THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



these beds I had previously found an- 

 cient squirrels, dogs, three-toed horses, 

 rhinoceroses, oreodonts, deers, camels, 

 mastodons, turtles, clams, and petrified 

 trunks of trees, hut no leaves had been 

 found in these deposits before.. They 

 show that the forests of the region of the 

 Rocky Mountains were more like those 

 of the Mississippi Valley to-day. 



From here, with a team of cayuses, 

 Archippus and a camp outfit, we drove to 

 Canon Ferry, and established camp on 

 Magpie Creek at the foot of the bluff, 

 which on account of the number of fossils 

 which it contained we came to designate 

 as "Fossil Hill." Almost every day, as 

 we ascended the hill we found new skulls 



sessed the charm of novelty, and the 

 whole scene was pervaded by the atmos- 

 phere of the past into which we were 

 getting new glimpses. 



Instead of spending two weeks there 

 we spent six, digging out fossils and 

 trying to learn more of the ancient his- 

 tory of the region. Box after box was 

 filled with the finest specimens, most of 

 which belonged to an extinct family of 

 Mammals called oreodonts, — animals 

 which for ages appear to have swarmed 

 over the western part of our country, and 

 undoubtedly the eastern also, though 

 conditions were not favorable there for 

 their preservation. 



We not onlv collected fossils from 



"A LITTLE BELOW 'THE FERRY' ARE PLACER GRAVELS.'' 

 From these have been washed out not only gold but remains of elephants and bisons.' 



and parts of skeletons so that we at first 

 discovered them much faster than we 

 could dig them out. We had a good 

 camping place. There was abundant 

 feed for the horses, and when at noon 

 or evening we returned to camp we 

 brought dry cedar wood for camp fire. 

 We built a table in the shade of the 

 willows, and we had a summer's outing 

 with a zest. My assistants, Mr. Roberts 

 and Mr. Hutchinson, were genial com- 

 panions, and all that could be desired in 

 every way. ( )ur days were filled with 

 fascinating labor and our nights with re- 

 freshing sleep. Our present surround- 

 ings were varied, picturesque, and pos- 



Fossil Hill and the adjoining bluffs, hut 

 from the older White River beds, near 

 Canon Ferry, where we found bones of 

 ancient mice, dogs, rhinoceroses and lit- 

 tle three-toed horses. These beds are 

 undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of 

 years older than the Miocene beds at 

 Fossel Hill; but just overlying the 

 White River beds a little below "The 

 Ferry" are placer-gravels, from which 

 have been washed out not only gold but 

 remains of elephants and bisons. These 

 fossils show that the beds are vastly 

 newer than the Miocene. 



After leaving Canon Ferry, we went 

 to a place between the Missouri and 



