THE 0\^ELAXD KOUTE COUNCIL BLUFFS TO OGDEN, 



11 



On leaving Council Bluffs the train gradually rises on a filled 

 incline, abovit 2 miles long, to tlie bridge, which is about 60 feet 



above the ordinary water level of Missouri River. 

 Missouri River. From this incline a good view may be obtained of 



the broad flood plain over which the river w^nds in a 

 constantly changing course and upon which at times of flood it 

 deposits the rich loam gathered from the vast areas it drains. The 

 productive fields that j)resent so pleasing an aspect during the grow- 

 ing season and give the appearance of opulence at harvest time are 

 the direct result of this constant activity of the river. But neither 

 these fields nor anything else on the bottom lands can be regarded 



as permanent, for the great river is continually eating away the plain 

 in some places and building it up in others. This action causes the 

 stream to assume a winding course — that is, to meander in loops and 

 bends that are called oxbows. In this process of shifting its course, 

 when these bends become very sharp the river tends to straighten 

 itself hj cutting across the narrow necks, and it thus abandons parts 



Wild hogs, camelg, and Uamas were abun- 

 dant. The hoofed animals, such as deer 

 and bison, were numerous, and also the 

 carnivores or flesh eaters. Conspicuous 

 among these were the saber-toothed tigers 

 (see PI. II, -il), which were contemporane- 

 ous with primitive man and doubtless 

 were his formidable enemies. They have 

 appealed so strongly to the imagination 

 and have been referred to so often in 

 literature that they are among the best 

 known of the extinct animals. 



The Pleistocene fauna was not without 

 its grotesque featm'es. 

 curious animals of the time may be men- 

 tioned the ground sloths and the giant 

 armadillos (PI. II, (7),of wliichProf. Scott 



says: 



interesting to note was first discovered 

 and named by Thomas Jefferson. The 

 animals of this genus were very abundant 



Among the most 



ound 



ini- 



with 



long hair, and in one family there was a 



c 



ossicles 



visible 



They 



walked upon the outer ec^es of the feet, 

 somewhat aa the ant bear uses his fore 

 paws, and must have been very slow 

 moving creatures. Their enormous claws 

 may have served partly as weapons of 

 defense and were doubtiegs used also to 

 drag down branches of trees and to dig 

 roots and tubers. Apparently, the latest 



cunous 



nve was 



the very large Megalonyx, which it is 



m the forests east of the Mississippi Kiver 

 and on the Pacific coast, but much less 

 common in the plains region, where they 

 would seem to have been confined to the 

 wooded river valleys. The still more 

 gigantic Megatherium, which had a body 

 as lai'ge as that of an elephant and 

 much shorter though more massive legs, 

 was a southern animal and has not been 

 found above South Carolina, ilylodon, 

 smaller and lighter than the preceding 

 genera, would seem to have entered the 

 continent eailier and to have become 

 extinct sooner. 



tinent but was much commoner in the 

 plains region and less so in the forested 

 areas than ilegalonyx, being no doubt 

 better adapted to subsisting upon the 

 vegetation of the plains and less depend- 

 ent upon trees for food. 



* ' The glyptodonts [armadillos, see 

 Pi. II, C] were undoubtedly present in 

 the North American Pleistocene, but the 

 remnants which have been collected so 

 far are very fragmentary and quite insuf- 

 ficient to give us a definite conception of 



It ranged across the con- 



the number and viu'iety of them 



?> 



Thev 



were abundant, however, in the South 

 American Pleistocene and hence axe well 

 known. 



