Mkkria.vi.J 



John Pay Basin. 



?7S 



LITERATURE. 



Thie first mention of the fossiliferous deposits in the John Day 

 basin which appears in the literature was made by Dr. Joseph 

 Leidy. In October, 1870, Leidy presented before the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Sciences* a short paper, in which he described "a col- 

 lection of fossils recently received for examination through the 

 Smithsonian Institution, from Rev. Thomas Condon, of Dalles City, 

 Oregon." The collection consisted of " remains of mammalia 

 obtained by Mr. Condon from the valley of Bridge Creek" (and 

 "Big Bottom of John Day"), "a tributary of John Day's River, 

 Oregon." The collection included new forms of Paracotylops 

 (Merycochcerus), Rhinoceros, and Anchitherium. New occurrences 

 of Agriochcerus , Leptomeryx, Lophiodon {?), Elotherum, and a 

 Dicotyles-like form were also noted. Most of the previously- 

 known species, as identified by Leidy, were forms belonging to the 

 White River fauna, and he probably considered the John Day beds 

 as of nearly the same age as the White River. 



In 1873 Professor Marsh describedf several new fossil mammals 

 obtained by his exploring party in the John Day country in 1871. 

 He referred two forms to the Miocene and one to the Pliocene, thus 

 making the first statement regarding the age of the beds. 



In his paper on the great lava flood of the West, Prof. Joseph 

 Le Conte| makes the first mention of the structural relations 

 of the John Day formations. His statement regarding the relation 

 of the lava to the John Day beds is in part as follows: "The lava 

 in this region is * * * underlaid by the remarkable fossiliferous 

 Miocene lake deposit of the* John Day Valley; erosion has cut 

 through the lava cap into the soft strata beneath." 



The earliest general discussion of John Day geology which 

 appears in the literature is the following statement published by 

 Marsh§ in 1875. 



"The Blue Mountains formed the eastern and southern shores 

 of this lake, but its other limits are difficult to ascertain, as this 



*Proc. Phil. Acad., 1870, p. 112. 

 1 Am. Jour. Sc., 3d ser., V. 5, p. 409. 

 }Am. J. Sc., 1874, V. 7,3d ser., p. 167. 

 §Am. J. Sc., 1875, Ser. Ill, Vol. 9, p. 52. 



