TOWNSHIP DESOEIPTIONS. , 117 



slopes and craggy crests; the central areas comprise low, broad, swampy, and 

 terraced tracts around the head of Stillwater River. 



Mining. — The region is mineral bearing throughout. 



Minerals. — Gold, silver, copper, lead. 



Soil. — Thin top-dressings of loam here and there, generally gravelly and 

 bowlder strewn; many of the steeper slopes entirely bare of soil. Deep, loamy 

 soil exists in the more swampy areas of the central sections. ^ 



Agricultural adaptability. — The altitude of the region is too great for 

 agriculture. 



Grazing capacity. — In the aggregate, 6,000 acres of the tract are grass lands. 

 They comprise glades, open, nonforested mountain slopes, swampy alpine meadows, 

 especially at the head of Stillwater River, sedge, and grass-covered crests above 

 timber line. 



Drainage conditions. — The region abounds in springs, alpine and subalpine 

 rivulets, and marshy tracts. It contains the ultimate heads of Stillwater River, . 

 several of the southern heads of Clark Fork, and the heads of numerous creeks 

 flowing south into the Yellowstone. The volume of run-off is large and con- 

 tinuous, and the tract is of great importance by reason of its water-shedding 

 capacity. 



Snow and rock slides. — Frequent along all the steeper slopes. 



Towns and settlements. — Miner's claims and cabins are numerous in the eastern 

 part of the township. Cooke City, an old and nearly dead mining camp, is said 

 to be situated in the southeast corner of the township, an assertion the correctness 

 of which depends on the accuracy of certain surveys. 



Forest conditions. — The subalpine type of forest prevails throughout the 

 township. Engelmann spruce is the leading species. The timber generally is 

 small, limby, and knotty, scattered in small stands, copses, and lines. The heaviest 

 growths are in the eastern sections. There is little young or sapling growth, 

 most of the timber running from 100 to 175 years in age. As a source of local 

 timber supply the forest is of great importance, although the quality of its 

 products ranges low. 



Cutting. — Most of the forest in the east half of the township has been culled 

 and cut over by prospectors and miners, the cut amounting to 10 per cent. 



Burns. — A few recent burns are scattered throughout the east half of the 

 township, in the aggregate amounting to 200 acres. 



Beproduction. — Slow and scanty throughout, as is usually the condition in 

 the higher subalpine forest in this region. 



Undergrowth. — Small in quantity and composed of low-growing huckleberry 

 shrubs to the extent of 75 per cent. 



