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Kendall Broots.
33d CONGRESS,
2d Session.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SEx. Doc.
No. 91.
REPORTS
ON
EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS,
TO
ASCERTAIN THE MOST PRACTICABLE AND ECONOMICAL ROUTE FOR A RAILROAD
FROM THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
MADE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR, IN
1854-5,
ACCORDING TO ACTS OF CONGRESS OF MARCH 3, 1853, MAY 31, 1854, AND AUGUST 5, 1854.
VOLUME VI.
WASHINGTON:
A. 0. P. NICHOLSON, PRINTER.
1857.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES—FEBRUARY 14, 1855.
Resolved, That there be printed, for the use of the House, ten thousand copies of the reports of surveys for a railroad to
the Pacific, made under the direction of the Secretary of War, embracing the report of F. W. Lander, civil engineer, of a
survey of a railroad route from Puget’s Sound, by Fort Hall and the Great Salt lake, to the Mississippi river; and the
report of J. C. Frémont, of a route for a railroad from the headwaters of the Arkansas river into the State of California ;
together with the maps and plates accompanying each of said reports necessary to illustrate them.
Attest:
J. W. FORNEY,
Clerk of the House of Representatives of the United States.
THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION_CHAPTER 98.
Sect. 10. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby authorized, under the direction of the
President of the United States, to employ such portion of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, and such other persons as
he may deem necessary, to make such explorations and surveys as he may deem advisable, to ascertain the most practicable
and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, and that the sum of one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as inay be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money
in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to defray the expense of such explorations and surveys.
Approved March 3, 1853.
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION-CHAPTER 60.
Appropriation : For deficiencies for the railroad surveys between the Mississippi river and the Pacific ocean, forty thou-
fand dollars.
Approved May 31, 1854.
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION-CHAPTER 267.
Appropriation : For continuing the explorations and surveys to ascertain the best route for a railway to the Pacific, and
for completing the reports of surveys already made, the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Approved August 5, 1854.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME 7I.
REPORT BY LIEUTENANT HENRY L. AT:BOT, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ET TINEERS, UPON THE ROUTES IN
OREGON AND CALIFORNIA EXPLC RED BY PARTIES UNDER THE CIMAND OF LIEUTENANT R. 8.
WILLIAMSON, CORPS OF TOPOGRAF IICAL ENGINEERS, IN 1855.
EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS FOR A RAILROAD ROUTE FROM TIIE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
WAR DEPARTMENT.
Ꭱ E Ꮲ 0 Ꭱ Ꭲ
OF
LIEUT. HENRY L. ABBOT,
OORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEER:8
UPON
EXPLORATIONS FOR A RAILROAD ROUTE,
FROM
THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER,
MADE BY
LIEUT. R. S. WILLIAMSON,
CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS,
ASSISTED BY
LIEUT. HENRY L. ABBOT,
CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS.
1855.
1855.
1x
LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
V1
0
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 6, 1857.
SIR: In obedience to instructions from the War Department, I have the honor to submit the
accompanying report of the exploration and survey in California and Oregon, conducted by
Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, United States Topographical Engineers, in 1855. The prepara-
tion of the report has devolved upon me, in consequence of the severe and protracted illness of
Lieutenant Williamson ; and it is due to myself to state that I have performed the duty with
extreme reluctance, partly because it was not originally designed for me by the Department,
and partly because it properly belongs to the officer by whose forethought and professional
ability the expedition has been brought to a successful termination.
Wishing to convey Lieutenant Williamson's ideas, as far as they are known to me, I have
been guided by his recorded field notes, and by his opinions expressed to me in conversation, in
preparing the portion of the report which relates to regions traversed by him. During a part
of the field work I was entrusted with a separate party, with instructions to prepare a written
report of the results of my examinations. For any opinion given in this portion of the report
he, of course, is not responsible.
At the completion of the survey for a railroad route from the Sacramento valley to the Columbia
river, the season was so far advanced and the animals were in so jaded condition, that Lieutenant
Williamson considered it impracticable to make any examination of the Sierra Nevada until the
ensuing spring. Before that time, orders were received from the War Department, directing
him to return at once to Washington to prepare the maps, profiles, and reports of the explora-
tion already made. The second survey contemplated in his original instructions was consequently
omitted.
At Lieutenant Williamson's request, I have prepared a full statement of the method used in
deducing altitudes from the barometric observations. For unpublished and very valuable inform-
ation on this subject, I am indebted to Captain A. W. Whipple, United States Topographical
Engineers.
I should do injustice to Lieutenant Williamson, if I did not express his high appreciation of
the energy and ability with which the officers of the escort, and the civilian assistants, labored
to advance the objects of the exploration.
Of those who accompanied me when detached from the main command, I feel at liberty to speak
in less general terms. Lieutenant Crook, who was the only officer with me, officially and
personally contributed, in a high degree, to the success and to the harmony of the expedition.
Mr. Fillebrown and Mr. Young, although suffering from severe attacks of intermittent fever, and
deprived of the services of a physician, willingly continued with the party, and discharged their
accustomed duties, with energy and accuracy. The masterly sketches of views upon the route, and
the characteristic style of the topography upon the accompanying maps, testify to the professional
skill of Mr. Young. Mr. Anderson, who was my only scientific assistant in some of the most
difficult and perplexing portions of the survey, aided me in every way in his power. To him,
and to Mr. Fillebrown, the government is chiefly indebted for the numerous barometric observa-
1
4
LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
LI
tions taken upon the routes explored. Dr. Newberry was only attached to my command for a
few days, as he proceeded by water from Fort Dalles to San Francisco, where he remained until
the completion of the field work. While waiting in that city he zealously occupied himself in
making a large and valuable zoological collection. His reports speak for themselves. The great
energy which Mr. Coleman displayed in discharging the laborious duties of chief of train, is worthy
of the highest praise. Had it not been for his continued and untiring exertions, many of our
animals must have been lost in crossing the Cascade mountains. To the men of the topographical
party generally, much commendation is due. Although deprived of the protection of an escort,
and of the services of a physician, to both of which they were entitled by the terms of their agree-
ment, they, with hardly an exception, faithfully performed their duties until the end of the survey.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HENRY L. ABBOT,
2d Lieut. U. S. Topographical Engineers.
Hon. John B. FLOYD,
Secretary of War.
GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
System adopted in preparing the Report. Notes on maps accompanying the Report. Notes on profiles accompanying the
Report.
P A Ꭱ Ꭲ
.
GENERAL REPORT.
PART II.
GEOLOGICAL REPORT:
No. 1.-Report upon the Geology of the Route. By J. S. NEWBERRY, M.D.
No. 2.–Description of the Tertiary Fossils collected on the survey. By T. A. Conrad.
No. 3.- Report upon an Analytical Examination of waters and minerals from the hot springs in Des Chutes valley.
Conducted under the direction of Prof. E. N. HORSFORD.
No. 4.-Catalogue of the Minerals and Fossils collected on the survey.
PART III.
BOTANICAL REPORT:
No. 1.-Report upon the Botany of the Route. By John. S. NEWBERRY, M.D.
No. 2.-General Catulogue of the Plants collected on the Expedition.
PART IV.
ZOOLOGICAL REPORT:
No. 1.--Report upon Fishes collected on the Survey. By Dr. C. GIRARD.
No. 2.-Report upon the Zoology of the Route. By J. S. NEWBERRY, M.D.
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS WITH SEXTANT.
APPENDIX B.
COMPARISON OF CHRONOMETERS.
APPENDIX C.
LIST OF CAMPS, WITH DISTANCES, ALTITUDES, LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES WHEN ASTRONOMI-
CALLY DETERMINED, ETC.
APPENDIX D.
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS, WITH DATA FOR CONSTRUCTING PRO-
FILES OF THE TRAVELLED ROUTES.
APPENDIX E.
OBSERVATIONS FOR DETERMINING THE HORARY OSCILLATION OF THE BAROMETRIC COLUMN.
APPENDIX F.
DATA FOR CONSTRUCTING PROFILES OF THE ROUTES PROPOSED FOR A RAILROAD.
INTRODUCTION.
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT. .
WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, May 1, 1855.
SIR: The following duties are assigned to you, under the appropriations for continuing explo-
rations and surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from
the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, and for military and geographical surveys west of tho
Mississippi.
1. To make such explorations and surveys as will determine the practicability, or otherwise,
of connecting the Sacramento valley, in California, with the Columbia river, Oregon Territory,
by a railroad, either by the Willamette valley, or (if this route should prove to be impracti-
cable) by the valley of Des Chutes river, near the foot slopes of the Cascade chain. Along Des
Chutes river the character of the country is such as to render it improbable that a practicable
route can be found.
2. To make the necessary examinations and surveys to determine if a route practicable for a
railroad exists crossing the Sierra Nevada, at or near the source of Carson river. This may
furnish the most direct railroad route from San Francisco to the Great Salt Lake. The duty
first assigned you having been completed, you will ascertain from the commanding officer,
Lieut. Col. Steptoe, and others of the troops that may have crossed the Great Basin from
Great Salt Lake and the Sierra Nevada, by the route near the sources of Carson river, all the
details necessary to a knowledge of the character of the route traversed by them; and should
the information which you may have gathered lead to the opinion that the route is practicable
for a railroad, or that such route may be found in that region, you will proceed to make the
examinations and surveys necessary to ascertain if such be the case. It will not, probably, be
necessary to extend this examination beyond the eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada.
. If you should not require the services of all your party, for this latter duty, you will direct
such of your assistants as will not be wanted for the field, to proceed to Washington, with Lieut.
Abbot, and under his direction prepare the maps and reports; or you may direct Lieut. Abbot,
aided by the geologist and civil engineer, or such assistants as may be necessary, to make the
examination, proceeding yourself to Washington with the other assistants.
The geological information is considered especially valuable in determining the character of
the country, the nature of the difficulties to be encountered, and the quality and extent of the
building materials to be found..
Your attention will be directed to the botany and natural history of the country, and to such
other objects as tend to illustrate its present and future conditions.
To execute these orders, you are authorized to employ the following assistants, viz: a geolo-
gist, a civil engineer, a computer, a draughtsman, and a physician, who will, at the same time,
perform the duties of naturalist or geologist, if an assistant surgeon cannot be assigned to duty
with the escort, at rates not exceeding those proposed by you in your estimate.
They will receive, besides their stipulated compensation, the actual cost of transportation to
and from the field, if the journeys or voyages have been actually performed, and they will have
the privilege, while in the field, of purchasing from the subsistence department such provisions
as may be necessary for their subsistence.
V
10
2 X
10
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
You are also authorized to employ such hands, packers, &c., as may be necessary; to purchase
such of the instruments, named in your estimate, as cannot be obtained from the Topographical
Bureau, and such smaller instruments, maps, books, camp and garrison equipage, animals,
quartermaster's stores, provisions, &c., as may be necessary to the successful accomplishment
of the objects of the expedition.
The commanding officer of the Pacific Department will be directed to furnish you with an
escort of (100) one hundred men, with not less than three regimental officers and an assistant
surgeon, if one can be spared from other duty, one of the former to act as commissary and
quartermaster to the party; and to instruct the commanding officer of the escort to afford you
such aid and assistance as will most tend to facilitate your operations. A large escort will be
required to protect the exploring party in Oregon, but in the subsequent part of your surveys
it may be diminished.
Lieutenant Henry L. Abbot, Topographical Engineers, will be ordered to report to you for
duty.
The colonel of the Corps of Topographical Engineers will direct that such of the instruments
named in your requisition, as are in depot at the Topographical Bureau, or at Benicia, Cali-
fornia, and not required for other service, be supplied to you. .
The quartermaster's department will furnish you with horses, mules, equipments, and such
other public property as may be needed for the use of the expedition, if they can be spared ;
which will be returned to that department upon the completion of the field duties, payment
being made for such animals as may have been lost, or as may be found unfit for use, and other
public property lost or seriously damaged.
The commissary department will furnish you with such provisions and stores, if they can be
spared, as you may need for the use of the expedition, to be paid for out of the appropriations
for the survey, at cost prices at the place of delivery.
The ordnance department will furnish arms, accoutrements, and a mountain artillery forge,
payment to be made for such arms, &c., as are lost or seriously injured.
You are authorized to purchase, for the purpose of trafficking with the Indians and compen-
sating them for services, such articles of Indian goods as are most desirable for such purposes,
provided the expenditures for these articles do not exceed ($300) three hundred dollars.
The sum of ($42,000) forty-two thousand dollars is set apart from the appropriations for the
expenses of the survey entrusted to you.
With your assistants you will proceed without unnecessary delay to San Francisco, and there
organize your party, unless upon your arrival you should ascertain that it would be preferable
to organize it in Oregon; in which case you will proceed to Vancouver, and organize your
party at the most suitable point to commence the survey from the Willamette valley.
The duties assigned to you being completed, you will discharge your party, dispose of your
outfit to the best advantage, and proceed with your principal assistants to this place, and make
out your report.
Should the views of the department be modified, you will receive further instructions.
You will make the usual monthly reports of the work done ; and, besides, advise the depart-
ment from time to time of the progress made in, and the results of the explorations.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Secretary of War.
Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, Corps Topographical Engineers, Washington.
LIAMS
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
OFFICE PACIFIC RAILROAD SURVEYS,
Washington, May 1, 1855.
SIR: By direction of the Secretary of War, you will report to Lieut. R. S. Williamson, Topo-
graphical Engineers, for duty on the explorations and surveys in California and Oregon, with
which he is charged.
It is understood that you are second in rank of the party, and that, if sickness or any acci-
dent should disable Lieut. Williamson, so as to oblige him to relinquish the command, you
will succeed to the charge and command of the party.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. A. HUMPHREYS,
Captain Corps Top. Engineers,
In charge of office for Pacific Railroad Surveys.
Lieut. HENRY L. ABBOT,
Corps Topographical Engineers,
SYSTEM ADOPTED IN PREPARING THE REPORT.
In preparing the report of the explorations and surveys, made in accordance with the above
orders, I have adopted the following system: Part I contains the general report, divided into
seven chapters; of which the first contains a general description of the different regions traversed
during the survey. This synopsis has been prepared partly to enable those wishing merely to
obtain a general idea of the country, to dispense with reading a mass of details, and partly to
render the railroad report more intelligible. The second chapter is devoted entirely to a
discussion of the facilities offered for the construction of a railroad near the lines of survey.
The third, fourth, and fifth chapters contain a narrative and itinerary of the expedition. An
attempt has been made to give, in this portion of the report, a detailed description of the nature
of the country examined; of the supply of wood, water, and grass near the trails; of the character
of the Indian tribes; and of various other matters, interesting to those who wish to thoroughly
understand the character of the regions explored. The sixth chapter contains a statement of
the method used in computing altitudes from observations taken with the barometer. The
seventh chapter contains an account of a former exploration of Lieut. Williamson, near a portion
of our line of survey.
Parts II, III, and IV, contain geological, botanical, and zoological reports upon the regions
explored.
The various appendices exhibit, in a tabular form, the astronomical and barometric observa-
. tions, with the results deduced from them by computation.
CD
MAPS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT.
Two maps, constructed upon the polyconic projection, have been made to accompany this
report. The first illustrates that portion of the survey which lay in California, and the second
that in Oregon. The scale of each is one inch to twelve miles, or 1:760320.
The data, upon which these maps have been constructed, will be briefly stated. The distances
12
MAPS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT.
11
-
travelled were measured by an odometer, until the wheels were necessarily abandoned among
the Cascade mountains ; and then carefully estimated from the time and supposed rate of travel.
The courses were determined by prismatic compasses. The latitudes of a large majority of the
camps were fixed with considerable accuracy by astronomical observations. Several camps
before camp 17 were connected with San Francisco by chronometric differences, and the longi-
tude thus approximately determined. An unfortunate accident, in Canoe Creek valley, however,
rendered the chronometers worthless for this purpose during the remainder of the survey, and
compelled us to depend upon our courses and distances, checked by the latitudes of the camps,
and by a system of triangulation among the prominent mountain peaks near the trail. The
assumed longitudes of a few important points upon the route seem to require particular ex-
planation.
As Fort Reading was the point from which we started to leave the settlements, great care
has been taken to determine its longitude as correctly as possible. Col. J. C. Frémont, on his
map of California and Oregon, places the point of Cow Creek, upon which the fort is now
situated, in Long. 122° 6' 50" west from Greenwich. On the Land Office map of 1855, it is
placed in Long. 122° 11' 9". On the map of Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, 3d artillery, illustrating
his exploration for a Pacific railroad route near the 41st parallel of north latitude, it is placed
in Long. 122° 5' 8". The four chronometers used on our survey apparently preserved their
rates unchanged during our march up the Sacramento valley, as they all agreed very well with
each other. The longitude of the fort, determined by their mean corrected difference from local
time, was 122° 10' 50". As this differs only three-tenths of a mile from that g
Office map, it has been adopted as correct. It places the fort 3.5 miles west of Col. Frémont's
location, and 5 miles west of that of Lieut. Beckwith.
The following method has been adopted to fix the longitude near the northern terminus of the
survey. The longitude of Salem has been determined with considerable care, under the direc-
tion of the surveyor general of the Territory, both by astronomical observations and by
measuring a line to the coast, and thus comparing the result with the work of th
Coast Survey. It is 122° 53' 43" west from Greenwich, as I was informed, when at Salem, by
Mr. Hervey Gordon, deputy surveyor. He also told me that Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson
had been carefully located by bearings taken from well determined points with the solar compass.
I therefore made a preliminary plot of the northern portion of our survey, based upon the Land
Office positions of these peaks as fixed points. As over fifty bearings had been taken to each
mountain, many of which were from points where the latitude was astronomically determined,
I was enabled to slightly correct the relative position of the two peaks. The map was next
replotted with respect to these new positions. The result was highly satisfactory, as the compass
work fitted admirably, and the longitudes of two points in Des Chutes valley, determined by
Col. Frémont in 1843, by observing the occultations of Jupiter's satellites, were almost precisely
the same as those of the corresponding points on the plot. It is thought that this coincidence
renders it very improbable that any important error in longitude has been made
The latitude of Fort Dalles was astronomically determined, and numerous bearings upon
Mount Hood and the neighboring peaks enabled me to fix its longitude very closely. It was 120°
58' 30". This location is about three miles west of that found by Col. Frémont, by observing
an emersion of Jupiter's second satellite, on November 5, 1843. He afterwards observed the
Jupiter's third satellite, on November 20, 1843, at the same spot, and published
the data obtained, without, however, giving the deduced longitude. I find, by computation,
mo
em
MAPS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT.
13
that this is about 1210 22' 19'', which differs more than twenty miles from that deduced from
the first observation. I have, therefore, adhered to the longitude given by my field work,
which is intermediate between the two, but much nearer that to which Col. Frémont has given
the preference.
The longitude of Fort Vancouver has been laid down as given on the latest Land Office map of
Oregon Territory, because detailed surveys have been made between the fort and Salem, the .
position of which, as already explained, has been determined with approximate accuracy. This
location of Fort Vancouver is about seven miles east of that of Capt. Wilkes, whose longitude
has been adopted by Col. Frémont on his map of Oregon and California, and by Captain
McClellan.
Considerable difficulty has been found in locating the Cascades of the Columbia with respect
to longitude. Gov. Stevens adopted the position given by Capt. Wilkes, which is 21 miles
further towards the west than that of Col. Frémont, who observed an occultation of Jupiter's
first satellite, on November 11, 1843, at a point estimated at 15 miles below the Cascades.
There is now a line of steamboats plying from Vancouver to the Cascades, and thence to Fort
Dalles. Capt. W. B. Wells, the chief proprietor of the line, and all other persons whom I
questioned about the matter, declared that the Cascades were about equally distant from Van-
couver and the Dalles, by the course of the river. Col. Frémont has so indicated it upon his
map; but Capt. Wilkes makes the distance from the Cascades to the Dalles nearly double that
from the Cascades to Vancouver. Considering the great discrepancies between these two
authorities, and believing that the many hundred trips of the steamboats must have enabled
the owner to estimate the comparative distances with tolerable accuracy, I have placed, on the
accompanying map, the Cascades midway between Vancouver and Fort Dalles by the course of
the river. This location is 10 miles west of that of Col. Frémont and 11 miles east of that
of Capt. Wilkes.
I have indicated on the map, positions for Mount Adams and Mount St. Helen's—the former
given by eight and the latter by six good bearings from well determined points in the Des
Chutes and Willamette valleys, and among the Cascade mountains. Each of these positions
differs about 12 miles from that given by Gov. Stevens.
It has been considered desirable to make the maps as complete as possible, by indicating the
topography of the country remote from our trail, whenever reliable information as to its char-
acter could be obtained. The Pacific coast has, therefore, been laid down as given on the latest
United States Coast Survey maps. The most recent Land Office maps of Oregon and California
have been adopted as authority for the settled portion of the country, except in the vicinity of
our trails, where the topography is, of course, given from our own field notes, checked by
astronomical observations.
The map of Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, 3d artillery, illustrating his explorations for a railroad
route near the 41st parallel of north latitude, has been followed for the region bordering Pit
river, below the mouth of Canoe creek.
The topography south of Suisun Bay has been taken from the map of a survey in California,
made, in connection with examinations for railroad routes to the Pacific ocean, by Lieut. R. S.
Williamson, Topographical Engineers, in 1853.
Summer lake, the northern and western shores of Upper Klamath lake, the chief tributary
of Klamath marsh, and the Columbia river, east of the Dalles, have been laid down as given
by Colonel J. C. l'rémont on his map of Oregon and Upper California.
14
MAPS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT.
From Myrtle creek, in Umpqua valley, to Jacksonville, in Rogue River valley, our field
work has been checked by a sketch of the military road, located in 1853 by Brevet Major B.
Alvord, 4th infantry. This sketch, which I think was never published, was kindly furnished
by Major Alvord.
The trail of Brevet Major H. W. Wessels, 2d infantry, on his expedition of 1852, from
Sonoma to Humboldt Bay, and thence up Klamath river to the head of Scott's river, has been
laid down from a rough copy of a sketch by George Gibbs, Esq., who accompanied the command
as topographer.
The topography near Rogue river, for about twenty-five miles above the mouth, has been
taken from a sketch made by Lieut. J. G. Chandler, 3d artillery, to show the routes followed
by the command of Brevet Lieut. Col. R. C. Buchanan, 4th infantry, during his campaign
against the Indians in 1856. I am indebted to Colonel Buchanan for this sketch, which is now
published for the first time.
Lieut. Williamson formerly spent several years in California, attached to the staff of the
commanding general. During this time he made many reconnaissances, the results of which
were never published. Several of the trails have been laid down on our map from his original
field notes. The latitudes of many points were fixed by astronomical observations, and the
accuracy of the topography may be relied upon. They form a valuable addition to the map.
His route from Yreka to Lower Klamath lake was surveyed in 1852, and that from Yreka,
east of Shasta Butte, to the Sacramento valley, in 1851. The trail from Port Orford to Coquille
and Rogue rivers, and thence to the settled portion of Rogue River valley, was examined in
1851 and 1852. A small portion of this trail was explored by Lieut. George Stoneman, 1st
dragoons. In 1849, Lieut. Williamson accompanied Captain W. H. Warner, Topographical
Engineers, on the disastrous expedition on which he was killed by the Indians, near Goose
lake. Lieut. Williamson prepared a map of the regions traversed, and the upper portion of Pit
river, with the vicinity, has been reduced from the original sketch upon our map.
PROFILES ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT.
Dn
Two sheets of profiles have been constructed to illustrate this report. They contain profiles of
the most important portions of the routes travelled over by the surveying parties, and also of
the most favorable railroad lines found in the vicinity of the trails. The horizontal scale of
each profile is the same as that of the maps, being twelve miles to the inch, or 1:760320 ; the
vertical scale is 1:15206.4. They are, therefore, distorted fifty times.
The altitudes of the different stations were all determined by barometric observations. The
method by which they have been computed is fully explained in the sixth chapter of this
report, and the original data are given in Appendix D.
It only remains to notice discrepancies between the results of this survey and those of former
surveys with which it connects. Gov. Stevens gives 57.6 feet for the altitude of Columbia
barracks above the level of the sea. That the fort should not be higher than this above the
Columbia appeared incredible to me when there; and as it is situated nearly 100 miles above
the mouth of the river, there can be, I think, no doubt that this altitude is too low. The
height of Lieut. Williamson's camp, situated upon the river bluff opposite the barracks,
and sixty feet above the water surface, was shown, by numerous observations, to be 105 feet.
I have been unable to find, in any part of Gov. Stevens' report, the height of Fort Dalles.
The altitude of 350 feet, however, is given in the Army Meteorological Register as that
PROFILES ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT.
15
determined upon his survey. The altitude of the fort, resulting from our observations, is 476
feet. No correction for abnormal error appears to have been applied to Gov. Stevens' observa-
tions; and this omission would very naturally explain larger discrepancies.
Our altitude of Fort Reading differs 157 feet from that of Lieut. Beckwith; and as he had
only six observations there, while we had a very large number, I think there can be no doubt
that ours is the more reliable result. There are a few other discrepancies in altitudes deduced
from his observations and ours, but none that might not be easily occasioned by abnormal
oscillation, for which he was unable to obtain any correction in this vicinity. The general
agreement between the results of the two surveys, is highly satisfactory.
P A Ꭱ Ꭲ
.
[ 3 X
EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS FOR A RAILROAD ROUTE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
AN
DI
WAR DEPARTMENT.
ROUTES IN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON EXPLORED BY LIEUT. R. S. WILLIAMSON, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL
ENGINEERS, AND LIEUT. H. L. ABBOT, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, IN 1855.
GENERAL REPORT.
WASHINGTON, D. C.:
1857.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER 1.
General description of the regions examined.
LU
General Topography.—Sacramento Valley.--Pit River and its tributaries.-- Plateau between Pit River and the Des Chutes
Valley.-Des Chutes Valley.-Cascade Range in Oregon Territory.-Willamette Valley.-Calapooya Mountains.-
Umpqua Valley.-Umpqua Mountains.-Rogue River Valley.-Siskiyou Mountains.---Klamath River and its tribu-
taries.-Shasta Butte and the Mountain Chains of Northern California.
CHAPTER II.
Railroad Report.
General Summary.- Proposed Railroad Route from Benicia to Fort Reading.–Proposed Railroad Route from Fort Reading to
Vancouver, east of the Cascade Range.—Route from Camp 36, near the head of the Des Chutes Valley, to Fort Dalles.-
Route from the Des Chutes to the Willamette Valley by the New Pass near Mount Hood.--Proposed Railroad Route
from Vancouver to Fort Reading, west of the Cascade Range.
CHAPTER III.
Narrative and Itinerary.—Route of the main command.
Preparations.-Organization and Outfit of Party.-Suisun Valley.—Putos Creek.--Cache Creek.-Sacramento River.-
Feather River.—Marysville.—Mirage. ---Digger Indians. Their Huts. —Their mode of Gambling.–Grizzly Bears. Two
Routes examined from Antelope Creek to Fort Reading.–Fort Reading.-Officers there. The Escort.- Barometer left
with Dr. Hammond.-Guide employed.-Start.-Disagreeable Camp.—McCumber's Flat.-Noble's Pass. —View from
Summit.—Lost Creek.-Cold.—Indian signs.-Canoe Creek.–Pumice-stone. -Pedregal of Trap Rock. -Accident to
Chronometers.--Difficult travelling.–Precipice.-Prairie with springs.—Pit River Indians.—Their habits.---Their bows
and arrows.—Indian Trail.-Large river gushing from the rocks. Exploration by Lieut. Williamson. Pit River.---Lieut.
Sheridan.-Exploration of Lower Cañon of Pit River. ---Lieut. Hood's return. ---Stoneman's Ridge.--Route between the
Cañons.-Fire in Camp.--Upper Cañon of Pit River.-Cart broken.--Indians.-Their mode of kindling a fire.—Their
love of tobacco. --Their Ornaments.-Lieut. Williamson's notes on the Cañon.-Grass Valley.--Pits dug by Indians.-
Exploration in advance by Lieut. Williamson.-Spring Branch.—Baked Antelope’s Head.—Sage Plain.-Wright Lake.-
Rhett Lake.—Emigrant Road.- Lost River.--No Fuel.-Party from Yreka.—Division of the party.---Natural Bridge.---
Rattlesnake under a blanket.—Upper Klamath Lake.--Indian signs. —Snakes.--Fire in Camp.-Arrival of Lieutenant
Williamson.-Route near eastern shore of lake.—Bald Eagles.--Accident.--Klamath River.—Cañou.--Fog.-Klamath
Marsh.-Indians.—Their Rancherias.—Their Canoes.—Their Graves.—Grave of a Chief.—Piles of stones.--Intercourse
with the Indians.—Their Horses.- Partial Vocabulary of their Language.-Crossing of Klamath River.—Divide between
Klamath Marsh and Des Chutes River. ---Water holes.-Pumice --Des Chutes River.—Two trails..-Trout. -Old wagon
trail.-Difficulty in taking astronomical observations.-Sickness.-Division of Party.-Ice in Camp.-Ingenious method
of repairing Chronometer.-Gold seekers from Umpqua Valley.-Orders from Lieut. Williamson.-Branch of Des Chutes
River.-Rafting of stream.- Entrance of Great Cañon.-Rapid.—Junction with Lieut. Williamson's party.—Rain.-Snow
peaks in sight.-Why-chus Creek.-Camp near “ Forks of the Indian Trail.”—Berries. ---Division of the party.-Sketch
of subsequent operations.
22
CONTENTS.
.
CHAPTER IV.
Narrative and Itinerary continued.—Routes of detached parties in charge of Lieut. Williamson.
Exploration near Lower Klamath Lake. —-Party. - White Stone.—Lower Klamath Lake.--Klamath River.-Letters.--Cañon.-
Passage of River through Lake. — Upper Klamath Lake.—Raft.—Junction with main party.— First Exploration among the
Cascade Mountains.—Party.--Fine meadow.-Snow peaks.-Lakes.-View from mountain.--Indian trail.—Cascade.--
Extinct crater.--Summit of divide.—Three men sent back.-Indians.--Forks of trail.—Why-chus Creek.-Junction
with main party.-Second Exploration among the Cascade mountains.--Party.—Extended view.-Snow.-Lakes.--Trail disap-
pears.—Cañon.--Compelled to turn back.--Depot Camp again.-Second start. Difficult route.-Extended view.-Trail
disappears.-- Route impassable.—Compelled to turn back. -Rain.--Indians. --Barometer broken.—Return to Depot
Camp.—New route.—Elk killed.--Astronomical observations.—Route from Camp S., on Why-chus Creek, to Vancouver.-
First division of party.-Start.-Wagon road.—Main divide.—Lakes.-Middie Fork of Willamette River.-Route in
ravine.-- First settlement.---Spore's Ferry.—Broken down horses left behind. --Fences. --South Fork of Santiam River.--
North Fork.—Oregon City.--Fort Vancouver.-Subsequent movements of Lieut. Williamson.
CHAPTER V.
Narrative and Itinerary continued-Routes of detached parties in charge of Lieut. Abbot.
First Exploration in Des Chutes Valley.-Party.--Accident. —Que-y-ee Brook.-Dry Cañon.—Wild view.- Cañon of Mpto-ly-as
River.-Late arrival in camp.--Strange character of the Cañon.-Indian grave.--Ascent of Cañon side.—Psuc-see-que
Creek and Cañon.-Chit-tike Creek and Cañon.-Wam-chuck Cañon.—Gold hunters.--Indians.—A surprise.—Hot
springs.-Wild lateral gorge.—Caves.—Basin.---Mountain.- Nee-nee springs.—Mutton Mountains.-Tysch Prairie.-
Tysch Creek and Cañon. First settlement.—Evelyn's rancho.--Potatoes.- Indians.-Dead body.-Bread of kous root. -
Wagon road.-Tysch Mountains.---Fifteen-mile Creek.-Eight-mile Creek.-Five-mile Creek.-Fort Dalles.-Officers
there.-Chinook William and Col. Frémont's supposed trail.-Dalles of Columbia.-Salmon. --Trip to Cascades of
Columbia.-Captain Wells.—Mr. Coe.—Indian burial place.—Wind Mountain.—Submerged forest.--Cascades.-Baro.
metric observations to determine descent of river.—Burial place.-Petrifactions -Salmon fishing.-Wild evening walk. —
Measurement of width of Columbia at Cascades.- Return to Fort Dalles.-Start to return to Depot Camp.-Different
route.- Rain at night. Rumor of good pass to Willamette.—Larger hot spring near Wam-chuck River.—Indians and
salmon in Mpto-ly-as Cañon.---Paper on tree.—Junction with main party.-Lunar rainbow and halo.--Second Explora-
tion in Des Chutes Valley, and crossing of the Cascade Mountains. —Plan.—Party.- Preparations.—Division of party.—Start.---
Trail disappears.--Difficulties. - Lovely view.-Water by digging.-Bright moonlight.-Rain.--Surprise.—Immense
Cañon.-View.-Difficult descent.—Pedregal.—Travelling on foot.-Crater.-Return to river.--Examination of second
Cañon.--Old Indian trail. ---- Precipice.—Castle Rock.- Barometer broken.—Travelling down a Cañon.--Des Chutes
Cañon.—Plateau.—Strange hill.—Cañon gate.-Trap columns.---Mouth of Chit-tike Creek.—Indians.-Re-examination
of Wam-chuck River Cañon.—Junotion with Mr. Coleman's party.—Barometer repaired. --Dr. Newberry sick.--Tysch
Creek again.-Indian war.—Disagreeable predicament.--Kok-kop.- Reports about pass.-Rainy night.-Indian coun-
cil.—New guide.— Return to Nee-nee springs.-Start for Willamette Valley.--Wil-la-wit springs.—Indian signs.—Wan-
nas-see Creek.–Fallen timber.-Yaugh-pas-ses Meadow.-"Kill the cart.”—Great difficulty from fallen timber.-
New order of march.--Branch of Tysch Creek.-Wat-tum-pa Lake.-00-lal-le berries.-Delay.-Lu-ah-hum-lu-ab-hum
prairie.--Ty-ty-pa lake.—Game.—Mount Hood.-Rain. Triangulation.—Horse abandoned.—Trail disappears.-Indian
blazing.--Precipice.--High mountain.—Extended view.--Magnetic variation.-Very bad trail.—View of the Willamette
Valley.--Cañon.—Disappointment.--Spring of water discovered.—Steep descent into another Cañon.---Lake and
Indian “Stone House." —Difficult ascent.Unpleasant information.—Water and grass reached.-- Rain.—Anxiety.--
Early start.-Execrable trail.—View of the Willamette Valley.-- Pedregal.-Fallen timber.-Camp without water or
grass.-Mule lost.-Settlement.--News about Indian war.-Mr. Currin.—Mule recovered by Sam.-Oregon City.--
Lieut. Williamson's party.--News. -Loss of the escort; with correspondence upon the subject. --Extract from Oregon
Statesman.--Governor Curry. --Route from Vancouver to Fort Reading, west of the Cascade Mountains. --Start.--Salem.-Mr.
Gordon.—Corvallis.-Eugene City.-Pass through Calapooya Mountains.-Winchester. -- Indian war and volunteers.-
Major Martin. —Cañonville.- Despatch from battle field.--Umpqua Cañon.-Traces of Indian devastation.-- Retrcat.-
Escort from Captain Smith. -- Indian devastations. - Heroism of a woman.—Fort Lane.—Table Rock. ---Valley of
CONTENTS.
23
Stewart Creek. --- Hot spring. --Siskiyou Mountains.-Klamath River.-Yreka.-Little Scott's Mountains. - Fort
Jones.-Lieut. Crook detained.—Disappointment.-Snow.-Scott's Valley.-Scott's Mountains. Trinity Valley.---
Trinity Mountains.-Clear Creck.- French Gulch.-Shasta.—Fort Reading again, and termination of field work.-
Lieutenant Williamson.-Orders from War Department.-Subsequent movements, &c.
CHAPTER VI.
Computation of Altitudes from Barometrical Observations.
Preliminary Remarks.—Instruments.—Instrumental Errors.—Interpolation and approximate test of accuracy in observers.-
Corrections preparatory to computation : 1, for temperature of mercury ; 2, for instrumental errors ; 3, for horary
oscillation; 4, for abnormal oscillation.-Method of computation, with remarks: 1, on the reading of the barometer
and thermometer at the lower station ; 2, on the reading of the thermometer at the upper station.-Example.-Test
of the comparative accuracy of the different methods of computation, with tables showing the results obtained.--
Height of Fort Reading ; explanation of tables of barometric observations in Appendix D, &c.
CHAPTER VII.
Route from Shasta Valley, East of Shasta Butte, to Fort Reading; Explored by Lieut. R. 8.
Williamson, U. S. Top. Eng., in 1851.
Explanation.-Party.—Yreka, in 1851.-Start.--View of two passes.--Wright Lake.—Water hole-Porcupine killed. -
Turned back.Pass.—Extended view.-Pumice-stone-Difficult travelling.---No water or grass.—Natural bridge.-
Pedregal.-Water in fissure.-Branch of Fall River.--Fall River.--Ford.—Indiang.–Pit River.—Tule raft.-
Expedient.Pass through western chain of Sierra Nevada.--Battle Creek.-Cow Creek.---Settlements.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
MAPS.
1. From San Francisco Bay to the Northern Boundary of California.
2. From the Northern Boundary of California to the Columbia River.
PROFILES.
SHEET 1. Route from Benicia to Fort Reading.--Proposed Railroad Route from Fort Reading to Vancouver, East of the
Cascade Mountains.—Travelled Route from Fort Reading to Vancouver, East of the Cascade Mountains.
2. Proposed Railroad Route from Vancouver to Fort Reading, West of the Cascade Mountains.— Travelled
Route from Vancouver to Fort Reading, West of the Cascade Mountains.—Route from the Head of the
Des Chutes Valley to Vancouver, by the New Pass near Mount Hood.
LITHOGRAPHS.
.
Page.
02
PLATE I. Lassens Butte, from the vicinity of Camp 18.----
II. Mouth of Fall River, near Camp 20.----------...
III. Upper Klamath Lake, from Camp 28.-------
IV. Mount Pitt, Klamath River, and Upper Klamath Lake; from Camp 30.......
V. Cascade Range, with Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, and Mount Adams; î 'om Pass West of Cump 40..
VI. Three Sisters, and Cuñon of McKenzie's Foik of Willamette River; from Camp P..-----
VII. Diamond Peak, and Ravine of Middle Foik oi Willamette River, from Camp 48, W.-----
VIII. Cañon of Psuc-see-que Cieek, near Camp 41, A ...--.
IX. Mount Hood, from Tysch Prairie-------
X. Mount Jefferson and Black Butte, from Camp S......
XI. Castle Rock, in Cañon of Mpto-ly-as River, near Camp 53, A ------
XII. Shasta Butte and Shasta Valley, from a Point near Camp 79, A..---
XIII. Curves illustrating the tables of horary oscillation deduced from observations taken on the survey........
82
85
90
93
110
115
WOOD CUTS."
FIGURE 1. Summer and Winter huts of Klamath Indians---------
FIGURE 2. Council House and Graves of Klamath Indians.....
* From original sketches made by Mr. John Young, artist of the Expedition.
Ꮯ H A PᎢ Ꭼ Ꭱ I.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY.-SACRAMENTO VALLEY.-PIT RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.-PLATEAU BETWEEN PIT RIVER AND THE DES CHUTES
VALLEY.-Des CHUTES VALLEY.-CASCADE RANGE IN OREGON TERRITORY. -WILLAMETTE VALLEY.-CALAPOOYA MOUNTAINS.-
UMPQUA VALLEY.-UMPQUA MOUNTAINS.- ROGUE RIVER VALLEY.-SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS.-KLAMATH RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.-
SAASTA BUTTE, AND THE MOUNTAIN CHAINS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY.
THERE is a great similarity in the general topographical features of the whole Pacific slope.
The Sierra Nevada in California, and the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington Terri-
tories, form a continuous wall of mountains nearly parallel to the coast, and from one to two
hundred miles distant from it. Where examined by our party, the main crest of this range is
rarely elevated less than 6,000 feet above the level of the sea; and many of its peaks tower into
the region of eternal snow, the lower limit of which is about 8,000 feet above the same level.
This long chain of mountains forms a great natural boundary. To the eastward lies a plateau
of which the average altitude is about 4,500 feet above the sea. The winds from the ocean
deposit most of their moisture upon the western slope of the mountains, and reach the plateau
dry. This, together with the volcanic character of the country, renders nearly the whole region
an arid waste, unfit to support a civilized population.
West of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges, the character of the country is widely different.
The Coast Range, another and parallel chain of mountains, but of a lesser altitude and of a
more broken nature, borders the sea-shore. Between the two lie several large fertile valleys,
elevated but slightly above the sea, and containing nearly all the arable land of the far west;
of these valleys, the San Joaquin and Tulare, the Sacramento, the Willamette, the Umpqua,
0
sidered one of the great series, probably produced by a common cause, and differing from the
rest only in being submerged.
In northern California and southern Oregon, the two great parallel chains of mountains
approach each other; and several ranges, the chief of which are called the Siskiyou, the Umip-
qua, and the Calapooya mountains, connect them, thus separating the Sacramento and Willa-
mette valleys by a line of transverse ridges. These ridges present the only serious obstacle to
the construction of a railroad from the Sacramento valley to the Columbia river. Two routes
between these termini were examined by our party. The first crossed the western chain of the
Sierra Nevada at the head of the Sacramento valley, and, after passing over the comparatively
level plateau of the interior until the transverse ridges had been turned, re-crossed the moun-
tains near the source of the Willamette river, and followed the valley of that stream to the
Columbia. The second lay over the transverse ridges. A general description of the region
traversed by each of the routes will occupy the remainder of the chapter.
4 X
26
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
No complete description of this valley will be attempted, as its general character is well
known, and as Lieutenant Williamson, in his Railroad Report, has fully discussed its topo-
graphical features. A few remarks, however, relating to its climate and productions, may not
be out of place.
2
1
the summer climate of the sea-shore of northern California so delightful, much of the Sacra-
mento valley is parched with excessive heat in the dry season. From the Army Meteorological
Register, it appears that, at Benicia, where the influence of the sea breeze is felt, the mean
summer temperature, for the years 1852, '53, '54, was 660.3 Fah., while at Fort Reading,
which is about two degrees of latitude further north, it was 790.6 Fah., for the same years.
Even at San Diego, situated seven degrees of latitude south of Fort Reading, the mean summer
temperature was only 70°.9 Fah., for the above mentioned years.
The effect of this excessively high summer temperature is greatly increased by the want of
rain. Very little falls during the months of June, July, August, September, and October.
The mean fall, during these five months, for the years 1852, '53, '54, was 1.1 inches at Benicia,
and 1.4 inches at Fort Reading. This tends to show that less than three-tenths of an inch of
rain per month, for the five consecutive hottest months of the year, is to be expected in this
valley. The result can be easily anticipated. Vegetation, except on the banks of the streams,
is in a great measure destroyed, and the foliage of the trees furnishes almost the only green
upon which the eye of the traveller can rest, when wearied with the glare of the sun, reflected
back from the whitened plains.
During the rainy months, which are December, January, February, March, and April, the
average fall is between 3 and 4 inches per month. The whole region is then clothed with
luxuriant vegetation, but the excess of rain often causes the streams to overflow their banks,
and spread far and wide over the low lands. Much of this water remains stagnant, until
evaporated by the heat of the sun, which is undoubtedly one of the causes that render inter-
mittent fever so great a scourge of the valley.
Notwithstanding this unfavorable climate, the richness and fertility of the soil well repay
the farmer for his labor ; and fine crops of bárley, wheat, oats, potatoes, onions, &c., can be
easily raised. A luxuriant growth of wild oats covers a large portion of the valley, and gives
it an appearance of high cultivation. Grapes, which are a natural product, are also one of
the very important staples of the region. The forest trees, which, in the valley, are confined
to the banks of the streams, are chiefly oaks, sycamores, and cotton-woods. The foot hills
of the Sierra Nevada are densely timbered with various species of oaks, pines, and firs.
PIT RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
In 1849, Lieutenant Williamson accompanied Captain W. H. Warner, United States Topo-
graphical Engineers, on his ill-fated expedition to the sources of Pit river. As this was the
only survey of this region which has ever been made, and as its results were never fully
published, Lieutenant Williamson proposed to give a synopsis of them in this report. I have,
therefore, compiled from his original field notes the following very brief description of the
upper portion of Pit river.
A short distance above camp 23, where, in 1855, the party left Pit river, the stream passes
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
27
through a broad cañon. The trail, which is a little rocky, follows its course, crossing it about
a dozen times. In about 20 miles, the cañon widens out into a valley, varying from 3 to 12
miles in width, which extends to the vicinity of Goose lake. In some places, travelling is
rendered laborious by cracks in the soil, which is very light and dusty, but the road is generally
good. The region is not fertile, and grass is mostly confined to the banks of the river.
The party discovered a boiling spring about 6 miles above the upper end of the wide cañon,
and at some little distance from the river, on its western bank. The basin was about twelve feet
wide, and in the middle a jet three feet in diameter boiled up six inches above the general level.
No gas escaped, but a slight smell of sulphur was perceptible. A column of vapor, thirty feet in
height, ascended from the spring. Its waters were impregnated with salts, but no deposit was
observed.
Near Goose lake, Pit river rises from springs in the hills, and does not issue from the lake,
as has sometimes been supposed. Much obsidian is found near its sources.
• While exploring the mountains in this vicinity, Captain Warner and others of the party
were massacred by the Indians, and the survey terminated abruptly in consequence.
· The portion of Pit river lying between Camp 23 and the mouth of Canoe creek, was examined
on the recent survey. The whole region is volcanic in its character, and descends by successive
plateaus towards the western chain of the Sierra Nevada. Each of the two great cañons is
situated near the edge of one of these plateaus, and the descent of the stream is, consequently,
very much greater in them than elsewhere in its course. From the summit of Stoneman's ridge,
this peculiar terraced formation of the country can be very distinctly perceived. The descent
of the tributaries, both from the north and the south, is very rapid.
Much of the region south of Pit river, lying at the eastern base of the western chain of the
Sierra Nevada, consists of a rocky pedregal of scoriaceous trap, and Lieut. Williamson, who,
in 1851, explored the country immediately south-east of Shasta Butte, found the same formation
there. It is no uncommon thing in this region, for large streams to sink among fissures in the
rocks, and for others to burst from the faces of precipitous ledges. Infusorial marls are com-
mon near Pit river.
Although there are a few fertile spots near the banks of the streams, the valley is generally
barren, parched with drought during the summer, and unfit to support a civilized population.
Below the mouth of Canoe creek, Pit river forces its way through the western chain of the
Sierra Nevada. Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, 3d artillery, surveyed this portion of its course in
1854, and he reports that the stream flows with a winding course among heavily timbered
mountains, which rise abruptly to heights varying from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the water
surface.
PLATEAU BETWEEN PIT RIVER AND THE DES CHUTES VALLEY.
After leaving Pit river and before reaching the Des Chutes valley, our course lay over a
plateau bordering the eastern base of the Cascade Range. There are occasional low mountain-
ous ridges upon it, but the general surface, for about 150 miles, retains an elevation above the
sea varying but little from 4,500 feet.
Most of the region is sterile, although occasional fertile spots are found. Pumice-stone, trap
rock, and other volcanic products, strew the ground; and pine forests or sage plains cover the
whole face of the country. The banks of the streams, however, are generally bordered with
grass of good quality, and we experienced no difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply for our
large train of animals.
LES VALLO
28
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
The system of drainage on this plateau is peculiar. There are numerous lakes, some of
which have no known outlets, although they receive affluents. Wright and Rhett lakes were
visited by our party. The former is surrounded by low hills, and, as far as our observation
went, receives no tributary, although its waters are fresh. There may be, and doubtless are,
springs among the hills, from which it draws its supply. In the rainy season it discharges its
surplus waters by Lost river into Rhett lake, which has no known outlet. The level of this
lake is 470 feet below that of Wright lake, although the distance between them, in a right line,
is only about 6.5 miles.
The chain of Klamath waters is an interesting feature of this region. The highest point
upon it visited by our party was near the northern end of Klamath marsh, but Colonel Frémont,
in his expedition of 1843–44, crossed the principal tributary of this marsh. He describes it as
a stream thirty feet wide, and from two to four feet deep. It undoubtedly rises, as indicated
upon his map, among the mountains east of Upper Klamath lake, and after flowing towards
the north for a considerable distance, bends towards the south, and spreads out into Klamath
marsh. When it emerges again, it is a large, deep stream, with a sluggish current. After
passing through a cañon, four miles in length, the highest points of the sides of which are
about 1,000 feet above the water surface, it again spreads out into a fine sheet of water, called
Upper Klamath lake. This lake receives several smaller tributaries. The river leaves it near
its southern point, and soon winds through a marsh, which forms the northern portion of
Lower Klamath lake. Lieut. Williamson, with a detached party, examined this portion of its
course, and his opinion was, that in seasons of high water the marsh is overflowed and the
river can properly be said to flow through the lake. In the summer, however, its bed is very
distinct, and it does not join the sheet of water forming the lake. After crossing the marsh it
80on enters the cañon, by which it traverses the Cascade Range. Its subsequent course will be
described, in the latter part of this chapter, under the head of “Klamath river and its tribu-
taries.” The portion of the plateau through which this chain of waters extends, is occasionally
fertile and valuable for agricultural purposes, but most of it is utterly worthless.
S
DES CHUTES VALLEY.
TO
irr
East of Diamond Peak, the general altitude of the great plateau bordering the Cascade Range
begins to diminish. There are many isolated hills and low ridges upon it, but in its general
character it now becomes an inclined plain, sloping towards the Columbia river. It is drained
by the Des Chutes river, which, flowing in a northerly direction near the foot hills, and receiving
many tributaries from the mountains, at length discharges itself into the Columbia.
The Des Chutes river, near its source, flows through a narrow prairie, bordered by a forest of
pine, fir and cedar, which occasionally closes in upon its banks. The soil is of a light pumice-
stone character. This formation is changed to basalt in about latitude 44º. North of this point,
as far as its course is known, the river flows through a deep cañon, broken by numerous rapids
which have given it the name of Des Chutes. Its average descent in this cañon is about twenty-
five feet per mile. We did not find its tributaries sunk in cañons until we reached about
latitude 44° 35', where we emerged from the foot-hills, and came upon the great basaltic
plain, through which the river had been flowing for many miles. This plain is formed by suc-
cessive layers of trap, of which I once counted as many as seven, interstratified with tufas and
conglomerates. Although this stone is exceedingly hard under the hammer, it disintegrates
rapidly when exposed to the weather. Not only have all the streams flowing through the plain
71
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
29
worn down their beds to depths varying from five hundred to a thousand feet, but even the
torrents of the rainy season have deeply furrowed its surface, and almost destroyed all traces of
a level character in that portion lying between the mountains and the river. The plain is
thinly dotted with clumps of bunch grass, sage bushes, and a very few stunted pines and
cedars, but they are all more abundantly found in the cañons of the creeks.
This steppe is bounded on the north by a spur from the Cascade Range, called, by the white
trappers, the Mutton mountains. After crossing the valley, in about latitude 46°, the ridge
soon bends towards the south, and gradually disappears. It is in some places thickly wooded
with pines and firs, and in others destitute of trees. The prevailing rock is a hard compact
slate. North of this spur the sage bushes disappear, and a few post oaks begin to be seen.
At the northern base of the Mutton mountains there is a smaller plain, called Tysch prairie,
elevated about 2,200 feet above the sea, and resembling the other in all important character-
istics, except that it is much less furrowed by dry ravines. This prairie is bounded on the north
by a low range of trap mountains, entirely bare of trees, and separated from it by Tysch creek, a
fine little stream sunk in a deep cañon. In this part of Des Chutes valley there are many
curious round mounds, from twenty to forty feet in diameter, and from two to six feet in height.
They are still more numerous in the vicinity.of Fort Dalles, and there has been much specula-
tion concerning their origin. Some persons suppose that they were formed by colonies of
ground squirrels in excavating their subterranean dwellings. If so, the race is now extinct,
and it is difficult to conceive how the immense number necessary to make these mounds,
could have found subsistence in so barren a region. An officer at Fort Dalles had one of the
mounds excavated, but he found no trace of a burrow, nor anything else which could throw
light upon its origin. They occur in vast numbers, upon the sides of steep hills as well as on
plains, and the effect which they produce upon the landscape is not unlike that of the spots
upon the skin of a deer.
Between Tysch creek and Fort Dalles, the character of the country undergoes a great change.
Trap rock mostly gives place to marls. The road continually winds up and down steep, rolling
hills, that are generally covered with fine bunch grass and destitute of trees. The valleys of
the streams are all more or less settled, and they appear to be fertile and tolerably well supplied
with timber, which is mostly oak. This section of the valley seems to be well suited to a
pastoral population, but it can never compare, in fertility and importance, with that west of
the Cascade Range. There are now two ferries across the Des Chutes river, one at its mouth
and the other near Tysch creek.
Fort Dalles, the principal settlement in Oregon Territory east of the Cascade Range, is a
military post and small frontier town on the southern bank of the Columbia, near the head of
navigation. It is connected by a line of steamboats with Vancouver and the Willamette valley.
It contains a few houses and stores, and will doubtless rapidly increase in size and importance,
should the newly-discovered gold mines in Washington Territory prove profitable. A descrip-
tion of the Dalles of the Columbia will be found in Chapter V, under the date of September 10.
It will be seen that the Des Chutes valley is mostly a barren region, furrowed by immense
cañons, and offering very few inducements to settlers. Its few fertile spots, excepting those in
the immediate vicinity of Fort Dalles, are separated from the rest of the world by almost
impassable barriers, and Nature seems to have guaranteed it forever to the wandering savage
and the lonely seeker after wild and sublime natural scenery.
GENERAL MINED
GENERAT
RIPTON
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINEDCASCADE MOUNTAINS, IN OREGON TERRITORY.
The Cascade Range, in Oregon, consists of a belt, from thirty to ninety miles in width, of
pine and fir covered ridges, separated from each other by a network of precipitous ravines. A
line of isolated volcanic peaks, extending in a direction nearly north and south through the
Territory, rises from this labyrinth, and marks the extreme western border of the elevated
plateau already described. The chief summits are Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Mount Pitt,
and Diamond Peak; which, with the four buttes composing the group called the Three Sisters,
tower high above the rest into the region of eternal snow, the lower limit of which is here
about 8,000 feet above the sea. The other peaks, although quite prominent when seen from
the plateau, are hidden by intervening ridges from the Willamette valley.
Westward from this line of volcanic peaks, an abrupt slope, mostly composed of ridges of very
compact slate, separated by immense cañons, descends to fertile valleys, elevated but slightly
above the sea level, and extending to the foot hills of the Coast Range.
Near the water-shed are numerous lakes, some of which discharge their waters towards the
east, and others towards the west, by cañons so enormous that words fail to convey an adequate
idea of their size. One, the side of which was so precipitous that we could only make the
descent with the greatest difficulty, was found by actual measurement to be 1,945 feet deep.
A few small prairies covered with excellent bunch grass, lie hidden among the mountains.
They are often surrounded by bushes bearing a kind of whortleberry, called “00-lal-le”' by the
Indians, who come in large parties in August and September to gather and dry them for winter
use. Hence, it frequently happens that the explorer, while following a large trail which he
hopes may lead across the mountains, suddenly finds it terminate in a whortleberry patch.
An examination of these mountains is very difficult. The ravines, filled with thick under-
brush interlaced with fallen timber, are, many of them, utterly impassable; the ridges are very
precipitous and rocky; generally.the thick forest of pine, fir, spruce, and yew, quite conceals
the surrounding country, and the great scarcity of grass for the animals is a source of constant
anxiety. According to the best information which I could gather from Indians and settlers, the
whole range is covered with snow during the winter...
There are six known passes through the Cascade Range, in Oregon Territory. It must be
borne in mind that they are not simple gateways, but long winding courses through a labyrinth
of ridges and ravines. They will be described in their order of succession, beginning at the
most southern.
1. Pass south of Mount Pitt.--This pass, through which an emigrant wagon road has already
been constructed, was not examined by our party. Lieutenant Williamson followed the road
to the point where it enters the mountains, near Camp B, on Klamath river. It strikes Stewart
creek, in Rogue River valley, not far from Camp 78 A. The air-line distance between these
camps is only 32 miles, and the road is said to be very good, for a mountain route.
2. Pass south of Diamond Peak.-A wagon road has been constructed through this pass,
also, by which Lieutenant Williamson crossed the range. The approach from the eastward is by
a branch of Des Chutes river, that rises near the foot of the main ridge. · About 20 miles after
leaving this stream, the road strikes the middle fork of the Willamette river, the course of
which it follows to' the settlements. Where it passes over the main ridge, the road is very
mountainous in its character, and in the ravine of the middle fork, it crosses the stream many
times at deep and rocky fords. There is a scarcity of grass upon the route,
0
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
31 :
I
3. New pass south of Mount Hood.--This pass was discovered by the detached party in my
charge. As I believe it to be more favorable for a wagon road than any of those previously
known, I shall describe with considerable minuteness, both the pass proper, through the main
ridge, and the approaches to it from the east and the west. This division is adopted simply for
ease of description. By far the greatest difficulty in the passage of the range was encountered
in the western approach to the pass.
About 20 miles south of Mount Hood there are two prominent peaks, called Nu-ah-hum by the
Indians. At their northern base a remarkable depression is found in the main ridge. Near
the western part of it there are two small lakes called Ty-ty-pa and Wat-tum-pa. The latter
is the source of a branch of Tysch creek, which flows towards the east through the depression.
From the point where we first struck this stream, to the lake, the hills slope gradually towards
its bed, and there is no obstacle to the construction of an excellent wagon road, except the fallen
timber. Between the two lakes there was a low hill, which could probably be avoided by
following the course of a little tributary of Wat-tum-pa. West of Ty-ty-pa there was a steep
rise of about 400 feet, conducting to the summit of the main ridge. I think this could be turned
by keeping more to the north, but, at any rate, the ascent might be made very gradual by side
location. The descent, of about 200 feet, into a great ravine, which borders the main ridge on
the west, might be made without much difficulty. Through this entire pass, a distance of about
13 miles, a good road, almost free from hills, might be constructed by a little side cutting and
the removal of a large quantity of fallen timber.
The eastern approach to this depression by my trail is excellent, and would require no labor
of any kind, except a little side cutting and removal of logs in a place about 3 miles in length,
between Wan-nas-see creek and Camp 58 A. There is not a single bad hill between Nee-nee
springs and the entrance to the pass, a distance of about 24 miles. The distance from Nee-nee
springs to Evelyn's rancho, on Tysch creek, which is the most southern settlement in Des Chutes
valley, is about 19 miles; and a good road between them might be made with very little labor.
It would cross the Mutton mountains by an open ravine, which one fork of the Indian trail now
follows. This route, however, from the eastern entrance of the pass to the settlements, is very
circuitous, and it is probable that a much shorter one might be found, either by following the
branch of Tysch creek, flowing from Wat-tum-pa lake, or by taking an Indian trail which
joined ours on Wan-nas-see creek, and which our guide said was very good. A similar descrip-
tion of it was also given to me by a half-breed, and its position, as indicated by him, is shown
on the accompanying map. The almost inexhaustible supply of bunch grass near Nee-nee
springs may, however, render the more circuitous route preferable.
The western approach to this pass is far less favorable than the eastern. An abrupt slope,
furrowed by numerous cañons utterly impassable on account of fallen timber, conducts to the
Willamette valley. To avoid the logs, we found it necessary to follow the dividing ridge
between Clackamas and Sandy rivers, a route which is hardly practicable even for a pack train.
From the source of Clackamas river, however, I could look down its ravine for more than 20
miles, and see the hills of the Willamette valley in the distance. The ravine appeared to be
wide, straight, and free from lateral spurs; and I believe that a good road could be made in it
by cutting through the logs. Near its head, it is connected with the great ravine bordering the
main ridge, by a lateral cañon, into which we descended, and by which it is thought the road
might reach the main ridge, in about 35 miles from Clackamas prairie, without encountering
_
32
MINT
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
eni
any bad hill. The total distance from Clackamas prairie to Evelyn's rancho, by way of Nee-nee
springs, is about 90 miles.
It is probable that a route might be discovered from my pass through the main ridge, to the
present wagon road down Sandy river. If so, the great labor and expense of cutting through
the logs in Clackamas ravine would be avoided.
A more minute description of the trail of my party across the mountains will be found in
Chapter V, from October 5 to October 14, inclusive; but it must be remembe
timber compelled me, during the latter part of the way, to follow a course very different from
that proposed for the wagon road.
4. Foster's Pass, south of Mount Hood. This pass, by which an emigrant wagon road now
crosses the range, is named from the settler whose house stands nearest to it in the Willamette
valley. The following information concerning it has been derived from reliable sources. Start-
ing from the Willamette valley, a short distance north of Camp 64 A, the road follows up the
ravine of Sandy river nearly to the main ridge. After leaving the stream it crosses the Range,
between my new pass and Mount Hood, by a route so mountainous that heavily loaded wagons
can travel only in one direction. It strikes Tysch creek, in Des Chutes valley, near Evelyn's
rancho. For about 70 miles there is no grass near the road..
5. Pass near northern base of Mount Hood.- This pass is rarely used by any but Indians. I
am told that it is very mountainous in its character, and that there is a great scarcity of grass
near the trail. It is considered hardly practicable, even for pack animals.
6. Columbia River Pass.--I travelled down the Columbia, from Fort Dalles to the Cascades,
in a small steamboat, and made a reconnaissance of the river between these points. The fol-
lowing brief description of this portion of the pass has been prepared from information thus
obtained.
The Columbia river forces its way through the Cascade Range by a pass, which, for wild and
sublime natural scenery, equals the celebrated passage of the Hudson through the Highlands.
For a distance of about fifty miles, mountains, covered with clinging spruces, firs, and pines,
when not too precipitous to afford even these a foothold, rise, abruptly from the water's edge to
heights varying from one to three thousand feet. Some of the ridges are apparently composed
of compact basaltic conglomerate; others are enormous piles of small rocks, vast quantities of
which have been known to slide into the river, overwhelming everything in their course.
Vertical precipices of columnar basalt are occasionally seen rising from fifty to one hundred feet
above the water's edge. In other places, the long mountain walls of the river are divided by
lateral cañons, containing small tributaries and occasionally little open spots of good land
liable to be overflowed at high water. It is difficult to conceive how the river could ever have
forced its way through such a labyrinth of mountains.
About 40 miles below the Dalles, all navigation is interrupted by a series of rapids, called the
Cascades. Precipitous mountains, from two to four thousand feet in height, close in upon the
stream at this spot, leaving a narrow channel through which the water rushes with great
violence. During high water, the river bed is only about 900 feet wide at the narrowest place.
The descent at the principal rapid was shown by my barometric observations to be 34 feet, and
the total fall at the Cascades to be 61 feet. These quantities, however, vary with the different
stages of the water, as, when it is high, the obstructions in the channel act like a dam, and
greatly increase the depth above.
An attempt formerly made to build a road round these rapids on the southern bank, entirely
1
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
33
1
failed, on account of the immense expense of the undertaking. The northern bank is favorable,
and a portage, four and a half miles in length, has been constructed by the company owning
the line of steamboats plying between the Dalles and Portland. Since my visit, this has been
greatly improved by Lieut. G. H. Derby, United States Topographical Engineers, who has had
charge of the construction of a military road from Vancouver to Fort Dalles.
Want of time compelled me to return to the Dalles without examining the river below the
Cascades.
The following information relating to the navigation of the Columbia, I received from Captain
W. B. Wells, the chief proprietor of the line of steamboats plying upon the river ; a gentleman
whose business has afforded him ample opportunity for observation. The river is at its lowest
stage about the first of April, when it has a depth of between 9 and 10 feet up to the Cascades,
and 9 feet thence to the Dalles. Above that point it is so much interrupted by rapids as
to be unnavigable. It is highest about the first of July, when it has a depth of about 18 feet
up to the Cascades, and of 39 feet thence to the Dalles. The disproportionate rise in the latter
section is due to the stoppage of the water at the Cascades. There are no troublesome snags or
floating timber at any time in the river, but often the shifting sand occasions trouble. The river
very rarely freezes, and never for more than a day or two at a time. .
As the Columbia has succeeded in forcing its way through the Cascade Range by this pass, it
has naturally been supposed that a wagon road or a railroad could be constructed, at a moderate
expense, upon its banks, and an appropriation of $25,000 was made for the former purpose by
Congress. The officer in charge of the work, Lieut. G. H. Derby, United States Topographical
Engineers, made a careful examination of the route, subsequent to my reconnaissance, and he
has reported the road impracticable, without enormous expense. I think that a careful survey
would show the same to be true with reference to a railroad. At present, the only land com-
munication down the river is by two pack trails, which leave the Dalles on the southern bank.
Both are generally well supplied with grass. I was informed that one, which can only be used
when the river is low, is tolerably good; but that the other continually crosses rough spurs, and
winds along the face of precipices, by paths so narrow, that even mules sometimes lose their
foothold. By both trails it is necessary to cross to the northern bank of the river, above the
Cascades, where the current is strong and the river wide.
WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
This valley, which forms the richest and most populous portion of Oregon, lies between the
Cascade mountains and the Coast Range. It is about one hundred and fifty miles in length, and
fifty in breadth. Its general elevation above the sea level is from two to eight hundred feet.
Some parts of it are well timbered with oak, maple, cedar, fir, spruce, arbor vitae, and other valu-
able kinds of trees; other portions are open and fertile prairies. The soil is generally very rich,
and produces in abundance wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and other products of the eastern States.
Indian corn, however, cannot be cultivated to advantage. The Willamette river, flowing
through the valley, receives many tributaries from the east and west, which furnish an abundant
supply of water. The navigation of this river is interrupted by rapids, near Oregon city, about
twenty-five miles from its mouth. At the season of high water, however, it is navigable for small
steamboats, from the upper end of these rapids to Corvallis, a distance of about one hundred miles
by the course of the river. Numerous flourishing towns, and a few cities, are located upon its
5 X
34
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
banks, and settlers' houses are now to be seen throughout nearly the whole of this beautiful
valley, which has been appropriately called the Garden of Oregon.
Communication with the region east of the Cascade Range is principally carried on by small
steamboats upon the Columbia river ; but the pack trails upon the banks
the wagon roads crossing the mountains near Mount Hood and Diamond Peak, are also used
for this purpose. The land route to California is very mountainous, but a line of steamers con-
nects Portland and San Francisco.
The climate of the valley is mild and salubrious. The following facts relating to this sub-
ject are taken from the Army Meteorological Register, published in 1855. The mean annual
temperature is about 520.5 Fah.; that for the summer being about 65° Fah., and for the winter,
40° Fah. The mean fall of rain is, in the spring, 10 inches; in the summer, from 2 to 6
inches ; in the autumn, 10 inches; and in the winter, 20 inches. The mean annual fall varies
from 40 to 50 inches.
CALAPOOYA MOUNTAINS.
This name is given to a chain extending from the Cascade to the Coast Range, and separa-
ting the Willamette and Umpqua valleys. It is composed of low ridges, most of which are
heavily timbered with spruce, pine, fir, and oak. A kind of hard sandstone is the prevailing
rock.
There are three wagon roads across these mountains. Two of these, the Applegate and
Scott roads, pass over high and steep hills. The third, which is located between them, and
which was not fully completed when my party passed over it, follows Pass Creek through the
mountains without encountering a single hill.
UMPQUA VALLEY.
The principal branch of the Umpqua river, called the South Umpqua, rises in the Cascade
mountains near Diamond Peak. At first its course is westerly. In longitude about 123° 15',
it bends abruptly towards the north, and after flowing about 75 miles in this direction, and
receiving the waters of the North Umpqua river and Elk creek, it again turns towards the west,
and discharges itself into the Pacific. The most valuable and populous portion of the valley
lies near the river where its course is northerly. This region consists partly of small open prai-
ries, and partly of rolling hills sparsely covered with oak, fir, and other kinds of trees. Much
of the land is exceedingly productive. The valley, at present, contains many scattered houses,
but very few towns.
UMPQUA MOUNTAINS.
Little is known of this chain of mountains, except that it extends westward from the
Cascade Range nearly to the ocean. It consists of ridges, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in height,
covered with thick forests and underbrush. The rocks are mostly talcose in character. The
only road through the chain follows the Umpqua cañon, which is fully described in Chapter
V, under the date November 1. Cow creek rises south of the mountains, and flows through
them to the South Umpqua, but its cañon, although followed by a pack trail, is repor
be too narrow and precipitous for a wagon road. The chain has been crossed at other places
by parties with animals, and it is not improbable that a good pass might be discovered by a
thorough exploration.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
35
ROGUE RIVER VALLEY.
Rogue river rises in the Cascade Range, near Mount Pitt, and flows westward to the Pacific
ocean, receiving on the way numerous small tributaries from the Umpqua and Siskiyou
mountains. Some of these streams flow through fertile valleys, separated from each other by
high and forest-clad hills. Others, especially those near the coast, are sunk in immense
cañons. Most of the rich land lies near the California and Oregon trail. Gold digging is
profitable in many places. Hornblende and granitic rocks predominate, but Table Rock, and
other hills in the vicinity, are basaltic. Jacksonville is at present the only town in the valley,
although there are many scattered dwellings.
IG
SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS.
Very little is accurately known about this chain, although it has been much explored by
gold seekers. It is a high and heavily timbered dividing ridge between the waters of Rogue
and Klamath rivers, and its general direction is east and west. The prevailing rock is a hard
kind of conglomerate sandstone. Near the summit, elevated about 2,400 feet above the base,
we found the soil to be an adhesive clay, which, when wet, renders travelling very laborious.
There are several pack trails across the chain, but no reliable information concerning them
could be obtained.
LAMATH RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
Klamath river, as already stated, rises in the great plateau east of the Cascade Range.
After flowing through Klamath marsh, and upper and lower Klamath lakes, it breaks through
the mountains, near Shasta Butte, and following the southern base of the Siskiyou chain, dis-
charges itself into the Pacific. Through the greater part of its course, it flows either through
sterile table lands, or immense cañons. Gold is found in many places upon its banks. My
party, while returning to Fort Reading, passed through the valleys of Shasta, Scott's and
Trinity rivers, three of its most important tributaries. These will be described in the order in
which they were examined.
Shasta valley is an undulating region, about 25 miles in length and 15 in breadth, which
extends from the base of Shasta Butte, in a northwesterly direction, to Klamath river. A
small stream, named from the Butte, traverses it. This valley is sterile, compared with most
of those already described, but the thick growth of bunch grass renders it a fine grazing
country. It is for its gold, however, that it is chiefly valuable. This metal is found in large
quantities; but mining is difficult on account of the scanty supply of water. To remedy this
deficiency, the miners are now digging a ditch from a point near the source of Shasta river,
along the base of the hills which bound the valley on the southwest, to the river again near
where it discharges itself into the Klamath. This ditch, which is called the Yreka canal, will
be, when completed, between 30 and 40 miles in length. It derives its name from the great
depot of the northern mines, which is situated in so rich a portion of the valley that gold is
dug in the very streets of the city.
Scott's river flows nearly parallel to Shasta river, being only about 18 miles further to the west.
The character of its valley, however, is widely different. Gold digging is not generally profitable
in it, although some rich mining claims have been discovered ; especially at Scott's Bar near the
mouth of the stream. Most of the land is very productive, and a large portion of the valley is
36
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED.
now divided into farms, the produce of which finds a ready market at Yreka and the mines.
The greater elevation above the sea renders the climate much colder than that of the valleys
further north. Frost has been known to occur here in every month of the year.
Trinity river rises near Mount Shasta, and, after making a great bend to the south, discharges
itself into the Klamath river, of which it is the largest tributary. My party, starting from its
head waters, followed down the stream for about one quarter of its length. It flowed through
a deep ravine, bounded by high and timbered ridges. The bottom was so narrow that there
was very little arable land. A short distance below the point where we left the river, it enters
an immense cañon, which extends without much interruption to its mouth.
SHASTA BUTTE AND THE MOUNTAIN CHAINS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
Shasta Butte, by far the most striking topographical feature of northern California, rises
abruptly to a height generally estimated at 18,000 feet above the sea. The peak is double, and
both summits are rounded, massive, and loaded with eternal snow. Its white cloud-like form is.
distinctly visible from points in the Sacramento valley, more than one hundred miles distant.
This Butte is not only the largest and grandest peak of the long range which divides the
sterile interior of the country from the fertile valleys of the Pacific Slope, but it is also a great
centre, from which diverge the numerous chains that render northern California one mass of
mountains. In approaching it by the Oregon trail, both from the north and the south, there
is, independent of the high ridges, a gradual increase in the elevation of the country, for about
50 miles. The region near the base itself thus attains an altitude of about 4,000 feet above the
sea; and it is an interesting fact, that most of the northern mines are found upon this vast
pedestal of the giant Butte.
Great confusion exists in the nomenclature of the mountain ranges in the vicinity. The name,
Cascade mountains, ceases at Klamath river, but the range in reality divides. One branch,
called the Siskiyou mountains, bends westward nearly to the coast; the other, under the name
of the Western Chain of the Sierra Nevada, winds to the southeast, and unites with the main
Sierra Nevada. From the Butte, three steep and thickly wooded ridges called Little Scott's
mountains, Scott's mountains, and Trinity mountains, extend to the westward. The two latter
are branches of the Coast Range of California. Shasta Butte, although generally considered a
peak of the Western Chain of the Sierra Nevada, is, in truth, the great centre from which
radiate, besides several smaller ridges, the Cascade Range, the Coast Range, and the Western
Chain of the Sierra Nevada.
CHAPTER II.
RAILROAD REPORT.
GENERAL SUMMARY.PROPOSED RAILROAD ROUTE FROM BENICIA TO FORT READING.-PROPOSED RAILROAD ROUTE FROM FORT READING
TO VANCOUVER, EAST OF THE CASCADE RANGE.--ROUTE FROM CAMP 36, NEAR THE HEAD OF DES CAUTES VALLEY, TO FORT
DALLES.--ROUTE FROM THE DES CHUTES TO THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY, BY THE NEW PAES NEAR MOUNT HOOD.--PROPOSED
RAILROAD ROUTE FROM VANCOUVER TO FORT READING, WEST OF THE CASCADE RANGE.
GENERAL SUMMARY.
The detailed descriptions of the routes examined for a railroad will be prefaced by a fèw
remarks upon the relation of the different lines to each other, and upon their general character.
The survey began at Benicia. From that place to Fort Reading, a distance of about 200
miles, but one route was examined. It lay through the fertile and settled valley of the Sacra-
mento river, where bridges would forin the only expensive item in the construction of a railroad.
The supply of water and building material would be ample, and the average grade would not
exceed 5 feet per mile.
Two routes, well supplied with water and building material, were examined, from Fort
Reading to the Columbia river-one east and the other west of the Cascade Range. A brief
description of each will be given.
1. Route east of the Cascade Range. —No insuperable obstacles were encountered on this route
until the head of the Des Chutes valley was reached; but beyond that point it was utterly
impracticable. A pass was examined, however, through the Cascade Range, near Diamond
Peak, by which this valley could be avoided, and the Willamette river reached. The valley of
this stream afforded a route to the Columbia river, very favorable to the construction of a railroad.
This route from Fort Reading to the Columbia may be considered feasible. Its length is about
600 miles, of which 150 miles lie in a fertile and settled country, where the construction would
be easy. The rest of the line traverses a wilderness, generally barren, and, for the most part,
elevated from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea. For about 200 miles of the latter section no very
heavy work would be required, but for the remaining 250 miles the expense of construction would
be very great. The chief obstacles would be encountered in crossing the western chain of the
Sierra Nevada ; in passing the two cañons of Pit river; in constructing the road along the
shore of Upper Klamath lake ; in following the cañon of Klamath river, between Upper and
Lower Klamath lakes; and in crossing the Cascade Range to the Willamette valley.
It is thought that there would be danger of occasional obstruction from snow during a few
months in the year, upon the portion of this route east of the mountains.
2. Route west of the Cascade Range.--The loss of the escort rendered it impossible to make
any side examinations upon this line. Although the travelled route proved much better than
had been anticipated, some portions of it were impracticable for a railroad. There are, however,
good reasons for believing that by further examination these places could be avoided.
38
RAILROAD REPORT --ROUTE FROM BENICIA TO FORT READING.
U
.
The length of the surveyed line was 470 miles. About 300 miles of it would be easy of
construction, about 100 very costly and difficult, and about 80 impracticable at any reasonable
by which the impracticable portions of the line could probably be
avoided, will be fully explained in the detailed report. The chief obstacles would be encoun-
tered in passing from the Sacramento valley to Shasta valley, and in crossing the Siskiyou
mountains, the Umpqua mountains, the Grave Creek Hills in Rogue River valley, and Long's
Hills in Umpqua valley.
Should further examination show this route to be feasible, it would, for many reasons, be
greatly preferable to that surveyed east of the Cascade Range. It traverses a region generally
but little elevated above the sea, where the danger of obstruction from snow would be very much
less than upon the high plateau east of the range. It passes through the richest and most
populous portion of Oregon, while a large part of the other traverses a sterile, uninhabited
waste. Besides the great amount of way travel always created by a railroad in a settled country,
much freight would probably pass over this line, which would not be transported over the other.
This is evident from the following considerations. There are in the Willamette, Umpqua, and
Rogue River valleys areas of very productive land, which is uncultivated only because there is
no market for the produce. No large rivers afford water communication with the ocean, and the
mnountains, which cover northern California, almost entirely prevent the transportation of supplies,
by land, to that State. Oregon is, therefore, to a great extent, isolated, and dependent upon
itself for a market. The construction of a railroad to the Sacramento valley, by this route west
of the mountains, would enable the farmers in all these fertile valleys to send their produce to
the mining regions of northern California and southern Oregon, where most of the country is
unfitted for agricultural purposes, and where the price of provisions is now most exorbitant.
The route east of the Cascade Range, on the contrary, would neither be accessible to freight
from southern Oregon, nor traverse the mining region, where the most profitable market for the
produce of the Willamette valley would be found.
The remainder of this chapter contains detailed descriptions of the different routes explored.
PROPOSED RAILROAD ROUTE FROM BENICIA TO FORT READING, SURVEYED BY LIEUT. WILLIAMSON.
Before Lieutenant Williamson's sickness, he had prepared the following report upon the
route up the Sacramento valley. As he never revised it, I have made a few necessary verbal
corrections, but have not, in the slightest degree, changed its import. It is to be considered
entirely his report.
“The Sacramento valley is a vast plain, about two hundred miles long, and averaging fifty miles
in breadth. Through the middle of it flows the Sacramento river, receiving numerous tributaries
from the Sierra Nevada, but very few from the Coast Range. The valley is destitute of trees,
except upon the river banks, and is covered with a luxuriant growth of wild oats. The soil,
during the summer, is very dry, but in winter is so moist as to render travelling very difficult.
There is not the slightest topographical obstruction to the construction of any kind of a road,
in any part of the valley.
"In the examination of the valley, therefore, with reference to the construction of a railroad.
the most important question seems to be the relative advantages presented by the east and west
sides of the valley. I had previously been up and down the valley, on each side, and was well
acquainted with its character.
"Only a very small quantity of water is drained from the eastern slope of the Coast Range ;
and most of that is absorbed by the soil at its base. Hence the almost total absence of tribu-
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE FROM BENICIA TO FORT READING.
39
YT
taries, received by the river from the west, until we arrive near the head of the valley. The
banks of the river, on that side, are generally bluff and unbroken; the east side, on the contrary,
is intersected by numerous streams, coming from the Sierra Nevada ; some, large enough to be
entitled to the name of rivers ; others, so inconsiderable as to be passed unnoticed by the
traveller, in summer. These, however, are torrents in winter, and form an important item for
consideration, in making a road.
- The distance from Benicia to Fort Reading, by the western side of the valley, by the ordinary
road, which is very direct, is 178 miles; while by the eastern side, it is 200 miles. The former
portion, however, is only inhabited along the banks of the river, whereas the tributaries from
the Sierra Nevada, intersecting the latter portion, afford plenty of water, and numerous desirable
locations for farms. The mining portion of the population is all on this side, and branch roads
into the mines would be required. In order, therefore, to afford the means of discussing under-
standingly the relative advantages of these two portions, I determined to proceed to Fort
Reading by the eastern side of the valley, and note particularly, the size and character of the
beds of the water-courses that intersect it, that the extra expense of construction due to bridging,
might be estimated.
“We left our camp near Benicia, on the 10th of July, and travelled thirteen miles, camping
on a small stream known as Suisun creek, which is about thirty feet wide. This is the first place
where a bridge would be required. From here we travelled on through the Suisun valley, by a
road nearly level, but occasionally passing through low, rolling hills, until, thirty-two miles from
Benicia, we came to Putos creek, which is a stream sixty or seventy feet wide. When we crossed
it, the water in the creek was thirty feet below the top of the banks; but in winter it sometimes
overflows them. This stream, at the most favorable point, would require a bridge 130 feet long.
- The only other stream, before reaching the Sacramento river, is Cache creek, which differs
from Putos creek in occupying a broad bed with low banks. At the narrowest place I saw, the
bed was 100 yards wide, with banks thirty feet high, and I am told that in time of freshet these
are overflowed. Thus, but three bridges would be required between Benicia and the Sacramento
river, and, if the road followed up the west bank, none other would be required for sixty miles.
Above that, the river receives a tributary every fifteen or twenty miles.
"We crossed the Sacramento river at Frémont, a town of half a dozen houses, opposite the
mouth of Feather river. The Sacramento was low, and 250 yards wide. In time of high water
when the banks are not overflowed, it is 300 yards wide, but in time of freshet the country is
overflowed for miles. I came down the river in December, 1852, when the sheet of water cover-
ing the country was fifty miles broad. Vast quantities of stock were destroyed. Sacramento city
was overflowed, and much damage done to property there.
“From the crossing of the Sacramento, we travelled up the eastern side of the valley, all the
way to Fort Reading, following Feather river for nearly fifty miles. The country was a level
plain until within forty miles of the fort, when it assumed an undulatory character, but presented
no serious obstacle to the construction of a railroad. The average grade from Benicia to the
fort, is 2.6 feet per mile.
“In order to show the amount of bridging required for a road going up on the eastern side of
the valley, I have constructed the following table, which gives a concise description of every
stream crossed. This table includes all those which are dry in summer, but which must be
bridged to allow a free passage for the water in winter. The height of the banks is given for
low water."
40
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE FROM BENICIA TO FORT READING.
Water-courses north of Frémont, on the route surveyed up the Sacramento valley.
Name of stream.
Remarks.
Dist. from
Frémont.
Length of
bridge.
Miles.
Feet.
300
35
30
200
250
Banks 30 feet high..--.-.
Banks 10 or 12 feet above water.
Banks low.
Banks 30 feet high. Bluffs.
Well built wooden bridge---
13. 8
17.9
29.4
30.1
56.0
58. O
59.7
61.7
63. 0
64.4
64. 6
66. 1
66.8
70.3
70.8
Banks low.
73. 7
74
75.5
75.9
we
Sacramento --...
Coon creek
Bear creek------
Yuba river ----
Feather river.
Dry gully------
Dry gully-
Dry gully......
Dry gully
Dry gully--
Dry gully.
Dry gully.
Dry gully-------
Butte creek
Little Butte creek.
Dry gully----...
Dry gully
Chico creek.---
Dry gully
Dry gully -
Dry gully....
Dry gully..
Dry gully----
Dry gully-
Dry gully--
Dry gully-----
Dry gully-
Dry gully-
Dry gully-
Dry gully--
Dry gully------
Deer creek.
Dry creek.
Dry creek.-----
Dry creck. ---
Mill creek..
Mill creek slough..
Dry gully--
Dry gully----
Dry bed.--
Dry bed.---...
*Dry bed.
Antelope creek.
Gully with water.---
Gully with water..
78.5
80 5
81.2
85.9
86.4
87.1
88.2
90.0
Banks 25 feet above water.
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low.
Banks low..
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low..
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low.--
Banks low..-
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low...
Banks low.
91.3
12
92.1
92.9
93. 4
50
93.6
15
80
.
..
.
...
.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
96.4
97.1
101. 1
102. 1
102.2
104.1
104.9
106. 2
107.4
107.7
108. 1
110.4
RAILROAD LD
REPORT-ROUTE EAST OF CASCADE RANGE.
Water-courses-Continued.

Name of stream.
Length of
Remarks.
Dist. from
Frémont.
bridge.
Feet.
10
These three sloughs are close together and dry-------
Name not known.
Slough.
Slough....
Slough.......
Creek with water
Dry gully.
Dry gully.
Dry gully..
Dry gully-
Seven Mile creek -
Beaver creek...
Liver creek.
Battle creek..
Bear creek.
Cow creek.
Miles.
112. 2
112. 2
112. 2
113.4
113.7
111.9
111.9
115.8
118.7
122.4
129.8
134. 3
137.9
140.3
Near junction with Sacramento.
501 Fort Reading-...
PROPOSED RAILROAD ROUTE FROM FORT READING TO VANCOUVER, EAST OF THE CASCADE RANGE
. SURVEYED BY LIEUTENANT WILLIAMSON.
In preparing the following description of this route, I have been careful to express Lieutenant
Williamson's ideas, as far as they are known to me. As, however, he seldom referred directly
to the railroad, in his journal, I have sometimes been unable to ascertain definitely what his
opinion was. In such cases, I have given my own.
With the exception of the Willamette valley and a small portion of the Sacramento valley,
the regions traversed by this route are unsettled, and, as a general thing, barren in their character.
The rocks are chiefly of volcanic origin. The few fertile spots are usually difficult of access,
and the country is unfitted to support a civilized population.
Of the climate of the region east of the Cascade Range, traversed by this route, we have no
definite knowledge, founded upon long continued observations; but it is well known that little
or no rain falls during several months of the year, and that the whole region is often covered
with snow in the winter. Colonel J. C. Frémont, in traversing it during the winter of 1843–44,
found the snow occasionally three feet in depth, and the climate severe. In the latter part of
August, water froze at night in our camps near the head of Des Chutes valley, at an elevation
of only about 4,200 feet above the sea. In my opinion, there would be danger of occasional
obstruction from snow, during a few months in the year, should a railroad ever be constructed
on this plateau.
The supply of water, fuel, and building materials is almost unlimited, upon the whole route.
The only place where there is any deficiency of timber in the immediate vicinity of the trail, is
near Lost river and Rhett lake, and there it can be easily obtained from the neighboring hills.
There is no lack of water, or good building stone, at any point upon the line. It only remains
to describe the difficulties of actual construction. The grades will not, as a general thing, be
mentioned in this report, as those upon the travelled route are given on profile No. 1, sheet No.
1, and those upon the proposed railroad line, on profile No. 2, of the same sheet, and also in
6 X
42
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE EAST OF CASCADE RANGE.
U
Appendix F. In constructing the latter profile, I have generally included the windings of the
trail in the estimate of distances between stations. This has been done, partly because it would
be impossible, in much of the region traversed, to speak with certainty of any of the country
not actually passed over; and partly, because the winding necessary to obtain uniformly easy
grades, would generally render it impossible to materially diminish the travelled distances,
although the general direction of the line might be more direct.
The first obstacle encountered after leaving Fort Reading, was the western chain of the Sierra
Nevada. As Lieutenant E. G. Beckwith, 3d artillery, had surveyed in 1854, and reported
favorably upon the Pit river pass, or, as he terms it, the Upper Sacramento river pass, through
this chain, Lieutenant Williamson deemed it unnecessary to make any re-examination of it. He,
therefore, took the more direct route by Noble's Pass to the plateau east of the mountains. Our
profile of this pass does not differ very materially from that of Lieutenant Beckwith, who also
examined the route ; but our barometric observations show the altitude of the summit to be 186
feet greater, and the altitude of Fort Reading to be 157 feet less, than was stated in his report.
These discrepancies may be easily explained, as Lieutenant Beckwith was unable to obtain any
correction for the abnormal oscillation of the barometric column, a correction which sometimes
exceeds these differences in amount. Noble's Pass is certainly very unfavorable for a railroad,
and I think that Lieutenant Williamson considered it impracticable, without a tunnel. The line
down Canoe creek valley to Pit river, would also involve some very expensive work and heavy
grades; as will be seen by reference to the profile of our travelled route. In constructing the
profile of the proposed railroad line, I have, therefore, adopted the route surveyed by Lieutenant
Beckwith, from Fort Reading through the Pit river pass to the mouth of Canoe creek. Lieu-
tenant Beckwith considers this route practicable, although it involves some very heavy work.
A detailed description of it will be found in his report, which is contained in Vol. 2 of this series.
A short distance above the mouth of Canoe creek, the river passes through a cañon, 4.5 miles
in length. The sides are so steep and so near the water, that Lieutenant Williamson was unable
to enter on foot, at its mouth. His description of it will be found in Chapter III, under the
date August 5. He considered it impracticable to construct a railroad through it, at any reason-
able expense, on account of the vast amount of rock cutting and tunneling, which would be
required. The distance between Camps 19 and 20, which were situated near the water level at
the lower and upper ends of this cañon, was, by the course of the stream, 7.5 miles. The dif-
ference in their elevation was 520 feet. Hence the descent of the stream, and consequently the
grade in the cañon, must be at least 69 feet per mile.
Although the pass which I examined through Stoneman's ridge, was unfavorable for a
railroad, it is considered preferable to the cañon. By side location, the road could pass from
Camp 19 to the foot of the main ridge, a distance of 3.5 miles, with an ascending grade of 168
feet per mile. It would then follow up the ravine for 2.3 miles, with a grade of about 200 feet
per mile. A tunnel, half a mile in length, through trap rock would then be advisable;
although, by very heavy grades, and winding to increase distance, it might probably be avoided.
descent of 89 feet would be required in the tunnel, which would pass 303 feet below the
summit of the ridge. From the castern entrance, the road, by side location, could reach Camp
20, with descending grades of 200 feet per mile for 0.8 of a mile, and 63 feet per mile for 4.4
miles.
The route examined between the two cañons, traversed a slightly undulating plain, and no
4
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE EAST OF CASCADE RANGE.
43
heavy grades or expensive work would be required. In the last few miles, however, consider-
able cutting through trap rock might be necessary.
Lieutenant Williamson’s notes on the upper cañon of Pit river, will be found in Chapter III,
under the date August 7. He considered it practicable to construct a railroad in this cañon, at
a reasonable expense; although much heavy rock cutting and numerous short curves would be
required. The ascending grade would be 76 feet per mile, for the whole distance of 9.9 miles ;
and it is probable that numerous bridges would be necessary. It is my opinion, that a better
location would be found, by further examination, upon the northern bank of the river. The
trail, although very rocky in places, is generally good, and the hills are low. Although the
river descends about 750 feet, from a higher to a lower terrace, in this cañon, I think that by
proper side location, the necessary ascent might be made, and a line conducted round the cañon
on this bank, with grades never exceeding 200 feet per inile. The expense of construction
would probably be very much less than by the cañon route.
The road would next cross Round Valley to Camp 23. No difficulty of any kind would be
encountered in this section. . .
Between Camps 23 and 24 the country was hilly, and considerable heavy cutting through
cellular trap would be necessary. It is highly probable that the spring branch upon which
Camp 24 was situated, discharges into Pit river. If so, the railroad should follow up its course.
Between Camps 24 and 25, the only serious obstacle would be the low ridge which borders
Wright lake. It is very probable that these hills could be turned by passing to the west of
Wright lake, and striking Rhett lake at once; but as this line was not examined, I have
represented on the railroad profile the route by Wright lake, with the grades which could be
readily obtained by side location, and an increase of distance of 2.5 miles. The railroad would
gain the summit, with an ascending grade of 150 feet per mile for 3.5 miles, by winding to-
wards the east, at the foot of the ridge. It would then descend to Camp 25, with a grade of
150 feet per mile, for 3.5 miles.
The first ridge crossed after leaving Camp 25, could be turned, with an increase of distance of
about one mile, by locating the road further towards the north.
The next obstacle of importance, was the steep descent to the shore of Rhett lake. This
could be overcome by winding towards the south, with a grade of 200 feet per mile, for one
mile.
The road would then traverse a flat plain, to the Natural Bridge of Lost river. The stream,
which is here deep and sluggish, is about 80 feet in width, with banks but little elevated above
the water surface. A description of the Natural Bridge will be found in Chapter III, under the
date August 13. Whether the stone arches are sufficiently strong to support a railroad, can
only be ascertained by careful examination and measurement. Loaded wagons now cross, with-
out danger. Trap rock and pine timber, for construction, could be readily obtained from the
neighboring hills.
From the Natural Bridge to Upper Klamath lake, the only expensive work would be encoun-
tered in passing the low ridge which borders the lake on the south. A short cut of 23 feet,
through trap rock, would be required. It is probable, that a portion of the upper part of Lost
river valley, is occasionally submerged, in the rainy season, by water from the lake; but I think,
that a location could be easily found, which would avoid this danger.
The railroad would next follow the lake shore to the point where our trail left it. Consider-
44
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE EAST OF CASCADE RANGE.
able heavy cutting through trap rock, and a few short bridges over springs and small arms of
the lake, would undoubtedly be necessary.
The valley of Klamath river could be followed without expensive work, to the entrance of the
cañon. This cañon, which is four miles in length, is a formidable obstacle, and would require an
amount of cutting through trap and pumice-stone, which can only be estimated by a detailed
examination. Lieut. Williamson expressed to me his opinion, that the route was practicable,
but very expensive. A description of this cañon will be found in Chapter III, under the date
August 20.
From the northern end of the cañon to Camp 34, the country is nearly level ; and the only
difficulty would be to guard against an overflow of the waters of Klamath marsh, in the rainy
season. A bridge, about 150 feet in length, would be necessary to cross Klamath river, for
which an abundance of pine timber could be easily obtained.
From Camp 34 to Camp 35, the route was very favorable for the construction of a railroad.
Thence to Camp 36, on Des Chutes river, no very expensive work would be necessary. The
Country, however, is undulating, and a large amount of cutting and filling through pumice-stone,
and occasionally through trap rock, would be required. Of this portion of the route, Lieut.
Williamson writes in his journal: “ There is a dividing range not of mountains, but of hills,
between Klamath marsh and the Des Chutes river. There are, apparently, several low places
to cross it, through one of which the trail runs. There appears to be no topographical obstacle
to the location of a railroad. The main difficulty would be the extreme lightness of the soil.”
I crossed the Cascade Range by a different pass from Lieut. Williamson, and did not, there-
fore, traverse the remaining portion of this proposed railroad line, myself. I have, however,
often conversed with Lieut. Williamson about it, and the following description is based entirely
upon information thus obtained, and upon his recorded field notes.
From Camp 36, the railroad would follow up the branch of Des Chutes river, to Camp 44 W.
The valley is open, and the construction would be easy for the whole distance.
The grades upon the route followed by Lieut. Williamson, from Camp 44 W. to Camp 45 W.,
were impracticable for a railroad, as will be seen by referring to profile No. 1, sheet No. 1.
From the highest point of the pass, however, he could overlook the country towards the south,
and see a route which he considered perfectly feasible. The dense forest, rising from a tangled
mass of underbrush and fallen timber, rendered it impossible for him to actually traverse this
route ; but he was fully satisfied that practicable grades could be obtained without tunneling.
He often expressed to me his opinion, that the immense amount of fallen timber would be
the greatest obstacle encountered in constructing a railroad through the pass. He indicated
the following course for the proposed railroad line. It would follow up the branch of Des
Chutes river, and gain the summit of the main ridge, between two prominent peaks east of
the lake which forms the source of the Middle Fork of the Willamette. The altitude of the
summit appeared to be considerably less than it was where he crossed the ridge, but, as he had
no means of estimating the difference with accuracy, he thought it best to assume, on the profile,
the same altitude. The grades in reality, therefore, are rather more favorable than represented
on profile No. 2, sheet No. 1. From the summit, the line would descend by side location to the
lake, and then follow down the Middle Fork to the vicinity of Camp 45 W. Both the eastern
and western sides of the ridge appeared to be free from small ravines, so that a side location
could be made without great expense in cutting and filling ; but Lieut. Williamson appre-
L
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE FROM CAMP 36 TO FORT DALLES.
45
hended great difficulty in following the Middle Fork from the lake to where his trail struck it.
His notes upon the pass will be found in Chapter IV, under the date September 29.
From Camp 45 W to the Willamette valley, the railroad would follow the course of the
Middle Fork. Occasional heavy cutting through lateral spurs would be required, but no very
costly work.
A discussion of the facilities offered for the construction of a railroad in the Willamette
valley, will be given in connection with my return route from Vancouver to Fort Reading.
ROUTE FROM CAMP 36, NEAR THE HEAD OF THE DES CHUTES VALLEY, TO FORT DALLES. SURVEYED
BY LIEUT. ABBOT.
As the route down the Des Chutes valley to the Columbia river is considered utterly imprac-
ticable for a railroad, it is deemed only necessary to state the grounds upon which this opinion
is based. The whole difficulty consists in obtaining suitable gradients. The supply of water
is abundant, and good timber for ties and fuel can always be obtained, at a slight cost, from the
neighboring mountains, when it is not found near the trail.
The road could be built at a moderate expense, with a descending grade of 13 feet per mile,
from the place where we first reached the Des Chutes river, to the point where my party rafted
it, a distance of about 29 miles. The stream was here about 150 feet wide, and flowed with a
rapid current over a rocky bed. It could have been forded, but not without wetting the packs.
The nature of the banks would render it necessary that a bridge should be at least 200 feet in
length. A short distance below this point, the river enters the great cañon. It is not considered
practicable, without enormous expense, to construct a railroad from this place to the Dalles,
either in this cañon, or upon the eastern or western side of the valley. The obstacles to be
encountered on each of these three routes will be briefly stated.
The cañon, which in many places is more than 1,000 feet in depth, extends, without doubt,
to the mouth of the river ; a distance of about 140 miles. It abounds in rapids and short bends,
which would render numerous tunnels and deep cuts through a kind of basaltic rock of exceeding
hardness, indispensable. There would also be constant danger of avalanches of earth and stone,
from the precipitous sides. The average descent of the river in the cañon, is about 25 feet per mile.
Of the eastern side of the valley below the rafting place, comparatively little is accurately
known. Much of it appears, when seen from a distance, to be a bare, sterile plateau, some
portions of which are level, and others broken by rolling hills. As the river undoubtedly
receives most of its tributaries from the Cascade Range, it is possible that the numerous lateral
cañons, which furrow the western bank and render it impracticable for a railroad, might not be
encountered on the eastern. But, even if this should prove to be the case, in order to reach the
navigable portion of the Columbia river, it would be necessary to cross the Des Chutes cañon by
an embankment or bridge, nearly a mile in length and from 500 to 1,000 feet in height, and
then, before reaching the Dalles, to overcome other obstacles involving equal expense.
The western side of the valley was thoroughly explored by my party. As insurmountable
difficulties were subsequently encountered, it is sufficient to state of the section extending from
the rafting place to Camp Son Why-chus creek, a distance of about 34.4 miles, that the con-
struction of a railroad through it would be rendered very expensive, by the necessity of crossing
numerous ravines from 100 to 200 feet deep, and of cutting through several high, rocky spurs.
An average descending grade of 26 feet per mile, would be required. The country north of Why-
chus creek was very carefully examined, both near the river and near the mountains. The best
C
46
RAILROAD REPORT -ROUTE FROM DES CHUTES TO WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
route which could be found for a railroad, lay through a level prairie around the western base of
a prominent conical butte, to the cañon of Mpto-ly-as river; which could be entered by a wide,
open ravine. This stream, the cañon of which is the first impassable obstacle to the road, rises
among the peaks south of Mount Jefferson. After flowing towards the north for a few miles, it
takes an easterly course, and discharges itself into the Des Chutes. The depth of its cañon
varies from 800 to 2,000 feet, and the width at the top, from two miles to half a mile. There is
no pass between it and Mount Jefferson. It would be necessary, after entering the cañon from
the south, to keep up the grade by locating the railroad high upon the eastern side, although
there would be many small lateral ravines to bridge. After about 18 miles of this difficult and
very costly construction, it would be necessary to cross the river, near its most northern point,
by an embankment about a mile long, and 1,200 feet high ; and thus reach the top of the great
basaltic plateau. A line from the snowy summit of Mount Jefferson, eastward to the Des Chutes
river, was carefully examined ; and this is the best route to this plateau which could be found.
It is thought, that the impracticability of the road is made sufficiently manifest, by stating
without further detail, that by the most favorable location from this point to the Dalles, a
distance of about 75 miles, there would be, beside smaller obstacles, seven cañons to cross, similar
to that of the Mpto-ly-as river although not quite so deep, and a difficult spur from the Cascade
Range, called the Mutton mountains.
By this description it will be seen, that, at the head of the Des Chutes river, the railroad
coming from the south, should either cross the Cascade Range to the Willamette valley, or bend
towards the east, and, avoiding entirely the Des Chutes valley, reach the Columbia, above the
head of navigation, by some as yet unexplored route.
ROUTE FROM THE DES CHUTES TO THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY, BY THE NEW PASS NEAR MOUNT HOOD.
SURVEYED BY LIEUTENANT ABBOT.
The most unfavorable feature of this route for a railroad, is the difficulty of access to the new
pass. To reach it on the western side of the Des Chutes valley, either from the north, or the
south, is utterly impracticable. As, however, it appears to be a better railroad pass through
the Cascade Range, than any surveyed further south; and, as there is a bare possibility that it
may be reached from the eastern side of the valley, it is deemed advisable to describe it with
considerable minúteness.
The crossing of the Des Chutes cañon would be a most difficult and costly undertaking ; but,
if it could be accomplished near the Mutton mountains, I think Nee-nee springs might be easily
reached. Between that point and the pass, a distance of 24.3 miles, no great obstacle would
be encountered. The grade is less than 100 feet per mile, except at three places, where it is for
half a mile 206 feet, for two miles 141 feet, and for one mile 125 feet, per mile. At these
points it could be easily reduced, by side location, to 100 feet per mile.
From the entrance of the pass, the line would follow the course of a branch of Tysch creek to
Wat-tum-pa lake, a distance of 6.2 miles, with an ascending grade of eighty-five feet per mile.
A little side cutting, and the removal of a great number of logs, would be requisite in this section.
West of the lake the trail passed over a steep hill, which could be avoided by following the
course of a small tributary. Ty-ty-pa lake could thus be reached with an ascending grade
of 109 feet per mile, for 3.8 miles. The trail next passed over a steep ridge which formed the
true summit of the pass. Its altitude above the sea level, was 4433 feet. The ascent from
Ty-ty-pa lake to the summit, by the trail, was 416 feet; and the descent to a great ravine, about
200 feet. It is thought that this ridge might be crossed at a much lower point, a little further
1
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
47
(
to the north, but, even if this should not prove to be so, both the ascending and descending grades
could be reduced, by side location and an increase of distance, to less than 200 feet per mile.
This could be easily done, as the ridge is not furrowed by many ravines. The removal of a large
quantity of timber would be the principal difficulty.
From the summit of the pass to the Willamette valley, the railroad would follow a route which
we could not travel over, on account of an immense number of logs that completely blocked up
the way. We passed along ridges, however, from which we could overlook it, and see that the
fallen timber was probably the only serious obstacle. The great ravine extending north and
south could be crossed, and Clackamas ravine entered by a lateral cañon and followed, apparently
without any obstruction from bends or side spurs, to the valley. The approximate distance
would be thirty-eight miles, and the approximate grade, for most of the way, 125 feet per mile.
It would be less than this, near the summit.
Throughout the whole distance, the supply of timber, water and stone is abundant. Occa-
sionally a little heavy rock and earth cutting would be required, but the chief difficulty, in
preparing the road bed, would be to clear away the mass of timber, logs, and underbrush, which
now renders portions of the route utterly impassable. During the winter, it is probable that the
pass is blocked up with snow, to a depth of 20 or 25 feet, but concerning this, nothing is known
with certainty.
PROPOSED RAILROAD ROUTE FROM VANCOUVER TO FORT READING, WEST OF THE CASCADE
RANGE. SURVEYED BY LIEUT. ABBOT.
0
CD
UDI
The party which examined this route, was deprived of its escort, by the officer commanding
the Columbia River and Puget Sound District. As this loss caused the survey to be made under
great disadvantages, and prevented certain important side explorations, it has been deemed
proper to state, in full, the circumstances of the case, and to give a detailed account of the Indian
disturbances, which greatly embarrassed the party in the performance of the duties assigned to
it by the War Department. This has been done in Chapter V, under the date October 19, and
between the dates October 30 and November 5, inclusive.
The result of the survey showed the route to be much more favorable to the construction of
a railroad, than had been anticipated, and, although certain portions of the line actually exam-
ined were found to be very unfavorable, it is thought that a way to avoid these places would
have been discovered by further exploration, had not this been prevented by the loss of the
escort.
The climate of the regions through which this route passes, is mild. The mean winter
temperature, for the two years 1853 and 1854, was 339.78 Fah., at Fort Jones, which is situated
upon the coldest portion of the line. At Fort Reading, for the same years, it was 46°.12 Fah.,
and at Fort Vancouver, for the four years, 1850, '51, '52, '53, it was 390.54 Fah. This informa-
tion is derived from the Army Meteorological Register, published in 1855. Unpublished records
of the medical department show that the mean temperature at Fort Lane, for the winter of 1856,
was 38°.89 Fah. It appears from these data, that, should a railroad be constructed upon this
route, there will be little danger of serious obstruction from snow.
An unlimited supply of wood, water and stone, for railroad purposes, is found in the
immediate vicinity of this line, throughout its whole extent. It only remains, therefore, to
consider the route with reference to the actual difficulties of construction.
It may be well to state, that, as the grades upon the route travelled are given on profile No. 1,
48
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
sheet No. 2, and those upon the proposed railroad line, on profile No. 2, sheet No. 2, and in
Appendix F, they will not, as a general thing, be repeated in this report.
For about 150 miles after leaving the Columbia river, the route lies in the Willamette valley.
This region is admirably adapted to the construction of a railroad. The surface is level, or
gently undulating, the streams, although numerous, are small, and the settled character of the
country would render it easy to obtain supplies of every kind for the working parties. An
average grade of about ten feet per mile would be required, and it is thought that the maximum
grade would not exceed fifty feet per mile. Two routes from Oregon City to Eugene City were
examined : Lieut. Williamson followed the hill road, upon the eastern side of the valley; I took
the most direct road from Oregon City to Salem, and after crossing the Willamette at that
point, passed up its western side. Although it would be perfectly practicable to construct a
railroad in the immediate vicinity of either of these routes, a better location could, without
doubt, be found between them on the eastern bank of the river.
The following tables give an approximate idea of the amount of bridging necessary upon each
of the surveyed lines.
Table of water-courses in the Willamette Valley, upon Lieutenant Abbot's route.
Distance from
camp near
Vancouver.
Length of
bridge.
Name of stream.
Remarks.
Miles
Feet.
30
30
10
130
25.5
10
25.6
10
30
70
Slough -----
Creek.
Small creek.
Clackamas river
Small creek........
Small creek...
Mollalle river...
Small creek
Pudding river ...
Slough ----
Marsh ----...
Small creek...
Willamette river
La Creole river....
Small creek........
Lackimute river
Slough .........
Mary's river
Long Tom creek
Small creek...
Small creek..
34.3
36.5
49. 6
62.7
40
600
Banks 15 feet high.
Banks 20 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks 30 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks 30 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks 20 to 30 feet high. Bridge.
Banks 20 feet high, with gradual slope.
Banks miry.
Banks 20 feet high.
Banks 40 feet high, with gradual slope.
Banks low.
Banks low. Bridge.
Banks 40 feet high. Steep.
Banks low.
Banks 20 feet high, with gradual slope.
| Banks 30 feet high. Bridge.
Banks low.
Banks low.
40
60
60.7
300
66.3
77
40
82
94
108.5
154.6
155.3
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
49
Table of water-courses in the Willamette Valley, upon Lieutenant Williamson's route.
Distance from
camp near
Vancouver.
Length of
bridge.
Name of stream.
Remarks.
-
Miles.
Feet.
30
12
30
10
130
Banks.15. feet high.
Banks 20 feet high. Bridge.
Banks low.
Banks 30 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks 10 feet high.
Banks low.
25. 3
28.6
20
31.0
-.--
10
10
40
37.4
39.5
41.8
44.4
45. 6
46. 6
50
50.8
52. 1
15
100
Slough .. .
Creek ....-----
Creek ------
Clackamas river
Small creek----
Small creek.....
Mill creek ....
Mollalle river
Main Rock creek.
Branch of Rock creek.
Butte creek ---..
Alberqua creek...
Small creek.
Silver creek
Small creek......
Small creek
Small creek.
Small creek.
Small creek..
Slough ..........
Small creek ..
Small creck
North fork of Santiam river
Thomas Fork.--------
Crabtree creek
South Beaver creek
South fork of Santiam river.
Slough
Small creek.
Calapooya creek
Dry gully
Mud creek.
McKenzie's Fork
Slough ..
Middle Fork at Eugene City ----
64.3
64. 6
64. 7
Banks 8 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks 20 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks 15 to 20 feet high. Bridge.
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks low..
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks 10 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks 15 feet high. Bluffs.
Banks 20 to 30 feet high. Bridge.
Banks 20 to 30 feet high. Bridge.
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks 10 feet high. Bridge.
Banks 15 to 20 feet high.
Banks low.
Banks low.
Banks low. Spore's Ferry.
Banks low. Bridge..
130
64.8
69.4
72.4
73.5
100
75.3
81.5
89.9
91.8
98.7
103. 0
OH Co ovo cerco er med poo
10
20
120
112. 3
112.4
25
about 100
The distance from the camp opposite Vancouver, to Camp 71 A. near the head of
the Coast Fork of the Willamette, is, by my route, 157.5 miles, and by that of Lieut. William-
son, which joins mine at Eugene City, 142.8 miles. There are a few low hills upon each of these
lines, but, as a railroad could be located between them over an almost level plain, a more
detailed description is not considered necessary.
The Willamette and Umpqua valleys are separated by the Calapooya mountains. An excellent
pass was found through this range. From Camp 71 A. the line would follow up a small
7 X
50
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
S
branch of the Coast Fork of the Willamette to a little meadow, elevated 863 feet above the sea.
This meadow is also the source of a small tributary of the Umpqua river, called Pass creek.
The railroad would follow the course of this stream through the Calapooya mountains. Several
short bridges would be required, with a little cutting through earth, and, for a few feet, through
a hard kind of sandstone. No sharp curves would be necessary. The maximum grade would
be sixty-seven feet per mile, for 4.9 miles.
To cross the divide between Pass and Elk creeks, an earth cut of forty feet at the summit,
with an ascending grade rendered by side location eighty-seven feet per mile for 3.8 miles,
and a descending grade of 211 feet per mile for 0.9 of a mile, would be requisite. By winding,
the last grade would be reduced to 173 feet per mile, for 1.1 miles.
Elk creek would be crossed by a bridge about forty feet in length. The line would then
follow the eastern bank of a small tributary for 3.7 miles. From this point an ascending grade,
rendered, by location upon the eastern side of the valley, about 186 feet per mile for four miles,
would conduct to the summit of Long's hills, where an earth cut of forty feet would be advisable.
The descent might be made by winding towards the east for about three miles, with a grade of
about 214 feet per mile, but I have no doubt that a little examination would show a much
better pass through this line of hills. Having reached the valley at the southern base of the
ridge, the railroad would turn towards the west, and after striking the trail of my party, would
follow it to the North Umpqua river near Winchester. A bridge about twenty feet in length
over a small creek would be necessary on the way. The total increase of distance over that of
the travelled road, produced by the above location, would be about 3.3 miles.
The North Umpqua river is about eighty feet in width, and a bridge at least one hundred
feet in length would be required. The current is rapid, and the bottom rocky. The stream
is unfordable and bordered by low bluffs.
From Winchester the railroad could be located upon the surveyed route to Cañonville, except
that it would avoid the high ridge near Roseburg, by following the South Umpqua river. I was
informed that this could be done without difficulty, with an increase of distance of about nine
miles.
Although no very serious obstacle exists on this route through the Umpqua valley, still some
expensive work and heavy grades would be required; and, before a railroad should be actually
located, the route by Pass creek to Elk creek, and down that to Umpqua river, and then up the
river to the vicinity of Cañonville, should be examined. It is probable that very easy grades
might be thus obtained, although the distance would be increased, approximately, forty miles.
Cañonville is situated at the northern base of the Umpqua mountains. This range is a
formidable obstacle to the road. The route surveyed through it follows the Umpqua cañon.
Near the summit of the divide, elevated 1,963 feet above the sea level, two streams head, one of
which flows into Cow creek, and the other into the South Umpqua. The cañon is very narrow,
its sides are precipitous and from one to two thousand feet in height, and heavy cutting, or
short tunneling, through earth and talcose slate, would be required to obtain practicable curves.
In ascending, the grade would be 207 feet per mile for seven miles, and in descending 192 feet
per mile for two miles. The latter, however, could be considerably reduced by side location.
Numerous short bridges across the stream would be necessary in reaching the summit from the
north.
It is probable that a better railroad route through these mountains would be found by fol-
lowing Cow creek cañon. This stream rises south of the range, and, after making a great
.
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
51
bend to the west, flows through it to the South Umpqua. The approximate length of the
stream from its mouth to the point where we crossed it; in Rogue River valley, is thirty-five
miles. The difference of elevation between these points is about 887 feet. The average
ascending grade would, therefore, be only about twenty-five feet per mile. The increase of
distance by this route over that by the Umpqua cañon, would be about seventeen miles.
According to the best information which I could obtain, Cow creek cañon would require no
sharper curves than the Umpqua cañon, and it is a cause of regret, that the want of a proper
escort rendered its examination by my party impossible.
Having reached the southern base of the mountains, by the Umpqua cañon road, the divide
between Cow and Wolf creeks could be passsed, by crossing Cow creek with a bridge about
thirty feet in length, two miles before reaching the usual ford, and then gaining the summit
by side location, with an ascending grade of about 143 feet per mile, for three miles. The
descending grade to Wolf creek could be reduced, by side location, to 187 feet per mile for four
miles. I have no doubt that a lower point could be found in this divide a short distance
further to the north, and the above grades thus be reduced.
The route examined from Wolf creek to Rogue river was found to be very unfavorable for the
construction of a railroad, on account of the Grave Creek hills. These hills separate Grave
creek from Wolf creek on the north, and from Jump off Joe creek on the south. They are densely
timbered, and, for reasons fully stated in the Itinerary, they could not be thoroughly examined
by the party under my command. The hills north of the creek were between 500 and 600 feet
in height, and those south between 800 and 900 feet in height, where we crossed them. I
believe that a practicable railroad route through both ridges could be found by a little explora-
tion ; but, if this should not prove to be the case, the line could follow Wolf creek to Grave
creek, and that to Rogue river, and then turn up the latter. Very easy grades could thus
be obtained to Evans' ferry, where we crossed the river, with an approximate increase of dis-
tance of about thirty miles. According to the best information which could be obtained, no
insuperable obstacles would be encountered on the way.*
Should favorable passes through the Grave creek hills be discovered by future examination, a
bridge about twenty feet long would be required at Grave creek, and another of about the same
length at Jump off Joe creek. From the latter bridge, the line could either follow the trail of
my party to the next creek, with the grades indicated upon profile No. 2, sheet No. 2, or, by
an increase of distance of about four miles, follow down Jump off Joe creek to the mouth of
this tributary, and then take a nearly straight course to Evans' ferry. The grades would be
comparatively easy, and the work light, upon the latter route. The little tributary, where we
crossed it, was about ten feet in width.
* This is the route indicated on profile No. 2, sheet No. 2, for the proposed railroad line. The approximate altitude of
the mouth of Wolf creek, and of the point of striking it, were determined in the following manner. The distance from
Evans' ferry to the mouth of Rogue river is about ninety miles by the course of the stream. The altitude at Evans' ferry
is 913 feet. Hence, the average descent of the river is about ten feet per mile. This result is confirmed by my observa-
tions at Fort Lane. My camp there was about 150 feet above the river, and 1,202 feet above the level of the sea. The
water surface near it was, therefore, about 1,052 feet above the sea. Being fourteen miles above Evans' ferry, it should be
1,057 feet, were the estimated descent of ten feet per mile correct. The slight difference of five feet between the observed
and computed heights, shows that this estimated descent may be assumed for this river without material error. The mouth of
Wolf creek is, approximately, thirty miles below Evans' ferry, and its altitude is, therefore, about 613 feet above the sea.
Its distance from Camp 75 A, which is elevated 1,151 feet above the sea, is about twenty-five miles. Hence, the descent
of Wolf creek is about twenty-one feet per mile. As the railroad would not come down to the level of the water, before
reaching a point about two miles below Camp 75 A, the altitude of this point would be, at the above rate of descent,
about 1,109 feet.
52
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
L
At Rogue river, near Evan's ferry, a bridge about 120 feet in length would be necessary.
The water flowed with a rapid current over a rocky bed. It was not generally more than three
feet in depth near the ferry, but deep holes rendered it dangerous to attempt to ford the stream.
The banks were bordered by bluffs from five to fifteen feet in height, and wood and stone for the
construction of a bridge were at hand.
From this point a railroad could follow the line of survey to Fort Lane, and thence up the
valley of Stewart creek to Camp 78 A, near the foot of the Siskiyou mountains. An average
ascending grade of thirty-eight feet per mile, would be required. The labor of construction
would be light.
It is considered that a railroad from Vancouver to Camp 78 A, is practicable in the immediate
vicinity of the route examined by my party. The construction, for a portion of the line,
would be very costly, but the expense would doubtless be greatly reduced by further examination.
From Camp 78 A to Fort Reading, however, the obstacles encountered were very great, and
although it is highly probable that a practicable line, which can even be approximately located,
exists, still no such route was actually surveyed. If, however, a connection could be made between
this camp and the route surveyed east of the Cascade Range, some of the most difficult and
expensive work upon that line would be avoided, and the settlements in southern Oregon be
benefited by the road. The lateness of the season, and the loss of the escort, rendered any
survey of the Cascade Range, near the head of Stewart creek, impossible; but there are very
good reasons for believing this connection to be eminently practicable. There is a low pass
between Mount Pitt and Klamath cañon, by which a good emigrant road now crosses the range
and strikes Stewart creek near Camp 78 A. Several persons well acquainted with its character
informed me that, according to their judgment, the pass was very favorable for a railroad.
Lieutenant Crook, the quartermaster of our expedition, had travelled through it; and his opinion
was, that it présented no greater obstacles to the construction of a railroad than many other
portions of the route, which actual survey demonstrated to be practicable. This wagon road
crosses Lost river at the Natural Bridge, and the connection with the route east of the mountains
would be made by the railroad near this place. The approximate distance from Camp 78 A, to
the Natural Bridge, is seventy miles. Of this distance about thirty-eight miles were examined
and found to be practicable for a railroad, by Lieutenant Williamson, while passing with a
detached party round Lower Klamath lake. The altitude of his camp B, near the entrance of
the pass, was 3,733 feet. That of Camp 78 A, was 2,195 feet. The distance between these
camps is about thirty-two miles, in a direct line; but the windings of the road would probably
increase the travelled distance to about forty miles. Hence an approximate average rise of
about thirty-eight feet per mile would be necessary, without taking into account that required
to pass the dividing ridge.
The first obstacle encountered on my route from Camp 78 A to Fort Reading, was the Siskiyou
mountains. The pass surveyed through this chain was very unfavorable for a railroad From
the camp the line would follow a branch of Stewart creek for 3.7 miles, with an ascending
grade of 120 feet per mile. A tunnel, about six miles in length, would then be necessary.
The surface rock is a conglomerate sandstone. An ascending grade of about 137 feet per mile
would be required in the tunnel, which would pass 1,461 feet below the summit of the mountain.
A modification of this grade, so as to form a summit near the middle of the tunnel, might be
advisable, in order to insure drainage during the excavation. For 1.1 miles from the northern,
and for 1.3 miles from the southern entrance, shafts of less than 600 feet in depth could be sunk.
UU
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
53
For 3.6 miles between these points, every shaft would necessarily be deeper than this. From
the southern entrance there would be a descent of 1,268 feet to Klamath river. By the route
travelled two small ridges were crossed in the descent. The grades given on profile No. 2,
sheet No. 2, could be obtained by side location near the line of survey; but it is probable that
the small creek which was struck soon after leaving the summit, might be followed to Cotton-
wood creek, and that to Klamath river. The heavy grades would be thus avoided, and the
approximate descending grade, from the southern entrance of the tunnel to the river, reduced
to about eighty feet per mile, for about sixteen miles.
There is every probability that by further examination a pass much better than this might
be discovered through the range. In fact, I was informed that one was already known, further
toward the east, which was much more favorable for a railroad. The loss of the escort rendered
its examination impossible.
At Klamath river a bridge about 150 feet in length would be requisite. The banks were
froin ten to twenty feet in height. The current flowed very rapidly, over large rocks. The
stream was not generally more than two or three feet in depth, but there seemed to be many
deep holes.
From Dewitt's ferry over Klamath river to Yreka, a distance of 17.5 miles, a railroad could
be located with an average ascending grade of twenty-two feet per mile. Part of the route
passes over a slightly undulating country, but neither heavy grades, nor deep cutting, would
be required.
At Yreka the proposed railroad line diverges from my travelled route. The loss of the escort,
and of the quartermaster and commissary of the expedition, who was detained at Fort Jones by
the commanding officer of that post, rendered it necessary to abandon the idea of surveying the
Sacramento river route to Fort Reading, which promised to be favorable for the construction of
a railroad, and compelled me to pass over the Trinity trail, which proved, as had been antici-
pated, utterly impracticable for this purpose.
Before considering the proposed railroad line, the obstacles upon the Trinity trail will be
briefly described. By reference to profile No. 1, sheet No. 2, it will be seen that three promi-
nent ridges were crossed upon the route, besides some hills near Shasta. The first, Little
Scott's mountains, can probably be turned by following down Klamath river to the mouth of
Scott's river, and then passing up the valley of that stream. The approximate increase of dis-
tance from Dewitt’s ferry to Fort Jones, over that of the travelled road, would be twenty
miles. Heavy rock cutting through lateral spurs would undoubtedly be necessary in many
places, but the construction in Scott's valley would be easy. The second ridge, Scott's moun-
tains, could only be passed by a tunnel, about ten miles long, excavated through granitic rock.
The tunnel would pass about 2,000 feet below the summit. In Trinity valley much heavy
stone cutting and numerous bridges would render the construction very expensive. The third
ridge, Trinity mountains, would require a tunnel through granitic rock about four miles in
length, passing 2,000 feet below the summit. The hills near Shasta could probably be turned
by following Clear creek to the Sacramento river ; but the cost of the two tunnels in the mining
region, where the price of labor is very high, would be too enormous to estimate.
Another route from Yreka to Fort Reading, which is unquestionably practicable for a rail-
road, is to follow an easterly course until a junction is effected with our line of survey east of
the Cascade Range, and then to follow that route to the Fort. In 1852, Lieutenant Williamson
explored the country which the line of connection would traverse, and found it a nearly level
54
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST. OF CASCADE RANGE.
plateau, which would present no serious obstacle to the construction of the road. This route
would be very circuitous, however, making the distance from Yreka to the Fort between 250 and
300 miles, while, in a right line, it is only about 90 miles.
It is believed that this detour could be avoided by striking the head-waters of the Sacramento
river west of Shasta Butte, and then following the course of the stream to Fort Reading. I was
prevented, for the reasons above stated, from surveying this line; but a party of gentlemen
from Shasta recently examined it with reference to the construction of a wagon road, and made
a favorable report,* estimating the expense at $50,000. I had a personal interview with one
of these gentlemen. He stated, that, although some sharp curves and deep cuts would be
necessary, he had no doubt that a railroad could be constructed upon the route at a reasonable
expense.
* It has been deemed advisable to subjoin this report in full as it appeared in the Yreka Union of November 3, 1855.
Wagon road from Yreka to Shasta.
YREKA, October 29, 1855.
We, the undersigned, who left Shasta on the 25th instant for the purpose of examining the route for a wagon road to Yreka,
ria the Sacramento river, arrived at this place on Sunday morning last.
The entire length of the road will probably reach one hundred and ten miles. The general course is directly north, and no
deflections from a straight line occur, except in those places where the short bends of the river must be followed. All the
difficul ies to be overcome, and work necessary to render the entire route practicable for heavily loaded wagons, lies between
Spring creek and the Soda spring, a distance of about sixty-nine miles. More or less grading, bridging, etc., will be necessary
upon about fifty miles of this distance. The remaining fourteen is taken up by level plateaus from a half to five miles in length,
many of them being fine arable land, with a deep, rich suil.
The most important obstacles to be overcome are two long ascents. The first is encountered immediately after crossing
Sugar Loaf creek, twenty-five miles from Shasta, and the other at Potato hill, nine miles further on. Both these can be passed
without much difficulty by taking a circuitous course around the hill, and attaining the summit by a succession of easy gra-
diente, alternating with occasional short benches, made level to relieve the ascent. With the exception of these two bills, and
three or four minor ones, the whole road can be made comparatively level.
It is our opinion that about thirty miles will require heavy excavation. This occurs at various points along the entire distance
from Spring creek to the Soda spring. The points we bave referred to are where the road is thrown upon those portions of
the river bank which are steep. Those places are generally from half a mile to a mile in length, and between them we bavo
level flats or slightly undulating ridges, where but little work would be necessary, except to bridge the creeks which are gen-
erally met with at those points.
Fino timber grow's near at hand for all the wood work which will be needed, and two saw mills are already constructed, the
one at Spring creek, and the other at Squaw creek. Between Pistol and Sugar Loaf creeks more or less blasting will be
required upon two miles of the route, nope of which, however, is of a serious character.
Beyond the Soda springs all obstacles vanish. All that will be required is to clear the way through a level, timbered country
as far as the huckleberry patch at the head of Shasta valley; from thence into Yreka an excellent wagon road already exists.
More work will be necessary to construct a wagon road by this route than was at first anticipated by us; but on the other hand
we are satisfied that it is the most direct course, and that when the road is once built, it will be the easiest and most substantial
mountain route in California. Following, as it does, the course of a river until it arrives at its sourco, it then enters a level
plain, and no dividing ridges are to be crossed separating stream from stream, as is the case with nearly all the wagon roads
which have been constructed in like cases.
It will probably be expected that we should make some rough estimate of the cost of this route. It is with extreme reluc-
tance that we enter upon any such calculation, as we are aware, that in making our estimate of the distance, we are liable, in
many instances, to be grossly deceived; for in many places where the trail we were travelling upon passes over the hills, the
road would continue level along the bank of the river.
We are of opinion, however, that our errors in this respect are on the right side, and that the route of the road will prove
thousand dollars, or near that amount, will be required to perform the grading and erect the numerous bridges necessary to
construct a good, easily travelled, and substantial wagon road, up the Sacramento river, from Shasta to Yreka. A recapitulation
of the numerous creeks, the different points to be encountered, and the various distances, we consider unnecessary to be here
stated, as those items would render our report too lengthy, and, from our limited means of observation, would not possess &
sufficient degree of exactness
It is our candid opinion that this undertaking cannot be at once accomplished by private contributions. An attempt to
do so would, we foar, result in disappointment, and perhaps a failure of the whole enterprize. We would, therefore, suggest
RAILROAD REPORT-ROUTE WEST OF CASCADE RANGE.
55
:
It is proper to state why the altitude of the divide between Sacramento and Shasta rivers has
been assumed at 3,500 feet, on profile No. 2, sheet No. 2, upon which the Sacramento river
route is indicated for the proposed railroad line. This is only an approximation to the truth ;
but I believe it worthy of some reliance for the following reasons. It will be noticed in the
report upon the wagon road from Yreka to Shasta, contained in the last note, that this passage
occurs : “Following, as it (the proposed wagon road) does, the course of a river (the Sacra-
mento) until it arrives at its source, it then enters a level plain, and no dividing ridges are to
be crossed separating stream from stream, as is the case with nearly all the wagon roads which
have been constructed in like cases.” On profile No. 1, sheet No. 2, representing the surveyed
line, it will be seen that Shasta Butte rises from a natural eminence, which extends many miles
both north and south of the mountain. The greatest altitude upon this pedestal of the Butte,
where we crossed it, is, without taking into account isolated ridges, 3,457 feet. These two
facts have led me to assume an altitude of 3,500 feet for the divide. This altitude gives an
average descent of more than forty feet per mile to Shasta river, and to the Sacramento river
above Johnson's ferry ; descents, which, in my opinion, are very much greater than the
appearances of the streams justify. Any less altitude would, of course, render the route more
favorable to the construction of a railroad.
As soon as the open portion of the Sacramento valley should be gained, there would be no
further difficulty in reaching Fort Reading with easy grades. The total distance from Yreka
to the Fort, by this route, is 120 miles.
that a stock company be formed, and a charter applied for at the next session of the legislature. This plan will insure the
early completion of an enterprize which will open an exhaustless mining region, now nearly untouched, and place the town of
Yreka, and the whole northern portion of the State, now so difficult of access even by pack trains, within five or six days' travel,
by loaded wagons, of the different depots in Sacramento valley.
E. C. GILLETTE.
A. SKILLMAN.
W. W. TRACY.
JOHN J. TOMLINSON.
WM. A. MIX.
R. A. McCABE.
M. MITCHELL.
J. TYSON.
CHAPTER III.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY.-ROUTE OF THE MAIN COMMAND.
PREPARATIONS.-ORGANIZATION AND OUTFIT OF PARTY.-SUISUN VALLEY.—Putos CREEK.-CACHE CREEK.—SACRAMENTO RIVER.
FEATHER RIVER.MARYSVILLE.- MIRAGE. DIGGER INDIANS.—THEIR HUTS —THEIR MODE OF GAMBLING.–GRIZZLY BEARS.—Two
ROUTES EXAMINED FROM ANTELOPE CREEK TO FORT READING.–FORT READING.–OFFICERS THERE.—THE ESCORT.-BAROMETER LEFT
WITH DR. HAMMOND.--GUIDE EMPLOYED.-START.-DISAGREEABLE CAMP.--McCUMBER'S FLAT.--NOBLE'S PASS.–VIEW FROM SUMMIT.—
LOST CREEK.—COLD.-- INDIAN SIGNS.- CANOE CREEK.—PUMICE-STONE.—PEDEEGAL OF TRAP ROCK.—ACCIDENT TO CHRONOMETERS.-
DIFFICULT TRAVELLING.-PRECIPICE.-PRAIRIE WITH SPRINGS.PIT RIVER INDIANS.-THEIR HABITS.---THEIR BOWS AND ARROW8.-
INDIAN TRAIL.--LARGE RIVER GUSHING FROM THE ROCKS.-EXPLORATION BY LIEUT. WILLIAMSON.-PIT RIVER.-LIEUT. SHERIDAN.-
EXPLORATION OF LOWER CAÑON OF PIT RIVER.—LIEUT. HOOD'S RETURN.-STONEMAN'S RIDGE.-ROUTE BETWEEN THE CAÑONS.—-FIRE IN
CAMP.—UPPER CAÑON OF PIT RIVER.—CART BROKEN.-INDIANS.—THEIR MODE OF KINDLING A FIRE.—THEIR LOVE OF TOBACCO.—THEIR
ORNAMENTS.—LIEUT. WILLIAMSON'S NOTES ON THE CAÑON.--GRASS VALLEY.-PITS DUG BY INDIANS.—EXPLORATION IN ADVANCE BY
Lieut. WILLIAMSON.—SPRING BRANCH.—BAKED ANTELOPE'S HEAD. SAGE PLAIN.-WRIGHT LAKE.—RHETT LAKE.-EMIGRANT ROAD.--
LOST RIVER.—NO FUEL.--PARTY FROM YREKA.-DIVISION OF THE PARTY.--NATURAL BRIDGE. RATTLESNAKE UNDER A BLANKET.-
UPPER KLAMATI LAKE.- INDIAN SIGNS.-SNAKES — FIRE IN CAMP.- ARRIVAL OF LỊEUT. WILLIAMSON.--ROUTE NEAR EASTERN SHORE
OF LAKE.—BALD EAGLES.— ACCIDENT.—KLAMATH RIVER.–CAÑON.–Fog.–KLAMATH MARSH.-INDIANS.—THEIR RANCHERIAS.---
THEIR CANOES.-THEIR GRAVES.—GRAVE OF À CHIEF – PILES OF STONES.--INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS.--THEIR HORSES.
PARTIAL VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE.--CROSSING OF KLAMATH RIVER —DIVIDE BETWEEN KLAMATH MARSH AND DES CHUTES
RIVER.— WATER HOLES.-PUMICE.—DES CHUTES RIVER. — Two TRAILS.—TROUT —OLD WAGON TRAIL.—DIFFICULTY IN TAKING
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.-SICKNESS.---DIVISION OF PARTY.-ICE IN CAMP.-INGENIOUS METHOD OF REPAIRING CHRONOMETER.
GOLD SEEKERS FROM UMPQUA VALLEY.-ORDERS FROM LIEUT. WILLIAMSON.-BRANCII OF DES CHUTES RIVER.-RAFTING OF STREAM.
ENTRANCE OF GREAT CAÑON.-RAPID.—JUNCTION WITHI LIEUT. WILLIAMSON'S PARTY.--RAIN.-SNOW PEAKS IN SIGHT.--WAY-CHUS
On May 5th, 1855, Lieut. Williamson, with the civilian assistants and myself, sailed from
New York, and on May 30 arrived at San Francisco. Here he organized the surveying party.
On July 9, 1855, the command was in depot camp, near Benicia, and ready to commence field
work on the following day.
The party consisted of Lieut. R. S. Williamson, Topographical Engineers, in charge of the
expedition, with myself for his principal assistant; Dr. J. S. Newberry, geologist and botanist,
Mr. H. C. Fillebrown, assistant engineer; Dr. E. Sterling, physician and naturalist; Mr.
C. D. Anderson, computer; and Mr. John Young, draughtsman, There were also eighteen men,
under the immediate supervision of Mr. Charles Coleman, the pack master.
As much of the survey was to be made in a mountainous, unexplored region, Lieut. William-
son decided to transport all the supplies by a pack train. The only vehicle was a light
two-wheeled cart, designed solely to carry the instruments. These consisted of two Gambey
sextants, two artificial horizons, four box chronometers, three prismatic compasses, one sur-
veyor's chain and pins, one odometer, four Green's cistern barometers, with a case of extra
unfilled tubes, four thermometers, two reconnoîtring glasses, one aneroid barometer, and
several smaller instruments.
marshy edge of Suisun bay. After following this for a short distance, it passed over a nearly
level country, to a small creek with slightly brackish water. It then crossed a level plain,
bordered by low hills and dotted with a few oaks, to Suisun creek, where we encamped.
Much of the soil near the road to-day was rich and under cultivation.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
57
July 11.–The road was at first slightly hilly, and bordered by a few scattered oaks. It then
crossed a level plain, bare of trees, where the heat was very oppressive. We found a little
lake on this plain, and the dry beds of two small streams, which were evidently tributaries in
the rainy season. Towards the end of the day's march, the country again became undulating.
We encamped on a small creek, near a collection of two or three houses called Vacaville.
July 12.-To-day, we travelled among the low foot hills of the Coast Range to Putos creek,
where there were several fine oak, peach, and fig trees, and a vineyard. The hills could be
avoided by keeping further towards the east. Lieut. Williamson made the following note
upon Putos creek, in his journal: “Putos creek, at the most favorable point, requires a bridge
130 feet in length. The bed of the stream is now 20 feet below the banks, and the water
less than a foot deep. In the winter and spring, the banks are nearly reached by the water.
The stream, I am informed, was named after a tribe of Indians which lived upon its banks, and
which were known to the Spaniards as the Putos Indians; the word 'putos', being masculine,
means a lazy, worthless vagabond. Hence the creek was called Rio de los Putos. It is, how-
ever, generally called Puta creek, and sometimes Pewter creek.”
The road next crossed a dry, dusty plain, several miles in width, where every breath of air
felt like the blast of a furnace, so intense was the heat. We then entered a fine oak forest,
which skirted the banks of Cache creek. We encamped at the lower ford of this creek,
after having crossed at the upper. The following extract is from Lieut. Williamson's journal.
“ This stream has, in many places, a bottom as much as a half mile wide. The width of
the stream itself, at the narrowest part I saw near the upper crossing, was, I should think,
about 300 yards. At the lower crossing, it was much narrower, being only about 100 yards
wide, with banks 30 feet high. I am told that in times of freshet it rises so much as to over-
flow these banks.”
July 13.—Early this morning, we reached the Sacramento river at Knight's rancho, and,
finding that the most direct road to Marysville was impassable on account of mire, followed
down the river to Frémont. Here we crossed by a ferry. The water was low, the river being
only about 250 yards in width. At season of high water it is at least 100 yards wider, and
during freshets it sometimes overflows its banks for miles. It is bordered by a dense growth
of willows, sycamores and oaks. We followed up Feather river for about 8.5 miles, and
encamped near Nicholas. The road to-day was level, and often led through noble forests of
oak. There was little or no underbrush, and the country resembled a grand old park in
appearance. Many large squirrels were seen among the trees.
July 14.–For a few miles this morning, the road continued to be bordered by the noble oak
forest. The extreme shortness of their trunks gave the trees the strange appearance of having
been pressed down into the ground. On leaving the forest, we travelled over a dry, dusty
plain, which continued to Marysville, a fine little city, containing several brick stores
and houses, and presenting a very thriving appearance. It is situated near the junction
of the Yuba and Feather rivers. We encamped opposite it, on the former stream, which
was turbid from the gold washing carried on near its sources. The sediment deposited by
it is having a marked effect upon the navigation of Feather river.
July 15.-To-day we forded the Yuba river, and after passing through Marysville crossed
Feather river by a good wooden bridge. The first stream was about 200, and the second 250
feet in width, and both were bordered by low bluffs. Lieutenant Williamson decided to make a
8X
58
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
1
short march to-day, as it was necessary to repair the pack saddles. We accordingly travelled
only 5.8 miles, through a level, dusty country, and encamped on Feather river.
July 16.-After travelling over a very dusty, level road bordered by scattered oaks, we
encamped at Hamilton. The heat was very oppressive during the day.
July 17.--The road to-day left Feather river, and struck across a dry, dusty plain, to Niel's
rancho, on Butte creek. The phenomenon of mirage was very distinctly seen during the
early part of the march. We crossed Butte creek and Little Butte creek, about three miles beyond
it, and encamped on Chico creek. The country was flat and uninteresting. Near camp was
a rancheria of Digger Indians. Their huts were partly excavated in the ground, and roofed
over with sticks plastered with mud. When we visited them, at about sunset, the women were
sitting on top of their houses, engaged in shelling out grain which they had gleaned from the
neighboring fields. The men, nearly naked, were congregated in a large hut, gambling. A few
burning sticks in the centre of the group threw a flickering light over, the scene. The game was
played by four men, who were seated in pairs, on opposite sides of the fire, while the background
was filled up with eager spectators. Before each party was a pile of straw. One couple continually
twisted up, and threw into the air, wisps of this straw, managing at the same time to conceal
in it two pieces of white wood or bone. The other couple anxiously watched their movements,
keeping up a monotonous, guttural cry. Whenever they thought they had detected the locality
of the sticks, they clapped their hands violently, and their rivals immediately shook open the
suspected wisp. If the sticks were there, the successful guessers received them, and began in
their turn to throw them up; if not, the first couple continued. The excitement occasioned
by this simple game was intense. The perspiration poured in streams down the naked bodies
of the players, and their eyes glared in the dim fire-light like those of demons. Their voices
were so hoarse as to be hardly articulate, and yet they kept on, without a moment’s cessation.
They might well be excited, for, as I was informed, they stake everything, even their women
and children, on the result of the game.
July 18.–To-day the road lay mostly over dusty plains, destitute of timber. Dry gullies,
which in the rainy season are undoubtedly the beds of streams of considerable size, were
numerous. We encamped on Deer creek. During the evening quite an excitement was
created by the report that a grizzly bear was in the bushes near us; but the monster proved to
be only a burnt log. Grizzly bears are sometimes found in this part of the valley.
July 19.-We travelled over a slightly undulating country to Antelope creek, where we
encamped. The road crossed several places where there were sudden descents, of about twenty
feet, from a plateau to a lower level; and, in distances varying from a few yards to half a
mile, corresponding ascents again. These places did not resemble the beds of creeks. There
was but little timber near the road during most of the day's march.
July 20.--This morning Lieut. Williamson gave me instructions to cross the Sacramento
river, at Red Bluffs, with the instrument cart, and follow the ordinary route to Fort Reading;
while he proceeded with the main party to examine the eastern bank. This I did, without any
incident worthy of note. The country, which was slightly undulating, and occasionally timbered,
differed in no important particulars from the portion of the valley traversed during the last few
days by the main party. The following description of Lieut. Williamson's route to the Fort
is compiled from his note book.
“ After following a road over the hills, for about ten miles, this morning, we discovered that
it led to a pinery among the mountains. We, therefore, turned nearly at right angles to our
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-FORT READING.
59
former course, and struck across the hills to Beaver creek, which we found flowing in a small
cañon. We then crossed a rocky plain to Liver creek, where we encamped. The hills may be
avoided by keeping nearer the bank of the Sacramento.
6 July 21.--As far as Battle creek we found the road pretty rough. At first it crossed a ridge,
which might be avoided, with some rock cutting, by passing around the bluff. The rest of the
road to the Fort was good, a few short, steep slopes excepted.”
Fort Reading is situated on the northern bank of Cow creek, a little stream which discharges
itself into the Sacramento, about a mile and a half below the post. There are dry, elevated plains
northwest, and a steep bluff conducting to a higher plateau, east of the Fort. The buildings are
mostly made of adobes; but some are of wood. The locality is unhealthy in the summer, on
account of the prevalence of fever and ague.
We were courteously received and hospitably entertained by Major F. 0. Wyse, 3d artillery,
and the other officers stationed at the post. The escort here joined us. It consisted of Lieut.
H. G. Gibson, 3d artillery ; Licut. George Crook, 4th infantry, commissary and quartermaster
of the expedition ; Lieut. J. B. Hood, 2d cavalry; and 100 men, twenty being dragoons, and
the remainder artillery and infantry soldiers. Mr. J. Daniels was quartermaster's clerk, and
Mr. J. B. Vinton pack master of the escort.
Various causes of delay prevented Lieut. Williamson from continuing the survey until the
twenty-eighth of July. Dr. J. F. Hammond, United States army, the surgeon of the Fort,
very kindly volunteered to have a series of barometric observations taken at the post, during
the continuance of the field work. Lieut. Williamson accordingly left one of the barometers
in his charge. His observations proved of very great value in the subsequent computation of
altitudes upon the route, as is fully explained in the chapter of this report devoted to that
subject.
At the recommendation of Major Reading, Lieut. Williamson employed as guide and scout
an old hunter, named Bartee, but usually known as “Old Red.” He proved a valuable ad-
dition to the party.
July 28.-To-day we left Fort Reading, and began our journey towards the wild region east
of the western chain of the Sierra Nevada. Lieut. Crook, with the foot soldiers and the escort
train, had left Fort Reading two days before our departure, and encamped at McCumber's
Flat, distant 30 miles from the post. Lieut. Williamson, being detained by necessary business,
sent.forward his train this morning, and started about noon to follow it with his assistants, ac-
companied for a short distance by Dr. Hammond. We crossed Cow creek at a good ford, where
the stream was about 50 feet in width, and then abruptly ascended to a level plateau, elevated
about 200 feet above the Fort. We travelled 3.5 miles over this plain to the crossing of Bear
creek, a branch about 30 feet in width; and then began a gradual ascent. The road soon
entered a thick pine and oak forest, varied by occasional clumps of manzanita bushes. Grizzly
bears are often found in this vicinity. Our train had taken a wrong road, and we were com-
pelled, in consequence, to encamp without blankets or cooking utensils, near the small rancho
of Mr. Asbury. A rather cold and uncomfortable night was spent by most of us.
July 29.-To-day we started early, and continued our course through a thick pine and fir
forest, many trees of which bore long, graceful bunches of black and light colored mosses, with
an occasional bough of misletoe. We crossed two small streams, the first, Ash creek, about
ten feet, and the second, Mill creek, about twenty feet in width. The water of the latter was
very cold, its temperature being 47° Fahrenheit, while that of the air was 790 Fahrenheit.
1
60
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-NOBLE'S PASS.
I
At both creeks saw mills were in operation. The ascent to-day was much steeper than that of
yesterday. We reached Lieutenant Crook's camp at McCumber's Flat, on Battle creek, at about
1 p. m., and our missing train arrived in the course of the afternoon. We had gained an eleva-
tion of about 3,600 feet above Fort Reading, and the clear, cool air of the mountains was
delightful, when compared with the burning, sickly miasma which we had left behind. The
seeds of intermittent fever, however, implanted while passing through the Sacramento valley,
remained, and a large majority of the party suffered from this disease before the end of the
survey.
McCumber's Flat is a small opening, thickly carpeted with grass, and surrounded by a dense
pine and fir forest. Battle creek, after passing through it, disappears among the trees, and
with a sullen roar struggles furiously down its rocky bed. A more pleasant camping place
could hardly be desired.
July 30.-To-day, we crossed the western chain of the Sierra Nevada, by Noble's Pass. The
road, which was very steep, rocky, and bordered by pine timber, followed up a branch of Battle
creek. In some places it was difficult to drag even the light instrument cart up the precipitous
ridges. After leaving the creek, a very steep rise conducted to a long, gently ascending slope,
bare of trees, but covered with a dense growth of manzanita bushes. This slope led to the
divide, which was perceptible, although by no means steep. Its elevation above the sea was
6,260 feet. A fine view was obtained from a point near the road. Lassen's Butte with its
snowy crest, rose proudly above the surrounding mountains on the south. Far distant to the
westward was a long line of peaks, belonging to the Coast Range, while at our feet lay the
Sacramento valley. But we turned gladly from its parched plains to scan the rough country
towards the east, which we were next to traverse. The course of Pit river, as it came from the
dim distancé, and wound out of sight among the mountains on the north, could be indistinctly
traced ; while dark timbered ridges, with occasional plains, filled up the rest of the picture.
The descent from the summit was at first gentle, but soon became precipitous. The In-
dians had recently set fire to the woods, and the smoke, mingling with the clouds of dust
raised by our animals, was stilling. Near the foot of the ridge, we struck a small stream about
fifteen feet in width, called Lost creek. After leaving the road and following down this creek
about half a mile, we encamped with good grass and water. The forest was more open on the
eastern than on the western slope of the mountains, and it was now almost entirely composed of
pine. A deer had been killed on the march, and we had our first venison to-night.
July 31.-This morning, at half past five o'clock, the thermometer indicated 40° Fahrenheit,
a great change in temperature from the Sacramento valley, where it had generally stood at
about 65° Fahrenheit at this hour. We retraced our steps to the emigrant road, and after bidding
farewell to Dr. Hammond, who returned to Fort Reading, followed it through an open and
nearly level valley to the next stream, which was about twenty feet in width and called Hat
creek. Both this and Lost creek are branches of Canoe creek. After crossing the stream, we
left the road, and followed down the valley, without any trail. Light smoke, rising from the
summits of the neighboring hills, informed us that our advance was discovered by the watchful
savages, although we had seen none of them as yet. The route was good at first, although
somewhat obstructed by manzanita bushes, which delayed the little cart. As we advanced,
however, we had to pass several rocky ledges. The creek at length divided into two channels,
enclosing a small island. This we crossed, and following the western side of the stream soon
came to where it cañoned through a ledge, nearly vertical on one side, and gently sloping on

GENERAL REPORT - PLATE I
USPRR EXP & SURVEYS -- CAL. & OREGON
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NESS
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18
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NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-CANOE CREEK VALLEY.
61
$8.
the other. Crossing this with difficulty, we again struck the stream, and re-crossed it over
another island to the eastern bank. The soil became light, like ashes, and our animals sank
over the fetlock' at every step. The hills soon closed in upon the creek, and we encamped with
good water and grass. Lieutenant Williamson sent the guide forward to examine the route
for a short distance in advance. On his return he reported it very rocky and destitute of grass.
A barometer was broken to-day by the jolting of the cart.
August 1.—This morning we entered a rocky pedregal of scoriaceous trap, which taxed our
patience to the utmost. It was difficult to advance with the mules, but far more so with the
cart. We were forced to make long halts before a way could be found, and then to almost carry
the vehicle along by hand. Once it overturned, and the shock rendered the chronometers
useless for the determination of longitude for the rest of the survey. Instead of improving, the
road became worse ; and, at length, we turned towards the timbered hills which bounded it on
the east, and travelled among them for a short distance with more ease. Before long, however, we
found ourselves on the summit of a precipice of trap rock, at least one hundred feet in height,
which conducted to the lava field again. The cart was let down by hand; and we toiled on,
near the ledge which continued to bound the valley, until we suddenly came to a beautiful,
grassy spot, intersected by numerous brooks. Here we encamped, after a most laborious
march, having advanced only about 4.5 miles on our journey. A branch of the stream gushed
from the face of the precipice near our camp, and, after falling about twenty or thirty feet
vertically, united with another which flowed at the base of the ledge. The following note
upon these springs I extract from Lieut. Williamson's journal.
“A portion of the water of the brooks gushed from a spring in the mountain side. It is
highly probable that the main part comes from a cañon in the hills to the northeast, but of
this we have no positive proof. About a quarter of a mile below camp, all the streams, after
uniting in one, disappear entirely, flowing into chasms in the scoriaceous trap. Whether it
re-appears, or not, is not known. The united stream is about twenty feet wide, and belly-deep
to the mules.”
While examining the vicinity of camp with one of the party, I came suddenly upon an
Indian, evidently reconnoitring. He was nearly naked, and armed with bow and arrows.
With considerable difficulty we prevailed upon him to enter camp. After throwing him into
paroxysms of delight by the sight of his ugly countenance in a small mirror, we sent him on
his way rejoicing, appareled in a white shirt, and gnawing a huge piece of salt pork.
August 2. This morning our visitor returned with about twenty of his nearly naked friends, all
of whom gave us to understand that they were enduring agonies of hunger. After giving them
food, we left the miserable wretches collecting the offal which remained near the cook's fire.
The Pit river Indians are very treacherous and bloody in their dispositions and disgusting in
their habits. They are armed with bows and arrows, which they make with great skill. The
bows are sticks of soft wood, about three feet in length, backed with deer sinew. The bow
string also is of sinew. The arrows are made in three parts. The head is generally of
obsidian, which abounds in portions of the valley. It is carefully shaped into the usual barbed
form, and lashed by deer sinew to one end of a small stick of hard wood about ten inches long.
The other end of the stick is inserted into the extremity of a reed and also lashed with sinew
The reed is tipped with feathers, attached by the same kind of fastening. This weapon
inflicts a dangerous injury; as the blood immediately softens the sinew, and, on attempting to
extract the arrow, the reed separates from the hard wood stick, and that from the arrow head,
62
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-PIT RIVER VALLEY,
an
which thus remains at the bottom of the wound. It is said that these savages sometimes poison
their arrows by exposing a piece of liver to the repeated bites of a rattlesnake, and, after bury-
ing it for a short time, smearing the point with the half decomposed mass.
For about five miles to-day, the pedregal continued to be as rough as it was yesterday, and we
could advance only with great difficulty. At length, however, we entered a pine forest, and
soon after struck an Indian trail, which rendered travelling very much easier. It conducted us
to the bank of Canoe creek, which we found flowing through a fine, grassy meadow. Again
entering the forest, and continuing our course for a few miles further, we discovered a second
fine valley, carpeted with grass and clover. Near the northern side of it flowed a tributary of
Canoe creek, at least five times the size of the main stream. We encamped near the junction
of these creeks, with an abundant supply of wood, water, and grass.
August 3.—Some little doubt had arisen whether the large tributary on which we were en-
camped was not Pit river, and Lieut. Williamson determined to leave the main party in camp
to-day, and go himself, with the dragoons, to explore. He returned about noon, having fol-
lowed down Canoe creek to where it discharged into Pit river. It flowed between precipitous
banks, with many cascades and rapids. At its mouth it was eighty or ninety feet in width.
It received no important tributary below our camp, except a branch from Lake Freaner, which
flowed into it over a trap dike about fifteen feet in height.
In the afternoon, Lieut. Williamson sent one of the party to follow up the large tributary of
Canoe creek. On his return, the man reported that, about two miles above camp, the water
gushed furiously from some fifteen crevices in the rocks, thus forming brooks, which united and
formed the stream. He walked entirely round its sources, and returned dry shod on the bank
opposite the one on which he started.
August 4.-This morning the party separated. Lieut. Williamson started with the dra-
goons, to explore the lower cañon of Pit river, giving me directions to advance, with the main
party, to a point on the river near the mouth of Canoe creek. After leaving camp, we soon
found ourselves among thick pine timber and underbrush, which greatly delayed the cart, and
rendered it necessary to carry most of the instruments by hand. In some places the trail fol-
lowed along the side of steep hills, and several men were constantly employed in preventing
the vehicle from overturning. At length, in attempting to run over a manzanita bush in on
of these places, it turned completely over; so that the mule lay on his back, struggling violently
in the thick underbrush. After crossing one smaller branch, we finally succeeded in reaching
a fine, grassy meadow on the bank of Pit river, about two miles above the mouth of Canoe
creek. Here we encamped.
Lieut. P. H. Sheridan, 4th infantry, orertook the party to-day, with orders to relieve
Lieut. Hood, who was instructed to return to the eastern States and join his regiment without
delay.
The following extract from Lieut. Williamson's journal shows the result of his exploration
to-day.
"We followed nearly the same trail as. yesterday for about five miles, and then took a trail
running east, which led to Stoneman's ridge. I went to the highest point, and obtained
bearings to Mount Shasta, Lassen's Butte, and other peaks. I then ordered Bartee to follow
the ridge towards the south until he found a low depression, and then to endeavor to find a
good route from it to the river near Canoe,creek. This he did. I next went to the entrance of
the cañon. We found it impossible to go through it on foot, on account of the precipitous

GENERAL REPORT – PLATE 1.
U.S.P.R.R.EXP. & SURVEYS – CAL & OREGON
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MOUTH OF FALL RIVER NEAR CAMP 20.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-PIT RIVER VALLEY.
63
sides, which came down abruptly into the water. The north side was black rock, inclined
about 45°. The south side was infusorial earth, inclined from the horizon 60° or more. Not
being able to follow the summit of the precipice, I returned down the river to camp, near the
mouth of Canoe creek.”
August 5.--Lieut. Hood started this morning with a small escort, on his return to Fort Reading,
much to the regret of the whole party. Lieut. Williamson, with the dragoons, went to follow
the river bluff, directing me to take the train through the pass found yesterday by Bartee.
The trail led over several small, rocky hills, heavily timbered with pine. After passing along
followed down a gentle slope to the river. The soil was mostly light volcanic ashes, but the
trail was occasionally rocky. After riding a short distance near the stream, which was deep
and sluggish, we passed the spot where Fall river, after breaking in cascades and rapids over
a bluff about 30 feet in height, plunges into Pit river. About half a mile further on, we found
Lieut. Williamson encamped near a small brook, a tributary of Pit river. Its water was much
colder than that of the river, which had a marshy taste. Wood and grass abounded in the
vicinity. Lieut. Williamson had succeeded in following the river bluff. Where the stream
einerged from the mountains, and for about a mile above, he found the banks about 150 feet in
height, and very precipitous. The cañon was so narrow at its mouth that he could not enter
it on foot.
After reaching camp, I re-filled two barometers which had been broken. During the night
a mule was stolen by the Indians.
August 6.—This morning, to avoid a bend, Lieut. Williamson left the river and struck
entered a nearly level prairie, in some places rocky, and in others dusty. There were numerous
gopher holes in it, which were dug so near the surface that our animals often broke through
into them. After reaching the river again, the trail became quite rocky, and we were compelled
to cross numerous sloughs, as well as the main stream twice. At length we encamped near the
entrance of the upper cañon. A fire soon broke out among the dry grass and bushes, which was
extinguished, with difficulty, by the united exertions of the whole command. Another barometer
was broken and re-filled to-day. At night the Indians stole a mule, but it was traced, found
tied in one of their rancherias, and recovered by our packers.
August 7.-To-day Lieut. Williamson followed along the northern edge of the cañon, direct-
ing me to take the route among the hills with the main party. On leaving camp, we crossed
the river at a shallow but very rocky ford, and immediately climbed the river bluff, which was
more than 100 feet in height, and so steep that it required twenty men to pull up the instru
ment cart. The chief obstacle to travel to-day was a vast amount of trap rock, which covered the
ground in many places. In others, the heat of the sun had baked the earth, and made it crack
in a manner which rendered travelling laborious. We saw but little timber on the road; and
the hills were generally low, and not very steep. In passing over the rocks, one spring and
the axle of the cart were broken. I succeeded in transporting it to camp, but there found it to
be irreparably injured. The body was abandoned, but the axle was mended sufficiently to hold
the wheels together, in order to continue the use of the odometer.
Several Indians came into camp in the afternoon, and I saw one of them kindle a fire by
rubbing two pieces of wood together. A block of cedar, about six inches square and one inch
thick, perforated with a small hole, formed the lower piece. One Indian held this firmly on a
horizontal rock, after having placed a little tinder under the hole. A second took a round
64
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY- PIT RIVER VALLEY.
stick, apparently of elder, about six inches long and a quarter of an inch in diameter, and,
inserting one end in the hole, rolled it very rapidly between the palms of his hands. In a few
moments sparks of fire fell down upon the tinder and ignited it. These savages have a
fondness for smoking tobacco, which I have never seen equalled. They inhale the smoke, and,
after retaining it as long as possible, force it through their nostrils in an ecstasy of pleasure.
They mark their faces with black, as a sign of mourning, and with red, for ornament; but I
have never seen both colors used at once. Many of them perforate the nose, and insert a
straight piece of bone about an inch and a half in length.
Our camp to-night was on the river bank near the eastern entrance of the cañon, where we
found an abundant supply of excellent grass. I extract the following remarks upon the cañon,
from Lieut. Williamson's note book.
- The river itself was shallow throughout the whole cañon, and always had a space between
the water and bluff wide enough for a wagon road. No falls were noticed, and I saw nearly
the whole of the cañon. The bluffs were from 100 to 700 or 800 feet in height, and of basaltic
trap. The slope was generally of the debris from the rock, but often vertical columns of the
basalt were seen. In one place I noticed veins of a red material, the color of cinnabar.”
August 8.---After fording the river, which was about forty feet in width, we continued our
course through a level, grassy valley, bare of trees. Several grouse, duck and curlew were shot
on the march. We passed many pits about six feet deep and lightly covered with twigs and
grass. The river derives its name from these pits, which are dug by the Indians to entrap
game. On this account, Lieut. Williamson always spelled the name with a single t, although
on most maps it is written with two. We encamped on the bank of the river, which here
flowed between bluffs, from twenty to thirty feet in height, bordered by bushes. Large
quantities of obsidian were found in the vicinity. The river was about thirty feet in width.
Lieut. Williamson made the following note on the day's march.
- To-day we had a level, good, but tedious ride. Opposite the middle of the valley, to the
west, is an opening in the hills of considerable breadth. This looks as if the hills south of
the opening were the northern slope of the range north of Fall River valley. Opposite the
head of the valley the hills appear again. Near our evening camp, I went on a ridge and
found hills to the westward, not at all formidable in appearance, but which would still require
work to make there passable for a railroad.”
August 9.—Lieut. Williamson directed me to remain in camp with the main party and
observe for latitude, &c., to-day, while he, with Lieut. Sheridan and the dragoons, explored
the road in advance. The heat was oppressive, but the bushes near the river bank afforded a
thick and pleasant shade.
The following extract from Lieutenant Williamson's journal shows the result of his exam-
ination.
"We followed the Lassen trail for 2.5 miles, to where it crossed the river at the mouth of a
small, dry branch. We here left the road to take the old Oregon trail, which was very dis-
tinct. It led north up the branch to the divide, and thence on, in the same dir
struck a spring branch in pine timber, about seven miles from the river. I went on top of a
partially bald hill and had a view of the country. The hills followed to the north, probably
inclining to the east. The rest of the country east of the meridian line appeared to be rolling,
or slightly hilly, and covered with open pine timber. I was sorry I could not ascertain if the
spring branch had a continuous bed to Pit river. Its course near its source was westerly ;
AT
101
ve
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-WRIGAT LAKE-RIIETT LAKE.
1
but there is no reason to suppose that it did not bend toward the south, and discharge into Pit
river about ten miles below our camp. I feel pretty sure either that it sinks, (that is, has no
continuous bed,) or that it goes to Pit river. In the latter case, the railroad should follow it up.”
August 10.–To-day, we travelled over the route examined by Lieutenant Williamson yester-
day, and encamped at what he termed the "spring branch." It was a little creek about ten
feet in width, which flowed through a small opening bordered by pine timber. The stream
was so choked up with bushes, that, in many places, it could only be reached by cutting them
away. Towards the lower part of the opening, the brook spread out into a little swamp.
Frogs of a very peculiar species were found in the creek and swamp, in great numbers. An ante-
lope was shot near carnp.
August 11.–The party was aroused at three o'clock this morning, by Lieutenant William-
son's order; as it was very uncertain how far we might be obliged to travel before reaching
water. The head of the antelope killed yesterday, had been baked by allowing it to remain
all night buried among. hot stones, and it furnished an excellent breakfast. We followed the
wagon road through an open pine forest for about six miles, and then, finding that it inclined
too much to the west, left it, and endeavored to keep, by compass, a course N. 20° W. After
travelling several miles on nearly level ground through the forest, we emerged from it, and
found ourselves on a rocky plain covered with sage bushes. This we crossed in about six miles,
and, on reaching the summit of a line of low sandstone hills capped with trap, saw below us
Wright lake. It was a fine sheet of water, about eleven miles long and four miles wide,
bordered by tule. The banks were so miry that we were compelled to travel more than a
mile before reaching a place where the animals could drink. We encamped in the edge of the
tule, near some green willow bushes which supplied us with our only fuel, as even sage bushes
had disappeared after crossing the hills.
August 12.-Our course, at first, lay along the southwestern shore of the lake, where the
hills occasionally terminated very abruptly at the water's edge. The horn of a mountain sheep,
weighing several pounds, was found near the trail. After crossing the low hills which border
the lake, we travelled through a gently undulating region, dotted with sage bushes, for about
seven miles. We then found ourselves on the edge of an abrupt descent of 200 feet, which
conducted to the shores of Rhett lake. This lake was about fourteen miles long and eight
miles broad. It was bordered by a wide belt of tule, the home of vast numbers of water-fowl,
which rose in clouds at our approach.
On the bluff the trail joined an emigrant road, which followed down a narrow ravine to the
level of the lake. This ravine was once the scene of a bloody massacre. A party of In-
dians lay in ambush, until an emigrant train reached the middle of the descent, and then
attacked and killed nearly the whole party. Rhett lake is a secure retreat, where the savages
can escape among the tule, in their light canoes, and defy a greatly superior force.
The line of hills which borders the lake on the northeastern side, is separated from the tule
by a narrow strip of land, elevated but little above the water. This was covered with grass,
the rich green of which presented a refreshing contrast to the sickly blue of the sage plain
over which we had been travelling. The clouds of dust ceased, and we journeyed on through
a much more pleasing region. After riding a few miles from the bluff, we left the road, and
encamped on Lost river near where it discharges itself into the lake by several mouths. It
was a deep, unfordable stream, flowing with a very sluggish current. The banks were abrupt
like the sides of a canal. A few sage bushes and “bois des vaches” supplied the only fuel.
9 X
66
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-LOST RIVER-NATURAL BRIDGE.
.
We found, encamped near the stream, a party of men that had come from Yreka to meet
and escort an expected emigrant train.
August 13.—Lieut. Williamson determined to pass around the western side of Lower
Klamath lake, with Lieut. Sheridan and the dragoon detachment, to examine the route, and
to ascertain whether Klamath river flowed through the lake or not. He gave me instructions
to proceed with the main party to Upper Klamath lake, and, after selecting a good camping
place near its southern extremity, to await his arrival. Nine of the foot soldiers were sick, and
they accompanied Lieut. Williamson, to be sent, in charge of a non-commissioned officer,
through the pass south of Mount Pitt to Fort Lane.
My party left camp first. We followed up the eastern bank of Lost river, through a dusty
sage plain almost destitute of grass, to the Natural Bridge. The river was here about eighty
feet wide and very deep; but it was spanned by two natural bridges of conglomerate sandstone.
from ten to fifteen feet in width, parallel to each other, and not more than two rods apart.
The water flowed over both of them. The top of the most northern one inclined down stream,
but it was only covered to a depth varying from six inches to two feet. The other was nearly
horizontal, but the water, being unusually high, was too deep for fording. There are probably
hollows under both arches, through which the river flows. Emigrants cross here with their
loaded wagons. There is no ford for a considerable distance above, and none below. We
passed over without difficulty, and followed a well marked Indian trail towards the north,
through a level valley dotted with sage bushes and a few clumps of bunch grass. The river,
which was full of short bends, was often sunk as much as thirty feet below the plain. There was
apparently a good ford 4.5 miles above the Natural Bridge. The valley was about three miles
wide, and bordered by high hills; those on the east being well timbered with pine, and those
on the west nearly bare. The bunch grass became more abundant as we advanced, and the
sage bushes fewer in number. After travelling twelve miles from the Natural Bridge, we
reached a place where the river issued through a cañon from the hills to the eastward; and,
although the valley continued towards the north, it was entirely destitute of water. As the
distance to Klamath lake was unknown, we left the trail and encamped near the mouth of the
cañon. The general surface of the plain was here about forty feet above the water ; but it was
connected by a bench, about 200 yards in width, of not more than half that height. This
formed a good camping ground; being covered with fine bunch grass, while bushes and small
trees for fuel were found in abundance near the edge of the stream.
August 14.-This morning some excitement was created in camp by the discovery of a huge
rattlesnake coiled up under a blanket. The reptile was killed; but, as we all slept without
tents on the ground, unpleasant ideas were suggested by the incident. Our course lay towards
the north, through a narrow valley thinly covered with sage bushes and clumps of bunch grass.
It was bordered by timbered hills which gradually closed in upon the trail. We crossed several
dry beds of streams, and also the bottom of what, in the rainy season, was undoubtedly a small
lake. It was now dry, and covered with a white efforescence. After travelling 9.5 miles we
reached a low line of hills, which formed the northern boundary of the valley. Klamath river
forced its way through the ridge by a narrow cañon, and, after flowing along the western side
of the valley for a short distance and spreading out into a small lake, disappeared among the
hills towards the west. On reaching the summit of the very low divide, composed of trap rock,
we saw outspread before us Upper Klamath lake. It was a fine sheet of water, thirty miles
long and twelve miles wide, bordered by timbered ridges with an occasional narrow belt of tule.
Light clouds of smoke rising from signal fires upon several of the hills satisfied us that watchful
than

GENERAL REPORT-PLATE
U.S.P.RR.EXP. & SURVEYS - CAL & OREGON
UPPER KLAMATH LAKE FROM CAMP 28
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-UPPER KLAMATII LAKE.
67
WON
Tere
eyes were measuring our advance. We had struck a small arm of the lake, from which Klamath
river issued. Following along the eastern side, we crossed a grassy meadow, and encamped
at the extremity of a hilly promontory which projected into the lake. Excellent bunch grass,
with bushes and small trees for fuel, abounded in the vicinity. East of the promontory, a wide
field of tule prevented approach to the water; but the western shore was rock.y and bold. .
Snakes of various kinds were very plentiful. Several large rattlesnakes were killed before we
had been in camp an hour; and I counted nearly a dozen cast off skins lying within a rod of
each other. Two squaws came into camp in the afternoon, with a few fish which they had
caught in the lake. We gave them some presents, and they paddled rapidly away in their canoe
to spread the news. The water taken from the lake had a dark color and a disagreeable taste,
occasioned apparently by decayed tule. .
August 15.-We remained in camp to-day, waiting for Lieut. Williamson. Several good
'observations were obtained for latitude and altitude.
About midnight a sudden alarm aroused camp. The cook's fire had spread, by some dead
roots, to the dry grass and bushes; and a general conflagration was prevented only by the most
vigorous exertions. It was at first supposed that the Indians had kindled the fire, to engage
our attention while they stampeded the mules, and this idea did not tend to lessen the excite-
ment and confusion of the scene.
August 16.-To-day was spent in taking astronomical and barometric observations, while
waiting for Lieut. Williamson. A thick haze which covered the lake, entirely concealed the
opposite shore. The taste of the water was so disagreeable that several vain attempts were made
to discover a spring in the vicinity.
August 17.—Lieut. Williamson with his escort came into camp at noon, having made a satis-
factory examination of Lower Klamath lake. A description of his route will be found in
Chapter IV. Three broken down mules of the escort train were shot to-day, and every prepara-
tion was made for an early start to-morrow.
August 18.–The ridges on the eastern side of the lake, which were composed of vesicular trap,
appeared to run parallel to each other in a northeast and southeast direction, and to termi-
nate abruptly at the water's edge. A well marked Indian trail followed along the shore; but
members of the party who had explored it for a short distance reported it very rocky, and
impassable for the little cart," as the odometer wheels still continued to be termed. Lieut.
Williamson had observed several Indian trails diverging to the right on his last day's march;
and he therefore determined to follow a southeast course, hoping to discover some good pass
by which he could cross the ridges, and thus avoid the rocks and bends of the shore. After
travelling about three miles in this direction through a wooded country, he thought it best to cross
abruptly a steep and rocky ridge to the east. We thus reached a narrow valley, lying
between two steep ranges of hills, and filled with open pine timber. There was a large Indian
trail in it, which conducted us to the lake. A precipitous and rocky ridge rose abruptly from
the water, leaving barely sufficient room to pass along the bank. After travelling a short
distance, we reached a point where several springs gushed from the hill side, and disappeared
among thick bushes surrounded by luxuriant grass. The water was clear and pure, and Lieut.
Williamson at once encamped. Elder and service berries were found in abundance. A thick
haze prevented astronomical observations, and concealed the western shore of the lake. Snakes,
as usual in this region, were very numerous, and one of them glided suddenly among our
dishes, as we were sitting down on the ground to eat.
1
1
O
68
NARRATIVE AND) ITINERARY-KLAMATII RIVER-KLAMATH MARSH.
August 19.-This morning the trail, for three or four miles, wound along the rocky side of the
ridge which bordered the lake, and was, in consequence, very rough. Huge rocks, piled near
the water's edge, prevented the passage of the little cart” by that route. The hill side was
sparsely covered with scattered pines, but near the lake shore springs were numerous, and the
growth of bushes was often dense. Bartee, the guide, shot three bald eagles with his rifle, as ·
we passed along the base of the crags upon which they were fearlessly resting.
In riding under the projecting limb of a tree, Mr. Daniels was knocked from his mule and
quite severely injured. The country had recently been burnt over, and the want of grass
compelled Lieut. Williamson unwillingly to continue the march. The trail soon diverged from
the lake shore, and after passing over a dry plain entered an open pine forest. In a short time
we found ourselves on the banks of Klamath river, which was flowing through a fine, grassy
bottom, marked by a few clumps of willow bushes. Here we encamped. The river was about
150 feet in width, and apparently quite deep. There was a ford, however, a short distance
below. Every requisite for a good camp ground was found in abundance in the vicinity.
August 20.--Mr. Daniels was much better this morning and able to ride his mule.
As had been usual of late, a dense fog obscured the view for two or three hours after starting.
Our course lay up the eastern side of the beautiful valley of Klamath river. The bottom was at
first open, covered with green grass, and bordered by low timbered hills. We passed several
cliffs of basaltic breccia, from twenty to fifty feet in height, and occasionally ornamented with
rude, Indian paintings. The current of the stream was not very rapid, and there appeared to
be several fords. The trail crossed one large and fine tributary which flowed swiftly over a
rocky bed. After travelling twelve miles from camp, we reached the mouth of a cañon from which
the river emerged. The sides were of basaltic rock and pumice-stone, and very steep. Lieut.
Williamson estimated their height at 1,000 feet at the highest points. We followed the trail
over the ridge on the eastern side of the river, and several times looked down into the cañon.
Its course appeared to be straight in the main, but small bends were numerous. The ridge was
heavily timbered with pine. The forest was on fire, and an occasional heavy crash reverberating
for miles, warned us to beware of falling trees. The cañon was about four miles in length. A
short distance beyond its northern entrance, we emerged from the forest and entered a lovely
meadow, covered with clover and fine green grass. The ground was miry near the river, which
was deep and sluggish, and we encamped at the edge of the timber. The meadow appeared to
be an arm of Klamath marsh, and was evidently flooded at seasons of high water.
August 21.-This morning at daybreak, the fog was so dense that we could not see fifty yards
in advance, but the sun soon caused it to melt away. The trail led us over a thickly timbered
ridge which projected into the meadow. The soil was light pumice-stone dust, and fallen trees
rendered travelling somewhat difficult. At the northeastern base of the ridge we reached the
shore of Klamath marsh. This was a strip of half submerged land, about twelve miles long and
seven miles broad. It was covered by clumps of tule and other aquatic plants separated by small
sheets of water. Thousands of ducks, plover, and other water birds, made it their home. They
were so tame that they would hardly fly at the report of a gun, but it was useless to shoot them,
as the deep mud rendered it impossible to secure them afterwards. We surprised two Indians
on the shore, and endeavored to make them understand that we were friendly; but they evidently
distrusted our professions, and escaped as soon as possible.
Lieut. Williamson decided to follow the eastern shore of the marsh. We soon reached a
collection of Indian huts built near the edge of the water. Our two friends had evidently been
there before us, for the rancheria had been very recently deserted. Large quantities of food,
1

GENERAL REPORT – PLATE IV.
U.S.P.R.R.EXP. & SURVEYS -- CAL & OREGON.
INI
293
SA
MOUNT PITT KLAMATH RIVER & UPPER KLAMATH LAKE FROM CAMP 30
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-KLAMATH MARSH-INDIANS.
69

2
consisting mostly of seeds of water plants and dried fish, several canoes made of hollowed logs,
many baskets formed of reeds curiously woven together, and divers other valuables, were scat-
tered around in wild confusion. The fires were burning in front of the huts, of which there
were three distinct kinds. The summer lodges had vertical walls supporting flat roofs. They
were composed of a framework of sticks, covered with a matting of woven tule. The winter huts
were shaped like bee-hives, and made of sticks plastered with mud. We noticed only one of the
third kind, which was apparently used for a council house. A hole, about four feet deep and ten
feet square, had been excavated, and the earth heaped up around the sides. Large sticks planted
in this mud wall supported a roof made of cross poles covered with earth. The entrance was
by a flight of mud steps that conducted to the roof, from which a rude ladder led through a
hole to the floor below. Each of these structures is represented in the accompanying wood cuts,
together with some conical graves described below.
TUDIO
COM
The dusky inmates of the rancheria had betaken themselves to their canoes, and retreated
among the tule to what they considered a safe distance. They now stood, yelling like fiends
and shaking their weapons at us in impotent rage. Strict orders had been given that none of
their property should be injured ; and we passed rapidly along the shore of the marsh, sur-
prising a new rancheria at almost every turn. The number of these savages is very large;
and nature has given them so secure a retreat, that only a greatly superior force provided with
boats, could attack them to advantage. They paddled through openings among the tule, and
thus accompanied us, uttering hideous howls when the labor of working their passage did not
keep them quiet. We passed on the way one of their burial places. The bodies had been
doubled up, and placed in a sitting posture in holes. The earth, when replaced, formed conical
mounds over the heads. Near the other graves, but on a slight eminence, stood a new wall-
tent, such as is used in our service. It was regularly pitched and the front tied up. On look-
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-KLAMATH INDIANS.
ing inside, we saw a large mound about two feet in height, the base of which covered the whole
space enclosed by the walls. A new blanket was spread over the top. Here, doubtless, was
the grave of some great chief; but how the savages became possessed of the tent remains
a mystery. Along the whole chain of Klamath waters we noticed, in many places, large

ill
stones laid one upon the other, forming piles from two to six feet in height. Some of the
party thought that these were marks to show the trail when the ground was covered with snow;
but the vast numbers of them sometimes found within a few feet of each other, and their fre-
quent proximity to trees which could easily have been blazed, rendered this hypothesis rather
improbable.
After travelling about sixteen miles from the place where we first struck the marsh, we
reached a part where it was not more than a mile wide. Seeing several mounted Indians
hastily driving a number of horses across, we attempted to follow, but found the ground too
miry for pack animals. As it was almost sundown, Lieut. Williamson decided to encamp near
some trees on the shore. The only water was that found stagnant on the surface of the marsh.
The grass was good, but it had been eaten quite short by the Indian horses. As we had been
careful to do the savages no injury, they began to doubt our hostile character, and sent in a
few squaws as an experiment. As they were dismissed with presents, large numbers of men
entered camp, and made great professions of friendship. We distrusted them, however, and
kept a close watch upon the animals during the night.
August 22.- This morning many Indians came into camp. They were all well dressed in
blankets and buckskin, and were armed with bows and arrows and a few fire-arms. Their
intercourse with the Oregon settlements had taught many of them to speak the Chinook, or
Jargon language, and one had a slight knowledge of English. They owned many horses,
some of which were valuable animals. No offer would tempt them to sell any of the latter,
although they were eager to dispose of a few miserable hacks too worthless to purchase.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY--KLAMATH VOCABULARY.
71
The idea, which prevails in Oregon, that all Indian horses are of an inferior breed, doubtless
arises from the fact that such only are brought to the settlements for sale. Near Klamath
marsh we saw a few animals of a piebald color, whose graceful forms and clear, piercing eyes
showed very superior blood. It may be that their genealogy extends back to the Barbary
steeds introduced by the Spaniards into Mexico, and supposed to be the progenitors of the
wild horses of the prairies.
Near the spot where we were encamped, the marsh was not more than a mile in width ; but it ·
extended an indefinite distance towards the east, and the Indians informed us that the journey
round it was very long, and without water. They volunteered to show us a natural causeway
to the other side; but it proved too miry for pack mules. Our new friends all declared that
the best trail to the Des Chutes valley led round the western side of the marsh; and Lieut.
Williamson finally decided to turn back and try that route. We followed almost the same
trail as yesterday, and encamped near the southern point of the marsh.
A large number of Indians accompanied us, one of whom Lieut. Crook had formerly seen in
Yreka. These savages were intelligent, and in every way superior to those of Pit river. By
questioning them in Chinook, Lieut. Williamson, assisted by Lieut. Crook, obtained the
following partial vocabulary of their language.
VOCABULARY OF THE KLAMATH LANGUAGE.

