226 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



this section which I have described as susceptible of cultivation will 

 have a tendency to make some of the many who have traveled over this 

 old emigrant route mistrust my judgment. I may be mistaken in refer- 

 ence to the amount of land which can be brought under cultivation, for 

 this is only an estimate made up without measurement, (except the 

 direct distances as shown by the odometer,*) from estimates of the 

 various parts, but if the supply of water does not fall short, I think this 

 is not too large. And I have learned that the dreary look a covering 

 of sage and grease- wood gives to the landscape is not to be taken as 

 any evidence of the sterility of the soil. I am also pretty well satisfied 

 that the climate here will prove more favorable to agriculture than that 

 of Laramie Plains, and that the cereals (except corn) and the ordinary 

 vegetables can be raised without any difficulty. I know of no experi- 

 ments having been made in this section to show what can be grown 

 here, therefore have to judge from the character of the soil, elevation, 

 latitude, surroundings, and the temperature so far as I could learn from 

 those who had passed through it. 



As a grazing region it is inferior to the Laramie Valley, yet the river 

 bottoms and mountain slopes (the granite hills excepted) afford very 

 good grass. Timber is also scarce from the vicinity of St. Mary's Sta- 

 tion to the mouth. Here and there are groves of willow, and in the 

 upper valleys a few cotton-wood trees, but those which formerly grew 

 along this route, and which are mentioned by Fremont, have nearly all 

 been destroyed by the emigrants and others who have since traveled 

 the road. It is possible that when the stream is full timber may be 

 floated down from the mountains near South Pass. 



THE EASTERN SECTION. 



This section, the principal part of which lies east of the Black Hills, 

 constitutes the remaining portion of the district under consideration. It 

 consists of the valleys of the North Platte and its tributaries, from the 

 Eed Buttes to the mouth of Horse Creek, on the eastern boundary of 

 the Territory. It also includes the valleys of Crow Creek, Barren's 

 Fork, and Lodge Pole to the boundary line, and the intervening plains, 

 containing about nine thousand square miles, of which I estimate one- 

 sixth, or nearly one million acres, can be irrigated and rendered tillable. 

 I was at first disposed to set down the amount of land in this section, 

 susceptible of cultivation, at considerably less than these figures, but 

 when I examined the barometric record showing the fall of the Platte I 

 felt assured my first estimate was too small. The elevation, as might 

 be inferred from the situation, varies considerably in the different parts, 

 the northwestern and southwestern angles presenting the highest points, 

 and the northeast the lowest. In order to give an idea of the topog- 

 raphy of the country, I herewith note the elevation of the principal 

 points bearing upon its facilities for irrigation on a large scale. Begin- 

 ning at Red Buttes and following the Platte, which runs near the north- 

 east border of the section, the elevation above the sea level is as follows : 

 Bed Buttes, 5,528 feet; five miles below the Old Bridge, 5,252 feet; river 

 bottom near Fort Fetterman, about 4,970 feet ; t Fort Laramie, accord- 

 to Fremont, 4,470 feet, and as given by Stansbury, 4,519 feet ; mouth of 



* I was careful to obtain the distances each day from Mr. Beaman, that my compari- 

 sons might be made on the ground. 



tThe barometric observation was taken on the La Prele, about two miles above Fort 

 Fetterman, where the elevation is just 5,012 feet ; I have deducted 42 feet as the prob- 

 able fall to the river bottom. 



