THE GRAVEL: NEAR LITTLE YORK. 15: 
Lea | 
at the bottom of the deep channel, and the calculated altitude was 2,652 feet. This series of 
numbers shows conclusively the possibility, indeed the almost absolute certainty, of there once 
having been a channel from Thompson Hill, by way of Eastman Hill, Missouri Hill, and Little 
York to Empire Hill. As to its continuation from the last-named place, it may be aoticed that 
from there across Steep Hollow the banks of Waloupa and of Squirrel Point are plainly in sight, 
with no obstacle in the way to force us to believe that connection between them and Empire Hill 
was an impossibility. The hand level and the barometer also »gree in giving a suitable grade 
from Empire Hill (2,652 feet) to Squirrel Hill (2,639 feet) and Waloupa (2,590) feet. Concern- 
ing these last altitudes, it must be observed that they are liable to some slight alterations, but not 
enough to change essentially the general deduction to be drawn from them. Put in tabular form, 
these elevations are : — 
Approximate Distance 
Name of Station. from last Station. Elevation. 
Thompson Hill . . : : : ; : : : . 2,838 
Eastman Hill. F . : . 4 mile . ; - : ; 2,8 72 
Missouri Hill . : . : : =. £mile .,>): ‘ ° : . 2,753 
Little York . . - . : ; 4 mile . : : ‘ ; 2,704 
Empire Hill . : Seeks : - mile. ‘ . . + 2,652 
Squirrel Point . : ‘ : : 3 mile . F - f ° 2,639 
Waloupa : : : : 3 - -mile | : ; : . 2,590 
The average grade would be, therefore, about eighty-three feet per mile between Thompson Hill 
and Waloupa. 
Corroborative testimony, in regard to the course of the channel and the direction of the current, 
was also obtained by examination of the surface of the bed-rock, although a large part of it is hid- 
den from view by the piles of refuse. In spite of this difficulty, a sufficient number of places were 
found on Thompson Hill, where the course of the stream was indicated, beyond possibility of 
doubt, as being toward Eastman Hill. Similar evidence was obtained that the direction of the 
flow, from the last-named locality, was toward Missouri Hill; although, in this case, the condition 
of the bed-rock did: not furnish quite as satisfactory indications as had been observed higher up on 
the channel. 
After mapping the course of the old channel from Liberty Hill to Waloupa, and comparing it 
with the present course of Bear River, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that we are dealing 
with two different beds of one and the same stream. Even the sharp bend at Missouri Hill ceases 
to be an object of surprise, for we find that the present stream makes a similar curve near that 
point, and now runs, at the present day, in a parallel course about a mile farther south. The Bear 
River of to-day, instead of joining Steep Hollow, or its representative, at or near Waloupa, merely 
swings around the next hill to the south, and enters it a little farther down. What caused Bear 
River to change its course in this way it may be difficult to determine ; but that it did so seems 
almost demonstrated. Or it may have been that the present channel is the original one, which 
became choked up, and changed its course, for a time, so as to flow across the low divide between 
Christmas and Manzanita hills, returning afterwards to its original position. This supposition, 
however, seems not a very probable one, because the grade from Missouri Hill to Waloupa is so 
regular. If there had been an overflow of the kind suggested, we should have been likely to find 
more unevenness in the bed of the stream. 
On Ellis Hill the top gravel is quite fine and of a reddish color ; but, as we approach Dutch Flat 
Cafion, the percentage of large boulders increases, and the bottom of the gravel becomes decidedly 
blue ; so that, at the outlet at Thompson Hill, the bed-rock is now pretty well hidden from sight 
by the piles of refuse boulders. What the character of the gravel at Eastman Hill was can only 
be inferred from the piles of boulders left on the bed-rock, or from the statements of those who 
were familiar with the ground when the washing was going on. There is no reason for thinking 
that the Eastman Hill gravel differed, in any essential particular, from that on the opposite side of 
the canon. 
