QUoun^ain {pAt^B 



it that day. It was not monotonous by any 

 means. Frequent ranges of hills break the 

 prairie; the latter changes from rich bottom 

 lands with heavy grass, to light, cold gravelly 

 uplands, thin with bunch grass and sage brush ; 

 sluggish streams and quick streams alternate; 

 belts of hardy pines and tender-looking aspens 

 (cottonwood) lie along the crests or sides of the 

 hills; farther away are higher hills fully wooded, 

 and still beyond the range that bounds the 

 Park and circles it with eternal snows." 



During one of his early exploring expedi- 

 tions, John C. Fremont visited North Park and 

 wrote of it as follows: "The valley narrowed as 

 we ascended and presently degenerated into 

 a gorge, through which the river passed as 

 through a gate — a beautiful circular valley 

 of thirty miles in diameter, walled in all around 

 with snowy mountains, rich with water and 

 with grass, fringed with pine on the mountain 

 sides below the snow line and a paradise to all 

 grazing animals. We continued our way among 

 the waters of the park over the foothills of the 

 bordering mountains." 



231 



