GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 63 



the State, underlain as they are for the most part by the soft, yielding 

 sandstones of the Dakota group. The surface is gently rolling and un- 

 dulating, giving to the landscape a somewhat monotonous but exceed- 

 ingly beautiful appearance. 



There is scarcely a foot of land in this great valley, covering an area of 

 over one hundred miles in length and fifty to sixty in breadth, that is 

 not susceptible of cultivation. But the great deficiency is a suitable 

 supply of stone and fuel. In this whole valley there are but few expo- 

 sures of the basis rock, and these are very small. 



On the Elkhorn, about eight miles above Pebble Creek, there is an 

 exposure of the limestones of the Mobrara divisions, and two lime-kilus 

 are in operation burning lime, which finds a ready market at Fremont, 

 on the line of the Union Pacific Eailroad. On the Logan there is one 

 exposure of the lignite bed seen near Blackbird Hill, on the Missouri. 

 It was discovered here by digging beneath the water-level of the Logan, 

 and is not over eighteen inches in thickness — a very impure material. 



Our observations north of the Platte show plainly that there are no 

 workable beds of coal in that portion of Nebraska. There are not 

 probably a half dozen exposures of rock in the Elkhorn Basin, and the 

 fuel consists mainly of a narrow fringe of cotton-wood along the streams. 

 On the bluffs of the Elkhorn there are a few dwarf oaks, but not enough 

 to furnish any permanent supply of wood for fuel or timber for the 

 settlers. 



It is evident that the greater portion of the western half of the State 

 of Nebraska must remain unsettled or be inhabited sparsely by a people 

 devoted to pastoral pursuits. It is a well-known fact that the same hills or 

 other portions of the West that appear the most sterile and most deficient 

 in wood and water are the favorite resorts of the wild game, and that they 

 become exceedingly fat. The short grasses which grow upon these sup- 

 posed arid, sterile plains seem to suit the palates of the wild animals, 

 and they find sufficient water at all seasons of the year. I would inter 

 from this fact that it may yet become a fine stock-growing country, and, 

 aided by the facilities to market which will be furnished by the Union 

 Pacific Eailroad, I cannot but believe that some of the finest wool in 

 America will one day reach the market from Western Nebraska. 



I should judge that peat beds will be found in great numbers along-^ 

 the Missouri north of the Platte, and in the valley of the Elkhorn and 

 along the Platte. No effort has yet been made to search for them, and 

 yet the indications are excellent. 



The raising of timber, both on the upland and lowland north of the 

 Platte, is proven a success beyond a doubt. The example of Mr. Grif- 

 fin, west of Omaha, on the highest land, and some experiments on the 

 bottom land at Tekama, Burt County, afford ample proof. Still, so 

 little has been done in the way of supplying this country with living 

 forests, that I again call attention to this most vital matter to the future 

 prosperity of the State. 



At Mr.' Thomas's, near Tekama, twenty -four cotton- wood trees, eight 

 years old, averaged two feet and ten and one-eighth inches in circnm- 

 ierence ; sixteen locust-trees, {RoMnia pseudo acacia,) five years old, from 

 seed, carefully cultivated, averaged twenty-three inches in circumfer- 

 ence ; twenty-five locust-trees, six years old, from seed, but i)lanted on 

 sod ground not cultivated, averaged seventeen and seventeen twenty- 

 fifths inches in circumference. 



It will be seen by the above that cultivation of forest-trees is as im- 

 portant to their success as to that of any of our annual crops. The 



