed, and also from a coating of
a white powder observed in the seams of the coal, which proves to be
carbonate with a little sulphate of lime. If it contains more ash, it is,
on the other hand, comparatively free from water, showing the least
percentage of this of any coal analyzed. The smoke of this coal is black,
like that of the bituminous coals.

Hallvilie—The next mining establishment is at Hallville, one hundred
and forty-two miles farther west. Several coal-beds (probably four) are
here found in a hill about three hundred yards south from the railroad,
and a side track leads from this to the mine. The main bed of coal is
from five and a half to six feet thick; and below it is another bed three
feet thick, which in one place comes within a foot of it, and in others is
separated from it by several feet of slates. Other irregularities of
stratification are noticed in the main coal-bed itself, which near the
entrance of the mine has in the lower half some small seams of slate,
and near the roof a layer of ‘ bony,” inferior coal, eight inches thick,
none of which are found in the inner or extreme part of the workings.
The coal itself is hard and solid, and burns with a white smoke and little
odor. The mine is worked without trouble from water, and the coal is
drawn out on an iron track by mules.

The black slate roof of the main bed abounds in fossil remains of fresh-

|

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. Or

water shells—unios of undescribed species. In the inner part of the
mine, when the roof has been allowed to come down, many tons of these
slates might be collected charged with the shells, still white, and often
both valves preserved side by side. The brown sandstones interstratified
with the coal-beds contain stems of trees converted into the same rock,
and impressions of the leaves—all, however, very obscure.

Van Dyke.—The next coal minealong the roadisknownasthe Van Dyke,
thirty miles farther west. This is in a hill on the north side of the rail-
road track, and so conveniently near to it that the coal is discharged by
a chute from the mine directly into the cars. The bed is four and a
half feet thick, entirely free from any admixture of foreign substance,
except a trifling amount of iron pyrites in thin flakes in the seams, and
dips gently to the northwest into the dry, barren hill in which it is
found. The roof over it is remarkably smooth and sound, so that all
the coal can be taken out clean, and comparatively few props are required
tor supporting it. This is an important consideration in a country so
barren of trees as this Bitter Creek region. No water is met with in the
mine, and the bed can apparently be followed over an extensive range
northeast and west without encountering any. The mine fronts upon
the valley of Bitter Creek toward the south; and in the hills opposite
it seems as if the same bed must again strike in.

The Van Dyke coal and that of Rock Springs, two miles beyond, have
the best reputation of any of the Rocky Mountain coals, and this by
their analysis seems to be well deserved. These were the only coals
that afforded anything like coke by distillation; and they should give
a more concentrated heat than any of the others, showing the best
adaptation for metallurgical purposes.

Rock Springs.—The mines known by this name are two miles west
from the Van Dyke bed, and one mile east from the station of the same
name. The coal of this locality has been obtained chiefly from a dry,
barren knoll of cavernous sandstone, about sixty feet high, situated about
fifty rods southeast from the railroad, with which it is connected by a
branch track. On the south side—away from the railroad—the knoll
ends abruptly in vertical cliffs; and in these near the summit is the out-
crop of the coal-bed, and the entrance to the mine. The slope of the
strata is north-northwest, which carries the coal-bed under the main
track of the railroad ; and as the knoll is now almost exhausted of coal,
arrangements have been made for working the bed close to the main
road, where also is the village of miners’ houses. The bed is about nine
and one-half feet thick, but only about seven feet are worked; for within
two feet of the top is a thin seam of slate, that, with the coal above it,
makes a better roof than the dry and crumbling slates and sandstones
above would make. The coal, like the Van Dyke, is very sound and
clean, igniting readily and burning away entirely without crumbling in
the fire. The smoke is black, like that of the bituminous coals. The
mine is worked by contract—the miners riddling the coal in the mine,
and delivering the lump coal only outside for $1 25 per ton. The work-
men have evidently been left to their own discretion, without any regard
to obtaining the greatest amount of coal the mine should afford.

The opening by the railroad track is a slope passing under Bitter
Creek. This had not in October passed quite through the ‘rusty ” coal
into the sounder part of the bed. The mine has to be provided with a
steam-engine for pumping and hoisting, and will no doubt be productive
in large quantities of excellent coal.

This vicinity, like most of the Bitter Creek Valley, is deficient in good
water; so that, for about sixty miles east from Green River, this has te.

328 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

be brought for the supply of the inhabitants and for the locomotives in
cars specially provided for the purpose, and making what is called the
water train. The cars, nine in number, have each two tanks about nine
feet high and seven and one-half feet average diameter, all of which are
connected by a large hose. Following the water-cars is a box car, in
which is a locomotive- boiler and a large steam-pump. By means of this
the water is pumped into the stationary tanks at the stations, and into
the barrels, casks, tubs, and even kettles and cooking-stove boilers, with
which the inhabitants near the stations run, on the arrival of the train
three times a week, toreceive their supplies’ of water, paying for it at
the rate of twenty-five cents a barrel.

Utah—Evanston.—The station of this name on the Union Pacific Rail-
road is four hundred and forty-one miles from Cheyenne, or one hundred
and twenty-six from Rock Springs. The mines are two miles northwest
from the station across Bear River, in a hill on the north side of the fine,
wide valley of this stream. Seen from the mines this valley presents
the appearance of a beautiful plain stretching out about four miles to
the hills on the opposite side. Were the regions less elevated and the
winters less severe, this would be a most attractive site for a large set-
tlement. Bear River is a swift stream of good water, well stocked with
large brook trout. ‘The Wahsatch Mountains, in view to the west, fur-
nish pine timber from their extensive forests. Building stone of superior
quality is quarried from the sandstone beds near the coal- -mines, and
clay-beds are worked for the manufacture of bricks at the foot of the
hill.

A branch railroad has been constructed to the mines, and is used for
the benefit of both the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific R ailroads,
the former being supplied with coal by the Wyoming Coal Company,
and the latter by the Rocky Mountain Coal Company, whose mines
adjoin each other in the same coal bed. This bed, which is nowhere
exposed of its full thickness, is said to measure twenty-six or twenty-
seven feet from the floor to the roof. It is evidently a bed of extraordi-

nary size; but the workings are limited to the lower portion of it only,

not more than eight or ten feet being taken out. This is for the s sake
of greater convenience in getting the ‘coal now required and of economy
in timber for props. It must be, however, at the probable sacrifice of
all that is left, which is bardly likely ever to be recovered in good con-
dition. The bed dips into the hill at an angle of about fifteen degrees
with the horizon, becoming suddenly steeper at the lower end of the
slope, which is already down over one thousand feet in the mine of the
Wyoming Company. Horizontal levels as long as the slope are driven
each way from it, and many rooms worked. Many small seams of slate
are seen in the bed, which, not being easily separated from the coal,
must considerably impair its value. This damage would be overlooked
in analyzing specimens of the coal, which would always be selected free
-from the slate. Iron pyrites are more abundant than in the coals of other
mines; and it is stated that spontanecus combustion of a waste heap
has occurred, attributable, no doubt, to decomposition of the pyrites.

The locomotive engineers complain that the coal does not burn up clean
and clinkers; still it is used by blacksmiths, who manage to get up a
welding heat with it. The arrangements for working the mines with
powerful engines and machinery are those of extensive collieries, and
the business is evidently bound to be large. The coal must be obtained
in any desired quantity, and at the minimum of cost. The formation
containing the coal beds is obviously of the same period with that to
which the Colorado coals belong.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 329

Coalville—The Mormons have worked several coal mines at this vil-
lage and in the neighborhood, sending the coal to Salt Lake City, about
fifty miles distant by the old stage road, and more recently to Corinne,
on the Central Pacific railroad. Coalville is five miles south from the
Union Pacific Railroad at Echo Station, and this is thirty-four miles
west from Evanston. At the village is Sprague’s mine, which was not
in operation last October; and, two miles up a narrow valley to the
northeast is Robinson’s mine, and immediately above this Crissman’s
mine. All these are apparently on the same bed of coal. Higher up in
the hills are two other small beds, not worked. Jobinson’s and Criss-
man’s mines are both opened in the bottom of a ravine, and the former
is supplied with a small steam-engine for hoisting the coal up the slope.
The latter mine is entered by an adit level; and again farther up by a
slope. The dip is to the northwest, and so gentle that a mule can haul
a ton weight up the iron-covered track. The bed. is from eleven and a,
half to thirteen feet thick, all solid coal. The roof is sandstone, and
not very secure; so that nearly the upper half of the coal bed is left for
safety, with the idea of some time taking it out. This makes a secure
covering. Though the coal is very sound in the mine, and presents a
handsome appearance after it is extracted, it soon crumbies on exposure
to the air, and the railroad men do not speak well of it for locomotive
use. It crumbles in the fire, and makes clinkers, that melt and stick
to the bars. Blacksmiths, however, use it satisfactorily. It is mined
tor $1 25 per ton, and sells for $2 50 on the ground. The bed must
extend under large areas, which have not yet been explored for it. Its
dip, if continued, would carry it under the sandstone cliffs of Echo Canon.

Iil—THE ANCIENT LAKES OF WESTERN AMERICA:
THEIR DEPOSITS AND DRAINAGE.
By J. S. NEWBERRY, LL. D.

The wonderful collections of fossil plants and animal remains brought
by Dr. Hayden from the country bordering the Upper Missouri have
been shown, by his observations aud the researches of Mr. Meek, to
have been derived from deposits made in extensive fresh-water lakes— ~
lakes which once occupied inuch of the region lying immediately east of
the Rocky Mountains, but which have now totally disappeared. The
sediments that accumulated in the bottoms of these old lakes show that
in the earliest periods of their history they contained salt water, at least
that the sea had access to them, and their waters were more or less im-
preguated with salt, so as to be inhabited by oyster and other marine or
estuary mollusks. In due time the continental elevation which brought
all the country west of the Mississippi up out of the widespread cre-
taceous sea, raised these lake basins altogether‘above the sea level, and
surrounded them with a broad expanse of dry land. Then ensued one
of the most interesting chapters in the geological history of our conti-
nent, and one that, if fairly written out, could not fail to be read with
pleasure by all intelligent persons. The details of this history are, how-
ever, in a great measure yet to be supplied, inasmuch as the great area
of our western possessions is still but very partially explored, and it is_

330 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

certain that it forms a great treasure-house of geological knowledge, —
from which many generations will draw fresh and interesting material
before its riches shall be exhausted.

The enlightened measures adopted by our Government for the ex-
ploration of the public domain, the organization and thorough equip-
ment of the numerous surveying parties that have traversed the region
west of the Mississippi within the last twenty years, together with the
still more extensive explorations by private enterprise of our great
mining districts, have resulted in giving us materials from which an out-
line sketch can now be made that may be accepted in all its essential
particulars as accurate and worthy of confidence.

It has happened to me to be connected with three of the Government
surveys to which I have referred, and to spend several years in travers-
ing the great area lying between the Columbia River and the Gulf of
Mexico. The observations which I have made on the geological structure
of our Western Territories supplement in a somewhat remarkable way
those made by Dr. Hayden, so that, taken together, our reports embody
the results of a reconncissance stretching over nearly the whole of our
vast possessions west of the Mississippi.

Our knowledge of the geology of this region has also been largely
increased by the no less important contributions of other explorers.
Among those who deserve most honorable mention in this connection
are Mr. George Gibbs, to whom we are indebted for most that we know
of the geology of Washington Territory; to Professors W. P. Blake and
Thomas Antisell; to Professor Whitvey and the other members of the
California geological survey; to Baron Richthofen, the lamented Rémond,
Drs. Shiel, Wislizenus, and others. ;

The results obtained by the last, largest, and best-organized party
which has been engaged in western explorations—that of Mr. Clarence
King—have not yet been given to the public; but, from an examination
of some of the materials which are to compose the reports of this expe-
dition, I fee! justified in saying that it wiil prove to be among the most
important of all the series of explorations of which it forms part; and
that the published results of this expedition will be not only an import-
ant contribution to science and our knowledge of our own country, but
a high honor to those by whom the work has been performed, and to the
Government, by which it was organized.

Without going into details or citing the facts or authorities on which
our conclusions rest, I willin a few words give the generalities of the
geological and topographical structure of that portion of our continent
which includes the peculiar features that are to be more specially the
subject of this paper.

It is known to most persons that the general character of the topog-
raphy of the region west of the Mississippi has been given by three great
lines of elevation which traverse our territory from north to south: the
Rocky Mountain Belt, the Sierra Nevada, and the Coast Ranges. Of
these the last is the most modern, and is composed, for the most part,
of miocene tertiary rocks. It forms a raised margin along the western
edge of the continent, and has produced that “iron-bound coast” de-
scribed by all those who have navigated that portion of the Pacific which
washes our shores.

Parallel with the Coast Mountains lies a narrow trough, which, in
California, is traversed by the Sacramento and San Joachin Rivers, and
portions of it have received their names. Farther north this trough is
partially filled, and for some distance nearly obliterated by the encroach-

-ment of the neighboring mountain ranges, but in Oregon and Washing-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 331

ton it reappears essentially the same in structure as farther south, and
is here traversed by the Willamette and Cowlitz Rivers.

These two sections of this great valley have now free drainage to the
Pacific, through the Golden Gate and the trough of the Columbia, both
of which are channels cut by the drainage water through mountain bar-
riers that formerly obstructed its flow, and produced an accumulation
behind them that made these valleys inland lakes; the first of the series
I am to describe of extensive fresh-water basins that formerly gave char-
acter to the surface of our Western Territory, and that have now almost
all been drained away and disappeared.

East of the California Valley the Sierra Nevada lies, like a lofty
mountain chain, reaching all the way from our northern to our southern
boundary. The crest of the Sierra Nevada is so high and continuous
that for one thousand miles it shows no passes less than five thousand
feet above the sea, and yet at three points there are gateways opened
in this wall, by which it may be passed but little above the sea level.
These are the cations of the Sacramento, (Pit River,) the Klamath, and
the Columbia. All these are gorges cut through this great dam by the
drainage of the interior of the continent. In the lapse of ages the cut-
ting down of this barrier has progressed to such an extent as almost
completely to empty the great water basins that once existed behind it,
and leave the interior the arid waste that it is—the only real desert on
the North American continent.

The Sierra Nevada is older than the Coast Mountains, and projected
above the ocean, though not to its present altitude, previous to the ter-
tiary and even cretaceous ages. This we learn from the fact that strata
belonging to these formations cover its base, but reach only a few hun-
dred feet up its flanks. The mass of the Sierra Nevada is composed of
granitic rocks, associated with which are metamorphie slates, proved by
the California survey to be of triassic and Jurassic age. These slates
are traversed in many localities by veins of quartz, which are the reposi-
tories of the gold that has made California so famous among the mining
districts of the world.

East of the Sierra Nevada we find a high and broad plateau, five hun-
dred miles in width, and from four thousand to eight thousand feet in
altitude, which stretches eastward to the base of the Rocky Mountains,
and reaches southward far into Mexico. Of this interior elevated area
the Sierra Nevada forms the western margin, on which it rises like a
wall. It is evident that this mountain belt once formed the Pacific
coast; and it would seem that then this lofty wall was raised upon the
edge of the continent to defend it from the action of the ocean waves.
In tracing the sinuous outline of the Sierra Nevada, it will be seen that
its crest is crowned by a series of lofty voleanic cones, and that one of
these is placed at each conspicuous angle in its line of bearing, so that it
has the appearance of a gigantic fortification, of which each salient and
reéntering angle is defended by a massive and lofty tower.

_ The central portion of the high table-lands to which I have referred
was called by Frémont the “Great Basin,” from the fact that it is a
hydrographic basin, its waters having no outlet to the ocean. The
northern part of this area is drained by the Columbia; the southern by
the Colorado. Of these the Columbia makes its way into the ocean by
the gorge it has cut in the Cascade Mountains, through which it flows
nearly at the sea level; while the Colorado flows to the Gulf of Cali-
fornia through a series of cations, of which the most important is nearly
one thousand miles in length, and from three thousand to six thousand
feet in depth. In volume 6 of the Pacific Railroad Reports I have

332 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

described a portion of the country drained by the Columbia, and have
given the facts that lead me to assert that the gorge through which it
passes the Cascade Mountains has been excavated by its waters; and
that previous to the cutting down of this barrier these waters accumu-
lated to form great fresh-water lakes, which left deposits atan elevation
of more than two thousand feet above the present bed of the Columbia.
Similar facts were observed in the country drained by the Klamath and
Pit Rivers, and all pointed to the same conclusion.

In all this region I observed certain peculiarities of geological strue-
ture that have been remarked by most of those who have traversed the
interval between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. In the
northern and middle portions of the great table-lands the general surface
is Somewhat thickly set by short and isolated mountain ranges, which
have been denominated the “ Lost Mountains.” These rise like islands
above the level of the plain, and are generally composed of volcanic or
mnetamorphic rocks. The spaces between these mountains are nearly
level, desert surfaces, of which the underlying geological structure is
often not easily observed. Toward the north and west, however, wher-
ever we come upon the tributaries of the Columbia, the Klamath, or
Pit Rivers, we find the plateaus more or less cut by these streams and
their substructure revealed.

Here the underlying rocks are nearly horizontal, and consist of a
variety of deposits, varying much in color and consistence. Some are
coarse volcanic ash, with fragments of pumice and scoria. Others I
have in my notes denominated ‘ concrete,” as they precisely resemble
the old Roman cement and are composed of the same materials. In many
localities these strata are as fine and white as chalk, and, though con-
taining little or no carbonate of lime, they have been referred to as “ chalk-
beds” by most travelers who have visited this region. Specimens of this
chalk-like material gave me my first hint of the true history of these
deposits. These, collected on the head- waters of Pit River, the Klamath,
the Des Chutes, Columbia, and elsewhere, were transmitted to Professor
Bailey, then our most skilled microscopist, for examination. Almost the
last work he did before his untimely death was to report to me the results
of his observation on them. This report was as harmonious as it was
unexpected. In every one of the chalk-like deposits to which I have
referred he found fresh-water diatomacee.

From the stratification and horizontality of these deposits, I had been
fully assured that they were thrown down from great bodies of water
that filled the spaces separating the more elevated portions of the interior
basin, and here I had evidence that this water was fresh. Since that
time a vast amount of evidence has accumulated to confirm the general
view then taken of the changes through which the surface of this por-
tion of our continent has passed. From Southwestern Idaho and East-
ern Oregon I have now received large collections of animal and vege-
table fossils of great variety and interest. Of these the plants have
been, for the most part, collected by Rev. Thomas Condon, of The Dalles,
Oregon, who has exposed himself to great hardship and danger in his
several expeditions to the localities in Eastern Oregon where jthese fos-
sils are found. The plants obtained by Mr. Condon are apparently of
miocene age, forming twenty to thirty species, nearly all new, and such
as represent a forest growth as varied and luxuriant as can be now found
on any portion of our continent.

The animal remains contained in these fresh-water deposits have come
mostly from the banks of Castle Creek, in the Owyhee district, Idaho.
The specimens I have received were sent me by Mr. J. M. Adams, of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 333

Ruby City. They consist of bones of the mastodon, rhinoceros, horse,
elk, and other large mammals, of which the species are probably in some
cases new, in others identical with those obtained from the fresh-water
tertiaries of the “bad lands” by Dr. Hayden. With these mammalian
remains are a few bones of birds and great numbers of the bones and
teeth of fishes. These last are eyprinoids allied to Mylopharodon, Milo-
cheilus, &c., and some of the species attained a length of three feet or
more. There are also in this collection large numbers of fresh-water
shells of the genera Unio, Corbicula, Melania, and Planorbis. All these
fossils show that at one period in the history of our continent, and that,
- geologically speaking, quite recent, the region under consideration was
thickly set with lakes, some of which were of larger size and greater
depth than the great fresh-water lakes which now lie upon our northern
frontier. Between these lakes were areas of dry land covered with a
luxuriant and beautiful vegetation, and inhabited by herds of elephants
and other great mammals, such as could only inhabit a well-watered
and fertile country. In the streams flowing into these lakes, and in the
lakes themselves, were great numbers of fishes and mollusks of species
which, like the others I have enumerated, have now disappeared. At
that time, as now, the great lakes formed evaporating surfaces, which
produced showers that vivified all their shores. Every year, however,
saw something removed from the barriers over which their surplus water
flowed to the sea, and, in the lapse of time, they were drained to the
dregs. In the Klamath Lakes, and in San Francisco, San Pablo, and
Suisun Bays, we have the iast remnants of these great bodies of water;
while the drainage of the Columbia lakes has been so complete that in
some instances the streams which traverse their old basins have cut two
thousand feet into the sediments which accumulated beneath their
waters.

The history of this old lake country, as it is recorded in the alterna-
tions of strata which accumulated at the bottoms of its water basins, will
be found to be full of interest. For while these strata furnish evidence
that there were long intervals when peace and quiet prevailed over this
region, and animal and vegetable life fourished as they now do nowhere
on the continent, they also prove that this quiet was at times disturbed
by the most violent volcanic eruptions, from a number of distinct centers
of action, but especially from the great craters which crowned the sum-
mit of the Sierra Nevada. From these came showers of ashes which
must have covered the land and filled the water so as to destroy immense
numbers of the inhabitants of both. These ashes formed strata which
were, in some instances, ten or twenty feet in thickness. At other times
the volcanic action was still more intense, and floods of lava were poured
out, which formed continuous sheets hundreds of miles in extent, pene-
trating far into the lake basins, and giving to their bottoms floors of
solid basalt. When these cataclysms had passed, quiet was again re-
stored, forests again covered the land, herds dotted its pastures, fishes
peopled the waters, and fine sediments abounding in forms of life aceu-
mulated in new sheets above the strata of cooled lava. The banks of
the Des Chutes River and Columbia afford splendid sections of these
_ lake deposits, where the history I have so hastily sketched may be read
as from an open book.

But it will be said that there are portions of the great central plateau ~
which have not been drained in the manner I have described. For here
are basins which have no outlets, and which still hold sheets of water of
greater or less area, such as those of Pyramid Lake, Salt Lake, &c. The
history of these basins is very different from that of those already

9

334 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

mentioned, and not less interesting or easily read. By the complete
drainage of the northern and southern thirds of the plateau through
the channels of the Columbia and Colorado, the water surface of this
great area was reduced to the tenth or hundredth part of the space it
previously occupied. Hence the moisture suspended in the atmosphere
was diminished in like degree, and the dry hot air, sweeping over the
plains, licked up the water from the undrained Jakes until they were re-
duced to their present dimensions. Now, as formerly, they receive the
constant flow of the streams that drain into them from the mountains
on the east and west. But the evaporation is so rapid that their di-_
mensions are not only not inereased thereby, but are steadily diminish-
ing from year to year. Around many of these lakes, as Salt Lake, for
example, just as around the margins of the old drained lakes, wé can
trace former shore lines and measure the depression of the water level.
Many of these lakes of the Great Basin have been completely dried up
by evaporation, and now their places are marked by alkaline plains or
“salt flats.” Others exist as lakes only during a portion of the year,
and in the dry season are represented by sheets of glittering salt. Even
those that remain as lakes are necessarily salt, as they are but great
evaporating pans where the drainage from the mountains—which al-
ways contains a portion of saline matter—is concentrated by the sun and
wind until it becomes a saturated solution and deposits its surplus salts
upon the bottom.

The southern portion of the great central table-land—that which has
been denominated the Colorado plateau—is almost without mountain
barriers or local basins, and we therefore find upon it fewer traces of
ancient lakes, though they are not entirely wanting. It isapparent, how-
ever, that this high plateau, which stretches away for several hundred miles
west of the Rocky Mountains, was once a beautiful and fertile district.
The Colorado draining then, as now, the western ranges of the Rocky
Mountains, spread over the surface of this plateau, enriching and vivi-
fying all parts of it. When it reached the western margin of the table-
land, however, it poured over a precipice or slope five thousand feet in
height, into the Gulf of Califor nia, which then'reached several hundred
miles farther north than now. In process of time the power developed
by this stupendous fall cut away the rock beneath the flowing water, and
formed that remarkable gorge to which I have already referred. This
gorge is nearly one thousand miles in length and from three thousand
to six thousand feet in depth, and is cut through all the series of sedi-
mentary rocks from the tertiary to the granite, and has worn out the
granite to a depth of from six hundred to eight hundred feet. Just in
proportion as the Colorado deepened its channel, the region bordering
it became more dry, until ultimately the drainage from the mountains
passed through it, in what may be even termed underground channels,
and contributed almost nothing to the moisture of the surrounding
eountry. The reason why the walls of this canon stand up in such
awful precipices of thousands of feet is, that the perennial flow of the
stream is derived in far distant mountains; almost no rain falls upon
its banks, and when any portion of the bordering cliff has passed be-
yond the reach of the stream, it stands almost unaffected by atmospheric
influences.

On the east of the Rocky Mountains lies the country of the “ Plains, ”
a region not unlike in its topography to the great plateau of the West,
but differing in this, that it is not bordered on the east by a continuous
mountain chain ; that it slopes gently downward to the Mississippi, and
that its eastern half has been so well watered that its v alleys have been

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 335

made broad and all its topographical features softened down. In former
times, however, the topographical unity now conspicuous on the Plains
did not exist, and the surface was marked by a series of great basins
which received the flow of water from the Rocky Mountains and formed
lakes, less numerous, itis true, but of greater extent than those of the far
West. The northern portion of the eastern plateau has been Dr. Hayden’s
chosen field of exploration for many years; a field he has well tilled, and
from which he has obtained a harvest of scientific truth which will form
for him an enduring and enviable monument.

Among the most interesting researches of Dr. Hayden in this region
are the studies he has made of the deposits which have accumulated in
these great fresh-water basins. The story he has written of his explora-
tions of this district has been so well and fully told that I shall not
attempt to review it. Suffice it to say, that the series of fresh-water
basins discovered by Dr. Hayden in the country bordering the Upper
Missouri have proved to be as rich in new and interesting forms of animal
and vegetable life as any that have been found upon the earth’s surface.
The vertebrate remains collected by Dr. Hayden have been carefully
studied, fully described and illustrated by Dr. Leidy, and the splendid
monograph which he has published of these fossils forms a contribu-
tion to paleontology not second in value or interest to that made by
Cuvier in his illustrations of the fossils from the Paris basin; nor to
that of Falconer and Cautley, descriptive of the fossils of the Sewalik
Hills of India.

The scarcely less voluminous and interesting collections of fossil
plants made by Dr. Hayden have been placed in my hands for examin-
ation. Of these, the first installments were described and drawn some
years since as a contribution to the report of Colonel W. F. Raynolds,
United States Army, a report not yet published by the Government.
The descriptions, however, were printed in the annals of the Lyceum of
Natural History of New York, vol. 9, 1868.

The general conclusions drawn from a study of this portion of Dr.
Hayden’s collections as regards the floras of the tertiary and cretaceous
periods, the topography and climate of the interior of the continent—and
which form a part of my contribution to Colonel Raynoids’s report—will
be found quoted on another page. Since that report was written very
large additions have been made to our knowledge of our late extinct
floras, by collections of fossil plants made in different portions of the
western part of our continent by Dr. Hayden, Mr. Condon, Dr. Le Conte,
and myself; and also by the collections made by Mr. W. H. Dall and
Captain Howard in Alaska, and by several explorers on the continent
of Greenland.

Deferring for the present a comparison of the plants derived from
strata of similar age in these widely separated localities, and the infer-
ences deducible from them as regards the physical geography of our
continent, I should say that the flora and fauna of the lake deposits on
both sides of the Rocky Mountains apparently belong to one and the
same geological age, and tell the same story in regard to the topography,
climate, conditions, and development of animal and vegetable life. There
is this striking difference, however, perceptible at the first glance be-
tween the fresh-water tertiaries of the Hast and West. In Oregon, Idaho,
and Nevada, volcanic materials have accumulated in the lake basins to
a much greater extent than east of the Rocky Mountains; and we have
abundant evidence that during the tertiary period the western margin
of the continent was the scene of far greater volcanic activity than we
have any record of in the Rocky Mountain belt.

336 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

The deposits formed by the lake basins of the Upper Missouri region
are shales, marls, and earthy limestones, with immense quantities of lig-
nite, but with almost no traces of volcanic products. The number of fossil
plants and animalsis much greater there than farther west; and we have
in these deposits proof that during unnumbered ages this portion of the
continent exhibited a diversified and beautiful surface, which sustained
a luxuriant growth of vegetation and an amount of animal life far in
excess of whatit has done in modern times. This condition of things ex-
isted long enough for hundreds and even thousands of feet of sediments
to accumulate in the bottoms of extensive fresh-water lakes. These
lakes were gradually and slowly diminished in area by the filling up of
their basins and by the wearing away of the barriers over which passed
their gently flowing, draining streams. Since the deposition of the
fresh-water tertiaries which occupy the places of the old lakes, great
changes have taken place in the topography of this region by the up-
heaval of portions of the Rocky Mountain ranges. In some localities
these lake deposits are found turned up on edge and resting on the
flanks of the mountains which border the plains on the west. It is cer-
tain, however, that much of the Rocky Mountain belt existed anterior
to this date. We have in these, and many other facts that might be
cited, proofs of the truth of the assertion I have elsewhere made that
these great mountain chains, though existing at least in embryo from
the earliest paleozoic ages, have since then been subject to many and
varied modifications; that they have been, in fact, hinges upon which
the great plates of the continent have turned ; lines of weakness where
the changes of level experienced by the continent have been most sen-
sibly felt.

It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the collections of fossil plants
made by Dr. Hayden from different localities differ so much among
themselves. In every newly, discovered plant-bed he has obtained more
or less species of which we before had no knowledge, and it is even true
that between some of his collections there are no connecting links. Itis
also true that much of the material he has collected has not yet received
the study it needs. From these facts it will be seen that much yet re-
mains to be done before the great interval of time during which this series
of fresh-water tertiaries accumulated can be divided into definite periods,
and before we can venture to affirm that such an epoch had a flora of
such or such a botanical character, and, therefore, this or that average
annual temperature. Some interesting facts came out, however, at once
in the examination of these materials; to these I will briefly refer.

In the beginning of the cretaceous age, North America, as we learn,
presented a broad land surface, having a climate similar ta the present,
and covered with forests consisting, for the most part, of trees belonging
to the same genera with those that now flourish upon it. In the progress
of the cretaceous age, the greater part of the continent west of the Mis-
sissippi sank beneath the ocean, and the deposits made during the later
portions of the cretaceous age contain a vegetation more tropical in
character than that which had preceded it. It seems probable that at
this time the lands which existed as such west of the Mississippi were
islands of limited extent, washed by the Gulf Stream, which apparently
had then a course north and west from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic
Sea.

The earlier tertiary epochs were, however, marked by an emergence of
the continent and a gradual approach to previous and present conditions.
This is indicated by the fact that the oldest tertiary deposits (eocene ?)
contain a fora Jess like the present than is that of the miocene or middle

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 337

tertiary. In this category of older deposits, with amore tropical flora, I
would place the Green River tertiary beds, those of Mississippi, studied
by Lesquereux, and those of Brandon, Vermont.

In the miocene age the continental surface was broader, the lake
basins of the West contained only fresh water, and the land surface
was covered with vegetation very much like that of the present day, a
number of miocene species still existing. The climate of the continent
in the miocene age was much milder than now. Fan-palms then grew
as far north as the Yellowstone River, and a flora flourished in Alaska
and on Greenland as varied and as luxuriant as now grows along the
fortieth parallel. At this time there must have been some sort of land
connection between our continent and HKurope on the one hand and Asia

on the other. The flora of all these regions was essentially the same,
and a large number of plants were common to the three continents. In
this age the mammalian fauna of our continent exhibited the same re-

mar Kable development that it did in Europe and Asia; and over our
western plains roved herds of great quadrupeds, rivaling in number
and variety those that have struck with wonder and surprise every
traveler in South Africa.

This state of things seems to have continued through the pliocene
age and up to the time when the climateof the continent was completely
revolutionized by the advent of the ‘‘ice period.” The change which
took place at that time was such as taxes the imagination to conceive
of as much as it taxes the reasoning powers to account for.

We have seen that in the middle tertiary age the climate of Alaska
and Greenland was that of New York and St. Louis at present. In the
next succeeding period, the glacial epoch, the present climate of Green-
land was brought down to New York, and all the northern portion of
the continent wrapped in ice and snow. This change was undoubtedly
gradual, (for nature does not often “turn a corner,”) but itis plain that
it must have resulted in the gradual driving southward of all the varied
forms of animal and vegetable life that were spread over the continent to
the Arctic Sea. When glaciersreached as far south as the fortieth parallel
itis evident that a cold, temperate climate prevailed in Mexico,and that
only in the south of Mexico would the average annual temperature have
been what it was previously in the latitude of New York. We must con-
clude, therefore, that the herds of mammals which once covered the plains
of the interior of North America were forced by the advancing cold into
such narrow limits in Southern Mexico that nearly all were exter minated.
Plants bore their expatriation better; inasmuch as a tree, even of the
most gigantic size, will live upon the space occupied by its roots, pro-
vided “the climatic conditions are favorable; while one of the larger
mammals would require at least a thousand times this space for its sup-
port. As a consequence, we find the present flora of our continent much
more like that of the miocene than is our fauna, though the change to
which I have referred seems to have been fatal to quite a number of the
most abundant and interesting of our miocene forest trees. Of these,
the Glyptostrobus may be taken as an example. This was a beautiful
conifer which, in miocene times, grew all over our continent and over
Northern Europe. In the change to the glacial period, however, it was
exterminated, both there and here, yet continued to exist in China—
where a miocene colony from America had taken root—and it is growing
there at the present time. This great ice-wedge which came down from
the north separated very widely many elements in our miocene flora
which have never sitce been reunited, so that when the storm had
passed and better days had come, and the Mississippi Valley and Atlan-

22 G

338 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

tic States were repossessed by the descendants of the tertiary plants,
they were still separated, by many thousand miles, from their brethren
which had formerly crossed the now submerged bridge of Behring’s
Straits ; and thus the two kindreds have been growing, and flowering,
and seeding, and dying in each colony far beyond the reach of the other
and developing their peculiarities each in its own way from generation
to generation. When now we come to compare the present flora of
China and Japan with that of the eastern half of our continent, we find
the strongest proofs of their intimate relationship. Many of the species
are identical, while others are but slightly changed, and, on the whole,
the differences are less than such as have grown out of separation in
human kindred colonies in an infinitely shorter period.

Among the great mammals that formerly inhabited our continent,
but such as are now extinct, there were some which seem to have bid
defiance to the changes I have detailed. These were particularly the
mastedon and elephant, both of which were probably capable of endur-
ing great severity of climate. The mammoth, we know, was well de-
fended from the cold by a thick coat of hair and wool, and was probably
capable of enduring a degree of cold as severe as that in which the
musk-ox now lives. We know that both these great monsters—the
elephant and mastodon—continued to inhabit the interior of our con-
tinent long after the glaciers had retreated beyond the upper lakes,
and when the minutest details of surface topography were the same
as now. ‘This is proven by the fact that we not unfrequently find them
embedded in peat in marshes which are still. marshes, where they have
been mired and suffocated. It is even claimed that here, as on the
European continent, man was a cotemporary of the mammoth, and that
here, as there, he contributed largely to its final extinction. On this
point, however, more and better evidence than any yet obtained is
necessary, before we can consider the cotemporaneity of man and the
elephant in America as proven. The wanting proof may be obtained
to-morrow, but to-day we are without it.

The pictures which geology holds up to our view of North America
during the tertiary ages are in all respects, but one, more attractive
and interesting than could be drawn from its present aspects. Then a
warm and genial climate prevailed from the Gulf to the Arctic Sea; the
Canadian highlands were higher, but the Rocky Mountains lower and
less broad. Most of the continent exhibited an undulating surface,
rounded hills and broad valleys covered with forests grander than any of
the present day, or wide expanses of rich savannah, over which roamed
countless herds of animals, many of gigantic size, of which our present
meager fauna retains but a few dwarfed representatives. Noble rivers
fiowed through plains and valleys, and sea-like lakes, broader and more
numerous than those the continent now bears, diversified the scenery.
Through unnumbered ages the seasons ran their ceaseless course, the sun
rose and set, moons waxed and waned over this fair land, but no human
eye was there to mark its beauty, nor human intellect to control and useits
exuberant fertility. Flowers opened their many-colored petals on mea-
dow and hill-side, and filled the air with their perfumes, but only for the
delectation of the wandering bee. Fruits ripened in the sun, but there
was no hand there to pluck, nor any speaking tongue to taste. Birds
sang in the trees, but for no ears but their own. The surface of lake or
river was whitened by no sail, nor furrowed by any prow but the breast
of the water-fowl; and the far-reaching shores echoed no sound but the
dash of the waves and the lowing of the herds that slaked their thirst in
the crystal waters.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 339

Life and beauty were everywhere, and man, the great destroyer, had
not yet come; but not all was peace and harmony in this Arcadia. The
forces of nature are always at war, and redundant life compels abundant
death. The innumerable species of animals and plants had each its
hereditary enemy, and the struggle of life was so sharp and bitter that
in the lapse of ages many genera and species were blotted out forever.

The herds of herbivores—which included all the genera now living on
the earth’s surface, with many strange forms long since extinct—formed
the prey of carnivores commensurate to these in power and numbers.
The coo of the dove and the whistle of the quail were answered by the
seream of the eagle, and the lowing of herds and the bleating of flocks
come to the ear of the imagination mingled with the roar of the lion, the
howl of the wolf, and the despairing cry of the victim. Yielding to the
slow-acting but irresistible forces of nature, each in succession of these
various animal forms has disappeared till all have passed away or been
changed to their modern representatives, while the country they inhab-
ited, by the upheaval of its mountains, the deepening of its valleys, the
filling and draining of its great lakes has become what it is.

. These changes which I have reviewed in an hour seem like the swiftly-
consecutive pictures of the phantasmagoria or the shifting scenes of the
drama, but the ceons of time in which they were effected are simply infinite
and incomprehensible to us. We have no reason to suppose that terra
jirma was less firm, or that the order of nature in which no change is
recorded within the historic period, was less constant then than now.
At the present rate of change—throwing out man’s influence—a period
infinite to us would be required to revolutionize the climate, flora, and
. fauna, but there is no evidence that changes were more rapid during the
tertiary ages.

Every day sees something taken from the rocky barrier of Niagara ;
and, geologically speaking, at no remote time our great lakes will have
shared the fate of those that once existed at thefar West. Already they
have been reduced to less than half their former area, and the water level
has been depressed three hundred feet or more. ‘This process is pretty
sure to go until they are completely emptied.

The cities that now stand upon their banks will, ere that time, have
grown colossal in size, then gray with age, then have fallen into decadence
and their sites be long forgotten, but in the sediments that are now
accumulating in these lake basins will he many a wreck and skeleton,
tree trunk and floated leaf. Near the city sites and old river mouths
these sediments will be full of relics that will illustrate and explain the
mingled comedy and tragedy of human life. These relies the geologist
of the future will doubtless gather and study and moralize over, as we
do the records of the tertiary ages. Doubiless be wiil be taught the
same lesson weare, that human life is infinitely short, and human achieve-
ment utterly insignificant. Let us hope that this future man, purer in
morals and clearer in intellect than we, may find as much to admire in
the records of this first epoch of the reign of man as we do in those or
the reign of mammals.

340 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

IV.—REPORT ON THE VERTEBRATE FOSSILS OF
THE TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF THE WEST.

By PRoF. JOSEPH LEIDY.

In the present report the writer has simply given a brief notice of
the various vertebrated animals whose fossil remains have been collected
in the tertiary deposits of the West. For a full account of most of the
extinct mammals which are subjects of notice, the reader is referred to
the work entitled “ The Extinct Mammalan Fauna of Dakota and Ne-
braska,” published in the seventh volume of the Journal of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. More or less full accounts of the
other animals, also the subjects of notice, are published in Owen’s Geo-
logical Survey, the fifth volume of the Pacific Railroad Reports, the con-
tributions of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Proceedings of the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

The vertebrate fossils collected in Professor Hayden’s last two expe-
ditions, though forming part of the material of the report, will be more
fully described and illustrated in an extended treatise in future.

The short time allowed for the preparation of the report.amid the
many duties of the writer, must serve as his apology for its imperfect
character.

The tertiary formations of the North American continent west of the
Mississippi, so far as they have been explored, in the States and Terri-
tories of Kansas, Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Cali-
fornia, and Oregon, have yielded a ereat quantity of remains of verte-
brated animals, ‘indicating different races which existed in earlier ages,
and which have entirely passed away. The principal deposits from
which the greater number of fossil remains have been obtained are
those of the mazvaises terres of White River, Dakota, those of the
valley of the Niobrara River, Nebraska, and the Bridger Group of rocks,
near Fort Bridger, Wyoming. The deposits especially referred to ap-
pear to be all of fresh-water origin, and to have belonged to the middle
and later tertiary epochs.

Most of the vertebrated remains submitted to the examination of the
author are part of the valuable fruits of the geological explorations of
Professor Hayden, either engaged in expeditions of others, or under his
own econtrol.. Many have been obtained in the explorations of Dr.
David Dale Owen, Dr. John Evans, Mr. F. B. Meek, Mr. Clarence King,
and others. ;

By far the greater number of vertebrated remains are those of
mammals, though some of the same or cotemporaneous formations are
rich in the evidences of reptilian life, and likewise those of fishes.

MAMMALIA.

The mammalian remains of the western tertiary formations appear
mainly to belong to the miocene period, though many evidently pertain
to a later age than the others, and most likely belong to the pliocene
period. Perhaps also a few of the remains belong at “least to the later
part of the eocene period, especially those found in the lowest strata of
the mauvaises terres of White River, Dakota, and those found in the
Bridger Group of tertiary rocks of Wyoming.

The fossil remains of mammals thus far collected in the western

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 341

tertiary formations indicate upwards of one hundred species, mostly of
extinct genera, and many of those peculiar to the North American con-
tinent. Notwithstanding the large number mentioned, it is but a
meager representation of the extensive faunz to which they belonged.
Probably, also, it is but asmall proportion of the number which will be
discovered in future explorations. The fossils represent nearly all the
orders, especially those of Carnivora, Ruminantia, Artiodactyla, Perris-
sodactyla, and Solidungula. The Rodentia and Insectivora are also fairly
represented. No remains of Quadrumana, Cheiroptera, and, singularly
enough, of Marsupialia, have been discovered.

CARNIVORA.

The carnivorous order of mammals is well represented by remains in
the tertiary deposits of our Western Territories. The number and
variety of the fossils indicate a development proportionate to the teeming
population of cotemporaneous herbivora which supplied the flesh-eaters
with food.

CANID Zi.

The canine family during the pliocene was represented, as in later
times, by several species of wolves; during the miocene period it was
represented by an allied and subsequently extinct genus, the Amphicyon,
which also existed cotemporaneously in Europe.

CANIS,

The genus to which our wolves, dogs, and foxes belong. |

Canis sevus.—An extinct species of wolf, probably a near relative, if
not the progenitor of the existing American wolf, (Canis occidentalis,) is
indicated by portions of two lower jaws obtained by Professor Hayden
from the sands of the Niobrara River, Nebraska.

Canis temerarius.—A second species of wolf, intermediate in size with
the prairie wolf (Canis latrans,) and the red fox (Canis fulvus ;) is indi-
cated by fragments of jaws found in company with the preceding speci-
mens.

Canis vafer.—A species of fox, about the size of the living swift fox
(Canis velox,) is indicated by portions of jaws obtained by Professor
Hayden, in association with the preceding specimens.

Canis Haydeni.—An extinct species, of more robust proportions than
any of the living American wolves; indicated by the greater portion of
one side of a lower jaw; also found by Professor Hayden in the same
locality as the former specimens.

The remains of four species of wolves found in association, in the
Niobrara sands, indicate that these ravenous animals were abundant
during the later tertiary period. Their number appears to have held a
relationship with the cotemporaneous abundance of herbivorous ani-
mals.

AMPHICYON.

An extinct genus of carnivorous animals, to which the above name
has been given, was established on fossil remains discovered in the
middle tertiary deposits of France and Germany. The general form and
construction of the skull and the character of the teeth indicate a near
relationship in the animals of this genus to the wolves. A dozen species
have been indicated as having formerly lived in Europe; one of them
having been viewed by Cuvier as a “dog of gigantic proportions.”

The remains of two species referable to the same genus have been dis-

342 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

eovered in the miocene tertiary deposits of the Mauvaises Terres of White
River, Dakota. They are as follows:

Amphicyon vetus.—A species about the size of the living prairie wolf
(Canis latrans,) indicated by the mutilated cranium and fragments of
jaws, with teeth; discovered by Dr. John Evans and Professor Hayden.

Amphicyon gracilis. —A small species, less in size than any of the ex-
isting American foxes. It is indicated by fragments of jaws, with teeth,
and the facial portion of a skull of several individuals ; all discovered by
Professor Hayden.

“HY ZNODONTIDZ

Is the name given to an extinct and remarkable family of animals,
exhibiting a relationship to the canine family on one hand, and the fe.
line family on the cther, together with ties to others

HY ANODON.

One of the most remarkable extinct genera of carnivorous animals is
that to which the above name has been given. It belongs to no exist-
ing family, and, indeed, is so peculiar as to have become the type of an
independent family. In anatomical character it partakes of those of
the wolf, the tiger, the hyena, and the weasel, the raccoon, and the
opossum. Originally discovered in France, the remains of five or six
species have been obtained from the lower miocene and upper eocene
formations of that country. Three American species are indicated by
fossil remains obtained in the lower miocene tertiary beds of the Mau-
vaises Terres of White River, by Dr. John Evans, Dr. Benjamin Shu-
mard, Professor Hayden, and Mr. Meek. These species are as follows:

Hyenodon horridus.—The largest known species, and one of the most
sanguinary of terrestrial mammals that has ever existed. Cotempora-
neous with a multitude of herbivorous animals, many of which were
gregarious in extensive herds, it was no doubt a fearful scourge to
them. It is indicated by the greater portions of three skulls, together
with fragments of jaws and teeth of other individuals. The size of
the animal was about equal to that of the largest black bears. The
specimens of jaws and teeth discovered have atforded us a view of the
entire dentition of the animal, which is truly formidable. Besides the
powerful canine teeth, the series of molars affords the unusual exhibi-
tion of three teeth, constructed nearly after the model of the single sec-
torial tooth of other carnivorous mammals, though the last one alone
reaches the full development of the corresponding tooth in the latter.

The true sectorial molars of hyzenodon, the last of the series of teeth,
are constructed like those of the lion and tiger. These teeth, the
broadest and strongest of all, combine the mechanism of the wedge
and the scissors, and are admirably adapted to cutting animal tissues,
including bones.

The large temporal fosszee oceupying the sides of the skull, and sepa-
rated only by a long and high median ridge, sufficiently - prove the
great power of the ‘muscles which operated on the long levers of the
lower jaw. Certainly no other animal which lived cotemporaneously
with this formidable creature could have resisted its power. The skull
of the species measures about a foot in length.

Hycnodon erucians.—This is the name given to a species not much
exceeding in size the red fox (Canis fulous. ) A half ‘dozen imperfect
skulls of the animal, together with fragments of jaws and teeth, and
other bones, have been discovered. Though small, compared vith the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 343

preceding species, this one was no doubt equally destructive to the
smaller herbivorous animals.

Hyenodon cruentus—A species thus named, intermediate in size to
the two foregoing, is indicated by several fragments of jaws and teeth
found in association with the remains of the former.

FELID A.

The feline animals forming the family with the above name were
well represented among the carnivores of both the middle and later
tertiary periods of Dakota and Nebraska.

PSEUDALURUS.

This genus, differing from that of felis or the true cats only in the
possession of an additional smail tooth to the molar series of the lower
jaw, was originally named from remains found in the middle tertiary
formation of France.

Pseudelurus mtrepidus.—This species is indicated by a well-preserved
lower jaw, discovered by Professor Hayden in the pliocene sands of
the Niobrara Valley of Nebraska. It was intermediate in size to the
panther (Felis concolor) and the lynx, (Melis canadensis,) and in ana-
tomical character and habits was no doubt very similar.

DREPANODON.

This remarkable feline genus, fortunately for animals of a more peace-
ful nature, now utterly extinct, during the tertiary period appears to
have had a wide range of distribution throughout the earth. Its re-
mains have been discovered in the middle and later tertiary formations
of Western Europe, Greece, the sub-Himalayan Mountains of Asia, and
of both Americas. Several of the larger species equaled in size the
lion and tiger, and, judging from their formidable array of destructive
weapons, were of even greater ferocity. In comparison with the exist-
ing feline animals they are especially marked by the greater propor-
tionate’size and compressed form of the upper canine teeth, which have
given to the animals the name of saber-toothed tigers.

Two: species of the genus appear to have inhabited Dakota during
the formation of the mauvaises terres deposits of White River.

Drepanodon primevus.—A species not quite so large as the living
panther is indicated by a number of skulls, jaw fragments with teeth,
and other bones, first collected by the late Drs. Evans and Shumard, and
subsequently by Professor Hayden and Mr. Meek. Two of the skulls
that have been found exhibit the marks of conflict with some equally
rapacious animal, most prebably the largest Hycnodon, as the depres-
sions made by the teeth on opposite sides of the specimens exactly cor-
respond with the prints of the canines of the latter.

Drepanodon occidentalis.—The second species, indicated by several jaw
fragments, discovered by Dr. Hayden, was about the size of the exist-
ing panther.

DINICTIS.

This name has been appropriated to an extinct genus of feline ani-
mals, represented by remains, thus far only discovered in the mauvaises
terres miocene deposits of White River, Dakota. It is nearly allied:to
the preceding genus, but differs from it in the possession of two addi-
tional teeth to the molar series of the lower jaw. :

Dinictis felina.—A unique species, indicated by two nearly complete

344 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

skulls, both discovered by Professor Hayden. The animal was rather
less in size than the existing panther, and about equaled the smaller spe-
cies of Drepanodon, with which it was cotemporaneous. It possessed the
same formidable character of upper canines asin the latter genus. From
the number and disposition of the teeth, according with those of the
weasel, it has been called the saber-toothed weasel. The skull measures
six and a quarter inches in length.

AZLURODON.

An extinct genus, probably feline, perhaps canine, distinguished by
the above name, is founded on an isolated tooth discovered by Professor
Hayden in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara Valley. The tooth is an
upper sectorial molar, and is intermediate in character to that of the
wolves and cats.

Ailurodon ferox.—The species was nearly as large as the Bengal tiger.

PATRIOFELIS.

_ This name has been appropriated to another extinct and supposed
feline genus, founded on fragments of a fossil jaw obtained by Profes-
sor Hayden from the tertiary formation near Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

Patriofelis ulta—The species was rather larger than our panther.
The length of its lower jaw is about six inches.

LEPTARCTUS.

An extinct genus, to which the above name has been given, is in-
ferred to have existed during the tertiary period, from a single tooth
discovered by Professor Hayden, in association with remains of extinet
equine genera, at Bijou Hill, east of the Missouri River, about ten miles
below the mouth of White River, Dakota. The tooth apparently indi-
cates a carnivorous animal allied to the living coati of South America.

Leptarctus primus.—The species was about the size of the raccoon.

NOTHARCTUS.

An extinct genus, with the above name, is founded on a pertion of
the lower jaw, obtained during the last expedition of Professor Hayden.
It was discovered on Black’s Fork, and pertains to the Bridger tertiary
deposit.

Notharctus tenebrosus.—The species distinguished by this name was
about two-thirds the size of the raccoon, to which it was also related.

RUMINANTIA.

The ruminating order of mammals is represented by an abundance of
remains in the western tertiary deposits. Most of the members not only
belong to extinct genera, but to such as are peculiar to the North Amer-
iean continent.

BOVID.
Bison.
Our western buffalo, or bison, was probably represented during

the post-pliocene or quaternary period by a much larger animal, the
remains of which have been found, in association with those of the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 345

American mastodon, both in the eastern and western portions of the
continent.

Bison latifrons.—The great extinct bison of America was originally
indicated by a portion of a skull discovered on a tributary ef the Ohio
River about a dozen miles from the famous deposit of bones, Big-Bone
Lick, Kentucky. Remains have also been found in the latter locality, on
the Brazos River , Texas, and elsewhere. The cranial portion of a skull,
apparently of the same species, was discovered in California, by W alter
Brown, of San Francisco, and was presented to the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia. The species was about as large as the living
buffalo or arnee of India and Java.

OREODONTID A.

The above name is given to an extinct family of animals, the remains
of which, discovered in the Western Territories of the United States,
indicate that during the tertiary period it embraced many genera and
species. The members of the family in anatomical character exhibit
strong suilline affinities, while the structure of their grinding teeth
indicate them to have chewed the cud like our ruminating animals.
Their feet were constructed nearly as in the hog, and, as in this animal,
were provided with four toes.

The skull of the oreodonts approaches in form that of the peccaries.
The cranial portion resembles that of the camel, and, as in this, is horn-
less. The temporal fosse are large and separated by a median sagit-
tal crest, as in the camel. The orbits are closed behind by an arch, as
in the latter, and other living ruminants. Large and comparatively
deep depressions occupy a position just in advance of the orbits, as in
the living deer family, but no unossified spaces occupy any part of the
face. The teeth in both jaws form nearly unbroken arches, a condition
in which we find none of the allied living families, and put few of any
other living mammalia. Well-developed ‘incisors occupy both jaws, such
as exist alone in the lower jaw of living ruminating animals. The
canine teeth approach in character most nearly those of suilline ani-
mals. The grinders are constructed like those of the living ruminants,
resembling most nearly those of the deer family.

OREODON.

The remains of this genus are of all other fossils the most abundant
ef those which have been discovered in the miocene tertiary deposits of
the mauwvaises terres of White River, Dakota. Two species especially,
judging from the great quantity of their remains which have been col-
lected, appear to have formerly existed in immense numbers. They
were most likely gregarious, in the manner of the existing peccaries, and,
like the modern bison, roamed together in great herds over the exten-
sive prairies of the West. Compared with the latter animal they were
insignificant in size, and in this respect approached the former.

Oreodon Culbertsoni.—This species, the remains of which have been dis-
- covered in the greatest abundance, was first brought to our notice by
Messrs Alexanderand Thaddeus Culbertson. These gentlemen, brothers,

engaged in the fur trade, were the first to collect fossils from the mauvaises
terres, and place them in the hands of naturalists. Oreodon Culbertsoni,
named in their honor, was intermediate in size and appearance to the do-
mestic sheep and the collared peccary. Skulls, fragments of jaws with
teeth, and other bones of the skeleton of upwards of a thousand individu-
als of this species have come under the inspection of the writer. In the

346 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

large number of specimens representing so many individuals, consider-
able variation in the details of structure have been noticed. The fossils
alsoexhibit great variety in the condition of preservation. Among them
are some crushed in such a way as to indicate that the condition was due -
to the bite of certain of the powerful carnivores which were contempo-
raneous with the animals.

Oreodon gracilis.—A small species, about the size of a musk deer; was
an associate of the former. It was probably equally abundant, but the
greater delicacy of its skeleton rendered it more liable to a variety of ac-
cidents insuring destruction.

Oreodon major.—A larger species than either of the former, indicated by
a few remains, among them anearly entire and well-preserved skull, dis-
covered by Professor Hayden in the mauvaises terres deposits of White
River. The skull measures about teninchesinlength ; and theanimal was
about as largeas the ordinary wolfor the largest-sized dog. The speciesis
remarkable for the large size of its ear capsules, which not only greatly
exceeded in proportion those of the Oreodon Culbertsoni and O. gracilis,
but are larger than in the existing hog. What relationship the inflated
or enlarged condition of the ear capsules has with the acuteness of hear-
ing or the habits of animals has not been clearly indicated. The com-
parative scarcity of the remains of Oreodon major in the localities in
which those of the preceding species were obtained leads me to suspect
that the former was probably not cotemporaneous with the latter, or
at least did not inhabit the same places.

A few remains from the mauvaises terres of White River, which the
writer had referred to two species of oreodon, distinet from the preceding
under the names of Oreodon affinis and O. hybridus, I suspect to have per-
tained to hybrids; probably of O. gracilis and O. major.

In 1866, Professor Hayden obtained among a number of remains of
Oreodon Culbertsoni, from the mauvaises terres, a specimen of a skull,
agreeing in size, form, and details with that of the species just named,
except that it had the ear capsules proportionately as well developed as
in O. major. L referred it toa distinct species with the name of Oreodon
bullatus, but I suspect it pertained to a hybrid between O. major
and O. Culbertsont. Itis not unlikely that Oreodon major may have lived
in a locality skirting that inhabited by the species O. Culbertsoni
and O. gracilis. The “intimate relationship anatomically and physiolo-
gically would readily allow of the hybridization which has been sus-
pected.

Oreodon superbus.—Last autumn the writer received through the
Smithsonian Institution, for examination, a collection of mammalian
fossils from the Reverend Thomas Condon, of Dalles City, Oregon.
They were mainly collected in the valley of Bridge Creek, a tributary of
John Day’s River, Oregon. The fossils in general appearance and con-
dition of petrifaction resemble those of the mauvaises terres of White
River, Dakota.

The greater number and more Serilcine specimens belong apparently
to a species of oreodon larger than any ‘of those from the “locality last
named. The skull of the animal was about fourteen inches in length.
The ear capsules are inflated and proportionately as large as in O. major.
The face is rather more abruptly narrowed in advance of the orbits than
in the latter; the infra-orbital arches are proportionately deeper, and
the lachrymal depressions are shallower. The teeth haye the same con-
stitution as in the mauvaises terres oreodons, but the canines and pre-
molars are proportionately wider and thinner, and thus appear of a more
compressed character. The inferior canine tooth, at the base of the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 347

crown is an inch in breadth fore and aft. The species I have distinguished
by the name heading this article.

Mingled with the remains of O. superbus are a few fragments, appa-
rently referable to O. Culberisoni.

MERYCOCHGRUS.

As the name of the genus indicates, a ruminating hog, like oreodon,
and pertaining to the same family. It is closely related to the latter
genus, and perhaps by many naturalists would be regarded as the same.

ts chief differences consist in the proportionately great depth of the
infra-orbital arch, the abruptly-narrowed face, the comparatively-shallow
lachrymal depression, and the more posterior position of the infra-orb-
ital foramen. The characters thus presented were more sharply defined
previous to the recent discovery of a second species of the genus,
which is intermediate, and therefore still more nearly approximates the
two genera, if it does not merge the one into the other.

Merycocherus proprius-—'The remains of this species were discovered by
Professor Hayden, during Warren’s expedition of 1857, on the head-waters
of the Niobrara River, opposite Fort Laramie. They wereembedded in a
dull, reddish-brown sandstone, which Professor Hayden refers to the mio-
cene tertiary period. The animal was larger than any of the species of ore-
odon, except the O. superbus of Oregon, which it approximated in size.
The jaws are of more robust proportions than in the oreodons, and the
infra-orbital arches of greater depth. In this the latter measure nearly
two inches; in O. superbus, an animal of about thesame size, aninch and
a half; in O. major, three-fourths of an inch.

Merycocherus proprius appears not to have inhabited the same local-
ities with the oreodons, at least cotemporaneously. I suspect it to have
lived at a later period, and perhaps, on the theory of the distinguished
philosopher Darwin, may have been the successor by selection of the
oreodons.

Merycocherus rusticus.—A. second species of the genus distinguished by
hisname isindicated by remains recently discovered by Professor Hayden,
on the Sweetwater River, eighteen miles west of Devil’s Gate, Wyoming
Territory. The animal wasabout the sizeof Oreodon major, but is readily
distinguishable through the anatomical characters that separate the two
genera to which they belong. The number of remains of M. rusticus ob-
tained during a short period from a circumscribed locality indicate the
animal to have been abundant.

MERYCHYUS.

Another genus of the oreodont family to which the above name has
been given is indicated by a comparative abundance of remains discov-
ered by Professor Hayden during Warren’s expedition in 1857, The
fossils were found in the loose sands of the Niobrara River, and are
regarded by Professor Hayden as being of. more recent date than those
of the orecdons, the age of the formation being considered as later ter-
tiary or pliocene.

Merychyus is clearly related to oreodon and Merycochwrus, and, like
the latter, most probably is the successor of oreodon. The construction
and form of the skull and teeth are nearly alike in ail the genera men-
tioned.

The true molars or grinding teeth of Merychyus are constructed on
the same plan as in all ordinary ruminants, recent and extinet, and are
intermediate in character with those which have short crowns, as in the

348 ‘ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

other oreodonts and the deer, and those which have long crowns, as
in the camel and sheep.

The species of Merychyus, during the later tertiary period, appear
to have taken the place of the oreodons of the middle tertiary period.
The remains discovered appear to indicate three species of the genus.

Merychyus elegans.—A. small species, distinguished by this hame, was
intermediatein sizeto Oreodon Culbertsoni and O. gracilis, or was about the
size of the existing collared peccary.

Merychyus medius. —This species, indicated by a few fragments, was
rather larger than the existing lama of South America.

Merychyus major. —Fragments of jaws and teeth indicate this species
to have been about the size of Merycocherus proprius, and nearly as large
as the existing camel.

LEPTAUCHENIA.

Another extinct genus of ruminants of the same family as the pre-
ceding, distinguished by the above name, was first indicated by a few
remains discovered by Professor Hayden in 1855, on one of the tributa-
ries of White River, near Eagle Nest Butte, Dakota. Subsequently,
Professor Hayden, during his exploration of 1866, discovered additional
and more complete remains of the same genus on White Harth Creek,
a tributary of White River, Dakota. The fossils are attributed by
Professor Hayden to the miocene formation.

The skull of Leptauchenia has the general form and construction as
in the preceding genera of oreodonts, ‘and the number, form, and con-
stitution of the teeth are nearly the same. :

The ear capsules are proportionately larger than in any of the other
members of the family. Large unossified spaces exist at the sides of
the face, ‘extending from the forehead and in advance of the lachrymal
bones. Similar spaces exist in the living deer and lama, but not in the
other oreodonts so far as known.

The true molar teeth or grinders of Leptauchenia most nearly resem-
ble those of Merychyus, but exhibit differences. The median buttress-
like ridges on the outer part of the upper grinders divide the crown to
the fangs more completely than in MJerychyus ; and in the lower grind-
ers the crown internally is divided by corresponding ridges, which aré
nearly or quite obsolete in Merychyus.

The fossil remains thus far discovered indicate the existence of three
species of Leptauchenia during the miocene period. Cotemporaneous
with the species of Oreodon and Merycocherus they appear to have been
the predecessors of the species of Merychyus of the pliocene period. They
were all comparatively small, and have been distinguished by the follow-
ing names:

Leptauchenia major.—The largest species of the genus was intermedi-
ate in size with Oreodon Culbertsoni and O. gracilis. The length of its
skull was about five and three-quarter inches.

Leptauchenia decora.—Rather smaller than O. gracilis, had the skull
about four inches long.

Leptauchenia nitida. ——The smallest of the species was about the size
of the living musk deer. Its skull is three and a half inches in length.

AGRIOCHG@RID A.

Another genus of extinct, hog-like ruminants, allied to the genera of
the preceding family, is never theless so peculiar that the author has
viewed it as the representative of a distinct family to which he has

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 349

given the above name. Its principal features distinguishing it from the
oreodonts are as follows: ©

The orbits are open behind, or not separated from the temporal fosse,
in which character they differ from those of all known ruminants, recent
or extinct, having the same ferm of grinding teeth. No lachrymal
fossze exist in front of the orbits as in the oreodonts.

The number, relation, and general constitution of the teeth are the
same as in the latter; but the grinders or true molars, though con-
structed on the same plan as in the oreodonts and the ruminants gen-
erally, are remarkable for their transversely spreading character, or the
comparative shallowness and breadth of their crowns. The last pre-
molar departs from the usual ruminant pattern, the upper having three
lobes to the crown, the lower four lobes.

AGRIOCHGRUS.

Three species of this genus have apparently been recognized, differ-
ing little in size, and in this respect approaching O. Culbertsoni.
The form and general construction of the skull are nearly the same as
in the latter. Besides the orbits being open behind, and the absence of
lachrymal fosse, as above mentioned, the face, in comparison with that
of oreodon, is proportionately wider and of less depth. The remains of
Agriocherus have been discovered in the mauvaises terres of Dakota,
but are comparatively rare.

Agriochoerus antiquus.—The remains of this species, consisting of frag-
ments of jaws and teeth, together with the facial portion of a skull, of
tavo individuals, were among the first of the mammalian fossils collected
in the mauwvaises terres of Dakota. They were obtained from a fur
trader by the late Dr. Hiram A. Prout, of St. Louis, by whom they were
submitted to the examination of the writer. Améng several tons of
fossil bones subsequently collected in the mauvaises terres and brought
to our notice, only the smallest traces of this species were detected.

The size of the skull was about equal to that of O. Culbertsoni. _

Agriocherus latifrons.—This species is indicated by an almost com-
plete skull, obtained by Professor Hayden, in the mauwvaises terres of
Dakota, during his expedition of the summer of 1866. It differed little
in size from the preceding species, but is distinguishable by the breadth
of its forehead, which is almost one-third greater. Large inflated ear
capsules are present in the skull of A. latifrons, proportionately as well
developed as in O. major. :

The skull of A. latifrons is eight and a half inches long.

Agriocherus major.—A somewhat larger species than the two preced-
ing, apparently indicated by a few fragments.

CAMELID A.

The camel family at the present time is represented among the indig-
enous animals of the western hemisphere by the various species of
the lama genus of South America. During the tertiary period many
members of the same family were largely distributed in the western
part of North America. Recently some remains discovered in Califor-
nia, and submitted to the examination of the writer by Professor J. D..
Whitney, indicate a species of lama exceeding in size the existing
camel. The species has been named Auchenia or Lama californica.

CAMELOPS

ts the name of an extinct genus allied to the lama, indicated by a jaw
iragment found in the post pliocene gravel drifts of Kansas. The species
is named C. kansanus.

e

350 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

PROCAMELUS.

