46 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



valley of the Weber the Jurassic, triassic, carboniferous, &c, are enormous- 

 ly developed. We then ascended the west branch of the Muddy, along 

 one of the most beautiful mountain valleys we have yet seen. It is 

 quite narrow, inclosed between high ridges, the sides descending in 

 step-like slopes to the stream. The little groves of aspen were dis- 

 tributed over it with the most delicate artistic taste, and the varieties of 

 autumn coloring of the foliage surpassed every power of description. 

 One could look for hours upon them, and yet there were no marked 

 salient points, and the charm consisted more in a kind of esthetic 

 feeling which no pen or pencil can portray. The grass is excellent, and 

 the water pure from mountain springs. The sage shrub grows very 

 rank, which also indicates the fertility of the soil. We camped in a 

 little grove of aspens, and all the party were so well pleased that they 

 united in calling it Camp Elliott, in honor of the artist of our expedition. 

 The elevation was ascertained to be 8,194 feet. The next morning, 

 September 25th, we continued up this branch of the Muddy for about 

 two miles, and then struck across the divide to the west branch, and 

 followed that up to Spruce Eidge, the high divide between the waters of 

 the Muddy and Bear Elver. Here we caught a full view of the range of 

 mountains, with the sharp peaks covered with snow. This was just the 

 point we had desired to reach where we could take a careful survey of 

 the country, and determine our point of destination. I had with me a 

 most excellent field glass, and so useful have I found it in my explora- 

 tions that it has become my inseparable companion. With it I could 

 extend my vision over a vast area. Far to the northward, one hundred 

 and eighty miles distant, the white snow-clad mountains of Wind Eiver 

 were distinctly visible extending along the horizon. The intermediate 

 space resembles in its surface the irregular broken waves of a sea. To 

 the west, not more than fifty miles distant, the Wasatch range can be 

 clearly seen, while the beautiful broad valley of Bear Eiver and its 

 branches are spread out beneath us. It is difficult for one to fully 

 appreciate the wonderful extent of country over which the eye can travel 

 through the pure atmosphere in this open country without having 

 visited it. It seems to me that no other portion of the world can present 

 so much surface of country to a single grasp of the vision. Spruce Eidge 

 explains so much that has hitherto been obscure in regard to the foot- 

 hills of the Uintas, that I will describe it more minutely. 



Smith's Fork, Black's Fork, and Bear Eiver take their rise in the main 

 divide of the Uinta range among the snow peaks. Each one of these 

 streams has its smaller branches, which originate from springs issuing 

 from the lower foot-hills. Between Black's Fork and Bear Eiver is the 

 Muddy Creek, which drains a broad valley, and separates into half a 

 dozen branches, most of which extend up to the main range. The range 

 itself consists of a central belt or zone of peaks and ridges, more rugged 

 and inaccessible than most mountain ranges. This belt varies from five 

 to fifteen miles in width, and has a general trend about east and west, or 

 northeast and southwest. Below this zone, the mountains are composed 

 of step- like terraces or ridges, which are so covered with drift material, 

 and sustain such a growth of grass and timber, that the basis rocks are 

 seldom if ever exposed to the eye. Thus we have two kinds of ridges— 

 the ridges of upheaval, which incline away from the central axis and are 

 parallel with it, and the ridges of erosion which radiate down into the 

 plains from the rugged belt before described as forming the crest of the 

 mountains. Spruce Eidge extends from this central belt with a some- 

 what irregular outline down into the plains between the drainage of 

 Black's Fork and Bear Eiver. All along the sides of this ridge, nearly 