ENGLISH.
KLĀMATH.
ENGLISH
KLAMATH.
Acorn ............ stup-ultz
Alive, life. muk-lux
Arm............. shish-am-e-ny
Arrow .......... ky-ish
Autumn
schoh
Axe, hatchet... schlak-ote
Bad ............ ko-its
Bark
ntsh-atz
Beard.
smokl-smankl
Bird.
yoke-ul
Black ..... wush-push-li
Blood ...
tcha-co li
Blue.
ketch-ketch-o-li
Bone ....
ka-ko
Bow ....
ty-ish
Boy.
kitch'-ca-ne
Bread.
sap-pe-lill
Canoe ..........
wountz
Chief.
lak-i
Cold
kah-ti-kah
Cow
mus-a-mus
uy-i-ta
Dead, death.. klah'-ka
Deer ........ lil-hunx
Ear ......... mo-mo-watz
Earth, land ........ kshun
Evening .......... lit-kah
Eye.
lolpe
Father.......... ptic-up
Feet....
patz
Fingers...... spal-o-wish.
Fire ........... lo-lux
Fire-wood.... an-co
Friend
tit-si
Girl ........... na-watz-ka
Good .......... titch-i
Grass
ksoon
Great, big. ah-tay-ne
Green ......... ma-ax
Hair.
lak
Hand ...
nap
Hat
tsho-nash
Head.
nos
sty-mas
Hill ..........
kin-ka-ny
House... lat-sus
Indian shoes .... wuk-schu
Infant
mu-kak
Iron ....
wah-ti-ti
Kettle
Knife ........ wah-ti
Leaf
ta-pac
Leg............. tsoak
Lightning lu-i-pols
Man
hish-watz
Money ........
dollar
Moon......... sa-pas
Morning ......... po-sant
Heart..
po-ko
Day ...
72
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-DIVIDE NORTII OF KLAMATH MARSH. .
Vocabulary of the Klamath language-Continued.
ENGLISH
KLAMATII.
EnglisII.
KLAMATH.
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
--
-
-
----
--
---
kis-up
whal-lace
shum
staks
kty
Mother
Mountain
Mouth ........
Nails
Neck
Night.......
Nose..... ........
Old man..........
Pipe, calumet.
Pistol.
Rain
Red.
River..........
Saddle .............
Salmon, fish....
Sea ..
Shirt.
Sky, heaven.....
Small, little....
Snake ........
Snow ...............
Spring ........
pshin
pshish
chick-ah
pa-ux-pox
an-co
klote-sus
tak-tak-o-li
ko-kah
kok-lus
tchi-altz
an-pu-al-la
tsho-lish
pit-eye
wik-a-ne
kah-is'
cha-ish
schoh.
Star .......... ktsol
Stick ........... kose
Stone, rock ......
Squirrel ....... tsutz-tsac
Summer ....... pa-ta
Sun........... wy-tah
Thou.......... naw
Thunder .......
le-mais
Tobacco.. kotz-kul
Toes ............ spal-o-wish
Tongue .......... pa-watz
Tooth.
tote
Town, village... to-me lat-sus
......
wah-ko
Warm
walks
Water
am-bo
White ............
pol-pol-i
Wind
scla-wa-is
Winter. lol-dum
Woman ........ schnah-watz
Yellow........... kak-kak-o-li
Tree...
er .......
YHL
August 23.--This morning we started with a large retinue of savages. The trail led through
open pine timber for about a mile, and then entered a fine, grassy meadow which extended
towards the north to Klamath marsh. About three miles from camp we reached Klamath
river, here a sluggish stream divided into two branches by a narrow island. The water rose
to the backs of the smaller mules, and Lieut. Williamson employed the Indians to transport
the packs across in canoes. This the squaws, who perform all the work, did by paddling
round the northern end of the island. After paying their husbands with red blankets, beads,
and vermilion, which they appear to highly prize, we continued our course through the grassy
meadow until we reached a clear, ice-cold stream flowing through open timber. Here we
encamped. The brook rose in springs about a mile from where we struck it, according to the
report of the guide, who shot three antelopes near its source in the afternoon.
August 24.—This morning the Indians left us. We followed a large but crooked trail
through a thick pine forest. Fallen timber of small size somewhat obstructed the way, but
there were no hills. The soil was light volcanic ashes, in which the animals sank nearly to the
knee if they left the beaten trail. The dust was stifling About 13.5 miles from camp, we
reached the dry bed of a stream which was fringed with willows but entirely destitute of water.
About five miles further on we came to a water hole, and, as it was nearly sundown, Lieut.
Williamson decided to encamp, although there was no grass. The water was good, but the
hole filled slowly, and the supply was scanty. Two more holes were dug a short distance
further up the ravine, but most of the animals passed the night suffering from both hunger and
thirst.
August 25.--To-day we continued our march through a country similar, in all respects, to that
...
1.
34
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-NEAR HEAD OF DES CIIUTES VALLEY.
73
traversed yesterday, except that it became slightly undulating. The dense clouds of dust raised
by our animals from the ashy soil were suffocating. After riding about 18.7 miles from camp,
we suddenly emerged from the dense forest, and found ourselves in the beautiful grassy bottom
of the Des Chutes river. It was here a fine stream about thirty feet in width, and fordable
although the current was rapid and the bed stony. We immediately encamped. At the water
hole, this morning, two trails diverged. We followed the more easterly one; but two of the
party by mistake took the other, which was equally large. It conducted them to a point
further up stream, and was doubtless a trail leading to the wagon road across the Cascade
Range, which Lieut. Williamson subsequently examined. The supply of grass to-night was
abundant, and of fine quality; the water was cold, and the position in every respect excellent
for a camp. Large numbers of delicious trout, marked with red longitudinal stripes, were
caught with great ease in the river. .
August 26.—This morning we left the bank of the stream, and followed the trail for about
seven miles through a pine forest. It passed over several low hills, upon which the soil was
light and ashy. As it wound considerably towards the east, Lieut. Williamson was afraid that
it might leave the river entirely, and lead to the Wallah-Wallah country. He therefore
abandoned it, and turned again towards the stream, which was reached in about 1.5 miles.
We crossed it at a good ford, and, to our great surprise, came upon an old nearly effaced
wagon trail. This we followed with difficulty for a short distance, when it seemed to disappear
in a thick growth of young trees and underbrush. After struggling forward for a short dis-
tance, we recrossed the river and again struck the wagon trail, which must have crossed to
the eastern bank, near where we entered the bushes. We followed it down the river. The
soil during the whole day's march was light and ashy. The country had been recently burned
over by the Indians; and we were beginning to despair of obtaining forage for our animals,
when a sudden bend revealed a portion of the river bottom thickly carpeted with luxuriant
grass. Here we encamped under a few small trees. The river, which was about forty feet in
width, flowed through a grassy bottom bordered by low bluffs, distant about 200 yards from
the stream. The current was rapid, and the water clear and cold. Trout were abundant and
easily caught. :
August 27.-To-day we remained in camp, and Lieutenant Williamson made preparations
to start to-morrow with Lieutenant Sheridan and the dragoon detachment, to begin the exam-
ination for a pass through the Cascade Range to the Willamette valley. The soil was so light
that I found it impossible to take astronomical observations near camp. The ordinary move-
ments of the men and animals caused a continual shaking of the ground, which disturbed the
mercury of the artificial horizon, although surrounded by a trench nearly two feet in depth.
It was consequently necessary, for every observation at this camp, to carry the instruments about
an eighth of a mile to the bluffs above the river bottom. In the night, Lieutenant Williamson
and others of our mess were taken violently sick. It was supposed by some that we had been
poisoned by eating trout caught in the river ; but I think that the sickness was probably occa-
sioned by some carelessness of the cook.
August 28.-Although Lieutenant Williamson was quite unwell this morning, he started
with Lieutenant Sheridan and the dragoons for the mountains. An itinerary of his trip will
be found in Chapter IV. The main party remained under my charge in camp, where the cus-
tomary observations were taken. Many crawfish, which when cooked were scarcely inferior to
lobsters, were caught in the river.
cra
TIT
10 X
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-NEAR HEAD OF DES CHUTES VALLEY.
August 29.--As the supply of grass began to fail, I moved camp about 3.3 miles down stream
this morning, to a point where the river bottom spread out into a fine prairie, carpeted with an
abundance of rich bunch grass. To reach this prairie, we passed through a nearly level country
covered with pine forest. We encamped near some small trees on the river bank, where we
found all the requisites for an excellent camping place. During the night, ice of considerable
thickness formed in the water vessels, and just before sunrise the thermometer stood at 15°
Fahrenheit.
August 30.--The day was spent in taking observations and computing. The glass crystal of
one of the chronometers was unfortunately broken ; but Mr. Coleman pounded a piece of tin
until he gave it the requisite curvature, and thus supplied an admirable substitute. He had
previously repaired a watch in the same manner.
August 31.–We remained in camp taking the usual observations. Early in the morning
the air was quite uncomfortably cold, and the thermometer ranged below the freezing point
until nearly nine o'clock. The altitude of the camp above the sea was only 4,129 feet.
September 1.-To-day we were greatly surprised by the arrival of a party of gold seekers
from the Umpqua valley, who were journeying to the Coleville mines. They had crossed the
Cascade Range by the wagon road south of Diamond Peak, which Lieutenant Williamson
subsequently examined. After remaining a few moments with us, they continued their march.
In the afternoon a corporal and two men arrived, bringing me orders from Lieutenant Wil-
liamson to join him on the second tributary of the Des Chutes river below camp.
September 2.-Our course this morning lay through a fine prairie, from half a mile to two
miles in width, and bordered with pine timber. The river wound through the middle of the
open space, concealed from view by a line of willows, and the trail followed its general course.
The soil was mostly of a pumice-stone character, but there was an abundance of fine grass.
After travelling 13.5 miles we found, by the greatly increased size of the stream, that it had
received a tributary from the mountains. As the bushes were too thick to admit of riding near
the water's edge, I walked back, and in about a quarter of a mile reached the junction of the two
branches. The new tributary was too large to ford, and the depth and swift current of the
main river threatened to give us much trouble in crossing. Beavers were very numerous in
this vicinity. Continuing our march we soon reached a place where the trail crossed to the
other bank; but the ford was so deep that the water rose, to the backs of our largest mules.
After searching in vain for a more shallow place, I decided to make rafts, rather than wet the
packs and endanger the animals by driving them loaded into the swift current. The men
worked hard, and at sunset all our packs and instruments had been transported to the western
bank in safety, on a raft formed by lashing dry logs together. The escort were not quite so
successful, and some of their property remained on the eastern bank until morning. The
river was about 150 feet in width; the bottom was hard and free from boulders, and the banks
were low and firm. The depth of the water and the swift current alone prevented fording.
September 3.-In examining the vicinity of camp this morning, I found the remains of an
old Indian rancheria, surrounded by numerous deer and elk horns. A little above the crossing
place on the western bank, several springs gushed from the rocks and united to form a stream
nearly fifteen feet in width, which discharged itself into the river.
We started at about eight o'clock. The trail led near the river bank, through a pumice-
stone region covered with pine timber. There were a few hills, and they gradually increased
in height and steepness as we advanced. The river abounded in short bends. About five
miles from camp, trap rock suddenly took the place of pumice-stone, and the stream entered
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-DIVISION OF PARTY.
75
the great cañon, which undoubtedly continues, without much interruption, to its mouth. The
descent of the river in this cañon is shown by our barometric observations to average about
twenty-five feet to the mile. A bend in the trail soon brought us to the summit of a cliff
above the water, and revealed a scene wild and beautiful in the extreme. The opposite bank
was composed of huge masses of trap rock, piled one upon the other in wild confusion. About
fifty feet below us, the river was leaping, with a low murmuring sound, from crag to crag and
apparently descending one hundred and fifty feet in less than three hundred yards. The dark
pines around us, and the remains of a deserted Indian rancheria, harmonized well with the scene.
After crossing several steep ridges, separated by small ravines, the trail left the river and
passed over an elevated plain densely timbered with pine. A few miles further on, we
descended abruptly into a narrow gorge, which conducted us to a small tributary. Here we
found Lieut. Williamson in camp, and an abundant supply of good grass and water. The
bottom was bordered by bluffs, about one hundred feet high, which approached each other and
increased in height, both above and below camp. Immediately after our arrival it began to
rain, for the first time on the survey. Some of the party, who had followed down the river
beyond the point where I left it, arrived thoroughly wet, a short time before sunset. They
reported their route execrable.
September 4.--This morning, after riding a few miles, we emerged from the forest, and traversed
an elevated plateau, dotted with cedars and sage bushes, and marked by a few low ridges and
ravines extending in a northeast and southwest direction. None of these ridges were over 300
feet in height. The air was uncommonly clear and pure. The white summits of several snowy
peaks began to appear in the distance, and we pressed rapidly forward. After travelling 17.5
miles from camp, we reached Why-chus creek, near the place where Lieut. Williamson had en-
camped on September 1st. It was a fine stream, about 30 feet in width, flowing rapidly over rounded
rocks. Its waters were slightly turbid. There was an inexhaustible supply of fine grass in the
vicinity, but Lieut. Williamson decided to travel on, and encamp near the “forks of the Indian
trail.” We passed through an open forest for the whole distance, and encamped on a little brook
which, a few miles below us, sank among the rocks. From a slight eminence above camp, the
snowy peaks of the Three Sisters appeared quite near. A large meadow, which Lieut. Williamson
had previously seen, and upon which he depended for grass, proved to be a cranberry swamp and
utterly impassable. A sufficiency of excellent bunch grass, however, was found among the trees.
Whortleberries, elder berries and service berries abounded in the vicinity.
September 5.--To-day we remained in camp, and I repaired the barometer which had been
broken on the recent trip among the mountains.
Lieut. Williamson instructed me to proceed to Fort Dalles to obtain provisions, and to examine
the Des Chutes valley, while he continued the exploration of the mountains in the vicinity. As
I had charge of a detached party during the remainder of the survey, it may be well to give a
brief synopsis of the movements of each division of the command, in order to render the subse-
quent part of the report more intelligible. Lieut. Williamson continued his explorations among
the mountains while I went to Fort Dalles. I rejoined him at Camp S, near Why-chus creek,
and we again separated. He returned to the head of the Des Chutes valley ; examined the pass
south of Diamond Peak; proceeded to Vancouver, and thence by water to San Francisco. I
explored the vicinity of Mount Jefferson ; returned nearly to the Dalles; and then, crossing the
Cascade mountains by a new pass south of Mount Hood, went to Vancouver. From that post
I proceeded, by way of Fort Lane and Fort Jones, to Fort Reading, where the field work ceased.
The next chapter contains itineraries of the routes followed by Lieut. Williamson.
2
Ꮯ H A PᎢ Ꭼ Ꭱ I Ꮩ .
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY CONTINUED.-ROUTES OF DETACHED
PARTIES IN CHARGE OF LIEUT. WILLIAMSON.
EXPLORATION NEAR LOWER KLAMATH LAKE.-PARTY.-WHITE STONE.-LOWER KLAMATH LAKE.--KLAMATH RIVER.—LETTERS.-- Cañon.-
PASSAGE OF RIVER THROUGH LAKE.—UPPER KLAMATH LAKE.--RAFT.-JUNCTION WITH MAIN PARTY.-FIRST EXPLORATION AMONG
THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.-PARTY.-FINE MEADOW.-SNOW PEAKS.- LAKES.—VIEW FROM MOUNTAIN. INDIAN TRAIL.—CASCADE.-
EXTINCT CRATER.-SUMMIT OF DIVIDE.--THREE MEN SENT.BACK.-INDIAN3.-FORKS OF TRAIL.-WHY-CHUS CREEK.-JUNCTION WITH
MAIN PARTY.-SECOND EXPLORATION AMONG THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.-PARTY.-EXTENDED VIEW.-Snow.–LAKES.-TRAIL DISAP-
PEARS.--CAÑON.--COMPELLED TO TURN BACK.--DEPOT CAMP AGAIN.-SECOND START.-DIFFICULT ROUTE.-EXTENDED VIEW.---TRAIL
DISAPPEARS. ROUTE IMPASSABLE.--COMPELLED TO TURN BACK.---RAIN.—INDIANS.—BAROMETER BROKEN.-RETURN TO DEPOT CAMP.-
NEW ROUTE.-ELK KILLED.-ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.—ROUTE FROM CAMP S ON WHY-CHUS CREEK TO VANCOUVER.—FINAL
DIVISION OF PARTY.-Start.—WAGON ROAD.—MAIN DIVIDE.—LAKES.—MIDDLE FORK OF WILLAMETTE RIVER.-ROUTE IN RAVINE.—
FIRST SETTLEMENT.–SPORE'S FERRY.--BROKEN DOWN HORSES LEFT BEHIND.--FENCES.-SOUTH FORK OF SANTIAM RIVER.—NORTH
FORK.-OREGON CITY.-FORT VANCOUVER.- SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENTS OF LIEUT. WILLIAMSON.
not accompany him on the expeditions. As his journal was written hastily and without any
view to publication, considerable revision has been necessary—so much, indeed, as to preclude
the use of quotation marks. I have, however, been careful to adhere to his own words as far
as possible. . .
EXPLORATION NEAR LOWER KLAMATH LAKE.
August 13.--I started this morning with Lieut. Sheridan and the dragoons to follow round
the western side of Lower Klamath lake, having directed Lieut. Abbot to pass with the main
party up the eastern side, and rejoin me near Upper Klamath lake. I crossed Lost river at the
Natural Bridge, and then proceeded on the Yreka trail to where the Oregon trail diverged from
it. We travelled to-day about twenty miles and encamped on a stream, ten feet wide, which
flowed from springs at the foot of a neighboring hill.
4.--About a mile from camp I saw a white spot on the road, and found that the
ground became white as I approached it. On the spot itself were fragments of a white, soft
stone, apparently clay. A piece was preserved for examination. About four miles from camp
we crossed a fine spring branch, rising at the foot of hills within one hundred yards of the trail,
and apparently joining the one on which we had encamped, near Lower Klamath lake. Three
miles further on we crossed another spring branch emptying into the lake. About two or three
miles further on we skirted the western side of the lake. The body of water was small, but a
large marsh extended for about ten miles towards the north. We soon entered pine timber, and
after crossing a pretty high divide reached Klamath river, a short distance from the lake. The
sick men were better. I prepared letters for the War Department, to send by them to Fort
Lane.
August 15.-Within half a mile of camp, the river came through hills forming a cañon. We
were obliged to ascend the ridge, and follow it for about six miles. We then descended, forded
the river, and soon reached the edge of the marsh. Our course thus far to-day had been nearly
parallel to that of yesterday. After taking several compass bearings, we followed a northerly
on V
JOURNAL OF LT. WILLIAMSON'S SIDE. EXPLORATIONS, COMPILED FROM HIS NOTES. 77
course to a spring on the edge of the marsh, where we encamped. The river comes into the
marsh, curves through it, and passes off to the cañon, without any visible connection with the
main body of water in the lake, which lies further to the southward. Doubtless, in the rainy
season, the water covers the whole marsh, and then the river literally passes through the lake.
Several deer were killed to-day; one of which, a very fat buck, was supposed to weigh over two
hundred pounds. The sick men were sent this morning, through the pass south of Mount Pitt,
to Fort Lane.
August 16.—We started this morning to follow up the Klamath river. Much to our surprise,
we came at noon to an arm of a large lake from which the river flowed. This proved to
be Upper Klamath lake. It was difficult to say where the connecting river ended and the lower
lake began. Where the tule ceased, the river ran rapidly between low hills backed by higher
ridges and was full of rapids. In one place there were falls from five to ten feet high. We
found the river everywhere too deep to ford. At the rapids, where many rocks rose above the
water, there were numerous deep holes; and near where it emerged from the lake it was twenty
feet deep. We fortunately found two old canoes, and lashing them together, formed a raft
upon which we carried our baggage across. The animals swam over without accident. We
encamped near the spot.
August 17.—This morning the sentinel did not arouse camp at the time ordered, and it was
about eight o'clock before we were ready to start. We soon reached the main party, which we
found in camp on the lake shore. They had been waiting for us two days.
FIRST EXPLORATION AMONG THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
August 28.-I left Camp 37 this morning, accompanied by Lieutenant Sheridan and the
dragoons, to explore the Cascade mountains near the head of the Des Chutes valley, leaving
the main party in Depot camp. We carried provisions for seven days. We were compelled to
descend the river about a mile before we could find a ford. Having crossed, we took a course a
little north of west, and in five miles struck the main river, which was sometimes one hundred
yards wide, and not fordable. Before reaching it, the trail gradually ascended, and then
abruptly descended to the water's edge. After following the river for a short distance, we
made an early camp, as I felt quite sick.
August 29.-Bartee, the guide, had followed up the creek yesterday, and found that, by going
towards the base of a mountain southwest of us, we could shorten the distance. We therefore
struck through the timber, and came to the river again in about five miles. The stream had
diminished so much in size that we inferred it had forked. In following it down to ascertain
the fact, Bartee killed a deer. I made a short halt, and sent a small party ahead to look for
the branch. They found it, and reported it larger than the one upon which we were. We
therefore struck across, and reached it at a point about a mile above the junction. It was not
always fordable, but we soon succeeded in crossing. A few miles from the junction we came to
a meadow, five or six miles in diameter, in which the stream again forked, both branches being
too deep to ford. We followed up the north branch to the timber, and encamped. It was too
cloudy to take astronomical observations to-night.
August 30.-We tried to cross the branch this morning at various places, but did not suc-
ceed until we had travelled 1.5 miles. Before crossing we came in sight of several snow peaks ;
and the stream was so large, and the view towards the peaks presented a prospect so favorable
for a good pass, that we determined to follow the north branch, leaving the other, although
it was the larger of the two. Our course lay sometimes through open meadows, and sometimes
78
JOURNAL OF LT. WILLIAMSON'S SIDE EXPLORATIONS, COMPILED FROM HIS NOTES.
among a dense mass of young trees and fallen timber, until we reached a lake a mile in
diameter, which received no tributary and was evidently the source of the stream. A
short distance beyond was another and larger lake with no outlet. We enc
lake, and Lieutenant Sheridan and myself ascended a bald hill, about three miles distant, the
suimit of which was nearly two thousand feet above camp. We had an extensive view. To
the westward was a low ridge connecting with the snow mountains. This ridge may be the
crest of the Cascade mountains, but there were successive ranges beyond it, some of which ap-
peared to be very high, and thirty miles off. There was no snow on them. Between two
overlapping ridges we saw a faint line of mountains, indefinitely distant and scarcely visible.
To the northward were the snow peaks, which we afterwards found to be the Three Sisters.
Two only were distinctly visible, but peaks of others were seen behind them, apparently sepa-
rated by low depressions. Between us and the nearest ridge were several lakes, nearly a dozen
in all. It afterwards proved that others were hidden from our view. To the southward we
saw a large lake at the base of a saddle peak. It was six miles or more in diameter, and was
evidently the source of the other fork of the stream which we had been following. To go to the
westward among the mass of mountains, I saw would require more time than I could spare, and
I finally determined to cross the divide among the snow mountains, which might prove to be
the crest of the Cascade Range. We returned to camp a little after sunset.
August 31.-Our course to the depression between the two snow peaks was nearly north.
The ground was covered with volcanic rock in ridges and masses, with steep irregular ravines
between. About ten miles from camp, we reached a good sized lake at the base of the snow
peaks. We here struck an old Indian trail which led us to the depression. In ascending, we
came to a beautiful little valley with a stream flowing through it towards the lake. This stream
issued from the hills with a vertical fall of about thirty feet. We at length reached the summit of
a ridge, which we supposed to be the culminating point. Its height above the sea was 6,303 feet.
We then descended to a series of small lakes, one or two hundred feet below the crest just passed,
and lying immediately at the base of the snow peaks. The trail again began to ascend, and,
at length, reached the summit of a ridge about five hundred feet higher than the first. On
looking back we saw plainly that we had crossed an extinct crater, which had thrown to the
southward the immense streams of lava we had passed over. Descending on the Indian trail,
we encamped on a little brook with a red earth bottom. Its valley was small, but there was a
little grass. The night was cold and windy, and the sky obscured by clouds. I sent a corporal
and two men back with instructions to Lieutenant Abbot to move camp to the second branch
below.
September 1.-To-day we resumed our march on the trail. We soon overtook two mounted
Indians, a male and a squaw. The latter disappeared as soon as possible, but the man pro-
ceeded with us a short distance, and then went off at a gallop to join his comrade. He spoke a
little Chinook, and gave us to understand that the trail soon forked—one branch going to the
Dalles, the other to the Willamette valley. About nine miles from camp we reached the forks.
After riding a short distance on the northern branch, we left it to follow down a small brook
which we had seen near the forks. This soon became dry, but its rocky bed conducted to a
considerable stream, a branch of the Des Chutes, called by the Indians Why-chus. Here we
encamped. Our barometer was unfortunately broken to-day.
September 2.–This morning we crossed over to the next branch, where we expected to meet
Lieut. Abbot, but he was not there. The road was good, and practicable places could be found

U.S.P.R.R. EXP. & SURVEYS - CAL. & OREGON.
GENERAL REPORT – PLATE V
SU
Se
SEN
2230
KVS
CASCADE RANGE WITH MOUNT JEFFFRSON, MOUNT HOOD AND MOUNT ADAMS FROM PASS WEST OF CAMP 40
JOURNAL OF LT. WILLIAMSON'S SIDE EXPLORATIONS, COMPILED FROM HIS NOTES. 79
for a railroad; but still there were low ridges, with gullies between them running northeast,
which would have to be crossed. None of them were more than 200 or 300 feet in height.
September 3.---To-day the main party arrived, having been delayed by the necessity of raft-
ing the river.
SECOND EXPLORATION AMONG THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
11
n
1
September 6.--I left Camp 40 to make a second exploration among the mountains this morn-
ing, accompanied by Lieutenant Sheridan, Messrs. Fillebrown and Young, Dr. Newberry,
Bartee, and the dragoons. Lieutenant Abbot started with a small party for Fort Dalles, and
the main body of the escort remained in Depot camp.
The trail passed to the north of the northernmost snow mountain, and crossed the divide at
a point much higher than some others visible a few miles further to the north. We had a
fine view of Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, and Mount Adams. Southward, two of the four
snow peaks forming the Three Sisters, loomed up quite near us. There was snow on the trail
near the divide. The ascent was steep, and impracticable for a railroad. Looking to the
north and east, however, the prospects were more favorable. A high, lone mountain, six or eight
miles north of us, interrupted the view, but it was evident that by going northwest from “Camp
I,” on Why-chus creek, and skirting the northern base of the mountain, the divide could
be reached at a much lower point, and the long sweep would decrease the grade. The distant
view we had would not leave a doubt as to the perfect practicability of this route; but a closer
examination might reveal many unexpected obstacles. It, however, seemed to be the only
feasible line between the Three Sisters and Mount Jefferson ; and it looked more favorable than
the route south of the Three Sisters.
Looking westward, we saw mountains beyond mountains, one mass without any apparent
regularity or design, except that we saw the ordinary illusion of a system of ranges perpendicular
to the line of vision. Whether we were on the main ridge of the Cascade Range, when on this
divide, I do not know. Four small lakes lay to the westward, between the ridge upon which we
stood and another, parallel to it but much lower. There seemed to be a water-course from these
lakes towards the north, but it may have been an illusion. A little south of west was the deep
ravine of a stream which received a branch from Mount Jefferson and one from the south.
From the divide we descended by a gradual slope, and encamped near the lakes. The grass
was poor and scanty, and a much better camping place had been passed a mile or two back.
September 7.-The trail led towards the west, this morning, over the low ridge that borders
the lakes. A dry water-course, which we crossed before ascending, wound towards the north,
and may or may not conduct to the Des Chutes. The strong probability is that it does not. On
the crest of the ridge I halted the command in a whortleberry patch, while I went up on a
small eminence, from which I could see the cañons of the rivers, apparently about five miles off.
The only grass in sight was in a meadow in the main cañon, near the junction of the two branches.
After advancing a short distance, the trail gave out where there was some grass and a few
small lakes. It seemed probable, either that the trail led to this spot merely for pasturage, or
that it was a branch from a main trail which we had missed near our last camp. While ad-
vancing towards the cañon, we became entangled in fallen timber and thick forests, and were
compelled to cross several steep ravines, in one of which we found water. Finally, on reaching
the edge of the cañon, we saw the river flowing more than 1,000 feet below us. To descend
the precipice proved to be impossible, although we tried at several places. Abandoning all
80
JOURNAL OF LT. WILLIAMSON'S SIDE EXPLORATIONS, COMPILED FROM HIS NOTES.
n
hope of obtaining grass, we at length turned back to encamp in the ravine where we had seen
water. It was after dark when we succeeded in reaching our destination.
September 8.-As the animals were suffering from want of grass, and as it was impossible to
advance, we went back as far as the whortleberry patch and encamped there. I took a different
route, hoping to find it better, but I was disappointed.
September 9.-In order to make a thorough examination for the Indian trail, if any existed,
I determined to remain in camp to-day while Bartee went in search of it. He returned at
night, and reported that he had found a trail leading north from the lake on which we had
encamped on the evening of the 6th. He had followed it for several miles. As there was no
other course to pursue, I determined to examine this trail to-morrow.
September 10.-We followed the trail which Bartee found yesterday. In five or six miles it
joined our trail from the summit of the main ridge to the lakes. We continued on and encamped
at Camp 40, where we had all separated. We found that Lieut. Crook had moved the Depot
camp to Why-chus creek.
September 11.--I remained in camp to day, and sent to Lieut. Crook for more provisions.
My plans for the future were to follow the trail toward the south and take any fork leading
to the west, in the hope of reaching the Willamette valley..
September 12.-This morning I followed the old trail towards the south, crossed the divide
among the Three Sisters, and encamped on the mountain brook.
September 13.-This morning we followed the Indian trail, with a general southwest course,
and crossed the divide of the Cascade Range. Many ridges and ravines rendered the route
utterly impracticable for a railroad. In the afternoon the trail forked; we took the right hand
branch, and encamped on a little brook bordered with grass. Directly east of our camp the
summit of the main ridge was very much lower than where we crossed. The night was cloudy.
September 14.-This morning the trail led towards the northwest. From a hill covered with
whortleberry bushes we obtained a fine view, and saw that our course from the snow mountains
had been winding around the heads of some very deep, steep ravines. We descended from this
hill to a ravine, and then ascended the opposite ridge, upon which the trail seemed to partially
give out. We therefore descended to two little ponds in the midst of a grassy spot, and waited
while Bartee searched for it. As he returned unsuccessful, I encamped, and sent him again to
make a thorough examination. Upon his return, he reported that the trail entirely gave out,
and that the country to the west was one mass of rocks and ravines, which were apparently
impassable even to Indians.
September 15.- I returned to-day to the forks of the trail, in order to try the other branch.
It rained all day, sometimes quite violently, and we encamped near the forks.
September 16.-It rained furiously, and we remained in camp.
September 17.-It rained, and we did not leave camp. In the afternoon three Indians, with
a squaw and horses, arrived from the south. They told us that the trail we had followed, only
went a short distance. Beyond were precipices and fallen timber, which could not be crossed,
and the only route in this vicinity, to the Willamette valley, was by the wagon road south of
Diamond Peak. I determined to follow the left branch of the trail, and try to reach the
wagon road.
September 18.-It was cloudy this morning, with every prospect of rain. While packing
to continue our march, the barometer was found to be broken. As it was useless to explore

U.S.P.R.R.EXP. & SURVEYS - CATI & ORFGON.
CHENERAL REPORT - PLATE VI
THREE SISTERS, AND CAÑON OF MO KENZIE'S FORK OF WILLAMETTE RIVER FROM CAMP P.
JOURNAL OF LT. WILLIAMSON'S SIDE EXPLORATIONS, COMPILED FROM HIS NOTES. 81
without this instrument, I determined to return to the depot camp. We encamped at a
small lake.
September 19.-We attempted this morning to shorten distance by following down Why-
chus creek, instead of taking the Indian trail. The road proved to be very bad, and nearly as
long as the other. There were miry places at which we had to unpack the mules, and travelling
was very slow and difficult. During our absence, Lieutenant Crook had killed a large elk.
We remained in camp until September 23, when the party arrived from Fort Dalles. They
had been delayed by the necessity of sending to Vancouver for provisions. While waiting, I
made many astronomical observations, for the purpose of testing the sextant.
ROUTE FROM CAMP S, ON WHY-CHUS CREEK, TO VANCOUVER.
September 23.-I gave Lieutenant Gibson official information that I now only required an
escort, composed of Lieutenant Crook, the quartermaster and commissary of the expedition,
directions to explore, if possible, a route which should cross the Cascade Range, between Mount
Hood and Mount Jefferson, I made every preparation for starting to-morrow myself for the
wagon road south of Diamond Peak.
September 24.-I started after ten o'clock this morning, with Lieutenants Crook and Sheridan,
Messrs. Fillebrown and Young, and the dragoons. We encamped where the trail crosses and
leaves Why-chus creek.
September 25.--We crossed the divide of the spur from the Three Sisters, and then tried a
new route, which proved to be longer and no better than the former one. We encamped near
the river, just below our old Camp G.
September 26.-To-day we continued our course, and encamped near the junction of the two
main forks of the second branch of the Des Chutes river.
September 27.-This morning we followed down the stream to our former Camp E. We then
Camp 37. We next followed the wagon road up the river, and encamped at the place where
we had crossed the first time.
September 28.-This morning we followed up the branch, which must have forked, although
we saw no tributary. We did not see Camp 36, and the road for half of the distance was on
the right bank. I suppose that the branch of the stream which we followed must have been a
north fork. We encamped at what appeared to be a general camping place, and which proved to
be the point where the road leaves the Des Chutes waters for good. A mile or two below camp,
the stream apparently received a tributary from the north.
September 29.-To-day we crossed the main divide. After leaving camp we ascended a colla-
teral ridge with a moderate slope, and followed it on an undulating trail until we ascended the
main ridge, which it joined just south of Diamond Peak. North of this collateral ridge, and at
its base, was a large lake, about ten miles long and two or three broad. This lake must be the
source of the tributary which we saw a mile or two below this morning's camp. The summit is
attainable at a moderate grade, by winding, as the hill sides appear praotioable. In descending
we saw to the south of us a large lake, five or six miles in diameter, which is the source of the
Middle fork of the Willamette. We descended on a ridge, in many places impracticable for a
railroad; but a descent could be made to the lake, by side location and winding to gain distance.
Thence the route would follow down the Middle fork, possibly through a cañon, and doubtless
11 X
82 JOURNAL OF LT. WILLIAMSON'S SIDE EXPLORATIONS, COMPILED FROM IIIS NOTES.
through an immensely difficult ravine. Grass was very scarce. Several streams coming from
hills north of us were crossed by the trail.
September 30.-We continued to follow the trail, and soon came to the main stream, which
we crossed twelve times during the day, and half crossed twice. The road is good for a mountain
road, if travelling west. This afternoon the descent was more gradual; we made a long day's
march in order to obtain grass.
October 1.--We continued on the trail, which was pretty bad. It crossed the river eight
times, where it was belly-deep to the mules ; I noticed oak for the first time since we left Pit
river, excepting a few scattered trees near Klamath lake. We marched until sunset, when, at
last, we came to some poor grass. Bartee killed four deer on the way.
October 2.-In a little more than a mile from camp we came to an unoccupied house ; half a
mile further on we reached a ‘residence. The grass was poor, but we encamped and purchased
some oats. Several animals had broken down on the road.
October 3.-We remained in camp, and all the animals were recovered, except one dragoon
horse.
October 4.-We started this morning for Spore's ferry at McKenzie's fork, leaving three
privates and a corporal with the broken down horses, to rejoin Lieut. Gibson on his arrival.
We found the country generally level, with a few rolling hills. McKenzie's fork was deep
where we crossed, and appeared to contain much more water than the Middle fork. We
encamped near Spore's house, where we purchased forage, as there was no grass in the vicinity.
October 5.–The road to-day was excellent, but greatly interrupted by fences.
October 6.- We made a good march to-day, following along the base of the foot hills. We
crossed the south fork of the Santiam river, and found a beautiful valley between that and the
north fork, on which we encamped.
October 7.-We encamped to-night at a house between Butte and Rock creeks. The road lay
among the foot hills to-day, which were mostly timbered.
Lieut. Williamson's journal was not continued after this date. On the following day he
passed through a slightly undulating, wooded region to Oregon City, where he encamped on a
bluff above the town. On October 9, he proceeded to the bank of the Columbia river, through
a country similar in character, and encamped opposite Fort Vancouver, where his field-work
terminated. He left his party with orders to join mine on my arrival, and sailed for San Fran-
cisco himself, to make preparations for the second survey near the sources of Carson river.

U.S.P.RR.EXP. & SURVEYS – CAL. & OREGON
GENERAL REPORT – FLATE ZI
.
RES
DIAMOND PEAK AND RAVINE OF MIDDLE FORK OF VILLAMETTE RIVER FROM CAMP 48W.
CHAPTER V.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY CONTINUED.-ROUTES OF DETACHED
PARTIES IN CHARGE OF LIEUT. ABBOT.
FIRST EXPLORATION IN DES CHUTES VALLEY.—PARTY --ACCIDENT.-QUE-Y-EE BROOK.-DRY CAÑON-WILD VIEW.--CAÑON OF MPTO-LY-AS
RIVER.--LATE ARRIVAL IN CAMP.--STRANGE CHARACTER OF THE CAÑON.-INDIAN GRAVE.--ASCENT OF CAÑON SIDE.-PSUC-8EE-QUD
CREEK AND CAÑON.-CHIT-TIKE CREEK AND CAÑON.---Wam CHUCK CAÑON.--GOLD HUNTERS.—INDIANS.--A SURPRISE.- Hot
SPRINGS.-WILD LATERAL GORGE.—-CAVES. BASIN.—MOUNTAIN.-NÃE-NEE SPRINGS.-MUTTON MOUNTAINS.—TYSCH PRAIRIE.
TYSCH CREEK AND CAÑON. FIRST SETTLEMENT. EVELYN'S RANCH0.–POTATOES.—INDIANS.-DEAD BODY.--BREAD OF KOUS ROOT.-
WAGON ROAD.-TYSCH MOUNTAINS.-FIFTEEN MILE CREEK.-EIGHT MILE CREEK.--FIVE MILD CREEK.-FORT DALLES.-OFFICERS
THERE.--CHINOOK WILLIAM AND COLONEL FREMONT'S SUPPOSED TRAIL.--DALLES OF COLUMBIA.-SALMON.-TRIP TO CASCADES OF
TRIC OBSERVATIONS TO DETERMINE DESCENT OF RIVER.--BURIAL PLACE.--PETRIFACTIONS.—SALMON FISHING.--WILD EVENING WALK.-
MEASUREMENT OF WIDTH OF COLUMBIA AT CASCADES.--RETURN TO FORT DALLES.-START TO RETURN TO DEPOT CAMP.—DIFFERENT
ROUTE.—RAIN AT NIGHT.-RUMOR OF GOOD PASS TO WILLAMETTE.—LARGER HOT SPRING NEAR WAM CHUCK RIVER.-INDIANS AND
SALMON IN MPTO-LY-AS CAÑON.-PAPER ON TREE.—JUNCTION WITH MAIN PARTY.---LUNAR RAINBOW AND HALO.- SECOND EXPLORATION
IN DES CHUTES VALLEY AND CROSSING OF THD CASCADE MOUNTAINS.--PLAN.-PARTY.-PREPARATIONS.-DIVISION OF PARTY.-START.-
TRAIL DISAPPEARS.-DIFFICULTIES.- LOVELY VIEW.--WATER BY DIGGING.-BRIGHT MOONLIGHT.--RAIN.-SURPRISE. IMMENSE
CAÑON.-VIEW.-DIFFICULT DESCENT.--PEDREGAL.--TRAVELLING ON FOOT.-CRATER.—RETURN TO RIVER.—EXAMINATION OF SECOND
CAÑON.-OLD INDIAN TRAIL.—PRECIPICE.--CASTLE ROCK.-BAROMETER BROKEN.~_TRAVELLING DOWN ACAÑON.DES CHUTES CAÑON.
PLATEAU. STRANGE HILL.-CAÑON GATE.-TRAP COLUMNS.--MOUTH OF CHIT-TIKE CREEK.-INDIANS.-RE-EXAMINATION OF WAM
CHUCK RIVER CAÑON.-JUNCTION WITH MR. COLEMAN'S PARTY.-BAROMETER REPAIRED._DR. NBWBERRY SICK.-TYSCH CREEK
AGAIN.-INDIAN WAR.--DISAGREEABLE PREDICAMENT.-KOK-KOP.-REPORTS ABOUT PASS.-RAINY NIGHT.—INDIAN COUNCIL.-New
GUIDE.--RETURN TO NEE-NEE SPRINGS.--START FOR WILLAMETTE VALLEY.--WIL-LA-WIT SPRINGS.--INDIAN SIGN8.-WAN-NAS-SEE
CREEK.-FALLEN TIMBER.~-YAUGH-PAS-SES MEADOW.-"KILL THE CART."-GREAT DIFFICULTY FROM FALLEN TIMBER.---NEW ORDER OF
MARCH.--BRANCH OF TYSCH CREEK.—WAT-TUM-PA LAKE.—00-LAL-LD BERRIES.--DELAY.-LO-AII-HUM-LU-AH-HUM PRAIRIE.--TY-TY-
PA LAKE.—GAME.--MOUNT HOOD.—Rain.-TRIANGULATION.--HORSE ABANDONED.-TRAIL DISAPPEARS.-INDIAN BLAZING. -PRECI-
PICE.--High MOUNTAIN.-EXTENDED VIEW-MAGNETIC VARIATION.-VERY BAD TRAIL.--VIEW OF THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY.--
Cañon.--DISAPPOINTMENT.-SPRING OF WATER DISCOVERED.-STEEP DESCENT INTO ANOTHER CAÑON.-LAKE AND INDIAN “STONE
HOUSE.”—DIFFICULT ASCENT.-UNPLEASANT INFORMATION.-WATER AND GRASS REACHED -Rain.-ANXIETY.- EARLY START.
EXECRABLE TRAIL.--VIEW OF THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY.--PEDREGAL.--FALLEN TIMBER.–CAMP WITHOUT WATER OR GRAES.--MULB
LOST.-SETTLEMENT.---NEWS ABOUT INDIAN WAR.—MR. CURRIN.-MULE RECOVERED BY SAM.-OREGON CITY.---LIEUT. WILLIAMSON'S
PARTY.-NEWS.--Loss Of TID ESCORT, WITH CORRESPONDENCE UPON THE SUBJECT.--EXTRAOT FROM OREGON STATESMAN.Gov.
CURRY.—ROUTE FROM VANCOUVER TO FORT READING, WEST OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.-START.--SALEM --MR. GORDON.--
CORVALLIS.—EUGENE CITY.-PASS THROUGH CALAPOOYA MOUNTAINS.WINCHESTER.—INDIAN WAR AND VOLUNTEERS.--MAJOR
MARTIN.-CAÑONVILLE.--DESPATCH FROM THE BATTLE FIELD.-UMPQUA CAÑON.-TRACES OF INDIAN DEVASTATION.---RETREAT.-
EscoRT FROM CAPTAIN SMITH-INDIAN DEVASTATIONS-HEROISM OF A WOMAN.-FORT LANE.-TABLE ROCK.---VALLEY OF ETEWART
CREEK.-HOT SPRING.-SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS.--KLAMATH RIVER.--YREKA.-LITTLE SCOTT'S MOUNTAINS.--FORT JONES.-LIEUT. CROOK
DETAINED.-DISAPPOINTMENT.-SNOW.-SCOTT'S VALLEY.-Scott's MOUNTAINS.—TRINITY VALLEY.---Trinity MOUNTAINS. CLEAR
CREEK - FRENCH GOLCH.-SHASTA.-FORT READING AGAIN AND TERMINATION OF FIELD WORK — LIEUT. WILLIAMBON.-ORDERS FROM
WAR DEPARTMENT.-SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENTS, ETC.
FIRST EXPLORATION IN DES CHUTES VALLEY.
September 6.-I left Camp 40 to-day, with instructions from Lieut. Williamson to proceed to Fort
party consisted of Mr. Anderson, who greatly assisted me in the astronomical and barometric
observations, Dr. Sterling, Mr. Coleman, and eight packers. Lieut. Gibson with Messrs. Daniel
and Vinton accompanied me with a train, to procure provisions for the escort, which remained
behind in Depot camp to await our return. My instruments consisted of a Gambey sextant and
mercurial horizon, one of Green’s cistern barometers, No. 1089, a thermometer, and a pris-
matic compass.
84
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-MPTO-LY-AS CAÑON.
As we were about to start, a horse, becoming entangled in the cords of the office tent, threw
it down and broke the barometer. I sent the rest of the party forward, and Mr. Anderson and
Dr. Sterling remained with me to repair it. As this detained us about two hours, we were
compelled to travel rapidly to overtake the train, already considerably in advance. Our course
lay through a thick pine and fir forest. The land gradually descended for about ten miles,
when we reached a fine open prairie, half a mile wide, lying at the foot of the black conical
butte, which Lieut. Williamson had selected as a connecting point for our surveys. A little
stream, called by the Indians Que-y-ee, trickled through the prairie, and then disappeared in a
small meadow to the eastward. Fine bunch grass was very abundant in this vicinity, and it
would have been an excellent camping place. After passing down the stream about a mile we
left it, and, again entering the thick forest, followed for about nine miles the western base of a
ridge east of the black butte. It conducted us to the dry bed of a stream. We afterwards found
a little water, about two hundred yards below the place where the trail left this bed. About
three miles from this point we suddenly found ourselves upon the edge of a ravine, then dry,
but doubtless, in the rainy season, the bed of a mountain torrent. The banks were about 300
feet high and very steep. It was about two miles wide, and in places thickly timbered. We
crossed it, and climbing up the other side soon beheld a prospect whose wild beauty I have
seldom seen equalled. The sun was just setting behind the snowy peaks on our left; before us
lay an immense cañon, the sides of which were rough with basalt, and heavily timbered with
pine and fir. In the dim twilight, which had already settled in its bottom, we could occa-
sionally see, between the trees, the waters of a large river, called by the Indians Mpto-ly-as.
But we had no time to admire the scenery, for the train was still an unknown distance in
advance. We hurried our mules as fast as possible down the rocky side of the cañon, which,
by actual measurement, was subsequently found to be 1,200 feet deep. It soon became dark,
and we were beginning to anticipate the pleasures of spending the night without food or
blankets, when a sudden bend in the trail revealed the cheerful light of the camp fires
shining before us on the river bank.
September 7.-We were encamped in a narrow part of the cañon, and as its steep sides were
crowned by vertical walls of columnar basalt, it would have been impossible for a pack mule to
get out of it, in most places. There was but little grass near camp. As a plain although
very bad Indian trail led out of the cañon on the south side, we followed it for about three miles,
hoping that it might lead to a better ford; but finding that it turned to the south, we returned
to our camp; crossed the river, which is a rushing torrent that swept away and nearly drowned
one of the mules ; and then followed down the cañon, trying to find a place where we could
ascend its northern side. This river cañon is very remarkable. Its sides vary from 800 to
feet in height. The river has cut down its bed to this immense depth through successive
strata of basalt, with occasionally a deposit of infusorial marl and volcanic tufa, which has
sometimes hardened into a kind of conglomerate sandstone, ten or twenty feet in thickness, and
of a white, gray, or reddish color. Often, as the banks have gradually receded, a slender
column of this deposit, capped by a huge piece of basalt protecting it from the weather, has been
left projecting high above the mass of detritus around it, its sides washed smooth and often
worn into fanciful forms by the rains of ages. It required but little imagination to see, in these
light colored figures, giants and monsters guarding the dark, frowning sides of the cañon. The
entire absence of all signs of life, the dull sound of the river rushing over its rocky bed, and
the dark green of the stunted cedars and pines, clinging to the precipices which confined it,
ONS

GENERAL REPORT — PLATE VIE
U.S.P.RR EXP. & SURVEYS --- CAL.& ORE GON.
39
CAÑON OF PSUC, SEE-QUE CREEK NEAR CAMP 41.A.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY~-PSUC-SEE-QUE, CHIT-TIKE, AND WAM CHUCK CAÑONS. 85
united with these wild unearthly figures to give a gloomy desolation to the scene, which was
not a little heightened by a solitary Indian grave. It was marked by a pile of stones, a short
stick with a piece of white cloth attached to it, and the skeleton of a horse, shot upon the last
resting place of his master.
We followed down this cañon for about five miles, when a rocky spur cut off all further pro-
gress, and compelled us to attempt the ascent. This, with great difficulty, we accomplished,
and found ourselves on a plain, thinly dotted with sage bushes and clumps of grass. We
continued our course, and, after crossing the bed of a torrent of the rainy season, came to a very
small stream called Psuc-see-que by the Indians. It was sunk in a cañon about 500 feet deep,
cut through successive strata of basalt, infusorial marl, tufas, and conglomerate sandstone like
that found in the Mpto-ly-as cañon. There was a little grass in the narrow bottom and on the
sides, and some small cedars, willows, and bushes near the water's edge. Here we encamped,
after a laborious day's march, which had brought us but very little nearer the end of our journey.
The view from our camp was wild and beautiful. Looking up the cañon, we could see the snowy
summit of Mount Jefferson closing the narrow vista; while the steep banks, with their strongly
contrasting colors of black, white, blue, pink, and red, gradually approached each other below
our camp, until they formed a narrow gateway, through which we had a glimpse of a little
opening in the ravine beyond.
September 8.—This morning our course lay through a lateral defile, opening out of the Psuc-
see-que cañon by a narrow gate, about half way up its northern side. The general character of
the country was similar to that through which we passed yesterday. In about six miles we reached
a fine stream called Chit-tike, which was sunk in an enormous cañon, 900 feet deep, very much
resembling that of the Psuc-see-que, except that it had a wider bottom and more bushes on the
water's edge. The grass in the bottom was coarse and not very nutritious; but on the sides -
there was a little excellent bunch grass, as is generally the case in these river cañons. We
crossed it and entered a narrow gorge which led into a valley, about two miles wide, nearly
parallel to the cañon that we had left, and covered with scattered sage bushes and a few stunted
cedars. This we crossed, ascended by a steep rise into a small basin surrounded by hills and con-
siderably elevated above the valley, climbed another steep hill, and found ourselves on the summit
of the northern divide of Chit-tike creek. Before us lay a gradual descent, appearing to reach to
the foot of a low ridge, which, after extending in an east and west direction about ten miles,
abruptly terminated at each extremity. Portions of the sides of this range were of a brick red color,
which gave it a strange appearance at a distance. As we approached, we found that a cañon
300 feet deep, with steep sides of basaltic rock and red earth, separated us from the foot of the
range. It contained a stream of considerable size, called Wam Chuck. In the cañon we were
much surprised to see a party of twenty or thirty white men, who were vainly searching for
gold. They had started to explore this barren region, in the hope of discovering new mines;
but, as yet, had met with no success. There were also several Indians, who crowded around
us with great surprise and interest. They were delighted beyond measure at a ludicrous
accident which happened to one of our party; who, being very thirsty, and seeing a beautiful, clear
spring bubbling from under a rock near the trail, jumped from his mule, and lying on the ground
eagerly filled his mouth with the tempting liquid. He instantly ejected it, however, with looks
of wild astonishment, and many grimaces indicative of anything but satisfaction. It was a hot
spring with a temperature of 140° Fah.
Wam Chuck river flows with a rapid current over a bed of large rounded rocks, which render
86
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-NEE-NEE SPRINGS-TYSCH PRAIRIE.
the ford a little difficult. There are a few stunted cedars in the cañon, but very little grass where
the trail crosses it. Its banks are often very precipitous, and composed of basaltic rock, and
earth of various reddish shades. The water of the river is clear and cold; and it derives its
name, Wam Chuck or Mil-lil-le Chuck, signifying warm water, from several hot springs upon
its banks. Some of them give off an odor of chlorine, and are partly covered with a thick green
scum containing soluble silica. Others seem perfectly clear and pure. The former class is
generally bordered by a white solid deposit from the water. Large rocks in the vicinity are
sometimes incrusted with the same substance. The springs often contain cooked grasshoppers,
bugs, and snakes, that have unwittingly taken a warm bath.
The trail leaves the cañon by a narrow lateral gorge, with sides in many places vertical or
even overhanging, and from one to three hundred feet in height. There are large caverns
high up in these cliffs, to which access without ropes would be impossible. The pass is a vast,
narrow gateway, whose wild beauty defies description. It preserves this character. for about
à mile, and then suddenly expands into a little basin surrounded by low mountains, and
abounding in very interesting varieties of silicious rock. This basin contains good grass and
a spring of pure water, thus forming a better camping place than the river cañon. We
crossed it, and toiling up a rocky mountain, until we gained an elevation above the basin of
about 1,600 feet, wound round its eastern side near the edge of a deep ravine, into which, in
many places, a single mis-step would have precipitated us. After gaining the northern side,
we passed over low, rolling hills for about two miles, and then crossed the dry bed of a stream
in a small ravine. Passing over an elevated country for about three miles, we next came to a place
where there were a few small water holes, apparently excavated by the Indians. About two
miles beyond was a very small stream called Nee-nee, or Willow springs. Here we en-
camped under a few fine trees. There was an abundance of good bunch grass, and our animals
fared better than they had since we left the main party. The Indians fully appreciate the
excellence of this kind of grass for their horses, and Nee-nee is one of their favorite resorts.
We found near camp a large deposit of fine red and white sandstone, which was beautifully
stratified.
September 9.–After riding this morning among low, rolling hills for about two miles, we
reached another moist spot called by the Indians Hy-as Nee-nee, or Great Willow spring.
Here the trail forks. We took the right hand branch, which led us, by an ascent of about
200 feet, to the northern border of the elevated spur upon which we had been travelling since
we left Wam Chuck cañon, and which is named, by the white traders, the Mutton mountains.
About 1,900 feet below us lay a sterile, treeless, basaltic plain, elevated 2,200 feet above the
sea. It is called Tysch prairie. The thickly timbered foot hills of the Cascade Range marked
its western border. About thirteen miles north of where we stood, a smooth ridge, yellow with
dried grass and unmarked by a single tree, rose abruptly; and, after extending about thirteen
miles in an eastern and western direction, suddenly terminated at each extremity. To the
eastward, beyond the enormous cañon of the Des Chutes river, which we could distinctly trace,
the plain became broken by rolling hills, extending as far as the eye could reach. The descent
to the prairie was very steep, and we afterwards found that the left branch of the trail at
Hy-as Nee-nee, was much the better of the two; since it followed the gradual slope of a ravine,
and joined the other soon after gaining the prairie. This ravine, although entirely dry in the
summer, is, in the rainy season, the bed of a torrent, whose rocky course, near the base of the
Mutton mountains, we found bordered by stunted oaks, the first we had seen for many miles. After
0
.

29
U.S.P RR. EXP & SURVEYS - CAL & OREGON
GENERAL REPORT PLATE IX
See
MOUNT HOOD FROM TYSCH PRAIRIE
NARRATIVE Y
UL
TI
87
AND ITINERARY-TYSCII CREEK-FORT DALLES.
crossing Tysch prairie we reached the edge of the deep cañon of a creek of the same name,
short distance above the junction of two branches, the first of which was turbid with sand, but
the second clear and pure. Both fords were good. There was considerable grass on the
sides of this cañon, and a narrow strip of good land in the bottom, and we saw before us, with
a feeling of strange pleasure, a settler's log cabin and a fenced field. This rancho, together
with a ferry across the Des Chutes river, near the mouth of Tysch creek, belonged to Mr.
Evelyn, formerly of Cleveland, Ohio, who treated us with great kindness, both at this time
and subsequently. We encamped on the creek, and feasted sumptuously on some fine potatoes,
which were fully appreciated, as the want of fresh vegetables had begun to cause scurvy among
the party.
There was, near our camp, a large rancheria of Indians, among whom a disease resembling
the cholera had been raging. About thirty had recently died; and, in accordance with their
customs, the relations of the deceased spent their nights among the rocks of the cañon sides,
shrieking and howling in lamentation. These sounds, now near, and now remote, were very
mournful and impressive as we lay around our camp fire. We felt less sympathy for their
afiliction, because one of our party, who had found a dead body lying in the bushes near us,
had been told rather disdainfully by an Indian to whom he pointed it out, that it was only a
prisoner, not worth burying. The ground near the rancheria was strewed with kous, a root
from which they make a kind of very hard bread called "sup-pal-le." It had belonged to
their dead, and had, on this account, been thrown away as ill-omened.
wagon road leading from the Dalles to the Willamette valley. It is very mountainous, and
bad for wagons. We had a good specimen of its character while toiling up the range of low
trap mountains north of Tysch creek, where the road gained an elevation of about 1,500 feet
above the stream, by an ascent in many places so steep, that it was difficult to conceive of
heavily loaded wagons passing up or down. After reaching the summit, our course lay over
à gently undulating country covered with bunch grass. About ten miles from camp we
crossed a small, dry ravine. In about seven miles more we entered, by a lateral defile, a fine
open valley, containing several ranchos on the banks of a small, clear stream, called Fifteen
Mile creek. The road now became very hilly. Between four and five miles further on, we
crossed another stream, called Eight Mile creeek; and in two miles more, another, called Five
Mile creek. Two miles more brought us to a beautiful valley, and on climbing the hills
beyond, a noble panorama burst upon our view. The grand snow peaks of Mount Adams and
Mount Hood, connected by dark fir-covered ridges, formed the background. In the distance,
the broad Columbia wound through a terraced valley, and disappeared among the mountain
gorges; while in the foreground, our national flag waving over the little town of the Dalles
showed us that the wished for goal was won.
The fort is pleasantly situated on a small creek, about a mile south of the town, and is con-
siderably elevated above it. We were received with great kindness by Major Haller, Captain
Auger, Lieutenants Forsythe, Macfeely, and Dearing, of the 4th infantry, and Dr. Hammond,
the officers then stationed at the post. Everything which could contribute to our comfort was
thoughtfully supplied during our stay. I am also indebted to Major Haller for giving me much
valuable topographical information about the country in the vicinity of the Dalles.
While waiting for provisions from Vancouver, I had an interview with William, a Chinook
88
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA.
Indian whom Colonel Frémont carried, in 1843, to the eastern States to be educated. I asked
him very particularly about a summer trail up the Des Chutes valley, which Colonel Frémont
was informed lay nearer the Cascade mountains than the one he followed. The Indian assured
me that there was no such trail, and that, “if I wanted to take my pack mules through that
region, I must go first with pick and shovel and make a trail, and then return for the animals."
Although I questioned many white men and Indians about this trail, I could never find
one that had even heard of it, and I am satisfied, from my own subsequent explorations, that
none such exists. Colonel Frémont was, undoubtedly, misled by false reports; and the trail
seen by him on December 4, 1843, probably terminated, like many which disappointed us in
the same vicinity, in a whortleberry patch.
At the Dalles of the Columbia, situated a short distance above the town, the river rushes
through a chasm only about 200 feet wide, with vertical basaltic sides rising from 20 to 30 feet
above the water. Steep hills closely border the chasm, leaving, in some places, scarcely room
on the terrace to pass on horseback. The water rushes through this basaltic trough with such
violence, that it is always dangerous, and in some stages of the water impossible, for a boat to
pass down. The contraction of the river bed extends for about three miles. Near the lower end
of it, the channel divides into several sluices and then gradually becomes broader, until, near
the town where it makes a great bend to the south, it is over a quarter of a mile in width. The
Dalles is a favorite fishing resort for the Indians ; and we saw, on the river bank, many piles
of salmon which they had preserved for winter use. There are many fine specimens of columnar
basalt in this vicinity, and the banks rise in low basaltic terraces, which, on the northern side
opposite the town, are very rough and broken..
Our provisions arrived from Vancouver on September 16, and my men immediately began to
prepare them for transportation on the pack mules.
September 17.-To-day I went, by steamboat, to make a rough reconnaissance of the river as
far down as the Cascades, and to determine its descent there, leaving orders with Mr. Coleman
to start for the Depot camp as soon as the provisions were ready. A small steamboat runs
from the Dalles to the Cascades, where there is a land portage four miles and a half in length.
From its lower terminus, another steamboat runs to Vancouver, and thence to Portland in the
Willamette valley. I feel under great obligations to Captain W. B. Wells, the chief proprietor
of this line of steamboats, and to Mr. L. W. Coe, an artist by profession, but now connected
with the company, for their personal kindness, and for the valuable topographical information
which they furnished.
In passing down the Columbia from the Dalles, the natural scenery was of the most magnificent
description. The river soon entered a gorge of the Cascade Range, and wound through a wilder-
ness of mountains, whose silent grandeur was truly impressive. In about ten miles we passed
the narrow entrance of the cañon of Klik-a-tat river, a mountain stream flowing from the north.
Soon afterwards we passed the Mam-a-loos islands, the lonely resting place of a departed nation of
red men, whose bones lay bleaching in the sun. The method of burial had been very simple. Four
stakes, interlaced with twigs and covered with brush, formed a tomb, which had been gradually
filled with dead bodies, and then abandoned to the wind and rain. Ten miles more brought us
to Dog River valley, a little, fertile spot extending towards Mount Hood, and forming a pleasing
contrast to the savage mountains by which it was bordered. Nearly opposite was the mouth of
White Salmon river, which struggled through a narrow gorge opening towards Mount Adams.
About ten miles further on, we passed on the northern bank Wind mountain, a round isolated
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-CASCADES OF THE COLUMBIA.
89
peak so steep that to ascend it from the river side would probably be impossible. Near its base
is the mouth of a small stream called Wind river, which appeared to be formed by the junc-
tion of two branches behind the mountain. On the opposite bank the ridges, rising very abruptly
from the river, seemed to be formed of loose stones, which would render excavation for a road
very difficult and dangerous.
It is in this vicinity that the celebrated submerged forests are mostly found. They consist of
numerous dead trees, stripped of their smaller branches, but still standing upright in the deep water
near the river banks, and presenting every appearance of having grown there. As these trees
could never have grown under water, their present position has given rise to much speculation.
It has been suggested that they may have been transplanted from the neighboring mountains
by vast avalanches. It is possible that this may be true in a few places, but not in all, as they
are sometimes found where the position of the mountains precludes the idea. Another theory,
which I think much more plausible, is, that formerly a great slide occurred at the Cascades,
about fifteen miles below Wind mountain, and formed a dam; which, by raising the water above
it, submerged and killed the forests growing on the banks. The appearance of the Cascades
tends to confirm this idea. For four miles and a half the river rushes through a gorge, bordered
by high and very precipitous ridges, and only about nine hundred feet wide in the narrowest part.
Above, it expands into a kind of lake, about a mile and a half in width, containing several islands.
We reached the landing above the Cascades early in the afternoon, and were much pleased to
find that it was not raining there, as it very often does in September. I took a careful reading
of the barometer at the water's edge near the landing, and another at the foot of the principal
rapid, about a quarter of a mile below; subsequent calculations give a difference of level of 34
feet between these stations. I then walked with Captain Wells to the lower landing, about four
miles and a half from where we first went on shore, and took a third reading; from which the
total descent in that distance was afterwards found by computation to be 61 feet. During high
water the portage is much shortened, as the boats can ascend nearly to the foot of the principal
rapid.
The wild grandeur of this place, for which Rapids would be a more appropriate name than
Cascades, surpasses description. The river rushes furiously over a narrow bed filled with
boulders and bordered by mountains, which echo back the roar of the waters. The path, winding
through a thick forest on the northern bank, suddenly crosses an Indian burial place, where
whitened bones strew the ground on every side, and fill one with amazement at the vast numbers
of the dead. Petrifactions are abundant; and stumps closely resembling those of trees recently
cut, are often found to be solid rock, with bark and woody fibre perfectly preserved. Salmon
pass up the river in great numbers ; and the Cascades, at certain seasons of the year, are a
favorite fishing resort with the Indians, who build slight stagings over the water's edge, and
spear the fish, or catch them in rude dip nets, as they slowly force their way up against the cur-
rent. I passed through a rancheria of these savages, on my return in the evening from the
lower landing. Their hideous faces, strongly painted on the darkness behind them by the
flickering light of the fire around which they were crouching, and their mournful howls blended
with the baying of their dogs at my intrusion, harmonized well with the ceaseless roar of the
of the forest cemetery, among the dry bones of which I turned to grope
my way.
September 18.-This morning. I returned by steamboat to Fort Dalles, after measuring
the width of the river, by triangulation, in two places near the principal rapid. It proved to
12 X
90
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-REJOIN MAIN PARTY.
depot camp, I settled all accounts, and made every preparation for following it on the next
morning. Dr. Sterling here left the party.
September 19.–Starting alone this morning to overtake the train, I travelled over the same
gently sloping ravine. In about 10 miles it conducted to the wagon road again, 3 miles from
Tysch mountains. By a little side cutting, a road could be made in this ravine, shorter and
better than the one at present used. I overtook my party at Tysch creek, and encamped there.
We slept, as usual, without tents, and a shower in the middle of the night gave us an unpleasant
surprise. It was but a poor consolation to reflect that they might now be expected at any time,
as the rainy season had commenced.
September 20.-This morning a half-breed informed me that there was a good pass to the
S
This information had an important effect upon our future movements. To-day we continued
our journey back over the trail by which we had come, and encamped at Nee-nee springs.
September 21.-At Wam Chuck river I examined a warm spring larger than any I had seen
before. The great flat rock through which it rose, seemed unstable, for stepping on it caused
the water to bubble up more freely. The spring seemed to flow from a number of small holes
in a place 15 or 20 feet in diameter, and its temperature was 1450 Fahrenheit. It was on the
northern bank of the river, about a quarter of a mile above the point where the trail crossed.
Access to it was rather difficult, on account of the narrow character of the cañon, but it well
repaid the trouble of a visit. We encamped on Chit-tike creek.
September 22.–To day we encamped, at the same place as before, in the Mpto-ly-as river
cañon. Here we met a party of Indians, with their squaws and children, travelling north.
They caught several salmon in the river; one of which, weighing about twenty-five pounds,
we bought. They spear the fish with barbed iron points, fitted loosely by sockets to the end
of poles about eight feet long. When the point pierces the fish, it separates from the end of
the pole, but remains strongly secured to it by a thong about twelve feet in length. This
prevents the salmon from breaking the pole in his struggles. A member of our party shot
with a pistol and secured one of these fish, of which there were many in the river. Our
animals suffered from want of grass to-night.
September 23.–To day we followed the old trail to the black butte,” where we found a
paper on one of the trees, stating that the main party was in camp on Why-chus creek, about
seven miles towards the south. We struck through the woods, and soon saw the white tents
in an open prairie covered with grass and bordered by fine timber. Near it, the brook
Que-y-ee, after spreading out into a meadow, disappeared. This little opening, amid forest-clad
mountains and grand snow peaks, furnished a camping place, the wild beauty of which I have
seldom seen equalled. This was enhanced, in the evening, by a magnificent lunar rainbow,
and a beautifully tinted halo round the moon; both of which appeared at the same time in
different quarters of the heavens. It is a singular coincidence that Col. Frémont, the only
explorer who ever preceded us in this region, saw the same rare phenomenon of a lunar rain-
bow, within about twenty miles of this spot, in 1843.

U.S.P.RR.EXP & SURVEYS - CAL
GENERAL
OLHOON
REPORT - PLATE X
K
MOUNT JEFFERSON AND BLACK BUTTE FROM CAMPS
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-FINAL SEPARATION.
91
SECOND EXPLORATION IN DES CHUTES VALLEY, AND CROSSING OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
TIT
September 24.--The party again separated at Camp Son Why-chus creek. Lieut. Willian-
son dispensed with the future services of all the escort, except Lieut. Sheridan, with his dragoon
detachment of twenty-five men, and Lieut. Crook, the quartermaster and commissary of the
expedition. Accompanied by this small party, with Messrs. Fillebrown, Young, Bartee, and
three packers, he started to cross the mountains near Diamond Peak, and follow down the
Willamette valley to Vancouver, Lieut. Gibson, with the rest of the escort, started for Fort
Lane. Dr. Newberry, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Coleman, and fourteen packers, with all the spare
animals and most of the baggage, remained with me in camp. My orders were to explore the
mountains to the north; cross them where I best could; and rejoin Lieut. Williamson at Van-
couver. Not anticipating any Indian troubles, we considered my party sufficiently strong
for this purpose. The day was spent in recruiting the animals, and in repairing a broken
C
IU
September 25.-In the morning we travelled about eight miles towards the base of the
6 black butte," and encamping on Que-y-ee brook, near where we had crossed it in going to
the Dalles, spent the rest of the day in completing our arrangements. I had already seen that
no railroad could be built in the valley near the Des Chutes river. It now remained to explore
the region near the eastern base of the foot hills. Having about eighty animals, many of
which were almost broken down, I decided to divide my command, and examine the unknown
region with a light scouting party, while Mr. Coleman, in charge of the rest of the train,
should return by our former trail to Nee-nee springs, and recruit the animals on the excellent
bunch grass there, until I should join him.
The brook Que-y-ee, near camp, was clear and cold, but rendered difficult of access by thick
bushes, and in some places by miry banks. There was plenty of bunch grass in the vicinity,
but the dense forest which surrounded us rendered the loss of animals probable.
September 26.—This morning we separated. My little party consisted of Mr. Anderson, Dr.
Newberry, myself and eight men. We took eleven days' provisions, and twelve pack mules
loaded with only seventy-five pounds each, as I anticipated many difficulties on our unknown
route. We followed our old trail to the point where it forked, about nine miles from camp,
hoping that the western branch might lead to the foot hills; but it almost immediately terminated
in an old Indian rancheria, near which there was a little water in the bed of the creek that we
had found dry at the fork. Disappointed in the trail, I endeavored to take a northwest course by
compass. The pine forest was very thick; the pumice-stone soil was so light that our mules
sank over the fetlock at every step; and the fallen timber and thick underbrush continually
obstructed our way. We toiled slowly up a long, gradual ascent, now turning to the right and
now to the left to avoid the fallen timber, until we were forced, by some impenetrable underbrush,
into a slight ravine, in which were a few pools of water. Fighting our way with great difficulty
among the logs which filled the bottom, we climbed its northern side, and entered a small open
space dotted with a few clumps of grass. The men were directed to herd the jaded animals in
this breathing spot, while Dr. Newberry and I crawled over the dead trees into another ravine,
northeast of us, to search for water. Finding none, we all struggled on towards the west, fully
expecting, as the sun was low, to encamp in the forest without water or grass. Before halting,
however, we suddenly reached the summit of a slight precipice ; at our feet lay a fine little
prairie, about a quarter of a mile long, covered with the richest bunch grass, and bordered on
92
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-UPPER MPTO-LY-AS CANON.
N
1
every side by thick forests of pine and fir. Beyond it, the sun, which had nearly set behind
Mount Jefferson, crowned his snowy head with crimson and gold, and threw an indescribable
glory over the tangled mass of mountains at his feet. We descended, and began eagerly to
search for water; but found none. Still, as it was too late to go further, we encamped ; and,
by digging a hole about three feet deep in a moist spot, succeeded in obtaining enough muddy
water for ourselves, but not for the animals. The little prairie was evidently, in the rainy
season, a meadow in which a tributary of Mpto-ly-as river heads. Mr. Anderson in following
down its bed through the forest found a little water, about a quarter of a mile from camp; but
it was dark before he returned. The moon seemed very bright in the pure mountain air, and I
easily wrote my journal by its light.
September 27.—This morning it rained. After following a westerly course through the wet
bushes for about a quarter of a mile, we suddenly saw the light breaking through the dense
forest before us, and, hoping that we were approaching another prairie, pressed eagerly
forward. We soon stopped in blank amazement on the verge of an immense cañon, which
was found by subsequent measurement to be 1,945 feet deep. Far below us we heard the roar
of a mountain torrent. Opposite rose, steep and black, and hitherto unseen by civilized man,
the naked base of Mount Jefferson, while around it clustered gloomy, fir-covered mountains,
whose tops were hidden in rolling masses of clouds. The cañon side below us was so steep and
rocky that we feared the descent would be impracticable. I directed the animals to be herded,
and sent three men to explore it, while Dr. Newberry and I followed along the edge about
half a mile to a projecting cliff, from which we could obtain a better view of the country. It
had ceased raining, and the heavy clouds which shrouded the opposite mountains rose slowly
until a noble panorama lay outspread before us. The river came from the south in an enor-
mous cañon, and, after washing the base of Mount Jefferson, disappeared in a northerly
direction. Into this cañon two others opened in front of us, one containing a small tributary
from the west, the other winding out of sight towards the north, apparently in the direction which
we wished to explore. The bottom of the latter appeared to be free from trees, and to rise with a
very gentle slope. Much elated by the prospect of escaping from fallen timber, we returned to the
rest of the party, and began the descent to the river. Slowly and with great difficulty we
forced our animals, now along narrow ledges of dark gray slate, where a mis-step would have
precipitated them to instant destruction, now down steep slopes of loose rocks of the same
character, masses of which, becoming dislodged, rolled down the precipice, and starting others
in their course filled the cañon with reverberating echoes. After winding about in this manner
for nearly three quarters of a mile, we at length reached the bottom in safety. It was about
three hundred yards wide, bordered by pines and thickly carpeted with fine bunch grass. A
river, which I knew must be the Mpto-ly-as, flowed through it, apparently unfordable from its
depth and velocity. Its banks were abrupt and lined with willows, and its bed was full of
boulders. After riding up the cañon about a half a mile, we at length discovered a very bad
rocky ford, but some of the animals mired in getting out of the water. We then turned
towards the north, and crossing the western cañon near its mouth, found in it a small stream
with very miry banks, and an old Indian trail. On reaching the second lateral cañon we found,
to our bitter disappointment, that the absence of trees in its bottom was due to a mass of com-
ern lava, divided in every direction by deep fissures, which rendered it totally
impassable to our animals, and almost so to ourselves. It had flowed from the eastern side of
Mount Jefferson, and had cooled so rapidly as to leave a narrow strip of the valley, on each side,
ino
U.S.P.R.REXP. & SURVEYS
CAL & OREGON .
GENERAL REPORT PLATE X

There
TERE
2285
V
LUSU
SA
RO
13
STRASSE
5220
CASTLE ROCK IN CANON OF MPTO-LY-AS RIVER NEAR CAMP 53 A.
OF
Hei
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-MOUNT JEFFERSON-CASTLE ROCK.
93
uncovered. These strips were about ten feet lower than the surface of the lava field, and
densely filled with firs and pines. Ice-cold brooks, from the melting snow on Mount Jefferson,
washed the edges of the pedregal, and occasionally spread into narrow swamps extending to
the steep sides of the cañon, and completely choked with bushes. Hoping to be able to force
our way through these obstacles, we struggled desperately up the southwestern edge for about
three miles. A projecting spur here closed in abruptly upon the lava, and rendered further
advance impossible. Leaving the rest of the party with the jaded animals, I crossed the stream
on a natural bridge formed of an old log, climbed up the side of the lava field, and sometimes
leaping over yawning fissures, sometimes winding around them, gradually advanced about a
quarter of a mile to what appeared to be a small crater. It was nearly circular in form, and about
two hundred yards in diameter, with the lower side partly broken away. A more utterly
desolate spot cannot be conceived. No sign of life was visible. Rough masses of dark lava lay
piled around like the waves of a stormy sea. Fir-clad mountains reared their inaccessible
summits on every side, apparently cutting off retreat; while Mount Jefferson, without one
intervening ridge, towered high above all, rugged with precipices and capped with glittering
snow. It was a spot where, in all probability, no human foot had ever before intruded, for
even the wild children of the forest abandon it to the fiends and demons of their traditions.
A high ridge from Mount Jefferson terminated the cañon, and rendered further exploration
unnecessary, as well as impossible. I returned to the party, and we retraced our steps to the
little stream flowing from the westerly cañon, and encamped there, with an abundance of fine
grass and ice-cold water.
September 28.-Being unwilling to leave without examination the western cañon, where we
had seen the Indian trail, Mr. Anderson and myself, with two men, started to explore it this
morning, leaving the rest of the party in camp. We soon struck the trail, and followed it for
about four miles up a little wooded gorge, which gradually turned towards the south.
Here we found that our “black butte" was in sight, and that the trail apparently led to the
prairies near it, through a straight and level valley. We accordingly turned back, fully satisfied
that the only way of advancing to the north was to travel down the Mpto-ly-as cañon. On
breaking up camp we followed the old trail, which took this course. It led us below the lava
field, across the two brooks which had flowed by its sides, and then up a long, gentle slope,
through an open forest of pine, larch, and fir. We were beginning to congratulate ourselves
on the excellence of the trail, when, about six miles from camp, we were suddenly stopped by
another precipice bordering the river, and more than 1,000 feet deep by measurement. From
the summit, I could see that the ridge, which I had already observed extending from Mount
Jefferson to a black peak, continued beyond it, and, without any marked depression, now formed
the north side of the river cañon, which began to turn towards the east. With much difficulty
gaining the river bottom, which was here filled with a tangled mass of small trees and bushes,
we toiled on for about three miles further, and then encamped in a narrow strip of fine bunch grass.
Both sides of the cañon were here about 1,500 feet high; and opposite us, some 800 feet above
the water, was a large mass of gray conglomerate sandstone, so much resembling the ruins of
an old castle that we could hardly believe it the work of nature. It rose abruptly from the
dark foliage around it, with its battlements, turrets, and towers, bathed in the light of the
setting sun-a fitting home for the presiding genius of this wild torrent of the mountains.
September 29.--After travelling a few miles down the cañon to-day, the barometer began to
leak badly from a crack in the glass cistern. As all the materials for properly repairing it were
1
94
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-DES CHUTES CAÑON.
with Mr. Coleman, I decided, rather than to run the risk of ruining it by transporting it in its
present condition, to remove the mercury, and replace it after rejoining him.
Abandoning, therefore, my intention of leaving the river as soon as possible and further
exploring for a railroad pass near the mountains, which the loss of the barometer rendered
inexpedient, I followed down the cañon about eleven miles, to where we had crossed it in going
to the Dalles. The trail was rendered execrable by numerous steep spurs, which ran out to the
very water's edge, and compelled us to toil up sometimes as high as 500 feet, and then abruptly
descend again. We began to find concretes and tufas on the sides of the cañon as we approached
our old camping place; but there was none of this formation near Mount Jefferson. At one
place there were a few rude pictures of men and animals scratched on the rocks by some
wandering savage. On the march to-day we shot and secured one of the fine salmon which
abound in the river, and which are highly prized by the Indians for winter food. Three streams,
flowing in deep cañons, entered the river from the north. One of them showed, by the milky
color of its water, that it came from the melting snows of Mount Jefferson, and thus proved that
the country between us and Chit-tike creek was furrowed by at least one enormous ravine, which
could not be headed. After reaching our old trail, we followed it to Psuc-see-que creek, and
encamped there after sunset; having travelled twenty-one miles to-day over a most difficult route.
Sepiember 30.-As it was highly desirable to determine accurately the position and character
of the cañon of the Des Chutes river, I started this morning, with one man, to follow down the
creek to its mouth, leaving the rest of the party in camp. Having yesterday experienced the
pleasures of travelling in the bottom of a cañon, I concluded to-day to try the northern bluff.
It was a dry, barren plain, gravelly and sometimes sandy, with a few bunches of grass scattered
here and there. Tracks of antelopes or deer were numerous. After crossing one small ravine,
and riding about five miles from camp, we found ourselves on the edge of the vast cañon of the
river, which, far below us, was rushing through a narrow trough of basalt, slightly resembling
the Dalles of the Columbia. We estimated the depth of the cañon at 1,000 feet, but I think it
would be found to be deeper, if measured. On each side, the precipices were very steep, and
marked, in many places, by horizontal lines of vertical basaltic columns fifty or sixty feet in
height. The man who was with me rolled a large rock, shaped like a grindstone and weighing
about 200 pounds, from the summit. It thundered down, for at least a quarter of a mile, now over
a vertical precipice, now over a steep mass of detritus, until, at length, it plunged into the river
with a hollow roar, which echoed and re-echoed through the gorge for miles. By ascending a
slight hill which rose from the plain, I obtained a fine view of the surrounding country, and
many valuable bearings to the mountain peaks. The generally level character of the great
basaltic table land around us was very manifest from this point, although, near the trail, it is
marked by a continual succession of deep ravines. Bounded on the west by the Cascade moun-
tains, and on the north and east by the Mutton mountains, the plain extends far towards the
south, a sterile, treeless waste. At the mouth of the Psuc-see-que cañon there is a singular hill
isolated from the plain. Its top is a nearly circular floor of basalt, surrounded by vertical
precipices about forty or fifty feet deep, and then by a collection of detritus, sloping down at an
angle of about 45° to the level of the river.
In returning to the camp, we tried the cañon of the creek, which we found very narrow and
stony, and often so obstructed by bushes as to compel us to climb along its steep sides. About
a mile below camp it narrowed into a wild, natural gateway, the top of which, elevated about
500 feet above the creek, was formed of two vertical precipices of columnar basalt, each about
over
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-NEE-NEE SPRINGS AGAIN.
95
.
U
100 feet deep, and separated 800 feet from the other. From these precipices, piles of detritus
sloped down at an angle of 45° to the little silver thread of water winding between them. The
huge rocks in the bottom compelled us to climb about half way up this slope to effect a passage.
The line of columns on the top of the northern side was strangely bent and distorted, as if,
while they were in a semi-fluid state, a huge crag had fallen among them; those on the southern
bank were very straight and vertical.
We travelled to-day to Chit-tike creek, and encamped there. Dr. Newberry and I followed
its bed, on foot, about two and a half miles, to the Des Chutes river. We found it a deep,
swift stream, 80 yards wide, and still sunk in the enormous cañon, which, I have no doubt,
extends about 140 miles above its mouth. The Chit-tike cañon is much wider than that of
Psuc-see-que, and there is a good trail leading to the river in its bottom. It was dark before
we rejoined the party; and the camp fires, shining among the bushes, formed a striking con-
trast to the gloom of the cañon as we approached.
October 1.-On reaching Wam-Chuck river this morning, we found a large number of Indians
encamped there, who were very desirous to trade potatoes for matches and ammunition.
Sending the party forward to join Mr. Coleman at Nee-nee, Dr. Newberry and I stopped to
examine more fully this most interesting locality. Had we known that these savages were on
the point of joining in a general war against the whites, we might have felt less curiosity. As
it was, we visited the warm spring, which I had seen on September 21; examined the lateral
gate cañon; collected several interesting geological specimens; and then climbing to the
summit of the mountains, round the eastern side of which the trail winds, obtained a very
extensive view of this strange, picturesque valley. The great number of compass bearings that
I took from this and many other commanding points, cover the whole region with a net work
of triangles, which, I think, cannot fail to render the accompanying map of this section quite
accurate.
We reached Nee-nee springs a little while before sunset, and found Mr. Coleman and his
party awaiting us. He had met with no difficulty, except in transporting the battered pair of
wheels to which our odometer was attached, and which, out of compliment to its former estate,
still retained the name of the “little cart.” Much credit is certainly due to him, considering
the small number of his party, for getting even this up and down some of the precipitous cañon
sides on the route. He reported that the jaded animals had been greatly benefited by the rich
bunch grass, which abounded in this vicinity.
October 2.–To-day we remained in camp. I succeeded in repairing the cistern of the baro-
meter by covering the crack with Husband's adhesive plaster, and then applying a coat of
sealing wax dissolved in alcohol, to protect it from moisture. I re-filled the instrument, and
had no further trouble with it on the survey. I also obtained good observations of the sun to-
day. In the afternoon Dr. Newberry, who had been suffering for some time from fever and ague,
was taken dangerously ill. We were all quite anxious on his account, as a bottle of arsenic
had been broken in the m dicine chest, and none of us, excepting himself, had any knowledge
of the healing art.
October 3.—This morning Dr. Newberry was much better, and able to ride, with two men and
myself, to Tysch creek. Lieutenant Williamson had authorized him to proceed to Vancouver
by water, to examine certain coal mines in Washington Territory. I proposed to return on the
following day to my party, after obtaining, if possible, a guide acquainted with the new pass
near Mount Hood, of which the half-breed had spoken. On reaching Mr. Evelyn's house, we
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NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-INDIAN WAR,
heard some astounding news. A general Indian war had broken out; the Indian agent of
Washington Territory and several other whites had been murdered ; and Major Haller, with a
large force of United States troops, had gone to meet the hostile tribes. All the settlers south of
the Dalles had already fled from their ranchos, except Mr. Evelyn, and he had sunk his ferry
boat, and was about to follow them the next morning. The situation of our little half-armed
party, consisting of only seventeen men, now that Dr. Newberry was about to leave us, was any-
thing but enviable. Encumbered with a large number of jaded animals and considerable bag-
gage, we suddenly found ourselves among hostile and well-armed Indians, to whom our train
would render us a tempting prey. A difficult and almost unknown range of mountains, now
liable at any time to be blocked up with snow, separated us from the Willamette valley. Each of
the three known passes across it seemed almost impracticable for us; that of the Columbia river,
on account of the impossibility of obtaining a flat-boat to cross to the northern bank above the
Cascades, while the war was raging in the immediate vicinity; and the wagon road, and the
pack trail north of Mount Hood, on account of the entire absence of grass, which would render
the loss of a large number of our almost broken down animals inevitable. I had a long conver-
sation with the half-breed about the new pass. He said it was much more level than either of
the others, and was well supplied with grass, but that the trail was so slight, and had so many
forks leading to whortleberry patches, that a guide would be absolutely necessary. He positively
refused to accompany me himself, being, as he said, afraid of the Indians. Feeling very much
inclined to attempt the exploration of this pass, which, should the description prove true, would
be very valuable for a wagon road, if not for a railroad, I inquired of Mr. Evelyn whether
none of the little band of Indians, whose rancheria was near his house, could be trusted as a
guide. He told me that, although they had not yet joined the hostile tribes, they had stolen
several of his horses lately, and were growing rather insolent. Still he thought that their old
chief, named Kok-kop, might be trusted a little while longer. As Major Haller had mentioned
this Indian in high terms to me, I resolved to see him. To my surprise, he said that he knew
nothing of this pass, and had never heard of it. This threw discredit upon the whole story,
especially as half-breeds are noted for their strong imaginations. It was now evening. To
guard against any sudden attack, I had the animals carefully tied to a strong fence; and
dividing the night into three watches, took one myself and gave one to each of the men. It was
very dark and cloudy, with occasionally a few drops of rain, and I could not but feel that our
prospects were rather gloomy.
October 4.—This morning Kok-kop informed me that he had found a young man of his tribe
who had been through this pass, and who would go as guide. As our chance of getting safely
through the mountains with our animals, except by steamboat, which my instructions expressly
forbade, was nearly desperate, I decided to trust him, and gratify my desire of exploring the
pass. After the long and ceremonious council which Indians always require on great occasions,
I succeeded in hiring the young man, on reasonable terms; or rather in bargaining with his
chief for him, as he himself had no voice in the matter. The interview terminated by Kok-kop
giving him strict orders to be obedient to me, and by my presenting Kok-kop with a red silk
handkerchief.
Leaving Dr. Newberry to go to the Dalles with Mr. Evelyn, we returned to the rest of the party,
with the new guide whose name was Sam An-ax-shat. He was about eighteen years old, and
a very intelligent, neat, and, as the result proved, trustworthy Indian. For natural intelligence,
he would compare very favorably with most white men. He spoke no English, but, fortunately,
ser
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NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
97
I had acquired some knowledge of the Chinook language, and we were able to converse with
considerable ease. After reaching camp, which we found undisturbed, we made every prepara-
tion to start to-morrow for the Willamette valley.
October 5.-This morning we followed a westerly course, near the southern slope of the
Mutton mountains, through a slightly undulating region, covered with bunch grass and
destitute of trees. After crossing a large trail leading from Tysch creek to Wam Chuck
river, we passed over a slight spur from the Mutton mountains, and winding round the
northern base of a prominent hill called Wah'-nit-ched, came upon a fine open prairie. Before
long the trail suddenly turned towards the north round a steep hill, and we entered the forest,
which extended almost without interruption to the Willamette valley. To-day it was open,
without any fallen timber or bushes, and it consisted mostly of pine and larch. After
travelling about twelve miles from camp, we reached, in the midst of the forest and at a short
distance from the trail, a small spring called Wil-la-wit. There was good bunch grass near
it among the trees. The guide said that we could not reach the next stopping place before
dark, and, rather unwillingly, I concluded to encamp, taking every possible precaution against
a surprise. We had found much silica on the road during the day, and here we obtained fine
specimens of several varieties.
October 6.-There were indications of Indians around camp last night, and this morning, as
we were about starting, one of them came to us and used insolent and threatening language.
No attack or attempt to stampede our animals was made, however. Our course lay through a
nearly level country, covered by an open pine forest offering no obstacles to travel. In about
six miles we came to a little tributary of Wam Chuck river, called Wan-nas-see. It flowed in
a small ravine, which the trail followed without obstruction for about a mile, to where a trail
from Tysch creek entered it by a lateral cañon. At this spot the ravine became narrower, and
fallen timber began to retard our progress. It grew worse as we advanced, until it was almost
impossible to get the "little cart” over the huge logs. We toiled on, with much labor and
difficulty, for about four miles further to a little open meadow, about a mile long and a
quarter of a mile wide. It was called Yaugh-pas-ses, the Indian name for cranberries, which
were plentiful in the vicinity. The Indians, when travelling from Tysch creek to their whortle-
berry patches near Mount Hood, choose this spot for the first camping place. They come, of
course, by the trail which enters ours on Wan-nas-see creek, and which the guide said was a good
one. I was very desirous to go further to-day, but Sam said that the fallen timber was very bad
ahead, and the camping place a long distance off. We might possibly reach it about sundown,
but I must certainly, as he expressed it in Chinook, “mam-uk mam'-a-loos ten-as chik'-chik”—
that is, “ kill the little cart.” As most of the train was still struggling among the fallen
timber in the rear, I concluded to encamp, and to adopt on the morrow a new order of march,
better adapted to a country blocked up with logs and underbrush. I also decided, much
against my will, to " kill the little cart." The men took the spokes for picket pins, and in
this form, our old friend continued to accompany us to the end of the survey. We found many
common varieties of silex on the route from Nee-nee to this point, but none afterwards. The
grass of the meadow was coarse and not very nutritious, and water lay on the surface in many
places. We encamped in the driest place we could find, and took all possible precautions
against a night attack.
October 7.-To-day we had to struggle through a tangled forest of spruce, yew, fir, and pine,
with many fallen logs crossing, and sometimes even piled up on the trail. On both sides of it,
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NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
they would have rendered an advance, without cutting a way with axes, impracticable. Driving
about sixty loose animals through this forest was no easy task, as when the leaders were delayed
by the logs, those behind would leave the trail on both sides, and crowd into places where it
was impossible to advance and nearly so to retreat. Our usual order of march had been for the
gentlemen of the party, with a man riding the bell horse, to form an advanced guard; while the
packers, in charge of Mr. Coleman, brought up the rear of the train. The fallen timber now
compelled me to separate the men among the animals, giving a certain number in charge to
each man. This scattered our little party over a space of more than half a mile, and rendered
a successful defence against a sudden attack almost hopeless.
Yaugh-pas-ses meadow is drained by a small brook that discharges itself into a branch of
Tysch creek, which we crossed a little more than a mile from camp. It was a clear rapid stream,
about fifteen feet wide, flowing in a small ravine near the northern base of two prominent peaks,
called Nu-ah-hum by the Indians. We followed along the side of this narrow valley about
seven miles, to the source of the stream. It was a mountain lake called Wat-tum-pa, which
was more than a mile long, bordered by a little meadow grass and surrounded with thick
forests. Its banks were so miry that our animals could with difficulty drink. Here we were
compelled to encamp ; our mules had spent the day in jumping over or creeping under logs,
and the men in strugging after them and repairing broken packs. We were all fully convinced
that wandering amid “forests primeval” in poetry, and among the Cascade mountains, are
two essentially different things.
We began to find among the trees a few mountain whortleberries, called Oo-lal-le by the
Indians, who gather them in large quantities and dry them for winter food. There were two
varieties, one large and black, growing on bushes about six feet high, and the other much
smaller, of a blue color, and found on bushes of about half that height. Both were delicious
when fresh. We also noticed that we had passed beyond the region of bunch grass, and that
its place among the trees was supplied by a very coarse, deep green species, which none of the
animals would taste.
October 8.-Last night a few of our animals strayed off into the forest, and we were delayed
some hours in searching for them; by the great exertions of Mr. Coleman they were at length
all found, and we started. The trail lay on a ridge, having a ravine parallel to it on each side.
The fallen timber was not so troublesome as yesterday, but the forest, which was composed of
huge trees of yew, fir and spruce, and some pine, was very dense. In about a mile we crossed a
small stream with no grass near it. A mile further on we reached an open prairie, about one
mile long and half a mile wide, covered with a coarse kind of grass ; it was called by the Indians
Lu-ah-hum-lu-ah'-hum, and appeared to be sometimes occupied by the savages as a camping
place, Doubtless there must be water near it, but we found none. There were several large
trails here, but our guide, after hesitating a few moments, took a very small one leading west,
through a thick forest of young trees and bushes. In about two miles we came to a beautiful
mountain lake, called Ty-ty-pa. It had a narrow border of rich grass, separating it from the
dense forest around; but the whole open space was only about half a mile long. This is the
second camping place of the Indians when travelling from Tysch creek to the Willamette by
this trail. It is also a favorite resort for gathering whortleberries, which we found growing
in very great abundance. The ground had been dug over by bears in many places, and
large numbers of ducks and a few wild geese were swimming in the lake. The forest concealed
the surrounding country, but the Indian said that it was level for a long distance, both north
and south, and filled with deer. He also said that the next water was very far off, and the
NARRATIVE ANI) ITINERARY-CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
99
trail bad, and that we ought to encamp here. As it was now past noon, we did so. The grass
had been eaten quite short by the Indian horses, but it was of a nutritious quality, and the
animals fared pretty well. Mount Hood towered high above us, and his huge, snow-capped head,
now appearing and now disappearing among drifting masses of clouds, gave a wild grandeur to
the little camping place, which will be long remembered.
October 9.-To-day it rained furiously in the morning, and as I was very desirous to have a
good view of the surrounding mountains when I crossed the dividing ledge, and as the animals
greatly needed a day of rest, I decided to remain in camp. Towards evening it cleared off, and I
measured by triangulation, as accurately as circumstances allowed, the distance to the sum-
mit of Mount Hood, the bearing of which, by the compass, was N. 4° E.; the resulting
distance, about 14 miles, agrees very well with that given by our courses checked by latitude.
In the evening, as usual, I obtained good astronomical observations.
October 10.—This morning the weather was clear. We started early, abandoning a horse
that could travel no further. On leaving camp we ascended a steep hill about 400 feet high,
and then gradually descended, for about a mile and a half, by a succession of pitches connected
by narrow terraces. They conducted to a small brook, flowing north through a ravine destitute
of grass. Continuing a southerly course for about two miles further, we found ourselves in a
small dry prairie, where the trail suddenly seemed to disappear. Thus far to-day we had been
very little troubled by fallen timber. Our guide dismounted, and, directed by signs too slight
for our eyes, led us across the open spot to a place where the Indians had blazed the trees for a
few rods into the forest, but where no trail on the ground was visible. We had before occa-
sionally seen blazing, and sometimes twigs broken in the direction of the trail. The blazing
generally consisted of a simple cut, laying bare the wood; but sometimes we found a rude
image of a man marked in the bark. This always indicated that much fallen timber was to be
expected. The object of the blazing, in the present instance, was simply to indicate a direction,
for it soon ceased, and even Sam could see no trail. By carefully preserving the course it had
pointed out, however, he led us about a mile up a gentle slope, covered with much fallen timber,
to the brink of an enormous precipice, which seemed vertical. There was a trail near the edge,
which conducted us up a gradual ascent to the foot of a very steep mountain, composed of basalt
and compact metamorphic slate, whose summit was bare of trees. After climbing it with much
labor, and the loss of a mule that rolled down the precipitous side, a magnificent panorama burst
upon our view. Atan elevation of 5,000 feet above the sea, we stood upon the summit of the pass. *
For days we had been struggling blindly through dense forests, but now the surrounding
country lay spread out before us for more than a hundred miles. The five grand snow peaks,
Mount St. Helens, Mount Ranier, Mount Adams, Mount Hood, and Mount Jefferson, rose majes-
tically above a rolling sea of dark, fir-covered ridges, some of which the approaching winter had
already begun to mark with white. A yawning ravine, into which we had gradually and
unconsciously descended this morning, came from the north, near Mount Hood, and winding
to the south round the mountain on which we stood was lost in the dim distance. Another,
heading near us, wound out of sight towards the west. On every side, as far as the eye could
reach, terrific convulsions of nature had recorded their fury, and not even a thread of blue
smoke from the camp fire of a wandering savage, disturbed the solitude of the scene.
Near this mountain we noticed an extraordinary local variation of the magnetic needle,
which numerous bearings to well known peaks enabled me to measure with considerable
This is the summit by my trail. It is 500 feet higher than that of the proposed wagon road.
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NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
T
accuracy. At places about two miles from the mountain, both before reaching and after
leaving it, the variation, as usual in this region, was about 18° east. At the top of the great
precipice encountered about a mile before reaching the mountain, it was only 11° east, while
on the summit it was 16° west. The needle was thus actually disturbed 34° by some abnormal
cause. It, however, settled readily. The mountain was principally composed of slate and
basalt, like those around it, and we could see no indication of iron or other local cause of
disturbance in the vicinity.
During the remainder of the day's march, the trail followed a knife-like ridge between two
great cañons east and west of us, to avoid the fallen timber in them, and it was very mount-
ainous in its character. After a steep descent we toiled up another peak, two miles distant from
the first and very similar to it. From the summit we could look many miles down the
great westerly ravine, and distinctly see the blue hills of the Willamette valley beyond its
mouth. This peak was separated from the next one of the ridge by a cañon connecting the
two great ravines. This we crossed with difficulty, and continued to follow the narrow ridge,
toiling up and down several more steep peaks rising from it, until the sun was only a few
minutes high. Some of our exhausted animals were far behind, and the Indian said that we
were still a long way from the “Stone House," where he had expected to encamp. He knew,
however, a spring not far off, where we could get water, but no grass. We reached it on the
steep eastern side of the ridge just as the sun set. Its bed was dry. We were all feverish
. from fatigue and thirst, and it was a bitter disappointment; still, to advance was impossible,
and our animals were unpacked and tied to the trees as they gradually came in. Two had
broken down entirely, and been abandoned on the way. In the meantime the Indian had
disappeared. When he returned he quietly remarked that he had discovered water. We
rushed to it, and found a little spring, which flowed almost drop by drop from under a rock in
the thick bushes. There was enough for the men, but none for most of the suffering animals,
and their cries from hunger and thirst were incessant through the night.
October 11.-This morning we took a westerly course, which led us over the ridge that we
had been following, into a third great ravine heading near us and winding out of sight to the
northwest. The descent was about seven hundred feet, and very abrupt. In the ravine we
found a fine stream of water and a small lake, bordered by some good grass, which, however,
had been eaten so short by Indian horses that our animals could get none. This place Sam
called the “ Stone House." The origin of its name I could not discover, but probably there is
a cave in the vicinity. It is a great Indian whortleberry camp, and we found the bushes still
loaded with berries. The lake is doubtless the source of a branch of Sandy river. Disappointed
in finding grass for the animals, we toiled up a steep precipice of compact slate, 1,000 feet in
height, to the summit of the western side of the ravine, and obtained an extended view of the
surrounding country. On every side nothing could be seen but fir-clad ridges and frightful
cañons; most of our animals were on the point of giving out from fatigue and hunger; and,
to crown our misfortunes, Sam quietly informed me that he had only travelled between the
"Stone House” and Willamette valley once, and that was when he was a child. He had a
vague recollection of many mountains and a great scarcity of grass on the way. Under these
happy auspices we pushed desperately on towards the west. After following a narrow ridge
thinly covered with trees, until we had travelled a little more than six miles from camp, we
fortunately found a small opening, in which the ground was wet from numerous springs and
thinly dotted with grass. We had hardly encamped, when a rain storm that had been threat-
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
101
ning all the morning, suddenly burst upon us, causing great anxiety lest it should change into
snow. Sam and I explored the vicinity on foot, and I was fortunate enough to obtain a good
bearing to Mount Hood through the clouds. It was N. 40° E. We were on a narrow ridge,
with an immense cañon on each side of us, and the supply of grass was very limited. The
number of whortleberries was so great that we could strip them from the bushes by handfuls.
October 12.--All last night and to-day, a cold and steady rain poured down, chilling our animals
and rendering the trail slippery and dangerous. Although I greatly feared snow, I decided
to remain in camp and recruit the animals, as many must have given out had we proceeded.
To eke out their scanty supply of grass, I issued a small quantity of hard bread, which most
of them ate eagerly. We collected heaps of pine knots and logs in different parts of the
opening, in order to pack the mules by fire-light on the following morning, and thus get a
very early start. In the night it cleared off, and Mr. Anderson and I left our beds, and obtained
good observations for latitude.
October 13.—We had reveillé at two o'clock this morning, and started as soon as it was light
enough to see the trail. It followed a continuous ridge, varied by a succession of steep peaks,
slippery from the rain. After slowly climbing over them for about three miles, we encountered
one so steep that the ascent seemed impossible. We, however, carefully urged the animals
along a narrow ledge, which wound up the face of the tremendous precipice, and at length
gained the summit. The blue Willamette valley, marked by a line of fog rising from the river,
lay below us, and the word "settlements," shouted down the line, inspired every one with
new life. From this point we began a rapid descent to the level of the valley. At the foot
of the mountain there was a small grassy swamp, around which the trail wound in nearly a
semi-circle, Beyond it we crossed a rocky pedregal, and then followed another ridge less
mountainous than the former one. It gradually disappeared, and left us among thick fallen
timber. A very few clumps of bunch grass again began to appear among the trees. This
trail had been used by the Indians of the Willamette valley to reach the whortleberry patches,
and they had cut through many of the logs. Still vast numbers were left, and we were
obliged, in several places, to clear a path with axes. We slowly worked our way on, in this
manner, until night overtook us, and compelled us to encamp in the dense forest without
either water or grass. During the night the cries of the half starved animals were very
distressing. We also suffered much ourselves from thirst, which a diet of musty hard bread
did not tend to allay.
October 14.—Yesterday, one of our best mules, with a valuable pack, was lost on the way, and I
sent two men back this morning to search for him. The fallen timber diminished in quantity as
we advanced, and the trail soon became excellent. Pressing rapidly forward we reached,
about five miles from camp, a little log cabin on the edge of the forest, and, with a feeling of
inexpressible satisfaction, found ourselves at last in the long wished for Willamette valley.
The owner of the cabin was in great fear and trouble. News had come by water from the
Dalles, that all the Indians east of the mountains had banded together against the whites, and
that Major Haller had been defeated, and his party of United States troops nearly cut off. The
Governor of the Territory had called for volunteers, and great alarm was felt lest the Indians
should cross the mountains, and attack the frontier settlements of the Willamette valley. This
man was just starting to go to one of the large towns for protection. He expressed the greatest
astonishment at our having succeeded in crossing the mountains, which had always been con-
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sidered utterly impassable in this vicinity. He told me that the nearest place where I could
obtain forage, was at the rancho of Mr. Hugh Currin, about four miles distant.
Continuing our course through a slightly undulating, well wooded country, we soon reached
our destination, and encamping near a little stream by the house, succeeded in obtaining good
pasturage, and an abundant supply of oats. Mr. Currin, to whom we are indebted for many
acts of kindness, was the owner and first settler of Clackamas prairie, a fine little opening
situated on the eastern bank of the Clackamas river. It was through the cañon of this stream,
that we had first seen the Willamette valley. The non-appearance of the two men whom I
had sent back for the mule rendered us all quite anxious to-night.
October 15.-To-day both the men came in, after an unsuccessful search. As this was an
excellent place for our animals to recruit, I resolved to send Sam back for the mule, and to wait
three days for his return. Many of the settlers were abandoning their ranchos, from fear of an
Indian attack, and a general panic prevailed. We had the rare pleasure of reading in the
newspapers an account of our own massacre in the mountains. At the expiration of the three
days Sam returned with the mule. He had traced it, with an Indian’s instinct, to where it
had wandered from the trail, descended a deep ravine for water, knocked off the pack against a
fallen tree, and then forced its way back over the logs to our camp near the “Stone House."
His principal difficulty had been to replace the pack, but he had finally succeeded in lashing it
to the animal's legs, neck, and tail, in such a manner that it was hard to conceive how the poor
brute could have advanced a single step.
Having heard that Lieutenant Williamson's party was at Oregon City, we immediately
prepared to rejoin it. I gave Sam his pay, with a few presents, and a supply of provisions for
his journey back to his tribe. As he was very much afraid of some of the white settlers who had
threatened to kill him, he started in the night. I have little doubt that we all owe our lives to
the fidelity of this Indian.
October 19.--This morning we rode in a drenching rain to Oregon City, a distance of about
sixteen miles. The country near the road was gently undulating in its character, and much of
it heavily timbered. We saw on the way several good dwelling houses, cultivated fields, and
other indications of civilization and prosperity. Oregon City is a thriving town on the eastern
bank of the Willamette, built on a narrow plateau between the high river bluff and the water.
We found Lieut. Williamson's party encamped near it, in charge of Lieut. Crook; and soon
learned that our difficulties were not yet over. Lieut. Williamson had been compelled, by the
lateness of the season, to return by water to San Francisco, in order to prepare for our contem-
plated exploration in the Sierra Nevada. He had left orders for me to take command of the
party and make an examination and survey of the route to Fort Reading, by way of Fort Lane
and Fort Jones. Major G. J. Rains, 4th infantry, notwithstanding the urgent remonstrance
of Lieut. Williamson, had decided to detain our escort, now consisting of only eighteen
dragoons, commanded by Lieut. Sheridan. Since Lieut. Williamson's departure, an Indian
war had broken out in Rogue River valley, through which our route lay, and all com-
munication between Fort Lane and the Umpqua valley was now cut off, except for strong and
well armed parties. Ours consisted of Lieut. Crook and myself, Messrs. Fillebrown, Ander-
son, Young, Bartee, Coleman, and Vinton, with twenty packers, ten of whom were Mexicans.
Several of our number were entirely unarmed, and others had only pistols. There were, I
think, but five rifles in the whole command.
Two days were spent in making preparations for our survey. Finding myself thus unex-
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103
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pectedly deprived, at a time when its services were greatly needed, of an escort ordered by the
War Department and detailed by General Wool, I first proceeded to Fort Vancouver, a distance
of about nineteen miles, and addressed a written remonstrance to Major Rains, who was then
at or near Fort Dalles. No reply, either to this or to that made by Lieutenant Williamson,
was ever received. I have considered it incumbent upon me to communicate the whole corres-
pondence; as the loss of the escort, besides occasioning great trouble, prevented some examina-
tions very important to the determination of the practicability of the route for a railroad, and
thus defeated, in part, the object for which a large appropriation of Congress had been set apart
by the War Department. Before any of our escort left Vancouver, and before Major Rains'
final orders in the case were issued, intelligence was received of the safe arrival of Major
Haller's party at Fort Dalles.
Letter of Major G. J. Rains, Fourth Infantry, to Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, United States
Topographical Engineers.
HEADQUARTERS, COLUMBIA RIVER AND PUGET SOUND DISTRICT,
Fort Vancouver, W. T., October 10, 1855.
SIR: From current rumors and the opinion of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Oregon,
and from the report of Brevet Major Haller, in the field, with more than 100 men checked and
surrounded by Indians, the lives of our citizens and even the safety of the military being in
question, the services of every available man are required for the emergency. The body of
nineteen dragoons, brought as your escort to this post, we are, therefore, obliged to detain for
the time being—a kind of force most required.
I regret being thus compelled to break in upon any of your arrangements, and may be enabled,
perhaps, in a few days to dispense with their services.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G. J. RAINS,
Major, Fourth Infantry, Commanding District.
Second Lieutenant R. S. WILLIAMSON,
Topographical Engineers.
TTY.
Letter of Lieut. R. S. Williamson, United States Topographical Engineers, to Major G. J. Rains,
Fourth Infantry.
FORT VANCOUVER, W. T., October 10, 1855.
SIR: I have received your letter informing me of your intention to detain for the time
being" the body of eighteen dragoons which form the escort to my party. I conceive it my
duty to lay before you the circumstances of the case, thinking that your instructions may be
modified when the embarrassed position in which I shall be placed, without an escort, is made
fully apparent.
The Secretary of War, in my instructions, says that the commanding officer of the department
of the Pacific will detail 100 men, with not less than three commissioned officers, one of the
latter to act as commissary and quartermaster to the expedition, to form the escort of the party;
and, in obedience to these instructions, General Wool made the detail accordingly. Upon
leaving the valley of the Des Chutes, I informed Lieutenant Gibson, commanding the escort,
that I should have no further need of the services of his command, excepting Lieutenant
104
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-LOSS OF ESCORT.
SU
Sheridan and the dragoon detachment, thus reserving only such portion as I deemed indis-
pensable. Lieutenant Crook would still be required as commissary and quartermaster. Accord-
ingly, Lieutenant Gibson, with the remainder of the men, proceeded to Fort Jones and Fort
Reading, from which places they were drawn. It now becomes necessary, in the prosecution of
the duties assigned to me, to proceed to California, where I am instructed to make further
surveys. The road leads through the Umpqua, Rogue river, and Siskiyou mountains, which
are filled with hostile Indians. But three days ago I received intelligence of five men being
murdered on the main road in the last mentioned mountains, and the newspapers for the last two
months have been filled with accounts of Indian depredations in that vicinity. Without an
escort, I shall incur the risk of losing my animals, and perhaps placing my men in a critical
position.
The animals of the dragoons have been travelling in the field for nearly three months, sub-
sisting upon grass, and the officer commanding the escort reports them unfit for service in any
expedition where they will have to make other than short marches and cannot be provided
with grain. Three animals have already completely given out, and had to be left at the head of
the Willamette valley. These animals can go to Fort Lane, on a good road, where forage can
be obtained every day, and there I expected to exchange them for fresh ones, with which to
prosecute the other surveys; but they are incapable of being applied to the use for which you
require them. The small number of men will be of great service to me, and they will not
materially increase your forces in the field. Should I increase my party by hiring citizens, or
should I lose my animals, in consequence of not having a proper escort, I shall incur expense
which will fall upon an appropriation designed for a different object, and a deficiency in the
amount to be devoted to the survey and office work may materially diminish the value of the
results of the expedition, for which so large an amount has already been expended, and the
importance of which, as estimated by the War Department, may be judged by the large appro-
priation ($42,000) and the large number of men devoted to obtaining the information desired.
I have the honor, &c., &c.,
R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engs.
Maj. G. J. Rains, 4th infantry, U. S. Army,
Commanding Columbia River and Puget Sound district.
Letter of Lieutenant Henry L. Abbot, United States Topographical Engineers, to Major G. J.
Rains, Fourth Infantry, United States army.
y
VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
October 21, 1855.
SIR: I have the honor to report to you that I have arrived here with my detached surveying
party, and have found that Lieutenant Williamson has returned to California by steamer, and
left me in command of his whole party, with orders to proceed at once and survey the route
from Vancouver, by Forts Lane and Jones, to Fort Reading. I deem it my duty before
starting to explain to you the very embarrassed state in which the loss of my escort places me,
thinking this may induce you to modify your previous instructions, and allow the eighteen
dragoons, with Lieutenant Sheridan, to rejoin me.
As Lieut. Williamson, in his letter to you of the 10th inst., has explained very fully the
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-LOSS OF ESCORT.
105
circumstances of the case, as far as they were then known to him, I shall only mention the
additional reasons which, at present, render an escort so necessary.
| My whole party, including Lieutenant Crook, myself, and the scientific corps, consists of 28
men, of which 10 are Mexican packers, and perfectly unreliable in case of an attack. Many of
the party are unarmed. I think there are only five rifles in the whole command. I have
about 120 animals, to herd which would fully occupy all the men in case of attack. I have
with me all the notes of the whole survey, so that, if my party were cut off, the whole
expedition would have been useless. According to the latest accounts, the Indians are very
hostile, and are in the field in so large a force as to have cut off all communication with Jack-
sonville, and to have murdered 22 families. I enclose a copy of a despatch,* the original of
which is in my possession, which shows the state of affairs on the road. As we have to make
a second survey in the Sierra Nevada before winter, I am forced to advance at once with my small
unprotected party, although it is the very general opinion that we may not reach Jacksonville
without an escort. The time which would be required for me to see you in person would create
so great a delay as to probably prevent the second survey in the Sierra Nevada, particularly
as my animals are in so jaded a condition that I shall necessarily move slowly. I shall,
therefore, start to-day for Fort Reading, and if you should decide to modify your previous
instructions and restore the escort, a man will be at Vancouver, ready to ride express to inform
I am sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HENRY L. ABBOT,
Lieut. U. S. Topographical Engineers.
Major G. J. RAINS,
4th Infantry, U. S. A, commanding Columbia river and Puget Sound District.
I next went to Portland, and had an interview with Gov. George L. Curry, of Oregon
Territory, to whom I feel under great obligations. He issued a general order, directing any
volunteer officer to supply me with an escort, if practicable; and used his influence to aid me
in every possible way. I feel that the success of the expedition is, in a great measure, due
to his kind assistance.
I then returned to our camp at Oregon City, and, after discharging two men at their own
request, completed the preparations for our return to Fort Reading.
* Extract from an extra of the Oregon Statesman,
“CORVALLIS, Sunday, October 14.
" At noon, to-day, Mr. S. B. Hadley arrived at this place, express messenger, bearing a petition to Governor Curry for five
hundred volunteers to repel the hostilities of the Shasta and Rogue river Indians, who are represented to be in a state of war
towards the whites. The petition is signed by about 150 of the citizens of Umpqua valley. Among the names we recognize
a number of prominent settlers there. The petition represents that some twenty or thirty families have been murdered ! and
dwellings burned, and that an attack upon the Umpqua settlements is feared. The houses burned and families murdered, thus
far, were between Grave creek and Rogue river.
All communication with Jacksonville was cut off, and we bear nothing from the citizens there. It is conjectured, however, that
the town is fortified. The mail carrier was shot at and driven back. The families between Grave creek and the cañon have
been brought into Umpqua, for safety. There is no communication beyond the cañon now.
“ Mr. Hadley says that Judge Deady, who had been holding court in Jackson county, with Mr. Drew, deputy marshal, confirm
the intelligence, and say that from the mountains they could see the burning dwellings south of them."
14 X
106
NARRATIVE ARD ITINERARY-WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
ROUTE FROM VANCOUVER TO FORT READING, WEST OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
October 22.-To-day we left Oregon City, travelled about eighteen miles over an excellent
road, and encamped on Pudding river. The country was level or gently undulating, and much
of it covered with timber. We found the ford of the Molalle river rather deep. A ferry-boat
is required at this crossing during the season of high water. Numerous houses and fine farms
were passed on the way; and the land appeared fertile and valuable.
October 23.—This morning we crossed Pudding river by a toll-bridge, and then travelled
about twenty-four miles to Salem. Our course lay through a level country called French Prairie,
the fertility and thickly settled character of which strongly contrasted with the barrenness and
solitude of most of the Des Chutes plateau. At Salem I saw the surveyor general of the
Territory, and Mr. H. Gordon, deputy surveyor. To both of these gentlemen I am indebted
for much valuable information and personal kindness.
October 24.-This morning it rained. We passed over the Willamette river at Rice's ferry,
where the stream is deep and wide and the current rapid. One of our mules was drowned in
attempting to swim across. We found difficulty in keeping our proper course to-day, on ac-
count of numerous forks in the road. There is also a very annoying custom, in this part of the
valley, of enclosing by fences portions of the road, with the land on each side; thus rendering
large circuits unavoidable. Soon after leaving Salem, we passed through a small collection of
houses named Cincinnati, and crossed a little stream called La Creole river. The country was
level or slightly undulating for the whole of the day's march. We encamped on Lackimute
creek, having travelled about seventeen miles.
October 25.—The route to-day, which was in some places well timbered with oak, cedar, fir,
and spruce, lay over a narrow and nearly level plain, bordered by high hills. We passed
through Corvallis, a little town, consisting principally of one street lined by several stores and
dwelling houses. It is built on a small stream called Mary's river, which rises near a peak of
the Coast Range, bearing the same name, and discharges itself into the Willamette. We
travelled 32 miles, and encamped on Long Tom creek.
October 26.--To-day we continued our course through the same narrow, level prairie, for 24
miles, to Eugene City, a small village near the junction of the Coast and Middle forks of the Wil-
lamette. A short distance north of the town, a line of low rolling hills, the principal peak of
which is called Spencer's Butte, crosses the valley, and connects the Cascade and Coast Ranges.
October 27.-Our road to-day followed up the Coast fork of the Willamette, and we encamped
near its head-waters, after a day's march of about 25 miles. The valley had become narrow
and we occasionally crossed low hills. The soil was very fertile, and much of it cultivated.
We experienced no little difficulty, however, in obtaining forage for our animals, as the Indian
war in Rogue River valley had caused it to be in great demand.
October 28.-To-day we crossed, by the Pass creek road, the Calapooya mountains, which
separate the Willamette and Umpqua valleys. Pass creek rises in a little meadow, which is
also the source of a tributary of the Coast fork of the Willamette, and flows through the
Calapooya mountains to Elk creek, a branch of the Umpqua river. This pass had only been
known for a short time, and the wagon road was not fully completed when my party travelled
over the route. Nothing but a few short bridges and a little grading, however, was wanting
to make it a good and level road through the mountains. Having reached the Umpqua valley,
we crossed a small divide between Pass and Elk creeks, and travelled towards the south through
a narrow prairie bordered by rolling hills. The soil was fertile, and the neatly painted houses,
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-UMPQUA VALLEY-UMPQUA CAÑON.
107
surrounded by cultivated land, greatly resembled those of the eastern States. We encamped
near the end of this prairie, after a day's march of about 19 miles.
October 29.-On starting this morning, we passed over a steep hill with a flat and nearly
level summit, and then travelled to Winchester, distant about 19 miles from camp. Our course
lay through an undulating and very fertile country, varied with an occasional growth of oak
and pine. Winchester is a little town situated on the southern bank of the North Umpqua river,
at this point, a rapid stream about 80 feet in width, flowing over a very rocky bed. We crossed
it in a ferry-boat, and encamped in the village during a heavy fall of rain, which continued
through the night.
October 30.-We learned, upon good authority, that the reports from Rogue river had not
exaggerated the Indian disturbances there. None but strong parties could pass through the
valley, and most of the houses north of the river were burned. A large force of regular and
volunteer troops was already in the field, and two additional companies were about starting to
reinforce them. The election of field officers was to take place immediately at Roseburg, and
we remained in camp to-day to await the result, before applying for an escort to Fort Lane. I
repaired a barometer.
October 31.—This morning the road lay through a nearly level and very fertile valley to
Roseburg, where I saw Major Martin, the elected commanding officer of the volunteers. He
informed me that the troops were now fighting with the Indians, near the Umpqua cañon; and
that he intended to join them on the following morning, with two more companies at present
in camp at Cañonville. He kindly proposed to escort my party through the cañon, and I accepted
his offer.
We continued our course up the valley of the South Umpqua river, and encamped with the
volunteers near the northern entrance of the Umpqua cañon, at Cañonville, which consists only
of one house and a barn. The road followed the stream for the greater part of the way, and
the valley, although narrow, was settled, and much of it apparently very fertile. The hills on
each side were lightly timbered with oak and fir. Several specimens of a hard variety of talcose
slate were found during the day. The distance travelled was about twenty-six miles. In the
evening a despatch was received from the battle field, stating that the troops were greatly in
want of food and powder, and urging on the reinforcements. In the night it rained.
November 1.--This morning we followed the volunteers through the cañon, a difficult pass
through the Umpqua mountains. Two small creeks head near the divide, and flow, one towards
the north to the south fork of the South Umpqua, and the other towards the south to Cow
creek. The bottom of the gorge is exceedingly narrow, and the precipitous sides, covered with
a thick growth of trees, rise at least 1,000 feet above the water. We found in the cañon a
species of yew-tree which we did not notice elsewhere west of the Cascade mountains. The
ascent from the camp to the divide was 1,450 feet, and we were compelled, after crossing the
creek about thirty times, to travel part of the way in its bed. A few resolute men might hold
this defile against an army; and it is wonderful that the Rogue river Indians, who are intelligent,
brave, and well armed with rifles, have never, in their numerous wars, seized upon it, and thus
prevented the approach of troops from the Umpqua valley. This pass is about eleven miles in
length, and communication through it is sometimes interrupted by freshets. The road over which
we travelled was constructed in 1853, by Brevet Major B. Alvord, United States army, and it
is the best route known through the Umpqua mountains.
We had hardly left the cañon when we began to see traces of the Indian devastations.
108
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-ROGUE RIVER VALLEY.
UL
0
Blackened and smoking ruins, surrounded by the carcasses of domestic animals, marked the
places where, but a few days before, the settlers had lived. We passed a team on the road ; the
oxen lay shot in the yoke, and the dark blood stains upon the seat of the wagon told the fate
of the driver. Even the stacks of hay and grain in the fields had been burned. After leaving
the cañon, we followed the narrow but fertile valley of Cow creek for a few miles, and then
crossing a steep divide between it and Wolf creek, encamped on the latter stream. Major Martin
intended to proceed, in the morning, to join in the battle which was going on among the moun-
tains, at a distance from the road variously estimated to be from five to twelve miles. As he could
not spare us an escort, we determined to press forward as rapidly as possible towards Fort Lane,
trusting that the Indians would be too busy to attack our party. In the evening, however,
stragglers from the fight began to come in. They reported that the provisions were entirely
exhausted, and the powder nearly gone; that the Indians were numerous and very strongly
posted; that several white men had been killed and many wounded; and that it had been thought
best to fall back, for the present, and wait for supplies. The regular troops were on their way to
Grave creek, and the volunteers were coming to our camp as fast as they could transport their
wounded. The Indians did not follow them, and they all arrived before morning. The forage
on the route had been burned, and our animals suffered much from want of food to-night.
November 2.—This morning Major Martin, escorted by a volunteer company, went to Grave
creek to see Captain A. J. Smith, 1st dragoons, commanding the United States troops in the
valley. He offered us the benefit of his escort, and we accompanied him accordingly. This
gentleman, together with Captain Mosher and other volunteer officers, assisted us in every way
in their power; and without this accidental aid our party would have found it very difficult to
cross the valley.
Wolf and Grave creeks are separated by high and steep hills, covered with thick timber and
underbrush. On reaching Wolf creek we found Captain Smith in camp, near a house surrounded
by a small stockade. His supply of forage had failed, and he was forced, on this account, to
prepare to return to Fort Lane as soon as a few men, who had died of their wounds, could be
buried. Lieut. Gibson, formerly in command of the escort of our party, was among the wounded.
Being compelled by want of forage to press forward as fast as possible, I applied to Capt. Smith
for an escort. He gave me one so promptly that in less than fifteen minutes we were again on
our way.
Between Grave and Jump off Joe creeks the road passed over a steep and heavily timbered
divide. The Indians had killed two men in charge of a pack train on this hill, and the half
burned remains of their wagon and packs were still to be seen. Near this place Major Fitzgerald,
1st dragoons, had overtaken with a scouting party and killed several of the savages. At Jump
off Joe creek, a man driving swine had been murdered, and a large number of his animals lay
dead in the road. On leaving this creek, we passed through an undulating and fertile country,
sometimes open and sometimes thinly covered with a growth of oak, sugar maple, and a little
pine and hemlock. After travelling until nearly sun down, we encamped at a building which
had been preserved from the general ruin by the heroism of a woman named Harris. After her
husband had been murdered and her daughter wounded, she had made a desperate and successful
defence by shooting at the savages from between the crevices of the log house. The traces of
her bullets upon the trees, which had shielded the Indians, and the marks of the tragedy within
the dwelling, were plainly visible. Soon after dark a small party under the command of Lieut.
Allston, 1st cavalry, arrived with the wounded and encamped. Captain Smith, with a few men,
passed us on his way to Fort Lane. The length of our day's march was about fourteen miles.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-FORT LANE-SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS.
109
i
A
S
November 3.-To-day we travelled about twenty-five miles to Fort Lane, crossing Rogue river
at Evans' ferry. His house, and others south of the river, were now protected by a few soldiers.
The disturbance had been confined to the northern side of the valley; but a few murders had
been committed on the Siskiyou mountains, and the settlers were in great alarm. The road was
gently undulating until we arrived at the ferry; but from that point it followed the level bank
of the river nearly the whole distance to Fort Lane. The land appeared to be rich and valuable.
The hills were thinly covered with oak, pine, and other kinds of trees. A short time before
reaching the fort we passed a salt spring, at which the animals drank eagerly.
November 4.-To-day we remained in camp to recruit the animals, which had suffered very
much from fatigue and hunger during the last few days. We were treated with every possible
kindness and attention by the officers stationed at the post.
Fort Lane, at present a cavalry station, is pleasantly situated on the side of a low hill, near
the junction of Stewart creek with Rogue river. The barracks and officers' quarters are built of
logs plastered with clay. Much of the surrounding country is fertile and settled, but destruc-
tive Indian outbreaks are not unfrequent. On the opposite bank of Stewart creek there are some
peculiar basaltic hills, with flat tops and precipitous sides, somewhat resembling those of the
Des Chutes valley. The principal one, which is about five hundred feet high, is called Table
Rock. Good observations were obtained at the fort, by which the altitude above the sea was
found to be 1,202 feet, and the latitude 42° 25' 56''.
November 5.—This morning we continued our journey without an escort, as no Indian out-
rages of importance had been recently perpetrated on the route. We found many houses
deserted, however, and great alarm prevailing among the settlers. After travelling about 26
miles up the valley of Stewart creek, we encamped at the house of Mr. Smith, near the foot of the
Siskiyou mountains. The road was level, and the general appearance of the country was sim-
ilar to that near the source of the Willamette river. The rolling hills that shut in the valley,
were sometimes bare and sometimes thinly covered with trees. We passed, on the way, a hot
spring, the temperature of which was about 100° Fahr. A continual escape of gas through the
water gave it the appearance of boiling.
November 6.-This morning we crossed the Siskiyou mountains. At first the ascent was
gradual; but the road soon began to wind up a steep slope, portions of which were rendered
very slippery by clay and rain, until, at length, the summit, elevated 2,385 feet above camp,
was attained. Here the mountain was densely timbered, but near the base there were com-
paratively few trees. The descent, for a short distance, was very abrupt; but it soon became
gentle, and broken by a few hills. A pile of stones by the roadside marked the boundary
between Oregon and California. When we passed this spot it was raining; but in the valley
below, clouds of dust gave evidence of a long continued drought. The rainy season begins
earlier in Oregon than in California ; and it happened in several places that the first rain of
the season occurred on the night of our arrival. Nature seems to have preceded legislation in
making the Siskiyou mountains a boundary; for, after passing them, the appearance of the
country immediately undergoes a change. Rounded and nearly bare hills, not unlike those of
the Sacramento valley, near Benicia, began to appear; and a few scattered sage bushes reminded
us of the plateau east of the Cascade Range. The general altitude above the sea, also, had
increased between one and two thousand feet since leaving Rogue river. We crossed Klamath
river at Dewitt's ferry, and encamped on its southern bank, after a day's march of about
twenty-four miles.
2
110
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY~YREKA-FORT JONES.
November 7.-To-day we travelled about seventeen miles to Yreka, through a rolling prairie
country. Most of the hills were covered with bunch grass, and entirely devoid of trees. We
passed several houses near the road, and a saw mill on Shasta river, a small but deep stream
crossed by a bridge. Yreka is beautifully situated in a little basin surrounded by high hills.
Near it, Shasta Butte, the largest and grandest peak of the Cascade Range, rises abruptly from
the valley, and, with its double summit, towers far into the region of eternal snow. This little
city, which already contains several brick stores and dwelling houses, is a great depot of the
northern mines, and gold digging is actually carried on in its streets. It is, however, divided
from the settled portion of the Sacramento valley by such precipitous mountain chains that
all its supplies are transported by pack trains; and until very recently a wagon road to Shasta
has been considered impracticable. Two routes have lately been found, however, which, it is
thought, will prove to be feasible.
November 8.—This morning we followed the course of a little tributary of Shasta river,
through a rather stony, gold-bearing plain, to Little Scott's mountains, the divide between
Shasta and Scott's valleys. The ascent and descent were very abrupt for a wagon road. After
crossing the ridge, we soon struck a small branch of Scott's river, and passed down its valley;
which, although not more than a mile in width, has a rich and fertile soil. We encamped at
Fort Jones, distant about sixteen miles from Yreka. The fort is finely situated in an open
valley surrounded by high and wooded mountains; the buildings are made of logs. The soil
abounds in silica, but gold has not been discovered in the immediate vicinity in sufficient
quantities to pay for working. The altitude of the post above the sea, determined by careful
observations, is 2,887 feet. The latitude is 41° 35' 42". 4.
November 9.-To-day we remained in camp to recruit the animals, and to transact business
with Lieut. Crook, the quartermaster and commissary of the expedition, who had been detached
by Captain H. M. Judah, 4th infantry, commanding the post. This officer, who passed us on
his way to Fort Lane, ordered Lieut. Crook to remain at Fort Jones, on account of the exigen-
cies of the public service. I greatly regretted this order; for it obliged me to discharge the
duties of quartermaster and commissary, both for my topographical party and for Lieut. Crook's
train, which accompanied me to Fort Reading. This circumstance prevented me from leaving
the command, and examining, with a detached party, the Sacramento river route ; which, it is
thought, might have been shown to be practicable for a railroad. The want of an escort, and
the great uncertainty of obtaining forage, rendered it impossible to travel over this route with
the whole train of nearly broken down animals; and the design of surveying it was necessarily
abandoned.
November 10.-Last night it snowed. We remained in camp again to-day to finish the
business with Lieut. Crook. John Mellen, one of our best men, was discharged at his own
request.
November 11.-This morning we travelled about twenty-three miles up Scott's valley, and
encamped at the foot of the high mountain chain which separates it from Trinity valley. Scott's
valley is a very beautiful and fertile opening, lying among forest-clad ridges about two thousand
feet in height. It varies from one to eight or ten miles in width, and is nearly destitute of
timber, except on the banks of the stream. The soil is rich, and gold is found in some localities.
rained a little in the valley, and snowed upon the mountains during the day.
November 12.-To-day Scott's mountain, the highest summit upon our return route, was
srossed by a pack trail. We toiled up a steep and rocky ascent covered with trees, until an

U.S.P.R.R.EXP & SURVEYS – CAL.& OREGON
GENERAL REPORT-PLATE XII
ORIE
SHASTA BUTTE AND SHASTA VALLEY FROM A POINT NEAR CAMP 70 A.
NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY-TRINITY TRAIL-FORT READING.
111
elevation of 2,141 feet above camp was gained. The snow was about four inches deep upon the
top. In the winter it sometimes renders the trail impassable. A sudden descent conducted to
the head-waters of a branch of Trinity river, which flows, in a deep and narrow ravine, between
heavily timbered ridges. We were compelled to cross and re-cross this stream eleven times at
bad fords, which became more and more rocky as they grew deeper. At length we encamped
near a public house, after a hard day's march of twenty-four miles. This very bad trail, is, at
present, the most travelled route between Yreka and the settled part of the Sacramento valley.
November 13.-To-day we continued our course down the narrow valley, crossing the stream
five times more at very rocky fords. It received several small tributaries, which increased its size to
nearly a hundred feet in width and about three feet in depth. The current was rapid. At the
point where the river first bends abruptly toward the west, the trail leaves it and crosses Trinity
mountains, the divide between it and Clear creek. A spur from the main ridge, lying between
two immense ravines, extends about six miles towards Trinity river. The trail winds up the
steep end of this spur, until an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet above the water is gained, and
then follows along the top to the main ridge, through a forest of pine and oak. The descent of
2,543 feet to Clear creek is exceedingly abrupt. Although much labor has been expended upon
the trail, this mountain is a very great obstacle to travel. We encamped at the first house we
reached in the valley, after a hard march of about twenty-four miles.
November 14.—This morning we followed a pack trail about five miles down the narrow
ravine of Clear creek to a mill, which is the terminus of the wagon road from Shasta. A few
miles further on, we reached French gulch, a celebrated place for gold washing. The valley
of the creek was here about a quarter of a mile in width, and the water had been conducted
through it in every direction, by ditches. As many as a hundred men were engaged in digging
and washing gold when we passed, and quite a little village had sprung up near the road. I
was told that although the ground had been dug over several times, the amount of gold seemed
to be undiminished.
We continued to follow the narrow valley of Clear creek, occasionally crossing low spurs from
the sides to avoid bends, until we reached a few houses called Whiskey town. At this place
the road left the stream, and passed through an open, rolling country to Shasta, one of the
principal towns in northern Californa. Here we encamped, after travelling about twenty-one
miles.
November 15.-To-day we arrived at Fort Reading, distant about seventeen miles from
Shasta, and thus completed the field work of the survey. The road between the town and the
Sacramento river, which we crossed at Johnson’s ferry, led through an open and undulating
region. From the ferry to the fort, it passed over a nearly level plateau, in some places
well wooded, and in others entirely destitute of trees. We were received with great kindness
and attention by the only officers at the post, Major F. 0. Wyse and Lieutenant D. R. Ransom,
both of the 3d artillery.
Lieutenant Williamson arrived from San Francisco a few days afterwards. He considered
the season so far advanced as to render it inexpedient to attempt any exploration of the
Sierra Nevada, near the sources of Carson river, before the ensuing spring, particularly as the
most important examinations contemplated had been already anticipated by the State. Orders
were soon received from the War Department, directing him to dispose of the outfit and return
at once to Washington to prepare the report, maps, profiles, &c., of the survey already com-
pleted. The party reached the city in the latter part of January, 1856, and immediately
entered upon office work.
CO
Ꮯ H A PᎢ ᎬᎡ ᏙᏞ .
COMPUTATION OF ALTITUDES FROM BAROMETRICAL OBSERVATONS.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.—INSTRUMENTS.--INSTRUMENTAL ERRORS. -INTERPOLATION, AND APPROXIMATE TEST OF ACCURACY IN OBSERVER.
CORRECTIONS PREPARATORY TO COMPUTATION : 1. FOR TEMPERATURE OF MERCURY; 2. FOR INSTRUMENTAL ERRORS; 3. For HORARY
OSCILLATION; 4. FOR ABNORMAL OSCILLATION.-METHOD OF COMPUTATION, WITH REMARKS : 1. ON THE READING OF THE BAROMETER
AND THERMOMETER AT THE LOWER STATION; 2. ON THE READING OF THE THERMOMETER AT THE UPPER STATION.--EXAMPLE.— TEST
OF THE COMPARATIVE ACCURACY OF THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF COMPUTATION, WITH TABLES SHOWING THE RESULTS OBTAINED.
HEIGHT OF FORT READING.EXPLANATION OF TABLES OF BAROMETRIC OBSERVATIONS IN APPENDIX D, ETC.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
To insure accuracy in the old method of determining altitudes by the barometer, it is theo-
retically necessary that the observations at the upper and lower stations should be simultaneous.
In obtaining the data for constructing the extended barometric profiles of the recent Pacific
railroad surveys, many causes have rendered it impossible to comply, even approximately, with
this condition. A new method of computation, based upon different principles, has therefore
been required. Successive improvements have been introduced in computing the altitudes de-
termined on the different surveys, until this object has been, in part at least, attained. Although
several references to the subject have been made in the reports, the new system has never, to
my knowledge, been published in a form sufficiently detailed for practical use. Partly to supply
this deficiency, and partly to explain my reasons for believing that certain other slight changes
in the old system are advisable, I have decided to describe in full the method used in reducing
the field notes of our survey.
INSTRUMENTS.
On starting from Benicia we had four cistern barometers, Nos. 1060, 1061, 1068, and 1089,
made to order, by James Green, of New York, on the same pattern as those used by the Medical
Department of the army, but with scales graduated for greater altitudes, and with verniers
reading to thousandths of an inch. We also had an aneroid barometer, but it proved to be so
inferior an instrument that the few observations taken with it were rejected. We were likewise
provided with four extra unfilled glass tubes.
The barometers proved to be admirably adapted to mountain work; but they had three defects,
which gave us no little trouble. There were no portable tripods connected with them, which
made it very inconvenient to take observations when there were no trees near the trail. Their
verniers did not read higher than five hundredths of an inch, which rendered it necessary to
look at both the scale and the vernier, and often to perform additions to determine the hundredths
of the reading. This is very objectionable, as it renders mistakes almost inevitable, when the
observations are taken during the hurry of the march. Lastly, the small pieces of wood to
which the ivory points and the glass tubes were attached, were a little too large, and, in two
cases, expanding from moisture while the glass cistern contracted from cold, actually cracked it,
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
113
and thus broke the barometer in a way very difficult to repair. It was successfully accomplished,
however, by putting a little of Husband's adhesive plaster on both sides of the crack, and
then covering it with sealing wax dissolved in alcohol, to protect it from the air.
INSTRUMENTAL ERRORS.
In order to eliminate the effect of capillary attraction, of minute bubbles of air which cannot
be entirely excluded from a tube unprovided with Daniell’s protective ring, and of other causes
of instrumental error, the scales of all the barometers were so adjusted by the maker that the
instruments agreed precisely with Smithsonian standard on leaving New York. On reaching
Fort Reading, from a mean of over two hundred observations, taken with great care by the
gentlemen of the party, Nos, 1060 and 1061 were found to agree exactly with each other, while
both Nos. 1068 and 1089 differed slightly from them. It was assumed that the two former had
remained unchanged; and corrections to make each of the others agree with them were dedu red
from the above mentioned observations, after the temperature of the mercury had been reduced
to 32° Fahrenheit. Subsequently, whenever a barometer was broken and re-filled, a similar
correction was deduced. The following table exhibits these corrections.
.SSU
Barometer No. 1060.
Date.
Inches.
July 10 to Septeinber 18...--
September 19 to September 29......
September 30 to October 15...
October 16 to October 29 ---
Subsequent to October 29.--------
+ + + +
.000
022
7.026
+ .042
+. 191
Barometer No. 1061.
Date.
Inches.
.000
July 10 to August 5.----------------
Irreparably broken on August 5 ----
Barometer No. 1068.

Date.
Inches.
During whole survey--------
.009
Barometer No. 1089.

Date.
Inches.
July 10 to August 5.-------
August 6 to September 4 ..
Subsequent to September 4 ------
+.015
+.044
+.035
-
--
15 X
114
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
LIO
vului
TY
INTERPOLATION, AND APPROXIMATE TEST OF ACCURACY IN THE OBSERVER.
Before proceeding to discuss the determination of altitudes, I shall explain the mechanical
method used in examining and studying observations taken at a fized station. It is to repre-
sent them, the temperature of the mercury having been reduced to 32° Fahr., by a curve, of
which the abscissas denote the times of the observations, and the ordinates the corresponding
height of the mercurial column. By this means any great error in observation can be readily
detected by an abrupt change in the curve, and a very clear and comprehensive idea can be
obtained of the relations of the different observations to each other. This also furnishes the
best method of interpolating properly for intermediate readings.
CORRECTIONS PREPARATORY TO COMPUTATION.
1. For temperature of mercury.—In preparing observations for computation, the first step
taken was to reduce the observed readings of the barometer to what they would have been had
the temperature of the mercury been 32° Fahr. For this purpose the tables of Mr. A, Guyot,
published by the Smithsonian Institute, were used.
2. For instrumental errors.--The correction for instrumental errors was then applied, and,
when more than one barometer had been observed, a mean of the readings thus corrected was
taken, to eliminate, as far as possible, errors of observation.
3 For horary oscillation. The next step was to correct for the oscillations of the mercurial
column, due to the ever varying weight of the atmosphere. Of these there are two kinds, the
normal and abnormal. Although a monthly and a yearly normal oscillation, and also one
depending on the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, are supposed to exist, still, we practi-
cally know but one, called the horary variation. This is a kind of daily atmospheric tide, caused
principally by the heat of the sun, but greatly affected by the altitude and latitude of the place,
and, doubtless, by other circumstances. It is far from constant, even at the same locality, as
will be clearly shown by the result of our observations made at Fort Reading, in July and
November.
Observations for the construction of a table of horary corrections should be taken hourly
with very great care, and continued, if possible, for a long period of time; but this is not
absolutely necessary. A good one may be constructed from observations taken even for a single
day, when the mean temperature does not differ much from that of the season, and when there
is little or no abnormal oscillation. The latter condition is generally fulfilled when the
reading of the barometer, with the mercury reduced to 32° Fahr., is the same, or nearly the
same, at the last observation, as it was at the same hour on the preceding day. Even when
observations are taken for several days, the latter of these conditions must not be neglected;
that is, the last observation, with the temperature of the mercury reduced to 32° Fahr., should
always be very nearly the same as that taken at the corresponding hour immediately preceding the
first observation used. This is manifestly necessary, as an abnormal change affects the horary
curve. For instance, if the mercury should, beside the horary change, uniformly descend for
one entire day and ascend for the next to the same height as before, the descending portion of
the horary curve on the first day will be lengthened, and the ascending shortened, and vice
versâ on the second day. In a mean curve for the two days, these errors will balance each other.
To construct a table of horary corrections, the observations, after the temperature of the
mercury has been reduced to 32° Fahr., should be represented by a curve, as already explained,
and examined to detect any errors of observation and to reject any portion in which the effect
J.S.P.R.R.EXP.& SURVEYS CALIFORNIA & OREGON.
GENERAI. REPORT. PLATE XII.

Table 2
Table 3
Table
1
A.M.
7
A.M.
8 A.M
9 A.M.
10 A.M.
-
-
-
11
A.M.
FROM OBSERVATIONS TAKEN ON THE SURVEY.
(IRVES TILI'STRATING THE TABLES OF HORARY OSCILLATION DEDUCED)
Vertical scale 20 inches to one inch
Horizontal scale six hours to one inch
12 A.M.
1 P.M.
P.M.
3 P.M.
a
P.M.
lo
P.M.
es
P.M.
7. P.M.
8 P.M.
9 P.M
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
*
-
----
--
-
-
--
-
Vertical Scale of luches
---
b.000
-020
L40
L100
·060
040
080
120
E160)
-:180
200
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
115
of abnormal error is not balanced. Should one of the hourly observations be wanting on any
day, a value, interpolated as correctly as possible by comparing the character of the curve
between the hours preceding and following it on other days, should be substituted. A moment's
consideration will show the necessity of this interpolation when there is any abnormal change
from day to day. Still the great mistake of omitting it has often been made.
The observations having been prepared as explained above, a mean of all the observations at
each hour is taken, and a curve plotted to represent these mean results. It should be a smooth
curve, generally with two maximum and two minimum points in the twenty-four hours, the exact
times of which vary somewhat. Should this curve not be smooth, some error of observation or
calculation has been made. It now only remains to find the mean reading for this mean day,
and to take the difference between it and each mean hourly reading, affecting the result with
the positive sign when the hourly reading is the less, and with the negative when it is the
greater. The correction from this table, applied with its sign to an observation taken at any
hour, eliminates the error due to horary oscillation.
It may be well to remark, that it is a very good test of the value of a table of horary correc-
tions to apply it to the curve representing observations taken for a few days at a depot camp.
If a more sweeping line is produced, without a daily recurrence of any peculiar form, the table
may be considered good for observations taken in the vicinity, where the mean temperature is
about the same.
From the observations taken on our survey, the following tables of horary corrections were
deduced. They proved to be well adapted to the peculiar characteristics of the different tracts
of country through which we passed. The manner in which they were computed is fully shown
in Appendix E.
Corrections for Horary Oscillation.

Hour.
Table 1.
Table 2.
Table 3.
Hour.
Tablo 1.
Table 2.
Table 3.
Inches.
Inches.
6
a.
no
m
.
.-----
-.069
7
m
.
co
.
8
a. m
. ...
- .072
.072
060
Inches.
- .040
- .042
-.037
- .028
- .016
- .007
+.008
+.014
er
.....
+ I III
9 a. m. -------
10 a. m. ---
11 a. m. --
12 m...----
1 p. m.-----
++ !!!!!
- .045
- .049
-- .051
- .043
-.022
+.001
+.020
+ + + + +
050
Inches.
+.017
+.034
+.048
+.061
+.064
+.058
+.047
+.027
Inches.
+ .033
+.041
+ .043
+.038
+.026
+.011
-.003
Inches.
+ .028
+.034
+.033
+.029
+.020
+.013
+.001
-.004
+ + + + + + 1
o
032
– .018
-.002
7 p. m...
8 p. m.--
9 p. m.-
The curves on Plate XIII illustrate these tables. They represent the oscillation of the barometer as twenty times greater
than it actually is, in order to clearly show its character.
Table No. 1 was deduced from six days' observations, taken in the latter part of July, at
Fort Reading, at an elevation between five and six hundred feet above the level of the sea,
and a mean temperature of 83° Fahr. The condition above stated was very well satisfied, and
the table was applied to the observations taken in the Sacramento valley, where the mean tem-
perature was very high.
Table No. 2 was deduced from five days' observations, taken in the latter part of August, near
116
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
a
m
ore ro
the head of Des Chutes valley, Oregon Territory, at an elevation of abi t four thousand feet
above the level of the sea, and a mean temperature of 50° Fahr. We were again fortunate in
having little abnormal error, and the table was admirably adapted to the observations taken on
the elevated plateau east of the Cascade range.
Table No. 3 was deduced from three days' observations at Fort Reading, taken about the
middle of November, with a mean temperature of about 50° Fahr. Here a barometric storm
rendered it necessary to reject four days careful observations, to avoid the effect of abnormal
error. During the three days, however, there was very little atmospheric disturbance; and the
table was useful for the observations taken on my route from Vancouver, where the temperature
was uniformly low and the elevation generally inconsiderable.
It is very interesting to compare these tables, especially the two for Fort Reading. As the
Des Chutes curve was obtained from observations at a place differing widely from the others in
altitude, mean temperature, and latitude, it is impossible to decide what part of its peculiarities
is due to each of these causes of variation. The Fort Reading curves, however, are deduced
from observations taken at the same spot, with a change of mean temperature only; and it is
fair to suppose that the differences between them are due principally to this cause. These
differences are, that the November curve has a more rounded form and departs less
horizontal line representing the mean of the day, and that its points of maximum and minimum
are nearer together by about three hours. These results are precisely what we should expect,
from the great difference of 33° Fahr. in mean temperature, assuming the heat of the sun to be
the cause of the horary oscillation; and they show conclusively that the horary variation is by
no means constant, even at the same locality, for all seasons of the year. For some hours, the
difference between the corrections in these two tables would affect the computed height of a
station more than forty feet. This clearly proves the great error, which has sometimes been
committed, of applying a table of horary corrections to observations taken at places of very
different mean temperatures, and far distant from the spot for which it was computed.
4. For abnormal oscillation.-The abnormal oscillations of the barometric column are princi-
pally caused by general movements in the atmosphere, which are shown by repeated and
numerous observations to extend rapidly and progressively over very large tracts of country.
In the first volume of the third edition of Professor J. F. Daniell's Treatise on Meteorology,
will be found a very interesting article upon these oscillations. It is illustrated by diagrams,
constructed as explained above, which represent numerous barometric observations taken under
the direction of the Meteorological Society of the Palatinate. For Europe, at least, they con-
clusively prove this most important principle of rapid and wide extension. In the third volume
of this series of reports upon Pacific Railroad Explorations, will be found diagrams, prepared
by Captain A. W. Whipple, United States Topographical Engineers, to represent barometric
observations taken at different military posts by the Medical Department of the United States
army. They show that the same principle is true for our western country. Slight local storms
do not appear to produce much effect upon the height of the barometric column. The observa-
tions taken on our survey agree perfectly with these well known facts. One of our barometers,
No. 1068, was left at Fort Reading during our field work, with Dr. J. F. Hammond, United
States army, who kindly volunteered to have observations taken daily every third hour, from
6 a, m. to 9 p. m. I obtained a corresponding set of observations taken at San Diego, distant
over six hundred miles, and one month's observations at Benicia, distant about two hundred
miles from Fort Reading. Both sets were taken under the direction of medical officers of the
CO
A
S
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
117
TU
army stationed at these posts. They agreed very well in all important abnormal changes with
Dr. Hammond's Fort Reading observations, and with those made at permanent camps on our
route; the only difference being that the oscillations at San Diego were not so great as those at
Fort Reading and Benicia. Hence, as we were never more than four hundred and fifty miles in
a direct line from Fort Reading, it is fair to suppose that the abnormal oscillation over the
whole region traversed during our survey, was practically the same as that measured by the
stationary barometer at the fort.
The method taken to form a table of corrections for abnormal oscillations was this: all the
observations taken at Fort Reading, San Diego, and Benicia, during the time that we were in
the field, were reduced to what they would have been, had the temperature of the mercury been
32° Fahr. They were then corrected for the horary variation; those at Fort Reading by the
tables deduced from our own observations; those at Benicia by one constructed by Lieutenant
W. P. Trowbridge, Corps of Engineers, from a set of observations taken there by the Medical
Department of the army; and those at San Diego by one kindly furnished me by Lieutenant J.
G. Parke, United States Topographical Engineers, constructed from observations taken on his
recent survey in that vicinity. The observations thus corrected were plotted, forming curves
which represented the abnormal oscillations alone at the different places, and which, as already
stated, were found to exhibit a remarkable correspondence. As both San Diego and Benicia
were south, and the country surveyed by us north, of Fort Reading, I considered the curve
constructed from observations taken there preferable to a mean of the three. I, however, used
the other two to detect errors of observation, and sometimes, when the surveying party was at
a considerable distance from Fort Reading, to determine the approximate velocity of a storm.
Observations were taken at 6 and 9 p. m. and 6 a. m. at our camps, and, when we remained
stationary, at many other hours during the day. These observations, corrected as above stated,
also furnished an excellent check, by showing the direction of the abnormal curve where we
were. It was found to agree remarkably with that at the permanent stations. I then made a
laborious examination of the Fort Reading curve, carefully correcting it by the above mentioned
checks. Three times, where the observations had been interrupted for a few days, the blank
was filled by reference to the other curves. The resulting curve represented the abnormal
oscillations affecting the observations on our route, and to form a table of corrections, it only
remained to find its mean reading, and to take the difference between this and each of its three-
hourly readings, affecting the result with the positive sign when the mean was the greater, and
with the negative when it was the less. The values for intermediate hours were found by
interpolation. The correction from this table, applied with its sign to any observation taken
at the corresponding day and hour on the survey, eliminated the error arising from abnormal
oscillation, by reducing it to the mean reading for the period for which the table was con-
structed. The importance of this correction may be seen from the fact that several times it
affected the computed height of a station between two and three hundred feet, and, as it some-
times increased and sometimes diminished it, relative errors, amounting to between five and
six hundred feet, would have resulted had it been neglected.
METHOD OF COMPUTATION.
After undergoing the four corrections above mentioned, the observations were ready for com-
putation. The tables of Professor Elias Loomis were used for this purpose, the calculation
being somewhat shortened by the method of preparing the observations. These tables are
vere
118
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
se
lear
exceedingly convenient, and, by not introducing logarithms, greatly diminish the liability to
mistakes. The values assumed for a few of the quantities in the formula require notice.
1. Reading of barometer and thermometer at lower station.—The mean reading of the barometer
at the level of mean tide at Suisun bay, near Benicia, was uniformly assumed for the reading at
the lower station. Its value was determined by computation from very numerous observations
taken by the Medical Department of the army, at the United States hospital, near the water's
edge. It may be well to state that the altitude of the hospital above the level of mean tide,
given as 64 feet in the returns sent to the Surgeon General's office, is erroneous, and that the
more accurate altitude of 81.5 feet was found, by careful measurement in 1854 by Lieutenant
W. T. Welcker, Ordnance Corps, United States army, at the request of Lieutenant Williamson.
This altitude was used in computing the barometric reading at the level of mean tide from that
at the hospital. It is 30.057 inches, the temperature of the mercury being 32° Fahrenheit,
and of the air 64° Fahrenheit. It was considered better to refer all the observations to this
fixed base, partly because, by computing from camp to camp or station to station, all errors
would be propagated through the whole succeeding work, and partly because the great prin-
ciple of this method of computation being to reduce the observed to the mean reading, it would
seem better to take for the lower station a mean reading very well determined than one deduced
from a few observations, and depending for its accuracy upon the correctness of the horary and
abnormal tables. This reasoning was verified by the test of the Cañada de las Uvas observa-
tions, which will be fully explained in a subsequent part of this chapter.
2. Reading of thermometer at upper station. It only remains to notice the air temperature at
the upper station. As our method of computation differs in this from that of any of the Pacific
railroad surveys yet published, I shall fully state the reasons which decided me to adopt the
change. It had already been found that if, in this new method of computation, the observed
air temperature was used, bad results were obtained, the very high temperatures giving too
great altitudes, and the very low not great enough. To correct this source of error, Mr. L.
Blodget constructed an empirical table of corrections, by comparing the results of a spirit
level and a barometric survey of some passes in the Sierra Nevada, made by Lieutenant
Williamson in 1853. Although the results obtained by using this table are doubtless more
accurate than those given by the observed air temperature without this correction, still I cannot
feel satisfied either with it or with the reasoning advanced to support it, based upon the
difference between the surface temperature” and that of the main body of the air. I think
the source of the difficulty lies deeper, and that it may be anticipated from the very principle
upon which the new method of computation is based. To understand this fully, it is necessary
to refer to the formula used in computing altitudes from barometric observations, the tempera-
ture of the mercury at both stations being the same. It contains, beside terms depending upon
the geographical positions of the stations, two compound independent variables, each of which
consists of two mutually dependent variables. These are the height of the mercurial column
and the corresponding air temperature at each station, and it must be carefully borne in mind
that they are not four independent variables. The theory of the old method of computation was
that, by taking simultaneous observations at both stations, all causes of error
equally, and that by substituting these observed values for the variables, the formula would
give a correct difference of altitude between the stations. This is slightly erroneous, for, as the
ratio of the barometric readings enters into the formula, any error in them, even although it
should affect both equally, would vitiate the result. A greater objection to the method is, that
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
119
all causes of error do not affect the observations at both stations equally, particularly when
distant from each other. This has rendered it necessary, in preparing our extended profiles, to
adopt a new method founded upon a different principle. This is, to substitute for the variables
in the formula their mean values for the whole time occupied by the survey, which is supposed
to be long enough to insure great accuracy in absolute altitudes. At any rate, relative errors
are thus eliminated. These mean values are found for the lower station by long continued
observations ; for the upper station, the mean barometric reading is obtained by applying to
the observed reading the horary and abnormal corrections, which reduce it to the mean for the
desired period. The error of using with this value the observed air temperature is now
apparent. It is virtually making the formula indeterminate, as, if the tables are correct, we
shall have precisely the same values for all the other variables for every additional observation
taken, and perhaps a different air temperature for each of them. But this algebraic result is as
it should be, for the height of the mercurial column and the air iemperature are, as above
stated, mutually dependent variables requiring corresponding values. Hence, the theory of
this method of computation, supposing the tables to be correct, plainly indicates that the mean
air temperature for the time employed in the survey should be used in the formula. There is,
however, a slight error in the abnormal table which modifies this result in practice. The
horary table undoubtedly corrects the mercurial column for the effect produced by the changes
in the heat of the sun during the day; but, although the abnormal curve is slightly affected by
the difference in mean temperature from day to day, we cannot suppose that this change,
depending so much upon local causes, extends uniformly over a large tract of country. Hence
the abnormal table does not correct for it satisfactorily. This, together with the fact that we
travelled over regions having widely different mean temperatures, which could not be deter-
mined from our few observations, led me to use, in all cases, the mean daily air temperature.
It was found by taking a mean of the observations at 7 a. m., 12 m., and 10 p. m., or of those
n
value.
It is interesting to see how Mr. Blodget's empirical table suggests the use of a mean tem-
perature in the formula, although he bases upon it a widely different theory, and one which,
however applicable it may be in particular cases to the old method of computation, appears to
me to entirely fail in showing the cause of the error resulting from using the observed tempera-
ture in the new method. This table reduces the temperature, when between 350 and 60° Fahr.,
to about 67° Fahr.; and when between 75° and 95° Fahr., to about 770 Fahr. Thus it not only
approximates towards giving a mean temperature, but it even indicates a higher mean tem-
perature when the weather is warm than when it is cold. As this table is entirely empirical,
being deduced by comparing altitudes found by the barometer and the level, it is by no means
necessary to consider that it sustains the “surface temperature” theory. It seems to me to
confirm, as fully as could possibly be expected, considering the small number of observations
from which it was deduced, the idea that the mean daily temperature should be used.
In computing altitudes, the practical importance of an error in the air temperature at the
upper station greatly depends upon its height above the lower; an error of 1° Fahr. vitiating
the result about one foot for each thousand feet of this height.
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
The following example is introduced to illustrate the method of computation above described :
EXAMPLE.
Data for determining the altitude of Camp 22, near upper end of upper cañon of Pit river.

