6 BOTANICAL SURVEY OF THE CCEUR D'ALENE MOUNTAINS. 



Eailroad to Cabinet Rapids, examining the northern rim of tlie moun- 

 tains which inclose the North Fork of the Cceur d'Alene River. [Sep- 

 tember 4 to September 19 was employed partly along the western rim 

 of the North Fork basin and partly in making a seeond ascent of 

 Wiessner Peak to obtain some meteorological data during the early 

 snowstorms of the season. September 25 to October 9 was employed 

 in a trip into the more western portion of the North Fork basin to 

 obtain more data concerning the forest conditions of this particular 

 region. With this the held work of the season ended. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



The extent of country to which the name Ckcur d'Alene should be 

 applied has heretofore been rather indefinite. The common view 

 limits it to the region drained by the South Fork and a small portion 

 of the North Fork of the C<eur d'Alene River. By reason of the great 

 mining industries which are carried on here these areas are by far the 

 most important and most widely known of all in the Cu-ur d'Alene 

 Mountains, and therefore are usually meant when the Cceur d'Alenes 

 are spoken of. A broader view is here adopted, and one more in har- 

 mony with the geographical position of the region and its geological 

 relations to the surrounding mountains, as well as with its peculiar and 

 intricate topography, which latter feature very decidedly stamps the 

 areas we shall here include under the general name Cceur d'Alenes as 

 parts of one mountain system. 



The Cceur d'Alenes, therefore, are here understood to include all the 

 mountains or ridges, exclusive of the main Bitter Hoot Range, which 

 form the drainage system of the streams flowing into Lake Coeur 

 d'Alene. The geographical position of the region is between 115° 20' 

 and 110° 40' west longitude, and between 40° 40' and 48° 40' north 

 latitude, approximately. 



Politically it is included within the boundaries of Kootenai and Sho- 

 shone counties, in Idaho, and its area may be roughly estimated at 

 9,000 square miles. 



The Cceur d'Alene Mountains form in general a rugged and difficult 

 region. The system is not what is generally understood as a range, 

 though many of the maps, especially the older ones, so delineate it. 

 There is no general "backbone" traversing the area and sending out 

 laterals each way. All the larger ridges and principal divides join 

 with the Hitter Root Range eventually, and but for the peculiar manner 

 in which they extend and inclose the drainage basins of the river 

 systems might be regarded as simply an immense western foothill 

 region of the Bitter Root Mountains. The entire extent of country here 

 called the CcBur d'Alenes forms a large, almost completely inclosed, 

 triangular area. The apex of this triangle may be considered as abut- 

 ting on the Clark Fork River at Cabinet. From this point the eastern 

 side of the triangle, which has a length of about 190 kilometers (111 

 miles), is formed by the main range of the Bitter Roots. 



