L'4 :mi:s()zc)1c i-j>uka8 of umted states. 



Further evidence of this is found in (he fuel that in approachino: the 

 general escarpment wliich boiuids these plains tlie l)u(tes tend to lose 

 their isolated character and form ridges projecting out from the cliffs. 

 It never happens that an entire valley or plain is covered by a single 

 system of Inittes. These systems are separated \)\ wide intei'vals, often 

 of nearly fiat country, hut through which it can he easily seen that water 

 once flowed, at least in the form of temporary floods, and in such a manner 

 as to have swept away e\'erv vestige of the foi-mer plateau, and in crossing 

 which there are encountered one or several wide beds to which the term 

 "wash" is popularly applied. In descending the Little Colorado this 

 condition of things, as already remarked, is not met with until within 

 8 or 10 miles of the Lees Ferry road. A large system of Inittes is then 

 found extending 5 or 6 miles down the river and across the plain to the 

 first terrace, a distance of 3 to 5 miles; then occurs the first wash, 2 miles 

 in width, followed by another system of buttes, which is nearly due east 

 of Tanners Crossing, and in which most of the bones were collected by 

 our party. There is then another wide wash ; the next system of l)uttes, 

 however, does not reach the river, l:)ut trends off in a direction nearly due 

 north. There is still another wash before the great Moencopie Wash is 

 reached, the direction of which is such as to be highly favorable for the 

 preservation of these buttes, and accordingly we find their greatest develop- 

 ment, so far as this region is concerned, along the Moencopie Wash. 

 They do not, however, follow the stream up in the direction of Tuba, 

 but continue to trend northward along the wide valley that lies to the 

 west of Willow Springs and Echo Cliffs. 



The reason why these conditions are not earliel' met with in the valley 

 of the river is simply that the river does not follow the line of strike, and 

 these beds, being common to the entire member, lie at different dis- 

 tances from the river. Above the point mentioned, therefore, they must 

 be looked for farther in the interior. We found them, in fact, 5 miles 

 east of Black Falls, or 25 miles southeast of Tanners Crossing. The great 

 bend in the river culminating at Winslow keeps these beds constantly so 

 far to the northeast, in a region where it is very difficult to penetrate, 

 that their exact condition for a distance of over oO miles is little known. 

 But farther up the rivei-, where they approach somewhat to the rt^gion of 

 settlement, they again admit of access, and, as already remarked, they 



