NI.WMRKY 
 
 I 
 
 N THE GEOLOGY 
 I) DOTANY OF THE 
 COUNTRY BORDERING 
 THE NORTHERN 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD 
 
'WfrMs' 
 
 University of California Berkeley 
 

 NTOTES O '-IE 
 
 Geology and Botany 
 
 OF 'ii Y r.<>i;m-:m\<; THK 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD, 
 
 WHERRY 
 
 BROS 
 
JtDWARD W. NOLAN 
 
 NOTES ON THE 
 
 Geology and Botany 
 
 "!' TIIK OM NTKY ]',< H.'l >KI.'I \<I TIIK 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD, 
 
 PBOP, .1. s. \K\\ I:I-;I;KY. 
 
 |-'I:UM TIII; . \.\\\i- OJ I in: \. ^. A \Di:\n <n 
 
 VOL, III. No, 8, i- 
 
 
 GREGORY BROS., 
 
 PrlnUrt. 113 Sixth Avnu. 
 NEW YORK. 
 

' \ 
 
 X I. \iifrs nti tJir Crajuf/t/ miff />'///// ;/v o/' / 
 ///<' \(n-f/n'i'n J'lfifj 
 
 Read February 4th. 1884. 
 
 Having been several times over the lino of the Northern 
 Pacific IJ. K., and through the country bordering tin- ! 
 Columbia and Puget's Sound, and having found some things 
 that were of interest to me, I venture to offer a few notes upon 
 them to the members of the Academy. 
 
 (ming west from Duluth to Brainerd. t''e line of the mad for 
 the most part lies in what is evidently the old deserted hcd of a 
 ward extension of Lake Superior, The ground i<>till 1\\ 
 and swampy, and much of the surface is formed of what is un- 
 mistakably lake sand. 
 
 From Chicago through Wisconsin and Minnesota, the road 
 pamec OTer an almost unbroken sheet of drift, which tlmu^i, ,,f 
 great interest, has been PO fully illust rate<l in the able repor 
 Kferan. Chaniherlin. Winchell and rpham. that nothing furihci 
 need be said here in regard to it. At variou- points the true 
 till is seen, with its striated pebble-; and one <ueli e\; 
 within reach of e\ery traxdcr. ;i t Aiulubon. He\ond thi^. flu- 
 hnulder- Are -cattcred OY6F the BUfl the 
 
 ditches continue a> evidence of t he t ransport of material ' 
 the eastern highlands. About P>:-marck the boulders. th<- 
 fcwcr, are .-till not rare, and are gathered in groups. M elsewhere 
 along the margin of the drift area. Constituting a kind of fringe, 
 and sugge.-ting their transport b\ ice float-. 'I'he last of these 
 boulders is seen at Sims, about .'<> miles from Bismarck, I 
 this jioint to the rros-iiiL' of the Little Mi -s-.ur i. one eon Id hardly 
 find to throu at a hinl. or a shrub big enough ton 
 
 a tooth-pick. This ivi-ion i< an n DOrthward of that 
 
 broader prairie area which I ha\' 
 
343 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 south. Here, between the eastern drift and that from the 
 Rocky Mountains, the soil is formed entirely by the decomposi- 
 tion of the underlying rocks ; and wherever these are shales and 
 calcareous sandstones, as they are throughout most of the Creta- 
 ceous formation, there are no outcropping ledges of rock, the 
 country is smooth, and stone of all kinds is scarce. 
 
 This belt, which runs from the Mexican to the Canadian line, 
 is prairie because of the dryness of the climate, and not on ac- 
 count of the geological substructure ; for, between the " Cross- 
 timbers" and the Raton Mountains, with a great variety of geol- 
 ogy and topography, there are no trees except along the water- 
 courses ; which, fed by the melting of the snow on the Rocky 
 Mountains, are perennial, and supply constantly the amount of 
 moisture that is a necessity for tree growth. The peculiar tine- 
 ness of the soil of the northern portion of this belt has been sup- 
 posed to have something to do with the prevalence of grass and 
 the absence of trees ; since in Illinois and Wisconsin, along the 
 border line between the forest area and the prairie, the levels 
 where the soil is fine are .grass-covered, while the swells and ridges, 
 rocky or gravelly, carry trees ; but as I have shown elsewhere, 
 these local peculiarities of the soil, favoring, the first grass and 
 the second trees, have simply caused the interlocking of prairie 
 and forest along the debatable line. 
 
 Further west, with every kind of soil, geological structure and 
 topography, there are no trees, but everywhere grass ; while east 
 of the Mississippi and beyond the battle-ground between the two 
 forms of vegetation, all kinds of topography, soil and geological 
 substructure are covered with forest. No one who has traversed 
 the continent, as I have done, along several parallels of latitude, 
 and has studied the relations of vegetation to soil and geological 
 structure, will fail to find conclusive evidence that the influence 
 which has determined the kind and quantity of vegetation in the 
 varied topographic and climatic districts of the West, is the 
 rainfall. 
 
 The valley of the Little Missouri is deeply cut in a table-land 
 composed of the Laramie coal-measures, of which 200 or 300 feet 
 are exposed in the cliffs, with several seams of coal. Thousands 
 of silicified tree-trunks lie scattered over the surface, and innu- 
 merable stumps are standing apparently where they grew ; but 
 no foreign material is anywhere visible. 
 
Geolo and //"/</////<>/ Northern /'//r-v/v //>///////. 
 
 A few miles helow tin- railroad crossiiiu'. tin- \all<-\ expand- 
 and opens into tin- famous / .,- " had land- >f 
 
 tin- Missouri." TlieCOnrteof that >trcam Mlijettfl 
 
 : and I In- \ alleys of t he trihutaries ninninir imri h and ><mtli. 
 co.de.-ce. and form in tin- old lakc-hcd a picture-Mine l-nt ilai, 
 ous lahyrinth. 
 
 A- -""ii as one enters the vallev of the Yellowstone, he find* 
 himself MiiTounded ly t ransportcd material. ( \ ravel and hould- 
 
 !' cry-talline. sedimentary and \olean :nn tin 
 
 and hars of tin- river, inciva>ini: in OOUrseneM and |tiantitv all 
 the way to Livingston : hnt in all this material I was unahle In 
 tind anything that was to me even pivsumahlv of ea.-tern or 
 Dr. ('. A. White. (Am. .lonrnal of Sci.. vol. \\V. 1 
 reports lindini: what he consider- ea-tei'n glacial drift aloni: the 
 valley (f the Missouri and that of the Yellow-ton,- : hut my 
 >eareh for sueh material was vain. As will In- seen further "ii. 
 1 found in the \alley of the M ioiiri ahout the Fall-. ian- 
 
 tities of drift with houlder- of f, .>>ilifrroii> lin 
 
 'id granite, all reinarkahly like the Kastern drift, hut 
 which 1 subseijuently traced to tin ir jilaco \' origin in the 1 
 Mountain.-. 
 
 The surface ^eolo^v of the Yellow>toiie Park ha- hr-n le- 
 scnhed in con.-iderahle detail hy Mr. \V. II. Holme.- and Mr. 
 A. ('. Peale : hut 1 was surpri.-ed to find the trace- i.f i 1 ! 
 action BO \\ ide-.-pread and unmistakah e. It is jirohahly not 
 too much to say that every \alley of the Pal ':lled 
 
 with ice: for moraine-, h.-ulder-. -la< lal lak. -. and more rarely 
 -lacial >tri,-e. irive le.-t imony t hat cannot he disjiuted. I 
 hlock- are -een on the >ides of the Yello w-!. ne valh 
 the mouth of dardnei'.- Iii\er : and ahmit Mam mot li Hot Spi 
 
 \ de)M-e-- held a glacier. S\\an Lakt irial 
 
 and is h.,unded on the.-oinh li\ a moraine, wl),: 
 
 and ,-triated nn-k->urface> mark the ..Id 
 hi-h up on tin dlej, I H^. tin- 
 
 road lr;id- over a - ;m 'l 
 
 houhler-. \\hich i-mitinue to and around the ! n H 
 and pm\e that i tilled with ic. 
 
 all that I could learn. ' i. 
 
 portion of the Park, n ' "II 
 
245 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 Between Livingston and Bozeman, the railroad passes over a 
 spur of the Rocky Mountains composed chiefly of Palaeozoic lime- 
 stones, part of which are Carboniferous. Above these are red 
 beds which probably represent the Jurassic and Triassic, and still 
 higher Laramie rocks with coal, apparently the same section ex- 
 posed in Cinnabar Mountain, in the valley of the Yellowstone 
 just north of the Park. The strata are very much disturbed, 
 the coal much crushed and twisted, so that it works small, but 
 it is extensively mined for use on and along the railroad, and is 
 esteemed a good fuel. Fossil plants associated with the coal, 
 prove it to be of the same age with that exposed in the cliffs at 
 the crossing of the Little Missouri. One feature of the Bozeman 
 coal it has in common with some of that from much disturbed 
 beds in Washington Territory and Colorado. It contains a large 
 quantity of yellow, translucent amber-like resin, in seams and 
 patches. As this occurs in the joints of.the coal, it is evidently 
 a secondary product resulting from its partial distillation. 
 
