GEOGRAPHICAL PROGEFSS, ETC. 



GEORGIA. 



337 



coin, 14,296; Mount "Wilson, 14,280; Long's 

 Peak, 14,271 ; Uncompahgre Peak, 14,235 ; 

 Crestone Peak, 14,233 ; Mountain of the Holy 

 Cross, 14,176; Mount Sneffels, 14,158; Pike's 

 Peak, 14,147; San Luis Peak, 14,100; Culebra 

 Peak, 14,079 ; Mount Ouray, 14,043. 



The primary triangulation, under Mr. "Wil- 

 son, covered this season about 25,000 square 

 miles. This party established 26 stations, and 

 located many points by foresight intersections, 

 on which monuments were set up by the sec- 

 ondary surveying parties. The area covered 

 by the Snake River party's triangulation was 

 12,500 square miles; the monuments erected 

 numbered 104. This division was under the 

 direction of Henry Garnet, with J. E. Mush- 

 back, assistant topographer, and Dr. A. C. Peale 

 and F. M. Eastman, geologist and assistant 

 geologist. Mr. Beckler's party surveyed 6,000 

 square miles and erected 40 monuments. The 

 work laid out for 4;he survey in 1877 included 

 over 30,000 square miles, lying mainly in Wy- 

 oming Territory, but partly in eastern Idaho 

 and Utah. It was divided into three districts : 

 the Green River and Sweetwater districts to 

 extend as far south as parallel 41 45', where 

 they about meet Clarence King's survey of the 

 40th parallel, and as far north as the paral- 

 .lel 43 ; the Sweetwater or eastern district was 

 bounded on the east by the 107th meridian; 

 and the Green River division was bounded on 

 the west by the 112th meridian meridian 109 

 30' dividing the two fields. The Snake River 

 division explored the territory extending to 

 latitude 44 15' N., and covering the whole 

 area north of the two other districts. 



During a part of the summer of 1877, the 

 primary triangulation party, under Mr. H. D. 

 Wilson, was engaged in establishing astronom- 

 ical locations in the Wind River range of 

 mountains in Wyoming Territory. Fremont's 

 Peak was found to be situated 15 miles to the 

 north of the mountain so designated in Captain 

 Jones's map, whose true name is Wind River 

 Peak. The range extends from the Sweet- 

 water River, beginning about latitude 42 15', 

 longitude 109 W., in a straight line north- 

 ward to Union Pass; its length is about 75 

 miles. It is the greatest mass of mountains in 

 Wyoming Territory, and contains the highest 

 peaks, unless the unexplored Big Horn Moun- 

 tains surpass them. In form it is a double 

 parallel ridge of mountains, with connecting 

 mountains or "saddles" running across at short 

 distances apart, thus forming a series of circu- 

 lar links, inclosing deep valleys, each contain- 

 ing a lake, whose waters are frozen over four- 

 fifths of the year. These valleys contain only 

 a few scattered trees around the edges of the 

 'lakes, which fill nearly the whole of the bot- 

 toms, the sides of the mountains rising abrupt- 

 ly, sometimes in vertical walls 1,000 to 2,000 

 feet high. The outer descents of the moun- 

 tains are in terraces, separated by cafions, with 

 rugged foot-hills below : the traces of glacial 

 action on the most gigantic scale are visible in 

 VOL. xvn. 22 A 



all the forms of the landscape. The Wind 

 River Mountains yield a larger drainage, in 

 proportion to the extent of their area, than 

 any other system of mountains in the country ; 

 the Sweetwater, Wind, Big Horn, Green, and 

 Snake Rivers rise in these mountains, as well 

 as the principal feeders of the Yellowstone, 

 Gros Ventre, and Clarke's Fork of the Colum- 

 bia. It is the most stormy region in the west- 

 ern country. The mountains consist of gran- 

 ite, with some gneiss. Indications of gold, 

 silver, and other metals were frequent, and 

 every variety of metalliferous quartz was met 

 with. 



GEORGIA. The regular session of the 

 Legislature of Georgia began at Atlanta on the 

 10th of January. On the 12th, Alfred H. Col- 

 quitt was inaugurated Governor for a term of 

 four years. On the 16th N. C. Bartlett was 

 elected Secretary of State, J. W. Renfroe State 

 Treasurer, W. L. Goldsmith Controller -Gen- 

 eral, and James P. Harrison State Printer. 

 These officials were chosen by the Legislature 

 in joint convention of the two Houses. A 

 United States Senator was elected for the term 

 of six years, beginning March 4, 1877, to suc- 

 ceed Thomas M. Norwood. Several ballots 

 were taken before an election was made. The 

 first stood 95 for Thomas M. Norwood, 77 for 

 B. H. Hill, 29 for James M. Smith, 10 for H. 

 V. Johnson, and 4 for D. A. Walker. The 

 final and decisive ballot, taken on the 26th of 

 January, was 116 for Hill, 86 for Norwood, 5 

 for Smith, 5 for Johnson, and 1 for Charles J. 

 Jenkins ; and Mr. Hill was elected. 



Benjamin H. Hill was born in Jasper Coun- 

 ty, Ga., in 1823, and was educated in the pri- 

 vate schools of his native county and the Uni- 

 versity of Georgia at Athens, where he grad- 

 uated in 1844. He was admitted to the bar 

 the following year, and practised his profession 

 without interruption for several years. In 

 1851 he was elected to the Legislature as a 

 Whig, and took a prominent part in its debates. 

 In 1855 he appeared as a leader in the Na- 

 tive American or " Know-Nothing " party. In 

 1859 he was elected to the Legislature again by 

 the Whigs and "Know-Nothings," and in 1860 

 supported the Bell and Everett ticket in the 

 national canvass. He was a delegate to the 

 convention that adopted the ordinance of 

 secession, but joined with his old political an- 

 tagonist, Alexander H. Stephens, in opposing 

 that measure. Having failed to prevent the 

 secession of the State, he yielded to the ma- 

 jority, and took a prominent part in support 

 of the Southern Confederacy, being chosen by 

 the Legislature to the Confederate Senate. 

 After the war he opposed the reconstruction 

 measures, and naturally found himself work- 

 ing in the ranks of the Democratic party, to 

 which he had never before belonged. He was 

 elected to the 44th Congress from the 9th dis- 

 trict, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of 

 Garnett McMillan, where his course was gen- 

 erally liberal and conciliatory. His successor 



