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63D CONGRESS DocuMENT 
 eS cast in HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES No. 1693 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIREcTOR 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 GUIDEBOOK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WESTERN UNITED STATES 
 
 PART A. THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 WITH A SIDE TRIP TO YELLOWSTONE PARK 
 
 BY 
 
 MARIUS R. CAMPBELL AND OTHERS 
 
 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 oe) 
 
PrincripaAL Divisions oF GEoLocic TIME.4 
 
 [A glossary of geologic terms is given on pp. 199-203.] 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Duration, accord- 
 Era. Period. Epoch. Characteristic life. ing to various 
 estimates. 
 Millions of years. 
 Ploistos “Age of ” Animals and plants of 
 eistocene ge of man.’”’ Animals and plants o 
 Quaternary.| “(Great | modern types. 
 ; Ice Age). 
 Cenozoic (re- 
 cent life). 1 to 5. 
 aaeene “Age ofmammals.’”’ Possible first appear- 
 Tertiary. eet ance of man. Rise and development of 
 ‘ Oligocene. highest orders of plants 
 Eocene. 8 Pp ; 
 “‘ Age of reptiles.” Rise and culmination 
 Cretaceous. () of huge reed reptiles (dinosaurs), of shell- 
 fish with complexly partitioned coiled 
 2s shells (ammonites), and of great flyin; 
 
 Mesozoic (in- J : > reptiles. First appearance (in Jurassic) | 4 4 19 
 <rrirge Uraee. ) of birds and mammals; of cycads, an : 
 ife). order of palmlike plants (in Triassic); 
 
 and of angiospermous plants, among 
 Triassi (b) which are palms and hardwood trees 
 Sere (in Cretaceous). 
 Permian. ae: : 
 ‘¢ Age of amphibians.”’ Dominance of club 
 mosses (lycopods) and plants of horsetail 
 Denncviene and fern types. Primitive flowering 
 Carbonifer- Me plants and earliest cone-bearing trees. 
 ous, : Beginnings of backboned land animals 
 (land vertebrates). Insects. Animals 
 lh : with nautilus-like coiled shells (ammon- 
 Missi s s 1 p- ites) and sharks abundant. 
 pian. 
 ‘Age of fishes.” Shellfish (mollusks) also 
 Devonian. (0) abundant. Rise of amphibians and land 
 plants. 
 
 Paleozoic Shell-forming sea animals dominant, espe- 
 (old life). : cially those related to the nautilus (ceph- 
 
 alopods). Rise and culmination of the 
 Silurian. (>) marine animals sometimes known as sea | 17 to 25. 
 
 lilies (crinoids) and of giant scorpion- 
 like crustaceans (eurypterids). Ruse of 
 fishes and of reef-building corals. 
 
 
 
 Shell-forming sea animals, especially ceph- 
 alopods and mollusk-like brachiopods, 
 Ordovician. (>) abundant. Culmination of the buglike 
 marine crustaceans known as trilobites. 
 First trace of insect life. 
 
 
 
 ; Trilobites and brachiopods most charac- 
 Cambrian. (>) teristic animals. Seaweeds (algee) abun- 
 dant. No trace of land animals found. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : First life that has left distinct record. 
 _ | Algonkian. () Crustaceans, brachiopods, and seaweeds. 
 Proterozoic 
 eee tae 
 ife ‘ : 
 : Crystalline | No fossils found. 50+. 
 Archean. rocks, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a The geologic record consists mainly of sedimentary beds—beds deposited in water. Over large areas 
 long periods of uplift and erosion intervened between periods of deposition. Every such interruption in 
 deposition in any area produces there what geologists term an unconformity. Many of the time divisions 
 shown above are separated by such unconformities—that is, the dividing lines in the table represent local 
 or widespread uplifts or depressions of the earth’s surface. / 
 
 b Epoch names omitted; in less common use than those given. 
 
 o ae 
 
W173 
 75.4 
 
 a A ? 
 f 4 “ Aud 7 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 By Grorce Oris SMITH. 
 
 The United States of America comprise an area so vast in extent 
 and so diverse in natural features as well as in characters due to 
 human agency that the American citizen who knows thoroughly his 
 own country must have traveled widely and observed wisely. To 
 ‘know America first’ is a patriotic obligation, but to meet this obliga- 
 tion the railroad traveler needs to have his eyes directed toward the 
 more important or essential things within his field of vision and then 
 to have much that he sees explained by what is unseen in the swift 
 passage of the train. Indeed, many things that attract his attention 
 are inexplicable except as the story of the past is available to enable 
 him to interpret the present. Herein lie the value and the charm of 
 history, whether human or geologic. 
 
 The present stimulus given to travel in the home country will 
 encourage many thousands of Americans to study geography at first 
 hand. To make this study most profitable the traveler needs a 
 handbook that will answer the questions that come to his mind so 
 readily along the way. Furthermore, the aim of such a guide should 
 be to stimulate the eye in the selection of the essentials in the scene 
 that so rapidly unfolds itself in the crossing of the continent. In 
 recognition of the opportunity afforded in 1915 to render service 
 of this kind to an unusually large number of American citizens, as well 
 as to visitors from other countries, the United States Geological 
 Survey has prepared a series of guidebooks! covering four of the 
 older railroad routes west of the Mississippi. 
 
 > These books are educational in purpose, but the method adopted is 
 to entertain the traveler by making more interesting what he sees from 
 the car window. The plan of the series is to present authoritative 
 
 information that may enable the reader to realize adequately the 
 | 
 
 
 
 ! Guidebook of the western United States: Part A, The Northern Pacific Route, 
 with a side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 611); Part B, The Overland Route, 
 with a side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 612); Part C, The Santa Fe Route, 
 with a side trip to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado (Bulletin 613); Part D, The 
 Shasta Route and Coast Line (Bulletin 614). 
 
 3 
 
4 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 scenic and material resources of the region he is traversing, to com- 
 prehend correctly the basis of its development, and above all to 
 appreciate keenly the real value of the country he looks out upon, 
 not as so many square miles of territory represented on the map in a 
 railroad folder by meaningless spaces, but rather as land—real estate, 
 if you please—varying widely in present appearance because differing 
 largely in its history, and characterized by even greater variation in, 
 values because possessing diversified natural resources. One region 
 may be such as to afford a livelihood for only a pastoral people; 
 another may present opportunity for intensive agriculture; still 
 another may contain hidden stores of mineral wealth that may 
 attract large industrial development; and, taken together, these varied 
 resources afford the promise of long-continued prosperity for this or 
 that State. 
 
 Items of interest in civic development or references to significant 
 epochs in, the record of discovery and settlement may be interspersed 
 with explanations of mountain and valley or statements of geologic 
 history. In a broad way the story of the West is a unit, and every 
 chapter should be told in order to meet fully the needs of the tourist 
 who aims to understand all that he sees. To such a traveler-reader 
 this series of guidebooks is addressed. 
 
 To this interpretation of our own country the United States 
 Geological Survey brings the accumulated data of decades of pioneer- 
 ing investigation, and the present contribution is only one type of 
 return to the public which has supported this scientific work under 
 the Federal Government. 
 
 In the preparation of the description of the country traversed by 
 the Northern Pacific Route the geographic and geologic information 
 already published as well as unpublished material in the possession 
 of the Geological Survey has been utilized, but to supplement this 
 material Mr. Campbell made a field examination of the entire route 
 in 1914. Information has been furnished by others, to whom credit 
 is given in the text. Cooperation has been rendered by the United 
 States Reclamation Service, railroad officials and other citizens have 
 generally given their aid, and other members of the Survey have freely 
 cooperated in the work. For the purpose of furnishing the traveler 
 with a graphic presentation of each part of his route, the accom- 
 panying maps, 27 sheets in all, have been prepared, with a degree of 
 accuracy probably never before attained in a guidebook, and their 
 arrangement has been planned to meet the convenience of the reader. 
 The special topographic surveys necessary to complete these maps 
 of the route were made by J. G. Staack, C. L. Sadler, J. L. Lewis, 
 N. E. Ballmer, and W. O. Tufts. 
 
 
 
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 PART A. THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, WITH A SIDE 
 TRIP TO YELLOWSTONE PARK. 
 
 By Marius R. CAMPBELL and others. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 If his journey to the Pacific coast begins at one of the great cities 
 on the Atlantic seaboard, the traveler, when he reaches St. Paul, the 
 eastern terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway, will have gone 
 nearly halfway across North America. He will have traversed or 
 perhaps gone around the Appalachian Mountain region and then 
 crossed the prairie States, which, in wealth and population, form in 
 themselves an empire. 
 
 St. Paul is in the prairie region, but the boundary between the 
 prairies and the Great Plains is vague and undefined, and the tray- 
 eler will at no place perceive the change from prairie to plain or from 
 the East to the West. On leaving St. Paul he first passes across 
 rolling prairies, interspersed with forests of pine and hardwood trees, 
 and within a short distance these prairies give place to the vast tree- 
 less plains which, stretching a thousand miles west of the Mississippi, 
 rise almost imperceptibly to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 
 The annual rainfall diminishes in the same direction from 28 inches 
 at St. Paul to only half that amount in central Montana, and the 
 traveler, as he goes westward, will note more and more of the features 
 that he has habitually associated with the West. Prairie dogs and 
 jack rabbits are seen; one by one the flowers and shrubs of the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley disappear and are replaced by those of a semiarid 
 country; trees grow only on the moist bottom lands along the streams; 
 intensive cultivation is possible only in the valleys, though the up- 
 lands are being brought into use by dry farming and are yielding 
 fair crops of the more hardy grains. 
 
 Throughout much of the region traversed the face of the country 
 has been greatly modified by the vast ice sheets of the glacial period 
 which covered the northern part of the continent and left immense 
 deposits of loose material on the surface of hard rock in the northern 
 
 5 
 
6 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 part of the United States. The history and the phenomena of this 
 glaciation are considered in detail at several places in this book. 
 
 The general features of the country west of the Mississippi are 
 represented on Plate I. When, after crossing the Great Plains, the 
 traveler reaches the foothills of the Rocky Mountains he will have 
 attained a height of 4,000 feet above the sea, a height reached by few 
 peaks in the Eastern States outside of the Adirondacks and the White 
 Mountains., The Rocky Mountains form a great, irregular, rough- 
 hewn “backbone” for the continent. They comprise many groups 
 of ranges, in which some peaks in Montana and Idaho reach a height 
 of 12,000 feet above sea level and some in Colorado rise more than 
 14,000 feet. 
 
 The western mountains, like the eastern, are the worn remnants of 
 upward folds or crumples or of upheaved blocks of the fractured 
 earth crust, but, unlike the eastern mountains, which are geologically 
 old, the western mountains are geologically very young. They are 
 therefore higher, for since they were uplifted there has not been time 
 for ice, rain, heat, frost, and wind to wear them down to lower levels. 
 
 West of the Rocky Mountains lies a broad interior basin, in the 
 northern part of which, with its inclosing mountains, there is sufficient 
 rain and snow to maintain the flow of the great Columbia River; 
 but in the southern part, in what is known as the Great Basin, the 
 mountain streams find no outlets to the sea, their waters, so precious 
 for irrigation, being soon lost in the thirsty lowlands, and the feeble 
 or intermittent rivers of the valleys carry their waters down to be 
 evaporated in alkali marshes or on saline deserts. 
 
 The part of the Columbia River basin or plateau that is traversed 
 by the Northern Pacific Railway is made up of lava flows, among 
 the greatest in the world, which in comparatively recent geologic 
 time spread like a fiery flood over hundreds of thousands of square 
 miles; and a wide expanse of hard, dark volcanic rocks, whose sur- 
 face is here and there cut deeply by streams, shows the enormous 
 extent and volume of these eruptions. The part of this old lava 
 plain that is crossed by Columbia River is the most arid region tray- 
 ersed by this route. The precipitation in this region is sometimes 
 not more than 6 inches annually, but despite the small rainfall 
 the uplands have become the great wheat-raising country of the 
 Northwest. 
 
 The last great natural feature to be crossed by the traveler is the 
 Cascade Range, which separates the interior basin from the region 
 of Puget Sound. This range is a broad upland that stands from 6,000 
 to 8,000 feet above the sea, and here the evidences of volcanic activity 
 continue to be conspicuous. On the flanks of the range rise the snow- 
 covered peaks of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and other cones, 
 which were once active volcanoes, pouring forth streams of lava and 
 
ee 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 
 BULLETIN 
 
 611 
 
 PEAREa 
 
 MICHIGAN 
 
 hy 
 3 
 “Ss 
 
 
 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 oh eee ecm oes meme oe 
 MeND ft * , 
 
 
 
 Pa celia” 
 
 
 
 
 
 Piste 
 
 
 
 Ep a oe eye ey 
 NR eon 6 
 fr ee 
 
 RELIEF MAP SHOWING SURFACE FEATURES OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Areas shown on the sheets of the route map are Indicated in red. 
 
 eet ghia “ 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 PLATE |! 
 
 MICHIGAN 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, i 
 
 showers of rock fragments. Of these great conical masses, built up 
 by successive lava flows and by the accumulation of rock fragments 
 blown from the craters, the highest is Mount Rainier, towering 14,408 
 feet above Puget Sound, from which it presents a magnificent spec- 
 tacle, its upper slopes covered by great streams of moving ice, the 
 largest glaciers in the United States south of Alaska. 
 
 On emerging from the Cascades the traveler enters a broad lowland, 
 which is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Olympic Mountains, 
 but which contains Puget Sound with its many branching waterways, 
 one of the most remarkable bodies of salt water on the globe. 
 
 Norr.—For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map in this 
 bulletin are so arranged that he can unfold them one by one and keep each one in 
 view while he is reading the text relating to it. A reference is made in the text to 
 each sheet at the place where it should be so unfolded, and the areas covered by the 
 sheets are shown on Plate I. A list of these sheets and of other illustrations, showing | 
 where each one is placed in the book, is given on pages 205-207. <A glossary of 
 geologic terms is given on pages 199-203 and an index of stations on pages 209-212. 
 
ITINERARY. 
 
 The traveler who is interested in the geologic history of this 
 country—a history that reaches back into the dim and misty past, 
 to a time long before Father Hennepin first saw the Falls of St. 
 Anthony and the Mississippi Valley in 1680—will find much to attract 
 his attention about St. Paul and Minneapolis. If he has only a 
 few hours at his disposal he can easily obtain a general view of the 
 valley of the Mississippi and the rocks composing its bluffs from the 
 Robert or Wabasha Street Bridge in St. Paul, both of which are 
 within a few minutes’ walk of the Union Station. If he chooses the 
 Wabasha Street Bridge, which in some respects affords a better 
 view, he will see that the Mississippi is flowing in a broad valley 
 from 100 to 200 feet deep. In some places the walls of the valley 
 are composed of solid rock, but in others they are made up of loose 
 material, such as clay, sand, or gravel, which forms either large 
 masses or is spread as a thin coating over the rocky slopes. As the 
 valley has been cut in the hard rock by the river, it is a record of 
 stream carving and of the climatic and geographic conditions under 
 which the carving was done. Not only are the recent events of geo- 
 logic history recorded in the size and shape of the valley, but the much 
 earlier events in the history of the globe have left a record in the solid 
 rock itself—a record that, when correctly read, tells of the presence 
 of a sea in which limy muds were accumulating or along the shore 
 of which sand was washed back and forth by the waves or drifted 
 into heaps by the wind. Every one is more or less familiar with 
 the history of Minnesota during the last 250 years, or since the white 
 man first visited the region, but few know anything of the far more 
 ancient history recorded in the rocks and in the hills and valleys of 
 the region. It is to this ancient history, dealing with the time 
 before man is supposed to have existed upon the globe, that the 
 reader’s attention 1s now invited. | 
 
 The bluff upon which the Wabasha Street Bridge rests is com- 
 posed almost entirely of white sandstone (St. Peter‘), which is very, 
 very old, but despite its great age is so soft that it can be crushed in 
 the hand. Streams of water flowing through the rock have carved 
 ereat underground channels in it, and more recently boys have dug 
 caves in the soft sand along the river front directly below the bridge. 
 
 1 The rocks exposed at the surface in the vicinity of St. Paul and those revealed 
 by deep drilling are shown in the table on page 9. The natural order of the forma- 
 tions named in the table, from top to bottom, is shown by the order in which the 
 
 8 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 9 
 
 Jonathan Carver, in describing his journey to this region in 1766, 
 mentions a large cave in the St. Peter sandstone about 30 miles 
 below the Falls of St. Anthony, a cave called by the Indians the 
 “Dwelling of the Great Spirit.” In this cave they held religious 
 ceremonies, and near it they buried their dead. When the sandstone 
 is examined under a magnifying glass it is found to be composed of 
 beautifully white translucent grains of quartz, resembling rock 
 candy except that the fragments are round instead of angular. 
 The even lines of bedding, which can be scen from either of the 
 bridges mentioned, show that the sand must have been laid down in 
 water, but the forms of the individual grains show with equal cer- 
 tainty that the sand before it was washed into the ocean and deposited 
 along the shore was blown about by the wind and perhaps heaped 
 into large dunes, such as are now seen around the head of Lake 
 Michigan south of Chicago. : 
 
 The St. Peter sandstone, on account of its purity, is well adapted 
 to glass making and in many places it is used for that purpose. It 
 extends from St. Paul southward as far as central Arkansas and east- 
 ward as far as Detroit, and probably once extended much farther 
 north, but in that direction it has been eroded—worn away by frost, 
 rains, and streams—until all trace of it is lost. On account of its 
 wide distribution and the purity of the materials that compose it, 
 this deposit of sand is one of the most remarkable in the world. 
 
 Above this sandstone, if stone it may be called, lies a thin-bedded 
 limestone known as the Platteville, which can be seen at the entrance 
 to the Wabasha Street Bridge and which was formerly used about 
 the ‘twin cities’’ for building material. The stone occurs, however, 
 in thin layers and does not stand the weather well, so that very 
 
 
 
 names are printed. The place of each of the larger units of rock or of time (as Cam- 
 brian, Ordovician) in the general geologic column is shown in the table on page 2. 
 
 
 
 aie Thickness 
 Ordovician: in feet. 
 Faone limestone (exposed )..s2.'......-.-.e-e4-n esses 15 
 Piette POX MUROU eon sks. endo e pace ols Ges se ee = 3 60 
 Platteville limestone (exposed). ....-.-....--.-------- 30 
 Paget @bbe Sali atone, FeX PORGC J... eee eee eel es 150 
 ERI te a ae ce cers ec tion ale of ose ae fe 60 
 (wiht: nea ETRE Eee ental pega) CMS AR adh deb SE Bahl eel a pe 100 
 _— 415 
 Cambrian: 
 BRECON LONGR., on Sidtlone) de tho tl Loto Gerewee a4 75 
 emer weCnen tOrmatiOne rr: <0... eseustent. Dit enh seo J 100 
 Franconia sandstone, Dresbach sandstone, and under- 
 RPC HIV AY eicedts tiie Eb.» «lee Ud aya % <item es 500 
 675 
 Peeemiamae Noting (APOn IAN eyes 1 al deere o'nfol= bn cn etme ed wed ip bay: 
 Granite. as Sees 
 
10 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 little of it is now used. This limestone contains here and there 
 fossil sea shells, which show clearly that the sandy shore of the St. 
 Peter epoch finally sank and was covered by the sea, The shells of 
 the animals that inhabited this sea sank to the bottom when the 
 animals died and were buried in the limy mud that later became 
 hardened into limestone, which preserved not only the shells but all 
 the beautiful ornamentation on their surfaces. 
 
 If the traveler can spend a day or two here instead of a few hours, — 
 he may take many pleasant rides by trolley or automobile into the 
 surrounding country to places of historic and scenicinterest. Whether 
 his visit is one of business or one of pleasure, he should not fail to 
 see old Fort Snelling and the Falls of Minnehaha. Fort Snelling 
 stands on the green, tree-shaded bluffs that overlook the peaceful 
 valley of the Mississippi, and it is hard to realize that when it was 
 established, only a few years after Zebulon M. Pike made his journey 
 to the source of the Mississippi,! it was in the heart of the Indian 
 country. It is doubtful if at that time anyone dreamed that near its 
 site would rise such cities as St. Paul and Minneapolis. In the 
 early days Fort Snelling was the starting point of several military 
 expeditions that were sent out to explore the great Northwest. 
 
 The Falls of Minnehaha, which are about 24 miles farther north, 
 offer none of the sinister suggestions of war that still linger round 
 the fort; on the contrary, they have an atmosphere of love and 
 romance, and the journey of Hiawatha and Minnehaha, as related 
 by Longfellow, is fittingly commemorated by a bronze group at the 
 head of the falls. (See Pl. II.) 
 
 
 
 1 Soon after the acquisition from France 
 of Louisiana, which included most of the 
 territory west of Mississippi River, Lieut. 
 Z. M. Pike was commissioned by Presi- 
 dent Jefferson to explore the new terri- 
 tory and to find the source of the river. 
 When Pike reached the mouth of St. 
 Peter (now Minnesota) River, in 1805, he 
 recognized the strategic importance of 
 the point for military purposes and pro- 
 cured from the Indians title for the Gov- 
 ernment to the land from the mouth of 
 St. Peter River to and including the 
 Falls of St. Anthony. In his report on 
 the explorations he recommended that a 
 fort be established on the bluff between 
 St. Peter and Mississippirivers. Nothing 
 came of his recommendation until Feb- 
 ruary 10, 1819, when John C. Calhoun, 
 Secretary of War, ordered the Fifth In- 
 fantry, under Col. Henry Leavenworth, 
 
 
 
 to establish headquarters at this place. 
 Col. Leavenworth reached the mouth of 
 St. Peter River on September 24 of the 
 same year, but instead of occupying the 
 bluff recommended by Pike he camped 
 across the river, where the village of 
 Mendota now stands. In 1820 Col. 
 Leavenworth was relieved by Col. Josiah 
 Snelling, who determined to build a per- 
 manent post on the spot originally se- 
 lected by Pike. The corner stone is sup- 
 posed to have been laid on September 10, 
 1820, and the post was occupied by the 
 troops in 1822. The fort was originally 
 called St. Anthony, but the name was 
 changed to Snelling at the recommenda- 
 tion of Gen. Winfield Scott, who visited 
 it while on a tour of inspection in 1824. 
 Fort Snelling has been continuously oc- 
 cupied as a military post from 1822 to the 
 present time. sf 
 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE Ii 
 
 
 
 MINNEHAHA, ‘!‘LAUGHING WATER.” 
 
 Height of fall, 54 feet. Water tumbles over St. Peter sandstone, which is gradually being cut back toward Lake 
 Minnetonka. Photograph by Haynes, St. Paul, Minn. 
 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE Ill 
 
 
 
 A. VALCEY Clty, No DAK.) FROMTHE“ “HIGH EINES 
 
 The river meanders broadly on the glacial drift which partly fills the old rock-cut valley. Photograph by Johnson 
 & Olson, Alexandria, Minn. 
 
 
 
 B, THE “HIGH LINE” ACROSS THE VALLEY OF SHEYENNE RIVER, N. DAK. 
 
 Height of trestle (150 feet) indicates depth of valley. Photograph by Johnson & Olson, Alexandria, Minn. 
 
 f 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, Bl 
 
 Fort Snelling and the Falls of Minnehaha can be reached from St. 
 Paul by several routes, but whoever wishes to see the rocks and the 
 way they have been carved by the streams should take the Snelling 
 ear, which follows the Mississippi upstream for about 6 miles directly 
 to Fort Snelling. The roadway is on a bench or terrace nearly half 
 a mile wide, which stands about 100 feet above the river and on a 
 part of which the business portion of St. Paul has been built. The 
 terrace is underlain by the Platteville limestone, which may be seen 
 at, a number of places, and it is evidently a remnant of a valley that 
 existed there before the present channel of the river was excavated 
 in its floor. The accompanying diagram (fig. 1) is a cross section of 
 the valley as it appears to-day. If the channel of the river should 
 be filled to the broken line .it would represent the valley floor as it 
 was before the present channel was cut, when the river was flowing 
 at the level of the terrace. As the rocks are not exposed at any 
 place in the bottom of the valley it is evident that the old rock-cut 
 valley has been filled by sediment (alluvium) brought down by the 
 stream, but the depth of this filling has not been accurately deter- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 = 
 K 
 : 
 
 yy WM MU ED, 
 ULL Oe Ui yyy Yj 
 
 GHETTO MEI: 
 CC 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 1.—Section across Mississippi Valley between St. Paul and Fort Snelling, Minn., looking east. 
 The broken line represents the bottom of the valley before the present channel was cut. 
 
 mined. A deep well sunk in St. Paul northeast of the Union Station 
 struck solid rock 100 feet below river level. At some remote time 
 the river channel was therefore at least 100 feet deeper than it is 
 now, and since that time it has been filled by mud and sand up to 
 the level of the present river bottom. 
 
 At Fort Snelling the main valley continues to the southwest, but 
 it is occupied only by Minnesota River,’ a stream manifestly too 
 small for the valley in which it is flowing; and, on the other hand, 
 Mississippi River above Fort Snelling is out of proportion to the 
 narrow gorge in which it is confined. To even the most casual 
 observer the streams appear to be misplaced; the larger stream is 
 flowing in the smaller valley and vice versa. The size and relation 
 of the river valleys about St. Paul show clearly that they have under- 
 gone many changes which do not occur in streams developing under 
 normal conditions. Changes of this kind have taken place in many 
 of the streams in the northern part of the United States. They are 
 
 1 Featherstonhaugh says that the In- | white settlers the name St. Peter was 
 dian name of this river was Minnay Sotor, | applied to it; but later the Indian name 
 Meaning turbid waters. By the early | wasrevived, with the spelling Minnesota. 
 
12 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 due to the invasion of this country at various epochs in the past by 
 ereat glaciers which filled existing valleys with the mud, sand, and 
 gravel that they brought in from the north. (See footnote on pp. 
 26-30.) When the ice vanished the streams found different courses, 
 developing lakes and falls, features characteristic of a newly estab- 
 lished drainage system. 
 
 Thus the original drainage about St. Paul consisted of a stream 
 flowing southeastward through the city and following the present 
 course of Mississippi River to a point 10 or 12 miles below St. Paul, 
 where it was joined by a large stream from the west, which crossed 
 the present river valley 4 or 5 miles above Fort Snelling. At that 
 time there was no stream flowing from Fort Snelling to St. Paul. 
 This area was then a rocky upland. 
 
 When the western ice sheet (see route map, sheet 1, p. 20) melted 
 back from this region, all these old stream channels were filled with 
 glacial materials, and the principal streams were developed along 
 their present courses. After a time the glacier, which came from the 
 north or northwest, melted back into the Red River valley, and 
 Lake Agassiz (ag’a-see) came into existence. (See footnote on p. 32.) 
 Warren River, the outlet of this large body of water, occupied the 
 present valley of Minnesota River and received Mississippi River as 
 a tributary from the north. This great river flowed across the rocky — 
 upland between Fort Snelling and St. Paul and cut a broad valley, 
 upon the floor of which St. Paul has been built. Where it joimed 
 the old valley, at the site of St. Paul, there was a waterfall many 
 times the size of St. Anthony. ‘This fall gradually receded upstream 
 until it reached the other old valley above Fort Snelling, and thus 
 the inner rock gorge shown in the diagram was cut. 
 
 The gorge of the Mississippi from Fort Snelling to the Falls of St. 
 Anthony, which are a short distance below the station in Minneapolis, 
 shows from its extreme narrowness that it is new and that it has — 
 only recently been carved out of the solid rock by the swiftly flowing 
 stream.! In fact, the process of carving the gorge of the Mississippi 
 is still in operation, or was before it was arrested by the hand of man. 
 
 
 
 1Many take it for granted that the sur- 
 face features of the earth have always been 
 the same as they are to-day, that the val- 
 leys have always been valleys and the 
 hills and mountains always eminences 
 overlooking them. The incorrectness of 
 such an assumption, however, can be 
 realized by watching any small stream or 
 rill after or during arain. It will be seen 
 that the stream is busily engaged in cut- 
 ting the sand or clay over which it flows 
 
 and carrying it down the valley to be 
 dropped where the current slackens in 
 some pond or lake. Every fragment, as 
 it is loosened from the bed of the stream, 
 is carried or rolled along by the water a 
 few inches or a few feet and then dropped, 
 because the stream is unable to move it 
 farther, as a tired man lays down his bur- 
 denamomenttorest. By dropping many 
 grains the power of the water is restored 
 and the grain of sand is again picked up, 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. Le 
 
 Rivers always deepen their channels toward the head of the stream, 
 and the Falls of St. Anthony have doubtless receded slowly from a 
 point near the edge of the main valley at Fort Snelling to their present 
 position. As the rate of recession of this fall has apparently been 
 fairly uniform, and as the distance which the fall has retreated is 
 well known, it has been used in making estimates of the time that has 
 elapsed since the river first started to cut its gorge near Fort Snelling. 
 According to the best estimate, the fall has been 12,000 years in 
 traveling from the vicinity of Fort Snelling to its present position, 
 and it has been 8,000 years since glacial Warren River ceased to flow 
 and the present river system came into existence. 
 
 When the receding Falls of St. Anthony reached and passed the 
 mouth of Minnehaha Creek that stream plunged into the deepened 
 gorge and the Falls of Minnehaha originated. Since that time they 
 have been worn back about 400 feet to their present position. Each 
 day some particle of rock is dislodged or worn away, and gradually 
 the falls are working back up the stream. In the course of time they 
 will reach Lake Minnetonka, and then this beautiful sheet of water 
 will be drained, but that catastrophe will occur so far in the future 
 that the owners of the hotels and summer cottages that line its shore 
 need not be alarmed. 
 
 Lake Minnetonka is also the direct result of the occupation of the 
 country by the ice, as are the 10,000 other lakes which Minnesota is 
 reported to contain. ‘Their mode of origin, which is extremely inter- 
 esting, will be discussed in connection with a description of the many 
 other lakes that will come into the traveler’s view as he continues his 
 westward journey. Lake Minnetonka is easily reached by trolley 
 from both St. Paul and Minneapolis, and an afternoon or evening 
 spent along its beautiful shores makes a most acceptable break in a 
 long transcontinental journey. White Bear Lake, about 6 miles 
 north of St. Paul, bears the same relation to that city as a summer 
 resort that Lake Minnetonka bears to Minneapolis. 
 
 The site of the present city of St. Paul is said to have been a favorite 
 gathering ground for the Sioux Indians long before white men invaded 
 
 
 
 as the man recovers strength and resumes | alone has no cutting power. The grains 
 his burden, and is carried or rolled along | of sand and the pebbles that are swept 
 for a short distance farther. This opera- | along by the current act as a great rasp, 
 tion is repeated many, many times, until | scouring and cutting the hard rocks over 
 the grain of sand is finally transported to | which they are carried. Thus grain by 
 the sea and finds a resting place upon its grain the rocks are worn away and grain 
 sandy shore. by grain the material is carried to the sea. 
 
 The method by which a stream cuts | The process, though slow, never stops; 
 hard rocks is not so obvious as that by | and in time it carves such gorges as that 
 which it cutssand and clay. The cutting | of the Mississippi and even the deeper 
 is not done by the water itself, for water canyons found in the western mountains. 
 
14 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 their hunting grounds, and it is probable that for many generations 
 Indian villages stood within what are now the city limits. ' When the 
 white men came they located at Mendota, on the south side of Mis- 
 sissippi River near the mouth of the Minnesota, and this was the 
 first settlement in the State. What is now the city of St. Paul was 
 settled more recently, and its origin and the manner in which it 
 received its name are interesting events in the history of this region." 
 
 The State of Minnesota has a gross area of 84,682 square miles, of 
 which 3,824 square miles is covered with water. It was admitted to 
 the Union in 1858, and its population according to 
 the census of 1910 was 2,075,708. The earliest set- 
 tlements were made along Mississippi River, which 
 was then the main artery of commerce in this part of the country. 
 From this valley the incoming people spread to other valleys and 
 to the general upland between the principal streams. This was essen- 
 tially an agricultural population, and it has covered all the southern 
 and western parts of the State. The northeastern part was origi- 
 nally a land of swamps and heavy timber, not at all inviting to the 
 man in search of a farm, and for this reason all of that part except a 
 small area about the head of Lake Superior remained for a long time 
 comparatively unknown. 
 
 While the agricultural lands of southern Minnesota were being 
 converted into prosperous farms, the natural water power at the 
 Falls of St. Anthony attracted the attention of millers, and great flour 
 mills sprang up to grind the wheat that came pouring in from the 
 surrounding region. At the same time the pine forest began to be 
 utilized, and soon the great mills were denuding the country of its 
 valuable timber. 
 
 The last great industry to develop was the mining of iron ore in the 
 northern part of the State. 
 value than the products of either agriculture or manufacturing, it 
 has probably brought the State into public notice to a greater degree 
 than either of the others, for Minnesota is now the greatest producer 
 of iron ore in the country, having in 1913 an output of nearly 
 39,000,000 long tons, out of a total for the entire country of 62,000,000 
 tons. 
 
 Minnesota. 
 
 1 When the military post of Fort Snell- 
 
 evicting all the roughs and in demolish- 
 ing was established, in 1820, the bounda- 
 
 ing their cabins. The evicted persons 
 
 ries of the reservation had not been deter- 
 mined and consequently the post was 
 overrun with all sorts of camp followers. 
 In 1839 the limits of the reservation were 
 fixed and efforts were made to eliminate 
 the undesirable element, but not until 
 May 6, 1840, were the troops successful in 
 
 crossed the river and started a hamlet 
 near the spot where the Union Station at 
 St. Paul now stands. This was soon 
 graced by a Roman Catholic chapel called 
 St. Paul’s, which gave its name to the 
 village. 
 nings the city has developed. 
 
 OO — EE EE EE EE eee eee 
 
 eee SS eS 
 
 ee es a 
 
 Though the output of the mines is of less © 
 
 The first iron mines in the State were opened in the Vermilion ~ 
 
 From such inauspicious begin- 
 
TIE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 15 
 
 range'in 1884. The great Mesabi range was opened in 1892 and the 
 Cuyuna range in 1911. 
 
 The values of the products of the State are approximately as fol- 
 lows: Manufactures (1909), $409,000,000; agriculture (1909), $275,- 
 000,000; mining (1913), $70,000,000. 
 
 The locations of the centers of commerce and industry in this State, 
 as in many others that were settled in the early days, were determined 
 largely by the availability of water transportation. Thus St. Paul, 
 which stands at the head of navigation on Mississippi River, and 
 Duluth, which is at the upper end of Lake Superior, were the principal 
 points. The use of Mississippi River as a commercial highway has 
 gradually diminished, until to-day it has little or no effect on the com- 
 merce of the Northwest; but St. Paul and Minneapolis still continue 
 to form a center for all the northern transcontinental railroads and 
 also for those that connect central Canada with the United States. 
 Lake Superior still holds its own as a water route for heavy freight— 
 iron ore and grain going east and coal and manufactured articles going 
 west—and the places at which most of this traffic concentrates are 
 Duluth and Superior, at the extreme western point of the lake. 
 
 On leaving the Union Station at St. Paul (see sheet 1, p. 20) the 
 Northern Pacific Railway follows a small ravine almost due north for 
 about 2 miles, gradually climbing from an altitude 
 of 732 feet at the station to more than 900 feet at 
 the highest point within the city limits. In passing 
 over this part of the road the traveler unacquainted 
 with glacial topography will have an opportunity to become familiar 
 with some of its peculiarities—its knobs and basins composed of mate- 
 rials which the moving ice carried or pushed along and deposited near 
 its margin. 
 
 The region was at one time covered (as shown on the map of Minne- 
 sota on sheet 3, p. 32) by what is here called the middle ice sheet, 
 which, as it came down from the north, brought into this region clay 
 and fragments of red rock from the country north of Lake Superior. 
 This body of ice extended southward beyond St. Paul and on melting 
 left its load of reddish clay, sand, gravel, and bowlders, commonly 
 known as drift, spread over the surface like a blanket. Later another 
 
 St. Paul. 
 
 Elevation 732 feet. 
 Population 214,744.2 
 
 1 The term range, as applied to a de- 
 posit of iron ore or to the ore and the rocks 
 with which the ore is associated, is lim- 
 ited to the Lake Superior region. It 
 doubtless resulted from the fact that in 
 the first districts developed the rocks as- 
 sociated with the ore are hard and form 
 ridges or low ranges. From these districts 
 the term has been carried to the other 
 
 deposits of iron ore in the region, until 
 now they are all known as ranges, even if 
 the surface is flat and swampy. 
 
 2 The figures for population in this book 
 are those of the United States Census of 
 1910. For unincorporated places the fig- 
 ures give the population of the election 
 precinct, township, or like unit; such 
 figures are marked with an asterisk ¢*). 
 
16 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 large glacier, the western ice sheet, invaded Minnesota from the north- 
 west and spread a mantle of gray drift over part of the area already 
 covered by red drift. The boundary between these two drift sheets 
 passes through St. Paul but is not a sharp line of separation. 
 
 When the front of the western ice sheet rested on the hills about 
 St. Paul streams of water issued from the ice and carried with them 
 vast quantities of sand and gravel, which they deposited beyond the 
 ice front. One of these streams left the ice mass in the vicinity of 
 Minneapolis and spread a great sheet of sand and gravel over the 
 country upon which St. Paul has been built. It is mainly these 
 outwash materials that can be seen from the Northern Pacific trains 
 as they pass from St. Paul to Minneapolis. The gravel was deposited 
 irregularly and now forms knobs that are separated by kettle-like 
 depressions. Lake Como, on the right (north) ' of the railway, lies 
 in a basin of this character. 
 
 Descending somewhat from the high land the railway crosses the 
 gorge or canyon cut by Mississippi River in the Platteville limestone 
 and St. Peter sandstone. These rocks were formerly well exposed 
 here, but they have been obscured by the construction of mills and 
 the slumping in of soil from the top of the bluffs. While crossing 
 the river the traveler can see on the right what remains of the Falls 
 of St. Anthony, after a large part of the water has been diverted for 
 the development of power. Further erosion of the rock has been 
 prevented by the building of a low dam at the crest of the fall, and 
 about 35,000 horsepower has been generated for running the great 
 flour mills that line the river bank for some distance. 
 
 On the left are the buildings of the University of Minnesota, 
 which occupy a commanding position on the east side of the river. 
 
 The rocks rise toward the north, as shown by fig- 
 Minneapolis. ure 2 (p. 17), even more steeply than the grade of 
 Elevation 854 feet. the stream, and the top of the St. Peter sandstone 
 Roy ae ue eeerarich Gee O vor ey iets Platteville limestone appear higher 
 
 in the canyon wall than they do at Fort Snelling. 
 Immediately after crossing the river the train enters the Union Station 
 at Minneapolis, to receive other travelers bound for the far West. 
 
 North of Minneapolis the railway again crosses Mississippi River, 
 but here there is no gorge, the river flowing in a shallow valley in 
 the drift-covered plain. Just beyond Northtown, on the right (east), 
 the St. Peter sandstone is visible for the last time. This outcrop 
 lies at considerably higher level than any outcrop of the sandstone 
 in the gorge below the Falls of St. Anthony, indicating that the 
 beds of rock rise northward more steeply than the surface of the 
 
 
 
 ' The terms right and left refer to the westbound journey. 
 
 2 The figures giving distance from St. Paul are taken from the Northern Pacific 
 Railway folder of 1915. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 17 
 
 ground. As this northward rise continues up the Mississippi until 
 the underlying granite is brought to the surface about St. Cloud it 
 is probable that in the past the St. Peter sandstone and associated 
 beds extended farther northward than at present. They were, how- 
 ever, worn away by the weather, the streams, and the ice, until now 
 the railway passes over their beveled edges onto lower and lower 
 formations toward the north, as shown by figure 2. 
 
 The Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways operate the 
 
 line from Minneapolis to St. Cloud jointly. At Coon Creek a branch 
 
 of the Great Northern turns nearly due north and 
 Coon Creek. joins a line of the same system from St. Cloud to 
 Elevation 893 feet. Duluth. In this part of the valley the surface is 
 St. Paul 23 miles. 
 
 composed largely of sand and gravel washed out 
 from the glacier when its front lay a short distance to the north- 
 west. The fine part of this material when dried was picked up by 
 the west winds and carried over the country to the east, forming 
 sand dunes which, with intervening marshes, still characterize this 
 part of the country, as 
 shown on the map. 
 
 The succession of 
 events during the several 
 invasions of this country FIGURE 2.—Diagram showing northward rise of the rocks in 
 by the ice and the various the vicinity of Minneapolis, Minn. 
 materials deposited by the ice sheets are described in the footnotes 
 on pages 26-30. 
 
 Tor nearly 100 miles the railway follows the valley of the Missis- 
 sippi, here a broad and flat depression much of which has the appear- 
 
 ance of a level plain; but in places the low hills on 
 Anoka. both sides approach the river and the valley is con- 
 Elevation 904 feet. fined by fairly definite bounding walls. About 
 Ae epat oo ike Anoka the floor of the valley consists of a gently 
 
 undulating plain. The river has cut its channel but 
 little below the general surface, and it seems to wander over the plain 
 without plan or purpose, except to discharge its waters southward. 
 The valley is well cultivated, and the glacial hills and wooded banks 
 of the river are just sufficient to break the monotony of its even 
 surface. 
 
 Although no rocks are exposed about Anoka, deep drilling for 
 water has shown that the glacial drift there is about 80 feet thick and 
 that the underlying rock is probably a part of the Dresbach sand- 
 stone. (See footnote on p. 9.) About Anoka flowing wells obtain 
 water from this sandstone, and in the southeastern part of Anoka 
 County millions of gallons are pumped from it daily to St. Paul for 
 the city supply. 
 
 95558°—Bull. 611—15 
 
 NORTH 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
20 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 amount of it was used in the new State capitol. The granite is hard 
 and resistant, forming the rapids in the river and the rough topog- 
 raphy that marks the valley for some distance. 
 
 The town of St. Cloud (see sheet 2, p. 26) lies on the opposite side 
 of the river from the railway, so Bas the traveler can see only the 
 station and a few houses. A rapid in the river near 
 this place is utilized to produce power for a large 
 milling industry. Here the main line of the Great 
 Northern Railway crosses the river, but a branch of 
 that road leading from St. Cloud to Duluth is crossed 
 by the Northern Pacific train a short distance beyond the station. — 
 
 At Sauk Rapids the low granite and drift hills that border the 
 valley on the right (east) approach so close to the river that there is 
 room only for a few streets and the railway between 
 the hills and the river. Masses of granite can be seen 
 in the river channel and the resistance of this rock 
 has produced the rapids at this place. Rock of the 
 same kind is quarried in the bluffs some distance 
 back from the river and is brought to the main line over a short 
 spur for shipment. Above the rapids the river flows quietly between 
 low wooded banks, or rather in a slight depression in the bottom of 
 the broad valley. 
 
 Although the hills are less precipitous beyond Sauk Rapids, the 
 presence of granite in the vicinity of Watab station is attested by 
 great, bowlders of this material that were evidently picked up by 
 the glacier and distributed along the valley, and also by old quarries 
 that. are faintly discernible on the left (west). 
 
 The traveler is now approaching the place where Pike’s party 
 wintered in 1805-6 on their memorable trip to the source of the 
 Mississipp1.' 
 
 St. Cloud. 
 
 Elevation 1,050 feet. 
 Population 10,600. 
 St. Paul 76 miles. 
 
 Sauk Rapids. 
 
 Elevation 1,034 feet. 
 Population 1, 745. 
 St. Paul 77 miles. 
 
 
 
 1 As soon as Louisiana had been ac- 
 quired from France by the treaty signed 
 at Paris on April 30, 1803, President 
 Jefferson took steps to have the newly 
 acquired country thoroughly explored. 
 He personally planned the expedition to 
 the Pacific coast which was conducted 
 by Lewis and Clark (see p. 47) in 1804- 
 1806 and other expeditions by Lieut. 
 Zebulon M. Pike to the headwaters of 
 the Mississippi and to the great South- 
 west. Pike’s search for the source of the 
 Mississippi took him over ground with 
 which the traveler is now somewhat 
 familiar, and an account of the trip may 
 be of interest. 
 
 The country through which Pike trayv- 
 eled was at that time fairly well known, 
 but the earlier explorations had been 
 made by French and English adven- 
 turers who were using every means to 
 further the interests of their respective 
 Governments. It had now become the 
 property of the United States, and 
 Jefferson wanted first-hand informatior 
 not only regarding the geography of the 
 country but also regarding the attitude 
 taken toward the new owner by the Indiaz 
 tribes and the trappers and traders whi 
 gathered furs from this vast wilderness. — 
 
 Pike left St. Louis on August 9, 1800 
 with 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, and 17 pri 
 
=a + = 
 
 SHEET No. | 
 
 30 MINNESOTA 
 
 
 
 
 
 : 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch ay? 
 ; j 5 id 15 Miles 50! 
 $) of 1.9 5 10 15 20 25 Kilometers 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 ® 
 a ff The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 v4 Bethel 
 
 
 
 Le: Waite Bea. 
 “A? Lake 
 
 
 
 
 
 bez) 
 v7 nN 
 | 35 ‘= 
 at FAS 3 
 Hes 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ines 
 spe %e gtenemadbnss 
 
 Ree Fes Dw SeeEe he 
 O sheargenrse wae 
 
 
 
 ° j ‘5 
 Min 4 oY Boner f 
 a C « 
 c f TEN 
 ~ i 
 
 ak 
 
 P / gah 6 ic ga Fe 
 Ye XRed dfitt io Sie 
 
 \\g? F | iti 
 
 { The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 b°30/ ; oases eri de ne Oh eee 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and_ profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 
 
 94° (Sheet No2Z2) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 NORTHERN 
 -_ 
 P. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Y 7, : : 
 ce, Arve 
 Gin 
 
 t Michael ## on 
 ome ° Cowley, 
 
 
 
 Vel oe 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : 163 A Stream deposits (alluvium) } 
 bee B Sand dunes and marshes 
 C Glacial river bottoms and terraces { 
 : = uaternary 
 D Glacial outwash sand and gravel Q : 
 E Gray drift of western ice sheet 
 | 
 
 F Red drift of middle ice sheet 
 
 
 
 Underlying rocks (represented by 
 heavy lines and patterns) 
 
 
 
 Thickness 
 
 in feet ee 
 
 
 
 Limestone, thin-bedded (Platteville) 30 
 Sandstone, soft, white (St. Peter) 150 
 
 G 4 Magnesian limestone (Shakopee 
 ame dolomite) 60 
 
 ee 
 Magnesian limestone (Oneota 
 
 M dolomite) 100} a) 
 H_ Granite Archean ,o" 
 @ 
 
 ae 
 
 
 
 
 
 j f Shale (Decorah) 60) ~~ i a 
 
 “al River 
 
 Rm, £4. G24 
 we 
 
 Sl 0, sf & e 
 F See SPQ SL & 
 { EXPLANATION oD) a Lange oS 
 i go Na lapepentenes \ 
 Loose surface materials ate pe “Cif re 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ~ o Bethel 
 
 SHEET No. 1 
 
 MINNESOTA 
 se) Se 
 
 
 
 1 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch Ae 
 
 \ 5 i0 16 Miles 
 
 of 6 190 5 10 15 20 25 Kilometers 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 ¢ The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ss) ie igh 
 Based ay 
 WO 
 
 ; % 
 Wea Ae ee ee ee 
 
 - 
 OF 
 
 a on 
 
 
 
 ee 
 4 
 lagi wchiss pes 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 oat fh 
 be 
 Ser a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 21 
 Between Watab and Rice the railway runs in a flat valley that 
 extends as far as the eye can reach. It is well cultivated, and the 
 fields of grain and potatoes are broken only by some 
 small lakes that are to be seen on the right of the 
 track, but these have low shores and are not par- 
 ticularly attractive. As the train glides through mile 
 after mile of waving grain or pasture fields, with here 
 and there a farmhouse nestling beneath the shadow of some ancient 
 oak, it is hard to realize that a little more than a century ago this 
 /was a wilderness in which roving bands of Indians found only a 
 scanty subsistence and trappers and traders made journeys with the 
 greatest hardship and discomfort. 
 Although there are no exposures of rock between Rice and Royal- 
 ton, the route map opposite page 26 shows many isolated outcrops 
 : of granite and slate; and it will be noticed that all 
 the areas of granite lie east of a line passing nearly 
 through Royalton and that all the hard rocks which 
 appear at the surface west of that line are slates or 
 schists (for definition see footnote on p. 155) with the 
 ‘exception of one exposure of Cretaceous shale on the west side of the 
 iriver nearly opposite Royalton. 
 | A short distance beyond milepost 95 a branch of the Soo Line 
 (Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway), extending from 
 'Brooten to Duluth, crosses the valley and the Northern Pacific track 
 by a long, high fill. North of Royalton, on the right, some rather 
 prominent morainic hills give a pleasing variety to the landscape; 
 jand at Gregory the traveler is about opposite the point where Pike’s 
 /party spent the winter of 1805-6. 
 
 Rice. 
 
 Elevation 1,086 feet. 
 | Population 262. 
 St. Paul 90 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . Royalton. 
 
 | Elevation 1,103 feet. 
 | Population 676. 
 ) St. Paul 97 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 finally reached the vicinity of Little 
 Falls, but here the river was so rough that 
 he decided it was useless to take the boats 
 
 'vates. He found settlements and vil- 
 }lages as far up the river as Prairie du 
 |Chien, but above that place there was 
 
 /no white settlement and only scattered 
 | trading posts of the various fur companies. 
 He reached the mouth of St. Peter (Min- 
 nesota) River on September 21, and 
 spent some time visiting the Indians and 
 acquiring for the Government the title to 
 100,000 acres of land, including the site 
 of Fort Snelling and the Falls of St. 
 Anthony. 
 
 | He then portaged around the falls and 
 proceeded up the river, but at many 
 places he had considerable difficulty in 
 getting his boats over the rapids. He 
 
 
 
 farther, so on October 16, 1805, he went 
 into winter quarters on the west bank of 
 the river about 4 miles below the present 
 town of Little Falls. 
 
 Pike with a few companions pushed on 
 afoot and endeavored to find the source 
 of the great river. He succeeded in a 
 general way in settling the question, 
 though he did not discover Lake Itasca. 
 Pike returned to Little Falls on March 6, 
 1806, and on April 10 the entire party 
 embarked once more, reaching St. Louis 
 on the 30th. 
 
yp GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Taken all in all, the Mississippi Valley, in which the train runs 
 from Minneapolis to Little Falls, is one of the richest and most 
 attractive valleys in the State. 
 
 From Little Falls lead two branch lines of the Northern Pacific, 
 one running up the east bank of Mississippi River to Brainerd and 
 thence * to International Falls, on the northern 
 boundary of Minnesota, and the other turning to the 
 as clones Oe left and running to Morris, near the western edge of 
 St. Paul107 miles, the State. The falls in the river are produced by 
 
 hard slate and schist and by diorite (molten mate- 
 rial that was forced up and into the sedimentary rocks and that 
 has since been consolidated, forming a hard, dense, dark rock) of 
 Archean age. (See table on p. 2.) These rocks are not massive like 
 the granite at St. Cloud and so they do not make good building 
 material, but they are as hard or harder and form a persistent obstacle 
 to the easy flow of the river. The falls are of great commercial 
 importance, as they furnish 10,000 horsepower, which is utilized by 
 sawmills having a capacity of 70,000,000 board feet of lumber 
 annually, flour and paper mills, and an electric-light plant. | 
 
 Here once lay the margin of a great evergreen forest that stretched 
 wild and unbroken to Duluth and the falls of Sault Ste. Marie, but 
 now only afew pine trees can be seen here and there along the railway, — 
 for most of them have disappeared in the insatiable maws of the — 
 great lumber mills. Little Falls is noted among archeologists as a 
 place where a large number of flint implements, belonging to an early 
 race of men, have been found. 
 
 At Little Falls the traveler crosses Mississippi River for the last 
 time in his westward trip; he will soon pass out of the Mississippi 
 drainage basin and enter another whose waters find an outlet to the 
 north. After leaving the river the train passes through a country 
 that is typically glacial in all its features. The hard rocks are covered 
 by drift varying in thickness from 35 to 400 feet. Owing to this thick. 
 cover the present surface of the ground gives no indication of what is” 
 beneath, and for many years it was supposed that this swampy coun- 
 try, covered only with brush and scrub oak, was of no value whatever. 
 After some of the great deposits of iron ore in Minnesota and Wiscon- 
 sin had been exploited it was found that the best way to prospect for 
 iron ore in this region was with the magnetic needle. Many parts of 
 Minnesota were tested unsuccessfully, but in 1895 it was found that 
 the magnetic needle was affected in this area, and drilling has shown 
 that it is underlain by a large body of iron ore. This deposit is now 
 known as the Cuyuna (ki-you’na) iron range and is one of the three 
 important iron ranges of the State. This range (see map of Cuyuna 
 
 Little Falls. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 ROUTE. 28 
 
 range on sheet 2, p. 26), as now prospected and developed, extends 
 from Aitkin, about 27 miles northeast of Brainerd, 
 
 Randall. 
 
 Elevation 1,200 feet. 
 Population 195, 
 St. Paul 118 miles. 
 
 southwestward to the vicinity of Randall. 
 55 miles long, but its width has not been fully deter- 
 mined. No mining is done near this line of the 
 
 It is about 
 
 Northern Pacific Railway, but several mines are 
 
 operated some 40 miles to the northeast.’ 
 
 Little farming is carried 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 Whoever wishes to see something of 
 iron mining in Minnesota should make a 
 short trip from Little Falls or Staples to 
 Crosby or Ironton, on the Duluth line. 
 The Pennington mine, which is within 
 easy walking distance of either of these 
 towns, consists of a large open pit from 
 which the glacial drift was first stripped 
 away and the ore then mined by steam 
 shovels. The ore is hematite, an iron 
 oxide, and has resulted from the deep 
 weathering or decomposition of a slaty 
 sedimentary rock that was originally rich 
 in iron carbonate. The sedimentary 
 rocks strike about N. 50° E., are folded 
 closely, and dip at high angles. The 
 workable deposits are vertical or steeply 
 dipping lenses, which generally have a 
 maximum width of 400 or 500 feet and an 
 average depth of about 300 feet, but the 
 maximum known depth is about 1,000 
 feet. Some of the lenses extend for more 
 than half a mile along the strike. The 
 ores, some of which are soft and some hard, 
 are in the main non-Bessemer—that is, 
 they contain too much phosphorus to be 
 converted into steel by the Bessemer pro- 
 cess, which is one of the processes gener- 
 ally used. Some of the ores contain con- 
 siderable manganese. 
 
 The traveler wishing to make a more ex- 
 tended excursion into the iron country 
 may go from Little Falls or Staples to 
 Duluth and take either the Duluth, 
 Missabe & Northern Railway or the 
 Duluth & Iron Range Railroad to one of 
 the great iron-producing towns on the 
 Mesabi range. This range is about 100 
 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide. The 
 most productive part is served by a trolley 
 line which runs between Hibbing and 
 Eveleth, making all the mining towns 
 between easily accessible. The Hull- 
 Rust open pit at Hibbing is the largest 
 
 
 
 iron mine in the world, producing in 1913 
 nearly 3,500,000 long tons of ore.» A de- 
 scription of the iron ranges is given by 
 W. H. Emmons, State geologist of Minne- 
 sota, in the following paragraphs: 
 
 The iron ore of the Mesabi (me-sah’be) 
 and Cuyuna ranges is contained in the 
 Biwabik (be-wah/bick) formation, named 
 from one of the iron-mining towns in the 
 Mesabi range. This formation consists of 
 ferruginous cherts, iron ores, slates, iron 
 silicate, and carbonate rocks, with a small 
 amount of coarse detrital material at its 
 base. It grades upward and in places 
 laterally into more slaty rocks, known as 
 the Virginia slate; and it is underlain by 
 the Pokegama quartzite, consisting mainly 
 of quartzite but containing also conglom- 
 erate at its base. These three formations 
 are generally known as the Animikie 
 (a-nim‘i-kee) group and belong in the 
 upper part of the Algonkian system as 
 exposed in this region. All these rocks 
 were laid down after the close folding 
 which affected the lower Algonkian rocks, 
 consequently the formations of the Animi- 
 kie group are not on edge but generally 
 dip at low angles. 
 
 The Biwabik or iron-bearing formation 
 extends along the Mesabi range (see map 
 on sheet 2, p. 26) for itsentirelength. Its 
 average thickness is about 800 feet, but 
 owing to the prevailing low dips the width 
 exposed varies from a quarter of a mile to 
 3 miles. The great bulk of the formation 
 is ferruginous (iron-bearing) chert, with 
 varying amounts of amphibole (asbestos), 
 some lime and iron carbonates, and bands 
 and shoots of iron ore. Associated with 
 the chert, mainly in the middle zone, is 
 the iron ore, which occupies about 5 per 
 cent of the total surface area of the forma- 
 tion. Throughout the iron-bearing for- 
 mation, particularly in its upper part, 
 
94 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 on in this region, and the country is covered with a dense growth of 
 scrub oak. 
 
 For some distance beyond Randall the country consists largely of 
 Swamps and scrub-oak uplands, but north of Cushing the surface 
 becomes rougher, consisting of knoblike hills with 
 swamps or lakes between them. When seen from 
 some commanding eminence the country appears to 
 be a maze of more or less regular conical hills among 
 which the railway turns and twists to find a level path- 
 way. As the traveler proceeds he will note that the depressions be- 
 tween the hills become more pronounced, and when he is within a mile 
 of Lincoln, or at milepost 126, he can see on his right one of the largest 
 depressions in the region, occupied by Lake Alexander. Evidently 
 the character of the submerged surface is much the same as that 
 around the lake, for the surface of the lake, although extensive, is 
 broken by morainic islands that add greatly to the charm of the scene. 
 
 The rough topography reaches its culmination near Lincoln, where 
 the hills range in height from 100 to 150 feet and are very steep. As 
 
 Cushing. 
 
 Elevation 1,288 feet. 
 Population 313.* 
 St. Paul 123 miles. 
 
 described in the footnote on pages 26-30, the morainic 
 
 Lincoln. 
 
 Elevation 1,304 feet. 
 St. Paul 129 miles. 
 
 material forming these hills was brought by a great 
 glacier (the middle ice sheet) that pushed into this 
 region from the northeast. 
 
 It extended only a little 
 
 beyond Mississippi River, and the rough topography about Lincoln 
 is due to the deposition of a part of its terminal moraine. 
 Lincoln is mainly a summer resort and is an attractive place for 
 
 those who enjoy boating and other aquatic sports. 
 
 The wooded 
 
 
 
 
 
 are thin layers of slate and paint rock, the 
 paint rock usually resulting from the 
 alteration of the slate. 
 
 At the east end of the range, near Birch 
 Lake, the iron formation has been con- 
 siderably metamorphosed in consequence 
 of the intrusion of granite to the north and 
 of gabbro to the south. As a result con- 
 siderable amphibole has been developed 
 in the ferruginous rocks, magnetite has 
 segregated into layers, and the rocks have 
 become hardened. 
 
 Thin beds of conglomerate and shale 
 of Cretaceous age, lying nearly horizontal, 
 cap the various Algonkian and Archean 
 formations. The basal beds of the Creta- 
 ceous locally carry detrital iron ore de- 
 rived from the weathered Biwabik forma- 
 tion. 
 
 Only small portions of the Biwabik 
 formation are rich enough to constitute 
 iron ore. These occur in isolated masses 
 
 
 
 along the eroded surface of the formation 
 and are generally not over 200 feet thick, 
 although some are thicker. The work- 
 able depositsare secondary concentrations 
 due to the action of surface waters, which 
 have leached out the silica and some 
 other elements and have left the iron in 
 a more highly concentrated form. Con- 
 centration of this nature, in places to 
 which water solutions have found more 
 ready access, has been going on through 
 long geologic periods. That it was well 
 advanced in Cretaceous time is shown in 
 the detrital zone of the Cretaceous rocks, 
 in which iron ore is abundant in the form 
 of polished pebbles. 
 
 The geologic conditions in the Cuyuna 
 range appear to be almost identical with 
 those in the Mesabi range, described 
 above, but as the Cuyuna range has been 
 only slightly developed its geology can 
 not yet be described in detail. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 29 
 
 islands in Lake Alexander afford an almost unlimited number of 
 
 camping places and sites for summer cottages. 
 The strong morainic topography continues for several miles be- 
 yond Lincoln but gradually becomes more subdued, and even the 
 gently rolling ground that is noticeable around Phil- 
 
 Philbrook. 
 
 Elevation 1,269 feet. 
 St. Paul 135 miles. 
 
 brook soon gives place to a country that is flat and 
 swampy as far as the eye can see. 
 
 Philbrook is sup- 
 
 posed to stand on the dividing line between the red 
 drift of the middle ice sheet and the gray drift of the western sheet, 
 but no distinction between the two drift sheets can be observed from 
 
 the car window. 
 
 From Philbrook the land continues flat and swampy to Staples, 
 which is a division point and one of the main junctions on the 
 
 Staples. 
 
 Elevation 1,298 feet. 
 Population 2,558. 
 St. Paul 141 miles. 
 
 1 As early as 1853 the Government made 
 a survey to determine the best location 
 for a Pacific railroad, and one of the routes 
 examined and recommended is practi- 
 cally that which the Northern Pacific fol- 
 lows, but after the survey was made the 
 undertaking seemed so great that capital 
 could not be found with which to make 
 even a beginning. On the completion of 
 the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869 the 
 faith of the public in the success of trans- 
 continental roads seems to have revived, 
 and in 1870 the construction of the North- 
 ern Pacific line was actually begun. 
 Work was started at the two extremities— 
 near Duluth, which was to be the eastern 
 terminus, and between Kalama, on Co- 
 -lumbia River, and Tacoma, the western 
 terminus in Washington. In Minnesota 
 the rails were laid in 1870 as far as Brain- 
 erd, on Mississippi River, 30 miles east 
 of Staples, and in 1871 were extended 
 entirely across the State. 
 
 At that time Duluth, on account of its 
 location on one of the Great Lakes, was 
 considered the most desirable place to 
 connect with the East. Duluth is a 
 convenient port for the westward traf- 
 fic in coal and other heavy materials 
 and for grain shipments eastward to the 
 seaboard, but it then stood in a great 
 wilderness, without railway communi- 
 
 railway. Here the line from St. Paul joins the origi- 
 nal main line of the Northern Pacific from Duluth.! 
 The country west of Staples is as flat as that to 
 the south, over which the traveler has just passed, 
 
 cation and at the head of a lake closed to 
 navigation by ice for five months of the 
 year. The Northern Pacific Co. early 
 recognized that water transportation was 
 losing its importance and that in the 
 future St. Paul, with its unlimited pos- 
 sibilities of railroad connection with 
 Chicago, was the natural eastern terminus 
 of the road. Accordingly negotiations 
 for a line to St. Paul were undertaken. 
 
 Sometime between 1864 and 1870 a rail- 
 road was built from St. Paul up Missis- 
 sippi River to Sauk Rapids by an inde- 
 pendent company. This line was pur- 
 chased by the Northern Pacific Co. in 
 1870 with the understanding that the road 
 was to be completed to Brainerd, where it 
 would connect with the main line of that 
 system. In the panic of 1873 the North- 
 ern Pacific could not fulfill its obligations 
 and so lost control of this line. The road 
 was completed to Brainerd on November 
 1, 1877, by other persons, and it afforded 
 the first railroad connection between the 
 Northern Pacific line and the cities of 
 Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Northern 
 Pacific Co. leased this line in 1878 and 
 later acquired control of it through the 
 purchase of its capital stock. Still later 
 the company built the road from Little 
 Falls to Staples, giving it the through 
 connection desired. 
 
26 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 and as far as the eye can see there are no hills to break the monot- 
 ony of flat and swamp. The railway follows, in general, the valley 
 of Leaf River, which lies north of the track. Like 
 most of the other valleys of this region, this one 
 has not been carved by the stream that occupies 
 it but is merely a chain of low places along which the 
 water finds an outlet. Such valleys have no definite shape or plan; 
 and consequently at one place the railway may be in a fine rolling 
 country that is well farmed and prosperous, as it 
 is at Verndale, and at another place it may be in 
 the most dismal expanse of swamps and shallow 
 lakes. 
 
 In a general way the country becomes more rolling toward the 
 west, and about the town of Wadena (see sheet 3, p. 32) there are 
 fine farms on both sides of the railway. When the 
 crops wave green in the breeze or take on the golden 
 tints of harvest time this country affords the traveler 
 a pleasing contrast with the swamps and scrub oaks 
 of the region to the east. Just east of the station at 
 Wadena the Northern Pacific is crossed by a line of the Great North- 
 ern which runs from Sauk Center to Cass Lake, and about 2 miles 
 west of Wadena a branch line of the Northern Pacific turns to the 
 left and runs to Fergus Falls and Breckenridge. 
 
 Near milepost 169! the railway approaches Leaf River on the right, 
 and near the valley there is more decided evidence of morainic 
 topography than there is between this pomt and 
 Staples. The hills are not high, but they have the 
 peculiar conical or sugar-loaf shape that characterizes 
 morainic hills, and they are separated in many places 
 by marked kettles or depressions. The hills in this 
 region are formed of material that the ice brought in from the Red 
 River valley. A brief history of the several invasions of Minnesota 
 by the ice and a description of the drift deposited by them is given — 
 below by Frank Leverett.’ 
 
 Aldrich. 
 
 Elevation 1,351 feet. 
 Population 586.* 
 St. Paul 148 miles. 
 
 Verndale. 
 
 Elevation 1,369 feet. 
 Population 538. 
 St. Paul 152 miles. 
 
 Wadena. 
 
 Elevation 1,372 feet. 
 Population 1,820. 
 St. Paul 159 miles. 
 
 Bluffton. 
 
 Elevation 1,344 feet. 
 Population 148. 
 St. Paul 164 miles. 
 
 
 
 1 Mileposts on the Northern Pacific are 
 numbered from division points and not 
 from the ends of the system. 
 
 ? Before the glacial epoch, or Great Ice 
 Age, Minnesota presented a very different 
 appearance from that which it presents 
 to-day. Where there are now flat plains 
 there were then rocky hills and ridges, 
 separated by deep valleys. In the cen- 
 tral and western parts of the State, from 
 the Minnesota Valley northward, the bed- 
 rock is deeply buried. Deep drilling 
 shows that it has an uneven surface and 
 
 
 
 is composed chiefly of old crystalline 
 rocks in which there are differences of 
 altitude of at least 500 feet. In the 
 northeastern part of the State the iron 
 ranges and their associated rock forma- 
 tions stood out much more prominently 
 than they do to-day. This old surface 
 is now so deeply buried under glacial 
 material in the greater part of the State 
 that it is not possible, with our present 
 knowledge, to outline the position and 
 courses of even the principal streams of 
 that time. Of the eastern and southern 
 

 
 row Win 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SHEET No. 2 
 
 MINNESOTA 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 Scale 500. 10,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SA £L./2/6 ° g Approximately 8 miles to | inch | 
 A \ 3) 10 \ ZOMiles 
 iam it 
 1-0 5 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers 
 LY { Or" Loe Re eel Leer te ed Ek ee ies el a Vt eS PE eer eS Pa 
 Hid i Contour interval 200 feet | 
 ? \ ae ‘ ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 
 w \ y 
 er > Q™ The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every /0 miles if 
 rig ey The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 Qo (7 
 aa \ 
 7 i 4 
 4 \) 2 
 ) \ 4 
 > bs 
 ¥ 
 sen” = 
 S / 4/66 D 
 x mae if 55! , D 
 J OR O 
 Se Fo }} 
 eats / ( AS C ky 
 SS, (MBetle Prairie ~ (+d | 
 Nas hg f EUS 
 Bay f 
 ih eve 
 ERE. ack, elk 
 } My 7 fete ct Cae neal 
 Ate) fLittle Falls : 
 { he ) Zz 
 oe C () } Z €/ a = & PN iy z 2 ‘* | | | 2 
 c —~/; ‘ fy i 7 Sed eran ok Ti | 
 = if ~, WY gx f | | 
 ( 4) SEAS 
 aN a ) Lt a oe aa wich Prairie 
 een / ( ’ ly 
 Eur Gregory 5a 4 | 
 — \ meet ee awter w+ | 
 . lw Yeh Weer ww 
 B.)- fy { D 
 —y j ae @ 
 Ao sits 
 * dy a \\ yl J | 
 hg AS Royalton __< 
 ; . L 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 ENGRAVE 
 
BULLETIN 611 7 SHEET No. 2 
 | MINNESOTA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 Scale 500,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 {Sheet No 3/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ee EL/2/6 ° Approximately 8 miles to | inch : 
 aa 5 10 \ ZOMiles 
 y r 
 Z “ : ope gS 5 10 iS 20 25 SO KibOne tes 
 = ie Gee pe tee oe gue ep eT es eee tiers ey ie Contour interval 200 feet 
 ek BS. | Se ho. ee ee Al eke VK “ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 / ¢ sone ye / OG: snes % eae ee > dele aor CL Or, The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 fi J 
 Xo, Fd y a rr? 
  Bidhin ee § }} ~~ ex 3 
 £LE728 Ae " pies 
 120 ateoy 4 \ yas 
 
 ( Se 
 ee . Pp aeS 5 Topeka 
 SeuOwge () SD cts: Wie e (as i Q” D 
 l a oh 4 S/T). [ee AS r 
 \ Besley: Sy pele ak 5 
 
 \ S ye’ vs Cy C y 
 an ales OF F Sy ‘gBelle Prairie Sis”) 
 Sd) anit oAin : ELHISS 
 ~s\ i= ELU76 <7 { ax Q) 
 
 aon | 2 ait 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 46 eae os SS = = # a a Py SS ape : Sepa VA 
 : y Gravelville 
 | 0. \ he Ly Yah ile Falls I 2s 
 ae : Oe : gettin Pte : 
 | Bets cRN Sg AML Li nN es ma 
 | aN : Be cates ae & 2 | 
 Tete Le » VPS age @ Rich Prairie 
 
 
 
 | 
 ‘ | &.. ( 
 Swen Can I Be Gregory 
 100 
 E 
 
 y Vawter Vag 
 
 ¢ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 . \ | CF gg > ek ak UW tA 
 \ ae a L 3 VY ; 
 a bes BY) et 4 { D L 
 ee rum Sy oR of Shs O ia cae 
 | e\, ¢ Re gu NS 
 : \ | Ys AS Royalton __/ ee 
 | aN | De ae & R408 C o~—— 
 MAP OF CUYUNA IRON RANGE, SHOWING ITS GEOGRAPHIC RELATION f Sere | it eet ee he ee ei Ne 
 TO THE MESABI AND im | a of Le sf S < 
 VERMILION RANGES OF MINNESOTA : EXPLANATION OD se of | “ —+-»\ ko / pap : _8 if 
 \ iy \ —=\, (ewig ee OY as 
 | Loose surface materials \ fl pm enc es 
 A Gray drift of western ice sheet \ Vi a NS \ VL sets k 
 B Red drift of middle ice sheet | aoaternery NE = P Holding ford, Sr S658: = Ne) anaes 
 nae ERT? ee 
 nderlying rocks ND ) | \ 
 5 pies Cretaceous ott ae C3 
 ranite and gneiss , ea f 
 E Slate and schist } Algonkian Ags > 2 ‘D-O 
 \e : us ( O | 
 1. 
 | fous yet ae Serdelay 
 | SE 0B e . Age on 
 AN Sar : a 
 Fe Collegeville Ny 
 SA age adie are Sas Same me Sr = Ae Be RL Saori i how a ey ss St Joseph : 
 95 94°30" peer WP Zi oso = 
 nae Bekins Se: (Sheet No // 
 
 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROU TE. 27 
 
 West of Bluffton the morainic character of the topography con- 
 tinues for some distance but gradually gives place to the rolling 
 country about New York Mills. The less broken 
 country here is well suited to agriculture, and fine 
 farms may be seen on both sides of the track. 
 
 The railway is here on the divide between the 
 Hudson Bay and Mississippi River drainage systems. 
 
 It is not at all certain that before the glaciers covered this country 
 the divide was at this place, as all the stream courses have been 
 either materially modified or completely rearranged by the ice sheets 
 that invaded the State. The present divide is not made evident 
 by any well-marked ridge, and the appearance of the country will 
 not probably show the traveler that he is crossing from one of the 
 great drainage basins of the continent to another. The figures given 
 for the elevation of the towns show that New York Mills is a little 
 higher than the towns on either side and hence that the water part- 
 ing is near that place. RAs 
 _ At milepost 187 the railway crosses Otter Tail River, the first 
 large stream passed in the Hudson Bay drainage basin. This stream 
 has its origin in a number of beautiful lakes near the Northern 
 Pacific line and flows southward through Rush Lake to Otter Tail 
 ‘Lake, the largest body of water in the region. Thence it flows 
 westward and joins the Bois des Sioux at Breckenridge, forming Red 
 River. 
 
 After crossing Otter Tail River, which meanders broadly in a 
 swampy bottom about a mile in width, the railway traverses a roll- 
 ing plain of rich agricultural land near the center 
 of which stands the prosperous town of Perham, so 
 named for the first president of the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad Co. The surface of this plain is formed of 
 sand and gravel washed out from the front of the 
 ‘western ice sheet as the big moraine to the west and north was 
 being deposited. Pine, Little Pine, and Marion lakes lie a few miles 
 from the track on the right, and the cottages and hotels along their 
 
 New York Mills. 
 
 Elevation 1,433 feet. 
 Population 474. 
 St. Paul 172 miles. 
 
 : Perham. 
 
 - Elevation 1,390 feet. 
 Population 1,376. 
 St. Paul 182 miles. 
 
 
 
 parts, however, enough is known to war- 
 rant the statement that the positions of 
 the preglacial stream courses were not 
 widely different from those of to-day. 
 The Mississippi flows locally in a new 
 course past St. Anthony Falls, at Little 
 Falls, and at Sauk Rapids; but drilling 
 has shown that a deeply buried valley, 
 which is 200 feet or more below the pres- 
 ent stream, lies near the river and in 
 places crosses it. 
 
 The glacial epoch did not consist 
 simply in the growth and disappearance 
 
 
 
 of a single great continental glacier; there 
 were stages of great extension of the ice, 
 separated by stages in which it was 
 greatly reduced if not entirely melted 
 away. There were also several centers 
 of exceptionally great snowfall and snow 
 and ice accumulation, from which the 
 ice radiated or flowed outward. From 
 three of these centers of dispersion 
 the ice spread into Minnesota in the 
 Wisconsin stage. (See map on sheet 
 3, p. 32.) The western and southern 
 parts of the State were covered by ice 
 
28 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 shores offer many inducements to the sportsman or to the summer 
 visitor who is in search of relaxation from the breathless hurry of 
 modern city life. 
 
 The plain extends along the railway to a point 4 miles northwest 
 of Perham, where it gives place to rough, hummocky land that 
 marks an eastern point of the great morainic ridge on the west of 
 the track. When this moraine was formed the ice had disappeared 
 
 from the country to the east but covered all that part of the State 
 
 lying to the west. 
 
 From Luce to Frazee the ground is generally 
 
 swampy or dotted by small lakes or ponds. 
 At milepost 196 the railway crosses Otter Tail River, nied flowing 
 
 to the east. 
 
 On account of the numerous ridges this stream wanders 
 
 about from lake to lake, finding an outlet by an exceedingly round- 
 
 about course. 
 
 Only a few of these lakes are visible from the train, 
 
 
 
 (western ice sheet) which came from 
 central Canada. The eastern part as far 
 south as the vicinity of St. Paul was 
 covered by ice (middle ice sheet) from 
 the region south of Hudson Bay, and a 
 small area on the border of the Lake 
 Superior basin was covered by ice (Supe- 
 rior ice sheet) which came in from the 
 east through that basin. The western 
 sheet brought in fragments of limestone 
 and shale, the middle sheet carried south- 
 ward much material from the iron ranges 
 and also red sandstone from the west end 
 of Lake Superior, and the eastern or 
 Superior sheet transported to the limits 
 of its advance large amounts of the red 
 sandstone bordering that basin. 
 
 The effect of these invasions was to fill 
 up and obliterate the valleys or to block 
 them in such a manner as to produce 
 chains of lakes along their courses. 
 Large moraines or irregular, hummocky 
 ridges of drift mark successive positions 
 of the border of each of the ice sheets. 
 Sand and gravel were spread out by 
 water escaping from the ice front, fring- 
 ing the moraines in extensive plains 
 termed outwash aprons. In places where 
 the ice border melted back rapidly no 
 moraines were formed, but instead a 
 nearly level surface, composed of bowlder 
 clay or till. 
 
 The moraines of the Superior sheet en- 
 circle the west end of the Lake Superior 
 basin in a series of concentric ridges, each 
 ridge being later than the one without 
 and earlier than the one within. Those 
 
 formed by the western ice sheet lie in 
 the high country along the valleys of 
 Red River and Minnesota River. These 
 streams are bordered by broad plains 
 which owe their form to the fact that 
 they lay under the deep part of the ice 
 sheet and along its axis of movement. 
 
 The moraines of the middle ice sheet 
 are well developed south and east of St. 
 Paul and in central Minnesota. The 
 Northern Pacific Railway traverses one of 
 the most prominent moraines of this ice 
 sheet, between Little Falls and Staples. 
 
 The three advances of ice, though oc- 
 curring in a single glacial stage, did not 
 take place at the same time. After the 
 middle sheet reached its maximum and 
 melted back nearly if not quite to the 
 Canadian line, the other sheets advanced 
 into the district it had occupied and there 
 covered its drift with their deposits. 
 The western ice in places extended 75 
 miles or more into the district the middle 
 sheet had abandoned. 
 
 The map on sheet 3 (p. 32) is intended 
 to show the several glacial invasions of 
 Minnesota during the Wisconsin stage, 
 but as the three glaciers did not invade 
 the State at the same time it is impossible 
 to represent them accurately on a single 
 map. The extent of the middle sheet is 
 known only from the drift it deposited, 
 and_as much of this is covered by material 
 brought in later by the western sheet its 
 limit on the west can be only conjectured, 
 but it probably covered much of the 
 northern part of the State. : 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 ROUTE. 29 
 
 but the map shows that great numbers of them lie on both sides of 
 the road. The kettle-like depressions in a moraine, many of which 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 3.—Diagram showing probable origin of many kettle holes. 
 
 
 
 
 HH 
 
 
 
 fj 
 
 
 
 A, Block of ice recently broken 
 
 from a glacier; B, same block after part has been melted and the remainder covered with sand and 
 mud; C, depression resulting from complete melting of the ice. 
 
 are filled with water and become ponds or lakes, are due either to 
 irregularities in the deposition of the drift along the front of a glacier 
 or to the melting of detached blocks of ice." 
 
 The map is supposed to represent the 
 State as it was when the western ice sheet 
 extended southward along the Red River 
 valley and deployed to the east into the 
 open lands of Minnesota. Part of this 
 great glacier found an outlet eastward into 
 the upper Mississippi Valley and the val- 
 ley of St. Louis River, but the main mass 
 of the ice pushed southeastward along the 
 valley of Minnesota River. <A part over- 
 flowed northeastward, forming a lobe that 
 covered much of the territory north of St. 
 Paul. The main lobe swept on south- 
 ward across the boundary of the State and 
 as far as Des Moines, Iowa. After a time 
 the melting at its front exceeded the sup- 
 ply of fresh ice coming from the north, 
 and then the glacial margin began to 
 retreat, and eventually the ice disap- 
 peared from the State. 
 
 When the ice of the Superior sheet 
 melted back into that basin the ponding 
 of water between the ice front and the 
 highland bordering the basin formed a 
 glacial lake, known as Lake Duluth, 
 which discharged into the St. Croix Val- 
 ley, in northern Wisconsin. Similarly, 
 as the ice melted in the Red River valley, 
 a lake known as Lake Agassiz (see p. 32) 
 formed between the front of the glacier 
 on the north and the high land to the 
 south and discharged to the south through 
 Browns Valley. 
 
 Over a large part of the surface of the 
 drift of Minnesota there has been little 
 change since the ice disappeared except 
 the formation of soil and a slight leaching 
 
 and weathering; but in some places nota- 
 ble changes have been wrought. Many 
 of Minnesota’s ‘‘ten thousand lakes” 
 show beaches at higher levels than the 
 present, their outlets having been cut 
 down by the water at various stages. 
 Many lakes have been so filled with sedi- 
 ment as to become marshes or even dry 
 land, and many have been filled by the 
 growth of peat. St. Anthony Falls, on 
 the Mississippi, has retreated a few feet a 
 year until recently checked by an arti- 
 ficial retaining wall. Minnehaha Falls, 
 ona small tributary of the Mississippi, has 
 retreated less than 400 feet in several 
 thousand years. On the whole, the 
 amount of stream erosion since the last 
 glaciation is slight, and on many streams 
 it is scarcely enough to be measurable. 
 
 1When a glacier reaches its greatest 
 extension and begins to retreat, its pause 
 and recession mean that the supply of 
 fresh ice or snow back at the gathering 
 eround,; where it receives most of its mate- 
 rial, is not sufficient to keep pace with the 
 melting that goes on over its entire sur- 
 face, but more particularly at its outer 
 margin. The result is that the ice near 
 the extremity moves forward very slowly 
 and finally ceases to move at all. The 
 edge of the ice sheet becomes thin and 
 irregular, and, owing to more rapid 
 melting along cracks or crevasses, masses 
 of ice become separated from the main 
 body. 
 
 Part of such a block, as shown at A in 
 figure 3, above, may be uncovered, but 
 
30 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Near Frazee the surface is rough and broken and there are many 
 deep valleys containing lakes, ponds, or swamps. <A notable depres- 
 sion or old channel is crossed by the railway just 
 southeast of the town. This channel extends north- 
 westward from Murphy Lake, 2 miles southeast of 
 Frazee, and it is generally occupied by swamps or 
 Jong, narrow lakes. The railway follows it for 3 miles 
 beyond the town, and some of the views of the little lakes on both 
 sides of the track are very pretty. Town Lake, close to Frazee, and 
 Harold Lake, farther on, are in this channel on the left (south) of 
 the track; and Chilton and Brink Lakes are irregular bodies of water 
 on the other side. 
 
 Frazee is in the heart of a lake region, where large lakes abound 
 on all sides of the town, but none of them are visible from the train 
 for several miles beyond Harold Lake. It is also in a great morainic 
 belt, which was formed by the ice sheet (western) that invaded this 
 country from the Red River valley. The hills are steep and conical, 
 and the depressions between them are very pronounced. To this 
 glacier is largely due the lake region of central-western Minnesota, 
 well known as a summer resort and as a paradise for sportsmen. 
 
 The largest and best-known sheet of water that is visible from the 
 train in this vicinity is Detroit Lake, which can be seen on the left 
 as the train skirts its banks between mileposts 208 and 209, a short 
 time before reaching the station at Detroit. From Detroit Lake a 
 river channel leads southward into and through a series of other lakes 
 of equal beauty. This channel has been made navigable by a system 
 of locks, and small steamers ply from lake to lake, passing the finest 
 scenery of the lake region. The drinking water used on Northern 
 Pacific dining cars comes from Pokegama Spring, 
 on the shore of Detroit Lake. 
 
 Detroit is one of the most important towns in the 
 lake region, and is a point of departure for many of 
 
 Frazee. 
 Elevation 1,410 feet. 
 
 Population 1,645. 
 St. Paul 194 miles. 
 
 Detroit. 
 
 Elevation 1,386 feet. 
 Population 2,807. 
 St. Paul 203 miles. 
 
 
 
 possibly the larger part will be buried in 
 sand and gravel washed out from the front 
 of the glacier. In the course of time the 
 part above ground melts and disappears, 
 but if the deposition of sand and gravel 
 continues the part below the surface may 
 become completely covered, and being 
 protected it persists, as shown at B in 
 figure 3. Finally this also melts, and 
 the surrounding sand and gravel fall into 
 the hole left by theice. This leaves such 
 a depression as that shown in the dia- 
 gram—a kettle, as it is generally called 
 in a glaciated country. 
 
 If the material surrounding the kettle 
 is open and porous, and if there is good - 
 underground drainage, the kettle may 
 remain open and in much the same con- 
 dition as it was when it was formed; but 
 if the earth around the kettle is imper-— 
 vious, then most of the water falling into 
 it or draining into it from the surrounding 
 region is retained, and a lake or pond is 
 the result. Some of the lakes of this region 
 are many miles across, and if their basins 
 were formed in this way the blocks of ice 
 that caused the depressions in which they 
 lie must have been correspondingly large. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 81 
 
 its resorts. Just west of the town the Northern Pacific is crossed 
 by a branch of the Soo Line (Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. 
 Marie Railway), which runs from Alexandria to Plummer. 
 The roughest part of the moraine seen from the railway, a part 
 known as the Leaf Hills, lies east of Detroit, but west of that place the 
 surface features become more and more subdued. 
 Audubon. As the morainic topography disappears farming 
 Elevation 1,332 feet. becomes more general, and at Audubon field after 
 Gee field of grain stretches away over the rolling upland 
 as far as the eye can see. Although the traveler 
 may have enjoyed the ever-changing panorama of lakes, hills, and 
 plains of the morainic belt, he may find it a relief to emerge into the 
 fine farming region about Audubon and Lake Park. 
 Lake Park is another important town of the lake region, and 
 although no water is visible from the train there are one or two 
 ponds near by, and some of the finest lakes of 
 
 Lake Park. the region le a short distance to the south. Lake 
 Elevation 1,341 feet. Park is on the edge of the prairies. The trees are 
 Population 740. 
 
 small and are confined largely to the watercourses. 
 Almost all the land is under a high state of cul- 
 tivation, and fields of wheat and hay abound on every side. 
 The country here is a gently rolling upland with the valleys cut 
 to a depth of 50 feet or more below the general level. At Manitoba 
 ‘ _° Junction the Northern Pacific line running to 
 nape Raraaie Crookston, Minn., Grand Forks, N. Dak., and Win- 
 Nie pita ata nipeg, Canada, turns to the right (north). At this 
 place the traveler enters the valley of Buffalo Creek 
 and can not see the upland country, which, however, is much the same 
 in character as the country east of the junction—that is, 1t is rolling, 
 but is cut by the valleys of the larger streams. 
 
 St. Paul 216 miles. 
 
 Hawley. The railway follows Buffalo Creek through the 
 Elevation 1,174 feet. village of Hawley, but the valley grows deeper 
 Population 800, 
 
 toward the west, and little of the country outside 
 of the immediate valley can be seen from the train. 
 If the traveler had been attempting to cross the continent in the 
 closing stages of the glacial epoch by the route which he is now fol- 
 lowing, he would have been confronted, when he 
 pluskoda: reached the place where Muskoda now stands (see 
 Elevation 1,087 feet. sheet 4, p. 40), by a vast lake which then occupied 
 St. Paul 234 miles. : 
 the valley of Red River. The only passageway 
 around it would have been by a wide detour to the south, for the 
 lake extended into Canada for several hundred miles and was bounded 
 on the north by the impassable front of the great continental glacier. 
 As the lake has completely disappeared the reader may be skeptical 
 about its existence or wonder upon what evidence its presence in a 
 
 St. Paul 228 miles. 
 
32 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 former age has been determined. Unfortunately the track is so far 
 below the general surface of the upland that there is little oppor- 
 tunity to observe details, but if the traveler could carefully examine 
 the ground, he would easily recognize the shore of this ancient lake 
 just before he reaches the station at Muskoda. ‘This old shore con- 
 sists of a ridge of gravel which was heaped up by the waves that beat 
 upon its western side. The large gravel pit which the railroad has 
 excavated in this ridge to procure ballast can be seen from the 
 
 Muskoda station. 
 
 The lake was named by the geologist Warren Upham in honor of 
 Louis Agassiz, who was the first to make a systematic study of 
 
 glaciers and glacial phenomena.! 
 
 The beach at Muskoda 1s called 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 Lake Agassiz was a body of fresh water 
 that existed during a late stage of the 
 glacial epoch in the valley of Red River 
 and extended northward (see map on 
 sheet 4, p. 40) from the head of that 
 stream for nearly 700 miles. The area of 
 the lake at the time of its greatest ex- 
 pansion was about 110,000 square miles, 
 exceeding the present aggregate area of 
 the five great lakes tributary to the St. 
 Lawrence. 
 
 The shore of this ancient lake is marked 
 by well-defined beaches, and it is from 
 these that the existence and the extent 
 of the lake are known. The beach ridges 
 are built upon typical bowlder clay or 
 till that was deposited by an ice sheet, 
 and hence it is known that the lake either 
 followed the invasion of the ice or marked 
 the closing stages of that episode. 
 
 The next question that arises is, What 
 were the conditions that led to the forma- 
 tion of such a lake? It could not have 
 been held in a landlocked basin, for no 
 such basin exists at the present time, and 
 there is no evidence that the surface fea- 
 tures of that time differed greatly from 
 those of to-day. Warren Upham, who 
 has studied this question most carefully, 
 has come to the conclusion that it was 
 held in place by the retreating front of 
 the glacier, which blocked the natural 
 outlet of the water to the north and forced 
 it to accumulate in this basin. The pond- 
 ing of the water in the Red River valley 
 began as soon as the ice front retreated 
 across the divide at the head of Minne- 
 sota River. Lake Agassiz thus began as 
 
 a small body of water, and expanded 
 northward as the ice melted until it be- 
 came of great extent. The water found 
 an outlet southward (known as Warren 
 River) to Minnesota River through 
 Browns Valley, which extends from Lake 
 Traverse to Lake Big Stone along the 
 boundary between South Dakota and 
 Minnesota. 
 