Date.
Hour.
No. of
barometer.
Reading of Attached Detached
barometer. thermometer. thermometer.
1855.
August 7
1060
1089
1060
1089
1060
1089
25. 990
25. 957
25. 990
25. 953
26. 025
25. 981
77.0
77.0
63.5
63.5
48. O
47.5
75.0
75.0
65.0
65.0
47.0
47.0
August 8
Corrections applied before computation.

6 p. m., August 7.
9 p. m., August 7.
6 a. m., August 8.
Bar. 1060. Bar. 1089. Bar. 1060. Bar. 1089. | Bar. 1060. Bar. 1089.
Inches.
25. 990
- 112
Inches.
25. 990
Inches.
25. 957
--. 112
7.044
+.020
+.075
Correction for temperature of mercury-
Correction for instrumental errors ---
Correction for horary oscillation ------
Correction for abnormal oscillation...
Inches.
25. 953
-. 081
+.044
-.004
+.075
Inches.
26.025
-.045
.000
-. 040
+.040
—.081
.000
-.004
+.075
.000
Inches.
25.981
- 044
+.044
--.040
7.040
+.020
+.075
1
Corrected readings......
25. 973
25.984
| 25. 980
25.987
| 25. 980
25. 981
Mean of corrected readings, 25.981 inches.
Mean daily air temperature, about 670 Fahrenheit.
Computation by Loomis' tables.
H = 30.057
H' = 25.981
t=640
t' = 670
(H= 30.057 ....
Part I gives for
H' = 25. 981 .......
27659. 2
- 23851. 8
3807.4
Approximate altitude a--...
__3807.4
oño (t + t' —64)= x 67 .--
concen
283.4
900
900
Second approximate altitude A. -------
Part III gives for A = 4090.8 and L=41° 50' --
Part IV gives for A = 4090.8..
1.8
11.1
Altitude of station in feet......
-....
4103. 7
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
121
TEST OF THE COMPARATIVE ACCURACY OF THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF COMPUTATION.
On a former survey in Southern California, Lieutenant Williamson surveyed two passes, the
Tejon and the Cañada de las Uvas, with a spirit level and a barometer, for the purpose of testing
the latter instrument. It was from these observations that Mr. Blodget deduced his empirical
table referred to above. In accordance with Lieutenant Williamson's request, I took the original
notes of the Cañada de las Uvas survey, which he considered rather more accurate than the
other, and carefully tested by them these various methods of computing altitudes from barometric
observations. Before referring to the results obtained, a slight description of the pass will be
given.
The Cañada de las Uvas is a pass from the Tulare valley, in southern California, through the
Sierra Nevada to the basin east of the range. A better place for experimenting with the
barometer could not have been found, had this been the sole object of the survey. The stationary
barometer was observed in a brush hut, at a depot camp situated near the head of the wide and
open Tulare valley, at an elevation of 1,447 feet above the level of mean tide at Suisun bay,
near Benicia, and distant 12.8 miles from the entrance of the pass. For about six miles this
pass is a narrow gorge, bordered by ridges several hundred feet in height. It then becomes an
open valley, from half to three-quarters of a mile in width. This character is preserved nearly
to the first summit, a distance of about 5.5 miles. The road then crosses several branches of
the Santa Clara, a river discharging into the Pacific, gains the summit of a second divide,
and descends to the basin, which is elevated about 1,500 feet above the head of the Tulare valley.
From the first summit to the basin, a distance of about 12 miles, the trail is bordered by low
rolling hills; but the high ridges of the Sierra Nevada intervene between it and the Tulare
valley.
By this description it will be seen that some of these test observations were taken in a narrow
gorge, others in a wide valley, and others in an open undulating country, separated by a high
range of mountains from the stationary barometer. The altitudes of the stations varied from
192 feet to 2,809 feet above Depot camp; and their distances, from 12.8 miles to 36.4 miles from
the same place. A greater diversity in their positions could not have been desired.
The observations in the pass were taken with one of Green's cistern barometers; similar to
those used on our survey. At the depot camp, another barometer of the same kind was used,
together with two syphon barometers, which, although greatly inferior instruments, furnished
a useful check upon errors of observation.
In making the test computations, I prepared the table of abnormal corrections from the
observations at the depot camp. The table of horary corrections used was the one already
mentioned, deduced from Lieutenant Parke's observations on his recent survey in the vicinity.
The altitudes were first computed by the old method, with Lee's tables, using the carefully
interpolated simultaneous readings at the depot camp for the barometric and thermometric read-
ings at the lower station. To prevent the slight error arising from taking the ratio between
two equally erroneous barometric readings, the corrections for horary and abnormal error were
applied to the observations at both stations. The altitudes were then computed by the new
method, first using the observed, and then the mean daily air temperatures. As the results
were the heights of the stations above mean tide at Suisun bay, near Benicia, the altitude of the
depot camp above that level was subtracted from each in order to institute a comparison between
them and those determined by the spirit level and by the old method of computation ; both of
N
16 X
122
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
which were referred to the level of the camp itself. The following tables exhibit the original
data and the results deduced by each of the three different methods of computation. It will
be seen that the altitudes of forty-eight stations were determined, the highest of which was
2,809.5 feet above, and the most distant 36.4 miles from, the depot camp. Assuming the altitudes
found by the level to be correct, a little calculation will show that the old method, the new
method with observed air temperature, and the new method with mean daily air temperature,
give mean errors of 29.3, 28.9, and 9.2 feet; maximum errors of 142, 119.1, and 31.9 feet;
and minimum errors of 1.8, 1.5, and 0.8 feet, respectively; and also, that about two-thirds of the
altitudes determined by the last named method differ from the true heights less than nine feet.
COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF COMPUTING ALTITUDES FROM BAROMETRIC OBSERVATIONS,
BASED UPON DATA OBTAINED IN THE SURVEY OF CAÑADA DE LAS UVAS, BY LIEUTENANT R. S. WIL-
LIAMSON, UNITED STATES TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, IN 1853.
Data.–Observations in Depot camp during survey of Cañada de las Uvas.

Date.
Hour.
Date.
Reading of Att. | Det.
barometer. | therm. | therm.
Hour.
Reading of
barometer.
Att. Det.
therm. | therm.
1853.
Sept. 28....
1 h. m.
6.00 a. m.
9.00 a. m.
1853.
| Oct. 2.....
h. m.
5.30 p. m.
8. 40 p.m.
6.00
9.00
76.5
77. O
o
58. 5
71.5
79.0
84.0
72.0
66.0
Oct. 3....
es ei este ca
63.0
si orj is
59.0
71.0
79.5
83.0
72.0
68.0
60.0
80.0
94.0
12.00
si
oo is
76.0
77.0
62.5
85.0
95.0
96.0
86.0
75.0
77.5
59.5
65.0
Sept. 30..
59.5
00 a. m.
80.5
7.30
oi ai cj w
5.30
84. 0
95.5
95.5
85.0
74.5
77.0
60.0
66.0
80.5
95.0
94. O
Inches.
28. 660
28. 690
28. 666
28. 623
28. 595
28. 610
28. 609
28. 680
28. 674
28. 650
28. 615
28. 656
28. 688
28. 759
28.758
28. 715
28. 690
28. 710
28. 728
28. 792
28.758
28.750
es ei ce s
94.0
Inches.
28.730
28.752
28.755
28.813
28.782
28. 732
28. 710
28. 720
28. 560
28. 609
28. 688
28. 680
28. 724
28. 728
28. 730
28.755
28. 813
28.782
28. 732
28. 710
28.751
Sept. 29.-
Sept. 30...
Oct. 1.....
Oct. 4.--
Oct. 5.....
Oct. 2...
e
80.0
83.0
80.0
65. O
85.0
94.5
6.00
5.30
6.00
Oct. 1....
82.5
80.0
66.0
84.0
93. 5
72.5
có
s os cioj i
65.0
96.0
95.0
Oct. 3. ..
ai eg o
66.00
83.0
9.00
83.0
80.0
si este o af e ci
73.0
63.0
74.0
62.5
85.0
95.5
96.0
86.0
73. O
os
80.0
12.00
76.5
63.0
84.5
95.0
95.5
85.0
73.0
Oct. 3......
65. O
81.5
63.0
81.0
92.0
sj ero
9.00
12.00 m.
93.0
6.00 a.
00 p. m.
Oct. 4.....
94.0
93. 5
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
123
Data.-- Observations in Cañada de las Uvas.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Reading | Attached Detached Altitude by spi- Distance from
of barometer. thermometer. thermometer. rit level above depot camp.
depot camp.
h. m.'
1853.
September 28.-.-
37 & 581 5.00
86.0
87.0
79.0
85.0
84. O
79.0
77.5
77.0
81.5
1. 20
0.30 p. m.
12.00 m.
11.00
81.0
81.0
75.5
77.5
71.5
ci
10.00 a.
9.00
os
65.5
September 30....
7.40
70.0
70.0
73.0
74.0
dias los con ci si é
75.0
79.0
10.00 a.
11.05 a.
81. O
miai ori o
October
1.
e ci ai é
Inches.
28,425
28, 240
27.900
27, 718
27,600
27,520
27,420
27,305
27,240
27,080
26,922
26,898
26,861
26,810
26,790
26, 744
26,640
26,364
26, 152
25,960
26,137
26, 428
26,557
26,684
26,726
26,710
26,838
26,930
26, 910
26,950
26,882
26,930
27,070
27, 128
27,196
26,835
26,860
27,000
26,987
26,973
26,965
27,018
26,990
27,090
83.0
84. O
82.0
84.0
82.0
84. 0
86.0
14.
Feet.
193.4
384.3
720.4
917.4
1,055.8
1,158.6
1,260.8
1,387.0
1,466.6
1,628.0
1,774. 4
1,809.7
1,874.0
1,931. 1
1,967.7
2,045.0
2,160.0
2,372.5
2,618.6
2,809.5
2,758.0
2,435. 2
2, 280.2
2,131.4
2,068.4
2, 172.0
2,002.7
1,909.7
1,914.4
1,874, 7
1, 922.3
1,869. 6
1,817.7
1,750.40
1,678.5
1,764.0
1,764.0
1,764.0
1,764.0
1, 764.0
1,772.4
1,772.4
1,772. 4
1,772.4
Feet.
67,740
70, 879
75,971
79,237
81,474
83, 561
85, 312
87,719
89, 394
91, 996
95, 369
97,732
99,873
102,424
104,574
108,557
112, 167
121, 382
125,860
128, 834
132,021
135,885
140, 390
146,095
153, 300
156, 200
158, 704
161, 175
163,885
167,988
175, 360
179, 932
182,796
186,053
192, 315
95, 369
95, 369
95, 369
95, 369
95, 369
192, 315
192, 315
192, 315
192, 316
i
si é
78.0
October
2..
10.
11.00
12.00
o s
84.0
85.0
89.0
90.0
90.0
ó
ei ei ei c
mi ai ei oo
89.0
87.0
October
3
on cui
74
Camp.
September 29.---
30....
80.0
86.5
89.0
67.0
58.0
65.5
70.0
51.0
October
1.---
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
si de ce si ele
October
October
October
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
45.0
76.0
6.00 pm
6.00 a.
October
3.
85.0
75.5
78.0
71.5
66.0
72.0
74.0
75.0
77.0
81.0
83.0
82.0
85.0
85. O
82.0
84.0
83.0
84.0
86.0
86.0
86.5
86.0
90.0
93.0
90.0
91.0
91.5
88.0
86.5
90.0
67.0
56.0
67.0
70.0
49.0
44.0
75.0
47.5
88.0
48.0
87.5
es
124
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
Data.–Observations in Cañada de las Uvas—Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Reading Attached Detached Altitude by spi- Distance from
of barometer. thermometer. thermometer. rit level above depot camp.
depot camp.
1853.
October 3...
Camp.
Camp.
h. m.
12.00 m.
3.00 p. m.
6. 20 p. m.
6.00 a. m.
Inches.
27,087
27,025
26,965
26,975
88.0
86.0
62.0
48.5
88.0
87.0
62.0
50.0
Feet.
1,772.4
1,772.4
1,772.4
1,772.4
Feet.
192, 315
192, 315
192, 315
192, 315
Camp.
October
4.
Camp.
Results obtained by computation.

Altitude by barometer above depot camp, Differences between altitudes determined
computed by-
by barometer and spirit level.
Date.
1
Old method, using
Lee's tables.
observed air tem-
peratures.
air
New method, using
Old method, using
Lee's tables.
New method, using
observed air tem-
peratures.
air
New method, using
daily
temperatures.
mean
h. m.
1853.
Sept. 28
37 & 58
ܫܶ .
no i on in
p. m.
3. 15 p. m.
Feet.
- 26.5
- 18.9
- 4.3
– 10.9
p.m.
0.30 p. m.
12.00 m.
+ + I + II ++ |
+ 1.2
+12.5
+18.6
+ 9.0
+ 1.4
+12.4
- 9.9
ö o
11. 00
Feet.
– 20.3
- 17.5
+ 1.5
+ 11.4
- 8.9
- 17.1
+ 9.7
– 20.8
+ 10.7
+ 31. 3
- 11.1
+21.2
+ 29. 1
+ 16.8
+ 21.0
10.00
i ce
oi oi
só
Sept.
30
ai co co
-
9.2
Feet.
213.7
401.8
718. 9
906.3
1064.7
1175. 7
1251. 1
1407.8
1455.9
1596.7
1755.5
1788.5
1844. 9
1914.3
1946.7
2054.3
2168.3
2389.7
2541.4
2828.0
2767.1
2399.5
2277.0
2013. 1
Feet.
219.9
403. 2
724.7
928. 3
1078, 6
1189.0
1271.0
1420. 0
1473.0
1621.3
1783.6
1818. O
1867. 8
1935. 4
1970.6
2032.9
2138.3
2440.6
2673. 8
2870.1
2798. 1
2463. 4
2308. 8
2144.5
2066.6
2165.5
2024.7.
o oi có
ci co
daily
temperatures.
mean
195. 2
383. 1
707.9
899. 1
1046.8
1157.2
1248.4
1396. 9
1463. 3
1623. 3
1781.6
1815. 1
1861.8
1928. 1
1964. 5
2049.5
2157.4
2370.3
2601. 2
2810.6
2762.9
2403.3
2273. 2
2102.5
2067.6
2175.9
1998.4
+
~
-
6.2
4.3
2.9
9.00
e
i
10.00
+ + 1
I + III + + + +
a
a
11.05
as
ci
mi aj o
- 68. 1
– 55. 2
+ 4.7
- 6.7
- 5.4
+12. 2
+ 3.0
+ 3.2
- 4.9
+ 2.6
+ 2.2
+17.4
– 1.1
- 4.9
+31.9
+ 7.0
+28.9
+ 0.8
-- 3.9
į
Oct.
1
31
17.2
+ 77.8
— 18.5
9.1
+ 35.7
+ 3.2
Å ă a
1. 10 a. m
i
o
3.00
– 28.2
– 28.6
-- 13. 1
+ 1.8
+ 6.5
- 22.01
1 | + + + +
10.15
Å Å è
Oct.
:
2
1
+ 18.6
– 15.0
- 9.71
2187.0
2012. 4
51
11.00 a. m.
1
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER
125
Results obtained by computation-Continued.

Altitude by barometer above depot camp, Differences between altitudes determined
computed by-
by barometer and spirit level.
Date.
Station.
Hour.
Old method, using
Lee's tables.
New method, using
observed air tem-
peratures.
New method, using
mean daily air
temperatures.
| Old method, using
Lee's tables.
New method, using
observed air tem-
peratures.
air
New method, using
daily
temperatures.
mean
h. m.
Feet.
Feet.
1853.
Oct.
2
Feet.
1911.7
1934. O
1906.5
1943.3
Feet.
2.0
- 20.2
Feet.
+25.0
+10.6
– 1.4
+ 6.3
– 5.2
1
12.00 m.
0.30 p. m
1. 30 p. m.
2.30 p. m.
4.00 p.m.
8.30 a. m.
9.00 a. m.
10.45
6.00 p. m.
6.00 a. m.
+ I + IIIII
Oct.
3
1903. 8
1876. 1
1916.0
1874.8
1811.8
1744. 2
1675. 3
1752.3
1793.7
1757. 1
1738. 8
1749.7
+ 6.0
74
Camp.
+ 3.2
29
+11.4
Sept.
Sept.
Feet.
1937.9
1971.1
1917.7
1986.2
1921.5
1809.8
1772.7
1692.1
1752.1
1746.6
1716. 1
1719. 3
1691. 7
1630.4
1768. 1
1707.7
1794.0
1780.2
1797.0
Oct.
ei ce cê
6.00 p. m.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
11
8 ܝܕ ܩܙ ܗ ܟܬܟܘ
+ 36.3
+ 73.9
+ 64.0
+114.9
+119. 1
6. 00 am
ez
1765. 2
1703.9
1716.4
1727.7
1690. 1
1700.0
1649. 1
1653.3
1755.7
1679.4
1784.7
1778.2
1776. 2
1707.8
1670.7
1768. 8
+ 17.4
+ 47.9
+ 44.7
+ 72.3
+142.0
+ 4.3
+ 64.7
-- 21.3
- 7.8
--- 24.6
+ 32.2
+ 57.8
Oct.
6.00 a. m.
6.00 p. m.
6.00 a. m.
11.30
a. m.
12.00
3.00 p. m.
6. 20 p. m.
6.00 a. m.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp.
Camp
Camp.
Camp.
+ 6.9
+-25. 2
+14.3
+ 1.4
+ 3.6
-12. 1
+12.2
+20.2
+18.0
+ 5.8
- 2.9
+ 93.0
- 12.3
– 5.8
- 3.8
64. 6
+101.7
1760. 2
1752.4
1754. 4.
1766.6
1775.3
Oct.
4
1714. 6
No trial was made of Mr. Blodget's empirical table, for, as it was deduced from these very
observations, they would not give a fair idea of its value. As has been already mentioned, the
method was tested of using successively each place of observation for the lower station, with
the next above it for the corresponding upper ; but, as might be expected, errors were found to
be propagated, and to be very considerably greater than when the sea level was constantly used
for the lower station.
The result of this investigation, confirming so fully the accuracy of the new method of com-
putation, cannot but be satisfactory. When it is remembered that two nice adjustments are
required in reading the barometer, it must be considered that a mean error of 9 feet, amounting
to only about nine thousandths of an inch of the mercurial column, is a wonderfully close
approximation, when the difference of the altitudes computed amounts to nearly 3,000 feet. That
this method has slight causes of inaccuracy, even in theory, is not denied; but this result tends
strongly to show that practically their effect is unimportant. It is not supposed that the mean
error in the altitudes on our survey is so small as 9 feet; but that the profile is sufficiently
126
DETERMINATION OF ALTITUDES BY BAROMETER.
Whenever water-courses gave practical checks upon the relative altitudes of different stations,
as was often the case, the profile bore the most careful study in a perfectly satisfactory manner,
and confirmed, without exception, the use of the mean daily air temperature, instead of the
observed, in the computation.
HEIGHT OF FORT READING; EXPLANATION OF TABLES OF BAROMETRIC OBSERVATIONS, ETC., IN
APPENDIX D.
CO
The great number of observations taken at Fort Reading has enabled me to compute its alti-
tude in two different ways; one of which is independent of the tables of horary and abnormal
correction. We had very careful hourly observations taken from July 22 to July 26, and from
November 17 to November 22, inclusive. It is well known that a mean of the observations at
7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 9 p. m., differs very little from the mean barometric reading for the
whole twenty-four hours ; and, as five of the days on which the above mentioned observations
were taken were in the dry, and six in the rainy season, it is probable that a mean of their
mean readings thus found may approximate to that of the year. It is 29.506 inches. The
corresponding mean air temperature, found by taking a mean of the observations at 7 a. m.,
12 m., and 10 p. m., for the eleven days, is 620.3 Fah. The altitude given by these data is
518 feet.
By the second method, I applied the tables as in other cases, and found the corrected mean of
all our observations at the fort, which were about 600 in number, and, with the corresponding
mean air temperature, computed the altitude. It is 544 feet, differing only 26 feet from the
other. I have adopted the first result on the profiles, as it is obtained from observations taken
with very great care, while many of the others are less reliable.
The tables in Appendix D exhibit the original data for the construction of our profiles,
and the altitudes deduced from the observations. It must be remembered that all the altitudes
are referred to the level of mean tide at Benicia, as the barometric reading at the sea level
north of that place is not known. The column headed “corrected barometric reading' gives
the height of the mercurial column, after the corrections for reduction to 32° Fahr., for instru-
mental error, and for horary and abnormal oscillation, have been applied. The very slight
difference between these corrected readings, when there are several taken at the same camp,
confirms the accuracy of the horary and abnormal tables.
CHAPTER VII.
ROUTE FROM SHASTA VALLEY, EAST OF SHASTA BUTTE, TO FORT
READING; EXPLORED BY LIEUT. R. S. WILLIAMSON, UNITED STATES
TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, IN 1851.
EXPLANATION.—PARTY.-YREKA IN 1851.–START.—VIEW OF TWO PASSES. — WRIGIIT LAKE. --WATER HOLE. --PORCUPINE KILLED.--
TURNED BACK.-- Pass. ---EXTENDED VIEW.-PUMICE-STONE. -- DIFFICULT TRAVELLING.--NO WATER OR GRASS.-NATURAL BRIDGE.-
PEDREGAL — WATER IN FISSURE. -BRANCH OF FALL RIVER.---FALL RIVER.- FORD.-INDIANS.—PIT RIVER.–TULE RAFT.
EXPEDIENT.-PASS THROUGH WESTERN CHAIN OF SIERRA NEVADA.-BATTLE CREEK. -COW CREEK. --SETTLEMENTS.
u
As Lieut. Williamson proposed to add a short description of this expedition to his report, I
have compiled the following sketch from his field notes.
The exploration was made in accordance with instructions from Major P. Kearney, 1st
dragoons. Lieut. Williamson's party consisted of twenty civilians, one of whom was Mr.
Freaner, subsequently killed by the Pit river Indians near the lake that now bears his name.
The expedition started from Yreka, then a little town called Shasta Butte city, and composed of
about forty houses made of canvas and wood. The population may be estimated from the fact
that five hundred and ninety-nine votes were polled for alcalde when Lieut. Williamson was
there. On July 3, a depot camp was made on Willow creek, about sixteen miles from the
town, and the preparations for the exploration commenced. A prismatic compass, with a sextant
and artificial horizon, were the only available instruments.
July 8.-To-day we started, and, after travelling about fifteen miles over a good route,
encamped near Sheep Rock.
July 9.-After passing over a gentle divide northeast of Sheep Rock, the road skirted a plain
evidently covered with water in the rainy season. We travelled about nine miles in a northeast
direction, and then turned southward, over low hills. In about ten miles we struck a fine little
stream in a prairie, and encamped. The grass was excellent; and wild onions were abundant
in the vicinity.
July 10.-Ice, half an inch thick, formed last night. After travelling towards the east for
about five miles, we came to a shelf of black rock, fifty feet high, from which we had a fine view.
There seemed to be two breaks in the hills; one towards the southeast, near a prominent conical
butte, and the other and lower one towards the northeast. Thinking our course to be interme-
diate between the two, I selected the latter. We soon reached a second shelf, higher than the
other; and a short distance beyond crossed a small creek flowing through a prairie. Here we
struck a trail, which we followed up a mountain southwest of the pass, until it disappeared.
We continued our course to the summit. A large sheet of water, supposed to be Rhett lake,
lay about twenty miles distant, in a northeast direction. A level, timbered valley, bordered
by hills, extended to the shore. We continued our course, and in about seven miles encamped
near a water hole. We killed a bear and porcupine on the route, and had already deer, ante-
lopes, and mountain sheep in camp.
128
JOURNAL OF A FORMER EXPLORATION BY LIEUT. WILLIAMSON.
July 11.-Thinking that we were gaining too much distance towards the east, I turned back,
and struck for the pass near the conical butte. After winding about in a dense mass of bushes
and small trees, and gradually ascending a long slope, we found ourselves within about half a
mile of the base of the peak. Turning towards the south we soon reached the summit of the
pass. The conical butte rose on our left, and a higher round hill on our right. Leaving the
train, Mr. Freaner and myself went to the top of the latter, and obtained an extended view in
every direction, except the northeast. We saw Mount Pitt, Klamath lake, and Shasta valley;
but Rhett lake was hidden by the pine trees on the conical butte. Southward, as far as the
eye could reach, the country was densely timbered, and apparently tolerably level, but broken
by occasional low ridges. Lassen's butte was distinctly visible. Toward the southeast we saw a
strip of yellow, which appeared like a prairie with two or three small lakes in it. This was
supposed to be Fall River valley, distant about forty miles. While waiting for us, the men
found a little snow on the conical butte. We started to proceed in the direction of Fall River
valley, but it was impossible to keep a straight course, on account of the many obstacles
encountered. The country was covered with pumice-stone, and a few bare hills were merely
heaps of this substance. During the afternoon we searched for water constantly, but in vain.
We encamped after sunset, without either water or grass, having travelled about twelve miles
from the pass.
July 12.--We started before sunrise, and followed a very winding course, on account of rocks
and manzanita bushes. At one place we came to a fissure 40 feet in width and still more in
depth, which it was necessary to cross. Fortunately we discovered a natural bridge, supported
by a very perfect arch, which afforded us a safe passage. While struggling forward, one of the
men in the rear of the train discovered water in a deep hole, and we at once encamped.
Having watered the animals and prepared breakfast for ourselves, we again started, and forced
our way, with great difficulty, over a rocky pedregal to the foot of a hill, where we found a
: better road. I went with Mr. Freaner to the summit, and saw the valley ten or twelve miles
distant, and separated from us by a densely timbered region, broken by low ridges. We con-
tinued our course, and soon reached a little prairie covered with flowers and grass, where we
encamped, and obtained water by digging.
July 13.- We started early this morning, and followed a winding course to avoid, and yet to
keep near, the rocky pedregal on our left. In about six miles we struck a small branch of Fall
river, flowing west of south. Crossing it, we soon found an Indian trail near its bank. In
about three miles the stream made a bend towards the east. We followed it, and in about 3.5
miles reached Fall river, flowing southeast. After passing down its bank for about four miles,
we encamped. The valley was open and covered with grass below camp, but above, timber
concealed the view.
July 14.-This morning we followed down the river to its mouth, a distance of seven miles.
About two miles below camp it was one hundred yards wide. We crossed it above the rapids,
near its mouth, at what would have been a good ford had the banks been cut down a little.
There was a large Indian rancheria near, and we were joined by several of its inmates, who
professed themselves friendly. After giving them a few presents, we descended a steep bluff to
Pit river, and passing over it on a tule raft encamped on the southern bank. My mercury had
been lost in crossing the pedregal, but I obtained a good observation of the sun for latitude by
using water instead.
end
JOURNAL OF A FORMER EXPLORATION BY LIEUT. WILLIAMSON.
129
This camp of Lieutenant Williamson was in nearly the same spot as our Camp 20. On July
15, he followed almost the same trail that we subsequently did, through Stoneman's ridge, and
encamped on Canoe creek, between our Camps 18 and 19. The following extracts from his
journal describe his route from this camp.
July 16.-We started early, and followed a westerly course. The road was good, although
occasionally rocky. After travelling about ten miles, and ascending two high ledges, we found
ourselves in a little prairie, in which there were two Indian rancherias. A small creek, rising
among the hills, flowed through the prairie, and after spreading out into several branches
probably sank. Turning our course towards the south, we travelled about five miles to the
foot of a steep ascent. We gained the summit in about three hours, and encamped near the
sources of Battle creek, with an abundant supply of excellent grass and water. Lassen's Butte
was in plain sight towards the southeast.
July 17.-We started early this morning to follow a westerly course, and for several hours
were winding about among hills, rocks, and thick bushes. The road, however, was occasionally
good. At the expiration of this time we had reached the foot hills, which extend for a con-
siderable distance into the Sacramento valley. Soon afterwards we struck the main branch of
Cow creek, which we crossed without difficulty. We encamped upon its banks, about a mile
from the crossing, after a hard day's march. The grass was excellent in the vicinity. We
felt very sensibly a great change in temperature, due to the difference in elevation between the
morning and evening camps.
July 18.–We travelled about sixteen miles down the creek to its junction with another
branch, and then turned towards the south. In a short distance we struck Lyon's trail, which
we followed to the Sacramento river. We crossed the stream, and encamped on Cotton-wood
creek, about two miles from Major Reading's house.
1
17 X
INDEX TO GENERAL REPORT.
Page.
112-126
112
113, 115
126
57
34
49-50
90
60-62
44
45, 94, 95
43
30-33
77-79
79-81
97-101
32,89
Altitudes, determination of .----------
Barometers, defects of ----
table of corrections for .......
Barometric tables in Appendix D, description of
Cache creek..
Calapooya mountains, description of.......
railroad pass through...
Camp S, on Why-chus creek, description of.....
Canoe creek, valley of..--.
Cañon, Klamath river, description of ..----
Klamath river, railroad character of -------
lower, of Pit river, railroad character of ...
Des Chutes river, description of .--------
upper, of Pit river, railroad character of .......
Cascade mountains, in Oregon Territory, description of.....
itinerary of first exploration among-
itinerary of second exploration among.
route of Lieutenant Abbot through.
Cascades of Columbia, description of ..
longitude of
Chit-tike creek, cañon of..-.
Columbia river, impracticability of constructing wagon road near.--
navigation of
reconnaissance of.....
width of at Cascades.
Dalles of Columbia river, description of..
Des Chutes river, cañon of ----
country near head of ....
description of..-..-..
entrance of cañon ......
Des Chutes valley, general description of..-.......
itinerary of first exploration in.----
itinerary of second exploration in
Divide between Klamath marsh and Des Chutes river.....
Escort, division of --------..
loss of.......
loss of quartermaster and commissary
officers of ..
Fall river, mouth of ...
valley of..-----
Fort Dalles, altitude of....
33
33
88-90
89-90
45, 94, 95
73-74
28
74-75
28-29
83-90
91-97
72-73
81
102-105
110
59, 62
128
132
INDEX.
Page.
29
12
2
-
-
-
-
-
110
109
15, 126
59
19
105
107-109
96-102
102
58
96, 107-109
69, 70, 71
71-72
88
63-64
87
89,90
Fort Dalles, description of .--
longitude of...
Fort Jones, situation of..-
Fort Lane, vicinity of -------
Fort Reading, altitude of...-
locality of...........
longitude of...
Fort Vancouver, altitude of.-------
longitude of....
Frémont's supposed summer trail.
French gulch, description of.......
General topography, remarks on...
Governor Curry, interview with.---..
Indian disturbances...
guide-----
sagacity ------------
Indians, Digger, their mode of gambling ----
hostility of..
Klamath, their burial places, their huts, their hors
Klamath, vocabulary of their language.
Columbia river, thcir mode of burial -
Pit river, bows and arrows of .
Pit river, habits of -
their lament for the dead --------
their modes of catching salmon ----
Instructions from the War Department to Lieutenant Abbot...
from the War Department to Lieutenant Williamson
Instruments of detached party of Lieutenant Abbot
of main party-------
Klamath marsh, description of..------
Klamath river and its tributaries, description of
valley of -------
Klamath watcrs, chain of --------------------
Letter of Lieutenant Abbot to Major Rains.....
of Lieutenant Williamson to Major Rains - -
of Major Rains to Licutenant Williamson
to Secretary of War, transmitting report.--
Lieutenant Hood ordered to return to eastern States.
Lieutenant Sheridan, arrival of...
Lower Klamatlı lake, exploration near ----
Maps, notes on
Marysville, description of...
McCumber's Flat, note on ---
Mountain chains of northern California.
Mpto-ly-as river, cañon of.
Natural bridge over Lost river, description of
Nee-nee springs ---------
Oregon City, location of...----
Party, members of..-..
sketch of latter movements of.
Pass, Columbia river, description of ......
9-10
area
83
56
68-71
35
68,72
104-105
103-104
103
A
3-4
62
76-77
11-14
60
36
84, 92-94
86
102
56
von
75
32-33
INDEX.
133
Page.
32
32
31
97-101
46
60
64
26
27
---...-..-
.-.-..
14-15
85,94–95
57
11
28,65
37
56-59
-
Pass, Foster's, south of Mount Hood, description of -------
Pass near northern base of Mount Hood, description of.....
Pass, new, south of Mount Hood, description of ----
itinerary of route through
railroad character of ----
Pass, Noble’s, description of..--
railroad character of.--
Pass south of Diamond Peak, description of..------
railroad character of....
Pass south of Mount Pitt, description of .-------
probable railroad character of
Pit river, correct orthography of..-------
valley of...
Plateau between Pit river and the Des Chutes valley
Profiles, notes on ------..
Psuc-sce-que creek, cañon of ---
Putos crcek
Report, plan of..
Rhett lake........
Rogue River valley, description of ..........
Route from Benicia to Fort Reading, general remarks upon
itinerary of..
railroad character of ..
Route from Fort Reading to Vancouver, east of Cascade mountains, general remarks upon
itinerary of ....
railroad character of ..
Route from head of Des Chutes valley to Fort Dalles, itinerary of -------
railroad character of ....
Route from Vancouver to Fort Reading, west of Cascade Range, general remarks upon.
itinerary of.---------
railroad character of
Route from Yreka to Fort Reading, former exploration of.-----
Routes from Yreka to Fort Reading, railroad character of..
Sacramento river at Knight's rancho ------
Sacramento valley, climate of --------
description of ....
itinerary of route through
products of ..
table of water-courses in.
Salem, longitude of ----
Scott's valley, description of.......
route through.....
Shasta butte.
Shasta valley, description of ......
Siskiyou mountains, description of ...
pass through...
route over..--.
Submerged forests, description of....
Trinity river, description of -------
Trinity trail, description of ........
railroad character of...------
38-41
37
59-75,81-82
41-45
83-96
45-46
37-38
106-111
47-55
127-129
53-55
26
26, 38
56-59
26
40-41
12
35
110
36, 110
35
35
52–53
109
89
36
110-111
53
134
INDEX.
Page.
86
107
34
50
50
Tysch prairie, description of ...-----
Umpqua cañon, description of ------
Umpqua mountains, description of.------
passes through.-.-.-
Umpqua valley, description of.....
railroad character of.....
Upper Klamath lake, description of ..
route near.
Variation of the needle, abnormal disturbance of
Wam Chuck cañon, warm springs in.--
Wam Chuck river, cañon of -----------
Washington, return of the party to
Why-chus creek.
Willamette valley, climate of ....-----
railroad character of.....
routes through ------
tables of water-courses in
Wright lake ----
Yreka, description of...
in 1851...--
66-67
67–68
99-100
85–86, 90
85-86
**************
111
75
34
48
-...--- - ...-....
102, 106
48-49
28,65
110
127
P A Ꭱ Ꭲ II .
1
Y
EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS FOR A RAILROAD ROUTE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
WAR DEPARTMENT.
ROUTES IN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON EXPLORED BY LIEUT. R. S. WILLIAMSON, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL
ENGINEERS, AND LIEUT. HENRY L. ABBOT, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, IN 1855.
GEOLOGICAL REPORT.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
1856.
CONTENTS.
No. 1.
REPORT UPON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ROUTE.
BY J. S. NEWBERRY, M. D.,
GEOLOGIST AND BOTANIST OF THE EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER I.
Geology of the vicinity of San Francisco.
General features given by parallel axes of elevation.—Bay of San Francisco occupying a synclinal trough.-General trend
of ranges northwest and southeast.-Coast mountains give outline and direction to the coast. —Local geology.--San Fran-
cisco range.-Golden gate cut through it.--Centre trap and serpentine.-Physical characters of the serpentine. Chemical
analysis.--Sandstones and shales. --Fitness of the sandstone for architectural purposes. It contains few fossils.--Scutella
interlineata.--Jasper.-- Drifting sands. ---Alluvial deposits.--Geology of San Pablo bay.—Sandstones and shales of San
Francisco group --Sandstones fossiliferous.—Pecten bed.-Other fossil shells.—Tufas and marls forming series of great
thickness. Upper beds very modern and of volcanic origin.-Beds of recent oyster shells.-Changes of level.--Probable
communication once existing between San Pablo bay and the ocean.-Straits of Carquines.—Benicia.-Sandstones and
shales.--Laminae of gypsum.-Ridge of jasper northwest of Benicia.—Warm sulphur spring.--Soil.-Geology of Mount
Diablo.--Suisun bay.--Calcareous tufa.-Trap hills.--San Francisco sandstone forming hills near Vacaville.
CHAPTER II.
Geology of the Sacramento valley.
General features.--Structure of coast mountains.-Trap, limestone, and granite.-Auriferous slates.--Structure of Sierra
Nevada-Older than Coast mountains.-Metamorphic limestone. --Auriferous rocks.--Placer gold deposits.-Alluvial plain. -
Local geology.--Vacaville to Chico creek.-Gravelly plains. ---Alluvial soil and terraces of Putos and Cache creeks.—Banks
of the Sacramento.- Red color of Yuba river.—Want of stone at Marysville.--Sacramento buttes.-Chico creck fossiliferous
sandstone.--Interesting mingling of fossils.-Strata probably cretaceous.--Trap hills.--Stream absorbed by the plain.-
Volcanic phenomena.-Lava streams.-Crater.-Obsidian.--- Fort Reading.--Trap hills.—Tufaceous conglomerate.-Creta-
Ceous rocks near Shasta city.-Ammonites Batesii.--Carboniferous limestone. - Fossils.
CHAPTER III.
Geology of the Western range, Sierra Nevada.
Relations of Western range of Sierra Nevada to Mount Shasta and Sierra Nevada of California.-General geological rela-
tions of Mount Shasta.-Coast line once formed by Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains. Successive stages in the elevation
of the continent.--Continuity of the Coast mountains. Transverse chains.-Lines of fracture divergent from Mount Pitt
and Mount Shasta.—Carboniferous limestones of Mount Shasta perhaps continuous with limestones of Sierra Nevada.—Local
geology.—Trap plateaus about Fort Reading.--Coal near McCumber's flat.--Recent volcanic rocks around base of Lassen's
butte. Lassen's butte a volcanic cone.-- Lava plains on Canoe creek.--Chimneys.--Subterranean galleries.--Trap
plateaus at mouth of Canoe creek. --Infusorial marls on banks of Pit river.--Beds of rounded stones underlying marls.--
Trap forming walls of lower cañon of Pit river.-Mountain of metamorphic slate.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Geology of Pit River and Klamath basins.
Pit River basins.—Lake-like character of the lower basin.-Proofs that it has once been a lake.—Infusorial sediments
deposited by its waters. - Range forming the upper cañon of Pit river.-Second basin of Pit river.-Infusorial marls.-
Hills of metamorphic slate, greenstone, porphyry, and trap bordering Pit river.—Geology of the country about the head of
Pit river.-Hot springs and infusorial marls.-Klamath basins typical illustrations of the geological structure of a large
area.—Common features of the region lying east of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades. -Not one but many basins.-
Klamath basins once lakes.—Local geology.-Fit river to Wright lake--Recent volcanic cone.--Cliffs bordering Rhett lake
of sandstone and trap.-Efflorescence on the shores of Rhett lake.—The Natural Bridge a fault.-Infusorial marls of Lost
river and lower Klamath lake.—Metamorphic form of these marls, resembling jasper.-Geology of the shores of Klamath
lake.—Basaltic conglomerate on Klamath river.--Infusorial marls.-Pumice.--Trap ranges south and east of Klamath
marsh.--Pumice plain between Klamath marsh and the Des Chutes river.
ᏟᎻᎪᏢᎢᎬᎡ V.
Geology of the Cascade mountains.
Panoramic view of the Cascade mountains.—Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains.-A wall crowning the western
margin of the great central plateau.—Structure and origin of the Cascade range.- Main crest near its eastern margin, a line
of volcanic peaks.-More westerly mountains, metamorphic slates.- Local geology.--Crater Pass.—Evidences of glacial
action.—Glaciers once descended far below the present snow line. ----Extent of glaciers in the Cascades.--Conditions under
which they must have been formed.—By elevation or change of climate ?-Evidences of elevation.-Sub-ærial excavation
of mouths of rivers. - Depression of temperature would produce greater precipitation of moisture.—Streams flowing from
the Cascade mountains formerly larger than now.-Cañons of those streams not rifts but excavations.
CHAPTER VI.
Geology of the Des Chutes basin.
Compound nature of this basin.-Its subdivisions similar in structure to those of Pit and Klamath rivers. Trap
plateaus.-- Volcanic tufas and infusorial marls.---Local geology.—Plateau east of the Three Sisters.--Cañon of Mpto-ly-as
river.—Mount Jefferson.--Congealed lava stream.--Castle Rock.-Columns of basaltic conglomerate capped with blocks of
trap.-Tufaceous strata of Mpto-ly-as river.--Cañon of Psuc-see-que creek.-Picturesque appearance of the colored tufas
and concrete.—Trunks of coniferous trees imbedded in tufa.—Columnar trap covering the tufas.--Wam Chuck river.-
Hot springs.-Gelatinous silica.—Metamorphosed tufas.-Onyx, opal, agate, silicified wood.—Wam Chuck mountains.-
Metamorphic slates.- Quartz and chalcedony.-Nee-nee springs. --Metamorphosed marls.—Ribband jasper.--Plateau of
Týsch prairie.—Tysch mountains.-- View of Mount Hood.—Cañon of Des Chutes river.-Mounds.-Hills of infusorial marl
south of the Columbia.
CHAPTER VII.
Geology of the country bordering the Columbia river,
Region east of the Cascade mountains.-General features apparently similar to those of Des Chutes basin. Local
geology.—Dalles of the Columbia. -Sedimentary infusorial deposits.—Their fresh water origin.—Their age. -The cañon of
the Columbia.-General features.-How formed.—Local geology.--Horizontal strata of trap.--Submerged forest.--Cascades
formed by slide from mountains.—Conglomerate.—Silicified wood.—Tertiary strata below Cascades.—Country bordering
the lower Columbia.—General features. — Willamette valley.-- Local geology.—Western slope of the Cascade range.-Cañon
of McKenzie's fork. —Marks of glacial action on Mount Hood.— Trap, scoria, ashes, &c., from Mount Hood.—Trap and
sandstones of Willamette valley.—Erosion of sandstones. ---Lignites near St. Helens.—Terraces.--Coast mountains.-Sand-
stones and shales of Astoria.- Fossils. --Age of the deposit.— Port Orford.—Tertiary sandstones.—Trap.-Gold.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
Economical Geology.
Building materials in the vicinity of San Francisco.--San Francisco sandstone.-Granite from Hong Kong-Of Tomales
bay.--Limestone of Tomales bay.--Sandstones of Benicia.-Sandstone and trap of Vacaville. —Want of building stone on
the Sacramento and Feather rivers.—Trap near upper end of the valley.-From Fort Reading to the Columbia, trap every-
where on our route.Gold.-No new deposits discovered.—Country covered by recent volcanic matter. --Gold at Port
Orford.-Coal.-Efforts to find true coal on the western coast.--Coose bay coal. --Geological position.-Physical and
chemical characters.—Economical value.-Coal of Bellingham bay.-Geological position.—Extent and thickness of the
beds.--Associated fossils.--Miocene flora.-Lignite beds of the upper Missouri. - Chemical and physical character of Bel-
lingham Bay coal.-Its economical value.-Coal of Vancouver's island.--Geological position.-Cretaceous rocks.-Parallel.
ism of the chalk and tertiary of the upper Missouri, with similar strata on the Pacific coast.-Physical character of the coal,
and its chemical composition.--Coal of Cape Flattery probably the equivalent of the lignites of the Cowlitz and Coose bay.
Coal of Santa Clara, California.--Coal market of San Francisco.-Coal of the Lota mine, Chili.---Coal of Australia.-Coal
from the eastern States.
No. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TERTIARY FOSSILS COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY.
BY T. A. CONRAD.
No. 3.
VM
REPORT UPON AN ANALYTICAL EXAMINATION OF WATER AND
MINERALS FROM THE HOT SPRINGS IN DES CHUTES VALLEY.
CONDUCTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PROFESSOR E. N. HORSFORD.
No. 4.
CATALOGUE OF THE MINERALS AND FOSSILS COLLECTED ON THE
SURVEY.
غه، د دهه غلغلمانهم . بهمیده .
نفهم
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
LITHOGRAPHS.
Page.
41
PLATE 1. Western slope of main ridge of Cascade mountains, from near Camp M.....
II. Tertiary fossils ---
III. Tertiary fossils
IV. Tertiary fossils --
V. Tertiary fossils
WOOD CUTS.
FIGURE 1. Section of strata exposed on south shore of San Pablo bay.----
2. Sand hills near Benicia...
3. Volcanic cone near Fort Reading .........
4. Lassen's butte from the north...
5. Trap plateaus at the mouth of Canoe creek.---
6. Hill of sandstone capped with trap, Rhett lake ......
7. Glacial groves in trap ledges, Cascade mountains.
8. Conglomerate column, Mpto-ly-as river ....
9. Section of bank of Psuc-see-que creek.
10. Colored tufas, Psuc-see-que creek.-------
11. Side view of Mpto-ly-as river cañon ...
No. 1.
REPORT UPON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ROUTE.
BY J. S. NEWBERRY, M.D.
GEOLOGIST OF THE EXPEDITION.
BRYANT WALKER LIBRARY
MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF ivech
CHAPTER I.
GEOLOGY OF THE VICINITY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
GENERAL FEATURES GIVEN BY PARALLEL AXES OF ELEVATION.-BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO OCCUPYING A SYNCLINAL TROUGH.-GENERAL
TREND OF RANGES NORTHWEST AND SOUTHEAST.-COAST MOUNTAINS GIVE OUTLINE AND DIRECTION TO THE COAST.-LOCAL
GEOLOGY.-SAN FRANCISCO RANGE.-GOLDEN GATE CUT THROUGH IT.CENTRE, TRAP AND SERPENTINE.--PHYSICAL CHARACTERS OF
THE SERPENTINE.— CHEMICAL ANALYSIS.-SERPENTINE, SANDSTONES, AND SHALES.--FITNESS OF THE SANDSTONE FOR ARCHITECTURAL
PURPOSES. IT CONTAINS FEW FOSSILS.-SCUTELLA INTERLINEATA.—JASPER.— DRIFTING SAND.—ALLUVIAL DEPOSIT8.-GEOLOGY OF
SAN PABLO BAY.-SANDSTONES AND SHALES OF THE SAN FRANCISCO GROUP.-SANDSTONES FOSSILIFEROUS.--PECTEN BED. --OTHER
FOSSIL SHELLS.--TUFAS AND MARLS FORMING SERIES OF GREAT THICKNESS.---UPPER MEMBERS VERY MODERN, AND OF VOLCANIO
ORIGIN.-BEDS OF RECENT OYSTER SHELLS.--CHANGES OF LEVEL.—PROBABLE COMMUNICATION FORMERLY EXISTING BETWEEN SAN
PABLO BAY AND THE OCEAN.-STRAITS OF CARQUINES. --SANDSTONES AND SHALES.—LAMINÆ OF GYPSUM.-BENICIA.--SANDSTONES
EQUIVALENTS OF THOSE OF SAN FRANCISCO.-RIDGE OF JASPER NORTHWEST OF BENICIA.-WARM SULPHUR SPRING.--Soil-GEOLOGY
OF MOUNT DIABLO.-GOLD.—SUISUN BAY.-CALCAREOUS TUFA.-TRAP HILLS.-SAN FRANCISCO SANDSTONE FORMING IIILLS NEAR
VACAVILLE.
GENERAL FEATURES.
The configuration of the country in the vicinity of San Francisco has been given by two prin-
cipal, and nearly parallel lines of upheaval, one passing between the city and the Pacific,
forming the barrier through which the Golden Gate has been cut, the other that of the Contra
Costa mountains. These, with several subordinate axes, which exert a local influence on its
structure, properly belong to the compound chain of the coast mountains, have the same geo-
logical structure, and are doubtless of the same age. They are composed of serpentine or trap
at centre, flanked by heavy beds of shales and sandstones of the tertiary period.
The general trend of these ranges is northwest and southeast, and they belong to the same
system of elevation with that which has given the general outline and direction of the coast
from Cape St. Lucas to Cape Mendocino. The islands which are scattered along the coast of
California within the limits specified apparently lie in the lines of some of the axes of this
.
me
system.
..
.....
. ...
The Bay of San Francisco and the valley south of it occupy the synclinal trough which lies
between the two axes I have mentioned. This depression, geologically considered, forms but a
single area, which should be viewed as a whole, and which may properly be termed the valley
of San Francisco bay. Of this area the valley of San Juan forms the southern, San Francisco
2 Y
become....
.
...
kek
10
GEOLOGY-VICINITY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
bay the middle, and the western half of San Pablo bay and Sonoma valley the northern por-
tion. Towards its southern extremity it is enclosed between the San Francisco or Coast Range
and the Diablo mountains, with which the Contra Costa range here unites. Near its northern
end the Contra Costa range may be said to terminate, permitting San Pablo bay to stretch
eastward to the base of the Diablo mountains, thus adding the eastern half of this bay and Napa
valley to its area.
The subordinate axes which traverse this valley have produced the island of Yerba Buena, the
east and west shores of the straits connecting San Francisco and San Pablo bays, Point San
Pedro, &c. Through the most westerly of these axes the Golden Gate is opened as a narrow
strait, of great depth, and bounded by rocky, and in some places, precipitous walls. Through
the most easterly the straits of Carquines pass, presenting the same general characters.
ca.
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
San Francisco range.—This range, in the vicinity of the city of San Francisco, forms low
mountains or hills, none of which exceed 2,000 feet in height. They are composed of shales,
sandstones, serpentine, and trap.
Trap.- This forms the lowest and central portion of the range, where it is cut by the Golden
Gate, and is only exposed low down in the cliff which forms the north wall of this strait.
A few miles further north, in the same range, trap has been poured out in abundance, but it
has apparently not burst through the overlying strata anywhere in the vicinity of San Fran-
cisco. The trap of the Golden Gate is dark brown in color, and more compact than that which
has reached the surface in the vicinity of Petaluma.
Serpentine.-Overlying the trap on the north side of the gate, and on the south side forming
the axis and nucleus of the chain, are heavy beds or masses of serpentine. Here, as wherever
found in the vicinity of San Francisco, it is grayish green in color, and varies considerably in
hardness and texture; the weathered portion being rendered friable by numerous joints, of which
the surfaces are more or less covered with a white, probably magnesian, stain. At Fort
Point, the best exposure of this rock which I saw, some portions of it are very compact and
homogeneous, while others are somewhat foliated. The position which it occupies, and the
relations which it sustains to the accompanying strata, seemed to me to indicate that it is an
erupted rock. It forms the centre of the ridge, bearing on either side the inclined and convo-
luted strata of sandstones and shales, which cover and embrace it.
It is, perhaps, possible that it is a metamorphosed form of one of the group of stratified depo-
sits with which it is associated, but the sandstones and shales, fossiliferous or barren, which,
with trap, serpentine, and granite, go to make up the mass of the Coast Mountains, are scarcely
capable of assuming this form under any phase of metamorphic action with which we are
familiar; nor is there a dolomite or other magnesian rock on the western coast, which might
be supposed to exhibit the unchanged state of the serpentine.
My own observations would therefore lead me to consider it an intruded rock, whatever
inferences as to the origin of serpentine might be drawn from other localities, till new facts
shall be brought to light, which will offer a more plausible explanation of the phenomena.
As the origin and composition of serpentines have recently afforded interesting subjects of
inquiry to geologists and chemists, and as it has been suggested that the serpentine of California,
as has been proved of some of the eastern (so called) serpentines, was, perhaps, not a magnesian
GEOLOGY-VICINITY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
11
rock, I submitted a specimen from the vicinity of San Francisco to Dr. J. D. Easter, for analysis,
and upon it he has made the following report:
WU
Massive serpentine from California.
The specimen was somewhat decomposed, of a mottled grayish-green color, and apparently
an aggregate of several magnesian minerals. The following is the result of a very careful
analysis :
Silica ....
39.60
Chromic iron.......
0.20
Alumina ......
1.94
Protoxide of iron and manganese.......
8.45
Magnesia........
36.90
Water and loss....
12.91
.
I
100.00
D
From this analysis it will be seen that this is a true serpentine, and not unlike, in composi-
tion, much of the serpentine of the Atlantic States.
Sandstones and shales.-Upon the serpentine lies a deposit of sandstones and shales, several
hundred feet in thickness. They are somewhat interstratified-their strata conformable, and
apparently belonging to the same geological epoch, being members of a group widely spread
over the Pacific coast, and to which, under the name of San Francisco group, I shall frequently
have occasion to refer.
The sandstone, where it has been long exposed to the action of the weather, is light brown
in color ; is soft and easily worked, having considerable resemblance, both in color and consist-
ence, to the sandstone of which the older public buildings at Washington, D. C., are constructed.
From its color, and the facility with which it yields to atmospheric action, out-cropping ledges
of this stone closely imitate the brown and irregularly rounded masses of protruded trap, which
are so common in California and Oregon; and it has often happened to me to be, at first sight,
deceived by the similarity. When, however, this rock has been penetrated to a considerable
depth, it is found to become much harder and darker, being grayish-blue in color, and
exceedingly dense and resistent, again resembling an erupted rock.
No analyses have been made of these varieties to determine the nature of the chemical change
which gives rise to the obvious differences in physical character, but I suspect it is due to the
removal, by solution, of the soluble salts which it contains, and especially to the oxidation of
the salts of iron. It is also probable that, where it is most dense, it has in some degree experi-
enced the metamorphic action of the igneous rocks which it covers. Both sandstones and
shales generally effervesce with acids, and probably contain both lime and magnesia.
This sandstone forms the slopes of the axis lying between the Bay of San Francisco and the
ocean, and the rocky basis upon which the city of San Francisco rests. It is quarried near
water-level, at the foot of Telegraph hill; and is found skirting the shores of the bay on both sides
of the entrance to the Golden Gate, as well as the strait leading into San Pablo bay. It forms
the greater part of the islands of Yerba Buena, Alcatraz, and, as I am informed, the western
declivities of the Contra Costa mountains.
Shales.—The shales, to which I have referred, are fully exposed in the excavations made in
cutting the streets through the elevations which occur in the upper part of the city. They are
e
(D
12
GEOLOGY-VICINITY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
greenish or yellowish-brown in color, and contain varying proportions of clay and sand. Where
laid open in the upper part of the city, they are very friable and easily removed ; but in
localities where less affected by the action of the air, they are considerably more compact, and
closely resemble some of the older clay slates.
I was not able to detect in the immediate vicinity of San Francisco, either in the sandstone
or shale, any other fossils than small particles of carbonized vegetable matter ; but on San
Pablo bay this group is highly fossiliferous, and, on the Pacific side of the San Francisco axis,
great numbers of an extinct species of Scutella (S. interlineata) are washed out by the waves
from a sandstone similar, in its lithological characters, to that underlying the city. I have
little doubt that the sandstones which flank the serpentine axes of southern California, and
which contain great numbers of Scutellae, Ostreae, Pectens, and other shells, regarded by Mr.
Conrad as Miocene, are of the same age, and, perhaps, continuous with the sandstones and
shales of San Francisco.
The sandstone which I have described is the only rock which will furnish a material suitable
for architectural purposes in the immediate neighborhood of this city. As a building stone it
does not rank high. The softer portions, though easily worked, are too friable to retain any
ornament or inscription, or to resist the crushing force of great weight; while that which is
quarried from a greater depth, though hard, tough, and handsome, when first taken out, will
be liable to fade, and, probably, to a comparatively rapid decomposition. The demand for a
good building material which now exists in the city, and which will hereafter be more sensibly
felt, can, however, be fully supplied from the stores of granite, porphyry, trachyte, and trap,
which are to be found in the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada in the greatest abundance, and at
points neither remote nor inaccessible.
Jasper.-—In a great number of localities in the vicinity of San Francisco, ridges and masses
of red jaspery rock are seen. It crops out in the vicinity of the Presidio, on the south side of the
Golden Gate, and exists in large quanties at Point Diablo, and thence to Saucilito, on the
north side. It is also found in Raccoon straits, and on the southwest side of Angels' Island
forms Red Rock, and also occurs at various points further northward. It frequently occurs in
ridges, having the appearance of an erupted rock, protruded along lines of upheaval. It is red,
yellow, or green in color, but oftenest blood-red, or some intermediated shade between that and
pink, being usually somewhat mottled, clouded, or striped.
Veins of white quartz, generally small, traverse it in every direction, and, where it is
weathered, it is often peculiarly cellular, ragged, and rough. Where stratified, the laminae
which it exhibits are twisted and contorted in all possible directions, and whatever is the
history of the material of which it is composed, whether it is thrown up from below or, as
is more probable, it is a metamorphosed form of the associated rocks, it is evident that it has
been subjected to a high degree of heat. These jaspery rocks are, equally with the serpentines,
a marked feature of the geology of the Coast Ranges, from the Gulf of California tu the
Columbia.
Surface geology.-The hills about San Francisco are covered with loose and, in some places,
drifting sand, which has, apparently, in greater part, been derived from the shore of the Pacific,
whence it has been driven by the strong and ever-blowing westerly winds. Along the shore of
the bay, in many places, alluvial deposits, consisting of sands and clays containing vegetable
matter, have collected to a considerable depth. They have probably been formed by the wash-
ing down of the higher grounds, and belong altogether to the present epoch.
GEOLOGY-SHORES OF SAN PABLO BAY.
13
SHORES OF SAN PABLO BAY.
As we go north from San Francisco, passing through the straits leading into San Pablo bay,
we find the shore on either hand composed of sandstone, forming elevated ridges, which have
been produced by subordinate lines of upheaval, having the same general trend as those which
include them. In the channel stands “Red Rock," a mass of jasper, to which allusion has
already been made, at the entrance to San Pablo bay, Bird island is a mass of sandstone, as
are the points on both sides.
Passing the low land above point San Pablo, and going eastward toward the straits of Car-
quines, along the south shore of the bay, a most interesting section of strata is exposed, having
a thickness of at least 3,000 feet. These strata have an inclination of from 30° to 35°, dipping
to the east, apparently from the axis which forms the eastern shore of the straits connecting
San Francisco and San Pablo bays.
Sandstone. - The most westerly and lowest member of the series is a somewhat massive, but
softish sandstone, similar to that of Bird island, the straits, and San Francisco ; apparently
here, as below, destitute of fossils. This is succceded by a series of finer grained, soft sand-
stones and shales, which contain great numbers of fossil shells. Above these fossiliferous beds
ensues a great thickness of conglomerates and tufas, extending to the Straits of Carquines.
SECTION OF STRATA EXPOSED ON SOUTH SHORE OF SAN PABLO BAY,
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KOKO
a a a a, Stratified tufas. bb, Sandstones and shales. ccc, fossiliferous strata. dd, Sandstones.ee, Oyster shells.
Fossils.-The fossiliferous shales and sandstones to which I have referred, if they are, as
seems probable, the equivalents of those associated with the sandstone of San Francisco, afford
us the first satisfactory evidence which we have of the age of the group to which they belong;
and they therefore become of special interest in the study of the geology of this region. The
circumstances under which I visited the locality did not permit me to give as much time to the
examination of these beds, nor to collect so full a suite of their fossils as I thought their impor-
tance demanded; it is, therefore, to be hoped that some one who shall hereafter have the time
and opportunity may make these strata the subject of special study.
Pecten bed.-My attention was first called to the fossiliferous beds by noticing a stratum,
which may, perhaps, be called a shell-limestone, about 4 feet in thickness, which was composed
almost exclusively of Pectens. From its superior hardness it had resisted the action of the
waves, which had cut deeply into the softer strata, and stood out like a wall, breast high, across
the beach, and running, like a reef, far out into the shallow waters of the bay. The strike of
these strata, as indicated by the direction of the projecting edge of this stratum, is northwesterly,
and generally accordant with the trend of the adjacent axes of elevation.
The Pectens contained in this bed include at least two species: one, a small one, of which I
was able to obtain numerous specimens, since described by Mr. Conrad under the name of
P. Pabloensis, (Pl. III, fig. 14;) the other is very large; some individuals being more
than six inches in diameter, but so involved in the rock that I was unable to bring away more
than fragments, not enough from which to describe it. It considerably resembles a large species
procured from the Miocene deposits of southern California, by Mr. Blake, and called by Mr.
14
GEOLOGY-SHORES OF SAN PABLO BAY.
LI
Conrad Pecten Nevadanus, and is, perhaps, identical with it. It seemed to me, however, in the
widely expanded alae, in the unusual curvature of both valves, and in the very angular and
striated costae and intercostal spaces, to exhibit differences from any species known. Beside
the Pecten, I found in this rock numbers of a large Mactra, of which I could obtain no entire
specimens, but which closely resembles M. densata, from the Miocene at Santa Barbara, and
described and figured (Pl. III, fig. 12) in this report.
Lying immediately upon the pecten bed, are several strata of a soft, yellowish-brown rock,
composed of nearly equal parts of clay and sand, and containing large numbers of shells; the
smaller species of Pecten mentioned, (P. Pabloensis) with Mactra, Natica, Nucula, and Tellina.
These beds are each 5–10 feet in thickness, and compose, perhaps, 50 feet of strata. Upon them
lies a thicker stratum of coarse, but soft, non-fossiliferous sandstone, which is succeeded by other
fossiliferous strata resembling, in fossils and lithological characters, those below it. Specimens
of all these beds containing fossil shells, when examined under the microscope, exhibited no
traces of infusoria.
Tufas and marls. These fossiliferous strata, which have an aggregate thickness not exceeding
100 feet, are followed by a succession of relatively thin and perfectly conformable beds of
conglomerate, soft, harsh, coarse sandstones, containing masses of scoria and pumice, con-
cretes, tufas and marls, white, cream, bluish, greenish, yellow, and brown in color, in which I
was able to detect no fossils, and which have an aggregate thickness of 1,500 to 2,000 feet.
These strata are evidently of volcanic origin, consisting of ashes, sand, mud, pumice, and
scoria, which have been apparently discharged into water, perhaps of considerable depth, and
accurately stratified by sedimentary deposition.
To strata of similar character I shall have frequent occasion to refer, as they are found in a
great number of widely separated localities, and sometimes stretch continuously over large areas,
constituting one of the most remarkable features in the geology of not only those parts of Cali-
fornia and Oregon which were visited by our party, but, as I learn from various sources, of a
large part of the region lying west of the Rocky Mountains.
These beds uniformly overlie, and are more recent than the tertiary deposits, and bring the
geological history of the western coast down to, and, as it seems to me, probably through the
drift.
Oyster beds.—A very interesting feature in the section exposed on the south shore of San
Pablo bay, is a bed of recent shells which lies horizontally upon the edges of the inclined strata
which I have described, at an elevation of some 20 feet above the present level of the water in
the bay. This bed is about four feet in thickness, and composed of shells of species now living
on the neighboring Pacific coast. They consist principally of Ostrea, with great numbers of
Mytilus, Lithodomus, Pholas, &c.
The Lithodomi are found in the holes which they excavated in the rocky bottom of the water
in which they lived. The shells are generally very perfectly preserved ; the Mytili and Litho-
domi having lost the epidermis in all cases, and the shells being tender, and somewhat chalky;
but the Ostrece, in many instances, retain the colors which characterize the living specimens.
This bed of recent shells affords a striking proof of the disturbances which this volcanic, and
earthquake-shaken coast has experienced.
The cause which produced the difference between the present and former relative levels of the
surface of the water in the bay and its shores was not merely local in its action ; for a similar
bed of shells occurs at something like the same altitude around the north and western shores of
11
GEOLOGY—STRAITS OF CARQUINÉS.
the bay; and the shallows of the southern and eastern parts of San Francisco bay contain a
similar bed of dead oyster shells.
It might be supposed that this change in the relative level of the land and water had followed
the opening of the Golden Gate to a greater depth than before, and by this means depressing
the water level without seriously disturbing the general level of the surrounding country.
This theory is, however, untenable, for it would require that the bays of San Francisco and San
Pablo should be bodies of fresh water, to which the waters of the Pacific would scarcely have
access; while we know, from the fact that this extensive bed of shells is composed of marine
species, that the water in which they lived was salt. We may go still further and say that
these beds of Ostrea, Mytilus, Pholas, &c., could scarcely be formed in San Pablo bay at present,
from the relatively large admixture of fresh water derived from the Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers. It seems scarcely possible that a sufficient amount of salt water could ever have been
supplied to these oyster beds through the narrow channel of the Golden Gate, and it is probable
that the oysters of San Francisco bay, which are still submerged, were destroyed rather by a
want of salt water than a change of level.
The presence of these shells above the level of San Pablo bay is, therefore, due to an elevation
of the land, and not to a subsidence of the water. Dr. Trask (Report on Geol. Cal., 1854, p. 27)
mentions this oyster bed as occurring on the north shore of San Pablo bay at the height of 30
feet above high tide. On the south shore it is not over 20 feet above high water mark. In San
Francisco bay it is still submerged. Although oysters are not necessarily always found at a fixed
distance below the surface, we may infer, with considerable certainty, that the center of action
and the greatest elevation was north of San Pablo bay.
On the west side of San Pablo bay occurs an interval of shore, which is very low, and seems
connected with a depression in the general surface, which extends far to the westward. It is
said this depression is continuous to Bodega bay, and that no part of it rises 50 feet above the
ocean level. If this is true, San Pablo bay doubtless communicated directly with the ocean
through this channel-a channel subsequently closed by the elevation which has been described,
but which, when open, would have afforded a more abundant supply of salt water than they
now have to the marine molluscs of the bay.
STRAITS OF CARQUINES.
The Bay of San Pablo is, in fact, but a continuation of San Francisco bay, and occupies a
portion of the same great trough lying between the most distant of the nearly parallel axes of
elevation which have been mentioned as determining the outline of the valley of San Francisco
bay, viz: the Mount Diablo axis, and that forming the immediate coast of the Pacific. A
subordinate anticlinal, a kind of shoulder of the Contra Costa range, crowds itself down into
this great basin, and narrows a portion of the bay into the strait which connects the wider
expanses of water which have received, for convenience, distinct names. As we traverse the
bay of San Pablo, and approach its eastern boundary, we reach another barrier, which has
opposed the drainage of the great Californian valley, through which, as at the Golden Gate,
the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin have forced or found a passage. This barrier
is formed by a continuation north of Mount Diablo of the Mount Diablo range, which, though
greatly reduced in elevation, and considerably interrupted and divided, is still plainly dis-
tinguishable, trending about northwest, till it loses its identity in the numerous parallel ranges of
the coast mountains. I was not able to examine the geology of the Straits of Carquines so closely
16
GEOLOGY-VICINITY OF BENICIA.
as to determine the nature and relative position of all the rocks which are exposed there; nor
was I able to carry my observations uninterruptedly from the section exposed on San Pablo bay
to that of the straits. The shores of the upper part of the straits I found to consist of a great
number of alternations of thin-bedded argillaceous sandstones, very similar to some of those
exposed on the south shore of San Pablo bay, and precisely like those of the western shore on
Point San Pedro, above San Rafael, and those of Rincon point, south of San Francisco.
These sandstones are inclined at a very high angle, some of them being nearly vertical, but
not having a uniform dip. One, and perhaps more than one anticlinal crosses the straits in
the general trend of the range. I was not able to detect any fossils in the rocks there exposed,
but have no doubt of their identity with the San Francisco group, having the same geological
age with those of San Pablo bay, and therefore Miocene or more recent.
I saw no evidences here or below of the existence of the older slates which have been said
to exist in this vicinity. Nor did I see here, or anywhere on the shores of San Francisco or
San Pablo bays, with the exception of a single locality, the Golden Gate, any trap, trachyte,
or other unmistakable plutonic rock.
The greenish argillaceous sandstones of the Straits of Carquines have threads and sheets of
gypsum running through them in all directions, a feature shared by the similar strata in the
localities which I have mentioned, Point San Pedro, &c.
BENICIA.
The geology of the vicinity of Benicia is apparently but a continuation of that of the Straits
of Carquines. An anticlinal crosses from near Martinez to the vicinity of Navy Point, on either
side of which are found sandstones, shales, &c., the apparent equivalents of the San Francisco
group. There is, however, a conglomerate at Navy Point which presents somewhat different
characters from those of San Pablo bay, the pebbles which it contains consisting in a great de-
gree of fragments of the harder silicious rocks, jasper, hornstone, agate, carnelian, &c.
Though I had little opportunity of examining it, my impression was that it did not present a
new element in the geology of our route.
At Navy Point Mr. W. P. Blake, geologist of the Pacific Railroad Survey in southern Cali-
fornia, under Lieut. Williamson, U. S. A., discovered teeth of sharks, which give to these strata
a date certainly no older than the Miocene. I did not notice any fossils in any of the rocks about
Benicia ; but it is probable they would reward a more thorough search than I was able to make.

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SANDSTONE HILLS NEAR BENICIA.
Sandstones.-The high hills which border the straits and occupy all of the area between
GEOLOGY-MOUNT DIABLO.
17
1
Vallejo and Benicia, and which, with their wavy and graceful outline and their unbroken
mantle of wild oat, present a view so peculiar and so pleasing, are all composed of the San
Francisco group of sandstones ; at least such was the inference which I derived from my ex-
amination of them. Immediately back from the town of Benicia the sandstone is considerably
massive and thick bedded, and has been extensively quarried as a building stone, for which it
serves a very good purpose, but is open to the objections suggested when speaking of a similar
stone at San Francisco. When exposed in ledges it has a most striking resemblance to trap.
About Major Vaughn's rancho, two miles northwest of Benicia, where we were encamped for
some days, the only rocks visible are a soft grayish sandstone, generally somewhat massive, and
thin layers of greenish brown shales, some of which are soft, and where exposed are often covered
with an efflorescence of sulph. alumina. These beds are dipping in different directions in the
different localities where examined, and are evidently traversed by several lines of uplift.
Five miles northwest from Benicia, among the rounded sandstone hills, the most elevated
summit in the vicinity is crowned by a crest of red jaspery rock, similar to that which occurs so
abundantly at Point Diablo, near San Francisco. This crest is particularly rough and rugged,
is nearly half a mile in length, and has the general trend of the ranges of hills which surround
it, and of the Mount Diablo mountains. It is somewhat cellular and spongy in texture, and pro-
jects forty to sixty feet above the softer rocks which flank it. It exhibits no tendency to stratifi-
cation, as far as I examined it, and has all the external characters of an injected dyke of plutonic
rock which owes its relief to the erosion of the softer material which once formed its enclosing
walls. The junction of the sandstones with the jasper is covered by debris and not visible; but
where exposed in the vicinity, though much disturbed, they exhibit no marks of metamorphic
action.
Warm spring.–At the north end of this ridge of jasper is a copious spring, which seems to
issue from immediate contact with the rock. The water is strongly charged with sulph. hydro-
gen, and is slightly thermal, having a higher temperature at its source than in the basins which
it fills, a few rods down the hill-side. I had no thermometer with which to test its tempera-
ture, but supposed it to be between 80° and 90º. No silicious or calcareous deposit is made by
it. It has the common taste of sulphur water, and is habitually used by a family residing near.
In a ravine near by, lenticular nodules of argillaceous iron ore are interstratified with the
thin layers of greenish, soft, fine-grained sandstone.
Soil.—The country about Benicia is generally productive, though its value as an agricultural
district, in common with the whole of the interior valley, is greatly impaired by a want of water.
The soil, which is formed by the decomposition of the argillaceous sandstones of the San Fran-
cisco group, is dark, deep, and rich. The surface is thrown into hills, often rising several
hundred feet, but in gentle swells and slopes, with smooth and graceful curves, never presenting
a broken outline. And this surface, as far as the eye can reach, is covered with the wild oat,
(Avena fatua.) No peculiarity of the soil, but atmospheric influences have given to this region
such a prevalence of annual vegetation, and limited its trees to the few scattered clumps of
evergreen oak, (Quercus agrifolia,) which, so much resembling orchards, combine with the
unbroken stretches of wild oat to give to it the appearance of being universally and thoroughly
cultivated.
MOUNT DIABLO.
While encamped near Benicia, this mountain, which we had first seen when entering the
Golden Gate, was in plain view from our camp. Its altitude is 3,760 feet, while its base is at
S
3 Y
18
GEOLOGY-SUISUN BAY.
the sea level. Of its geological structure no account has yet been given, and it was not ascended
by our party. Its base, and perhaps its principal mass, is composed of the series of sandstones
which have been so fully described in the preceding pages. Specimens brought from the higher
positions of the mountain, which I had the pleasure of examining, show that with tertiary
sandstones, trap, serpentine, and diallage occur, but on what relative positions and quantities
I could not ascertain. Its structure, however, can scarcely be a matter of doubt. It marks a
conspicuous focus of action in the elevation of the Mount Diablo or Contra Costa range, which
we know has the same general structure as that of the range immediately bordering the coast;
having probably the same date, and, like the coast mountains, having not constant but charac-
teristic axes of serpentine, flanked by thick beds of tertiary sandstone and shale, frequently
associated with which are jasper, diallage, and actinolite.
Some of the tertiary beds of Mount Diablo are highly fossiliferous, containing the same
assemblage of genera, and probably of species, which are so characteristic of the coast moun-
tains in southern California. Among the most striking of these fossils is an immense oyster,
which is apparently the same with that figured and described p. 72, Plate IV, fig. 17 and 17a,
of this report, and called by Mr. Conrad Ostrea Titan.
Gold has been found in small quantities in the streams flowing from Mount Diablo, and it
was at one time supposed that the diallage brought from there contained this metal, and a
quantity was transported to San Francisco, for the purpose of extracting the gold from it. Little
or none was found, however, and the error of the first experiment is said to have resulted from
employing mercury which had been before used in extracting gold, not all of which had been
separated from it.
SUISUN BAY.
North of Mount Diablo the range of mountains which has received its name is somewhat
divided and broken. This has offered a convenient avenue through which the drainage of the
upper country could be carried ; and through this the Straits of Carquines have been cut. The
waters of the great Californian valley, somewhat impeded in their flow to the ocean, and falling
to high tide level long before reaching the Golden Gate, accumulate above the straits, forming
Suisun bay, and the tulé marshes at the junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquin.
From Benicia to Goodhues, four miles, the north shore of Suisun bay is formed of the
sandstones which have been so fully described.
Calcareous tufa.-Near Goodhues occurs a deposit of calcareous tufa, which has been quarried
out and burned for lime. It is very pure and white, and would undoubtedly make an excellent
mortar.
From this point to Cordelia, the hills bordering the bay are all composed of some kind of
volcanic rock. The most abundant forms are soft and tufaceous, reddish or bluish gray ; other
portions are harder, either scoriaceous, compact, or vesicular trap.
Above Cordelia, on Suisun creek, the rock which forms the hills, bordering the road, is a
hard, tough, umber-colored trap, which seems to be the prevailing rock over a large area in this
vicinity.
It would make a very good building stone, and, though wrought with more difficulty than
the Benicia sandstones, would be far more strong and durable, and to many eyes more pleasing.
Soil. The soil of the shores of Suisun bay is black, and evidently highly productive, but
the area of level land below Cordelia is relatively small, and of that a considerable portion is
GEOLOGY-SUISUN VALLEY.
19
marshy. The sandstone hills are covered with wild oats and cultivated to their summits, but
the trap ranges are rough, rugged, and valueless.
SUISUN VALLEY.
This valley is enclosed between two ranges of hills, of which those on the west are high and
rough, and formed of vesicular trap; while those on the east are low, rounded, and apparently
composed of sandstone.
Near where we crossed the eastern hills to Vacaville, a deposit of calcareous tufa was noticed,
similar to that at Goodhues.
At Lagoon lake, and in that vicinity, the sandstones are fully exposed. I was able to dis-
cover no fossils, but the rock is identical in appearance with that at Benicia, and is doubtless
the same.
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGY OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
GENERAL FEATURES. -STRUCTURE OF THE COAST MOUNTAINS.--TRAP, SERPENTINE, AND GRANITE.--AURIFEROUS SLATES. —STRUCTURE
OF SIERRA NEVADA.--OLDER THAN COAST MOUNTAINS.—METAMORPHIC LIMESTONE.—AURIFEROUS ROCKS.—PLACER DEPOSITS. —
ALLUVIAL PLAIN.-LOCAL GEOLOGY.-VACAVILLE TO CILICO CF.EEK -GRAVELLY PLAINS.—ALLUVIAL SOIL AND TERRACES OF PUTOS
AND CACHE CREEKS. ---BANKS OF THE SACRAMENTO.-RED COLOR OF YUBA RIVER - WANT OF STONE AT MARYSVILLE -SACRAMENTO
BUTTES. --CHICO CREEK, -FOSSILIFI ROUS SANDSTONE. --INTERESTING MINGLING OF FOSSILS. — STRATA PROBABLY CRETACEOUS. —-
TRAP HILLS.--STREAMS ABSORBED BY THE PLAIN.–VOLCANIC PHENOMENA.-LAVA STREAMS. —CRATER.— OBSIDIAN.--FORT READ-
ING.---TRAP HILLS. -TUFACEOUS CONGLOMERATE. —CRETACEOUS ROCKS NEAR SHASTA CITY.--AMMONITES BATESII. —CARBONIFEROUS
LIMESTONE. --Fossils.
GENERAL FEATURES.
The area which has received this name constitutes the north half of what might properly be
called the great Californian valley, forming a continuous trough, lying between the converging
axes of the two great ranges of Californian mountains, and of which the northern and southern
halves would be inseparable were it not that, draining to the centre, they are respectively
traversed by the rivers Sacramento and San Joaquin ; and hence, for convenience, have been
distinguished from each other by the names of these streams. This great valley, which has a
length of 350 miles, and a maximum breadth of 50 miles, may be regarded as affording in its
structure and origin a typical example of the manner in which—formed by common causes all
the principal valleys of the far west have been produced. All may be said to occupy the elon-
gated areas enclosed between the separated but inosculating ranges of mountains, having nearly
the same common trend.
Of these valleys the Gulf of California is the most southern and the largest. Though its floor
is now below the ocean level, and its mountain boundaries do not quite enclose it, it presents a
marked similarity of general structure to the others to which I have alluded—the valleys of
San Francisco and Sacramento—and, to carry the comparison still further, to the second double
valley, that of the Cowlitz and Willamette.
tain chains which enclose the Sacramento valley are the coast mountains on the
west, and the Sierra Nevada on the east. Between these it lies as a broad plain, of which the
central portion is scarcely raised above the level of the sea, while the remote ends are scarcely
more than twice as many feet above as they are miles distant from the centre. The greater
part of the fall of the draining streams being confined to the vicinity of the ends of the valley,
as a consequence, through most of the length, the current of these streams is slow, their course
tortuous, and their borders, especially near their point of exit, are marshy and covered with
wide expanses of tulé, (bullrush.)
Surface and soil.--The centre of the valley is occupied by a broad alluvial plain, with little
diversity of level, of which the soil is generally fine and fertile, but sometimes coarse, gravelly,
or stony, and barren. The more fertile surface is covered with a growth of wild oat, or grasses,
'al
GEOLOGY-GENERAL FEATURES OF SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
O
interspersed with a great variety of flowering annuals, while the gravelly and more unproduc-
tive portions support a thinner growth of coarser plants, (Eryngium, Hemizonia, Madária, &c.)
Of trees, there are none, except such as grow in narrow lines along the streams. These belts of
timber are of varying breadth, from a mile or more, of wide-spreading magnificent oaks,
(generally Quercus Hindsii,) to a meager border of willows, poplar, or sycamore, hung with
festoons of grape along the water's edge.
Bordering the central plain on either side is a second “bench,” or terrace, generally less than
100 feet above the lower, and which sometimes, by erosion, thrown into low rounded hills,
oftener forms a distinct prairie plain. Crossing this upper terrace toward the mountains we
soon rise into the foot hills, which are covered with groves and clumps of oak, with here and
there scattered trees of the nut-pine. The scenery of the foot hills is frequently picturesque
and beautiful, with its lawn-like slopes and clumps of spreading oaks, presenting views which
might well serve as models for the landscape gardener.
The agricultural capabilities of the different parts of the Sacramento valley, though consid-
erably influenced by the structure and constituents of the soil, are more directly dependent on
the degree in which its greatest want-the want of water-is supplied. With an abundance of
this indispensable element, it would be one of the most productive portions of the globe.
COAST MOUNTAINS.
na
cre
The structure of the coast mountains, where they form the western border of the Sacra-
mento valley, is apparently similar to that of the same ranges in the vicinity of San Fran-
cisco, which has already been described. They form a belt thirty to fifty miles wide,
composed of several associated ranges, and having an altitude of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet.
They are composed, for the most part, of volcanic rocks, trap, trachyte, pumice, with occasional
protrusions of granite and serpentine. The flanks of these mountain ranges on either side are
interruptedly occupied by tertiary sandstones, and by volcanic marls and tufas of still more
recent date—the sandstones containing characteristic Miocene fossils; the finer marls containing
infusoria, generally of fresh water origin.
Near Tomales bay a bed of whitish limestone occurs, highly metamorphosed, exhibiting no
fossils, and as yet of unascertained age. Specimens of a limestone containing no fossils were
also collected by Lieutenant Abbot near Yreka. There are in many localities on the coast
mountains, particularly near the north end of the Sacramento valley, metamorphic slates, some-
times auriferous, which are probably of ancient date; but this is only conjecture, as they have, so
far, yielded no fossils.
SIERRA NEVADA.
The structure of the eastern wall of the valley of the Sacramento has not yet been fully
made out. It is, for the most part, composed of the same geological constituents as the
coast mountains, having an origin due to the same general system of elevation, and probably
nearly the same date, i. e., subsequent to the deposition of some of the tertiary strata.
I should, however, be disposed to regard the Sierra Nevada as having had an existence, and the
greater part of the range as having been above the level of the ocean previous to the deposition
of the San Francisco sandstone, which is so characteristic of the coast mountains, and which,
if it can be identified in the Sierra Nevada, is probably confined to its flanks, at a low level.
A metamorphic limestone is found at intervals throughout all that part of the Sierra Nevada
which skirt the California valley. Its age has not been determined, as it is generally highly
22
GEOLOGY-VACAVILLE TO CHICO CREEK.
C
!
crystalline and metamorphic, and contains no fossils. From its relations to the limestone dis-
covered by Dr. Trask, near the base of Mount Shasta, and which is of carboniferous age, one
may suspect it to belong to that era. .
The great mass of the Sierra Nevada is composed of plutonic or volcanic rock, granite,
gneiss, mica schists, and porphyrys, trap, trachyte, &c., with auriferous talcose slates, and
veins of quartz. These strata, having been extensively broken up and eroded by aqueous or
glacial action, have, in the re-arrangement of their constituent materials, given rise to the
placer deposites which skirt the base of the range. The deposition of this comminuted material
has apparently been effected by aqueous agency, and controlled in a degree by the law of
gravitation, as the gold, the heaviest of the component materials, is found at or very near the
bottom. The surface of the plain which lies between these ranges of mountains is underlaid
by beds of transported material-gravel, clay, and tufaceous conglomerate-several hundred
feet in thickness, which were once deposited as sediments on the bottom of the trough, but
have been extensively re-arranged by the present water-courses, and in many places subjected
to considerable disturbance from volcanic action.
>
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
VACAVILLE TO CHICO CREEK.
After leaving the foot hills of the coast mountains, we traversed the valley diagonally to the
vicinity of its eastern margin. Making this transit, we were constantly upon the alluvial
deposits which have been referred to, and nowhere found any rock in place on the immediate
line of our march. Between the base of the hills, near Vacaville and Putos creek, the surface
passed over formed low hills and table land composed of gravel, entirely destitute of trees, but
covered with a thin coating of the grasses and other plants which have been mentioned as
characteristic of the gravel surfaces of the valley. The soil has apparently but little fertility,
and is nowhere grazed or cultivated. The pebbles which compose the gravel beds are generally
of small size, well rounded, and consist of jasper, quartz, porphyry, trap, &c. As we
approached Putos creek the soil became fine, loamy, and fertile, and on the banks of the
stream supported à narrow belt of magnificent oaks.
The banks of the stream are distinctly terraced, the upper bench being some 25 feet above
the lower, which is about the same distance above the bed of the creek. The material of
which these lower terraces is composed is principally a fine alluvial earth, mingled with which
are a few pebbles. The upper terrace consists in greater degree of pebbles, some of which are
of considerable size, much rounded, and, like those found in the bed of the stream, composed of
trap, jasper, and quartz.
Cache creek.-The interval lying between Putos and Cache creeks is similar in its features to
that south of the former. The immediate vicinity of Cache creek, however, is a region of great
fertility; the soil is dark and deep, and the belt of timber which borders the stream is wider,
and the trees even finer than those of Putos creek. These differences are doubtless mainly due
to a more abundant supply of water afforded by Cache creek.
Its banks are alluvial, the bed gravel, the current rapid, and the water clear and good.
The terraces of Cache creek are not as perceptible as those of the Putos, the upper bench being
further removed from its immediate banks. The region lying between the crossing of Cache
creek and the Sacramento, at Knight's Landing, is very level and nearly all under cultivation.
Unlike the country previously traversed, we found this not covered with wild oats or dried
GEOLOGY-VACAVILLE TO CHICO CREEK.
23
1
S
grass, but everywhere sustaining a growth of green vegetation, except where covered with the
ripening wheat. A great breadth of surface was occupied by this crop, which the farmers told
me generally produced from 35 to 40 bushels to the acre. The drought of the present season
· would reduce the yield to 25 to 30 bushels.
The banks of the Sacramento, at Knight's Landing and at Frémont, where we crossed it, are
composed of fine alluvial earth, generally about 30 feet above the water-level at that time. A
belt of timber lines either side; that near the water being willow, poplar, and sycamore, bound
together by grape vines; further back the long-acorned oak, which, when the trees are crowded,
assumes the form of the white oak of the forests of the eastern States.
No terraces are visible in the immediate vicinity of the Sacramento. Like those of Cache
creek, its banks have been formed by the stream when at nearly its present level, and belong
entirely to the present era.
The water of Feather river, at the junction with the Sacramento, is so highly charged with
sediment, derived from the gold diggings on its tributaries, that it is rendered quite opaque,
and has a color as decided as that of the rivulets in the streets of our towns during a thunder-
shower.
The country bordering Feather river to Marysville presents no new geological features. No
rock is seen in place, and the banks of the stream are like those of the Sacramento, composed
of fine loamy earth, with very few pebbles as large as walnuts. The soil is excellent, and
melons and various crops are growing with considerable luxuriance,
The red color of Feather river, 80 noticeable at its junction with the Sacramento, is for the
most part, derived from the Yuba, which, at Marysville, where they unite, has deposited such
quantities of sediment as to render its navigation impossible at a point considerably below
I where boats could formerly run.
The floods of the Yuba, which have occasioned so great destruction of property at Marysville,
have left piles of drift-wood forty feet above its bed.
· The want of building stone is severely felt in this vicinity. The houses in the town, since
the fires have swept away relays of wooden structures, have been all built of brick, and the
wharf at the steamboat landing is built of bags of sand.
From Marysville, up the feather river, to Hamilton, we found no rock in place, and no trans-
ported masses of any considerable size. The soil is generally a fine sandy loam near the river,
evidently fertile, and supporting a dense growth of vegetation; while the plains back from the
streams are frequently gravelly, and less productive, bearing a thin crop of coarse grasses, and
scattering trees of the two species of oak which have been mentioned, with occasional clumps
of manzanita.
The gravel and rolled stones in the beds of the streams are generally composed of some form
of trappean rock, usually trap, porphyry, trachyte, &c., more rarely of quartz. These are,
probably, principally derived from the Sierra Nevada, but in part also from Sutter's buttes,
which are but about 10 miles distant from the road which we followed.
These mountains have been distinctly visible since leaving Cache creek; first as a single
peak, subsequently showing two others. They form, however, but a single mountain mass,
and should be denominated by a common name. From specimens brought from there, as well
as from the description given of them by Professor Dana, (Geol. Expl. Exped.,) we learn that
they are of volcanic origin, and not of recent date.
They now rise like islands in the plain on which they stand, the highest point having an
altitude of about 1,800 feet above its general level. The alluvial deposits of the valley, which
by run.
W
24
GEOLOGY-VACAVILLE TO CHICO CREEK.
surround their bases, exhibit little traces of disturbance, and do not cover their sides ; from
which it is apparent that they were not covered by the waters by which these transported mate-
rials were deposited.
We have here arrived at nearly the eastern limits of the Sacramento valley. The foot hills
of the Sierra Nevada are but few miles distant, and although immediately on Feather river, we
are still on the lower alluvial plain which borders the Sacramento river, and occupies all the
central portion of the valley within a mile to the north; the surface rises more than 200 feet,
and a series of rounded hills commence, which are so characteristic of the borders of the valley.
Chico creek.- No rock was found in place from Hamilton, where we left Feather river, to this
point. The surface is somewhat undulating; the higher grounds being destitute of trees, the
soil gravelly and unproductive, while the lower grounds immediately adjacent to the streams
which we crossed are fertile, and sustain groves of oak timber.
The beds of the streams contain gravel and rounded stones in larger quantities than those
before passed, and the fragments are of larger size. They consist principally of trap, compact
or vesicular, some of it being scoriaceous.
Fossils.-At Bidwell's on Chico creek we saw fragments of calcareous sandstone-brought
from a locality not far distant on the same stream, in the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada—which
contained great numbers of fossils very perfectly preserved. The rock in which they occur is
light brown in color, and quite hard and compact. The fossils are exclusively marine shells,
and present an interesting mingling of forms, to which attention was first called by Dr. Trask,
in the Proc. Cal. Acad. Sciences. The genera represented are Mactra, Tellina, Nucula, Fusus,
Turritella, Natica, &c., of which the species are as yet undetermined, with the exception of two-
a Mactra and Nucula-considered by Mr. Conrad as probably identical with two species, Nucula
divaricata and Mactra albaria, described by him in the Geology of the Exploring Expedition, and
obtained by Professor Dana from the shales and sandstones near Astoria, on the Columbia river.
The Astoria shales contain large numbers of fossils, many of which have been described by
Mr. Conrad, (op. cit.) and have been regarded by him as of Miocene age. These shales and
sandstones are also probably identical with the San Francisco group, which, as we have seen,
may for still other reasons be considered as recent as the Miocene epoch.
Baculites and Ammonites have never heretofore been found in any strata of more recent date
than the cretaceous, and there these genera have been regarded as furnishing the most certain
criteria by which to distinguish between cretaceous and tertiary deposits. There can be no doubt,
however, of their occurrence in the sandstones of Chico creek, and, from their mode of fossilization,
could not have been transported from older deposits, but must have lived in the sea with the
other associated genera.
The species of the fossil shells found with the Ammonites and Baculites in this locality are
probably all new, unless the Nucula and Mactra alluded to are, as has been supposed, identical
with those of Astoria. They are, therefore, of little or no value in determining the age of the
deposit within the limits in question.
The genera represented are, perhaps, equally common in cretaceous and tertiary rocks, and,
so far as known, do not afford any forms which, though specifically new, might be regarded as
by their general pattern to indicate a cretaceous rather than a tertiary age, or vice versa.
One of two conclusions is therefore inevitable: either the Nucula and Mactra, which are
supposed to link these strata to others known to be Miocene tertiary, are distinct from those of
the shales of Astoria, and the Chico creek strata are cretaceous; or they are identical, and
Baculites and Ammonites cease to be criteria in distinguishing tertiary from cretaceous rocks.
GEOLOGY-CHICO CREEK TO FORT READING.
25
In either case the facts are of great interest, as indicating the presence of cretaceous rocks in a
region where they had never been suspected to exist, or proving a new and important truth in
palæontology. While a careful study of the fossils of Chico creek will alone solve all the
problems which they suggest, it may be said that the evidence is still wanting upon which we
must discard one of the most authoritative axioms of palæontology, and believe that the cepha-
lopoda of the chalk continued to inhabit the Californian coast throughout all of the Eocene, and
part of the Miocene tertiary periods. There are certainly no living species among those yet
found in the Chico creek strata, and although much stress is laid by Dr. Trask (Proc. Cal. Acad.
Nat. Sciences, vol. I,) on the recurrence there of living genera, it is a well known fact that a
large part of the genera of the chalk are still represented in our seas. It is probable, too,
that Mr. Conrad would not insist on his identification of Nucula divaricata and Mactra albaria,
as the specimens submitted to him were few and imperfect. It may also be ultimately proven
that the argillaceous standstones of Astoria are not of Miocene age, for although having very
much of a Miocene look, none of the species are found in the present seas, nor in other known
Miocene strata. For the present, therefore, with unmistakable Baculites and Ammonites,* with
no recent, and but two doubtfully Miocene species, the evidence is in favor of these strata being
cretaceous rather than tertiary.
CHICO CREEK TO FORT READING.
Above Chico creek the Sacramento valley rapidly narrows; that portion lying east of the river
forming a nearly level plain, four to six miles wide, from which the foot hills of the Sierra rise
abruptly. Between Antelope and Deer creeks I crossed over to the hills at a place where a stream
coming down from the mountains, and at its point of entrance into the valley passes through a
magnificent gate, of which the side walls are at least 500 feet in height. The rock in the
vicinity is all a dark basaltic trap, which has been accumulated by successive overflows from
some volcanic vent, probably not far distant. These lava floods, where exposed in sections,
present a stratified appearance, some of the beds being imperfectly columnar. Though exhibit-
ing very strikingly the phenomena of volcanic action, these trap hills are not of recent date,
but were probably formed synchronously with the upheaval of that part of the Sierra Nevada
with which they are connected.
The stream which flows through this opening in the hills in the rainy season is evidently of
considerable size, and at the point of entrance into the valley was, at the time of my visit,
(July 19,) still flowing, and contained large numbers of fish; yet long before it reached the
Sacramento its waters were absorbed by the arid plain traversed by its channel, and where we
crossed its bed, near the river, it was perfectly dry, a gravelly trough containing not a drop
of water.
Our route from Antelope creek to Fort Reading lay across the hills which sweep around from
the Sierra Nevada and, uniting with the foot hills of the coast mountains, form the northern
boundary of the Sacramento valley. These hills we found composed exclusively of volcanic rock,
generally a dark vesicular trap, which forms rough and ragged crests, divided by deep and
narrow ravines, of which the sides are precipitous, or covered with angular blocks and frag-
ments, among which we made our way with difficulty. In several places we passed over she::ts
of lava, which looked as though it had been but a few years since in a fluid state, the surface
* Mr. F. B. Meek writes me that he also finds Inoceramus in the Chico creek rock, and is inclined to regard it as upper
cretaceous.
4 Y
26
GEOLOGY-CHICO CREEK TO FORT READING.
still bare, and exhibiting all the waves and eddies of a flowing stream. Some of these trappean
rocks were apparently older. Among them were porphyry, trachyte, and volcanic breccia, in
which the imbedded fragments formed masses of several hundred pounds weight. No drift
action has modified the surface of these rocks ; but, with the exception of the marks of
atmospheric weathering, which they exhibit in different degrees, they are as rough, and their
surfaces as fresh, as though but recently formed. The thin soil which covers or surrounds them
is derived only from their decomposition, and is often highly colored by oxide of iron. It
seems to possess the inorganic elements of fertility, and sustains among the rocks a vigorous
growth of wild oat.
On the north side of Bear creek valley is a more striking proof of the comparatively recent
date of volcanic action in this vicinity than even the lava streams. This is furnished by a vol-
canic cone 500 or 600 feet in height, which has a crater on the summit, and of which the sides
are covered with reddish scoria.


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YOLCANIC CONE NEAR FORT READING.
On Bear creek black obsidian occurs in considerable quantities, and some of it was brought
me, as "probably some kind of stone coal.”
The trap ranges in this vicinity, of whịch I have spoken, form high and sometimes preci-
pítous banks to the Sacramento river, with but little level land between them, and consti-
tute the entrance to the almost continuous cañon through which it flows for nearly a hundred
miles,
GEOLOGY-FORT READING.
27
FORT READING.
The geology of the vicinity of Fort Reading is not unlike that of the region lying imme-
diately south of it. The valley of Cow creek, in which it is situated, is
trap, of the brown and cellular variety, which is stereotyped in all this region. The trough
between these ridges is partially filled with a stratified deposit which is very soft, light gray
in color, and contains scattered lumps, of small size, of fine white pumice.
There is little doubt that this deposit is tufaceous in character, and is composed of the lighter
and finer products of volcanic eruptions, rearranged by aqueous agency. It is probably of
recent date, and synchronous with somewhat similar beds which are found in various portions
of California, and are more recent than the tertiary cretaceous rocks.
A few miles south west of Fort Reading, at Arbuckle's diggings, a locality which I was not
able to visit, strata occur which are undoubtedly of cretaceous age. Ammonites, in consider-
able numbers, have been obtained there by Dr. Bates, of Shasta city, and a very handsome
species has been described by Dr. Trask, (Proc. Cal. Acad., vol. 1, p. -,) under the name of
Ammonites Batesii.
To the occurrence of cretaceous rocks in this locality I shall have occasion to refer again in
a subsequent part of this report.
Carboniferous limestore.--In sight from Fort Reading is a group of mountains, bearing east
of north, which, as we learn from Dr. Trask, are in a considerable degree composed of lime-
stone, which he has described in his Report on the Geology of the Coast Mountains, 1855, p. 50,
and which he regards as the equivalents of the upper carboniferous rocks of Iowa, &c.
The limestones of these mountains, as described by Dr. Trask, have a great thickness and
are highly fossiliferous. While in San Francisco I had the pleasure of seeing through glass
the fossils procured by Dr. Trask from this locality, and although the number of species
collected is small, and they are probably all new, and cannot, therefore, be regarded as perfectly
conclusive criteria in deciding on the age of the containing rock, there seems to be little question
that they belong to some portion of the carboniferous group. Whether they are synchronous
with the upper coal strata or the sub-carboniferous limestone is a question which cannot be
definitely settled until a greater amount of material has been collected.
These fossils consist of small spirifers, orthis, encrinal stems, and cyathophylloid corals.
The lithological characters of the rock are not unlike those of the sub-carboniferous limestone
of the Allegheny and Mississippi coal fields, but no value whatever can be attached to the
resemblance.
It is very desirable that this deposit of limestone should be fully examined, and its fossils
carefully studied by some one who is sufficiently familiar with carboniferous palæontology to
determine accurately the relations which it sustains to the carboniferous rocks of the valley of
the Mississippi. With its great thickness it may very well be the representative of the entire
carboniferous series of the east; the open sea in which the carboniferous limestone was
deposited here continuing open sea, while the coal measures were being formed on the imme-
diate shores of the continent of that period.
CHAPTER III.
GEOLOGY OF THE WESTERN RANGE OF SIERRA NEVADA.
RELATIONS OF WESTERN RANGE OF SIERRA NEVADA TO MOUNT SHASTA AND THE SIERRA NEVADA OF CALIFORNIA.-GENERAL GEOLOGICAL
RELATIONS OF MOUNT SHASTA.-COAST LINE ONCE FORMED BY THE SIERRA NEVADA AND CASCADE MOUNTAINS.—SUCCESSIVE STAGES
IN THE ELEVATION OF THE CONTINENT CONTINUITY OF THE COAST MOUNTAINS -- TRANSVERSE CHAINS.- LINES OF FRACTURM
DIVERGENT FROM MOUNT PITT AND MOUNT SHASTA.CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES OF MOUNT SHASTA, PERHAPS CONTINUOUS WITH THD
METAMORPHIC LIMESTONES OF THE SIERRA NEVADA.- LOCAL GEOLOGY.-TRAP PLATEAUS ABOUT FORT READING.-COAL NEAR MCCUM-
BER'S FLAT. RECENT VOLCANIC ROCK AROUND THE BASE OF LASSEN'S BUTTE-LASSEN'S BUTTË A VOLCANIC CONE.-LAVA PLAIN ON
CANOE CREEK.CHIMNEYS.-SUBTERRANEAN GALLERIES - TRAP PLATEAUS AT THE MOUTH OF CANOE CREEK. INFUSORIAL MARLS ON
BANKS OF PIT RIVER.--BEDS OF ROUNDED STONES UNDERLYING MARL8.-TRAP FORMING THE WALLS OF THE LOWER CAÑON OF PIT RIVER.
MOUNTAIN OF METAMORPHIC SLATE.
From Fort Reading we passed southward of the limestone mountains mentioned in the last
chapter, and following a course little north of east, crossed that portion of the Sierra Nevada
which connects Lassen's butte with Mount Shasta; coming down on to Pit river, at the upper
end of its long cañon or series of cañons, formed by its passage through this chain of mountains.
Some differences of opinion have prevailed in reference to the relations which this range sustains
to the Sierra Nevada on the one hand, and to Mount Shasta on the other ; but it has been
generally regarded as a spur of the Sierra Nevada running off at a considerable angle with the
main trend of that chain to connect with Mount Shasta. It has also been supposed that east-
ward of Mount Shasta the main range of the Sierra Nevada would be found extending northward
and connecting directly with the Cascade mountains of Oregon. Mount Shasta has even been
claimed as a portion of the coast mountains, and is so represented by Dr. Trask, (Geol. Report,
1853, p. 48.)
Dr. Trask also suggests that the Sierra Nevada terminates at Lassen's butte, and that the
coast mountains, when continued northward, form the Cascades of Oregon and Washington
Territories.
Both these hypotheses seem to me untenable. So distinct a line of upheaval connects Mount
Shasta with Lassen's butte, and Lassen's butte with the Sierra Nevada, that they all seem to
form the inseparable parts of a single mountain system.
• As has before been stated, the geological data are still wanting for determining with precision
the relative ages of the Sierra Nevada and coast mountains; but the evidence, as far as it goes,
is altogether in favor of the greater antiquity of the Sierra Nevada, and of the connection of
Mount Shasta with the older system. The most characteristic fossiliferous strata of the coast
mountains have not yet been found in the Sierra Nevada.
The physical structure of the country traversed by these mountains teaches the same lesson.
The Sierra Nevada, including Lassen's butte and Mount Shasta, form the wall which bounds
the elevated plateau. The eastern bases of these mountains are four thousand feet above the
western, and it seems difficult to resist the conclusion that at one stage in the elevation of the
continent the mountains I have mentioned, with the Cascades of Oregon, formed its western
GEOLOGY-WESTERN RANGE OF SIERRA NEVADA.
C.
limit, and that anterior to the emergence of the Californian valley or the coast mountains, the
ocean dashed its waves against a continuous iron-bound coast, formed by the great Californian
range. Of this coast Mount Shasta was a high and prominent headland.
With the subsequent elevation of the coast mountains, the entire western portion of the con-
tinent was doubtless considerably raised, and, like the higher, the lower terrace was bordered
by mountain ranges, which presented to the Pacific a second continuous wall, on which its
waves, though borne on by all the accumulated momentum of their long and unobstructed
course, are still impotently beating.
I think we have evidence, derived from various sources, that the elevation of the western
coast continued long after it reached the present level, and that since its maximum height
was attained it has suffered a depression of many hundred feet. I shall, however, have occasion
to return to this subject when speaking of the Cascade mountains, and will, therefore, leave it
till the facts there to be gained can be brought to bear upon it.
The continuity of the present coast mountains of California and Oregon can scarcely be
doubted. The fossiliferous sandstones of Monterey, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Port Orford,
Coose bay, Astoria, and the Cowlitz, are all apparently of the same age. Though presenting
marked local peculiarities, they have a common character both in their lithological features and
in their fossils, and are to be referred to a common period-certainly not older than the
Miocene.
In going from the mouth of the Columbia to San Francisco by sea, the coast seems formed of
a continuous mountain chain, which is constantly in sight, and which produces, throughout
nearly the entire distance, a bold, rocky, “iron-bound” shore. To this general rule the limited
areas of level land in the valleys of the Umpqua, Coquille, Rogue, and Klamath rivers, form
scarcely an exception.
As far north of San Francisco as Cape Mendocino the coast mountains have the same general
northwest trend; and a more plausible supposition than that the Cascades form the continuation
of the coast mountains would be, that the latter ranges terminate at Cape Mendocino, and that
the coast mountains of Oregon were a continuation of the Sierra Nevada. It is not necessary
to suppose this, however, but it is sufficient to consider the coast mountains of Oregon as the
coast mountains of California deflected from the trend which they preserve below Cape Mendo-
cino, and that the ranges of the coast and of the interior inosculate on either side of the parallel
of 42° in the Calapooya, Umpqua, and Siskiyou mountains.
The structure of these subordinate ranges has as yet received but little attention from geolo-
gists, though it presents some very interesting problems, which, aside from their bearing on
the local geology of the far west, will perhaps throw some light on the question of the synchon-
ism of parallel axes of elevation, and the constancy of trend in the same line of upheaval.
Nor is the question of the relations of Mount Shasta to the coast mountains or Sierra Nevada
one of merely abstract interest, but of the highest practical value in determining the relative age
of these two mountain systems, and especially in fixing the age of the metamorphic limestones
and slates of the Sierra Nevada, which as yet have yielded no fossils. If, as seems probable,
the fossiliferous limestones of the mountains connected with Mount Shasta shall prove to be
continuous with the limestones of the Sierra Nevada, referred to above, they will, perhaps, serve
as a key by which to unlock the whole structure and age of the great “ Californian range."
30
GEOLOGY-WESTERN RANGE OF SIERRA NEVADA.
ccurren
U
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
Our journey over the base of Lassen's butte to the basin of Pit river was productive of little
geological information, except of the monotonous prevalence of recent volcanic rocks over all
that portion of this mountain chain which we traversed.
From Fort Reading to McCumber's, some twenty-five miles, plateaus and ridges of dark
vesicular trap extend in unbroken and unvaried succession. Here we had an inkling of some
facts of high geological interest, but were unable to remain long enough to settle the questions
raised by the information received. Mr. McCumber has found coal, as he says, of good quality,
in the hills a few miles distant from his rancho. Of this coal he had then no specimen, and
could tell me nothing of the character of the associated rocks, but represented the bed to be
thick and extensive.
This information, though vague and unsatisfactory, was, as it seemed to me, highly important,
as proving the existence of beds of coal at this elevation and distance from the coast.
McCumber's flat is about 4,000 feet above the sea, and the deposits of coal represented to be
several hundred feet higher, probably at least 4,500 feet above the sea level. It is, perhaps,
possible that the tertiary lignites of the coast recur here, but no tertiary rocks are known to
exist within many miles of this locality; and the lignites of Santa Clara on one side and Coose
bay on the other, are the nearest deposits of what could, with any propriety, be termed coal.
Taken in connexion with the fact of the occurrence of carboniferous limestone
northwest from McCumber's, and this limestone having a rapid easterly dip, indicate at least a
possibility that the coal of this vicinity may be carboniferous. A single hand specimen would
have decided the question, but that could not be obtained; and since the promise of Mr. McCumber
to send into Fort Reading specimens of the coal was not kept, the problem is yet unsolved,
whether the. tertiary lignites of California and Oregon are the only coals found on the Pacific
coast.
If these carbonaceous beds should prove to be of the same age with those referred to, the fact
would be scarcely less important, and would perhaps materially aid us in the solution of some
of the problems which the geology of the far west still presents.
After leaving McCumber's, we found the dark vesicular trap, which prevails over 80 large an
area around Fort Reading, mingled with, and in many places entirely superseded by, volcanic
rock of different character. Immediately east of McCumber's we passed a surface, a mile or more
in extent, over which the vegetable soil covered rolled and rounded fragments of pumice and
a light-colored felspathic lava. These boulders had, apparently, formerly occupied the broad
bed of a water-course, from which the supply of water had long since been cut off by some of
the convulsions of this volcanic region. That this change of course in the stream was not of
recent date, is proved by the accumulation of soil on the surface and the dense growth of large
trees which it supported.
Lassen's butte is evidently a volcanic cone, and one whose fires have not been long extin-
guished. Its summit is distinctly crateriform, as will be seen from the accompanying cut, and
is capped with perpetual snow, and has an altitude of about 9,000 feet. Below the snow line
for 1,000 feet the mountain is bare of vegetation, and covered with piles of lava, or slopes of
ashes.

GEOLOGY--LASSEN'S BUTTE--CANOE CREEK.
31
The geology of all this region bears the record of intense and recent volcanic action. The
surface crossed before reaching the summit of the pass was covered with blocks of scoriaceous trap,
pumice, trachyte, or porphyry. The prevailing rock at the highest part of our route is a friable
felspathic lava, which readily disintegrates, forming a white sand, which reflects the sun
almost like snow. This rock is lying in rough and ragged masses, in many places bare of
vegetation, and of recent origin.
While
w
WA
MUMU
WWW
Will
LASSEN'S BUTTE, TROM THE NORTH.
The open space about the base of Lassen's butte is doubtless due to the fires which, from time
to time, sweep through these pine forests, yet a large area in its vicinity is overspread with
volcanic products, evidently of so recent date that it seems not improbable that it has been in
a state of activity since many of the pines which are growing on its base began their existence.
This accumulation of modern volcanic matter completely conceals all underlying rocks, and
gives an uninteresting monotony to the geology of the surrounding region.
On Canoe creek, a tributary of Pit river, we found the first of the “Sage plains," which form
so constant a feature of the central desert. They here present arid surfaces of but limited extent,
bounded by cliffs, or ledges of trap, and covered with a light volcanic soil, which rose in clouds
of dust as we passed. Scattered bunches of grass, clumps of Artemisia, and a few trees of
yellow pine, comprise all the vegetation which their sterility does not exclude.
As we descended Canoe creek we entered a region where volcanic phenomena are displayed on
an extended scale.
This stream traverses a valley expanding towards the north, bounded by walls more than a
thousand feet in height, composed of dark lava-like trap or red scoria, the interval between them

32
GEOLOGY-CANOE CREEK.
y level lava plain, a kind of congealed sea, of which the surface was everywhere
roughened by waves cooled while flowing; their crest black and ragged; the troughs containing
a little ash-like soil, which supported a tangled growth of "sage" and "manzanita.”
At numerous points on this lava plain we passed miniature volcanic vents or chimneys, which
had evidently been formed by the bursting out of steam or gases from below, and in more than
one instance we noticed subterranean galleries, or caverns, having a diameter of fifteen to twenty
feet, an irregularly circular section, and extending indefinitely in either direction.
In some places the roofs of these passages had fallen in, permitting a full examination of
their internal structure. They seemed to be conduits through which streams of lava had con-
tinued to flow when surrounded by a congealed and solid crust. They may in some cases have
been modified by currents of water running through them, but it seems impossible that their
origin could be due to the action of any such agent.
Similar galleries have been described by Prof. Dana and Dr. Winslow as occurring on the
lava plains of the Sandwich Islands, and they seem to be a constant feature in the phenomena
of great overflows of lava.
The chimneys to which I have referred probably communicated with these passages.
An oasis in this barren waste was formed by a stream of pure cold water, which issued from
the cavernous wall bounding this plain on the east, ran half a mile, in inany winding, life-giving
channels, then fell into a chasm and disappeared.
The geology of the region bordering Canoe creek throughout its course is exceedingly mono-
tonous. Cliffs, ridges, or tables of dark scoriaceous trap border it on either side, from the
crossing of the emigrant trail to its mouth. Near its junction with Pit river, the tables of trap
occurring on its banks exhibit a remarkable symmetry. They form a series of nearly level plateaus
gradually rising in successive grades and receding from the stream. They terminate towards
Canoe creek in abrupt, frequently mural edges, and present the same arrangement on both sides
of it, as represented in the figure.

TRAP PLATEAUS BORDERING CANOE CREEK.
Infusorial marls.—The banks of Pit river, both above and below the mouth of Canoe creek,
are partially formed of regularly stratified sedimentary deposits; the first seen since leaving
the valley of the Sacramento.
They appear on both sides of Pit river at intervals for several miles, being in many places
interrupted or covered by beds of trap. They are, perhaps, best exposed in the cañon formed
by the passage of the river through " Stoneman's ridge,” the most conspicuous of the lines
of upheaval, which form what is known as the lower cañon of Pit river.
They here exhibit a thickness of about fifty feet, but are considerably tilted up, and are
covered by a thick bed of trap, which has been poured out over them.
They exhibit narrow and parallel lines of deposition, but are very homogeneous, and can
hardly be said to form more than two distinct beds. Of these, the upper is white and fine as
re
GEOLOGY--BANKS OF PIT RIVER.
33
U
1
chalk, resembling very pure kaolin, derived from the decomposition of crystalline felspar.
The lower bed is light brown, or dirty white in color, and has a slightly gritty feel between
the fingers.
These strata rest upon a thick bed of rolled and rounded fragments of trap, porphyry, and
basalt, of all sizes, from masses of two and even three feet in diameter to pebbles. They are
generally as large as one's head, and great numbers are each a foot in diameter.
The surface of this bed of boulders is, perhaps, twenty feet above the present surface of the
stream; but it bears indubitable evidence of having at one time been covered by it, or, at least,
the stones composing it, so large and clean, have been rounded where they lie by a current or
waves of water.
The appearance presented by this bed of boulders is different from that of any of the beds of
volcanic conglomerate, which are so common in many parts of California and Oregon, or of
the stratified conglomerates of the Sacramento valley, and it is undoubtedly of local origin.
The trap which formed the greater part of the bank above is evidently of recent date ; more
recent than the infusorial marls, and the marls more recent than the conglomerate, and the
conglomerate an accumulation of rolled stones and pebbles, which belongs to the present
epoch. The trap which overlies the infusorial marls composes a large part of the walls of the
cañon at this point, where it has been much cut away by the stream, and forms nearly perpen-
dicular faces of several hundred feet in height. The soft nature of the underlying strata has,
however, very much assisted in its removal.
On the south side of the cañon and overlooking it is a mountain, which forms the most
prominent point of Stoneman's ridge in this vicinity. It is conical in form, and has the out-
line of a volcanic peak, but I found it to be composed, from base to summit, of metamorphic
slate.
I
5 Y
CHAPTER IV.
GEOLOGY OF PIT RIVER AND KLAMATH BASINS.
PIT RIVER BASINS. ---LAKE-LIKE CHARACTER OF THE LOWER BASIN.-PROOFS THAT IT HAS ONCE BEEN A LAKE.-INFUSORIAL SEDIMENTS
DEPOSITED BY ITS WATERS.-RANGE FORMING THE UPPER CAÑON OF PIT RIVER.SECOND BASIN OF PIT RIVER.-INFUSORIAL MARLS.-
HILLS OF METAMORPHIO SLATE, GREENSTONE, PORPHYRY, AND TRAP BORDERING PIT RIVER.--GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY ABOUT THE
HEAD OF PIT RIVER.-HOT SPRINGS AND INFUSORIAL MARLS.--KLAMATH BASINS TYPICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE
OF A GREAT AREA.-COMMON FEATURES OF THE REGION LYING EAST OF THE SIERRA NEVADA AND CASCADES. NOT ONE BUT MANY
BASINS.KLAMATH BASINS ONCE LAKES.-LOC AL GEOLOGY.PIT RIVER TO WRIGHT LAKE.RECENT VOLCANIC CONE.--CLIFFS RORDER-
ING RHETT LAKE OF SANDSTONE AND TRAP.--EFFLORESCENCE ON THE SHORES OF RHETT LAKE.-THE NATURAL BRIDGE A FAULT.“
INFUSORIAL MARLS OF LOST RIVER AND LOWER KLAMATH LAKE.-METAMORPHIC FORM OF THESE MARLS RESEMBLING JASPER.-GEOLOGY
OF THE SHORES OF KLAMATH LAKE. BASALTIC CONGLOMERATE ON KLAMATH RIVER.INFUSORIAL MARLS.-POMICE.-TRAP RANGES
SOUTH AND EAST OF KLAMATH MARSH.-PUMICE PLAIN BETWEEN KLAMATH MARSH AND THE DES CHUTES RIVER.
O
C
LOWER BASIN OF PIT RIVER.
FROM the summit of the conical mountain, which I have mentioned as overlooking the
entrance to the lower cañon of Pit river, we for the first time looked down into one of the
series of areas which give character to the immense region which has been denominated the
Great Basin. This conical mountain formed a portion of a subordinate axis of the range we
had crossed, and of which Lassen's butte forms the most elevated point. This range constitutes
the western wall of the first of the basins of Pit river, and runs off with a northwesterly trend
in the direction of Mount Shasta, which was plainly visible from the point where we stood.
In the east rose from this plain another wall, similar to that which I have described, and
having nearly the same trend. Toward the south, these two ranges coalesced, and were lost in
the peaks composing the Sierra Nevada. On the north low ranges of mountains bounded the
horizon, but the exact limits of this plain, in that direction, could not be determined. Its
surface seemed as level as water, and, but that it was covered with grass, it had every appear-
ance of a large lake, enclosed on every side by bold and rocky shores. The only exit from this
wide area, as proved by its drainage, is through the deep chasm which Pit river has formed in
its western wall.
It required no stretch of the imagination to see that, at a comparatively recent period, this
basin had been what it now so much resein bled, a lake, whose waters had gradually been with-
drawn through the deepening channel of its present draining stream. As we descended to the
plain, our conjectures of its history were confirmed by its geological structure. Its surface,
which is nearly level, is everywhere underlaid by a series of fine infusorial marls, similar to
that which occurs in the cañon of Pit river. These marls are apparently horizontally stratified,
and as the channels of the streams which cross the plain have cut them to a depth of but a few
feet, it was impossible to determine their thickness. Exposed at various points, they exhibited
great uniformity of color and texture, being pure white or light brown, and all of them con-
taining, in large quantities, the remains of fresh water Diatomaceæ. In the examination of the
structure of this basin, many points of analogy with that of the Sacramento valley suggested
themselves. It has the same elongated form, is bounded by similar parallel mountain ranges,
having nearly the same trend. It is drained by streams which unite in the same way to force a
GEOLOGY- PIT RIVER VALLEY.
35
passage through its eastern wall. The sediments deposited by its waters, which form the
surface over which we passed, though for the most part undisturbed, and nowhere exhibiting
the rearrangement which marks most of the sediments of the Sacramento valley, closely
ata of fine infusorial marls which are found in various parts - of that valley,
and which seems at one time to have stretched over a large portion of its surface.
re
RANGE FORMING UPPER CAÑON OF PIT RIVER.
The geological structure of this range presents a striking similarity to that which connects
Lassen's butte and Mount Shasta. The dark vesicular trap, which forms the lower cañon of
Pit river, here reappears, and almost without exception or variation forms the mass of the range
where we crossed it. Through this barrier Pit river has forced its way in a narrow and some-
what tortuous cañon, of which the perpendicular walls present sections frequently several
hundred feet in height. The surface rock on the north side is everywhere the dark vesicular
trap to which I have referred, and of which the exposed surface in many places retains the form
and appearance which it had when in a melted state. It is often bare ; at other times covered
with a thin soil, which has been formed by its decomposition. It presents very few level
surfaces ; is covered with a thin growth of coarse grasses, with here and there a dwarfed tree
of the western cedar. On the south side of the cañon the rock is generally similar in character,
but near the middle of the range I noticed a mass of red and apparently recent scoria.
SECOND BASIN OF PIT RIVER.
OV
Descending the eastern side of the range of which I have been speaking, we came down on
to a second plain, similar in all respects to that which lies westward of it. It has nearly the
same breadth, about twenty miles ; its longest diameter being parallel to the mountain range
which borders it, its limits north and south not being visible from any point of our route.
Like the lower basin, it is very nearly level, and lies at an average altitude of a little over 4,000
feet, being 800 feet higher than the one we previously crossed. The drainage of this plain is,
apparently, less perfect than that of the lower one; it is more moist; covered with a deeper
soil, sustaining a more vigorous growth of green grasses; and, from the number of fluviatile
shells strewed over its surface, is evidently at some seasons overflowed. We had little oppor-
tunity of examining the structure of this plain, but it is apparently generally underlaid by
infusorial marls similar to those already described. In the vicinity of the hills which border it
on the east these marls appear in various localities, considerably elevated above its level, and
have, apparently, been subject to some disturbance since their deposition. The most common
form which they here present is precisely like that which occurs in the lower cañon of Pit river,
being as fine and white as chalk, and like that abounding in the remains of fresh water infu-
soria, Associated with this are strata of soft green sandstone, which occurs in thin beds inter-
stratified with the last.
The hills of which I have spoken, as forming the eastern limit of this plain, scarcely deserve
the name of mountains, and in the imperfect examination I was able to give them I was unable
to detect the course of the lines of upheaval by which they had been formed. They exhibit
considerable variety in the rocks which compose them, which are, however, all erupted or highly
metamorphic. A dark compact basalt, greenstone, and porphyry are all present, and among the
boulders found in the bed of Pit river, apparently derived from these hills at a higher point
in its course, I found jasper, agates, quartz, granite, porphyry, and obsidian. The hills which
.
36
GEOLOGY-PIT RIVER VALLEY-KLAMATII BASINS.
.
we crossed immediately after leaving Pit river, on our route to Klamath lakes, are composed of
a blue, hard, highly metamorphosed silicious slate. A few miles further north occurs a
beautiful variety of porphyry, of which the ground work is chocolate color, the crystals of
felspar, white, and of large size. In a greenstone dyke, near the same locality, I found small
quantities of green carbonate of copper. The plutonic rocks exposed on Pit river, where we
left it, are apparently older than the floods of lava-like trap which have covered so much of the
country traversed before reaching that point. Here, rather than anywhere else on the line of our
route to the Columbia, I should expect to find veins of quartz and talcose slates, which are so
frequently the repositories of gold. From the rolled fragments brought down by Pit river, as
well as from specimens brought in by our hunters, who followed the river to a higher point than
where we left it, it is evident that there exists in this vicinity a protrusion of granite, and
associated with it, the porphyries, quartz, greenstone, &c., of which I have spoken.
Beyond this range of hills Pit river traverses, and rises in, a region which, over a large area,
exhibits precisely the same features as that through which we have followed it.
Lieutenant Williamson, while connected with an exploring party which visited this vicinity
some years since, followed up Pit river to its source, and traversed the plain in which Guose
lake is situated. from his detailed and clear description of the country I learn that the white,
chalk-like marls, which form so marked a feature of the geology of the lower plains of Pit river,
recur at various points near its source above, as below, in lake-like plains, which are separated
by walls of volcanic rock. The plain about Goose lake is of the same general character with
those we have passed over Pit river takes its rise in a series of hot spring, which, in their
character and surroundings, apparently resemble those of the Des Chutes Basin, to which I
shall soon have occasion to refer.
From a gentleman whom I had the pleasure of meeting at Fort Reading, and who had
recently passed over the country lying between Fort Hall and Goose lake, I obtained valuable
information, and specimens illustrative of the geology of his route. From these it is evident
that the geological structure of the region bordering lower Pit river affords a complete illustra-
tion of that of a large portion of country lying east of it.
KLAMATH BASINS.
Like the plains of Pit river the several areas, in which are set Wright, Rhett, and the
Klamath lakes, exhibit the typical features of the structure of the entire region with which they
are inseparably connected, and which, with very imperfect notions of its character, has been
denominated the Great Basin. This immense area, cut in various directions by ranges of low
mountains and hills, has, by this and other causes, been divided into many subordinate districts,
each of which, possessing some characters peculiar to itself, has, also, many features which are
common to all. They all form portions of the same great plateau to which allusion has already
been made, and which exhibits everywhere a remarkable unity of geological structure, of
climate, and in its flora and fauna.
Of the many secondary basins which go to make up this area, those which lie nearest the
base of the mountain wall, on the west, receive a larger share of the rain precipitated upon it
than those which are more remote. As a consequence, the supply of water received through
the year is greater than the annual evaporation, and this excess flows off in the streams which
lead from them. At a period not very remote in the history of our continent, the amount of
water falling into the Klamath and Pit river basins was, probably, much greater than now,
GEOLOGY-KLAMATH BASINS.
37
CD
and coverd, to a considerable depth, surfaces which are now exposed. The streams which flowed
from these areas had greater volume, and flowed from a higher level than at present. To this
cause we may attribute the deep channels which they have cut*through the resistant material of
the mountain barriers which opposed their progress to the ocean.
In all their general features, the basins of the Klamath lakes closely copy those of upper
Pit river. They form elongated troughs, lying between nearly parallel mountain ranges, of
which that on the west is broken through by Klamath river, which reaches the ocean through
a cañon as deeply cut as that of Pit river. The bottom of this trough is covered--to how great
a depth we do not know—by a series of stratified deposits, altogether similar to those which
I have described. The drainage of this basin has, however, been less complete than that of
the Sacramento and upper Pit river, and large portions of its surface are still occupied by
bodies of water.
ari
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
The geology of the interval between Pit river, at the point where we left it, and Wright lake,
is exceedingly monotonous. Four or five miles north of Pit river we lost all traces of the older
volcanic rocks, to which I have referred as occurring in that vicinity; and from that point,
northward, for thirty miles we passed over a succession of plateaus of vesicular trap, precisely
like that which occurs so abundantly about Fort Reading, this being apparently the form
which the volcanic material always assumes when poured out in floods of considerable depth on
'to surfaces not covered by water..
Near Wright lake occurs a conical mountain of trap rock, which rises to a height of perhaps
1,500 feet from the plain on which it stands. The south shore of this lake is bordered by a
mountain range of nearly equal altitude, which has here a course nearly east and west;
curving round towards the north, its western extremity terminates in a bold headland on the
shore of Rhett lake, and is connected by a low ridge, with similar hills, lying north of these
lakes. This connecting ridge, forming the barrier between Rhett and Wright lakes, is com-
posed exclusively of trap, and bears on it a conical hill of blood-red scoria, which has
evidently at no distant day formed a volcanic vent.
Rhett lake is bordered on the east and north by cliffs of considerable height, of which the
base is composed of light-colored sandstone, the upper portion of trap. This sandstone, which
is very soft and friable, belongs to the series of infusorial marls of which I have so frequently
spoken.
On the eastern shore of the lake is a conical hill, considerably removed from the cliffs referred
to, but having apparently the same structure. It is composed at base of sandstone, regularly

S
em
az
HILL OF SANDSTONE, CAPPED WITH TRAP, RIJETT LAKE. .
stratified, and nearly horizontal, and is capped with trap. Both the trap and sandstone were
doubtless once connected with the similar strata in the cliffs, now nearly half a mile removed.
We have here evidence of an amount of erosion which can hardly be attributed to the action of
38
GEOLOGY-KLAMATI BASINS.
any cause now operating, and it is quite certain that the surface of the surrounding country-
like all that which we traversed west of the Cascade mountains—has never been swept by a
drift current. I can only explain it by connecting it with the presence of a much larger
quantity of water in this basin at a former period than is found here now.
In that portion of the Klamath basin through which Lost river flows, the same sandstone is
found interstratified with infusorial marls, which are fine and white. At the "Natural Bridge”
these strata have been thrown up by a fault, and form a dam across the stream, where it is
forded. The sandstone here contains black scoria in rounded masses, frequently as large as an
egg. In this respect, as well as in texture, it resembles a sandstone forming part of the series
of tufaceous maris, described in Chapter I, as occurring on the south shore of the San Pablo
bay. Here, as there, the greater part of the material being undoubtedly of volcanic origin,
consisting of ashes, comminuted pumice, mingled with masses of scoria, all of which have been
thrown into water and stratified by deposition.
I may say, in this connexion, that I obtained from Mt. Hood, in Oregon, volcanic ashes which
had been recently thrown out, which would form precisely similar strata, if similarly treated.
From Lost river, these infusorial marls underlying the surface of a nearly level plain, extend to
and artially surround Lower Klamath lake, reaching as far north as the southern end of Upper
Klamath lake. On the shores of Rhett lake, and several localities on the plain, which I have
mentioned, the surface is covered with a white efflorescence resembling snow. It is doubtless
derived, in a great degree, from the marl beds, which usually contain a notable quantity of
soluble salts. Specimens of this efflorescence was remitted to Dr. J. D. Easter for analysis,
upon which he has rendered the following report:
"A white saline efflorescence from Rhett lake, Oregon.--The salt, freed by solution from earthy
and vegetable matter, consisted of sulphates of soda and magnesia, with a considerable proportion
of chloride of sodium. A quantitative analysis was begun, but the vessel containing the solu-
tion was broken during my absence from the laboratory, and no more of the salts remained.
The efflorescence is similar to a large number of specimens which I have analyzed from Cali-
fornia and New Mexico."
* Across the south end of Upper Klamath lake a low ridge of trap runs, by which its waters
are considerably raised above the plain surrounding Lower Klamath lake. On the flanks of the
hills which compose this barrier I found the infusorial marls, here highly metamorphosed, some
of the specimens approaching jasper in appearance. The hills bordering the lake near its
southern end are composed of soft pulverulent sandstone, similar to that found on the shore
of Rhett lake, and, like that, composed of thick beds of trap.
The hills bordering Upper Klamath lake are high and bold on either side: on the west,
rising in successive grades until they join the Cascades, here crowned by the lofty and sym-
metrical cone of Mount Pitt; on the east, a succession of trap ranges, having a trend nearly
northwest and southeast, terminate in bold headlands which project into the lake and form its
shore. These ranges rise to an altitude of twelve to fifteen hundred feet, with valleys of corre-
sponding depth. They are composed of dark vesicular trap, in some places scoriaceous. The
most northerly of these interrupted ranges, along the northern base of which Klamath river
flows for several miles, is, in a great degree, composed of volcanic breccia, the enclosed frag-
ments ranging in size from two to six or eight inches in diameter.
At the junction of the east branch of Klamath river with the main stream, for some distance
along the base of the ridge of which I have spoken, a stratum of infusorial marls is exposed,
GEOLOGY-KLAMATH BASINS.
.: 39
11
i
which is white and chalk-like, in all respects resembling that from Pit river and the plains
about Lower Klamath lake. A few miles north of this occurs another volcanic ridge, having
nearly the same trend with those last mentioned, from which it is separated by the nearly
level and, in many places, fertile valley through which Klamath river flows. This ridge is
composed partly of dark, compact trap and partly of white and soft pumice, which, in many
places, covers the surface, and, in its decomposition, gives rise to a peculiarly light and ash-like
soil, upon which nothing seems to flourish but the yellow pine. Through this ridge Klamath
river flows in a cañon, of which the walls are perpendicular and two hundred feet or more in
height.
North of this ridge is another low and level plain, of which the surface is in many places
covered with pumice. Crossing another but lower ridge of similar character, we descend to the
shores of Klamath marsh. This lake occupies an area similar in all respects to those below,
and like them is formed by the crossing of the general trough in which they all lie, of the
transverse trap ranges to which I have alluded. Along the eastern shore these ranges are
very conspicuous, several of them running far out into the lake, and throwing its eastern border
into a series of long points, alternating with deep bays.
The pumice is here as marked a feature in the geology of the district as the trap; covering all
the surfaces, and forming a soil into which the feet of our horses sank so deeply as to render
any departure from the trail which followed the outline of the shore very disagreeable. At the
north end of the lake, a point of metamorphosed slate projects a few feet above the surface, and
forms the only exposure of rock of this character seen within mary miles of that point.
The western shore of this lake is formed by a broad prairie scarcely raised above the water
level, and doubtless at some seasons submerged. It seemed everywhere underlaid by fragments
of pumice, which had apparently been so accurately levelled by the action of the water. This
pumice, when pulverized, forms a substance having a striking resemblance to the marls to which
I have so often referred, and, aside from the organic structures which they contain, they have
doubtless been formed of similar materials.
The interval separating Klamath lake from the head-waters of the Des Chutes river forms
a nearly level plain, covered everywhere with pulverized pumice, and supporting a meagre
growth of yellow and spruce pine. Both east and west, ranges of hills are visible from the
route which we followed, and at various points masses of black basalt project above the general
surface. From the porous nature of the soil, the streams which come down from the mountains
at the west are soon absorbed, and we were only enabled to obtain water by digging, at a single
point on our journey. At this point, the water seems to have been brought to the surface by a
dyke of trap rock which impedes its subterranean flow from the west.
A precisely similar surface borders the south fork of the Des Chutes to its junction with the
main stream which comes down from the Cascade mountains. On the banks of this latter stream
are exposed, in various localities, strata of white, chalk-like marls, and light brown, green, and
friable sandstone, in all respects identical with those of Pit river and Klamath basins.
AT
UU
CHAPTER V
GEOLOGY OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS. SIERRA NEVADA AND CASCADE MOUNTAINS.--A WALL CROWNING THE WESTERN MARGIN
OF THE GREAT CENTRAL PLATEAU.-STRUCTURE AND ORIGIN OF THE CASCADE RANGE — MAIN CREST NEAR ITS EASTERN MARGIN A LINE
OF VOLCANIC PEAKS.—MORE WESTERLY MOUNTAINS, METAMORPHIC SLATES.- LOCAL GEOLOGY.-CRATER PASS —EVIDENCES OF
GLACIAL ACTION.--GLACIERS ONCE DESCENDED FAR BELOW THE PRESENT SNOW LINE.-EXTENT OF GLACIERS IN THE CASCADES.---
CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THEY MUST HAVE BEEN FORMED.-BY ELEVATION OR CHANGE OF CLIMATE ?—EVIDENCES OF ELEVATION.-
SUB-AERIAL EXCAVATIONS OF MOUTHS OF RIVER3.--DEPRESSION OF TEMPERATURE WOULD PRODUCE GREATER PRECIPITATION OF
MOISTURE.--STREAMS FLOWING FROM THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS FORMERLY LARGER THAN NOW.—CAÑONS OF THESE STREAMS NOT
RIFTS BUT EXCAVATIONS.
AFTER reaching the head-waters of the Des Chutes river, we ascended the main fork of that
stream to its source, in the Cascade mountains, spending a month crossing and recrossing the
main crest, latitude 44° north, in the vicinity of the Three Sisters. The mountains which have
S
visible from the Willamette valley, and have been known to the residents. The altitude of the
loftiest of the group is about 10,000 or 11,000 feet above the level of the sea, the line of
perpetual snow being 7,000 feet. This group of mountains marks an angle or joint, it I may
use the expression, in the Cascade range. Standing on the summits of the passes between them,
we saw the main crest of the range crowned by several peaks of considerable altitude, but
particularly marked by the lofty and snow covered cones of Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood,
trending away nearly due north. Looking southward, we saw the belt of the Cascade moun-
tains, so broad above, narrowed in its limits, trending southwest by south, marked by no
conspicuous peak, and yet continuous to the point where the sharp, snow covered cone and
broad base of Mount Pitt bounds the horizon in that direction. There, another joint marks a
deflexion of the chain to the south, a course which it holds till lost in the huge mass of Mount
Shasta ; there again deflected to the eastward, to be again turned south at Lassen's butte. This
mountain system seems like some grand fortification, as though Nature, when the broad plateau,
which reaches inland from its base, was redeemed from the sea, had built along its western
margin a wall of such altitude as should forever bid defiance to the waves, and at all the
salient or re-entering angles had planted towers which should strengthen and command the
whole.
Looking north from the Three Sisters, and viewing the Cascade mountains in profile, we saw
that the axis of the range was set nearest to its eastern border, and that the descent from this
crest to the plateau which forms its base in that direction was made by few and steep declivities;
while toward the west stretched a broad belt of mountains which gradually diminished in alti-
tude, and, as we subsequently learned, more than fifty miles distant, were lost in the foot hills
which border the Willamette valley.
This section seemed to afford us some clue to the manner in which this range had been formed.
The series of principal peaks marks the line of fracture in the earth's crust, along which the
greatest exhibition of volcanic forces would naturally be displayed. Toward the east, the great

GEOLOGY – PLATE I.
so
U.S.P.RR.EXP. & SURVEYS – CAL. & OREGON
98
WESTERN SLOPE OF MAIN RIDGE OF CASCADE MOUNTAINS FROM NEAR CAMP M.
GEOLOGY-EVIDENCES OF GLACIAL UR
ACTION.
plateau preserves its general horizontality, only broken by subordinate hills and mountains,
which mark the cracks and fissures formed in the convulsions by which it has been shaken.
Toward the west the rocky strata, with many fractures, bent down toward the depression of
the ocean's bed, by their broken and upturned edges, had formed the succession of mountain
peaks which constitute the great breadth of the chain. The nature of the rock exposed at the
various points which we visited seemed to lead to the same conclusion. The line of fracture is
marked by a series of volcanic peaks—many of them of great altitude-of which the fires are
not yet wholly extinguished ; their sides being covered by an immense accumulation of volcanic
material, of which the greater part seems as fresh as if thrown out but yesterday. The streams
of lava which have poured down their sides now stand bare, black, and ragged, scarcely a
lichen even as yet having found a foothold on them. Toward the west the mountain masses
are composed of highly metamorphosed slates, set on their edges and inclined at every possible
angle.
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
As we ascended the Des Chutes river we soon left behind us the pumice plains and the strati-
fied marls which line its banks, and at an altitude of 4,500 feet entered a region south of the
Three Sisters, abounding in lakes, mountain meadows green and fresh, and forests of fir and
pine, of different species from those occupying the plain below. The soil in many places was
fertile, the scenery as picturesque as can be found in any part of the world. The only rock
exposed being a dark vesicular trap, or a nearly black compact basalt.
Ascending to a pass between the snow mountains in the group I have mentioned, we passed
over a surface covered with comparatively recent volcanic material, heaped up in the greatest
confusion. This we traced to its origin in a crater, half a mile in diameter, which lies between
two of these snow mountains, which form portions of its once continuous enclosing walls. The
southern rim of this crater has an altitude of 6,500 feet; the northern rim being two or three
hundred feet higher. The eruption, of which we saw such evident traces, seems to have taken
place from the southern side of the mountain, the crater being here opened by a deep fissure,
through which a stream flows from the lakes occupying its centre. The walls of the mountain
which border the crater are formed of black lava or blood red scoria, and immense piles of pumice
and obsidian, fresh and bare, mark the recent date of its activity.
O
EVIDENCES OF GLACIAL ACTION.
The north wall of this crater is composed of black porphyry, which is very compact, and
apparently older than most of the trap and lava which we saw in the vicinity. This rock,
though intensely hard and very homogeneous, everywhere bore the marks of the action of some
powerful agent. It was planed down to a smooth and even surface, or scored into deep grooves
or furrows, which were sometimes continuous for rods. These grooves ran down the north-
east slope of the mountain, were confined to the outside of the crater, and seemed to radiate
from a point over its crater. On a subsequent occasion, descending the mountain toward the
southwest, we traced these grooves for several miles to a point two thousand feet below the line
of perpetual snow. On this slope the marks of glacial action were much more conspicuous than
at Crater pass. All the projecting points and ridges of the older trap rock were worn down,
smoothed off, and cut by deep furrows, which now pointed northeast toward the centre of the
mountain mass formed by the Three Sisters.
6 Y
42
GEOLOGY-ORIGIN OF CAÑONS.
Still later, having crossed the main ridge north of the Three Sisters, we noticed the same
phenomena extending down to the altitude of 4,459 feet, where thøy terminated in a deep
cañon, through which a stream flowed into the Willamette valley. This cañon led down from
Mount Jefferson, and was joined by another, which came from the Three Sisters. At their
point of junction they had a depth of more than a thousand feet. Here, as before, the furrows
in the rock pointed to the Three Sisters, bearing from us a little south of east.

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6
TRAP-LEDGES, EXHIBITING MARKS OF GLACIAL ACTION.
We had evidence in these scratched and furrowed rocks of the former existence in these
mountains of glaciers, which extended down at least 2,500 feet below the present line of per-
petual snow. I suspect, indeed, that they descended much lower, and that they filled the
-cañons of which I have spoken, which, in the regularity of their outline, and the accurate slopes
of their sides seem to have been formed by some such cause. The area over which these marks
of glacical action extend is probably very large, including the slopes of the Three Sisters,
Mount Jefferson, and all the line of peaks which mark the crest of the chain. And there is
little doubt that all this surface was once covered, not simply by lines of ice following the valleys,
but by a continuous sheet which, on the west, reached down to the base of the next and lower
line of mountains, and that the sides and summits of these subordinate peaks, rising high
above the lowest point where I noticed the grooves and scratches, were also capped and covered
by masses of ice. These glacial grooves do not seem to have attracted the attention of those
who have crossed the Cascade Range further north; but we can hardly suppose that while
here the evidences remain of glaciers, so wide, and extending to so low a level, that they could
have been produced by the operation of local causes; or that upon more careful examination
the traces of their former existence will not be found on the flanks of Mount Hood, the loftiest
peak in the chain, of Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams north of the Columbia, and of the
many other lower but still elevated summits.
Origin of cañons. The indications of the existence, in former times, of glaciers extending
over large surfaces in the Cascade inountains is closely connected with the formation of the
deep cañons, through which the streams which drain these mountains and the plateau of the
“Great Basin" beyond uniformly flow. I think we have evidence in the magnitude of the
excavation--often in the most resistant material—as compared with their present volume, that
the amount of precipitation which formerly supplied them was much greater than now.
The Golden Gate, the Straits of Carquines, the cañon of Pit river-which, following its
tortuous course is, for nearly a hundred miles, cut through a succession of walls of volcanic
rock—the many cañons of Klamath river, those of the Des Chutes and its tributaries—to which
. I shall soon have occasion to refer--and the gorge of the Columbia, the most stupendous of all,
1
GEOLOGY-CAUSE AND EFFECT OF LOW TEMPERATURE.
Il
holding, as they do, such peculiar and constant relation to the areas which are drained through
them, cannot possibly be regarded as rifts formed by volcanic action in the barriers which they
traverse. The conclusion seems irresistible that they have been formed principally, if not
entirely, by currents of water, of which the present streams are representatives.
Another of the deeply graven records from which we are attempting to deduce the ancient
history of the western coast is found in the great depth of the channels by which these streams
terminate in the Pacific. The deep and narrow fiords which mark the northern portion of the
western coast, of which those opposite the island of Vancouver, on the coast of Washington
Territory, are good examples, have been described by Professor Dana, in his Geology of the
Exploring Expedition. The mouth of the Columbia exhibits similar features. For a hundred
miles it forms an arm of the sea of great and uniform depth.
The channel of the Golden Gate has a maximum depth of nearly fifty fathoms, being greatest
immediately in the line of the axis of the chain through which it is cut, while the bar without
and the bay within are silted up to within less than ten fathoms of the surface.
The Straits of Carquines have a maximum depth of eighteen fathoms, and in the line of the
range which bounds them an average depth of fourteen.
It is evident that glaciers could now be formed in the Cascade mountains only by a great
depression of temperature, and it is perhaps doubtful whether glaciers would now form to the
extent indicated by the traces of their former existence, which has been described, even with a
depression of temperature so low as to precipitate and congeal all the vapor which floats above
them. Without, however, raising that question, we may be at least certain that with the former
existence of glaciers in the Cascades, the average temperature was much lower than at present.
This must have been dependent upon one of two causes : either a great and radical difference in
the climate of the coast without a change of elevation, or, the climate remaining the same, by
the elevation of the coast to a general altitude several thousand feet higher than at present.
Of the condition required by the first of these hypotheses we have no other evidence than that
of the glaciers themselves, while of the former elevation of the coast, in the sub-ærial excavation
of the fiords at the north in the deep channel of the Columbia, and, as it seems to me, in that
of the Golden Gate, we have cumulative and conclusive proof. The effect of such an elevation
as would be required to cover the slopes and valleys of the Cascades with glaciers, would be
exhibited in various ways. The amount of moisture precipitated upon the sides of these moun-
tains would then be much greater than now. Instead of presenting isolated peaks rising above
the line of congelation, they would form an unbroken wall, of which the summit, white
with perpetual frost, would rob of all its moisture the wind, then as now, blowing over it from
the Pacific. This precipitation, though greatest on the western slopes, and forming by its con-
gelation sheets of ice which would reach far down its sides, crowding themselves into the
angular valleys which now lead toward the Pacific, would also extend its influence to the eastern
slope, fill many of its basins, now dry, with water, give greater volume and efficiency to the.
streams, and enable them to score so deeply the surfaces of the plateau, and force mountain
barriers to reach the ocean, cutting deep channels in its shores where we now find them.
Ꮯ Ꮋ Ꭺ Ꮲ Ꭲ Ꭼ Ꭱ VI .
GEOLOGY OF THE DES CHUTES BASIN.
COMPOUND NATURE OF THIS BASIN.--ITS SUBDIVISIONS SIMILAR IN STRUCTURE TO THOSE OF PIT AND KLAMATH RIVERS.--TRAP PLATEAUS.-
VOLCANIC TUFAS AND INFUSORIAL MARLS.LOCAL GEOLOGY.-PLATEAU EAST OF THREE SISTERS.-CAÑON OF MPTO LY-AS RIVER.
MOUNT JEFFERSON.-CONCEALED LAVA STREAM.-CASTLE ROCK-COLUMNS OF BASALTIC CONGLOMERATE CAPPED WITH BLOCKS OF
TRAP.--TUFACEOUS STRATA OF MPTO-LY-AS RIVER.—CAÑON OF PSUC-SEE-QUE CREEK - PICTURESQUE APPEARANCE OF THE COLORED
TUFAS AND CONCRETE TRUNKS OF CONIFEROUS TREES IMBEDDED IN TUFA.---COLUMNAR TRAP COVERING THE TUFAS.-WAMCHUCK
RIVER.—Hot SPRINGS.---GELATINOUS SILICA.--METAMORPHOSED TUFAS.—Onyx.—OPAL --AGATE.—SILICIFIED WOOD-WAM CHUCK
MOUNTAINS.-METAMORPHIC SLATES -QUARTZ AND CHALCEDONY - NEE-NEE SPRING.-METAMORPHOSED MARLS.-RIBBAND JASPER.--
PLATEAU OF TYSCH PRAIRIE.—TYSCH MOUNTAINS.—VIEW OF MOUNT HOOD.--CAÑON OF DES CHUTES RIVER.—MOUNDS.---Hills OF
INFUSORIAL MARL SOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA.
11
ALTHOUGH for convenience it may be desirable to group, under the name of the Des Chutes
basin, the several distinct areas which are drained by the waters of the Des Chutes river, it
should be stated that no such surface exists as would be indicated by its unqualified use. The
several divisions which it must include have only in common their geological structure which,
in all its essential particulars, they also share with the Klamath and Pit river basins. But
while differing little in kind from that of the areas I have mentioned, the geology of the Des
Chutes basin exhibits some striking features in the scale on which it is developed. Lying near
the base of the chain of great volcanic cones which forms the axis of the Cascade range, immense
quantities of erupted material have been thrown over it, which contrast strongly with the modest
trap ridges, pumice plains, and fine chalk-like marls of the Klamath basin.
The Des Chutes basin consists of a series of plateaus, having varying elevations from 4,000
to 2,200 feet above the level of the sea, and being separated by subordinate ranges of volcanic
mountains, of so low an elevation as scarcely to be noticed when overlooking the general surface
from the Cascade mountains. These plateaus are usually covered by a floor of trap, which
extends in-a smooth sheet from fifty to a hundred and fifty feet in thickness, unbroken, except
where crowning the slopes of the profound cañons of the streams which traverse them. These
layers of trap are frequently columnar, the columns being perpendicular. Below this stratum
we find a series of volcanic marls, tufas, and conglomerates, locally intercalated with which are
thin beds of trap.
These tufaceous strata are, in many places, cut by the Des Chutes and its tributaries to the
depth of more than a thousand feet without exposing the basis on which they rest. They are
usually quite horizontal, from a few lines to twenty feet in thickness, and very accurately
stratified. They exhibit great variety of color and texture, some being very fine and chalk-
like, in all respects similar to those of Klamath and Pit river basins, while othe
posed of fragments of pumice, volcanic sand, and a firmly cemented conglomerate of trap,
pumice, scoria, and other erupted rocks. Some are pure white, others pink, orange, blue,
brown, or green. The sections made by their exposures have a picturesque and peculiar
appearance, of which some idea may be formed from the geological diagrams used in the lecture
room,
GEOLOGY-CAÑON OF MPTO-LY-AS RIVER.
45
ny
The subordinate mountain ranges which divide the Des Chutes basin are usually low, having
an altitude rarely greater than 1,000 feet above the level of the plateaus which border them.
They are composed of trap or metamorphic slate, sometimes forming groups or clusters of
conical hills ; at other times continuous chains, of which the trends do not harmonize with each
other, nor with those of the mountain systems which border either side of the great area in
which they are situated.
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
C
The plateau forming the eastern base of the group of mountains, of which the Three Sisters are
the most prominent peaks, has a nearly uniform altitude of about 4,000 feet, and extends from
the base of the Cascades thirty miles eastward, with no considerable interruption. It is here
everywhere covered by a thick layer of trap, which is cut through only by the cañon of the
Des Chutes, which we did not visit, but of which the dark and perpendicular walls were visible
from the summit of the Cascades. Near our depot camp, on Why-chus creek, a rounded hill
rises some three hundred feet above this plain, composed of trap, or red and frothy scoria. This
hill has the appearance of having been formed by an eruption from below, subsequent to the
consolidation of the plain on which it stands. A few miles northwest from this point a detached
mountain rises from the plain, more accurately conical in outline than any other I have seen.
It is wooded to the summit, though exhibiting many bare surfaces composed of scoria. There
can hardly be a question that this is one of the lateral vents of the great volcanic chain which
passes but few miles to the westward of it.
East of this conical mountain we crossed a succession of ridges of trap, evidently formed by
streams of lava poured down from the Cascade range. Approaching Mount Jefferson, we one
morning found our progress suddenly arrested by a cañon 1,950 feet in depth. The southern
wall on which we stood was composed of metamorphic slate, dark gray in color, silicious and
somewhat crystalline in structure. The opposite side of the cañon was formed by the slope of
Mount Jefferson, which rose, almost unbroken, to its summit, far above the line of perpetual
snow. On the side of Mount Jefferson was plainly discernible a stream of black and ragged
lava, which, issuing from a point near the snow line and following the course of a mountain
torrent, had descended nearly to the Mpto-ly-as river. Picking our way down the wall of the
cañon which I have described, we found all parts above the talus which covered its base,
composed of the same metamorphic slate, very homogeneous in texture, and nowhere exhibiting
any intruded minerals. This slate was inclined at a high angle, dipping toward the southeast.
From this point we followed down the Mpto-ly-as river, for nearly twenty miles, along the
immediate banks of the stream. The walls of the cañon on either side continued as high as
where we struck it till we emerged from the hills which form the eastern base of Mount Jeffer-
son, and came upon the plateau of the Des Chutes. This cañon, where cut through the
hills, exposes nothing but volcanic rock, generally dark, vesicular trap, with sometimes vol-
canic conglomerate. In some places where this last formed the north wall of the cañon, the
fragments which it included were of large size, cemented by a tufaceous base which was readily
eroded by the action of the weather. The portions of this material which here underlie these
larger masses of inclosed trap were protected by them from the erosion which wore away the
surrounding rock, and they were left perched on pinnacles sometimes twenty or thirty feet
in height, and having a less diameter at the summit than the rock which they sustain.
The cañon, as far as we followed it, seemed to be of uniform character, precipitous walls rising
46
GEOLOGY-VOLCANIC TUFAS. AND INFUSORIAL MARLS.
on either side from the immediate vicinity of the stream which flowed at the bottom. It had
every appearance of having been excavated from the solid rock which forms its sides. The
stream which flows through it is thirty yards in width, three or four feet deep, and very rapid.
It is formed by the drainage of Mount Jefferson and the Three Sisters.

CONGLOMERATE COLUMN, MPTO-LY-AS RIVER.
At the point where we left the cañon of Mpto-ly-as river a marked change occurred in the
character of the material composing its walls. The precipices, composed of trap and volcanic
conglomerate, which with a height of nearly 2,000 feet had enclosed it for twenty miles, were here
succeeded by strata of tufas, which formed walls of perhaps 1,200 feet in height, capped by a
thick layer of columnar trap. These tufas were nearly horizontally stratified; exhibiting all the
varieties which I have described ; the different strata varying in thickness from a few inches to
twenty feet.
Some of the finer varieties are highly infusorial. The forms which they contain have since
been examined by Professor Bailey, who pronounces them indicative of a fresh water origin.
We here ascended to the north wall of the cañon, travelling over the plateau to the banks of
Psuc-see-que creek, another tributary of the Des Chutes, flowing down from Mount Jefferson.
Here we found a similar series of tufas apparently quite undisturbed, their strata horizontal
and continuous.
Mingled with these tufas, at this point, are many strata of conglomerate, of which the base
resembles closely Roman cement; the inclosed pebbles, usually of small size, and of all varieties
of volcanic rock. These beds of concrete being harder than the associated strata, have, in the
erosion of the cañon, formed successive steps, frequently thirty or forty feet in width. The
detached fragments of these layers of concrete cover and protect pinnacles of the softer stratum
GEOLOGY-VOLCANIC TUFAS OF PSUC-SEE-QUE CREEK.
47
· below; a single column often being formed of several successive differently colored layers ;
the prevailing colors being pink, white, orange, blue, gray, and lilac, and these colors
frequently strongly contrasted, producing a very peculiar and pleasing effect.

