GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 153 



issuing from beneath the hills of limestone without the deposit or the 

 taste of the acidulous ones ; so that we have in close proximity and appa- 

 rently coming from the same rock, with about the same temperature, 

 acidulous and non-acidulous springs. There were two springs, the 

 waters of which were above the ordinary temperature, respectively, 

 76^o and 78o. 



Kear the Mormon village are a number of mounds and springs, which 

 will always attract attention. One of them is located near the margin 

 of Soda Greek. It has formed a small chimney about 2 J feet in diameter, 

 6 feet above the creek, and the water boils up most violently. One 

 would suppose from the agitation of these springs that a large 

 quantity of water must necessarily flow from them ; but the quantity is 

 always small, and in some cases none. In the middle of Soda Creek, 

 which at this point is about 25 feet wide and 3 ft^et deep, there are 

 several points of ebullition, showing the presence of springs beneath. 

 Within 100 feet of the fine spring owned by Hon. W. H. Hooper, there 

 are three singular cone-shaped chimneys with water in a constant state 

 of ebullition, but with no visible outlet. All around these springs there 

 is a deposit of iron of a bright-orange color. In the bed of Bear River 

 there are a number of springs which can be seeu from a distance by the 

 ebullition. Although the flow of water from these springs does not seem 

 to be great, yet there will always be enough for the demand of visitors 

 for drinking purposes. There are some mounds that have been built up 

 in thin layers and rounded gradually to their summits, 30 to 50 feet 

 high, and from 50 to 300 feet in diameter at the base -, these have been 

 at a former period, large springs, but are now in their last stages. Some 

 of these springs have gradually built up a mound in tlie form of a hay- 

 cock or a bee-hive, and before dying or breaking oat in another place 

 w^ould close themselves up at the summit. One of the largest of these 

 mounds closed itself u^) at the top, all except a chimney about 4 feet 

 in diameter, with an aperture of about 4 inches. It was once a spring 

 of great force, but gradually died away until it ceased entirely. But 

 the most interesting exhibition of the soda-spring deposit is found on 

 Soda Creek, about four miles above its junction with Bear Eiver. There 

 is here an area of half a mile square, covered over with the semicircular 

 reservoirs, with scalloped rims, similar to those on Gardiners Eiver, 

 except that they are much coarser. Some of the rims are and 8 feet 

 high. The i)rocess of building up these reservoirs is going on now, but 

 the center of operation is constantly changing. The partitions oi' these 

 reservoirs are sometimes several feet in thickness, and are usually hol- 

 low, forming extensive caverns. The inner sides are most beautifully 

 lined with a calcareous bead-Avork like coral, as white as snow. There 

 are also rows of small stalactites, which add much to the oriiamentation. 

 All around these springs, in the channels along which the water flows, 

 the vegetation grows with a rankness which is worthy of special notice. 

 As tlie waters holding lime in solution flow slowly over this vegetation, 

 the leaves and stems become incrusted, and large masses may be 

 gathered up as specimens, showing the stems and leaves perfectly. 

 These specimens have been transported in large quantities to different 

 points along the Pacific Railroad for the purpose of sale to travelers 

 and cui'iosity -seekers, until these beautiful decoratiou;s are destroyed. 

 When 1 visited these springs last autumn I found them a mass of ruins, 

 and the specimens that 1 obtained for the museum of the Smilhsonian 

 Institntion were those that had been rejected by these traders. From 

 the base of the Limestone Hills, which are 500 to 800 feet high, si)rings 

 gush out, forming at once a swift-flowing stream, G feet wide and a foot 



