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The National Geographic Magazine 



in many places be accomplished with 

 no effort, l'ttle fun. and less comfort, 

 unless great care be taken. Continuing 

 in our northeasterly course, we reach 

 the headwaters of the River of the Sun 

 by a rough trail — great peaks, now of 

 limestone, light yellow, buff, or bluish 

 in color, and again of shales, red, green, 

 and slate color, on every hand. The 

 Sun River was named by the Indians, 

 some say on account of the brilliance of 

 the light, due to reflections from the 

 manj' cliff walls in the upper reaches 

 and from the open, light-buff-colored 

 plain east of the mountains. It was 

 long used as a gathering point for the 

 tribes east of all the ranges for the 

 ' ' sun dance. ' ' It might well be named 

 for Mollis, as its canyon serves as a 

 funnel through which all the ' ' winds 

 of heaven" rush forever. 



In the valley of Sun River are nu- 

 merous hot springs and deposits of 

 springs long since extinct. The In- 

 dians use the waters of these springs 

 for drinking and bathing to cure many 

 ailments, and today the location is one 

 frequently visited by camping parties 

 from the vallej' towns. 



The Sawtooth, or Sun River Range, 

 divides the upper branches of Sun River 

 from the Missouri plain, and is the east 

 front of the Rockies. The rocks of this 

 range are largely light-colored lime- 

 stones, and are faulted and eroded into 

 a series of ragged, sharp peaks rising 

 abruptly, and are very impressive. 



From the divide until the open plain 

 is reached the Sun River crosses no less 

 than twelve ridges, usually of limestone 

 (but sometimes igneous rocks), and 

 cuts a canyon through each, similar to 



Continental Divide. East Face of Cliff near Silvertop Peak 