 The water of Lake Agassiz continued 
 to flow through Warren River until the 
 Keewatin (ke-wah’tin) glacier had re- 
 tired northward far enough to permit 
 an outlet direct to Hudson Bay. As the 
 barrier which held the lake in place was 
 composed of ice, its gradual retreat af- 
 forded outlsts at different levels, and at 
 many of these stages the water remained 
 long enough to carve beach lines more or 
 less distinct. Thirty-one such beachesare ~ 
 known, all of which except the lowest ex- 
 tend into the United States. Fourteen of 
 them were formed by the lake when its 
 outlet was to the south, and seventeen 
 after it gained an outlet into Hudson 
 Bay. 
 
 In comparison with the irregularities 
 of the topography of the region outside 
 of the lake the shore lines are inconspic- 
 uous, but on the smooth slopes of the 
 lake bed they are generally easily trace- 
 able. The best-developed beach ridges 
 of the lake commonly rise 10 to 20 feet 
 above the adjoining land on the side that — 
 was next to the water and from 3 to 10 
 feet on the opposite side. They vary in 
 
 ‘width from 10 to 30 rods and are composed — 
 
 of interstratified gravel and ‘sand, the 
 
SHEET No. 3 
 
 
 
 
 MINNESOTA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 
 
 1 5 i 1 20Miles 
 
 | has) 10 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 4 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 ay The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 z 
 .@ 
 om.) 
 Bin. gh 
 . 
 ® 
 i?) 
 : t: 
 
 os 2 RIVERS 
 
 ig He ae & 
 Ri a if / N¢ 3 
 EL/4/F pie Q) ¥ 
 
 (Sheet No 2) 
 
 95°30". 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED -8Y THE U-S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
BULLETIN 611 Bec | ate Snes 
 
 Een ; MINNESOTA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 MILES 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 5 1 1 : 20Miles 
 +) 10 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet No. F 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 oe 
 L418 
 
 ea es \ w/8 
 Pelican Lake 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 je a Bey als ¢ 
 T tone age ® e 
 =, 
 NN pte. hey CIT OOS x ¥ a 
 te hy 0 Fs AY pe ed SINE oe : Ge —\8- = ae: Pe 
 i oo BA. | e E> ¥ lees: eter 55 Cee 
 | psy a ones Lo68 *)s Us Merion Lak =2 yh ig Mil 
 30’ : — Ss : Sao oes $e I. 
 | aaa heer 
 at 
 a 
 Ly 
 r a uk 
 Bree 
 rCré S| p Q 
 s Q 
 alt Patktan S 
 Ly Ny) 
 & 
 ) 
 MAP OF WESTERN AND SUPERIOR ICE SHEETS OF ) Sa s fegaihe 2 
 MINNESOTA, SHOWING THEIR RELATIONS TO THE DRIFT | | i? UY eo = / 
 PREVIOUSLY DEPOSITED BY THE MIDDLE ICE SHEET |. "ae! 
 Prepared by Frank Leverett | i! 
 Cee 
 | sais iia & 
 Re noice chee eee pee 5 ty 
 
 
 
 ————— 
 
 ENGRAVEDYAND PRINTED BY THE U-.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
Bs) 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 the Herman beach. It was formed when the water of Lake Agassiz 
 stood at its highest level and consequently marks the line between 
 the unmodified glacial topography above and the smooth surface of 
 the old lake basin below. The difference in the topography may not 
 be noticeable on the east side of the valley because of the unfavor- 
 able outlook, but on the opposite side of the valley west of F argo 
 the difference is very striking and can readily be seen from the train. 
 
 Between mileposts 242 and 243 the railway emerges from the now 
 shallow valley of Buffalo Creek, and the traveler may obtain his 
 first view of the famous Red River valley, which has been referred 
 to frequently as the ‘‘granary of the world,’ but which was once a 
 
 lake about 50 miles wide at this point and nearly 700 miles long. 
 a ee 
 
 gravel prevailing, including pebbles 2 to 
 4 inches in diameter. 
 The development of the beaches varies 
 greatly from place to place, depending 
 ‘apparently upon the abundance and 
 character of the materials which were 
 within reach of the waves. Thus where 
 the valley is crossed by the main line of 
 ‘the Northern Pacific Railway three beach 
 ‘ridges are clearly visible on the east side 
 ‘of the valley and two on the west. At 
 ‘Wahpeton (waw’pe-ton), on the Fergus 
 ‘Falls branch of the same road, there are 
 four well-developed ridges on each side 
 of the valley. At Grand Forks there are 
 four ridges on the east, where they are 
 crossed by the Great Northern Railway, 
 and twelve on the west. Not only does 
 the number of ridges vary from place 
 to place, but ridges disappear and other 
 ridges, either higher or lower, appear in 
 their places, so that the identification of 
 the various ridges is a matter of consider- 
 able difficulty. 
 ; The Herman beach, which marks the 
 highest stage of the lake and which is the 
 one most easily recognized, has been 
 traced for a long distance around the south 
 and west sides of the lake, but the lower 
 beaches are not so well marked and can 
 not be traced continuously. 
 4 Sand and gravel deltas, so extensive 
 asto be notable features of the topography, 
 were formed by several streams that 
 flowed into the lake while it stood at its 
 ighest stages. The Buffalo River delta, 
 own which the Northern Pacific Rail- 
 
 me 95558°—Bull. 611153 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 way runs immediately west of Muskoda, 
 covers an area about 7 miles long from 
 north to south and 2 to 34 miles wide from 
 east to west. As the average thickness 
 of the material laid down in this delta is 
 about 50 feet, its volume is probably one- 
 sixth of a cubic mile. The delta plain, 
 as shown in figure 4 (p. 34), is terminated 
 about 3 miles west of Muskoda by a steep 
 slope, like the face of a terrace, 25 to 40 
 feet high. 
 
 The floor of this ancient lake is appar- 
 ently a level plain, although it really 
 has a slight slope toward the middle and 
 a gentle northward inclination of about 
 a foot to the mile. 
 
 The several shore lines are not parallel 
 with one another or with sea level, but 
 all show an ascent toward the north or 
 northeast. Thus the upper or Herman 
 beach rises 175 feet between Lake 
 Traverse, the lower end of Lake Agassiz, 
 and the international boundary, but the 
 grade is not regular, being 35 feet in the 
 first 75 miles, 60 feet in the second, and 
 80 feet in the third. The lower beaches 
 show a similar though less pronounced 
 rise. As these beaches must have been 
 horizontal when they were formed, it is 
 evident that the crust of the earth has 
 been elevated toward the north, and 
 as the beaches show divergence among 
 themselves, it is certain that this up- 
 ward movement in the earth’s crust 
 began when Lake Agassiz was in exist- 
 ence and continued for some time after it 
 was drained. 
 
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. | 
 
 34 
 
 The silt deposited in this lake gives the valley its wonderfully smooth 
 surface and its great fertility. During the highest stage of the lake 
 Buffalo Creek built just below Muskoda a delta of considerable size, 
 and it is from this delta that the first view of the valley may be ob- 
 tained. Ata later stage, when the water of the lake was at a lower 
 level, the waves cut away the front of the delta and greatly increased 
 the natural slope of the valley side, as shown in figure 4. The rail- 
 way engineers found difficulty in getting down this slope without 
 loops and curves, so a long, high fill has been made which gives a 
 uniform grade from top to ontome ! The weight of the fill, however, 
 proved to be too great for the soft mud at the bottom of the od 
 
 
 
 spirit atlicctealal Sia = Seed hw A eat OE ie OMG YY Cyl 
 DW SU yyy 
 V4 
 S-----------5-=-=5 yy, iy YY 
 Wy WY YY, Ys Wy Wy, Uff. 
 
 
 
 
 
 et eet FDO 
 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 4.—Section of Buffalo River delta, Minn. AB, Surface of Lake Agassiz at the Herman stage; 
 EFB, delta profile; CD, level of water at Campbell eee EDF, part of delta cut away by the vor 
 lenving the steep westward front (Df). 
 
 lake bed, and it is still settling and throwing up a ridge of the soft 
 material on each side. 
 
 From the high fill the traveler can see something of the ered 
 extent of the valley—its level floor stretching mile after mile without 
 the least eminence or depression to break its regularity—and some 
 of the fine farms that have made it famous. Drilling for water has 
 shown that originally the surface of the valley was uneven, much 
 like the country on both sides. At a later date the valley was filled 
 by a great glacier that came down from the north, grinding and 
 scouring away many of the projections and filling the depressions with 
 the waste material; and then as the last smoothing process the fine 
 mud carried by the streams settled in the lake, giving the valley its 
 present smooth surface. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1In the original construction of the 
 Northern Pacific Railway the standard 
 maximum grade adopted was 52 feet to 
 the mile except on the mountain sec- 
 tions, where the standard was 116 feet to 
 the mile. As the traffic developed it 
 was found necessary, for economy of 
 operation and to increase the capacity 
 of the line to handle the business of the 
 country tributary to it, to adopt new 
 standards of 18 and 21 feet to the mile 
 except upon the mountain sections. 
 This change necessitated a reduction in 
 
 the original grades at many points, in- 
 volving a large amount of expensive 
 work, which has been going on actively 
 for the last 15 years and is now nearly 
 completed. The fill referred to in the text 
 was constructed in connection with one. 
 of these reductions of grade. The grade. 
 was reduced from 48 to 18 feet to the 
 mile, and freight-train loads were in- 
 creased from 2,200 tons with two loco- 
 motives to 2,550 tons with one locomo- 
 tive. Many similar examples of grade 
 reduction will be observed along the line. 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 30 
 The material laid down in the waters of Lake Agassiz is so soft and 
 fine that it is washed away with great rapidity when it is exposed to 
 the action of the elements. Ordinarily the surface 
 Glyndon. vegetation protects it, but when this is removed dis- 
 peta ont astrous results follow. In 1895 a wagon road was 
 St. Paul 242 miles, graded east of Red River and a short distance north 
 of the railway near Glyndon for about 6 miles. The 
 farmers at once began to drain their fields into the roadside ditch, 
 which was deepened and widened so rapidly by the consequent 
 erosion that in four years the road had been destroyed for nearly 
 a mile and in its place there was a channel 80 feet wide and 25 
 feet deep. 
 _ Dilworth is a division terminal of the railway, established to relieve 
 the congestion of the yards at Fargo, where the terminal was formerly 
 ) located. In the Red River valley may be seen some 
 Dilworth. of the magical effects of the mirage that is so striking 
 
 } : ° ° . . 
 ee yeuteiemike  ®& feature of an arid or semiarid region. Warren 
 Upham describes it as follows: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The mirage, typical of plains country or the ocean, may be seen in the Red River 
 valley almost any sunshiny day in spring, summer, or autumn. This queer phenome- 
 non makes the high land at the sides of the valley, the tops of the distant trees, and 
 houses appear to be raised a little above the horizon, with a narrow strip of sky between. 
 ‘The more complex and astonishing effect of mirage may be seen from the highland on 
 either side of the lake-bed floor. There, in looking across the valley from one and 
 one-half to two hours after sunrise on a hot morning following a cool night, the groves 
 and houses, villages, and grain elevators loom up to two or three times their true 
 height and places ordinarily hidden by the curvature of the earth are brought into 
 view. Oftentimes, too, these objects are seen double, being repeated in an inverted 
 image close above their real positions and separated from it by a foglike belt. In its 
 most perfect development the mirage shows the upper and topsy-turvy portion of 
 the view quite as distinctly as the lower and true portion. 
 
 These appearances are due to refraction and reflection from layers 
 of air of different density, such as are often formed above a wide 
 expanse of level country in warm weather. 
 
 The last town in Minnesota through which the train passes is 
 Moorhead, named in honor of William G. Moorhead, a former director 
 
 of the railway company. Between this town and 
 Moorhead, Minn. Fargo, N. Dak., runs Red River, the boundary line 
 Elevation 929 feet. between the two States, a deep, sluggish stream that 
 So pant out ike,  i8 generally heavily charged with mud derived from 
 | soft materials deposited in the ancient lake. This 
 mud gives to the water a brownish-red color. 
 
 
 
86 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 North Dakota comprises an area of 70,837 square miles. It was 
 admitted to the Union in 1889, and at the census of 1910 it had a 
 population of 577,056. Itis primarily an agricultural 
 North Dakota. State, but from time to time, as conditions have 
 changed, there has been a corresponding change in 
 its leading industries. At the time of the first permanent settlement 
 the whole State consisted of one vast open range which furnished 
 grazing in abundance for the herds of wild animals that roamed over 
 it. The white man saw the natural fitness of the region for grazing, 
 and soon cattle, horses, and sheep were feeding in place of the deer 
 and buffalo. 
 
 In the Red River valley farming early received a great stimulus 
 from the officials of the Northern Pacific Railway, and before many 
 years this valley, from its head to the Canadian line, was one vast 
 sea of wheat. Farming was also carried on in other valleys to a 
 minor extent, but for a long time the region west of Missouri River 
 was considered suitable only for grazing, as the annual rainfall (16 
 inches) was thought to be too small for raising crops. The discovery 
 in recent years that by proper methods of cultivation most of the 
 moisture in the soil could be conserved and rendered available for 
 agriculture has worked a wonderful change in the appearance of this 
 country, for now almost all the land is under fence and the region west 
 of Missouri River contains many fine farms and thriving towns. 
 
 The principal crops are wheat, oats, and flax, and the raising ol 
 domestic animals is still an important industry. According to the 
 census of 1910 the value of all farm products for the year 1909 was 
 $205,000,000, of which $180,000,000 was produced directly from the 
 crops and $14,000,000 from domestic animals. During the same yeai 
 the value of manufactured products amounted to $19,000,000. 
 
 North Dakota is well supplied with lignite. This is a low-grade 
 fuel, but it is of very great value for domestic use on these treeless 
 plains. Almost every section of land in the part of the State lyims 
 west of Missouri River is underlain by lignite, and it is estimatec 
 that the State contains 697,900,000,000 tons of this fuel. In 191 
 the value of the lignite mined commercially amounted to $765,105 
 
 Fargo is the most important town in the Red River valley and thi 
 largest in the State of North Dakota. It was named for William G 
 
 Fargo, of Wells, Fargo & Co.’s Express. Fargo is th 
 Fargo,N. Dak. — seat of the North Dakota Agricultural College am 
 ahaa ape Experiment Station and is noted as one of the grea 
 St. Paul 252 miles, | farm-machinery markets in the United States. Th 
 climate of Fargo is about the same as that of the Re 
 River valley as a whole. The winters are frequently severe, th 
 mercury registering 40° below zero, and the summers are hot, rangi) 
 : 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 37 
 
 from 90° to 105°. The mean annual precipitation is about 20 to 24 
 inches, compared with 28 inches at St. Paul and 15 or 16 inches in the 
 western part of the State. 
 The Red River valley, including that part which lies in Canada, was 
 one of the first to be explored in this part of the country. Lake 
 Winnipeg, at its mouth, in Canada, was part of the great highway 
 by which the French voyageurs ate the country west of Lake 
 Superior in the early days of the trapper and trader. The earliest 
 iuthentic record of exploration is that of Verandrye, who made an 
 msuccessful attempt to cross the continent in 1738-1742. French 
 iraders doubtless followed in his footsteps, but they left few if any 
 records of their experiences or of the country traversed. In the 
 sarly years of the nineteenth century David Thompson and Alexander 
 denry, of the Northwest Fur Co., pushed their way up the Red River 
 valley into what is now North Dakota and Minnesota; and in 1812 
 he Earl of Selkirk made the first settlement in the vicinity of Winni- 
 reg. Many French traders probably found their way south into 
 that part of the Red River valley lying in North Dakota, for Lewis 
 ind Clark mention their presence on the Missouri as early as 1804. 
 _ Not much is known of the rocks underlying the Red River valley, 
 or they are effectually concealed by the glacial drift and by the 
 ‘ediment deposited in Lake Agassiz, but their presence here and there 
 1as been revealed by deep drilling. The deepest well which was sunk 
 iear Moorhead penetrated lake sediment and glacial drift to a depth 
 rf 220 feet, Cretaceous shale with some sandstone for 150 feet, and 
 he underlying granite to a depth of more than 1,500 feet. This 
 ‘egion is therefore near the eastern edge of the great mass of Cre- 
 aceous strata which extends as an unbroken sheet to the Rocky 
 Mountains and which can be seen at many places along the Northern 
 ?acific Railway. The sea in which these materials were laid down 
 nust at some stage of its existence have extended farther east than 
 the Red River valley, for a few exposures of these rocks have been 
 ound in the valley of the Mississippi. (See route map, sheet 2, p. 26.) 
 A few years ago a traveler crossing the old lake bottom just before 
 the wheat harvest would have seen mile after mile of grain, which on 
 t clear breezy day would have looked much like the waves rolling 
 ieross the water, and he could almost have imagined Lake Agassiz to 
 ye still in existence. In recent years the crops in this region have 
 decome more diversified and now instead of the unbroken stand of 
 vheat that stretched to the horizon line, the traveler sees interspersed 
 with the wheat other grains and flax, and only here and there is the 
 wheat grown in large areas’ The rich black soil extends in almost 
 inbroken regularity across the valley and it is under a high state of 
 sultivation, even to the very edge of the railroad track. Probably 
 there are few regions in the world in which the soil is more fertile than 
 
38 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 that of the Red River valley. The silt where it is wet and compacted 
 has much the character of clay, but it differs from clay in that it 
 contains fine sand, powdered limestone, and carbonaceous matter, 
 which make it less coherent. 
 
 There are some tracts of very compact and heavy soil upon the 
 level bottoms, ranging in area from a few square yards to a few square 
 miles, that are known as ‘‘gumbo spots.’’ On account of the imper- 
 meable character of the clay, drainage is difficult and in places 
 alkaline salts tend to accumulate. 
 
 West of Maple River, which the railway crosses near the village of 
 Mapleton, the land rises steadily westward, but the surface of the old 
 lake bed is so smooth and the ascent so regular that it is scarcely 
 
 perceptible to the eye. This is a region of great 
 Mapleton. farms, and one of the largest and most noted of these 
 Elevation 929 feet. 18 the Dalrymple farm, between Mapleton and Cassel- 
 ceoe een aaies, 0D, Which comprises 21,000 acres of cultivated land. 
 
 As these big holdings were the pioneers in the Red 
 River valley and led directly to its agricultural development, their 
 history may prove to be interesting at this place. 
 
 About 1870 the banking firm of Jay Cooke & Co. became the 
 financial agent of the Northern Pacific Railroad Co. and advertised 
 widely the great agricultural possibilities of the region to be traversed 
 by the railway. Its glowing statements were attacked through the 
 press and otherwise, and much skepticism was expressed as to whether 
 or not the country was of any value for agriculture. In order to 
 meet these criticisms, certain members of the Northern Pacific direc- 
 torate determined that they themselves must furnish incontestable 
 proof that the land could be farmed to advantage. T. H. Canfield 
 purchased 5,500 acres at Lake Park, Minn.; Charlemagne Tower, 
 3,000 acres at Glyndon, Minn.; and Benjamin P. Cheney and George 
 W. Cass, 6,000 acres at Casselton, N. Dak. These farms were at once 
 put under expert cultivation, and the result of the experiment showed 
 the Lake Park region and the Red River valley to contain some of 
 the finest wheat lands in the world. The demonstration of this fact 
 caused a large and steady immigration to this region in the years 
 immediately following. 
 
 The town of Casselton is situated in the heart of the great wheat 
 belt and was named for George W. Cass, a former president of the 
 
 Northern Pacific Co. In the vicinity of Casselton and 
 
 Casselton. westward for some distance many flowing water wells 
 Elevation 961 feet. . have been drilled. These wells derive their supply from 
 Se eealomanitks,  tWO sources—the glacial drift and the underlying Cre- 
 taceous rocks. The water obtained from the glacial 
 
 drift is of fairly good quality and can be obtained at depths ranging 
 from 40 to 200 feet, but the amount of water varies considerably 
 ' 
 
 5 
 

 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 39 
 
 and several of the wells have ceased to flow. The water from the 
 Cretaceous rocks is slightly salty and not suited for irrigation, but 
 ean be used for domestic purposes. The depth of the producing 
 wells ranges from 250 to 500 feet, and the flow of water is more con- 
 stant than that from the glacial drift. The water-bearing rock is 
 ‘supposed to be the Dakota sandstone, which belongs at the base of 
 ‘the Upper Cretaceous. The water is Snel to enter the Dakota 
 ‘sandstone in Wyoming, where the sandstone is upturned against the 
 Rocky Mountains, or in the region of the Black Hills. It follows the 
 sandstone bed beneath the Great Plains and appears where the sand- 
 stone rises and approaches the surface in eastern North Dakota. 
 The village of Wheatland, appropriately named, is situated at the 
 | place where the railway crosses the lowest prominent beach of Lake 
 Agassiz, the houses in the eastern part of the village 
 | Wheatland. ae a cemetery north of the track being situated on 
 | Elevation 1,016 feet. the beach ridge. When the surface of the lake stood 
 | Seen aites, ab this level the water was 90 fect deep at Fargo, in 
 the center of the valley, and it remained at this height 
 long enough for the waves to heap up a distinct ridge of sand and fin- 
 | gravel. Thee is known as the Campbell beach, from the town of that 
 ‘name in Wilkin County, Minn., through which it extends. 
 | West of Wheatland there are, here and there, traces of similar 
 beaches, showing that Lake Agassiz stood at different levels above 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Herman Beach 
 
 
 
 Late Agasstx 
 | FIGURE 5.—Section of Herman beach ridge west of Magnolia, N. Dak., showing the relation of the sand 
 and gravel beds composing the beach to the surface of glacial Lake Agassiz. 
 
 _that of the Campbell stage, but at none of them long enough to form 
 -a decided and well-marked beach, except at the highest of the series. 
 This is known as the Herman beach. It can easily be seen from the 
 train just 5 miles west of the Campbell beach, or three-fourths of a 
 mile west of Magnolia. (See fig. 5.) This beach ridge is even better 
 developed than the Campbell beach and is marked by an old gravel 
 pit on the right (north) of the track. The ridge is 15 feet high and 
 about 150 feet wide ontop. In the pit the beds of gravel dip about 20° 
 _to the west, or away from the open water of the lake, showing that 
 the waves carried the sand and gravel over the top and deposited 
 them on the back slope of the ridge. When Lake Agassiz stood at 
 this level the water at Fargo was about 175 feet deep, but it rose no 
 higher, because at that stage it found an outlet to the Mississippi 
 through the valley of Minnesota River. 
 
 _ From the Herman beach a comprehensive view can be had of the 
 _ broad expanse of the Red River valley. Above the level of the beach 
 
40 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 the old surface of till and outwash gravel is in its original condition, 
 not having been smoothed and covered by a coating of mud, as was 
 
 that of the submerged area. 
 
 West of the Herman beach the railway crosses a low, broad ridge 
 by a deep cut in glacial till and sand. This cut is 4 _ 
 
 Buffalo. 
 
 Elevation 1,226 feet. 
 Population 241. 
 St. Paul 288 miles. 
 
 transported by the ice. 
 
 miles long, extending as far as the village of Buffalo, 
 and it affords excellent exposures of the materials 
 The low ridge through which ~ 
 
 the cut is made is a faint moraine, marking the posi- — 
 tion of the front of the glacier! that occupied the valley of Red River 
 before it became a lake, as described on page 382. | 
 
 1 The glacial features of North Dakota 
 are the result of the invasion of the ice 
 sheet that originated west of Hudson Bay. 
 At the time of its greatest expansion this 
 glacier covered all of North and South 
 Dakota east of Missouri River with ice 
 probably hundreds and perhaps thou- 
 sands of feet in thickness. 
 
 A study of the materials brought down 
 from the north shows that glaciation was 
 not confined to a single stage of growth 
 and decadence of the ice sheets, but that 
 there were several advances and retreats, 
 and that the amount of movement ac- 
 complished in the various stages differed 
 greatly. These fluctuations appear to 
 have been due to the fact that at times 
 the climate was favorable for the devel- 
 opment and advance of the ice, and that 
 at other times it was milder and the ice 
 wasted away until large tracts previously 
 covered were again in condition for the 
 return of animal and vegetable life. 
 During the warmer epochs soils were de- 
 veloped, and the glacial materials spread 
 over the land were sculptured by newly 
 established drainage systems. The re- 
 turn of colder weather and the advance 
 of the ice over most of the area previously 
 glaciated destroyed many of the new 
 surface features and buried the whole 
 under a new deposit of drift. 
 
 The extent of the several ice sheets 
 which invaded the Dakotas during the 
 Wisconsin stage of glaciation is shown on 
 the sketch map on sheet 5 (p. 44). North- 
 eastern Minnesota was covered by ice that 
 came from the direction of Labrador. 
 Sweeping southwestward and southward 
 around the west end of this ice mass came 
 
 another great glacier from the region west 
 of Hudson Bay, which divided at the head 
 of the Coteau des Prairies (for meaning 
 of the word ‘‘ coteau’’ see p. 45), or just 
 
 south of the South Dakota line, into two — 
 
 ereat lobes, one of which, known as the 
 Minnesota Glacier, passed southward up 
 the broad valley of Red River and across 
 
 Minnesota into Iowa as far as the present — 
 
 city of Des Moines, and the other, known 
 as the Dakota Glacier, moved down the 
 James River valley to the Missouri, spread- 
 ing westward upon the flanks of the Co- 
 teau du Missouri. The farthest extent of 
 these lobes is marked by a well-developed 
 ridge, called the Altamont moraine. 
 
 The Altamont moraine is crossed by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway between 
 Sterling and Driscoll and from this point 
 
 oh 
 
 recedes far to the east, crossing the line © 
 between North and South Dakota about — 
 
 75 miles east of Missouri River. 
 South Dakota its outline is somewhat 
 
 Ing 
 
 irregular, showing that small lobes of ice 
 pushed out here and there far beyond the ~ 
 
 principal mass. 
 Altamont moraine bounds Missouri River 
 on the east, and it is probable that the 
 front of the ice and its accompanying 
 
 In general, however, the — 
 
 moraine were largely instrumental in de-_ 
 
 termining the course of that stream. 
 
 The Dakota lobe of the glacier filled 
 all the country between Missouri and — 
 Big Sioux rivers, but east of the Big — 
 Sioux there was a strip of country free 
 from ice, which extended, as shown on — 
 the map, nearly to the North Dakota line. — 
 
 The marginal deposit indicating the 
 first halt in the glacial wasting and re-— 
 
 treat is the Gary moraine, which is 
 
 a chanel 
 
SHEET No. 4 
 
 a 
 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 
 sites 
 
 MINNESOTA - NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 
 
 30Kilometers 
 
 pet 
 
 SEA LEVEL 
 
 
 
 
 
 own every 10 miles 
 
 ed | mile apart 
 
 MKragness 
 
 
 
 reg Haggart 
 
 
 
 
 
 SL eo 
 
 2,926 
 
 te 
 Wi 
 
 uskoda™ 
 EL./087 
 vford 
 
 Craw 
 
 Dilworth 
 EL.933 
 
 bss § 
 
 422YS 
 
 09, BOUNDARY 
 SN TBEY LINE A 
 
 
 

 
 SHEET No.4 
 
 
 
 = : BULLETIN 611 7 | eee ; aces 
 SS ee a ee eee MINNESOTA- NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 Be | 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 § 
 
 i) ? : 10 15 Z20Miles 
 
 1 oO 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 tlh rechacadbacedecnrd needle deel seofina atric tone ieee Serai wsaloesdemedorie Sis areiolsedieocberatamedtinned 
 
 PEE TES 
 
 | Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS iN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart / 
 
 oa 
 > 
 
 = Oo ee 
 
 Wy 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 re 
 Ne 
 
 
 
 
 
 = ee p — 
 
 = —— ses eee z = = 
 | : i) ese | Prosper 
 | “efineg 10 1) | Se, | 
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 SN) 
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 | } s O% te, 
 Buffalo é ; = | 
 hee Magnolia Saxonly ~ - | 
 CA Raa eae /OS4 Sa V5! o > q. 
 | ic a Casselton oo 7 : be 
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 Ayeoe- Langers@ 210ee ie ae + poh O18 zi OU 7% 5 
 es eA OS: wWoeEe a MOORHEAD SOW? [Stetkwood = Hawle 
 s, Duluth. y/Z Persis joss ane ts att aa aay ae ee a EL AUS 
 PS Aer ia? Ss eer ¢ Hf ; ae thay 
 1 | * CH | | og? ee é @tverest rage O 250} Dilworth 240 23 NS 
 . é Myra Ne oo e FLA 93S Sa Nuskoda- 
 Lh & Ee ' ie! xs ‘ ers 8 £L./087 - 
 : + ww pS s tw ' eae 5 230 
 iis Be \é I ACIE Lr 2aAS v,> ee “ oO 
 HRS ee Sa ERG ) Py 
 dies ee Durbin =g ~ 
 { : ates ®Em den an t S 
 Scale : | a | yeh Vi Lynchburg o - i 
 ee | Fabian a ce ee ou v 
 GLACIAL LAKE AGASSIZ AT THE TIME OF ITS GREATEST EXPANSION | L®ilicel €. eee i MB Addison : Pete oh ee & 
 THE LAKE, CAUSED BY ICE BLOCKADE ON THE NORTHEAST, WAS 700 MILES LONG : | ( ; Herne 4 ay fF 
 AND MORE THAN 200 MILES BROAD -\ * map!© es * poe q as y Bios 
 | pin J Williams® BS chaible pe 
 Bie ee gas : Ls 
 | | . ae Davenport ‘ ze Zz 
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 | Ronen 6 we 
 | § 97°30 ? at Peat 
 eT LS Ne a Ne 
 
 ENGRAVES ANU PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
“e THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 4] 
 
 Just beyond Buffalo the traveler can obtain on the left the first 
 extended view across the prairies and lowlands of the valley of 
 
 Sheyenne River. 
 
 This broad stretch of country is well farmed, and 
 
 the fields of grain are a sure indication of its prosperity. 
 Near Tower City (see sheet 5, p. 44) the railway is located in a 
 broad flat that is only imperfectly drained by the headwaters of 
 Maple River, as described on page 43; and then 
 
 Tower City. 
 
 Elevation 1,194 feet. 
 Population 452. 
 St. Paul 294 miles. 
 
 begins the long, steady ascent to the summit of Alta 
 Ridge, which can be seen in the distance from Oriska. 
 This ridge, one of the most pronounced topographic 
 
 features that will be seen between the Red River 
 valley and Missouri River, is capped by drift which represents the 
 
 
 
 crossed by the Northern Pacific Railway 
 just west of Crystal Springs. It les upon 
 the Coteau du Missouri and is closely as- 
 sociated with the Altamont moraine, the 
 high coteau front serving as a wall or dam 
 which held back the ice in its forward 
 ‘movement. The great amount of material 
 ‘in these outer moraines and the large size 
 of the hills indicate that the edge of the 
 st ice sheet probably remained against 
 the coteau for a considerable time. South 
 
 bof the Northern Pacific Railway the Gary 
 
 ai is roughly parallel with the Alta- 
 ‘mont moraine. In some places they 
 ‘coincide, but in others they are nearly 
 50 miles apart. The glacier at the time 
 the Gary moraine was built extended as 
 far south as it did during the greatest ex- 
 tension, but the lobe was narrower, aver- 
 ‘aging not more than 80 miles in width, 
 Band the point of division between this 
 obe and the Minnesota lobe had receded 
 to the North Dakota line. 
 
 _ The next stage in the recession of the 
 ice front is not marked by a single large 
 and well-defined moraine, but by a belt 
 of more or less disconnected ridges or 
 heaps of morainal deposits, called the 
 Antelope moraine. The number of these 
 ridges indicates that the ice front fluctu- 
 ated back and forth across the belt. The 
 ridges of the Antelope moraine are crossed 
 by the Northern Pacific line between 
 Spiritwood and Eldridge, but they are 
 not well marked on either side of James 
 The glacier at the Antelope sub- 
 stage extended in a long tongue down 
 the James River valley as far as Huron, 
 8. Dak., but the point of division between 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 the two great lobes had not changed its 
 position appreciably from that which it 
 occupied in the Gary substage. The 
 Antelope moraine is here regarded as in- 
 cluding the Kiester moraine, which has 
 been recognized only for a few miles south 
 of the Northern Pacific Railway and east 
 of James River. 
 
 The next important moraine, which has 
 been called the Waconia, is crossed by 
 the railway between Eckelson and Fox 
 lakes and forms the divide between Hud- 
 son Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It 
 marks the first definite and prolonged 
 halt in the retreat of the ice front after 
 the formation of the Gary moraine. The 
 glacier at this stage of the retreat extended 
 only a few miles across the State line into 
 South Dakota, and its lobe, which at one 
 time extended to the mouth of James 
 River, was so reduced as to be scarcely 
 recognizable and before the next halt had 
 disappeared. 
 
 Two more halts in the recession of the 
 western margin of the ice are recorded 
 along the Northern Pacific line, but these 
 were doubtless of slight duration and did 
 not produce separate moraines south of 
 the railway. The moraine marking the 
 earlier of these halts is supposed to be the 
 same as a moraine at Fergus Falls, Minn., 
 and therefore is called by that name. It 
 is well developed in Alta Ridge, 6 miles 
 east of Valley City. The second moraine 
 is the low ridge east of Buffalo. When 
 the ice front retreated east of this moraine, 
 the southern part of Red River valley 
 became flooded with water, and Lake 
 Agassiz was formed. 
 
42 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Fergus Falls moraine. Its summit, which is crossed by the railway 
 near milepost 59, attains an altitude of 1,454 feet, or 528 feet higher 
 than Fargo on the east and 209 feet higher than Valley City on the 
 west. On the west there is a sharp descent from Alta Ridge down 
 to a broad plain formed by the outwash of material from the glacier 
 when it lay just east of the ridge. It is supposed that at the time 
 the moraine was formed Sheyenne River was flowing at the same 
 level as this plain and that the present valley of that stream had not 
 been cut. 
 
 West of Alta Ridge the old line of the railway turned slightly to 
 the south and descended into the valley of Sheyenne River, crossing 
 the stream but little above the general level of the 
 valley bottom. Recently a new “high line” has 
 been carried across the valley on a steel trestle 150 
 feet high. From this trestle a fine view of Valley 
 City and the river can be had. (See Pl. ILI, p. 11.) 
 Here the rock underlying the glacial drift is exposed, and it is the 
 first exposure of this kind that can be seen from the train west of the 
 Mississippi Valley. Soft dark shale may be seen in either bluff from 
 the ‘“‘high line” or in the sides of the coulee* as the train descends 
 by the “low line” to the bottom of the valley. This shale contains 
 fossil shells, which are similar to those of animals living in the ocean 
 of to-day; hence it is believed that it was deposited when this part of 
 the country was beneath the waters of a sea.° 
 
 At Valley City the Northern Pacific is crossed by the branch of 
 the Soo Line that connects Moose Jaw, on the main line of the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway, with St. Paul. 
 
 Valley City. 
 
 Elevation 1,245 feet.t 
 Population 4,606. 
 St. Paul 310 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 This is the altitude at the old station, 
 which is near river level. The new sta- 
 tion is about 150 feet higher. 
 
 2'The term ‘‘coulee’’ is generally applied 
 throughout the northern tier of States to 
 any steep-sided gulch or water channel 
 and at times even to a stream valley of 
 considerable length. The term was 
 doubtless derived from the French verb 
 couler, signifying to flow. This meaning 
 of ‘‘coulee’’ should not be confused with 
 the geologic meaning of the word, which 
 signifies a solidified stream or sheet of 
 lava. 
 
 3 During the later half of the Creta- 
 ceous period the sea covered what is now 
 the region of the Great Plains and the 
 Rocky Mountains as far west as the 
 Wasatch Range in Utah and extended 
 from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic 
 Ocean. The incursion of the sea over 
 
 
 
 this area was due to the relative sinking 
 of the land. As the land sank the waters 
 advanced, and the waves and currents 
 washed and sorted the sediments brought 
 down by the streams. The coarser sand 
 and gravel were left near the shore, but 
 the finer silt was widely distributed over 
 the sea bottom. As the sea gradually 
 deepened and the shore line advanced 
 
 the silt covered up the sand; the sand 
 
 was cemented together as sandstone and 
 the silt was compacted into shale. Vary- 
 ing conditions caused more or less com- 
 mingling and interbedding of sand and 
 silt, so that numerous beds of sandstone 
 and of sandy shale are now encountered 
 in drilling into the ancient deposits. 
 The long duration of the period in which 
 these beds were laid down is indicated 
 by the great thickness of fine sediment 
 which then accumulated. 
 
THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 43 
 
 West of Valley City the surface is more or less irregular and hum- 
 mocky, but no definite moraine has been recognized along the: line 
 of the railway. In this part of North Dakota many of the glacial 
 features are not clear and distinct. It 1s supposed that this is due 
 to the fact that the older ice sheets had left pronounced features that 
 were only slightly modified by the Wisconsin glacier, and the result 
 to-day is that one system of moraines 1s superimposed on others havy- 
 ing different patterns, the features being therefore very much confused. 
 
 In the vicinity of Sanborn there are a number of lakes which 
 ean be seen from the train, but they are not so attractive as the 
 lakes of Minnesota, for they are shallow and highly 
 charged with alkali, which in seasons of drought is 
 deposited around their margins as a white powder. 
 This powder is composed largely of such substances 
 as baking soda, washing soda, and other materials 
 having similar properties. The water of these lakes is unsuitable for 
 drinking but is not too strongly alkaline to be used for watering stock. 
 The lakes are generally long and narrow, occupying depressions that 
 resemble stream valleys, but the mode of formation of these depres- 
 sions has not been determined. At Sanborn a branch line turns to 
 
 Sanborn. 
 
 Elevation 1,468 feet. 
 Population 390. 
 St. Paul 320 miles. 
 
 the right, leading northward to Cooperstown and McHenry. 
 The Waconia moraine, crossed by the Northern 
 
 Eckelson. 
 
 Elevation 1,487 feet. 
 Population 327.* 
 St. Paul 326 miles. 
 
 1This divide illustrates the poorly 
 drained character of the glaciated prai- 
 ries and the delicate balance between 
 the drainage systems. Although Shey- 
 enne and James rivers, the two principal 
 streams of this region, flow in nearly par- 
 allel courses for 180 miles, and the relief 
 of the land between them is generally 
 not more than 20 feet, yet the Sheyenne 
 ultimately discharges into Hudson Bay 
 and the James into the Gulf of Mexico. 
 These rivers are very small in proportion 
 to the valleys in which they flow, there 
 
 _ being barely sufficient water to maintain 
 
 them as running streams during the sum- 
 mer season. 
 
 The drainage area of the Sheyenne 
 embraces approximately 10,000 square 
 
 miles, yet the volume of water it dis- 
 
 —<—- — 
 
 charges into Red River is estimated to 
 be less than that which flows through 
 Valley City, nearly 150 miles upstream. 
 
 _ The loss is due to evaporation and absorp- 
 tion as the stream meanders sluggishly 
 
 over the broad, flat bottom of its valley. 
 
 
 
 Pacific Railway west of Eckelson (see p. 41), consti- 
 tutes the divide between the Hudson Bay and Missis- 
 sippi River drainage basins.* 
 
 Several broad and deep coulees enter 
 the valley of the Sheyenne from the 
 west, but they are occupied only by 
 intermittent streams, insignificant in size 
 even in times of heavy rain; and the only 
 land that is really drained is that com- 
 prised in short, deep gorges which broad- 
 en out rapidly toward the Sheyenne as 
 they deploy upon its flood plain. 
 
 The drainage basin of James River is 
 much larger than that of the Sheyenne, 
 but a gaging station established by the 
 United States Geological Survey on the 
 James a few miles south of the railway 
 was abandoned because there was not, for 
 a part of the year, sufficient current to 
 turn a water meter. 
 
 In periods of heavy rains and melting 
 snows a system of ancient channels is 
 occupied by Maple River and its tribu- 
 taries; but although these constitute the 
 drainage system for an area of more than 
 1,000 square miles, ordinarily the run-off 
 is insufficient to maintain a permanent 
 stream. 
 
44. GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Between the Waconia moraine and Spiritwood there are no marked 
 features. From Spiritwood westward for a distance of 
 Spiritwood. 48 miles no distinctly morainic ridges are visible from 
 Elevation 1,500feet. the train, but it is believed that the various ridges 
 So palest ees, constituting the Antelope moraine are present in this 
 region, for they have been identified in the country 
 
 north and south of the railway. 
 
 Jamestown is a district terminal, and here a branch turns to the 
 right to Pingree and Devils Lake, and another to the left down the 
 
 valley of James River to La Moure and Oakes. The 
 Jamestown. country is so thoroughly covered with glacial drift 
 Elevation 1,429 feet. that the underlying rocks are not visible along the 
 soot ats, railway, but deep drilling for water showed that in 
 
 general on the upland the drift is merely sufficient to 
 conceal the rocks below, and in some of the larger stream valleys it is 
 more than 100 feet deep. This indicates that the valleys of such 
 streams as James River were in existence before the glacial epoch, that 
 during the occupation of this region by the ice they were deeply filled 
 with glacial material, and that since then the streams have succeeded 
 only in partly clearing them of this material. 
 
 A deep well at the North Dakota Insane Hospital, in the southern 
 part of Jamestown, passed through 118 feet of glacial drift, 1,330 feet 
 of Cretaceous shale, and about 200 feet of sandstone that is supposed 
 to be the Dakota sandstone, at the base of the Upper Cretaceous. The 
 top of this sandstone is about at sea level, and rises eastward at the 
 rate of about 84 feet to the mile. 
 
 The chief occupation in the country around Jamestown is agricul- 
 ture, the crops being wheat, oats, flax, barley, and vegetables. 
 
 West of Jamestown the railway follows the valley of. Pipestem 
 Creek as far as milepost 94.1. At this point the main valley followed 
 by the branch road leading to Pingree and Devils Lake comes in from 
 the north, but the main railway line keeps directly ahead up. a small 
 ravine and reaches the upland near Berner, about 2 miles farther on. 
 In this ravine there are many cuts, which afford excellent opportuni- 
 ties to study the composition of the drift or till, beneath which in = 
 some of the cuts a few feet of Cretaceous shale may be seen. In this 
 vicinity the railway is supposed to cross parts of the Antelope moraine, 
 but nothing resembling a definite ridge is in sight. | 
 
 The mileposts about Jamestown are | Evidently about 7 miles has been dropped — 
 confusing, as the last one to be seen as the | out of the count, but the figures given for 
 train enters the yards, nearly a mile east | each town in the side notes in this bulle- 
 of the depot, is 99, and the one mentioned | tin represent the distances from St. Paul 
 above, where the branch leaves the main | that are given in the Northern Pacific 
 line and turns up Pipestem Creek, is 94. | Railway folder for 1915. 
 
SHEET No. 5 
 
 98° NORTH DAKOTA | 
 
 saat - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 | 
 inch 
 5 20Miles | 
 25 30Kilometers 
 SEA LEVEL | 
 wn every 10 miles i 
 1 mile apart | 
 : 
 | 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 Es. 300 
 ¢ 7409) rLanon 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
#44 : « $ t = 
 ests & cS i Bx Q a 
 Ate & € AK 4 
 Perr us ie = 38% 
 57a = 2 
 ES {Ke == C ° ee 
 Wag Pee ee cfg te ¢ & 
 A; ig >See eek Eese cay 4 , 
 On itt + Z ass Re C ty 38 
 = e &Ns oo 
 Mas the Ge Pa = % 
 ++" aoe ee : oa 3 
 pS = oe : iG { oe 3 r= : 
 ———— ——— Stee 
  MORTHE C2 EuAaACizLS, 
 +t NORTHERN Var hACIA AK ine 
 Le. 2 S - es = Dy BoA 
 
 Oe ES SEE ma 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 BISMARCK —— ‘Jamestowh 
 
 Lo 
 
 
 
 Sx ; 
 5 2 
 ft, S DAKO" 
 Saree CH HS = = 
 < 
 : otal 
 
 
 
 MORAINES FORMED BY THE ICE SHEET THAT 
 CROSSED NORTH DAKOTA IN WISCONSIN TIME 
 
 
 
 
 
 iN 
 NI 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ——$<$<$<<$—$ $$ << _—— 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 
 j ? 5 19 ib 20Miles 
 
 1 Oo 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 SHEET No. 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 © ps aaeetege Ss 
 : pas ANG s = ow 
 = WE: 36°. EASncena§ BD Seed 
 7S BQO SEN Fox Lake) PSSA Sy 
 v ’ REY oo eee, ) } Sat) BA as) 
 e soe  330::::: Les is 
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 MISO 
 MISS 
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 9 a _— -_ 
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 e 
 
 
 
 Sheet No.4 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 45 
 
 A few miles west of Eldridge (see sheet 6, p. 46) is the eastern front 
 
 of a low plateau known as the Coteau du Missouri,! which is mentioned 
 
 in all the accounts of early explorations in this part 
 
 Eldridge. of the country. Doubtless in passing across the 
 
 Elevation 1,563 feet. country on foot or with a wagon train the Coteau 
 
 St Paul ett wis, loomed up as a formidable obstacle, but the railway 
 
 traveler of to-day, unless his attention is particularly 
 
 directed to it, would probably cross it without realizing that it is a 
 prominent topographic feature. 
 
 At milepost 103 the train begins the ascent of the east front of the 
 Coteau, and it reaches the summit just east of Windsor. A compari- 
 
 son of altitudes shows that this summit is almost ex- 
 Windsor. actly 300 feet above Eldridge and 435 feet above 
 Elevation 1,864 feet. Jamestown. In a mountainous region a ridge 300 
 Re ete feet high is hardly worth considering, but in eastern 
 | North Dakota a plateau of this height is of the first 
 magnitude. The commanding position of the Coteau can better be 
 appreciated by a view eastward from milepost 108, at the east end of 
 the deep summit cut. This view commands a wide expanse of undu- 
 lating plain, which is backed in the distance by the low swell of Alta 
 Ridge, east of Valley City. 
 
 As shown on the sketch map on sheet 5 (p. 44), a small moraine 
 marks the face of the Coteau north of the railroad. It is probable 
 that this is represented by the deep till in the summit cut east of 
 Windsor, but the features visible from the train are not strikingly 
 morainic in character. 
 
 The glacial features along the line of the railway are not well 
 marked, but from Cleveland nearly to Medina there are many 
 indications, in the form of hummocks and undrained 
 Blevation 1,874 feet, basins, of the morainic character of the topography. 
 St. Paul 364 miles. § Beyond this belt the country is gently rolling. The 
 
 scarcity of ranch houses is an indication that this 
 
 Medina. is what was formerly called the ‘‘short-grass coun- 
 
 Elevation 1,816 feet. try,’ but now, in the days of successful dry farming, 
 Seapine it has achieved a very different reputation. 
 
 Near Crystal Springs the aspect of the country 
 
 appears to be distinctly morainic in character, but no definite ridge 
 
 Cleveland. 
 
 
 
 1 Coteau is a French term signifying a | ing the edgeofa plateau. Suchan escarp- 
 small hill or hillock. In the northern | ment is usually dissected, so that at a dis- 
 part of the United States it was generally | tance it resembles a range of hills. The 
 applied by the early French travelers to | Coteau des Prairies and Coteau du Mis- 
 a range of hills or to the escarpment form- | souri are escarpments of this character. 
 
46 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 can be seen from the train. The tracks cross the Gary moraine (see 
 sketch map on sheet 5, p. 44) a short distance west 
 Crystal Springs. of this town, but as the railway follows an, old outlet 
 Elevation 1,802 feet. channel, the moraine, as seen from the train, does not 
 Population 216.* : : c 
 St. Paul 382 miles, appear to be particularly prominent. A mile or so 
 to the left (south) of the track the moraine is strongly 
 developed, consisting of a ridge at least 125 feet higher than the 
 plain on the west. The gravel showing in big pits near Ladoga 
 is outwash material from the front of the ice when it built the 
 moraine. 
 Beyond Crystal Springs the country is drift covered but generally 
 flat. This topography continues to Tappen, a flour- 
 Tappen. ishing village in a belt of good farming land. Seem- 
 aa oie feet. ingly the glacier in passing over this country had 
 St. Paul 389 miles, Little effect except to smooth off and fill up most of 
 the irregularities in the old topography. 
 In the vicinity of Dawson the most pronounced geologic and 
 topographic feature is the Altamont moraine, which was produced 
 by the Wisconsin ice sheet at the time of its maxi- 
 Dawson. mum extension. As shown on the sketch map on 
 sna Mares sheet 5 (p. 44), there is a great reentrant angle in 
 ’ this moraine almost due east of Bismarck, at about 
 the place where it is crossed by the Northern Pacific Railway. 
 Owing to this reentrant the moraine trends parallel with the track 
 and is visible for several miles. West of Dawson there are heavy 
 deposits of drift which probably belong to this moraine. They 
 are especially prominent in a cut a mile long between mileposts 
 147 and 148. 
 The same rolling topography occurs in the vicinity of Steele 
 and as far west as the western margin of the 
 Steele. moraine. Outwash gravel is also abundant about 
 Elevation 1,880 feet. Steele, as is indicated by the hills of gravel and 
 Population 500. é : : : 
 St. Paul 402miles. by the pits from which the railway has procured 
 oravel for ballast. 
 At Driscoll (see sheet 7, p. 54) is the highest land that is crossed 
 by the Northern Pacific Railway east of Missouri River. Near mile- 
 post 163 an old drainage channel, including a chain 
 Driscoll. of shallow lakes, crosses the moraine obliquely in a_ 
 Elevation 1,895 feet. southwesterly direction. West of this gap and north 
 coy is, Of Sterling the hills rise again in a narrow morainic 
 ridge which extends to the northeast for a long dis- 
 tance. Beyond Driscoll the railway gradually descends to Missouri 
 River, which in the early days was the great highway to the north- 
 
 
 
ZO0Miles 
 
 25 30Kilometers 
 
 LEVEL 
 
 every 10 miles 
 ile apart 
 
 32 J asf a 
 
 / go 
 
 ae Pon 1867 
 370 
 
 here Zouthdown 
 2 of, [EL 1810 
 
 Bec ee 
 
 [ 
 
 Ast of and including the Atamont moraine was 
 
 last or Wisconsin stage of glaciation 
 
 VY 
 
 > 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTEO GY THE U.S. 
 
 SHEET No. 6 
 NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 
 
 GEOLOGICAL SURV 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington. 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 L9OiD 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 | Ee lea lee. Ghes 99°30" 
 
 BULLETIN 611 , rs : SHEET No. 6 - 
 NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 
 
 ey P Ip 20Miles 
 io 10 15 20 25 30Kilameters 
 i Diarae Wrirotantetict decid: bikers oe 
 
 Contour interval 206 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced i mile apart 
 
 Pee 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 eet | 5 
 ae Slack . $ 
 900 
 ; x: sg oats, yy to + 
 : “S ee ie | Protea O Ny 
 f © 7 Ss 
 } 27810 mie & ta Sal | EL 78980 S 
 fs e) 
 hoes: 
 \ 
 4 
 Ei 
 s\ 
 . + 
 “ 3 
 < ow 
 =e 
 cluding the Altamont moraine was 
 onsin stage of diaciation my 
 = E r 
 e? 
 e&!?-. ‘ of 
 SS City 0 
 99° 
 
 ENGRAVEO AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 47 
 
 ROUTE, 
 
 western part of the United States and which was first thoroughly 
 
 explored by Lewis and Clark.! 
 
 1 One of the most noteworthy explora- 
 tions that was successfully carried out in 
 the nineteenth century was that of the 
 headwaters of Missouri and Columbia 
 rivers by Meriwether Lewis and William 
 Clark in the years 1804-1806, and as the 
 Northern Pacific Railway follows in a 
 general way a partof the same route and is 
 theindirect result oftheir efforts 1t seems 
 appropriate to give herea brief sketch of 
 the expedition and of the commanders. 
 It is so easy now to cross the continent 
 in comfort and even in luxury that the 
 difficulties and hardships of such a jour- 
 ney in 1804 can not readily be realized. 
 
 Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 
 1774, near Charlottesville, Va., of one of 
 the distinguished families of the State. 
 He had been for two years the private 
 secretary of President Jefferson and was 
 serving in that capacity when he was 
 selected by the President as commander 
 of the exploring expedition to the Pacific 
 coast. Upon the completion of his long 
 trip Capt. Lewis returned to Washington, 
 -but soon afterward (Mar. 3, 1807) he was 
 appointed governor of Louisiana and de- 
 parted for St. Louis to assume the duties 
 of that office. These occupied his atten- 
 tion for two years, when he again found it 
 necessary to visit Washington. He first 
 planned the trip by water, but after going 
 as far down the river as Chickasaw Bluffs 
 (Memphis) he changed his mind and 
 started east across the country. On the 
 ‘way he committed suicide or was mur- 
 dered October 11, 1809, in Lewis County, 
 Tenn. 
 
 William Clark was born in Caroline 
 County, Va., August 1, 1770. He hada 
 number of brothers and sisters, of whom 
 George Rogers Clark, an elder brother, 
 achieved distinction as a military com- 
 mander. When William Clark was 14 
 years old the family moved to the place 
 then called the Falls of the Ohio, now 
 Louisville, Ky. The town at that time 
 | consisted merely of a few cabins clustered 
 around a fortification which had been 
 erected by Clark’s elder brother. When 
 the exploring trip to the Pacific coast was 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 
 
 undertaken Clark was selected by Lewis 
 as joint head of the party. Soon after his 
 return he was made Indian agent for 
 Louisiana, with headquarters at St. Louis, 
 and on February 27, 1811, he was ap- 
 pointed by President Madison brigadier 
 general of the militia of Louisiana. On 
 July 1, 1813, he was made governor of 
 Missouri, an office which he held until 
 the Territory was admitted to the Union 
 in 1821. In May, 1822, President Monroe 
 appointed him Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs, and he held that post until his 
 death at St. Louis September 1, 1838. 
 His funeral was the most impressive that 
 had ever been held in that city. 
 
 When Thomas Jefferson was inaugu- 
 rated President of the United States, in 
 1801, our country did not extend west of 
 Mississippi River, and already much fric- 
 tion had arisen between Spain and the 
 United States regarding the navigation of 
 that stream. Jefferson fully realized that 
 for the complete development of the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley it was necessary that we 
 should control the mouth of the river. 
 Accordingly he began negotiations with 
 Spain for the purchase of New Orleans 
 and the Floridas. 
 
 Louisiana was originally a French pos- 
 session through the discoveries of La Salle. 
 It had been an expensive and troublesome 
 province for France and for this reason it 
 was secretly conveyed to Spain in 1762. 
 In the year 1800, however, it was by an- 
 other secret treaty ceded back to France. 
 It was therefore a surprise to our negoti- 
 ators to find that it was France and not 
 Spain with which they would have to 
 treat. 
 
 At the time negotiations were opened 
 Napoleon was expecting a declaration of 
 war by England and the seizure by her of 
 the mouth of the Mississippi. This threat- 
 ened his supremacy in America as well as 
 in Europe, and in order to anticipate this 
 move he decided to cede to the United 
 States not only New Orleans and the Flor- 
 idas but the entire province of Louisiana, 
 which was an empire in extent. Out of 
 it has been formed the States of Arkansas, 
 
48 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The village of Sterling is situated at the outer border of the Alta. 
 mont moraine, at the western limit of the great ice sheet that occupied 
 this region in the last stage of the glacial epoch, 
 
 Sterling. 
 
 Elevation 1,834 feet. 
 Population 198,* 
 St. Paul 421 miles. 
 
 Below it and stretching far to the west is a plain 
 which was formed of clay, sand, and gravel that were 
 accumulated by the ice and swept along to its outer 
 
 margin. From Sterling may be obtained an extended 
 view of the outwash plain, toward the south, and far beyond the more 
 rugged country bordering Missouri River. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, 
 and South Dakota; nearly all of Louist- 
 ana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, and 
 Montana, about one-third of Minnesota, 
 and one-third of Colorado. The treaty by 
 which all of this territory was acquired 
 was executed in Paris April 30, 1803. 
 The compensation was $11,250,000 and 
 the assumption by the United States of 
 the ‘French spoliation claims,®’ estimated 
 to amount to $3,750,000. It is an inter- 
 esting fact that some of these claims are 
 still in process of adjudication. 
 
 The extent and boundaries of the prov- 
 ince of Louisiana were never definitely 
 stated. In the treaty the territory was 
 described merely as being the same as 
 that ceded by Spain to France by the 
 treaty of San Ildefonso. [From this it 
 appears that the territory sold to the 
 United States comprised that part of the 
 drainage basin of the Mississippi which 
 lies west of the river, with the exception 
 of such parts as were then held by Spain. 
 The lack of precise definition was not 
 objected to by the American commission- 
 ers, as they probably foresaw that it might 
 prove of service in future negotiations 
 with other powers. 
 
 At that time all the territory on the 
 Pacific coast now included in the State of 
 California was claimed by Spain, and the 
 great region later to be embraced in the 
 States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho 
 was a sort of no man’s land. Subse- 
 quently, in treating with Great Britain 
 regarding the northern boundary of the 
 United States, this region was claimed by 
 the United States on three grounds: (1) 
 Discovery and occupation, (2) Louisiana 
 purchase, and (3) cession from Spain. At 
 first none of these claims were recog- 
 nized by Great Britain, and by the treaty 
 
 of peace in 1818 it was agreed that the 
 country immediately south of the forty: 
 ninth parallel and west of the ‘Stony’ 
 (Rocky) Mountains should remain oper 
 to both parties. In 1846 the Webster. 
 Ashburton treaty with Great Britain fixed 
 the northern boundary of the United 
 States west of the Rocky Mountains at the 
 forty-ninth parallel as far as the Strait o 
 Fuca, and thus Oregon, Washington, and 
 Idaho finally were recognized as belong: 
 ing to this country. 
 
 On the acquisition of Louisiana an ex: 
 pedition was planned by President Jeffer: 
 son ‘‘to explore the Missouri River and 
 such principal streams of it as, by its course 
 and communication with the waters of the 
 Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, 
 Oregon [another name for the Columbial], 
 Colorado, or any other river, may offer the 
 most direct and practicable water commu: 
 nication across the continent for the pur- 
 pose of commerce.’’ After receiving the 
 requisite instructions Capt. Lewis left 
 Washington July 5, 1803, and proceeded 
 to Louisville, where he was joined by 
 Capt. Clark. They arrived at St. Louis 
 in December, but found that the Spanish 
 commandant of the province, not having 
 received an official account of the trans- 
 fer, was obliged by the general policy of 
 his Government to prevent strangers from 
 passing through Spanish territory. The 
 party therefore camped on the east side 
 of the Mississippi, where they passed the 
 winter in making the necessary prepara- 
 tions for setting out early in the spring, 
 but they did not leave until after the 
 cession of Louisiana had been formally 
 announced. 
 
 The party when it left St. Louis com- 
 prised, besides the two officers, nine young 
 men from Kentucky, fourteen soldiers of 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 49 
 
 The outwash plain with its silty soil is well adapted to the raising 
 of flax, wheat, oats, and barley and supports a thriving farming com- 
 munity, the center of which is McKenzie, the junc- 
 
 McKenzie. 
 
 Elevation 1,725 feet. 
 Population 191.* 
 St. Paul 427 miles. 
 
 tion point of a branch line of railway running south 
 to Linton, 45 miles distant. 
 railway follows down Apple Creek to Missouri River. 
 
 West of McKenzie the 
 
 The width of the Apple Creek valley, which is much 
 ereater than that of even larger streams in the vicinity, indicates 
 clearly that at some time in the past this stream must have been 
 
 
 
 the United States Army who had volun- 
 teered their services, two French water 
 men, an interpreter and hunter, a black 
 servant belonging to Capt. Clark, and a 
 corporal, six soldiers, and nine water men 
 who were to accompany the party as far 
 as the Mandan villages. 
 
 The party finally embarked on the mo- 
 mentous voyage of discovery up Missouri 
 River on May 14, 1804. The letter from 
 President Jefferson instructed them to 
 gather information on a great variety of 
 subjects, including ‘‘the soil and face of 
 the country, its growth and vegetable 
 productions; the animals of the country, 
 and especially those not known in the 
 United States; the mineral productions 
 of every kind, but more particularly 
 metals, limestone, pit coal, saltpeter, sa- 
 lines, and mineral waters * * *; vol- 
 canic appearances; and climate.’’ They 
 were particularly advised to cultivate 
 friendly relations with the Indians and 
 to make exhaustive notes regarding their 
 habits and customs, their family and 
 tribal relations, and the extent and lim- 
 its of their territorial possessions. They 
 carried out these instructions so fully 
 that the summer was passed and the au- 
 tumn well advanced before they reached 
 the North Dakota region. By October 26 
 the weather had become so severe that 
 they went into winter quarters 7 or 8 
 miles below the mouth of Knife River 
 and 50 miles or so above the present town 
 of Bismarck. Here they built a stockade 
 which they called Fort Mandan, after the 
 tribe of Indians inhabiting this part of 
 the country. 
 
 _ They spent the winter in procuring 
 supplies for the camp, in friendly inter- 
 course with the Indians, and in visiting 
 
 95558°—Bull, 611--15——4 
 
 the scattered French and English traders 
 who were dealing with the Indians on 
 both sides of the Canadian line. On 
 April 7, 1805, the permanent party, which 
 had been increased by the interpreter, 
 Toussaint Charboneau, and his Indian 
 wife, Sacajawea (sak-a-ja-we’a, meaning 
 bird woman), again set out on their jour- 
 ney up the great river. They were soon 
 beyond the range of the fur trader and 
 they saw no white man until they re- 
 turned to this region the following year. 
 All went well until they came to the 
 Great Falls of the Missouri, which the 
 Indians had described to them. After a 
 laborious portage around the falls they 
 proceeded onward, searching for a path 
 through the ‘Shining Mountains,’’ which 
 lay in rugged masses before them. 
 
 Their instructions were to explore the 
 best route from the Missouri to the Co- 
 lumbia, but, although they had fairly 
 reliable information from the Indians re- 
 garding the headwaters of the Missouri, 
 they were completely at sea regarding the 
 source of the Columbia. For this reason 
 they desired very much to find Indian 
 guides to pilot them across the mountains. 
 Sacajawea, a member of the Snake tribe, 
 who had been captured by the Mandans 
 when she was a young girl and carried off 
 to the Indian towns in North Dakota, 
 hoped that she might see some of her 
 people inhabiting the mountain region 
 at the head of the Missouri and procure 
 from them the necessary information and 
 assistance. 
 
 Above Great Falls the river swings far 
 to the west, approaching the mountains, 
 and the leaders looked anxiously for signs 
 of Indians, but none could be found. To 
 make the matter worse, the river here 
 
50 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 much larger than it is at the present time. The increased volume 0} 
 water in Apple Creek was due to the fact that it received a large pari 
 of the drainage of the ice sheet that piled up the Altamont moraine 
 Much of the clay, sand, and gravel washed out from the ice was carriec 
 down to Missouri River and swept southward by its mighty current 
 but a large amount was dropped along Apple Creek, fillmg the valle) 
 to a considerable depth. Since the disappearance of the ice the 
 stream has cut a channel in this material 70 or 80 feet deep. Thi 
 uplands on both sides of the valley of Apple Creek have only a thir 
 veneer of glacial drift. (See footnote on p. 54.) 
 
 The great amount of cutting done by Apple Creek when it wa: 
 flooded by water from the erika? ice is shown by the width of it 
 
 flood plain where the valley joins that of Missouri River. 
 
 At the Stat 
 
 penitentiary 2 miles east of Bismarck the valley of Apple Creek has ; 
 
 changes its course and they were forced 
 to travel away from the mountains for a 
 long distance; but on coming to the three 
 forks of the Missouri Sacajawea remem- 
 bered the country and saw the spot where 
 she had been captured many years be- 
 fore. The expedition proceeded up Jef- 
 ferson River to its head and crossed the 
 Continental Divide (at Lemhi Pass) into 
 Idaho. Here they met the Snake In- 
 dians, Sacajawea even finding her brother 
 and sister, but after repeated efforts they 
 decided that it was impossible to make 
 their way down Salmon River to the Co- 
 lumbia, so they turned northward, cross- 
 ing the range again, and followed down 
 the Bitterroot Valley until on September 
 10 they came within 8 miles of the place 
 where Missoula, Mont., is now situated. 
 Here they turned to the left up what is 
 now known as the Lolo trail and crossed the 
 Coeur d’Alene Mountains, arriving at the 
 mouth of Snake River October 16. From 
 this point they rapidly drifted down the 
 Columbia to the Pacific Ocean and went 
 into winter quarters December 7 in a 
 stockade which they named Fort Clat- 
 sop, near the site of Astoria, Oreg. They 
 remained here, without seeing any vessel 
 from which they could obtain supplies, 
 until March 23, 1806, when they left Fort 
 Clatsop on their eastward journey. 
 
 The party returned over practically the 
 same route to the Bitterroot Valley, where 
 it was divided, Capt. Lewis making his 
 way by Missoula and up Blackfoot River, 
 along the route followed by the Indians 
 
 in going to the plains to hunt buffalo, anc 
 Capt. Clark going back to the head ¢ 
 Jefferson River to recover their canoes 
 which had been cached at that place 
 Capt. Lewis crossed the Continental Di 
 vide at Lewis and Clark Pass and the 
 made an attempt to explore the pass a 
 the head of Marias River (now utilize 
 by the Great Northern Railway), bu 
 trouble with the Indians prevented hur 
 from reaching the mountains, so he en 
 barked on the Missouri and floated dow 
 to the mouth of the Yellowstone, wher 
 the two parties were to meet again 0 
 their homeward journey. 
 
 Capt. Clark crossed through the Bi 
 hole country and, after getting the boat 
 floated down Jefferson River to Thre 
 Forks, where his party again dividec 
 some going on down Missouri River 1 
 join Lewis, while Capt. Clark and a fe 
 others, including the faithful Sacajawe 
 as guide, started across the country 1 
 Yellowstone River. They crossed Boz 
 man Pass July 15, 1806, and reached Mi 
 souri River at Livingston the same da} 
 They passed rapidly down the strean, 
 reaching the mouth of Tongue Riw 
 (Miles City) on July 29 and the mout, 
 of Yellowstone River August 3. The 
 were slightly ahead of Capt. Lewis ar 
 the party was not united until Augu_ 
 12, when they all came together at # 
 mouth of Little Knife River, N. Da 
 The rest of the journey was uneventf 
 and they reached St. Louis Septemb 
 23, 1806, 
 
 
 
_ Elevation 1,692 feet. 
 - Population 5,443. 
 
 a a 
 
 ee 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 
 
 OL 
 
 width of 4 miles, whereas the width of the Missouri Valley rarely 
 exceeds 3 miles. On this flood plain, known as the ‘‘second bottom,” 
 is Fort Lincoln, to the left (south). This is the only military post now 
 maintamed near the Canadian border between Fort Snelling, at St. 
 Paul, and Fort Assinniboine, at Havre, Mont. Opposite the peni- 
 tentiary the Northern Pacific crosses a branch of the Soo Line which 
 extends up the river as far as Washburn. 
 
 Bismarck, the capital of the State, was named in honor of the great 
 German chancellor. This town was the western 
 terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway from 
 1873, when all construction work was stopped by 
 the financial panic, to 1878, and was originally 
 called Edwinton, for Edwin F. Johnson, the first 
 chief engineer of the road. 
 
 Those who are in the habit of reading the daily weather reports 
 may have noted that Bismarck has about as great arange of tempera- 
 ture throughout the year as any other place where observations are 
 recorded. Jn summer the thermometer occasionally registers 100° 
 or more, and in winter it is frequently as low as 40° below zero. 
 The precipitation is only 18 or 19 inches a year, compared with 28 
 inches at Minneapolis. This difference in the amount of moisture 
 received is largely the cause of the difference in the appearance of 
 
 Bismarck. 
 
 St. Paul 446 miles. 
 
 the two regions. 
 
 West of the station at Bismarck the railway skirts the eastern bluffs 
 
 _of the river for a distance of 2 miles upstream and then crosses on a 
 steel bridge to the west side.' 
 
 
 
 1 At present Missouri River has little 
 effect on the commercial and industrial 
 
 life of the northwestern part of the United 
 
 States, but before the construction of the 
 
 _ transcontinental railways it was a most 
 ' important factor, first in the exploration 
 _ of that part of the country and second in 
 
 its commercial development. 
 The country about Bismarck and Man- 
 
 | dan was formerly inhabited by the Man- 
 
 dan Indians. The surviving remnant of 
 
 this tribe occupies the Fort Berthold 
 
 Reservation, some 60 or 70 miles farther 
 
 up the river, but almost every day groups 
 
 ee ee ee ee ee ane 
 
 } 
 | 
 
 of these Indians can be seen about the 
 
 station at Mandan or on the local trains of 
 the river branch. 
 
 The earliest recorded visit of a white 
 man to these Indians was that of Veran- 
 
 | drye in 1738-1742, when he attempted to 
 
 cross the continent to the Pacific coast. 
 David Thompson, of the Northwest Fur 
 
 Co., was here in, 1797, and Lewis and 
 Clark wintered about 50 miles north of 
 Bismarck in 1804-5. After that date 
 many explorers and traders came this 
 way, gradually extending their opera- 
 tions westward until they finally overran 
 the whole region, even including the 
 rougher parts of the Rocky Mountains. 
 Supplies were sent to the fur-trading sta- 
 tions by boat up the Missouri from St. 
 Louis, and the furs obtained from the 
 Indians found their way to the outside 
 world by the same route. The river at 
 that time was a silt-laden shifting stream, 
 just as it is to-day, and great difficulty 
 was experienced in getting supplies to its 
 upper waters. Theriver traffic was greatly 
 stumulated by discoveries of gold in Mon- 
 tana in 1863, and light-draft steamboats 
 were employed in the trade. This traffic 
 continued to increase until the completion 
 of the Northern Pacific Railway, when 
 
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 52 
 
 The town of Mandan, named for the tribe of Indians that formerly 
 occupied this part of the country, is on the west side of the Missouri. 
 It is essentially a railway town, being a division termi- 
 nal. In coming from the east the traveler has had 
 very few opportunities to see the rocks underlying the 
 glacial drift, but west of Mandan the drift is thin or 
 lacking and the bedded rocks are much more con- 
 spicuous than they are east of that place. In places about Mandan 
 they are exposed in badlands, as shown in Plate IV, A. 
 
 A deep well that was drilled at Mandan a number of years ago with 
 the hope of obtaining water for railway and town use penetrated 
 sandstone and shale much like the surface rocks to a depth of 470 
 feet and then nothing but shale like that seen at Jamestown to a depth 
 of 2,000 feet. The drill probably went nearly to the Dakota sand- 
 stone, which furnishes artesian water farther east in North and South 
 Dakota, but as it did not reach that rock the exact depth of the Dakota 
 is not known. 
 
 In 1876, when the railway extended westward only as far as Bis- 
 marck, this town was a mere frontier settlement with a wide stretch 
 of Indian country to the west. On the west side of the river was 
 Fort Abraham Lincoln, one of the important military posts of the 
 time. Although the days of Indian warfare in this vicinity had 
 passed, it was the starting point for many military expeditions into 
 the Indian country. An expedition of this kind which left the fort in 
 1876 was the most eventful in the history of the border warfare of the 
 region, as it resulted in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the 
 slaughter of Gen. Custer and his immediate command. The Northern 
 Pacific Railway has been built along or closely parallel with the route 
 followed by the troops. (Seep. 71.) At Mandan the railway changes 
 from Central to Mountain time, and the westbound travelershould set 
 his watch back one hour. | 
 
 West of Mandan the railway follows the valley of Heart River, and 
 for the first time in North Dakota the westbound traveler can see the 
 hard rocks well exposed. These consist of shale and sandstone (Lance 
 
 Mandan. 
 
 Elevation 1,667 feet. 
 Population 3,873. 
 St. Paul 451 miles. 
 
 
 
 the slow and unsatisfactory method of 
 boat transportation was abandoned, so 
 
 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Dela- 
 ware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, 
 
 that to-day vessels are seldom seen upon 
 the muddy waters of the river. 
 
 The Missouri is one of the great drain- 
 age channels of the United States. Its 
 total length is about 2,400 miles, and 
 that part above the crossing of the North- 
 ern Pacific has a length of about 1,160 
 miles. The total area drained by this 
 river is 527,155 square miles, a territory 
 as great as that embraced in the States of 
 
 Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, 
 South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Although Missouri River may never 
 again be utilized as a means of communi- 
 cation and transportation, it is destined 
 to play a most important part in the better 
 development of its drainage basin by 
 furnishing water for irrigation and for the 
 development of power. 
 

 
 See SS ee 
 
 ie ee i 
 
 
 
 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE IV 
 
 
 
 A. BADLANDS IN THE VICINITY OF MANDAN, N. DAK. 
 
 These are not so rugged or picturesque as those to be seen farther west, where the precipitation is less. 
 
 
 
 B. CRACKS PRODUCED BY THE BURNING OF A BED OF LIGNITE.: 
 
 Where a bed of lignite many feet thick burns, the sandstone or shale overlying it breaks down, forming large 
 cracks through which steam and smoke issue as long as the lignite is on fire. 
 
BULLETIN 611 PLATE V 
 
 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 
 Be 
 
 EROSION FORMS OF NORTH DAKOTA. 
 
 As soon as the turf is rernoved from the sides of the ridges and hills the slopes are cut rapidly by the rain. Each 
 little trickle of water cuts a hole vertically through the sand or clay, producing asurface which, when seen from 
 above, resembles a gigantic sponge. Its general appearance is shown in the upper view. When erosion has 
 reached a more advanced stage, the hill may be reduced to an isolated butte, as shown in the lower view, 
 and the sides are covered with the most delicate tracery. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 i 
 
 ; 
 i 
 
 " 
 
 | Judson. 
 
 | St. Paul 473 miles, 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 
 
 D3 
 
 formation), partly of marine origin, and represent the bottom of the 
 sea that through later Cretaceous and part of Tertiary time covered 
 
 the region.! 
 
 The railway follows Heart River for some distance and then turns 
 
 Elevation 1,971 feet. 
 
 to the right and climbs to the upland along Sweetbriar Creek. Here 
 large bowlders of granite and other similar rocks may 
 be seen on both sides of the track. These are par- 
 ticularly numerous and very large, some as much as 
 8 feet in diameter, in the vicinity of Judson, but scat- 
 
 tered bowlders can be seen from the car window beyond New Salem. 
 Rocks of this kind are not known to crop out in the State, so it is sup- 
 posed that the bowlders must have been brought here by ice, but as 
 
 
 
 1The rocks exposed along Missouri 
 River from the vicinity of old Fort Pierre 
 in South Dakota to and beyond the cross- 
 ing of the Northern Pacific Railway at 
 
 _ Bismarck dip slightly to the north or 
 northwest and are encountered in go- 
 
 ing up the stream in ascending order. 
 First is the Pierre shale, which consists of 
 a great mass of fine dark shale that carries 
 
 _ marine shells wherever it has been found 
 from the Canadian line to New Mexico. 
 
 It was doubtless laid down when the en- 
 tire Rocky Mountain and Great Plains 
 regions were sunk below the level of the 
 ocean. 
 
 This formation is overlain by a coarse, 
 generally clean white or brownish sand- 
 stone, called Fox Hills, which was evi- 
 dently at one time the sandy shore that 
 followed the retreat of the Pierre sea. 
 
 Sandstone as a rule is not good material 
 
 for the preservation of fossils, but here and 
 there the Fox Hills sandstone contains 
 marine shells and almost everywhere the 
 casts of sea weeds, which now resemble 
 fossil corncobs. Until very recently this 
 has been regarded as the last formation in 
 this region that was laid down in sea water. 
 
 The Fox Hills sandstone is followed by 
 the Lance formation, which consists of 
 sandstone, shale, and coal beds. Few 
 shells occur in the Lance, but those that 
 have been found in the larger part of the 
 area are fresh-water forms. The presence 
 of many coal beds (composed of’ vegeta- 
 tion that once grew on the land and was 
 buried in swamps) and of fossil leaves and 
 trunks of trees in the sandstone and shale 
 shows clearly that the Lance formation 
 
 accumulated above sea level as material 
 either brought down by streams and 
 spread out over the even surface of the 
 land or deposited in lakes. This for- 
 mation covers much of the mountain 
 and plains country north of Colorado, 
 and in most of this broad area it con- 
 tains nothing but fresh-water material. 
 Recently, however, marine and_ brack- 
 ish-water shells have been found in the 
 upper part of the Lance in south-cen- 
 tral North Dakota and also along Little 
 Missouri River in the southwest corner of 
 the State, which indicate that after the 
 recession of the sea to the east at the close 
 of Fox Hills time it reappeared and 
 reached as far west as the Montana line. 
 Then at the close of Lance time the sea 
 again disappeared from this region, never 
 to return, as all succeeding formations are 
 of fresh-water origin. 
 
 For many years the age of the Lance 
 formation has been in dispute. The fossil 
 shells and the great dinosaurs (see p. 73) 
 indicate that the formation is Cretaceous 
 in age, but the fossil plants are Tertiary 
 in their relations, almost identical with 
 those of the overlying Fort Union forma- 
 tion. Although the question is not 
 finally settled, it seems probable that the 
 Cannonball member of the Lance forma- 
 tion is Tertiary and that the Cretaceous 
 fauna which occurs in it is merely a sur- 
 viving remnant of an old Cretaceous fauna 
 which formerly lived in the open sea but 
 which as this sea became more and more 
 restricted and eventually inclosed by 
 land preserved its old form even into Ter- 
 tiary time. | 
 
D4: 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 little or no other drift accompanies them, they are supposed to repre- 
 sent an earlier ice invasion than that which brought the drift east of - 
 Missouri River—an invasion so long ago that most of the clay in the 
 drift has been washed away, leaving only the coarser material. 
 About half a mile east of the station at New Salem (see sheet 8, 
 p- 60) the lignite mine of the Dakota Products Co. has been in opera- 
 
 tion for a number of years. 
 is 5 feet thick and lies about 30 feet below the surface.” 
 West of New Salem, which is situated on the surface 
 of the upland plain, the railway goes down a small 
 
 New Salem. 
 
 Elevation 2,188 feet. 
 Population 621. 
 St. Paul 479 miles. 
 
 The bed of lignite mined 
 
 ravine in which scattered granite bowlders can be seen 
 from the car window for a distance of 5 miles, or as far as milepost 
 
 30. 
 
 Beyond this point no bowlders can be seen, but careful exami- 
 
 nation of the surrounding upland has shown that they are present 
 
 as far to the southwest as Almont. 
 
 
 
 1 West of the Altamont moraine, which 
 marks the greatest extension of the glacial 
 lobe that occupied the Red River valley 
 in Wisconsin time, there is only a thin 
 veneer of drift on the upland and in some 
 of the valleys. This outer drift is not bor- 
 dered by any well-marked moraine, but 
 here and there indications of such a fea- 
 ture occur along its outer margin on the 
 west side of Missouri River. In the vi- 
 cinity of the Northern Pacific Railway 
 the moraine is characterized by a low 
 bowldery ridge which trends nearly south 
 from Judson. Outside of ‘this moraine 
 there is a marginal fringe of bowlders 
 which extend as far west as Almont. 
 
 The general thinness of the drift west of 
 the Altamont moraine indicates that the 
 material which was brought by the ice has 
 almost all been washed away, except the 
 large bowlders; and this means that a 
 much longer time has elapsed since it was 
 deposited than there has since the material 
 east of the Altamont moraine was laid 
 down. Some geologists have argued that 
 this outer drift represents a stage of glacia- 
 tion very much older than the Wisconsin 
 and have assigned it provisionally to the 
 Kansan (one of the earliest stages known). 
 Others have maintained that the granite 
 bowlders which can be seen from the 
 Northern Pacific Railway are too fresh 
 and unweathered to have been dropped 
 here during the Kansan stage, many 
 thousand years ago; but the unweathered 
 condition of the granite is due to the 
 
 dryness of the climate and therefore is 
 not a reliable criterion as to the age of 
 the drift. 
 
 From all the facts at hand it is evident 
 that the glacier which crossed Missouri 
 River was older and thinner than the one 
 which occupied the Red River valley, but 
 the difference in age is problematic. 
 
 2 The lignite bed is reached by a slope, 
 
 and from the bottom of the slope the 
 
 workings extend north about 2,100 feet. 
 The lignite bed is almost horizontal. It 
 ranges in thickness from 44 to 6 feet and 
 is underlain by a bed of gray clay. Most 
 of the lignite produced at this mine is 
 either hauled by wagon to the surrounding 
 country and used by the farmers or 
 shipped by rail to the neighboring towns. 
 North Dakota lignite represents one of 
 the early stages in the transformation of 
 vegetable matter into coal. The products 
 of the various stages now recognized are 
 
 (1) wood, (2) peat, (3) lignite, (4) sub- 
 
 bituminous coal, (5) bituminous coal, (6) 
 semibituminous coal, (7) semianthracite, 
 and (8) anthracite. Much of the lignite is 
 woody, and frequently logs and stumps 
 are found in the mines. 
 brown, and the woody parts will bend 
 without breaking. The lgnite of this 
 State, as it comes from the mine, carries 
 about 40 per cent of water. It will 
 
 It is generally 
 
 readily dry down to 8 or 10 per cent if 
 stored in a dry place with good ventila-— 
 
 tion, but in so doing it shrinks and falls to 
 pieces. This falling to pieces is generally 
 
 A 
 
 ‘ee 
 , 
 A 
 
: SHEET No. 7 
 
 100*%30' NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 
 
 ATION 
 te materials 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 ial drift _ Quaternary 
 
 ne there are scattered remnants of 
 jin) ice sheet covered this area 
 
 ng rocks 
 
 / Thickness 
 
 in feet « 
 
 on formation) 200 Tertiary 
 Fee formation) ov Tertiary (2) 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 | 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 «aft 
 
 E Bike 
 
 ial s 
 
 mg 
 Sheet No.6 
 
 
 
 5 YD | \ Aj "7 
 > Gs = LINE ~ ~ \ Po 
 So wgea re 
 
 xX 
 | aa > oJ 
 ice. 5 wer per DL. SDG*2000 [tion f 
 X 
 
 ) Oo 
 to 1 inch 
 1§ 20Miles 
 20 25 30Kilometers 
 0 feet 
 
 EAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 re shown every 10 miles 
 spaced | mile apart 
 
 8 
 
 10 0°30’ 
 
 ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED SY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 , lower Jeft corner is mapped in detail on the U.S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. ' 
 
 
 
 BULLETIN 611 tase | eg 7 : SHEET No. 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 100%30' NORTH DAKOTA 
 EXPLANATION 
 Loose surface materials 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 B Sand dunes 
 C Glacial drift (Wisconsin stage) ; ; Quaternary 
 D Outwash from the Altamont moraine and older glacial drift 
 Throughout the region west of the Altamont moraine there are scattered remnants of 
 glacial drift, indicating that an earlier (pre-Wisconsin) ice sheet covered this area 
 Underlying rock 
 i te : Thickness 
 E Sandstone and shale with beds of lignite (Fort Union formation) 200 Tertiary 
 F Sandstone and shale (Cannonball marine member of Lance formation) 300 Tertiary (7) 
 G Sandstone and shale (lower part of Lance formation) 450 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 47 
 ae % “< 
 ok : > E XS 0° 
 tu ENS. 
 S SUN 
 2 ad og 
 * © ( 4 SW f és 
 fl S VQ Cre © 
 : = \ SiO 0 SS g 
 13 we ; 
 < \s \ vo 
 1 Se ir ven a 
 \ 
 \ ies 
 ee 6 A ie 5 
 Me Sac oy eT AN AROK 6“ wee 420 Sterling ieee 
 = » Rte, E28 : pe AOS 4 ea oe | eels tee aie 
 a\ } fyem he Oraine © 
 / ) . 
 tae esi _ drift 
 ikem 3 
 Ses 
 SA D 
 a Sd 
 eZ, (ees i a of 
 : N { : <3 6 
 SS — ~ ~ yl 
 Ore. “ty % Vv, 
 = SA = : ~ od 
 XS - On B L 
 >) 
 ae 
 u % 
 4 es oO 
 Scale 500,006 
 Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 
 } 5 10 i] 20Miles 
 io 5 10 1S 20 fds 30Kilometers 
 \) Contour interval 200 feet 
 (© ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 19 ‘ih The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 ss 2 i SE EES 46° 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED SY THE U.S,GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 
 
 55 
 
 Some 10 years ago several lignite mines were in operation at Sims, 
 
 ‘but now all but one of these are closed and abandoned. 
 
 The bed of 
 
 henite mined here is 7 or 8 feet thick, and in drilling 
 
 Elevation 1,982 feet. 
 Population 86. 
 St. Paul 487 miles. 
 
 a Kies well for water four other Beds having thick: 
 nesses of about 5 feet each were found. Alsi drain 
 to the log of this well there is 29 feet of lignite 
 
 ! below the surface at Sims in beds thick aeaEN to 
 work, and the lowest is at a depth of 710 fect. 
 
 Below Sims the railway follows the small valley of Hailstorm Creek 
 
 and affords no general view of the country. Just east of Almont the 
 
 | Almont. 
 
 Elevation 1,933 feet. 
 | St. Paul 492 miles. 
 
 valley of Hailstorm Creek joins that of Muddy Creek, 
 which the railway, making a sharp turn to the right 
 ascends practically to its head. 
 
 ? 
 This valley shows 
 
 | excellent examples of stream meanders, the creek 
 ‘making great loops whose ends in places nearly connect. 
 
 
 
 ‘called slacking (from its likeness to the 
 slacking of lime, though lime slacks by 
 Baking up moisture and lignite by parting 
 /with it), and the process takes place 
 ‘rapidly where it is exposed to alternate 
 moisture and dryness. 
 
 Manifestly a fuel containing 40 per cent 
 of water can not be shipped any great dis- 
 tance, as the purchaser can not afford to 
 ey transportation charges on 80 much 
 ‘water. The lignite is also difficult to 
 1 andle on account of the slacking or 
 ‘breaking up, and when stored it is likely 
 to ignite spontaneously by its rapid com- 
 ‘bination with the oxygen of the atmos- 
 phere or of water. Altogether it is far 
 rom an ideal fuel, though very useful for 
 ‘domestic purposes in this treeless country. 
 Although lignite is a poor fuel for raising 
 steam, it is well adapted to making pro- 
 icer gas that can be used economically 
 in a gas engine for the production of 
 power, and probably in the future it will 
 : be utilized largely inthisway. The chief 
 ifficulty at present is that there is only a 
 ‘small demand in this thinly settled 
 country for power, and hence there would 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : ong-distance transmission lines the lig- 
 nite could be utilized for the production of 
 electric power at the mine and the current 
 
 
 
 at Dickinson and other towns in the State 
 for that purpose. 
 
 Lignite occurs most abundantly in the 
 Fort Union formation (the lowest forma- 
 tion in the Eocene series of the Tertiary 
 system), which underlies almost all the 
 western part of North Dakota. It is esti- 
 mated that the State contains the enor- 
 mous amount of 697,000,000,000 short 
 tons of lignite in beds over 3 feet thick 
 and within 1,000 feet of the surface, and 
 it seems probable that there is workable 
 lignite within this limit under every 
 section of the land in the western part of 
 the State. It is difficult to form an idea 
 of a mass containing even 1,000,000 tons, 
 and hence the figures given above are 
 practically impossible of comprehension, 
 but if the amount is put in the formofa 
 cube a better conception of its magnitude 
 may be obtained. The lignite of the 
 State, if gathered into one mass in 
 the compact form in which it lies in the 
 eround, would make a cube 5 miles long, 
 5 miles broad, and 5 miles high. Sucha 
 cube would cover nearly a township of 
 land and would be almost as high as the 
 highest mountain on the globe. 
 
 The lignite, although of poor quality 
 and at present used only in a smal way, 
 constitutes a vast fuel resource which will 
 in time become of great value, not only 
 to the individual citizens of the State 
 but to the corporations that are seeking 
 power for use in manufacturing or in 
 transportation. 
 
56 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 About 11 miles from Almont, at milepost 51, there are on the right 
 (north) about a mile distant many knobs and spurs having a bright- 
 red color. When examined closely the color is seen to run in more or 
 less regular horizontal bands, like the rock, but it is not continuous, 
 and in places it affects the whole hillside. This color is due to the 
 burning of beds of lignite, which has baked and reddened the origi- 
 nally dark strata on either side, as clays originally brown or gray in 
 color turn red when burned into brick.! 
 
 The success of dry farming has led to the settlement of almost all 
 of western North Dakota, and towns have sprung up along the rail- 
 
 roads like magic. Glenullen is one of the newer 
 
 Glenullen. towns, and from its general appearance it is evident 
 Elevation 2,090 feet. that in this region dry farming is a success. Although 
 Population 921. 
 
 grassy slopes or fields of grain predominate in this 
 part of the State, the appearance at intervals of bare 
 knobs or buttes indicates that everywhere under the surface are the 
 same lignite-bearing rocks that were seen farther east, those of the 
 Fort Union formation. These rocks, when searched carefully, are 
 found to contain many impressions of fossil leaves which show that 
 the sands and muds, now hardened to rock, were laid down in shallow 
 water near a land surfacesupon which trees and smaller plants grew in 
 abundance. Where the land was swampy the vegetation was cov- 
 ered as it fell and in time was changed into lignite. In this part of 
 
 St. Paul 509 miles. 
 
 the country the lignite is generally concealed by the grassy slopes, 
 
 1 All through the lignite region and the 
 fields of low-grade coal of the Rocky 
 Mountains and Great Plains the coal 
 beds have burned extensively along their 
 outcrops, the resulting red color giving a 
 touch of brightness to some otherwise dull 
 and monotonous landscapes. In some 
 places the burning has been just sufficient 
 to color the shale and sandstone to a bright 
 red, but in others, where the lignite bed 
 is thicker or where more than one bed has 
 burned, the heat has been so intense that 
 the rocks have been melted into a sort of 
 slag or scoria, good examples of which will 
 be seen farther west. When a thick bed 
 of coal or lignite burns, the overlying 
 material settles, and frequently great 
 cracks are formed, out of which issue 
 smoke and steam from the burning lignite 
 below. An example of such cracking is 
 shown in Plate IV, B (p. 52). 
 
