Veatch — Definition of the Geologic Term Laramie. 1 9 



Feet 



-f , -, < Niobrara ._ 800 



Colorado \ D + - - n r> 



(Benton i,o00 



Dakota , 150 



Morrison 200 



Marine Jurassic 75 



Red Beds 1,650 



Carboniferous sandstone and limestone with 



basal conglomeratic quartzite 1,800 



Pre-Cambrian crystallines. 



Since returning to Washington, the author lias critically 

 reviewed the writings of the Hayden and King surveys and 

 prepared a discussion on the subject, which is now in course of 

 publication in the Journal of . Geology. These investigations 

 have resulted in the following conclusions : 



1. The name Laramie is derived from Laramie Plains in 

 eastern Wyoming. As commonly used in the early seventies, 

 this included the plains region extending from the Front Range 

 to and slightly beyond the North Platte River. 



2. The most important locality on the Laramie Plains at 

 this time was Carbon. It was not only a noted paleontological 

 locality, but the most important coal mining town on the Union 

 Pacific Railroad at that time. It was the only locality on the 

 Laramie Plains where the King Survey critically examined 

 and distinctly delimited the Laramie beds. The Hayden Sur- 

 vey recognized Laramie strata at another point on the Laramie 

 Plains, Rock Creek, but regarded the Carbon locality, including 

 its southern extension containing the plants labeled from 

 " Medicine Bow stage station," as affording better and more 

 complete exposures. 



3. It was the practice of the Hayden and King surveys to 

 name formations and groups from localities where the beds 

 were regarded as typically exposed. While King and Hayden 

 did not always definitely state that the name was derived from 

 a certain locality, the source of the name can in all cases be 

 completely inferred from the context. Thus King used Green 

 River, Bridger, Uinta, Truckee, and other names without say- 

 ing the name was derived from such and such a locality, while 

 he distinctly states the source of Yermilion Creek, Weber, and 

 other names. King's strong feeling in this matter of a type 

 locality is shown by the fact that he refused to use the prior 

 name Wasatch and adopted the new name Vermilion Creek 

 simply because at what he considered Hay den's type locality 

 the beds were not completely and typically exposed. The state 

 of feeling at this time is further shown by the fact that the 

 name Laramie was proposed and adopted as an exact synonym 

 of Hayden's Lignitic as defined by him in Wyoming and 



