DESCKIPTION OF THE REGION, 



13 



PRECIPITATION RECORD FOR 1900 AND 1901. 



In common with the entire Great Basin area the precipitation is 

 very meager and occurs mainly during the winter months. The fol- 

 lowing table, kindly furnished by the United States Weather Bureau, 

 shows for Winnemucca, Nev., and Burns, Oreg., a total precipitation 

 of less than 7i inches for the entire twelve months of the }^ear 1900: 



Precipitation for Nevada and Oregon. 





Nevada. 



Oregon. 





Winnemucca. 



Quinn River 

 Crossing. 



Burns. 





1900. 



1901. 



1900. » 



1901. 



1900. 



1901. 





0.71 

 .69 

 .47 

 .96 



1.47 

 .12 

 .04 

 Trace. 

 .22 

 .74 



1.89 

 .12 



7.43 



1.31 



1.87 

 .16 

 .78 

 .73 







Trace. 



1.80 

 .54 



1.15 

 .34 

 .34 

 .00 

 .17 

 .24 

 .62 

 .47 

 .90 



6.57 



1.20 







2.68 

 .26 

 .60 

 .19 

 .12 

 .00 

 .24 



1.67 







.30 







.34 









.12 





.05 

 Trace. 



1.16 





.15 



July 





.00 







.22 















































a No record prior to February, 1901. 



It is to be understood, of course, that the observations on precipita- 

 tion are made on the lowlands. The higher levels receive much more 

 moisture, or else the region would be a desert indeed. Observations 

 taken on the summer range on Steins Mountains would be very instruct- 

 ive and show without doubt a greater precipitation for some months 

 than for the entire year at Winnemucca or Quinn River Crossing. It 

 is the low ranges of mountains surrounding- the basins that enable the 

 country to support even a sparse population. 



The mountains for the most part are low, under 9,000 feet in alti- 

 tude, and thinly wooded. A very prominent characteristic of the 

 three ranges visited south of Burns — Pine Forest, White Horse, and 

 Steins Mountains — is the presence of numerous narrow, steep ravines 

 and gorges bordered by often impassable rim-rocks, and a slope to the 

 northwest much more gentle and prolonged than that to the southeast. 

 Indeed, the White Horse Mountains, especially, present the appearance 

 of a huge fault which has subsequently been cut out by the action of 

 water until there occurs a long, gentle slope, fissured by narrow 

 ravines with ver}^ precipitous sides and bordered by perpendicular 

 cliffs of rim-rocks. 



Another very striking peculiarity which one used to Rocky Moun- 

 tain areas notices immediately is the abundance of small springs which 



