GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 199 



good crops of wheat, oats, and the hardy vegetables, the climate being 

 too cold for anything of a tender nature. Some trees of a considerable 

 size, principally cottonwood, grow in the valley, while the mountains 

 around produce an abundance of pine. 



The soil of the lower level, especially near the north end, is strongly 

 impregnated with alkali. 



This is a most excellent point for a few stock ranches, as water is 

 abundant, and as not only the valley proper, but also the little openings 

 up into the mountains and slopes on the north and west, afford most 

 excellent grass, and would furnish pasturage for quite a number of cattle. 



Below this point the valley contracts, but again expands near where 

 it opens into the Sahwatch Basin, affording a small area of arable land. 

 Here also are a number of hot springs which emit a strong vapor, the 

 temperature ranging at about 120° Fahrenheit. 



Running in from the northwest is Sahwatch Creek, which affords a 

 rich valley some three or four miles wide and some ten or twelve miles 

 long. The bottoms which flank this stream are generally flat, and as 

 they are raised but slightly above the water-level, can be easily irriga- 

 ted^ the supply of water being abundant. A settlement has already 

 been made here, and although the seasons are short, yet experiment has 

 proved that wheat, oats, &c, can be profitably raised, the yield being 

 good and the grain fine. I dislike to introduce personal incidents into 

 a report of this kind, yet as they sometimes serve to give stronger im- 

 pressions than can otherwise be made, 1 trust I will be excused for in- 

 troducing one here to show how difficult it is to produce a belief in the 

 agricultural capacity of these regions. As we entered this valley from 

 the west, we noticed that the oats, which appeared to be of a very inferior 

 quality, had been cut quite green; this was late in the season, (Septem- 

 ber 30,) and the night was very cold and frosty. I at once concluded 

 that the climate was too cold and the seasons too short to produce the 

 cereals, and even the leader of onr expedition, who had been exploring 

 the Rocky Mountain regions for fifteen years, and who long since had 

 gotten over first impressions, was inclined to the same opinion. Yet 

 next morning, when we passed over to the other side of the valley, we 

 were surprised to see some large fields of the finest quality of wheat. 

 Although it was being harvested at this late date, having been sowed 

 late in May, the grains were large and plump, and fully ripened. 



The broad margin that surrounds the boggy basin before described, 

 is sufficiently level for agricultural purposes, and, as far as the supply of 

 water will go, can be easily irrigated and brought under cultivation. 

 The lands along the east side, which slope in from the base of the Sierra 

 Blanca, are rather sandy, and in places almost destitute of vegetation, 

 the supply of water on this side not being constant. Yet I think it 

 probable that during the spring and first of summer, when most needed, 

 and while the snows on the west side of the mountain are melting, there 

 will be a sufficiency of water to irrigate a considerable breadth of land 

 even here. 



On the west side are the Carnero and Gareta Creeks, pretty little 

 streams which pour down their pure, limpid waters through ditch-like 

 channels but a few feet below the surface of the plain, rendering the ir- 

 rigation of the bordering lands remarkably easy and inexpensive. The 

 soil here is very good, in some places being a dark, rich loam, covered 

 with a tall and rank growth of grass. The temperature is about the 

 same as in the Sahwatch Valley, but although more open and perhaps 

 warmer during the day, is more subject to irregular early frosts, a fact 



