151 



mouth ofLittlo Cottonwood Cauyou, the red saudstoue near Salt Lake City, aud 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, whicli 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 Mr. 0. J. HoUister, of Salt Lake City, it is here 

 given in full, as showing in general the manner in wliich 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 whore these were accessible through canyons the saw timber lias mostly 

 been cut out and used. Railroads liave stripped other accessible parts of tlie 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. Tliere 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 he&vy, 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, aud to a less extent, the 

 range being far slighter, to the latter. 



'' In the southern i)art of the Territory, the varieties — Cedar and Piiion 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 

 Pino and Black Balsam make a railroad tie that lasts ten years. On the Oquirrh 

 the trees are chiefly Red Pine. The Scrub Cedar and Pinou 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, perhax^s $45. In the early settlement of Utah willow brush and even sage 

 brush were used for fencing. Now the use of barbed wire, strung u^ion 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 at all. 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 gome 

 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 

 doubtful, perhaps, if the valleys are very well adapted 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 42,865 acres of woodland in Utah destroyed by fire dur- 

 ing the census year. 



