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GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1872. 



gas. Ohio is rich in iron-ores, though lacking 

 some of the kinds necessary for the production 

 of the best qualities of iron and steel. But 

 these are brought in large quantities from Lake 

 Superior, New Jersey, and Missouri. In the 

 southwestern quarter of Indiana, there is an 

 extensive deposit of this block-coal, of great 

 purity, and free from sulphur and phospho- 

 rus. Indiana is not rich in the best iron- 

 ores, but brings her iron-ore from Missouri and 

 Lake Superior (except the brown hematites, 

 of which there is a partial supply in the State), 

 and smelts it, by the aid of this coal, at a cost 

 not exceeding 35 to 36 dollars per ton. This 

 discovery of the block-coal has greatly in- 

 creased the manufacture of iron in the State. 

 In other mineral products Indiana is not be- 

 hind her sister States. Mineral paints, ochres, 

 the finer kinds of clay, and various kinds of 

 building-stone, are plentiful. 



But the great geographical interest of the 

 year has centred in the Territories lying in the 

 vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, and espe- 

 cially in Montana and Idaho, Utah and Wy- 

 oming, Arizona and New Mexico. Our space 

 is not sufficient to give in much detail the re- 

 sults of the exploring expeditions which trav- 

 ersed these regions so little known. The ex- 

 plorations of 1871 (described in the ANNUAL 

 CYCLOPEDIA for 1871) in the region about the 

 head-waters of the Yellowstone, Jefferson, 

 Madison, and Gallatin Rivers, following as 

 they did upon the daring and perilous adven- 

 tures of Governor Langford and his companions 

 of the previous year, roused a deep interest 

 in the region, and Congress set apart a tract 

 about 52 by 62 miles square, containing 3,578 

 square miles, as a national park or reservation 

 for the benefit and instruction of mankind, to 

 be known as the " Yellowstone National Park." 

 This park contains the Yellowstone and sev- 

 eral smaller lakes, the Geysers, the mineral 

 springs, and baths of the Yellowstone and 

 Fire-hole basins, and the remarkable falls, 

 slides, and canons of that wonderful region. 

 To complete the exploration of this interesting 

 section, a second Government expedition, under 

 the direction of the veteran geologist, Prof. 

 F. V. Hayden, was sent out in the summer of 

 1872. By this expedition a route was surveyed 

 from Ogden, Utah, to Fort Hall, Idaho ; the 

 great Teton Mountains, laid down on the maps 

 as in Idaho, but found to be thirty miles out 

 of place and in the bounds of Wyoming, were 

 explored ; and the valleys of the Yellowstone 

 were carefully examined. Some of the peaks 

 of the Tetons were climbed by Mr. Stevenson 

 and Governor Langford, though with great diffi- 

 culty. One, which they named Mount Hay- 

 den, was found to be 13,400 feet high. Near 

 the summit of the Grand Teton, mines of great 

 age were found, at an elevation of 13,162 feet 

 above the sea. The examination of the four 

 remarkable passes at the head of Henry's Fork 

 was another important result of this expedi- 

 tion. This region seems to form the apex of 



the continent. From it flow the waters of 

 the Missouri, Columbia, and Colorado. The 

 passes are as follows: Targee or East Pass, 

 6,500 feet elevation, forming one of the great 

 gate-ways to the Madison Valley and the 

 sources of the Yellowstone; Henry's or South 

 Pass, about 6,000 feet, opening into Snake 

 River Valley, one of the largest affluents of 

 the Columbia; Red Rock or West Pass, 

 6,300 feet, connecting the great valley of 

 the Jefferson Branch ; and Madison or South 

 Pass, opening into the lower Madison. All are 

 so smooth and low that a carriage may be 

 drawn over them at full speed, and there are 

 no obstructions to a railroad over either of 

 them. A new geyser basin was found, and 

 the latitude and longitude of several points 

 were accurately fixed. Explorations have also 

 been made in the region of the Upper Yellow- 

 stone, and among the mountains of the Uintah 

 range. The last-named region was found emi- 

 nently adapted for grazing. It had no impor- 

 tant mineral deposits, and was remarkable for 

 the absence of birds and insects. 



The Forty-second Congress, at its last ses- 

 sion, appropriated $75,000 to continue and re- 

 organize this survey of the Territories under 

 the direction of the Department of the Interior, 

 and it has been reorganized under the title of 

 the " United States Geological and Geographi- 

 cal Survey of the Territories, under the De- 

 partment of the Interior." Dr. F. V. Hayden 

 is chief geologist and chief of the survey, and 

 Mr. James T. Gardner is chief geographer. 

 The work done under the direction of Dr. 

 Hayden, though well done, has been in de- 

 tached districts, and without connection, or a 

 general system. Henceforth it will be conduct- 

 ed systematically. The field of operations, in 

 1873, will be Colorado Territory. The whole 

 region will be carefully mapped, its geological 

 and mineralogical character ascertained, the 

 coal-beds and minerals traced, and the agricul- 

 tural capacities of each Territory and its me- 

 teorology thoroughly investigated. 



The War Department sent out, in 1871 and 

 1872, two exploring expeditions, that of Clar- 

 ence King on the 40th parallel, of which we 

 shall say more presently, and that of First-Lieu- 

 tenant George M. Wheeler, which had for its 

 object a thorough investigation of the region 

 west of the hundredth meridian, for the pur- 

 pose of determining its geographical positions, 

 working out carefully its topography, and 

 studying successfully its geology, natural his- 

 tory, and climatology. In his preliminary re- 

 port, submitted in the winter of 1872, Lieu- 

 tenant Wheeler stated that he had divided the 

 whole region into eighty-five rectangles of 

 equal size, marked their corners with great 

 precision, and then, taking each one in detail, 

 he proposed to determine its astronomical, 

 physical, and geographical features. He had 

 completed, in 1871, eight of these rectangles. 

 During 1872 he carried forward his work al- 

 most simultaneously in Utah, Arizona, and 



