PREFACE. ix 



proved to be of the greatest interest, disclosing the fact that 

 this was the highest part of the Sierra Nevada, and that it 

 embraced the loftiest mountains and the grandest scenery 

 yet discovered within the territory of the United States. For 

 the details of this reconnoissance, reference may be made to 

 Chapter X of Volume I of the Geology. . 



Mr. Gabb was in the field in Northern California, South- 

 ern Oregon and Idaho, from June 1st, 1864, to about the 

 middle of October. During that expedition he obtained in- 

 formation and specimens proving the existence of the Cre- 

 taceous formation on Crooked River — a branch of the Des 

 Chutes — the first discovery of rocks of this age anywhere to 

 the east of the Cascade Range, as noticed in this volume, 

 page 181. 



Very little field-work was done during this year, or the next 

 (in 1865), in regions where fossiliferous rocks occur. Mr. 

 Remond, during his explorations between the Merced and 

 Stanislaus Rivers, in 1865, made for the purpose of work- 

 ing up the detailed geology of that region, discovered several 

 new localities of Jurassic fossils, along the line of outcrop of 

 the fossiliferous belt, previously noticed by different members 

 of the Survej r , as occurring on the Mariposa Estate. Several 

 new species were found, which still remain to be worked up. 

 During a portion of the year 1865 Mr. Gabb was employed 

 in revising the palseontological materials of the Survey ; but, 

 owing to the limited appropriation by the Legislature of 

 1863-64, the field-work was necessarily on a very small 

 scale. 



A larger amount of money ($15,000 a year, for two years) 

 having been granted by the Legislature of 1865-66, the work 

 wag taken up again more vigorously at the beginning of ! I G 

 Mr. Gabb, assisted by Mr. F. E. Brown, commenced early in 



PAL. VOL. II. — B 



