72 FROM FORT LARAMIE TO FORT BRIDGER. 



Sandy, where we encamped, nothing of interest was observed. In 

 Little Sandy the same strata as had occurred previously were 

 found, with a dip of 8° to the south. A section of the rock in the 

 vicinity, exposed on the top the same ochrey-coloured sandstone, 

 and then red shales. From the shales were obtained some remains 

 of plants, but the rock was in so decomposed a state that they could 

 not be identified. On the road, some fragments of limestone were 

 found on the surface, containing fossils, but we could not secure 

 any specimens. From Little Sandy to Big Sandy, artemisia covers 

 the whole face of the country, which has a dreary, barren aspect. 

 Near our camp of this morning, a small section presented thin la- 

 minated white sandstones and clayey shales ; and from the appear- 

 ance of the country for several miles, this must have been the 

 character of the rocks. Twelve miles from the Little Sandy, on 

 descending a ravine, fossiliferous trunks of large trees, some of 

 them nearly two feet in diameter, were observed upon the ground : 

 the interior of some of these was hollowed out, but concentric rings 

 were noticed near the circumference, and, in some specimens, lon- 

 gitudinal fibres were found in the interior. The bark appeared to 

 be marked in places for the attachment of leaves of Cycadece, but 

 they were all much weathered. The rocks on the river-bank were 

 white compact sandstone, disposed in thin lamellae, sandy and 

 clayey shales, and a gray compact limestone, breaking with a 

 conchoidal fracture. Some large portions of trunks of trees were 

 protruding from the clifi*, imbedded in apparently arenaceous 

 shales. Some few specimens of fossils (iVa^^^^7^^s and corals) were 

 collected, but, on account of the weathered state of the rocks, they 

 were necessarily imperfect. The limestones contained but few 

 fossils. 



Thursday^ August 9. — Our road to-day lay along the right bank 

 of Big Sandy, until we reached Green River, which we crossed 

 above the junction, and encamped a couple of miles below. The 

 increased altitude, and the consequent dryness of the atmosphere, 

 had so shrunk the woodwork of many of our wagon-wheels, that 

 various expedients had to be resorted to, in order to prevent them 

 from falling to pieces. To-day one of the wheels of the instru- 

 ment-wagon, that precious and important portion of our train, be- 

 came so weak from this cause that I was forced to take out nearly 

 all the load, and distribute it among the other teams, to enable us 

 to reach camp with it. We picked up a pair of wheels belonging 

 to some emigrant-wagon, but they would not answer ; so we were 



