164 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



in cold springs that feed Kuby and Franklin lakes. On the west 

 side the descent is more gentle and the waters gather in the South 

 Fork of the Humboldt, The crest of the Ruby Range is included in 

 the Humboldt National Forest. 



The Ruby Range is a typical Great Basin mountain ridge. It 

 rises abruptly on all sides from flat valley plains or low, even slopes 

 of rock detritus or ^Svash." The northern part of the range is 

 granite, formerly considered Archean but now known to be of post- 

 Jurassic, probably Cretaceous age. (See table on p. 2.) Flowing 

 streams from the Ruby Range reach the railroad in places, and hay 

 meadows and grainfields have been established wherever the water 

 supply is sufficient to permit irrigation. Wild grasses are cut for 

 hay along the flood plain in the main Humboldt Valley, and numer- 

 ous haystacks are usually visible from the railroad. Beyond Nardi 

 (see sheet 18, p. 168) a few ranches appear along the Humboldt, wliich 

 is joined near Deeth by Marys River, from the north. It is said that 

 7,000 acres are hrigated in this vicinity, but on account of the scanty 

 water supply only native grasses are grown, which are sometimes cut 

 for hay and sometimes used for grazing in fall and winter. 



The main settled areas in this general region are Starr and Ruby 

 valleys, south of the raihoad, at the foot of the Ruby Range. Starr 

 Valley contains some 3,700 acres of irrigated lands, for which Herd- 

 ers, Starr, Ackler, Deering, and Boulder creeks furnish an ample 

 water supply until about the middle of July each year. Nearly one- 

 fourth of this valley is '^self irrigating'^ through seepage from higher 

 irrigated lands. These ''self -irrigating" lands are usually left in 

 native grass, which is cut for hay or used for pasture. 



From Deeth, which is a trading center for Starr and Ruby valleys, 

 a stage line runs north 52 miles to Charleston (Cornwall Basin) , whence 



ore and concentrates (gold and copper) are shipped 

 through this station. Jarbidge, a gold and silver 

 Eievatioii5,34ifeet. mining camp in the extreme northern part of the 



Population 200.* ox i. ir tit- i -, , -r^ -, t 



Omaha 1,193 mues. otate, lormcrly had its outlet through Deeth but now 



receives mail and supplies from Twin Falls, Idaho, by 



Deeth. 



way of the Oregon Short Line. 



West of Deeth the view of the Ruby Range broadens as the railroad 

 bends southward along the west front of these moimtains and at the 



same time gradually leaves them. The range from this viewpoint 

 shows a high and rugged crest with approximate north-south 

 trend, notched near the north end by a low pass. The highest sum- 

 mits lie north of the pass, amcfng them Mount Bonpland, abouf 11,300 

 feet in elevation, and Clover Peak, just south of it, probably higher. 

 Natchez and Rasid are unimportant stations between Deeth and 

 Halleck. The Humboldt appears as a meandering stream close at 

 hand south of the railroad, bordered by narrow meadows of wild grass, 



