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of Idaho, Montana and Utah comes to us stored with facts bear- 
ing upon the origin of the wonderful scenery of the Rocky 
Mountains. The mode of formation of the lofty peaks, of the 
vast abyssal cañons and broad lake valleys, together with the 
origin of the hot springs and geysers, the last remnants of the tre- 
mendous volcanic activity that pervaded this region, is discussed 
with more or less detail, by Prof. Hayden, whose sixteen years’ 
experience as a geologist in the far west certainly enables him to 
speak with authority on these subjects. 
One of the results of these surveys was the discovery and 
reservation of the National Park of the Yellowstone River. How 
tourists may enjoy its wonders and beauties will be solved, we 
are- told, should the railroad which contemplates connecting 
Corinne, Utah, with Helena, Montana, pass up Henry’s Fork. 
That accomplished, we are promised that “all the wonders of our 
great national park can be seen in one day’s travel on horseback 
from this route.” 
We have before spoken in this journal of the fine photographs 
of the Téton Range published by the Survey. This group of 
peaks, which are more truly alpine in character than any other 
known in the west, have at length been ascended by Messrs. 
Stevenson and Langford, the only white men who have ever 
reached the summit. ‘Immense masses of snow and lakes of 
ice were found on its sides, and abundant signs of glacial action.” 
The accompanying figure (175) gives an idea of the range and 
the course of ascent. 
Another result of the season’s (1872) work was the exploration 
and mapping out of the great water divide from which, in a 
radius of ten miles, the Missouri, the Green and Colorado Rivers, 
and the Snake and Columbia Rivers take their rise. A new 
geyser basin was discovered on Shoshone Lake, and found to be 
the true source of the Madison River, lying on the Pacific slope, 
between 7,000 and 8,000 feet above the sea, with surround- 
ing peaks 10,000 to 12,000 feet high. The basin contained from 
seventy-five to one hundred springs, some being geysers of con- 
siderable power, while the peculiar ornamentation about them is 
considered more elaborate and interesting than the celebrated 
springs of the Fire Hole basin, an account of which we have al- 
ready given our readers. These are the more prominent results of 
the season’s work. : 
Of much economic interest is the great soft coal or lignitic for- 
_ mation of the west. From the researches of Messrs. Lesquereux, 
Meek and others, together with his own, Prof. Hayden infers that 
