228 GEOLOGICAL* SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



feet, it would be sufficient to carry the water on the table lands which 

 spread out from here eastward. On the north side a short tunnel might 

 be necessary, but below this point, so far as I observed, there would be 

 no other difficulty than an occasional lengthy flexure round the head of 

 a dry ravine, and perhaps here and there a short aqueduct. On the 

 south side I think there would be less difficulty. I make no pretensions 

 here to engineering accuracy, as I only had time to take hasty glances 

 at the country as we passed along in our somewhat rapid march. A 

 short distance below the Old Bridge I made an approximate estimate 

 of the volume of water in the river. I found that a cross section at the 

 low stage of water of that season (August) was equal to one hundred 

 and sixty by two feet, or three hundred and twenty square feet, running 

 at the rate of three miles per hour, or a discharge of two hundred and 

 sixty -four cubic feet to the second, which, earlier in the season, when 

 most needed for irrigation, must be much greater. With this amount 

 of water, and the considerable fall there is in this part of the river, 

 making ample allowance for errors in the elevation, a vast body of land 

 can be irrigated and brought under cultivation. 



It is true that all this land on the north side of the river lies in an 

 Indian reservation, but this renders a knowledge of the fact only the 

 more important; for, in my judgment, if the Indian problem is ever 

 solved without destroying them, it will be by the aid of agriculture. 



In order to show that the soil of this region is possessed of the ele- 

 ments of fertility, I quote the following remarks from General Fremont's 

 report, which will doubtless be corroborated by the report of the United 

 States geologist for the present year : 



The nature of the soil may be inferred from its geological formation. The limestone 

 at the eastern limit of this section (between Fort Laramie and Red Buttes) is succeeded 

 by limestone without fossils, a great variety of sandstone, consisting principally of red 

 sandstone and fine conglomerate. The red sandstone is argillaceous, with compact 

 gypsum or alabaster, very beautiful. The other sandstones are gray, yellow, and fer- 

 ruginous, sometimes very coarse. The apparent sterility of the country must therefore 

 be sought in other causes than the nature of the soil. The face of t!ie country cannot 

 ■with propriety be called hilly. It is a succession of long ridges made by the numerous 

 streams which come down from the neighboring mountain range. [By this he alludes 

 to the south side.] The ridges have an undulating surface, with some such appear- 

 ance as the ocean in an ordinary breeze. 



I did not have an opportunity of seeing the North Platte bottoms 

 but a part of the distance between the ruins of Fort Casper and the 

 boundary line. I will therefore limit myself to a description of these 

 portions, from which a pretty correct idea of the whole may be formed, 

 as they are said to be quite uniform throughout. 



In the vicinity of Fort Casper, on the south side of the river, there is 

 a broad level bottom, some four or five miles in width, mostly covered 

 with a rank growth of grass mixed with tall weeds, showing the soil to 

 be quite fertile and that it contains a moderate proportion of vegetable 

 mold. Below this a second level sets in, which is raised but a few feet 

 above the lowest. This is one entire sage plain, and spreads out to some 

 eight or nine nriles in witlth. Before reaching Muddy Creek, the low, 

 rounded hills approach the river for a few miles, narrowing the bottom 

 to a mere strip. At Muddy it again expands to six or eight miles, and 

 is covered in part by a thick growth of greasewood. The creek, although 

 containing a considerable volume of water, is confined to a very narrow, 

 ditch-like channel, cut in the fine-grained soil, which here has a marly 

 appearance. 



The opposite side of the river for most of this distance is bordered by 

 low bluffs, which seem to be the escarpments of a plateau from a hun- 

 dred to a hundred and fify feet high. At some points these recede from 