2
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No. 1, columnar trap.
Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22,-24, soft tufus,
and infusorial marls.
Nos. 3, 7, 13, 17, 21, 23, harder tufas.
Nos. 5, 8, 15, 19, concrete.
No. 11, trap.
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SECTION OF BANK OF P&UC-SEE-QUE CREEK.
Near the base of the series was a stratum of three feet in thickness, composed for the most
part of brilliant white felapathic pumice, so soft as to be easily crumbled in the fingers. This
pumice was in somewhat rounded masses, averaging less than an inch in diameter, and

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Concrete, gray.
COLORED TUFAS, PSUC-SEE-QUE CREEK.
cemented by a fine lilac colored clay. The general aspect of this layer was that of marbled
paper, the spots being pure white and the interstices lilac. A line of dark carbonaceous matter,
less than a quarter of an inch in thickness, marked the line of separation between this stratum
and another of nearly the same thickness, which was blue in color, having the texture of soft
pulverulent coarsish sandstone. The under surface of this layer was pierced in every direction by
holes as large as straws, left by the decaying branches of some small plant which had apparently
grown from the carbonaceous surface below. The appearance presented by these impressions of
48
GEOLOGY-CONIFEROUS TREES IN VOLCANIC TUFA.
plants led me to suppose that during the interval between the deposition of the lower and
upper of these layers a growth of vegetation had covered the lower stratum, which became
enveloped in the sediment which formed the upper. The specimens which I obtained of these
vegetable impressions did not permit me to determine the class to which they belonged. The
branches are opposite and alternate, and the plant must have somewhat resembled the salicornia
which now grows on our salt marshes. It is possible, too, that these stems of plants may have
been transported and deposited at the bottom of the water; but the regularity of their arrange-
ment, and the carbonaceous matter below, indicated to my mind that they had grown where
they were found.
Two or three hundred feet higher up in this series I found the trunks of large coniferous
trees, and stems and roots of small plants imbedded in strata somewhat similar to those which
I have described ; but in these cases the vegetable matter had not been fossilized, and resembled
decayed wood; the appearance of the trunk set with branches, of which the extremities were
broken off, the roots still attached, gave the impression that they had not been transported to
any great distance from where they grew. In general form and mode of branching they closely
resembled the trees of cedar now growing scattered over the declivities of the cañon.
The succession from the bottom of the cañon to the general level of the plateau, together
with these, includes a layer of trap, which forms a horizontal stratum twenty or thirty feet in
thickness, occupying a place nearer the top than the bottom of the section.


wa
Siste
os
LA SHULE YA BETALER
M
WITH
NORTH BANK OF PSUC-SEE-QUE CREEK.
On the banks of Mpto-ly-as river, in one locality, was a succession of seven of these layers of
trap, as perfectly as the materials with which they were associated, and on the slope of the
GEOLOGY-HOT SPRINGS--METAMORPHOSED TUFAS.
49.
1
cañon exhibiting the typical form of trap stairs. Crossing to Chit-tike creek, the same formation
reappears, apparently undisturbed ; the cañons of several confluent streams flowing from Mount
Jefferson having here cut the plateau into a series of narrow ridges, perhaps a thousand feet in
height, crowned with a layer of trap, which closely resembles a wall of artificial masonry, built
on an immense artificial embankment.
The east wall of the cañon of the Des Chutes river at this point consists of a layer of trap a
hundred feet in thickness, composed of perpendicular columns, from the base of which it slopes
away to the water's edge. The course of the stream, marked with geometrical precision by the
lines and angles of the stratum of trap stretching off for many miles in perspective, vividly re-
called the cyclopean architecture which gives so impressive a character to Martin's paintings.
On going over to the valley of Wam Chuck river, still another tributary of the Des Chutes
from the Cascades, we found a marked change had taken place in the stratified tufas, which are
so characteristic of the geology of all this region.
Hot Springs.—At different points along the valley of Wam Chuck river, hot springs issue
from the base of the cliffs which bound it. The number of these springs is large, and two or
three of them are quite copious. They issue from fissures in the rock, the water flowing from
them collecting in basins of several feet in diameter, thence flowing into the Wam Chuck river,
and giving it its name. The temperature of two of these springs was respectively 143° and
1459. The water holds large quantities of silica in solution, but has a bland and pleasant
taste, and, when cooled and drank, has, apparently, no medicinal effect. The quantity of silica
is, however, very large; the basins in which the water collects containing floating masses of
gelatinous silica, of which the surfaces are tinged with a green color, which I have supposed
was derived from silicate of iron. The sides of these basins, and of the streams flowing from
with a white frothy silicious deposit, which also invests whatever stones,
sticks, or other foreign substances project from the surface of the water.
Metamorphosed Tufas.--The cliffs which border Wam Chuck river, in the vicinity of the
warm springs, are apparently composed of the same or a similar series of volcanic tufas and
marls with those described as forming the banks of Mpto-ly-as river, Psuc-see-que and Chit-tike
creeks, but here so changed as hardly to be recognized at first sight. They are traversed by a
thousand cracks and fissures, from which the steam or water of the hot springs emanate, by
which the aspect of the rock has been made to resemble that of serpentine or some light colored
volcanic or metamorphic rock which has suffered complete fusion. Upon closer examination,
however, many of the varieties of tufaceous rock exposed in the localities referred to above may
be here recognized, but presenting such changes of physical character and composition as would
deceive the most practised observer, until he had obtained a series which exhibited all the
successive grades of metamorphosis. The white, chalk-like, infusorial marls are, by the action
of these hot silicious springs, first rendered harder and more dense without marked change of
color, subsequently becoming still more consolidated; the extreme form of metamorphism of
this variety being a jasper, colored red or green by the silicate or oxide of iron, closely resem-
bling the porcelain jaspers of Germany.
The coarser tufas, such as that described as occuring on Psuc-see-que creek, composed of lumps
of fine felspathic pumice, resembling kaolin, cemented by a fine sediment, exhibit more dis-
tinct and interesting grades of change. The cement is first consolidated—sometimes remaining
bluish-white, sometimes tinged with green-the balls of cotton-like pumice being scarcely
changed ; second, the cement has become hard and almost crystaline, somewhat resembling
7 Y
50
GEOLOGY-ONYX--OPAL AND AGATE-SILICIFIED WOOD.
01
i
burrstone; the spaces occupied by the pumice being empty, or containing a small flock of light-
reddish matter, the remainder having been dissolved and carried off, or chemically combined.
The cavities which the mineral in this state exhibit are angular, their walls having a radiated
and crystaline structure, apparently produced by an effort of the particles composing them to
assume a spherical form with a radiated arrangement. Not unfrequently a small, hollow, or
solid sphere is formed on all or several of the walls of the cavity. The third stage of meta-
morphosis exhibits these cavities filled with onyx or opal-more rarely with agate-the rock
having assumed a peculiar concretionary structure. The onyx consists of bands of red, white,
green, or translucent silica, forming specimens of great beauty.
These layers would seem to have been deposited parallel with the horizon, as the bands of
color in the onyx, filling different cavities of the same mass, are accurately parallel. In some
cases the cavities are but partially filled, several bands stretching across from side to side, with
open spaces between them.
The opalescent silica exhibited considerable variety, some being milk white and opaque,
apparently retaining a considerable portion of felspathic material which originally filled the
cavity. Other specimens were more transparent, sometimes exhibiting the beautiful reflections
of precious opal. I was able to satisfy myself on the spot, as well as obtain a series of
specimens, which show that all these changes, and those of other varieties, which it is not
necessary to enumerate, followed the action of hot water containing large quantities of silica in
solution upon the porous and permeable structure of tufas and marls.
Metamorphosis so complete, and due to such a cause, would not be without interest, though
limited to small quantities of material. We had here evidences, however, that the metamor-
phosis of these tufas extended over a large area, for we found the same or similar changes
indicated in the stratified deposits at points on our route more than ten miles distant. Where
trap rock had been exposed to the action of these springs, it had, to a great degree, been con-
verted into a blood-red pulverulent earth.
Silicified wood is very abundant in the Hot Spring valley, and has doubtless been mineralized
by the action of the hot silicious water. I suspect it will be found that the profusion of silici-
fied wood, which has been so frequently noticed in different parts of the area lying between the
Cascade range and the Rocky mountains, is traceable to the same cause.
Fossil wood was also given me, collected near the hot springs at the head of Pit river, by a
gentleman whom we saw at Fort Reading, and it is known to abound in those portions of the
area called the Great Basin, in New Mexico and northward, which are most marked by volcanic
phenomena, and by the occurrence of hot springs.
At the Cascades of the Columbia, fossil wood has attracted the attention of every traveller who
has passed. There, too, I think we can connect its occurrence with recent volcanic eruptions.
The thermal springs of the Wam Chuck valley are probably of ancient date, and in their
origin are doubtless connected with the Wam Chuck mountains, about the base of which
they rise.
WAM CHUCK MOUNTAINS.
These mountains form a group of rounded summits, rising abruptly from the plain which
encircles them on the east, west, and south sides. They are composed of metamorphic slates
and trap, exhibiting but little variety of structure or material. They have the appearance of
greater age than many of the volcanic hills and ridges which we have passed—an appearance
GEOLOGY-STRIPED SANDSTONE --TYSCH MOUNTAINS.
51
4t
due to the regularity of their outlines, as well as to the entire absence of recent volcanic rock.
The slates which for the most part compose them are alumino-silicious, very hard and highly
metamorphosed, exhibiting the same general characters with those which form so prominent a
feature in the geology of the Cascade mountains west of its principal axis. They are divided
by deep, narrow ravines, and their slopes are long and steep, generally unbroken by any project-
ing crag or perpendicular wall. The surface of these mountains is in many places strewed
with geodes and crystals of quartz, or masses of chalcedony, which have apparently filled
cavities in the rocks composing them.
At Nee-nee Springs, several miles north of the Wam Chuck valley, stratified tufas-hore
somewhat disturbed and broken-exhibit varieties of metamorphism not before noticed. What
was formerly one of the finer marls is here converted into a kind of fine-grained sandstone,
marked with ribbon-like lines of red and white. These seem to be the lines of deposition, and
indicate a periodical recurrence of the effects produced by two sets of causes. The red lines,
which are perfectly distinct--sometimes not thicker than a sheet of paper; more frequently
combining to form bands a quarter of an inch in width-alternate with lines of white of about the
same width and of somewhat coarser texture. Small masses of scoria are disseminated through
the rock, and over these the lines of deposition are flexed, showing that the different bands
were formed by alternating layers of sediment-the flexures of the lines of deposition over a
foreign body indicating, even in a hand specimen, which was the superior and which the
inferior surface. The general parallelism, and the continuity of the most delicate lines of
color, sbow that these sediments were deposited in tranquil water—the bands of red indicating
the periods of most perfect quiet, when the finer materials, including a larger quantity of iron,
sank to the bottom. I have supposed it possible that the presence of iron in the red bands was
due to infusoria. If this material were carried through the same stages of metamorphosis
as much we have seen, it would form beautiful ribbon jasper. More perfect imitations of the
ribbon jasper of Germany and Egypt were, however, found at the Hot Springs, where a jaspery
rock was marked by bands of red and green.
TYSCH PRAIRIE.
North of the Wam Chuck mountains we came down on to Tysch prairie, which forms
a plateau precisely similar, in all its general features, to those we had previously traversed,
but lying at a lower level, having an altitude of but 2,200 feet above the sea. Mount Hood
rises from its western border, presenting an appearance remarkably imposing and beautiful,
well represented in plate No. IX, illustrating the general report of Lieutenant Abbot. From
the base of the Cascades it stretches eastward for thirty miles or more, forming
plain, cut by the deep cañons of Tysch creek and the Des Chutes. This plain is everywhere
underlaid by a stratum of trap, beneath which is a series of stratified tufas.
TYSCH MOUNTAINS.
The mountains which bound Tysch prairie on the north rise to an altitude of about 2,500 feet
above it. Their outlines are all rounded, and they are composed principally of compact trap,
not of recent date; and of which all the rough and ragged surfaces have been worn away by
the action of the elements.
Like Wam Chuck mountains, rising abruptly from the plateau which surrounds them, they
have a peculiar insular appearance. Like the Wam Chuck mountains, too, their slopes toward
52
JIN
GEOLOGY-MARL HILLS-MOUNDS.
the north are long and gentle—toward the south, short and steep. The view from their sum-
mits is exceedingly picturesque and peculiar. Except on the slopes of the Cascades, no forests
are visible. Lines of trees follow the streams which come down from the mountains far out
into the prairies, and a few pines and cedars crown the summits of the hills lying southward.
With these exceptions, the whole country is covered by a sparse growth of grass, now every-
where dry, tinging the landscape with a universal monotonous brown.
The Cascades, from this point, exhibit a scene of unusual grandeur. Mount Hood, directly
west, rises to a height, variously estimated, at from 15,000 to 18,000 feet; its summit not unfre-
quently enveloped in clouds, and, in a clear atmosphere, giving off steam or smoke. Mount
Jefferson distinctly visible in the west, and Mount Rainier and Mount Adams, snow peaks north
of the Columbia, in the northwest. The cañon of the Des Chutes appears like a deep, dark
gorge, traversing the plateau of which I have spoken.
The region lying between the Tysch mountains and the Columbia is occupied by a series of
rounded grass-covered hills, having an altitude above the valleys which divide them of several
hundred feet; precisely resembling, in appearance, the sandstone hills about Benicia, in Cali-
fornia. They are composed of white, frequently infusorial, marls, belonging to the same series
with those which cover so large a surface in other parts of the Des Chutes basin. Here, as
elsewhere, the infusorial forms which they contain are of fresh water origin. .
Mounds. -Every day while traversing the Des Chutes basin we noticed upon surfaces unoc-
cupied by trees numbers of low and rounded mounds, apparently formed by causes not now in
operation. As we progressed toward the north, they became more numerous and of larger size.
In the vicinity of the Dalles they form a very marked feature in the scenery; in many places
covering the prairies and hillsides so completely that their margins are almost in contact. They
have here an altitude of from three to five feet, and a diameter of from twenty to fifty. Although
I have examined them with great care, I have been unable to arrive at any satisfactory conclu-
sion in respect to their origin. They occupy equally the hillsides and the levels, and exhibit
no traces of stratification, nor is there anything in their structure which afforded me any clue
to the cause or manner of their formation. I have seen in California mounds not very unlike,
but of less magnitude, formed by burrowing squirrels, but it seems impossible that this cause
could have here produced them.
DI1
CHAPTER VII.
GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY BORDERING THE COLUMBIA RIVER.
REGION EAST OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.-GENERAL FEATURES APPARENTLY SIMILAR TO THOSE OF DES CHUTES BASIN.- LOCAL GEOLOGY.-
DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA.–SEDIMENTARY INFUSORIAL DEPOSITS.--THEIR FRESH WATER ORIGIN.—THEIR AGE.—THE CAÑON OF THE
COLUMBIA.-GENERAL FEATURES.-HOW FORMED.-LOCAL GEOLOGY.-HORIZONTAL STRATA OF TRAP.-SUBMERGED FOREST.-CASCADES
FORMED BY SLIDE FROM MOUNTAINS.-CONGLOMERATE.-SILICIFIED WOOD.-TERTIARY STRATA BELOW CASCADES.-COUNTRY BORDERING
THE LOWER COLUMBIA.-GENERAL FEATURES.-WILLAMETTE VALLEY.-ITS RESEMBLANCE TO THE CALIFORNIAN VALLEY.-LOCAL
GEOLOGY.-WESTERN SLOPE OF THE CASCADE RANGE.-CAÑON OF MCKENZIE'S FOKK.—MARKS OF GLACIAL ACTION ON MOUNT HOOD.--
TRAP, SCORIA, ASHES, ETC., FROM MOUNT HOOD.—TRAP AND SANDSTONES OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.—EROSION OF SANDSTONES. -LIGNITES
NEAR ST. HELENS.-TERRACES.COAST MOUNTAINS.-SANDSTONES AND SHALES OF ASTORIA.-Fogsils.-AGE OF TEE DEPOSIT.-Port
ORFORD.—TERTIARY SANDSTONES, TRAP.-GOLD.
GENERAL FEATURES.
S
&
1
The entire region drained by the tributaries of the upper Columbia has apparently so many
features common to all its parts, in its geological structure, its climate, its indigenous plants
and animals, that it can only be properly studied as a whole. So viewed, it would furnish an
interesting subject of investigation in tracing the connexion and community of character of its
parts, and deducing from the common phenomena which they exhibit the common causes which
have produced them.
The Des Chutes basin and the banks of the Columbia in the immediate vicinity of the Dalles
are the only portions of this area which I visited, and I should not be warranted in deducing
the structure of the whole from so small a part. From published and oral descriptions, how-
ever, of the country traversed by the upper Columbia, as well as from specimens received from
different localities, I am led to believe that the Des Chutes basin may be considered as a type
of the greater part of it; and that what has been said of the origin of the geological structure
exhibited by that portion of the basin of the Columbia which I saw, is equally applicable to at
least that part of it which lies north of the Columbia, and immediately east of the Cascade
range.
These mountains have, as we learn from the graphic descriptions of Mr. George Gibbs, (U.
S. P. R. R. Explor. & Surveys, vol. II, much the same character north of the Columbia as in
Oregon. Volcanic peaks crown the crest of the chain, which have deluged the country with
floods of lava, and thrown out showers of ashes, from which beds of tufa have been formed
similar to those of the Des Chutes basin. Specimens from the banks of the Yakima and upper
Columbia, which I have received, are undistinguishable from those collected on Psuc-see-que
creek. Basin-like areas, enclosed by walls, now cut through by the draining streams, have
been described in varying language by all who have visited this region.
The Columbia drains many basins and traverses many cañons before it reaches the great
gorge in which it flows through the mountains; and it came to the herculean task of exca-
vating that channel, no novice in the art of stone-cutting, but skilled by a training begun with
its birth, in the thousand mountain streamlets which combine to form it.
54
GEOLOGY-THE BASIN OF THE COLUMBIA.
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
The trough of the Columbia at the Dalles is similar, in all its general features, to the cañons
of the streams which traverse the Des Chutes basin. The banks which bound it are less abrupt
and further removed from the channel ; but this difference is, doubtless, due to the absence of
the thick bed of overlying trap which protects the softer marls from erosion, and forms the pre-
cipitous walls which enclose the Des Chutes. Layers of trap occur, however, at several points
in the slopes of its banks, which are very noticeable to any one descending to the stream, but
they are of less thickness and less continuous than those of which I have spoken.
The Dalles of the Columbia are formed by one of these beds of trap, through which the stream
cuts in deep and narrow channels, which have received the name of Dalles. Directly opposite
the village, the north bank of the river presents the mural edge of a layer of trap which is
partially columnar, and continuous for some miles. Although so much modified by the erosion
to which I have referred, the banks of the Columbia, at the entrance to the great cañon which
traverses the Cascades, are formed of sedimentary deposits, which were once continuous over all
the area now occupied by the valley through which it flows; and, although these strata have
been somewhat disturbed, I think we have conclusive evidence that they have been eroded, by
the deepening of the bed of the stream, to a point two thousand feet below their upper
surface. The area about the entrance of the cañon of the Columbia corresponds in every essential
particular to those which are drained through the several cañons of Pit river, the Klamath, and
the Des Chutes. Whatever has been said, therefore, in reference to those areas, the sedimentary
deposits which occupy them, and the cañons formed by their draining streams, is equally appli-
cable to the basin of the Columbia ; and if its structure has not at once suggested its history to
those who have examined it, it is doubtless because, from its magnitude, it could hardly be
viewed as a whole, and it was necessary to come to its study through similar but smaller basins,
which could, with all their relations, be taken in at one view.
In all these basins the sedimentary deposits, so accurately stratified over such large areas,
prove the presence and agency of water of considerable depth. The deeply cut cañons through
which they are drained must have been worn by streams which commenced their work of erosion
many hundred, sometimes two or three thousand, feet above their present beds. The nature of
the sediments deposited by this water proves that it was fresh. Among the great number of
specimens of deposits known or suspected to be infusorial, collected in Oregon or California, and
sent to Prof. J. W. Bailey for examination, were some from Monterey, from Shoalwater bay
in Washington Territory, and several other points on the coast. With these were represen-
tatives of the infusorial marls of the different basins of Pit river, the Klamath, the Des Chutes,
and the Columbia.
A short time previous to the death of this eminent microscopist, he indicated to me the results
of his first examination of these specimens; and, although the localities were but imperfectly
known to him, I was much interested to observe that, while the infusorial deposits of Monterey
were marked as containing marine forms, and others on or near the coast as containing mingled
marine and fluviatile forms, every specimen collected east of the Cascades, or Sierra Nevada,
was said to contain only “fresh water Diatomaceve." It is a little remarkable that, in these great
accumulations of stratified sediments, many of them fine, and indicating the tranquillity of the
water in which they were deposited, I was able to discover no other fossils than the infusoria
referred to; nor did I find any other organisms but the imperfectly preserved plants of Psuc-
see-que creek; the only intelligible vegetable remains being trunks of coniferous trees. From
GEOLOGY--AGE OF THE TUFAS OF DES CHUTES BASIN.
these facts we must infer that the fauna and flora of that period were exceedingly meagre ; a
state of things which we might expect with the arctic temperature which should form glaciers
in the Cascades; the drainage from which supplied these basins.
The question of the age of the tufas of the basins east of the Cascade mountains is not without
its interest in this connexion, for, if they are of ancient date, it would be impossible to asso-
ciate them with the modern and superficial phenomena of glaciers. We have every evidence
however, that, geologically speaking, they are very recent; the unmineralized vegetable matter
which they contain proving this conclusively. They have evidently been formed of materials
thrown out and washed down from the volcanic peaks which crown the summit of the Cascade
mountains, and which have been in vigorous action within a few hundred years. Similar
deposits in the valleys west of the Sierra Nevada belong to a period subsequent to the tertiary,
as they contain the remains of the mammoth and mastodon, and are not older than the drift.
On the plateaus of the Des Chutes and Klamath basins I was never able to detect the least
evidence of the action of drift currents. On the contrary, it was perfectly apparent that the
trap plateaus, the volcanic ridges, and the rough and ragged lava plains, had never been sub-
merged, but presented surfaces in all respects similar to those first formed, except where covered
by a soil derived from the disintegration of the rock, through the agency of the atmosphere or
vegetation. I may say, in conclusion, that the glaciers of the Cascade mountains, stratified
deposits of great thickness, exhibiting nearly an entire absence of fossils, and not older than
the drift, large lakes once existing where now are only arid plains, and cañons cut through
mountain walls, offer an interesting parallel with the stupendous phenomena, and evidences of
change elsewhere furnished by the drift, and afford, at least, presumptive evidence of synchronism.
THE CAÑON OF THE COLUMBIA.
GENERAL FEATURES.
On any other supposition than that the gorge of the Columbia has been cut by the stream
now flowing through it, it becomes a matter of no little difficulty to account for its existence.
To the theory more commonly adopted, that it is a rift formed by volcanic forces, many objec-
tions at once suggest themselves.
Fissures caused by earthquakes or volcanic action have never been known to assume such a
form or direction. We should expect to find them, if at all in that region, radiating from
some one of the great foci of volcanic forces ; Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Mount Adams, or
Mount Baker; while, on the contrary, we find this gorge traversing the entire, though com-
pound chain, and afterward the Coast mountains, with a line of bearing which shows that the
forces which formed it did not centre in the peaks I have mentioned, nor any other of the range.
We should also expect, if such was its origin, that other and similar fissures would be not
uncommon, or at least unknown in the mountain chain which it traverses ; but it is a singular
fact that, throughout the entire breadth of Washington and Oregon Territories, from the
British line to the boundaries of California, the Cascade mountains extend in a wall whose
continuity is broken only by this single gorge.
The lowest of its passes (Abbot's new pass) has an altitude of not less than 4,400 feet. In winter,
the chain cannot be crossed, and in summer the obstacles which it presents are such that loaded
mules are taken over with difficulty; and yet through this barrier the Columbia flows nearly
at the sea level.
56
GEOLOGY-GORGE OF THE COLUMBIA.
The structure of the cañon of Pit river, the relations which all the cañons I have described
sustain to the basins drained through them, the sediments accumulated to such a depth above
the beds of the present draining streams, &c., aside from the want of another adequate cause,
has led me to consider the gorge of the Columbia as formed, entirely or in part, by water. We
may obtain further evidence in the case by studying its
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
e no
Within a few miles of the Dalles the river enters the “gorge of the Columbia,” and from
that time to its exit, fifty miles below, the view of the traveller is bounded on either side
by high mountains, which rise with precipitous walls immediately from the water's edge.
Except in a few rare instances, where streams come down from the mountains, on either side,
there is no level land between the base of the cliffs and the river. This gorge has everywhere the
appearance of having been cut through by the stream which now traverses it. In many places
there are perpendicular walls of trap rock many hundred feet in height, composed of different
by distinct overflows, of which the cut edges are now exposed. These layers of
trap are often horizontal, and apparently continuous for miles. They frequently, too, exhibit a
columnar structure, the columns being perpendicular, and evidently have been subject to no
disturbance since their formation. Near the Cascades, however, there are evidences of very
recent volcanic action. The layers of trap are more or less disturbed, and the mountains, par-
ticularly on the north side, exhibit large surfaces covered with blood-red scoria.
Submerged forest.-The river, from the Dalles to the Cascades, is very deep, has an imper-
ceptible current, and has rather the appearance of an elongated lake than of a flowing stream.
At intervals, over the entire distance from the point where we entered the mountains to the
Cascades, the river is bordered on either side by the erect, but partially decayed, stumps of
trees, which project in considerable numbers above the surface of the water. This has been
termed the sunken forest, and has been generally attributed to slides from the sides of the
mountains, which have carried down into the bed of the stream the standing trees. This phe-
nomenon is, however, dependent on a different cause. As I have mentioned, the vicinity of
the falls has been the scene of recent volcanic action. A consequence of this action has been
the precipitation of a portion of the wall bordering the stream into its bed. This impediment
acting as a dam, has raised the level of the water above the Cascades, giving to the stream its
lake-like appearance, and submerging a portion of the trees which lined its banks. Of these
trees, killed by the water, the stumps of many are still standing, and by their degree of pre-
servation attest the modern date of the catastrophe. On examination, I found these stumps
to be the remains of trees of the Douglass spruce, which still forms the forests covering the
slopes of these mountains.
Cascades.--At the Cascades the river is deflected against the southern wall of its cañon, and,
in a succession of rapids, falls sixty feet in three miles.
The material which composes the dam in the river at the Cascades is a kind of conglomerate,
made up of fragments of trap rock, mingled with earth and sand. This is, in many places,
penetrated by threads of silica, which has often filled cavities and formed masses of agate and
chalcedony. In this conglomerate are imbedded many trunks of trees, which are sometimes
silicified, in other cases merely carbonized, and occasionally the same trunk exhibits both forms
of preservation. Of these silicified trunks there are some of large size, which so much
resemble recent wood as completely to deceive the eye. In many of them the structure
CAS
GEOLOGY-LOWER COLUMBIA-WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
57
of the wood is very well preserved, and, upon microscopic examination, seems identical with
that of the Douglass spruce now growing on the same surface.
Below the Cascades, and on the western skirts of the Cascade mountains, the river is in some
places bordered by tertiary strata, which I had no opportunity of examining. The hills and
mountains adjacent to the stream below seem to be still, as above, composed of trap and meta-
morphic slates.
THE COUNTRY BORDERING THE LOWER COLUMBIA.
GENERAL FEATURES.
The parallelism between the valleys traversed by the Sacramento and the San Joaquin and
that traversed by the Willamette and Cowlitz has been before alluded to. This parallelism is
much more complete than might be inferred simply from the general similarity of figure. If,
as seems inevitable from the facts that have been stated, the Sierra Nevada and Cascade range
form portions of the same mountain chain, the two great valleys—those of Oregon and Cali-
fornia-are bounded on the east by the same wall. The Coast mountains of Oregon, as has
also been stated, exhibit a remarkable similarity in their physical features and in geological
structure with those of California, and we have every reason to believe that they form a continu-
ati on f the same chain. The sandstones and shales, which, with trap, are the only rocks
exposed on the lower Columbia, and that portion of the Willamette valley which I examined,
contain but few fossils, resembling in that respect, as well as in their lithological features, the
sandstones and shales so characteristic of the coast ranges in the vicinity of San Francisco.
Near the mouth of the Cowlitz they contain beds of lignite of greater thickness than in any
part of California which I visited ; and the sandstones near Astoria have yielded a large number
of fossils, which have been described by Mr. Conrad in the geology of the exploring expedition,
and pronounced by him to be of Miocene age.
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
WESTERN SLOPE OF CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
C
While I descended the Columbia, two detachments of our party crossed the Cascades to the
Willamette valley. Of these one, under the command of Lieutenant Williamson, passed south
of the Three Sisters, crossing the summit something more than 150 miles south of the Columbia,
following down the middle fork of the Willamette to its junction with the main stream.
The other, under command of Lieutenant Abbot, crossed by a pass discovered by him just south
of Mount Hood. From the gentlemen connected with these parties I received much valuable
information, and specimens illustrative of the geology of that portion of the range which they
traversed. From Lieutenant Williamson I learned that the entire mass of the chain at the
point where he crossed it is composed of the same trappean and metamorphic rocks that have
been noticed as constituting the geology of the region about the Three Sisters. No stratified
rocks were met with before reaching the lower portions of Willamette valley, where the tertiary
sandstones are largely developed, and by erosion have formed hills several hundred feet in alti-
tude. These sandstones, with masses of vesicular trap, were the only rocks which he noticed
in traversing the valley.
8 Y
58
GEOLOGY-WESTERN SLOPE OF CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
It will be remembered that, when speaking of the glacical grooves on the western declivity
of the Three Sisters, reference was made to two deep cañons, one leading down from Mount
Jefferson, the other from the Three Sisters, which combined to form a profound gorge leading
westward, through which a stream flowed, supposed to be a tributary of the Willamette. This
stream proved to be McKenzie's fork, and, when crossing it, near its junction with the Willa-
mette, Lieut. W. learned that upon one occasion, and only one, its course had been followed
from its source.
Three hunters, having descended to the Willamette in its bed, reported that, throughout its
entire length, the cañon of which I have spoken preserves the character which it exhibits at
its eastern termination—a deep and narrow gorge, bounded by nearly precipitous walls, from
which there was no exit but at the extremities. Its in hospitable nature may be inferred from
the fact that one of these hunters died from the hardships he encountered in traversing it, and
the others suffered so severely that they never cared to repeat the experiment.
This would seem to have been the channel through which the drainage from the glaciers
had found a passage to the ocean; and it is not improbable even, from its peculiar angular
character, that ice occupied some portion of its length. From Mr. Anderson, who accompanied
Lieut. Abbot, I learned that the draining valleys leading from Mount Hood have the same
angular character, and there, as on the slopes of the Three Sisters and Mount Jefferson, the
exposed surfaces of the rocks, in many places, exhibit marks of glacial action.
The minerals brought from Mount Hood are all volcanic, trap, volcanic conglomerate, scoria,
and ashes. The ashes are white and fine, and closely resemble the marls and tufas of the Des
Chutes and Klamath basins. They had probably been quite recently thrown out from Mount
Hood; showers of ashes having been discharged from this mountain several times since Oregon
has been occupied by the whites. From Mr. Dryer, of Portland, who attempted to ascend.
Mount Hood in 1854, I learned that steam and heated gases were escaping from its summit,
in many places, at the time of his visit.
WA
WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
I was able to examine but a small portion of the Willamette valley in person, as I
ascended the river only twenty miles from its mouth. The only rock which I saw was the
tertiary sandstone to which I have alluded, and dark vesicular trap. The sandstone appears
in the bed and banks of the Willamette at several points below Oregon City. The rock
over which the river pours at the falls is trap, as are the hills in the vicinity. From the de-
tailed account of the geological structure of the valley above this point, given by Prof. Dana
in his geology of the exploring expedition, it appears that the hills bordering the alluvial plain,
as far south as the Calapooya mountains, are composed of one or the other of the two rocks I.
have mentioned. He represents the sandstones as being not only disturbed, but greatly eroded,
as at the points examined by Lieut. Williamson. This is not an uninteresting fact, when taken
in connexion with the evidences of great erosive action which I have cited, and which seem to
be connected with the existence of glaciers, and may be, in a degree, dependant on the same
cause. The sandstones of the Willamette valley contain no fossils at the localities where I ex-
amined them, but they exhibit all the lithological characters of the San Francisco group. In
some places they are highly argillaceous, and better deserve the name of shales than sandstones,
and not unfrequently contain laminæ of gypsum. Near St. Helens, a bed of lignite has been
discovered, which at one time was supposed to have a high commercial value, but which ba
GEOLOGY—TERRACES-COAST MOUNTAINS-PORT ORFORD.
59
proved to be nearly worthless as fuel. It occurs in argillaceous sandstone, apparently forming
a portion of this series.
Terraces.-At Vancouver the banks of the Columbia are distinctly terraced. The alluvial
bottom lands had an elevation of twenty feet above the surface of the water during the month
which I spent there, but at certain seasons, as evinced by the collected drift wood, are liable to
overflow. Above this level the terrace upon which the fort stands rises to a height which I
estimated at forty feet. This terrace is found bordering not only the Columbia, but also the
Willamette, and is the one upon which the town of Portland is built. From any elevated point
where a view can be obtained over the dense forest which covers the country bordering the
Willamette river near its mouth this terrace is seen to be distinctly marked by the summits of
the trees, and may thus be traced for miles. The soil of the alluvial lands bordering the
streams is fine, dark, and very fertile ; that of the upper terrace is frequently gravelly and less
productive.
COAST MOUNTAINS.
The Columbia, from the mouth of the Willamette to the ocean, forms rather an arm of the sea
than a river channel. It is broad, in many places deep, and on either side bordered by marshes
and swamps, which have the appearance of having been depressed below the level which they
once occupied. Its bed is nowhere formed of rock, but seems like a trough, broadly and deeply
excavated, and subsequently silted up by the sediment, which an arrested current no longer
held in suspension.
The mountains which rise on either side form' a broad belt, marked by no summit of great
elevation, and everywhere covered with a dense evergreen forest. I had little opportunity of
examining their geological structure, but noticed at various points masses of trap, and along
the river, near its mouth, at a lower elevation, beds of tertiary sandstones and shales. Near
Astoria these strata are fully exposed, but, in the brief time that I remained there, I was able
to do little more than note the remarkable similarity, in lithological character, which they
exhibit to those of San Francisco and San Pablo bay. Many species of fossils were, however,
collected from the same series in this vicinity by Professor Dana, and have been described by
Mr. Conrad in the geology of the exploring expedition. They have been regarded by him
as of Miocene age, though containing no recent species, nor any previously described, from
tertiary rocks in other localities. These fossils are chiefly molluscous, with bones of cetaceans
and fishes. They are usually found forming the nuclei of calcareous concretions.
PORT ORFORD..
From the mouth of the Columbia to this point the coast presents a bold, irregular outline,
with scarcely any level land along the shore. It is everywhere covered with a dense forest, and
that portion north of the Umpqua river has been but rarely traversed by explorers. Of its
geological structure almost nothing is known, except of the small portion visited by Professor
Dana, in his excursion to the Saddle mountain, near Astoria. This mountain, as might be in-
ferred from its outline, is volcanic, and has been in action at a comparatively late period.
The geology of the vicinity of Port Orford is similar, in all its general features, to that of
Astoria. The high lands in the vicinity, as well as the bold and rocky points on the shore, are
composed of trap rock. Beds of sandstone line the coast north of Port Orford, closely
resembling the sandstones and shales of Astoria, and probably belonging to the same series.
60
GEOLOGY-GOLD OF PORT ORFORD.
They abound in lignite and fossil wood, and are doubtless of the same age. They are also,
probably, continuous with the sandstones of Coose bay, which contain the beds of lignite now
worked as coal.
The geology of the vicinity of Port Orford is interesting, from the fact that gold is obtained
there by washing the beach sand. The source from which it is derived is not very apparent,
but it has, probably, come from the decomposition of the auriferous slates which compose a
portion of the mountains lying back from the coast, and extending from the Coquille river
southwesterly to Mount Shasta and the head of the Sacramento valley, forming a wide and
irregular belt, in which are many rich placers; those in the vicinity of Yreka yielding a large
amount of gold. The gold obtained at Port Orford is mingled with a heavy black sand, from
which it is separated with considerable difficulty. It is also associated with platinum, iridium,
and osmium, which, for the same reason, serve to impair its value.
CHAPTER VIII.
ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.
IT
BUILDING MATERIALS IN THE VICINITY OF SAN FRANCISCO. —SAN FRANCISCO SANDSTONE.GRANITE FROM HONG KONG.-OF TOMALES
BAY. —LIMESTONE OF TOMALES BAY.-SANDSTONES OF BENICIA.-SANDSTONE AND TRAP OF VACAVILLE. -- WANT OF BUILDING
STONE ON THE SACRAMENTO AND FEATHER RIVERS.--TRAP NEAR UPPER END OF THE VALLEY.-FROM FORT READING TO THE
COLUMBIA, TRAP EVERYWHERE ON OUR ROUTE.-GOLD.--No NEW DEPOSITS DISCOVERED. —COUNTRY COVERED BY RECENT
VOLCANIC MATTER. --GOLD OF PORT ORFORD.-COAL. --EFFORTS TO FIND TRUE COAL ON THE WESTERN COAST.-CoOSE BAY
COAL; GEOLOGICAL POSITION; PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERS; ECONOMICAL VALUE. -COAL OF BELLINGHAM BAY;
GEOLOGICAL POSITION, EXTENT AND TIIICKNESS OF THE BEDS; ASSOCIATED FOSSILS.—MIOCENE FLORA.-LIGNITE BEDS OF THE
UPPER MISSOURI.—CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF BELLINGHAM BAY COAL.-ITS ECONOMICAL VALUE.--COAL OF VAN-
COUVER'S ISLAND; GEOLOGICAL POSITION. ---CRETACEOUS ROCKS.--PARALLELISM OF THE CHALK AND TERTIARY OF THE UPPER
MISSOURI WITH SIMILAR STRATA ON THE PACIFIC COAST.-PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF THE COAL AND ITS CHEMICAL COMPOSI-
TION.--COAL OF CAPE FLATTERY, PROBABLY THE EQUIVALENT OF THE LIGNITES OF THE COWLITZ AND COOSE BAY.--COAL OF
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA.---COAL MARKET OF SAN FRANCISCO. COAL OF THE LOTA MINE, CHILI.-COAL OF AUSTRALIA.
COAL FROM THE EASTERN STATES.
BUILDING MATERIALS.
VICINITY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
THE only desirable building stone in the vicinity of San Francisco is the sandstone which
is fully described in the first chapter of the report, where its fitness for architectural pur-
poses is alluded to. It is very accessible, readily quarried and wrought, and will supply a
cheap building material in exhaustless quantities. Some varieties of this stone, especially
that quarried on Yerba Buena island, will even answer the demands of ornamental architec-
ture, being to a considerable degree handsome and durable. For more elaborate and expensive
structures, however, a more resistant as well as beautiful material will be sought; something
which should fill the place of the granites, marbles, and finer freestones used in the eastern
cities. Granite is already used to some extent in San Francisco, and it is now, for the most
part, imported from Hong Kong, in China. In that part of California which we visited it
was observed in but one or two localities. From Tomales bay I obtained specimens of granite
which seems well adapted to architectural purposes. It is composed of small crystals of white
felspar and quartz, with minute scales of black mica, and forms a very compact and durable
as well as handsome stone. There is also, on Tomales bay, a light-colored crystalline limestone,
which, when obtained in blocks of sufficient size, will make an excellent building stone. It is quite
extensively used for making quicklime. I have also seen specimens of metamorphic limestone,
obtained in various parts of the Sierra Nevada, which, for beauty and durability, will almost
rival the white marble of Vermont or the Potomac. The sandstones which are quarried in the
vicinity of Benicia are similar in character to those of San Francisco, but are softer and less
desirable for architectural purposes than some found in the immediate vicinity of the city.
From Benicia to Vacaville, the San Francisco sandstone is accessible at many points, and the hills
which border the upper end of Suisun bay and Suisun valley on the west are co
pact trap, which will afford a resistant and durable building material, but one wrought with
62
GEOLOGY-SEARCH FOR GOLD-COAL.
some difficulty. The central portions of the Sacramento valley are entirely destitute of building
stone, but the foot hills of the mountains which border it on either side will furnish trap,
granite, or sandstone, in abundance, and within a distance which will render them available
for all the wants of railroad construction. Near the upper end of the Sacramento valley the
hills which border it are composed of trap, much of which would form an excellent building
material, and would be everywhere accessible. From this point to the Columbia river, over all
parts of our route, trap rock exists in abundance, and varieties would be everywhere attainable
which would meet any want of building stone that might arise.
GOLD.
From the fact that other portions of California and Oregon had proved to be so rich in gold,
especial interest was excited in our exploration of so much new territory by the anticipation
that we might discover other localities in which this precious metal might be obtained. In no
part of the region which we traversed, however, after leaving the Sacramento valley, was I able
to detect any good evidence of its existence. Nearly all portions of our route are covered by
accumulations of recent volcanic matter, by which the underlying rocks are as completely con-
cealed as though the whole country was buried under a heavy bed of snow.
In many localities which we visited there are exposures of metamorphic slates, but they are
nowhere talcose in character, nor contain veins of quartz, which would be the repositories of
gold. In almost every stream which we crossed an effort was made by “panning” to obtain
o the color,'' but uniformly without success. At the point where we left Pit river the boulders
of quartz and other rock found in the bed of the stream led me to suppose that, at some point
higher up in its course, the rocks might be found which usually contain it. The metamorphic
slates there exposed have a more promising appearance than elsewhere, and in that vicinity I
obtained the only traces which I saw of copper. From these circumstances. I was led to believe
that here, if anywhere on our route, valuable deposits of metal might be discovered. In the
Klamath and Des Chutes basins the surface is either occupied with plateaus, or hills of trap,
or by stratified tufas, or infusorial marls. The gold of Port Orford has already been alluded
to, but I was not able to examine the geology of the vicinity sufficiently to trace it to its source.
Gold mining is there carried on empirically, as in most parts of California, and it is worth an
effort, on the part of those who may have the opportunity, to determine the law upon which
the accumulations of gold in that vicinity depend.
.
COAL.
The want of this mainspring of modern progress, which has been felt by the inhabitants of
California, has been supplied, only imperfectly, from the eastern States, or from other coun-
tries; and the price paid for coal transported from great distances has been so high that they
have naturally felt a deep interest in the discovery of deposits of it within their own borders.
Their efforts, with this end in view, have, however, been attended with but partial success.
Beds of lignite have been found in various locations, which have served for a time to excite,
and, subsequently, to disappoint the hopes of their discoverers. Although the fact has fre-
quently been announced in the journals, no true coal had been found in California or Oregon
at the date of our arrival in San Francisco. About the time of our arrival in San Francisco,
however, the carbonaceous deposits on the shores of Coose bay began to attract the attention of
· GEOLOGY-COAL OF COOSE BAY.
63
the public, and it was confidently believed that there had at last been found beds of bitu-
minous coal equal in quality to that imported from the eastern States.
I had an opportunity of examining several cargoes of Coose bay coal at Portland, Oregon,
and San Francisco; and from Mr. Northrup, of Portland, Messrs. Flint, Peabody & Co., of
San Francisco, and from others, I have received full descriptions of the mines, and much inter-
esting information in reference to the character and extent of the coal deposits. Subsequently,
through the kindness of Lieutenant W. P. Trowbridge, U. S. A., I received a map of the bay
and of the locality where the mines are situated, and a section across from Point Arago to the
bay, including the strata of coal which are worked ; also drawings of a large number of the
fossils taken from the associated strata, very beautifully executed by Mr. Bridgens, of San
Francisco. I was able to bring home a suite of specimens of the coal, of which I have since made
chemical analyses. From this material I am able to make the following report:
CD
C00SE BAY COAL.
Geological position. This coal is interstratified with sandstones and shales, which form a
series several hundred feet in thickness, the strata being very much disturbed by intrusion of
trap rock, some of them being inclined at an angle of 45°. The beds of coal are found in the
upper part of the series, being most fully developed on the shores of the bay, where the strata
are much less disturbed than nearer Cape Arago. From the description and section given by
Mr. Higgins, I infer that a line of upheaval, with a northwesterly trend, passes between Coose
bay and the ocean, giving character to the headland of which Cape Arago is the extremity,
and tilting up the stratified rocks on either side. Several of the strata associated with the coal
are highly fossiliferous, most of the fossils being marine mollusca. Impressions of plants are
also found, but none are represented in the drawings of Mr. Bridgens. Among the fossil shells
which he has figured, I recognize Nautilus, Arca, Cardium, Tellina, Nucula, Natica, Fusus,
Cerithium, &c., with bones of fishes. It is impossible to be certain with reference to the species
of these fossils, but they have all a general resemblance to those obtained from the sandstones
and shales of the Columbia, and some of the species are probably the same. Those portions of
the series from which the fossils come are evidently tertiary, and there is little doubt that the
series, as a whole, is identical with that of the Columbia, which has been pronounced by Mr.
Conrad to be Miocene.
The coal occurs in several distinct strata, three of which are represented in Mr. Higgins'
section. They are apparently confined to the upper portions of the series which I have men-
tioned. The most important stratum varies considerably in thickness in different localities, its
maximum being about 9 feet. These beds of coal are said to extend over a large area in the
vicinity, and have been traced many miles inland.
Physical and chemical character.—The coal is bright, black, and handsome, and when first
mined has much the appearance of some of the bituminous coals of the Mississippi valley; most
resembling those from the coal fields of Illinois and Iowa. Upon a closer examination, however,
it is readily seen to be a tertiary lignite, most of it exhibiting very distinctly the structure of
the wood from which it has been formed. I have seen masses of several hundred pounds weight,
which were evidently portions of the carbonized trunks of trees of large size. In these, the
'rings of annual growth, knots, and branches, were almost as plainly perceptible as in recent
wood. Like most of the lignites of the west, though firm when first mined, having a conchoidal
64
GEOLOGY-COAL OF BELLINGHAM BAY.
fracture, somewhat resembling Wigan cannel, upon exposure to the air for any length of time
it cracks up into a thousand cubical fragments. It burns freely, producing a bright cheerful
blaze and considerable heat, but is more flashy, and has far less heating power than the best
bituminous coals.
A proximate analysis gives me for its composition the following formulæ :
Fixed carbon..
......... 46.54
Volatile matter
.......... 50.27
Ashes .........
... 3.19
Coke, 49.73, dark, friable, and of but little value. The amount of gas is large, but of low
illuminating power. This coal apparently contains very little bi, sulph., iron, or other inju-
rious impurities, and is extensively used in San Francisco, and was selling, at the time of our
visit, at $22 per ton, in small quantities, but could be bought, by the cargo, at $16 to $18 per
ton.
COAL OF BELLINGHAM BAY, W. T.
Geological position. This coal is found interstratified with sandstones and shales on the
shores of Bellingham bay. Lieut. W. P. Trowbridge, U. S. A., while superintending the
construction of light-houses on that part of the coast, made a careful measurement of the strata
of the section in which the beds of coal are exposed, of which the results have been published
in the geological report of Mr. W. P. Blake, contained in vol. V, U. S. P. R. R. Reports.
The section exposed, when measured by Lieut. Trowbridge, consisted of about 2,000 feet of
shales, sandstones, and coal, of which the coal presented the enormous aggregate of 110 feet.
It is possible, however, that the series is, in part, composed of repetitions of the same mem-
bers, as the strata are inclined at a high angle, and are much convoluted and disturbed in all
that region.
Many of the shales are fossiliferous, and vegetable impressions are particularly abundant.
These consist, for the most part, of the impressions of dicotyledonous leaves, and are similar in
general character; and some of them specifically identical with those collected on Frazer's
river by the United States Exploring Expedition, under Capt. Charles Wilkes. Among them
are species of Platanus, Acer, Alnus, &c., as yet undescribed. There is also a Taxus, or Taxo-
dium, and a Juniperus. It is probable that all the dicotyledonous species there represented are
extinct. The coniferae may not be so. A sufficient number of well marked specimens has,
however, not yet been collected to determine this question.
The flora of the coal deposits of Bellingham bay is remarkably like that of the lignite beds
of the upper Missouri, the genera being nearly all represented on the Missouri, and some of the
species are identical.
The lignite beds of the Missouri are undoubtedly Miocene, and it is very difficult to distin-
guish some of the species found in them from those of the Miocenes of Austria and of the Island
of Mull.
The strata exposed on Bellingham bay, both in their lithological character and their fossils,
are closely related to the sandstones and shales of the Columbia and Coose bay, and are, pro-
bably, portions of the great San Francisco group, which forms the most striking feature of the
geology of the coast mountains.
The mines at Bellingham bay were among the first opened on the western coast, and have
already furnished a large quantity of coal for the San Francisco market.
GEOLOGY-COAL OF VANCOUVER'S ISLAND.
65
Physical and chemical characters.-While having much the appearance and character of that
from Coose bay, this coal is harder and better, and more resembles the carboniferous coals of
the Mississippi valley. Several analyses give me for its composition-
Fixed carbon........
......... 47.63
Bitumen .......
............ 50.22
Ashes ................
....... 2.15
Its economical value and adaptation to the different purposes for which coal is used are very
similar to those of the Coose bay coal, but commands a somewhat higher price in market.
When I was in San Francisco, coal from Bellingham bay was selling for $22 per ton.
VANCOUVER'S ISLAND COAL.
02
Geological position.-Very little has heretofore been known of the geology of Vancouver's
island except that extensive deposits of coal existed there. The island is inhabited by Indians
of a peculiarly warlike character who have always been hostile to the whites, and have rendered
it dangerous to attempt to explore its geology.
It is also said to be, for the most part, covered with a dense forest and tangled thickets of
vine-maple, which present almost insurmountable obstacles to any one who should attempt to
penetrate the interior. At Nanimo, however, a small English colony has been established,
and the deposits of coal which are found there have been, to some extent, worked for the San
Francisco market, and to supply the English steamers which sometimes touch there.
I have been able to obtain but little information in reference to the geological associations of
the coal of Vancouver's island ; the only persons who have visited the island, to my knowledge,
having examined only that portion immediately adjacent to the coal mines of Nanimo. They
have also contented themselves with a hasty inspection of the mines, and with collecting the
fossils, which seemed to be abundant, without taking much note of the relative positions of the
strata which contain them. I have received from them, however, a full suite of specimens of
the coal, and a series of fossils of great beauty and of special geological interest.
The fossils consist, for the most part, of marine shells, of which the most conspicuous are
Ammonites, Baculites, &c., of large size, and evidently derived from cretaceous rocks. These
fossils occur in calcareous concretions and so much resemble, in their mode of fossilization, those
brought from the upper Missouri by Mr. Meek and Dr. Hayden, that they would be supposed
to have come from the same locality. Of the species obtained from Vancouver's island many
are new, but some are identical with those from the upper Missouri and fully establish the
parallelism of the cretaceous strata which occur on different sides of the Rocky mountains. The
discovery of cretaceous fossils, as far west as the Island of Vancouver, seemed to me a fact of
peculiar geological interest; not only as extending over an area far greater than has been sus-
pected the cretaceous rocks of the upper Missouri, but as furnishing a basis upon which we shall
probably find the Miocene tertiaries to rest, as on the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. It
is not uninteresting to note, also, that the Miocene strata of the upper Missouri are peculiarly
characterized by beds of lignite, which have attracted the attention of every traveller who has
passed up or down that river ; and that, on descending the Columbia, below the region covered
with recent volcanic material, we find a series of Miocene deposits, which are also associated
with great accumulations of carbonaceous matter.
It is true that much of the lignite of the Pacific coast is more compact, approaches nearer to
on
9 Y
66
GEOLOGY-COAL OF VANCOUVER'S ISLAND.
0
true coal, and furnishes a better fuel than that of the upper Missouri, but this is doubtless, in
a great degree, due to the metamorphic action of erupted rocks which, as we have seen, have
in so many places disturbed the tertiary strata. The close affinity, and probable synchronism,
of the lignites of the upper Missouri and those of the Pacific coast is proved from the flora of
these deposits, and has already been referred to. Until further information shall be obtained
in reference to the relationship existing between the cretaceous rocks of Vancouver's island and
the coal found there, the age of that coal can only be conjectured. The character of this coal,
its resemblance to that of Bellingham bay, and the proximity of the two localities, give us
reason to suspect that they belong to the same age and are equivalents of each other.
And it is at least presumable that the strata which enclose the coal overlie the cretaceous
rocks occupying the same relative positions as the chalk and lignite beds of the Missouri.
In a preceding chapter of this report I had occasion to notice the existence of cretaceous rocks
near the upper end of the Sacramento valley, and, in the same connexion, referred to exposures
of carboniferous limestone in localities not far distant. When the connexion shall be traced
between these deposits, and the relations which they hold to the widely spread tertiary strata of
the Pacific coast ascertained, it seems not improbable that, having there at different points all
the principal elements which compose the geological structure of the eastern slope of the Rocky
mountains, we shall be able to combine them in such a way as to establish a much more com-
plete parallelism between the eastern and western sides of the continent than has been hitherto
suspected. Among the fossils brought from Vancouver's island there is a large number,
including many species, which are apparently not cretaceous, and which are very unlike any of
the many tertiary fossils which have been collected at various points on the western coast.
They are contained in a soft, greenish sandstone, and have been regarded by Mr. Meek, to
whom they have been submitted, as probably indicative of strata of Jurassic age. The genera
represented are, perhaps, not peculiar to that period, and the species are, without exception,
new ; but he regards them as presenting forms which are rather Oolitic or Jurassic, than
cretaceous or tertiary. If the strata from which they are derived should be found to occupy a
lower position than those yielding the cretaceous fossils, we should, perhaps, have then a
representative of the Jurassic strata which underlie the chalk on the Atlantic coast, and
probably throughout a large area in the interior of the continent.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERS.
The coal from the Island of Vancouver resembles in many respects, as has been stated, that
from Bellingham bay, and is more compact and crystalline than any of the tertiary lignites
I have seen. It is as hard and handsome as many of the coals derived from the basins of the
Mississippi valley, and, like many of the coals of the carboniferous period, exhibites scales of
carbonate of lime in its joints. Its chemical composition, however, shows that, although a
very well finished article, it is comparatively of recent date.
It is composed of
Fixed carbon.........
51.81
Volatile matter..........
44.30
Ashes..........
3.89
C.
.....
......
..........................................
Total.....
100.00
I saw several cargoes of this coal in San Francisco, where it has been used for several years.
GEOLOGY-COAL FROM CAPE FLATTERY AND SANTA CLARA.
67
It is regarded as very similar in its character to that of Bellingham bay, and commands about
the same price.
COAL FROM CAPE FLATTERY.
This coal I have marked as coming from Cape Flattery, that being the nearest point to the
locality from which it is derived, whose position is generally known. It is, in fact, obtained
some 25 miles lower down on the coast. I owe to the kindness of Lieut. Trowbridge, U. S. A.,
the specimens which I have of this coal, and also whatever information I possess in reference to
its geological position. It occurs associated with similar shales and sandstones to those which
enclose the coal of Bellingham bay, and is doubtless of the same age. From what I have been
able to learn of the geology of this part of the coast, it seems probable that the tertiary strata
of Bellingham bay extend continuously, or with but local interruptions, to the Columbia.
The character of the Cape Flattery coal is similar in all respects to that of Coose bay, and
hand specimens from the two localities are undistinguishable. Its chemical composition is also
nearly identical, and whatever has been said of the character or value of the former is equally
applicable to the latter. Its chemical composition is as follows:
Fixed carbon........
46.40
Volatile matter ............
50.97
Ashes..........
2.63
100.00
COAL FROM SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA.
This coal, or lignite, occurs 12 miles back from Santa Clara, and is said to form a stratum 3
feet in thickness, and is overlaid by a sandstone containing marine shells. In the small speci-
mens of this rock which were given me by Lieut. Trowbridge, but a single species of fossil shell
is distinguishable, though this is represented by considerable numbers. This shell is that of a
gasteropodous mollusc, and a type of a new genus, described by Mr. Conrad under the name of
Schizopyga, and figured in this report, plate 1, fig. 1. The coal, or rather lignite, from this
exhibits some variety in appearance and purity; some of it showing very plainly the
structure of the wood from which it has been formed, while other portions resemble a consoli-
dated carbonaceous mud, and contain a large proportion of earthy matter. No analysis has
been made of it; but while the better portions closely resemble the coal of Coose bay, it is
evident that, as a whole, it is decidedly inferior as a fuel to the coal from that locality.
Aside from the coals I have mentioned, there are annually sold in the San Francisco market
many cargoes from Chile, Australia, and the eastern United States. Of these, the anthracite and
semi-bituminous coals from the eastern States are much preferred, and always command a higher
price. The price of anthracite coal during my stay in the city varied from $37 to $40 per ton,
while that from Chile and Australia ranged from $25 to $27. .
The Chilean coal, of which I saw large quantities, was all derived from the Lota mine; of
which the coal has been carefully examined, and an analysis published in the report of the Naval
Astronomical Expedition, vol. II, page 105,) by Professor J. L. Smith. I was much interested
in noting the very evident similarity which exists between the Chilean coal and that of the
northwestern coast. It apparently belongs to the same geological epoch, and indicates the
68
GEOLOGY-COAL FROM CHILE AND AUSTRALIA.
extent of the area over which the tertiary deposits are spread along the North and South
American Pacific coasts.
The coal of Australia has been fully described by Professor Dana in the geology of the ex-
ploring expedition, and is only interesting in this connexion on account of the amount annually
sold in the San Francisco market, and for comparison with those which have been already
described. This coal has more of the laminated structure, the rhombohedral fracture and
general appearance of the older coals, but, from its softness and the evidently large quantity of
sulphuret of iron which it contains, it cannot claim the first rank as a fossil fuel.
No. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TERTIARY FOSSILS COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY.
BY T. A. CONRAD.
The California fossils, described from the collection of Dr. Newberry, consist of shells, which
appear to me to represent the Miocene period, or to have existed contemporaneously with the
fossil fauna of Virginia referred to that epoch. The few shells from Gatun, Isthmus of Darien,
are not sufficient to indicate precisely the geological age of that vicinity. The well known
univalve, Malea ringens, is one of the number, a shell which now exists only in the Pacific, and
I believe the genus is unknown in the Atlantic. The probability is, therefore, that posterior
to the Eocene period the Pacific was separated from the Caribbean sea by a narrower strip of land
than at present, and that while the land was rising towards the Pacific it was probably sinking
on the eastern coast.
CALIFORNIA FOSSILS.
UNIVALVE.
SCHIZOPYGA, Conrad.
Bucciniform ; columella concave, plicate; lower part of body volution deeply channelled, the
channel emarginating the columella.
Schizopyga Californiana, Plate II, fig. 1. Volutions rounded, having revolving ribs and
longitudinal ſurrows, giving the ribs a nodulous character; basal excavation profound.-Pro-
ceedings of Acad. Nat. Sc., Dec., 1856, p. 315.
Locality.-Santa Clara, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
The above genus is probably related to Cancellaria.
BIVALVES.
CRYPTOMYA, Conrad.
Cryptomya ovalis, Pl. II, fig. 2. Oval, compressed, posterior end truncated; umbonal slope
angulated on the umbo; beaks medial; basal margin medially truncated; disk medially
flattened.-Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sc. for Dec., 1856, p. 314.
Locality.--Monterey county, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
Rather smaller than the recent C. californica, less regularly oval, inequilateral, &c. ·
THRACIA, Leach.
Thracia mactropsis, Pl. II, fig. 3. Subtriangular, subequilateral, ventricose ; anterior side
cuneiform or subrostrated, posterior end regularly rounded ; ligament margin very oblique ; base
70
GEOLOGY-- DESCRIPTION OF FOSSILS.
regularly and profoundly rounded ; umbonal slope abruptly rounded ; summit prominent, pos-
terior to the middle of the valve; anterior extremity angular. Length 1 inch.-Proceedings
Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 313.
Locality. Monterey county, California. -Dr. Newberry.
MYA, Iin.
Mya Montereyana, Pl. II, fig. 4. Suboval, slightly ventricose, thin, inequilateral ; summit
hardly prominent; anterior end subtruncated ? posterior end acutely rounded, the extremity
situated more nearly on a line with the beak than the base ; disk concentrically rugoso-striate.
Length 14 inches.—Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 313.
Locality.—Monterey, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
This and the preceding fossil belong to the same rock in which the Schizopyga occurs, the
group having no resemblance to that of Estrella, or other localities referred to in this paper.
Mya ? subsinuata, Pl. II, fig. 5. Somewhat sinuous, ovate, slightly reflected at both ends;
contracted medially or from beak to base.
Locality.—Monterey county.
ARCOPAGIA, Leach.
S
Arcopagia medialis, Pl. II, fig. 6. Oval, both valves slightly ventricose anteriorly ; upper
valve much contracted or concave towards the umbonal slope, which is angulated; post umbonal
slope slightly contracted in the middle, emarginate at base; the corresponding slope of the lower
valve deeply folded, reflected towards the extremity; disks rugoso-striate concentrically.--Pro-
ceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 314.
Locality.-Monterey county, Cal.-A. S. Taylor.
This shell is proportionally longer than A. biplicata, Conrad, of the Maryland Miocene, but
the general resemblance is noticeable and adds to the probability that the very remote strata in
which they occur are parallel.
TAPES, Sowerby.
Tapes linteatum, Pl. II, fig. 7. Oblong-oval, ventricose; buccal side short, extremity
obtusely rounded; anal side elongated, end regularly rounded ; ligament margin long, oblique,
straight; disks radiated with fine, unequal lines, except on the post-umbonal slope, which is
entire.--Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 314.
Locality.-California.--Dr. Newberry.
ARCA, Lin.
1. Arca canalis, Pl. II, fig. 8. Subtrapezoidal, ventricose ; ribs 24 to 26, flattened, scarcely
prominent, divided by a longitudinal furrow; disk concentrically wrinkled ; umbo ventricose ;
summits prominent, remote from the centre.--Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 314.
Locality.--Santa Barbara, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
2. Arca trilineata, Pl. II, fig. 9. Trapezoidal, somewhat produced, inequilateral, ventricose;
ribs 22–24, scarcely prominent, square, wider than the intervening spaces, ornamented with
three impressed or four raised lines; disks concentrically wrinkled; summits prominent; beaks
approximate. Length 3 inches.-Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec. 1856, p. 314.
Locality.-Occurs with the preceding.
3. Arca congesta, Pl. II, fig. 10. Rhomboidal, ventricose, inequilateral ; ribs about 27, con-
GEOLOGY--DESCRIPTION OF FOSSILS.
vex on the back, wider than the intervals, which are transversely striate; anterior ribs crenate;
ligament margin elevated ; posterior end obtusely rounded; summits prominent. Length,
inch.—Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 314.
Locality.-California.--Dr. Newberry.
AXINÆA, Poli. PECTUNCULUS, Lam.
Axinca barbarensis, Pl. III, fig. 11. Lentiform, subequilateral, concentrically wrinkled;
ribs about 37, scarcely prominent, flat, defined by an impressed line, wanting on the submargins
and obsolete towards the base ; summits slightly prominent.
MULINIA, Gray.
M. densata, Pl. III, fig. 12. Subovate, ventricose, thick, very inequilateral; posterior side
very short comparatively, contracted; extremity subtruncated, much above the line of the base ;
posterior basal margin very oblique and contracted; anterior end obliquely truncated; anterior
basal margin rounded; summits prominent, distant; lateral teeth very robust and prominent;
inner margin entire.-Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 313.
Locality.--Santa Barbara and shores of San Pablo bay ? California.—Dr. Newberry.
DOSINIA, Scopoli.
1. Dosinia longula. Regularly ventricose, inequilateral, longitudinally oval; margins and
base regularly rounded ; summit prominent; buccal margin more obtusely rounded than the
anal.--Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 315.
Locality.-Monterey, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
2. Dosinia alta, Pl. III, figs. 13a and 136. Obtusely subovate or suboval from beak to base ;
posterior margin curved, profoundly oblique; base regularly and rather acutely rounded ;
summits prominent, oblique ; surface marked with numerous fine, concentric, impressed lines;
beaks medial. Height, 4 inches.--Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 315.
Locality.-Monterey, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
PECTEN, Lin.
Pecten Pabloensis, Pl. III, fig. 14. Orbicular, compressed, thin, concentrically wrinkled ;
ribs 18–20, slender ; little prominent, with an intermediate radiating line.
Locality. San Pablo bay, Cal.—Dr. Newberry.
PALLIUM, Klein.
P. estrellanum, Pl. III, fig. 15. Suborbicular; lower valve ventricose, slightly undulated ;
ribs 17, broad, little prominent, convex, with an intermediate linear rib, from which the larger
ribs are separated by an impressed line; upper valve convex, somewhat undulated, ribs flattened,
and the intermediate small ribs with a longitudinal impressed line on the lower part of the
valve.-—Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 313.
Locality.- Estrella valley, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
JANIRA, Shum.
Janira bella, Pl. III, fig. 16. Subtriangular; inferior valve convex, ribs 14 or 15, square,
about as wide as the intervening spaces, very prominent, some of them with one or two longi-
tudinal obsolete lines ; disk finely wrinkled concentrically ; upper valve flattened, deeply
72
GEOLOGY-DESCRIPTION OF FOSSILS.
depressed towards the apex; ribs rather narrower than those of the opposite valve, obscurely
bicarinated above, disk ornamented with close, fine, squamose, concentric wrinkles. Length, 4
inches ; height, 3 inches.- Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Dec., 1856, p. 312.
Locality.--Santa Barbara, Cal.-Dr. Newberry.
OSTREA, Linn.
Ostrea Titan, Pl. IV, fig. 17, Pl. V, fig. 17a, profile. Produced from beak to base, straight
or slightly curved, substance very thick, coarsely laminated; upper valve flat, very thick,
somewhat gibbous; lower valve profoundly ventricose, umbonated, the summit rising above
the beak of the opposite valve. Length, -Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, 1855.
Locality. San Luis Obispo, California.
FOSSILS OF GATUN, ISTHMUS OF DARIEN.
MALEA, Valenc.
Malea ringens, Pl. V, fig. 22.
Dolium ringens, (Cassis,) Swainson.
Locality.—Gatun. This shell inhabits the Pacific coast of South America, and the genus is
unknown in the Atlantic.
TURRITELLA, Lam.
1. Turritella altilira, Pl. V, fig. 19. Subulate, carinated; volutions with 2 distant, elevated,
revolving, crenulated ribs, interstices with revolving lines ; body volution bicarinated at the
angle.
Locality.-Gatun.-Dr. Newberry.
2. Turritella Gatunensis, Pl. V, fig. 20. Subulate; volutions each with 2 slightly concave
spaces; body volution ventricose, much larger than the penultimate, having about 20 revolving
lines, 7 or 8 of which are on the base, which is flattened ; 3 lines on the body volution larger
than the others, the 2 lower ones remote.
Locality.-Occurs with the preceding.
TRITON, Lam.
ONES
An imperfect cast of an unknown species occurs with the preceding.
I have compared the above three univalves with what recent species and figures I have access
to, and cannot identify them; but if they should be representatives of existing shells, they will
doubtless prove to be inhabitants of the Pacific coast, of the Isthmus, or of South America.
CYTHEREA ? Lam.
Cytherea? (Meretrix) Dariena? Pl. V, fig. 21. Meretrix Dariena, Con. Desc. of Foss. and
Shells collected in Cal., by Wm. P. Blake, p. 18. I have referred this shell to Cytherea, as it
is probable that Venus meretrix may prove the type of a genus distinct from Cytherea.
TAMIOSOMA, Conrad.
O
An elongated tube, apparently entire, porous and cellular throughout its substance; interior
filled with numerous irregularly-disposed vaulted cells connected by longitudinal slender
tubes, funnel-shaped beneath ; aperture resembling that of Balanus.
Tamiosoma gregaria, Pl. IV, fig. 18. Subquadrangular, elongated, longitudinally furrowed

U.S.P.R.R.EXP. & SURVEYS-CAL & OREGON
GEOLOGY. PLATE II
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U.S.P. R.R. EXP. & SURVEYS. CAL. & OREGON.
GEOLOGY. PLATE III

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U.S.F.E.F. EXP. & SURVEYS CALS OPEGON
GEOLOGY. PLATE IV
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U.S.P.R.R. EXP. & SURVEYS CALA & OREGON.
GEOLOGY. PLATE V
50
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MOTEUR
20
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25
GEOLOGY_DESCRIPTION OF FOSSILS.
73
and striate, and having fine, undulated, transverse lines ; mouth small, oblique ; upper part of
the tube oblique, deeply indented or Balaniform, and coarsely striated longitudinally. Length
8 inches,
Locality.—Monterey county, California.--A. S. Taylor. Growing in clusters like Balani.
res, indicating separate valves ; cells very thin plates, convex surface downwards.
PANDORA, Lam.
nyex
Pandora bilirata, Pl. V., fig. 25, Conrad.-Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sciences for 1855, vol. vii,
p. 267.
Locality.-Santa Barbara, Cal.
CARDITA, Brug.
Cardita occidentalis, Pl. V., fig. 24, Ib.
DIADORA,
Diadora crucibuliformis, Pl. V., fig. 23, Ib.
Locality.--Santa Barbara, Cal.
10 Y
No. 3.
REPORT UPON AN ANALYTICAL EXAMINATION OF WATER AND MINE-
RALS FROM THE HOT SPRINGS IN DES CHUTES VALLEY.
CONDUCTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PROF. E. N. HORSFORD. *
ANTI
UUI11
LETTER FROM PROF. E. N. HORSFORD.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, May 25, 1857.
SIR: I enclose to you the report of my assistant, Mr. L. M. Dornbach, upon the minerals and
water of the hot siliceous springs of the Des Chutes valley, Oregon, which you placed in my
hands.
I am, very respectfully, yours,
E. N. HORSFORD.
Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engs.
REPORT BY MR. L. M. DORNBACH.
The notes accompanying the specimens are as follows:
• The sample of water is taken from one of a number of thermal springs which give a peculiar
character to a region some miles in extent. The temperature of the water is about 145° Fahr.,
and the basins into which it flows are filled with floating jelly-like masses of silica. A white
incrustation is formed upon all objects lying in the water. The volcanic tufas in the vicinity of
the springs are accurately stratified, horizontal, and nowhere disturbed. The stream and hot
water from the springs have penetrated the strata in all directions, producing complete meta-
morphosis of the different materials of which they are composed, converting the porous pulveru-
lent tufas, by a succession of changes, into a kind of jasper."
The method adopted in the qualitative analysis for the detection of the alkalies was to fuse
one part of the finely pulverized mineral with four parts of a mixture of three parts of carbonate
of baryta and one part chloride of barium. The fused mass was next digested with hydrochloric
acid to decompose the silicate of baryta ; then evaporated to dryness to expel most of the free
acid, treated with water and the silica filtered off. The baryta, with the iron, lime and alumina
was precipitated by adding carbonate of ammonia, the filtrate was then evaporated to dry-
ness, the ammoniacal salts expelled, and the chloride of magnesium converted into insoluble mag-
* Note by Lieut. Abbot.-It is proper to state that Prof. Horsford conducted these analyses in his laboratory, without ex-
pense to the government. The specimens were collected at the most interesting locality upon our route, in a geological
point of view, and the results of the analysis are of great value in illustrating the action of thermal springs.
S
GEOLOGY-RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSES.
75
nesia by ignition. The residue, if any, was treated with hot water, which dissolved the alkaline
chlorides; these were then tested for by the usual methods. Magnesia being absent when
alkalies were found, their quantitative estimation was conducted in the same manner, with the
exception that the baryta was precipitated by adding sulphuric acid in slight excess. From the
filtrate the iron and alumina were precipitated by ammonia and separated, after igniting, weigh-
ing, and redissolving in hydrochloric acid, by caustic potassa. The lime by oxalate of ammonia,
the filtrate evaporated and ignited left the alkalies in the state of sulphates. If the alkalies
were absent the mineral was easily decomposed by digesting for several hours with concentrated
hydrochloric acid, and the different substances separated by the method stated. The water was
estimated by igniting the substance after drying, at 212° Fahr., for forty-eight hours. In de-
termining the specific gravity, coarse fragments of the specimens were put in a specific gravity
flask, partially filled with water, and placed under an exhausted receiver, thus expelling the air
from the porous mass. The temperature at which this determination was made was 15° C,
or 590 Fahr.
In the following arrangement of the results of analysis, all from A to G are friable tufas,
unchanged by action of water; H is a specimen of incrustation, while all the remainder have
been changed more or less by the action of the thermal springs; and, in consequence, have
acquired greater hardness. Both the changed and unchanged have no cleavage, but break into
irregular fragments, having an uneven and hackly fracture.
A has a specific gravity of 2.2505 ; of fine granular structure; color, yellowish, ochreous,
from sesquioxide of iron; with numerous irregular nodules of clear quartz crystals, and quartz
colored by iron and manganese interspersed through the entire mass. No cleavage, breaks into
irregular fragments; fracture uneven, opaque, very soft and friable.
Imero
COMPOSITION.
Si. 54.386, Äl. 20.665, Fe. 9.945.
Ca. 1.894, H. 12.919 = 99.507.
B. Specific gravity, 2.1947; coarsely granular; fracture uneven; color, whitish gray, resem-
bling gray sandstone in appearance very much ; easily crushed.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 80.837, Äl. 6.401, Fe. 4.680.
Ca. .384, H. 6.932 = 99.234.
C. Specific gravity, 1.950; finely granular; color, white; resembles chalk not only in color,
but in fracture and softness.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 84.721, Äl. 1.704, Fe. 4.589.
Ca. 1.009, 8. 7.977 = 100.
D. Specific gravity, 2.2466; coarsely granular; irregular fracture; color, reddish ; resem-
bling specimen B very much in texture and friability, but owing to a larger per cent. of
sesquioxide of iron, it is inore nearly a red sandstone.
·
76
GEOLOGY-RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSES.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 74.758, Äl. 4.517, Fe. 9.152.
E. Specific gravity, 2.2431; structure, granular; color, gray; differs from B only in possessing
a somewhat finer granular structure, and is slightly tinged red by a larger quantity of sesqui-
oxide of iron.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 81.554, Äl. 3.331, Fe. 8.076.
Ca. 1.443, 8. 6.137 = 100.541.
.
F. Specific gravity, 1.970; structure, finely granular; very soft and friable; full of irregular
seams or cracks, along which it breaks readily; color, grayish, with yellowish streaks.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 61.020, Äl. 13.017, Fe. 8.639.
Ca. 1.257, H. 15.292 = 99.215.
G. Specific gravity, 2.000; resembles F in many particulars, and differs from it only in
some small elliptical or spherical portions of half an inch in diameter, perfectly white,
ance; and in containing no yellowish streaks, which exist in F, in consequence of containing a
larger proportion of sesquioxide of iron.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 75.746, Äl. 10.326, Fe. 6.016.
Ca. 1.773, H. 7.339 = 101.2.
H. Specific gravity, 2.2705; granular structure; color, grayish; soft and friable; is a
deposit from the hot springs, which forms incrustations upon objects in the water.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 1.615, Ca, C. 40.623, Na,ỹ. 45.567.
H. and organic matter, 10.623 = 98.398.
The next four, marked b, c, d, and e, have been changed by agency of water; differ from the
unchanged in possessing superior hardness and specific gravity without differing very much in
chemical composition.
b. Specific gravity, 2.2774; coarsely granular structure; compact; color, gray, with a reddish
tint; a complete sandstone.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 81.592, Äl. 4.144, Fe. 5.096.
Ca. 1.627, H. 6.578 = 99.037.
GEOLOGY--RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSES.
77
C. Special gravity, 2.3242; finely granular; hard ; is composed of alternate layers, one of
gray color, the other of pinkish hue; does not cleave along the apparent strata, but has an
irregular fracture.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 80.401, Äl. 3.145, Fe. 4.061.
Ca. 1.365, H. 10.750 = 99.722.
d. Specific gravity, 2.490; extreme change of form; structure compact, even; fracture con-
choidal, smooth ; color, reddish purple; resembles jasper.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 96.507, Äl. and Fe. 1.181, Ča. .987.
Na, trace, H. .546 = 99.507.
e. Specific gravity, 2.2542. Granular, compact; can be broken with the nail. Color,
grayish white.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 80.891, Äl. 12.211, Fe. 1.771.
Ca. 1.181, 8. 3.211 = 99.265.
(and N, contain silicate of soda, and some iron as protoxide, as is shown by
digesting the mineral in fine powder with some hydrochloric acid, and testing with permanga-
nate of potassa.
M. Specific gravity, 2.371. Fracture hackly, coarse. Full of small cavities of a light yellow
color. Color of the mass, greenish gray.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 69.697, Äl. 15.685, Fe. 2.200.
Ca. .332, Na. 10.00, 8. 1.186 = 99.100.
N. Specific gravity, 2.346. In appearance differs from the last only in having the cavities
in the mass larger and colored darker yellow or red by the sesquioxide of iron.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 81.540, Äl. 8.454, Fe. 4.227.
Ca. .684, Na. 4.650, H. 1.184 = 100.739.
The last specimen had a variable composition and appearance. Vitreous opal of a specific
gravity 2.105, slightly streaked yellow, by iron constituting central and principal portions of the
mass. Surrounding the opal was a brownish substance, P, and outside this a greenish mineral, 0.
0. Specific gravity, 2.392. Coarse, brittle structure; hard. Fracture irregular. Color
greenish. Resembles M in all its properties, physical as well as chemical.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 69.455, Äl. 12.313, Fe. 2.205.
Ca. 1.908, Na. 4.667, 8. 9.416 = 99.959.
P. Specific gravity, 2,4819. Hard and brittle. Color brownish.
78
GEOLOGY-RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSES.
COMPOSITION.
Si. 70.430, Äl. 14.680, Fe. 3.047.
Ca. .322, Na. 9.623, H. 1.255 = 99.357.
The silica found in the water exists in combination with an alkaline base ; since upon evapo-
ration the whole of the residuum is again redissolved in water. But if treated with some
strong acid previous to evaporation, one part of silica is obtained in 11,976 parts of water.
From the quantity of alkali found, the silica, which separated very soon upon exposure to the
air, and which floats in the basins, must, at least in part, be in combination with an alkali, as
an alkaline silicate, which the carbonic acid of the atmosphere decomposes, forming an alkaline
carbonate. The result of analysis is as follows:
Specific gravity of water, 1.00085. In 10,000 parts there are 13.82 parts of solid matter,
not considering the excess of carbonic acid which is expelled during evaporation.
COMPOSITION OF SOLID MATTER.
K. .218, Na. 6.574, Ca. .129, Mg. .088.
Si. .835, Fe. trace, Cl. 2.442, Č. 4.266.
S. 1.099 = 15.651.
The following arrangement may represent the presumed combinations as they exist in solution :
Water ------
Chloride of potassium ---
Chloride of sodium...
Chloride of magnesium
Sulphate of lime.....
Sulphate of soda .-
Silicate of soda....
Carbonate of soda....
Free carbonic acid.
9984.856
.343
3.501
.209
.313
1.624
1.407
5.916
1.831
10000.000
The carbonic acid which I have represented as free evidently exists in combination with bases
forming bicarbonates.
No. 4.
CATALOGUE OF THE MINERALS AND FOSSILS COLLECTED ON THE
. SURVEY.
Name.
Locality.
de
-do......
ce
do------
Red jasper..
Benicia, California.......
2 Sandstone
....do...-----do........
3 ----do.--.--.
San Francisco, California.
|----do........
Santa Barbara, California. -----
1.-..do..---
San Pablo bay, California.
Volcanic tufa....
-.-.do.--.-.-.do......
7 Volcanic conglomerate.
--..do........do...---..
8 ...do...--...do.......
9 --..do..---...do........
Scoria in conglomerate
---.do......
Blue limestone .....
----do-------do.....
Calcareous tufa
Near Benicia.--.-.....
Tufaceous trap
Hills west of Suisun bay....
--..do.........
....do...--...do... .....
Granite..........
Near Sonoma, California...----
Cellular trap
Near Fort Reading..
17 ----do..nonen
Pit river, lower cañon.....
18 .--.do..
Pit river, upper cañon...
Alumina-silicious marl, pure white ..
Pit river, lower cañon
----do------..do.----- brown ....-
----do--------do--------------
----do.--.--.-do..----- pure white ----
Pit river, above upper cañon ....
22 | Green sandstone.com
20 miles above upper cañon, Pit river.
23 Trachyte, containing crystals of hornblende and glassy felspar.....-
Lasson's butte, California...
----do----decomposing into felspathic sand, reflecting the sun like snow---
Sandstone, cream colored and friable, forming bluffs capped with trap. Shores of Rhett lake.------
Alumina-silicious marl, pure white .....
Plain about Lower Klamath lako....
Scoria in sandstone (25).........
Natural Bridge, Lost river, 0. T..
28 Pumice, coarse ...,
Lassen's butte, California.......
Epidote, with crystals of hornblende.
Upper Pit river, California.
Gray syenite ------
Upper Pit river.
Gray porphyry.........
Greenstone --------
.-.-do....a
Massive quartz, with epidote
..---..do.----
34 Black obsidian, in balls.......
--------do..
35 | Pumice, from Pumice plain.....
.... North of Upper Klamath lake.....
GEOLOGY-CATALOGUE OF MINERALS, ETC.
CATALOGUE—Continued.
Name.
Locality.
cond
-
a
-
-
-
.
.
36 Obsidian and pumice, in same mass ......
37 |--..do.-------do-----------...
Obsidian, columnar ------
Black basalt, with zeolites
Amygdaloid, with zeolites --------
41 ----do.... ...do..
Black basalt, with olivine and mesotype
Scoria, blood-red....
44 -..-do...
Metamorphic slate .--..
Scoria, from melting of last.
17 Dark green basalt..
Pitch stone..........
Scoria, red.......
Scoria, black ------
Vesicular trap------
52 --. do...-
63 Quartz -
54 Pitch stone.
Infusorial deposit...
56 ----do..
67 --..do.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Crater pass, Cascade mountains, O. T.
--------do------..do--------do--------
...do........do......
----do...----do--------do---
Upper Pit river ----
Crater pass
-------do..-----
.-.-.do. -------
Hill in Des Chutes basin.....
Cascade mountains, latitude 440
---.do.------.do.-------do..
Crater pass, 0. T...
Upper Pit river-----
Mount Hood, O. T...
-----do......
....do....--
Upper Pit river.....
Mount Hood, 0. T.-.-.-.-.
Upper Des Chutes river, 0. T.
Pit river, above upper cañon.
Monterey, California.----
---.do.......-do----------
San Francisco, California.
Sonoma...
Monterey..
Pit river, lower cañon....
----do........do..........
Pit river, above lower cañon..---
20 miles above upper cañon -----
Shores of Rhett lake......
Nee-nee Springs, Des Chutes basin.
Lost river, 0. T..
Lower Klamath lake.
1
-do....
----do..
o
.
..
...do...
|--..do...-..
....do.......
Alkaline efflorescence
Red earth....
Infusorial earth.-----
68 ----do----
Deposit from waters of Klamath lake.
Infusorial deposit....
71 ----do.
---.do...--
73 -...do..
----do...
.-.-do..---
76 -...do.
77 ----do......
78 -...do.
Infusorial mud, later.
Volcanic ashes ------
81 Silicified wood
82 ----do............
Mpto-ly-as river, 0. T...
------do........do..........
----do.--.--.-do-------
Banks of Psuc-see-que creek, 0. T...
....do.-.-.-..do..------do--------
-...do...---..do...-...-do.......
----do........do...-----
---.do--------do...--..
Hills near Dalles, 0. T.....
Cascade mountains, 0. T.
Mount Hood, O. T. .----...
Petaluma, California
Upper Pit river, California....
GEOLOGY-CATALOGUE OF MINERALS, ETC.
CATALOGUE—Continued.
Name.
Locality.
83 Silicified wood ------------
84 ----do.---...
Silicified wood, decayed before fossilization -
----do...-
---.do -------
----do--------
----do----...
Silicified wood (partially fossilized)---
----do--------do...-..--do-------
----do--------do..------do......
Upper Pit river, California ...
----do-----...do.------
---.do.------.do...--..
Cascades of Columbia
.do-------do----
.do.-------do...
8
Silicified wood (wholly silicified).
do--------
95
961
-do--------do.--------
----do.-------do--------do ----
97 ----do.-.---.do.-------do--
.do..------ do.-------do----
...do.-------do
...do.-----..do.
-----do-.-.-.-.do.
---do........do..
-do------
;
-do....
;
101
-do------
;
102
;
103
;
..do.------do---------
...do--------do.........
Shoal Water bay, W. T.
... do......do......
--do-------.do..
do.------
105
107
108
100
.do-------.do..
-do..-----
110
-------
.do.------
.do...--.-do....
---.do.-------do
Columbia river
-
-
-
-
-
-
.
.
115
116
----do....
|----do--------
111 Lignite ---
112 ----do.
113 Wood unchanged, lignite beds..
114 Cone, (Abies Menziesii ?).......
Wood of sunken forest -------
Wood of Abies Douglassii (recent).
Wood of Abies Douglassii (fossil)-----
118
119 ---.do.-------
Coal ..-------
121 ....do.
Fossil limestone overlying last......
Coal
----do---...
117
120
Santa Clara, California
----do-------.do..
123
124
125
126
Coose bay, O. T. ......
...do........do...
...do........do..
Clalam bay, W. T.
....do.--.--.-do......
Cape Flattery, W. T. ----
........do........do.......
-...do...
.do-------
---.do-----
129 ----do...----
127
128
11 Y
GEOLOGY-CATALOGUE OF MINERALS, ETC,
CATALOGUE—Continued.
Name.
Locality.
130 Coal........
131 ----do-------
132...do.....
1
Bellingham bay, W. T..
------.do..------do...----
Vancouver's island.
----do--------do----
Lota mine, Chile.--
Sydney, Australia
133
134
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
135
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Upper Pit river
----do.....
140
--- ----do--------
145
...---.do.---
----do---------
---do------....
136 Fossil plants.
137 ----do...
138 Obsidian, black..
139 |----do...--------
| Obsidian, brown.
141 ----do---------
142 ----do--------
143 Obsidian, striped ...
144 ----do -----
Obsidian, translucent
146 ----do---------
147 | Obsidian, gray ---
148 Agate ---
!....do...-----
| Chalcedony --------
Volcanic tufa -----
152 ----do.--.do.-pink.
----do----do.-blue-...
---.do.--.do..brown...
----do----do--yellow----
156 ----do------
Tufaccous conglomerate ------
158 Volcanic tufa
159 ---. do-------
149
15
15
159
---do..---
...do.
Mpto-ly-as river, 0. T.
Psuc-see-que creek, 0. T....
----do--------do.....
....do...--...do..--
...do.-.-.--.do.
do....
Jo...do...-.do.....
15
155
157
.
.
.
160
161
----do...
do.....
-do.....
162
163
164
16.
166 ----do..
16
168
do....
169
----do......
---do..---
170
173
171
172
----do....
---do.------
----do.......
175
Metamorphosed tufa
---do.----..do.......
.....do........do...
174
do.-------
do-------
--do--------do....
--do--------do------
Hot Spring valley, 0. T..
...do........do...
pr-.l....do.......do......
GEOLOGY-CATALOGUE OF MINERALS, ETC.
83
CATALOGUE—Continued.
-
---
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
----
--
-
---
-
-
--
-
-
..
-
-
-
-
No.
Name.
Hot Spring valley, 0. T.
--------.do--------do--------
-... do........do.....
178 | Metamorphosed tufa.----
179 ---. do--------do--------
180 ----do-------do....
181 ---.do.------do....
....do.-------do...
183 -...do..
182
„do.------
---
-
.do--------
185
-do--------
.do-----
.do. ------
187
_do.......
doccn.
....do.----
186 ----do.....
----do----
188 Pitch stone.
189 ----do.------
190 Quartz, geode
191 ...do.-------
--..do..------
Metamorphosed tufa.
194 Chalcedony --------
---.do.------
----do----
192
193
-------do--------do....
----do--------do......
Willow Springs, O. T.
Hot Spring valley..
----do-------.do...--
----do--------do...
-do-------
.do...
195
196
...do...---
198
0
---....
199
----do----
-do...
200
---do..------do...
do--------do...
------
207
208
----do--------do...
.do.-------do--
----do-------.do..----
---.do.-------do------
Hot Springs, Des Chutes basin
---.do.-.-.--.do.-----
|---.do.-------do.....
-do...
---do--------do
209
-----------
----do.----
----do-----
201 ----do------
202 ----do---------
203 Quartz, geode
204 |----do.--------
205 Chalcedony -----
206 |----do-------
Chalcedony, coated with green silicate of iron
Green jasper -
Onyx.--....
210 ----do.
211 -...do........
Pitch stone-----
Black basalt.
Onyx.------
|---.do.......
216 ----do....
Opal.......
218 -...do.....
219 ----do....
Agate
----do---
----do.. --
Agate.------
224 ----do-----
225 !....do......
...do.....
213
t.
14
215
----doc-
217
|---do--------do----
Hot Spring valley, 0. C..
--------.do....---.do........
-----.do....--..do...---
----do...---..do.....
Cascades of Columbia ....
---------do....---.do.......
.. ...do........do...-....
223
GEOLOGY-CATALOGUE OF MINERALS, ETC.
CATALOGUE—Continued.
Name.
Locality.
Hot Springs.--
---.do.-----
-
---..-.--
.-
..-.
do........
229
234
236
...do-------
Mount Hood, O. T.
Hot Springs....
----do--------
---.do....----
----do--------
Upper Pit river.
----do-----
241
...
.
226 | Silicious concretions ...
227 | Silicified wood...
228 Pitch stone.cc
---.do.-------
230 ---do--------
231 Chalcedony-----
232 Silicate iron..----
233 Horn stone--------
Radiated quartz ----
235 Silicious conglomerate
Silicious sinter --
237 |----do..---..
238 |--..do --------
239 ---.do........
240 Granite boulder....
----do......
242 Porphyry-...
241 Trap------
242 ----do----
243 ----do....
244 Jasper
215 Obsidian.
246 ----do....
247
248
249 ----do..
250 ....do.
251 | Saline efflorescence..
Ked jasper...
253 ----do........
254 | Carnelian...
255 |--..do...---
256 | Agates--------
257 -...do........
258 Silicious stalactite ------
259 Silicious casts of shells
260 ....do...-----do...
261 |--..do.-.--.-.do...
262 | Ochery sandstone..
263 ----do.....
264 | Auriferous sand.----
265. Tooth of fossil horse.
266 Fossil plant..
----do------
268 |----do......
269 ...do
|--..do......
272 ----do.......
273 | Malea ringens, (figured).....
274 | Turritella altilira. Con..--
275 -...do... Gatunensis. Con.----
276 Triton.
277 | Cytherea, (Meretrix Dariena.) Con..
--.do.....
----do...------------
Des Chutes basin, 0. T.
Shoalwater bay, W.T.
----do..---...do.....
252
-
-
-
....
do-----
ܝܝܫܫ
---do....
267
---.do........do....
----do-.-.-..-do.....
Bellingham bay, W. T.
----do.------.do.......
----do...-----do-----
do.--.--..do.---
... do ...-.--.do.-----
.do-------.do....
Isthmus of Darien.
do.---.--.do.....
do........do.----
do -------do....
do-------.do...
GEOLOGY-CATALOGUE OF MINERALS, ETC.
85
CATALOGUE~Continued.
No.
Name.
Locality.
285
289
278 Pandora bilirata. Co....
279 Cardita occidentalis. Con ...
280 Diadora crucibuliformis. Con...
281 | Dosinia alta. Con.....
282 Pallium estrellanum. Con..
283 Janira bella. Con.......
284 Arca trilineata. Con....
Arca congesta. Con.----
286 | Axinea Barbarensis. Con....
287 Mulina densata. Con ----
Dosinia longula. Con....
290 Schizopyga Californiana.
291 Cryptomya ovalis. Con.
292 Thracia mactropsis. Con.
293 | Mya Montereyana. Con....
294 | Mya subsinuata. Con....
295 Arcopagia medialis. Con.
296 Tapes linteatum. Con...
296 Arca canalis. Con...
297 Pecten Pabloensis. Con...
298 ! Nucula......
299 Mactra........
300 Tellina-----
Santa Barbara, California..
-------do...-----do-------
----do.--.---.do..-----
Monterey, California....
Estrella valley, California
Santa Barbara, California-
----do--------do.-.-.-.
----do-----...do......
....do-.---.do....
----do.--.--.-do....
Monterey, California...
Santa Clara, California
Monterey, California..
....do...-----do----
----do-------.do....
do.-------do---
do......
-----do-------.do.
|----do...--.-.do.
Con.
C
San Pablo bay....
----do......
do...
...do......
P A Ꭱ Ꭲ II .
1 Ꮓ
EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS FOR A RAILROAD ROUTE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
WAR DEPARTMENT.
ROUTES IN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON EXPLORED BY LIEUT. R. S. WILLIAMSON, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL
ENGINEERS, AND LIEUT. HENRY L. ABBOT, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, IN 1855.
BOTANICAL REPORT,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
1857.
CONTENTS.
No. 1.
REPORT UPON THE BOTANY OF THE ROUTE.
BY J. S. NEWBERRY, M. D.,
GEOLOGIST AND BOTANIST OF THE EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER I.
Geographical botany.
Influences affecting the botanical character of the region between San Francisco and the Columbia.---Laws controlling the
distribution of species at present not understood.-Novelty of the botanical character of this region.-Variety of annual
plants..Small number of trees. Preponderance of coniferæ. Climate.-Geological structure.-Local botany.-Coast
mountains.--Climate.-Causes affecting it. Vegetation. Forests. Shrubs.--Ferns and mosses.-Sacramento valley.--Cli-
mate, character of seasons. Vegetation, its annual character.--Timber belts.-Local botany.-Wild oat.--Oak groves.--
Shrubs.-Tulé.--Character of soil.Timber belts and thickets along the river banks. --Botany of Sierra Nevada.--Its unity
of character.--Forests.---Local botany.-Zones of vegetation.-Annual plants. -Botany of the district east of the Sierra
Nevada and the Cascades.-Uniformity of vegetation.-Sage plains.--Yellow pine forests.---Local botany.-Bunch grass.
Annual plants.—Botany of shores of Klamath lake. --Botany of the Des Chutes basin.-Botany of the Cascade mountains.--
Belts of vegetation.-Forests of Willamette valley.
CHAPTER II.
Description of the forest trees of northern California and Oregon.
No. 2.
GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE PLANTS COLLECTED ON THE
EXPEDITION.
I. EXOGENOUS PLANTS, BY ASA GRAY, JOHN TORREY, AND J. S. NEWBERRY.
II. ENDOGENOUS PLANTS, BY JOHN TORREY.
III. MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS, BY W. S. SULLIVANT.
IV. LICHENS, BY EDWARD TUCKERMAN.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
LITHOGRAPHS.
tage.
46
63
54
PLATE 1. Quercus Hindsii .............
II. Platanus racemosa
III. Arctostaphylos glauca, “Manzanita"
IV. Pinus ponderosa....
V. Pinus contorta...
VI. Picea grandis.....
VII. Abies Williamsonii -
VIII. Abies Douglassii.-...
IX. Abies Menziesii ......
X. Juniperus occidentalis
XI. Ivesia gracilis -------
XII. Hulsea nana.............
XIII. Hemitomes congestum.....
XIV. Pentstemon Newberryi......
XV. Emmenanthe parviflora ...
XVI. Gentiana simplex.---
69
94
94
94
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
•
.
.
.
.
•
-
-
94
WOOD CUTS.
26
392
18
Tacem
Oba.........
33
.........-----
--...-.-.-
.-.-
.
Figure 1. Æsculus Californica ..
2. Arbutus Menziesii....
3. Oreodaphne Californica..
4. Castanea chrysophylla...
5. Quercus fulvescens
6. Quercus Kelloggi.....
7. Quercus Hindsii...-
8. Quercus densiflora..
9. Quercus agrifolia ...
10. Platanus racemosa..
11. Pinus contorta..
12. Pinus ponderosa..
13. Pinus Sabiniana......
14. Pinus Lambertiana...
15. Pinus combroides.....
16. Picea grandis...
17. Picea nobilis..
18. Picea amabilis.......
19. Abies Williamsoni...
20. Abies Douglassii....
21. Abies Menziesii......
62
6%
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
67
-
.
-
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-
.
-.
-.
-
.
-.
-
.
-
.-
.
-
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
..
..
.
..
.
.
.
..
..
.
.
.
.
-
-
-
.
.
-
.
58
C
FIGURE 22. Thuya gigantea.---------
23. Sequoia sempervirens.---...
24. Larix occidentalis...
25. Leaves, cone, and scale of do....
26. Taxus brevifolia....
27. Torreya Californica ------
28. Cupressus Nutkatensis....
No. 1.
REPORT UPON THE BOTANY OF THE ROUTE.
BY JOHN S. NEWBERRY, M.D.,
BOTANIST OF TIIE EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER I.
GEOGRAPHICAL BOTANY.
INFLUENCES AFFECTING THE BOTANICAL CHARACTER OF THE REGION BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO AND THE COLUMBIA. LAWS CONTROLLING THE
DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES AT PRESENT NOT UNDERSTOOD.-NOVELTY OF BOTANICAL CHARACTER OF THIS REGION.-VARIETY OF AX-
NUAL PLANTS.--SMALL NUMBER OF TREES.--PREPONDERANCE OF CONIFERÆ.-CLIMATE.--GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.- LOCAL BOTANY.
Coast MOUNTAINS.—CLIMATE.--CAUSES AFFECTING IT.— VEGETATION.— FORESTS.-SARUBS.— FERNS AND MOSSEB.—SACRAMENTO
VALLEY.-CLIMATE, CHARACTER OF SEASONS.--VEGETATION.-ITS ANNUAL CHARACTER.-TIMBER BELTS.- LOCAL BOTANY.— WILD
OAT.-OAK GROVES.-SHRUBS.-TULE.—CHARACTER OF SOIL.-TIMBER BELTS AND THICKETS ALONG THE RIVER BANKS-BOTANY OF
SIERRA NEVADA. ITS UNITY OF CHARACTER.–FORESTS.---LOCAL BOTANY.--ZONES OF VEGETATION.—ANNUAL PLANTS.-BOTANY
OF THE DISTRICT EAST OF SIERRA NEVADA AND THE CASCADES.--UNIFORMITY OF VEGETATION.- SAGE PLAINS.-YELLOW PINB
FORESTS.- LOCAL BOTANY.-BUNCH GRASS.--ANNUAL PLANTS.--BOTANY OF KLAMATA LAKE.--BOTANY OF THE DES CHUTES BASIN.--
BOTANY OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.-BELTS OF VEGETATION. FORESTS OF WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
The influences which have given character to the flora of the region lying between San
Francisco and the Columbia, both as regards its botanical relations and the distribution of the
plants which compose it, as in other countries, have been connected with its geological struc-
ture, its topographical features, and its climate.
To these causes, which are very appreciable in their action, and which have produced by far
the most striking phenomena presented by the vegetation of the west, another should be added,
that which has controlled the radiation of species from their original centers of creation.
The operation of this latter cause, though perhaps not less real, is far more obscure,
requiring for its analysis an array of facts much greater than has yet been collected. This has,
therefore, been entirely neglected, except in the few instances where plants are common to both
sides of the continent, and an effort has been made to connect their eastern and western habi-
tats. When the botany of the west shall come to be known far better than at present, we may
expect that the physiological laws which have controlled the distribution of plants may be
studied with equal profit with the more material influences of which I have spoken.
At present any hypotheses in reference to them, however plausible they may appear, must
necessarily involve so much uncertainty, that they should be regarded as speculations rather
than generalizations of fact. And in the future, by whomsoever theories on this subject may
be suggested, and whatever weight or personal influence may be thrown into the scale, that
2 Z
10
BOTANY.
personal influence must be carefully eliminated, and the facts permitted to stand isolated and
independent, until, without compulsion, they shall crystallize into truths.
The botanist going from the valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific coast, will be immediately
struck by certain general differences which he will perceive to exist between the vegetation of
the region he has left and that to which he has coine. The first feature in the aspect of the
botany of the west, which he will be likely to notice, is the paucity of arborescent and the
variety of annual plants.
The forests he finds restricted, for the most part, to the sea coast and the mountain sides, and
exhibiting a great preponderance of coniferous over dicotyledonous trees. The forms of vegeta-
tion by which he is surrounded in these forests are among the most magnificent which the
world affords, and nearly all are new to him. He may traverse the country for weeks, perhaps
months, before he meets with a tree with which he has been familiar on the eastern side of the
continent, and when he finds such an one, it exhibits a growth and appearance so different from
that of the same tree at the east as to be not immediately recognized. The number of forest
trees, exclusive of shrubs, found growing north of San Francisco and south of the Columbia,
does not, probably, exceed fifty. These are distributed among the following genera: Pinus, 8;
Abies, 5; Picea, 3; Sequoia, 2; Cupressus, 2; Thuja, 1; Libocedrus, 1; Larix, 1; Taxus, 1;
Torreya, 1 ; Quercus, 5; Populus, 3; Salix, 5; Fraxinus, 2; Acer, 2; Alnus, 1; Cornus, 1;
Platanus, 1; Castanea, 1; Æsculus, 1; Arbutus, 1 ; Oreodaphne, 1. Both in numbers of
individuals and in size, the coniferæ, as has been mentioned, greatly preponderating. The
annual vegetation which covers the prairie country of the valleys also presents an assemblage of
forms quite new to the eastern botanist, and among them he will not fail to notice a greater
relative number of liliaceous plants than in any part of the eastern States. The different
mountain ranges he finds covered with vegetation which exhibits marked differences, and the
areas which lie between and eastward of the coast ranges and Sierra Nevada, have each a
flora so far peculiar to itself as to permit of its study in a degree apart from the others.
In order to trace the connection which exists between the physical geography of the region
under consideration and the character and distribution of the plants which cover its surface, a
general idea of the topography,* the climate, and geological structure of the different districts
which it includes, is necessary.
Climate. As is generally known, the climate of the Pacific coast, as compared with that
of the Atlantic and the valley of the Mississippi, is much more equable, presenting no such
extremes of heat or cold as that of the east, while the isothermal lines, when traced westward,
are deflected to the north, striking the Pacific coast several degrees higher than the points
where they pass that of the Atlantic. This seems to be due, in a great degree, to the influence
of the prevalent westerly winds, which, constantly blowing in from the Pacific, assume the
uniformity of temperature of the surface over which they pass. In the valleys of California the
seasons are divided into wet and dry, rather than into cold and hot, while on the mountains
snow falls to a considerable depth, and the severity of winter is proportioned to the altitude of
the locality and its distance from the ocean. The summer temperature varies greatly in
different localities, being extreme in the valleys of the interior, while in the mountains and on
the coast a degree of heat is never suffered which is at all oppressive.
The annual precipitation of moisture exhibits even greater local variation than the tem-
1
o Note by Lieut. Abbot ---This subject is fully treated in Chapter I of the General Report.
BOTANY.
11
perature, being greatest toward the coast and northward, less on the southern than northern
coast, and least in the interior.
Geological structure. --The geology of that portion of California and Oregon under considera-
tion has been given somewhat in detail in the accompanying geological report. It will, therefore,
not be necessary to repeat what has already been said upon the subject. The general charac-
teristics of the geology of this region may, however, be said to consist in the great prevalence
of comparatively recent volcanic rocks, and of a soil derived from their decomposition, in all
the mountain ranges. In the valleys, and on the flanks of the coast mountains, tertiary strata,
generally of sandstones, constitute the sub-structure, and give character to the soil. As com-
pared with the valley of the Mississippi, and the more northern of the eastern States, the Pacific
coast is much more recent, the greater part of it having emerged from the ocean since the middle
of the tertiary period.
LOCAL BOTANY.
COAST MOUNTAINS.
Climate. The climate of the immediate shore of the Pacific is quite unlike that of the interior,
a difference dependent upon its proximity to the evaporating surface of the ocean, the ocean
currents, and the prevalent winds. It is much more uniform, cooler, and more moist. The
uniformity of temperature which it exhibits is due, unquestionably, to the equalizing influence
of the nearly constant temperature of the wide expanse of open sea which lies adjacent to it,
and over which the winds blow inland, almost without intermission, throughout the year.
These winds, which are loaded with moisture, in summer usually blow from the northwest or
west; in winter, from the southwest or west. The temperature upon the coast scarcely ever
rises to what is called summer heat, and is never so high as to render other than woollen clothing
comfortable. From observations* made at San Francisco, Fort Humboldt, and Fort Orford-
localities which may be supposed to present fair samples of the climate of the coast--we find
that the average temperature for the year, taking the mean of the observations of several years,
is, for San Francisco, 54º.88; for Fort Humboldt, 52°.80, and, for Fort Orford, 530.62. At
San Francisco, the mean temperature for January being 490.60; for July, 570.90. At Fort
Humboldt, for January, in 1854, 40°.83; for July, 569.71. At Fort Orford, for January,
480.38 ; for July, 590.73. The low summer temperature of the Pacific coast of the North
American continent, like that of the Atlantic, seems to be due to the Arctic ocean current,
which constantly sweeps it. The amount of rain falling at the same points, as indicated by the
same tables, is, at San Francisco, 23.59 inches ; at Fort Orford, 68.52.
Vegetation.—The coast mountains, throughout nearly the entire distance from San Francisco
to the mouth of the Columbia, are covered by a continuous forest, which is more dense towards
the north. Immediately north of San Francisco the forest is composed almost exclusively of the
red-wood, (Sequoia sempervirens,) and is limited to the valleys, especially such as open towards
the coast. Going northward the trees become more numerous, and with the red-wood are found
the sugar and yellow pine, (P. Lambertiana and P. ponderosa.) In the vicinity of Crescent City
these trees combine to form one of the most magnificent forests in the world—the red-wood and
the sugar pine attaining nearly equal gigantic dimensions; trees of both species being not
uncommon 12 to 15 feet in diameter, and 300 in height. Near the line of 42° a marked change
is noticed in the trees which constitute the forest, which is even, perhaps, more dense than
Medical Statistics U. 8. A.
12
BOTANY.
below. This is the northern limit of the red-wood. Thence northward, it is succeeded by the
western white cedar, Thuja gigantea—Douglas' & Menzies' spruces; and these form the dense
and almost impenetrable coating of vegetation which covers the coast mountains from Port
Orford to the Columbia-Douglas' spruce here attaining its greatest dimensions, fully equalling
those of the red-wood and sugar pine.
In the valleys of the Umpqua and other rivers, which discharge themselves into the ocean,
Quercus garryana grows in groups and as solitary trees, in the open grounds. It attains a
diameter of from 2 to 3 feet, and assumes the low and spreading form common to the oaks of
the valleys of California and Oregon.
The undergrowth of the coast mountains is composed of so large a number of plants as to
forbid their enumeration. Near San Francisco the shrubby undergrowth is made up, in a
great degree, of the “ wild lilac,” (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus,) Ceanothus rigidus, and the bush
lupine, (Lupinus macrocarpus.) About Port Orford, and thence northward, the salmon
berry” (Rubus spectabilis) is a conspicuous feature in the vegetation. It here grows to the
height, sometimes, of six or eight feet, and bears a profusion of fruit, which is very attractive
in appearance, and sometimes of excellent flavor. Thickets of Rhododendron maximum are of
common occurrence, and by their stiff and tangled branches frequently form a serious obstacle
to the progress of the traveller. Towards the Columbia, thickets, similar in appearance and
character, are formed by Ceanothus velutinus. In the spruce forest, where not so dense as to ex-
clude all undergrowth, the ground is covered with a carpet of the “salal” (Gaultheria shallon)
and the Oregon grape, (Berberis pinnata.) Ferns and mosses grow in great abundance in some
localities, furnishing very good indices of the moisture of the climate. Among the ferns, Aspi-
dium munitum is the handsomest, Pteris aquilina the most abundant. Where the forest has
been burned off, this last mentioned fern takes exclusive possession of the surface, and grows so
dense and tall as to make the passage through it painful, even for one on horseback. In the
transverse chains of mountains which run back from the coast to Mount Pitt and Mount Shasta,
Pinus Lambertiana, Pinus ponderosa and contorta, Picea grandis, and, perhaps Picea amabilis,
reach down nearly to the seashore.
.
0
SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
UT
The geological structure of the Sacramento valley, with the characteristics of its soil, are
given at some length in the second chapter of the accompanying geological report.
Climate.—The climate of the Sacramento valley affords a marked contrast to that of the coast.
While the temperature in winter is never so low but that the grass is constantly green, and
flowers, in the southern portions, perpetually in bloom, in summer the heat is intense to a de-
gree never experienced in any portion of the eastern States.
The rain-bearing winds from the ocean during this season are either entirely excluded by the
wall which bounds the valley on the west, or pass over to the Sierra Nevada, depositing none of
their moisture. From May to November rain almost never falls, and neither clouds nor mist
are seen during the greater part of that time. The effect of the sun's rays, beating down with-
out obstruction into this enclosed area, is to elevate the temperature of the air frequently to
1120_115° Fah. in the shade, and to dry up and parch the surface to such an extent that the
growth of annual plants is arrested as completely as by the snows and frosts of the winter of the
northern Atlantic States. With the return of the autumnal rainy season vegetative life is
BOTANY.
13
again called into vigorous action, and the country, which a few weeks before was a desert, is
now transformed into a flower garden.
Vegetation.—The peculiar climate which I have described has given to the Sacramento a
vegetation very different from the district last considered. During the winter and spring the
ground is saturated with moisture, and is everywhere covered with a dense growth of herbaceous
plants.
After the month of May, however, the process of evaporation succeeds that of deposition,
and by July the soil is dry and deeply cracked by the sun. The causes above enumerated have
doubtless been most efficient in giving the Sacramento valley its broad expanses of prairie, and
limiting the trees to a narrow belt bordering the streams; these timber belts being also governed
as to their width and density by the magnitude of the streams which they follow, and the
quantity of moisture derived from them, absorbed by their roots from the earth, or by their
leaves from the air. Another feature of the climate of the Sacramento valley, common, also,
to all the interior of California and Oregon, has had its effect in determining the character of the
vegetation. From the fact, already mentioned, of the entire absence, during summer, of clouds
or mist, the sun's rays are not only permitted to fall with extreme power upon the surface
during the day, but the moment the heat ceases to be received from the sun it is radiated into
space with equal facility, and, as a consequence, the nights are always cool—the mercury falling
from above 1000 to 750–70° Fahr. during the night. The result of all these influences is, that
the vegetation covering the greater part of the surface of the valley is not only annual in
character, but runs through all its changes during the winter and spring; most of the plants
having formed, and many of them cast, their seed before the 1st of July. Hence many of the
wild and cultivated plants which occupy in their growth the whole of the tropical summer of
the eastern States would not flourish here. Of this class, the Indian corn may be regarded as
a typical example. We may here find the reason why its cultivation in California has been but
partially successful.
LOCAL BOTANY.
The immense area in central and southern California, including the greater part of the Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin valleys, as well as those portions of the coast mountains not occupied
by forests, is covered with an almost uninterrupted growth of wild oat, (Avena fatua.) This
plant is regarded by our best botanists as an importation from the Old World, and yet very few
of those who see it as it grows in California can be made to believe that it was introduced by
the early Spanish settlers, and is only naturalized, not indigenous. It now covers surfaces of
many hundreds of miles in extent, both hill and plain, as completely as the grasses cover the
prairies of Illinois. In early summer the districts where this plant prevails have all the
appearance of being under high cultivation. The oat resembles very closely that cultivated at
home, and frequently stands as thick on the ground as the grain in our fields. The hills
and mountain sides bordering the bays of San Francisco and San Pablo are generally covered
with the wild oat, and are destitute of trees, except that here and there, in the ravines and on
the more broken surfaces, are a few grouped or scattered evergreen oaks, laurels, and buckeyes.
Of these, the oaks (Quercus agrifolia) are low and spreading, having much the appearance of
the apple trees in our orchards, and, combined with the wild oat, give to the country a civilized
and cultivated aspect. On the low lands, bordering the bays I have mentioned, a great variety
of flowering annuals find a place, and on the richer slopes of the hills dispute possession with
SY
14
BOTANY.
the wild oat.
These plants give the gay and varied appearance to the botany of the region,
In the valleys of Napa and Sonoma the climate is intermediate in character between that of
the coast and the interior, the extremes of each being tempered to produce a mean in the highest
degree healthful, agreeable, and favorable to the development of vegetation. Here we find,
besides a great profusion of annual plants, the California white oak, (Q. Hindsii,) which grows
solitary or grouped in the manner of the evergreen oak, but attaining a much greater size.
Here also, for the first time, we met with the nut pine, (P. sabiniana,) a tree highly character-
istic of the flora of the interior, and generally distributed through the coast mountains back from
the ocean. The Manzanita and several species of Ceanothus form shrubby clumps and thickets.
Here, as elsewhere in this region, the lupins, one of which (L. macrocarpus) is shrubby, form a
marked feature in the vegetation. About Benicia, the rounded hills are everywhere covered
with wild oats, and no trees are visible except the evergreen oak, which forms low and limited
groves in the ravines among the hills and on the slopes of Mount Diablo. The shores of
Suisun bay, as well as the borders of the lower Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, exhibit
wide expanses of tule, (Scirpus lacustris,) which forms in its abundance a striking peculiarity of
prevalence of this plant are, however, probably to be found in the imperfect drainage of much
of the surface, rather than in any peculiarities of soil or climate. The low lands bordering the
VI
chalagua (Erythrea Muhlenbergii.) The botany of Suisun valley exhibits many of the charac-
teristics of that of the valleys of Napa and Sonoma. The soil, which is, for the most part,
derived from the decomposition of sandstone rock, was originally covered with the wild oat,
which here grows in great luxuriance, and with beautiful trees of the Californian white oak,
(Quercus Hindsii.) A large part of the surface is now under cultivation, and at the time we
traversed it was covered with wheat just ready for the reaper. It exhibited a vigorous growth,
and, as I was informed by the farmers, produced from 25 to 50 bushels to the acre; the yield
being greatly affected by the degree in which the great want of the region, that of water, was
supplied.
At Vacaville we left the foot hills of the coast mountains, traversing the valley of the Sacra-
mento diagonally to the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada, near the upper end of the valley. The
rolling surface of the foot hills, on either side of the Sacramento, is covered with wild oat,
scattered trees of the oaks I have mentioned, and, in the more rocky places, the nut pine. The
plain bordering the river exhibits surfaces of different characters, and covered with differing
vegetation. The upper terrace is frequently gravelly, and sustains a sparse growth of coarse
grasses, of Eryngium, Hemizonia, Madaria, and other rough or viscous plants; such surfaces
being comparatively sterile and of little value for cultivation. The alluvial plain immediately
bordering the river possesses a fine and fertile soil, and is covered with a dense growth of wild
oat, Artemisia, and other plants. The banks of the streams are lined with belts, of greater or
less width, of timber, which are composed chiefly of the long-acorned oak, (Q. Hindsii,) here
exhibiting a size and beauty of form not surpassed, if equalled, by the oaks of any other part of
the world. Along the water's edge, the sycamore, (P. Racemosa,) Fraxinus Oregona, the
cotton-wood, (P. Monilifera,) and two species of salix, (S. Hindsiana and S. lasiandra ?,) are
overgrown by grape vines, (Vitis Californica,) and form a screen, by which the view of the
river is frequently shut out from the traveller upon its banks. At the north end of the valley,
D
BOTANY.
15
along the river, and on the hills which border it, are found many plants not met with below.
Of the trees, Q. Hindsii, Q. Garryana, and Q. Agrifolia, the “nut pine,” and cotton-wood, were
the most common. Among shrubs, on the higher lands, were the Manzanita, Fremontia, and
Ceanothus cuneatus, here forming thickets; near the river bank, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Cercis
occidentalis, Calycanthus occidentalis, Eriodictyon glutinosum, Rhus diversiloba, Alnus viridis,
and Alnus Oregana, the latter forming a tree fifty feet in height.
BOTANY OF SIERRA NEVADA.
The Sierra Nevada, with its continuation, the Cascade range of Oregon, forms a distinct
botanical district, characterized not only by the presence of many plants not found on the Coast
Range or in the valleys, but by the prevalence of certain species throughout this entire mountain
system. Its general altitude and the peaks, which, at many points, rise high above the line of
perpetual snow, give an Alpine character to much of its vegetation, even in a low latitude.
From the observations of many botanists who have crossed the Sierra Nevada in southern Cali-
fornia, we learn that the different zones of vegetation which mark the different grades of altitude
include many plants which, on the less elevated surfaces, are separated by several degrees of
latitude. Of these, the Douglas spruce, the western balsam fir, and several other trees which
compose a large part of the forests covering the banks of the Columbia, extend at a higher
elevation quite to the northern line of Mexico. The number of these widely distributed species,
among which should also be included very many annual plants, gives a unity of character to
the botany of this mountain range which requires it to be regarded as a distinct botanical
district. The influences which have most contributed to form or modify this flora are probably
to be found in the continuity and the uniformity of geological structure and altitude of this
mountain system, the similar relations which its different parts hold to the ocean from which
they derive the marked similarity of their climate.
The western slope of these mountains receives a copious precipitation from the winds coming
in from the Pacific over the coast ranges and the valleys. As a consequence, it is generally
clothed with a dense forest. This forest is composed almost exclusively of coniferous trees,
and, with the exception of the red-wood, includes all those gigantic forms of vegetation so
characteristic of the botany of western America. On the western slope of the Sierra Nevada,
in California, is found the famous group of Sequoias, which, from their unequalled magnitude,
have very properly received the name of gigantea, in common language only known as the
"mammoth trees.” The yellow pine, (P. Ponderosa,) the sugar pine, (P. Lambertiana,) the
western balsam fir, (Picea grandis,) and (Libocedrus decurrens,) comprise the greater part of the
forests which cover this slope as far down as the latitude of San Francisco ; the yew, (Taxus
brevifolia,) and two species of cypress, (C. nutkatensis and C. Lawsoniana,) being also occasion-
ally met with. Among the foot hills, at a lower level, the nut pine mingles with the oaks,
reaching up to the pine forests above, but scarcely forming a part of them. In the same zone
are Quercus fulvescens, Quercus densiflora, and Quercus Kelloggi, which do not, however, occur
in any considerable numbers.
LOCAL BOTANY.
n1
WIU
In crossing the Sierra Nevada, over the base of Lassen’s butte, for twenty miles our route,
gradually ascending, led among grooves of the three species of oak which I have mentioned as
prevailing about Fort Reading, with scattered trees of the nut pine, the greater part of the
16
BOTANY.
Oy
surface being, however, covered with thickets of Ceanothus, Purshia, Spiræa, Amelanchier,
Cercis, Fremontia, Manzanita, a low scrub oak, (undescribed,) and a wild plum, (P. subcordata.)
At an altitude of about 3,000 feet we entered a dense forest composed—with the exception of a
single oak, (Q. Kelloggi,)—of coniferous trees, the sugar and yellow pine, Libocedrus, and balsam
fir, all attaining a very large size. At McCumber's, at an elevation of 4,000 feet, the forest
was composed exclusively of coniferous trees, and was, in many places, very dense. The
natural meadows, of which McCumber's flat is one, are covered with a luxuriant growth of
annual plants, of which I collected nearly a hundred species in a few hours. As a whole,
however, the catalogue does not differ greatly from one which might be made at Fort Reading,
or in Sacramento valley, earlier in the season ; but while, at this time, (July 29,) the plains of
the Sacramento were completely dry, and the flowers of spring had long since passed, here
everything was fresh and green, and the meadows were decked with flowers at the period of
their greatest beauty. In the pine forest, the snow berry, (Symphoricarpus,) Rubus nutkanus,
(a variety of R. odoratus ?) and Epilobium angustifolium, grow everywhere, and the ground is
in many places covered with mats of Ceanothus prostratus. Lillies and fritillarias also form a
marked feature of the pine woods here as elsewhere. As we ascended to the summit of the
pass, at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, we left behind us most of the trees which I have
mentioned, and found the forest of the higher portion of our route composed exclusively of the
yellow pine. About the base of Lassen's butte, where, over a large area, the forest had been
burned off, it has been succeeded by dense thickets of Ceanothus and Manzanita, and along the
banks of a stream coming down from the snow I noticed a Cornus, having much the general
aspect of C. Florida, of the eastern States, but evidently quite distinct, (C. pubescens.) On the
eastern slope of Sierra Nevada we found the forests much less dense, and composed of a
smaller number of elements. The yellow pine here formed nine-tenths of all the arborescent
vegetation, and grows to a larger size than on the western side of the mountains. This slope
is evidently not so well watered as the other, and even among the mountains, in various
localities, we found level surfaces, of which the light volcanic soil supported only bunches of
Artemisia and Purshia, with scattered yellow pine trees, outliers of the sage plains, so
characteristic a feature of the region lying east of the mountains.
BOTANY OF THE DISTRICT LYING EAST OF THE SIERRA NEVADA AND
CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
Descending to the eastward from the summit of the western range of the Sierra Nevada, we
came into a region of which the geological structure and physical features are fully described in
the geological report. The general monotony of the geological structure of this area finds a
perfect parallel in the simplicity and uniformity of its vegetation. Throughout all the interval
lying between the Cascades and Sierra Nevada and the Rocky mountains, the causes which
have given character to the vegetation have been exceedingly general in their action. The
climate is everywhere characterized by the absence of moisture, which, with the exception of
the mountain summits, which project above the general level, gives to the surface a character to
which the name of desert has not been inappropriately applied. The general aspect of the botany
of this region is made up of three distinct elements. Of these the first is presented by the grassy
plains which border the streams flowing down from the mountains. On these surfaces grows a
considerable variety of annual vegetation, in its general character not unlike that of the Sacra-
mento valley. The second of these botanical phases is that of the sage plains ; surfaces upon
BOTANY.
17
which little or nothing else than clumps of Artemisia will grow. The third is formed by forests
of yellow pine, (P. ponderosa,) which apparently finds on these arid surfaces its most congenial
habitat. It sometimes happened to us that, during a whole day's ride, we were passing through
a continuous forest of these yellow pine trees, in which scarcely a dozen distinct species of plants
could be found.
LOCAL BOTANY.
BANKS OF PIT RIVER.
After leaving the Sierra Nevada, the botany of no part of our route, before we reached the
Klamath lakes, requires especial notice. Most of the plants collected on the banks of Pit river
are identical with those before collected in the Sacramento valley. On the mountain range
which forms the upper cañon of Pit river we first found a cedar, (J. occidentalis,) which fills
precisely the same place in the botany of the west that the red cedar of Virginia does in that of
the east. We here, too, for the first time, met with the “bunch grass,”' (Festuca scabrella,)
which is found in all parts of the region under consideration, and now constitutes by far its
most important vegetable production. This is an exceedingly nutritious grass, and was our
main dependance for the subsistance of our mules in all parts of our route, between the lower
cañon of Pit river and the Columbia. It grows in bunches, as its name implies, and in that dry
climate, "curing” as it stands, forms a valuable fodder, and one highly relished by cattle and
horses, even when it has the appearance of being perfectly worthless.
SHORES OF THE KLAMATH LAKES.
About the Klamath lakes, and along the banks of Klamath river, a better supply of moisture
has produced a more vigorous and varied vegetation than in most parts of the surrounding
country. A large number of annual plants was there obtained, many of which are unknown
in the valleys of California and Oregon, as will be seen by reference to the catalogue of the
plants collected. The immediate borders of the lakes are covered with a growth of tule, (Bull-
rush and Cat-tail flag,) similar to that which borders the Sacramento. On drier ground, but
still in the vicinity of the water, are thickets composed of Pyrus rivularis, Prunus subcordata,
Rhamnus Purshianus, and wild cherry, (Cerasus emarginata,) all of which, at the time of our
visit, were loaded with fruit. On the hill sides are several species of Ribes, which, with the wild
plum and Amelanchier, form another series of thickets equally fruitful with those below, and
with them constitute the favorite feeding grounds of the bears.
The number of trees in this vicinity is small. A few cotton-woods and willows are found in
the neighborhood of the water, while the hills are covered with yellow pine and the western
cedar. On the banks of Klamath river we found Pinus contorta, generally forming a denise
forest of trees of small size. The botany of Klamath marsh and the country about it is similar
in all respects to that just described, except that nearly half the surface of the marsh is covered
with the broad leaves of the yellow pond lilly, N. advena ? here exhibiting a vigor of growth
that I have never seen equalled in the eastern States. The capsules which contain the seeds
have somewhat the form, and are fully as large as hen's eggs, and are filled with seeds, which
form an important part of the subsistence of the Indians who reside in the vicinity.
32
18
BOTANY.
BOTANY OF THE DES CHUTES BASIN.
The botany of this area has the general characters of that of Klamath basin, except that, as
we descend towards the Columbia, the forest of yellow pine gives place to scattered trees of the
western cedar, which are, in time, succeeded by a growth of bunch grass, covering the country
as exclusively as does the wild oat the valleys of California. Near the Columbia, the streams
are bordered by Quercus garryana, which does not, however, here attain the size of the same
species in the valleys of the Willamette and Umpqua.
BOTANY OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS.
As has been mentioned, the general features of the botany of the Cascade mountains is
similar to that of the Sierra Nevada of California, the greater portion of the species which
compose it extending southward as far as San Francisco. There are, however, many species,
both of trees and minor plants, which, quite local in their range, yet in certain districts repre-
sented by great numbers of individuals, give a peculiar character to the prevalent vegetation.
There are other plants, which, common in the vicinity of the Columbia, do not extend south-
ward below the California line. Of these the western larch, (Larix occidentalis,) and Abies
Williamsonii may be taken as examples.
LOCAL BOTANY.
In the vicinity of the Three Sisters we several times crossed and recrossed the main crest of
the Cascade mountains, and were able to study, very carefully, the different belts of vegetation
visible on the mountain sides, from the snow line down to the Des Chutes basin, on the east,
and to the Willamette valley on the west. At this point, the plain bordering the Des Chutes,
having an altitude of about 4,000 feet, is covered with a continuous forest of yellow pine.
Along the streams coming down from the mountains are a few trees of the western larch,
nowhere in this vicinity found at a much greater elevation than the plateau I have mentioned.
With the larch are occasionally mingled Populus tremuloides, P. monilifera, and P. angustifolia.
A few hundred feet up the mountain side the yellow pine is joined by the sugar pine and Pinus
contorta, the western balsam fir, and Douglas' spruce, all of which combine to form a thick
forest. With these also are occasionally seen few and small trees of the western Arbor vitae,
(T. gigantea,) and the large-leaved maple, (Acer macrophyllum.) A little higher we found Pinus
monticola of Douglas, to me scarcely distinguishable from the white pine of the eastern States,
and the silver fir, (Picea amabilis.) At the height of 6,000 feet the trees which I have
mentioned had all given place to Abies Williamsonii and Pinus cembroides, which rise to the line
of perpetual snow. As we descended toward the west these two species were again succeeded
by those I have mentioned as occurring on the eastern slope, but mingled in different n
proportions, the most abundant species, and those constituting the great mass of the forest,
being the Douglas spruce, the balsam fir, and the western Arbor vitoe. Here we found, for the
first time, the Nootka cypress, which was confined to the western slope of the mountains. The
under shrubs of the forest, on the western slope, consisted of the chinquapin (Castanea chryso-
phylla,) Rhododendron, two species, Arctostaphylos tomentosa, and Spiræa ariæfolia, the ground
being covered with Berberis, “Salal,” and ferns, as in the forests of the
which that of the western slope is like in all essential particulars. On the alpine summits of
BOTANY.
19
DTI
the Cascades, at this point, were collected about fifty minor flowering plants, some of peculiar
interest. Of these, Menziesia empetriformis, Saxifraga Tolmæi, and Pentstemon Menziesii, cov-
ered large surfaces with their flowers, and, with the gentians, recalled the heaths and other
alpine plants of the Old World.
The Cascade mountains, in the vicinity of the Columbia, are covered with a forest similar in
character to that which I have described, but in which by far the largest number of trees are
Douglas' spruce and the western balsam fir. Here, as on the coast mountains, where the
forests have been burned off, the ground is covered with a rank growth of Pteris aquilina. The
banks of the Columbia, along the water's edge, are lined with cotton-woods, and in some places
with Garry's oak.
The lower part of the Willamette valley is occupied by the densest forest which I saw at the
west, composed principally of Douglas' spruce, here known as the red fir, the western balsam
fir, called by the inhabitants the white fir, the hemlock spruce, and arbor vitæ. Of dico-
tyledonous trees almost the only ones are the large leafed maple, the vine maple, (Acer
circinata,) and Cornus Nuttallii. The upper part of the valley consists, for the most part,
of prairie, covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, while the borders of the streams are
lined with oaks, as in the Sacramento valley. The annual vegetation, which is quite varied,
includes a large number of species found in California, with others better suited to a more
northern latitude and a moister climate.
2 more
CHAPTER II.
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOREST TREES OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
· AND OREGON.
ÆSCULUS CALIFORNICA, Nutt. The California Buckeye.
Æ. CALIFORNICA, Nutt. Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 251.
Æ. CALIFORNICA, Nutt. Sylva, 2, p. 69, t. 74.

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Fig. 1. .
Fig. 1. Leaves and flowers of Æ. Californica, y natural size, and a flower of the natural size.
Description.-A shrub, or low spreading tree; leaflets 5, lanceolate or elliptical, acuminate,
narrowed toward the rounded base, serrulate, glabrous, glaucous, or colored below ; flowers
large in a dense thyrsus, six inches long by three in diameter; petals rose-colored, spreading
widely, shorter than the stamens; calyx unequally 5-parted; stamens 5-6; fruit largė,
spheroidal, somewhat pointed, slightly tuberculated.
The Californian buckeye grows abundantly in most parts of the Sacramento valley, par-
BOTANY.
21
ticularly on the banks of streams, in ravines, and about rocky ledges. It generally forms a
diffusely branching shrub, eight to ten feet high, often flowering and fruiting freely at the
height of five or six feet.
The largest individual which I saw was near Benicia; an upright tree some twenty feet in
height, with an open spreading head; trunk about a foot in diameter near the ground; on it
were growing several branches of mistletoe, (Viscum flavescens.)
The flowers are larger, and much more widely expanded than in Nuttall’s figure, (1. c.) In
this respect it differs strikingly from the eastern species. · Another peculiarity indicated in the
figure given, (fig. 1,) is the successive appearance of the flowers during most of the spring and
summer. As late as the last of July, I found on each thyrsus a large number of unexpanded
flower buds. From the beauty of the flowers, and the long time during which they continue
to appear, it would be a highly valuable acquisition to the cultivators of ornamental shrubs in
the eastern States.
The wood is soft, white, and brittle, like that of the other species of the genus.
SS
ACER MACROPHYLLUM. The Large-leaved Maple.
A. MACROPHYLLUM. Pursh. Flor. 1, p. 267.
A. MACROPHYLLUM. Hook. Flor. Bor. Amer. 1, p. 102, t. 38.
A. MACROPHYLLUM. Nutt. Sylva 2, p. 76, t. 67.
The large leaved maple is commonly distributed throughout those portions of Oregon which
we visited, the Cascade and Coast mountains, and the Willamette valley. It is usually found
in the evergreen forests, always far outnumbered by the firs and spruces with which it is
associated, but frequently forming a marked feature of the arborescent vegetation ; its immense
leaves making it conspicuous wherever seen.
Though much the largest of western maples, this species never attains the dimensions of the
“hard” and “soft” maples of the east.
I do not remember to have seen an individual more than eighteen inches in diameter three
feet from the ground, though, from the circumstances in which it usually grows, it is taller
than its diameter would indicate.
The flowers, hanging in long racemes, are very ornamental, and, with the large pale green
leaves, render it well worthy of cultivation for ornament.
The leaves are frequently more than twelve inches in diameter, though usually from eight
to ten.
The wood of this maple is close-grained and hard, and furnishes almost the only hard wood
timber attainable in the wooded portions of Oregon; the oaks being, for the most part, confined
to the open country, and having a low spreading form, so as to furnish little good timber.
ACER CIRCINATUM. The Vine Maple.
A. CIRCINATUM, Pursh., Flor. 1, p. 266.
A. CIRCINATUM, Hook. Flor. Bor. Amer. 1, p. 112, t. 39.
It is perhaps doubtful whether this plant should be called a tree or shrub, as it has not the
upright form of most trees, and rarely attains a greater diameter of trunk than five or six
inches. It is exceedingly common throughout the coniferous forests of central and western
Oregon, and.is sure to bring itself to the notice of the traveller by the obstacles which it pre-
sents to his passage through the forests where it grows.
It has received its name from its peculiar habit, which is so far vine-like, that the slender
22
BOTANY.
trunks-several springing from the same root-arch over till the top touches the ground, when
it takes root. Where the clumps of vine maple are numerous, and, as is frequently the case,
they are contiguous, their intermingled and rooted branches constitute an almost impassable
barrier to the traveller.
The vine maple requires considerable moisture for its vigorous growth, and it therefore be-
comes more and more abundant as one approaches the coast. There, in many localities, it forms
thickets, which are regarded by the inhabitants as well nigh impenetrable. .
The foliage of the vine maple in its general aspect resembles that of the sugar maple of the
east. The wood is hard, heavy, and fine grained, and is much used for small articles, when
these qualities are required.
Acer glabrum, Torr., and Acer tripartitum, Nutt., are shrubs, which are not uncommon in
the Cascade mountains.
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS GLAUCA, Lindl. (Plate III.) Manzanita.
A. GLAUCA, Lindl., Bot. Reg. t. 1791.
XEROBOTRYS GLAUCUS, Nutt., Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc.
Description.- A large evergreen shrub, growing in clumps; bark red, exfoliating ; leaves
ovoid, smooth, coriaceous, entire, set vertically ; flowers in terminal racemes, urceolate, pinkish
white; fruit spheroidal, flattened, black, smooth; seeds triangular, rough.
This shrub is highly characteristic of the Californian flora, being abundant on all the hills
and mountains, and extending northward into Oregon; near the Columbia, however, it is gene-
rally replaced by A. tomentosa, which has much the same habit, and is very closely allied to it,
but apparently specifically distinct. The manzanita has received the Spanish name which it
bears from a fancied resemblance of its fruit to a little apple
It usually grows in clumps, six, eight, or ten feet in height, divided into many trunks,
which are rarely larger than one's arm, covered with a red exfoliating bark.
The evergreen leaves are oval in form, about an inch in length, thick and shining, and (un-
like those of most plants) are set vertically. The flowers are urn-shaped, considerably resem-
bling those of some species of Vaccinium. The fruit grows in clusters, and is first white, sub-
sequently red, and finally black. It has the form of a flattened spheroid, a quarter to three-
eights of an inch in diameter, and is nearly filled with triangular stony seeds. These seeds are
covered by a pulp, which has the consistence and taste of that of the fruit of the Black
Haw."
The manzanita berry is regarded as eatable, and is the favorite food of the grizzly bear. It
was frequently eaten by our party, but in most circumstances is too dry, and has too little flavor
to be highly relished. As an ornamental shrub, the manzanita is well worthy of introduction
into the parks and pleasure grounds of the eastern States; and since it grows up to the line of
perpetual snow on the mountains of California, it would doubtless be hardy in any part of the
Union.
The wood of this shrub is very dense and hard, of a reddish color, and somewhat resembles
that of the apple tree. No use is made of it in the arts at present, except that rustic seats are
sometimes formed from its crooked and twisted branches ; for which purpose it is exceedingly
well adapted.
ON

U.S.PER EXP & SURVEYS - CAL. & ORE GON
BOTANY – PLATE II
ΕΣ,
ΤΗ
14
2.
Ο
Ο.
MANZANITA,
BOTANY.
23
ARBUTUS MENZIESII, Pursh. The Madroña.
A. MENZIESII, Pursh. Flor. 1, p. 282.
A. PROCERA, Dougl. Mss. Hook. Flor. Bor. Amer. 2, p. 36.

--
-
Fig. 2.
Fig, 2. Branch with leaves and fruit of A. Menziesii, natural size.
Fig. 2a. Flowers of. A. Menziesii, f natural size.
Description.—A small tree, 25-30 feet high, 12 inches in diameter at base; bark exfoliating,
green or reddish, according to the season, very smooth; leaves oval, petiolate, entire or sub-
serrate, very smooth above, glaucous below ; flowers urceolate, in elongated and clustered
pubescent racemes ; berries red, rough, many-seeded, ornamental.
The Madroña, as it is called in California, has a wide range on the Pacific coast. It is not uncom-
mon in the Sacramento valley, and the largest trees of it which I saw were on the banks of the
Willamette, in Oregon. It ranges north of the Columbia, and in that vicinity is called
The large, thick and shining leaves, and the smooth and colored bark, give this tree a tropical
look, recalling the Magnolia grandiflora of the southern States by its general aspect. The
berries are red, (at least were so in Oregon in November,) and resemble morello cherries; when
ripe they are quite ornamental, and are said to be sometimes eaten. They, with the rich foliage,
flowers, and colored bark, render it one of the handsomest trees which I saw at the west. It
is already adopted as an ornament to grounds in California, and is well worthy of an effort for
its introduction into the eastern States.
The wood, like that of the manzanita, is very hard and fine grained.
BOTANY.
LU
CORNUS NUTTALLII. Nuttall's Cornel. Nutt. Sylva, 3, p. 51 to 97.
· The general appearance of this fine species is much like that of 0. Florida in leaf, flower, and
trunk, but in the size of all its parts it is without a rival in the genus. It grows abundantly
in the dense forest bordering the Willamette and Columbia, at their point of junction, where it
I
The wood is dense and hard, like that of C. florida, and is used by the inhabitants for similar
purposes.
The fruit of C. Nuttallii is not, as represented in Nuttall's figure, (1. c.,) similar to that of
the common "dogwood,” but is consolidated into a compact capitulum, each drupe being com-
pressed into a prismatic form by its fellows. The color of the drupe is scarlet, like that of
C. florida, the extremity being black. The heads are an inch in diameter, and have a very
pretty appearance on the tree.
OREODAPHNE CALIFORNICA, Nees. The Californian Laurel.
TETRANTHERA ? CALIFORNICA. Hook, & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 159 & 389.
LAURUS? REGIA. Dougl. in Comp. Bot. Mag. v. 2.
UMBELLULARIA CALIFORNICA. Nutt. Sylv. 1, p. 87.

-..-.
-
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Leaves, flowers, and fruit of O. Californica,
natural size.
BOTANY.
25
INUS
GON
Description.— A tree of moderate size; foliage evergreen ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, pointed,
scarcely acute, reticulately veined; peduncles ; axillary simple; flowers numerous, involucred ;
fruit roundish-elliptical.
The “ California laurel” forms the handsomest dicotyledonous tree within the limits of the
State. The foliage is dark green and lustrous, and persistent throughout the year. The tree,
as generally seen, is of small size, twenty to thirty feet in height, and rather inclined to form
groups of several individuals. It has very much the general appearance of the European
laurel, (L. nobilis,) and is quite as ornamental.
It is said to attain, in some parts of California and Oregon, much greater dimensions than
any individuals which I saw, and to form a very elegant and imposing tree.
The leaves, when rubbed or burned, give out a strong aromatic odor, which excites sneezing.
The residents of California are very cautious about burning the plant, more especially the
leaves, as it is said that a vapor is driven from them by the fire in the highest degree injurious.
Of this there is, however, much doubt.
The fruit, which is accurately represented (half size) in the figure, is not usually globular,
as has been stated, but somewhat elongated and elliptical. All that I saw was green or green-
ish yellow, but it is said to become purple when ripe.
FRAXINUS OREGONA. The Oregon ash.
F. OREGONA. Nutt. Sylv. 3, p. 59.
This forms a low spreading tree, which grows commonly along the banks of the Columbia.
I also saw it on several occasions on tributaries of the Sacramento, in the upper part of the
Sacramento valley.
I never saw it attaining a greater size than a foot in diameter by thirty to forty feet in height.
ALNUS OREGONA. The Oregon alder.
A. OREGONA. Nutt. Sylv. 1, p. 28, t.
The Oregon alder forms a tree sometimes of fifty to sixty feet in height, and is generally
ughout northern California and Oregon. Like other species of the genus
growing along the banks of streams, its form is upright and handsome, and the trunk some-
times two feet in diameter near the ground.
The leaves are thicker, and, in large trees, smaller than those of A. viridis or A. serrulata.
The wood is brittle, and not to my knowledge employed for any useful purpose.
POPULUS TREMULOIDES. The quaking aspen.
P. TREMULOIDES. Michx. Flor. Amer. 2, p. 243.
The aspen grows throughout all parts of the region east of the Cascade mountains and Sierra
Nevada which we visited. It forms a marked feature of the vegetation of the slopes of these
mountains where the forests of the higher lands border the sage plains of the central desert.
It is here seen in long lines of trees of small size, marking the courses of the many mountain
streams which are in summer absorbed by the arid surfaces of the plains soon after leaving the
mountain sides. For a time we were often deceived by the poplars and willows, regarding
them as indications of the presence of water, but we soon learned that they were only a sign
that water was to be found in their vicinity at some time during the year.
Alders we found to be much better guides to water, as they will only follow the courses of
the streams just so far as they are permanent, and no further; and we never failed, even near
the close of the dry season, to find the roots of the alders washed by living water.
Us
4 Z
26
'BOTANY.
CASTANEA CHRYSOPHYLLA, Dougl. The western chinquapin.
C. CHRYSOPHYLLA, Dougl. Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 159.
C. SEMPERVIRENS, Kellogg. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sc. 1, p. —

0.
...
NI
.
.
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.
.
.
ON
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"
-
illu
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11
1113
.-.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. Branch, leaves, male flowers, and fruit of O. chrysophylla, natural size.
Fig. 4a. Nut of C. chrysophylla, natural size.
e
Description.--An evergreen shrub or tree of California and Oregon. Leaves broad-lanceolate,
acute, thick, entire, glabrous, dark green above; below covered with a golden-yellow powder;
aments clustered at the ends of branches, two inches long, usually with a few female flowers at
the base; nuts triangular, pointed ; testa hard, of a light-brown color; each nut enclosed in a
very spinous burr; fruit agglomerated; kernel eatable.
We found the chinquapin growing in great abundance in the mountains of California and
Oregon. It usually forms a low shrub, fruiting freely when not more than three feet in height.
In the Cascade mountains of Oregon, however, it forms a handsome tree thirty feet in height,
having a grayish-green smooth bark, very much like that of the young chestnut. It is said
sometimes to attain the height of sixty feet. The contrast of color between the upper and lower
surfaces of the leaves has a fine effect, making the plant well worthy of cultivation for orna-
ment. The nut contains a kernel which has an agreeable taste, and is much sought by the
BOTANY.
27
squirrels. The shell of the nut is much harder than that of the eastern chinquapin, and the
two species are in all respects unlike.
It is quite common to find ripe fruit and freshly-blown flowers on the same plant at the same
time; indeed, I think that was the general rule when the specimen figured was collected, on
the head-waters of the Des Chutes river, in Oregon, August 30. Hooker's brief description
(1. c.) is applicable to the plant wherever I saw it, except that he represents the aments as
confined to the axils of the leaves, and to be not more than an inch in length; whereas I often
found the aments not only in the axils of the upper leaves of a branch, but exclusively occupy-
ing the extremity. The aments in my specimen are twice as long as in his.
QUERCUS FULVESCENS, Kellogg. The Fulvous Oak.
Q. FULVESCENS, K. Pro. Cal. Acad. Sc. 1, p. 67 and 71.
Q. CRASSIPOCULA, Torr. Bot. Whipple's Rep. p. 137.
Q. CRASSIPOCULA, Bot. Williamson's Report, p. 365, t. IX.

S
.
1
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Branch of Q. fulvescens, with young fruit, half natural size.
Fig. 5a. Toothed leaf of Q. fulvescens. :?
Fig. 56. Mature fruit, half natural size.
Description.- Tree of medium size, spreading; leaves oblong-ovate, acute, toothed, or entire;
when toothed, teeth remote, acute, callous at point, confined to upper half of leaf; veins
beneath villous; petioles fulvous; gland sessile; when young, flat, wheel-shaped, nearly con-
cealed in the cup; when mature, long-ovoid, 11 in. long, 1 in. broad; cup saucer-shaped,
thick, velvety, fuscous, enclosing 1 1-5 of the gland.
This pretty oak occurred on the line of our route only on the banks of Canoe creek, in the
western range of the Sierra Nevada, northeast from Lassen's butte. It there formed rather a
large shrub than a tree. It is, however, here near the northern line of its range; and on the
28
BOTANY.
Sierra Nevada of central and southern California it is said to attain a greater size, but never
to become a large tree.
The leaves were thick and shining above, glaucous below, having some resemblance to those
of the golden-leafed chestnut. The acorns were small, flat, and nearly concealed in the
smoothish, wheel-shaped cup. At that time I supposed that it was decidedly an over-cup oak.
On my return to San Francisco, in the autumn, I learned, for the first time, from my friend
Dr. Kellogg, the changes which take place in the development of the acorn. This finally
emerges from the cup to a degree equal to that of any other of the Californian oaks. The cup
retains, to a considerable extent, its original form, but is much thickened. The name Crassipocula,
given to this species by Dr. Torrey, is very appropriate, but was anticipated by that of Dr. Kellogg.
Of the wood of Q. fulvescens I obtained no information, except that the small branches are
tougher, and the wood apparently denser, than in most of the oaks of the west; of which, the
wood, as a general rule, is brittle.
in
QUERCUS KELLOGGII, Newb. Kellogg's oak.
Q. TINCTORIA, var. CALIFORNICA. Torr. Bot. Whipp. Rep. p. 138.

IN
20
.
I
. Fig. 6.
Fig. 6. Branch, leaves, and acorn of Q. Kelloggi, i natural size.

BOTANY - PLATE
U SPRR.EXP.. SURVEYS -- CAL & OREGON.
QUERCUS
HIND SIL.
BOTANY.
29
Description.--A tree of medium size; leaves deeply sinuate, three principal lobes on either
side, which terminate in several acute points, glabrous above and below. Fruit solitary or
clustered, nearly sessile, gland roundish-ovoid, or, more commonly, elliptical, t
an accute projecting point, greenish brown in color, 1 to 1} inch long, cup hemispherical, covered
with elongated acute scales.
This oak is found in different parts of California, but, apparently, does not extend northward
beyond the Oregon line. I have specimens collected both south and north of San Francisco, in
the coast mountains, and we found it occurring in considerable numbers between Fort Reading
and Lassen's butte, on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, in northern California. Where
we observed it, it forms a tree of small, or, at most, moderate size, and of a straggling, irregular
growth. About McCumber's it is the only deciduous tree growing in the pine forest.
Its resemblance to Q. tinctoria and to Q. coccinea of the eastern States is striking, but it is
difficult to say to which it is most closely allied. The leaves are smoother and the lobes more
acute than is usual with those of Q. tinctoria ; in these respects more resembling Q. coccinea.
In the general aspect of the trunk and bark it is, however, more like Q. tinctoria.
The fruit is much larger and generally of a different form from that of either of the allied
species, the acorn being frequently more than an inch in length by of an inch in diameter;
when fully grown they are rather cylindrical than ovoid, uniformly rounded at the ends, and
with a prominent point at the summit. The cup is hemispherical, covered with ovoid acute
scales.
The differences of habit from the eastern species which it exhibits, as well as the differences of
leaves and fruit, lead me to regard it as distinct; and I have dedicated it to my friend Dr. A.
Kellogg, of San Francisco, who is devoting himself with so much industry and success to the
study of the plants of his adopted State.
I
QUERCUS HINDSII. (Plate I.) The long-acorned oak.
Q. HINDSII. Benth. Bot. Sulph. p. 55.
Q. LONGIGLANDA. Torr. Frémont's Geog. Mem. of California.

*
Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. Branch, leaves, and acorn of Q. Hindsii, f natural size.
Description. -A very large tree, allied to Q. alba of the eastern States; bark thick and rough;
leaves deeply and unequally lobed; lobes numerous, rounded, obtuse ; young leaves pubescent
30
BOTANY.
on both sides ; upper surface of older leaves smooth, pale green ; lower surface pubescent,
especially along the veins. Fruit sessile, generally solitary; cup hemispheric, thick, covered
with thick tumid scales which give it a turberculated appearance; gland long-ovoid or conical,
2 inches long by inch wide ; testa thin, mahogany color; nucleus not unpalatable.
This is the finest oak of California, and perhaps the most abundant. Its favorite habitat is
on the slopes of the “foot hills” and along the streams which traverse the valleys of that State.
In the foot hills and minor valleys of the Coast mountains and Sierra Nevada it grows in groups
or scattered as single trees over the oat-covered surface, forming the most important element in
those scenes of quiet beauty which so often excite the admiration of the traveller in California.
Along the streams it forms belts of timber of varying width and density, the number and
size of the trees being apparently proportioned to the size of the stream and the quantity of
moisture derived from it.
On the banks of the Sacramento, in a few instances, I saw this oak when considerably
crowded, assuming the form and closely copying the appearance, in all respects, of the white
oak of the east; but, generally, both on the hills and on the plain, it inclines to form groups,
or open groves in which the trees assume the spreading form of Q. pedunculata in the parks of
the Old World.
I think that the finest studies of trees which I have ever seen were afforded by the groups or
single trees of this oak in the Sacramento valley.
The general character of this tree is pretty well represented by the accompanying plate, but
it is frequently still more spreading. The trunk is often six, seven, or even eight feet in
diameter, and covered with a thick and deeply cracked but light colored bark. At the height
of ten or twelve feet from the ground the trunk divides into many branches, which throw out
their huge arms nearly horizontally to the distance of fifty or sixty feet on either side, the
extreme branches in some cases coming quite down to the ground. Near Marysville I measured
one-by no means the largest one seen-of which the trunk, three feet from the ground, was
six feet in diameter; the height is estimated at seventy-five feet; the circle shaded by its
branches measured one hundred and twenty-five feet in diameter.
The beauty of these oaks is frequently mentioned in my notes, from which I will make a
single extract, referring to those which form the belt of timber bordering Cache creek.
- This timber belt is composed of the most magnificent oaks I have ever seen. They are
not crowded as in our forests, but grow scattered about in groups or singly, with open grass-
covered glades between them; the trunks, often seven feet in diameter, soon divide into branches,
which spread over an area of which the diameter is considerably greater than the height of
the tree. There is no under growth beneath them, and as far as the eye can reach, when
standing among them, an unending series of great trunks is seen rising from the lawn-like
surface."
The wood of this tree, like that of most of the diciduous trees of California, is porous and
brittle ; resembling in its want of tenacity that of the black oak, Q tinctoria, of the east. This
I infer to be due to the climatal conditions under which it is found,
inherent botanical peculiarity of the tree; as from its affinity with the white oak of the eastern
States, if grown in the same soil and climate the wood, in all probability, would exhibit a
similar character.
The fruit, though having a noticeable resemblance in the color, thickness, and consistence
of the testa of the acorn, as well as in the character of the cup, to that of the white oak, from
.
BOTANY,
31
its conical form and great length, is readily distinguishable from that of any other species with
which I am familiar. From their abundance and edible nature they form a very important
part of the subsistence of the Digger Indians, and are collected and stored up by them for winter
use; piles of many bushels being frequently seen in their rancherias.
QUERCUS DENSIFLORA. Hook. & Arn. The California chestnut oak.
Q. DENSIFLORA. Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, p. 391.
Q. ECHINACEA. Hook. & Arn. Bot. Whipple's Rep., p. 137.

S
+
14
.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Branch with leaves and fruit of Q. densiflora, half natural size.
Description.—An evergreen tree of small size ; leaves lanceolate, oblong; smooth or dentate-
serrate; the younger ones tomentose beneath, becoming smooth. Male flowers in elongated,
densely flowered aments; fruit sessile, generally clustered ; cup densely covered with spreading
or recurved elongated scales; acorn ovoid, sub-trigonal acute, 14 inch long, finch broad; acute,
testa very woody and hard, of a light yellowish-brown color.
I have been quite unable to distinguish between Q. densiflora, described by Hooker and Arnott,
(1. c.,) and Q. echinacea of Dr. Torrey. There is a perfect correspondence in their descriptions,
and my specimens agree with both except in the minor characters specified in the description
given.
The resemblance to a castanea which this.oak exhibits is, as mentioned by Hook. & Arn., very
striking. The leaf is very like that of a chestnut, and the male aments, at the base of which
a cluster of acorns grow, the bristling spines of the capsules and the sub-trigonal hard shelled
acorn, closely resemble the flowers and fruit of Castanea chrysophylla, the chinquapin of
32
BOTANY.
the west. We did not find this oak north of the Sacramento valley, and its range is probably
rather south than north of San Francisco. On the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada bordering
the Sacramento valley it forms a low but handsome tree. Of the character and value of the
wood I had no opportunity of judging.
The figure given is copied from a drawing made by Dr. Kellogg, of San Francisco, and
represents the variety of foliage which most resembles that of the chestnut. An equally
common form has nearly entire leaves, of smaller size, approaching more closely those of the
chinquapin.
QUERCUS AGRIFOLIA, Nee. The evergreen oak.
Q. AGRIFOLIA, Nee. Ann. Sc. Nat. 3, p. 271.
Q. AGRIFOLIA, Nutt. Sylva. 1, p. 5, t. 2.
Q. OXYADENIA, Torr. in Sitgreaves' Rep., t. 172.

tos
INC
.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 9. A branch of Q. agrifolia, with leaves and fruit, half natural size.
Description. -A low spreading tree; leaves evergreen, ovate or rounded, remotely spinosely,
dentate or entire, smooth above and below; acorn elongated, conical, acute; cup hemispheric
or conical; scales small, appressed, oblong, obtuse, smooth.
This tree is everywhere known in California as the "scrub,” or evergreen oak, although
there are several others which are more shrub-like, and of which the leaves are persistent. It
usually forms a low spreading tree, which resembles in size and form the apple tree of the
orchards of the eastern States, the trunk being rarely more than a foot in diameter, or the alti-
tude more than 30–40 feet. I noticed much diversity in the form of the leaves, as they were
sometimes, nearly orbicular, and at others much elongated, and both toothed and entire. The
leaves of the same tree, also, frequently exhibit considerable variety of form; they are always
small, however, and have smooth surfaces above and below.

OF
U.S.P.RR.EXP. & SURVEYS -- CAL & ORE CON
BOTANY --- PLATE
1.
tel
e
39
PLATANUS RACEMOSA
BOTANY,
33
Like most of the evergreen oaks, Q. agrifolia is rather à southern tree. Though found in
all parts of the Sacramento valley, it scarcely extends further northward than Fort Reading,
while it ranges southward into Mexico.
The wood is hard and brittle, and, from the small size of the tree, is of little value for
building purposes.
PLATANUS RACEMOSA. (Plate II.) The Mexican sycamore.
P. RACEMOSA, Nutt. Sylva. 1, p. 47, t. 15.
P. RACEMOSA, Aud. Birds Amer. t. 362.
P. MEXICANA, Moric. Pl. Nov, ou, rar. d'Amer. t. 26.

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.
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.
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Fig. 10.
Fig. 10. Leaf and fruit of P. racemosa, one-half natural size.
The Mexican sycamore exhibits a striking general resemblance to P. occidentalis of the eastern
States, and by a casual observer would be considered the same. It grows along river banks in
the same way, and, like P. occidentalis, often divides into several trunks-branches they can
hardly be called—which diverge widely and irregularly, giving to the tree a straggling and
irregular growth. The general effect of the foliage is similar, and the trunk is covered with a
white exfoliating bark.' On closer examination, however, it will be seen that the resemblance
to the eastern tree is only general, and the points of difference are so numerous and appreciable
that the two species which they constitute need never be confounded.
The port, both in form and dimensions, of the sycamore of California is so like that of the
east as to afford no diagnostic characters.
Along the rivers its growth is usually open and unsymmetrical, as has been mentioned; but
5 Z
34
BOTANY.
where, as sometimes found, it grows on open and higher ground, it adopts the general habit of
the trees of the country, and spreads out into a wide and tolerably compact head. The tree of
which the portrait is given (Pl. II) is of this character; it is growing on the banks of Feather
river, a few miles above its mouth, and situated on the alluvial bottom but some 40 feet above
the stream, and a little separated from the belt of timber—principally sycamores—which line
its banks. This tree had a diameter of trunk of over 6 feet, an altitude of about 100 feet, and
a spread of branches nearly equal to its height, constituting one of the noblest specimens of
vegetation I have ever seen.
The leaf of the Mexican sycamore, in form, color and texture, is considerably different from
that of its eastern representative. It is deeply cut, as represented in the figure, and is darker
green and smoother than that of P. occidentalis. The fruit is also in racemes of three to six,
instead of being solitary, as in that species.
The bark is whiter than I have ever seen it in P. occidentalis, being sometimes as white as
milk on all parts of the trunk and branches. The dark, polished, and digitate leaves contrast
finely with the white bark, and give to the tree a much more tropical look than that of our
species.
The figure given by Nuttall (1. c.) represents the leaf as pubescent or tomentose. I think
that is never its character, except when very young; at least in different parts of California
where I saw the tree the foliage constantly exhibited the characters which I have described.
The Mexican sycamore is apparently more southern in its habit than most of the trees with
which it is associated in California, the centre of its range being, probably, about the southern
line of that State. We found it bordering the Sacramento river and its tributaries in all parts
of the Sacramento valley, but did not meet with it further north.
The wood of the sycamore of the west, like that of the common species and that of most of
the decotyledonous trees with which it is associated, is very brittle. Of its want of tenacity,
we had a striking illustration when encamped under the tree represented on the plate.
Our beds were spread on the ground under its branches, nearly touching each other. During
the evening—a fresh breeze blowing, but not a high wind—we were warned by a cracking over-
head that danger was impending, and had just time to stand from under," when a branch
about eight inches in diameter came crashing down directly where we had been lying.
PINUS CONTORTA. (Plate V.) The twisted pine.
P. CONTORTA. Dougl. in Lond. Encycl. of Trees, p. 975, fig. 915.
P. CONTORTA. Loud. Arboret, 4, p. 2292, figs. 2210 and 2211.
P. INOPS, (P. distorta, Dougl.) Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 161.
Description.—A tree of moderate or small size, of a conical, and frequently very strict figure;
branches numerous, small; leaves in twos, short, yellow-green in color; cone generally avoid
acute, sometimes spherical, three-quarters of an inch to one and a quarter inch in length, per-
sistent for several years ; scales bearing short and acute spines; seeds roundish, dark; scale
elongated entire.
We first met with this pine on the banks of Canoe creek, a tributary of Pit river, in northern
California. After leaving that locality we saw no more of it till we reached the banks of Kla-
math river above Upper Klamath lake. Here it was abundant, and continued common to the
Columbia.
On Canoe creek it grows in the natural meadows bordering the stream, forming a moderately

U.S. PRR EXP & SURVEYS - CAL & OREGON
BOTANY – FLATE V.
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See the
PINUS CONTORTA
BOTANY.
35
sized tree, the largest having an altitude of 50 or 60 feet, and a diameter of trunk of 12 inches
three feet from the ground. The form of the tree is erect and strict; the foliage yellow green,
moderately dense ; leaves in twos, two inches long, and covering all the smaller
cones 13 inches long, narrow ovoid ; scales bearing short sharp spires, which are obsolete at the
base of the cone. The old cones are persistent, sometimes loading the branches and giving a
peculiar appearance to the tree. On Klamath river are many scattered trees having the same
character and station as those on Canoe creek, but by far the greater number are gathered into
the low grounds near the stream, where they form dense thickets or pine swamps of trees, gen-
erally 25 to 40 feet high and 6 to 10 inches diameter, so closely set as seriously to obstruct our
passage through them.

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Fig. 11.
Fig. 11. Cone, leaves, scales, and seeds of P. contorta, natural size.
On the lowlands bordering the western shore of Upper Klamath lake, this pine exclusively
composes the forest which formed the wall-like limit of the level and grass covered prairies
which spread many miles back from the water's edge, the highland more remote being covered
with the much larger trees of P. ponderosa.
The pumice plain lying between the Klamath lakes and the Des Chutes river, the driest and
most barren region which we crossed, is sparsely covered with the western cedar (J. occidentalis)
and P. contorta, here lower and more spreading, its lower branches resting on the ground. Of
these trees many were dead, though standing, and all then exhibited very strikingly a character
which may have suggested the name “contorta” to Douglas, but which is common to many
conifers, though perhaps nowhere so conspicuous as in this tree, viz: the curving downward
and inward of the dead branches, reversing the natural upward curve of their extremities while
living.
BOTANY.
In the Cascade mountains P. contorta forms a large part of the forests in the lower valleys,
where it is sometimes seen nearly as closely set and as slender as canes in a cane-brake. It is
common on the lower slopes and rises, scattered and dwarfed, to about the altitude of 6,000
feet; but its favorite station is evidently the moist valleys and plains.
This tree approaches P. inops so closely that it is perhaps doubtful if it should be separated
from it. The cones and foliage are, to my eye, undistinguishable, and the cones are similarly
persistent. The habit of the western tree is, however, somewhat unlike that of its eastern
representative. It is never so spreading, and in some of the localities I have mentioned is
more slender than any other pine with which I am acquainted.
PINUS PONDEROSA. (Plate IV.) The western yellow pine.
P. PONDEROSA, Dougl. Loud. Arboret, p. 2243, figs. 2133 and 2134.
P. BRACHYPTERA, Engel. Bot. Wislz. Exp., p. 5.
P. ENGELMANNI Torrey. Bot. Whipple's Rep., p. 141.
P. BEARDSLEYI, Murray. Edenb. New Philos. Jour., 1855, p. 286.
P. BENTHAMIANA, Hartweg. Jour. Hort. Soc. Lond., 4, fig. 213.

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Fig. 12.
Fig. 12. Cone, scales and leaves of P. Ponderosa, natural size.
USPR R EXP.& SURVEYS - CAL & OREGON
BOTANY – PLATE IV

PINUS PONDEROSA
BOTANY.
37
This is the most widely distributed of all the pines which are found in California or Oregon;
and over very large areas it is not only the most common but the only species. I can only
explain the confusion which exists in reference to it in the notes on the botany of the far west
which have been published, by the supposition that its favorite habitat, though immensely
extended, lying so far inland, has scarcely been entered by the botanists who have visited the
inhabited portions of California or Oregon.
The range of this tree is from the mountains of New Mexico, (San Francisco, &c.,) northward
to and beyond the Columbia, and from the coast in California, where it is comparatively rare
to the Rocky mountain chain on the east.
In the Sacramento and Willamette valleys I did not see it; but in the Sierra Nevada it is
abundant, associated with P. Lambertiana, Abies grandis, Libocedrus decurrens, on the slopes ;
in many places exclusively composing the forests of the higher portions of the range, descending
to mingle with the species I have named both to the east and west.
As we passed northeastwardly from Fort Reading, California, across a portion of the Sierra
Nevada, at the foot of Lassen's butte, we found this species, known there as the "yellow pine,"
as we ascended, succeeding to P. Sabiniana, (which grows near the banks of the Sacramento
and on the lower hills,) composing the first pine forests we saw in the country. At McCumber's
it forms an important element in the magnificent forest of that region, of which I have already
spoken; and still higher on the flanks of Lassen's butte it composes the entire forest, rising
nearly to the line of perpetual snow. As we descended into Pit river and Klamath basins
we found it still abundant, forming by far the most constant feature in the vegetation of our
route from Pit river to the Columbia. Near or distant, trees of this kind were always in sight;
and in the arid and really desert regions of the interior basin we made whole days' marches in
forests of yellow pine, of which the absolute monotony was unbroken either by other forms of
vegetation, or the stillness by the flutter of a bird, or the hum of an insect. The volcanic soil,
as light and dry as ashes, into which the feet of our horses sank to the fetlock, produces almost
nothing but an apparently unending succession of large trees of P. ponderosa.
The yellow pine, as it grows in these sterile regions, is a noble tree; and though never rivalling
the gigantic sugar pine in its dimensions, it claims among western pines the second place. At
McCumber's we saw many of this species six, and even seven, feet in diameter, three feet from
the ground; and near the base of Mount Jefferson, in Oregon, I saw one which was twenty-
five feet in circumference at the same height.
The port of P. ponderosa is somewhat more spreading than P. Lambertiana, though far less
so than P. Sabiniana. Where these last two species grow together, the contrast in form is
very striking, as is also the color and character of the foliage.
The leaves of P. ponderosa are in threes, from four to ten inches in length, serrated on their
s, and, being confined to the extremities of the branches, from which they radiate in all
directions, give the foliage a peculiarly tufted appearance. The color of the leaves is a dark
yellow green, and readily distinguishable from the deep blue green of P. Lambertiana, or the
light blue green, or glaucous hue, of P. Sabiniana. The successive appearance and decadence of
clusters of leaves at the end of the branches gives to the smaller ones a beaded character, which
distinguishes it from all other western pines. The smaller branches, and especially the central
shoot in young trees, are strongly marked with the scales of the fallen leaves; closely resem-
bling in some cases the leaf scars of the lepidodendroid fossils of the coal period.
The cones of P. ponderosa are from three to six inches in length, ovoid in form, the bosses of
38
BOTANY.
the scales bearing small acute recurved spines. The cones grow singly or in clusters of from
two to four, generally at the extremities of the smaller branches, and are not pendent, as in the
group of pines to which P. Lambertiana and P. strobus belong. The seeds are somewhat
larger than apple seeds, and form the principal subsistence of several kinds of birds.
The average length of the cones of P. ponderosa is perhaps four inches, though in the same
grove of trees I have seen all the variations I have mentioned. On the flanks of Lassen's butte
we found a pine prevailing over an area of several square miles, differing in nothing, as I could
perceive, from the common P. ponderosa, except that the cones were all double the average size;
I could not doubt, however, that it was a mere variety of the common species.
The bark of P. ponderosa affords one of its inost noticeable and distinctive characters. It is
light yellowish brown, (cork color,) and is divided into large plates, four, six, or eight inches
in breadth, which are flat and smooth, and enable one to distinguish the trunk of this tree at a
considerable distance. These plates of cork-like bark are made the repositories of acorns by
the woodpeckers, and it is a very common thing to see large numbers of these trees having the
bark of the trunk cut into a honeycomb by thickly set holes as large as thimbles, or as thickly
studded with inserted acorns.
The wood of the yellow pine is generally highly resinous, and, though heavy, is brittle and
less valuable than that of the sugar pine. Like the pitch pine” of the eastern States, it is,
however, sometimes of excellent quality, containing little resin, soft and tough. The yellow
pine exhibits a tendency to twist, which is very noticeable in a forest of these trees, the grain of
trunk and branches being often seen coiled into the closest possible spiral.
This is undoubtedly the tree described by my friend Dr. Engelmann under the name of P.
brachyptera, the specimens on which his description was based having the wings of the seeds
unusually shortened. In the normal form the seed-wings are not shorter than in other pines
having cones of equal size.
Although I have taken Douglas' name, which was the first applied to this tree in the far west,
I have been inclined to doubt whether it should not be considered a mere variety of P. rigida.
I have not been able to find any constant differences between the fruit or foliage of the two
species. The western tree is, however, much more robust, growing taller and larger, the bark
smoother, and the wood generally less resinous.
The same differences are also noticeable between Abies Canadensis of the west and east, and
may very well depend on a soil and climate which is particularly favorable to the growth of
coniferous trees.
The various phases exhibited by P. rigida, going from New England to Georgia, show the
influence of soil and climate in modifying its habit. It should also be observed that its range
is very great in the eastern States, and that it extends from Louisiana westward nearly to New
Mexico, where P. ponderosa occurs—a fact which strengthens the probability that they are
identical, and that, as a single species, this tree bridges over the continent south of the central
desert, in the same way that Abies Canadensis stretches across from Lake Superior to Oregon,
north of that area.
I have before me, as I write, specimens of the cones and foliage of P. ponderosa from the
immediate vicinity, and perhaps from the very trees, where Douglas obtained the cone and
leaves which he sent to Europe ; and on the Columbia I observed the tree where I know he had
botanized. There is, therefore, no possibility of being in error as to the tree which he designated
by the name of P. ponderosa. The cone sent home by Douglas was immature and deformed,
BOTANY.
39
and no pine at the west bears cones of this character, unless, as in that unfortunate case, as a
monstrosity.
The pine described by Mr. Murray under the name of P. Beardsleyi is evidently one of the
most common forms of P. ponderosa. The differences which he suggests are such as are often
exhibited by the trees of the same grove. The leaves are long or short, the cones large or
small, the wood hard and resinous, or soft, according to the soil in which it grows.
PINUS SABINIANA. Sabine's pine-nut pine.
P. SABINIANA, Dougl. in Comp. to Bot. Mag. 11. p. 150.
P. SABINIANA, Lambert, Pinus, Ed. 2d, 2, p. 146, t. 80.
P. SABINIANA, Hook, Flor. Bor. Amer. 2, p. 162.
P. SABINIANA, Nutt. Sylva. 3, p. 110, t. 702.

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Fig. 13.
Fig. 13. Cone of P. Sabiniana, 1 natural size.
Fig. 13a, b. Leaves and seed of P. Sabiniana, natural size.
The “nut pine,” as this tree is commonly called in California, is scarcely less interesting
40
BOTANY.
6
)
or important, in a scientific or economical point of view, than the great Lambert pine. It does
not rival that species in the immensity of its size, nor in its value for timber, but the form of
the tree is peculiar, and quite unlike that of any other western pine which we saw, and the cones
are considerably larger and more ponderous than that of any other species; and, what is of
more importance to the Indians, they contain such stores of eatable nuts as to become a staple
article of subsistence in many extensive districts.
The “nut pine," or, as it is sometimes called from the toughness of the wood, the "wythe
pine,” nowhere forms forests, but is disseminated very generally over California. It was found
by our party in the valleys of the coast ranges, as far north as Fort Lane, in Oregon, though
in the interior it does not occur on our route between Pit river and the Columbia. It chooses,
in preference, regions unoccupied by other trees, and is generally found scattered sparsely over
rough and rocky surfaces, where almost no other plant would take root.
Douglas, and, copying him, Nuttall, give to this tree almost an alpine station, which a
not at all accord with my observations. This was the first pine I saw in California, and we
found it growing in Napa, Sonoma, and other valleys of the coast range, and on the borders
and at the head of the Sacramento valley, but little above the level of tide water. Subsequently
we met with it at various points in northern California, but never at any considerable altitude.
On our route it occurred most abundantly in the pedregal country bordering Pit river, where
that stream forces its way through the spur of the Sierra Nevada into the Sacramento valley;
a region which rivals, in the magnitude of its volcanic phenomena, the islands of Haiwaii or
Sicily. It is covered with piled up masses or congealed floods of lava, which, rough, ragged,
and bare, seem to bid defiance alike to the approaches of animal or vegetable life. Only here
and there, in the crevices or hollows of the rocks, narrow and shallow accumulations of sterile
soil had taken place, which sustained scarce any vegetable growth, except thickets of the ever-
green manzanita and scattering trees of the nut pine ; both, however, doing their utmost to
redeem the district from its hopeless sterility, by producing their berries and nuts in such
profusion as to attract and feed large numbers of birds, bears, and Digger Indians.
Nuttall unaccountably failed to see the nut pine in California, and, therefore, repeats without
comment Douglas' description of it. This is to be regretted, for Nuttall's discriminating eye
would at once have detected the discrepancies which exist between the tree as it grows and the
published description of it.
After speaking of its alpine habit, which our observations disprove, and of its range north-
ward to the Blue mountains, on the upper Columbia, in which he was guided only by the nuts
collected by the Indians, and probably misled by referring the nuts of the nut pine of that
region to this tree, Douglas says: “The stems of these pines are of a very regular form, and
grow straight and tapering to the height of 40 to 140 feet, and are from three to twelve feet in
circumference, and, when standing apart, clothed with branches down to the ground.” .
An extract from my notes, with the accompanying sketch, (fig. 13,) taken when surrounded
by these trees, will show what is the sort of P. sabiniana in all parts of California where we
saw it.
16 July 28.-To day saw great numbers of the nut pine, sometimes in groves and clusters, more
generally as single trees, scattered about among the rocks. The form of the tree, as well as its
foliage, are peculiar, and readily serve to distinguish it from all other pines I have seen. It
has nothing of the conical figure of most coniferous trees, but the trunk soon divides into
spreading branches, and the tree has the port of an oak or maple, sometimes even approaching
1
BOTANY.
41
the form of the Italian stone pine. The foliage is pale bluish-green and thin, and the whole
aspect of the tree light and airy.
- The cones are usually solitary, ovoid in form, sometimes as large as one's head, and very
ponderous, they are covered with spurs, or strong curved spires, an inch or more in length, of
which the broad bases cover all the exposed portion of the scales. The seeds are as large as
large beans and very palatable, having, however, a slightly terebinthine taste."
This description, which subsequent observations fully confirmed, included nearly everything
necessary to be said of the tree. It will be noticed that it differs in several respects from that
given by Douglas, so much so that if there were any other tree in California to which his
description could better apply, I should be inclined to consider the common Gnut pine" as
distinct from his P. sabiniana.
He represents the form of the tree as conical, the cones, much as I have described them, but
· in verticils of three to nine. The leaves eleven to fourteen inches in length in threes, some-
times four in a sheath ; while in those I saw, the form was diffuse, the cones solitary, the
leaves eight to ten inches long, always in threes. The description of P. coulteri, given by Don
in Lin. Trans., vol. 17, page 440, in some respects agrees better with that of the California
nut pine than does Douglas' description just cited. This tree (P. coulteri) he describes as
having," an altitude of eighty to one hundred feet, with large permanently spreading branches
ternate leaves larger and broader than those of any other known species—and of a glaucous
hue. Cones oblong, solitary, very large-twelve inches in length by six in diameter-com-
parable to sugar loaves, the spirous processes of the scales three to four inches in length, as
thick as one's finger, seed as large as an almond, eatable.”
Without authenticated specimens for comparison, I would not presume to decide on the
identity or difference of P. coulteri and P. sabiniana ; still from the description of P. coulteri,
I should infer that this was only an unusually large and strong form of the nut pine of northern
California, and notwithstanding the discrepancies of description. Authenticated specimens of
P. sabiniana which I have seen, being undistinguishable, to my eye, from those I brought from
California, it would seem probable that the “nut pine," of northern California, is the P.
sabiniana of Douglas and P. coulteri of Don. If so, Douglas' name must take precedence, as
it was first bestowed. It is, perhaps, necessary to say in this connexion that there are so many
“nut pines” in the far west, that without discrimination the use of the term will beget con-
fusion. Aside from the three leaved species, of which I have spoken, there are in New Mexico
the piñon of the Mexicans-P. edulis of Englemann-which is two leaved; in the Rocky
mountains and Cascade range, P. monophyllus, Torry and Frémont, which is one leaved ; and
P. flexilis, Torry and James, which are five leaved, all of which produce seeds as large and
palatable as those of P. Cembra of Europe.
The timber furnished by P. sabiniana is of little value. It is not wanting in tenacity, but
its spreading form reduces the dimensions and value of the trunk, and the wood is resinous
and the grain irregular.
As an ornament to cultivated grounds it is well worth attention. The form and foliage of
the tree are pleasing, and the huge and bristling cones filled with eatable nuts are among the
most curious and interesting forms of vegetable fructification, and would not inappropriately
find a place among the ornaments and delicacies of the table. When we think that thousands
of beings, red skinned but human, look to these pine trees for their winter store of food-after
6 Z
42
BOTANY.
grasshoppers, their most esteemed aliment—we shall cease to regard the cultivation of pine
trees for their fruit an absurdity.
Pinus LAMBERTIANA. The sugar pine.
P. LAMBERTIANA, Dougl. in Linn. Trans. 15, p. 500.
P. LAMBERTIANA, Dougl. Lamb. Pinus, Ed. 2, 1, p. 57, t. 34.
P. LAMBERTIANA, Endl. Syn. Conif. p. 150.
P. LAMBERTIANA, Loud. Arboret 4, p. 2288, figs. 2203–2207.
P. LAMBERTIANA, Nutt. Sylva 3, p. 122, t. 14.

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Fig. 14.
Fig. 14. Cone of P. Lambertiana, i natural size.
Fig. 14a, 6. Leaves, scale, and seeds of do., natural size.
Fig. 14c. Short leaves of do., natural size.
This pine, undoubtedly the most magnificent species of the genus to which it belongs, is
widely distributed over the country lying between the Rocky mountains and the Pacific, and is
there universally known as the sugar pine. Its range extends from the Mexican line on the
BOTANY.
43
south to the vicinity of the Columbia river. It is disseminated through nearly all parts of the
Sierra Nevada within their limits, and is not rare in the coast ranges between San Francisco
and the Umpqua river. It is also generally spread over the transverse ranges of mountains,
Siskiyou, Umpqua, and Calapooya--which connect the Cascades and coast ranges; and probably
the finest trees of it which exist are in the vicinity of Humboldt bay and Rogue river, on the
coast.
I have never seen it anywhere existing in such numbers as of itself to form forests, but
generally occurring associated with other species which far surpass the sugar pines in numbers,
while they, in turn, exceed all their fellows in dimensions. Scattered here and there through
the forest, they seem, in their towering grandeur, like so many chiefs surrounded by their sub-
jects and slaves.
The sugar pine is closely allied, in all its botanical characters, to the white pine (P. strobus)
D
and perfection of figure, a healthfulness and vigor of growth, such as are perhaps not attained
by the trees of any other part of the world.
The young trees of the sugar pine give early promise of the majesty to which they subse-
quently attain. They are unmistakably young giants, even when having a trunk with a
diameter of a foot or more; their remote and regularly whorled branches, like the stem,
covered with smooth grayish-green bark, showing that, although so large, the plant is still
“in the milk," and has only began its life of many centuries.
The mature tree is one of the most magnificent exhibitions of vegetable life that nature has
produced; rising sometimes to an altitude of 300, and having a diameter of 20 feet, it is scarcely
inferior to the Sequoias, the confessed monarch of the vegetable kingdom. It should be said,
growth vigorous, it is rare to find a tree more than 10 feet in diameter, and 200 feet in height.
The sugar pine conspicuously exhibits one of the most general and striking characters of the
Coniferoe—the great development of the trunk at the expense of the branches. Nearly the
whole growth of the root is thrown into the trunk, which generally stands without flaw or
flexure, a perpendicular cone, all its transverse sections accurately circular; sparsely set with
branches, which in their insignificance seem like the festoons of ivy which wreath the columns
of some ancient ruin.
The foliage is less dense than that of many pines, the leaves in fives, 3 inches in length, and of
a dark blue green color. As in P. strobus, toward the summit of the tree a few of the
branches are frequently longer than those below, and suspended from the extremities of these,
singly or in clusters, hang the cones. These are of a size commensurate with that of the tree,
being sometimes 16 and even 18 inches in length by 4 inches diameter. More commonly they are
12 to 14 inches in length by 3 inches in diameter. They bear a general resemblance to the cones
of the white pine, still more to those of P. excelsa from the Himalayas. They are generally
slightly curved, and are composed of densely imbricated thin scales, of which the exposed portion
is rounded in outline and without spines. They are commonly less resinous than those of P.
white, soft, homogeneous, and usually straight grained. It is the most highly esteemed for
inside work, of all the varieties of lumber found in California.
At McCumber's and Shingletown, in northern California, the saw-mills are set in what must
be a lumberman's paradise-a forest composed of trees of remarkable size, perfection, and
44
BOTANY.
uniformity; sugar and yellow pine, with the western balsam fir, and Libocedrus, of which the
eye may take in at a glance even hundreds which reach or exceed the utmost capacity of the
mills, and many which would furnish sticks a yard square and a hundred feet long, as straight
as an arrow, and almost without a knot.
The resin of the sugar pine is less abundant than that of the P. ponderosa, is white or trans-
parent like that of P. strobus. That which exudes from partially burnt trees, for the most part,
loses its terebinthine taste and smell, and acquires a sweetness nearly equal to that of sugar.
This sugar gives the tree its name, and is sometimes used for sweetening food. It has, however,
decided cathartic properties, and is oftener used by the frontier men as a medicine than a condi-
ment. Its resemblance in taste, appearance, and properties to manna, strikes one instantly; and
but for a slight terebinthine flavor, it might be substituted for that drug, without the know-
ledge of the druggist or physician, its physical and medical properties are so very like.
PINUS CEMBROIDES. The American Cembra pine.
P. CEMBROIDES, Zucc. Jour, Hort. Soc. 1, p. 236.


