GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY OF TKE TERRITOSIES. 193 



proceeded but a short distance before reacIiiDg the famous Soda Springs. 

 There are here two settlements, and we spent a day in examining the 

 springs. In the bed of the river there are a number from which bub- 

 bles of gas are constantly escaping through the water. The first spring 

 which we notice is situated on the bank of the river, close to its edge, 

 a short distance below the town. It is in the top of a cone, which is of 

 a bright-red color, due to the deposit of oxide of iron. There is a large 

 amount of carbonic acid gas present in the water, and its escape is so 

 violent that the water is thrown to the height of one and two feet from 

 the basin. It seems as though the water were boiling, so violent is its 

 agitation. The temperature, however, is only 85 Jo F. The taste of the 

 water is agreeably pungent, and slightly metallic from the presence of 

 iron. This is the spring that Fremont named the Steamboat Spring. 

 Near it there are two holes, from which slightly warm air and carbonic 

 acid gas escape with a hissing noise. On both sides of the river at 

 this point there are a number of cones of a rusty-red color, which have 

 probably some time in the past been geysers. There is also near here 

 a remarkable rock, that might well, from its appearance, be taken for a 

 coral. It is of a bright-yellow color, and is composed mainly of car- 

 bonate of lime and oxide and carbonate of iron. It is, no doubt, a 

 deposit of springs. Some distance farther u}) the river, in the midst 

 of the village, there is another spring meriting attention. It is sitnated 

 on the banks of a small stream flowing into Bear Eiver. It is of the 

 same character as the others, and has, if possible, a more agreeable 

 taste. The basin of the spring is of a bright-red color. Between the 

 river and the adjoining hills, which are composed of limestones, there 

 are the remains of numerous springs. Of the majority, nothing is left 

 but the hard calcareous material and pools of water, about which there 

 is a deposit of alkali. Following up one of the small streams, we i)assed 

 two large calcareous mounds, about 10 or 15 feet high, on top of which 

 there were some springs, one of which was intermittent, the water 

 escaping from it in pulsations. Near this there is a spring that has 

 been inclosed and a pavilion erected over it. It is of the same nature 

 as others described. The escape of carbonic acid gas is very abundant. 

 About three miles farther up the valley we came to a most remark- 

 able formation, consisting of the basins of old springs long extinct. 

 They are called the petrifying springs by the settlers, from the abund- 

 ance of calcareous tufa which exists in the basins. There is very 

 little water in the springs now. Some of the basins were 6 feet in 

 depth, and contained large masses of plants coated with the cal- 

 careous material, which retained perfectly the form of the leaf and stem. 

 The whole area, which is about a quarter of a mile in extent, is 

 inclosed by a fence. We left Soda Springs on the 25th of September, 

 and proceeded up Bear Eiver. We had gone but a short distance 

 before we passed an old spring deposit, nothing being left but the hard- 

 ened calcareous deposit. Our next camp was made at a small town 

 named Benmngton, the rocks in the hills passed by us daring the day 

 being limestones and quartzites. At Montpelier, the next town, we 

 crossed Bear Eiver, and, passing through the towns of Ovid, Paris, and 

 Saint Charles, arrived at Fish Haven, on Bear Eiver Lake. The rocks 

 continued of the same character. We were shown specimens of ores 

 from lodes, said to exist in the limestones. Among them were speci- 

 mens of galena, malachite, and calcite. But little, however, has been 

 done in the way of mining, as there is not, as yet, enough capital in the 

 valley to make it profitable. Leaving Fish Haven we passed through 

 Laketown, Eandolph, and Woodruff, arriving at Evanstou, l^tah, « 



13 G S 



