THE OVERLAND ROUTE OGDEN TO SAN FRAXCISCO. 163 



that was formerly dependent for its transportation facilities on Wells 

 but is now served by the Western Pacific Railway. 



Humboldt River, wbicb was so named by Fremont, and which is 

 one of the largest river systems in Nevada, heads entirely within the 

 desert ranges of the central Great Basin. It rises on the eastern 

 border of Nevada and flows westward for about 200 miles. Near 

 some of the higher mountains it receives considerable water, but it 

 dwindles downstream and finally disappears. It enters the basin 

 formerly flooded by the waters of Lake Lahontan near the present 

 town of Golconda and from that point continues its course through 

 Lake Lahontan beds for nearly 100 miles to Humboldt Lake. In 



Hum! 



comm 



mg 



almost 



Throughout 

 3es along its 



channel. In its upper course Humboldt River receives a number of 

 tributaries, the largest of these being Reese River, which enters it 

 from the south. During the summer and fall several of these streams 



comm 



channel. 



WeUs the train runs alonsr the marp^in 



meadowland and then passes into a narrower portion of the vaUey 

 hemmed in by low bluffs on each side. These bluffs and the cuts 

 along the railroad show bedded deposits of white and greenish clays 

 or sand, which are classed with the Tertiary Humboldt formation. 

 Beyond the narrows lies a broader valley. 



As the valley opens out the traveler may see to the south a pano- 

 rama of the Ruby or East Humboldt Range, the highest and most 

 rugged mountain mass in Nevada. The name Ruby Mountains^ or 

 Ruby Range, is locally accepted in preference to East Humboldt 

 and seems to have priority. Old settlers describe the findincr of 



" rubies*' and ''ruby sand" in the gravels of some of the streams 

 coming from these mountauis. Specimens of these ''rubies'^ are in 

 fact red garnet, a rather common mineral developed in rock imder 

 the mfluence of the heat accompanying igneous intrusion. 



At first only the north end of the range, around which the railroad 

 passes, is seen, but farther west the western flank and the lofty 

 summits come into view, A number of these peaks attain a height 

 of 11,000 or 12,000 feet, and snow fingers along the crest of the 



ge late mto 



Owing 



their height these rugged slopes receive a larger rainfall than the 

 surrounding country and supply water to the adjacent vaiiej's, which 

 contain some of the most productive agricultural regions in the State. 

 On the east slope of the Ruby Range the waters quickly disappear 

 in the beds of the narrow canyons but break out again lower down 



