702 EEPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVET. 



■vvliicli is Mount Preuss. From this mass several spurs, of mucTi 

 lower elevatiou, put out. One heavy spur runs northward, connecting 

 with Caribou Mountain, a few miles north of my district, and separating 

 the Blackfoot from Salt Eiver. Another trends northwest and divides 

 the Bear from the Blackfoot, while a third goes south and separates the 

 valley of Thomas' Fork from the Bear, below Bear Lake. This spur, 

 greatly decreased in altitude, is cut through by the Bear, below the 

 mouth of Thomas' Fork, in its passage from its upper valley to that of 

 Bear Lake. South of this cafion the hills rise again to a considerable 

 elevation, and broaden out, forming the divide between Bear Lake and 

 the upper valley of the Bear. In their highest part, a few miles south 

 of the Bear Eiver, these hills reach altitudes of nearly 8,000 feet. 

 Thence southward; they diminish in elevation and in detail, degenerating 

 iuto a broad plateau. 



While in this neighborhood, mention must be made of a short range 

 of high mountains which separate Smith's and Thomas' Forks of the Bear. 

 At its south end this range rises abruptly from the former stream near 

 its mouth. The range increases in height by successive steps, one bare, 

 round summit rising above another until the highest crest, Station 38, 

 is reached, at an altitude of 0,223 feet. Then follows a precipitous notch, 

 cut clear down to the level of Thomas' Fork by a stream which heads 

 in the east face of the range. Beyond, the range consists of a close 

 cluster of peaks, having very nearly the same height as Station 38; then 

 a gentle and uniform slope of the ridge for several miles, followed by a 

 precipice of several hundred feet, brings us down to the level of a branch 

 of Thomas' Fork, at the north end of this range. 



THE BEAR EIVER EANGE. 



This range separates Bear Lake Valley on the east from Cache and 

 Gentile Valleys on the west. It is a broad range, especially in its 

 southern part, where it becomes quite complex in its structure. It is 

 quite heavily timbered, except on the lower slopes, with coniferai, while 

 below their limit quaking aspen forms beautiful groves. 



The north end of the range is at the northern bend of the Bear, near 

 the Soda Springs, where the river flows around the precipitous "Sheep 

 Eock." Soda Peak, a round-topped summit 9,683 feet high, is the cul- 

 minating peak of the northern part of the range. From it the crest 

 runs westward two or three miles, then turns north, and, gradually fall- 

 ing, ends at Sheep Eock. Eastward from Soda Peak, heavy plateau -like 

 masses, much lower than the peak, extend eastward towards the Bear 

 Eiver. The crest runs nearly south from the mountain, gradually de- 

 creasing in height until North Pass, the lowest point of this great de- 

 pression in the range, is reached. Thence it rises from summit to summit 

 and gradually becomes broader, the streams at first flowing from the 

 eastern part of the range westward. Here the range has in general 

 outline the form of a plateau, broad on toi), with steep, in some places 

 precipitous slopes, iDarticularly on the west. Paris Peak, 9,522 feet high, 

 is situated on the eastern edge of the range. Beyond this dominating 

 summit the eastern-bound streams drain to the western border of the 

 range, while the latter presents a sheer wall to the west. Still going 

 southward, the range rapidly becomes broader and is divided into several 

 north and south ridges by tributaries of the Bear. We distinguish, first, 

 on the west or Cache Valley side, a high, extremely rugged range, the 

 highest of the serieSj rising abruptly from the smooth level of the val- 

 ley. The dii) of the rocks is toward the east, so that they present the 



