UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, 

 GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS 



AND SURVEYS WEST OF THE IOOTH MERIDIAN, 



Washington, D. (7., January i, 1874. 



CHEYENNE, WYOMING TERRITORY. 



(i.) GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF STATION. 



The station at Cheyenne, the latitude of which is N. 41 T 46". 62, and its longi- 

 tude 28'" i9 8 44 east of the Mormon observatory at Salt Lake, is situated in the western 

 part of the town, in lot 1 1, block 413, and is northwest from the junction of the branch- 

 road leading to the depot of Fort D. A. Russell with the main stem of the Union 

 Pacific Railroad. 



The town of Cheyenne, on the north side of the railroad, is the capital of Wyoming 

 Territory; and besides the Union Pacific Railroad with its branch to Fort Russell, has 

 a railroad- connection with Denver, Colorado. These facilities make it a flourishing 

 place, and it possesses already, in addition to its public buildings, quite a number of 

 substantial business-houses and attractive private residences. 



A fine hotel, engine-houses, workshops, and other similar improvements, are 

 among the sources of prosperity which spring directly from the railroad-company. 



Besides the traffic with Fort Russell, it is the depot for Red Cloud's agency, Fort 

 Laramie, and the settlements on the North Platte, 



The surrounding region affords unlimited pasturage, and cattle are said not only 

 to subsist but grow fat on it during the whole year. 



Agriculturally there is but little promise outside of what may be accomplished by 

 irrigation. 



(2.) PHYSICAL-GEOGRAPHY DETAILS. 



The site of Cheyenne is nearly or quite level; northward, however, there is .a 

 gradual swell of the land, and within a few miles it cuts off the extensive view one is 

 accustomed to on the great plains. Eastward and southward there is the usual rolling 

 and slightly-broken prairie; but in the southwest, Long's Peak, already white this 

 September with snow, some seventy miles distant, looms up boldly above the horizon. 

 West and northwest, low mountains, many of which mark the rim of the Laramie 

 Plains, are just visible. Crow Creek, a moderate stream coming down from the foot- 

 hills of this rim, forms a valley immediately west and south of the town, working its 

 way apparently through mountain-drift, as the direct eruptive force of the Rocky 

 Mountain system seems not to have reached so far east in this latitude. 



(3.) METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. 



The determination of this station occupied the first three weeks in the month of 

 October, 1872. There were no rains, nor any clouds, and, with the exception of two 

 or three windy nights, the elements presented no obstacle whatever to a continued 

 series of observations. In the early morning it would become cold enough to form 



