156 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



Between Umbria Junction and Tecoma light-colored clay and 

 gravels in regularlj^ bedded deposits are exposed along the railroad. 

 These are either deposits in the waters of Lake Bonneville or later 

 stream deposits of wash brought do^\^l by erosion from lake-bed clays 

 and beach mat(>rials liigher up. These beds show a slight tilt toward 

 the east, mdicatiiig that they were probably left here by running water. 



The Utah-Nevada State hne, marked by a monument and a fanci- 

 fully decorative design in set stones at the north side of the track^ is 



fir; 



hiva (basalt) y the columnar jomting (see foe 

 may be distinguished even at this distance. 



carpmc 



jr 



was 



eanmg '^ snowy" or ''white as snow, 

 derived from the Sierra Nevada. The 



State ranks sixth in size in the Union, Its length from 

 Nevada. north to south is 484 miles, its width 321 miles, and 



its area 109,821 square mUes, of which about 60 per 

 cent has been covered by public-land surveys and approximately 21 

 per cent has been appropriated. National forests in Nevada cover an 

 areaof 8,683 square miles, and Anaho Island, in Pyramid Lake,hasbcen 

 made a bird reservation. The population of Nevada, according to the 

 Latest census, was 81,875, or about one person for each 1.4 square miles. 



most im 



Of 



West and has yielded large quantities of gold, silver, and lead, 

 late also it has become a largo producer of copper. 



The history of Nevada is chiefly the history of her mines. Since 



omstock lode and other famous 



and 



ds of 



depression. Each discovery of high-grade ore in noteworthy quan- 

 tity has been followed by rapid settlement in that locality and the 

 establishment of one or more towns. Exhaustion of the richer or 

 more accessible ores or the bursting of overinflated speculative bubbles 

 has been followed by at least local stagnation and depopulation. In 

 1890-1893 a sharp decline in the price of silver initiated or accom- 

 panied a period of depression in Nevada's nuniug and general indus- 

 trial prosperity. Silver is so important a resource of the State that 

 to a large extent even now her prosperity depends upon the market 



lue 



mcreasc 



gold, copper, and recently of platinum has accompanied a gradual 



firmly 



stantial industrial progress. Permanent towTis 

 agriculture and related nursuits are becoming 



The mining districts in the State number about 200 and are widely 

 distributed over its area, .\lmost everv one of thp Inrxrer mountain 



o 



some ore. In 