 As the lignite retains much of its orig- 
 inal woody character it ignites readily 
 
 when dry, and the fires may have begun 
 in any one of several ways. For instance, 
 they may have been started by prairie 
 fires, by lightning, by camp fires, or even 
 by alternate wetting and drying, which 
 causes very rapid oxidation and a conse- 
 quent rise in temperature. The last sug- 
 gestion may appear improbable, but the 
 writer has seen a large pile of low-grade 
 coal take fire after a rain and be entirely 
 consumed. The burning of a dump of 
 waste material is a common experience 
 at many mines, and rarely is the fire 
 started by man. Once started, the burn- 
 ing of a coal bed will continue as long as 
 air is available. Near the outcrop the 
 coal burns readily, but back under cover 
 the amount of air is not sufficient for com- 
 bustion and the fire dies out. Many coal 
 and lignite beds are burning to-day, and 
 it is possible that one may be seen in the 
 badlands called Pyramid Park, farther 
 west, near Sully Springs, N. Dak. 
 
57 
 
 but farther west many beds are exposed in the hillsides. The fossil 
 plants of the Fort Union formation indicate very different conditions 
 during the Eocene epoch from those which prevail to-day. <A brief 
 sketch of the flora, together with an interpretation of its meaning, is 
 given below by F. H. Knowlton.' 
 
 The railway gradually ascends the valley of Muddy Creek, and if 
 the traveler is not looking carefully he will cross the divide and 
 enter the valley of Knife River without being aware that he has 
 passed out of the valley in which he has been traveling from Almont. 
 As a matter of fact the two valleys are continuous, and it seems 
 probable that originally the drainage from the vicinity of the summit 
 at Antelope came into Muddy Creck, but that some change has 
 occurred by which the drainage about Hebron has been turned north- 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 ward into Knife River. 
 
 1 As the traveler rides mile after mile 
 over the almost barren plains of Dakota 
 and eastern Montana and sees them shim- 
 mering in the heat of midsummer, with 
 only an occasional cottonwood or box 
 elder along the streams or sprawling, 
 stunted junipers on the rocky slopes to 
 relieve the monotony, he finds it difficult 
 indeed to realize that this country once 
 supported a vegetation as luxuriant and 
 varied as that now growing in any of the 
 Southern States. However, it will re- 
 quire only a brief examination of the 
 rocks to convince him of the truth of this 
 statement, as they contain in many places 
 the remains of vast numbers of branches, 
 leaves, fruits, and even a flower here and 
 there. Fossil remains have aptly been 
 called the illustrations in the world’s his- 
 tory, of which the pages are the layers of 
 rock forming the outer part of the crust of 
 the earth. It is the purpose now to look 
 at a few of these illustrations and by this 
 means restore in imagination the ancient 
 vegetation. 
 
 Fossil plants are very abundant in the 
 Fort Union formation and are found in the 
 sandstone, in the harder concretions or 
 Jenses, and in the clay between the sand- 
 stone beds. Most of them, especially 
 those in clay, are preserved with remark- 
 able fidelity. About 300 species have 
 been described, and it is probable that 
 the total number may be found to reach 
 500 or more species. 
 
 The details of this change have not been 
 
 Beginning with the plants of the most 
 simple structure, we may first consider 
 the ferns. One of the most abundant and 
 widespread forms, having been found at 
 hundreds of localities, is the beautiful 
 sensitive fern Onoclea. This can not be 
 distinguished from the living species, 
 which now grows so widely over eastern 
 North America. There is also a chain 
 fern (Woodwardia) very closely resem- 
 bling a living species, and numbers of 
 others that are more or less closely related 
 to forms now growing in the Eastern 
 States. 
 
 The conifers, though not numerous in 
 species, were very abundant and were of 
 the types that must have been of rather 
 imposing appearance. The most abun- 
 dant form is a redwood (Sequoia) that is 
 very closely related to the redwood which 
 is now confined to the coast regions of 
 California. There was also another 
 Sequoia nearly related to the big trees of 
 California, but it was not so abundant as 
 the other form. With these was a cypress 
 (Taxodium) that must have been much 
 more beautiful than the common cypress 
 of our southern swamps. There was also 
 acedar(Thuya),with delicate juniper-like 
 foliage, that must have been very numer- 
 ous, as its fossil remains are widespread in 
 the Fort Union formation. In strange 
 contrast to these conifers is what appears 
 to have been the immediate ancestor of 
 the celebrated ginkgo, or maiden-hair tree 
 
58 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 worked out, but it was doubtless caused by glaciers which crossed 
 Missouri River and extended to the southwest as far as this valley, 
 damming the streams and compelling them to find new outlets. 
 Hebron, one of the new towns of western North Dakota, is the 
 center of a prosperous agricultural district and is noted for the 
 manufacture of fire and pressed brick, the clay for 
 which is derived from the Fort Union formation. 
 The bed of clay utilized is at least 50 feet thick. 
 Beyond Hebron the railway follows the broad, open 
 valley of Knife River to its head, where there is a 
 steep climb to the summit of the dividing ridge between that stream 
 and Heart River on the southwest. The highest 
 point is reached a short distance beyond Antelope, 
 where a good view can be obtained of the upland 
 surface of this part of North Dakota. The surface 
 is gently undulating, but here and there on the principal divides 
 there is a high knob that has not been reduced by erosion to the 
 general level. The sides of these knobs are generally bare, and they 
 have been sculptured by the rain, the frost, and the wind into most 
 
 Hebron. 
 
 Elevation 2,180 feet. 
 Population 597. 
 St. Paul 522 miles. 
 
 Antelope. 
 
 Elevation 2,435 feet. 
 St. Paul 531 miles. 
 
 beautiful and intricate forms. 
 
 (See Pl. V, p. 53.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 of Chinaand Japan. The ginkgo has had 
 in many ways a more wonderful geologic 
 history than any other tree now living, as 
 it has come down to us practically un- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 6.—Ginkgo leaf. 
 
 changed from earliest Mesozoic time. It 
 apparently saw its heyday during what is 
 known as the Jurassic period (see table on 
 p. 2), when it was widely spread from the 
 
 Arctic regions over most of the globe, but 
 since that time it has been gradually 
 dwindling until it is now represented bya 
 single living species in Japan and China, 
 It is regarded as a sacred tree in the Far 
 East and as such is planted about the tem- 
 ples and sanctuaries, but there is great 
 doubt as to its existence in a truly wild 
 state. It is not likely to become extinct, 
 however, for its fascinating history and 
 curious fernlike foliage (see fig. 6) have 
 made it of so great interest that it has been 
 extensively planted in many parts of the 
 world, notably southern Europe and east- 
 ern United States. It is a familiar shade 
 tree on the streets of Washington, D.C. 
 Among the so-called higher flowering 
 plants there were many grass and sedge- 
 like plants during Fort Union time, but 
 none that were very conspicuous or other- 
 wise remarkable. Other monocotyledon- 
 ous plants included a fan palm with leaves 
 that must have been 5 or 6 feet across, 
 which once grew along the lower reaches 
 of Yellowstone River in Montana, as 
 shown on Plate XI, B (p. 75). ; 
 The plants with deciduous leaves (dico- 
 tyledons) flourished in great numbers in 
 Fort Union time, as they do now. They 
 
 é 
 
Richardton. 
 
 Elevation 2,487 feet. 
 Population 647. 
 St. Paul 536 miles. 
 
 of a large town. 
 
 
 
 Gladstone. 
 
 Elevation 2,373 feet. 
 St. Paul 550 miles. 
 
 Lehigh. 
 
 Elevation 2,372 feet. 
 3t. Paul 556 miles. 
 
 
 
 included trees of many kinds, shrubs, 
 vines, and probably herbs of more humble 
 mowth. Among the trees one of the most 
 tbundant types as regards kinds as well 
 is individuals was the poplar (Populus). 
 These were of an ancient type, with small 
 ‘ounded or heart-shaped leaves, and were 
 nost closely related to the living quaking 
 ispen. Of the willow several species are 
 mown. Oaks of several kinds were pres- 
 mt, as well as two species of hazelnut, 
 »oth of which are still living in the eastern 
 United States and Canada. Walnut, 
 lied to our common black walnut, was 
 wresent, together with sycamores so like 
 he living species as to be separated with 
 lifficulty. Figs were present, though not 
 jonumerous in North Dakota as they were 
 a other areas where the same formation 
 orevails, notably in Colorado. There 
 vere tino elms, maples, birches, alders, 
 logwoods, hickories, box elders, buck- 
 horns, viburnums, wax berries, witch- 
 iazels, horse-chestnuts, bittersweets, and 
 many that are without common names. 
 
 _ From this abundant flora it is evident 
 hat what is now an almost treeless plain 
 was then covered with splendid forests of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 o9 
 
 _ West of the summit the surface descends to Richardton, the largest 
 town between Mandan and Dickinson. 
 a result of the success of dry farming. 
 tively situated on the rolling upland plateau of 
 western North Dakota and has abundant supplies 
 of clay and lignite ready to be utilized in the building 
 
 This town has grown up as 
 It is attrac- 
 
 | From Richardton the railway winds through a gently rolling 
 country and gradually descends to Heart Rivers which is reached 
 at the village of Gladstone. 
 the same ete that it left a few miles west of Man- 
 dan, but the climb out of the valley and the descent 
 | bent in again saved the railway several miles of 
 track, although it involves some rather heavy grades. 
 
 The valley ‘of Heart River is comparatively narrow and is bounded 
 by steep bluffs in which the rocks of the Fort Union formation are 
 well exposed. At the little village of Lehigh (see 
 sheet 9, p. 64) a lignite mine has been in operation 
 for a number of years. The bed of lignite, which is 
 from 6 to 7 feet thick, les horizontal and is reached 
 
 Hers the railway is in 
 
 hardwoods, interspersed with scattered 
 conifers and ginkgos. From the presence 
 of numerous and in many places thick 
 beds of lignite it is clear that there were 
 
 great swamps, and that these must have 
 
 continued with but little change for long 
 periods of time. It has been estimated 
 that the product of heavily timbered 
 woodland, when compressed to the spe- 
 cific gravity of coal, would only amount to 
 about one-fourth of an inch in thickness 
 during a century. If this statement is 
 even approximately correct, it is easy to 
 calculate that a 4-foot bed of coal must 
 have required about 20,000 years for its 
 accumulation. 
 
 Except for the presence of palms and an 
 occasional fig, it might be presumed that 
 the climate was not greatly different from 
 that now prevailing on the Atlantic slope 
 of North America—that is, cool temper- 
 ate. The palms which are found in the 
 lower part of the formation imply, so far 
 as the present distribution of palms indi- 
 cates, a somewhat warmer climate, just 
 as the numerous thick beds of lignite 
 throughout the formation imply long- 
 continued marsh conditions. 
 
60 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 by an entry driven into the hillside. The workings extend 2,000 
 feet or more into the hill, and the lignite is brought to the tipple in 
 cars hauled by horses.t 
 
 A few miles west of Lehigh is Dickinson, a district terminal and a 
 thriving town in the midst of an extensive district of dry farms, 
 This place was named for W. S. Dickinson, of Malone, 
 N. Y., a former State senator and an enthusiastic 
 advocate of the value of the country west of Missouri 
 River. The clay beds worked near Hebron are well 
 developed along the valley of Heart River in the 
 vicinity of Dickinson and are extensively worked a mile south of the 
 town. The clay from this pit is manufactured into dry-press brick 
 and fire brick near the railway just east of the town. 
 
 The valley of Heart River is broad and shallow, and few exposures 
 of rocks are to be seen in it, but here and there the bare side of a butte 
 or a freshly cut ravine shows the yellowish sandstone or a bed of 
 lignite of the Fort Union formation. 
 
 The climate of the region about South Heart is marked by great 
 extremes in temperature, the mercury ranging from 30° or 40° below 
 zero in the winter to 100° or more in the summer, but 
 these extremes are not so trying as they would be in 
 a more humid climate. The total precipitation for 
 the year in the part of this region west of Missouri 
 River is about 14 inches, but nearly half of this falls in the winter, 
 leaving only 8 or 10 inches for the growing season. Formerly this 
 amount of rain was considered entirely inadequate for agriculture, 
 but in the last five or six years it has been demonstrated that good 
 crops of grain can be obtained here about three years out of four, 
 if the ground is properly treated. This discovery has changed the 
 activities of the country from stock raismg on the open range to the 
 cultivation of grain and the consequent fencing of the country into 
 160-acre or 320-acre tracts. 
 
 Dickinson. 
 
 Elevation 2,430 feet. 
 Population 3,678. 
 St. Paul 561 miles. 
 
 South Heart. 
 
 Elevation 2,499 feet. 
 St. Paul 571 miles. 
 
 heat required to raise 1 pound of water 
 1° F., or it may be considered as the ratio 
 
 1 The lignite as it comes from the mine 
 contains about 42 per cent of moisture, 
 
 but on drying parts with most of it, the 
 percentage being reduced to about 10. 
 The composition of an average sample of 
 this lignite after it had been dried at a 
 temperature of 86° to 95° F. until the 
 sample attained a constant weight is as 
 follows: Moisture, 9.1 per cent; volatile 
 matter, 38.2 per cent; fixed carbon, 42.1 
 per cent; ash, 10.6 per cent. Its heating 
 value is 9,640 British thermal units. <A 
 British thermal unit is the amount of 
 
 of weight of coal burned to the weight of 
 water that will be raised 1° by the burning 
 of the coal. Thus the burning of 1 pound 
 of air-dried Lehigh lignite would raise the | 
 temperature of 9,640 pounds of water 1°. 
 
 Coals range in their heating value from. 
 the amount given in this analysis, which | 
 is about the lowest, to as much as 15,500. 
 British thermal units, a value shown by | 
 the best Pocahontas and New River coals | 
 of West Virginia. 
 
 
 
SHEET No. 8 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 Loose surface materials 
 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 North of the railway there are scattered rem- 
 nants of drift, indicating that a pre-Wisconsin Quaternary 
 ice sheet extended toward the southwest at least 
 as far as Almont, Glenullen and Hebron 
 
 Underlying rocks 
 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 B Sandsione and shale, with beds of 
 lignite (Fort Union formation) 500 Tertiary 
 C Sandstone and shale (Cannonball 
 marine member of Lance formstion) 300 Tertiary (7?) 
 
 i 
 4 
 \ 
 
 l 
 
 ‘, 
 S 
 
 Ss. 
 
 Sheet Vo.7 
 
 aie meas 
 
 Jeag “eths 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 . GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 O02 %30' ee Se 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet V0.9 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pa ey Se 
 102°30 
 
 
 
 SHEET No. 8 
 
 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 
 
 Loose surface materials 
 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 North of the railway there are scattered rem- 
 nants of drift, indicating that a pre-Wisconsin Quaternary 
 ice sheet extended toward the southwest at least : 
 as far as Almont, Glenullen and Hebron J 
 
 
 
 
 Underlying rocks 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thickness 
 = in feet 
 >. B Sandstone and shale, with beds of : 
 lignite (Fort Union formation) 500 Tertiary 
 C Sandstone and shale (Cannonball : 3 
 marine member of Lance formstion) 300 Tertiary (7) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 } a 
 ( : yaw 
 7 & S U N 
 ee ) / rai S 
 ae ne aoe §} ( \ a he a tof } \ N Fort “Union Ss: ormation B 3 
 =~ s=“Oladsto : ys ({ ees AL t s ; ) : 
 23 rea os as \ r eee AN | t Ni ese ade. e 
 \ my : \ \ fe: : : 
 oe Sane >) \ ny 3 } iy B 480 
 f Soa rt f \ : 
 ay a of Se = { \ lg Blue Grass 
 va i a ( - i Ren 5 5 
 ) \ Be): LES SS Fi aS j 
 en, F / = - \ AG ey WY OSA L978 REL. 
 parie= hee — \ - Fort Unidn formation ‘B o <A io FAX 
 bn ac } —— J : : ; 4“; 3 
 4 ss * Pe / ee 
 \ \ \ 
 ——— me ty / oY, > a 
 , Sta ee 8 ae 2 } 
 wer, : “ ‘ 
 = \ 
 & \ 
 At a \ 
 ae | es 
 1 e 
 Scaie 500,000 Ay ‘ 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch ‘ tv frer \ 
 12 5 10 1S 20Miles | “7 fa ih oe Oe ) 
 » < } 
 ' ; > , 
 1 Oo 5 10 5 20 25 30Kilometers 5 ate 
 Mista nertrane eect ca laeed-orernlnentonadirctnendeeoirsttenacnaentonediscatindnantceedorrmestectaect-rrheo Seurbial CAR” 1S VOUS NVfrn mn 
 Contour interval 200 feet Wf 
 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 [oy = ate 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED By THE U.S.GEOQLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 61 
 
 The railway rises steadily up the regular slope by Belfield to the 
 divide between Knife River and Little Missouri River. The valley 
 . of the Little Missouri is noted for its scenery, but it is 
 Belfield. ) 
 of even greater interest on account of some of the 
 rte tie Rie euiched people who inhabited it in the days of 
 the open range, when the ‘‘cow puncher” was in his 
 glory. Col. Theodore Roosevelt resided for a number of years on a 
 ranch in this valley about 20 miles south of the railway, and here he 
 acquired that knowledge of and sympathy for the free life of the 
 plains that has so endeared him to the western people. 
 Fryburg is situated on the summit between the drainage basins of 
 Knife River and Little Missouri River. The descent to the Little 
 Missouri is made through amaze of badland forms that 
 Fryburg. stand out in striking contrast to the gentle rolling 
 _ Elevation 2,790 feet. surface of the upland east of the divide. Little Mis- 
 Population, 288*, 2 : ° 
 "St. Paul 587 miles. | Souri River has cut its valley about 500 feet deep, and 
 : all its tributaries have made similar sharp cuts in the 
 ‘upland, so that the main stream is bordered by a belt of rough coun- 
 ‘try from 10 to 15 miles in width. As the early French explorers and 
 | traders had oui in crossing these belts they called them ‘‘mauvais 
 terres a traverser”’ or bad lands to cross. From this has come the 
 common appellation ‘‘badlands.”’ 
 _ The change from the grassy upland east of Fryburg to the badlands 
 ‘of Pyramid Park on Sully Creek is very abrupt, and the traveler is 
 likely to be bewildered by the seemingly endless 
 | Sully Springs. variety of form, arrangement, and color. There is 
 1 ie gaarinaal an apparent tack of plan in the arrangement of the 
 : forms, as if some giant hand had fashioned these mon- 
 “uments and then strewn them about without plan or purpose. Views 
 ‘of the badlands are shown in Plates VI-IX. The natural color is a 
 somber gray, but this is enlivened by bands and splotches of red where 
 ‘beds of lignite have burned. In some places, as at Scoria siding, the 
 ene has been so intense that all the rocks are deep red and huge 
 blocks of half-fused material are abundant. From the evidence on 
 “every side one might imagine that at some previous time this place 
 had been an inferno rivaling that of Dante’s most vivid imagination, 
 but it is probable that the burning took place so slowly that the gen- 
 | eral temperature was no greater than it is to- Hay It is reported that 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
62 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 In the badlands many beds of lignite can be seen outcropping as 
 black bands along the faces of the buttes and ‘‘temples,’’ and petrified 
 stumps and logs are especially abundant about Sully Springs and neai 
 the lower end of the valley. (See Pl. VI, A.) The reason why some 
 of the stumps and logs are petrified is that when the trees fell they 
 were covered by mud before they could decay and for ages were soakec 
 with water charged with silica. This silica replaced the vegetable 
 tissues, preserving even the most minute structures of the plants, sc 
 that it is possible to tell to what kind of tree the wood belonged. Th 
 petrified logs give a good idea of the size of the trees composing the 
 forests of that day. 
 
 The village of Medora is situated on Little Missouri River at th 
 point where it is crossed by the Northern Pacific Railway. The rive 
 
 flows here in a deep, rugged canyon, which seems t¢ 
 Medora. be about the last place in which to establish a settle 
 eee ment. The village was founded in the early eighties 
 
 ‘by the Marquis De Mores, who named it after his wife 
 On an eminence on the west bank of the river he built a ‘‘chateau,’ 
 which can be seen on the left (south) from the passing train. Thi 
 marquis evidently expected that Medora would become a busy center 
 for he built a large packing house, the remains of which can be seen ot 
 the right. He left the country and met a tragic death a few years agi 
 in the Far East. 
 
 There are two prominent beds of lignite in the bluff at Medora, on 
 40 feet above river level and the other 30 feet higher. The upper bec 
 is 4 feet 6 inches thick and the lower one 9 feet 4 inches, with 3 inche 
 of clay near the bottom. 
 
 After crossing the river the road follows Andrews Creek and climb: 
 to the upland in about 16 miles. For most of this distance the rock 
 of the Fort Union formation are well exposed, and near the river ther 
 are exposed the same thick beds of lignite that were seen at Medora 
 (See Pl. VII, B.) | 
 
 
 
 1 The log of a deep well at Medora, sunk | always careful to distinguish dark shal 
 by the railway company for water, records | from lignite. As reported in this log 
 the occurrence of a lignite bed 23 feet | there is altogether 29 feet of lignite in bed 
 thick at a depth of 120 feet. Although | 3 feet or more thick. aS 
 beds of lignite from 8 to 9 feet thick are The lignite here has been mined onl) 
 known farther up the river at nearly the | for local use, but when improved method 
 same depth and may extend under the | for the utilization of this kind of fuel hay. 
 town, too much confidence should not be | been devised, the canyon of Little Mis: 
 placed on the thickness given in the log | souri River will offer exceptional oppor 
 of the Medora well, as drillers are not | tunities for cheap mining on a large scale. 
 
 a 
 Be 
 ae | 
 
 + 
 
 wa ” 
 
 
 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 BULLETIN 611 PLATE Vi 
 
 
 
 | A, SILICIFIED STUMP IN PYRAMID PARK, N. DAK. 
 
 | A remnant of one of the big trees of the Fort Union forest, now a mass of stone resting on a pedestal cf soft 
 : clay. Photograph by Haynes, St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 
 
 TT — De IT 
 
 
 
 ) B. THE ‘*PROW OF THE BATTLESHIP,” ONE OF THE BUTTES OF PYRAMID PARK, N. DAK. 
 
 | Note the concretions which weather out of the sandstone and cover the ground long after the main mass has 
 been removed, Photograph by Haynes, St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 
 
 
 
U. 
 
 S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE VII 
 
 
 
 A. VIEW OF THE BADLANDS OF NORTH DAKOTA. 
 
 Away from the main stream the small side branches and headwater streams are just beginning to cut into the 
 level upland. The wealth of detail in such natural sculpture is beyond description. 
 
 
 
 B. A BED OF LIGNITE 15 FEET THICK IN THE CANYON OF LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER, N. DAK. 
 
 Some of the beds are as much as 35 feet thick. 
 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE VIII 
 
 
 
 Be 
 
 VIEWS OF THE BADLANDS OF NORTH DAKOTA. 
 
 As shown in the upper view, fantastic shapes abound in every valley and ravine. In places flying buttresses 
 support the slender columns and gargoyles may be seen projecting from beneath the roof. Even with the 
 scanty rainfall of this region, every stream has carved for itself a channel—great ones for the large streams and 
 small, almost infinitesimal ones for the tiny rivulets that trickle down the slope—as shown in the lower view. 
 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE IX 
 
 
 
 VIEWS OF THE BADLANDS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MONTANA. ‘ 
 
 Towers and pinnacles abound on every side. These are the remnants of hills or buttes or of a ledge of 
 sandstone that now remains only as protecting caps to the columns of softer material beneath. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 63 
 
 Near milepost 160 (Demores station) a flat-topped butte can be seen 
 on the left (south) that stands far above most of the other surface 
 features. This is known as Square Butte. An irreg- 
 Sentinel Butte. = ular, two-crested butte, which is about as high as 
 ee Square Butte and visible on the right (north), is called 
 Camels Hump. The most prominent and best known 
 of the high knobs in this vicinity is Sentinel Butte, which has an 
 altitude of 3,350 feet, or 620 feet above the town of the same name, 
 and is the highest point of land in North Dakota. These buttes 
 ‘are composed mainly of the Fort, Union formation, but they are 
 “capped by a thin bed of shale that is supposed to belong to the 
 White River formation, of Oligocene age. The land about the base 
 ‘of Sentinel Butte was a few years ago only a sagebrush plain, but is 
 “now divided into farms that in appearance resemble those of the 
 older farming regions farther east. 
 Beach (see sheet 10, p. 68) is one of the towns that have recently 
 | grown up as a result of the successful farming of this 
 Beach, N. Dak. . . : 
 oe West of Beach the railway crosses the State 
 | Population 1,003. line into Montana, a little west of milepost 176. The 
 _ St. Paul 626 miles’ = position of the State line is indicated by a sign on 
 the left of the track. 
 
 The State of Montana has an area of 146,572 square miles, or a little 
 ‘more than that of the States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 
 Pennsylvania, and Ohio. It was admitted to the 
 
 Montana. Union in 1889 and according to the census of 1910 had 
 a population of 376,053. Montana has long been 
 
 known as a metal-producing State, and many have thought of it as 
 being entirely mountainous and as suited only for mining. As a 
 matter of fact, the western half alone is mountainous; the eastern 
 half, an area nearly as large as North Dakota, is in the Great Plains. 
 Although placer gold was discovered in Montana in 1852, 1t was not 
 until 10 or 12 years had elapsed that the ‘‘gold rush” began and the 
 outside world was made acquainted with the wondrous wealth of its 
 mountain gravel. Many persons starting for the new gold diggings 
 stopped in the more promising valleys, such as the Gallatin and the 
 Bitterroot, and farming began almost as soon as the panning of gold. 
 ‘The mining industry of the State has passed through a number of 
 changes from placer mining to lode mining of gold and silver and, 
 finally, of copper as the leading metal. Before the development of the 
 ‘great copper mines at Butte, Michigan was the leading State in the 
 production of copper, but it soon gave place to Montana, which for a 
 ‘number of years stood at the head. Recently Arizona has forged to 
 the front and Montana has dropped to second place in the rank of 
 copper producers. Despite the fact that Montana ranks second in 
 
64 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 the amount of copper produced annually, it still is first in the total 
 amount produced. The total for the three leading States up to the 
 close of 1913 is as follows: Montana, 3,214,775 tons; Michigan, 
 2,759,721 tons; Arizona, 2,324,719 tons. 
 
 At first agriculture flourished only in the mountain valleys, where 
 there was protection from the frost and the wind, and the plains 
 portion of the State was devoted to the grazing of stock. Immense 
 herds of cattle roamed the plains, and for a number of years Montana 
 held first place in the number of sheep and the value of the wool 
 shipped out of the State. Irrigation was finally undertaken in many 
 of the valleys, and large crops of wheat, oats, alfalfa, and sugar beets 
 are now being raised. The most recent change has been the influx 
 of the dry-land farmer and the taking up and fencing of most of the 
 land in the eastern and central parts of the State. This has mate- 
 rially decreased the number of live stock, and in the sheep industry 
 Montana has dropped to second place, Wyoming taking the lead. 
 Dry farming has not been universally successful, but sufficient has 
 been accomplished to demonstrate that it is feasible when rightly 
 carried on and with sufficient capital to enable the farmer to tide 
 over years of drought and crop failure. The most important crop 
 in the State is forage, amounting in 1909 to over $12,000,000. 
 
 Probably few persons realize that the value of manufactured articles 
 in Montana exceeds that of the output of the mines, but such is the 
 case. The smelting and refining of copper are the leading industries, 
 but the value of the manufactured product is not given in the census 
 reports. It is, however, roughly the same as the output of the mines, 
 Aside from the manufacture of copper, the leading manufacturing 
 industry is that of lumber and timber, which in 1909 amounted to 
 over $6,000,000. The values of the products of the State, exclusive 
 of the copper smelted and refined, are about as follows: Manufactur- 
 ing (1909), $73,000,000; mining (1913), $69,000,000; agriculture, 
 (1909), $63,000,000. 
 
 The country continues to be rolling to the valley of Beaver Creek, 
 
 a tributary of Little Missouri River, on which is situated the town of 
 
 Wibaux (we’bo), in the midst of an excellent farming 
 
 Wibaux, Mont. district. Four miles west of Wibaux the railway 
 
 eee ie feet. CT OSSeS the summit between the drainage basin of 
 
 St.Paul 636 miles, Little Missouri River on the east and that of Yellow- 
 
 stone River on the west, and then begins a long de- 
 
 scent down Glendive Creek to the Yellowstone. This valley was a 
 
 famous hunting ground in early days, and the name Glendive was 
 
 applied to it by Sir George Gore, an Irish nobleman, who hunted 
 buffalo here in the winter of 1855-56. 
 
SHEET No. 9 
 _ NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 40 Oligocene) 
 
 of Tertiary 
 850 Eocene J 
 
 10N 
 
 \ B®, 
 \ Fa 
 
 NVMA, Fe, AS: 
 ae ANS Oey 
 
 \ 
 Pints ) 
 / ; 
 ~ WN ) “? 
 hs UA 
 . 
 
 A 
 
 formation 
 
 9 
 = 
 Ww 
 uv 
 oe 
 Ce 
 H 
 
 s to | inch 
 15 20Miles 
 
 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 00 feet 
 
 EAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 are shown every 10 miles 
 
 spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
BULLETIN 611 SHEET No, 9 
 
 
 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA 
 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ee 
 GEOLOGIC: AND ee ete MAP © A Shale.(White River formation) : 40 coe , 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE Cee ic 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington : | 
 : 
 
 
 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 _ information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 
 Pa 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 a > “T GT 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR’ “Be, : ee” oe q \ 
 , : f ; : i IsHum : t aes 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer Ka He i will & A ae 4 ara \ 
 Font Unies Uh Sis vee ey ee: AG 
 1915 Ais ey 7 Seen 
 2 Reena t Fort ‘tion formation Bé§ 
 4 ° oS] \ at I~. S 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 9 ¥/ R BS y 60 : G+, 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic = wi xd L 2 ‘q 2oe NS “O 
 S 3! Ko" ras en9g0 9 
 Sheet of that name. > =i = e ae ss OY > 
 + ~i\ 4 in “A & . S\ 
 al en Ss 998, ), ig at bs SA Lehigh : 
 Ny “FS Ne soy a Bre > SSOP TNT | 2 
 re a any, r Ve. a 
 9 Sul fSbrige \ pA D570 CMM eTand He# 2400) U} 
 EL. Aes , Bee ak es pe ae = | > fs P4s53 
 etal 3 i ee aS Y die 5 ¢ 8 
 Wess oo Bs = ¢ é 
 a SANA 2604 Ss 
 “Fer = Undo forfiati BR Ee 2400 
 eS inet Bee > ~- ay e=- 
 % > Coe. | 
 Oy f sf a ae e 
 ae —— ¥y E i~ 
 : | o 
 Q aa \ 
 i 
 NEE 
 | 
 ; | Scale 500,000 
 : Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 1 5 10 15 20Miles 
 10 3 10 IS 20 25 30Kilometers 
 bt need etal edncahen tenet dented rennet denheentne tome od 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
 | | The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 1 | 
 30 
 | 
 ee 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTEU BY THE U.S-GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
: THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 65 
 
 | The rocks, which to the eye appear to be horizontal, in reality rise 
 
 steadily toward the southwest as part of a broad and gently curved 
 
 -arch in the strata, more fully described on page 68. The rise of 
 
 : the rocks in this direction brings to the surface those crossed in the 
 
 | badlands east of Medora and others that lie below the level of Little 
 
 “Missouri River at that place, but the country is so generally grass 
 covered that the traveler can not see them all. 
 
 At Hodges there is a bed of lignite which is supposed to mark the 
 base of the Fort Union formation, and may be the same as the bed 
 ) reported to be 23 feet thick under Medora. The rocks below this 
 bed, which are scarcely distinguishable from the rocks above, belong 
 | to the Lance formation, in which the valley of Glendive Creek is cut 
 from Hodges to Yellowstone River. In most places the valley is 
 bounded by bare walls of somber-colored rocks and subdued bad- 
 lands, but they are neither so imposing nor so picturesque as those 
 of Pyramid Park. The Lance formation carries some beds of lignite, 
 but generally they are too thin to mine. 
 
 Below Allard the Lance formation constitutes the valley walls as 
 far as Yellowstone River. Along this part of the valley no two of the 
 topographic forms are the same, but there is a simi- 
 larity of type and color that soon becomes extremely 
 Elevation 2,269 feet. monotonous. There are, however, some well-defined 
 St. Paul 657 miles, : ‘ : 
 
 terraces which in a measure tend to relieve the dull- 
 hess of the landscape. The upper terrace probably records an epoch 
 when the stream was flowing at a higher level than it is to-day, these 
 terraces being remnants of the old valley floor. The lower terraces, 
 which are well developed near the river, may record flood stages of 
 the Yellowstone, when slack water from the river backed up into all 
 the tributary valleys and caused sand and mud to be deposited. 
 _ At milepost 213 the train swings out from the mouth of Glendive 
 Creek into the broad valley of the Yellowstone and in a few minutes 
 reaches Glendive, the end of the division, the county 
 Glendive. seat of Dawson County, and one of the largest towns 
 Elevation 2,091 feet. in eastern Montana. In building the main line of the 
 eae Northern Pacific Railway in 1879-80 this was the 
 most important town between Missouri River and 
 elena, for it was the point from which construction was carried on 
 in both directions. This was made possible by the transportation of 
 upplies from Bismarck by way of Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. 
 When through travel was established, however, Glendive lost most 
 of its importance, and for a long time its growth was slow, as the 
 country roundabout was but sparsely settled and its principal busi- 
 ness was that of a division terminal of the railroad. Recently, with 
 the impetus given to agriculture by the introduction of dry-farming 
  95558°—Bull. 611—15—-—5 
 
 Allard. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ¥. 
 
 1) ae We ; 
 seal nel ae Aa 
 
66 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 methods and with the completion of the Lower Yellowstone irriga- 
 tion project by the United States Reclamation Service,* settlers have 
 flocked in, and the country which 10 years ago was an open range is 
 now almost all cut up into small farms. This change has removed 
 from this region one of the picturesque types of western life—the 
 ‘‘cow-puncher” of the early days. The traveler may still see a few 
 poor imitations or caricatures, but the real article—the féarless, dare- 
 devil rider who was an equally fearless ‘‘ booze fighter” when he came 
 to town—is no more. The big herds are gone, and with them the 
 men who tended them. 
 
 At Glendive the railway route again touches the trail of Lewis and 
 Clark, for in their homeward, journey Capt. Clark with a small party 
 descended Yellowstone River.2 As nearly as can be determined, they 
 passed the site of Glendive on August 1, 1806. .¥§ 
 
 South of Glendive there can be seen on the left (east) badland 
 bluffs and on the right the muddy river, which, a short distance above 
 the town, is crossed by the new branch railway leading to Intake and 
 other towns established under the Lower Yellowstone irrigation project. 
 Still farther south the railway passes through deep cuts in massive 
 white sandstone and skirts a prominent pinnacle of the same rock, 
 
 1In the Yellowstone Valley in eastern 
 Montana, tributary to the Northern Pa- 
 cific and Great Northern railways, the 
 Government has built an irrigation sys- 
 tem to cover a strip of land 70 miles long 
 lying on both sides of the river and ex- 
 tending over the boundary line into 
 North Dakota. The irrigable area con- 
 sists of about 60,000 acres of land lying in 
 the midst of one of the best and largest 
 grazing areas in the United States. 
 
 The soil is a deep sandy loam and when 
 properly cultivated produces abundant 
 crops of hay and grain. Alfalfa, the great 
 forage crop of the West, grows to perfec- 
 tion here, and dairying and the winter 
 feeding and fattening of stock are profit- 
 able industries. 
 
 The towns of Intake, Burns, Savage, 
 Crane, and Sidney are located at short in- 
 tervals through the middle of the area 
 covered by the project. Nearly all the 
 Government lands have been filed upon, 
 but several hundred farms are for sale on 
 easy terms and at reasonable prices. The 
 cost of water right is $45 an acre, payable 
 in annual installments to the Government. 
 
 The general elevation is 1,900 feet above 
 sea level, and the temperature ranges 
 
 from 30° below to 100° above zero. The 
 advantages of the valley in the way of fer- 
 tile soil, assured water supply, favorable 
 climate, low prices, and transportation 
 facilities make it one of the most desirable 
 locations in the Northwest. 
 2The name Yellowstone was doubtless 
 given to the river because of some outcrop 
 of yellow rocks along its banks; but where 
 do such rocks occur? The traveler im 
 passing up the valley sees no distinctly 
 yellow rocks between Glendive and Liy- 
 ingston, and if he goes to Yellowstone 
 Park he will see none as far as Gardiner, 
 the northern entrance to the park. a 
 in the park the conditions are different. 
 The canyon of the Yellowstone below the 
 falls is noted the world over for its gor- 
 geous display of colors, among which the 
 most brilliant and dominating tint is 
 yellow. Here is the only place on the! 
 river where the rocks are so distinctly 
 yellow as to have suggested a name {0 
 the stream, and the conclusion seems 
 inevitable that here the name originated. 
 As the evidence available seems tc 
 indicate that the name did not originat 
 with the English explorers, it must haj 
 been given by some early French travele! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 67 
 
 known as Eagle Butte. This white sandstone with a buff layer at 
 the bottom is known to geologists by the local name of Colgate sand- 
 stone. The lower part contains in places casts of sea weeds and 
 marine shells, so that it is believed to represent the sandy shore of an 
 ancient sea. It is supposed to be in part equivalent to the Fox Hills 
 sandstone of South Dakota. The rocks overlying the Colgate sand- 
 stone in this region are all of fresh-water origin. At Eagle Butte the 
 sandstone appears to be nearly horizontal, but it rises gently toward 
 the southwest and near milepost 7 it is high in the hills, and the shale 
 below it appears at railroad level. The hill near milepost 7, known 
 as Iron Bluff, is noted for the beauty and abundance of the fossil 
 shells that occur in limestone concretions‘ in the dark shale. The 
 shells are so perfectly preserved that they retain their pearly luster. 
 From the kinds of shells occurring in the shale and from its character 
 it is known to be the same as the dark shale that is poorly exposed in 
 the river bluffs at Valley City, N. Dak. It is called the Pierre shale 
 and is of Upper Cretaceous age. The fossil shells show clearly that 
 the sea must have occupied this part of the country when the shale 
 was deposited. At that time, instead of rolling prairies across North 
 Dakota and eastern Montana, there were rolling waves and abundant 
 
 marine life. 
 
 
 
 
 
 or by the Indians who inhabited the 
 region. The only Frenchman who is 
 thought to have seen the upper part of the 
 Yellowstone Valley before the time of 
 Lewis and Clark was Verandrye, who, be- 
 tween the years 1738 and 1742, penetrated 
 the wilderness far to the west of Lake 
 Winnipeg and who wandered for a long 
 time among the mountains in an ineffec- 
 tual attempt to reach the Pacific slope. 
 It is said that he reached the headwaters 
 of the Missouri and even penetrated as far 
 south as the central part of Wyoming, 
 where he was so beset by hostile Indians 
 that he was forced to return to the east. 
 
 _ None of the points described by Veran- 
 drye have been recognized, so the iden- 
 tity of the country which he traversed will 
 always remain a matter of doubt. It 
 Seems incredible, however, that he should 
 have visited the site of the present Yel- 
 lowstone Park without noting at least 
 Some of the wonderful geysers and hot 
 Springs. On this negative evidence it is 
 Yeasonable to conclude that he did not 
 visit the canyon of the Yellowstone, and 
 therefore that the Indians were the first 
 people to apply the name. 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 1The term concretion is applied to 
 rounded bodies of rock that are somewhat 
 harder and more resistant than the main 
 mass of the formation in which they are 
 contained and for that reason remain on 
 the surface after the rest of the formation 
 has decayed. In many places they are 
 nearly spherical, but as a rule they are 
 irregular in outline, either elongated in 
 a mass resembling the trunk of a tree or 
 flattened like a disk. 
 
 The material composing concretions 
 differs greatly; in sandstone or sandy 
 shale it is generally sand, or sand contain- 
 ing a large amount of iron; in limestone it 
 is generally chert (a form of silica); in 
 shale it consists of limestone or ironstone. 
 
 The concretions of Iron Bluff are doubly 
 interesting because they are made up 
 almost exclusively of fossil shells. It 
 seems probable that the shells grew in 
 colonies and thus provided the lime of 
 which the concretions are composed. 
 The result is very beautiful and many of 
 the coiled shells are so perfect that they 
 might inspire another Holmes to write a 
 poem on the chambered nautilus of the 
 ancient sea. 
 
68 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Pierre shale continues to Cedar Creek, 11 miles beyond Glen= 
 dive, where, if the traveler looks ahead on the left at milepost 11, he 
 will see on the far side of the valley a large ridge 1 in which the rocks 
 dip as much as 20° in the direction in which he is going, the opposite 
 direction from their dip between Glendive and Caan Creek. In 
 other words, the train has crossed a great arch or anticline in the 
 rocks, the highest point of which is at Cedar Creek. The Glendive 
 seats is ay most pronounced fold in eastern Montana. It 
 extends from Yellowstone River in a straight line southeastward into 
 the extreme northwest corner of South Dakota. It brings to the 
 surface the Pierre shale on the center of the arch, and as this shale 
 is softer than the rocks on either side, it gives rise to a belt of country 
 having little relief. For this reason it was followed by the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway from Marmarth, N. Dak., to Baker, 
 Mont. ‘The shale is everywhere rimmed about by the Hee Colgate 
 sandstone, and this in turn by the Lance and Fort Union formas 
 tions. The form of this fold is shown in figure 7, which represents 
 
 eae FE WS 
 
 
 
 PIERRE 
 oe ™-WW. 
 
 FIGURE 7.—Diagram of Glendive anticline, Mont., looking east. Gentle dips on northeast side; steep 
 dips on southwest side. i 
 
 the strata as they would appear if the observer were in an airplane 
 hovering over the flat on the far side of the river and looking up 
 the valley of Cedar Creek to the southeast. A short distance peyom , 
 the mouth of the creek the steep dips die out and the rocks are § 
 nearly flat that they seem to be horizontal. 
 At milepost 17, between Hoyt and Marsh, there is a large me ] 
 pit on the left fom which ballast has Bean hauled as far east ¢ 
 Richardton, N. Dak. This gravel, as well as that occurring at ott or 
 places along the river, contains many moss agates which have been 
 washed down from the mountains in the vicinity of Yellowstone 
 Park, and many fine specimens have been picked up along the track, 
 tree beyond the village of Fallon (see sheet 11, p. 72) the Chicago, 7 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway enters the vale of Yellowstone 
 River from Fallon Creek, and near milepost 36 i 
 Fallon. crosses the Northern Pacific tracks by an overheat 
 Elevation 2,231 feet. bridge. In this vicinity, as elsewhere in the Yellow 
 Population 531.* a has ole ry 
 st Paulgo7 mies, stone Valley, two plants characteristic of the sem 
 arid West are very abundant, the cottonwood tre 
 (Populus) and the sage (Artemisia). The courses of the river ¢ + 
 its tributaries can be followed across the prairies where the blus 
 
SHEET No. 10 
 
 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA-MONTANA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheer No.9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 Scale 500,000 ' 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch ' 
 
 H ? 5 Ip \p 20Miles 
 
 10 5 10 15 20 iz 30Kilometers 
 Ste teeendeaforerb eden rchreadinerteeccantiaraeenntnbneelnnettaestenaientaaiertonectimetnedlnaetieetenotieasitonel 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘ ; i lO4" 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 EOED 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detai] on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 
 
 KR 
 SJ 
 
 Sheet No.// 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 aa 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 
 
 SHEET No. 10 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA-MONTANA 
 
 
 
 
 
 Upper part 
 
 Lance formatibn C 
 
 i 
 ~ 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheer No.9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ie | 
 € 
 S. 
 XPLANATION 1 
 SN Scale 500,000 
 Thickness Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 
 in feet { 5 19 \ 20Miles 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 B Sandstone and shale, with beds of lignite (Fort aa ; 10 1S 20 25 30Kilometers 
 Union formation) 1,200 Tertiary 
 : : Tee Contour interval 200 feet 
 C Sandstone and shale, with thin beds of lignite ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 (upper part of Lance formation) 500 
 : The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
 D Sandstone (Colgate sandstone member of Lance Tertiary (?) ; 
 formation). The Colgate probably includes at its [ The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 base some sandstone of Fox Hills, Cretaceous, age = 175} 
 E Dark shale (Pierre) 2,500 Cretaceous | 
 : 105° 104" 30 Ree 
 
 
 
 os as Se ee eee 1O4° 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 69 
 
 are low by the lines of cottonwood trees, and even in the lower 
 p rt of the mountains these trees are generally found where there is 
 running water. Sagebrush originally covered most of the bottom 
 ' nd of the valley, but it has been removed in many places to make 
 om for valuable crops. Many people suppose that the growth of 
 sugebrush is indicative of poor soil, but such is not the case, and a 
 person familiar with the habits of the plant will always prefer a plot 
 
 of land on which the sagebrush grows to large size. 
 The village of Terry, named in honor of Gen. Alfred H. Terry, 
 who commanded the expedition of 1876 in what is commonly known 
 as the Custer campaign, is served by both the North- 
 
 Terry. ern Pacific and St. Paul roads. The light-colored 
 Elevation 2,264 feet. sandstones which give to the Fort Union formation 
 Population 775.* 
 
 its distinctive color are well developed between 
 Cedar Creek and Terry, but at Terry, in the lower 
 part of the formation, there begins a change in color and composition 
 that will become more evident as the traveler proceeds westward.! 
 
 About 2 miles above Terry the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 Railway crosses Yellowstone River, and it remains on the far side 
 nearly to Miles City. The big coal bed at the base of the Lebo 
 shale may be observed on both sides of the valley as far as the mouth 
 of Powder River and on the opposite side of the river for some dis- 
 tance beyond that point. The rocks rise gradually upstream, and 
 within a short distance the Lebo shale, which is only a little above 
 river level at Terry, rises so high that it disappears from the adjacent 
 bluffs and the underlying Lance forms all the hills that are in sight 
 between Powder and Tongue rivers. 
 
 In the vicinity of Miles City is Signal Butte, a high knob about 
 4 miles southwest of the railway, which can be seen from passing 
 
 St. Paul 706 miles. 
 
 
 
 ! The large lignite bed on the west side 
 of the river, which can readily be seen 
 from the train near Terry, is regarded as 
 the base of the Fort Union formation. 
 Beginning a short distance down the 
 river below Terry, there appears just 
 above this bed a band of dark shale which 
 increases in thickness up the river to 50 
 
 feet in the bluff opposite the town and to: 
 
 200 feet a mile or so farther west. The 
 traveler, if he looks closely, can recognize 
 this more somber-colored belt. It is 
 made up of dark shale and sandstone, 
 
 which, when examined under a micro- 
 
 scope, are found to contain a large quan- 
 tity of volcanic material in the form of 
 lava fragments and volcanic dust or ash. 
 These particles have been washed and 
 
 rolled over in water until all have been 
 
 reduced to fine mud or sand. This band 
 of dark material has been followed west- 
 ward nearly to its source, which must 
 have been somewhere in the vicinity of 
 Yellowstone Park. In that region the 
 formation is much thicker than it is 
 farther east and the materials composing 
 it are coarser, as would naturally be 
 expected of material dropped near the 
 shore. South or southwest of Livingston 
 there were at one time great volcanic 
 outbursts, and the material thus thrown 
 out was swept away by the currents of 
 water and deposited in a layer that ex- 
 tended for a great distance toward the 
 east. This widespread sheet of volcanic 
 sedimentary material is known as the 
 Lebo shale member of the Fort Union 
 formation. 
 
70 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 trains. It is reported that in the early days, before the railway had 
 been built into this region, officers from Fort Keogh (ke’o) used this 
 butte for sending and receiving messages from the Black Hills, 175 
 miles distant. The signaling was done with a heliograph, an instru- 
 ment for reflecting the sun’s rays in any desired direction and flash- 
 ing messages in the Morse code. On account of this use the knob 
 received its name. 
 
 Miles City, at the mouth of Tongue River, was named in honor of 
 Gen. Nelson A. Miles, an experienced Indian fighter, who had 
 
 already established Fort Keogh on the river bottom 
 
 Miles City. about 2 miles farther west. Miles City is said to be 
 Elevation 2,377 feet. the greatest horse market in the West, and is also an 
 ay al important wool-shipping point. In the early days the 
 principal industry was the hunting of the buffalo or 
 
 bison, and it is reported that as many as 250,000 hides were shipped 
 from this place in one season. Such num- 
 bers are almost inconceivable, but it is well 
 known that the buffalo roamed the plains 
 in great herds, and when the slaughter was 
 carried on in wholesale fashion the number 
 killed must have been very great. Capt. 
 ' cui Clark and his party, in descending the Yel- 
 aS HAW? Wile lowstone in boats, were forced to wait near 
 yer NEE cs Wiis Glendive until a herd of buffalo numbering, 
 ane wh a — by his estimate, 80,000 had crossed the 
 
 Fiaure8.—Sun-bleached skullnear river. Now all traces of the buffalo are 
 
 So yn eee eet ne gone from these plains except an occasional 
 
 great herds of buffalo that once gun-bleached skull or a few weather-beaten 
 
 roamed these plains. horns. (See fig. 8.) : 
 
 Some distance below Tongue River the St. Paul road crosses the’ 
 Yellowstone, and Miles City has the advantage of two transconti- 
 nental ae : 
 
 West of Tongue River, on the right (north), is Fort Keogh, whicl 
 was built by Gen. Miles in 1877 and eines in honor of Capt. Myles WwW. 
 Keogh, who perished in the Battle of the Little Bighorn the year 
 before. For a long time this was probably the most important post 
 in the Indian country, but now it is used only as a remount ntatiowy 
 where horses are trained for cavalry service. 
 
 The St. Paul road crosses to the north side of the Yellowstone 
 again a short distance above Fort Keogh, and it remains on that 
 Stik: of the stream to Forsyth, where it turns northwestward andl 
 crosses the divide to Musselshell River. The Northern Pacific line 
 continues on the south side, running in places along the wide, flat 
 bottoms and in others on the river bank, where it is overhung by 
 cliffs and steep slopes of sandstone, shale, and coal beds of the Lance 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 71 
 
 formation. Generally the coal beds are thin or variable in thickness: 
 but in places they thicken, as between mileposts 92 and 93, where 
 four beds are visible from the train. Two or three of these beds are 
 thick enough to work and some day may be mined, although the coal 
 is not of very high quality. It is much better, however, than the 
 lignite of North Dakota or that around Glendive and is classed as 
 subbituminous—a grade between lignite and ordinary bituminous 
 coal. 
 
 A similar change in the character of the coal or lignite can be found 
 in almost all the fields of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast. 
 In every field the coal improves in quality toward the mountains, 
 in places ranging from lignite to subbituminous coal or from sub- 
 bituminous coal to anthracite within the limits of a single field. 
 Such changes are doubtless due to greater stresses in the rocky crust 
 of the earth in the mountains than in the plains, and as the coal is 
 the weakest member of the rocks forming that crust it was most 
 compressed and changed. 
 
 The chief interest in the trip from Miles City to Rosebud lies in 
 the fact that the railroad was constructed along the same route as 
 that followed by Custer in his approach to the great battle that 
 
 terminated his career.! 
 
 ' In the spring of 1876 the Sioux Indians 
 exhibited signs of unrest, and some of the 
 more adventurous spirits among them de- 
 serted their reservations and began to 
 assemble a force which the Government 
 feared might at any time take the war- 
 path and cause pillage and slaughter 
 along the frontier. Sitting Bull was the 
 leader of the insurrection. Gen. Crook 
 with 1,000 men at Fort Fetterman (near 
 Douglas), on North Platte River, Wyo.; 
 Gen. Terry with another 1,000 at Fort 
 Abraham Lincoln, near Mandan, N. Dak.; 
 and Gen. Gibbon with 450 men at Fort 
 Ellis, near Bozeman, Mont., were ordered 
 to force the Sioux back to their reserva- 
 tions. 
 The command of Gen. Crook, the great- 
 est Indian fighter of his time, was de- 
 feated by the Indians in a battle on the 
 headwaters of Rosebud River June 17, 
 before he could effect a junction with the 
 other parts of the expedition. He tried 
 to notify Terry and Custer of his defeat 
 -and to warn them of the great number of 
 Indians engaged in the campaign, but 
 
 his scouts failed to reach them, and Cus- 
 
 ter proceeded from the mouth of Tongue 
 River (Miles City) June 19, supposing the 
 Indian force to be a small one which he 
 could overcome in a single daring charge. 
 Custer had just returned from Washing- 
 ton, where he had had difficulty with his 
 superior officers, and, doubtless smarting 
 under the charges made against him and 
 the indignity of a threatened court-mar- 
 tial, he was in the mood to stake all on 
 the chance of winning an immediate and 
 brilliant victory. Maj. Reno, of his com- 
 mand, had been on a scouting trip into 
 the Rosebud Valley, where he found 
 abundant indications of asparty of Indians 
 who had recently moved westward toward 
 the Little Bighorn. 
 
 On June 21 Custer’s command camped 
 at the mouth of Rosebud River, where 
 they were joined by the troops under the 
 command of Gen. Gibbon. The plan of 
 the battle was for Custer to move up the 
 Rosebud until he found the trail reported 
 by Reno and then to follow it until he 
 reached the Indian camp, which was sup- 
 posed to be on the Little Bighorn. Gib- 
 bon’s command was to march back on 
 
72 
 West of Fort Keogh the railway follows the river past the small 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 villages of Hathaway and Joppa to Rosebud, at the mouth of Rose- n 
 
 bud River. (See sheet 12, p. 78.) The scenery along 
 this part of Yellowstone River is not particularly 
 striking, but many interesting views may be obtained, 
 especially if the trip is made late in the season, when 
 the water is low, for at that time it is generally clear, 
 whereas in June the stream, swollen by the melting snow in the 
 mountains, becomes a muddy torrent. Streams in this condition 
 may be interesting as vehicles for the transportation of earthy ma- 
 terial, but they are certainly not attractive. 
 
 Where the river swings close against the rocky bluffs the traveler 
 may obtain through the soft foliage of the willows and cottonwoods 
 vistas of deep, quiet pools that reflect all the colors of the clouds and 
 sky, or of tumbling rapids where accumulated bowlders interfere with 
 the progress of the stream. 
 side bold and rugged cliffs and on the other the upland stretching 
 
 Rosebud. 
 
 Elevation 2,501 feet. 
 Population 370.* 
 St. Paul 778 miles. 
 
 These views have for a setting on one- 
 
 + 
 
 * 
 
 4 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 ! 
 
 3 
 
 away to the horizon in a monotonous expanse of dry and dusty plain. — 
 
 In other places the outlook is over the wide valley bottom, which | 
 
 irrigation has made an oasis in the desert of sagebrush hills and 
 
 broken cliffs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 the north side of the Yellowstone to the 
 mouth of Bighorn River, and there Terry 
 and Gibbon were to meet them on the 
 steamer Far West and ferry them across the 
 river. Gibbon was then to lead his com- 
 mand up the Bighorn and strike the enemy 
 from the north at the same time that Custer 
 made his attack on the east and south. 
 Custer did not pause at the mouth of the 
 Rosebud but was away the next morning 
 on his march up that stream. After fol- 
 lowing it for about 70 miles he found the 
 great trail that the Indians had made 
 across the ridge toward the Little Big- 
 horn. He did not wait to give Gibbon 
 time to move his troops up from the mouth 
 of Bighorn River but pressed on until 
 the Indians were actually sighted in an 
 enormous camp on the Little Bighorn. 
 Here he divided his forces, directing 
 
 Reno to descend to the stream at the up- 
 
 per end of the camp and sweep down the 
 valley, while he scouted along the hills 
 on the east, apparently intending to at- 
 tack the Sioux from that side simulta- 
 
 neously with Reno’s charge and put them 
 to flight. | 
 Reno failed in his effort to drive the 
 Indians down the valley and early in the — 
 action took to the hills on the east, where 
 after considerable fighting he managed to 
 secure a position that he held throughout 
 the engagement. The whole force of the 
 Indians was then directed against Custer, — 
 and he, as well as his entire command, — 
 with the exception of an Indian guide, — 
 were slain. Reno was besieged in the hills © 
 until he was rescued by the force under — 
 Gibbon, which arrived, however, too. 
 late to take an active part in the battle. » 
 When Gibbon’s troops arrived the In- : 
 dians left the valley and after some 
 skirmishes with the soldiers returned > 
 their reservations. , 
 The soldiers killed in this battle num- 
 bered 265. They are buried in a national — 
 cemetery on the spot where they fell, 
 with fitting monuments commemorating 
 the bravery of their last fight against 
 overwhelming numbers. 
 
 
 

 
 SHEET No. 1 
 
 MONTANA _ | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y 
 Cra ot oe 
 S \ ( \ ee 
 SS ‘ee \ Mi 
 ‘ ( 
 ie) 
 > 
 9 
 =< 
 ( a, 
 tt, 7 iy) 
 eS : 
 ‘dl 2 PS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Se 46\ | 
 ‘ 30 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 
 B Sandstone and shale, with beds of lignite 
 (upper part of Fort Union formation) 
 
 € Dark shale with some sandstone and Tertiary 
 beds of lignite (Lebo shale member of 
 
 Fort Union formation) 0 to 340 
 
 dD Sandstone and shale, with thin beds 
 
 of lignite (Lance formation) 140 +#Tertiary (7) 
 
 
 
 | moana Ply 
 105 30’ 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED OY THE U-S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacifie Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a naine in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 ¢ Sheet of that name. 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ie 
 
 
 
 l06‘00" 
 A 
 bes 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 \ 5 10 \5 
 10 5 10 See 20 25 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20Miles 
 
 30Kilometers 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet No /2 
 aw) 
 AN 
 
 
 
 (ON Sy ae \ 
 ltd 22] 7 
 pas Gi ee ee. 
 r Ve eee ere 
 th —-—. \ ca 
 ee Bo 
 | . if “i ate 2 }, w"S ae 
 \ \ WN aS CNS 
 ] \ > 
 ) BS 
 ec 
 Se Met ee 
 ee e i \ ye 
 a 3% Fan > 
 Sf | 
 Pe ) 
 a 
 | 
 Ye eee _- 
 
 
 
 me Uo pad N\UVREE aie) } KO" ‘ee 
 
 : sen elles aia) i us) Ww. mS 
 Ps rai St ia te ; wise 
 eee die: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ) \ 
 x 
 
 LG Seed 
 
 : / 
 / | \ 
 oll {| Hebe * 
 ‘ti 9 Ke Xa y ex on \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 a 
 
 
 
 fe ia 
 
 \ 
 
 $ 
 
 
 
 » J 
 al 
 
 | 
 PAR Enion 
 
 MN 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 
 Sandstone and shale, with beds of lignite 
 {upper part of Fort Union formation) 
 
 Dark shale with some sandstone and 
 
 beds of lignite (Lebo shale member of 
 
 Fort Union formation) 
 
 Sandstone and shale, with thin beds 
 of lignite (Lance formation) 
 
 
 
 SHEET No. 11 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet No./O 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 Quaternary 
 850 
 Tertiary 
 0 to 340 
 140 ~=—- Tertiary (?) 
 
 a2 Se ee i ee 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED ANO PRINTED BY THE U-S.GEQLOSICAL SURVEY 
 
73 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 The Lance formation makes rugged bluffs along the river from 
 Miles City to Forsyth. This formation extends across North Dakota, 
 Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The coal or lignite beds 
 that characterize it in many places and the fossil leaves and branches 
 that have been found almost everywhere in the sandstone and shale 
 composing it show clearly that it was laid down in lakes and ponds. 
 It is also certain that at the time it was deposited great forests 
 flourished over much of the area of the States mentioned, where are 
 now the treeless wastes of the Great Plains. The trees of that time 
 were similar to those of the Fort Union epoch, as described on page 
 57. The formation of coal beds means that the land was flat and 
 probably at low level. The plains country and much of that which 
 
 ‘is now mountainous was at that time low and swampy, supporting a 
 luxuriant tangle of large trees, underbrush, vines, and water plants. 
 The strange creatures that roamed through that ancient forest or 
 swam in its shallow lakes are described below by Charles W. Gilmore, 
 
 of the United States National Museum.! 
 
 1 Where vegetation grew as luxuriantly 
 as in the swamps and lowlands of Lance 
 time there must have been animals to 
 subsist upon it and in turn other animals 
 to feed upon them. The Lance forma- 
 tion is noted for the remains of great rep- 
 tiles that it contains, and all the large 
 museums of the country have skeletons 
 or models of these wonderful dinosaurs, 
 as they are called. 
 
 One of the best-known dinosaurs is 
 called Triceratops (meaning literally 
 
 _three-horned face), so named because he 
 had over each eye a massive horn di- 
 rected forward and terminating in a long, 
 sharp point and a third, but much smaller 
 horn, on the nose, not unlike that of the 
 modern rhinoceros. A mounted skeleton 
 
 
 
 into consideration, relatively smaller than 
 that of any other known land animal. 
 
 That Triceratops was a fighter is shown 
 by the finding of broken and healed bones. 
 A pair of horns in the National Museum 
 bear mute witness to such an encounter, 
 for they had been broken and then 
 rounded over and healed while the ani- 
 mal was alive. 
 
 In the earlier restorations or models of 
 this animal, as shown in Plate X (p. 74), 
 the skin was represented as being smooth 
 and leathery, but in a specimen recently 
 discovered the well-preserved skin shows 
 that it was made up of a series of scales of 
 various sizes. 
 
 Triceratops, as indicated by the struc- 
 
 ture of his teeth, was manifestly a plant- 
 
 eating animal, his food probably being 
 leaves and branches of low trees and 
 shrubs. Hatcher, the most noted col- 
 lector of Triceratops in the United States, 
 has pictured the country at the time these 
 animals lived as being made up of vast 
 Swamps with wide watercourses that were 
 
 of Triceratops in the National Museum in 
 Washington is about 20 feet long and 
 stands 8 feet high at the hips. Some of 
 the skulls that have been found measure 
 “more than 8 feet, or nearly one-third of 
 the length of the entire animal, includ- 
 ing the tail. The great length of skull 
 
 
 
 is due to the fact that the neck was pro- 
 tected by a bony frill, which projected 
 backward from the skull like a fireman’s 
 helmet or like the large ruffs that were 
 worn in Queen Elizabeth’s time. AI- 
 though the brain of this dinosaur is large, 
 it is, when the size of the skull is taken 
 
 constantly shifting their channels, the 
 whole resembling the Everglades of 
 Florida. The entire region, where the 
 waters were not too deep, was covered by 
 an abundant vegetation and inhabited by 
 the huge dinosaurs as well as by croco- 
 diles, alligators, turtles, and diminutive 
 
74 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 During Lance time the crossing of the continent must have been 
 attended by dangers beside which those of the African wilds seem 
 trivial indeed. The traveler may be glad that he is safely ensconced 
 in a railway car instead of facing the terrible ferocity of some wan- 
 
 dering dinosaur as big as a house. 
 
 But the days of these monsters 
 
 have passed away, and their former presence is recorded only in the 
 skeletons which here and there are found embedded in the rocks. 
 Just across the river from Forsyth a skeleton of Triceratops was found 
 
 
 
 animals, fossil remains of which are now 
 found embedded in the sand and mud that 
 were deposited in those old swamps. 
 There lived at the same time the great 
 duck-billed reptile Trachodon, the best- 
 known and presumably the commonest 
 dinosaur of its time. The length of an 
 average-sized individual, measured from 
 the end of the nose to the tip of the tail, 
 was 30 feet, and as he walked erect on his 
 huge three-toed hind feet, the tip of the 
 head, which was nearly a yard long, was 
 from 12 to 15 feet above the ground. The 
 nose expanded into a broad duck-billed 
 beak, which was covered with a horny 
 sheath, as in birds and turtles, and was 
 admirably adapted to pulling up the 
 rushes and other water plants upon which 
 the creature lived. That Trachodon 
 lived in the water is shown by the webbed 
 fingers of the fore foot and the long, deep, 
 flattened tail, which was a most efficient 
 swimming organ and equally useful as a 
 counterbalance to the weight of his body 
 when he was striding about on his hind 
 legs on the land. The skin, as shown by 
 specimens that have been found, was thin 
 and covered with tubercles of two sizes, 
 the larger ones predominating on surfaces 
 exposed to the sun. One of the most 
 remarkable features of this great brute was 
 the set of teeth with which he was pro- 
 vided. Inthat respect he was much bet- 
 ter off than the human being, for as soon 
 as a tooth was worn out or lost, it was re- 
 placed by another pushed up from below. 
 Each jaw had from 40 to 60 rows on each 
 side and from 10 to 14 teeth in each row, 
 hence there must have been more than 
 2,000 teeth in the mouth of one individual. 
 There were also flesh-eating and conse- 
 quently armored reptiles in Lance time. 
 
 The most highly specialized of the ar- 
 
 mored reptiles was Ankylosaurus, which 
 
 was covered by a great number of flat- 
 
 tened ridged-skin plates of bone, arranged 
 
 in rows across the broad back. The rep- 
 tile was low of stature and had at the end - 
 of his stout, heavy tail a great triangular 
 club of bone, which when he moved 
 about must have dragged on the ground. 
 The head was short and blunt, and the eye 
 was provided with a cup-shaped bony 
 
 shutter that could be closed over the eye- 
 
 ball when the creature was harassed by 
 
 his enemies. With all vulnerable parts 
 thus protected by bony armor, this living 
 
 fortress had little to fear from his blood- 
 thirsty contemporaries. Ankylosaurus 
 doubtless had need of his armor, for there 
 were many other flesh-eating dinosaurs _ 
 that swarmed in the forests or swam in 
 the sluggish waters. The most striking 
 of these was Tyrannosaurus, or tyrant 
 lizard, the largest land-walking carnivor-_ 
 ous animal the world has ever known. 
 He was 40 feet long and, in a standing 
 position on his hind legs, was 18 or 20 feet 
 high. The fore legs were exceedingly 
 small, and he must have walked entirely 
 upon his powerful hind legs, the knee 
 joint of which was 6 feet above the ground. 
 At the American Museum of Natural His- 
 tory, New York, there is a perfect skull of 
 this animal. It is with a feeling of awe 
 that the spectator stands before the huge 
 head with jaws 4 feet long, filled with bris- 
 tling rows of sharp-pointed teeth, several 
 of which project at least 6 inches from their 
 socket, and he can not help wondering 
 what part such a creature played in the 
 economy of nature and whether he was as 
 important to his time and place as the 
 animals that live to-day. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"JaYyo}peH ‘Gg ‘'f JO UO!]OAJIP BY, 4epUN spew JYsIuUy 'y °o Aq Buljured wol4 
 
 ‘VLOMVd HLYON GNV YNVLNOW JO S1S3YO4 SHL HONOYHL GSNVOY SWIL SONV1 NI HOIHM ‘(30V4 GANYOH-SSYHL) SdOLVYSOINL LVSYOD FHL 
 
 
 
 
 
BULLETIN 611 PLATE XI! 
 
 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 
 A. BLUFFS OF LANCE FORMATION ON YELLOWSTONE RIVER WEST OF HYSHAM, MONT. 
 
 
 
 B, FOSSIL PALM LEAF OF EOCENE AGE FOUND NEAR HYSHAM, MONT. 
 
 The climate of Montana must have been warmer and more moist than it is to-day to have permitted the growth 
 of palms and other subtropical plants. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 75 
 
 several years ago, and bones of these animals may be seen occasionally 
 in riding about the country. 
 
 Forsyth, the county seat of Rosebud County, a district terminal of 
 the Northern Pacific Railway, is one of the thriving towns in the 
 
 Yellowstone Valley. It was named for Gen. J. W. 
 Forsyth. Forsyth, one of the military pioneers of this coun- 
 ol eeaagad feet. try. Opposite the town the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
 St. Paul 791 miles, ot. Paul Railway, which has followed Yellowstone 
 
 River from Terry, leaves the valley and goes in a 
 northwesterly direction to the Musselshell Valley in the vicinity of the 
 new towns of Musselshell and Roundup. 
 
 Beyond Forsyth an anticline crosses the Yellowstone Valley, but 
 it is not so distinct as the one above Glendive. The first indication 
 that the traveler may observe of a change from the Lance formation, 
 which is at railway level from Terry to Forsyth, is that after passing 
 Armells Creek, just beyond milepost 130, the width of the valley 
 suddenly increases and the bluffs lose their rugged character. These 
 features mdicate the presence of softer rocks, and while the formation 
 containing them is not visible from the train a close examination of 
 the bluffs would show that they are composed of dark shale—the 
 same dark shale that the traveler saw at Cedar Creek, above Glendive. 
 This shale normally underlies the Lance, and its presence near railway 
 level here means that the rocks rise west of Forsyth and the next lower 
 formation is brought to view. ! 
 
 
 
 ‘The dark shale noted near Glendive | supposed to represent the cut edges of the 
 is called the Pierre shale, but the dark | formations as they lie in the ground. 
 shale that makes its appearance near In the Black Hills, and so far as known 
 Howard and is said to be the same as the | at Glendive, the Upper Cretaceous rocks 
 Pierre, is called Bearpaw. The change | begin with the Dakota sandstone at the 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Billings Blase Hs 
 a E €arpon—sreale== 
 . Eee ane Sie aan ne aiateoe sig a. ms, see 8 8s SS a = =e 
 Wee aworth River formation — 25 2 SS SSS i =Pierre shale= 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 === C a0 9 format SSS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 RE 
 Pee 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 9.—Diagram showing the thinning out and coming in of formations from the Black Hills, S. Dak., 
 to Billings, Mont. : 
 
 : 
 
 in the Cretaceous formations along an | base, resting upon the Lower Cretaceous. 
 east-west line from the Black Hills to | Over this are two great shales (Benton 
 Billings, Mont., and the reason for the | and Pierre) and a limestone (Niobrara) 
 introduction of new names for the forma- | of marine origin, and capping all is the 
 tions are explained by figure 9, which is | Lance, a fresh-water deposit. 
 
 
 

 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 76 
 
 The high hills composed of Lance sandstones (see Pl. XI, A, p. 75), 
 as shown on sheet 12 (p. 78), recede from the river until at Howard 
 they are more than 2 miles from the railway, and 
 
 the low hills near by are made up of the Bearpaw 
 
 shale. The outcrop of the shale crosses the river 
 
 and then swings far to the northeast around a dome- 
 
 shaped structure in the rocks that brmgs this and 
 
 lower fartnaiteine up to the surface. 
 The valley increases in width until m the vicinity of Finch thal 
 Lance sandstones are so far back from the river that they are hidden 
 by the low hills of shale at the margin of the valley 
 bottom. At milepost 141, a short distance east of 
 Sanders, a massive gray sandstone rises from rive 
 level until it attains a height above the railway of 
 about 30 feet. Beyond this point it descends toward the west and 
 within a short distance disappears below railway level. The highest 
 point on this sandstone marks the axis of a large irregular uplift 
 which lies almost entirely north of the railway. 
 This sandstone is known to be the extreme eastern point of the 
 Judith River, a coal-bearing formation (see fig. 9) that is exposed 
 in many places in the central part of the State. In its best develop 
 ment it is a fresh-water deposit, but the sandstone near Sanders 
 contains marine shells, showing that the shore of the land upon 
 which the fresh-water sediments of the central part of the State were 
 laid down was near this place, and that to the east of that shore line 
 sand was deposited in the waters of the sea. A deep well recently 
 drilled for water at Vananda, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 Railway about 16 miles northwest of Forsyth, started in this sand- 
 stone and struck the red shale of the Kootenai formation (see fig. 9) 
 at a depth of about 3,200 feet. 
 The relatively flat land in the bottom of this valley, althougll 
 originally only a sagebrush plain, was attractive to farmers, and an 
 extensive private irrigation project has been developed. Water 1 
 taken from the river at Myers, between Hysham and Rancher, and 
 
 Howard. 
 
 Elevation 2,600 feet. 
 Population 139.* 
 St. Paul 800 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Finch. . 
 
 Elevation 2,595 feet. 
 St. Paul 806 miles. 
 
 character in its lower part, and three more 
 or less sandy formations—the Eagle sand. 
 
 Westward from the Black Hills the 
 Niobrara fades out as a limestone, and at 
 
 Billings it can not be identified and sepa- 
 rated from the Benton. The entire mass 
 of shale is called the Colorado, and this is 
 equivalent to both the Benton and the 
 Niobrara. The Dakota disappears west of 
 the Black Hillsand the Coloradoshale rests 
 upon the Kootenai (Lower Cretaceous). 
 In the east the great marine deposit 
 above the Niobrara is known as the Pierre 
 shale. Toward the west this changes in 
 
 another name (Bearpaw). 
 
 stone and the Claggett and Judith River 
 formations—have been recognized and 
 named. The dark shale above the Judith 
 River is in composition and appearaneé 
 like the Pierre, but as it represents only ¢ 
 small part of that formation it is given 
 The Lance 
 formation is apparently continuous and 
 regular throughout the section hen 
 described. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE XII 
 
 
 
 VIEWS IN THE SHEEP RANGE OF MONTANA. 
 
 As shown in the upper view, the watchful herder and the equally vigilant sheep dogs guard the defenseless flock, 
 The covered wagon shown in the lower view has been developed to meet the special needs of the sheep 
 herder. It is light in weight and commodious and in bad weather affords protection from the fierce storms 
 which sweep over the Montana plains, 
 
U. & GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE Xill 
 
 
 
 A. POMPEYS PILLAR, MONT., AS SEEN FROM THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY, 
 
 The inscription shown below is on the other side of the pillar, 
 
 
 
 B. INSCRIPTION MADE BY CAPTAIN CLARK ON POMPEYS PILLAR JULY 25, 1806. 
 Now protected by an iron grating, Photograph furnished by the Northern Pacific Railway. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. aT 
 
 carried by a gravity system down the valley for a distance of 30 
 miles. Part of this system has only recently been opened, so that 
 all the land is not cultivated, but in the older parts fine crops are 
 raised. 
 West of the sandstone outcrop the valley floor is again sraooth, 
 showing that the soft shale forms it as well as the low hills that 
 appear far to the left (south). A little beyond 
 Sanders. Sanders the railway crosses Sarpy Creek, one of the 
 Elevation 2,618 feet. well-known places of the early days, for here was 
 a reas located Fort Sarpy, an important trading post of the 
 American Fur Co. and the headquarters of many 
 of the hunters and trappers of the Northwest. The post was 
 
 ‘named for if not established by Col. Peter Sarpy, who was an 
 
 agent of the fur company for 30 years after its organization. 
 
 At Hysham the valley is very wide, 
 
 the hills being at least 2 miles back from eR, 
 therailway. By looking = 
 
 ma 
 Hysham. ahead on the left, after Sa 
 
 | Elevation 2,667 feet. leaving this town, the 
 _ St. Paul 818 miles. 
 the Lance formation coming in close to 
 
 the track, and for several miles the road 
 follows the river bank under a towering 
 
 few years ago thegreat opensheeprange — *%17" oy wit eth Ble 
 
 Population 162.* 
 ipa traveler can see the rug- 
 
 ged sandstone walls of 
 
 
 
 cliff that rises to a height of 300 feet. 
 The traveler is now in what was a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ta 
 
 ha As 
 DD AY Plt Uf 
 POM, oS i f 
 
 
 
 vice MS TNO 
 : Q Mi My Sty 
 Ma gS aN Me 
 
 =X | 
 
 of Montana. Single ranches had flocks Paltiat) ag CHa 
 
 | ranging from a few hundred to as many Ficurs 10.—Monument built by sheep 
 
 as 40,000sheep. These were not kept in 
 
 herder. 
 
 -afenced inclosure as is done in the East but were herded in bands of a 
 
 ee Nw eae a 22 _ aa»: 
 
 
 
 few hundred or a few thousand each. To each band was assigned 
 one or two herders who with horses to draw a covered wagon and a 
 faithful dog followed the sheep for months at a time without returning 
 to the home ranch. (See Pl. XII.) Hour after hour, day after day, 
 and week after week were spent in watching the sheep, with abso- 
 lutely nothing to break the monotony of the rolling treeless plain 
 except here and there low hills of barren rock. The herder would 
 stand upon such eminences when the sheep were quietly feeding and 
 no coyotes near to cause uneasiness and, to amuse himself, would 
 build monuments of the loose rocks (fig. 10). In the course of time 
 monuments of this kind were erected on almost every hill and on all 
 the commanding points of the river bluffs, and the traveler can 
 
 doubtless see them from the passing train. 
 
; | 
 +e 
 
 y, 
 o? : 
 
 78 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 4 
 q 
 
 The dry-land farmer has gradually encroached upon the open range, 
 and before long large flocks feeding upon it will be seen no more, — 
 Conditions will become more and more like those in the East, and 
 finally the sheep herder, like his enemy the cowboy, will pass out of 
 existence and will live fats on the canvas of some Remington or 
 Russell. 
 
 The next station is Bighorn, which is only a short distance east of 
 Bighorn River. This is Tignes ground also, for it has been occupied 
 
 almost continuously since it was first visited by Capt, 
 Bighorn. Clark July 26,1806. In the year immediately follow- 
 Elevation 2,712feet. ing Olark’s visit Manuel Lisa, one of the restless, 
 “eae adventurous spirits of the frontier, established a 
 trading post here which afforded a rendezvous for many of the 
 hunters of the region. In 1822 Col. William H. Ashley, president of 
 the Rocky Mountain Fur Co., built a trading post 2 miles below the 
 mouth of Bighorn River ited he called Fort Van Buren. It was 
 here also that Gen. Gibbon, in 1876, crossed the Yellowstone andl 
 proceeded overland with his detachment of 450 men to cooperate in 
 the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which Custer had already lost. 
 
 A little beyond Bighorn station the train crosses Bighorn River 
 and, skirting the base of sandstone bluffs for a distancs of 3 miles, 
 plunges into the blackness of the Bighorn tunnel, to” 
 emerge at the town of Custer. This town derived its 
 Elevation 2,749 feet. name from the fact that it was the stopping place 
 Population 335.* i be 
 St. Paul 839 miles. | for persons going to old Fort Custer, at the mouth 
 
 of Little Bighorn River, but, despite the fact that the 
 post has been abandoned, Custer retains its importance on account 
 of its situation in the center of a fine agricultural district. Several 
 years ago the skeleton of a Triceratops was found in the Lance forma= 
 tion which makes the river bluff opposite this place. 
 
 West of Custer the bluffs on both sides of the river are composed o 
 sandstone of the Lance formation, but they are not so prominent ‘ 
 those below the mouth of gather River. In places the low hills 
 rise abruptly from the water’s edge and the roadbed of the railway 
 was made by blasting the solid rock. Generally, however, the hills” 
 are back half a mile or so from the track. g 
 
 From Waco (see sheet 13, p. 82) to Bull Mountain the same kind 
 of topography prevails, except that the bluffs on the north side 
 of the river are more pronounced and rise abruptly 
 from the water level. Near Bull Mountain the hills on 
 the south are farther from the track, lower, and less- 
 rugged than they are farther east. Such changes in the 
 appearance of surface features are due to the presence of softer rocks. 
 Here the formations are rising westward, and at Bull Mountain 
 the Bearpaw shale, underlying the Lance formation, is again brought 
 
 Custer. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bull Mountain. 
 
 Elevation 2,867 feet. 
 St. Paul 856 miles. 
 

 
 hieckness 
 in feet 
 
 Quaternary 
 
 Tertiary 
 
 Tertiary (7?) 
 
 Upper 
 Cretaceous 
 
 20Miles 
 25 30Kilometers 
 
 pet 
 SEA LEVEL 
 
 own every 10 miles 
 d1 mile apart 
 
 SHEET No, 12 
 
 
 
ae ; MONTANA |} 
 
 | 
 
 7 | | SHEET No. 12 
 BULLETIN 611 i ie ec AS a ee , ea 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ae 
 va 2800 Se 
 
 Si peers NY ey eo oan A in ae era ae 
 \O. 4 ae Das 
 AS Alluvium + A 
 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and _ profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R, B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 “oS 
 
 
 
 
 tJ4 58. A / 
 =x, Member of } \ re 
 Faye Union e ) : 
 lew 
 
 a t 
 form. <= 
 Z 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a naine in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 
 — ; 
 Oo. 
 
 wXPLANATION 
 Sheet of that name. EX 
 Thickness ; 
 in feet 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) ~ Quaternary 
 
 3 Dark shale with some sandstone 
 and beds of lignite (Lebo shale ; 
 member of Fort Union formation) 150 Tertiary 
 
 Sheet No./3 
 
 Sheet No.// 
 
 C Sandstone and shale, with thin beds pe 
 of coal (Lance formation) 1,100 Tertiary (7?) 
 
 i 
 ae : : > 
 Dark shale, marine deposit (Bearpaw) 900 
 
 
 
 D 
 
 K, White sandstone and shale, marine Upper 
 deposits (Judith River formation) 200 Cretaceous 
 
 7 
 
 - : $ iV oF 
 Shale and sandstone, marine deposits, | R Be 
 ; : 5 
 (Claggett formation) 600 | z 
 
 1 ; Ro we” 
 
 Scale 500,500 4 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch Pcl 
 
 ; 5 10 \ 20Miies f 
 i) 5 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers f 
 Ge eee eee : f 
 Contour interval 200 feet Pe 
 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL i 
 
 , 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles ee 
 
 The Grossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 Battlefield Hig ak 
 
 Se ee oe ad 
 \ i ae rie 
 2 ™~ a Oe ae ae Oe me oe 
 { 
 = ; 
 
 107 
 
 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTEO BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 79 
 
 to the surface, but because of its softness it soon weathers down to a 
 dark mud that so conceals the rock from which it was derived that 
 the rock can not be seen from the train. 
 
 West of Bull Mountain the Northern Pacific Railway crosses the 
 northern point of one of the great mountain-making folds of the 
 Rocky Mountains. The rocky layers or formations have been forced 
 up into a great arch which has a breadth, where crossed by the rail- 
 way, of 75 miles and a length of about 180 miles. In the region of 
 its greatest development in Wyoming it forms the Bighorn Mountains, 
 and it is generally spoken of as the Bighorn uplift or anticline, but 
 the northern projection into Montana has a local development in 
 Pryor Mountain and for that reason is known as the Pryor Mountain 
 anticline. 
 
 As the railway crosses the fold at its north end, where the forma- 
 tions swing around in broad curves, it cuts the outcrops at oblique 
 angles or follows them for a considerable distance. It is because of 
 this fact that the hills on the left are smooth and low, indicative of 
 shale, and the bluffs on the opposite side of the river are rugged, 
 being composed of sandstone. 
 
 One of the most striking mementos of the early exploration of 
 the Yellowstone Valley is Pompeys Pillar (Pl. XIII, p. 77), a lone 
 butte, 200 feet high, between mileposts 196 and 197. In descending 
 the Yellowstone Capt. Clark noted this butte and from its isolated 
 position and vertical walls called it Pompeys Pillar. He states con- 
 cerning it, “‘Il marked my name and the day of the month and year.” 
 Halfway up on the side near the river is to be seen Clark’s rude 
 inscription, now protected by an iron grating. The sandstone 
 forming Pompeys Pillar is near the base of the Lance formation, and 
 the westward rise of the rocks soon brings up the dark marine Bear- 
 paw shale, but near the railway this shale is covered by soil and can 
 not be seen from the train. 
 
 From Pompeys Pillar to Huntley the railway line is in the middle 
 of a broad, flat bottom, which is irrigated by water taken from the 
 river a short Femnce above the mouth of Pryor 
 Creek, under the Huntley project of the United 
 States Reclamation Service... The underlying rocks 
 are not visible from the train except at a great dis- 
 tance on the right. As shown on sheet 13 (p. 82), the first formation 
 to be passed over beyond Pompeys Pillar is dark shale (Bearpaw) of 
 
 Newton. 
 
 Elevation 2,915 feet. 
 St. Paul 866 miles. 
 
 
 
 _ +The Huntley project covers an area of 
 33,000 acres in the broad valley of Yellow- 
 stone River. In 1907 this region was a 
 part of the Crow Indian Reservation and 
 was uninhabited. To-day it contains 400 
 farm families and six towns. The trans- 
 
 
 
 formation wrought by Government irriga- 
 tion is apparent in the present compact, 
 intensively cultivated farms, in substan- 
 tial farm buildings, and in growing towns. 
 
 A few farms under this project are open 
 to homestead entry under the terms of the 
 
80 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 marine origin. Next is a formation (Judith River) which in many 
 places carries coal beds and was laid down on the land or in shallow 
 lakes. It is soft and mostly light colored, but at a distance it can 
 not be distinguished from the overlying Bearpaw shale. 
 
 At Huntley the Northern Pacific is joined by the Kansas City line 
 of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and the two systems 
 
 use the same tracks from Huntley to Bulings. Pryor 
 Huntley. Creek, which is crossed by the train soon after leay- 
 Elevation 3,038 feet. ing Huntley, was named by Capt. Clark for one of 
 Lae his party. West of the creek the railway is at the 
 
 foot of a precipitous bluff of greenish sandstone, in 
 places thick bedded, which is the upper part of the Claggett forma- 
 tion. This underlies the Judith River formation and from the fossils 
 that it contains is known to have been laid down in the sea. Thus, 
 under the influence of the great Pryor Mountain anticline, lower and 
 lower rocks are in turn brought to the surface. Beyond the bluff 
 the sandstone rises until near milepost 220 it can be seen on the left 
 (south) just capping the highest hills. The rock underlying the sand- 
 stone is not exposed here, but it is known to consist of soft shale, the 
 lower part of the same formation. Where it is crossed by the line 
 of the railway, the valley is broad and the slopes on either side are 
 smooth and gentle. 
 
 West of the open part of the valley just described the hills closl 
 in on the river, especially from the south, until it seems as if the 
 stream would be blocked, but on close approach it is apparent that 
 the water has cut a narrow passage through what appears to be a 
 barrier across its path. The railway is crowded close to the bank 
 of the river, and west of milepost 223 hillside cuts show that the 
 constriction of the valley is due to a thick bed of coarse sandstone 
 (Eagle) which crosses the river nearly at right angles and dips 15° 
 or 20° to the east. Immediately west of this outcrop the railway 
 crosses Yellowstone River to the broad flat upon which the town of 
 Billings is situated. As the train enters the yards just west of the 
 river the Eagle sandstone can be seen on both sides of the valley, 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 reclamation act, and full particulars may | acreage has been put into beets each 
 be obtained at Huntley from the project | year. ° 
 manager. The cost of the water right is Probably no section in the West has 
 $30 an acre, payable in 20 annual install- | experienced the freedom from speculators | 
 ments without interest, and there is an | enjoyed by the area under the Huntley 
 additional charge of $4 an acre for theland. | project. As a result, this is to-day one of 
 The climate is healthful and the soil | the most prosperous and up to date com- 
 fertile, producing abundant crops when | munities in the Northwest. Its progres: 
 watered. Cereals and alfalfa are the | sive spirit is shown by its centralized 
 principal crops, but the growing of sugar | graded schools, its churches, the steady 
 beets is becoming profitable. There is a | substantial growth of its towns, and its 
 sugar factory at Billings, and an increased | clubs and cooperative organizations. 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 81 
 
 On the south side it forms a prominent cliff and on the north it swings 
 to the west and borders the valley with a precipitous wall. 
 
 Billings, a division terminal, is the most important city in the 
 eastern half of the State. It was named in honor of Frederick Bil- 
 
 a lings, one of the early presidents of the Northern 
 Billings. Pacific Railway Co. For a long time it was the great- 
 Be ctle Ade est wool-shipping point in the United States, if not 
 St. Paul 392 miles. | In the world, but in recent years much of the wool 
 
 from the north has been diverted by the St. Paul 
 road and the dry-land farmers have taken up so much of the open 
 range that the raising of sheep has been greatly reduced and is likely 
 to become one of the vanishing industries of this region. 
 
 The earliest authentic record of exploration in the vicinity of 
 Billings is that of Capt. Clark, who on his return from the Pacific 
 coast passed the site of the city July 24, 1806. Soon afterward fur 
 traders and trappers explored most of the streams of this country in 
 search of beavers, and in so doing they frequently passed up and 
 down the valley of the Yellowstone, but they left no record except 
 possibly their names attached to some of the old trading posts or to 
 the streams. The first permanent settlement in this vicinity appears 
 to have been made about 1876, when a place called Coulson was 
 established as a stage station and steamboat landing. Coulson con- 
 tinued to be of importance until the railway was built in 1881-82. 
 In 1883 a street railway, the first in Montana, was built connecting 
 this town with Billings, then recently established. The new town 
 soon outgrew its rival, and to-day Coulson has disappeared. 
 
 Originally the valley outside of the lower land was clothed only 
 with sagebrush, and for a number of years after the completion of 
 the railway but little farming was done. As the annual rainfall is 
 only about 14 inches and the summer season short it was thought 
 that even the Hardier grains could not be successfully raised here. 
 About 1892 agricultural development started in earnest, ditches were 
 dug, and water was taken to the land, and to-day there is no more 
 fertile and productive valley in the State than that of the Yellow- 
 stone about Billings. Sugar beets are the principal crop, but alfalfa 
 and grains are also grown in abundance. Farming is now the main 
 occupation of the people about Billings. <A large sugar factory has 
 been erected at Billings which manufactures sugar from beets grown 
 in many of the irrigated valleys in this part of the State. 
 
 Near milepost 3, west of Billings, the traveler may, if the day is 
 clear, catch his first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, directly ahead, 
 nearly 100 miles away. In midsummer the outline of the mountains 
 may be faint and scarcely discernible, but early in the summer or m 
 the autumn the snow-on their summits should cause them to stand 
 
 95558°—Bull, 611—15——6 | 
 
82 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 out clear and distinct. If the traveler is fortunate enough to obtain 
 such a view, he will understand why, in the early descriptions, they 
 were always referred to as the ‘‘Shining Mountains.” The mountains 
 that can be seen from this point are the ranges that lie just south of 
 Livingston and bound Yellowstone Park on the east. 
 
