GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 225 



miles could be brought under cultivation here, and as timber could be 

 obtained from the neighboring hills this would be a good point for a 

 settlement. The Union Pacific Eailroad is not more than sixty miles 

 distant from this place. 



In the vicinity of Hay den's Peaks,* the granite hills on one side and 

 bluffs on the other press close to the margin of the river for a short dis- 

 tance, then receding from each other in a circular sweep again come 

 close together a few miles beyond, inclosing a beautiful circular area 

 containing some twenty or twenty-five square miles of fertile bottom 

 land, which, as it is but slightly elevated above the water, can be irri- 

 gated without difficulty. 



Passing the gate-like opening of the little park just described, we 

 enter upon a broad valley, which continues without interruption to the 

 " Devil's Gate," about four miles above Independence Rock. A good 

 part of this valley is covered with " grease-wood " and sage, but the soil 

 is very fertile and will produce good crops. Muddy Creek, which comes 

 in here from the south, has a tolerably broad margin of level land, but 

 I doubt about it affording water for irrigation. The breadth of land 

 here is probably equal to the supply of water. Around Independence 

 Rock and for several miles above and below it are fine bottoms which 

 can be irrigated. Between the river and Horse Creek there is a broad 

 delta, which has an average elevation of twenty or thirty feet above the 

 bed of the river, but less than that above the level of the creek. This 

 plateau, and, in fact, a considerable area east of Horse Creek, could be 

 reached by irrigating ditches, but the ditch from the river would require 

 two short aqueducts at the Devil's Gate. The soil of this plain is 

 strongly impregnated in some places with alkali, otherwise it is rich in 

 the elements of fertility. At present it is covered with " grease- wood " 

 and sage, except in the little areas which are frosted over with alkaline 

 incrustations; but this is no longer a terror to the agriculturist, who 

 has learned how to manage it, if he only has an abundance of water and 

 sufficient drainage. Along the ridge lying north of this plain, around 

 the head- waters of Horse Creek and over the summit in the vicinity of 

 Willow Springs, are some excellent grazing lands. The country along 

 the Platte, from the mouth of Sweetwater to Poison Spring Creek, is 

 broken and mountainous, and the river for part of the way runs through 

 deep gorges and falls in this distance over four hundred feet, the fall 

 from Independence Rock to Red Buttes being about five hundred and 

 forty feet. 



The length of the Sweetwater Valley, from its commencement above 

 St. Mary's Station to the Platte, is about ninety miles, and the average 

 width of the land which can be brought under cultivation may be safely 

 estimated at six miles. This would give a cultivable area of five hun- 

 dred and forty square miles, or about three hundred and fifty thousand 

 acres for this section, besides a few small areas on the upper portions 

 of the Sweetwater that may possibly be brought under cultivation and 

 made to yield some of the hardier crops. 



I am aware that the dreary and desolate appearance of some parts of 



* Immediately north of Sweetwater River, about latitude 42° 28', west longitude 107° 

 24', the granite range bends around toward the west. On this semicircular portion there 

 are three peaks; the one to the west shoots up in a sharp point, the one to. the east is 

 cleft by a deep notch, while the middle one is round and dome-like. As these promi- 

 nent points had previous to our arrival received no names,. the members of the party 

 named them " Hayden's Peaks," in honor of the leader of the expedition. On the map 

 compiled by Colonel William E. Merrill, under order of General Sherman, entitled 

 "Map of Utah and Colorado," and published in 1869, they are included under the 

 general name, " Granite Ridges." 



15 a 



