WASHAKIE BASIN. 211 



and the Bridger beds, on the other hand, is one which is still involved in 

 considerable obscurity. At no point was an undoubted discrepancy of angle 

 between these formations observed. On the other hand, the fact that the 

 Bridger beds have never been seen to dip at an angle of more than 3°, 

 while the Green River beds are generally inclined at 5°, and in some cases 

 as high as 25°, combined with the isolated position of the beds of the exist- 

 ing remnants of the former group, would seem to indicate that some slight 

 movement may have taken place in the Green River beds previous to or 

 during the deposition of the Bridger series. 



The line of bluffs which extends from Washakie Mountain to Cathedral 

 Bhiffs is formed, like this mountain, of beds of the Green River series in the 

 upper portion, with the red Vermillion Creek beds at the base, the line of 

 division between the two formations, which can be distinctly traced by their 

 differences of color, descending somewhat in horizon toward Barrel Springs, 

 and ascending again beyond that tow^ard Cathedral Bluffs. East of this 

 line of bluffs, and north of Washakie Mountain, extends a broad, red plain 

 covered with a light, clayey soil, resulting from the decomposition of the 

 Vermillion Creek beds. This region, and that to the north of the railroad, 

 between Washakie Station and the Bitter Creek Ridges, constitutes the "Red 

 Desert", from which the railroad station takes its name. The northern por- 

 tion is an almost unknown region, barren of vegetation, and almost without 

 water, but said to contain several alkaline ponds. From a point a few 

 miles west of Washakie Station, just south of the railroad, a line of low 

 bluffs extends Avestward toward Red Desert Station, and southward toward 

 Washakie Mountain, mai-king some of the middle beds of the Vermillion 

 Creek series. They are composed of whitish clays, capped by thin flaggy 

 sandstones, in exposures of about 250 feet in thickness. To the northwest 

 of Red Desert Station, there rise out of the plain two isolated hills or buttes 

 of I'Usty sandstones and calcareous shales. They have an elevation of only 

 about 800 feet, but form a conspicuous feature in the general monotonous 

 level of the region, on account of their irregular precipitous outline. Their 

 upper beds have been referred somewhat doubtfully to the Green River 

 group. 



To the south of Red Desert Station the country rises in a series of 