 DRIFT OF THE UPPER MISSOURI. 
 
 The Missouri River, formed by the union of the Madison, the 
 Gallatin and the Jefferson, at Gallatin City, traverses with a 
 north-westerly and then northerly course, the valley between the 
 Rocky and Belt Mountains, and finds its way out to the plains 
 by a long circuit around the northern bases of the Belt and 
 Crazy Mountains, which belong to the Rocky Mountain system, 
 and constitute their eastern outliers. Cutting through barriers 
 formed by low interlocking spurs, at the "Gate of the Mount- 
 ains," the river enters an undulating prairie country which ex- 
 tends from the north side of the Belt Mountains to and beyond 
 the Canadian line. All this region is occupied by a sheet of 
 drift that in thickness and extent rivals that of the plains sur- 
 rounding the Canadian highlands ; but as far my observation 
 extended I found this to be of local origin. 
 
 At the Great Falls of the Missouri, the underlying rock is 
 fully exposed, but the drift sheet comes up to the edge of the 
 gorge and forms the low hills which stretch away to the east and 
 north like the long swells of the ocean. In the valleys of the 
 streams which come down to the Missouri from the Belt Moun- 
 
/// '///'/ lint, i nit Of Y(W '' in I '.' 1 1, 
 
 fains, tin- rock substructure is visible: hut tin- int- 
 plateaus are covered with a sheet of drift clay and boulo 
 that varies greatly in thickness, as it is spread over a rock-sur- 
 face that was once deeply and irregularly eroded. For example, 
 near the Upper Falls of the Missouri, where the banks of the 
 river are perhaps a hundred feet high, of solid rock, a trihutarx 
 coinini: in from the south cuts across an old valley tilled with 
 drift which extends almost to the promt river channel. A 
 mouth, this tributary has hi^h rocky banks : but a few hundred 
 yards above, they are altogether composed of drift. This drift 
 is a true till, thickly set with boulders, some of which are two 
 feet or more in diameter. They are usually rounded, somet 
 subangular, and are composed of gray or red granite, quart /He. 
 palaeozoic limestone, and a variety of eruptive rocks. Th. 
 semblance of this drift to that from the Canadian highlands, is 
 so great that I was only convinced of its local origin when I 
 found all of its constituents in place in the Kelt and Kock\ 
 Mountains. The granites were to my eye indistinguishable from 
 those of the eastern Laurentian series ; they are of An-ha-an a-e. 
 as I subsequently learned ; and nothing but careful microscopic 
 examination will show them to be distinguishable, if they are so. 
 These facts lead me to suspect that even the very careful and 
 experienced observers who have reported the finding of east tin 
 Laurentian boulders on the flanks of the Rocky M>n 
 feet above the sea, may have been misled by this striking resem- 
 blance. 
 
 On the undulating surface of the table-lauds between the tribu- 
 taries of the Missouri, large boulders are occasionally seen, a 
 the States bordering the Great Lakes ; and one of thes- 
 wliat angular in form, has served so long as a rubbing-pout for 
 the buffaloes which recently abounded in that region, tlur 
 sides are all polished and a deep furrow is worn around it. 
 
 Immediately south of the Falls of the Missouri, an extensive 
 coal-basin of Cretaceous (?) age is opened b\ the \ the 
 
 Oil which come down from the Kelt and Ih-hwood Mount- 
 ains. Two coal seams are exposed, one thin. fmm ]-.' 
 to is feet in thickness, the latter a compound soaro, some of tin- 
 benches of which are bright, pure coking coal. 
 
 The Falls of the Missouri, caused by beds of sandstones b 
 
247 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 ing to this coal formation, consist of a series of cascades having 
 an aggregate height of over 200 feet ; the lower fall is 98 feet, 
 the next 25, the next 40, the next 20, etc. They occupy the 
 whole breadth of the river, which is here about 1500 feet ; and 
 as the volume of water is large, they are exceedingly beautiful 
 and also furnish a water-power rivalling in magnitude that of 
 Niagara, and far more available. 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE BELT MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The streams which flow into the Missouri from the Crazy and 
 Belt Mountains, form valleys which are remarkably picturesque 
 and of great geological interest. The coal-basin to which I 
 have referred is underlain by palaeozoic limestones more than 
 two thousand feet thick. These rise toward the south, where 
 they rest upon the Cambrian and Archaean nucleus of the 
 mountains. Deeply cut by the draining streams, they form the 
 walls of a series of narrow valleys or cafions, which, though less 
 impressive in magnitude, are more beautiful than those of the 
 Colorado. The limestones are sometimes blue, more generally 
 cream-colored, and lie in massive beds of 100 to 200 feet in 
 thickness ; these form a series of steps in the precipitous walls of 
 the valleys, from which project spires, castles, fortifications, 
 and other colossal imitations of human architecture. The light 
 cream tint of the prevailing limestone contrasts charmingly 
 with the dark green of the fir-trees that crown the summits and 
 cluster in picturesque groups wherever they can find a foothold 
 on the declivity. Add to these elements a variety of minor 
 plants, which with varied colors decorate the cliffs, and the 
 whole forms a combination which in beauty surpasses anything 
 that I have elsewhere seen in somewhat extended wanderings 
 through the far West. 
 
 Cutting through the limestones and in places the coal-bearing 
 rocks, are eruptive dykes of three distinct kinds, which Mr. J. 
 P. Iddings has been kind enough to examine for me microscopi- 
 cally. He reports them to be, first, a typical augite-andesyte, 
 which forms the Bird Tail Divide and the upper portion of 
 " Square Butte," a conspicuous landmark on the west side of the 
 Missouri ; second, a true trachyte, with large crystals of feldspar. 
 
'/"//// mnl lintiuiil <>f' A'"/7//r/-/i 
 
 nnich like that of tin- I h achenl'cK. at tin- head of Belt ('reek : 
 ami thinl, a rhyolitc. on tin- >iiiiui,it of I. nil. I'.rlt Mom. 
 
 At Neihart, the centre of the Archa-an nudru- of tin- Little 
 Belt Mountains is reached. The prevailing granite is nddi-h 
 and somewhat handed with brown and irivrii, ami though \ 
 ma.-.-ivc is imli.-tinctly bedded and apparent Is nietamorphie. It 
 is cut hy enormous dykes of a \.r. ,md mottled irranite, 
 
 consisting of obscurely rounded masses of feldspar : h\ 
 
 hornhlende and black mica. Thc.-c -raniie rock- are : 
 hy a irreat number of fissure-veins, generally \\itli \ 
 <|iiartx, heavy spar, and oxiik- of i nd can \IH.L' *nl- 
 
 pbides of silver and lead : the orea an- rich but the \eins small. 
 
 On the south side of the valley at Neihart the ditT> of L r rai 
 L200 feet in height, are covered with a >heet of pot-dam >aiid- 
 
 stone several hundred feet in thickm-ss. the contact heini: fll 
 for miles. The sandstone is red, ^cnerallN -soft, hut soim-tim.- 
 a coarse and hard conglomerate. It here contain.- no fossils, but 
 is full of annelid borings (Sw?i//tnti), and has the aspect 
 has the geological relations of the Potsdam in the Black Hills 
 and in the Adirondacks. On the summit of the mountain. I 
 of the upper beds of sandstone are tilled with, and larircl\ com- 
 posed of, primordial trilohites. 
 
 The evidences of former glacial action in the Belt Mountains 
 an- abundant but are not of a striking character. T: 
 sist of beds of boulder clay, and in some of the higher \ al- 
 leys. of nir/tffs mnuftuim'vs or smoothly planed -urfac. 
 ciai striae were not observed, having been obliterated b\ 
 thering. 
 
