THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 69 
are low by the lines of cottonwood trees, and even in the lower 
part of the mountains these trees are generally found where there is 
running water. Sagebrush originally covered most of the bottom 
land of the valley, but it has been removed in many places to make 
room for valuable crops. Many people suppose that the growth of 
sagebrush is indicative of poor soil, but such is not the case, and a 
person familiar with the habits of the plant will always prefer a plot 
of land on which the sagebrush grows to large size. 
The village of Terry, named in honor of Gen. Alfred H. ad 
who commanded the expedition of 1876 in what is commonl 
as the Custer campaign, is served by both the tee 
Terry. ern Pacific and St. Paul roads. The light-colored 
~ Soasrtinnges sandstones which give to the Fort Union formation 
soe its distinctive color are well developed between 
St. Paul 706. find 
Cedar Creek and Terry, but at Terry, in the lower 
part of the formation, there begins a change in color and composition 
that will become more evident as the traveler proceeds westward. . 
About 2 miles above Terry the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Railway crosses Yellowstone River, and it remains on the far side 
nearly to Miles City. The big coal bed at the base of the Lebo 
shale may be observed on both sides of the valley as far as the mouth 
of Powder River and on the opposite side of the river for some dis- 
tance beyond that point. The rocks rise gradually upstream, and 
within a short distance the Lebo shale, which is only a little above 
river level at Terry, rises so high that it disappears from the adj acent 
bluffs and the underlying Lance forms all the hills that are in sight 
between Powder and Tongue rivers. 
In the vicinity of Miles City is Signal Butte, a high knob about 
4 miles southwest of the railway, which can be seen from passing 
reduced to fine mud or sand. This band 
of dark material has been followed west- 
ward nearly to its source, which must 
have been somewhere in the vicinity of 
eginning a short distance down the | Yellowstone Park. In that region t 
— below ey: there appears just formation is much thicker than it is 
k shale which | farther east and the materials composing 
increases in thickness up. the river to 50 | i 
feet in the bluff opposite the town and to . 
200 feet a mile or so farther west. The 
traveler, if he looks closely, can recognize 
more somber-colored belt. It is 
' The large lignite bed on the west side 
of the river, which can readily be seen 
from the train near Terry, is regarded as 
the base of the Fort Union formation. 
4 
E 
5 
iH 
a 
S 
are coarser, as 
expected of material dropped near the 
shore. South or southwest of Livingston 
there were at one time great volcanic 
outbursts, and the material thus thrown 
out was swept away by the currents of 
made up of dark shale and sandstone, 
which, when examined under a micro- 
These particles have been washed and 
rolled over in water until all have been 
water and deposited in a layer that ex- 
tended for a great distance toward the 
east. This widespread sheet of volcanic 
sedimentary material is known as the 
Lebo shale member of the Fort Union 
formation. 