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Fig. 15. Cone, leaves, scale, and seed of P. Cembroides, natural size.
While exploring the passes of the Cascade mountains, about latitude 44° north, we first met
with tais tree.
Wo crossed the mountains several times at an altitude of about 7,000 feet, the line of perpetual
snow. After reaching an altitude of 5,500 feet, among the firs and spruces which cover the
inountain sides began to appear pines of a species then quite new to me. As we ascended we
left b aind us Menzies' and Douglas' spruces, (A. Menziesii and A. Douglasii,) the western
balsa and silver firs, (P. grandis and P. amabilis,) which grow so luxuriantly below, and, at
the height of 6,500 feet, found the scattered clusters of trees to be compose
numbers of the pine to which I have alluded, and of a beautiful and then undescribed spruce,
which I have since called Abies Williamsonii. Still higher, at the extreme limit of vegetation,
the bleak and barren surfaces were held by this pine in a possession undisputed by other trees,
but opposed by the rigors of a climate which had bowed it to the ground, forcing it to grow in
BOTANY.
45
thick and tangled masses, scarcely rising above the surface; the trunks, sometimes of consider-
able size, creeping about among the rocks like roots.
This pine nowhere, within my observation, attained the size of a large tree; the largest indi-
viduals, with a diameter of two and a half feet, having no greater height than 50 feet. The
bark of the trunk is white as milk, but moderately rough and thin, having much the appear-
ance of the bark of the white oak (Q. Alba) in trees of moderate size; the bark of the branches
gray, smooth, and tender, as in the white pine; the wood of the branches very flexible and
tough, the leaves confined to the extremities of the branches, five in a sheath, light, blue-green,
triangular, and smooth; those of each fascicle of uniform length and approximated, giving the
foliage a peculiar, notched, or cropped look. The cones were so rare, that, though constantly
among the trees and on the lookout myself, I had for two weeks an offer, open to all our party,
of a dollar for a good cone; and no one was able to claim the reward. Fragments of cones, re-
cent or of other years, were under every tree, but (containing seeds with kernels nearly as large
as peas) they had been most carefully sought and torn up by the little pine squirrels. At the
end of the two weeks' search, a smile of fortune led me to a locality where that want was fully
supplied. The cones are erect or divergent, two to three inches long, ovoid in outline, oblique
at the base, of a peculiar red color, very smooth and free from resin. They are composed of
scales, which are thick and woody, of which the bosses project in flattened prisms, or cones of
considerable length, giving an inequality of surface greater than in any of the smaller pine
cones which have been described. The scales have no spines. .
The seeds are wingless or nearly so ; when mature, are oval in form, as large as large peas ;
the flavor is agreeable, and the Indians eat them whenever they can be obtained.
The description of P. flexilis, as given by Torrey, James, and Nuttall, agree in so many
particulars with that of the summit pine of the Cascade mountains that I
to regard them as identical. P. flexilis, however, where it has been observed, has not the ex-
treme alpine habit of our trees, and the cone, as figured by Nuttall, is as different as possible
from the cones which it bears. If P. flexilis has been accurately described, the two species,
however closely allied, are distinct. The cone figured by Nuttall partakes much more of the
character common to those of most of the five leaved pines, being pendulous, slender, and com-
posed of relatively thin, appressed scales. If the cone of P. flexilis is of this character it may
justify the comparison which he makes with that of P. Cembra, which, though short-some-
times almost globose-has the general features of the cones of P. strobus, P. Lambertiana, &c.;
whereas the cone of P. Cembroides ? has almost nothing in common with that of P. Cembra
but its eatable seeds; a character which it shares with two other nut pines of the western
mountains—P. monophyllus and P. edulis—the conės of which are more like those of this species
than they are those of P. Cembra.
I have not access to the original description of P. Cembroides, nor are any specimens, to my
knowledge, in possession of American botanists. Until a more satisfactory comparison can be
made between the Oregon tree and that of Mexico it will be impossible to determine the ques-
tion of their identity or difference; though it would seem improbable that a tree having the ex-
treme alpine habit of that of the Cascade mountains should be found in any part of Mexico,
they are evidently so very like each other that I have thought best for the present to consider
them identical.
The description of P. flexilis, as given by Dr. James, (Long's Exped., vol. 2, p. 34,) does not
agree with that given by Dr. Engelmann, (Bot. Wisliz, Exped., p. 5,) where it is represented
UVI
46
BOTANY.
as having "pendulous, squarrose, cylindrical cones,” which, with its quinate leaves, “assimi-
late it to P. strobus ;” but “the seed, large and eatable, leaves not serrulate and stouter.
Dr. James, on the contrary, says his P. flexilis has, like P. strobus, leaves, 5 in a fascicle, but
beyond that there is little resemblance. “The leaves are short and rigid, the sheaths short
and lacerated, the strobiles erect, composed of large unarmed scales, being somewhat smaller
than those of P. rigida, but similar in shape, and exuding a great quantity of resin,” &c.
His description of the tree agrees well with that of the species under consideration, except that
he does not mention the white bark. The flexible branches and short leaves confined to the
extremities of the branches of P. flexilis are characters shared by most of the five-leaved pines,
which form a group by themselves, and should perhaps constitute a sub-genus. The red,
oblique-based resinless cones of our trees seem clearly to distinguish it.
The wood of P. flexilis is white and soft, and not highly charged with resin, resembling that
of P. strobus and P. Lambertiana.
PICEA GRANDIS, Dougl. (Plate VI.) The western balsam fir.
P. GRANDIS, Loudon, Arboret, p. 2341, figs. 2245, 2246.
PINUS GRANDIS, Dougl. ms.
ABIES GRANDIS, Lindl. Penny Cyclop. No. 3.
A. GRANDIS, Hook. Flor., Bor. Amer. 2, p. 163.
A. GRANDIS, Nutt. Sylva. 3.
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U.S.PR.R.EXP & SURVEYS CALA & OREGON.
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BOTANY.
47
Among the many sad things connected with the death of the lamented Douglas, was the loss
which botanical science suffered in being deprived of the full exposition which he would have
given, had he lived, of the specimens which he collected during his residence in California and
Oregon. Of the vast material which was transmitted to England through his industry, much
was described by him; and his notes and descriptions have constituted a fund from which all
have drawn who have had occasion to refer to the subject of the botany of the regions he visited.
His descriptions were, however, generally brief, and only preparatory to a more elaborate work
to be prepared by himself and others subsequent to his return. His specimens have since been
carefully studied by Lindley, Hooker, Lambert, &c., and the published results, as might have
been expected from the learning and ability of these botanists, have been of great scientific
value, and as full and accurate as they could be in the circumstances. Nothing could compen-
sate, however, for the want of his living testimony in reference to the thousand points of
inquiry which would arise in the study of his specimens; and none but himself could correct,
the inevitable errors which attended the transport, the packing and unpacking, the handling
and examination of his plants. Who that has the care of collections in natural history does
not find it almost a daily necessity to replace labels and return erratic fragments to their con-
nections ?-to do what, if left to other hands, would be so done as to obscure if not falsify facts.
In speaking of Pinus ponderosa, I have alluded to the consequences of the fact that an
abnormal and distorted cone was made to stand the sole and unqualified representative of one
of the noblest and the most widely distributed of western pines. I think we have evidence
that a somewhat similar mistake has occurred in reference to the cones of Picea (Pinus) grandis
of Douglas.
This tree is described (Dougl. & Lamb. Comp. Bot. Mag. II, p. 147) as "a noble tree, akin
to P. balsamea, growing from 170 to 200 feet high, with a brown bark; leaves emarginate at
the apex; cones lateral, solitary, cylindrical, obtuse, very similar to those of P. cedrus, but
larger, six inches long, of a chestnut brown color, &c., (Loudon, Arboret, p. 2341.) In the
description of P. amabilis (Loud. op. c. p. 2312) the cones are said to resemble those described
as belonging to P. grandis, but to be twice as large as those of P. grandis sent home by
Douglas, and botanists have since been unable to distinguish between these two species, and
generally regard them as forms of the same.
In the Cascade mountains, south of the Columbia, near where Douglas procured his speci-
mens of P. grandis and P. amabilis, I found two firs growing which must be those designated
by Douglas under these names. Of these one was indeed a noble tree which we had first met
with in California, where, from its resemblance to P. balsamea, it has been called by the resi-
dents, and by several botanists, the balsam fir, and considered identical with the eastern species.
It grows very abundantly in the Cascade mountains; up to and beyond the Columbia it rises to.
the height of 200 feet; has emarginate leaves ; cones never more than three inches long, very
obtuse, and having a depression at the summit, and resembles those of P. cedrus more than those
of any other species. These cones are, however, always green or greenish brown, and never
chestnut color; they are also comparatively free from resin.
The other tree to which I have referred is very unlike this, never attaining equal size, much
more strict and conical in form where both grow in open grounds ; the foliage more dense; the
leaves darker above, more glaucous below, entire, and often acute; the cones double the size of
those of the "balsam fir" of the same region; elliptical in form, rounded above, dark purple
in color, and more resinous. The scales of the cones and bracts relatively much longer. Of
C
48
BOTANY.
these trees the first agrees well with the descriptions of P. grandis, given by Douglas and
Nutall, and is the only tree which I saw in the region where Douglas obtained his specimens
to which their descriptions could be applied. I have, therefore, no doubt that the western
balsam fir is P. grandis. Of his P. amabilis Douglas left no description, sending home only,
the cones and leaves. Of these, good figures and a brief description are given by Loudon,
(Arboret, 4, p. 2342.)
As will be seen from the figures now published, (fig. —,) from specimens obtained by myself,
that there is an entire correspondence between Douglas' P. amabilis and the “silver fir” of
the Cascade mountains, and I have, therefore, regarded them as identical.
The difficulty which botanists have found in distinguishing Douglas' P. grandis from
P. amabilis has apparently arisen from the want of a full description of P. amabilis, such as
Douglas alone could give. Lambert also states that the cones of P. grandis are 62 inches long
by 31 broad, undoubtedly a mistake, as there is not a tree growing where Douglas obtained his
P. grandis which has large unornamented cones, except P. amabilis. P. nobilis is found in the
same region, but the large bract-covered cones of this species could never be confounded with
either of the two species in question.
The figures of the cones of P. grandis, given by. Loudon, (Arboret, 4, p, 2341,) are certainly
considerably unlike that which I now give (fig. 16) of the cone of what I have considered as
P. grandis; and if they are accurately copied from Douglas' specimens, and those specimens are
well preserved, I should be, perhaps, inclined to believe that Douglas had found on the Colum-
bia a fir not now known there, and that he had left unnoticed the tree which, after the Douglas
spruce, is the most abundant. Every one who has attempted to preserve the perishable
cones of Picea is aware of the great difficulty with which they are made to retain their
perfect forms, and I think that the cone given by Loudon (1. c., fig. 2246) bears evidence of
distortion or composition. The arrangement of the scales in vertical rows is not in accordance
with nature's laws of phyllotaxis, at least in the pines, spruces, or firs; and the descriptions of
the cones of P. grandis, given by Loudon (1. c.) and Lindley, (Penny Cyclop. Abies,) agree
perfectly with my specimens and the figure now given, which was made not alone from pre-
served specimens but from drawings made in the field.
The leaves figured by Loudon are represented as acute, while they are described to be obtuse
or emarginate. The seed and scale, also, as he gives them, are larger than would ever be
found in a cone but 31 inches long by 2 broad, and we may, therefore, suspect that, like the
leaves, it properly belongs to P. amabilis.
The range of P. grandis is apparently very great. It is found in the Sierra Nevada, of Cali-
fornia, down near the southern line of the State, and it is found at least as far north as the
British line.
Dr. Bigelow (Bot. Whipple's Rep.) says the balsam fir of California is identical with P.
balsamea of the eastern States, but gives no other description of the tree, as it grows where he
observed it, than to note its dimensions-far exceeding those of P. balsamea and the quality of
the timber furnished by it. While Dr. Bigelow's attainments as a botanist would give, with
me, great weight to his testimony, I cannot but suspect that, in this instance, he was misled
by the very apparent points of resemblance between the balsam firs of the east and west, and,
perhaps, had not an opportunity of examining the mature cones which furnish the best diag-
nostic characters. In the Sierra Nevada, a few miles from the upper end of the Sacramento
valley, we found the western balsam fir growing in profusion and attaining a large size, but
BOTANY.
49
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there exhibiting the same characters as in the Cascacles, near the Columbia, and clearly dis-
tinguished from P. balsamea by its immense size, longer leaves, and different cones. The only
decided character which the two species have in common is the accumulation of the balsam in
cysts in the trunks of small trees; this is, however, not peculiar to P. balsamea among eastern
trees, as a similar balsam is secreted on the trunk of P. Fraseri.
Dr. Bigelow mentions the occurrence of the same balsam fir which he saw near Sonora, in
California, in the more elevated portions of the San Francisco and Sandia mountains of New
Mexico. If this should prove to be the same species with that observed by us further north, in
California and Oregon, it would give a very extensive north and south range to the tree-a
range of at least 20° of latitude. This will not seem so surprising when we consider the great
differences of elevation of its northern and southern habitats, and the great differences of vege-
tation of the sub-tropical bases and arctic summits of the mountains of New Mexico and southern
California.
That the balsam fir of central and northern California are the same, is probable from the
fact that the associate trees, P. ponderosa, P. Lambertiana, Libocedrus decurrens, &c., are the
same in each case ; and the lumbermen and others who have seen the balsam firs in different
parts of the Sierra Nevada have regarded them as all of one species.
We first met with P. grandis near McCumber's, (lat. 41°, altitude 4,000 feet,) a few miles
northeast of Fort Reading, California. It there forms a conspicuous element in the magnifi-
cent forest whch I have described in speaking of the sugar and yellow pines, several of which I
measured; the trunks were scarcely inferior in girth or altitude to the pines, being twenty-one
feet in circumference three feet from the ground, and having an estimated altitude of 150 feet.
From this point to the Columbia it was found on all the wooded mountains. The general port
of the tree is very well given in the accompanying plate, (VI,) which represents the vigorous
and unimpeded growth of an individual about one hundred feet in height. This portrait was
taken on the eastern slope of the Cascade mountains, in Oregon, lat. 44° 12' N., at an elevation
of nearly 5,000 feet above the sea. It will be seen to be more spreading than most firs, broader
near the top, and less conical. When forming part of the dense forests of the lower Columbia, it
is much more slender, and the branches, instead of descending as low as represented in the plate,
are confined to the top. Under such circumstances, the trunk is straight, smooth, and cylin-
drical, and furnishes lumber of excellent quality. On the Columbia and Willamette it is
known as the "white fir," to distinguish it from the “red fir," (Abies Douglasii.) Most of
the lumber exported from Oregon is derived from these two trees.
PICEA NOBILIS. The noble fir.
P. NOBILIS, Loud. Arboret, 4, p. 2342, fig. 2249.
PINUS NOBILIS, Dougl. Lamb. Pinus, 3, t. 22.
ABIES NOBILIS, Lindl. Knighi's Cyclop. 1, p. 9.
PINUS (ABIES) NOBILIS, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 162.
ABIES NOBILIS, Nutt. Sylv. 3, t. 117.
Description.—Tree large, erect, strict; branches short, rigid ; leaves in many rows, short,
falciform, and curved upward, very rigid, keeled on both sides, ancipital acute, pale green,
not glaucous below; cones large, cylindrical, obtuse, fulvous, more or less covered by the
reflected bracts ; scales triangular, as broad as long, margins reflected, entire ; bracts longer
than the scale, reflected, fimbriated or entire, terminating in an elongated awn-like point; seed
much longer than wide, somewhat angular; wing twice as long as broad, entire, pellucid.
7 Z
50
BOTANY.
This splendid species was introduced into England many years since by Douglas, and is now 80
generally cultivated and well known that any lengthy description of it is unnecessary. It is also
so well marked by its short, rigid, acute leaves and large ornamental cones, that it is not likely
to be confounded with any other species now known. My own observations do not, however,
fully accord with those which have been published in regard to it; and the specimens which I
brought home differ so much from those before obtained from the same region, and from each
other, that it seems necessary that these differences should be indicated.


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Fig. 17. Cone, scales, and seeds of P. nobilis, half natural size.
Fig. 178. Leaf of do., natural size.
The accompanying figure (fig. 17) very accurately represents (half size) a cone obtained from
ung tree in the Cascade mountains, 150 miles south of the Columbia. It will be seen that
it differs from those figured by Lambert, Nuttall, and Loudon, (1. c.,) by being less com-
pletely covered by the reflected bracts, and by the form of the bracts, which are much less fim-
briated, and are expanded into rounded wings on either side of the elongated point. The
scales, seeds, and wings correspond very well with those figured.
The figure now given was made with great care by an excellent artist, J. H. Richard, and
may be accepted as a copy of nature, even to the exact size and form of every bract. If the
figure given by Nuttall and Lambert is equally true to nature, we have here evidence of con-
siderable variation in the organs which have been considered the most distinctive character of
the tree. Loudon's figure (1. c.) is evidently not intended to be an accurate representation of
the subject, but only to give the general effect of the reflexed and fimbriated bracts. In his
description, drawn from Douglas' specimen, Loudon represents the leaves as 2-rowed; while
in my specimen the leaves are in many rows, so thickly set on all sides of the branches that
their bases are separated by spaces no larger than they occupy; nor are they trigonal, as those
described by Loudon, but quadrangular, without any longitudinal furrow.
A large cone was brought to me from the base of Mount Hood by Mr. C. D. Anderson, which
I could refer to no other tree than this; and get the bracts, though similar in form to those of
1
BOTANY.
51
the cone now figured, were much smaller, covering only a very small portion of the surface of
the cone; and the characteristic appearance of the cone of P. nobilis was entirely lost. The
leaves, scales, seeds, and wings were similar to those figured.
It is, perhaps, possible that the differences in the leaves and cones of my specimens and those
before described are sufficent to constitute a new species ; but as the general resemblance is
striking, and I have no authenticated specimens of P. nobilis with which to compare them, it is
perhaps better to wait till more material has been collected, which shall settle the question
beyond the possibility of doubt. Several surveying parties will traverse the country occupied
by P. nobilis within a few months, and they will doubtless supply our deficiencies in this
respect. An abundance of excellent seeds were obtained from the cones I have mentioned ; and
should they germinate, the plants raised from them will soon give us an opportunity of study-
ing the tree at leisure.
The general aspect of P. nobilis is somewhat like that of P. amabilis, though the foliage is
of a lighter green, the leaves and branches more rigid and less graceful. The leaves are so
stiff and sharp that they prick the skin like needles. The value of the wood for timber I had
no opportunity of determining, but it is probably inferior to that of the Douglas spruce or
balsam fig.
PICEA AMABILIS. The western silver fir.
PINUS AMABILIS, Dougl. in Loud. Arboret 4, p. 2342, figs. 2247 and 2248.
ABIES AMABILIS, Pinetum Woburnense, t. 44.

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Fig. 18. Cone and branch of P. amabilis, one-half natural size ;
Fig. 18a, b, c, d, leaf, scale, and seed of same, natural size.
This beautiful and distinct species has been generally confounded with P. grandis, as men-
tioned in the description of that species. This mistake would never have occurred if Douglas
52
BOTANY.
O
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had lived to return to England, as they are really very unlike each other, both in general
aspect and botanical characters.
We first met with this tree in latitude 44° N., in the vicinity of the “ Three Sisters,” snow
peaks of the Cascade mountains, nearly 150 miles south of the Columbia.
After striking the south fork of the Des Chutes river, on our progress northward, we followed
down that branch to its union with the main stream. This we followed to its source in the
southern slope of the group of mountains named. Around the mountain lakes in which
the Des Chutes takes its rise, we found, at first, a few small trees, and, subsequently, groups
and groves of a fir, which, familiar as we were with P. grandis—that species having accom-
panied us all the way from the mountains of California, -was immediately noticed by all
our party as a tree entirely new to our experience, and very different from any we had seen.
From my notes, made at the time, I take the following passage descriptive of this tree:
“ Cascade mountains, latitude 44° N., August 30.- * * On the rocky ledges which
overlook the lakes are a few trees of a fir which we have not before seen. It here forms a tree
of moderate height, of strictly conical figure. The foliage is very rich and massive, a dark-
green above, silvery beneath; the cones, very large, 6 by 24 inches ; elliptical, obtuse, and
of a dark-purple color, with numerous patches of white resin. These erect, and situated near
the summit of the tree, sometimes growing on quite small trees, seem disproportionably large,
and more than once I have in the distance mistaken them for birds.”
Of the many notices of P. amabilis which occur in my journal, I select two others which will
serve to illustrate the habit and appearance of the tree as it grows in perfection in its native
wilds:
“Cascade mountains, latitude 44° 17 (30 miles northwest from last, on headwaters of
McKenzie's fork of the Willamette river.)–Our camp to-night is on the borders of a small
lake, in a region formerly covered by a dense forest, which, perhaps, thirty years since was all
burned off. It has been succeeded by clusters and groves, principally of silver firs, which
growing in a fertile soil, and not yet crowding each other, have everywhere assumed the
symmetrical forms sometimes seen in the isolated evergreens of cultivated grounds."
The young trees of P. amabilis are less regular in form, and are handsomer, than any other
fir I have ever seen.
The range of this tree is apparently less extensive than that of P. grandis, though how far it
extends to the north we have no means of knowing at present.
We did not see it elsewhere than in the Cascade mountains between latitude 44º and 46°;
it is found, however, north of the Columbia, and probably exists along the summit of the Cas-
cade range as far south as Mount Pitt, about 42° 40'. I did not see it in the Willamette valley
or in the Coast mountains; it is probably confined to the higher portions of these latter moun-
tains, if, indeed, it exists on them.
The wood is white, and would, perhaps, be used for timber if it were accessible. As a timber
tree, it is, however, far inferior to many other trees which grow in the valleys and on the coast
of Oregon.
Cones of P. amabilis were brought home, and seeds have been distributed with a view to its
introduction into cultivation. Should this effort be unsuccessful, it may be obtained from
England, where it has been grown from seeds sent home by Douglass. I very much regret
-that it was never convenient for the artist of the party, Mr. Young, to take a portrait of this
1

USPRB EXP & SURVEYS CALA & OREGON
BOTANY PLATE VI!
CON
CORO
RAS
De
ess
RES
REALISSONANCIAL
BURANIN
DEAC
ARSTRANI
BARRASSERO
ERAS
S
.
Ei
SA
Lithu. by A. Hoen & Co Balto
J.Young del
ABIES WILLIAMSONII
BOTANY.
53
tree; though one would search in vain among cultivated trees for any which should rival
in the symmetry of its form, the luxuriance of its foliage, and the size and beauty of its cones,
the western silver fir.
- September 17.— * * On the little prairie which borders one side of the lake are a few trees of
the silver fir. With a strong and unimpeded growth, it has here attained a magnitude I have
not elsewhere seen. It rises in denser and more symmetrical cones than any other conifer we
have met with. The altitude of the largest is more than a hundred feet; the base of the cone
formed, the branches resting on the ground not more than twenty. The branches are so thick
as to prevent all access to the trunk without a vigorous use of the hatchet; and during the
pouring rain of the last four days, we have always been able to find a dry spot beneath the
shelter of its impervious foliage.” From these descriptions it will be seen that the silver fir
forms a dense and slender spire of dark-green foliage, which, on the older trees, is rather too
formal to be pleasing, unless grouped with other species, with which its form and the color of
the foliage may contrast agreeably. In the Cascade mountains I often saw it so combined with
P. grandis and Abies Williamsonii, producing groups which seemed to me to present the extreme
limit of arborescent beauty.
ABIES WILLIAMSONII, Newb. (Plate VII.) Williamson's spruce.
t


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.
ZA
Í
IN

R
.
IIIIII
TY
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.
. 19.
Fig. 19. Cone, branch, leaves, scales, seeds, and male flower of A. Williamsonii, natural size.
Fig. 19a, b. View of side and base of old cone of A. Williamsonii, natural size.
Description. -A tree of large size and alpine habit ; foliage somewhat fasciculate like that of
the larches ; leaves short, acute, compressed, with a lenticular section. Cones pendant, long-
ovoid acute, 14 inch long, purple while young; when old, cylindrical or somewhat conical with
a flattened base ; scales rounded entire, large, in old cones strongly reflexed, except at the base
54
BOTANY.
of the cone. Seeds small, ovoid, black, wings elliptical entire pellucid ; male flowers in small
nearly spherical capitula.
This beautiful fir, one of the finest of the genus, was discovered by us on the summits of the
Cascade mountains, latitude 44° north. It is the most alpine in its habit of all the firs;
extending from the height of 6,000 feet to the line of perpetual snow. It will, doubtless, be
found in similar circumstances on other parts of the Cascade range, but we saw it only about
the group of mountains called the Three Sisters. It forms a tree of one hundred feet in height,
of which the form is rather spreading and irregular, but remarkably graceful. The foliage is
light and feathery, its color a clear, but not dark, yellow green. The cones are pendant, ovoid
acute, purple, 11 inch long by 1 inch wide, somewhat resinous when attached to the tree, but
when the seed is discharged, they fall, and present the remarkable appearance of figs. 19a 196,
the scales being nearly all 'strongly reflexed, while a few near the base are slightly expanded
and not reflexed.
I have given this beautiful tree the name of the commanding officer of the expedition, as a
slight acknowledgment of the unremitting kindness which I received in my official capacity
while connected with the party, as well as an imperfect expression of the personal esteem which
he so uniformly gained from those who were brought into intercourse with him.
ABIES DOUGLASII, Lindl. (Plate VIII.) Douglas' Spruce.
A. DOUGLASII, Lind. in Penny Cyclop. I, p. 32.
PINUS DOUGLASII, Lamb. Pinus Ed. 2, 2 t. 47.
P. DOUGLASII, Loudon, Arboret, 4, p. 2319.
P. DOUGLASII, Nutt. Sylv. 3, p. 129, t. 115.
P. DOUGLASII, Hook. Flor. Bor. Amer. 2, p. 162, t. 183.

1
7
Fig. 20.
Fig. 20. Cone, leaves, aud scales of A. Douglasii, natural size
U.S.PRR EXP & SURVEYS CALA 8 OREGON
BOTANY PLATE VIIL

WAT
wy
RA
HENRY
WPIS
20
J.Young del
Lith.by A.Hoen & Co Batre
F
ABIES DOUGLAS SII.
BOTANY.
55
Description.-A tree of very large size ; leaves narrowly linear, one inch long, furrowed above,
carinated below, with inflexed margin, slightly glaucous beneath; cones pendulous, long-ovate
acute, scales few, large, lax, rounded entire; bracts elongated, strap-shaped, projecting
beyond the margin of the scale, terminating in three points, of which the middle one is largest;
seed elliptical, acute, nearly half the length of the wing; wing pellucid, margins entire.
This was one of the first, and is now one of the best, known of the trees of the west. From
its magnitude and abundance on the Columbia, it was the first to attract the attention of the
botanists who have visited Oregon, and was early introduced into England, where it is now
extensively cultivated. Full descriptions have been given of it by Douglas, Lindley, Loudon,
Nuttall, &c., which are, in the main, accurate. Sabine was in error, however, in supposing
that the cones were erect, as in all the species they are pendant. Nuttall also represents the
bracts as reflexed. They are not so, however, but always project towards the point of the cone.
The figure given by Nuttall does not well represent the cones in any stage, as will be seen by
comparing that figure with the one now given, which was taken from a perfect specimen, of
which I brought a large number.
The size of A. Douglasii has not been over stated. It is, in fact, one of the grandest of the
group of giants which combine to form the forests of the far west. I saw several individuals
of this species which had a diameter of ten feet four feet from the ground, and an altitude of three
hundred. As it usually grows in its favorite habitat, about the mouth of the Willamette, it forms
forests of which the density can hardly be appreciated without being seen. The trees stand rela-
tively as near each other, and the trunks are as tall and slender, as the canes in a cane-brake.
In this case the foliage is confined to a fuft at the top of the tree, the trunk forming a cylindrical
column as straight as an arrow, and almost without branches, for two hundred feet. The
amount of timber on an acre of this forest very much exceeds that on a similar area in the
tropics, or in any part of the world I have visited. Were it not that vegetable tissue will
burn readily, the immense mass of it which encumbers the surface of an ordinary farm on the
banks of the Columbia, would bid defiance to any efforts that one man could make for its re-
moval during the term of his natural life.
To show how slender Douglas spruce ordinarily grows, I will give the measurements of a
tree, which seemed of only moderate size, lying near one of our camps in the Willamette valley.
It was six feet in diameter across the stump. Two hundred and sixteen feet of the trunk lay
upon the ground, and the upper extremity was fifteen inches in diameter where it had been
burned off.
The wood, like that of most of the spruces, is harder and less pleasant to work than that of
the pines. It is, however, very stiff, makes excellent planking, joist, and timber, and for
these purposes it is very largely used both in Oregon and California. The rings of annual
growth are distinct and widely separated, and the tree is evidently of rapid growth. Douglas
spruce covers the western slope of the Cascade mountains and the banks of the Columbia. It
extends northward on the Sierra Nevada to the north line of Mexico.
TY
t
56
BOTANY.
ABIES MENZIESII. (Plate IX.) Menzies' spruce.
A. MENZIESII, Dougl. Mss. Lind. Penny Cyclop. 1, p. 9.
A. MENZIESII. Loudon, Arboret, 4, p. 2321, fig. 2332.
PINUS MENZIESII. Lamb. Pinus 3, t. 19.


30 ON
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11
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Fig. 21.
Fig. 21. Cone, scales, seeds, leaves, and branch of A. Menziesii, natural size.
Menzie's spruce, like that of Douglas, was long since collected by the English botanists who
visited the Columbia, and is already introduced into cultivation in Europe.
It grows most abundantly and attains the largest size on the coast near the mouth of the
Columbia, forming there the greater part of the forest.
It never attains dimensions so gigantic as those of A. Douglasic, but forms a tall and very
strict tree, of which the foliage is more rigid than that of any other American abies. The
leaves are so rigid and acute as sometimes to prick the skin like needles. The cones, where I
have seen them, never exhibit the appearance presented in Nuttall's figure, but are much more
slender, and with eroded bracts, as represented in the figure.
THUJA GIGANTEA. The great arbor vitæ.
T. GIGANTEA. Nutt. Sylv. p. 400, t.
The western arbor vita is undoubtedly the finest species of the genus. It resembles somewhat
the species so common about the great lakes, T. occidentalis, but is not only a much larger and
finer tree but the foliage is handsomer.
It grows in the greatest abundance in most parts of Oregon ; within the range of my obser-
vation, much more abundantly and attaining the largest size near the coast; though said by
Nuttall to grow in perfection on the Upper Columbia. The finest trees I saw of it are in the
vicinity of Port Orford. It there constitutes an important part of the forest, and attains a size
scarcely inferior to that of the sugar pine or Douglas' spruce.
The foliage, from the regularity of the divisions of the minor branches, and from the accuracy

U.S.P.R.R.EXP & SURVEYS. CALAB OREGON.
BOTANY PLATE IX.
Heres
25
3
88
3
32
es
SH
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J.Young del
ABIES MENZIESII.
BOTANY.
57
with which its scale-like leaves are fitted to each other, resembles the fronds of ferns, and is
exceedingly beautiful.

10
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Fig. 22.
Fig. 22. Leaf, cone, and seed of T. gigantea, natural size.
The branches are more drooping than on the common white cedar, and the tree more symme-
trical and yet more graceful.
The wood is white and easily worked, and is much esteemed for lumber when the tree grows
luxuriantly.
SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS. The redwood.
S. SEMPERVIRENS. Endl. Syn. Conif. p. 198.
S. SEMPERVIRENS. Gray in Sill. Jour., 2d sér. 18, p. 150.
TAXODIUM SEMPERVIRENS. Lamb. Pinus, ed. 2, 2, t. 64.
T. SEMPERVIRENS. Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beach. p. 392.
ABIES RELIGIOSA. Schlecht & Chamiss. in Linn. 5, p. 77.
The redwood is the second in size and the first in importance of all the trees of California,
though not far surpassing the sugar pine in either respect.
It is said nearly to equal in dimensions the other species of Sequoia, which has been specially
- 8 Z
58
BOTANY.
designated as the “mammoth tree.” Of all the redwoods which I saw, there was, probably,
none greater than fifteen feet in diameter and three hundred feet in height, but I was told that
in the vicinity of Humboldt bay individuals existed which were over twenty feet in diameter.

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Fig. 23.
Fig. 23. Branch of S. sempervirens, with leaves, cone, and male flower ; natural size.
The value of the redwood to the people of California is, however, not dependent on its size
but on the excellence of its timber and the proximity of forests of it to the ocean. It is spread
over the coast mountains, for the most part to the exclusion of other trees, from the line of 42°
to the northern line of Mexico, but it is nowhere found at any considerable distance from the
sea.
The form of the tree is considerably like that of the sugar pine and mammoth tree, a straight,
cylindrical trunk rising to a great height, festooned and ornamented, rather than loaded, with
branches. Young trees, however, do not exhibit so great a disproportion between the trunk
and branches.
The foliage, as is common among its congeners, the junipers, cypress, &c., is dimorphous on
young trees, the leaves being long, linear, spreading, and considerably resembling those of
Taxus and Taxodium. In the older trees they are closely appressed.
The cones are elliptical in form, of a length of two inches, and have a general resemblance
to those of the cypresses.
The wood of the redwood is, as its name implies, dark red in color, and is considerably like
that of the red cedar, J. Virginiana. It splits with great facility, and is frequently converted
into plank and boards without the aid of a saw. It is said to be very durable, and though
somewhat wanting in tenacity is of the greatest value to the inhabitants of California.

US PR.R.EXP a SURVEYS CALA & OREGON.
BOTANY PLATEX
38
3
TRE
Lith by A Hoen & Co. Balto.
JUNIPERUS OCCIDENTALIS,
OF
OH
BOTANY.
59
JUNIPERUS OCCIDENTALIS. [Plate X.] The western juniper.
J. OCCIDENTALIS, Hook. Flor. Bor. Amer. 2, p. 166.
J. ANDIANA. Nutt. Sylv. 3, p. 95, t. 110.
This tree, which is well represented in the accompanying plate, closely resembles in its general
aspect its eastern representative, J. Virginiana, but is distinguished from it by the larger size
of its berries ; by its more glandular and resinous leaves, which are also less acute; and by the
character of its wood, which, in all the trees examined, was white, not at all resembling the
dark and fragrant wood of the red cedar.
We found it abundant on rocky and barren surfaces east of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade
mountains from Pit river to the Columbia.
The largest individual of the species noticed had a diameter of three feet near the ground and
an altitude of about forty feet.
The fruit forms an important part of the subsistence of several kinds of birds, especially of
Prince Maximilian's jay and Townsend's Ptilogonys.
LARIX OCCIDENTALIS. The western larch.
L. OCCIDENTALIS. Nutt. Sylva. 3, p. 143 t. 120.


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Fig. 24.
Fig. 25.
Fig. 24. Young tree of L. occidentalis.
Fig. 25. Leaves, cone, and scale of do., natural size.
Description.- A large tree, very tall and slender ; branches short and small; foliage thin,
light yellowish-green ; leaves long, narrowly linear, thin carinated above and below, more
slender and delicate than those of any other species ; cones ovoid, 14 inch long, reflexed; scales
60
BOTANY.
shortly ovoid, truncated, or broadly emarginate ; edges thin, membranaceous; bracts imperfectly
elliptical, fimbriated, terminating in a long awn, which projects beyond the margin of the scale;
male flowers ?
I have had some little doubt in referring the larch which we found in Oregon Territory to L.
occidentalis of Nuttall, as we saw none which fully corresponded to his description. He repre-
sents the tree as having, among other characters, the shortest and broadest leaves of all the
species of the genus. On the contrary, the larches, from one of which the specimen figured
was taken, were remarkable for their very long, slender, and delicate leaves, in that respect
excelling the "tamarack” of the eastern States, as well as the larch of Europe. The cones
were, however, so nearly like those described by Nuttall that there is little probability that the
trees observed by him and those scen by our party are of different species.
We first niet with the larch on the Des Chutes river near its head, lat. 43° 40' N.; from that
point it extends northward to, and beyond the Columbia. The impression made upon me by.
this tree when we first saw it will be seen in the following extract from my note book :
“Des Chutes Basin, September 3.–Our camp is pitched under a tree which we have not before
met with the western larch. This is very unlike the tamarack of the eastern States, both in
its ports, its foliage, and in its cones. I have not yet seen it occupying the cranberry marshes,
as the tamarack is so prone to do, but it grows scattered along the borders of the streams,
rising to a height of a hundred and fifty feet, with a diameter at base of two or three. The
branches are very short, and the tree, as it grows in this vicinity, is more strict than any I have
seen. The leaves are long and slender, the foliage very light and feathery, and the color
pale bluish-green. The cones are larger than in L. americana, and the scales are furnished
with long and slender projecting bracts.”
TAXUS BREVIFOLIA. The western yew.
T. BREVIFOLIA. Nutt. Sylva. 3, p. 86, t. 108.
T. BACCATA, Hook, Flor. Bor. Amer. 2, p. 167, (in part.)
T. LINDLEYANA, Murray, Edin. New Philo. Jour. 1855, p. 294.
The differences in general aspect, exhibited by the yew of the northern States of the Atlantic
coast and Mississippi valley, and that of the western coast, are so striking, that, at first sight,
there seems no difficulty in distinguishing them, but, upon more thorough investigation, it is
found to be a matter of no little difficulty to fix upon characters which can be regarded as
diagnostic, and will serve to separate them.
Taxus Canadensis, as it grows about the great lakes, is a low, trailing shrub, on the shores of
Lake Superior forming a thick and tangled undergrowth, covering the surface in the pine and
hemlock forests, and seldom rising more than three or four feet from the ground; the leaves 1
to 14 inch long, dark, sombre-green in color, mucronate, and with somewhat revolute margins.
The yew of Oregon and California, where we saw it in the valley of the Willamette, forms
an upright tree 50—75 feet in height; the foliage thin and rather light yellow green; the
leaves 1-1 inch long, acuminate, and mucronate; margins revolute; flowers and fruit as in
T. Canadensis.
From this comparison it will be seen that the principal differences between the eastern and
western yews are found on the upright arboreal habit, the lighter foliage, and in the shorter
leaves of the western plant.
If these characters were constant they would serve as the basis of a specific distinction ; but
the range of variation is so great in the European yew, T. baccata, and in T. Oanadensis, that
LU
BOTANY.
we may expect to find a somewhat similar variety in those of different localities in the west..
If so, the diagnostic characters mentioned will probably be found to have little value.

AA
VL1
Fig. 26.
Fig. 26. Branch, leaves, and male flowers of T. brevifolia, ii natural size.
Until such time as these now regarded as distinct species—shall be found running into each
other, it is, perhaps, better to consider them as specifically different.
The aspect of the western yew is considerably different from the arborescent yew of Europe.
Its growth is more open, the foliage lighter and more feathery, and much lighter in color.
The yew is found on the Sierra Nevada, down nearly or quite to the southern line of
California.
T. Lindleyana, described by Murray, (1, c,) is undoubtedly identical with T. brevifolia; and
in his description Mr. M. has noticed the characters of the Oregon tree which I have mentioned,
as distinguishing it from the yews of Europe and the eastern States.
TORREYA CALIFORNICA. The Californian nutmeg tree.
T. CALIFORNICA. Torr. N. Y. Jour. Pham. 3, p. 49.
T. MYRISTICA, Hook, Bot. Mag. t. 4780.
I did not meet with the “nutmeg tree” in California, though it occurs in the coast moun-
tains, very near some localities which we visited. The specimens which have come into my
hands were collected by other persons, to whom I am indebted for whatever knowledge I have
of its habit and distribution.
It is said to be found in many localities in the coast mountains, both north and south of San
62
BOTANY.
Francisco, but to be everywhere rather a rare tree. It attains but a moderate size, 50—75
feet in height, and has somewhat the aspect of a Taxodium, or yew, to the foliage of which its
leaves have a marked resemblance. The fruit, from its texture and appearance, has been
compared to a nutmeg, but is too strongly charged with turpentine to be used as a condiment.

w
1
1
1
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-
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11
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Fig. 27.
Fig. 27. A branch, with leaves and fruit of T. Californica, natural size.
Very full analyses of its botanical characters are given by Nuttall and Sir W. Hooker. It is
said to form a graceful and handsome tree, and, as its nuts have been made to germinate by the
horticulturists of New York, we may soon expect to see it introduced into general cultivation.
ČUPRESSUS NUTKATENSIS. The Nootka cypress.
C. NUTKATENSIS, Lamb. Pinus, No. 60.
C. NUTKATENSIS. Hook. Flor. Bor. Amer. 2, p. 165.
THUJA EXCELSA, Bong. Veget. de Sitcha, p. 46.
Description. A tree of moderate size; branches sub-erect, tetragonal ; leaves ovate acuminate,
imbricate in four rows without tubercles; galbules as large as peas, or larger, terminating
VU
The only locality in which we met with this tree was on the Cascade Mountain, about latitude
44° north, though I have reason to believe that it will be found at intervals throughout the
Sierra Nevada and the Cascades, in California and Oregon.
BOTANY.
.63
The individuals which we saw of the species were not handsome. They formed trees of
moderate size, having much the appearance of Thuja occidentalis when growing under the most
unfavorable circumstances. The trunk was gnarled and twisted, and set with dead branches ;
the foliage sparse and ragged, and the whole aspect disagreeable. The galbules, which were
numerous, were something larger than a pea, and composed of four scales; from the centre of
each a point projects.

XXX
KO
Fig. 28.
Fig. 28. Branch and galbules of C. Nutkatensis, natural size.
The locality where we found this tree was near the snow line, and it is possible that it was
dwarfed and deformed by the severities of the climate. It is found on the low lands near the
coast and on Vancouver's island. Cupressus Lawsoniana, described by Mr. Murray, (Edinb.
New Philos. Jour., 1855, is closely allied to this species, but differs from it in having six scales
on the cones.
USU
LIBOCEDRUS DECURRENS. The California white cedar.
L. DECURRENS, Torrey in Smithsonian Contrib. 6, p. 7, t. 3.
This tree is very extensively distributed over California and southern Oregon, where it is
found in nearly all parts of the mountains of the interior. We found it more abundant and
attaining the greatest size at McCumber's, in northern California. It there rivals even the sugar
pine in diameter of trunk, though never obtaining an equal altitude. Many of the white cedars
about McCumber's are six to seven feet in diameter three feet above the ground, with an altitude
of more than one hundred feet.
The general aspect of the tree is strikingly like that of Thuga occidentalis as it grows about
Lake Superior. The general form conical; the trunk angular, or at least not cylindrical; the
bark fibrous, and the lower part of the trunk usually bristling with the dead but persistent
branches. The foliage is also very like in its general aspect to that of the tree referred to, and
the wood is of similar character and of about equal economical value. I noticed about
McCumber's that the trees cut for the saw-mills, though externally apparently sound and
healthful, were affected by a singular kind of dry-rot, by which the trunk was honeycombed
64
BOTANY.
and rendered valueless. This kind of decay seemed to affect the wood in a great number of
detached points at the same time, and not to be connected with any external injury.
The fruit of the Libocedrus is very different from that of any of its congeners, and is well
represented by the plate given in P. Frémont. (1. c.) by Dr. Torrey, except that it is always
pendulous and not erect, as there represented.
No. 2.
GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE PLANTS COLLECTED ON
THE EXPEDITION.
BY J. S. NEWBERRY,
ASSISTED BY ASA GRAY AND JOHN TORREY, AS SPECIFIED IN THE PROPER PLACES.
er.
IT
!
I. EXOGENOUS PLANTS.
RANUNCULACEÆ.
CLEMATIS LIGUSTICIFOLIA, Nutt. ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p. 9. Banks of Sacramento
river, Cal.; July, in flower. Klamath Basin, Pit river ; August, in fruit. Dalles of the
Columbia.
RANUNCULUS AQUATILIS, Linn.; Pursh. Fl. 2, p. 395; DC. Prod. 1, p. 26. McCumber's Flat;
July, in flower. Pit river ; July, in fruit. Common in N. Cal. and Oregon. Wherever
observed, this plant had large flowers, and no emerged leaves.
RANUNCULUS OCCIDENTALIS, Nutt. ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1. p. 22. McCumber's Flat,
N. Cal.
RANUNCULUS PURSHII. (?) Richardson, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 15. Upper Klamath lake,
0. T. Plant very small, and may be distinct from R. Purshii.
RANUNCULUS CALIFORNICUS, Benth. Plant. Hartweg, 1628. R. dissectus, Hook. Bot. Beech. p.
316. R. delphinifolius, Torr. & Gray, Flor. Suppl. p. 659. Petaluma, Cal.; common in the
Sacramento valley.
ACONITUM NAPELLUS, Linn. var. DELPHINIFOLIUS, Seringe; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 34. Head
of Des Chutes river. Cascade mountains, 0. T.; September, in flower.
THALICTRUM DICICUM, Linn.; DC. Prodr. 1, p. 12; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 3 ; Torr. &
Gray, Flor. I, p. 38. Sacramento valley, Cal.
AQUILEGIA CANADENSIS, Linn.; Torr. &Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p. 29. A. formosa, Fisch. in DC.
Prodr. 1, p. 20. Shingletown and McCumber's Flat, N. Cal.; large, showy, grows in moist
places.
DELPHINIUM DECORUM, Fisch. & Meyer, Hort. Petrop., p. 32. Fort Reading, Cal.
DELPHINIUM PATENS, Benth. Plant, Hartweg, 1632. Crater pass, Cascade mountains, Oregon ;
September 1.
DELPHINIUM AZUREUM, Michx. Flor. 1, p. 314. Shores of San Pablo bay; July.
DELPHINIUM MENZIESII, DO. Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 25. Hat creek, Cal.; July.
DELPHINIUM NUDICAULE, Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, pp. 33 & 661. D. sarcophyllum,
Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, p. 317. Sonoma, Cal.; flowers red.
1
9 Z
66
BOTANY.
ANEMONE ALPINA, Linn. ; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 5. ; DC. Prodr. 1, p. 17. Crater
pass, Cascade mountains, Oregon; September, in fruit. Willamette valley; May, in flower ;
from Dr. Evans.
PÆONIA BROWNII, Dougl. ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p. 41. P. Californica, Nutt.
Cascade mountains, Oregon; lat. 44° 30'.
The flowers of this plant are erect, but when the seed is nearly ripe the stalks which support
the carpels curve downward and outward until the carpels themselves rest on the ground
accurately inverted. The dehiscence of the carpels takes place at the summit, and the bean-like
seeds are carefully deposited on the ground and roofed over by the persistent carpels, probably
through the winter.
On the banks of Mpto-ly-as river, near the base of Mount Jefferson, Oregon, at an altitude of
5,000 feet, in September, I found large surfaces covered with this plant, which had already been
touched by the frost. Of the hundreds of clusters of pods, all were inverted and resting on
the ground, completely covering the seed, which had generally fallen out. The carpels are from
3 to 5 in a cluster, the number varying in the same plant.
ACTÆA SPICATA, Linn. VAR RUBRA, Bigelow, Flor. Bost. ed. 2d, p. 211. Cascade mountains ;
lat. 44° 12'.
BERBERIDACEÆ.
T
BERBERIS AQUIFOLIUM, Pursh. Flor. 1, p. 219, t. 4. Banks of Pit river and Klamath basin.
BERBERIS GLUMACEA, Spreng.; Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1425. Mahonia nervosa, Nutt. Gen. 1, p. •
212. M. glumacea, DC. Prodr. 1, p. 19. Very abundant in spruce forests in Cascade moun-
tains and Willamette valley, 0. T. Fruit blue, acid, but eatable ; called Oregon grape.
ACHLYS TRIPHYLLA, DC.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 30, t. XII. Willamette valley; May,
in flower; Cascade mountains, 0. T.; September, in fruit. This singular plant grows in moist
places, end has much the habit and appearance of Jeffersonia diphylla. The flower is quite
fragrant.
CRUCIFERÆ.
X
LEPIDIUM NITIDUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 116. San Francisco, Cal.
NASTURTIUM LYRATUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 73. Dalles of the Columbia, 0. T.;
October, in flower.
CARDAMINE PAUCISECTA, Benth. Plant. Hartw. 1646. Petaluma, Cal.
BARBAREA VULGARIS, R. Br.; Benth. Plant. Hartw. p. 297, No. 1645. Shores of Klamath
lake.
ERYSIMUM ELATUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 95. Common in Sacramento valley and
Klamath basin.
CAPSELLA BURSA-PASTORIS, Moench.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 117. Fort Vancouver, W. T.
Introduced.
FUMARIACEÆ.
DIELYTRA FORMOSA, DC. Syst. 2, p. 109; Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p. 67. Cascade
mountains, 0. T.; August.
PAPAVERACEÆ.
ESCHSCHOLTZIA DOUGLASII, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, p. 320; Torr. & Grau, Flor. 1. p.
664. Suisun valley ; July, in flower.
V
BOTANY.
67
ESCHSCHOLTZIA CALIFORNICA, Cham.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 664. Fort Reading, Cal.;
April, in flower; July, in fruit.
PLATYSTEMÓN CALIFORNICUM, Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 65; Benth. Hort. Trans. (2d series) 1,
p. 407. Petaluma, Cal.
PLATYSTIGMA LINEARE, Benth. I. c.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 65. San Pablo bay.
NYMPEAHA CEE.
NUPHAR ADVENA, Ait.; Pursh. Flor. 2, p. 369 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 58. Whole plant
large; pods of the size of an egg. Common in the Klamath basin. Klamath marsh is half
covered by the floating leaves. The seeds, which fill the large pods, are larger than those of
the eastern plant, and form an important article of subsistence among the Indians. We saw
many hundred bushels of the pods collected for winter use. The seed tastes like that of the
broom corn, and is apparently very nutritious.
VIOLACEÆ.
VIOLA ADUNCA, Smith in Rees' Cycl.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 79. Willamette valley,
0. T.; October, in flower.
VIOLA LONGIPES, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 140. Willamette valley, 0. T.; Petaluma,
Cal. ; October, in flower.
VIOLA SARMENTOSA, Dougl.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 80. San Francisco and Sonoma.
VIOLA PEDUNCULATA, Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 141. San Francisco, Cal.
CHRYSANTHA, Hook. Ic. 1, t. 49. Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 134. Fort Reading, Cal.
VIOLA SHELTONI, Torr. in Whipple's Rep. Banks of Yuba river, Sacramento valley; July.
VIOLA CUCULLATA, Ait.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 139. Willamette valley; October, in flower.
VIOLA OCELLATA, Torr. de Gray, Flor, 1, p. 142. Near San Francisco, Cal.
IRYSAN
MESEMBRYANTHEMACEÆ.
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM DIMIDIATUM, Harv. Common along the shores of the straits at San
Francisco, where it has been probably introduced.
HYPERICACEÆ.
HYPERICUM SCOULERI, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 111. McCumber's, N. Cal.; July, in
flower; and Klamath basin, 0. T.; August, common
CARYOPHYLLACEÆ.
MOLLUGO VERTICILLATA, Linn.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 76. McCumber's Flat, N. Cal.
SILENE DRUMMONDI, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 89. Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, pp. 91 &
675. McCumber's and Klamath basin ; July and August.
STELLARIA LONGIPES, Goldie, in Edinb. Phil. Jour. 6, p. 185; DC. Prodr. 1, p. 400.; Torr &
Gray, Flor. I, p. 184. McCumber's Flat, N. Cal.
STELLARIA NITENS, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 184. Near Portland, Oregon ; Oct.
PORTULACACEÆ.
CLAYTONIA ALSINOIDES, Sims, Bot. Mag. t. 1309; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 199. Cascade
mountains, 0. T.; August 26.
68
BOTANY. :
CLAYTONIA PERFOLIATA, Don. Bot. Mag. t. 1336; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 200 & 676. Near
San Francisco, California ; May.
CLAYTONIA PARVIFOLIA, Mocino, in DC. Prodr. 3, p. 361. C. filicaulis, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer.
1, p. 224. McCumber's, Northern California; July.
CALANDRINIA MENZIESII, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 223, t. 10; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p.
197. Fort Reading, California; April.
SPRAGUEA UMBELLATA, Torr. Plant. Fremont. p. 4, t. 1. McCumber's, California. Crater Pass,
Cascade mountains, altitude 6,700 feet. At McCumber's this plant has acute leaves, erect flower
stems, and pale cream-colored flowers. On the summits of the Cascade mountains I found the
whole plant spread mat-like on the sand, small, with truncated leaves and purple flowers and
stems.
STERCULACEÆ.
FREMONTIA CALIFORNICA, Torr. Pl. Fremont. in Smithson. Contrib. 6, p. 5, t. 2. Near Fort
Reading, California. July 27-30, in fruit.
U
MALVACEÆ.
SIDALCEA MALVÆFLORA, Gray. Pl. Wright. 1, p. 16. McCumber's and Hat Creek, N. California ;
August 1 to 10; in flower.
SIDALCEA HIRSUTA, Gray. Pl. Wright 1, p. 16. S. delphinifolia, Gray, Pl. Fendl. p. 19,
McCumber's, July 29; in flower.
SIDALCEA HARTWEGI, Gray. Pl. Fendl., p. 209; Benth. Pl. Hartw. p. 300. Fort Reading;
April, in flower.
MALVA BOREALIS, Wallr.; Gray. Pl. Fendl., p. 15. M. obtusa, Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 225.
Common in the southern portions of the Sacramento valley.
MALVA HEDERACEA, Dougl. in Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 107. Near Benicia; July 1, in
flower.
LINACEÆ.
LINUM PERENNE, Linn.; Torr. & Gr. Flor. 1, p. 204; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 106.
Common in northern California and Klamath basin ; used by the Indians for making twine, of
which they make nets for catching fish and birds.
LINUM CALIFORNICUM, Benth. Pl. Hartw., p. 298. McCumber's, Northern California ; July.
Much smaller plant than the last; flowers white.
UU
DIUM CICUTARIUM
GERANIACEÆ.
GERANIUM INCISUM, Nutt. G. albiflorum var. incisum, Torr. & Gr. Flor. 1, p. 208. G. albi-
ftorum, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 116, t. 40. On the banks of a small tributary of the
Columbia, near the Dalles. October 1, in flower ; flowers nearly white.
ERODIUM CICUTARIUM. L'Herit., DC. Prodr. 1, p. 646 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 208. Com-
mon in all parts of the Sacramento valley, in the Klamath basin, and on the Columbia. In
flower from June to November.
OXALIDACEÆ.
OXALIS CORNICULATA, (Linn.) Arn.; D.C. Prodr., 1, p. 692; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 117.
Willamette valley, 0. T. ; October, in flower. San Francisco, California ; November.
OXALIS OREGANA, Nutt, in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 211. Willamette valley, 0. T.; October.
BOTANY.
69
0. Acetosella, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 118, in part. Flowers large, pink; whole plant
larger than 0. Acetosella, as it grows on the shores of Lake Superior.
LIMNANTHACEÆ.
LIMNANTHES DOUGLASII, R. Br. in Lond. & Edinb. Philos. Mag. July, 1833; Benth. Hort.
Trans. (2 ser.) 1, p. 409. Shores of San Pablo bay; April.
ANACARDIACEÆ.
RHUS DIVERSILOBA, Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 218. R. lobata, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p.
127. Common throughout northern California ; more rare in the Klamath basin. Specimens
from Fort Reading; April, in flower, July, in fruit. Berries white; called by the inhabitants
of California "poison oak.” Several of our party were poisoned by it, and it also affected some
of our mules.
ACERACEÆ.
ACER MACROPHYLLUM, Pursh. Flor. 1, p. 267; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 112, t. 38; Nutt.
Sylv. 2, p. 76, t. 67. Cascade Mountains and Willamette Valley, 0. T.
ACER CIRCINATUM, Pursh, Flor. 1, p. 266; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 112, t. 39. Willa-
mette valley, 0. T.
ACER GLABRUM, Torr. Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. York, 2, p. 172. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
ACER TRIPARTITUM, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 247. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
HIPPOCASTANACEÆ.
ÆSCULUS CALIFORNICA, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 251, & Sylva, 2, p: 69, t, 64. Com-
mon throughout the valleys of California. In flower July 1st.
CELASTRACEÆ.
EUONYMUS OCCIDENTALIS, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 258. Coast near San Francisco;
May, in flower. Very nearly allied to E. atropurpureus; perhaps not distinct.
RHAMNACEÆ.
T
RHAMNUS PURSHIANUS, DC.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 123, t. 43.
FRANGULA CALIFORNICA, Gray, Gen. Illust. 2, p. 178, & Pl. Wright. 2, p. 28. R. oleifolius,
Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 123. R. laurifolius, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 263. Fort
Reading ; July. Shore of Klamath lake; August, in fruit.
CEANOTHUS VELUTINUS, Dougl. in Hook. Flor. Bor.- Amer. 1, p. 125, t. 45. Common in the
Cascade mountains, 0. T. The pubescence of this plant is very variable, and I have been
unable to distinguish it from C. levigatus.
CEANOTHUS THYRSIFLORUS, Esch.; Bot. Reg. 30, t. 38; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 266; Nutt. Sylv.
2, p. 43, t. 57. Very common about San Francisco.
CEANOTHUS PROSTRATUS, Benth. Pl. Hartw. No. 1683. Pine woods in northern California ;
grows in a mat on the ground.
CEANOTHUS CUNEATUS, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor: 1, p. 267. Near Fort Reading ; July, in
fruit.
CEANOTHUS INTEGERRIMUS, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 329; Benth. Pl. Hartw. No. 1684.
Near Fort Reading ; July, in fruit and flower.
BOTANY.
VITACEÆ.
VITIS CALIFORNICA, Benth. Bot. Sulph. p. 10, Pl. Hartweg, No. 1679. Banks of Sacramento
river. July, in young fruit.
POLYGALACEÆ.
POLYGALA CUCULLATA, Benth. Pl. Hartw. p. 299. P. cornuta, Kellogg, Proceed. Cal. Acad.
1, p. 62. McCumber's Flat, northern California. Much more shrubby than Bentham's plant.
FRANKENIACEÆ.
FRANKENIA GRANDIFOLIA, Cham. & Schlect. in Linn. 1, p. 35; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 168.
Shores of San Francisco bay.
LEGUMINOSÆ.
VICIA OREGANA, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 270. McCumber's, N. Cal. July, in
flower. Pit river; August. Klamath basin ; August, in fruit.
VICIA GIGANTEA, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 157; Torr. & Gray. Flor. l. c. Near San
Francisco ; April, in flower.
Flor. 1, p. 269. Banks of Canoe creek, N. Cal. ; August, in flower.
VICIA TRUNCATA, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 270. Banks of Hat creek, N. Cal.; July.
Banks of Pit river ; August, in flower and fruit.
TRIFOLIUM LONGIPES, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 314. Fort Reading, N. Cal.; July.
TRIFOLIUM ALBOPURPUREUM, Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 313. Fort Reading, N. Cal. ; July,
in fruit. Specimens were presented me by Dr. J. F. Hammond, surgeon at the fort; collected
in April, in flower. Plant decumbent, spreading, a foot high ; silky-pubescent; heads and
flowers as in the description, but plant much stronger. One of the prettiest species which
I met with.
TRIFOLIUM VARIEGATUM, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 317. Shores of San Pablo bay,
California.
TRIFOLIUM TRIDENTATUM, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1070. In Sacramento valley and at Fort Roading.
TRIFOLIUM PRATENSE, Linn.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 313. Fort Vancouver ; introduced.
TRIFOLIUM REPENS, Linn.; Eng. Bot. t. 1769. Fort Vancouver, W. T.; introduced.
PS
NUS NA
LUPINUS NANUS, Dougl.; Benth. in Hort. Trans. p. 459, t. 14, fig. 2 ; Pl. Hartw. p. 303.
Shores of San Pablo bay, California.
LUPINUS MICRANTHUS, Dougl.; Agardh, in Bot. Reg. t. 1251; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 373.
LUPINUS ALBIFRONS, Benth. in Hort. Trans. p. 410; Torr. & Gray, F lor. 1, p. 377 ; Lindl.
Bot. Reg. t. 1642.
LUPINUS LATIFOLIUS, Agardh; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 375; Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1642.
LUPINUS POLYPHYLLUS, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1097; Hook. Flor. Bor. Amer. 1, p. 164. Moist
places at McCumber's, and about the Klamath lakes.
LUPINUS ORNATUS, Dougl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1216; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 378. Banks of
Pit river.
BOTANY.
71
LUPINUS LEPIDUS, Dougl. in Bot. Reg. t, 1149 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 374. Banks of
Hat creek, California.
LUPINUS MACROCARPUS, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 138. About San Francisco, California.
Shrubby; flowers verticillate.
LUPINUS LEUCOPHYLLUS, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1124 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 379. Dalles of
the Columbia.
THERMOPSIS MACROPHYLLA, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 329 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 388.
HOSACKIA BICOLOR, Dougl.; Benth. in Bot. Reg. t. 1257; Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p.
323. Shores of San Pablo bay.
HOSACKIA PURSHIANA, Benth. Pl. Hartweg. No. 1701 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p.
325. Upper Sacramento valley and McCumber's, N. Cal.; common.
HOSACKIA OBLONGIFOLIA, Benth. Pl. Hartweg. p. 305. Upper cañon of Pit river.
HOSACKIA DECUMBENS, Benth, in Linn. Trans. 17, p. 346; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 323.
HOSACKIA SUBPINNATA, Benth. Pl. Hartweg. l. c.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 326. Petaluma,
California.
HOSACKIA GRACILIS, Benth. in Linn. Trans. 17, p. 365 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 323. San
Francisco, California.
GLYCYRRHIZA LEPIDOTA, Nutt. Gen. 2, p. 106; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 297; Hook. Flor.
Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 138. McCumber's and Pit river, California ; July.
ROSACEÆ.
BETU
AO
NUTTALLIA CERASIFORMIS, Torr. & Gray, in Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechy, p. 336, t. 82; Torr. &
Gray, Flor. 1, p. 412, Benth. Pl. Hartw. No. 1707.
GEUM MACROPHYLLUM, Willd. Enum. 1, p. 557; DC. Prodr. 2, p. 550; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1,
p. 421. McCumber's, N. California.
SPIRAEA CÆSPITOSA, Nutt. Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p. 418; Gray, Pl. Fendl. p. 40.
Crater pass, Cascade mountains ; latitude 44°, altitude 6,700 feet.
SPIRAEA DOUGLASII, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 172; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 415.
McCumber's, N. California.
SPIRAEA BETULIFOLIA, Pallas, Flor. Ross. t. 16; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 414; Hook, Flor.
Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 172. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SPIRAEA OPULIFOLIA, Linn. ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 413. Banks of Mpto-ly-as river, 0. T.
SPIRAEA ARIÆFOLIA, Smith, in Rees. Cyclop.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 173. Fort Van-
couver and Cascade mountains, 0. T.
RUBUS NUTKANUS, Mocino; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 183 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 450.
McCumber's pass, N. California.
RUBUS MACROPETALUS, Dougl. in Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 78, t. 59; Torr. & Gray,
Flor. 1, p. 457. Near San Francisco, California.
RUBUS PEDATUS, Šmith ; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 181, t. 62; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p.
452. On the coast above San Francisco, California.
RUBUS URSINUS, Cham. & Schlecht, in Linnca, 2, p. 11. Petaluma.
RUBUS SPECTABILIS, Pursh. Flor. 1, p. 348, t, 16; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 178. On the
banks of the Columbia, and on the coast of Oregon generally..
COMARUM PALUSTRE, Linn.; Fi, Dan. 636. McCumber's, California, and Klamath basin. -
S.
172
BOTANY.
POTENTILLA ANSERINA, Linn. Sp. 1, p. 495; Torr. de Gray, Flor. 1, p. 444. Shores of Klamath
lake, 0. T.
POTENTILLA FLABELLIFOLIA, Hook.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. p. 442. Cascade mountains, 0. T.;
altitude 6,000 feet.
POTENTILLA GRACILIS, var. FLABELLIFORMIS, Torr. & Gray, Flor. p. 440. McCumber's, N. Cali-
fornia, and Klamath basin.
POTENTILLA RIGIDA, Nutt. in Jour. Acad. Philad. 7, p. 20. Banks of Hat creek, N. California.
POTENTILLA GLANDULOSA, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1583; Hook & Arn. Bot. Beech., p. 338. Banks
of Hat creek, N. California.
IVESIA, Nov. Gen. (Torr. & Gray.) .
1
YA
TT
O
6 Calyx 5-fidus et 5-bracteolatus, tubo concavo vel campanulato. Petala 5, oblongo-cuneata
vel obcordata, decidua. Stamina 20, bi-triseriata, tubo calycis, vel tantum 5 margini disci
tenuis, inserta ; filamenta filiformia vel subulato-filiformia, persistentia. Ovaria plura vel
plurima, receptaculo conico villoso insidentia : ovulo pendulo: stylus infra-apicalis, gracilis,
articulatione deciduus: stigma simplex. Achenia lævia. Radicula supera. Herbæ Horkeliæ
facie, plurifoliolatæ, albi floræ, in sectionibus 2 disponendæ, nempe :-
6651. HORKELIOIDES. Perennes, e caudice crasso confertissime multifoliolatæ; floribus con-
gestis subsessilibus ; calycis 5-fidi tubo campanulato vel turbinato; petalis spathulatis parvulis ;
acheniis lævibus paucis (ovariis 6–12?) Species duo: I. GORDONI, (Horkelia Gordoni, Hook.
Kew. Jour. Bot. 5, p. 341, t. 12, H.? multifoliolata, Torr. in Sitgreaves, Zuñi Exped. p. 159.)
I. PICKERINGII, N. California ; Coll. Expl. Exped.
"§ 2. POTENTILLOIDES. Annuæ, laxe plurifoliolatæ, laxiflora, pedunculis ebracteatis ; calyce
concavo (bracteolis conformibus) subæqualiter fere 10-partito; acheniis plurimis grosse pauci-
costatis. Sp. 1, nempe:
"I. GRACILIS, (sp. nov.): gracilis, laxe villosa ; foliis radicalibus 11-21-foliolatis; foliolis infe-
rioribus 3-5-partitis breviter petiolulatis, summis plerumque alte bifidis subconfluentibus,
segmentis lineari seu oblongo-spathulatis, caulinis parvis cum foliolis 5–9 subintegris; floribus
parvis in cyma effusa sparsis; pedunculis ebracteatis filiformibus mox cernuis; petalis
obcordatis calyce longioribus; stylis inferne vesiculoso-subincrassatis.-Banks of Rhett lake,
one of the Klamath group. A foot high, producing many slender and nearly erect stems from
a slender and evidently annual root. Leaflets thin, 3 to 6 lines long, irregular, often alternate,
the lower ones rather sparse. Branches of the open cyme, as well as the peduncles, very
slender; the latter fully an inch long. Flowers very small; the calyx, when spread out flat,
only about 4 lines wide, flattish, and open like that of a Potentilla ; the accessory lobes like
the real sepals, only slightly smaller and blunter. Petals white, broad, deciduous. Stamens
20, in three ranks, five of them, viz: those opposite the true sepals inserted on the margin of a
narrow and thin patelliform perigynous disk, (which is villous, like the receptacle it surrounds,
the others borne on the face of the calyx, the five opposite the petals inserted very close to the
disk, but distinguishably separate from it; the remaining ten inserted higher up, just below
the 10 sinuses, and answering to them, but in reality borne one on each side of the base of each
interior or true division of the calyx; the persistent filaments slightly dilated at the base.
Receptacle conical, hirsute. Ovaries indefinite, 30 or more, inserted by the inner angle just
above the base; the style inserted a little below the rounded apex by a narrow base, above
which it is more or less enlarged and glandular, or rather vesicular, and tapering gradually to
BOTANY.
73
U
S
the apex, tipped with a simple stigma. · Achenia pretty numerous, smooth, glabrous; when
ked by a few thick and irregular longitudinal ribs; the style deciduous by an arti-
culation. Seed suspended from near the summit.
“Although so well marked by the characters above cited, this plant and the two of the pro-
posed first section evidently belong to the same genus, and that intermediate between Horkelia
and Potentilla. The first section is more like Horkelia, from which the 20 stamens with fili-
form filaments (instead of 10 with broad or deltoid filaments) distinguish it. The seconil,
except as to the foliage, resembles Potentilla, but is distinguished by its definite stainens in
three ranks, &c. Dr. Torrey indicated the essential characters of this genus several years ago,
but allowed the two species then known to him to be provisionally appended to Horkelia. Dr.
Newberry's discovery, however, renders it necessary to complete the separation. The present
name is chosen to commemorate one of the oldest surviving botanists of the United States, the
venerable Dr. Eli Ives, formerly professor of materia medica and pharmacy in Yale College,
who, although he has published little directly upon botany, has rendered excellent service as a
teacher of the science to a long series of pupils." A. Gray.
Plate XI. IVESIA GRACILIS. Plant of the natural size. Fig. 1. A flower. 2. A petal.
3. Section of receptacle, calyx, &c. 4. Flower spread out flat, to show the insertion and
arrangement of the stamens; the ovarian receptacle cut wholly away. 5. A pistil. 6. The
receptacle in fruit vertically divided. 7. A ripe achenium. 8. The same vertically divided.
All the details more or less magnified.
HORKELIA CUNEATA, Lindl.; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 1, p. 435. Shores of Klamath lake.
HORKELIA CONGESTA, Hook.; Torr. & Gr. Flor. 1, p. 434. Banks of Hat creek, northern Cali-
fornia.
FRAGARIA CALIFORNICA, Cham. & Schlecht. in Linncea, 2, p. 20; F. Chilensis, Torr. & Gray,
Flor. 1, p. 448, in part. Willamette valley.
FRAGARIA CHILENSIS, Ehrh.; Torr, & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 448. Portland, Oregon ; November 1,
in flower.
Rosa FRAXINÆFOLIA, Borr.; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 458; Hook. Flor. Bor.- Amer. 1, p. 199.
Common in northern California and Oregon.
PYRUS RIVULARIS, Dougl, in Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 203, t. 68 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1,
p. 471; Nutt. Sylv. 2, p. 22, t. 49. Pit river, northern California.
PYRUS AMERICANA, DC. Prod. 2, p. 637; Torr. & Gray, l. c. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
CERASUS MOLLIS, Dougl. in Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 169. On Pit river and in Cascade
mountains.
CERASUS DEMISSA, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. 1, p. 411. Common in mountains throughout
northern California and Oregon.
PRUNUS SUBCORDATA, Benth. Pl. Hartw. No. 1710. Sierra Nevada, near Lassen's butte;
Klamath lakes, August, in fruit; fruit large, excellent.
AMELANCHIER CANADENSIS, var. ALNIFOLIA, Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 473. Amelanchier alni-
folia, Nutt. Jour. Acad. Phil. 7, p. 22.
CHAMÆBATIA FOLIOLOSA, Benth. Plant., Hartweg. No. 1712; Torrey, Pl. Frémont, p. 11, t. 6.
Banks of Canoe creek, July 30, in flower; a very handsome plant, and well worth an effort for
its cultivation.
CALYCANTHACEÆ.
CALYCANTHUS OCCIDENTALIS, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 340, t. 84. Sacramento valley,
1
10 Z
74
BOTANY.
ONAGARACEÆ.
BTUM ALPIN
CLARKIA ELEGANS, Lindl.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 515. McCumber’s, N. California ; July 29.
EPILOBIUM ALPINUM, var. ALSINIFOLIUM, Vill.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 489. Crater pass,
Cascade mountains, Oregon Territory.
EPILOBIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM, Linn. In pine woods, passim. Northern California and Oregon.
EPILOBIUM PANICULATUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 490. Sacramento valley, Columbia
and Klamath basin, Oregon Territory ; July and August.
EPILOBIUM COLORATUM, Muhl. Banks of Canoe creek, northern California ; July.
ENOTHERA DENSIFLORA, Lindl. Banks of Pit river, California ; July 30.
ENOTHERA BIENNIS, var. CANESCENS, Gray. Banks of Canoe creek, northern California ;
August 2.
ENOTHERA TRICHIOCALYX, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 494. Lost river, Klamath basin,
Oregon Territory; August 4.
ENOTHERA TANACETIFOLIA, Torr. & Gray, in Beckwith's Railroad Report, p. 121, t. 4. A
variety with less dissected foliage. 'Shores of Rhett lake.
GROSSULACEÆ.
RIBES MENZIESII, Pursh, Fl. 2, p. 732 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 1, p. 545. San Francisco,
California.
RIBES DIVARICATUM, Dougl. in Hort. Trans. 7, p. 515. Hell valley, along streams.
RIBES VISCCSISSIMUM, Pursh, Fl. 1, p. 163; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 1, p. 551. Fruit blue.
Cascade mountains. Forks of trees.
RIBES SPECIOSUM, Pursh, Fl. 2, p. 732; DC. Prod. 3, p. 478; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 545.
Near San Francisco.
RIBES GLUTINOSUM, Benth. Hort. Trans. (new ser.) 1, p. 476. San Francisco.
RIBES LACUSTRE, Poir.; Pursh, Fl. 1, p. 165. Cascade mountains. Fruit black, racemed.
RIBES SANGUINEUM, Pursh, Flor. 1, p. 164. Common in California and Oregon.
CUCURBITACEÆ.
MEGARRHIZA CALIFORNICA, Torrey. Petaluma and Sonoma, California ; April, in flower.
MEGARRHIZA OREGANA, Torrey. On the shores of Klamath lake and banks of Willamette
river, 0. T.; August and September, in fruit.
CRASSULACEÆ.
SEDUM STENOPETALUM, Pursh, Flor. 1, p. 234 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 560. Cascade
mountains.
SEDUM SPATHULIFOLIUM, Hook ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 559. Port Orford, 0. T.
ECHEVERIA LANCEOLATA, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 561, Cascade mountains, O.T.
Ibno
SAXIFRAGACEÆ.
TIARELLA UNIFOLIOLATA, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 238, t. 81. Spruce forests, Cascade
mountains, 0. T.
MITELLA PENTANDRA, Hook. l. c. 1, p. 241. With the last.
BOTANY.
75
HEUCHERA CYLINDRICA, Dougl. ; Hook. 1, p. 236. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SAXIFRAGA TOLMÆI, Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. p. 567. Crater pass, Cascade mountains,
0. T.; altitude, 6,800 feet.
SAXIFRAGA PELTATA, Torrey, Bot. Expl. Exped. ined.; Benth. Plant. Hartweg, No. 1740.
SAXIFRAGA INTEGRIFOLIA, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 249, t. 86. Shores of Klamath lake.
UMBELLIFERÆ.
CONIOSELINUM CANADENSE, Torr. & Gray, Flor. N. Amer. 1, p. 619. Crater Pass, Cascade
mountains, 0. T.
EDOSMIA GAIRDNERI, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 612. Fort Reading and McCumber's,
N. California.
SANICULA BIPINNATIFIDA, Dougl. ; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 358, t. 92. Common through-
out the Sacramento valley, California.
SANICULA LACINIATA, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, Suppl. p. 347. Petaluma, California.
ERYNGIUM ARTICULATUM, Hook. Jour. Bot. Common in northern California.
CYMOPTERUS TEREBINTHINUS, Nutt. ; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 1, p. 266, t. 95. Crater pass, Cas-
cade mountains, 0. T. .
PEUCEDANUM TRITERNATUM, Nutt., Jour. Acad. Philud. 7, p. 27; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 1, n.
204, t. 94. Fort Reading, Cal.
PEUCEDANUM FENICULACEUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 627. Crater pass, Cascade
mountains.
PEUCEDANUM UTRICULATUM, Nutt. ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 628. San Francisco, California.
PEUCEDANUM CARUIFOLIUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 628. Shores of San Pablo bay,
California.
OSMORRHIZA NUDA, Torr. in Whipple's Report, ined. Crater pass, Cascade mountains, Cal.
HYDROCOTYLE AMERICANA, Linn; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 599. San Francisco, Cal.
CORNACEÆ.
CORNUS NUTTALLII, Nutt. Sylv. 3, p. 52; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, p. 652. The fruit of this species
is quite different from that of C. florida, the berries being so densely glomerated as to form a
solid spherical capitulum, precisely as in the genus Benthamia, which is, therefore, scarcely
distinguishable from Cornus, and will perhaps not stand.
CORNUS CANADENSIS, Linn.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, 652. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
CORNUS STOLONIFERA ? Micha.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 1, 650. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
CORNUS PUBESCENS, Nutt. Sylva 3, p. 54. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
CAPRIFOLIACEÆ.
LONICERA CERULEA, Linn.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 2, p. 9. Des Chutes basin, 0. T.; Sep-
tember 1.
LONICERA INVOLUCRATA, (Herb. Banks,) DC. Prodr. 4, p. 336; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 2, p. 9.
Cascade mountains, 0. T..
LONICERA CALIFORNICA, Torr. & Gray, Flor. 2, p. 7. San Antonio, Dr. Andrews.
LONICERA HISPIDULA, Dougl. Mss.; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 2, p. 8. Placerville, California.
SAMBUCUS PUBENS, Michx.; Michu. Fl. 1, p. 181. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SAMBUCUS MEXICANA, Pres. in DC. Prodr. 4, p. 323; Gray, Pl. Wright, 2, p. 66.
Klamath basin and Cascade mountains, 0, T.
76
BOTANY.
SYMPHORICARPUS RACEMOSUS, Michx. Fl. 1, p. 107. Northern California and Cascade mountains,
0. T.
LINNEA BOREALIS, Gronov.; Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 880; Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. Voy. 1, p. 125.
Cascade mountains, 0. T.
RUBIACEÆ.
GALIUM APARINE, Linn.; Pursh. Fl. 1, p. 103 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. 2, p. 20. Klamath
lake and Dalles of Columbia.
GALIUM CALIFORNICUM, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, Suppl. p. 349. Petaluma; April, in flower.
GALIUM BOREALE, Linn.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 1, p. 289. Shores of Klamath lake, 0. T.
GALIUM RUBIOIDES, Linn. Spec. 1, p. 105; DC, Prod. 4, p. 599; Hook. & Arn. Bot.
Beech. Voy., p. 115; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 289. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
GALIUM ASPRELLUM, Michx. Fl. 1, p. 78; Pursh, Fl. 1, p. 103 ; Torrey, Fl. 1, p. 166.
Banks of Canoe creek, northern California ; July 29.
CEPHALANTHUS OCCIDENTALIS, Linn.; Michx. Fl. 1, p. 87. Common in Sacramento valley.
VALERIANACEÆ.
I
PLECTRITIS CONGESTA, DC. Prod. 4, p. 631. Shores of San Pablo and bay, California.
VALERIANA SYLVATICA, Banks; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 1, p. 291. Crater pass, Cascade moun-
tains, 0. T.
COMPOSITÆ.--(By A. Gray.)
EUPATORIUM OCCIDENTALE, Hook. Fl. Bur. Am. 1, p. 305 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 1, p. 91. On
rocks, Canoe creek, northern California ; a low shrubby plant.
LESSINGIA GERMANORUM, Cham.; Torr. & Gray, l. c. 2, p. 451. Upper Sacramento valley.
LESSINGIA VIRGATA, Gray, in Pl. Hartw. p 315; McCumber's. This very remarkable species
was known only by a specimen in the collection of the United States Pacific Exploring Expedi-
tion, with which Dr. Newberry's plant well accords.
ASTER SALSUGINOSUS, Richards.; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 155. Crater pass.
ASTER ADSCENDENS, Lindl. in Hook. l. c. & DC. Prodr. 5, p. 231.
ASTER Novi BELGII, Linn. Upper Des Chutes ; also a dwarf state at the Dalles.
ASTER SIMPLEX, Willd.? Torr. & Gray, l. c. Upper Des Chutes river.
ASTER FALCATUS, Lindl.; Torr. & Gray, l. c. Klamath lake.
ERIGERON FILIFOLIUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 177. Cascade mountains, Oregon ;
flowers white and pink.
ERIGERON DOUGLASII, Torr. & Gray, 1. c.; var. foliis latioribus, capitulis (immaturis) mino.
ribus. Apparently the E. foliosum of Nuttall. McCumber's, Upper Sacramento.
ERIGERON CANADENSE, Linn. Common in California and Oregon.
HULSEA NANA, (sp. nov.): humilis ; foliis pinnatifidis; pedunculo scapiformi monocephalo;
involucri squamis oblongo-lanceolatis subacutis; floribus luteis; pappi paleis fimbricato-la-
ceris.--(Tab. XII.) In beds of scoria, at the line of perpetual snow, Crater pass, Cascade
mountains, lat. 44° 10', September. This is one of the most interesting plants of Dr. New-
berry's collection, and I have great pleasure in proposing that the species shall bear his name.
It opportunely confirms a genus, still unpublished, (but likely soon to be given to the world,
which I characterized two years ago in manuscript, and which was founded on a single specimen
of a stem or peduncle, destitute of foliage, but bearing several heads. The floral characters
sun.
BOTANY.
77
O
forbid us to refer it to any known genus, and it was, therefore, dedicated to Dr. G. W. Hulse,
of Louisiana, a zealous cultivator of botany, who gathered it in the mountains of the southern
part of California, back of San Diego, and sent the specimen to his friend and correspondent,
Dr. Torrey. The characters of the genus, and the distinctive marks (so far as known) of the
original species, are here appended. The present plant is only three or four inches high, ex-
cluding the slender shoot or root-stock, which rises through the loose scoria in which it
grows.
HULSEA, Torr. & Gray, in Bot. Mex. Bound. Surv. ined. Capitulum multiflorum, radiatum; flo-
ribus radii ligulatis foemineis, disci tubulosis. Involucrum hæmisphericum ; squamis subtriseria-
tis membranaceis laxis, exterioribus paulo brevioribus. Receptaculum planum epaleaceum,
alveolato-dentatum; dentibus brevibus corneis. Ligulæ 20–30, lineares. Corollæ fl. her-
maph, tubo gracili viscoso-glanduloso, fauce cylindracea, limbo 5-dentato, dentibus tringulari-
ovatis fere glabris. Antheræ ecaudatæ. Styli rami obtusi, longitrorsum puberuli, exappendic-
ulati. Achenia conformia, linearia, subtetragono-compressa, deorsum attenuata, villosa, præser-
tim ad margines. Pappus (villis achenii vix longior) e paleis 4 tenuibus hyalinis enerviis latis
obtusissimis erosis vel fimbriatis. Herbæ perennes, viscoso-pubescentes, macrocephalæ, alterni-
foliæ ; caule florifero subaphyllo; floribus flavis.
1. H. CALIFORNICA : elata ; caule vel pedunculo 3–7 cephalo ; involucri squamis linearibus
apice attenuatis ; floribus aureis ; pappi paleis cuneato-rotundis apice truncato eroso-den-
ticulatis.
2. H. NANA: Vide supra.
Plate XII, HULSEA NANA. Plant of the natural size. Fig. 1, a ray flower; 2, a disk
flower; 3, corolla of the last laid open, the stamens, &c., displayed ; 4, some of the glandular
hairs on the corolla ; 5, branches of the style of the disk flowers; 6, paleæ of the pappus;
7, section of a mature achenium; 8, the receptacle. The details variously magnified.
COREOPSIS ATKINSONIANA, Dougl. Bot. Reg. t. 1376. Rocks on the Oregon river.
GAILLARDIA ARISTATA, Pursh, Fl. 2, p. 573. Fort Dalles, Oregon river.
CHÆNACTIS DOUGLASII, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 354, (to which C. achilleæfolia is to be
joined.) Klamath lake. Flowers white.
BAHIA LEUCOPHYLLA, DC. Prodr. 5, p. 656. McCumber's, Upper Sacramento valley.
BAHIA LANATA, Nutt.; DC.l. c. & var. TENUIFOLIA. With the last, &c.
BURRIELIA TENERRIMA, DC. Prodr. 5, p. 663. Sonoma.
DICHÆTA ULIGINOSA, Nutt. in Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 7, p. 383. With the last.
HELENIUM AUTUMNALE, Linn. var. GRANDIFLORUM, Torr. & Gray. Klamath lake and Willa-
mette river.
SOLIDAGO GIGANTEA, Ait.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 2. Banks of Columbia river, 0. T.
SOLIDAGO CONFERTIFLORA, Nutt.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 4. Klamath basin, 0. T.
SOLIDAGO ELONGATA, Nutt. var. McCumber's, Upper Sacramento.
LINOSYRIS GRAVEOLENS, Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 234. Banks of upper Pit river.
CuRYSOPSIS VILLOSA, Nutt. Gen. 2, p. 150. Cascade mountains ; a small form.
BLENNOSPERMA CALIFORNICUM, Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 272. Sacramento valley.
WYETHIA HELENIOIDES, Gray, Pl. Fendi. p. 82, adn.; var. capitulo multum minore. Near
McCumber's, on the upper Sacramento. The foliage and aspect accord with W. helenioides,
but the head is only one-quarter the size. The single one gathered, however, is from an axil-
lary shoot, the terminal one being destroyed or lost, and it is not in a condition to permit an
U
.
1
11
CHIA HELE
78
BOTANY.
1
examination of the flowers. The plant may, therefore, for the present, remain appended to W.
helenioides.
WYETHIA ROBUSTA, Nutt. in Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 7, p. 351; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 299,
excl. syn. With the last. Radical leaves lanceolate, a foot long. Not well named, as the
stems are quite slender next the ground. They bear, in a crowded manner, many alternate and
pinnatifid leaves of oblong or spatulate outline, tapering into a margined petiole. The leaves,
including the petiole, are one or two inches long; their lobes one to three lines long, oblong,
obtuse, entire or obtusely toothed. Like the rest of the plant, they are viscid or glandular-pu-
bescent. A solitary peduncle, 11 inch long, bears a single head, which is nearly an inch in
diameter. Involucre purplish; the outer scales broadly oblong-lanceolate ; the inner lanceolate.
Rays small, linear, about 20 in number, apparently light yellow, half an inch long. Its tube
and the lower part of the disk-corollas beset with glandular hairs. Achenia 3 to 4 lines long,
flat, blackish, softly and very villous, except perhaps towards the base; the hairs at the sum-
mit as long as the diaphanous paleæ of the pappus.
OXYURA CHRYSANTHEMIOIDES, DC. Prodr. 5, p. 693. Petaluma, California.
LAYIA CALLIGLOSSA, Gray, Pl. Fendi. p. 103; var.? OLIGOCHÆTA; pappi aristis 2-3. Peta-
luma, California.
MADARIA ELEGANS, DC. Prodr. 5, p. 692. McCumber's.
LAGOPHYLLA FILIPES, Gray, in Mex. Bound. Surv. Hemizonia filipes, Hook. & Arn. Bot.
Beech. p. 356. With the last, in flower only. Fruiting specimens of this are still a desideratum.
ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM, L. McCumber's, shores of Klamath lake, &c.
MATRICARIA DISCOIDEA, DC. Prodr. 6, p. 51. Petaluma.
ARTEMISIA TRIDENTATA, Nutt. Columbia river.
ARTEMISIA LUDOVICIANA, Nutt.; var. GNAPHALIOIDES, Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 420. Pit river.
ARTEMISIA DRACUNCULOIDES, Pursh. Des Chutes basin.
LBUM. Linn. (G. Sprengelii, Hook. & Arn., in part.) Sonoma.
GNAPHALIUM PALUSTRE, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 427. Canoe creek.
GNAPHALIUM PURPUREUM, L. Petaluma.
ANTENNARIA GEYERI, Gray, Pl. Fendl, adn. p. 107. McCumber's. These are fine specimens
of the male plant of this rare species, which Sir William Hooker cónfounded with a South
American Gnaphalium, (G. alienum, Hook. & Arn.) But it is a true Antennaria.
ANTENNARIA LUZULOIDES, Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 431. Hat creek and McCumber's, N. Cal.
ANTENNARTA MARGARITACEA, R. Br. Lakes south of Crater pass, Cascade mountains, 0. T.;
August.
SENECIO TRIANGULARIS, Hook. Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 322, t. 115. Upper Des Chutes river, near
the edge of the water; September.
ARNICA CHAMISSONIS, Less.; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 449. A narrow-leaved state; shores of
Klamath lake, 0. T.
ARNICA MOLLIS, Hook.; Torr. & Gray, l. c. Crater pass, near the snow line. A state with
narrower leaves than usual, and tapering to the base.
TETRADYMIA CANESCENS, DC. Prodr. 6, p. 440. Fort Reading, Cal. The leaves are only a
little shorter than in Douglas' plant, and the flowering branches (which are herbaceous from
a shrubby base) are nearly as slender.
STEPHANOMERIA MINOR, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 472. Hat creek and Pit river, Cal.
STEPHANOMERIA VIRGATA, Benth. Bot. Sulph. p. 32. A much larger flowered variety, but
NAPHALIUM LU NEO-AD
ona.
BOTANY.
79
specimens gathered by Frémont approach it. The admitted species are probably too numerous
already. McCumber's, N. Cal.
MACRORHYNCHUS LACINIATUS, Torr. & Gray, l. c. Crater pass.
MACRORHYNCHUS LESSINGII, Hook. & Arn.? McCumber's and Canoe creek, N. Cal.
MULGEDIUM PULCHELLUM, Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, l. c. p. 497. Bartee's valley, N. Cal.
XANTHIUM STRUMARIUM, Linn.; DC. Prodr. 5, p. 523. Common throughout N. California
and Oregon.
LEUCANTHEMUM VULGARE, Lam. Fort Vancouver, W. T. (Introduced.)
HEMIZONIA PUNGENS, Torr. & Gray, Fl. 2, p. 399. Sacramento valley, Cal.
HEMIZONIA MACRADENIA, DC.; Torr. & Gray, l.c. Fort Reading, Cal.
MARUTA COTULA, DC. Marysville, California.
BIDENS CHRYSANTHEMOIDES, Michw.; Pursh. Fl. 2, p. 566. San Francisco and Sacramento
valley, Cal.
CAMPANULACEÆ.
SPECULARIA PERFOLIATA, A. DC. Fort Vancouver, W. T.
DOWNINGIA ELEGANS, Torr. in Whipple's Report, (ined.) Bartee's valley, N. Cal.; August.
GITHOPSIS CALYCINA, Benth. Plant. Hartweg. p. 321. Fort Reading, Cal.
CAMPANULA SCOULERI, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 28, t. 125. A small form, Cascade moun-
tains, 0. T.; larger form, McCumber's, N. Cal.
PANUL
oun-
ERICACEÆ.
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS TOMENTOSA, Dougl. in Lind. Bot. Reg. Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 37, t. 130.
Cascade mountains, 0. T., latitude 44º.
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS GLAUCA, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1791, Xerobotrys glaucus, Nutt. Trans. A .
Philos. Soc. Common throughout northern California and southern Oregon.
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS UVA-URSI, Spreng., Pursh Fl. 1, p. 283. Pine woods, N. California and
Cascade mountains.
ARBUTUS MENZIESII, Pursh Flor. 1, p. 282. N. California, Cascade mountains and Willam-
ette valley, 0. T.
AZALEA CALIFORNICA, Torr. & Gray. A. calendulacea, Hook. & Arn. Bot, Beech. p. 362.
Fort Reading, N California.
MENZIESEA EMPETRIFORMIS, Smith; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 40. Crater pass, Cascade
mountains ; altitude 6,000—7,000 feet.
GAULTHERIA SHALLON, Pursh; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. p. 2, 36. Cascade mountains and Coast
Range, Willamette valley, 0. T.
GAULTHERIA MYRSINITES, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 35, t. 129. Cascade mountains,
0. T.; altitude 6,000 feet.
KALMIA GLAUCA, Ait.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 41. Crater pass, Cascade mountains ;
altitude 6,000 feet. Sphagnous marshes, mouth of the Columbia ; September 6.
RHODODENDRON ALBIFLORUM, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 43, t. 133. Cascade mountains,
0. T.; latitude 44º.
RHODODENDRON MAXIMUM ? Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 42. Spruce forests, Cascade and
Coast mountains.
VACCINIUM MACROCARPUM, Ait.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 34. Marshes; mouth of Columbia
river, 0. T.
80
BOTANY.
T
VO
TT
VACCINIUM PARVIFOLIUM, Smith; Hook. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 33, t. 128. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
VACCINIUM OXYCOCCUS, Linn.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 34. Sphagnous marshes, Cascade
mountains, 0. T.
VACCINIUM OVALIFOLIUM, Smith; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 32, t. 127. Cascade mountains, O. T.
VACCINIUM MYRTILLOIDES, Michx.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 32. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
VACCINIUM OVATUM, Pursh; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 33. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
VACCINIUM CÆSPITOSUM ? Michx.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 33, t. 126. Cascade mountains.
CHIMAPHILLA UMBELLATA, Pursh; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 49. N. California and Cascade
mountains, 0. T.
PYROLA APIIYLLA, Smith; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 48, t. 137. Pine forests, N. California,
and Cascade mountains, 0. T.
PYROLA ROTUNDIFOLIA, Linn.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 46. McCumber's, N. California.
PYROLA DENTATA, Smith; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 46, t. 136. var. INTEGRIFOLIA, Cascade moun-
tains, 0. T.
PYROLA MINOR, Linn.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 45. Crater Pass, Cascade mountains ;
altitude 6,500 feet.
PTEROSPORA ANDROMEDEA, Nutt.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 48. Pine woods throughout N.
California and Oregon.
CASSIOPE TETRAGONA, Don. in DC. Prod. 7, p. 611. Andromeda tetragona, Linn. Flor. Dan.
t. 1030; Pursh. Flor. p. 290 ; Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3181 ; Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 58. Crater
pass, Cascade mountains.
HEMITOMES, nov. gen. MONOTROPEARUM. (By A. GRAY.)
Calyx disepalus, bracteoliformis. Corolla tubuloso-urceolata, 4-5-loba, post anthesin mar-
cescens, lobis patentibus intus villosulis. Stamina hypogyna, 8 vel 10: filamenta filiformia,
superne barbata: antheræ basifixæ, glandula parva apiculata, dimidiatim unilocularis ; nempe,
loculo fertili oblongo-lineari longitrorsum dehiscente, altero ad costam billamellatam reducto.
Discus nullus. Ovarium ovoideum, pseudo-quinqueloculare, nempe placenta 4 bilamellatæ
videntur, divaricatæ, et inter se coalitæ circum locellum centralem, extus intusque creberrime
ovuliferæ. Stylus elongatus : stigma depressocapitatum, integerrimum, umbilicatum, per-
vium. Fructus ut videtur carnosus evalvis.-Rhizophytum brunneum, carnosum ; caule sim-
plici squamato; floribus sessilibus in capitulum terminale congestis bracteatis.
HEMITOMES CONGESTUM. (Plate XIII.) Upper Des Chutes valley ; September.
The addition of a new genus to the small order or sub-order Monotropece, is a matter of no
small interest ; and this, founded on a fragmentary, but yet an adequate specimen, is the third
which has come to our knowledge from the Pacific border of the United States.* The plant
has much the aspect of a Monotropa of the section Hypopitys; but is remarkable for bearing its
flowers in a dense, terminal, nearly hemispherical head. Each flower is subtended by a scaly
bract, nearly like the scales of the stem, and about as long as the corolla. The outer flowers
appear to be all tetramerous and octandrous, like the lower ones of Hypopitys, but some of the
inner ones have a 5-lobed corolla, and, I believe, 10 stamens. A pair of narrowly-linear
persistent lateral bractlets represent the calyx. The scarious-membranaceous corolla is urceolate-
Namely, Sarcodes of Torrey, (which is admirably illustrated in the Plantæ Frémontianæ, p. 17, plate 10, and which was
near the same time published in California by Dr. Kellogg, under the name of Pterosporopsis,) and Allotropa, the single known
species of which Allotropa virgata, Torr. & Gray, ined. was gathered on the Cascade mountains of northern Oregon, by Dr.
BOTANY.
81
tubular in the flowers inspected, which are all much passed anthesis; it is probably more
tubular at first, but is afterwards swollen out below by the enlargement of the gravid ovary.
The æstivation could not be made out. The greatest peculiarity of the plant is found in the
anthers, which are one-celled through obliteration; the missing cell being reduced to a narrow
longitudinal ridge, almost continuous with the filament. This ridge is bipartible, if not
splitting spontaneously, into two narrow lamellæ, in a manner answering well to the normally
longitudinal dehiscence of the fertile cell. It may possibly even contain a few grains of pollen,
This remarkable semi-castration has suggested the generic name.* In the total absence of a
disk, and in the elongated style, our plant accords with Sarcodes. The pervious stigma and style
and the imperfect calyx are points which connect it more closely with Monotropa, of which it
has the general aspect. There are indications that the fruit is baccate. It is difficult to make
out the structure of the ovary clearly, nor is there much material to be sacrificed in the endeavor.
I think, however, that our analysis is not far wrong. If correct, we have a curious anomaly
in the ovary of the present plant, namely: besides the four (or in some cases five?) normal
cells, there is an axile cell equally and profusely ovuliferous throughout, and reminding one of
United States, ed. 2, p. 347.) As will be seen from the framing of the generic character, I
take this to be of the same nature as the central cavity in the ovary of Martynia. I trust
further specimens may duly come to hand, and confirm or correct this view of the structure of
the ovary.
Plate XIII. HEMITOMES CONGESTUM.—The plant of the natural size. Fig. 1. Side view
of a flower and its bract. 2. Front view of a flower. 3. Stamens and pistil. 4. A
detached stamen, the anther seen laterally. 5. Anther seen posteriorly; the ridge representing
the aborted cell towards the eye. 6. Same seen laterally, and divided transversely. 7. Pollen.
8. Transverse slice of an ovary. 9. Vertical section through the whole pistil.
SARCODES SANGUINEA, Torrey, Plant. Frémont, in Smith. Contrib. 6, p. 18, t. 10. In pine forest,
base of Lassen's butte, northern California.
SCROPHULARIACEÆ.—(By A. GRAY.)
PENTSTEMON SPECIOSUS, Dougl.; Hook. Flor. Bor. Am. 2, p. 98. Banks of Canoe creek, N.
Cal.; shores of Klamath lake.
Pickering and Mr. Brackenridge, in the South-Sea Exploring Expedition under Commodore Wilkes; and, finally, tbe
present discovery of Dr. Newberry. The six genera now known may be disposed synoptically in this way:
§ 1. Corolla monopetala.
Antherce biloculares :
1. Longitrorsum dehiscentes, dorso biaristatæ.
1. PTEROSPORA, Nutt. Corolla ovata, 5-dentata. Semina apice alata.
2. Apice foraminibus dehiscentes, mutico. Corolla campanulata 5-loba.
2. SARCODES, Torr. Discus nullus. Antheræ elongatæ : filamenta brevia. Stylus elongatus.
3. SCHWEINITZIA, El. Discus 10-crenatus. Antheræ breves : filamenta gracilia. Stylus brevis crassus.
** Antheræ abortu uniloculares. Calyx imperfectus, bracteiformis.
4. HEMITOMES, Gray: Vide, supra.
§ 2. Corolla 4-5-petala. Calyx imperfectus.
5. ALLOTROPA, Torr. & Gray. Petala orbiculata, basi haud gibbosa. Discus nullus. Antheræ ovatæ, biloculares, longi-
trorsum dehiscentes. Stylus nullus.
reniformes, confluentim uniloculares, transversim dehiscentes. Stylus columnaris.
* Viz: 'Hulróuns, a half-eunuch.
11 Z
82
BOTANY.
ON PROCE
TT
CD
cy
PENTSTEMON MENZIESII, Benth.; Pl. Hartw., p. 327. On rocks, Cascade mountains, 0. T.
PENTSTEMON PROCERUS, Dougl.; Hook. Flor. Bor. Am. 2, p. 96. McCumber's, N. Cal., and
Klamath basin.
PENTSTEMON HETEROPHYLLUS, Lind. Bot. Reg. t. 1899. Sides of Lassen's butte, N. Cal., July..
PENTSTEMON GLAUCIFOLIUS (sp. nov.): glaberrimus, glaucus; caule confertim folioso basi
ramoso (1-2 pedali;) foliis crassiusculis integerrimis acutatissimis lanceolatis oblongisve in
petiolem brevem attenuatis, cæteris semi-amplexicaulibus plerumque cordato-ovatis vel e basi
sub-cordata ovato-lanceolatis; panicula virgata multiflora ; pedunculis folia floralia superan-
tibus folioso-bibracteatis 1-3-floris; calycis segmentis ovatis subacuminatis; corolla azurea
sesquipolicari sursum ampliata ; filamento sterili apice dilatato hirtello.
Fort Reading, on the Sacramento river, California. Cauline leaves 1-1} inches long, about
1 inch wide at the clasping base, tapering to the acute apex; the floral similar, gradually
decreasing in size ; bractlets also foliaceous. Anthers hispid-ciliate, also hirsute at the inser-
tion. Calyx nearly as in the broader-sepalled form of P. heterophyllus. A most elegant and
showy species, which I should have referred to Bentham's P. azureus from his character, except
that the sterile filament is not glabrous, and in my specimen of Hartweg's, No. 1879, the leaves
are all rather narrowly lanceolate : indeed I cannot distinguish that plant from P. heterophyllus.
It is possible that Mr. Bentham had the two plants, and drew the characters of the foliage from
our present plant, and of the sterile filament from the allied P. heterophyllus. If the sparing
beard of the sterile filament cannot be relied upon, and the two run together, then the variable
species well deserves the name of heterophyllus.
PENTSTEMON GRACILENTUS (sp. nov.): glaber; caule tenero subpedali adscendente; foliis
integerrimis inferioribus oblongo-lanceolatis in petiolum longiusculum attenuatis, superioribus
paucis augusto-linearibus sessilibus, floralibus lineari-setaceis ; panicula laxa subsimplici ; cymis
pedunculatis 3-5-floris; calycibus pedicellisque æquelongis pubero-glandulosis, segmentis
oblongo-lanceolatis breviter acuminatis; corolla tubuloso-infundibuliformi subbilabiata coerulea
staminibusque glaberrimis; filamento sterili filiformi superne obsoletissimi barbato.
At the base of Lassen's butte, N. California. Lower leaves about two inches long, and
with a petiole about one inch long; the upper few, and gradually reduced to slender bracts;
corolla slender, half an inch long; anthers intermediate in structure between those of the
sections Eupentstemon and Saccanthera, glabrous, except a minute denticulate ciliation at the
line of dehiscence.
PENTSTEMON NEWBERRYI (sp. nov.): fruticosus, glaber, cæspitoso-procumbens; foliis ovali-
bus seu ovato-oblongis sub-coriaceis crebre serrulatis, caulinis obtusis basi in petiolum contractis
summis sessilibus acutis; racemo 7-11-floro; calycis segmentis lanceolatis sensim acuminatis
pedicellum æquantibus; corolla punicea tubulosa belabiata, labio, inferiore patente trifido intus
lineis 2 barbato; staminibus sub-exsertis; antheris (praesertim ad margines) lanatis ; filamento
sterili brevi filiformi longitudinaliter parce barbato. (Plate XIV.) On rocks, forming hroad
tufts near Mount St. Joseph's, N. California. A well marked species of the section Elmigera,
but with woolly anthers. Leaves turning blackish in drying. Corolla deep crimson, very .
handsome, 14 inches long.
Plate XIV. PENTSTEMON NEWBERRYI. A flowering stem of the natural size. Fig. 1.
Corolla laid open, with the stamens. 2. A separate stamen. 3. Pistil and calyx, the ovary
vertically divided. The analyses enlarged.
C
BOTANY.
83
CHELONE NEMOROSA, Dougl.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 95. On rocks, Cascade mountains,
latitute 44º.30'; altitude 6,500 feet.
VERONICA AMERICANA, Schwein, in DC. Prodr. Canoe creek, N. California.
VERONICA PEREGRINA, Linn.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 101. N. California.
SCROPHULARIA NODOSA, Michx.; Hook. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 94. Throughout California and Oregon.
MIMULUS MOSCHATUS, Dougl. Bot. Reg. t. 1118. McCumber's, N. California.
MIMULUS LEWISII, Pursh.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 100. Crater pass, Cascade mountains ;
altitude 6,700 feet. Corolla crimson.
MIMULUS SCOULERI, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 100. Very common in N. California.
MIMULUS CARDINALIS, Dougl.; Benth. DC. Prodr. 10, p. 370. Fort Reading, California.
MIMULUS PRIMULOIDES, Benth.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 100. Shores of Klamath lake,
Oregon Territory.
COLLINSIA BARTSIÆFOLIA, Benth. in DC. Prodr. 10, p. 318. Fort Reading, N. California.
LINARIA CANADENSIS, Spreng.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 94. Petaluma, California.
EUNANUS FREMONTI, Benth.; DC. Prodr. 10, p. 374. McCumber's, N. California ; July 29.
EUNANUS DOUGLASII, Benth.; DC. Prodr. 10, p. 374. Fort Reading, California.
CORDYLANTHUS RACEMOSUS, Nutt. McCumber's, N. California.
CORDYLANTHUS FILIFOLIUS, Nutt. Sacramento valley, California.
ORTHOCARPUS CASTILLEJOIDES, Benth. in DC. Prodr. 10 p. 536. McCumber's, N. California.
ORTHOCARPUS PURPURASCENS, Benth. in DC. Prodr. 10, p. 536. Fort Reading, California.
ORTHOCARPUS ERIANTHUS, Benth. in DC. Prodr. Petaluma, California.
PEDICULARIS ATTENUATUS, Benth. in Hook. Flor. Bor.- Am. 2, p. 110. Petaluma, California.
PEDICULARIS RACEMOSUS, Dougl.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 108. Passes of Cascade
mountains, 0. T. ; latitude, 44°; altitude, 6,800 feet. Var. B., whole plant very delicate.
CASTILLEJA PALLIDA, Benth., Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 105. McCumber's, N. Cal. ; July 29.
CASTILLEJA MINIATA, Benth.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 106. Crater pass, Cascade mountains.
TIS, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 154. Banks of Canoe creek, Cal.; July 30.
CASTILLEJA DOUGLASII, Benth. I. c. McCumber's, N. Cal.
CASTILLEJA HISPIDA, Benth. in Hook. Flor. Bor. Am. 2, p. 105. Fort Reading, Cal.
ILLEJA AFI
VERBENACEÆ.
VERBENA HASTATA, Linn. Common throughout northern California.
VERBENA BRACTEOSA, Michx.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 14; DC. Prod. 11, p. 549. Fort
Dalles, 0. T.
LABIATEÆ.
MONARDELLA CANDICANS, Benth. Pl. Hartweg, No. 1911. Sacramento valley, Coast Range,
and McCumber's, N. Cal.
MONARDELLA SHELTONI, Torrey. McCumber's, N. California.
TRICHOSTEMA OBLONGUM, Benth., ined. Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 117. Upper Pit river,
Cal. Plant very fragrant.
STACHYS PALUSTRIS, Linn.; Hook, Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 116. McCumber's, N. Cal.
STACHYS CILIATA, Dougl.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 116. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SCUTELLARIA ANTIRRHINOIDES, Benth.; DC. Prod. Shores of Klamath lake, 0. T.
SCUTELLARIA GALERICULATA, Linn. Shores of Klamath lake, 0. T.
SCUTELLARIA TUBEROSA, Benth. Lab. p. 313. Shores of San Pablo bay, California.
84
BOTANY.
MICROMERIA DOUGLASII, Benth. in DC. Prod. 12, p. 223. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
MENTHA CANADENSIS, Linn. McCumber's, N. Cal.
PRUNELLA VULGARIS, Linn. Common from San Francisco to the Columbia river.
I
PLANTAGINACEÆ.
PLANTAGO MAJOR, Linn. Fort Vancouver, W. T. (Introduced.)
PLANTAGO PATAGONICA, Jacq.; var. GNAPHALIOIDES, Gray. P. Gnaphalioides, Nutt. Gen. 1, p.
100. Whole plant very woolly. Dalles of the Columbia, 0. T.
PRIMULACEÆ.
DODECATHEON MEADIA, Linn., var. D. FRIGIDUM, Cham.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 118.
Sacramento valley ; Fort Reading, Cal. ; Cascade mountains, 0. T.
TRIENTALIS LATIFOLIA, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 121. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS, Linn. San Francisco, Cal. (Introduced.)
LENTIBULACEÆ.
UTRICULARIA VULGARIS, Linn. Klamath lake, 0. T.
OROBANCHACEÆ.
PHELIPÆA COMOSA, Gray, ined. OROBANCHE COMOSA, Hook. Fl, Bor.-Am. 2, t. 169. Banks of
Canoe creek.
APHYLLON UNIFLORUM, Torr. Gray; Gray, Bot. North. U. S., p. 290. Near San Francisco,
California.
BORAGINACEÆ.—(By John TORREY.)
ERITRICHIUM SCOULERI, Alph. DC. Prodr. 10, p. 130. In fine fruit. McCumber's and
Klamath lake.
ERITRICHIUM FULVUM, Alph. DC. l. c. Fort Reading, Oregon, April. In flower.
PLAGIOBOTHRYS CANESCENS, Benth. Pl. Hartw. p. 324.? Differs from Hartweg's plant, in the
corolla being twice as long as the calyx. Fort Reading.
ERITRICHIUM CALIFORNICUM, Alph. DC. l. C. No locality recorded.
CYNOGLOSSUM GRANDE, Dougl.; Hook, Fl. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 85. McCumber's and Fort Reading.
AMSINCKIA SPECTABILIS, Fisch. & Mey. Index Hort. Petrop. 1835; DC. Prodr. 10, p. 118.
Fort Reading, California
AMSINCKIA, sp. Sonoma, California.
HYDROPHYLLACEÆ.—(By A. Gray.)
NEMOPHILA INSIGNIS, Lindl.; A. DC. Prod. 9, p. 270. Fort Reading, California.
NEMOPHILA PARVIFLORA, Dougl.; A. DC. Prod. 9, p. 290. Petaluma and Sonoma, California.
NEMOPHILA ATOMARIA, Fisch. & Meyer; A. DC. Prod. 9, 290. San Francisco, California.
PHACELIA CIRCINATA, Jacq.; A. DC. Prod. 9, p. 298. Northern California, passim ; shores
of Klamath lake.
EUTOCA PHACELIOIDES, Benth. in Linn. Trans. 17, p. 276. Shores of Klamath lake.
EMMENANTHE (MILTITZIA) PARVIFLORA (sp. nov.): nana, depresso-ramosissima; foliis pinnati-
subpartitis, lobis 5-9 integerrimis; floribus congestis brevissime pedicellatis ; corolla flava
calycem haud superante; stylo brevi; seminibus plurimis reticulatis.--Along the shores of the
BOTANY.
85
Klamath lake. Root, without doubt, annual. Stems spreading nearly flat upon the ground,
much branched, and, like the foliage, &c., minutely hairy and glandular. Leaves petioled, not
dilated at the base; their lobes oblong or obovate, one or two lines long, the upper ones more
confluent. Flowers crowded in somewhat scorpioid clusters, bractless. Pedicels much shorter
than the calyx; bractlets none. Calyx in flower only about one and a half or two lines long,
in fruit becoming three lines long; the sepals linear, obtuse, hairy and viscid. Corolla yellow,
about the length of the calyx in anthesis, not increasing, but persistent, in fruit investing the
lower two-thirds of the ripe capsule; rather narrow campanulate, 5-lobed, the short ovate lobes
apparently quincuncially imbricated in æstivation, more or less hairy on the outside, within
destitute of plicæ or appendages, except a very narrow and thin ring at the very base girting
the base of the ovary, which rises into five slight and free lobes alternate with the stamens.
Stamens inserted on the very base of the corolla, rather shorter than it: filaments a little
dilated downwards: anthers short, didymous, incumbent; pollen globose. Ovary ovoid, densely
hairy, truly 2-celled by the union of the placentæ in the axis; style not longer than the ovary,
nearly glabrous, 2-cleft at the summit, nearly persistent: stigmas capitellate, rather large.
Ovules numerous, 32—40 in each cell, namely, 16 to 20 in two rows on each half of each
placentæ, amphitropous descending, more or less imbricated. Capsule three lines or a little
more in length, loculicidal, ovoid, flattish parallel with the valves, incompletely 2-celled ; the
placentæ in contact but not coherent at maturity ; adnate to the middle of the valves for the
whole length, each maturing from 10 to 20 pendulous seeds. These are oblong, somewhat
angled, the thin testa delicately reticulated. Embryo slender, about the length of the
albumen.
As to the affinities of this plant, I cannot doubt that it is a close congener of Hooker and
toca ? lutea, although I possess no specimens of that plant. Judging from the
published description and figure, this appears to differ from our plant chiefly in the slightly,
if at all, lobed leaves, the larger flowers, and more conspicuous corolla longer than the calyx,
the much longer style, and the fewer, only 8,(?) ovules. The seeds, moreover, are represented
with spiral markings, something like those of Microgenites, as figured in Gay’s Flora Chilena.
The inconspicuous disk, adnate to the corolla in our plant, is not noticed in the other,
but it might readily be overlooked. Upon this plant Alphonse. De Candolle founded his genus
Miltitzia ; and the present question is, whether that genus, now strengthened by a second
species, is to be adopted, or whether it should be merged in Bentham's genus Emmenanthe ?
It will be seen that I incline to the latter view ; but should retain Miltitzia as a subgenus,
distinguished by considerable difference in habit, by the ovoid (instead of the oblong)
ovary, and by the 10-toothed small disk being adnate to the very base of the corolla,
instead of free from it. I perceive no other characters. The yellow or sulphur-colored and
marcescent corolla marks the genus.
Plate XV. EMMENANTHE (MILTITZIA) PARVIFLORA. Part of the plant of the natural size. Fig.
1. A flower. 2. Corolla laid open, with the stamens. 3. Pistil, the ovary transversely
divided. 4. A pistil, with the ovary vertically divided. 5. Portion of a placenta, with ovules.
6.. A mature capsule, with the persistent calyx and corolla. 7. Transverse section of a capsule.
8. A valve of the capsule, with placenta and seed, seen obliquely. 9. A seed. 10. The same
vertically divided, showing the embryo.
ess
86
BOTANY.
.
POLEMONIACEÆ.
GILIA CAPITATA, Dougl.; Benth. in DC. Prod. 9, p. 315. Fort Reading, N. California ; April,
in flower.
GILIA TRICOLOR, Benth. in DC. Prod. 9, p. 312. Fort Reading, North California ; April,
in flower.
GILIA PULCHELLA, (Dougl.) Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 74. IPOMOPSIS ELEGANS, Lindl. Bot.
Reg. t. 1281. Pine woods, N. California and Oregon ; July, August.
GILIA PHARNECIOIDES, Benth. Pl. Hartw. p. 325. Fort Reading, N. California ; April.
GILIA MICRANTHA, Steud.; Benth. Pl. Hartweg. p. 324. McCumber's, N. California ; July, in
flower.
GILIA DICHOTOMA, Benth.; DC. Prod. 9, p. 314. Fort Reading, California ; April, in flower.
GILIA CONGESTA, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 75. Hat creek, N. California ; July, in flower.
GILIA INCONSPICUA, Dougl, in Bot. Mag. t. 2883; DC. Prod. 9, p. 312. San Francisco, Cali-
fornia ; April, in flower.
COLLOMIA GRANDIFLORA, Dougl. in Bot. Reg. 14, t. 1174. McCumber's, N. California, and
shores of Klamath lake.
COLLOMIA GRACILIS, Dougl.; Benth. in DC. Prod. 9, p. 308, & Plant. Hartweg. p. 323. Sacra-
mento valley, California.
POLEMONIUM REPTANS, Linn.; Hook, Bot. Mag. t. 1887. Crater pass, Cascade mountains, 0. T.
POLEMONIUM CERULEUM, Linn. ; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 71. Shores of Klamath lake.
0. T.; August.
PHLOX DIFFUSA, Benth. Plant. Hartweg. p. 325. In dry rocky places. Canoe creek, N. Cali-
fornia ; July.
LEPTODACTYLON PUNGENS ? Torr.; DC. Prod. 9, p. 316. Flowers pink and white. Shores of
Rhett lake ; August.
LEPTODACTYLON HOOKERI, Benth.; DC. Prod. 9, p. 316. Near San Francisco, California.
EMONIUM REPTA
OLVULUS
LITTORN
CONVOLVULACEÆ.
CONVOLVULUS CALIFORNICUS, Chois. in DC. Prod. 9, p. 405. Corolla yellowish-white. "Hat
creek, N. California ; July.
CUSCUTA CALIFORNICA, Hook. & Arn.; Chois. in DC. Prod. 9, p. 457. Sacramento valley;
July, in flower.
SOLANACEÆ.
SOLANUM NIGRUM, Linn. var. PUBESCENS, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 152. Common through-
out N. California, and on the Columbia river, 0. T.
SOLANUM UMBELLIFERUM, Eschsch.; Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 375. Near San Francisco.
DATURA STRAMONIUM, Linn. San Francisco, California. (Introduced.)
TI
GENTIANACEÆ.—(By Asa GRAY.)
GENTIANA AFFINIS, Griseb. in Hook. Flor. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 56. Shores of Klamath lake;
August 22.
GENTIANA CALYCOSA ? Griseb. in Hook. Flor. Bor-Am. 2, p. 58, t. 146. Crater pass, Cascade
mountains; altitude 6,000 feet.
BOTANY.
87
.
GENTIANA ACUTA, Michx, var. STRICTA. Banks of Hat creek, California.
GENTIANA SIMPLEX (Sp. nov.:) caule unifloro e radice annua simplicissimo parce foliato gracili
(semipedali et ultra ;) foliis lineari-lanceolatis oblongis crassiusculis; calyce quadrifido, seg-
mentis lanceolatis ; corolla coerulea infundibuliformi imberbi haud coronata, lobis 4 oblongo-spa-
thulatis integerrimis ; antheris brevibus discretis ; stylo brevi ; stigmatibus rotundato-dilatatis ;
capsula stipitata ; seminibus alatis. Upper Klamath lake ; August.
It is not easy to fix upon the section of the genus to which this pretty and well-marked
species should be referred. The discoverer not unnaturally took the plant for a Cicendia, not-
withstanding the size of the blossom ; but the stout style is persistent on the capsule and splits
through in dehiscence, and all the characters are those of a Gentian. The slender stems are
always simple, and bear from two to four pairs of small leaves, the uppermost remote from the
solitary flower. The showy corolla is fully an inch long, and of a bright blue color. The
stigmas are large and broad; the ovary tapers below into a decided stipe, which in fruit is half
the length of the oblong capsule; and the seeds are broadly winged; their insertion sutural.
Plate XVI. GENTIANA SIMPLEX. Three entire plants. Fig. 1. The calyx laid open, and the
ovary transversely divided. 2. Upper part of the corolla laid open, with the stamens, and the
upper part of the pistil. 3. A capsule, dehiscent, with its stipe. 4. Seeds. The details
variously magnified.
ERYTHRAEA MUHLENBERGII, Griseb. in Do. Prod. 9, p. 60. This is the 6 Canchalagua” of
the natives of California, for which high medicinal virtues are claimed. It grows plentifully on
the low grounds bordering Suisun bay; the flowers are rose red, numerous, and very pretty.
MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA, Linn. Common in marshes in the Sacramento valley.
APOCYNACEÆ.
APOCYNUM ANDROSÆMIFOLIUM, Linn. Banks of Pit river and McCumber's, California. Plant
always smaller than in the Eastern States.
APOCYNUM CANNABINUM, Linn. Pit river, lower cañon; August 6.
AXINUS
REGAN
ASCLEPIADACEÆ.—(By J. TORREY.)
ASCLEPIAS FRÉMONTI, Torrey. McCumber's, N. Cal.
ASCLEPIAS FASCICULARIS, var. foliis latioribus, Decaisne in DC. Prod. p. 569. Common in
N. California and southern Oregon.
OLEACEÆ.
FRAXINUS OREGANA, Nutt. Sylv. 3, p. 59. Fort Reading, California.
ARISTOTOCHACEÆ.
ARISTOLOCHIA CALIFORNICA, Torr. in Whippl. Rep. p. 178. Banks of Sacramento near Fort
Reading, California.
ASARUM HOOKERI, Field. Sert. t. 32. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
CHENOPODIACEÆ.—(By JOHN TORRE.)
OBIONE ARGENTEA, Moq. Chenop. p. 76. Klamath lake.
BLITUM RUBRUM, Reich. ; Moq. in DO. Prodr. 13, (pars 1,) p. 83. Klamath lake.
ATRIPLEX PATULA, Linn. Klamath.
STOLOCHI
FORNIC
Отай
ne:
88
BOTANY.
ARTHOCNEMUM FRUTICOSUM, var. CALIFORNICUM, Moq. in DC. Prodr. 13, pars 2, p. 151.
Suisun bay, California.
POLYGONACEÆ.—(By JOHN TORREY.)
POLYGONUM AVICULARE, Linn. Dalles of the Columbia ; probably introduced.
POLYGONUM AMPHIBIUM, Linn. var. TERRESTRE, Torr. Fl. N. St. p. 403. McCumber's; July 29.
POLYGONUM TENUE, Michx. Fl. 1, p. 238. Klamath lake.
POLYGONUM COARCTATUM, Dougl. in Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 133.
RUMEX MARITIMUS, Linn. Marshes, Klamath lake. The specimens are scarcely two inches
high, and yet are loaded with mature fruit.
RUMEX DOMESTICUS, Hartın.; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 129. McCumber's; grows in water.
ERIOGONUM MICROTHECUM, Nutt. Pl. Gamb. in Jour. Acad. Phil. (n. ser.) 1, p. 162. Psuc-see-
que creek, 0. T.; September.
ERIOGONUM NIVEUM, Dougl. in Benth. Eriog: Fort Dalles, 0. T.; October 5.
ERIOGONUM FLAVUM, var. CRASSIFOLIUM, Benth. Mss. E. crassifolium, Benth. in Hook. Fl. Bor.
Amer. 2, p. 134, t. 176.
ERIOGONUM POLYANTHUM, Benth. in DC. Prodr. Fort Reading and Hat creek? This species
was found also by Mr. Brackenridge and by Col. Frémont in California.
ERIOGONUM NUDUM, Dougl. in Benth. Eriog. McCumber's, N. California.
LAURACEÆ.
OREODAPHNE CALIFORNICA, Nees. Tetranthera ? Californica, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 159.
Laurus? regia, Dougl. in Comp. Bot. Mag. 2. Umbellularia Californica, Nutt. Sylv. 1, p. 87.
LORANTHACEÆ.
PHORADENDRON FLAVESCENS, var. PUBESCENS, Engel. in Gray, Pl. Lindh. 2, p. 212. Parasitic on
Æsculus Californica, near Benicia ; July.
ARCEUTHOBIUM OXYCEDRI, Bieb.; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 1, p. 278, t. 99. Common on Pinus
contorta in northern California and Oregon.
CALLITRICHACEÆ.
CALLITRICHE VERNA, Linn. San Francisco, California ; in water.
EUPHORBIACEÆ.
EREMOCARPUS SETIGERUS, Benth. Bot. Sulph. p. 53, t. 26. Croton setigerum, Hook. Flor. Bor.
Amer. 2, p. 141. Gravelly banks of Sacramento river, Cal. The growing plant very fragrant.
EUPHORBIA MACULATA ? Linn. Fort Dalles, 0. T.; introduced ?
NYCTAGINACEÆ.
ABRONIA MELLIFERA, Dougl.; Chois. in DC. Prod. 13, 2, p. 435. Flowers rose-colored, pretty.
Shores of San Pablo bay, Cal.
ABRONIA ARENARIA, Menz.; Chois. in DC. Prod. 13, 2, p. 435. Flowers yellow, fragrant. Sandy
beaches, near San Francisco, Cal.
CUPULIFERÆ.
QUERCUS AGRIFOLIA, Nees, in Ann. Sci. Nat. 3, p. 271. Common in Sacramento valley.
BOTANY.
89
QUERCUS GARRYANA, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 3, p. 159. Northern California and Oregon.
QUERCUS HINDSII, Benth. Bot. Sulph. p. 55. Sacramento valley, Cal.
QUERCUS KELLOGGII, Newb. Q. tinctoria var. Californica, Torrey, in Whipple's Rep. p. 138.
Hills near San Francisco and Fort Reading.
QUERCUS DENSIFLORA, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. p. 391. Q. Echinacea, Torr. l. c.; Nutt. Sylv: 1,
p. 11, t. 5. Foot hills, Sierra Nevada, Cal.
QUERCUS FULVESCENS, Kellogg, Proc. Cal. Acad. 1, p. 67, 71. Q.crassipocula, Torr. 1. c. Banks
of Canoe creek.
QUERCUS (SP. .) We passed through thickets of a small oak, near Lassen's butte, N.
Cal., which is apparently undescribed. Our specimens were unfortunately lost in crossing the
Cascade mountains. The leaf and fruit resemble those of Q. Garryana, but the plant grows
but 5 or 6 feet high.
CASTANEA CHRYSOPHYLLA, Dougl. in Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 159. N. California and
Cascade mountains, 0. T.
CORYLUS ROSTRATA, Ait. Common in Oregon Territory.
MYRICACEÆ.
MYRICA CALIFORNICA, Cham. & Schlecht in Linnea, p. 535. On the coast near San Fran-
cisco, California.
BETULACEÆ.
BETULA GLANDULOSA, Michw. Sphagnous marshes, Cascade mountains, 0. T.; latitude 44º.
BETULA OCCIDENTALIS, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 155; Nutt. Sylv., p. 22. Banks of Psuc-
see-que creek, Des Chutes basin, 0. T.
ALNUS OREGANA, Nutt. Sylv. 1, p. 28, t. On the Sacramento and Columbia rivers.
ALNUS VIRIDIS, DC. Fl., Fr. 3, p. 304. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SALICACEÆ.
POPULUS TREMULOIDES, Michx. Flor. Amer. 2, p. 243. Along streams, N. California and
Oregon.
POPULUS ANGUSTIFOLIA, Torr. Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. 2, p. 249. Banks of Columbia river.
POPULUS MONILIFERA, Ait. Banks of Sacramento river, California.
SALIX HINDSIANA, Benth. Pl. Hartw. No. 1956. Banks of Sacramento river, California.
SALIX LASIANDRA, Benth. Pl. Hartw. No. 1954. Banks of Sacramento river, California.
SALIX PENTANDRA, Nutt. Sylva, 1, p. 61, t. 18. Banks of the Willamette river, 0. T.
SALIX SPECIOSA, Nutt. Sylv. 1, p. 58, t. 17. Banks of Columbia river, 0. T.
PLATANACEÆ.
PLATANUS RACEMOSA, Nutt. Sylva, 1, p. 47, t. 15. Sacramento valley, California.
.
URTICACEÆ.
URTICA GRACILIS, Ait. McCumber's Flat, N. California.
URTICA URENS, ? Linn. Banks of Canoe creek, N. California.
12 Z
90
BOTANY.
CONIFERÆ.
PINUS LAMBERTIANA, Dougl.; Lamb. Pinus, ed. 2, p. 57, t. 34. Throughout northern California
and Oregon.
PINUS SABINIANA, Dougl.; Lamb. Pinus, ed. 2d, 2, p. 146, t. 80. Foot hills of Coast moun-
tains and Sierra Nevada, in California..
PINUS PONDEROSA, Dougl.; Loud. Arboret. 4, p. -2243. Throughout California and Oregon.
PINUS CONTORTA, Dougl.; Loud. Encyc. Trees, fig. 1814-1815. Common in the Sierra Nevada
and Cascade mountains, in Oregon and California.
PINUS CEMBROIDES, Zucc.; Jour. Lond. Hort. Soc. 2, p. 246. On summits of Cascade moun-
tains, 0. T.
PINUS INSIGNIS, Dougl.; Loud. Arboret. 4, p. 2265. Near San Francisco and southward.
PICEA NOBILIS, Dougl.; Loud. Arboret. 4, p. 2343. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
PICEA GRANDIS, Dougl.; Loud. Arboret. 4, p. 2341. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
PICEA AMABILIS, Dougl.; Loud. Arboret. 4, p. 2342. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
ABIES DOUGLASII, Lindl. Penny Cyclop. 1, p. 32. Throughout Oregon, and mountains of
interior of California.
ABIES MENZIESII, Dougl.; Loud. Arboret. 4, p. 2321. Common in Oregon and mountains of
California.
ABIES WILLIAMSONI, Newb. On summits of Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SEQUOIA GIGANTEA, Torr. in Sill. Jour. 2d ser., 18, p. 150. Foot hills of Sierra Nevada, Cal.
SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS, Endl. Syn. Conif. p. 198. Coast mountains of California.
LIBOCEDRUS DECURRENS, Torr. in Smithson. Contrib. 6, p. 7, t. 3. Common in mountains of
northern California.
THUJA GIGANTEA, Nutt. Sylva, 3, p. 111. Throughout mountains of Oregon.
TAXUS BREVIFOLIA, Nutt. Sylvo, 3, p. 86, t. 108. In Cascade mountains and Sierra Nevada.
JUNIPERUS OCCIDENTALIS, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 166. Great Basin east of Cascade
mountains, and Sierra Nevada.
JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS, Linn. Summits of Cascade mountains, 0. T.
CUPRESSUS NUTKATENSIS, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 165. Summits of Cascade mountains,
0. T.
TORREYA CALIFORNICA, Torr. in N. Y. Jour. Pharm. 3, p. 49. In Coast mountains, Cal.
LARIX OCCIDENTALIS, Nutt. Sylva, 3, p. 143, t. 120. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
w
II. ENDOGENOUS PLANTS.
-
.
-.
..
..
-
-..
BY JOHN TORREY.
.
.
.
--
--
-..
ARACEÆ.
SYMPLOCARPUS KAMTSCHATICUS, Bong.; Hook. Flor. Bor.- Am. 2, p. 169. Peat bogs, Cascade
mountains, (). T.; lat. 44º.
ТҮРНАСЕЉ.
TYPHA LATIFOLIA, Linn. Common from Sacramento valley to Columbia.
BOTANY.
91
NAIDACEÆ.
POTAMOGETON NATANS, Linn. Klamath lake.
ALISMACEÆ.
SMA PLAN
TRIGLOCHIN MARITIMUM, Linn. Bartee’s valley, northern California, August 1.
LANTAGO, Linn. In marshes throughout northern California and Oregon. Apparently
entirely identical with the eastern plant.
SAGITTARIA VARIABILIS, Engelm.; Gray, Bot. N. U. S. p. 461. Pit river, Klamath lakes, and
Columbia river; July to November. The bulb of this plant is an important article of food among
the Oregon Indians, by whom it is called Wapatoo.
MELANTHACEA.
ANTICLEA DOUGLASII, Torr. in Whipple's Report. Petaluma, California; February.
XEROPHYLLUM TENAX, Pursh. Fl. 1, p. 243, t. 9. Cascade mountains, Oregon Territory.
TOFIELDIA GLUTINOSA, Pursh. Fl. 1, p. 246. Crater pass, Cascade mountains.
VERATRUM VIRIDE, Ait. Kew. (ed. 1,) 3, p. 896. Meadows, McCumber's; August.
0
LILIACEÆ.
DICHELOSTEMMA CONGESTA, Kth. Enum. 4, p. 470. Brodiæa congesta, Smith, in Linn. Trans.
10, p. 3, t. 1. Fort Reading, California, March 18. Flowers slightly fragrant.
CALOCHORTUS UNIFLORUS, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, p. 398, t. 94. Petaluma, California ;
April.
CALOCHORTUS MACROCARPUS, Dougl. in Hort. Trans. 7, p. 276, t..8. Banks of Canoe creek,
California , August.
BRODIÆA GRANDIFLORA, Smith, in Linn. Trans. 10, p. 2. McCumber's; August 29. Var.
BRACHYPODA, Torr. in Whipple's Report.
HESPEROSCORDON LACTEUM, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1639. McCumber's ; July 29.
FRITILLARIA LANCEOLATA, Pursh.; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 181, t. 193. Pine Wood pass ?
In fruit. Flowering specimen.
CHLOROGALUM POMERIDIANUM, Kunth. Enum. 4, p. 682. McCumber's. This is the celebrated
Soap plant.
SMILACINA STELLATA, Desf. Head of Des Chutes river ; September; in fruit.
CLINTONIA UNIFLORA, Torr. Smilacina uniflora, Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 175, t. 190. Upper
Des Chutes river. The fruit is a large, solitary, blue berry.
TIN
1
C
NTO
A UNITT
SMILACEÆ.
TRILLIUM OVATUM, Pursh, Fl. 1, p. 249. Petaluma, California ; February.
ORCHIDACEÆ.
EPIPACTIS GIGANTEA, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 202, t. 202. McCumber’s and Mpto-ly-as
river.
SPIRANTHES DECIPIENS, Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 203, t. 204. Spruce forests, Cascade
mountains ; September.
BOTANY.
SPIRANTHES CERNUA, Rich. Near Pit river (August) and McCumber’s (July.)
PLATANTHIERA LEUCOSTACHYS, Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. p. 288. Canoe creek, California; August 1.
PLATANTHERA STRICTA, Lindl. l. c. Crater pass, Cascade mountains; September 1.
IRIDACEA.
IRIS HÆMATOPHYLLA, Fisch.?; Hook. Flor. Bor.-Amer. 2, p. 206. McCumber's.
IRIS MACROSIPHON, Torr. in Whipple's report. Sonoma, California ; February.
SISYRHYNCHIUM GRANDIFLORUM, Dougl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1364. Locality not recorded.
SISYRHYNCHIUM BERMUDIANA, Linn.; Torr. Fl. N. York 2, p. 291. McCumber's.
JUNCACEÆ.
LUZULA CAMPESTRIS, DC. Fl. Franc. 3, p. 161. McCumber's, northern California.
LUZULA PARVIFLORA, Desv. Jour. Bot. 1, p. 144. Crater pass, Cascade mountains; altitude
6,500 feet; September 1.
JUNCUS CASTANEUS, Smith; var, sepalis capsulam superantibus. Crater pass, Cascade moun-
tains, 0. T.
JUNCUS BUFONIUS, Linn. Fort Dalles, 0. T. ; September.
JUNCUS TENUIS, Willd. Sp. 2, p. 214. McCumber's, California.
c
CYPERACEÆ,
CAREX LANUGINOSA, Michx. Fl. 2, p. 175. McCumber's, California.
CAREX CÆSPITOSA, Linn. Crater pass, Cascade mountains, September ; altitude of 6,700 feet.
CAREX PYRENAICA, Wahl. With the last. Differs from the ordinary state of the plant in
being apparently dioecious. No male flowers were found in the specimens. It is a rare species
in North America.
SCIRPUS LACUSTRIS, Linn. Extremely abundant, covering immense areas in the Sacramento
valley, Klamath basin, and on the Columbia. The Tulé of the Mexicans.
GRAMINEÆ.
BECKMANNIA CRUCIFORMIS, Host. McCumber's.
FESTUCA SCABRELLA, Torr. in Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 2, p. 252, t. 233. This grass is abundant
over all the Des Chutes and Klamath basins, and on the Cascade mountains, and is the famous
"bunch grass” of the emigrants.
POLYPOGON, (Sp. nov.?) McCumber's and Pit river. This is not a very rare grass in Cali-
fornia ; it has the habit of P. Monspeliense, but differs from the genus in the glumes being scarely
awned, and in the rudimentary upper palea.
ELYMUS ARENARIUS, Linn. Banks of Pit river, and in many other parts of California. Some-
times eight feet in height; so high that, riding through it, it reached to the top of our heads
while seated on our horses. It grows in all parts of California where there are deserted Indian
lodges, and is, therefore, called by the inhabitants "rancheria grass." The seed is threshed
out, and eaten by the Digger Indians.
HORDEUM JUBATUM, Linn. Rhett lake, and throughout northern California and Oregon.
BOTANY.
93
CRYPTOGAMOUS PLANTS.
EQUISETACEÆ.
EQUISETUM HYEMALE, Linn. Canoe creek, Northern California. Fertile stems sometimes
paniculately branched at the summit; each branch bearing a terminal head of fructification.
EQUISETUM FLUVIATILE. On the Columbia river and San Francisco, California.
EQUISETUM EBURNEUM, Schreb. Coast mountains south of San Francisco.
FILICES.
ADIANTUM TENERUM, Willd. Near San Francisco, California.
ADIANTUM PEDATUM, Linn. Cascade mountains, 0. T.; range south of the Columbia.
ASPIDIUM MUNITUM, Kaulf. Cascade mountains. In fine fruit; September.
ASPIDIUM DILATATUM, Swartz, Syn. Fil. Cascade mountains, 0. T.; September.
ALLOSORUS ACROSTICHOIDES, Presl. On congealed lava, passes of the Cascade mountains.
CHEILANTHES VESTITA, Swartz. A dwarf state of the plant; in tufts on rocks, Cascade moun-
tains; altitude 7,000 feet; September.
BLECIINUM BOREALE, Swartz. Cascade mountains; latitude 44°; September.
PTERIS AQUILINA, var. LANUGINOSA, Bong. McCumber's; July.
III. MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS.
BY W. S. SULLIVANT.
MUSCI.
n
Tr
SPHAGNUM MOLLUSCUM, Bruch. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SPIIAGNUM ACUTIFOLIUM, Ehrh. Bogs on Columbia river, 0. T.
SPHAGNUM SQUARROSUM, Pers. Bogs, Cascade mountains, 0. T.
POLYTRICHUM JUNIPERINUM, Hedw. Cascade mountains, 0. T. Common.
AULACOMNION ANDROGYNUM, Schw. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
MNIUM PUNCTATUM, Hedw. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
ORTHOTRICUM LYELLI, Hook. & Tayl. Var. foliis longioribus. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
WEISIA CIRRHATA, Hedw. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
DICRANUM, (sp. undeterminable.)
NECKERA MENZIESII, Hook. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
HYPNUM SPLENDENS, Hedw. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
HYPNUM OREGANUM, Sull. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
HYPNUM TRIQUETRUM, Linn. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
HYPNUM NUTTALLII, Wils.
HYPNUM - - ? Cascade mountains, 0. T.
HYPNUM UNDULATUM, Linn.
HYPNUM BREVIROSTRE? Cascade mountains, O. T.
94
BOTANY.
HEPATICÆ.
MADOTHECA DOUGLASII, Tayl. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
SCAPANIA NEMOROSA, Nees. Cascade mountains, 0. T.
ANEURA, (undeterminable.)
IV. LICHENS.
BY EDWARD TUCKERMAN.
EVERNIA VULPINA, Ach. On Juniperus and Libocedrus.
EVERNIA OCHROLEUCA, var. SARMENTOSA, Fr. On Picea grandis; Cascade mountains, 0. T.
EVERNIA FREMONTI, Tuckerm: On Pinus contorta and P. ponderosa ; shores of Klamath
lake.
STICTA PULMONARIA, Ach. On trees; banks of the Columbia.
CETRARIA GLAUCA, Ach. Trunks of trees and stones ; Cascade mountains.
CLADONIA CORNUTA, Fr. Decayed wood; banks of the Columbia.
CLADONIA FIMBRIATA, Fr. On the earth ; banks of the Columbia.
CLADONIA DIGITATA, Hoffm. With the last.
LECIDIA PARASEMA, Fr. Trunks of trees; banks of the Columbia.
SPHEROPHORON GLOBIFERUM, DC. On the ground; Washington Territory.
U

U.S.P.R.R.Exp. & Surveys.- California & Oregon.
Botany,-- I'late X.1.
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SERRExp & Surveys -- California x Oregon.
Botany, - Plate XVI
BRYANT WALKER LIBRARY
MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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Ackerman Lith 379 Broadway NY.
GENTIANA SIMPLEX.
INDEX TO BOTANICAL REPORT,
--------...-------------------- -------------
Page.
78
87
87
69
87
93
"wvwvUI
.....
69
93
76
76
76
78
76
66
76
87
93
93/
79
93
66
92
66
NE
66
99
Page.
54,90 Artemisia tridentata ---------
56,90
Arthocnemum fruticosum..
53, 90 Asarum Hookeri..--------
Asclepiadaceæ --------
Asclepias fascicularis...
Fremontii.
21, 69 Aspidium dilatatum
munitum.
21,69 Aster adscendens -----
69 falcatus
20,69 Novi-Belgii.
salsuginosus --
simplex.---
Atriplex patula
Aulacomnion androgynum
Azalea Californica -----
Bahia lanata ---------
leucophylla -------
Barbarea vulgaris--
Beckmannia cruciformis....
Berberidacex ---
Berberis aquifolium..
glumacea --
Betulaceæ --------
Betula glandulosa ------
occidentalis-------
Bidens Chrysanthemoides
Blechnum boreale ------
Blennosperma Californicum .
Blitum rubrum.
Boraginacea ------
Botany of Cascade Mountains ....
Coast Mountains.---
Des Chutes Basin.----
East of Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mts.
Klamath Lakes ......
Pit River...
Sacramento Valley
Sierra Nevada
Brodiæa grandiflora...
Burrielia tenerrima ----...
Calandrinia Menziesii
Callitrichaceæ.
Callitriche verna ...
Calochortus macrocarpus
uniflorus -
Calycanthaceæ.-----------
Calycanthus occidentalis
Campanulaceae --------
78 | Campanula Scoulori........
Abies, Douglasii.------
Menziesii...
Williamsonii.
Abronia arenaria ---
mellifera...
Aceraceæ...
Acer circinatum.....
glabrum -------
macrophyllum ...
tripartitum.
Æsculus Californica-
Achillea millefolium.
Achlys triphylla...-
Aconitum napelius...
Actea spicata
Adiantum pedatum.
- tenerum ..
Alismaceæ..-------
Alisma plantago-------
Allosurus acrostichoides.
Alnus Oregana.
viridis
Alopecurus geniculatus -
Amelanchier Canadensis.
Amsinckia spectabilis.
Anagallis arvensis -.
Anacardiaceæ -------
Anemone Alpina -----
Aneura, (sp.) -------
Antennaria Gegeri.
luzuloides...
margaritacea
Anticlea Douglasii...
Aphyllon uniflorum------
Apocynacea .
Apocynum androsæmifolium
cannabinum...
Aquilegia Canadensis --...
Araceæ..
Arbutus Menziesii -------
Arceuthobium oxycedri ...
Arctostaphylos glauca -
tomentosa.
uva ursi.---
Aristolochiaceæ .....
Aristolochia Californica....
Arnica Chamissonis.------
mollis...
Artemisia dracunculoides...
Ludoviciana -...
89
89
79
93
84
18
11
18
16
17
17
12.
1
97
XX
91
97
73
73
179
RO
13 Z
98
INDEX.
Page.
75
66
66
66
92
.
92
67
84
92
..
86
65
65
65
65
65
..
91
77
66
93
84
79
73
92
94
..
84
73
73
Page.
Crucifera.......
Cucurbitaceæ .........
Cuscuta Californica
Cupressus Nutkatensis.
Cupuliferæ
Cymopterus terebinthinus.
Cynoglossum grande......
80 Cyperacea...
Datura strammonium ...
Delphinium azureum...
decorum --
Menziessii ...
pudicaule.....
patens -
Dichelostemma congesta.
Dichæta uliginosa.
Dielytra formosa...
Dicranum (sp)-.--.-.
Dodecatheon Meadia.
Downingia elegans.
Echeveria lanceolata....
Edosmia Gairdneri...
73 | Elymus arenarius....
Emmenanthe parviflora.
Epilobium alpinum....
angustifolium..
coloratum ..
paniculatum
Epipactis gigantea.----
Equisetaceæ ----------
Equisetum eburneum.
fluviatile
hyemale...
94 Eremocarpus setigerus...
Ericacea ........
Erigeron Canadense.....
Douglasii ...
filifolium..-.-.
Eriogonum flavum ......
microthecum
niveum ......
nudum ........
86
polyanthum
Eritrichium Californicum
fulvum
Scouleri.....
Erodium, cicutarium...
Eryngium articulatum...
Erysimum elatum.
Erythrea Muhlenbergii....
Eschscholtzia Californica.....
Douglasii.
Eunanus Douglasii.........
Fremontii .......
Euonymus occidentalis....
Eupatorium occidentale...,
| Euphorbiacea ..
Euphorbia maculata........
74 | Eutoca phacelioides....
Caprifoliacea -.-.-..
Capsella bursa-pastoris .
Cardimine paucisecta ...
Carex cæspitosa -----
lanuginosa -..-..
Pyrenaica ....
Caryophyllaceæ ....
Cassiope tetragona..
Castanea chrysophylla.
Castilleja affinis
Douglasii ...
hispida
miniata ....
pallida -
Ceanothus cuneatus ....
integerrimus -
prostratus .--
thyrsiflorus ---
velutinus
Celastraceæ.
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Cerasus demissa...
mollis ------
Cetraria glauca -----
Chamæbatia foliolosa. -
Cheilanthes vestita ..
Chelone glabra........
Chenopodiaceæ...
Chimaphila umbellata...
Chænactis Douglasii ...,
Chlorogalum pomeridianum
Chrysopsis villosa ---
Cladonia cornuta ...
digitata ....
fimbriata
Clarkia elegans ........
Claytonia alsinoides.----
parviflora -...
perfoliata
Clematis ligusticifolia.
Clintonia uniflora....
Collinsia bartsiæfolia.
Collomia gracilis
grandiflora..
Comarum palustre..
Compositæ .....
Coniferæ --.---...
Conioselinum Canadense
Convolvulaceæ...
Convolvulus Californicus...
Cordylanthus filifolius.-
racemosus.
Coreopsis Atkinsoniana.
Cornus Canadensis.....
93
93
93
94
93
94
76
76
76
833
84
68
66
86
87
C
67
66
83
83
们仍仍仍
​24
Nuttallii ...
pubescens ...
stolonifera ..
Corylus rostrata......
Orassulacem ..........
i..
INDEX.
99
Page.
Page.
94
71
71
71
75
67
2......
ht
17
AO
76
25.
93
68
>
91
93
66
93
77
93
16
93
92
76
92
92
79
Evernia Fremontii...
ochroleuca -
vulpina.......
Festuca scabrella ....
Filices
Fragaria Californica..
Chilensis ...,
Frankeniaceæ.
Frankenia grandiflora...
Frangula Californica...
Fraxinus Oregana------
Fremontia Californica --
Fritillaria lanceolata.
Fumariaceae
Gaillardia aristata.-
Galium aparine.......
asprellum.
boreale
Californicum ....
rubioides ...
Gaultheria Myrsinites
shallon ....
Gentianaceæ
Gentiana acuta
affinis
calycosa ...
simplex .-....
Geographical botany -
Geraniacea ...
Geranium incisum ----
Geum macrophyllum...
Gilia capitata.--.-..
congesta.......
dichotoma ----
inconspicua .....
micrantha --
pharnecioides
pulchella
tricolor..........
Githopsis calycina......
Gnaphalium luteo-album
palustre ---
purpureum
Glycyrrhiza lepidota ..
Gramineæ..
Grossulaceæ -------
Helenium autumnale...
Hemitomes congestum..
Hemizonia macradenia..
pungens ...
Hepaticæ.....
Hesperoscordon lacteum.
Heuchera cylindrica.
Hippocastanaceæ ---..
Hordeum jubatum....
Horkelia congesta..
cuneata ...
Hosackia bicolor....
Hosackia gracilis........
oblongifolia -
Purshiana..---
subpinnata .--..
Hydrocotyle Americana...
Hydrophyllacea...-----
Hypericaceæ.-------
Hypericum Scouleri....
Hulsea Californica.-
nana --------
Hypnum brevirostre....
Nuttallii
Oreganum
splendens....
triquetrum
undulatum
Iridaceæ
Iris hematophylla..
macrosiphon....
Ivesia gracilis.----
Juncaceæ..-------
Juncus bufon:us...
castaneus.....
tenuis
Juniperus communis......
occidentalis..
Kalmia glauca.... ....
Labiateæ.
Lagophylla filipes..
Larix occidentalis...
Lauraceæ..--------
Laya calliglossa....
Lecidia parasema..
Leguminosæ-------
Lentibulaceæ......
Lepidium nitidum.....
Leptodactylon Hookeri.
pungens.us
Lessingia Germanorum...
virgata........
Leucanthemum vulgare.
Libocedrus decurrens.--.--..
Lichens.
Liliaceæ.....
Limnanthaceæ... ------
Limnanthes Douglasii
Linaceæ -------.
Linum Californicum ---
perenne.......
Linaria canadensis...
Linnea borealis .........
Linosyris graveolens..
Lonicera Californica...
cærulea...
hispidula.--....
69
88
94
70
66
0
86
......
...........
94
91
R9
68
83
76
76
O
116
decumbens ...
involucrata...
Loranthaceæ.
Lupinus albifrons.......
latifolius......
ne.....……
88
70
100
INDEX.
Page.
71
Page.
24,88
71
83
93
75
Lupinus lepidus---...
leucophyllus..
macrocarpus
micranthus.--.
nanus.
ornatus.--------
polyphyllus...
Luzula campestris-......
parviftora.-------
Macrorhyncus laciniatus.
Lessingii...
Madaria elegans....
Madotheca Douglasii...
Malva borealis...
hederacea----
----
----
94
66
68
83
83
Malvaceæ
-
91
84
87
75
79
67
67
84
86
83
Oreodaphne Californica ----
Orobanichaceæ...
Orthocarpus castillejoides...
erianthus.
purpurascens...
Orthotricum Lyelli.-----
Osmorrhiza nuda..
Oxalidaceæ.
Oxalis corniculata.----
Oregana......----
Oxyura chrysanthemoides
Pæonia Brownii.
Papavaraceæ.--------
Pedicularis attenpvatus.-
racemosus....
Penstemon glaucifolius.-
heterophyllus
Menziesii..
Newberryii..
procerus.----
speciosus ...
Peucedanum caruifolium...
fæniculaceum..
triternatum.
utriculatum.
Phacelia circinata.......
Phelipæa comosa....
Phlox diffusa.
Phoradendron flavescens
Picea amabilis.---
grandis--------
nobilis.--------
Pinus Cembroides
contorta.
insignis...
Lambertiana....
ponderosa.
Sabiniana.
Plagiobothrys canescens
Plantaginaceæ..
Plantago major....
Patagonica....
Platanaceæ....
Platanus racemosa-------
Platanthera leucostachys.
stricta..
Platystemon Californicum...
Platystigma lineare.
Plectritis congesta.......
Polemoniaceæ...
Polemonium cæruleum..
reptans....
Polygalacea..
Polygala cucullata..
Polygonaceæ------...
Polygonum amphibium..
aviculare
coarctatum...
tenue.......
00
51,90
46,90
49,90
44,90
35,90
82
Maruta cotula...
Matricaria discoidea...
Megarrhiza Californica..
Oregana.....
Melanthaceæ
Mentha canadensis....
Menyanthes trifoliata ----
Menziesia empetriformis.
Mesembryanthemaceæ....
Mesembryanthemum dimidiatum
Micromeria Douglasii.....
Mimulus cardinalis,
Lewisii........
moschatus....
primuloides ----
Scouleri.--.-.-
Mitella pentandra.-.-.-.
Mnium punctatum ....
Mollugo verticillata....
Monardella candicans....
Sheltoni.....
Mulgedium pulchellum.
Musci..........
Myricaceæ.
Myrica Californica..
Naiadaceæ........
Nasturtium lyratum...
Neekera Menziesii.
Nemophila atomaria....
insignis..
parviflora....
Nuphar advena..
Nuttallia cerasiformis.
Nyctaginaceæ.....
Nymphæacei..--.
Obione argentea.....
Euothera biennis..
densiflora.....
tanacetifolia...
trichiocalyx..
Oleacea--
Onagracoæ....
Orchidaceæ...
83
42,90
36,90
39,90
79
93
89
: 84
84
89
91
84
66
93
84
89
33, 89
92
92
67
84
84
67
76
86
86
æ
............
70
to
..
RO
RS
INDE X.
101
Page.
92
Page.
89
93
89
89
75
9,5
91
60
75
11
72
72
72
84
94
84
92
13
93
80
S3
80
83
80
80
74
80
74
73
78
90
57,90
68
31,89
27,89
89
68
68
67
Polypogon ( )?.....
Folytrichum juniperinum..
Populus angustifolia ---
monolifera....
tremuloides...
Potamogeton natans...
Portulacacea...
Potentilla anserina----
flabellifolia.
glandulosa .-
gracilis------
rigida..
Primulaceæ.---------
Prunella vulgaris....
Prunus subcordata...
Pteris aquilina...
Pterospora andromedea
Pyrola aphylla ---
dentata .......
minor
rotundifolia ..
Pyrus Americana -
rivularis
Quercus agrifolia ....
densiflora -..
fulvescens...
Garryana.
Hindsii ...
Kelloggii ....
Ranunculaceæ...
Ranunculus aquatilis...
Californicus
occidentalis
Purshii
Rhanınaceæ.
Rhamnus Purshianus...
Rhododendron albiflorum...
maximum
Rhus diversiloba ------
Ribes divaricatum -----
glutinosum.
lacustre
Menziesii ..
sanguineum .-
speciosum ...
viscosissimum....
Rosa fraxinæfolia---
Rosace ------.
Rubiaceæ..
Rubus macropetalus -..
Nutkanus ..
podatus .......
spectabilis
ursinus .......
Rumex domesticus.....
maritimus ....
Sagittaria variabilis.
92
65
Salix lasiandra ---
pentandra -----
speciosa -
Sambucus Mexicana....
pubens.com
Sanicula bipinnatifida.
laciniata ------
Sarcodes sanguinea ...
Saxifragaceæ---------
Saxifraga integrifolia.-
peltata.
Tolmæi..
Scapania nemorosa.
Scirpus lacustris....
Scrophularia nodosa
Scrophulariaceæ ......
Scutellaria antirrhinoides..
galericulata.
tuberosa.
Sedum spathulifolium .-..
stenopetalum ....
Senecio triangularis ...
Sequoia gigantea --..
sempervirens
Sidalcea Hartwegi..
hirsuta------
malvæflora ...
Silene Drummondii.
Sisyrinchium Bermudianum...
grandiflorum .
Smilaceæ ..
Smilacina stellata ....
Solanacea
Solanum nigrum ....
umbelliferum.
Solidago confertifolia...
elongata.....
gigantea.
Specularia perfoliata --
Sphagnum acutifoliunn ...
molluscum...
squarrosum ---
Sphærophoron globiferum.
Spiranthes cernua ..
decipiens..
Spirea ariæfolia --
betulifolia ....
cespitosa ------
Douglassii .....
opulifolia
Spraguea umbellata .
Stachys ciliata ....
palustris....
Stellaria longipes......
nitens --...-
Stephanomeria minor ...
virgata...-
Sterculaceæ.---...
Sticta pulmonaria .....
92
65
91
65
91
65
86
65
86
69
86
69
79
79
69
79
93
93
93
94
92
71
XX
Salicace
Salix Hindsiana -----
102
INDEX.
Page.
76
80
80
79
78
L...
76
65
76
71
83
8.3.
74
83
91
83
-
-
-
-
-
-
0
83
91
70
70
70
&.............................
70
Symphoricarpus racemosus.-
Symplocarpus Kamtschaticus .
Taxus brevifolia.------
Tetradymia canescens ....
Thalictrum dioicum
Thermopsis macrophylla...
Thuya gigantea .........
Tiarella unifoliolata -----
Tofieldia glutinosa....
Torreya Californica ---..
Trichostema oblongum..
Trientalis latifolia -----
Trifolium albopurpureum.
fimbriatum -
longipes ....
pratense....
repens......
tridentatum...
variegatum.
Triglochin maritimum
Trillium ovatum ----.
Typha latifolia..
Umbelliferæ
Urticaceæ ---
Urtica gracilis...
urens .......
Utricularia vulgaris...
Vaccinium cespitosum.
myrtiloides ...
ovalifolium ....
ovatum
Page.
Vaccinium oxycoccus ....
90
parvifolium...
60,90
macrocarpum.
Vileriana sylvatica.
Valerianacea
Verbenaceæ ........
Verbena bracteosa ---
hastata ------
Veronica Americana .
peregrina.
Veratrum viride...
84 Vicia Americana...
gigantea -----
70
Oregana...
truncata
70
Violaceæ ........
Viola adunca...
70
chrysantha.
70
cucullata.
longipes
ocellata .--.--..
90
pedunculata
sarmentosa
Sheltoni
Vitaceæ .......
Vitis Californica -----
Weisia cirrhata ----
Wyethia helenioides ---
robusta
Xanthium strumarium ....
80 ! Xerophyllum tenax..
67
70
67
67
67
91
67
91
67
67
67
07
89
70
89
93
77
78
79
91
I
.
P A Ꭱ Ꭲ
I Ꮩ .
1 BB
EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS FOR A RAILROAD ROUTE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
WAR DEPARTMENT.
ENGINEERS, AND LIEUT. HENRY L. ABBOT, CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, IN 1855.
ZOOLOGICAL REPORT.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
185 7.
CONTENTS.
PREFATORY NOTE.
No. 1.
REPORT UPON FISHES COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY.
MU
BY DR. CHARLES GIRARD.
No.
REPORT UPON THE ZOOLOGY OF THE ROUTE.
BY J. S. NEWBERRY, M. D.
CHAPTER I.
Report upon the Mammals.
CHAPTER II.
Report upon the Birds.
No. 3.
REPORT UPON LAND SHELLS COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY.
I T TOC
JUUMU
BY W. G. BINNEY,
MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILA.
No. 4.
REPORT UPON REPTILES COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY.
BY S. F. BAIRD,
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FISHES.
Page.
34
34
34
34
24
PLATE. XXIIa, Figs. 1-4. --Sebastes paucispinis .....
Figs. 5 and 6.--Artedius lateralis.----
XXIIb, Figs. 1-4.---Leiostomus lineatus .--.--.-
Figs. 5 and 6.-Artedius notospilotus
XXVa, Figs. 1-3.-Anarrhichthys felis ---
Fig. 4.--Blennius gentilis.------
Figs. 5 and 6.--Gobius lepidus ----
XXV6, Figs. 1.-3.-Lumpenus anguillaris ...
Figs. 4 and 5.-Cebidichthys violaceus ---
Figs. 6 and 7.-Gunnellus ornatus ---
XL, Figs. 1-4.-Homalopomus trowbridgii..
Figs. 5–8.—Morrhua proxima ------
XLVI, Figs. 1-4.- Mylocheilus caurinus -------
Figs. 5–8.-Mylopharodon conocephalus.--.
LXII.—Tigoma crassa ---------
LXVI.-Coregonus williamsonii..
LXVIII.-Fario aurora..---
LXX.--Fario argyreus --------
LXXIV.--Salar iridea...
34
34
110
MAMMALS.
I.–Vulpes littoralis -------------
III, Fig. 1.--Putorius xanthogenys -----
Fig. 2.-Spermophilus beecheyi
XXIX.-Mephitis bicolor ----
110
110
110
BIRDS.
110
XXVI.--Pica Nuttalli..............
XXXIV, Fig. 1.-Picus Williamsonii ...
Fig. 2.-Icteria longicauda.---
110
110
PREFATORY NOTE TO PART IV.
O
nece
lexe
The information collected by the expedition in the department of Natural History is
embodied in this portion of the Report. It is proper to state that the credit for whatever of
value the papers may contain is due, in a great measure, to the Smithsonian Institution.
The outfit and instructions of the zoologist were prepared, and the specimens themselves
arranged and preserved by this Institution. Under its supervision and within its walls the
ry illustrations have been executed, the determination of species made, and the reports
themselves revised for publication.
The zoologist of the expedition, Dr. E. Sterling, of Cleveland, Ohio, dissolved his connection
with the party on reaching Fort Dalles, in consequence of ill health. Subsequent to that time
the duties of zoological collector were chiefly performed by Dr. J. S. Newberry. The latter gen-
tleman left the party soon after Dr. Sterling, and returned, by water, from Oregon to San
Francisco. In consequence of his absence and of the Indian disturbances on the route, a
comparatively small zoological collection was made in the region traversed west of the Cascade
Range. Mr. C. D. Anderson, however, secured and preserved several valuable specimens on
this portion of our line of survey. While waiting for the arrival of the party, Dr. Newberry
zealously occupied himself in making a valuable and extensive collection in the markets and
the vicinity of San Francisco.
The expedition is also largely indebted to Lieutenant W. P. Trowbridge, Corps of Engineers,
and to other gentlemen who have taken advantage of a long residence in the west to collect
and preserve zoological specimens. Their contributions have been transported to Washington,
deposited in the Smithsonian Institution, and described in the following reports with those
made by the collectors of the party.
HENRY L. ABBOT,
Lieut. Corps of Top. Engineers.
No. 1.
REPORT UPON FISHES COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY.
S
BY CHARLES GIRARD, M. D.
I. FAMILY PERCIDAE.
1. AMBLOPLITES INTERRUPTUS, Grd.
PLATE II, figs. 1-4.-General Report upon Fishes.
Posterior extremity of maxillary bone reaching a vertical line drawn back of the pupil.
Posterior margin of caudal fin subemarginated. Origin of anal fin situated opposite the eleventh
ray of the dorsal. Interrupted dark bands on the sides; two vittae diverging from the eye, one
running towards the opercular spot, the other obliquely downwards.
Known as Perch in the markets of San Francisco. The fish is very much esteemed as an
article of food.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number.
cimens.
279
Adult.. Sacramento river, Cal. ---.
1855
| Dr. Newberry--
Alcoholic.
II. FAMILY HETEROLEPIDAE.
2. CHIROPSIS PICTUS, Grd.
PLATE XX, figs. 1-4.-General Report upon Fishes.
Dorsal fins contiguous; caudal fin subtruncated posteriorly. Ground color dark brown, with
numerous vermilion spots, bordered with black, upon the sides and lower fins ; under surface of
head, throat, and belly, whitish or yellowish.
Called Sea Trout and Rock Fish at San Francisco; it is a comestible and very fine fish.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Collected by-
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
267
Adult.. San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
Dr. Newberry-------
Alcoholic.
2 BB
10.
ZOOLOGY.
3. OPLOPOMA PANTHERINA, Grd.
PLATE XVIII, figs. 1-3.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body elongated and tapering. Upper surface and sides of head granular; preopercular spines
few, small, and obtuse. Posterior extremity of maxillary extending beyond the orbit. Origin
of anterior dorsal fin situated in advance of the convexity of the preopercle. Scales extending
over the base of both the caudal and pectoral fins. Blackish brown above, reddish brown
beneath ; dorsal and lateral regions spotted with black.
No vernacular name of this species has, so far, come to our knowledge.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogne No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
275
1
Adult
Cape Flattery, W. T. ---
1855
Lieut. Trowbridge---
Alcoholic.
4. OPHIODON ELONGATUS, Grd.
PLATE XVIII, figs. 4–7.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body lanceolated. Head subconical and depressed ; mouth deeply cleft; posterior extremity
of maxillary extending to the vertical of the posterior rim of the orbit. Spinous portion of
dorsal fin much longer than the articulated portion ; anal fin a little longer than the soft
portion of the dorsal; caudal slightly emarginated posteriorly; extremities of pectorals nearly
even with the tips of the ventrals. Color above olivaceous brown, scattered all over with
blackish, subcircular spots; beneath yellowish. .
We have heard of no vernacular name, as yet, for this fish.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original | Nature of spe-
number. I cimens.
277
2
Adult. Humboldt bay, Cal. ...--
1855
355
Lieut. Trowbridge...
Alcoholic.
III. FAMILY COTTIDAE.
5. COTTOPSIS GULOSUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Origin of anterior dorsal fin situated opposite the insertion of the upper ray of the pectorals.
First ray of anal fin placed under the fourth of the second dorsal. Extremities of pectorals ex-
tending beyond the origin of the anal. Skin generally smooth; lateral line undergoing a
sudden fall upon the peduncle of the tail. Reddish brown, spotted, and transversally barred
with black; beneath, unicolor.
This is a “ fresh water bull head," or "miller's thumb.”
ZOOLOGY.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens
Sex and
age.
When
collected
Original | Nature of speci.
number. melis
292
:
Adult.
Upper Pit river, Cal. -----|
1855
| Dr. Newberry.......
Alcoholic.
6. COTTOPSIS PARVUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Origin of first dorsal situated posteriorly to the insertion of the upper ray of the pectorals.
First ray of anal placed under the fourth of the second dorsal. Extremities of pectorals extend-
ing to the anterior margin of the anal. Skin generally prickly; lateral line slightly deflected
upon the peduncle of the tail. Olivaceous, maculated with blackish.
Here is another kind of " fresh water bull head,” or “miller's thumb."
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Collected by
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of speci-
number. | mens.
293
UY
Alcoholic.
Adult.
ô
Monterey, Cal. ......
Presidio, Cal. ------
1855
1853
Lieut. Trowbridge ----
--------do.-------
294
7. OLIGOCOTTUS MACULOSUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Head subconical. Mouth moderately cleft; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a
vertical line intersecting the pupil. A stoutish bicuspid process upon the convexity of the
preopercle. Two acute nasal spines. Dorsal fins contiguous. Origin of anal situated in ad-
vance of the anterior margin of second dorsal. Yellowish brown above, mottled or variegated
with blackish ; a series of blotches of a deeper hue along the dorsal region. Lower half of the
sides vermiculated. Abdomen of a bright saffron hue in the male. Inferior sui face of head
with traces of black markings. Throat and abdomen unicolor, as also the ventrals and anal.
Dorsals, caudal, and pectorals transversally barred with black.
A fish not known among fishermen ; hence we are not aware of its having received a common
name.
List of specimens.

