196 THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



all streams in the arid regions were equally favored by nature in this 

 respect. 



On our second day out from Sheridan we visited Dome Lake a 

 nascent summer resort in the Bighorn Mountains under the patronage, 

 I believe of the Burlington Railroad. It may have been the surpassing 

 beauty and sublimity of the scenery around Cloud Peak Lake, which 

 I had seen but a week before, that caused this much-advertised spot 

 to appear altogether tame in comparison. More probably, however, 

 it was the desolate appearance of the surrounding country which is 

 almost divested of the noble forests that once covered it. Here in- 

 deed is an impressive example of the ruin that has spread over many 

 of the forest areas of the west. It alone is sufficient to convince any 

 believer in the necessity of preserving our forests, th,at prompt and 

 vigorous measures ought to be taken by the government to save what 

 remains, and to restore what has been lost. 



In this connection I may mention a matter which came to my at- 

 tention about a week before. The day before Mr. Mead joined me, I 

 made a short excursion from Buffalo, up the valley of Clear Creek 

 to the old military reservation of Fort McKinney, where I had spent 

 some time nine years before, surveying its boundaries. I passed 

 through the abandoned post, now the property of the State of Wyom- 

 ing. The perfect state of preservation and the neat appearance of 

 everything spoke highly for the care with which this piece of property 

 is being preserved. But I imagine that the state is at a loss to know 

 what to do with it. It at once occurred that here was a central 

 position from which to protect the forests of the entire Bighorn 

 Range. Let the post of Fort McKinney be reoccupied by United 

 States troops, held there to do duty as foresters. If this is not con- 

 sidered a proper function for the regular troops, let a regiment be 

 raised whose duty shall be confined to that of forest protection and 

 let a portion of it garrison this post. There is no good reason that I 

 can think of why the army should not afford the basis of an efficient 

 police system for our national forests; there are many and excellent 

 reasons why it should. 



From Dome Lake our party proceeded into the Bighorn Basin, a 

 valley renowned in all the history of the west. I had always been 

 desirous of visiting this valley and embraced the present opportunity 

 with much earnestness. My expectations as to its agricultural possi- 

 bilities were pitched pretty high, and I can hardly decide as yet 

 whether they were equalled or the contrary by what I saw. I think 

 that the general impression, as we rolled down the long western 

 slope of the Bighorn Range, was one of disappointment. The scene 

 of widespread desolation, as the endless vista of naked, ashy hills un- 

 folded itself to our view, was not calculated to inspire a feeling of 

 confidence in the future of such a country. It did not seem capable 

 of sustaining a living thing. Yet we had before us the evidence of 