 All the upper portion of the Belt Mount. d with a 
 
 dense forest composed of Dou-la.-'s and Knp-lmann'- 
 .l///rx Dninjltisii. and A. En ', the bal-am tir. .1 
 
 "A//-, and rinns runtnrtn. In J'lace>. t he 1 1 cos are heanl\ 
 draped with tufts and streamers of the jet black libiv.- 
 /////// sarmeniosa : while man\ treei and partioa] 
 
 branches are decorated with bunchis of the lemon 
 
 ///// ruljiinn. Lower do\\ii on the mountain are -cattiTed tree* 
 
 of /'tin/* fiinn /!/ 
 
 The valley of Sm ' - K ' Hrlt from the 
 
 I/it: \louniain~. I: I U ; tWN - d beauti' 
 
249 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 valleys on the north side of the mountains, but is quite different 
 in aspect. The sides generally are smooth and unbroken slopes, 
 1500 feet or more in height, covered with rich grass and pre- 
 senting no rock exposures. The summits of the hills are crowned 
 with evergreens which here and there creep down the ravines, 
 of which they occupy, in preference, the slopes having a north- 
 ern exposure, because here the snow lies deepest and longest, 
 supplying the greatest amount of moisture. The cause of the 
 peculiar topography of the valley of Smith's River is to be found 
 in its geological substructure, for it is cut all the way to Sulphur 
 Springs, in Cambrian rocks, which form a series several thousand 
 feet in thickness. They are mostly argillaceous shales or slates, 
 which break down together and form gentle slopes. 
 
 Sulphur Springs is a well-built, handsome town, of several 
 thousand inhabitants, gathered around hot springs which have 
 a high reputation for their medicinal properties. From Sulphur 
 Springs we crossed the southern extension of the Great Belt 
 Mountains to the valley of the Missouri at Townsend. The 
 range is here altogether composed of the Cambrian (?) slates 
 which form the banks of Smith River, probably the same series 
 that is cut by the somewhat famous and picturesque* Prickly 
 Pear Canon on the west side of the Missouri. In some places 
 these slates are compacted by local metamorphism into masses of 
 considerable hardness, but generally they are rather soft, fine 
 grained argillo-silicious rocks, blue or gray in color, and finely 
 laminated by planes of deposition. Occasionally a harder layer, 
 an inch or two in thickness, is more silicious and rings like 
 novaculite. These rocks have suffered no change which would 
 obliterate fossils, and look as promising as any shales ; but the 
 most careful search failed to detect a single fossil in them, al- 
 though specks of carbonaceous matter were often seen, and some 
 shadowy outlines that suggest sea-weeds. There is little doubt 
 that this is the same formation with that seen beneath the Pots- 
 dam in Little Cottonwood Canon near Salt Lake City, and in 
 the Canon of the Colorado, a formation considered Cambrian by 
 King, Powell and Walcott, and which has yielded the latter a 
 few fossils, but is universally barren and disappointing. Jt does 
 not occur between the Potsdam sandstone and the granite in 
 the Belt Mountains, for the same reason that the "Georgia 
 
ami lint,, mi 
 
 datee " do not underlie the l'it-dam \\\ the Adirondack*, 
 because tin- l'ot>dam L :i && i, produced i,\ a u 
 
 spread, almost cont inental, ilepn .--ion of tin- land. or ^cm-nil ele- 
 vation of tin- sea level, which carried the ,-hore-linc inland hevoml 
 the areas where tin- Camhrian rookl had accumulated. 
 
 The valley of the Missouri ahoiit (iallatm, ami lj ! 
 
 miles helow. is \ei-v l.roa.l ami fertile, ami pied 
 
 I .v tarmers or Btock-nusere, \Vln-ai. m. ami e-|.eeiail\ 
 
 .Mieeessftilly cult i\ ated. hut maiiilv hy irn-at mn. All llir low - 
 lands ami the foot-hills of the mountains are covered with a tint* 
 -muth of hunch rra>s. hlue->t(in and -lama, ujton uhich cattle. 
 >heep and horses are well >u>taini'd throughout the Near. The 
 wintei's a iv lon^ and severe, hut n.t inor- >o than in M 
 and the >no\v-fall is somewhat 1068. The .-toek rallv 
 
 fed or housed, though it would he more merciful and jirohahh 
 more economical to provide some >hclter. 
 
 THK ii(n K^ MOUNTAINS, 
 
 Helena, the capital of Montana, is a well-huilt ami wealthy 
 town of some 8.000 inhabitants, located in ami ahout the month 
 of Last Chance (iulch, one of the famous ^old-camps in tin- 
 time of placer mining. 
 
 The foot-hills of the first ran ire of the !{.>ck\ .Mouniam-. lu-re 
 and noi'thward to the British line, are comp.i-rd of tl: 
 /oic roek- which .-iirroiind the Hdt Mountains. Ahout He! 
 they are generally liinesttm->. -nmcwhat met amm -pli'-,-d. hut 
 not much hroken np. The various ra\incs which lead to the 
 M.--onri valley, head in the granite lock- of the core <f the 
 
 iml near these, the pala-o/.oie >er \ much 
 
 turhcd. The .-rranites, as well us some of the >ed 
 nicks, are traversed hy many mineral \ MIC .f which 
 
 auriferous and ha\e furni>lu-d the lar^e amount of ^,.ld that ha- 
 
 POm the -nlche<. Mogt Of the Ili!!i.T;d VOJnS HTO, 
 
 however, silver-liearin.::. and the.-e form a nniiil 
 
 where tl, or \\ ill hereafter . roai mmm- oti 
 
 At ticket, twenty mile> BOOth oi : 
 
 no\\ nll\ \\..rkeil, and a vin ';int for the 
 
 . om-entration ami treatment of li v smelling and leiich- 
 
251 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 ing. A branch of the N. P. R. 11. runs up to Wickes, carrying 
 coke and other supplies at so cheap a rate as to give success to 
 enterprises which were before unprofitable. The ores worked 
 are argentiferous galena, containing much blende and pyrites. 
 
 The limestone series in this valley is underlain by heavy beds 
 of quartzite, which apparently represent the Potsdam sand- 
 stone. 
 
 Red Mountain, sixteen miles west of Helena, lies at the head 
 of another valley similar to that at Wickes ; but the quartzites 
 are here less conspicuous ; the limestones only becoming silicious 
 and flinty at their base. Red Mountain is cut by an immense 
 number of mineral veins, generally of small size, from one to 
 six feet in thickness, but exhibiting a remarkable uniformity 
 in direction and mineral characters. They are approximately 
 parallel, apparently continuous through the mountain, stand 
 nearly vertical, and carry argentiferous galena, gray copper, 
 zinc-blende and pyrites. The veinstone is chiefly quartz, but in 
 some places consists almost entirely of black hornblende. The 
 ores generally carry from 25 to 100 ounces of silver, but the 
 gray copper, which is the richest, contains from 200 to 2,000 
 ounces per ton. Systematic mining operations are just begin- 
 ning here ; and should a branch road be carried up to the 
 mines, it would seem that they must be productive and pro- 
 fitable. 
 
 After passing Helena, the line of the Pacific Railroad soon 
 turns into the mountains and crosses the first or main range, 
 coming down on to the head waters of Clark's Fork and enter- 
 ing a broad and fertile valley, which has its chief center of 
 population at Missoula. The western border of this valley is 
 formed by the Bitter Root Mountains, part of the broad belt 
 made up of the western ranges of the Rocky Mountain system. 
 All these consist of granite, broken through in many places by 
 eruptive rocks, and flanked by quartzites, slates and limestones, 
 which probably represent the Cambrian, Silurian and Carboni- 
 ferous systems. In the lowlands which lie between the ranges, 
 there are basins of quite modern Tertiary rocks. 
 
 A few miles below Missoula the road crosses a series of 
 deep ravines, spanned by bridges, one of which is 211 feet in 
 height. The rock exposed here is all slate of Archaean or Cam- 
 
<;,-/,,,, and Belong <>, \. 
 
 I. mn Age, Below tins, tin- KMd 
 
 Clark's Fork. through Olje of the OlOfi picture.-,, uc \;,ll,.\, MI. ih,. 
 continent. The immediate hanks of the n\rr aiv ..ft, , 
 tons masses of limestone. above which tin- wooded mouir 
 rise to the height of 3000 or 4000 feet 1 the 
 
 railroad is northwest, until it approaches within fifty mil- 
 the British line. This great deflection is caused l,\ d,, 
 ranges of the Rocky Mountains which are hi-h and 
 until tin- \ieinity of IVndOreille Like is nach.-d. 
 fall off, and the road t urns direct ly wot through tlu-m. The 
 lake is an irregular sheet of water. civ<eeiit-hap< d and fifty 
 miles in length ; set with numerous isl.md< and Mirroundcd with 
 mountains, it is extremely pirtim-s.jne. The mountain- COB- 
 sist of granite, Hanked l.y slate. <|iiartxite and liim->tom.. all 
 much metamorphosed, hut apparently the pal:-.,/..ir ^ i ies which 
 is seen hoklin.i: the same relation to the granite in >o man\ 
 places in Idaho and Montana. 
 
 The western range of the Rocky Mountains, like ti 
 is metalliferous, but to what degree is hardly known. he 
 ni'i-t of it is yet unexplored. Veins of argent ifcnms galena and 
 auriferous <juart/ have hern found in the vicinity of iVnd 
 Orcille Lake, and the already famous but greatly over-l 
 Co-ill- d'Alcne mines lie a few miles south of the line of the road. 
 
