234 BITTER CREEK — BITUMINOUS COAL BEDS. 



stacle to the easy construction of a good road : the soil being 

 porous, and mixed with a large proportion of gravel, can be readily 

 graded. So rapid is the disintegration of the sandstone bluffs, 

 and so constant the wash of the soil, that the valley, so far, is 

 almost entirely destitute of even a spear of grass, and presents a 

 most desolate appearance. 



After passing this mauvaise terre the route is quite level, pre- 

 senting no obstruction of consequence, except the necessity of occa- 

 sionally crossing the creek, which will be somewhat difficult, as the 

 bed of the stream is not unfrequently at a depth of twenty feet below 

 the level of the bottom, with perpendicular banks on each side. But 

 the earth is easily removed, and very little labour will render these 

 crossings by no means formidable. At a point thirteen miles from 

 the mouth of Bitter Creek, we found a bed of bituminous coal 

 cropping out of the north bluff of the valley, with every indication 

 of its being quite abundant. 



For the first seven or eight miles after entering the valley, the 

 formation was similar to that of Rabbit Hollow and Green Biver, 

 and the strata horizontal : they then began to dip gradually to the west 

 and north-west, until, at this point, the elevation had reached 20°. 

 The coal was of the same character as that found on Sulphur 

 Creek, near the crossing of Bear Biver, alternated in beds of 

 various thickness, from a few inches to several feet, with yellowish 

 and light-gray sandstones. Major Bridger informed me that, 

 about a mile from the mouth of the creek, a large bed existed, 

 which, from his description, resembled lignite, but which, owing 

 to other occupations, I had passed without observing. One of the 

 men reported to me that he had noticed it, and had seen a piece 

 of coal lying in the bed of the creek as long and as thick as a 

 man's body. This had apparently fallen from an outcrop in the 

 south bank, which was about four feet in thickness. Major 

 Bridger also stated that a similar bed is to be found to the south 

 of the mouth of Black's Eork, that he had used it for years, and 

 that it burned freely, with a clear, white blaze, leaving little re- 

 siduum, except a small white ash. From this outcrop, as we 

 ascended the valley, the strata became more nearly horizontal ; 

 and at the termination of the day's march, some four miles beyond, 

 had nearly recovered its level position. 



The valley of Bitter Creek generally has but little snow in it 

 during the winter, and was formerly a rendezvous for the trappers 

 and trp^ders, on account of the abundance of buffalo. None of 