An extinct genus established on remains discovered by Professor Hay-
den in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River, Nebraska. Fragments
of jaws and teeth exhibit a near relationship in the anatomical charac-
ters of the skull to that of the existing Members of the camel family. It
possessed a greater number of molar teeth than the camels and lamas.
Three species of the genus are apparently indicated by the fossil re-
mains.

Procamelus robustus.—The largest species, founded on a portion of a
lower jaw, pertaining to an animal about the size of the living camel.
Its teeth were smaller than in the latter, but this difference was fully com-
pensated in the greater number of these organs.

Some additional remains of the same species were subsequently dis-
covered by Professor Hayden, on Little White River, Dakota.

Procamelus occidentalis —A species indicated by a greater number of
fossil specimens than the preceding, was about two-thirds the size of
the former. Some remains, apparently of thesame animal, subsequently
discovered on the Little White River, Dakota, lead to the probability
that all referred to the species thus named may belong to the female of
the former one.

Procamelus gracilis—A small species, not larger than the domestic
Sheep, indicated by several fragments of jaws and teeth.

HOMOCAMELUS.

An extinct genus, closely allied to the former, to which the above
name is given, is indicated by several fragments of jaws with teeth, ob-
tained by Professor Hayden in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River.

Homocamelus caninus.—The species, named from the conspicuous char-
acter of the anterior teeth of the upper jaw, was about the size of the
living lama.

MERYCODUS.

This extinct genus of ruminants was originally founded on-a jaw frag-
ment discovered by Messrs. Meek and Hayden, in 1853, on Bijou Hill,
east of the Missouri River. Subsequently Professor Hayden discovered
additional and more characteristic remains of the same, “mainly y Consist-
ing of fragments of lower jaws with teeth, on the Niobrara River and
on : Little White River.
Merycodus necatus.—The species was smaller than the domestic sheep.”

PG@BROTHERIUM,

Another extinct genus of the camel family, was founded on the greater
portion of a skull, which was one of the first fossil specimens produeed
from the great tertiary cemeteries of the West. The spectmen was dis-
covered by Mr. Alexander Culbertson, in the mawvaises terres of White
River, Dakota, and was presented in 1846 te the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia. The remains of the genus appear to be exceed-
ingly rare, aS a very few trifling fragments have been since discovered.

Pebrotherium Wilsont.—The species, approximating in sizethe domestie
sheep, is named in honor of Dr. T. B. Wilson, late of. Philadelphia, and a
distinguished patron of natural inistonye

PROTOMERYX.

Another extinct member of the camel family, distinguished by the
above name, is founded on a jaw fragment obtained by Professor Hay-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 351

den from the miocene deposit of Bear Creek, a tributary of White River,
Dakota. It apparently possessed the same number and arrangement of
teeth as the former two genera.

Protomeryx Halli.—The species, about the size of the domestic sheep,
is named in honor of James Hall; the eminent geologist and paleontol-
ogist. ;
MEGALOMERYX.

This generic name has been appropriated to a large ruminant appa-
rently of the camel family. Itis founded on a couple of specimens of
large, inferior molar teeth obtained by Professor Hayden from the plio-
cene sands of the Niobrara River. The genus is probably the same as
that to which our living lama and alpaca belong.

Megalomeryx niobrarensis.—The species exceeded in size the existing
camel.

MOSCHID i.

The family to which pertain the musks, or musk-deers at the present
period, is chiefly confined to the continent of Asia and the adjacent
islands. It was represented during the miocene tertiary period in
North America, by an extinct genus to which the following name has
been given:

LEPTOMERYX.

The genus was first characterized by a mutilated skull, discovered by
Dr. John Evans, in the Mauvaises Terres of White River, Dakota. Sub-
sequently Professor Hayden obtained portions of several less well-pre-
served skuils, together with many fragments of jaws and teeth, partly
from the same locality and partly from Bear Creek, a tributary of the
Cheyenne River. f

Leptomeryxs Hvanst.—The skull indicatesan animal about the size of the
musk deer of Thibet. The species is named in honor of its discoverer,
the late Dr. John Evans.

CERVID Ai.

The deer family, so far as known, is poorly represented in the tertiary
and quaternary deposits of the North American continent. However,
a larger species of deer than any now living is indicated. by remains
found in association with those of the American mastodon.

CERVUS.

The genus was probably in existence in the pliocene fauna of Nebraska.
A few remains, attributed to an extinct species, have been found in the
sands of the Niobrara River.

Cervus Warrent.—The species was about the size of the living Virginia
deer. Itisnaméd in honor of General G. K. Warren, during whose expe-
dition its remains were discovered by Professor Hayden.

ANTILOPID A.

The antelope family appears to have been represented in the pliocene
fauna of Nebraska, by a peculiay genus, having furcated horn cores.

COSORYX.

The peculiar genus thus named and just alluded to is founded on
several fragments of horn cores—they may be of antlers—discovered by
Professor Hayden in the sands of the Niobrara River. <A species, ap-

352 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

parentiy of the same genus, has been described under the name of Anti-
lope dichotoma, from the tertiary formations of Gers, in France.

Cosoryx furcatus.—The Niobrara species thus named was about the
size of the sheep.

CAMELOPERDALID 4.

A singular fossil, obtained by Professor Hayden from Dr. Gehrung,
of Colorado City, submitted to the writer for examination, leads to the
suppositon that it belonged to a large ruminant, probably of the same
family as the existing camelopard of Africa. It has been referred to
an unknown genus, with the following name:

MEGACEROPS.

The genus is based on a skull fragment, of remarkable’ character,
found in Colorado. The fossil calls to mind the wonderful but also ex-
tinct Sivatherium of the Sevalik Hills of India. The specimen corre-
sponds with that portion of the face of the latter animal which comprises
the upper part of the nose, together with the forehead and anterior horn
cores. As in Sivatherium, all the bones comprising the specimen are
completely codssified, and of great comparative massiveness. The
genus was probably the American representative of the Sivatherium,
which was the largest of all known ruminants. in its bulk and pro-
portions it approached the elephant, and it was provided with two pair
of horns and probably a proboscis like the taper.

Megacerops coloradensis.—The species was not so large as the Sivath-
erium giganteum of India, but may beregarded as having been the largest
of all the known ruminants of America, recent and extinct.

ARTIODACTYLA.

Under this ordinal name the writer has included the thick-skinned
animals or pachyderms of Cuvier, which have an even number of toes,
and has excluded the ruminants of the artiodactyle pachyderms of Pro-
fessor Owen.

SUID A.

The suilline family at the present time is not represented in America
by any of the old-world genera, nor at any past time, so far as the ob-
servation of the writer is concerned, was it inhabited by them. Not-
withstanding many reports of discoveries of remains of the hog and
the hippopotamus, the writer has as yet seen no undoubted traces of
these animals which pertained to the American continents.

DICOTYLES.

The pecearies appear to have represented in the western hemisphere
the hogs of the other part of the world; at least the writer has not yet
seen fossil remains which appeared to him as indubitable evidences of
the existence at any time of an indigenous species of hog in America.
At the present time two species of peccary inhabit South America, and
one of them, the collared peccary, extends into North America as far
as the Red Riverin Arkansas.

At an earlier period several specie8, now extinct, inhabited North
America. Professor Hayden found an upper canine tooth of a peceary
on the Niobrara River, but its age and reference to a particular species
are uncertain. A portion of a skull, found in digging a well, at the
depth of thirty feet, in Gibson County, Indiana, indicates a species whieh
has been named Dicotyles nasutus. It was rather larger than either of

& e

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 353

the existing species, and had a proportionately longer and narrower
muzzie. Several teeth found in the miocene deposit of Monmouth
County, New Jersey, I suspect to belong to the same.

A few remains found in Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina ap-
parently indicate a species smaller than the collared peccary. It has
been named Dicotyles lenis.

PLATYGONUS.

This name has been given to an extinet genus of peccary-like ani-
mals which appear to have been abundant during the post-pliocene
period. Numerous remains of a species, the Platygonus compressus, have
been found in the lead-bearing crevices of the cliff limestone at Galena,
Milinois. An entire skull, as fresh in appearance as if taken from a liv-
ing animal, and of the same species, was discovered as early as 1805,
in a cave in Kentucky. Remains Have also been found in Iowa.

ELOTHERIUM.

This is an extinct genus of suilline animals, originally characterized
by remains discovered in the miocene tertiary deposits of France, and
was first described in 1847. Its nearest allies now living are the hog, the
peceary,and the hippopotamus. The remains of two and perhaps three
_ Species of the genus have been found in the miocene deposits of the
mauvaises terres of Dakota.

Hlotherium Mortonit.—The remains from upwards of a dozen individ-
uals of this species have come under the notice of the writer. It was
about the size of the domestic hog. The skull bears some resemblance,
to that of the latter animal. Capacious temporal fosse for the accom-
modation of powerful muscles, separated by a median crest, give the
cranial portion of the skull a decidedly tiger-like aspect. The strong
jaws are provided with a full series of seven molars, a canine, and three
incisors on each side above and below.

The pointed character of the latter teeth, the long, bear-like canine
teeth, and the conical premolars, probably indicate at least a partially-
carnivorous habit. The true molars or grinders approach in character .
the corresponding teeth of the living suilline animals,

The species was named in honor of the late Dr. S. G. Morton.

Hlotheriwn ingens.—The second species, about a third longer than the
former, is founded on a few jaw fragments and teeth obtained by Pro-
fessor Hayden in the mauvaises terres.

Hlotherium superbus.—A. third species, even larger than the former,
indicated by an incisor tooth, from Douglas Flat, Calaveras County, Cali-
fornia. The specimen was submitted to the writter by Professor J. D.
Whitney.

PERCH@RUS.

An extinct genus allied to the peccary. It is indicated by small
fragments of jaws and teeth, from the miocene tertiary deposit of the
mauvaises terres of White River.

Percherus probus.—The species thus designated was about the size of
the living Dicotyles labiatus of South America.

23 &

354 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. |

LEPTOCH@RUS.

Another extinct genus thus named is also allied to the peccaries.
Tt is indicated by fragments of jaws and teeth found in association with
those of the preceding animal.

Leptocherus spectabilis—This species was about the size of the collared
peccary.

NANOHYUS

Is the name applied to another extinct genus of suilline animals, indi-
cated by a lower-jaw fragment, from the same locality as the remains
of the preceding two genera.

Nanohyus porcinus.—The species was about the size of the common
rabbit.

MICROSUS.

A small suilline animal of an extinct genus, thus named, is inferred
from a jaw fragment with teeth, obtained during the last expedition of
Professor Hayden, on Black’s Fork of Green River, near Fort Bridger,
Wyoming.

Microsus cuspidatus.The species named from the pointed condition
of, the tubercles of the teeth was about the size of the common rabbit.

HYOPSODUS.

A fragment of the lower jaw with teeth, found in association with the
specimen last mentioned, appears to indicate a hitherto unknown genus
to which the above name is given.

Hyopsodus paulus.—The species was about the size of a large hare.

Anoplotheride.

This ancient and extinct family is typified by the singular genus Ano-
plotherium, originally described by Cuvier, from remains obtained from
the eocene formation of the Paris basin. In the earliest part of the
tertiary period it appears to have been the genus which most nearly
approached in character the ruminants of later epochs. In Anoplothe-
rium the teeth formed closed series in both jaws, as we now observe to
be the case in no mammals except man.

TITANOTHERIUM.

This genus is apparently allied to the Anoplothertum of Europe, and
another extinct genus named Chalicotherium, whose remains were dis-
covered in the Sevalik Hills of India.

Titanotherium prouti.—This species is established on remains of a huge
animal, the largest of those yet indicated by the fossils obtained in the
mea uvaises terres of White River, Dakota. It approached in size the ele-
phant, and it was no doubt the conspicuous size of its remains which led
to its having been the first noticed of all the extinct animals whose bones
have been collected in the mauvaises terres cemetery.

The first notice of it was published in 1846, by the late Dr. Hiram A.
Prout, of St. Louis, who, from the character of the lower teeth, supposed
it to belong to the genus Paleotherium, originally established by Cuvier
from remains obtained from the eocene formation of Paris, France.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. - 385

Many remains, consisting of fragments of jaws, teeth, and articular ends
of different bones of the skeleton, collected by Messrs. Meek, Hayden, -
and Evans, indicate a nearer alliance of the animal to the companion of
the Palceothere, that is to say, the Anoplothere.

The remains of the species, named in honor of its discoverer, Dr. Prout,
belong to the lowest beds of the miocene deposits of the mawvaises terres,
according to the authority of Professor Hayden.

The teeth of Prout’s Titanothere formed nearly unbroken rows, though
not so completely, as in the Anopothere. li appears to have possessed
an incisor less on each side than in thé latter, and its canines were pro-
portionately larger, differences which induced small breaks or intervals
in the dental series. Among living animals, the grinding teeth of
the Titanothere approached most nearly in appearance those of the rhi-
noceros. In the best preserved specimen of the jaws of Titanothere the
series of teeth measure nearly a foot and a half in length.

Various fragments of the skeletons of different individuals indicate
considerable variation in size, probably due to difference in sex.

Dr. John Evans reported the discovery of the skeleton of an individ-
ual imbedded in, the rock in the mauvaises terres, which measured, in
position, about eighteen feet in length and nine feet in height. This
appears much too large in proportion to the size of the jaws above
referred to, and the measurement is probably greatly exaggerated, if it,
perhaps, does not apply ,to some other and lar ger animal. The speci-
mens upon which the species 7. Prouti is established indicate an animal
intermediate in size to the Indian rhinoceros and the elephant.

PALASOSYOPS.

This extinct genus is indicated by some remains obtained during Pro-
fessor Hayden’s last expedition. The specimens consisting of small
fragments of jaws, with molar teeth, were found at Church Buttes, and
on Henry’s Fork of Green River , Wyoming. The remains belong to the
Bridger Group of tertiary rocks, probably of miocene age. The genus
is closely allied to Titanotherium of the mawvaises terres, and to Chal-
icotherium of the Sevalik Hills of India.

Paleosyops paludosus.—The only species of the genus approximated in
Size the common ox.

Anthracotheride.

This name has been given to an extinct family of even-toed pachy-
derms whose types are the genera Anthracotherium and Cheropotamus,
of the early and medial tertiary formations of Europe. It is also rep-
resented in the miocene tertiary formation of the mauvaises terres of
White River by the remains of a genus which had been previously
recognized as occurring in England and France.

HYOPOTAMUS.

This genus was established by Professor Owen from some remains
found in the eocene deposit of the Isle of Wight. The true molar teeth,
or grinders, resemble those of ruminating animals, except that the upper
ones present the remarkable character of an additional or fifth lobe
introduced between the anterior pair of lobes. The whole number of
teeth and the kind correspond with those of the existing hog.

Hyopotamus Americanus.—A species based upon fragments of jaws and

356 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

teeth discovered by Professor Hayden, who refers them to the lowest bed
of the tertiary formation of the mauvaises terres. The animal approached
in size the common ox.

PERISSODACTYLA.

This name, originally employed by Professor Owen, I have used to
include all the uneven-toed pachyderms of Cuvier, except the solidun-
gulate or equine animals. Thus restricted, the order is represented by
seven genera, in the tertiary formations of our Western States and
Territories. ,

Rhinocerotide.

Among the most interesting paleontological discoveries in this coun-
try is that of the former existence of the rhinoceros family on the
North American continent. Remains of a number of species have been
detected in Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, California, Oregon, Colorado,
Wyoming, and traces even in New Jersey.

_ RHINOCEROS.

The existing species of this genus are now confined to Asia and
Africa. Remains of extinct species have been found in great abund-
ance throughout Europe and Northern Asia. The living species are
provided with one or two horns; some of the extinct ones were hornless,
and haye, on this account, been referred to a different genus, with bbe

name of Aceratherium.

Rhinoceros occidentalis.—A hornless species, distinguished by the above
name, and little more than half the size of the common Indian rhinoceros,
is indicated by an abundance of remains in the miocene tertiary deposits
of the mauvaises terres, of White River, Dakota. Its dentition is the same
as in the living unicorn rhinoceroses; that is, it possesses two incisor and
seven molar teeth on each side of both jaws.

The length of the skull of this species is one foot and a half.

Rhinoceros crassus.—This species, about the size of the Indian rhinoce-
ros, is indicated by a few fragments of jaws and teeth discovered by Pro-
fessor Hayden in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River, Nebraska.

Rhinoceros meridianus.—A third species, intermediate in size with the
two former, is indicated by an imperfect molar tooth, discovered by the
late Dr. B. F. Shumard in a tertiary formation of Washington County,
Texas.

Rhinoceros hesperius—A fourth species, under this name, has been
viewed as distinct from the former ones, and was founded on specimens
submitted to the writer by Professor J. D. Whitney. The specimens, con-
sisting of the greater portion of a lower jaw with the teeth, and some
fragments of upper molars, were derived from a tertiary deposit of Cal-
averas County, California. The species was about the size of the &.
occidentalis of the mauvaises terres.

Recently some remains, probably of the same species, were sent to .
the writer for examination by the Rev. Thomas Condon, who obtained -
them on the John Day River, Oregon.

HYRACODON.

This genus has been proposed by the writer, founded on abundance
of remains of a small rhinoceros, which differs from all others previously

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 357

described, whether recent or extinct, in the possession of canines and @
full series of incisors in both jaws. The genus was also hornless.

Hyracodon nebrascensis.—The only species of the genus indicated was
the smallest of its American kindred, and was about the size of the little
hippopotamus of Liberia, Western Africa. During the miocene period
it existed in great numbers, associated with the R. occidentalis, as proved
by the abundance of its remains in the mauvaises terres deposits.
Remains, apparently of the same species, have been discovered in Colo-
rado, Wyoming, and Oregon. The skull of H. nebrascensis is about ten
inches in length.

HYRACHYUS.

An extinet genus, allied to Hyracodon, is founded on a fragment of a
lower jaw of a young animal, obtained, during Professor Hayden’s recent
expedition, on Black’s Fork of Green River, Wyoming. In the mature
animal seven molar teeth formed a continuous series in the jaws. The
upper molars are unknown. The lower true molars resemble those of
Hyracodon, but the crowns have their constituent lobes more deeply sep-
arated externally by an angular notch. The premolars in comparison
with the true molars are proportionately smalier than in Hyracodon.

Hyrachyus agrestis—The species was smaller than Hyracodon nebras-
censis, and was about the size of the larger living peccary. The-molar
series occupied a space of about three inches, The first premolar has a
laterally-compressed conical crown spreading in a slight posterior heel.

Hyrachyus agrarius.—A supposed second species, probably of the
Same genus, is inferred from the portion of a lower jaw about the size
and form of the corresponding part in Hyracodon nebrascensis. The
specimen was obtained on Smith’s Fork of Green River, Wyoming.
The jaw below the last molar is about an inch and three-fourths deep.
Its ascending portion in front rises vertically, and externally is deeply
concave. The molar series, consisting of seven teeth, is broken away
in the specimen. The space occupied ‘by the series is about three inches
and three-fourths. The true molars occupied a space of full two inches.

®

Tapiride.

The existing members of the tapir family in this part of the world
are confined to Central and South America. During the quaternary
period, contemporaneously with the well-known mastodon, several spe-
cies of tapir inhabited North America.

LOPHIODON.

An extinct genus, described under the above name, by Cuvier, from
remains found in the middle tertiary formations of Europe, appears also
to have existed contemporaneously in North America.

Lophiodon occidentalis—A species, about the size of the common
tapir (7. terrestris) of South America, is indicated by a single tooth dis-
covered by Professor Hayden in the mauvaises terres of White River.
A fragment of an upper jaw, with two teeth, obtained by the Rev.
Thomas Condon, from Bridge Creek, Oregon, is perhaps referable to
the same species.

Lophiodon modestus.—A. small species of the same genus, thus named,
‘is indicated by a single tooth, discovered in Professor Hayden’s last
expedition, near Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

358 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES...

LOPHIOTHERIUM.

An extinct genus of this name, described by Professor Gervais, from
remains found in the eocene formation of France, appears also to have
been represented by a small species during the formation of the Bridger
Group of tertiary deposits.

Lophiotherium sylvaticum.—The species is indicated by a jaw frag-
ment with teeth, obtained during Professor Hayden’s last expedition on
Henry’s Fork of Green River, Wyoming. The animal was about two-
thirds the size of the collared pececary.

Proboscidec.

Of all extinct animals none are more familiar to the community than
the great proboscideans. Their huge bones, strewed over the earth,
have excited the attention of the least observant, and in former years
were viewed as unmistakable evidences of the earlier existence of a
race of giant men. Even now, to the uninformed their remains have
not ceased to be objects of wonder and the most convincing proofs that
in former ages huge animals roamed over the country where now they
no longer exist.

MASTODON.

This extinct genus of elephants appears to have once lived throughout
the greater part of the world. A half dozen species inhabited Hurope,
the same number Asia, two South America, and at least three, if not
four or five, North America.

Mastodon americanus—The great American mastodon appears to
have extended throughout: the whole of North America during the
quaternary period. its remains are among the most abundant of fossils
and have been found in almost every state and territory of the United
States. Complete skeletons, together with skuils of others, in a fine
state of preservation, are among the most conspicuous and striking
objects of several of our museums. It is probable that this species
still continued to exist at the time of man’s appearance on the stage
of life.

Mastodon mirificus—This species, whose remains were first discov-
ered by Professor Hayden, on the Loup Fork of the Niobrara River,
lived at an earlier period than the preceding, pertaining, as supposed,
to the pliocene age. It was about the size of the common mastodon.

Mastodon Shepardi.i—A third species, probably of miocene age, has
been recently characterized from a fragment of a tusk, from Stanislaus
County, California. The tusk of the common American mastodon is
composed alone of ivory, as in the modern elephants; but the fragment
just alluded to presents a broad band of enamel, as in the tusks of the
narrow-toothed mastodon of the miocene formation of Europe. The
species is named in honor of Professor C. U. Shepard, of Amherst Col-
lege, by whom the fossil was submitted to the writer.

Mastodon obscurus.—This name has been appropriated to a supposed
species, founded on a tooth which was reported to have been discovered
in the miocene deposit of Maryland. Fragments of similar teeth from
North Carolina and Georgia appear to confirm the distinctness of this
species from M. americanus and M. mirificus. A portion of a lower jaw
containing a last molar, like the Maryland tooth, was recently discov-
ered in Contra Costa County, California. This specimen also clearly

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. aE 4)

distinguishes the. species from those just named, but we have no evi-
dence to prove that it is not identical with the M. Shepardi.

ELEPHAS.

The most colossal of all terrestrial animals, the elephants, are now
confined to Southern Asia and Africa. Prior to the actual period spe-
cies existed in Asia, Europe, and North America which are now extinct.

Hlephas americanus.—Remains of an extinct species of elephant have
been discovered throughout the greater part of the North American
Continent. Generally these remains have been viewed as pertaining to
the Hlephas primigenius, an extinét species of Europe and Northern Asia,
and which probably also extended into the extreme northwest of North
America. There appear now to be sufficient grounds to consider the
American elephant a distinct species from the one just named. Thelate
Dr. Faleoner, of England, who perhaps more than any one else had studied
the characters of the elephant family, supposed that among the remains
found throughout North America there were evidences of two species,
one of which he called Hlephas colwmbi, and the other he viewed as the
H. primigenius. The writer also thought he recognized a different spe-
cies from the common one in some remains obtained by Professor Hay-
den on the Niobrara River. Upon a review of all the material pertaining
to the subject, he now considers that the remains of North America,
which have been referred to several species of elephant, belong to but
one, distinguished by the name heading this article.

; SOLIDUNGULA.

This order is now represented by the single genus Equus, of which
no living species is indigenous to America. Fossil remains go to show
that during earlier geological periods the order was nowhere so well
' represented as it was in America. The members of the order are divis-
ible into two groups or families, which have been named the Hquide
and the Anchitheride.

Hquide.

The equine family is represented at this time by nine or ten species
of equus, which appear all to be indigenous to Asia and Africa. Other
species of the same genus inhabited Europe, Asia, and North America
during the middle and later tertiary periods extending into the quater-
nary period.

EQUUS.

Though no indigenous species of horse appears to have existed on the
American continent during the period of man, anumber of them inhabited
the country just previously and contemporaneously with the great masto-
don, the elephant, the giant sloths of both North and South America,
&e. Dr. Lund and Professor Owen have indicated several species from
remains found in the latter continent. A number of species have like-
wise been indicated from remains pertaining to the pliocene and quater-
nary déposits of North America.

Equus fossilis—This name has been appropriated to a species whose re-
mains are found in the quaternary deposits of Europe and Northern Asia.

360 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

- By many the species is supposed to have been the ancestor of the com-
mon domestic horse. A few remains found in the frozen cliffs of Esch-
scholtz Bay, Alaska, in association with remains of the extinct northern —
Asiatic elephant, are supposed to belong to the same species,

Hquus major.—Kemains of a species of horse have been discovered in
the United States, in association with those of the mastodon, &c. The
arrangement of the enamel folding in the upper molar teeth is of amore
complex character than in the domestic horse. ‘The species was larger
than ordinary varieties of the latter, which led to its being named Hqauus
major, though it did not exceed in size the English dray horse.

Hquus , fraternus. —This name has been proposed for a second species,
based on remains found in association with those of the former, together
with those of the mastodon, &c., although they are neither distineuish-
able in size nor details of form from corresponding parts in the domes-
tic horse.

Hquus excelsus.—A third species, whose remains are found in the plio-
cene deposits of the Niobrara River, was about the size of the domestic
horse. Its remains have also been found in California and Oregon. The
grinders of this species differed in the arrangement of their enamel from
those of the domestic horse in the same manner as do those of the ass.

Hquus pacificus.—Another species, indicated by remains from Califor-
nia, was about the size of the English dray horse. The arrangement of
the enamel folds of its molar teeth is of the utmost comparative sim-
plicity.

Hquus parvulus.—This name has been assigned to a supposed diminu-
tive species, by Professor Marsh, on some remains found in a tertiary
deposit of Antelope Station, Nebraska, four hundred and fifty miles
west of Omaha. It probably pertained to the succeeding genus.

Equus conversidens—Hquus tau.—These are the names of two species
recently indicated by Professor Owen, of London, from remains dis-
covered in the tertiary deposits of the valley of Mexico.

PROTOHIPPUS.

An extinct genus of equine animals, distinguished by the above name,
was originally characterized from remains discovered by Professor Hay-
den in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River. Remains of the same
genus have likewise been found in South America, but were referred to
species of the former genus by Dr. Lund and Professor Gervais. Pro-
fessor Owen, recognizing their distinction, has recently referred them
toa different genus with the name of Hippidion. The remains from the
Niobrara River indicate three species of the genus, all of which were
smaller than the domestic horse. °

Protohippus perditus. i

Protohippus pilacidus.—This second species was not more than two-
thirds the size of the former one.

Protohippus supremus.—A. third species, intermediate in size to the
ass and the domestic horse, is indicated by some remains, found by
Professor Hayden in 1866, on the Little White River, or the South Fork
of White River, Dakota.

The South American species of the genus have been named Protohip-
pus arcidens, P. principalis, and P. neogeus.

HIPPARION. y

This is the name of an extinct genus of equine animals, whose re-
mains have been found in the middle and later tertiary deposits of Hu-

GEOLOGICAL: SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 361

rope, Asia, and North America. The skeleton was constructed on the
same general plan as in the preceding genera, but in addition to the
well-developed toe or hoof, which supported the animal, it possessed an
additional pair of toes to each foot. These, however, were not suffi-
ciently developed to touch the ground, but projected behind and _ later-
ally like the rudimental toes of hogs and ruminants. The arrangement
of the enamel in the molar teeth is of a more complex character than
in Hguus and Protohippus. A species 1s indicated by remains found in the
Ashley River deposits of Charleston, South Carolina. It was not more
than about half the size of the ass, and bas been named Hipparion
venustum.

Hipparion occidentale.—This species, about the size of an ass, is indi-
cated by remains which were found in the mauvaises terres of White
River, Dakota; but which clearly do not belong to the miocene forma-
tion of that region. They pertain to a superficial portion of the tertiary
deposit, cotemporaneous with the pliocene deposits of the N lobrara
River.

Hipparion speciosum.—A supposed second species, nearly ie same
size as the preceding, is indicated by molar teeth found at Bijou Hiil,
on the Missouri River, and in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River.
A fragment of a tooth, likewise apparently belonging to this species,
was found in digging a well, at the depth of forty feet, in Washington
County, Texas.

Hipparion affine.—A third species, also about the same size as the
preceding, is indicated by teeth discovered by Professor Hayden in the
pliocene sands of the Niobrara River. The enamel folding of the upper
grinders is of a simpler character than in the former species.

Hipparion gratum.—This species, based upon a number of teeth
obtained by Professor Hayden in the piiocene sands of the Niobrara
River, was considerably smaller than the other species with which it was
associated. :

MERYCHIPPUS.

Another extinct equine genus, has permanent molar teeth like those
of Protohippus, but the skull presents deep lachrymal depressions in
advance of the orbit, as appears also to be the casein Hipparion, but
which, in the former, as in the true horse, are absent. The temporary
teeth of Merychippus resemble more nearly in appearance the permanent
ones of the members of the next family than they do those of the other
known equine genera. It was from the remarkable resemblance of
these to the large grinders of ruminating animals that led to the adop-
tion of the name of Merychippus, which literally signifies ruminating
horse. The name, however, refers to the resemblance alone, and does
not indicate that the animal partook of the peculiar habits of the
ruminants.

Merychippus insighis.—This species, about the size of the ass, was
originally established on a jaw fragment, containing teeth, which was
discovered by Professor Hayden at Bijou Hill. Many additional re-
mains, referable to the same species, were subsequently found in the
pliocene sands of the Niobrara River, during Warren’s expedition in
1857.

Mer: ychippus mirabilis—This second species, rather larger than the
preceding, is indicated by remains discovered by Professor Hayden
“ the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River and on Little White River,

akota.

362 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Anchitheride.

This extinct family of three-toed, horse-like animals, has for its type
the genus Anchitherium, the first known species of which was deseribed
by Cuvier under the name of Paleotherium qaurelianense. Its remains
were obtained from the miocene tertiary deposits of France. Lartet
and DeBlainville call the same animal Palcotherium hippoides, or horse-
like Paleothere.

In the Equine family the teeth have long crowns, which are gradually
protruded as they are worn away; in the Anchitherine family the teeth
have comparatively short crowns, which are quickly protruded and in-
serted into the jaws by long fangs. Their skeleton im general form
closely approximates that’ of the horse, and most nearly that of Hip-
parion.

ANCHITHERIUM.

This genus is represented in the miocene deposits of our Western
Territories by two species.

Anchitherium Bairdi.—The remains of this species are comparatively
abundant, in association with those of oreodons, rhinoceros, &¢., in the
mauvaises terres of White River, Dakota. The skull of the species is |
a miniature form of that of the horse, except that the face is propor-
tionately shallower. Its length is rather less than seven inches. The
size of the animal was about half that of the domestic horse. The spe-
cies was named in honor of Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution.

Anchitherium Condoni.—A second species is inferred to have existed
from a fragment of an upper jaw with a mutilated tooth, discovered by
the Rev. Thomas Condon, of Dalles City, on Bridge Creek, a tributary
of John Day’s River, Oregon. It was rather larger than the preceding
species, and is named in honor of its discoverer.

HYPOHIPPUS.

An extinct genus to which this name is given is represented by the
following species:

Hypohippus affinis—Established on a single tooth, indicating an ani-
mal about the size of the domestic horse.

ANCHIPPUS.

Another extinct genus, allied to the preceding, is represented by the
following species :

Anchippus texanus.—Yhe species is established on a molar tooth ob-
tained by the late Dr. Shumard in Washington County, Texas. It was
found in digging awell at the depth of 50 feet in a sandstone supposed
to be of miocene age. The animal indicated by the tooth was rather
smaller than the ass. .

. PARAHIPPUS.

A fourth genus of the extinct Anchitherine family, named as above, is
indicated by some teeth discovered by Professor Hayden in the plio-
cene sands of the Niobrara River. The teeth resemble in their char-
acters those of Anchitheriwm more nearly than they do those of any of
the equine genera; ntevertheless they exhibit more complexity*than in
the former or any other member of the same family.

Parahippus cognatus.—The species thus designated is established
upon an incomplete series of well-preserved teeth. The animal was
about a third less in size than the ass.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 363

RODENTIA.

The order of gnawing animals is represented in the tertiary formations
of the West by half a dozen genera, most of which are extinct. The
comparative smallness of the animals of this order renders their remains
more liable to total destruction than those of larger animals, and also to
their escaping notice when preserved. No doubt many remains of un-
known species and genera will be discovered in future explorations of
the tertiary deposits.

Leporide.

The hare family is represented in the miocene formation of thé mau-
vaises terres by a peculiar genus, which probably was the remote ances-
tor of our rabbits.

PALAZOLAGUS.

The genus is established on a number of fragments of jaws and teeth
discovered by Professor Hayden at the head of Bear Creek, a tributary
of the Sheyenne River, Dakota. Palzolagus had the same number of
teeth as in the rabbit, but the first lower molar is composed of a double
column, as in the other molars, whereas in the latter it has an additional
column.

Paleolagus Haydeni.—The species, named in honor of its discoverer,
was rather less in size than our common gray rabbit.

Sciuride.

The family of the squirrels and marmots was represented by a pecu-
liar genus, whose remains were discovered by Professor Hayden in
association with those of the former. Similar remains were subsequently
‘obtained from the mauvaises terres of White River. , The genus is
distinguished by the following name:

ISCHYROMYS.

The skull of the genus approaches most nearly in form that of the
living beaver, but the:teeth more nearly resemble those of the squirrel.
Ischyromys typus.—The species was about the size of the common
‘muskrat.
Castoride@.

The beaver family is represented both in the miocene and pliocene
formations of Dakota and Nebraska.

PAL MOCASTOR.

A rodent or gnawer, to which this name is given, is founded on several
incomplete skulls, together with a number of fragments of jaws with
teeth, obtained by Professor Hayden in the miocene deposit of the
mauvaises terres of White River, Dakota.

Paleocastor nebrascensis. —The species was about half the size of the
existing beaver.

CASTOR.

The sole representatives of this genus now living are the American
and the European beaver.

Castor tortus.—An extinct species, thus named, is indicated by a por-
tion of a skull, with teeth, found by Professor Hayden in the pliocene
sands of the Niobrara River. _ Itwas only half the size of the living
species. aa Tye

*

‘

364 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Muride.

The rat family is represented :in the miocene deposit of the mau-
vaises terres of White River by an extinct genus, to which the following
name has been applied:

EUMYS.

This genus is founded upon the fragment of a jaw discovered by Pro-
fessor Hayden.
Humys elegans.—The species was about the size of the brown rat.

Hystricide.

The porcupine family is represented by a species whose remains were
found by Professor Hayden in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River.

HYSTRIX.

The living species of this genus are confined to the Old World, none
having been discovered in America.

Hystrix venustus.—An extinct species, indicated by several isolated
teeth from the Niobrara River. Judging from thecharacters of the teeth
it was more nearly related with the crested porcupine of Europe than
with our own living porcupine, pertaining to another genus.

INSECTIVORA. -

The insectivorous order of animals, mainly consisting of the smallest
forms of the mammalian class, as might be supposed, are among the
rarest of those whose remains are found preserved in ,fossiliferous
strata. Professor Hayden’s explorations in the West have led to the dis-
covery of three extinct genera of the order, pertaining to the miocene
tertiary formation of the mauvaises terres of White River, Dakota;
and a third genus was discovered by Dr. J. Van A. Carter, of Fort
Bridger, Wyoming, in the Bridger Group of tertiary deposits of his
vicinity.

LEPTICTIS.

The genus to which this name is given is established on the speci-
men of an almost complete skull, which was found imbedded in a soft
rock near the mouth of one of the small tributaries of White River, im
the mauvaises terres. It possessed three incisor, a canine, and seven |
molar teeth on each side of the jaws. The top of the skull presents a
pair of prominent ridges, defining the temporal fosse. The animal was
allied more nearly to the hedgehogs than to any other of the living
members of the order.

Leptictis Haydeni.—The species, named in honor of its discoverer, was
scarcely as large as a mink. ‘The skull is barely two and a half inches
long.

ICTOPS.

A second genus, closely allied to the preceding, is indicated by a small
fragment of a skull, found in association with the former specimen. Itis
distinguishable from it by difference in the form of the molar teeth.

Ictops dakotensis.—A species about the same size as the preceding, |
with which it lived cotemporaneously.

COMOMYS.

This extinct genus, probably pertaining to the same family as the
European hedgehog, was established on the fragment of a lower jaw,
with teeth, from the tertiary formation near Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 365

Omomys Cartert.—The species, named in honor of its discoverer, was
about half as large again as our common mole, (Scalops aquaticus.)

EDENTATA..

Among the great multitude of vertebrate fossils brought to our notice
from the western part of the continent, we have detected almost no
traces of remains of the giant sloths, which existed so extensively dur-
ing the quaternary period in both North and South America. Remains
of Mylodon Harlani have been found on the Willamette River, Oregon,
and recently we have seen the fragment of a claw phalanx, apparently
of a large, sloth-like animal, from Castle Creek, Idaho.

CETACEA.

Remains of cetaceans, thus far, have been but sparingly found in the
tertiary and quaternary formations of the West. Vertebre from the
- later deposits have been indicated from Oregon.

DELPHINUS.

Remains of porpoises have been discovered in the upper miocene
formation of Half-Moon Bay, California.

Delphinus occiduus.—A species, founded upon a jaw fragment from
the locality just named, submitted to the examination of the writer by
Professor J.D. Whitney. It was about the size of our common porpoise.

BIRDS.

The remains of birds are among the rarest of vertebrate fossils in
most of the explored rocks of the world. From the peculiarities of these
animals, enabling them to escape many of the catastrophes or accidents
to which more terrestrial and aquatic animals would be liabie, and from
the generally lighter construction of their bodies, they are less likely to be
placed in positions where their remains would be preserved and become
fossils. Among the large collections of fossils made in the mauvaises
terres of White River, Dakota, amounting to several tons in weight,
which have been submitted to the writer’s examination, he discovered
no trace of birds. In all other collections from the West there was
likewise no trace detected, except a single bone fragment discovered
by Dr. Hayden in the pliocene sands of the Niobrara River, Nebraska.
This specimtén has been recently described by Professor O. C. Marsh,
who views it as pertaining to an extinct species, to which he has given
the name of Grus Haydeni.

’

REPTILES.

e

The remains of reptiles occur in the greatest abundance in the second-
ary formations of the West. Those best known have been derived from
the cretaceous deposits of Kansas, Dakota, and of the head-waters of
the Missouri River. Remains of the same order, though less abundant,
are nevertheless quite numerous in the tertiary deposits of the country,
especially those of turtles.

CHELONTIA.

The chelonians or turtles appear to have been exceedingly abundant
in the West during the tertiary period. They, however, appear not to

366 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

have been so rich in the number of genera and species relatively as
they do in the multitude of individuals of a few genera and species.
_ Their remains are found in association with the numerous mammalian
fossils of the mawvaises terres of Dakota and those of the Niobrara
River. <A greater number of species’ and genera are indicated by the
remaips in the tertiary deposits of the vicinity of Fort Bridger,
Wyoming. —
EMYS.

The genus emys includes many of our living fresh-water terrapenes,
and is also represented in Europe and Asia. It has latterly been divided
into different genera, founded on characters of the jaws, head, and feet;
so that from the fossil shells alone we are unable more distinetly to
define the animals. The shell of emys is rather oval in outline, med-
erately convex. The sternum is large, truncated in front, and notched
behind. Its broad pedicles are joined by firm suture to the upper
shell or carapace. The outer portions of the humeral and abdominal
scutes cover these pedicles, and join the marginal scutes between the
position of the axillary and inguinal scutes.

Emys Jeanesi.—This species is founded on a nearly complete shell,
obtained, during Professor Hayden’s last expedition, from the tertiary
deposit of the Bridger Group, near Fort Bridger, Wyoming. The length
of the shell, following the fore-and-aft curve, is fifteen inches; the
length of the sternum is about one foot. The species is named in
honor of Joseph Jeanes, to whose aid we have been much indebted
in developing the fossil treasures of the West.

Emys Haydeni.—A second species has been inferred to have existed
from an imperfect shell found in association with the former specimen,
together with many fragments of shells of the same and other species of
turtles. The species was about the size of the last, but is distinguished
from it by the difference of form of its scute impressions.

Emys Stevensonit.—An apparent third species is founded on fragments
of the carapace and sternum of a shell, obtained by Dr. J. Van A.
Carter, from the tertiary deposit in the vicinity of Fort Bridger,
Wyoming. It has been named in honor of James Stevenson, the active
and efficient aid of Professor Hayden in his explorations.

STYLEMYS.

By this name the writer has distinguished an extinct genus of tur-
tles, which is intermediate in form between the modern ‘land turtles
(Testudo) and the aquatic ones (Hmys.) As in the former the back
extremity of the carapace is invested with a broad, symmetrical plate,
instead of a pair, as in the latter.

Stylemys nebrascensis—The species is established upon specimens
which have been collected by every explorer of the mawvaises terres of
White River, Dakota. So abundant have these fossil turtles been in
the locality mentioned that they have attracted the attention of the
most indifferent observers. Among the specimens submitted to the
examination of the author, considerable variation has been noticed, and
this variation at first led to the distinction of five different species.
At present he views them all as belonging to but one species. Several.
mature speciniens measure one and three-quarter feet in length by one
foot and a quarter in breadth.

Stylemys niobrarensis.—A second species has been supposed to exist,
founded on a multitude of fragments, discovered by Professor Hayden
in association with mammalian remains in the pliocene sands of the
Niobrara River. It was as large as the preceding species.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 367

BAPTEMYS.

An extinct genus of terrapenes, thus named, is established on an
almost perfect shell, obtained from the miocene tertiary deposits in the
vicinity of Fort Bridger, Wyoming. It was submitted to our examina-
tion by Mr. O. C. Smith of Amherst, Massachusetts. The genus ap-
proaches in character the existing Dermatemys of Central America.
The pedicles of the sternum are covered by a large scute intervening
between the comparatively large inguinal and axillary scutes, and sep-
arating the humeral and abdominal scutes from the marginal ones.

Baptemys wyomingensis.—The shell of the species measured about one
foot and a half in length by a foot in breadth.

BANA.

Another extinct genus of turtles is indicated by two nearly complete
shells, obtained from the tertiary formation near Fort Bridger, Wyoming.
One of the specimens was discovered during Professor Hayden’s last ex-
pedition; the other was presented to the weiter by Dr. J. Van A. Carter,
~ of Fort Bridger. The genus partakes of characters of the terrapenes
and the snappers. The shell is moderately convex as in the latter, and
like it is notched at the sides posteriorly. The sternum is more like
that of the emydes than of the snappers. The sternal pedicles are deep
and wide, and are impressed by one or two large scales intervening be-
tween the humeral and abdominal and the marginal scutes, and sepa-
rating comparatively large axillary and inguinal scutes.

Bena arenosa.—In its perfect condition the shell measured about four-
teen inches long and about ten and a half wide. Two large scutes inter-
vene to the axillary and inguinal scutes.

Bena affinis.—This may, perhaps, be the same as the former. It was
nearly of the same size and shape, but in the specimen which has sug-
gested the idea of a species distinct from the former, a single accessory
scute intervenes to the axillary and inguinal scutes.

TRIONYX.

The genus of soft-shelled turtles is represented by a number of extinct
species belonging to both the secondary and tertiary formations of this
country. Numerous fragments, in the collections of fossils obtained by
Dr. J. Van A. Carter, and in those made during Professor Hayden’s last.
two expeditions, from the tertiary deposits of Wyoming, apparently indi-
cate two extinct species. Only one of these, however, can be charac-
terized from the more perfect of the specimens.

Trionyx guttatus.—This species is established on a large portion of a
carapace, discovered by Professor Hayden in 1868, at Church Buttes,
near Fort Bridger, Wyoming. ‘The shell of the animal was about a foot
and a quarter long by a foot in breadth.

CROCODILIA.

Remains of crocodilians have not been found so abundantly in the
West as might have been supposed. None have thus far been found
among the multitude of other reptilian remains in the cretaceous form-
ations of Kansas and Dakota. None have been discovered in the
miocene tertiary deposits of the mauwvaises terres of Dakota, nor the
pliocene sands of the Niobrara River. One would have suspected that
crocodiles would have been abundant where there were such vast num-
bers of mammals feeding in the vicinity of streams and lakes of fresh

368 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

water, such as existed in Dakota and Nebraska during the tertiary
period.
CROCODILUS.

Remains of this genus occur abundantly in the Bridger Group of
tertiary formations in Wyoming. Among numerous fossils from this
region sent to the writer by Dr. J. Van A. Carter, and in the collection
made during Professor Hayden’s last expedition, the writer has detected
the remains of three species of crocodile.

Crocodilus aptus.x—A species named from a single vertebra found by
Colonel John A. Knight, United States Army, near South Bitter Creek,
Wyoming. The animal was about the size of the Mississippi alligator.
Remains apparently of the same species have been collected by Dr. J.
Van A. Carter in the vicinity of Fort Bridger. \

Crocodilus Elliotti—The remains of a second species of crocodile were
found in abundance, during Professor Hayden’s last expedition, on one
of the tributaries of Green River, Wyoming. The skull is about a
foot and a half in length and bears a resemblance in shape to that of
the crocodile of the Nile. The species is named in honor of Mr. Henry
W. Elliott, the artist attendant on Professor Hayden’s expedition. The
remains of a third and smaller species of crocodile are contained in the
collections made by Professor Hayden’s party in the tertiary deposits
of the Bridger Group. Dr. J. Van A. Carter has also sent to the author,
from the same locality, a number of vertebre of this third species.

LACERTILIA.

The cretaceous formations of the West teem with the fossil evidences
of lacertilian life, forms well expressed in the line “ there were giants in
those days.” These were, however, in many respects so peculiar, or
different from the lacertilians of our day, holding as they did a position
between the latter and the serpents, that Professor Cope has viewed
them as characteristic of a distinct order, under the name of Pythono-
morpha. The true lacertilians appear also to have been represented
during the tertiary period, as indicated by the following genus:

SANIVA.

An extinct genus of lacertian reptiles, with the above name, is founded
on remains discovered during Professor Hayden’s last expedition, in a
tertiary rock at Granger, Wyoming. The vertebre, as in the living
iguanas, monitors, &c., have the body excavated in a cup in front and
terminating in a ball behind. The cup and ball are oblique and widest
transversely. The animal possessed well-developed limbs with long
toes, but the remains are too imperfect to determine their number and
arrangement. The teeth were compressed, conical, and doubly trench-
ant, indicating carnivorous habits.

Saniva ensidens.—The species was as large as our largest living
iguanas.

FISHES.

Numerous remains of fishes have been discovered in the secondary
and tertiary formations of the West. Those from the secondary forma-
tions of cretaceous age belong to marine forms. Those of the tertiary
formations of California, which have been described, also belong to ma-
rine forms, mainly sharks. Those of the tertiary formations east of the
Rocky Mountains, which have been described, are from Green River,
Wyoming, and Castle Creek, Idaho, and belong to fresh-water forms.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 369

Cyprinide..

This is an extensive family of fresh-water fishes, among the least car-
nivorous of its class. It includes the carp, the gold-fish, the sucker,
&c. It is well represented by the remains of a number of extinct spe-
cies and genera in the tertiary deposit of Castle Creek, Idaho.

MYLOCYPRINUS.

An extinct genus, founded on numerous specimens of pharyngeal
bones, supporting strong grinding teeth, submitted to the investigation
of the author by Professor John 8. N ewberry.

Mylocyprinus robustus.—The large size of the phary ngeal bones with
their robust grinders, looking like human premolar teeth, indicate a
species several feet in length.

Cyprinodontide.

The living members of the cyprinodont family are small fishes, for
the most part inhabiting fresh water.

CYPRINODON.

This genus is represented by an abundance of remains, discovered, iu
association with those of herrings, by Professor Hayden, in the tertiary
Shales of Green River, Wyoming.

Cyprinodon Levatus.—A small species, described by Professor Cope,
from specimens obtained from the locality just named.

Clupeide.
The clupeoid family includes shad, herring, &e.
CLUPEA.

Several species of herrings have left an abundance of remains in the
tertiary shales of Green River, Wyoming. ‘The first of these fossils was
made known to us in 1856 by the late Dr. John Evans.

Clupea humilis.—This species is about three and a half inches in
length.

Clupea pusilla.—A species about half the size of the preceding and
found with it described by Professor Cope.

Squammipennes.
A family of fishes characterized by the extension of scales on the:
fins. To it belongs the curious Chetodon rostratus of Java, which pos-

sesses the faculty of throwing a drop of water from its mouth, at an
insect, with unerring accuracy.

ASINEOPS.

An extinct genus, established by Professor Cope on abundance of
remains obtained by Professor Hayden in the tertiary shales of Green.
River, Wyoming.

Asincops squamifrons.—The species is about eight inches in length.

PLAGOSTOMI.

This order includes the sharks and rays.
SELACHII.

The selachians, or sharks, have left a multitude of remains in some of
the marine tertiary formations of the West. From the miocene deposits
of Ocoya Creek, at the western base of the Sierra N evate, California, a

24 G

370 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

number of genera and species have been indicated by Professor Agas-
siz, aS follows: Echinorhinus Blakei, Scymnus occidentalis, Galeocerdo
productus, Prionodon antiquus, Hemipristis heteropleurus, Carcharodon
rectus, Oxyrhina plana, Oxyrhina tumula, Lamna clavata, Lamna ornata.

BATIDES.

The skates are indicated in the Ocoya Creek tertiary by the frag-
ment of a tooth referred by Professor Agassiz to the genus Zygobates.

ONCOBATIS.

An extinct genus of rays is indicated by an osseous scale of peculiar
character, from the tertiary deposit of Castle Creek, Idaho.

Oncobatis pentagonus.

The scale upon which the species is founded was discovered in asso-
ciation with abundance of remains of cyprinoid fishes, and is interesting
as indicating most probably a large form which inhabited fresh water.

V.—ON THE FOSSIL PLANTS OF THE CRETACE-
OUS AND TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF. KANSAS
AND NEBRASKA.

By L. LESQUEREUX.
CHAPTER I.

ON THE MODE OF PRESERVATION OF THE FOSSIL PLANTS, AND ON THE
CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THEIR FOSSILIZATION HAS BEEN EF-
FECTED.

Researches for fossil plants are, in this country, so rarely undertaken
under a scientific direction, that their discovery is mostly a matter of
chance, giving rise to speculations and queries of a most extraordinary
kind. Not only our flexuous stems of Stigmaria have been often con-
sidered as snakes of a prodigious size, but many times in my explora-
tions I have been amused by preposterous questions like this one, ad-
dressed to me by people, who, recognizing a branch of fern upon a speci-
men of shale of the coal, wished me to explain ‘‘ by what means plants
of such slender size could pierce the stones and grow into them.” It is
not, therefore, inopportune to say a few words on the questions heading
this chapter.

Every kind of woody tissue, when shut out of atmospheric influence,
(or of oxidation,) either by water or by any other matter, escapes de-
composition for an indefinite length of.time. In such cireumstanees, the
wood is subjected to a slow kind of combustion, of which the first state
is a Softening of the tissue or of the whole mass. Timber used as piling
in water or in clay is found, after centuries, blackened, and more or less
plastic, without any trace of decay. Whole forests of the pliocene age
have been imbedded in clay, or submerged, and the trees have now their
tissues as soft as the clay itself, though their structure is in a perfect
state of preservation. It is the same with some deposits of lignites of
the tertiary, which area mere compound of heaped trunks of trees whose
wood has become black as coal, but is still soft as clay. This first

GECLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 371

mode of decomposition of the woody tissue explains the various appear-
ances remarked in different kinds of fossil wood after complete minerali-
zation; for it is easy to understand that, after this softening process,
the wood is easily penetrated by different mineralizing elements, of
which the water or the imbedding substances are impregnated. Some
substances, especially lime and silica, do not destroy the woody tissue
in penetrating it. The internal structure of fossil trees of this kind can
therefore be studied in obtaining their lamelle, and observing them with
the microscope. ‘This has furnished the means of exactly determining
if not the species, at least the genera to which are referable fossil trees
of various geological epochs.

Deposits of fossil wood of this kind are generally formed in connection
with our tertiary and cretaceous formations, and also, though more
rarely, in our carboniferous measures. There is a deposit of silicified
trunks in Southern Ohio, from which splendid specimens have been ob-
tained. Silicified trunks of the tertiary are now found strewn on the
sandy surface of the land in Mississippi, Arkansas, and fartber west.
This mode of petrification has happened to trees in a standing position
as well as to prostrated trunks. In the first case the petrification of
the trees is generally homogeneous or unmixed. In prostrated trunks
the difference in the decomposition of the trees, at the time when they
were buried, has apparently varied the mode and the agents of minerali-
zation in such a way that, in the same specimens, part of a trunk is im-
pregnated with lime, while other parts are silicified, and still others
penetrated with oxide of iron or hardened into clay. Trees fossilized in
that way have been remarked at various places, especially in beds of
sandstone of the coal formations near Gallipolis, Ohio. At first it seems
difficult to explain how trees can have been preserved in a standing
position for a time long enough to produce mineralization. But in
examining the geological strata of our coal measures, for example, it
becomes evident that at repeated times, areas, sometimes of wide extent,
have been subjected to great depressions, and been covered more
or less rapidly with water and with the materials brought with it, espe-
cially sand. In that way entire forests have been buried, their trees
imbedded to a certain height and petrified in that position, sustained as
they were in their softened state by the imbedding materials. Such
fossil standing trees are of no rare occurrence in the sandstone of our
coal measures, and sometimes, as for example near Carbondale, Penn-
sylvania, the miners have pierced their tunnels through such forests of
stone and brought to light an immense amount of their débris.

It is questionable if, by the petrification of trees by silex, the silica
which has penetrated ‘them was naturally in solution in the water COV-
ering the deposit, as Professor Gceppert will have it; or if, according to
Professor Schimper’s opinion, the silicification has happened only under
the influence of hot springs, impregnated with a large proportion of
silica, like springs of volcanic agency. The first or natural process can
have been but very slow, and so long, according to Professor Schimper,
that the wood could not have escaped total decomposition and destruc-
tion before its mineralization. In this assertion the celebrated professor
is certainly in error, for, from what we have said before, the woody
tissue, protected by immersion against the destroying influence of the oxy-
gen of air, is indeed indestructible for an indefinite length of time ; and be-
ing preserved for whole epochs in the soft state, can be thus slow ly im-
pregnated by any kind of mineralizing elements which may be in solution
in the water. The opinion of Professor Schimper is still contradicted by
the fact that in this country silicified wood is found in our coal meas-

(i GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ures and in our tertiary and cretaceous formations in connection with
such strata, which do not show the slightest traces of disturbances and
of metamorphism or change of nature by heat; and at such localities
where no traces of thermal springs, or other phenomena of the same
nature, indicate the influence of voleanie action.

When other substances, like clay, iron, sand, &c., have penetrated the
trees or plants subjected to fossilization, the internal structure of the
wood has been totally destroyed, and then nothing is left to indicate
its primitive nature but a thin pellicle of charcoal surrounding the bark
and preserving therefore only the outline of the outer surface of the
trees. Trunks of this kind are often found either standing in their
original form, or prostrated and flattened by compression in the sand-
stone of our coal measures. The peculiar conformations of the trees of
this formation afford, from the scars of branches and leaves which have
been left on the-trunks, the means of comparing them and of classify-
ing them, even according to their species. At some places, for exam-
ple, nearthe Raccoon Furnace, in Northwest Kentucky, immense deposits
of iron ore have been formed by the accumulation of stems and leaves
of Stigmaria and Cordaites, which have been transformed into a rich car-
bonate of iron. The stems of Stigmaria have preserved their original
form, not being flattened in the least, with the scars of their leaves
perfectly distinct, as well as the medular canal and its star-like divisions.

When trunks are immersed for a great length of time in water which
does not contain any kind of mineralizing element, the softer tissue
becomes not only softened, but disaggregated in such a way that the
woody matter is separated like a paste, excepting the bark, which longer
resists this kind of disaggregation. In that way, and by compression,
layers of bark of species of trees of the coal epoch are found in the
shale, heaped upon one another in a more or jess confused manner. The
same phenomenon is observable, even at our time, in some peat forma-
tions of the North, for example in Denmark, near the border of the
sea, in a large swamp out of which the peat is worked for combustible.
This matter is a half fluid paste, a compound of débris of woody fibers.
It is taken out in buckets, thrown upon beds of straw to drain off the
water, and then compressed and dried, when it becomes a good combus-
tible. In the meanwhile the bark of the trees from which this decomposed
matter has been derived is taken out of the ditch, like rolled, hollow
cylinders, and then dried separately and used as a combustible of less
value.

It is especially from the petrification of leaves and small branches
that our valuable and interesting specimens of fossil plants are obtained.
Their fossilization is somewhat different from that of thetrunks. Leaves
falling in pools of quiet water, containing some muddy sediments, are
softened, then compressed, and by the hardening of the imbedding mat-
ter the skeleton of their tissue is printed upon the stone, sometimes in
its minutest details. In the shale of the coal-measures the matter of
the leaves has been transformed into a thin pellicle of coal, which shows
all the details of their structure. The exact outlines of whole fronds
of ferns, their leaves in their minutest divisions, the stems, the pedicels,
all the nerves and their branches, are there clearly printed in black upon
the stone, offering in their details of structure, characters which serve to
their determination. In some shale the leaves and branches are inclosed
in concretions or nodules of carbonate of iron, wherein they have left the -
most beautiful and distinct impressions. Our tertiary and cretaceous
measures contain leaves of trees which are preserved in the same way,
in clay or soft sandstone, and which have left nothing on the shale but

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 3719
the print of the details of their structure, their outlines and their nerva-
tion, without any trace of their original substance.

The mode of preservation of the leaves varies like that of the trunks,
according to the elements composing the matter in which they are im-
bedded, and especially according to the circumstances in which. they
have been deposited. Immense beds of coal, for example, have been
formed from the remains of plants, while the coal itself scarcely shows
any distinet prints, except sometimes upon thin lamelle of dry char-
coal which separate its layers. Per contra, the prints of fossil plants
are abundantly seen in the shale which covers the coal. The reason of
this ditference is, that when the combustible is heaped by superposition
of débris of wood, and no foreign element like clay or sand is mixed
with it, the whole matter, by slow decomposition, is softened into paste,
then compressed and hardened, forming a homogeneous mass. In this
process all the tissues are destroyed or mixed, and therefore the origi-
nal form of vegetables is rarely preserved. But when the growth of
the peat or the heaping of the woody materials which have composed a
bed of coal have ceased, and when by immersion the surface becomes
covered by water, deep enough to stop the active vegetation which
originated the coal, some hillocks or islands are left here and there
above water, bearing the same kind of plants as those of the coal. Their
branches in decaying fall into the water and are imbedded in its muddy
deposits, which form the shale, and then preserved by fossilization.

Tt is in the same way that the leaves of trees, growing around the
Swamps at the time of our cretaceous or tertiary formations, have been
deposited in clay, and preserved in a fossil state. Sometimes, however,
leaves and woody débris have been transported and heaped at some
places according to circumstances. In this case they are more or less
damaged, rolled up, and mixed together in sandstone or clay, in a more
or less indistinguishable mass. We have at our time examples of all
these kinds of transportation, deposition, and preservation of leaves. We
find them imbedded in the muddy deposits which cover our peat-bogs.
The clay of our swamps is full of skeletons of leaves from the trees which
surround them, and along our rivers, as, for example, of the Ohio River
near Paducah, we find deposits of leaves floated down the river and
buried in the bottom clay, in heaps of six to ten feet thick, where they
still follow the same process of slow decomposition, whose ultimate term
is complete petrification.

ON THE FOSSIL PLANTS CONSIDERED IN THEIR RELATION TO THE
ACTUAL DOMAIN OF MAN.

As most of the strata composing the crust of the earth have been
formed under water, and mostly contain remains of ‘animals, especially
of molusks, geology receives from animal paleontology far greater
assistance for the determination of the strata and of their relative age
than it can obtain from the study of botanical remains. Considered in
this point of view, therefore, fossil plants appear of little importance.
But when we come to demand from geology some instructions, some
light concerning the surface of our earth at different epochs, science
' can answer nothing if it does not inquire into the data furnished by
botanical paleontology. As vegetation is in absolute relation with

374 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

atmospheric circumstances, the fossil plants are, indeed, the written
records of the atmospheric and physical conditions of our earth at the
epochs which they represent. In the Marcellus shale of the Middle
Devonian, we see the first appearance of vegetation in the fossil remains
of large trunks of coniferous trees found here and there imbedded in
the shale, without any trace of branches or leaves. The shale also con-
tains a quantity of fish remains and large flakes of black, coaly matter,
apparently due to the decomposition of marine plants. It i iS an exten-
sive formation, sometimes a few hundred feet in thickness, impreg-
nated with bitumen, presenting everywhere the same characters. No
other trace of land plants is left but these large fossil trunks. Where
was the land then just emerging for the first time from its marine era-
die? What was the aspect of the landscape? A black muddy surface
covered with an atmosphere darkened by vapors, where nothing is dis-
tinguishable, but perhaps at wide intervals, a group of some trees emerg-
ing from the muddy bottom and breaking the universal gloom. No
trace of animal life appears above the waters. Allis dismal and silent.

In the Upper Devonian, the Chemung, the Catskill group, and espe-
cially the red shale of the subearboniferous measures, largely developed
in the anthracite basin of the Appalachian coal-fields, the remains of
land plants are more frequently found. These are not trunks of fossil
wood, but rather leaves and branches of a peculiar type of plants, ferns
with flabellate leaves, especially Noeggerathia, which we do not find in
the coal measures; and a few stems of Lycopodiacecee and Equisetacee,
the first representatives of a class of plants which constitutes the largest
part of the vegetation of the coal. Leaves and branches of the Upper De-
vonian and subcarboniferous measures are compressed between layers of
shales, which bear ripple-marks, fissures caused by heat, and round prints,
evidently formed by drops of rain. If this does not indicate a suecession
of seasons of different temperature, it shows at least a distinct atmo-
sphere, already penetrated by light, where changes of temperature cause
condensation or diffusion—rain, followed, perhaps, by some rays of sun-
shine. Animal life also appears at the surface; crustaceans and large
creeping saurians slowly plow their paths in the mud. Their traces have
been preserved upon the shales; they indicate the first attempt at an
zerial respiration.

In the coal formations the aspect of the landscape is totally changed.
Everywhere the vegetable life predominates and attains its widest pro-
portions; all still more or less under the influence of water. The emerged
land is marked by a succession of immense low swamps, whose surface
is concealed under a thick carpet of creeping plants, which fill them
with their débris. Where the land has already some fixity, immense
forests of large trees, mostly of the acrogenous kind, grow in a dense
mass, of a size and height which compare with the largest trees of our
time. They cover the land with a world of vegetation, which is scarcely
now conceivable, even by the wildest imagination. All the vegetation
is by its nature, its form, its texture, e especially adapted to the absorp-
tion of atmospheric humidity and of carbonic acid. It is there at work
cleaning the atmosphere, in transforming into woody fiber its surplus of
water and of carbonic acid, and preparing it for animal life. For already,
remains of saurians, scorpions, insects of large size, found in the shale
of the coal, indicate that animal life has taken a marked place on the
surface of the land. There is there also an evident distinction of sea-
sons; the layers of coal show annual decay and periodical deposition
of woody remains.

The lower permian has still for its land vegetation many species of -

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 375

plants of the coal-measures, but here the conifer appears, represented
for the first time by their leaves and branches, and are of a peculiar
order. The carboniferous vegetation loses its force by the disappear-
ance of its arborescent acrogenous plants. The débris are no more
heaped in immense deposits, but scattered here and there in the shales,
or forming by their agglomeration mere flakes of coal. This indi-
cates an atmosphere already discharged of greatest part of its carbonic
acid and of vapors. The triassic, which, with us at least, touches, by
the character of its flora, to the Jurassic, has plants which, like Cycadee,
rather indicate a warm than a vaporous atmosphere. But for this and
the following formations, the Jurassic, the data furnished by fossil
plants on this continent are too scant to permit reliable conclusions.
We have to pass to the lower cretaceous to find abundant remains of
land plants, and here at once we have a vegetation absolutely different
in its characters from all that has been seen before. All the forms (the
needle form of leaves) which indicate atmospheric humidity, have dis-
appeared ; scarcely any conifers remain, very few ferns, no trace of
Lycopodiacee, but leaves of dicotyledonous plants, representing already
most of the genera of trees found in our forests. The vegetation is
therefore of a kind known tous. The atmospheric circumstances are
then analogous to those of our time. We now follow through the
eretaceous and tertiary formations merely modifications of species,
disappearance of some forms, reappearance of others, about as we
should have to do now in studying our flora in passing through a few
degrees of latitude*.

THE FOSSIL PLANTS IN RELATION TO OUR PRESENT CIVILIZATION.

To say that fossil plants have a relation to our present civilization
appears at first sight a paradoxical affirmation. But what is coal? A
mere agglomeration of petrified débris of plants. And who at our time
could refuse to admit the influence of coal upon our actual civilization ?
Coal is the great generator of heat, of steam, of force; a potent auxiliary
to every kind of enginery. It helps to the construction of our rail-
roads; it brings them to countries which, without it; would remain
deserts; and transports everywhere, with lightning speed, not only the
necessaries of life, but the products of industry essentially due to its
active codperation. Coal is now used everywhere, and is the friend of
everybody. It has become an object, not of mere commodity, but of
absolute necessity.

