GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 157 



West of Bloomington, Paris, Saint Charles, and tbe lake, a number of 

 mines have been located. I had the opportunity of examining but one 

 of the mines, and that was near the mouth of Swan Creek. It was 

 ocated in the quartzites, as I have described above. From all the evi- 

 dence that I could obtain, I formed the opinion that these mines would 

 never become very profitable, though quite interesting in a scientific 

 point of view. They deserve a much more careful examination than I 

 was able to give them. 



As I have before stated, the valley of Bear Lake is most beautiful, 

 fertile, and already well settled by farmers. There are all the indica- 

 tions of prosperity, yet I understand that the winters are very severe, 

 and that, owing to the late and early froets, crops are uncertain. Still 

 the climate is reported to be growing milder every year. We may look 

 for a moment at the elevation of the valley above the sea. At Soda 

 Springs, the most northern point of Bear River Valley, the elevation is 

 5,529 feet; at Bear Eiver Bridge, thirty-three miles up the valley, 5,744 

 feet; at Swan Creek, on the west side of the lake, twenty-five miles 

 farther up the valley, 5,922 feet. At the extreme south end of the lake 

 the elevation was found to be 5,931 feet. We see, therefore, while this 

 most attractive portion of the valley is not above 6,000 feet, the suc- 

 cessful raising of crops is even yet somewhat problematical, though 

 the parallel of latitude is only 42°. 



Near Swan Creek there is a fine exhibition of a local anticlinal. The 

 beds of quartzites incline like a steep roof from the west side of the 

 mountain, forming a wall very near the road. The inclination of the 

 quartzites was 60°, while all along the sides of the mountains the basalt 

 ridges of the strata are shown inclining in an opposite direction lOP to 

 15°. The east portion of this anticlinal is undoubtedly due to the wash- 

 ing out of the underlying materials by the waters of the lake and the 

 breaking down of the beds of quartzite in consequence. The hills or 

 mountains on the west side rise 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the lake. Bear 

 Lake Valley is oval in shape and at the present time has the appearance 

 of an anticlinal. The high ranges of hills on the west side only present 

 the basalt edges of the strata toward the lake, but it is probable that 

 the western portion has been swept away by erosion. It is possible that 

 the system of synclinal folds or depressions extended along the valley, 

 but have been worn away. At the upper end are fragments of anticlinal 

 ridges, which appear to have extended across the area now occupied by 

 the waters of the lake. On the east side the streams have cut deep 

 gorges into the hills, revealing the quartzites as well as the limestones, 

 but the variegated clays, marls, and sandstones of the Wahsatch group 

 repose unconformably upon them, filling up the irregularities of the sur- 

 face and concealing the older rocks for the most part. The quartzites 

 prevail on the west side, extending as far southward as the eye can 

 reach, while in the valley at the extreme south end very compact 

 quartzites, which appear to be partially changed, crop out from beneath 

 the Carboniferous limestones. 



After crossing Spring Creek, near Laketown, we enter a deep caiion 

 with massive strata of limestone, inclining about northeast 50° to 70°. 

 We have at the bottom, first, very irregular bedded, massive, cherty 

 limestone, with no fossils ; secondly, a yellow, calcareous sandstone of 

 varied texture; thirdly, limestone in tliin strata, very much warped or 

 bent. The upper limestones are much like those in Joe's Gap east of 

 Bennington, and are, no doubt, a continuation southward of the same 

 ridge. This ridge, or range of mountain hills, as it might be termed, 

 is deeply gashed by streams that flow into the lake or river, revealing 

 sections of the strata more or less clear. We may, therefore, state in 



