gansett.] GEOGRAPHY GUNNISON RIVER. ". 425 



large part of the Elk Mountains. Most of their branches have the usual 

 direction, and are in narrow valleys, with heavy, massive ridges between 

 them. The lower part of Slate River, from Crested Butte to its mouth, 

 is in a valley two to four miles in width, of the same character as that 

 on the Gunnison above the canon. This valley extends down the Gun- 

 nison to the mouth of Cochetopa Creek, with a width of about five miles. 

 The river-bottom of the Gunnison in this part of its course is quite 

 broad, and densely overgrown with bushes and cottonwoods. 



Between Slate River and Ohio Creek, south of the termination of the 

 mountains, are two rather remarkable pieces of table-land. They evi- 

 dently were originally but one, but have been cut in two by erosion. 

 Their surface slopes considerably toward the Gunnison. 



At the junction of Ohio and Cochetopa Creeks with the Gunnison, 

 the valley is very broad, extending far up Ohio Creek, with a broad 

 bottom on each stream. In this valley, between the Gunnison and 

 Cochetopa Creek, is located the embryo town of Gunnison. This town 

 was started by a company, on the colony plan. Thus far it has not been 

 a success, principally owing to its great distance from other settlements, 

 and the limited means of communication. The situation is excellent, 

 the soil very good, and, with the aid of irrigation, it will produce good 

 crops. The range for stock, both for summer and winter, is not excelled 

 in the Territory. This range now supports, throughout the year, the 

 stock belonging to the Ute Indians of the Southern or Los Piuos agency, 

 numbering about 900 head. 



Below the mouth of Cochetopa Creek, the valley narrows to about a 

 mile in width, which is all bottom-land, and which extends about four 

 miles down the river. North of it the country rises, in a sloping pla- 

 teau, to the Elk Mountains. This plateau is cut into long tongues by 

 parallel streams — branches of the Gunnison. At the foot of this valley 

 these long tongues of mesa run down to the river, forming a canon 100 

 to 200 feet high, which extends, broken at intervals by bits of meadow- 

 land, as far down as the mouth of g creek. On the south side, the coun- 

 try is very broken, but in general rises gradually toward the Uncom- 

 pahgre Mountains. 



West of the mouth of g creek the land rises rapidly on both sides of 

 the river, into a high plateau. This plateau, on the south side of the 

 river, is almost perfectly flat, with an average elevation of 9,000 feet. 

 On the north side it slopes upward toward the northwest very gradu- 

 ally. At the river it has the same elevation as on the south side. It is 

 in this plateau that the Gunnison cuts a part of its great caiion, a canon 

 fifty-six miles long and 3,000 feet deep in its deepest part. This plateau 

 consists of gneiss, topped with 1,000 to 1,200* feet of stratified rocks, in 

 beds nearly horizontal. The canon is cut through the beds of stratified 

 rocks, and deep into the gneiss, the depth of the canon in the gneiss 

 increasing with the fall of the river. This part of the canon has rough, 

 ragged, nearly vertical walls, with no beach to the river. On top of the 

 gneiss there is a sloping bench, marking the line between gneiss and 

 stratified rocks. Above this bench are the steeply-sloping walls of strat- 

 ified rock, generally ending with 100 or 200 feet of perpendicular cliff 

 just below the summit of the mesa. The tributaries of the Gunnison 

 in this plateau cut but slightly into the gneiss, consequently these 

 streams have a very rapid fall just before reaching the river. The top 

 of this plateau is well watered, covered with excellent grass and groves 

 of quaking aspen. It is a most excellent summer-range for stock, but 

 the elevation is too great to allow of its use as a winter-range. 



At stations 77 and 78, the character of the plateau changes, as far as 



