178 SNAKE RIVER PLAINS OF IDAHO. [bull. 199. 
At Gooding, 16 miles west of Shoshone, a drill hole is reported to 
have been pvit down in 1890 to a depth of 155 feet, which, after passing 
through lava, entered clay; water rose to within 110 feet of the sur- 
face. Again, one-fourth mile south of Gooding, a drill hole 185 feet 
deep passed through lava and entered cla}^; whether water was reached 
or not, was not learned. 
At Lee's ranch on Slater Creek, approximately 25 miles northwest 
of Mountain Home, and near the northern border of the Snake River 
lava, a well put down in the bottom of the small valle} T cut by the 
creek, has a depth of about 85 feet, but failed to reach water. 
At Howe, on Little Lost River, a well drilled through lava to a 
depth of 200 feet reached water under sufficient pressure to cause it 
to rise 25 feet or to within 175 feet of the surface. The casing of the 
well is defective, and to what height the water would rise if proper 
care were taken in making a test is not known. 
IMPERFECT CASINGS. 
The inferences to be drawn from the several artesian wells and 
unsuccessful borings referred to in the past few pages are by no 
means so instructive as they would be if the pressure of the water 
met with in most instances were known. So far as I am aware, none 
of the artesian wells now flowing and none of the wells in which 
water rose some distance but failed to reach the surface are properly 
cased. Lack of care in this respect has caused failure, or but trifling 
returns, where a strong flow of water can be easily and cheaply 
obtained. The methods employed to prevent leakage in artesian wells 
are briefly described in my report on Nez Perces County, already 
referred to, and in several of the books and papers cited in it, but can 
not be repeated at this time. 
LEWIS ARTESIAN BASIN. 
From near the mouth of Clover Creek westward, at least as far as 
the eastern boundary of Ada County, the Snake River lava and asso- 
ciated sedimentary beds have been bent into a broad, gentle down- 
ward fold or syncline, the longer axis of which has a nearly east-west 
trend, and pitches very gently westward. The strata forming this 
basin underlie the plains both north and south of Snake River, and 
judging from what is known concerning the way in which the forma- 
tions were deposited, or poured out as molten lava, the pervious 
beds, if any are present, are in a position to be charged with water 
from the mountains bordering the portion of the Snake River Plains 
referred to on the north and south. These conditions are such as 
produce artesian basins, and, so far as can be judged from the observed 
facts, this basin should yield flowing wells, providing the requisite suc- 
cession of pervious and impervious beds is present. The only direct 