The formation of the coal is now pretty well understood among geol-
ogists. It results from active growth of woody plants, whose débris,
falling every year, are preserved against decomposition by stagnant
water, or great atmospheric humidity. It is the process which now
still forms our deposit of peat. It demands for its favorable action a
ground or basin, rendered impermeable by a substratum of clay, a pecu-
liar kind of plants, constantly growing at the same place, and heaping
their débris for a length of time. At our epoch the formation of peat

* In the geological report of Dr. F. V. Hayden on the explorations of the Yellow-
stone River, under the direction of Brigadier General W. F. Raynolds, published in

1869, Dr. Newberry has clearly exposed the character of the vegetation in relation to
each geological epoch.

*

376 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

is essentially of two kinds. Hither the vegetables which furnish the
materials are aquatic, or semi-aerial plants, having their roots in water,
and expanding their branches, leaves, &c., on the surface of the water,
or above it. Their débris falls in water, and are heaped and preserved
under it. In another way, and this is. more generally the case, the
plants of the peat bogs are of a peculiar texture. Hygrometrical, like
sponges, they absorb humidity by their aerial tissues as much as by
their roots, and thus protected themselves against decomposition from
atmospheric action, they cover in their growth every kind of woody
débris, even large trees, and afford to them the same protective in-
fluence. In that way the surface of peat-bogs of this kind grow
constantly up. In that way also peat-bogs grow at our time upon
_ the slopes of steep mountains, whenever atmospheric humidity is con-
stant and abundant enough to furnish moisture for the life of those
hygrometrical plants, which now are mere mosses. The peat-bogs of the
coal did grow in the same way; the distinction in cannel coal, which
has been formed under water, and bituminous coal, which by its layers
indicates an upper aquatic growth, is well marked. But during the
carboniferous epoch, the circumstances favorable to the growth of the
peat were in their highest development. Low, wide basins of stagnant
water, whose bottom was first coated by deposits of clay; an atmosphere
constantly charged with vapors and a large proportion of carbonic
acid, the food of plants, forming by its transformation the woody
tissues; fioating vegetables of immense size, first growing horizon-
tally at the surface of the water, and filling the basin with their
débris, then forming a support for a more aerial vegetation; fern-
trees, lycopodes, horse- feels all of enormous size, heaped in a con-
tinuous growth the woody tissues of their veg etable remains in a
now inconceivable proportion. Our thickest. beds of peat now
measure scarcely twenty feet. By compression and mineralization the
thickness would be reduced to one-sixth, or three feet at the most. We
have beds of coal of twenty feet of thicknéss which would make a de-
posit of peat reach one hundred and twenty feet. And now the result
of this wonderful accumulation of fossilized débris of plants of the car-
boniferous epoch is known to everybody. We will not repeat what
Taylor, Rogers, Lesley, Sheaffer, and others have published on the extent
of our coal-measures and on their coal-bearing capacity. The area cov-
ered by the carboniferous formations in the United States comprises
about one hundred and forty thousand square miles. It is true, indeed,
that the peat bogs of old did not extend over the whole surface; that
they were of various dimensions, separated by sandy hiils or by deep
lagoons; that after the deposit of their materials, erosions caused by
water or other agency have greatly diminished their size. But it is true
also that beds of coal, like the Pittsburg bed, whose average thickness
is about eight feet, may be traced over surfaces more than one hundred
Square miles i in width. It is equally true that beds of coal are superposed
at intervals, in the coal measures, in such a way that at the same place a
boring of a few hundred feet may successively pass through five beds of
coal or even more of various thicknesses. A boring of seven hundred and
fifty feet, recently made in the anthracite coal basin of Pennsylvania,
passed through five beds of coal, respectively, four, eleven, five, twenty-
eight, and five feet thiek, or more than fitty feet of anthracite, with
intervals of rocks, respectively two hundred and sixty, ninety-eight,
one hundred and seventy-four, and one hundred and thirty-six feet.
A section at Wilkesbarre, Pennsyly vania, indicates sixty-two feet of coal
in a thickness of about six hundred feet of measures. A low bed of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. OtE

coal, the equivalent of the mammoth vein of Pennsylvania, which
averages eight to ten feet in thickness, is found over the whole extent
of the coal-measures of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, measur-
ing from four to eight feet. So immense, indeed, are the riches of
the American coal-measures, that in their conception ‘of the future devel-
opment of our human race, geographers, historians, philosophers, agree
in this idea: that in the United States we have, especially in our coal
deposits, the elements for the greatest and most perfect development
of the human race.

And what is petroleum or mineral oil, too, which is now entering in our
civilization, if not as one of its essential elements, at least as one of its
potent auxiliaries? It is, like coal, the result of slow maceration of
plants ; with this difference, that in the formation of the coal, the plants
which enter ed into the composition of the matter were woody or fibrous,
and the woody tissue cannot be destroyed by the slow process of combus-
tion no more than it is in burnt charcoal. The plants which concurred
to the formation of petroleum were sea-weeds or marine plants. These
have no fibers, no wood in their tissue, which is merely cellular; and
in their decomposition all trace of this tissue has been destroyed, and
pure bitumen preserved, either by impregnation of shale or sandstone,
&e., or by accumulation in subterranean cavities. It isto fossil plants
alsothat we owe the explanation of thisremarkable process of mineraliza-
tion. Deposits of oil are especiakly found in strata of the Upper Silu-
rian and the Lower Devonian, and always in connection with shale or
limestone, which contain in great quantity petrified remains of fucoids
or marine plants. The conditions bringing up an exuberance of vege-
tation were already at work before the carboniferous epoch; their action
resulted in the production of an immense marine vegetation. As nature
does nothing in vain, as she takes care of allits materiais and uses them,
to the minutest débris, she took the bitumen away and preserved it in
cavernous recesses for future use.. By the discovery of our deposits of
petroleum we have learned what had been done with the superabundant
production of marine plants in our old geological epochs: Coal and
petroleum are found in all the geological formations. But since the coal
era the deposits of these matters have become of comparatively rare
occurrence, and of far less importance, their value being diminished as
much by the reduction of their areas as by the inferior quality of their
products. They now take a nominal and far more modest place in the
harmony of our earth’s surface.

ON THE DISCORDANCE IN THE CHARACTERS OF EUROPEAN AND AMER-
ICAN FLORA AT THE TERTIARY AND CRETACEOUS EPOCHS.

Since the first appearance of land vegetation upon the surface of our
earth, what we know of it by fossil remains seems to indicate for our
country a precedence in time in the development of botanical types.
Large trunks of coniferous wood are already found in our Devonian
measures, while analogous species are recorded as yet only in the ear-
boniferous measures of Hngland. Though the analogy of vegetation
between the flora of the coal measures of America and Europe is evi-
dently established by a number of identical genera and species, we have
nevertheless some types, like the Paleowxiris, which are considered as char-

378 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

acteristic of strata of the European permian, and which are found in our
coal-measures as far down as the first coal above the millstone grit.
Even peculiar ferns of our upper coal strata have a typical analogy with
species of the odlite of Kngland. Our trias, by the presence of numerous
cycadeze, touches the Jurassic of Europe. But it is especially from our
flora of the lower cretaceous that we have a vegetable exposition pecu-
liarly at variance with that of Europe at the same epoch, and whose
types so much resemble those of the European tertiary that the evi-
dence of the age of the formation, where the plants have been found,
could not be admitted by paleontologists until after irrefutable proots
of it had been obtained.
Professor Newberry, in the report mentioned above, has already given
sufficient details of the history of these plants, the scientific value of
their discovery, the interest and the discussion which they have kindled.
-He has also rendered full justice to the researches of Dr. F. V. Hayden,
to whom we owe what we may consider as the most important materials
furnished at our time to the consideration of vegetable paleontology.
Professor Newberry’s enumeration of our cretaceous and tertiary plants
is limited to what was known after the exploration of Messrs. Marecou
and Cappellini in 1863. Since then the researches of Professor Hayden
and Dr. J. Leconte have procured new materials, which have been de-
scribed and figured for a final report of Professor Hayden’s exploration.
These materials are now briefly examined in order to render as complete
as possible our review of the American cretaceous and tertiary flora and
of its relation to the European flora of the same epochs.

SECTION 1.—CRETACEOUS FLORA.

In 1867 Dr. John Leconte had the kindness to send me a small lot of
eretaceous fossil plants from Fort Ellsworth, Kansas; the same locality
where had been obtained the cretaceous leaves coilected by Messrs.
Mareou and Capellini, and described by Professor Heer. These plants
were figured and described as an appendix to a paper on species of fos-
sil plants from the tertiary of the State of Mississippi.* Though the
lot of these specimens was small, it furnished an interesting contribu-
tion to the fossil botany of the cretaceous, especially in confirmation of
what had been already remarked on the miocenic facies of this flora.
Besides Proteoides acuta, P. grevilieformis, Andromeda Parlatorvi, and
Magnolia alternans, already described by Professor Heer in his memoir
on the leaves of Marcou and Capellini, the appendix mentions a new
species, Populites microphyllus, represented only by two partly-broken
specimens; Phyllites betulwfolius, a leaf still smaller than the former
ones, with irregularly dentate borders and an irregular (somewhat ob-
secure) nervation; Sassafras Leconteanum, a fine large ovate lanceolate
leaf, resembling, by its outtines, a leaf of Magnolia, but with the pecu-
liar nervyation of sassafras; Persea Nebrascensis, related to Persea lanci-
jfolia (Heer) and other species of the miovene and of the eocene of Kurope;
Cinnamomum Heerit, (Lesqx.,) a plant already described from specimens
collected by Dr. J. Wvans at Nanaimo.t This species, in both collections,
is represented by one specimen only; and as the Hilsworth specimen has
its base scraped away, and that of Nebraska has the point broken, the
comparison of both leaves is not quite satisfactory, and *herefore the
identity is not certain. The leaves have, indeed, the same general out-

* Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc., Vol. XH, page 340, Plate 23, May, 1367.
+ Amer. Jour. of Nat. Science and Arts, Vol. XX VII, page 161.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 379

line and the same kind of nervation, and if not of the same species,
they belong to two nearly related species of Cinnamomum.

The following list is an enumeration of these cretaceous plants and
of those sent me somewhat later by Dr. F. V. Hayden, Dr. Leconte, and
a small lot presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Professor B. F.
Mudge, of Kansas University. With the list of those published by
Professor Heer and Dr. Newberry, which is given in Dr. Hayden’s for-
mer report, the table completes the exposition of what is known till
now of our cretaceous flora:
. Populus microphyllus, Lesqx., Fort Ellsworth, J. . C.

. Phyllites rutefolius, Lesqx., Fort Ellsworth, J. L. C.

. Persea Nebrascensis, Lesqx., Fort Elisworth, J. L. C.

. Sassafras Leconteanum, Lesqx., Fort Ellsworth, J. L. C.

. Cinnamomum Heerii, Lesqx., Fort Hilsworth, on Cr

. Lygodium, (?) fragment of fern, Northwest Salina, Kansas, B. F. M.
. Pterophyllun Hay ydenii, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, Ea Viele

. Glyptostrobus gracilimus, Lesqx., Dakota County, Nebraska, F. V. H.
. Sequoia (?) formosa, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

10. Phiyllocladus subintegrifolius, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.
11. Arundo cretaceus, Lesgx., Fort Elisworth, L. C.

12. Liquidambar integrifolius, Lesqx., Northwest Salina, Kansas, B.

OMANAD OF Chor

13. Populus Lancastriensis, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

14. Populites cyclophylla, (?) Heer, Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

15. Populites elegans, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

16. Populites ovata, Lesqx., Dakota County, Nebraska, F. V. H.

17. Populites quadrangularis, Lesqx., Decatur County, Nebraska, F.

18. Populites flabellata, Lesqx., Lancaster County, Nebraska, F. V. H.

19. Populites salisburiefolia, Lesqx., Lancaster County, Nebraska,
av. El.

20. Salix proteefolia, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.
_ 21. Betula Beatriciana, Lesqx., Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska,
VN. A.

22. Fagus polycladus, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

23. Quercus primordialis, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

24, Quercus hexagona, Lesqx., Cass County, Platte River, Nebraska,
Ido Ne dek
25. Quercus EHllsworthianus, Lesqx., Lancaster County, Nebraska,

H

26. Quercus anceps, Lesqx., Dakota County, Nebraska, F. V. H.
27. Quercus semi-alatus, Lesqx., Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska,
Ee :

28. Ficus (?) rhomboideus, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

29. Ficus (?) fimbriatus, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

39. Platanus aceroides, (?) Gopp. -» Var. latior, Decatur and Laneaster,
Nebraska, F. V. H.

31. Platanus obtusiloba, Lesqx., Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska,
10 Waal

32. Platanus diminutivus, Lesqx., Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska,
1 A Yer ale

33. Credneria Leconteana, Lesqx., Fort Ellsworth, J. L. C.

34, Laurus macrocarpus, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

* These five species from Trans. Amer. Phil. Society, loc. cit.; the following from
Amer. Jour. of Science and Arts, Vol. XLV, page 91.

380 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

~

35. Sassafras Mudgti, Lesqx., Northwest Salinas, Kansas, B. F. M.

__ 36. Sassafras subintegrifolius, Lesqx., Northwest Salinas, Kansas,
BSE! Me:

37. Lyriodendron intermedium, Lesgx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

38. Lyriodendron gigantewm, Lesqx., five miles north of Fort Ellsworth, —
Kansas, B. F. M.

39. Magnolia tenuifolia, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

40. Dombeyopsis obtusiloba, Lesqx., five miles north of Fort Ellsworth,
Kansas, B. I’. M.

41. Acer obtusilobum, (?) Ung., Decatur, Nébraska, F. V. H.

42, Accrites menispermifolius, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

43. Negundoides acutifolia, Lesqx., Salt Creek, Dakota County, Ne-
braska, F. V. H.

44, Paliurus membranaceus, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

45. Rhamnus tenax, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

46. Phyllites rhoifolius, Lesqx., Lancaster County, Nebraska, F. V. H.

47. Prunus cretaceus, Lesqx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V. H.

48, Phyllites umbonatus, Lesqx., Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska,
BV EL:

49. Phyllites amorphus, Lesgx., Decatur, Nebraska, F. V.\H.

Besides these fifty species, or rather forms of fossil plants which are
new for the American cretaceous, the specimens sent for examination
have numerous representatives of the following species already de-
eribed: PlatanusNewberrii, Herr; Lawrus (Persea) Nebrascensis, Lesqx.;
Sassafras cretaceus, Newb’y; Proteoides Daphnogenoides, Heer; Pr.
acuta, Heer; Juglans (Populus) Debeyana, Heer; Prunus (Andromeda ?)
Parlatorti, Heer; and Phyllites Vannene, Heer. There is especially a
great quantity of specimens of that peculiar Juglans Debeyana whose
leaves, some of them at least, resemble leaves of Populus. The great
difference in their size, and in the length of the pedicels; the mede
of curving to one side, or dissymmetry of the small ones, while the largest
are exactly symmetrical, mark them as separate leaflets of a compound
leaf. For this and their nervation, they are referable to Juglans. Both
species of Proteoides are also represented by a large number of speci-
mens, all with the former obtained from the same locality.

Considered in its whole, this group of plants has a strong miocenic
facies; though we find in it already two species belonging to genera
characterizing the European cretaceous. One is Pierophyllum Haydenti,
a plant whose generic name cannot be correct or does not indicate the
true botanical relation; for neither its leaves nor its cone can be re-
ferred to Cycadece. But two fragments like ours, of branch with leaves
and of a cone, have been described and figured under this generic name
by Stiehler, from the cretaceous of Europe, and the affinity of this plant
being unknown, I preserved the name on account of geological analogy.
The other species is the beautiful Credneria Leconteana, a large leaf,
represented by a single specimen, unluckily broken. The essential
character of the genus is preserved in a small part of the basilar hori-
zontal nerve, aS seen in the figure. A few of these new species of our
eretaceous do not have any analogy with any others known as yet from
the tertiary or the cretaceous or from the fiora of our time; the species,
for example, described under the generic name of Populites, which have
the secondary nervation straight and continuous to the borders, like
‘leaves of Platanus, the round outlines of leaves of Populus with their
base narrowing to along, slender petiole asin the Beech ; the leaves also
described as Quercus semi-alatus, which are broadly lobed on ene more
enlarged side, and entire ovate on the other. LHspecially of unknown

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 381

type is the peculiar Ficus (?) fimbriatus, represented by a broad, reni-
form leaf, whose borders are fringed by small, nearly triangular, con-
cave protuberances, equally distant from each other, and turned up-
wards.

Out of those few exceptions, the primordial character of the flora, as
indicated by the plants enumerated above, is distinctly Northwest
American. The list contains species of Liquidambar, Populus. Salix,
Betula, Fagus, Quercus, Platanus, Sassafras, Liriodendron, Magnolia,
Acer, Rhamnus, Prunus, &c. If some of these species may be regarded
as of uncertain value, there can be no doubt on their relation to the
genera to which they are assigned, all represented in our actual flora.
Even the exceptions to this Northwest American character are very
few. Besides the now extinct races, like Credneria and Dombeiopsis, we
can record only the species of Proteoides as referable to Australian forms,
with Phyllociadus, indicating an Eastern Asiaticorigin. This last is rep-
resented by a single specimen, which, though well preserved, is not suffi-
cient to prové generie affinity. As for the genus Cinnamomun, it is so
closely related to Sassafras that its nativity ‘could as well be assigned to
this country, if it did not have more numerous representatives in the
tertiary and cretaceous formations of our western continent, thus indi-
cating its origin from Asia, where a number of its species have been
preserved to our time. .

From all that has been published on the subject, it is fully established
that besides its Asiatic types, the original characters of the miocenic
flora of Europe are Northwest American. It is not therefore surprising
that the first fossil plants of our cretaceous measures should have been
considered as miocenic as long as their geological position had not been
positively ascertained. But even now, with full evidence afforded to us
on the subject, it may be still doubted if the relation of epochs between
the plant-bearing strata of Nebraska and those which lay over them
and contain cretaceous mollusks is rightly indicated by the fossil re-
mains. For as it is now ascertained that at a great depth the present
fauna of our seas is related, if not analogous, to the fossil fauna of some
cretaceous rocks, the depth at which have been deposited the calcare-
ous strata overlaying the sandstone containing our leaves, may have
caused what might be calied an unconformable development of zodlogical
types. This question is merely hypothetically touched in order to pre-
sent it to the attention of geologists and paleontologists.

SECTION 2.—TERTIARY FOSSIL PLANTS.

We have first to complete the list of our tertiary fossil plants as it has
been done for those of the cretaceous formations. Besides the species
described from the specimens of Dr. F. V. Hayden and Dr. Leconte, the
following list enumerates a number of others from the tertiary of Missis-
sippi. These have been established from specimens furnished by Pro-
fessor EK. W. Hilgard, mentioned in his geological report of the State
of Mississippi,* and hereafter described and figured in Trans. Am. Phil.
Soc., as remarked above. Their geological position is not definitively
ascertained. They appear referable to the lower tertiary, (the eocene.)

Species from Mississippi:

Calamopsis Danat, Lesqx.

Sabal Grayana, Lesqx.
Salisburia binervata, Lesgx.

*Report on the Geology and Agriculture of the State of Mississippi, by Eug. W. Hil-
gard, (1860,) pp. 108, 109, &e. :

382 - GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Populus monodon, Lesqx.

Populus mutabilis var. repando-crenata, Heer.
Salix Worthenti, Lesqx.

Salix tabellaris, Lesqx.

Quercus Moorw, Lesqx.

Quercus Lyellvi, Heer.

Quercus retracta, Lesqx.

Quercus chlorophylla, Ung.

Celtis brevifolia, Lesqx.

Ficus Schimperi, Lesqx.

Ficus cinnamomoides, Lesqx.

Laurus pedatus, Lesqx.

Cinnamomum Mississippiense, Lesqx.
Banksia Helvetica, Heer.
Persea lancifolia, Lesqx.
Ceanothus Meigsii, Lesqx.
Sapindus undulatus, Al. Br.
Rhamnus marginatus, Lesqx.
Juglans appressa, Lesqx.
Juglans Safjordiana, Lesqx.
Magnolia Hilgardiana, Lesqx.
Magnolia laurifolia, Lesqx.
Magnolia Lesleyana, Lesqx.
Magnolia oralis, Lesqx.
Magnolia cordifolia, Lesqx.
Asimina leiocarpa, Lesqx.
Ph yllites truncatus, Lesqx.

Species collected by Dr. J. Leconte:*
Rhamnus obovatus, Lesqx., upper end of Purgatory Cafion, Colorado.
Arundo, fragments, Purgatory Canon, Colorado.
Berchemia parvifolia, Lesqx., Raton Pass, Colorado.
Cinnamomum affine, Lesqx., Raton Pass, Colorado.
Alietites dubius, Lesqx., Raton Pass, Colorado.
Juglans Leconteana, Lesgx., Raton Pass, Colorado.
Echitonium Sophie, (?) Web., Raton Pass, Colorado.
Acer, (?) numerous small fragments undeterminable.

Species from Dr. Hayden’s specimens:
Cornus incompletus, Lesqx., Marshall Coal, Colorado.
Rhamnus salicifolius, Lesqx., Marshall Coal, Colorado.
Cinnamomumn affine, Lesqx., Marshall Coal, Colorado.
Lygodium, fragment, Marshall Coal, Colorado.
Phyllites sulcatus, Lesqx., Marshall Coal, Colorado.
EHehitonium Sophie, (?) Web., Marshall Coal, Colorado.
Juglans Leconteana, (?) Lesqx., Marshall Coal, Colorado.
Quercus Lyellii, (2?) Heer, Marshall Coal, Colorado.
Quercus chlorophylla, (2?) Heer, Marshall Coal, Colorado.

Dr. Leconte obtained from the same locality fragments of Acer allied
to A. strictum, Gopp.; of Juglans allied to J. acuminata, Heer; of Cor-
nus, Banksia, &e.; all too small and broken for satisfactory examination.

* These species and the following ones of Dr. F. V. Hayden have been figured and
described for the final report of Dr. Hayden, but the descriptions have not been pub-
lished as yet.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 383

With these, in specimens of Dr. Hayden and Dr. Leconte:

Lastrea (?) dentata, Lesqx., Golden City, Colorado.
Magnolia tenuinervis, Lesqx., Golden City, Colorado.

And from Dr. Hayden’s specimens:

Platanus aceroides, Heer, Rock Creek, Wyoming.

Populus attenuata, Al. Br., Rock Creek, Wyoming.

Populus subrotundus, Lesqx., Rock Creek, Wyoming.
Populus equalis, Lesqx., Rock Creek, Wyoming.

Quercus acrodon, Lesqx., Rock Creek, Wyoming.

Quercus Haydenti, Lesqx., Rock Creek, Wyoming.

And fragments of Acer and Populus, species undeterminable.

The group of plants from Mississippi has a more recent facies than
the cretaceous leaves of Nebraska. Except the beautiful pinnate palm,
(Calamopsis,) distantly related to species now living in equatorial re-
gions, and aremarkable Salisburia, which does not in the least resemble
the only remaining species now living in China, most of its genera are
represented here at our time, and a number of its species are allied to
living ones.- Some others, like Quercus Lyellii, Q. chlorophylia, Banksia
Helvetica, Sapindus undulatus, are considered as identical with species
of the miocene of Europe, and this all, therefore, indicates with the
miocenic age a nearer relation than that marked by the characters of
the cretaceous flora of Nebraska and Kansas. This, however, is not a
positive evidence of contemporaneity, and it is probably right that the
strata where these fossil plants were obtained should be considered as
pertaining to the eocene, or even to the upper cretaceous. Indeed, Dr.
Leconte’s species from Raton Pass are not less miocenic in aspect, for,
except the numerous fragments of an Abietites, analogous to remains of
the same kind from the European cretaceous, all the genera are repre-
sented at our time. From the animal remains, however, found in con-
nection with the coal-bearing strata of Raton Pass, Dr. Leconte consid-
ered them as cretaceous.* If it is right, from what we have seen of its
fossil flora, the Marshall’s Coal should be admitted also as of cretaceous
age, as the specimens from both localities have plants apparently iden-
ticali—Cinnamomum affine, Hchitonium Sophie, Juglans Leconteana.
These specimens are indeed very incomplete—mere fragments repre-
senting vegetables whose identification is difficult and not absolutely
reliable; nevertheless, the flora bears, evidently, the same character
at both localities, as its facies also is related to that of the Mississippi
flora. The character is far different from that of our true miocenic
flora, as it is indicated by the small greup of plants obtained by Dr.
Hayden at Rock Creek, Nebraska; for here on six species only there
are two identical with miocenic species of Hurope, and five are closely
allied to species of our Eastern North American forests. One only, the
beautiful Quercus Haydeniji, is related to species of our Western coast.
The specimens of Rock Creek are mostly perfect remains of plants easily
studied, and their characters undoubtedly ascertained.

No less miocenic in their characters, though of different family rela-
tions, are the remains of fossil plants obtained by Dr. F. V. Hayden in
his last exploration, and just now received for examination. These
specimens merely belong to two strata; those labelled Henry’s Fork.
Muddy Creek, and Black Fork being on a kind of hard, silicified lime-
stone, with remains of the same species of plants, and therefore indi-

* Notes on the Geology, &c., from Smoky-Hill River, Kansas, to the Rio Grande, by
J. L. Leconte, 1868. Columbus, 7th January, 1871.

384 ' GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

cating identity of horizontal station; those from Barrel’s Spring upon
yellow ferruginous shale, having upon all the specimens the same species
of fossil plant also, but of a different group from that of the former.

Henry’s Fork specimens have: ‘

1. Pieris penneformis, Heer, in numerous but indistinct specimens.
The species may differ somewhat from that of Hurope, but, in the state
of the specimens, the difference is not appreciable. Itisa large, lanceo-
late leaf, varying from one to three inches in length, and from one-half
to three-fourths of an inch br oad, with a thick, halfround medial nerve,
and thick, mostly simple, secondary veins, obliquely curving to the
borders. This species is not rare in the miocene of Germany and Swit-
zeriand.

2. Broken, obscure remains ofa large leaf, with thick, oblique, straight,
closely-approached secondary veins; neither the middle part nor the
medial nerve, nor the borders are seen. It may be compared only to
some Palmacites, or to the leaf described as Zingiberites, from the mio-
cene of Europe, by Professor Heer.

3. Fragments of a Calamopsis, or palm leaves, (rachis not seen,) one inch
broad and as far distant from each other, marked lengthwise with four
narrow tertiary veins between the more distinct secondary ones, five to
Six In number.

4. Leaves of a Cyperites, with the same areolations as Cyperus Chavan-
ensis, Heer, but only half as broad.

From Muddy Creek :

5. Aspidium (Lastraea) pulchellum, Heer, or A. Fisheri, Heer. Though
small, the specimens are distinct. The leaflets are slightly broader than
in this last species, and not quite as large as in the former. An inter-
mediate form, equally referable to both of the species of the miocene
of Europe. All the specimens of the former and of the following locality
have fragments of it.

From Black’s Fork: The specimens have only fragments of the last
species, and of Pteris penneformis, with undeterminable leaves of Cy-
perites, resembling Carex tertiaria, Heer.

Barrel Spring: All the shale have numerous remains of the three
following species. The fourth is represented in only one:

6. Lygodium neuropteroides, Spec. nova. A beautiful fern, of which
only separate leaflets are preserved. These, from one to two and a half
inches in length, proportionally broad, are linear lanceolate, slightly
obtuse, either entire or more generally divided from below the middle
in two or three linear lanceolate lobes, like the living Lygodiwm Salici-
folium. But the nervation is far different, rather comparable to that of
a Pteris than to that of a Lygodiwm. The medial nerve is thin; the
secondary nerves branch three or four times in curving to the borders.
It is a nervation like that of some species of Neuropteris of the coal
measures, especially of Newropteris hirsuta, which the large, entire leaf
lets also resemble in their form. The relation of this beautiful fern is
with species of Lygodium and of Osmunda of the European miocene, but —
this relation is distant indeed.

7. A floating stem, like Myriophyllum, referable perhaps to one species
of this genus. As the divisions are pretty thick, it may be rather com-
pared to the roots and rootlets of Pragmites Oenigensis, Heer. It
is evidently related to species of our time. This Pragmites of Heer is
from the miocene of Europe. Leaves of a species of this genus have
been published by the same author from the tertiary of Alaska.

Cyperus Deucalionis, Heer. The specimens have a number of leaves
of this species, which show all the varieties of the European plant with-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 385

out any appreciable difference, varying from one-eighth to one-fourth of
an inch broad. The broadest of ours is just of the same size as the leaf
published in Sismonda’s memoir, from the tertiary of Italy, as Cyperites
Deucalionis? Heer. It is evidently the same species. :

9. Fragments of leaves of a Sabal. The rachis is not seen, and there- -
fore the species is not determinable. By the large divisions of its leaves,
it resembles Sabal major of common occurrence in the miocene.

‘10. A sheath-bearing leaf of grass, undistinguishable from the one
figured by Heer in his tertiary flora, Tab. X XV, Fig. 10, and described
as Poacites levis.

From the small number of the above-mentioned species, it is not pos-
sible to mark between both groups of plants a difference of stage in the
‘formations where they have been found. But it is evident that none of
these species indicates an older formation than that of the middle tertiary
or miocene. All the Glumacee, species of Carex, Cyperus, Arundo &c.,
have not been found as yet in formations older than the tertiary, and
our ferns of the group of Aspidiwm (Lastrwa) as well as all the species
of Lygodium, are also characteristic of the miocene formation. There-
fore the group of these plants, taken in its whole, is evidently of the
middle tertiary.

The peculiar facies of these plants indicates their origin as from prairie
Swamps, covered merely with grasses, ferns, and low palms. The fossil
remains do not show any traces of leaves of dicotyledonous trees, or of any
arborescent plant whatever. It is for the first time that this facies, so
often remarked in tertiary specimens of Europe, has been observed in
those of our country.

. COLUMBUS, OHIO, January 12, 1871.

VI—ON THE FOSSIL REPTILES AND FISHES OF
THE CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF KANSAS.

By PRor. H. D. CopE.
REPTILIA.

The species of reptiles which have been found in the cretaceous strata
west of the Mississippi River up to the present time number fourteen.
Five of these pertain to the Sauropterygia, one to the Dinosauria, and
seven to the Pythonomorpha. In the present report attention is confined
to the species discovered near the line of exploration of Dr. Hayden, or
that of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, and that of Professor B. F. Mudge,
of the State Agricultural College.

During the period when the cretaceous ocean extended from Eastern
Kansas over the present site of the Rocky Mountains, and from the
Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Sea, it abounded in life. Among verte-
brata, fishes and marine reptiles chiefly abounded, and in varied forms.
Many of the reptiles were characterized by a size and strength exceed-
ing that seen in any other period of the world’s history. The species of
Sauropterygia and Pythonomorpha were all aquatic, but the two types
present very different adaptations to their mode of life. While the
former possessed two pairs of limbs, the latter appear to have possessed
an anterior pair only, or with the posterior pair so reduced as to have
been insignificant. They substituted for them an immensely long and

25 &

386 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

flattened tail, which they used, like the eels and sea-snakes, as an oar.
The Sauropterygia were generally stout-bodied and with a very markedly
distinct neck. In the Pythonomorpha, on the other hand, the body was
snake-like, with narrow chest and neck scarcely differing in diameter.
They were immensely elongate, and might be called sea-serpents with
considerable propriety.

Of Sauropterygia, Polycotylus had a slender neck and very stout
limbs; but in Hlasmosaurus the neck attained dimensions exceeding that
of any vertebrated animal. The species LH. platyurus was probably the
longest of the order, measuring perhaps fifty feet, but of this the neck
amounted to twenty- two feat, This creature was carnivor ous, and could,
no doubt, like the snake-bird, swim at a considerable distance below the
surface of the water and reach to the surface for air, Or eure the
depths or plunge for fishes to the depth of forty feet.

Among the Pythonomorpha the Liodon dyspelor is the largest species
and the Clidastes intermedius the smallest. A specimen of Mosasaurus
missuriensis obtained by William Webb near Topeka is stated by him
to measure seventy-five feet in length. Should this be substantiated,
the L. dyspelor was at least one-third larger. This is, however, as yet
uncertain.

The upper arm bones of the Clidastes are remarkably short and wide,
and furnished with strong processes for the insertion of muscles. They
are among reptiles much like those of moles among quadrupeds, and, as
in the latter, indicate probably great power of propulsion in the fore
limbs. The finger bones were long and slender and formed a long fin
or flipper, while the upper arm was probably concealed in the skin.
The whole limb came off but a short distance posterior to the head.

These reptiles, so far as known, were ail carnivorous; their food was
chiefly fishes. Some of the species on which they preyed are enumer-
ated in the portion devoted to them, and their structural characters
pointed out.

As it is desirable to develop the science of geology, the writer would
be glad if his friends in the West would forward to bim, in Philadelphia,
at his expense, Specimens of bones or teeth which they may find. He
will return to them determinations of their nature, aud credit them
with discoveries which may result from their care and interest in pre-
serving them, ia the publications of scientific bodies.

SAUROPTERYGIA.
POLYCOTYLUS, (COPE.)
Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1869, p. 34.

This genus is established on a series of vertebree with portions of
pelvic arch and posterior extremity, discovered in the upper cretaceous
of Kansas by W. E. Webb, superintendent of the land office in Topeka,
Kansas. The point at which the remains were found is about five miles
west of Fort Wallace on the plains near the Smoky Hill River, Kansas,
in a yellow cretaceous limestone.

The animal thus indicated is of interest in American vertebrate paleon-
tology, as the first true Plestosauroid determined within our limits.
That its affinities are nearer to Plesiosaurus than to Hlasmosaurus will
be apparent from the following description.

There are wholes or portions of twenty-one vertebra, of which but
two retain their neural arches, and six are represented by neural arches
only. Four centra may be referred to the caudal series, the remainder

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 387

to the dorsal; only two indicate the characters of the cervical verte-
bre. All of these vertebra, except the distal caudals, are remarkable
for their short anteroposterior diameter and deeply-concave, articular
faces. This concavity is not, however, of an open conic form, as in
Ichthyosaurus, but is flattened at the fundus, thus exhibiting a small,
slightly disciform area. The usual pair of venous foramina appears on
the under side of the centrum. The neural arch is continuous with the
latter, and exhibits no trace of connecting suture. The diapophyses
arise from the neural arch in all the dorsals; they are compressed and
vertical in section. ‘The arch is of course narrow anteroposteriorly, and
presents a pair of moderately prominent zy gapophyses in each direction,
the posterior as usual articulating downwards, the anterior upwards.
On some of the vertebree they become closely approximated. The neu-
ral spines are narrow anteroposteriorly, but much stouter transversely
than in Hlasmosaurus ; they are strongly grooved at the base, both an-
teriorly and posteriorly, most so posteriorly.

The caudal vertebre are anteriorly quite as large asthe dorsals. Two
anterior caudals present, on the latero-inferior part of the posterior mar-
gin, a pair of widely-separated, articular surfaces for chevron bones.
A portion of one of the latter remains ; it is narrow and subcylindric at
the base. The diapophyses are situated on the upper part of the cen-
trum, and are continuous with it, and without trace of suture. There
are two distal cervicals which are much smaller than the preceding.
They are solidly coéssified and have been broken from one anterior to
them, with which they have been also ankylosed. Processes in the po-
sition of the diapophyses have disappeared, while a strong infero-lateral
process projects from the middle of each, similar in position to the para-
pophyses (or whatever they may be) of the Hlasmosaurus. These pro-
cesses are decurved and much thickened and rugose; they may be de-
seribed as more or less elongate conic. The neural canal of these ver-
tebree is well marked, though small. The codssification of cervical ver-
tebrae is a remarkable character, and very unusual. It does not seem
probable that these specimens represent a diseased condition, since they
are symmetrical, and the inferior surface and foramina are unaffected.
The rugosity is much that of a ligamentous articulation. Their size in-
dicates a remarkably slender neck as in Plesiosaurus, but even more so,
and perhaps as elongate as in Hlasmosaurus.

That the portions of an extremity alluded to belong to the posterior is
rendered probable by the presence of part of an ilium, and by the fact
that the portions of the vertebral column secured are chiefly median and
posterior. The fragments consist of the extremity of the femur, the tibia,
several tarsal bones, and numerous phalanges. The whole limb is of
great size, compared with the vertebral column, and indicates power-
ful natatory capacity in its possessor. What the relative length of
the femur may be cannot be ascertained, as the proximal portion is want-
ing, but if it were like the tibia it was characterized by stoutness rather
than by length. The portion remaining is flattened, and presents distally
two distinct articular faces for ulna and radius, instead of the uniformly
convex outline characteristic of most of the species of Plesiosaurus. The
tibia is pentagonal, broader than long, and not emarginate externally.
The fibula is wanting. One of the tarsal bones is a flat, unequally hex-
agonal disk, of less thickness than the tibia and the tarsals which appear
to connect with it. One of the latter is transverse parallelogrammie,
with three faces of broad plane articulations and the outer edge rounded
in section. Another tarsal or metatarsal is a parallelopipedon except
that one extremity presents two faces meeting at aright angle. Another

388 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

is similar, but oblique, 7%. e., rhombic in section ; one of the longitudinal
angles is also prolonged.

Of the phalanges there are individuals from three series. Portions
ef flat bones, perhaps belonging ‘to the pelvic arch, indicate, as do all
the other pieces, that the bony structure in Polycotylus is more massive
than in Hlasmosaurus, if the only known species has not attained such
huge dimensions as some of the latter. These fragments do not throw
much light on the structure of the pelvie arch.

The structure of the bones i is, like that in the order generally, of the
coarsest description. There are no medullary cavities, but the medul-
lary cells are large, and extended everywhere in the direction of the
axis of each bone.

The characters which separate this genus from Plesiosaurus may be
derived from the preceding as follows:

First. The deeply biconcave, and very short vertebral centra.

Second. The tibia broader than long, resembling those of Ichthyosau-
rus. °

Third. The coalescence and depression of the cervicals.

Fourth. The continuity of the neural arches.

Fifth. The continuity of the diapophyses of the caudals.

The only genus with which this genus compares nearly is the Thau-
matosaurus of Meyer. This is known by but a few fragments, and of
these but few are present in the Kansas animal. The character on
which I rely at present to distinguish them is the much less coneavity
of the dorsal vertebrae in Thawmatosaurus. This is, however, not en-
tirely satisfactory. Thawmatosaurus oolithicus, Meyer, is from the lower
odlite of South Germany.

The bones are thoroughly mineralized, and the adherent matrix is a
light-yellow, chalky limestone, similar to that which yielded the fine
fragments of the Liodon proriger. This, Dr. Leconte informs me, is
probably Meek and Hayden’s Upper Cretaceous No. 3,‘and is a higher
horizon than that near Fort Wallace, from which Dr. Turner procured
the Hlasmosaurus platyurus. The specimens were all taken out under
the direction of W. EH. Webb, of Topeka, from the same spot. From
every point of view there is reason to believe that they belong to the
Same animal.

- POLYCOTYLUS LATIPINNIS, (COPE.)
Loe. Cit., p. 36, Plate I, Figs. 1-13.

The anterior dorsal vertebree have the centra slightly compressed or
vertically oval, while the posterior are more rounded. The anterior
caudals appear to have been round or nearly so; they are somewhat
distorted by pressure. The sides of the centrum are slightly concave
in the longitudinal direction ; below there is no carina, but at least two
venous foramina. There is another large foramen on the side of the
centrum, usually not far from the neural arch; there are usually other
smaller foramina below this. The bases of the diapophyses are longi-
tudinally grooved behind, and separate a concavity of the arch in front
of them from one behind. In the most median the most elevated dia-
pophysis stands about equally on fhe neurapophysis and the neural
spine above it. The diapophyses are vertically compressed, and the cos-
tal articulation of the only one preserved isin the same plane. The
margins of the external surfaces are not coarsely striate as in many
Sauropterygia. The venous foramina of the distal cossified cervicals are

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, 389

in pairs, and of large size. In the proximal caudals the diapophyses
are above the middle of the sides of the centra. In one the basis of a
chevron is preserved. It is cylindric and striate. The zygapophysis
on the hinder aspect of a dorsal has a disciform articular surface di-
rected outwards and downwards; the prominence of its upper face is
continuous with the lateral ridge of the neural spine. The anterior up-
looking surface is equally. small and little divergent.

Inches
Weneth two, coossitied cervical...) i)... sy oa = ars 2} Seca 2.5
Wadith: anterior myhome elo ie ps) po feo eee ola ule PN ae eae Fate AUS iy
SMG, AIG STLOT TIME OMG Cs 5 iene pore daie\= Fo lan cya 4a im © yehay cl - usin gy by ateiefonel ge -G
Wertical diameter centrum dorsalis). 2 nae at ae epee 3. 42
Dransverse, diameter centrum, dorsal js 5.054. 36 a ee 2.7
Antero-posterior diameter centrum dorsal, (below) ..-..--..----- 1.85
Vertical diameter centrum dorsal, (poster).................--.-- 2. 98
hansverse diameter centrum, Corsale <2 5) 2 2.5) )6 ore i2 ot] ele eeicie 2 eye 2.9
Transverse diameter neural canal ......-... Ee NAN aE SR Se . 86
Longitudinal diameter base neural spine... ..------...------- 1. 22
Longitudinal diameter base diapophysis...-.-.-.--......------- 1.2
Length between extremities zygapophyses, (dorsal) . sparen) spebeg TPN oan te 2. 26
Depth of cup of vertebra... ..- CREE STAN Rea MME ASG dais eee 63
MenethicentrumJanterior caudal 20/0 oui a. is sae je es ee 1.73
Distance between bases chevron bone, (caudal)............----- 2.58

It may be observed the anterior caudals have a nearly round articu-
lar extremity; one of them is a little wider than high, but they are too
much distorted to furnish reliable measurements.

The portion of ilium preserved is an extremity. It is flat on one side
and convex on the other. The shaft is solid. The articular extremity
is oblique, and presents a truncate extremity, which is at right angles
to a short, recurved margin, which has been an insertion or articulation ;
the flat surface is rugose distally. Long diameter of extremity, 2.75
inches; of shaft, 1.9 inches. The articular faces of the extremity of
the femur are at an open angle with each other, and are strongly con-
cave in transverse section. The femur is here very flat, with narrow mar-
gins; it becomes stouter with diminishing width. Distally the surface
is marked by grooves and small foramina. What may be tibia is the
basal frustum of a wedge; the articular faces broad, the outer margin
narrowed; the faces slightly concave. - The inner margin is shorter
than the outer, and the distal part of it presents a broad, articular face.
Some of the tarsal bones have been already described. There are thir-
teen metatarsals and phalanges. They are of stout proportions and are
considerably constricted medially. Those of one series are square in
section ; those of another, transverse; those of the third transverse °
with one edge thinned or acuminate in section. Some of each form are
more elongate than others.

Inches
Width femur at extremity, (restored)......-........ eres tecakcte 8
Depib renmuceatwexorenmbye; (MeMIaM) et. | Wenmee eee eae cscs se eS
Waid htenurtouninches fromlextremity, sete joe see cee 6.
Thickness femur four inches from extremity ...-.....-.-.------ panledin ws
NAVA CONE Ou OMe nD Se SEE alee, eerie a SL cael ie ATO IE Li og a ie I 3. 88
EHF Gao ENT Dp Ale Bi eusl Ais eid ll la ING ela abet 2S 2.6
WiAicEMiCars to UO TALey serge amar rer van abies cule Ube eed 2.48
IPMICMESSMUALSI- PLDI Der meets cn emer ie. Wo, Uae a eae ee ee 1.52

a

390 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Inches
Width. parallelopiped. phalanee si)... a. 222-2 oee ek eee 1.2
Thickness parallelopiped phalamges. .: 25 .\- 2.222327 55th yee 12
Thickness depressed phalange. flee... 2. o. 2.5.2 sae aoe ihe,
Width depressed phalange!)\ 2). Bey. sb. 02. Ase eee eee aljeZ
hength-depressed phalange 25-042 522... ).. 222-2 ae 1.9

These powerful extremital pieces indicate a body to be propelled, of
not less than usual proportions. If this be the case the number of dor-
sal vertebree is considerably greater than in the species of this order in
general, and approaching more the Jchthyosaurt. I do not intend to
suggest any affinity between the latter and the present genus, as none
exists. What the extent of cervical vertebrae may have been is uncer-
tain. The caudals have probably been numerous,-though not probably
so extended as in Hlasmosaurus.

The size of the species can be approximately estimated from the pro-
portions furnished by Owen (Reptiles of the Liassic Formations) for
Plesiosaurus rostretus. The skeleton of this species measures eleven
feet eight inches, and the dorsal vertebre are of less vertical and equal
transverse diameter compared with those of the present saurian. We
may therefore’ suppose that the latter exceeded the former in dimen-
SIONS.

William E. Webb, of Topeka, discovered the specimens from which
this species was first described, and liberally forwarded them to me for
examination and description. Other specimens have been discovered
since that time by various other persons. I have received numerous
fragments of an individual of about the size of the one above described,
which were found by Professor B. F. Mudge, at a point near the movth
of the north branch of the Smoky Hiil River.

These consist of a few vertebrae, portions of pelvic and scapular
arches, and three proximal bones of the limbs. Which of these is
femur and which humerus I am unable to determine, owing to their
close resemblance. The vertebrze do not differ from those of the speci-
men just deseribed. The limb bones are stout and expanded and
thinned distally; this thinning is remarkable and indicates a much-
flattened metapodial region. The head is slightly. expanded, the artic-
ular face being turned obliquely to the inner face of the shaft; the surface
is pitted for attachment of the articular cartilage; two- fifths the length
from the proximal end is an extensive and exceedingly rugose surface,
as wide as the shaft, for the insertion of the adductor muscles.

M.
Diameter of centrum of lumbar vertebre......-.-.-....-.---. 0. 08
Length (?) humerus......... MES UES, SEG a ae 0. 45
Mianreterth emis ich. Wis eed Ot AG aN. eS ER PR Oe ee 0. 125
iameterishatt (120 0d). yO A eae TRR, Ree Se es SS Oe ree 0. 098
Diameter distal end (transverse) restored in part.....-......--- 0.18

Should the humerus have been related to the fore limb as in Plesio-
saurus dolichodirus, Conyb., the latter would have had a length of four
feet three inches; as the proportions of the radius and phalanges are
shorter, the limb was probably relatively shorter. If related to the
total length, as in the same Plesiosaur, the humerus would indicate a
length of seventeen and a half feet. As the cervical vertebre become
attenuated as compared with the dorsals to a greater degree in Poly-
cotylus than in Plesiosaurus, 1 have little doubt that the length of this
species exceeded that amount.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 391

ELASMOSAURUS, (COPE.)

Leconte’s Notes on Geology of the Route of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1863, p. 68.
Cope, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sciences, 1868, p.92. Transac. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1809, p. 44.

This genus has been more completely preserved to us than any other
American representative of the order, and hence may be accepted as
most clearly expressive of its characters. In the interpretation of these,
however, considerable difficulty has been experienced, as the structure
form appears, at first sight, to reverse, to a remarkable degree, the usual
proportions of known reptiles.

The determination of the anterior extremity of the vertebral column
has been rendered certain by the fortunate completeness of the cervical
series, as the extraordinary length of the latter, equaling three times
that of the body, renders the most careful scrutiny necessary.

The neural arches are every where continuous with the centra, with-
out sign of suture, and are externally plane. The neural canal is ex-
ceedingly small for the size of the vertebre, especially on the lumbars
and caudals.

The dorsal vertebre are remarkable from the fact that the diapophyses
disappear on the anterior part of the series, and gradually diminish in
length from behind forwards to the point of disappearance. On the
median and posterior parts of the series, they are very elongate, and
rise for a short distance from the basis of the nefiral arch. Anteriorly,
they descend and shorten, and finally remain only as the slightly ele-
vated borders of rib-pits. Throughout the whole of the anterior portion
of the column to the cervicals, the neural spines are of great elevation,
and of such antero-posterior extent as to be nearly continuous.

The cervical vertebrae are not only more numerous, but become ante-
riorly much smaller and more attenuated than in its allies of the same
family. They are remarkably compressed, the centra much longer than
deep, and deeper than wide, and with smooth concave sides.

The ribs of the anterior cervico-dorsal region are inserted directly in
the vertically oval pits of the centrum. Immediately at the point where
these cease thin transverse processes appear to arise from the lower
edges of the rib pits. They form a continuous series with the ribs, and
Soon rise from the plane of the lower face of the centrum, and are
directed obliquely downward. At the end of the cervical series they
are directed nearly vertically downward. The number of these verte-
bre is very great, the anterior diminishing to a very small size; the
whole measuring a little more than half the total length.

Most of the cervicals possess two venous foramina below; the dorsals
two, and most of the caudals one.

The resemblance of the caudals to the usual type of Plesiosaurus is
seen in the fact that each bears near its posterior articular aspect, on
the inferior face, a pair of articular surfaces for chevron bones. Simi-
lar vertebree had been described by Leidy as the caudals of a genus he
called Discosaurus ; the study of the present genus shows that they are
really of the caudals of the allied genus Cimoliasaurus.

The ribs are simple-headed; the abdominal ribs seen in Plesiosaurus
are possibly wanting, as none are found by the discoverer of the fossil,
after a careful search.

The end of the muzzle, with symphysis mandibuli, was preserved.
This is flat, the symphysis rather short, the premaxillary grooved at the
intervals between the dental alveoli. The teeth are deeply implanted,
with small pulp cavity ; are cylindric, and furnished with nearly str aight
elongate conic crowns, which are minutely but shar ply striate to the

392 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

tip; the ridges straight, continuous. . There are no indications of nos-
trils, so that these were probably posterior, and near the orbits, as in
Plesiosaurus.

The pelvic arch is more extended than the scapular, and strongly
resembles the pelvic’arch of othér Plesiosauride. The scapular arch is
peculiar; the claviculi are broad, flat bones, resembling the pubes of cer-
tain tortoises, while the coracoids are much like the coracoids of Ple-
SLOSAULUS.

The scapular arch is remarkable for the resemblance of coracoids to
those of Plesiosaurus. The clavicles have a greater transverse extent
than the former, and have a very extensive line of union medially, and
a narrow posterior prolongation, which meets a similar anterior one of
the coracoids, separating the intervening foramina. They appear to
form about one-third of the walls of the glenoid cavity, and have a con-
stricted base, as in some Plesiosauria, applied to the extremity of the
eoracoid. The form of the glenoid cavity cannot be readily ascertained
from the absence of the scapula. What we have of it would suggest
the existence of a fore limb. of comparatively little power, though no
remains of such have been found. The acetabulum is smailer than the
glenoid cavity; this point, with the obvious source of propulsive power
in the tail, renders it probable that the posterior limbs were the weaker
of the two, if any existed. But there is no trace of sacrum, nor of any
modified diapopyses for support of an ilium.

The ischia are flat, sub-triangular bones, with a long median line of
junction, and communicating anteriorly with the posterior prolongation
of the pubie plate. Their ‘postero- exterior margins project well back-
ward. The pubes are broad plates, whose anterior margins diverge
from each other. They are broader than the ischia, and form a broad
shallow basin for the support of the viscera. The suture defining these
elements is obliterated; they are continuous, and form a weak, inferior
keel on the median line. A simple curved ilium has been preserved, for
which there appears to be a smooth, articular surface on the pubis to
which it was attached.

The acetabular portions of these elements are flattened and furnished
with convex articular surfaces. The supposed ilia are short, curved
bones, resembling that of Plesiosaurus latispimus, Ow., or of some of the
other species of that family. The shank is flattened cylindric; the
distal extremity, dilated, rounded, and flattened. The proximal ex-
tremity sub-truncate, or truncate in two or three unequal planes, and
with a median pit. It fits well when applied to a concavity on the
articular surface of the pubis. The vertebrie above the pelvic arch were
furnished with elongate, sub-cylindric diapophyses.

The question as to the presence of posterior limbs remains unsolved.
Dr. Turner, having made a second careful search and renewed excava-
tions at the original locality, failed to find any bones which can be
assigned to humerus, ulna, radius, carpus or phalanges, or similar ele-
ments of the hind limbs. This is the more remarkable, as the pelvic
and scapular arches were further completed, and an additional number
of ribs obtained. The inferior and lateral regions of the trunk, being
then so abundantly discovered, what are we to think of the entire
_ absence of the usually numerous elements of extremities? The glenoid
cavities are rather angular, and both were filled with solid, argillaceous
matrix. The acetabula are not cup-like, but merely exposures of the
narrow, plane extremities of the pubes and ischia; they were covered
with thin layers of gypsum; the pieces of the ilia were found imbedded
in the mass of matrix which occupied the pelvic arch.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 393

The allied-genus Cimoliasarus, Leidy, possesses a femur, as described
in the work quoted above; it is of shorter and thicker form than in
most Plesiosauri.

The skeleton so nearly complete would indicate no violent disturb-
ance of the careass; but if there were, it would be an unusual accident
that all of the four limbs should have been removed from their sockets
without leaving even fragments.

This genus is well distinguished from Plesiosawrus by the peculiarity
of the scapular arch. The mesosternum appears to be coéssified with
the claviculi, and the three elements form a broad breast-plate. If the
claviculus was ever united with the scapula as in Plestosaurus, no evi-
dence of it can be seen in the specimen.’ Both the clavicular and me-
sosternal elements are broader and more extended anteriorly.

The American genera of Hlasmosauride may be compared as follows:

Posterior cervical vertebr without diapophyses: cervicals longer,
compressed, neck very elongate.

ELASMOSAURUS.

Posterior cervical vertebree with diapophyses: cervicals quadrate,

shorter, depressed, rapidly diminishing in size, hence the neck shorter.
CIMOLIASAURUS.

Professor Owen figures and describes (reptiles of the Cretaceous, Pal-
eontogr. Soc.) a vertebra which very closely resembles the cervical of
Elasmosaurus. He considers it to be the cervical of a peculiar Plesio-
saurus, which he calls P. constrictus, remarking at the same time, its
- remarkably inferior pleurapophyses. This I believe to be a species of
Elasmosaurus or an ally, and to be called for the present Hlasmosaurus
constrictus.

ELASMOSAURUS PLATYURUS, (COPE.)

Leconte’s Notes, loc. cit. Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1868, 1. c. 92.

Discosaurus carinatus, Cope. Leconte’s Notes, 1. ¢.

This, after Mosasaurus, the most elongate of the sea saurians yet dis-
covered, is represented by a more than usually complete skeleton in the
Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences in this city. It was found
by Dr. Theophilus H. Turner, the physician of the garrison at Fort Wal-
lace, a point situated three hundred miles westward from Leavenworth
on the Missouri River, and some distance north from the Smoky Hull
Fork of the Platte River. Portions of two vertebra, presented by him
to Dr. Leconte when on his geological tour in the interest of the United
States Pacific Railroad Company, were brought by the latter gentleman
to the academy, and indicated to the writer the existence of an unknown
Plesiosauroid reptile. Subsequent correspondence with Dr. Turner
resulted in his employing a number of men, who engaged in excava-
tions, and succeeded in obtaining a large part of the monster. Its ver-
tebree were found to be almost continuous, except a vacancy of some
four feet in the anterior dorsal region. They formed a curved line, a
considerable part of whose convexity was visible on the side of a bluff
of clay shale rock, with seams and crystals of gypsum. The bones were
all coated with a thin layer of gypsum, and in some places their dense
layer had been destroyed by conversion into sulphate of lime.

The scapular arch was found in large part adhering to the bodies and
neural spines of a series of the anterior dorsal vertebrae, and was de-
tached from it at the academy. The pelvie arch had been slightly
crushed, and the lumbosacral vertebree forced into contact with the ischia,
where they remain. <A broken extremity of the supposed ilium was

394 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

forced into the matrix which supports the ischia. Many of the dorsal
and caudal vertebre were sent, and remain in continuous masses, so that
the succession is readily traced, and the true relations of the extremi-
ties preserved.

In removing the matrix from beneath the vertebre, scales and teeth
of some six species of Physoclyst and Physostomous fishes were found,
including an Hnchodus and a Sphyraena, the latter indicating a new
species which I have called S. carinata. These animals had doubtless
been the food of the Hlasmosaurus.

The end of the muzzle was broken from a part or the whole of the
cranium, which has not been rediscovered, though Dr. Turner. has made
careful search. It was found in front of the vertebre here regarded as
cervical, at some distance from them.

The whole skeleton has been under considerable pressure, so that
most of the ribs have been presséd flat on the vertebre ; the long para-
pophyses of the cervicals have most of them been fractured at their
bases and compressed, those of opposite sides thus approaching more
nearly in the form of chevron bones than they otherwise would have
done. The proximal cervicals are obliquely flattened by the pressure ;
the other cervieals have the bodies naturally flat, with the articular
surfaces much less so than the median portion. Some of the caudals
are obliquely distorted.

Description— Vertebre.—The neck may be safely assumed as a point
of departure, as it consists of above sixty mostly continuous vertebrae,
which graduate to an atlas of very slender proporticns. Most of them
preserve more or less developed parapophyses. At the posterior ex-
tremity of this series, sixteen are perfectly continuous, and in this por-
tion a great gradation in form is apparent. The anterior are narrow,
compressed, and similar to the more distal cervicals in the elevated po-
sition of the lateral angle; the anterior are subquadrate, thick, and with
lower lateral rib, and stronger (?) pleurapophysis. In these respects the
latter resemble the dorsals which foilow, toward what I believe to be
the tail. Four anterior dorsals are in one mass (figured in Plate 35) in
this series the lateral angle first approaching is finally lost in the mar-
gin of the rib-pit, the posterior thus resembling other dorsals. There
can be, so far, little doubt that the anterior and posterior extremities of
the masses are correctly interpreted.

In a series of four anterior dorsals, which, like the preceding, are in
their original continuous mass, those of one extremity have centra
rounded in section, with inferior rib-pits ; those of the other have quad-
rate centra and elevated diapophyses ; the former have the character of
the first dorsals, the latter of the median dorsals. The posterior dorsals
and anterior caudals form in like manner a continuous series of eleven
vertebre, fractured in four places. In them the diapophyses steadily
descend, reaching the inferior plane in the last, thus with the reduction
of the venus foramina to one, at the seventh, indicating the point of tran-
sition from dorsal to caudal series. Thezygapophyses preserve the usual
arrangement, but are much compressed, so that the posterior or down-
looking are confluent, and scarcely separated by an emargination.

The neural spines at their bases have a slight posterior obliquity, and
the superior portion leans strongly in the anterior direction. The inferior
limbs of the cervical pleurapophyses appear to be entirely wanting. The
articular faces for the chevron bones are seen at the extremity of the
inferior rib of the caudal.

Of the cervicals there are both axis and atlas. Of the caudals,
probably the distal half at least is lost. A single vertebra near the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ‘OF THE TERRITORIES. 395

middle does not relate to either of those anterior or posterivr to it.
There are, therefore, at least four lost from that region also.

There is a considerable interruption immediately : anterior to the last
dorsal vertebra. Three large vertebra, with long diapophyses belong-
ing here, were imbedded in the hard matrix which protected the pelvic
arch. These are far from relating immediately to the vertebra preserved
before and behind them. I estimate the number missing as follows:
Seven of the fourteen dorsals preserved have more or less elongate dia-
pophyses. In the Plesiosawri, vertebree of this character are much more
numerous; in P. homalospondylus Owen gives seventeen. If we add
ten to the series in the present species it will give the abdominal space
between the adjacent margins of the o. 0. pubis and coracoidea an ex-
tent equal to the length of the plevie arch. This is relatively shorter
than in the Plesiosauri. Dr. Turner found that a space of ‘three or
four” feet intervened between the two portions of the skeleton, which
was otherwise continuous. I think ten an average number to represent
safely the missing dorsals.

From the cervical proximal regions probably three vertebra are miss-
ing from two interruptions. The remainder of the servical series ex-
hibits three interruptions. Most of the proximals have been broken
medially, leaving the articulations solid, an advantage in determining
their continuity. Three vertebre and one-half are thus found to be
missing in this region.

The whole number of vertebree preserved and lost, with the relative
lengths of each, may be stated as follows:

| Present. Lost.

Total
lengths.
| No. | Length in. | No. | Length in.

@irarrmmiunrney ede ae hea ieee hee tye lhoLeps ae Lege asic SPAT Sa A ee eg I 24. 24,
Weralcallape ees ee wns ose aoc tay 684 257.5 3t 2253 279.8

ID GyHS Orne OEY ey A A ee 14 55.10 | 10 37.6 93.
CCE UO TIS) SE Gs a ere LE 21 60.4 | 30 60. 120.4
Ray eee i si ee eed 1033 434 517.6

This gives the total length to the animal of forty-three feet two
inches, which, increased by the amount taken up by intervertebral
cartilages, will give roundly about forty-five feet. Of this, twenty-two
feet must be reckoned to the neck.

The cervical vertebre are assumed to commence where the rib pits
cease, and the continuous lateral processes commence. This point is
ascertained with difficulty on the specimen. It is, however, perhaps
the same point where the longitudinal lateral ridge leaves the upper
margin of the rib pit; and it was to the series of vertebrae which pass
this point, the scapular bones, the clavicle and coracoid, were found
attached. On the anterior dorsals the inferior margin of the rib pit is
most prominent, and is finally. produced in a flat thin process which is
directed obliquely downwards. Both these and the posterior ribs are
crushed on the centra and project obliquely below them; their mode
of attachment is thus rendered rather obscure. <A similar ‘str ucture ex-
ists in the posterior cervicals of Cimoliasaurus, while on the anterior
dorsals, or where the rib-crigins are on the low er plane, short, thick dia-

y 4

396 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

pophyses support the ribs. The proximal cervicals are remarkable for
their compressed and elongate form. They are for a considerable dis-
tance longer than any dorsals. The lateral longitudinal ridge rises sue-
cessively nearer to the neural arch and disappears. The articular sur-
faces are vertically oval, flattened above and below. ‘The inferior faces
are slightly grooved in line with the venous foramina. These vertebre
diminish in length, and, after the posterior third of the series, materially
in depth. They diminish to terminal ones of very small size. In most
the decurved (?) pleurapophyses are broken near the base, but the basal
portion of various lengths generally adheres. They are as wide as a
rib and scarcely half as thick. On some of the most anterior vertebre
they are quite short and broad antero-posteriorly. They have much
greater antero-posterior extent on the terminal than the proximal cervi-
cal centra, having a base five-sixths the length of the latter. The zyga-
pophyses have relatively a larger size on these than any other vertebre.
in such the centrum is less compressed, though with concave sides, and
with a section rather quadrate.

Measurements.—The cervical vertebre from the sixty-sixth to the
thirty-ninth are all longer than the dorsals; they commence four inches
in length, increase to five, and diminish to four again.

Inches. Lin.
Ibencthtof sixty-third cervical). t).2pcejs he Se ee 2 ee 4 9,2
Depth articular face of the centrum.......-..-.. 02222252. - 3 8.
Wadthvarticular face of theicentrum :2 4) 42 23 32 ae 3 10. 2
Motal elevation ninth do. 2.12. sasha eae eee: al ee 2 9.
Anterior-posterior diam. third cervical...........----:----- 2 De
Transverse diam. third Cervical 2 2 aoe ve yea es pe ee 2 det:
Men's th meadvorniy Ge Li. ose Pee ete ae a eee 1 Oh tf
Waidth head otra mue clase SOC a es ous Rk eee il ot
Wadbheshattiot wiles Net see oe eee ey ALO

Many of the ribs preserved have been pressed upon the vertebrae and
crushed.

The first dorsal is that vertebra which first presents a distinct articu-
lation for a rib. The diapophyses are never much elevated above the
centrum and are longest on the thirteenth, (inserting seven supposed to
be lost.) Their form is stoutand much depressed, and distally expanded.
They diminish gradually, and on the third are represented by a longi-
tudinal, slightly-concave, articular surface, somewhat similar to those of
the caudals. This surface is bounded above and below by a longi-
tudinal angulation; the superior is first distinet on the first, and bounds
the articular surface last on the third. They give the transverse section
of the posterior cervicals a pentagonal form ; that of the anterior dorsals
is nearly circular. The latter are strongly constricted medially, and the
articular faces are slightly concave. The external surface near the in-
cluded angle is coarsely ridged, in conformity with coarse cellular texture
of the spongy bone. The venous foramina gradually become more
widely separated, approaching each other again on the posterior cervi-
eals. On the dorsals they occupy the bottom of a more or less pro-
nounced concavity. These concavities, on the posterior dorsals, are
bounded externally by a strong obtuse longitudinal angulation, giving
a quadrate outline to the section of the centrum in this part of the series.

The posterior cervicals are not readily distinguished from the anterior
dorsals. In the latter the ribs appear to be present, of reduced length,
judging from the smaller size of the remaining heads. The articular pits
continue to descend till their lower marginal ridge is the inferior lateral]

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 397

angle of the vertebra. On such vertebre the inferior surface is flat.
The neural spines on dorsals and posterior cervicals are of great height
as well as antero-posterior width, and they allow a very narrow interval

between them.
Inches. Lin.

Antero-posterior diameter (?) twelfth dorsal........-....... 3 ieee,
Transverse diameter articular surface .-...........2-..---- 4 10.
Vertical diameter articular surface...........222.-2---...- 4 2.5
Neural canal and spine (latter broken) -................--- 5 Bp
Length diapophysis twelfth dorsal .-......-.....2..2+..-2- 4,
Wadthidiapophysisabmiddlesy oise8 Bil s 26 J ee es Leah tani}
Antero-posterior diam. (?)eleventh dorsal............-..-..- SIAR)
Transverse posterior of articular face ......-.--....2..---. 5 3
Vertical posterior ofarticular face) olga Ya oe 3 610.
Transverse posterior of neural canal......--....-.2.------- 10. 2
Transverse posterior of articular face, third dorsal ...:....- 5 2.5
Elevation centrum, arch and spine, second dorsal.....-...-- 11 9.
Elevation upper edge zygapophysis, second dorsal.........- 6

Length zygapophysis, upper edge, second dorsal. ....-...... 1 10, 2
Kenweth:centrum, lasticervicaly U2. 228) es Oa eee 4

Width centrum articular face cervical........-....-.--- lashata) Bs
Elevation neural arch and spine cervical -.-.-...-.-.--.--- fl 9.

