AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF WYOMING TERRITORY. 555 
fact of the utmost importance in estimating the agricultural resources 
of this part of the Territory. <A fall of over 500 feet in sixty miles, 
with the volume of water found in this part of the river during the irri- 
gating season, will afford the means of redeeming a very large area of 
and. 
Poison Spring Creek is a small stream coming down from the north- 
west and entering the North Platte at Red Buttes. It passes through 
a very pretty valley which averages about one mile wide, and is flanked 
on the west by a broad plain which gradually ascends as it recedes. On 
the east, parallel to it, runs a sharp ridge of perpendicular upheaved 
strata. It has been stated that the waters of this stream are poison- 
ous, but this is a mistake, as men and animals have been known to drink 
of it without injury; besides, several species of plants grow in it lux- 
uriantly, one of which has been brought to this Department in some of 
the water of the stream, and when submitted to the microscope was 
found to contain minute living organisms. The idea of its being poison- 
ous probably arose from the presence of alkaline matter. The amount 
of water in this creek is presumed to be sufficient to irrigate the narrow 
valley, which is covered with a rank growth of grass. 
Near the Red Buttes, (or Red Blufts,) in the bend of the North Platte, 
isa beautiful bottom of twelve to fifteen hundred acres of very rich 
soil. South of the riverit is covered with a thick grove of willow, cot- 
tonwood, &e., but on the north side the timber has been destroyed by 
emigrants and others who have camped at this point. 
Immediately below this place the river enters a gorge, and breaks 
through a spur of the mountain for nine or ten miles, before it enters 
upon the plains near Old Fort Casper. If canals can be carried through 
this gorge, there will be no serious difficulty in taking the water onte the 
elevated table lands which set in immediately below it; and, from in- 
formation received, this appears to be possible, as the sides descend 
abruptly only at one or two points. Tunneling might be necessary for 
a short distance on the north side, but there will be no other serious 
obstacle. This will not be necessary at any point on the south side. 
The North Platte, just below the remains of the old bridge, when ex- 
amined at the season of the year when it is low, was about 160 feet 
wide, with.an average depth of two feet, and a current of over three 
miles per hour. This would give a discharge of more than 5,000,000 
eubiec feet per hour. As the volume of water at this season is not more 
than two-thirds as great as in the spring and early summer, the dis- 
charge, during the irrigating season, may be estimated at 7,500,000 
eubie feet per hour. If this estimate is even approximately correct, 
(strict accuracy is not claimed,) it is probable that one thousand square 
miles of land may be irrigated from this river alone. 
The following description of some points along this stream will give 
a general idea of its valley east of the mountains. In the neighbor- 
hood of the bridge, on the south side of the river, there is a broad ley- 
el bottom, four to five miles wide, mostly covered with a rank growth of 
grass, mixed with tall weeds, showing the soil to be quite fertile, and 
that it contains a fair proportion of vegetable mold. 
A short distance below Casper a second level sets in, raised but a few 
feet above the first. This is one entire sage plain, and spreads out to 
some eight or nine miles in width, and is composed of a soil somewhat 
inferior to that of the bottom. Before reaching Muddy Creek, the low, 
rounded hills approach the river for a few miles, limiting the bottom to 
a mere strip. At Muddy Creek it again expands to six or eight miles, 
being covered in part by a very thick growth of grease-wood. The lit- 