 FOBESTfi 01 i HI: K. K>, Mm N CAINS. 
 
 The fon--t \eiretatioii of the IJocky Mountain- and the \alley 
 of Clark's Fork, is abundant and int< About He!. 
 
 are seen the trees which are Characteristic) of the Park and all 
 the eastern Hank of the Rocky Mountains. The round lea\ -d 
 cottonwood. rnjmlnx iii/ii/i/i-rtt. with willows, t he huiTalo-L 
 Shi'inirilin tin/rntea, etc., flourish alon.i: tin- 
 
 and Douglas'.- >pruer in I be fool billl : '>n the mniintaiii->ide, 
 the narnw-lea\ed p..plar and th< 
 
 and /'. tn'iiinlin'<frx , Kn^elmann'.- | 11 m<l the western balttUD 
 tir: and rinus mntnrta and /'/////> _//'.////> on t he mountain *\\m 
 mils. 
 
 Immediately after passing the divide, however, the clmnu 
 dements of the Pacific coast vi 11 hc-iin t. make ; 
 
253 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 appearance. Douglas's spruce becomes more abundant, and the 
 trees grow larger, evidently feeling more at home, while the 
 western larch (Larix Occident alis), the western arbor \\tsd (T/iu- 
 ja gigantea], the western hemlock (Tsiiga mertensiana), and 
 Pinus monticola, never seen on the east side of the mountains, 
 multiply until they constitute the greater part of the forest. 
 The upper Columbia is the special home of the western larch 
 and the mountain pine, though they extend westward to and on 
 to the Cascade Mountains ; but about the mouth of Clark's Fork 
 they often constitute half the forest. The western hemlock be- 
 gins here with small trees, which have the aspect and indeed all 
 the characters of its eastern representative, of which it is in fact 
 only a variety. In the moist and equable climate of the lower 
 Columbia it acquires the greater size, smoother bark and more 
 fine-grained wood, which are its distinguishing characters. 
 
 The interval between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades is 
 quite different in its topography, geological structure and vege- 
 tation from any region east of it. It is generally destitute of 
 trees, though a few scattered yellow pines reach out from the 
 Rocky Mountains on the one side and the Cascades on the other, 
 along this line, and though not numerous grow to a large size.* 
 
 In a general way this is a plain, but the monotony of the sur- 
 face is broken by a great number of low hills and knobs of 
 black or brown basalt, the product of the volcanic eruptions by 
 which the plain has been repeatedly flooded in Tertiary and 
 
 * Further south this arid belt is the special home of this tree. One hun- 
 dred miles south from the Columbia Kiver, it forms continuous forests 
 where the trees, rooted in the light volcanic soil, closely set, are often four, 
 five or six feet in diameter. In these forests there is no other tree and 
 scarce any undergrowth. Here and there a clump of Cercocarpus or red 
 gooseberry is seen. The ground is usually bare, and so soft that horses 
 sink into it to the fetlocks. The absence of animal life is also striking : one 
 may travel through this forest an entire day and scarce hear the chirp of n. 
 bird or the hum of an insect ; and yet the yellow pine is there in its glory, 
 its huge, cylindrical trunk covered with large plates of cinnamon-colored 
 bark, standing as they have done for ages waiting the advent of their insa- 
 tiable enemy, the railroad man, who will some day split their trunks for 
 ties and burn their branches for fuel ; and the forests of yellow pine, like 
 those of the redwood and white pine, will be gone from the face of the 
 earth. 
 
tiro/,,,/ ii <t,t<l / / .\V///*r// Pacific Railroad, 
 
 U timOB. Bet ween the rugged rock-ma-ses aiv lc\d >|, 
 
 dotted over with bunch gras-. sage i 
 
 The ;il .substructure , niarv 
 
 beds of \;irius kinds, sedimentary vulcanic ash. washed ii..\\n 
 from tin- highlands, and diatomac, ou- earth. inter.M rat ilied with 
 sheet- of liasalt. It is evident that this belt was f.r a long 
 time, either wholly or in part. occupied hy lakes. l>uring 
 Ion- periods of ijuiet. all forms of life were ahundaiit : the land 
 supported a varied growth of arboiv>ccnt and herbaceous plants, 
 whieh furnished food to a great \arietvof animals, while the 
 water was inhabited by fishes and inollusks of many kinds. 
 At intervals, however. >howei> of ashes, ni"-tl\ -manat in<: from 
 the volcanic \ents of the Cascade Mountains. -overed th- cnun- 
 tay. destroyed, over larirr areas, all forms of animal and \ 
 table life, and washing into the lakes, formed strata man\ 
 in thiekness. At other times, floods of lava poured down into 
 this valley, spreading over the land and the lake-bottom-:, to be 
 covered airain in time with other sheets of stratified tufas, or b\ 
 fre>b- water fossiliferous beds. 
 
 The Columbia. Snake River. .John Dav'> Kiver. thr I' 
 C'hutes. and many minor streams, cut deeply into this plain. 
 and expose in their banks sections of the beds described. In 
 the valley of the Des Chutes, dill's 1,000 feet in height 
 formed of them; and about the Dalles, the remains of hori/.on- 
 tal Tertiary beds are seen 2,0<n feet above the pre-rnt l-\-l <f 
 the Columbia. These >how that the lofty and continuous chain 
 of the Cascades formed a mighty dam. which kept back the 
 drainage of the interior so that it formed a MTU- of urc.it lake-. 
 bounded on the east by the Rocky Mountains, and on the west 
 b\ the Ca-cadcs. and separated into several basins by the Blue 
 Mountain.- and others of the desert ranges. 
 
 The accumulated water found an outlet to the sea through tin- 
 lowest L r :ips in tl le Mountains. Of these. theiiio>t im- 
 
 portant was that when the gorge of the Columbia is now situ- 
 ated : othen > \i>t further south and are now tra\er--d b\ the 
 the Klamath and 1'it I, 1 ). In the Oolun 
 
 basin, the old lakes arc all draim-d. or tilled, and t heir bottoms 
 Are deep) j "-"red by the drain ins. The lake of the 
 
 math ba<in i< now i-cpresetlted by th.- Klamath Lake-. -:ike, 
 
255 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 Wright Lake, Goose Lake, etc., which occupy the points of 
 greatest depression. 
 
 Though much of this great plain has the aspect of a desert. 
 only a small portion of it is absolutely sterile. There is much 
 prairie land covered with a continuous sheet of grass ; and even 
 the more sandy and rocky surfaces have proved to be fairly good 
 grazing ground. It is also true that the attempts to cultivate 
 the soil have been attended with unexpected success, and about 
 Walla-walla, that which was supposed to be a desert surface is 
 producing great crops of wheat. 
 
 THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS 
 
 Although represented on most maps as an unbroken line of 
 elevation stretching with an almost north and south course from 
 the Californian to the British line, with its hachures looking like 
 an enormously long hairy caterpillar, no just conception is thus 
 given of this broad and compound mountain belt. It is contin- 
 uous with the Sierra Nevada of California ; and it would have 
 been better if they had been designated by a common name. The 
 mountain belt is in Oregon and Washington from thirty to fifty 
 miles in width, consisting of a number of parallel ranges of 
 which the highest is along its eastern border. This is crowned 
 by a series of volcanic cones, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Pitt. Alt. Mc- 
 Laughlin, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams. Mt. Rainier 
 (Tacoma), and Mt. Baker, which range from 10,000 to over 
 14,000 feet in height, are all capped with perpetual snow, and 
 form the most impressive group of mountains on the continent. 
 From the California line northward, the material of which these 
 mountain ranges are composed is mainly eruptive in character. 
 The peaks mentioned, and many others, are volcanic vents of 
 which the fires are not yet extinct, and some of them have been 
 in active eruption within a few hundred years. Like the Sierra 
 Nevada, this great fold in the earth's crust was formed after the 
 Triassic and Jurassic, but previous to the Cretaceous age ; and 
 yet, like all other great mountain belts, it has been formed by 
 many additions made at various times. In California, the range 
 is largely composed of granite and other crystalline rocks of an- 
 cient date, flanked by slates which have been proved by the Cal- 
 ifornia geologists to be of Triassic and Jurassic age ; while the 
 
'i ml linhn m ;/' Northern / 
 
 Cretaoeoufl is deported uneonfonnahly upon these, ri.-in;: to the 
 .'it of hut a few hundred feet above the sea. North f tin- 
 California liiu', the n.cks forming the mountain-. a< 
 mentioned, arc almost entirely erupt i\e : and it ise\ident that 
 this has heeii the theatre ..f more violent \olcanic action tlian 
 any other part of the continent known to us. MOM of the erup- 
 tions took place in Tertia y tunes, as we know fr..m the inter- 
 calation of tin' trap overflows with the Tertiary lake->edmi< 
 many of which are store-houses of vegetable and animal fV 
 hut they have continued down to the present da\. 
 