Antero-posterior width neural spine of cervical at zygapoph-
IPSUM kenya rere eee is tise eae REET LEU SPR) Tr sa

The caudal vertebre have slightly concave articular surfaces, which
are not bounded by groove orridge. The neural arches have flat sides,
and there is no longitudinal ridge above the diapophyses. The neural
spines are elevated, the margins of those of the adjacent vertebree close
together. The diapophysis is very short and wide, terminating in a
large oval concavity for the pleurapophyses. Hach limb of the chevron
bone is attached to an articular surface on the lower posterior face of
the vertebra, at the extremity of a strong inferior ridge. These inferior
ridges are rather close together, and distinguish the vertebrae from those
of Cimoliasaurus magnus, where they are wanting. They are absent on
the anterior seven of the caudal series. The diapophysis is nearer the
anterior than the posterior face of the vertebra. The venous foramen 1 1S
single and median on ail but the last six cervieals.

In Lin
Antero-posterior diameter of fourth caudal.......-.....-..-- 2 4.
Transverse-posterior .-.--- SUE EO Pans aera EW ne RRA Me ene MeL Uh LAY 3 10.5
Moa UCy, AVON Shao oss eyo yh os 8, Lap edicts hs cygis tee ate hnpeendee Ned 8
Verncalidrameter Cembrm may 3/24 063 2 es5 os cyst neo See eae SNe 3) 1.5
Aniterior-posterior diam. diapophysial pit........-.--.-.-..-- 1 9.2
Miemeiriemimt iy Cam alten ye ts) epi ay cia yl iene ese aes mY 7.5
Transverse, diameter articular face) -2:4:2)-,. oji-i,- -\eeias ae Ad 1 6
Vertical diameter articular face:d 0.) .y2y2.22), 4ot e ee eis 4 ol: 253i

Heads of fourteen ribs are preserved, and a great number of shafts.
The heads are simple, with elongate oval articular face. They are ob-
lique in the narrow direction, and frequently in their length also; the
margins are somewhat everted. The extremities of the diapophy ses of
the larger dorsal vertebre are transverse, some flattened, the others
more oval; the more anterior are subtriangular, and the rib pits on the
first dorsals are subround or vertically oval. Thus the heads of the ribs
also vary. The shafts are all flat, probably more so from pressure.
They are frequently curved in the direction of the compression, which

398 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

suggests a vertical head. They, however, are probably more or less dis-
torted, and the plane of compression changed. No well-defined distal
extremity of a rib can be made out, nor have anything like abdominal
ribs been preserved.

The scapular arch is remarkable for its large clavicles (or procoracoids.)
As preserved, the latter are quite convex downwards, both antero-pos-
teriorly and transversely, while the coracoids are equally concave in
both directions. The clavicles have a remarkable external flat projec-
tion, which is separated from the glenoid cavity by a deep sinus. The
glenoid cavity is bounded by an elevated ridge, which sends a branch
along the claviculo-coracoid suture to the precoracoid foramen. ‘This
foramen is relatively of small size, and is a longitudinal oval; the two
are separated by an isthmus composed equally of processes of clavicle
and coracoid. The coracoids are very thin except in a transverse por-
tion, which extends across behind the precoracoid foramina; a strong
elevated rib extends across the posterior face at this point. The outer
margin of the coracoid is thickened, rounded, and slightly concave.

In. Lin.
Greatest antero-posterior length scapular arch..........-.-. 33—l«G
Greatest antero-posterior length clavicle..........-..-..---- ee)
Greatest antero-posterior length glenoid cavity...-.-...-.--- 6 9
Greatest antero-posterior length precoracoid foramen ......-- isitKs
Transverse extent’ of clawieuli. 2.3...) 6 2eReP eee ee 27
Transverse extent of coracoidea....-..-.-----4+-45-45-4-42 16
From acetabulum to foramen ...... ae a A LN Sirs = hit a6

The form of the posterior margin of the coracoidea is unknown, and
they are much broken on the inner margin. They may have been con-
siderably longer than in the accompanying cut.

The greater part of the pelvic arch appears to be preserved. From
the obliquity of the median suture and from the form of the pubes, as
they are preserved on a large nodule of indurated clay, it is evident
that they have formed a boat-shaped support to the abdominal viscera,
with an obtuse keel on the median line below. The following diagram
will explain the relation of its parts:

Jon,» Lian,
Greatest antero-posterior length’. {2.2.2.2 2.0.0 5.255 2432 2ee 25
Greatest antero-posterior length pubis......-.-..-. PRs is 13 6
Antero-posterior median length to notch of Tula Ses es 8 ii
Length coracoids behind notch wi cyay exe ey eelaretelcenl iS ee 4 6
Greatest width [UIC Sees ae ME eM TE UNE A'S. 24) ee
Greatest width ischia oo. 3.4 2 ais. v2 oucienle ce 21

The anterior and lateral ioeuons of the pubes are very thin, as are
also the median posterior portions of the ischiadic plates. The pubic
bones are thickest on the posterior margin; they present a downward
projecting median convexity near the anterior end. Depth of the
articular face, 2 in. 8 lin.

The superior surface of this arch was brought to light by the exer-
tions of my friends, B. Waterhouse Hawkins and William M. Gabb, who
removed a large mass of matrix which fortunately accompanied and
protected it. This presents a transverse thickening extending across
it,and continuous with the posterior margin of the clavicles. A median
longitudinal thickening extends from this to the anterior emargination,
embracing in its angle with the transverse, a shallow concavity. The
posterior projection which is continuous with the median part of the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 399

ischia is strongly deflexed behind the transverse rib, and is continuous
with the basin-like concavity formed by the united pubes. The glenoid
surface of the pubes is a sigmoid, while that of the ischia is regularly
convex. The articulation of the illum has been exclusively with the
former.

Of the pleurapophysial portion of the two arches nothing appears to
be preserved except two lateral, symmetrical, long bones. One was
found imbedded in the mass carrying the pelvic arch, and they artieu-
late well with the pubes; but the articular extremity is too short to
articulate with ischia at the same time. Though they resemble the
inferior view of the procoracoids, they represent the ilia of Plesiosaurus.
The head is subdiscoid, rather flat, slightly projecting eccentrically
with a ligamentous pit. The articular surface is very oblique to the
axis of the shaft, and is separated from the surface by a marked angle
all around. Nothing like a trochanteric ridge is apparent in this bone.

Ime Wine
Length in middle of curve.......-... pe aa Ll a 9
A Pea RET AUPE Ces icy tah ol gets <a ec etsy ons \os age ceunteaie Steia a pala steen se 3 3
rameter distally, OM: CUVEy 2.6: cise -chste, Siese Saat Geel S eS - 6
Diameter distally, straight. . = 42)... 4-152). =|: eis Mess Dae Ge 4

The shaft is flattened cylindric; much flattened nearest the proximal
extremity. The latter is very oblique to the shaft and slightly convex
near the proximal margin.

The end of the muzzle preserved includes also the symphysis and parts
of the rami of the mandible. The parts have been crushed together,
and the ends of the teeth brokem off. The alveoli of the two jaws
incline at a narrow angle to each other; hence the teeth, which alternate,
cross each other near the middles of the crowns. The parts preserved
appear to belong to the premaxillary bone, though no suture can be
found and the bony walls are so thin as to render their obliteration a
probability. There isa keeled ridge along the middle line above, which
is not continued to the margin of the bone. The form of the muzzle is
narrow, the sides subparallel near the tip, which is elongate rounded.
The mandibular symphysis, however, is not very elongate, as the rami
are given off at three inches from the tip. The latter appear to have
been quite slender from the various small sections or pieces sent with
the muzzle. The premaxillary bordef of 4 in.7 lin. exhibits eight teeth,
or their alveoli, of which the median two are close together, and not
separated by any mandibulars. The sections of the teeth are round or
oval, and their sizes are irregular, probably on account of differing age
and degree of protrusion. The diameters at alveolar margin vary from
6 lines to 3. Their form is slender conic, or with the root slender fusi-
form, and the pulp cavity is small and median, sometimes cylindric, and
sometimes narrowed. The surface, from a short distance above the
alveolar margins to the tip, is marked with acute, thread-like ridges,
' which are sometimes interrupted, and sometimes furnished with short
branchlets. They are more or less undulate, and do not unite, but sim-
ply cease as the tip of the tooth is approached. The latter is smooth
without lateral cutting edges. The width of the mandible at the com-
mencement of the rami is 3 in. .05 lin.; of the muzzle of the seventh
tooth 3 in. 7.5 lin.; at the third tooth 2 in. 4.2 lin.

General Remarks.—The tail is a powerful swimming organ, more or
less compressed in life ; hence the specific name, which means flat-tailed.

The danger of injury to which such an excessively elongate neck has
been exposed, would render the recovery of a perfect specimen like the

400 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

present an unusual accident. The neural spines of the dorsal region are
so elevated and closely placed as to allow of little or no vertical motion
of the column downwards, while those of the cervical and caudal region
being narrower, the elevation of the head is quite possible, and an
upward flexure easy.

The habit of this species, like that of its nearest known allies, was
raptorial, as evinced by the numerous canine-like teeth, and the fish
remains taken from beneath its vertebre.

The general form of this reptile, whether it was fur ished with large
posterior limbs or not, was that of a serpent with a relatively shorter,
more robust, and more posteriorly placed body than is characteristic of
true serpents, and with two pairs of limbs or paddles. It progressed
by the strokes of its paddles, assisted by its powerful and oar-like tail.
The body was steadied by the elevated keel of the median dorsal line,
formed by the broad, high neural spines. The snake-like neck was
raised high in the air, or depressed at the will of the animal, now arched
swan-like preparatory to a plunge aiter a fish, now stretched i repose
on the water or deflexed in exploring the depths below.

Differences from other Sauropterygia.—The only genus with which it is
necessary to compare this present one is Cimoliasaurus. The following
may be noted as generic distinctions: The series of cervicals rapidly
diminishes in Cimoliasaurus in absolute size and in relative length of
the vertebra, which are not compressed. In the present genus.they
maintain a similar and increased length for a considerable distance,
diminish in length very gradually and are much compressed. The
diapophyses of the dorsal vertebre, as they descend, in Cimoliasaurus,
continue well developed until they attain the inferior planes of the
centrum, and have there a downward direction. In Hlasmosaurus they
cease while yet on the middle of the centrum and are replaced by pits
throughout the remainder of the length.

The neural canal is everywhere markedly larger in Cimoliasaurus.

As the characters of lesser significance may be added, that in Cimo-
liasaurus magnus the dorsals with elevated diapophyses are considerabiy
larger in the centra than those in which they are situated lower down.
In H. platyurus these vertebree are of relatively equal length.

The cervical pleurapophyses in C. magnus are anteriorly considerably
stouter and less flattened; the same applies to more anterior vertebre,
where they are flatter in both.

In comparing this species with the Cimoliasaurus grandis, Leidy, from
Arkansas, we observe, first, the generic character of the strong inferior
diapophyses in the latter. That species marks itself also as a preémi-
nently short-necked form, as these anterior dorsals are even shorter than
in C. ma gnus, being nearly twice as wide as long. The depth of the
articular faces is also relatively greater than in the EL. platyurus.

Localities—This species has been found in various parts of Kansas
besides that whence the specimen above described was procured. Pro-
fessor B. F. Mudge obtained vertebree from a point thirty miles east of
Fort Wallace, which probably belong to this animal.

PYTHONOMORPHA.*

This order is more extensively represented in the cretaceous beds of
Kansas than any other, no less than six species having been determined
up to this time. Aseventh, Licdon dyspelor, Cope, has been discovered

* For the definition of this order see SUR hei Amer. Philosoph. Society, 1869, p. 175, and
Proc. Boston Soc.-N. Hist., 1869, p. 253

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. A401

in the continuation of the same yellow chaik formation in the Territory
of New Mexico, and will probably be found in Colorado and Kansas.

The genera to which these species belong are Clidastes, Cope, Liodon,
Owen, and Mosasaurus, Conybeare. The two latter occur also in the
eretaceous strata of Europe. While Mosasaurus is most abundantly
represented in the cretaceous of the eastern parts of the United States,
Liodon abounds much more in the central regions.

MOSASAURUS, (CONYEBEARE.)
MOSASAURUS MISSURIENSIS, (HARLAN.)

(Ichthyosaurus do., Harlan, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., IV, 405, Tab. XX, 1834. Batra--
chiosaurus, Harlan. Satrachiotherium, Harlan. ? Mosasaurus neovidii, Meyer. ? M.
maximiliant, Goldfuss. MM. missouriensis, Leidy, Cretac. Rept., 1865. Pl. VII, figs. 15, 16,
17,18.)

The centra of the vertebre of this species are moderately depressed...
The centra of the caudals, posterior to the disappearance of the dia-
pophyses, are as wide as deep, and of nearly similar length, and with:
anchylosed chevron bones. A fine cranium figured by Goldfuss shows
the crowns of the teeth to be subcylindric, incurved, and facetted ;:
but it is not certain that it belongs to this species.

An unusually perfect specimen of this species, or one allied to it, was
recently exhumed by W. E. Webb, near the town of Topeka in Kansas.
My friend Professor J. Parker, of Lincoln College, of that place, informs
me that it is seventy-five feet in length, and the gentleman who discov-
ered it, that it measures eighty feet. Its mandibular rami are stated by
the same person to measure five feet. Measurements of the vertebra
indicate them to be of a size quite similar to those of large individuals -
which have been discovered in the green-sand of New Jersey. They.
measure as follows, as stated on photographs by my friend W. EH. Webb::

Inches. .
iDiameperncervicals! centravomliyy se yak aos ace oie eh rey ort 2.5)
Diameter dorsals, with diapophyses ...........--- POR is CMI Gs 7
AD AME CET, LUMA AT See isin pele psbA Gc ae a ne 2°

These proportions illustrate again the Ophidian or eel-like farm of this:
genus, and the relatively large size of the head.
The teeth resemble in size those of large specimens of J. dekayi.

LIODON, (OWEN.)

(Proceed. British Assoc. Ady. Science, 1841, p. 144. Cope, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soe:,.
869, p. 200.)

This genus is characteristically American; four species are known from
the western cretaceous, four from the eastern, (LZ. mitchillii, L. validus, L.
sectorius, and L. laevis,) and two from the southern, (L. perlatus and L. cong-
rops ;) one species (L. anceps) is British. Some very large species (L. dyspe-
ey L. proriger) belong to it, while L. congrops is one of the smallest of the
order.

LIODON PRORIGER, (COPE.)

(Transactions Amer. Philos. Soc., 1869, p. 202. Tab. XII, Figs. 22-24. MJacrosaurus:
proriger, Cope, Proceed. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phil., 1869, p. 123. Leidy, Cretac. Rept. I,
15, 16, [caudal vertebra. ])

_ The history of this large Mosasauroid was originally based on material
inthe Museum Comparative Zoédlogy, Cambridge, Massachusetts, brought
26 G

402 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

by Professor Louis Agassiz from the cretaceous beds in the neighborhood
of Fort Hayes, Kansas, and near the line of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road. It consists of the greater part of the muzzle from the orbits, with
the right dentary and left pterygoid bones nearly complete; one cervical
vertebra, (with hypapophysis,) one dorsal, one caudal with diapophysis,
and ten caudals without diapophysis. Smaller portions of the skeleton
have also been found by Dr. F. V. Hayden and Professor B. F. Mudge.

The characters presented by the vertebral column indicate an exces-
sively elongate reptile; the transverse diameter of one of the distal caudal
vertebra is less than one-fifth that of a proximal with short diapophysis,
while four consecutive ones of the former show but little variation in
dimensions. This diminution amounts to 2 of a transverse diameter of
the larger form. With this ratio as a basis, fifty-three 2 vertebra would
form a complete series from caudals one-half the diameter of the last of
the four, to the proximal caudal above mentioned. ‘There have been, no
doubt, several caudals in advance of the latter, as the diapophyses are
small. From the slow rate of diminution of the columns of other species
examined, it may be supposed that sixty caudal vertebre is below
rather than above the true number.

The cervical and dorsal vertebre have been slightly crushed as they
lay on the side, and present a narrower diameter than is normal; the
cup of the cervical has not been distorted, and is deeper than wide,
presenting the character of Macrosaurus. The rudimental zygosphen
consists of a continuation of the roof of the neural canal in front, to
adapt itself to the inner face of the down-looking zygapophysis of the
preceding vertebra. The latter is thus received into a groove on the
inner side of the up-looking posterior zygapophysis. The dorsals and
caudals exhibit with the cervicals that minute, sharply-defined rugosity
which characterizes all the projecting margins, especially those of the
hypapophysis and diapophyses in this genus and Clidastes. The whole
surface of the cervical is marked with either inosculating striz or im-
pressed puncte. The same character marks the cranial bones, though
they do not present such rugosity as the vertebre.

The proximal caudal presents a subhexagonal section, of which the
inferior and supero-lateral sides are longest; articular faces about as
broad as high. <A broad, smooth space between the chevron bones.
Diapophyses with broad, ovate, transverse section.

A caudal without diapophyses, anterior to the middle of the series,
estimated by the size, is but slightly deeper than long, and with parallel
lateral outlines of the articular faces. The neural arch is very much
narrowed antero-posteriorly, but has a greater transverse extent at its
lower part; above the spineis much compressed, but not widened. The
zygapophyses remain as rudiments just above the small neural canal,
but do not probably touch each other. There are two anterior and two
posterior narrow ribs on the upper portion of the neural spine. The
more distal caudals have wider neural spines, and the arch also has a
greater antero-posterior extent. The zygapophyses are scarcely traceable
and the neural spine is strongly striate. The reverse arrangement is
observed in Clidastes propython, where the neural spine of the proximal
caudal has considerable extent, while those of the posterior and distal
vertebree are almost cylindric, especially the neurapophyses.

Dimensions.
Dorsal Men ohhw esses eres ose cena = --- ase Soe seep ee eee eee eee eee Bees: 3. 35

Dorsal; width cup ice sse assess ee 2s oes aoe eee ee ee eee eee 2.5
Dorsal, depth cup ..-..- ps SEAS es chide ol SL eS Ree eee 2.77

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 403

Inches.
Proximal caudal, length. ..---------- ----e0 «cenee---~ n-ne == =- Crise act rn i aeace 2.14
Teo Choy AwiGhdn CD oaekso bboy eedeso dbbsee seteas seas sooscesctsecceen ecer 3.43
Tn, Cos CE OI CLI soaks cdoncu eddbpdedcd obécsoeencas od5646 Sa56 0nd S057 3.23
Caudal without diap., No. 1, length ...-.. ..---.-.---.---.---- Dodpicee asserts 1.6
Caudalwithout diap., No. is depthienp:-.-)< i:. paste Sooo Bee S.J GS
Caudal without diap., No. 1, width cup ..--.:....--..--.------ Siaih Soph okey hee 2.6
Caudal without diap., No. 1, height neural canal -.......-.....---..----------- 4
Caudal without diap., No. 1, antero-posterior width neural spine. -....-...----. bt)
Caudal withoutdiaps No: 2 emote jas -\4) 2 cise /eeijoa/oeianle =o o)at clatter EZ
Caudal without diap., No. 2, depth cup. .-- 2... 2.2022 coe e eee se eee ene wee 2.15
Caudal wathoutdiap. Now 2 awadbhy CNP) - <5 <i): Jo anne tere Sal 214 = otnel-e oie 1. 86
Caudal without diap., No. 2, width neural sp. (antero-posterior) .-.--.--.---- Meee 3 07/
Ghudalawithoutidrapyidistal wemothy sassy cine ce) = ele sale) eel tea el laa see 4B
@andaliwithoutidiap dep tht cuples esti sete elementos ote eras) certain eaten . 85
Caudaliwathoutidiap:swadtkcuppl (2a Foe esi cheek Jee Asse. ee ye . 64
Caudal without diap., distal; diameter, antero-posterior, of neural spine -.----- - 40

The points of attachment of the chevron bones on the distal vertebre
are strongly-marked pits; on the anterior, the anterior margins of the
pits are raised and continuous with the chevrons.

The muzzle presents the usual characters of the large Mosasauroids,
but adds a peculiarity in the prolongation of the premaxillary bone into
a cylindric mass forming an obtuse beak beyond the premaxillary teeth.
The bone is narrowed anteriorly, and does not descend regularly as in
Mosasaurus sp., but continues to its abrupt and narrow termination de-
scribed. The extremity is deeper than wide. Immediately in front of
and between the anterior premaxillary teeth, a short acuminate projec-
tion interrupts the surface, and in front of this, a transverse depression.
Above, the surface becomes flattened, and presents two shallow longi-
tudinal depressions continuous with the nostrils. Where the premax-
Ulary rather suddenly contracts into its spine, it is materially wider than
the maxillary on each sideof it; in I/. misswriensis itis narrower, accord-
ing to Goldfuss. The maxillary border of the nares is rather suddenly
concave at the anterior extremity of the nares, narrowing the maxillaries;
the latter gradually widen by the expansion of their inner margins.

No part of the frontals is preserved, but a considerable part of the
pre-frontal remains. It unites by a very coarse overlapping suture with
the maxillary, whose outline forms an irregular chevron with the apex
pointing forwards in the middle of the maxillary bone. This, it will be
seen, is very different from the form given by Goldfuss in the M. missuri-
ensis, where the most anterior point of the suture is on the nareal mar-
gin. The external margin of the bone behind is contracted considerably
within the maxillary border, previous to its outward extension toward
the orbit. This is much less marked in the Clidastes propython, but is
distinct in M. missuriensis. i

The maxillo-premaxillary suture gradually descends to the alveolar
border to the extremity of the maxillary bone, where it descends abruptly,
forming an interlocking suture quite different from that squamosal type
already observed in other species of the order. The length of the pre-
maxillary anterior to this point is three-fourths the length of the same
to the beginning of the nares.

The number of teeth on the maxillary bone was probably thirteen ;
twelve alveole and bases remain, and one is added in the position of the
posterior of M. missuriensis, if such existed; this may be questioned
in consideration of the small number of mandibular teeth. Premaxillary
teeth two on each side, the anterior with bases separated only by a
groove. Throughout the whole series the bases of the teeth are con-
siderably more exposed on the inner than the outer side.

The crowns are everywhere sub-cylindric at the base, the inner face

“404 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

more convex than the outer. Posteriorly there is a posterior cutting
ridge, as well as a marked anterior one, both minutely crenulate, but
the former disappears till in the anterior teeth there is only an anterior
edge, the posterior face being convex and continuous with the inner.
There is a trace of cutting edge on the outer portion of the extremity of
the crown in the most anterior teeth. The anterior ridge remains very
strongly marked. The surface is quite rough with longitudinal ribs, of.
which eight may be counted on the outer aspect of the second maxillary.
These are not strongly marked, and are separated by concave facets.
The basal part of the crown is marked by numerous fine sharp striz,
which are most distinct on the inner face.

The external face of the maxillary bone presents three series of for-
amina. These rise superiorly on the premaxillary, and increase in num-
ber and become irregular on its extremity.

The ramus of the mandible is massive, and differs from that of Mosa-
saurus giganteus in continuing its proportions to its extremity. Its
depth at the latter point is as great as the sixth tooth from the front.
It is prolonged beyond the first tooth in correspondence with the pro-
longation of the premaxillary. This extremity is compressed and obtuse ;
its inner face is very rugose, as though there had been a closer union at
the symphysis than usual, though it would not appear to have been
other than ligamentous. The groove for Meckel’s cartilage is very large
and has been exposed below the last two teeth, as the splenial terminates
at the third. Two series of foramina on the external face of the ramus.
There are alveole and bases for thirteen teeth on the dentary bone.
This, it will be observed, is one more than in MW. gracilis, and one less
than in other species of Mosasaurus. The posterior extremity of the
dentary shows its marks of reception into the notch of the coronoid ; it
is more compressed and less club-shaped than the corresponding part of
M. mitchillii, and would indicate less lateral flexibility than in some
other types.

The right pterygoid is of less elongate form than in some other species.
It presents the sutural face for union with the palatine on the outer an-
terior extremity, and narrows to an apex a little in advance. The den-
tigerous face is widest at the anterior third the length, where the outer
margin is expanded. ‘This then contracts and is compressed vertical at
the tenth tooth, where it is broken off. The transverse process is given
off a little anterior to the ninth tooth. The interior face of the bone is
a vertical plane, without projection, except a slight obliquity at the an-
terior extremity, and it is clear there has been some interval between
this pterygoid and its fellow. The superior margin is obtusely rounded.

The bases of the pterygoid teeth are exposed for two-thirds their
length, on the outer side of the bone, thus approaching the Platecarpus.
The antero-median are large, and the anterior most closely placed.
Their crowns are strongly recurved, round in section, and with a fine
sculpture of straight striz, most marked near the base and on the inner
side. They are more spaced posteriorly than any other species except
M. mitchillii,and are relatively larger than in any except the same
species. They have not the compressed form with basal shoulder,
characteristic of the MW. dekayi.

Measurement of muzzle.

Inches
Densthiof iracment wesc. 2 --2 6 a a eee eee ee eee eee eee eeee 31.
Length from end muzzle to pre-frontal ..--.-.--- <2 0 eee eee ee 21.5
Lengtihurom end muzzlewo mares... - . oe. . seen eee eee eee eee eee 11.75

hength trem end muzzle toanaxallary .2/2 2220S 22a soe ee eee eee eee 5.75

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 405

Length from end muzzle to first tooth -.---...-.---..----------- --0--- «----- 2.5
VWinalila, Gif aaeeAleieni COG one dicooeuo pds sebeboR so obeoas doused de cb odeatereecheeor 1.5
Width of muzzle at anter. extremity nares.-.--...--...----.---~.------------- 8.
Width of premaxillary at anter. extremity nares......-.-..------.-.---------- 3
Width of maxillary between tenth and eleventh teeth..-.--..----.-.--------- 3
Depthymandible atextremibiy; ef - y= <a ae = ee elelelejaie oles @) = =a 9s kira 2
TO Gaul nen aAChl olen Heaney WOON. HH Ha Gene Bsee Be eese de cbcesr once kopeeoeee 6 aor - 3
Depth pterygoid at transverse process-----------.-----------.------- +--- ---- ss
Zz
a
1
1

The vomers are, as usual, separate and narrow. They are in close
contact from the second maxillary to the second premaxillary tooth.
Thoughout this part of their length they are embraced by posteriorly
produced vertical lamine of the premaxillary bone. ‘These lamin unite
just behind the second’ premaxillary teeth and form a single prominent
keel, which disappears between the first premaxillary.

LIODON MUDGEI, (COPE.)
(Proc. Amer. Philos. Soe., 1870, Dec.)

Tam not quite sure whether this species belongs to this genus or to
Mosasaurus. The characters of its quadrate bone, size, &c., induce me to
refer it provisionally to the former. Its determination rests on a series
of specimensfrom the yellowchalk ata point six miles south of Sheridan,
Kansas. They consist of three vertebre and fragments of atlas, with
numerous portions of cranium and proximal extremity of scapula. The
parts of cranium preserved are the frontal bone without the anterior
extremity, and with the adjacent parietal almost complete, parts of the
basisphenoid, the suspensorium, the ossa quadrata, and the greater part
of the articular. The frontal is flat, with thin edge, longitudinally hol-
lowed on each side of the median line, which is marked by a low but
acute keel. There is an abundance of foramina and delicate grooves
on the surface, and posteriorly elevated strive, which converge to the
median keel. The median square projection of the border of the parie-
tal is in advance of the lateral portion of the same, and not behind it,
as in Clidastes propython. The fontanelle is large. A marked feature
is that the parietal crests unite into a low median ridge a short distance
behind the fontanelle, and are not, as in Olidastes propython, separated
by ahorizontal plane. The sutures of the bones forming the side of
the brain-ease are very obscure. Nevertheless, it appears that the de-
scending margin of the parietal does not descend to the front of the
alisphenoid, but is margined inferiorly by the latter to the post-orbital
expansion. No part of the inferior margin of the alisphenoid can reach
the sphenoid, as it terminates in a thin edge, except tor a short distance
medially, where it is broken off.

The inferior aspect of the parietal and frontal bones presents a fur-
cate keel corresponding to the divergent parietal crests, and a very
large funnel for the epiphysis of the brain. The olfactory groove is
deep and regular.

The articular bone is characterized by the prominent longitudinal
crest which descends on the inner side from the front of the glenoid
cavity to below the posterior attachment of the coronoid bone, where it
terminates in a thin edge. Also by the short distance between the

— 406 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

margin of the glenoid cavity (cotylus) to commencement (or end) of
coronoid suture, indicating a shortening of the posterior part at least .
of the cranium. The bone is continued forward only inmediately under
the coronoid, (¢. f. r. L. ictericus.)

The proximal extremity of the quadrate is characteristic, and exhibits
features intermediate between those of Liodon ictericus, Cope, and the
typical species of Mosasaurus, as M. fulciatus, M. dekayi, &e. The proxi-
mal articular face is much like that of IM. depressus, (Trans. Amer.
Philos. Soc., 1869, p. 187, Fig. 48, No. 3.) The external angle is much
smaller than in the Liodons andmore anterior; nevertheless it is con-
tinued distally as a ridge-like angle separating the antero-lateral from
the postero-lateral faces, as in them, and not presenting the gradual
biending of the two surfaces, characteristic of the genus Mosasaurus.
The postero-lateral face is thus flat proximally, and the meatal pit, which
is well developed, cannot be seen from the antero-lateral face. The
distal part of the quadrate is lost so that I cannot determine the char-
acter of the ridges there.

The basal element of the axis-bears a strong hypapophysis without
articular faces, but very rugose surfaces. The same portion of the atlas
is a convex parallelopipedon with median rugose tuberosity, and very
rugose extremities. Its surface is not separated from its body anteriorly
by a deep groove as in Liodon.

The articular facets of the seapula are much broader than in the other
species here described, indicating a head or wider articulation of the
humerus. No limb bones were preserved.

The vertebre are too much injured to be characteristic, with one ex-
ception. This one is a posterior dorsal, and had had compressed
centrum, or, at least, not depressed. The inferior face is convex trans-
versely, and there is a slight concavity below each diapophysis.

Measurements.
_M.
Parietal Meneth ince ie Boe Se tek ae ai deosh ia ie) | pa 0.074
Parietal width between anterior and erests.......-.....------- 048
arietal leastiwadth.. sse.cbecteu 2s eis eee See eee 022
irontal interorbital widthitn cic: weeds wise 28 a os a 092
Qnuadrate wadthrabover:. 2s savage 8 Was SOLS et .002
Quadrate length from pit to proximalend.........--. J ee 0.023
Articular length, lower edge............-.-..- Sedldn 2d 33 C eee 015
Articular depth, in front of cotylus.....-..-..- wy Let Gel Relies 033
Articular depth at coronoid {4 23 lle... Les fabs 8 See ee .055
Posterior dorsal: leneth 2.ois5642. sosdeaeeedks vig ee 0.495
Scapula, proximal widthsiu.ij.icsc lik oie ee a ee 051

This species differs from all those of Mosasaurus and Liodon, in which
the form of the quadrate is known in the character of that bone. From
Li. levis and L. congrops, in which that element is unknown, it differs in
the stouter or less slender ver tebre ; from L. proriger in its much smaller
size.

Its size is a little less than the ZL. ictericus or L. validus. Tt is dedi-
cated to Professor Mudge, in recognition of the valuable results of his
investigations as State geologist of Kansas.

LIODON ICTERICUS, (COPE.)
(Proceed. Amer. Philos. Soc., December, 1870.)
Characteristics: External angle of the osquadratum close by the mea-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 407

tus and continued as a rounded ridge, separating the anterior and exter-
nal faces of the bone. Median posterior ridge not prominent. Centra of
dorsal vertebree depressed. Humerus broad, short.

Description: This species is represented by portions of cranium, as
post frontal, susparsorial, pterygoid articular, and quadrate bones; by
parts or wholes of seven, vertebre, which are all dorsals, and by
seapula and coracoid, with many elements of the fore limb. The latter
includes humerus, radius, a carpal, and numerous metacarpals and pha-
langes.

The species is first well characterized by the form of the quadrate
bone. This element lacks a portion of the ala, and the postero-superior
decuryed process, but is otherwise perfect. Its form is intermediate
between that in LZ. validus, Cope, and Mosasaurus depressus, Cope. Its
external angle of the proximal extremity is posterior to its usual posi-
tion, as in the former species, but is less prominent than in it. It ex-
tends to near the distal end, disappearing between the extremities of the
median posterior and the distal longitudinal angles. The former of
these is short and it disappears by a gradual descent distally, in a very
rugose margin. The distal longitudinal is short and acute, not promi-
nent at the distal extremity. From the posterior position of the prox-
imal external angle, the alar articular surface is somewhat elongate.
The postero-external face above the meatus is proportionately short.
The meatal pit is scarcely one-fifth the usual size, so far as determinable
from the present surface, but it is possible that the greater part is filled
by an impacted mass of bone derived from the adjacent ridge. The
margins of the articular extremities and of the ala are striate and papil-
lose rugose. No meatal knob.

The suspensorium is slender. It is peculiar in the great extent of the
exoccipital element, which covers the whole superior surface, and ex-
tends externally over the opisthotic to the squamosal, concealing the
former, except its anterior margin. The prodtic sends a small proximal
portion only to the superior face.

The pterygoid has been free from its fellow medially. A distal and
median portions have been lost; the remaining portions present bases
and alveole for eleven teeth. The fangs are rugulose and but little
swollen; probably five to seven stood on the lost portions. The bases
of the crowns are circular. The external process of the bone is slender
and flat.

The portion of the mandible preserved includes much of the articu-
lar and adherent parts of the angular. The latter forms a narrow band
on the lower edge of the external face, and one twice as wide on the
inner face. The only characteristic feature is the lowness of the ridge,
which descends and extends anteriorly from the anterior margin of the
cotylus for the quadratum.

Of the vertebree several are so distorted by pressure as to be uncharac-
teristic. Two well-preserved anterior dorsals have transversely oval
articular surfaces excavated openly above for the neural canal. ‘One is
from a position anterior to the other, and these surfaces are less oval,
thongh still transverse. The centra of both are very concave in profile
below, and expand both inferiorly and laterally to the edge of the cup.
A deep groove surrounds the base of the posterior face. In the ante-
rior dorsal the neural arch is preserved. It exhibits an approach to
a zygosphen articulation more marked than in any other Liodon, and
is hence nearer Clidastes in this respect, as well as in the slender ptery-
goids. A zygosphen is not separated from the zygapophyses, owing to
their connection by a lamina of bone. The notches at the posterior end

408 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

of the arch for this prominence are marked. The neural spine had a
strong anterior ala, the base of which extends to the summit of the
neural arch. It presents a fine striation vertical to the centrum and

oblique to the edge of the bone, as is seen in C. propython, Cope. The
diapophysis on this vertebra looks obliquely upward and carries a ver-
tical articular surface which is concave behind. The line of its lower
extremity falls the depth of the neural arch below the latter, and of its
upper to the apex of the canal in front. The more posterior vertebra
has as usual a broader articular rib surface, the diapophysis being flat-
tened above and below. The marginal and angular surfaces are striate-
rugose on these and the other vertebr. One of the free hypapophy-
ses of a cervical is preserved. It has a subtrigonal section, and is
longer than wide, and obtuse. Its posterior faces are exceedingly rugose.

A cervical rib is compressed and short. Head narrow, long, simple,
the adjacent sides striate-rugose. Sides with a shallow groove.

The scapular arch is represented by an entire right scapula and prox-
imal part of right coracoid. The former is broader than in any of the
species in which T have seen it (four only) and is flat, and above, thin.
Its anterior extension is greatest below, its posterior above, at the supe-
rior angle. The lower posterior margin is strongly concave and thick-
ened. ‘The antero-superior margin is a regularly convex are of more
than 180°. The lower portionin front is on a different plane and is the
rudimental acromion. The articular surface with the scapula is rugose,
and the glenoid cavity not less so.

The proximal portion-of the coracoid is flat. It presents the usual
foramen near the anterior margin, and the shorter concavity of the an-
terior margin leads to the belief that the anterior extremity of the bone
is the more prolonged, as in Clidastes propython.

The glenoid cavity is not concave, but merely two adjacent flattened
rugose surfaces.

Consequently, the humerus has no head, but merely an elongate artic-
ular surface, which exhibits a median keel and a short, angular expan-
sion near themiddle. This bone is of remarkable form, more resembling
that I have described in Clidastes propython* than any other, and very
different from that described by Leidy in Platecarpus tympaniticus. Tt
is a broad, flat bone, expanded at the extremities in one plane, distally,
So as to be as wide aS long. In the present individual it is crushed by
pressure, so that its thickness is not readily determinable. Its external
surface rises into a crest medially at the narrowest portion, which con-
tinues to the lateral angle of the proximal end, following parallel to one
of the borders. A moderate thickening exists on the opposite side, a
little beyond the extremity of the crest. Strongly rugose strie extend
to the edges of the articular faces. An oval rugose muscular insertion
exists on “the least prominent of the distal angles, and not on a tgs
cess, aS in C. propython.

A bone which, from its analogy to the radius of the last-named species,
I suppose to be that bone, accompanies the others. It is flat, truncate
proximally, and with nearly parallel borders on the proximal half.
Distally it is obliquely expanded, the outline forming a segment of an
ellipse whose axis is oblique to that of the bone. Its extremities are
Tugose striate.

One carpal remains; it is a quinquelateral bone, one side being mar-
-ginal and concave. Perhaps it is the intermedial. There are several
elements which are probably metacarpals. The general structure of the

*See Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1869, 219, Tab. XII, Fig. 17.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 409

whole limb may be determined from these and from the numerous pha-
langes. The former are flattened and with oblique extremities ; the latter
more cylindric with a transverse truncation. Both have a median con-
traction, which becomes less marked in the distal ones; these are also
more cylindric, entirely so at the distal extremities, which are concave.
All of these elements are rod-like, much more slender than any of those
figured by Cuvier or Leidy. ‘Those immediately following the meta-.
carpals are flattened, but thicken distally.

The number of digits cannot be readily determined, but four may be
certainly distinguished. The general similarity in construction of the
manus to that of a cetacean mammal is noteworthy.

Measurements.
M.
length suspensorium (anteriorly) -...-..2.22. 02.21.2222 25.-% 0. 111
Nadthtsuspensorium medially. 3.2). i0 ol ek Sebi 031
UUACIRIE, CRERTIES Keel Ss cag peer caroon seed beanacdTops waoe . 099
Ghurmimace awa th Of ala 2s evel. ec lian ea ee AI a IS . 066
Gueamrae, uniekness belwmd:. 21-2 2/2) 5030 ci ce ee Te 03
Q@Quadrate, length of distal extremity.......!2. 225.2200. 2822..- . 043
ery cold. lems thy Six alveoliicn’ se. 27 2S ki. MEE SA dys Ski . 055
PAMberioncorsal, lensth Cembrum © 2.) 55 22) 72) fe eo . 059
PAUMETIO“R GOrsals WAGGH: CUP: <2 2s ats SS OT a . 0515
PRM ETON COLUSA CED UN 4/21.) 0, Sie.c/c1e fe) a laa\e ieee Sis eam iet c/a ule h PAT . 038
Anterior dorsal, expanse poster. zygapophyses...........-.-.-- . 0395
_ Anterior dorsal, expanse diapophyses......-...0..0.-.--..--- . O91
MbeELIOr dorsalewich meural Canals 227/20 27 EL Lye ee . 0135
Anterior dorsal, depth neural canal.......-....-2.....-..-.-. . O11
osteo dorsal, depthiball sore (ee 52 2eI Ni ssh eS Sy ae oles - .049
eshenor dorsal, wid tly alls | o)-)5). ej jh) cf a claia) lo-fi ae a creretohss . 0425
Posterior dorsal, fength ‘centrum 22.) Se . 0555
Posterior dorsal, expanse diapophyses......-----..-.--:---+--- . 088
Scauilere ere tiny se Ne cas ha RAG 4 EY RS ENON Sal A, SEVERN OOS . 145
Scapula, width proximal............... rahe PED EE LEM eS O07
WeApUlayawidtuemediams | |. le ilk LC Cee SNS Lips Maes 112
Coracords width pre xin al) ee eee Wy PREM ERO Aa I Epa . 066
Humerus, Verio thie Steet crcc worsen gieleeya UY) Vac OP, ERM eres 154
Ehumeriss width proximal): yh Mah yon eae ie De Ntei s aiitQ
PEM UIME TUS| TNE CUT Sate GO re RL LeeLee he . 075
Humerus, distal (restored from C. propython)........----.---- . 158
RAOUL TV OLIN Ween i Ay WC AVary, cents AE O VEN ie VEO R EOE Hey Ly. eA . 115
Radius, width [COP CUTN A BeeAy WLe tered Ve acts tue AF . 061
adms; width distal (Oblique)! 20/5. 0242) La Sah Sh . 105
Wanspale mle mortise. Ve eerie) AS) Gy SONS LR PAY ARSE TRCN SUE ad Se O04
Warepnallvlciihn eee et NS ie TSG IL Sea RN QS, 52) . 037
Metacarpaleylema tins t 2 Bese Ns sey ah 0 AINE ees EN AUG 2 . 095
Metacarpalywadth proximally (32 CSN Ne Oe eee Sali 8) . 045
Meétacarpall widthemedially .0222': 2 2 02 sweet a Os . 018
Metacarpals wrt distealliyss lee U) SS POLS AT TO) 29,0 . O34
iPbalangel(medial) Tene tHe i fees VO TEAL Fe ee . 085
Phalange (medial) width proximally....-....-........-----+- 027
Phalange (distal) length...-.........2.... BENAN Ns ob BE) EUS NAVE . 059
Phalange (distal) width distally..................----.- aoe *.. 0082
Ramus mandibuli, depth in front of cotylus..........-.--..-- . 056

(STATIC! Tall oa MNO eee ee A IIA OA SE A CRN eRe Reside ine . O74

410 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

The total length of the anterior limb could not have been less than
0.90 m., which allows of five phalanges in the longest digit. There may
have been more. That the digits were of unequal lengths is indicated
by portions of two in the matrix accompanying the specimens, where
the articulation of two phalanges falls opposite the shaft of one of the
adjoining digits. The phalanges were separated by a short interval of
‘eartilage. The size of this reptile was near that of L. validus, perhaps
thirty-five to forty feet in length.

The affinities of this species, as incidentally pointed out, are to those
Liodons which approach Clidastes. This is indicated by the many ptery-
goid teeth, the rudimental zygosphen articulation, the regular striz of
the bones, and the forms of the limb bones. In Mosasaurus the humerus
is shorter and the phalanges are longer.

The specimens on which this species rests were discovered by Profes-
sor B. F. Mudge, State geologist of Kansas and professor of geology in
the State Agricultural College of Kansas, on the north bank of the
Smoky Hill River, thirty miles east of Fort Wallace, Kansas.

Numerous fragments of another larger individual were found by Pro-
fessor Mudge near the same locality, which belong probably to the same ~
species. Among them area portion of the maxillary bone with bases
of two teeth; the bases of the crowns where broken off are not com-
pressed, slightly but oval. A radius is a flat bone, more dilated at one
extremity than that of Clidastes propython.

3 M.
Heneth rads 00 Os sO Pe eS ee 0. 108
Width radius, narrower extremity...----- Bye hae Bee le ee ea . 064
Width radius, wider) extremity: -° 2c 2224.2: 222 eee . 08
Wadth radius, medially..s..222.2 222222 222.0242 cee ee . 042

This species cannot be confounded with the LZ. proriger, Cope, and L.
congrops, Cope, owing to its depressed vertebral centra ; from LL. mitchit-
lit, De Kay, the equal and numerous pterygoid teeth separate it at once.

LIODON DYSPELOR, (COPE.)

(Proceed. Amer. Philos. Soc., Dec., 1870, p. 574.)

This species is represented by numerous vertebre of the dorsal, lum-
bar, and caudal regions, and other remains, which will, at a future time,
be more fully described than is possible at present. The vertebre in-
dicate the largest mosasauroid reptile known, and are remarkable for
their form as well as size.

The centra of the dorsals are much depressed, quite as in D. perlatus,
Cope, and Mosasaurus brumbyi, Gibbes. Their articular faces are of
transverse lenticular form, the superior arch being a little more convex
than the inferior, and obtusely emarginate for the floor of the neural
canal. The superior outline is thus bilobed; the lobes rounded. The
transverse curvature of the articular ball is quite regular, and not, as in
Mosasaurus maximus, more steeply inclined at the external or lateral an-
gles. A rather broad, smooth band separates the edge of the ball from
the surfaces of the centrum adjacent. The latter are rather finely striate-
ridged from the edge of this band. ‘The inferior outline of the centrum
is strongly concave, and with two venous foramina separated by a wide
interval. The basis of a diapophysis on a lumbar is very broad, meas-
uring more than half the length of the centrum. In general characters
this lumbar resembles the dorsal, including the emargination for the
neural canal, but is shorter in relation to its length.

&W

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 411

The depressed form of the lumbar centra gives place gradually on
the caudals to a more elevated pentagonal outline, which is still more
reduced in width in more posterior regions. The hzemal arches are
articulated and on the anterior caudals to slightly elevated bases ; on
the more posterior the bases are reduced in height, but more widely
and deeply excavated. I-have not seen the most distal caudals, and
hence cannot determine whether their chevron bones articulate in pits,
as is the case with those of L. perlatus, L. proriger, &c. On a caudal,
where the depth of the centrum a little exceeds the transverse diameter,
the diapophysis has become narrow and thick. The excavation for the
neural canal is strongly marked on the more anterior caudal. The
smooth border of the articular ball is here narrow, and the superficial
nyz are fine and confined to the anterior part of the centrum.

Measurements.
; M.
Transverse diameter ball post-dorsal ..........-..2.2..2----- 0.144
Niece a CIATINVE GET). 1L0Es TORE SS INS Ue I TS RORY I a ad SV . 097
Wertical diameter ‘anterior caudal 2.20. 2.20 os). Pe . 094
Transverse diameter anterior caudal..............-. Pe Peak . 107
Hencch centrum anterior caudal. 220. 251) 1 I . O71
Transverse diameter neural canal 2.22. 232 Pee Se ae . 0145
Transverse diameter basis diapophysis.....-.-... ----------- 032

Transverse diameter basis diapophysis of a more distal caudal. - 0278
Longitudinal diameter chevron articulation of a moredistal caudal .023

1 RIDER A GSM TOOT As Aa topos Sea meer Cs ema TS Se Ae TUR us (CGNs)
Site OME COMMUN ey! 2 eye ve tyes Sere ae as ce a Ae i . 093
Rysretietiy loa centri. ees Sei ihe / 2Oe E e e . O91
ensthecentrum ota lumbar. 5.6.0 ho Le Se ae ae . 106
Wreobneormanrticular Dalim Sesser ss Veet LU ee Os . 125

In instituting a comparison between this and other known mosasau-
ride it will be necessary to consider species referred to Mosasaurus, as
well as to lioden, from the fact that some of the former may really be
liodons. The liodons, with compressed or round dorsal or lumbar
vertebree, may be dismissed from comparison. Of the depressed species
L. perlatus, Cope, is known from specimens of one-third or less the size
of the present one, which are further peculiar in having the diapophyses
of the lumbars to stand on the anterior half only of the centrum. In
LL, ictericus, Cope, the centra are less depressed and the size still smaller
than in the last.

Among Mosasauri, with depressed vertebral centra, it is to be noted
that none present so great a degree of depression and lateral extension,
except the M. bruwmbyi of Gibbes. They are all also much smaller. The
M. brumbyi was founded by Dr. Gibbes on two lumbar vertebre from
the cretaceous of Alabama, which resemble those of the J. dyspelor
in form and also in size. It is probably its nearest ally, and may be a
liodon. Dr. Gibbes established the genus Amphorosteus for it, but
without sufficient evidence to support it. The principal poimt of dis-
tinction between it and the ZL. dyspelor, which I observe, is the lack
in the former of the strong emargination of the superior margin of
the articular surface for the floor of the neural canal, which is so
marked in the latter. I have only the figures of Gibbes to rely on for
this particular, and it is scarcely probable that the artist would have
overlooked it had it existed. Should the bounding prominences have
' been worn off, then the restored centrum would have had a notably

412 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

greater vertical diameter than in the L. dyspelov, in the same portions
of the vertebral column. As a second character I note that (relying,
as before, on Gibbes’s figures) the external angles of the depressed ball
are not so extended laterally in MW. brumbyt.

In size the vertebre of the present animal exceed those of the
M. brumbyi. The latter has been hitherto the largest known species
of the order Pythonomorpha, exceeding two-fold in its measurements
the M. giganteus of Belgium. So the present saurian is twice as great
in dimensions as the New Jersey species I have called M. maximus.
if, asis notentirely certain, the MW. missuriensis, discovered by Webb, meas-
ures 75 feet in length, the JJ. maximus measured 80, and the M. dyspelor
would not have been less than 100 feetinlength. This would be the long-
est reptile known, and approaches very nearly the extreme of the mam-
malian growth, seen in the whales, though of course without their bulk.
Such monsters may well excite our surprise, as well as our curiosity, in
the inquiry as to their source of food supply, and what the character
of cotemporary animals preserved in strata of the same geologic horizon.

The locality whence this reptile was procured is near Fort McRae, in
New Mexico. It was discovered by Dr. W. B. Lyon, at that post,
and by him sent to the Army Medical Museum at Washington, whose
director placed it in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
The attention to the paleontology of his neighborhood by Dr. Lyon
will always be cause of satisfaction to students, and his name will be
remembered with that of Turner, (discoverer of the Hlasmosaurus pla-
tyurus, Cope,) Sternberg, and others.

The stratum is the yellow chalk of the upper cretaceous, which has
yielded the ZL. ictericus, L. proriger, Polycotylus, &c., in Kansas, and
of whose western extension into New Mexico the present species is
evidence.

CLIDASTES, (COPE.)

(Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1868, 233; Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1869, 258; Transac.
American Philos. Soe., 1869, 211.)

This genus is only known from the American cretaceous, though I
have little doubt that it will be discovered in other parts of the world.
It is distinguished from all other genera of the order by the presence of
the zygosphenal articulation of the vertebre. The humerus is of the
most remarkable form, recalling slightly that of the mole among mam-
mals, and indicates a most powerful swimming paddle or flipper in the
position of thefore limb. The species do not average so large a size
as those of the two preceding genera; the largest, C. cineriarwm, did not
exceed 35 feet in length. There are four species known, of which two
occur in the cretaceous beds of Kansas. They are C. cineriarum, Cope,
Kansas; C. iguanavus, Cope, New Jersey; C. intermedius, Leidy, Kansas
and Alabama; and C. propython, Cope, Alabama.

CLIDASTES INTERMEDIUS, (LEIDY.)

(Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., January, 1870, p. 4.)

This species is established on several cervical and dorsal vertebra, with
portions of mandibular rami and other bones, from Alabama, discovered
by Dr. Nott, of Mobile.

They indicate a species intermediate in size between the two others here
described. The dorsal vertebre are rather slender, more so than in C.
iguanavus, and with articular faces with cup and ball remarkably

: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 413

oblique to the axis of the vertebra. The dense layer of the bone is
thrown into numerous rugosities and ridges, as in C. propython.

What is more characteristic is the robust and even swollen form of
the crowns of the teeth, and their slightly rugose enamel for the basal
three-fourths the height. There are no facets. In the Kansas speci-
men there are twelve teeth in the dentary bone.

Rotten limestone upper cretaceous, of Pickens County, Alabama,
and yellow chalk of Kansas.

CLIDASTES CINERIARUM, (COPE.)

(Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., Dec., 1870, p. 583.)

The largest species of this genus, as indicated by the zygosphen artic-
ulation of the vertebre.

The locality where it was found furnished also the LZ. mudger, but the
specimens were taken from the gray bed, perhaps the same that produced
the Hlasmosaurus platyurus, Cope. They consist of vertebrae and a ptery-
goid tooth. There are two anterior dorsals, three lumbars, and one
caudal. The articular faces of the dorsals are broad vertical ovals.
They increase in width on the lumbars till on the last of these they as-
sume the sub-pentagonal form characteristic of many species, and which
is still more marked on the caudal. The centrum of the anterior dor-
sal is much compressed; inferiorly slightly concave longitudinally reg-
ularly and prominently convex transversely. Conversely, the rims of the
cup and ball are strongly expanded, the latter with surrounding groove.
The diapophyses of the lumbars are of considerable length, exceed-
ing in this respect those of Mosasaurus we possess, where these parts are
preserved. On the median of the lumbars the inferior surface of the
centrum first becomes truncate or plane, and separated from that below
the diapophyses, which become slightly concave. ‘The expansion for the
ball becomes more abrupt and striking on these vertebre. The caudal
is a little more compressed than the lumbars, and presents the charac-
ter of codssified chevron bones. These are slender and longitudinally
grooved.

A single pterygoid tooth was found in the matrix on one of the dorsals.
The basis is short and much swollen; the crown curved, acute, a little
compressed, and with an obuse cutting edge posteriorly.

Measurements.
Vertebre, &c., from gray bed:
M.
Anpenordorsal, length, of centrums o.7:/ e722). -\- tee ee eae 0. 0608
Anterior dorsal, depth of articular ball....................-.. . 038
Anterior dorsal, width of articular ball..............-...2...-. . 038
Anterior dorsal, diameter behind diapophyses. ..-......-....-- . 029
’ Anterior dorsal, depth of articular face for,rib...........-.... . 022
Mumbar lene chvon seem Gummi s yyy isk se cc | ee rs . 06
enmipan: dep cimote Wallliyery se erarr css. ta es 1 svete eg wey tye) ~ 037
IB em AT WACO oe ay aries fein hs oe ea) curds, Signe ba i ds a . 039
Lumbar, length of remnant of diapophysis............-------- . 046
mtbr NorZ lene thvorieentrom ea eey. Sa es ce se . 055
umbar Nod 24width! of zyecospheny (ee. 2) Woes oo laek oak . 0182
Caudal leno bhi on. cemturmns yoke 8 ewe ay) Ss east Meas id O41
Caudal dewiMoncup essere wero een Gira eco a cela cence 2 ees . 04

OS PULCRED A VRCL LM ce aN ae Poceay eters otter ty tm arene NA KS LAC S20 SS . 04

Al4 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

M.
Caudal, width of basis diapophysis.....-.....2...--.2-.5+2--- _ . 0245
Caudal, width between chevron rami......-......--...2002.2% . 0115
Pterygoid tooth, height of crown....... PDE OG OPE ee . 0125
Pterygoid tooth, diameter of pedestal............222-.-2--.2- . 018 .

This species was found by Professor Mudge, near the locality of the
Liodon mudgei, six miles south of Sheridan, Kansas.

It is only necessary to compare this species with C. intermedius, Leidy,*
as the (. iguanavus and C. propython have depressed vertebral centra.
Those of the first are round, of the present compressed. The C. inter-
medius also agrees with the two others in the obliquity of the articular
faces to the transverse plane of the centrum; in the present species
these planes are parallel. This species is also larger than the C. iguan-
avus, Cope; the C. intermedius is smaller.

There is another species from New Jersey to which it is more nearly
allied, a vertebra of which I have described under the head of Liedon
levis (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1869, p. 205,) and figured 1. ¢., Tab.
V, Fig. 5, under the erroneous name of Macrosaurus validus. This
probably does not belong to the Liodon levis, which does not possess
the zygosphen articulation, but is most likely allied to the present
species, and a true Clidastes. When compared with a vertebra from
the same position in the column, as determined by the position of the
diapophyses, the articular faces are still more compressed, and the in-
ferior surface of the centrum, instead of being regularly convex, forms
a plane separated from lateral concavities by an obtuse angle. There
is less expansion of the margins of the cup and ball. The size is also
greater. I propose to distinguish this species as Clidastes antivalidus,
Cope. It is from the darker stratum of the green sand, near Medford,
New Jersey.

TELEOSTEIL.
Physostomt.
SAURODONTID 2, (COPE.)
(Proceed. Amer. Philosoph. Soc., November, 1870, p. 529.)

The genus Saurocephalus of Harlan and its allies have been referred
to the neighborhood of the Acanthopterygian family of the Sphyreenidce
by Professor Agassiz in his Poissons Fossiles, after having been re-
garded by Harlan and Hays as reptilian. This was an important step
in the right expression of its affinities; but I take the present oppor-
tunity of making another progress in the true interpretation of its rela-
tions, favored as lam by the opportunity of examining new material
not accessible to former authors. My conclusion, it will be observed,
differs widely from that heretofore maintained.

Some years after Harlan’s description of Saurocephalus lanciformis
appeared, Dr. Hays described a second species under the name of Sau-
rodon leanus. This I believe to represent a genus distinct from the for- -
mer. A third genus more remote is characterized in the present article.

The characters of first importance which may be assigned to these
genera are: Vertebre short, numerous; their neural arches united with
centrum by persistent suture. Tail vertebrated or heterocereal. Supe-
rior arch of the mouth formed by the short premaxillaries and long

* Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, 1870, p. 4.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 415

maxillaries. Teeth one-rowed, with fangs received into alveoli more or
less confluent at their openings. Anal or caudal radii with compiex
seementation.

These characters are most of them entirely contradictory of any
affinity to the Sphyrceenide, those presented by the vertebre indicating
a nearer approach to Amia. The structure of the mouth is not that
of any acanthopterygian fish, and with the complex segmentation
of some of the radii approaches nearer such types as the Characinide.
The form of the vertebral centra is utterly different from that of the
Sphyrenide ; in the Saurodontide they are short, little contracted
medially, and deeply grooved on the sides; in the Sphyrenide, excep-
tional among teleosts in being elongate, much contracted, smooth, and
grooveless!

The characters presented by the teeth and vertebrae of Saurocephalus
remind one much of Serrasalmo, though the genus is no doubt in other
‘respects widely removed from that group. On the characters above
enumerated, I propose the family Saurodontide. Its precise position I
am not prepared to determine at present, though I have little doubt
that it is related to the Salmonide, and clupeide. With the remains
of species of this group occur numerous scales, which may belong to the
former. They are cycloid and without ganoine.

The three genera are distinguished by the form of their jaws and
teeth: in Saurocephalus the crowns are shortened, much compressed,
and with sharp edges; in Sawrodon the crowns are elongate, subeylin-
dric, and slightly curved near the apex. dn J¢hthyodectes the teeth are
similar to those of Sawrodon, but the margins of both jaws are without
the large foramina so prominent in both the other genera. There
appear to be some important differences also in the vertebre, which
will be mentioned below.

In the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society for 1856,
Dr. Leidy treats Saurocephalus as a sphyrenoid fish, and regards Sau-
rodon aS a synonyme. He corrects the erroneous references of some
European authors, showing the Saurocephalus of Dixon to be a Xiphias,
and the Saurodon of Agassiz to be some other genus which he calls
Cimolichthys, without characterizing it. This form is supposed to be
established on palatine teeth, and if so, is well distinguished, as it will
be seen below that Sawrocephalus has no teeth on the palatine bones.
He also refers two other species of supposed Sawrocephalus of Agassiz
to a new genus called Protosphyrena, without characters. This 1 ‘think
rests on mandibular teeth of true Saurocephali. 5

SAUROCEPHALUS, (HARLAN.)

(Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., III, 337. ? Xiphactinus, Leidy, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sei, Phila.,
“ 1870, 12.)

SAUROCEPHALUS LANCIFORMIS, (HARLAN,) l. ¢.

(Med. and Phys. Researches, 362. Leidy, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1856, Tab. Sawro-
don lanciformis, Hays, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1830, 476.)

Established on a right superior maxillary bone from a locality near
the Missouri River. It differs from that of the other species in having
a very elongate superior suture with the premaxillary bone, and in the |
very Short dental crowns, which are as wide as ee The largest
species ; known from the jaw.

416 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

SAUROCEPHALUS PHLEBOTOMUS, (COPE.)
(Proceed. Amer. Philos. Soc., Nov., 1870, p. 530.)

Established on some vertebre and portions of the cranium, the latter
including the dentary, maxillary, part of the premaxillary, the palatine,
and vomerine bones, compressed into a mass by pressure, the separate
pieces preserving nearly their normal relations. From the latter the
following characters may be derived:

Palatine bones toothless; teeth of both maxillary and dentary, with
compressed crowns, which are longer than wide at base, and closely
placed, those of the dentary twice as large as those of the maxillary.
Maxillary bone proximally deep; dentary shallower, the maxillary with
elongate suture with the premaxillary behind.

The teeth are equilateral, without intermarginal groove or barb, and
with smooth enamel surface, or only minutely striate under the micro-
scope. <A series of larger foramina extends along the alveolar margin of
the maxillary and dentary bones, one foramen to each tooth. The alve-
ole are confluent as they approach this margin.

There are three vertebrze, which present two pairs of deep longitudinal
grooves, viz: two on each side, two on the inferior, and two on the su-
perior face of the bone; the last receives the basal articulation of the
hemapophyses. The centra are crushed; their measurements with
those of the jaws are as follows:

M.
Length centrum.....-..- 0, SSE Se Sea . 025
houcqdiameter(crushed) i Anos horse cciceestelers fz kee BES . 035
phortidiameter (crushed)! a5 .2 2 gas a a SE ae eee . 0175
Depth maxillary bone anteriorly .----).2-...: 225.25. yee see -031
Depth dentary bone ‘anteriorly — 2-22. 2. 2 YS 215 Se ee 015
Benethcrown inferior tooths . = 4537-25. ie. Fee eee . 006
Number ‘crown inferior tooth in’Oim (00)! 2 0:2 520 i) Sa ee 3
Number crown ‘superior tooth in 0m 2). .55...2 05.2 2. 2 eee 4.5
Length crown superior tooth in .0lm.-...-...-.-.--2-..2---2-s56 . 0046

The vertebre are about as large as those of a fully grown ‘‘ drum fish,”
Pogonias.

From the yellow chalk of the upper cretaceous of Kansas, found on
the Solomon or Nepaholla River, Kansas, at a point 160 miles above its
mouth, by Professor B. F. Mudge, professor of natural science in the
State Agricultural College of Kansas.

J append a description of some caudal vertebre of a species probably
different from the S. phlebotomus. It is indicated by three consecutive
caudal vertebree which resemble those of S. prognathus and S. thaumas,
but which differ also considerably from both; the several arches and
spines are of very great width; in S. thawmas they are narrow, and in
S. prognathus as wide, but here their width exceeds the depth and
equals the length of the centrum. As in the other caudals, the lateral
grooves are wanting and the inferior pair remain separated by a lamina.
The neural suture is very distinct, and not two-angled as in S. prognathus,
but with a median decurvature and rise anteriorly. The neural spines
are twice as wide as deep and lie on each other. The third vertebra is
shorter than the others and contracted distally ; it is probably the pen-
ultimate of the series; neural canal minute. Surface striate-ridged.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 417

Measurements.

- M.
Mensth of centrum anterionivertebra. 2555.52 2222222 eae 0.021
Depth of centrum (at middle) anterior vertebra.............--- 015
Width of neural arch at base of spine......2.22...0.-2.2.2-02- .010
JD GDR OS OCIA Dic ot Re pm ULAR N eee Reema Ble 0072
enum or third vertebrae... (592 aU See) ees .0135
Niiielihor meunaliarclie ime cee! icy Ss 2 Ae Sil ROR LARIAT eas . 014
NeeelEh OF NeWLAalt Spulemrsrer sre NL NTE Sh Mee area scl cn eee 0176

From a point twenty miles east of Fort Wallace, Kansas. Professor
Mudge’s collection.

In this species the vertebre in question are longer in proportion to
their other dimensions than in those described, besides carrying wider
neural arches and spines.

SAUROCEPHALUS PROGNATHUS, (COPE.)
(Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., Nov., 1870.)

This species is represented by premaxillary and attached proximal
portion of the maxillary bones of the right side, and by a large number
of vertebrae and other bones. These portions were associated in the
collections placed in my hands by Professor Mudge, and relate to each
other in size, as do those of the preceding species and the Ichthyodectes
ctenodon.

The premaxillary is characterized by its great depth as compared with
_ its length, and by the shortness of its union with the maxillary. The
palatine condyle of the maxillary reaches a point above the middle of
the alveolar margin of the premaxillary. The latter contains alvecle
of seven teeth, the anterior of which only presents a perfect crown.
This is still more elongate than the crown of the teeth of S. phlebotomus.
It is compressed, equilateral, smooth, and acute. Its direction is even
more obliquely forward than the anterior outline of the bone, which
itself makes an angle of 50° with the alveolar border.

The vertebre consist of cervicals, dorsals, and caudals, to the num-
ber of about sixty, most of which are supposed to have been derived
from the same animal. The grooves are asin S. phlebotomus, there being
two below, two on each side, and two above. The latter receives the
bases of the nenrapophyses, which are in many cases preserved. The
inferior pair of groeves becomes more widely separated as we approach
the cervical series, leaving an inferior plane, which is longitudinally
striate-grooved. This plane widens till the grooves bounding it disap-
pear. The inferior lateral groove becomes widened into a pit which
some of the specimens show to have been occupied by a plug-like para-
pophysis, as in Hlops, &ec., or a rib-head of similar form. The neura-
pophysial articular grooves become pits anteriorly, and these only of
all the grooves, remain on the anterior two vertebre in the collection.
Some of the posterior caudals preserve large portions of the neural
arches and spines. They form an oblique zigzag suture with the body,
consisting of two right angles, one projecting upward anteriorly, another
downward behind. The neural spines are very wide and massive and
in close contact antero- -posteriorly ; these probably support the caudal
fin. They are deeply and elegantly grooved from the basis upward.
The centra exhibit no lateral grooves.

