140 The American Geologist. September, it 99 
The first Yale Scientific Expedition was organized and en- 
gineered by Marsh in 1870. The party consisted of thirteen 
persons besides the officers and men of the military detach- 
ments who escorted them from various military posts along 
the route. They explored the Pliocene deposits of Nebraska 
and the Miocene of northern Colorado, then crossing into 
Wyoming they made collections in the Eocene (Bridger Ba- 
sin), and passing south discovered a new Eocene basin in Utah 
(Uinta Basin). At each of these places many important finds 
were made. The party next visited California, where minor 
collections were obtained from the Pliocene. Returning, they 
spent some time exploring the Cretaceous beds of western 
Kansas, so rich in the remains of aquatic reptiles, and now 
famous for having furnished the first toothed birds and Ameri- 
can toothless flying reptiles. 
The second, third, and fourth Yale Scientific Expeditions 
(1871, 1872, 1873) were modeled after the first. New regions 
in the West were visited, and extensive series of remains of 
extinct animals were obtained. Coincident with these discov- 
eries, Marsh published frequent scientific papers describing and 
illustrating the more important forms, and paleontological 
literature was enriched by the addition of more startling and 
wonderful types of animal life than had been hitherto known 
from the rest of the world. 
Owing to Indian outbreaks and a general uneasiness in the 
West, no regular expedition was organized in 1875. Late in 
the fall, however, Marsh went to the bad lands of Nebraska 
and Dakota accompanied by an escort from Fort Laramie to 
the Red Cloud Agency. The consent of the Indians was 
deemed necessary to search for fossil bones in their country. 
A treaty was obtained with dilificulty and then assistance was 
withheld. Nevertheless, with great hardship owing to extreme 
cold, the party succeeded in reaching the desired region, and 
made important discoveries, among which numerous remains 
of the gigantic Brontotheridae are the most noteworthy. 
It was at this time that he became aware of the frauds prac- 
ticed upon the Indians by the agents of the Government, and 
the way the Government was in turn defrauded through their 
misrepresentations. He promised Red Cloud to bring the 
matter before the President for redress. This was done with 
