GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES 133 



The lake which has been placed on the maps as Bridger's Lake has no 

 real existence. 



From the head of the main vaUey we ascended the mountains on the 

 west side, and from the summit of a high peak the whole basin with 

 the divide was brought within the scope of our vision. As far as the 

 eye could reach on every side, bare, bald peaks, domes, ridges in great 

 numbers could be seen. At least one hundred peaks, worthy of a name, 

 could be located within the radius of our vision. The rocks everywhere, 

 though massive, black, and deeply furrowed vertically, have the appear- 

 ance of horizontal stratification. In some instances the furrows are so 

 regular that the breccia has a columnar appearance. The summits of the 

 mountains are entirely composed of breccia. Angular masses of trachyte, 

 10 to 30 feet in diameter, are inclosed in the volcanic cement. Most of the 

 fragmeuts are small, varying from an inch to several feet, seldom much 

 worn. We camped at night near a small lake, by the side of a bank of 

 snow, 10,000 feet above the sea, with the short spring grass and flowers 

 all around us. There are but two seasons on these mountain summits, 

 spring and winter. In August the fresh new grass may be seen spring- 

 ing up where a huge bank of snow has disappeared. The little spring- 

 flowers, seldom more than one or two inches high, cover the ground ; 

 Clatonia^ Yiola^ Ranunculus^ and many others. The following morning 

 we traveled for several miles along a ridge not more than two hundred 

 yards wide, from one side of which the waters flowed into the Pacific, 

 and on the other, into the Atlantic. To the westward the outlines of the 

 Teton Eange, with its saw-like or shark-teeth summits, were most clearl3^ 

 visible. They seemed to be covered with an unusual quantity of snow. 

 From whatever point of view one can see the Teton Eange, the sharp - 

 pointed peaks have the form of huge sharks' teeth. To the southward, for 

 fifty miles at least, nothing but igneous rocks can be seen. Toward the 

 Tetons there is a series of high ridges, of which the Teton Range seemed 

 to be the central one. These ridges, which pass off from the main Teton 

 Range, incline to the northeast, and vary in height from 9,500 to 10,500 

 feet above the sea-level, and 1,000 to 1,800 feet above the valleys at their 

 base. 



We ascended one of the high ridges, (not the highest, however,) and 

 found it to be 1,650 feet above the valley at its foot. The northeast 

 side is like a steep roof, while the southwest side breaks off abruptly. 

 From the summit of the ridge, the view is grand in the extreme. To 

 the westward the entire country, for the distance of fifty miles, seems to 

 have been thrown up into high, sharp ridges, with gorges 1,000 to 1,500 

 feet in depth. Beautiful lakes, grassy meadows also, come within the 

 vision. I can conceive of no more wouderful and attractive region for 

 the explorer. It would not be difficult for the traveler to make his way 

 among these grand gorges, penetrating every valley, and ascending 

 every mountain or ridge. The best of grass, wood, water, and game are 

 abundant to supply the wants of himself or aniinals. 



I think that numerous passes could be found from the valley of Snake 

 River to the basin of the Yellowstone. It seems to me there are many 

 points on the south rim of the basin where a road could be made with 

 ease into the valley of Snake River. From this ridge it would seem that 

 there could be but little difference in the altitude of the Yellowstone Lake 

 and Heart Lake, and they cannot be more than eight or ten miles apart, 

 and yet the latter is one of the sources of Snake River. The little 

 branches of Snake River nearly interlace with some streams that flow 

 into the lake, and the gullies come up within two miles of the shore-line. 



