354 REPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



Eivers and followed it to the westward, always finding well-worn trails, 

 irom which we worked the topography on either side as far as we were 

 able to reach. 



From the head of the western branch of Douglas Creek the plateau 

 character was almost entirely lost, often affording only a narrow back- 

 bone for the trail to follow, while, in consequence of this, water became 

 scarcer, obliging us on three occasions to descend into the canons, a ver- 

 tical distance of upward of 2,000 feet, with the whole train, to find 

 camping places. The general topography of the country all through 

 this part of the district, and indeed as far as the western limit, is that of 

 the narrow ridge already spoken of as extending east and west between 

 the lateral drainage of White and Grand Eivers, respectively ; these 

 lateral branches heading against the ridge opposite each other, and 

 flowing in deep caiions north and south. 



Our second approach to White Kiver was down the first of these 

 lateral streams, westward of Douglas Creek, which was named Evacua- 

 tion Creek. The stream has more or less water in all its numerous 

 heads, but all the upper portion of the main stream is dry for a distance 

 of at least 12 or 15 miles, when the bed begins to show signs of moist- 

 ure, and at last contains a small running stream of two or three inches 

 depth, which continues uninterruptedly to its mouth, a distance of nearly 

 25 miles. The water is for the most part bitterly alkaline, utterly unfit 

 for human use, and refused in any quantity by the animals. The water 

 is much more unpalatable than that of the celebrated Bitter Creek of 

 the Union Pacific Eailroad. About the heads of this creek the bluffs 

 are covered with a rich growth of grass, and the canons contain both 

 pines and aspens, but near the point where it first becomes dry the 

 Ijiues give way to junipers and piiions, and both caiions and bluff's are 

 covered with their scraggy growth. The canon walls are only a few 

 hundred feet high, and the creek bottom is broad and generally covered 

 with a growth of sage-brush. As the mouth of the creek is approached 

 the piiions and cedars in turn give way to a growth of low brown grass, 

 the caiion-walls being smooth and unbroken and attaining a height of 

 only 200 or 300 feet. A tolerably good trail follows the entire length of 

 the stream. 



Between the mouths of Douglas and Evacuation Creeks, White Eiver 

 is in a close caiion which falls away a little near the mouth of the latter 

 creek, and renders the approach to the river easy, while small, open 

 grassy parks dotted with huge cottonwoods afford most delightful 

 camping-places that are very refreshing after the desert-like country 

 that lies to the southward. From the mouth of the Evacuation Creek, 

 White Eiver remains in canon as far as the limits of our work carried 

 us, i. e., very nearly to its mouth. We followed the river through this 

 caijon four short day-marches, and found the greatest difficulty in 

 getting through, being sometimes compelled to cross the river four or 

 five times within a single mile. The walls of the White Eiver Canon 

 are seldom more than 800 feet in height, and are often broken away, 

 especially on the south side, into the most grotesque and picturesque 

 forms, giving many gigantic representations of animals and human 

 heads and figures, all ludicrously full of action, as well as many forms 

 resembling towers and other grand architectural forms. 



We worked as far south from White Eiver as was desirable, and 

 always found only a broken desert country without any sign of water. 

 There is no considerable drainage entering White Eiver from either 

 side below Evacuation Creek for a distance of 30 miles, when we reach 

 a fourth main lateral branch, which was named Two-Water Creek. It 