 Manv years ago. when connected with Western Coveniment 
 Surveys, I followed these mountains from the California line 
 to the Columbia, and at several points crossed lava stream- 
 which had tlowed down the cast Hank of the Cascades, and 
 were as t'roh and ragged as the modern lava streams of Yesir. 
 Not a particle of vegetation had attached itself to them, and it 
 rtain that not a hundred years have passed since some of 
 them were (lowing. 
 
 AVIINI (ii..\<ii:i;s OF TIN. CASI M>I: MorxTAiWS, 
 
 A- lias hecn stated, the Rocky Mountain.-, from New V 
 to British Columbia, abound in evidences of ancient ^laciation. 
 This is also true of the I'inta Mountains, the \Vasatch. tin 9 
 erra Nevada and the Cascade Mountain*. 
 
 In the irroiip of five snowy peaks, called in ' 'he Three 
 
 SiM nise onlv three are vi>ihle from the \\'illam 
 
 ley miniature glaciers were found by our party in 1855 at the 
 heads of Me Ken /.!'> Fork, and of one of the tributaries of thftlta 
 Chutes ; and on Mt. h'ainier a do/i-n r more have been described, 
 K>me many miles in length. Hut all the glaciers and snow-fields 
 now existing on the Cascade Mountains ai'e uf jnifieant 
 
 compared with those of the glacial period. Then every gorge 
 was filled with snow ami ice, the bi d more irregular 
 
 miti were oovered with glaciers, and these descended sc\ 
 
 thousand feet below the , .ne of perpetual snow. Now 
 
 we find, over miles square, the rock-surfaces plan. 
 
 red like a plowed field, ai, > injecting crc->' anio 
 
 rock, rough and ragged as it was, is rounded over and \\orn into 
 
257 Geology and Botany of Xortltern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 a roche moutonnee. From the Three Sisters the glaciers descend- 
 ed into the valley of the Willamette on the west and that of the 
 Des Chutes on the east; and I traced with the barometer the gla- 
 cial markings, from the snow-line to a point 2500 feet lower, 
 where they pass under the alluvium of McKenzk-'s Fork.* 
 
 THE FORESTS OF THK CASCADE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 All the summits and western slopes of the Cascade Mountains 
 are covered with a dense forest, mainly of evergreens, of which 
 many of the trees are of gigantic dimensions. On the eastern 
 slopes, the prairies in places run up the mountain sides, but the 
 timber follows all the valleys down to the plain. East of the 
 mountains are scattered trees of the yellow pine (Pinus ponde- 
 rosa) and the western cedar (Juniperus occidental**), and in some 
 localities, as has been mentioned, groves and forests of the former. 
 The evergreens which cover the mountains consist of four spe- 
 cies of pine, viz., Pinus Lambertiana, P. monticola, P. albi- 
 
 * It has been claimed by Lecoq (Les Glaciers el les Climats), and following 
 him, by Prof. Whitney and others (Later Climatic Changes), that the great devel- 
 opment of glaciers during the Ice Period, such as those of the Canadian 
 highlands, the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades, of which we have such 
 abundant evidence, was not the effect of a cold period, but a warm one, 
 which increased the precipitation and consequently the snow-fall, at all 
 places where the temperature was low enough to cause it to take the form 
 of snow. If this was all, however, the most extensive glaciers should be 
 in the Alpine districts of the tropics or of the temperate zones, wherever the 
 precipitation is most abundant and the temperature low enough to produce 
 perpetual snow. But we have, on the summits of the Cascades, a demon- 
 stration of the fallacy of this view ; since here some of the mountains rise 
 14,000 feet and the line of perpetual snow is not over 7,000 feet, while the 
 annual precipitation is greater than in almost any other portion of our 
 country. In fact the snow accumulates in such quantity that, even in mid- 
 summer, it reaches so low that it is met and opposed by a vigorous forest 
 growth, the product of a mild climate. It is evident that no elevation 
 of temperature, though it should increase the evaporation on the Pacific and 
 the rainfall on the coast, would cause the renewal of the ancient glaciers ; 
 but with a depression of temperature which should continue the present 
 winter conditions through the year, the precipitation remaining the rcame, 
 the accumulation would soon cover the mountain summits with snow and 
 ice and bring the glaciers down to their old limit. 
 
; >tlnnnl. 258 
 
 ///////> and /'. funturhi. . lli- lir>t i> the m.,.( -i-ai.Mc 
 
 es of the genus, attaining in it* ohosea habitat m i. 
 
 Of mountains, a height of 300 feet and a diameter of from ! 
 i: feet /'. imin/im/ lf i> much >maller, hardly .-,, nailing in di- 
 mensions its eastern representative, the white pun-, Imt el. 
 
 mbling it in general habit and minor botanical rb 
 On tlir mountain.- it is le abundant than in the \all.-v of ( I., 
 Fork, but attains somewhat larger BlZfe Tin-, with tin- - 
 pine and white pine. con>t it ut- a wrll-defin. ra-- 
 
 trri/iMl by livc'-K-avcd and blue-green foliage: fusiform, r. 
 ous. imbricated cones, han.irin.u "M the Wldl >-w large and 
 
 lui:b branclies : and in the character of the wood. Three tir>, 
 (le.Ni^natin.ir by that name those bearing i-rect c.tno with p. : 
 nent ;t\e> and deciduous scales, are also common, rhk, Abies 
 i/ni/idin, A. Huliilia, and J. nmahilitt. Of these, the first is the 
 \\tMern balsam-lir, resembling our eastern bal.-am. but a more 
 ma.iiiiitieeiit t ree, at t aininjr an alt 1 1 ude of :><(> feet. The la>' 
 are remarkable for the magnitude cf their cones, which are six 
 inches in length and two and a half in diameter, the first deco- 
 rated with rellexed and timbriated hruets, the second purple in 
 color and dotted over with resin. Four >pm -. l> .u^la-V. M< n 
 
 's, I'atton's, and the hemlock, are there. Of these, the tii>t 
 is the largest and the most abundant, attaining an altitude of 
 over 300 feet and a diameter of 10 feet : Men/.ies's spruce (Abies 
 SHclu-itnix) grows to ti height of 01 -t, and is ^-nerally ;i> 
 
 >tnct as a church spire: the hemlock is compurat i\ el\ 
 the high lands, and is onlj seen at its best in the \alh-\- : 
 ton's spruce (Ahit-s I'ntltminuu) is a near relat i\e of the hem- 
 lock, having the same tVathcr\ foliage, but that which is d. 
 and richer. On the whole, it is in my judgment the handsomest 
 of all the conifers. On some of the Alpine meadows among the 
 MIOW mountains especially the Three Sistere are scattered in- 
 dividual trees or groups of two or three kinds of fir and >prmv, 
 which surpass in symmetry and graceful groa ^ human 
 
 achievement in the way of landscape gardening. Where th 
 forest* are most dense, the trees are so thickly set that two great 
 trunks may generally be reached by the e\u n led arms. No un- 
 dergrowth occupies the ground, and the foliage of the firs is con- 
 tin. -.1 to the higher branches, which interlock to make a roof 
 
 
259 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 impenetrable by the sun's rays. Sometimes the gloom of these 
 forests is further enhanced by gray or black lichens, which drape 
 the trunks and hang from the dead branches like the Spanish 
 moss, but producing a far more funereal effect. Where fire has 
 run through these forests, the trees, killed but not consumed, 
 and subsequently overthrown by the wind, form a labyrinth 
 through which it is sometimes well-nigh impossible to force one's 
 way. The ground thus open to the sunshine is soon covered 
 by a dense growth of bracken (Pteris aquilina), which often 
 reaches a height of from six to eight feet. After this or with it, 
 comes Ceanothus or manzanita, with huckleberries and service- 
 berries, which fruit so abundantly as even to tint the mountain 
 sides with the black, purple or blue of their berries. 
 
 The larch, to which reference has already been made, is scat- 
 tered sparsely over the eastern slope of the Cascades, and it here 
 attains its maximum dimensions. The trunk is sometimes 200 
 feet in height, the branches relatively small, and the foliage fine 
 and delicate in color, so that the larger trees look like lofty col- 
 umns wreathed and decorated by climbing vines. 
 
 The hard-wood trees are few and insignificant as compared 
 with the conifers. In the gorges and along the streams are the 
 narrow-leaved and trembling poplars, and on the uplands the 
 large-leaved maple and chinquapin (Acer maorophyllum and Cas- 
 tanopsis chrysophylla) ; the first is the only real tree-maple of 
 the west coast. It attains a height of 75 to 80 feet, and the 
 leaves, averaging six inches in diameter, on young plants are 
 sometimes many times as large. The chinquapin, though usually 
 a shrub, occasionally forms a handsome tree 30 to 50 feet in 
 height, conspicuous for the contrast between the bright green 
 of the upper and the golden yellow of the under surface of its 
 leaves. 
 
