226 MOUNT ST. HELENS 



but fragmentary knowledge of its flora and fauna, and we have 

 hardly yet dared to think of its undiscovered wealth of minerals 

 and its other economic possibilities. 



We arrive at the brink on Sunday night ; a thunderstorm has 

 left a deep black nimbus, a dense glowering sheet, in the sky to 

 the east, on which two beacon-lights appear, the bases of an un- 

 finished rainbow, standing straight, like two sentinels, on each 

 rim of the canon. To the west, the sinking sun paints the hori- 

 zon in deep crimson, surrounded with a golden glory, each one 

 a cluster of small black clouds, while in the north a wild, yellow 

 hail-cloud casts its lurid glare. It was in this setting that through 

 rising mists in purplish hues the mystery of the canon, awful in 

 the utter stillness, revealed itself to us — " a thought of God on 

 earth expressed, all meaner thoughts expelling." 



Whatever may become of Arizona in the future, it will always 

 be known to the world as the country of the Grand Caiion, the 

 wonderland of the Southwest. 



MOUNT ST. HELENS 

 By Lieut. Chaeles P. Elliott, U. S. A. 



In going by steamer from Portland, Oregon, to Vancouver, 

 Washington, on a clear day it is possible to see from the pilot- 

 house five snow-capped mountains — Hood, Jefferson, Adams, 

 Rainier, and St. Helens. The last mentioned is more to the west 

 than the others, and has the appearance of a regular, inverted 

 cone, truncated and rounded off. The mountain presents this 

 same appearance from all sides when the observer is at any dis- 

 tance. Two seasons spent on this extinct volcano have enabled 

 the writer to get a general idea of the effects of volcanic action 

 on the local geography and to make a topographic map of the 

 district. Since it is within plain view of many prominent points 

 astronomically established, it seems strange that Mt. St. Helens 

 should not be accurately placed on any map which the writer 

 has examined, either as to its own position or relatively as re- 

 gards the other snow-clad peaks. 



Mt. St. Helens lies east of Vancouver Barracks, north of Lewis 

 river, west of the Columbia, and south of the Cowlitz ; it is west 

 of the divide of the Cascade range, even more to the west than 

 Mt. Rainier. From rough triangulation based on recent surveys, 