Catalogue No. of
number. specimens
Collected by
Sex and
age.
Locality.
When
collected
Original
number.
Nature of speci-
mens.
298
6
Adult.
Bay of San Francisco, Cal.
1855
| Lieut. Trowbridge ...
Alcoholic.
12
ZOOLOGY.
8. OLIGOCOTTUS GLOBICEPS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Head rounded anteriorly. Mouth moderately cleft; posterior extremity of maxillary extend-
ing to a vertical line drawn posteriorly to the pupil. Rudimentary spines upon the preopercle.
Two acute nasal spines. Dorsal fins separated. Origin of anal situated a little posteriorly to
the anterior margin of the second dorsal fin. Reddish brown; upper regions maculated with
black; beneath unicolor and lighter.
We know of no vernacular name for this species.
List of specimens.

Locality.
When
Catalogue
number.
Collected by
No. of Sex and
specimens. age.
Collecte
colleben
Original Nature of speci-
number. mens.
300
S. Farallones, Cal. ------
Lieut. Trowbridge-----------
Alcoholic.
9. LEPTOCOTTUS ARMATUS, Grd.
PLATE XV, fig. 2.--General Report upon Fishes.
Head much depressed ; upper jaw longer than the lower; posterior extremity of maxillary
extending a little beyond the vertical of the posterior rim of the orbit. A preopercular pro-
cess, provided with three spines, directed upwards. Blackish brown above, whitish beneath ;
dorsals, caudal, and pectorals yellowish, barred with black; anterior dorsal with a black spot
posteriorly ; ventrals and anal whitish.
- Marine Bull Head” is a name applied to this and other species of the same family.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue
number.
No. of Sex and
specimens. age.
When
collected
Original Nature of spe-
number cimens.
I
311
| Adult. | San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
| Dr. Newberry ---
Alcoholic.
10. LEIOCOTTUS HIRUNDO, Grd.
PLATE XVI, figs. 2 and 3.-General Report upon Fishes.
Snout declivous and rather pointed ; posterior extremity of maxillary provided with two or
three barbels, and reaching a vertical line drawn a little beyond the anterior rim of the orbit.
Superior regions blackish brown; whitish under the abdomen, and yellowish under the tail.
List of specimens. .

Locality.
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
Collected by
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
313
1
Adult.
Island of San Miguel, Cal.!
1855
Lieut. Trowbridge......
Alcoholic.
ZOOLOGY.
13
11. SCORPÆNICHTHYS MARMORATUS, Grd.
PLATE XVI, fig. 1.--General Report upon Fishes.
Membranous flaps upon the upper and posterior part of the orbit, upon the snout, and at the
posterior extremity of the maxillaries; the latter extending to a vertical line passing imme-
diately behind the eye. Two spines of moderate development upon the preopercle. Fins all
well developed. Ground color either light or dark brown, marmorated with black.
Sold in the markets under the name of Sculpin.
D
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
315
Young. San Francisco, Cal....---
* 1855
| Dr. Newberry-----
Alcoholic.
12. ASPICOTTUS BISON, Grd.
PLATE XV, fig. 1.-General Report upon Fishes.
The posterior extremity of the maxillary extends to a vertical line drawn midway between
the posterior edge of the pupil and the posterior rim of the orbit. The scutellæ constituting the
lateral line are crowded and vertically elongated. Upper regions dark brown, mottled or
ed with black; beneath dull yellowish, with meandriform dark lines under the head and
throat; ventrals uniform yellowish white; other fins mottled yellow and black.
Known as Sculpin among the San Franciscans.
-
1
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number cimens.
323
Adult
Fort Point, Cal...-..
1855
Lieut. Trowbridge---------
Alcoholic.
es.
13. HEMILEPIDOTUS SPINOSUS, Ayres.
General Report upon Fishes.
Upper surface and sides of head provided with membranous flaps ; eye quite large; posterior
free extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn at the posterior rim of the pupil.
Dorsal band of scales composed of six rows or series ; lateral band of seven, five below and two
above the lateral line. Ground color dark reddish brown, with darker transverse bands and
blotches.
Another Sculpin, in the vernacular language of the California settlers.
14
ZOOLOGY.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
· Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number cimens.
326
1855
Dr. Newberry--------
Alcoholic.
Adult. San Francisco, Cal..-----
---do--------...do...-----------
365
1
1855
| Dr. Ayres...--------|
33
|---...do ......
14. ARTEDIUS LATERALIS, Grd.
PLATE XXIIa, figs. 5 and 6.-General Report upon Fishes.
Surface of head smooth. Preopercle armed with a flat bicuspid spine. Band of dorsal scales
narrow, originating at the thoracic arch and extending to near the terminus of the base of the
second dorsal. Anterior margin of the first dorsal situated in advance of the thoracic arch.
Deep chestnut brown above, maculated with yellowish ; beneath yellowish.
Too small a fish to have attracted the notice of fishermen.
S
List of specimens.

-
Locality.
When
Collected by—
--
-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
Original | Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
collected.
366
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal....---
1855
Dr. Ayres ----------
36
Alcoholic.
15. ARTEDIUS NOTOSPILOTUS, Grd.
PLATE XXIIb, figs. 5 and 6.—General Report upon Fishes.
Surface of head subtuberculous and scaly. Preopercle armed with a flat tricuspid spine.
Anterior margin of first dorsal situated in advance of the beginning of the dorsal band of scales,
which is broad, and extends from the thoracic arch to near the terminus of the base of the
second dorsal. Olivaceous, with a series of saddle-like and black patches ; abdomen dull yellow
or white.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue | No. of Sex and
number. specimens. ' age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
367
Adult.
Sin Francisco, Cal......
1855
Dr. Ayres. ----------|
36
Alcoholic.
IV. FAMILY SCORPAENIDÆ.
16. SEBASTES ROSACEUS, Grd.
PLATE XXI.-General Report upon Fishes.
Upper surface of head provided with horizontal and acute ridges; posterior extremity of
maxillary extending to a vertical line intersecting the pupil. Origin of dorsal fin situated in
advance of the base of the pectorals. Uniform reddish, lighter beneath than above.
ZOOLOGY.
15
Called Rock Fish or Rock Cod at San Francisco, and sold under these names in the markets.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original | Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
344
Adult. | San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
Dr. Newberry-------
Alcoholic.
Y------------
17. SEBASTES FASCIATUS, Grd.
PLATE XXII.--General Report upon Fishes.
Upper surface of head provided with large spinous ridges; posterior extremity of maxillary
extending beyond the pupil. Origin of dorsal fin situated in advance of the base of the pecto-
rals. Ground color greenish yellow or sulphur yellow, clouded with dark patches spotted with
whitish; a dorsal fasciole of the ground color extends from the third or fourth dorsal spine to
the base of the caudal.
Indiscriminately called Rock Fish or Rock Cod at San Francisco.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
.
Collected by-
When
collected
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
-
-
- -
346
1
Ladult
Adult. San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
Dr. Newberry-------
*********
Alcoholic.
18. SEBASTES AURICULATUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Upper surface of head provided with small horizontal and acute spines ; posterior extremity
of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn posteriorly to the orbit. Origin of dorsal fin
situated in advance of the base of the pectorals. Blackish brown above, lighter beneath ; a
black spot upon the upper part of the opercle.
Another Rock Fish or Rock Cod: all being very much esteemed.
D
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens.' age.
When
co.lected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. / cimens.
349
2
| Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. .--.--
1855
Dr Newberry------------
Alcoholic.
19. SEBASTES PAUCISPINIS, Ayres.
PLATE XXIIa, figs. 1-4.-General Report upon Fishes.
Head and body very much compressed; former wedge shaped ; tip of lower jaw very promi-
nent; spines of the upper surface of skull inconspicuous; posterior extremity of maxillary
16
ZOOLOGY.
extending to a vertical line drawn posteriorly to the orbit; opercle and preopercle spinous.
Origin of dorsal fin a little in advance of the base of the pectorals. Reddish brown above,
lighter beneath.
This is a much rarer Rock Fish than the preceding ones.
List of specimens.
ULI

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
487
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ------
855
Dr. Ayres ----------|
3
|
Alcoholic.
V. FAMILY GASTEROSTEIDAE.
20. GASTEROSTEUS PLEBEIUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body partly plated ; peduncle of tail not keeled. Dorsal spines three, of moderate develop-
ment, and strongly serrated upon their edges ; insertion of anterior one taking place immedi-
ately behind the base of the pectorals. Insertion of ventrals placed slightly in advance of the
second dorsal spire; ventral spine serrated on both edges, its extremity not reaching the tips
of the ossa innominata. Posterior margin of caudal subcrescentic.
“Burnstickle” of the English; “Sticklebacks” of the American people.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Collected by
Original Nature of spe-
number. / cimens.
331
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
Dr. Newberry-------
Alcoholic.
21. GASTEROSTEUS SERRATUS, Ayres.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body entirely plated; peduncle of tail keeled. Dorsal spines three; high and slender ; con-
spicuously serrated upon their edges; anterior one inserted a little in advance of the base of the
pectorals. Insertion of ventrals situated a little in advance of the second dorsal spine ; their
own spine being serrated upon both edges, more conspicuously above than below, and extending
beyond the tips of the ossa innominata. Posterior margin of caudal concave.
Another kind of “Stickleback."
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected
Collected by~
Nature of spe-
cimens.
number.
334
1
Adult.
Bay of San Francisco, Cal.
1855
Dr. Newberry.--.--
Alcoholic.
ZOOLOGY
17
22. GASTEROSTEUS INOPINATUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body partly plated; peduncle of tail consequently not keeled. Dorsal spines three ; slender,
and slightly serrated upon their edges; insertion of anterior one taking place above the base of
the pectorals. Insertion of ventrals placed immediately in advance of the second dorsal spine ;
ventral spine serrated on both edges, but less conspicuously below than above, and its extremity
terminating about evenly with the tips of the ossa innominata. Posterior margin of caudal
subcrescentic.
Still another - Stickleback.”
List of specimens.

-
-
-
Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue
number.
No. of Sex and
specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
337
24
Adult.
Presidio, Cal.....
1853 | Lieut. Trowbridge...
Alcoholic.
VI. FAMILY SCIAENIDAE.
23. LEIOSTOMUS LINEATUS, Ayres.
PLATE XXIIb, figs. 1-4.—General Report upon Fishes.
Mouth large ; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line intersecting the
posterior rim of the pupil. Superior and posterior edge of the opercle terminating into two
flat spines. Extremities of pectorals nearly even with the tips of the ventrals. Scales large.
Greyish brown above; greyish silvery beneath, with oblique waving lines of umber brown.
The names of Corvina, Cognard, and Little Bass are given to this species by fishermen.
List of specimens.

Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
Locality.
Collected by
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
368
1855
Dr. Ayres --------
Alcoholic.
1
1
2
2
Adult.. San Francisco, Cal.-----
Young . --------do-
369
1855
| Dr. Newberry.com
---do......
VII. FAMILY ATHERINIDAE.
24. ATHERINOPSIS CALIFORNIENSIS, Grd.
PLATE XXIIc.—General Report upon Fishes.
Head small and subquadrangularly pyramidal, constituting the sixth of the entire length.
Base of anal fin much longer than that of the second dorsal. Greyish brown above; light
brown or silvery beneath. Fins olivaceous, unicolor.
So called Smelt by the San Franciscans.
3BB
18
ZOOLOGY.
List of specimens.

Locality.
When
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
Original Nature of spe-
number
cimens.
collected.
352
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
| Dr. Newberry.....
Alcoholic.
C
VIII. FAMILY SCOMBRIDAE.
25. TRACHURUS SYMMETRICUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Head forming the fourth of the total length; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to
the anterior rim of the orbit. Shields of lateral line smallest upon its bent, under the ante-
rior third of the second dorsal. Greenish brown above, lighter on the sides, silvery beneath ;
a brownish black blotch at the superior and posterior angle of the opercle ; fins unicolor.
There is, as yet, no vernacular name to designate this fish.
List of specimens.

Sex and
Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
When col-1
lected.
Original Nature of speci-
number. mens.
age.
488
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ......
1855
| Dr. Ayres ---
26
Alcoholic.
IX. FAMILY BLENIDAE.
26. BLENNIUS GENTILIS, Grd.
PLATE XXVa, fig. 4-General Report upon Fishes.
A small canine on each side of the upper jaw. A supraorbital membranous flap. A slight de-
pression between the spinous and the soft portions of the dorsal fin. Lateral line terminating
under the eleventh spiny ray. Ground color yellowish brown, maculated with purple.
This is a "blenny," unknown to the Californian settlers.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When col-
lected.
Original Nature of speci-
number.
mens.
489
Adult. Monterey, Cal. ---...
1853
Lieut. Trowbridge---
Alcoholic.
27. GUNNELLUS ORNATUS, Grd.
PLATE XXVb, figs. 6 and 7.-General Report upon Fishes.
Dorsal and anal fins contiguous to the caudal; anal spines, two; ventrals reduced to two ex-
ceedingly small spines. Head quite small. An occipito-ocular dark vitta continued vertically
ZOOLOGY.
19
beneath the orbit to the hyoid apparatus. Ground color yellowish ; about thirteen dorsal round-
ish spots of blackish brown, and about eighteen lateral, squarrish ones, of light brown.
The only species of true “Gunnels'' as yet known along the coast of California.
List of specimens.

Locality.
· Catalogue
number
Collected by
No. of Sex and
specimens. age.
When col-
lected.
Original Nature of speci-
number. mons.
490
1
Adult.
Presidio, Cal..---...
1853
Lieut. Trowbridge-----------
Alcoholic.
28. APODICHTHYS FLAVIDUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Exterior row of maxillary teeth larger than the internal row, which is sometimes rudi-
mentary. Mouth large ; posterior extremity of maxillary bone extending to a vertical line
drawn posteriorly to the orbit. Origin of dorsal fin situated opposite the base of the pectorals.
Caudal fin small. Color uniform greyish yellow ; a black fillet extending from the occiput to
the upper rim of the orbit, and from beneath the orbit obliquely to the angle of the mouth.
Not noticed by fishermen.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When col-
lected.
Collected by-
Original Nature of speci-
number. mens.
495
1
Adult. | San Francisco, Cal. ------|
1856
| Dr. Ayres -------
22
Alcoholic.
29. APODICHTHYS VIRESCENS, Ayres.
General Report upon Fishes.
Exterior row of maxillary teeth larger than the internal row. Mouth moderate ; posterior
extremity of maxillary bone extending to a vertical line drawn within the posterior rim of the
orbit. Origin of dorsal fin situated in advance of the base of the pectorals. Caudal fin
moderate. Color greenish olive, or bright pea green, maculated with black; a black fillet
from the occiput to the upper edge of the eye, and from beneath the eye, obliquely, backwards
and downwards, to the angle of the mouth.
Like the preceding species, it has remained unnoticed by fishermen.
List of specimens.

Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
Locality.
Collected by—
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
496
|
2
Adi
Adult. San Francisco, Cal.......
1856
185
Dr. Ayres----------
22
Alcoholic.
20
ZOOLOGY.
30. XIPHIDION MUCOSUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Three lateral and one abdominal mucous ducts. Head subconical; mouth large; posterior
extremity of maxillary bone extending to a vertical line drawn across the posterior rim of the
orbit. Ground color olivaceous, clouded or maculated with blackish brown. Two postocular
dark vittä crossin the cheek.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
493
L
17
S. Farallones, Cal. ------
1856
| Lieut. Trowbridge.--------
Alcoholic.
Adult &
young
31. CEBIDICHTHYS VIOLACEUS, Grd.
PLATE XXVb, figs. 4 and 5.-General Report upon Fishes.
Upper surface of head narrow, declivous laterally; a fleshy crest along the cranial ridge.
Mouth large ; posterior extremity of maxillary bone extending to a line drawn across the pos-
terior rim of the orbit. Origin of anal fin situated opposite the anterior margin of the soft
dorsal. Ground color uniform brownish violet; an occipito-ocular vitta of deep purplish violet;
two other vittæ of the same hue extend-one from the postero-inferior rim of the orbit, the other
from the anterior rim-obliquely backwards, across the cheek and opercular apparatus.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected
Col ced by,
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
497
Adult
San Francisco, Cal..-----|
1856
| Dr. Ayres -------
28
Alcoholic.
32. LUMPENUS ANGUILLARIS, Grd.
Plate XXVb, figs. 1-3.-General Report upon Fishes.
Head slender, continuous with the outline of the body; gape of mouth slightly oblique; pos-
terior extremity of maxillary bone extending to a vertical line drawn midway between the
anterior rim of the orbit and the pupil. Origin of dorsal fin situated opposite the base of the
pectorals. Pectorals and caudal spear-shaped. Greenish olive, upper regions maculated; caudal
fin transversally barred.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens.' age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
507
508
Alcoholic.
Adult. San Francisco, Cal.......
--- do--------do----
1855
1855
| Dr. Newberry------
Dr. Ayres.---
ZOOLOGY.
21
33. ANARRHICHTHYS FELIS, Grd.
PLATE XXVa, figs. 1-3.-General Report upon Fishes.
Profile of head uniformly convex. Eye large and circular. Mouth deeply cleft; posterior
extremity of maxillary bone extending to a vertical line drawn across the posterior rim of the
orbit. Origin of dorsal fin situated anteriorly to the base of the pectorals. Caudal fin lanceo-
lated; head and body mottled with light ashy grey and dark olive green, disposed in irregular
circles, lines, and blotches, which extend also to the dorsal fins.
Might, very properly, be called “ Californian Wolf Fish.”
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by—
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original | Nature of spe-
number. I cimens.
511
1
3
Young. San Francisco, Cal. ------
1856
Dr. Ayres ----.....
12
12
| Alcoholic.
-
X. FAMILY GOBIDAE.
34. GOBIUS LEPIDUS, Grd.
PLATE XXVa, figs. 5 and 6.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body elongated, slender, and very compressed. Head sub-conical; jaws equal; gape of mouth
oblique; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn back of the pupil.
Interocular space narrow. Reddish brown; fins blackish.
This is one of the “Goby” tribe, heretofore unnoticed.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Collected by-
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
362
1
l
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. -----
1855
Dr. Newberry-------------
Alcoholic.
R
.
AMIT T
XI. FAMILY CYCLOPTERIDÆ.
35. CYCLOGASTER PULCHELLUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Snout bluntly rounded; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn
in advance of the pupil. Inferior edge of pectoral fins falciform. Origin of dorsal fin placed
somewhat posteriorly to the upper edge of the base of the pectorals. Anterior margin of the
anal situated nearer the extremity of the snout than the tip of the caudal. Light olive brown
above, with longitudinal waving lines of darker brown; abdomen and throat whitish ; sides
exhibiting white dots.
Improperly called “Sucking Fish,”
ZOOLOGY.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens
519
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
| Dr. Ayres....
39
Alcoholic.
XII.-FAMILY OPHIDIDÆ.
36. AMMODYTES PERSONNATUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Head constituting about the fifth of the total length; posterior extremity of maxillary
extending to the anterior rim of the orbit. Eyes rather large. Origin of dorsal fin situated in
advance of the extremities of the pectoral fins; the caudal fin is posteriorly subcrescentic.
Color, greyish brown above, silvery beneath ; base of caudal black.
A kind of “Sand Launce.”
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens.' age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
nuniber. cimens.
612
Adult.
Cape Flattery, W. T..--
1855
Lieut. Trowbridge-----------
Alcoholic.
.
XIII. FAMILY GADIDÆ.
37. MORRHUA PROXIMA, Grd.
PLATE XLa, figs. 5–8.—General Report upon Fishes.
Snout subconical, thickish ; upper jaw protruding beyond the lower one. Posterior extrem-
ity of the maxillary extending to a vertical line, which would intersect the pupil. Dorsal and
anal fins all distinct from one another. Anterior anal longer than the second dorsal. Caudal
fin posteriorly subtruncated. Color, yellowish-ash or brown above; sides and belly silvery-
white.
A true "cod fish," the only one as yet observed in California and Oregon.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Collected by
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original
number.
Nature of
specimens.
Adult. Presidio, Cal.----
--do...--...do...
Lieut. Trowbridge.---
Dr. Newberry
1853
526
527
Alcoholic.
--------do--------
1855
werk
in van
ZOOLOGY.
23
38. HOMALOPOMUS TROWBRIDGII, Grd.
PLATE XLa, figs. 1-4.--General Report upon Fishes.
Snout pointed ; mouth deeply cleft; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a verti-
· cal line drawn through the posterior rim of the pupil. Eye large. Second and third dorsals
continuous; anal fins continuous also. Extremity of pectorals reaching the anterior margin of
the anal fin. Color, greyish-brown bove; silvery-grey beneath.
“California whiting."
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected
Original
number.
Nature of
specimens.
285
l.
1
|
Adult.
Astoria, 0. T. ------
1856
| Lieut. Trowbridge.------
Alcoholic.
XIV. FAMILY PLEURONECTIDÆ.
39. PLATICHTHYS RUGOSUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Eyes moderate, situated on the left side ; interocular space moderate. Peduncle of tail long:
Origin of dorsal fin corresponding to a vertical line intersecting the middle of the pupil. Scales
very rugose and plate like ; lateral line slightly arched above the pectoral fins. Left side dark
reddish brown; fins olivaceous, dorsal and anal, with alternate vertical bands of black; caudal
with longitudinal bands of the same hue; ventrals and pectorals unicolor ; right side dull
yellow.
This and the following four species belong to the “ Flounder” tribe.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
606
5
Adult.
Presidio, Cal. -----
1853
Lieut. Trowbridge ---
Alcoholic.
40. PLATICHTHYS UMBROSUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Eyes rather large, and situated upon the right side; interocular space narrow. Peduncle of
tail short. Origin of dorsal fin corresponding to a line intersecting the anterior rim of the pupil.
Scales normal, though some of them are quite rugose; lateral line conspicuously arched above
the pectoral fins. Right side uniform blackish brown; left side light brown; dorsal, anal and
caudal fin obsoletely maculated.
."
5
24
ZOOLOGY.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. / cimens.
607
1
i
Adult.
Cape Flattery, W. T.....
1856
1856
Lieut. Trowbridge---
Alcoholic.
41. PAROPHRYS VETULUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body quite elongated and sub-elliptical; peduncle of the tail slender. Posterior extremity of
the maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn inwardly to the anterior rim of the orbit.
Origin of anal fin placed posteriorly to the base of the pectorals; dorsal and anal fins nearly
even posteriorly. Scales minute; lateral line very conspicuous. Color of body and head reddish
ash; fins olivaceous, maculated.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
608
1856
Lieut. Trowbridge.--
Alcoholic.
Adult. Port Orford.--------
---do--- Astoria, Oregon.---
-
-
-
609
1
1856
|-----...do.------
--------.do -----
-
-
-
42. PSETTICHTHYS MELANOSTICTUS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body elongated and rather slender. Eyes moderate, situated on the right side; interocular
space moderate. Lower jaw somewhat longer than the upper; posterior extremity of the maxil-
lary extending to a vertical line drawn in front of the pupil. Anterior rays of dorsal fin higher
than those immediately succeeding; dorsal and anal fins even posteriorly. Origin of anal fin
situated somewhat posteriorly to the base of the pectorals, and provided with a small spine.
Scales quite small, cycloid in structure; lateral line very slightly raised above the pectorals.
Ground color cinereous, interspersed with crowded black dots.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
610
1
Young. Astoria, Oregon ---------
1856
Lieut. Trowbridge-
Alcoholic.
43. PSETTICHTYS SORDIDUS, Grd.
PLATE XLb.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body elongated and subelliptical. Eyes large, situated on the left side; interocular space
very narrow. Jaws nearly even when the mouth is closed; posterior extremity of the maxillary
ZOOLOGY.
25
extending to a vertical line intersecting the pupil. Anterior rays of dorsal fin gradually
increasing in height; dorsal and anal fins nearly even posteriorly; origin of anal situated on
a line passing immediately behind the base of the pectorals, and preceded by a very small
spine. Scales moderate in size ; lateral line almost straight from head to tail. Ground color of
a soiled yellow, the scales being margined with black.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
611
1
4
|
Ad
Adult
Coast of California......
lifor
1853
Lieut. Trowbridge... --------
Alcoholic.
XV. FAMILY EMBIOTOCOIDÆ.
44. EMBIOTOCA LINEATA, Grd.
PLATE XXXI and PLATE XXVI, figs. 5 and 6.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body subelliptically elongated ; anal fin elongated, with its external margin nearly straight,
diminishing gradually in depth posteriorly, its origin being situated opposite the sixth articu-
lated ray of the dorsal ; tip of pectorals reaching a vertical line intersecting the base of the
last but one dorsal spine. Eye of medium size; posterior extremity of maxillary even with the
vertical of anterior rim of orbit; frontal region slightly depressed above the eyes ; branchio-
stegals five in number. Sixty two scales in the lateral line. Ground color of upper region dark
olive or reddish brown; reddish yellow beneath ; sides of abdomen with light longitudinal
stripes intersecting the point of union of the rows of scales ; anal deep purple, with a yellowish
vitta along its base.
This and the following four species belong to the tribe of "viviparous fishes."
List of specimens.

Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Collected by-
Sex and
age.
Locality.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
536
1
Young. San Francisco, Cal. ---------1855.- Dr. Newberry-------
Alcoholic.
45. EMBIOTOCA ARGYROSOMA, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
General aspect elongated ; head rather small, subconical, anteriorly rounded ; eye circular
and well developed ; posterior extremity of maxillary reaching a vertical line drawn in advance
of the anterior rim of the orbit. Tip of pectoral fin not extending as far as the anterior articu-
lated rays of the dorsal. About sixty scales in the lateral line. Six branchiostegals. A brilliant
rgentine tint over the entire body, though made a little darker along the dorsal region by a
greyish or purplish hue; fins olivaceous, unicolor.
4 BB
26
ZOOLOGY.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe-
number. / cimens.
647
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ------
1856
| Lieut. Trowbridge...
Alcoholic.
46. HYSTEROCARPUS TRASKII, Gibbons.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body subelliptical in its profile; nape convex; frontal line depressed ; eye circular, of medium
size ; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn in advance of the
anterior rim of the orbit. In the male the upper regions are dark or purplish brown, unicolor ;
yellowish olive, spotted with black, on the lower portion of the flanks; throat and belly golden
yellow. In the female the back is ash colored, with irregular black patches, approximating
somewhat to interrupted bands across the sides ; belly lemon yellow.
List of specimens.

Locality.
When
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
collected.
661
Adult.
1
Fort Reading, Cal.......
-----..do... ..
Dr. Newberry -------
Dr. Hammond ------
Alcoholic.
------do.------
662
Young.
a
47. HOLCONOTUS RHODOTERUS, Agass.
. PLATE XXXV.--General Report upon Fishes.
General aspect elongated, neither elliptical nor fusiform. Frontal region subconcave.
Head subconical; mouth small; posterior extremity of maxillary not quite reaching the ante-
rior rim of the orbit. Eye rather large and circular Branchiostegals five. About forty-four
scales in the lateral line. Bluish grey or olive above; silvery or yellow upon the sides, with
rose colored spots disposed in longitudinal series.
1
List of specimens.

Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
Locality.
When
collected.
Collected by~
Original Nature of spe-
number. cimens.
569
Adult.
Astoria, Oregon --------
1856
Lieut. Trowbridge--
Alcoholic.
48. ENNICHTHYS MEGALOPS, Grd.
PLATE XXXVII.-General Report upon Fishes.
General appearance gibbous. Dorsal sheath very short. Mouth large and oblique. Eyes
very large, circular. Four rows of scales upon the preopercle. Branchiostegals six. Eighty-
ZOOLOGY.
27
five scales in lateral line. Ash or greyish brown above. Sides and belly dull yellow or white.
A diffused spot upon the anterior third of the anal. Other fins yellowisli. Tip of pectorals
blackish or deep purple.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of spe.
number. cimens.
553
1
/ Adult. | Astoria, Oregon --------
1856
Lieut. Trowbridge...
Aleoholic.
XVI. FAMILY CYPRINIDAE.
49. MYLOCHEILUS CAURINUS, Grd.
PLATE XLVI, figs. 1-4.-General Report upon Fishes.
1
Snout rounded and subconical, though rather blunt. Posterior extremity of maxillary ex-
tending to a vertical line drawn across the posterior rim of the nostril. Anterior basal edge of
ventrals situated opposite the third developed ray of the dorsal. Brownish black above; yel-
lowish gold beneath ; two lateral darker bands, the inferior one extending no further back
than the vent.
“ Columbia river Dace."
List of specimens.

Locality.
Catalogue Correspond'g No. of
number. numbers. specimens.
Sex and
age
When
collected.
Collected by —
Nature of spe-
cimens.
213
2770, 2771
12
Adult. | Astoria, Oregon..------
1855
Lieut. Trowbridge
Alcoholic.
50. MYLOPHARODON ROBUSTUS, Ayres.
PLATE
PLATE XLVII.-General Report upon Fishes.
Upper surface of head very declivous; snout tapering, almost wedge shaped. Posterior ex-
tremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn across the anterior rim of the orbit.
Eye of medium size. Pectoral and ventral fins broad and stout. Anal fin nearly as large as
the dorsal. Ground color olivaceous, darker above than below.
Sold in the markets of San Francisco under the name of “Salmon Trout."
List of specimens.

Catalogue Correspond'g
number. number.
Collected by~
No. of
specimens.
Sex and
age.
Locality.
When
collected.
| Nature of spe-
cimens.
244
2796
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. -----
1855
Dr. Newberry---|
Alcoholic.
28
ZOOLOGY.
res.
51. CATOSTOMUS OCCIDENTALIS, Ayres.
General Report upon Fishes.
Eye and mouth of medium size ; labial papillæ small and rather inconspicuous. Isthmus
I fin longer than high. Anterior margin of ventrals corresponding to the
middle of the dorsal fin. Posterior extremity of anal reaching the rudimentary rays upon the
inferior lobe of the caudal; latter moderately forked. Upper regions of a greyish lead tint;
beneath, of a soiled yellow or white.
A true “ Sucker.”
V

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue Correspondg No. of Sex and
number. number. specimens. age.
When
collected
Nature of spe-
cimens.
241
2794
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. -----
1855
Dr. Newberry.--
Alcoholic.
52. CATOSTOMUS LABIATUS, Ayres.
General Report upon Fishes.
Eye small; mouth of medium size ; labial papillæ conspicuously developed. Dorsal fin
higher than long. Pectoral fins quite elongated and well developed. Insertion of ventrals
situated opposite the posterior third of the base of the dorsal. The scales are large. Upper
regions black; lower half of sides black, clouded upon a yellow ground, whilst the belly and
inferior surface of the head are yellow-almost unicolor.
Another true - Sucker," and so called by fishermen.
List of specimens.

Sex and
When
Catalogue Correspond'g
number. number.
Collected by-
No. of
specimens.
Locality.
Sex and
age.
collected.
Nature of spe-
cimens.
239
| Adult. | Klamath lake, Oregon. --
1855
| Dr. Newberry..-
Alcoholic.
53. ORTHODON MICROLEPIDOTUS, Grd.
Head moderate, its upper surface flattened and declivous towards the snout, which is obtusely
wedge shaped. Mouth moderate, broad; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a ver-
tical line intersecting the nostril. Isthmus very narrow. The anterior margin of the dorsal is
placed somewhat in advance of the insertion of the ventrals. Peduncle of tail slender. Ven-
trals broad. Greyish brown above, whitish or yellowish beneath.
Has no vernacular name, so far as we have heard.
:
List of specimens.

Locality.
Sex and
age.
| Collected by
When
collected
Nature of spe-
cimens.
number.
| number.
specimens.
206
2764
1
| Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
| Dr. Newberry---
Alcoholic.
ZOOLOGY.
29
54. ALGANSEA BICOLOR, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Head, mouth, and eye of moderate size; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a
vertical line drawn across the nostril. The isthmus is narrow. The anterior edge of the insertion
of the ventral fins is somewhat in advance of the anterior margin of the dorsal. Scales large.
Back and sides of a metallic bluish black tint, intermingled upon the lower half of the flanks
with a golden hue; the inferior region is pure white or yellow.
List of specimens.

Catalogue Correspond'g No. of
number. number. specimens.
Collected by-
Sex and
age.
Locality.
When
collected.
Nature of spe-
cimens.
192
2750
Adult.
Klamath Lake, Oregon .-
1855
Dr. Newberry---
Alcoholic.
55. LAVINIA EXILICAUDA, B. & G.
PLATE LIV, figs. 1-4.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body very much compressed, deep upon its middle; peduncle of tail rather slender; head
small; eye moderate; posterior extremity of maxillary not reaching the anterior rim of the
orbit. Isthmus small. Insertion of ventral fins situated in advance of the anterior margin of
the dorsal; pectorals rather small; caudal deeply furcated. Reddish brown above, silvery grey
on the sides, the scales being minutely dotted upon their margin ; beneath yellowish.
The "Herring” of the California fishermen.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue Correspond'g
number. number.
No. of
specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected.
Nature of spe-
cimens.
209
2766
Adult.
San Joaquin river--------
1855
Dr. Newberry...
Alcoholic.
-
56. TIGOMA BICOLOR, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body anteriorly compact, diminishing posteriorly; head well developed ; mouth large; pos-
terior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn between the anterior rim of
the eye and the nostril; eye moderate. Origin of ventral fins placed slightly in advance of the
anterior margin of the dorsal. Scales large. Dorsal region bluish grey ; sides and belly silvery
white, sometimes golden.
List of specimens.

Locality.
| Collected by-
Catalogue Correspond'g
number. 1 number.
No. of
specimens.
Sex and
age.
When
collected
Nature of spe-
cimens.
234
2788
Adult.
Klamath Lake, Oregon.--
1855
| Dr. Newberry..
Alcoholic.
30
ZOOLOGY.
57. TIGOMA CRASSA, Grd.
PLATE LXII.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body plump and contracted. Head rather small; snout short and rounded; eye small; mouth
moderate; posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn across the posterior
rim of the nostril. Pectorals and ventrals small. Scales large. Upper region bluish or
purplish black; sides greyish black; beneath yellow.
Known as 5 chub” amongst the fishermen.
List of specimens.

Catalogue Correspond’g Number of Sex and
number. number. specimens. age.
Locality.
When
collected.
Collected by—
Nature of
specimens.
216
2777
Adult.
Sacramento river, Cal. ---
1855
| Dr. Newberry---
Alcoholic.
58. CHEONDA CÆRULEA, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body subfusiform in profile. Head of moderate development; snout slender and conical.
Mouth rather deeply cleft; posterior extremity of the maxillary extending to a vertical line
drawn across the anterior rim of the orbit. Eye rather large. Isthmus narrow. Fins small.
Scales moderate. Upper regions of a greyish azure ; inferior regions of a dull silvery white;
black dots being scattered all over the back, sides, and belly.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by~-
Catalogue Correspond'g Number of Sex and
number. | number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Nature of
specimens.
237
2790
1
1
Adult
Lost River, Oregon
1855
Dr. Newberry. --
Alcoholic.
59. PTYCHOCHEILUS OREGONENSIS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body subfusiform in profile. Head rather small, elongated, slender upon the snout. Mouth
deeply cleft; posterior extremity of the maxillary extending to a vertical line intersecting the
anterior rim of the orbit. Eye of moderate development. Pectoral and ventral fins rather
small. Back and upper surface of head dark reddish brown; flanks and belly white, with a
silvery tint.
List of specimens.

Catalogue Correspond'g Number of Sex and
number. number. specimens. age.
Locality.
When
collected.
Collected by-
Nature of
specimens.
198
2763
Adult.
Willamette river, Oregon.
1855
Dr. Newberry---
Alcoholic.
ZOOLOGY.
60. PTYCHOCHEILUS GRANDIS, Grd.
General Report upon Fishes.
Body very much elongated, subfusiform. Head well developed and elongated also. Mouth
deeply cleft; posterior extremity of the maxillary extending to a vertical line intersecting the
pupil. Eye small. Isthmus very narrow. Fins well developed. Scales moderate. Upper
regions olivaceous; flanks and belly silvery or golden.
Sold under the name of “Salmon Trout” at San Francisco.
List of specimens.

Catalogue Number of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
Locality.
Collected by
Original
number.
Nature of
specimens.
collected
204
1
Adult.
San Francisco, California -
1855
Dr. Newberry-------
Alcoholic.
XVII. FAMILY SALMONIDÆ.
61. SALMO SCOULERI, Rich.
General Report upon Fishes.
A head is all we have seen of this species, hence it was not deemed expedient to formulate its
characters upon such scanty materials. It is called “Ekewan” by the natives of the Columbia
river.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue Number of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original
number.
Nature of
specimens.
613
Adult.
| Des Chutes river ...-..
1855
Mr. Anderson...
PLATE LXVIII.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body fusiform, compressed. Head forming the fourth of the length, caudal fin excluded.
· Upper jaw longest. Branch of maxillary gently undulating ; its posterior extremity extending
to a vertical line passing considerably behind the entire orbit. Anterior margin of dorsal fin
equidistant between the tip of the snout and the base of the caudal. Ground color groyish
silvery above; sides and belly yellowish orange; dorsal fin spotted.
List of specimens.

Catalogue Number of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
Locality.
Collected by—
Nature of
When
collected.
Original
number.
specimens.
583
Adult.
Astoria, Oregon
------
1855
Lieut. Trowbridge.
Alcoholic.
ZOOLOGY.
63. FARIO ARGYREUS, Grd.
PLATE LXX.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body very much compressed, rather deep upon its middle region, and quite tapering posteriorly.
Head moderate, constituting the fifth of the entire length. Jaws equal. Maxillary slightly
curved; its free extremity extending to a vertical line drawn posteriorly to the orbit. Anterior
margin of dorsal fin nearer the extremity of the snout than the insertion of the caudal fin.
Bluish grey above; silvery along the middle of the flanks ; yellowish beneath.
: List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue Number of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original
number.
Nature of
specimens.
579
Adult.
Cape Flattery, Oregon....
1855
Lieut. Trowbridge-----
--------
Alcoholic.
• 64. FARIO GAIRDNERI, Grd.
PLATE LXXI, figs. 1-4.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body fusiform in profile, very compressed. Head comprised four times in the length, the
caudal fin excluded. Upper jaw longest ; maxillary curved, extending to a vertical line inter-
secting the posterior rim of the orbit. Anterior margin of dorsal fin equidistant between the
extremity of the snout and the base of the caudal. Caudal fin forked. Back silvery grey ;
sides silvery, and belly yellowish white. Body obsoletely spotted with black ; similar black
spots may be seen on the dorsal and caudal fins.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by—
Catalogue Number of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original
number.
Nature of
specimens.
578
1
Adult.
Klamath river ----
1855
Dr. Newberry-....
Alcoholic.
65. FARIO STELLATUS, Grd.
PLATE LXIX, figs. 5–8.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body elongated and fusiform. Head well developed, contained four times and three-quarters
in the total length. Jaws equal. Maxillary gently curved, reaching a vertical line drawn
posteriorly to the orbit. Anterior margin of dorsal fin a little nearer to the extremity of the
snout than the insertion of the caudal. Back light olive; belly light yellowish white; head,
body, and fins, profusely spotted with black.
The salmon trout” of the Oregon settlers.
List of specimens.

Locality.
When
Catalogue No. of
number. specimens
Sex and
age.
Collected by
Original Nature of speci-
number.
collected.
mens.
591
2
Adult.
Upper Des Chutes river.--
1855
1855
| Dr. Newberry-------
Alcoholic.
ZOOLOGY.
33
66. SALAR IRIDEA, Grd.
PLATE LXXIV.-General Report upon Fishes.
Body subfusiform in profile, otherwise compressed. Head well developed, constituting some-
what less than the fourth of the total length. Jaws subequal, posterior extremity of maxillary
extending to a vertical line drawn a little beyond the orbit. Anterior margin of dorsal fin
equidistant between the extremity of the snout and the insertion of the caudal. “Reddish brown
above, with numerous and small black spots; yellowish white beneath.
The “ brook trout” of California.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of speci-
number. mens.
1
594
595
Adult. Chico creek, Cal....
---do.-- San Francisco, Cal.------
1855
1855
Dr. Newberry----
| Dr. Ayres...----
Alcoholic.
------do......
67. ARGENTINA PRETIOSA, Grd.
PLATE LXXV, fig. 5.-General Report upon Fishes.
Posterior extremity of maxillary extending to a vertical line drawn in advance of the pupil.
Eye large and circular, its diameter being contained about four times in the length of the side
of the head. Origin of dorsal fin somewhat nearer the extremity of the snout than the tip of
the caudal fin, which is forked. The adipose is situated opposite the posterior fourth of the
anal. The origin of the ventrals is placed somewhat behind a vertical line drawn at the anterior
margin of the dorsal fin. Scales of moderate development. Upper surface of head and back
yellowish. Outlines of scales dotted with black. Sides of head and middle of flanks of a
shining silvery tint. Lower half of flanks and belly dull yellowish.
One of the genuine 6smelt” tribe.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue
number.
No. of Sex and
specimens. / age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of speci-
number. mens.
604
2
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. ------
1855
Dr. Newberry....
Alcoholic.
68. COREGONUS WILLIAMSONI, Grd.
PLATE LXVI.--General Report upon Fishes.
Head and mouth small; posterior extremity of the maxillary not extending as far as the an-
erior rim of the orbit. Scales large, disposed upon eighteen longitudinal series upon the line
of greatest depth, nine above and eight below the lateral line, which is perfectly straight.
Color silvery white, with a bluish grey tint over the dorsal region.
Williamson's white fish,
.5 BB
34
ZOOLOGY.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by—
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected
Original | Nature of speci-
number. mens.
601
2
Adult.
Des Chutes river, 0. T.--
1855
Dr. Newberry -------
Alcoholic.
69. ACIPENSER ACUTIROSTRIS, Ayres.
Body subfusiform. Head slender and depressed ; snout tapering and acute. Eleven dorsal
shields from the occiput to the anterior margin of the dorsal fin; twenty-seven shields in the
lateral series, and nine between the pectorals and the ventral fins. Greyish black above;
yellowish white beneath,
List of specimens.

---.--...
..
Locality.
Collected by-
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected
Original Nature of speci-
number. mens.
614
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. -----
1855
Dr. Newberry.--...
Alcoholic.
70. ACIPENSER MEDIROSTRIS, Ayres.
Body fusiform. Head stoutish ; snout rounded anteriorly, and abbreviated. Eleven dorsal
shields from the occiput to the anterior margin of the dorsal fin; thirty-seven shields in the
lateral series, and nine between the pectorals and ventral fins. Reddish brown above; yel-
lowish beneath.
List of specimens.

Locality.
Collected by~
Catalogue No. of Sex and
number. specimens. age.
When
collected.
Original Nature of speci-
number. mens.
615
1
Adult.
San Francisco, Cal. -----
1855
| Dr. Newberry......
Alcoholic.

Fishes: -
Plate XXIIa
U.S. PRR ExSurveys: --- Cal & Oregon
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USERE Ex. & Surveys - Cal. & Oregon
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U.S.PR. R. Ex & Surveys: — Cal & Oregon
Fishes: -
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USPRR. Ex & Surveys - Cal & Oregon
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USERE Fix & Surveys: -
Cal & Oregon.
Fishes: - Plate XL a
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USPRR. Ex. & Surveys ---- Cal & Oregon
Fishes:
Plate XIV.
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No. 2.
REPORT UPON THE ZOOLOGY OF THE ROUTE.
BY J. S. NEWBERRY, M. D.*
Ꮯ H A PᎢ Ꭼ Ꭱ I.
REPORT UPON THE MAMMALS.
SOREX VAGRANS, Cooper.
BAIRD, General Report Mammals, 1857, 15.
hairs on the back measuring 2} lines. Tail longer than the body alone, about five-sixths as long as head and body together,
scantily haired at tip. Third lateral tooth above smaller than fourth. Anterior upper incisor with a rounded internal
yobe in broad contact with its fellow. Color above, olive brown, varied with hoary; beneath, dusky yellowish white;
sides a little paler than the back. Head and body ten inches. Tail 14. Hind foot about .47 of an inch.
A single specimen, probably belonging to this species, was taken in the Cascade mountains.
SOREX SUCKLEYI, Baird.
BAIRD, General Report Mammals, 1857, 18.
SP. CH.—Ears quite large, about as long as the adjacent fur. Longest hairs measuring barely two lines. Feet rather
small. Tail considerably longer than the body, exclusive of head; well coated with hair. Caudal vertebræ 16. Third
lateral tooth above smaller than the fourth. Width of skull rather more than half its length. Length of palate three-
eighths this length. Color above, light chestnut brown; beneath, grayish white. Length 24 inches. Tail 11? Hind
foot .46 of an inch.
One specimen of this species was collected on the Upper Des Chutes river, in Oregon.
SCALOPS (SCAPANUS) TOWNSENDII.
Oregon Mole.
BAIRD, General Report Mammals, 1857, 68.
the upper surface of the tip of the snout. Palm large and broad. Color nearly black, with faint purplish or sooty brown
reflections. (Sometimes, perhaps, glossed with silvery?) Length six to seven inches.
Specimens of this species were collected at San Francisco.
• The species enumerated in this report have been determined, and their diagnoses prepared, by Prof. S. F. Baird, Assistant
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
36
ZOOLOGY.
FELIS CONCOLOR, Linn.
The American Panther.
Felis concolor, LINN. Mantissa, 1771, 522 ; pl. ii.
BAIRD, Gen. Report Mammals, 1857, 83.
SP. CH.—Body considerably larger than that of the common sheep. Tail more than half the length of head and body.
General color above, a uniform pale brownish-yellow, finely mottled by dark tips to all the hairs. Beneath, dirty white
A black patch on the upper lip, separated from the nose by a triangular white space. Convexity of ear black; tip of tail
dusky. No spots or blotches on the body in the adult; a few obsolete ones in the half-grown young. Kittens with the
body densely spotted and the tail ringed. .
The cougar is perhaps as common in California and Oregon as east of the mountains, and is
essentially the same animal. The specimens I saw varied considerably in color, but otherwise
there seemed to be no difference. A cougar which I saw and attempted to shoot, on Pit river,
was of a bright yellowish-red, much like that of the summer coat of the Virginia deer; while a
large and beautiful one, kept caged in San Francisco, was of a light mouse-color, scarcely tinged
with red.
This animal was entirely untameable, manifesting to his keeper, as well as to strangers,
unmitigated ferocity; he was, however, as I believe all cougars are, very cowardly. The one I
saw on Pit river ran from us, and took refuge in a cliff of volcanic rock; exhibiting as much
timidity as a hare.
We saw their tracks nearly every day of our march, but only on one other occasion the animal.
A very large one was seen by a soldier, cautiously following the trail of our guide, who had
passed a short time before; he was following by scent like a dog.
LYNX RUFUS.
American Wild Cat.
Felis ruffa, GULDENSTAEDT, Nov. Comm. Petrop, XX, 1776, 499.
Felis rufa, SCHREBER, Säugt. III. 1778, 412; pl. cix A (Rothluchs in text.)
Lynx rufus, Rar. Am. Month. Mag. II, 1817, 46.
Aud. & Bach. N. A. Quad. I, 1849, 2 ; pl. I.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 90.
SP. CH.--Fur moderately full and soft. Above and on sides pale rufous, overlaid with greyish ; the latter color most
prevalent in winter. A few obsolete dark spots on the sides and indistinct longitudinal lines along the middle of the back.
Collar on the throat like sides, but much paler. Beneath, white spotted. Inside of fore and hind legs banded. Tail with
a small black patch above at the end, with indistinct subterminal half rings. Inner surface of ear black, with a white patch.
The wild cat is a very common animal in California and Oregon, and was killed or seen by
our party in a number of different and distant localities. In the immediate vicinity of San
Francisco, California, on the shores of San Francisco and San Pablo bays, wild cats abound,
frequenting the shore and subsisting on fish or water fowl. While shooting ducks and other
water birds about Benicia I several times saw them. At one time, while in a small boat floating
quietly along shore, in the straits of Carquines, on rounding a point we came suddenly upon a
lynx, which was walking along the beach picking up his breakfast. We were within twenty
yards of him, and the first intimation which he received of our presence was a full charge of
bird shot in the face and eyes. He seemed very much surprised at the salute, springing sud-
denly four or five feet into the air, and then with surprising agility scrambling up the almost
perpendicular face of the rocky wall bordering the straits, and before I could seize another gun,
lying in the bottom of the boat, he had disappeared in the bushes.
ZOOLOGY.
37
At Yreka a fine specimen was killed by a member of our party, and in the Klamath lake
basin the Indians had large numbers of their skins, of which the squaws make their robes. We
found it quite up to the Columbia, but on that river, and especially thence northward, it is
mostly replaced by the larger species, Lynx fasciatus.
LYNX FASCIATUS, Raf.
Red Cat.
Lynx fasciatus, RAF. Am. Monthly Mag. II, 1817, 46.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 96.
SP. CH.-Fur very soft and full. Ears pencilled. Color, rich chestnut brown on the back, a little paler on the sides and
on the throat. A dorsal darker band and collar on throat, as dark as the sides. Region along central line of belly, (rather
narrow one,) dull whitish, with dusky spots extending to lower part of sides. No spots or bands discernible on the upper
part of sides. Ears black inside, with a very inconspicuous patch of greyish. Terminal third of tail above, black.
In the region traversed by our party, south of the Columbia river, we hardly entered the
range of this large lynx. We saw but a single individual, and that one was not killed.
The banded lynx, like the Canada lynx, (L. canadensis,) though a large and powerful
animal, is cowardly, and has never been known to attack man. It is more boreal than the red
lynx, and exists from the vicinity of the Columbia to a considerable distance beyond the British
line. His subsistence is made up of all the smaller animals inhabiting the region where he is
found, together with birds and fish when he can catch them. He is supposed by the hunters
and Indians sometimes to kill the deer unaided, but this wants confirmation.
CANIS OCCIDENTALIS VAR. GRISEO-ALBUS.
. Gray Wolt.
BAIRD, General Report Mammals, 1857, 104.
Though much less common than the “coyote,” the large grey wolf is found in all the unin-
habited parts of California and Oregon. Very few were seen by members of our party, rone were
killed, and we had everywhere evidence that this species is much less numerously represented
on the Pacific coast than on the Upper Missouri. In the Cascade mountains we saw tracks of
some of these wolves of most portentous size. All the large wolves seen by any of our party
were grey, and all the skins which I saw in the possession of Indians or whites were also grey,
and it is probable that the white and black varieties are never found in California. On the
upper Columbia, in Oregon and Washington Territories, where the wolves are more numerous
and the winters are colder, the same variations occur which are common on the upper Missouri.
CANIS LATRANS, Say.
Prairie Wolf: Coyote.
Canis latrans, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 113.
The prairie wolf is exceedingly common in all the open country of California and Oregon.
In the wooded districts it is less abundant, but on almost every night of our march we were
serenaded by its melancholy, wailing cry.
The sage plains bordering the Klamath lakes and in the Des Chutes basin, surfaces for the
most part destitute of trees and covered with clumps of artemisia, are inhabited by considerable
numbers of rabbits and hares, particularly L. artemisic and L. campestris. These animals form
some portion of the subsistence of the coyotes, which are there very numerous. While encamped
38
ZOOLOGY.
there we often heard them at night hunting in packs, and yelping in chorus, apparently by their
numbers surrounding, and by their cries confusing, their prey.
During the summer the coyotes subsist in a great degree on grasshoppers, and we frequently
saw them engaged in catching these insects. This they effect by springing with great quick-
ness and bringing the fore paw down on them. They eat also mice, lizards, and frogs, and
resemble so much in their diet, and in their timid, sneaking, thievish nature, the Digger
Indian, that the hunters put them on an equality, and consider them in some way related to
each, or at least make them equal objects of contempt and detestation. To call the “Digger" a
dog, is, in the hunter's estimation, to elevate him; to compare him with a coyote is to degrade ;
one scarcely knows which.
If one can content himself with so ignoble game, the coyote hunted on horseback affords very
good sport.
While our party was crossing from Hamilton, on Feather river, to the Sacramento, Mr.
Anderson and myself took a wide sweep to the right of the trail in hope to get a shot at an
antelope or deer. We saw no game whatever, except coyotes, if, indeed, they can be called
game; and my companion, a keen sportsman who had often hunted the large wolf on
the prairies of Texas, proposed that we should have a steeple chase. I assented, and we
were soon racing over the prairie, each in chase of a wolf, at a speed that brought them
ere long under our horses' feet. We found considerable difference in the speed of different
individuals ; but, generally, they are readily overhauled by a good horse, and, by a shot
from the saddle, may be killed without difficulty.
The color of the coyote, in most localities, is a light brownish yellow, with a very few black
hairs along the back; we saw, however, in the Des Chutes basin, some which were larger and
darker, as was the skin of one from Yreka, which I brought home.
We several tiines saw large numbers of burrows, about the size of those of the badger, closely
set together, and occupying, perhaps, a quarter or half acre. These had evidently been formed
by an animal of considerable size which seemed to have abandoned them entirely. Bartie, our
guide, informed me that these were the breeding places of the coyotes, where the females go, at
certain seasons, to bring forth their young. How true this may be, I cannot say; but the
coyote seemed the only animal inhabiting the country in sufficient numbers to form such
colonies.
The cry of the prairie wolf is precisely that of the Indian dog of the west—a sharp bark,
followed by a succession of yelps running into each other, and ending in a long-drawn quaver-
ing howl, at times indescribably melancholy. While camping on a tributary of Pit river, in a
region infested with hostile Indians, I was one evening fishing for trout alone, a mile or more
from camp, and, detained by the fascination of unusually good sport, I still lingered till the
stars began to appear, when a coyote, coming to the top of a ledge of trap rock on the opposite
side of the stream, favored me with a succession of howls so mournful and sinister that I was
fain to look upon it as an evil omen, and gathering up my fish and groping my way back to
camp was quite disposed to congratulate myself on arriving there without adventure.
VULPES MACROURUS, Baird.
Great Tailed Fox.
BAIRD, General Report Mammals, 1857, 130.
The red fox inhabits all parts of Oregon and California, but I suspect is less abundant in the
central and southern portions of California than further north. At least we met with the
ZOOLOGY.
39
living animals, as well as the skins prepared by the Indians, in much greater numbers about
the Klamath lakes, and in the Des Chutes basin, than in California.
In this region the red fox exhibits all the varieties which have been noticed in the eastern
States; the typical red fox, with more or less of black on back, head, and feet; the black, the
cross, the silver grey, all are well known to the hunters, who assert that they have found all
these varieties in the same litter. The silver grey has long been, with the exception of the sea
otter, the most valuable fur obtained by the Hudson Bay Fur Company; good skins formerly
commanding from twenty-five to thirty dollars, and fine pairs of skins even much more than
this. Now, they, in common with all peltries, have suffered a considerable decline in price.
I obtained a fine specimen of the silver fox at our depot camp on the upper Des Chutes river.
He was killed by a soldier, who had given him the benefit of his musket load, a ball and three
buckshot, when close upon him, by which the poor animal's existence was evidently brought to
a sudden close.
VULPES VELOX.
Kit Fox.
BAIRD, General Report Mammals, 1857, 133.
The "swift fox," lucus a non lucendo, is another member of the group of animals whose pecu-
liar habitat is the dry, desert-like country lying on either side of the Rocky mountains, ex-
tending to the Cascade range on the west, and to the timbered lands of the lower Missouri on
the east. In the basin of the upper Columbia it is more common than any other species, and I
saw, while in that vicinity, a great number of the skins obtained by the hunters and Indians.
We had no opportunity of observing the animal except in confinement, nor of testing, by actual
experiment, the truth of the report which gives to this small, short-limbed fox such fabulous
speed. All those, however, who were familiar with them, as found on the prairie, agreed in saying
that its swiftness has been greatly overrated; that it is even less swift than its congeners, the
red and grey foxes; all of which the appearance and structure of the animal fully confirm.
The home of this species is evidently the dry, sterile, almost treeless region, which I have
mentioned above. We found no traces of it to the westward of the Cascade range in Oregon,
or in any part of California.
es
VULPES (UROCYON) VIRGINIANUS.
Gray Fox.
Canis virginianus, ERXLEBEN , Systema Regni-Aniinalis, 1777, 567 (from Catesby.)
Vulpes virginianus, DEKAY, N. Y. Zool. I, 1842, 45; pl. vii, f. 2.
AUD. & BACH. N. A. Quad. I, 1849, 162 ; pl. xxi.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 138.
Sp. Ch.-Head and body a little over two feet in length. Tail rather more than half as long. Tail with a concealed mane
of stiff bristly hairs. Prevailing color mixed hoary and black; convexity and base of ears, sides of neck, edge of belly,
and considerable portion of fore legs rusty or cinnamon. Band encircling the muzzle, much dilated on the chin, black.
Throat and lower half of face pure white. Tail hoary on the sides; a distinct stripe above and the tip black; rusty beneath.
In Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan, the most densely wooded of the middle States, the pioneer
settler found only the grey fox, or at least that species occupied the territory so nearly exclu-
sively that they considered any others as, like themselves, interlopers. As the forest gradually
fell before the axe of the woodman, and broad and continuous stretches of waving grain replaced
the thickly set trunks of oak, ash, and hickory, the grey fox became gradually more rare,
40
ZOOLOGY.
while the swifter, stronger, and more cunning red fox by degrees almost entirely usurped its
place. Hence the farmers supposed they had themselves introduced this farm yard pest, and
that it had been the companion of their migration from the east; and, as it was then con-
founded with the common fox of Europe, (V. vulgaris,) it was supposed to be an importation,
which ultimately would drive off its weaker relative and possess the continent.
Since, however, the red fox has been found in various places in the far west, and spread over
all the region west of the Rocky mountains, and the red fox of America has been pronounced
different from the red fox of Europe, this theory falls to the ground, and we must look for some
other cause to account for the usurpation of the habitat of the gray fox by the red.
The grey fox is evidently best fitted by nature for the occupation of a wooded country; he even
has, to a certain degree, the power of climbing trees, not possessed by Vulpes fulvus, while
he rarely or never forms burrows, having no cover but such as the forest furnishes, and thus is
comparatively unprotected in an open country, where the red fox would be quite at home. To
these differences of habit, rather than to any other cause, I would attribute the change of
distribution noticed in the two species.
In California and Oregon the gray fox is quite common, at least in the wooded portions. Of
the several specimens obtained from there, none present any marked differences from the gray
fox of the eastern States.
One specimen was collected in Napa valley.
VULPES (UROCYON) LITTORALIS, Baird.
Coast Fox; Short-Tailed Fox.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 143.
SP. CH.--Scarcely more than half the size of the common grey fox (Vulpes virginianus). Tail one-third the length of body.
Above, hoary and black ; sides of neck, fore legs, and lower part of sides, dull cinnamon; chin and sides of muzzle black.
Tail with a concealed mane of stiff hairs, and with a black stripe above.
This species was first discovered on the Island of San Miguel, off the California coast, by Lieut.
Trowbridge, United States army. His attention was first called to it by its familiarity and
fearlessness, its small size, and remarkably short tail. On setting a trap, one was immediately
taken, and for some days kept in confinement; he escaped, however, and the next night was
retaken in the same trap which had first secured him, being identified by the leather strap
which remained on his neck. The same thing occurred several times in immediate succession,
the fox evincing a total want of the vulpine cunning which so generally sets at defiance the
trapper's art. A number of specimens were obtained by Lieutenant Trowbridge, and, after
careful examination, Professor Baird has determined it to be distinct from any species hitherto
known. The colors of the animal are, in general, those of the gray fox, from which it differs
in size, length of tail, in habit, and in certain osteological characters, which are fully set forth
in the specific description given by Professor Baird.
So far as known, it inhabits exclusively the island of San Miguel.
BASSARIS ASTUTA.
Civet Cat.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 147.
This beautiful animal, which, at the time Audubon's description was written, was supposed
to be peculiar to Texas and Mexico, has since been found somewhat abundantly in California.
ZOOLOGY.
The district in which it occurs, if not exclusively, certainly most abundantly, is that including
the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada, on the eastern side of the great trough of the San Joaquin
and Sacramento. In this half wooded region, the home of the gold hunter, it is well known,
and apparently has much the character given by Audubon to the same animal in Texas. The
miner calls it the "mountain cat;'' it frequently enters his tent and plunders his provision bag.
When caught, as it often is, it becomes so familiar and amusing, and does so much to relieve
the monotony of the miner's life, that it is highly valued, and commands quite a large price.
The bassaris is, perhaps, equally efficient as a mouser with the common cat; is much more
playful, and to a large number of the members of every community who are cat haters might be
a desirable substitute.
MUSTELA AMERICANA, Turton.
American Sable; Pine Marten.
Mustela americanus, TURTON'S Linnæus, I, 1806, 60.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 152.
Mustela martes, Jos. SABINE, Zool. App. to Narr. Franklin's Journey, 1823, 651.
Aud. & Bach. N. A. Quad. III, 1853, 176; pl. cxxxviii, (L. Huron.)
SP. CH. -Legs and tail blackish. General color reddish yellow, clouded with black; above becoming lighter towards the
head, which is sometimes white. A broad yellowish patch on the throat, widening below so as to touch the legs. Central
line of belly sometimes yellowish. Tail vertebræ about one-third the head and body. Outstretched hind feet reach about
to the middle of the tail with the hairs. Feet densely furred.
We obtained two specimens of the pine marten on the head waters of the Des Chutes river,
in Oregon. They were in a small pine tree; one was shot, and the other killed by a blow with
a club as he descended. From the Indians, and from the officers of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, I learned that the animal is not uncommon in Oregon and Washington Territories, and
that considerable numbers of their skins are annually brought in by the hunters. In California
it would seem to be more rare, as we saw and heard nothing of it while on our march. Bartee
told me, however, that he had on one occasion met with it while mining gold on Yuba river, in
that State. The miners were in great want of food, their supply of provisions having failed, in
which emergency Bartee had started out with his rifle in search of game. He found nothing to
shoot, however, but three pine martens, all in one tree, two of which he killed, the third
escaping. When taken into camp, skinned and cooked, the half starved miners tried to eat
them, but they proved so tough and unsavory that they were thrown away in disgust.
MUSTELA PENNANTII, Erxl.
Fisher; Black Cat.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 149.
We did not meet with the fisher living, but saw many skins of individuals which had been
killed in Washington and Oregon Territories.
It is very rare, in Oregon, more common in Washington Territory and in the British
provinces, but nowhere at the west abundant.
At the Klamath lakes we found the natives using quivers for their arrows made from the
skin of the fisher. I saw but one or two of these skins, however, most of those in possession of
the Indians being of lynx, otter, raccoon, wolf, dog, &c.
6 BB
ZOOLOGY.
PUTORIUS XANTHOGENYS.
Yellow Cheeked Weasel.
h
12
Mustela xanthogenys, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. H. XI, 1843, 118.-IB. Zool. Sulphur, 1844, 31 ; pl. ix.
Putorius xanthogenys, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 176.
SP, CH.- Similar to P. frenatus. Tail vertebræ about half the length of the body; the hairs about one-eighth this length.
Head chesnut brown, little darker than the back; the three patches on the face reddish yellow; body chesnut brown above,
reddish white beneath ; tip of tail black.
About San Francisco this small species is very common and well known to the residents. I
supposed it to be the bridled weasel (P. frenata) when I obtained it, especially as I knew that
species to be common in northern Mexico. It is, however, apparently distinct, being much
lighter about the head. It varies, however, very much in color at San Francisco, some indi-
viduals being much darker than others, and closely approaching the Mexican species.
The habits of P. xanthogenys are precisely those of the common eastern weasel, and they are
reported to be as busily employed in the destruction of rats about San Francisco as weasels are
with us.
Our specimens were obtained in the San Francisco market.
PUTORIUS VISON.
Common Mink.
Mustela vison, Brisson, Quad. 1756, 256.
Putorius vison, Aud. & Bach. IV, An. Quad. I, 1849, 250; pl. xi, f. 1.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 177.
ŚP. CH.—Tail about half as long as the body. General color dark brownish chesnut; tail nearly black; end of chin
white, but not the edge of upper jaw.
I obtained specimens of the mink from Klamath lake, and it was seen again by our party in
the Des Chutes river. It is found in all parts of Oregon, and probably of California, though
certainly less abundantly in the last mentioned State. The specimens obtained from Klamath
lake were not as dark as the handsomest skins I have seen from the British provinces; they
were, however, killed in August, and for the season the fur was very fine and thick.
Mr. McTavish, the intelligent factor of the Hudson Bay Company at Vancouver--from
whom I received much valuable information relative to the numbers and distribution, as well as
to the habits of the fur-producing animals of the north west-told me that the company obtain
large numbers of mink skins from Washington and Oregon, and that it is the most valuable of
all the more common furs. The price now paid to the hunters is the same for a mink skin as
for that of a beaver; but to the trader the mink skin is much the most valuable, the beaver
skins being hardly worth the price of transport.
LUTRA CALIFORNICA, Gray.
California Otter.
Lutra californica, Gray, Charlesworth's Mag. N. H. I, 1837, 580.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 187.
SP. CH.-Naked muffle wider than long ; under surfaces of feet scarcely hairy; the naked terminal pads not isolated from
the other bare portion by hair.
The otter and beaver are generally regarded by those who have given the matter no special
attention as closely allied animals, and are supposed to have precisely the same habits and
ZOOLOGY.
43
habitats; whereas they belong to different orders, and are nearly as widely separated as mam-
miferous quadrupeds can well be. The beaver is a rodent, and the type of the order, the mar-
mot, hare, and squirrel being his congeners. His food is exclusively vegetable, and he inhabits
the banks of running streams because water affords him the means of protection and locomotion,
not because it furnishes him with food. With the exception of his great incisors, which are
fitted for cutting wood alone, his teeth are all grinders, and more perfectly such than the teeth
of herbivorous ruminants. In disposition he is mild and inoffensive, and it is but with difficulty
he can be induced, even in self defence, to use his dental chisels. On the contrary, the otter is
exclusively carnivorous, living on fish, and never on vegetable food ; he swims and dives with
even greater facility than the beaver, and less often inhabits small running streams than rivers
and lakes. He has the dentition and the disposition of the carnivora, and will defend himself
stoutly against any animal which may attack him.
The otter exists on all parts of the Pacific coast, both on the sea shore and in the inland
streams and lakes. In the Cascade mountains, where neither otter nor beaver had been much
hunted, and where both were abundant, we found the beaver in the streams, but the otter in
great abundance in the mountain lakes where these streams take their rise. There they subsist
on the western brook-trouts and a Coregonus with a crayfish, Astacus klamathensis. These
fish are exceedingly active, and an otter must be very swift to catch them. I brought a fine
specimen from this locality which measured five feet from the extremity of the nose to the tip
of the tail. His skin was very beautiful, and when in the water the hair over all the surface
was beautifully iridescent.
In the Klamath lakes the otter is quite common, and several of their skins were procured by
our party from the Indians. In these lakes their food is a large sucker (Catostomus occidentalis)
and a species of Gila, both rather sluggish fishes, and such as would be easily caught.
At the present time the fur of the otter is much more in demand than that of the beaver.
When I was at Vancouver the prices paid in goods to the hunters by the Hudson Bay Company
were for beaver skins 50 cents, for otter $2 50 each.
The western otter has been described by Gray under the name of Lutra californica; the otter
of the eastern States, long since called by Sabine L. canadensis, he seems not to have seen.
The most conspicuous difference between the eastern and western otters is the greater amount
of hair on the palms and soles of those from the west. Since, however, this difference is so
slight, and the otter is found quite across the continent without break or interval in the series,
I am inclined to consider them as all specifically identical, though presenting several shades of
variation. On the Upper Missouri, where the stream is muddy and not well supplied with fish,
the otters are few in number, small in size, and the fur pale and inferior.
Our specimen of this species was collected in the Cascade mountains, about 160 miles south of
the Columbia.
ENHYDRA MARINA, Fleming.
]
Sea Otter.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 189.
Of this little known but interesting animal we had no opportunity of obtaining fresh speci-
mens, and but little information which was satisfactory. From Mr. McTavish I learned that it
is occasionally taken on the coast of Oregon and Washington Territories, but not more than
two skins are usually obtained by the Hudson Bay Company, at that point, in a year. Further
44
ZOOLOGY.
down the coast they are more abundant, and the capture of the sea otter off southern California
employs quite a number of men and several boats. I saw, in San Francisco, a number (one
hundred or more) of their skins, some of enormous size and great beauty. The largest were
full six feet long, and had evidently once belonged to animals considerably larger than those
upon which descriptions have been based. This lot of skins was offered us at thirty dollars
each ; less than half the price they formerly bore.
A curious fact, as illustrative of the aquatic habit of the sea otter, was related by one of the
hunters. He said he had seen the female with very small young at sea, forty miles from shore,
but that generally they are found on soundings, and particularly where the gigantic kelp
(Macrocystis) raises its cable-like stem, and expands its broad leaf on the surface of the water.
After the seal this animal is undoubtedly the most aquatic of the carnivorous mammalia.
1
MEPHITIS OCCIDENTALIS, Baird.
California Skunk.
Mephitis occidentalis, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. 1857, 194.
? Mephitis mesomelas, St. HILAIRE, Voy. de la Venus, Zoologie, I, 1855, 133; plate.
SP. CH.—Size of a cat. Tail vertebræ two-thirds the length of head and body, Bony palate with small narrow emar-
gination in the middle of its posterior edge. Color black, with a white nuchal patch, bifurcating behind and reaching to
the tail, which is entirely black.
are
Aside from the little zorilla, one or more species of a larger size inhabit California. M. bicolor,
as I have said in speaking of that species, inhabits the more southern portions of the State,
where it is associated with at least one larger species. North of Benicia skunks are not
unknown, as we had both ocular and nasal evidence, for it not unfrequently happened, as on
our march we dipped down with our train into some quiet valley, that the breath of evening
or early morning would come to us freighted with the odors characteristic of the genus. I saw
several of these animals which had been killed, but they were so much decomposed as to render
their identification difficult if not impossible.
MEPHITIS BICOLOR.
Little Striped Skunk.
Mephilis bicolor, J. E. GRAY, Charlesworth's Mag. N. H. I, 1837, 581.
dlephitis zorilla, LICHTENSTEIN.
AUD. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. III, 1854, 276, (not figured.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 197.
Sp. Ch.—Smallest of North American species. Tail vertebræ less than half the body; with the hairs, not much more
than half. Black, with a broad white patch on forehead, and crescent before each ear; four parallel dorsal stripes inter-
rupted and broken behind ; a shorter stripe on side of belly, running into a posterior transverse crescent, which are white.
Tail black throughout to base of hairs, except a pure white pencil at the end.
This elegant little skunk, so handsomely marked and clothed in a coat s0 soft and silken,
presents, in all but the most striking characteristics of the genus, a marked contrast to the
larger species so common in the eastern States, (M. chinga.)
It is a southern species, of the range of which San Francisco is probably about the northern
limit. From San Francisco southward it becomes more common, extending quite into Mexico,
and probably across the continent into Texas.
This animal is so prettily marked, that, on looking over our collections, even ladies, ignorant
ZOOLOGY.
45
of its name, have not failed to admire it; and, indeed, the same thing has occurred in reference
to the larger species, (M. chinga and M. mesoleuca.) If we were divested of certain prejudices,
and these animals of certain perfumes, it is probable we should regard them, as they certainly
deserve, as very handsome creatures.
To any collector in zoology who may happen to have, as an idiosyncracy, a dislike of some
odors, it may be useful to know that there are several ways of taking skunks without causing
them to emit their perfume. The best way is to catch the animal in a box trap, and to plunge
the trap unopened into water, by that means drowning the skunk. If killed suddenly very
dead by a rifle ball or shot, they are inodorous. Another mode sometimes practised, and
sometimes successful, is to attack the skunk with a small dog, and while his attention is
engaged, to walk boldly up, and seizing him by the tail, raise him instantly into the air, when
he may be despatched by blows on the head, his system of defence in such circumstances being
inoperative.
TAXIDEA AMERICANA,
American Badger.
Ursus taxus, SCHREBER, Säugt. III, 1778, 520, fig. 142, B. (From Buffon.)
Meles taxus, var. B americanus, BODDAERT, Elenchus Anim. I, 1784, 136.
Meles americanus, (“* Bodd.") ZIMMERMANN, Pennant's Arktische Zoologie I, 1787, 74.
Taxidea americana, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 202.
Ursus labradorius, Gm. Syst. Nat. 1, 1788, 102.
KERR’s Linnæus, 1792, 187.
Sulaw, Gen. Zool. Mamm. I, 1800, 469 ; pl. cvi.
Meles labradoria, MEYER, Zool. Archiv. II, 1796, 45.
AUD. & Baci N. A. Quad. I, 1849, 360 ; pl. xlvii.
SP. CH.--Head grizzled grey, black on the end of snout and along the eyes. A median white line from near the nose to
the nape. Legs and a crescentic patch before the ears black. Cheeks and under parts generally white.
In traversing the arid surfaces of the sage plains of eastern California, Utah, and Oregon,
there is, perhaps, no one thing which the traveller may be more sure of seeing every day of his
journey than the burrow of a badger; and, after cursing the country, and the folly which led
him to cross these barren, hot, and dusty surfaces, there is nothing he will more certainly do,
whether on foot or mounted, than tumble into one of these same badger holes, and yet the
chances are more than equal that he never sees a living badger on which to revenge himself ;
for the badger is a shy and timid animal, and the country which he inhabits is so open, it
rarely happens that he is surprised at a distance from his burrow. During our march of seve-
ral hundred miles through the country inhabited by the badger this did occur, however, on one
or two occasions, and gave rise to some ludicrous scenes. The badger, though far from formid-
able, is too well provided with teeth to be handled without gloves; and knowing that his only
safety when attacked is in plunging to the bottom of his burrow, his pig-headed pertinacity in
endeavoring to reach it is such, that an unarmed man finds it difficult to stop him.
Mr. Anderson, who gave me most efficient aid in collecting, came one day suddenly upon a
badger at some distance from his hole; of course he made for it with all possible speed, which,
it should be said, is not so great but that a man could easily overtake one. Mr. Anderson
first endeavored to trample him under his horse's feet, but, though he ran over him several
times, the badger avoided the hoofs, and received no injury. As we had not then obtained a
specimen, he was particularly anxious to secure this one, so he drove his horse before him, and
brought him to bay. He then jumped off, and went towards him, hoping, by means of kicks
46
ZOOLOGY.
and his sheath-knife, to despatch him, but the badger, instead of retreating, came at him open-
mouthed, and with such a show of ferocity that he was fain to let him pass, trusting to find a
club to kill him with ; but in that region clubs do not "grow on every bush,” for most of the
bushes are sage bushes, and before he found any sort of a stick the badger had reached his hole.
Two days after I became indebted to him for a fine specimen, which a long rifle shot had
dropped at the entrance of his burrow. Another, while leisurely following an old trail, ap-
parently on a journey, was overtaken and killed by some of our soldiers. Seeing, perhaps, the
hopelessness of the attempt, he made no effort to escape, but a vigorous defence, and was only
despatched with some difficulty.
The burrows of the badger penetrate the light volcanic soil of the western plains in all direc-
tions; and often it has occurred that while riding unsuspectingly over an unbroken surface my
horse has suddenly sunk into one of these old burrows the whole length of the fore or hind
legs, sometimes extricating himself only with considerable effort.
It may seem surprising that an animal of so little prowess, so little speed and cunning, should
find a subsistence in a region so nearly barren of animal and vegetable life as that which I have
described ; but the number of Spermophiles and Arvicolae which are found there is surprising,
considering the circumstances in which they live, and I suspect they furnish him the greater
part of his food, his unequalled power and skill in burrowing enabling him with comparatively
little trouble to follow them to the bottom of their holes and devour them at leisure. The
number of badgers inhabiting any given space is small, as they seem to be a singularly solitary
animal; and a large part of the burrows which they make, and which we see, and perhaps fall
into, are never occupied by them as domicils, but are made in pursuit of food.
Of the considerable number of badgers and badger skins which I saw at the west, scarce any
two were of precisely the same color. Some were of a pale dirty brown, while others were of a
rich dark chestnut, with the hairs of the back tipped with silver. When irritated, the badger
shakes up his thick coat of hair, as the owl and hen their feathers, in order to appear as large
and formidable as possible. At such times, the back is flattened and the sides expanded, the long
hair projecting like the shell of a turtle or the eaves of a house. The hair is so arranged also
as to display the variety of color to the greatest advantage, and under such circumstances a good
specimen of a badger becomes a very handsome animal.
Our specimen of badger was collected at Klamath lake.
PROCYON HERNANDEZII, Wagler.
Black-footed Raccoon.
Procyon hernandezii, WAQLER, Isis, XXIV, 1831, 514.
WIEGMANN, in Archiv, III, 1, 1837, 367.-IB. Annals and Mag. N. H. I, 1833, 133.
WAGNER, Suppl. Schreber, II, 1841, 157; also in Schreber Säugt. III, pl. cxliii, A, (interpolated.)
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 212.
? Procyon nivea, Gray, Charlesw. Mag. N. H. I, 1837, 580. (Albino.)
SP. CH.-Larger than P. lotor. General color greyish white, with a tinge of yellowish ; long hairs tipped with black.
Under fur dark brown. A large oblique black patch on the side of the face continuous with a paler one under the chin..
Sides and under part of the muzzle, posterior margin of the cheek patch, and the ear, whitish. Tail tapering to tip, with
five or six annuli and the tip black; the annuli half as wide only as the rusty whitish interspaces. Hind feet exceeding
four inches; the upper surface mostly dark brown. Naked part of the soles three inches.
Varies in lighter colors and substitution of rusty brown or chestnut for the black tints.
This raccoon, regarded as distinct from the eastern species, inhabits all parts of California,
Oregon, and Washington Territories ; specimens having been obtained from widely separated
ZOOLOGY.
47
localities, and its characteristic track observed in almost every place to which game resorted to
drink. It is, however, less abundant on the Pacific slope than is the eastern species in most
parts of the valley of the Mississippi ; being confined to the wooded districts, and found most
abundantly in the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada, in California. Considerable numbers are sold
in the San Francisco market, to be eaten, commanding a price of from one to three dollars each.
I could not learn that the skin was ever made an article of traffic in California. I saw a number
of raccoons in confinement in San Francisco, all of which exhibited precisely the movements,
the habits, the attitudes, and the temper of the eastern raccoon, and I noticed no striking
peculiarity of form or color.
Specimens were obtained in the San Francisco market.
URSUS HORRIBILIS, Ord.
Grizzly Bear.
Ursus horribilis, ORD, Guthrie's Geography, 2d Am. Ed. II, 1815, 291, 299.
Ursus ferox, (" LEWIS & CLARK,”') RICHARDSON, F. B. A. I, 1829, 24; pl. i.
AUD. & Bach, N. A. Quad. III, 1853, 141; pl. cxxxi
SP. Cu.--Size very large. Tail shorter than ears. Hair coarse, darkest near the base, with light tips. An erect mane
between the shoulders. Feet very large ; fore claws twice as long as the hinder ones. A dark dorsal stripe from occiput to
tail, and another lateral one on each side along the flanks, obscured and nearly concealed by the light tips; intervals be-
tween the stripes lighter. All the hairs on the body brownish-yellow or hoary at tips. Region around ears dusky; legs
nearly black. Muzzle pale, without a darker dorsal stripe.
To the westward of the Rocky mountain range, the grizzly bear seems to have appropriated
to himself the southern of our Pacific provinces, leaving the more northern territories to his less
powerful congeners, the black and brown bears. The reasons for this peculiar distribution of
species are not very obvious, but it is evidently an exhibition of that system in nature which
provides by giving a wide range of habit to the different animals for the development of a large
amount of animal life in every important division of the almost infinitely varied surface of the
earth. That the habitat of the grizzly is not determined by temperature we know, for his thick
and shaggy coat affords a better defence against cold than the finer and thinner fur of the black
bear, and in the Rocky mountains the range of the grizzly extends at least as far north as the
line of the British possessions.
Differences in the food of the two species, where the food is so nearly identical, seem hardly
adequate to account for their distribution. It appears to me rather to turn on the more sylvan
habit of the black bear, his greater aptness at climbing, and his evident preference for a country
covered by a heavy growth of timber. He is the bear of the forest, while the grizzly is the bear
of the “chapparal ;'the latter choosing an open country, whether plain or mountain, whose
surface is covered with dense thickets of " manzanita,'' or scrub oak—which furnish him with
by tangled thickets of grape vines and wild plum.
Whatever the cause, the fact is unquestionable, that west of the Rocky mountains the grizzly
bear becomes very rare after passing the parallel of 42°. They are rather unpleasantly abundant
in many parts of the Coast Range, and Sierra Nevada, in California, where large numbers are
annually killed by the hunters, and where not a few of the hunters are annually killed by the
bears. About Shingletown and McCumber's flat, northeast of Fort Reading, and around the
48
ZOOLOGY.
en
base of Lassen's butte, they are very numerous. This region is partially covered with a forest
of rather scattered trees of immense size, of sugar and yellow pine, western balsam fir and liboce-
dras, with wide intervals covered with a dense growth of manzanita, ceanothus, and low scrub
oak. These thickets are the favorite haunts of the bear, and are intersected in every direction
by their well-beaten paths.
After crossing the divide and descending into the interior basin, from which Pit river issues
through its lower cañon, grizzly bear - signs” became more rare, but were noticed on every
day's march till we reached Klamath lake. Here the country becomes more productive, the
mountain slopes being covered with bushes of service berry, gooseberry of several kinds, plum
and cherry trees, all loaded with fruit, upon which the numerous tracks proved many bears
were feeding.
At San Francisco a large number of “grizzlies” are kept in confinement in different parts of
the city, and while there I frequently amused myself by watching them and studying their
habits. Two of these were quite large, and said to weigh, respectively, eight hundred and one
thousand pounds; and they, with a cougar, an elk, a navajo, (four-horned sheep,) an ocelot, and
a bald eagle, went to make up a kind of menagerie, where I frequently spent an hour.
These grizzlies were under perfect control, and were knocked about entirely without ceremony
by the showman, yet unresentingly, and he would even go so far as to ride upon their backs.
o give interest to each day's entertainment by getting up a wrestling match between
the bears, when they would tumble one another about with considerable spirit, yet usually very
goodnaturedly. The reward which more than any other stimulated them to effort was tobacco,
of which they seemed very fond. If undisturbed, however, they were very lethargic, lying the
whole day through, each rolled up into a huge ball of fur, nearly as high as the animal when
standing.
A very beautiful bear, eighteen months old, and weighing nearly five hundred pounds, was
confined by a long chain near a slaughter house, in the environs of San Francisco, and just
beside the road I was every day compelled to travel, He had always been well fed, was very
fat, and, for a bear, very good natured. Every day some one of the butchers would have a
wrestling match with him, into the sport of which he would enter with great zest, yet never
evincing anything like ferocity; indeed, to all mankind, he had been, so far, entirely harmless.
Not so, however, toward the pigs. For pork he seemed to have a special fondness, and he
exhausted all his bearish cunning to draw within the circle, of which his chain was the radius,
the vagrant shoats which ranged around the slaughter house. He would leave his food half
eaten or untasted, that it might attract the pigs, while he, retreating under the cart to which
he was chained, watched their motions with all the silent cunning of a cat. Woe to the unlucky
pig which, drawn by the bait, came within that magic circle ! he ceased to grow old from
that hour.
Like most bears he was also very fond of sweets, of which a poor laborer, living in the vicinity,
had satisfactory, or rather unsatisfactory proof. Sometimes the bear would break his slender
chain, and range about the place at his own free will, doing no harm, but sometimes frightening
people, until he was caught and tied up again. One day, when the bear was at liberty, this
poor laborer was passing, just at evening, with his hard-earned pay converted into a sack of
sugar, which he carried on his shoulder to his family. He heard a step behind him, to which
he paid no attention till he felt violent hands laid on his sack of sugar. Turning round, what
was his consternation to find himself face to face with a large bear. Of course he was frightened.
ZOOLOGY.
49
dropped his bag and ran. When afterwards he returned, having gained courage and assistance,
as might have been anticipated, the sack was empty.
The track of the hind foot of the grizzly bear is very like that made by the foot of a negro;
one of the thousand things which give the bear a kind of human character. His attitudes and
ike use of the fore leg, his fun and malice, and, if we may believe the hunters,
his festive games, wrestling matches and dances, are very human.
URSUS AMERICANUS.
Black Bear; Cinnamon Bear.
Ursus americanus, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 225, 228.
The black hear inhabits all portions of Washington and Oregon Territories, extending its
range into California only near the coast. Near Fort Jones it has been occasionally killed, but
south of that point it is replaced by the grizzly. In passing from California to Oregon, by way
of the Klamath lakes, we found no traces of it till we reached the headwaters of the Des
Chutes river; there we saw no grizzly “sign,” but the black bear was evidently very abundant.
Several were seen by the members of our party, but they were very shy, and none were killed.
The light volcanic soil, composed of disintegrated pumice, of the region bordering the main fork
of the Des Chutes, as it issues from the Cascade mountains, sustains little vegetation except the
yellow and spruce pines, (P. brachyptera and P. contorta,) and receives and retains the impress
of the feet of passing animals with almost the fidelity of snow. On this surface, therefore, we
had an authentic record of the fauna of the region. The elk, the mule, the white-tailed deer,
the antelope, the badger, the red fox, the coyote and large gray wolf, Townsend's hare, the
artemisia hare, all had there made their marks--even the striped squirrels, Spermophilus
lateralis and Tamias townsendii, had recorded their visits to the bushes of red gooseberry and
ceanothus, which furnish them with food. Among these hieroglyphics, by far the most con-
spicuous, and perhaps most numerous, were those in which the black bear had told us of
his various wanderings. His tracks, deeply sunk in the yielding surface, resembled those of
a horse, only set more closely together; and during the interval that had elapsed since winter's
rains and snows had obliterated all former records, the bear had passed and repassed so fre-
quently that the ground in some localities was tracked up like a barn yard.
The subsistence of the bears of the region I have described is evidently, for the most part,
vegetable. The manzanita, (Arbutus laurifolia,) the wild plum and cherry, which fruit profusely
and are very low, and especially the whortleberry, which covers whole hill-sides in the Cascade
mountains, furnishing an unheard of quantity of large and fine fruit; all these assist in making
up their bill of fare. Rarely, too, we saw trees of the yellow pine bearing marks of bears' teeth,
where they had torn off the bark to get at the succulent inner layer, which is capable of sustain-
ing life, and to which the Indians very generally have recourse when pressed by hunger. I
have kaown the black bear of the eastern States strip off the bark of the hemlock spruce
(A. canadensis) for the same purpose.
The brown or cinnamon bear, generally regarded by naturalists as a variety of the black
species, inhabits the same territory and shares the habits and the food of the black bear.
I made every effort to secure good specimens of the brown bear in order to settle the question of
its relations, for the hunters and Indians whom I consulted generally regarded them as distinct,
but I could only obtain the prepared skins. Lieutenant Crook, United States army, a thorough
sportsman and a careful and accurate observer, tells me that he killed a brown bear in Scott's
valley, California, in a tree, engaged in tearing off a branch from which a hornet's nest was sus-
7 BB
50
ZOOLOGY.
a
pended, evidently designing to possess himself of the nest that he might eat the young insects
which it contained. This is precisely the habit of the black bear, to which the cinnamon bear,
if distinct, must be very closely allied The color, though a striking peculiarity, is subject to
considerable variation; and the texture of the coat is very similar in black and brown bears,
and very different from the thicker, coarser, and rougher covering of the grizzly. I saw a black
bear skin, brought by Lieutenant Day, United States army, from the head of Salmon river,
Oregon Territory, which was as soft and lustrous as silk.
The size of the black bear of the west is about the same as in the eastern States; the brown
bear is represented as being rather larger and longer limbed. Both are hunted with much less
fear and caution than the formidable grizzlies.
OTARIA -- _ ?
The Sea Lion.
This large seal is quite abundant on the few rocky islands which lie off the coast of Oregon
and California. In passing from Crescent City to San Francisco we saw immense numbers of
them on the detached rocks a few miles from shore, near Cape Mendocino. Some of these rocks
were covered with them, basking in the warm morning sunshine. As the steamer approached,
they began to be disturbed, moving about with considerable facility, and making a hoarse kind
of growling or barking in chorus ; in their movements, their color, and their cries, resembling a
crowd of black and brown bears. As we came nearer, most of them scrambled to the edge of
the rocks and threw themselves, sometimes from the height of eight or ten feet, into the sea,
one or two, perhaps old or disabled individuals, usually remaining and keeping up
growl while we were passing. In the water they still kept together, showing only their rela-
tively small heads, swimming and diving with great ease and rapidity. There was considerable
diversity of size and color among them. Some were evidently quite young, and others larger
than the largest grizzly bear. he variation of color was from dark brown, almost black, to
light fulvous.
At the Farallones islands, forty miles off the coast, and opposite San Francisco, this, with
several other species, is very abundant. They there attain a weight of two thousand pounds
and over, and are exceedingly ferocious. During the nuptial season the fierce and bloody
battles between the males make of these islands a perfect pandemonium, and all the old males,
bloody and scarred, carry on their sides and shoulders evidences of their recent or remote
conflicts.
They are sometimes killed with fire arms, though, from their great size and tenacity of life,
it is rare that a mortal wound is inflicted. While we were in San Francisco, in June, 1855,
Dr. Wm. O. Ayres, of that city, visited the Farallones, bringing back a variety of interesting
matter, both of specimens and facts, illustrative of the fauna of those islands. Amon other
things, the skull of a sea lion, in reference to which, as he presented it to the California
academy, he made the following remarks:
" This specimen is of interest as illustrating, in one particular, the habits of these animals.
The left zygomatic arch has been perforated by a bullet, and the lower part of the left inferior
maxillary bone shattered by another; both of these injuries having been received so long since
that the action of the absorbents has almost smoothed the splintered edges of the bones. Inside
of the wound of the zygoma was found the piece of lead which had caused it, and which was at
once recognized, from certain peculiarities of form, as one which had been fired, without fataj
effect, at a sea lion, on the same rocks, in the summer of 1854. We have thus a demonstration
ZOOLOGY.
51
no
an
that these huge seals return, in some instances at least, year after year to the same localities.
They leave the Farallones in November, and return in May, being absent about six months.
How far they migrate during that interval we have, at present, no means of determining. The
one from which the skull was taken was estimated to weigh about a ton."
PHOCA —
Seal.
This seal penetrates San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisan bays, and even follows up the
Sacramento river for some distance.
While duck shooting on San Pablo bay, we were many times amused, and sometimes a little
startled, to see a round head, as large as that of a man, suddenly and silently raised above the
water near us, and a pair of goggle eyes, just enough human to make them horrible, staring at
us, recalling all sorts of stories of strangled innocence rising to confront the murderer. Usually,
after taking a good look at us, the head would sink as silently as it rose, leaving us in a pleasant
state of uncertainty whether it was ghost or demon that had formed the apparition. After a
longer or shorter interval that bullet head and goggle eyes would appear on the other side of
the boat, rising and sinking in the same ghostly way, and giving no hint, but lea
imagination what might be appended to this curious head piece.
A similar apparition startled me one quiet Sabbath morning when sitting on the trap rocks
at the Dalles of the Columbia; the more, as I should as soon have expected to see a whale as a
seal at that distance from the Pacific and above the Cascades. .
DIDELPHYS CALIFORNICA, Bennett.
California Possum.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Zool. 1857, 233.
Guided only by my own observations, and by what I could gather from verbal testimony, I
should have said that the opossum does not exist in California or Oregon. We have, however,
the positive evidence of other witnesses that it does exist there; and, therefore, my negative
evidence goes for nothing unless as an indication of its rarity.
On the light volcanic soil of southeastern Oregon, over which we travelled for days together,
a surface which takes a track almost as well as snow, though I looked carefully for the tracks of
the opossum, so peculiar that they could hardly be mistaken or overlooked, I never saw it in all
that region; nor did any of our party.
I am therefore convinced that if the opossum exists west of the Rocky mountains, it is much
more rare than in the eastern States.
SCIURUS FOSSOR, Peale.
California Gray Squirrel.
Sciurus fossor, PEALE, Mamm. and Birds U. S. Ex. Ex. 1848, 55.
Aud. &. Bach. N. Am. Quad. III, 1854, 264; pl. cliii, f. 2.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 264.
Sciurus heermanni, LECONTE, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. VI, Sept. 1852, 149.
SP. CH.--Size of S. vulpinus, but more slender. Tail vertebræ as long as the body ; with the hairs, much longer. Five
upper molars. Above, grizzled bluish gray and black ; beneath, white, without any differently colored separating line.
Tail black, with the exterior white; the whole under surface finely grizzled. Back of the ears and adjacent tuft on the
occiput, chestnut.
This large and handsome squirrel inhabits the pine forests of all parts of California in which
pine forests exist. We did not observe it in any part of Oregon, and if it is found there it
52
ZOOLOGY.
must be rare. It is nowhere very abundant, but is rather common in the coniferous forests of
northern California, where it is hunted by the scattered residents with great zest, both for the
sport which it affords, and because of its excellence for the table.
It is eminently a tree squirrel, scarcely descending to the ground but for food and water, and
it subsists almost exclusively on the seeds of the largest and loftiest pine known, P. Lambertiana,
the “sugar pine" of the western coast. The cones of this magnificent tree are from twelve to
sixteen inches in length, and contain each one hundred or more seeds of the size and shape of
the small white bean of commerce. These cones would be unmanageable by the squirrel in the
tree, and he has the habit so common in the family of dropping them to the ground, where he
can dissect them at leisure. This he usually does in the early morning, climbing to the
extremities of the topmost branches where the cones hang, and cutting off a sufficient number
to supply his wants for the day. He then descends, and commencing at the base of the cone,
tears off the scales in succession, and skilfully possesses himself of the seeds which they conceal.
He is, however, compelled to supply other wants than his own, for the smaller pine squirrel, s.
douglasii, and the ground squirrel, Tamias townsendii, appropriate a large share of his booty.
When oak trees are near and acorns are ripe, he has recourse to them for subsistence, as often
as opportunity offers, robbing the woodpeckers of their stores, in which, also, he has the active
co-operation of his more diminutive congeners.
From the fact that he feeds upon the ground it has been supposed that he was less active and
less fitted for climbing than most tree squirrels. This, I think, is not true. He is exceedingly
quick and graceful in his movements, and if less frequently seen to spring from tree to tree
than the black and grey squirrels of the eastern States, it is because he inhabits coniferous trees,
which are remarkable for the insignificance of the branches compared with the size of the
trunk, the limbs never stretching out and interlocking, as those of the oak and maple and other
trees in which our more common species live.
Possessing all the vivacity of the genus, his size, the neatness and beauty of his colors, and
especially the graceful curl of his long and distichous tail, render him, perhaps, the finest
squirrel found in our country.
Specimens were obtained from Stockton and Fort Jones.
11
SCIURUS DOUGLASII, Bach.
Oregon Red Squirrel.
Sciurus douglasii, ("GRAY,'') BACHMAN, Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond. VI, 1838, 99.-IB. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. VIII.
(“BACH.”) AUD & Bach. N. Am. Quad I, 1849, 370; pl. xlviii.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 275.
Sciurus suckleyi, BAIRD, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila, VII, April, 1855, 333.
Size that of Sciurus hudsonius, or a little larger. Ears well tufted; tail shorter than the body, scarcely flattened. Soles
naked in the centre. Above, dull rusty, and black, mixed; the latter quite predominant; beneath, clear bright buff,
without mixture of dark or annulated hairs. A dark stripe on the sides. Tail dull chesnut centrally, darker above; then
black and margined all round with rusty white. Hairs at tip of tail entirely black, except at their extremity.
More northern specimens in winter have the soles densely hairy to the toes, the fur much fuller and softer, the under
parts with dusky annulations, the general hue grayer. Size about that of S. hudsonius, or a little larger. Head short,
broad. Whiskers longer than the head; black. Thumb, a mere callosity; fingers well developed, the central two longest
and nearly equal; the inner rather longer than the outer ; claws large, compressed, and much curved; palms naked. On
the hind feet the inner toe is shortest, reaching only to the base of the claw of the outer, which comes next in size ; the
fourth is longest, the third and second little shorter. Claws all large and much curved. In summer the soles are naked,
except along the edges and the extreme heel ; in other words, there is a narrow central line of naked skin from near the
ZOOLOGY.
53
heel; they are more hairy in winter. The ears are moderate, with short close hairs on their concavity; the back of the
ear is covered with long hairs, those near the upper margin longest, and projecting beyond nearly five lines in some speci-
mens; these tufts are nearly black. The tail is small, shorter than the body, moderately flattened; the hairs rather short,
and, as on the rest of the body, coarse and stiff.
Among the magnificent trees of the Cascade mountains, near the head of the Des Chutes river,
some new to science and all novel to us, and feeding on their seeds, were numbers of, as I at
first supposed, the same little pine squirrel we had so often seen in California, somewhat
changed, however, I thought, both in color and habits ; its color paler and less brilliant, and
having, in a great degree, lost the black line of the side ; in manners, far more familiar. The
first I attributed to climate; the second, to his ignorance of the usages of civilized society; he
not having learned that man wages a relentless war against just such beautiful and harmless
little animals as himself. These differences, if not specific, certainly indicated a different
variety.
I was sometimes greatly amused at the antics of one of these little fellows. As I approached
the tree on which he sat, instead of retreating, he would sit still and scold, or even come out on
a branch within a few feet of my head, as though curious to examine, and determined to drive
away this strange animal which had invaded his solitude. Perched on the end of the branch,
constantly scolding and twisting from side to side, he would balance himself on his feet as
though about to spring upon me; then, his fears getting the better of his valor, he would
scamper away and hide himself behind the trunk. Reassured by a few moments of quiet on my
part, he would bristle up and again rush out to the end of the limb, apparently finally resolved
to throw himself down upon me. This he would never do, however; and at length, having
failed to produce any impression upon me by his graces and grimaces, his bluster and bravado,
he would scramble up the tree and into some hole, apparently in intense disgust, scolding as
long as I was near.
SCIURUS DOUGLASII, Var.
California Pine Squirrel.
This little squirrel, the Californian representative of the red squirrel of the eastern States,
(S. Hudsonicus,) is quite equal to that species in activity. It is found in the evergreen forests
throughout California and southern Oregon, perhaps extending its range to the Columbia,
though we found it replaced in the Cascade mountains by another variety much resembling it,
but less highly colored.
This little fellow is everywhere known as the pine squirrel, though the name is not strictly
correct, as it lives on almost all kinds of evergreen which furnish edible seeds. Evergreen
squirrel would be better, but that some hypercritical person might object to calling that ever-
green which was never green. The name pine squirrel might, however, be disapproved of on the
same grounds, as I can testify that he is far from being a wooden animal. Let us, however,
call him pine squirrel, at least for the present, and follow him to his haunts.
In the forests of redwood, (Sequoia sempervirens) on the Coast Range, north of San Fran-
cisco, he finds a most agreeable residence; and among the great sugar pines (P. Lambertiana)
of the Sierra Nevada and the Trinity mountains he is well known, and is a favorite symbol of
rapidity with the epithet-loving hunters of the frontier, having, in their phraseology, taken the
place of chain lightning, than which he is regarded as a shade swifter. He is usually shy, and
frequently difficult to shoot. I have sometimes, while moving stealthily through the forest,
54
ZOOLOGY.
surprised one of these little fellows seated and engaged in his favorite occupation, tearing to
pieces a pine cone, and surrounded by bushels of chips, indicative of his industry. At such
times he utters a short, sharp, solitary bark, something like the chirp of the striped ground
squirrel, but louder and harsher. His attitude is the embodiment of grace, and his erect ears,
his full, black, brilliant eye, the neatness of his colors-greenish grey above, red below, with a
sharply defined black line separating the two-altogether render him one of the prettiest of the
genus; so pretty is he, indeed, that my gun has often refused to do its duty before such a
sprightly innocent so entirely in my power.
I have several times watched these little fellows while gathering their food. Like the larger
pine squirrel, their habit is to go into the tree and cut off and throw down a number of the
cones, and then descending to tear them up at leisure. Unlike S. fossor, however, this squirrel
has a burrow either under or in fallen logs, where the pine seeds are carried and stored for
winter. By this habit, it is allied to the ground squirrel, (Tamias 4-vittatus, which is its con-
stant associate in the region which it inhabits.
TAMIAS.
Striped Ground Squirrel.
TAMIAS TOWNSENDII.
Townsend's Striped Squirrel.
Tamias Townsendii, BACHMAN, Jour. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. VIII, 1, 1839, 68.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 301.
Aud. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 159 ; pl. xx.
Tamias hindsii, GRAY, Annals & Mag. N. H. X, 1842, 264.
Tamias cooperii, BAIRD, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. VII, April, 1855, 334.
SP. CH.-Larger than T. striatus. Tail, with hairs, nearly or quite as long as the body. Sides of head striped. Above
and on the sides rufous brown, with five dark stripes reaching to the tail, the intervals between which are scarcely or but
seldom paler than the ground color; beneath, dull white. Ears dusky brown, hoary posteriorly. Tail bright chestnut
beneath, margined with ashy white, within which is a band of black. Length, five to six inches. Hind foot, 1.40 to 1.50.
Varies in rather paler colors, ash colored interspaces, and sometimes the back with black hairs interspersed, so as to ob-
scure, or nearly conceal, the dorsal stripes.
TAMIAS QUADRIVITTATUS.
Missouri Striped Squirrel.
Sciurus quadrivittatus, Say, in Long's Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 45.
Tamias quadrivitiatus, AUD. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 195; pl. xxiv.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 297.
Tamias minimus, BACHMAN, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. VIII, I, 1839, 71.
SP. CH.—Tail, with the hairs, nearly or quite as long as the body. A greyish white stripe along the top of the head, with
branches passing above and below the eye. The stripe bordered above and below by darker ones, and separated behind the
eve by a dark line. A grey or hoary patch behind the ears. Sides of body deep ferruginous; back with five about equi-
distant dark stripes, nearly black on the posterior part of the body, their intervals forming four greyish white lines of similar
dimensions to them. Tail, when flattened out, ferruginous externally, then black, then ferruginous. Body beneath, dirty
greyish white. Length, four to five inches. Hind foot, 1.20 inch.
These little striped squirrels we found in the pine woods from Fort Reading to the Columbia,
and I doubt if any day passed during our journey in which they were not seen by some of our
party. Their cry is somewhat like that of our eastern species, T. striatus, but not so loud, nor
so frequently repeated. In California, their subsistence is derived from the oaks and pines, and
from the seeds of the everywhere abundant "manzanita.” In northern California and Oregon,
ZOOLOGY.
55
in summer and fall, they feed on the seeds of the pines and firs to some extent; but their great
storehouse of provisions is formed by the thickets of large species of Ceanothus, (C. laevigatus and
C. velutinus,) the seeds of which are the favorite food of all the ground squirrels inhabiting, the
region where they grow.
In the Cascade mountains are immense stretches of country where the pine and fir forests
have been destroyed by fire—the trees not burned, but killed, and all thrown down by the wind,
covering the ground with an almost impenetrable labyrinth of interlocking trunks. Over this
surface spring dense and continuous thickets of Ceanothus, and great numbers of clumps of
gooseberry bushes, which are loaded and reddened by an unparalleled profusion of large scarlet
berries, very beautiful to the eye, but perfectly flat and insipid to the taste. These thickets are
the favorite haunts of the little ground squirrels, and they, with the ruffled grouse, find good
use for all these scarlet berries. My attention was first called to the fact of their feeding on
these berries by the blood red imprints of the squirrels' feet on the smooth and barkless trunks
of the fallen pines ; and as these tracks multiplied, I began to wonder at the ferocity
squirrels of this region, which covered the country with blood. As the gooseberry bushes be-
came more numerous, I detected the connexion between their fruit and the crimson tracks, and
at the same time found a good reason for the production in such extreme abundance of fruit so
entirely useless to man, and apparently so little relished by the man-like bears.
SPERMOPHILUS DOUGLASII.
Columbia Ground Squirrel.
Arctomys (Spermophilus) douglasii, Rich. F. B. A. I, 1829, 172.
Spermophilus douglasii, Aud. and BACH. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 373; pl. xlix.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 309.
SP. CH.-Similar in most all respects to S. beecheyi, but with the space on the nape and back, between the light colored
more lateral patches, of a uniform dark brown, nearly black.
The “ ground squirrels," as the different species of Spermophilus are commonly called, are, to
a stranger in California, a new and interesting feature of the zoology of the country. He has
probably heard of the villages of "prairie dogs”' on the plains of central North America, and has
listened with interest or incredulity to the stories of these strange communities made up of such
incongruous materials as mammals, birds and reptiles, spermophiles, owls, and rattlesnakes.
If he should happen at any time to traverse the valley of the Sacramento, in California, he will
be no lover of nature if he be not gratified, and even delighted, to see with his own eyes, and to
examine closely, the villages of owls and spermophiles which he will be sure to pass.
These squirrel colonies, composed of individuals of the species S. douglassii and S. beecheyi,
are not organized on the same plan or in similar places with those of the prairie dog (Cynomys
ludovicianus.) The prairie dog inhabits open prairies, its villages being composed of closely
set burrows, frequently spread over a surface of miles in extent. This species is not found in
California, where the spermophiles are all long-tailed, and more or less arboreal in their habits.
Nor are they, by any means, as social as the prairie dogs; a single individual being frequently
found living at a distance from all others, usually under some tree, into which he often climbs,
to which he betakes himself on the least alarm.
We first saw the spermophiles in considerable numbers in the belts of timber which border
56
ZOOLOGY.
cross, with sinuous courses, the plain which forms the western half of the Sacramento valley,
till they meet the Sacramento and into it discharge themselves. The Sacramento valley here,
as generally, is nearly level and destitute of trees, except such as border the streams. These
belts of timber vary in width, from a single line of trees along the water's edge, to strips of
forest one and even two miles wide on either side. Except the willows and sycamores on the
river bottoms, these timber belts are composed of magnificent oaks of a species peculiar to Cali-
fornia, (Quercus longiglandis,) which has a wide spreading growth like the English oak, as it
grows at Hampton Court and Windsor.
The trunk, rarely less than two, frequently seven or eight feet in diameter, rises eight, ten
or twelve feet from the ground, and then divides into huge arms, which throw themselves out
at right angles, and, bending low to the ground, cover a surface of one hundred or more feet in
diameter. These trees are not thickly set, but usually scattered over the turf-covered ground
in graceful groups of giants, whose branches touch each other with intervening open glades,
sunny and smooth, of one, two, or three acres. Under these oaks not a bush can be seen; and
below the limbs, where the trees are thickest, there is nothing to impede the view over the grass-
covered surface but the colossal trunks which gather in the perspective and limit vision. Here
the spermophiles live in thousands ; under each tree a sub-colony which have, parent and
child, pierced the earth with their burrows until they have thrown up, of the excavated
material, a mound, not often more than from twelve to eighteen inches in height, yet very
perceptible to the eye.
These squirrels are long-tailed and long-eared for spermophiles, and have much the form and
action of the true squirrels. They are very timid, starting at every noise, and on every intru-
sion into their privacy dropping from the trees, or hurrying in from their wanderings, and
scudding to their holes with all possible celerity; arrived at the entrance, however, they stop to
reconnoitre, standing erect as squirrels rarely, and spermophiles habitually do, and looking
about to satisfy themselves of the nature and designs of the intruder. Should this second view
justify their flight, or a motion or step forward still further alarm them, with a peculiar move-
ment, like that of a diving duck, they plunge into their burrows, not to venture out till all
cause of fear is past. Should you in the meantime have seated yourself with your back against
a tree, and have remained for a time as immovable as the trunk against which you lean, you
will soon see sundry little heads protruded from the burrows, with as many pairs of eyes and ears
skilled to detect the least sign of danger from their equally feared enemies, the coyote, the Cali-
fornia vulture, the red-shouldered and red-tailed hawk, and man himself. If, however, your
silence and quietness persuade them that you are none of these, they will swarm forth from their
holes, and at first timidly, but, gaining confidence, more fearlessly, engage in all the sports
and antics for which the Sciuridae are noted, and in which none excel the species under con-
sideration. It is a pretty sight, and one to which I have often treated myself, to sit down
quietly under these old oaks and watch the squirrels running about over the grass and trees,
gamboling and playing together. As far as the eye could reach through the vista the sprightly
movements of these innocent animals could be discerned.
Their most important element of subsistence is the acorn, which the trees produce plentifully,
and which the squirrels store up in their holes. In the absence of acorns, they have recourse to
such roots and seeds as they can glean in the vicinity of their habitations. In the neighborhood
of cultivated grounds they inflict material injury on the growing crops; one farmer, on Cache
creek, telling me that the squirrels had eaten up full half his wheat. The number then swarm-
ing over his fields and fences was incalculable.
ZOOLOGY.
S. douglasii is a brighter and handsomer species than S. beecheyi, with which it is commonly
confounded. It has, too, a dark, almost heart-shaped spot on the shoulders, which is wanting
in S. beecheyi. It is apparently more boreal in its range, as the most common species about San
Francisco and Santa Clara is S. beecheyi, while in the Upper Sacramento valley, and the Klamath
lake basin we found only S. douglasii. I saw in the pedregal region of Pit river a smaller
species, different from both, and possibly new, but I could not secure specimens.
The owl which lives with the spermophiles is Athene hypugaea, the same found with the
prairie dogs. Rattlesnakes we did not see with them, but they are common enough everywhere,
and may live with the owls and squirrels. The idea so prevalent that the owls and squirrels
occupy the same burrow at the same time is probably erroneous, the owl generally taking pos-
session of the deserted burrows of the squirrels. The rattlesnakes are probably not very obser-
vant of the rights of property, but make themselves at home wherever they find comfortable
lodgings and meals furnished at the cost of the least labor to themselves.
Specimens were collected at Klamath lake, 0. T.
SPERMOPHILUS BEECHEYI.
California Ground Squirrel.
Arctomys (Spermophilus) beecheyi, RICHARDSON, Fauna Boreali-Americana I, 1829, 170; plate xii, B.
Spermophilus beecheyi, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 307.
SP. CH.-Size of the cat squirrel, S. cinereus. Ears large, prominent. Tail more than two-thirds as long as the body.
Above, mixed with black, yellowish brown, and brown in indistinct mottlings; beneath, pale yellowish brown. Sides of head
and neck, hoary yellowish, more or less lined with black; a more distinct stripe of the same, from behind the ears on each
side, extending above the shoulders to the middle of the body. Ears black on their inner face. Dorsal space between the
stripes scarcely darker than the rest of the back. Length, 9 to 11 inches ; tail, with hairs, 7 to 9. Hind feet, 2 to 2. 30 inches.
In speaking of S. douglasii, I have given the generalities of the habits of both species, for
they are nearly the same. The two species are not distinguished by the people of the country,
and are frequently found in the same place. The dark spot on the back of S. douglasii, with
its more northern habit, will serve to distinguish it. The colors of S. beecheyi are all less bright
and handsome than those of the allied species, of which the dappling is clean white on a dark
ground, while in S. beecheyi the colors are much as in Cynomys ludovicianus, all dull and dirty.
The flesh of both species is fat, tender, and well flavored, and usually regarded as preferable
to that of the tree squirrels. It is, however, much more rarely brought to the market of San
Francisco than Sciurus fossor, I was told, because so many of them had been poisoned by the
farmers. To rid themselves of so great pests, they have used strychnine freely, thereby exciting
a natural distrust of any which might be offered for sale.
SPERMOPHILUS LATERALIS.
Say's Squirrel.
Sciurus lateralis, Say, Long's Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 46. (Arkansas river, lat. 380.25; long. 1050.20; July 16.)
Spermophilus lateralis, AuD. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. III, 1853, 62 ; pl. cxiv.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 312.
SP. CH.--Ears conspicuous, high. Tail, with hairs, more than half as long as head and body; depressed. Middle region
of the back finely grizzled yellowish grey and black, without any lines; on each side two distinct black stripes, enclosing a
yellowish white one, all of about the same diameter. Posterior half of the thigh and rump dark chestnut brown, without
stripes. Top of the head chestnut. Under surface of tail bright chestnut; margined with brownish yellow, within which
is a black band. Length about 7 inches ; tail with hairs, about 4; hind foot, from heel, 1.42 inches.
This Tamias-like species was first described by Say, and not obtained by any of the recent
government expeditions till we found it in the Des Chutes basin.
ozled yellowish grey melameter. Posterior han etnut; margi
8 BB
58
ZOOLOGY.
The markings, the motions, and the habits of S. lateralis are very much like those of the
striped squirrel, (T. quadrivittatus,) with which it is found. It is, however, more closely confined
to the ledges of rock than is any species of Tamias; indeed, I never saw it except when on or
immediately about piles of trap rock; and its preference for such localities, its unfailing habit of
betaking itself to them for refuge when alarmed, and its facility in climbing over large loose
rocks, make it decidedly a rock squirrel.
The specimens which I killed were feeding with the Tamias on the seeds of a large Ceanothus,
(C. laevigatus,) and were very fat and well flavored, as I can testify from actual e
we were at that time at a distance from the main party, and entirely out of provisions, except
flour and rice, and were glad to get squirrels and trout, though both small, to add to our bill
of fare. They were obtained on the upper Des Chutes, in Oregon.
APLODONTIA LEPORINA, Rich.
Sewellel.
1
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 353.
This singular animal, called by Richardson the Sewellel, seems limited to a narrow district when
compared with most of those which, with it, inhabit the region it occupies. In Washington Ter-
ritory it is found from the coast to the Rocky mountains. It is doubtful whether it will be
found south of the Columbia, either on the coast range, in the Willamette valley, or on the
Cascades. Eastward, however, toward the base of the Rocky mountains, it may occur. I have
seen two specimens, one taken near Shoalwater bay, Washington Territory, by Dr. J. G.
Cooper, and the other obtained near the base of the Rocky mountains, which were absolutely
black, presenting a striking difference in color from those obtained by Lewis & Clark, Douglas,
and others, which were brown, and of nearly the shade of the muskrat.
CASTOR CANADENSIS, Kuhl.
The Beaver.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 355.
The beaver once inhabited all portions of the globe lying in the northern temperate zone;
yet from England, continental Europe, China, and all the eastern portion of the United States, it
has been entirely exterminated, and a war so universal and relentless has been waged upon this
defenceless animal, his great intelligence has been so generally opposed by the intelligence of man,
that it has seemed certain, unless some kind Providence should interpose, that the Castor, like
his gigantic congener, the Castoroides, would soon be found only in a fossil state. Happily,
that Providence did interpose, through a certain ingenious somebody who first suggested the
use of silk in place of fur, for the covering of hats. The beaver were not yet exterminated
from western America ; and now since they are not worth the killing” in those inhospitable
regions where there is no encouragement for American enterprise or cupidity, we may hope that
they will always there retain existence in a home exclusively their own,
In the streams flowing from the Rocky, the Blue, and the Cascade mountains—the old
rostamping ground” of Bill Williams and that host of Blackfoot-hating, death-defying, “moun-
tain men,” whose adventures and escapes, half fiction and half fact, cover so broad a page of
modern story—the sagacious beavers are still numerous; but it was in the fastnesses of the Cas-
cades, one hundred and fifty miles south of the Columbia, in the clear, cold streams which,
trickling down from the eternal snows, flow, now bright and sparkling, now deep and still,
ZOOLOGY.
59
through mountain meadows green as emerald, and daisy-decked, in a region never before pro-
faned by the foot of a white man, and unoccupied by savages, that we found the beaver in num-
bers, of which, when applied to beavers, I had no conception. The sides of these streams were
literally lined with their habitations, though we never saw their houses, and seldom a dam
made by them, but usually their burrows pierced the sides of the stream, a sufficiently large
and long excavation being made to form warm, roomy, and comfortable quarters. From the
point where these burrows terminate in the water, trails lead off to thickets of willow or pine,
where the beavers find their food. These thickets exhibit the most surprising proofs of the
power and industry of these animals: whole groves of young pine trees cut down within a few
inches of the ground, and carried off bodily. So well was the work done that one could hardly
resist the conviction that the woodman's axe had not there been plied vigorously and well.
These trees, when felled, are cut into convenient lengths and carried to the burrows, there to
be stripped of their bark, and then thrown into the stream. We often saw trees of considera-
ble size cut down by the beavers; the largest which I noticed was a spruce pine twelve inches
in diameter.
In California the beaver is also quite common, though less so than in Oregon. It is found in
the streams flowing into the Sacramento, both from the coast range and from the Sierra Nevada.
On Cottonwood creek, which comes down from the coast range, near Fort Reading, they abound,
and have cut the cottonwood trees, which line the banks of the stream, of a diameter of from
fifteen to eighteen inches.
To any one who has never seen the beaver in his native haunts the accounts of his mechan-
ical skill and general intelligence, as exhibited in his dams and “clearings," must seem almost
fabulous ; and when he has seen these with his own eyes he cannot fail to feel that the pro-
found respect entertained by the Indians and trappers for this sagacious animal is in a great
degree deserved.
The value of beaver skins has so much depreciated that they were offered to some of our
party, by the bale, at twenty-five cents each.
THOMOMYS BOREALIS.
Geomys borealis, Rich., Report British Asso. for 1836, V. 1837, 156.-- (Said here to come from Saskatchewan.)
Pseudostoma borealis, AuD. & Bach., N. Am. Quad. III, 1853, 198 ; pl. cxlii.
Geomys townsendii, (Rich. Mss.) BACH., J. A. N. Sc. Phila. VIII, 1, 1839, 105.
Thomomys borealis, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 396.
A single specimen of this very doubtful species was collected at Canoe creek, California.
will, in all probability, prove to be only a variety of T. douglasii.
It
JACULUS HUDSONIUS.
Jumping Mouse.
Dipus hudsonius, ZIMMERMANN, Geographische Geschichte, II, 1780, 358, (based on Pennant's long-legged mouse
of Hudson's Bay.)
Meriones hudsonius, AUD. & BACH., N. Am. Quad. II, 1851, 251 ; pl. lxxxv.
Jaculus hudsonius, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 430.
SP. CH.--Above, light yellowish brown; lined finely with black; entire sides yellowish rusty, sharply defined against
the colors of the back and belly. Beneath, pure white; feet and under surface of tail whitish. Body measuring 2.75 to
3.50 inches; tail, 4.50 to 6.00 inches; hind feet, 1.10 to 1.30 inches.
A specimen of this species, collected at Canoe creek, California, agrees with all other western
ones in a decided superiority in size to eastern ones.
60
ZOOLOGY.
MUS DECUMANUS, Pallas.
Brown Rat; Norway Rat.
D-
OD
BAIRD, Gen Report Mammals, 1857, 438.
Introduced by the ships touching at San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and the ports on
the Columbia river, the Norway rat has probably been for many years a resident of California
and Oregon. It is now, at least, unpleasantly abundant at all these places, and seems to have
been ready to sanction by its presence every step of progress made by the Anglo-American in
the occupation of the interior.
At San Francisco, California, and Portland, Oregon, the brown rat swarms about the wharves
and cellars in apparently as great numbers as in the Atlantic cities.
The old residents of San Francisco, that is to say, those who have been there five years, say,
that formerly that port of entry was occupied by a colony of white rats, of which no specimens
have, to my knowledge, been preserved. It was probably nothing more than a white variety of
the brown rat which is now so common there. As most persons are aware, the house mouse (Mus
musculus) and Norway rat are both prone to exhibit this variation of color, which is hereditary,
and if the white stock can be isolated, forms a permanent variety.
I could not learn that the black rat (Mus rattus) has ever been a resident of the Pacific coast,
The testimony in this case is, however, purely negative.
MUS. MUSCULUS, Linn.
TheHouse Mouse.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep.
The little house mouse, like most other luxuries of civilization, is now enjoyed in all the
habitations of whites on the Pacific coast. In the mansions of the Digger Indians probably few
could be found, for the double reason that this fastidious animal would hardly find such quarters
agreeable, and that the omnivorous habits of the Indians would imperil their existence. The
mouse seems to have arrived with the first ships touching at the western ports, as the colonists
say they have " always" been abundant.
HESPEROMYS GAMBELII, Baird.
California Mouse.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 464.
SP. CH.-Very similar to H. leucopus in size and proportions. Feet perhaps shorter. Ears larger. Tail generally less than
head and body, sometimes a very little longer. Above, yellowish brown, much mixed with dusky, but without a distinct
broad wash of darker on the back. The entire outside of the fore leg below the shoulder white ?
One specimen of this species was collected on Klamath lake, 0. T.
ARVICOLA TOWNSENDII, Bachman.
Oregon Ground Mouse.
Arvicola townsendii, BACHMAN, J. A. N. Sc. Phila. VIII, 1839, 60.
Aud. & BACH., N. Am. Quad. III, 1853, 209; pl. cxliv. fig. 1.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 527.
Sp. Ci.- Very large, (head and body 53 inches.) Ears large; two-thirds as long as hind foot; well furred. Tail, in-
cluding the hairs, rather less than half the head and body; the tail vertebræ twice the length of hind foot. Thumb claw
conspicuous. Toes long; one-third the whole foot. Fur measuring a little over one-third of an inch, with a slight gloss.
dinding the laten maken
me
t
de
hand and body die huis
ZOOLOGY.
61
Tail almost uni-
Above, dark fuscus brown, with but little yellowish brown visible. Sides paler ; beneath, ashy white.
formly brown throughout. Feet liver brown. Skull, 1.27 + 71, or as 100 : 56.
One specimen collected at Crater pass, Cascade mountains.
ARVICOLA LONGIROSTRIS, Baird.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 530.
SP. CH.-Size large, (41 inches.) Skull, 1.08 inch. Fur long, .55 of an inch above. Ears rather small, three-fourths
the length of hind foot, sparsely coated with short hairs. Feet very short; hinder ones less than three-quarters of an
inch long. Tail two-fifths the body, the vertebræ twice as long as the hind foot. Above, dull yellowish chestnut, or
rufous brown, mixed with black, yet without any distinct rusty. Beneath, dirty whitish ash. Line separating the colors
rather distinct. Feet light brown. Tail nearly unicolor, paler beneath at the base. Skull, 1.08 +.61, or as 100 to .55.
Muzzle of skull very long. Distance between upper molars and incisors more than one-third the whole length of the skull.
The single specimen collected of this new species was found on the upper Pit river of Cali-
fornia.
ARVICOLA MONTANA, Peale.
Arvicola montana, PEALE, Mamm. & Birds of U. S. Ex. Ex. 1848, 44.
AUD. & BACH., N. Am. Quad. III, 1854, 302.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 528.
SP. CH.—Size of A. riparia, or a little less, (4.75 inches.) Fur about half an inch long. Ears short, as long as fore foot,
about half the hinder; sparsely coated with longish hairs. Feet short: hinder ones .80.of an inch. Tail long; about
two-fifths of the head and body; vertebræ more than twice as long as the hind foot. Above, dull yellowish brown, uni-
formly and equally mixed with black; lighter on the sides. Beneath, dull whitish ash. Nơ rusty tints. Tail distinctly
bicolor. Skull, 1.12 +.62, or as 100 : 56. Distance between upper molars and incisors less than one-third the whole
length of the skull.
The numbers of arvicola inhabiting the natural meadows bordering the streams of many parts
of California and Oregon are surprisingly great. The little hillocks of earth thrown up form
their burrows, in some localities almost touch each other. They are particularly abundant on
the banks of Klamath river and the Des Chutes, and in the mountain meadows of the Cascades.
Their burrows are very deep and extensive. While one morning sitting by our camp fire, on
the banks of a stream in the Cascade mountains, I noticed one of these little field mice busily
throwing up earth from below while enlarging his burrow. Though numerous, they are very
shy and not easy to take; having failed in my efforts to secure this one as he came to the
surface, I had recourse to a measure which I had, when a boy, sometimes successfully practised
on the “chipmuck” of the eastern States. It was but a step to the stream, and we had two
large camp kettles, holding about three gallons each; with these, assisted by Mr. Fille-
brown, I attempted to drown him out, but, though we poured at least twenty gallons of water
in nearly a continuous stream into the hole, we were unable to dislodge him.
Mr. Albert H. Campbell, who spent much time in California connected with the government
surveys, related to me similar efforts which he has made to drown them out, uniformly without
success. Another experiment of his is equally indicative of the capacity of their burrows. The
Arvicolae of southern California subsist, in a great degree, on the stems of a malvaceous plant
which grows to the height of three to four feet. If a stalk of this plant be cut and inserted into
their burrow, it will, if all is quiet, be soon drawn down, the branches cut off, and the whole
disappear. Mr. Campbell informs me that he has sometimes seen six or more of those stalks,
three feet long and as large as the little finger, drawn successively into the burrow of one of
these animals.
1
ZOOLOGY.
FIBER ZIBETHICUS, Cuv.
The Muskrat.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 561.
I have yet to obtain evidence of the existence of the muskrat in California, or even in Oregon,
though I suspect it may be found in some parts of that Territory. In the Sacramento valley,
in the Klamath lake region, in the basin of the Des Chutes, places apparently fitted by nature
to be paradises of muskrats, shallow rush-grown lakes and rush-bordered canal-like streams,
just where, in the eastern States, muskrats would abound, though I looked carefully, I never
saw the animal, his track, his habitations, nor even his characteristic heaps of emptied shells
of Unio and Anodonta. I therefore concluded that in all this region the muskrat does not exist.
At Steilacoom, Washington Territory, and from there across the country to Fort Colville,
and thence to the Rocky mountains and the head of Snake river, the “musquash” is found, if
not plentifully, at least generally. Specimens from several localities which I have seen differ
in nothing, to my eye, from the muskrat of the eastern States.
Pune
ERETHIZON EPIXANTHUS, Brandt.
Yellow-haired Porcupine.
Erethizon epixanthus, BRANDT, Mem. Acad. St. Petersburgh, 1835, 389, 416; table i, animal ; table ix, fig. 1-4,
skull.-IB. Mamm. exot. 55, (same as preceding.)
SCHINZ, Synopsis Mamm. II, 1845, 266.
WATERHOUSE, N. H. Mamm. II, 1848, 442.
BAIRD, Rep. Mammals, 1857, 569.
SP. CH.-General color dark brown, nearly black; the long hairs of the body tipped with greenish yellow. Nasal bones
nearly one-half or two-fifths the length of upper surface of the skull.
The porcupine is an inhabitant of all our western territories. Most abundant in Oregon and
Washington; it is not uncommon in the wooded portions of California. The fine specimen which
I brought home was killed at Fort Reading, California, by Dr. J. F. Hammond, U. S. A.
The food of the porcupine is exclusively vegetable ; in the eastern States, in winter, it feeds on
the bark and small branches of hemlock, birch, poplar, &c.; in California, whenever driven by
the snows to the trees for subsistence, it eats the cotton-wood, and in Oregon both that and the
hemlock.
LEPUS CAMPESTRIS, Bach..
Prairie Hare.
Lepus campestris, Bach., J. A. N. Sc. Phila. VII, II, 1837, 349.-IB. VIII, 1, 1839, 80.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 585.
Lepus townsendii, BACHMAN, J. A. N. Sc. Phila. VIII, 1, 90; pl. ii.
Aud. & Bach., N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 25; pl. iii.
Lepus virginianus, Rich., F. B. Am. I, 1829, 224.
SP. CH.-Larger than Lepus americanus. Ears about one-fifth longer than the head. Fur soft and full, especially in winter.
Tail as long as the head. Hind feet considerably longer than the head; somewhat longer than the ears.
In summer, back, rump, sides of limbs, external and internal bands of the ear, and the throat,’yellowish grey, varied more
or less with brown. Beneath white. Tail entirely white, above and below; in some specimens only with a faint wash of
ash above. Nape and interior surface of ears white, except as stated ; the latter tipped with black.
In winter, pure white all over, with a yellowish tinge. Ears white, tipped with brown; the external and internal bands
rusty grey. Fur on the ears and elsewhere much longer and fuller than in summer. Fur on the upper part and sides pure
white on the basal half.
ZOOLOGY.
I
The prairie or Townsend's hare is unknown in the valleys of California, though we found it a
short distance south of the parallel of 42°, so that it may be said to inhabit that State. In the
upper part of the Sacramento valley, and even in the hills northeast of Fort Reading, we found
the "jackass rabbit” (L. californicus) everywhere abundant, the only hare, in the common
acceptation of the term, known to exist there-L. artemisiae, audubonii, and trowbridgii, being
all called rabbits. Crossing the “divide” near Lassen's butte, and coming down into the
interior or Klamath basin, on the upper branches of Pit river, we lost sight of the Californian
hare, to see no more of it till our return south, months afterwards. In its place, another species,
almost as large, and quite as handsome, but of a bluish grey, instead of a reddish brown, began
to be occasionally seen, at first very rarely, afterwards oftener, as we approached the Columbia,
but never anywhere in the region we visited becoming so abundant as the Californian hare in
some parts of its habitat.
I saw the first individual of this species on the shores of Wright lake. As we descended from
a line of hills toward the water, a sort of stampede took place among the game of all kinds,
which had congregated from a vast region of now barren or burned prairie and mountain. The
air was filled with flocks of birds, ducks, waders, grouse and quails ; while the guns were
popping in all directions. Among the animals which fled, alarmed by those before me, I
noticed a large blue-grey hare, entirely unlike anything I had before seen, running up the hill
toward me. Forgetful of my horse, and of my own fatigue, and only anxious to secure the
prize, I galloped around a knoll on my right to intercept him. When I crossed his track, how-
ever, he was far away, and running at a speed which, familiar as I was with the Californian hare,
astonished me. This was Townsend's hare, further south than it had before been noticed, and
near the southern limit of its range. A few days afterward Mr. Anderson shot one on the
shores of Great Klamath lake, which I preserved.
The flesh of Townsend's hare, when fat, is excellent; and though living among the sage
bushes, I did not notice that it had contracted any bitterness, as does the large grouse (T. uropha-
sianus) which inhabits the same regions. And yet it is difficult to imagine what they can find
to eat, unless it is the artemisia, for that is almost the only green thing in some localities where
they are found.
All the specimens I saw of this species had the colors I have assigned to it. This was, how-
ever, as I suppose, only the summer coat. In the winter it is said to become white; in that
respect differing from the Californian hare.
LEPUS CALIFORNICUS, Gray.
California Hare.
Lepus californicus, GRAY, Charlesw. Mag. N. H. I, 1837, 586, (named only in Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond. IV, 1836, 88.
AUD. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. III, 1853, 53; pl. cxii.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 594.
? Lepus richardsonii, Baou. J. A. N. Sc. VIII, I, 1839, 88.
WAGNER, Suppl. Schreb. IV, 1844, 111.
Lepus bennettii, GRAY, Zool. Sulphur, Mamm. 1844, 35; pl. xiv. (In color rather nearer L. californicus.)
SP. CH.--Size large. Ears and hind feet much longer than the head, (the ears longest.) Tail as long as the head.
Limus elongated, not very densely furred. Fur rather soft. Upper parts light cinnamon and black. Sides of the body
anteriorly, chest, and outer surfaces of limbs cinnamon, with a slight mixture of black. Under parts whitish cinnamon on
the median line, darker externally and on the inner surfaces of the limbs. Tail dull cinnamon, the upper part and a line
running up a short distance on the rump, black. Extremity of the dorsal surface of the ear, with the adjacent edges,
black. Internal and external bands dusky; rest of the dorsal surface of the ear, with the posterior edge, fulvous white;
rest of the external surface, with the anterior fringe, pale cinnamon. Under surface of the head lighter than the chest.
Bases of the hairs and fur above, greyish white; below, white ; on the sides, light plumbeous. Nape, dusky greyish.
64
ZOOLOGY
In the open country of California, either in the meadow-like plains of the valleys, or in the
low hills sprinkled with oaks and clumps of " greasewood," this beautiful hare, familiarly
known as the "jackass rabbit,'' is exceedingly common. In favorite localities, some miles from
the “ranchos,” in the Sacramento valley, I have sometimes seen a half dozen of them, in the
morning, sporting together. Like most hares and rabbits, however, it is for the most part noc-
turnal in its habits, and is not often seen during the heat of the day, unless driven from its
form by some alarm. It has received its common name from the enormous size of its ears,
which, in some individuals that I have seen, were full seven inches in length, a size which seems
ludicrously disproportionate, and when the animal runs is sure to excite laughter in one who sees
it for the first time. As might be inferred from this immense auditory apparatus, the Califor-
nian hare is exceedingly timid; and were it not that he is also particularly stupid, his long ears
and long legs would generally keep him out of the range of the sportsman's gun. As it is,
they are killed in great numbers, and the markets of the towns are, at the proper season, well
supplied with them. When fat, they are excellent eating, fully equal to any of the leporine
quadrupeds.
While we were encamped at Fort Reading, California, these hares were quite numerous on the
prairie near the post, and it was a favorite amusement with the members of our party to hunt
them. On a surface nearly without cover it would seem hopeless to attempt to shoot animals so
shy and fleet, but, fortunately, when alarmed, they were nearly as likely to run towards the
hunter as from him, and so were sometimes killed.
The prevailing colors of the Californian hare are a rich chestnut brown in winter, and a
lighter yellowish brown in summer, being nearly the same with those of the black-tailed deer
which inhabits the same territory, and, like that deer, too, its most conspicuous mark is a black
tail. It closely resembles the Texan hare (L. callotis) in size and color; but it is quite certain
that the two species are distinct.
Like the Columbian black-tailed deer, the Californian hare is confined to the westward of the
Cascade range and of the Sierra Nevada, inhabiting the valleys of California generally, and near
the coast being found as far north as the Oregon line.
LEPUS ARTEMISIA, Bachman.
Sage Rabbit.
Lepus artemisia, BACHMAN, J. A. N. Sc. Phila. VIII, 1, 1839, 94.-IB. in Townsend's Narrative, 1839, 329.
WATERHOUSE, Nat. Hist. Mamm. II, 1848, 126.
Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. II, 1851, 272 ; pl. lxxxviii.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 602.
Lepus artemisiacus, (BACH.) WAGNER, Suppl. Schreber, IV, 1844, 114.
? Lepus nuttalli, BACH. J. A. N. Sc. Phila. VII, 1837, 345; pl. xxii.-IB. VIII, 1839, 79.-IB. Townsend's Narr.
SP. CH.--Among the smallest of the American rabbits ; considerably less than L. sylvaticus. Ears about as long as the
head. Tail moderate. Hind feet longer than the head ; very densely padded. Fur soft and full. Above mixed black
and brownish white; the black much developed posteriorly. Sides rather paler. Thighs and rump grey. Tail above like
the back. Back of the neck and fore legs rust color. Throat and sides of the neck with a tinge of pale rusty; along the
edge of the abdomen this color concentrated almost into a lateral stripe ; paler than the back of the neck. Edge of the
ear whitish ; external and internal bands greyish brown. The internal face rusty at base, then hoary, as on the exterior,
for much of the surface. A narrow margin of black along the tip. Fur nowhere passing from the basal lead color to dark
brown without an intermediate bar of yellowish brown.
The sage rabbit has, perhaps, the widest range of all the American species of the genus.
Throughout the open country between San Francisco and the Columbia river we found it the
ZOOLOGY.
65
most common species. Near San Francisco it is less abundant than Trowbridge's and Audu-
bon's rabbits and the Californian hare, but as we proceeded to the north we left these species
behind us—the first two immediately after quitting Benicia, the last in the hills of northern
California-while the sage rabbit continued with us into a new zoological district, where nearly
all his associates were different from those below. From the Cascade mountains it ranges east-
ward nearly to the Mississippi.
The sage rabbit is considerably smaller than the common grey rabbit of the eastern States,
and his color is generally lighter, rather a blue than red grey, with a characteristic patch of
light red thin fur on the nape of the neck. They are very numerous on the sage plains, and
are hunted by foxes, coyotes, eagles, hawks, owls, and Indians.
I obtained a fine specimen on the extreme headwaters of the Willamette river, at an eleva-
tion of about 5,000 feet, which had been struck by hawk or owl and killed, but the murderer
had left him, perhaps frightened off at our approach. The flesh of the sage rabbit is white
and good, not at all flavored by the artemisia among which he lives.
Specimens were collected on Rhett and Klamath lakes.
LEPUS AUDUBONII, Baird.
Audubon's Hare.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 608.
SP. CII.--Size a little less than that of L. sylvaticus. Ears longer than the head. Hind feet rather short, longer than
the ears ; fully furred beneath. Tail rather long. Above, mixed yellowish brown and black, paler on the sides and throat.
Beneath, pure white. Thighs and rump greyish. Back of neck rusty ; fore legs somewhat similar. Hairs lead color at
the base, on the middle of the back, (over the loins,) passing directly through dark browu to black, then yellowish brown ;
on the sides, rump, and fore part of back, the passage into the first brown or black ring is through greyish, yellowish, or
reddish brown.
This handsome hare is widely distributed over the west. It is the largest of the “rabbits” of
California, considerably exceeding in size the artemisia and Trowbridge's. It is killed some-
what abundantly in the hills bordering the Sacramento valley, and is usually to be found in the
market of San Francisco, where I obtained specimens.
It is about the size of the grey rabbit of the east, (L. sylvaticus,) and the colors are similar,
though that of Audubon's hare may be called a yellowish, while that of the eastern rabbit
is a brownish, grey.
LEPUS TROWBRIDGII, Baird.
Lepus trowbridgii, BAIRD, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. VII, April, 1855, 333.-IB. Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 610.
SP. CH. --Size small, less that of L. audubonii. Head small. Ears about equal to it in length. Tail very short, almost
rudimentary; hind feet very short, well furred, considerably shorter than the head. Color above, yellowish brown and
dark brown; beneath, plumbeous grey. Sides not conspicuously different from the back, but paler. Back of neck pale rusty.
Ears greyish and black on the external band; ashy grey elsewhere, with little indication of darker margin or tip.
This pretty rabbit was first obtained by Lieut. Trowbridge, U. S. A., a gentleman who has
done, perhaps, more than any other individual to develop the natural history of the Pacific
coast, and to him Professor Baird has very appropriately dedicated the species. This species is
quite common in the market of San Francisco, being killed in that vicinity, and is the smallest
of all the rabbits which are found there. It is readily distinguishable by the remarkable short-
ness of its legs; its colors are darker than those of Bachman's hare or the sage rabbit, and
there can be no doubt that it is a perfectly distinct species. Of its habits I could learn nothing
of interest. I saw it frequently in the scattered bushes on the sand hills back of the city of San
Francisco, where it resembled in movements and appearance the immature L. sylvaticus.
9 BB
66
ZOOLOGY.
Sa
or
XI
Of its distribution I can say little. To the northward from San Francisco we did not find it,
and its range is probably rather south than north of that point.
Our specimens were obtained in the markets of San Francisco.
ALCE AMERICANUS, Jardine.
The Moose.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 631.
The moose does not exist in any part of California or Oregon Territory, and the Columbia
river may be said to form the southern limit of its range west of the Rocky mountains. We
saw the horns of moose killed in Washington Territory, but could not learn from th
Indians that any had ever been killed south of the river.
This is one of several animals common to the two sides of the continent, such as the elk, black
bear, large grey wolf, grey fox, beaver, mink, &c., which have so much o
as to permit them to inhabit the entire breadth of the continent north of that great barrier to
smaller and more southern species of mammals and birds, the great basin and the wide-spread
desert of the upper Missouri, Yellowstone, and Platte.
A similar inosculation of the faunae of the east and west takes place in northern Mexico,
south of the great basin, where the bassaris, the black-footed raccoon, the Texan skunk, &c.,
with a great number of birds, are found quite across from Texas into California.
CERVUS CANADENSIS, Erxl.
Elk.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 537.
The elk was once perhaps more widely distributed over the North American continent than
any other quadruped; it existed throughout the entire territory lying between the northern
provinces of Mexico and Hudson's bay, and between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Within
the United States east of the Mississippi very few are left, except in the region bordering Lake
Superior. On the western tributaries of the Mississippi it is still very common, and perhaps
equally so in California and Oregon. West of the Rocky mountains, it was formerly most
abundant in the valleys of California, where it is still far from rare. In the rich pasture lands
of the San Joaquin and Sacramento, the old residents tell us, it formerly was to be seen in
immense droves, and with the antelope, the black-tailed deer, the wild cattle, and mustangs,
covered those plains with herds rivalling those of the bison east of the mountains, or of the
antelope in south Africa.
The favorite haunts of the elk in California are the wide stretches of "tule” bordering the
rivers and lakes of the valleys I have mentioned. It is said that, unlike most large quadrupeds,
the elk can never be obogged,'' and he traverses these marshy districts with a facility possessed
by no other animal.
During the rutting season, when the bucks are rushing through the tule in search of the
females, a common mode of hunting them is to mount a horse, and riding along the edge of
the marshes to call the buck by an imitation of the cry of the doe. He comes plunging on his
course, marked for a long way by the trembling rushes, till, led on by the fatal signal, he
bursts out of the cover with streaming sides, and, tossing his antlers, looks around to find the
object of his search. This is the moment improved by the hunter to plant in his shaggy breast
the fatal bullet.
The elk of the western coast differs in nothing, so far as I could see, from that of the eastern
States ; unless it may be that in some localities it attains a larger size than any killed in the
1
ZOOLOGY.
67
S
ni
U
valley of the Mississippi. Near Humboldt bay elk are abundant, and I am assured by intelli-
gent men that eight hundred, and even one thousand pounds is not an unusual weight, and
that individuals have been killed there which are said to have weighed even twelve hundred
pounds. Of those which I saw, however, either killed by our own party, or brought into the
market of San Francisco, none weighed over about six hundred or seven hundred pounds; but
we saw the tracks of elk in the Cascade mountains which were scarcely less in size than those
of a bullock.
The flesh of the elk is certainly not so good as that of some others of the cervine quadrupeds,
but still is far from bad. A large, though young and fat buck, killed by Lieut. Crook, U.S. A.,
afforded us venison which was tender, juicy, and very sweet.
CERVUS LEUCURUS, Doug.
White-Tailed Deer.
BAIBD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 649.
While traversing the region in which this problematical species has been said to exist I was
constantly on the lookout for facts or specimens which should decide the question of its right to
be considered a distinct species; and although I was unsuccessful in obtaining evidence which will
be considered conclusive for the solution of this problem, I was able to get such evidence in the
case as to convince myself, at least, that the Cervus leucurus of Douglas, or, at least, the
"white-tailed deer” of the upper Columbia, is nothing more nor less than our Cervus
virginianus,
At our depot camp, on the south fork of the Des Chutes river, near where we first met with
the mule deer, (C. macrotis, Say,) the first and only specimen of the white-tailed deer was killed
by our hunters. This was a dappled fawn, in size and markings to our eyes undistinguishable
from the young of the Virginian deer. The tail was not disproportionately long, was of a red-
dish brown above, and pure white below, the hair on its sides being longer, so as to give it
greater relative breadth than in the mule deer or the Columbian black-tailed deer; and unlike
the tail in both these species, there was not a black hair on any part of it. Subsequently, when
ascending the main fork of the Des Chutes, we encamped, early in the day, in a thick clump of
pines, in a bend of the river. After dinner I took my gun and fishing tackle and strolled along
up the stream. I saw everywhere most abundant “ sign” of beaver, which seemed to occupy
both sides of the river in a continuous colony. I had caught specimens of the only fishes which
seemed to inhabit that part of the stream, the western speckled trout, and a new white fish,
(Coregonus,) now, for the first time, found on the Pacific slope. I had been sitting very quietly
for a long time, watching the motions of a brood of young phalaropes which were sporting on the
stream, when, chancing to turn my head, I saw in the centre of a small prairie, not more than
seventy-five yards from me, a full grown white-tailed doe. She was entirely unaware of my
presence. My view was quite unobstructed, and, since I had nothing but small shot in my gun,
I contented myself with a careful examination of her form and markings. She was stepping
slowly along, stopping at intervals, with head raised and ears turned forward, evidently at-
tracted towards our camp, not far distant, but completely concealed by the trees, by sounds or
scents, which excited at the same time her curiosity and her fears, these two emotions being
vividly represented in her animated looks and movements, and presented a picture which every-
one who has seen much of this timid, yet inquisitive animal will not fail to recall. It was late
in August, (the 28th,) and she had not yet shed her summer coat, which was light fulvous
above, whitish below; as a whole, much lighter than Audubon’s figure, or the specimen in the
collection of the Philadelphia academy, in both of which the coloring of the winter coat is seen.
68
ZOOLOGY.
In size, the animal I was then observing considerably exceeded the only two specimens existing
in collections, (both of which are immature,) being about that of the Virginian deer of the
eastern States. I had been watching her for, perhaps, ten minutes, when I saw our guide,
Bartee, approaching the prairie from the opposite side, with his rifle on his shoulder, and quite
unconscious of the proximity of the game for which he had been searching. My motions to at-
tract his attention alarmed the deer, and with a buck, which had been all the while still nearer
me, she ran across the prarie, her broad white tail erect and swinging, and disappeared in the
forest. The buck was larger than the doe, of the same color, with much curved, many pronged
horns, and, like her, with a white tail, which did not seem disproportionately long.
We saw no more of the white-tailed deer. Among the many pairs of antlers of animals killed
by the Indians which we noticed in the Des Chutes basin there were some twice forked horns,
which I considered to be those of the mule deer, and others, more curved and many pronged,
closely resembling horns of C. virginianus, which we supposed to be those of C. leucurus.
These facts, though not perfectly conclusive as to the existence or otherwise of such a species
as C. leucurus, seem to indicate that the Virginian deer inhabits the western slope of the Rocky
mountains with the mule deer, as they together inhabit the eastern slope of the same range,
either as distinct from, or identical with, C. leucurus.
I will leave the discussion of this subject to others, to whom it more properly belongs, only
suggesting that:
1st. C. leucurus, Douglas, is not now the most common species on the Willamette or
Cowlitz rivers, as of those killed there by our party, or during our stay in that region, all were
C. Lewisii, Peale, the Columbian black-tailed deer, and we were told that no other species was
found there.
2d. Richardson never saw C. virginianus in the United States; and at the north, where he
locates C. leucurus, now C. virginianus is found in abundance, and C. leucurus is unknown.
We may, therefore, suspect that he has confounded them.
3d. Lewis and Clark considered the white-tailed deer of the west as a variety of C. virginianus.
4th. The two animals upon which Audubon's description is based are both young and, of
necessity, small, and are in dark, winter pelage. The diagnostic character
are, small size, dark color above, light below, small size of gland of leg, tuft of white hair
between legs, &c.; every character being presented by the young of the Virginian deer in their
winter coat.
CERVUS MACROTIS, Say.
Mule Deer.
Cervus macrotis, Say, Narr. of Long's Exped. II, 1823, 88.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mamms. 1857, 656.
Sr. CII.-Larger than C. virginianus. Horns doubly dichotomous, the forks nearly equal. Ears nearly as long as the tail.
Gland of hind leg half as long as the distance between the articulating surfaces of the bone.
Hair in winter, ashy brown with light grey tips and annulations. Beneath, like the back, except about axillae and
groin. Entire rump with basal two-thirds of tail all round white. The tail is cylindrical, a little longer than the ears, very
slender, naked beneath, except at the end, which is a black tuft.
When exploring the course of the Des Chutes river, Oregon Territory, in September, 1855,
we followed up the main fork westwardly, to its source in the Cascade mountains. On this
excursion we first met with the “mule deer.” As we were, one morning, winding along the
river bank, we saw a doe some distance before us go down to the water to drink. Our party
storced, while Bartee crept forward to get a shot. The deer drank hastily and started directly
back up the hill by the path she had descended; fearing to lose sight of her, Bartee stopped her
LU
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ZOOLOGY.
69
by a shout, when she turned her head directly toward him, and he fired at the distance of two
hundred yards. The deer went crashing off through the brush, and as we had plainly seen
the plash of the ball in the water a long way beyond where she stood, we thought he had missed.
Bartee, however, knew better what dependence to place on his eye and his Hawkins' rifle, and
beckoning us to come on, he ran forward to take her trail. We followed, but with no great
confidence of success. On reaching the trail, we found it blood-marked, and, before we had
gone a dozen rods further, the wild death cry of the deer gave us the best possible evidence of
the accuracy of Bartee's aim. When we reached the deer she was quite dead ; the ball had
entered the breast, traversing the lungs and the heart diagonally, and passed out near the last
rib. It was a doe of rather large size, evidently suckling a fawn which she had left “cached”
somewhere in the manzanita bushes; and, having gone to the river to drink, was returning with
maternal haste to her charge, when the fatal bullet had deprived her of life. The incident
suggested some sad reflections not readily dissipated by thoughts of our necessities, which had
become pressing; but we were partially consoled by the assurance from Bartee that fawns, at
that season, were old enough to shift for themselves.
This deer was new to me, and entirely different from any I had seen in California, as well as
from the Virginian deer of the eastern States. From my notes, made at the time, I take the
following description :
Wednesday, August 29.-Bartee killed suckling doe of rather large size, compared with Cali-
fornian deer. Ears very large, (eight inches long,) rump sloping. Shedding summer coat,
composed of long, coarse, reddish brown hair, which was of much the character of the hair of
the antelope, like threads cut short off. Under coat soft and fine, of a bluish grey; white patch
on rump, like that on antelope, but less broad. Tail of moderate length, (nine inches) reddish-
brown on top, white on sides, and black at tip, without hair below. Gland of hind legs very
long. Though animal was poor, the flesh was very tender and well flavored.
This, though so great a novelty to the Californians of our party that they suggested that it
must be a hybrid between the antelope and the Californian black-tailed deer, was the mule deer,
Cervus macrotis, Say. I was then with a detachment detailed for a special purpose, and had no
antiseptics for the preservation of the skin, and the zoologist of our party was in our depot camp.
I carried the skin until it began to decompose, and I was obliged to content myself with the
head and skin of head, legs and tail. These I preserved, and they coincide with Say's descrip-
tion of those parts in the mule deer of the upper Missouri.
The physical geography of the Des Chutes basin unites that territory to the Rocky mountain
desert, and its fauna generally will be found to have greater affinity with that of the Rocky
mountains and upper Missouri than with that of California. It is not surprising, therefore,
that we find C. macrotis westward to the base of the Cascade mountains, or, in other words, to
the base of the wall which forms the western limit to the enclosure of the interior basin.
CERVUS COLUMBIANUS, Rich.
10
Black-tailed Deer.
Cervus macrotis, var. columbianus, RICHARDSON, F. B. Am. I, 1829, 255; pl. xx. .
.
Cervus columbianus, BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 659.
Cervus macrotis, Rich. F. Bor. Am. I, 1829, 254; pl. xx.
Cervus lewisii, PEALE, Mammalia and Birds U. S. Ex. Ex. 1848, 39.
· Cervus Richardsonii, Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. II, 1851, 211.-IB. III, 1853, 27 ; pl. cvi.
? Cervus (Cariacas) punctulatus, GRAY, Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond. XVIII, 1850, 239 ; pl. xxviii.--IB. Knowsley Menag.
1850, 67.
Black-tailed fallow deer, Lewis & CLARK.
70
ZOOLOGY.
SP. CII.-About the size of C. virginianus, or less. Horns doubly dichotomous, the forks nearly equal. Ears more than
half the length of the tail. Gland of the hind leg about one-sixth of the distance between the articulating surfaces of the
bone. Tail cylindrical, hairy and white beneath ; almost entirely black above. The under portion of the tip not black.
Winter coat with distinct yellowish chestnut annulation on a dark ground. Without white patch on the buttocks. There
is a distinct dusky horse-shoe mark on the forehead anterior to the eyes.
The Columbian black-tailed deer is found in all parts of California, and is the only species of
which I could get any definite information in that State. Of the deer which I saw in California,
living and dead, amounting to some hundreds, all were unmistakably of this species. The
general colors, as given by Audubon, the black crescent on the forehead, the slender, dichoto-
mous horns of the male, the tail black above and white below, and not like that of the Virginian
deer elevated in running, but carried down and invisible--all served to mark the species dis-
tinctly, and to separate this from any deer I had seen.
Near the coast the black-tailed deer probably extends to the British possessions, as I have seen
specimens from Cape Flattery and Puget's Sound, where it is common. It is also very abundant
in the Willamette valley, as well as in the valleys of the Umpqua and Rogue rivers. To the
eastward of the Cascade range it is rarely if ever seen, being there replaced by the mule deer
(C. macrotis) and the white-tailed deer (C. virginianus?) In the interior basin, through which
the Des Chutes river flows, and on the eastern slope of the Cascades, a region comparatively
dry, sterile, and, in summer, hot, we found only the mule and white-tailed deers; and in crossing
the Cascade range, we found only the Columbian black-tailed deer, and that very abundant.
In size this species perhaps somewhat exceeds C. virginianus, but the difference in that respect
is not great. A full grown and fat buck will sometimes weigh two hundred pounds, but this is
a very unusual size ; the average weight of the buck may be set down at one hundred and twenty-
five pounds; of the doe, at about one hundred pounds.
The flesh of those brought into the San Francisco market seemed to me dry and tasteless, and
decidedly inferior to that of the Virginian deer, and such is, I think, the estimate generally put
upon it by the inhabitants of that city; but a very large and fat buck, killed by our party on the
shores of Klamath lake, furnished us with venison which we voted was as tender, juicy, and
delicious as any we had ever tasted. It is barely possible, however, that abstinence and moun-
tain air in some degree qualified our estimate of its excellence.
The colors of the black-tailed deer, of both the winter and summer coats, are brighter and
handsomer than those of the eastern species.
The summer coat is composed of rather long and coarse hair, of a fulvous brown, approaching
chestnut on the back; in the month of September this begins to come off, exposing what the
hunters call “the blue coat," which is, at first, short, fine and silky, and of a bluish grey,
afterwards becoming a chestnut brown, inclining to grey on the sides, and to black along the back.
Audubon was evidently mistaken in saying that there was no glandular opening on the leg
of this species, as I have found it a constant character in all the individuals which I examined
in California with reference to this mark.
ANTILOCAPRA AMERICANA, Ord.
The Prong-horned Antelope.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 666.
To any one who has "crossed the plains” the prong-horned antelope can be no stranger.
Occupying the interior desert which lies between the “States” and California as its favorite
ZOOLOGY.
71
n
place of abode; found abundantly, and, of game, almost exclusively on those arid and barren
plains across which the path of the emigrant passes, it has often happened that the delicious
venison of the antelope has been to the wayfarer not only a luxury, but for days and weeks a
vital necessity.
Though found in nearly all parts of the territory of the United States west of the Mississippi,
it is probably most numerous in the valley of the San Joaquin, California. There it is found
in herds literally of thousands ; and though much reduced in numbers by the war which is
incessantly and remorselessly waged upon it, it is still so common that its flesh is cheaper and
more abundant in the markets of the Californian cities than that of any other animal.
In the Sacramento valley they have become rare, and the few still remaining are excessively
wild.
On nearly every day's march, between the valley of the Sacramento and the Columbia, we
saw either the antelope itself or its peculiar track in the sand. This track differs so distinctly
from that of the deer as to be recognizable at a glance. The point of the hoof is very sharp,
while the hinder part of the foot is much expanded, and each half rounded posteriorly, so that
the imprint of the entire hoof is elegantly cordate, the track of every species of deer being
much narrower.
The antelope, though perhaps more fleet and timid than the deer, is not equally sagacious,
and may sometimes be killed with surprising facility, as a single instance will serve to illus-
trate: At the southern end of Klamath marsh, near a splendid spring, we remained to give
our animals the benefit of the good water and the fine pasturage of clover and bunch grass.
We had been traversing a region occupied by great numbers of Indians, who had rendered the
game very scarce, and we had been unable to obtain any fresh meat for some time. In these
circumstances, Bartee, our guide, to whom a want of venison was intolerable, mounted his mare
and started off, vowing that he would not return without deer or antelope. The sun was just
setting, and we began to despair of our hoped-for supper of venison, when a shout from our
packers, who were out picketing the mules, attracted our attention, and we soon saw the old
man, who seldom hunts in vain, slowly. emerging from the forest leading his horse, which was
loaded with four antelope. His story was this: He had made a wide circuit without finding
game, and while on his return, some five miles from camp, he had discovered through the trees
a band of six antelope going to a spring to drink. Knowing they would return the same way,
he concealed himself, and, as they approached, shot the leader of the band. The remainder
seemed somewhat surprised, stopped, and looked around, but soon resumed their march. Bartee
was ready and fired again, killing another. While he remained concealed, they were simply
confused by the firing, and did not offer to run away. In this manner he killed five of the six,
when, knowing that he had as much venison as his horse could carry, he spared the other,
which ran off only when he came up to disembowel those he had killed.
The flesh of a young and fat antelope is delicious, but that of the older bucks is strong. The
head of an antelope baked in the ground is regarded as a great delicacy, but to me it has an
earthy taste that is far from pleasant.
The hair of the antelope is very peculiar, having as a general characteristic a peculiarity
noticed in some portions of the hair of the elk, Rocky mountain sheep, and mule deer. It is
tubular, and exceedingly light and spongy; indeed, so unlike the hair of most animals, that
'we hesitate to call it hair, and instinctively compare it with the quills of the porcupine, from
which, however, it differs by an entire want of rigidity and acuteness.
ZOOLOGY.
OVIS MONTANA, Cuvier.
The Rocky Mountain Sheep.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 673.
The Rocky mountain sheep is found at two points in the vicinity of our line of march from
San Francisco to the Dalles of the Columbia, viz: at Shasta Butte and on the rocky hills about
Rhett and Wright lakes, latitude 42°.
On the slopes and shoulders of Mount Shasta the Ovis montana exists in large numbers ; so
much so that one spur of the mountain has been named “Sheep Rock," and there hunters are
always sure of finding them. It is said that the Rocky mountain goat is also to be found there,
but of that I have very great doubts.
About Rhett lake I was much surprised to find the big-horn, as this sheep is there called, for
the country, though rough and rocky, has very few high mountains. During the dry season,
however, when much of the pasturage of the country has been burned off, and when most of
the streams are dry, and water has become confined to oases in the desert, there is a great con-
centration of animal life in the vicinity of Wright and Rhett lakes. When we passed them
in August, deer, antelope, elk, rabbits, grouse, water fowl, and waders, were exceedingly
abundant, and with other animals was the Rocky mountain sheep. We saw them, but killed
none; as always happens in such cases, when they came within shot no one had a gun at
hand to shoot them. We, however, found their immense horns lying on the ground, and
in them had conclusive evidence of their habitual presence in that locality.
In skins of the big-horn brought from the head of Salmon river by Lieutenant Day's party, I
observed a peculiarity which has not been so marked in the other skins which I have seen. On
the back and shoulders was a fine soft fur, which generally lies close to the skin and scarcely
observable; when drawn out it forms a staple of from two to three inches in length, finer than
the finest Saxony wool; while the remainder of the hair is particularly coarse and spongy, like
that of the antelope.
BOS AMERICANUS, Gmelia.
The Buffalo.
BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 682.
It will, perhaps, excite some surprise that I include the buffalo in the fauna of our Pacific
States, as it is a common opinion that the buffalo is, and has always been, confined to the At-
lantic slope of the Rocky mountains. This is not true; and it is to correct this impression that
this note is made.
The range of the buffalo does not now extend beyond the Rocky mountains, but there are
many Indian hunters who have killed them in great numbers to the west of the mountains, on
the headwaters of Salmon river, one of the tributaries of the Columbia.
While I was at the Dalles, the party of Lieut. Day, U. S. A., came in from
to the upper Salmon river, and I was assured by the officers that they had not only seen
Indians who claimed to have killed buffalo there, but that, in many places, great numbers of
buffalo skulls were still lying on the prairie.
This is another instance of the penetration of animals, characteristic of the upper Missouri,
through into the basin lying between the Rocky mountains and Cascades. The mule and
white-tailed (Virginian?) deer, the muskrat, Townsend's hare, the striped spermophile, (S.
lateralis,) &c., seem to indicate that the Cascades present a more formidable barrier for the
limitation of species than the Rocky mountain chain.
2.1
CHAPTER II.
REPORT UPON THE BIRDS.*
CATHARTES CALIFORNIANUS.
Californian Vulture.
A portion of every day's experience in our march through the Sacramento valley was a
pleasure in watching the graceful evolutions of this splendid bird. Its colors are pleasing ; the
head orange, body black, with wings brown and white and black, while its flight is easy and
effortless, almost beyond that of any other bird. As I sometimes recall the characteristic scenery
of California, those interminable stretches of waving grain, with, here and there, between the
rounded hills, orchard-like clumps of oak, a scene so solitary and yet so home-like, over these
oat-covered plains and slopes, golden yellow in the sunshine, always floats the shadow of the
vulture.
associate, the turkey buzzard, (C. aura,) and is never seen in such numbers or exhibiting such
familiarity as the two species, C. aura and C. atratus, the efficient scavengers which swarm in
our southern cities. We had, however, on our first entrance into the field, many opportunities
of shooting this bird, but were unwilling to burden ourselves with it. After we left the Sacra-
mento valley, we saw very few in the Klamath basin, and none within the limits of Oregon. It
is sometimes found there, but much more rarely than in California. In size, the Californian
vulture is second only to the condor, attaining a length of four feet, and a stretch of wing of ten
feet, or more. A fine specimen was presented to Dr. Sterling on his return to San Francisco,
and was for some time kept alive. He succeeded, however, in tearing from his legs the cord
which confined him, and escaped. He ate freely the meat given him, and was a magnificent bird.
CATHARTES AURA.
The Turkey Buzzard.
As in all other parts of the United States, the turkey buzzard is found in California and
Oregon. Not, perhaps, anywhere collected in as large numbers as are sometimes seen in the
more southern of the eastern States; the paucity of animal life being the probable cause of its
rarity; yet in the vicinity of the towns and about the great rivers it is quite common.
In the Klamath basin it is more rare; that dry and sterile region affording few attractions
* As the final determination of the species of birds collected by the expedition has not yet been completed by Prof. Baird,
the names here given are to be considered merely as temporary. In his general report upon the birds of the Pacific Railroad
of determination thus rectified.
10 BB
74
ZOOLOGY.
JU
V
2
.
for it; and on the Des Chutes we saw scarce any of them ; but on the Columbia their numbers
increase, and below the Cascades they were very plenty. .
For the purpose of examining this bird in California, to determine for myself its identity or
otherwise with the turkey buzzard of the east, I took occasion to shoot one which was flying
over us in the upper part of the Sacramento valley. He made no motion indicating that he had
been struck by my shot, but sailed on with widely expanded and motionless wings as before.
Gradually, however, he began to descend in wide and regular circles, till, finally, without a
wing-flap, he settled as lightly as a feather on the prairie and remained motionless.
I went to him, and found him resting in the grass, his wings still widely and evenly expanded,
but the head drooping and life extinct. It was a male, large, in fine plumage, and apparently
identical with ours; then, too late, I regretted that I had been the cause of a death so calm and
dignified.
HYPOTRIORCHIS COLUMBARIUS.
The Pigeon Hawk.
The pigeon hawk is common about San Francisco, where I obtained specimens, and also at
San José, where it was obtained by Dr. Cooper.
We found it paired and nesting about the Klamath lakes, and it likewise occupies all the
region south of the Columbia, in Oregon.
TINNUNCULUS SPARVERIUS.
The Sparrow Hawk.
Like the last, this little hawk is spread over the entire western coast. In the Sacramento
valley, in the interior basin, and in the mountains and valleys of Oregon, we found it every-
where quite as abundant as in the eastern States.
In the Sacramento valley I once saw a hard fought battle between a sparrow hawk and a
yellow-billed magpie; unfortunately I could not stay to see the conflict ended.
ASTUR COOPERI.
Cooper's Hawk.
Common about San Francisco and Benicia, and extending north of the Columbia.
ASTUR ATRICAPILLUS.
Goshawk.
This hawk is not uncommon about San Francisco and in southern California. We saw it but
rarely on our march northward, yet I think its range extends to the Columbia.
ACCIPITER FUSCUS.
The Sharpshin Hawk.
Common in California-San Francisco, Sacramento valley, San Diego. (Lieut. Trowbridge.).
CIRCUS HUDSONIUS.
The Marsh Hawk.
.
This bird is rather common in the Sacramento valley, and abundant beyond all parallel on
the plain of upper Pit river. I presume I saw several hundred marsh hawks, in a day's march,
ZOOLOGY.
75
crossing the level prairie above the upper cañon of that stream. They were either flying over
the prairie or along the stream, or sitting in pairs on the abrupt bank of the river, feeding on
frogs, snakes, and mice. The range of the species extends north as far as the Columbia, and
perhaps beyond.
BUTEO MONTANUS.
Western Red-Tailed Hawk.
We found this bird on the upper Sacramento, Pit river, and in the Cascade mountains of
Oregon. I also saw specimens from Shoalwater bay, W. T., and San José, California, pro-
cured by Dr. Cooper; so that it may be said to inhabit all portions of our Pacific possessions.
i
BUTEO ELEGANS?
Red-Breasted Buzzard.
This hawk is common in those parts of northern California and eastern Oregon traversed by
our party.
HALIÆTUS LEUCOCEPHALUS.
The Bald Eagle.
The bald eagle throughout the far west reigns monarch of the feathered tribes. It is not rare
in California, along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers ; is very common at the Cascades of
the Columbia and at the Falls of the Willamette, Oregon, and still more abundant about the
chain of lakes which cover so large a surface in the Klamath basin. We found it in the Cascade
range, among the mountain lakes, and, indeed, in all places where fish, its favorite food, is
attainable.
On the shores of upper Klamath lake, quite to my regret, a large number of these noble birds
were shot by our party. So long, century after century, parent and offspring, had they reigned
there in undisputed supremacy, with no enemy more formidable than the arrow-armed Indian,
of whose missiles they had learned the range, that they exhibited little of the shyness so charac-
teristic of the tribe to which they belong. On some point of rock, or dwarfed pine, projecting
from the wall of trap which, to the height of 1,000 feet, borders the eastern shore of the lake,
beyond bow shot, the bald eagles sat, and viewed our approach with calm indifference, per-
mitting themselves to be brought within easy range of the rifles, and, too many of them, falling
a sacrifice to man's passion for doing what he can, simply because he can.
The favorite fishing places of the eagles are the ripples, or rapids, of the streams, where
fish, particularly salmon, lying or passing in shoal water, come within reach of their talons.
At the rapids below the Falls of the Willamette a number of bald eagles may always be seen
procuring their food.
The quills of this bird make better pens than those of any other I have ever seen.
PANDION CAROLINENSIS.
The Fish Hawk.
The fish hawk pursues its finny prey on all the streams and lakes of California and Oregon.
Along the Sacramento it is associated with a great number of aquatic birds, cormorants, gulls,
terns, &c., some of which seem strangely out of place so far inland, and after leaving all other
76
ZOOLOGY.
fishing birds behind us, far up on Pit river, around the Klamath lakes, in the Cascade moun-
tains, on the Columbia and Willamette, we still found the fish hawk, and his more powerful,
but less skilful rival, the bald eagle. In the month of August we saw, in the Klamath basin,
several pairs of fish hawks feeding their young, which were still in the nest, though, apparently,
nearly old enough to leave it.
In the Cascade mountains we found the fish hawk, where it must have subsisted alone on fish
taken from the small, rapid, trout streams; while in other localities it seeks its food in deep
and wide bodies of water.
STRIX PRATINCOLA.
Barn Owl.
This owl is apparently more abundant on the western coast than in the eastern States, and
more common in California than in Oregon. It is more frequently met with about San Fran-
cisco, San Diego, and Monterey, than any other species. Its habits at the west are similar to
those of the eastern owls of the same species, occupying barns, out-houses, churches, &c., and, in
the absence of these places of resort, living in hollow trees and holes in cliffs. I found it on
San Pablo bay inhabiting holes in the perpendicular cliffs bordering the south shore. It
also inhabits the Klamath basin, though apparently not in great numbers.
BUBO VIRGINIANUS, Var.?
The Great Horned Owl.
The great horned owl is one of the most widely distributed of American birds. Though less
abundant than in the forests of the eastern States and Mississippi valley, it is still quite
common in all parts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The specimen brought in was
killed at Fort Rea ling by Dr. Hammond, U. S. A., who, while stationed at that post, very
successfully investigated the natural history of the vicinity. I saw other specimens from
southern California, and we were sometimes serenaded by its characteristic note while camping
in the Cascade mountains.
BRACHYOTUS CASSINII.
Marsh Owl.
Found throughout California and Oregon, this species is especially common in the Klamath
basin. On the level meadow-like prairies of upper Pit river we found it associated with the
marsh hawk (Circus hudsonius) in considerable numbers. They were generally sitting concealed
in the grass, and rose as we approached. I was much amused by the movements of one of these
owls, at which I had fired unsuccessfully. A large number of hawks (C. hudsonius) and a large
dark Buteo rose at the report of my gun, and flew about in circles, filling the air high over my
head. The owl joined the crowd, and flew around as high and fast as the best. He was, how-
ever, evidently looked upon as an intruder, and when he came near a hawk in his circumvolu-
tions he was sure to be buffetted; but as long as I could distinguish him, he was still sailing
round among the hawks, badgered by all of them.
We found the same species again on the shores of Klamath lake and in the Des Chutes basin,
among grass and sage bushes. In these localities it is very commonly associated with the
burrowing owl, Athene hypugæa.
ZOOLOGY.
SYRNIUM CINEREUM.
The Great Cinereous Owl.
This large and handsome owl is generally disseminated over the western part of the North
American continent, at least we obtained proofs of its existence in the Sacramento valley, in the
Cascade mountains, in the Des Chutes basin, and on the Columbia, in Oregon.
NYCTALE ACADICA,
The Acadian Owl.
This little owl is found in Oregon, but we saw nothing of it in California, where it is, howa
ever, said to exist.
ATHENE HYPUGÆA.
The Burrowing Owl.
The burrowing owl is found in many parts of California, where it shares the burrows of
Beechey's and Douglas' spermophile. We found it in several places between San Francisco
and Fort Reading, and again in the Klamath basin, though at the northward less frequen
than in the Sacramento valley, South of San Francisco, they are found at San Diego and
Monterey. We usually saw them standing at the entrance to their burrows. They often
allowed us to approach within shot, and, before taking flight, twisted their heads about, and
bowed with many ludicrous gestures, thus, apparently, aiding their imperfect sight and getting
a better view of the intruder. When shot at and not killed, or when otherwise alarmed, they
fly with an irregular, jerking motion, dropping down, much like a woodcock, at some other
hole.
GLAUCIDIUM INFUSCATUM.
The Sparrow Owl.
I procured specimens of this diminutive owl on the Cascade mountains, in Oregon, where it is
not very uncommon. It occurs also in California, for we saw several specimens in San Fran-
cisco, which had been obtained in that State, but we did not meet with it in the Sacramento
valley. It is apparently, in a great measure, confined to wooded districts, which will account
for our not finding it in the open country of California.
It flies about with great freedom and activity by day, pursuing the small birds, on which it
. subsists, apparently as little incommoded by the light as they are.
ANTROSTROMUS NUTTALLII.
row
Nuttall's Whip-poor-will.
This species is found in all parts of California and Oregon. On the shores of Rhett lake we
came upon the nest of this bird, if nest it could be called, in which were two young ones nearly
old enough to fly. The mother fluttered off as though disabled, by her cries and strange
motions leading one of our party far down the hill-side, and away from her young; which done,
she flew away well and swiftly, much to his surprise. Meantime we had found the pretty
creatures for whom she had been 80 solicitous. They resembled the young of the eastern
78
ZOOLOGY.
species, which I have often found in precisely similar circumstances. They were of a grey-
brown color marbled with black, had large, dark, soft eyes, and were quite passive when
caught. To the credit, be it said, of the rude men into whose hands they had fallen, their mild
looks and silent appeals were not unheeded, and they were carefully deposited where they were
found, with a kind wish that their mother might return to them.
Ot
vere
CHORDEILES VIRGINIANUS.
The Night Hawk.
The night hawk is common in all parts of the country which we visited, lying between San
Francisco and the Columbia. We saw it nearly every evening, and sometimes during the day,
pursuing its insect food precisely as in the eastern States.
ACANTHYLIS VAUXII ?
The Chimney Swallow.
The chimney swallow is common in California, but we saw nothing of it in Oregon, We,
however, could obtain no specimens, owing to the height at which it generally flew.
HIRUNDO RUFA. -
The Barn Swallow.
Not uncommon about houses and out-buildings in California and Oregon.
HIRUNDO LUNIFRONS.
The Cliff Swallow.
Common in Oregon and California. I found it nesting in the cliffs on the shore of San Pablo
bay, and in the city of San Francisco, California, and it is quite abundant in the Willamette
valley, in Oregon. In the sterile basin to the eastward of the Cascade Range swallows are
much less numerous than in the fertile valleys near the coast. The insects, which form their
food, are also noticeably rare in the interior, and the aggregate of animal life is in all depart-
ments small.
HIRUNDO BICOLOR.
The White-bellied Swallow.
Found in the vicinity of San Francisco, California.
HIRUNDO THALASSINA.
Violet Green Swallow.
Not uncommon in the valleys of California, and on the Columbia, in Oregon.
COTYLE RIPARIA.
The Bank Swallow.
Not uncommon throughout California. We occasionally saw this and the next species occu-
pying their characteristic burrows. We probably sometimes confounded them, as they are only
to be distinguished by careful inspection.
ZOOLOGY.
79
COTYLE SERRIPENNIS.
The Rough-winged Swallow.
Found in California, and as far north as the Columbia river.
PROGNE PURPUREA, Linn.
The Purple Martin.
Not uncommon about San Francisco and the towns in the Sacramento valley.
PROGNE CHALYBEA. ?
More abundant in California than the last, and commonly mistaken for it.
CERYLE ALCYON.
The Belted King Fisher.
Common throughout California and Oregon. Dr. Gambel restricts it to the rocky shores and
islands near the coast, but we found it frequenting nearly every stream in our route from San
Francisco to the Dalles.
CERTHIA AMERICANA.
The Brown Tree Creeper.
Common in the wooded districts throughout California and Oregon. On the upper Des
Chutes in September, apparently migrating southward.
SELASPHORUS RUFUS.
The Nootka Humming Bird.
Occasionally seen in California and Oregon, and often associated with the last.
TROCHILUS ANNA.
Anna Humming Bird.
Abundant in California.
PARUS ATRICAPILLUS. ?
The Black-capped Tit, or Chicadee.
Common throughout California and Oregon.
PARUS MONTANUS.
The Rocky Mountain Chicadee.
I saw what I supposed to be this bird feeding with the black-capped titmouse and Sitta
pygmea among pine trees in the Des Chutes basin, in lat. 44° N., September, 1855.
SITTA CAROLINENSIS.
Carolina Nuthatch.
Common in the wooded districts of California and Oregon.
SITTA PYGMEA.
Pigmy Nuthatch.
This diminutive creeper we saw in most wooded places where water was near and any con-
siderable amount of animal life was visible. We frequently, however, travelled for days through
80
ZOOLOGY.
except those made by our party, or the mournful sighing of the wind in the tops of the pine
trees, ever fell upon our ears. Through extensive districts, even the flutter and chirp of the
omnipresent creeper was wanting ; not even the hum of a solitary insect was heard ; but every-
where a death-like monotony, a solitude and silence most depressing to the spirits and barren
of results.
TROGLODYTES PALUSTRIS.
Marsh Wren.
We found the nests of this bird in the rushes on the shores of Rhett lake, and the bird in
several marshes in California and Oregon.
TROGLODYTES BEWICKII.
Bewick’s Wren.
Not uncommon in bushes and among fallen logs between Fort Reading and the Columbia.
The “fallen timber” of the Oregon spruce forest districts, covered with the huge interlocked
trunks of fallen trees, is a favorite habitat of this wren.
TROGLODYTES OBSOLETUS.
The Rock Wren.
This wren we found inhabiting piles of broken trap rock on the shores of the Klamath lakes,
and on the Des Chutes river.
The Western Blue-bird.
This interesting bird, one of the most striking of the many representative species which the
eastern naturalist finds at the west, is nearly as abundant on the Pacific coast as the common
blue-bird (S. Wilsonii) is in the valley of the Mississippi. It fills a corresponding place in the
western fauna, and in all its habits is the counterpart of its eastern relative. The note and
for months without a word from friends or home, I used to watch the blue-birds with peculiar
interest as they came with characteristic familiarity about our camp; when all was quiet, drop-
ping down from a hanging branch within ten feet of us, to pick up the crumbs scattered about
the camp-fire, in all their movements and their soothing note recalling vividly the scenes of
other years and distant lands.
CINCLUS AMERICANUS.
The American Dipper.
This singular little bird I found only in the rapid and shallow streams in the Cascade moun-
tains. It was always flitting along in the bed of the stream, from time to time plunging into
the water and disappearing, but soon reappearing across or up or down the stream, skipping
from stone to stone, constantly in motion, jerking its tail and turning its body with much the
manners of the wrens, occasionally uttering a short and sharp chirp.
The only specimen I obtained was killed September 12, and in my notes I find the following
. -מע0
ZOOLOGY.
*
*
*
*
*
“Female. Length 74. Alar extent, 112.
memorandum relating to it: *
Iris, brown. pupil, black.”
TURDUS MIGRATORIUS.
The Robin.
The robin is, apparently, nowhere on the Pacific coast so abundant as in the eastern States,
but is generally distributed over all the region west of the Rocky mountains. Wh
the Sacramento valley we saw none of these birds, meeting with the first only when we had
been some weeks out, on Canoe creek, a tributary of Pit river. Subsequently we saw them fre-
quently and most abundantly in the Willamette valley, near the Columbia.
TURDUS NÆVIUS.
Oregon Robin.
This robin-like bird we found associated in flocks, and having much the habits of T. migrato-
rius, in the Cascade mountains, and on the hills bordering the Willamette valley, in Oregon,
in October, 1855.
ICTERIA LONGICAUDA?
The Yellow-breasted Chat.
This pretty bird is found rather abundantly in the Sacramento valley, about San Francisco,
and south of that city, in California, where it remains through the winter. In summer it
ranges to the Columbia, and northward.
TYRANNULA SAYA.
Say's Fly Catcher.
Not uncommon throughout California and Oregon.
TYRANNULA NIGRICANS.
Black Fly Catcher.
Common in northern California. Specimens were also obtained in the Umpqua valley, Oregon.
TYRANNULA CINERASCENS.
Common about San Francisco, California, where it is probably frequently mistaken for T.
crinita.
BOMBYCILLA CAROLINENSIS.
The Cedar Bird.
We saw the cedar bird on only one or two occasions, in small numbers, in the pine forests of
Oregon.
11 BB
82
ZOOLOGY.
PTILIOGONYS TOWNSENDII.
This bird, like Maximilian's jay, we found only in the Des Chutes basin, though there it is
very abundant.
It does not inhabit dense forests, nor prairies entirely destitute of trees, but chooses surfaces
covered with a scattered growth of pine and cedar. We first met with it in the cañon of
Mpto-ly-as river, at the base of Mount Jefferson.
As we picked our way with infinite difficulty down the side of this gorge, my attention was
attracted by the delightful song of, to me, a new bird, of which a few were sitting in the pines
and cedars which, by a precarious tenure, held a footing on the craggy face of the cliff.
The song, so clear, full, and melodious, seemed that of a Mimus ; of the bird I could not see
enough to judge of its affinities. The next day we followed down the river in the bottom of
the cañon; all day the deep gorge was filled with a chorus of sweet sounds from hundreds and
thousands of these birds, which, from their monotonous color, and their habit of sitting on the
branch of a tree projecting into the void above the stream, or hanging from some beetling crag,
and flying out in narrow circles after insects, precisely in the manner of the fly-catchers I was
disposed to associate with them.
Two days afterward, in the cañon of Psuc-see-que creek, of which the terraced banks were
sparsely set with low trees of the western cedar, (J. occidentalis,) I found these birds numerous,
and had every opportunity of hearing and seeing them, watching them for hours while feeding
and singing, and procuring specimens of both male and female. With the first dawn of day
they began their songs, and at sunrise the valley was perfectly vocal with their notes. Never,
anywhere, have I heard a more delightful chorus of bird music. Their song is not greatly
varied, but all the notes are particularly clear and sweet, and the strain of pure, gushing
melody is as spontaneous and inspiring as that of the song sparrow. At this time, September
30, these birds were feeding on the berries of the cedar; they were very shy, and could only
be obtained by lying concealed in the vicinity of the trees which they frequer
detect no difference in the plumage of the sexes.
CORVUS CACALOTL.
The Raven.
The raven was a constant feature of the scenery in all parts of the country which we
traversed. Even on the most sterile and in hospitable portions of the central desert, where
heaven withholds her genial showers, and earth refuses every tribute to beauty or comfort,
where stern and unrelenting sterility reigns supreme, and barren sands and rough and ragged
rocks, bleached and burnt in the eternal blaze of a cloudless sun, sear the eye-ball, here,
perched on some blasted pine, the presiding genius of the surrounding desolation, the raven
always sat, and as we defiled past, over the trackless waste, gave us the malediction of his
discordant croak.
CORVUS AMERICANUS.
The Common Crow.
Very abundant in the valley of the Sacramento; less common in the highlands and wooded
districts of California; in the Klamath basin we did not see it, but it appeared again with the
ZOOLOGY.
83
oaks on the Des Chutes river. There is, of course, no necessary connection between the distri-
bution of the crows and the oaks, except that both prefer a country to a certain degree open
and fertile ; the association extends so far that we did not see crows except where some species
of oak grew in greater or less abundance, the region of the pine forests, as well as that of the
sage plains, being without them.
CORVUS OSSIFRAGUS.
The Fish Crow.
The fish crow I saw on the Willamette, Columbia, the coast, and about the bays of Cali-
fornia, feeding upon dead fishes and mollusks.
PICICORVUS COLUMBIANUS.
Clarke's Crow.
This singular bird, the representative of the European nutcracker, (Nucifraga caryocatactes,)
was rather common along a large portion of our route, and I was able to procure good speci-
mens and study its habits at leisure. It is strictly confined to the highlands and mountains,
never, where we saw it, descending to a lower altitude than about 4,000 feet. On the other
hand, while crossing the Cascade mountains, at the line of perpetual snow, 7,000 feet above
el, I have seen this bird with Lewis and Clark's woodpecker, (M. torquatus,) flying
over the snow covered peaks 3,000 feet above us. We first met with it in the spur of the Sierra
Nevada, near Lassen's butte, and found it constantly, when in high and timbered regions,
from there to the Columbia.
The habits of this bird are a compound, of about equal parts each, of those of the jays and
woodpeckers. Its cry is particularly harsh and disagreeable, something like that of Steller's
jay, but louder and more discordant. It has all the curiosity and all the shrewdness of jays or
crows, and, from its shyness, is a difficult bird to shoot ; indeed, I was never able to approach
within shooting distance of one of them, but obtained my specimens by concealing myself, and
waiting for them to “come round.” Its flight resembles that of a woodpecker, and, perhaps
from caution, it almost invariably alights on a dry tree. Even when going to the living tree,
which furnishes it with its food, it always flys into another, a dry one, if one is near, first
reconnoiters, and if the coast is clear begins to feed; but with the first movement of an intruder,
without a note of any kind, it puts a safe distance between itself and its enery.
The food of the nutcracker at the season when we visited its haunts was exclusively the
seed of the yellow pine, (P. ponderosa,) in dislodging which from the cones containing it it
displays great dexterity. Steller's jay and Maximilian's jay (Gymnokitta cyanocephala) were
at the same time feeding on the same seeds, but not so exclusively.
02
GYMNOKITTA CYANOCEPHALA.
Prince Maximilian's Jay.
This jay, for a jay it is for all common purposes, and such I called it when we first
found it, is limited, in the region traversed by our party, to the basin of the Des Chutes,
in Oregon. The fauna and flora of this district, as well as all its climatic and geographic
conditions, connect it with the central desert of the continent, a region lying along the
1
84
ZOOLOGY.
A-
Rocky mountains on either side, and characterized by an arid climate and sterile soil, by
plains covered with artemisia and ridges of trap rock, on which grow the western cedar
(Juniperus occidentalis) and the yellow pine (P. brachyptera.) The black-tailed deer, (C. ma-
crotis,) the badger, (T. labradoria,) Townsend's hare, the little Lagomys, and striped spermo-
phile are its most characteristic quadrupeds, and the sage hen, Townsend's Ptilogonys, and
Prince Maximilian's jay some of its peculiar birds.
We first noticed this bird when in depot camp, in the southern part of the Des Chutes basin,
latitude 44° 12', in the month of September.
Early every morning flocks of from twenty-five to thirty individuals of Maximilian's jay
came across, with the usual straggling flight of jays, chattering as they few to the trees on a
hill near camp, then, from tree to tree, they made their way to the stream to drink. Their note,
when flying or feeding, was a frequently repeated ca, ca, cā, sometimes, when made by a
straggler separated from mate or flock, rather loud and harsh, but usually soft and agreeable;
when disturbed, their cry was harsher. They were very shy, and only to be shot by lying in
wait and firing as they passed. Subsequently, on the banks of Psuc-see-que creek, fifty miles
further north, I had an opportunity of seeing them feeding, and was able to watch them care-
fully and at my leisure. They were then feeding on the berries of the cedar, (J. occidentalis,)
and in their habits and cries closely resembled the jays. A specimen previously killed had the æso-
phagus filled with the seeds of the yellow pine. From this I should infer that, like the jays,
they are omnivorous. I could discern no difference between the male and female.
PICA HUDSONICA.
The Black-billed Magpie.
We saw none of these birds in California, though the other species was abundant; but first
met with it on the banks of Mpto-ly-as river, a tributary of the Des Chutes, about one hundred
miles south of the Columbia. Subsequently we saw them, occasionally, on the Columbia, but
nowhere in great numbers. If my own observations were my only guide, I should say that
it was less gregarious in habit than P. Nuttalii, for all the birds of this species which we
noticed were solitary or in pairs, while the yellow-billed magpie is often seen in flocks of
several hundreds.
Nearer the coast, the black-billed magpie ranges much lower than we saw it, coming into
California and occupying, over a limited area, the same territory with the other species.
In the interior basin, to the eastward of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains, we saw
no magpie of either species. Like the crows, they shun so sterile a region, and we found them
again, with the crows, on our northward march, when we came into a more productive district.
This species seemed to me more shy than the other magpie of the west. Like all the corvidae,
however, the magpies are shy and wary, or impudent and familiar, as the fit takes them, or
perhaps as their necessities or fancies govern them.
PICA NUTTALLI.
The Yellow-billed Magpie.
This beautiful bird inhabits the valleys of California in great numbers, but, probably, never
extends its range northward as far as the Oregon line, at least I could not learn that it had
ever been seen so far north ; and the other species (P. hudsonica) seems there entirely to
replace it.
ZOOLOGY.
85
The flocks of magpies sometimes seen in California are very large, containing hundreds of
individuals. Their habits and manners betray distinctly their affinity to the crows as well as
to the jays. All vociferous, petulant, mischievous, social, omnivorous, the unlettered observer
groups these genera into one family from their habits, their flight, their attitudes, and their
cries, as satisfactorily as the closet naturalist associates similarities of anatomical structure.
The American magpies resemble the European to a remarkable degree ; and I recognized the
magpie of California as a magpie, from his long tail and peculiar flight and cry, when too
distant to distinguish his colors or form.
CYANOCITTA STELLERI.
Steller's Jay.
Steller's jay is, in size, form, and habits, the western representative of the blue jay (C. cristata)
of the eastern States. Of a much deeper blue, and without the elegant variety of color which
renders the blue jay one of the very handsomest of American birds, still, by the intensity of its
tint, its more conspicuous crest, its bold, defiant air, and its excessively harsh and disagreeable
cry, it challenges and secures attention and a certain amount of admiration.
It is almost exclusively confined to the hilly and mountainous districts, choosing in preference
those covered with forests of pine. At certain seasons its food consists almost entirely of the
seeds of the pine, particularly of P. brachyptera, which I have often seen them extracting from
the cones, and with which the desophagus of those we killed was usually filled.
This bird ranges at least as far north as the British line, and from the coast to the Rocky
mountains. I brought in specimens from southern and northern California, Oregon, and
Puget's Sound, the latter presented me by Lieutenant Trowbridge, United States army.
CYANOCITTA CALIFORNICA.
California Jay.
This is the first species of the genus which one sees on entering California by the way of
San Francisco, and is the only jay known to many of the inhabitants of the valleys and open
country. It occupies a lower altitude and a lower latitude than any other jay which we found
in the region traversed by us.
The favorite haunts of the California jay are the trees and thickets bordering the streams in
the valleys. As we ascended among the evergreen forests of the higher grounds, and passed
northeasterly from the Sacramento valley, this bird left us, and long before reaching the line of
Oregon we had lost sight of it entirely; nor did we find it again till our return to California
months afterward.
The California jay has all the sprightliness and restlessness of the family, but is less noisy
and its note is more agreeable than that of Steller's jay, (C. Stellerii,) which replaces it at the
north.
PERISOREUS CANADENSIS.
The Canada Jay.
The Canada jay, or " whiskey jack," as he is familiarly called, descends much further to the
southward on the Pacific side of the Rocky mountains than in the valley of the Mississippi.
In California, we found them at the upper end of the Sacramento valley, in latitude 40°; while,
86
ZOOLOGY.
in the eastern States, they rarely pass the line of 44º. This is the more surprising, as the
climate still further magnifies the discrepancy, the isothermal line at Fort Reading, California,
passing south of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is probable, however, that climate and temperature do
not so much affect the range of this species as the presence or absence of the coniferous forests
which form its favorite habitat.
As we progressed towards the Columbia, the Canada jay became more common, but always
appeared to us as rather a shy bird, exhibiting none of the familiarity and impudence which
have been ascribed to it, probably for the reason that our visit to that country was not in the
winter, when they are made bold by hunger. I was informed that on the Columbia, when the
ground is covered with snow, these birds become very fearless, obtrusive, and sometimes trouble-
some, through their depredations on the stores of provisions.
S
QUISCALUS PURPUREUS.
Common Blackbird.
Not uncommon in the vicinity of San Francisco, California.
SCOLECOPHAGUS MEXICANUS.
Blackbird.
Common in California and Oregon. I saw large flocks of them at Fort Vancouver, W. T.,
in the last of October. They were flying from field to field, and gathering into the large spruces
about the fort, in the manner of all the blackbirds when on the eve of migration.
AGELAIUS XANTHOCEPHALUS.
Yellow-headed Blackbird.
Not uncommon in the Sacramento valley, especially during the fall and winter. We found
them nesting, or, rather, with young—for the period of incubation had passed-at Pit river, and
immense flocks of them swarmed in the rushes bordering the Klamath lakes.
AGELAIUS GUBERNATOR.
Red-wing Blackbird.
Very common about San Francisco and in the Sacramento valley; associated with A. tricolor.
AGELAIUS TRICOLOR.
Red and White-winged Blackbird.
Common in California, in the Klamath basin, and Oregon.
STURNELLA NEGLECTA.
Meadow Lark.
Meadow larks are more numerous in the Sacramento valley than in any portion of the eastern
States, and are supposed by the residents to be identical with the common eastern species, (S.
ZOOLOGY.
87
1
e even seen
ludoviciana,) and they do indeed strongly resemble it in markings and habit. I have even seen
prepared specimens of Sturnella from the Sacramento valley ticketed S. ludoviciana by ornitholo-
gists. I am, however, strongly persuaded that among the myriads of larks which we saw, and
the dozens we shot in California and Oregon, not one was identical with the eastern species.
Though the plumage is very like, and all the movements, attitudes and habits are similar, I
regard the whole as a beautiful example of a representative species. Any one who has passed
his years of boyhood in intimate companionship with the birds in the meadow, the orchard, and
the forest, learns to recognize the notes of each familiar one as readily as he recognizes the voices
of his family friends. Such an one, though he may be momentarily deceived by a familar look,
will never fail to detect the voice of a stranger. I am certain I never heard the note of S. ludo-
viciana in California. There is probably still another species in California.
ICTERUS BULLOCKII.
Bullock's Oriole.
Common in the Sacramento valley, particularly in the trees bordering streams, and on river
bottoms in summer.
CHRYSOMITRIS TRISTIS.
The Yellow Bird.
This pretty bird and sweet songster was a constant source of pleasure, and, with its familiar
form and note, a solace of exile in the interior of California and Oregon, far from the haunts of
men, when almost everything beside was new and strange. We found it quite common to the
Columbia.
CHRYSOMITRIS PSALTRIA.
Western Goldfinch.
Common in the valleys of California.
LOXIA AMERICANA.
Cross-bill.
The little cross-bill is a constant feature of the pine forests of Oregon and northern California.
Often the silence and solitude of an entire day's march through the sombre monotony of the
forests of yellow pine were relieved only by the low but cheerful chirp of flocks of these birds.
Around the rare and widely separated watering places at morning and evening they would
gather in considerable numbers to drink.
I procured specimens of both sexes at the very source of the main branch of the Willamette
river, in the Cascade mountains.
ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS.
The White-crowned Finch.
This finch I found very abundant on the bush-covered sand hills about San Francisco; in
November, and more rarely during the summer, in northern California and Oregon. The
plumage and especially the note of the western bird seem to identify it with the white-crowned
sparrow of the eastern States.
88
ZOOLOGY
-croy
ZONOTRICHIA AUROCAPILLA.
The Yellow-crowned Finch.
Abundant about San Francisco in winter.
ZONOTRICHIA GRAMINEA.
The Bay-winged Finch.
Common in the Sacramento valley, California.
SPIZELLA BREWERI.
Common in the Sacramento valley.
SPIZELLA SOCIALIS.
The Chipping Sparrow.
We saw this familiar sparrow occasionally in the Sacramento valley.
-
STRUTHUS OREGONUS.
sa
The Western Snow Bird.
This bird we found very common in northern California and Oregon in summer, and about
San Francisco in winter. In plumage and habits it so closely resembles its eastern representa-
tive as to lead me, for a long time, to consider them identical. The lonely valleys of the
Cascade mountains contain large numbers of this little bird, having apparently the same habits
as the eastern species.
CARPODACUS PURPUREUS.
The Purple Finch.
Common throughout California and Oregon.
CARPODACUS FRONTALIS.
Iupie
Purple House Finch.
Common in the valleys of California.
OTOCORIS ALPESTRIS.
Sky Lark.
Very abundant in all the open country of California and Oregon. On the prairies of the
Sacramento valley and of the Des Chutes basin, the shore larks, which rise before the traveller
at every step and fill the air with their cheerful chirpings, recall the sky lark which so abounds
on the moors and plains of Europe, and, by their numbers and their ceaseless twitter, give life
to scenes as monotonous as the prairies of the west.
GUIRACA CERULEA.
The Blue Grosbeck.
This pretty and musical little bird we found only on Pit river, in northern California.
ZOOLOGY.
89
PIPILO OREGONA.
The Ground Robin.
This bird, so like the eastern 6 towhee bunting,” we saw very frequently after leaving the
Sacramento valley. It seemed to become more abundant as we progressed toward the
Columbia, and on the upper Des Chutes, and on the slopes of the Cascades it was as common
as the P. erythrophthalmus in the wood lots at home. In its habits it resembles
representative as closely as in its plumage.
me
PIPILO FUSCA.
The Cañon Finch.
Very common in the Sacramento valley, where it frequents the banks of streams and river
bottoms, scratching about in the leaves under the bushes, as our other ground finches delight to
do. This habit, as well as its long tail and jerking flight from one clump of bushes to the
centre of another, indicated to me its affinities, though the bird was a stranger to me, and was
almost entirely silent.
On the shores of upper Klamath lake, upon one occasion I saw what I supposed to be another
species of Pipilo, but could not secure a specimen. In my notes of August 15th I made the
entry: “Saw finch, size and habits of towhee bunting; ground color, lilac, with bars of white
on wings and tail; very shy; did not hear its note."
PICUS HARRISII.
Harris' Woodpecker.
Not uncommon in the wooded districts of northern California and Oregon.
PICUS NUTTALLII.
Nuttall’s Woodpecker.
Common in California.
PICUS GAIRDNERII.
Gairdner's Woodpecker.
Very common in northern California and Oregon.
PICUS WILLIAMSONII.
Williamson's Woodpecker.
The only specimen which I saw of this new bird I killed in the pine 'forest bordering upper
Klamath lake on the east. Its habits are apparently very similar to those of P. Harrisii and
P. Gairdnerii, which inhabit the same region. The individual procured, when first seen, was
creeping up the trunk of a large yellow pine, (P. brachyptera,) searching for insects in the
bark. Its cry was very like that of P. Harrisii. When shot, though killed, he retained his
hold of the bark of the branch on which he sat, as woodpeckers so often do, a
to dislodge him with the contents of my second barrel, by which he was somewhat mutilated.
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ZOOLOGY.
MELANERPES FORMICIVORUS.
Woodpecker.
This beautiful bird, the rival and representative of the red-headed woodpecker, (M. erythroce-
phalus,) is an inseparable element of the scenery in the Sacramento valley:
While we were encamping under the wide-spreading oaks of that region I had a very good
opportunity to study their habits, as they would come into the trees in the shade of which I was
lying. They are not shy, and frequently came round in considerable numbers. Their manners
are the very counterpart of those of the eastern “ red-head,” and their rattling cry is not
unlike his. Like the “red-head,” I have seen two or three of them amuse themselves by
playing hide and seek around some trunk or branch, and, like the red-head,” too, they
delight to sit on the end of a dry limb and fly off in circles for the insects which come near
them. This bird is called “ carpentero" by the Mexican and Spanish Californians, and is well
known by the residents as the bird which pierces the bark of oaks and pines with holes, in
which he inserts acorns, thus storing them up for future use. The holes are nicely adjusted to
the size of the acorn, which, when driven in by the energetic blows of the carpentero,' can
with difficulty be extracted.
The bark of the western yellow pine (P. brachyptera, Eng.) is particularly thick and cork-
like, and is divided into plates of from four to eight inches in breadth, with smooth surfaces.
Into these plates the carpentero sometimes inserts acorns in such numbers that all the trunk of
the tree has the appearance of being thickly studded with wooden pegs.
The squirrels find these stores of acorns extremely convenient, and they become the occasion
of unending battles between the carpentero and themselves.
The range of the species extends to the Columbia, and perhaps above, to the westward of
the Cascade range, though more common in California than in Oregon. In the Des Chutes
basin we did not see it, and in the Cascade mountains it is replaced by M. torquatus and
M. albolarvatus.
MELANERPES TORQUATUS.
Lewis' Woodpecker.
This elegant and interesting bird, so unlike in the region it occupies, and in its retiring
habits, the preceding species, seems to choose, as its favorite haunts, the evergreen forests
which partially cover and conceal the ragged and rocky declivities of the Cascade and Rocky
mountains.
I saw it first near Lassen's Butte in northern California, flying high in the air, when its
flapping wings and its seemingly jet black color, led me to think it a crow diminished in size
by distance. Soon, however, its flight brought it towards the sun, and by the reflected light,
I saw that its color was of a deep and resplendent green, and recognized the bird. Subsequently
we noticed them in the mountains all the way to the Columbia. Though often seen at a low
elevation, it is evidently alpine in its preferences, for we found them most abundantly near the
line of perpetual snow, and when crossing the mountain passes at the snow line have seen them
flying far above us. While in the Cascade mountains, in September, I, one day, saw twenty
or more, the greater part of them young birds, contending, half in sport and half in earnest,
with a flock of robins (T. migratorus) for the possession of a clump of mountain ash, now
ZOOLOGY.
91
covered with its crimson berries, on which they were feeding. From time to time several would
meet on one of the high spruce “stubs” which stood near, and apparently, have rare fun
dodging each other around it; in this and in their generic rattling note indicating their
relationship to the “ Red-head” of the east.
They are always shy birds, and difficult to shoot; yet elsewhere they may be less so, for, in
the previously unexplored region of California and Oregon which we traversed, the birds were
all much more shy and difficult of approach than those of districts populated by white men.
In its fly-catching habits, this species closely imitates the Californian and eastern members of
the genus.
MELANERPES ALBOLARVATUS.
White-headed Woodpecker.
This species we found only in the Cascade mountains of Oregon, where it is, apparently, not
common.
COLAPTES MEXICANUS.
Red-shafted Flicker.
The Red-shafted Flicker is a rather common bird in all parts of California and Oregon which
we visited. Many of its habits are identical with those of the Golden Flicker (C. auratus.) Like
that species, he is often seen hopping along on the ground and seeking his food there, and the note,
which has given to the eastern species the provincial name of “Wake up,” is closely imitated
by his western representative. The Red-shafted Flicker is, however, much the shyer bird.
APTERNUS ARCTICUS.
Three-toed Woodpecker
This Woodpecker we found only in the Cascade mountains, within a hundred miles of the
Columbia.
GEOCOCCYX VIATICUS.
Road Runner. Paisaño,
This singular bird, which is quite common in southern California and Mexico, we found as far
north as Fort Reading, at the upper end of the Sacramento Valley. It is there limited to the hilly
districts, and frequents the chapparal of "Manzanita,” Arbutus laurifolia, and “Grease wood,"
(Ceanothus cuneifolius,) which, with scattered trees of the long-acorned oak and the nut pine,
(Q. longiglandis and P. Sabineana,) form the vegetation of the district. The piles and ledges
of trap rock give shelter to great numbers of lizards, and these appear to compose the greater
part of the subsistence of the "racer,” as it is called, its swiftness of foot being proverbial there,
as in all localities where the bird is known.
The Geococcyx is found throughout the whole range of hills bordering the Sacramento valley
on the east, becoming more abundant towards the south. It is frequently brought into the
San Francisco market and is reported very good eating.
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ZOOLOGY.
?? COCCYZUS ERYTHROPHTHALMUS.
The Black-billed Cuckoo.
While encamped at Fort Reading, California, in July, 1855, I frequently saw and heard the
"orain crow,” in the trees bordering Cow creek. I supposed it to be this species, and made an
entry to that effect in my note book; but I had then nothing to do with the collections in natural
history, and did not secure a specimen.
COLUMBA FASCIATA,
The Band-tailed Pigeon.
This beautiful pigeon, of the size and much the habits of the domestic pigeon, I observed at
several points on our route. At McCumber's, N. E. of Fort Reading, the first was seen and
killed by Dr. Sterling. There they are not rare, and, during the season of acorns, subsist on
those of the scrub oak, which abounds in that vicinity. On the Columbia they were in pairs,
and near the Dalles might readily be mistaken for domestic “ doves."
PI
ECTOPISTES CAROLINENSIS.
The Turtle Dove.
The turtle dove is very abundant in all parts of California and Oregon which we visited.
CALLIPEPLA CALIFORNICA.
The California Quail.
This beautiful bird is now so widely and so well known that little can be said of it which will
be new to naturalists. In California it is called the " valley quail,” to distinguish it from C.
picta, which, inhabiting the hills and highlands, has received the name of "mountain quail.”
The place filled in the fauna of the west by the California quail corresponds with that of the
quail or partridge of the eastern States, (Ortyx virginiana.) It inhabits the prairies and the
grain fields of the cultivated districts, and frequents the thickets which border the streams,
usually in covies of from a dozen to an hundred individuals, except during the breeding season,
when it is found only in pairs. Like the eastern quail, the cock bird is very fond of sitting on
some stump or log projecting above the grass and weeds which conceal his mate and nest or
brood, and, especially in the early morning, uttering his peculiar cry, (whistle it can hardly be
called,) which represents in a Californian scene the “bob-white,” that, so clear and full, yet soft,
80 suggestive of rural pleasures, form one of the most delightful accompaniments of the pleasant
harvest time in the eastern States.
The note of the Californian quail is rather harsh and disagreeable than otherwise, and some-
what resembles that of some of the woodpeckers. It may be represented by the syllables kůck-
kůck-kůck-kā—kůck-kůck-kůck-kā—the first three notes being rapidly repeated, the last pro-
longed with a falling inflection.
As a game bird the Californian quail is inferior to the eastern one, though, perhaps, of equal
excellence for the table. It does not lie as well to the dog, and does not afford as good sport.
It also takes a tree more readily than our quail. It is found in all the valleys of California and
Oregon, both those of the interior and those which open on the coast. It is not found in the
ZOOLOGY.
93
deep forests, nor in the mountains at any considerable elevation, nor in the interior basin, where
water and vegetation are scarce. Of the many specimens obtained, some were killed in different
parts of the Sacramento valley, at Fort Jones, and in the Willamette valley, near the Columbia.
There is no appreciable difference between these specimens.
These birds make no elaborate nests, but lay a large number of eggs on the ground, and
generally hatch in June. They are susceptible of domestication, and would be a pretty orna-
ment for parks and lawns in the Atlantic States, where they would probably thrive.
CALLIPEPLA PICTA.
The Mountain Quail.
This elegant bird, so similar to and yet so unlike the partridge of Europe, is nowhere so
common as to make it a valueless prize to the sportsman or naturalist. It occurs sparingly
throughout the entire length of California and Oregon to, and perhaps across, the Columbia,
having much the range, in a general way, of the “valley quail,” (C. californica,) though every-
where a rarer bird, and always confined to the hills or mountains, while the species just men-
tioned, as its name implies, inhabits the valleys or low hills.
The habits of this bird are similar to those of the other species of the genus, but it is less
gregarious and more shy. It is usually found in the chapparal, where it is put up with diffi-
culty, choosing to gain safety by running on the ground rather than by flight.
On the first of August, at the base of Lassen's butte, I found a solitary hen, with a brood of
very young chicks. The brood scattered like young partridges, uttered a piping note like that
of young chickens, and, when all was still again, were recalled to the mother by a cluck, much
like the cluck of the common hen. Until we reached the plains of Pit river we frequently saw
small covies and broods of these partridges, in which the young were about half grown. In the
Klamath lake basin we did not observe them, most of that country being too flat and bare. We
found them again in the hills bordering the Willamette valley, and they extend from the
Columbia almost uninterruptedly, but no where abundantly, through the Siskiyou, Calapooya,
and Trinity mountains to California. They are favorite pets with the lonely miners, by whom
they are kept in confinement, and are frequently so much admired for their trim figures, elegant
plumage, and chivalrous bearing, as to command a high price. Their flesh is white and excel-
lent, and quite equal to that of any of the family.
TETRAO OBSCURUS.
The Dusky Grouse.
The dusky grouse among American species is only second in size to the sage hen,” T.
urophasianus. The cock is decidedly the handsomest of all American grouse, and the flesh is
white, and equal to that of the ruffed grouse or the American partridge, (0: virginiana.)
This bird inhabits the evergreen forests exclusively, and is found not uncommonly in the
Sierra Nevada, in California, and in the wooded districts of the country lying between the
Sacramento valley and the Columbia.
In the Cascade mountains we found it associated with the ruffed grouse, which it resembles
in habit more than any other species. When on the ground they lie very close, flying up from
your very feet as you approach them, and, when flushed, always take to a tree; while sitting
in the tree you may fire as many times as is necessary to hit the bird before you can dislodge it.
In the spring, the male, seated motionless on a branch of pine or fir where it issues from the
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ZOOLOGY.
rer
ve
trunk, makes a booming call, which, by a remarkable ventriloquial power, serves rather to
mislead than direct the sportsman, and unless experienced in shooting this kind of grouse, he
will be likely to spend much time, with nothing to show for it, in a vain search for the bird.
TETRAO UMBELLUS.
Ruffed Grouse.
This bird we did not see within the limits of California, in the lake basin, nor in that of the
Des Chutes river, but in the wooded portions of the Cascade mountains and in the Willamette
valley it was very abundant, and was killed in considerable numbers by the different members
of our party.
The only difference which I noticed between the specimens obtained there and those found
east of the Mississippi was in color, the Oregon specimens being generally darker.
The habits of the bird are, apparently, everywhere the same. Their excellence for the table
is proverbial; but from their habit of living in wooded districts they are sometimes with
difficulty put up, and are usually shot on the ground-affording less exciting and legitimate
sport than species which are only killed on the wing.
TETRAO PHASIANELLUS.
The Sharp-tailed Grouse.
The sharp-tailed grouse is found associated with the “prairie chicken” (T. cupido) on the
prairies bordering the Mississippi and Missouri, and is frequently confounded with that bird by
the "pot hunters," who annually destroy immense numbers of both species. It is, however,
easily distinguishable by its lighter plumage, speckled breast, and smaller size, and is always
the least abundant of the two species when they exist together. The range of the sharp-tailed
grouse extends much further westward than that of the prairie chicken, the latter species being
limited to the valley of the Mississippi, while the former is found as far west and south as the
valleys of California.
Coming north from San Francisco, we first found it on a beautiful prairie near Canoe creek,
about fifty miles northeast of Fort Reading ; subsequently, after passing the mountain chain
which forms the upper cañon of Pit river, we came into a level, grass-covered plain, through
which the willow-bordered river flows in a sinuous course like a brook through a meadow. On
this plain were great numbers of birds of various kinds, and so many of the sharp-tailed
grouse, that, for two or three days, they afforded us fine sport and an abundance of excellent
food. We found them again about the Klamath lakes, and in the Des Chutes basin quite
down to the Dalles.
The flesh of this species is much like that of the prairie hen,” and, though not equal to
that of the dusky or ruffed grouse, was always regarded as an acceptable addition to our. bill
of fare.
The bird lies close, and when flushed flies off, uttering a constantly repeated kuck, kuck,
kuck, with a steady flight and considerable swiftness. It is, however, tender and easily killed,
No. 4, and even No. 6, shot being, if properly directed, sure to bring them down when within
moderate range. The young birds, being fat and heavy, as they fall on the grassy prairie
scatter their feathers about as though torn quite in pieces, giving gratifying evidence of their
fitness for the table,
ZOOLOGY. .
95
TETRAO UROPHASIANUS.
Sage Cock.
This is the largest of American grouse, the male sometimes weighing from five to six
pounds. It is, when in full plumage, rather a handsome bird, at least decidedly better looking
than any figure yet given of it. The female is smaller than the male, and of a monotonous
sober brown ; but the male, brown above, is handsomely marked with black and white on the
neck, breast, and wings, and has a distinctive character in the spaces of bare, orange colored
skin which occupy the sides of the neck. These spaces are usually concealed by the feathers,
but are susceptible of inflation to a great size, and, when strutting in parade before the females,
the neck is puffed out like that of the pouter pigeon.
This bird does not inhabit the valleys of California, but belongs to the fauna of the interior
basin, or, more probably, to the Rocky mountain fauna—that of the dry, desert country
lying on both flanks of the Rocky mountain chain. We first met with it high up on Pit river,
at the point where we left it and crossed over to the lakes. Coming into camp at evening, I
had been attracted by a white, chalk-like bluff, some two miles to the right of our trail, which I
visited and examined. Near it was a warm spring, which came out of the hill-side, and, spread-
ing over the prairie, kept a few acres green and fresh, strongly contrasting with the universal
and a considerable number of sharp-tailed grouse, of which I killed several; the whole presenting
attractions sufficiently strong—as we were to remain encamped one day-to take me over there
early next morning. I had filled my plant case with flowers, had obtained frogs and snakes
and chalky, infusorial earth enough to load down the boy who accompanied me, and had enjoyed
a fine morning's sport, dropping as many grouse on the prairies as we could conveniently carry.
patches of "sage bushes,” (artemisia tridentata,) I was suddenly startled by a great futter and
rush, and a dark bird, that appeared to me as large as a turkey, rose from the ground near
me, and, uttering a hoarse hēk, hēk, flew off with an irregular, but remarkably well sustained
flight.
I was just then stooping to drink from the little stream, and quite unprepared for game of
any kind, least of all for such a bird, evidently a grouse, but so big and black, so far exceed-
ing all reasonable dimensions, that I did not think of shooting him, but stood with open eyes,
and, doubtless, open mouth, eagerly watching his flight to mark him down. But stop he did
not, so long as I could see him, now flapping, now sailing, he kept on his course till he
disappeared behind a hill a mile away.
Į was, of course, greatly chagrined by his escape, but, knowing that given one grouse it is
usually not difficult to find another, I commenced looking about for the mate of the one I had
lost. My search was not a long one; almost immediately she rose from under a sage bush with
a noise like a whirlwind, not to fly a mile before stopping to look around, as the cock had done,
but, by a fortunate shot, falling helpless to the ground. No deer stalker ever felt more tri-
umphant enthusiasm while standing over the prostrate body of a buck, or fisherman when the
silvery sides of a salmon sparkled in his landing net, than I felt as I picked up this great, and
to me unknown, bird. I afterward ranged the hill-sides for hours, with more or less success,
waging a war on these birds, which I found to be quite abundant, but very strong winged and
difficult to kill. I repeatedly flushed them not more than ten yards from me, and, as they rose,
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ZOOLOGY.
poured my whole charge right and left into them, knocking out feathers, perhaps, but not
killing the bird, which, in defiance of all my hopes and expectations, would carry off my shot
to such a distance that I could not follow him, even did I know he would never rise again.
Here, as elsewhere, I found these birds confined to the vicinity of the “sage bushes," from
under which they are usually sprung.
A few days later, on the shores of Wright and Rhett lakes, we found them very abundant,
and killed all we cared to. A very fine male which I killed there was passed by nearly the
whole party within thirty feet in open ground. I noticed him as soon, perhaps, as he saw us,
and waited to watch his movements. As the train approached he sank down on the ground,
depressing his head, and lying as motionless as a stick or root, which he greatly resembled.
After the party had passed, I moved toward him, when he depressed his head till it rested on the
ground, and evidently made himself as small as possible. He did not move till I had approached
to within fifteen feet of him, when he arose and I shot him. He was in fine plumage, and
weighed over five pounds. We continued to meet with the sage hen, whenever we crossed sage
plains, till we reached the Columbia.
To the westward of the Cascade Range this bird probably does not exist, as all its habits and
preferences seem to fit it for the occupancy of the sterile and anhydrous region of the central
desert. Its flesh is dark and, particularly in old birds, highly flavored with wormwood, which
to most persons is no proof of excellence. The young bird, if parboiled and stewed, is very
good; but, as a whole, this is inferior for the table to any other species of American grouse.
GALLINULA GALEATA.
Gallinule.
I saw this bird but on one occasion, at San Francisco, and that in the month of November.
FULICA AMERICANA.
The Coot.
Abundant in all parts of Oregon and California, where it is a constant resident.
RALLUS ELEGANS.
King Rail.
Very common in the marshes bordering San Francisco and San Pablo bays, in California. At
Petaluma they are very numerous, and called "mud hens.” During the game season they are
always to be found in the California market.
ime
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re
RALLUS VIRGINIANUS.
Virginia Rail.
This little rail is common along the smaller streams throughout California and Oregon.
We saw it first at Vacaville, a few miles above Benicia, and subsequently in many localities
northward. I also received a specimen from Lieutenant Trowbridge, U. S. A., killed at Cape
Flattery, Washington Territory,
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97
CHARADRIUS VOCIFERUS.
Killdeer.
The killdeer plover is everywhere common throughout California and Oregon. Scarcely a
day passed on our march in which we did not see them.
CHARADRIUS VIRGINIACUS.
The Golden Plover.
Perhaps less common than in the eastern States, but not rare in California and Oregon.
GRUS CANADENSI,
The Brown Crane.
This, the only species of crane which we saw at the west, is quite common, at different seasons,
in nearly all parts of California and the Pacific territories. In the autumn and winter it is abun-
dant on the prairies of California, and is always for sale in the markets of San Francisco, where
it is highly esteemed as an article of food. In August, we frequently saw them about the
Klamath lakes, and early in September, while in the Cascade mountains, in Oregon, the cranes
were a constant feature of the scenery of the beautiful but lonely mountain meadows in which
we camped.
We found them always exceedingly shy and difficult of approach, but not unfrequently the
files of their tall forms stretching above the prairie grass, or their discordant and far-sounding
screams suggested the presence of the human inhabitants of the region, whose territory was
now, for the first time, invaded by the white man.
The cranes nest in these alpine meadows, and retreat to the milder climate of the valleys of
California on the approach of winter. In Oregon they begin to move southward in October.
ARDEA HERODIAS.
Great Blue Crane.
This bird is more common in California than in any portion of the eastern States with which
I am familiar. On San Pablo bay, in the Straits of Carquines, and along up the Sacramento
one is rarely out of sight of them, and not unfrequently half a dozen or more are seen together,
either sitting on the low trees or watching in the shoal water for their food. On Pit river, in
the lake basin, on the Des Chutes, Willamette, and Columbia, we found them abundant, but
nowhere so numerous as in the Sacramento valley.
Specimens were given me by Lieutenant Trowbridge, U. S. A., collected at Cape Flattery,
and I have seen them from still further north. All agree closely in plumage with the eastern
bird, and its habits are everywhere the same.
ARDEA OCCIDENTALIS.
The White Heron.
We saw the white egret in several different localities on our route, but most abundantly on
San Pablo bay, where we killed several, and where, sitting so white and motionless at intervals
along the shore, they give a peculiar character to the landscape.
They were found by us on the Columbia, and they range still further northward.
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ZOOLOGY.
ARDEA MINOR.
The American Bittern.
The bittern, like the blue heron, is common throughout California and Oregon. On upper
Pit river we saw large numbers of them.
ARDEA EXILIS.
Least Bittern.
This little heron we found rather common along the Sacramento, but not northward of the
Sacramento valley.
TOTANUS FLAVIPES.
The Yellow Shanks Tatler.
This bird we saw occasionally in California and Oregon. At Rhett lake and Klamath marsh,
which last is half marsh, half lake, and the resort of incredible numbers of water fowl, we
found the yellow shanks abundant.
TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS.
The Tell-Tale.
Not uncommon in the vicinity of San Francisco and on the Columbia.
TRINGA ALPINA.
The Dunlin.
Common about San Francisco and on the Columbia.
TRINGA SEMIPALMATA.
Noner
Semipalmated Sandpiper.
Common about San Francisco, California.
PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS.
We saw this species in small flocks, sometimes thirty or forty miles from land, off the coast of
California, in November and December, 1855.
PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS.
I found this interesting bird evidently spending the summer on the upper branches of the
Des Chutes river, in the Cascade mountains, in Oregon. At the time of our visit to that region
the period of nesting had long passed, and the broods were living together till such time as
their annual migration should commence.
I was particularly interested by the sprightly, sportive habits of these birds, and by the
elegance of their movements on the water. Sometimes, as I sat quietly on the banks of the
river, a little company of these neatly dressed phalaropes would float by, quite careless of the
fact that they were borne rapidly down by the current, and wholly occupied in their sports,
circling about each other with the ease and grace of skaters on ice, or swallows in the air.
When alarmed they flew swiftly up the stream, uttering a peet, peet, much after the manner of
the sandpipers.
ZOOLOGY.
mense
NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS.
Curlew.
The curlew is quite abundant in the vicinity of San Francisco and throughout the Sacramento
valley during the autumn and winter. In the summer and before the commencement of the
rainy season comparatively few of them are found there. On our march through the Sacra-
mento valley and northward we did not meet with it until we came down into the plains
bordering Pit river above the upper cañon; here we found them in immer
formed a valuable addition to our bill of fare. This prairie is entirely covered with water
during the wet season, as is proven by the myriads of aquatic shells (Planorbis, Physa, &c.)
scattered over the ground in the grass ; and as it does not dry up so completely as the other
vallies, the curlews apparently pass the summer there. Around the Klamath lakes and others
of that group they were abundant in August, and we found them associated with the geese and
other water birds which were congregated in countless numbers on the lowlands bordering the
Columbia in October.
HIMANTOPUS NIGRICOLLIS.
The Black-necked Stilt.
We found this bird in large numbers on the shores of Rhett lake, on the line between Cali-
fornia and Oregon. This lake, one of a group of which upper Klamath lake is the largest, is
exceedingly shallow, and nearly half its surface is occupied by patches of “tule” (bull-rush,)
which has given it the name by which it is sometimes called "Tule lake.” These wide surfaces
of shoal water and low islands, densely covered with rushes, afford most convenient retreats for
a large number of swimming and wading birds, which nest and pass the summer there. Ducks,
geese, herons, plovers, and sandpipers were very numerous, but the most conspicuous of all were
the stilts, both for their numbers and their vociferous cries. When alarmed by the approach of
our party and the firing of guns, they flew about in the greatest confusion, their long legs trail-
ing behind them, and keeping up a loud and incessant scolding. I obtained a fine pair of these
birds, male and female, which with several other desirable specimens procured at that time were
subsequently lost.
The Stilt is found as far north as the Columbia, and is not uncommon in the valleys of
California.
RECURVIROSTRA OCCIDENTALIS.
The Western Avoset.
Common on the marshes about the principal bays and water courses of California during fall
and winter. It is then brought into the San Francisco market in considerable numbers and
sold as an article of food. How great are its excellencies in this line I did not learn.
In the spring it migrates to the northward, nesting almost exclusively above the Columbia.
This species resembles in appearance, as well as in habits and cry, the R. Americana of the
Atlantic coast, and still more than that species is like the avoset of Europe.
100
ZOOLOGY.
LIMOSA FEDOA.
Godwit.
Very common about San Francisco in the winter, and is always to be found in the market.
It is also common on the Columbia near its mouth, and I received a specimen from Lieutenant
Trowbridge, U. S. A., killed at Cape Flattery, W. T.
SCOLOPAX WILSONI.
Wilson's Snipe.
Wilson's snipe is shot in considerable numbers about San Francisco, and is constantly in the
market during the autumn and winter. We saw them on the shores of Klamath lake, and at
various points along our line of march.
SCOLOPAX GRISEA.
Red-breasted Snipe.
This species, though less common than the last, is found occasionally in California and
Oregon.
CYGNUS BUCCINATOR.
Trumpeter Swan.
The trumpeter swan visits California and Oregon with its congeners, the ducks and geese, in
their annual migrations, but, compared with the myriads of other water birds which congregate
at that season in the bays and rivers of the west, it is always rare. Before we left the
Columbia, early in November, the swans had begun to arrive from the north, and frequently
while at Fort Vancouver their trumpeting call drew our attention to the long converging lines
of these magnificent birds, so large and so snowy white, as they came from their northern nest-
ing places, and, screaming their delight at the appearance of the broad expanse of water,
perhaps their winter home, descended into the Columbia.
CYGNUS AMERICANUS.
Common Swan.
This bird, considerably smaller than the last, is perhaps more common at the west. In Cali-
fornia swans are much less common than on the Columbia, where, during the winter season at
least, they are exceedingly abuodant.
BERNICLA CANADENSIS.
The Canada Goose.
The Canada goose, with several other species, becomes incalculably numerous in the valleys of
California during the wet season. Some approach to this abundance of wild fowl is annually
witnessed by the inhabitants of the prairie region of the valley of the Mississippi; but any
exhibition of the kind which takes place in Illinois or Iowa is far surpassed by that of the
ZOOLOGY.
101
OVE
OV
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. With the first October rain vegetation begins to spring
over all these prairies, and the geese and ducks now come in. Flock after flock in inci
numbers they come, until their flights rival those of the passenger pigeon, and the heavens are
always marked by their characteristic triangles, and the air filled with their cries.
The ducks descend to the bays, streams, and lakes, and almost cover the smaller bodies of
water, while the geese settle on the prairie and feed upon the fallen grain of the oat, or the first
tender sprigs of the springing grass, which now begins to tinge the landscape with green.
The Canada goose is two or three weeks later in its arrival than the smaller species with
which it is associated, and is always outnumbered by them.
siderably larger than those of the eastern States; but I suspect this is a mistake, probably
occasioned by the great difference of size between the Canada goose and the white-fronted snow
goose, &c., which are so abundant at the same time. I remarked no difference in size or mark-
ings between the geese of this species in San Francisco and those I had seen on the great lakes.
In August we found Canada geese in the marshes about the Klamath lakes and on some of
the small lakes in the Cascade mountains. They evidently breed in these localities.
BERNICLA HUTCHINSII.
Hutchins' Goose.
This is the smallest and most abundant of all the geese which I saw in California. It bears
a striking resemblance to the Canada goose, of which it seems a miniature copy. I do not
remember to have seen any which exhibited a white ring around the neck as distinctly as in
Cassin's figure of Bernicla leucopareia, and I can hardly suppose that the western goose, which
has been called Hutchins', is, in fact, B leucopareia, nor that, if distinct, this is a common
bird in California.
ANSER HYPERBOREUS.
The Snow Goose.
This bird, so rare in the eastern States, is exceedingly abundant in California during the
winter. As far as my own observation extended, it was not, however, the most common
species, its relative abundance being less than that of either A. Hutchinsic or A. erythropus,
Hutchins' goose being the most abundant of all. I was much interested while on the prairies
frequented by the geese in noticing the perfect harmony of intercourse which seemed to exist
among the smaller species. They intermingled freely while feeding, and, when alarmed, rose
without separation ; and I have often seen a triangle flying steadily high over my head com-
posed of individuals of three species, each plainly distinguishable by its plumage, but each
holding its place in the geometrical figure as though it was composed of entirely homogeneous
material, perhaps an equal number of the darker species, with three, four, or more pure, snow-
white geese flying together somewhere in the converging lines.
IN
ANSER ERYTHROPUS.
White-fronted Goose.
This goose, called "speckled belly" in the San Francisco market, is abundant during the
winter in all the valleys of California. Like the greater part of the water fowl which arrive
102
ZOOLOGY.
and depart with them, they migrate northward early in the spring, and pass the summer far
above the Columbia, many of them spending the short season on the shores of the Arctic sea.
With the approach of cold weather, they return toward the south, their numbers augmented by
all the young of the season. They travel by stages, stopping, from time to time, in such
places as afford them food, and remaining at these resting places till admonished by the frosts
of the necessity of another movement. A large number remain in the valleys of Oregon
during the winter, but by far the greater part pass on toward the valleys of California, where
winter is almost unknown. They begin to appear in California early in October, but most of
them arrive in November and December.
The present species is most highly esteemed of all the geese which come into the San Fran-
cisco market, good ones being worth from 75 cents to $1 per pair, while Hutchins' geese are
worth but 50 cents per pair. These prices, where the expenses of living are so great, indicate
their abundance.
The speckling of the under surface is a constant character in this species, though liable to
considerable variation in degree. Among many hundreds which I examined, a few only were
uniformly brown below.
ANAS BOSCHAS.
The Mallard.
Very common in all parts of the west visited by us. We found them breeding in many
different localities in the interior, and on the mountain streams and lakes.
MARECA AMERICANA.
The American Widgeon or Baldpate.
Common in California, and on the Columbia and Willamette, in Oregon.
ANAS STREPEKA.
The Gadwall or Grey Duck.
The gadwall is, apparently, not common in California, but I saw it occasionally in San
Francisco in November and December.
DAFILA ACUTA.
The Pin-tail.
Common in California and Oregon in winter.
QUERQUEDULA CAROLINENSIS.
The Green-winged Teal.
This beautiful duck, the rival of the more gorgeous wood duck, is, like the mallard, univer-
sally diffused over the Pacific provinces. We found them breeding in the interior in summer,
and congregated in great numbers, with other water fowl, on the Columbia and about San
Francisco in winter.
AIX SPONSA.
The Wood Duck.
Common throughout California, Oregon, and Washington. There, as everywhere, when
found, the handsomeste of the family.
ZOOLOGY.
103
PTEROCYANEA DISCORS.
The Common Blue-winged Teal.
Common throughout California and Oregon.
PTEROCYANEA CERULEATA.
The Western Blue-winged Teal.
This elegant duck I did not see in northern California nor Oregon, and suspect it to be always
rare north of San Francisco. It is very common, however, south of that point, at Monterey,
San Diego, &c., and ranges to Chile, S. A.
RYNCHASPIS CLYPEATA.
The Shoveler.
The shoveler is not uncommon in winter about San Francisco, where we frequently shot them.
FULIGULA MARILOIDES.
The Scaup Duck.
Common about San Francisco and on the Columbia.
AYTHYA VALISNERIANA.
The Canvas-back Duck.
The canvas-back is generally distributed and well known throughout California and the
and Washington; and there, as in the eastern States, is the most highly
prized for the table of all water birds. In the autumn and winter they congregate in large
numbers with other ducks on the bays and rivers of California. At such times the San Fran-
cisco market is well supplied with them, and they command a price of from one dollar to one
dollar and fifty cents the pair.
During the summer we found them more numerous than any other ducks in the lakes and
streams of the Cascade mountains. In those solitudes they nest and rear their young, as we
frequently saw the broods of young there, though the period of incubation had passed. They
were common in the marshes bordering the Columbia in November, when, with geese and other
ducks, they begin to retreat southward before the approaching winter. The number of canvas-
backs which we saw while duck-shooting in the bays of San Francisco and San Pablo was
astonishing.
The specimens which I obtained there seemed not to differ appreciably from those of the Atlantic
coast; and even if it should be true, as some would have us believe, that the bird is there inferior
in flavor to those of Chesapeake bay and the New Jersey marshes, I can testify that the western
canvass-backs are quite eatable.
AYTHYA ERYTHROCEPHALA.
The Red-head.
This duck, like the canvas-back, is common in the San Francisci market, and, as everywhere
else, is often sold and eaten as canvas-back. It is, however, an excellent bird for the table,
and the cheat is not so bad after all, especially as very few of those who eat them could tell the
difference by the flavor, unless the two species were brought to the table together.
104
ZOOLOGY.
CLANGULA AMERICANA.
The Golden Eye.
Common in California and Oregon.
CLANGULA ALBEOLA.
The Buffle Head.
This pretty little duck, a kind of small edition of the golden eye, is very common about San
Francisco, and is, perhaps, most familiar of all the ducks found there. It dives with great
facility, and is not always readily killed when on the water. Like the golden eye, it is much
more certainly secured by a shot while on the wing.
HARELDA GLACIALIS.
The Long-tailed Duck.
This Arctic species descends into California only during the severest cold of winter, and then
only in inconsiderable numbers. It is rarely seen at San Francisco, but is common in winter
at the mouth of the Columbia and on Puget's Sound.
OIDEMIA PERSPICILLATA.
The Surf Duck.
This sea duck is common about San Francisco, along the coast, and on the lower Columbia.
OIDEMIA FUSCA.
The Velvet Duck.
Common on the coast of California and Oregon.
OIDEMIA AMERICAN .
Scoter Duck.
Very abundant about San Francisco in winter.
The three preceding species of marine ducks, though more abundant during the winter than
any other water fowl, are never brought into market, being considered too fishy and strong to
be eaten even by the Chinese.
MERGUS CUCULLATUS.
The Hooded Mergauser.
Not uncommon in the vicinity of San Francisco; I did not see it elsewhere, but it is said to
occur generally on the western coast.
MERGUS SERRATOR.
The Red-breasted Mergauser.
Abundant about San Francisco in winter. It is also common on the Columbia during part
of the year. I frequently saw these birds in the markets, but suspect no one eats them but the
Chinamen.
ZOOLOGY.
105
LARUS EBURNEUS ? ?
While in depot camp, on the Des Chutes river, 150 miles south of the Dalles of the Columbia,
a beautiful white gull, which I supposed to have been of this species, was killed by Lieut. Crook,
United States army, and brought to me. The specimen was afterward unfortunately lost, but
my notes and recollections satisfy me that this was the bird. We were, at that time, two hun-
dred miles from the ocean, and not nearer than about one hundred miles to any considerable
body of water, the nearest being the Klamath lakes.
LARUS BONAPARTII ??
Bonaparte's gull was not common in the coast of California during my visit, though their
range is said to extend to the Columbia. On my return, in December, I noticed numbers of
them in the bay of Panama, where they were fishing with the pelicans and often stealing from
them.
LARUS CALIFORNICUS ? ?
This gull seems to occupy, in its migrations, the entire western coast of North America. At
the mouth of the Columbia, October, 1855, I observed them "sponging” their subsistence from the
pelicans; and in November, in the bay of San Francisco, I again saw them similarly occupied.
Compared with the associated species, these birds are generally rare.
LARUS GLAUCESCENS?
This gull is not very common in those parts of California and Oregon of which I had oppor-
tunities of studying the water birds. A few of them followed the steamer in the passage from
the Columbia to San Francisco, and subsequently from San Francisco southward. They are,
apparently, nowhere as abundant as the western herring gull, (L. occidentalis.)
LARUS HEERMANNI.
This pretty gull inhabits the bays and rivers of California quite generally, but nowhere in
great abundance. We saw them at the junction of Feather river and the Sacramento more
abundantly than elsewhere. On a rocky island, at the entrance of San Pablo bay, I shot one
of these birds, in the dark plumage, and he fell on the rocks apparently dead; in a few minutes
he manifested signs of life, and I took special pains to go to him and kill him as I thought very
dead; half an hour after I was slightly surprised to see him take wing and fly off as smartly as .
ever, his intellect, however, was evidently disturbed, for he mounted as directly upward as pos-
sible, and as long as I could see him he was still ascending, going up till lost in the distance.
LARUS OCCIDENTALIS ?
This is almost the only gull about the wharves of San Francisco, and is there incredibly
abundant, sometimes almost filling the air and covering the water among the shipping. It has
very much the appearance of its eastern representative, and is equally familiar, gluttonous, and
noisy.
The shores of the bays of San Francisco and San Pablo are sometimes for many rods whitened
with these birds, either seeking their food along the water's edge when the tide is out, or, when
it is full, sitting lazily in groups, apparently waiting for the ebb.
It is found following up the course of the Sacramento for a hundred miles or more, and along
14 BB
106
ZOOLOGY.
the coast extends its range to the mouth of the Columbia and above. It is abundant at the
Farallones, where it breeds, and we saw what I supposed to be the same species, but apparently
smaller and the colors all brighter, down the coast to Acapulco and below, following the steamer
in numbers especially large off the island of San Marguerita, being there accompanied by the
ring-billed gull (L. zonorhyncus?) and the short-tailed albatross (D. brachyurus.)
DROMEDEA NIGRIPES.
Black-Footed Albatross.
This albatross, of which I obtained a young specimen, agreeing in every respect with
Audubon's description of D. nigripes, is abundant along the entire Pacific coast, from the
mouth of the Columbia to Cape St. Lucas. How far to the north it ranges I am unable to say,
but it is found, at least, as far up the coast as the Russian possessions. It may also descend
lower than the entrance of the Gulf of California, but in going up the coast we first noticed
them at about that latitude, and, coming down, we had more or fewer of these birds in sight
all the way from Astoria to San Francisco, and subsequently from San Francisco southward,
till we passed Cape St. Lucas, when they gradually left us, and we saw them no more. A
marked change in the temperature takes place in passing this point, usually requiring a change
in the clothing of the passengers on the steamers, so that it is probable this is the natural
southern limit of the range of this species in that seą.
TACHYPETES AQUILUS.
The Frigate Pelican.
These birds are quite common off the coast of California. While on the steamer we frequently
saw them floating about, high in the air, their wings entirely motionless and seeming as though
sustained by their own specific gravity. If, however, the busy throng of gulls, so carefully
sweeping the sea for fish or carcass far below, were called together by the discovery of anything
of that kind, as swift as an arrow from a bow the frigate pelican would shoot down into
their midst to share the spoil.
I had no opportunity of testing the stories told of the piratical attacks of this bird upon the
defenceless gulls, as I never saw one descend near the ship.
PHAETON AETHEREUS ??
The Tropic Bird.
The tropic bird is not uncommon from lower California to Panama. Its pure white color,
its fluttering flight, like that of a butterfly, and its long, streamer-like tail feathers will serve
to point it out to the traveller.
CARBO PENECILLATUS.
Green Cormorant.
Of this splendid species a fine specimen was presented to us by Dr. Ayres, of San Francisco
He obtained it at the Farallone islands, from which he returned on the day of our arrival in
the city.
We did not find it anywhere along the coast, (though doubtless it visits the shore,) and it is
ZOOLOGY.
107
evident that its favorite habitat is the rocky islands which lie scattered along, at greater or less
distances from the main land of California, and of which the Farallones are the most conspi-
cuous group.
Subsequently, on our return voyage from San Francisco to Panama, when several days out,
a number of large, green cormorants, apparently of this species, at different times attempted to
come on board. They would fly round and round the steamer, and when arrived in front of the
bow would turn and fly directly aboard, hovering over the heads of the passengers who covered
the decks, seeking a vacant spot on which to alight. Several times they perched upon the
rigging, and, ultimately, one in desperation, flew directly in among the crowd of passengers
standing on the bow of the boat, I ran forward to secure the specimen, when I saw him
disappear over the side, where he was knocked by a brute—not one of the beef cattle. He went
under the wheel, and, greatly to my regret, was killed, and I could not secure him. What can
be the impulse which leads these birds to forget all their natural fear of man, and in spite of
the smoke, the motion of the walking beam, and of the steamer, and the cries of the passengers,
to persist in throwing themselves into their midst it is difficult to imagine. It may be hunger,
for we were far from land, or it may be fatigue from long flight-a flight which they were only
willing to terminate by rest on some solid foundation. Whatever the cause, the fact is of fre-
quent occurrence, as I learn from the officers of the ship.
aces
e
&
O
CARBO TOWNSENDII ?
While collecting birds in the vicinity of San Francisco, I heard that, in San Pablo bay, a
white-breasted cormorant was to be found in great numbers. As I had no knowledge of a bird
answering to their description I resolved to go and secure specimens. I therefore chartere i the
good ship “Maid of the Mist,” Duncan, master, of five tons burden, and getting aboar | the
necessary stores for the voyage, set sail for that unknown sea. Many were the ludicrous inci-
dents, hardships, and vexations of that eventful trip. Among its experiences were a night
spent in the fog of the straits, and another, a beautiful Saturday night, which came down upon
us so calm and still as if deserted by the "fickle Maid of the Mist.” We held a council in an
open boat, in the geographical centre of San Pablo bay ; after hours hard pulling, guided by
the stars, we reached the ancient capital of the western empire, Vallejo. Though a large part
of the spoils of that chase were lost through the vandalism of our skipper, who would throw
overboard what was not good to eat; still I saved from the general ruin a sufficient number of
the so-called “white-breasted cormorant." These cormorants were all of one species, and
innumerable. I noticed a considerable variation in the amount of white on the breast, in some
it was entirely wanting, while in others it was very conspicuous, as they sat on the rocks or
flew over our heads.
· I saw great numbers of the same species near Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia.
I detected nothing peculiar in their habits.
SULA BASSANA.
The Gannet.
While making the passage from San Francisco to Panama more or less of these birds were
· in sight from the steamer nearly every day of our voyage. They range from California to the
isthmus.
108
ZOOLOGY.
SULA FUSCA.
The Booby.
The boobies are still more common than the gannets off the coast of California. On our
outward voyage, with their characteristic stupidity, several of them came on board, apparently
with no better motive than to gratify their curiosity, and when on the deck had no power to
rise again.
PELECANUS FUSCUS.
Brown Pelican.
The brown pelican is very abundant on all parts of the Pacific coast which I visited. In the
bay of Panama they are particularly numerous. At Acapulco a few may always be seen, while
at the Golden Gate and the mouth of the Columbia their numbers are surprisingly great, and
their goblin figures, flitting about, all head and wings, are inseparably connected with my
remembrances of those localities.
This pelican is exclusively confined to the seacoast, and is never found, at least so far as my
own experience goes, on the inland waters. On the contrary, the white pelican is almost as
exclusively confined to the interior, and to bodies of fresh water.
About San Francisco, both outside of the Gate and on the bay, when near or on the water,
one is scarcely ever out of sight of the brown pelican ; yet I never saw the white pelican while
residing there. It was only on going up into the interior, on Suisun bay and the Sacramento
river, that we found the white species entirely replacing the brown.
On San Pablo bay the two species meet and mingle.
At the Golden Gate the habits of the brown pelican may be studied quite at one's leisure.
Like many other aquatic birds, at nightfall they seek the broad expanse of the open sea, where
they may float in safety and sleep rocked by the gentle swell of the ocean. Near the shore they
would be exposed to the attacks of various foes ; the turbulence of the breakers is, probably, not
invocative of sleep, and, strange as it may seem, birds, as well as ships, unless ensconced in
some snug harbor, are safer in a storm with a good offing. In every severe storm occurring
upon the western coast more or less pelicans, ducks, and grebes are thrown wrecked and drowned
upon the shore. This will be less wondered at than that fishes, the natural inhabitants of the
watery element, should in great numbers share the fate of the birds.
After passing the night at sea, in the grey dawn of the morning the pelicans begin to move,
trailing in long lines, just above the surface of the water, toward the shore, where they find
their food. While shooting in the vicinity of San Francisco I passed several nights on the water
in a little schooner which we had chartered for the purpose. As the day began to dawn, and
the mist slowly to lift from the surface of the water, the birds which had flown seaward the
evening before began to return. The long lines of uncouth and ghostly pelicans, dimly seen
through the fog, slowly flapping their huge bat-like wings in funereal rank and silence, losing
themselves again in the fog, formed a vision peculiarly spectral and unreal.
The habits of the brown pelicans of the Pacific coast agree closely with those of the pelicans
inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico, described by Audubon. Their mode of fishing is the same.
When flying along, perhaps twenty feet above the water, from time to time, with a spiral gyra-
tion, they plunge, sometimes quite beneath the surface, after their finny food, and almost inva-
riably with success.
1
ZOOLOGY.
109
Like the pelicans of the Atlantic, those of the west are compelled to fish for the gulls, too idle
to supply their wants by their own efforts, at least while they have so patient and efficient
friends as the pelicans, from whom they can sponge their living. At the mouth of the Columbia
the pelicans which I saw fishing were always attended each by one or more small gulls, (L.
cheri.) These gulls followed the pelican in its flight, and settled at its head when it made a
successful plunge, snatching up any fish that might fall from its capacious gular sack. I did
not notice that the pelican ever displayed the least resentment of the officious attentions of these
little depredators. When, in December, we entered the bay of Panama, the brown pelicans were
pay ng tribute to the black-headed gulls, the same which, according to Audubon, follow the peli-
cans in the Mexican Gulf.
A large number of the individuals of P. fuscus, which I saw on the western coast, were young
birds in brown dress, and I was able to obtain specimens exhibiting three phases of plumage:
1st, ashy brown above and white below; 2d, ashy brown above and whitish brown below; 3d,
head and neck all pure white, except a slight tinge of yellow in the cheeks; back and base of
neck silvery gray, feathers white at centre, ashy on their margins. Of the many thousands
which I saw, none exhibited the phase of plumage given by Audubon as that of the mature bird,
viz: neck, half dark brown and half yellowish white, the colors occupying longitudinal divisions.
I had Audubon's works in San Francisco, and examined the pelicans with particular reference
to his descriptions, and I was so confident that no such bird as his mature P. fuscus was to be
found in that locality, that I was disposed to regard the brown pelican of the Pacific as distinct
from that of the Atlantic.
It is perhaps not generally known that the fishes on which the pelican subsists are usually of
very small size, large numbers of them being taken at every plunge. In the pelicans which I
shot about San Francisco, I found in some cases the stomach distended with a quart or more of
little fishes, from one to four inches in length; and it was rare that I found any remains of large
individuals.
The pelican has in its greatest development the apparatus which gives buoyancy to many
swimming birds. I allude to the system of sub-cutaneous air cells. In the brown pelican the
skin is separated from the muscles over a large part of the surface, by an interval of half an inch
or more, wholly occupied by a series of membranous air vessels.
PELECANUS TRACHYRHYNCHUS ? ?
The White Pelican.
The white pelican, though generally distributed over the country west of the Rocky moun-
tains, is far outnumbered by the brown species. Their habitats are, however, quite distinct, and
they do not often come in competition in the pursuit of their aquatic food.
The white pelican is rarely or never seen at San Francisco, at Astoria, or at any other place
on the coast where the brown are so abundant; but as one leaves the coast, penetrating the
interior, on all the large rivers and inland lakes he will be sure to find it, though never in great
numbers. It seems to occupy the inland lakes and rivers quite across the continent, and is
evidently a fresh water bird ; while the brown species is as exclusively confined to the vicinity
of salt water. While encamped on Klamath lake we several times saw flying over the tule
marshes which border it a large white pelican, of which the wings seemed almost entirely black.
It might have been the present species, but appeared to be distinct.
ZOOLOGY.
COLYMBUS GLACIALIS.
Loon.
The loon inhabits all the waters of California and Oregon. The mountain lakes of the Cascade
range we generally found occupied by one or more of these birds. Sometimes a single one, the
only living thing visible, sailing slowly around over the surface, and from time to time raising
its wailing cry, seemed the very embodiment of solitude. .
When encamped beside one of these lonely lakes the silence of the night was frequently bioken
by the quavering cry of the loon, which came to us echoed from forest or mountain with an effect
indescribably touching and sad.
PODICEPS OCCIDENTALIS.
Western Grebe.
I obtained specimens of this beautiful grebe on San Pablo bay, California, in November. On
the lakes of the interior we saw nothing of it. It is probably nearly confined to the immediate
vicinity of the coast. It occurs at the mouth of the Columbia.
PODICEPS
?
Exceedingly abundant about San Francisco, and extending up the streams far into the interior.
It is also common on the Columbia and the interior lakes of Oregon. This and the next species
are sometimes brought into the markets of San Francisco, but are so "fishy" as to be uneatable.
PODICEPS CALIFORNICUS.
Common in the bays and streams of California and Oregon.
URIA TROILE.
The Foolish Guillemot.
This guillemot is exceedingly abundant along the coast of California, particularly in the rocky
islands which lie in the Pacific, near the coast. At the Farallones they exist in great numbers,
exhibiting the same tendency to congregate at the breeding season, and the same stupidity or
devotion to their duties which has elsewhere earned them the name they bear. In the absence
of domestic fowls in California, the demand for eggs in San Francisco has been almost entirely
supplied from these islands, and a trade amounting to many thousands of dollars a year is kept
up in eggs alone. The greater part of these eggs are those of the foolish guillemot.
URIA -
This small guillemot is not uncommon on the California coast.
MORMON CIRRHATUS.
Puffin,
I saw this bird only on two or three occasions in California. It is confined to the coast,
and chooses in preference the rocky islands off shore. At the Farallones it is abundant, still
more so along the coast northward.

