58 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



may be opened to settlement through them may entitle them to the ap- 

 pellation of the Great Gateways of the West. 



On the night of August 24 we camped at the upper end of the Mid- 

 dle Caiion of the Madison, and here remained a day or two in the midst 

 of most instructive illustrations of mountain-scenery. The relations of 

 the limestones to the metamorphic rocks below are most clearly shown. 

 The strata have been lifted up in mass at various elevations, and the out- 

 cropping edges have been smoothly worn off, so that the line of separa- 

 tion is unmistakable. There is always a want of conformity. The lime- 

 stones sometimes cap mountain-peaks that are full 10,000 feet high. 

 Terrific chasQis have been cut deep down through the limestones into 

 the metamorphic rocks in every direction from 1 ,500 to 2,500 feet deep. 

 A he geology is as easily read as in the pages of an open book. The 

 admirable sketches of Mr. Holmes cannot fail to make the relations of 

 the strata clear to the general reader as well as the professional geolo- 

 gist. 



The valley of the Madison above the Middle Caiion is a marvel of 

 picturesque beauty. The descent must be slight, for the river, with the 

 branches which come in on either side, meanders through the grassy 

 meadow with the most remarkably sinuous course I have ever seen. 

 The skillful landscape-gardener could gather some useful hints in his 

 art froai this region. The channel appears as though it had been cut 

 ont by the hand of art, and the little islands in the channel are of every 

 conceivable form and of great beauty. Although only a portion of this 

 basin comes within the limits of the park, yet this lower portion, with 

 such a marvellously beautiful landscape, will ever remain one of the won- 

 ders of this region in a purely esthetic point of view. As a study for 

 the artist I have nowhere seen any view of the kind that could compare 

 with it, and I now call attention to it as one of the attractive points for 

 visitors at some period in the future. In the lower half of the basin 

 there is but little pine-timber, and high up, on both the east and west 

 branches, which enter the Madison near together at this point, the sur- 

 face is covered with a luxuriant growth of grass. I estimated that the 

 grass-land in the lower portion of this basin exceeded one hundred and 

 fifty square miles. The slopes from the base of the mountains on either 

 side down to the river are most admirable illustrations of lawns on a 

 grand scale. The bottom ascends to the foot of the mountains with a 

 very gentle slope, and the latter rise abruptly with almost inaccessible 

 sides. The East Fork rises near Mount Gallatin and receives a portion 

 of its waters, and winds its sinuous course through the basin for a dis- 

 tance of twenty to twenty-five miles. This fork seems to drain the 

 entire range west of the sources of the Gallatin, about twenty or thirty 

 miles in length, and a stream about 150 feet wide and 1 foot in de[)th, 

 on an average, is the result. The four branches, which we find entering 

 the Madison below the Lower Geyser Basin, are very handsome streams 

 and about the same size. For several miles, before reaching the imme- 

 diate entrance to the Middle Caiion, the valley slowly closes up, and on 

 either side some very interesting facts may be read. On the east side 

 of the Madison the limestones are remarkably well exposed, but incline 

 at all angles. I found it difficult to obtain any local dip that would 

 apply over large areas. There is, however, a system in the aggregate, 

 and I think the general inclination is south and southwest. The lower 

 beds of limestones are very cherty, brittle, and entirely destitute of fos- 

 sils. My entire party searched diligently for a day or two and no trace 

 of life could be found, but in the upper limestones great quantities of 

 moliusca, corals, «&c., characteristic of the Carboniferous period, were 



