480 GEOLOGY OF CENTRAL WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 



of the streams, but very limited in extent compared with the barren country around. The lower 

 valley, which is much larger being from six to ten miles wide, and forty in length is, for the 

 most part, a waste. The soil throughout is sandy, and there appears to be but little difference 

 between that in the bottoms and on the hills. The artemisia, purshia, and composite, as a general 

 thing, cover the ground to the line of the spring freshets. It is the opinion of many, indeed, that 

 wheat would thrive well upon the artemisia lands, and that in particular winter wheat would be 

 sutiiciently advanced before the drought sets in not to suffer by it. The fact remains to be 

 ascertained by experiment, but as applied to the district at large does not seem probable. Upon 

 the immediate borders of the river the land produces pretty well. The potatoes raised by the 

 Indians are very fine, in spite of their rude cultivation. Melons and squashes, which they also 

 raise, do not succeed well, probably on account of their seed being poor; but corn does not thrive 

 at all. The grasses are abundant only in particular tracts, and, though this may be called a 

 grazing country, it is not a good one. The depth of snow in winter would make it necessary for 

 the farmer or grazier to lay up supplies, for the Indian stock are driven to the artemisia itself for 

 forage, and become excessively lean as well as unsavory. 



The banks of the Columbia, from the mouth of the Snake up to the mountains, are a waste of 

 sand, bare of everything but the artemisia and the plants usually accompanying it. 



As a whole, therefore, this section of the country does not promise much as an agricultural 

 region. The long drought during the summer presents serious obstacles to cultivation, independ 

 ent of the soil. It is a matter deserving of consideration, however, whether the introduction of 

 deciduous trees upon an extensive scale would not materially improve the character of the valleys. 



Next to the basalt, which forms the universal rock of this section of the country, its most 

 striking feature is the amount of detritus which fills the valleys, and covers to a considerable 

 extent the secondary or lower hills. This detritus appears to have been the wash of the neigh 

 boring mountains, or the decomposition of subjacent rocks, and not to have been transported 

 from a distance. It would seem that the whole of the inner basins of the Yakima have been 

 eroded by its various branches, and its materials gradually swept down to the Columbia. The 

 higher ranges of hills present long and somewhat uneven summits, deeply furrowed by ravines. 

 The lower exhibit the characteristic features of basaltic tables, but slightly indented. It is 

 remarkable that, in so great an extent of mountain country, and where drift forms so large an 

 element, there should be no appearance whatever of glacial action. The surface of basalt is 

 unfavorable to the preservation of diluvial scratches, it is true ; and the effects of ordinary frosts 

 in separating its joints cannot readily be distinguished from the crushing caused by large 

 masses of ice. But there are no moraines sufficiently well defined to be recognised, and no 

 transported boulders of any magnitude. The whole seems to be the result of a more gradual 

 action and of nearer origin. In the upper part of the Wenass valley, there is, indeed, a range 

 of low hills in the midst, which at first sight were supposed to be moraines, but it was after 

 wards concluded were more properly referable to erosion. 



Low terraces of deposited land and gravel occasionally line these vallcvs, and upon the lower 

 Yakima are traceable continuously for some twenty miles, the height above the present bed 

 of the stream increasing gradually with its descent. These are, however, by no means so 

 remarkable as the terraces upon the upper Columbia, which will presently be noticed. The 

 rivers all wander extensively over beds of sand and stones, with very low banks. The asso 

 ciated minerals of this region are but few, and those not of great interest, with the exception ot 

 gold, which occurs in all the branches of the Yakima. It is in very fine particles and much 

 worn, and seems to be greatly diffused. The color could in fact be obtained almost everywhere 

 in the surface sand upon the streams. An attempt was made to find it by digging deeper, but 

 without success. In fact, the absence of bed rock or strata of clay in the streams, at accessible 

 depths, renders the chance of successful mining upon them improbable. If gold is found in suffi 

 cient quantity to pay for working, it will probably be in dry diggings or in the rock. The 



