GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 41 



as well as the " moss agates," have their origin. Along the railroad and 

 about Church Buttes the surface in many places is literally paved with 

 small fragments of a dark-brown, shiny, flinty rock, somewhat worn, 

 among which the " moss agates" are found; all these rocks originate 

 in the Bridger group. 



We found our camps on the Sandy Creeks and Green River very 

 pleasant, with abundant grass for our animals. The bottoms are usually 

 quite broad, and though covered with the white alkaline efflorescence 

 so common to this country, the soil has all the elements of extreme fer- 

 tility. Indeed this entire Green River basin, which seems to the eye 

 so utterly desolate and barren, would produce all the crops that the 

 climate will permit, most abundantly, if it could be irrigated ; and the time 

 may yet come when this apparently desert region may " blossom as the 

 rose." Whether this state of things can ever occur or not, it is sufficient 

 for me to state, that the soil, whether upland or lowland, contains in 

 greater proportions the elements of fertility than that of Salt Lake Val- 

 ley, which has been found so wonderfully productive. 



The 10th and 11th of September we camped on Black's Pork near 

 Church Buttes, and spent the time most industriously and successfully, 

 exploring the remarkable " bad lands" for fossil remains, as turtles, mam- 

 mals, and fresh-water shells, of which we gathered great quantities. 

 Mr. Elliott made a fine series of panoramic sketches and sections, and 

 Messrs. Jackson and Gifford procured seventeen beautiful photographic 

 negatives of the most rugged portions of this unique scenery. The ma- 

 terials for the illustration of the different groups of strata are very com- 

 plete, and will add greatly to our knowledge of the geology of some of 

 the most interesting regions in the West. 



On the evening of the 12th of September we arrived safely at Port 

 Bridger, the western terminus of our present explorations. 



CHAPTER IV. 



FORT BRIDGER AND THE UINTA MOUNTAINS. 



On the morning of September 16 we left Fort Bridger for the Uinta 

 Mountains, under the guidance of Judge W. A. Carter, whose long resi- 

 dence at Fort Bridger and intimate knowledge of the surrounding coun- 

 try proved of great value to us in our explorations. 



Our course was a little east of north, across the plateau divide between 

 Black's Fork and Smith's Fork. A distance of six miles from Bridger we 

 crossed over the interval to Little Cottonwood Creek, a branch of Smith's 

 Fork, and passed up that valley to the foot-hills of the mountains about, 

 seven miles farther. The valleys of these streams are broad and ex- 

 ceedingly fertile. The soil is a rich vegetable mold, and all the vege- 

 tation reaches a luxuriant growth. Large areas have been under culti- 

 vation by Judge Carter for years. Wheat, oats, barley, and all the roots, 

 can be raised here in great abundance and with ease. Hay can be 

 obtained in the meadows or damp places in unlimited quantities, and 

 the grazing cannot be surpassed. That portion of the country between 

 Fort Bridger and the foot-hills of the mountains may be divided into 

 bottom land and table land ; that is, the bottoms are very broad, vary- 

 ing from two to five miles in width, and the table lands are sort of ter- 

 race divides, which look in the distance as level as a table top, and de- 

 scend very gradually from the foot-hills. These plateaus are covered 



