THE BEAVER REGION. 77 



feet in width, "Gentle slopes of green, and patches of 

 woodland appear in the vicinity of the dancing, glimmer- 

 ing streams, and contrast boldly with the jutting cliffs 

 and yawning chasms of the mountains. The Indians 

 have fought many a bloody battle for the possession of 

 this splendid hunting and trapping region, but the Yutas 

 have generally succeeded in maintaining it against their 

 foes. I was intimately acquainted with these Indians, 

 and having no fear that they would interrupt my pursuits, 

 I immediately set about preparations for trapping. 



The beaver was once found in every part of North 

 America, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, but has now 

 gradually retired from the encroachment and the perse- 

 cutions of civilized man, and is met with only in the far, 

 Far West, on the tributaries of the great rivers, and the 

 mountain valleys in the great chain of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. On the waters of the Platte and Arkansas they 

 are still numerous, and within the last few years have in- 

 creased considerably in numbers ; but the best trapping- 

 ground now is on the streams running through the Bayou 

 Salada, and the Old 'and New Parks, all of which are 

 elevated mountain valleys. 



The habits of the beaver present quite a study to the 

 naturalist, and they are certainly the most sagaciously 

 instinctive of all quadrupeds. Their dams afford a .lesson 

 to the engineer, their houses a study to the architect of 



7* 