 At this point also the setting of the valley can be well seen. Bil- 
 lings has for a background a high bluff capped by massive sandstone 
 or ‘“‘rim rock”’ (Kagle). This can be followed to the east by the eye 
 until it dips below water level and then reappears on the south side 
 of the river in equal boldness and ruggedness, but instead of follow- 
 ing parallel with the valley it strikes due south across country to 
 Pryor Creek, the next stream in that direction. Its outcrop is every- 
 where marked by an escarpment, and at the last point at which it 
 can be seen it makes an abrupt break in the sky line. On the right 
 (north) the cliff trends nearly due west, as shown on the map (sheet 
 13), but the railway runs toward the southwest and consequently 
 departs more and more from the cliff. The rim rock is visible as far 
 as milepost 8, but beyond that poimt it is obscured by the edge of 
 the terrace on the right. 
 
 The traveler may notice that the river bluffs on the left (south) 
 look very different from the rim rock. ‘There are no ledges on these 
 bluffs and they are composed of dark shale (Colorado shale), which 
 underlies the rim rock. This shale is the lowest and oldest formation 
 that has yet been seen on this trip west of Minnesota. 
 
 Near milepost 12 a branch of the Great Northern Railway which 
 uses the tracks of the Northern Pacific from Billings to this place 
 turns northward, going to Great Falls and Shelby, where it unites 
 with the Great Northern main line. 
 
 From Laurel a branch of the Northern Pacific Railway leads to the 
 south across the’ Yellowstone and up the valley of Clark Fork to the 
 towns of Bridger and Red Lodge. Red Lodge is the) 
 largest town in a coal field that supplies most of the 
 fuel used by this railway in its mountain divisions, 
 from Butte and Helena on the west to Mandan on 
 the east.! 
 
 Laurel. 
 
 
 
 Elevation 3,311 feet 
 Population 806. 
 St. Paul 908 miles. 
 
 . 
 y 
 
 ¢ 
 ¢ 
 
 
 
 States Geological Survey as subbitumi- | 
 nous, but this tendency is so slight that. | 
 the coal evidently belongs at the top of | 
 its class, which is near the dividing line) 
 
 1 The Red Lodge coal field, at the foot 
 of the Beartooth Mountains in Carbon 
 County, supplies fuel for the railway, for 
 the big smelter at Anaconda, and for a 
 
 
 
 large domestic trade. 
 
 In quality the Red Lodge coal is dis- 
 tinctly below most of the eastern coals 
 but compares favorably with many of the 
 Rocky Mountain coals. It shows a tend- 
 ency to slack on exposure to the weather 
 and consequently is classed by the United 
 
 between the bituminous and subbitumi- | 
 nous coals, Its heating value ranges irom | 
 10,570 to 11,440 British thermal units. 
 
 The field comprises only about 40 | 
 square miles, but the number and thick- 
 ness of the coal beds compensate in some} 
 degree for the small area. According} 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
SHEET NO. 13 
 108° MONTANA 
 
 
 
 N 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 Quaternary 
 1,100 Tertiary(?) 
 $00 
 600 
 Upper 
 600 Cretaceous 
 : a = \ Ws ~ a 
 ; Pee hs 
 1,300 nor JS No Br 
 FOX \ UA 
 “bbard CO 773000" wy 8H 
 a 2 b. ay ene i 
 a -@ on ¢ eg we el 
 2 ya’ SP ent Fa 
 , Da - ZA? Lk B 
 , eh Ss SS a 
 
 Sheet Wo /2 
 
 
 
 le dstone eo Qe 
 agie san 
 
 00 
 es to | inch 
 
 1§ 20Miles 
 20 25 30Kilometers 
 200 feet : Ra 
 MEAN SEA LEVEL 3 
 . are shown every 10 miles ras v 
 e spaced | mile apart ; c° 
 108° 
 
 ~ 
 
 ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED BY THE U.S5.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 L915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 £146 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 108%30’ 108° 
 EXPLANATION 
 Thickness 
 
 in feet 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 B Sandstone and shale (Lance formation) 1,100 Tertiary (?) 
 C Dark shale, marine deposit, (Bearpaw) 500 
 D Shale with some sandstone, fresh-water 
 
 deposits (Judith River formation) 600 
 
 FE Shale and sandstone, marine deposits Upper 
 (Claggett formation) 600 Cretaceous 
 
 F Sandstone (Kagle) S00| 
 Dark shale, marine deposit (Colorado) 1,300 ot 
 
 Sheet No 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 = ss eae we ( 
 @ WS / ao 
 . 5 yy ‘Mi 
 .. Fe eS O-\ B 
 == Cy i acto 
 : “ ine a 02 
 | ~» le 4s ee 
 
 1 
 Scale 500,000 
 = Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 \ 5 10 \ 20Miles 
 
 10 5 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers 
 PTO! Lr a cor Co ee Coe a Se See Wee On Sa on CS Pe OS er Ce eee Se eee ee Se eee Ca 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet , () 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL a 
 
 a v 
 x\ The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles ae 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart ig 
 
 108° 
 
 Mbbard Crna ee 
 
 SHEET NO. 13 
 MONTANA 
 
 OD Ree 
 
 ens Coes. Bea he i 
 In Sar“ Ww 5 
 Wee as oe : C 3 ae 
 } ‘ =.8 Cote { {4 , y Je mi 
 \\t at a0 NNW ce Ni e nf Kor 
 SAP IL ya 
 SS are } { Vee sx - oy a 
 : SY ony i MS 2 rT. mabe Rey > ay \ 
 { 2 Pps“) ra “) a) )\ J ae 2 a . P] 
 Py SC AeA 9) AL i ae ae ; 
 Sn Ge Ss yeas Of 
 , Nes { \¢ } A lar 
 
 ® 
 Loe os 
 ae Qe 
 an 
 oe 
 Qe 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S5.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 83 
 
 The traveler has now passed the axis of the great Pryor Mountain 
 anticline, which brings to light the Colorado shale south of Billings, 
 and the rocks dip gently and regularly toward the west. Under the 
 influence of this westward dip the shale (Colorado) visible in the bluffs 
 on the south side of the river soon passes below water level, and the 
 cliffs of sandstone (Eagle) on the north begin to approach the rail- 
 way. Near milepost 20 the cliff is about 2 
 miles distant and consists of three beds of 
 sandstone with intervening shale or soft sand- 
 stone, as shown in figure 11. As the dip is 
 low, only about 10°, the Eagle 
 sandstone approaches the 
 river slowly, but at milepost 
 25 it can be seen in the hills 
 on the south side of the river. 
 The top of the sandstone passes below water 
 level at a siding called Youngs Point, beyond Park City (see 
 sheet 14, p. 86), and here about 300 feet of shale and another 
 sandstone immediately overlying the Eagle are visible across the 
 river. These beds make up the lower part of the Claggett forma- 
 tion, which dips gently westward and gradually disappears be- 
 
 Park City. 
 
 Elevation 3,410 feet. 
 Population 903.* 
 St. Paul 915 miles. 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 11.—Eagle sandstone 
 north of Park City, Mont. 
 
 neath water level. 
 
 At milepost 32 all the white sandstone has 
 
 passed from view and the hill slopes are comprised of the over- 
 
 lying Judith River formation. 
 
 This 
 
 formation has no decided 
 
 
 
 to a section measured in the bluffs on 
 the east side of Rock Creek in and be- 
 low the town of Red Lodge and in the 
 mine workings there is 90 feet of coal in 
 beds 3 feet or more in thickness. The 
 beds vary greatly in size, being thicker 
 near Red Lodge than in any other part of 
 the field so far explored, but the quality 
 is smewhat better about Bear Creek, in 
 the eastern part. 
 
 These coal beds (in the Fort Union for- 
 mation) are made up of the same sort of 
 vegetation as the great lignite beds of 
 North Dakota, but being nearer to the 
 mountains the coal is of much better qual- 
 ity, for the reason given on page 71. The 
 coal beds dip from 10° to 20° toward the 
 southwest, or into the mountain, which is 
 separated from the coal field by an im- 
 mense fault. 
 
 Although mining at Red Lodge was be- 
 gun before 1882, it was conducted on a 
 small scale until 1889, when railway con- 
 ction was established and some large 
 
 
 
 
 mines opened. Since then the field has 
 been developed steadily until now it is 
 first in point of production in the State. 
 The coal production of Carbon County, 
 which includes the Red Lodge field, in 
 1913 amounted to 1,304,524 short tons. 
 
 It is estimated that the amount of coal 
 in the Red Lodge field before mining be- 
 gan was 1,691,800,000 short tons. If from 
 this is deducted 12,544,796 short tons, the 
 total amount mined to the end of 1913 (the 
 latest statistics yet compiled), and about 
 4,000,000 tons that was rendered unavail- 
 able through mining operations, there 
 would still remain about 1,675,000,000 
 short tons. Not all of this can be regarded 
 as minable, for in mining some coal is 
 almost always left in the ground or ren- 
 dered unavailable on account of breaking 
 down of the roof. According to present 
 practice only from 60 to 80 per cent of 
 the coal in the ground is mined, but as 
 methods improve more and more of the 
 coal will become available. 
 
84 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. . 
 characteristics by which it may be recognized and identified, but it 
 contains fewer beds of sandstone, and consequently makes smoothes 
 hill slopes than the underlying Claggett formation. The slopes com= 
 posed of the Judith River formation have a whitish-gray tint and are 
 rather monotonous in color and appearance. The rocks composing 
 the upper part of this formation are well exposed in Countrymans 
 Bluff, between mileposts 37 and 38. Here the rocks are undoubtedly 
 of fresh-water origin, as they contain numerous fragments of fossil 
 plants such as nati have been deposited only either on land or in 
 bodies of fresh water. f 
 The continued westward dip of the rocks brings the next higher 
 formation (Bearpaw shale) to water level in the vicinity of Columbus, 
 It can not be seen near the railway, but is well exposed 
 
 Columbus. a mile north of the town. This shale crops out in the 
 Blevation 3,624 feet. valley of Keyser Creek north of the railway and along 
 Cooee ts nies, the foot of the ridge that begins just across the river 
 from Columbus and extends southeastward as far as 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tm ees > UNion ESE, SS Terry : 
 Y ff y Witty mel a VON a rr 
 7 Uf 7, HM MUL EET | 
 
 ndesitic beds, / 
 CE FORMAT) : 
 GY  pirurayuite cexre vs OV CO er ee ; 
 
 Wii 
 Bi eee; 7 Sha a= = = 
 
 LT 
 
 FIGURE 12.—Cross section to illustrate the change in the formations between Terry and Livingston, ; 
 Mont. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ul YL 11101 eieth fiver formation — == frerre shale= ¢ 
 eee eee —— 
 LLL YW (iid ys Claggett formation —— = 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 the eye cansee. This ridge is composed of beds of light-colored sand- 
 
 been opened a mile north of Columbus, which furnishes a building 
 stone of great excellence. This stone has been used in the construe 
 tion of buildings in the neighboring towns and in the State capitol at 
 Helena. , 
 
 These sandstones cap Bensons Bluff, 24 miles west of Columbus, 
 and come down to water level near milepost 43. The dips here are 6° 
 to 8° to the west, but they flatten within a short distance and the 
 rocks are practically horizontal. : 
 
 The traveler may remember that at Terry he saw a wedge of som= 
 ber-colored shale and sandstone immediately overlying the Lance and 
 that the dark color of this wedge is due to the presence of voleani¢ 
 material, which was washed far to the east from its place of origin 
 somewhere near the Yellowstone Park. The relation of this wedge 
 of volcanic material to the adjacent formations is shown in figure 12 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 85 
 
 The train is now approaching the place of origin of this material. 
 The gray sandstone of the Lance forms most of the slopes at milepost 
 50, just beyond Merrill, and about 300 feet above the river the hills 
 have a brownish appearance which indicates that some other forma- 
 tion makes their upper slopes. After crossing the river the same rela- 
 tions may be observed, except that as the train moves westward the 
 brown Lebo shale can be seen at lower and lower levels, owing to the 
 sheht westward dip of the rocks. , 
 
 At Reed Point the white beds of the Lance extend up the slopes 
 only 100 to 150 feet, and above that all the rocks are brown. The 
 Lance probably goes under river level near milepost 
 60, and beyond that point the hillsides are much 
 eo smoother and the general tone of the rocks is brown, 
 
 ase 3 ' indicating that the Lebo shale forms the hills at 
 least for a height of 800 or 1,000 feet. 
 
 About three-fourths of a mile beyond milepost 63 a large dike, 
 visible on the right (north), cuts directly through the bedded rocks 
 in a direction nearly parallel with the railway. The dike is composed 
 of a dark igneous rock which was injected in a melted condition into 
 an extensive crack in the bedded rocks. It stands up like a wall, and 
 where it cuts across a bed of light-colored sandstone it is easily 
 recognized. 
 
 As the train rounds the curve at milepost 66, the traveler looking 
 forward and to the right can get his first good view of the Crazy 
 Mountains (originally called Crazy Woman Mountains). This 
 mountain group stands by itself in the plains and contains the first 
 high peaks which the traveler can see at close range. Its mode of 
 origin is described in the footnote beginning on page 86. 
 
 East of this place the volcanic material of the Lebo shale has been 
 so thoroughly washed and sorted by water that it is evenly bedded 
 like ordinary shale and friable sandstone, but near the mountains and 
 the source of supply this material is coarser and some of it has the ap- 
 pearance of being only a little modified by water after it was blown out 
 
 Reed Point. 
 
 of some old volcanic vent in the vicinity. Such material, known as 
 
 volcanic agglomerate, is composed of fragments of lava ranging from 
 
 minute pieces to blocks 4 feet in diameter. The agglomerate beds 
 
 have in general a warm gray tint, and a mass of such material gave 
 the name of Greycliff to a siding that was formerly located under the 
 cliff but now has been moved 3 miles to the west. The cliff is fully 
 
 100 feet high, but the base of the agglomerate is not exposed and 
 hence its full thickness may greatly exceed that amount. As it Is 
 
 reported to be 2,000 feet thick a few miles to the southwest, 1t seems 
 
 reasonably certain that the old volcano which furnished the material 
 was located in that direction, but no trace of it has been discovered. 
 
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 86 
 
 At Greycliff an upland stretching far to the north is visible across 
 the river on the right. This is underlain by light-colored sandstones 
 of the Fort Union formation, which show here and 
 there, giving to the surface a light-gray appearance. 
 As these rocks dip slightly westward, they should ap- 
 pear near railway level east of Big Timber, but no 
 such rocks occur near the track. This is due to the fact that on ap- 
 proaching Yellowstone Park more and more of the volcanic material 
 is present in the sandstones, giving to them a dark color that makes 
 
 Greycliff. 
 
 Elevation 3,940 feet. 
 St. Paul 963 miles. 
 
 them indistinguishable from the underlying Lebo.' 
 After passing Big Timber the traveler obtains on the right (north) 
 his best view of the Crazy Mountains,” an isolated 
 
 Big Timber. 
 
 Elevaticn 4,095 feet. 
 Population 1,022. 
 St. Paul 974 miles. 
 
 railway. 
 
 group of sawtoothed peaks which rise sharply to a 
 height of 6,000 feet above the generally even surface 
 of the plain and 7,000 feet above the level of the 
 
 Springdale (see sheet 15, p. 98) is the stopping place for those going 
 to Hunters Hot Springs, which are visible on the right at a distance 
 
 of about 14 miles. 
 Springdale. 
 
 Elevation 4,234 feet. 
 St. Paul 989 miles. 
 
 the white man. 
 
 These springs are reported to have’ 
 been well known to the Indians before the advent of 
 They were discovered in 1864 by 
 Dr. J. A. Hunter, who, with his family, was on his’ 
 
 way to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana. The springs 
 
 
 
 1The change in character of the ma- 
 terials composing the Fort Union may 
 not be apparent from the train, but north 
 of the Crazy Mountains, on Musselshell 
 River, all the formations from the Colo- 
 rado shale (the shale that is exposed 
 across the river from Billings) to the Fort 
 Union change toward the west to an an- 
 desitic mass in which formations are not 
 distinguishable. This mass is generally 
 known as the Livingston formation, and 
 when it was named it was supposed to be 
 younger than any formation so far de- 
 scribed and to rest unconformably on all 
 the older formations up to and including 
 the Fort Union. This idea was based on 
 its supposed relation to the other forma- 
 tions about Livingston and to the fact 
 that the fossil plants which it carries are 
 different from those in the Fort Union 
 and also in the underlying formations. 
 The anomalous character of the fossil flora 
 has not yet been explained, but the ap- 
 parent merging of the formations into one 
 great mass of andesitic material toward 
 the west is so apparent that it is now 
 
 | generally regarded as established that the 
 
 Livingston is not a separate formation, — 
 but a peculiar near-shore phase of the 
 other formations, produced by a great 
 supply of volcanic material from an up 
 land on the south. 4 
 
 2'The Crazy Mountains can not in any 
 sense be considered as a range, for in” 
 form they are merely a group of peaks and 
 in structure they are unlike any other 
 range in this part of the country. The 
 highest point, Crazy Peak, has an altitude 
 of 11,178 feet, or about 6,000 feet above 
 the general level of the plateau or benc 
 land at its foot. The Crazy Mountains 
 are therefore higher than many of the 
 more noted mountains of Montana, and_ 
 they are certainly more conspicuous on 
 account of their compactness and isola- 
 tion. 
 
 Structurally they have no relation to 
 the ranges of the Rocky Mountains, for 
 those ranges in general are formed of 
 upturned or faulted strata, whereas the 
 Crazy Mountains are merely the remains 
 of a great irregular mass, called a stock, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SHEET No. 14 
 MONTANA 
 
 pe NA, 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 in feet 
 
 Thickness | 
 Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 
 | 
 White sandstone and shale (wpper part of Fort Union 
 formation) 
 1,000 
 
 White sandstone and shale (middle part of Fort Union 
 formation) - é 
 
 Dark shale and sandstone composed largely of voleanic 
 materials (Lebo shale member of the Fort Union 
 formation) including volcanic agglomerate (C) 1,500 
 
 Sandstone and shale (Lance formation) 1,600 Tertiary(?) 
 Dark shale, marine deposit (Bearpaw). 900 AG é 
 
 Shale and sandstone, fresh-water deposits 
 (Judith River formation) 600 
 
 Sandstone and shale, marine deposits (Claggett formation) 600 eerie 
 Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Eagle sandstone) 200 
 
 Dark shale, marine deposit (Colorado) 1,300 
 
 Formations C, D, F, G, H, and'I change toward the west into dark volcanic 
 
 materials and near the western border of this area are grouped into the 
 Livingston formation 
 
 Sheet No. 43 
 
 
 
 BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 Lao 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 Sheet No./5 
 
 BULLETIN 611 | : ____ SHEET No. 
 ; | ae eo MONTANA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 109° 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 tream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 B White sandstone and shale (upper part of Fort Union 
 z formation) | 1,000 
 C White sandstone and shale (middle part of Fort Union z 
 formation) Tertiary 
 D Dark shale and sandstone composed largely of volcanic 
 materials (Lebo shale member of the Fort Union 
 formation) including voleanic agglomerate (C) 1,500 
 F Sandstone and shale (Lance formation) 1,600 Tertiary(7?) 
 6 
 zh G Dark shale, marine deposit (Bearpaw). 900 
 
 H Shale and sandstone, fresh-water deposits 
 
 (Judith River formation) 600 
 Upper 
 Sandstone and shale, marine deposits (Claggett formation) 600 Cretaceous 
 
 Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Eagle sandstone) 200 
 Dark shale, marine deposit (Colorado) 1,300 
 Formations ©, D, F, G, H, and‘I change toward the west into dark volcanic 
 
 materiais and near the western border of this area are grouped into the 
 Livingsion formation 
 
 Sheet No. /3 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 > ¢ ~\> OG 
 LU PS CREE SNe 1X j 
 s = a : ’ a f 
 * vies ») _ See . ee { 
 / F ) we me VU } 
 
 
 
 4 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 
 { ? 5 10 P \6 20Miles 
 
 lie (@, 5 iO 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 Cre Ger ere el Ee Eee Ee ee Ee See ane Ga eee ee ee ere 
 
 Contour interva! 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every JO miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 110° 7 -109°a0 suas y a 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED GY THE U.S.GECLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 
 
 87 
 
 discharge 90,000 gallons of water an hour at a temperature of 148° 
 to 168° F. 
 
 Beyond Springdale the river passes through a narrow gorge known 
 as McAdows Canyon. In this canyon the rocks, which are well 
 exposed, show many wrinkles or minor folds that were undoubtedly 
 formed by the upheaval of the great Absaroka Range, on the south. 
 The mountain range is high and rugged, indicating a youthful stage 
 in its development, for if the range were old it would have been worn 
 down by erosion and its rugged features would have been smoothed 
 and rounded off. Another proof that the Absaroka Range has been 
 recently formed is found in the fact that the rocks along its flanks 
 have been wrinkled and upturned by the same forces as those that 
 folded and raised the mountain rocks into their present positions. 
 From this it is evident that the mountains must have been formed 
 since the deposition of the youngest of the plains rocks, and as the 
 Fort Union formation, which is early Tertiary, is involved in the fold- 
 ing, the mountains must have been formed in middle or late Tertiary 
 time. 
 
 On the right (north) near milepost 103 a near-by view may be 
 obtained of the Sheep Cliffs, which, as seen from the train, are very 
 prominent. They are the result of an intrusion of molten lava 
 between beds of sedimentary rocks, probably from some of the dikes 
 
 
 
 of igneous rock that was forced in molten 
 condition into the soft shale and sand- 
 stone of the upper Mesozoic and lower 
 Tertiary formation. At the time this 
 great mass of igneous material pushed 
 into the soft sedimentary beds, the surface 
 must have been above the present top 
 of the mountains. J. P. Iddings, who has 
 given the most study to this mountain 
 mass, says that it is not at all certain that 
 the molten material ever poured over or 
 even reached the surface. It is exposed 
 to view now because the beds that once 
 covered it have gradually been washed 
 away by rain and streams. 
 
 The stock is 4 miles wide and 6 miles 
 long. It consists of a very coarse grained 
 diorite which disintegrates rapidly when 
 exposed to the weather. In this con- 
 dition it is easily eroded, and the slopes 
 are very steep, as can be seen from the 
 train. The present mountains are made 
 up not only of the igneous reck, but also 
 of the shale and sandstone into which it 
 was forced. These rocks were heated so 
 Intensely that the shale has been baked 
 into a porcelain-like mass that is very 
 
 hard and resists weathering much more 
 successfully than the duiorite. These 
 baked rocks form a zone nearly a mile 
 wide around the core. Through this zone 
 and beyond it the rocks have been cut 
 and hardened by a countless number of 
 dikes that radiate from the central mass 
 in all directions. Here and there the 
 molten matter has found an outlet be- 
 tween the beds of sandstone, resulting in 
 great sheets or sills of the hardened lava. 
 These are very dense and serve as pro- 
 tecting caps to the softer strata beneath. 
 The forcing of so much material between 
 the layers of the sedimentary rocks has 
 raised them up around the stock until 
 they dip from it in all directions. 
 
 Nearly the last stage in the evolution of 
 this group of mountains is the sculptur- 
 ing they have received from local gla- 
 ciers during the Great Ice Age. These 
 were so small that they did not even 
 coalesce and form an ice cap, but each 
 little glacier scoured out the valley in 
 which it lay and built a moraine at its 
 cuter end, where it came down nearly to 
 the level of the bench land. 
 
88 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 connected with the core of the Crazy Mountains. When this sheet of 
 igneous material was forced in between the beds they were in all 
 probability deep in the earth, but the cutting of the streams has 
 revealed the igneous rock, and owing to its superior hardness it stands 
 up almost like a mountain. 
 
 West of milepost 105 a glimpse can be obtained on the right, ahead, 
 of the highest part of the Bridger Range, which, though small, has a 
 very sharp crest and which separates the valley of the Yellowstone 
 from the headwaters of Missouri River on the west. The structure 
 and character of this range are illustrated by figure 17 (p. 98). 
 
 At Mission station a branch leaves the main line and after crossing 
 Yellowstone River follows up Shields River, so named by Capt. Clark 
 for a member of his party. This valley has the reputation of pro- 
 ducing some of the finest oats grown in the State. 
 
 Just before the train enters Livingston it crosses Yellowstone River 
 for the last time on the main line. Here the Yellowstone is a clear, 
 rushing mountain stream, very different from the turbid river farther 
 east. The traveler now comes face to face with the great mountain 
 wall that forms the north front of the Absarokas and can look up at 
 the commanding heights, which tower nearly a mile above him and 
 which during much of the year are covered with snow. 
 
 Livingston, originally called Clarks City, was named in honor of 
 Charles Livingston, of New York, one of the directors of the Northern 
 
 Pacific Railway. The main line of the road was fin- 
 Livingston. ished to this place on January 15, 1883, and the 
 Elevation 4,510 feet. branch line to Yellowstone Park, which now carries 
 a art tondate many thousands of tourists annually, began operation. 
 
 in August of the same year. Livingston is a division 
 terminal and essentially a railway town. 
 
 [The description of the route west of Livingston begins on page 94.] 
 LIVINGSTON TO GARDINER (YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK). 
 
 The train for Yellowstone Park, on leaving Livingston, turns to 
 the left (south) and heads directly for the mountains, through a wide 
 bottom which, though composed largely of gravel brought down by 
 the river, is mostly under a high state of cultivation. For some dis-_ 
 tance the rocks are not well exposed, as the railway is built on alluvial — 
 material (material laid down by running water) and the rocks can be | 
 seen only in the cut edge of a low terrace on the right (west). The 
 formations are upturned against the mountains at an angle of about. 
 20°, and as the railway runs at right angles to their upturned edges 
 the train passes them in quick succession. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 89 
 
 The main outer range which forms the gateway through which the 
 train enters the mountains is composed of very old (Paleozoic) rocks, 
 chiefly limestone, shale, and quartzite.’ 
 
 The great mountain mass beyond this outer range is anticlinal in 
 structure; that is, it once formed an immense arch. The top of the 
 arch is eroded and the traveler can not see the formations rising on 
 one side of the fold, curving over the top, and descending on the 
 other side, but they once formed such an arch, and the flanks and 
 
 
 
 1 The smooth slopes of the terrace on the 
 west are composed of the Eagle sandstone, 
 which is not well exposed and probably 
 not recognizable from the train, and the 
 underlying dark shale of the Colorado, 
 which is well exposed south of Billings. 
 The relation of the various beds can be 
 better understood by consulting figure 
 13, which shows the rocks as the traveler 
 sees them on the right. Opposite mile- 
 post 3 are sandstone and red shale, which 
 underlie the dark shale of the Colorado. 
 
 
 
 The next formation to attract attention 
 consists of a great mass of limestone, which 
 makes the mountain front and which is 
 one of the most conspicuous sedimentary 
 formations in the Rocky Mountain region. 
 It will be seen many times on the trip and 
 the traveler will doubtless learn to recog- 
 nize it wherever seen. This thick-bedded 
 formation is of early Carboniferous age and 
 is known as the Madison limestone. It 
 makes the front of the mountain on the 
 east side of the river as far as the eye can 
 
 These beds constitute one of the most re- | see and on the west side for a distance of 
 
 oo =~ 
 ee ee 1a) Sa 
 ~ 
 
 =o. 
 ree 
 
 ee 
 
 RAILROAD Peres 
 
 
 
 
 
 ~ “ y AA : SS X ~~ 
 N <“ < SEONG REESE RSS SENSES 
 SSX Ss SS Sea SA KH » ans RE Woes aS SS 
 y NASSSSS me LASS Oe CIOS KS LES 
 foe SS 7, J ON ues AORN X~ OS SESS SSS 
 ae SAN nee RS SENSE SERS SS 
 \ \ ASN Me ¥ aie \VN& oN PSN AR Se 
 3h STAN / } rn MESES Se 
 > rN ts SOS SSS “A = INS SS Ss 
 . . > ne Cenk Des Ais Ca a a ells: 
 Spat a atten a 
 
 erty, eT NC 
 
 FIGURE 13.—Cross section showing the rim of the mountains south of Livingston, Mont. ‘The rocks were 
 crowded together until they bent into great folds, which later broke, resulting in overthrust faults. 
 
 sistant formations of the plains and on the 
 
 Je of the river they make a hogback 
 ridg \ rhich is a fine example of its kind. 
 This formation was at one time regarded 
 asthe Dakota sandstone, but isnow known 
 
 to be the Kootenai, of Lower Cretaceous 
 
 age. It is the same formation as that 
 carrying the coal beds at Sand Coulee and 
 Belt, southeast of Great Falls, but in the 
 vicinity of Livingston no coal has yet 
 been found in it. Below the Kootenai 
 there are shale and limestone containing 
 fossil sea shells of Jurassic age. 
 
 7 or 8 miles. Its base can be seen about 
 4% miles south of Livingston, or just 
 opposite the county bridge across the 
 river. Beneath the Madison is a great 
 mass of shale, limestone, and quartz- 
 ite embracing formations of Devonian, 
 Silurian, and Cambrian age, but as 
 these various formations can not be 
 distinguished from the train they will 
 not be described in detail. Some of 
 these are very old rocks, even older 
 than the St. Peter sandstone, which was 
 seen at St. Paul. 
 
90 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 core of it still remain to tell the story to the geologist. There are on 
 the flanks of the large fold a number of small folds, and the rocks 
 that have just been described constitute such a wrinkle. This 
 minor fold, as shown in the section (fig. 13), has been pushed over 
 toward the south beyond the vertical, so that the beds on the south 
 side dip toward the anticline instead of away from it, as they would 
 had they not been overturned. This fold is bounded on the south 
 
 by a fault (a break in the rocks), and near Brisbin it 
 Brisbin. is succeeded by a smaller fold of the same type. The 
 elninaha ey itiees Madison limestone making the core of this smaller 
 
 ' ' fold forms the high, straight ridge or spur that 
 trends at right angles to the railway. Beyond this ridge there are 
 traces of another kind of fold—a trough or syncline which lies at the 
 base of the limestone ridge and extends far to the northwest where 
 it contains the Trail Creek coal field. Coalis being mined from Cre- 
 taceous rocks in this syncline at the present time, but the product 
 of the mines reaches the railway on the other side of Bozeman Pass. 
 
 Beyond Brisbin the rocks on the west forming the Gallatin Range 
 are made up of volcanic materials, some of which consist of fine frag- 
 ment (tuffs) blown out of some crater with explosive violence or of 
 coarse angular blocks derived from the same source or from the 
 breaking up of partly cooled lava flows. 
 
 The rocks on the east side of the valley from Deep Creek, opposite 
 Brisbin, on the north to Mill Creek on the south are very ancient 
 eneiss and schist. This great mass of crystalline rock constitutes the 
 central part of the large anticline already described, from which all 
 the younger sedimentary formations have been removed by erosion. - 
 Traces of the sandstones and limestones that once constituted the 
 south flank of the fold are to be found up Mill Creek, but they are- 
 so badly faulted and covered with volcanic breccia (rock composed 
 of angular fragments) that they can not be easily recognized from” 
 the train. The most prominent peak in this part of the valley is” 
 Mount Cowen, which has an altitude of 11,190 feet and stands 6,400° 
 feet above the bottom of the valley. 
 
 As far as milepost 16 the railway is on the flat surface of a terrace 
 50 to 75 feet above river level. This was formed by the glaciers that, 
 long ago, came down Yellowstone and Mill Creek 
 valleys and joined near the village of Chicory. The 
 streams flowing from the melting ice carried large 
 quantities of gravel and sand and dropped them in 
 the open valley, filling it to a considerable depth. Since the ice 
 melted away the river has cut a deep channel in this filling, leavin 
 remnants of it here and there in the form of terraces. As the terrace 
 was built only below the limit of the glacier, the railway is forced, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chicory. 
 
 Elevation 4,872 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,028 miles. 
 
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 avd ANOLSMOTISA OL HOVOUddY NYSHLYON SHL ONIGUYVYNS TANILNAS SHL ‘WVdd LNVYSINS 
 
 
 
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 AX Aalvid [LO NILATING AZAYNS 1WOIDO103D “Ss 'N 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. Q] 
 
 opposite the mouth of Mill Creek, to leave the terrace and descend 
 to the valley bottom on which lay the great mass of ice. 
 
 In the vicinity of Emigrant there is a thin sheet of basalt (a dark 
 massive volcanic rock) capping the terrace on the right. This rock 
 
 exhibits the vertical columnar structure common to 
 Emigrant. such material, and it is probable that the several 
 oe 4,887 feet. masses of basalt which can be seen up the canyon are 
 
 . Paul 1,031 miles. RY 
 
 parts of one lava flow that originated somewhere in 
 the park and extended down the valley as far as this place. It can 
 be followed on the right for 3 miles, but beyond that it has been eroded 
 for some distance, leaving no trace of its presence. 
 
 In the vicinity of Emigrant the most prominent topographic fea- 
 ture is Emigrant Peak (Pl. XIV), which dominates the entire valley. 
 From the train this appears to be an isolated mountain, but the map 
 shows that it is merely a prominent spur projecting from the moun- 
 tain mass. The peak has an altitude of 10,960 feet, and its summit 
 stands 6,000 feet above the valley. The base of the peak is composed 
 of old gneiss, a rock which the traveler will have a good chance to 
 see at close range farther up the canyon, and its summit of the 
 andesitic breccia and lava flows that at one time probably almost 
 engulfed the range on the east and completely submerged that on the 
 west. At milepost 24 the high, sharp summits of the Gallatin Range 
 show on the right (west), but they are neither so rugged nor so im- 
 posing as the peaks on the east. 
 
 The sheet of basalt capping the terrace on the right in the vicinity 
 of Emigrant disappears for a mile or more, but opposite milepost 28 
 it reappears on the other side of the river, capping a finely developed 
 terrace at a height of about 150 feet above the river. 
 
 _ At Daileys, a little farther on, a complete section of the rocks 
 forming the terrace can be seen, and these rocks record an entirely 
 : new chapter in the geologic history of this region. 
 Daileys. They consist of white marl and conglomerate over- 
 Elevation 4,941 feet. Jain by dark gravel and the whole covered with the 
 St. Paul 1,039 miles. 
 
 sheet of basalt that was poured out upon the surface 
 as molten lava. The white materials are known, from their compo- 
 sition and the fossils they contain, to have been deposited in a lake 
 or lakes in Miocene or Pliocene time. A brief description of these 
 lake beds is given on page 113. 
 
 The sheet of basalt capping the terrace can be followed as far as 
 milepost 33, but from that point nearly to the entrance to the park 
 the terrace and the basalt are not present. At Point of Rocks, only 
 a short distance farther on, the traveler can obtain a good idea of the 
 kind of material composing a volcanic breccia, for the railway cuts 
 through a projecting point of the breccia and it can be seen at close 
 
92 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 range. Here it is tinted a deep, rich red, which adds a warmth and 
 beauty to the otherwise somber mountain slope. 
 
 At Miner the river valley makes an abrupt bend to the southeast 
 and the rocks on the right show clearly the smoothing action of the 
 glacier that once passed over them. Each project- 
 ing mass of rock has been rounded and smoothed, 
 especially on the upriver side, which the glacier 
 struck first in its course down the valley. 
 
 A short distance above Miner the stream passes through a narrow 
 rugged canyon, the walls of which are composed of gneiss and show 
 clearly the intricate folds into which this rock has been bent and the 
 character of the different layers composing it. Through most of this 
 canyon the tracks are on the very brink of the river channel, and the 
 traveler can look down on the left into the boiling flood which dashes 
 and foams about the bowlders that have fallen into it from the rocky 
 slopes above. The grade through this canyon is very steep, but the 
 gorge is short and the slope of the valley beyond is more gentle. 
 
 At Corwin Springs is a hotel for the accommodation of those 
 who wish to use the hot waters. Above this place Cinnabar Moun- 
 
 tain, on the west, is the most conspicuous object, 
 Corwin Springs. byt the wonderful structure of the mountaim and 
 Elevation 5,133 feet. its peculiar appearance can not be fully appreciated 
 St. Paul 1,055 miles. : : : 
 
 until the traveler reaches Electric. Cinnabar Moun- 
 tain was named in the early days, when the bright-red streak that 
 marks it from top to bottom was supposed to be due to the mineral 
 cinnabar, a red ore of mercury. It is now known that this red 
 streak, called the Devil’s Slide, is a bed of shale and that there is 
 no cinnabar in the mountain. Almost the entire geologic column 
 of this part of Montana is here exposed, and the rocks are turned 
 up on edge so that they can be studied without the exertion of 
 making a difficult chmb. The oldest rocks are seen first, as one 
 aseunde the valley, and then others come in orderly succession, 
 ranging from Cambrian to Upper Cretaceous. 
 
 Miner. 
 
 Elevation 5,021 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,045 miles. 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘The geologic section exposed at geeks: if Minced in its correct position, woul , 
 
 be as follows: Weel 
 Montana formation (Upper Cretaceous)...........- Ay avn bb Ce 955 
 Colorado shale (Upper Cretaceous). =<. .2..2. .- 225 eee 2,770 
 Kootenai formation (Lower Cretaceous)....................------ 577 
 Morrison formation (Jurassic or Cretaceous)................------- 185 
 Ellis formation. urassic) 2.3) sod. 2c sce oe eee ae. oe 277 
 Quadrant formation (Carboniferous).......<+----.-...0. 02s seeee 200 
 Madison limestone (Carboniferous)...........0...2.. 20-0 eee 1, 500 
 Threeforks shale (Devonian)... 74. 2c. ...s ss.) Stee 240 
 Jefferson limestone (Devonian). 2202 100. 3.0 de eee oe 200 
 Cambrian .cés .iesce fd. da alts eae. sets. Sek Jee ee ~ 700 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 93 
 
 The town of Electric was established and extensive coal mines 
 were opened at this place a number of years ago by the Montana 
 Coal & Coke Co. Some of the mines were opened 
 directly back of the town and some near the town 
 but on the other side of the mountain, and the 
 coal was brought to the tipple by an aerial tramway. 
 The coal is of excellent quality, apparently having been improved 
 by the heat of igneous intrusions or by the intense pressures devel- 
 oped when the rocks were thrown into the great folds that are so 
 apparent to-day, but the cost and difficulties of mining caused the 
 undertaking to be abandoned.' 
 
 At Electric station Electric Peak (elevation 11,000 feet), one of 
 the highest mountains in the vicinity, may be seen on the right. The 
 peak was so named because of a severe electric storm during its 
 ascent by members of the Hayden Survey in 1872. One of the men 
 was severely shocked, and all the others experienced prickly sensa- 
 tions as if they were receiving the discharge from an electric machine. 
 
 Electric. 
 
 Elevation 5.185 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,057 miles. 
 
 The station and coal field took their names from the mountain. 
 
 
 
 1 The coal beds in this field are prob- 
 ably the same as those mined in the 
 Trail Creek field and at Bridger, near 
 Red Lodge, and formerly mined exten- 
 sively at Cokedale, west of Livingston, 
 but the coal of the Electric field is 
 probably the best in Montana. The coal 
 beds occur near the base of the Montana 
 formation, probably in the Eagle sand- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 sills of igneous rocks as to be scarcely 
 identifiable. As shown by the map 
 (sheet 15) and the section (fig. 14), the 
 rocks are nearly flat in the southern part 
 of the block, but are sharply upturned at 
 the north end, forming Cinnabar Moun- 
 tain. The great block of strata consti- 
 tuting the coal field is bounded on all 
 sides by faults, and within this block 
 
 \ Devils Slide 
 
 FIGURE 14.—Diagram showing the structure of Cinnabar Mountain, Mont. 
 
 stone. The coal field consists of a great 
 block of the earth’s crust, containing not 
 only the Cretaceous coal-bearing rocks 
 but also all the older formations known 
 in the region. This block of strata 
 extends from Cinnabar Mountain (Yel- 
 lowstone River) on the north to Electric 
 Peak on the south, but in the south end 
 the formation is so altered by dikes and 
 
 another and small block has been broken 
 from the larger mass and dropped about 
 1,000 feet. The smaller block contains 
 the coal mine directly back of the 
 town of Electric. Practicaliy all the 
 coal mined in this field was coked, the 
 market being chiefly the smelters at 
 Butte and Anaconda. The heating value 
 of the coal is 12,270 British thermal units. 
 
94 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Above Electric bowlders of dark basalt and the outcropping edge 
 of a sheet of similar material on the far side of the river indicate that 
 a stream of basaltic lava once flowed down the river valley at least 
 as far as Emigrant. Since it solidified the river has cut most of it 
 away, leaving the two or three remnants noted. 
 
 At Gardiner the traveler has arrived at the northern entrance to 
 
 Yellowstone Park. Descriptions of the park and the 
 Gardiner. principal routes through it are given in other Govern- 
 Elevation 5,287 feet. ment and private publications. The railroad route 
 cr Paatt O62 mites, 0 Yellowstone, Mont., the western entrance to the 
 
 park, is described in Survey Bulletin 612 (Guidebook 
 of the western United States, Part B). 
 
 MAIN LINE WEST OF LIVINGSTON. 
 
 As the train leaves Livingston for the continuation of the westward 
 journey, an excellent view can be obtained on the south of the entrance 
 to the valley of the upper Yellowstone, sometimes called the ‘‘gate 
 of the mountains.” West of Livingston the railway crosses the 
 northern point of the Gallatin Range at Bozeman Pass. This pass 
 was discovered by Capt. Clark, who crossed the summit on his return 
 journey July 15, 1806. He expressed surprise at the ease with which 
 he passed from the Gallatin Valley on the west to that of the Yellow- 
 stone on the east. Although this is a low summit and an easy one 
 to cross with a wagon or on foot, it offered a considerable obstacle to 
 the railway, as it involved a climb from Livingston of 996 feet in 12.2 
 miles. Originally the railway followed the creek with an easy grade 
 nearly to its head and then reached the summit by a very steep ascent, 
 but a few years ago a new roadbed having a regular grade from 
 Livingston to the summit at Muir was established. 
 
 The mountain side on the left (south) presents many interesting 
 features, especially to one not familiar with mountains. Early in 
 the summer light-green grassy slopes interspersed with patches of 
 brush or groves of aspen extend partway up the mountain to the forest 
 of evergreen trees that thrives upon the upper slopes. At the lower 
 margin of the forest the trees appear singly or in groups, but higher up 
 they cover the entire surface with their dense foliage. Here and there 
 are the marks of old burns in which the tree trunks stand out as 
 whitened skeletons that later fall headlong in a hopeless tangle and 
 then are concealed by the second growth of trees. Late in the sum- 
 mer the lower slopes may be brown, but with the coming of the early 
 frosts the woods are bright with color, the soft yellow of the aspens, 
 blending with the reds and browns of the scrub maple and the oak. 
 The lower limit of the timber, which seems to be fairly definite, is not 
 
 | 
 
 . 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 95 
 
 controlled directly by the altitude but by the greater precipitation 
 on the mountain slopes than on the plains below them. 
 
 Along the new grade many exposures of the Livingston formation 
 can be seen in the deep cuts. It consists of chocolate-colored shale 
 ‘and sandstone of a lighter shade but still showing a brownish tinge, 
 which is due to the fragments of volcanic matter of which it is com- 
 posed. The beds are somewhat wrinkled and disturbed but generally 
 dip to the right, away from the mountain, at an angle of about 20°! 
 
 About half a mile beyond milepost 121, in a deep cut, two dikes 
 of igneous rock are exposed cutting directly across the bedded sand- 
 stone and shale. In places where such dikes have cut through coal 
 beds, or have taken the form of a sheet or sill below the coal, as illus- 
 trated in figure 15, the heat of the molten rock has changed the 
 coal, the resultant material depending upon the conditions attending 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 15.—Dike cutting coal bed and sill intruded in a position to affect the quality of the coal. 
 
 the intrusion. If air is present, the coal will burn out completely; 
 if only a moderate amount of air is available, natural coke will be 
 formed; and if little or no air is present, the coal will be baked into 
 anthracite. Anthracite produced in this manner occurs in Colorado, 
 New Mexico, and Washington. 
 
 After a long climb the summit is reached at Muir, a station at the 
 east end of the Bozeman tunnel, which has a length of 3,610 feet. 
 The summit of the pass is only a few hundred feet 
 above the level of the railway. Beyond the tunnel 
 the Eagle sandstone, which was seen back of Billings 
 and again obscurely at Livingston, carries coal beds 
 which have been prospected and mined at various places west of 
 Livingston. As a general rule the coal crops out along the base of 
 
 Muir. 
 
 Elevation 5,506 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,020 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 As the rocks dip away from the moun- 
 tains, as shown in figure 13 (p. 89), lower 
 formations than those exposed in the rail- 
 way cuts appear toward the south. These 
 lower rocks include the coal-bearing 
 formation which crops out in a continuous 
 band from Livingston across the summit 
 to Chestnut. This formation overlies the 
 Colorado shale and is about equivalent to 
 the Eagle sandstone which is so prominent 
 in the rim rock back of Billings. In most 
 
 places the formation is only 100 feet thick, 
 but about Livingston the sandstone with 
 its accompanying shale beds is about 
 1,000 feet thick. 
 
 Formerly the Cokedale mine, one of the 
 most productive in the State, was in oper- 
 ation about 7 miles west of Livingston and 
 coke was manufactured from part of the 
 coal, but the mine has been abandoned 
 for a number of years and the railway 
 spur leading to it has been removed. 
 
96 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 the mountain on the south, and the remains of old mines can be 
 seen on both sides of the track as far as Chestnut. The coal is of 
 
 good quality, but on account of the heavy percentage 
 Chestnut. of ash and the expense of mining, all of these opera- 
 Elevation 5,270 feet. tions have ceased. Just east of Chestnut, however, 
 ct pant 10et tailes, © branch line turns to the left up Meadow Creek 
 
 and goes southeastward across the summit to the 
 Trail Creek field, in which mining is still carried on. 
 
 About a mile pevond Chestnut the railway cuts through the poi 
 of a closely folded anticline in which the Madison limestone forms 
 the core, as shown in figure 16. (See Pl. XV,p. 91.) The exposures 
 are not good enough for the traveler to see all the formations that 
 are involved in the fold, but after passing some coal beds he may 
 see sandstone with red shale (Kootenai, Lower Cretaceous), and then 
 on his right hand a broad band-of the same red shale as that which 
 _ produces the Devil’s Slide at Electric. These rocks are standing 
 vertical. Next comes the Madison limestone (Carboniferous), which 
 is the oldest rock exposed. This 
 oN massive limestone is dissolved 
 \ and cut by the streams into 
 curious towers and pinnacles, 
 and by the exercise of his im- 
 agination the traveler may see 
 resemblances to almost any 
 form he desires. West of thi 
 maze of sculptured towers and 
 FIGURE 16.—Vertical fold in Madison limestone west of crags the rocks that were seen 
 
 pes apian ke on the east side of the fold a 
 crossed in reverse order. This fold, although small in comparison 
 with those that make up the mountains, may give the traveler some 
 idea of the great forces which have crumpled the rocky crust of the 
 earth ike paper. No formation is massive enough to resist them. 
 
 At milepost 136 the train emerges from the narrow defile of Rocky 
 Canyon and the traveler obtains his first view of the Gallatin Valley. 
 On the left between mileposts 137 and 138 are a few old buildings that 
 once constituted a part of Fort Ellis, an important military post 
 during the Indian wars. This post was established by order of Gen 
 
 Terry in 1867 and abandoned in 1887. A little 
 Bozeman. farther on the train arrives at Bozeman, one of the 
 Elevation 4,773 feet. oldest and most prosperous agricultural towns in the 
 st Paul tom mies, State. Here in the heart of the Rocky Mountains 
 ) surrounded on all sides and protected by high range: 
 is the Gallatin Valley, which is widely known on account of the fine 
 farms it contains and the excellent and diversified crops it, produce 
 The Montana State Agricultural College, situated at Bozeman, ha 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DISON 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 = 
 
 
 
 MA 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 97 
 
 assisted materially in the prosperity of the region by the introduction 
 of scientific methods of farming and of handling the crops. 
 
 It seems rather strange that a part of the State so far removed 
 from the regular westward routes of early travel and so walled in by 
 the mountains should have been one of the first to be occupied by 
 settlers. This was doubtless due to the description of the valley 
 given by Capt. Clark, who discovered it in 1806. The first effort of 
 the whites to obtain a foothold here was made by fur traders in the 
 vicinity of Three Forks, on Missouri River, but that region, like 
 Kentucky in the early days, was the common hunting and fighting 
 ground of many Indian tribes, and the trading posts were soon 
 swept away. 
 
 The first permanent settlement in the valley was made by John M. 
 Bozeman, for whom the town was named, and a party of settlers 
 whom he led into the valley in 1864. Another pioneer who entered 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1Of all the men who renounced the 
 conventionalities of civilization and 
 cast their lot with the fur traders and 
 trappers of the West, one of the most 
 remarkable was James Bridger. He was 
 well known to almost every western 
 explorer and settler in the first half of 
 the nineteenth century, but there are 
 few written records of the man himself 
 or of his many wanderings from Mexico 
 on the south to the British possessions 
 on the north. He was born in March, 
 1804. His father, who was a poor tavern 
 keeper in Richmond, Va., moved to 
 St. Louis in 1812, and so the boy grew 
 up in the stirring atmosphere of romance 
 and adventure of what was then the very 
 edge of the great ‘“‘Wild West.”’ It is 
 therefore of little wonder that at the age 
 of 18 he joined a party under William 
 Ashley to go to the mountains to hunt 
 beaver for the Rocky Mountain Fur Co., 
 which was organized in 1822 at St. Louis. 
 By 1832 he had become a resident partner 
 in this company and was generally 
 recognized as a leader among the explorers 
 and Indian traders of the time. 
 
 In the years from 1822 to 1870 Bridger 
 roamed the country from Montana to 
 Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains 
 to the Pacific coast, but his headquarters 
 were at a trading post built by him on 
 the Black Fork of Green River, Wyo., 
 enerally known as Fort Bridger. It is 
 
 95558°—Bull. 611—15——7 
 
 i 
 
 the same year was James Bridger,’ one of the best-known guides, fur 
 
 said that he was the first white man to 
 see Great Salt Lake (in the winter of 
 1824-25), but this statement has never 
 been fully substantiated. 
 Unquestionably Bridger played a most . 
 important part in the exploration of the 
 
 West, and his chief claim for recognition 
 
 by posterity will rest upon this service. 
 He was probably the best guide in this 
 region and his services were sought by 
 almost every leader of an exploring 
 expedition in the Rocky Mountains. 
 Capt. Gunnison says: ‘‘With a buffalo 
 hide and a piece of charcoal he will map 
 out any portion of this immense region 
 and delineate mountains, streams, and 
 circular valleys, called ‘holes,’ with 
 wonderful accuracy.’”’ His name has 
 been perpetuated in many of the natural 
 features of the region, but the interesting 
 personality of the man is largely lost in 
 the hazy distance of a rapidly vanishing 
 past. 
 
 Of James Bridger’s last years little is 
 known except that on losing his eyesight 
 in 1870 he retired to a farm which he had 
 previously purchased at Washington, 
 Mo., about 5 miles east of Kansas City. 
 Here the once eagle-eyed frontiersman 
 lived in almost total blindness until his 
 death July 17, 1881. Some years ago 
 his body was rescued from an unnamed 
 grave and a marble shaft was erected 
 over his last resting place, 
 
98 CUTE Oe OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 traders, and scouts of the Rocky Mountain region from 1830 to 1870. 
 His visit here is perpetuated by the names Mette! Range, Bridger 
 Peak, and Bridger Creek. 
 
 Recently an effort has been made to apply the name Sacajaweal 
 Peak to one of the peaks in the Bridger Range, in honor of the Indian 
 woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark in their journey to the 
 Pacific coast and return and who guided Clark Caer the Bozeman 
 Pass. 
 
 The Bridger Range, which is a: conspicuous feature from ihe 
 vicinity of Belgrade, consists of the upturned edges (see fig. 17) of 
 
 “thé rocks of the Great Plains and so is really the 
 
 Belgrade. Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. On its east 
 Elevation 4,467 feet. side are the Cretaceous and Jurassic formations that 
 eee ee inites, Were seen above Livingston, and the crest of the 
 3 range is made up of the massive and resistant Madi- 
 
 son and associated limestones of Paleozoic age. On the western. 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 17 .—Upturned Madison limestone and associated rock$, forming the Bridger ee Mont., | 
 looking north. { 
 
 slope gneiss similar to that seen on the road to Gardiner and argillite 
 (hard shale) and sandstone of the Belt series are exposed, but within 
 a short. distance these rocks are buried beneath the soft clay and 
 sand of the Tertiary lake beds. The Gallatin Valley, like that of the 
 Yellowstone and also other intermountain valleys of Montana, at one 
 time in the past was occupied by a lake. Into this lake were washed 
 clay, sand, and gravel from the surrounding uplands and volcani¢ 
 ash blown out from the craters of active volcanoes in the vicinity. 
 The ash had the appearance of white dust, being composed of fine 
 particles of glassy lava. On account of the abundance of volcanic 
 ash the sediments deposited in this lake have a light color, which is 
 readily recognized even at a distance of several miles. 1 
 At Central Park the railway crosses West Gallatin River and on 
 the left is a beautiful rolling upland country, every 
 
 Central Park. acre of which is under good cultivation. This upland 
 Elevation 4,324 feet. iS on the lake beds and rises toward the southwest, 
 1 Pan! L0t7 mites, With the rise of the beds composing it, to a height of 
 at least 500 feet above the railway. Near Manhattan 
 
 (see sheet 16, p. 112) a branch line turns to the left (south) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 /¢ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AVC SHEET Ne 
 
 1O"30" 2 oD SESTSAINE Ta 
 ap aote\ MONTANA 
 Tregloan Oe ‘ : y N ra ) a \. y pakie \ 
 
 
 
 wf 
 ow 
 
 Sheet No, /4 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 ae. ~ Thickness 
 LE in feet 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium ) 
 and glacial drift Quaternary 
 B White clay and volcanic ash 
 (lake beds) x 200 Late Tertiary 
 C Dark sandstone and shale,| Early Tertiary 
 mainly volcanic material 7,000 -and late Cre- 
 
 (Livingston formation) J taceous 
 Y}D Sandstone and shale, with coal 
 759) Upper 
 
 
 
 _ beds (Kagle sandstone) Grataecous 
 Dark shale, (Colorado) 3,700) ss a 
 Sandstone and red shale, _* Lower 
 
 E ~ (Kootenai formation) 500 Cretaceous 
 Impure limestone and shale ; 
 | {Ellis formation) 460 Jurassic 
 (Quartzite and impure limestone } 
 
 H (Quadrant formation) 4007 Carboniferous 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 assive blue limestone (Madison) 1,500) 
 Shale and shaly limestone ) 
 
 ‘Threeforks shale) ( 440 Devonian 
 K <Dark limestone (Jefferson )) 
 Limestone (Gallatin) 
 herahee and shale f 885 Cambrian 
 
 (Flathead quartzite); 
 
 L Sandstone, conglomerate, slate, 
 and sandy limestone (Relt series ) 5,000 Algonkian 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lava flows, basalt ' _ Tertiary or later 
 Lava flows and intrusive masses, 
 mainly andesite Tertiary 
 ‘.U _ Dikes of various kinds of igneous meal 
 
 422 we 
 
 TIGNAL__ PARK 
 a ston) 
 Vn ivi 
 

 
 
 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 
 
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 ZO) hs _. x EXPLANATION 
 . Ip Y (OH Emigrant By <i j a i ; 
 SWI Q OF if EL. 4887, AN = Ta Thickness 
 a> o) eo “dies K-41 in feet 
 Sat = “fee A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 | ee ot ae and glacial drift Quaternary 
 |B White clay and volcanic ash 
 (ake beds) 2 200 Late Tertiary 
 C Dark sandstone and shale,| Early Tertiary 
 mainly volcanic material 7,000 <and late Cre- 
 (Livingston formation) J) taceous 
 , D Sandstone and shale, with coal U 
 LIL SENT NWS _ beds (Bagie sandstone) 750 pper 
 Jee MINN f : Cretaceous 
 ~ .Miferal Peg shale, (Colorado) 3, 706 
 4 — ae YES _ erg pare oe red shale, ae dhe 
 ll aN ? (K ormation) 5 retaceous 
 Scale 500,000 Si Minter <p WALK Fase Gerad eee shale 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch Lie 4 C7 yess ee CORK \ {Ells formation) 460 Jurassic 
 12 5 10 Miles DS) LAP \ Dp ta \ (Quartzite and impure limestone 7 
 Sphinx ye vomes H + (Quadrant formation) 400; Carboniferous 
 
 10 5 10 iS 20 Kilometers. ry Be oS SW Hille Massive blue limestone (Madison) 1,500) 
 VACA allan Sal Shale and shaly limestone 
 
 ‘Threeforks shale) ( 440 Devonian 
 
 Ce Se a a ee ee er es War GC eC Ce 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ww imestone (Jefferson) 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL = ; poke Pokege Soe uSrEon ) 
 ; 3 Pp jLumestone (Gallatin 
 had = Ae , ; © hwy 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 mile "aber Sale leech te and shale f 8385 -Cambrian 
 : @sin kt « (Flathead quartzite)) 
 oy" Yh = ~ 
 | og Sse Sandstone, conglomerate, slate, 
 WAST irre and sandy limestone (Belt series) 5,000 Algonkian 
 VMs ASF if Q Lava flows, basalt : ’ _ Tertiary or later 
 Hh Dp CS AT Lava flows and intrusive masses, | 
 iis Hee We SN I mainly andesite Tertiary 
 N DAR Re Sp U , Dikes of various kinds of igneous rocks} —_- 
 IOI 18 AAT Sn a EN QNAL__ PARK 
 
 
 
 
 at y pe . “ft \ 
 
 SHE SA ANY VS Wann 2 i 
 WN 2 ae WSK) CE Ke Alkimluny Rea NONese 
 \ Pes a Pale Sat yh pee MN Ne bm RAS RE Zot 
 as Ele rt amy ak Mo rede Sy gt ING SSBC 
 ial ie 
 
 
 

 
 o 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 99 
 
 Anceney. The plain continues northwestward almost as far as Logan, 
 
 Sten hattah. and throughout that distance the only rocks which 
 Elevation 4,255 feet. 2% exposed are the gravel and sand of the river 
 Population 570.* flood plain and the slightly more indurated materials 
 
 St. Paul 1,052 miles. of the old lake beds. 
 Near Logan the whole of the Paleozoic succession present in this 
 region is exposed across Gallatin River, on the north. The first rocks 
 4 to be seen are those of the Belt series (Algonkian), 
 Logan. ’ which are so far away that their character can not be 
 Elevation 4,114 feet. determined from the train,’ but the traveler, in the 
 St Paul 1,057 raites, course of his journey farther west will see this series 
 in many places and will have opportunity to study it 
 at close range. The rocks across the river near Logan constitute the 
 southeastern limb of a great synclinal trough (sce fig. 25, p. 116) and 
 therefore dip toward the northwest, or away from the observer. The 
 next system above the Algonkian is the Cambrian, which is repre- 
 sented by two formations. The lower one (Flathead) is composed 
 mostly of shale and sandstone, but includes a layer of massive lime- 
 stone through which the railway passes in a deep cut near milepost 
 164. The Gallatin limestone, overlying the Flathead formation, 
 “makes a prominent bluff across the river which can be seen just as 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 18.—Southeast side of the great Synclinal basin north of Logan, Mont., as seen from the station. 
 
 the train enters the yards at Logan. The section as seen from the 
 station is represented in figure 18. The Gallatin limestone, at the 
 extreme right of the section, is generally light blue or gray and is 
 easily distinguishable from the overlying Jefferson limestone (Devo- 
 nian), which is dark and more resistant. The Jefferson limestone is 
 one of the most conspicuous members of the section, for it is much 
 darker than any of the other limestones, and as it lies directly below a 
 fairly soft shale it forms a distinct ridge or prominent spurs. It is, 
 overlain by the Threeforks shale, which is conspicuous only in that, 
 as it is softer than the limestones on either side, it forms valleys or 
 ravines. Overlying the shale is the massive bluish-gray Madison lime- 
 stone, which forms the bluff opposite the station and extends westward 
 on both lines of the railway for a distance of at least half a mile. 
 
 From Logan to Garrison the Northern Pacific has two lines, the 
 original line turning to the right and running by way of Helena and 
 the other keeping to the left by way of Butte. A description of the 
 Helena line begins on page 116. 
 
 
 
100 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 LOGAN TO GARRISON BY WAY OF BUTTE. 
 
 West of the station at Logan a few outcrops of Madison limestone 
 occur near the track, but these are soon passed; and then the only 
 surface features visible from the train are the broad flood plain of 
 Gallatin River on the north-and a bluff composed of Tertiary lake 
 beds on the south. The character and composition of these beds and 
 also of similar beds found in most of the other broad valleys of the 
 mountain region are well shown by the bluffs on the east side of the 
 valley of Madison River and can be seen by looking back after passing 
 milepost 3. Here the material is largely sand and the lower layers 
 exposed along the terrace front are hardened into real sandstone. The 
 coarse sand above is less coherent and is being used in the manufac- 
 ture of cement blocks. Farther south the sandstone is limited to the 
 upper part of the terrace, and all the material below consists of white 
 volcanic ash. 
 
 At milepost 5 the railway crosses Madison River.’ On the right 
 (north) is the thriving town of Threeforks, situated near and named 
 
 from the three forks of the Missouri. 
 first visited in 1805 by Lewis and Clark,? who named 
 the easternmost branch for Albert Gallatin, Secretary 
 of the Treasury; the middle branch for James Madi- 
 
 Threeforks. 
 
 Elevation 4,081 feet. 
 Population 674. 
 St. Paul 1,063 miles. 
 
 This place was 
 
 son, Secretary of State; and the largest and western- 
 
 
 
 | Fifty miles to the south Madison River 
 cuts through gneiss in a narrow, rocky 
 canyon. Here the river has been dammed 
 and two hydroelectric plants installed, 
 which develop about 15,000 horsepower 
 and supply current to the cities of Butte, 
 Bozeman, Livingston, and Billings; to 
 placer mines in the vicinity of the plant; 
 and to the cement mill at Trident, below 
 Threeforks. A dam is under construction 
 on Madison River which will store about 
 350,000 acre-feet of water in what is 
 known as the Hebgen reservoir. It is 
 estimated that this reservoir when com- 
 pleted will increase the total present 
 development along Madison River by 
 about 23,000 horsepower. 
 
 2 When Lewis and Clark reached this 
 point in their journey up the Missouri 
 River, they were greatly worried by their 
 inability to find a pass through the moun- 
 tains or to meet Indians from whom they 
 might obtain information regarding such 
 a pass. They knew not. where the river 
 would lead them, nor whether the moun- 
 tains that lay in their pathway could be 
 crossed. ._The reader mav obtain some 
 
 
 
 conception of the difficulties that beset 
 them by reading a brief quotation from 
 their notes written while they were at 
 Threeforks: _ 
 
 ‘‘We are now very anxious to see the 
 Snake Indians. After advancing several 
 hundred miles into this wild, mountain- 
 ous country, we may soon expect that 
 the game will abandon us. With no in- 
 formation of the route, we may be unable 
 to find a passage across the mountains 
 when we reach the head of the river— 
 at least such a pass as will lead us to the 
 Columbia. Even are we so fortunate as 
 to find a branch of that river, the timber 
 which we have hitherto seen in these 
 mountains does not promise us any fit to 
 make canoes, so that our chief depend- 
 ence is on meeting some tribe from who 
 we may procure horses. Our consolation 
 is that the southwest branch [J efferson 
 River] can scarcely head with any other 
 river than the Columbia, and that if any 
 nation of Indians can live in the moun- 
 tains we are able to endure as much as 
 they can and have even better means of 
 procuring subsistence.” ; | 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
: 
 4 
 
 — limestone. 
 
 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 101 
 
 most branch in honor of President Jefferson. The western branch, 
 by reason of the volume of water and its greater length, is generally 
 regarded as the real head of the Missouri. 
 
 It was here that Sacajawea, the Indian woman who was the real 
 guide of the expedition, found the place of her capture several years 
 before. In recognition of her services in the early exploration of the 
 country a bronze tablet, presented by former Senator W. A. Clark, has 
 recently been placed on a large bowlder in the public park of Three- 
 
 forks by the Montana Daughters of the American Revolution. 
 Beyond Threeforks the railway leads up the broad flood plain of Jef- 
 ferson River and is paralleled by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 Railway as far as Cardwell. The flood plain is com- 
 
 Willow Creek. 
 
 Elevation 4,165 feet. 
 Population 333.* 
 St. Paul 1,070 miles. 
 
 posed largely of sand and gravel washed down from 
 the mountains on either side, consequently the soil 
 is thin and the region not well adapted to farming. 
 
 At Willow Creek, however, soft lake beds cover the 
 
 coarse gravel, and the country is more fertile. 
 Beyond Willow Creek the railway approaches the bluffs on the 
 south side of the valley, which consist of quartzite, shale, and lime- 
 stone, of the Quadrant formation, backed by a higher ridge of Madison 
 
 At milepost 17 the river flows in a narrow canyon through 
 a point of this limestone which projects into the valley, and the two 
 
 railways follow the passageway that the river has cut through the 
 
 hard rock.! 
 
 1]t is by no means uncommon to find 
 
 that a river has cut its way through hard 
 
 rock which it might have avoided by 
 pursuing a slightly different course. The 
 explanation for Jefferson River lies in the 
 
 - fact that when the present course was 
 established the valley was not cut to its 
 
 a deep channel in the soft rocks of its val- 
 ley bottom and revealed the hard rock 
 beneath, but is was confined by walls of 
 its own slow cutting and could not dodge 
 aside when it encountered a more resistant 
 rock. Asthe channel was worn lower, the 
 stream became intrenched so deeply in 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 19.—Diagram to explain the course of Jefferson River west of Willow Creek, Mont. 
 
 The 
 
 river cut through soft lake beds (DEF) to hard limestone (AB), but was then so deeply intrenched 
 
 that it could not avoid the hard rock. 
 
 present depth, and the hard limestone 
 _ that now seems like a barrier in the path- 
 
 way of the stream lay concealed below 
 the surface. Under such conditions the 
 
 _ stream was free to meander from side to 
 side of its flat-bottomed valley, and one 
 _ of its loops was located directly above the 
 
 limestone ledge. In time the stream cut 
 
 this hard rock as to make direct escape 
 impossible, even after the whole aspect 
 of the country had been changed by 
 erosion and easier routes which the river 
 might have taken had become evident. 
 The situation is represented by figure 
 19, in which ABC represents the cross 
 section of the valley which one sees on 
 
102 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 From Sappington a branch line continues up the south side of the 
 river for a mile or so and then turns up Antelope Creek to Norris and 
 Pony. A short distance beyond the station the 
 Northern Pacific crosses the St. Paul line, and from 
 Elevation 4,205feet. this point on through the canyon the Northern 
 St. Paul 1,076 miles. ’ : F i 
 
 Pacific is on the north side of the river. About 2 
 miles above Sappington the river again cuts through a ridge of the 
 hard rocks which project from the great mass on the left. In this 
 canyon the formations composing the earth’s crust have been greatly 
 disturbed and tilted up on edge, but it is not easy to understand just 
 how the originally horizontal beds of limestone and quartzite were 
 forced into their present positions. Here again the stream has cut 
 a canyon across a spur of hard rock projecting from the left, and here, 
 as below Sappington, the stream could have avoided the obstruction 
 by keeping on the soft rocks farther north. 
 
 Beyond this canyon the river flows through an open valley com- 
 posed of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks which the traveler will hardly 
 
 Sappington. 
 
 ~-—-o- --. 
 aan > 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wily , XO 
 
 ASS SQAIQUSSSRnees 
 SSN SSA 
 \ K 
 
 FIGURE 20.—Section of great anticlinal fold near Lime Spur, Mont., asseen from the Northern Pacific 
 Railway, looking west. ; 
 
 
 
 be able to distinguish from the train. At milepost 26 he enters the 
 deepest and most picturesque canyon on this part of the line. tng 
 rocks in this canyon are in the form of a great anticline, as shown 
 ‘in figure 20, but the fold is so large and so badly broken that 
 its form is difficult to determine. This fold has been produced by 
 
 , 
 
 looking west, with the limestone ridge | trench the soft material over which it 
 AB projecting into it from the left. When | flowed. As it cut deeper it came into 
 the present location of the river was deter- | contact with the limestone, but the 
 mined it was flowing on the top of the lake | stream was intrenched in its course and 
 beds, on a surface represented by DEF | so maintained its position, cutting its” 
 which was smooth and with no irregulari- | way down to G, its present level. ‘ 
 ties to prevent the stream flowing in any The soft ‘rocks upon which Jefferson 
 part of the valley. Let us suppose that | River assumed its present course are the — 
 it was located at Z; then some change | Tertiary lake beds, which probably filled _ 
 occurred, such as an elevation of the land | the valley to a depth of several hundred — 
 or an increase in the volume of water, | feet. : 
 
 either one of which would give the stream The peculiar relations of the several 
 greater cutting power, and it began to | formations, as seen in the small canyon 
 
 : 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 103 
 
 pressure from the north so great that the rocks have broken, as 
 shown in the diagram, and ey Paleozoic formations on the north 
 have been pushed over the Cretaceous formations on the south. Such 
 a break is called an overthrust fault. 
 
 The main part of the arch visible from the train is composed of 
 Madison limestone, which is first seen from a westbound train at 
 a point between mileposts 25 and 26. As shown in the diagram, the 
 limestone at this place is only the broken fragment of the south side 
 of the fold which has been nearly removed by the fault that crosses 
 at the small loading platform on the right. The limestone at this 
 place is overturned, dipping to the north, and it is probable that if 
 it could be followed downward it would be found to grow thinner 
 (beveled) and finally to be cut off altogether by the fault. 
 
 At milepost 26 the Madison limestone gives place to the under- 
 lying Threeforks shale (Devonian). The upper shaly part of this 
 formation is covered so that it can scarcely be seen, but the lower 
 part, consisting of a conglomerate composed largely of red granite 
 débris, is seen in rugged cliffs on the east side of the track. — 
 
 In the high mountain on the right there is said to be a wonderful 
 cave in the Madison limestone, which has not yet been thoroughly 
 explored. A quarter section (160 acres) of land, including the cave, 
 was set aside by President Roosevelt on May 11, 1908, as the Lewis 
 and Clark Cavern National Monument. Tite cavern, however, is so 
 nearly inaccessible that it has been visited by only a few of the more 
 hardy travelers. 
 
 _ Opposite Lime Spur, 8 miles west of Sappington, the beds of 
 ‘Madison limestone outcrop along the canyon wall like great white 
 ribs, making some of the most rugged scenery to be 
 haw on the road. The limestone is quarried exten- 
 sively at this place and shipped for the manufacture 
 of cement. 
 
 West of Lime Spur the Madison limestone gives place to the Quad- 
 rant formation, which is well marked by the bright-red color of some 
 of the limestone and shale beds that it contains. ‘Beyond this band 
 of bright color is a small exposure of Jurassic rocks which are cut 
 off by an immense overthrust fault, shown in figure 20. This fault 
 separates the rocks already described from conglomerate and argillite 
 
 | Lime Spur. 
 
 Elevation, 4,260 feet. 
 St. Paul, 1,084 miles. 
 
 west of Sappington, could have been pro- 
 duced only by folding and faulting, which 
 were the results of strong forces that 
 crowded the rocky layers into this region 
 from both the north and the south. This 
 caused them to buckle along east-west 
 lines, much as a pad of paper will buckle 
 when grasped by the hands along two 
 opposite edges and compressed. The 
 
 
 
 great compression which affected the 
 rocks in this canyon produced at least 
 three upward folds or anticlines, and as 
 the movement was strongest from the 
 north the folds were pushed over toward 
 the south. As the pressure continued the 
 rocky folds were broken, crushed, and 
 crowded together into the positions shown 
 on the west side of the river. 
 
104 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 (slate or hardened shale) of the Belt series (Algonkian). ‘The rail- 
 way follows the west base of a mountain slope of this formation for 
 nearly a mile and then enters the broad valley at the junction of 
 Boulder and Jefferson rivers. 
 
 On looking back from the vicinity of Cardwell one is impressed 
 with the abrupt ending of the broad valley a little east of this place 
 
 and the mountainous barrier that has apparently 
 Cardwell. been thrown across the pathway of the stream. It 
 ne Roknh fic is evident that either the mountains have risen across 
 #3 ' the valley, or the valley about Cardwell has been 
 depressed far below its former level, or perhaps both of these move- 
 ments have taken place. As the river has succeeded in cutting a 
 canyon through the uplifted mass, the movement must have been 
 very slow, else the stream would have been ponded and found an 
 outlet in some other place. 
 
 The valley of Jefferson River, although little above water level, is 
 very fertile, and good crops are raised in the vicinity of Cardwell. 
 In flowing through this flat-bottomed valley the river is not confined 
 to a single channel but breaks up into a number of channels, which 
 
 in turn branch and unite in a com- 
 SSS SSE plex and confusing manner. Such 
 
 SSR EES LE a system of interlacing channels 
 FORESEES is called a braided stream. It is 
 
 FIGURE 21.—Diagram of braided stream. caused by the slight fall of the 
 stream, which prevents it from carrying away all the sediment swept 
 in by the numerous tributaries. This material chokes the stream and 
 forces it to spread into numerous shallow and shifting channels, 
 resembling the strands of a braid, as shown in figure 21. 
 
 The Tobacco Root Mountains are prominent on the south, at 
 Cardwell, and Bull Mountain on the north, though the latter is less 
 conspicuous than the former. The end of Bull Mountain nearest the 
 railway is composed of the Belt series, with the Tertiary lake beds 
 lapping in around its base. The geology of the Tobacco Root Moun- 
 tains is too complicated to describe here, and the rocks are so far 
 distant that they can not be recognized from the train. | 
 
 The railway for a long distance west of Cardwell is on an island in 
 the braided stream, but beyond milepost 36 it crosses to the main- 
 land, and Jefferson River is seen no more in the westward journey. 
 At this place the railway leaves the trail of Lewis and Clark, for they 
 followed up the main river toward the southwest, whereas the North- 
 ern Pacific strikes across the range to the west, though it means a 
 climb that even to the modern, high-power locomotive is a severe 
 test. The St. Paul road also turns to the left, but ae to seek 
 another pass in the same range ahead. | 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 105 
 
 At Whitehall a branch of the Northern Pacific turns to the left, 
 going up the valley of Jefferson River to Twin Bridges and Alder. 
 The town at the end of the line was named from 
 Whitehall. Alder Gulch, which was one of the most noted placer 
 ine 4371 feet. camps in the years immediately following its dis- 
 St. Paul 1,095 miles, COVery in 1863. It is said to have yielded at least 
 $60,000,000 and is still producing in a small way. 
 Alder Gulch lies near Virginia City, at one time the capital of Mon- 
 tana. West of Whitehall the road begins the ascent of about 2,000 
 feet to Homestake Pass, on. the Continental Divide 23 miles away. 
 Just beyond Whitehall the low hills on both sides of the track are 
 composed of soft lake beds which are particularly well exposed just 
 west of Pipestone. In the valley some distance to 
 Pipestone. the south there are hot springs and a hotel. West of 
 2 hag alee Pipestone the cuts along the railway show a fine- 
 grained, dense igneous rock (andesite). This is part 
 of a large body of similar rock that lies to the right (north) of the 
 railway and east of the great mass of granite that forms the Conti- 
 nental Divide. Most of the andesite was poured out over this region 
 as lava when the surface was very different from that which the 
 
 _ traveler sees to-day, but some of it was intruded from below into the 
 older sedimentary rocks. The volcanic activity which gave rise to 
 the andesite took place long before the granite was amie as is 
 
 proved by the fact that near Pipestone the granite eremnded frag- 
 ments of the older rock which were broken off and mixed with the 
 molten granite as it ascended through a fissure in the rocky crust of 
 the earth. 
 
 Near milepost 48 the railway enters the att area of granite which 
 extends northward along the range to Mullan Pass, west of Helena. 
 The granite (quartz monzonite) came up from below i in a molten con- 
 dition, forcing the rocks asunder or melting ‘them as it came. It 
 Be obably did not reach the surface, but since it cooled and solidified 
 it has been exposed by the streams, which have removed the over- 
 lying rocks and cut deep ravines in the granitic mass. 
 
 As the slope is too steep for a direct ascent, the road winds out and 
 in, around projecting spurs, and up into the heads of valleys, but 
 ever climbing toward the top. On the hills and upland the slopes 
 are smooth and gentle, but in the gulches they are rocky in the 
 extreme. 
 
 Near milepost 50 the traveler, by looking ahead on the left, can 
 see a bare dome of granite, known as Spire Rock, the base of which 
 the train will pass farther up the grade. Other knobs or domes of 
 gray granite appear from time to time, standing above the general 
 surface. These landmarks resemble the domes of Yosemite Valley, 
 which are formed of similar rock. Such domes and indeed the great 
 
106 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 number of rounded forms which the granite assumes on weathering 
 are due to the facts that the corners and edges are more exposed to — 
 the attacks of weather than broad surfaces are, and that this rock, 
 which is popularly regarded as the type of stability, readily disinte- 
 erates or falls to pieces on exposure to the atmosphere. At many 
 places along the track the granite has been reduced by weathering 
 to fine fragments called ‘‘sand.”’ 
 
 The general slope leading to the summit seems to be an old sur- 
 face, on which the granite is deeply decayed, indicating long exposure 
 to the weather, but the ravines, which have been cut more recently, 
 are jagged and irregular. The difference in the two surfaces may be 
 seen near milepost 56, where the railway leaves the smooth surface 
 of the upland and enters a gorge which is cut below the general level 
 and which is marked by blocks of all sizes and shapes, including 
 domes, towers, and pinnacles that seem to be scattered over the 
 ground in hopeless confusion. 
 
 This combination of smooth upland and rocky canyons continues — 
 to the top, which is remarkably free from rugged peaks. Although 
 there is a short tunnel here, the real summit of the mountain is only ~ 
 about 100 or 150 feet above the railway track. 
 
 This is the backbone of the continent, the height toward which 
 the train has been climbing since leaving Missouri River at Mandan. 
 The traveler may be disappointed in the Continental 
 Divide, for it is no more conspicuous than many of 
 the other ranges in sight. In fact, the Rocky Moun-— 
 tains are a great complex of mountain ranges, no one 
 of which dominates the others to any extent. On the west side of — 
 the Homestake tunnel can be obtained a better realization of height, — 
 for the descent to Butte is made along a rugged mountain side, and 
 one can look down to the left 1,000 feet to fhe valley, seemingly almost 
 vertically below.t. (See Pl. XVL.) : 
 
 Homestake. 
 
 Elevation 6,345 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,118 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 carving out of the valley by rain and ry 
 streams, is really separated from the low-_ 
 land by an actual break in the rocks and 
 
 ‘The difference in the appearance of 
 the two sides of the Continental Divide 
 is very striking. On the east side the 
 
 slopes are gradual, so that the railway 
 can follow almost directly up the old 
 smooth slope, but on the west the slope 
 is so precipitous that the road must be 
 graded along the rocky mountain side for 
 8 or 9 miles in order to get down to the 
 valley floor. So steep and regular a 
 front bordering a broad, flat valley sug- 
 gests some other mode of origin than 
 erosion, which is the normal agency in 
 the production of mountains and valleys. 
 It gives the impression that this range, 
 instead of owing its relative height to the 
 
 has been lifted bodily to its present posi-— 
 tion, or the valley has been’ depressed 
 with reference to the mountain. If the 
 rocks along the mountain front south of 
 Butte are examined, evidence will be 
 found to show that there has been recent 
 movement in them and a break (fault) or 
 series of breaks along the west face which 
 allowed the great. block of strata on the 
 east side of the fault to be raised at least | 
 1,000 feet with reference to the strata | 
 on the other side. The steep’ = | 
 
 front is therefore the cut edge of a great | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 107 
 
 The train winds in and out around the spurs of the mountain, 
 plunging through deep cuts and speeding over high trestles. In the 
 course of a few miles the city of Butte comes into 
 view on the side of a barren hill. Its general appear- 
 ance is most desolate. Bare, brown slopes, burnt 
 and forbidding, from which all vegetation was long 
 ago driven by the fumes from the smelters, rise from 
 an almost equally barren valley. The slopes, even in the city, are 
 gridironed by railway tracks leading to the different mines, and great 
 mine buildings, tall smokestacks, steel hoist frames, and the heaps 
 of gray waste rock from the mines are the most conspicuous features 
 of the landscape. West of the city is the sharply conical hill, Big 
 Butte, from which the city takes its name. If the traveler enters 
 Butte in the evening he may obtain a beautiful view of the lights of 
 
 Butte. 
 
 Elevation 5,490 feet. 
 Population 39,165. 
 St. Paul 1,128 miles. 
 
 block of rock that has been tilted gently 
 to the east, and the time since it was 
 raised to its present position has not been 
 sufficient to permit the streams to cut 
 deep ravines on it. 
 
 The tilting and lifting of this block of 
 strata have disarranged many of the 
 streams, causing some of them to flow in 
 opposite directions from those which 
 
 the part on the right rising about 1,000 
 feet. Now the mountain top, instead of 
 being at B, is at D, more than 1,000 feet 
 above the valley. 
 
 Although the main movement that 
 raised the Continental Divide to its 
 present position is supposed to have 
 ceased, there still appears to be slight 
 movement in the rocks under Butte. 
 
 ‘they pursued prior to the uplift. It 
 seems probable also that the block west 
 of the fault was depressed at the same 
 time, for it is difficult to understand how 
 
 Many underground water pipes have 
 been broken, and considerable difficulty 
 _has been experienced from the irregular 
 settling of foundations. For a long time 
 
 | 
 
 R 
 M 
 § 
 x 
 
 TUNNEL 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 the headwaters. of Silver Bow Creek 
 could be ponded and produce the flat 
 that can be seen from the train, unless it 
 were the result of the downward tilting 
 of the block west of the fault. The con- 
 dition isillustrated by figure 22, in which 
 the cross profile of the range before the 
 faulting occurred is represented by the 
 line ABC. The surface around Butte 
 showed little relief, the mountain north 
 of Homestake Pass being only a few 
 hundred feet high. Then came the break 
 along the line indicated by the arrows, 
 
 
 
 
 
 Figure 22.—Diagram of Continental Divide east of Butte, Mont. Before faulting occurred the divide, 
 as shown by the broken line A BC, was an upland of slight relief and no higher than Butte is to-day. 
 
 these slight movements have been 
 attributed to the extensive mine workings 
 beneath the city, but on close study it 
 was found that water pipes were broken 
 in parts of the town far removed from 
 any mine. This suggests that there may 
 be movement along some of the old fault 
 planes. The United States Geological 
 Survey has run some very exact levels 
 and has set a number of bench marks, 
 so that in the future it can be told posi- 
 tively whether the rocks under the town 
 are moving and, if so, at what rate. 
 
108 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 the city twinkling through the smoke and haze, but in the daylight 
 all beauty disappears. 
 
 When the smelters were pouring out their destructive fumes there 
 was not a spear of grass nor a green leaf visible, but now most of the 
 ore is smelted at Anaconda and Great Falls, and the valley is gradually 
 recovering some of its vegetation. Of the city itself perhaps no 
 better description can be given than that contaimed in ‘Along the 
 scenic highway,” a pamphlet issued by the Northern Pacific Co.: 
 
 Butte is unique among the cities of the world, * * * possessing all the united 
 wealth of its tremendous copper deposits, with thousands of well-paid miners. With 
 a large and growing trade in commercial lines, it is an odd and interesting combina-— 
 tion of frontier mining camp and modern city, smoke-begrimed manufacturing point, 
 and an orderly, well-kept residential center. It isa city of glaring, violent contrasts, 
 where money seems quite the easiest thing to obtain, where men work furiously and 
 spend the proceeds of their labor with open hand, where the fine instincts of modern 
 city life struggle constantly with the old order of things, and where the mining camp — 
 and twentieth-century municipality have been mixed into one rugged mass but have 
 not yet quite blended. Butte boasts with reason that it is the greatest mining camp_ 
 in the world and may with equal reason boast of its achievement as a modern city. 
 
 The positions of the famous copper mines are indicated by the 
 ereat shaft buildings and tall smokestacks in and about the town. 
 Underground the rocks are honeycombed with workings, and day” 
 and night, without cessation, the work goes on at depths which im 
 some of the mines reach 3,000 feet. Up to the present time the- 
 value of the metal output BE the district has reached the enormous 
 sum of over $1,000,000,000. The ore is found in the granite, but 
 the highly mineralized rocks are confined to an area only a few 
 square miles in extent. The mining conditions are described below 
 by B.S. Butler. 
 
 
 
 ‘1 Butte was at first a placer camp, and 
 the district was named the Summit Val- 
 ley district on account of its nearness to 
 the Continental Divide. This is still the 
 official name of what is commonly called 
 the Butte district. Gold was discovered 
 in gravel near the present site of Main 
 Street in 1864, and in the next few years 
 the district produced gold to the value 
 of about $1,500,000. While the placers 
 were being operated, efforts were made 
 to work the quartz veins for silver, but 
 without success. About 1875, however, 
 attempts to work these ores were renewed, 
 and the Dexter 10-stamp mill was erected, 
 but important production did not begin 
 till 1876, when the mill was completed 
 by W. A. Clark, later United States Sen- 
 ator from Montana. About the same 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 time Marcus Daly arrived in the distric 4 
 and began operations in the Alice mine. 
 The camp developed rapidly, and for 
 many years these two men were promi- 
 nent in mining enterprises in this distriail 
 The district continued to be a large pro- 
 ducer of silver ore until the decrease in 
 price of that metal in 1893 caused many 
 companies in Butte, as elsewhere in the 
 West, to cease operations. . 
 
 The presence of copper minerals w: 
 noted in the district probably as early as” 
 placer gold or the silver veins, but unde 
 existing conditions there was little in 
 ducement for prospecting the coppe 
 veins. Nevertheless some unsuccessful 
 attempts to smelt the copper ores were 
 made in 1866, and early in the seventies” 
 some copper ore was hauled 400 miles to 
 
 ¥ 
 : 
 } | 
 a 
 e 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 109 
 
 In the early days Butte, like the other mining camps of Montana, 
 suffered greatly from the lack of transportation facilities, as the 
 only way to get supplies was to have them brought up the Missouri 
 or Yellowstone River as far as steamboats could come and then by 
 team over the mountains to the camp, and the metals produced had 
 
 
 
 Corinne, Utah, whence it was shipped 
 by rail to smelters in other parts of the 
 country. 
 
 The first successful smelter in this dis- 
 trict was put into operation about 1880 
 by the Colorado & Montana Smelting 
 Co., and this was followed by a rapid de- 
 velopment of the copper industry. Pro- 
 duction was greatly stimulated in 1881 
 by the completion of the Utah Northern 
 Railroad (now Oregon Short Line) to 
 Butte, followed a few years later by other 
 railroad connections. The first smelting 
 plants were near Butte, but in 1883 the 
 Anaconda Co. began the construction at 
 Anaconda, in Deer Lodge Valley, about 
 27 miles from Butte, of a plant which has 
 become one of the largest copper smelters 
 
 ‘in the world, its capacity being 12,500 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 tons of orea day. It was rebuilt in 1902 
 at a cost of $7,500,000. About 1892 the 
 Boston & Montana Co. erected a plant 
 having a daily capacity of 4,500 tons at 
 Great Falls, where the water power of the 
 Missouri is available. At present there 
 is but one smelter near Butte, that of the 
 
 | East Butte Copper Co. 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 In recent years the development of 
 large bodies of zinc ore at Butte has led 
 to the construction of plants for its 
 concentration, and the mill of the Butte 
 & Superior Co. has successfully demon- 
 strated the economic importance of these 
 ores. 
 
 The efforts to apply to the complex 
 and enormously valuable veins at Butte 
 that provision of our mining law which 
 permits the owner of the upper part 
 
 (apex) of a vein to follow his ore under 
 
 the surface of adjoining claims has bur- 
 dened the district with protracted and 
 
 costly litigation, to an extent probably 
 
 unequaled in the history of mining in 
 other parts of the world. 
 
 The Butte district has yielded more 
 copper than any other district in the 
 world, the total output to the close of 
 
 1913 being 6,154,196,000 pounds, or about 
 
 one-third of the total copper output of the 
 United States. It has produced also 
 $26,268,500 in gold, 275,119,000 ounces of 
 silver, 11,300,000 pounds of lead, and 
 181,540,000 pounds of zinc. The values 
 of these metals are as follows: 
 
 C1 Fa NOE Aaa Gn ae a $26, 268, 500 
 pea ER a Pees wry tfc d 191, 765, 300 
 Copper 865, 794, 300 
 eadieasetenc. 0% S's 513, 500 
 HATE AN BS a a 12, 093, 600 
 
 1, 096, 435, 200 
 
 A large part of the output has come 
 from an area of but a few square miles, 
 which so far as value is concerned, has 
 undoubtedly been the most productive 
 metalliferous area of its size in the world. 
 
 In recent years some arsenic has been 
 recovered from the smelter fumes and 
 small quantities of the rarer metals have 
 been recovered in the electrolytic refining 
 of the copper. 
 
 The metallic deposits at Butte occur 
 near the western border of an area of the 
 granitic rock technically known as quartz 
 monzonite. Near Butte this rock has 
 been intruded by dikes of light-colored 
 siliceous rocks known as aplite and rhyo- 
 lite. The Big Butte and a large area 
 northwest of it are composed of rhyolite 
 that has risen through openings in the 
 older rocks and covered the surface. 
 