An unsymmetrical fin ray accompanied these remains, and from its
mineralization, color, size, and sculpture, probably belongs to them.
The anterior margin is thinned, and with obtuse denticulations ; the

27 &

418 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

posterior truncate. The section is lenticular, with a deep rabbet on one
side of the posterior edge; section at the base circular, apex lost. The
sculpture consists of fine longitudinal raised strize, which bifareate and
send numerous similar ridges to the teeth of the anterior margin. It is
probably a spine of a pectoral fin. It is identical in form and seulpture
with that described by Leidy as Xiphactinus audax, but differs in spe-
cifie details.

M.
one diameter, Of Spine@.occ\egeeyy:,- - ee. a2 (ee See ee oe 0.0245
iBasal diameter, Of Spine -.2 342) ats ao. 2c nde ee 019
Hength, to cervicais, (not, distorted). -2-._---.-.-2: 25. 033
Diameter Obthe anterior. ee 6. 3 aoe a O21
Bength ota dorsal sos tee eee el oe Lejcte eyes oo 3) oa 016
ibenethyotra caudal, 830s io Se ee ee 014
Width of neural spine of caudal, at base....--.--.2:..:.- 2.222 012
Length of alveolar margin premaxillary.......-..:.......-.... 022
Length of anterior margin premaxillary .-....-...--..-....-2- 02
Depth etromiicondyle of maxillary... 7022 53cm 026
Lensth of crown premaxillary tooth.....5:....2::4....-22-2.. 0042
Diameter of crown premaxillary tooth. -..-........-........-. .002

A fragment of a large flat bone exhibits very delicate radiating
grooves, which are marked by spaced impressed dots.

From the upper cretaceous of Kansas, six miles south of the town of
Sheridan. Professor B. F. Mudge. This species was about two-thirds
the size of the species last described.

SAUROCEPHALUS AUDAX, (LEIDY,) sp.
(Xiphactinus audax, Leidy. Proc. A. N. Sci., Phil., 1870, 12.)

Established on a pectoral spine, supposed by Leidy to be that of a
siluroid. According to the description, it does not differ from that of
S. prognathus in more than specific characters. Thus the anterior mar-
gin is weakly serrate in the latter, a feature not described by Leidy in
the former. In S. audax the posterior portions of both sides are said to
be grooved; in that part of the spine of S. prognathus preserved, one
surface only exhibits the groove in question, one of whose edges is ob-
liquely ridged, as in S. audazx. From Kansas; museum Smithsonian.

SAUROCEPHALUS THAUMAS, (COPE.)
(Proc. Amer. Philos. Soe., Nov., 1870.)

This is larger than any of the species here described. It is represented
by wholes or parts of from seventy to eighty vertebrae, with numerous
neural and heemal spines and fin radii, and perhaps some ribs. There are
no teeth nor cranial fragments. The bulk of the vertebre is double that
of those of S. phlebotomus, and appropriate to an animal of the size of the
S. lanciformis. It may be ultimately found to be identical with that
species; but there is no evidence conclusive of such a view at present
in my possession.

The vertebre present the usual two inferior, two lateral, and two
“superior grooves—the last for the neural arch. There are no cervical
vertebre, for these characters show them all to be dorsals and caudals.
The suture for the neurapophyses forms a regular angulate convexity
projecting downward. The arch is not closed above anteriorly, and is
expanded laterally, while the spine is directed very obliquely backward.
The concavities of the articular extremities are equal in the dorsals; but

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 419

in the caudals one surface is much more deeply concave than the other,
one being funnel-shaped, and the other nearly plane in a few.

A number of consecutive vertebra are preserved, which represent the
posterior portion of the caudal series. One of these is, fortunately, the
very extremity, and they demonstrate the tail to have been vertebrated
or heterocercal, less extensively than in Amida. On the anterior series of
three, the lateral grooves have disappeared from the centra; the neural
canal is very small, and the spines are very massive and curved back-
wards, but much less than in the more posterior parts of the column;
they are flattened, wider than deep, and in close contact with each other.
The anterior of the three, on the other hand, presents a narrowed edge
forward. The hemapophyses are thin, and suturally’united by a fla
gomphosis. The terminal series embraces six vertebre, which have a
minute or obsolete neural canal, but hemal canal distinct, but appar-
ently interrupted. The hemal arches are united to the centra by a
rather smooth suture.

The general direction of these vertebree forms a light upward curve.
The hemal spines are flat and laminar, and their margins in contact ;
they decrease in width and length to the end of the series. The neural
spine lies obliquely backward, and has a narrowed anterior ridge, but
stout shaft.

An anterior hemal spine in place exhibits a subglobular base, like an
articulation, and its shaft is wider than those posterior to it. The first
hemal spine is a sub-triangular flat bone, with neck and subglobular ex-
tremity, applies very well to a concavity between the anterior pair of pleu-
rapophyses, but does not in that position preserve contact with the ante-
rior margin of the second spine. Onemargin of the bone is thin and di-
vergent; the other expanded laterally and straight. The latter gives off
a transverse prominence like half a globular knob before reaching the ex-
tremity. Just within the latter are two large foramina, which are con-
nected with the extremity by a groove on each side, which meets in a
notch where the thin edge passes into the knob.

Both sides of the neural and hzemal spines are concealed in this species
and in the 8. prognathus by numerous parallel osseous rods, which are
somewhat angulate in section. They lie along the centra of the anterior
series of caudal vertebra, but are not to be found on vertebree of any
other part of the column. Numerous loose and fragmentary rods of the
same character accompany the loose and attached caudal vertebra, and
all of them, according to Professor Mudge, belong to the “‘ posterior swim-
ining organ” of thisanimal. There is also a collection of these rods from
the anterior region of the body, which Professor Mudge thought occu-
pied the position of an interior limb. They do not any of them present
a segmentation such as would be exhibited by the cartilaginous radii of
caudal and pectoral fins, and their nature might have remained doubtful
but for the explanation furnished by the anterior compound ray or spine
of the posterior, probably caudal fin. This ray, as in the case of the
pectoral spine and first anal rays of some existing siluroid or loricariid
fishes, is composed of a number of parallel rods closely united. Tbese
are in their distal portions remarkably and beautifully segmented, of
which a very simple form has been figured by Kner, as existing in the
pectoral spine of the siluroid genus, Pangasius. This segmentation
becomes more obscure proximally, and finally disappears altogether,
leaving the spine and rods homogeneous. This portion of them is quite
identical with the rods found in the positions of fins already described,
and I therefore regard these as fin radii of the attenuated form presented
by cartilaginous rays of most fishes, but ossified sufficiently to destroy

420 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

the segmentation. They are thus in the condition of the anterior rays
of the dorsal fin of some of the large Catostomidw where they are prox-
imally homogeneous and bony, distally segmented and cartilaginous.
This is an important character when found in pectoral and caudal fins,
and such as I have not found described. It adds another feature to the
definition of this group.

The segmentation above alluded to presents the following characters:
The spine consists of four principal parallel rods, of which the external
on each side thins, the one to an obtuse, the other to a thin edge. The
more obtuse edge presents a groove on one side, which is oceupied by a
very slender rod, and ashallow rabbet along the flat edge is occupied by
a slender flat rod. Of the four principal rods the two median are the
most slender, and the flat marginal the widest. Of the two median, that
next the last is the wider. The stout marginal, or probably anterior
rod, is segmented en chevron, the angle directed forwards and lying
near the free margin. The suture of the segments is entirely straight,
except when returning it approaches the margin, where it suddenly
turns to the margin-at right angles to it. The next rod is segmented
without chevron obliquely backward and inward; where it leaves and
reaches the margins, it is at right angles to them, and the margin pro-
jects obtusely at those points. Between them the suture is very irreg-
ular and jagged, sending processes forward and backward. The seg-
mentation of the next rod is similar, but more regularly serrate; distally
it becomes as irregular as in the last. The transverse marginal termini
of the sutures are serrate in both. The inner and widest rod presents
a still more regularly serrate suture, with the truncate extremities; but,
owing to the width of the rod, the near approximation of the sutures
continues for a longer distance. When broken, the suture appears
step-like.

This remarkably beautiful segmentation is paralleled remotely, as has
been stated, by some siluroids, but much more nearly by the external
caudal rays of elops. Much more like the recent type are the seg-
mented rays of the carboniferous genus, Hdestus of Leidy, regarded
variously by authors as a jaw or a ray, but now generally regarded asa
ray.

Measurements.

M.
Length of fragment of (?) caudal spine ......... nes Lid RS a 0.25
Width of fragment at proximal fracture ......2..-.22 5.2: J2228 06
Greatest thickness at proximal fracture. ...../..........--.--- 0135
Width of posterior rod at proximal fracture...........-....-.- 0245
eneth- of six distal caudal vertebree ©. 2-32.25 2" ee eee 10
Width of hzmal spine of second of series........-....--....-- 024
Vertical diameter of centrum, first series .........-.-........ . 025
Length of neural spine and centrum of anterior caudal......... 108

Transverse diameter of neural spine of anterior caudal at base.. .0235
Antero-posterior diameter of four anterior caudal neural spines

AMV COMUACU Gee ee a Sine ota a lets ne ct oe Regent are LU nak a .069
heneth on centrumvor a dorsalies. 52. 22. occ es eee ae 04
Vertical diamefer ot a dorsal’? 22.2 2s eee 0615
Transverse diameter of a dorsal, (erushbed)............-..--..- OAL

These remains were found in place by Professor B. F. Mudge. He
states that their extent was eight feet. As they embrace no cervical
vertebree, nor portions of cranium, two feet are probably to be added,

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 421

giving a total of near ten feet for the length of this fish. It was dis-
covered at a point on the bank of the Solomon’s or Nepaholla River, in
Kansas, 160 miles from its point of junction with the Kansas River.

SAURODON, (HAYS.)
(Transac. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1830, 476.)
7 SAURODON LEANUS, (HAYS.)

(Loe. cit. Tab. xvi. Leidy, Trans. Am. Philos. Soc., 1856.)
From the cretaceous green sand of New Jersey.

ICHTHYODECTES, (COPE.)

(Proceed. Amer. Philos. Soc., November, 1870.)

In this genus the teeth are subcylindrie and slender, without cutting
edges. The inner margins of the maxillary and dentary bone exhibit
no dental foramina, which are in Saurocephalus and Saurodon of large
size.

ICHTHYODECTES CTENODON, (COPE.)

(Loe. cit.)

This species is established on one complete maxillary bone, and three-
fourths of the other, a large part of the dentary bone, with the entire
dental series; numerous portions of cranial bones, with thirteen verte-
bre. These, according to Professor Mudge, were found together, and
to all appearance belong to the same animal.

The dental characters differ from those of Saurocephalus, as above
pointed out, and in this species more than in S. leanus. The crowns of
the teeth are more exserted and slender. The inner face of the crown is
more convex than the outer; but there is no angle separating the two
aspects. The apex is moderately acute, and directed a little inward,
owing to a slight convexity of the external face. Enamel smooth.’ The -
alveoli are very close together, and are probably only separated in their
deeper portions. There are forty-two teeth and alveoliin the maxillary
bone. The palatine condyle is low, and its anterior border falls opposite
to the last tooth, or the indented surface which was occupied by the pre-
maxillary bone. The more proximal part of the maxillary curves inward
and backward behind the position of the premaxillary more than in 8.
prognathus. The maxillary is a rather thin and narrow bone, with a
broad, obtuse and thinned extremity. Its superior margin is marked with
one or more acute ridges, which look as though it had a contact with a
large preorbital bone. Two fractured bones with an elongate reniform
condyle on a wide peduncle, look like the articular extremity of an oper-
culum, which view is confirmed by their application to some flat, coarsely-
rugose bones which resemble parts of the latter. .

The dentary bone is remarkable for its straightness and laminar char-
acter, and for the depth of the symphysis. The length of the latter is
preserved, while posteriorly to it the lower margin of the dentary is
broken away. The alveolar margin is slightly concave, and unites with
the symphyseal at an angle of 65°. There are twenty-seven teeth and
alveole, which grow a little larger to the posterior extremity of the
series; anteriorly the alveoli are confluent externally, but posteriorly the
septa are frequently complete, though thin. In neither this bone nor the
maxillary are to be found the formina along the bases of the teeth, char-

422 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

acteristic of Sawrocephalus or Saurodon leanus, as pointed out by Harlan
and Hays. The vertebra form a series of 13.4 inches in length, embrae-
ing thirteen caudals. This is indicated by the close approximation of
the inferior pits and inserted pleurapophyses, and absence of lateral
grooves. There are important differences from what has been described
as characteristic of Sawrocephalus. The neural arches, whose bases only
are preserved, are much lighter and narrower than in it, and its sutural
union with the centrum is less distinct. Their bases issue from pits;
but their anterior portions appear in some case at least to be codssified.
They exhibit a longitudinal rib near one side. ‘There are no heavy neural
spines preserved. The sides of the centra are longitudinally rugose-
striate ; inferiorly they are rugose with exostoses.

Measurements.
M.

Weng thvotmaxallary. DONG: sj: . seh - = eo. 5). eee oe ce eee 0.158
Depthvat condywierss ce oh Shi i See eee ee eee . 031
Mepohyatiextremal bys iis 25 isk ses Ge Eee sep eae . 022
Wenethiorerowm Of a tooth-: 32-—re. 22 ee See ee . 0061
Diameteroficrown at, base cc jie aoe ie ci-G oe - ee eee . 0038
Length of alveolar border.ofdentary.: ...--.....-22---2----- . 106
Wepthof symphysis borderiot.dentary .. -.-.--- 4. eee . 047
ieneth of opecular condyle 27.3.2 28) 6. ee Bales)
Length of centrum anterior caudal....-.-.----..---+--------. . 024
Width ot centrmim,(enushed))-\; -cp2i\¢ cece cate os oe beeen . 0278
Depth of centrum, (crushed). ....--.. ....-)..-2+- SRR ae - . 047

Specimens from six miles south of Sheridan, Kansas, on the north
fork of Smoky Hill River, near its mouth. ¢

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

There have been described above remains of three species, which
include jaws with teeth, and associated vertebrae. In two of these
cases the jaws and teeth were found together; in the third they came
in the same small box without special indication of locality; but the
vertebre are of precisely the same size, sculpture, mineralization, and
color, aS a large series whose locality is exactly known, to which they.
probably belong. Moreover, the jaws and vertebrz bear the same rela-
tion of size to each other in all three series. These facts render it highly
probable that the remains are in each case rightly referred to the same
animal. That no mixture has occurred is also probable from the fact
that the large and small series (Ichthyodectes and S. prognathus) came from
the same locality, (Sheridan,) while the species of intermediate size was
discovered one hundred and sixty miles from the mouth of the Solomon
River, a long distance off. The pectoral spine, accompanying and be-
longing to. the S. prognathus, I have shown to be the same as the Xiphac-
tinus ot Leidy, but probably not of the species X. audax.

The fourth series described above as S. thawmas exhibits precisely the
vertebral characters of the two other species of Sauwrocephalus and I
cannot resist the evidence that it belongs to that genus or the same
family. Its remains pertain to one animal, as asserted by Professor
Mudge, and their color and condition, coated with a chalky deposit of
-a ferruginous yellow color, lend great probability to the statement, to
say nothing of more important reasons. No remains of pectoral spine
are preserved; but instead, the remarkable segmented ray described.
This comes from the posterior region of the vertebral column, and con-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. | Ba

sists, I believe, of the adjacent rays or compound ray forming the mar-
gin of the caudal fin. This finds support in the analogous structures
already mentioned as occurring in Hlops, and the extinct genus Prym-
netes,* Siluroids, &c., and the resemblance of the pectoral spine to the
same weapon of the latter group adds to the probability of the correct-
ness of this conclusion.

These remarks are made because Professor Agassiz, in the Poissons
Fossiles, has referred several spines to the Cestraciont genus Ptychodus,
which are very similar in character to that described above as the anal
or caudal support of Saurocephalus thaumas. 'These were derived from
the upper cretaceous chalk of Kent, England, where Ptychodus teeth
also occur. The Saurocephalus teeth, described by Professor Agassiz
in the same work, were, however, derived from the same chalk and the
same locality, and, from what has preceded, I believe the segmented
spines should be referred to the latter genus rather than to Ptychodus.
This is the more probable, in view of the fact that Professor Mudge did
not procure a single Piychodus tooth during his exploration.

APSOPELIX, (CoPE.)

Established on the remains of a fish preserved on a block of clay. It
presents its ventral aspect, and displays pectoral, ventral and anal fins,
with the series of interneural spines to which the dorsal radii were ar-
ticulated.

The seales are large and cycloid. They do not present a trace of ra-
dii, but are marked with fine and close concentric grooves. These as-
sume a vertical direction on the exposed surface, and are there more
irregular; the more marginal ones terminating above and below. Bat
few and central grooves are truly circular. No abdominal carina.

The two pelvic bones are together truncate heart-shaped, the acumi-
nate apex presented forward. Their posterior portion is a strong trans-
verse rib; anteriorly each is a thin plate, with thickened outer edge,
uniting with its fellow on the median line. The median portion is so
thin as to be readily broken away. The ventral fins are short and
wide, with numerous rays. ‘The coracoid bone is a broad lamina, and
the pectoral fin evidently had the support of rod-like humeral bones of
no great length, after the type of most Physostomous fishes, but their
form cannot be made out. Pectorals not elongate. The anal fin origi-
nates but a short distance behind the ventrals, and was not armed
with an anterior spine; its length cannot be made out. Immediately
above it a dorsal fin, with slender rays, is represented by the bases of
these rays. Krom above the ventrals to above the distal portion of the
pectorals a line of projecting points appears in the specimen, which I
am disposed to ascribe to the articular portions of the interneural spines
and attached fin rays ofa first dorsal, but of this I cannot be entirely sure.

The vertebre are longer than deep, and present the two deep lateral
grooves frequently seen. The number in the cervico-abdominai series
is twenty-six. The ribs are delicate, and supernumerary ribs are present.

In comparing this genus with forms already known, points of distine-
tion from all of them may be detected. Thus, the lack of pectoral spine
will distinguish it from the known genera of Saurodontide at least. The
character of the dorsal fin distinguishes it from Characinide, Salmonide,
é&e., which, with the scales, point toward Clupeide and Hlopide. Krom
these the form of the pelvic bones distinguishes it.

The ends of both muzzle and caudal region are destroyed. The latter

* Copé Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., March, 1871.

ADA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

evidently contracts from the anal fin, and was not probably very elon-
gate, but more as in Hlops or Saurus.

APSOPELIX SAURIFORMIS, (COPE.)

Scales large, ten longitudinal series to be counted across the obliquely
depressed body. No lateral line visible. About seventeen tratisverse
series between pectorals and ventrals. Ventral broad, when laid back-
ward nearly reaching anal, but far behind the pectoral; anal probably
rather short, but this is not entirely certain. (Radii, D.?—12, P. 16,
Vi. 12.)

M.

Bengéh trom basis) Pi ito WV bo hid eye ee Ce 0. 083
Hengsth from basis: Pel MbovAs Deis le ys ee. ols A a
Wemeth ot vembraly Mime 22%, 2) (onc hs ei cies oe eee of . 0178

Waidthvot ventralicin, distally :.'6- 3220 ie We Se eens eee . 013
ene thot basisdDy 2 io. ok Sas SA es sd ae eee . 0168

WadGhyotifoodiyun re sje weep lie foie yeaa ree SENT eS Ss . 047

“i Wadth of pelvic, bones together: 22%) 2 oe. ee . 016

ieneth of pelvic bones together..2es.0 2. am. ose a ee . 016

The size of this species is about that of a one-pound brook trout.

From the bed No. 2 of the cretaceous of Meek and Hayden. Found
in digging a well at Bunker Hill Station on the Pacific Railroad of
Kansas. ‘

SPHYRAINID AL.
SPHYRAINA CARINATA, (COPE.)

(Proce. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1868, 92; Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1869, 241.)

Founded on a shed example of one of the long teeth, taken from the
matrix attached to the dorsal vertebre of the Hlasmosaurus platyurus.
The tooth is more elongate in outline than that of the S. speciosa,
Leidy, 7. ¢., more than twice as long as wide at the base. ‘The anterior
margin is the more oblique, and its smooth face is margined by a faint
line posteriorly, and is continued to the extremity. The convex mner
face of the tooth behind is sculptured with five deep grooves, which are
separated by acute ridges, which do not extend over more than half the
length of the tooth. Length three lines.

From the upper cretaceous of the neighborhood of Fort Wallace,
Kansas,

Enchodus, sp.

A premaxillary tooth of rather smal! size for the genus. The length
about one inch from the matrix attached to the under side of the dorsal
vertebrae of Hlasmosaurus platyurus. It has two carine separating
very unequal facets. Section of base subround. The specimen is m-
perfect. Near Fort Wallace.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 425

VIIL—ON THE FISHES OF THE TERTIARY SHALES
OF GREEN RIVER, WYOMING TERRITORY.

By PROFESSOR EDWARD D. COPE.
Physoclysti.

ASINEOPS, (CoPE.)
(Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 1870, p. 380.)

Branchiostegal radii, seven; ventral radii, I. 6-7. Opercular and other
eranial bones unarmed; scales cycloid. Spinous and cartilaginous dor-
sal fins continuous; caudal rounded; anal with two spines. Lateral
line distinet. Operculum with regularly convex posterior border. Teeth
coarsely villiform, without canines. Both spinous and soft portions of
dorsal and anal fins moderately scaly.

This well-marked genus is established on the remains of fifteen indi-
viduals, in various states of preservation, so that the characters undis-
tinguishable in one, can be discoveredin another. Thus the lateral line
is preserved in one only, and the teeth in another. In none can I be
entirely sure that I see the vomer.

The scales are preserved in many specimens, and I cannot find a
etenoid margin in any, nor any radiating sculpture, but delicate concen-
tric ridges continued around the central point proximally, distally form-
ing parabolic curves, the less median not completed but interrupted by
the margin of the scale. Near the margin all the ridges become gently
zigzagged. :

There is no depression between the two portions of the dorsal fin,
though the cartilaginous portion is the more elevated. Laid backward,
the latter is in line with the extremity of the anal, and both it and the
anal extend beyond the basis of the caudal.

The affinities of this genus are rather obscure, but are in some degree
related to that aberrant family of Physoclysti, the Aphredodiride. This
is indicated by the increased number of ventral radii, the slender sepa-
rated pubes, and the reduced number of interneural spines. The Aphre-
dodiride betray a physostomous tendency in the same characters, with
still greater reduction of the spinous, dorsal, and anal fins, though its
etenoid scales and spinous orbital and preopercular bones are of phy-
soclyst significance. In Asineops the scales are cycloid and the cranial
bones unarmed. The ventral fins occupy nearly the same position as in
the extinct genus Hrismatopterus, Cope, which accompanies it, and which
is nearly allied to, if not one of the Cyprinodontide. There is at least
in these genera another illustration of the approximation of forms, now
very distinct, in past periods. The pubes are, however, supported by
the clavicles in Asineops, by the post-clavicles in Hrismatopterus, though
the latter bones are very long in Asineops also. Asineops and will thus
constitute a family, Asineopide ‘differing from the Aphredodiride in the
simple pubes. I suspect that the genus Pygeus of Agassiz will be
found also to belong to it, though no such increased number of ventral
radii is assigned to it in the Poissons Fossiles. Some of its species may
even be found to belong to Asineops. Nine are described by Professor
Agassiz, all from Monte Bolea, in Italy, from an upper eocene stratum.
The presence of so near an ally as Asineops in the Green River beds
suggests an approximate identity of age.

AMGr GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

ASINEOPS SQUAMIFRONS, (COPE;) 1. c., p. 381.

General form is suboblong, the greatest depth jast behind the head,
and contained two and a half timesin a length, exclusive of caudal fin.
1Beve i IDE WAUUBIUbS IU Oa Okabe, 211713. Scales 5—?30—10,
vertical line counted a little behind the ventral fins. The lineof the ex.
tremities of the second dorsal and anal fins marks the basal third of the
caudal fin. The dorsal spines are subcylindric, slightly curved, and of
nearly equal length; the length equals the depth of the body at the
middle of the second dorsal fin.

The external series of villiform teeth are stout of their kind, conic,
and a little incurved. I cannot see the pharyngeal bones or teeth.

The number of vertebre which extend between the caudal fin and
the superior margin of the operculum, where one or more are concealed,
is twenty-five, of which fifteen are of the caudal portion; (in two I can
only count fourteen.)

The mouth is directed obliquely upwards and is rather large; the
mandible, when closed, does not project beyond the premaxillary border.
The maxillary, where preserved, is narrow distally, and does not project
beyond the posterior line of the orbit. The latter is rather small, and
though not well defined in any specimen, is not more than one-eighth the
length of the head, and 1.5 to 1.75 times inside of muzzle. The margins
of all the opercular bones are entire and smooth. The interoperculum
is narrow, and lies obliquely upward, narrowing the operculum. The
greatest width of the latter is more than two-thirds its depth. The
pelvie supports of the ventral fins are simple, slender, and in contact
anteriorly, their length about half that of the fin. The pectorals are

not elongate.
' The scales extend over the top of the head to, or beyond, the orbits.
They also extend along the ramus of the under jaw. Those of the fins
are quite small; they extend to a considerable distance on the unpaired,
and_.on the caudal fin.

M.
Total length of the Jargest specimen... ....2..-- J3.-- 2 aus 0.19
Do. No:,2, smaller example (with -candal) _°.-:. ...-2-/- 2222 12
henge th ot dread jot Ge, Sj22 ne jee abe Ee ee) ee 044.
Depth of do. posteriorly about. 2... 22. 2.2.25 ..62 Ae eee 036
eng th of base ofsspineus dorsal. 2.20... see ee 0265
iheneth ef posterior, spinous Tayo.) iis- ee be oligo cee O17
bene th of operculum Goes cote eis foe a i esi | eee 0125
Length of maxallary bone about... 2.2 2-).:.2..22.- 2S 255 See 0145
Depth No. 3, at base first dorsal... ..........- gs. ee 045
Depth No.3 at basejanal, firstway oo) a lhe 0325
eneth of basis anal—basis,eaudal ....... ... {.. 2s)... 2 ee .0162
tienoth of caudal fin: 2 Wisc. b> et a ee ee U34

Tertiary strata of Green River, Wyoming; Dr. F. V. Hayden, Coll.
Mus. Smithsonian.

ASINEOPS VIRIDENSIS, (COPE}) Sp. nov.

This species is represented by an incomplete specimen, which lacks the
pectoral region and the end of the muzzle. It indicates its distinctness
trom A. squamifrons in the increased number of anal radii. The ray
formula is, D. 1X, 14; A. II, 12. There is, therefore, one dorsal spine
more than in A. squamé FVONS, though a single specimen, appar ently of the
latter, has the same number. Vertebrae 25, -of which 17 or 18 extend

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 427

from the vertebra which supports the last dorsal spine. The scales are
of about the same size as those of the A. squamifrons. Dorsal region
scarcely convex, (in the specimen concave through slight distortion.)

Length of vertebral column to’operculum..............-.-...-- 0.07
TAMA ASU AMAL TAY: Velo viatels 20s <1. 5) oi/ae a) nak ppb iosalinln, ony aye 019
Memxnnvor Last MOrsalySpinerpiaiysc c's). jeje e hls a ppeedo ee ea yeede ea O17

Another specimen lacks the head and caudal fin, but displays charac-
ters at variance with those of Asineops squamisfrons as above noted. The
interneural bones of the anal spines are fasciculate, the median longer
than those in front and behind.

The ventral outline is convex, and the general form shortened. Radii
A.? 11, 14; D. ? 12-13. There are only 13 vertebre behind the last
anal spine.

M.
Length of vertebral column from vertebra supporting last A. spine .0.033
ID epimero SeCOMAISOLl A Tay eziseite re oe Wiha eke eee are ae 027

From the Green River shales; from the collection of Lucius E. Rick-
secker. ;

ERISMATOPTERUS, (CoPE;) genus nov.

Dorsal and anal fins with two strong supporting spines in front; no
other interhzemal spines than those supporting them. Dorsal fin above
the anterior median or posterior abdominal region. Ventrals origin-
ating in front of or opposite to the origin of the dorsal. Pubes sending
a limb upward, which is in contact with the inferior post-clavicle.
Teeth minute or ? wanting. Caudal fin bifurecate.

I originally referred a species of this genus to the Cyprinodontide
and provisionally to the genus Cyprinodon. The species may belong to
that family, as the characters are generally similar. The are of the
mouth is formed by the premaxillary bone, and the ventral fins have a
rather anterior position, and the caudal is furcate; the scales are cycloid.
The strength of the spinous fin radii and supporting interhemal spines
attracted my attention, and on careful examination I observe other
approximations to the type of Asineops and the Aphredodiride. The
inferior post-clavicle is very long and styliform, as in the latter genus,
and the pubic bones are slender and directed upward so as to reach
the post-clavicles. In one specimen there appears to be an anteriorly -
directed pubic limb, but this does not.exist in other specimens. The
pubes do not reach the clavicles as in true Physoclysti. As the genus is
thus different from Cyprinodon, Fundulus, &c., I name it as above.

- ERISMATOPTERUS RICKSECKERI, (COPE;) sp. nov.

Length, three to four inches; head, large. Vertebra, D. 13, C. 16—=
29, ten between the interneural bone supporting the first dorsal ray, and
the first interhemal supporting the first anal ray. There are only
seven in this position in H. levatus. Anterior dorsal ray anterior to the
point half way between end of muzzle and end of vertebral column.
Branchiostegal radii, five distinguishable. Head stout, mouth terminal,
orbit equal length of muzzle; maxillary bone reaching line of middle of
orbit. Scales small with numerous concentric and no radiating grooves.
Fin radii D. VII, 8, (last split;) C. 8—19—8; A. 1I,9; V.7; P. 15.

428 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

M.

Motal length Nos: (Ashen Be eee Se 0.0743
Cranium) to! supra-clavicle o 2.286 eto eas ene ee 018
Length to, base D. To2s.ce2c5- eee os. 2 eee 029
Length to end vertebral column.......- oad ae er 06
Tene tin iok Ah 5 5 wee H Oeics Ane ee i229 O08
Bene thyor eraniumil No: 2 esse eeeee es see 2. Uaagt OD” 5 See 0175
ensthyto preoperculumis2.42eer 22 22 [asec ct 012
Length storDad vd oe aelee nied: sale oe ee 0275
BenmethytovAy di. .6 ees ee deel No eee 2d ee 043

Five more or less complete specimens of this fish were obtained by
Lucius E. Ricksecker from the Green River shales, and I dedicate it to
him in recognition of his inter esting discoveries in this department.

Its difference from EF. levatus is seen in the more anterior position of
the dorsal fin, more numerous vertebra, &c.

ERISMATOPTERUS LEVATUS, (COPE.)
(Cyprinodon levatus, Cope ; Proceed. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1870, p. 382.)

Anterior margin anal fin commencing a little behind opposite the
posterior margin of the dorsal. Vertebre 11—14—5, seven between the
interneural and interhzemal bones of the dorsal and anal fins. Radii D.
8; A. II, 8; V.8. Caudal fin deeply furcate; first anal ray strong.
General form elongate, the greatest depth contained three times in the
length between the scapular arch and the basisof the caudal fin. Seales
preserved, small; seven longitudinal series above, and seven below the
vertebral column, probably two rows concealed byit. The caudal peduncle
is but little contracted. Length from scapular arch to extremity of
caudal, M. .0335; depth at origin dorsal fin, M. .008.

Total. length 1h Die iis «dyes Wels cueels «Se SRA Rela ee CRE Gee eee 0.055
ene ph Of Cranium «jee 708s = oa elecatepeaahie’s sie i eee 013
reneth: to: basis DD. ah, (~~ te eeiciers <2 oj> einen se -ec = ee 0232,
Ihensth to; basis, AG Ds. 202. 2b Selo ice a ee 033
Juemeth to basis Vi. Was. soe bec joes uae Lee eee 0205
Iheneth to basis caudale ict etek es see ee ee .0466
Wepth ab sles ec chose et pia ae ey oS O1
Wepthyot, caudal: peduncles.— 202 FA. oe ee 0058

There are many individuals on the slabs of slate, some of them per-
fectly preserved. Many of these slabs represent that portion of the
stratum which is highly carbonaceous, portions of it thrown into the
fire burning freely. Dr. Hayden, who has brought numerous specimens
from this locality, informs me that the lamine exhibit great numbers
of these little fishes. No doubt the carbonaceous character of the shales.
is due to the decomposition of their bodies. The nature of the deposit
and mode ot preservation remind one strongly of the Cyprinodon
meyert of Agassiz, from the neighborhood of Frankfort a. M. That
species differs specifically from this one in presenting 18 anal radii.

Some of the specimens above described were obtained, and preserved
for scientific study, by L. E. Ricksecker.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 429

Physostonu.
CLUPEA, (LInN.)

CLUPEA HUMILIS, (LEIDY.)

(Proceedings of Academy of Natural Sciences, 1856, 256.)

Vertebre, 34. Depth, 24 to 22 lines in length, exclusive of caudal fin,
(24 times, Leidy.) Scales large; 1. transverse 11-12. <A very abun-
dant species in the shales, distinguished by its corpulent form.

CLUPEA PUSILLA, (COPE.)
(Proceed. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1870, p. 382.)

Greatest depth contained four times in the total length, or 3.5 times
to basis of caudal fin. Length of head 3.2 to basis caudal. This
- measurement may require revision, as the end of the muzzle is slightly
injured. Orbit large, contained twice in length, and about over the
origins of the ventrals. D. II, 11; V.7. Pectoral extending half way
to ventrals. Vertebre, 29-30; dorsals, 19-20. Ventral keeled ribs, 18.
Anal fin lost. Caudal pedunele slender; caudal fin deeply fureate. Length,
M. 044; greatest depth, M. .011.

A second specimen exhibits the character of the species more dis-
tinetly in some respects. There are 30 vertebra, of which 13-14 are
caudal. The general shape is regularly fusiform, and the head rather
acuminate.

: M.
SRONSENL WS TNGR aE Res Cees ee 2 A Ee etc eereaael eee raete ge otis ere MR 0.054
Length to preopercular edge SVAN: Se cS, Aa a, al Ss eames 01
HOMOGE CO OPCLCULAT COG CY is (a) oi) a fo /acs ines everday Abint Jae) a he eee 013
ength’ to posterior margin dorsal... 2.0. .0...2.5..-.-42+--% 0255
enochiroOwamberior margin; amal. 2.20525 52 esses lst le * 034
amon hncOuwasey Caldas “see 2 Nek! solu SNe Sia ec heen et ays Ras 044
Wepthatrocciputs 225.8 sea sheds fish. sé BE het AUR EA Bias Caan ote O11
Weptheat middle. of dorsalis t. soe 5254262 22s 5 ss Saree ee 0115
Depcheat caudal peduncle: 22025223500 080). 256.5 os 0s Pte Sle, .0046

This species is therefore much more lanceolate in outline than C. hu-
milis, and has fewer vertebra. It is half the size, and not nearly so
abundant.

OSTEOGLOSSUM, C. V.

The discovery of this genus, or a close ally, in the Green River shales,
by Lucius Ricksecker, is one of the most interesting in the history of
this department of paleontology which has been lately made.

Osteoglossum has hitherto been known only in a recent state, and
with a range of distribution quite unparalleled among teleostean fishes.
Thus one species—0. bicirrhosum, Vand., occurred in Brazil; O. formo-
sum, Schl. Miill., in Borneo, &c., and O. "leichardtii, Gthr., in New Zea
land; all in the ‘southern hemisphere or near the equator. Two other
genera, Vastres and Heterotis, have been associated with it, and these
belong to the same hemisphere, or to those faunae which characterize
it, in their extensions north of the equator. It is therefore interesting
to note that the first representative of the type found in any of the
northern faunal regions belongs to an age apparently eocene.

The specimen representing the type species is not sufficiently perfect
to justify a final reference, but the squamation is much more that of

430 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

this genus than of either of the others above mentioned. It belongs in
any case to the same family group. ‘The structure of the scales is suft-
ficient to determine this point. The whole of the scale is composed be-
tween the inferior and superior surface: layers, of sub-hexagonal or _
diamond-shaped cells, which are arranged in spirals tending to the
center. Their contents are more thoroughly calcified on the exposed
than in the concealed portion of the scale. No radial grooves. Tube
of the lateral line issuing by a round pore.

OSTEOGLOSSUM ENCAUSTUM, (COPE) sp. nov.

Represented by a portion of the side of a large individual, including
the series of scales bearing the lateral line, and three series above and
three below it, more or less perfectly preserved. The longitudinal

‘extent of the fragment includes seventeen transverse series. These
scales are of large size, the included portions are smooth to the naked
eye, but rugose under the microscope, and with but few and faint traces
of concentric lines. Exposed portions with entire margin, bearing a
large lenticular rugose surface. This rugosity consists of elevated
portions of an enamel-like material, between small pits and grooves.
The septa between the cells are distinctly visible on the smooth part of
the seale; on the rugose surface they are represented by grooves. The
cells are in curved series, which extend to the center of growth, growing
smaller as they converge. The rugose part of the exposed surface
diminishes in relative extent towards the anterior part of the body.
The tabes of the lateral line are in this species concealed beneath the
external layer of the scale. The opening is nearer the margin than the
center of the scale, is round, and is frequently accompanied by a smaller
one above and in front of it.

! Inches.
Length of fifteen consecutive scales .........--.-4-5.--------0- 0.23
Depth of six longitudinal series Scales: -). - “2255.2 ee ee 127
Wertical diameter ofa scaler (eo oo es es eo .035
Transverse diameter of ai scale. 22203722270. ee eee 025
Diameter of a submarginal scale cell’: 22S so ee oa.) noe ee ~ 003
Width of rugose area of scale. -.-...--.-.--.-- Be ere hs she 5 sic O11

As compared with the species of the genus whose scales have been
figured, the present offers clear distinction. In 0. bicirrhosum, figured
in Agassiz and Spix Brazilian fishes, Tab. X XV, the scales have distinct
concentric grooves, and the rugosity consists of a few points or pro-
jections. In O. formosum, figured in Solomon Miiller’s travels in Borneo,
&e., the rugosity is uniform on the exposed surface and very minute,
and there are no concentric grooves; the cells are smaller. In Vastres
the exposed surfaces are still more rugose—in large examples, quite
honeycombed.

The specimens represent an individual of three or four feet in length,
discovered at the fish-slate cut on the Green River, on the line of the
Union Pacific Railroad, by Lucius E. Ricksecker, civil engineer.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The laminated rock from which the above species were obtained is
similar in general appearance to the clay beds of Mount Lebanon and
Mount Bolea. The first indication of the existence of this deposit was
brought by Dr. Jno. Evans, who obtained from it a clupeoid, which was

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. A431

described by Dr. Leidy as Clupea humilis, (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila.,
1856, p. 256.) One of the blocks contains the remains of two small
shoals of the fry, probably of C. hwmilis, which were caught suddenly
by a slide or fall of calcareous mud, and entombed for the observation
of future students. They must have been taken unawares, since they
lie with their heads all in one direction as they swam in close bodies,
One or two may have had a moment’s warning of the catastrophe, as
they have turned a little aside, but they are the exceptions. The fry
are from one-half to three-quarters of an inch long and upward.

True herring, or those with teeth, are chiefly marine, but they run
into fresh waters and deposit their spawn in the spring of the year, and
then return to salt waters. The young run down to the sea in autumn
and remain there till old enough to spawn. ‘The size of the fry of the
Rocky Mountain herring indicates that they had not long left the
spawning ground, while the abundance of adults suggests they were not
far from salt water, their native element. To believe, then, that the
locality from which these specimens were taken was neither far from
fresh, nor far from salt waters, is reasonable ; and this points to a tide,
or brackish inlet or river. The species of Cyprinodontidw inhabit also
tide and brackish waters. Most of the species of the family, as well as
of the genus, are inhabitants of fresh water; but they generally, espe-
cially the cyprinodons proper, prefer still and muddy localities, and
often oceur in water really salt. This habitat distinguishes them espe-
cially from Cyprinide (minnows and suckers) and pike. Lastly, the
known species of Osteoglossum inhabit fresh waters.

The material which composes the shales indicates quiet water, and
not such as is usually selected by herring for spawning in; while the
abundance of adult clupeas indicate the proximity of salt water.

This is far from a satisfactory demonstration of the nature of the
water which deposited this mass of shales, but is the best that can be
obtained with such a meager representation of species.

As to geological age the indications are rather more satisfactory.
The genus Clupea ranges from the upper eocene upward, being
abundant in the slates of Lebanon and Monte Bolea, while Cyprinodon
has been found in neither, but first appears in the middle cr lower
miocene in Europe. The Asineops resemble very closely, and I believe
essentially, the Pygeeus of Agassiz of eocene age, from Monte Bolea.
The peculiarities presented by the genus fonnd by Dr. Hayden are of
such small significance as to lead me to doubt the beds in question being
of later than eocene age, though the evidence rests chiefly on this
single, new, and peculiar genus.

The position of these fishes, seven thousand feet above the level of
the sea, furnishes another illustration of the extent of elevations of
regions once connected with the ocean, and the comparatively late
period of geologic time at which, in this case, this elevation took place.

-

432 _ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

VIIL—RECENT REPTILES AND FISHES.

REPORT ON THE REPTILES AND FISHES OBTAINED BY >
THE NATURALISTS OF THE EXPEDITION.

By E. D. Cops, A. M.

Twenty-two species of fishes and eight of reptiles are embraced in
this collection. Among these the principal interest attaches to the fish-
fauna of the Colorado River of the West, and its system. Isolated as
are its waters from the systems of the Columbia on the north, of the
Piatte on the east, of the Rio Grande on the southeast, and of the Pa-
cific Coast streams on the west, an inquiry into the character of its fauna
becomes desirable. Thishas been entered on with much success by our
distinguished ichthyologists, Messrs. Baird and Girard, who have deter-
mined the existence of at least one type as peculiar to it; I allude to
the genus or group Gila. They have also shown that nearly, if not all,
of the species belonging to it differ from those of the other basins—
a conclusion which the collections of Dr. Hayden confirm. The num-
ber of species from the heads of the Colorado included in the present
collection numbers 13, none of which have been found in other waters,
if we include in this basin those which empty into the lakes of Utah—
and of which five are new to science.

Beyond the possession of peculiar species and one peculiar genus this
river basin does not differ from others except in what it lacks. This
want of forms may be owing to the poverty of our colleétions, or
to their real absence. It is enough to mention Stluroids, Hyodon,
Hsox, Lepidosteus, Amia, and Physoclysti, m general, to express the im-
perfection of our knowledge and the probability that, when examined,
an interesting faunal combination may be discovered. Not the least in-
teresting fact is the occurrence of a Coregonus in the Green River and
other upper waters of the basin.

The other fishes obtained by Dr. Hayden are from the upper tributa-
ries of the Platte. As pertaining to the same great Missouri drainage
area, a few species from the neighborhood of St. Joseph, Northwestern
Missouri, are added. These were submitted to me by Dr. William Stimp-
son, secretary of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.

REPTILIA.

CAUDISONA CONFLUENTA, Say, (Crotalus.)—Utah, Colorado, Wyo- |
ERE eB Tone NASICUS, Baird and Girard.—Head-waters of the Platte.

KUT ANIA PARETALIS, Say, (Zropidonotus, Halb.)—Head-waters of the
STE VAGRANS, Baird and Girard.—Utah, Wyoming, and Col-
ora eed MACULATA, Baird and Girard.—Head-waters of the
ee DOUGLASSH, Bell.—Head-waters of the Platte.

BATRACHIA.

RANA HALECINA, Bose.—Common along all the streams.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 433

THLEOSTEI.
\ Cottide.

URANIDEA PUNCTULATA, Gill, (Potamocottus;) Proc. Boston Soc. N. H.,
1861, 40.—Head-waters of Green River.

Salmonide.

SALmo (Salar) VIRGINALIS,Girard ; United States Pacific Railroad Sur-
vey, Vol. X, p. 320, Pl. LXIII, figs. 1-4.—This species is well figured
by Girard as above. An error occurs in the enumeration of rays, where
the branchiostegals are said to number 9-9; they are, I find in three
specimens, 11-11. The species is distinguished from S. tridea, Girard, by
its more slender form and fewer anal and dorsal radii. When the spe-
cimens were first received they exhibited short, broad, longitudinal red
bars along the lateral line. l

Seven specimens, two from Henry’s Fork Green River, and two from
near Fort Bridger.

SALMO (SALAR) STOMIAS, (COPE ;) Sp. nov.

Salmo (Trutta) lewisti, Cope. Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1865,
nec. Girardil.

General form short and stout, the head large and wide, with wide mandi-
ble and mouth. The length ofthe head enters four times to near the emar-
gination of the caudal fin, and the depth at the first dorsal ray four
times in the length to the end of the basal scales of the caudal.
The base of the first dorsal ray is nearly equidistant between the end of
the muzzle and base of caudal fin, or, more exactly, rather nearer to the
base of the marginal caudal ray than to the muzzle. Radi, B. 10, D.IL.
12, A. I. 10, V. 9. The end of the maxillary extends half the eyes
diameter behind the margin of the eye. Interorbital width 3.5 times in
length of head; eye, 4.6 times in the same, and equal to the length of
the muzzle. Symphysis of mandible equal to or shorter than. muzzle;
gape wide. Forty-two longitudinal scales above the laternal line. Max-
illary bone of nearly uniform width.

There are indistinct brown blotches on the sides, and numerous black
spots on the posterior dorsal region, the entire caudal peduncle and the
two dorsal and caudal fins; anal unspotted; spots few in front of dorsal.

M.
NRotallenethofsmaller specimen). 3 osc. 853 5 ne 0. 227
Meme Gh Of nearly eet eb Ue Me EEO ES GML NCU SEL TAN . 0515
CS MAEECORVETERALG Sees e ey) Mania Uy cies ER aM as IR SM NG Le . L06
AIG NANO ATT AN se SI a es a) A OAR a 15
Width lower jaw, at orbits. ..---. ey ese ns eon cist mncamiuic nie ena aes . 0168

This species is an ally of the S. lewisii, S. virginalis, and S. iridea.
From the last of these the fewer anal radii distinguish it. From 8. vir-
ginalis the stouter form, wider head with shorter muzzle, and one less
branchiostegal ray, separate it. Thus in that species the head enters the
length to the end of the caudal scales four times, and the depth 4.5
times. The dorsalis considerably nearer the end of the muzzle than the
basis of the caudal. The eyes and interorbital widths are less. The WS. lew-
isti, like S. stomias, from Mississippi waters, is more like S. virginalis in all
the respects mentioned, according to both the description and figures of
Girard, but adds the peculiarity of only 10 branchiostegals instead of 11.

Two specimens from the Platte River, from near Fort Riley, Kansas.
Discovered by William A. Hammond, M. D.

COREGONUS WILLIAMSONII, Girard; United States Pacific Railroad
Reports, X, p. 326, Pl. LXVI. —The Rocky Mountain white fish.

28 G

A34 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

With the Salmo virginalis, probably from near Fort Bridger, from the
head-waters of the Green River or Western Colorado.

Catostomide.

I have proposed to adopt as valid (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1870,
480) seven genera of this family. I would now add an eighth, which
embraces species which combine with the characters of ” Catostomus
proper, a complete union of the parietal bones, which obliterates the
fontanelle so universal among the suckers. The ‘only other exception is
seen in Oycleptus, Raf., as [have already mentioned. In all the members
of the family where I have examined it, this fontanelle is quite open and
of no doubtful proportions, and nowhere reduced to the slit often seen in
the Siluride. In searching for the characters of Girard’s so-cailed
genera Minomus and Acomus, I find that the type of the former, JZ.
insignis, B. G., presents the character above mentioned. 1 therefore
adopt his name for the new genus, and add two new species, Jf. delphi-
nus and M. bardus. Whether his two other species, M. plebeius and I.
clarkii, belong to it is uncertain as yet, but they have the same physi-
ognomy.

CATOSTOMUS, (LES.)

Several species of this genus were procured by Dr. Hayden. For
their fuller elucidation the following table, embracing also those of
Minomus, is appended.

I. Seales of the posterior part of the body materially }
larger than those of the anterior.

a Anterior dorsalray nearly equidistant between end of
muzzle and base of caudal fin.

Head five and a half times in length to end of caudal;
muzzle projecting, upper lip pendent, very short, with |

> C. griseum.

two rows tubercles ; smooth margins narrow ; scales
1. tr. 28; eye 1-1 head; V. 10.
As the last, but the lips much larger; upper with three
rows tubercles, and both with wide smooth margin; ¢ C. discobolus.
eye, 5.5 in head, V. 9; isthmus wider.
If. Seales of body subequal.
a Origin dorsal nearer origin of caudal fin than end of |
muzzle. t
Upper lip not pendent; head one-fifth length to end of |

—)

M. delphinus.

caudal; upper lip wide, D. 11, V.10; scales tr.1. 30;

ventral fins small.
.aa Origin of dorsal fin nearer end of muzzle than basis )

of caudal.

Head five and a half times in length with caudal; upper ' M. bardus.
lip wide, not pendent; isthmus wide; eye, one-fifth,

head; 1. tr. 30; D. 11, V. 10: a light band on side. \

CATOSTOMUS SUCKLH, Girard ; United States Pacific Railroad Report,
“X, p. 226, Pl. LI1.—Waters of the Platte.

CATOSTOMUS LATIPINNE, Baird and Girard; Pr. A. N. Sci., Phil., 1853,
.388; United States Mexican Boundary Survey, ITT, 39, Pl. XKiWe 1- 6.
(Acomus, Girard.)—Two heads from the Green River.

CATOSTOMUS GRISEUM, Girard; Pr. A. N. Sci., Phil., 1856, 174; United
States Pacific Railroad, xe 222, Pl. XLIX, figs. 5-9. —Two specimens
from Horse Creek, (waters of the Platte, August 27th,) one from Red
‘Cioud Creek, and three from other waters of the Platte.

Or

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 43

CATOSTOMUS DISCOBOLUS, (COPE;) sp. nov.

Remarkable for its very large lips, especially the upper. In general
it is allied to the C. griseum, being of the same cylindric form. The
upper lip is pendent, and somewhat expanded all round. Its margin
extends outside of that of the lower lip, where it joins it, thus forming
an entering rightangle with it. The commissural margins of both are
wide and abruptly separated from the tubereulated portions. Tubercles
subequal; those of the lower jaw projecting in a convex enlargement,
concentric with the lowér commisure; behind deeply incised. Muzzle
projecting a little beyond upper lip; head wide, flat above; eye superior,
small, entering length of head 5.5 times; three times in muzzle.
Phryngeal bones expanded below; teeth delicate laminar, with acute
inner cusp. Length of head, entering total to end of caudal scales,
four and a half times; ventral fins originating opposite posterior third
of dorsal, barely reaching vent; pectorals well separated; isthmus very
wide. Radii, D.11; A. 8; V. 9.. Scales in 38-40, longitudinal series —
between dorsal and ventral fins; color, olive brown above, black on
head, passing into light yellow below, gradually on the body, abruptly
on the head.

M.
Ro talenochr yee ene) ke heyy ere reise! te ES aa 0.153
Mem COTOLUIE am rion eee ere CLUES tlk 0 Please 016
Wensthacooperculan order Ye) 20s fee ene) aN ee ae Ne 029
Wenmehero dorsal ih a UN Nail os eee a Oe 065
Remsen ecoynve Mccel tei sas Nese ee Ars EINE Ce ee 0695
Be Mcibe LORMAN ORC a ky oe a eu ie 097
Werithyor troncaliponesi il tee Oe as oe tae ee ees O14
Mewcrhvotnventraleins estas Viet Ue oe aN 022

Two specimens, one certainly, the other probably, from the Green River,
Wyoming. This striking species was discovered by Cam. Carrington.

This species may be compared with the C. plebeius, Girard, and C.
generosus, Girard. In the first the eye is larger and more median, the
scales are subequal, and there are only eight ventral rays. In the second
the eye is also larger. In neither is the great development of the lip
seen.

MINOMUS DELPHINUS, (COPE,) Sp. nov.

The subequal size of the scales of this species would refer it indif-
ferently to the true group Catostomus of Girard, or his group Minomus,
which he did not distinguish clearly. The preceding species would
enter his Acomus, which is, however, only an undefined group of species,
to which, by the way, the type of Catostomus, C. teres belongs.

This species is especially distinguished from those heretofore de-
scribed by the shortening of the caudal part of the vertebral column,
and the consequent posterior position of the dorsal fin. Add to this a
short, wide head, and thick body, and its physiognomy is expressed.

The dorsal outline is arched, the head flat above, but elevated behind,
and much depressed on the muzzle. The muzzle is wide and does not
project beyond the upper lip, which is appressed to its lower face and
bears four rows of warts; its smooth commissural part is narrow. On
the lower lip the tubercles advance nearly to the commisure; this lip
is deeply emarginate posteriorly ; the eye enters the length of the head
five times, two and one-half times measuring the muzzle, and twice the
interorbital region. Head four and two-thirds times in length to end
of caudal basal scales.

436 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Scales in thirty longitudinal series, between dorsal and ventral fins ;
ventrals remarkably short, extending little more than half way to vent,
originating under posterior third of dorsal. Pectorals well separated.
Radii, D.11; A.8, V.10. Isthmus wide.

Color above blackish, with a strong inferior marginal shade on the
lower part of the sides, and lighter tint above; a brown spot just above
axilla, is cut off from it by a band of the yellow color which covers the
belly and head below.

M.
Potal length Sip. ee Ae ee owiehe bate 'e Jia'ate os ee 0. 149
Leneth toorbit =: 95. See EL . 013
ensth to opercular border-28 3. io. oe 5 eee . 0295
Bength todorsal fin 2392208 SO . 069
henge thetosventral fines. Se ee eee . O74
beneth of ventrallsiimien 1, .):i-[hs ie ee eee ae ee 015
lenethsto analimeeca nis. 22. (See oe nee tee SS ee . 097
Interorbitalwadth¢s. 1625 192 ee ee BOS RS Se . 0115

The only species concerning which any doubt can arise in the nomen- *
clature of this one is the C. bernardini of Girard. That writer states
that the latter possesses 15 D. radii; this, with the ascription of a slen-
der form and other peculiarities, will always separate them.

Three specimens in Professor Hayden’s collection without locality.
This should be probably a tributary of Green River.

MINOMUS BARDUS, (COPE;) Sp. nov.

This species is distinguished by its very short head, and marked eol-
oration, resembling in that respect the C. guzmaniensis of Girard; with
this species it has, however, nothing else in common.

Head wide, muzzle not projecting beyond upper lip; latter not pend-
ent, with narrow, smooth commisure and three or four rows of tubercles.
Lower lip deeply incised, tubercular to near inner edge. Eye 5.25 times
in length of head, twice in interorbital width. Head five times to end
of basal caudal seales. Form stout; body cylindric anteriorly. Dorsal
fin nearer end of muzzle than end of caudal seales. Scales of body
subequal, in thirty longitudinal rows between dorsal and ventral fins ;
latter originating beneath hinder border of dorsal, not quite reaching
vent. Pectorals well separated; isthmus wide, narrower than in WM.
delphinus. Radii D. 11, A. 8, V. 10.

Color, blackish above, a broad olive band from upper part of oper-
cular border along upper half of caudal peduncle, and a broad black band
below, narrowing to.a line along the middle of the peduncle. Below,
yellowish, a band of the same cutting off a blackish area above the
axilla, as in the last species.

M.
Moplelencths.-. ase ee eee _ 0.128
bene ebtororbibe ~..- ~~). ic lise eee cee @ eee O1
Hensthtoopercular border. 25025). 208 072 ee 0235
henethtojdorsal fim, 0... 5 eee ae see er 059
enethtowentrahan.-' 2 ck. alee ee eee eee - ais ae DOSS
Length of ventral Ti eee Pens ASG Sa Sea oe 5 asa hb socc 017
hens th to anal ime. oo... 0... + ee eee 086
Tnterorbital widthes. oa. 5. 2b. 2. LR ee eee oe .0095

From the same locality as M. delphinus.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 437
PTYCHOSTOMUS BUCCO, (COPE ;) Sp. nov.

A stout species, with a head short and particularly wide thrcugh the
opercula. Lips thin, the inferior consisting of lateral lobes inclosing a
V-shaped interval. Superior lip narrow, not pendent. Muzzle slightly
projecting, subtruncate in profile. Eye large, 3.5 times in length of
head, 1.2 in muzzle, and nearly .75 of interorbital width. Front and
vertex flat; width behind orbits 1.75 times in length of head. Head
one-fourth length without caudal, and equal to depth. Scales, 6-40-
5. Radii, D. Il. 12; A. II. 7; V. 9. Dorsal nearly median on superior
outline. Pharyngeal teeth typical, i. €., pectiniform, with slightly prom-
inent inner angle.

Color uniform ; dorsal fin dusky. Total length of young. M. .117; to
opercular margin 9255; to ventral fins .0545. From St. Josephs, Mis-
souri.

This species is allied most closely to the P. collapsus, Cope. Thisis a
still stouter species, wie depth entering the length only 3.5 times; the
eye is smaller, being .2 of the head’s length. The Catostomus suckleyr
resembles it, but i 1S more slender, and belongs to another genus. ‘The
P. buceo is named from the interopercular width of the head.

Cyprinide.

(CAMPOSTOMA ANOMALUM, Raf. Icth. Ohiensis.) (Rutilus.) Agas-
siz, Cope; Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1866, 396.—Probably from the
head- waters of the Platte River.

e COLISCUS PARIETALIS, (COPE;) gen. et. Sp. NOV.

»

‘Char. genericus: Group IV. of the tribe Epicysti, (Trans. Amer. Phil.
Soc., 1866,) and therefore with cultriform teeth arranged 4-4, and elon-
gate alimentary canal, coiled many times below the swim bladder. The
lateral line is almost entirely wanting, and the dorsal fin originates
above a point in front of the ventrals. The lips are exceedingly atten-
uated, and the mouth directed upwards. Allied to Hybognathus, Agass.

Char. specificus: Head wide; especially behind, contained 4.25 times
in the length without caudal fin. Muzzle obtuse; lips equal; mouth
descending obliquely, the end of the maxillary not quite reaching the
line of the anterior margin of the orbit. Hye 3.6 times in length of
head; 7 times into muzzle, and 1.5 times into interorbital width. Scales
small; 1. tr. 14; 1. long. 42; seven behind operculum, bearing tubes of
the lateral line. Radii D. 1.7; A.1I.8; V.9. General form moderately
elongate; dorsal fin intermediate between end of muzzle and basis of
caudal. Depth at dorsal, 4.6 times in length without caudal. Subor-
bital bones slender. Color everywhere white, silver on the sides of the
head. Length, M. .0432. From the Missouri River nearto St. Josephs.
(Mus, Chicago Acad. Sciences, No. 575.)

HYBOPSIS MISSURIENSIS, (COPE;) sp. nov.

Belonging to group B, 7%. e., with teeth 4-4, and mouth inferior
Form stout, with large head and thick caudal peduncle. Head 3.75
times into length without caudal fin; scales, 5—31-2—3.

Dorsal outline a little arched; depth 4.5 times in length, without
caudal fin. Hye three times in length of head, equal muzzle, four-fifths.

ee wT ISIE 2

438 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

interorbital width. Profile, plane; parietal region wide; muzzle de-
scending; upper lip projecting a little beyond lower ; end of maxil-
lary bone reaching line of orbit. Twelve scales in front of dorsal fin.
Least depth of caudal peduncle two and a half to three times in length
from first analray. Radii, D. 1.8; V.8. Pectorals nearly reach ven-
trals; ventrals reach vent. Dorsal nearer end of muzzle than basis of
eaudal. Length, M. .05.

Light olivaceous, below paler; a silver lateral band and small dark
dot at base of caudal fin. No dark dorsal band.

From near St. Joseph, Missouri. From the Mus. Acad. Sciences,
Chicago.

This Hybopsis is near the H. procne, Cope, from the East. It differs
in the generally stouter form, the larger head and thicker caudal
peduncle.

HYBOPSIS SCYLLA, (COPE;) sp. nov.

Belonging to the group B. (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1866, 380) of
this genus, and therefore Zallied to H. stramineus and H. pr ocne, Cope.
It differs from the former in its more slender form, and from both in the
increased number of longitudinal series of scales.

Head 4.5 times in length without caudal fin; eye 3.5 times in head;
scales 6-34-4. A. IL. 7.

This species has a short head with obtuse muzzle. The lips are equal
and the mouth slopes a little downward, the end of the maxillary reach-
ing the line of the interior margin of the orbit. Length of muzzle .75
diameter of eye, which is little less than interorbital width; teeth 4-4;
depth of body at first dorsal ray 4.6 times in length to basis of caudal;
at caudal peduncle equal from orbit to opercular border. Ventral fin
originating below D. I. Rays, D. I. 8, A. I. 7, V. 8; lateral line slightly
decurved medially. Total length, 0 M. .0545. Color silvery with silver
lateral band, marked with black points, which are especially abundant
on the side of the muzzle. From Red Cloud Creek, a tributary of the
Platte.

HYBOPSIS EGREGIUS, (GIRARD.)

(Tigoma.) United States Pacific Railroad Reports, X, 291.

What I suppose to be this species presents a well- marked grinding
surface on one tooth (the second) on each side. There is nothing to dis-
tinguish Girard’s Tigomee, with this surface developed, from my section
D of H ybopsis. (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1866, 382. ) These species
are his T. gibbossa, T. nigrescens, T. pulchra, and J crassa. The teeth
are 4,1(2)—1(2).4, and the mouth more or less oblique. They cannot be
separated, as a genus, from Hybopsis. The Tigome, without mastica-
tory surface, are closely allied to the Clinostomi, from which they differ
in having the teeth 4.2-2.4 instead of 4. 2-2.5. Some of Girard’s Tigomee
appear to be true Clinostomi. Five specimens from Green River.

PHOTOGENIS PIPTOLEPIS, (COPE;) Sp. nov.

This species has much the physiognomy of Ceratichthys dissimilis, Kirt.,
and is allied to the same genus. Dorsal region alongside and in front
of the dorsal fin, scaleless; scales at dorsal, 3-4—36—2-3. Radii, D. 1.7,
A. 1.3, V. a; — Reeth; dy 4; head, one- fourth length without caudal;
depth, 4.66 times in the same ; eye oval, diameter a little less than
length of muzzle, 3.5 times in length of head and a little less than in-
terorbital diameter; the mouth is nearly horizontal, and the muzzle

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 439

descends gradually to it without projecting; maxillary extending beyond
the line of the orbit; interorbital region convex.

In general proportions this species is rather elongate, with elongate
head and small mouth. Length 0 M..07. First ventral and dorsal radii
opposed and a little nearer the end of the muzzle than the base of the
caudal fin. Color above olive, below silver; a broad silver lateral band
with black dots on each side of the lateral line, and a band of specks on
the side of the head. A strong black dorsal band. From the North
Platte.

In two smaller specimens, apparently of this species, there are some
peculiar differences. In onethe back is half scaled, the other entirely
scaled, and the count is 6-36-4. The caudal peduncle is alittle shorter,
so that the dorsal fin has a median position; and the head enters the
length (without caudal) 37 times. From the Red Cloud Creek.

HYPSILEPIS CORNUTUS, Mitchell, Cope, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci, -
Phila., 1867, 1538.—Red Cloud Creek.

CYPRINELLA BILLINGSIANA, (COPE ;) Sp. nov.

A rather stout fusiform species, having the depth .25 of the length
without caudal fin. Length of head the same; eye contained in it 3.5
times, .75 of interorbital width. Parietal and frontal regions convex
transversely. Lips equal; mouth slightly descending; maxillary. bone
reaching line of orbit. Muzzle nearly equal to orbit’s diameter. Scales,
6-31-3. Radii, D. 1. 8; A.1.8 (95) V. 8; originating considerably in ad-
vance of line of dorsal fin; not reaching vent. Pharyngeal teeth 4.1-1.4.

Color in alcohol reddish above, 7%. ¢., transparent in life; sides and
operculum silvery. <A faint median dorsal shade ; no spots on fins or at
base of dorsal. Total length, M. 048; end of muzzle to dorsal fin, .021.
From St. Joseph, on the Missouri River; Dr. William Stimpson.

This fish differs from all those referred to Cyprinella by Girard, in
proportions, radial or scale formula, excepting the C. lugubris, Girard. °
This species differs in having the dorsal fin above the ventrals, and in
the upper regions of the body being dark brown. Dedicated to Joshua
Billings, author of original observations on “The Briny Codfish.”

MONIANA JUGALIS, (COPE ;) Sp. nov.

Form stout, back much elevated, descending steeply to the end of
the muzzle. Head one-fifth of total with caudal fin; depth one-third
without caudal fin. Hye 4.3 and four times in head’s length, .6 of inter-
orbital space. Upper lip a little more prominent than lower; end of
maxillary bone falling behind the line of the margin of the orbit.
Pharyngeal teeth 4-4 in adults; 4.1-1.4 in small specimens. Seales
with narrow exposed surfaces, 7-34(3)- 4(3,) Radii, D. 1.8; A. 1.9; V. 8,
reaching anal, and originating well in front of line of first dorsal spine.
Pectorals nearly attaining ventrals. Total length, M. .0665; to dorsal
fin, .03; depth at last anal ray, .009.

Sides and ventral and anal fins, milky white; a median dorsal shade,
a broad vertical bar behind the head, and an “undefined shade on the
side between origins of ventral and anal fin, of a sooty color. From
St. Joseph, in Northwestern Missouri; Mus. Chicago Academy Sciences.

This species is well distinguished from those described by Girard in
the reports of the United States commissions on the Pacific Railroad
and Mexican boundary surveys. Thus, in theallied J. leontna, Girard,
the depth is .25 thelength ; in MM. laetabilis and M. deliciosa, Girard, the

440 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

eyes are 3 of the head only ; in M. tristis, the anal radii are I. .7; in M.
couchii, perhaps the closest ally, the depth enters the length 3.5 ‘times;
the transverse scales are 7-3, anal rays I. .8.

