THE GREAT SALT LAKE - BASIN. 567 
a tributary of Beaver River, which brings us into another basin, Al- 
though there are two stage routes through this section, there is little 
known respecting its water systems; in fact, the very existence of Preuss 
Lake appears to be a matter of doubt, and future investigations may 
show that this is but a part of the Sevier River Basin. This is a differ- 
ent stream from the Meadow Creek, previously mentioned as coming 
down from Rush Valley. The most reliable information received tends 
to the conclusion that it is a separate basin, and that Beaver River, in- 
stead of running west into an imaginary Preuss Lake, bends around to 
the north, and after breaking through a low range of hills is lost in the 
sandy soil. Considering it as a separate system, it consists of Bear 
River and its tributaries, which rise in the western slope of the moun- 
tains before mentioned. 
There is a considerable area of laid on Beaver River that can be irri- 
gated and cultivated, and the probability is that its breadth might be 
inereased by extending canals on the upper levels below the mountain. 
or ridge that crosses here. Passing over Beaver Mountain, we reach 
Yellow Creek, where there is a fertile belt, about ten miles long and six 
or seven miles wide, reaching from the creek to about two miles south 
of Parawan. Here and at Beaver River are some settlements and some 
land already under cultivation. Between Parawan and Cedar City there 
are a few arable spots, of small extent, which are already partly occu- 
pied. Cedar City is situated on Cole Creek, a stream about the size of 
the American Fork, which will irrigate four thousand to five thousand 
acres, Shirt’s Creek, running by Kanara, is flanked by a considerable 
bottom, but the stream affords water sufficient to irrigate only a part of it. 
West of this, twenty to twenty-five miles, on another branch of Beaver 
River, are the celebrated Vegas de Santa Clara, noted as a resting-place 
after the fatigues of the desert march from the west. By following 
these various streams as they move north toward some common reser- 
voir, it is probable a number of irrigable spots may be found. 
Crossing over the divide, which here sweeps round in a semicircular 
form from a southwest to a northwest direction, we enter the valley of 
the Rio Virgin, a part of the vast territory drained by the Rio Colorado 
of the west. This stream, which sends down a considerable volume of 
water, is wide and rapid, and consequently shallow. Jt runs through 
an apparently barren country, here and there cutting through rocky 
cliffs and lava ridges, with occasional broad stretches of sandy land, 
covered with a very scanty growth of vegetation. Notwithstanding the 
unpromising appearance of this section, there are several settlements, 
some of which (as Washington and St. George) number several thou- 
sand inhabitants. 
‘There are some very productive spots, aud wherever water can be ob- 
tained, and the land irrigated, the soil becomes very fertile. The arable 
areas around Toquerville, thence up the river, are very limited, but 
about Washington and St. George they are more extensive, and the en- ' 
tire Santa Clara Valley for fifteen to twenty miles in length, and two to 
three miles in width, can be cultivated. One or two canals are being 
cut along the Rio Virgin, which will add considerably to the cultivable 
area. This section, on account of its semi-tropical climate, is consid- 
ered by the Mormons of great importance, as they look to it for their 
supply of cotton, raisins, oranges, and other products which cannot be 
grown in Salt Lake Valley. 
In regard to the vast regions east of the Wahsatch range, and south 
of the Uintah Mountains belonging to the Rio Colorado district, very 
little is known. Strawberry Creek, a tributary of the Uintah River, 