 The rocks in the vicinity of Butte have 
 been broken by many faults and fissures, 
 the greatest of which is the Continental 
 fault, described on page 107. Long before 
 the break of the Continental fault and 
 soon after the intrusion and solidification 
 of the granite, the rocks were broken by 
 one series of fissures and faults having a 
 general northwesterly direction and an- 
 other series having a general northeasterly 
 direction. Water carrying minerals in 
 solution rose along these fissures and de- 
 posited the ore in part as a filling of the 
 fissures and in part as a gradual replace- 
 ment of the rock adjacent to the fissures. 
 
110 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 to be sent out by the same slow, expensive way. The city is now 
 served by five railways, three of which are transcontinental lines. 
 
 After leaving Butte the railway follows down Silver Bow Creek, 
 which received its name from a party of prospectors who, in 1864, 
 
 reached the valley in the vicinity of Butte. 
 
 They had an extended 
 
 discussion regarding the best name for the stream, and while they 
 were talking the clouds broke away and the sunshine falling on the 
 creck as it circled around the mountain suggested the name Silver 
 Bow. At that time the creek may have looked like a silver bow, 
 
 but now there is little similarity. 
 
 The composition of the veins shows a 
 progressive change in metal and mineral 
 composition from a central area outward. 
 The central area contains mainly copper 
 ores. These grade outward into ores con- 
 taining increasing quantities of zinc, lead, 
 and silver, together with abundant man- 
 ganese minerals, and showing a decrease 
 in copper, until in the outer zone the 
 ores are valuable chiefly for their silver, 
 gold, and zinc content. 
 
 The veins at the surface have all been 
 highly oxidized, and from some the cop- 
 per has been leached to depths of several 
 hundred feet. In mining some of the 
 veins have been followed to a depth of 
 3,000 feet and show little change in min- 
 eral composition after the first few hun- 
 dred feet. In fact, in many veins the 
 change in depth is less striking than in 
 an equal distance horizontally. 
 
 In the early days of copper mining in 
 the district the ores extracted were of 
 high grade and were smelted direct. 
 Later large bodies of low-grade ores were 
 mined and concentrated at the plants at 
 Anaconda and Great Falls, and the result- 
 ant concentrates smelted to recover the 
 metal. Mare recently a plant has been 
 constructed at Anaconda for leaching the 
 tailings from the concentrating plant to 
 recover the copper lost in the operation. 
 A plant has also been placed in operation 
 at East Butte, by the Butte & Duluth 
 Co., to leach the copper from’ oxidized 
 ores. A portion of the copper from Butte 
 is electrolytically refined at Great Falls, 
 but the greater part is sent to the Atlantic 
 seaboard for refining. The water from 
 the mines carries a considerable quantity 
 of copper in solution, the metal being 
 recovered by precipitation on old iron. 
 
 1 The railroads were naturally anxious 
 to get the trade of such places as Butte 
 and made every effort to reach them at 
 the earliest moment possible. While 
 the Northern Pacific was pushing its 
 line from the east and from the west, the 
 Utah Northern, now the Oregon Short 
 Line, built into the district from the 
 south, the first train arriving December 
 21, 1881. This road gave direct connec- 
 tion with the Union Pacific. Although 
 the Northern Pacific had through trains — 
 running by way of Helena in 1883, not 
 until 1888 did it make a vigorous effort 
 to reach Butte. At the same time the 
 Montana Central Railroad Co. was or- 
 ganized, and both it and the Northern 
 Pacific began to build parallel lines from : 
 Helena to Butte. There was great 
 rivalry in the construction work, but as 
 the Montana Central, now the Great 
 Northern, succeeded in getting its line 
 through first, the Northern Pacific line 
 was abandoned after it had been built as_ 
 far as Boulder. The Montana Central 
 line from Helena to Butte was opened for ~ 
 traffic on July 12, 1888. 4 
 
 The Northern Pacific, however, did 
 not give up the project of reaching Butte” 
 and a few years later built a line from 
 Logan, giving the camp a direct outlet 
 to the east, but still there was no main line 
 through the camp. On September 8, 
 1893, the Montana Union Railroad was” 
 completed by Union Pacific interests” 
 from Butte to Garrison, thus giving a 
 direct outlet to the west. This line was 
 used jointly by both the Union Pacific 
 and the Northern Pacific for a few years, 
 but eventually it passed into the hands of — 
 the latter, and it is now one of the main F 
 lines of the system. | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 111 
 
 The valley is wide, the immediate hills are low, and the slopes are 
 gentle and rolling. At Silver Bow station, 7 miles from Butte, the 
 Oregon Short Line (Union Pacific) turns to the 
 Silver Bow. left (south),and after a short climb crosses the sum- 
 Siler te ogi er mit at Deer Lodge Pass. Beyond Silver Bow 
 station the valley continues open for a distance of 
 4 miles to a point where the stream enters a very narrow, rugged 
 canyon cut in massive rhyolite, a voleani¢ rock that covers much of 
 the country west of Butte. The rock when freshly broken is nearly 
 white, but under the influence of the weather it turns to a deep, 
 rich red, which gives a pleasing relief to the somber-gray color of 
 the granite to the east. The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railroad 
 (recently electrified) and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and 
 Northern Pacific railways also occupy the canyon, which, on account 
 of its narrowness, is very much congested. (See Pl. XVII, p- 107.) 
 Aside from its ruggedness and picturesqueness this canyon has 
 an added interest because it owes its origin to the filling of the 
 original valley on the north with lake sediment and the cutting of a 
 new course by the stream, similar to that of Jefferson River, described 
 on page 101. After the disappearance of the lake Silver Bow Creek 
 came into existence, and on the swampy bottom of the lake it 
 meandered broadly. In its windings it had assumed its present 
 position, when, through the elevation of the land, it gained cutting 
 power and began to deepen its channel. In doing so it encountered 
 ‘the rhyolite, but it continued to cut, and the canyon is the result. 
 _ At Durant the train emerges from the canyon into a valley much 
 broader than the one at Butte or Silver Bow. This, the renowned 
 Deer Lodge Valley, is much too large to have been 
 Durant. carved by the stream now occupying it. The eastern 
 Elevation 5,174 feet. traveler has doubtless noticed that the valleys in 
 St. Paul 1,142 miles. 4 x ; 2 f 
 | this region are generally different from those with 
 which he is familiar. Valleys that are the result of stream erosion 
 have generally a width that is roughly proportional to the size of 
 the stream, and as a rule they decrease in size toward the head of 
 the stream. In the northern part of the Rocky 
 Stuart. Mountains many of the larger valleys are out of pro- 
 Elevation 5,006 feet. portion to the size of the streams occupying them, 
 St. Paul 1,146 miles. : 
 i Se and hence it does not seem probable that they were 
 formed alone by the erosive action of the streams.! 
 The most conspicuous artificial object in the Deer Lodge Valley 
 is the giant stack of the Anaconda smelter on the left (west), 350 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘As the origin of many of the broad | duced by movement in the earth’s crust, 
 valleys of the northern Rocky Mountains | either the direct subsidence of the val- 
 "an not be attributed to erosion, it is | ley itself or the elevation of the surround- 
 nanifest that they must have been pro- | ing mountain masses. Subsidence may 
 
112 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 feet high, from which issues a never-failing cloud of yellow smoke. 
 The train does not pass close enough to Anaconda for the traveler 
 to see much of the town, which is reached by a spur from the main 
 line at Durant, but he is soon made aware of the effect of the waste 
 waters from the concentration plant, which have flowed down the 
 creek and killed most of the vegetation. Back of the smelter is 
 Mount Haggin, named for James B. Haggin, who for many years was 
 prominent in the mining industry of Butte. On the west side of the 
 valley farther north is Racetrack Peak, which stands like a senti- 
 nel keeping guard over the entire valley. In 1910 Anaconda had a 
 population of 10,134. 
 
 have been accomplished in one of three 
 ways, as illustrated by figure 23. In 
 this diagram AB represents a section 
 across a country with a hilly surface. A 
 broad valley may be formed by a simple 
 depression of the region, as illustrated 
 
 fault, as shown in FG. Here the block 
 of strata on the left has been tilted toward 
 the right and at the same time dropped 
 along the fault HZ until a depression and 
 lake are formed. The third and last case 
 is that of a block of the earth’s crust 
 
 a TTT rage Wy) arr Yj. LLL pe Te a 
 UM Lit WM Yi Mi pri 
 OT E 
 YYW; YY Fj yp MMi, i’ 
 fo) 
 Hf . 
 , > { ] iy, ee 
 “ | 
 VV | 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 23.—Diagrams illustrating the ways in which the broad valleys of the Rocky Mountain region 
 were formed. 4 
 
 by CE, in which the center D is depressed 
 so much that the tops of the hills fall be- 
 low drainage level. In such a case the 
 depressed portion becomes a lake, and 
 the lake is finally filled by waste material 
 washed in from the surrounding region. 
 Similar results may be produced by a 
 
 x 
 
 dropped between two nearly oa 
 faults, as shown in JK, : f 
 
 Deer Lodge Valley was probably pro- 
 duced by one of the three methods de- 
 scribed above, but by which one can 
 be told only by close examination and 
 mapping. 7 
 
 | 
 | 
 / 
 | 
 
 - a> Vr ree 
 
SHEET No. 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 wate 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 Diryjaee 
 
 — ea Sy 
 Se 
 PL ee: 
 Ws KC ee 
 : ( ¢ 
 7 \ 
 = Yio 
 
 Sheet No./5 
 
 
 
 
 
 eS eee 
 
 7} 0} Of/ | 
 \{ c fe 
 Say Cay baie ees 
 erat Az. 
 \ { = ~ BY 
 SARS 
 rN Reo yy 
 ea ee” 
 
 yy A 
 i eer 
 ~~) Reo} 
 Norris 
 a 
 so 
 7) 
 1 (2 
 Scale 500,000 AX 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch \ : ey 
 10 \§ 20Miles 
 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet - 
 EVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 neces from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every i0 miles 
 
 e crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 ° 
 11 30’ 
 
 ERGRAVED AND PRINTEO GY TME U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
i 
 
 BULLETIN 611 : SHEET No. 16 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 II} 30° 
 
 
 
 Sheet No/7 
 
 
 
 Sheet No/8 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 \ 
 | 
 A Pigs OH ; ) bc > RVR), aE f ¢ J INP ekap | | 
 SAK NA - eS ~ ‘ » 5 V4 R é . c 7 - l ‘ i y)\ ‘ y aS. : \ Rit IK ~S) . - Y ‘ ' ee 
 “ax SS = 
 NY) Ny a 
 KS) 
 
 ( 
 \ 
 ie 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 9 
 = 
 w 
 OF THE % 
 =< 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 5 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington ee Ne 
 EXPLANATION 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Thickheds 
 z ; ‘ : in feet 
 Sheets, from r ailroad alignments and profiles supplied by A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional Pee Ce cal cana. GH wcluaisd uel 
 information collected with the assistance of this company (lake beds) 2,000 Late Tertiary 
 Dark shale, (Colorado) 1,900 Upper Cretaceous Gineiss 
 Sandstone and red shale 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 3 K (Kootenai formation) 900 Lower Cretaceous 
 d : Impure limestone and quartzite 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR ; (Ellis formation) 400 Jurassic Norris 
 : : ; ; . Sandstone and impure limestone 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer H Candrack Ares 1.800 -Carbowferous 
 1915 (Massive blue limestone (Madison) y2) 
 : se ee ees o 
 e ~ Shale and shaly limestone a 
 R) I (Threeforks shale) 1,000 Devonian (@ 1 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the S AY Dark limestone (Jefferson) a Scale 500,000 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 45] N ae te (Gallatin ) _ Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 45 
 Sheet of that name. : J 4Shale, limestone, and sandstone 1,300 Cambrian 1 5% 10 aaa ; 30! 
 | (Flathead formation) i ZOMiles 
 L Shale, limestone, sandstone, and “0 
 conglomerate (Belt series)‘ 8,000 Algonkian Meena Our une 
 M_ Gneiss and schist Archean Contoufintewalonn feat 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 R Lava flows, dacite, and rhyolite 
 S Granite, intrusive The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
 T Lava flows‘and intrusive masses, andesite The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 Ge ee = ee - 7 a .. ta eT > I. ee St a ne 
 12-30’ le - 
 
 
 
 
 
 ° 
 eee Noe asnaveiaaeaaea pre oe Aeneas. ee I 30° 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
TEE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 
 
 The town of Warm Springs (see sheet 18, p. 134) is built 
 group of springs having a temperature of about 150° and 
 a copious flow of water. 
 miles wide and is so flat that much of it is swampy. 
 The hills on the right (east), about 
 are composed of light-colored clay and volcanic ash 
 
 Warm Springs. 
 
 Elevation 4,832 feet. 
 Population 866.* 
 St. Paul 1,153 miles. 
 
 113 
 around a 
 affording 
 
 The valley floor is several 
 
 500 feet high, 
 
 and are remnants of the Tertiary lake beds that 
 
 once filled the valley at least as high as the top of these hills. 
 
 These 
 
 materials were deposited in a great lake, which occupied this valley 
 at the same time that similar lakes occupied the Gallatin and Madi- 
 
 son valleys to the east.! 
 
 
 
 ‘There is no more interesting sub- 
 ject in the geology of the mountain 
 region of Montana than that of the lake 
 beds. They imply conditions which at 
 first sight seem to be anomalous—that 
 is, extensive bodies of water in a rough 
 mountainous region. As shown by the 
 map of western Montana on sheet 18 
 (p. 134), lake beds have been found in 
 practically every valley from the Yel- 
 lowstone on the east to the Bitterroot on 
 the west, but they have not been ob- 
 served in many of the valleys north of 
 Blackfoot River. It therefore seems 
 fairly safe to assume that in Tertiary time 
 lakes existed in nearly every mountain 
 valley in the State. Many of the valleys 
 that to-day are separated were doubtless 
 connected through the canyons, but in 
 such locations the material deposited in 
 the lakes has been removed by the swiftly 
 flowing streams. In other valleys the lake 
 sediments that were once continuous 
 have been separated by the breaking of 
 the earth’s crust into great blocks and the 
 tilting of these blocks in various direc- 
 tions. Although the distribution of the 
 materials that were laid down in these 
 lakes indicates that many of them were 
 connected, a study of the bones of animals 
 that lived at the time and were buried in 
 the mud and sand of the lakes indicates 
 that the lake-forming conditions extended 
 over a long period of time, some of the 
 fossils being of Oligocene, some of Mio- 
 cene, and some of Pliocene age. It is 
 generally supposed, however, that most 
 
 95558°—Bull. 611—15 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 of the lakes were in existence in the 
 Miocene epoch, 
 
 Lakes are abnormal features and have 
 no place in the orderly development of a 
 drainage system—that is, when a drainage 
 system is established on the land there ig 
 no tendency in the action of the streams 
 to form lakes, and when such features are 
 formed they are the direct result of some 
 interference with the work of the streams. 
 
 Most lakes in mountainous regions are 
 due to the action of glaciers, either in 
 scouring out rock basins or in damming 
 valleys with moraines or with the outwash 
 of sand and gravel from the front of the ice. 
 If the old lakes of Montana were due to 
 the action of ice, there would remain some 
 trace of the glaciers that did the work and 
 of the great dams which they must have 
 built. Dams formed by landslides or lava 
 flows would likewise leave some evidence 
 of their existence, and they could not 
 have been so extensive as to pond the 
 water in all the principal valleys opening 
 out on both sides of the range. 
 
 The wide extent of the lakes seems at 
 once to rule out all local causes, so it is 
 necessary to appeal to some cause that 
 would have been operative throughout a 
 wide region and that would have been 
 adequate to produce such results. The 
 great regional cause that is fully compe- 
 tent to pond rivers or produce lake basins 
 is movement within the crust of the earth 
 whereby one area is raised or depressed 
 with relation to another. To the geologist 
 the history of the earth, so far as it has 
 
114 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Beyond Warm Springs the valley of Clark Fork continues broad and 
 flat; in many places near the stream it is swampy, but on the terraces 
 on each side there is good farm land. On the left 
 (west) from Race Track there are many deep canyons 
 in the side of Flint Creek Mountain, through which 
 glaciers, long past, have flowed down from the high 
 summits even to the level of the main valley. This indicates that 
 most if not all of the side ravines were cut before the glaciers were 
 developed, and that since their disappearance there has been little 
 
 Race Track. 
 
 Elevation 4,710 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,160 miles. 
 
 change in the surface features. 
 
 At Deer Lodge terraces about 200 feet high are well developed on 
 both sides of the valley. Apparently these terraces are remnants of 
 the floor of the valley at a much earlier epoch, and 
 
 Deer Lodge. 
 
 Elevation 4,530 feet. 
 Population 2,570. 
 St. Paul 1,169 miles. 
 
 possibly they may correspond with those observed on 
 the east side of the valley near Warm Springs. North 
 of Deer Lodge there is a terrace on the left, but the 
 
 one on the right has disappeared and is replaced by 
 low hills composed of soft Cretaceous rock.’ 
 
 been interpreted, consists of the record of 
 an almost infinite number of such oscilla- 
 tions, with accompanying changes in the 
 outline of the land and water. 
 
 A regional subsidence in the Rocky 
 Mountains of Montana relative to the 
 plains would readily account for the for- 
 mation of lakes in all the valleys that were 
 deep enough to lie below drainage level, 
 and this will be accepted as at least a rea- 
 sonable working hypothesis. According 
 to this view a rough mountain region, 
 probably as mountainous as it is to-day, 
 was depressed hundreds or perhaps thou- 
 sands of feet, until the streams failed to 
 flow out in their accustomed courses, as 
 the plains beyond were higher than the 
 mountain valleys. The water from the 
 rains and melting snows of the mountains 
 soon filled the valleys until the water rose 
 high enough to discharge over the plains 
 country. Under such conditions there 
 may have been many lakes or there may 
 have been one large lake with ramifica- 
 tions in the valleys among the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Into the lakes thus formed the moun- 
 tain streams poured mud, sand, and gravel, 
 the mud being carried far out in the lake 
 
 to settle as fine clay while the sand and 
 gravel were dropped near shore. At least 
 600 feet of such material has bien meas- 
 ured in some of the valleys, and probably 
 it was originally much thicker. In some 
 valleys the lakes were evidently filled, 
 and the surface became a swamp in which 
 vegetation flourished and finally was con- 
 verted into coal or lignite. Such beds 
 have been found near Drummond and 
 Missoula, along the line of the Northern 
 Pacific Railway, and in the vicinity of 
 the Glacier National Park, near the Great 
 Northern Railway. ; 
 
 The climate of this region in the lake 
 period, as indicated by the animals and 
 plants that lived then, seems to have been 
 much like that of central or southern 
 Africa at the present time. The lake beds 
 have not been searched thoroughly, but it 
 is known that mastodons, horses, camels, 
 and rhinoceroses roamed the hills in that 
 far-off time, and that the filled basins were 
 swamps in which flourished a luxuriant 
 vegetation. | 
 
 1 The broad Deer Lodge Valley extends 
 from Durant northwestward to Drum- 
 mond, but its continuation beyond Garri- 
 son may not be apparent from the train, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 115 
 
 Garrison was named in honor of William Lloyd Garrison. Here the 
 railway line through Butte unites with the original line of the North- 
 ern Pacific through Helena. The valley at Garrison 
 is much narrower than it is above that place, the 
 cliff on the west being composed of a volcanic rock 
 (andesite) and that on the east of sandstone, shale, 
 and beds of volcanic tuff ' of Upper Cretaceous age. 
 
 Garrison. 
 
 Elevation 4,344 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,180 miles. 
 
 [The itinerary west of Garrison is continued on page 127.] 
 
 The present condition and possible mode 
 of formation of the valley are illustrated 
 by figure 24, which represents a section 
 along the railway from Durant on the 
 south to Drummond on the north. <As 
 first formed, this valley was a great struc- 
 
 _ tural depression in the hard rocks, as rep- 
 resented by AB. In that basin sediment 
 accumulated in Miocene time until the 
 depression was filled, as shown in the dia- 
 gram. The place where Garrison now 
 stands was then near the middle of the 
 basin, and probably only soft lake sedi- 
 ments showed at the surface from Durant 
 to Drummond. 
 
 map or by a view from some commanding 
 summit on the valley rim. 
 
 On account of the deformation of the old 
 basin or trough, the immediate stream 
 channel below Garrison for several miles 
 is a veritable canyon in the Cretaceous 
 rocks, but farther down it opens out into 
 another wide expanse deeply covered by 
 material laid down in the lake. 
 
 * Tuff is a rock composed of fragments 
 of lava, as a rule more or less distinctly 
 bedded. These fragments may have been 
 blown from a volcanic vent and may have 
 settled down on dry land or in water. 
 Even if deposited on land, the material 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 v 
 
 5 ¢ 
 
 S 6. w 
 
 g 9 is 
 
 N S R 
 AQ 8 8 B 
 
 I~ > MMM 77. — ___=_ SSS ilil 
 
 NS /, 
 
 § N 
 
 g RY ie 
 
 g iS ; 
 
 N e § S 
 cg AOU oe Sp 
 TT, LL: 12.0yoO————SFSSSSS FH 
 
 SSS — j 
 s /; //, Y 
 
 _ Figure 24.—Sections along Northern Pacific Railway between Durant and Drummond, Mont., showing 
 . probable mode of formation of Deer Lodge Valley. 
 
 At some later stage the floor of the 
 basin was upraised midway between these 
 two ends (see CD), so that the lake beds 
 were exposed to erosion. The soft, inco- 
 herent lake sediments were soon washed 
 away, and the stream trenched the under- 
 lying Cretaceous rocks to a depth of sev- 
 eral hundred feet. The upraising of the 
 middle part of the trough left a depression 
 at either end, and at the present time 
 these structural depressions are marked 
 by broad valleys, such as can be seen at 
 Deer Lodge and at Drummond. The 
 presence of a broad valley connecting 
 these two marked depressions can be 
 realized only by a study of a contoured 
 
 may be so fine and loose as to be rapidly 
 washed into the nearest body of water, 
 there to accumulate as a stratified rock. 
 Some of the finer-grained tuffs are largely 
 volcanic ash—that is, the dustlike mate- 
 rial produced when hot lava, thrown into 
 the air, is blown into small particles by 
 the explosive action of the steam that is 
 an original constituent of all molten lava. 
 Coarser tuffs may include angular blocks 
 of lava many feet in diameter or rounded 
 masses that have solidified as they flew 
 through the air, and are known as volcanic 
 bombs. Some tuffs include also much 
 sedimentary material from the erosion of 
 freshly erupted lavas, 
 
116 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 LOGAN TO GARRISON BY WAY OF HELENA. 
 
 A short distance west of the station at Logan (see sheet 16, p. 112) 
 the Helena line crosses Gallatin River and then follows this stream 
 to its junction with the other rivers that form the Missouri. At the 
 bridge and for a short distance beyond it the 
 railway skirts the foot of a bluff of Madison 
 limestone, but this rock dips below river 
 level and beyond it the bluff is composed 
 of the overlying Quadrant formation. Al- 
 though the Quadrant resembles limestone it 
 contains little of that rock, being generally 
 composed of quartzite or flinty beds that are 
 much harder and generally of a lighter color 
 than the limestone. These beds in turn dip 
 below water level and the rocky bluffs give 
 way to a low rolling country with swampy 
 land near the track. 
 
 The railway follows the flat bottom of 
 Gallatin River for some distance and thence 
 once more follows the cliffs of the Madi- 
 son limestone, which is brought up from 
 below water level by a great anticlinal 
 fold. On the left (west) there is an ex- 
 tensive flat valley through which Gallatin, 
 Madison, and Jefferson rivers flow on their 
 way to join forces and form Missouri River. 
 They unite at the entrance to the gorge which 
 the combined stream has cut through the 
 limestone and which the train is about to 
 enter. This junction, known as Threeforks, 
 has attracted the attention of every travy- 
 eler who has entered this region since 1805, 
 when it was first seen by Lewis and Clark. 
 (See p. 100.) . 
 
 North of Threeforks the river has cut a 
 canyon along a great arch or anticline which at 
 the entrance to the canyon brings up to view 
 only the Madison limestone, but the fold increases in magnitude north- 
 ward (downstream) and lower formations are successively brought 
 above water level. As shown in figure 25 this fold is not a simple arch, 
 but the force which bent the rocks was so great that the fold was 
 pushed over to the east, or overturned. The rocks were then broken 
 or faulted, as shown in figure 26 (p. 117). 
 
 
 
 mreg Teayag [2h 
 
 The rocks, as seen from the railway, appear to be jumbled, but 
 
 really they are bent into symmetrical folds. 
 
 FIGURE 25.—Section between Logan and Trident, Mont. 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 117 
 
 At Trident, in the canyon of the Missouri, there is a large plant 
 for the manufacture of cement from the Threeforks (Devonian) shale,! 
 which is obtained from the crushed rock in the over- 
 turned anticline shown in the diagram. From Three- 
 forks to Lombard, a distance of 15 miles, the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway parallels the Northern 
 Pacific, on the opposite side of the river. 
 
 Trident. 
 
 Elevation, 4,045 feet. 
 St. Paul, 1,063 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 s _ “y ee 
 ¢ A Pips DB ae 
 ot E Pas 
 , - FF 
 dh ee a ? {ee rae / bie? 7 a “So TSG 
 / ate” ve , gon Vy . > 
 
 / PA ef a ren grone We e 
 
 7 ¢ | ey \ 
 ° cA v, S i? ‘- : <\ 
 Px J WS Sr Aaa 
 g LE ee SRA 
 ah MRM AR LY 
 
 , v Be: 
 
 - 
 - 
 
 FIGURE 26.—Faulted fold at Trident, Mont., lookiag northeast. 
 
 For 5 miles beyond Trident the railway winds in and out on the 
 flanks of the anticline, making a long cut in the Madison limestone at 
 the sharp bend of the river. From this point the river turns back 
 toward the southeast, cutting down through the formations, until it 
 reaches the Belt series—the lowest in the section. Beyond this point 
 the soft material of the lake beds obscures the hard rocks, and the 
 hills formed by those rocks recede a mile or more from the river. 
 
 The valley on the right (east) is wide and the hills are low as far as 
 Clarkston siding, but on the opposite side of the river and rudely 
 parallel with it there is a mountainous ridge, formed 
 by the overturned northwest side of a syncline which 
 lies parallel with the general course of the road and 
 which is shown in figure 25. The southeast side of 
 this fold is obscured by the lake beds, which cover all older forma- 
 
 Clarkston. 
 
 Elevation 4,002 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,071 miles. 
 
 
 
 1The mill at Trident has a daily ca- 
 pacity of 1,600 to 1,800 barrels of cement 
 and is modern in all its equipment, hav- 
 ing been erected in 1910. Material most 
 suitable for the manufacture of Portland 
 cement contains approximately 75 per 
 cent carbonate of lime, 15 per cent silica, 
 and 5 to 7 per cent alumina and iron 
 oxides, with very little magnesia and no 
 sulphur. This combination is found in 
 the Threeforks (Devonian) shale, which 
 is quarried extensively along the east 
 bluff of the river. The shale varies con- 
 siderably in composition, that from the 
 upper end of the cut being very limy and 
 that from the lower end earthy and sandy. 
 
 Rock is taken from all parts of the cut and 
 then mixed until the proper proportions 
 of the constituents are procured for the 
 manufacture of cement. The raw mate- 
 rial is burned in arevolving steel cylinder, 
 with Red Lodge coal as a fuel. (For a 
 description of Red Lodge coal see foot- 
 note on p. 82.) The coal, crushed until 
 95 per cent of it will pass through a 100- 
 mesh sieve, is blown into the front ends 
 of the revolving cylinders. It burns like 
 gas, producing a temperature of about 
 3,000° F. The burned cement is crushed 
 and mixed with a little gypsum to regu- 
 late the setting time and is then ready for 
 the market. 
 
118 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 tions as with a mantle, but in the vicinity of Clarkston the Madison 
 limestone is exposed, dipping to the northwest. At milepost 181 
 begins a long hillside cut in the upper part of this limestone, but as 
 the beds trend in nearly the same direction as the track not much of 
 the formation can be seen. The cut continues to milepost 183, where 
 the valley opens out. On the right the hard formations are covered 
 by clay deposited in the old lake, but on the left the Madison lime- 
 stone swings across the river and makes a bluff more than 100 feet 
 high above the St. Paul road. Before reaching Lombard the river 
 makes a sharp bend to the left (north) and enters a box canyon * in- 
 the Madison limestone. (See Pl. XVIII.). The height of the walls 
 
 
 
 
 
 Belt serves 
 
 Pe 
 
 FIGURE 27.—Fold and fault in the rocks near Lombard, Mont. 
 
 of this canyon is about 300 feet, but it decreases downstream, owing 
 to the fact that rocks dip in that direction. 
 
 At Lombard the St. Paul line crosses the Northern Pacific and turns 
 to the east up Sixteen Mile Creek, crossing the divide to the head of 
 
 Musselshell River. Beyond Lombard the thick beds 
 Lombard. of the Madison limestone descend rapidly and pass 
 Ara tee below water level about a mile from the station. The 
 St. Paul 1,077 miles. Quadrant formation does likewise, and at milepost 
 
 186 attempts have been made to open a mine on a 
 coal bed either in this formation or in the overlying Kootenai for- 
 mation, but the coal is badly crushed and dirty and the project has 
 been abandoned. 
 
 A short distance beyond the coal mine there is a fault that brings 
 the coal-bearing rocks into contact with the Belt series, which con- 
 sists of red and green shale and argillite, very much broken and dis- 
 turbed. (See fig. 27.) The Belt rocks form the surface along the 
 river for about 3 miles, including the large bend which the i 
 
 ‘ 
 i 
 
 makes to theleft. At milepost 189 the railway crosses this fault again 
 
 and an igneous mass that was intruded along the fault. The road 
 then enters the Quadrant formation, the lower part of which is gong 
 erally characterized by very brilliant red limestone and clay. This 
 
 color is well shown on the right as the train rounds a sharp bend of 
 cf 
 
 1'The term box canyon is applied in many parts of the West to a narrow canyon 
 having vertical or nearly vertical walls. 
 
 
 
 
 
 oy ere 
 
Ss 
 
 "Ysera ‘a[}}e9S UAa|IAL 79 SIND Aq ydeisopoyy 'YadID a[!WIUde}xXIG dn SoUR}sIP LOYs B sdeID BY} WO} MaIA 
 
 “LNOW ‘GYYEWO71 LY SNOLSSWIT NOSIGVW JO S3SI19 
 
 
 
 WAX Bivid +b9 NILATING AJAYNS 1V9ID01039 *S “nN 
 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE XIX 
 
 
 
 A, SUMMER CAMP OF THE FLATHEAD INDIANS, A FAMILIAR SCENE IN THE JOCKO VALLEY, 
 MONT. 
 
 
 
 B. GLACIER ON THE NORTH SLOPE OF McDONALD PEAK, MONT. 
 
 Photograph by C. D. Walcott. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 119 
 
 the river and it is visible up the hill slope beyond milepost 190, where 
 the train crosses a spring that wells up in large volume from the 
 limestone. The spring forms a beautiful pool, and the stream that 
 flows from it is carried in ditches for a long distance and used to irri- 
 gate the bottom land farther down the river. 
 
 About 1,000 feet beyond milepost 191 the fault is crossed for the 
 last time, and here the conditions are much like those that prevail at 
 the other crossings. The rocks south of the fault carry a coal bed 
 similar to the one opened near Lombard, and the formation is in 
 contact with a large mass of igneous rock which on the other side 
 rests against the rocks of the Belt series. The Belt rocks are con- 
 siderably altered, apparently by the heat of the intruded mass, and 
 some mineralization of the rocks has been the result, but although 
 many prospect pits can be seen on the hillsides, little of value has 
 been found. 
 
 The hard rocks that form the high hills soon give way to the soft 
 clay of the lake beds, and at Toston the valley opens out on both sides 
 
 nearly as far as the eye can reach. The river has no 
 Toston. well-marked channel, and its surface is only a few 
 Elevation 3,925 tect. feet below the general level of the plain. This is the 
 Be eee ba ities result of the washing in of fine silty material, in which 
 
 the valley has been cut. The valley was originally 
 formed by some downward movement in the crust of the earth (see 
 p. 112) and then it was occupied by a lake, probably an extension of 
 the body of water that occupied Gallatin Valley in Miocene time. 
 After the lake basin was filled or drained the land was raised, and 
 Missouri River has carved its present valley almost entirely in the 
 soft materials laid down in the old lake. Owing to the softness of 
 this material it is washed into the river at every shower and so the 
 stream is supplied with more sediment than it can carry. This 
 material therefore settles to the bottom, and the channel of the stream 
 is kept at nearly the same level as the bottom land on either side. 
 
 Opposite milepost 201 the hills on the left closely approach the 
 river bank and for a height of 400 feet they appear to be composed 
 entirely of clay deposited in the old lake. | 
 
 The flourishing town of Townsend (see sheet 17, p. 126) is in the 
 heart of a prosperous agricultural region which stretches up and down 
 
 the river valley for a long distance. A little beyond 
 
 Townsend. the town the railway crosses Missouri River and 
 "Elevation 3,833 feet. ‘begins to climb to the top of the terrace that faces 
 
 | 
 
 Sr pact tose mite, the river. From this point the traveler may obtain, 
 on the right, a broad view of the fertile farms stretch- 
 ing across the level bottom of the Missouri and broken only by lines 
 
120 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 of trees through which the stream sweeps down the valley in broad, 
 oraceful curves. 
 
 On attaining the top of the terrace it is found to be a sloping plain 
 which rises gradually to the foot of the mountain on the west. The 
 train soon passes Bedford siding, from which the old town, established 
 in 1864, can be seen on the right. This was one of the placer camps 
 in the early days, and it is said that the heaps of gravel marking the 
 location of the old workings are still visible. 
 
 The train climbs steadily up the sloping surface of the smooth 
 plain and at Winston the traveler can see a wide sweep of the river 
 
 valley and the Big Belt Mountains on the right. 
 
 Winston. Across the river on the east, at the foot of the moun- 
 Elevation 4,375 feet. tain, far in the distance, is Confederate Gulch, from 
 Population 127.* : 
 
 St. Paul 1,111 miles. the sand and gravel of which more than $10,000,000 
 
 in gold has been taken. It is said that in the autumn 
 of 1866 a four-mule team hauled to Fort Benton, for transportation 
 down the river, 24 tons of gold, worth $1,500,000, nearly all of which 
 had been taken out at Montana Bar and vicinity, near Confederate 
 Gulch. 
 
 No hard rocks have been found at the surface near the track, and 
 it is supposed that they are deeply covered by sediment deposited in 
 the great lake previously described. At the summit between Beaver 
 and Spokane creeks a part of the Belt series can be seen in a knob on 
 the north, but its constituent formations are not distinct enough to 
 be recognized from the train. Charles D. Walcott has described this 
 ridge as a syncline composed of the same rocks (the Belt series) as 
 those that are exposed in phate on the west and the Big Belt 
 Mountains on the east. 
 
 The railway follows in a general way the old stage road along which 
 the gold seekers rushed in 1864-65 to the newly discovered Last 
 Chance Gulch, where the city of Helena now stands, and along this 
 road there may still be seen many old houses that resemble the tay- 
 erns found along some of the famous old stage roads of the Easter | 
 States. | 
 
 On the right (north) is the broad valley of the lower part of Prickly | 
 Pear Creek, its irrigated and well-tilled fields contrasting with the 
 background of rugged mountains. The gently undulating upland 
 upon which the railroad is built is composed of sand and gravel, 
 which are exposed in every cut. Beneath this surface cover are 
 Tertiary lake beds, as shown by a well a little east of East Helena, 
 which passed shoots 1,200 feet of soft lake beds before reaching the 
 bedrock. 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 121 
 
 At East Helena there is a smelter on the left (south), established 
 when this district was a large producer of silver-lead ores, but recently 
 most of the ore smelted here has come from the Coeur 
 d’ Alene district in Idaho. The railway on the left is 
 the Great Northern line that runs from Great Falls 
 by way of Helena to Butte. At East Helena the 
 Northern Pacific crosses a number of long-distance 
 electric-power transmission lines which extend from the large power 
 plants at Great Falls, Canyon Ferry, and Hauser Lake, to Helena, 
 Butte, and Anaconda, furnishing light and power not only for 
 municipal purposes but also for the great mining and smelting plants 
 
 East Helena. 
 
 Elevation 3,902 feet. 
 Population 1,139.* 
 St. Paul 1,126 miles. 
 
 at or near these towns. 
 
 The traveler has now arrived at Helena, the capital of Montana 
 and a division terminal of the railway, and while the 
 
 Helena. 
 
 Elevation 3,955 feet. 
 Population 12,515. 
 St. Paul 1,131 miles. 
 
 ——— 
 
 Adolph Knopf.! 
 
 
 
 1 Helena is situated in Lewis and Clark 
 County at the eastern foot of the Conti- 
 nental Divide. Its history dates from 
 1864, when the town sprang into existence 
 as the result of the finding of extraordi- 
 narily rich gold-bearing placers where it 
 now stands. At that time Virginia City, 
 on Alder Gulch, 125 miles to the south, 
 was the great center of population in 
 Montana, as the discovery of gold there 
 in almost fabulous quantities in the pre- 
 vious year had drawn many people into 
 the region. In the spring of 1864 reports 
 reached Alder Gulch of a great strike in 
 the Kootenai Valley, and among those who 
 
 had taken the trail for the new Eldorado 
 was a party of four prospectors under the 
 leadership of John Cowan. They had 
 crossed the Continental Divide west of the 
 site of Helena when they learned from a 
 party of returning prospectors that Koo- 
 tenai was ‘‘played out.’’ They then de- 
 cided to turn eastward and continue pros- 
 pecting, but after a season’s fruitless effort, 
 they proceeded toward Alder Gulch, de- 
 termined to make one more attempt to 
 discover gold on a small creek at which 
 some indications of precious metal had 
 been obtained on the outward journey. 
 As one of them expressed it, ‘‘That little 
 gulch on the Prickly Pear is our last 
 chance”; and the place thus became 
 known to the party as Last Chance Gulch 
 
 engine is being shifted he may be interested in read- 
 ing a sketch of the early history of the city by 
 
 before the actual discovery of its wealth 
 was made. Gold in paying quantities 
 was found here about July 15, 1864. 
 
 The news of the discovery spread 
 quickly and the town grew with the 
 rapidity characteristic of placer camps. 
 On October 30 a meeting was held for the 
 purpose of appointing commissioners to 
 lay out a town, as well as to adopt a name 
 for the settlement. During the following 
 winter 115 cabins were erected in the 
 gulch, and within two years the town 
 had a population of 7,500. In 1867 the 
 telegraph had been extended to Helena 
 from Salt Lake City. 
 
 Helena, aided by its situation 140 miles 
 from Fort Benton, the head of navigation 
 on the Missouri,soon becamethe chief mart 
 of commercein Montana. Virginia City, 
 then the Territorial capital, had already 
 passed its zenith, but it was not until 1874 
 that the seat of government was perma- 
 nently removed to its northern rival. 
 
 Gold to the value of $16,000,000 was 
 taken from the gravel of Last Chance 
 Gulch, mostly before 1868. In the fall 
 of 1864 gold-bearing quartz veins had 
 been discovered 5 miles south of Helena 
 at the heads of Oro Fino and Grizzly 
 gulches, branches of Last Chance Gulch. 
 The finding of placer and lode gold were 
 thus nearly contemporaneous. The find- 
 ing of gold in its bedrock source stimu- 
 
122 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 On leaving Helena the traveler has a good view of the setting of 
 the city at the mouth of Last Chance Gulch, with the prominent 
 
 lated the quest for the precious metals all 
 over the Territory. 
 
 Silver-bearing lead ores in the vicinity 
 of Wickes, Jefferson, and Clancy, 20 
 miles southeast of Helena, were dis- 
 covered simultaneously with the finding 
 of the gold placers. The Gregory lode, 
 one of the earliest finds, was located in 
 1864, and here, in 1867, was built the 
 second smelter established in Montana. 
 
 By 1870 the placers had been largely 
 exhausted and a period of stagnation set 
 in, for lode mining could not flourish 
 without adequate and cheap transporta- 
 tion. The great need of the Territory at 
 this time was an adequate system of rail- 
 way transportation, connecting with the 
 centers of civilization. Freight rates 
 during the first decade were an enormous 
 drain on the resources of the Territory, 
 costing between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000 
 every year, even after the population 
 had shrunk to 18,000. The chief over- 
 land transportation route was Missouri 
 River, by which steamers could reach 
 Fort Benton during high-water stages. 
 But this period of high water lasted from 
 four to six weeks only, and steamers were 
 often forced to stop at the mouth of the 
 Yellowstone, 450 miles distant. On the 
 completion of the Union Pacific Railroad 
 in 1869, much of the traffic was diverted 
 to this route, Corinne, Utah, being the 
 initial point for freight bound for Mon- 
 tana. This, however, involved a haul 
 by teams of 450 miles, and the tolls were 
 oppressive, costing $37.50 for each wagon 
 from Salt Lake to Helena. 
 
 In 1883 the Northern Pacific Railway 
 was completed to Helena, and the first 
 train crossed the Continental Divide west 
 of Helena on August 7 of that year. The 
 arrival of the first regular train at Helena 
 on July 4, 1883, was the occasion of a great 
 celebration; but the special feature of the 
 day was the departure of the first ‘‘bul- 
 lion train,’”’ carrying 1,000,000 pounds of 
 silver bullion from Montana’s mines. 
 
 During the later part of 1883 the 
 Helena & Jefferson Railroad was built. 
 This line, which is now a part of the 
 
 Havre-Butte branch of the Great North- 
 ern Railway, connected Helena and 
 Wickes, 20 milesapart. The lead smelter 
 at Wickes was rebuilt and enlarged, so 
 that it was for some years the most ex- 
 tensive reduction plant in Montana and 
 drew ores from a large area, including the 
 Coeur d’ Alene district of Idaho. In 1889 
 it was shut down and dismantled. The 
 same fate has overtaken the many small 
 smelters built in the region tributary to 
 Helena, and at present the only smelter 
 in operation is the East Helena plant of © 
 the American Smelting & Refining Co. 
 The period from 1883 to 1893 comprises 
 the years during which a large output of 
 silver and lead was maintained. The 
 gold obtained from veins during this 
 period came largely from the district at 
 the heads of Oro Fino and Grizzly gulches 
 and from the Marysville district, 17 miles 
 northwest of Helena, which began to — 
 come into prominence in 1880. At pres-_ 
 ent mining activity is, on the whole, at 
 a rather low ebb throughout the region — 
 tributary to Helena, the annual produc- i 
 tlon fluctuating around $1,000,000. The 
 total yield in gold, silver, lead, and : 
 copper aggregates between $150,000,000 — 
 and $200,000 ,000. | 
 Helena lies on the south side of a great — 
 dome-shaped uplift, whose center is some- — 
 where north of the Scratch Gravel Hills, i 
 which can be seen on the right (north) 
 from Helena. The rocks dip away from 
 the center of this uplift, but there are 
 many minor folds or wrinkles on the 
 flanks of the dome that in places a 
 produce dips in the opposite direction. 
 About Helena the general dip is toward — 
 the south, whereas at Mullan Pass it is- 
 toward the southwest. The rocks about 
 Helena are broken by a number of faults, - 
 which in general ray out like the spokes 
 of a wheel from the center of the uplift. 
 The rocks here are much like those ex- 
 posed about Threeforks, but they have 
 been intruded in many places by masses — 
 of igneous rock that have come up from 
 below, and they have been altered by | 
 the heat and pressure thus developed. 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 123 
 
 peak Mount Helena on the west. About 2} miles out the railway 
 crosses the Great Northern line to Great Falls and Havre, and near 
 this crossing the Red Mountain branch of the Northern Pacific turns 
 to the south to a mining district up the valley of Tenmile Creek. 
 Beyond milepost 3 Fort Harrison, the largest military post in the 
 State, is seen on the left (south). 
 
 Just west of Helena begins the long grade to the summit of Mullan 
 Pass. The ascent, 1,618 feet, is accomplished in about 20 miles. 
 
 From Clough Junction, just beyond Birdseye, a branch line leads 
 northward to Marysville,' one of the most productive mining camps 
 in this vicinity, situated just below the crest of the 
 Continental Divide, about 17 miles northwest of 
 Helena. 
 
 The rocks in the Front Range in the vicinity of 
 Mullan Pass lie on the southwest flank of the great dome whose center 
 is north of the Scratch Gravel Hills. The regular southwestward dip 
 of the rocks away from the center of this dome is interrupted by a 
 small syncline (a downward fold of the rocks) which lies west of the 
 summit and also by many intrusions of igneous rock, some of which 
 are of great extent, whereas others are small and have had little effect 
 upon the general structure. As the rocks on the east side of the 
 summit dip toward the range, the westbound traveler passes over 
 
 Birdseye. 
 
 Elevation, 4,231 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,139 miles. 
 
 the several formations in ascending order. 
 The rocks are poorly exposed about Birdseye and Clough Junction, 
 and the traveler will have difficulty in identifying the Belt series and 
 
 the Cambrian and Devonian formations. 
 
 Near milepost 11 the 
 
 
 
 1 The prosperity of the Marysville min- 
 ing camp has hinged largely on the for- 
 tunes of the Drumlummon mine, the 
 oldest, most steadily operated, and most 
 productive property of the district. The 
 Drumlummon lode was discovered in 
 1876 by Thomas Cruse, who had been 
 working some placers along Silver Creek 
 below the present site of Marysville, and 
 the mine was gradually developed by 
 him until 1880, when a 5-stamp mill was 
 erected. In 1882 the property was sold 
 to an English company known as the 
 Montana Mining Co. (Ltd.) for $1,500,000. 
 During the operations of this company 
 $15,000,000 worth of gold and silver was 
 extracted. In the early nineties the 
 property became involved in protracted 
 litigation, and in recent years the mine 
 has been worked only intermittently. In 
 1911 the property was sold to the St. 
 
 
 
 Louis Mining & Milling Co., which com- 
 menced to rehabilitate the milling plant, 
 to operate the old workings, then badly 
 caved, and to search for new ore bodies. 
 
 Other notable mines in the district 
 are the Belmont, Cruse, Penobscot, Bald 
 Butte, Empire, and Piegan-Gloster. The 
 district has produced about $30,000,000. 
 
 The presence of ore at Marysville is 
 due to a small mass of granite that has 
 been forced up from below through the 
 limestone and shale of the Belt series. — 
 Some of the ore was probably deposited 
 soon after the intrusion, but the richest 
 veins are supposed to have been formed 
 at a later date. The sedimentary rocks 
 around the granite have been so thor- 
 oughly baked that they are changed into 
 hard flinty rocks known as hornstone. 
 The ore occurs along the contact of the 
 granite and the hornstone. 
 
124 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 massive light-colored Madison limestone (Carboniferous) will attract 
 attention on account of its many exposures on the hill slopes. West 
 of the limestone is an intrusive mass of granite (quartz monzonite), 
 which is very extensive, being the same as that which constitutes 
 the mountains about Boulder and the summit over which the North- 
 ern Pacific passes east of Butte. It is noteworthy on account of the 
 peculiar way in which it weathers. Some parts seem to be harder 
 than others and less subject to the action of the weather, and these 
 parts stand up as towers and pinnacles. The projecting crags are 
 particularly numerous and fantastic in the vicinity of Austin. 
 
 The railway engineers, in order to obtain a regular grade to the 
 summit, found it necessary to make large loops, and the open country 
 about Austin gave them the opportunity they de- 
 sired. Just east of the station two stretches of track, 
 one above the other, are visible on the right. The 
 steepness of the grade may be appreciated by listening 
 to the laboring of the engine or by looking back after making the 
 sharp turn above Austin. The track here runs along the contact of 
 the limestone and the granite, and such localities are generally 
 favorable for the deposition of ores. Many prospect pits have been 
 sunk in search of the precious metals, but apparently without success. 
 Above the great loops near Austin the track winds in and out, up the 
 ravines and around the spurs, steadily climbing on the Madison lime- 
 stone until it arrives at the east end of the Mullan tunnel. Originally 
 the road was carried over the summit, but on the completion of the 
 tunnel the high lne was abandoned. The upgrade continues 
 through the tunnel, which is 3,875 feet long, and 
 reaches the highest pomt at Blossburg, at the far 
 end. The tunnel was constructed entirely in the 
 eranite, although the limestone extends to the eastern 
 portal and the sandstone and shale of the Cretaceous appear only a 
 short distance west of the other portal. 
 
 The traveler has now crossed the backbone of the continent, and 
 as he starts down the Pacific slope and looks back at the summit he 
 is probably surprised at the smoothness of the tops and the absence 
 of the rugged features which most people have, in their minds, 
 associated with Mullan Pass ' and the Continental Divide. 
 
 Austin. 
 
 Elevation 4,771 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,144 miles. 
 
 Blossburg. 
 
 Elevation 5,573 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,151 miles. 
 
 1 The first authentic account of a trip 
 through Mullan Pass is that contained in 
 the report of the Government engineers 
 who, in 1853, conducted systematic ex- 
 plorations in order to find the best route 
 for a Pacific railroad. This expedition, 
 under the command of Gov. Isaac I. 
 Stevens, of Washington’ Territory, estab- 
 lished field headquarters at the old mis- 
 
 sion of St. Mary (now Stevensville), in 
 the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula. 
 From this camp engineers explored the 
 passes through the mountains and re- 
 ported on their feasibility for railroad 
 construction. 
 
 The two men connected with this work 
 who are best known to the public were 
 Capt. George B. McClellan, who had 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 125 
 
 West of the summit the rock is not well exposed, partly for the 
 reason that it is shale (Cretaceous) which is not hard enough to form 
 ridges or knobs. This shale is the youngest rock crossed by the rail- 
 way in this vicinity. It lies in the middle of the great syncline pre- 
 viously referred to and constitutes the core of the fold. West of 
 this place the rocks should be crossed in reverse order, but they are 
 so badly faulted and cut by intrusive masses that it is very difficult 
 to determine the structure. The most prominent rock on this side 
 of the fold is the Madison limestone which is quarried at Calcium, 
 between mileposts 26 and 27, and burned into lime. 
 
 West of Calcium the rocks are badly broken by faults so that it 
 is almost impossible to identify the various formations from the 
 moving train, but near milepost 28 there is a prominent ledge of 
 quartzite (Quadrant) on the right (north) which carries at its top a 
 valuable bed of rock phosphate. Analysis shows this rock to contain 
 from 40 to 60 per cent of phosphate of lime. This material is valuable 
 as a fertilizer, and the United States Geological Survey has been 
 actively engaged in the last few years in mapping deposits of such 
 
 rock. 
 
 charge of surveys on the Pacific coast and 
 who afterward came into prominence in 
 the Civil War, and Lieut. John Mullan, 
 who was in charge of an exploring party 
 in the Rocky Mountains and who later 
 achieved local distinction through the 
 building of a military road from Fort 
 Benton to Walla Walla. (See p. 131.) 
 Late in the summer of 1853 Lieut. 
 Mullan made a scouting expedition to 
 Fort Benton and from that place to 
 Musselshell River by way of the Judith 
 Basin. He tried to induce some Indians 
 to guide him through a low pass that had 
 been reported west of the place where 
 Helena now stands, but the Indians were 
 on a hunting trip for their winter supply 
 of meat and could not be induced to join 
 him. Failing in this, he ascended the 
 Musselshell and crossed the Big Belt 
 Mountains to the site of Helena. He 
 crossed the summit west of this place on 
 September 24, 1853, with little difficulty, 
 through what is now known as Mullan 
 Pass. Twenty years later the same route 
 
 was followed by the locating engineers of 
 
 the Northern Pacific and the original line 
 was built across the summit at this place. 
 
 1 The bed of phosphate rock just east of 
 Elliston is over 5 feet thick and carries 
 
 It is described by R. W. Stone below.' 
 
 61.6 per cent of tricalcic phosphate. De- 
 tailed examination has shown that within 
 8 miles of Elliston, on the north of the 
 railway, there is available within easy 
 mining depth approximately 86,000,000 
 tons of rock phosphate, or an equivalent 
 of 5,440 acres underlain by a bed 4 feet 
 thick. The phosphate is in a definite 
 layer and is interbedded with other rocks, 
 as coal is. At Elliston the phosphate bed 
 is nearer the railway than elsewhere in 
 western Montana. Phosphate is found in 
 the same formation in the hills 5 miles 
 north of Garrison; near Philipsburg, a 
 town at the end of the branch south of 
 Drummond; at Lime Spur; and at Mel- 
 rose, 30 miles south of Butte. 
 
 When rock phosphate was discovered in 
 the Rocky Mountains a number of years 
 ago, the United States Geological Survey 
 undertook the determination of the geo- 
 graphic extent and quantity of available 
 material. It has been found that rock 
 phosphate occurs in the mountains of 
 Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, 
 in quantities so stupendous that when 
 expressed in tons the amount is almost 
 inconceivable. The estimated total in 
 the areas examined in the years 1909- 
 1913 is approximately 7,777,000,000 long 
 
126 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 At Elliston the red shale of the Kootenai (Lower Cretaceous), fol- 
 lowed by the dark shale of the Colorado, is visible on both sides of 
 the valley. A short distance below the town there is a 
 large area of dark-red lava (rhyolite) which extends 
 as far as milepost 35. From this point westward for 
 some distance the valley is much broader than it is 
 near Elliston, and at some stage of the Tertiary period contained a 
 lake. The sediment deposited in this lake can be seen on the right 
 (north) along the track as far as Avon (see sheet 18, p. 134), except 
 where a sharp ridge of rhyolite east of the town 
 extends from the right and just crosses the railway 
 track. Beyond Avon Little Blackfoot River enters 
 a rugged canyon, at first in red rhyolite and then in 
 thin-bedded red sandstone of the Belt series (Algonkian). These 
 rocks continue a short distance beyond milepost 41 and are separated 
 from the Cretaceous rocks to the west by a small mass of igneous 
 rock (andesite) that has been intruded along the fault. 
 
 The lowest formation of the Cretaceous and the first to be seen in 
 traveling westward is the Kootenai, which is visible on the left. 
 This formation, characterized by bands of bright-red shale, is only a 
 few hundred feet thick and is overlam by Upper Cretaceous rocks 
 which extend continuously from this place to Garrison. This over- 
 lying formation is undoubtedly the same as the Colorado shale far- 
 ther east, but its composition is different. In the eastern localities it 
 is mostly a dark shale with only here and there a bed of thin sand- 
 stone, but along the Little Blackfoot it is composed of a succession 
 
 Elliston. 
 
 Elevation 5,061 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,160 miles. 
 
 Avon. 
 
 Elevation 4,702 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,169 miles. 
 
 of beds of sandstone and shale with sandstone predominating. 
 
 tons, or triple the quantity of anthracite | 
 
 mined in Pennsylvania in the last cen- 
 tury. When all the known deposits in 
 these four States have been examined in 
 detail, the estimated available tonnage 
 will considerably exceed these figures. 
 The most noteworthy characteristic of 
 western rock phosphate is its oolitic tex- 
 ture. (Oolite, from the Greek, meaning 
 egg stone, is applied to certain limestones 
 whose texture suggests the roe of a fish.) 
 The rock is composed of rounded grains 
 ranging in size from the tiniest specks to 
 bodies half an inch or more in diameter. 
 The freshly mined rock usually has a 
 dark-brown or black color, but the weath- 
 ered material found along the outcrop 1s 
 a light or dark gray with a whitish to 
 bluish coating that has a tendency to 
 concentrate in a netlike pattern. Rock 
 phosphate is appreciably heavier than 
 ordinary limestone, and some varieties 
 
 
 
 give off a fetid odor when struck with a 
 hammer. 
 
 On account of the high cost of trans- 
 portation the present market of the west-— 
 ern phosphates is confined to the Pacific” 
 coast States. In 1914 the western ‘phos-— 
 phate field furnished 5,030 tons, valued 
 at $15,488, or an average price of $3.08 a 
 ton. This is about one-fifth of 1 per cent 
 of the total phosphate production of the 
 United States, which in 1914 amounted to — 
 2,734,043 long tons, valued at $9,608,041. 
 
 Phosphate rock is converted into more 
 soluble phosphates for use in the manu-— 
 facture of fertilizers by treatment with 
 sulphuric acid. As this acid can be made 
 from smelter fumes which ordinarily go 
 to waste, the proximity of phosphate de- 
 posits to the great smelting centers of the 
 West is likely to prove beneficial not only ; 
 to the miners of phosphate but also to the 
 smelter men and the farmers, 
 
SHEET No. 17 
 
 ° 
 Hhl so’ 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 
 
 
 US ae 
 
 mn mn 
 ae) 
 38 
 re 
 »~k as 
 Nom O DD 
 So. ee 
 Ea OC Le 
 Q 
 ge 553 
 sf asf 
 > & 532 
 = Ei) foe 
 g as 
 #3 & 238 
 aay es a 
 rey morte 
 <& 
 al 
 Ss 
 rs +s 
 = en 
 eB wah 
 < - oe E 
 Z. Be SES 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Carboniferous 
 
 Devonian 
 zine als brian 
 
 Algonkian 
 
 
 
 800 
 1, 
 
 3,300 
 
 
 
 Rt ye oy me = 
 A Al eee &, ~ 
 
 \drant formation) 
 heet Vo/6) 
 
 series) 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 _Jower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 
 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 B Sand, gravel, and voleanie ash (lake beds) 1,200 Late Tertiary 
 Dark shale and sandstone (Colorado shale) 1,500 Upper Cretaceous 
 ! . E 4Sandstone and red shale (Kootenai formation) 1,500 Lower Cretaceous 
 - Bi RP aie Sng OAR Impure limestone and quartzite (E]lis formation) 430 Jurassic ee 
 
 
 
 SHEET No. 17 _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a ra 
 
 112° Ge 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 
 
 I}}%s0° MONTANA 
 
 
 
 H Sandstone and impure limestone (Quadrant formation) 800 Sea Sah cee 
 Massive blue limestone (‘ Madison) 1,000 
 
 K_ Limestone and shale 2,700 «Devonian 
 Cambrian 
 L Shale, sandstone, and limestone (Belt series) 8,300  Algonkian 
 
 R_ Lava flows, rhyolite 
 S Granite, intrusive 
 T Lava flows, andesite 
 
 CCR CS 
 RSSXV“7“°~ 4 
 LUG y 
 
 C 
 
 NC 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 ee 
 
 (Sheet Va /8) 
 
 = 
 
 
 
 
 wae 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 EG ) 
 A 70 / Ee" 4 IS Dee : be aN 
 TA Ut ~~ Seale 500,000 V/ : 
 FO" Approximately 8 miles to | inch | \ : 
 5 10 15 20Miles rd} 7 Pie 
 en 
 
 
 
 
 
 f \ ee 
 ir eit 4 ‘ 
 j envilles \ 
 Towns nd 
 €4.3833\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 | Contour interval 200 feet OV wiltiHes 3 af ( [i 
 a) 1S ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL of We Py ( | HEX. 
 ; ; \ | t. } 
 aes | The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are-shown every IO miies ¢\ _ \ ) ‘ 
 = \ eye \ 
 FQ z a ‘4 The crossties on the railroads are spaced ! mile apart (f° pis = E 
 | {2°so0° ap Ran s Cir 8, ie a a | {2 Ope Sie se ee 
 (Sheet Vo/b) 
 
 ENGRAVED 4ND PRINTED Bly THE US -GECLOGIGAL SURYRY 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, L2H 
 
 The Cretaceous beds dip gently in various directions, but in general 
 they lie nearly fat and constitute the bottom of a great sag or syn- 
 cline 15 to 20 miles wide. Although this syncline is flat and broad, 
 it has been subjected to much minor folding or wrinkling, which 
 
 : locally has tilted the beds or even broken them, where the pressure 
 has been more severe. | 
 
 The Cretaceous rocks are much softer than the older rocks, and 
 ae weathering has reduced them to low hills and 
 ee rounded slopes that are a marked feature of the 
 
 “St. Paul 1182 miles. topography in the vicinity of Garrison. At this vil- 
 lage the old main line is joined by the more recent 
 line through Butte. 
 LINE WEST OF GARRISON. 
 
 The famous Deer Lodge Valley, which is so conspicuous on the Butte 
 line, continues west of Garrison as far as Drummond, but for some 
 distance it is not apparent from the train. When viewed from some 
 
 commanding eminence the valley is distinctly outlined, but when 
 seen from the river level the immediate bluffs conceal and obscure the 
 background, so that the traveler will probably fail to recognize the 
 broader, more open valley in the bottom of which the stream has cut 
 its present channel. The broad valley is underlain by soft Creta- 
 ceous rocks similar to those which border it on both lines above their 
 junction at Garrison. As explained on page 115, the bottom of the 
 valley bulged up north of the place where Garrison is now located. 
 Clark Fork had already established a meandering course on the sedi- 
 ments, filling the old lake basin, and when the bulge occurred the 
 stream simply persisted in its old course, cutting deeply into the 
 underlying harder rocks and preserving allits former sinuosities. The 
 railway can not follow the swings of the stream, because they are too 
 short, so it strikes straight through, tunneling wherever necessary. 
 The St. Paul road lies near the Northern Pacific on the left. 
 
 Halfway between mileposts 53 and 54 there is a sign on the left 
 which calls attention to the fact that here on September 8, 1883, was 
 driven the last spike that established the connection between the 
 eastern and the western ends of the Northern Pacific Railway. The 
 event was celebrated in an elaborate manner, and prominent people, 
 including William M. Evarts (as orator), Henry M. Teller, Secretary 
 of the Interior, and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, were present. The com- 
 pletion of the Union Pacific Railroad, in 1869, had been celebrated by 
 similar ceremonies at Promontory, west of Ogden, Utah, and the 
 gathering in Montana marked the completion of the second great 
 transcontinental line. Since that time other roads have been con- 
 structed across the continent without creating any marked attention, 
 but these two roads were the pioneers and the completion of each 
 was an event of nation-wide importance. 
 
128 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The rocks north of Garrison are mostly of Cretaceous age and cor- 
 respond to the Colorado shale, which is exposed in the bluff south of 
 Billings. At Billings the formation consists of dark shale containing 
 many marine fossils, but about Garrison it is composed largely of 
 sandstone, conglomerate, and tuff, and no marine fossils have been 
 found in it. The kind of material composing the formation and the 
 character of the fossils indicate shore conditions and fresh or brackish 
 water, instead of the salt water that prevailed farther east. North of 
 Garrison the Cretaceous rocks are cut by igneous rocks that have 
 been forced up through them in great masses and in narrow dikes. 
 The most prominent igneous mass that can be seen from the train is 
 one that crosses the track at milepost 56. This rock has been quar- 
 ried for material with which to riprap the slopes of the roadbed 
 where it is washed by the stream. At milepost 57 there is a high, 
 rocky wall on the left composed of sandstone in which there is the 
 standing stump of a tree. It is now sulicified but remains as a mute 
 record of a time, long ago, when this country, now so barren of tim- 
 ber, was covered with trees several feet in diameter. About halfway 
 between mileposts 57 and 58 is the mouth of Gold Creek, the creek 
 upon which gold was first discovered in Montana.' The placers 
 are at Pioneer, 5 miles up the creek, and it is reported that at least 
 $12,000,000 has been taken from them. They are still producing in a 
 small way. Cretaceous rocks form the surface here, but they are 
 generally soft and give rise to low hills and gently rounded slopes. 
 
 At the station of Gold Creek the valley floor merges into the 
 rolling upland that stretches far northeastward to the foot of the 
 Garnet Range, which is composed of Paleozoic lime- 
 stones and quartzites. At milepost 61 the valley 
 widens, and 2 miles farther west the harder rocks 
 disappear and the valley floor and the slopes are 
 composed solely of the lake beds, which mantle all the 
 older formations. The lake beds continue to milepost 68, where the 
 Cretaceous rock is again visible on the north. 
 
 Gold Creek. 
 
 Elevation 4,20: feet. 
 Population 730.* 
 St. Paul 1,187 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘It is reported that gold was first discov- 
 ered in Montana in 1852 by a half-breed 
 named Frang¢ois, but better known to his 
 associates as Benetsee. On his return 
 from the gold fields of California Benetsee 
 began prospecting on what is now known 
 as Gold Creek, in Powell County. He 
 found some gold, but did not obtain 
 enough to pay for operations. 
 
 The finding of gold at this locality soon 
 became known among the few mountain- 
 eers in the country, and in 1856 a party on 
 their way from the Bitterroot Valley, 
 where they had spent the winter trading 
 
 with the Indians, visited Gold Creek and 
 found more gold than Benetsee had been 
 able to obtain, but not enough to induce 
 them to remain. . 
 
 Desultory prospecting was done in the 
 years following the visit of this party, but 
 without any definite result until 1862, 
 when rich pay gravel was discovered. 
 Soon after this the extraordinarily rich 
 placers of Alder Gulch, at Virginia City 
 (1863), and Last Chance Gulch, at Helena 
 (1864), were discovered, and these so far 
 overshadowed the deposit on Gold Creek 
 that it was almost forgotten. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 129 
 
 Drummond lies at the intersection of two very broad, flat valleys, 
 one along the main line of the Northern Pacific and 
 Vinee ore the other leading off to the southwest along a branch 
 Population 383.* line running to the mining district of Philipsburg. 
 St. Paul 1,200 miles. ‘These valleys are filled with lake sediments, which 
 show that a great lake existed here in Tertiary time. 
 
 In the region above Drummond the rocks form a great flat syncline, 
 with the Cretaceous occupying a wide area in the middle. In this 
 central region the rocks were only slightly disturbed, but near Drum- 
 mond, on the margin of the basin, the rocks are thrown into great folds 
 which carry the limestone and quartzite beds of the Carboniferous and 
 Devonian high into the mountain tops. In fact the Garnet Range 
 consists of a series of such folds, trending in a northwesterly direction, 
 which become more and more complicated toward the northwest. 
 Clark Fork cuts into the foothills of the range west of Drummond, 
 and the great folds can. be seen and studied from the moving train. 
 
 From Drummond the railway follows closely the axial line of a large 
 syncline for a distance of about 7 miles. The youngest rocks exposed 
 
 Drummond. 
 
 
 
 great basin, and the Madison limestone is folded back upon itself in the hill on the south. 
 
 in this trough are the bright-red and maroon shale and sandstone of 
 the Kootenai. The rim of the syncline is formed of the Madison lime- 
 stone, which 3 miles west of Drummond forms conspicuous cliffs on 
 the south and can be seen on the north in the tops of the high wooded 
 hills about 2 miles distant from the track. 
 
 To a point about 3 miles below Drummond the valley is still called 
 the Deer Lodge Valley, but at that pomt the walls close in, especially 
 on the left, and thence down to Missoula it is known as Hell Gate 
 Canyon. It is probable that this name originated in the vicmity of 
 Missoula, but it is now applied to the whole of the canyon. 
 ~ At the entrance to the canyon, near milepost 74, the Madison lime- 
 stone caps the high hill on the south and makes a picturesque setting 
 for the stream and valley at its foot. This cliff can best be seen from 
 a point near milepost 75 late in the afternoon, when the slanting rays 
 of the sun bring out every detail of the towers and pinnacles of the 
 rugged cliff. The limestone appears to lie horizontal, just as it was 
 laid down on the bed of the ocean, but when studied carefully it is 
 found to be turned completely over, as shown in figure 28, The over- 
 
 95558 °—Bull. 611—15——9 
 
1380 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 turning of the side of the syncline was probably produced by a strong 
 thrust from the southwest which not only caused the rocks to fold in 
 the form of a trough, but continued and pushed the rocks composing 
 the side of the fold far toward the middle of the bas. 
 
 Below the cliff of limestone the stream is very tortuous, winding 
 from side to side of the synclinal basin in which it is flowing. The 
 railway originally followed all the crooks and bends of the stream, 
 but now it pursues nearly a straight course, cutting through the 
 points and bridging the stream, or diverting its course where diversion 
 could be accomplished readily. The deep cuts across the projecting 
 points in the bends of the stream afford an excellent opportunity 
 to see the dark-red shale of the Kootenai formation, which is exposed 
 in the middle of the trough. 
 
 At milepost 79 the river, accompanied by the railway, turns to the 
 southwest and cuts across the rim of the syncline, which is made up 
 of hard, massive limestones and quartzites (Carboniferous). As 
 these rocks always make rugged and picturesque canyon walls, it 
 is well for the traveler who wishes to obtain a good view to be ready, 
 as it takes only a minute or two to pass through the interesting part 
 of the gorge. Just below milepost 79 the railway crosses the Quad- 
 rant quartzite, which makes little showing on the hill slopes. This 
 is soon passed, and then the massive layers of the Madison come 
 into view. As the course of the road changes more toward the north- 
 west, the limestone beds can be seen rising in great cliffs on the left, 
 but beyond another bend to the west they appear in all their rug- 
 gedness in the wall on the right. The limestone, stained red or 
 rather splotched with red, rises on both sides to a height of 500 or 
 600 feet; and the rock is carved into the most fantastic shapes, such 
 as pillars, needles, towers, and minarets—in fact almost every form 
 the imagination can conceive. The combination of rugged forms 
 and striking colors gives to this canyon a character of its own that 
 would be hard to duplicate in any other region. The limestone on 
 the southwest rests against a mass of lava (andesite), which covers 
 much of the country southwest of the river and is exposed in its 
 bluffs in the vicinity of the next station, Bearmouth. 
 
 Opposite Bearmouth a small stream, Bear Gulch, enters the river 
 from the right. Here gold-bearing gravel was discovered in October, 
 
 1865, by a party under the leadership of Jack Rey- 
 Bearmouth. nolds. In the two years following its discovery 
 as oe fost. it produced $1 000,000, and later the yield was 
 St. Paul 1,210 miles, Increased to many times that amount. The placers 
 
 are no longer worked, but it is said that gold-bearing 
 quartz veins have been found which may some day bring new activity 
 to this region. : 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. Loti 
 
 West of Bearmouth the lava forms the walls of the canyon for a 
 distance of 2 miles to the mouth of Harvey Creek, a small stream 
 entering the river from the south. Opposite and a little below the 
 mouth of this creek there is a syncline extending to the northwest. 
 The rocks in the middle of this basin are the red shale and sandstone 
 of the Kootenai, rimmed about by lower and older formations, the 
 lowermost of which are the limestones and quartzites of the Carbon- 
 iferous. 
 
 About Blakeley siding and for several miles west of it the rocks 
 on both sides of the canyon are red shale or argillite and red sandstone 
 belonging to the Spokane shale (Algonkian). ‘This is the first appear- 
 ance in the westward journey down Clark Fork of this red argillite, 
 which makes most of the walls of Hell Gate Canyon from Blakeley 
 siding to Missoula. 
 
 Blakeley siding is well within Hell Gate Canyon, the principal 
 highway by which the white man m the early days and the Indian 
 before him crossed this mountainous region. The first permanent 
 wagon road in this part of the country was built in this canyon in 
 1859-1862, and is known from its builder as the Mullan road. Its 
 construction is intimately associated with the early development of 
 
 the country, and a more extended account is given below. 
 
 1 Hell Gate Canyon is one of the great 
 natural thoroughfares of the continent. 
 Through this canyon the Flatheads and 
 other tribes of the West journeyed to the 
 plains annually to hunt the buffalo, and 
 through its winding trails crept the 
 stealthy Blackfeet on their numerous 
 forays against their more peaceful neigh- 
 bors on the west. 
 
 In 1853, when the Government engi- 
 neers were exploring the various passes of 
 the Rocky Mountains to find the most 
 _ feasible route for a Pacific railroad, they 
 also planned for a military road which 
 should connect Fort Benton, then the 
 head of navigation on the Missouri and 
 the most prominent post on the east side 
 of the mountains, with Fort Walla Walla, 
 which was of equal prominence on the 
 Pacific slope. Lieut. John Mullan was 
 the most ardent advocate of a military 
 road, but he was ably seconded by Gov. 
 Stevens, the leader of the expedition. 
 
 The location of such a road east of the 
 Bitterroot Valley (Missoula) was easily 
 determined, but the country west of that 
 valley afforded the greatest obstacles, 
 so in 1854 Mullan explored three possible 
 
 
 
 routes across the Coeur d’ Alene Mountains 
 in order to determine the best location. 
 These were (1) Clark Fork, Lake Pend 
 Oreille, and Spokane (the town of Spokane 
 was not then in existence); (2) the St. 
 Regis and Coeur d’Alene valleys; and (3) 
 the Lolo trail. 
 
 Lewis and Clark had already passed 
 over the Lolo trail and had given so 
 graphic a picture of its difficulties that it 
 was not very seriously considered by 
 Mullan, who devoted most of his energies 
 to the other two routes. The route first 
 mentioned, along which the Northern 
 Pacific Railway was subsequently built, 
 was partly explored by Mullan in 1854, 
 but unfortunately the attempt was made 
 in May, when the snow in the mountains 
 was melting rapidly, and he had great 
 difficulty in crossing the streams. He. 
 persisted, however, on his course down | 
 Olark Fork until he reached Lake Pend 
 Oreille (pronounced locally pon-do-ray), 
 but here he found it practically impassa- 
 ble on account of high water, so he reluc- 
 tantly gave up this route as impracticable. 
 Mullan then explored the St. Regis and 
 Coeur d’Alene valleys and decided that 
 
132 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Beyond Blakeley siding the canyon walls are composed of the 
 Spokane shale (Algonkian), and its dark-red color is visible at many 
 places. It is well exposed in a cut by the side of the road, at mile- 
 post 87, in a projecting point known as Medicine Tree Hill. 
 
 Some Paleozoic limestone and quartzite are to be observed on the 
 right (north) at intervals for the next 5 or 6 miles, and then the walls 
 of the canyon are made up almost entirely of the red Spokane shale. 
 The Algonkian rocks are supposed to be the oldest sedimentary rocks 
 
 exposed in the Rocky Mountain region. 
 
 these afforded the best route. In select- 
 ing the Cceur d’Alene route he was 
 influenced by its directness and by the 
 fact that the summit is not especially 
 rugged nor difficult of access, but he 
 failed to realize the severity of the winters 
 on this exposed mountain pass. That in 
 later years he regretted this choice is 
 shown by the following statement: ‘‘I 
 have always exceedingly regretted that 
 it was my fortune to examine this route 
 [Clark Fork] at so unfavorable a period, 
 for I have been convinced by later data 
 that it possessed an importance, both as 
 regards climate and railroad facilities, 
 enjoyed by no other line in the Rocky 
 Mountains between latitudes 43° and 
 49°.”> The building of the Northern 
 Pacific Railway down Clark Fork seemed 
 to justify his conclusion, but it must be 
 remembered that at a later date this same 
 company built a branch road over almost 
 the exact route selected by Mullan up 
 St. Regis River, and that only a few years 
 ago the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
 Railway Co. built its main line along 
 nearly the same route. This all goes to 
 show that railway building since the days 
 of Lieut. Mullan, or even since the build- 
 ing of the Northern Pacific main line, has 
 changed, and that now directness of line 
 may be the controlling condition, and the 
 crossing of mountain ranges a mere 
 incident. 
 
 Although explorations for a military 
 road were made and a route selected in 
 1854, actual construction was delayed 
 several years. Mullan was on the ground 
 ready to begin work in that year, under 
 general orders from the War Department, 
 but trouble with the Indians throughout 
 eastern Oregon and Washington pre- 
 
 Very few fossils occur in 
 
 vented, and he passed another year with- 
 out accomplishing any work on his 
 favorite project. 
 
 In March, 1859, Congress appropriated 
 $100,000 for the construction of the road, 
 and work was begun by Mullan at Walla: 
 Walla on June 28 of the same year. The 
 road extended northeastward from Walla 
 Walla to the Coeur d’Alene Valley. The 
 first year the road was cleared, so as to be 
 passable by wagon, from Walla Walla to 
 the headwaters of the St. Regis. The 
 next spring Mullan began work where it 
 was stopped the previous autumn and 
 pushed the construction up Clark Fork to 
 Missoula and then up Hell Gate Canyon 
 as far as Garrison. From this point it 
 followed Little Blackfoot River along the 
 original line of the Northern Pacific to 
 Mullan Pass, down on the east side to the 
 vicinity of Helena, and thence north to 
 Fort Benton. By the end of the season 
 the party reached the eastern terminus, 
 but it is needless to say that this great 
 stretch of road was little more than a trail, 
 and much work was needed before it was 
 really passable. 
 
 The summers of 1861 and 1862 were 
 spent by Mullan in going back over the 
 line building bridges, making cuts where 
 the canyons were narrow, and relocating 
 the road about Coeur d’Alene Lake, where 
 the ground proved to be soft and marshy. 
 
 The road thus built had a length of 624 
 miles through the roughest part of the 
 Rocky Mountains and cost $230,000. I¢ 
 was never used to any extent for mili- 
 tary purposes and soon fell into decay, 
 except where it was kept up by the local 
 authorities. About 20 years later it 
 was supplanted by the Northern Pacific 
 Railway. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 133 
 
 them, but those that have been found are fresh-water forms, indicat- 
 ing that the sediment forming the rocks was deposited in a lake or 
 lakes. 
 
 Many of the beds of sandstone are beautifully ripple marked, show- 
 ing that the water in which the sand was deposited was so shallow 
 that the waves piled up the sand in ripples or ridges. They also show 
 cracks, indicating that at times the water receded, allowing the 
 material composing the bottom of the lake to dry and crack irregu- 
 larly, as mud deposited along a stream to-day will crack when it 
 dries. Another indication of shallow water, or of no water at all, 
 is the preservation of the prints of raindrops, which, after the millions 
 of years that have elapsed since these rocks were mud on the shore 
 of some lake, indicate the direction from which the storm came that 
 drove along the coast. This may not be of great importance, but it 
 illustrates how well nature has preserved the record of events of that 
 far-off time, if only we will learn to interpret it. 
 
 The Spokane shale is well exposed in the portals of the tunnel 
 between mileposts 94 and 95 and can be seen to good advantage from 
 
 the observation car. From Bonita to Missoula the 
 Bonita. walls of the canyon are steep and high but not particu- 
 Berean paiee larly rugged. They are composed almost entirely of 
 
 the Spokane shale, which supports a much heavier 
 erowth of pine trees than the other formations. This is particularly 
 noticeable on the south side of the canyon, or on the northward facing 
 walls. ‘The difference in the vegetation on the two sides is due to the 
 difference in the amount of moisture conserved. The northward 
 facing slope is not exposed to the direct rays of the sun, and hence the 
 moisture in the soil is not readily evaporated and trees thrive better 
 than they do on the opposite side. 
 
 Below Clinton the character of the canyon is much the same as it 
 
 is above that place. The hills range from 1,500 to 
 Clinton. 2,000 feet in height above the stream, and the 
 Elevation 3,490 feet. slopes are everywhere strewn with the débris of the 
 St. Paul 1,231 miles. 
 
 red shale of the Spokane. 
 
 Bonner (see sheet 19, p. 144), at the mouth of Blackfoot River, is 
 
 noted for its lumbering industry, beg the location 
 Bonner. of some large sawmills. The river has been dammed 
 Elevation 3,321 feet. below the mouth of the Blackfoot, affording about 
 mee og 4,000 horsepower, which is converted into electricity 
 ‘and transmitted to Missoula and the towns of the Bitterroot 
 Valley. 
 
 At Bonner the traveler again comes upon the route of Lewis and 
 Clark, for on his return trip Lewis ascended Hell Gate Canyon as far 
 as this point and then turned to the north up Blackfoot River. Six 
 
134 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 miles west of Bonner, Hell Gate Canyon terminates abruptly,’ and as 
 short distance beyond this termination is situated the flourishing town 
 
 of Missoula. 
 
 From the station at Missoula a good view may be obtained of the 
 steep side of the valley, which rises like a mountain on the east. The 
 knob north of Hell Gate Canyon is Jumbo Mountain, © 
 
 Missoula. 
 
 Elevation 3,223 feet. Mountain. 
 Population 12,869. 
 
 St. Paul 1,248 miles. 
 
 and the larger mass south of the canyon is University 
 The slopes of these mountains are free 
 from trees and brush, and on looking closely it will be 
 
 seen that they are marked by many horizontal lines 
 (fig. 29) which become very prominent when they are covered by a 
 
 
 
 
 
 a ~ 
 “ Ss se ore oe 
 eae = AN s —_ 
 
 FIGURE 29.—Horizontal beach lines on Mount Jumbo, as seen 
 
 from railway station at Missoula, Mont. 
 
 mountains. 
 
 Gx 
 SSS 
 
 Sea 
 
 shght fall ofsnow. These 
 lines have attracted gen- 
 eral attention, and many 
 theories regarding their 
 origin have been sug- 
 gested. Some have sup- 
 posed that they are stock 
 trails, but it is now gener- 
 ally agreed that they are 
 undoubtedly beach lines 
 cut by a body of water that 
 occupied the broad valley 
 in which Missoula is situ- 
 ated and also many other 
 valleys in this part of the 
 
 aa 
 
 hag 
 
 WL 
 
 inal bh 
 
 q W Ty 
 1 
 
 
 
 According to the markings on the valley walls, the water 
 
 must have been nearly 1,000 feet deep where Missoula now stands.? 
 Missoula, one of the most important towns of western Montana, is 
 
 situated on a broad plain at the lower end of Bitterroot Valley, which 
 extends southward for a distance of at least 75 miles. It is the junc- 
 tion of a branch line of the railway which runs up the Bitterroot Valley 
 to Stevensville, Hamilton, and Darby. At Missoula is located the 
 University of Montana, and a little below the town, on the opposite 
 
 1 The east wall of the valley at Missoula 
 is so abrupt and regular that it at once 
 suggests a fault—that is, the mountain has 
 risen with relation to the valley or the 
 valley has dropped with relation to the 
 mountain. Farther south, as Waldemar 
 Lindgren has shown, the Bitterroot Val- 
 ley is bounded on the west by a great 
 fault along which the rocks of the moun- 
 tain have been raised or those on the east 
 depressed, forming the long, straight 
 Bitterroot Valley. The effect of the 
 movement on these two fault planes, if 
 
 they are continuous along both sides of 
 the valley, is the depression of the block 
 of strata between them forming the floor 
 of the Bitterroot Valley, as illustrated in 
 figure 23 (p. 112). As the hard rocks 
 under the valley are poorly or not at all 
 exposed, the evidence of the fault at 
 Missoula is to be found only in the topog- 
 raphy. 
 
 The horizontal beach lines that are so 
 well shown along the railway at Missoula, 
 in the Jocko Valley, and at Plains, below 
 Trout Creek, in the valley of Clark Fork, 
 
SHEET No. 18 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 3 
 
 47 
 
 20Miles 
 
 30Kilometers 
 
 25 
 
 B Helmville 
 
 LEVEL 
 
 very 10 miles 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 WS) 
 eos “ar D2 Ie cE — } 
 D \\ a — 
 
 
 
 SOR SRB 
 ING aA 
 
 : ie 
 MANGUNY, SONI 
 SAN NAA Ce) 
 AO ob Vii i I At 7 }e_ 
 
 OS i ALP |< Sm 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 ) 
 iS 
 $5 
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 p) 
 
 
 
 Ak 
 
 S\N 
 PES 
 } ~ 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet No /6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Eww h: 
 
 FNS O/ 
 ae Aa, ul Wa : 
 (Gy es WELZ SRS 
 SR SWZ OA 
 NS WARS (A ASE ON 
 Wes RO \! N\ " Hy je 
 Vo AN Ne 
 ote an Eh) ihe 
 Maat WEES j 
 
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 SAGs 
 SNA; 
 
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 SS: y iy 
 
 
 
 le apart 
 
 
 
 survey 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAI, 
 
BULLETIN Gli eg : | | SHEET No. 18 
 
 113"30' . 3° MONTANA 
 
 47 | | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 =. 
 
 IRS 
 
 1 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 
 \ _ 5 10 \p 20Miles 
 
 1o 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL @Helmville 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown very 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 ON = SX 
 a Wis 
 Sree 
 aes 
 
 
 
 Z 
 Me 
 (Van 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 Q 
 AYY 
 WY) 
 
 
 
 
 
 Z » 
 
 AY 
 
 
 
 
 
 ig 
 \ 
 Sheet No /9 
 
 Bo 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 Thickness 
 ee, Os in feet 
 Zi Ly . . 
 Z Yj A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
 tf D B Clay, voleanie ash, and sand (lake beds) 8,000 Middle Tertiary 
 Y 
 Cy ao C Shale and sandstone (Colorado formation) 1,500 Upper Cretaceous 
 Z . 
 48 ap zl & D Red shale and sandstone (Kootenai formation) 1,500 Lower Cretaceous 
 | Q vn Impure limestone and quartzite (Ellis 
 . , ‘ formation) 430 Jurassic 
 y STONE : ¥ : 
 SZ | Mais ; Sandstone and impure limestone (Quadrant ; 
 y 6B gh Negor ies lack emt aes H formation) 800$ Carboniferous 
 ¢ Massive blue limestone (Madison) 1,000) 
 _K_ Limestone and shale 2,700 poe 
 L Red sandstone and shale (Spokane as : 
 114° formation of the Belt series) 3,000 Algonkian 
 MAP OF WESTERN MONTANA. SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF KNOWN TERTIARY LAKE BEDS 
 THESE INDICATE THE FORMER PRESENCE OF MANY SMALL LAKES OR A FEW LARGE LAKES WITH NUMEROUS Q Lava flows. basalt 
 BRANCHES EXTENDING INTO THE MOUNTAIN VALLEYS Be Lavactows, Phyolite 
 i S Granite, intrusive 
 T Lava flows, andesite and dacite < 
 | V_ Diorite, intrusive e 
 Ae) 
 -) 
 ve 
 E e 
 
 
 
 To Se eee eke 
 
 Sheet No /€ 
 
 Env eed ean ices OPM IueRE ees 
 
 Sen ec see 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 mid 
 a4) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 135 
 
 side of the river, is Fort Missoula, one of the principal military posts 
 
 in the mountain region. 
 
 and also off the railway in the Bitterroot 
 Valley and across the divide north of 
 Ravalli were undoubtedly formed by a 
 continuous body of water that at some 
 recent geologic date occupied these val- 
 leys. On account of the excellent devel- 
 opment of the beaches of this lake at Mis- 
 souls, it has been named Lake Missoula. 
 (See map on sheet 19, p. 144.) 
 
 Lake Missoula must have occupied the 
 valley at a very recent date, for the faint 
 shore lines would have been entirely 
 
 obliterated if the lake had been here long . 
 
 ago, and little or nothing would have 
 remained to tell of its existence. How- 
 ever, although it was geologically recent, 
 it existed many, many years ago, probably 
 long before the Indians began to roam over 
 these hills and mountains. 
 
 Lakes are transient features and are due 
 to some interference with the normal 
 development of the drainage system of the 
 region. What then occurred in this 
 region to change the drainage and to cause 
 the ponding of the streams at Missoula to a 
 depth of 1,000 feet? The altitude of the 
 highest beach line that has been observed 
 is about 4,200 feet at Stevensville, in the 
 Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula, and 
 as the altitude of Missoula is about 3,200 
 feet, the depth of the water must have 
 been about 1,000 feet. 
 
 When the beaches are traced north- 
 ward and westward, they are found to 
 terminate just in front of the southern- 
 most extent of the great glacier that came 
 down from the north. As the beaches 
 thus show a definite relation to the ice 
 front and as they seem to correspond in 
 time with the glacial epoch, it seems alto- 
 gether probable, if not certain, that Lake 
 Missoula was due to the damming of Clark 
 Fork by the ice. The great glaciers that 
 swept down from Canada at this time are 
 known to have occupied all the mountain 
 valleys to the north, filling them to depths 
 which range from a few hundred to per- 
 haps thousands of feet. One lobe of this 
 
 ~ mass of ice came down the Flathead Val- 
 
 ley as far as the Northern Pacific Railway 
 at Dixon, and another down the broad 
 
 valley from Bonners Ferry, on the Koo- 
 tenai, by Sandpoint to the vicinity of 
 Spokane. The intermediate valleys in 
 the Cabinet Range have not been exam- 
 ined in sufficient detail to say whether or 
 not they were also filled with ice, but it 
 seems probable that at least some of them 
 afforded avenues for the southward flow 
 of small tongues of ice nearly or quite to 
 Clark Fork. 
 
 All the evidence points to the conclu- 
 sion that the main valley of Clark Fork in 
 the vicinity of Pend Oreille Lake was 
 effectively blockaded by the ice, and that 
 the low valleys to the north were shut off 
 as avenues of escape for the waters of the 
 upper valleys. Such a dam would nec- 
 essarily be inconstant, allowing the depth 
 of water to fluctuate considerably, and 
 consequently many shore lines would be 
 cut on the rocks; but none of them would 
 be strongly marked, as the water was not 
 held long enough at any one level to per- 
 mit deep cutting. The shifting of the 
 positions of the several ice lobes would 
 also tend to produce a difference in level of 
 the outlet and a corresponding change in 
 level of the surface of the water. As the 
 glacial epoch waned the ice probably 
 grew thinner and thinner and the lake 
 shrank in a corresponding manner, until 
 at last the present outlet was opened and 
 the water disappeared. 
 
 Although the general history of Lake 
 Missoula is about as sketched, a number of 
 facts now known indicate that many modi- 
 fications may be necessary when the final 
 history of the lake is written. The most 
 difficult to harmonize with the theory 
 given above is the difference in the height 
 of the beach lines in the several valleys. 
 Thus at Stevensville, in the Bitterroot 
 Valley, they extend up the valley wall to 
 an altitude of 4,200 feet; north of Dixon 
 beach lines are well developed up to 3,950 
 feet; at Plains they can be traced up to an 
 altitude of 3,100 feet, but above that level 
 the hills break away and it seems certain 
 that the uppermost terraces are not repre- 
 sented; near Trout Creek they apparently 
 cease at 3,500 feet; and on St. Regis River 
 
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 136 
 
 The first permanent settlement in this region was made in 1841, 
 when Father De Smet founded the Mission of St. Mary at the point 
 where Stevensville is now located. He established the mission for the 
 Salish or Flathead Indians, who then occupied the valley but who later — 
 were transferred farther north to a reservation which is crossed by the 
 Northern Pacific in the vicinity of the towns of Ravalli and Dixon. 
 Father De Smet was joined in 1843 by Father Anthony Ravalli, who 
 labored faithfully with the Indians throughout a long and busy life. 
 These two priests had great influence on the early settlement of this 
 region, and their services have been commemorated by the naming of 
 towns in their honor. 
 