The affinities of this species are plainly with such species as Hupsile
pis analostanus, Girard, and Photogenis pyrrhomelas. It is interesting
to observe that in its young state it possesses the single tooth of the
inner row which characterizes the genus Cyprinella, which thus presents
an exact parallelism* to the immature stage of Moniana, as no otherchar-
acters exist to distinguish the genera. I may add that Heckel and
Kner have shown that the young teeth of the carnivorous type in Euro-
pean Cyprinide are pectinated. That the same is true of American
genera I have often had occasion to observe. Cyprinella, then, in this
respect presents an exact parallelism to Photogenis, or such species as
P. pyrrhomelas, which only differ generically in the lack of this pectina-
tion at maturity.

M. jugalis in youth is thus a Oyprinella, and resembles no little
the C. billingsiana, Cope, fromthe same locality. The latter has ocea-
sionally nine anal radii, and rarely the IM. jugalis losing a row of scales
above the lateral line, causes a still nearer approach. ! The smaller eye,
deeper body, and color will always distinguish the young of the latter
from that of the former.

ALBURNELLUS PERCOBROMUS, (COPE ;) sp. nov.

A small species of moderately elongate form, and acuminate muzzle.
Ventral fins reaching to line of last dorsal ray, not anal; pectorals
nearly reaching ventrals. Scales 7-37-3; radii D. I. 8, the first orig-
inating opposite the middle of the ventral fins; A. I. 11 (10.) Head
3.75 times in length without caudal fin; depth of body 4.75 times
into the same. Eye 3.5 times into head, equal length of muzzle. Mouth
oblique, lips equal when closed, end of maxillary extending beyond line
of orbit. Pharyngeal teeth 4.2-2.4. Seventeen rows of scales in front
of dorsal fin. Length, M. .05; to origin dorsal fin, .023; to origin of anal.
0263.

Color pale, with lateral silver band. Dorsal scales minutely punctu-
late; basis of caudal the same, but without black spots. From St.
J oseph, ] Missouri.

In technical characters this species approaches the A. matutinus, Cope,
but that is much more slender in all respects and has smaller "dorsal
scales. Twenty-five of these cross the back in front of the dorsal fin in
A. matutinus, seventeen in A. percobromus. For an analysis of the species
of this genus see Proceedings Amer. Phil. Society, 1870, 464.

In the same collection occurred the percoid fishes Lepomis anagallinus,
Cope, and Boleosoma brevipinne, Cope.

SARCIDIUM SCOPIFERUM, (COPE;) sp: et gen. nov.

Char. genericus.—Teeth 4-4, hooked, prehensile; alimentary canal
short. No barbels, upper lip projectile; lower jaw without lip except
below the canthi, where is a fleshy lobe on each side. Lateral line
present; dorsal fin anterior to the ventrals. ;

This genus is allied to Hxoglossum and to Photogenis. Its appearanceis
quite that of the former, especially inthe mouth; when examined therami
of the mandible are not found to be united or in contact throughout, as is
the case with Hxoglossum, but they form the usual are, but with a more

*See origin of genera, p. 7.

!

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 441

than usually stout symphysis. The form of the lower lip and anterior
position of the dorsal fin separate it from Photogenis. As the dorsal fin is
immediately above the ventrals in Hxoglossum maxiilingua, and as Gi-
rard represents its position to be the same as in Sarcidium in his Hx. mi-
rabile from Texas, (United States Pacific Railroad Report, X, plate LVL)
I suspect that the latter will be found to be a species of Sar cidium.

Char. specificus: General proportions medium, the back nearly
straight; the caudal region stout; the head rather small, with long and
prominent but obtuse muzzle; mouth entirely inferior, the end of the
maxillary about reaching the line of the anterior nares; length of
head into total, without ‘caudal fin, four times; depth at ‘dorsal into
same, 4.75 times ; origin of dorsal nearer end of muzzle than basis of
caudal fin; eye 4.2 times in length of head; 1.6 times in muzzle, nearly
equal interorbital width ; vertex nearly plane; profile slightly convex
to a point opposite front nares; here it descends into a deep trans-
verse notch, which is caused by a failure of the spines of the pre-
maxillary to reach the nasal bones; preorbital bone long and narrow ;
lateral line nearly straight; scales 6-44-5; fin radii, D. 1.8; A. 1.7
V. 8; pectorals not reaching ventrals; ventrals reaching vent, which is
a little in advance of the anal fin; length, M..0545; depth at last anal ray,

.006.

Color, olivaceous, (reddish in aleohol,) with a straight silver lateral
band; this terminates in a strong black spot at the middle of the base of
the caudal fin. No dark dorsal band.

This peculiar little fish was taken in the Missouri River, near St.
Joseph, Missouri. (Mus. Chicago Acad. Sciences.)

-GILA ELEGANS, Baird and Girard, Sitgreaves’s Expedition. Zuniand
Colorado, 1853, 149, Fishes, Pl. I1.—Fort Bridger, two specimens; Forks
of Green River, two specimens.

GILA GRAHAMI, Baird and Girard; United States Mexican Boundary
Survey Report, Fishes, p. 61, Pl. OKT figs. 7-12.—Fort Bridger, one
specimen; Henry’s Fork, one specimen.

GILA GRACILIS, Baird ‘and Girard; Sitgreaves’s Report, 1853, 151, Pl.
Iil.—lort Bridger, one specimen ; Henry's Fork, two specimens ; Forks
of Hee River, five specimens.

GILA NACREA, (COPE;) Sp. Nov.

Allied to G. grahamii, Baird and Girard. Radii, D, 2.9; C. 6. 10.11. 6;
A. 2.10; V.9; P.14. Scales, 2i—13. Length of head four times in
total to basis of median caudal radii; depth at dorsal fin four and three-
fifths times in the same. Ventrals originating in advance of dorsal fin,
not reached by the pectorals. Least depth of caudal peduncle 2.5 times
into the depth at ventral fins. Profile and interorbital region gently
convex; width of latter 3.1 times in length of head; diameter of eye
five times in length of head, and 1.25 times in length of muzzle, end of
maxillary not reaching line of orbit. Teeth 4.2-2.5. Total length, M.
0.136; depth of head at orbit, .015; width of head behind, .0125; length
of head, .028; depth caudal peduncle, .007. Color, silv er-w hite : ; back
narrowly dark shaded; pectoral fin, pink. From the fork of the Green
River near Fort Bridger, Wyoming Territory; collected by Cam.
Carrington, of Dr. F. We Hay den’s expedition.

This : species is near the G. grahamit in number of anal rays and gen-
eral proportions, but has a less depressed form of cranium and much
larger eye. The head is more like that of Ceratichthys and ordinary
Cyprinide. ‘

442 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

SEMOTILUS CORPORALIS, Mitchill, Cope, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc.,
1866, 363, Platte River; Red Cloud Creek.

CERATICHTHYS SQUAMILENTUS, (COPE ;) sp. nov.

Most nearly related to section ITI, (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., 1866, p.
365,) and therefore to the C. prosthemius,* Cope, but differing from the
latter in its very much smaller scales. General form stout; length of
head entering that of body, exclusive of caudal fin, 3.8 times; depth
entering the same, five times; eye 4.6 times in length of head, 3 length of
muzzle, and .6 interorbital width. Parietal region convex; profile nearly
plane; muzzle not prominent. Mouth horizontal; maxillary bone not
reaching orbit. Dorsal fin considerably nearer the base of the caudal fin
than the end of the muzzle, and originating a very little in advance of
the origin of the ventrals. Radii, D.1.8; A.1.7; V.7, extending to
anal, pectorals not reaching ventrals. Isthmus rather wide. Teeth
4.2-1.4, Seales small, 17-66-14, covering both dorsal and thoracic
regions completely. This description is taken from a small, probably
young, specimen; length, M. .058. The barbels are short and slender ~
and easily overlooked.

Above olive, below silvery; a lateral band of blackish dust from the
head to the base of the caudal fin, widening behind; a black band round
mnuzzle; sides and back black dusted. Fins unspotted.

Fron Henry’s Fork of the Green River, Wyoming. Cam. Carrington
discoverer. Several specimens.

RHINICHTHYS MAXILLOSUS, Cope; Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., 1864,
p. 278. Numerous specimens from Red Cloud Creek and the Platte. In
life the upper lip, ventral and anal fins, and inferior aspect of caudal
peduncle, are vermillion.

Siluride.

NOTURUS FLAVUS, Rafinesque.—From the waters of the Platte; iden-
tical with those from the Ohio.

IX.—MATERIAL RESOURCES.

REPORT ON THE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES. OF WESTERN
KANSAS AND EASTERN COLORADO.

By R.S. ELLIOTT.

An article by Professor J. G. Cooper on “ The Forests and Trees of
Northern America, as connected with Climate and Agriculture,” ap-
peared in the Agricultural Report of the Commissioner of Patents for
1860. In Professor Cooper’s division of the continent into “ provinces”
the word “‘ecampestrian” is used to express the ‘most marked charac-
teristic of the prairie and great central plain regions of North America,
which consists in their comparative destitution of forests and nearly
uniform surface, gradually rising from the Gulf of Mexico to the base
of the Rocky Mountains, where they attain an elevation of 4,000 to 5,000
feet.” The campestrian province, whose eastern boundary is the west

*Deceived by some specimens in the Liverpool Museum, Dr. Gunther has described
this species in the Catal. British Museum as the Gobio plumbeus of Agassiz. A consid-
eration of Professor Agassiz’s description makes it apparent that a very different fish
was the subject of it, probably, as Girard has observed, a species of Semotilus.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 443

line of the Appalachian, or more densely-wooded, province, is subdivided
into several regions, two of which, the Dakota and the Comanche,
divided by the thirty-eighth parallel, stretch from the ninety-seventh
meridian to the Rocky Mountains.

The general course of the Kansas Pacific Railway is on the thirty-
ninth parallel, and in the “ Dakota region” of Professor Cooper; but
the country traversed partakes of the character of both regions at
least as far southward as the Arkansas.

That portion of the State of Kansas east of the ninety-seventh merid-
ian (which crosses the railway near Abilene) is so well known and estab-
lished as a domain of great natural resources, arable and pastoral, that
extended remarks on it are unnecessary. Near Abilene, eastward, we
find the permian rocks in the bluffs of the Smoky Hill River and other
streams. These rocks are overlaid by a soil of great fertility, more or
less arenaceous, but similar to the loess or bluff deposits further east.
Near Topeka the upper carboniferous rocks are on and near the sur-
face—the line of separation between these and the permian not very
distinctly defined. The earboniferous series extend to and across the
Missouri River. The formations are so generally covered with earths
of productive character that no rocky districts of meager fertility are
found near the line of the railway. No swamps or unproductive areas
impair the healthfulness of the country, or affect its capacity to sustain
life. Water is abundant—generally of excellent quality; timber is
plentiful in many localities; and coal is known to be obtainable over
thousands of square miles. This notice of the country along 162 miles
of the railway, from Abilene east to State line, is given in order that
we may have in a single view the entire line of the railway from State
line to Denver.

WEST OF NINETY-SEVENTH MERIDIAN.

The track at Abilene is 1,057 feet above the level of the sea. In 53
miles westward, at Summit Siding, (25 miles east of Fort Harker,) the
railway track rises to 1,556 feet, or 499 feet higher than at Abilene—an
average of nearly 10, feet to the mile. This elevation is on a part of the
road which cuts off a bend of the Smoky Hill River. At Ellsworth, 60
miles from Abilene, the track is again in the vale of the Smoky, and is
1,440 feet above the sea—116 less elevation than at Summit Siding, and
383 greater than at Abilene. From Abilene to Black Wolf, 10 miles
west of Ellsworth, we have a sandy soil on the uplands, nourishing a
rich growth of grass, and productive under the plow; in the bottoms a
darker loam, containing more clay as a general rule, but having all the
elements of permanent fertility. Rocks appear in the bluffs and banks
of. streams; also in limited areas on the surface of the uplands west of
Salina, and in picturesque buttes, ledges, and crests between Brookville
and Fort Harker.

The geological age of the country from Abilene to Black Wolf has
not been very positively defined by any geologist whom I have read. I
take it to be triassic, merging on its western border between Black
Wolf and Wilson Station into “‘Cretaceous No. 1” of your classification,
which, in the highlands north of Wilson and in the bluffs of the Smoky,
south, appears to me to be very distinctly overlaid by your “‘Cretaceous
No. 2.” The decomposition of the triassic rocks, clays, and:shales west
of Abilene has left a kindly soil for the plow, except in the limited areas
where too rocky for arable uses; and in these the native vegetation
affords excellent pasturage, and promises well for tree culture in the

é
444 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

future. The farmers near Brookville, Harker, and Ellsworth, as well
as those at some distance north and south, find even the raw soil of the
prairie productive the first season. Near where I write winter wheat
gives unusual promise on sod broken for the first time last summer.

In general terms, the country from Abilene to Wilson (77 miles) may
be classed as rich in soil and abounding in supplies of water, either in
streams or reached by shallow wells—a country both arable and pasto-
ral, and being rapidly taken up by immigrants. Abilene is prominent
as a point for cattle shipment, increasing year after year. During the
past season large numbers have also been shipped from Brookville; and
in a year or two the herds will be coming to the track at Ellsworth and
' Wilson. As the consumption of beef seems to be gaining on the sup-
ply, there must be continuous activity in the cattle trade, and its mag-
nitude will only be limited by the rate of increase of the animals.

WEST OF NINETY-EIGHTH MERIDIAN.

This meridian crosses the railway east of Fort Harker. At Wilson
Station, 239 miles by rail west of the State line of Missouri, we are
about 98° 30’ west longitude. We are now in the border of the im-
mense cretaceous area, which, with more or less of superimposed drift,
stretches westward to the eastern flank of the “great divide,” so often
described as extending east from the mountains between the waters of
the Platte and the Arkansas. West of the one hundred and fourth
meridian. the cretaceous seems to be overlaid by tertiary formation,
with lignite beds over large areas, extending at greater or less depths to
the base of the mountains.

In describing the general formation from 98° 30’ west longitude to
104° as cretaceous, reference is had to what may be cailed the sub-
structure. On the surface, over large areas, there are deposits of sandy
clays and marls, with occasional solidification into porous strata of rocky
character; in areas of limited extent looser sands and gravels, the latter
in places intermingled with water-worn boulders of three to ten pounds
weight, all apparently derived ages ago (yet recently in a geological
sense) from the mountain ranges to the west and northwest.

_ In spots near Wilson, and at intervals westward to the one hundredth
meridian, the cretaceous rocks are on the surface, and they are shown

boldly in "the blufis of the Smoky Hill, Saline, and other streams. But

further westward these rocks appear “only i in ’the bluffs of the streams,
until about the one hundred and second meridian, where, in the neigh-
borhood of Fort Wallace, some ledges of chalky limestone, variously
tinted, rest in ledges on the uplands distant from the water-courses.

SOIL FOR SIX DEGREES OF LONGITUDE.

From the ninety-eighth to the one hundred and fourth Onn we
‘ have the traditional. “desert.” But there is no true desert on the
line of the Kansas Pacific Railway. Between the one hundred and
fourth meridian and the mountains the soil is in general of the same
composition as that which at the base of the mountains has in many
localities been proved to be remarkably productive. East of the one
hundred and fourth meridian the external characters of the surface-earth
suggest greater fertility than west of that line, and the native vegeta-
tion sustains this suggestion. In many parts of the plains there is a
considerable mixture of vegetable mold with the surface deposits, par-
ticularly in the lower lands, and even in the most sandy and gravelly
districts vegetation suited to the local conditions is always present.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. AA5

Made up of disintegrated rocks and clays of cretaceous age, inter-
mingled with, and in places overlaid by deposits of later drift, the gen-
eral surface of the Plains east of the one hundred and fourth meridian
may be described as composed of clay and sandy loam, with occasional
but very limited spots of gravel—the whole impregnated with lime, gyp-
sum, soda, magnesia, phosphoric acid, potash, and nitre; all fertilizers
and true to their mission whenever the compacted surface is broken up
so as to let in the air and moisture.

I repeat, that if we may judge by the native vegetation, the Plains
may be described as productive over their whole extent, as traversed by
this railway. There.are zones and belts of greater and less fertility ; but
the language of Frémont, “‘ broad, grassy plains,” is as true in description
as it is inconsistent with the idea of a “ desert.” ‘“* Broad, grassy plains,”
sustaining by their native plants animal life as ponderous as the buffalo
herd, must have uses for mankind not belonging to a desert.

In some limited portions of this vast region there is only a scanty
growth of the short, curly buffalo-grass (Sesleria dactyloides) with more
or less of sage, cactus, and yucca. In large districts there is a general
prevalence of grama-grass, (Chondrosium foneum,) and eastward of the
one hundred and first meridian we find a considerable intrusion of the
Kansas “ blue-joint,” which notably increases as we approach the fron-
tier settlements in the neighborhood of Wilson and Ellsworth. In all
parts of the Plains there are spots of greater or less extent where the
nutritious bunch-grass finds a congenial soil, and presents its rich pastur-
age. In the most arid and apparently most sterile portions of the
country along this railway, cattle and mules and horses find subsistence
and keep in good condition, where the flippant writer for the press, in
a hurried journey by rail, has seen only “desolation,” or has been
nauseated by imaginary “ alkali.”

The cactus appears sparsely about the ninety-eighth meridian,. per-
haps some distance eastward, (Mammilaria and Opuntia) and is more
abundant as we go westward, nowhere occupying the ground to the ex-
clusion of grasses and other herbage. ‘A plant which is extremely
useful to the Mexicans as a substitute for soap, by them called palmillo,
by us Adam’s needle or Spanish bayonet,” (Abert, ) the botanical name
Yucca augustifoleum, appears but sparingly until we pass the one hun-
dred and second meridian, but gains in number and vigor thence to the
mountains. Artemisia appears in the western regions, but not in the
abundance displayed in the Laramie Plains.

It is rare that any saline efflorescence’ is observed, until we get to the
vale of the Big Sandy, a tributary of the Arkansas, reached by the rail-
way at Kit Carson, near one hundred and third meridian. In the dry
seasons pools of brackish water stand in the bed of this stream, and
along its banks the white crystallization may be seen at intervals. The
Smoky Hill River probably owes its repute as an “ alkali” stream to the
disintegrated chalk washed down from the layers of white or chalky
limestone along its banks. In the bars of Big Creek, a living stream
crossed by the railway near the one hundredth meridian, and which
empties into the Smoky east of Fort Hays, the white limestone pebbles
have no dpubt passed with many observers as “alkali.”

The proportion of the soil of the plains rendered unfit for production
by “alkali” is not equal to the proportion of Dlinois, Indiana, or Ohio
rendered unfit by swamps and marshes. In fact, except in a very few
basins, or depressions, a few acres in extent, where the drainage of sur-
rounding areas is partly absorbed and partly evaporated, the soil is no-
where impregnated with alkaline matter to an extent to unfit it for gen-

446 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

eral plant growth. Contrary to the prevailing impression, the alkaline
soils are probably the most fertile where the necessary moisture is at
hand. The “alkalies” are mainly in the clays and shales, and the soils
resulting from the disintegration of these are apt to be the strongest.
Moisture is needed on these soils, not to leach out the alkalies, but to
furnish them in solution to the roots of plants, and to provide a humid
atmosphere to surround the foliage.

In the gradual progression of settlements, the Kansas frontier moving
west, and the Colorado coming east, to cover the entire Plains in the
course of time, this vast region will be found to have as small a propor-
tion of waste lands as some of the most favored States.

MINERALS—METALS AND COAL.

Westward from the ninety-seventh meridian, we are for about seven-
ty-five ‘miles in the triassie region; rocks of the same age of those
which, according to Whitney, are metalliferous in California. The Kan-
sas rocks are apparently in place as deposited. No metamorphism, no
grand upheavals, no outbursts of lava, have taken place. There may
have been a gentle uplift of a few feet in the region adjoining Fort
Harker on the east, the axis probably extending north and south; but
even this gentle uplift is problematical, and is only suggested by springs
coming out of the hills east of Harker, with a volume and permanence
that can hardly be due to the local rain-fall. There seems to be a moder-
ate curvature upward of the eastern edges of the strata, due either to
their original deposition on the sloping beaches of the old triassic sea,
or to a subsequent gentle upheaval; but even this curvature may be
only fanciful, and the waters of the numerous springs near Harker and
Brookville, some of which are at least 1,550 feet above the sea level,
may come round in the “divide” between the Smoky and the Saline,
from higher regions westward.

No metals are known with certainty to exist in this immediate re-
gion. Much of the sand-rock is impregnated strongly with oxide of
iron, and many concretions of sulphuret of iron are found in the clays
and shales. It is possible that other metals—gold, silver, tin, and anti-
mony—might be traced. No examination with a view to metallic wealth
has yet been made. There are traditions, said to come from the Indians,
of tin and silver having been found near Salina, in the Smoky Hill re-
gion, but they are too vague to afford any clue to the mines, if any ex-
ist. I have been shown specimens of sulphuret and carbonate of copper,
and of galena apparently argentiferous, said to have been taken from a
locality very near Brookville; but the party in possession declined to
give any information as to the place where found, or the probable quan-
tity. Should the more valuable minerals, copper, lead, silver, &c., be
hereafter ascertained to exist in this region, they will probably be in
veins of segregated character lying in the planes of the general strati-
fication, and not true veins, or lodes, traversing the strata. ‘The copper-
bearing stratum at Mansfeld, Prussia, is described by Whitney as “a
bituminous marly slate,” and in Silesia a similar slate is worked for
copper; the beds being similar in character with some near Brookville,
but I do not know their geological age.

Coal, according to ail geologists who have written of Kansas, dips
westward in the carboniferous formation, and is overlaid by the per-
mian and later beds. Hence it may be found under the ninety-seventh
meridian, but at what depth is yet entirely a matter of conjecture. In
time it will no doubt be sought at some points west of all present mines;

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 447

perhaps at intervals of 50 miles along the railway west of Topeka. If
the dip of the carboniferous series is really to the west or northwest,
as generally held, the depth of the coal as far west as Abilene or Brook-
ville may be too great for working until a greater demand shall grow
up. A drill at Wamego, 100 miles west of Leavenworth City, could, at
a cost of a few thousand dollars, tell us whether the veins of the Leay-
enworth shaft are persistent westward at a depth not beyond useful-
Ness.

The coal found in the bluffs of the Smoky Hill River, opposite Wil-
son Station, though very recent, can hardly be classed as “lignite,” if
to be lignite it is necessary that wood should have contributed to its
formation. The material is rather a carbonaceous or bituminous earth,
in layers of one to three feet in thickness, with earthy partings, and
breaking in cubical fragments, having the external characters of coal.
It is used with advantage as domestic fuel; and, with changes in the
grates and fire-boxes, could be made available in locomotives; while for
stationary engines it will no doubt be extensively used as the country
becomes more densely settled.

A coal said to be of better quality, but probably of similar origin and
characteristics, is found in the blufts of the Smoky, near the mouth of
Big Creek, east of Fort Hays. A similar deposit is known near the
town of Elisworth. In boring for water at Bunker Hill Station, 12 miles
west of Wilson, a stratum of two or three feet in thickness was drilled
through, at a depth giving it a geological position similar to that of the
coal opposite Wilson, which seems to be in the lower beds of your Cre-
taceous No. 2, or the upper of your No. 1. North of Wilson, in ravines
leading to Saline River, I have found similar coal in small quantity, in
position apparently identical with that in the bluffs south of Wilson.

When one particular stratum (or a limited series of beds) was in pro-
cess of growth, there seems to have been deposited over a large area, in
layers more or less continuous, combustible matter now mined as coal,
and of much prospective usefulness as fuel. How far westward beyond
the mouth of Big Creek, and how far northward or southward from the
bluffs at Wilson this mineral fuel may in the future be discovered, can-
not now be safely conjectured ; but enough is known to justify the belief
that it will play an important part in the development of an extended
region, not only as domestic fuel, but also in the propulsion of machinery.

Borings at Ellis, near the one hundredth meridian, would, probably, in
less than 300 feet, penetrate strata of the same age with the coal strata
at Wilson, andin due time it is likely that examinations will be made.
West of that point the strata are gradually covered to depths that will
perhaps render this particular coal unavailable for many years. But if
we have a store of fuel only so far west as Ellis, we are provided with
this essential article for about three-fourths the length of the State of
Kansas from east to west; and the western fourth of the State can, at
a moderate cost, be supplied from the beds spoken of, or, if need be, from
the mines near Cedar Point, about the one hundred and fourth meridian.
Should all other sources of supply fail, we can (in this most improbable
contingency) rely on the exhaustless stores of the mountains, already
reached by rail. In any event, abundant fuel is available at all points
on the line of this railway for the use of settlers in the woodiess region.
As the demand increases, and mining and transporting arrangements
become more perfect, the cost will be so reduced as to meet the ability
of all to purchase. Nature and art have thus already provided fuel for
human uses on the Plains until forests can be grown, if desirable, to

supply it.

448 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

BUILDING MATERIALS.

One of the most surprising features of life in Kansas is the importation
of building materials in the shape of pine lumber from distant localities,
when the State is so bountifully supplied in all parts with materials for
the walls of houses at once cheaper and more desirable. The famous
limestones in the bluffs of the Kaw Valley, where the mural treasures
are fitted by nature for man’s use, or readily, shaped by the saw and plane,
are succeeded on the west by sandstones at Abilene, Salina, Brookville,
Harker, and ‘Ellsworth, and by limestones at Wilson, Fossil, and other
points westward to Hays and Ellis. Still farther westward, in the neigh-
borhood of Fort Wallace, limestones appear of various pleasing colors,
so soft as to be wrought with more ease than blocks of wood, yet hard-
ening on exposure so as to sustain the weight of large buildings. 7

Lime may be cheaply made at numerous points on the railway. Imme-
diately at the coal mines, near Wilson, are cretaceous limestonesof ex-—
cellent quality, from which lime may De produced at very small cost.
The intelligent colonists, now looking for locations in the region about
Wilson, where they expect to Settle in 1871, will no doubt appr reciate this
valuable material.

Clays for brick and roofing tiles, as well as for all kinds of coarser
pottery, if not for the finer, are abundant, as are also sands for mortars
and coneretes. So far as I have been able to learn, but little use has
been made of concrete for buildings in Kansas, although the raw mate-
rials are abundant in almost every neighborhood.

In the climate of Kansas, even the adobes of New Mexico, well laid
up in coarse lime mortar, with external plastering of the same, always
provided the mortar is properly made and the unburned bricks thoroughly
dry, would be preferable to any wooden walls, and less costly.

The future will witness a great change in the mode of building The
imperishable materials so profusely scattered through the State will be
made use of by a population wisely attentive to both economy and com-
fort. Kansas will become as famous for the solidity and taste of her
buildings as for the fich and varied products of her soil.

Fences of stone have been constructed in many localities, and will
soon be found in many more. Constructed of blocks regular in size,
they combine a species of beauty with their obvious permanence, pleasing
both to the eye and the judgment. It is, perhaps, not an unmixed mis-
fortune that timber is so scarce, when the result of the scarcity is the
durable stone fence and the living hedge.

- WATER SUPPLIES WESTWARD TO ELLIS.

On the railway line the settlements may be said to extend a few miles
beyond Ellsworth, about 225 to 230 miles west from State Line. On the
Solomon and on the Saline, asalsoon streams south of theSmoky, settlers
are some 25 miles farther westward. Up to the limit of present settle-
ments water is as abundant and accessible as it is in Iowa or Missouri.
Tt is established that in all of Kansas, near the thirty-ninth parallel, and
east of 98° 30’ west longitude, there is no part where settlements are —
impracticable or need be retarded on account of the scarcity of water.
In addition to the Republican, Smoky Hill, Saline, Solomon, and other
constant streams, there are innumerable Arroyos and courses in which
water for stock is found in constant pools, or near which abundance can
be had in shallow wells. It is also a pleasant fact that in the uplands
the general rule is that water is accessible in all directions in wells of

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CF THE TERRITORIES 449

moderate depth, usually sunk without resort to blasting and unfailing
in their supplies.

At Wilson Station, about 98° 30/ west longitude, water immediately
at the railway track is abundant within 48 feet of the surface. South
of the Station three miles is the living current of the Smoky Hill River:
a few miles north is the Saline, and then the Solomon, all having tribu-
taries of greater or less volume and permanence. At Lllsworth the
railway makes its greatest southern bend opposite the northern bend of
the Arkansas, which is within 50 miles, and the streams flowing into
the Arkansas in that region are already flanked by the homes of pioneers
whose numbers are rapidly increasing. The magnificent pasturage of
that part of Kansas makes it the paradise of the stock-raiser.

The numerous springs near Wilson, some of considerable volume, and
all yielding water of much excellence, would be worthy of note in any
part of the Union, but could not be more happily located for usefulness.

West from Wilson the railway courses parallel with and not distant
from the Smoky until approaching Hays, when it bears up the valley of
Big Creek, an affluent of the Smoky. North Fork and Fossil Creeks
are crossed between Wilson and Hays and again at Ellis. On the
“ divide” between the Smoky and Saline, followed by the railway from
Wilson to Hays, water is found at depths corresponding to the undula-
tions of the track and its elevation above the Smoky, and a short distance
either north or south of the railway is available in springs, streams, and
pools. Along the more elevated portions of the line, where deeper
wells are required, the dense clays of the cretaceous series are at hand
for cisterns and tanks to hold rain-water, and the thinner layers of the
fossiiiferous limestones afford easily-wrought materials of construction..

Thus we reach Ellis, 302 miles, and have been all along in a country

sufficiently if not abundantly watered, and presenting where they may
be reg ynired almple resources for the establishment of ponds, cisterns,
and tanks, to retain the supplies which the clouds do not fail to yield.

We are about half way from State Line to Denver, and 2,019 feet above
the level of the sea, yet neither in the paucity of vegetation, nor in
privation of water, nor in sterility of soil, have we found one feature of
the traditional desert, with the single exception of the scarcity of trees,
which are only found along the water. courses or in nooks of the bluffs.
where fires have not been able to reach them.

Hilis is a prominent station, with round-house, machine-shops, hotel,
and stores. Big Creek, crossed at Hilis, is a constant stream with its:
source westward in. the Plains. The Smoky Hill River is about 25 miles
south, and the head streams of the Saline about the same qiatened
north. FKarming operations on a large scale are projected in the vicinity
of Ellis, near the one hundredth meridian.

FROM ELLIS WESTWARD

The railway pursues its general course directly westward, (the Smoky
Hill River at an average distance of 30 miles south,) and rising on the
divide between the drai nage to the Smoky and that to the Saline and
Solomon. There is no constant stream till we reach Sheridan, 103 miles
from Hillis, where another ‘‘ North Fork” is crossed; a stream of visible
water S sufiicient for large herds of cattle and available for irrigation.
There is evidence of considerable underground flow in the main as well
as lateral valleys of the North Work. It rises far to the north, in the
higher lands in which the south branches of the Republican have their
sources, and enters the Smoky about 15 miles south of Sheridan.

29 G

450 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Betweea Ellis and Sheridan the superficial “ drift,” porous in character,
covers the cretaceous clays and shales to a considerable depth, and water
in wells is reached by sinking to the impervious clays. The railway
company has been successful in wells from 90 to 130 feet in depth,
eecut ing supplies apparently inexhaustible. The railway track is

ocated on the divide so as to head the lateral swales and ravines, on
ea of greater average height than will be occupied by the future
stock ranches or “ estanchias;” and hence the water supplies of the
latter will be more readily and cheaply obtainable in wells of less depth.

The North Fork, crossed at Sheridan, has in its main and lateral val-
leys many desirable locations for grazing establishments. Some of these
locations will no doubt be taken 1 up at an early day. A large rush val-
ley, distant eight to ten miles north from Sheridan, would winter thou-
sands of cattle. Extensive savannas yield a large annual supply of
natural grass suitable for hay. Springs of excellent water, some of them
sufficient for irrigating purposes, are known along the North Fork.

Thus we reach Sheridan, 405 miles by rail west of State Line, and yet
have passed through no “desert” or uninhabitable country; nutritious
grasses have been on either hand, and water within reach.

FROM SHERIDAN WESTWARD.

We cross two creek beds between Sheridan and Pond Creek, 17 miles;
the contour of the country indicating that welis, not yet tried, could not
fail of success. At Pond Creek water is plentiful in pools. Within a
short distance southward the Smoky Hill, here a small stream, and Rose
Creek, one of its tributaries, afford water for all purposes, with facilities
for irrigation; the latter successfully applied, under the orders of General
Woods, in the cultivated grounds at Fort Wallace. A short distance
west of Pond Creek the Smoky i is crossed, here a wide bed of coarse
sand, with no visible water, but with a constant supply under the sand;
not, however, of large v olume, as we are now within a few miles of its
upper arroyos.

In 40 miles, from Pond Creek to Cheyenne Wells Station, the railway
rises 1,000 feet; reaching an elevation above the level of the sea of 4,17
feet, only 12 feet less than at Kit Carson, 25 miles farther west. At
First View Station, 10 miles west of Cheyenne Wells, the elevation is
4,479 feet; 288 fect t greater than at Kit Carson, where it is 4,191 feet.
From First View there is a rapid descent to the vale of Bureka Creek,
about 10 miles, and thence on a nearly level grade to Kit Carson.

Pond Creek being 3,175 feet, the track is 1,016 feet higher at Kit Carson;
but in making this rise in 65 miles we pass over in the first 50 miles an
immense swell of the plain, and at First View we are 1,304 feet higher
than at Pond Creek. From Pond Creek to First View the track, head-
ing lateral swales, follows ‘‘divides” where practicable; yet the destitu-
tion of water, which might be reasonably expected, is not experienced.
At Eagle Tail, 3,006 feet above the sea, water is abundant in pools; and
at Monotony (about 3 3,920 feet) is supplied by an unfailing well, 15 miles
from Pond Creek. Along the track west of Monotony, until the descent
is made to the vale of Eureka, itmay, perhaps, be necessary to sink wells
to a depth proportioned to the rise of the track; but no doubt is felt
that even in the localities least favorable successful wells can be made.
About six miles east of north from the Cheyenne Wells Station, on the
railway, are the old shallow wells of the same name in the vale of the
Smoky; used formerly to supply the overland stages, and now used by
‘emigrants with teams and live stock. And the fact that emigrants

x

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 451

craverse the Plains near the thirty-ninth parallel at their pleasure, with-
outserious inconvenience from lack of water, ought of itself to establish
the habitable character of the country.

Descending west from First View Station, we are in 10 miles at Eureka,
Creek ; only an arroyo, but marking a depression in the plain, where,
over an area of several miles square, water can be had in wells at the
depth of a few feet; the water in the railway well at Eureka tank being
within 10 feet of the surface. Five miles farther we are at Kit Carson,
where, in addition to constant pools in Big Sandy, and unfailing sup-
plies to a limited extent in the arroyo of Wild Horse, the large but
shallow wells sunk for railway uses are apparently inexhaustible.

The artesian well at Kit Carson penetrates the clays and shales
of cretaceous age, below the level of the percolations from the surface.
It was undertaken before the abundance of the stores near the surface—
resting on the clays, under the loam, sand and gravel—were known or
supposed to exist. Its main object was a flowing stream, and this not
being realized at 1,460 feet, and there being no necessity for more
liberal supplies than are now enjoyed, the work has been suspended.
The geological features developed by the well have been discussed in a
former letter, and need not be treated here.

FROM KIT CARSON WESTWARD.

Along the railway for nearly 70 miles we have the Big Sandy and
its tributary arroyos. Then at Cedar Point we cross the northern
trend of the “‘ great divide,” and thence to Denver we are on the waters
of Beaver, Comanche, Kiowa, Bijou, and Bear Creeks, and some minor
streams. It is true that there are seasons when the water is not visible
in the broad sandy troughs of these creeks, yet it is never absent, but
is always in large quantities under the surface, accessible by shallow
wells. Nature has kindly given it the shield of sand, as a protection
against the warm air of summer; and thus saved from evaporation, it
is with little labor brought into usefulness. In addition to the streams
there are numerous springs between Kit Carson and Denver, some near
and some distant from the track, and wells even on the high flanks
of the divides would in most cases be successful. In the Godfrey ccal
mines, 5,505 feet above the level of the sea, water is encountered at
various depths, in a shaft 108 feet.

The immense coal-field, which appears to dip gently to the westward
from Cedar Point, in addition to supplying fuel in unlimited quantities,
may yet, in the slope of the tertiary strata, afford successful artesian
wells between Cedar Point and Denver. Having written of this coal:
field in a previous letter, I only allude to it briefly in these passages
as relating to coal supplies. While its coal treasures are beyond
computation, it is possible that this “tertiary basin” may in time bear
some resemblance to the Paris basin, so far as flowing wells are con-
cerned. With the timbered region of the great divide on the south,
water supplies in all its parts, I look for a rapid extension of settle-
ments in the country between Cedar Point and Denver.

The foregoing presents, so far as it goes, a fair view of the water
supplies along the Kansas Pacific Railway. Though in particular
regions not abundant, water is yet greatly more copious in supply than
the popular belief, and even some grave works of science, have hereto-

452 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

fore held it to be. It may be said with safety, because with truth, that
the entire space of 20 miles on each side of this railway, covered by its
grant of lands, is available for human sustenance, so far as its utility
depends on supplies of water in springs and streams, or its provision at
reasonable cost in wells, cisterns, and tanks.

The nearest approach to destitution is between Pond Creek and Kit
Carson. By reference to a correct map you will see that the Smoky
Hill River has its sources (or upper arroyos) east and northeast from
Kit Carson, the Republican is at a considerable distance northward and
northwestward, while the Big Sandy is westward and southwestward.
The eye at once appreciates the fact that here is a water-shed, curving
round from about Cedar Point, passing north of Hureka Valley and -
turning southward past First View Station, giving us the swell in the
plain which I have noted as existing from Pond Creek westward to
First View. Now when the porous character of this region, with drift
from 100 to possibly 500 feet in depth, is considered, we readily under-
stand that the streams may be small or intermittent; arroyos, with
oceasional pools, not lasting, and running water only in times of heavy
storms, and we are prepared for the phenomena which actually pre-
sent themselves: invisible streams finding their way slowly under the
earth, and a surface not cheered by brooks or rivers, though verdant
with nutritious vegetation.

But let us consider the beneficence manifested, even where the absence
of visible water may to the careless observer suggest desolation. Over
this region there is an annual rain-fall, averaging from 15 to 20 inches;
but let us take it to be but 12 inches. This gives 43.560 cubic feet
of water on an acre in a year; about 340,000 gallons in the dooryard
of the farmer; on each square mile nearly 28,000,000 cubic feet, or
nearly 220,000,000 gallons. What becomes of this precipitation? If
the surface were bare rock or impervious clays it would mainly pass
oft by floods, and the remnants left in depressions escape by evapora-
tion. But the superficial deposits are of such porous character, over
extended areas, that a large proportion of the rain-fall sinks into the
earth, and is there stored in depressions of the clay sub-strata, ready
for man’s use as needed.

IRRIGATION.

A day will come, no doubt, when streams and wells along the line of
this railway will furnish water for irrigation, to nourish such vegeta-
tion as will not thrive withoutit. The Smoky Hill River and many of its
tributaries can be used, either by leading out the water from dams or
forcing it to a higher level by machinery. It may be said that along
or near the railway irrigation to a considerable extent from streams is
practicable till we reach the one hundred and second meridian. ‘Thence
to about the one hundred and third meridian the water must be sought
in wells, or the rain-fall stored in tanks for use as needed.

West of the one hundred and third meridian the Big Sandy, with a
fali of about 17 feet per mile, can be utilized for irrigation up to and
beyond the point where the track leaves its valley. Passing the divide
at Cedar Point, we have Beaver, Comanche, Kiowa, Bijou, and Bear
Creeks, together with springs and lesser streams; all with supplies of
water to be rendered available in the future if required.

The fall of the streams above named is stated to be about 30 feet to
the mile, and their waters can be led out at small cost. The canals at
their commencement will partake somewhat of the character of the
Afghanistan caureez, but will be less costly. In the sandy beds of the

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 453

streams water rests on the impervious bottoms at the depth of 10 to 15
feet ; and conduits, with a fall of 2 to 4 feet to the mile, will bring it out
to the points where needed.

Power for raising water from streams or wells will be furnished by
the winds, by cattle, or steam. If Ericsson succeeds with his solar en-
gine it may come into tse in this country of much sunshine. But
the wind-mill, for irrigating purposes, particularly where water is to be
raised from wells, ‘is likely to be the main reliance.

The project of carrying the South Platte eastward from the cafion, in
a grand canal along the divide, will no doubt be realized in a compara-
tively short time. Reaching past the heads of the streams crossed by
the railway between Cedar Point and Denver, the canal, in fertilizing
its million acres, will add to the quantity of water directly flowing from
it as by its modifying influence on tke climate.

The suggestion of J. A. Hodder, esq., of Cincinnati, that streams
from the mountains might be led out to irrigate considerable districts,
and the surplus water be accumulated in lakes for use as the vicissitudes
of the seasons may require, will probably be found worthy of grave con-
sideration as the population and the ability to accomplish large works
inerease.

While it is held that, in addition to natural grasses, there may
be a large production of food for live stock, and of grains for bread,
without irrigation, in many if not all parts of the Plains, it is yet equally
certain that irrigation is essential for some kinds of vegetation in many
localities. What would be a great benefit in Pennsylvania or Ohio, if
applied, is absolutely necessary for full success with some particular
crops in that part of the campestrian province west of the one hun-
dredth meridian. Hence, in looking forward to the reduction of a vast
region to productive uses, problems of irrigation are to be considered,
and in due time they will be solved in the daily life of the future
inhabitants. :

CLIMATE.

The Plains have been so often deseribed as a “ rainless region,” that
great misconception in regard to the climate has prevailed. The abso-
lute precipitation is much greater than has been in past years supposed,
and is due to other causes. Meteorologists who have described the rain-
fall of the Plains as derived only or principally from the remaining mois-
ture of winds from the Pacific, after the passage of the Nevada and
Rocky Mountain ranges, have been greatly in error, and the better con-
clusion now is, with all authorities who have given any special attention
to the subject, that the moisture which fertilizes the Mississippi Valley,
including the broad, grassy plains, is derived from the Gulf of Mexico.

Within a few years the rain gauge has been brought into service at
points distant from each other, but located at irregular intervals across
_ the continent, and its record shows not only greater precipitation than
was formerly believed to take place on the Plains, but that the distri-
bution is unequal in time, giving us the largest proportion in the grovw-
ing seasons, Spring and summer.

in his late work, “The Mississippi Valley,” Professor J. W. Foster
says: “The rains which water the Atlantic slope are equally distributed,
the variations between the four seasons being very slight,” while “ those
which water the Mississippi Valley are unequally distributed, those of
spring and summer being greatly in excess;” “a fact,” he says, ‘ which
has been overlooked by most meteorologists in reference to the geologi-
cal distribution of plants.” As we pass westward from the Atlantic the

A454 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

inequality increases until we pass the Rocky Mountains. ‘Contrasting
the two stations, New York and Fort Laramie,” says Professor Foster,
“it will be seen that on the seaboard about 48 per cent. of the yeariy
precipitation occurs during the fall and winter, while on the Plains
only 25 per cent. occurs during that period, and ‘that, while on the sea-
board the precipitation is nearly uniform during the four seasons, three-
jourths of the precipitation on the Plains occurs during spring and sum-
mer,” ‘The same excess in the rain-fall of spring and summer is, I think,
noted with comments in Blodgett.

At Fort Riley about 69 per cent. of the annual precipitation is in
spring and summer; at Fort Kearney 81, and at Fort Laramie 72 per
cent. From observations at Forts Harker, Hays, and Wallace, on the
line of this road, the same rule seems to hold ood. Records have not
been long enough continued at these three posts to give a long average,
but the mean appears to be between 17 and 19 inches at Hays and Wal-
lace, and possibly rather more at Harker. The actual average for 1868
and 1869 at Hays is 18.76 inches, and for the first six months of 1870 the
record is 10.68 inches. At Wallace the record for 1869 was over 17
inches, and in 1870, up to October 1, about the same amount had fallen.

Without records there can be only conjecture ; and I can only remark
_ that there does not seem to be much diminution in the annual rain-fall
until we get as far west as the one hundred and third meridian. Thence
to the base of the mountains, (except perhaps in the timbered portions
of the great divide, south of the line of this railway,) the annual average
may be possibly two or three inches less than in the midst of the Plains:
a peculiarity explained, hypothetically, by the fact that the region “ lies
to the westward of the general course of the moister currents of air
flowing northward from the Gulf of Mexico, and is so near the mount-
ains as to lose much of the precipitation that iocalities in the Plains east
and northeast are favored with. The mountains seem to exercise an in-
fluence—electrical and magnetical ?—in attracting moisture, which is
condensed in the cooler regions of their summits, while the plains at their
feet may be parched and heated to excess.” This explanation may be
fanciful, but the fact remains that near the mountains the rains seem to
decrease north of the great divide; fortunately, however, this occurs in
a region where irrigation may be applied extensively, and where there
is sufficient moisture to nourish bountiful crops of grass.

A striking difference exists between the rain-fall in New Mexico and
that on the Plains. While the annual amount at Santa Fé and at Fort
Hays is nearly equal, the larger proportion of the rain-fall at Hays comes
in spring and summer, while at Santa Fé it is delayed till swmmer and
autumn. Hence the farmer at Hays may have his wheat crop matured
in early summer without irrigation, while the same crop in New Mexico
requires to be irrigated. The usual period for the nourishing rains to
begin, in New Mexico, is about the first of August, a time when they
are usually light on the Plains.

Theory suggested that the cereals ought to sustain themselves with-
out irrigation at least as far west as the head streams of the Smoky
Hill River; and the president and directors of the railway caused exper-
iments to be made. Wheat sown in April last matured in July, about
the one hundred and first meridiam, yielding merchantable grain.
Maize formed ears, and oats headed well, but neither filled in a satis-
factory manner, owing to the fact that the dry and hot season comes
on when their grains are forming. Both can be raised as fodder to any
extent desired. Ali along the railway, throughout the season, stalks of
maize and oats could be seen growing "where seeds had been dropped by

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 455

accident. At Cheyenne Wells, 4,179 feet above sea level, beans matured
along the road bed; and at First View, 4,479 feet, oats grew to the
average height and matured its seed. Winter wheat, rye, and barley,
now on trial as far west as Pond Creek, near one hundred and second
meridian, are expected to yield well, though late sown on raw sod.

The vegetation of the Plains, along wagon-tracks and railroad em-
bankments, shows a capability of production scarcely suggested by the
surface where undisturbed. Wherever the earth is broken up, the wild
sunflower (Helianthus) and otbers of the taller-growing plants, though
previously unknown in the vicinity, at once spring up, almost as if
spontaneous generation had taken place.

CHANGE OF CLIMATE.

In September last I wrote to Professor Joseph Henry as follows:

I have been on the Plains all the time since early in May till this date, (22d Sep-
tember.) There has been much dry weather, but I have not seen one cloudless day—
no day on which the sun would rise clear and rell along a canopy of brass to the west.
There has always been humidity enough to form clouds at the proper height; and on
many days they would be seen defining, by their flat bottoms, the exact line where
condensation became sufficient to render the vapor visible, * * * I conclude from
all this that abundant moisture has floated over the Plains to have given us a great
deal more rain than would be desirable, if it had been precipitated.

Sometimes a storm’ would be seen to gather near the horizon, and we could see the
rain pending from the clouds like a fringe, hanging apparently in mid-air, unable to
reach the expectant earth. The rain stage of condensation had been reached above,
but the descending shower was revaporized, apparently, and thus arrested. * * *

These hot winds are not, so far as I have observed, apt to be constant in one place
for any considerable length of time; they strike your face suddenly, and perhaps in a
minute are gone. They seem to run along in streaks or ovenfulls, with the winds of
ordinary (but rather high) temperature. They do not begin, I believe, till in July, as
a general rule, and are over by September 1, or perhaps by August 15. Their origin I
take to be, of course, in heated regions south or southwest of us; but their peculiar
occurrence, so capricious and often so brief, I cannot explain to myself satisfactorily.

I have no rain-gauge record at hand for this and past seasons; but I may remark that
this season, since about the 15th of July, in these distant Plains, has given us rain
enough to make beautifully verdant the spots in the prairie burnt off during the
“heated” termin July. From Kit Carson eastward the rains have been, I think, ex-
ceptionally abundant. All through the summer we have had dew occasionally, and it
has been remarked that buffalo-meat has been more difficult of preservation than
heretofore; facts indicative of humidity in the atmosphere, even where but little rain-
fall was witnessed. Turnips sown in August would have made a crop in this vicinity,
ALM rniillesmuest or une; Suabenumey ote Massoumiye Vie hie Genii uh ir: Ger leg ie pee enea ina

Facts such as these seem to sustain the popular persuasion in Kansas, that a climatic
change is taking place, promoted by the spread of settlements westwardly, breaking up
portions of the prairie soil, covering the earth with plants that shade the ground more
than the short grasses; thus checking or modifying the reflection of heat from the
earth’s surface, &c. The fact is also noted, that even where the prairie soil is not dis-
turbed, the short buffafo-grass disappears as the “frontier” extends westward, and its
place is taken by grasses and other herbage of taller growth. That this change of the
clothing of the Plains, if sufficiently extensive, might have a modifying influence on
the climate, I do not doubt; but whether the change has been already spread over a
large enough area, and whether our apparently or really wetter seasons may not be
part of a cycle, are unsettled questions. -

The civil engineers of this railway believe that the rains and humidity of the Plains
have increased during the extension of railroads and telegraphs across them. If this
is the case, it may be that the mysterious electrical influence in which they seem to
have faith, but do not profess to explain, has exercised a beneficial influence. What
effect, if any, the digging and grading, the iron rails, the tension of steam in locomo-
tives, the friction of metallic surfaces, the poles and wires, the action of batteries, &c.,
could possibly or probably have on the electrical conditions, as connected with the
phenomena of precipitation, I do not of course undertake to say. It may be that wet
seasons have merely happened to coincide with railroads and telegraphs. Its to be
observed that the poles of the telegraph are quite frequently destroyed by lightning:
and it is probable that the lightning thus strikes in many places where before the erec-
tion of the telegraph it was not apt to strike, and perhaps would not reach the earth
at all.

e

456 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

These remarks were sent to the distinguished meteorologist, Professor
Henry, rather to draw the attention of his cultivated mind to the phe-
nomena than to assert a theory. Yet there are facts which sustain the
popular notion of a climatic change, manifested in a more humid at-
mosphere, in greater rain-fall and a change of vegetation. A gentleman
who has given much attention to meteorology writes me that he is not
satisfied that settlements have sufficiently changed the surface of the
country west of the Missouri to affect the climate. ‘The increased
rains,” he says, “I apprehend, are due to extra mundane or cosmic in-
fluences not yet understood.”

It is certain that rains have increased; this increase has coincided
with the extension of settlements, railroads, and telegraphs. If influ-
enced by these, the change of climate will go on; if by extra mundane
influences the change may be permanent, progressive, orretrograde. I
think there are good grounds to believe it will be progressive. Within
the last fifteen years, in Western Missouri and Iowa, and in Hastern
Kansas and Nebraska, a very large aggregate of surface has been broken
up and holds more of the rains than formerly. During the same period
modifying influences have been put in motion in Montana, Utah, and
Colorado. Very small areas of timbered land west of the Missouri
have been cleared; not equal, perhaps, to the area of forest, orchard,
and vineyards planted, Hence it may be said that all the acts of man
in this vast region have tended to produce conditions on the earth’s sur-
face ameliorative of the climate. With extended settlements on the
Arkansas, Canadian, and Red River of the South, as well as on the
Arkansas, on the river system of the Kaw Valley, and on the Platte,
the ameliorating conditions will be extended in like degree; and it par-
takes more of sober reason than wild fancy to suppose that a perma-
nent and beneficial change of climate may be experienced. The appal-
ling deterioration of large portions of the earth’s surface, through the
acts of man in destroying the forests, justifies the trust that the culture
of taller herbage and trees in a region heretofore covered mainly by
short grasses may have a converse effect. Indeed, in Central Kansas,
nature seems to almost precede settlements by the taller grasses and
herbage.

TREE GROWTH ON THE PLAINS.

The principal native trees on the Plains west of ninety-seventh merid-
ian are:

Corronwoon, (Populus Canadensis and P. EE Ms )

WALNUT, (Fuglans Nigra.)

ELM, (Ulnus Americana.)

ASH, (BFraxinus Americana. )

Box ELDER, (Acer Negundo.)

HAcKBERRY, (Celtis occidentalis.)

Pium, (Prunus Chickasa.)

RED CEDAR, (Juniperus Virginiana. )

To these may be added WiLLow (Salix) and GRAPE VINES ( Vites
ceestivalis;) and also the Locust (Robinia pseudo-acacia) and WILD
OHERRY (Cerasus Virginiana) mentioned by Abert as occurring on the
Purgatory.

The black walnut extends to the one hundredth meridian; how much
farther I am unable to say. The elm and ash are of similar, perhaps
greater range. Hackberry has been observed west of one hundred and

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ADT

first meridian. Cottonwood, box-elder, red cedar, plum, and willow
are persistent to the base of the mountain.

The extensive pine forest (Pinus ponderosa,) on the “ great divide”
south of Denver, although stretching seventy to eighty miles east from
the mountains, is not taken into view as belonging to the Plains proper.
Its existence, however, suggests the use of its seeds in artificial planta-
tions in that region. Settlers in the pinery or its borders would do well
to protect portions of the forest by inclosure, and if possible against fire,
as by suitable care the forest could be made perpetually remunerative
and reproductive.

The fossil wood, imbedded in the cretaceous strata in many parts of
the Plains, is left out of consideration, as belonging toa previous, though
recent, geological age; but the single specimens of trees found growing
at wide intervals are silent witnesses to the possibility of extended forest
growth. These living trees suggest at once, by their location, the feasi-
bility of their increase, and the reason of their scarcity. They are usu-
ally found near water; and hence we conclude that in order to grow
trees we must break the ground so deeply as to save all the rains for
their use. They are always where they are protected from fires; and
hence we conclude that if we can protect our plantations from fires we
can grow forests.

Were it possible to break up the surface to a depth of two feet, from
the ninety-seventh meridian to the mountains, and from the thirty-fitth
to the forty-fifth parallel, we should have in a single season a growth of
taller herbage over the entire area, less reflection of the sun’s heat, more
humidity in the atmosphere, more constancy in springs, pools, and
streams, more frequent showers, fewer violent storms, and less caprice
and fury in the winds. A single year would witness a changed vegeta-
tion and a new climate. In three years (fires kept out) there would be
young trees in numerous places, and in twenty years there would be fair
young forests.

Nor is this view inconsistent with the conclusion of meteorologists
that our prairies and open plains are due to scanty precipitation. This
is the cause ; not, however, because the absolute moisture is not enough
to sustain the growth, but because it is not enough to protect it against
destruction by fires. Throughout the prairies—the ‘ Illinois region” of
Professor Cooper’s campestrian province—whenever the fires are checked,
tree growth begins. Given immunity from fires on the Plains, and to a
great extent, they will clothe themselves with shrubs and trees, even
without a breaking up of the surface.

The limited area which it is in our power to turn up by the plow will
have the same results in kind to follow a breaking of the entire surface,
but less effective than if the operation were universal. Yet a beginning
can be made by the railway company and by individuals. In fact, it is
already in progress by settlers, a degree and a half west of ninety-sev-
enth meridian. A few acres at intervals across the Plains, or only a few
clumps of trees growing without irrigation, will be a demonstration
more effective than theory.

In this great work the United States ought to lead, either by forests
planted at the cost of the Treasury, or by subsidies to individuals or
companies. It is a work worthy of the age, and of the nation.

The particular trees most suitable for first planting on the Plains, the
modes of culture, the proper succession of species, cannot be treated in
a paper already so extended as this. The feasibility of forest growth
over this great area is, in my estimation, not to be doubted. The details
will be wrought out in due time.

458 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

GRAZING RESOURCES.

The description of the ‘broad, grassy plains” given in the foregoing
pages attests their capacity to sustain animal life. For cattle, sheep,
horses, and mules they are a natural pasture in summer, with, in many
parts, hay cured standing for winter. .The famed pampas, with their
great extremes of wet and drought, cannot bear comparison with our
Western Plains. lor grazing purposes, the habitable character of our
vast traditional “ desert” is generally conceded, and hence it need not
be enlarged on here.

IMMIGRATION.

The settlers come singly and in groups, in families and colonies. It
is not a crusade of fanatics, or a raid of fiilibusters, but the measured
march of earnest men and women seeking homes. The extension of
settlements westward from the “ frontier,” and eastward from the moun-
tains, must goon. Population increases, and lands areneeded. Hence
the occupancy of the lands along and near the line of this railway is an
assured fact of the early future. It is an eventuality not created by the
power of this corporation, but growing out of the circumstances of the
nation, and the distribution of our landed resources.

It will seem to many avast work to spread settlements over the “ great
Western Plains.” To force such settlements would be alarge task ; but
no forcing is needed. ‘The facilities provided, the lands available, and
the settlers throng in of themselves. Those who have doubts of the
event should remember, Ist, that permanent settlements have already
reached more than two-fifths the distance from Kansas City to Denver ;
2d, that the facilities as well as the necessity for the future extension of
settlements are day by day increasing; 3d, that the difficulties and
hardships of frontier life diminish as means to overcome them are mul-
tiplied; 4th, that with a railway in operation the spread of settlements
becomes a problem greatly less difficult than the construction of the
road itself.

ACES ai Nis

CATALOGUES.

I. OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS. By MR. JAMES STEVENSON.
Il. OF MOLLUSCA. By S. R. ROBERTS.
Ill. OF COLEOPTERA. By DR. G. H. HORN.
IV. OF HEMIPTERA. By PROF. P. H. UHLER.
V. OF PLANTS. By MR. THOS. C. PORTER.
VI. OF PLANTS. By DR. C.C. PARRY.

MAMMALS : AND: BIRDS.

A LIST OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS COLLECTED IN WYOMING
TERRITORY, BY MR. H. D. SMITH AND MR. JAMES STEVEN-
SON, DURING THE EXPEDITION OF 1870.

By JAMES STEVENSON.

As already stated in the early part of this report, the expedition did
what was in its power, within the time at its command, to secure as
complete a representation as possible of the vertebrate fauna of the coun-
try, and the list of these herewith submitted will show the measure
ot success. Although the collection of mammals and birds embraces
no new species, yet it promises to be of value in determining with greater
precision the geographical distribution, and the precise eastern limit of
the western forms, and the western range of the eastern species, the
region explored having been a kind of common or meeting ground of
the two series. We regret that the late date at which the expedition
was organized made it impossible to collect facts in regard to the nest-
ing and the eggs of any of the birds, as it isin this branch of their his-
tory that most of novelty was to be expected. The immature plumage
of the gray-crowned finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis, Sw.,) was, however,
ascertained for the first time, and will be hereafter duly described.

As complete a collection of the mammals of the country was obtained
as practicable, and embraces a considerable number of specimens of all
the known Rocky Mountain forms. Among these may be specially
mentioned the least or Nuttall’s hare, a species scarcely more than six
inches in length, and the smallest of all hitherto described; the little
chief hare, allied to the true hares, but without any vestige of the tail,
and the white-tailed prairie dog. This last-mentioned animal made its
appearance after we crossed the divides of the mountains, and, as far as
we know, is entirely peculiar to the region drained by the waters of the
great interior basin; while the common prairie dog is equally charac-
teristic of the western portions of the valley of the Missouri.

Mr. C. P. Carrington rendered most efficient aid as a collector in all
departments of natural history, especially in the collection of mammals,
birds, reptiles, fishes, and plants.

MAMMALS.
No. of
specimens.
Canis latrans, Say. Coyote; prairie wolf. Fort Bridger......... 2
Putorius richardsonii, Bp. Little ermine. Willow Springs, Rock

Creelkevan di South ass due ely 0S eee ey NC yee ee 3
Mephitis mephitica. Skunk. Black’s Fork of Green River..--.--- 3
Taxidea americana, Water. Missouri badger. Pacific Springs.. 2
Sciurus hudsonius, Pallas. Red squirrel; chickaree. Pacific Creek.. 1
Sciurus vichardsoniit, Bach, Richardson’s squirrel. Uinta Moun-

URES a ei a BI ab ea a A el a a A eee ae (i

Pieromys alpinus, Richardson. Rocky Mountain flymg squirrel.
Witthbae NO rm Genet!) amare) vee enareree tte aan oo. Gi 2 2 yc ey ee 1

462 " GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

No. of
specimens,

Tamias quadrivittatus, Rich. Missouri striped squirrel. North
Platte, Pacific Springs, Little Sandy, Big Sandy, Green River,
Bitter) Creek, Sulphur Springs °2222 2 23 4. ee

Cynomys ludovicianus. Prairie Dog. Camp Reynolds 1 (a

Cynomys gunvisonti, Baird. Short-tailed prairie dog. Big Sandy,
Green River; and! Port) Bridger (2200) 0! 2 Ve

Thomomys rufescens, Maxim. Fort Union gopher. Rock Creek. .

Perognathus flavus, Baird. Pouched mouse. Green River.-...-_.--

Hesperomys sonoriensis, Leconte. Sonora mouse. Fort Bridger,

Winta Mountams, Green Rivers. 5-200). 3.. ee
Fiber zibethicus, Cuv. Muskrat. Rock Creeki....

Hrethizon epixanthus, Brandt. Yellow-haired porcupine. North.

Platte, Fort Bridger, and Sulphur Springs....-.-.......-.-..--
Lepus sylvaticus, Bach. Gray rabbit. Fort Bridger, Henry’s Fork
of Green River, Bitter Creek. Pass Creek, and Rock @reek 7)
Lepus artemisia, Baeh. Sage hare. North Platte, Green River,
andieime Groves). -. is et Ae ee
Lepus nuttai, Bach. Least hate. Green River.........-..----
Lepus townsendii, Bach. Jackass rabbit. Independence Rock, on
Sweetwater 227i Ne Se) te
Cervus macrotis, Say. Mulé deer. Henry’s Fork of Green River
and Med "Buttes... fe SL Se eee ee eee
Antilocapra americana, Ord. Prong-horn antelope. North Platte
UI ASW CC LWVENUE Ie iets te cereale ete nual Cin ETE eRe ie Peet a6
Ovis montana, Cuvier. Big Horn mountain sheep. Box Elder...-
Bison americanus, Gmelin. American buffalo. Independence Rock...

BIRDS.

No. 1. Hypotriorchis columbarius, Gr. Pigeon hawk. La Bonte
andiGreen River) Ae ht a ee Oe
No. 2. Falco polyagrus, Cassin. Prairie falcon. Laramie Peak and
Uinta Moumbainig see) iets os eee
No. 3. Tinnunculus sparverius, Vieill. Sparrow hawk. Bitter Cot-
Porneeod and "Box Wilders). foe fos. ok eee eee ee
No. 4.’ Accipiter mexicanus, Swains. Blue-backed hawk. Uinta
Vio mba 2 2 Oh He ee EE NRA rete AN ee
No. 5. Accipiter fuscus, Bonap. Sharp-shinned hawk. Uinta
NOUR TAIT eee eee eo a noe See ie cals ee
No. 6. Buteo swainsoni, Bonap. Swanson’s hawk. Sweetwater
tiver JA Nan Palen Me UPR ey es en eras ye Wee Os os 3 a -
No. 7. Buteo calurus, Cassin. Black red-tailed hawk. Gina Moun-
‘be wieie io ba meget wibie tees p eke SER RRS Stoke thei eee
No. 8. Buteo montanus, Nutt. Western red-tailed hawk. Sweet-
water and Bort Bridger..o). 025-42. 202-2 eee eee
No. 9. Circus hudsonius, Vieill. Marsh hawk. North Platte River
and Uinta Mountaims.-- 2.0222) 202 eee eo eee
No. 10. Brachyotus cassinit, Brewer. Short-eared owl. Sweetwater
PRUIVIOD so ase ne anges ole cin St pices Cen eee eee
No. 11. Anthene hypugea, Bonap. Prairie owl. Camp Reynolds
andeBis Sandy dimer. 2. sc.) 22 2 2 ee
No. 12. Picus harristi, Aud. Harris’s woodpecker. La Bonte Creek
and. Uinta, Mountains.) 0822.0. ale ee
No. 13. Picus gairdnert. Gairdner’s woodpecker. La Bonte Creek,
enrys) Hork, and (Green WRiver, eee ener en ae es

fm ON Ree wa

=
He OL

moa ow

CO Ww ©

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 463

No. 40. Progue subis, Baird. Purple martin. Bitter Cottonwood
(STRee) soe tehete Cann CRRA Ee ARE SE GSE SI Re A Re aR Pa ae A Pee GES C hc

No. of
specimens.
No. 14. Sphyropicus nuchalis, Baird. Red-breasted woodpecker.

Strawberry Creek and Uinta Mountains ........-.--..-:..---- 6
No. 15. Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Sw. Red-headed woodpecker.