U.S.PR. R. Exp. & Surveys, 47 th Parallel.
Birds---Plate XXVI.

US PRR Exp. & Surveys, Cal & Oregon.
Birds -
- Plate XXXIV.
USPRR Ex. & Surveys ... Cal & Oregon.
Mammals
Plate I

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THRichard del

U.S.PRR. Ex & Surveys: - Cal & Oregon
Mammals: -
Plate II
Fig 1
WA
BU32
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USPR. R. Ex. & Surveys: -
Cal.& Oregon
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No. 3.
REPORT UPON THE LAND SHELLS COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY.
BY W. G. BINNEY,
MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA.
The terrestrial mollusks of the Pacific region of the United States are entirely distinct from
those of any portion of the Union east of the Rocky mountains. No species has, as yet, been
detected on both sides of this insurmountable barrier. The types, also, are quite different.
Instead of the fragile, horn colored shell of our western States, the shells are large, solid, and
endowed with the rich coloring of the tropical species. Our knowledge of them is still very
imperfect. Future research will probably bring to light many new species and interesting facts
relating to their habits and their geographical distribution.
The helices of California and Oregon are characterized by a very peculiar indentation and
granulation of their surface, and often by the presence of a broad, revolving band on the body
whorl. This latter peculiarity exists in one-half of the species hitherto observed.
None of the shells brought by this expedition are new to science. I have, however, given full
descriptions of all, as those that have been published are very brief, and some have not been
noticed by American authors.
The measurements are given in millimetres, the French system being the most convenient
and the one generally adopted by European naturalists.
No. 1. HELIX FIDELIS, Gray.
Testa subconica, solida, alba, castanea aut nigra, striata, et lineis volventibus induta; spira
elevata ; anfr. 7 regulariter accrescentes, fasciâ nigrâ aut castaneâ cincti; sutura impressa;
subtus convexa, lævigata, nigra, profunde umbilicata; apertura depresso-rotundata, intus
fasciata ; columella callo levi induta; labrum album aut fuscum, ad umbilicum reflexiusculum.
SYNONYMS AND REFERENCES.
Helix fidelis, GRAY, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 67, anno July, 1834.
CHEMNITZ, ed. 2, p. 321, t. LVII, f. 12-13.
PFEIFFER, Monog. Hel. Viv. I, p. 338-IB. III, p. 229.
REEVE, Con. Icon. No. 657.
Helix nuttalliana, LEA, Am. Phil. Soc. VI,88; pl. xxiii, f. 74, anno December, 1834. ,
BINNEY, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist. III, 369; pl. xii.
Terrestrial Mollusks, II, 159, III ; pl. xviii.
DEKAY, Nat. Hist. New York, p. 46.
112
LAND SHELLS.
DESCRIPTION.
Animal.--Color, dull ochre, slaty towards the tail. Coarsely granular upon the neck ; but
from a line running from the dorsal line, where it issues from the shell to the mouth, the
granules diminish, and are succeeded by coarse, undulating, interrupted ridges, radiating in
every direction from the aperture, and terminating in a line nearly marginal; edge simple.
Shell.-Subconic, with seven slightly rounded whorls, regularly and gradually diminishing
in breadth from the base towards the apex;. apex obtuse, suture distinctly impressed. Below,
flattened, convex, with a deep umbilicus, about one-eighth the smaller diameter of the shell.
Aperture ovate, regularly rounded. Lip thickened, white, red, or lilac colored, reflected only
below, in some individuals entirely concealing the umbilicus. Columella with a light callus.
Epidermis shining, covered with numerous fine, revolving lines. Striæ of increase distinct,
but very slightly elevated.
There are several varieties of coloring. The base is uniformly dark, but varies from chestnut
color to jet black. Upon the body whorl is a broad revolving black band, enclosed above and
below by one of lighter color, white or chestnut. These bands are obsolete in the three whorls
nearest the apex. The upper surface is white, light chestnut, or dark brown, in some indi-
viduals relieved by irregular patches of black. On some specimens there are faint tracings of
intermediate bands, while some are entirely destitute of any bands.
Greatest diameter, 36; lesser, 31 ; altitude, 19 millimetres.
Geographical distribution.—Collected by Dr. J. S. Newberry, at Portland, Oregon Territory.
It has not been found, except in the vicinity of Fort Vancouver, by others, but seems rather a
common species in that region.
Remarks.—This is the largest and finest of the helices of the Pacific coast. It may at once be
recognized by its large size and shining, variegated surface, on which the revolving black line
contrasts so strongly with the lighter color of the epidermis.
No. 2. HELIX INFUMATA, Gould..
Testa depressa, biconvexa, carinata, lenticularis ; nigra, apice rufa; anfr. 6–7 rugis incre-
mentalibus et punctis numerosis minutis tumidis asperati; sutura impressa; apertura depressa,
obliqua, intus lilacina; perist. lilacinum, incrassatum, subtus reflexiusculum, umbilicum pro.
fundum fere tegens.
REFERENCE.
Helix infumata, GOULD, Proc. Boston S. N. H. V, p. 127, anno February, 1855.
DESCRIITION.
Animal.--Not hitherto observed.
Shell.-Subconic, the upper and lower surfaces equally convex, separated by a decided,
though obtuse, carina, which gives the shell a lens-like shape. Epidermis uniformly black,
excepting on the four upper whorls, which are light red. Suture distinctly impressed; whorls, 6,
with coarse wrinkles of growth, crossed by fine, almost imperceptible revolving lines, and
roughened by small elevated points or tubercles. Below, these points are much more numerous
and crowded, the revolving striæ obsolete, and incremental wrinkles much less developed.
Umbilicus small in proportion to the size of the shell, being only one-fifth the lesser diameter,
and almost entirely concealed by the reflected lip. Aperture ovate, flattened, with a slight
LAND SHELLS.
113
angle at the carina. Lip thickened, reflected only at its junction with the body whorl, near
the umbilicus. There is a slight deposition of callus on the columella. Throat and lip lilac
colored.
Greatest diameter, 37; lesser, 32; altitude, 18 millimetres.
Geographical distribution.-Found by Dr. Newberry, on the hills near San Francisco, Cali-
fornia. Has not, as yet, been detected in any other locality.
Remarks.—In general appearance it is most nearly allied to H. fidelis, Gray. It has not,
however, the revolving bands, and is at once recognized by its lenticular shape. From all the
other described species of the western coast it is readily known by the peculiar protuberances
which crowd the epidermis. Dr. Gould coin pares it in general form to H. plicata, Born. It
must be a rare species. But one mature specimen was brought, which is the only one I have
ever seen, with the exception of a single shell in the collection of Mr. Thomas Bland, of New
York.
No. 3. HELIX OERUGINOSA, Gould.
Var. B.
Testa globosa, solida, maximè elevata; castanea, maculis irregularibus olivaceis longitudinali-
bus et fasciâ rufâ volvente variegata; anfr. 7 convexi, indentati, et minutissimě granulati, spira
conica, elevata ; sutura impressa ; subtus inflata ; apertura depresso-rotundata, intus fasciata ;
labrum album, ad umbilicum profundum et fere tectum, reflexiusculum.
SYNONYMS AND REFERENCES.
Helix cruginosa, Gould, Proc. Boston, S. N. H. V., p. 127, anno Febr., 1855.
DESCRIPTION
Animal not yet observed.
Shell.—Heavy, subglobose, conic, with a very elevated spire. Whorls seven, rounded, the
last quite ventricose, with a narrow black revolving line, which becomes concealed by the
sutures of the upper whorls; suture well defined, impressed. Below subglobose, aperture ovate,
with a white thickened lip, reflected only at the deep umbilicus, which it nearly conceals.
Columella with a light callus, epidermis yellowish, broken by irregular, zigzag, rufous blotches,
running parallel to the incremental wrinkles. Surface smooth, unbroken by the striæ of
increase, which are not prominent, and indented as in H. Townsendiana. There are also
microscopic granulations.
Greatest diameter, 32; lesser, 27; altitude, 19 millimetres.
Geographical distribution,-Found by Dr. J. S. Newberry north of San Francisco. Has not,
as yet, been detected in other localities.
Remarks.-The typical specimen, from which Dr. Gould drew his description, has the
general form and appearance of H. Townsendiana, Lea, from Oregon. That shell, however, is
destitute of the minute granulations and black revolving band, and rufous blotches.
The variety found by Dr. Newberry might, at first sight, be considered another species. It
is as globular and conical as the extreme form of H. major of the southern States. Upon
careful examination, however, it is found to agree with ceruginosa in all its characteristics.
15 BB
114
LAND SHELLS.
No. 4. HELIX DUPETITHOUARSI, Deshayes.
Testa orbiculato-conoidea, lævigata nitens, subindentata, et lineis volventibus obscuris notata;
colore castanea, fasciis duabus albis zonam nigram aut rufam includentibus indu
convexiusculi; sutura impressa; umbilicus profundus, partem quintam diametris minoris æquans;
apertura rotundata, intus castanea, trifasciata ; labrum album, incrassatum, reflexiusculum,
umbilicum aliquantum occultans.
SYNONYMS AND REFERENCES.
Helix Dupetithouarsi, DESHATES, Revue Zoologique, p. 360, anno Dec. 1839.
bo Guerin. Mag. de Zool. 1841, pl. xxx.
" in Fer. Hist. I, p. 169, pl. xcvii, f. 8–10.
CHEMNITZ, ed. 2, p. 328, t. viii, f. 6, 7.
PFEIFFER, Monog. Hel. Viv. I, 338.-IB. III, 229.
REEVE, Con. Icon. 659.
Helix oregonensis, LEA, Am. Phil. Soc. VI, p. 100, t. xxiii, f. 85, anno 1839.
PFEIFFER, Monog. Hel. Viv. I, 428.-IB. III, 272.
DESCRIPTION.
Animal.—Not hitherto observed.
Shell.-Subglobose, depressed ; spire more or less elevated, sometimes quite flat; whorls
seven, rounded in some instances, crossed by minute revolving lines. Suture moderately im-
pressed ; aperture ovate; lip white and thickened, reflected at its connexion with the large and
deep umbilicus, which it partially conceals. On the columella there is a slight deposition of
callus. Epidermis smooth and shining, in some individuals marked lightly in parts by the
peculiar indentations characteristic of the California helices. Color variable, generally of an
uniform dark chestnut or light fawn, with a broad black band on the body whorl, enclosed above
and below by white bands of equal breadth, which are concealed in the suture of the upper
whorls.
Greatest diameter, 25 ; lesser, 20; altitude, 13 millimetres.
Geographical distribution.-Found by Dr. Newberry at San Francisco and Benicia, in Cali-
fornia, and on the shores of Klamath lake, in Oregon Territory. It seems to be one of the
commonest and most widely distributed species of the Pacific region.
Remarks. This shell is readily distinguished from others of the same habitat by its very
smooth and shining epidermis, unusually free from any granulations or indentations. The in-
dentations, when present, cross the incremental wrinkles of the surface at regular intervals,
giving the appearance of broad, revolving lines. It is a beautiful and very distinct species.
There can be no doubt but that the figure and description of H. oregonensis, Lea, were drawn
from an immature specimen of this shell. Although they appeared in the same year as those
of M. Deshayes, the latter have, of course, the priority, being made from the mature shell.
NOTE.
No 4 has not been completed in time for publication with the rest of this Re-
port. It will appear in a subsequent volume.
INDEX TO ZOOLOGICAL REPORT.
Page.
Page.
73
73
28
102
68
79
86
102
86
97
87
80
89
sis .
....
30
Acanthylis vauxii ------
Accipiter fuscus --
Acipenser acutirostris
medirostris
Agelaius gubernator
tricolor
xanthocephalus ---
Aix sponsa -------
Albatross, black-footed.----
Alce americanus -------
Algansea bicolor....--.-
Ambloplites interruptus...
Ammodytes personatus.
Anarrichthys felis ------
Anas boschas .....
strepera --
Anser erythropus-.-.
hyperboreus --------
Antelope, prong-horned...
Antilocapra americana ---
Antrostomus nuttalli...
Avoset, western-----...
Aplodontia leporina.
Apodichthys flavidus
virescens
Apternus arcticus ...
Ardea exilis -
herodias ..
minor ......
occidentalis..
Argentina pretiosa ...
Artedius lateralis
notospilotus
Arvicola longirostris --------
montana ....
townsendii...
Aspicottus bison.
Astur atricapillus....
cooperi ------
Athene hypugaea....
Atherinidae......
Atherinopsis californicus ...,
78 | Aythya erythrocephala ----
valisneriana.---
Badger, American ---
Bassaris astuta ------
Bear, cinnamon --
grizzly --------
86 Be:ver ..
Bernicla canadensis .
106
hutchinsii -----
Bittern, American
least ...
9 Blackbird
common ---
red and white winged.
red wing
yellow-headed -----
101 Blennidae -------
101 Blennius gentilis --
Blue-bird, western.....
Bombycilla carolinensis
Booby --------
Bos americanus ---
Brachyotus cassinii
Bubo virginianus.
Buffalo...
Buffle head duck --
| Buteo elegans.
montanus --
Buzzard, red breasted...
turkey ------
Callipepla californica ...
picta ------
Canis latrans...--
occidentalis, var. ....
61 | Carbo penccillatus......
townsendii .....
13 Carpodacus frontalis
. purpureus
Castor canadensis
17 Cat, American wild ..
black
civet.no
Page.
103 i Cathartes aura ---------
californianus ..
Catostomus labiatus.----
occidentalis -
Cat, rcd..
Ce'ridichthys violaceus
Cedar birů..........
Certhia americana -----
Cervus canadensis .......
columbianus ..
leucurus -
macrotis..
Ceryle alcyon..---.
Charadrius virginiacus.--
vociferus .---.
Chat, yellow-breasted....
Chiropsis pictus ----...
Chrysomitris psaltria..
tristis ---
Cheonda cærulea -----
Chordeiles virginianus
Cinclus americanus
Circus hudsonius -----
Clangula albeola -------
americana ----
Coccyzus erythrophthalmus
Cock, sage.
Colaptes mexicanus..
Columba fasciata...
Colymbus glacialis...
Coot.------
Coregonus williamsonii
Cormorant, green ........
Corvus americanus .....
cacaloti
ossifragus..-.
Cottidae-------
Cottopsis gulosus.---
parvus.....
36 Cotyle riparia .....
serripennis ---
40 | Coyote .......
ius ......
80
16
74
104
104
104
110
96
33
106
a
.
~
-
.
.
.
10
16 BB
INDEX.
Page.
Page.
74
.........
81
75
114
111
112
113
13
97
7
60
22
22
99
100
Crane, brown......
great blue.
Cross-bill........
Crow, Clarke's
common
Cuckoo, black-billed ...
Curlew.........
Cyanocitta californica ..
stelleri -----
Cyclopteridae.
Cyclogaster pulchellus.
Cygnus americanus ...
buccinator ----
Cyprinidae
Dafila acuta.
Deer, black-tailed.
mule ..........
white-tailed ....
Didelphys californica...
Diomedea nigripes...---
Dipper, American...---
Dove, turtle ---------
Duck, canvas-back....
long-tailed
scaup........
scoter...
27
8
26
23
79
.......
74
26
22
1
US
...---------
59
85
97 | Fly catcher, black.....
Say's.
Fox, coast--------
gray -------
great tailed
kit-------------
short tailed...
Fulica americana -----
Fuligula mariloides.....
Gadidæ --------
Gadwall or gray duck ---
Gallinula galeata.
Gallinule........
Gannet.
102 Gasterosteidæ ....
Gasterosteus inopinatus ..
plebeius-.---
serratus -----
Geococcyx viaticus......
106 | Glaucidium infuscatum..
Gobidæ ------------
Gobius lepidus
103 Godwit ------
104 | Golden eye.. ----
103 Goldfinch, western....
104 Goose, Canada
Hutchins'..
snow ----
white-fronted
75 Goshawk.
92 | Grebe, western.
66 Grosbeak, blue...
Grouse, dusky-..--.
ruffed ------
sharp-tailed..
Guiraca cærulea.-.-.-.
Guillemot, foolish....
Gunnellus ornatus.....
Grus canadensis -------
Gymnokitta cyanocephala-
Hare, Audubon's......
California......
prairie -------
Harelda glacialis. -------
Haliætus leucocephalus..
Hawk, Cooper's...
fish ...........
marsh.
night.
pigeon.
sharp-shin ....
Hawk, sparrow .......
western red-tailed.....
Helix dupetithouarsii . -----
fidelis
infumata...
oeruginosa ------
40 Hemilepidotus spinosus .
96 Heron, white ---------
103 Hesperomys gambelii.---
Heterolepidæ.-
102 Himantopus nigricollis -
Hirundo bicolor ----
rufa
lunifrons -...
thalassina ----
Holoconotus rhodoterus...
Homalopomus Trowbridgii
Humming bird, anna------
nootka ...-----
Hypotriorchis columbriaus -
Hysterocarpus traskii .....
Icterus bullockii.-------
100 Icteria longicauda-------
104 Jaculus hudsonius
| Jay, California.........
Prince Maximilian's.
Steller's ..
Killdeer
Kingfisher, belted
Lark, meadow.....
Larus bonapartii...
californicus
eburneus
glaucescens...
heermanni .--.
occidentalis ...
Lavinia exilicauda..
Leiocottus hirundo....
Leiostomus lineatus...
Leptocottus armatus.
Lepus artemisia.-.---
audubonii .....
californicus
campestris ---
trowbridgii
74 | Limosa fedoa....
Lion, sea...-
Loon
Loxia americana ....
Lumpenus anguillaris....
74 ) Lutra californica ------
3
surf..
104
86
1
105
105
105
25
105
105
105
12
velvet
Dunlin.
Eagle, bald ......
Ectopistes carolinensis
Elk..
Embiotocoidae ........
Embiotoca argyrosoma --
lineata......
Enhydra marina.-------
Ennichthys megalops
Erethizon epixanthus
Fario aurora.......
argyreus
gairdneri
stellatus ---
Felis concolor........
Fiber zibethicus .......
Finch, bay-winged------
purple
white-crowned.
yellow-crowned
Fish crow -------..
17
12
2
.
100
50
110
87
Fisher --
Flicker, red-shafted...
INDEX.
III
Page.
42
36
84
93
102
.--.-.
102
86
64
46
44
96
104
79
96
96
96
109 | Ra..
99
103
106
1
....
.......
98/
103
4
Lynx fasciatus.......
rufus
Magpie, yellow-billed
black-billed
Mallard ---
Mareca americana...
Marten, pine
Martin, purple..
Mephitis occidentalis...
Merganser, hooded.----
red-breasted
Mergus cucullatus......
serrator........
Melanerpes albolarvatus.
formicivorus
torquatus ---
Mink, common...
Mole, Oregon...
Moose -------------
Mormon cirrhatus ...
Morrhua proxima
Mouse, California
jumping --------
house
Oregon ground.
Mus decumanus.--..
musculus...
Muskrat.........
Mustela americana.....
pennantii
Mylocbeilus caurinus.....
Mylopharodon robustus....
Numenius longirostris....
Nyctale acadica.......
Oidemia americana -
fusca.-..-.-.
perspicillata ....
Oligocottus globiceps.....
maculosus.
Ophidida.......
Ophiodon elongatus.....
Oplopoma pantherina --
Oriole, Bullock's.......
Orthodon microlepidotus ..
Otaria --
Otocoris alpestris.......
Otter, California.
sea........
Owl, acadian.
barn........
burrowing...
Page.
37 Owl, great cinereous -------
great horned.
84 marsh.
sparrow......
102 Paisaño......
Pandion carolinensis..
Panther, American.
Parophrys vetulus..
Parus atricapillus...
montanus ...
104 Pelican, brown...
104
frigate ......
104
white...
Pelicanus fuscus.........
trachyrhynchus..
Percidæ.....
Perisoreus canadensis......
Phæton æthereus ---------
Phalaropus fulicarius -----..
hyperboreus.
Phoca.......
60 Pica hudsonica -... ..
nuttalli...
60 Picicorvus columbianus
Picus gairdnerii ...
harrisii ......
nuttalli
williamsonii
Pigeon, band-tailed.
Pin-tail...------
Pipilo fusca .......
oregona -----
Platichthys rugosus..
77
umbrosus.....
104 Pleuronectidæ-------....
104 Plover, golden.-------
104 Podiceps californicus ....
occidentalis.....
Porcupine, yellow haired.
Possum, Californica.... ....
Procyon hernandezii.....
10 Progne chalybea.--------
purpurea........
Psettichthys melanostictus
sordidus...
Pterocyanea coeruleata .....
discors.......
Ptiliogonys townsendii .....
Ptychocheilus grandis....
oregonensis ....
77 | Puffin...
Page.
77 | Putorius vison...........
xanthogenys...
Quail, Galifornia ------
mountain .......
Querqucdula carolinensis.
Quiscalus purpureus......
Rabbit, sage
Raccoon, black footed.
Rail, king ---------
Virginia......
108 Rallus elegans.--.-.-.-.
106
virginianus ----
109 | Rat, brown-------------
108 Norway ----------
Recurvirostra occidentalis.
Red-head ----
85 | Robin.......
Oregon.
Rocky mountain chickadee.
Rhynchaspis clycata....
Sable, American-----
Salar iridea........
Salmonidæ.... .......
Salmo scouleri.
Sandpiper, semipalmated
Sialia occidentalis........
Scalops townsendii...
Sciaenidæ---------
Sciurus douglasii..
fossor.----
Scorpænidæ----...
Scolecophagus mexicanus
Scolopax grisea -------
wilsoni...
Scombridæ......
97 Scorpaenichthys marmormaratus
110 Seal.-.-.-.-.-..-.......
110 Sebastes auriculatus.---.
fasciatus.......
paucispinis.
rosaceus.......
Selasphorus rufus..
Sewellel............
Shoveler
Sitta carolinensis.....
pigmea........
103 Skunk, California
Sky lark.............
Snipe, red-breasted...
Wilson's.......
110) Snowbird, western ......
35
17
52
41/
51
86
100
100
18
51
15
6
22
58
28
103
19
24
103
10
5
100
Іү
INDEX.
Page.
81
81
35
88
81
67 1
49
Sorex suckleyi ...-....
vagrans.........
Sparrow, chipping ------
Spermophilus beecheyi -----
douglasii
lateralis ..
Spizella breweri
socialis .........
Squirrel, California gray------
Columbia ground.....
Page.
53 | Tachypetes aquilus ----
Tamias quadrivittatus....
townsendii ...
Tatler, yellow shanks ....
55 Taxidea americana -...
Teal, blue-winged ........
green-winged ...
red-breasted ...
Tell-tale -----------
Tetrao phasianellus -
umbellus.---..
urophasianus ..
40
55
57
54
52
102
37
Page.
106 | Tyrannula cinerascens
nigricans --......
saya..---
Uria troile --------
Ursus americanus .
horribilis.---------
| Vulpes littoralis
macrourus
velox -------
virginianus ----
Vulture, California.--.....
Weasel, yellow-cheeked .......
Whip poor-Will, Nuttall's.....
Widgeon, or baldpate, American
Wolf, gray ---
prairie.......
74 Wood duck.
Woodpecker, Gairdner's...--
Harris' .....
Lewis
Nuttall's .....
three-toed ......
white-headed
Williamson's
79 Wren, Bewick's ...
marsh -----
99
37
Thomomys borealis ..
Tigoma bicolor...---
crassa -------
Tinnunculus sparvenus...
88 | Tit, black-capped, or chicadee..
Totanus flavipes --------
melanoleucus ...
Trachurus symmetricus----
102
89
89
107
Missouri striped ......
Oregon red ------...
Say's ...............
Townsend's striped...
Stilt, black-necked.....
Strix pratincola.
Struthus oregonus
Sturnella neglecta
Sula bassana -cond
fusca .........
Swallow, bank ....
barn.
chimney
cliff ...........
green violet --
rough-winged
white-bellied ...
Swan, common..
trumpeter ------
byrnium cinereum....
90
80
80
Tringa alpina -------
semipalmata ...
Trochilus anna ---------
Troglodytes bewickii ---..
obsoletus ----
palustris ----
Tropic bird.......
Turdus migratorius ...
naevius.......
80
100
• spoo
77
rock .......
Xiphidion mucosus
graminea .....
leucophrys .....
Oooo
APPENDICES.
1 AA
APPENDIX A.
n
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS WITH SEXTANT.
V MI
AL
UAL
I. Observations on the route of the main party from Benicia to the point where the command
separated, near the Three Sisters, Oregon Territory.
CAMP 7–JULY 15, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 11–JULY 19, 1855-Continued. .
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. | altitudes.
Altair .......
Polaris...
h.
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
m. S.
31 33.5
33 48.0
34 50.0
36 09.0
37 26.5
38 46.0
39 56.5
d. m. S.
79 00 50
79 01 10
05 30
04 50
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
h. m. $.
9 22 03.5
9 24 36.5
9 27 52.0
9 29 08.0
9 30 38.0
9 32 23.5
9 33 24.5
9 34 50.5
9 36 56.5
9 38 33.0
91 23 20
79 08
79 08 50
79 09 20
79 0940
79 12 10
Arcturus. ...
9
9
9
100
16 07.0
18 20.0
20 13.5
21 27.5
22 52.0
24 17.0
25 28.0
Index error -2° 15'. Barometer 29.7 in. Thermometer
780,
9
9
Polaris .......
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
00 32.5
02 40.5
04 43.0
07 05.5
08 27.5
10 07.5
12 15.0
97 20 30
77 46 20
77 46 30
46 50
77 48 10
77 49 20
77 50 20
77 52 10
FORT READING-JULY 22, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
-
----
-
-
-
-
a Cygni.......
Index error -10 06' 35".
mometer 690.
Barometer 29.8 in.
Ther-
h. m. S.
9 46 14.0
9 47 55.5
9 49 48.5
9 51 05.5
9 52 32.5
9 54 17.5
d. m. 3.
118 32 50
119 09 20
119 48 30
120 15
120 46
121 23
CAMP 11-JULY 19, 1855.
Observer -Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Arcturus........
sooooo ooo
73 05
9 57 55.0
10 00 11.5
10 02 37.0
10 04 28.5
10 06 11.0
10 07 55.5
72 11
71 28 20
a Cygni.......
h. m. 8.
8 57 23.5
8 59 47.0
9 01 41.0
9 02 59.0
904 14.5
9 05 25.5
d. m. S.
97 10 30
98 01 10
99 08 20
99 34 50
100
Polaris......
9 21
9 23
9 26
9 29
9 31
35.0
00.0
38.5
06.0
27.0
79 44
79 47
49 30
51 10
79 53 00
Arcturus.......
59.5
9
9
9
9
9
9
08 52.0
10 41.0
12 04.0
13 30.0
14 43.0
16 18.0
Index error — 2' 15''.
20 | mometer, 850.
Barometer, 29.6 in.
Tner-
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.

-
*
-
-
FORT READING-JULY 23, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 13-JULY 29, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
--
-
-
-
--
-
--
-
---
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Sun's lower limb....
a Serpentarii....
d. m. S.
114 00 00
114 10 00
114 20 00
114 30 00
114 40
114 50
h. m. S.
10 04 23.5
10 04 54.0
05 25.0
05 56.0
25.0
06 56.0
07 26.0
07 56.5
08 27.0
08 56.5
10 09 27.0
10 09 57.5
10 10 30.0
med 00 00 00 Osoros o
h. in. S.
8 52 56.0
8 55 21.0
8 57 18.0
48.5
06.5
48.0
10.0
05 25.5
d. m. S.
124 17 00
124 17 50
124 17 20
124 17
124 16 30
124 14 10
124 12
124 08 20
115
10
20
00
115
115
115
115
115
116
Polaris
28.0
80
80
80
80
80
80
03.5
42.0
29 49.0
31 02.5
32 45.0
00 00
12 40
15 10
16 00
17 20
18 40
20 00
s s
Sun's lower limb.....
1 59 18.0
1 59 48.0
2 00 17.5
2 00 49.5
2 01 20.5
2 01 50.5
21.0
116 00 00
115 50 00
115 40 00
115
115 20 00
115 10 00
115 00 00
114 50 00
114 40 00
114 30 00
114 20 00
114 10 00
114 00 00
Index error —1' 50". Barometer, 26.0 in. Thermome-
ter, 570.
CAMP 15-JULY 30, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
53.5
2 03 22.5
2 03 52.5
2 04 24.0
2 04 53.0
2 05 24.0
a Cygni ....
h.
8
8
-OOOP GROUP OY OPOPOLO ooooooooooo
a Serpentarii .......
124
124
124
19 40
21 10
24 30
m. S.
41 18.0
43 20.0
02.5
16.0
48 52.0
27.5
d. m. 3.
107 53 00
108 37 30
109 12 40
110 00 10
110 33 10
111 07 00
40
14 57.0
16 46.0
19 46.5
21 37.0
22 50.0
24 36.5
26 36.0
28 33.0
29 57.0
124 23
124 23
20
124
Arcturus.....
124 23
124 19 40
18 10
74 53 20
74 21 20
73 55
73 31 10
72 26
124
Polaris ..
.............
Polaris .......
9 42 05.5
9 43 54.5
9 45 44.0
9 47 56.5
9 49 32.0
80 00 50
80 02 10
80 03 50
80 04 10
80 05 50
56.0
20.0
29.0
32.0
20.0
37.0
12.0
11.0
44.5
02.0
17.5
00
9
9
9
9
9
11
12
13
15
16
80 11
80 12
80 12
80 14
80 15
80 16
00
Index error — 2' 15'.
mometer, 830
Barometer, 29.6 in.
Ther-
Index error — 1' 50". Barometer, 24.9 in. Thermome-
ter, 57°.
CAMP 13—JULY 29, 1855.
Observer -Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 17-AUGUST 1, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
a Cygni .....
102
m. 3.
02 40
102
57 20
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
m. s.
29 20.0
31 58.5
33 11.0
34 18.5
35 21.5
36 25.0
103 22 30
a Cygni....
101 34 00
103
102
104
A
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
m. S.
14 24.0
16 19.0
17 46.5
19 53.0
21 41.5
23 14.0
104 30
Arcturus. ...
8 38 41.5
8 40 25.0
8 41 43.5
8 43 14.0
8 44 25,5
8 45 45.0
8 50 51.5 1
92 32 30
91 53 30
91 24 30
90 51 50
90 24 10
89 55 50
Arcturus........
15 20
102 34 50
103 28 50
104 05 40
104 38 30
92 07 40
29 20
90 39 10
89 49 50
89 11 00
88 44 00
8
8
8
8
8
8
1
26 25.0
28 12.5
30 26.0
32 39.0
34 28.0
35 38.0
a Serpentarii.......
124
15
10
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.

.....
.
.
.
.
. .
CAMP 17-AUGUST 1, 1855-Continued.
Observer ---Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 18-AUGUST 3, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. I altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
d.
m.
S.
Polaris ....
80
25 90
Sun's lower limb...
h. m. S.
8 52 02.0
8 53 16.0
8 54 45.0
8 56 15.5
8 57 36.0
8 58 41.0
80 27 10
80 28 00
80 29 10
80 29 40
80 31 30
h. m. S.
9 22 19.0
9 22 49.5
9 23 16.5
47.0
24 15.5
9 24
44.5
12.5
39.5
2 37 39.0
2 38 07.5
d. m. S.
96 50 00
97 00 00
97 10 00
97 20 00
97 30
97 40 00
23
97
98 00 00
Sun's lower limb...
98 00
97 50
Index error-1' 50". Baromoter 26.1 in. Thermometer
560.
CAMP 18-AUGUST 2, 1855.
Observer --Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
eroeterero
97 40
97 30
97 20
97
10
30.0
97
00
00.0
QOVOQOVO APQUOQU OPORQUE
96
50 00
96 40
a Cygni.......
d. m.
104 05
104 42
105
17 52.5
19 36.5
28.5
58.0
25.0
96
96
96
96
30
20
10
00
14.0
105
23 27.0
24 53.0
106
00
106
31
30
Sun's lower limb......
Coco Coco Coco.0000 00 00 00 00
11 54
Arcturus......
8 06 06.0
8 07 51.5
8 09 41.0
8 11 03.0
8 12 44.5
8 15 03.0
42 56.0
23.0
55.0
54.0
11 56 31.0
11 58 05.0
11 59 00.0
12 04 37.0
12 05 57.0
12 07 34.5
12 09 22.5
98
97
54 40
24 10
95 48 10
94 57 40
80 45 20
80 46 40?
80 46 40?
80 48 10
80 49 40
80 51 10
96
132 40 00
132 40 45
132 43 55
132 44 30
132 44 55
132 44 55
132 44 15
132 42 30
132 40 00
Polaris........
a Cygni.......
8 50 56.5
8 52 33.5
8 53 38.5
8 55 04.5
8 56 31.5
8 57 59.5
9
9
9
9
9
9
17
56.0
20 18.5
22 13.0
24 17.5
26 21.5
29 02.5
126 39 00
127 30 00
128 10 20
128 55 -40
129
130
a Serpentarii......
Arcturus..............
79
8 31 24.5
8 36 03.5
8 37 30.0
8 39 06.5
8 40 31.0
8 41 45.5
8 42 49.0
8 43 55.0
8 45 04.5
8 46 22.0
8 47 37.5
123
123
123
123
123
123
123
123 33
*8 58
9 03
9 06
9 09
9 10
9 12
09.0
27.0
45.5
31.5
54.5
29.0
123
31
a Serpentarii......
123 29 50
123 10
29
32
45.0
58.5
54.0
16.0
43.0
39.5
8 43
Index error -1' 50". Barometer 26.8 in. Thermome-
ter 640,
0000000000000000
Polaris. .......
CAMP 18-AUGUST 3, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
9 38 29.0
9 41 38.5
00.5
9 46 23.0
9 48 45.5
9 51 52.5
d.
m.
Sun's lower limb.......
h.
9
9
9
9
9
m. 8.
19 56.0
20 25.5
20 53.5
21 23.0
21 51.0
96
30
00
Index error – 7' 10". Barometer,* 26.8 in. Thermo-
meter, 600,
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 19—AUGUST 4, 1855.
Observer--Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 21—AUGUST 6, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. Į altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. | altitudes.
Polaris ...
.........
19.0
12.5
a Cygni ..
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
d. m. S.
80 47 30
80 47 40
80 48 10
80 48 20
80 49 20
80 50 50
80 51 J0
80 51 00
80 51 20
80 51 20
80 52 10
11. S.
10 02.0
11 27.0
12 21.0
13 22.5
14 26.5
15 17.0
d. m. S.
107 12 30
107 41 00
108 00 40
108 21 30
108
109 02 10
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
09.5
52.0
29 31.0
30 40.0
31 20.0
32 04.0
32 44.5
33 39.0
34 29.5
Arcturus. .......
WW
8
8
8
8
8
8
35 05.0
36 42.5
38 55.5
40 24.0
41 41.0
42 52.5
81 32 20
80
80 05
79
79 05 00
78
37 30
Index error - 7'00".
mometer, 760.
Barometer, 27.3 in.
Ther-
a Serpentarii.....
123 30
123 30
30
50
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
17 41.5
18 41.5
19 36.5
20 43.0
21 30.5
22 20.5
23 10.5
24 16.5
25 54.0
26 48.0
28 31.0
29 21.5
30 09.0
32 40
33 00
34 20
123 34 20
123 34 00
123 33 20
123 33 20
123 32 30
123 30 30
123 2900
CAMP 20--AUGUST 5, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WilliamsON, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Polaris ...
a Cygni......
81 05 50
81 06 40
07 30
81 08 30
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
m. $.
39 30.5
41 30.5
43 30.5
45 00.0
46 12.0
47 32.5
48 58.5
09
48 22.5
49 31.5
50 34.5
51 30.0
52 33.0
53 18.0
d. m. S.
115 57 50
116
117 21 30
117 52 20
118 19 00
118 47 00
119 17 50
10
81 0950
Index error - 6' 30". Barometer, 26.7 in.
eter, 690.
Thermom-
Arcturus....
8 01
8 03
8 05
8 07
8 09
8 12
8 14
41.0
42.0
27.5
56.0
26.0
18.0
16.0
95 33 50
94 47 10
94 0950
93 16 20
92 42 50
91 41
90 57
CAMP 22-AUGUST 7, 1855.
Observer--Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
a Serpentarii..
123
a Cygni ....
123
123
d. m. S.
115 14 00
115
116 50 30
116 52 50
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
m. s.
28 30.0
29 42.0
32 11.0
33
12.5
34 33.5
36 12.5
25
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
19 41.5
21 16.5
23 41.5
24 53.0
55.5
26 57.5
12.0
29 16.5
30 46.5
31 58.5
33 08.5
35
117
117
Arctul'us............
123
123
123
123
123
123
123
123 22
8
8
8
8
8
8
03
04
05
06
07
09
19.0
22.0
27.5
40.0
56.5
31.0
15.5
81
a Serpentatii.......
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
12 43.5
13 51.5
14 51.5
15 45.5
17 09.0
18 05.0
18 58.5
20 07.5
20 53.5
123
123
123
123
123
123 24
123
123
123
Polaris .......
8
8
8
9
9
9
56 37.0
57 58.0
59 29.5
00 43.0
02 00.0
03 24.0
81
81 17 50
81
81 19 20
81 21 00
Barometer, 26.7 in.
Ther-
Index error - 6' 30".
mometer, 640.5.
l
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 22—AUGUST 7, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 23—AUGUST 9, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. | altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
h.
m.
S.
d.
d.
m.
S.
a Serpentarii....
8 21
123
123
Sun's lower limb....
00 00 00
123
37.0
123
.
91
Polaris.....
00 00 00 00 00 00 00
40 48.0
8 42 37.5
8 43 41.0
8 44 39.0
8 45
23.0
8 46 18.0
8 47 15.5
8 48 32.0
8 49 39.5
8 50 59.5
h.
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
m. $.
11 19.0
11 48.0
12 13.5
12 44.5
13 13.5
13 43.0
14 10.5
14 39.5
15 10.0
15 39.5
16 06.0
16 36.0
17 07.0
81 17 10
81 17 30
81 18 40
81 19 20
81 1950
81 20 20
92 50 00
93 00 00
Sun's lower limb.....
Index error — 6' 30". Barometer, 26.0 in. Thermome-
ter, 640.
2 43 20.0
2 43 50.5
2 44 18.0
44 47.0
45 17.0
45 46.5
46 16.5
46 47.0
47 14.0
2 47 42.0
2 48 10.0
2 48 37.5
08.5
93 00 00
92 50 00
92 40 00
92 30 00
92 20 00
92 10 00
92 00 00
OP GOOOOOOOOO
CAMP 23—AUGUST 8, 1855.
Observer--Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
10
0
0000
Sun's lower limb......
128
a Cygni ....
52.5
200 00 00 00 00 00
d. m. S.
115 27
115 57 10
116 38 10
117 00
117 25 40
117 49 40
02.0
11 56 01.5
11 57 27.0
11 58 21.5
11 59 06.0
11 59 54.5
12 01 00.5
12 02 07.0
12 03 40.0
12 04 58.0
12 05 58.0
128
128 44
128
128
128
128
24.5
8 30 38.5
8 31 43.5
ng 57 35.5
7 59 24.5
8 00 41.5
8 01 56.5
8 03 25.0
8 04 29.5
128
128 44 30
128 42 55
128 41 50
Arcturus.
Index error -6'30". Barometer, 25.8 in. Thermometer,
710.5.
a Serpentarii ......
122
CAMP 24-AUGUST 10, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
122
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
10 31.0
11 34.0
13 13.5
14 33.0
15 49.0
16 56.5
17 58.0
18 57.0
20 23.5
21 29.5
122
122
a Cygni....
122
122 50 00
122 49 20
122 49 10
123 56 40
124 19 50
00 00 00 00 00
Polaris .......
00 00 00 00 00
Arcturus........
h. m. 8.
20.5
25.0
8 48 29.5
8 49 59.0
02.0
52 10.0
8 36 38.0
38 04.5
8 39 10.5
8 40 15.0
39 02.0
40 25.0
41 20.0
42 07.5
43 03.5
44 18.0
46 14.5
47 24.5
81 47 20
81 48 30
81 49 20
81 50 00
81 50 10
81 51 · 40
81 53 00
81 54 00
8
8
8
8
8
00 00 00 00 00
75
37
75
13
30
Index error --6' 30". Barometer, 25.9 in. Thermometer,
.720.
44.0
42 40.5
Polaris.....
8
8
8
74 19 20
81 57 40
81 58 30
26
27
28
25.5
35.5
19.5
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.

CAMP 24–AUGUST 10, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 27, A-AUGUST 13, 1855-Continued.
Observer --Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of obsery'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Polaris . ............
Itair.. .............
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
m. S.
29 15.0
30 04.0
30 42.0
31 23.5
31 57.0
32 45.0
33 52.5
d. m. 8.
82 00 30
82 01 00
82 01 20
82 02
82 02
82 02 40
82 03 30
26
h. m. S.
19 32.0
21 35.0
23 12.0
25 02.5
55.5
29 55.0
31 13.5
32 59.0
10 34 41.0
10 36
17.0
10 37 45.5
10 39 17.5
10 40 40.0
d. m. S.
112 49 50
112 49 50
112 50 00
112 51 50
112 52 00
112 50 00
112 48 40
112 47 30
112 44 10
112 40 00
112 38 10
112 31 50
112 30 00
Index error - 6'30". Barometer, 25.1 in. Thermometer, 780.
CAMP 25–AUGUST 11, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Index error - 6' 30". Barometer, 26.0 in. Thermometer,
570.5.
Polaris.....
.........
h. m. S.
8 52 40.5
8 55 24.0
8 58 28.0
8 59 31.5
900 41.5
9 02 02.5
9 04 06.5
9 05 31.0
9 06 22.0
9 07 09.5
d. m. S.
83 04 30
83 05 50
83 08 10
83 09 00
83 0940
83 10 30
.83 12 30
83 13 10
83 13 30
83 14 40
CAMP 28-AUGUST 15, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
a Cygni......
20
h. m. S.
8 48 38.0
8 52 03.0
8 53 31.5
8 55" 12.5
8 56 42.5
8 58 59.5
d. m. S
128 58
130 12
130
131 18 50
131 47 30
Index error - 6' 30". Barometer, 25.4 in. Thermometer,
640.5.
40
Arcturus...
CAMP 27, A-AUGUST 13, 1855.
Observer---Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
00 00 00 00 00 00
32 17.0
11.0
37 27.5
39. 38.5
72 38
57.0
70
16
20
Cygni.......
Polaris......
84 42 50
00 00 00 00 00 00
m. S.
52.0
8 50 27.5
08.5
26.0
40.5
46.0
9 03 17.0
9 04 49.0
9 05 51.0
907 37.0
908 43.0
9 09 55.0
d. m. 5.
125 42 40
126 5900
127 54 30
128 45 40
129
130 16 10
65 49 20
65 16
00
84 46 40
84 47
84 47
84 48 30
OOO OOO 00
50 05.0
Arcturus.........
00
Altair ...........
112 20 00
112 22 50
64 14
· 63 47 40
63 25 00
112 30 00
-
-
-
--
Polaris........
9
-
-
-
9
-
17
-
50.5
19.5
10 08 17.5
10 10 02.0
10 11 38.5
10 12 48.0
10 16 46.5
17 59.5
10 19 36.0
10 21 17.5
10 22 54.5
10 25 26.5
10 27 08.5
10 28 23.0
10 31 01.5
--
9
19.5
83 58 50
84 00 00
84 02 00
84 02 50
84 04 30
84 06 30
84 10
84 10 50
112 31 00
112 32 30
112 33 20
2 33 30
112 32 50
112 31 20
112 28 00
112 26 10
112 22 40
112 16 40
-
-
-
14 25.5
07.0
18 12.5
25.5
43.5
50.5
34.
09 45.0
11 43.0
13 55.5
15 48.0
--
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
Altair........
10
10
10
10
112 42 50 Index error - 6' 30".
112 48 50 liter, 620.5.
Barometer, 25.9 in.
Thermomem
L
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 28-AUGUST 16, 1855.
CAMP 30—AUGUST 19, 1855
Observer—Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Observer—Lieut H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Object observed.
Tine of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of obsery'n Observed double
by chronometer. ' altitudes.
S.
-
Sun's lower limb......
--
a Cygni.....
------
h.
8
'8
8
8
8
8
m. S.
12 22.0
13 53.0
15 17.0
16 22.0
17 37.5
19 13.0
d. m.
121 46
122 19
122 46
-
123 11
123
h.
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
m. S.
42 26.0
42 57.5
43 30.0
43 58.5
44 30.5
45 03.0
45 35.0
46 05.0
46 38.5
47 10.0
47 40.5
49 12.0
48 44.0
d. m. S.
93 00 00
93 10 10
93 20 00
93 30 00
93 40 00
93 50 00
94 00 00
94 10 00
94 20 00
94 30 00
94 40 00
94 50 00
95 00 00
124
Arcturus
79
30
8 (3 09.0
8. 04 49.5
8 06 02.5
8 07 02.0
8 08 38.0
8 09 51.0
78
78
53
26
10
20
Sun's lower limb.....
2
Polaris..
95 00 00
94 50 00
94 00
94 30 00
94 20 00
38 35.0
39 08.5
40.0
12.0
44.0
14.0
47.5
17.0
49.5
21.0
40
QUO OU GV GV GV GVOGOVOR
78 05 20
77 29 50
77 04 10
84 22 40
84 24 10
84 25 40
84 25 40
84 27 10
84 28 00
8 24 43.0
.8 25 47.5
8 27 02.0
8 28 10.5
8 29 22.0
8 30 11.0
8 31 03.0
8 31 51.5
8 32 51.5
8 33 48.5
O O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
93
93
10
84 30 00
84 30 40
24.0
33
55.5
Index error - 6' 30". Barometer, 25.9 in. Thermo-
meter, 540.5,
Sun's lower limb......
122
122
CAMP 31-AUGUST 20, 1855.
12 06 28.5
12 07 12.5
12 08 23.0
12 09 02.0
12 09 34.5
12 10 17.5
12 10 54.0
12 11 37.5
12 12 19.0
52.5
12 13 34.0
12 14 52.5
12 15 33.5
12 16 23.5
12 17 27.5
12 18 12.5
122
122
122
122 31
122 32
122 32
122
122
122
122
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
.
-
-
-
..
-
-
--
--
-
+
+
--
12
a Cygni........
3.
10
C
122
h.
8
8
8
8
m.
15
17
18
20
d. m.
124 26
124 56
125
122
122 30 20
122 30 00
$.
46.5
13.0
37.5
04.0
14.5
28.5
00 00 00 00
126 21 10
126 46 00
a Cygni......
128
Arcturus..
129
130
8
8
8
8
8
8
79 38
25 33.0
27 18.0
28 37.5
29 53.5
31 05.0
32 13.0
7
8
10
130
131
58 46.0
00 15.5
02 31.0
131
Arcturus. . ....
18
15
79
8 12 35.5
8 15 24.5
8 16 44.5
8. 19. 29.0
8 20 57.5
8 22 19.0
78
77
47 30
46 30
77
14
20
00
76
47
Polaris
37 25.5
32.0
24.0
54.5
57.0
45 17.5
00 00 00 00 00 00
Index error -- 6' 30". Barometer, 26.0 in. Thermome-
ter, 670.0.
Q
00 00 00 00
Polaris......
04 48.0
8 38 46.0
41 00.5
8 42 50.5
8 47 42.5
8 48 56.0
8 50 15.0
41.0
8 52 54.0
(8 54 09.0
8 55 06.0
8 56 05.0
.8 57 04.0
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
85 15 00
85 05 10
85 07 20
85 10 30
85 12 10
85 13 40
85 14 50
85 15 10
85 16 50
85 17 50
85 18 30
85 19 20
83 57 10
83 58 50
84 00 00
84 01 30
84 02 20
84 04 00
Index error - 6' 30". Barometer, 25.6 in. Thermo-
11 meter, 580.5.
2 AA
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 34–AUGUST 23, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 37—AUGUST 27, 1855.
Observer--Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top Engineers.
Object observed.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
d. mi o
a Cygni....
Sun's lower limb......
co 00 00 00
126 53 00
127 24 50
127 45 00
128 09 10
128 29 50
128 51 00
h. m. S.
8 15 44.0
8 17 17.5
14.5
22.5
19.5
8 21 22.0
8 25 50.5
08.0
8 28 12.5
8 29 33.5
8 30 35.5
8 31 26.0
h. m.
9 11
9 12
9 12
9 13
9 13
9 14
9 14
9 15
9 15
9 16
S.
50.5
22.5
53.5
24.5
51.5
23.5
54.5
22.0
55.5
25.0
53.5
26.5
d. m. S.
73 00 00
73 10 00
73 20 00
73 30
00
40 00
50 00
00 00
10 00
so s
Arcturus.....
74
67 17 40
66 15
66
00 00 00 00 00 00
65
9
16
74 30 00
74 40 00
50 00
75 00 00
74
9
9
17
17
58.5
65 32
65 13 30
85 30 40
85 31
Polaris.....
Sun's lower limb.....
75
00 00
............
36 14.0
37 12.5
38 16.5
29
30
33.0
05.0
35.5
03.0
85 33 30
05.5
36.5
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
39.5
28.5
8 41 11.5
8 42
21.0
43 10.5
44 54.5
85 35
30
mocaso o co o o o o o o
osorciserer
85
37 00
Index error - 6'00". Barometer, 25.6 in. Thermome-
ter, 650.
0000
26 10
Sun's upper limb ....
15.0
113
05.5
52.0
38.0
113
113
113
113
40.0
44.0
CAMP 36-AUGUST 25, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U.S. Top. Engineers.
2729999999999???
23
24
25
17.0
05.0
00.5
3.0
51.0
113 29
113 29 40
113 29 50
113
113 28
113
113 27 50
113 27 10
113 26 40
113 25 50
a Cygni ......
22.0
43.0
12 28 10.0
12 28 39.5
12 29 07.0
12 29 46.0
53.5
00 00 00 00
d. m. S.
128 42 40
129 25 20
129 40 50
130 05
130 45
04.5
13.5
07.0
40.0
131
17
Index error - 6' 15.
meter, 55º.
Barometer, 25.9 in.
Thermo-
Arcturus.
00 00 00 00 00
14.5
37.5
59.0
55.0
322222
8
12
CAMP 37-AUGUST 28, 1855.
Observer --Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
86
31
Sun's lower limb......
h. m. S.
12 21 46.5
12 22 45.5
12 23 24.5
12 24 06.0
12 25 03.0
12 26 08.8
d. m. S.
111 43 40
111 45 20
111 44 00
111 43 20
111
111 42
Polaris .......
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
35 10.5
36 06.5
37 18.5
40 16.0
41 16.5
42 06.0
43 04.0
44 03.0
46 17.5
47 25.5
86
86
86
86
38
40
41 10
Index error - 6'00". Barometer, 25.6 in. Thermome-
ter, 550.
Index error - 6' 40".
!I meter, 750.
Barometer, 25.9 in.
Thermo-
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.

CAMP 38 A-AUGUST 29, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 38 A-AUGUST 30, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Arcturus...
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
m. S.
38 10.0
39 25.5
43 39.0
44 43.0
45 39.0
46 46.5
d. m. S.
56 40 00 |Sun's lower limb..
56 13 30
56 41 10
54 18 30
53 57 30
53 34 50 a Cygni .......
h. m. S.
12 25 59.5
12 26 31.5
12 27 31.5
12 28 13.5
d.
110
110
110
110
m.
16
15
15
14
3.
10
30
00
30
00 00 O
8
04
8
06
Polaris ....
9 04 51.0
8 07
Coco o
39.0
03.5
51.5
14.5
17.0
18.0
130 40 30
131 10
131 49
132
132
133 02 30
09
8
11
ܗܘܿܘܘܘܘܘܘܕܘܘ
Arcturus......
63 08 50
OOOOOOOOO
9
9
9
9
16 29.5
17 31.0
18 39.5
19 40.0
61 47 30
11 10
87 46 40
Polaris ......
Index error - 6' 45'. Barometer, 25.7 in. Thermome-
ter, 420.
8 16 19.5
8 17 52.0
8 18 52.0
8 19 53.5
8 20 52.5
8 21 45.5
8 24 57.5
8 26 34.0
8 29 32.5
8 30 47.5
8 32 26.5
8 33 41.0
8 34 57.0
8 36 20.5
8 37 26.5
8 38 33.5
8 39 51.5
8 41 14.5
8 43 01.5
8 44
16.5
11
12
13 20
14
00
CAMP 38 A-AUGUST 30, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
14 40
15 50
17 00
.
.
.
Sun's lower limb ....
Altair ........
d. m. S.
0000
57 10 00
57 20 00
57 30 00
57 40 00
50 00
9 22
9 23
9 24
8 27 59.0
8 28 24.5
8 28 52.5
8 29 22.5
8 29 52.0
8 30 20.5
8 30 49.0
8 31 18.5
: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
soos soos
109 39 50
109 42 10
109 43 10
109 44
109 46 00
109
109 47 30
109 47 50
109 47 50
109 47 30
109 46 00
109 45 50
109 44 00
30 00
14.5
30 07.5
31 14.5
32 08.0
33 05.0
34 10.0
35 15.5
36 19.5
9
9
9
9
32 44.5
33 12.5
33 42.5
59 00 00
Sun's lower limb ...
4
4
4
4
Index error - 6' 45'. Barometer, 25.8 in. Thermome-
ter, 350
4
13
11 09.0
11 36.5
12 06.5
12 32.0
00.0
29.0
59.0
29.0
14 58.0
25.5
A
59 00 00
58 50 00
58 40 00
58 30 00
58 20 00
58 10 00
58 00 00
50 00
40 00
57 30 00
57 2000
57
57 00
CAMP 38 A-SEPTEMBER 1, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
ma
BHHH历时四
​olen
4
54.0
na
mitan mo
16
25.0
53.5
Sun's lower limb......
h.
9
9
9
m. 8.
11 29.5
12 00.5
12 28.5
59.0
Sun's lower limb.....
9
12
12 17 23.0
12 18 15.0
12 19 02.5
12 20 56.0
12 21 42.5
12 22 33.5
12 23 21.0
12 25 08.5
110
110
110
110
110
110
110
110
14 20
15 10
15 50
16 10
16 20
16 30
16 50
16 30
in. 3.
00
64 10 00
64 20 00
64 30 00
64 40 00
64 50 00
65 00 00
65 10 00
29.0
20 00
65 30 00
9
9
9
59.0
14 29.0
14 58.5
15 27.5
15 58.5
1
12
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 38 A-SEPTEMBER 1, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 39 A-SFPTEMBER 2, 1855–Continued.
Observer --Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.


Object observed.
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by chronometer. ' altitudes.
00 00 00 00 00 00
33.0
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
h. m. S.
m. S
s.
in. S.
Sun's lower limb.... 9 16 28.5 65 40 00 Arcturus...
47.5
34 10
9 16 58.5 65 50 00
56.5
0900
9 17 27.5 66 00 00
46.0
Sun's lower limb...... 4 06 48.5 66 00 00
34.5
4.07 15.0 65 50
15.5
4 08 16.5 65 30
4 08 45.0 65 20 00 Polaris....
28.0
4 09 15.0 65 10 Of
26.0
4 09 42.5 65 00 00
25.0
4 10 14.5 64 50 00
22.0
4 10 44.5 64 40 00
33.5
4 11 14.5 64 30 0.1
28.5
4 11 44.5 64 21 00
59.5
4 12 14.5 64 10 00
41.0
4 12 44.5 64 00 00
42.5
8 40 42.0
Sun's lower limb .... 12 33 22.5 108 36 30
8 43 06.5 87 30 00
12 34 16.0 108 38 00
35 04.0 108 38 30.
36 46.5 108 3950 l: Index error 0. Barometer 25.9 in. Thermometer 440.
37 22.0 108 41 30
39 57.5 108 42 00
41 47.0 108 42 20
CAMP 40—SEPTEMBER 5, 1855.
29.0 108 42 30
04.5 108
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U S. Top. Engineers.
00
36.5 108 42 00
46 46.0 108 41 00
48 35.5 108 39 30 Object observed. Time of ohsery'n Observed double
12 49 38.0 108 38 40
i by watch. altitudes.
12 50 14.5 108 37 30
12 51 16.5
108 36 20
in. S.
d. m S.
Sun's lower limb.... 11 54 44.4 104 36 40
Index error 0. Barometer 25.9 in. Thermometer 780.
11 55 08.4 104 36 50
11 55 34.0 104 37 00
11 56 12.4 104 37 10
CAMP 39 A-SEPTEMBER 2, 1855.
11 56 46.0 104 37 30
14.8 104 37 30
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
41.2 104 37 50
11 58 16.8 1 104 37 30
11 59 20.8 104 37 10
h. m. S.
d. m. S.
12 00 09.2 104 37 10
a Cygni.......
8 07 57.5 129 11 30
12 00 52.4 104 37 20
8 09 49.5 129 48 40
12 01 45.6 | 104 37 30
8 10 46.5 130 07 30
12 02 29.2 104
8 11 42.0 130 28 40
8 12 55.5 130 53 30
8 13 39.0 131 10 00 Index error 0. Barometer, 25.8 in. Thermometer, 590.
43
43
1
57

-
-
-
-
37 00
-
-----
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
13
APPENDIX A-Continued.
II. Observations on the routes of detached parties, in charge of Lieut, R. S. Williamson, U. S.
Topographical Engineers.
CAMP A-AUGUST 13, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers
CAMP D-AUGUST 16, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observin: Observed double
by watch.
Object observed.
Time of obsery'n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
a Cygni
a Cygni .....
-
-
-
h. m.
8. 13
8 14
8 16
8 17
·8 19
20
S.
16.4
37.2
00.0
32.0
00.0
18.4
d. m. S.
116 19 00
116 48 20
117 16 50
117 49 00
118 19 20
118 47 10
h. m. S.
8 27 37.2
8 28
54.0
8 30 24.8
8 31 38.8
8 32 44.8
8. 33 57.6
Arcturus...
8
02
85
15
Arcturus............
36.8
33.2
--
84
32
-
8
32.8
05
-
-
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
----
06 21.2
07 21.2
08 14.4
15 54.8
18 02.8
18 56.4
20 08.0
21 24.0
23 12.4
d. m. S.
125 51 30
126 17 20
126 49
127 15
127 39
128 04 00
75 48 50
75 01 30
74 41 30
74 14 50
73 43 10
73 07 00
83 50 30
83 52 10
83 53 40
83 54 00
83 55 10
83 55 10
83 56 30
83 57 00
83 5900
84 00 00
50
83 10
82 46
Polaris.......
Polaris.....
8 24 48.8
8 26 36.0
8 28 30.0
8 29 56.0
8 31 09.6
8 33 05.6
82 51 00
8 38 44.4
8 40 29.2
8 41 37.6
8 43 00.8
8 44 10.0
8 45 31.2
8 46 29.2
8 47 37.6
8 48 54.0
8 50 01.6

Index error – 0' 30". Barometer, 26.0 in. Thermome-
ter, 800.
Index error — 0' 30". Barometer, 26.0 in. Thermome-
ter, 81º.
CAMP B-AUGUST 14, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP M-SEPTEMBER 8, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
d.
a Cygni....
m.
16
19
118
119
d.
m.
00 00 00 00 00 00
S.
46.4
38.4
00.0
29.2
38.0
16.4
1 m. S.
7 40 57.2
Polaris.......
8.
50
57.2
121 41 20
Arcturus.............
32.0
10.0
00 00 00 00 00 00
11.0
02.4
7 42
47.2
7 44 39.6
7 45 53.2
7 46 36.4
7 47 18.8
7 48 13.2
7 49 40.4
7 50 40.0
7 51 16.0
52 09.2
7 52 56.0
53 37.2
25.6
26.4
46.0
00 00
35 33.2
8 36 36.0
8 38 00.8
8. 39 06.0
8 40 24.0
8 41 40.0
8 35 56.0 108
8 36 46.4 108 35
8 37 27.2 108 35 40
8 38 08.4 108 36 30
8 39 02.4 108 37 10
8 40 09.2L 108 37 20
Thermome-
Index error - 0' 30". Barometer, 26.2 in.
ter, 580.
14
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.

CAMP M-SEPTEMBER 8, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 40—SEPTEMBER 11, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double ||
by watch. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
Altair .......
Polaris, .....
8 41 55.6
8 42 23.2
8 43 26.0
8 44 14.0
8 44 59.6
8 46 24.0
8 47 23.2
8 48 40.0
108 37 00
108 38 10
108 38 00
108 37 50
108 37 30
108 36 50
108 36 00
108 34 30
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
m.
10
11
12
13
13
14
15
S.
36.4
18.0
20.8
07.2
48.8
32.0
16.8
m. s.
53 40
54 10
55 10
55 10
88 56
88 57
20
10
Altair ....
meter, 430.5.
00 00 00 00 00 00 00
18
19
20
CAMP M_SEPTEMBER 9, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
8 17 00.8
8 18 03.2
49.6
40.4
21.6
20 54.6
22 12.0
8 22
52.0
23 40.0
8 24 26.0
8 25
19.2
8 26 42.4
8 29 01.6
108 31 20
108 3300
108 33 10
108 33
108 33
108 33 40
108 34
108 34
108 34
108 33 50
108 33 30
108 32
108 30 00
34 00
00 00
Sun's lower limb.....
d. m. S.
101 43 50
101 44 10
44
44
44
Index error -5' 38''. Barometer, 25.6 in.
ter, 400.5.
Thermome-
k. m. S.
11 54 00.0
11 54 35.2
11 55 10.8
11 55 54.8
11 56 30.0
11 57 04.0
11 57 32.8
11 58 08.0
11 59 35.2
12 00 07.2
12 00 53.2
12 01 27.2
12 01 58.4
12 02 29.6
12 02 59.2
44
101
101 44 50
101 44 40
101 44 30
101 44 20
101 44 10
101 43 40
CAMP 40-SEPTEMBER 12, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WilliamSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
a Coronæ Borealis .....
d. m.
$.
10
Index error -- 5' 20". Barometer, 24.7 in. Thermo-
meter, 570.5.
h.
7
7
7
7
7
7
m. S.
40 46.0
42 19.2
43 53.2
45 26.0
46 19.6
47 10.4
CAMP 40-SEPTEMBER 11, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Polaris ........
88 50
88 51
m.
S.
Sun's lower limb...
10.0
huun
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
33 53.2
35 10.0
36 09.2
36 54.4
37 40.8
38 46.0
39 29.2
40 37.2
41 23.6
42 12.8
88 53
88 54
88 54
88 55
88 56
88 56
1
50
55
108
27.2
57.2
55 25.2
d. m. S.
100 0940
100 10 00
100 10 10
100 1040
100 10 50
100 11 00
100 11 00
100 11 00
100 1100
100 10 50
100 10 40
100 10 30
100 10 30
100 10 20
100 10 20
100 10 10
100 10 00
100 09 40
Polaris........
88 51 30
88
88 52 40
40
Altair ......
51.6
56 19.6
11 56 46.4
11 57 18.0
jl 57 45.2
11 58 14.0
11 58 41.2
11 59 06.4
11 59 30.0
11 59 54.8
12 00 23.2
12 00 46.8
12 01 10.8
8 12 45.6
8 14 04.0
8 15 10.8
8 16 01.6
8 16 46.0
8 18 24.8
8 19 12.0
8 20 28.0
8 21 42.4
8 22 41.6
43.2
8 25 30.0
108 54 40
108 55
108 56 00
108 55
108 56
108 56
108 55
108 55
108 55 30
108 54 30
108 53 10
8 06 54.4
8 08 32.0
8 09 44.41
Index error — 5'40". Barometer, 24.1 in. Thermometer,
440.5.
|
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
15
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP S-SEPTEMBER 19, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP S-SEPTEMBER 20, 1855--Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by watch.
altitudes.
Polaris.......
d. m. S.
89 23 20
89 24 40
Altair ......
S.
30
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
m. S.
11 59.2
13 54.4
15 01.2
16 00.4
17 23.2
18 52.4
20 40.0
22 07.2
23 27.6
25 02.8
d. m.
108 24
108 25
108 26
108 26
108 27
108 27
89 26 10
89 27 10
89 27 40
89 28
89 30 10
89 31 20
89 31 30
108 22 40
108 23 50
108 24 40
108
108 26
108 27
108
h. m. S.
7 39 44.8
7 40 42.0
7 41 32.8
7 42 43.6
7 43 31.2
7 44 48.0
7 45 27.6
7 46 23.2
7 47 25.6
7 48 36.0
7 49 42.0
7 50 27.2
7 51 24.4
7 52 23.6
7 53 10.4
7 54 11.2
Altais
to
108 28 10
108 28 00
108 28 00
108 27 10
108 27 00
108 26 40
108 26 20
108 25 20
108 24 20
42 13.6
43 16.0
44 08.0
45 06.8
46 09.2
47 03.6
08.8
23.6
27.6
28.8
7
7
7
7
Index error -5' 40". Barometer, 26.9 in. Thermome-
ter, 540.
7777777777
31.2
52.8
02.0
CAMP S-SEPTEMBER 21, 1855.
108
26
20
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
03.2
50.0
57 45.2
58 46.0
59 28.8
108
108
108 23 50
108 22 40
m.
s.
h. m.
11 49
3.
38.8
Index error -5' 20". Barometer, 26.9 in. Thermometer,
540.
CAMP S–SEPTEMBER 20, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
11 50 42.8
11 51 30.0
11 52 15.2
11 52 53.2
11 53 24.8
11 54 30.8
11 55 17.2
11 56 08.0
11 56 52.8
11 57 24.8
11 58 08.8
58 49.6
92 22 20
92 22 40
92 22 40
92 22 40
92 22 40
92 22 30
92 22 10
92 22 10
92 21 40
92 21 40
92 21 30
88 50 10
m.
Sun's lower limb....
93 07 40
d. m. S.
93 08 20
93 08 30
93 09 00
Polaris...
88 50 00
98 5)
s.
20.0
10.4
42.4
28.4
22.0
04.4
28.0
03.2
31.6
93
93 09
93 0900
93 09
93 0900
7 19 18.8
20 22.0
21 24.0
22 07.2
23 09.6
7 24 12.0
7 25 02.8
7 26 09.6
7 27 05.2
top 28 03.2
7 29 30.0
7 30 26.8
7 31 19.2
7 32 25.6
7 33 38.8
7 34 40.0
7 35 40.0
88 51 40
88 52 20
88 53 10
88 53 30
88 54 30
88 55 10
88 56 00
09 00
40.4
93
40
93 08
30
25.2
58 14.0
43.2
93 07 40
19 56.0
27.6
89 03 20
11.2
02.8
0
Polaris.......
88 47 00
08.8
44.8
27.2
32.4
39.6
89 04
108
Altair...
28 44.8
34.8
7 30 23.6
7 31 14.0
7 32 41.6
88 53
88 54 00
88 54 40
88 55 00
55
88 56 30
7 39 21.6
7 40 13.2
7 41 07.2
7 41 49.2
7 42 35.2
108
108
108
108
16
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Contiuued.
CAMP S-SEPTEMBER 21, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers
CAMP S–SEPTEMBER 22, 1855—Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
-
Altair...
Altair.
17.2
h m. S.
7 43 56.4
7 45 20.0
7 46 06.0
7 43 14.0
7 48 58.8
7 49 46.0
my 50 46.8
7 51 34.4
7 52 20.0
7 53 19.2
7 54 00.0
d m. S.
108 28 00
108 27 00
108 27 00
108 26
108 25 50
108 25 00
108 24 00
108 22 50
108 22 20
108 20 50
108 1900
h. m. S.
7 37 204
7 38
7.39
08.4
7. 39
59.6
7 40 45.2
7 41 30.4
7 42 20.0
7 43 24.0
7 44 28.4
7 45 14.4
d. 11. S.
108 28 10
108 28 10
108 28 00
108 20 30
108 27 50
108 27 20
108 27 20
108 26 40
108 25 50
108 25 00
--
---
-
-
--
Index error - 4' 30".
meter, 540.
Barometer, 26.9 in.
Thermo-
Index error — 5'00". Barometer, 26 9 in. Thermo-
meter, 540.
CAMP S-SEPTEMBER 22, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 42 W-SEPTEMBER 26, 1855.
Observer-Lieut R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
m.
S.
Polaris..
Sun's lower limb .....
h. m. S.
11 46 42.4
11 47 16.0
11 48 00.0
11 48 41.6
11 49 10.4
114 45.2
50 22.4
53.2
29.6
d. m. S.
91 33 00
91 32 25
91 34 00
91 34 40
91 35 00
91 35 10
91 35 20
91 35 40
91 36 00
91 36 00
91 36 10
36 10
91 36 00
91 36 00
40.8
h. mn. S.
6 42 38.8
6 44 08.4
6 45 34.4
6 46 20.0
6 47 37.2
6 48 38.0
6 49
50 22.8
6 51 13.2
6 52 03.2
18 10.0
ny 18
720 14.8
06.0
040)
00 00 09 09 09 00 ooga
87 31
45.6
27.6
Altair......
U
04.4
91
59.6
11 54 32.4
06.4
39.6
109 37
109 38
109
109 39
109
109
109
109
109
109
91
55.2
08.8
58.8
00.0
10.4
91
30.8
39.6
11.2
16.8
08.0
109
Polaris .......
27
50.4
48.4
29 57.2
109
37
30
Index error — 5' 00."
meter, 460.5.
Barometer, 25.6 in.
Thermo-
19 13.6
20 58.4
21 59.2
22 54.4
23 43.6
7 24 38.0
7 25 40.8
7 26 50.4
7 30 21.2
7 31 46.4
7 47 44.0
7 49 19.6
7 50 41.6
7 51 30.0
52 20.0
52 59.6
54 02.0
54 52.8
55 34.4
56 15.2
CAMP 44 W-SEPTEMBER 28, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Polaris. .....
ఆ.
89 17 30
89 17 50
89 18
89 1900
89 19 30
89 20 30
h.
6
6
6
m. S.
44 39.6
45 56.0
47 01.2
49.6
02.4
Altair .......
7 33 42.0
7 35 08.0
7 35 48.8
7 36 34.4
108
108
108
108
25
26
27
27
00
40
30
40
6 51
6 52
18.8
56.0
35.2
87 06 00
87 07 00
87 07 00
87 07
|
18.0
6
54
16.0
87 08
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS1
17
)
.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 44 W-SEPTEMBER 28, 1855—Continued.
Observer---Lieut. R. S WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers
CAMP 48 W-OCTOBER 2, 1855-Continued.
Observer—Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by watch.
altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
S.
Altair................
Sun's upper limb ....
d. m.
110
110 09
110 08
h. m. $.
7 13 01.6
13 40.1
7 14 40.4
7 15 10.0
7 16 00.6
7 16 41.9
7 17 50.7
7 18 31.5
7 19 31.2
7 20 31.1
7 21 11.2
7 22 00.8
7 22 41.3
h. m.
9 23
9 23
9 24
9 25
9 25
9 26
9 27
S.
20.8
59.6
37.6
16.8
56.0
35.2
14.4
110
sooooo GPOPOVOVOU
ca
d. n. S.
63 40 00
63 50 00
64 00 00
64 10 00
64 20 00
64 30 00
64 40 00
110
110
110
110
110 09
110 08
110 08
110 07
110 07 30
Sun's upper limnb ..
29
29
12.4
50.8
28.8
05.2
44.0
1
Polaris .......
Index error, — 4' 40." Barometer, 25.4 in. Thermome-
ter, 490.
ܘ ܛܟܬܘܺܟܬ݁
HYS
-
--
CAMP 45 W-SEPTEMBER 30, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U.S. Top Engineers.
-
02.0
42.8
30.0
21.2
88 43 40
88 44 10
88 44 50
88 45 20
7
36
12.4
Polaris .............
Altair .....
d.
88
88
88
88
88
88
88
7
m. S.
26 16.0
27 26.0
28 11.6
28 55.2
29 42.8
30 38.0
32 04.4
33 31.2
34 18.8
35 12.0
36 13.2
m. S.
12 40
13 20
14 00
14 20
14 00
15 10
16 00
04
7777777777
15
88
7 01 51.6
7 02 58.4
40.8
32.8
7 05 13.6
7 05 56.8
7 06 32.4
7 07 14.8
7 08 07.2
7 08 43.2
7 09 26.4
7 10 23.6
7 11 34.8
7 12 28.4
109 14 40
109 14 50
109 15 00
109 15 00
109 00
109 14 50
109 14 50
109 30
109 10
109
13 30
109 13 00
109 12 50
109 11 30
109 10 30
14
14
88
88
88
17 40
18 50
19 50
L
Altair ....
30
10
7 07 48.0
7 08 21.4
7 09 03.2
09 48.4
7 10 24.8
7 11 11.6
49.2
7 12 25.6
7 13 02.0
13 50.0
7 14 33.6
7 15
7 16
7 16 40.8
109 33
109 34
109
109
109
109
109
109
Index error, - 5' 0''. Barometer, 29.1 in. Thermome-
ter, 590.5.
109
109
CAMP 48 W-OCTOBER 3, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
109
30.0
06.8
109 35
109 34
109 33 40
d.
S.
Polaris .
m.
29
30
10
32
Index error,-- 5' 30". Barometer, 28.9 in. Thermome-
ter, 560.
h. m. S.
10 44.8
7 12 08.0
7 13 34.4
7 14 37.2
16 05.2
ng 17 05.2
7 18 00.0
ng 18 53.6
7 19 52.0
7 20 48.0
7 21 32.8
7 22 15.2
88
33
34
35
10
30
00
CAMP 48 W-OCTOBER 2, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
35
h.
s.
Sun's upper limb....
9
19 31.2
9
20
d. m. S.
62 40 00
62 50 00
63 00 00
63 10 00
63 20 00
63 30 00
88 37
88 38 00
07.6
Altair ........
50.8
26.0
6
6
6
6
6
56 44.0
57 36.0
58 21.2
59 06.8
59 50.8
109 13 10
109 14 00
109 14 10
109 14 20
109 14 50
02.0
42.0
3 AA
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 48 W-OCTOBER 3, 1855—Continued.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Enginyers.
CAMP 50 W-OCTOBER 5, 1855—Continued.
Observer-Lieut R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by watch.
altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
d.
89
Polaris ....
m. S.
32 40
Allair ..............
1. 19. S.
7 00 35.2
7 01 18.8
7 01 59.6
7 02 45.2
22.0
. m. S.
109 14 40
109 14 30
109 14 30
109 14 30
h.
7
7
7
n
m.
12
13
14
15
S.
18.4
28.0
26.0
34.8
Altair ......
7 04 32.8
7 05 22.4
109 13
109 13
30
10
. O. Os
18
6 52
6 53
10
Index error, — 5'00". Barometer, 39.1 in. Thermome-
ter, 560.
CAMP 49 W-OCTOBER 4, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson—U. S. Top. Engineers.
Oso
6 49 22.4
6 50 10.8
01.6
52.8
42.8
26.0
6 54 02.0
6 54 38.0
6 55 32.4
6 56 58.0
6 57 48.0
6 58 31.2
6 59 10.4
108 16 20
108 17 20
108 17 00
108 17 50
108 18
108 17
108 18 10
108 17 50
108 18 00
108 18 00
108 17 20
108 16 40
108 16 10
Polaris.......
h. . S.
7 11 24.0
7 12 36.0
7 13 21.6
7 14 10.0
7 15 39.2
7 17 48.4
7 19 30.4
30.0
7 21
32.4
7 22
41.2
d. m. S.
88 56 20
58 00
58
88 58 20
89 01
Index error, - 5'00". Barometer, 29.6 in. Thermometer,
57º.
20
20
CAMP 51 W-OCTOBER 6, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top. Engineers.
89
8903
89
89 05
10
Polaris....
Altair ......
6 52 45.2
6 53 30.8
6 54 26.0
6 55 07.6
6 56 25.6
6 57 26.0
6 58 14.8
6 59 00.0
6 59 48.8
7 00 46.8
7 02 38.4
7 03 23.2
46.4
h. m s.
6 59 33.2
7 00 59.6
7 01 53.2
7 02 50.0
7 03
7 04 58.8
7 06 09.2
7 06 53.2
7 07 48.4
7 08 52.4
108 48 20
108 49 00
108 49 20
108 50 10
108 50 40
108 51 10
108 51 20
108 51 20
108 51 20
108 51 00
108 49 50
108 48 40
d. m. S.
90 0940
90 1100
90 11 30
90 12 30
90 12 50
90 14 10
90 14 50
90 15 20
90 16 00
90 17 00
Altair ..............
107 33 00
107
107
34
34
107
107
107
10
30
50
00
34
Index error, -5'00". Barometer, 29.4 in. Thermometer,
66°.5.
CAMP 50 W-OCTOBER 5, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. R. S. WILLIAMSON, U. S. Top. Engineers.
40
6 43 15.2
6 44 33.2
6 45 26.0
6 46 11.2
6 46 52.4
6 47 42.0
6 48 28.0
6 49 03.6
6 50 08.2
6 50 58.8
6 51 58.8
6 53 09.6
6 54 00.4
6 55 04.4
6 55 44.8
107
107
SA
107
107
107
107 34 50
107 34 30
107
107 33 00
m.
Polaris........
in
89
28
30
11
h. 1. S.
7 05 45.6
42.4
59.2
ñ 09 01.2
ܨܢ ܨܢܨܢ ܕ ܐܢܙܢ
09.2
ñ 11 29.6
89 32 00
Index error, - 5'00". Barometer, 29.7 in. Thermometer,
500.5.
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
III. Observations on the routes of detached parties, in charge of Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U, .
Topographical Engineers.
-
-
-
---
-
--
-
-
-
CAMP 40 A—SEPTEMBER°7, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 42 A-SEPTEMBER 9, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
----
--
--
.
..-
----
Object observed.
Time of obsery'n Observed double ||
by watch.
altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n
by watch.
Observed double
altitudes.
h.
a Cygni .....i
a Cygni....
S.
10
h. m.
7 29
7 31.
7 33
7 34
35
36
S.
33.5
55.0
20.0
20.0
21.0
13.5
d. m. S.
138 33 00
139 22 10
139 50 00
140 11 30
140 33 30
140 50 50
m. S.
19 16.0
21 47.5
23 26.5
24 37.5
56.5
26 53.5
d. 112.
138 46
139 38
140 13
140
141 06
141 25
30
20
Arcturus.............
39 24.0
51 43 30
51 02 50
Arcturus.....
31 11.0
55 11
54 47
20
20
7
7 41 19.5
7 42 42.0
49.5
59.5
33.0
50
33 37.0
a
49
46
49
V
-
Polaris .....
u
Polaris .......
~
57 47.5
26.0
08.0
41.0
-
-
..
-- .
-
50
-
57.0
----
53.5
7 43 02.5
7 44 32.5
47 30.5
48 27.0
50 31.5
52 14.0
7 54 05.5
7 55 23.0
7 56 45.0
--
90
-
00 00 00 00 00 00 00
-
-
---
26.0
40.0
31.0
33.0
44.0
30 40
32 10
33 50
35 10
35 50
36 50
- -
-
-
89 52 10
89 54 00
89 55 50
8 09
.
-
10
90
-
Index error, I. Barometer, 28.0 in.
700.0.
Thermometer,
Index error, +1' 50". Barometer, 28.8 in. Thermome-
ter, 500.5.
CAMP 41 A-SEPTEMBER 8, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 44 A—SEPTEMBER 15, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers
--
-.-
---
-
Jupiter .....
Jupiter .............
-
-
d. m. S.
49 21 40
49 44
50 03 10
-
3 00 00 00 00
1. m. s.
8 35 29.5
8 37 25.0
8 39 01.0
8 40 37.5
56.0
8 42
08.0
-
00 QC OOOO
h. m. S.
8 33 16.0
8 34 27.0
05.0
8 37 16.5
38.0
8 39 47.5
d. m. S.
53 02 40
53 13 40
26 40
53 37 20
53 48 00
53 58 10
8
38
0
Arcturus......
33.0
30.5
46 50
Arcturus........
50
00
50
v
7 59
8 01
8 04
8 05
8 08
24.0
00 00 00 00
49 50
7 35 34.0
7 37 35.5
7 38 58.0
7 40 05.0
7 41 27.0
7 43 04.5
46 06
45
44 35
43 44
53.5
19.0
27 00
var
56 40
23 30
Polaris .....
Polaris.........
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
14 51.0
16 19.0
17 37.5
21 37.5
24 11.5
25 26.0
27 02.5
28 37.0
30 50.0
32 57.0
90 52 10
90 53 50
90 55 20
91 01 10
91 06 20
91 09 30
91 10 20
91 12 50
91 15 40
91 18 30
8
8
8
8
8
08
09
10
12
16
05.5
32.5
49.5
25.5
10.0
24.0
33.5
91 45 00
91 46 40
91 47 40
91 49 30
91 50 40
91 53 30
91 55 10
91 58 00
92 00 40
92 01 30
35.0
8
8
28 41.0
29 56.5
Index error, 0. Barometer, 27.1 in. Thermometer,
550.0.
Index error, O. Barometer, 29.6 in. Thermometer, 520.0.
20
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
-
-
-
CAMP 46 A, (same as 42 A)-SEPTEMBER 20, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top Engineers.
CAMP 48 A, (same as 40 A)-SEPT. 22, 1855-Continued.
Observer--Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.

-.-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-----
-
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by watch.
altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of obsery'n Observed double
by watch. altitudes.
S.
M. S.
49 44 50
50 02 30
Jupiter ...
Polaris .....
7
m.
25
27
S.
23.0
12.5
d. m.
89 43
89 46
ng 50
20
h. m. S.
7 33 18.5
7 34 54.0
7 36 34.0
7 37 43.0
7 38 59.0
7 40 08.0
10.5
89
48
50
32 30
17.0
34,8
57 00
11.0
89 50 30
89 51 30
89 53 50
89 54 20
89 55 10
89 56 10
89 57 00
Arcturus....
36 11.0
37 28.0
38 37.0
40 09.0
7
7
7
Naala
7 01 56.5
7 03 18.5
7 04 24.0
7 05 21.0
7 06 26.0
7 07 21.5
E
Thermo-
Index error, +1' 20". Barometer, 28.0 in.
meter, 400.
Polaris .....
CAMP 51 A-SEPTEMBER 26, 1855.
Observer--Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
7 13 42.0
15 23.5
7 16 51.0
7 18 25.0
7 19 33.5
7 20 55.0
7 21 41.0
7 24 31.5
7 25 58.0
7 27 10.0
90 18 50
90 20 10
90 21 00
90 22 00
90 24 00
90 24 40
90 25 50
90 28 10
90 28 50
90 29 40
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Index error, +2' 30". Barometer, 27.1 in. Thermome-
ter, 430.5.
11 m Pegasi.....
O
h. m. s.
8 20 37.5
8 23 00.0
8 24 32.0
8 26 12.0
8 28 11.0
8 29 50.5
d. m. S.
112 18 20
113 07 40
113 40 30
114 15 20
114 56
115 30
CAMP 47 A-SEPTEMBER 21, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
y Bootis.....
d.
m.
S.
h.
7
8
8
8
8
m. S.
37 22.5
05
07
08
09
56.0
26.0
13.0
17.5
Jupiter ......
64 33
64 01 10
63 45 20
63 23 30

42 40
10
10
Polaris .......
00
7 40 03.5
7 41 03.0
42 05.5
7 43 18.0
38
52
39
52
00 00 00
Polaris .....
7
7
11 45.5
13 21.5
14 23.5
16 54.0
54
19 38.0
21 13.5
22 56.0
24 22.5
51.0
21.5
89 51 30
89 53 20
89 55 20
89 56 30
89 58 20
89 59 30
90 01 30
90 02 30
90 03 00
90 04 40
7
7
21.0
43.0
56.0
30.5
05.0
40.5
54.0
08.0
43.0
39.0
45.0
02.0
18.0
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
90 01
90 02
90 04
90 06
90 06
90 06 50
90 07- 40
90 09 10
90 10 50
90 11 10
90 11 50
90 12 40
7
7
Index error, + 1' 20", Barometer, 25.5 in. Thermo-
meter, 510.5.
Index error, +1'00".
meter, 490.0.
Barometer, 28.5 in. Thermo-
CAMP 52 A-SEPTEMBER 27, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 48 A, (same as 40 A)—SEPTEMBER 22, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.

m
n Pegasi.....
h.
7
7
✓
7
Jupiter ....
m. S.
48 54.0
50 20.0
52 21.0
53 45.0
d. m. 8.
54 28 10
54 45 10
54 49 20
55 11 46
eco 00 00
8 33 16.5
04.5
8 36 13.0
8 37 39.5
8 39 14.5
8 41 0.001
d. m. S.
118 00 40
118 38 10
119 00 40
119 29 20
120 02 30
120 38 20
l
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
21
APPENDIX A-Continued.

CAMP 52 4-SEPTEMBER 27, 1855--Continued.
Observer---Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 54 A, (same as 41 A)-SEPT. 29, 1853-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engincers.