 It was to the entrance of the canyon above Missoula that the name ~ 
 Hell Gate was first applied. The Blackfeet Indians, residing on the 
 plains east of the mountains, were noted fighters; and many were the 
 forays they made through this canyon on the more peaceful Flatheads 
 on the west. The French traders and trappers, on account of the 
 devastation wrought by the marauding parties that emerged from the 
 mouth of the canyon, called it Porte d’Enfer, which may be translated 
 Hell Gate. 
 
 The isolation of Missoula in the early days and its distance from the 
 outside world are well illustrated by the slowness of returns from some 
 of the elections; thus it is reported that the settlers in the Bitterroot 
 Valley who voted in the presidential election of November, 1856, did 
 not know the result until April, 1857, when an Oregon paper describing 
 
 how Buchanan had been elected was brought into the valley. 
 
 no beach lines have been found, but ex- 
 tensive terraces that probably record the 
 height of the water and should be corre- 
 lated with the uppermost beach lines in 
 other valleys are well developed at 
 Haugan and Saltese, at an altitude of 
 3,450 feet. It is true that some of these 
 altitudes have not been accurately deter- 
 mined, but there seems to be a gradual 
 decrease in the altitude of the terraces 
 toward the northwest that indicates a 
 depression of the earth’s crust in that 
 direction since the beaches were formed, 
 or arise in the surface toward the south- 
 east. Such a movement is also indicated 
 by the recent canyon cut by Clark Fork 
 between Missoula and the mouth ,of St. 
 Regis River. 
 Glacial Lake Missoula had so transient 
 an existenc2 that very little of the sedi- 
 nent deposited in its waters can now be 
 
 
 
 identified, and it is possible that some of 
 the sand and clay noted as Tertiary lake 
 beds were laid down in Lake Missoula. 
 
 1 Oregon, which was organized as a 
 Territory by act of Congress in August, 
 1848, included what is now the county of 
 Missoula, Mont. By an act of Congress 
 approved March 2, 1853, the Territory of 
 Oregon was divided, and the country in- 
 cluding Missoula County became a part 
 of the Territory of Washington. In De- 
 cember, 1860, Spokane County, which 
 had included this region, was divided, 
 and Missoula County was organized, with 
 the county seat at the store of Worden & 
 Co. Missoula County remained in Wash- 
 ington Territory until Idaho was organ- 
 ized, on March 3, 1863, when it became 
 a part of Idaho Territory. On the organ- 
 ization of Montana, in 1864, Missoula 
 County became a part of that Territory. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 137 
 
 As the train leaves Missoula, the traveler can obtain on the left 
 (south) a good view of Lolo Peak, a high summit of the Bitterroot 
 Range, which les south of the Lolo trail that played so important a 
 part in the early exploration of this country. He can not, however, 
 see much of the Bitterroot Valley, for the view is obscured by some 
 low hills on the south side of the river. 
 
 The railway runs through a broad valley, with low, rolling hills on 
 the right composed of Tertiary lake beds in which, near milepost 121, 
 low-grade coal is being mined in a small way. The faint beach lines 
 of glacial Lake Missoula, which are so prominent on the side of 
 Mount Jumbo, can be followed with the eye along the north side of 
 the valley for several miles. 
 
 At De Smet, 7 miles west of Missoula, the road branches, one line 
 turning to the left (west) and following Clark Fork to Paradise, with 
 a branch across the mountains to the Coeur d’ Alene 
 mining district, and the other, the old main line, 
 Elevation 3,237 feet. turning sharply to the right and reaching Jocko 
 ae Age mie Valley through the Coriacan Defile. This narrow 
 pass is reported to have been an Indian highway and it takes its 
 name from Chief Coriacan, of the Flatheads, who was surprised and 
 killed here by the savage Blackfeet. 
 
 The railway winds around the hills, through cuts in the Tertiary 
 lake beds, and passes over the Marent viaduct, which has a height 
 
 of 226 feet. It continues up through a narrow gulch 
 Evaro. in the Belt series until finally it reaches a broad flat 
 Elevation 3,971 feet. at Evaro, near the summit of the ridge. This place 
 St. Paul 1,265 miles. 7 
 
 was formerly on the boundary of the Flathead Indian 
 
 De Smet. 
 
 Reservation. A few years ago each Indian was allotted a certain 
 
 amount of land, and the’ remainder of the reservation was thrown 
 open to settlement. On this summit and in the descent on the 
 farther side the road runs through the pine forest that formerly 
 covered much of the country, but it soon emerges into the broad, 
 flat Jocko Valley, in which there are some fairly good farms. At 
 milepost 16 an excellent distant view can be obtained of the terminal 
 moraine which once marked the extremity of a small glacier that 
 descended from the canyon in the range to the right. The plan of 
 the moraine can not be seen from the train, but close imspection 
 would show that the ridge of rocky fragments comes down from the 
 canyon wall on one side and loops around and unites with the wall 
 on the opposite side of the creek. As can be seen from the train, 
 the moraine is built up to a height of about 100 feet. ‘The mountains 
 on the right (east), though not so high as the Mission Range, which 
 can be seen farther on, are steep and rugged, towering above the 
 valley to the height of several thousand feet. 
 
138 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Arlee is one of the towns that have begun to grow since the reser- 
 vation was thrown open to white settlers. It les in 
 a broad valley containing rich agricultural land and 
 will doubtless in time become an important farm- 
 ing center. A familiar scene in this valley is shown 
 in Plate XIX, A (p. 119). 
 
 Just below Arlee faint beach lines can be seen on the right (east) 
 near the base of the hill, and a short distance farther on a terrace of 
 fine light-colored sediment is prominent on the same side of the road. 
 This terrace can be followed with the eye as far as the canyon by 
 which the river escapes from the valley. It is composed of brownish 
 clay and sand and is supposed by some to be the sediment deposited 
 at the bottom of Lake Missoula, or it may have been deposited by the 
 present stream when it was ponded by a greater volume of water 
 flowing down Flathead River from the melting glaciers to the north. 
 
 The broad valley in which the railway is situated is surrounded on 
 all sides by rocky walls, through one of which the stream draining the 
 valley has cut a deep gorge. Such a basin is seldom, if ever, produced 
 in the normal development of a stream, but is common in the moun- 
 tainous part of Montana. It is supposed to have been formed by 
 the depression of the bottom of the basin, thus leaving the walls 
 standing high above the valley floor.1 
 
 The rocks exposed in the walls of the canyon belong to the Belt 
 series and consist largely of quartzite and argillite. In many pro- 
 tected places in the canyon the white sand and clay deposited by the 
 flooded Flathead River can be seen, showing that this body of water 
 filled not only the valleys where they are wide, but also the narrow 
 canyons connecting them. 
 
 At Ravalli the valley is narrow, but the hills are smooth and com- 
 paratively low. <A stage line runs from this place north 30 miles to 
 
 Polson, at the lower end of Flathead Lake, where 
 connection is made with boats for Kalispell and other 
 towns on the Great Northern Railway. Ravalli is the 
 distributing point for a large part of the Flathead 
 Much of the best land for agriculture lies across the 
 
 Arlee. 
 
 Elevation 3,094 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,276 miles. 
 
 Ravalli. 
 
 Elevation 2,714 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,286 miles. 
 
 Reservation. 
 
 
 
 1 Tt is possible to account for the forma- 
 tion of the basin in this manner, but how 
 did the stream cut the canyon at the out- 
 let? There are three possible answers to 
 this question. (1) The movement of de- 
 formation was so slow that the stream cut 
 the rock faster than it was uplifted. 
 (2) The basin was formed so rapidly that 
 the water was ponded, forming a lake. 
 This lake rose until the water flowed over 
 the rim, and the stream thus formed cut 
 the present gorge, permitting the water to 
 escape. (3) The valley was filled with 
 
 sediment, and the stream draining it sim- 
 ply cut down through the soft material 
 and trenched the barrier of hard rock 
 below. During this period the stream 
 removed the great bulk of sediment with 
 which the basin had been filled. Which 
 of these explanations fits the case in hand 
 can not be told without a detailed study 
 of the region, but each process should 
 have left certain marks, if it has occurred, 
 and it is through the study of these char- 
 acteristic marks that the question can be 
 answered. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 139 
 
 ridge north of the station and extends from St. Ignatius to Flathead 
 Lake. A large part of this area is to be irrigated by the United States 
 Reclamation Service.' 
 
 St. Ignatius, 4 or 5 miles northeast of Ravalli, is one of the Catholic 
 missions early established in this region.” It was originally located far- 
 ther down Clark Fork, but in 1854 was removed by Father Hoecken to 
 its present position, on a fertile plain at the foot of the Mission Range, 
 which affords an abundant supply of good water for household use 
 and for irrigation. 
 
 Half a mile north of Ravalli is the southeast corner of the Montana 
 National Bison Range, which is surrounded by a specially woven 
 wire fence that can be seen for several miles north of the track. The 
 range, which is under the management of the Biological Survey of the 
 United States Department of Agriculture, includes both prairie and 
 mountains and is over 30 square miles in extent. The buffalo herd 
 now numbers 75, besides which there are a few antelope, deer, and 
 other large game animals. 
 
 Just beyond Rayalli, at milepost 31, the traveler can obtain a 
 charming view of the rugged tops of the Mission Range on the right 
 (northeast). This view includes the highest peaks of the range and 
 is the most nearly alpine scenery to be found along the Northern 
 Pacific Railway in the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 enn sen ee Eden DSRS 
 
 1Nestling between the towering peaks 
 of two ranges of the Rocky Mountains, the 
 Flathead Indian Reservation occupies 
 one of the world’s most beautiful valleys. 
 A few years ago the allotment of land to 
 the Indians was completed, and the re- 
 maining agricultural lands were opened to 
 white settlement and nearly all filed on. 
 
 The Reclamation Service is building an 
 irrigation system to cover about 150,000 
 acres of land in this region. The average 
 elevation is 3,000 feet above sea level, and 
 the temperature ranges from 30° below 
 zero to 100° above zero. The soil is clay, 
 gravelly loam, and forest loam, and fair 
 crops of hay, grain, and fruits are fre- 
 quently produced on it without irrigation, 
 the average annual rainfall being about 16 
 inches. With irrigation, alfalfa, all kinds 
 of grain, vegetables, and fruits in great 
 variety suited to this elevation and lati- 
 tude are produced in abundance. 
 
 The Indians are allowed to sella portion 
 of their allotments, and farms may also be 
 purchased from white settlers at fair 
 prices. The lands bordering Flathead 
 Lake, which has more than 50 miles of 
 
 shore line within the reservation, are 
 being subdivided by the Government 
 into summer-resort tracts of 24 to 5 acres 
 and will be sold at some future date. 
 
 This valley undoubtedly has a great 
 future as a residential section. It is 
 located near the south end of Glacier 
 National Park, between two great trans- 
 continental railway lines. In summer 
 the valley is gay with flowers. The 
 mountain slopes are covered with fir, 
 larch, and pine trees; the glaciers on 
 their summits sparkle in the sunshine, 
 and at their bases lakes of emerald and 
 sapphire delight the eye and provide the 
 angler with his favorite sport. 
 
 2The first Catholic mission in this 
 region was established in 1841 at St. 
 Marys, in Bitterroot Valley. The next 
 was the Coeur d’Alene mission, founded 
 in 1842 in the Cour d’ Alene Valley, some 
 100 milesto the west. St. Mary’s mission 
 suffered severely from the raids of the 
 Blackfeet Indians, and in 1850 the 
 property was sold and the mission aban- 
 doned. The next mission to be estab- 
 lished was that at St. Ignatius. 
 
140 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The terraces of soft material, resting against slopes composed of the 
 Belt series, show almost continuously along the valley of Jocko River, 
 first on one side and then on the other, growing 
 
 Dixon. stronger downstream. They reach their best devel- 
 Elevation 2,531 feet. opment at Dixon, where the Jocko joins Flathead 
 ex ea aoae River, which comes down from the north. This 
 river drains Flathead Lake, which lies 26 miles to the north and is 
 one of the largest bodies of fresh water lying wholly within the 
 United States. The river is navigable for small steamers from 
 Dixon up to a point within a short distance of the lake, where 
 rapids stop further progress. 
 
 At Dixon the material deposited in Lake Missoula is fine white 
 sand and clay, being the ‘“‘rock flour,” or fine rock powder, which 
 a glacier grinds from its rocky bed and which is carried off by the 
 streams, giving them a milky appearance. It was brought down by 
 Flathead River from the immense glacier that long ago occupied the 
 entire valley of Flathead Lake and the country farther north, where 
 the town of Kalispell now stands. This material was deposited in 
 the waters of the lake in thin layers (lamine) that give to the cut 
 edges of the material a banded appearance. It is probable that the 
 glacier occupying Flathead Valley reached at its greatest extension 
 nearly or quite to the place now occupied by the town of Dixon, but 
 there is no evidence that it passed farther down the valley. 
 
 At milepost 40 a more extended view than that obtained farther 
 up the valley can be had of the Mission Range, including its highest 
 summit, McDonald Peak, and a small Since lata in a deep amphi- 
 theater on the north face of the peak, where the ice is sheltered from 
 the rays of the midday sun. This is the only glacier in the Rocky 
 Mountains that can be seen from the Northern Pacific trains. (See 
 Pl. XIX, B, p. 119.) This noble range marks the eastern boundary 
 of the Flathead Reservation and.is the western limit of a broad wil- 
 derness of mountain ranges that extend to the margin of the Great 
 Plains and include farther north the rugged mountains of the Glacier 
 National Park. The Mission Range was named from the Roman 
 Catholic mission established at St. Ignatius, near its base, in the 
 early fifties. The range can be seen by the traveler from a point a 
 little west of Dixon to McDonald, and if the weather is clear the 
 view can be relied on to hold the attention, especially from early in 
 October until late in June, when the rugged outlines of the range are 
 veiled under a shining cover of snow. The nearest peaks are about 
 24 miles away and rise to heights of a little more than 10,000 feet 
 above sea level, or about 7,500 feet above the railway. 
 
 This chain of mountains lies on the east border of the broad grassy 
 plains of the Flathead Valley and extends in a remarkably straight 
 line due north and south for nearly 60 miles. The straightness of — 
 the mountain front and the sheer abruptness of its rise to heights of 
 

 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 141 
 
 7,000 feet above the low, flat plains at its base make a topographic 
 contrast that is rarely equaled in any other part of the Rockies. 
 This remarkably abrupt front is due to the mountain range being a 
 single huge block of the earth’s crust raised and tilted to the east and 
 broken away from the block underlying the lowlands of the Flathead 
 Valley, the unusually straight front of the mountains corresponding 
 closely with the plane along which this break took place. 
 
 The hills on both sides of the railway are made up of rocks of the Belt 
 series, which show little variety in the different beds of which it is com- 
 posed or in the positions in which they le. The valley walls are gen- ° 
 erally dark, and they are fringed on one side or the other by remnants 
 of the lake terrace, which can always be identified by their light color. 
 
 In the lower part of the valley, between Dixon and Paradise, the 
 railway follows the banks of the river for several miles, and the 
 traveler can obtain many attractive views of the broad river and its 
 wooded islands, set off by the dark background of the rugged hills. 
 
 Near Perma the river turns to the left and cuts a narrow canyon 
 through the ridge which above this place bounds the valley on the 
 left. In this part of its course the Belt series is cut by many dikes 
 and sheets of igneous rock (diorite), showing that at one time there 
 was considerable disturbance in the region. The most prominent of 
 these igneous sheets shows in a bold hill on the north side of the river, 
 nearly opposite milepost 50. The igneous material was intruded be- 
 tween the layers of the sedimentary rocks, which subsequently have 
 been turned on edge, and the diorite now forms a conspicuous out- 
 crop for a number of miles to the north. 
 
 At Perma another sill of the same sort as that described above 
 crosses the river almost at the station, making a loop through the 
 cliffs immediately to the left and then crossing the 
 river about 14 miles farther west. This loop is 
 eaused by the folding of the sheet of igneous rock, 
 together with the inclosing sedimentary beds, into a 
 ereat anticline, but the bedding is so obscure that the fold can not 
 be traced from the train. 
 
 Twenty miles to the north is Camas Hot Springs, a small settle- 
 ment where bath houses and hotels are maintained for the use of 
 summer visitors who wish to bathe in the warm mineral water. 
 
 Below Perma the canyon is deep and narrow, and its walls are very 
 
 Perma. 
 
 Elevation 2,512 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,306 miles. 
 
 : precipitous. Just beyond milepost 55 the railway crosses to the 
 
 north side of Flathead River, at a point where several diorite sills 
 are conspicuously exposed. From this pomt to Paradise the valley 
 has high, rocky walls that rise 1,500 to 2,500 feet above the valley 
 floor. The rocks are dark brownish red, but the large masses of 
 broken rock below the cliffs are a much brighter red and give to the 
 valley the appearance of being decorated with great red banners 
 
 that are caught up at the base of the cliffs and stream down to the 
 
142 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 valley bottom in long, graceful curves. The walls are rugged and 
 picturesque, but there is little or no variety, and one soon tires of 
 watching the selfsame combination of river, talus slopes, and cliffs. 
 The river, however, is really worth attention and presents many 
 charming views of the clear water, almost turquoise-blue, sweeping 
 around willow-covered islands and between the stately pines that 
 dot the river’s bank. (See Pl. XX.) The terrace of soft material 
 doubtless once continued throughout the canyon, for here and there 
 can be seen remnants of the white clay that vary the monotonous 
 red of the valley walls. 
 
 At milepost 62 Flathead River unites with Clark Fork, sometimes 
 called Hell Gate or Missoula River. The low-grade line of the railway, 
 which leaves the main line at De Smet, follows the 
 winding course of Clark Fork and at Paradise, a short 
 distance below this milepost, connects with the main 
 line. Paradise is a district terminal and so becomes 
 the stopping place of many of the freight crews. The traveler, like 
 others who have gone over this road before him, may wonder 
 for what reason the name Paradise was given to this narrow, rugged 
 valley. The writer has no suggestions to offer, except that even 
 this valley may have looked like a paradise to some unfortunate 
 individual who had been obliged to cross the adjacent mountain 
 country, or who had perchance been lost in the intricate mazes of 
 its deeply cut ravines. 
 
 At Paradise the change is made from Mountain to Pacific time, 
 one hour earlier. 
 
 The valley of Clark Fork between Paradise and Plains has about 
 the same character as that of Flathead River above Paradise. The 
 rocks are similar, belonging to one of the oldest sedimentary for- 
 mations known in this country (Prichard). The low terrace which 
 is so conspicuous at Dixon and which is there composed largely of 
 fine material scoured from the bedrock by the glacier that came 
 down Flathead Valley still persists below Paradise, or, rather, rem- 
 nants of it can be seen here and there on both sides of the valley; 
 but the material is pink, partaking more of the color of the local 
 rocks and in places containing gravel beds of considerable thickness. 
 
 To the traveler interested in the geologic history of this region 
 some of the most instructive features of the topography are small 
 deltas or terraces in the side gulches at a height of fully 400 feet 
 above the level of the track. A typical example can be seen on 
 the right (north) just beyond milepost 1. Evidently these deltas 
 mark the mouths of small streams that at one time flowed into a 
 lake whose surface was at the level of the terrace. The lake must 
 have been very transient to have left no other evidence of its exist- 
 ence, and probably it was merely a low stage of the body of water 
 called glacial Lake Missoula. 
 
 Paradise. 
 
 Elevation 2,499 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,319 miles. 
 
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 IXX 3LV1d 4I9 NILBTING AJZAYNS 1VOIDO1039 °S "N 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 143 
 
 Plains, formerly known as Horse Plains because it is situated in 
 the midst of a broad prairie that was used as a pasture ground for 
 horses belonging to the trading posts of the Hudson’s 
 Bay Co., is a sort of oasis in the desert of rocky 
 canyons along Clark Fork. Here the valley opens 
 and terraces are well developed, especially one about 
 170 feet above river level. East of the station the terrace shows on 
 the north, but west of the town a large remnant of the terrace, 
 equally well developed, can be seen across the river on the south. 
 
 Fait beach lines also appear on the high, smooth hill slope back 
 of Plains, but it is probable that the lines visible from the railway 
 are not the highest in this region, the others being obscured by the 
 timber and brush growing on the higher hills. 
 
 One of the most striking features of the valley of Clark Fork is 
 the fairly regular succession of narrow canyons and broad valleys, 
 without any apparent reason so far as the action of the stream is 
 concerned. These changes are not due to differences in the hard- 
 ness of the rocks, for as a rule all the formations of the Belt series 
 have about the same degree of resistance to erosion; but they are 
 due to great breaks or faults in the rocks. These faults have broken 
 the crust of the earth into huge blocks, some of which have been 
 raised, some lowered, and some tilted over so that one edge is very 
 much lower than the other. These dropped or tilted blocks form 
 the broad valleys, and the raised blocks or the upper edges of the 
 tilted blocks have proved to be serious obstructions in the pathway 
 of the river, which has succeeded in cutting only narrow canyons 
 through them. This explains the broad valley at Plains and the 
 narrow canyons which lie directly above and below that place. 
 
 The breaking into blocks and then the tilting of these blocks 
 into various attitudes seem to have been the movements that gave 
 to this region its distinguishing structural features. In some of 
 
 Plains. 
 
 Elevation 2,482 feet. 
 Population 481. 
 St. Paul 1,325 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 East of the Mission Range the rocks { directions. As a rule, the rocks are not 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 aults having a general northwesterly 
 rend, but west of that range the struc- 
 ure is less regular and the folds and faults 
 
 o not have a common direction, as they 
 ofarther east. In the area about Plains 
 e structure is broadly simple and yet is 
 endered complex in detail by minor 
 ults and folds that trend in different 
 
 re thrown into great folds or tilted along . 
 
 very severely folded, and most of the 
 faults are of the type called normal faults, 
 due to tension or stretching of the earth’s 
 crust, but some of them are distinctly of 
 
 
 
 Figure 30.—Normal faults (A) and overthrust fault (B). Arrows indicate direction of movement. 
 
 the overthrust type, due to horizontal 
 stresses of compression. The two kinds 
 of faults are illustrated in figure 30. 
 
 In a normal fault the rocks slip in such 
 a way that they occupy a greater hori- 
 
144 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 these blocks, as, for example, the one which les between Plains 
 and Thompson Falls (see sheet 20, p. 152), the rocks are slightly 
 bent into broad, open folds. The structure in this block is repre- 
 sented by figure 31. 
 
 The rocks in sight east of Plains belong to the Prichard formation, 
 which dips to the west and passes below water level, and at Plains 
 the thin-bedded gray quartzite and argillite of the overlying (Ra- 
 valli) formation come into view. ‘This formation continues with 
 fairly regular dip to a point about one-half mile beyond Weeksville. 
 At this place the Newland limestone, overlying the Ravalli, appears, 
 dipping in the same direction and at about the same angle as the 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 x 
 
 Ae) 
 
 “” . + ete 
 
 <8 : rr So ne 
 
 N . 5 
 
 ARM«AP Pp yfyf Yas 
 
 ory Jeet f/f: /: ili lef If, 
 19 A Ws , Seng | fe ’ 
 
 Bw non Nfl: 
 
 wy. Spee” : Se ae Woe “77, Shi VILLAS J, ‘tp 
 
 CAMEL, VALLI FORMATION ENN NA Ravarty ror K. yy) pricnane |i! Y: 
 
 PN MLAE < LPAI WAIN ADS GGA. A LGM oe eer hs 
 
 FIGURE 31.—Great folds in the rocks between Plains and Thompson Falls, Mont. 
 
 Ravalli. Within a short distance the dip flattens, and at milepost 
 15 is reached the point toward which the beds dip from both direc- 
 tions; that is, the axis of the syncline. The beds here are nearly 
 horizontal, but toward the west they begin to rise, and near mile- 
 post 18 the Newland limestone disappears from track level, though 
 still present in the tops of the hills, and the Ravalli 
 formation beneath it again comes into view. From 
 this place past Eddy and Frost to the mouth of 
 Thompson River, near milepost 26, the cliffs are 
 made up of Ravalli rocks thrown into folds or wrinkles too small to 
 be shown in the diagram (fig. 31). The walls in this part of the can- 
 yon are probably more rugged and more nearly vertical than those 
 of any other part of its course. 
 
 Beyond Thompson River the dip of the rocks brings the outcrop 
 of the Newland limestone down from the tops of the hills (see fig. 31), 
 
 Eddy. 
 
 Elevation 2,437 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,340 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 zontal space after the movement than 
 they did before the faulting occurred, as 
 shown by the diagram. An overthrust 
 fault is generally produced by the break- 
 ing of afold. The fold and fault are due 
 to compression in the earth’s crust, and 
 the result of the movement is that the 
 older rocks are shoved upward and for- 
 ward over the younger rocks, thus giving 
 them an inverted relationship. Another 
 result is that the faulted mass occupies 
 less space than it did before the move- 
 ment began. 
 
 In the region west of Missoula there 
 have probably been two principal move-- 
 ments—(1) a movement of compression, | 
 which threw the rocks into broad folds, ; 
 the compression in some places, as in | 
 the Glacier National Park, being so 
 intense as to produce a great over-— 
 thrust fault; and (2) a movement of ten- 
 sion or stretching, by which the some- 
 what folded mass of rock was broken by 
 a great many normal faults, a few of 
 which are shown on the accompanying 
 maps. 
 
SHEET No. 19 
 
 a “Nit. Mc Donald 
 ae AE PAO Qu, 
 
 es 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED SY THE U.S-GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
“SHEET. Noi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 
 
 a 
 J 
 
 Wig, wh, : 
 ty, ~ Pa y 
 oe at. Mc Donald 
 mea 6 ¥ BOQ 
 ae ee Aly, 
 PG: ‘ 4, 
 
 Alftevium A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t. Ignativs 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 TS 
 
 Ww Wi 
 SNS 
 ASSEN 
 
 >i 
 
 = \\ 
 
 1 tee <e 
 SOR. . OAD 
 S SS Or 
 
 \ S 
 SS 
 \. ONS SS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sam Superior 
 mS 
 
 
 
 
 
 iron Mountains ® ) 
 Eire \ << { 
 KO 
 
 s 
 
 = Ws 
 ONS 
 ss 
 We 
 
 Pt Gene ao 
 ae 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 7G 
 
 te Qua 
 ( 
 Thickness oNow 
 in feet ~~ ASE ee 
 : é ¢ . Clow fa a 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium), Riv let ¥ OO OTH ER A 
 glacial drift, and ee wulet CQ ig Nonna Se 
 deposited in glacial Lake j Quaternary By Cyr 
 
 
 
 Missoula 
 B- Glacial moraine 
 
 J 
 
 / 
 
 C Clay, voleanic ash, and sand 
 (ake beds) 3,000 Tertiary 
 
 D Red sandstone and shale 
 (Spokane formation) 3,800 
 = == ee #| F Impurelimestone (Newland) 4,800 
 ° 25  SOMILES f| G Quartzite and shale 
 Se 4 (Ravalli quartzite) 2,500 
 
 GLACIAL LAKE MISSOULA, HEMMED IN BY A BARRIER OF ICE : H Biuash-auarizite = Asana Pioenkian 
 ON THE NORTH a (Prichard formation) 8,000 (Belt series) 
 
 I In places formations D, F, | 
 G, and H, have not been 
 separated and the entire | 
 
 mass is called simply | 
 
 > 92 sQ- 
 
 
 
 Vidar : oH re 4 ae 
 SASSO ee eT 
 Se Si) €L.9223 
 BALA = aS , cela ) i 
 Se. c : IRR 4 = 
 oy 
 
 Belt series 
 
 Scale 500,000 
 
 J  Diorite, intrusive Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 \ tt 5 10 1S 20Miles 
 SS ee Ee ee ee Se 
 
 10 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 Dat cnteadianrewedienndlenediecadiretineclievelanstiventnantanslnmancstveniecedbasal relestinscdirealieatweclmetoentemestastied 
 
 Contour interva! 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 
 
 0 TRAIL FOL, 
 peer nie 
 
 “£0 
 
 BOE EARP ES 
 
 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED SY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 145 
 
 but at this place it extends for only a mile or so and is cut off by a 
 fault that trends about N. 20° W. and crosses the railway near mile- 
 post 29. As shown on the map, this fault separates the Newland 
 limestone on the east from the Ravalli quartzite on the west. 
 On approaching Thompson Falls the traveler can see on his right 
 a hill, and, if his eyesight is particularly good, he may be able to 
 detect on its summit a steel tower erected by the United States 
 Forest Service. On this tower during the summer is stationed an 
 observer, who with powerful glasses watches for forest fires. As he 
 can see on all sides for a distance of 50 miles, if the weather is clear, 
 he is generally able to detect a fire soon after it starts and to notify 
 the nearest ranger by telephone. Forest fires, especially such as 
 swept through these mountains in 1910, not only burn a great 
 amount of valuable timber but may also destroy towns along their 
 pathway, with considerable loss of life. Under the present system 
 of observers on high stations and an efficient organization for fight- 
 ing fire, the destruction of timber has been greatly reduced and the 
 loss of life nearly eliminated. 
 _ The town of Thompson Falls took its name from the falls of the 
 same name, which were discovered in 1809 by David Thompson, the 
 explorer and astronomer of the Northwest Fur Co. 
 
 Thompson Falls. ‘The water here falls 50 or 60-feet over resistant ledges 
 Elevation 2,458feet. of the Ravalli formation. It is estimated that with 
 Population 325. 
 
 proper installation 40,000 horsepower could be gen- 
 erated at this fall. A dam is now being constructed, 
 and electric power is to be furnished to the mountain division of the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, 35 miles to the south. It is 
 reported that any surplus power may be utilized in a similar manner 
 by the Northern Pacific Railway. 
 
 _ West of Thompson Falls the bluffs on the right recede so far from 
 the river that the rocks composing them are unrecognizable from the 
 train, but the Ravalli formation! shows at railway level dipping 
 
 St. Paul 1,351 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17The northern Rocky Mountains are 
 made up largely and in some places 
 wholly of the formations constituting the 
 Belt series. These formations consist of 
 sandstone, shale, and limestone, but the 
 limestone is generally a small part of the 
 entire mass. The sandstone is in many 
 places changed to quartzite and the shale 
 to argillite (a hard, slaty shale). These 
 rocks were first studied in detail by C. D. 
 Walcott in the Belt Mountains, east of 
 Helena, Mont., and hence are known as 
 the Belt series. 
 
 95558°—Bull. 611—15——10 
 
 Very few fossils occur in the series, and 
 those that have been found bear very 
 little resemblance to the Cambrian faunas 
 with which they should be most closely 
 related. The only traces of animal life so 
 far discovered in the sandstones and argil- 
 lites are a few fragments of a small crusta- 
 cean and the trails of worms. The lime- 
 stones are crowded with peculiar coral- 
 like forms, which Walcott has recently 
 determined to be fossil alge similar to 
 the algze now growing in some of the lakes 
 of New York. Walcott concludes from 
 
146 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 toward the west, and across the river the Newland limestone is present 
 in the tops of the hills. This formation appears to be flat, but that 
 is because the traveler is looking at the edge of beds that dip directly 
 away from him. This relation of limestone and quartzite to the river 
 and railway holds in a general way from Thompson Falls to Noxon. 
 
 At Kildee, near milepost 37, the railway crosses the river, and from 
 this point to Trout Creek there are two lines; the “high line” keeps 
 up on the bench away from the river and the “low line” runs near 
 the stream. The latter affords many interesting views of the river, 
 which flows in a gorge cut a hundred feet or so in the floor of the old 
 
 broad valley. 
 
 a study of the fossils mentioned that the 
 large region in Montana, Idaho, and A1- 
 berta, Canada, underlain by the Belt 
 series was during their deposition a con- 
 tinental area on which the sediments 
 were deposited by rivers or in shallow 
 lakes. The appearance of the rocks con- 
 firms this view, for all of them, even in- 
 cluding many of the thick beds of lime- 
 stone, are ripple marked, showing that 
 they were deposited in shallow water. 
 In places the argillite contains mud 
 cracks and prints of raindrops, which 
 could have been made only when the soft 
 material was above water level and ex- 
 posed to the drying effect of the atmos- 
 phere or the beating of the storm. By 
 piecing together measurements made in 
 several places, it is estimated that the 
 Belt series, so far as it has been seen, is 
 from 25,000 to 30,000 feet thick; but the 
 base has not yet been found, and its real 
 thickness may not be very much greater. 
 
 In this great mass of material certain 
 parts, on account cf their composition 
 and association with other beds, can 
 readily be separated and identified in 
 the areas in which they have been stud- 
 ied; but other parts have no character- 
 istics by which they can readily be dis- 
 tinguished, and consequently different 
 workers have classified them in different 
 ways. 
 
 The two units most easily identified 
 are the Newland limestone, which Wal- 
 cott first recognized in the Belt Moun- 
 tains, and the Helena limestone, which 
 he named from its occurrence at the cap- 
 ital of the State. The general section 
 along the Northern Pacific Railway, ac- 
 
 cording to F. C. Calkins and J. T. Pardee, 
 is as follows: 
 
 Formations composing the Belt series along 
 the Northern Pacific Railway. 
 
 Thickness 
 J in feet. 
 Helena: Limestone, dark blue or ) 
 gray, weathering buff......... 2, 400 
 
 Empire: Shale, greenish gray, or 
 
 
 
 quartzite?..9. 24 ee 600 
 Spokane: Shale or argillite, with 
 some sandstone, all deep red... 1, 500 
 Greyson (Striped Peak): Shale, 
 dark gray or green, with some 
 white quartzite. 3... eoan sees 3, 000 
 Newland: Limestone, blue, thin 
 bedded, but with some heavy- 
 bedded buff layers............ 2, 200 
 Ravalli: Quartzite, with some 
 dark bluish or greenish shale.. 2, 000 
 Prichard: Shale, dark Lluish, in- 
 terbedded with sandstone; base 
 notiexposed...3.:3 Als eae 8, 000 
 2 19, 700 
 
 The rocks of the belt series occur along 
 the Northern Pacific Railway from the 
 Bridger Mountains on the east to Sand- 
 point on the west. In the eastern part of 
 this area they form the core of most of the — 
 mountain ranges, but west of Bonita they 
 are the only hard rocks to be seen, with | 
 the exception of a few intrusive masses, | 
 to Pend Oreille Lake. They form the 
 mountains of Glacier National Park and 
 extend along the Rocky Mountains from 
 the southern boundary of Montana, south 
 of Butte, far into Canada, covering a terri- 
 tory about 500 miles long by 200 miles 
 wide at the widest place. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 147 
 
 This part of the valley of Clark Fork was not seen by Lewis and 
 Clark, but it was discovered soon afterward by the agents of the 
 various fur companies, then exceedingly active in exploring new terri- 
 tory, and later it was examined in detail by the Government engineers.! 
 
 
 
 1 Soon after the return of Lewis and 
 Clark the adventurous agents and ex- 
 plorers of the fur companies were engaged 
 in examining every valley in the North- 
 west for fur-bearing animals and selecting 
 sites for trading posts on almost every 
 navigable stream and lake. Most of 
 these advance guards of white civiliza- 
 tion kept no record of their wanderings, 
 but two of them, Alexander Henry and 
 David Thompson, connected with the 
 Northwest Fur Co., left excellent notes of 
 their explorations and their dealings with 
 the Indians in the northern United States 
 and southern Canada in the early years of 
 the nineteenth century. Alexander Henry 
 was a fur trader with only one ambition, 
 to further the interests of the Northwest 
 Fur Co.; but David Thompson was an 
 astronomer and scientific explorer, and 
 his notes afforded much more accurate 
 data regarding the character of the 
 country and the location of important 
 places than those of almost any other man 
 who traversed this region in the early 
 days. The territory covered by these 
 men was largely the same, but Thompson 
 explored the region about Clark Fork and 
 Pend Oreille Lake, while Henry was en- 
 aged in trade with the Indians at the 
 ead of the Columbia. 
 
 In 1806 Thompson descended Kootenai 
 iver to about the place where the 
 resent Idaho-Montana line crossed that 
 tream and proceeded southward along 
 n old Indian trail across the Cabinet 
 ountains to Pend Oreille Lake. He 
 eached the outlet of Clark Fork into 
 end Oreille Lake September 9 and built 
 trading post on the point just north of it. 
 his post he called Kullyspell House, 
 om the name of an Indian tribe. In 
 e modified form of Kalispell this name 
 now applied to a thriving town on the 
 reat Northern Railway, near the north 
 nd of Flathead Lake. So far as known, 
 is was the first visit of a white man 
 Pend Oreille Lake and Clark Fork. 
 om Kullyspell House Thompson ex- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 plored the valley down past Sandpoint 
 as far as Priest Rapids and up Clark Fork 
 and Flathead River to Dixon, where the 
 Flathead reaches the railway from the 
 north. On one of these trips up the river 
 he established another trading post near 
 the falls that were subsequently named 
 in honor of their discoverer. This post he 
 called Saleesh House, from the native 
 name for the Flathead Indians. After 
 the establishment of these trading posts 
 Thompson continued westward to the 
 Columbia, and he was the first white man 
 to pass down that stream from the mouth 
 of Priest River to Pasco, where the 
 Northern Pacific Railway now crosses the 
 river. 
 
 Although the fur traders explored the 
 valley of Clark Fork as early as 1806, their 
 reports were made only to the officials of 
 the companies, who had no interest in 
 promoting settlement, and consequently 
 the public had little information concern- 
 ing this interesting region until it was 
 examined by the Government engineers 
 who in 1853-54 explored it thoroughly to 
 find the best route for a Pacific railroad. 
 In 1853 Lieut. R. Saxton passed this way 
 on his route from the Pacific coast to the 
 headquarters of the expedition in the 
 Bitterroot Valley. Saxton proceeded 
 up Columbia River and across country 
 to Pend Oreille Lake, which he reached 
 August 12. He found that, owing to the 
 high, steep mountains, it was impossible 
 to pass around the south end of the lake, 
 and he had considerable difficulty in 
 skirting the north end, where Hope is now 
 situated. He then proceeded up Clark 
 Fork, but he found the route very rough 
 and difficult, for the stream in many 
 places swung so close to the bluffs as to 
 make it necessary for the party to find a 
 way over the rough mountain sides. 
 After passing Thompson Falls and ascend- 
 ing Flathead River to the site of Dixon, he 
 went up the Jocko and crossed the summit 
 at the head of the Coriacan Defile to St. 
 Mary (Stevensville), in Bitterroot Valley. 
 
148 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The railway, from the point where it crosses Clark Fork to Trout 
 Creek, follows the outcrop of the Ravalli formation, which dips to 
 the left; and it is probable that the hills on the left are composed of 
 the next higher formation, the Newland limestone, but they are so 
 far distant and so nearly covered with trees that it is doubtful if the 
 traveler will be able to distinguish formations. 
 
 Just beyond milepost 50 the train crosses Big Beaver Creek, a 
 large stream joining the river from the south, and a little farther on 
 Vermilion Creek enters from the other side. The valley of the 
 Vermilion is particularly interesting, for at its mouth there is a 
 marked delta, visible from the train on the high line, which is 320 
 feet above the present river level. This delta could have been built 
 only when the valley of Clark Fork was filled with water up to that 
 altitude, and it probably marks some stage—possibly a closing 
 stage—of glacial Lake Missoula. The reason why the valley of 
 Vermilion Creek contains a more pronounced feature of this kind 
 than the adjacent tributary valleys is that it connects at its head 
 by a low pass with a valley draining into Kootenai River to the 
 north. Through this low pass a large stream evidently flowed from 
 the north at some time in the remote past. At that time all the 
 Kootenai Valley, the next valley to the north, which is followed by 
 the Great Northern Railway, was filled with an ice sheet that came) 
 down from the north, blocking all the previously existing water- 
 courses and discharging at least part of its waters through the valley 
 of Vermilion Creek. The sand and gravel carried by this stream 
 were dumped into Lake Missoula when it stood 320 feet above the 
 present level of Clark Fork. This was doubtless only a temporary 
 outlet, else more material would have been brought down, possibly 
 enough to completely fill the valley of Clark Fork. 
 
 At Trout Creek the hills on the south are composed of the Newland 
 limestone, which dips toward the river at an angle of 40°. It is 
 
 probable that this is the same belt of limestone as 
 Trout Creek, that which was seen on the left at a point just below 
 ee Ri gt Thompson Falls, and it is undoubtedly the same as 
 
 ' the limestone which occurs on the south side of the 
 valley as far as Noxon. 3 
 
 A short distance beyond Trout Creek the river makes a decided 
 bend to the left and swings against the bluffs on that side. The 
 railway follows the river and at milepost 59 is close to the mountain 
 side, which is nearly bare, having been swept clean of trees in the 
 great forest fires of 1910. On one of these smooth slopes horizontal 
 beach lines are visible. They can be identified up the slopes to a 
 height of 1,200 feet above the river, or 3,500 feet above sea level, but 
 beyond that height no trace of such markings has been found. The 
 
 
 

 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 149 
 
 uppermost beach line here probably corresponds with the highest 
 one observed near Missoula and Dixon and, as these beach lines were 
 formed by the same body of water and therefore must have been 
 horizontal, it is almost certain that the crust of the earth has been 
 tilted since the disappearance of the lake, the surface about Missoula 
 having been raised 1,000 feet above that at Trout Creek, as explained 
 on page 134. 
 
 Just beyond milepost 59 the roadway is cut in the base of a high 
 cliff which is composed of Newland limestone lying nearly horizontal. 
 The argillites and quartzites showing across the river and in the 
 pyramidal island in the stream are vertical, hence there must be a 
 fault between them which coincides in a general way with the course 
 of the river. 
 
 Near milepost 67 a charming view is to be had of the cliffs on the 
 south, which stand like a huge castle with battlemented walls. 
 
 The Newland limestone is exposed almost continuously along the 
 river from milepost 59 to Noxon and for some miles beyond. It is 
 
 generally horizontal or dips slightly to the northwest. 
 Noxon. Nearly opposite milepost 74 Bull River joins Clark 
 Hleelie eer ieet: Fork from the north. This tributary valley is con- 
 
 i ' nected by a broad, deep trench directly through the 
 Cabinet Mountains with the valley of Lake Creek, affording in glacial 
 time a direct outlet for the great mass of ice that kept crowding down 
 from the northern country. In this great trench the ice at its maxi- 
 mum was at least 2,000 feet deep. As soon as it emerged into the 
 more open valley of Clark Fork it was reinforced by a large ice tongue 
 that came down by Sandpoint and deployed up the Clark Fork valley. 
 These two masses blended and filled the valley from Pend Oreille 
 Lake to Noxon, forming an effective barrier across the pathway of 
 the stream. Behind this barrier the body of water known as glacial 
 Lake Missoula accumulated. In its passage up the valley the glacier 
 left abundant evidence of its presence and work by the scouring which 
 the valley received, the scratches on the rocks, and the bowlders of 
 granite and other crystalline rocks which it carried into this area. 
 The bowlders were not only dropped upon the valley floor, but many 
 of them were left stranded on the valley wall up to a height of at 
 least 2,000 feet above the stream. 
 
 Beyond Bull River there is little of interest for some distance. 
 
 The valley walls are composed of Newland limestone, 
 Heron, Mont. = which dips gently downstream. Just beyond mile- 
 Be unl tae ine Post 87, a few miles west of Heron, the train crosses 
 
 geese ' the State line into Idaho, the boundary beimg mdi- 
 
 cated by a signboard. 
 
150 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 To those who remember Idaho in their school geographies as a 
 
 small pink block, shaped like an easy chair facing east, it may be of 
 
 interest that this State, which in 1890 added the forty- 
 
 Idaho. fifth star to the constellation on the flag, is nearly as 
 
 large as Pennsylvania and Ohio combined and larger 
 
 than the six New England States with Maryland included for good 
 
 measure. It is divided into 33 counties, the smallest of which is half 
 
 as large as the State of Rhode Island and the largest exceeds the 
 combined area of Massachusetts and Delaware. 
 
 Idaho covers an area of 83,888 square miles, divided principally 
 between the Rocky Mountain region and the Columbia Plateau, only 
 a small part, in the southeast corner of the State, lying in the Great 
 Basin. In elevation above sea level the State ranges from 735 feet, 
 at Lewiston, to 12,078 feet at the summit of Hyndman Peak. It is 
 drained by the Columbia mainly through Snake River and its tribu- 
 taries, and has an annual rainfall of about 17 inches, the range in a 
 single year at different places being from 6 to 38 inches. 
 
 The industries of the State are chiefly agriculture, stock raising, 
 and mining. Hay, wheat, oats, and potatoes are the principal crops. 
 A large area is cultivated by irrigation. The mineral production 
 includes gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The output of lead in 
 1913 was valued at $13,986,366, that of silver at $6,033,473. 
 
 The population of Idaho in 1910 was 325,924. 
 
 A short distance west of the Idaho line the Newland limestone, 
 which has formed the walls of the valley for the last 10 or 12 miles, 
 dips below water level, and the quartzites of the 
 Cabinet, Idaho. overlying formation (Striped Peak) appear. These 
 Te ae feet. rocks are so much harder than the limestone that 
 St. Paul 1401 miles, the river has succeeded in cutting through them only 
 a narrow, tortuous passageway known as Cabinet 
 Gorge (Pl. XXI, p. 1483). The river pours its whole volume through a 
 crooked defile not over 100 feet wide, and it is estimated that 40,000 
 horsepower could be developed here with the natural flow of the 
 stream. The gorge is soon passed, so that those who wish to see it 
 should keep a close watch on the right as soon as they cross the State 
 line. Beyond Cabinet station as far as milepost 91 there are many 
 cuts in bright-red and green argillite and thin beds of sandstone 
 (Striped Peak formation) overlying the Newland limestone. These 
 mark the middle of a broad, flat syncline, which crosses the river in 
 a north-south direction. Farther west the rocks dip upstream, and 
 at the railway bridge the top of the Newland limestone may be seen 
 on the north bank of the river. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. ‘Loh 
 
 The village of Clark Fork is situated at the head of the delta which 
 
 Clark Fork has built where it enters Pend Oreille Lake. Below the 
 
 village the track winds about in the broad plain of 
 
 Clark Fork. the river bottom, skirting shallow bays and swamps 
 
 poreeen at ich and winding among rocky islands that rise here and 
 
 St. Paul 1,412 miles. there in the delta plain. The rocks are limestone 
 
 (Newland), dipping up the stream toward the axis 
 
 of the syncline, but about 2 miles from the village the whole of the 
 
 limestone has risen above water level, and the underlying red argil- 
 lites and quartzites (Ravalli) are exposed in the cuts. 
 
 West of milepost 97 the traveler may get glimpses here and there 
 of Pend Oreille Lake, but it is not until the train approaches Hope 
 
 that an unobstructed view may be obtained. If it 
 Hope. is a clear day, the waters ripple in the sunshine 
 Pe against a dark background of rugged mountains, 
 St. Paul 1,421 miles. but if the air is hazy the lake scems to disappear in 
 
 the distance between misty walls that rise on either 
 side. One can but wonder what lies beyond that rocky gateway and 
 long to board the little steamer lying at the dock and explore its 
 remotest reaches. The broad expanse of water along the north 
 shore is broken by several wooded, rocky islands that add greatly to 
 the charm of the picture. 
 
 The French term pend (pendant) d’oreille means literally earring 
 and was doubtless given to this lake by the early French explorers 
 on account of its peculiar shape; but some authorities say that the 
 name was originally given to a tribe of Indians because of their cus- 
 tom of wearing earrings and then was applied to the lake because 
 these Indians inhabited its shores. 
 
 The laké is about 50 miles long and from 2 to 15 miles wide, and 
 it is said to be very deep. As it is long and narrow and lies between 
 mountains 2,000 to 3,000 feet high, it must, if the reported depth of 
 water is correct, occupy a canyon rivaling in size and depth the 
 Grand Canyon of the Colorado, in Arizona. 
 
 On the shore of the lake, near the place where Hope now stands, 
 were once the main trails that led into the Kootenai country to the 
 north. Over these trails supplies for the mining camps and goods 
 for trade with the Indians were taken in and cargoes of precious furs 
 brought out, but the traffic has ceased and the trails have become 
 impassable. Hope is built on the side of a mountain so steep that 
 its streets occupy levels 300 feet apart. It is important now as the 
 site of a large sawmill and as a port for the small traffic on the lake. 
 
 The rocks back of Hope belong to the Prichard formation, which 
 extends for about 7 miles, but they are cut by many dikes of granite 
 similar to the great mass west of Sandpoint. The rocks also show 
 
152 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 greater metamorphism (changes due to pressure or to heat) toward 
 this mass of granite, and on this account do not bear a close resem- 
 blance to those of the same age farther east. 
 
 Beyond milepost 111, west of Oden (see sheet 21, p. 160), the valley 
 between the Cabinet Range on the east and the Selkirk Range on the 
 west is a broad plain. Down this great valley a glacier once forced 
 its way from Canada past Bonners Ferry and extended many miles 
 south along the route followed by the Northern Pacific to Spokane. 
 
 On approaching Sandpoint the railroad skirts the extreme west 
 end of Pend Oreille Lake, but in this part of the lake the shores are 
 
 generally low, and the view is not so striking as that 
 Sandpoint. obtained from Hope. From Sandpoint the moun- 
 Elevation 2,096 feet. tain slope on the opposite (south) side of the outlet 
 a Beh ae ie of the lake, by reason of its gentleness and smoothness, 
 
 is so different from those generally seen along Clark 
 Fork, although composed of the same kind of rock, that it calls for an 
 explanation. This long ridge does not rise abruptly from the water 
 level at its north end, like the mountain slopes on the other side of 
 
 i= 
 
 FIGURE 32.—Profile of mountain slope east of Sandpoint, Idaho. Ice moved in the direction indicated 
 by the arrow and scoured the slope smooth. 
 
 the lake, but rises gradually to a height of 2,000 feet above the 
 lake. The profile as seen from Sandpoint is represented in figure 
 32. The explanation of the gentle slope is that the great glacier 
 which once came down the valley from the north and which probably 
 had a depth of more than 1,000 feet, passed far up on the slope of 
 this mountain and possibly completely overrode it. This mass of 
 ice, with its embedded rocky fragments, ground off all irregularities 
 of the mountain side, leaving it a gently inclined slope from bottom 
 to top. The direction of the moving ice is indicated on the diagram 
 by the arrow. 
 
 At Sandpoint the Great Northern and the Spokane & Interna- 
 tional (Canadian Pacific) railways approach the Northern Pacific, 
 but the Great Northern at its point of nearest approach is 2 miles 
 from the lake and can not be seen from the train. 
 
 South of Sandpoint the railway crosses the lower end of Pend 
 Oreille Lake on a steel and concrete viaduct 4,769 feet long. From 
 this viaduct may be obtained, if the day is clear, a comprehensive 
 view of the mountains east of Pend Oreille Lake. The significant 
 feature of this mountain mass is not its height or its ruggedness, — 
 
SHEET No. 20 
 
 115°30" MONTANA-IDAHO _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ae eal 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 YO 
 
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 = KG ( 
 | AW uviee WS 
 
 
 
 ws Sheet No./3 
 
 
 
 
 
 115°30' 
 
 ENGRAVED ANE PRINTED OY THE U.S.GU 
 
 oO 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 4S 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 
 
 Sheet No.2/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ¢ 
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 aoe = Martin ae 
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 | wXPLANA )} 
 a 
 hickness 
 in e at 
 A 
 #3. 
 Quaternary 
 p > 
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 Bi 
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 Raval] ——— = 
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 | ike I a a { nis ai 
 ¥ TLoTr at Oo i — iva) 
 formations E G, 
 | nave § & 12- 
 ed simpls 
 V2 1? 
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 | 
 eet 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 S147 | ? 5 10 15 20Miles 
 4 ag ot Si is FEE ne eat batt land oe atl aes int ti bed Ba a nol 
 | 1 0 5 10 Hs) 20 25 30Kilometers 
 Rit neafaarchemaelicnceeernlbesntes: wothcsradecce te. 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 SHEET No. 20. 
 MONTANA-IDAHO 
 
 _— 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 153 
 
 but the evenness of its summits, as if the region were a vast plateau. 
 As this is the country through which the westbound traveler has 
 just come, he appreciates that such is not the case, but the moun- 
 tains are made up of ridges of nearly the same height, the tops of 
 which, at a distance, blend so as to appear like a flat-topped mountain. 
 
 The even crests of such ridges and mountains are supposed to 
 have been formed when the land was low lying and in fact nearly 
 a plain (a peneplain).1. At that time there were no mountains in 
 this region and the surface was as flat as the prairies of North Dakota 
 and probably much nearer sea level. 
 
 For some distance after crossing Pend Oreille Lake the railway 
 skirts the base of the mountain on the left (east), and the cuts through 
 the low spurs reveal the granite in many places. On some of these 
 ledges, even from the moving train, glacial strix (scratches in the bed- 
 rock made by rock fragments embedded in the ice and forced along 
 under enormous pressure) may be seen. The direction of these 
 scratches is parallel with the railway and shows that the glacier 
 moved up the valley toward Spokane. 
 
 The railway crosses the valley, cutting through many knolls of 
 
 gravel and sand deposited by a stream which flowed from the end of 
 I ee Nie 
 
 1 The constant tendency of almost all 
 natural processes going on at the surface 
 of the earth is to wear away the high 
 land and to reduce the continent toward 
 sea level. As these processes are always 
 at work wearing away the higher points 
 of the land, it follows that in time the 
 surface of the land would be reduced to 
 a plain were there no counteracting forces 
 at work. The forces that tend to inter- 
 fere with the reduction of the surface of 
 the earth are those that produce move- 
 ment within the crust, for such move- 
 ments are almost always accompanied by 
 elevation at some point, and when this 
 occurs the reduction process is of neces- 
 sity begun anew and carried on all over 
 again. If, however, crustal movements 
 
 do not occur for a long time, the surface 
 of the earth is reduced nearly to a plain 
 that stands near but not at sea level. 
 ‘Such a surface has been named a pene- 
 ‘plain (meaning “almost a plain”). In 
 ‘most regions the procéss of reduction in 
 the past has been interrupted by the 
 elevation of those particular parts of the 
 crust before the surface was greatly 
 reduced, but in certain places the proc- 
 
 ess seems to have been carried nearly 
 to its limit and a peneplain produced. 
 If after the formation of such a pene- 
 plain the land is uplifted evenly over a 
 wide area, the peneplain, instead of 
 being near sea level, will form an upland 
 or plateau. As such an elevated tract is 
 always vigorously attacked by streams, 
 canyons will soon be cut back from the 
 edge of the plateau or from the mouths 
 of the streams, and, as time goes on, 
 these canyons will reach farther and 
 farther back into the upland and new 
 canyons will be established, until finally 
 all the even surface of the peneplain will 
 be cut away and instead of a plain or 
 peneplain it will be a hilly upland or a 
 mountainous belt, its character depend- 
 ing on the amount of the uplift. Despite 
 the fact that the region has lost its even 
 surface, the hills or mountains will have, 
 for a long time, about the same height, 
 and their summits will be but little 
 below the surface of the old peneplain. 
 In other words, the country is a dissected 
 plateau, but to an observer at a distance 
 the even crest lines of the ridges still 
 appear like the level top of the plateau. 
 
154 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 the glacier during the retreat of the ice from its farthest southward 
 extension. Near milepost 24 can be seen on the west a slope of 
 massive granite that has been laid bare by the ice and has been 
 smoothed and rounded by the same agent. Such bosses of rounded 
 rock have been called by the French ‘‘roches moutonnées”’ (sheep- 
 back rocks), and this term has now come into common use in this 
 country. 
 
 All the indications thus far observed point clearly to the occupation 
 of this valley by the ice. The small lakes which abound in the district 
 
 afford still further evidence of the presence of a 
 Cocolalla. glacier and the consequent rearrangement of all the 
 Elevation 2,228 feet. drainage lines. Cocolalla Lake occupies a depression 
 cia ish Shea hemmed in by hills of gravel that was deposited by 
 
 the ice or by water flowing directly from the front of 
 the glacier. South of Cocolalla the valley is more or less swampy 
 (another indication of a recently established drainage system), and 
 the granite lies on the west. Farther south the granite can be seen on 
 the east side of the track, hence it probably underlies most of the 
 valley; but, if so, it is well concealed in places by glacial drift. 
 
 The village of Granite is appropriately named, for the granite is 
 well exposed there. A short distance beyond the station the railway 
 
 crosses a high bridge over what appears to be a deep, 
 Granite. irregular channel scoured out by the ice, and the 
 Elevation 2,269 feet. Jnobs of granite, scored and rounded, rise about it in 
 ee saul 1io8 inites, 2 directions. After passing through a small tunnel 
 
 in this rock, the train emerges into an open drift- 
 covered plain strewn with bowlders of granite broken from the ledges 
 near the tunnel and carried southward by the ice. Many of these 
 bowlders are 20 feet in diameter, and they occur along the track for a 
 distance of 7 miles from the village of Granite. 
 
 Although there are many lakes in this general region, they can not 
 be seen from the train for the reason that they are near the margins of 
 the hills, whereas the railway keeps the middle of the valley. From 
 a point near Athol there appears to be an opening in the mountain 
 wall which bounds the valley on the east. In this break lies the 
 upper or south end of Pend Oreille Lake. The lake is easy of access 
 from this direction and small steamboats will take one to almost any 
 place along its shores. Spirit Lake lies on the west side of the valley, 
 and a little farther south is Fish Lake.. The largest lakes, Pend 
 Oreille, Hayden, and Cceur d’Alene, are on the east and south sides of 
 the valley. All these bodies of water have resulted apparently from 
 the damming of the lateral valleys by sand and gravel brought down 
 by the glacier é 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 155 
 
 The Spokane International Railway approaches the Northern 
 Pacific lne on the right near milepost 43, runs parallel with it for some 
 distance, and finally goes under it between mileposts 
 Athol. 46 and 47, beyond Athol, and disappears on the left. 
 Elevation 2,400feet. Originally this valley was covered with a growth of 
 Population 281. ‘ . : 
 St.Paul 1,465 1niles, SCrubby pine and it was not supposed to be suitable 
 for agricultural or horticultural pursuits, but m recent 
 years fruit trees have been successfully grown, and now apple orchards 
 stretch along the railway for many miles. Although the valley is 
 continuous, there is a constriction near Lone Mountain and a division 
 of the drainage. The water north of this place finds its way into the 
 Columbia by way of Clark Fork, whereas that to the south reaches the 
 same trunk stream through Spokane River. Near milepost 51 Lone 
 Mountain is a conspicuous object on the right (west). It rises to a 
 height of about 1,000 feet above the plain. To judge from the bare 
 rocks exposed about its base, the ice has abraded its foot, but whether 
 or not the glacier passed over its summit is an open question. 
 At Ramsey, a station directly south of Lone Mountain, the rail- 
 way is double tracked, the eastbound track diverging to the left, 
 to unite again with the westbound track at Rath- 
 drum, the next station to the west. In going west- 
 aie a et eens, Ward the train gradually approaches the mountain 
 mass on the right, and at Rathdrum it is only a 
 few hundred feet from the foot of the hill. Here the rock is a schist,’ 
 but whether the schist is of Archean age and therefore older than the 
 Belt series, or whether it is the Belt, or some younger 
 Rathdrum. formation greatly changed, is a question that has not 
 
 Elevation 2,212feet. been settled. At Rathdrum the Northern Pacific 
 Population 725. 
 
 Ramsey. 
 
 St. Paul 1,478 miles. CrOsses over a new line—the Idaho & Washington 
 
 Northern Railway. West of the crossing the railway 
 runs near the hills on the north for a long distance, but on the left 
 it overlooks the valley of Spokane River, which is spread out like a 
 map before the eyes of the traveler. Most of the valley bottom is 
 
 farming land, but some of it is too gravelly to be 
 Hauser,Idaho. of much value for agriculture. The valley is par- 
 Hlevation2,40fect, ticularly beautiful as seen from a point a little west of 
 eat des itis eo From Hauser a branch line runs to Post 
 
 ’ Falls and Coeur d’Alene, at the foot of Coeur d’ Alene 
 
 Lake, and there is steamboat service on the lake and railway connection 
 
 ee eee ete PS 
 
 1 Schist is a rock in which a parallel or | in layers parallel to the cleavage. Schists 
 foliated structure has been developed by | may have been originally sedimentary or 
 shearing or by pressure, a process gener- | igneous rocks, but if the schistosity is 
 ally accompanied by more or less recrys- | well developed the original character of 
 tallization of the material composing it | the rock is generally obliterated. 
 
156 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 from its upper end to the Cour d’Alene mining district,* described 
 below by F. L. Ransome, and thence across the mountains to Missoula. 
 
 Between mileposts 66 and 67 the railway crosses the line between 
 the States of Idaho and Washington, the exact point being indicated 
 by asign at the roadside. 
 
 The State of Washington has a land area of 66,836 square miles. — 
 It was admitted to the Union in 1889. In 1910 it had a population ~ 
 of 1,141,990. Owing to its position on the coast, the ~ 
 first settlement in what is now Washington was — 
 made at a comparatively early date. The places 
 to be occupied first were the posts of the Hudson’s Bay Co. Of 
 these Fort Vancouver, on Columbia River, established in 1824, was 
 
 Washington. 
 
 the headquarters; and Forts Walla Walla and Nisqually were out- 
 lying posts to the east and north, respectively. | 
 
 
 
 1The Cceur d’Alene district, whose 
 mines yield about one-third of the lead 
 produced in the United States, and supply, 
 by value, about 85 per cent of Idaho’s 
 annual output of metals, lies high on the 
 western slope of that northward pro- 
 longation of the Bitterroot Range which 
 is sometimes called the Coeur d’Alene 
 Mountains. Itistoturn the flank of this 
 lofty barrier that the main line of the 
 Northern Pacific swings northwestward 
 down the valley of Clark Fork and then 
 westward by Pend Oreille Lake. 
 
 From the east the district is served by 
 a branch of the Northern Pacific which 
 leaves the main line at De Smet (change 
 at Missoula) and, following the old Mullan 
 wagon road, crosses the range by a high 
 pass at the head of St. Regis River. From 
 Spokane, on the west, the traveler may 
 choose an all-rail route via the Oregon- 
 Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.’s 
 line around the south end of Coeur d’Alene 
 Lake, or he may proceed by one of three 
 railway lines to the town of Coeur d’Alene, 
 at the north end of the lake, and there 
 embark on a steamer which connects at 
 Harrison with the trains of the Oregon- 
 Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.’s 
 line to Wallace, in the heart of the district. 
 
 Were it not for the mines, the Cour 
 d’Alene district would be nearly as com- 
 plete a wilderness now as when Mullan 
 constructed his road across the moun- 
 tains 56 years ago. It contains almost no 
 arable land, and the timber, while good 
 
 enough for mining purposes, would prob- 
 ably not have been sufficient inducement 
 to bring railways into the region. Mining 
 is the one paramount industry of the dis- 
 trict, and upon it all others depend. 
 Approximately 5,000 men are employed 
 in the mines and concentrating works, 
 and the total population of the district is 
 estimated at 12,000. 
 
 Wallace, the principal town and the 
 seat of Shoshone County, contains 3,000 
 people and is situated at the confluence 
 of Canyon and Ninemile creeks with the 
 South Fork of Coeur d’Alene River. This 
 situation and the fact that it is the termi- 
 nus of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & 
 Navigation Co.’s line from the west and 
 the Coeur d’Alene branch of the Northern 
 Pacific Railway from the east make it the 
 chief distributing point of supplies for 
 the district. 
 
 Although the Mullan road passed 
 through what is now the most productive 
 part of the district, 20 years elapsed 
 before anyone realized that the steep, 
 thickly forested hillsides visible from the 
 road concealed great deposits of lead- 
 silver ore. It was not until 1884 that 
 attention was called to the mineral re- 
 sources of the region by the exploitation 
 of the gold-bearing gravel and quartz 
 veins on Prichard Creek,-in the northern 
 part of the district. Discovery of the 
 lead-silver veins on the South Fork of 
 Coeur d’Alene River soon followed, and 
 by 1888 these had overshadowed the gold 
 
157 
 
 For a number of years the hunting and trapping of fur-bearing 
 animals was the chief occupation, but gradually the forest was cleared 
 away and farms established. From the necessity of getting rid of the 
 heavy forest developed the lumber business, which from the earliest 
 settlement down to the present time has been the leading industry 
 of the State. In 1909 the value of the timber and lumber products 
 was $89,000,000. 
 
 Agriculture at first flourished only along the Sound, west of the Cas- 
 cade Mountains, where rain is abundant; and the eastern, semi- 
 arid part of the State was utilized only for the grazing of cattle, 
 horses, and sheep. Recently much of the land in the Yakima and 
 Wenatchee valleys and along the Columbia has been reclaimed by 
 the construction of irrigation works, and now it is renowned the world 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 
 
 deposits in productiveness and value. 
 Since 1903 the district has produced con- 
 siderable copper and of late years in- 
 creasing quantities of zinc. 
 
 The production of Shoshone County 
 (which is practically that of the Coeur 
 d’Alene district) for 1913 was as follows: 
 Gold, $81,749; silver, 9,337,109 fine 
 ounces; copper, 5,097,894 pounds; lead, 
 296,740,946 pounds; and zinc, 21,415,565 
 pounds, valued in all at $20,767,410. 
 The total value of all the metals produced 
 in the district since mining began is ap- 
 proximately $262,608,000. 
 
 The mines that have been most pro- 
 ductive of lead-silver ore during the past 
 few years are the Bunker Hill and Sulli- 
 van, Morning, Hercules, Last Chance, 
 Senator Stewart, Standard-Mammoth, 
 and Hecla. The Tiger-Poorman, at 
 Burke, once a large producer, has been 
 worked out. The Standard-Mammoth is 
 also nearly exhausted, but a continuation 
 of the ore body has been found in the 
 adjoining Greenhill-Cleveland mine. 
 The one large copper mine of the district, 
 the Snowstorm, has yielded ore of the 
 gross value of about $11,000,000. 
 
 The rocks in which the Coeur d’Alene 
 ores are found belong to the Belt. series. 
 These beds in the Coeur d’Alene district 
 have been crumpled into folds and have 
 been intruded by masses of molten mate- 
 rial (magma) which, on cooling, solidified 
 as a granitic rock known as quartz mon- 
 zonite. During or after the solidification 
 of the igneous rock the region was trav- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ersed by great cracks or fissures along some 
 of which took place movements amount- 
 ing to thousands of feet, producing what 
 the geologist terms faults. In other places, 
 where the disturbance was less, hot solu- 
 tions, probably connected with the intru- 
 sion of the granitic rock, deposited the 
 ores, partly as fillings of open cracks but 
 largely as replacements of the adjacent 
 rock by chemical processes. After the 
 intrusion of the granite and the formation 
 of the deposits of ore, an uneven layer of 
 rock, probably some thousands of feet in 
 thickness, was gradually removed by the 
 action of weather and streams. This 
 erosion exposed the once deeply buried 
 granite and the ore. 
 
 The principal mineral of the lead-silver 
 ores is galena (sulphide of lead) which in 
 this district invariably contains some sil- 
 ver. Other common minerals of metallic 
 luster associated with the galena are py- 
 rite (sulphide of iron), pyrrhotite (mag- 
 netic sulphide of iron), chalcopyrite (sul- 
 phide of copper and iron), and sphalerite 
 (sulphide of zinc). The characteristic 
 waste mineral of nonmetallic luster as- 
 sociated with galena, that is, the gangue 
 of the ore, is siderite (carbonate of iron). 
 
 The ores, as mined, carry, as a rule, 
 from 5 to 50 per cent of lead and from 
 3 to 45 ounces of silver to the ton. All 
 but the highest grades are concentrated 
 in the district, by milling, to a product 
 containing about 50 per cent of lead 
 and from 15 to 55 ounces of silver to the 
 ton, 
 
158 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 over for the quality of the apples produced. In many districts fruit 
 raising has been carried to the extreme, and now there is a tendency 
 to the greater cultivation of alfalfa and grains. One of the most 
 interesting features of the agricultural development of Washington 
 has been the transformation of the lava plateaus of the central and 
 eastern parts of the State into great fields of wheat that stretch for 
 miles without a break. The success of dry farming in this region 
 made Washington one of the great wheat-raising States of the 
 country. In 1909 its yield of wheat was worth: $35,000,000, and its 
 forage crops $17,000,000. 
 
 Washington produces yearly metals valued at $1,000,000, but 
 the chief mining industry has been and still is the mining of coal. 
 Coal was first mined in 1860 m Whatcom County, and a little later 
 near Issaquah, in King County, but shipment to San Francisco did 
 not begin until 1871. Since that time many mines in several fields 
 have been developed, and the industry of mining grew rapidly until 
 it reached its maximum in 1910. It declined then because Wash- 
 ington coal came into direct competition with the fuel oil of Cali- 
 fornia. It is estimated that in 1913 fuel oil replaced 5,000,000 tons 
 of coal in the markets tributary to Puget Sound. The seater oy the 
 coal mined in Washington in 1913 was $9,243,137. 
 
 The products of the State are valued about as follows: Manufac- 
 tured products (1909), $220,000,000; agricultural products (1909), 
 $103,000,000; mining products (1913), $17,000,000. 
 
 Beyond the State line the railway continues along the north side 
 of the valley, but the valley is not so wide as it is farther east. Apple 
 orchards are numerous and in places extend along the track for 
 miles without a break. 
 
 Near milepost 76 the hills on the right (north), which are in plain 
 view, take on a different aspect, and a close inspection shows that 
 they are capped by a flat-lymg mass of dark rock. This is the 
 Yakima basalt, one of the principal lava sheets of the great Columbia 
 River basalt which, together with that of nearly the same age in the 
 Snake River valley of Idaho, constitutes one of the most extensive 
 lava plains in the world. The lava flooded all of central and south- 
 ern Washington and large areas in Oregon and Idaho, and the traveler 
 will see little else in the way of hard rocks from Spokane to the east 
 foot of the Cascade Mountains. It flowed against the mountains on 
 the east, and fiery streams extended up the valleys heading in this 
 range. Mithareh some of the lava lies east of Coeur d’Alene Lake, 
 it is uncertain ae far it went in the Spokane Valley, for it has been 
 covered by the glacial gravel. The exposure just noted is the first 
 to be seen by a apa coming from the east. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 159 
 
 Between mileposts 77 and 78, west of Irvin, the railway crosses 
 Spokane River, the water of which is so beautifully clear that every 
 object on the bottom is plainly visible. Near this point the military 
 road constructed by Lieut. Mullan crossed Spokane River. This 
 road entered the main valley from the southwest, east of the present 
 city of Spokane, and then extended up the valley to Coeur d’Alene | 
 Lake. 
 
 West of the railway bridge the surface of the country to the south 
 is littered with large bowlders composed of many kinds of hard rock 
 which the ice brought down from the north. From their abundance 
 it is supposed that these bowlders mark the point of greatest advance 
 of the ice and are in the nature of a terminal moraine, although no 
 distinct ridge or other characteristic topographic feature has been 
 left in the valley, as is usual at the extremity of a glacier. 
 
 Although the basalt covers most of the country in this vicinity, 
 it did not engulf all the hills, for the highest knob on the north, Little 
 Baldy, composed of schist, stood above the molten flood that rolled 
 into this region from the west. The low hills on the left are com- 
 posed wholly of basalt, which also shows near the river in the out- 
 
 skirts of the city of Spokane. 
 
 Here it can be seen at close range as 
 
 the train passes through the deep cuts on its way to the station. 
 
 
 
 1 Spokane River has been beset by 
 many difficulties in carving its present 
 channel. At the time the great flood of 
 lava inundated the region, there was 
 evidently a deep valley here which was 
 flooded with the molten material. This 
 inundation did not come as one great 
 wave, but doubtless flood succeeded 
 flood with fairly long intervals between 
 until the lava was piled up to a great 
 thickness, nearly obliterating the orig- 
 inal channels. 
 
 When the outpourings of lava ceased, 
 the water found an outlet in part along 
 the old courses, but in most localities the 
 eruptions changed the face of the entire 
 country, so that the streams were com- 
 pelled to carve for themselves new valleys 
 in the hardened lava. This process was 
 well along when the great glacier, laden 
 with the rocky fragments it had plucked 
 from the valley walls, swept down the 
 valley. The materials carried by the 
 glacier were distributed by the streams 
 flowing from the ice front and scattered 
 over the entire valley, filling it to the 
 height seen to-day. Thus for the second 
 
 | of power. 
 
 time the stream was obstructed and its 
 valley greatly modified, but with the 
 disappearance of the ice it again set to 
 work to carve a valley suitable for a 
 stream of its size. Work was begun near 
 its mouth, but gradually its gorge has 
 been extended upstream until the fall, 
 which marks the point where active 
 cutting is in progress, has reached its 
 present position in the city of Spokane. 
 Here the river makes a series of plunges 
 over precipitous slopes of basalt. Orig- 
 inally this formed a beautiful fall as the 
 swirling waters broke against the dark 
 rocks in their downward plunges, but now 
 the stream has been obstructed for the 
 third time by a dam, and the water has 
 been diverted by man for the production 
 The beauty of the falls is gone 
 forever, for in seasons of drought there is 
 scarcely a trickle where once the river 
 leaped and boiled in its mad rush over 
 the jagged rock. To-day the water drives 
 great turbines that generate 30,000 horse- 
 power for municipal uses and for operat- 
 ing mines and mills in the Coeur d’Alene 
 district. 
 
160 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Spokane (spo-kan’) is a division terminal of the Northern Pacific 
 Railway, and is the center of an extensive agricultural and mining 
 region that is frequently referred to as the ‘‘inland 
 empire of the West.’’ A settlement was early estab- 
 lished at this place, and in 1881 it was incorporated 
 as Spokane Falls, but later the second part of the 
 name was dropped. ‘The city is served by main lines 
 or branches of all the transcontinental railroads crossing the States 
 of Washington and Oregon, including the Canadian Pacific. Fort 
 Wright, one of the more modern military posts of the Government, 
 is attractively situated on the bluffs of the river just below the city 
 limits, but is not visible from the train. 
 
 On leaving the station at Spokane (see sheet 22, p. 164) the train 
 runs down the broad valley for some distance, but not within sight 
 of the falls, and then turns to the left up the valley of Latah Creek. 
 Here there are extensive hillside cuts on the left, exposing beds of 
 dark sand and gravel, which were evidently derived largely from the 
 basalt and were washed into this side ravine by floods that came 
 down the main valley. This is evident from the way in which the 
 gravel is bedded. 
 
 The valley of Latah Creek, as well as that of Take Creek, up which 
 the railway goes, is marked by a number of vrell-develed terraces 
 that were doubtless formed at the same time as or soon after the 
 formation of the delta described above, and a correct interpretation 
 of their meaning would throw much light on the conditions prevailing 
 
 Spokane, Wash. 
 
 Elevation 1,919 feet. 
 Population 104,402. 
 St. Paul 1,505 miles, 
 
 
 
 1 Careful inspection shows that the sand 
 and gravel is cross-bedded and that the 
 cross-bedded layers dip to the south, up 
 Latah Creek. Figure 33 represents the 
 edges of the beds as they are exposed in 
 This sandy material 
 
 the side of the cut. 
 
 top of the bed A and laid down as a thin 
 layer on the sloping surface AB. This 
 action was continued until the basin of 
 the side stream was filled to the line AC. 
 The main stream was then deprived of 
 this dumping ground, for that was filled 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 33.—Cross-bedding in glacial gravel on Latah Creek 1 mile west of Spokane, Wash. 
 
 was deposited as a delta—that is, the 
 material was washed into the side valley, 
 then occupied by a lake, and at first was 
 laid down on the slope AB. The point A 
 marks the surface of the water, above 
 which the material could not be piled. 
 Additional material was carried along the 
 
 to the same height as the river channel, 
 so the gravel was dropped in the main 
 valley, building it up to the height of D. 
 At this new height the process was re- 
 peated until the side valley was filled to 
 the line DF and eventually to the high- 
 est point the water reached. 
 
SHEET No. 21 
 
 _____IDAHO-WASHINGTON 
 | RANE Tay —-— Fre 
 
 ISA WK 
 
 23 wey | 
 
 Re — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Algoma Sy7 
 £2.3/89 ) <fa)// 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 =-22 B 
 Coeur et Alene Lake 
 
 116°30' 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH. DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 ee RS 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 . Sheet of that name. 
 
 we 
 
 ea ee 
 
 BULLETIN 611. 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 
 A Glacial outwash gravel and sand Quaternary 
 
 B_ Lava flows (Yakima basalt) Tertiary 
 
 F Impure limestone (Newland) 4,800 
 | G Quartzite and shale (Ravalli quartzite) 8,000 
 
 H_ Bluish quartzite and shale 
 
 (Prichard formation) 8,000 |. -Algonkian 
 
 ; . (Belt series 
 In places formations F, G, and H, eS 
 
 have not been separated and the 
 entire mass is called simply Belt 
 
 | series 
 
 | 
 | J Granite, gneiss, and schist 
 
 
 
 ng 
 
 ax! 
 Gare 
 1 Oz 
 Scale 500,000 7 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 5 
 
 12 5 10 ‘5 20Miles 
 cj 
 
 10 Is) 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 | 
 
 N 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET AGOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the ratiroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Priest et 
 
 
 
 SHEET No. 2i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ~~ ERS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ~~ Pa — =A ee \ii\ \Ny } 
 Ne SOs 4, ——= 
 ee Wig ‘p 7 4 b Dr yet # —- eee Se. ese 
 SSS SS NS co = — 
 RAG ass aS y (ga Re sisi vi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 aN eS SY SE ay; 
 iS POE V7 LOG, RS (22 
 By. = 
 
 , oe S _ 
 Sates OE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -Fernan Lake 
 
 DALENE 
 \ Coeur &Afene Lake 
 
 
 
 
 116°30' 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEQLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 161 
 
 at that time, but unfortunately no one has studied them carefully 
 enough to read their history in detail. 
 
 The bedrock on all sides is the basalt, which consists either of hard, 
 dense rock that represents the interior of a lava flow or the more 
 scoriaceous material of the upper part caused by the expansion of 
 steam.' 
 
 Although the flows of lava were very extensive, either the molten 
 material did not completely engulf the hills composed of older rocks, 
 or the lava that buried them has since been removed, uncovering the 
 schist at the surface over small areas. Such an area can be seen on 
 the left (east) just before reaching Marshall (see fig. 34), and there are 
 
 other areas farther on. 
 The schist is easily dis- 
 tinguishable by its light 
 olor. 
 f old rocks in the midst 
 f the flood of lava are 
 ound only near the mar- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 arly hilly. 
 
 levation 2,137 feet. 
 opulation 757.* 
 . Paul 1,514 miles. 
 
 e next station. 
 
 ! Molten lava, as it issues from the earth, 
 always charged with steam. While the 
 va remains underground the steam can 
 t escape, but when the lavareaches the 
 ace the pressure is relieved and the 
 eam expands and collects in bubbles, 
 ich rise to the surface and burst, giving 
 the clouds of vapor that always rise 
 m a moving flow of lava. Many bub- 
 es, however, can not escape, and they 
 come, as it were, frozen in the upper 
 rt of the flow, giving it a vesicular or 
 neycombed appearance, as can be seen 
 m the train in many places. 
 
 95558°—Bull. 611—15 Le 
 
 
 
 Such occurrences oieni 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 34.—Island of gneiss or schist in the lava (Yakima 
 
 basalt) near Marshall, Wash. 
 
 ins of the lava plain, where the depth of the once molten mate- 
 ial was never great or where the underlying surface was particu- 
 
 From Marshall a branch of the Northern Pacific runs southward 
 o the Palouse country. Two other railways that run parallel with 
 the Northern Pacific between Marshall and Spokane 
 can be seen on the right. 
 the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. 
 and the other is the Spokane, Portland & Seattle 
 Railway. Just beyond milepost 98 the Northern 
 acific crosses both these lines and continues on their right to Cheney, 
 
 The nearer line is that of 
 
 
 
 Columnar jointing, perpendicular to 
 the cooling surfaces and therefore nearly 
 vertical, is the most universal and strik- 
 ing structural feature of the basaltic flow. 
 The columns vary greatly in size and 
 regularity of form, their diameters rang- 
 ing from a few inches to 6 feet. Cross 
 sections of the most perfect prisms are as 
 a rule pentagonal (five-sided) or hexag- 
 onal (six-sided), and polygons of four, 
 seven, or eight sides are also common. 
 Columns, such as those described above, 
 may be seen in almost every good ex- 
 posure of the hardened lava. 
 
162 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 Near Cheney a branch line turns to the north and runs to Medical 
 Lake and Coulee City, in the heart of the Big Bend country, so called 
 because it lies inside of the great westward bend of 
 Columbia River. The two railways just mentioned 
 lie only a short distance to the left, but beyond 
 Cheney they bend to the east and can not be seen 
 again from the Northern Pacific line, although they 
 parallel this lme to Columbia River near Pasco. Cheney is situated 
 on the great lava plain of eastern Washington. Near the railway 
 the traveler sees little but bare rock, but he can catch glimpses here 
 and there of the low rolling hills that constitute the great wheat belt 
 of this part of the State. The railway follows in a general way a 
 shght depression in the surface, but the traveler may 
 be surprised at riding over such a wide stretch of 
 country without seeing any flowing creeks or even 
 creek channels. In humid regions there is a creek 
 channel in every valley. Even in the arid country 
 of the Southwest there are established watercourses, which, though 
 frequently or generally dry, take care of the occasional flood waters; 
 but here there are only shallow irregular valleys, and no stream 
 channels are to be seen. ‘True there may be here and there, strung 
 out in a more or less definite line, a series of shallow basins holding 
 swamps or even shallow lakes, but these have no outlets above 
 ground, and if they are connected at all the connection must be by an 
 underground channel. It is evident that durmmg most of the year 
 there is little running water in this region, as the annual precipitation 
 decreases from 18 inches at Spokane to 7 inches at Pasco. Most of 
 this is absorbed by the soil, and the remainder finds its way into the 
 open layers between the sheets of dense lava and reappears as 
 springs in some neighboring canyon or coulee. 
 
 A possible explanation of the peculiar scouring of the surface rocks 
 into basins without any definite stream channels is that it was done 
 by ice. This subject is more fully considered in the footnote given 
 on page 163. 
 
 Cheney. 
 
 Elevation 2,345 feet. 
 Population 1,207. 
 St. Paul 1,521 miles. 
 
 Tyler. 
 
 Elevation 2,301 feet. 
 Population 421*. 
 St. Paul 1,532 miles. 
 
 
 
 'F. ©. Calkins states: ‘“‘It [the soil] is 
 so porous that rain or melted snow is 
 quickly absorbed by it, so that a smaller 
 proportion is lost by run-off or by evapora- 
 tion from puddles than would be lost if 
 it were more clayey and impervious, and, 
 
 the water is held in them by adhesion 
 or capillary attraction and yields to the 
 force of gravity only slowly and to a com- 
 paratively small extent.’’? Therefore a 
 large proportion of the slight precipita- 
 tion is kept sufficiently near the surface 
 
 on the other hand, it is not loose enough 
 to allow the water to sink rapidly and 
 become unavailable, as it does in a deep 
 sandy soil. The spaces between the 
 particles of the fine loam are so small that 
 
 to be used by the growing wheat, and 
 successful grain culture is possible with 
 a rainfall that would be insufficient in a 
 soil of less advantageous physical consti- 
 tution, ; itty 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 163 
 
 At Fishtrap there are a number of small hills on both sides of the 
 track which appear, to one familiar with glacial topography, to be of 
 glacial origin. When examined closely they are 
 Foard to be composed of light-colored clay or shale 
 which is very different fate the material deposited 
 by ice. The peculiar hummocky form of the hills is 
 due to the softness and fineness of the material composing them and 
 to the peculiarities of erosion in a semiarid climate. Few if any 
 watercourses are developed in the hills, hence they have no regular 
 pattern or arrangement. The rains are Aion only a few gullies 
 are established, nid the development of such gullies tends to produce 
 isolated Penical mounds rather than low continuous ridges, such as 
 would be produced in similar material in more humid regions. 
 
 As the material composing these hills is fine and evenly bedded, 
 it was probably deposited in a body of standing water, and as its 
 age, so far as the evidence has been obtained, eoureepand ol im a gen- 
 eral way to that of similar beds (Ellensburg formation) in the Yakima 
 Valley, it is considered to be a part of that formation. The bulk of 
 the sediment deposited in this great lake was dropped near shore in 
 the vicinity of the Cascade Mountains, and only the finer material 
 was carried as far east as Fishtrap. This was deposited over the 
 basalt in a thin sheet, which has been largely removed, leaving iso- 
 lated outliers like es described above.! 
 
 Near milepost 123 there is some rough country that shows on a 
 small scale the effect of erosion on the sheets of basalt. In a more 
 humid region most of the sharp edges of the tables would be rounded 
 off and the slopes would be gentle and regular, but in a semiarid 
 country each remnant of a lava sheet or other hard bed of rock stands 
 up sharp and distinct as steps on the hillside or as isolated tables or 
 mesas on asmall scale. Thus the sheets of lava were not swept away 
 
 Fishtrap. 
 
 Elevation 2,282 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,536 miles. 
 
 
 
 1 Although there is little doubt about | whether these bowlders were brought di- 
 
 the origin of the Fishtrap Hills, there is 
 considerable uncertainty in the minds of 
 geologists as to whether there has ever 
 been an incursion of the northern glaciers 
 into this region. The fact which leads to 
 the belief that ice once occupied this 
 country is the presence, far southwest of 
 Spokane, of bowlders of granite and quart- 
 zite 12 to 20 inches in diameter. These 
 bowlders are not numerous, but occasion- 
 ally the traveler, if his sight is sufficiently 
 acute, may catch glimpses of them, even 
 from the swiftly moving train. Generally 
 the presence of such bowlders is taken as 
 a certain indication of the former occu- 
 pation of the country by ice, but it has 
 not yet been satisfactorily determined 
 
 
 
 rectly by the glacier and were dropped 
 from its moving mass, whether they were 
 floated along on cakes of ice in a large 
 lake, or whether they were simply washed 
 out over this plain from the ice front when 
 it was in the vicinity of Spokane. If the 
 bowlders here were as numerous and as 
 large as the bowlders in North Dakota west 
 of Missouri River there would probably 
 be no question as to their glacial trans- 
 portation, but in the State of Washington 
 they ate so few in number and are scat- 
 tered over so wide an extent of country 
 that some doubt naturally arises as to 
 whether moving ice was the vehicle by 
 which they were transported to their pres- 
 ent resting places. 
 
164 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 layer by layer, as one peels an onion, but were cut through in many 
 places, leaving rugged remnants fee and there that make a distinct 
 type of badland topography. 
 
 The railway descends into a pronounced valley and reaches the 
 town of Sprague, named for Gen. J. W. Sprague, 
 a former manager of the Pacific coast division. Rail- 
 way shops formerly here have been removed and the 
 town is now dependent on the dry farming of the 
 adjacent uplands. 
 
 The train runs down the valley and at a distance of 3 miles from 
 Sprague comes to the upper end of Colville Lake. This strip of 
 water adds a pleasing variety to an otherwise rather monotonous 
 landscape, but it lacks the picturesque setting of trees and mountains 
 that give to the lakes farther east their charm and beauty. The 
 
 railway curves in and out around the projecting spurs of basalt on 
 the west shore to a point near the outlet of the lake and there turns 
 more to the west and crosses the basaltic plateau. 
 
 Many bowlders of foreign material such as granite and quartzite 
 may be observed near the south end of the lake and along the line 
 westward at least as far as milepost 138, but it is doubtful if any can 
 be found beyond that point. 
 
 Ritzville, the largest town between Spokane and Pasco, is the center 
 of a rich agricultural district. This is a part of the great wheat belt 
 of eastern Washington that has been so wonderfully 
 developed by dry-farming methods. About a mile 
 beyond Ritzville a branch line turning to the right 
 (west) and known as the Ellensburg cut-off has been 
 graded and is said to be ready for the rails. When 
 this line is completed it will not only open up a large area of farming 
 land but also give a line to Ellensburg, west of Columbia River, 100 
 miles shorter than the present route.’ 
 
 Sprague. 
 
 Elevation 1,906 feet. 
 Population 1,110. 
 St. Paul 1,546 miles. 
 
 Ritzville. 
 
 Elevation 1,822 feet. 
 Population 1,859. 
 St. Paul 1,570 miles. 
 