Bitter Cottonwood and La Bonte Creek.................--..-. i
No. 16. Melanerpes torquatus, Bonap. Lewis’s woodpecker. Bitter

Wortonwood) Creekweesaee sis. nsete eas sees s aed e eel eee 1
No. 17. Colaptes mexicanus, Swains. Red-shafted flicker. La Bonte

Creeiciandshonimideers fas) oe Le es ees 2 ee 4.
No. 18: Colaptes hybridus, Baird. Hybrid woodpecker. North

latterand): Greemmeul Very rolls Os 2g ASR Ga SES) AUT Seg 6
No. 19. Chordeiles henryi, Cassin. Western night-hawk. Laramie

Nea eal seed CHT CNS PPM Sisk 2) Le al YO 2 3
No. 20. Ceryle alcyon, Boie. Belted kingfisher. La Bonte and

eee crnceeNoruneb lathe, RIVETS S240 ene tees Sek 2 es a a 3
No. 21. Tyrannus carolinensis, Baird. King-bird; bee-bird. La Bonte

SOONG ile er VAG SESE RS Mes ears 2 i Rete SARS AE OST) Se INET a 2
No. 22. Tyrannus verticalis, Say. . Arkansas flycatcher. Camp

veymolds anda Domes esi fe TAs ECR Veen ayia hse) rae &
No. 23. Sayornis sayus, Baird. Say’s flycatcher. Camp Reynolds

IOC! SMWCSRIEAe Inari es eke eRe eee VAGUS DES AMEE gy 2
No. 24. Contopus richardsonii, Baird. Short-legged pewee. Bitter

CWortonwood) Creeks ye as aM ath Ua ce NS TAN Se ae : 2
No. 25. Hmpidonax hanmondi, Baird. Hammond’s fly catcher.

JER VEOANO [Sj TUTOR Seals ek es as Nee Eee Ueno RIND en eee, PR aaa 2 if
No. 26. Turdus auduboni, Baird. Silentthrush. Uinta Mountains. 1
No. 27. Turdus fuscesceus, Stephens. Wilson’s thrush. Green

TSAINPEIO ey de eS sl Nd AR ae IR eave A SONI TR Si i
No. 28. Turdus migratorius, Linn. Robin. Green River and Fort

JSSTPICO LOR STE) #2 WEN UA AA DU ra 58 2 RP A RUGS ee AERA Mee M a 4
No. 29. Salia arctica, Swains. , Rocky Mountain bluebird. Sweet:

water, Fort Bridger, Henry’s Fork of Green River, and Uinta

HOMIE TIS SC Euan cee RerI NY ret PRAY AR La Mb CO Li. 15
No. 30. Regulus calendula, Licht. Ruby-crowned kinglet. Little -

Samy anduGreenyri very s sos J45 5. sss oleae ka es ee ize
No. 31. Anthus ludovicianus, Licht. Tit-lark. Henry’s Fork of

Creenykuiverand Winta Moumbains os. 0s) aay ee ee 2
No. 32. Geothlypis trichas, Cab. Maryland yellow-throat. La Bonte

Creek 2325: OANA EAD REO MOS UNA CMC RRMA ie a
No. 33. Geothlypis macgillivrayt, Baird. Maegillivray’s war bier.

boxe lider: Creek. ais Nis ie ee ee aes ha! AN (Si esa eg ae il
No. 34. Helminthophaga celata, Baird. Orange- erowned warbler.

Fort Bridger. Little Sandy and Green River ANE AIA ty ADORE LRRD 9 3
No. 35. Dendroica audubonti, Baird. Audubon’s yellow-rumped

RAC LET BE REC MI EAVET oe ssitine JR ae hk ey Iven RDA NGI RPS 2
No. 36. Dendroica aestiva, Baird. Yellow warbler. Bitter Cotton-:

wood, La Bonte, Fort Bridger, and Green River .........----.- 8
No. 37. Myiodioctes pusillus, Bonap. Green black-capped flycatcher.

Fort Bridger and Henry’s Fork of Green River......-....----- 7
No. 38. Setophaga ruticilla, Sw. Redstart. La Bonte Creek. .-.-..- 2
No. 39. Hirundo lunifrons, Say. Cliff swallow. Camp Reynolds

ANE HET MOLEC Key eo sent PEN Man ED ya ou Loi te i ea Tae 4

Bs)

464 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

@ No. of
Specimens.
No. 41. Ih ye townsendit, Cab. Townsend’s flyeatcher. Green .
lh CRS AAAS Seay aoe Mane em Sas coo ts iose 3
No. 42. Coll, yrio borealis, Baird. Great northern shrike. Green
River and. hock, Creek. 0250 0 s2cen.. 22 be es 3
No. 43. Collyrio excubitoroides, Baird. White-rumped shrike. La
Bombe Cree eee. ee aloe epee egea = Sinlatene ys ee 2
No. 44. Vireosylvia swainsonii, Baird. Western warbling flyeatcher.
(Gee CINIVEN -.. 0) ee, OSU or hoc se 1
No. 45. Galeoscoptes carolinensis, Cab. Cat-bird. La Bonte Creek. 2
No. 46. Oreoscoptes montanus, mountain mocking-bird. La Bonte
Creek, North Platte, Pacific Creek, Green River, Fort Bridger,
and Henr y’s Fork of Green River... 2 10
No. 47. Harperhynehus longicauda, Baird. Long-tailed thrush. Bitter
Cottonwood ey eee eee ec} eee ee eek na a eee ee ib
No. 48. Salpinctus obsoletus, Cab. Rock wren. Sweetwater River. 1
No. 49. Tro glodytes parkmannti, Aud. Parkman’s wren. Green
1EGh (ie ly oA a ee ees SMES IAS 36 oss 5S 5c 2
No. 50. Sitta canadensis, Linn. Red-bellied nut-hatch. Green River,
Fort Bridger, Henry’s Fork, and Sulphur Springs.-....-.../.-..
No. 51. Parus septentrionalis, Harris. Long-tailed chicadee. Bitter
Cottonwood Creek, Fort Bridger, Green River, and Bitter Creek. 11
No. 52. Parus montanus, Gambel. ' Mountain titmouse. Uinta
Mioummibaim gy ey eos Se eae 2 Se eas each ee ros ee 2
No. 53. Psaltriparus plumbeus, Baird. Lead-colored tit. Greep .
POUVIER ae et ee Coe ef eta eee ieee ee rr Bee. a
No. 54. Hremophila cornuta, Boie. Sky-lark. North Platte, Henry’s —
Fork of Green River, Uinta Mountains, Green River, Pine Grove,
and ithe aramie . 69.0 kee: 2 ate 2b ee eee 42
No. 55. Pinicola canadens is,Cab. Rine grosbeak. Uinta Mountains. 1
No. 36. Chrysomitris tristis, Bonap. Yellow-bird. Green River.... 5
No. 57. Curvirostra mexicana, Strick. Mexican cross-bill. Bitter.
Cottonwood, la Bonte, and Green River.:....-\. 7-222 ease 3
No. 58. Curvirosira leucoptera, Wils. White-winged cross-bill. Box
Dee Cees) eee ee Ee BC g er ee. 1
“No. 59. Aegiothus linaria, Cab. Lesser red poll. Camp Reynolds,
Green River, Rock Creek, Sulphur Springs, and Laramie River. 12
No. 60. Leucosticte tephrocotis, Sw. Gray-crowned finch. Uinta
IVEOUITGAINS seo ee ioe! oe en ee eens 1
No. 61. Plectrophanes maccow Selim J Maccown’s long-spur. Camp
INOW NO Oy eee BOS SS SNe Ree aoe Te Soo ok ot te: 1
No. 62. Passerculus alaudinus, Bonap. Lark sparrow. Bitter Cot-
tonwood Creek, Strawberry Creek, Green River, and Big Sandy. 6
No. 63. Pooecetes gramineus, Baird. Grass finch. Bitter Cotton-
wood, Pacific Springs, Big Sandy, Little Sandy, Fort Bridger,
and Uinta Mountains... 2...45.2s. 490-2. 2285-2 See 25
No. 64. Chondestes grammaca, Bonap. Lark finch. Bitter Cotton-
wood Grpelae er sees. eel ee ee ie Ee 1
No. 65. Zonotrichia leucophrys, Sw. White-crowned sparrow. Pacific
Springs, Green Ikiver, and Fort: Bridger: 5... - 24:2 55) eee + heed
No. 66. Zonotrihia gambelii,Gambel. Gambel’s finch. Fort Bridger,
Henry’s Fork of Green River, Uinta’ Motintains, and Rock Creek. 40
No. 67. Junco oregonus, Sclat. Oregon snow-bird. Henry’s Fork of
Green River, Green River, and Rock Oreelc........-. eee 6

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 465
° No. of
specimens.
No. 68. Poospiza belli, Sclat. Bell’s finch. ‘Henry's Fork of Green
River, Green River, and Rock Creek... --..+-.---22---.-225--2: 5°
No. 69. Spizella monticola, Baird. Tree sparrow. Green River,
Henrys Kork, and Rocki@reek |. 2/4). 0 0.) cis ss S02 ek ae 4
No. 70. Spizella ’socialis, Bonap. Chipping sparrow. Little Sandy
epitGe G TEEN RIVET Rayer ie. cc's 2 OL a eins as Ss oa ae 2
No. 71. Spizella brewerit, Cass. Brewer’s sparrow. Little Sandy
ainGl (EqRaen Ieee soe Ceo oc od hear een eas sae socio reseaieas ooo 10
No. 72. Melospiza fallax, Baird. Mountain song sparrow. Green
River and Henry’s Fork of Green River..:.......:..2...-.-2-- 28
No. 73. Melospiza linconti, Baird. Lincoln’s finch. Head of Henry’s
OG EKe AMOR G RCI bul VEL ss res) OM Ue rir ee ees) Ls es ET Aa i 6
No. 74. Calamospiza bicolor, Bonap. Lark bunting. Camp Rey- ;
nolds and Bitter Cottonwood Creek........22..-c2sss0es20000 5
No. 75. Pipilo arcticus, Sw. Arctic tower. Fort Sanders ......-- 4
No. 76. Pipilo chlorura, Baird. Green- tailed finch. Little Sandy
AMONG ECM RIVER Meese el Tas ENS Cen Soe 3
No. 77. Molothrus pecoris, Sw. Cow-bird. La Bonte Creek....... 1
No. 78. Agelaius pheniceus, Vieill. Red-winged blackbird. Camp
Stevenson, on Henry’s Fork of Green River ..................- 2
No. 79. Xanthocephalus icterocephalus. Yellow-headed blackbird.
(Chiang: Rayer yee BUG Ie i as a I er On ee I a eee ts 1
No. 80. Sturnella neglecta, Aud. “Western lark. Camp Reynolds,
Fort Fetterman, Fort Bridger, and Green River .......-......- 24
No. 81 Scolecophagus cyanocephalus. Brewer's blackbird. Camp Rey-
nolds, Fort Fetterman, and Sweetwater......--...-......-...- 27
No. 82. Corvus carnivorus, Bartram. Americanraven. Camp Rey-
TONGS Wee Oe Re eR cay eas eee Bey MOO Ri aCe eM ehe sr iL
No. 83. Corvus americanus, Aud. Common crow. La BonteCreek. 1
No. 84. Picicorvus columbianus. .Clark’s crow. Pacific Springs and
Bete pOTCC Tue MO ak Oe Ne ache le Se Wn 3
No. 85. Pica hudsonica, Bonap. Magpie. Camp Reynolds, North
Platte River, Sweetwater River, Green River, and Fort Bridger. 13
No. 86. Cyanura macrotopha, Baird. Long-crested jay. Green
MEV Teepe a ei lotraieete LeMans oh ASCE We Ls Ut st ied tals Sn Se ik
No. 87. Cyanocitta Woodhouseit, Baird. Woodhouse’s jay. Green
JES EVO oR RTA A Oe SO 6 a Bal are EC eR a OS A ETM Nar BURT iy YA oe 1
No. 88. Perisoreus nna Bonap. Canada jay. Henry’s Fork
AINA GRECM AIVEL he See ee See LORS CAE ce a Pa II eee 8
No. 89. Zenaidura carolinensis, Bonap. Common dove. Fort
ME TLCU OEE ise e) ss = tare ay er NI ei ARE EN A ee aN Re SS 4
No. 90. Tetrao-obscurus, Say. Dusky grouse. Uinta Mountains.. 6
No. 91. Centrocercus urophasianus, Sw. Sage cock. Sweetwater,
Creentuvervamd: Plains See NU aa ie ED NOL
No. 92. Pediocetes columbianus, (Ord.) Elliot. Sharp- tailed grouse.
Wan ombey Cree les Se aes SU ET ee RS Bi oe 1
No. 93. Bonasa umbclloides, Baird. Gray mountain grouse. Camp
AAC SOM AUG MRO UAT She aN Sy AUS eee 3
No. 94. Lagopus leucurus, Swains. White-tailed ptarmigan. Bur-
thoud’s Pass, Rocky Mountains. ......-...-.--------+----+--:--
No. 95. Botaurus lentiginosus, Stephens. Bittern; stake driver.
Camp Weidy,’on Sweetwater River. 22. 2..0. 0.2.00 2.528 2-22-8ee i)

No. 96. Charadrius virginicus, Borck. Golden plover. Camp Dawes,
on Rock Creek

30 G

466 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Pathe Rivers is ey ee ee es 2 es ee

® No. of
specimens.
No. 97. Aegialitis vociferus, Cassin. Kill-deer. Camp Reynolds... 7
No. 98. Recurvirostra americana, Gm. American avoset. Camp
Baird: on: North, Platte River... )/) (400)... U0 Caen ae 1
No. 99. ” Phalaropus wilsontit, Sab. Wilson’s phalarope. Camp
GV MOMS a eels eh SR Gal
No. 100. Phalaropus hy Pu enaus, Temm. Northern phalarope. Big
SamdyRivers or Ne lee el Oe 1
No. 101. Gallinago wilsonii, Bonap. English snipe. Fort Sanders. 1
No. 102. Actodromus minutilla, Coues. Least sandpiper. Camp
Baird, on North Platte, and Little Sandy............-..2--2222 2
No. 103. Actodromus bairdii, Coues. Baird’s sandpiper. North
Platte and: Little Sandyeie) 62.) S220 a 3
No. 104. Hreunetes pusillus, Coues. Semi-palmated sandpiper. North
Platte Aver sere ee ooo ce La SS es ee Ea ap 1
No. 105. Micropalama himantopus, Baird. Stilt sandpiper. Fort »
IBTIA@ ery Hare e ie ee i Se SL a ae Ee eo 1
No. 106. Gambetta melanoleuca, Bonap. ‘Tell-tale; stone snipe.
Camp Reynolds and Kort Fetterman’). 22... 2-4-2 aoe eee 14
No. 107. Gambetta flavipes, Bonap. Yellow legs. Camp Reynolds
and Camp Logan, near Church Buttes...) -....-.!...- 422 -Geeeee 8
No. 108. Rhyacophilus solitarius, Bonap. Solitary sandpiper. Camp
Reynolds and Fort Fetterman... 200. ceo he ae
No. 109. Tringoides macularius, Gray. Spotted sandpiper. Fort
Fetterman and Camp Gifford, on Sweetwater River.....-.....- 3
No 110. Fulica americana, Gmelin. Coot. Camp Baird, on North
Plate River: suo Ns es se ee I ee 1
No. 111. Bernicla canadensis, Boie. Canada goose. Camp Gifford,
on Sweetwater River.ou i. shi aoe 2
No. 112. Anas boschas, Linn. Mallard. North Platte River and
Sweebwaber.). ssl iis ene ee ee 7
No. 113. Dajila acuta, Jenyns. Sprig-tail pin-tail. Rock Creek.... 1
No. 114. Nettion carolinensis, Baird. Green-winged teal. Green
River.and) Fort Sanders.) ov js.2 eee hk ee 13
No. 115. Querquedula_ e¢ yanopterd, Cassin. Red-breasted teal.
sSweetwateriand North Platte...) 02025-0202. 2 a ee 4
No. 116. Spatula clypeata, Boie. Shoveler. Sweetwater and Fort
Br mer us ee a ie coe Se le ae US ee a 3
No. 117. Mareca americana, Stevens. Bald. pate. Pass. Creek, 3222 1
No. 118. Fultz collaris, Baird. Ring-necked duck. Green River... 2
No. 119. Bucephala albeola, Baird. ‘Butter-ball. Fort Sanders.... 1
No. 120. Hrismatura rubida, Bonap. Ruddy duck. Pacific Creek. 1
No. 121. Mergus americanus, Cass. Shelldrake. Sweetwater River
andiiort Bridger: 22s.) 2 aa. <A Ree Oe ee
No. 122. Lophody ytes cucullatus, Reich. Hooded merganser. Green
IRIV Oly eee Sees Vo. os Job eee id eek Oeil Se ak
No. 124. Podiceps californicus, Heerman. California grebe. North
1

}

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 467

Ii—REPORT ON MOLLUSCA.

By 8S. R. ROBERTS,

Recorder Conchological Section, Academy Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.

The following list comprises the mollusca collected by Professor F. Y.
Hayden while engaged in the various geological surveys made under
direction of the Department of the Interior. An examination of this
list will show that most of the species named are common not only to
the districts watered by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, but also to
many other sections of the North and Hast, thus showing a widespread
distribution of nearly all the species which are abundant in the more
eastern portions of the United States. This is the more curious, par-
ticularly among the fluviatile mollusks of the Upper Missouri, for there
the rivers belong to a different system of drainage.

Of the land shells the species Helix haydent, Binney, which was col-
lected in large numbers at Weber Caiion, Utah, is interesting from the:
fact that it belongs to an entirely different sub-genus from any previously
known to this country, it being very closely allied to the Madeira genus,
Tectula, Lowe.

Dr. Hayden collected more than fifty specimens of different ages, all
of which were somewhat bleached.

This species was found associated with Helix coopert, Binney, many
specimens of the latter being also obtained.

At Falls City, Nebraska, a small shell was found néar the size of Helix:
bucculenta, Gould, but with a closed umbilicus. It is probably a small
variety of H. albolabris, Say, and has been so labeled in the collection ,
of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, where the specimens.
are deposited.

Among the fresh-water shells only one species of the family Vivipart-
de, the Melantho integra, Say, has been noticed. This was collected in
the Big Sioux River, Nebraska.

Pomatiopsis lapidaria, Say, belonging to the Amnicolide, was found
at Fort Berthold, in Nebraska. This is the most western locality known
for the species.

In addition to the number of species belonging to the family Unionide,
common to the Northern and Western States, there will be noticed three
southern species which were collected at Fails City, Nebraska. These
are Unio mgerrimus, Lea, U. Rutersvillensis, Lea, both belonging to the
Texan fauna, and the Unio Mississippiensis, Conrad, which was described
from specimens obtained in Mississippi. Unio Topekcensis, Lea, a Kansas
Species, was also found here, while at Nebraska City a perfect valve
of Unio pressus, Lea, was obtained. This species belongs to the great:
lakes, sometimes occurring as far east as the Erie Canal, New York.

The fact of there being no Melanians in the list confirms the state
ment made by George W. Tryon, jr., in his monograph of the Str cpoma-
tide (in the Amer. Jour. Conch. , Vol. 1, p. 125,) that these sheils do nct
eeu west of the Mississippi River, except in the rivers of the Pacific

tates.

The list of species is not as complete as might have been expected,,.
but future explorations will no doubt bring to ; notice many additional.
forms which are to be found in more eastern localities.

468 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

LAND SHELLS.

HELICIDA. HELIcIDa—Continued. |
Helix alternata, Say. Helix solitaria, Say.
albolabris, Say. striatella, Anth.
albolabris, var.? thyroides, Say.
concava, Say. tridentata, Say.
costata, Miill.
chersina, Say. PUPADA.
cooperi, W. G. B.
elevata, Say. Pupa armifera, Say.
electrina, Gould. badia, Adams.
fuliginosa, Binn. blandi, W. G. B.
fallax, Say. modesta, Say.
haydeni, W. G. B. pentodon, Say.
hirsuta, Say. Zua subcylindracea, Chem.
inflecta, Say.
indentata, Say. SUCCINID 2.
ligera, Say.
lineata, Say. Succinea avara, Say.
minuscula, Binn. haydeni, W. G. B.
minuta, Say. lineata, W. G. B.
monodon, Rack. nuttalliana, ? Lea.
multilineata, Say. obliqua, Say.
profunda, Say. vermeta, Say. ~

FRESH-WATER SHELLS.

Univalves.
VIVIPARID 2. LyYMN AD —Continued.
-Melantho integra, Say. Lymnea reflexa, Say.
umbrosa, Say.
AMNICOLID As.
PHYSAD&.
_Amnicola porata, Say. :
cincinnatiensis, Anth. Physa heterostropha, Say.
Pomatiopsis lapidaria, Say: Bulinus hypnorum, Linn.
LYMN AD Z. PLANORBIDA.
_Lymnea desidiosa, Say. Planorbis bicarinatus, Say.
elodes, Say. trivolvis, Say,
haydeni, Lea. companulatus, Say.
humilis, Lea. parvus, Say.
kirtlandiana, Lea. t lentus, Say.

palustris, Mull.

GEOLOGICAL

UNIONID &.

Unio anodontoides, Lea.
alatus, Say.
asperrimus, Say.
elegans, Lea.
gibbosus, Barnes.
latecostatus, Lea.
leevissimus, Lea.
luteolus, Lam.

SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, A469

Bivalves.
UNIONID =—Continued.

Unio rutersvillensis, Lea.
topekeensis, Lea.
ventricosus, Barnes.
zig-zag, Lea.

Margaritana complanata, Say.

Anodonta footiana, Lea.

ferussaciana, Lea.
undulata, Say.

mississippiensis, Conrad.

nigerrimus, Lea.
parvus, Barnes.
pressus, Lea.
rectus, Lam.
rubiginosus, Lea.

CORBICULAD A.

Spherium sulcatum, Lam.
striatinum, ? Lam.
Pisidium abditum, ? Hald.

IIl—COLEOPTERA.

A LIST OF COLEOPTERA COLLECTED BY C. THOMAS, IN
EASTERN COLORADO AND NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO,
DURING THE SURVEY OF 1869.

By Dr. G. H. Horn.

Cicindela formosa, Say.
obsoleta, Say.
pulchra, Say.
vulgaris, Say.
repanda, Dej.
punctulata, Fabr.

Nebria bivittata.

Calosoma luxatum, Say.

Carabus serratus, Say.

Pasimachus elongatus, Lec.

validus, Lee.

Lebia viridis, Say.

Platynus extensicollis, Lee.

Pterostichus protractus, Lec.

Amara obesa, Say.

Cratognathus setosus, Lec.

Chlenius sericeus, Say.

Nothopus zabroides, Lec.

Cratacanthus dubius, Lee.

Harpalus caliginosus, Say.
pennsylvanicus, Lec.
compar, Lec.
obesulus.
amputatus, Say.

Hydrophilus triangularis, Say.

Necrophorus hecate.

marginatus, Fabr.

Eleodes fusiformis.
extricata.
Embaphion planum.
Corphyra collaris.
Mordellistena emula.
Meloe sublevis.
Epicauta corvina.
maculata.
ferruginea,
Lytta spheericollis.
nuttallii.
viridana.
Nemognatha lutea.
Erotylus Boisduvalil.
Sphenophorus. ?
Baridius.
Lepyrus colon.
Rhynehites bicolor.
Prionus californicus.
Parandra ferruginea.
Crosidius discordeus.
Criocephalus productus.
Asenum atuem.
Tetropium cinnamopterum.
Moneilema annulatum.
Monohammus scutellaris.
Acmeops striglata.

470 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Silpha ramosa, Say.
lapponica, Herbst.
Phalacrus pencillatus, Say.
Carpophilus pallipes.
Dermestes marmoratus, Say.
Canthon levis, Drury.
praticola, Lec.
Phaneeus carnifex, McLeay.
Serica vespertina, Lec.
Tostegoptera lanceolata.
Polyphylia 10-lineata, Say.
Kuryomia kernii, Lee.
Melanophila longipes, Gory.
drummondii, Lae.
Monocrepidius auritus, Germ.
Photinus ingricans, Lac.
Chauliognathus basalis, Lec.
Collops 4-maculatus, Er.
tricolor, Say.
Trichodes ornatus, Say.
Hydnocera subunca, Spin.
Epitrayus canaliculatus, Say.
Pelecyphorus serratus, See.
sordidus, Lee.
Asida opaca, Say.
convexa, Lee.
Eusattus convexus, Lee.
Coniontis obesa.
Eleodes tricosta.
- carbonaria.
hispilabris.
obscura.
suturalis.
longicollis.
obsoleta.

Galeruca americana.
externa.
Diabrotica vittata.
tricineta.
Doryphora 10-lineata.
Graptodera bimarginata.
Disonycha alternata.
collaris.
Blepharida rhois.
Chrysomela exclamationis.
verrucosa.
punctipenctata.
flavomarginata.
adonidis.
Chrysochus auratus.
Coscinoptera axillaris.
franciscana.
Pachybrachis athomus.
Cryptocephalus viduatus.
4-cuttatus.
vitticollis.
confluens.
Hippodamia Lecontii.
5-signata.
convergens.
Coccinella transversoguttata.
9-notata.
monticola.
Brachyacantha ursina.
Dendroctomus tenebrionoides.
Anisosticta vittigera.
Monaxia debilis.
Raphidopalpus atripennes.
Typocerus sumatrus.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. A471

IV.— HEMIPTERA.
A LIST OF HEMIPTERA COLLECTED IN EASTERN COLO-

RADO AND NORTHEASTERN NEW

MEXICO, BY OC.

THOMAS, DURING THE EXPEDITION OF 1869.
By P. R. UHLER, Esq.

HETEROPTERA.
CORIMEL NID A. LARGIDA.
_ Corimelena nitiduloides, Wolff. Largus succinetus, Fab.
PHYTOCORID &.

. PACHYCORID&.
Homemus bijugis, Uhl.
HALYDID A.
Brochymena annulata, Fab.
PENTATOMID A.

Perillus claudus, Say.
exaptus, Say.
Neottiglossa undata, Say.
Euschistus punctipes, Say.
Murgantia histrionica, Hahn.
Pentatoma custator, Fab.
graminicolor, Uhl.
Cimex platychilus, Uhl.

COREID A.

Piezogaster alternatus, Say.
Merocoris distinctus, Dallas.
Dasycoris pilicornis, H. Schf.
Margus inconspicuus, Uhl.
Catorhintha guttula, Fab.
Neides decurvatus, Uhl.
Alydus ater, Dallas.
Protenor Belfragei, Hagl.
Leptocoris trivittatus, Say.
Harmostes reflexulus, Say.
Corizus borealis, Uhl.
viridicatus, Uhl.
lateralis, Say.

LYG/ASID ZA.

Lygeus reclivatus, Say.
circumlitus, Stal.
admirabilis, Uhl.

Nysius californicus, Stal.

angustatus, Uhl.

Ophthalmicus piceus, Say.

Pamera fallax, Say.

Cymbogaster diffusus, Uhl.

Araphe carolina, H. Schf.

Miris debilis, Uhl.
ruficornis, H. Schf.
rubicundus, Uhl.

Calocoris rapidus, Say.

Resthenia eremicola, Uhl.

confraterna, Uhl.

Lopidea media, Say.

Lygus annexus, Uhl.
diffusus, Uhl.
redimitus, Uhl.

Phytocoris, nov. sp.

Oncotylus militaris, Uhl.

Cyllecoris, nov. sp.

Dacota hesperia, Uhl.

Capsus delicatulus, Uhl.

nov. Sp.

Stiphrosoma stygica, Say.

Labops hesperius, Uhl.

Stictocephalus inermis, Uhl.

Rhopalotomus pacificus, Uhl.

Charagochilus venaticus, Uhl.

Tinicephalus simplex, Uhl.

Phylus angustatus, Uhl.

ARADID 2.
Aradus rectus, Say.
PHYMATID &.
Phymata erosa, Fab.
REDUVID &.

| Nabis inscriptus, Kirby.

subcoleoptratus, Kirby.
Sinea multispinosa, Geer.
Herega spissipes, Say.
Diplodus luridus, Stal.
HYDROMETR A.
Hygrotrechus remigis, Say.
NEP.
Nepa 4-dentata, Stal.

472 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ~

HOMOPTERA.
FULGORIDZ. MEMBRACID A.
Scolops sulcipes, Say. ae diceros, Say.
hesperius, Uhl. ELIE WONG S100
oe aa Entilia modesta, Uhl.
(CIRSEOD).28 CERCOPID&.
Cixius stigmatus, Say. Aphrophora permutata, Uhl.
Bruchomorpha ocellata, Newm. quadrangularis, Say.
CICADA. Ptyelus lineatus, Fab.
Cicada dorsata, Say. TETTIGONID At.
canicularis, Harris. Gypona reverta, Uhl.
hesperia, Uhl. Proconia costalis, Fab.
synodica, Say. Helochara communis, Fab.

V.—CATALOGUE OF PLANTS.

BY THOMAS C. PORTER,
Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania.

This catalogue embraces the plants collected in Wyoming Territory,
by Dr. F. V. Hayden, during the geological survey of 1870—at Camp
Carlin, from July 25 to 30, on the route from Fort D. A. Russell, via
Fort Fetterman, Sweetwater, South Pass, Wind River Mountains, and
Green River, to Fort Bridger, from August 1 to September 135 in the
Uinta Mountains, south of Henry’s Fork of Green River, in the latter
half of September, and on Henry’s Fork, in the month of October. To
these are added his collection in the North Park, Colorado Territory,
August, 1868, and another, made by Mr. B. H. Smith, in the region
around the city of Denver, during the summer of 1869.

RANUNCULACE Ai.

Atragene alpina, L. (A. Ochotensis, Pallas.)—Mountains near Denver

Clematis ligusticifolia, Nutt.—Mountains near Denver, Colorado Ter-
ritory ; August to September.

Anemone multifida, DC.—Mountains near Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Anemone Pennsylvanica, L.—Fossil beds near Denver.

Anemone patens, L., var. Nuttalliana, Gray.—Denver.

Thalictrum sparsiflorum, Turcz.—Mountains near Denver; Uinta
Mountains. In fruit.

Ranunculus divaricatus, Schrank.—Denver.

Ranuneulus Cymbalaria, Pursh.—Denver, Colorado Territory ; August
to September.

Ranunculus affinis, KR. Br.—Near Denver.

Ranunculus sceleratus, L.—Denver.

Ranunculus Pennsylwanicus, L.—Near Denver.

Ranunculus repens, L.—Near Denver.

Aquilegia cerulea, Torr.—Uinta Mountains. In fruit.

~

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 473

Trollius laxus, Salisb-—Wyoming Territory; August to September.
In fruit.

Delphinium azwreum, Michx.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Ter-
ritory.

Delphinium elatum, L.—Mountains near Denver.

PAPAVERACEZ.
Argemone Mexicana, L.—Denver ; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

FUMARIACE Z.
Corydalis aurea, Willd.—Near Denver.

CRUCIFER AL.

Nasturtium sinuatum, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Nasturtium obtusum, Nutt.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Arabis lyrata, L.—Near Denver.

Arabis hirsuta, Scop.—Near Denver.

Streptanthus linearifolius, Gray.—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Cardamine paucisecta, Benth.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Erysimum asperum, DC.—Denver.

Draba aurea, Vahl.—Near Denver.

Draba nivalis, Willd.—(D. rupestris, R. Br., var. “ siliculis glabris,”
Hook. Fl. Bor, Am., 1, p. 53.)—Uinta Mountains.

Vesicaria Ludoviciana, DC.—Near Denver.

Physaria didy ymca pd Gray.—Near ner

Lepidium ruderale, L —Gray, Pl. Wright, 2, p. 15.—Denver.

Lepidium sativum, L.—Near Denver. Probably introduced.

Thlaspit Fendleri, Gray.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

CAPPARIDACH Ai.

Cleome integrifolia, Torr. and Gray.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyo-
ming Territory.
Polanisia trachysperma, Gray.— Wyoming Territory ; August to Sep-
tember.
CARYOPHYLLACE A.

Silene acaulis, L.—Mountains near Denver.

Lychnis apetala, li, var. pauciflora, DC.—Uinta Mountains.

Arenaria congesta, Torr. and Gray.—North Park, Colorado Territory;
Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Arenaria Fendleri, Gray, (Pl. Fendler., p. 13).—Denver.

Arenaria arctica, Stevenson. —Mountains near Denver; Uinta Moun-
tains. :

Arenaria Rossii, hk. Br.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Arenaria verna, L.?—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory. In fruit
only, with old capsules which have shed their seéd.

Stellaria borealis, Bigelow.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Cerastium arvense, L.—Near Denver.

Paronychia sessiliflora, Nutt.—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Paronychia Jamesii, Torr. and Gray.—Near Denver.

MALVACH Ai.

Malvastrum coccineum, Gray.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Ter-
ritory.

Sidalcea malvefiora, Gray.—North Park, Colorado Territory; Uinta
Mountains.

1 AGA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Spheralcea acerifolia, Nutt. (Malva rivularis, Dougl.)—Wyoming =
ritory; August to September.

LINACE Ai.

Linum perenne, L. —North Park, Colorado Territory ; Uinta Moun!
tains.

Linum Kingti, Watson ined. (in Clarence King’s Report,) var. sedoides.—
Uinta Mountains, September 25, 1870. Very glabrous, low, much
branched from the base; the short, angled stems 4 to 6 inches high ;
leaves numerous, 3 to 4 lines i in length, pale ereen, linear-oblong, obtuse,
thickish and crowded, especially on the younger stems, giving ‘the plant
the aspect of a Sedum. Stipular glands conspicuous, persistent. Pani-
cles contracted, corymbose; sepals broadly ovate, glandular-ciliate,
shorter than the globose 10-valved capsule. Styles 5, distinet. Cap-
sules about 14 lines in diameter, the secondary dissepiments incomplete
and fibrous-pilose on the margin. In fruit only, but a flowering specei-
men of Watson’s plant has golden-yellow obovate petals, half an inch
in length.

GERANIACEZ.

Geranium Frémontti, Torr.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Ter-
ritory. :

Geranium Richardsonii, Fisch. and Meyer.—Wyoming Territory; Au-
gust to September. In fruit.

OXALIDACEZ.
Oxalis stricta, L.—Near Denver.
VITACE A.

Vitis riparia, Michx.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.
In fruit.
RHAMNACEZ.

Ceanothus ovalis, Bigelow.—Near Denver.
Ceanothus velutinus, Dougl., var. levigatus, Torr. and Gr., Fl. N. Am.,
1, p. 686.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

CELASTRACEZ.
Pachystima Myrsinitis, Raf—Henry’s Fork of Green River.
ACERACEZ..

Acer glabrwn,.Torr.—Denver; Henry’s Fork of Green River.
Negundo aceroides, Manch.—Near Denver.

LEGUMINOS.

Lupinus ornatus, Dougl.—Near Denver.

Lupinus parvifiorus, Nutt.—Uinta Mountains.

Lupinus pusillus, Pursh.—Near Denver.

Lupinus decumbens, Torr.—Wyoning Territory ; August to September.

Trifolium Parryi, Gray.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Psoralea floribunda, Nutt.—Denver.

Psoralea lanceolata, Pursh.—Near Denver.

Petalostemon violaceus, Michx.—Near Denver.

Petalostemon candidus, Michx.—Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-
tember.

Hosackia Purshiana, Benth.—North Park, Colorado Territory.

Astragalus Hypoglottis, L.—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

*

\

GEOLOGICAL SORVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. AT5

Astragalus adsurgens, Nutt— Wyoming Territory ; August to Septem-
ber. :

Astragalus flecuosus, Dougl.—Near Denver. .
’ Astragalus Kentrophyta, Gray.—Near Denver.

Oxytropis Lamberti, Pursh.—Near Denver. ,

Oxytropis defleca, DC.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Glycyrrhiza lepidota, Nutt.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Vicia Americana, Muhl.—Near Denver.

Lathyrus palustris, L.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Lathyrus linearis, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Sophora sericea, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Thermopsis rhombifolia, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Thermopsis fabacea, Hook., var. montana, Gray.— Wyoming Territory;
August to September.

ROSACE Zi.

Prunus Virginiana, .—Near Denver.

Spirea opulifolia, L.—Near Denver.

Spirea dumosa, Nutt.—Turkey Creek, Colorado Territory ; Wyoming
Territory ; August to September.

Spircea cespitosa, Nutt.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Cercocarpus parvifolius, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Geum Rossii, Seringe, var. B. Torr. and Gr.—Uinta Mountains.

Geum triflorum, Pursh.—Denver; North Park, Colorado Territory.

Sibbaldia procumbers, L.—Uinta Mountains.

Ivesia Gordom, Torr. and Gray; Gray in Proc. Am. Acad., 6, p.530.—
Uinta Mountains; September 25, 1870.—Differs from the typical form
in having a Single carpel! The small spatulate petals appear white,
but are probably faded.

Potentilla Norvegica, L.—Denver ; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Potentilla fastigiata, Nutt. Wyoming Territory; August to Septem-
ber.

Potentilla nivea, L.—Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Potentilla Pennsylvanica, L., var. Hippiana, Torr. and Gr.—Denver.

Potentilla arguta, Pursh.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Potentilla Anserina, L.icHenry’s Fork of Green River.

Potentilla fruticosa, L.—Denver; North Park; Uinta Mountains.

Rubus strigosus, Michx.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Rosa gymnocarpa, Nutt.—Henry’s Fork of Green River. Infruit. >

Rosa blanda, Ait.—Denver; Wyoming Territory ; August to Septem-
ber.

Pyrus sambucifolia, Ch. and Schl.—Henry’s Fork of Green River. In
fruit.
SAXIFRAGACE Zi.

JSamesia Americana, Torr. & Gray.—Denver; North Park, Colorado
Territory. ;

Saxifraga bronchialis, L.—Mountains near Denver.

Heuchera bracteata, Seringe.—Fall River, Colorado Territory; B. H.
Smith.

Heuchera parvifolia, Nutt.—Fall River, Colorado Territory; B. H.
Smith.

CRASSULACE 2.

Sedum stenopetalum, Pursh.—Fall River, Colorado Territory; Uinta
Mountains.

Sedum rhodanthum, Gray.—Uinta Mountains.

Sedum Rhodiola, DC.—Mountains near Denver.

476 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.
ONAGRACEZ. :
Gaura parviflora, Dougl.—Near Denver.

Gaura coccinea, Nutt. Near Denver.

Epilobium augustifolium, L. Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Epilobium paniculatum, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Epilobium coloratum, Muhl.—Denver ; Wyoming Territory ; August to
September.

(Hnothera biennis, L.—Denver ; Wyoming Territory ; August to Sep-
tember.

Hnothera pinnatifida, Nutt.—Near Denver.

(nothera coronopifolia, Torr. and Gray.—Near Denver.

nothera albicaulis, Nutt.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Terri-
tory.

nothera cespitosa, Nutt.—North Park, Colorado Territory.

Cnothera serrulata, Nutt.—Denver; Wyoming ety August to
September.

LOASACE 4.
Menitzelia ornata, Torr. and Gray.—Wyoming Territory; August to

September.

Mentzelia nuda, Torr. and Gray.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming
Territory.

UMBELLIFER &

Archangelica Gmelint, DC.—Uinta Mountains.

Cicuta maculata, L.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Carum Guirdneri, Gray. Proc. Am. Acad., 7, p.344. (Hdosmia Gaird-
neri, Torr. & Gr., Fl. N. Am., 1, p. 612.)—Uinta Mountains; Wyoming
Territory ; August to September.

CORNACEZ.
Cornus stolonifera, Michx.—Denver; Henry’s Fork of Green River.
CAPRIFOLIACEZ.

Symphoricarpus occidentalis, R. Br.—Denver; Henry’s Fork of Green
River.
Lonicera involucrata, Banks.—Henry’s Fork of Green River. :
RUBIACEZ.
Galium boreale, L.—Denver; Uinta Mountains.
VALERIANACE.

Valeriana dioica, L., var. sylvatica, Richards.—Denver.
Valeriana edulis, Nutt.—Uinta Mountains.

COMPOSIT AL.

Liatris pune tata, Hook.—North Park, Colorado Territory ; Wromme
Territory. '

Brickellia grandiflora, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Macheranthera tanacetifolia, Nees.—Denver.

Aster falcatus, Lindl.—North Park, Colorado Territory; 1868.

Aster ericotdes, L.—Near Denver.

Aster levis, L. ” Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Aster adscendens, Lindl. var. ciliatifolius, Torr. and Gray.—Camp Car-
lin, Wyoming Territory ; Henry’ s Fork of Green River.

Aster ma ultiflor US, Ait. "North Fork, Colorado Territory; Henry’s Fork
of Green River.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ATT

Aster Fendlert, Gray.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Aster glaucus, Torr. and Gray.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Terri-
tor

iter salsuginosus, Richards. —Uinta Mountains.

Aster glacialis, Nutt.— Uinta Mountains.

Aster angustus, Torr. and Gray.—Uinta Mountains.

Brigeron compositum, Pursh.—Near Denver.

Hrigeron divergens, Torr. and Gray.—Denver.

Brigeron glabellum, Nutt.—Mountains near Denver.

HBrigeron Canadense, L.—Denver.

Solidago Virga-aurea, L., var. multiradiata, Torr. and Gray.

Solidago rigida, L.— Denver; Wyoming Territory.

Solidago memoralis, Ait., var.—Denver.

Solidago Canadensis, L., var. Scabra, Torr. and Gray.—Camp Carlin;
Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Solidago gigantea, Ait.—Near Denver.

Gutierrezia Huthamie, Torr. and Gray.—Near Denver.

Linosyris graveolens, Torr. and Gray.—North Park, Colorado Terri-
tory; Henry’s Fork of Green River, Wyoming Territor Wa

LTinosyris viscidiflora, Hook. —Denver; North Park, Colorado Territory ;
Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Linosyris lanceolata, Torr. and Gray.—North Park, Colorado Territory.

Aplopappus spinulosus, DC.—Denver; North Park, Colorado Territory.

Aplopappus Parryi, Gray.—Mountains near Denver.

Grindelia squarrosa, Dunal.—Denver; North Park, Colorado Territory ;
Camp Carlin, Wyoming ‘Territory.

Chrysopsis villosa, Nutt.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Memory:

Chrysopsis hispida, Hook.—Near Denver.

EHuphrosyne xanthiifolia, Gray. (Cyclachena xanthiifolia, Fres.; Torr.
& Gray, Fl. N. Am., 2. p. 286.)—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Ambrosia trifida, L.—Wyoming Territory, August to September.

Rudbeckia laciniata, L.—Near Denver.

Rudbeckia hirta, L.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Lepachys columnaris, Torr. and Gray.—Wyoming Territory; August to
September.

Helianthus petiolaris, Nutt.——Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Ter-
ritory.

Helianthus rigidus, Desf.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Helianthus strumosus, L. var.—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Helianthus letiflorus, Pers.—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Helianthella uniflora, Torr. and Gray.—Near Denver.

Thelesperma filifoium, Gray.—Near Denver.

Gaillardia aristata, Pursh.—Denver ; North Park, Colorado Territory ;
Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Villanova chrysanthemoides, Gray.—Denver.

Chaenactis achilleefolia, Hook and Arn.—Denver.

Bahia oppositifolia, Torr. and Gray.—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Terri-
tory.

Helenium autumnale, Pome pe Territory ; August to September.

Achillea Millefoium, L.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Artemisia canadensis, Michx.—Denver; Wyoming “Territory ; August
to September.

Artemisia tridentata, Nutt.—Denver; Wyoming Territory ; ; August to
September.

Artemisia cana, Pursh.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Artemisia trifida, Nutt.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

‘

478 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

Artemisia Ludoviciana, Nutt, var. gnaphalodes, Torr. and Gray.—Hen-
ry’s Fork of Green River; Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Artemisia Richardsoniana, Bess.—Uinta Mountains. —.

Artemisia frigida, Willd. _ Denver; North Park, Colorado Te :
Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Gnaphalium Sprengel, Hook and Arn.—Denver.

Antennaria dioica, Gaertn.—Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Antennaria alpina, Gaertn.—Denver ; Uinta Mountains.

Antennaria margaritacea, R. Br.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Senecio lugens, Richards.— Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Senecio cernuus, Gray.—Mountains near Denver.

Senecio longilobus, Benth. —Denver ; Wyeming Territory ; August to
September.

Senecio raptfolius, Nutt.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Senecio aureus, L. var. Mountains 1 near Denver. .

Tetradymia inermis, Nutt.—North Park, Colorado Territory.

Tetradymia spinosa, Hook and Arn.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Arnica mollis, Hook.—Mountains near Denver.

Cirsium undulatun, Spreng.—Near Denver.

Cirsium Drummondit, Torr. and Gray.—Near Denver.

Cirsium edule, Nutt.—Near Denver.

Stephanomeria runcinata, Nutt.—Denver.

Lygodesmvia juncea, Don.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Troximon glaucum, Nutt.—North Park, Colorado Territory; Uinta
Mountains.

Macrorhynchus troximoides, Nutt.—Fall River, Colorado Territory. .

Mulgedium pulchellum, Nutt.—Denver; Wyoming Territory; August
to September.

CAMPANULACE A.

Campanula rotundifolia, L.—Denver ; North Park, Colorado Territory.
Campanula Langsdorfiana, Fischer.—North Park, Colorado Territory.
Specularia perfoliata, A. DC.—Near Denver.
ERICACEZ.
Vaccinium Myrtillus, L.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.
Arctostaphylos Uva-urst, Spreng.—Denver; Uinta Mountains.
Pierospora Andromedea, Nutt.—North Park, Colorado Territory.
PLANTAGINACE A.
Plantago Patagonica, Jacq., var. graphalioides, Gray.—Near Denver.
Plantago eriopoda, Torr.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.
PRIMULACEZ.

Dodecatheon Meadia, L.—Uinta Mountains. In fruit.

Androsace filiformis, Retz—Henry’s Fork of Green River.
Androsace septentrionalis, L.i—Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Glaux maritima, L.—Wyoming Territor y; August to September.

OROBANCHACEZ.
Aphyllon fasciculatum, Torr. and Gray.—Denver.
SCROPHULARIACE &.

Pentstemon glaber, Pursh.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.
Pentstemon ceruleus, Nutt.—Near Denver.
Pentstemon acuminatus, Dougl.—Near Denver.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 479

Pentstemon humilis, Nutt.—Denver ; Wyoming Territory; August to
September.

Pentstemon confertus, Dougl., var. ceruleo-purpureus, Gray.—Mountains
near Denver; North Park, Colorado Territory.

Mimulus Jamesii, Torr.—Near Denver.

Mimulus luteus, L., Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Liysanthes gratioloides, Benth.—North Park, Colorado Territory.

Veronica Americana, Schw.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Veronica serpyllifolia, L.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Castilleia integra, Gray.—Near Denver.

Castilleia pallida, Nutt.—Denver ; Uinta Mountains.

Orthocarpus luteus, Nutt.—Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Pedicularis bracteosa, Benth.—Mountains near Denver.

Pedicularis Groenlandica, Retz.— Uinta Mountains.

VERBENACEAL.

Terbena bracteosa, Michx.—Denver; Wyoming Territory.
Verbena stricta, Vent.—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

LABIAT Ai.

Mentha Canadensis, L.Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Hedeoma Drummond, Benth Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-
tember.

Monarda fistulosa, L.—Near Denver.

Monarda aristata, Nutt.—Near Denver. .

Scutellaria resinosa, Torr.—Near Denver.

Scutellaria galericulata, .—Near Denver.

Stachys palustris, L., var. aspera, Gray.—Denver.

Stachys palustris, L., var. cordata, Gray. Wyoming Territory.

BORRAGINACE Al.

Onosmodium Carolinianum, DC.—Denver.

Mertensia alpina, Don.—Mountains near Denver.

Mertensia paniculata, Don.—Mountains near Denver.

Mertensia Sibirica, Don.—Mountains near Denver, Uinta Mountains.

Lithospermum pilosum, Nutt.—Denver.

LTithospermum hirtum, Lebm.—Denver.

Hehinospermum Redowski, Lehm.—Denver, Wicnine Territory.

Hehinospermum floribundum, Lehm.—Denver.

Hritrichium crassisepalum, Torr. and Gray.—Denver.

EHritrichium Jamesti, Torr.—Near Denver.

Eritrichium glomeratum, DC., (Myosotis glomerata, Hook.. Fl. Bor.
Am. 2. p. 82. t. 162,) var., hispidissimum, Torr. in Hmory’s Rep. Bound.
Surv. 2. p. 140. (fide Gray.)—Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory, July 30,
1870, F. V. Hayden.—Stem 8 to 10 inches high. Racemes mostly bifid
or trifid, 3 to 4 inches long, much surpassing the leaves. Flowers small
and somewhat scattered, rather shorter than the acute, lance-ovate
bracts. Limb of the corolla 2 lines in diameter, its narrow tube about
as long. Nutlets 4, reticulate-rugose on the back.

Eritrichium virgatum, sp. nov. . Sesquipedale, hispidissinum; caule
simplici tereti erecto; foliis vadicalibus oblongo-spathulatis, caulinis
linearibus; cymis plurimis in axillis foliorum conglomeratis peduncula-
tis superne subsessilibus confertisque ; calycis 5- partiti segmentis lance-
olatis tubum corolla aequantibus ; nuculis 4-ovatis dorso infra partem
mediam convexo supra lateribus depresso laevibus nitidis.——Near Den-
ver, Colorado Territory, 1869, B. H. Smith. The stout virgate spike

480 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

made up of numerous glomerate cymes, crowded in the axils of the
linear cauline leaves, which much exceed them in length. Limb of the
corolla 4 lines in diameter, its lobes rounded. Nutlets smooth and
shining, the lower half of the back convex, the upper depressed on the
sides, leaving a central vertical ridge. According to Dr. Gray this plant
is the same as Parry’s 288, and Hall and Harbour’s 438 (in part.) It
has passed for a form of H. glomeratum, DC., but seems more nearly
allied in its fruit and habit of growth to LH. leucophaewn, A. DC. (Myoso-
tis leucophwa, Dougl., in Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2. p. 82. t. 163,) and I have
ventured to give it a name.

HYDROPHYLLACE A.

Hydrophyllum Virginicum, L.—Denver.

Phacelia circinata, Jacq.—Denver.

Phacelia sericea, Gray.—Denver.

Hilisia ambigua, Nutt.—Denver.
POLEMONIACEZ.

Polemonium confertum, Gray.—Gray’s Peak, Colorado Territory.
Collomia linearis, Nutt.— Uinta Mountains.

Gilia congesta, Hook.—Denver; Wyoming Territory.

Gilia pinnatifida, Nutt.—Mountains near Denver.

Gilia aggregata, Spreng.—Denver. With white and red flowers.
Gilia pungens, Benth.—Near Denver.

SOLANACE.

Solanum rostratum, Pursh.—Denver.
Physalis Pennsylvanica, L., var.2—Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-

tember.
GENTIANACE ZS.

Gentiana affinis, Griseb.—Mountains near Denver; North Park, Col-
orado Territory ; Uinta Mountains. Wyoming Territory.

Gentiana Parryi, Engelm.—Mountains near Denver; North Park, Col-
orado Territory.

Gentiana detonsa, Griseb.—Near Denver.

Gentiana frigida, Haenke, var. algida, Griseb.—Gray’s Peak, GUE
orado Territory ; Uinta Mountains.

Gentiana acuta, Michx.—Near Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Frasera speciosa, Dougl.— Uinta Mountains.

APOCYNACE.
Apocynum androsemifolium, L.—Denver.
ASCLEPIADACEZ.

Asclepias speciosa, Torr.—Near Denver.

Asclepias verticillata, L—Wyoming Territory. The dwarf variety.
NYCTAGINACEZ.

Oxybaphus angustifolius, Sweet.—Denver.

Oxybaphus nyctagineus, Sweet.—Denver.

Abronia fragrans, Nutt.—Denver, Wyoming Territory.
CHENOPODIACEZ.

Cycloloma platyphyllum, Moq.—Denver.

Teloxys cornuta, Torr. in Whipple’s, Report, Pacific Railroad Survey,
4, p. 129.—Mountains near Denver.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 481

Blitum capitatum, L.—Denver.
Blitum maritimum, Nutt.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.
Obione argentea, Mog.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.
Salicornia Virginica, L.—Big Sandy, Wyoming Territory; September 8.
Whole plant of a bright-red color.
AMARANTACE A.

Frelichia Floridana, Moq.—Denver.
Montelia tamariscina, Gray.— Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-
tember.
POLYGONACE 4.

Polygonum Bistorta, L.—Near Denver; Uinta Mountains.

Polygonum aviculare, L., var. erectum, Roth.—Denver; North Park,
Colorado Territory.

Polygonum tenue, Michx., var.—Denver.

Polygonum ramosissinum, Michx.—Wyoming Territory.

Polygonum dumetorum, L.—Wyoming Territory.

Rumex maritinum, L.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

Oxyria digyna, KR. Br.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Eriogonum umbellatum, Torr.—Denver; Wyoming Territory.

Hriogonum umbellatum, Torr., var. monocephalum, Torr and Gray, Rev.
Erigon., p. 160.

Hriogonum alatum, Torr., var. glabriusculum, Torr., Rev. Hrigon, p.
154.—Denver; North Park, Colorado Territory.

Hriogonum microthecum, Nutt., var. effusum, Torr. and Gray, |}. ¢., p.
172.—Denver; North Park, Colorado Territory ;; Wyoming Territory.

Hriogonum brevicaule, N utt.—Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-
tember; with yellow flowers.

Hrio gonum annuum, Nutt.—Denver.

Hrig gona cernuum, Nutt.—W yoming Temitory August to Septem-
ber.

ELZAGNACE A.

Shepherdia Canadensis, Nutt.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Shepherdia argentea, Nutt.—Henry’s Fork of Green River, Wyoming
Territory. ,
EUPHORBIACE 4.

Euphorbia petaloidea, Engelm.—Denver.

Huphorbia marginata, Pursh.—Denver.

Huphorbia montana, Kngelm.—Mountains near Denver.
Croton muricatum, Nutt.—Near Denver.

BETULACEH Ai.

Betula papyracea, Ait., var. pumila, Regel, in DC. Prod.—Henry’s
Fork of Green River.
Alnus serrulata, Ait., var. rugosa, Regel.—Henry’s Fork of Green.
River.
SALICACE 4.

Salix cordata, Mubhl.—Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Salix longifolia, Muhl.—Denver; Wyoming Territory.

Salia lucida, Muhl, var. angustifolia, Anders. —Henry’s. Fork of Green
River.

Populus Canadensis, Desf., var. angustifolia, Westmael in DC. Prod.
(P. angustifolia, Torr. \—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

ol G

4§2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

CONIFER Ai. Ys

Hphedra antisyphilitica, Berland.—Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-
tember.

Juniperus communis, L.—Near Denver.

Tuniperus occidentalis, Hook.—Wyoming Territory ; August to Sep-
tember.

Pinus flexilis, James.—Wyoming Territory.

IRIDACEZ.
Tris tenax, Dougl.—Denver; Wyoming Territory. In fruit.
LILIACE 2.

Veratrum viride, Ait.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.
Zygadenus glaucus, Natt.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.
Smilacina stellata, Desf.—Denver ; Uimta Mountains.

Allium siellatum, Nutt.—Denver.

Allium cernuum, Roth.—Denver.

Allium acuminatum, Hook !—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.
The sepals havealonger acumination than in Hooker’s figure (FI. Bor.
Am., t. 196), and the inner ones are not serrulate.

Allium Schenoprasum, L.—Wyoming Territory; August to Septem-
ber.

Yucea angustifolia, Pursh.—Near Denver.

Calochortus venustus, Beuth.—Near Denver.

JUNCACE_A8. ‘

Luzula spicata, Desv.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.
Tuzula parviflora, Desv., var. melanocarpa, Grey.—Uinta Mountains.
Juncus Balticus, Dethard.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.
Juncus tenuis, Willd.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Juncus longistylis, Torr. (J. Menziesii, R. Br.)—Denver.

Juncus nodosus, Li, var. megacephabs, Torr. sone

Juncus Mer tensianis , Gong.; Eugelin. Rev., p. 479.—Uinta Mountains.

COMMELYNACE Al.
Tradescantia Virginica, L.—Denver.
CYPERACE Z&.

Hleocharis palustris, Rh. Br.—Denver.
Scirpus pungens, Vahl.—Denver.
Scirpus maritimus, L.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.
Scirpus atrovirens, Muhl.—Near Denver.

Carex straminea, Schk.—Denver.

Carex festiva, Dew.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Carex Haydeniana, Olney, sp. noy. Spica ovata vel subrotundata
capitata fusco-ferruginea e spiculis sub-6 basi masculis densifloris; brac-
teis squamaeformis ‘cuspidatis ; perigyniis ovatis longe attenuato-rostra-
tis, ore oblique secto, membranaceis compressis alatis; margine duplo-
serratis basi leviter nervatis, flavidis superne vel demum omnius fuscis
apertis squama ovata acuta margine hyalina longioribus; achemio
stramineo lenticulari-elliptico. Hab., California, Bolander, 5074; Uinta
Mountains, Wyoming Territory, F. Vv. Hayden, September, 1870.—The
Carex Haydeni of Dewey being clearly C. aperta, Boott., this is named in
honor of the zealous explorer in the realms of natural history whose
nameit bears. Low, 4to 6 inches high, caespitose; roots fibrous; leaves
flat, narrow, shorter than the culms. <Ailied to C. festiva, Dew.

~

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF TIE TERRITORI“S. A483

Carex omen, Kunth., var. minor, Gray, Enum. Pl. Hall and Har-
bour, p. 77.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.
Carex atrata, L.—Uinta Mountains, Wy oming Territory.
Carex rigida, Good.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.
Carex utriculata, Boott.—Denver.
GRAMINEZ.

Alopecurus pratensis, L., var. alpina, Wahl.—Near Denver.

Phleum alpinum, L.—Henry’s Fork of Green River.

Agrostis perennans, Tuckerm.—Henry’s ork of Green River.

Muhlenbergia glomerata, Trin— Wyoming Territory, August to Sep-
tember.

Calamagrostis Langsdorffii, Trin.— Wyoming Territory.

Calamagrostis longifolia, Hook.— Wyoming Territory.

Calamagrostis sylvatica, D. C.—Mountains near Denver.

Spartina cynosuroides, Willd.—Wyoiming Territory.

Boutelea oligostachya, Torr.—Near Denver.

Koeleria cristata, Pers.—Near Denver.

Hatonia obtusata, Gray.—Near Denver.

Brizopyrum spicatum, Hook and Arn., var. Strictum, Thurber, Enum.,
Pl. Hall and Harbour, p. 78.— Wyoming Territory; August to September.

Poa serotina, Hhrh.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Poa arctica, BR. Br.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Poa Andina, Trin.—Uinta Mountains, Wyoming Territory.

Festica ovina, L., var.—Near Denver.

Bromus ciliatus, .—Near Denver.

Bromus kalmui, Gray.—North Park, Colorado Territory.

Triticum repens, L.—Mountains near Denver.

Hlymus canadensis, L.—Denver, Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-
tember. anh

Hordeum jubatum, L.—Denver; Camp Carlin, Wyoming Territory.

Trisetum subspicatum, Beauv., var. molle, Gr.—Uinta Mountains.

Aira caespitosa, L.—Uinta Mountains.

Andropogon argenteus, Hil. Wyoming Territory, August to September.

EQUISETACE Zi.
Hquisetum arvense, L.—Denver, Wyoming Territory.
Equisetum hyemale, L.cWyoming Territory ; August to September.
FILICES.
Pellaea atropurpurea, Link.—North Park, Colorado Territory.
Aspidium Pilix-mas, Swartz.—Wyoming Territory; August to Sep-
tember.
Woodsia obtusa, Torr.—Wyoming Territory ; August to September.

484. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

OF THE TERRITORIES.

VIL—CATALOGUE OF PLANTS.
A LIST OF PLANTS COLLECTED BY C. THOMAS, IN EASTERN

COLORADO AND NORTHEASTERN NEV

THE SURVEY OF 1869.

VY MEXICO, DURING

By Dr. C. C. PARRY

Atragene alpina, L.
Clematis Douglassii, Hook.
ligusticifolia, Nutt.
Pulsatilla Nuttal liana, Gray
Anemone multifida D. C.
Pennsylvanica, L.
Thalietrum Fendleri, Engelm.
alpinum, L.
eyinbalaria, Pursh.
repens, Hook.
affinis, R. B.

Ranuneulus «

Eschschoiltzi, Schiecht.|

Caitha leptosepala, D. C.
Aquilegia coerulea, Torr.
Deiphinium elatum, L.
Aconitum nasutum, Fisch.
Berberis aquifolium, Pursh.
B. Fendleri, Gray.
Corydalis aurea, “Wil ilid.
Argemone Mexicana, L.
Cardamine cordifolia, Gray.
Krysimum asperum, D.C.
Draba aurea, Vahl.

D. streptocarpa, Gray.
Caimelina sativa, L.
Smelowskia calyeina, C. A. Meyer
Thlaspi cochleariforme, D.C.
Physaria didymocarpa, Gray.
Vesicaria montana, Gray.

indoviciana, D.C.
Stanleya integrifolia, James.
Lepidium aly ssoides, Gray.
Barbarea vulgaris, Tb
Sisymbrinm canescens, Nutt.
Cleome integrifolia, Torr and Gray.
Viola canadensis, LL.

Nuttalli, Pursh.

Muhlenbergii, Torr.
fonidum lneare, Torr.
Hypericum Scouleri, Hook.
Silene Menzerii, Hook.

acaulis, L.

Paronychia pulvinata, Gray.
Jamesii, Torr.
Arenaria arctica, Stey.
Fendleri, Gray.
tenella, Gray.

|

Dryas octopetala, L.

Fragraria Virginiana, L.
vesea, L.

’ Amelanchier canadensis, Torr. and
Gray.

Prunus virginiana, L.

Epilobium alpinum, L.
latifclinm, 1.
angustitolium, L.
palustre, L.

Gayophytum racemosum, Torr. and

Gray.

Cinothera serrulata, Nutt.
pinnatifolia, Nutt.
biennis, Jue
marginata, Nutt.

Cinothera coronopifolia, Torr. and

Gray.

Gaura coccinea, Nutt.

parviflora, Dougl.

Mentzelia nuda, Torr. and Gray.
multiflora, Nutt.

| Opunta arborescens, Engel.
| Saxifraga punctata, L.

serpillifolia, Pursh.
bronchialis, L.
flagellaris, Willd.
nivalis, L.

Heuchera hispida, Pursh.
parvifolia, Nutt.
Halli, Gray.

Jamesia americana, Torr. and Gray,
| Ribes cereum, Douegl.

aureum, Pursh.
lacustre, Poir.
hirtellum, Michx.
Sedum rhodanthum, Gray.
rhodiola, L.
stenopetalum, Pursh.
Sanicula canadensis, L.
Conioselinum Fischeri, Wimm.
Musenium divaricatum, Nutt.
Thaspium montanum, Gray.
trachypleurium, Gray.
Osmorhiza brevistylis, D. C.
Adoxa Moschatellina, L.
Linnea borealis, Grouovy.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 485

Linnea Franklinii, Hook.
Cerastium vulgatum, L.
Claytonia megarrhiza, Parry.
Talinum pygmecum, Gray.
Malvastrum coccineum, Gray.
Sidalea candida, Gray.
malveeflora, Gray.
Linum perenne, L.
rigidum, Pursh.
Geranium Richardsonii, F. and M.
Frémontii, Torr.
Ceanothus ovatus, Desf.
Fendleri, Gray.
velutinus, Dougl.
Pachystima Myrsinites, Raf.
Acer glabrun, Torr.
Ptlea trifoliata, L.
Rhus toxicodendron, L.
aromatica, Ait.
Lathyrus ornatus, Nutt.
Ervum hirsutum, L.
Thermopsis montana, Nutt.
Petalostemon violaceus, Mich’x.
candidum, Mich’x.
Sophora sericea, Pursh.
Glycyrrhiza Lepidota, Nutt.
Trifolium longipes, Nutt.
Parryi, Gray.
dasyphyllum, Torr.
nanum, Torr.
Lupinus cespitosus, Nutt.
pusillus, Pursh.
ornatus, Dougl.
Dalea laxiflora, Pursh.
aurea, Nutt.
formosa, Torr.
Amorpha nana, Nutt.
Astragalus Drummondii, Hook.
Parryl, Gray.
ceespitosus, Gray.
multiflorus, Gray.
strictus, Nutt.
bisuleatus, Gray.
hypoglottis, L.
Oxytropis specosa, Dougl.
multiceps, Nutt.
Lamberti, Pursh.
Psoralea floribunda, Nutt.
lanceolata, Pursh.
esculenta, Pursh.
Spirea opulifolia, L.
dumosa, Nutt.
Sibbaldia procumbens, b.
Chameerhodes erecta, Burr.
Cercocarpus parvifolius, Nutt.
Rubus deliciosus, James.

Symphoricarpus occidentalis, R. Bz.
Lonicera 1 involucrata, Banks.
Sambucus pubens, Michx.
Galium boreale, L.
Valeriana dioica, L.
Fedia lon ciflora, Yorr. and Gray.
Liatris punctata, Hook.
Aster salsuginosus, Richards.
Hrigeron philadelphicum, 1b
grandifiorum, Hook.
macanthrum, Nutt.
compositum, Pursh.
Solidago virga aurea, L.
Diplopappus ericoides.
Aplopappus armerioides, Torr. and
Gray.
Aplopappus Frémonti, Torr. and
Gray.
Aplopappus Parryi, Gray.
* Nuttalliana, Gray.
Chrysopsis villosa, Nutt.
Lepachis columnaris, Torr. and
Gray.
Gaillardia aristata, Pursh.
Helianthella uniflora, Torr. and
Gray.
Helianthus pumilus, Nutt.
petiolaris, Nutt.
Actinella grandiflora, Torr. and
Gray.
Actinella scaposa, Nutt.
acaulis, Nutt.
Hymenopappus tenuifolius, Pursh.
Macheranthera canescens, Gray.
Grindelia squaresa, Duval.
Townsendia grandiflora, Nutt.
serricea, Hook.
Fendleri, Gray.
Linosyris graveoleus, Torr. and
Gray. i
Linosyris viseidiflora, Torr. and
Gray.
Peciis angustifolia, Torr.
Artemesia scopulorum, Gray.
tridentata, Nutt.
borealis, Pall.
frigida, Willd.
filifolia, Torr.
Antennaria dioica, R. Br.
Carpathica, D. ©.
Rudbeckia laciniata, L.
Zinnia grandiflora, iby
Ximenesia encelioides, Cav.
Melampodium cinereum, D.C.
Achillea millelifolium, L.
Bahia absinthifolia, Benth.

