108 



tlie north 5 and the entire area is fairly well watered by the two Big 

 Horn Rivers, the Nez Perce and Eosebud Elvers and their affluents, 

 all of which are tributary to the Yellowstone. 



In the southern i3art of the reservation are outlying spurs and foot- 

 hills of the Wyoming ranges. These are covered to some extent with 

 Pine, Fir, and Spruce timber. The foot-hills of the Snow Mountains, 

 which encroach upon the western border of the reservation, also bear a 

 forest growth, but no report concerning the same has been received. 



WYOMING. 



The Territory of Wyoming, in situation^ exterior form, area, and con- 

 figuration, has much in common with her southern neighbor, the State 

 of Colorado. Both lie in the northern temperate zone, and cover por- 

 tions of the great interior plateau where the open country and mount- 

 ains meet. In both are high and rugged mountain ranges, wide plains, 

 valleys, and powerful streams. One contains the distribution or radi- 

 ating center of the water system of the 1^^'orthwest 5 in the other is the 

 distributive center of the water system of the Southwest. 



The surface area of the Territory is 100,375 square miles and its mean 

 altitude about G,000 feet above the sea. The main Eocky Mountain 

 range crosses it in a direction from northwest to southeast. This is 

 flanked upon either side by minor ranges, groups, and spurs, the most 

 prominent of which are the Big Horn Mountains in the north, the 

 Laramie and Medicine Bow ranges in the south, and the Bear, Salt 

 Eiver, and Teton Mountains at the west. 



In the southwestern part, and following the trend of the main 

 range from northwest to southeast is an area of barren country, about 

 200 miles in length and from 50 to 90 in breadth. Its northern part 

 comprises the " Colorado Desert," or Green Eiver Basin; the central 

 portion is mostly sage-brush and sand, and the southeastern part 

 is known as the ^'Eed Desert." The surface of this desolate region — 

 which extends southward into western Colorado and eastern Utah — is 

 broken by hills, sand dunes, and buttes. 



As an offset to this, in the northwestern corner of the Territory is 

 the Yellowstone E'ational Park, a region remarkable for its grand and 

 wonderful scenery. Here, amid snowy peaks and vast forests, are the 

 sources of the Big Horn, Yellowstone, Madison, Green, and Snake Elv- 

 ers ; the first three finding outlet through the Missouri and Mississippi 

 to the Gulf of Mexico, the next through the Colorado of the West to 

 the Gulf of California, and tlie last through the Columbia to the Pacific 

 Ocean. In this part of Wyoming are also a number of beautiful lakes, 

 of which the Yellowstone is the best known. 



The North Platte, Green, Big Horn, and Powder are the principal 

 rivers. Numerous other streams, of greater or less importance, water 

 the different portions of the Territory. 