 THE GORGE OF THE COLUMBIA. 
 
 This is one of the most impressive and interesting topographi- 
 cal features in all the picturesque West. It is cut with a nearly 
 straight westerly course, across the whole breadth of the Cascade 
 Mountains, fifty miles, and its banks rise from 2,000 to 4,000 
 feet directly from the river side. Most of the material of which 
 the walls are composed is basalt. This can be seen to form dis- 
 
tirniiii/ff ,i,ui Botany r .\ " 
 
 tiiu-t layers, the pro.lii.-t> of dilTeivnt QVerflowi from tl 
 volcanic vents north ami south of it.. C : .p,. II, ,m. a bold 1 < 
 lain!, shows a vertical f'acr of trap n.-aily :.IHI f, et in height. 
 
 N" one who examines the -or^e of the Coluiul.ia will fail to 
 be cotninccd that it ha> heeii cut by tin- riter, 'I he -. m-ral 
 altitude of the mountains, in winch there are no oil,, 
 
 lower than ahout :>.< feet, as well as the altitude of tin- lake 
 
 deposits on the eastern side, indicate that the work of cut 
 this channel began at a height of not less than 3,0<n fWt al 
 the sea. At this time the river must have had a fall of at least 
 this nnmher of feet into the valley of the Willamette, am: 
 must picture to ourselves a series of cascades of greater magni- 
 tude and more picturesque than any now known. This water- 
 power was, however, busily en <ra<:cd in cuttinir down the bar 
 and in process of time this was so completely ivmo\-.| that a 
 navigable canal was opened from the Dalles to the ocean. The 
 western entrance to the gorge is now at tide-level, and the 1. 
 part of the river is, like the Hudson, an arm of the ca I - 
 true that at present the "Cascades of the Columbia" form 
 rions interruption to the navigation of the river, for the\ 
 produced by a dam 63 feet high, which tills the channel for three 
 miles. Hut this dam. as we know, is of recent date, and has 
 been caused by an avalanche from the sides of the gorge. Above 
 it. the river is simply a long lake, and in low water a ttri 
 stumps and trunks can be seen coming up from below ti 
 le\el, which belonged to trees that could never ha\ LM-OWM in 
 the places they occupy, if the barrier of the Cascades had 
 ted. 
 
 in boats na\ i irate tin- Columbia from the Pallo doun. with 
 a tran>fer at the Cascades; and this is much the better route to 
 take for those \\ho would get a good view of the gorge, with it- 
 imposing walls, its hanging forests and it> pictun-,,ue \\aterfall- 
 which leap l.non feet from t he cliffs, to say nothing of the old 
 Indian burial-grove, and the multitude of >ilicitied tree trunks at 
 ,1,,. i The railroad is built almii: the face of the south- 
 
 ern clilT, hi-h above the water, ami although it gives only a one- 
 
 ,1 \ie\\ of the gorge, is generally chosen by travelers who 
 fer rapid transit to beauty of seen* 
 
261 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Nailroad. 
 THE LOWER COLUMBIA. 
 
 The country bordering the Lower Columbia is too well-known 
 to require detailed description. I am compelled, however, to 
 refer to one or two points in its physical structure, which are of 
 special interest when brought into connection with facts of simi- 
 lar import observed in the region about Pnget's Sound. I have 
 said that the Lower Columbia is an arm of the sea. It is in fact 
 a deep river valley which has been flooded by an influx of the 
 sea caused by subsidence. This brings the tide-water to the foot 
 of the falls of the Willamette at Oregon City, and to the Cas- 
 cades. It requires no argument to prove that such a channel 
 could not have been cut unless by a rapid stream flowing into 
 the ocean when it stood at a lower level. Whether the change 
 in the relative level of land and sea here remarked was part of a 
 general movement that produced the influx of the sea into the 
 fiords which fringe the northern coast ; and whether this is nbt a 
 part of a still grander movement that flooded the old excavated 
 valleys of the James River, the Potomac, the Schuylkill, the 
 Hudson, the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and at the same time 
 filled the fiords of the northeastern coast, are questions which 
 cannot now be fully answered, but are worth considering. 
 
 It will be noticed that the general plan of the topography of 
 this part of the coast is altogether similar to that of California ; 
 namely, the great wall of the Cascades, bordered on the west by 
 the Willamette and Cowlitz valleys and the Coast Mountains, 
 are re-produced further south by the Sierra Nevada, the great 
 California valley, and the Coast Ranges ; and their topographical 
 features are not only physically similar, but are geologically iden- 
 tical, the Cascades being the northern continuation of the Si- 
 erra Nevada, the more modern Coast Mountains following con- 
 tinuously the coast line ; the great trough between them being 
 essentially one, but filled, in its centre, by a mass of mountains. 
 
 The forests of the country bordering the lower Columbia are 
 a physical feature that will strike every traveler with surprise 
 and admiration. They are also of primary importance economi- 
 cally, since they form the basis of the most important industry 
 of the northwest coast. They are mostly composed of evergreen 
 trees which attain an altitude of 200 to 300 feet, and are crowded 
 
so elo>el\ tliat When Mil O|M*nit) i> made ill Ihe foi in- 
 
 .-in-rounded l.y a wall of limher. 'l'i - leh 
 
 from ihc California!! to the Briti.-h lint- on t he -umnnt- and 
 caMcrn think of tin- Ca.-cadr.-. 0?er all tin- Coa-t Mountain-. 
 in the lowlands alon^ the Willamette and the Co\\ lit/., and admit 
 I'uirctV Sound, with the exception of prairie.- thai form part of 
 tin- surface of the WUhlQlftte Vallej, and occnp\ linn:- 
 ahoiit the Sound. 
 
 In M.uthwestern Oregon and m.rt hern ( 'aliforma an- tin- famon- 
 n-dwood u T oves, the only place in the world where this niHgniti- 
 eent ti'ee (^c// t'oiit Stmperviren*) yrows in siu-h numhiTS BA to 
 form forests. It extends in clumps and scattered tree.- far down 
 the coast in California, and it does not reach the C'olnmhia -n 
 the north, so that its range is <jiiite restricted. About Fort Or- 
 ford and Humholdt Bay it is the principal timher tree, and in 
 si/.e it almost equals its iriuantic relative, the mammoth t r- 
 Calaveras C'ounty (Sn/mn'a yii/tin/rti).* 
 
 At Port Orford one may see hundreds of redwood trees of 
 which the trunks attain a diameter of 10 to 15 feet; but as the 
 lumher and timher they fnrni.-h is of excellent quality. thr\ 
 heinr destroyed at a rate that wil! ioOfl exhaust the >upply. 
 
 Along the Columhia and ahoiit Tu^et's Sound the principal 
 trees are the Douglas and Meii/.ie.- .-pruces. the hal.-am tir, the 
 western arhor vita- and the hemlock. In some localities, espe- 
 cially further north, t wo c\ prose- ;nv ahundant. the Nootkacy- 
 piess (C/unntfri/^in /> .\'////-// //> >'* ) and t lie jrin^er pine (6 f . Law- 
 *n/iii'/Hi). The latter is soincl inies called t lie .irin^er pine from 
 the fragrance of it.- wood. It is culti\ated for its heauts 
 i for the excellence of its lumber. Much lr.-s nti' 
 mis. hut widel\ scattere(l. i> the uolmi \.-u i T<*XU4 ' :> ''-liti). 
 often a handsome tree 50 to GO feet in height. Along the i 
 
 Gre:il M-i.-n title inlrrr-l all:ich-S ! lh--r tun 
 
 th.-y an- ihr only n-pn-^-ntativi-- of tin- .cmifl now livinir -n the earth'- 
 
 I rrlic ot tin- -rrainl f..n--t- \\liirh in Tntimy lime* covered all 
 ihr nnrihrrn part of i his continent, and in whirl. Hn-x f awocUted with 
 oth<T sprrir* ..f >.</-/,,;,/. anil wiih H inuliitudr of oth.-r evergreen and d< 
 uout tree*, mott of which hmre dlMppe*re4. lli;t :l u r, main. UM- 
 
 Irciilnou- cypress, magnolias. -ic , \\hi.li formtbegl" |re- 
 
 lit f,.: 
 
