APPEARANCE OF VEGETATION AROUND ANACONDA. 43 



red firs were in process of destruction, every degree of injury existing 

 from the totally dead tree to the tree only slightly injured, showing 

 that they were dying from some cause still in operation during the 

 summer of 1908; (4) many of the red firs showing the most severe 

 fire scars were the least injured, while many others with only slight 

 fire scars were killed; (5) if any trees had been killed by the fire, it 

 would most probably have been the thin-barked lodgepole pines, and 

 not the thick-barked red firs, yet the lodgepole pines were in good 

 condition all over the mountain, and the red firs were dead and 

 dying; (6) the red firs which were less than twenty- two years old 

 were also dying; (7) the area previously mentioned, which was un- 

 doubtedly killed by fire, had quite a different appearance from that 

 of the other sections of the mountain. In the fire-killed area no 

 small branches appeared on the dead trees, only the tree trunks and 

 largest branches remaining, and even many of these had fallen. Over 

 the remainder of the mountain there were very small branches still 

 on many of the dead trees. 



The mountain which stands just west of Warm Springs Creek, 

 where it makes a sudden turn north, was also carefully inspected. 

 This mountain is approximately in sees. 13 and 24, T. 5 N., R. 13 W., 

 and is about 13 miles from the smelter. The fire of about twenty-two 

 years ago (reckoned from 1908) evidently ran over a large part of 

 this mountain, as is shown by fire scars, but was sufficient in intensity 

 to kill the timber only over an area of about 15 to 20 acres on the 

 west slope and 5 to 10 acres on the east slope. On the east slope 

 there was a fire approximately fifty years ago at certain points. A 

 considerable area on the eastern slope and an area of from 250 to 300 

 acres on the northern slope had never been visited by fire since the 

 growth of the forest. All over this mountain, whether on the area 

 visited by the fire of twenty-two years ago, which was fire-scarred but 

 not killed, or on the area that had never been visited by fire, the 

 lodgepole pines were in very good condition, while the red firs were 

 practically all dead or dying. The same course of reasoning as that 

 adopted in the previous case proves that the red firs on this mountain 

 were not killed by fire (except in the small area mentioned), but were 

 attacked by some agency which was still active during the summer of 

 1908. 



A thorough examination was made of the mountain known as 

 Weigle Hill, which is at the fork of the roads leading to Silver Lake 

 and Cable, approximately 15 miles from the smeher, in sec. 23, 

 T. 5 N., R. 13 W. The principal part of the eastern slope of this 

 mountain had been visited by a fire about sLxty years previous to 

 the date of inspection. Certain parts of the eastern slope indicated 

 a fire about one hundred years ago, while the southern end of the 

 mountain had been attacked by fire about thirty-six years previous. 



