GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 241 



Yalley nortliward, is some twenty-five miles long and has an average 

 width of six or seven miles. It is quite fertile and tolerably well grassed 

 over, affording excellent pasturage. Stock-raising ?nd the dairy busi- 

 ness appear to be the chief occupation of the settlements that have 

 been made here. Malade Eiver, together with the little rills which flow 

 down from the elevated ridges on each side, will probably be sufficient 

 to irrigate most of the level land. There is one point near the upper 

 end of this valley where the cattle appear to be subject to a fatal disease, 

 arising from some local cause. Whether this is periuanently the case 

 or not I am unable to say. I noticed, in passing through this part of the 

 valley, quite a number of dead cattle, and understood that ox-teams 

 stopping here for a short time have sometimes suffered severely, but 

 was unable to obtain any satisfactory information as to the probable 

 cause of this. But even if this information is correct it is limited in 

 area and does not apply to the greater portion of the valley, especially 

 the lower half. 



PROM SALT LAKE TO SOUTHERN MONTANA. 



From the point where we left Salt Lake until we reached the south- 

 ern boundary line of Montana, I shall confine my notes on the agricul- 

 tural resources of this section to the immediate line of our route, as I 

 obtained but very little information respecting the country either to the- 

 right or left. And perhaps I cannot do better than to give my original 

 field-notes, which were generally written while the sections described^ 

 were in view. 



Leaving our camp near the Hot Springs, about ten miles north of Og- 

 den, for the first five or six miles we traveled up the level shore of the 

 bay, which, until we pass Willard City for a mile or two, is tolerably 

 well settled. About Willard City the ground rises somewhat, and is 

 more uneven and bouldery than usual in this valley. There are some 

 good farms here, which slope off below the town toward the bay. A 

 plain, generally level, extends around the curved shore-line of the bay,, 

 from our last camp to a point some distance west of Corinne, in a direct 

 line, some twenty or twenty-five miles. Some areas near the bay and in 

 the northwest part near Corinne, and one spot immediately west of 

 Brigham covered with white saline incrustations were glittering in the- 

 clear sunshine as we passed. The mountains sweep around this area in 

 a somewh at semicircular form, gashed here and there by complete or partial 

 canons. The hills on the north and northeast are beautifully rounded, 

 smooth, and covered over evenly with grass and artemisia, here and there 

 interrupted by, little thickets of green bushes or areas of yellow com- 

 posite flowers. 



Brigham City, a small town of two or three hundred inhabitants, is 

 situated near the mouth of Box Elder Canon, on a ridge or terrace con- 

 siderably elevated, which appears to be composed of a sandy soil mixed 

 with coarse gravel, and covered, where not in cultivation, with arte- 

 misia. As we passed over this terrace, which is probably two hundred; 

 feet above the shore-level, I noticed irrigating ditches traversing it iu: 

 various directions ; the water is probably brought from Box Elder Creek.. 

 Here, turning suddenly around a long, elevated, and smootli terrace, we 

 enter Box Elder Cauon, which extends through the mountain, in a north- 

 east direction. Ere we descended to the level of the creek behind this 

 terrace we had a splendid view of the country over which we had passed. 

 Looking back we could see the entire Salt Lake Valley spread out be- 

 fore us as a grand panorama. 



IG G s 



