A. C. Peale — Application of the Term Laramie. 45 



Art. YIII. — On the Application of the Term Laramie ; by 



A. C. Peale. 



Two publications* by Mr. A. C. Veatch " On the Origin and 

 Definition of the Geologic term Laramie " seem to me to call 

 for notice because of an apparent misapprehension on the part 

 of Mr. Yeatch of the origin of the name Laramie and as to 

 its use especially at the time it was given. It is also the more 

 necessary to come back to the original definition and applica- 

 tion because so many geologists and paleontologists have 

 applied the name to beds that do not fall within the limits of 

 the definition. That corrections can now be made is largely 

 due to the discovery by Mr. Yeatch in the Carbon and Evan- 

 ston regions of Wyoming of an unconformity just above the 

 beds that should be correctly referred to the Laramie in 

 accordance with the original definition, thus repeating west of 

 the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains the discovery made 

 by Cross and Eldridge of the Post-Laramie break east of the 

 mountains in Colorado in 1888f and reiterated by them in 

 18964 



What 1 wish to show in this paper is, first, the original use 

 of the name Laramie ; second, why the original name should 

 hold to-day just as when first defined ; third, that the con- 

 clusions of Mr. Yeatch, based as I think upon false premises, 

 are not verified by the facts ; and fourth, that a new name is 

 not necessary even according to Mr. Yeatch's own supposed 

 evidence. 



As a member of the Hayden Geological Survey at the time 

 the term " Laramie " was first proposed and used by both the 

 Hayden and the King organizations, and as one of those who 

 first used it, a statement of my recollection may be of some 

 interest here. Just at the time the work of the Exploration of 

 the 40th Parallel, under Clarence King, was approaching com- 

 pletion, and their geological maps were being colored, the 

 work of the U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the 

 Territories had also reached the stage when it became neces- 

 sary to color the maps of Colorado, upon which field work was 

 begun in 1873 and finished in 1876. As two of the maps of 

 the former organization adjoined the work of the Hayden Sur- 

 vey along the northern line of Colorado, it was deemed desir- 

 able that there should be some correlation, in terms at least, 

 where the work joined. There, was substantial agreement as 



*This Journal, vol. xxiv, pp. 18-22 (an abstract), July, 1907; and Jour, 

 of Geol., vol. xv, pp. 526-549. 



fProc. Colo. Sci. Soc, vol. iii, p. 97. 



JU. S. Geol. Survey Monograph, vol. xxvii. 



