2 PLANTS BAKERIAN^E. 



outlying peaks rival the central mass of Mt. Hesperus, 

 but all reach nearly or quite 13,000 feet, and their sheltered 

 gulches hold abundant snow far into the summer to feed 

 the mountain brooks, and furnish moisture for the luxuri- 

 ant alpine vegetation that springs up like magic as the 

 snow line retreats. From the basins between these peaks 

 arise many streams. The La Plata River rises to the east- 

 ward of Hesperus and flows nearly due South ; East, 

 Middle, and West Mancos creeks flow from its western 

 flanks, all uniting above the town of the same name to 

 form the Mancos River, which flows in a southwesterly 

 direction. Bear Creek rising North of Hesperus, between 

 that peak and Shark's Tooth, flows to the northwestward, 

 while the drainage from the eastern side of Shark's Tooth 

 and Snowstorm Peak and is tributary to the Las Animas. 



Two of our party reached the little town of Mancos on 

 the Rio Grande Southern railway on Tuesday, June 21, 

 1898, and went into camp near the river to await the com- 

 ing of the third member who had been detained at his 

 home in Mississippi by a suddenly-imposed yellow fever 

 quarantine. 



The valley at Mancos is from one to two miles wide. For- 

 merly a sage plain, it is now, thanks to irrigation, mostly 

 covered with green wheat and alfalfa fields. Owing to its 

 elevation. 7,000 feet, corn and the more tender vegetables 

 can not be grown on the Mancos. To the North and East 

 the valley is bounded by the foot hills and lower ridges of 

 the La Plata Range, the snow-streaked top of Hesperus 

 being plainly visible. The hills bounding the valley to 

 the South are strikingly different from these in conforma- 

 tion, being flat-topped with precipitous sides, evidently 

 belonging to the great mesa formation of the Southwest. 

 The steep northern slopes of these mesas facing the valley 