 Walla Walla River. In order to hasten 
 construction of the main line of the 
 
 'The traveler may wonder why the 
 Northern Pacific, having Puget Sound 
 
 as its objective point, should bend so far 
 to the south after leaving Spokane and 
 then turn to the north after crossing Co- 
 lumbia River at Pasco. The first inten- 
 tion of the company was to build a line 
 to Portland down Columbia River, as 
 well asa line to Puget Sound across the 
 Cascade Mountains, and a coast line con- 
 necting Portland and Puget Sound. At 
 the time it was decided to recommence 
 construction, in 1879, the Oregon Rail- 
 way & Navigation Co. had built a line 
 from Portland up the south bank of Co- 
 lumbia River to Wallula, at the mouth of 
 
 Northern Pacific it was decided to utilize 
 this line for the transportation of material 
 for that part of the through line which 
 lies east of Pasco and to postpone for a 
 time the construction of the line along 
 the north bank of Columbia River and 
 that across the Cascade Mountains. Im- 
 mediately after the main line was com- 
 pleted, in 1883, the construction of the 
 line across the Cascade Mountains by way 
 of the Yakima Valley was begun. The 
 controlling reason for swinging the line 
 so far to the south was to make the connec- 
 tion with the Oregon Railway & Naviga- 
 
SHEEET No. 22 
 
 
 
 tT 7°30, Sheet No.2] WASHINGTON ~ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 oc ; 
 ff Clear 4 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION | 
 A Glacial outwash gravel and sand Quaternary 
 D Light-coiored clay ( Ellensburg formation) | | Tertiary 
 E. Lava flows (Yakima basalt) J (Miocene) 
 J Gneiss and schist 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 | 
 : 
 
 1g Z0Miles | 
 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 0 feet 
 EAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 re shown every !0 miles 
 
 spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 se SIRE een Se a 
 Trae ic Ae 
 
BULLETIN 611 | SHEEET No. 22 
 
 —— 
 
 
 
 WASHING 
 
 
 
 
 
 18° ) 17°30: Sheet No.2] 
 
 sees ’. $F Galena 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Espansie@” oe \ Madiga 
 - vy é 
 : | ei, AY Ria 
 . pi Waukon 
 7 6k [felerrs 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOG. GR. SG sveeeake. MAP BD Set en ens Coe Cant | 
 30' -——~--—-----________ 4G NDS eatin eed a ae ee oe) 
 : \v gr iE 
 OF THE x 438 eo E 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE CS wal 
 \ ) va ys 3O 
 Les \ / es ah O Rint 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas x ms ie ~ 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by a . 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional scary 
 
 
 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 formation OS 
 
 | eAmber ie < 
 O S 
 
 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 
 
 
 
 oe 
 ek00-—~ le Sluille 
 
 1915 
 
 
 
 | 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington if 
 | 
 
 
 
 cera AO x: prague : ia? PRodna | : 
 Concordg@e | £L./906 4» “ \ | 
 EXPLANATION | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 @ Marcellus = POO a a — ae Laker |= A 
 = a, - | 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the it La 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic ; “ c 
 Sheet of that name. |S of 
 Bi< 
 hee 
 v es ae , fe A Glacial outwash gravel and sand Quaternary 
 bs a Sc i es D Light-colored clay (Ellensburg formation) | \ Tertiary 
 = er A a E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) J (Miocene) 
 J  Gneiss and schist 
 \e) 
 see 
 ’ 5 
 | ye 
 a 
 O 
 2 
 —— — a 
 eset 
 Scale 500,000 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 ? 10 \ Z0Miles 
 ise ° 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 1ittdbereteedia denned nee encanto net nerhnentonetiened 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 
 
 )] 8 ° Se ee Sai nS ee ae aes Sana 
 
 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND CRINTED BY THE U.S.GEGLOGIGAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 165 
 
 Beyond Ritzville are the stations Essig (see sheet 23, p. 168), Paha, 
 and Ruby, but there is little of interest until, as the train descends a 
 ' valley at milepost 164, the main line of the Chicago, 
 ak ah na Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway is seen on, the left. 
 non ae eal This road diverges from the main line of the Northern 
 St. Paul 1,587 miles. Pacific at De Smet, a short distance west of Missoula, 
 
 and crosses the Coeur d’Alene Mountains by a more 
 direct route than that of the Northern Pacific by Pend Oreille Lake. 
 At Lind the two roads are on opposite sides of the valley, but a mile 
 below the town the St. Paul road crosses the Northern Pacific on a 
 substantial steel and concrete viaduct. Below the crossing the 
 St. Paul line keeps down the valley, but the Northern Pacific climbs 
 the slope beyond the creek so as to pass into another valley draining 
 to the south. In ascending this ridge it is interesting to note that 
 in a number of cuts where the rocks are well exposed the basalt is 
 overlain by white silt or clay and fine sand that covers the entire 
 hillside and conceals every irregularity of the hard rock beneath. 
 This material has been taken as indicating the presence of a lake in 
 glacial time, similar to glacial Lake Missoula, but the absence of 
 lines of stratification (bedding) shows that the material has had a 
 different origin. The question of the origin is bound up in the 
 general Tertiary history of this region.’ 
 
 After reaching the summit at Providence the railway begins the 
 long descent of a little valley which leads eventually into the open 
 
 plain above Pasco. This is one of the least interest- 
 Providence. ing stretches, so far as scenery is concerned, along the 
 Blevation 1,549 feet. ~~ Northern Pacific, for the valley is so narrow that the 
 St. Paul 1,595 miles. F 3 : : 
 | views from the train give no idea of the character of 
 the upland. The valley is carved in basalt, which shows in places 
 in rugged ledges, with the white loess mantling everything. 
 
 ae gS IR RASS 
 
 tion Co.’s railroad, as stated above, but | Co., a corporation owned jointly by the 
 
 there were other reasons, such as the | Northern Pacific and the Great Northern 
 possibilities of obtaining large traffic in | companies. 
 
 the Yakima Valley and the fact that any ‘The Tertiary history of Oregon and 
 crossing of Columbia River above Pasco Washington begins before there was a 
 involved much heavier grades and more | Cascade Range, at a time when the terri- 
 expensive construction than the present | tory now occupied by that range, as well 
 ‘crossing. The construction ofthe line by | asmuchof the region lying to the east, was 
 the Northern Pacific along the north | a lowland in which shallow estuaries ex- 
 bank of Columbia River was delayed so | tended for long distances from the coast, 
 long that Congress declared a forfeiture of | while to the east were fresh-water lakes, 
 that portion of its charter and of the ac- | In these shallow waters and on the low 
 companying land grant, and it was not | land near them was laid down a thick 
 until 1908 that a railroad was constructed | series of beds of shale, sandstone, and coal, 
 along the north bank of the Columbia by | now known as the Swauk and Roslyn for- 
 the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway | mations, of Eocene (Tertiary) age. The 
 
 
 
 
 
166 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Near milepost 192 a branch line of the road enters the valley from 
 the right and gradually descends along the valley wall. This branch 
 unites with the main line at Connell and serves to 
 
 Connell. 
 Elevation 845 feet. 
 Population 778.* 
 
 St. Paul 1,615 miles. 
 
 connect this place with Coulee City and the Big Bend 
 country to the north. 
 Below Connell the valley walls grow more rugged, 
 
 and at Cactus siding (milepost 200) a very prominent 
 wall of lava is seen on both sides of the valley, but more particularly 
 
 
 
 deposition of these beds was interrupted 
 by a flow of basaltic lava which was the 
 beginning of a great series of flows that 
 reached their maximum development in 
 the succeeding Miocene epoch. 
 
 Sheet after sheet of basaltic lava was 
 poured out over a territory 250,000 square 
 miles in extent that included the greater 
 part of Washington, all of eastern Oregon, 
 part of California, and a large area in the 
 Snake River valley of Idaho. (See map 
 of Columbia River plateau on sheet 23.) 
 It is probable, however, that the erup- 
 tions in the Washington area began at a 
 somewhat earlier date than those of the 
 Snake River plains of Idaho, which seem 
 to have been in part contemporaneous 
 with the last flows that occurred along 
 Columbia River. 
 
 It is a generally accepted view that 
 the molten rock was forced up through 
 great cracks or fissures in the crust of 
 the earth. This conclusion is ‘based 
 mainly on the following evidence: (1) 
 The volume and extent of the lava 
 floods are so enormous that it is difficult 
 to conceive of their eruption from ordi- 
 nary craters; (2) the rarity of the frag- 
 mental materials known as tuffs, breccias, 
 etc., indicates a welling up through fis- 
 sures without the explosive action char- 
 acteristic of crater eruptions; (3) old fis- 
 sures through which the floods of lava 
 came forth have been discovered—fissures 
 now filled with the cooled and hardened 
 basalt in observable connection with over- 
 lying sheets of lava. 
 
 The basalt was not poured forth in one 
 great outburst, but is made up of a great 
 number of layers or individual flows 
 which in places are thousands of feet in 
 aggregate thickness. About 20 such flows 
 are exposed in some of the bluffs of Colum- 
 
 bia River. Each one represents a dis- 
 tinct outpouring of lava, the eruptions 
 being separated by intervals of time, some 
 of which must have endured for centuries, 
 for they are marked by beds of soil in 
 which trees grew to considerable size 
 before being charred and buried by later 
 flows. The eruptions of lava, especially 
 in the later stages of activity, were sepa- 
 rated also by periods in which other 
 materials accumulated, consisting of vol- 
 canic ash and beds of sand, clay, and 
 gravel laid down in Jakes or rivers. 
 
 In addition to the massive flows that 
 constitute the greater part of the forma- 
 tion there are beds of fragmental volcanic 
 material, such as bombs and smaller an- 
 gular fragments of lava. Such materials 
 have either been thrown up to great 
 heights and rained down upon the sur- 
 rounding country, or, mixed with hot 
 water, have flowed over the surface as 
 mud. The fragmental materials are not 
 so widely distributed as the massive flows. 
 
 The quantity of material poured out 
 during this period was enormous. The 
 greatest thickness of the lava and asso- 
 ciated deposits is not less than 4,000 feet, 
 but if it averages only 500 feet thick over 
 the entire area, seemingly a very moderate. 
 estimate, it would make a mass of 24,000 
 cubic miles, or a cube nearly 30 miles in 
 height. Even this great volume may be 
 far less than that actually poured out. 
 
 Coincident with the later stages of the 
 lava eruptions occurred a subsidence of 
 the area east of the present Cascade Range, 
 and a large lake was formed, in which ac- 
 cumulated material derived from the land 
 area on the west. Before the basaltic 
 eruptions had ceased a great volcanic dis- 
 turbance occurred in the Cascade region 
 and lava of another kind (andesite) was 
 

 
 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 BULLETIN 611 PLATE XxXil 
 
 A, WHITE BLUFF OF THE COLUMBIA, 20 MILES ABOVE PASCO, WASH, 
 
 Composed of white volcanic ash (Ellensburg formation). Man on horseback on top of bluff indicates size of 
 bluff. 
 
 
 
 B. COLUMNAR LAVA AT CACTUS SIDING, 5 MILES SOUTH OF CONNELL, WASH. 
 
 On cooling the lava has formed columns or prisms which in places are remarkably regular. The columns stand 
 at right angies to the cooling surface of the flow. 
 
"Ysera ‘awees “alli 79 sing Aq payySuAdoo ydeusojoyy ‘ain}es} Japjo ue si UDIYM fasueYy apedsed OY} Jo UO} e/d peoiq dy} 9AOGKE SpUR}s 9U0D DIURD/OA SY} ‘a19A9S Pue plod 
 
 ‘HSVM ‘HSINSddOL YVSN SNIVYL OISIOVd NYSHLYON SHL WOYS N3SS SV 'SWYGVY LNNOW 
 
 
 
 IIXX JLW1d +$b9 NILZTINA AZAYNS 1V9IDO1039 *S ‘Nh 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 
 
 on the right (west). 
 
 167 
 
 This cliff is about 150 feet high and in the lower 
 
 part shows beautiful columnar structure (see PI. 
 
 Mesa. 
 
 Elevation 687 feet. 
 Population 366.* 
 St. Paul 1,625 miles. 
 
 XXII, B), but the columns are small, and they may 
 not be visible from the train. 
 tinue as far as Mesa, but beyond that station the val- 
 
 The rugged walls con- 
 
 ley opens and the walls are lower and have lost much 
 
 of their rugged character. 
 
 poured forth. The eruptions were accom- 
 
 panied by explosions, which produced 
 large quantities of tuff, volcanic ash, and 
 pumice. While the volcanic eruptions 
 were in progress, the rocks of the Cascade 
 region were folded and crushed and some- 
 what uplifted, and the streams, made more 
 powerful by the increase in grade due to 
 the uplift, carried vast quantities of the 
 andesitic material eastward to the lake 
 _ basin previously described. Inthisbody 
 _ of fresh water the waste material was de- 
 _ posited as mud, sand, or gravel, together 
 with some sheets of basaltic lava that 
 . apparently marked the last expiring gasp 
 _ of the giant forces which had previously 
 ' poured forth such irresistible floods of this 
 _material. Inthe Yakima Valley the beds 
 thus laid down have been named the 
 Ellensburg formation. Here the sedi- 
 ments are coarse, indicating nearness to 
 the margin of the lake and to the source of 
 supply, but farther out in the basin, ac- 
 cording to I. ©. Russell, the material 
 _ deposited in this lake is largely white silt, 
 composed chiefly of volcanic dust and ash 
 that were blown out of the new set of 
 volcanoes which then were active to the 
 west. This material is exceedingly fine 
 and forms the White Bluff on Columbia 
 River some distance above Pasco (PI. 
 XXII, A) and the isolated hills at Fish- 
 trap. 
 _ Up to the close of the lake period of cen- 
 tral Washington the Cascade Range, as it 
 ‘is known to-day, did not exist. During 
 the deposition of the Ellensburg formation 
 the area now occupied by the range was 
 ‘being worn down by streams, and finally 
 ‘it reached that state of low relief that is 
 called a peneplain. Its surface was then 
 not very far above sea level and it bore 
 little resemblance to the region as it is 
 _known at the present time. 
 _ The great uplift of the Cascade Range 
 
 came as the closing event in the Tertiary 
 ; 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 history or the opening chapter in the Qua- 
 ternary. These mountains were not 
 formed by a volcanic outburst, although 
 such events were of common occurrence 
 in this country, but they are the result of 
 a gradual uplift of this part of the earth’s 
 crust, which produced a great arched pla- 
 teau about 5,000 feet above sea level. 
 
 Volcanic activity was not entirely sus- 
 pended in this region, and here and there 
 vents were formed from which poured 
 forth lava and volcanic ash, and large 
 cones were built upon the surface of the 
 deeply eroded plateau. These are the 
 great conical peaks which are such ma- 
 jestic features of the Cascade Range. 
 
 The next great epoch in the geologic 
 history of this region was that of glacia- 
 tion, when great ice sheets came down 
 from the north and also from the local 
 mountains. The plain of the Columbia 
 was invaded by two ice masses—one from 
 the northeast by way of Spokane, and the 
 other coming down the valley of Okan- 
 ogan (o-kan-og’an) River and then across 
 the immediate canyon of the Columbia. 
 That great river in this time of flood was 
 temporarily diverted to a course near Cou- 
 lee City, but on the retreat of the ice it 
 resumed its original channel. The great 
 cold of the glacial epoch left large parts of 
 this region without a cover of vegetation, 
 and much of the soft material laid down 
 in the lake previously described was 
 picked up by the winds and whirled away 
 to the east, where it finally settled as a 
 mantle over the entire region. As the 
 winds which transported the dust were 
 not markedly periodic and as the fine ma- 
 terial settled particle by particle like 
 snow, the deposits are homogeneous and 
 not marked by lines of stratification. 
 
 Such, therefore, seems to have been the 
 mode of origin and the manner of distri- 
 bution of the white earth, generally called 
 by geologists loess. 
 
_ 168 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. ‘ 
 
 If it is a hot day in midsummer when the traveler passes down the 
 coulee, he may wonder whether the great flows of basalt are not still 
 heating the surface. The plain of the Columbia, 
 which he is rapidly approaching, has a reputation for 
 great heat in the summer, but as it does not show a 
 corresponding high temperature in the other parts of 
 the year it seems obvious that the great heat is caused 
 by the configuration of the mountains and their effect on the move- 
 ment of the atmospheric currents. 
 
 South of Eltopia (see sheet 24, p. 172) the canyon followed by the 
 railway becomes shallower and finally merges with the broad plain of 
 Columbia River. The lava underlies the plain but dips more rapidly 
 toward the south than the slope of the surface, and at Pasco, as shown 
 by drill records, it lies more than 200 feet below river level. This 
 plain is composed of soft clay and sand (Ellensburg formation) and 
 back from the river, where irrigation is impossible, it 1s nothing but 
 a sagebrush desert. In places the regular surface of the plain is 
 interrupted by low dunes of sand which have drifted up the slope from 
 the channel of the Columbia. The traveler may wonder what can 
 subsist in so desolate a land if he has not yet learned that in many 
 places water can be procured by digging and that the soil stores up 
 enough moisture to raise fair crops when properly cultivated. The 
 climate of the region is semiarid, the precipitation being from 6 to 12 
 inches a year. The temperature ranges from a minimum of 10° below 
 zero in winter to 110° above zero in summer. 
 
 Pasco is a division terminal of the railway and the center of a large 
 irrigated district lying above the town and on the east side of theriver. 
 The shade trees and green lawns of the town are in 
 striking contrast to the brown sagebrush of the sur- 
 rounding country. 
 
 Immediately after leaving the station at Pasco the 
 train is upon the great bridge that spans the swirling 
 waters of the Columbia,! one of the great rivers of the continent—a 
 
 Eltopia. 
 Elevation 598 feet. 
 
 Population 252.* 
 St. Paul 1,634 miles. 
 
 Pasco. 
 
 Elevation 389 feet. 
 Population 2,083. 
 St. Paul 1,651 miles, 
 
 
 
 Washington and the Columbia, under the 
 command of Capt. Robert Gray, visited 
 
 ‘One of the most interesting parts of 
 the history of the exploration of the north- 
 
 western part of the United States is the 
 story of the discovery of the mouth of the 
 Columbia, or rather of the failure to find 
 it by the many navigators who sailed up 
 the western shore for the very purpose of 
 discovery. 
 
 In 1788 an English captain discovered 
 and named Cape Disappointment, just 
 to the north of the river’s mouth, without 
 recognizing in the inlet to the south the 
 mouth of the greatest river on the coast. 
 In 1789 two Boston trading ships, the 
 
 the coast fora cargo offurs. Gray thought 
 he saw indications of the mouth of a large 
 river in latitude 46° 10’ but did not stop 
 to investigate, and after completing a 
 voyage around the world his vessel, the 
 Columbia, was again dispatched to the 
 Pacific coast in 1791. He spent the win- 
 ter at Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island, 
 and in the spring cruised south from the 
 Strait of Fuca in search of the river 
 which he thought he saw three years 
 before. On his way he met the English 
 
 ° 
 
 a 
 
—— oe 
 
 ao 
 
 cw Ge ag, een ees ee ee. ee Se Ee err 
 
 SHEET No. 23 
 
 2 ee a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 119° WASHINGTON 
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 Oo a re ie ee eee 
 
 
 
EET No. 
 BULLETIN 611 SHEE LAO es 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 
 
 
 
 D Clay and sand (Ellensburg formation) Tertiary 
 E_ Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 
 
 (Miocene) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 = ab 
 iy Bae ie 
 ae Klemmer 
 ( WOR 4c Schragg % 
 as 
 \ 
 | 
 \ 
 \ . 
 D \ ‘ 
 i = : eee Mees IS 0 .8§—_ a 47 
 | Fi | - x 
 of Aap w 
 / tema R 
 an Roxboro a 
 { ke os v 
 / 42 re v 
 f gare 5 gemtins Se ri te nS 
 / : og oats W Providence / 
 Lander L/SGG Ee 
 ) \ ro, ree \ 
 i 1 7 7 / as 
 \ ¢ \ Ee Beatric 3 ; Bx 
 ie \( ‘ poe! 7 | \ . L740; ~ + mere / Ne a 
 i ( “I { eacihH \ OFF I600 ree 2 : . * / 
 \\ z . 4, he Sa Ellensbprg \ of RET np ee 
 & : ' = ee 
 }} Wl >~YY| / Si as TpOgden v Belce \ YU = one i Pe 
 { rt \ . ~. A \ * - = if i i ’ : iia 
 ) ge ae} \ . : | ZN fice Ci formatio: \ / i F eS 
 hy > : 4 in Salt Lake orm on C en : 
 ( el ress ao ao |? ilzponingham ms ire 
 my ALT Ms : Scale 500,000 pong - | kad | | J | 
 =: | j Approximately 8 miles to | inch pS d ( | ee ne len eoege 
 qo eo 0 Mines | ? 5 ; 10 15 20Miles AL / H H , hy a8 [tate 
 He 110" alee £6 ‘ a I Fase a ke a 
 \ ilomete ano Ja / : 
 THE GREAT LAVA PLATEAU OF COLUMBIA RIVER, STRETCHING SOUTHWARD ACROSS OREGON Vi briiiPin Rapa nae erie ehine OR eiis el tris waar bE OF a: | wie 
 AND EASTWARD NEARLY TO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK : 7. | y 
 Contour interval 200 feet = Gis6io 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL BS, = a Emery 
 me = y €L.935 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles . , oO oft y 
 The crossties on the railroads aie spaced | mile apart \ \ 
 \ ia \ al 
 Y \ \ 
 @Q S Connell 
 on ‘ 00 Wh 44.845 
 So \ U : 
 oe x ‘ i ae OREGON 
 ‘ iff S20 
 eee PCactus 
 4 \ = se EL.720 oC 
 < 
 tS ‘ a iVieSa E ae 
 2 \ E Reece ay 
 \ 
 
 “Vale 
 EL.684 
 
 | S; 
 ed en oy 
 : | ; oar Sheet Mo 2% \\9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEQLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 
 
 169 
 
 river that is fed from the melting snows on the mountains of most of 
 
 the northwestern part of this country and a large part of the mountain 
 
 region of Canada. 
 
 Although the Northern Pacific crosses Columbia River only a few 
 miles above the mouth of Snake River, the junction of these two 
 streams can not be readily seen from the train, but the Oregon- 
 Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.’s bridge which crosses just 
 
 below the Snake is clearly visible. 
 
 When the traveler reaches this 
 
 point in his westward journey he has been out of St. Paul only 48 
 or 50 hours, but when Lewis and Clark camped at the mouth of the 
 Snake in October, 1805, they had been gone from St. Louis 18 months. 
 At that time the ownership of Oregon Territory was uncertain and 
 most of the men, if not the leaders themselves, believed that they 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Spokane in the year 1811. 
 
 Kennewick. 
 
 Elevation 372 feet. 
 Population 1,219, 
 St. Paul 1,654 miles. 
 
 Yakima. 
 
 Vista. 
 
 Elevation 576 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,659 miles. 
 
 were on foreign soil, as many entries in their journals refer to what 
 they expected to do when they returned to the United States, 
 
 The first white man to explore the Columbia above the mouth of 
 the Yakima (yak’i-ma), which enters a few miles west of Kenne- 
 wick, was David Thompson, who made a trip down the river from 
 
 Soon after passing Kennewick, a thriving town grown up in the 
 center of a rich irrigated district on the south side of 
 the river, the train crosses a branch line of the 
 Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. that 
 runs up the valley of Yakima River as far as North 
 
 After the dull, monotonous sagebrush plain above Pasco, the 
 orchards and fields of green alfalfa are a pleasing sight. 
 first seen are those on the lowest bottom of the river, 
 but as the railway reaches Vista it is running on a 
 second terrace which is also irrigated and under a 
 high state of cultivation. 
 
 The fields 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 expedition under Capt. Vancouver going 
 north to explore Puget Sound. Gray in- 
 formed the commander of one of these 
 vessels of his belief that a large river 
 entered the ocean near latitude 46°, but 
 the English captain had just passed 
 that point in clear weather and had seen 
 no indication of a river he gave no cre- 
 dence to Gray’s report. 
 
 Gray persisted in his search and was 
 ewarded by finding the river’s mouth as 
 e had expected and by sailing over the 
 bar on May 11, 1792. Gray named the 
 river after his ship, and although for a 
 ime the name Oregon, given by Jonathan 
 
 
 
 Carver to the river in 1778, was employed, 
 it was soon abandoned and Columbia 
 came into general use. ; 
 Gray’s discovery and the careful and 
 accurate entry in his log book of the cir- 
 cumstances connected with it were 
 largely instrumental in later deciding in 
 favor of the United States the controversy 
 with Great Britain over the ownership of 
 Oregon Territory. Gray’s services to his 
 country are commemorated by the names 
 of Grays Bay and Grays Point, on the 
 river nearly opposite Astoria, and of 
 Grays Harbor, a commodious bay on the 
 Washington coast farther north. 
 
170 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 Although the Northern Pacific Railway in a general way follows the 
 valley of Yakima River, it does not adhere closely to that stream, 
 but cuts across country, thereby avoiding a big bend. Along this 
 cut-off there is no irrigation and the country is desolate in the ex- 
 treme. Before water was put upon the Yakima Valley it was a 
 sagebrush plain just as extensive and just as desolate as the one here 
 traversed. Water is the wizard that has transformed this desert 
 into a land of blossoms, and as time goes on more and more of the 
 waste places of the earth will be redeemed in this manner. 
 
 Not only is the surface of the country from Vista to Kiona monot- 
 onous, but the rocks, while interesting in so far as they record the 
 past history of the region, are monotonous and poorly exposed. As 
 explained on page 165, the rocks in this part of the valley consist of 
 sandstone and shale formed from sediment laid down in lakes or on 
 the surface of the land, interspersed with great sheets of lava (basalt) 
 that covered most.of the country. The lava was not poured out in 
 a single flow, but the entire region is underlain by a succession of 
 lava sheets. The shale and sandstone are soft and in only a few 
 places show at the surface, but the outcrops of the sheets of basalt 
 are marked by dark ledges along the hill slopes and the streams of 
 rock fragments that descend from them. 
 
 At Kiona the railway approaches Yakima River, 
 
 Kiona. and just after passing the station the traveler can 
 
 Elevation 525 feet. Obtain a good view down the valley, which includes 
 
 a Sa ens well-cultivated farms and the bridge of the Oregon- 
 Washington Railroad. 
 
 A short distance west of Kiona the valley is much restricted and 
 all irrigation ceases. The river is bordered by rugged walls of basalt, 
 
 , a good view of which can be 
 7, obtained from milepost 31 
 Y by looking back from the rear 
 
 
 
 
 UY | / yyy Wf of the train. From this point 
 LAY yy ae Y yf fp o7 arctuik 
 WHI if YY us Yj of vantage it will be seen that 
 
 | the valley is not smooth and 
 FIGURE 35.—Section of Yakima Valley east of Prosser, 
 
 Wash., a valley within a valley. regular, sloping gently from 
 
 the tops of the ridges to the 
 
 river bank, but that it is compound, consisting of a rather broad outer 
 or upper valley and an inner rocky gorge cut in the floor of the large 
 valley. The shape of the valley is represented by the accompany- 
 ing diagram (fig. 35), in which the outer broad valley is represented 
 by the section ABC and the inner valley by the sharp cut at D. 
 Usually such an arrangement is considered as indicative of two 
 periods of valley cutting under somewhat different conditions, but 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. (By as 
 
 here the forms have not been studied with sufficient care to make 
 a determination possible. There is so great a difference in the hard- 
 ness of the basalt and the soft sandstone associated with it that the 
 inner valley may be due to a harder and much more massive bed of 
 basalt near the bottom and not to different conditions of erosion. 
 About Prosser there is a large area of land under irrigation and in 
 a high state of cultivation. It is a pleasing change from the dark 
 or dull-gray color of the barren areas to the brilliant 
 green of the fields of alfalfa, grass, or oats; from the 
 stunted vegetation of the sagebrush plains to the 
 thriving orchards which stretch away in the distance 
 almost as far as the eye can see. It1is no less pleasing 
 to pass from the dry plains of the sun-scorched desert, where clouds 
 of dust fill the air, to a land where running water is seen in every 
 irrigation ditch and the land is so covered with rich vegetation that 
 there seems no chance for it to become dry and parched.! 
 
 The railway runs some distance back from the river through irri- 
 gated fields, but gradually climbs to a terrace which shows on the 
 | left about a mile beyond Byron. This terrace is 
 doubtless built of the soft material washed into the 
 valley by the streams, but the amount of such mate- 
 rial is variable, as the basalt appears at railway level 
 in a number of places. On a clear day the high peaks of the Cascade 
 Range, 100 miles away, can be seen from the vicinity 
 of Pasco, but the distance is so great that at first 
 
 sight the traveler may be disappointed in them. A 
 
 St. Paul 1,703 miles. better view can be obtained near milepost 58, 6 miles © 
 1 beyond Mabton, but even from this place the peaks 
 ‘are not as striking objects as they are from the region about Top- 
 penish, farther northwest. 
 
 : 
 
 _ 17The Yakima Valley has been aptly 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Prosser. 
 
 Elevation 671 feet. 
 Population 1,298. 
 St. Paul 1,691 miles. 
 
 yron. 
 
 Zlevation 702 feet. 
 "St. Paul 1,696 miles. 
 
 abton. 
 
 “Flevation 725 feet. 
 Population 666. 
 
 ent time two units are practically com- 
 
 ‘characterized as ‘‘Washington’s vale of 
 ' plenty.’’ It is a region of small farms 
 ‘intensively cultivated and contains some 
 ‘of the most valuable agricultural lands in 
 
 pleted—the Tieton, embracing approxi- 
 mately 34,700 acres near North Yakima, 
 and the Sunnyside, covering about 
 100,000 acres some 6 miles below. 
 
 “the world. Its farm homes are attractive, 
 ‘and in variety of crops and profitable 
 vyields it ranks favorably with southern 
 California. A number of lakes on the 
 headwaters of the streams of the Yakima 
 “drainage basin are being converted into 
 | storage reservoirs, and it is estimated that 
 “when the work is completed the water 
 ‘supply will be sufficient to irrigate about 
 | ae acres. The land lies in a suc- 
 cession of valleys, and its reclamation will 
 _ be accomplished by units. At the pres- 
 
 This valley is the home of the big red 
 apple, and its fruit lands range in value 
 from $300 to $1,200 an acre. The soil 
 consists of volcanic ash and gravel. Hop 
 and vegetable growers vie with the neigh- 
 boring fruit growers, and forage crops and 
 dairying are also very profitable. The cost 
 of water right on the Sunnyside unit is $52 
 an acre, and on the Tieton unit $93 an 
 acre. The Government land has all been 
 filed upon, and farms can be acquired now 
 only by purchase from private owners. 
 
 i 
 
 | 
 | 
 | i 
 
 : 
 { 
 
> 
 
 172 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 After passing Empire (see sheet 25, p. 176), Satus, Toppenish Ridge, 
 and Alfalfa the traveler can get a full view of Mount Adams, far te 
 
 the west. Although it is here more than 50 miles 
 Alfalfa. distant, its great height (12,307 feet above sea level) 
 Blevation 723 feet. makes it conspicuous. (See Pl. XXIII, p. 167.) T 
 sc Paul iti7 miles, one unaccustomed to judging of the magnitude of dis 
 
 tant mountains, the first view of Mount Adams may be 
 disappointing, but after watching it for some time and comparing i 
 with objects near by the observer will find that its enormous bulk be 
 comes more apparent. How cold it seems in its eternal pall of white! 
 The mountain looks like some patrician of old, holding himself eree 
 and aloof from all surroundings! Long ago it was an active voleano 
 emitting molten lava, but its activity ceased, and for unknown ages 
 the mountain has stood the cold, calm, rugged peak it is to-day. 
 Just beyond Mount Adams and from many points of view hidden by 
 it is Mount St. Helens, which within the memory of the white man 
 has showed signs of volcanic activity. It is apparent that the vol- 
 canoes of the Cascade Range, while possibly extinct, have not been 
 so for a great length of time. That they may be only smoldering is 
 indicated by the recent outburst of Lassen Peak, in California, 
 which stands along the same line of volcanic disturbance.! Mount 
 Adams remains a magnificent spectacle, until the view of it is shut 
 
 off by the Atanum Ridge, north of Parker. Although 
 Toppenish. the country about Toppenish lies within the Yakima 
 Hlevation 765 feet. Indian Reservation, it is well watered by ditches that 
 EPrints receive their supply from the river in the vicinity of 
 
 the next ridge, which can be seen in the distance. 
 The land is well cultivated, though not so intensively as that covered 
 by the Sunnyside reclamation project across the river. 
 
 While enjoying the beautiful spectacle of Mount Adams, the 
 traveler should look a little farther to the north where, if the atmos- 
 phere is clear and no cloud banners intervene, he may be fortunate 
 enough to catch a view of the summit of Mount Rainier (Tacoma), 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘The view from Alfalfa or Toppenish |{ the region was subject to the action of 
 gives to the traveler an excellent idea of | the. elements, and the rain and streams 
 the height and character of the Cascade | reduced the surface to a nearly uniform 
 Range and of the volcanic cones which | plain only a slight distance above sea 
 project above its apparently even crest | level. From this plain the present Cas- 
 line. In order, however, to understand | cade Range was formed by a gradual up- 
 fully the relations of these cones and the | lift of the surface along the axis of the 
 character of topography of the platform | mountains. This upward movement con- 
 upon which they are built, it is necessary | tinued until the surface was raised to a 
 to know something of the geologic history | height of 4,000 feet above sea level in the 
 of the range and of the conditions which | south and about 8,000 feet in the north, 
 have tended to produce its present form. | In this uplifted mass the streams carved 
 
 After the great lava sheets were spread deep channels or canyons, almost de- 
 out and somewhat deformed by folding, stroying the plateau and leaving only the 
 
 ey 
 ot 
 
 4 
 
SHEET No. 24 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet No.23 119° WASHINGTON 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 f630 
 
 / y GG J is 
 je GS Wie 
 
 \ A i Le ah 
 
 , opia C 
 
 D E j FL 96 lon (M800 
 ooh” i 
 
 f ENIX 
 
 as 
 Oi 2) = 
 ¥ Yakima 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 Si s\X 
 pf Sagemsoa 
 SRF OEL.567 
 
 
 
 ‘* ee ae 
 
 
 
 
 
 AW Two Rivers 
 
 Attala 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 , 
 
 Thickness 
 in feet 
 \ Stream deposits (alluvium) ; Quaternary 
 2 Clay, sand, and gravel (Eliensburg formation) 300 | Tertiary 
 { Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 2,000- 4,000 f (Miocene) 
 poet; 119° 
 ee eee 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sl ee ee 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 , lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 J ES, 5g ~ y 
 Xt j J “Nar / aa ~— Pasco, 
 max _&Belrna z a7 x EL. 389 BM 
 ys abton-— se ‘Euclid E << eg - ee, of 
 bf Lh TZS5 R rnd yA K | ‘pail Te a= < i SS Cit * 
 hi, rons. Vag is = Ves enn ee » = i fi 
 B) wea, 71.708. SS FO am See Seo Re sa Oty D Hamers 
 eee gio SN Cahilluvikgacn he 
 Jee PG ear x “AN <p SeeBurbank: 
 ee mks BPR Hedge Ox Mo 8 
 a pn sae Prat Ss adhe ~S ~ 
 | Or } a : ; ‘ <= 
 220, ERE on Two Rivers 
 Hi } & SOSA 
 5 | ¥ # : ~ QTR 
 2 ‘ VOSS aS. } 
 * 9 } y S : iS i 
 is ci Hoven, Attala 
 3 r b \ x 
 % sj 
 
 : 5541 i Re ee ieee = 
 
 BULLETIN 611 | Shae SHEET No. 24 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 119° WASHINGTON 
 
 [2 eee eee 
 
 Sheet No.23 
 
 
 
 <7 
 ee 
 
 
 
 \\} 
 1\ x 
 HW ONS 
 aN 
 \\ 
 AS \ 
 ae \ 
 S Ag 
 oa \ 4A) 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘ \W= ime — =} 
 es af I 3 | Se cu 
 ne 24 ys fh 
 
 Graindview x0} 
 
 
 
 hormation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : 
 Scale 500,006 | 
 Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
 
 i i ' 
 | 5 10 5 Z0Miles | Thickness 
 
 in feet 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 
 
 POs oes 10 1S 20 25 . areal A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet n 
 
 Quaternary 
 
 Clay, sand, and gravel (Fllens Pon is Bare 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL : Y & Elle asburg tormation ) 300 | 
 
 Tertiary 
 2,000-4,000{ (Miocene) 
 
 ; E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miies 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 -ENGRAVEO AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ountain. 
 
 | Wapato. 
 
 Elevation 865 feet. 
 Population 400. 
 ‘St. Paul 1,729 miles. 
 
 ithe east. 
 but are separate folds. 
 
 ormation. 
 
 Parker. 
 north of Parker. 
 
 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 173 
 
 4,408 feet in altitude, the highest peak of the Cascade Range, but 
 | his view gives him little idea ‘of the magnitude and grandeur of the 
 
 | ‘The great sheets of basalt that underlie the Yakima Valley are in 
 places thrown into low folds by pressure in the crust of the earth 
 exerted in a north-south direction, and consequently 
 the folds trend at right angles to that direction, or 
 nearly east and west. 
 hard basalt, they make ridges or mountains across 
 the country, the length of the ridge depending on the 
 the extent of the fold. The big ize lying to the south of the rail- 
 Pway from Kennewick to Mabton is Bipncsed to be of this character, 
 although its structure has not been accurately determined. This 
 broad upland, from its original cover of abundant and nutritious 
 bunch grass, is known as Horse Heaven. 
 orth are Toppenish Ridge west of the river and Snipes Mountain on 
 These appear to be parts of one general line of disturbance 
 In Snipes Mountain the arch is so low that 
 he basalt is scarcely visible under the cover of the Ellensburg 
 
 As these folds brmg up the 
 
 The next ridges to the 
 
 The next anticline to the north, which lies north of Toppenish, is 
 own west of the river as Atanum Ridge and east of the river as 
 Rattlesnake Ridge. 
 narrow cut, called Union Gap, through this ridge 
 At the south entrance to the gap 
 the Northern Pacific crosses the North Yakima — 
 branch of the Oregon-Washington Railroad. The 
 fap is about a mile in length, and the sheets of lava at the south 
 ntrance dip toward the south at an angle of about 20°. 
 ite dip on the north side of the fold is not so apparent, for it is 
 nuch steeper and in some places the layers are crushed and over- 
 urned, so that the dip is toward the south. 
 
 The Yakima has made a deep, 
 
 The oppo- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 igh summits to mark its once even sur- 
 ace. When seen from a distant point, 
 s from Toppenish, the tops fall into line 
 nd have the appearance of an unbroken 
 pland mass. 
 
 At the same time that the streams were 
 gaged in trenching the mountains, 
 ents were formed here and there along 
 he range, through which ash and lava 
 eached the surface and were deposited 
 n the platform of the range. As lava 
 low succeeded lava flow, and showers of 
 sh fell upon the area surrounding the 
 
 vent, a cone was gradually built up, 
 forming the present high peaks. These 
 volcanic cones between Canada and Co- 
 lumbia River are Mount Baker, Glacier 
 Peak, Mount Rainier (Tacoma), Mount 
 Adams, and Mount St. Helens. 
 
 The view from Alfalfa or Toppenish 
 shows clearly that Mount Adams rests on 
 the platform called the Cascade Range, 
 but that it is not really a part of that 
 range, but rather an excrescence upon the 
 apparently rounded, tree-covered surface 
 of the plateau. 
 
174 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 In a region in which the annual precipitation is so small (8.9 
 inches) as it is in the Yakima Valley the quantity of water flowing 
 in the streams and available for irrigation is of the utmost importance. 
 In order to determine the volume of water in Yakima River the 
 United States Geological Survey maintained for a number of years 
 a gaging station in Union Gap, but for the last six years the station 
 has been near Wapato, a few miles below the gap. By means of a 
 small car swinging from a steel cable the engineer is able to measure 
 the velocity of the current at a number of points across the stream, 
 and from these measurements, together with other measurements 
 of the cross section of the river, compute the volume of water avail- 
 able for irrigation and the development of power.! 
 
 North of Union Gap the valley broadens into a parklike country, 
 all of which is under irrigation and highly cultivated, except near 
 the river, where the land is excessively wet. The original Yakima 
 City was situated just above Union Gap, and the station, the only 
 remaining structure on the site, can be seen near milepost 86. 
 Trouble arose between the railway and the town promoters and the 
 station was abandoned, and a new station, called North Yakima, 
 established about 4 miles north of the old one. With the growth 
 of the new town of North Yakima the older settlement soon died out. 
 
 North Yakima is the largest town in central Washington and is 
 the commercial and social center of the Yakima Valley, one of the 
 largest areas of irrigated land in the West and one 
 that is noted the world over for the fine fruit which it. 
 produces. The valley, although semiarid,? is well | 
 supplied with water from Yakima River and its tribu-. 
 tary, Naches River, both of which head in the Cascade. 
 Range, where the snowfallis abundant. Fruit raising is the principal. 
 occupation, but there are also broad fields of grain, alfalfa, and hops, 
 indicating that the farmers feel the necessity of a diversity of crops, 
 
 North Yakima. 
 
 Elevation 1,076 feet. 
 Population 14,082. 
 St. Paul 1,741 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' A gaging station has been maintained 
 in this vicinity since November, 1896. 
 It shows a mean annual flow of 4,640 
 second-feet (a second-foot means 1 cubic 
 foot per second), which equals 3,360,000 
 acre-feet (an acre-foot is 43,560 cubic 
 feet, or the quantity required to cover 1 
 acre to-the depth of 1 foot). 
 
 About 1,500 river-measuring stations 
 similar to the one at Union Gap are now 
 maintained by the United States Geo- 
 logical Survey on the more important 
 streams in the United States and in the 
 Hawaiian Islands. The data collected 
 at these gaging stations are of prime im- 
 
 portance in developing the water re- 
 
 sources of the country and are used in 
 
 designing and operating power and irri- — 
 
 gation plants, city waterworks, and other 
 works whose establishment and success- 
 ful operation depend on a knowledge of 
 the quantity of water flowing in surface 
 streams. 
 
 ? According to the United States 
 Weather Bureau, the mean annual pre- 
 cipitation in the Yakima Valley from 
 1893 to 1903 was 8.9 inches, divided as 
 
 follows: Winter, 4 inches; spring, 2 
 inches; summer, 0.7 inch; autumn, 
 2.2 inches. 
 
 : 
 : 
 | 
 : 
 
PLATE XXIV 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 
 YAKIMA CANYON, WASH. 
 
 A, 
 
 The hard basalt rapidly breaks down under the influence of the weather, and the broken fragments largely 
 
 conceal the underlying rocks, 
 
 
 
 COLUMNAR ANDESITE NEAR YAKIMA CANYON, WASH, 
 
 B. 
 
‘adpa s1a}eM Sy} 0} UMOP sadojs Ule}UNOLW dU} S18A09 Jsas0} AABOY OY 
 
 ‘HSVM ‘SOTSHO3SSY 3yV1 In4slLnvag 
 
 
 
 AXX 3LV1d 119 NILZTING ASAYNS 1VOIDO1039 °S "nN 
 
175 
 
 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 
 
 ‘so that in case of an oversupply of one they will have another to fall 
 back upon. 
 
 The voleanic rocks that border the Naches Valley and extend within 
 a few miles of North Yakima furnish an interesting example of a 
 recent lava flow. The hummocky surface of this plateau between 
 Naches River and Cowiche Creek, although in places covered by sage- 
 brush and bunch grass, exhibits the essential features of a cooling lava 
 flow, and at many points on its borders the characteristic jomting 
 due to contraction on cooling is shown in rare perfection. (See Pl. 
 XXIV, B.) 
 
 North of North Yakima the railway crosses Naches River and then 
 passes through Yakima Ridge in a short canyon cut in the thick layers 
 of basalt, which have here, as in the other ridges to the south, been 
 
 folded into a low anticline.! 
 
 ‘After having traveled up Yakima 
 
 River for nearly 100 miles and passed 
 through a number of basalt ridges, the 
 traveler may be surprised at the apparent 
 disregard of the stream for the ridges and 
 valleys. As stated previously, the prin- 
 cipal arches and troughs into which the 
 rocks have been bent trend in a nearly 
 east-west direction, and if the streams fol- 
 lowed similar courses they would encoun- 
 ter little difficulty in reaching their des- 
 tinations. But instead of following the 
 synclinal valleys Yakima River flows 
 almost due south and crosses in this part 
 of its course no less than seven ridges of 
 arched or upturned basalt. What made 
 the stream select its present course, and 
 why did it persist in this course across the 
 arches of hard rock when it might have 
 found an outlet to the Columbia on the 
 east by an open synclinal valley? 
 
 In order to answer this question it will 
 be necessary to go back in imagination to 
 a time before the ridges were formed, when 
 the Ellensburg formation (sand, gravel, 
 and volcanic ash) was laid down in a shal- 
 low lake on the Yakima basalt. Finally 
 the lake was filled or there was an uplift 
 of the region which changed it to a land 
 area. Over this newly made land streams 
 flowed down the slope on their way to 
 the sea. In this epoch Yakima and 
 Columbia rivers were formed, before the 
 great arches in the rocks had been pro- 
 
 duced. After the streams were well es- 
 tablished, in about the same courses that 
 they follow to-day, a great north-south 
 pressure wrinkled the rocks into a series 
 of broad, shallow troughs and rather short 
 arches. Many persons think of such a 
 movement as having occurred suddenly 
 and as having crumpled the rocky layers 
 as leaves of paper may be crumpled in the 
 hand. If the movement had been sud- 
 den, then the southward-flowing stream 
 would have been dammed wherever one 
 of the arches crossed its pathway, and 
 Yakima River, instead of flowing as it 
 does to-day, would have been broken into 
 a number of separate streams, each of 
 which would probably have found an out- 
 let to the east into Columbia River. As 
 this did not happen, it seems evident that 
 the movement was not rapid, but was so 
 slow that the stream cut the rock away as 
 fast as it was forced up. As the down- 
 ward cutting of a stream in hard rocks is 
 done very slowly, it follows that the arch- 
 ing of the strata must also have been a 
 very slow process, probably occupying 
 thousands of years. Although the move- 
 ment was slow, it persisted until some of 
 the arches attained an altitude of 2,000 or 
 3,000 feet; but the stream maintained its 
 course and now presents the apparently 
 anomalous feature of cutting directly 
 through ridge after ridge, disregarding the 
 structure or topography of the region. 
 
176 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The canyon is short and north of the ridge lies Selah Valley, one 
 
 of the prettiest valleys in this part of the country. The land is rolling 
 or even hilly along the sides of the valley, but water 
 
 Selah. is carried in a high-line canal, so that all the hills and 
 Elevation 1,108 feet. slopes below it are highly cultivated, and orchards 
 
 Population 1,524.* Z 
 sienaal ial mies, eXtend as far as the eye can see. The basalt dips 
 
 under the valley, but a little farther north it rises” 
 
 above water level, and the river has cut a sharp canyon with vertical 
 walls from 50 to 70 feet high. The main canyon, which begins near 
 milepost 99 (see Pl. XXIV, A) is cut through three separate but 
 parallel ridges of basalt, each of which was produced by a low up- 
 arching of the lava, as shown in figure 36. At the entrance to the 
 deeper part of the canyon the great sheets of lava, each representing 
 
 an individual flow, rise more steeply toward the north, their dip 
 
 (20° or 25°) corresponding in a general way with the south slope of 
 the ridge. The walls of the canyon increase in height until at mile- 
 post 103, where the railway crosses the river, they are nearly 2,000 
 feet high. Here the rocks are about horizontal, indicating that this 
 
 
 
 FIGURE 36.—Fold in basalt north of Roza, Wash., as seen from a point near Wymer, looking southeast. 
 
 is the middle (axis) of the fold, from which the beds dip in opposite 
 directions. North of the axis the layers of basalt dip 30° or 35° to 
 the north. 
 
 The northward dip continues to Roza, near milepost 106, where 
 two lateral valleys entering on opposite sides of the river mark the 
 depression or trough between the ridges. ‘Toward the east the ridge 
 south of Roza extends for a long distance, but in the other direction 
 it dies down rapidly, and in a distance of 5 or 6 miles has disappeared. 
 
 Beyond Roza the beds of lava rise northward about 30° up the slope 
 of Umptanum Ridge, which is a few hundred feet higher than the one 
 
 south of Roza. The axis of the fold is reached about 
 
 Roza. milepost 109, and beyond this point the beds can be 
 
 Bee na, seen to bend over in a great arch; but the traveler 1s 
 . Paul 1,756 miles. oe anne - ° 
 
 so close to the rocky wall that it is impossible for him 
 to obtain a satisfactory idea of the size or shape of the fold until he 
 has gone some distance past it. At Wymer siding, between mileposts 
 110 and 111, a good view of the fold on the east side of the river can 
 be obtained by looking directly back from the rear of the train. 
 (See fig. 36.) From this point the fold is seen to be unsymmetrical, 
 with the steepest dips on the north side, 
 
 >. ie 
 

 
 
 SHEET No. 25 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 ws 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet No.24 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! ze . ( i 
 unnyside Junction’, 
 El, 728 
 
 chish creek SEES ays 
 
 
 
 
 
 . Empire™®@ 
 (EL. 727 
 
 
 
SHEET No. 25 
 BULLETIN 611 : - 
 
 
 
 
 
 ASHINGTON 
 
 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 
 
 ter 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 
 
 Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY : 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR : oe 
 : E | @ 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer oO 
 B46) ar 
 tS RS. [| 307 | pas 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the ; N 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic Scale 500,000 S$ 
 Sheet of that name. | Approximately 8 miles to | inch i. 
 ; 5 eal) 15 20Miles = / % 
 wht PP | 5 
 1o 5) id 15 20 25 30Kilometers / ~ 
 ee Sn oe ee ne Oe Oe SS SU | ; 
 ; N A 
 Contour interval 200 feet I Ee | eae \ sot P00 
 / : aoe \ SN 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL : \ Sas eee Se = Se 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles \ ae — a She “*\ Gra nger 
 The crossties on the ratiroads are apes / mile apart * \ Su nny Siae Ju ee : Pe Outloak 
 \ a Ee 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | EXPLANATION 
 Thickness 
 -) in feet 
 a | A Stream deposits (alluvium) | 
 , ee ees Quaternary 
 Lava fiows (Tieton andesite)| 
 D Gravel, sand, and clay (Ellensburg formation) 1,500] Tertiary 
 E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 2,000- 4,000!  (Mioéene) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
| THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. | iy i 
 
 All the lava folds crossed so far in the Yakima V alley are either 
 steepest on the north side or overturned, like that of Atanum Ridge 
 at Union Gap. This overturning toward the north indicates that 
 when the folds were produced the thrust came from the south, and it 
 continued not only until the beds were arched but until the arch was 
 pushed over, so that the beds on the north side stand nearly vertical 
 | or dip steeply toward the south. The northern limit of this fold js 
 | marked by the valley of Umptanum Creek (see sheet 26, p. 186), 
 | which enters the river near milepost 114. 
 | North of Umptanum Creek lies Manastash Ridge, which, like the 
 | others already crossed, is an arch in structure; but the fold is much 
 flatter than those down the river, and its shape is not apparent from 
 the train. The layers of basalt rise gradually northward from the 
 mouth of Umptanum Creek, and they appear to be nearly horizontal 
 in the great Beavertail Bend between mileposts 115 and 118. The 
 axis of the fold is more than a mile north of this bend and not far 
 from milepost 120, where the railway again crosses to the east side 
 -of Yakima River. From this crossing the layers of rock descend 
 rapidly northward, and the great sheets of basalt that form the walls 
 of the canyon for more than 20 miles dip below water level and the 
 ‘train emerges upon another broad flat that seems to be even more 
 “extensive than the one at North Yakima. This also is mostly under 
 cultivation, and the view on the right as the train leaves the canyon 
 ds particularly charming, as one looks off to the distant mountains 
 across a wide stretch of fertile fields and orchards, crossed here and 
 | there by lines of tall trees planted as windbreaks. 
 
 _ Although much hard rock is exposed in the Yakima Valley stone 
 ‘suitable for building material is very scarce. The basalt is a lasting 
 f material, but its dark color renders it unsuitable for 
 ; buildings and it is used only for foundations and | 
 Seale for road metal. For the latter use it is admirably 
 é adapted. On the north slope of Manastash Ridge, 
 ‘about 2 miles east of Thrall, the sandstone of the Ellensburg forma- 
 ‘tion has been hardened by the pressure that arched and overturned 
 the basalt so as to make it a very good building stone, and it has 
 ‘been utilized in some of the business blocks of Ellensburg. 
 
 _ Ellensburg is the end of a division and a prosperous town in the 
 broad Kittitas Valley, which stretches far to the 
 ‘Ellensburg. east along Manastash Ridge. It is served not only 
 Elevation 1,518 feet. by the Northern Pacific but also by the Chicago, 
 Bs. Paul 1,777 miles. Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, which gives it an 
 + advantage over most of the other towns of the 
 Yakima Valley. Owing to the altitude, the land is much better 
 ‘ 95558°—Bull. 611—15——_12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ed 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
178 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 suited to the raising of hay and to dairying than that of the lower 
 valley. 
 
 A little north of Ellensburg Mount Stuart, far to the north, stands 
 up as a narrow, jagged crest carrying much snow. ‘This view is 
 not so imposing as that of Mount Adams seen from:a point farther 
 down the valley, but the summits here are much narrower than 
 that of Mount Adams and the mountain has a more rugged outline. 
 The railway is bordered by broad meadows of timothy or clover 
 and by fields of oats or wheat that roll in great billows under the 
 strong wind that at times sweeps down the valley from the mountains. 
 About a mile from the station the St. Paul Railway is visible on the 
 right, having crossed Columbia River by a route leading directly 
 west from Connell. : 
 
 The bluff on the right near milepost 4 is composed of the Ellens- 
 burg formation, which overlies the great flows of basalt and is com- 
 posed of white clay Gn most places volcanic ash), sand, and gravel. 
 This material is only partly consolidated, but it stands in steep 
 bluffs, as can be seen on the right. The material is so soft and the 
 slope so steep that in carrying water along the bluff to irrigate lands 
 lower down the valley a timber flume had to be built along the 
 entire face of the bluff a distance of more than 2 miles. This 
 gives an idea of the elaborate and expensive work that must be 
 done in many localities in order to obtain the necessary water for 
 irrigation. Not only is the first cost of such a flume great, but the 
 maintenance is a considerable item of expense which must be met 
 every year. 
 
 Just after passing milepost 7 the train crosses Yakima River, 
 here a small stream but beautifully clear and pure, and then it 
 follows the river bottom, in some places on the bank 
 of the stream and in others back at the foot of the 
 bluff as the river swings from side to side of its 
 flood plain. Near milepost 10 the railway again 
 crosses the river, and the St. Paul road is on the other side under 
 a high bluff, in which is exposed a prominent band of white volcanic 
 ash. At the first sharp curve north of the river crossing the basalt 
 is at track level, but it rises up the stream with the soft, stratified 
 beds of the rani Pen ets formation which rest upon it and which rise 
 in the same direction and at the same rate. 
 
 The canyons south of this place have been cut by Yakima River 
 through low rolls or folds in the basalt, but none of these folds have 
 been of sufficient magnitude for the river to reach the base of the 
 lava sheets; but north of Ellensburg the whole series of rock forma- 
 tions has been turned up like the rim of a basin, and the canyon 
 which begins at Dudley, 10 miles above Ellensburg, is the cut made 
 
 Thorp. 
 
 ‘Elevation 1,647 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,785 miles. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 by Yakima River through the basalt of this rim. 
 
 179 
 
 Figure 37 shows 
 
 the gradual rise of the basalt northward and its final disappearance 
 
 in the hilltops far above river level. 
 In some parts the canyon is bounded by rugged walls of basalt 
 which makes it somewhat picturesque, but in general there is little 
 to attract attention except the interesting geologic 
 
 Bristol. 
 
 Elevation 1,803 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,794 miles. 
 
 section that is exposed here. 
 opens out and the sides are covered with scattered 
 pine trees that are but the fringe of the great mantle 
 
 In places the canyon 
 
 of forest that covers all of the Cascade Range except the highest 
 
 \ 
 
 N . onl Ul 5 \ 
 B Si wi 
 
 TL pare e OPES Dy 
 
 Be epg tor! mise 
 
 elensh ele Ty t 
 
 : (° 
 a ral 1t \ Mt 
 es) ith cH aeae het eh 
 SARA EH Nati TEN a 
 Pane yu c STE T Ly ye \ Le y Tutt 
 ane wan \ Tet aniies intone 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 Vir i L ae 
 
 FIGURE 37.—Section showing structure of Yakima basalt north of Ellensburg, Wash. The basalt rises 
 from a level below Yakima River near Dudley and is far above track level at Teanaway. 
 
 summits and that once extended unbroken to the shores of the 
 
 Pacific Ocean. 
 
 The basalt rises steadily and near milepost 18 the 
 
 whitish sandstone and clay of the underlying older formation makes 
 its appearance in cuts along the St. Paul road, on the opposite shore 
 
 of the stream. 
 
 The traveler should be prepared to see Mount Stuart on the right 
 (north) as the train emerges from the canyon, for the view, if the 
 weather is clear, is superb and lasts for only a few minutes.’ 
 
 The white sandstone of the Roslyn formation is visible in a low 
 bank on the right near the old station of Teanaway. It rises toward 
 
 
 
 1 Mount Stuart is the culminating peak 
 of aspur which extends eastward from the 
 main crest of the Cascade Range. The 
 summit of the peak rises to an altitude of 
 9,470 feet, or 7,600 feet above the railway 
 at Teanaway station. This granite peak, 
 with its deeply carved spires and crags, 
 more or less covered with snow throughout 
 the summer, is the most striking feature 
 in the varied scenery of the region; but 
 its wildest and grandest scenery lies hid- 
 den within its own fastnesses. 
 
 The southern face of the mountain is a 
 precipitous slope, rising 5,000 feet or more 
 
 ‘above the creek which flows at its foot. 
 ‘The lower part of this wall can be scaled 
 at several points, but by only one route 
 has the highest peak been attained by the 
 | mountain climber. This peak is so acute 
 that the greater part of the available 
 a 
 
 } 
 
 4 
 
 space is taken by the United States Geo- 
 logical Survey triangulation monument 
 which crowns its summit. 
 
 On the north side of Mount Stuart are 
 broad and deep amphitheaters, in which 
 lie small glaciers and glacial lakes, drain- 
 ing northward into Icicle Creek. The 
 glaciers immediately below the main 
 peak are mere remnants, some of them 
 only a few hundred yards across; yet 
 these exhibit most of the characteristic 
 features of larger ice streams. 
 
 It is apparent that Mount Stuart is 
 different from Mount Adams, which, as 
 seen from a point near Toppenish, con- 
 sists essentially of a gigantic cone resting 
 upon the broad platform of the Cascade 
 Range. Mount Stuart, as can be seen 
 from Teanaway, is rugged in the extreme 
 and consists of a serrate ridge with one 
 
180 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 the north, like the formations observed in the canyon, and it forms 
 the southward-facing slope of the great ridge on the right. The red 
 rocks on the mountain side on the left are the Teanaway basalt, 
 which underlies the Roslyn formation and is of Eocene age. The 
 layers of basalt in this mountain are not horizontal but are turned 
 up on edge, so that the relation of the Teanaway to the Roslyn is not 
 apparent. 
 
 The valley here was formerly covered with dense forest, in striking 
 contrast to the valley lower down, where there were few trees of any 
 kind until the country was settled. 
 
 Near Clealum a heavy-bedded white sandstone, underlying some 
 coal beds, dips to the south with the same slope as the side of the val- 
 ley, and consequently it covers the entire hillside. 
 Three coal tipples are in sight from the train. Some 
 coal is produced here, but most of it comes from 
 mines farther from the main line of the railway, 
 From Clealum a branch line leads to the right to 
 Roslyn, where are situated the mines of the Northern Pacific and 
 also of companies that are mining coal for sale. The Roslyn coal 
 field is one of the most valuable in the State. It has made its reputa- 
 tion largely because of the cleanness of the coal and its good quality 
 for steam raising and for domestic use. The Northern Pacific Co. 
 uses the coal mined here for all its locomotives and stationary engines 
 between the Stampede tunnel on the west and Butte and Helena on 
 
 Clealum. 
 
 Elevation 1,920 feet. 
 Population 2,749. 
 St. Paul 1,802 miles. 
 
 the east. 
 
 Clealum has also been the supply point for the three 
 
 principal gold-mining districts in central Washington.! 
 
 high point. The difference in the form of 
 the two peaks is due to differences in 
 materials and in mode of formation. 
 Mount Stuart consists of a great mass of 
 granite which long ago was forced up 
 through the rocks from below but prob- 
 ably never reached the surface. Before 
 Tertiary time this great mass, together 
 with the surrounding sedimentary and 
 igneous rocks, was deformed by earth 
 movements and possibly was uncovered 
 and carved into mountains, though the 
 record is not complete enough to deter- 
 mine that with certainty. The surface of 
 the country was finally reduced to a low- 
 land, except the granite mass, which 
 owing to its hardness was left projecting 
 about 1,000 feet above the plain. Late in 
 Tertiary time the Cascade Range was 
 formed by a great uplift of the rocks, and 
 then the streams began their present work 
 of cutting it away. Great canyons were 
 
 eroded in the uplifted mass, and the pin- 
 nacles and towers of the jagged crest of 
 Mount Stuart have been formed merely 
 by the removal of adjacent material. 
 
 Thus while Mount Adams is a moun- 
 tain of construction, Mount Stuart is a 
 mountain of erosion. No better repre- 
 sentatives of the types could be found 
 than these two peaks of the Cascade 
 Range. 
 
 ‘ The coal-bearing rocks of the Roslyn 
 field lie in an open trough or syncline, the 
 axis of which extendsin a northwesterly 
 direction parallel with the main valleys 
 of the region. The Roslyn formation, 
 which contains the coal beds, is about 
 3,000 feet thick, but the coal occurs in 
 the upper part alone, and for this reason 
 the coal beds are much less extensive than 
 the formation which carries them. So 
 far as known they are restricted to an 
 area about 7 miles long by 34 miles wide, 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 181 
 
 West of Clealum tie railway follows the north bank of the river 
 under the cut bank of an extensive terrace of gravel, which is doubt- 
 less the outwash from the glacier that once occupied Clealum Valley. 
 The road then bends sharply to the south around a narrow point of 
 the terrace that has been protected from erosion by a projecting 
 boss of the Teanaway basalt. In the early days of railroading in 
 the Yakima Valley this was known as Deadman’s Curve, from the 
 number of fatal accidents that occurred here, but now with the use 
 of block signals the danger has been removed. 
 
 About a mile west of this curve the railway crosses Clealum River, 
 which drains a large valley heading far to the north and containing 
 Clealum Lake, a body of water 4 miles long and nearly a mile wide. 
 At the outlet of this lake the Reclamation Service has constructed a 
 low dam to raise the level of the lake and make a storage reservoir. 
 It is proposed to increase the height of this dam and thus impound 
 a much larger volume of water for use in the lower valley. As the 
 railway rounds the next point of the terrace and crosses the river a 
 corresponding point is seen on the left, as if at one time there had 
 been a continuous ridge across the valley at this place. This ridge 
 has many of the characteristics of a terminal moraine, including a 
 steep face upstream against which the ice front may have rested, a 
 hummocky surface in that part lying to the left (south) of the track, 
 and bowlder clay at the bottom of the cut near the railway. These 
 features, together with the flat, smooth floor of the valley above, 
 indicate that at a certain stage of the glaciation of this region a large 
 body of ice came down the tributary valley now occupied by Kachess 
 
 extending from a point just a little east 
 of Clealum northwestward nearly to Clea- 
 lum Lake. Along the northeastern limb 
 of the syncline the coal beds are well 
 known, as the principal bed has been 
 mined out throughout most of that area, 
 but on the southwest side the rocks are 
 badly covered, and although considerable 
 drilling has been done the extent of the 
 workable coal is somewhat problematic. 
 
 So far only one bed, the Roslyn, has 
 been worked; another bed of workable 
 thickness underlies the Roslyn, but its 
 extent and value have never been de- 
 termined. The Roslyn bed is remarkably 
 regular in thickness and composition 
 throughout the district, but the quality 
 of the coal improves regularly from Clea- 
 lum westward toward the mountains. 
 The average thickness ranges from 4 feet 
 4 inches to 4 feet 9 inches. The bed is 
 not all clear coal but contains a number 
 
 of partings of bony coal. Government 
 analyses show that the heating value of 
 the coal ranges from 11,950 to 12,980 
 British thermal units. 
 
 The Roslyn district contains some of 
 the largest mines west of Mississippi 
 River, and the field as a whole is the most 
 productive in the State. Its output for 
 the year 1913 was 1,334,155 short tons, 
 or more than one-third of the coal pro- 
 duced by the entire State. 
 
 The gold-mining districts in central 
 Washington are the Swauk, Peshastin, 
 and Negro Creek, and lie from 18 to 24 
 miles northeast of Clealum. Placer gold 
 has been found in all these districts, but 
 the Swauk is particularly noted for the 
 coarseness of the gold. Large nuggets 
 have been found here, one being worth 
 $1,100. Gold was discovered in this 
 region in 1860, and at least $2,000,000 
 worth has been produced. 
 
182 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
 
 Lake and extended down Yakima Valley to this point. Here it 
 rested for a while, pushing out in front the clay and rock fragments 
 that it had ground off the rocky bed over which it had moved, and 
 then the water flowing from the ice carried sand and gravel and 
 spread them in a somewhat irregular sheet above the till. 
 
 Besides the moraine just described, one lies at the lower end of 
 Kachess (ka-chess’) Lake and another just below Keechelus (kee’che- 
 lus) Lake. These show that the glacier, after retreating several miles 
 up the branching valley, came to a halt and probably readvanced a 
 little, piling up the rocky material in each valley as a terminal 
 moraine. Kachess Lake, the largest lake in the region, is a beautiful 
 sheet of water nearly 6 miles long and a mile wide. A wagon road 
 extends to the lower end of the lake, but the upper part is still encir- 
 cled by unbroken forest, which covers the inclosig mountain slopes 
 to a height of 3,200 feet above the lake. The deep basin in which 
 the lake lies was scoured out by the glacier that once occupied this 
 valley. The outlet of the lake has been dammed by the Reclamation 
 Service and the level of the water raised several feet, thereby increas- 
 ing the amount of stored water available for irrigation. 
 
 The mountain side on the left (south), which can be seen to good 
 advantage in the journey up the broad valley above the moraine, 
 consists of schist (the Easton schist), which is the oldest geologic 
 formation that will be seen in the Cascade Mountains. Its exact 
 age has not been determined, but it is supposed to be Carboniferous 
 or older. It is a part of the great foundation upon which the Ter- 
 tiary sediments and lavas were laid down. The rocks on the right 
 (north) are the Teanaway basalt, which covers large areas east of 
 the summit of the range. Near milepost 36 the sheets of lava that 
 make up this formation are well exposed in the high mountain sum- 
 mit just north of Silver Creek. The sheets of lava here dip away 
 from the valley and they make a rugged mountain front, the steep- 
 ness of which has been greatly accentuated by the scouring that the 
 old glacier has done along the bottom of the slope. 
 
 Easton, which lies at the foot of the steep climb up to the Stampede 
 tunnel, is mainly a place for helper engines to wait until their services 
 are needed in pushing up the grade. The broad valley 
 which the railway has been following for some distance 
 Elevation 2,176 feet. continues directly ahead to Kachess Lake, but just 
 tara ak caste beyond Easton the road swerves to the left and 
 
 appears to plunge directly into the hillside. From the 
 bottom of the valley the reason for this change of route is not apparent, 
 but from any commanding summit in the neighborhood it may be seen 
 that Easton is situated at the junction of two valleys, each of which’ 
 has a width of nearly 2 miles. The chief difference in the valleys is — 
 that they are not at the same level. The Kachess Valley has an alte 
 
 i 
 S 
 
 Easton. 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 1838 
 
 tude of 2,150 feet, whereas the old floor of the Yakima Valley, repre- 
 sented by the tops of the hills above Easton, is 350 feet higher. It 
 is clearly evident that for some reason the Kachess Valley has been 
 deepened below that of Yakima River, and that the latter is now 
 cutting a narrow trench in its old valley bottom in order to reduce its 
 grade to that of the stream which it joins near Easton. These changes 
 seem to be connected in some way with the occupation of the valleys 
 by glacial ice, but the manner in which it has been accomplished has 
 not been worked out. 
 
 Both the Northern Pacific and St. Paul roads follow the river 
 through the narrow gorge above Easton, where the stream boils and 
 tumbles over the rocky ledges toward the open valley below. The 
 sand and gravel carried down by the stream are constantly grinding 
 away the hard rocks, but it is a slow process, and many generations 
 will pass before the obstruction is removed. The narrow gorge is short, 
 and beyond it the railway enters the relatively open valley above. 
 
 As the Northern Pacific crosses the summit of the range near Stam- 
 pede Pass, about 9 miles from Easton, it climbs at a steep grade. The 
 St. Paul road, which is here on the right, crosses at Snoqualmie Pass, 
 11 miles farther north. A short distance beyond Easton the railway 
 enters the great mass of andesitic lava flows and tuffs that in this 
 region make up the great bulk of the Cascade Range. 
 
 From a scenic point of view the climb to the pass is not striking, for 
 the traveler sees only rounded mountain slopes thickly covered with 
 timber and the broad valley equally well protected by a tangle of dense 
 vegetation. It is reported that bowlders of granite and similar rocks 
 have been found perched on the mountain sides from 1,200 to 1,700 
 feet above the bottoms of the valleys. These indicate that at some 
 early stage of the glacial epoch the glaciers were much more extensive 
 than they were at a later stage when the moraines previously described 
 were formed. 
 
 One of the most striking features of the valley is the low pass on the 
 right, leading to the upper end of Kachess Lake. This pass has an 
 altitude of about 2,500 feet and doubtless was an outlet for either the 
 drainage of the upper Yakima Valley or that of Kachess Valley, on 
 the east. Its cutting and abandonment are doubtless connected with 
 the trenching of the old valley of the Yakima above Easton, but the 
 conditions which resulted in these changes have not been determined. 
 
 This valley, like the two next east, is occupied by a lake (Keechelus 
 Lake) which doubtless had its origin in the erosive action of the ela- 
 cier that evidently lay for some time in the lake basin and built the 
 moraines around its lower end. Many beautiful views of Keechelus 
 Lake may be obtained, either from the wagon road that follows the 
 eastern bank or from the St. Paul Railway, which overlooks it on the 
 west. (See Pl. XXV, p. 175.) 
 
184 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 After a long climb the railway reaches Martin, the last station on the 
 east side of the range, and a short distance beyond turns sharply to 
 the left and faces the east portal of the Stampede 
 tunnel. At this point there are visible on the right 
 remnants of the old line, which wound up to the 
 top of the mountain before the tunnel was built. 
 
 The Stampede tunnel is nearly 2 miles long. So many traims pass 
 through it that great difficulty has been experienced in keeping it 
 free from smoke and gas, but now an enormous fan has been installed 
 at the west end, in a building which the westbound traveler will sce 
 on his right as the tram emerges from the tunnel. It 1s expected that 
 this fan will free the tunnel of smoke and gas in a very short time. 
 
 Stampede Pass has an elevation above sea level of about 3,600 feet, 
 but the long tunnel enables the railway to cross the range at a much 
 lower level. In order to mamtain a regular grade 
 down. the west side of the range, the track wmds in 
 and out and around spurs in a most confusmg man- 
 ner to one who is endeavoring to keep directions or to 
 see the mountains. From Stampede two lines of rails are visible far 
 below on the left, which seem to belong to another road, but later it 
 appears that they are parts of a large loop which the Northern Pacific 
 is forced to make in order to get down the mountain side. 
 
 The mountain slopes are generally smooth and round, and the thick 
 mantle of trees and brush covers all except here and there a lava cliff 
 or an old scar that marks the passage of some forest fire.t The out- 
 look is confined generally to the valley of Green River, which the 
 railway descends, but at one place, if the weather is favorable, a 
 fleeting glimpse may be caught of the towering white cone of Mount 
 
 Martin. 
 
 Elevation 2,781 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,823 miles. 
 
 Stampede. 
 
 Elevation 2,852 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,826 miles. 
 
 
 
 1The traveler from the train can get 
 only a very imperfect idea of the charac- 
 ter of the country, for he is looking at it 
 from a position below the level of the 
 mountain tops and hence can not see its 
 upper surface. Although it is not possi- 
 ble to see much of the Cascade Range, a 
 
 study of the contours on sheets 26 and 27 
 
 will show that the mountain summits on 
 both sidesof the railway are at nearly the 
 same elevation, ranging from 4,000 to 
 6,000 feet above sea level. It will show 
 also that the range is not sharp crested, 
 like those in the vicinity of Helena and 
 Butte, buta broad plateau which has been 
 so cut into by the streams that its origi- 
 nally regular surface has disappeared, 
 leaving only a labyrinth of narrow branch- 
 ing valleys and steep-sided hills. 
 
 
 
 Sheet 26 also shows the location, about 
 
 12 miles south of the Stampede tunnel, of 
 Naches Pass (altitude 4,923 feet) and the 
 old Naches trail, which was the first road 
 to be opened across the Cascade Range 
 north of Columbia River. The early ex- 
 plorers learned of this route from the In- 
 dians and utilized it in their wanderings 
 
 | around the headwaters of Yakima River. 
 
 It was not, however, used to any great 
 extent until the rush of homeseekers 
 about 1850 made it desirable to find a 
 shorter route to the Puget Sound ports 
 than that by way of Fort Vancouver, on 
 Columbia River. Accordingly in 1853 
 
 the Naches trail was made passable for 
 
 wagons, though probably a pretty rough — 
 
 road, and many settlers found their way 
 
 to the Sound by this route. 
 
THE NORTHERN 
 
 PACIFIC ROUTE. 185 
 
 Rainier. This view may be had on the right while rounding the 
 extreme point of the loop about 2 miles west of Stampede. The 
 mountain is in view only for a moment and then is hidden by the 
 nearer slopes. 
 
 The rocks in the valley of Green River are the same as those seen on 
 the east side. They consist of lava flows and beds of volcanic tuff that 
 have been tilted in various directions. These rocks are known as the 
 Keechelus andesitic series and most of them are of Miocene age. 
 They represent the great floods of lava and fragmental material that 
 were poured out before the Cascades were formed. They now form 
 part of the broad platform upon which the great volcanic cones of 
 Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens are reared. 
 
 The train runs down the mountain slope on the left side of Sunday. 
 
 from the south. At present the road makes a long loop up Green 
 River, but a new line is being constructed that will cut off this loop. 
 The valley of Green River, as well as that of Sunday Creek, is broad 
 and rounded and shows clearly that it has been cleared and modified 
 
 by a glacier. 
 
 Creek to the junction of that stream with Green River, which comes 
 The development, maximum extension, and retreat 
 : 
 
 of the glaciers of this region are described below by Bailey Willis.’ 
 
 1 Glacial development began in the 
 ‘high mountains. The climate, at one 
 time milder than that now existing, grad- 
 ‘ually though not continuously increased 
 ‘in severity. As cold seasons grew longer 
 and warm ones shorter, snow banks in 
 the shadows of high peaks increased in 
 volume and drifts accumulated in hol- 
 lows less protected fromthesun. As they 
 grew, the snow banks consolidated to ice, 
 and, flowing downward, became glaciers. 
 Each canyon received an onward-moving 
 ‘ice stream proportionate in size to the 
 tributary area above it. The air was 
 chilled, precipitation increased, and gla- 
 ciers extended, and thus the effect of 
 climatic change was accelerated. The 
 mountains became mantled with white, 
 except over sharp, wind-swept peaks and 
 ridges. Issuing from the foothills, the 
 elaciers spread and adjacent ones coal- 
 -esced, forming broad piedmont glaciers. 
 A piedmont glacier (that is, a glacier 
 at the foot of the mountain) is related 
 to the mountain or alpine glaciers which 
 feed it as a lake is related to its tributary 
 streams. 
 Three great piedmont glaciers met in 
 the Puget Sound basin. One was fed 
 
 
 
 from the Olympic Mountains, on’the west; 
 a larger one gathered along the base of 
 the Cascade Range, on the east; the lar- 
 gest flowed south from the area between 
 Vancouver Island and the mainland of 
 British Columbia and poured a great 
 mass of ice westward into the Strait of 
 Juan de Fuca and -another into Puget 
 Sound. Tongues of these piedmont gla- 
 ciers advanced along the valleys until 
 opposing ice streams met and coalesced. 
 Then the ice mass deepened, as water 
 may deepen in a lake. Land divides 
 became peninsulas and _ isolated hills 
 stood as islands. Hills of the Puget 
 Sound basin were finally submerged, the 
 ice reaching a thickness of 2,500 feet or 
 more in the present site of Admiralty 
 Inlet, the main channel leading to Puget 
 Sound, and the southern extremity of the 
 ice sheet spread beyond Tacoma and 
 Olympia on the south and west. 
 
 Finally the glaciers ceased to increase 
 in the mountains and to deepen in the 
 valleys as the climate changed either to 
 milder seasons or to less precipitation, or 
 both, a change due to ultimate causes, 
 which, like those that brought on glacia- 
 tion, are not understood. Then followed 
 
186 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Although the railway is steadily descending as it follows Green 
 River, the canyon grows no deeper, for the reason that the westward 
 slope of the top of the plateau in which it is cut is 
 about the same as the grade of the stream. In the 
 vicinity of Lester the stream flows about 3,000 feet 
 below the tops of the highest hills on either side, and 
 this depth is maintained for a considerable distance. 
 
 Hot Springs (see sheet 27; p. 196) was once a noted resort, with a 
 large hotel on the right of the track; but a number of years ago 
 the hotel was destroyed by fire, and it has not been 
 rebuilt. Green River is now utilized by the city of 
 Tacoma for its water supply, and great care is exer- 
 cised in keeping the stream free from pollution. The 
 intake of the waterworks will be seen lower down the stream. 
 
 Below Hot Springs the timber was originally very heavy, but most 
 of it has been cut off or burned, and the traveler can obtain a very 
 inadequate idea of a virgin Washington forest from 
 what he sees along this route. In many places, how- 
 ever, the second growth is very dense, and it would 
 be difficult to force one’s way through it. In this 
 vicinity the traveler gets his first good view of the luxuriant growth 
 of ferns that characterizes the forests of the coastal belt of Oregon and 
 Washington. (See Pl. XXVI, p. 194.) The rocks, although much 
 obscured by vegetation, are similar to the lava flows and breccias 
 that occur near the summit of the range and also on 
 the east side. In the Green River valley the rocks 
 have been smoothed and rounded by the glaciers” 
 that formerly flowed down the valley and spread out 
 on the plain below. The smooth and open character of the valley 
 continues down as far as Eagle Gorge, but beyond that place the 
 river enters a narrow, steep-walled canyon that in no— 
 respect resembles the valley higher up. The contour 
 
 . b 
 map shows that a broad valley continues below Eagle 
 Gorge to Barneston, but that neither the river nor_ 
 
 Lester. 
 
 Elevation 1,626 feet. 
 Population 405.* 
 St. Paul 1,839 miles. 
 
 Hot Springs. 
 
 Elevation 1,545 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,841 miles. 
 
 Maywood. 
 
 Elevation 1,347 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,846 miles. 
 
 Humphrey. 
 
 Elevation 1,224 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,850 miles. 
 
 Eagle Gorge. 
 
 Elevation 1,110 feet. 
 Population 304.* 
 St. Paul 1,854 miles 
 
 the railway follows it. 
 
 From the arrangement of 
 
 the valleys it is evident that Green River, at some time in the 
 
 
 
 an epoch during which the ice melted 
 earlier and more rapidly in the lowlands, 
 
 later and lingeringly in the canyons of 
 
 the ranges. The piedmont glaciers 
 shrunk till they parted, and each man- 
 tled the foothills ofits parentrange. The 
 margins of the glaciers consisted of masses 
 of stagnant ice buried beneath accumu- 
 lations of gravel, sand, and loam, and 
 
 ee eee Te i 
 hardy vegetation may have flourished in a 
 
 soil upon the ice. Rivers flowed on the ~ 
 glaciers, through tunnels in them, and — 
 from beneath them. Ice-bound lakes — 
 were formed in embayments of the hills. 
 Changes succeeded one another fre- 
 quently, and each phase of ice and stream 
 and lake left a meager record of its exist- 
 ence in deposits of detritus. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SHEET No. 26 
 
 \20° 30! WASHINGTON — 
 
 | 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 Stream deposits (alluvium) and glacial drift Quaternary 
 
 Granite (Snoqualmie) 
 Lava flows (mostly Keechelus andesitic series)| Tertiary 
 
 Sandstone, shale, etc. (Ellensburg and Guye (Miocene) 
 formations) 
 
 Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 
 
 a eS ea a ae 
 
 Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Roslyn 
 and Manastash formations), younger Hocene 
 
 2S ssc 
 ) Lava flows (Kachess rhyolite) 
 
 baal rt Sandstone (Swauk and Naches formations), 
 ete older Eocene 
 
 Lava flows (Teanaway basalt) and dikes Tertiary 
 (Eocene) 
 
 ht oe 
 
 ad 
 
 Metamorphic rocks, probably Carboniferous 
 or older 
 
 
 
 Sas ; 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 PS We Loe a 
 \. ™Baylstea 
 Staats: 
 Ws WY) KL 
 oh \ : Boos 
 
 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.3.G 
 

 
 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 
 
 | From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 - Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
 Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
 the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
 information collected with the assistance of this company 
 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 
 1915 
 
 Each quadrangle shewn on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
 lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
 Sheet of that name. 
 
 SHEET No. 26 
 BULLETIN 611 | | ae az 3 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 A Stream deposits (alluvium) and glacial drift Quaternary 
 B Granite (Snoqualmie) 
 C. Lava flows (mostly Keechelus andesitic series) Tertiary 
 D Sandstone, shale, ete. (Ellensburg and Guye (Miocene) 
 formations) 
 E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 
 F Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Roslyn 
 and Manastash formations), younger Eocene ; 
 23 5 —_—___| —____________ @_ Lava flows (Teanaway basalt) and dikes Tertiary oe 
 : ad . ha 
 ¢ : H_ Lava flows (Kachess rhyolite) (Kocene) 
 : {25 Mt Stuart 1 Sandstone (Swauk and Naches formations), 
 pore older Eocene 
 J Metamorphic rocks, probably Carboniferous 
 or older 
 N 
 N ~ 
 S 1 
 =f | | 
 % 
 & 
 : 
 /\ 
 \ “\ i 
 ele a 2 F es 
 \ Alluvium > D = N aii 
 Holkp~ <9 S/S 
 — se Nn \ ' eae ~ 
 ti | Ce 
 Tre wae k a Pea 
 - el Dv s mg ke 
 Soccfteyssurs/ \/\S 
 Ngo EL LENSBURG/ 7 \ ’ 
 f : waa 1518 — ; BE eS 
 >." Lif / Ye 
 Scale 500,000 \ ! x Kintitas ee 
 © Approximately 8 miles to | inch S yY 
 5 10 \ 20Miles “eens! 
 
 10 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
 
 
 
 
 Contour interval 200 feet 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
 
 The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
 
 The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
 ees Ne Re ee ee eS eee 
 
 a ES 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEQOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 ra 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 
 
 187 
 
 past, flowed in this valley instead of in its present course below Eagle 
 
 Gorge.' 
 
 
 
 1 The old and new valleys of Green 
 River afford an excellent example of 
 changes that may take place in the drain- 
 age system of a country as a consequence 
 of the invasion of a glacier. The river 
 valleys on the west slope of the Cascade 
 Mountains are in general well developed, 
 showing that the streams have occupied 
 them foralong time. The original course 
 of Green River below Eagle Gorge was 
 doubtless north by way of Page Mill and 
 Barneston, for the present canyon below 
 Eagle Gorge is so narrow that it must have 
 been formed comparatively recently. The 
 relative size of the two valleys is shown in 
 figure 38, which represents a cross section 
 
 about 3 miles below Eagle Gorge. 
 
 To divert a stream intrenched in a 
 
 valley from 2,000 to 3,000 feet deep must 
 have required a formidable barrier. Such 
 
 a barrier could have been produced only 
 
 SY 
 
 S 
 
 SS 
 
 Vy 
 
 YY Yi 
 
 Greere Ttiver 
 
 ] 
 
 Uf Yj S Ys 
 YW ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 The exact manner in which the ice 
 blocked this outlet of Green River is a 
 matter of speculation, but probably the 
 glacier came down the Sound after the 
 local glaciers in Green and Snoqualmie 
 valleys had melted back from the moun- 
 tain front and crowded up the valley of 
 Green River until it completely blocked 
 that valley with a great dam of ice, hun- 
 dreds and possibly thousands of feet in 
 thickness. This barrier seems to have 
 been sufficient to raise the water of Green 
 River until it flowed over a low divide 
 that must have existed between the Green 
 River valley and a small stream flowing to 
 the west past Palmer Junction. Beyond 
 this divide the river found an unob- 
 structed outlet which it at once proceeded 
 to deepen and which it finally cut below 
 the level of the former outlet by Barnes- 
 ton. By the time the ice had disappeared 
 
 Vf 
 yy 
 
 SV 
 
 bardored valley 
 of Green firver 
 
 FIGURE 38.—Section showing size and shape of the valley of Green River below Eagle Gorge, Wash., com- 
 pared with the valley the river abandoned when it was blocked by ice. 
 
 in one of four ways—(1) by a landslide 
 
 which filled the valley below the point 
 _ of diversion; (2) by a lava flow occupying 
 
 a similar position; (3) by a fault across 
 the valley and the sudden upward move- 
 ment of the land below the fault; or (4) 
 by the blocking of the valley by ice. Ii 
 
 the change were due to any one of the 
 first three of these causes there should 
 
 remain in the old valley some traces of 
 
 the barrier, but, as no such features have 
 
 been observed, it must be concluded that 
 ice was the agent that caused the change. 
 Ice would leave no permanent barrier, 
 and so no surface indications would be 
 expected, except the ordinary deposits 
 that are made by a glacier. Evidence 
 of this kind is abundant and clearly shows 
 
 that the region was deeply covered with 
 ice at a recent geologic date. 
 
 Green River had become so deeply in- 
 trenched in its new course that it per- 
 sisted, and it remains to this day in the 
 new valley it was thus compelled to 
 occupy. 
 
 Although this change occurred during 
 the Great Ice Age, geologically it was 
 very recent, as is shown by the narrow- 
 ness and steepness of the new part of the 
 gorge. Time enough has not elapsed for 
 the river to broaden its channel, and this 
 difference the traveler will doubtless 
 realize as the train passes from the open 
 valley in the vicinity of Eagle Gorge into 
 the dim shadows of the narrow canyon 
 below, in which there is barely room for 
 the track between the river and the 
 bluffs, and even to make this passage 
 deep rock cuts and many crossings of 
 the stream are necessary. 
 
188 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 That part of the Green River valley below Eagle Gorge has all the 
 features characteristic of newly cut gorges in fairly hard rocks. Itis 
 narrow and tortuous and the stream abounds in tumbling cascades’ 
 and pools of deep water. It is a beautiful glen in which the rocks 
 are covered with delicate mosses and draped with ferns whose graceful 
 fronds sparkle with mist from the numerous cascades. ; 
 
 Just after passing milepost 81 the traveler can see the head gate - 
 of the Tacoma waterworks, and the deep-blue pool above, which 
 certainly looks as if no polluting substances had ever affected it. 
 After being accustomed to the water supplied to some of the eastern 
 cities the traveler may envy these Pacific coast towns their nearness_ 
 to mountain sources and the never-failing water supply they can pro- 
 cure there. Seattle also draws its supply of water from the Cascade 
 Mountains, but as it is taken from Cedar River, the next stream on 
 the right (north), neither the intake nor the conduit are visible from 
 the train. 
 
 At Palmer Junction the Northern Pacific divides into two branches, 
 the older line turning to the left (south) and going by way of Buckley 
 to Tacoma, which at the time of the completion of the railway was 
 its western terminus, and the other turning slightly to the right and 
 
 going to Seattle by way of Auburn.* 
 
 
 
 1The original plan of the Northern 
 Pacific was to build on the north side of 
 Columbia River from the mouth of Snake 
 River to Kalama and thence northward 
 to Puget Sound. That part of the road 
 from Kalama to Tacoma was the first to 
 be constructed, the first train reaching 
 Tacoma on December 16, 1873. Finan- 
 cial difficulties forced a suspension of 
 operations for some time, but in 1880 
 building was resumed and _ actively 
 pushed from Mandan, N. Dak., westward 
 and from the mouth of Snake River east- 
 ward. The line along Columbia River 
 from Kalama to Snake River had not yet 
 been touched, but it was thought that if 
 the line east of Snake River could be 
 completed, boat service on the river 
 would accommodate the traffic until the 
 company was strong enough financially to 
 undertake the building of that line. In 
 the meantime a franchise for the construc- 
 tion of a road along the south bank of the 
 Columbia had been obtained by the Ore- 
 gon Railway & Navigation Co., and traffic 
 arrangements had been entered into 
 between this company and the Northern 
 Pacific for the joint use of this line from 
 Wallula to Portland. While these nego- 
 
 tiations were under way the construction 
 of the main line was carried on rapidly, 
 and the last spike connecting the eastern — 
 and western sections was driven a little 
 west of Garrison in September, 1883. 
 
 As early as 1876 a line was built from © 
 Tacoma up Puyallup River to the Wilke- — 
 son coal mine for the immediate purpose — 
 of procuring coal, and ultimately as a — 
 part of the Cascade branch, which the — 
 Northern Pacific, even at that early date, — 
 was considering a necessity. Work on 
 this branch was suspended during the 
 reorganization of the company in the 
 years 1873-1879 and also while the com- | 
 pany was bending all its energies to the — 
 completion of the main line in 1880-— 
 1883. Finally work was begun on this” 
 branch in earnest in 1884, but owing to 
 the delay in constructing the Stampede 
 Tunnel, the first train over the line did 
 not reach Tacoma until July 3, 1887. In 
 1883 the railroad from Seattle to Auburn — 
 and Puyallup was built by a company 
 of local capitalists, but later it was taken 
 over by the Northern Pacific. The last 
 cut-off constructed was the road from Pal- 
 mer Junction to Auburn, which now gives 
 a direct line from St. Paul to Seattle. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 189 
 
 About a mile east of Palmer Junction the railway enters one of 
 the productive coal fields of the State, though little coal or evidence 
 of coal mining can be seen from the train. Several 
 mines have been developed, however, south of the 
 river, within a distance of 3 or 4 miles, and one or 
 two mines to the north. 
 