486

Rubus strigosus, L.
Nutkanus, Mocino.
Rosa blanda, Ait.
Geun vivale, 1bp
triflornm, Pursh.
Rossii, Seringe.
Crategus rivularis, Hook.
Potentilla diversifolia, Lehm.
Norvegica, L.
fissa, Nutt.
fruticosa, L.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Vaccinium myrtillus, L.
Arctostaphylos ava- ursi, Spreng.
Kahnia glauca, L.
Pyrola minor, L.
secunda, L.
ehlorantha, Swartz.
uniflora, L.
Plantago Patagonica, Lam.
Primula an sustifol ia, Torr.
Parryi yi, Gray.
Androsace. filiformis, Retz.
septentrionalis, L.
cham ajasme, L.
Dodecatheon meadia, L.
Lysmachia ciliata, L.

Aphylon fasciculatum, Torr. and |

Gray.
Pentsiemon glaber, Pursh.
acuminata, Dougl.
glaucus, Graham.
pubescens, Soland.
humilis, Nutt.

Serophularia nodosa, L.

Mimulns Jamesil, Torr.

Syi ithris plantaginea, Benth.

Veronica alpina, 1.

Castilleja pallida, Kunth.
sessilifiora, Pursh.
integra, Gray.

Orthocarpus luteus, Nutt.

Pedicularis racemosa, Benth.

Groenlandica, Retz.

Parryi, Gray.
Scutellaria resinosa, Torr.

galericulata, L.

Monarda aristata, Nutt.

Dracocephalum parviflorum, Nutt.

Peucrium cubense, L.

Verbena anbletia, al

Hebinospermum floribundum, Lehm.|

Eritrichium glomeratum, D. C.
‘ crassisepalum, Torr.
arctioides, D. C.
Lithospermum pilosum, Nutt.

| Abies

| Calypso borealis, Salisb. =;

OF THE TERRITORIES.

Arnica angustifolia, Vahl.
Senecio integerrimus, Nutt.
aureus, L., (variety.)
triangularis, Hook.
-eremophyllus, Richard.
Cirsium acaule, All. |
Mulgedium pulchrum, Nutt.
Troximon glaucum, Nutt.
Lygedesmia juncea, Don.
Campanula Langsdorfiana, fischer.
C. uniflora, L.
Campylocera leptocarpa, Nutt.
Hriogonum alatum, Torr.
umbellatum, Torr.
flavum, Nutt.
brevicaule, Nutt.
Comandra pallida, D. C.
Arcenthobium campylopedum,
Engel.
Bupherbia maroinata, Pursh.
montana, Engel.
Croton muricatum, Nutt.
Tragia ramosa, Torr.
Quercus Douglasii. D. C.
Cory! us rostrata, Ait.
Betula glandulosa, Michs.
Salix glauca, L.
Populus angustifolia. ‘
Pinus ponderosa, Dougl.
contorta, Doug.
flexilis, James.
aristata, Engel.
edulis, Engel.
Menzies, Lindl.
Engelssanii, Parry.
erandis, Hind.
Platanthera hyperborea, Lindl.
Spiranthus eornua, tichard.
Goodyera Menziesii, Lindl.

| Iris tenax, Dougl.

| Sisyrinchium Bermudiana.
| Streptopus amplexifolius,

| Smilacina stellata, Desf.

Die:

racemosa, Desf.
Lilium Philudelphicum, b.
Hrythronium evandiflorum,
Pursh.

| Allium cernuum, Roth.

Leucoerinium montanum, Nutt.

Calochortus venustus, Benth.

Lloydia serotina, Reich.

Yucea baccata, Torr.
angustifolia, Pursh.

Zygadenus glaucus, Nutt.

Juncus tenuis, L.

GEOLOGICAL

Lithospermum longiflorum, Sprang.

Mertensia alpina, Don.
Sibirica, Don.
Polemonium ceruleum, L.
pulchellum, Bunge.
confertum, Gray.
Phlox Douglassii, Hook.
Hoodii, Richardson.

Colomia linearis, Nutt.

Gilia pinnatifolia, Nutt,
ageregata, Sprang.
spicata, Nutt.
congesta, Hook.
longiflora, Benth.

Evolvulus argenteus, Pursh.

Ipomea leptophylla, Torr.

Solanum triflorum, Nutt.

rostratum, Don.

Physalis lobata, Torr.

Phacelia Popei, Torr and Gray.

circinata, Jacq.
sericea, Gray.

Hydrophylium virginicum, L.

Nama dichotoma, Chois.

Hilisia nyetelea, L.

Gentiana acuta, Michx.

Pe artyi, Gray.
afiinis, Griesb.

Frasera speciosa, Dougl.

Aselepias tuberosa, L.

verticillata, L.
speciosa, Torr.

Apocynum canabinum, L.

Abronia fragrais, Nutt.

Oxybaphus nyctagineus, Sweet.

Allionia inearnata, L.

Polygonum bistorta, L.

viviparum, L.
tenue, Michx.

Oxyria digyna, R. Br.

Rtumex venosus, Pursh.

SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES.

~

487

depeus Mertensianus, C. AUST er.
Parryi, Engel.

: Lazule spicata, DC:

parvitlora, D. C.
Cyperus Schweintzii, Torr.
Scivpus pungens, Vahl.

if it ’

| Carex scoparia, Selk.

atrata, L.

Muhlenbergia gracilis, H. B. K.
graciliura, Torr.
aspericaulis, Nees.

Sporobolus ramuloides, H. B. K.

Sperebelus asperifolius, Nees and

Meyer.

Panicum capillare, L.
Spartina cynosuroides, Willd.
Phieum alpinum, L.
Aristida purpurea, Nutt.
Keeleria aristata, Pers.
Lrisetum subspicatum, Beauv.
Brizopyram spicatum, Hook.
Vilfa tricholepis, Torr.
Muuroa squarrosa, Yorr.
Buchioe dactyloides, Engel.
Bouteloua oligastachya, Nutt.

B. curtipendula, Gray.
Festuca tenella, Willd.

FH. ovina, L.

Poa alpina, L.
Sitanion elymoides, Ref.
Hordeum jubatum, L.
Triticum caninum, L.
T. Phleoides, H. B. K.
Sclerochloa Californica, Munro.
Setaria, caudata.
Hragrostis pozoides, Beaur.
Chelanthes Mendieri, Hook.
Nothochlena Fendleri, Kunze.
Woodsia obtusa, Torr.
Asplenium septentionale, L.
Cystopteris fragilis, Bernh.

Notze.—The foregoing list of plants is inserted for the purpose of
furnishing some data to botanists in ascertaining the general distribu-

tion of the species therein named.

‘My duties in other Genanpit ens did

not allow me time to make notes in regard to special localities, eleva-

tions, &e.

C. THOMAS.

-APPHNDIX.

METEOROLOGY, &c
By Mr. J. W. BEAMAN.

QUARTERMASTER’S Depot, Fort D. A. RUSSELL,

November 1, 1870.
Sre: I have the honor herewith to present the uieiraliectioal notes
taken during the month of July, August, September, and October,
while connected with the geological survey of Wyoming Territory under
your charge. These notes have been taken in connection with other
duties, not in a professional, but rather in an amateur way. This will, L
trust, account for many apparent imperfections and omissions. Theinstru-
ments placed at my disposal were an aneroid barometer with accompany-
ing Fahrenheit thermometer; a Fahrenheit thermometer manufactured
by C. A. Siefert, Boston, Massachusetts; two Fahrenheit thermometers
manufactured by J. Kendall & Co., New Lebanon, New York; also, one
odometer for the measurement of the road. There has been a barometric
observation taken at every camp and many points of importance on the
survey. As will be seen by an inspection of the tables, the observed
readings at the same place often vary several tenths of jan inch. This
is owing to a change in density of the atmosphere each hour, and with
every wind and rain; hence the heights are but approximately indicated.
There has been no allowance made for a change in temperature, as it is
but slight. There has been no allowance made for the wind, as I have
had no means of determining its force. I have made no allowance for
moisture, as I have had no hygrometer. The rule which has been fol-
lowed in making the estimates of elevation is one given by J. H. Bell-
ville, of the Roy: al Observatory. Greenwich. Aule.—‘s As the sum of the
readings of the barometer is to their difference, so is 55,000 (or twice the

assumed height of the atmosphere in feet) to the elevation required.”
This rule is founded on the supposition that the height of the atmos-
phere is 27,500 feet, with the barometer at 30 inches and the thermome-
ter at 55° Fahrenheit. The temperature has been noted at the timeof
taking each reading; so that if there could be a more accurate estimate
made by allowing for a change, it might be made. The anerdid is one
purchased in Philadelphia of McAllister & Bro., 728 Chestnut street.
The divided circle is only two inches in diameter. Its small size recom-
nends it to those desiring a very convenient portable instrument; but
en the other hand it is too small for the most accurate work. The tem-
perature during the time occupied in the field has ranged from 103°,
Quartermaster’s Department, Fort D. A. Russell, July 28, 2.30 o’clock
b- m., down to 8°, Big Pond Stage Station, Bitter Creek, 3.30 o’clock a.
, October 17. We have experienced few storms of rain or snow. The ©
iat direction of the wind has been from northwest or southwest.
On the evening of September 24, at Camp Elliott, there was a most gor-

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 489

geous display of the aurora borealis. It was first noticed about half
past eight o’clock in the evening, when the northeast quarter of the
heavens was one glow of deep crimson flame. There was very littie
shooting upward of narrow bands of light, but rather a gradual change
of color. Later in the night the northwest quarter became suffused in
the same manner.

The odometer has worked admirably, showing as the distance traveled
by the train 888.196 miles. This does not include the trips made by
yourself to the head-waters of the Chugwater Creek, Laramie Peak,
Box Eider Cation, Uinta Mountains, the sources of Bear River, the
source of Henry’s Fork of Green River, and Brown’s Hole, which brings
up the estimate to 1,400 miles, making a daily average of about 18
miles.

In conclusion, let me here add that my work in this department has
been attended with an increasing interest as the months have gone by,
and my onlv regret is that it is not more thoroughly done.

I have the honor to be your very obedient servant,
J. W. BEAMAN.
Dr. F. V. HAYDEN. ‘

THE TERRITORIES.

OF

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

490

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TERRITORIES.

HE

4

SURVEY Or

GEOLOGICAL

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GHNERAL INDEX

PART I.
Page
INDEX TO GEOLOGICAL REPORT OF PROFESSOR. .F. V. HAYDEN ....----~-------. 10-188

Alkali ....-..----2-- ---- +--+ 22 ee scene ee eee tee eee nee cee eee ee eee eee 187

/NDPELOOS SWBMOM, 5655 ABS She oo becd Sagage cHosce apeeas seades Sasdec Gosiese ossin sens 110
PAMIAIVSCS asain lesea= =.= -'= Liscboo bboo ooseeu secouedoongedeeeeo cocebeces 14, 171, 181, ee

Aspen SRE Hoin 8 AR SUIS CSU) PRS Rene apn OR ORE AAI NEST L 149

JDMINEEIL S[OMMMNGS. Gobonoeouodadd sdectd Ge caseso dagcdce Gdetoe ceunegaeueen coos onesoe 73
ioynal IL@HNO Eee aS odokeo deo deceos pogadd daqa peo bd0 dado cass sanbieseooccoud coos 104, 157
LS eRe LENS WED) 1D) LOEEICL ON 65 ono LeoosedunoguedcouSoUSe oe Gone souo Geom boas acioe 44
WES NEL WO, Cliay os IDS 68 Bass osccau os maso choo dsod done pacecsdocuss 2) Be:
10) Koha LEN) Welln Clay, O00 eee oa ee ee pores aace 147
(Chiiiy, Ins Ore gunesnie) were Hoe ee ookG Ceo obo be Cooeco cdboscbo se seco Sonex 150

HS EAVES eee eee ee ee aH cS rach 2 cal aire SMU el et OO Shoe Lr Ns ee mel iai ea 135
PR STNG OMS LAL OT ery Seacrest eta Syl de ks LAE Re aM PA pea a elke Oe 2 AU ee 135

BioTRoOMdIS tatlOme ye Meese Seleyemsate Bleicher: eps a ileara/ pauiayeuereay, eu seven oleye tals Zl
BiG bery CLECs SOMUIOM sete e mice sec ae Nn aay iy LE oa ese ea eee 140
Weill; sicbbdhs Ghaceonsosesissas su ceus soonsm de osianSausdacoed aandes, . IAD

Vere Kewl waits bO repartee Sree iar ener Ds Biche ei UN 2 Se See Se Se aed 71,141
Hills, (Laramie Mountains) ES al ea a eae Neh eae MI NS real S a 12, 21

IBA GIS hOB ESAs SapC eB Ae nao eer nE Se a es Ae a RET Ete ass 41
lB Thuy, Ian) Soke aaron paar SoRe near OAs oMSed bes Bera cunele Rm wracns Guone 100
BlutisjofNiobraray Gro wy seals s eek ese ee Cae Ne aac hats a Sierra 90

HS ose el Ve © iy TAM a IV a NE SE efi aR Seas ee ele I 24, 162
Bie lonsse CTY CPN SI Sea eet he hs AES a aN al nly AN es ALP eo ain hrs ope 58, 73, 166
BES ASS eet aera era aoa ie ey ea Hh tN UN oy eee an aioe ore ARAN HLTA sulle A Sam Pa 73, i)

Carboniferous rocks, Missouri River, divisions of....-......--.---------------- 86
Wanisombode se epee Socie yaya ie Sea ase tera Sule Cte a aS ale ale eee ela 36, 171

FSALEEE TKO OU, 2005 20 8G EG Ve SAAN FL a Panty een GNI eA Mae ION Mat earn Oe ce TI O77
WARD ONES TALTO MUA ae ep elere pa mr arl (aie Ie LU Rnue bal ne EUR SG Nhe 202 Se icewe ae ar oc hee 133

@heyenne= as. -/ Be ey ae AL Ae een ee em pees yeeore. TL lt
to Fort Fetterman, Chap. SCA ANE GU OR OES LLC Ace mee 11

Cherokee Trail. ep PH ava apa apa Ab eyes Nie rat a Sey UL a ak aad Ee tes eel eo in ea ee TOG
Church Buttes .......---- USE RATE ape Selinger ne weer eT LS 114
Chalk Bluffs, Blackbird Hill, , Nebraska, (ent) CEOS ES Se UMM SMES amon a sotE 5am 88
Chugwater -..- Wa EAC AU eg UCT EAL gS ero ee ed dee ese al Wy JU(as
Chain de Roche Creek. MEPS RM DSN Loe Sh SON Sn TH Bee Nana ean gees oh
CCH Sai RSH es A ee A ee
Coal eS e CaaS BANC Cle ASANO to ara 174, ‘101, ER. 136, 139, 141, 149, 154, 166

analyses of. - mid Boag ise Os SL USE IS ia A cl a LE
considerations ‘affecting ‘economic value ‘of - URNA AAING IY pane Gow Tetras ley AL THES
MT CASTILE S Ufo [0 Cleese ey ee eae eee ye NR ile mL Rep UNS Cis UU eee 85

(COEIISS OE Wlaney TOO) Shir NY oe Da peas) Aa Se A Aen oe LW Ae IU ata naa anu oc 179
ra livsil eye reratee aise) ade vane ee SUEMMIUS SU OU ae ERR St ne eee eee Ss AS cicigicme ene Seeieu LOC aRL OG
CODICES BE A ce Sate OY TYE ESN a ag Get een eA a ee eee eRe Sn Se Ilsics
WOOPETSIOTEE Keeper Meet Ry UTERO tear mane Yan StS on 2 oie SO) ak te rs a ORT
Columbus, ISTE etal lary cen sd SO ONO SON OM RRR ROR RUE HOES TAS

Como Station . Briere YUE SESS Hl EV BALM de US ee No een Sereey ren Sage ae).
Coteau des Prairies, (cut) erste aha tetova ev alacenic Grass ees = ieee = See ee Ce ea
COLEOMBV OO AEC RES yer Srey ya are On Pe ata cadre Se Se tk 18

504 INDEX.
Page.
COxs Peake shee cee aoe eee ae oa ca ese nee ioe on ae eee eee eee eae 53
Cretaceous rocks of Northwest, general section of.-....-------.--------------- 87
No. 1, of Little Blue River, Nebraska, (Cut)a- ----co-o see eee alo
Creston) Station! 555-5 2. een a a selcims) eis eee eciea ecleee se cioe see eee eee 139
IDE" ROWE CROWD socssoce coense5e5s05 6555 6605 cogs soca Gass HCO doeSbe does Cenc 88, 90, me
Male: Creek 228 ooo 6c nce) et eles Se ee eles Se Sandee sone Seca eee eo 117
. Dawes’s Peak - BUN reiel ste /ateceralloian aye jalode ida oils eeetane asic palo a astern Cee 53
DeeriOTeEk sks te a Te ce sin aR 25
Devil’s Gate - Eafasie knee a hieleerea ae dis tee pesee soe eae SoC eee 31
MialgRock Paste qecee ne ede bine Selection ceeles' cei deun cere eee eee eee LS
Douglas County, N Nebraska ...0 2.252 et te
Drift deposits -. ee SARA oe ER Ee SoCs GsGs. LA!
Duck Wake shes eeee ene whee Sebeeg edt See ee Ve eee 73
Dynamics of ‘geology, examples of ee Le ee

Mast Hmdaminestsc222 gs sh lh52 23 cass so8 shee bec dsies ee cere sees eel eae
HCH ONCIGY ies eee cccise shies 5 Sh cciee oo See oe eee tenes Se Ce eee Ceo ee end
(Canim Ab BAS ase oSed dose eeHeesScEomoceeosobuedesseaotsodasooceccocéeuecs UES

Creek... 2 eSaieechels ease eek «a sclsaeomeea he fee ea a 51
Elevation near r South. Passi ic 2is sbecdcen et abe cetuhinee Dobe ae nae eal
PikiMounbaimee2sccsc ose. So2 cassek Plates tcc acetone ea er eee 77, 135, i
Milikhorm WRiverl:.c. 52286 sheen. eve Sea tacs Geek ee es ee ere
Evanston; coal mines atii:. ss... 2h cee ede Saas cas eee eee 161
Port Brideerts jcc e ek ess pas cunts cena tecesne soemeeaes ses ae eae eee 55

and! Uinta Mountains... 22 - +2 5222 sou cose eecee nn. se ea eee Al
from’, to Uinta Mountains, «&c., Chap: Vice-2---22---2- eee eeeeee 54

DAL ORUBSSCLL esos ceo soes Leee oe bees caus tomewicn emia d oetoaneys See eeere aed ete 11

Ketterman’ from, to South Pass, Chaps lil. sos. 5-245 4 seec- eee 24

Halleck euccoeeissleca lees Miia tees cothees sed Ansa kde ose oe eee 78

Mag ch el ase Preaek isola oes DOSE He ME a Soe aurea eae ee ae 110

Pierre Group ese lsiss en sete eee See se oeee she aa eriseaieees PO aoe 91

Sandersecc. sos eded eens ass sore ss poe wees a sere sesaaes qcsieeioe ae eee 129

Stambatchetcoss lic sescle bees ec ueaey Sac Cee ene ae eee 36

Steele, list of exposed! strata) Meare ss sea o seco eee eee eee eee eeonsS 136
Horests'of pine near Waramie Plaimse 2285 922 eee ee sets oss eee ee eee 128
HoOssu plants sa asas wooo aS ns ode oS Seales ee Sew Se 89, 94, 143
Box Falls Growp isso iace Jase gos Sats sons gas ans oases sisaeis dec ae ae eee 165
Frémont, Nebraska..---- Hesaas Wesco Saale is degecdistioss sacs cee 102
Prémont)s) Peak s.ssssueas Jace sew sale ase oso an ose kas See ee eee ose 37
GEOLOGICAL REPORT of Prof. F. V. Hayden-.-..-.-.-.-.---- ESE i oe ic 11-188
Gallbert) sit Galler RS She OS a NT A NY SS Nay eee ey 53, 57
Gilaciallaic Grom tet ok re aes ONE teas eee ec ela Te tn eye ee 99
Granite Can ones eet eee ee een eres Sic ee hee Cree ee eee 113, 115
Gregory Lode, Colorado-.-..-.--.--. $25 ARSE Oe eee el Soke Gere ee i7te/
GES MRIVEL: GROUPS ate eee eee ye re tpt eet ge ela aS eur sete eter ee 58, 70, 142

Station to! Cheyenne) Chap. Vilas. eae ose eee eee (ace 70

IBedsts2 ier sass aha ees eC a OSE AS Sroe a eee ee eee ee 40, 60
OilkTodessen eS eee eet eee eee eee eee 68
Hayden'siCathedralicce eee eos ce ce eee Sec eee ee eee eee 43
Haystack Butters ton eh eee Oe ee ee OR ee 70
Henmny,s wBorkee Os cote ete ESR Leeh Sek As ES ee ee 56
IFLOTSE\C reek eer Se a esate i eee Se EEE eee 13
iEforse-Shoey Greeks: boo 2h. Se sec Oe e eee teeter et cee See ee eee 19
Independence:Rockts22s<2222 tbs: Ute Se ee 30
Imsects, (fossil) ssh eee it Lak eR AE Cee REL Ree eee er 144
PROMOTE sss :25 2 SSE ee SR ees AR ET ee gh Sl ae ee TAL?
Jackson’s' Canons so 82 seats Soe ee. St ee eee eee 28
War Bonte:@réelessosss sees eee hos eee ree eee ee 20
Thal Clede Stations: 2 ee eit ee Ske oo OE eee ee 75
hake "Bellamy ssoss sss ssgrsese sss oa Sst es ee aes Se 98
GarPrelanGreelkces ois oss Bee ee ee 22
haramiePlaims:(Chap..X¢ 120) oes sc se ae eee nee ee 79.121
IRIVET Fs Se wicic’s cua owen Pose celeste Semmens een eee eee eee reeee 78, 121, 124, 163

INDEX. 505

Page
Laramie Hanes (Bleek ISHHIS)) Gooaccodon.cpgue5 pono oonG DobN Cocco cbbanetodc code ; 112
sons SSeek bbe bShg boos Robo Senco tUnDREC rm Sarcans Hedepedseancee 7,118
Letter to tho oe of the enerion by Erol EVE Elay enema e ere ae 3
ILi@Mlie: WEthioecasslebsetocichccse tases epeddaledes case eebesa on -seoaseese 16, 22, 59, 74
(Cironyo, Cieeticosede soub codaes Soabad GecedocoecEs cscHecdeon bbsese cosesc 93
IM COlNENE DLAs Ka seis e sey ee lehelala a Lis oc a lserefavejcis eiclay cfs \avaye ale las seatal ee ose) <i e 101
Leidy’s, Doctor, description of fossil mammals..---...---.-----------.--------. 105
Mod gerPolerCrecks laa soe eee oe cas claiteelless ssa sle serctaa ieee re /slensis ioteteaioete au
1, LEACGYRAR AUIS AT BTEPEH eyes at ae a a ee ee Ca 53
BOOMS LATE OC Gaertner erteteyetct 2/5 loi Varatnve) siateraiaials alare mie jalata ecnlen ste ferevate = iaiete seine 68
HOT OTS Re a reer ete ayes eae Ue ales ae tt kT eh Meta MIR on tei zee 118
IL OW O OB cee ose see ees c Se Saati a Ss eee een Ape SBE nas saan bo-coee Sapeeioes 103
IVT a Stel OSSTURS ee eras) scars elape ic datctawe ele cia aie tie cajeeetnclajayniel ate ese rela) eee oe 104, 145
Miarsh7s eb LOt., CESCrpvlON Of SUCAONS) .<.c-c2)/- © ac.) ao in| alsin) = \mjmmn) eine see eee 31
Wi AISE SH NOrRe Seta sy tie eters sie aiaisinte sare int stain ala le l=) ole ol afajatel = ora cbelee emer ota ies 104
MeMicimeybOwpisUbbel 62 Sore Sse yee eke ae eh ciayneneressjeyaya lanes See feneeee 153
IMIG Ee esos BEES cae Ss Opsolmaee dcop SUE BbaboRe eabe pero reEacosaTes ones 121
Jubinerall Groin aks ae es Oe ee eS Soe BacE SSS a MGnOrnommaeaaSee eso 152
Miner’s Delight Ode) ere sary staic avorueyalata cicee yer aletsiniaielanciaeeseiotags iota e/a eee 36, 178
(Calony, (lod ese aie sii ete WH SNe ONG eto we ects ates eee ee 68
Mines, BNeer atone Oil; Clings Os OW Coe ona deed sue scdsonoGos osdeebadas oss cone 177
MABSOUEMEV Alley ye OLOS yO Nes att soca corse tele ci eislaia le ainsi ae eideraiera eelaicicie ae 85
general view of the geology ef, Chap. VII.--.-...---.-.------ 85
Monument iC reekuGrowps te sos nee Ss ak an Ce eee acl ea cere feathers 161
WHOM OAT Cutiyperey ye arte ter oe oiaa ais Li tecieyae Seale, Oates ayer byafle a has o/aimieta Slee tay ea 158
Mimreldy Crecloue eee nme amime Mis Nas my OL PEARL ANU Tit ue eames 26, 48
INGE CICS RUN Aee se una anaes Ae wo lc Recto cisinicid(s ncamclsiss ecules teins cle sea eee 153
Newberry, Dr.—extract from report on fossil plants......-.--...----.--.. 89,94, 143
INT ORACLE Eee Seah ka ee eee Se CU iat at ena ava ae a ctethaie ot Semen teach 104
NOLthHRarkte tee nhe tas ese SoS ease oe ccee eens ssc cee sachs meselaeeeises 123
OileSprinseslOtBeayhivelacrsssaic as sisiaparts leis leis lis wlaisiate ee ya lasieleiea eater eae 152
Omaha @ibysss oS sess e ook Se Ne Ss oo he Se Ne Giese cys ees 98
polCheyennes Chap tera Ville se ays sere eae ptt ieen eet ele rae 98
OvStenRlO Geo acs haces same lana sess ais a Hate emia linia la sem cis aens Seelye seme eas 149
RICIICB ODEN Biris acca ee one acscle Naa cce wae Mas cma niscie sis sls sjacan eee ceeeee 39
TPENSS) (CRETE) EGS 2575 eat a eh ae aR ea TA J aOR MMPS EULA Ray eS Ps ee 76, 137
Retritiedstishn beds sme sak aes ee vue sm cma ian gyede eile Peas eS Sees 143
JECEMIRROMM SAUDE AY! COL Set Sets al Aree ay Me el Dt vr Le aes Aa Ve eae 144
PITA UG LEM ites s cle kee ie es I LA a le es Ca ge 2 Se Me 28
Photograph Ridge... .-. SOC BANE SEBS BEBE EEE Herr Dae EE eT Sra et ia ten ate cae 58
Plants, ef OSS Tea aapeie ites ma en dill Yared ctf ot Braet a Yan rare aan rater We OL a 89, 94, 143, 164
Platte River MATE a OT AIME CD ype ees: Miaysre me Ua oa sia ia hE aay es Ore neers 122
WOME caobas cooneo coubte Susvatocosdason opécon upSee baSccoscesce 102
PAOUMbPO te ROC geste erate sree Tecate any Re EN AS ce a I a ev ae 141, 166
RAIN OS StS PLUM OG eae shee mae Rai ele UAL he Se tee ee cee eee ee ee ee 135
TE, CHR eTES 6 fs lle aa Ue DOU URN DLO PCS SO 65
CET ANGN a chee estas al AI As MER Se A RR aD a RGSS SIH Be eae et oe 66
DB DU ATSYS\ sees Ss ES eh aS GM OG i AS NS) Pie STO Uf
Review, general, of geology from Omaha to Salt Lake, Chap. XIII- Lia a/eieieg ee af LOU
Ridges of upheaval, Big Thompson Creek cu) TL AS SR Ape act ec a 162
Jefferson Fork (Conn) ) Bes Me Se ene ANU Mr ee eet elas meet) ws d Kays:
PROC Ky Cee Kerem crema vais mip ec na aN INE UIT Sena a on be oa ena 79, 122
Rocky Moanin Oyen unepitstirange/oty Ohaperl Xe. sere e yee eee aera eee 112
VO UT ET aol eves eww tes sarap te eye ance nue Ana as Ua eS a OU oe ee 15
DAeeEC Tee keer eee pera etch ean eR at MEN es ie Eo Me ak gn ry te ae re 7
SaligvakerGreaband borderiney Plains ssssgee se be see ae seco ss eee eee eese aes 172
LEO ADT 0) Mees aes NSC eR H RSE GIL SAAT eee AT ee a ee ee RR RECS ES ee, Ae 169
TVFeN TL eyes ees ects ete ee AL RS IT Sa ANS SES OG BNR Rt Ie SU ll Suro earaeare 160
STORMY 32 SABC SU SA bIG ESE tee COE HEA OEE Ie oer en cnet rere uenr esas nae 101
ANGUS WS ct rasp RES OI ey pL Ey ayy Sack choy RARE eestor 71,141
SS nl FM TE Speer ae ey eee eS AN Ly MN To AS DC Es Varo ea ental 103, 109
SaudyebioeanchbiGhlens a2 seme os cee Cems A eel a3 MPU wise teeenceetiees 40

SOUS BUD ATS sy ee Nea as Sal ie a eel ino aaa Occhi OLE A MRO ers (at od Gas Romi Si 110

506 INDEX.

Page.
eminole Mountains ————- -=a— a5 - a= woe eee ee ee ee
heeps-neads Mountain) - sso esccccia-s-cnccm ese =e es = ee See ee eee 122
Shells, fresh-water and land, accumulations of...-.....--...---.-------------- 72
Sherman Station, granite rocks near, (cut)......--..----.. 2-2-2 e-- 22 = wae eee 117
shoshonesi(Cindiams) (eo 2ac joie Sasa wee ei saletel ea e/arae) = al Sa vi
SIGNILE) SCAM ONS. 2) Sc cheleinc enn bie asin ie cineca see eee aCe sane eee Eee eee 115
silver.Creek Walley. 2cj< sje wee cen ieee eee ee Sess eee eee ee eae 161
SMiGS MMOT Cae so nsewe se crciese cc se wie eri aSens =O <a ae eee 41
Oda, ANAIYSES Of, se kate loo esos oc oaiciala eee sais sol qeenine ee ee 187
DOM) Pass 7.2 sno Asccis oa wae we ser cesces ce seoseees cess ses see Oe 39

from, bOsHorbhbridger) Chap. Wil Sees sere. oe sane ee 35
PPLUCERIGGO eso os asigs tile sass some sez eseeccene Secaaels eee eee 42, 46
St. Mary’s Station .oo cle sue cove see eee SUE De SE eee ees 34, 135
Sulphan Creel: 2 soc eee coc eee ae etme enacinae see eee eee et eee 149

SPUNESh ecco ee icacep-ee seeps emcee Be Bee ee eee eee 138
Sweehwaben Group eass--ee= see weeoSt DJ soee. eee 29
IGS one Bs SstG Saas sone 2 = oe sess, ee eae ee eee eee 32
RIVED co sn sviewetitiesaecicmuise .seeeheatish -eeece Got Peo eee 121
MAblepO choco wes ee see eae cietelentcisinle'e oe saree eine He ORC E =e eee eee Eee 39, 71, 140
Merraces) (Cub) sss his eon ce anil scission eS acaicicins cise yee eee ee 176
Mertianyiseries| trom Bridger to Green Rivers. --, == =2- 2-2 - > =a eee 73
ofiNebraska, oeneral section Of {2 42=-o---55-2ee eee Pee eee 93
BnTee MOTOSSIN OS) sanin aye seek ae eee aa oe Soe See See eee Bence 30
MTASSic SANdSLONES, | (CUb) es esos einai = aie eee acinar Lstsbe- esse 119
Mio tles, efOSsM noioh oo, 3 eco weioy stoma doce Sem eee EEE Ee 145
Union Pacific Railroad, elevations along --_-_ 0. ~2..2 22 -- 22S See eee 112
(WintaMoun tains trip tO} .=.)- 6 —e)- ae oe ony = ae 44
Vermillion Creeks, se oe oss aioe cae Se yee Sone an eae ae es 68
WWarpania Dalle ooo s 2 Sasty oss alec cele Se qe ee (eae eo ee 116
Warm Spring analysis of .. 222 2(.. 2... 2222 son. teases 25h Se sce eee eee 171
\WWekeireil( Crh Sas 6555 a5 eke See noose aeco sees Soo bos oeeSEceose Ss sSosss -c5-- 159
GEOUDP aise sie o's eeeinnep ce inne stale“ eis eRe eee ee Ce ee eee eee 148, 169
Washakie Group. BOS OOS OFS SO O oan ERED Dene Soc eDU ch SHE cea eGS bea 5 ho86 GaSe ecccce 73
WiebertRivier.. 22 2\2c.n= see seen ea eiseicoce eens See Co eee eee ee mina
Willow Sprin gs. BBO BOG COCO SEBS CMO abe Boe ou SDHO DS eASB Sedo BSS Eh EGA Sess desoce 2250 29
Wands River Mountains -eccca-s- seas esee ee ae ese ee nee eee eee 30
Wiyomine Territory, description of cash part. 5---,-2-- 2255) -2 0 eee eee 114
fellow Creel Stahion: soe osc iso pe, cena one Selassie emisepese le jae ete ee 154
Woung "America: Miness- 22. 3225 5262220 ose 2 seeieee eee sees eee eee eee 7

Ganadians Mines? 2 2225 oben eee ee ee Sp eek bee oe ee TIED

PART II
ACCOMPANNING REPORTS, &O@.. 52.0522... - 2-2-6 soes cess pce ee eee 190-501
Agriculture, Report on, by Professor C. Thomas....-...---------.--2----2---- Ba lle
Analyses 5. bors nose coos So es Bas satsssey Vase eee Pe eee ee 321
Ancient lakes, by Dr: J. SNewberry:-..--- --5=(--2sect Soto 2 eee eee 329
Arkansas ‘istrich: 65. 502.324 ee ee 30s: aa See ee 213
River :s53 she ose se oeewe ehh ceca bigs Rp eee 214

valley of Upper--.:2: 222 22i2-2252 cb deen sb oc ee eee ee ee 194, 214

Artesian Wells "22.525 2-522 Siete bi eee cee Senge see ce eee ase Eee 264
Beaver River Valley.ces. css sssss sscsscs asuec sa5255 sece— Hees 2e eee eee 246
Birds; (fossil) (coco ne oes shosece wees cose soso see eeker ee ee ee eee 265
Grus' Hay denice ssc soso ee eesine oe eee thee ewe es oe eee 265
@ache Walley i520 Sse cs = oc iose Ses Selina eoee seen Sea eee ee eee 233
Caloptenus spretus, remarks on------------ ------ <2 22 022s ee wen a 281
Wamadian SeCtiOn,.- = 42 sin n6 a5. op 25 - = eo ence ees oe eos ebias See eee
@ammero (Creek <3 oo 52522 socses ccc sek eco scenes eee cae suelo eee eee
Catalogue of mammals and birds, by Mr. J. Stevenson.-...._. ue) aa 461
mollusca, by Mr. S. R. Roberts...-..._-_..---.+-- sie ee eee eee 467

coleoptera, by Dr. G. H. Horn...2...- 02-2 .-22s 2-2 eee 469

INDEX. 507

Page

Catalocueof hemiptera, bye. KR. Uhier, esq: 2: 222-2222. 52-22. 22 ccc cen e eens 471

plants; iby) Mir Wl C IP Orber. cise sis otlaicerinl< eee 6) 472

by Dr. C. C. as paoany soEdes eoScObanee- 4 posced penoeann = 484

Cedar Valle yeh See OER LM UG aE a AU ee MMe Se es OAS

Cimarron River, SE SNR VERMIN LES. | 213

(CUO mE ACs) CORE Cea aV SPAS) ok Saree cae SE A LN ene ee ae ete 453

ING wir Mel CONE een ee cc Cee NU pi tier cia ee 2 etn Lem a 208

Uae a Sia Ae gE NN ar ay ne aa aN TN 247

Coalsttertianyer by Miry Jele od gers e = eke Sue Seo ley kA oa) 2 Ne em 318

Coal andy siSOL ke seen renee niece ate isha ence me monk bietn cep eee eae 321

MOC ATUETER Ee Moe rae ais SI ou elt a ee Ree Meena el Syd ais Buda cece 322

Bakers Mine see yonec. see ewe ed Boe ABO Bees Mean eae Aer y oe 325

IBS) MINS Coos gobs become eros poco euES COME EEE EE Ce EE herr Ae e Se eyoe = | 2LE

Carbone. ore set ee Nae Morale lfoearaduicve irainie feeyereiloeetale eyes is cee eens 326

AT SPUN SU OU arateyey stat aye tare isievayay tereeee vey ereieae afd VA xchat hfay AeMaLenSy secs cyont, | Aces aL Seat IRR

Crolidlesa, Chirac ete Goa k Aas Soa Ne ee Re ea aer aa ecco 322

eA eu ovale es sees sk So Se SS oe eS aie a Sle estou bparcteier elise ey er 326

NEEM EMIS) TATE) aa Sere is AA ny Oc UE aoe ok ua ete aaa 323

Marshalls; miners Mee aia eee Bef Ge Wale alg ak 324

VAIS LOMNIE CA eee ais Sein Oe Oat ee ae hain AES UN A le as 323

hock Sprimee seco tobe Mice sss e le ek ewe AE ULNA CL pea ee ees es 327

Mian see ce eis tucle eye Ae Sia Cs e Sule IS aS NCR aca peg Ea Ree LES oc) 328

AVILA) Alpe tte ie eae es ay ee SIRS ANN is an ges yu eo Nd Age PL 327

AWVall SOTAAS pTIVIAT Oem Ss oon ere ae aes ee aac Se Webern eae athe 325

Wiromins Merritotycss ss. 2e) 22 DOOMED Boo Ear neaae Baa 4ao aoueoe =) e326

Coleoptera, catalooue of, by Dr..G. Ho dorms. 2.2.2.2. Sea 469

CWoestillopisivierceees ecu crea c ie oe Sinan ene EOL UT Be) lagu sa ieee Lea 200

CuO RAPEUIVe yee seins We ain Lee Mh AM i I in ue tk ised Le Nap aage 200

DIS HTC pl uTOn Gram (ere e ccm h ese Cac ST a sateen) i aetal tee etal A eet 197

PATEICA MI SAG cee ae eines Sie eh ETN ee he SN ee Aol ca len aR Ne 213

OUI Labbe itera Sea een WA ease nie isc aue cl alata ea fn anal eee Cea es 217

IN OT EH ETO Merk Ra ane LAR eine as OULNY Mee cua Teenie (ate SUE Se 217

ANN etera CLL EEG sve Te 2a yet ee US ot SCM ce RS slay gs ge ANS ROU Mg aaa 232

Gree eau Iyer ao lekki 2 2 A 8 cei AO eee sa a Ae ie A oe Ue ea 233

ISHGTE NLRs TEER ty IN ge 8 Ga RM A Md eM one se, 2) eee 237)

Hivisions boundaries oie tale Med UNA Ue le Repel ek WON 195

CASLOLISS eee Sale siarke wal vole) elaneiad a eet BA UNIS ater ix deat ed ea el NER Cy Ue 196

SWIES BOLI SS clare cael is sia ocean IMS MAN SS pone Ee ac eis SUH ARM Rae ee Sg 233

astermssection, (east. of Black, Hills )- 02 252. 00s ee ae ee 226

EN AIONS elISb Ole ee erate Mele ee cee Le Lm a Ch i eevee let Su teeyl 205, 490

Baslves-a(dossily) by Dr Jelly oes e cee es ake eee UI ais Ce 368

SUSU EXO) OTS ei SRN aaa eNO aU II RU NA I st eee heey Us ey cen Ua 369

COT ear eyeing ale an CS RL EE Ua Ue Wage Pa 369

(ODEN OG ORs Nee ae iseeiene cea MEWS An IS eek eee ap eb Lael ef 369

AVIA OG NO TET ULS SP Siete eke fe OAT LOL MO ach elas le ea rk or 369

TUCO ait SE eres SN AHS EOL sar Salvin recA LUNE ge mea ee en 370

SUC taale ete ys aie ewe ele ae ee eles er RAN eh elie Sy Pa eh A ee ROO

Ly SOW ALCS a ee et seam erate au MRR USING SGU Ube STC RUE ARs ea egy ban eet 370
Fishes and reptiles, (see Reptiles.)

Fossil (see Reptiles. y
Fossils, general remarks on. HELE Gane 0 area ee aha eee yo OCG

list of, by Professor F. “B. Meek ..__- BUC NN lie i as oH te OS Bye oY ag eS
Fountaine Qui Bouille River. Bias He as ta an OO A ee echalya Mae EV ih ege tae Gunes eed OIG

Geallari ase RVe ral a ees OWA ANOLON Nac: DSLR Is ae at goo RM ee ee SO
Gaeitan ree Kesey vecw ies etiae feeeNeu i Wile hay es osu AT eed aN O@
AeA MCA O LU eo e nom pe keen gle Ua NTL ie LS ill Uc iiureel ee, Te) a LO)

Grasshoppers eLabe Lull aA nin aaiyte rn eeu avhin OIUNC MEN don Ne MGNRe OCs) cea Uy yay eeg a enue ORT]
ESLOHU LIVED DISTT CU eye yee yee a NANO MOL Arak! aa ee CU age
FELATIBEOE SP TIN] OF Viallll ey; este Ey ses Ne MU MEG a ML iden Ol ee ea ce 238
Erd scrap ple Cree kaen esi wa sea vaya anon Wan a se. dc Maserati Sune 216
ieumpyera) catalocuelot bye. dey Uinler esi de. ts) le. Li) | anes ie AT1
Heteroptera, list ote. UG Ne NOD hs aa ine nanan it HORN ALL! 471

Le Yommogeyonissd Be ned eel haha EG ce IO AN Paes a) See a Oe eae ea STE Nn Tae g(a 198

508 INDEX.

Homoptera, WMSbOf saa cscs canis oa saete sisi noolseceicisisise y= tele ae cel ee eee eee soe 472
TSLO1p IS)OMUNES, se ceg cond poceas 6552 655og9 Socasa5bSos S505 ce tace Sseosn s=s ose secs 199

ING IRNS Soe oes Se a co as gag Seno ase ao cece Se SS se gs ma sansa On Senses seass | EE
Imtroduction torAcricultural Reporte 2. -- «ess eses seco eee eee eee eee eee 192

Jordon Valley sce joccss Sco cisete clave sidewa\seisie Dab eel ey aS SE ee eee 240
malo mViaill eyes eters ree etalecro met aaltey ar ranientc BONO Ba pebUweEeDosdoinz bo eesca ccs 243

IKemeYS) Wall ehycs ooo soem soon cacenG SaSn6S Gob=s5 S42 oso Semon soscd4 SoSSco6s Pr 244
Kansas, resources) of, by. R. iS. Elliott, esq)e- sss. sesecacs]- (oes ee eee eee eens,

and oramts) lel jeck oc lsnicc ser sioetoc ete lalsice iss auwisiowe mals esate Sees eee 261
aramiule yrs aim Slr layte elenatalere ae eis alee eee eine ala eta erat enone a eee ee 220

Malad Viale yee 2 tcyica\sioeinle Dieter = atsiatoie’ ata \oceisies /s)a,sieian sine v ley Se nee ree eee eee 238
Mammaliass (Gossil™) bys Dred aeldya nc cce a ohmic le sisi seer eee eee eee 340
ANeluro dome se iisviat (olla l= swlnlo ls ale annie ale earaiteie) ese eee eee 344
ACTIOCHOCLUS ese ese ieee ee 7h sib Sie ce Oi tay Sh A 349
ATP IRIGY OM. Hare = \alseiayacisio sieieiieie is sole cis penises eee eee ote Sak
ANTONY ONS aoc odogsgese non. csdose conceunoaset cacciee see eee eae 362

Cani6 i ieisrer ea tet totter a SUI PE a ea 341

COSOTYRaneewer erie ieee cision elec soe cee Se eae eee eee 301
Delphinus) 2 2ecteeei less eases eisin soa Once sanasisten cess eee eee 365
Dicobylesec/.seseeecesec ates see see Ne Bo Were ree 352
Dimiebisissooans-scest wes Vesa Se ee ee eee 343
Drepanodone ccs wsice ee a tein shee tibes Ao cle Ae eee ee eee 343
Mlephas-c- Senseo ce bect eee cnereeeeee sore cette eee eeeee 359
Blotheritim.c 5 ssc sicase .eteicn) ne ska eme ene Seer tee ene eee 303

Pippanlony.s2ssakesheslwe Soe at eee as el ee Reeve ee A ae 360
Iomocam elus ss sa-S532 323-3552 2622 25 soe Sac eee eee eeeee 390
ELV NOGOW Fees elect cece SSS os od Sect ok See aes ae eee eee 342
Ely opsodusieesasace ose aanise See ee ee Cones Cee ee ee eee ae 304
Fy OpobamiUus esate aeons eerie eee ee eee eee Oe eee 355
IELypohippus:-cess ee i os See eae en eee eee ee 362
Tyracodon Se ons sate ssduies elses eee I ee eee 356
PLY MACH US eee ee inet aro le ee a te ea re etn ee 307
FLY Strix =)- 6). todd e eee esdcice seeeocsck eecencacectos see eee 364
TetoOps, ci. sb sss cee le Soe keel shee ha sce Skee See eee ee CEO:
Ischyromys -.\25 a3 eaitenese lt decd ococee eee Some oe oe See ea OOS
eptarebus -- 2s2aseso25 22 Saadas soso SS sane eiee | =r ee tee eae mL
Leptauch ena: 4325,2 285.35 xs ses setee Seis sisal eel ie eS
Leplomenyx i515 cie Saas US sate aks oo en Stee eee ee eee ee OL
Leptochoernus) 2-2. = 22 s..2sssc2 fos scsis se peiscsssees ne See
Deptichis 2.2. -secs selina en te ee eee ee
Lophiodon. :. 22. sce tee ce eels ee eC) lem ns ed
Lophiotherium..... 225252252 2202522 <2 kee ee ee
Mastodon .a.2s. oc <2 o an 2h S555 Seen oe eee eee eS
Megacerops 2-2 - <i acs an eee ee eee ee eee ee ee
Megalomeryx -: -.- +. --2055- 22 sels eos se ce eee epee ee ee enone
Mery COU 26 i-)2.2 sinensis sic ale oe sae eict Hee eee ene eee eae
Merychyusii. 2.2222 elk cb ie ce Se SER Se eae
Mery cochenis)=< = 22> -s<\-5 + secio-= oe one eee nee eae
Merychippus-. -------.-----------------------------+------------ 361
Microsus-< see eeu cot Sos os oe eee ee eee pee ee eee
Mylodon:: 222m. 0b beeke ccs ce teh cat tye tee E ee See ee ace
Nonohyusi 2523 soi 00sec esa dede se des ee ees oe ee eee

Omomyssssos-=4=5 Cer
Oréodon’:...<2s2t3hs cons -2 ok ee re
Palssocastor sec) ac/2s 25. ve eee eee ee ee ee

INDEX. 509

Wieramelbin, Tee yolbyans 6 6a 55 sbkecsoeehe cone catcnneeesococeeneececoseecce a | BER
IPP NOSOIS ood doles ee kee BR eeceen doce eco ncneconocerh eet eeees tere ce 8%

IP ATA TPP US ess ee eee eratela ate eeu ci aie else an ae olcleheietel= oretelaic tales eretera tere ODS

LEP TO DE LURE Oe Oe Gene ee ten UNCC M ECAR maaie RSE AATaeSsnabe, axl!

ere cers oye seer. chaos ite sieve lala) ave pee al elses Seep ala ae onde re

IDEN AO Be ook ARR Oe Sebo ranes -ondeeesedremarten, aoe
Roebrotmertunas seni: =/s)4/) soysiaaeisenialshaac satel ated etate) ara) otal oar rata a
Procamelusyae hese ie iss ok ea tay Sh a arpa; Satna as oho oss) Sivoo a oe OOO

IBrOGOUA Cysts Stee ety i 5a acta ate ima fvat ote) apa ace anesthe

IP OMO MYDD wo Gabe SOAS RE BBeo CO CHOBEEeobEEOboerenenseerecenee ene | AY)
Isa HO eels Gabe ae Moseeorone aoecouopodeTseas mesons seosesHeaoeas ohh

MIMO CETOSse seals eetenieiee siecle eet ieiseiaeinecine cetera 356

JUNO WMA EKO Co BE 8s dood6o coseas shouEs boomed Na csnieieves eee 354

Mammals and Birds, catalogue of, by Mr. Stevenson...-...----..----.---.----- 461
Mollusca, catalogue of, by AME SUB Robertaec cs asim inca ae oad aia 467
Meteorology, by BNI Wi Beaman Wace tc wo i USC bh DONE ns Peper alice
Moro Valley noc coOdooS AeHeSs Unaess Séen ond SbFabndnCDasrosedpoe Sees seco cuoNs 194, 213

Sonat TP AO a Us GS Ce Ma ea ceed eal DSTA Dione ad C1216
North Platte District. SNE ys Ne ea OU! CEOS ED Le ep PR Ree ey PAC ean eee | O17/

Ocate Creek..........---- wlaWieicajanta sue Pelee tis by ape A Sate aaa. ees an eeilley

Orthoptera, list of, by Prof. ICA Thomasy re tag Un ae gh B91) Sar
ING Win SPECIES be rcre ye setters mer Dutta peice ae esp ope ata: sitayrstere eas kre SOOO EG
/SGROMGT A NTIS) VIET OES SEB poco bees Boe eee oS uoEoo meee coaceoeEEeorose eile
Ama bris Ste Ve DSOMIM ire es ee ree ieee eens oe 266
AME EUS Wabi ooksce dbsceo cuccoe Soe 9 doooee bd00 booSUBSosene Sane 267
iBoopedons nuloilumess sess see elses eats ee rete?
Booped ony Mavo-faciavuine ieee ese cele) ciel esl arate cise la oh ye etal
Brachypeplusiema onu se seaeiee eee essa eee ee ee eee oe eae
IE phippinyoMayeracilipes ers async seer ans eset easyer al ee ae
Opabinoelycommlbinesiod 6 esoous cusussousods ed ab epee Shee nbeasorecccss Ut!
Oedipodaycarlneian alee saree nyo rae liaise pte ates ae Odo
@eaipodlay Cia cta ye eee ie eT AS ays 8 ie UA ale PIR NDZ oy
Oedipodameclec tamer saci enya nery epee tee, Soren a sere ae see earn OAC
Medapod a trrtas erat ayers ae aan oc rs sey eye epee As ple Ne al yaar i ere ee aR OTA
Opomolameo-mexd cana ysis sees eter ellaiaes seen ee OO
REZ OLED UR UGTA hye ee y ee ay se eI bec ate LS i a app een 71
StavronopuUsel MOth se eS woe Maw een ee ye Nea ayee ee = oer ae 277
SLO OO WMI YDIS: ANTON Laan code Gond sbanacooab bcuacocadccocuboses > Del)
Stenobothrus obionus..-.--.-.-.---------- Pi lua yet) heat aseiae Ey 279
Stenobothrusiquadri-maculatus Yas.) joe seh see aoe 280
AVNET EVO ARGC 5355 Gods abaoodeeou soao bobo cos ona cusoeee 268
Pham NOt ZONIpPUTpUNASCe TS yy eee reese ae eae ee eee 268
Momonotusmpseudo-nielanuseae ey aoe eee eee nee eee eee eee eee eee 279

Paleontological report, preliminary, by Prof. F. B. Meek.........-..------.--.- 287
asiOraluandsyand. StOCK-TAISING 252. ja.) 2e oe sata la) cla a arsiajal a elojafaelayesieiate sets eels 248
IRECOSMVAI CY eee caus ease oes ec. e SE 2 ees MEN 2S SLUR) Bd hades Ld yh aL ea oe 207
IRC HASCOMV ANON Gs circ aloe cealaieacla, cUisla ceils oitalaniacp stots bm Stats he ease estate 204
Jeleing, “INNG6.09 Beebe Boo Eses cTdocoCrE aoc DoUnoE Bobb oes ade bibode posomeEH eae O ne 257
mise (BOSssily KC TretaCeOUs).. so. seis scies oa) asiape see) acorns safest are 378
Report on yet. Wesqueretscse asa ee nd seers. alcatel ete 370

MOT UAT jis ote pene s twtziclat eestor spa eiaiate rete auc taiete ta ate Sareea ey eat 331

New species, Lygodium neuropteroides ..-.....--.---.-------. 384
CataloguelotsbyeDra@C) Party 222s ees nana neen eee ane eee 484

ona Boi Cad One MAO Be Ceicetemeadeooear ae cd aeeseaa ee, . ve

New species, Carex Haydeniana. Bbdagasicebooapcosecsesoessoescoescss | Ge
Eritrichium eas SEU CO BOO EE Sane BORG Arita Seon nS 79

Productions of Utah. . eee ndenenied daeicoceacn soosashooundascoocsesausodsas | | BEY
NO Mexico: (ee te ene 5 SO INCU UN Sat Ege eo mOnG

IPEBIO ches cccbs SRS PASS ee eRe S ee REC near eE EOFS ee eoeorn Seep eece enon staat | Cals
ERRELC ORO RUDE MVVE SU se )2)-\ airs) ee aia stay eer Qa NL OV 2 SU CLA eee (DS
lPiaanioiiy any Gitodes Sessa eeee oboe couu ooo re Eoe at eGo Saco BuEucoeRScStoKeoscoek. | CIS

RecmyeU AO LEOK 5) Soya) is taints Soa, wooden sha tia Se Mires Se alos 3 ee Ae eae yA Aig SURO
Reports, special. . Sbd GbccbegncoccHecoduesoceessscccseoenee | | SEE
Report, Agricultural, by Prof. C. THOMAS see ec re re eae Cie em OC

alecontolopical iby; ETOr hay ba Mee kes seen ence eae etree eee eee ae eee

510 INDEX.

Page.

Report on Tertiary Coal, by. J.-T.-Hodge, esq... .:.2- 222.02 oe eee co ae oe aoe ae
on Ancient Lakes, by J. 8. Newberry, aT DS oe ida EO ER 329

on Vertebrate Fossils, by: Brot. Ji-Leid ye 224 4202 5255 esa eee 340

on Fossil Plants, by Mr. aut Lesquereux Vise pees eee so CER ee 370

on Fossil Reptiles and Fishes, by Prof. E. D. Cope ....-.--.--. JEL e eee 385

on Fishes of the Tertiary Shales, by Prof. E. D. Cope ..--.. ..-.-..-..- 495

on: Reptiles and! Hishes, by Prof. E. D. Cope -- 22225222222 22222 eae ee 432

on Material Resources of Kansas, by Mr. R.S. Elliott ...... ..---. Ses, 442
Reptiles;andishes, by Prot... Copelsasee ee eeeice ae eee eee eee eee 432
WMS Gs tno ee atresia tis ciety I an ae 432

New species:

Albuernellus-percobromus 2-33.05 25225.) 2282 ee 440

Catostomus discobolus...-...- wie dete Sed S Se Aa 435
Ceratichthys-squamilentus: ---2 2522 25825522 a2 ee 442

Coliscus. parietalisi; 223222) 5 22055 ee eee er 437
Cyprinellasbillinesianassss 3255252555552 55 soe ee 439

Gila ma@ereatevoes.) S202 Soha a Bea ae ee 441

Tey DOPSISKE OTe OMUS sense es see eee ERE nS 429

Hybopsis missuriensis. - ---. PUGH OGUEHOD bem osn boShe6 coeses 437

Eybopsis: seyllac2 22 sesh so oa a apa 438

PbyChostomus| DUCCOs aaa ees eee See eee 437

Minomus bards is /oese gas Ay SF 9 62 UNO E ALe in re Ny ee an A236

Man onus td/elpinmu srt Ney eyeyies i sara oie) epee ecg) eae 435

Monionanjugalis ss 5.454550) 5350 es OEE ee 439
Photogenisypiptolepisasa sas se eee a ee eee 438

Salm oistomias ss /2as3 52502322 52 5o se ee eee 433

Sarcidium scopitenum ise ssa eee eee eee 440

Reptiles and fishes, (fossil,) by Professor E. D. Cope... 222222) 22 2-22 111
Apsopelixisauritormiseass hese ao Sales sense aes ter sae eee a 424

ASINEO PS SCUAMIPLONS 2/222 se cies | ee ee 426

IASIM COPS) VAT ONSISt aes ieee ea eee ope eee ee 426
Clidastesimberme dius acme saat ea eee re eee ae ee eee 412

C@lidas tes ciaxe revenue eyo) Se ie peta rateey ara) yao ae 413
C@lupeathumillisy saber s Net yet ares enter iale al steerer ee 429

Clupear pusilla cet sy faye ee AOE Ie sary ES abe eal er ee 429
Elasmosaurus platyurus.--...--..-.-.-- RUA my ee tise) SiO 8 393, 424
TismMatopverus/TichiSecleriee= ==. e ee eee eee eel eee eet 428
ETIsmMALOPbETUSHy Cavs eset tarsal eee ee rears a 428
lchthyodectesrevenod ones ss =e eee eee eee eee eee 421

Liodons dyspelor ik ye eae BO EN A eee eae Re 410
ELOMODMLETERI CUS) ieee lay MNF nt SE ORIOLE OE Reape neo 406

Hiodonmud cee ssa seeee rere teers weiss te Sel es Arsene 405

Liodon proriger -..--- wee aa te Lear Es ATAU I eee aes 401

MOSaSaUrUS MuUSSUPIENSIS\e a4 elses eee ele ee eels ee ae ee 401
Osteoslossumtencanstum==- ees e ee se eee eee eee 430

Poly cotylus! tabepinmisy-ey3- 2) -)is- apt See ae lo ee eee eee 388
Saurodonileamus! esse Bes Peele ay ee esate eee 421
Saurocephalus; audax: 21.5 S262 hes ee seein eee ae ere ee 418
Saurocephalusilanciformis}-s5-— eee eee eee eee eee es Ses 415
Saurocephalus)phiebotomust=-222-s-ce-eneee eee eee ee eee eee 416
eSaurocephalusyproom abuse eee. ele eee leet el eee A417
Saurocephalus: thaumasts25 22-262 Sees aoe ee eee 418
Reptiless(ossil}) by Dr: Jtheidiyaj ease en eee nie ee aielae eae ee eee eee 365
Baenar: socks 22a soe ues Wits es oye EE ee per 367

Baptemys iis: ssosni ees le oe bee cease mine eo era eee ee eee 367

Crocodilusned +s. ce see ec ie See fe Lo. SOD ee oe see eee 368

MVS ee see bees SH es Se EN les ee 366

ANEW aN see 12k SS SE ee I re ey ae 368

DhyAetMy Sis cis cil ees ed a es oe aL eh 366

PRON YS soca roe s veo se Sie Sse ee eee 367

Resources of Kansas, pe RaSs Both... 5.424 ceadse se hae eee ee 442
INCOM) Ghee Sey ne eee eee em tee Suse NRA Se ne ee 198
Hivide Sauta BSc sole .kllese.l: il 206 -
FioGallisteose sess. 2 Beaches tor see see ee anes ee ee ese o eae ee eee 206
ETOH Gl ay Soe iter 5 Se one Sreee ee cemte ae ite ifbwies sth culos. eelieeme ses ee 208
hio:Grande District . 2522.5 sc25c2 cohen so 5k S82 Leese se hee cee ceeeeeeee 197

River sos jabs sesso sages s leas swiss ded apse ees Sages ee ee
Walley ooc< cle ceec sets d sconces 5 SGU CNER ashi eee rn

INDEX. 511

VEG) WGN OTST nS aE Na ene A ee OR en Uae at eee SE Ie! OS:
PERT OM GS ATUL LTD py arp la BSR Real carats IN ayes Loa Sel Ale NE eye al a en OL)
L@ Wat Eee Dee ASE EOUE AAR BH AMC GO om mCab en Samah Ear eeen \ eke

JRSO: \VEE NS SGC Re Se ee Uee Soe er SS OCAER toupee ~Sbeeaeoecemee co eal!

SalliwabChws asim ep ysrs see epi eae AE Vea ee us cayenne ete 2 pela. ay veld Serpe OS
Oe ee ete a os EIEN Bens Seiya as SE eens. cree i ales cy 1 LS 3)
RRNA DEM) ABP ASS OTL ee Ie oa ee eS eee Ree rue Ree el sarees Se) 10)
Wallle\ycoes oboe oci0s ooausesueao soos boseedeebarosasocatocesosecosscen | 2B
sii 1h) Welley oes ocile ce ceca ch oumerepeEeacuecaaerao dooce neceereeenescce, Lz
POLOGUCLUONSY OB espe sere (eile ay sR) REAR kB ane aot ud et reas
Sam ieee, WeMlleneies Sic Sood boa oe odors DUBE noEE Ce neeEocoeMoreEueonEemecsaceeaase. lt!

Gn OT PEGIIV ET NE ASTIN Meine ayay al hyarelec cet cyt a rey Megane cy) x) ani a apne erat ayiape of paren 244

SUIS, Navadls Ie iCOll sek oo Be Reoobabede dodbed 66 Ge She ber SoboSsn soap osemeeeaeeeoce 468

fresh-water, J WSHARCG) Beeet ngs ee wt at SAU eee ee ey Ree creme oye 468
(fossil, ) new species, by Professor F. B. Meee

PAMAS OMY, OMG METAL Clie a cele slayer aya reine a= als) ret at a pert ees 312

INTC ai parallel seu. jue NN oe NDS oe eaten aietn std aie nay ere aie 303

ARGO AON) MNP MONO oF eke honed ood e eg eee bees Seeece cone 309

By. Lhine lay ome ard aes sa sayactcr siete nae A eae ete ep aycio Se faye sel Seis Sete rere 317

Cardaumelcamsasemsesaiiaien ey -ys sre nc yee ave a ape ny eee aL aa ne yee 307

PAUP SL uw eM Me UREN eC WAVE he alae ena ere has aA ee ee 306

BAUM OMS ears eae Nes ai UAE Sl 22) suas iy ate a a a ea ears 306

Corbicullaxcrassatellit orn See shes eyes arate eral eee nae apo 315

(EAS Gee KC He) BORA CE Ts TSS pene Sn es ae bee 314

(vam calli esi eta so So ae (ieee ee ee eR eee ear 304

3 Bulcrieomalirgui nyc Ak ad suelo (Ni olay ies See RMT ane a 305

Crassatellina oblonga SYN Re ARON IL LS ES BN TB aetna 301

iB dimondiavaspennyallem sist sae sees ree ase ieee eee 299

Gomrobasisielimys allilis) ye 752 eS se eT ee 3) Bia ypc e arabe ariatiey er ott 316

PLO CU ATEN EY ees Seals EDO a oH NS Ca ao AL ey are 316

NO CERAIMUS EMS eee sys aa savy pele al coals ay ala al Sy asl eae 302

Pemlbeptosolem comragi asi 2.08 seis vst 2) asin Gaile eae gat Mee ee oa 311

IMMleKcireah (GY) CANS hos eseseede Hoeses casuse eases 4aderons sugleceods 308

ae laymmyeui (2) CEU CAL aye sere ce alia Me ae ye fly a eet een ei eres 301

APES HWA OMIM SENSIS yc) ei Nc a NS eet sat ay ca ete pees 310

Paplellimansmbscnbuilay eb c sie elt Bae ee ka easter speee le We a ee eee Eye 310

Voldiapmircrodombaee ea cee ies ONT ee Pelayo bt cia aqui Mey aye vee 304

PRU DOM means) see yee Mee SLUTS eI Ue TINA) a 8 seer aioe 313

diurratellapeleam Sas eu SS yeas pe esas sere cca iale vaya lta Nes ae ey er 312

Winropleamuls ee eee eles crea De UU AS AL VE 10 a i a a ene 313

Wimlonm STAGE MSTS ee ee Nees SLE I Oe SS VCE aye nia t/a ara e lau ay 303

Wmiogwashaksl ensi seer iy jeri aie sei seyret eee Janeen eens eens 314

TEESE IS) (CLT GEL CSAS 2 ee SN PR OL Se ee 255

BIMITO ET CIV sed NG ypeeeee yen ecspere ey rea a CUM Ue SOQ i aL ay cle ae ae oe 242

plremeheray Cree ki aaa ue ae ee a ae ek a ae ole 2 ee Se RR ae ae 200

BIRT ETE ON OTC Keres eran HCas eS AST LIM AN LC A aleal in aes el cla tuameba etre er Weta 206

WitainglialcenViailleyscre i Caw H ola Marsha a Ue i aa cmi jul ely ay dala saa yano et 241

Vertebrate Fossils, report on, by Professor Leidy.-.---..----.------------------ 340

WWACTETINII] OM OTE C eee apace eae pe ee SRE ALLAN Se Uae ENS AAs te NaN a IN Me oa) othe) eo 213

WAY G)SXERe WINE SS AERIS AS Oe cae EY Ua Ae eet MOE oN nye OR IES at Ue 239

WVESTETM ID) Tival SHO Masia spa naysyney mune cea MIA eae SIGUA MAR AIA UG lau LE Se Wa sae 233

ING wg Miers COMMU Oem apru rare OY ito L IU EG ee UAE ete Steer hes Ci ya 208

A VEIT UME CLV CENTOS UIT Ciba sees mame er ae en 2 NS PRIOR A I uses Siva deeper 232

RV fcULIN Gry geec ny era arnt ERR NBL OUP ae ae at LA ea Sr AAU Sr 194

VWAIGRI DASE Bata aoe SOO ARSE eI aa I OU aR TNC SP PE NREL SERRE 201

Wwiipele s, Lieutenant, estimate of erat bles Learned og Queenie iit sien OER) shu uta eae 204

So