LETTER TO THE SECRETARY. 



Washington, D. 0., February 20, 1872. 



Sm : In accordance with your instructions, based upon the act of the 

 Forty-first Congress, authorizing the continuation of the geological survey 

 of the Territories of the United States, I have the honor to submit my 

 fifth annual report of progress. 



As soon as the season was sufficiently far advanced to admit of explor- 

 ations in the mountain districts, I dispatched my principal assistant, 

 Mr. James Stevenson, to Omaha and Cheyenne, to make the necessary 

 preparations and secure the outfit. 



My party was organized as follows : James Stevenson, managing 

 director; Henry W. Elliott, artist ; Prof. Cyrus Thomas, agricultural statis- 

 tician and entomologist ; Anton Schonborn, chief topographer ; A. J. 

 Smith, assistant ; William H. Jackson, photographer -, George B. Dixon, 

 assistant ; J. W. Beaman, meteorologist ; Prof. G. !N". Allen, botanist ; 

 Eobt. Adams, jr., assistant; Dr. A. C. Beale, mineralogist; Dr. C. S. 

 Turnbull, physician ; Campbell Carrington, in charge of zoological collec- 

 tions; William B. Logan, secretary; F. J. Huse, Chester M. Dawes, C. 

 De V. JSTegley, and J. W. Duncan, general assistants. Mr. Thomas Mo- t 

 ran, a distinguished artist from PhiladeliDhia, accompanied the party as 

 guest, to secure studies of the remarkable scenery of the Yellowstone. 

 In addition to the above, there were about fifteen men who acted as 

 teamsters, laborers, cooks, or hunters. The greater portion of our out- 

 fit was obtained of the United States quartermaster, Colonel C. A. Eey- 

 nolds, at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming Territory. Horses, mules, 

 wagons, and all other equipments were placed on freight-cars and taken 

 by rail to Ogden, Utah. Here our journey began. 



About June 1, leaving Ogden, we passed along the shore of Salt Lake to 

 WillardCity, thence through the Wasatch Range to Cache Yalley, thence 

 up the valley to the divide, between the waters of the Salt Lake Basin and 

 those of Snake River. A careful survey of the valley was made, and fre- 

 quent trips into the mountains on either side were taken. We then 

 descended Marsh Creek to the Snake River Basin and Fort Hall. Here we 

 rested for two days, to recruit our animals and make the necessary repairs, 

 and then followed the stage-road to Virginia junction. We then left the 

 stage-road to the westward, taking an old road, crossed Blacktail Deer 

 Creek near its source, thence down Stinking Water to Virginia City. We 

 then crossed the divide eastward to the Madison river, descended the valley 

 about thirty miles, land crossed over the other divide to Fort Ellis, at the 

 head of the Gallatin Valley. A narrow belt was thus surveyed, con- 



