SHASTA KOUTE — SEATTLE TO SAN FRAXCISCO. 19 



Beyond Kctroii the water view widens. The horizontally stratified 

 sands and gravels that have been the prevalent material along the 



railway for miles are well developed and within view 

 on Ketron and Anderson islands. The dark-spotted 



Seattle 02 miles. ■, -i, ij_j.i. n i ii i e 



rock used to protect the railroad enininikment from 

 the southwest storms of winter comes from the vicinity of Bremerton 

 and contains a few fossil shells. Porpoises, seals, and even whales 

 may occasionally be seen in this part of the Sound, A whale stranded 

 near Steilacoom in 1912. At the mouth of Sequahtcher Creek are the 

 wharf and power house of the Dupont powder works^ which are just 

 out of sight on the left. The foreset bedding of the old delta gravels 

 is well shown for 3^ miles along this portion of the route. These 

 gravels are succeeded abruptly at 22.1 luiles from Tacoma by well- 

 exposed stratified clays (Admiralty) overlain by stratified gravels. 



At the mouth of NisquaUy River a strip of the present delta nearly 

 a mile wide is alternately covered and left bare by the tides. Three 



miles up the river A^alley is Nisqually station, where 

 Nisqually. ^^le main line is crossed by the Grays Harbor branch 



ropuiation 497.* " ^f the Northcm Pacific, leading to Ohoiipia, the State 



Seattle C8 miles. . , , ^ i i t^ ^i 



capital, and beyond to the coast. J^rom Oljnnpia 

 another branch runs through Tuniwater, the oldest American set- 

 tlement in Washington, which marked the end of the Oregon Trail. 

 Near Nisqually station there is a small terminal moraine left by 

 the receding front of the Puget Sound glacier. South of NisquaU}- 

 River are delta gravels which were deposited by a former stream on 

 the great outwash plains left by the melting glacier. These gravels 

 are well exposed in the railway cut. Near the Nisqually are obtained 

 some of the best forest views on the route. Almost all the lands of 

 the Seattle-Tacoma region except the cultivated river valleys arestiU 

 forested. The dominant forest tree is the red fir, which covers fully 90 

 per cent of the heavily timbered area, in places with a stand so dense 

 that the sun can scarcely penetrate to the soil. In a narrow strip 

 along the coast the dominant species is the Sitka or tideland spruce. 

 In the bottom lands, mainly river valleys, the conspicuous trees or 

 shrubs are the red cedar, giant cedar, white fir, large-leaved maple, 

 Oregon ash, cottonwood, western dog^vood, vine maple, crab apple, va- 

 rious wiUows, deviVs-club, and salmon berry. On the gravelly plains 

 may be seen the only species of oak growing in the State, the black pme, 

 and from spring until the middle of July a carpet of brilliant flowers. 

 The material of the terminal moraine southeast of Olympia is best 

 exposed in the area surrounding Patterson Lake. The railway cuts 



are not deep, however, and are therefore not very 

 satisfactory to the geologic observer. The open 

 prairies on the glacial outwash plain (that is, the 



Kyro. 



Seattle 71 miles. 



plain formed by gravel washed from the front of the glacier) begin 

 near Kyro. Tliey present a sharp contrast v4th the dense forests 



