692 KEPOET UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



Wyoming Eange. Nearly all of their upper branches flow southerly, in 

 narrow valleys between these ridges, cutting across them in short, close 

 canons, and collecting against the basin-rim to force their way through it. 



In its course across the basin, La Barge Creek, after ijassing La Barge 

 Mountain, is bordered on the north by low, flat country, but on the south 

 the land rises immediately into a plateau which separates itfromFonte- 

 nelle Creek, and, extending down to Green River, breaks oft' in a blufp 

 edge. This plateau, far from presenting a uniform surface, is cut into 

 shreds by erosion. A small alkaline creek flows from it into the Green 

 between La Barge and Fontenelle Creeks. The Green makes a short 

 ott'set to the east just below the mouth of this small creek, and another 

 at the mouth of the Fontenelle. 



Fontenelle Creek is so named after one of the best known of the early 

 fur-traders of this region. It flows in a narrow valley, bordered on either 

 side by low bluft's, which rise to a iflateau level, covered with sage, 

 among which grass is sparingly distributed. 



Slate Creek is a small alkaline stream much vexed by beaver dams. 

 It rises just outside the basin-rim, cuts a canon through it vastly out of 

 proportion to its size, and thence flows east to the Gieen, on the top of 

 the plateau, which here has become depressed to the general level of 

 the drainage. Kear its mouth Green Eiver emerges from between the 

 broken bluff walls in which it has been confined below the mouth of 

 La Barge Creek, and, turning southeast, flows off to join the Big Sandy. 

 Though confined abo\ e by bluff' walls 200 to 300 ieet in height, the 

 river has broad and beautiful bottom-lands, green with grass and Cot- 

 tonwood groves, in this section, from the La Barge to Slate Creek. Be- 

 low the latter the bluffs are low, and in places entirely wanting, while 

 the river-bottom preserves its character of breadth and fertility to the 

 south line of my district. 



The country west of the river and south of Slate Creek is scarcely 

 broken, except by dry water-courses and one or two long lines of low 

 bluffs, until Ham's Fork is reached, on the south line of the area under 

 consideration. This stream, which in high water is scarcely fordable, in 

 the fall of the year dwindles to an insignificant creek. In its drainage 

 area and length, however, it exceeds any of the other western branches 

 of the Green which we have considered. It heads in and west of the 

 meridional ridges, its main stream reaching behind and as far north as 

 the sources of the Fontenelle. After flowing southward through a 

 broad basin in the hills for many miles, it turns eastward ; cuts its way 

 out into the Green Eiver Basin ; there it flows nearly southeast, and 

 finally, after a course of nearly 40 miles in the basin, it unites with 

 Black's Fork, at Granger, a station on the Union Pacific Eailroad. 



The Big Sandy is the first stream to enter the Green irom the east- 

 below the mouth of the New Fork, in a distance of C3 miles. It is at 

 the mouth a large stream, fordable with difficulty at high water, and at 

 a medium stage carrying about 200 cubic feet per second. It draws all 

 its "water from the Wind Eiver IMountains, its farthest source being 

 against the most southerly branches of the New Fork. The stream 

 leaves the mountains as a full-grown river but a fcAv miles south of 

 Willow Creek, and immediately turns to the south, flowing down the 

 east side of the valley quite close to the base of the mountains. For 

 many miles it receives no tributaries of any importance from the east, 

 and throughout its course none whatev^er from the west. Indeed, the 

 only brancii of any importance which it receives outside of the mount- 

 ains is the Little Sandy, a small stream from the southern end of tlie 

 Wind Eiver Eange. 