263 Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 sides are many cottouwoods (Populus trichocarpa) , the Oregon 
 ash (Fraxinus Oregona), and an arborescent alder (Alnns rhom- 
 bifolia), which reaches an altitude of 60 feet, with a trunk-diam- 
 eter of 12 to 15 inches. On the dryer and higher ground is 
 found Finns ponderosa, and on the lower, thickets of P. contorta, 
 often growing like canes in a cane-brake. Scattered through 
 this lowland forest are also the two arborescent maples of the 
 west, Acer macrophyllum and A. circinnatum. Of these the 
 latter, called the vine maple, is a peculiar feature in the forests 
 of the Lower Columbia, Puget's Sound, and Vancouver's Island. 
 It is rarely more than six inches in diameter, the trunks very 
 slender, and several springing from the same root. These droop, 
 and reaching the ground, frequently take root at the summit. 
 Where these interlacing trunks are numerous, they form a thicket 
 which is almost impenetrable. To this meagre list of angio- 
 spermous trees, I should add Garry's oak and the Madrona (Quer- 
 cus Garryana, and Arbutus Menziesii). The oak, scattered 
 about the open grounds of the Willamette Valley and Puget's 
 Sound, occasionally attains a diameter of three or four feet, but 
 with a spreading and irregular growth and brittle wood, so that 
 it has little value as a timber tree. The " Madrona" is a small 
 tree, but much admired for the beauty of its foliage, and the pe- 
 culiarity of its bark. The former is persistent and rich, and the 
 latter exfoliates in brown and greenish layers of different shades. 
 The undergrowth of the Pacific coast forest, where the latter is 
 not too dense, is abundant and varied. Over the rocks and fallen 
 tree-trunks is a thick mat of mosses, which grow with a luxuri- 
 ance and exhibit a variety nowhere rivalled in the eastern States. 
 Ferns are less numerous than might be expected in this moist 
 climate, but a few species are abundant and grow with great 
 luxuriance. The most common is the cosmopolitan bracken 
 (Pteris aqtiilina), the next, Aspidium munitum, strikingly 
 like our eastern A. acrostichoides, but having a much stronger 
 growth. Of the less numerous species, a respectable list could 
 be made, but on the whole the ferns are not an important ele- 
 ment in vegetation. Of the under-shrubs, the most striking is 
 Fatsia Jiorrida ; this has the aspect of an Aralia ; it has a thick 
 woody stem six to ten feet long, somewhat decumbent at base, 
 but bearing above a number of large palmate leaves. Both stem 
 
and lea\e< arc very prickly, and it i- a . <.nini..n Inn probably tin- 
 
 grounded belief that its >pnie> arc highly pn: m, A , 
 
 shruhhy ^'/lint-it (>'. Dnu<ilnsii) -r..\\^ iri in ten feet in height. 
 with numerous laruc open panic].- ..f inoonffpicUOOl Bo 
 ;ai BpeC mo/Jnts abound, the nmt <..ninin I.. 
 
 ' '. rrlKfuutu, which forms dense thicket *. &OJ|| 
 //v//ff. conspicuous from its hlack fo/fatifoflfUI-likefrtlit, >ui round- 
 ed liy larp' per.-istent purple involucre-. i> found alon^ the 
 streams, with one of (he mo>t slmwy of all tin- ( hv-Mi, >lirul,., 
 t'nnuix \nffnllii, Audul)on, the western ivpn->riitat i\c .f our 
 dogwood. Tsnally it is smaller, hut occasionally heron, 
 .")( fi'i-t in height. Tlu- llowci'-like ralyce> lire lar-e. while, and 
 less crumpled than those of the ea>tcrn live. 
 
 More interest ini: than these to hotanists. as well as to th 
 eral public, are the fruit-hearing shrubs tin- "Salal," ( <i>nt/(' 
 fi/ni/lun.) the Oregon ^rape (/li-rf/i-ris (n/nifn/imn and /. "///). 
 
 and the "salmon-berry." (liulms afn-rtuliilis . Of ihe>e. tin- 
 first covers the -round o\cr -'reat areas with it> creepil 
 ciimbent stem, its broad, oval, shinin- lea\.-. and its penc 
 black and edible fruit. The two speciefl ol I, so well 
 
 known under their old name, Mti/innin. are low shrubs, with 
 pinnate, spinv leaves, yellow, clustered flowers and blue h|o..m- 
 covered acid berries. They are not unfrepjently cult 
 ornamental plants in t he eastern States. The -alm<m berr\ ; 
 its name from the color of the fruit, which re>embles that of the 
 llcsh of the salmon. It is a tall, strong-growing rasphern . with 
 conspicuous purple flowers ami lar-c ovonl fruit, much esteemed 
 bv the Indians, but rather insijiid. l\nlms \n/k,u t n.. the white 
 \arietv of our flowering raspbcrn. i< Bfeiywben < "inmon. with 
 the jirccise habit of its eastern representat i\c. 
 
 Si i;i A. i. (. i.()i.<)<,^ a\ l in l'i '.i .1'- 801 N i' I- L81, 
 
 The name l'i und is, in popular DM, DUMl< 
 
 the ].c( uliar group of inlets and tidc\va\> \\hidi lie immediatels 
 
 of Vane.. liver's Island, I'u^et's Soun.l pn.p.-r. Adm. 
 Inlet, Hood's Canal, etc. These occupy the north 
 of the great Columbian \alley, which, like its counterpart in 
 California, lies between the Coast ran-'- ami the Cordillera*, 
 Further north still, this depression is deflected toward the north- 
 
265 Geoloyy and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 west by a change in the direction of the Cascade^Mountains, and 
 of the representatives of the Coast ranges on Vancouver's Island, 
 is mostly occupied by water, and is known as the Gulf of Georgia. 
 In Washington Territory the Coast Mountains are higher than 
 in Oregon, and have received the local name of [the Olympian 
 range, of which the highest summit is called Mt. Olympus. This 
 range terminates somewhat abruptly, but is apparently continued 
 in the mountains of Vancouver's Island. Through the gap 
 between these and the Olympian range a deep channel is cut, 
 now an arm of the sea, called the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In 
 former times, when this portion of the continent, and probably 
 the whole northwest coast, stood higher above the ocean, this strait 
 was the valley of a great river, which drained most of the western 
 slope of the Cascades in Washington Territory, and had as 
 branches the Skagit, Snoqualme, Dwamish, Puyallop, Nisqtially 
 and various minor streams. During the ice period, this hydro- 
 graphic basin was filled with a great glacier made up of contri- 
 butions from all the surrounding mountains. It flowed out to 
 sea by the Strait of Fuca ; but this channel was far too narrow 
 for it, and it spread all over the southern portion of Vancouver's 
 Island, planing off, rounding over or deeply scoring the rocks in 
 its passage, and leaving its autograph so plainly written that he 
 who runs may read. 
 
 As the glaciers retreated, they left behind a sheet of drift 
 several hundred feet in thickness, partly water worn and strati- 
 fied, partly unstratiiied boulder clay with striated pebbles. 
 These drift deposits formed a plain of which the surface was 
 nearly level. In process of time, the draining streams had cut 
 in this plain a series of valleys all tributary to one which led out 
 through the Strait of Fuca to the ocean. After perhaps some 
 thousands of years, during which the excavation of these valleys 
 progressed, a subsidence of the land or rise of the water-level 
 caused the sea to flow in and occupy the main valley and all its 
 tributaries up to the base of the mountain slopes. Such in few 
 words is the history of the formation of this remarkable system 
 of inlets. They are simply the flooded valleys of a great river 
 and of the branches which formerly joined it, but which now 
 empty into the extremities of the finger like inlets that have 
 partially replaced them. 
 
rtli'-rn /'.tr, f> , 
 
 There ,-uv hnt feu localities in tin i ,1 Ii.i<ii| where 
 
 tlu' rocky sul)str;ituiii 
 
 level. Aloui: tlu- northern and WCM -m margin of Vane -u\ 
 Sucia, Orcas and \Vlii. lliy Man k and at ( 'huekenmts an-: 
 home the rock appears, bill at Taeo,,,a, Sirilacmn. - 
 MailJMMi. Port Townsend. and it may he >aid ^.-m-rally ahont the 
 Sound, the shores are steep lilntTs. Inn to 1. , height, 
 
 composed of drift alon -. Knun the clitT- at Port K'lclmi'.nd atxl 
 '1'aeonia, 1 took sub-angular >eratehed and itv-worn ].,!. !,!,<. an 
 characteristic and convincing as anv to h found in tin- honlder 
 clay of the eastern Stal 
 
 Tlu siihsidi-iicc which canseil the >ea.\vat -r to iloxv intu tlu- 
 suhai'rial excavated valleys of PIIIM'> Sound, !ille<| aNn the eh..n- 
 nel of the Colnnihia to the ( and the -y>trm of i 
 
 that fringe the northwest coast, of which tin- MI.I- 
 
 t ives. 
 
