KED FORK — MORMON EMIGRANTS. 223 



easterly course, and follows up the valley of Red Fork: tlie ascent, 

 except for the first three miles, in which the rise is tolerably rapid, 

 is moderate, enough so for a railroad, and the valley sufficiently 

 wide and direct for such a purpose, without the necessity of resort- 

 ing to curves of a small radius. 



The valley of this stream seems to have been the result of some 

 convulsion forming an anticlinal axis, the strata on either side of 

 the canon dipping in opposite directions ; that on the left to the 

 north-west, and the other to the south-east, with an elevation gradu- 

 ally increasing as we ascend until it reaches 45°. High, perpen- 

 dicular cliffs of red sandstone conglomerate, intermingled with lime 

 and quartzose pebbles, and occasionally fine-grit sandstone, were 

 continuous on the north side of the canon the remainder of the 

 day's travel. These strata varied from one to thirty feet in thick- 

 ness, and near the mouth of the fork the cliffs were from one hun- 

 dred and fifty to two hundred feet in height, with lofty peaks of 

 the more indurated portions of the rock towering toward the sky 

 in a wild and picturesque manner. 



As we advanced up the valley, several unconformable strata of 

 horizontal sand and pudding stone were observed overlying the 

 dipping rock, the red sandstone intermingled occasionally with 

 the yellowish-gray, yellowish, and white varieties. To the right 

 the hills are rounded at their summits, and their sides for the most 

 part are covered with soil, through which the rock occasionally 

 9.ppears. Water, grass, and wood are sufficiently abundant for 

 camping purposes. Toward the lower end of the valley, wild cher- 

 ries and wild hops of the best quality abound in great profusion. 



Ninety-five wagons were met to-day, containing the advance of 

 the Mormon emigration to the valley of the Salt Lake. Two large 

 flocks of sheep were driven before the train, and geese and turkeys 

 had been conveyed in coops, the whole distance, without apparent 

 damage. One old gander poked his head out of his box and hissed 

 most energetically at every passer-by, as if to show that his spirit 

 was still unbroken, notwithstanding his long and uncomfortable 

 confinement. The appearance of this train was good, most of the 

 wagons having from three to five yoke of cattle, and all in fine con- 

 dition. The wagons swarmed with women and children, and I 

 estimated the train at one thousand head of cattle, one hundred 

 head of sheep, and five hundred human souls. 



Our day's march was only sixteen and a-half miles. Several 



