THE OVEKLAXD EOUTE COUNCIL BLUFFS TO OGDEX. 73 



The town of Green River (see PI. XYII^ J.) is a division headquarters 

 of the Union Pacific Railroad and the point at which passengers for 



Oregon and Washington change to the Oregon Short 

 Green River. Line, The Short Lme trains, however, use the main 



Elevation 6,077 feet, line as far west as Granger. 



Omaiia S2^ nliies. Green River is picturesquely situated l)etween the 



river and the precipitous bluffs which rise 700 feet 

 or more above the water. Like most of the other towns along the 

 route throughout Wyommg it has little aside from the immediate 

 business of the raiboad to maintain it. An attempt has been made 

 here to manufacture soda from alkalhie water pumped from wells 

 about 250 feet deep, but the long haul to market renders profitable 

 operation difficult. 



The town of Green River is on one of the most interesting; drainajre 

 systems in America. The river rises about 200 miles farther north 

 and at the railroad crossing is a stream of considerable size^ having 

 an average flow of 2,200 cubic feet a second. About 540 miles farther 

 south it joins Grand River to form the Colorado, which, after windhig 

 through more than a thousand miles of the most wonderful canj'on 

 scenery in the world, reaches the Gulf of California. 



From the town of Green River, Maj. J. W. Powell, afterward Direc- 

 tor of the United States Geological Survey, started May 24, 1869, 

 with his httle company of daring associates to explore the canyons 

 of the Colorado- The story of the trip is well known, but from 

 the simple, unimpassioned language in which Major Powell (see 

 PL XVI) himself tells it, the reader might not realize that this was 

 one of the most hazardous undertakings in the historv of modern 

 exploration. Few have cared to undertake the adventure since, 

 and some of those have paid for then temerity with their lives. Tlie 

 journey has recently been successfully repeated, however, by two 

 photographers; Ellsworth and Emery Kolb, who on September 8, 

 1911, also started from Green River and, after numerous adventm^es, 

 emerged from the canyons with a valuable collection of negatives 

 and movmg-picture films. 



The Green River beds, which form the bluffs near Green River, are 

 carved into many curious and picturesque forms — natural monuments 

 (PL XVII, B) and castle-like structures. The bluffs are light green 

 in the lower part and dark brown above. The upper beds are harder 

 than the lower ones and form the protecting caps of the pinnacles. 

 The^e bluffs have been a source of interest to geologists and travelers 



t,- o 



ever since they were examined by F. V. Haydea more than 40 years 

 ago, and they have been described and illustrated maiiy times. 

 Their character is hidicated by the accompanyhig illustrations much 

 better than by any word pictures. 



