698 EEPOET UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



very dry season, and this is probably less than its usual capacity at this 

 season. This valley is limited on the east by a range of high, bare hills, 

 beyond which are the upper waters of Ham's Fork. On the west rises 

 a mass of hills which sei^arate the Bear from Bear Lake. The width of 

 this valley is about 2 miles ; its length within the district is 25 miles. 

 This valley ranges in height from 6,200 to 6,500 feet above the sea. It 

 is exposed, and the winters are rather severe. Still, several ranches have 

 been settled in sheltered localities, and cattle graze over the hills or 

 I)ick up a scanty sustenance among the sage and greasewood of the 

 valley. At the foot of this valley Smith's Fork enters the river from 

 the north. It drains the parallel ridges which run south from the Salt 

 Eiver Eange. Its valley and those of its tributaries are narrow and of 

 little value to the agriculturist. The Bear flows northwest for several 

 miles after receiving Smith's Fork, hugging closely the base of the hills 

 on the left, until, entering the valley of Thomas' Fork, it turns to a west 

 course, and is joined by Thomas' Fork, a second large branch from the 

 right. The valley of Thomas' Fork is one of the finest in the section, 

 being 13 miles long by an average of 3 in width. The soil is very fer- 

 tile and the valley well sheltered by mountain ranges on either side. 

 The stream heads opposite Crow and Beaver Creeks, branches of Salt 

 Eiver. It also receives large branches from the Preuss Eange and 

 smaller streams from the range opposite. Below the junction with 

 Thomas' Fork, the Bear pursues a winding, sinuous course through a 

 narrow valley, in which it crosses a range of hills, the southern exten- 

 sion of the Preuss Eange. This portion of its course contains some very 

 fine bottom-land, which is rapidly being settled. From among these 

 hills the river emerges into the valley of Bear Lake. This valley, lying 

 on the east side of the Bear Eiver Eange, has a total length in a direc- 

 tion somewhat west of north of 70 miles, with a maximum width of 12 

 miles, and a mean width of about 6 miles. On the east the valley is 

 bordered by the Preuss Eange and the hills farther to the south, which 

 separate this valley from that of the Upper Bear. On the south it is 

 terminated abruptly by high, bare hills; on the north it closes in grad- 

 ually, extending as far as the Soda Springs. 



The southern part of the valley is occupied by Bear Lake, leaving but 

 a narrow strip of valley land between its shore and the mountains on the 

 east, south, aud west. It is a beautiful sheet of water, nearly oval in 

 shape, 19 miles long by 7 wide, with an area of 125 square miles, hemmed 

 in closely on three sides by mountains, which, on the east, rise abruptly 

 in cliffs from the water's edge. Several fine streams, rising in magnifi- 

 cent cold springs at the base of the mountains, supply the lake. On the 

 east, south, and half of the wesl. side, the shore is a beautifully clean 

 gravel beach. The rest of the west shore is marshy. On the north a 

 natural dam separates it from the " Lower Lake," a vast swamp which 

 in high water becomes a lake with marshy shores, while at other times 

 the only standing water is in its southeastern corner. The ^' dam" is a 

 naiTow strip of land, but a few yards in width, extending across the 

 northern end of the lake. Two breaks in it allow the waters of Bear 

 Lake to flow out. 



Bear Eiver flows through the swamps of the " Lower Lake," gradually 

 sweeping around to a course nearly north, and flowing on the west side 

 of the valley, close under the bluffs. In the swamp and farther down 

 the valley it is joined by a number of fine streams from the Bear Eiver 

 Jiange, and by two from the Preuss Eange. The river has increased in 

 size very much. On August 17 it was measured at the Soda Springs, 

 at the foot of this vallej^, and found to carry 1,000 cubic feet per second. 



