154 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
of snow which lie on the more protected slopes among the high and rugged peaks of 
tlie Sawtooth range.' The elevation of Salmon Eiver Valley in its upper portion is 
7,000 to 7,300 feet, while that of the larger lakes is about 7,200 feet. The Sawtooth 
1 aiige is a group of remarkably rugged mountains, from whose different slopes the 
streams flow in all directions. On the north are the creeks which form the middle 
fork of the Salmon; on the east are the headwaters of the main fork of the Salmon; 
on the southeast and south are Big Wood River and the streams which go to make 
the south fork of Boise River; while the west slopes furnish the water supply for the 
north fork of the Boise and the east fork of the Payette. 
The general direction of this range is north and south. The peaks are extremely 
precipitous and often consist of a series of sharp needles or spires whose summits 
are inaccessible. These sharp needles give the range a very jagged outline, as seen 
from a distance, and suggested the v^ery appropriate name which the range bears. 
These peaks are, in most cases, 10,000 to 10,800 feet high. The highest one, whose 
elevation has been determined by Mr. E. T. Perkin s, jr., of the United States Geological 
Survej^, is known as Snowyside and is 10,830 feet above the sea. 
The evidences of glacial action are on every hand and on a grand scale. Wher- 
ever the bottom or sides of the old glacier beds are exposed and composed of rock 
that does not readily disintegrate, the striations and grooves are distinctly retained. 
These markings are, however, in many places obscured by disintegration or covered 
up by talus or the enormous amount of material brought down into the canyons 
by snowslides, which are very frequent in these mountains. There are also numerous 
mutton-backs or roches moutonnees in the upper and middle parts of these canyons. 
Some of them are very large and, when not covered by debris, show in a remarkable 
degree the markings characteristic of glacial regions. 
The moraines for the most part appear to have been but little disturbed since their 
first formation, and remain to-day essentially as left by the retreating glaciers. Enough 
disintegration has occurred, however, to form sufficient soil among the bowlders to 
give footing to a fairly heavy growth of timber. As a rule, all of the ridges on the 
west side of Salmon Valley are i)retty heavily wooded. The higher mountains and 
the more rugged peaks are, of course, above timber line, and in some cases the lower 
ends of the moraines extending into the valley have few or no trees. 
These moraines have been so little altered or modified that they still show with 
great clearness all the intricacy of detail of the moraines of great glaciers. In some 
])ositions near the main peaks the lateral moraines are immense naked ridges of clean 
angular bowlders with no sign of soil or vegetation upon them. They appear as if 
the ice of the glacier had but recently melted away from them. The larger lateral 
moraines extend long distances into and down the Salmon Eiver Valley. These ridges 
are, as a rule, heavily timbered with Murray pine and Douglas hr, with here and there 
a clump of cottonwoods {Populus tremuloides). The forest on these ridges stops as 
abruptly as do the ridges themselves. 
One of the most conspicuous and interesting features of the landscape is seen in 
these long, densely wooded ridges extending out into the broad, treeless valley of 
Salmon River. Looking down upon them from any high peak, they appear as long 
tongues of dark green reaching oat into the valley and contrasting strongly with the 
duller colors of the dry grasses and the sage-brush. 