...
----
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-..
-
-
-
.
-
-
-
-
-
-
--------
-
-
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. I altitudes.
Object observed.
| Time of obiery'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
.
Polaris....
Polaris .....
h.
8
8
8
8
8
8
d. 21 S.
89 43 10
89 44 20
89 45 30
h.
8
8
8
8
m. S.
50 46.0
51 34.5
52 24.5
53 10.5
d.
90
90
30
90
m.
33
34
35
35
S.
40
3:)
21)
50
:
in. S.
08 29.5
10 11.0
11 20.0
12 11.5
13
07.5
14 42.5
21.0
17 47.5
18 43.0
19 44.5
.
....
..
.
.
- -
-
8
16
8
8
8
Index error, +1' 20". Barometer, 27.7 in. Thor., 410.5.
CAMP 55 A, (same as 42 A)-OCTOBER 2, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineer3.
89 52 00
Index error, + 1' 20". Barometer, 25.5 in. Thermome-
ter, 490.
Sun's lower limb......
CAMP 53 A-SEPTEMBER 28, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
h. mn. S.
9 43 44.5
9 44 23.5
9 45 02.0
9 45 41.5
9 46 18.0
9 46 56.5
9 47 33.5
9 48 12.5
9 48 52.5
9 49 30.0
9 57 08.5
9 50 47.0
9 51 25.0
il. A. S.
57 00 00
58 10 00
58 20 00
58 30 00
58 40 00
50 00
000)
10 00
20 00
30 00
n Pegasi ...
Color
8
8
8
in. S.
05 06.5
07 46.0
08 50.5
10 11.5
11.45.0
12 50.5
d. m.
110 02
110 36
110 57
111 26 30
111 59 10
21 50
60 00 00
112
Sun's lower limb.......
a Cor. Borealis .....
7
33 13.5
35 08.0
36 34.0
37 37.5
38 36.5
48.5
3 03 44.0
3 04 23.5
3 05 05.0
3 05 42.0
3 06 20.0
3 06 59.0
3 07
37.5
3 08 13.5
3 08 52.0
3 09 31.5
3 10 08.5
3 10 47.0
3 11 25.5
0000
59 50 00
59 40 00
59 30 00
59 20 00
59 10 00
59 00 00
58 50 00
58 40 00
58 30 00
58 20 00
58 10 00
58 00 00
Polaris......
7 42 58.5
44 40.5
7 46 20.0
7 47 10.0
n 48 04.0
ng 49 58.0
7 51 23.0
7 52 45.5
7 53 52.5
7 55 06.5
89 38
89 39
89 40 20
89 41 10
89 41 50
89 43 10
89 44 20
89 45 00
89 46 10
89 47 20
-
..--.-
..----
-
----
-
.-
-
. -
-
-
-
Index error, - 0' 30".
CAMP 57 A-OCTOBER 5, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
---
-
-
-
--
---
-
--
-
-- -
-
-
-.
.-
-.
...-
Index error, +1' 20". Barometer, 27.7 in. Thermome-
ter, 410.5.
Pegasi ......
CAMP 54. A, (same as 41 A)-SEPTEMBER 29, 1855.
Observer -Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
h.
7
7
8
8
8
8
mn. s.
56 51.0
58 54.0
00 43.5
02 16.0
03 39.5
05 28.0
Polaris .....
8
8
n Pegasi.....
h.
9
9
9
9
9
9
m. S.
02 10.0
03 52.0
05 08.5
09 05.5
11 06.0
12 27.0
d. m. S.
130 22 30
130 55 40
131
132
d. m. S.
116 24 50
117 06
117 44 20
118 14
118 42 30
119 21 10
91 10 20
91 11 00
91 12 00
91 12 30
91 12 50
91 15 50
91 17 20
91 18 40
91 1920
13 45.5
15 40.0
55.0
49.0
-
o
133
00 00 00 00 00 00 00
ܘܘܘܘܘܘ estnwa
23 57.5
NA
oorocroo
Polaris. ........
00 00
41 54.0
44 02.5
45 03.5
47 40.0
48 54.0
49 47.5
27 56.0
29 13.0
91 20 50
00 00 00 00 00
l
Index error, — 0' 30". Barometer, 27.3 in. Ther., 460.
INCA
-
22
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 58 A-OCTOBER 6, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 60 A-OCTOBER 8, 1855--Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double ||
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
d.
m.
S.
m
.
s.
n Pegasi .......
126
26 50
Polaris...............
h. m.
8 23
& 25
8 26
8 27
8 29
8 30
S.
55.5
35.5
52.5
58.0
14.0
45.5
126
127 22
127
128
128
h.
8
8
8
8
8
m. S.
11 31.0
12 28.0
13 15.0
14 12.0
15 30.0
Altair......
a Cor. Borealis. .
8
8
8
8
8
8
13 36.0
14 48.0
16 50.0
17 46.5
18 36.5
19 49.0
57 25 40
57 15
56 21 40
56 01 50
55 46 40
55 22 10
VY
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
7 05 12.5
7 06 51.5
7.07 41.5
ny 08 30.5
7 09 20.5
7 10 08.5
Polaris............
34 12.5
36 01.0
37 30.5
41 27.0
42 44.5
43 53.0
45 12.0
46 16.0
47 16.5
48 27.0
91 43
10
91 45 40
Index error, t050". Barometer, 28.9 in. Thermome-
ter, 430.
Index error, + 0'50". Barometer, 26.5 in. Thermome-
ter, 390
CAMP 59 A-OCTOBER 7, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 62 A-OCTOBER 12, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
ll n Pegasi.........
» Pegasi...........
§ 52
h. m. S.
8 51 09.5
53.5
8 54 16.5
8 56 26.0
41.0
8 59 24.5
9 81 06.0
d. m. S.
135 35 30
136 06 30
137 27 50
137 02 40
137 25 50
137 50 00
138 20 10
OOO
Polaris .....
Polaris........
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
10 17.5
11 43.5
12 45.0
13 55.0
14 50.0
18 51.0
20 01.0
21 17.0
22 09.0
91 28 20
91 2920
91 30 10
91 31 10
91 32 00
91 34 40
91 35 10
91 36 20
91 37 00
Index error, +1' 20". Barometer, 25.3 in. Thermome-
ter, 440.
Index error, +0'50". Barometer, 26.5 in. Thermome-
ter, 390.
CAMP 60 A-OCTOBER 8, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 64 A-OCTOBER 14, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.

n Pegasi.....
Polaris, ......
h.
8
8
8
8
8
m. S.
06 22.5
07 29.0
08 53.0
09 48.0
10 40.5
m. S.
29 40
91 28 10
91 30 10
91
91 32
91 33
91 34 30
11 50.5
13 34.0
15 56.5
16 40.5
7 17 33.5
7 18 49.5
7 21 03.5
7 21 51.5
7 23 01.5
7 24 50.5
106 31 50
106 35 00
106 35 00
106 35 20
106. 35 30
106 36 30
106 36 50
106 37 30
106 38 50
106 38 00
106 38 30
106 37 20
106 36 20
106 35 40
106 32 40
106 31 20
00 00 00 00 00
h. m. S.
8 06 31.0
8 07 36.5
8 09 10.0
8 10 09.0
23.5
8 12 45.0
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
16 43.5
18 43.5
20 12.5
15.5
14.0
07.5
35.5
51.0
51.0
31 05.0
91 57 20
91 58 40
91 5940
92 00 30
92 01 10
001wana
h. m. $.
7 53 05.5
7 54 44.0
7 56 06.5
7 57 23.0
7 58 55.0
19.0
d.
125
126
126
127
127
128
m. S.
48 00
19 50
46 10
10 20
27 30
02 10
30
30
91 31
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
23
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 64 A-OCTOBER 14, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 68 A-OCTOBER 24, 1855-Continued.
Observer—Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.

-
-
----------
.
...
.
.
.
Cor.
.
.
........
..
..............
bject observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double !
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. ' altitudes.
a Cor. Borealis....
49
36
10
Polaris ..
h. m. S.
8 02 53.0
8 04 41.0
X 05 44.0
8 06 41.0
8 07 59.0
8 09 28.0
20
-
--
-
h.
7
7
h
7
7
ī
7
7
7
7
m. S.
36 13.5
38 16.5
39 35.5
41 15.0
43 44.0
45 06.0
46 25.5
47 52.5
49 08.0
50 00.5
d. m. S.
91 03 20
91 15 00
91 06 20
91 07
91 08 10
91 0950
91 11 10
91 12 10
91 13 10)
91 13 50
Polaris ........
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
17 13.0
18 10.5
19 33.5
24 24.0
25 49.5
27 16.0
28 04.5
23 55.5
30 04.0
31 43.5
Index error,- 6'00". Barometer, 30.0 in. Thermome-
ter, 450.
CAMP 69 A-OCTOBER 25, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
-
Index error, -050". Barometer, 29.5 in. Thermome-
ter, 41°.5.
CAMP 64 A-OCTOBER 16, 1855
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
S.
S.
a Lyræ........
...
d. m
105 25
104 50
TT
-...
104
45.0
24.0
28.0
31.0
45.5
51.5
103 23
102
102 33 00
Sun's lower limb.....
d.
511
9 48 51.5
50
11. s.
00 00
10 00
20 00
30 00
40 00
50 00
Polaris ..
OC OOOO OOO OCC OC OOOOOC
10
90
oooooeroererererser
00
58.0
37 13.0
38 32.0
39 56.5
41 06.5
42 53.0
43 48.0
44 42.0
45 50.0
46 55.0
90 49
52
53
53
90 54
90 54
90 55
90 56
90 56
90 57
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
-
10
-
-
9 54 22.0
9 55 05.0
9 55 47.0
30.0
20
00
30
10
50. 00
0 0
-------...--...-- -----...-------...---.--.-.......---
---
----
ooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo
Sun's lower limb.....
Index error, -5' 20". Barometer, 29.9 in. Thermome-
ter, 500.5.
00
00
2 55 52.0
2 56 35.0
18.0
00.0
58 44.0
59 24.0
06.0
49.0
3 01 30.0
3 02 11.5
3 02 52.5
3 03
33.0
CAMP 70 A-OCTOBER 26, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
51 00
51 40
51 30
51 20
51 10 00
51 00
50 50 00
50 40
00
50 30 00
50 20 00
50 10 00
50 00 00
0
n Pegasi..
h. 272. S.
6 50 05.0
6 52 31.0
6 53 49.5
6 54 40.0
6 55 23.5
6 56 27.0
d. m. S,
120 54 50
121 45 20
122 11 00
122 30 00
122 43 30
123 05 30
Index error, -050".
CAMP 68 A-OCTOBER 24, 1855.
Observer—Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
a Cor. Borealis...
701
59 37.0
14.0
702 22.5
03
41.0
55 17 20
54 40 30
54 18 20
53 51 10
5:3 19 50
52 50 40
7
06
33.0
a Cor. Borealis ........
Polaris.
h. m. S.
7 06 08.0
7 08 03.0
7 09 26.5
10 46.5
7 11 47.0
7 12 49.5
d. m. s.
56 24 10
55 43 40
55 14 50
54 50
54 26 10
54 03 40
7 10 53.5
7 12 18.0
7 13 02.5
7 13 48.5
7 14 38.0
89 1940
89 20 40
89 21
į
1
89
22 20
24
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 70 A-OCTOBER 26, 1855-Continued.
Observer—Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 71 A-OCTOBER 27, 1855—Continued.
Observer---Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
-
-
-
-
-
-
.
-
- -
.
-
-
-
-
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
d.
m.
Polaris .............
Jupiter....
h. m. S
7 15 20.0
7 16 19.0
ñ 17 03.5
7 18 01.5
7 1906.5
89 22
89 23
89 24
h. m. S.
8 01 27.5
8 02 06.0
8 (3 42.5
8 04 31.0
8 05 14.0
8 08 14.0
8 0906.5
8 10 03.0
d. m. S.
62 30. 10
62 30 00
62 29 50
62 29 40
62 29 30
62 28 40
62 28 20
62 27 10
Jupiter......
Index error, + 0'50". Barometer, 29.3 in. Therniome-
ter, 450.5.
7 57 23.0
7 58 03.5
7 58 51.0
7 59 44.5
8 00 44.0
8 01 39.5
8 02 44.0
8 03 46.5
8 04 33.5
8 05 34.0
8 07 51.5
8 09 06.0
8 10 02.0
8 10 52.0
8 11 46.0
8 12 42.0
8 13 26.0
8 14 19.5
61 52
61 52
61 52
61 53
61 54
61 55
61 55 20
61 55
61 55 00
61 54 50
61 54
61 54
20
21
CAMP 73 A-OCTOBER 30, 1855.
Observer -Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
61
40
-
-
40
-
61 20
61
61 00
61 51 10
n Pegasi......
-
h.
6
6
6
6
6
6
m. S.
40 28.0
41 36.0
42 43.5
43 59.0
45 05.5
46 05.5
d. mn. S.
123 15 30
123 39 30
124 02 00
124 28 00
124 51 10
125 11 00
Index error, +0'50". Barometer, 29.6 in. Thermometer,
380.5.
-
-
-
a Lyræ.....
124 14 20
123 38 50
-
-
-
--
--
CAMP 71 A-OCTOBER 27, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
7
7
7
7
ñ
7
07 35.5
09 14.0
10 25.5
11 15.5
11 58.5
13 09.5
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
122
12 40
-
-
-
--
-
n Pegasi......
--
h.
7
7
11. S.
24 38.5
26 01.5
Polaris......
00
-
--
d. mn. S.
133 50 50
134 17 20
134 41 50
135 04 10
135 22
135 41
~
er ero'cerer
7
30
6 50 42.0
6 52 16.0
6 53 27.5
6 54 14.0
6 55 42.0
6 56 24.5
6 58
43.5
700 05.5
25.5
7 02 24.0
03 14.0
a Lyræ ......
01
34 03.5
35 05.0
7 36 07.5
7 37 05.0
738 01.0
38 49.0
118
118 20
117 58
11h
117 16 20
116
89 09 30
89 10 10
89 10 50
v
Polaris. ....
Index error, +1' 20''. Barometer, 29.7 in. Thermome-
ter, 450
~
-
-
to 41 10.0
42 21.5
7 43 00.5
43 50.0
7 44 34.0
7 45 08.0
7 45 42.5
7 46 20.5
7 47 12.5
7 48 03.5
CAMP 74 A-OCTOBER 31, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
89 12
89
-

Jupiter ......
62
27
10
a Lyre.....
d. m. S.
102 52 00
102
101 31 30
754 06.0
7 54 56.5
7 55 46.5
in 56 30.5
7 57 15.5
7 58 06.0
58 58.5
7 59 42.5
8 00 26.5
OOO 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
h. m. S.
8 02 02.0
8 04 29.0
8 05
48.0
8 06 31.5
42.0
8 08 28.5
8 10
55.0
100 32 30
99 58 00
08.0
62
56.0
99
19 30
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
25
APPENDIX A-Continued.
CAMP 74 A-OCTOBER 31, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 76 A-NOVEMBER 2, 1855-Continued.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.

Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. I altitudes.
Polaris., .....
Jupiter.....
65
m. s.
10 20
10 30
h. m. S.
8 17 59.0
8 19 54.5
8 20 39.5
8 21 52.0
8 22 58.0
8 24 02.5
8 26. 13.0
8 27 27.0
8 28 17.0
8 29 35.0
h. m.
7 38
7 39
7 40
7 41
7 42
7 44
7 45
S.
44.5
49.0
38.0
30.0
24.5
15.5
10 50
10 30
09 30
65 09 00
Index error, + 1' 20".
meter, 440.
Barometer, 28.8 in. Thermo-
Jupiter......
7 38 34.5
39 33.0
7 40 10.5
7 41 23.5
7 42 14.0
7 43 02.0
7 43 59.0
7 44 46.0
7 45 31.5
7 46 18.5
48 08.5
49 01.0
49 54.0
50 55.5
15.0
54.0
50.0
45.0
88 02 00
88 02 30
88 03 00
88 03 30
88 04 10
88 04 50
88 05 30
88 06 10
64 13 50
64 14 10
64 14 40
64 15 20
64 16 20
64 16 30
64 17 20
64 17 30
18 10
64 18 10
CAMP 77 A—NOVEMBER 4, 1855.
Observer--Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
d.
m.
n Pegasi ......
64 16
64 15
h.
6
6
6
6
6
6
m. S.
44 15.0
45 27.5
46 46.5
48 08.5
49
37.0
51 04.5
132 33 00
132 59
133 24
133
64 13 50
134
134
49 50
a Lyre ........
Index error, +1' 20".
meter, 410.
Barometer, 29.4 in.
Thermo-
6
6
6
6
27 19.5
28 09.5
58.0
51.0
30 37.0,
31 31.0
28
29
131
130 4200
130 22 50
130 03 30
129 46 40
129 27 10
6
6
Polaris
CAMP 76 A-NOVEMBER 2, 1855.
Observer--Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
6 57 36.0
6 59 02.0
6 59 44.5
700 30.5
7 01 16.0
7 02 01.0
7 02 46.0
7 03 26.5
7 04 03.5
7 04 53.0
86
86
24 50
25
m.
S.
n Pegasi....
h. m. S.
7 05 46.5
7 07 27.5
7 08 59.0
7 10 09.5
7 11 43.5
7 13 05.0
d.
136
136
137
137
138
139
Jupiter ......
7
7
7
7
21 39.5
22 44.5
23 32.5
24 34.5
46
30
a Lyrå.. ....
7
7
in
7
15 02.5
16 01.0
16 58.0
17
46.0
18 45.0
20 02.0
7
26 12.0
27 23.5
28 19.0
29 07.5
29 57.5
42.0
31 33.0
32 28.5
33 28.5
34 22.5
35 46.5
93 01 20
92 40 10
92 21 20
92 03 50
91 42
91 14 20
86 43 10
86 43 40
86 44 20
86 45 00
86 45 40
86 46 00
86 47 20
86 48 40
Polaris ......
7
7
7
in
65 25 30
65 25 20
65 25 00
7
7
65 23 30
24 01.0
25 04.0
26 04.5
26 53.0
27 54.0
28 43.0
29 34.5
31 17.0
7
7
Index error, +1' 20". Barometer, 28.7 in. Thermome-
ter, 430.5.
7
l
4 AA
26
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX A-Continued.

|
--
-
CAMP 81 A-NOVEMBER 10, 1855.
Observer_Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
CAMP 85 A-NOVEMBER 14, 1855.
Observer-Lieut. H. L. ABBOT, U. S. Top. Engineers.
-
-
-
-
-
Object observed.
Time of observ'n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
Object observed.
Time of observ’n Observed double
by chronometer. altitudes.
h.
7
& Lyre ...........
m.
17
S.
a Lyræ .....
S.
26.0
19.5
00.0
49.5
d. m.
103 11
102 51
102 37
102 18
101 51
101 27
h. m. S.
7 51 38.5
7 52 52.0
7 53 45.5
7 54 34.0
7 55
42.5
7 56 34.5
d. m., s.
83 50 00
83 23 50
83 04 20
82 47 30
82 22 40
82 04 30
04.0
10.5
Polaris.......
22.5
Polaris .....
83 48
83 48
20
30
14.5
726
34.5
15.5
85 14
85 15
85 15
85 16
85 16
20
30
7 28
thin 29
05.5
00.0
20
8 18 17.5
8 19 21.5
8 20 24.0
8 21 08.0
8 21 52.0
8 22 37.0
8 23 52.0
8 24 41.5
8 25 32.5
8 27 37.0
49 40
83 50 00
83 50 20
83 50 30
83 50 50
83 51 10
Index error, +1' 20". Barometer, 27.0 in. Thermome-
ter, 35º.
Index error, + 0' 30". Barometer, 28.9 in. Thermome-
ter, 430.
APPENDIX B
COMPARISON OF CHRONOMETERS.

Date.
Date
No. of
camp
No. of
Locality.
Difference.
No. of Reading of chron's,
chronom. mean solar time.
Chronom’r slow of
mean solar time.
h.
m.
8.
1
1855.
July 15
h. m. S.
0 03 23. 20
|
7 | Feather river ------
0
01 38.0
0
01 33.0
1980
1888
1980
1155
1980
213
1980
1888
001 68.5
July 19
11
Antelope creek-..
0 01 19 67
00L 58.5
1980
001 57.0
0 02 21.5
July
23
------
Fort Reading -----
O 01 13.07
1155
1980
213
1980
1888
1980
1155
1980
0
02
19.0
O 02 19.0
213
h. m. $. I
5 56 30.0
5 58 08.
0
5 57 50.0.
5 59 23. 0 |
5 59 10.0
6 01 08.5
5 56 10.0
5 58 08.5
5 57 10.0
5 59 07.0
5 58 00.0
00 21.5
6 13 10.0
6 15 29.0
6 14 25 0
6 16 44.0
6 16 00.0
6 18 47.0
5 55 40.0
5 58 30.5
5 56 50.0
5 59 40.0
57 45.0
6 01 09.5
6 04 00.0
6 06 56.0
6 04 30.0
6 07 23.0
6 05 00.0
6 08 28.0
6 02 35.0
6 05 44.0
6 03 20.0
6 06 23.0
6 04 00.0
6 07 34.0
0 02 47.0
July
29 | 13 | Asbury's rancho.....
0
03
20.92
0 02 50.5
1980
1888
1980
1155
1980
os er or of or
0
02 50.0
213
0
03
24.5
July
30
14
McCumber's flat---
0
02
56.0
o
-
.
a
a
.
.
.
.
0 02 53.0
0
03 28. O
1980
1888
1980
1155
1980
213
1980
1888
1980
1155
1980
213
August 1
16
Canoe creek . ......
0
04
37.90
0
03 09.0
0
03 03.0
VY
00334 0
NOTE.--Although the chronometers were carefully compared on every day during the survey, it has been considered
unnecessary to transmit any results not used for the determination of longitude. .
APPENDIX C.
Τ ΤΟΠ
LIST OF CAMPS, WITH DISTANCES, ALTITUDES, LATITUDES AND
LONGITUDES WHEN ASTRONOMICALLY DETERMINED, ETC.
I. Route of the main party from Benicia to the point where the command separated near the
Three Sisters, Oregon Territory.

Camp.
Locality.
above
Air-line distance
from preceding
mean tide at
camp.
Altitude
Benicia.
(Latitude.
Longitude.
Remarks.
o
,
o
,
-
-
a
10.6
27.7
From camp 1 to camp 13, in-
clusive, the route lay through
a fertile and settled region,
where supplies of all kinds
could be easily obtained.
+
P
VIWW
------
----
O
N
39 11 37.3
121 34 44. 1
209 L
©
oor
9
22. O
acco
19. 2
o
V N
40 10 31.8
122 07 20.9
o
8.
4
40 28 57.21 122 10 50.0
o
Feet.
Near Benicia.....
101
Near Cordelia.---
10.5 69
Near Vacaville.--.-...
304
Cache creek
295
Near Nicholas ...
15. 6 289
Yuba river, opposite Marys- | 16.4 281
ville.
Feather river ----
5. 5 252
Near Hamilton..
260
Chico creek...
308
Deer creek
363
Antelope creek..
420
Liver creek......
Tort Reading ----
518
Asbury's rancho.
2985
McCumber's flat.
4187
Lost creek..
5337
Canoe creek .....
4271
Near Canoe creek ---- .... 4.8
Junction of large branch 8.8 3271
with Canoe creek.
Pit river
2784
Near mouth of Fall river ...
7.4
3304
Lower end of upper cañon 10.0 3346
of Pit river.
Upper end of upper cañon of | . 6.7 4103
Pit river.
Leave Pit river.....
4212
On small creek
10.4 / 4876
o
Wood, water, & grass, abundaut.
40 31 43. 8
40 34 37.3
oi oi
121 39 27.0
121 25 43. 7
15
Do.
Do.
3860
40 45 13,9 | 121 20 13. 2
40 53 54.8
do.
do.
do.
18
19
20
Do.
41 00 20.8
40 57 00.3
do.
Water and wood abundant;
grass scarce.
Wood, water, & grass, abundant.
41 01 46.2
Do.
24
....
41 17 51.4
41 27 06.7 1.
do.
do.
Do.
LIST OF CAMPS, WITH DISTANCES, ETC.
29
APPENDIX C—Continued.

Camp.
Locality.
tide at
Air-line distance
from preceding
Altitude above
camp.
mean
Benicia.
Latitude."
Longitude.
Remarks.
25 | Wright lake .....
Feet.
4470
25.5
41 48 54. 5
.
--
26
21.4
4014
Lost river, near Natural
Bridge.
Leave Lost river ....
Water and grass plentiful; wood
very scarce.
Good supply of water; no wood,
and very little grass.
Good supply of wood, water,
and grass.
27 A
13. 0
4036
42 07 56.5
12.6
Do.
Do.
Upper Klamath lake.-.-
Upper Klamath lake
Klamath river ...-.
Klamath river .....
Klamath marsh ----
41801 42 17 10.2
4131
4196 42 31 31.4
4437 42 45 27.1
9.8
Do.
32
15.0
4487
Do. · do.
Wood and water abundant;
grass scarce.
Plentiful supply of wood, water,
and grass.
33 Klamath marsh ----
8.8
4512
1.0.1
Do.
do.
Klamath marsh ....
35 | Water hole ........
4526
4864
17. 6
Abundance of wood; no grass,
and very little water.
Abundance of wood, water, and
36 | Des Chutes river ...
......
18. 2
4411
43 27 45.5
-...
37 | Des Chutes river ....
38 A Des Chutes river ...
Rafted Des Chutes river
On small branch
Near forks of Indian trail...
4165
4129
4038
3784
4343
43 39 08.4
43 40 34. 1
43 52 36.8
14.0
44 14 59. 9
grass.
Do.
do.
19.4
do.
30
LIST OF CAMPS, WITH DISTANCES, ETC.
APPENDIX C-Continued.
!II. Routes of detached parties in charge of Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U.S. Top. Engineers.

Camp.
Locality.
above
Air-line distance
from preceding
mean tide at
camp.
Altitude
Benicia.
Latitude.
Remarks.
Oil
Feet.
4014
Left main party at this camp.
14. 6
Lost river, near Natural Bridge
Fork of Yreka and Oregon trail....
Klamath river, near Oregon trail .-
On Lower Klamath lake....------
Outlet of Upper Klamath lake ----|
n....
3733
41 51 27.5
42 07 48.7
21 5
8. 6
.
-
4165
43 39 08.4
4247
5. 1
11.0
Left main party at this camp.
Grass scarce ; wood and water abundant.
Excellent wood, water, and grass.
4311
Des Chutes river -
Main branch of Des Chutes river.--
North fork of main branch of Des
Chutes river.
Meadow --------------
Near - Three Sisters"..
Why-chus creek
On branch of Des Chutes river---
7.0
18.5
4673
6054
A
*------
Wood, water, and grass abundant.
Grass scarce ; good wood and water.
Excellent wood, water, and grass. ·
Do.
do.
12.7
15.7
3784
44 14 59.9
i
4343
4711
2949
Sec.
Started from this camp.
Wood and water abundant; grass scarce.
No grass ; water bad ; in forest.
Good wood, water, and grass.
es
5493
----....
44 13 46.6
44 14 59.9
44 03 48.8
4343
6102
13.3
13. 3
13.0
10. 1
15.0
4627
5237
4882
Do.
do.
Grass poor ; water scarce ; wood plentiful.
Good grass and wood; water bad.
Wood, water, and grass abundant.
Grass scarce ; wood and water plentiful.
Abundance of wood, water, and grass.
Wood and water abundant; grass scarce.
12.0
15.1
3125
44 17 52.8
14.8
5422
Near forks of Indian trail. --
K Mountain lakes.
Water hole -------------
Whortleberry camp--------
Second time at same camp.
Near 6 Three Sisters''.
0 | Small branch.
Small meadow --
Small creek.....
Small lake..
Why-chus creek-------
Leave Why-chus creek
Same as camp G.--...
Des Chutes river --------
Near Des Chutes river....
Headwaters of Des Chutes river.
Middle fork.....
|-----.do...-----
......do ..-------
48 W First settlement..
Spore's ferry of McKenzie's fork
50 W Calapooya creek
51 w North fork of Santiam river...
52 W Near Butte creek
Ridge above Oregon City ---
54 W Opposite Fort Vancouver ---
42
17.0
14.1
11.1
4673
4412
4339
4592
A3
44.
18.1
ot
45
rkos
2355
1154
46
19.0
20.0
18.1
1.9
20.3
43 41 54.4 Grass poor ; wood and water abundant.
Excellent wood, water, and grass.
43 27 22.1
Do.
do.
Do
43 44 29.1 Do.
Grass very scarce ; wood & water abundant.
43 55 13.7 Remainder of the route traversed a set-
44 07 09.01 tled country, where supplies of all
44 23 22.0 kinds could be easily obtained. .
44 44 54.0
671
738
49 V
512
440
448
53
W
105
LIST OF CAMPS, WITH DISTANCES, ETC.
31
APPENDIX C-Continued.
III. Routes of detached parties in charge of Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top. Engineers.
Camp.
Locality.
above
Air-line distance
from preceding
mean tide at
camp.
Altitude
Benicia.
Latitude.
Longitude.
Remarks.
Feet.
4343
O II
44 14 59.9
40
Near forks of Indian trail ...
.....
----------
40 A
Mpto-ly-as river.....
27.0
1907
44 36 22.7
Know
7.5
41 A | Psuc-see-que creek...
42 A | Nee-nee springs .....
1964
2829
44 41 27.7.
45 01 09.2
Abundance of wood, water, and
grass.
Good water and wood; grass
scarce.
Do.
do.
Abundant supply of wood, water,
and grass.
Wood and water plentiful ; grass
rather scarce.
23. 0
43 A
Tysch creek........
16.9
1153
45 16 17.7
23.7
.
.
1153
44 A | Fort Dalles .
45 A Same as 43 A .....
46 A Same as 42 A -----
47 A Chit-tike creek..
23.7
16.9
17.5 1
2829
45 35 19.5
45 16 17.7
45 01 09.2
44 45 52.8
1479
Wood and water abundant; grass
coarse and scarce.
44 36 22.7
44 17 52.8
48 A | Same as 40 A ...-.
49 A Same as Camp S.-...
50 A Que-y-ee brook.----
51 A Mount meadow.----
13.4
21.5
8.0
12. 6
1907
3125
3270
4508
44 34 34. 1
Excellent wood, water, and grass.
Wood and grass abundant; water
by digging.
Wood, water, and grass abundant.
Wood and water abundant; grass
very scarce.
1.0 1
52 A
53 A
Near Mount Jefferson -
Castle rock
2673
2407
44 34 47.7
44 40 02.7
7.51
11.5
54 A Same as 41 A .---
55 A Same as 47 A ...-.
56 A Same as 42 A ...-.
57 A | Wit-la-wit springs --
5.7
17.6
1964
1479
2829
2601
44 41 27.7
44 45 52.8
45 01 09.2
45 03 51.1
1
10.6
58 A
Cranberry meadow..
9.5
3145
45 09 10.8
59 A | Wat-tum-pa lake...
3604
45 11 37.9
....
60 A
4433
45 11 00.3
Ty-ty-pa lake....
61 A | On ridge -------
|
4297
Wood abundant; water and grass
scarce.
Wood and water abundant; grass
plentiful, but coarse.
Grass coarse ; wood and water
plentiful.
Excellent wood, water, and grass.
Fine wood; no grass, and very
little water.
Grass scarce ; water abundant ;
in forest.
In forest ; no water or grass.
Supplies of all kinds abundant.
62 A
Whortleberry camp.
end
4334
45 14 41.6
63 A
64 A
Among logs ------
Currin's rancho.----
13. 4
8.4 |
1574
532
45 18 41. 3
T...-
32
LIST OF CAMPS, WITH DISTANCES, ETC.
APPENDIX C-Continued.

Camp.
Locality.
Air-line distance
from preceding
| Altitude above
mean tide at
camp.
Benicia.
Latitude.
Longitude.
Remarks.
Leet.
65 A
Oregon City ----
13. 01
149
The remainder of the route tra-
versed fertile and settled val-
leys.
66 A
67 A
Pudding river...
Salem City .....
15.9
20.0
170
382 |
44 56 51.9
122 53 43
Latitude and longitude of Salem
from observations made under
the direction of the surveyor
general of the Territory.
192
251
15.0
29.5
23. 3
19.0
44 46 13.8
44 20 41.3
44 02 44. 1
43 46 08.8
536
821
17.0
19.2
25.5
530
308
516
1151
1187
43 17 41.3
42 55 36.9
n
15.
13.
68 A Lackimute river...
69 A Long Tom creek.........
70 A Eugene City ----
71 A Near head of coast, fork of
Willamette.
72 A Near Long's hills..
73 A
Winchester.
74 A Cañonville -----
75 A | Six Bit House, Wolf creek.
76 A Harris' rancho ------
77 A | Fort Lane......
78 A / Near head of Stewart creek.
79 A Dewitt's ferry, Klamath
river.
80 A | Yreka .......
81 A Fort Jones.....-
82 A
Head of Scott's valley
In Trinity valley ------
Clear creek .....
85 A Shasta --------
Fort Reading ...
42 31 12,6
42 25 56.0
20.
1202
25.
2195
2193
18.0
41 35 42.4
2586
2887
3457
2513
1608
985
40 36 30.7
40 28 57.2
518
122 10 50
APPENDIX D.
INT,
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS, WITH DATA
FOR CONSTRUCTING PROFILES OF THE TRAVELLED ROUTES.
I. Route of the main party from Benicia to the point where the command separated, near the
Three Sisters, Oregon Territory.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detaclied thermometer.
Remarks.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Feet. Milcs. Miles,
..........do
29.944
For explanation of the
column headed “Cor-
rected reading of ba-
rometer," see Chapter
VI of the General Re-
port.
....
29.972
81.0
29.937
81.0
85.0
29.940
-
--
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
July Camp 1, near Benicia ....... 6 a. m.... 1060 29,891 69.0 68.0 29.937
.........do.............
1060 29.991 78.0 79.0 29.932
....do ..........
9 a. m..... 1061 29.954 79.0 79.0 29.939
....do ..........
9 a. in... 1068 29.968 79.0 79.0
do........... 9 a. m... 1089 29.956 78.0 79.0 29.958
do ..........
12 m...... 1060
85.0 81.0 29.933
......do......
12 m..... 1061 29.976 85.0
.....do......
12 m..... 1068 29.982 85.0 29.931
12 m...... 1089 29.960
81.0 29.936
.........
3 p. m.
1060 29.941 83.0 82.0 29.931
......... 3 p. m..... 1061 29.944 88.0 82.0 29.93
.do ......... 3 p. m..... | 1068 | 29.951 88.0 82.0 | 29.932
3p.m..... 1089 29.930 86.0 82.0 | 29.
........do.......
6 p. m..... 1060 | 29 938 | 86.0 72.0 29.930
do........... 6 p. m..... 1061 29.942 86.0 72.0 29.934
do.......... 6 p. m..... 1068 | 29.944 86.0 72.0 | 29.925
do .........
6 p. m..... | 1089 | 29.926 86.0 72.0 29.93:
.do.........
9 p. m..... 1060 29.958 | 62.0 59.0 29.937
.do .........
9 p. m ..... 1061 29.951 | 62.0 59.0 29 933
do......... 9 p. m..... 1068 29.984 62.0 | 59.0 | 29.954
.......do......
9 p. m..... 1089 29.960 62.0 59.0 29.954
.do ........ .. 6 a. m..... 1060 30.026 | 59.0 58.0 29.915
do.........
6 a. m.... 1061 30.021
58.0
29.913
.do.........
6 a. m....
1068
30.032
29.912
.do.........
6 a. m..... 1089 30.014 59.0 58.0 29.918
.do.........
9 a. m.... 1060 30.074 67.5 65.5 29.940
.do ........
9 a. m 1061 30.072 69.0 65.5 29.933
.........do................
9 a. m
1068 30.081
65.5 29.936
.... .... do ..........
9a, m... 1089 30.0581 68.0 65.5 29.937 29.934
Camp 2, near Cordelia... .. 6 p. m... 1060 30.025 84.0 | 79.0 29.988
1. ........do................ 9 p. m..... 1060 29.996 68.0 66.0 29.985
.......... do ................
1060 29.990 64.0 61.0 29.974 29.982
Camp 3, near Vacaville......
1060 29.850 97.0 96.0 29.749
.........do.................
29.810
29.714
..........do................ 6 a. m.... 1060
67.0 29.745 29.746
Camp 4, Cache creek. .......
9 p. m.....
1060 29.847 92.0 890 29.746
.do............
m.... 1060 29.772 54.0 | 52.0 29.740 29.743
13 Camp 5, near Nicholas ...... p.m.....! 1060 29.673 70.0 68.0 | 29.748
58.0
68.0
101
6
a,
m
..
69
12.2
15.0
m.....
ܗ̇
1060
75.0
68.0
69.0
304
11.2
26.2
295
ܗ
27.2
53.4
5 AA
34
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Remarks.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
289 | 23.0 76.4
281
17.6
94.0
600
252
5.8
99.8
90.0
78.0
29.780
65
260
15,4 (115.2
308
22.3 137.5
86.0
83.0
79.0
66.0
363
19.7 157.2
81.0
75.0
........
1
29.611
420
19.1 176.3
29.647
70.0
73.
106
74.0
1068
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
July 14 | Camp 5, near Nicholas ....... 6 a. m..... 1060 29.775 57.0 56.0 | 29.746 29.747
14 Camp 6, Yuba river, opposite
Marysville................. 6 p. m..... 1060 29.706 86.0 | 81.0 29.766
14 .......... do .......... 9 p. m..... 1060 29.698 | 73.0 70.0 29.753
.........do..........
6 a. m.....
1060
29.750 59.0 57.01 29.752 29.757
Camp 7, Feather river.... .. 3 p. m ..... 1060 29.800 85.0 | 83.0 29.781
..........do..........
6 p. m..... 1060 29.769 82.0 80.0 29.784
..........do ............
9 p. m... 1060 29.779 70.0 68.0 29.796
..........do............... 6 a, mn.... 1060
29.838
59.0 29.798
Camp 8, near Hamilton... 6 p. m..... 1060 29.800 87.0 29.788
......... do .............. 9 p. m.... 1060 29.802
76.0
6 a. m..... 1060 29.877 62.0 29.780 29.783
Camp 9, Chico creek... 6 p. m ..... 1060 29.770
92.0
89.0 29.736
.......... do .............. 9 p. m ..... 1060 | 29.739 / 75,0 171.0 29.724
..........do ..........
6 a. m..... 1060 29.790 66.0 64.0 | 29.733 29.731 1
Camp 10, Deer creek....... 6 p. m..... 1060 29.730
29.676
..........do................ 9 p. m.... 1060 29.731 82.0 29.668
..........do................ 6 a. m.... 1060 29.776 64.0 29.677 | 29.674
Camp 11, Antelope creek....
1060 29.682 89.0 87.0 29.617
..........do................
9 p. m... 1060 29.689
29.616
..........do ........... 6 aim 1060 29.746 67.0 66.0
29.615
Fort Reading
6 a. m.. 1060
71,0
........do ............. 6 a. m... 1061 29.639 71.0
........ do ............. 6 a. m. .... 1068 29.655 71.0 70.0
..do .............
6 a. m... 1089 29.626 71.0
do..........
7 a. m.
29.647 74.0
do............
7 a. m.
29.644
7 a. m..
29.659 74.0
do............. 7 a. m. .. 1089 29.631 74.0
do............
8 a. m..
1060 29.644 76.0 74.0
do...........
8 a. m...
29.643 76.0 74.0
.do.........
8 a. m. .... 1068
1089 76.0 74.0
.....do....
9 a. m. .... 29.632 80.0
9 a. m. .... 29.636 80.0
9 a. m. ...
9 a. m. .... 1089
.......
10 a. m. ... 1060 86.0
do.............
. 10 a. m.... 1061 29.623 86.0
...1...
do.............
10 a. m..
29.629 86.0
do.............
10 a. m
1089 29.611 86.0 84.0
Il a. m
1060
29.613 91.0
.....do.......
11 a. m
29.617 91.0
11 a. m 1068 29.619 91.0
11 a. m..
29.606 91.0
do............
12 m.....
29.609 93.0
do............. 12 m....... 1061 29.610 93.0 94.0
do........... 12 m. ...... 1068 29.612 93.0 94.0
.....do.....
12 m... 1089 29.594
.....do...............
1060 29.596 96.0 100.0
1061 96.0 100.0
do....
1068
96.0 100.0
.....do.......
29,576 96.0 100.0
1060 29.577 98.0
1061 29.575 98.0
1088 29.582 98.0 97.0
.do.... ........
73.0
1061
76.0
74.0
8 a. m.
1066
1061
............
1068
29.640
80.0
29.615
do
............
29.620
106
do..........
do................
1089
1060
93.0
in....
1080
100 101
do..........
..
p. m
.
1089
29.572 98.0 97.0
.......do.........
m..... 1060 | 29.567 | 99.0 | 97.01
sp. m...
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
35
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Remarks.
Detached thermometer.
Attached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of correctedr ead-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Inches.
Feet.
1855.
July
Miles
Fort Reading....
....do...............
...do........
..do ..........
do..........
do..........
do..........
m
.
1089
do.......
:
o os oss er en er en AAAA es es e
95.0
m.....
.....do...............
do..........
.........
.....do...............
do..........
.do ..........
w
:
do ..........
.........
...do.....
.............
1068
0
0
089
:
1060
11
.
0
1
:
:
osos o co coco OC 0000v
1068
c
:
do..........
.....do.....
do..........
do..........
....do......
do ...............
do .........
do.........
do ..........
do ..........
....do....
do..........
do ..........
do.........
:
Inches.
Inches.
3 p. m..... 1061 29,566 99.0 97.0
3 p. m..... 1068 29.574 99.0 97.0
3 p. m
1089 29.556 99.0 97.0
4 p. m..... 1060 29.560 98.5 96.0
1061 29.560 98.5 96.0
1068
98.5 96.0
m ...
29.546 98.5 96.0
1060 29.551 98.0 95.0
5 p. m.....
1061 29.551 98.0 95.0
p. m..... 1068 29.556 98.0
1089 29.536 98.0 95.0
6 p. m.....
1060 29.544 96.0 93.0
6 p. m..... 1061
96.0 93.0
6 p. m..... 1068 29.550 | 96.0 93.0
6 p. m..... 1089 29.530 | 96.0 | 93.0
7 p. m..... 1060 29.547 93.0 88.0
I p. m .
1061 29.552 93.0 88.0
7 p. m .....
29.558 93.0 88.0
7 p. m..... 1089 29.532 93.0 88.0
8 p. m..... 1060 | 29.547 90.0 85.0
p. m,....
29.558 90.0 85.0
8 p. in..... 1068 29.562 90.0 85.0
8 p. m
29.536 90.0 85.0
29.564 88.0 83.0
9 p. m
29.568 88.0 83.0
9 p. m...
29.578 88.0 83.0
9 p. m...
1089 29.552 88.0 83.0
6 a. m.
29.642 72.5 69.5
6 a. m.. 1061 29.642 72.5 69.5
6 a. m..... 1068 29.651 72.5 69.5
6 a. m... 1089 29.631 72.5 69.5
7 a. in....
1060 29.655 73.0
7 a. m. .... 1061 29.654 73,0
7 a. m... 1068 29.662 73.0 71.0
7 a. m. .... 1089 29.637 73,0 71.0
1060 29.662 76.0 74.0
8 a. m
29.658 76.0 74.0
8 a. m. 1068 29.668 76.0 74.0
76.0 74.0
9 a. m.. 1060 29.668 80.0 79.0
9 a. m. ...
29.667 80.0 79.0
9 a. m. 1068 29.677 80.0 79.0
9 a. m. .. 1089 29.651 80.0 79.0
10.15 a. m. 1060 29.677 86.0 83.0
10.15 a. m
86.0 83.0
10.15 a. m.
29.680
86.0 83.0
10.15 a. m. 1089 29,658 86.0 83.0
11.15 a. m. 1060 29.678 90.0 88.0
11,15 a. m. 1061 29.678 90.0 88.0
11.15 a. m. 1068 29.682 90.0 88.0
11.15 a. in. 1089 29.660 90.0 88.0
12 m....... 1060 29.675 92.5 94.0
12 m....... 1061 29.678 92.5 94.0
12 m...... 1068 29.680 92.5 94.0
1089 29.662 92.5 94.0
1 p. m. .... 1060 29.671 94.0 94.0
1 p. m. .... | 1061 | 29.676 94.0 94.0
1 p. m. .... 1068 | 29.676 | 94.0 | 94.01.
:
••••......
1
71.0
71.0
do..........
:
do...........
1061
do..........
O cocco vu
1089
do..........
1061
1061
do..........
do......
......
do................
.........
do..........
..........
do ..........
i..do ...
29.658
1068
do........
do..........
do..........
.
.
.
.
.
0
0
1
0
0
12 m.....
:
do...............
do ............
..do...........
:
do..........
..............
36
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX.D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Remarks.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Attached thermoineter.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
1855.
July 23
Inches.
Inches.
Feet. Miles.
the
95.5
la
Sala
1080
A
la la
4 p. in. ...
5
p. m. ...
92.0
108
1060
1089
29.611
87
4.0
@
@
84.0
Inches.
Fort Reading............... lp. m. .... 1089
94.0 91.0
........ do ..........
2 p. m. .... 1060 29.661 95.5
....... do ...........
1061
..do...........
2 p. m. .... | 1068 29.668 | 95.5 95.5
do..........
2 p. m. .... 1089 29.654 95.5 95.5
do...........
3 p. m. ... 1060 | 29.641 96.0 93.0
do...........
3 p. m. .... 1061 29 639 96.0 95.0
do ...........
3 p. m. .... 1068 29.651 | 96.0 95.0
do .......... | 3 p. m. .... 1089 | 29.631 | 96.0 95.0
do ..........
4 p. In. .... 1060 29.626 96.5 95.0
do...........
4 p. m. .... | 1061 | 29.626 96.5 95 0
do...........
4 p. m. ....) 1068 29.637 | 95.5 | 95.0
do ............
1089 29.616 96.5 95.0
do...........
1060
29.617
96.0 94.0
......do......... ....... 5 p. m. .... | 1061 | 29.618 46.0 | 94.0
.....do....
15 p. m. .... 1063 / 29.627 | 96.0 94.0
do........... | 5 p. m. .... 1089 | 29.608 96.0
.....do.....
6 p. m. .... 1060 29.615 95.0
.do ........... 6 p. m. ... 1061
29.615
95.0 92 0
do ........... 6 p. m. .... 1068 29.624 | 95.0 92.0
do..........
6 p. in...
29.604
95.0
.do ..........
7 p. m. ... 29.622 91.5
7 p. m...
1061
29.628
91.5 86.5
7 p. m. ... 1068 | 29.633 91.5 86.5
do...........
7 p. in.....
91.5 86.5
.do ...........
8 p. m.. 1060 | 29.626 84.0
.do ........... 8 p. m. ... 10161 29.634 87.0
.do ..........
8 p. m. ....
1068 29.639 87.0
....do ......
8 p. m. .... 1089 29.616 87 0
.do... .......
1060
85.0
..do ..........
1061 29.642 85.0 82.0
....do.....
9 p. m... 1068 29.648 85.0 82.0
9 p. m.
1089 29.631 85.0 82.0
6 a. m. 1060 29.670 66.5
do .........
6 a. m...
1061 29.682
66.5
do..........
6 a. m.
1068 29.688
65.0
.do ..........
6 a. m.. 1089 664 66.5
do ...........
7 a. m.... 1060 29.689 70.0
do...........
7 a. m.. 1061 29.688 70.0 69 5
7 a. m..... 1058 29.698 70.0 69.5
do...........
7 d. m..... 1099
70.0
do..........
1050 29.698 73.5 73.0
.do.........
8 a. M..... | 1061 29.695 73.5 73.0
do....
8 a. m. ... 1068 29,704 73.5
do.......... . & a. m. .... 1089 29.680 73.5 73.
do ..........
84.0
9 p. m. ....
82.0
p. m.
do
.........
Que le
voos colocacocca
da
65.0
a
66.5
29 sa
la
70.0
do ...........
29
la
078
8 a. m...
.
..1,
I a. m..... 1060 29.691 78.0 / 78.0
do............ 9 a. m..... | 1061 29.688 78.0 78.0
..........
a. m..... | 1068 29.697 | 78.0 | 78.0
do..........
9 a. m... 1089 78.0
do..........
10 a. m....
2060 83,0
.......do ............... 10 a. m.... 1061 29.689 83.0 83.0
10 a. m.... 1068 29.696 83.0 83.0
.....do.........
10 a. m....
1087
83 0 83.0
do ...........
11 a. m... 1060
88.5 89.0
.do ........
11 a. m.... 1061 29.674 88.5 89.0
....do .........
11 a. In... 1068 29.679 88.5 89.0
.......do ........... 11 a. mn.... 1089 29.657 88.5 89.0
.......do ...........
12 m. ...... 1060 | 29.662 | 93.0 | 94.5
here
83.0
in house
.....do..........
other in
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
37
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station,
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Rcmarks.
Corrected reading of
barometer,
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Inches.
Feet.
Miles. Miles.
1855.
July 24 | Fort Reading.......
........ do...... ...
do........
.....do........
....
97.0
med
..do................
do..........
.........
e e de es
1089
...do................
1061
V
..
.
do...........
...do.....
do..........
3.30 p. m
29.599
do...........
1061
29.596
w
C
w
e
29.585
0
0
1
do..........
...do.....
do..........
do............
10
p. m
..
97.0
0
denna
..........
.....do................
do..........
ex er en av
do...............
w
Inches.
Inches.
12 m ...... 1061 29.664 | 93.0 | 94.5
12 m ..... 1068 29.672 93.0 94.5
12 m ..... 1089 29.652 93.0 94.5
1060 29.645 97.0
I p.m .... 1061 29.642 97.0
1068 29.658 97,0
29.636 97.0 97.0
p. m....
1060 29.629 99.5 99.0
29.633 99.5 99.0
2 p. m ...
1068 29.643 99.5 99.0
2 p. m.... 1089
29.615
99.5 99.0
1060
101.0 102.0
3.30 p. m..
101.0 102.0
1068 29.602 101.0 102.0
3.30 p. I 1089
101.0 102.0
4 p. m.... 1060 29.585 101.5 97.0
1061 29.583 101.5
1068 29.594 101.5 97.0
p. m... 1089 29.572 101.5 97.0
1060 29.569 101.0 95.5
1061 29.569 101.0 95.5
5 p. m..... | 1068 | 29.575 101.0 | 95.5
5 p. m..... | 1089 | 29.554 101.0 | 95.5
6 p. m..... 1060 29.552 | 98.0 94.5
6 p. m..... | 1061 | 29.555 | 98.0 94.5
6 p. m..... 1068 29.559 | 98.0 94,5
6 p. m....
1089 29.537 98.0 94.5
7 p. m.. 1060
95.5 94.5
7 pm
29.512 95.5 94.5
7 p. m
29.553 95.5 94.5
7 p. m..... 1089 29.530 95.5 | 94.5
1060 29.544 92.5 88.5
1061 29.541 92.5 88.5
1068 29.554 92.5 88.5
29.531 92.5
9 p.m.... 1060 | 29.558 89.5
9 p. m..... 1061 | 29.544
89.5
9 p. m.. 1068 29.566 89.5
9 p. m..... 1089 29 541 89.5 85.0
6 a. m..... 1060 29.575 68.5 68.0
6 a. m.....
29.580 68.5
6 n. m..... 1068
68.5
6 a. ni..... 1089 29.565 68.5 68.0
7 a. m..... 1060 29.5761 71,0
7 a. m.....
29.579 71.0 71.0
7 a. m... 1068 29.5881 71.0 71.0
7 a. m.... 1089
71.0
1060 29.593 75.5 76.0
8 a. m.... 1061 29.592
76.0
8 a. m..... 1068 29.604 75.5 76.0
8 a. m ..... 1089
29.581 75.5 | 76.0
ga. m...
29.592 80,5 80.5
9 a. ..... 1061 29.591 80.5 80.5
9 a. m.... 29.604 80.5 80.5
9 a. m..... 1089 29.581 80.5 80.5
10 a, .... 1060 29.595 87.0 84.5
10 a. m.... 29.600 87.0 84.5
10 a. m.... 1068 | 29.609 87.0 1 84.5 1......
es see e e e ed ore
1061
00 00
.
00
1089
98
0
85.0
0
.do....... ........
..........
do..........
do..........
do................
........
....do.....
do...........
do..........
do........
....do.....
...do................
..........
do..........
..........
.....do................
do..........
do..........
..........
do.......
do..........
..........
do..........
do.........
do...........
.do..........
do...........
do...........
do.........
do..........
do..........
do..........
do..............
0
p. m
1061
68,0
ooo o
68.0
1061
71.0
.
si
m
.....
1060
1068
1
.
1
:
1061
do...........
....do ..........
......
38
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer,
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Remarks.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Inches.
1865.
July 25
Inches.
Feet.
92.0
er år er er er
.
Fort Reading ....
. ....do...............
........ do..........
..do ............
..do.............
do............
do ............
do ...........
............
....do....
do.......
do............
do............
.do............
do ..........
.......do......
1 p. m
96.0
92.5
m
..
.
donne
29.554
...........
.....do..............
m.....
AA w w w
29.537
m.....
m....
.
95.5
1
m
...
Inches.
10 a. m.... 1089 29 586 87.0 84.5
11.10 a. m. 1060 29.592 92.0 90.5
11.10 a. m. 1061 29.600
11.10 a. m. 1068
1068 | 29.607 92.0 / 90.5
11.10 a. m. 1089 29.585 92.0 90.5
12 m. ......
1060
94.0
94.5
12 m....... 1061 29.588 94.0
12 m....... 1068 29.600 94.0 94.5
12 m..... 1089 29.575 94.0 94,5
1 p. m.. 1060 29.585 96.5 96.0
1061 29.580 96.5
p. m .. 1068 29.596 96.5 96.0
1089 29.567 96.5 96.0
1060 29.564 99.0 92.5
p. m..... 1061 29.564 99.0 92.5
1068 29.572 99.0
1089 29.549 99.0 92.5
1060
99.5 97.0
..... 1061 29.556 99.5 97.0
1068 29.559 99.5 97.0
1089
99.5 97.0
1060 29.540 99.0 96.0
1061 29.538 99.0 96.0
1068 29 549 99.0 96.0
1089 29.528 99.0 96.0
1060 29.520 98.0
1061 29.522 98.0 95.5
1068 29.528 98.0 95.5
1089 29.506 98.0 95.5
1060 29.515 96.5 93.0
1061 29.515 | 96.5 93.0
1068
96.5 93.0
1089 29.500 96.5
1060 29.514 93.0 89.0
7 p. m.... 1061 29.515 93.0 89.0
1068 29.522 93.0 89.0
1089 29.500
93.0
P. m
.....
29.524
....do..................
......do...............
do............
do...........
do............
.do..........
.do............
O O Ovvvv OO OO er er er er A
93.0
m
..
.
m.....
89.0
1060
29.514 90.0
p. m .....
1061 29.514 90.0
p. m.. 1068 29.520 90.0 87 0
1089 29.500 90.0 87.0
1060 29.528 88.0
P. m ... 1061 29.530 88.0 86.0
..... 1068 29.538 88.0 86.0
1089 29,513 88.0 86.0
6 a. m.....
1060 29.579 67.0 68.0
6 a. m.... 1061 29.580 67.0 68.0
6 a. m... 1068 29.590 67.0 68.0
6 a. m..... 1089 29.513 67.0 68.0
7 a. m..... 1060 29.593 70.5 71.0
7 a. m..... 1061 29.589 70.5 71.0
7 a. m..... 1068 29.603 70.5 71.0
7 a. m..... 1089 29.576 70.5 71.0
9 a.m..... 1060 29.616 81.0 79.0
9 a.m..... 1061 29.611 81.0 79.0
9 a. m..... 1068 29.620 81.0 | 79.0
. 9 a. m..... 1089 29.600 81.0 79.0
10 a. m.... 1060 29.626 | 87.0 | 85.0
do............
.do............
do............
.do .........
.do........
do.........
do............
..do...........
do...........
.do.. ........
......do.................
.do...........
..do............
.do...........
do............
.do.......
.....do ...........
do............
do...........
m.....
m...
86.0
9 p. m.....
...........
.do..........
..do........
do..........
do...........
do............
......do.....
..do ..........
....... do ............
........ do... ........
.....
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
39
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Remarks.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of baronieter.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
1855.
July 26
Inches.
Inches.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
93.0
n
o
m
....
w
up. m...
A
m.
m.
A
.....
1089
en er et en
m
. ...
m
.
o
Inches.
Fort Reading. .......
10 a. m....
29.620
87.0 85.0
.......do............
.......... 10 a. m.... 1068 | 29.630
29.630 87.0 85.0
.......do............
10 a. m. .. 1089 29.606
85.0
.do ............
11 a. m.... 1060 29.634 93.0 89.0
do........
11 a. m.... 1061 29.634 89.0
do ............
1068 29.638 93.0 89.0
.....do......
11 a, m.... 1089 29.616 93.0 89.0
do ............
12 m..... 1060 29.625 93.0 93.0
.do............ 12 m....... 1061 29.622 93.0 93.0
12 m...... 1068 29.6:30 93.0 93.0
do............
12 m....... 1089 29.608 93.0 93.0
.......do.....
2 p. m...
1060 29.603 97.0 94.0
.do............
1061 29.608 97.0 94.0
.do ............ 2 p. m..... 1068 29.615
29.615 97.0 94.0
do..........
2 p. m .....
1089 29.591 97,0 94.0
do...........
3p. m..... 1060 | 29.591 98.0 95.0
do ...........
3 p. m.... 1061 29.588 98.0 95.0
.....do....
1068 29.600 98.0 95.0
....do ................
1089 29.576 98.0 95.0
.do..::. ......
4 p. m. 1060 29,574 97.0 94.0
1061 29.572 97.0 94.0
.do............
1068 29.582 97.0 94.0
.do............ 4 p. m.
29.560 97.0 94.0
.do............
5 p. m. 1060 29.563 96.5 94.0
do............
1061 29.563 96.5 94.0
......do .....
1068 96.5 94.0
.do............
1089 29.550 96,5 94.0
.do............
1060 29.556 96.5 93.0
.do ............
| 1061 | 29.560 | 96.5 | 93,0
.do ............
6 p. m. 1068 29.567 | 96.5 | 93.0
.do ...........
1089 29.549 96.5 93.0
.do........
1060 91.0 84.0
1061 29.560 91.0 84.0
do............
1068 29.568 91.0 84.0
1089 29.550 91.0 84.0
.do ...........
1060 29.576 | 87.5 81.0
..do........
9 p. m. .
1061 29.576 87.5 81.0
9 p. m 1068 | 29.588 | 87.5 81.0
9 p. m. .... 1089 29.568 87.5 81.0
.......do......
m.. 1060 29.636 84.0 84.0
.do ..........
9.10 a. m..
1061 29.636 84.0 84.0
.do ...........
9.10 a. m.. 1068 29.644
84.0
do ............
9.10 a. m
m.. 1089 29.624 84.0 84.0
do............
10 a. m.... 1060
29.643
87.0 86.0
do ............
10 a. m .. 1061 29.640 87.0 86.0
do ............
10 a. m 1068 29.651 87.0 86.0
...........
10 a. m... 1089 29.630 87.0 86.0
..do.... .......
Il a. m... 1060 29.644 93.0 91.0
do............
11 a. m 1061 29.643
191.0
91.0
do............
11 a. m 1068 29.652 91.0 91.0
do ...........
11 a. m 1089 29.631 91.0 91.0
do ..........
12 m..... 1060 29.640 96.0 95.0
do ............
1061 29.640 95.0
do ............
12 m.....
1068 29.650
do............
12 m....... 1089 29.628
... do ............
1060 29.628 99.0 98.0
........ do ...........
1 p. m. .... 29.629 99.0 98.0
........ do ..........
1 p. m. ....) 1068 1 29.638 | 99.0 | 98.0
o
o
do............
o
dow
9 p. m.
o
ecco co
84.0
o
12 m.......
96.0
96.0
96.0
95.0
1061
...
..
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Remarks.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
98.0
10
w
w
ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã
w
w
p. m. ....
A
101.0
P. m
. ..
5
p. m
. ....
90.0
er
1061
P. m
. ..
en
1089
1060
ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã ã
7
n. m
..
00
00
eco
9 p. m. ...
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
July 27 | Fort Reading................. 1 p. m. .... 1089 29.615 99.0 98.0
........do ..............
1060 29.614 101,0 98.0
.......do...........
2 p. m. .... 1061 29.613 101.0
..do..........
2 p. m. .... 1068 29.623 101.0 98.0
1089 29.597 101.0 98,0
3 p. m. .... 1060 29.600 102.0 98.0
do ............
3 p. m. .... 1061 29.600 102.0 | 98.0
do............
3 p. m. ....
1068 29.613 102.0 98.0
do............
3 p. m. .... 1089 29.584 102.0 98.0
......do........
1060 29.588 97.0
4 p. m. .... 1061 29.586 101.0 97.0
1068
| 29.600
101.0
| 97.0
.......do......
1089 29.572 101.0 97.0
1060 29.570 100.0
do...........
29.568 100,0 96.0
do........
5 p. m. .... 1068 29.581 100.0 96.0
do............
5 p. m. .... 1089
29.552 100.0 96.0
do............
6 p. m. ... 1060 29.562 98.5 96.0
.do ............
6 p. m. .... 1061 29.562 98 5 96.0
.do............
6 p. m. ....
96.0
..do ..........
7 p. m. ....
29.560 96.5 91.0
....do .................
7 p. in.....
1061
96.5 | 91.0
...do..............
1089 29.551 96.5 91.0 1.
.do ............
1060 29.555 92,5 86.0
do ............
1061 29.562 92.5 86.0
do............
29.546 92.5 86.0
..do ............
29.560 87.5
...do ............
1061 29.560 | 87.5
........do ............
1089 29.546
87.5
On plateau.............
............ 0.35 p. m.. 1060 29.543 97 0 98.0 29.413
......do....
1.27
29.546 102.0 98.0 29.390
Crossing of Bear creek....... 2.30
m..] 1060
29.557 102.5 98.0 29.414
Station ..................
3.30 1060 29.169 102.0 97.0 29.044
Ogburn's rancho ............ 6.40 p.
27.731 3.5 27.664
Camp 13, Asbury's rancho....
6 a. m.
1060 27.214 62.5 62.0 27.013
Shingle Town................ 7.45 a. 1060 26.603 75.5 26.409
Mill creek ............. 8.40 1060 26.551 80.0 79.0 26.353
Camp 14, McCumber's flat ... 12 m....... 1060 26.081 83.0 81.01 25.915
.......do...................
1060 26.075 84.5 84.0 25.934
.... ...do................... m..... 1060 26.045 78.0 76.0 25.912
........ do .................. 9 p. m. .... 1060 26.025 59.0 55.0 25.925
........ do ............. 6 a. m. ...: 1960 26.011 50.0 25.899 25.9:7
Deer flat. .............
8.50 a. m. 1060 25.898 77.0 74.0
25.747
Station in pass.
10.05 a. m. 1060 25:445 78.5 75,0 25.308
........do............
10.45 a. m. 1060 25.239 77.5 75.0 25.115
........ do............ 11.15 a. m. 1060 25.152 80.0 77.0 25.030
........do ................. 1.10 p. m.. 1060 24.571 80.0 76.0 24.473
Summit of Noble's pass, west-
ern chain of Sierra Nevada.
24.157 | 80.5 75.0 24.075 ........
Camp 15, Lost creek ......... 6 p. m..... 1061 24.891 65.0 24.836
.........do.................... 9 p.
24.865 62.0 53.0 24.825
........do....... ...... 6 a. m. ... 1061 24.796 49.0 45.0 24.826 24.829
Hat creek . ...........
9.35 a. m
m.. 1061 24.893 63.0 62.5 24.899
Near Hat creek. ......
1061 24.939 690 19.0 24.935
Near Canoe creek.......... 9.20 a. m.. 1061 25.407 75.5 | 74.0 25.406
........do.................. 10.40 a. m. 1060 25.513 78.0 75.0 25.524
31 ........ do .................... 0.10 p. m.. 1060 25.637 | 84.0 78.0 25.660
31 | Camp 16, Canoe creek........ 3 p.m..... 1060 | 25.729 | 79.0 1 76.0 | 25.792
ã
O
518
716
740
715
For explanation of alti-
tude of Fort Reading,
see Chapter VI of the
General Report.
24.0 200.3
1.2 201.5
2.5 204.0
2.5 206.5
2.7 209.2
9.0 218.2
2.0 220.2
222.8
2.2 225.0
1060
85.5
75.0
mi ai ai sosi: i :
Z
3 p.
6 p.
53.0
4,187
4,365
ษ อ ง เว์ เว์ 1
4,852
5.2 1230.2
7.7 237.9
240.5
0.6 241.1
0.4 241.5
2.1 243.6
5,162
5,797
evada. 2.10
1061
6,260
71.0
1.8 245.4
...........
1061
er
oo
5,337
5,272
5,283
4,799
4,668
4,539
2.6 248.0
2.8 250.8
0.8 251.6
2.8 254.4
1.6 256.0
2.6 2:58.6
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Ilour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Remarks.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
|
Elevation above mean
• tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Fect.
Miles. Miles.
Aug.
4,271 | 2.0
260.6
83.5
1
o w woo
26: 159
بر سر بر مسم
6
p. m
.
........
c
26.163
O
- سر وہ یہ کہ وہ
3,860 | 6.5
3,308 7.8
267.1
274.9
-
-
:
کہ وہ نہ تن
1
.
.
.
.
.
-
.
به ده ره وه وه به يه وه ته وه به یا به
87.0
26.825
86.0
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
July 31 Camp 16, Canoe creek....... 6.10 p. m. 1060 25.705 70.
5 69.0 25.800
31 ........do...................
9 p. m .... 1060 25.669 56.0 56.0 25.787
1....... do ................ 6 a. in.... 1060 25.695 42.5 41.5 25.781 25.790
Camp 17, near Canoe creek.. 3 p. m ..... 1060
85.5
26,207
........do.... ...............
3 p. m. 1089
85.5 83.5 26.214
........do.................. 6 p. m. 1060
26.160
80.5 77.5 26.191
........ do ............
1089 26.152 80.5
26.198
do............
9 p. m...
1060 26.142 57.0 55,01 26.204
........do...........
9 p.m..... 1089
26.135
57.0 55.0 26.212
........do...........
6 a. m. .... 1060
48.5 47.0 26.198
........do...................
6 a. in..... 1089 26.157 | 48.5 | 47.0 26.207 26.204
Near Canoe creek.......... 1.15 p. m.. 1060 26.731 85.0 85.0 26.730 ......
Camp 18, junction of Canoe
creek and large branch.....
1060 26.794 | 86.0 81.0 26.782
.....do..............
6 p. m.... 1089 26.780 86.0 81.0 26.783
......do ..........
9 p. mi.... 1060 26.780 65.5 62.0 26 786
9 p. m... 1089 26.769 65.5 62.0 26.790
do...........
6 a. m... 1060 26.783 48.0 47.01 26.779
do...........
6 a..m... 1089 26.768 48.0 47.0 26.779
do............
9 a. m. .... 1060 26.889 89.0 74.0 26.785
do.........
9 a. m. .... 1089 26.768 88.0 | 74.0 26.782
do...........
lp. n..... 1060 92.0 87.0 26.786
do............
1 p. m..... 1089 92.0 87.0 26.784
do............ 2 p. m..... 1060 | 26.855 88.0 88.0 26.795
do...........
2 p. m.... 1089
26.840
88.5 88.0 26.796
do............ 3 p. m..... 1060 26.848 86.0 26.794
do..........
3 p. m..... 1089 87.0 26.786
do...........
6 p. m..... 1060
89.0 83.5 26.762
6 p. m..... 1089 26.833 89.0 83,5 26.765
do...........
9 p. m... 1060 26.811 63.5 56.0 | 26.774
do ...........
1089 26.801 63.5 56.0 26.779
........do ..........
a. m..... 1060 26.864 | 52,5 48.0 26.783
1.... ....do ............ 6 a. m..... 26.843
26.783 26.783
Station .................. ... 1.40 p. m.. 1089 26.930 89.0 26.840
Station ......
| 1.50 p. m.. 1089 27.088 90.0 | 26.997
Near mouth of Canoe creek.. 2.30 p. m.. 1060
90.5 88.0 27.144
| Camp 19, Pit river............ 7 p. m..... 1060
| 75.5 76.0 27.181
1 .......do.................... 9 p. m..... 1060 27.280 58.0 53.0 27.194
.......do ............
6 a. IN..... 1060 27.302 45.0 27.234 27.203
Station on River bluff......... 7.50 a. m.. 1089
65.0 26.599
| Foot of pass, Stoneman's
Ridgi............ ....... 8.40 a. m..
808 76.0 74.0 26.688
5 Summit of pass............. 11.30 a. m. 26.178 88.01 26.065
5 Foot of pass ................ 12.09 a. m. 26.646 92.0 86.0 26.531
5 | Near upper end of cañon..... 11 a. m .... 1060 26.389 80.0 20.269
Camp 20, near mouth of Fall
river ............
1060 26.804 | 87.0 82.0 26.694
.......do....
9 p. m.....
1060
61.0 65.0 26.694
........ do ............... 6 a. m.... 1060 26.782 46.0 45.0 26.766 26.718
Camp 21, mouth of upper
cañon of Pit river. ....... 6 p. m..... 1060
88.0 86.0 26.683
......do................ 9 p. m..... 1050 26,679 70.5 68.01 26.695
........do...........
6 a.m..... 1060 26.710 55.5 / 53.5 | 26.695
91 ......do ...........
6 a. m...... 1089 26.676 55.5 | 53.5 26.090 26.692
Station ...............
8.10 a. m... 1060 26.608 70.0 69.0 26.558
On bluff above river..... 9.30 a. m.. 1060 26.098 75.0 74.0 26.048
7 | Near Pit river.......
........! 0.31 p. m: ./ 1060 | 25.975 | 86.0 181.0 25.928
do............
:
p. m...
.....
هر
حر
1089
52.5
3.9
89.0
1.5
م
278.
280.3
280.6
che
ج
91.0
0.3
27. 247
م
Not used on profile.
ci
م
293
ه
...
: io
17.0
4.2 284.8
م
3,433
2.4
287.21
م
م
1089
3,370
84.0
i fm
1.1 | 288 3
2.6 290.9
1.0 291.9
............ Not used on proflc.
81.01
3,795
ܟ
6 p.
ܕ
3,304
8.0
296.3
ܗ
ܗ
ܗ
ܙ
|
3,346 | 12.6 | 308.9|
3,493 0.6 309.5
4,040 2.1 311.6
4,170 | 4.2 315.81
6 AA
42
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Remarks.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Feet.
Miles. Miles.
10
47.0
25.981
4,103
3.0 | 318.8
76.5
25.904
70.0
6 a. m.
58.0
4,212
4,885
21.6
6.5
340.4
346.9
79.0
25.135
25.325
Oo oo w w
4,876
4,472
3.7 | 350.6
16.8 367,4
....
1855.
Inches. Inches.
August 7 Camp 22, entrance of upper
cañon ......
6 p. m .....
1060 25.990 77.0 75.0 25.973
........do................ 6 p. m.... 1089 25.957 77.0 75.0 25.984
........do .................. 9 p. m.... 25.990 65.0 25.980
........ do ...........
9 p. m..... 1089 25.953 63.5 65.0 25.987
.........do...................
6 a. m.... 1060 26.025
25.980
........ do ................... 6 a. m.... 1089 25.981 47.5 | 47.0 25.981
Camp 23, last on Pit river..... 7 p. m....
1060 25.937 75.5
....do..................
7 p. m.... 1089 25.898 77.0 75.5 25.898
.... ...do ..................
9 p. m..... 1060 25.940 74.0 70.0 25.893
........do ............ | 9 p. m..... 1089 25.888 74.0 25.875
do..........
9.25 a. m.. 1060 25.958 82.0 74.0 25.921
do..........
9.25 a. m... 1089 25.913 82.0 74.0 23.910
12 m ...... 1060 25.930 | 95.0 84.0 25.915
do............
12 m....... 1089 25.886 95.0 84.0 25.905
.do.... ......
3 p. m.... 1060 25.874 95.5 85.0 25.905
do...........
3 p. m..... | 1089 25.825 95.0 | 85.0 | 25.
25.891
do..........
9 p. m... 1060 25.822 72.0 71.0 25.892
do...........
9 p. m..... 1089 25.777 | 72.0 71.0 | 25.882
.......do...........
1060 25.772
54.0 25.902
........do............ 6 a. m..... 1089 25.731 / 58.0 54.0 25.895 25.899
On divide..........
9.40 a. m.. 1060 25.180 75.0 72.0 23.294 ......
Camp 24, Spring branch..... 12 m...... 1060 25.220 80.0 25.334
........10...........
3 p. m..... 1060 25.188 84.0 82.0
25.33€
........do...........
1089 84.0 82.0 25.331
........do...........
1060 25.158 79.0 77.0
........do.............
6 p. m.... 1089 25.109 79.5 | 77.0 25.319 25.333
Station on plateau.....
1060 25.508 82.0 80.0 25.657
| Camp 25, Wright lake........ 6 p. m 1060
68.0 25.622
........do................ 9 p. m. .... | 1060 | 25.456 65.0 64.0 25.618
1........do.................. 6 a. m. .... 1060 25.515 58.0 57.0 25.640 25.627
Camp 26, near Natural bridge. m.. 1089 25.906 80.5 76.0 26.026
........do.............. 6.45 p. m.. | 1060 | 25.941 / 77.0 74 5 26.025
........do .................... m.. 1060 25.952
60.5 65.0
26.054
........ do ..................
1089 25.902 60.5
26.048
.......do............
6 a. m. .... 1060 45.0 48,01
6 a. m. .... 1089 25.968 45.0 | 48.0 26.056 26.045
| Camp 27 A, last on Lost river. 6 p. m..... 1060 25.998 78.0 | 82.0 26.010
11 p. m.... 1060 26.002
56.0
59.0 26.036
14 l........do................... 6 a. m. .... 1060 26.000 45.0 43.0 26.012 26.019
14 | On divide................... 10 a. m... 1060 25,906 81.0 72.0 | 25.906 ........
Camp 28, Upper Klamath lake,
(50 feet above water).... 9 p. m..... 1060 25.921 66.5 66.0 25.915
.....do...............
6 a. m. .... 1060 25,928 50.0 49.0 | 25.938
....do............
9 a. m. .... 1060 25.980 69.0 68.0 25.933
.do............ 12 m... 1060 25.991 86.0 80.0 25.924
do .... ......... 3 p. m..... 1060 25.982 94.
5 87.0 25.921
do............ 6 p. m ..... 25 951
...........
9 p. m. 1060 25.948 64.5 | 61.0 25.916
...........
9 a. m. ... 25.994 | 71.0 68.0 25.913
do...........
12 m...... 1060 26.005 75.0 25.931
.... .......
3 p. m..... 1060 25.979 81.0 23.927
6 p. m.... 1060
25.945
76.0 74.0 25.904
9 p. m.... 1060 25.970 68.5 66.0 25.923
do........
6 a. m. ... 1060 25.960 5.3.0 54.0
.....do.........
9 a. m.
1060 26.012 75.0 71.0 25.926
do............ 12 m....... 1060 25.999 81,
0 80.0 25.927
T........do.... ......
3 p. m..... 1060 1 25.976 | 86.0 | 81.5 | 25.923
0.29 p. 1
4,470
11.1
378.5
6.30
8.20
8.20
65 0
0
0
0
26.056
...
......
4,014
24.3 402.8
...do...............
4,036
4,154
15.0 417.8
9.7 | 427.5
84.0
86.5
....
.
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
43
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermonieter.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Remarks.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
1060
60.0
1060
55.0
37.0
1060
.......
.
.....
oo w en O O O O OO er ovo OC o cu
41.0
78.0
25.571
........
...
.
77.0
•.•..UU................
61,5
84.0
7 a.
45.5
4,801)
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches. Feet. Miles. Miles.
Aug. 17 | Camp 28, Upper Klamath lake,
(50 feet above water)........ 6 p. in.....! 1060 | 25.938 79.5 76.5 25.918
........do.................... 8.30 p. m.. 25.942 70.0 67.0 25 920
.... ...do...................
5.40 a. in. . 1060 25.929 49.0 46.5 25.917 25.922 4,180 | 4.2 431. 7
Camp 29, Upper Klamath lake
1060 25.959 73.0 72.0 25.925
........do........
8.30 p. m 1060 25.963 65.0 25.926
...do................
6 a.
25.925 47.0 47.0 25.922 25.924 | 4,131 16.0 447.7
Camp 30, Klamath river.....
3 p. m.....
1060 25.972 85.0 83.0 25.955
.......do...........
6 p. mn.....
1060
25.952 79.0 77,0 25.943
........do....................
8.30 p. m.. 1060 25.921 54.0 25.953
........do................ 6 a. m. .... 1060 25.943 35.0 25.955 25.951
| 11.7 459.4
Camp 31, Klamath river..... 7 p. m. .. 1060 25.642 67.0 66.0 25.613
........do.................... 8.45 p. m
25.652 58.0 59.0 25.620
........do.................... 5.45 a. m. 1060 23.668 36.0 34.0 25.620 25.618 | 4,437 | 18.4 | 477.8)
Camp 32, Klamath marsh.....
1060 25.705 80.0 77.0 25.600
........do....................
P. in. m .
1060 25.712 67.0 69.0 25.613
........do................. 6 a. m. .... 1060 25.709 39.0 25.606 25.606 4,487 24.0 ...... Not used on profile.
Camp 33, Klamath marsh..... 6 p. m. .... 1060 25.713 75.0
........do...................
8 p. m. ....
1060 25.716 66.0 65.0 25.581
.........do.............
5.35 a. m.. 1060 25.683 43.5 41.0 25.575 25.576 4,512 17.5 | 487.1
Camp 34, Klamath marsh..... 3 p. m. ....
1060 25.700 93.5 89.0 25.577
........do...........
6 p. m. .... 1060 25.664 80.0 25.576
......do......
1060 25.638 66.0 25.575
........do.............
6 a. m. .. 1060 25.567 28.0 26.5 25.578) 25.576 4.526 11.3 | 498.4
Camp 35, water hole ... 2.30 p. m. 1060 25.286 87,0 25.279
........do............
6 p. m. .... 1060 25.243 71.0 70.01 25.282
........do............
5.20 a. 1060 25.176 41.0 41.0 25.274 25.278 4,864 18.5 | 516.9
Station on divide.....
1060 25.248
42.5
23.327
1,5 518.4
Station on divide ....
7.50 a. m.. 1060 25.318 59.0 65.0 25.369
4,755 | 3.5 | 521.9
Station on divide ....
8.40 a. m.. 1060 25.409 70.0 67,5 25.440
524.4
Station on divide ...
9.45 a. m.. 1060 25.551 75.5 70,5 25.581
3.0 527.4
Station on divide
10.45 a. m. 1060 25.597 80.5 | 79.5 23.622
3.0 530.4
Camp 36, Des Chutes river .. 3 p. m. .... 1060 25.602 83.0 78.0 25.654
........do......
6 p. m. .... 1060 25.607 74.0 73.0 25.658
........do.......
8 p. m. .... 1060 25.587 56.0 54.0
........do.................... 6 a. m. ... 1060 25.592 27.0 23.5 25.655 654 | 4,411 | 5.2 | 535.6
Near crossing of river ........ 10.10 a. m. 1060
1060 25.834 78.0 77.0 25.797
4,314 | 11.5 | 547.1
Camp 37, Des Chutes river ...
1060 25.907 76.0 71.0 25.891
.......do............
25.917 61.0 57.0 25.904
......do................
1089 25.878 61.0 25.909
6 a. m. .... 1060 25.932 31.0 27.0
25.896
......do ............
6 a. m. ... 25.898 31.0 27.0
............
7 a. m. ... 1060 25.952 38.0 38.0 25.900
.do...........
7a. m. ... 1089 25.915 36.0 33.0 25.907
8 a. m. .... 1060 25.987 50.0 25.904
.do..........
8 a. m.
25.942 49.5 50.0 25.903
....do...........
10 a. m. ...
1060
26.021 69.0 68.0 25.910
10 a. m.... 1089 25.981 69.0 68.0 25.914
www.do ...............
11 a. m... 26.014 73.0 25.901
..........
ܩ
2.5
ܟܨ
ܟܨ
25.650
n
.......
e
1060
00
57.0
1089
25.906
.
49.5
1089
1060
71.5
11
11 a. ni...
25.973 72.5 71,5 25.905
..........
12 m...
1089 25.951 76.0 74.0 25.889
....do......
1060 26.002 77.0 76.0 25.898
.....do................
1089 25.954 78.0 76.0 25.891
2 p. m. ....
1060 25.985 75.5 74.0
.........
2 p. m.
1089 25.944 75.5 74.0 25.900
.....do...........
4 p. m. .... 1060 25.965 74.0 73.0 23.886
.........
4 p. m. .... 1089 25.928 74.0 73.0 25.892
.do.... ........ 5 p. m. ...
....1060 25.964 | 73.0 71.5 25.884
1089
§
25.897
44
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Remarks.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Attached the
Attached thermometer.
Detached thermometer.
reading of
barometer.
Corrected
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Inches.
Feet. Miies. Miles.
25.960
66.0
...... 6 p. m. ...
1.
25.954
63.0
62.0
8
p. m
. .
..
é é é de até os si es
1060
do............
25.882
12 m...
25.836
6 a. m.
25.896
4,165
11.2 558.3
wa.
25.887
BS
1855.
Inches.
Inches.
‘Aug. 27 Camp 37, Des Chutes river ...
1089 25.919 73.0 71.5 25.883
1060
25.886
........do...........
1089 25.918
66.0 25.888
....... do ............
1060
25.883
......do.....
7 p. m... 1089 25.908 63.0 62.0 25.881
do...........
1060 25.966 58.5 58,5 25.894
do..........
1089 25.916 59.0 58.5 25.888
do ..........
9 p. i. . 1060 25.952 55.0 55.0 25.887
do ............
1089 25.894 55.0 55.0 25.873
do ............. 6 a. m 1060 25.852 32.0 30.5 25.910
.....do...............
1060 25.852 36.0 | 36.0 | 25
............
8a. m..
25.864 49.5 | 50.5 25.905
9 a. m. ... 1060 25.879 62.0 62.5 25.894
........
10 a. m. ... 1060 25.887 | 72.0 72.0 25.895
.do........
11 a. m. ... 1060
73.5 72.0 25.900
.do........
1060 25.860 75.5 74.0 25.891
1 p. ni..... 1060 25.857 77.0 76.0 25.895
.do............
2 p. m..... 1060
75.0 73.0 25.896
.do ............
1060 25.830 73.0 71.0 | 25.904
do ............
1060 25.822 71.0 69.0 25.902
.do........
1060 25.819 72.0 71.0 25.897
do............
1060 25.797 60.0 58.0 25.893
..do............
8 p. mn..... 1060 25.796 55.5 55.0 25.895
odo............
9 p. m... 1060 25.780 49.5 50.0 25.890
1060 25.707 45.0 44.0 25.
Camp 38 A, Des Chutes river. 10 a. in.... 1060 25.756 58.0 56.0 25.874
do....................
........
1060 25.744 57.0 55.0 25.875
....do......
12 m...... 1060 25.752 62.0 64.0
I p. m..... 1060) 25.750 64.0 62.0
2 p. m..... 1060 25.744 65.0 -64.0 25.892
1060 25.746 69.0 67.0 25.890
do........
1060 25.744 60.0 58.0 25.907
.....do............ .
5 p. in.... 1060 25.746 54.0 | 52.0 25.918
.....do...............
6 p. in.... 1060 25.746 52.0 50.0 25.912
do............ 7 p. m.... 1060 25.740 48.0 | 47.0 25.966
do............
8 p. in.....
1060 25.738 44.0 42.0 25.899
1060 25.740 43.0 | 41.5 23.897
do...........
7 a. m... 1060 25.827 36.0 35.0 25.903
......do...............
8 a. m..... 1060 35.840 39.0 38.0 25.909
......do......
9 a. m..... 1060 25.859 45.5 44,5 25.916
do............ 10 a. in.... 1060 25.875 54.5 54:0
25.917
............
11 a. m.... 1060 25.900 67.0 66.5 25,914
do...........
12 m....... 1060 25.902 71,01 70.5 25.913
... do ...........
1 p. m..... 1060 25.886-4-66.0-64.0- 25.913
2 p. m.
1060 25.870 65.0 63.5 25.910
3 p. m.....
1060 25.868 70.0 68.0 25.900
....do.....
4 p. in..... 1060 25.857 | 65.5 64.5 25.898
do ...........
5 p. m ..... 1060 25.846 63.5 | 61.0 25.890
do............
6 p. m.....
1060 25.841 59.0 57.0 25.885
do..........
7 p.m.... 1060 25.830 52.0 49.5
....do......
1060 25.803 41.0 41.0 25.881
do...........
1060 25.790 35.5 35.0 25.881
....do.....
6 a. m..... 1060 25.781 22.0 20.01 25.913
............
7 a. m..... 1060 25.803 28.5 28.0 25.918
....do.....
p. in...
0
1
4 p. m....
0 voet and w
p. m.....
1
..do....ore
netus
et
os
-
25.888
o p. m
....
9
P. m
...
vo
8 a. m.... 1060 25.806 32.0 30.5 25.917
......do............ 9 a. m. ... 1060 25.818 42.0 | 42.0 25.915
........ do ...........
10 a. m.... 1060 25.837 54.0 54.0 25.917
........ do ........... 11 a. m..../ 1060 ( 25.854 | 69.0 68.5 | 25.908
......
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Rcading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Remarks.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above niean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
1855.
Aug.
Inches.
Feet.
Miles. Milcs.
Sept.
.
Inches.
25.857
25.850
25.83.1
25.832
25.836
25.839
25.840
25.838
25.848
25.824
25.829
25.833
25.835
25.839
25.876
25.872
25.846
25.840
25.836
25.836
25.836
25.834
25.842
25.846
25.866
25 948
25.932
25.911
26.200
26.204
26.120
26.160
26.402
Inches.
75.0 74.0 25.911
75.0 73.5 25.906
72.5 70.5 25,907
72.0 70.0 25.908
67.0 65.0 25.916
65.0 63.0 25.911
59.5 57.5 25.889
54.0 52.01 25.907
52.0 50.0 25.902
29.0 28.0 25.909
31.0 29.5 25.908
38.5 38.0 25.908
48,5 49.0 25.900
59.0 59.0 25.892
76.0 75.0 25.901
79.5 77,5
25.903
72.0 73.0 25.906
75.0 74.0 | 25.900
77.0 75.0 25.896
67.0 65.0 25.903
59.0 57.0
25.907
54.0 53.0
50.0 48.0 25.897
46.0 45.0 25.895
32.0 | 31.0 25.896
60.5 58.0 25.984
54.5 53.0 25.978
45.0 43.0
41.0 41.0 26.181
40.5 | 40.0
26.171
40.5 40.0 26.022
49.5 47.0 26.022
56.0 52.0 26.310
.......
25.901
Camp 38 A, Des Chutes river.. 12 m
1060
........do.................. 1 p. m 1060
........do............
2 p. in... 1060
..do............
3 p. m....
1060
......do.....
4.p. m....
1060
5 p. in..... 1060
do............
6 p. m..... 1060
.do............
7 p. m..... 1060
do... ........
8 p. m.... 1060
do..........
6.30 a.m.. 1060
do............
7a.m..... 1060
8 a. m.... 1060
do............ 9 a. m. .... 1060
.do............
10 a. m... 1060
do.........
11 a. m.... 1060
do........
12 m...... 1060
.. .do ...............
1p.m..... 1060
do...........
2 p. m..... 1060
3 p. m.... 1060
do. ..........
5 p. m... 1060
........do .....
op. m.....
1060
.do............
7 p. m..... 1060
..do ............
8 p. m.... 1060
....do .............
9 p. m.,.. 1060
.......do..........
6 a. m.... 1060
Camp 39 A, Des Chutes river.. 6 p. m.....
........do.........
7 p. m..... 1060
........do...........
9 p. m..... 1060
Camp J, on small branch.... 5.30 a. m.. 1060
......do ...............
6 a. m..... 1060
Station on plateau........ .... 6.50 a. m.. 1060
Station on plateau............ 7.31 a. m.. 1060
Station on plateau............ 10.15 a. m. 1060
Camp 40, near forks of Indian
8.30 p. m. 1060
........do ..................
6 a. m.....
1060
........ do ............ 9 a. m..... 1060
......do.................... 9.05 a. m.. 1060
On bank of creek, 1.6 miles
from Camp 40.
10.20 a. m. 1060
Camp 40, near forks of Indian
12 m ...... 1060
.......do .................. 3 p. m ..... 1060
........ do .................
3 p. m...
1089
..do...........
1060
..do........
6 p. m 1089
.....do......
1060
do............
..... 1089
1060
....... do ...........
1089
....
...
25.906
4,129 | 3.3 561.6
1060
.....
25.968
25.977
26.176
4,038 15.2 576.8
......
3,784 | 16.9 593.7
3,960 0.3 594.0
3,960 2.0 596.0
3,658 6.2 602.2
Not used on profile.
25.688
25.713
25.746
25.768
42.5 42.0 25.616
32.0 25.648
46.5
25.656
50.0 | 47.5 25.658
1.00
For altitude, &c., see be
low.
Not used on profile.
26.142 56.5. 53.5 26.032
........
3,970
......
co c
O
25.768
25.760
25.732
25.736
25.700
25.728
25.693
25.722
25.674
60.5 58.0 25.673
61.5 25.699
62.0 58.5 25 701
52.5 50.0 25.685
52.5 50.0 25.684
51.
547.0 25.666
51.5 47.0 25.666
34.0 31.5 25.656
34.0 | 31.5 25.663
O
O
Pom...
For data from which the
altitude of this camp
has been determined,
see also Section II of
this Appendix, date
Sept. 10, &c.
O
m.....
O
25.679
4,343 28.7
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.
II. Routes of detached parties in charge of Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Topographical
Engineers.
U

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Remarks.
Corrected reading of i
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
-
Feet. Miles. Miles.
-
-
-
-
-
-----
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
.....
3,953 | 28.0 ......
-
-
14
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
Aug. 14 On bank of Lower Klamath
lake........
| 11.45 n. m. 1089 25.937 77.0 74.0 26.113
Camp B, Klamath river, near
crossing of Oregon trail..... 6 p. m..... 1089 26.238 82.5 80.5 26.262
........do.................
9 p. m..... 1089 26.243 | 58.5 58.0 26.299
15 ........do........
6 a. m.... 1089 26.255 40.0 41.0 26.332 26.298
15 | On Klamath river, near mouth
12 m ...... | 1089 26.033 85.0 82.0 | 26.017 .........
50 feet above water; dis.
tance estimated from
Camp 26.
3,733 | 13.0
....
40 feet above water.
4,040
12.5 ......
15 feet above water.
4,166
5.6 .....
Distance estimated froin
Camp 37.
4,128 | 0.3 ..
Coco
64.0
m.....
57.5
46.5
4,247 | 1.7
4,226 3.6
4,195
3.3
47.0
......"
45.0
WOOO OO OMA
38.5
1089
28 | Ncar Des Chutes river........ 10 a. m.... 1089 25.815 69.0 | 67.0 | 25.874 .......
Main branch of Des Chutes
river., ....................1
12 m . .... 1089 25.837 | 77.5 75.0 25.909
Camp E, near main branch of
Des Chutes river.......... m..... 1089 25.728 74.0 73.0 25.843
.......do..................
6 p. m.... 1089 25.704 63.5 25.839
........do....................
1089 25.688 57.0
25.827
........ do.................... 6 a. m..... 1089 25.604 46.5 25.765 25.818
Near Des Chutes river........ 9.20 a. m.. 1089 25.627 56.0 53.5 25.785 c.io..
Near north fork of Des Chutes
river...................... 2 p. m. ....
1089 25.628 56.0 25.813
Camp F, near north fork ..... 4.40 p. m. 1089 25.508 50.0 25.737
........do................... 6 p. m..... 1089 25.493 47.0
25.715
........do..................
1089 25.502 45.5 25.705
...... .do ................ 6 a. m.... 1089 25.506 37.5 25.627 25.696
Near Des Chutes ...... 9.30 a. m.
25.539 53.5 | 49.0 25.625
........ do ............
25.367 58.0 55.5 25.455 ........
Camp G, meadow.... 3 p. m....
1089 25.324 58.5 25.426
........do ...........
6 p. m... 1089 25.300 54.0 53.0 25.401
........do .................... 8 p. m..... 1089 25.280 45.5 25.392
........ do ...........
6 a. m..... 1089 25.238 29.0 29.5 25.398 25,404
Lake at base of Snow peak... 10.50 a. m. 24.681 55.0 53.5 24.712
Summit of divide, southern
rim of crater.............. 0.30 p. m.. 1089 23.760 63.5 63.0 23.891 ......
Summit of divide, northern
rim of crater.............. 2.35
p. m., 1089
23.294 | 65.0 63.5 23.437
Camp H, near Three Sisters.. 4 p. m..... 1089 24.010 56.01 54,5 24.163
........do.................. 6 p.m..... 24.028 51.0 49.5 24.164
........ do...........
1089 24.038 50.0 49.0 24.142
........do.........
16 a.m..... 1089 | 24.022 42.0 | 39.0.24.075 "24.136
Small creek .................
8.10 a. m.. 1089 24 542 54.0 48.5 24.639
Near forks of Indian trail..... 12 m ...... 1089 25.641 61.0 60.0 25.761
4,311 11.0
4,384
4,567 | 3.3
2.1
0.15 p. m
.
1089
59.5
-
45.0
1089
4,673 2.2
5,375 | 11.0
......
See also Sept. 25, in this
Section of the Ap-
pendix.
6,303
4.9
6,830
1.0
1089
m.....
Sept.
..
6,054
5,434
4,343
5.5
1.0
7.3
......
Distance estimated from
Camp 40.:
57.01
5,199
5,374
6, 154
6,763
2.5
2.0
2.2
1.3
50.0
luvu o o o o
On ridge.................... 9 a. m. .... 1060
On ridge.................
10.10 a. m. 1060
| On divide................ 11.18 a. m. 1060
Summit of ridge........ 0.15 p. m.. 1060
Camp K, mountain lake..... 6.10 p. m., 1060
1........do........
8 p. m..... 1060
........do................... 6 a. m. .... 1060
On ridge. .................... 8.19 a. n. . 1060
On slope, near ridge.......... 9.40 a. m. . 1060
ñ | Near branch......
.............. 2.44 p. m..d 1060
25.010 58.5 56.0 24.903
24.841 57.0 24.746
24.144 59.0 58,0 24.058
23.613 55.0 52.0 23.534
25.391 53.5 25.305
25.376 42.0 41.5 25.305
25.375 32.5 30.5 25.308 25.306
24.851 68.0 66.0 24.709 ..
.......
25.783 76.0 70.0 25.630 ........
27.300 77.0 1 76.0 | 27.179 l........
4,711 | 6.0
5,478 1.4
4,459 | 33 ...... Lower limit of glacial
2,814 | 5.0 .......! action.
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D—Continued.
Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Remarks.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Inches.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
2,949 3.0
oo oo
co
OC
s
e
do...........
c
24.642 | 5,493 6.5
........ 5,147 | 1.0
For data from which the
altitude of this camp
has been determined,
sce also Section I of this
Appendix, date Sept. 5,
&c.
54.0
.
C
....
25.646
4,343
16.0
45.0
24.080
15.0
2.0
1855.
Inches.
Inches.
Sept. 8 Camp L, water hole.......... 0.07 a. m. . 1060 27.093 | 46.0 45.5 27.002
Camp M, whortleberry camp.. 3.25 p. m.. 1060 24,731 | 64.0 | 62.5 | 24.658
......do................... 6.07 p. mn.. 1060 24.708 56.0 55.0 24.657
....do................
7.30 p. m.. 1060 24.700 52.5 50.0 24.656
.. do ............ 8.52 p. m.. 1060 24.684 44.0
43.0 24.659
do.............. 6.54 a. m.. 1060 24.646 43.5 42.5 24.650
do............ 9 a. În. .... 1060 24.673 52.5 52.0 24.646
11.45 a. m. 1060 24.666 59.5 58.0 24.631
.do..........
0.10 p. m.. 1060 24.672 58.5 57.0 24.635
do...........
3 p. m..... 1060 24.660 56.0 55.0 24,611
...... do............
6.12 p. m.. 1060 24.650 49.5 48.0 24.600
......... do ..........., 8 p. m..... 1060 24.639 42.0 | 40.5 24.606
10 ........do............ 6 a. m..... 1060 24.623 38.0 36.5 24.690
On divide...........
10 a. m. ... 1060 24.956 56.0 52.0 24.921
Camp 40, (second time at same
camp) ...........
6 p. m..... 1060 25.656 49.0 48.5 25.655
......do...............
8.15 p. m.. 1060 25.652 37.5 37.0 | 25.659
....do......
6 a. m..... 1060 25.638 27.5 | 26.0 25.651
do...........
9 a. m. .... 1060 25.691 53.0 25.651
.do.. .........
12 m.......
1060 25.692 66,5 66.0 25.653
.....do...............
3 p. m.....
1060 25.665 66.5 65.0 25.644
........ do ............ 6 p. m..... 1060 25.622 53.0 52.5 25.628
........ do ............. 8.38 p. m.. 1060 25.605 40,5 40.5 25.633
........do...........
6 a.
1060 25.562 32.0 31.5 25.636
Camp N, near Three Sisters . 6 p. m.... 1060 24.140 54.0 53.5 24.079
.... ...do.. ....
9 p. m..... 1060 24.118
44.0 24.079
........do...................
6 a. m. .... 1060 24.100 40.0 39.0 24.083
Summit of ridge.......... 8.57 a. m.. 1060 23.525 64.0 62.0 23.453
On slope of hill ............ 11.20 a. m. 1060 24.843 78.0 73.0 24.732
On small branch ........... 0.25 p. m. 1060
25.404 79.0 76.5 | 25.303
Camp O, small branch....... 6 p. m..... 1060 25.413 49.5 25.346
........do
8 p. m..... 1060 25.398 41.0 40.0 25.352
........do................. 6 a. m..... 1060 25.352 29.5
27.5 25.430
e..................
1060 25.003 64.0 64.0 24.860
Camp P, small meadow.......
1060 24.958 56.0 24.906
........do.............. 6.13 p. m.
24.930 49.0 48.5 24.869
......do......
1060 24.923 47,5 47.5 24.870
........do.............. li a. m. ....1 24.826 46.5 | 46.0 24.866
Camp Q, small crcek......
6,102
6,911
5,431
4,795
.......
5.5
1.5
51.5
25.376
.......
4,627
5,327
9.20
1.6.4
.
3 p.
57.0
1060
1060
1060
25.196 43.0 | 42.5 25.160
......do................
8.40 p. m 1060 | 25,177 | 38.0 | 38.0 25.159
........do.............. 17.30 a. m. 1060 25.148 43.0 25.151
c...do ..............
9 a. m. .... 1060 25,163 44.5 | 43.0 25.159
..do ............ 12 m. ...... 25.179 44.0 43.0 25.152
3 p. m..... 1060 25.194 40.0 38.5 25.162
do.............
6 p. m.....
1060 25.186 43.0 | 42.0 25.155
...do............. 8.15 p. m.. 1060 25.214 42.0 42.0 23,157
.do..................
a. m. . 1060 25.262 40.5 39.5 25.158
........ .do............
0.05 p. m... 1060 25.300 50.5 50.0 25.266
..do............ 3 p. m..... 1060 25.297 49.0
........ do............ 6 p. m..... 1060 25.306 46.0 45.0 25.158
... ....do.................... 7.15 p. m.. 1060 25,318 44.0 43.0 25.162
........ do ...........
6 a. m. .... 1060 25.354 43.0 25.158
Camp 8, Why-chus creek.... 10.04 a. m. 1089 26.922 53.0 26.789
Camp 40 W, small branch ... 6 p. m..... 1089 24.604 37.0 24.569
...do................. 8 p. m ..... 1089 24.610 32.0 31.0 | 24.571
1........do.................... 4 a. m. .... 1089 24.619 28.0 29.0 24.578
....... do..................... 5.50 a. m.. 24.631 30.0 | 28.0 24.569
| Camp 41 W, same as Camp G./ 3p. m..... 1089 1 25.453 / 66.0 l 65.0 | 25.350
24.878
5,237
6.5
6.10 p.
40.5
..............
6.15
47.0
25.161
43.5
51.5
25.160
........
4,882 19.9
3, 125 | 30.0 1......
37.5
See, also, Section III of
this Appendix, Sept. 25.
24.572
5,122 | 20.0
48
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Remarks.
Corrected readings of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
54.0
.......
1089
.......
1089
.......
..............
25.650
5.0
25.569
........
25.439
555.)
5,512
5,593
เว์ เว์ เว้ ว่
573.0
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches. Feet. Miles. Miles.
Sept. 25 Camp 41 W, same as Camp G. 6 p. m..... | 1089 25.391 54.0 25.290
........do.....
| 8.14 p. ni.. 1089 25.390 44.5 45.0 25.304
........ do...........
5 a. m. ... 1089 25.284 31.0 29.0 25.354
.......do....................
6 a. m..... 25.276 31.0 31.0 25.348 25.329 4,673 20.0 See also August 30, in
Des Chutes river ......... 11.35 a. m. 1089 25.590 69.0 68.5 25.567
4,460 9.0
this Section of the Ap-
Camp 42 W, Des Chutes river. 6 p. m..... 1089 25.638 53.5 53.0 25.594
pendix.
........do...................
7.59 p. m.. 25.630 47.0 46.0 25.598
........do.........
4.25 a. m.. 1089 25.557 40.0 40.0 25.601
............
........do ..........
5.45 a. m. 1089 25.558 40.0 40.0 25.610 25.601 4,412 9.0
South branch of Des Chutes
river .....................
11.52 a. m. 1089
58.0 | 57.0 25.608
4,415 10.0
Camp 43 W, Des Chutos river. 3.25 p. in.. 1089 25.616
51.5 25.563
........do............ 6 p. m..... 1089 25.621 45.0 44.5 25,532
1........do...........
4.23 a. m... 1089
25.652
28.0 28.0 25.731 ................
....... do..
5.45 a. m..
26.0 25.5 25.733 21,610 4,339
| South branch of Des Chutes
river.........
9.10 a. m.. 1089
61.0 52.0
4,458 6.0 | 541.66 miles from Camp 36.
........do...
11.57 a. m. 1089 25.497 | 69.5 68.0 25.504
4,532 7.0 548.6
Camp 44 W, head of Des
Chutes river..
6 p. m..... 1089 25.439 | 49,5 | 49.0 25.392
........do..........
5.15 a. m.. 1089 25.432 25.0 24.5 25.377
........do...........
5.58 a. m.. 1089 | 25.5 24.5 25.375 | 25.381 4,592 4.0 552.6
| On hill .............
7.07 a. m.. 1089 25.065 | 48.0 49.0 | 24.948
5,168 2.5
Summit of ridge ......... 9.05 a. m.. 1089 24.790 66.0 61.0. 24.642
4.7 559.&
Divide, summit of range ...... 10 a. m.... 1089 24.708 66.5 63.0 24.567
2.0 561.6
On descent .......... ....... 12 m ...... 1089 24.798 68.0 63.0 24.669
5.0 566.8
In valley..................... 1.35 p. m.. 1089 26.570 72.0 61.0 26.431
3.7 570.5
On stream................... 2.40 p. m.. 1089 27.312 73.5 70.0 27.182
2,788 2.5
Camp 45 W, middle fork of
Willamette river.......... 6 p. m..... 1089 27.658 59.5 58.5 27.581
......
......., do........... 7.50 p. m.. | 1089 37.674 | 53.5 53.0 27.584
........do..........
4.50 a. m.. 1089 27.704 41.5 43.0 27.598
......do................
5.50 a. m.. 1089 27.708 40.5 40.0 27.595 27.589 2,355 3.5 576.51
Middle fork of Willamette.... 7.27 a. m.. 1089 28.150 52.0 27.995
1,979 579.7
........do..........
9.21 a. m.. 1089 28.375 60.0 54.0 28.202
1,774 3.5
........do....................
11.47 a. m.
1089
28.610 74.5 70.5 28.448
1,532 4.4 587.6
........do .................. 1.10 p. m.. 1089 28.654 75.5 74.5 28.525
1,454 2.5 590.1
Camp 46 W, middle fork.... 6 p. m..... 1089 28.891 71.01 69,5 28.829
........do.................. 7.55 p. m.. 1089 28.878 56.0 56.0 1 28.831
......
Oct. .......do ................... 6.03 a. m.. 1089 28.810 44.0 43.0 28.851 28.837
1, 154 9.4
599.4
| Middle fork.................. 7.39 a. m.. 1089 29.012 62.0 57.5 29.013
989 2.0 601.5
1 ........do.................... 10.05 a. m. 1089 29.102 | 72.0
29.102
903 4.5 606.0
........ do .................... 0.50 p. m.. 1089 29.150 84,5 82.0 29.187
821
611.0
Camp 47 W, middle fork.... 5.18 p. 1089 69.0 66.5 29.340
1........do................... 9.10 p. m. 1089 58.0 58.0
...... .do ................... 5 a. m..... 1089 29.200 52.0 53.0 29.358
6 a. m..... 1089
29.210
50.0 50.0 29.349 29.342
10.5 621.5.
Camp 48 W, first settlement.. 3 p. m..... 1089 29.160 82.0 84.0 29.294
........ do ........
6 p.m..... 1089
68.0 67.0 29.298
p. m..
1089
59.51 60.0 29.289
......do.....
6 a. m..... 1089 29.163 49.5 48,5 29.302
......do....
9 a. mn..... 1089 29.180 59.5 59.0 29.267
.do ............ 11.48 a. m. 1089 29.182 71,0 69.5 29.278
do............ 5 p. m..... 1089 29.106 72.0 71.0 29.305
.......do ............ ..... 6 p. in. 1089 29.102 | 62.5 62.5 29.265
........do ................... 7.30 p. m..1089 29.090 56.0 56.0 29.240 ..............
........do ..... .............. 6 a. m..... 1089 29.080 43.0 | 42.5 29.205 29.274 738 | 1.5 623.01
| Camp 43 W, McKenzie's fork. 6 p. m...../ 1089 | 29.400 67.5 | 66.0 | 29.499
49.0
3.2
583 2
65.0 |
based
29.320
is
671
w w sign
29.136
w
w
......
A co w
A
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D—Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Remarks.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Oct.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
512 24.0 647.0
TORO
er
440
20.5 667.5
1089 29.700
51.0
valvo
448
27.0
694.5
51.0
......
....
339
25.5
720.0
o
266
19.3 739.3
2.0 741.3
119
84
T.
..
11.0
66
752.31
....
....10....••••••••••
.......
62.0
1
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
5 Camp 49 W, McKenzie's fork. 6 a. m..... 29.408 | 40.0 41.0 29 516 | 29.507
5 | Camp 50 W, Calapooya creek. 6 p. m..... 1089 29.558 64.0 63.0 29.589
5 ........do ........... ........ p. m.. 1089 29.565 57.0.57.0 29.589
........do..........
m.. 1089 29.630 38.0 37.5 29.580 29.586
Camp 51 W, North fork of
Santiam river.........
m..... 1089 29.680 58.0 57.5
1........do................... 8 p. m..... 29.700
50,5 29.
........do.................. 6 a. m ...... 1089 29.739 41.0 | 41,01 29.579 29.572
Camp 52, near Butte creek.... 6.20 p. m.. 1089 29.827 52.0 52.0 29.679
........do....................
7.40 p. m.. 1089 29.838
50.0 29.673
........do....................
6 a. m..... 1089 46.0 45.5 29.714 29.689
Camp 53 W, ridge above Ore-
gon City.................. 6 a. m..... 1089 29.842 56.0 55.0 29.770
9 Clackamas river ............. 8.05 a. m.. 1089 | 30.081 | 60.0 58.0 29.928
9 | Willamette river, opposite
Portland city...............
11.18 a. m. 1089 | 30.133 68.0 65.0 29.984
Camp 54 W, opposite Fort
Vancouver...
6.08 p. m.. 1089 | 30.040 61.0 58.0 29.959
10 ........do.................
7.15 a. m. 1089 30.096 50.0 30.014
.....do.....
10 a. m.... 1089 30.125 57.01 56.0 29.939
.. do ...........
0.25 p. m.. 1089 30.095 62.5 29.954
do ............
2.30 p. m.. 1089 30.052 69.5 | 68.5 29.925
.do............
7 p. m..... 1089 29.980
59.01
58.0 29.919
.....do ................
6.30 a. m.. 1089 29.992 49.5 49.0 29.946
do............
9 a, m..... 1089 30.000 55.0 55.0 29.939
12 m ...... 1089 29.964 62.0 62.0 29.937
............ 3 p. m..... 1089 63.5 29.937
...do ................
6 p. m.... 1089 29.956 61.0 61.5 29.934
8 a. m... 1089
57.5
29.932
12 m. 1089
62.5 29.938
3 p.m ..... 1089 29.983 65.0 64.0 29.958
do .........
9 p. m..... 1089 29.980 51.0 50.0 29.959
do...........
7.30 a. m.. 1089 29.886 45.0 44.5 29.950
do.........
9 d. m..... 1089 29.862 47.0 | 46.5 29.939
12 m ...... 1089 29.795 65.0 65.0 29.938
do.............
1089 29.762 64.5 29.
............
1089 29.736 58.5 58.0 29.934
............
1089 29.846 51.5 51.5 29.990
do............
1089 55.5 55.0 29.934
do ............
1089 29.895 68.0 67.0 29,941
do.............
6 p. m .... 1089 29.900 59.5 59.0 29.934
do.............
a. m.. 30.093 55.0 54.0 29.932
do.............
9 a.m.... 1089 30.122 59.5
do............
0.30 p, m.. 1089 30.142 63.5 | 63.0 29.946
do ............
3p.m..... 1089 30.137 65.5 65.0 29.933
..do.....
6 p. m.... 1089 30.126 60.0 60.0
7.30 p. m.. 1089 30.130 55.0 55.0 29.928
..........
6.45 a. m.. 1089 30.156 49.0 48.01 29.939 29.943
.
63.5
do
..............
58.0
.....
63.5
I OD
O
11
do............
65.51
.
1089
59.5
29.935
29.934
Oo
dom
105
7.0
759.3
7 AA
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.
III. Routes of detached parties in charge of Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Topographical Engineers.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Remarks.
| Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
-
1855.
Sept.
Inches.
| Near base of Black Butte..... 12 m....... 1089 | 26.790
Inches. | Inches.
26.698
76.0 | 70.0
Feet. Milos. Miles.
3,294 | 10.0 Not used on profile; dis-
tance estimated from
camp 40.
On line of profile.
1,907 | 18.0 636.71 Mean height deduced
2,660 2.6 639.3 from observations on
Sept. 6-7, and 22-23.
28.102
........
1089
80.0
8 Camp 40 A, Mpto-ly-as cañon. 9 p. m....
1089 / 28.172 58.0 54.0
.......do...............
6 a. m.... 1089 28.216 43.0 42.0
Plateau above river ..........
I p. m...
89.5 84.0
Camp 41 A, Psuc-see-que creek
1089 8.005
78.0
1.... ....do................. 9p, m. 1089 28.038 73.0 70.0
1........ do ................. 6 a.m...
27.990 41.0 / 40.0
8 On plateau north of creek ..., 8 a. m... 1089 27.481 70.0 62.0
Near Chit-like creek .........
9 a. m.....!
1089 28.470 74.0 67.0
| Wam Chuck river ........... 12 m....... 1089 | 28.500 87.0 80.0
Highest point of mountain
crossed by trail ............2 p. m..... | 1089 26.823 82.0 76.0
In small ravine .............. 2.40 p. m.. 1089 26,931 87.0 80.0
Camp 42 A, Nee-nee springs.. 6 p. m....
1089 27.089 70.0 67.0
........ | 9 p. m....
1089 27.088 55.5 | 55.0
..................... 6 a. m.....
1089 | 27.072
$48.0
Summit Mutton mountains... 8 a. m..... 1089 28.940 68.0 58.0
28.096
28.108
27.329
28.013
28.016
28.035
27.475
28.452
28.488
28.021
1,964 7.7 | 647.0
2,527 | 1.0 648.0
1,531 4.2 ...... Not used on profile,
1,504 | 11.5 663.7
14.0 | 667.71 Mean beight deduced
from observations on
Sept. 8 and 21.
26.872
26.969
27.139
27.129
27.130
26.907
......
50.0
27.133
2,829
3,087
4.9675.9 Mean height deduced
2.7
from observations on
Sept. 8-9, 20-21, and
Oct. 3-5.
General level of prairie.
2,207
| 1.5
85.0
......
1,246
15.5
28 777
28.816
0.5
Tysch prairie ................ 8.30 a. m... 1089
www.m 8.30 a. m. 1089 27.800
27.800 | 70.0 | 65.0 | 27.769
Divide between two branches
of Tysch creek ............ 12 m...... 1089 | 28.787 78.0 28.743
Camp 43 A, Tysch creek ..... 9 p. m.... 1089
48.0 28.746
........do..........
Ba.m.... 1089
28.855
31.5 | 28.886
10 Summit of Tysch mountains.. 8 a. m..... 1089 61.0 57.0 27.287
10 | In ravine, (dry)............. 10 a. m.... 1089 28.225 65.0 28.173
10 | Fifteen Mile creek ........... 11.30 a. m.
1089
28.760 69.0 28.707
Eight Mile creek ........ 1.30 &. m.. 1089
73.0 29.145
10 | Near Five Mile creek ........ 2.30 p. m... 1089 28.805 84.0 77.0 28.766
15 Camp 44 A, Fort Dalles ...... 9 p. m..... 1089 | 29.573 55.0 52.0 | 29.544
17 | Above Cascades, Columbia
river ..
2.35 p. m.. 1089 29.855 67.5 65.0 29.701
6.0
1,153
2,706
1.805
1,286
862
1,228
476
7.0
11
83.0
5.0
2.0
333
42.0 ......
Observations to deter-
mine the descent of the
Columbia river at the
Cascades.
300
0.3 ...
Do.
272 4.2
1,117 75.5
Do.
Eight-tenths of a mile
south of camp 43 A.
.
.
17 Foot of principal rapid ....... 3.10 p. m.. 1089 29.879 | 63.0 62.0 29.738
17 Lower landing, Cascades of
Columbia river............. 5p.m..... 1089 29.917 61.0 | 62.0 / 29.765
20 | South fork Tysch creek ...... 7.48 a. m.. 1089 | 28.903 59.
0 57,01 28.868
Highest point of trail on Mut-
ton mountains ............. | 1 p. 1089 26.980 56.0 23.975
Summit of wooded hill....... ? p. m..... 1089 27.142 65.0 39.0 27.134
20 Camp 46 A, same as Camp 42 A 6 p. m..... 1089 27,136 44.0 | 42.0 / 27.144
........do.................... 9 p. m..... 1089 27.196 43.5 / 43.5 27.146
21 ........do................... 6 a. m..... 1089 27.108 | 40.0 38.0 27.147 27.146
.
m.....
2,995
2,833
16.0
1.0
2,829
2.4 675.9 Mean height deduced
from observations on
Sept. 8-9, 20-21, and
Oct. 3.5.
-
-
-
-
-
28.494 | 74.0
21 | Highest point of mountain
crossed by trail ............ 10 a. m.... 1089 26.978 58.0 50.0 26.941 ........
21 | Wam Chuck river.......... 12 m....... 1089
69.0 28.473
21 On bluff above cañon......... 1 p. m..... 1089 28.146 65.0 61.0 28.159 ........
21 | Camp 47 A, Chit-tike creek... 6 p. in..... 1089 28.454 56.0 55.0 28.479 .. .....
21 ........do........ ....... Up.m..... 1089 / 28.476 50.0 | 49.0 | 28.490
3,036
1,503
1,810
8.2 667.7 Mean height deduced
4.0 663.7 from observations on
1.0 662.71 Sept. 8 and 21.
.
A
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
51
APPENDIX D/Continued.

-
Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Detaehed thermometer.
Attached thermometer.
Remarks,
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer. ·
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
Inches.
28.483
Feet.
1,479
1,611
mora ai o O ar an
Miles, Miles.
9.4 653.31
1.0 652,3
0.6 651.7.
650.9
0.7 650.2
1.5 648.7
0.5 ...... Not used on profile.
3.2 646.0
1.8 644.2
1855.
Inches.
Inches.
Sept. 22 Camp 47 A, Chit-tike creck... 6 p. m..... 1089 28.470 29.0 | 27.0 28.480
22 Base of calon side ........... 7 a.m...... 1089 28.377 61.0 52,0 28.355
On side of caſion ...... 7.30 a. m.. 1089 27.693 60.0 | 48.0 27.676
Summit of cañon side..... 8 a. m..... 1089 37.500 58.0 52.0 27.489
Dry ravine................ 8.30 a. m.. 1089 27.831 | 60.0 53,0 27.817
In lateral cafion............ 9 a. m..... 1089 27.627 68.0 59.0 27.597
On cañon side ............. 9.30 a. m.. 1089 27.811 65.0 56.0 27,790
Lower plateau......
10.15 a. mn. 1089 27,534 63.0 59.0 27.524
Higher plateau......
12 m....... 1089 27.468 64.0 56.01 27.469
Camp 48 A, same as camp 40 A. 6 p.m.... 1089 28.012 49.0 47.0 28.011
........do..........
9.30 p. m.. 1089 27.980 41.0 39.0 27.956
........ do .................. 6 a. m. ... 1089 27.860 44.0 42.0 27.989
23 | On cañon side ............... 7 a. m. ... 1089 26.962 56.0 52.0 27,054
Summit of cañon side........ 7.30 a. m. . 1089 26.767 57.0 55.0 26.855
Dry ravine..............
7.45 a. m.. 1089 62.0 59.0 27.254
Mouth of lateral caiion....... 8 a. m. .... 1089 26.790
64.0
58.0 26.861
On edge of lateral defile...... 8.30 a. m. . 1089 26.473 66.0 60.0 26.540
231 On bluff above dry bed ....... 10 a. m.... 1089 26.221 63.0 59.0 26.301
23 Dry bed of torrent........... 10.30 a. m. 1089 26.285 | 62.0 | 61.0 26.367
27.985
7. 180
ร์
1,907 7.5 / 636.71 Mean height deduced
2,928 1 0.5 | 636.2 from observations on
3, 133 1 0.
8 635.41 September 6, 7, 22, and
0.9634,51
23.
3, 127 * 0.
7633.8
2.4 631.4
3.2 628.2
1 0.4 627.8) Mean height deduced ·
from observations on
Sept. 23 and 28.
3,125 | 16.6 | 611.2 See also Section II of this
Appendix, Sept. 24.
ร์ ต่
25 | Camp 49 A, same as camp 8.. 9 a. m. .... 1060 | 27.005
52.0 | 48.0
26.854
کر دی د
7.5 618.7
0.7619.4
0.6 620.0
620.7
622.6
624.7
ت
Camp 50 A, Que-y-ee brook... 6 p. m..... 2060 26.836 51.5 51.0 26.725
Foot ofridge,east of Black Buttel 8 a. m. .... 1060 | 26.705 46.0 34.0 26.726
On ridge east of Black Butte.. 9 a. m. .... 1060 26.622 51.0 48.0 26.632
........do.................... 9.15 a. m.. 1060 26.615
53.0 26.611
........do.................... 9.30 a. m. . 1060 26, 498 62.0 55.01 26.482
........do ................. 10 8. m. ... 1060 65.0 60.0 26.310
Summit of ridge, east of Black
Butte.....................
10.45 a. m. 1060 26,135 | 67.0 63.0 26.106
Trail leaves dry bed of torrent. 11 a. m. ... 1060 25,836 70.0 64.0 25.798
م
A 234
م
26
3,914 1.5 626.2
3,685 1.6 627.8 Mean height doduced
from observations on
Sept. 23 and 26.
3,743 1.6.0..... | Not on line of profile.
4,508
4,865 0.4
2,920 0.7
3,256 0.3
3,313 5.0
1.6
27.056
27.261
2,673
3,192
3,497
3,400
.......
26 Small opening in forest ....... 12 m....... 1060 | 26.285 62.0 | 61.0 26.267
26 Camp 51 A, mountain meadow 10 p. m.... 1060 25.485 53.0 50.0 25.433
27 On edge of Mpto-ly-as cañon.. 8 a. m. ... 1060 25.240 52.0 | 47.0 25.226
27 | In cañon, near river......... 10.30 a. m. 1060 27.116 65.0 63.0
Bluff west of river.
11 a. m. ... 1060 26.794 66.0 58.0 26.730
Near crater, in pedregal....... 3 p. m..... 1060 26.742 60.0 53.01 26.676
Camp 52 A, near Mt. Jefferson 6 p. m..... 1060 27.488 | 48.0 27.262
.......do.................... la. m.
1060 27.217 36.0 34.0 27.260
| Ridge north of pedregal brooke 12 m....... 1060 26.828 73.0 67.0 26.810
Summit of spur......... 0.30 p. m.. 1060 26.559 73.0 62.0 26.519
Edge of cañon side.......... I p. m.... 1060 26.632 63.0 26.611
Camp 53 A, Castle rock....... 6 p.m..... 1060 27.679 71.0 27.565
. ....do............... 6 a. m.... 1060 27.680 42.0 41.0 27.565
On rocky spur in cañon......
1060 27.390 63.0 29.213
Camp 56 A, same as camp 42 A
1060 27.132 79.0 76.0 27.088
.. . do................
27.105 74.0 72.0 27.119
1060 27.095 62.0 59.0 27.113
.do..........
1060 27.100 53.0 27.118
do..........
1060 27.124 35.0 34.0 27.108
do..........
1060 | 27.192 / 57.0 56.0 | 27.120
.... do .........
3 p. m. .... 1060 27.152 63.0 | 61.0 | 27.117
.... do ..........
1060 | 27.130 51.0 | 49.0 / 27.133
To....... do ..........
1060 | 67.129 46.0 | 45.0 l 27.116
27.565
2,407
2,748
8.30
3.5
......
Barometer broken.
Oct.
12 m.
w
1060
wo es a
..do........
1
.
.
1
9 a. m
A
A
A
....
A
m.....
52
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
lour.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Remarks.
Detached thermometer.
Attached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above inean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
Distance from Benicia.
2.8
er en
1060
os en
......
26.0
1 27.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
46.7 ...... Mean height deduced
2,662 | 4.7 680.61 from observations on
2,445 4.7 685.3 Sept. 8-9, 20-21, and
Oct. 3-5.
....
2,601 2.2 687.51
1.6 689.1
689.7
691.2
695.2
2.0 697.2
O
58.0
57.0
O
dia a dia
1.0
698.21
25.0
26.698
ကံ
ကံ
......
0.5
698.7
700.2
1.5 701.7
3.0 704.7
ကံ
26.427
70.0
3,791
706.41
ကံ
707.41.
56.0
57.0
3,922
708.21
3,604 | 1.0
0.8
4,028 | 0.2
1.2
708.4
709.6
1060
7oooooooo oo oo oo
57.0
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
Oct. 5 Camp 56 A, same as camp 42 A 6 a. m..... | 1060 27.155 37.0 35.0 27.117 27.115
Near ridge.. .............. 11 a. m.... 1060 | 27.266 66.0 57.0 27.295
5 Trail enters thick forest ...... 12 m ...... 1060 | 27.475 67.0 59.0 | 27.510
Camp 57 A, Wil-la-wit springs 9 p. m..... 27.331 47.0 45.0 27.351
..........do........... 6 a.m..... 1060 27.330 25.0 27.284
On gently ascending slope.... 8.45 a.m.. 1060 27.313 48.0 27.187
..........do................. 9 a. m.... 1060 27.200 50.0 27.077
6 Summit of bluff.............. 9.10 a. m..! 1060 27.110 53.0 26.976
6 Near Wan-nas-se creek ..... ....1060 27.066 54.0 26.943
On side of ravine ........ 11 a. m... 1060 26.840 65.0 58.0 26.709
6° Cranberry meadow.......... 12 m 10601 26.950 64.0 57.0 26.830
6 Camp 58 A, Cranberry meadow 9 p. 1060 26.916 36.0 36.0 26.815
1..........no.................. 6 a. m... 1060 26.846 22.0
7 On branch of Tysch creek.... 8 a. 1060 27.050 50.0 44.0 26.843
7 On side of ravine
9 ai
..... 1060
26.746 58.0 52.0 26.526
ng On side of ravine ............ il a.m.... 1060
63.0 26.197
| Foot of ridge................. 12 m...... 1060 26.562 76.0 67.0 26.332
Camp 59 A, Wat-tum-pa lake. 6 p. m ..... 1060 26.502 49.0 47.0 26.354
1..........do.................. 9 p. m.....
9 p. m..... 1060 26.500 42.0 38.0 26 358 36.356
On ridge... ................. 10 a. m.... 1060 26.219
26.094
Summit of ridge ............. 10.15 a. m. 1060 26.112
25.995
Lii-ah-hum-lu-ah-hum prairie. 11 a. m .... 1060 26.180 57.0 26.112
Camp 60 A, Ty-ty-pa lake.... 9 p. m..... 1060 25.954 43.0 25.992
..........do................... 19 a.m.....! 26.075 54.0 52.0 25.986
.......... do................. 12 m ...... 1000 26.078 55.0 25.995.
....do............ 3 p. m..... | 1060 26.070
25.993
..........do............. 6 p. m..... 1060 26.040
25.992
.......do......
6 a.m..... 1060 26.116
25.970 25.988
True summit of pass......... 8.30 a.m.. 1060 25.794
25.620
On descent .................. 8.45 a. in.. 1060
25.709
20 | On descent ..........
9 a. m..... 1060
25.746
On descent............
10 a.m.... 1060
55.0
25.755
10 On low ridge...........
10.30 a. in. 1060
57.0
25.655
10 | In prairie............
11 a in.... 1060
25.834
Edge of enormous precipice ,.11.30 a. in. 1060
25.457
Summit of mountain.. ....... 12 m......
1060
Camp 61 A, on ridge ......... 6 p. in..... 1060
47.0
......... do.................. 9 p. m.....
25.725 25.732
Small lake, Indian “Stone
House” ..........
9 a. m..... 1060
65.0 56.0 26.171
Summit of precipice.......... 10.15 a. in. 1060 63.0 58.0 25.292
Camp 62 A, Whorueberry.camp 10.a. m.... 1060
46.0 45.0 | 25.670
.........do ......
a. m.... 1060
47.0 46.0 25.675
.........do................. 12 m...... 25.670 50.0 49.0 25.673.
...... ....do............ 3 p. m..... 1060 25.668 46 0 45.0 25.680
..........do............ 6 p.m..... 1060 25.667 44.0 42.0 25.670
..........do............ 8 p. m..... 1060 25.668 45.0 44.0 25.681 25.675
On ridgc............... 6.45 a. m.. 1060 25.358 44.0 37.0 25.411
13 On high mountain...... 7 a. m ..... 1060 1.200 50 0 25.242
13 | On ridge................... 7.40 a. m.. 1060
25.323
46.0 42.0
Camp 63 A, among logs., ..., m.. 1060
28.305
53.0 51.0 28.394
Camp 64 A, Currin's rancho... 9 p. in..... 1060
55,0 51.0 29.496
.......... do .............. 2 p.m..... 1060 84.0
.......do....
| 3p.m..... | 1060 29.680 81.0 75.0 | 29.484
.........do........... 4 p. m. .... 1060 29.650 76.0 73.0 29.489
.......... do ............ 6 p. m ..... | 1060 29.588 / 57.0 29.472
.....do....
8 p. m..... 1060 53.0 51.0 29.458 | 29.480
44.0
ه
ه
51.0
ه
ه
25 8
ه
4,017 1.
6 711.21
0.
7 711.9 Summit of main ridge.
0.6 1712.51
1712.8
713.3
714.2
| 715.3
0.8 716.11
1.2 717.3 Extraordinary magnetic
variation.
4,297 | 7.0 724.3
SA
ه
ه
620
5,006
1060
A
3,859
4,808
0.9 | 725.2
2.1 | 727.3
25.674
13.0
4,334 | 3.0
4,598 1.1
4,781 10.7
4,624 2.0
13.7
730.3
731.4
7:32.1
734.1
747.8
25.387
1,574
82.0
......UU
..
...
......
55.0
532
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
53
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Remarks
Reading of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
station.
camp
Distance from
opposite Vancouver.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
149 ...... 18.5
138 1.5 / 20.0
51.0
......
170
16.5 | 36.5
58.0
52.0
382
23.5
60.0
192
17.0
77.00
1060
251 | 31.5 | 108.5
536 | 24.0 | 132.5
821
157.5
159.0
868
25.0
1.5
4.9
2.9
538
163.9
62.0
403
166.8
1060
65.0
350
168.2
774
170.61
0.91 171.5.
544
10
53.0
45.0
29.486
28.640
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
Oct. 22 Camp 65 A, Oregon city ...... 7.55 a. m.. 1060 30.128 | 45.0 43.0 29.891
Near Oregon city ............ a. m.. 1060 30.155 50.0 48.0 29.907 ........
Camp 66 A, Pudding river.... m..... 1060 30.063 55.0 54.0 29.870
.....do................
1060 30.050 50.0 29.857
........do..................
a. m..... 1060 29.950 38.5 38.0 29.887 29.871
Camp 67 A, Salem .........
1060 29.800 57.0 29.641
........do................. 6 a. m. 1060 29.802 52.0 29.651 29.646
Camp 68, Lackimute river.... 6 p. m... 1060 30.004 52.0 29.839
........ do ......
1060 30.022 46.0 29.858
1........do................... 6 a. m... 1060 30.033 34.0 34.0 29.850 29.849 1
Camp 69 A, Long Tom creek. 6 p. m...
29.948 51.0 50.0 29.800
........do...........
6 a, m... 1060 29.842 35.0 36.0 29.766 29.783
Camp 70 A, Eugene city...... 6 a. 1060 29.566 39.0 38.0 29.472
Camp 71 A, near source of
Coast fork..............
6 p. m..... 1060 29.320 52.0 51.5 29.174
........do...................
8.20 p. m.. 1060 29.310 44.0 47.0 29.161
28 ........do...................
6 a. m..... 1060 29.342 43.0 43.0 29.186 29.174
28 Summit of Calapooya mount's. 8.23 a. m.. 1060 29.304 50.0 50.0 29.108
On Pass creek ............. 10.15 a. m. 1060 29.678 56.0 53.0 29.473
Ou Pass creek ...........
11.58 a. m. 1060
57.0 29.619
Leave Pass creek
0.57 p.
29.850 63.0
Summit of ridge ............. 1.25 1060 29.410 67.0 67.0
Elk creek............
1060 29.639 68.0 67.0 29.468
Camp 72 A, near Long's hills. 6 p. m .... 1060 29.616 54.5 54.5 29.480
........do...................
8 p. m 1060 29.612 54.0 29.488
........do............
6 a. m... 1060 29.476 45.5 29.490
Summit of ridge .....
8.28 a. m.. 1060 29.008 51,5 / 54.0 28.988
Summit Long's hills... 8.55 a. m.. 1060 28.655 50.0 48.5
On small creek .... 9.51 a. m.. 1060 29.400 61.0 56 0 | 29.355
Summit of ridge ......... 10.18 a. m. 1060 29.187 60.5 56.0 29.151
Small creek.........
10.35 a. m. 1060 29.426 59.0 58.0 29.398
Summit of ridge ..... 11.37 a. 1060 39.339 65.0 68.0 29.316
Camp 73 A, Winchester... 2 p. m.... 1060 29.643 54.0 53.0 29.726
........do... ... ....
3 p. m .... 1060 29 644 53.5 | 53.0 29.731
......do............
4 p.m....
29.641 51.5 51.0 29.728
.......do..............
5 p. m....
1060 29.650 49.5 48.5 29.728
..do ............
6 p. m ... 1060 29.662 46.5 45.5 23.728
........ do ...........
7 p. m .... 1060 29.667 45.5 45.0
29.712
........do............
6 a. 1060 29.716 34.0 34.0 29.700 29.722
Summit of ridge ....... 8.15 a. m.. 1060 29.651 44.0
Roseburg ................
8.30 a. m. 1060 29.781 45.0 43.5 29.709
31 | South Umpqua river . . .... 8.45 a. m.. 29.809 46.5 29.726
South Umpqua river. ... 9.33 a. m.. 1060 29.751 53.0 52.5 29.655
Small fiat...............
10.23 a. m. 1060 29.695 53.5 51.0 29.605
Summit of ridge .......... 10.44 a. m. 1060 29.084 49.5 48.0 | 29.011
On flat, foot of ridge ....... 11 a. m.... 1060 29.572 55.0 51.0 29.489
Near South Umpqua river....! 11.23 a. m. 1060 29.683 57.5 50.5 29.601
| Myrtle Creek ................ 1.10 p. m..
1.10 p. m.. 1060 29.597 61.0 57.0 29.513
Crossing of South Umpqua
river....................
2.42 p. in.. 1060 29.563 80.0 56.0 29.533
31 Camp 74 A, Cañonville....... 6 p. m..... 1060 29.420 43.0 44.0 | 29.421
31 1 .......do.................... 7 p. m..... 1060 29.406 40.5| 42.0 | 29.398
Nov. 1.... .... do ........... 6 a.m..... 1060 29.449 41.0 44.0 29.371 29.397
530 5.0 176.5
1,003 1.5 178.0
1,337 | 1.2 179.2
654 18 181.0
848
182.4.
614 3.3 185.7
3.0 188.7
1.4
m.
691
1
1060
A
A
A
45.0
29.579
.
1060
49.0
3u8 6.8 | 195.5
441 4.9 200.4
307 0.7 201.1
305 1.4 202.5
371
203.8
310 | 2.4 | 206.2
976
206.7
207.5
1.5 209.01
2.7 | 211.0
is
52
421
15
.......
485
6.9 218.6
516
2.9
221.5
1 summit of pass, Umpqua
cañon ............
9.54 a. m. 1060 28.106 49.0 44.0 | 27.994
il On Cow creek.............
10.36 a. m. 1060 28.492 | 50.5 | 49.0 28.387
1 | Leave Cow creek ..... ..... 1.12 p. m.. 1060 28.696 | 58.0 51.0 28.599
il Summit of ridge...... 1.40 p. m../ 1060 | 28.175 | 57.0 / 52.0 1 28.100 1.......
1,963 7.0 228.5
1,578 2.0 230.5
1,372 6.5 237.0
1,858 ! 1.01 238.0
54.
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Remarks.
Detached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of baroineter.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
camp
Distance from
opposite Vancouver.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
.. -
.
DO
--
1060
28.285
.
+--
-
.-
.
58.5
1,124
-
-
-
+
19.0
28.829
noong
28.999
48.0
1060
...
43.0
38.0
2.6
260.4
48.0
917
42.5
40.0
w w
са с ед дено со
......
45,0
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches. Feet.
Mi
Nov. 1 Camp 75 A, Six-Bit House,
Wolf Creek......... 5.05 p. m.. 1060 28.750 50.0 49.0 28.716
2 ........do............
6 a. m..... 1060
32.5 31.5 28.720 28.718 1,151 2.3 / 240.3
Grave creek hills ..... 9.40 a. m.. 1060 43.5 44.0 28.307
1,658 3.0 243.3
Foot of ridge
9.47 8. m.. 1060
48.5
28.455
1,514 ! 0.3 243,6
2 Grave creek hills ...... 9.55 a. m..
50.5
1,6801 0.2 243.8
2 Small branch, foot of hills... 10.10 a. m. 1060 55.0 51.0 28.653
1,322 0.5 244.3
2 Grave creek ..........
10.55 a. m. 1060
62.0 28 859
1.8 246.1
Grave creek hills ..... 0.10 p. m.. 1060 28.092 59,0 27.970
1,990 2.5 248.6
Flat, foot of hills .......... 0.50 p. m.. 1060 28.944 60.5
60 56.5
1,153 1.5 250.1
Jump off Joe creek........, 1.15 p. m.. 1060 29.114
57.0
1.2 251.3
Camp 76 A, Harris's rancho.. 6 p. m..... 1060
46.5 28.785
.... ......
........ do ............
7 p. m.....
44.0 28.783
..... ......
........do................
7 a. m...
1060
30.5 31.0 28.776 28.781 | 1,187 | 3.0 -254.3
Summit of ridge. ........... 8.23 a. in..
1060
28.415
1,537 3.5 257.8
Small creek..........
9.08 a. m.. 1060
43.0
28.979
Evans' ferry, Rogue river....
10.37 a. m. 1060
066
4.5 264.01
Camp 77 A, Fort Lane...... 6 p. m..... 1060 28.748 43.5 28.768
.....do............... ñ p. m..... 1060 28.731
28.764
.......do ................
8 a. M..... 1060 28.756 44.0 28.761
do............
9 a. m..... 28.764 49.0 46.5 28.762
do............
12 m ..... 1060 28.758 60.0 28.759
3 p. m..... 1060 28.746 60.5 55.0 28.761
f........do............. 6.20 p. m.. 1060 28.752 42.5 28.812
.........do ...........
6 a. m,.... 1060 28.828 31.5 30.5 28.781 28.771 1,202 14.0 278.9
Camp 78 A, near head of
Stewart creek..... 6 p. m..... 1060 27.794 49,5 49.5 | 27,758
5 1........do............ ........ 6.30 p. m.. 1060 27.796 49.0 | 48.0 27.754
T........do.................... 6 a. m..... 1060 | 27.718 50.5 49.0 27.769 27.760 2,195 26.0 304.9
6 On small branch of Stewart
9 a. m..... 1060 27.318 56.0 53.0 27.345
2,639 3.7 | 308.6
6 Summit of Siskiyou mountain: 10.28 a. m. 1060 25.480 58.0 51.0 25.514
580 3.5 312.11
6 Small creek, foot of ridge ... 11.25 a. m. 1060 26.510 60.0 59.5 26.552
2.5 314.61
6 Leave small creek ..... 11.45 a. m. 26.750 59.5
315.9
6 Summit of ridge............. 11.57 a. m.
63.0 59.0 26.540
6 Foot of ridge ............... 0.05 p. m.. 1060 26.555 62.5 61.0 26.607
0.9 317.7
In valley ................... 0.43 p. m. 1060 26.990 65.0 65.0 27.046
3.0 320.7
Summit of ridge ..........
26.780 64.5 61.5 26 845
3,154 0.8 321.5
Near Cottonwood creek ...
1060 27.243 65.5 62.5 27.308
2.0 323.5
Near Klamath river..... .... 2.40 1060 27.722 67.5 65.0 27.789
2, 189 3.5 327.01
Camp 79 A, Klamath river.... 6 p. m..... 1060 27.705 61.0 60.5 27.779 ....................
.......... do................. 6 a. m..... 1060 27.675 55.0 27.786 27.782 2,193 1.2 328.2
Near Klamath river .......... 8.05 a. m.. 1060 27.673 62.0 27.762
2,211 0.5| 328.74
Camp 80 A, Yreka ........... 6 p. m..... 1060
27.290
51.5 27.350
8 ..........do..
. 68. m..... 1060 27.262 32.0 27.352 27.351 2,586 17.0 345.7
| Summit of Little Scott's
mountain............
........ 10.25 a. m. 1060 25.763 51.0 52.0 25.725
4,260 | 6.5 352.2
Foot of ridge ................ 0.40 p. m.. 1060 27.070 57.5 57.0 27.076
2,859 / 6.5 358.7
Camp 81 A, Fort Jones....... 6 p. m..... 1060 27.012 38.5 36.5 27.064
.........do..........
9 a. m..... 1060 27.022 45.0 43.5 27.053
12 m ...... 1060 50.5 47.5 27.041
do............ 3 p. m..... 1060 26.950 45.0 44.0 27.055
Op.m..... 1060 | 26.950 42.0 41.0 27.029
do............. 7.30 a. m.. 1060 27.058 34.0 27.037
......do......
9 a. m..... 1060 | 27.076 35.5 33.0 | 27.046
do........... 12 m ...... 27.087 | 39.0 37.0 27.040
do .......... 3 p. m..... 1060 127.064 39.5 38.0 27.043
......do..... ......... 6 p. m..... | 1060 | 27.060 35.5 35.0 27.036
o oo
creek....................
ñ
ñ
63.0
26.794
1.3
1 26.491
316.8
ñ ñ ñ of so aan
1.07
1.35
p. m..
ܗ |
ܛ
ܢ
53.0
0
26.980
35.0
1060
10
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
55
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Remarks.
Reading of barometer.
Attached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
Distance from preceding
station.
camp
Distance from
opposite Vancouver.
Feet. Miles. Miles.
2,887 | 3.0 | 361.7
24.350
33.5
3,457
5,598
3,272
.....
384.7
388.7
395.0
23.0
4.0
6.3
26.50
.......
2,513
2, 185
4,151
13.6 408.6
13.0 421.6
5.4 | 427,0
1,608 5.6 432.6
1,086 15.9 448.5
1,437 \ 2,5 | 451.0
52.0
41.0
v
28.923
....................
985 2.01 453.00
1,221 1.3 454.3
713 1.0 455.3
a
510
4.7
460.00
1060 29.750
54.5
1855.
Inches.
Inches. Inches.
Nov. 11 Camp 81 A, Fort Jones....... 6 a. m..... 1060 / 27.097 37.0 32.0 27.047 | 27.045
Camp 82 A, head of Scott's
valley ........
6 p. m..... 1060 26.368 | 43.01 43.0 26.454
.........do
6 a. m.... 1060
26.368
33.0 34.5 26.516 26.483
Summit of Scott's mountains. 10 a. m....
37.0 24.495
Texas house.......... ...... 0.25 p. m. 1060 50.01 48.5 26.671
Camp 83 A, Trinity valley.... 6 p. m..... 1060 27.202 40.0 41.0 27.422
..........do .................. 6 a. m..... 1060 27.170 40.5 45.0 27.439 27.430
Leave Trinity river........... 0.05 p. m.. 1060 27.499 53.0 47.0 27.757
Summit of Trinity mountain.. 2.15 p. m.. 1060 25.519 42.0 39.0
25.839
........
Camp 84 A, Clear creek...... 6 p. m..... 1060 28.010 | 41.0 41.0 28.320
lo.........do....
6 a. in..... 1060
29.0 29.0
28.344
28.332
| Leave Clear creck .......... 1.40 p. m. 1060
62.5 57.0 28.893
14 | Summit of ridge ........... 2.35 p. m.. 1060 61.0 28.526
Camp 85 A, Shasta......... 6 p. m..... 1060 47.5 45.0 28.970
..........do........... 8 p. m..... 1060 28.890 | 44.0 42.0 | 28.939
.......... do ..........
39.5 28.944 1
Summit of ridge ....
28.883 50,5 48.5 28.756
.....
Foot of ridge................
9.12 a. m... 1060 29.434 55.0 48.5 | 29.290
.......
15 | Johnson's ferry, Sacramento
river
10.42 a. m. 1060 29.662 61.5 57.0 29.506
Fort Reading ........
9 a. m.....
46.5 49.5
.....do......
10 a. m.... 1060
29.654
52.0 46.0
......do.............
11 a. m.... 1060 29.640
55.5
.....do............
12 m ...... 1060 29.620 59.0
1 p. m..... 1060 29.608 60.0 54.0
2 p. m
1060 29.587 60.5 55.0
do............
3 p. m... 1060 29.575 61.0
.do ............
4 p.m.....
29.560 61.0 53.0
....do..................
5 p. m..... 1060 29.550 57.0
......do.............
6 p. m..... 1060 29.549 55.0
......do...........
8 p. m..... 1060
50.5 44.0
do............
7 a. m..... 1060 29.517 | 40.0 36.0
.do ...........
1060 46.5 39.5
do..........
53.5 49.0
do.....
11 a. m.... 1060 29.536 56.5 56.0
..do.....
12 m ...... 1060 29.534 57.5 58.0
.do .............
1060 29.516 60.0 59.5
do............
2 p. m.... 1060 29.013 61.0 57.0
do............
1060
63,0 57.0
1060
62.0 57.0
.do ............. 5 p. m..... 1060 29.508 60.0 51.0
.do............
47.0
m.....
1060
m.....
do............
p.m....
5
p, m
..
.
6 p. m..
1060
58.5
.do............
7 p. m.. 1060 29.538 56.0 43.0
.do...........
7a. m..... 1060 29.618 49.0 48.0
.do.........
1060 29.640 56.0
..do......
10 a. m.... 1060
59.0 55.0
.....do.. ..........
11 a. m.... 1060
57.0
......do ............
12 m....... 1060 63.0 62.0
.do............. 1p.m..... 1060 | 29,584 64.5 63.5
2 p.m..... 1060 29.579 65.01
3 p. m.... 1060 29.580 65.0 62.0
.do............
4 p.m.... 1060 29.584 63.0 59.0
.do............
5 p.m.... 1060 29.588 55.5 | 46.0
do...... ....
9 p.m..... 1060 29.632 53.0 | 42.0
.do ............
a. m..... | 1060 29.542 40.0 | 29.5
.do..........
9 a. m..... 1060 29.608 54.0 45.0
20 ......do............. 10 a. m....! 1060 | 29.606 60.5 / 55.0
47.0
29.618
53.0
109.646
219.639
80.0
63,5
...do.................
56
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

Date.
Station.
Hour.
Number of barometer.
Reading of barometer.
Remarks.
Detached thermometer.
Attached thermometer.
Corrected reading of
barometer.
Mean of corrected read-
ings of barometer.
Elevation above mean
tide at Benicia.
1
2
1855.
Nov. 20
Inches.
Inches.
..
Fort Reading ........
.......do..........
64.0
65.0
.do ..............
1060
27.5
do..............
do..........
do..........
doi.............
do..............
do..............
do..... ........
..do ............
........ do ..........
10 a. in
29.270
p. m
.....
Inches.
11 a. m.... 1060 29.584 1 63.5 60.0
12 m....... 1060 29.550 65.5 63.0
1 p. m..... 1060 29.526
66.0
3 p. m..... 1060 29.482 69.0
4 p. m..... 29.472
5 p. m..... 1060 29.458 63.0 55.
16 p.m.....1060 29.446 | 60.0
8.40 p. m.. 1060 29.428 51.0
7a. m..... 1060 29.300 36.0
8 a. m.... 1060 29.291 38.0 30.5.
9 a.m.... 1060 29.294 43.0 37.5
1060 29.290 54.5 46.0
lla, in.. 1060
58.0 52.0
12 m..... 1060 29.228 61.0 53.0
1060 29.204 62.5 55.0
1060 29.188 61.0 57.5
1060 29.188 61.5 57.5
p. m..... 1060 29.168 61.0 54.0
1060 29.160 51.0 50.5
6 p. m.....
29.165 58.0 49.0
7 p. m...
1060 29.168 57.0
1060 29.190 52.0
1060 29.319 40.0 30.0
8 a. m.... 1060 29.345
33.0
9 a. m.... 1060 29.373 44.5 40.0
10 a. m 1060
11 a. m... 1060 55.0
12 m..... 1060 29.388 58.5 52.0
1060 29.376 60.0 55.0
1060 | 29.364 61.5 58.0
1060 29.348 61.0 56.0
5
p. m..
1060
46.0
41.0
.do ..............
9 p. m...
7 a. m
| 42.5
54.0
29.400
.
Distance from preceding
station.
camp
Distance from
opposite Vancouver.
Feet.
Miles. Miles.
59.5 52.0
1060 54.0
1060 29.372 54.0 44.0
1060 29.384 51.0 41.0
1060 49.0
.............
do..........
.do............
do.............
do...............
do.............
do.............
.do..........
.do...........
do..........
.....do.....
.do ..............
.do ................
45.0
up, m
...do .............
do.............
.do ........ .....
do ..........
....do..........
For explanations of alti-
tude of Fort Reading,
see Chapter IV of Gen-
eral Report.
29.395
38.0
518 | 10,0 470.0
.ion to
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
57
APPENDIX D-Continued.
IV. Baromelrical observations taken at Fort Reading, California, during the operations of the
parties in the field.

BAROMETER NUMBER 1068.
ATTACHED THERMOMETER.
DETACHED TIIERMOMETER.
Date,
6 A.M.
9 A.M.
12 m.
3P. M. 6 P. M. 9 r. M. 6 A. M.
9 r. M. 6 A. M.19 . M. 12 m. (3 P. M. 6 P. M. 9 P. M. 6 A. M. 9 A. M. 12 m. 3 P. M.16 P. M.9 P. M.
1.
M
.
81.5
29...
82.5
29.636
29.688
72 86 96.5 99.5
72.5 87.5 97.5 102
85 96
72.5 84 | 96 | 95
77 88 95
72.5 88.5
94.5 96
88 | 94 | 92
2....
29.513
29.604
83.5| 94 | 96
29.604
85
85
10..
93
.....
93.5
90.5
87
11....
86.5
91 | 86
91
86
81.5
......! 84
29.684
29.656
17.....
29.611
29.618
29.610
ge
18.
:
29.618
19...
29.654
1 29.568
:
29.638
21...
29.684
29.688
22.
29.632
:
23...
29.642
29.641
29.525
29.494
1855. Inches. Inches. Inches. | Inches. Inches. Inches.
July 28.... 29.602 29.636 29.632 29.602 29.562 29.544
29.602 29.636 29.626 29.582 29.544 29,603
30.... 29.630 29.655 29.607 29.523 29.564
31........
29.654 29.636 29.504 29.438 29.505
Aug.
29.596 29.594 29,582 29.513 29.470 29.472
29.546 29.514 29.562 29.530 29.502
3....
29.608
29.612 29.584 29.594 |
29.540
29.641 29.686 29.578 29.612
5...
29.690
29.683 29.578 29.612
29.446 29.342 29.406
.......
29.395
29.449 29.498 29.425 29.415 29.445
12... 29.580 ........ 29.580 .. ..................... 72.5......
13...
29.708
........
15....
29.694 29.688 29.660 29.630
82
16....
29.664
29.650 29.514 29.588 29.568
29.581
29.638
29.610 29.582 29.588
29.664 29.650 29.514 29.588
20....
29.618 29.610 29.582 29.587 29.564
29.694
29.630 29.616
29.690
29.515 29.444 29.390 29.392
29.604
24....
29.519
29,512
29.515
29.494 29.513
26........
29.720
29.688 29.676 29.660
29.677 29.572 29.651 29.600
Sept. 5........ ........ 29.636 29.621 29.610 29.560
6... 29.600 29.636 29.630 29.616 29.611
29.680 29.636 29.650 29.610 29.611
29.614 29.602
9...
29.651 29.636
29.628 29.614 29.602 29.510 29.578
29.650 29.636 29.502 29.500
29.652 29.682 29.601 29.650 29.560
13....
29.682 29.601 29.630 29.500
14...
29.636 29.638 29.616
29.650 29.614 29.602 29.582
16....
29.671 29.650
29.650
17...
29.600
650 29.636
29.650 29.600
29.560
29.510
29.642 | 29.612 29.610 29.600 29.561 29.560
29.631 29.610 29.500 29.510 29.500
29.636 29.610 29.600 29.561 29.560 29.561 | 72
29.621 29.610 29.600 29.510 29.500 29.512 70
29.700 | 29.734 / 29.736 | 29.700 29.672 | 29.680 61
25.
29.525
29.504
27........
7...
60
8...
| 29.6501
29.582
9.578
91.5
94
29.620
29.582
10..
Il.
29.600
29.602
12...
15
..
1.578
...
18...
s10
19...
20...
21...
.600
24
8
1 81
75
!
| 71.5
78 1 83
8 AA
58
BAROMETRICAL AND THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.
APPENDIX D-Continued.

BAROME'TER NUMBER 1068.
ATTACHED THERMOMETER.
DETACHED TIIERMOMETER.
Date.
6 A. M. | 9 A. M.
12 M.
3 P. M.
6 P. M.
9 P. M. 6 A. M. 9 A. M. 12 m. 3r. M. 6 P. M
9 P. M. 6 A.M. 9 A. M. 12 m. 3 P. M. 6 P. M.9 P. M.
164
80
75
| 79
| 91 | 93.5
80.5/ 75
29 672
99.746
29.768
29.468 | 29.420
Oct.
29.481
2
200
29.388
1855, Inches. Inches. Inches. Inches. Inches. Inches.
Sept. 25........ 29.670 29.700 29.691 29.678 29.610 29.564
26....
29.650 29.671 29.636 29.600 29.568
27.....
29.671 29.678 29.700 29.678 29.600
29.612 29.592 29.600 29.651
29.710
29.712 29.678 29.610
29.700 29.748 | 29.754 29.712 29.678 29.600
29.400
2.....
29.530 29.516
3.....
29.488 29.482 29.420 29.389
4......
29.468 | 29.420 | 29.481 | 29.400.
.581 29.583 29.532 29.534 29.500
6....
756 29.724 29.686 29.650 29.642
29.822 | 29.824 29.820 29.753 29.744 29.724
29.731 29.730 29.741 29.732
671 29.678 29.700
10........ 29.700 748 29.754 29.712
11... 29.785 29.812 29.782 29.754 29.732 29.748
12...
29.671
29.650
29.611
13....
29.682 29.601
29.568
11......
29,734 29.736 29.700
29.680
15..... 29.642 29.612
612 29.610
29.600
29.560
782 29.701 29.650
29.568
17...
29.634 29.576
29.550
18... 29.544
29.584 | 29.530 29.516 29.550
19...
29.610 29.644
29.65.
29.628
20....
29.610 29.600
21...
29.812
29.754 29.732 ! 29.748
29.720
29.600
29.636
29.650
10....
29.582
61.5
54
51
29.642
2005
29.782
22..
29.762
29.740
29.672
29.666
86.5
76
23.
0
110
| 29.750
2.51
84.5
70.5
24..
90
77.5
81
70
66
29.8
25.....
29.776
29.800
29.764
29.800 29.764
29.771 29.734
29.724 29.696
29.730
29.688
26..
29.742
29.7
1
29.642
29.700
27....
00
28....
29.658
29.624
29....
63
60
30...
29.668
29.632
65
69.5
67
69
78
70
73
55
00
29.7
29.732
20
60.5
Nov.
1....
29,817
2......
29.788
29.754
29.732
29.748
-
-
-
-
4....
29.7
-
-
-
5..
29.756
29.781
29.660
29.660
29.654
29.605
29,633
29.611
29.656
V
APPENDIX E.
OBSERVATIONS FOR DETERMINING THE HORARY OSCILLATIONS OF
THE BAROMETRIC COLUMN.
Data* from which Table No. 1 of corrections for the horary oscillations of the barometric column
has been deduced.

Date.
6 A. M.
7 A.M.
8 A.M. | 9 A. M.
10 A. A. 11 A. M.
12 m. | 1 P.M.
2 P. M.
3 P.M.
4 P.M.
5 P. M.OP. M. 7 P. M. 8 P. M.. 9 P. M.
1855.
July 22..... 29.535 29.527 | 29.519 29.496
July 23 ..... 29.526 29.538 29.537 29.532
July 24 .... | 29.570 29.580 | 29.580 29.561
July 25 ..... 29.470 29.464 : 29.470 | 29.455
July 26 ..... 29.477 29.483 129.483 29.478
July 27 ..... +29, 489 +29.495 +29.495 29.490
29.484
29.524
29.546
29.441
29.472
29.489
29.448 29.439 29.418 29.394 29.382 29.376 29.368 29.366 29.377 29,385 29.407
29.516 29.507 29.499 29.485 29.463 29.447 | 29.439 29,440 29.456 29.472 29.489
29.518 29.492 29.465 29.443 +29.420 29.395 29.379 29.369 29.365 29.376 29.398
29.425 29.418 29.406 29.379 29.367 29.355 29.337 | 29.336 29.344 29.352 29.371
29.464 29.445 +29.434 29.423 29.408 | 29.394 29.384 29.377 \429.382 29.395 29.421
29.474 29.462 29.443 29.424 29.407 29.398 29.382 | 29.378 | 29.381 29.387 29.404
-
-
-
--
Hourly mean 29.511 29.514
Grand mean. 29.442 29.442
29.514 29.502
29.442 29.442
29.492 29.474
29.442 29.442
29.460 | 29.444
29.442 29,442
29.425
29.442
29.408 | 29.394 29.381
29.442 | 29.442 | 29.442
29.378 | 29.384 29.395 29.415
29.442 | 29.442 29.442 29.442
-
-
-
-
Horary corn - .069
- .072 – .072 - .060 - .050 - .032 - .018 - .002 + .017 + .031 +.048 +.061 +.064 + .058+ .047+ .027
* These data consist of hourly barometric readings, taken at Fort Reading, Cal., and reduced to what they would have been, had the temperature
of the mercury been 32° Fahr. Barometer uscd, No. 1060.
+ The reading at this hour was omitted. This assumed value has been found by careful interpolation from the constructed dnily curve.
LUULU
Data* from which Table No. 2 of corrections for the horary oscillations of the barometric column
høs been deduced.

Date.
16 A.M.
7 A.M.
8 A.M.
9 A.M. 10 A. M. 11 A. M.
12 M.
1 P.M.
2 P. M. | 3 P. M.
4 P.M.
5 P.M.
6 P.M. 7 P. M. 8 P. M. 9 P. M.
1855.
Aug. 27....
Aug. 28.....
Aug. 30.....
Aug. 31....
Sept. 1 .....
25.926
25.844
25.804
25.796
25.825
25.935
25.835
25.810
25.804
25.823
25.938 125.938 25.927
25.816 25.802 | 23.787
25.816 25.819 25.816
25,798 25,787 25,778
25.810 25.789 25.768
25.911 25.900
25.8901
25.876
25.779 25.751 25.746 25.729
25.811 25.803 25.800 25.786
25,761 25.750 25.743 25.733
25.767 25.753 25.746 25.733
+25.867
25.728
25.773
25,732
25.725
25.859
25.724
25.771
25.748
125.730
25.861 25.871
25.719 25.722
25.767 25.770
25.755 25.769
25.747 25.765
25.874 25.896 25.891
25.725 25.735 25.732
25.775 25.774 25.774
25.780 25.794 -25.813
25.775 25.792 25.804
-
.
- ..
-
Hourly mean 25.839 25.841 | 25.836 | 25.827
Grand mean. 25.799 25.799 25.799 25.799
25.815
25.799
25.806
25.799
25.791
25.799
25.785
25.799
25.771
25.799
25.765
25.799
25.766
25.799
25.770
25.799
25.779
25.799
25.786 25.798 25.803
25.799 25.799 25.709
-
-
Horary cor'n- .040 –,042 - .037 - .028 - .016 - .007 + .008 + .014 + .028 + .034 + .033 + .029 + .020 + .013+ .001 - .004
* These data consist of hourly barometric readings reduced to what they would have been, had the temperature of the mercury been 32° Fahr.
Those on August 27 and 28 were taken at camp 37, and the remainder at camp 38. Both these camps were near the head of Des Chutes valley, and
only about three miles distant from each other. Barometer used, No. 1060.
* The reading at this hour was omitted. This assumed value has been found by careful interpolation from the constructed daily curve.
60
OBSERVATIONS FOR DETERMINING THE HORARY OSCILLATIONS, ETC.
Data* from which Table No. 3 of corrections for the horary oscillations of the barometric column
has been deduced.

Date.
7 A. M. 8 A.M.
9 A. M. | 10 A. M. 11 A. M.
12 m. | 1 P. M.
2 P.M. | 3 P. M.
4 P.M.
5 P. M.
6 P.M.
7 P..M. 8 P. M.
1855.
November 17...
November 18 ........
November 19 ........
+29.597 +29.602 : 29.604
29.487 | 29.491 +29.494
29.564 +29.566 29.567
29.592
29.482
29.566
29.568
29.462
29.549
29.538 29.525 29.503 | 29.489
29.458 29.433 | 29.427 29.417
29.514 29.493 29.484 29.484
29.474 29.475 29.479 [+29.485
29.422 29.425 29.443 29.465
29.488 29.497 129.512 +29.530
29.492
+29.485
129.545
Hourly mean..........
Grand mean .....
29.549 | 29.553 29.555 29.547 29.526 | 29.503 29.484
29.504 29.504 ' 29.504 29.504 29.504 29.504 29.504
29.471
29.504
29.463
29.504
29.461
29.504
29.466 29.478
29.504 29.504
29.493
29.504
29.507
29.504
Horary correction.......
- .045 - .049 - .051
.043 - .022 + .001 + .020 + .033 + .041 + .043 + .038 + .026 + .011
-- .003
* These data consist of hourly barometric readings, taken at Fort Reading, Cal., and reduced to what they would have been had the temperature
of the mercury been 32° Fahr. Barometer used, No. 1060.
+ The reading at this hour was omitted. This assumed value has been found by careful interpolation from the constructed daily curve.
APPENDIX F.
DATA FOR CONSTRUCTING PROFILES OF THE ROUTES PROPOSED FOR
A RAILROAD.
I. Route from Benicia to Fort Vancouver, surveyed by Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. Top.
Engineers.
Locality.
Distance from Benicia.
Remarks.
| Altitude above mean
tide at Benicia.
Grade per mile from
preceding station.
leet
Feet.
00
101
Miles.
0.0
2.8
15.0
26.2
53.4
69
304
295
76.4
281
252
200
308
Benicia ......
Depot camp-....
Camp 2, near Cordelia--..
Camp 3, near Vacaville ..
Camp 4, Cache creek.----
Camp 5, near Nicholas ----...
Camp 6, opposite Marysville..
Camp 7, near Feather river ..
Camp 8, near Hamilton ......
Camp 9, on Chico creek..
Camp 10, on Deer creek......
Camp 11, on Antelope creek..
Fort Reading........
Station...
Mouth of McCloud's river.
Station......
Station.
Station...
Station
Station.
Camp 19, near Pit river.---
363
420
618
94.0
99.8
115.2
137.5
157.2
176.3
200.3
223.2
235.0
240.2
250.7
255.4
281.9
289.4
313.9
837
922
954
1,078
1,156
1,730
2,177
2,784
From Fort Reading to Camp 19, the line was
surveyed by Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, 3d
artillery, in 1854.
ကံ
Station....cas
Western entrance of tunnel
317.4
319.7
370
168
200
3,830
Tunnel through Stoueman's ridge. Altitude
of summit, 4,080 feet.
3,741
3,581
178
200
Eastern entrance of tunnel......
Station.......
Camp 20, near mouth of Fall river....
Camp 21, near upper cañon.....
320.2
321. O
325.4
338.0 1
11
3,304
3,346
62
DATA FOR CONSTRUCTING PROFILES OF THE ROUTES, ETC.
APPENDIX F-Continued.
Locality.
Distance from Benicia.
Remarks.
Altitude above mean
tide at Benicia.
Grade per mile from
preceding station.
4
Fect.
· 76
Camp 22, near upper cañon...
Camp 23, last on Pit river.
Station
Camp 24, Spring branch
103
Station
1 | Altitude approximate.
150 Altitude approximate.
150
8 | Altitude approximate.
Altitude approximate.
Altitude approximate.
Foot of ridge.
Summit of ridge..
Camp 25, Wright lake..
Station......
Summit of bluff ........
Foot of bluff
Camp 26, near Natural Bridge..
Camp 27 A, leave Lost river..--
Divide, (23 feet cut)....
Low ridge, (40 feet cut) -------
Camp 29, Upper Klamath lake.
Camp 30, Klamath river.
Camp 31, Klamath river.
Camp 34, Klamath marsh..
Camp 35, Water hole. ...
Station...
Station....
Station
Station...
Station -------
Camp 36, Des Chutes river.
Station
Station --------
Camp 44 W, near source of Des Chutes river.
Summit of pass through Cascade mountains.
Middle fork of Willamette river...
Camp 45 W, Middle fork........
Station
Station.....
Station.........
Station....--
Camp 46 W, Middle fork....
Station.
Station --
Station.........
Camp 47 W.
Camp 48 W, first settlement.
Miles.
347.9
369.5
376.0
379.7
396.5
403. 1
406.6
410. 1
414.1
420.1
421.1
435.4
450.4
460.1
462.1
476. 1
487.8
506.2
522.8
541.3
542.8
546.3
548.8
551.8
554.8
560.0
566.0
573.0
577.0
585. O
600.0
603.5
606.7
610. 2
614. 6
617.1
626.5
628.5
633.0
638. O
648.5
650.0 /
Feet.
4, 103
4,212
4,888
4,876
4,472
4, 480
5,000
4,470
4,500
4, 250
4,050
4,014
4,036
4,154
4,131
4, 131
4, 196
4,437
4,526
4,864
4,801
4, 755
4, 677
4,522
4,477
4,411
4, 458
4,532
4,592
5,595
2,788
2, 355
1,979
1,774
1,532
1, 454
1,154
989
903
187
821
671
738
DATA FOR CONSTRUCTING PROFILES OF THE ROUTES, ETC.
APPENDIX F-Continued.

Locality.
Distance from Benicia.
Remarks.
Altitude above mean
tide at Benicia.
Grade per mile from
preceding station
Feet.
Fect.
512
440
448
Miles.
674. O
694.5
721.5
747.0
766.3
768.3
779.3
786.3
Camp 49 W, McKenzie's fork.....---
Camp 50 W, Calapooya creek ----...
Camp 51 W, north fork of Santiam river...
Camp 52 W, near branch of Rock creek...
Camp 53 W, ridge above Oregon City.. ---
Bank of Clackamas river.....
Opposite Portland........
Camp 54 W, opposite Fort Vancouver.
339
266
119
66
105
II. Route from Fort Vancouver to Fort Reading, surveyed by Lieut. H. L. Abbot, U. S. Top.
Engineers.
Locality.
Remarks.
camp
Distance from
opposite Vancouver.
Altitude above mean
tide at Benicia.
Grade per mile from
preceding station.
Miles.
Feet.
Feet.
0.0
149
138
170
192
251
536
821
538
Camp opposite Vancouver.--.
Camp 65 A, (70 feet above river). ---
Oregon City, (40 feet above river)...
Camp 66 A, Pudding river ......
Camp 68 A, Lackimute river.....
Camp 69 A, Long Tom creek.
Camp 70 A, Eugene City------
Camp 71 A, near head of Coast fork....
Summit of Pass, Calapooya mountain
Station
Leave Pass creek.
Divide, (40 feet cut)
Elk creek.--------
Near camp 72 A.-----
Summit of Long's hills, (40 feet cut).
Foot of Long's hills.
Summit of ridge...
Foot of ridge.--..-..
Summit of ridge.----
Camp 73 A, Winchester -
Summit of hill..
407
18.5
20.0
36.5
77.0
108.5
132.5
157.5
159.0
163. 9
166.8
170.6
171.7
175.4
179.4
182.4
185.9
189.2
192.2
199.0
203.91
774
544
555
1,337
654
848
186
214
614
691
308
441 i
64
DATA FOR CONSTRUCTING PROFILES OF THE ROUTES, ETC.
APPENDIX F-Continued.
UI
---
Locality.
Distance from camp
opposite Vancouver.
Remarks.
Altitude above mean
tide at Benicia.
Grade per mile from
preceding station.
Feet.
Feet.
307
305
191
1
50
371
421
Approximate grade and distance.
475
20
V
11
207
Roseburg ------
South Umpqua river ..
Hill.---
South Umpqua river.
Myrtle creek.
Cross South Umpqua river...
Camp 74 A, Cañonville ---
Summit of Umpqua cañon.---
On Cow creek.
Cross and leave Cow creek...
Summit of divide..
Wolf creek, near Six Bit house-
Mouth of Wolf creek....
Evans' ferry, Rogue river------
Camp 77 A, Fort Lane ----
Camp 78 A, near head of Stewart creek..
Northern entrance of tunnel. .--.
Miles.
204. 6
206. 0
207.3
221.5
224. 2
231.1
234.0
241.0
243. O
247.5
250.5
254.5
277.5
307.5
321.5
347.5
351. 2
192
33
485
516
1,963
1,578
1,429
1,858
1, 109
617
917
1,202
143
....
187
---
........
.....
Altitude approximate.
Distance, altitude, and grade, approximate.
Distance and grade, approximate.
2,195
38
120
2, 639
Tunnel through Siskiyou mountains. Sum-
mit 3.5 miles from northern entrance.
Altitude 4,580 feet.
137
Southern entrance of tunnel..
Leave small creek...
Summit of ridge
On ridge......
Foot of ridge.------
Summit of hill...
On side of hill. --------
Foot of mountain. ------
Camp 79 A, near Klamath river
Camp 80 A, Yreka.-----
Near base of Shasta Butte...
Johnson's ferry, Sacramento river....
Fort Reading ......-
119
186
78
136
198
357.2
358.5
359.4
360.3
363. 3
364.1
366.1
369.6
370.8
388.3
418.3
498.3
508.3
3,461
3, 306
3,474
3,403
2,995
3, 154
2,776
2, 189
ล
2,586
3,500
Altitude, distance, and grade, approximate.
Distance and grade, approximate.
510
518
ERRATA FOR VOLUME VI.
. INTRODUCTION.
Page 13, line 26--for “ Helen's" read “ Helens."
PART I.
Page 29, line 7—for “ 460 " read “ 450."
117, lines 13 and 14—for "there by the Medical Department of the Army "read “at the Presidio, near San Francisco,
by the United States Coast Survey."
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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