
151 
mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, the red sandstone near Salt Lake City, and the 
secondary sandstone or oolite of San Pete County. At Logan there is an easily quar- 
ried limestone. Marbles of various colors and susceptible of good polish, are found at 
many points, aud at Antelope Island is found,in unlimited quantity, a green and 
purple slate, which for roofing and some other purposes is said to be superior to the 
eastern slates. 
Without subscribing in all respects to the views expressed in the following com- 
munication, kindly forwarded by Me. O. J. Hollister, of Salt Lake City, it is here 
given in full, as showing in general the manner in which forestry interests are spoken 
of: 
“In the ordinary use of the word, I should say that ‘forestry’ has no meaning in 
Utah. There is on the acclivities of some of the mountains a fair growth of conifer- 
ous trees, but where these were accessible through canyons the saw timber has mostly 
been cut out and used. Railroads have stripped other accessible parts of the ranges 
for ties, and in the mining canyons and districts all the timber has been used in the 
mines and for fuel—that is, all that is within reach. Now they are obliged to reach 
out farther, many of them being forced to use the railways to get what they require. 
No fires ever run in these Utah woods.* 
“The natives (Utes) lived more in the valleys than in the mountains. The white 
settlements along the mountain streams of course protect the wild lands in their 
vicinity from fires. There is no object in preserving these patches of trees as a pro- 
tection to the streams, either. The snow-fall on the mountains is very heavy, and 
does not melt and run off in the streams until June and July. The ground in the 
mountains is thus kept wet and heavy until the snow begins to fall again. There is 
little if any waste of timber. Of course all belongs to the Government, save where 
the miners may have patented the lands as mines. Most of the timber of Utah was 
originally confined to the Wahsatch and the Oquirrh ranges. The canyons of many 
streams admitted the lumberers and saw-mills to the FORMER, and to a less extent, the 
range being far slighter, to the latter. 
**In the southern a of the Territory, the varicties—Cedar and Pifion Pine—are 
more scattered and scrubby. The more valuable varieties of the Wahsatch and 
Oquirrh are the Red Pine, Black Balsam, and the White Pine. More than half of 
the finest growth of the Wahsatch is said to be of the white or inferior pine. The Red 
Pine and Black Balsam make a railroad tie that lasts ten years. On the Oquirrh. 
the trees are chiefly Red Pine. The Scrub Cedar and Pinon Pine are of little value 
except for posts, ties, and fuel. The larger trees of the better varieties furnish a 
lumber not technically clear, but the knots are held so fast that they are no great 
detriment, and the lumber is practically clear. For many years a great part of the 
lumber used in the Territory has been imported from Nevada or Wyoming. Ordinary 
rough building and fencing lumber is worth about $25 per thousand ; flooring and 
finishing, perhaps $45. In the early settlement of Utah willow brush and even sage 
brush were used for fencing. Now the use of barbed wire, strung upon cedar posts, 
is almost universal. Very little wood is used for fuel, even the mines, as well as the 
railroads, using coal, of which there is a great abundance in the Territory, and also 
in Wyoming, near the eastern line of Utah. The native growth of forest exercises 
the mind of the people not atall. What trees they have they have planted, watered, 
and tilled. The settlements in the lower valleys are collections of orchards, the 
streets lined with shade trees. After being once well started, and becoming of some 
size, they seem to do petty well even without water. Very little attention has been 
given as yet to starting plantations of trees other than for purposes of shade. It is 
coubtful, perhaps, if the valleys are very welladapted to the growth of trees; doubt- 
ful if they would not come to maturity and begin to decay before reaching any great 
*The census of 1880 reports 42,265 acres of woodland in Utah destroyed by fire dur- 
ing the census year. 