 \Ve have evidence, too, that the area oreiipied hy the sea wa at 
 one time much more extensive than now, for all the country im- 
 mediately ahont Pdget's Sound is marked with f marine 
 terraces which Mr. Bailey Willis, who studied them when, 
 nected with the Transeont ineiital Survey under Prof. Pumj>clly, 
 tells me can he traced to a height of l,;on feet ahovt- the j>reaent 
 OOean level. These terraces are conspicuous on the low divide 
 which separates the valley of the Cowlitx from the ha>in of Pu- 
 - Sound ; ami here, as over much of this region, the ground 
 i> COTered with pehhlo and waterworn hoiilders, t lie product of 
 
 tin- long-con tinned dash of the shore ware* on a -lope inpoged 
 
 of drift materials. In the advance ami recession of the shore- 
 line, the liner materials ha\e heeii im>>tly \\a-hed av\a\. anl the 
 >tony surface has lit lie agricultural vain it U 
 
 well ada|.te<l to the growth of trees; and the splendid foreit 
 which covers it i> pcrhap> an equivalent for all it \\iia lost. The 
 facts here given >how why the cultivation of the soil in Wik-h 
 ton Territory is limited to the narrow belts of i dliiMum 
 
 alon- the stream*, and indicate that the lishrrie>. coal-min 
 and luml.er induMry must he in the future, as the\ are : 
 the moM important BOOrO !th. 
 
"i.5? Geology and Botany of Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 GEOLOGICAL SUBSTRUCTURE. 
 
 The sheet of drift which has been described covers most of the 
 lowland, and conceals the underlying rocks so that they appear 
 only about the margin of the basin. The foot-hills of the Sierra, 
 like the more elevated portions, are composed chiefly of eruptive 
 rocks ; but at various places along the northern and eastern mar- 
 gin of the basin, the drainage streams have exposed sedimentary 
 strata. These are all Cretaceous or Tertiary. On Queen Char- 
 lotte's Island, as we learn from the Canadian geologists, are 
 Lower Cretaceous rocks, very much disturbed, but containing 
 beds of lignite converted into anthracite, and many mollusks 
 which apparently represent the Neocomian of the Old World. 
 
 On Vancouver's Island, the granites and old metamorpllic sed- 
 iments are succeeded by Upper Cretaceous strata, which contain 
 several valuable seams of coal that have been worked for many 
 years. Specimens of the fossil plants and mollusk.s associated 
 with these beds, were sent by Mr. George Gibbs to the writer in 
 1858. Among the former were Inoceramu^m^ Baculites, which 
 gave the earliest information of the Cretaceous age of these de- 
 posits. Descriptions of some of the fossil plants were published 
 by the writer in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural 
 History for 18G3. On Orcas and Sucia Islands are also exposures 
 of Cretaceous rocks which abound in fossils. 
 
 On the east side of the basin, coal outcrops at several points, 
 and has been worked at Bellingham Bay on the Skagit River, at 
 Newcastle, Carbonado and Wilkinson. At Carbonado the coal- 
 bearing rocks, turned up at a high angle, are cut across in a 
 canon formed by Carbon River, and a very satisfactory view is 
 here obtained of the structure of one of the local basins. The 
 series is several thousand feet in thickness ; and in this section 
 nine workable seams of coal are exposed. At Wilkinson and in 
 that vicinity, Mr. Willis made a careful exploration of another 
 basin, which also includes several beds of coal and some thous- 
 ands of feet of associated rocks. From these localities and others 
 further north, large collections of fossil plants have been made 
 by the writer and his assistant, Mr. Edward Lorrance. These 
 represent' a rich and interesting flora of Upper Cretaceous and 
 
'.'/// and Botany tf \ > . , /,//,.,/. 
 
 Tcrtiarj which Sgares and description! will I.,. pnM>!,rd 
 
 by tli. I . 8, (.coio-iral Survey. 
 
 M"iu:i;\ (,i.\. [JJBS 01 i n i 8lBBH L 
 
 From the Willamette Valley and ln ,,]. splendid 
 
 view.- arc obtained of tin- . .,. 
 
 ains, the Tluv. Mt. Jefferson, Mt. !(....,- 
 
 lit St. Helens, Mt. Tacoma and M:. |: . . ( 
 
 Hood has an altitudeof 11,225 feet, Mt. Adam- 1 .' . 
 
 Tacoma 1 Llnii. I,, Colorado and California are a num!. 
 
 summits of e<|iial absolute height, but they have not!. 
 
 the relief above t heir surroundings that t!i . rarrv fa 
 
 perpetual snow, and are in every way less imp: 
 
 ton Territory, the permanent snow-line on the west side of the 
 
 mountains is about 6,500 feet, on the Cittl Bide sever*] hundred 
 
 feet hi-her. .Mt. Tacoma carries, therefore, about Sjinn f, , 
 
 snow. Uclow this it is covered with a d. 
 
 hills nowhere rise to the height of \?,niM f rr t above the sea. ami 
 
 hence are invisible at a distance: so from many phuvs about the 
 
 S mud. practically the whole of the moimtar 
 
 view, a gigautic OOD6 14,000 feet in height, apparent Iv r: 
 
 directly from t he sea-level ! Mt. Shasta has the .-anie alt :t mle. 
 
 and as seen from Scott's or Strawberry Valley, i< wonderfullv 
 
 impres.-ive: but it is situated further inland and further south, 
 
 it.- base is higher and it has less .-now. and it is then foiv M 
 
 what less imposing. Mt. Hood, a- seen under favorable circum- 
 
 .-taiiccs from I-'ml Vanemivi-r, e-peeiall\ when retlected from the 
 
 lake-like surface of the Columbia, is as hcautiful but 
 
 L r rand. It is not too much to sa\ then, that i thei mountain 
 
 on this continent, and none in Kurope. r;\a!s in irrainleiir . 
 beauty Mi. Tae.inia : and it is doubtful whether in the world 
 then? is any that produc.- iter impres>ion upon the 
 
 hole 
 
 Though appearing in t he list am -e so syninietr HUM it h. 
 
 Mt. Tacoma ha- been found to ;>ound mass 
 
 j: of three eonspieiious -iimniits. and m . 
 peak-, with prccij 
 
 iiieh make tin- a.-ccnt ditlieull II 
 
-2G!) Geology and Botany of Xurthent Pdcifu: lldilnntd. 
 
 has been ascended, however, several times, and its labyrinths 
 sufficiently explored to prove that it carries from eight to twelve 
 glaciers, some of which are many miles in length and will bear 
 comparison with those of the Alps. 
 
 Every traveller who enters the Puget's Sound region from the 
 south, is snre to be struck by the turbid, milky appearance of 
 the water of the Cowlitz River, along which the milroad runs 
 for miles. This character it shares with nil streams which drain 
 glaciers, and has caused the Swiss mountaineers to give to the 
 water of such streams the name of " Glctsclier Mih'h." This 
 turbidity is due to the sediment produced by the constant grind- 
 ing action of these enormous masses of moving ice, set with 
 stones, upon their beds, and attests the sometimes disputed effi- 
 ciency of glaciers as eroding agents. The Puyallop, White River, 
 and other streams which come down from Mt. Tacoma, are alike 
 milky, and each shows that one or more glaciers are continually 
 grinding away at its head. On the contrary, the streams which 
 do not come from glaciers and are supplied by rain only and 
 that filtered through the decaying vegetation of the dense forests, 
 carry very little sediment, and that chiefly carbonaceous matter. 
 These are clear but brown, and the contrast which the water of 
 such streams presents to that of the rivers which drain the gla- 
 ciers, is very striking, justifying the names borne by two such, 
 of Black and White Rivers. 
 
 It has been contended by some writers, as before mentioned, 
 that the extension of glaciers in former times was due simply to 
 an increase in the amount of precipitated moisture ; but it is 
 easy to see that the heavy rainfall of Washington Territory might 
 be increased indefinitely with no considerable elongation of the 
 glaciers. But even with the rainfall remaining as it is, if a de- 
 pression of temperature should take place, carrying the present 
 conditions of winter through the year, the glaciers would soon 
 creep down into their old beds, fill all the valleys of their drain- 
 ing streams, and finally coalesce to form one grand glacier which 
 would flow out through the Strait of Fuca to the ocean. 
 
 Following the coast northward from Puget Sound, we find 
 the -glaciers coining down lower and lower, until in Alaska they 
 reach the sea-level. No one can claim that this is because the 
 precipitation is greater there, since observations show that it is 
 
"/'/ <l till Itntlllll/ llf .\ Hi-fill I'll I'll: ill It 
 
 not : luit tin- raivful ol-Tvrr must smvlv P800 
 
 LU86 at tin- north tin- tniijicra: nn- i~ loWOF. !! \\ 
 ;.t tli.-si- fac!>;i> a <l'in<>nst rat iun Hint tlu jirinn' / 
 ///<' prnilnrtinn of tin' filn'iinini'iKi ///' tin !< > / 
 </(/>/ '' temperature: that it \va- a IMTKM! of i-old aiil 
 
 of warmth.