17 



ing it up to its sources among the everlasting snows of the 

 summit-ridge. The peaks or cones in the distance are 

 most distinctly stratified and apparently horizontal, or nearly 

 so, with their summits far above the limits of perpetual snow, 

 and from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the springs that give rise 

 to the streams below. 



They are vast piles of purplish compact quartzite, resem- 

 bling Egyptian pyramids on a gigantic scale, without a trace 

 of soil, vegetation, or water. One of these remarkable struc- 

 tures stands out isolated from the rest, in the middle of the 

 valley of Smith's Fork, which was estimated to rise 1,500 feet 

 above its base, and so much like a Gothic church did it ap- 

 pear that the members of the survey gave it the name of 

 Hayden's Cathedral. No. 120 is a near and No. 121 a distant 

 view, and they both show with remarkable clearness their hor- 

 izontal stratitication. They are as regular as the steps of a 

 pyramid, and as the snow rests upon each step, it relieves 

 them in the strongest manner. 

 No. 122. A VIEW NEAR THE HEAD OF THE WEST BRANCH OF BLACK 



Fork, looking south, and — 



No. 123. From the same point looking west, deep down into the 

 valleys, with their silvery streams finding their way down 

 from the lofty, cone-like, snow-capped summits. These two 

 views were made just upon the upper limit of arborescent 

 vegetation ; showing in the foreground how the thrifty pines 

 of the plains below up here have a hard struggle for exist- 

 ence, and are dwarfed down to low, trailing shrubs, spread 

 out along the ground, and always toward the east, showing 

 that the winds upon these mountains are mostly from the 

 * west. 



Nos. 124-120. The UlNTAH Mountains. A distant view from the foot- 

 hills bordering Bear River. 



No. 127. Carter's Lake, Uintah Mountains. A beautiful sheet of 

 water, inclosed on one side by a semicircular wall of sand- 

 stones and slates, and on the other by a dense growth of 

 spruce trees. The depression for the accumulation of the 

 waters of this lake was formed by an immense mass of rock 

 sliding down from the ridges above. The side of the mass 

 opposite the ridge, from which it was detached, would be the 

 highest, forming a rim for the depression. Springs of water 

 ooze out from the sides of the ridge, snows melt, and soon a 

 little lake is formed. This one is 350 yards in length and 80 

 yards wide; elevation, 10,321 feet. There are very many 

 such, all through the mountains, forming a characteristic 

 feature in its scenery. 



No. 128. GILBERT'S Peak. A beautiful and instructive view of one of 

 the. highest peaks in the Uintah Range, named in honor of 

 General Gilbert, of the Regular Army. The very plainly- 

 marked strata of red sandstones and quartzites inclines very 

 slightly to the southeast. The lake in the foreground, of 

 about fifty acres extent, has an elevation of 11,000 feet, and 

 the peak rises abruptly from it 2,250 feet. 



No. 129. El Capitan, in miniature. A perpendicular limestone bluff, 

 about 500 feet in height, where Henry's Pork breaks out from 

 the mountains into the broad, grassy valleys of the foot hills. 

 2 P 



