6 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



part of Wyoming is used mainly for stock raising, but in tlie ii 

 valleys farther west, in Utah, there are orchards and well-tilled 



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Moun 



tains, one of tlie great ranges of the continent, through the can3"on 

 cut by Weber River, and then enters the valley of Great Salt Lake. 



Leaving Ogden on the westward journey the traveler is fairly 

 within the Great Basin, one of the major natural divisions or physio- 

 graphic provinces of the United States, and he will be passing through 

 it for more than 16 hours. The Great Basin is called a desert and 

 as a whole gives an impression of dreariness and desolation, but it has 

 a peculiar interest not possessed by any other part of the transconti- 

 nental route. It is one of the most productive mining regions of the 

 world. That it is not all a desert is shown b}^ the fact that large num- 

 bers of cattle and sheep are raised withm its limits. It is developing, 

 moreover, to an increasing extent in agriculture. 



Beyond the Great Basin lies the Sierra Nevada, which on this route 

 marks approximately the boundary between Nevada and California. 

 Througfli the forest zone of the Sierra the traveler descends into the 



TaUej^ of California and, crossing its broad plains, passes, by 

 way of the one tidal outlet through the Coast Ranges, to the metropo- 

 lis of the Pacific coast. 



Note. — For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map in tliis bul- 



arransred 



\Yhile he is reading the text relating to it. A reference is made in the text to each 

 map at the place where it should be so unfolded. The areas covered by these sheets 

 are indicated on Plate I, and a list of the sheets and the other ilhistrations is given 

 on pages 237-240. A glossary of geologic terms is given on pages 232-236, and an 

 index of stations on pages 241-244. 



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