NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



253 



Shoshone Falls and Bliss. Smaller 

 streams than those mentioned also dis- 

 appear. 



A particular feature are the crevices 

 which interline the lava fields in the 

 desert, from two to fifty feet wide, from 

 thirt}' to hundreds of feet in depth, and 

 extending for long distances. In the 

 larger crevices there is a distinct fauna of 

 snakes, lizards, insects, and other 

 animals. 



Between Blackf oot and Big Lost River 

 there is a Juniper forest of 175 sq. mi. 

 From Arco south a belt 15 mi. wide and 

 50 long, at least 800 sq. miles of pine and 

 fir, extends to Cinder Buttes. Smaller 

 patches at many points. Area adjoining 

 forest with bunch grass, not sagebrush, 

 forming splendid pasture land. 



Sand dunes occur in a great many 

 places and great stretches of recent flows 

 of lava in many parts of Plains. 



/. Big Butte, 5600 ft., and Pillar Butte, 

 5300 ft., are famous land-marks on the 

 plains and rise directly from rolling 

 plain. Big Butte is unscalable. Ap- 

 proach from many points. Short trips 

 inward easily arranged by automobile, 

 but better with pack-horses. (See "Val- 

 ley of the Moon.") 



"The latest evidence shows molten 

 rocks in recent historical times, perhaps 

 not over one hundred years ago. It 

 came up through volcanic cones, out of 

 which highly liquid lava in vast quanti- 

 ties flowed away in all directions where 

 it hardened in a horizontal position. 

 There are scores of vents, cones, and 

 craters within this area, Big, Middle, 

 and East Buttes being conspicuous 

 examples. ' ' — Russell. 



6. "Valley of the Moon" 



t About 100 sq. mi. a proposed Na- 

 tional Monument. Comprises a portion 

 of the western end of the Snake River 

 Desert, named "Valley of the Moon," 

 especially the northwest region known 

 as the "Craters," because of its marked 

 resemblance to the conventional as- 

 tronomers pictures of the moonscape. 



Topography of barren lava fields, 

 canyons, hills, craters. Area is exceed- 

 ingly rough, in places utterly depressing 

 through its somber coloration, in others 

 startling, through the brilliant blues and 

 vermilions. One crater known as Echo 

 crater 700 ft. deep. Close by 63 craters 

 can be seen from one spot. An extinct 

 volcanic and lava flow. Ice caves plen- 

 tiful, icy springs, and short streams. 



A dwarf bear of si>ecial interest. 

 Pines, some sagebrush, and a nearly 

 white "pigmy buckwheat." 



This region has never been explored 

 and was virtually rediscovered by R. W. 



Limbert, of Boise. After a trip into the 

 desert in 1917 he made several expedi- 

 tions. Reported that in Summer, 1921, 

 an expedition of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society entered the desert. It 

 is proposed to create a national monu- 

 ment of the whole or a portion of this 

 area. 



Approach from many points : from the 

 south from a number of towns between 

 Idaho Falls and Minidoka on the Oregon 

 Short Line R. R. west from Shoshone to 

 Hailey, north from Arco. The highway 

 from Hailey to Arco passes within four 

 miles of the lava fields, where some of the 

 craters can be seen. — R. A. M., after 

 R. W. Limbert. 



V. REFERENCES 



Bancroft, H. H. History of Washington, 

 Idaho, and Montana. In Vol. 10 

 of Collected works, Idaho, pp. 393- 

 588, 1889. 



Bailey, F. M. Handbook of the Birds 

 oftheWestern UnitedStates. Hough- 

 ton, Mifflin Co., 1921, pp. 590, 33 

 plates, 601 text figures. 



Fountain, Paul. The Eleven Eaglets of 

 the West. New York (Dutton & 

 Co.). 1906. Snake or "Mad" River, 

 pp. 91-99. Idaho, pp. 125-153. De- 

 scription of journey made in late 

 seventies. 



Rees, John E. Idaho: Chronology, Nu- 

 menclature, Bibliography, pp. 125. 

 Published by the author, Salmon, 

 Idaho. 



Merriman, C. H., and Stejineger, L. 

 Biological Reconnoissance of South 

 Central Idaho. W. A. Fauna, no. 5, 

 1891. 



Limbert, R. W. The Valley of the Moon, 

 in Nat. Geogr. Mag., 1924. 



12. ALBERTA 



By a. B. Connell 



I. general 



The Province of Alberta, the western- 

 most of the prairie provinces of Canada, 

 extends from the Montana boundary 

 north to the 60th parallel of north 

 latitude. The 110th meridian of longi- 

 tude forms the eastern boundary and 

 the province extends west from this 

 line to the crest of the Rocky Mountains 

 in the south and to the 120th meridian 

 in the north. The area is approximately 

 260,000 sq. mi. 



