170 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
Although the Northern Pacific Railway in a general way follows the 
valley of Yakima River, it does not adhere closely to that stream, 
but cuts across country, thereby avoiding a big bend. Along this 
cut-off there is no irrigation and the country is desolate in the ex- 
treme. Before water was put upon the Yakima Valley it was a 
sagebrush plain just as extensive and just as desolate as the one here 
traversed. Water is the wizard that has transformed this desert 
into a land of blossoms, and as time goes on more and more of the 
waste places of the earth will be redeemed in this manner. 
Not only is the surface of the country from Vista to Kiona monot- 
onous, but the rocks, while interesting in so far as they record the 
past history of the region, are monotonous and poorly exposed. As 
explained on page 165, the rocks in this part of the valley consist of 
sandstone and shale formed from sediment laid down in lakes or on 
the surface of the land, interspersed with great sheets of lava (basalt) 
that covered most of the country. The lava was not poured out in 
a single flow, but the entire region is underlain by a succession of 
lava sheets. The shale and sandstone are soft and in only a few 
places show at the surface, but the outcrops of the shects of basalt 
are marked by dark ledges along the hill slopes and the streams of 
rock fragments that descend from them. 
At Kiona the railway approaches Yakima River, 
Kiona. and just after passing the station the traveler can 
Elevation 525feet. obtain a good view down the valley, which includes 
St. Paul 1,675 miles, Well-cultivated farms and the bridge of the Oregon- 
Washington Railroad. 
A short distance west of Kiona the valley is much restricted and 
all irrigation ceases, The river is bordered by rugged walls of basalt, 
2 a good view of which can be 
jj, obtained from milepost 31 
Y by looking back from the rear 
1 YY 7, of thetrain. From this point 
Mj, f vantage it will be seen that 
Frau 85.—Gection of Yakisna Valley wat of Prog, tHe Valley is not smooth and 
Wash., a valley within a valley. regular, sloping gently from 
: the tops of the ridges to the 
river bank, but that it is compound, consisting of a rather broad outer 
or upper valley and an inner rocky gorge cut in the floor of the large 
valley. The shape of the valley is represented by the accompany- 
