﻿36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



GEOLOGICAL FIELD-WORK IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 



In continuation of the geological field-work in Rocky Mountain 

 stratigraphy, under the direction of Secretary Charles D. Walcott, 

 Dr. Charles E. Resser, associate curator of paleontology, U. S. Na- 

 tional Museum, accompanied by Mr. Erwin R. Pohl, of the paleon- 

 tological stafif, left Provo, Utah, with the regular field outfit late in 

 July, 1926. 



The first objective was the determination of the section in Shoshone 

 Canyon west of Cody, Wyo. The strata were here found to be 

 rather badly metamorphosed, and fossils were few, but enough 

 information was obtained to determine the position of the exposed 

 Cambrian beds. An attempt was next made to work out the difficult 

 sections farther north in the Beartooth Range, with the result that the 

 proper stratigraphic position of the rocks was determined although 

 the minor details could not be ascertained because of the ruggedness 

 of the country. 



The major objective of the season's work was a restudy of the 

 famous sections north of the Gallatin Valley in Montana. Camp 

 was established at Logan and daily trips made into one or another part 

 of the foothills north of the Gallatin River. Mr. Pohl here investi- 

 gated the Devonian strata particularly, securing good study col- 

 lections. The Cambrian beds yielded many fine trilobites and other 

 fossils as they have in the past, but a new locality in Nixon's Gulch 

 furnished a large collection representing the Middle Cambrian Stephen 

 fauna of British Columbia. 



After the extended stop at Logan, camp was moved to Pole Creek 

 south of the Madison River in the foothills of the Madison Range. 

 Here ample collections were obtained from Middle Cambrian beds 

 from which the National Museum had previously but a few 

 fragments. 



Near the close of the season several days were occupied in the 

 study of the exposures in the Wasatch Mountains north of lirigham 

 City, Utah. Dr. Asa A. L. Mathews, of the University of Utah, 

 joined the party and served as guide to the places where he had 

 previously discovered outcrops of fossiliferous Cambrian and Cana- 

 dian formations. Two very strenuous trips to the top of the range 

 resulted in obtaining many instructive fossils. 



The season as a whole yielded returns beyond the average for 

 several seasons past, in quantity and equality of fossils and in new 

 stratigraphic data. 