 Between Palmer Junction and Kanaskat the Northern Pacific 
 is crossed by a branch of the St. Paul road which leads to several 
 
 mining towns along the mountain front and _ ter- 
 minates at Enumclaw, on the Tacoma line of the 
 | Elevation 859 feet. northern Pacific, 10 miles to the south. The moun- 
 St. Paul 1,862 miles. d ; 
 tains end abruptly at Kanaskat and give place to a 
 | The glacial drift on this plain is underlain by shale, 
 
 Palmer Junction. 
 
 Elevation 869 feet. 
 St. Paul 1,862 miles. 
 
 Kanaskat. 
 
 glacial plain. 
 sandstone, and etal beds, which belong to the Puget group and 
 which are of about the same age as the Roslyn 
 (Eocene) formation on the other side of the Cascade 
 Range, but few of the rocks are exposed at the surface. 
 There are two large coal mines at Ravensdale, one of 
 which can be seen on the left (south) as the train 
 passes through the village.' 
 
 As the presence of coal beds means that swamps prevailed at one 
 time in this region, it is reasonable to suppose that vegetation flour- 
 ished in that far-off time much as it does to-day. Careful search has 
 shown that plants did grow luxuriantly then, and their fossil forms 
 are so well preserved that the botanist has been able not only to dis- 
 tinguish the species that grew here, but to determine from the kind of 
 plants the climate that must have prevailed. In the note below F. H. 
 Knowlton compares the fossil flora with that living in Washington at 
 the present time.” 
 
 | Ravensdale. 
 
 Elevation 628 feet. 
 Population 726.* 
 ‘St. Paul 1,867 miles. 
 
 
 
 1 The large coal tipple which the trav- 
 eler can see on the left is used for hoist- 
 ing coal up a slope about 1,500 feet long 
 from the workings below. Three coal 
 beds are being worked in this mine. 
 
 'The main slope leads down one bed and 
 -a rock tunnel has been driven from it to 
 the other two. 
 
 The main bed ranges in thickness in 
 
 of the coal ranges from 11,290 to 11,850 
 British thermal units. 
 
 The McKay coal bed, which is worked 
 in a mine some distance away from the 
 main line of the road, is about 5 feet 
 thick and is all clear coal without part- 
 ings. This coal has a heating value of 
 12,210 British thermal units. Although 
 this mine is less than a mile distant from 
 
 the mine from 4 feet 4 inches to 10 feet 
 7 inches and where thickest is broken 
 by many partings of shale and bone that 
 ‘make mining expensive and detract 
 greatly from the value of the coal. The 
 other two beds are 5 feet 7 inches and 7 
 feet 10 inches thick, but contain much 
 impure or dirty coal. The heating value 
 
 the one near the track, it has not been 
 possible to determine the relative posi- 
 tions of the coal beds, for the rocks are 
 thrown into numerous folds and broken 
 in many places. 
 
 2 The State of Washington now exhibits 
 great diversity in soil and climatic condi- 
 tions, with the result that it supports a 
 
190 
 
 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 West of Ravensdale the railway pursues a westerly course, cross- 
 ing under the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad and then follow- 
 ing in a general way a slight depression in the drift without any 
 
 marked features of relief. 
 
 Beyond Covington the valley deepens and becomes more restricted, 
 and the railway cuts show that the valley has been excavated in a 
 thick deposit of glacial gravel. 
 known as the Orting gravel, was deposited by 
 streams flowing from the ice front of the Admiralty 
 glacier (see p. 192) after it had retreated to a position 
 
 Covington. 
 
 Elevation 361 feet. 
 Population 145.* 
 St. Paul 1,874 miles. 
 
 farther north. 
 
 This material, 
 
 At milepost 102 is the State fish hatchery, which supplies fish fry 
 
 for many of the streams on this side of the mountains. 
 
 passing this point the train crosses Green River and is once more in a 
 
 
 
 large and varied flora of not less than 
 2,500 species of the so-called higher plants 
 alone. As these soil and climatic condi- 
 tions vary from place to place, there are 
 many sharp, almost abrupt changes in the 
 character of the vegetation. Thus the 
 Cascade Range, although only 6,000 or 
 7,000 feet high, constitutes an effective 
 barrier which relatively few plants are 
 able to cross. On the east side of the 
 mountains there is an arid transition area 
 where the sagebrush plains of Columbia 
 River give way to the slightly higher, 
 treeless, grass-covered zone known as the 
 bunch-grass prairies. Still higher and 
 nearer the mountains is the yellow-pine 
 belt. Here the forests are composed 
 mainly of the yellow or bull pine, with 
 such undershrubs as the pinebark, buck- 
 brush, roses, and a tall huckleberry. 
 
 On the western slope of the Cascades 
 the change in the character of the vegeta- 
 tionismarked. The dominant forest tree 
 is the red fir, which covers fully 90 per 
 cent of the heavily timbered area, in 
 places with a stand so dense that the sun 
 can scarcely penetrate. Ina narrow strip 
 along the coast the dominant species is 
 the Sitka or tideland spruce. In the bet- 
 tom lands, mainly river valleys, the con- 
 spicuous trees or shrubs are the red cedar, 
 giant cedar, white fir, large-leaved maple, 
 Oregon ash, cottonwocd, western cornel, 
 vine maple, crab apple, willows, the ter- 
 rible devil’s club, and salmonberry. On 
 the gravelly prairies are the only species 
 
 of oak growing in the State, as well as the 
 black pine and, until the middle of July, 
 a carpet of brilliant flowers. 
 
 The fossil flora of this region, found 
 mainly in more or less close association 
 with the numerous coal beds, was also an 
 exceedingly rich and diverse one, num- 
 bering, as at present understood, about 
 350 species, with the probability that it 
 may reach 400 or 500 species when fully 
 known. 
 species is now known to be living, al- 
 though many of them belong to genera 
 that are the same as or similar to those that 
 make up the present flora. In view of 
 the so-called accident of preservation, it 
 is probable that the total fossil flora may 
 have equaled the living flora in number 
 of species. 
 
 The almost complete change in the 
 character of the flora since the Puget 
 epoch (Eocene) is well shown by the coni- 
 fers. This group is now dominant in con- 
 spicuousness and number of individuals, 
 
 whereas in Puget time it was almost neg- 
 
 ligible, being represented by only three 
 kinds—cypress, cedar, and juniper—and 
 these were so scarce that less than twenty 
 examples out of many thousands of speci- 
 
 mens have been observed. Another — 
 
 marked difference between the two floras 
 is shown by the presence of palms in the 
 Puget flora. 
 
 Soon after 
 
 Not a single one of these fossil — 
 
 Two very distinct kinds of © 
 
 palms have been found, one with rather — 
 
 small, feather-like leaves, and a huge fan 
 
 palm, with leaves that must have been at — 
 
 a ee 
 
THE NORTHERN 
 
 PACIFIC ROUTE. 191 
 
 broad valley in which the timber has been cleared away and farms 
 established. To one not accustomed to the thick forests of the 
 Pacific slope, it is a relief to emerge from their dense shade and 
 
 enter open country. 
 
 After crossing Green River and the broad valley in which it flows 
 |the train passes under a high bluff of gravel (Orting) on the south. 
 The origin and geologic age of this gravel, as well as 
 
 ‘Auburn. 
 
 |Elevation 100 feet. 
 Population 957. 
 | i Paul 1,883 miles. 
 
 of the other formations of the drift 3 in Tlachinevanl 
 are discussed below by W. C. Alden. 
 has been extensively used by the railway for bal- 
 
 This gravel 
 
 lasting the track. At Auburn the railway line 
 ‘across the mountains unites with the line from Portland to Seattle. 
 ‘The rest of the route is directly north down the valley to its junction 
 with Black River, which is the natural outlet of Lake Washington. 
 
 least 5 or 6 feet across. At present palms 
 do not grow wild within a thousand miles 
 of the Puget Sound region. 
 
 The traveler will doubtless be struck by 
 the abundance of beautiful ferns now 
 |growing along the forest borders in the 
 open, partly shaded locations. Ferns 
 ‘were also present during Puget time, 
 though none that have been found are 
 very closely related to the living forms. 
 ‘Tall, bushy horsetails (Equisetum) are 
 ‘conspicuous in many places, and the 
 group was represented in the fossil flora. 
 The deciduous-leaved plants, to judge 
 ‘from their fossil remains, were in the 
 vast majority during Puget time and 
 ‘show much diversity. They included 
 figs of several kinds, hackberries, mul- 
 berries, many PATIOWS alders, birches, 
 and Rhee a number of Rela two spe- 
 ‘cies of pepper tree, elms, ashes, maples, 
 magnolias, cinnamons, laurels, plums, 
 ‘service berries, dogwoods, custard apples, 
 chestnuts, crab apples, sumachs, bitter- 
 sweets, blueberries, bush thorns, prim- 
 ‘roses, and others that are without well- 
 known vernacular names. 
 
 _ The Sound country of Washington, at 
 the time of deposition of the lower beds of 
 the Puget group, is supposed, on account 
 of the abundance of ferns, gigantic palms, 
 figs, and a number of forms now found in 
 the West Indies and tropical South Amer- 
 ica, to have enjoyed a much warmer cli- 
 mate than it does to-day; but the pres- 
 ence of sumachs, chestnuts, birches, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 maples, dogwoods, sycamore, etc., in the 
 upper beds of the group would seem to 
 indicate an approach to the climatic con- 
 ditions prevailing at present. 
 
 A number of fossil plants have been 
 found to be common to the east and west 
 sides of the Cascades. This would indi- 
 cate that approximately similar condi- 
 tions of climate and topography prevailed 
 throughout this general area during the 
 Puget epoch. The Cascade Range, as it 
 now exists, did not then intervene. 
 
 1 Ata time which probably corresponds 
 to the last or Wisconsin stage of glaciation 
 in the eastern part of the United States, 
 the mountains of Washington were largely 
 covered with ice, and the Vashon lobe of 
 the Cordilleran ice sheet extended south- 
 ward from British Columbia into the Pu- 
 get Sound basin. This glacier is believed 
 to have attained a thickness of about 
 2,500 feet. The ice filled the depressions 
 composing the Sound, from the foot of 
 the Olympic Mountains on the west to 
 the base of the Cascades on the east. On 
 the south it reached and covered much 
 of the plains south of Olympia. The ice 
 of this glacier probably coalesced on the 
 east with the local glaciers that descended 
 the slopes and valleys of the Cascades. 
 
 The melting of these glaciers left depos- 
 its of clay, sand, gravel, and bowlders 
 (the Vashon and Osceola drift), which 
 may now be seen on the elevated tracts 
 between and around the troughs of the 
 Sound but which were not thick enough 
 
192 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Below the point of junction the stream is known as Duwamish 
 River, and this the road follows to the tidal flats of Elliott Bay at 
 Sonttlel 
 
 The broad valley at Auburn is distinctly different from the ordin ell 
 stream valleys of this region, in that it is wider than is required by 
 such streams as now occupy it, it is flatter than valleys excavated by 
 erosion, and it is open to sidew ates at both ends—Elhott Bay (Seattle) 
 on the north and Commencement Bay (Tacoma) on the west. The 
 floor of the valley is so flat that streams entering it build delta-like 
 accumulations of sediment upon which the stream channel shifts 
 from place to place. White River, next to Green River on the 
 south and named because of the milky color of its water, derived 
 from the glaciers of Mount Rainier, enters the valley a few miles 
 above Auburn. Part of the stream at times turns south into Puyal- 
 lup (poo-yal’up) River andreaches tidewater at Tacoma and the other 
 part flows north and unites with Green River. The arrangement of 
 the valleys and their peculiar connection with bays and similar in- 
 dentations of the coast line strongly suggest that at one time this 
 entire valley from Tacoma to Seattle was an arm of the Sound simi- 
 lar to but smaller than Admiralty Inlet and that it has become a 
 land valley simply by being filled with sediment brought down by 
 the rivers from the Cascade Mountains. 
 
 Bailey Willis, who has made a careful study of the Puget Sound 
 region, is of the opinion that the peculiar branching channels of the 
 Sound could have been produced only by the submergence of a land 
 on which a branching river system had formerly existed. If this 
 view is correct, it is evident that many modifications must have been 
 made, for a peculiarity of the channels of the Sound is that they not 
 only unite as the tributaries of a river system unite, but they separate 
 ina most intricate fashion. Taken as a whole, the conclusion appears 
 well founded, but there are many minor points that still remain to 
 be explained. | 
 
 to fill the deep depressions, so that when 
 free of ice these were occupied by marine 
 waters. This drift is underlain by strat- 
 ified sand and gravel (Douty gravel, 
 Puyallup sand, and Orting gravel) de- 
 posited by waters from the melting of 
 earlier glaciers. These deposits include 
 lignite, formed from vegetation which 
 grew upon the sand and gravel, and they 
 are much weathered and eroded, showing 
 that they were exposed during a long 
 interglacial stage before being overridden 
 and covered by the deposits of the gla- 
 clers mentioned above. 
 
 Beneath these sands and gravels lie 
 deposits of stiff blue clay, mostly strati- 
 fied but locally filled with subangular 
 stones and large bowlders. These de- 
 posits, known as the Admiralty till, 
 deposited by the Admiralty glacier, 
 were laid down during an earlier stage 
 of glaciation, when the Puget Sound 
 basin was occupied by a lobe of the 
 Cordilleran ice sheet, as at the Vashon 
 stage. There are some suggestions that 
 still earlier glaciers occupied the basin, 
 but these are too indefinite to be given — 
 
 much weight. Z 
 e 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 198 
 
 The White River valley is largely given up to truck farming and 
 dairying. The dairying industry centers about Kent, where there 
 is a large plant for the manufacture of condensed 
 milk. On the left (west) are the lines of the Oregon- 
 Washington Railroad & Navigation Co., the St. Paul 
 road, and the Interurban Electric Go.; on the right 
 the town of Renton, perched partly on the hillside, 
 about 2 miles distant. This is another coal-mining town—in fact, 
 coal mining is the chief business in many parts of the country back 
 from the Sound. Renton is nearer tidewater than the other mining 
 towns of the State, and the coal mined here has a fine reputation in 
 the cities on the Sound as a clean fuel for domestic use.' 
 
 Between mileposts 11 and 10 the Black River branch on the right 
 leads to Renton and other towns in that direction, and at milepost 
 10 the Renton branch of the interurban trolley line crosses the St. 
 Paul road and then crosses Black River, which is the outlet of Lake 
 Washington. Beyond the crossmg of Black River the railway is at 
 the foot of the bluffs on the right side of the valley, and the hillside 
 cuts expose, in several places, sandstone and shale (Puget group), 
 but no coal beds occur in this part of the formation. This part of the 
 valley is known as the Duwamish Valley. At its lower end the stream 
 is actively engaged in filling the bay with the sediment which it car- 
 ries. The work of the stream has been supplemented in recent years 
 by civic activity in cutting down some of Seattle’s hills and in reduc- 
 ing the grades in the business part of the city. On some of the streets 
 the grade was lowered as much as 30 feet, and on others there was a 
 corresponding fill. As the material on which the city is built is glacial 
 drift, steam shovels were largely used for the excavation, but the 
 methods used in hydraulic mining were employed to get rid of the 
 large hill upon which the old Washington Hotel was situated. The rail- 
 way crosses the wide tidal flats, which are being more and more utilized 
 for business purposes, and reaches the Union Station at Seattle. 
 
 Kent. 
 
 Elevation 53 feet. 
 Population 1,908. 
 St. Paul 1,888 miles. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1Renton is one of the oldest coal- 
 mining centers of this part of the country, 
 as mines were opened here in 1874. 
 This early activity can not be attributed 
 to the quality of the coal, for that is of a 
 much lower rank than those already 
 described, but it is probably due to the 
 
 coal is brought to the surface through a 
 slope on one of the beds, and a rock tun- 
 nel in the mine connects with the other. 
 Each bed is over 8 feet thick every- 
 where, but this is not all merchantable 
 coal. The average heating value of the 
 coal of these two beds is 11,290 and 10,060 
 
 nearness to tidewater, the cleanness of 
 the coal, and its suitability for domestic 
 use. 
 
 Two coal beds are worked, and, like 
 most of the other coal beds of this region, 
 they are not lying flat, but dip at an 
 angle of about 12° to the southeast. The 
 
 95558 °—Bull. 611—15——-13 
 
 British thermal units. 
 
 The Renton coal, when exposed to the 
 weather, slacks badly. On account of 
 this property it is classed as subbitumi- 
 nous coal, the next lower in the scale to 
 bituminous coal, such as is mined at 
 Roslyn and Ravensdale. 
 
194 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The most important natural feature at Seattle is the wonderful 
 harbor, with deep water at the very door of the city. The depth of 
 water is shown on the small map on sheet 27. Other 
 features of interest are the steep water front and the 
 way in which it has been modified and shaped for the 
 use of man, and Lake Washington, which bounds the 
 city on the east and is soon to be thrown open to the 
 commerce of the world by the construction of a ship canal from 
 Salmon Bay through Lake Union and across the narrow neck of land 
 south of the State University. This will greatly increase the harbor 
 facilities, and the fresh water of the lake will afford an efficient 
 means of freeing ocean-going vessels of barnacles. 
 
 The State University is beautifully situated on the shore of Lake 
 Washington, and its campus was utilized for the site of the Alaska- 
 Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909. The city is well supplied with 
 parks and connecting boulevards, and one of the finest views about 
 the city is that of Mount Rainier’ from the boulevard that follows 
 
 Seattle. 
 
 Elevation 24 feet. 
 Population 237,194. 
 St. Paul 1,904 miles. 
 
 the shore of Lake Washington. 
 
 1 Of all the mountain masses and rugged 
 snow peaks in the region described in this 
 book, none will compare with the beauti- 
 ful majestic cone of Mount Rainier (PI. 
 XXVIII). This mountain giant is the 
 dominating feature of this part of the 
 Pacific slope. There may be other snow- 
 clad peaks that seem to pierce the sky, 
 such as Adams, Baker, and St. Helens, 
 but these are dwarfed Beside the mighty 
 symmetrical cone of Rainier. 
 
 Mount Rainier (14,408 feet) is of about 
 the same height as Pikes Peak, in Colo- 
 rado (14,108 feet), or Mount Whitney, in 
 California (14,502 feet), but it is superior 
 in beauty to either, for it is not only a 
 symmetrical cone but it can be seen from 
 sea level and at close range, so that it 
 stands out in all its massive grandeur. 
 Mount Rainier when it comes into view 
 from Tacoma, Seattle, or any other point 
 along the winding channels of Puget 
 Sound or from Lake Washington, reveals 
 its full height, as there are no other peaks 
 to obstruct the view or to detract from its 
 commanding presence. 
 
 The early exploration of the Puget 
 Sound region is a matter of some uncer- 
 tainty and doubt. Apostolos Valerianus, 
 an old Greek pilot in the service of Spain, 
 better known by his Spanish sobriquet 
 
 Juan de Fuca, claimed to have discov- 
 ered the main entrance to the Sound 
 about 1600, but grave doubt has been 
 cast upon his narrative and many believe 
 that his account was pure fiction. The 
 first reliable account of the Sound was 
 written by Capt. George Vancouver, of — 
 the British Royal Navy, who in 1792 
 mapped the Sound, named it after Peter 
 Puget, one of his lieutenants, and also 
 named many other natural features of the 
 region, including Mount Rainier. : 
 
 It is said that the original Indian name — 
 was Tacoma or Tahoma, meaning “‘big 
 snow mountain,’’ but Vancouver disre-— 
 garded or did not know of the Indian — 
 usage and named the peak after Rear 
 Admiral Rainier, of the British Navy. 
 This name has been adopted by the 
 United States Geographic Board. Never-— 
 theless, there are many people who would — 
 gladly see the foreign name abandoned, © 
 even though usage has given it great § 
 weight, and the aboriginal name Tacoma — 
 revived. i 
 
 Naturally, the high peaks of the Cas- ; 
 cade attracted the attention of everyone 
 who entered the region, and many were | 
 eager to scale them. The earliest record — 
 of mountain climbing was the ascent of 
 Mount St. Helens in 1853. Duriag the 
 
 
 
PLATE XXVI 
 
 BULLETIN 611 
 
 . 
 
 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 
 IMPASSABLE TANGLE OF A WASHINGTON FOREST 
 
 THE ALMOST 
 
‘ayyees VOI 79 SIND Aq payysiudoo ydesBojyoyy ‘asuey epeosed oy} jo jana] [e1eUeT 94} erode 99} OOO'O| Ajieou pue soyemapl} erode joe} gOH'p] SeSII EUS O1URd{OA ALUBIW siyy 
 
 "HSVM ‘SILLVSS ‘NOLONIHSVM 3XV1 30 SYOHS SHL NO GHVARSINOE SHL WOYS N3AS SV .'SHGVOSVOD SHL 30 HOYVNOW, ‘YSINIVY LNNOW 
 
 
 
 HWAXX 3LV1d -+t9 NILS71NA AZAYNS 1V9IDO01035 *S “nN 
 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 195 
 
 Although Capt. Vancouver mapped and named Puget Sound in 
 1792, there was no permanent settlement or even trading post in the 
 region until 1833, when Fort Nisqually was built by the Hudson’s Bay 
 Co. on the ground now occupied by the city of Tacoma. This post was 
 for many years, even up to the time it was purchased by the United 
 States Government in 1869, the leading commercial place on the Sound 
 and was surpassed only on the northwest coast by Fort Vancouver, on 
 the Columbia, which was the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Co. 
 
 Capt. Wilkes, when on his exploring expedition of 1840, landed at 
 Fort Nisqually and sent a party inland to explore the country tribu- 
 tary to the Sound and to Columbia River. One party traveled south- 
 ward and explored the Willamette (Wil-lam’et) Valley of Oregon, 
 and another, under Lieut. R. W. Johnson, on May 29, 1840, crossed 
 the Cascade Mountains by way of Naches Pass. This seems to have 
 been the earliest passage by white men across the Cascades. At that 
 time it was only an Indian trail, but in 1853 a road was cleared so that 
 emigrants over the old Oregon Trail could make a short cut to the 
 Sound instead of having to keep to the south along Columbia River. 
 
 
 
 following year parties reached the sum- 
 mits of Mount Hood, in Oregon, and 
 Mount Adams. Several unsuccessful at- 
 tempts were made to climb Mount Baker, 
 but not until 1868 did a party reach the 
 top. 
 
 Lieut. A. V. Kautz made an almost 
 successful ascent of Mount Rainier in 1857, 
 reaching within 1,000 feet of the summit. 
 His trip, however, proved to be very im- 
 portant, for he established the existence 
 of glaciers here, which up to that time 
 had not been known in this country. 
 The first expedition to reach the top of 
 the mountain was that of Gen. Hazard 
 Stevens and P. V. Van Trump, who at- 
 tained the summit on August 17, 1870. 
 In the same year 8. F. Emmons and A. 
 D. Wilson, at that time members of the 
 Fortieth Parallel Survey, made a brief 
 study of the geology of the mountain and 
 of the glaciers on its side and reached the 
 top October 17, just two months after it 
 had been attained by Stevens and Van 
 
 Trump. Since that time numerous as- 
 
 cents have been made, and each year 
 
 _ the trip is gaining in popularity, espe- 
 
 cially since the mountain and some of the 
 adjacent territory has been set aside as 
 the Mount Rainier National Park. The 
 base of the mountain can easily be 
 
 reached from either Seattle or Tacoma, 
 and the views obtained on such a trip will 
 amply repay anyone for the journey. 
 
 Mount Rainier, like Mounts Adams, St. 
 Helens, and Baker, and Glacier Peak, is a 
 great volcanic cone built upon the sum- 
 mit of the Cascade Range by successive 
 layers of material thrown out of its crater. 
 The great height of these peaks has not 
 been materially reduced by erosion, for 
 the time since their formation has not been 
 long enough to permit very effective work 
 by the elements. Steam escapes from 
 most of these old volcanoes, showing that 
 the rocks are still hot at some distance 
 below the surface. It is noted in the rec- 
 ords of old Fort Vancouver, on Columbia 
 River, that Mount St. Helens emitted 
 smoke and ashes since the establish- 
 ment of that post. The recent activity 
 of Lassen Peak, in northern California, 
 which is situated on the same general 
 range of mountains, is another indication 
 that volcanic activity in this region is not 
 quite extinct. 
 
 The heights of the great volcanic peaks 
 of Washington are as follows: Mount St. 
 Helens, 9,697 feet; Glacier Peak, 10,436 
 feet; Mount Baker, 10,750 feet; Mount 
 Adams, 12,307 feet; and Mount Rainier, 
 14,408 feet. 
 
196 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 The first settlement in the vicinity of Seattle was made at Alki — 
 
 Point in 1851. This was named New York, to which somebody face- 
 tiously added the Chinook word ‘‘alki,” meaning ‘‘by and by.” On 
 February 15, 1852, the claims which became the town site of Seattle 
 were staked, but up to 1860 there were not more than 20 families in 
 
 the town. The town of Tacoma was laid out in 1872, and since that — 
 
 date there has been the most intense though friendly rivalry between 
 the two places. 
 
 The Puget Sound basin lies in what is called the moist district of , 
 
 Washington. It has an annual precipitation of 25 to 60 inches, three- 
 fourths of which occurs in the ‘‘ wet season,’ from November to April. 
 It is therefore intermediate between the extremely wet country of the 
 coast, having an annual precipitation of 60 to 120 inches, and the 
 dry belt east of the Cascade Mountains, where the annual precipitation 
 is only 8 or 10 inches. The Puget Sound region is regarded by many 
 unfamiliar with it as a region of excessive rainfall, but the figures given 
 by the Weather Bureau show that the precipitation here is about the 
 same as in southern Ohio. The mean annual temperature of Seattle 
 for December, 1894, to December, 1903, was 52°. The maximum for 
 that time was 96° and the minimum 3°. 
 
 Although the great forests that have made this part of the north- 
 west coast famous are fast disappearing, lumbering continues to be 
 the chief industry along the Sound, and millions of feet of lumber 
 are each year sent east by the railways or shipped by vessel to various 
 parts of the world. 
 
 Seattle has one of the finest deep-water harbors on the coast. As 
 shown by the sketch map of Elliott Bay on sheet 27, the water deepens 
 
 a tk 
 
 rapidly to 100 feet and then the depth increases gradually and some- 
 
 what irregularly to 600 feet where the bay opens into the Sound. 
 The harbor facilities of Seattle and its position near the Strait of 
 
 Juan de Fuca and also the inland passage to the north have made it — 
 
 the most advantageous place on the northwest coast for the center of 
 the Alaskan trade and also for a large part of the oriental commerce 
 to the United States. 
 
 A ae | oe ee 
 
SHEET No. 27 
 
 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 Loose surface materials 
 
 > 
 
 Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 
 B_ Outwash (Steilacoom gravel) from retreating 
 ' Vashon Glacier 
 Glacial drift (Vashon and Osceola), Wisconsin 
 stage. Quaternary 
 Outwash (Orting gravel and Puyallup sand) 
 
 from Admiralty Glacier, shown by stippled 
 pattern 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Glacial drift (Admiralty), pre-Wisconsin 
 stage, represented by heavy line 
 Underlying rotks 
 Lava flows, andesite Quaternary 
 
 Lava flows (andesite of Cascade Range), 
 Miocene 
 
 Shale, Miocene Tertiary 
 
 Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Puget 
 group), Eocene 
 
 alls City 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Preston nggualmie 
 \ i 47 
 5 /, WAN NAN F 
 e KS SV \e\ ( 
 
 ee a SS ee 
 
 (Sheet No 26) 
 
 
 
 aria SS = Sy 
 Aas > 
 NV, 
 WW 
 
 His 
 We 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6O Kosh lg CG ING 
 » SN 2 ar CS S , ; 5S = 
 QS Brn sree SES A\ [SOY 
 
 . z : a NSF 
 OCA [eee 
 
 SS SY Ai ag oS 
 eS Spe Av 
 
 IN 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 BS; W/; 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED SY THE U.S.GREOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
“SHEET No. 27 
 
 BULLETIN 611 . enone 
 Sa reese eaeewer WASHINGTON © 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 Loose surface materials 
 
 A. Stream deposits (alluvium) 
 
 B Outwash (Steilacoom gravel) from retreating 
 Vashon Glacier 
 
 C Glacial drift (Vashon and Osceola), Wisconsin 
 stage. Quaternary 
 
 D. Outwash (Orting gravel and Puyallup sand) 
 
 from Admiralty Glacier, shown by stippled 
 pattern 
 
 E Glacial drift (Admiralty), pre-Wisconsin | 
 stage, represented by heavy line 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Underlying rotks ; 
 Lava flows, andesite Quaternary 
 
 Lava flows (andesite of Cascade Range), 
 Miocene 
 
 H Shale, Miocene Tertiary 
 I 
 
 Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Puget 
 group), Eocene 
 
 sFalls City 
 
 
 
 
 ry 
 
 From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 
 
 
 
 
 op) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 = es; he 
 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY | 
 
 GEORGE OTIS SMITH. DIRECTOR 
 
 
 
 
 
 (U.S. NAVAL STAYE 
 
 
 
 
 'BREM TOR 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 ‘ 5 : eae t a le Fal. 
 David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer Cats = Snoguafin eal’ 
 : Scale 500,000 << eee Ax 
 1915 ; _ Approximately 8 miles to | inch Preston nequalmie 
 . ' ? 5 io Miles i 
 Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the : 
 , lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 19 5 10 15 Kilometers = 
 Sheet of that name. ame eae = ) 
 Contour interval 200 feet = | 
 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL é 
 The distances from Si. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles of = 
 The crossties cn the railroads are spaced ! mile apart y- V3 = / 
 >. ==) £=37/ |! » (= 
 a A ms | | ss SASS 
 = = A | R yh | {If 
 = - “| V : = Mn Le XS\) Ss 
 C \ \WesS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ZG Te Se 
 wy == a = y 
 LEZ ES A 
 LZ VGN SG 
 EAS Nie eee 
 ) Yj Ve i: : 
 ) ZZ; } G foncea0 253 " ap) He SS) 
 
 LUE eae 
 
 Bow 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 
 wre elta 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 j : G 
 Z LZ Z = é- gravels & if may scceniieg 
 | Z : Ae aeetel | of IMGT! 
 ) LLL  ( Steilaagdme , 
 y Lake .< jLakeview 
 Felte e thy : z Ci : i EL 77 # 
 Divwamish Head *. i Ketron 70. 
 6 te Rt CSeita / er/ten Lake 
 SEPA a gravels / 4 0 A. 
 : ee pac pu a as f rad, v Spana . 
 r Ur 8 roy So . et / oy 
 {7  Bupont %, A Miihurst oH) 
 EN isqualiyeo aah wed IG 0 
 ‘hs Delia graves ) ep apy ps 
 pes im | \ /y0' ¥ oh / ASX aay 
 ae) i TS 
 ‘ Pasa toa os Com G 
 (oor ee eres MILES ‘ ater d\ ae an acl = N ra . 
 MAP SHOWING DEPTH OF WATER IN ELLIOTT BAY ,SEATTLE /) 1h) S) oe 1*C, \\ = es Oe «0 Sas 
 Mie LY Bi nd CN | MeN FO | 
 Dl 122°30' 
 
 ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 
 
 
 
IMPORTANT PAPERS ON THE GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, 
 AND HISTORY OF THE REGION TRAVERSED BY THE 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 
 
 MINNESOTA. 
 Coves, Exziorr, The explorations of Zebulon M. Pike, vol. 1, New York, 1895. 
 NORTH DAKOTA. 
 
 Hatt, C. M., and Wizarp, D. E., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Casselton-Fargo 
 folio (No. 117), 1905. 
 
 LronarpD, A. G., U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Bismarck folio (No. 181), 1912. 
 
 Leonarp, A. G., and Smiru, ©. D., The Sentinel Butte lignite field, North Dakota 
 and Montana: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 341, pp. 15-35, 1909. 
 
 Topp, J. E., The moraines of the Missouri Coteau and their attendant deposits: U. S. 
 Geol. Survey Bull. 144, 1896. 
 
 UrpnHam, WarrEN, The glacial Lake Agassiz: U. 8. Geol. Survey Mon. 25, 1896. 
 
 Wrarp, D. E., U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Jamestown-Tower folio (No. 168), 
 
 1909. 
 MONTANA. 
 
 BaRRELL, JosEPH, Geology of the Marysville mining district, Mont.: U. S. Geol. 
 Survey Prof. Paper 57, 1907. 
 
 Oatxins, F. C., and MacDonatp, D. F., A geological reconnaissance in northern 
 Idaho and northwestern Montana: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 384, 1909. 
 
 Catvert, W. R., Geology of certain lignite fields in eastern Montana: U. 8. Geol. 
 Survey Bull. 471, pp. 187-201, 1912. 
 
 The Livingston and Trail Creek coal fields, Park, Gallatin, and Sweetgrass 
 
 counties, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 471, pp. 384-405, 1912. 
 
 The Electric coal field, Park County, Mont.: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 471, pp. 
 406-422, 1912. 
 
 CHITTENDEN, H. M., The Yellowstone National Park: Cincinnati, The Robert Clarke 
 Co., 1895. 
 
 CotuerR, A. J., and SmirH, C. D., The Miles City coal field, Mont.: U. S. Geol. 
 Survey Bull. 341, pp. 36-61, 1909. 
 
 Hague, Arnoxtp, WEED, W. H., and Ipp1nes, J. P., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, 
 Yellowstone National Park folio (No. 30), 1896. 
 
 Hance, J. H., The Glendive lignite field, Dawson County, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. Sur- 
 vey Bull. 471, pp. 271-283, 1912. 
 
 Ippines, J. P., and Weep, W. H., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Livingston folio 
 (No. 1), 1894. 
 
 Knorr, Aporpn, Ore deposits of the Helena mining region, Mont.: U.S. Geol. Survey 
 Bull. 527, 1913. 
 
 PARDEE, J. T., Coal in the Tertiary lake beds of southwestern Montana: U.S. Geol. 
 Survey Bull. 531, pp. 229-244, 1913. 
 
 The glacial Lake Missoula, Jour. Geology, vol. 18, pp. 376-386, 1910. 
 
 Peatez, A. C., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Threeforks folio (No. 24), 1896. 
 Stonz, R. W., and Catvert, W. R., Stratigraphic relations of the Livingston for- 
 mation of Montana: Econ. Geology, vol. 5, pp. 551-557, 652-669, 741-764, 1910. 
 
 _ Watcort, C. D., Algonkian formations of northwestern Montana: Geol. Soc. America 
 Bull., vol. 17, pp. 1-28, 1906. 
 
 Pre-Cambrian fossiliferous formations: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 10, pp. 
 199-244, 1899. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 197 
 
198 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Weep, W. H., Geology and ore deposits of the Butte district, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. 
 Survey Prof. Paper 74, 1912. 
 
 The glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley north of the park: U.8. Geol. Survey 
 
 Bull. 104, 1893. 
 
 The Laramie and the overlying Livingston formation in Montana, with report 
 on flora, by F. H. Knowlton: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 105, 1893. 
 
 WEED, W. H., Emmons, S. F., and Tower, G. W., jr., U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, 
 Butte special folio (No. 38), 1897. 
 
 Wooprurr, E. G., The Red Lodge coal field, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 341, 
 pp. 92-107, 1909. 
 
 
 
 
 
 IDAHO. 
 
 Ransome, F. L., and Catxins, F. C., The geology and ore deposits of the Coeur 
 d’Alene district, Idaho: U. 8. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 62, 1908. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Bretz, J. H., Glaciation of the Puget Sound region: Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 
 8, 1913. 
 
 Caxins, F. C., Geology and water resources of a portion of east-central Washington: 
 U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 118, 1905. 
 
 Evans, G. W., The coal fields of King County, Wash.: Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 
 31912. 
 
 RussE.., I. C., A geological reconnaissance in central Washington: U.S. Geol. Sur- 
 vey Bull. 108, 1893. 
 
 Russe LL, I. C., and Smrrug, G. O., Glaciers of Mount Rainier, with a paper on the 
 rocks of Mount Rainier: U. 8. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Rept., pt. 2, pp. 349- 
 424, 1898. i 
 
 Suiru, E. E., Coals of the State of Washington: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 474, 1911. 
 
 Smiru, G. O., Geology and water resources of a portion of Yakima County, Wash.: 
 
 U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 55, 1901. 
 
 —— U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Ellensburg folio (No. 86), 1903. 
 
 U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Mount Stuart folio (No. 106), 1904. 
 
 Surry, G. O., and Carxins, F. C., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Snoqualmie folio 
 (No. 139), 1906. 
 
 Smitu, G. O., and Wruuis, BarLey, Contributions to the geology of Washington: U.S. 
 Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 19, 1903. ; 
 
 WarinG, G. A., Geology and water resources of a portion of south-central Washington: 
 U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 316, 1913. 
 
 
 
 eee Yr 
 
 a 
 
 aeeeta = 
 
 eu, tes fn J 
 cate eo) See eae een 
 
 Wits, Barey, and Sarru, G. O., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Tacoma folio (No. 
 
 54), 1899. 
 GENERAL. 
 
 Cougs, Extiott, History of the expedition under the command of Lewis and Clark, 
 4 vols., New York, Francis P. Harper, 1893. 
 GANNETT, Henry, Boundaries of the United States and the several States and 
 
 Territories, with an outline of the history of all important changes of territory: — 
 
 U.8. Geol. Survey Bull. 226, 1904. 
 
 SMALLEY, E. V., History of the Northern Pacific Railroad, New York, G. P. Putnam’s 
 Sons, 1883. 
 
 WHEELER, O. D., The trail of Lewis and Clark, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1904. 
 
 
 
GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGIC TERMS. 
 
 Alluvial fan. The outspread sloping deposit of bowlders, gravel, and sand left by 
 a stream where it passes from a gorge out upon a plain. 
 
 Andesite. A lava of widespread occurrence, usually of dark-gray color and inter- 
 mediate in chemical composition between rhyolite and basalt. 
 
 Anticline. Arch of bedded or layered rock suggestive in form of an overturned 
 canoe. (See fig. 20, p. 102.) (See also Dome and Syncline. ) 
 
 Badlands. A region nearly devoid of vegetation where erosion, instead of carving 
 hills and valleys of the familiar type, has cut the land into an intricate maze of 
 narrow ravines and sharp crests and pinnacles. Travel across such a region is 
 almost impossible, hence the name. (See Pls. VI-IX, pp. 62-63.) 
 
 Basalt. A common lava of dark color and of great fluidity when molten. Basalt is 
 less siliceous than granite and rhyolite, and contains much more iron, calcium, 
 and magnesium. 
 
 Bolson (pronounced bowl-sown’). A flat-floored desert valley that drains to a central 
 evaporaticn pan or playa. 
 
 Bomb. See Volcanic bomb. 
 
 Breccia (pronounced bretch’a). A mass of naturally cemented angular rock frag- 
 ments, 
 
 Crystalline rock. A rock composed of closely fitting mineral crystals that have 
 formed in the rock substance as contrasted with one made up of cemented grains 
 of sand or other material or with a volcanic glass. 
 
 Diabase. A heavy, dark, intrusive rock having the same composition as basalt, but, 
 on account of its slower cooling, a more crystalline texture. Its principal con- 
 stituent minerals are feldspar, augite, and usually olivine. Olivine is easily 
 changed by weathering, and in many diabases is no longer recognizable. Augite 
 is a mineral containing iron and magnesium and is similar to hornblende. 
 
 Dike. A mass of igneous rock that has solidified in a wide fissure or crack i in the 
 earth’s crust. (See fig. 15, p. 95.) 
 
 Diorite. An even-grained intrusive igneous rock consisting chiefly of the minerals 
 feldspar, hornblende, and very commonly black mica. If the rock contains 
 much quartz, it is called quartz diorite. Quartz diorite resembles granite and is 
 connected with that rock by many intermediate varieties, including monzonite. 
 The feldspar in diorite differs from that in granite in containing calcium and 
 sodium instead of potassium. Hornblende isa green or black mineral containing 
 iron, magnesium, calcium, and other constituents. 
 
 Dip. The slope of a rock layer expressed by the angle which the top or bottom of 
 the layer makes with a horizontal plane. (See fig. 2, p. 17.) 
 
 Dissected. Cut by erosion into hills and valleys. Applicable especially to plains 
 or peneplains in process of erosion after an uplift. 
 
 Dome. As applied to rock layers or beds, a short anticline, suggestive of an in- 
 verted basin. 
 
 Drift. The rock fragments—soil, gravel, and silt—carried by a glacier. Drift in- 
 cludes the unassorted material known as till and deposits made by streams flow- 
 ing from a glacier. 
 
 Erosion. The wearing away of materials at the earth’ssurface by the mechanical ac- 
 tion of running water, waves, moving ice, or winds, which use rock fragments and 
 grains as tools or abrasives. Erosion is aided by weathering. (See Weathering.) 
 
 199 
 
200 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Fault. <A fracture in the earth’s crust accompanied by movement of the rock on 
 one side of the break past that on the other. If the fracture is inclined and the 
 rock on one side appears to have slid down the slope of the fracture the fault is 
 termed a normal fault. If, on the other hand, the rock on one side appears to 
 have been shoved up the inclined plane of the break, the fault is termed a reverse 
 fault. (See fig. 20, p. 102; fig. 23, p. 112, and fig. 30, p. 143.) 
 
 Fault block. A part of the earth’s crust bounded wholly or in part by faults. 
 
 Fault scarp. Thecliffformed bya fault. Most fault scarps have been modified by 
 erosion since the faulting. 
 
 Fauna. The animals that inhabited the world or a certain region at a certain time. 
 
 Fissure. <A crack, break, or fracture in the earth’s crust or in a mass of rock. 
 
 Flood plain. The nearly level land that borders a stream and is subject to occasional | 
 overflow. Flood plains are built up by sediment left by such overflows. | 
 
 Flora. The assemblage of plants growing at a given time or in a given place. 
 
 Fold. A bend in rock layers or beds. Anticlines and synclines are the common 
 types of folds. (See fig. 28, p. 129, and fig. 31, p. 144.) 
 
 Formation. A rock layer, or a series of continuously deposited layers grouped 
 together, regarded by the geologist as a unit for purposes of description and 
 mapping. A formation is usually named from some place where it is exposed 
 in its typical character. Jor example, Denver formation, Niobrara limestone. 
 
 Fossil. The whole or any part of an animal or plant that has been preserved in 
 the rocks or the impression left by a plant or animal. This preservation is in- 
 variably accompanied by change in substance, and from some impressions the 
 original substance has all been removed. (See Pls. VI, A, p. 62; XI, B, p. 75.) 
 
 Gneiss (pronounced nice). A rock resembling granite, but with its mineral con- 
 stituents so arranged as to give it a banded appearance. Most gneisses are meta- 
 morphic rocks derived from granite or other igneous rocks. 
 
 Granite. A crystalline igneous rock that has solidified slowly deep within the 
 earth. It consists chiefly of the minerals quartz, feldspar, and one or both of 
 the common kinds of mica, namely, black mica, or biotite, and white mica, or 
 muscovite. The feldspar is the kind known as orthoclase, and may be distin- 
 guished from quartz by its pale-reddish tint and its property of breaking with 
 
 flat shining surfaces (cleavage), for quartz breaks irregularly. The micas are ~ 
 
 easily recognized by their cleavage into thin, flexible flakes and their bril- 
 liant luster. 
 
 Horizon. In geology any distinctive plane traceable from place to place in different 
 exposures of strata and marking the same period of geologic time. A particular 
 horizon may be characterized by distinctive fossils. 
 
 Igneous rocks. Rocks formed by the cooling and solidification of a hot liquid — 
 
 material known as magma, that has originated at unknown depths within the 
 earth. Those that have solidified beneath the surface are known as intrusive 
 rocks, or, if the cooling has taken place slowly at great depth, as plutonic intru- 
 sive or plutonic rocks, Those that have flowed out over the surface are known 
 as effusive rocks, extrusive rocks, or lavas. The term volcanic rocks includes — 
 not only lavas but bombs, pumice, tuff, volcanic ash, and other fragmental — 
 materials or ejecta thrown out from volcanoes. 
 
 Lithologic. Pertaining to lithology, or the study of rocks. (See also Petrology.) 
 Pertaining to rock character. 
 
 Lode. An ore-bearing vein (see Vein); especially a broad or complex vein. 
 
 Loess (pronounced lurse with the r obscure). A fine homogeneous silt or loam ~ 
 showing usually no division into layers and forming thick and extensive © 
 deposits in the Mississippi Valley and in China. It is generally regarded as in 
 part at least a deposit of wind-blown dust. . 
 
 
 
GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGIC TERMS. 201 
 
 Meander. To flow in serpentine curves. <A loop in a stream. The term comes 
 from the Greek name of a river in Asia Minor, which has a sinuous course. Most 
 streams in flowing across plains develop meanders. (See Pl. III, A, p. 11.) 
 
 Metamorphism. Any change in rocks effected in the earth by heat, pressure, 
 solutions, orgases. A common cause of the metamorphism of rocks is the intru- 
 sion into them of igneous rocks. Rocks that have been so changed are termed 
 metamorphic. 
 
 Monzonite. An even-grained intrusive igneous rock intermediate in character 
 between diorite and granite. It resembles granite. 
 
 Moraine. A mass of drift deposited by a glacier at its end or along its sides. 
 
 Oil pool. An accumulation or body of oil in sedimentary rock that yields petro- 
 leum on drilling. The oil occurs in the pores of the rock and is not a pool or 
 pond in the ordinary sense of these words. 
 
 Outcrop. That part of a rock that appears at the surface. The appearance of a 
 rock at the surface or its projection above the soil. 
 
 Paleontology. The study of the world’s ancient life, either plant or animal, by 
 means of fossils. 
 
 Peneplain. A region reduced almost to a plain by the long-continued normal ero- 
 sion of a land surface. It should be distinguished from a plain produced by the 
 attack of waves along a coast or the built-up flood plain of a river. 
 
 Petrography. The description of rocks, especially of igneous and metamorphic 
 rocks, studied with the aid of the microscope. 
 
 Petrology. The study of rocks, especially of igneous and metamorphic rocks. 
 
 Placer deposit. A mass of gravel, sand, or similar material resulting from the 
 crumbling and erosion of solid rocks and containing particles or nuggets of gold, 
 platinum, tin, or other valuable minerals, which have been derived from rocks 
 or veins by erosion. 
 
 Playa (pronounced plah’ya). The shallow central basin of a desert plain, in which 
 water gathers after a rain and is evaporated. 
 
 Porphyry. Any igneous rock in which certain crystal constituents are distinctly 
 visible in contrast with the finer-grained substance of the rock. 
 
 Quartzite. A rock composed of sand grains cemented by silica into an extremely 
 hard mass. 
 
 Rhyolite. A lava, usually of light color, corresponding in chemical composition to 
 granite. The same molten liquid that at great depth within the earth solidifies 
 as granite would, if it flowed out on the surface, cool more quickly and crystal- 
 lize less completely as rhyolite. 
 
 Schist. A rock that by subjection to heat and pressure within the earth has under- 
 gone a change in the character of the particles or minerals that compose it and 
 has these minerals arranged in such a way that the rock splits more easily in 
 certain directions than in others. A schist has a crystalline grain roughly com- 
 parable with the grain of a piece of wood. 
 
 Sedimentary rocks. Rocks formed by the accumulation of sediment in water 
 (aqueous deposits) or from air (eolian deposits). The sediment may consist of 
 rock fragments or particles of various sizes (conglomerate, sandstone, shale); of 
 the remains or products of animals or plants (certain limestones and coal); of the 
 product of chemical action or of evaporation (salt, gypsum, etc.); or of mixtures 
 of these materials. Some sedimentary deposits (tuffs) are composed of fragments 
 blown from volcanoes and deposited on land or in water. A characteristic fea- 
 ture of sedimentary deposits is a layered structure known as bedding or strati- 
 fication. Each layer is a bed or stratum. Sedimentary beds as deposited lie 
 flat or nearly flat. 
 
 Shale. A rock consisting of hardened thin layers of fine mud. 
 
202 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
 
 Slate. A rock that by subjection to pressure within the earth has acquired the 
 property of splitting smoothly into thin plates. The cleavage is smoother and 
 more regular than the splitting of schist along its grain. 
 
 Stratigraphy. The branch of geologic science that deals with the order and rela- 
 tions of the strata of the earth’s crust. 
 
 Strike. The direction along which an inclined rock layer would meet the earth’s 
 surface if that surface were level. The outcrop (which see) of a bed on a plain 
 is coincident with its strike. | 
 
 Structure. In geology the forms assumed by sedimentary beds and igneous rocks 
 that have been moved from their original position by forces within the earth or 
 the forms taken by intrusive masses of igneous rock in connection with effects 
 
 produced mechanically on neighboring rocks by the intrusion. Folds (anticlines _ 
 
 and synclines) and faults are the principal mechanical effects considered under 
 structure. Schistosity and cleavage are also structural features. 
 
 Syncline. An inverted arch of bedded or layered rock suggestive in form of a canoe. 
 (See fig. 28, p. 129.) 
 
 Talus (pronounced tay’lus). The mass of loose rock fragments that accumulates at 
 the base of a cliff or steep slope. (See Pl. XXII, B, p. 166.) 
 
 Terrace. A steplike bench ona hillside. Most terraces along rivers are remnants 
 of valley bottoms formed when the stream flowed at higher levels. Other ter- 
 races have been formed by waves. Some terraces have been cut in solid rock, 
 others have been built up of sand and gravel, and still others have been partly 
 cut and partly built up. (See Pl. XX, p. 142.) 
 
 Till. The deposit of mingled bowlders, rock fragments, and soil left behind by a 
 melting glacier or deposited about its margin. 
 
 Tuff. A rock consisting of a layer or layers of lava particles blown from a volcano. 
 A fine tuff is often called volcanic ash and a coarse tuff is called breccia. 
 
 Type locality. The place at which a formation is typically displayed and from 
 which it isnamed; also the place at which a fossil or other geologic feature is 
 displayed in typical form. 
 
 Unconformity. A break in the regular succession of sedimentary rocks, indicated 
 by the fact that one bed rests on the eroded surface of one or more beds which 
 may have a distinctly different dip from the bed above. An unconformity may 
 indicate that the beds below it have at some time been raised above the sea 
 and have been eroded. In some places beds thousands of feet thick have been 
 washed away before the land again became submerged and the first bed above 
 the surface of unconformity was deposited. If beds of rock may be regarded as 
 leaves in the volume of geologic history, an unconformity marks a gap in the 
 record. 
 
 Vein. A mass of mineral material that has been deposited in or along a fissure in 
 the rocks. A vein differs from a dike in that the vein material was introduced 
 gradually by deposition from solution whereas a dike was intruded in a molten 
 condition. 
 
 Volcanic bomb. A rounded mass of lava thrown out while in a hot and pasty con- 
 
 dition from a volcano. A bomb, like a raindrop, is rounded in its passage through ~ 
 
 the air and may be covered with a cracked crust due to quick cooling. 
 
 Volcanic cone. A mountain or hill, usually of characteristic conical form, built up 
 around a volcanic vent. The more nearly perfect cones are composed princi- 
 pally of lava fragments and volcanic ashes. 
 
 Volcanic glass. Lava that has cooled and solidified before it has had time to crys- 
 tallize. 
 
 —S{~ 27 
 
 eS 
 
 a = 
 
 ——— ae 
 
GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGIC TERMS. 2038 
 
 Voleanic neck. A plug of lava that formerly congealed in the pipe of a volcano. 
 When the tuffs and lava flows that make up most of a volcano have been washed 
 away by erosion the neck may remain as an isolated hill. 
 
 Voleanic rocks. Igneous rocks erupted at or near the earth’s surface, including 
 lavas, tuffs, volcanic ashes, and like material. 
 
 Weathering. The group of processes, such as the chemical action of air and rain 
 water and of plants and bacteria and the mechanical action of changes of tem- 
 perature, whereby rocks on exposure to the weather change in character, decay, 
 and finally crumble into soil. 
 
Pete ee 
 
 vr toe oye jh oi Ke im ed ey eS 
 
 
 
 
 : ; nae ve 
 iy teeth ae eT eee Tas to) ar 
 © ak ee 
 
 yy 0S atl eet iene ay Tea ye 
 i “tm hy jie rr 
 
 _ : oy tye rs Atad hells ie 
 bx“ 4 ‘ f arm ef @ ~ 4 a (ae 
 ¥ ; bc 
 
 “apy ultiy Pall Mesh ib iti ‘re a> ae i 
 . | - 
 
 areas 
 
 ‘] ig ae 
 
 = 
 
 a 
 ‘ 
 ; 
 § 
 A. ‘ 
 “os 
 » ad 7 
 a | a wh 
 S 
 : * 
 c ee 
 7 a7 
 ‘ 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ROUTE MAP. 
 
 For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map are so folded and placed that he can 
 unfold them one by one and keep each one in view while he is reading the text relating toit. A reference 
 in parentheses is given in the text at each point where a new sheet should be unfolded. 
 
 SHEET 1. 
 2s 
 3. 
 
 4, 
 
 on 
 
 oon md 
 
 10. 
 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 16. 
 es 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 20. 
 ye 
 22. 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 25, 
 26. 
 27. 
 
 SPA Toe Mme aed. ice wae op pace sn a ld = = oe bee 
 St. Cloud to Verndale, Minn. (with map of Cuyuna iron range). .... 
 Wadena to Hawley, Minn. (with map of western and Superior ice 
 Seperate ta Perea ais J. ae Seat or sme a coils Sa ee ec 
 Hawley, Minn., to Buffalo, N. Dak. (with map of glacial Lake 
 SESE Sains ge loses ct eyes A RE Ae Arey i pean Se ee eI 
 
 . Tower City to Berner, N. Dak. (with map showing moraines formed 
 
 by the ice sheet that crossed North Dakota in Wisconsin time).... 
 
 BRIM rer CON eMA IN DAK oes de Poco S oo ca Cae ie eer cam ne yeas 
 MRE Repeat ara ct oe te bes be A ovr oes betes masa eee 
 Reems ON) tO OaUetOnG. NT, DAK. oo 3-5. dee nek ee ae as eos 
 mimmen to mentinel Butte, N 2Dak=:-52-2-222.). 22... 5 is eee ree es 
 
 Beach, N. Dak., to Fallon, Mont........-. 2 eat ly Reber Sens doe 
 
 Corre OEY fare eet By ny fag et Buia, Bs IGT at sale api og ne ea 
 
 PUM ECOG Tet CE MIM ONG Eee ee ee eas kn eine ee Sue ve ape oe 
 mere EITC Sh OTN ee es Noles oe is ne elec ewe Sess 
 cn PSA Tes IGT sorter eh a re 
 eenmmmtenConiral se ative MON igi -ueeroce orice ot ose o> ee 2 
 Pre oattar Co OVUalr eh Ol beteen eee oe ee ees kei Se ees 
 err GOULLISLON SIN Olt eee 625 sion = a ws oo ee ob oS ae ed wo ole oe 
 Warm Springs to Clinton, Mont. (with map of western Montana show- 
 
 ing distribution of known Tertiary lake beds). ......-..--------- 
 Turah to Weeksville, Mont. (with map of glacial Lake Missoula). ... 
 Mddy,Mont., to Hope, Idaho... .--..--. 2220-202 eet eee ee 
 Oden, Tdaho, to Spokane, Wash............------- +0 +2 +e eee eee 
 Berra p te liz Ville VW ablien cee eo. Oe a ey a ie ccle s om cee a seme 
 Essig to Vale, Wash. (with map of the great lava plateau of Columbia 
 
 SP OF aig eg OS Soa eo eres oe rs ae 
 Eltopia to Mabton, Wash. .......---------+------ 2-22 e cence eee eee 
 Empire to Wymer, Wash.....-....----------- Ot Na ae nee ae a. 
 emer estore WW OB apes cee oe ss eee ase sess 
 Lester to Seattle, Wash. (with map showing depth of water in Elliott 
 
 “LCG, LEAR A AI Te Meer ra ae ce 
 
 205 
 
 Page. 
 20 
 26 
 
 32 
 
 40 
 
 44 
 46 
 54 
 60 
 64 
 68 
 72 
 78 
 82 
 86 
 98 
 112 
 126 
 
 134 
 144 
 152 
 160 
 164 
 
 168 
 172 
 176 
 186 
 
 196 
 
206 
 
 Puate I. 
 
 Ble 
 1aGE 
 
 iv. 
 
 V3 
 Vie 
 
 VLEs 
 VALLI: 
 1B-& 
 XxX. 
 8.0 
 »-Gile 
 S.GRAE. 
 XIY. 
 XV. 
 XVI. 
 DoViL. 
 
 XVIII. 
 XIX. 
 
 XX. 
 XXI. 
 »:@.4 2 IF 
 XXITI. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 XXYV. 
 
 XXVI. 
 XXVIT. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PLATES. 
 
 Relief map showing surface features of the western part of the United 
 Minnehaha, *‘ Laughine Water”. ......--.-+..+s<0s6 seen seen 
 A, Valley City, N. Dak., from the ‘‘high line”’; B, The ‘“‘high line” 
 across the valley of Sheyenne River, N. Dak.................... 
 A, Badlands in the vicinity of Mandan, N. Dak.; B, Cracks produced 
 by the burning of a bed of lignite.........-. 2.20 5c<ee eee 
 A, B, Erosion forms of North Dakota.-............:: scp eee 
 A, Silicified stump in Pyramid Park, N. Dak.; B, The ‘‘prow of the 
 battleship,’’ one of the buttes of Pyramid Park, N. Dak.......... 
 A, View of the badlands of North Dakota; B, A bed of lignite 15 feet 
 thick in the canyon of. Little Missouri River, N. Dak............ 
 
 A, B, Views of the badlands of North Dakota..................... 
 A-D, Views of the badlands of North Dakota and Montana.......... 
 The great Triceratops, which in Lance time roamed through the for- 
 ests of Montana and North;Dakota..-..-..... 2.2, A. - see 
 A, Bluffs of Lance formation on Yellowstone River west of Hysham, 
 Mont.; B, Fossil palm leaf of Eocene age found near Hysham, 
 Mote oci.5 55S a diel wiser pw pielin stata pes RA pepe en 
 A, B, Views in the sheep range of Montana: ......J5..4 ,sussneeeee 
 A, Pompeys Pillar, Mont., as seen from the Northern Pacific Rail- 
 way; B, Inscription made by Capt. Clark on Pompeys Pillar, 
 July 25, 1806...2....-:22+ sda p6 034 2 eels Dae cree a 
 Emigrant Peak, the sentinel guarding the northern approach to 
 Yellowstone Park.....2.. 22. s2ss+ceeseue be ober ey: eee 
 Rocky gateway which Rock Creek has cut through the Madison 
 limestone below Chestnut, Mont... .......22. 2-105 4.65 =n 
 View looking west from Homestake summit, Mont.................- 
 Silver Bow Canyon, Mont:. 2... .2ccd2. 02.20. a weiay cee a 
 Cliffs of Madison limestone at Lombard, Mont................<----- 
 A, Summer camp of the Flathead Indians, a familiar scene in the 
 Jocko Valley, Mont.; B, Glacier on the north slope of McDonald 
 Peak, Monts. tose: 2a Sank ee. epee peeps eke ee 
 View down Flathead River from Knowles, Mont..................-- 
 Cabinet Gorge, Idaho... 0222.22.20 -e aes ee | 2 
 A, White Bluff of the Columbia, 20 miles above Pasco, Wash.; B, 
 Columnar lava at Cactus siding, 5 miles south of Connell, Wash... 
 Mount Adams, as seen from the Northern Pacific trains near Toppen- 
 ish, Wash... i. se.deusiyachtaneetaeeabeczes Bowe oo 
 A, Yakima Canyon, Wash.; B, Columnar andesite near Yakima 
 Canyon, Wash... 2.22222 28 22% 02s ckipvin mii ae oe 
 Beautiful Lake Keechelus, Wash... ..~..:..<-5- sc. ce- ee ee 
 The almost impassable tangle of a Washington forest 
 Mount Rainier, ‘‘monarch of the Cascades,’’ as seen from the boule- 
 vard on the shore of Lake Washington, Seattle, Wash............ 
 
 Lae 
 
 Page. 
 
 ee 
 
 52 
 
 53 
 a 
 62. 
 62 
 63 
 
 74 
 
 75 
 76 
 
 Ts 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 106 
 107 
 118 
 
 4 
 
 119 
 142 
 143 . 
 
 166 
 
 167 
 
 174 
 
 175 
 194 
 
 ee ey 
 
FiauRE 1. 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 We gs 
 
 18. 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FIGURES. 
 
 Section across Mississippi Valley between St. Paul and Fort Snell- 
 SAMOA ESD ee geen Ua Ven ns minal Voce ona s shan 
 
 . Diagram showing northward rise of the rocks in the vicinity of 
 
 NTE tA TC set Ae tok c= J as Bia apc ke ke oie be eg sie ore 
 
 . Diagram showing probable origin of many kettle holes..........- 
 meetin butialo hiver delta, Minn. 2... 022. be ec sede eee 
 . Section of Herman beach ridge west of Magnolia, N. Dak. ....... 
 Se eee eee Dos saw be hie 43.5 sin Sees Ka doe an 
 meaeramo. Glendive anticline, Mont: .... 2.25.6. Je.+- 208 leees-- 
 . Sun-bleached skull near Miles City, Mont....................... 
 . Diagram showing the thinning out and coming in of formations 
 
 from Black Hills, S. Dak., to Billings, Mont: -..-.....-.-..-...- 
 
 . Monument built by sheep herder........--------- rec ene a ae 
 . Eagle sandstone north of Park City, Mont..............-.-.....-- 
 . Cross section to illustrate the change in the formations between 
 
 fee rane sh Ie Oli MON bet. cite hata s = en oak x o'= Oa nd wie w- 
 Cross section showing the rim of the mountains south of Livingston, 
 
 Diagram showing the structure of Cinnabar Mountain, Mont...... 
 Dike cutting coal bed and sill intruded in a position to affect the 
 NGG ie CUal rea es eek oo see np nan = te oa wer ae 
 Vertical fold in Madison limestone west of Chestnut, Mont....-.... 
 Upturned Madison limestone and associated rocks, forming the 
 Pere eerste! WMONt he ate Seas Ue Lee ee eRe acest e223 
 Southeast side of the great synclinal basin north of Logan, Mont.. 
 Diagram to explain the course of Jefferson River west of Willow 
 OS oT Ae, BS eee SSE 2 a gee pe 
 Section of great anticlinal fold near Lime Spur, Mont ............ 
 Perneanre or TALC, Porc n homes re a sede Satie ee eee 
 Diagram of Continental Divide east of Butte, Mont...........--- 
 Diagrams illustrating the ways in which the broad valleys of the 
 Rocky Mountain region were formed...........--------------- 
 Sections along Northern Pacific Railway between Durant and 
 Drummond, Mont., showing probable mode of formation of Deer 
 «1h Br) TS Sie le aN Se a a oe ee os 
 
 . Section between Logan and Trident, Mont.........-.--- oe At oe 
 Bee etotd at rident,- MOonteds <. 4-08. -- 62s wee eels ne oe 
 . Fold and fault in the rocks near Lombard, Mont............-..-.-- 
 . Diagram of fold west of Drummond, Mont.......--..---..---- bt 
 . Horizontal beach lines on Mount Jumbo, as seen from railway sta- 
 
 Mpa eNinsiU Ane VON Get ent oe cc latigie eos sais aides pisiefeiSis oom ss 
 
 mNorms| taulta and overthrust fault... 24... fsa. - ose ees 
 . Great folds in the rocks between Plains and Thompson Falls, Mont . 
 . Profile of mountain slope east of Sandpoint, Idaho. ...-.-. Ree ee 
 . Cross-bedding in glacial gravel on Latah Creek 1 mile west of 
 
 POR AMCANV ASI. 2 Jane oa cle so es be caus sede t= caine wee 
 
 . Island of gneiss or schist in the lava near Marshall, Wash... .---. 
 . Section of Yakima Valley east of Prosser, Wash...........------- 
 Mil tre igs t TOTLO. OF LWOZA)) WASNS on oe Fak ose os Glo Snes as Se 
 . Section showing structure of Yakima basalt north of Ellensburg, 
 
 Peer OE re Pe ey hg We BS RN EDS eye ON a ai chee 4 awe Ae Wissen 2 
 
 . Section showiny size and shape of the valley of Green River below 
 
 Eagle Gorge, Wash., compared with the valley the river aban- 
 doned when it was blocked by ice........ Na PR ee of eee 
 
 207 
 
 Page. 
 EL 
 
 17 
 29 
 34 
 39 
 58 
 68 
 70 
 
 75 
 77 
 83 
 
 84 
 
 89 
 93 
 
 95 
 96 
 
 98 
 99 
 
 101 
 102 
 104 
 107 
 
 112 
 
 115 
 116 
 117 
 118 
 129 
 
 134 
 143 
 144 
 152 
 
 160 
 161 
 170 
 176 
 
 179 
 

 
 
 
 - 7 ey 4, a a © ee - : 
 ee =! Ay * oa Bin: a f 7 7 we ri ¢ 7 V4 f z 
 a? ao ee - Pee) mn ces 7 ee a 
 - ; : =% ' - 4 =. A ee 7 << —\ c 4 = i iy : 
 TIO A re i 
 a : “ » © ; Aa? % 7 . aX “= 
 
 Sees re . a. Lee 
 ae SRA a 
 . ; ery 
 
 A OD a teda ‘ eft» ina i =a > ar 8 or ‘i ty 
 
 ¢ f 
 
 na bog nA PF 24967 See, 
 
 & higé 
 + aes ' ‘fe 
 i - we nu \ 
 ~T' £ * 
 + r “ 
 ; ‘ * ; i « 
 : ’ a 
 ’ ' 
 i) z 
 ‘ 
 7 
 9 
 ' 
 . 
 e 
 a i . 
 é S 4 i 4 
 \ , ok 
 F A 
 : 7 : why 
 ri. 
 + rhe 
 ; 4 b- 
 « . ee te r, a 3 
 ‘i 5 « 7 “ala ‘ Ly. 
 oie wha) 4 484s ONS a 
 . ?. Pp. a. 
 ; es . aie Mae eno 
 a o Sa c ; 4059 th lek ci: mS ~ AS 
 * : wi : * om 
 f Vea . ee a 
 Hoy degen ee, al Ot hee ee pie ee ie 
 ‘ ? 4 >. 24 : 
 s : a 
 F P Pm ¥ cis +4 oe ee 
 j , > ot Pie > i ie 
 fy es! 9 Wid S) ia 
 , 
 f < 
 r. i ' 
 
INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 
 
 A. Page. Sheet. 
 OA ee oo Sale sc ccce cence tes 23 
 B00 5 eh 26 2 
 Fo if re 172 25 
 2S AS Ce 21 
 2, re 65 10 
 RMN EDIE ABe idee yes meta Sinan dix’ e ee 2 i 10 
 RENE AR oo a ee see eee 55 8 
 LO OE ee 5 
 TA SS "1S i he is 
 Bes oN tS ne 17 1 
 PO MeMIDOI I a aK 5.05.0 2s ceene- esse 58 8 
 Apple Urea IN. Dak...-.....2........ 7 
 AME CE EIR Gs See aie dn Die a ning ese 27 
 Ls ae a 138 19 
 ON gf 0 155 21 
 FL ae Vo So 1 a 191 27 
 See OM MINIT. oa eee nase 31 3 
 Oka ie 2 ars 124 17 
 ON Eo a le 126 18 
 
 5. 
 OP ae 22 
 Es Oe 24 
 BRIE MMMASTT eg bial cies a o's oe wd oa we 1 
 OE UO ee 26 
 ADE Ss 63 10 
 Bearmouth, Mont..... a OT ee 130 18 
 ES OE a ae 23 
 Ree SW 10 
 EO Se 18 1 
 a Se ae 120 17 
 PPGHUME IN PARAMS bho ess accesses ces 61 9 
 BreintaOen MONG: 22.2... 2o8.2- cee ce cess 98 15 
 OO GS a ee 20 
 EO BOS ee 5 
 PO DS es 44 5 
 OPE ae 18 i 
 Bee MLOUG. 56.050. sco - sens 86 14 
 RS ae 78 12 
 OE ee 81 13 
 Uo 123 17 
 OT oe ESI Gr 51 7 
 ESO ia ee C0 27 
 a 131 
 ss by 11 
 OL Ra 0S 5 
 OL Go 124 17 
 Le OO S28 LD i 8 
 bg gt Os) 2 rc 26 3 
 AU ae a 133 18 
 OR a ee 133 19 
 Bene Werle ses), 0.2- iyicc...2c52-% 26 
 RE OD RI Se oie! koe Save os 8 
 
 95558°—Bull. 611—15 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Page. 
 WOZOUIAU SMONGs ser. oss aus ene doe 96 
 TGHGROtUeIN | UGK oct oka os edawoed 
 PREIMAGWeeMe ONC. eae ces soe a cekans 
 pN eph ge N's a Sat ac ae Ra 
 STIS I MG atria. woes se'd org 90 
 PS TISUGLED VV SEL rine eS Se og 179 
 ital Ne aks 2 2 oe. i cel ee 40 
 uu Mountain. Mont...ic¢.. 20.5 eae 78 
 TAGElOig repre OKs. 0s, eee A eee: 
 FAROE MIGO a. ne er se, Coe es Soe 107 
 PUTO NM MRL eee stor. Ah. as ae a 171 
 
 C. 
 
 Grugiiety Idaho sno. 5 Godin ease 150 
 Caple, Minn’ ota. o.,. weenie aes ate 19 
 Cup URS. ok Won oe oe. one oe 166 
 COueiis MOnt gr oo) seoege ee os 125 
 RAI WOLLMAOD Ds Se fags oka ek cee ene 104 
 aXe yWOOd, JOANGs.258 2 es cecum teen ce 
 AINE MED G oot oa Ny cial ala asa wie 
 MIQUICLiOTs Bu TIA ay fo 2 ae cals sc ait oats 38 
 [2 OPES is a ae eee aan mea 
 Cepttal Park MOMti cs. 0.03.62 o.0+5+ sues 98 
 SE EN OY ee ee A 
 RMN OE WMA SIDE So. oc Su a basco cteews 
 CO Oe TOS a Od 6 Bee 162 
 HGS MONG... . oce>. as-seecenesous 96 
 Pic BTE Tg awe.) £0) brag re ae ae eee eet 90 
 (late Hote (abo st 2g oe eon ae 151 
 CtarkstoneMOUt co.0 52 ona e so ont eek 12 
 CieAII IAS VRS Sop ons eae tacts ee 180 
 COB Ane A ithe shi ee oe cg ere 19 
 Ciermonty Monte... 2.22 aes eos 
 Cléveland aN. Dake 3b eee. sac 08 45 
 CUDGOU AMONGE cout nce notes eakisa ee: 133 
 Clough Junction, ‘Monts ..22. 225... 123 
 Clg We MORE to. nessa tee eee vee 
 Cocolaliaaidakg se: Sluts fo kis 154 
 COTE IV OSU beet ease cee nt wea ee 
 Colgate ion ie saeco rece an wma oe 
 COMMS MONS. 6, oiet can een eed ve 84 
 Concord, W880. .s.<b.~issepecce tis fe 
 Conlin Mont... .vn). tes cohev cea pene 
 Connell, \Washs< tee 1-525: 26- dies be oe 166 
 Geon Creck, Mitr. .e seston oe ee 17 
 Corwin Springs, Mont..4:...%.26i22-%: 92 
 Covington, Wash....... er ae eaten aaa 190 
 Orystal Sprimes. IN. Dak <2. 3443-535. 46 
 Ciuntingham sy ashe. t2..952.o.220u.< 
 GUTIOW ) NepL cess nism tee ees pote! 
 COTE MOU Ts se srure mets i 555 w ewes 
 AOS EUS So mee ae Sten 3 ok wae 24 
 UDI MOLE tau ace ie gioco he hse a cine 78 
 
 Sheet. 
 15 
 5 
 18 
 16 
 15 
 26 
 4 
 13 
 7 
 16 
 24 
 
 20 
 1 
 23 
 
 16 
 21 
 15 
 
 4 
 11 
 15 
 10 
 24 
 22 
 15 
 15 
 20 
 16 
 26 
 
 d 
 8 
 
 6 
 18 
 
 17 
 21 
 22 
 10 
 14 
 22 
 16 
 23 
 
 LT 
 15 
 27 
 
 6 
 23 
 
 & 
 10 
 
 2 
 12 
 
210 
 
 Di Page. 
 Datleys) Mont ses a ee eee eee 91 
 Dale; Minnsi) pe tees eee eee eee 
 Darling; Minti ve seeee eee 
 DaWwsonaING Dak ae oo cece eee eee 46 
 Dayton, Mini s0-. 0) = eee 18 
 De Smet .Moute cose ae eee oe 137 
 Deer Lodge, Monts. 222) ae ee pets 
 Dehart, Monte eiae.. noe eee ee 
 DemoressN2Dakae cere eee ae ee 63 
 Dempsey Monta. eee eee 
 Denton; [daho coe see ee eee 
 Detroit; MinnsS2.\.. oe eae ee eee 30 
 Dewey, Monte. 3. -2).2eeee = ee 
 Dickson, NeD ake eee. see eee 60 
 Dilworth Minne eee eee eee nee 30 
 Dixony Monte stereo. yee. Sao eee 140 
 Dons NNDal woe. ney eee ees 
 Dopelius, Minn....-.- eee eh hee 
 Dower Lake, Minna. .22eeee ooeceee eee 
 Driscoll (Ne Wak? cet cee soe eee ee 46 
 Drummond, Monteeee-- oe 129 
 Dudley, Wash. acectees eee eee eee 
 Durant, Montero eee eee eee lil 
 
 E. 
 Haple Gorse, Washes ssc ae acee ae eee 186 
 Hagles West, Nias Sosa seen 
 Bast Helenk (Montecen-- es 26 eee 121 
 BaSton,,.Wias lee cs seen en oe a eee 182 
 Eekelsonuy NN Dakr a. .teeeeee alee ee eee 43 
 day. MOntvens assent eestor oe ae. 144 
 PANG SN Dakice ts cms bitte oe es 
 PldridcorN sD ale ean cee ore eee ee 45 
 plectate, Montes 5:22. See AN See 3 
 BIKAR ivere ini. Serres peer ee 18 
 Phonspune eWieashest eet cece Aces Lid 
 Hilistons Monte <-7<ts bec set itt eee 126 
 Peltor Monten eee oe EGE eee Se 
 EitOpla SyVviasiie teaser peste ee Seer 168 
 Emery Waste, © tense eee 
 Pmigrant Montes soe scene ee eee 91 
 Bimpires Washes) Saeeecnee wer seeriee 172 
 Erie W aSheeee nt ct eee ee eee 
 Hissigs Wash: 2G 22 seen oo eee ee ers 165 
 Hustis, .Mont.s2% 2=sseeset ap eee ee 
 Evaro, Mont xcc2eg ii s02 nose aoe 137 
 
 F: 
 Fallon M Ont. eee ce ae ae eee 68 
 Farzvo, NoDak 4c. .- peace eee eee 36 
 Fife, N.- Dalian. itso. 
 Pancht $M OMT 2 see eye eae eee a ee 76 
 Fishivap, WV aelic:. 32:5.) Pa eee 163 
 Flathesd, Mont. Gace e se eee 
 Forsyth, Motit;. se tc eee sce 75 
 Fort Keogh, Monts a: .< es-es. ce eae 70 
 Fort Snelling, Minn........ ie Soe 10 
 Foster. Mont... Saaeesseoes: oe ae ee eee 
 Frates,- Minn.” ..3. J avert. 55204 0c 30 
 Prost, Mont 5 goseeeec t  ee 144 
 Enybure, N2Dalkieen eee ean eee 61 
 Furlong, Mowe spe a. atu eet ne ee 
 
 Gs 
 Gardiner; Montes =<: tt... en 5 Sones Ot 
 SfOrrisOn,: Mons oo 25 oe eee eee 115 
 Gonboys, No DSE. 3220 cun sea oee oe Bee 
 
 Sheet. 
 
 i 
 Co 
 
 — 
 THO W DO SO HO 
 
 _ 
 7.3) 
 
 26 
 
 22 
 19 
 12 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 20 
 
 INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 
 
 Page 
 Gibbon, Wash. .....<2esec-ce eee 
 Glade, Wash... .....2.2.2k -- eee ee 
 Gladstone, N..Dak...2cs¢.4 1 cee 59 
 Glendive, Mont: . . #222.s0->s ae 65 
 Glenullen, N. Dak: ¥.32,.-28<cceeneeee 56 
 Glyndon, Minn . 3... 9)5-2-2 eee 35 
 Gold Creek » Mont 2322.02 ae oe 128 
 Gordon, Mont .....7.2. 3.52255 
 Granite, Idaho.......<4-.--4.: ae 154 
 Gregory, Minn... ...¢.. 82 =.5—0 see 21 
 Gregson, Mont: <.. J: ganas eee é 
 Greycliff; Mont. .=..22.07.-.es eee 86 
 H. 
 Hackney, Mont >). .c-22 ica. oeeeeeeene 
 Hagegart, N: Daki2...2..2-50 ae 
 Haskell; Motit.:...5.2.<24..dien sees 
 Hathaway, Mont:. <-<.222 202 eae 72 
 Hatton, Wash....c...522 aeacuc Sees 
 Hauser, Idaho... - 22. ess seme eee 155 
 Hawley, Minn.:. . icc .2oceeu eee 31 
 Hebron, N. Dak....2..e--=- eee eee 58 
 Heckman, Mont. --< 4.2... sc. ee ueeeeee 
 Helena, Mont. ss. vs ss2.soe.e5 ae 121 
 Hell Gate, Mont..2.c. 2.2 suse ee 
 Henry, Wash... 2c 2:-.-52-op eee 
 Heron, Mont..\¢.. 22-)-i\s vu oe oe 149 
 Hillside; Wash. . - J... see eee 
 Hobart, IN Dakees sss. 2 nee ee eee 
 Hodges, Montoy. ..2.:<t a ecueeee 65 
 Homestake, Mont.......-.--t=sese= eee 106 
 Hope, 1dahoo. 22.2... oe 151 
 Hoppers, Mont. 2..5< «ite. 20-54n eee 
 Horton, Mont:c: 5. 2c. 5-2 -- ee eee 
 Hot Springs, Wash ....52..445.s ees 186 
 Howard, Mont: 2:2: 21. 5223532 Seen 76 
 Hoyt, Mont..:\:.¢:.253523 22 68 
 Humphrey; Wiashecns on ose eee 186 
 Huntley," Mont .c.u.2:. eet eee 80 
 Hysham, Mont...2<...22.26--csseeeeme 77 
 LE 
 Indio; W ashi. ss. <2+<-ns'scca eee eee 
 Tona, Mont..5...... 225 s00%eaa-eee 
 Irvin; Wash’... cic... 22 cease eee 159 
 J. 
 Jamestown, N. Dak. :..236s.5aeeeeeeee 44 
 Joppa, Mont..'s... is22cede gee ae ee 72 
 Jordan, Mont...) 1232 Se2aee eee 
 Judson, Ny Dak’ :<..sc5ce00 meee eee 53 
 K. 
 Kanaskat, Wash.....<0.05 00 goes eee 189 
 Kamm, Mont... <.v.s:s-cs0t = eee 
 Kennedy, Wash... .--.... cose eso eee 
 Kennewick, W ash ..--...:s.00es5eseene 169 
 Kent, Wash. 2.165. 2.0e ue aoe ee 193 
 Keystone, Wash... ......ceeesseeee meee 
 Kildee, Mont. ....2...5 See 146 | 
 Kiona, Wash .....6.-sess0se-00- eee 170 
 Kline, Washi. 2:0 2% -<2, 22sec 
 Knife River, N. Dak. p22 .. ese 
 Knowles) Mont. .5-2.2. sees ee 
 Kohrs, Mont... -s5. 825 en ee yaa 
 Kootenai, Idaho... 2 25 s5esaece eee 
 Kountze, Wash..::2...: +462 eee 
 
 Kurtz, NoDakwzc. esas de esse ae eee 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheet. 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 8 4 
 
INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 
 
 L. Page. 
 Bi hp ON ee ee oe 
 1 51S Nala de Sr 31 
 PO ee ee are 82 
 De OS oe swe sos Soon eee vo 59 
 Fo a ers 
 El ih 186 
 BN ee 
 III Go ooo on wos = os os xvi 103 
 Tamers pur, Mont_.-.2..-2.----..< 
 Bice (fo, tae AS ee ae 24 
 Dee 2-8 os --2-sn- 165 
 BO ete a 22 
 preston MlONGs.. 2.25 <2 e..0555:2--526- 88 
 PaO MONG. 005... 2-542 -+-2-42-- = 
 PIPE GUID Ae. toes. 22 025.5252 o ees 99 
 BTC) CTC IG ie eee 118 
 Tiewale MONG) =... 20. 6s n-s0 25 -- 
 Ree See es ns 5 28 
 Be SURRY. bid DN ce 
 M. 
 PO CC ee 171 
 PPP MIAN We ONE 2 oo. 2S occ s cree xe 140 
 OEP raNattty ers 2 nee a atic 
 BY iG Sal Ne od, saga a 49 
 MACH OLIC MeN SOAK socks hess -sc-- cee 39 
 MATE IN ea Ke oS... cin ca ee os 52 
 PM STII a NL OINL ee oc. jeicc ott)< - none 98 
 Manitoba Junction, Minn.............. 31 
 fy TAOS RG AO i ana 38 
 TN Ee EN HOy Tt Pe tS eee a ee a 68 
 MMERTIAIL AVY OMENS <a otscac c2 eee oes 161 
 pO ORS oe aa ae a 184 
 ECW OOM MI VV ASL rs Sor end sate 186 
 BradbureNe ake. 2.5. 2.0.2 sak 's= 45 
 ME QOTA IN OK. cies = So aee oe Fees rele. 62 
 AS See 85 
 UT al 167 
 MEAG ye OU Get. oasis sos a ck seh aes 70 
 1 92 
 At ae 16 
 Minnehaha Falls, Minn...............- 10 
 ANTS AOS ORE ee ea en 
 PRR ISSMOM PA Olio: 25-2) - eos a Jo< ss 88 
 Missoula, Mont..-..-- iM Rie caine seer ee 134 
 SMART eter sees ers Sas tla. sio mje:0 Sei a 
 MMRGELO EUV ASIP cA nant A ws abe ole Sicie ain 
 PACER ICH CIENT DIT hae oye fe cece ans tek se 35 
 RRM RANI Sec aw Ole 41m 5 5.3.0.0 nus 95 
 YS Eee a 
 PE es 
 CO PS on a 241) 
 N. 
 WE NUNN oe a ee a ele 
 OE GO a ere 
 TOC CASE erp (ad BE Qa a a 54 
 enw pore atilis, Minn... 0...-..-2-.-- Be 
 SDI AMEE OMG Soy Som = os nea ais os es = 79 
 ET 
 Oe SS Rt ee 
 erius \ eins, Wash... .-.02-.2.-2.2.. 174 
 SRS ROSEY RTOS: 0 = hea stsids Sons o's toni 149 
 O. 
 SUR os (Uc 
 eMC IN A acs dgc.d = seh ne «63 he 
 MET IIRC ler Sigs > aaecn'd ew ga foe 152 
 
 Sheet. 
 
 13 
 
 27 
 26 
 7H | 
 
 bo 
 
 23 
 
 15 
 13 
 16 
 16 
 17 
 
 me 
 oO 
 
 Re De mon ee — e hoe monn — 
 Re Ook OF OOR KRY rR ORF wR DOAN DHNORWAAOAN FP NW 
 
 Page. 
 PORIGS BLOWS accuse toean ee aw be nites 
 EE ot BI BON ese te oa Sale A Si 41 
 PEW AS LONG: feo Seale cchate cee ae ce 
 Posteri, MONG) Wate 6t ce ee eee 2 
 EWES, NDA er asst Seni eee coe 
 CGS VV OSD eyeee mee een ae ae pass 
 PINE TAANO sou ona hota cee 
 de 
 BELLE NW aS Loy het ete erate ote. ae ae Pe 1€5 
 Palmer Junenone sas. oo mene ee 189 
 RAR ACISO MLO Ue tome ce cots aera een 142 
 Sark City mM On Gers. sc ec coee eee eee 83 
 IDEMIeIns WiaSians eetee on cn, Pee aes 173 
 Panwa Lona VWioSils 2915) 2 a = » see 
 MASCOM VY ASli eae eee eh Mee cr 168 
 PAabCU AMON ter ek ete a: Loose ices 
 Perham Man. ae srotae soso ae wera 27 
 HeLa MONG SL sees sree eee saat ae 141 
 He Hal DROGKsM INet oe nae eee Sass eleye 25 
 Pinestaire y MOM bec ects 0a 1a eee 105 
 PACER MOT Gs Steer ea te ee oa a eee 
 PLAINS | MONt tee otees peck chert ere 143 
 OTMONA A VV. cs Listers os sin ae Se ers, Seer me 
 Bompeyoubwlan. Monts: = se a eee 79 
 BrosSere WiGsil Ss se estes ae apa ne 171 
 Providence, Wash.2ic aces a o22cqe0 wees 165 
 Q. 
 Quebec) Monts. sees cc eee. tee ones 
 4, R. 
 TACO eRraGkeNLOMUs42ece et em ianane somo. 114 
 EUAIMSO ve LOAROL. see oa sees fears 155 
 PUaAn Cer MOTD me eeeei eam seis keene oie 76 
 LSet ENS TUE oc Meehan Meee er Pe ea 23 
 ala Rel ss Nivel) cies ares, Sha eens ate vote 
 AGS se elLOl be ete fecmine stot se eee ee 
 Jgechelolebabhan).s) Net Nove pe Se apt Soe eee 155 
 TRSes Vie U MLCT Peseta eee eS Sere cee, ce 138 
 UAV ONSAALG: Was iosts cis cel ees ive 189 
 TROVE ING Zee. tee crete 2s tim ence aes 
 Riecde hot sMOnGscer <> eee ee ent 85 
 POLAND SO MONG: enti. om does eee ee 
 Re yHoOlds eMont ees cee eemee se msec 
 GLOOM VLITLIRS seer ne hee eee ee tee et ere oe 21 
 ich ard tOnsNey baka wc me ese 59 
 ELiendale: Mint «20. shame a coat no 
 TRL Z Valle VAS ec ame ei ew ve 164 
 PROMOS WSU ete ae els oamniseitah oa selee 
 OSeDUde M Ontecceae ce cece Seen =e ae 72 
 IECOSS MONG sas ot= siatsre tS ctets cere ial so sie = 
 PO VAIO, DLO 2 0G. a-eawteigew sas. oae cor 21 
 OZ aid weet set eet erste eee 176 
 RUUD Va BSD ee ceeiseste cea ste. bis 5 meee 165 
 Ss. 
 SALERIOOl mW AS lace je peace sen ae ns 
 STacloudseMinn sae cserce scl se eon ae 20 
 Spaeth MIM Ne aoe ore oe ot as 8,15 
 OEE ag) BC cg NO 5 Sie hee a Le 
 DAT DOLD we Se LIANG Mrs See sure Aol erred lalate 43 
 Sanclers VOM peas secs sen. ve tee ken 77 
 SANG POM Ca NOw eae eee a cfels ose = are 2 152 
 Ra DINe GON fF OLON Go anak css aco. tare 102 
 SA TUOL LLM epde taoes okie ale ols chasielets 
 ERGO AME ee Opi ae ae ee 172 
 
 PAT SoA aa 08 PPG hn ee ee 20 
 
 211 
 
 Sheet. 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 18 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 21 
 
 20 
 
 23 
 27 
 19 
 14 
 25 
 21 
 24 
 14 
 
 3 
 19 
 
 2 
 16 
 Ney 
 19 
 25 
 13 
 24 
 23 
 
 14 
 
 18 
 21 
 12 
 
 14 
 21 
 19 
 27 
 12 
 14 
 16 
 
 Oo bw 
 
 22 
 24 
 12 
 16 
 
 25 
 23 
 
212 
 
 Page. 
 Schley, Montewse=>. = sep oe eee eee 
 Scorias Nc Dakeeetntec nce eae eee 61 
 Seattio< Wass oo cc bone eos see eee 194 
 Sedalia Ny (Dak: <. ct. or vache eee 
 Selah; Washo 72%. 2.2.3 Bee eee 176 
 pentinel Butte, N..Dak. ov20.s-.- sees 63 
 Shirley-; Monts. sco. eee eee eee 
 Shoshkin, \Wash:ctoscess tedees ee eeeae 
 Bitton) Ns Dake casos. deers oat ce oe 
 Silver Bow; Mont...--2ee2 ee eee 111 
 Sims; N.Daki 3 225.es eee eee eee 55 
 Skones; Mottts..0...3-seeerae es ee 
 Skyline, Mont..c25 icc, aoe ogee 
 Smeads; Monts2s282 Sate eee eee 
 South: HeartsNy Dakeeeeres ss see e eee 60 
 Southdown Nn, Dakine. oe oe eeeee 
 Sphing; Montes sso: Sart oaeeear 
 Spite Rock, Montince see 105 
 Spiritwood, No Dalkycc aise ee df 
 Spokane; Wasia-essco.k ewe ee 160 
 Sprague; Wash...) 24... ee eee 164 
 Springdale, Monts: 3.262. 22 <r ee 86 
 Stampede; “Wash . cece sek so Bees 184 
 Staples; Minn 222.2 -eesceee tena eee 25, 
 Steele, NeDakoo nes wwe ekactaee ee ee 46 
 Sterling ING Dakss cea. oeee eee ee 48 
 Stockwood; Minn 22 i... sense eee 35 
 DUOrey,,, MONG ete eee cao eee eee 
 Stuart, Mont..cccecse cece: ot a eeeree 111 
 Sully Springs, N. Dako. .:,..9.c1.eteee 61 
 Sunnyside Junction, Wash............ 
 Sweevpriel IN; Dak. s.. cj caueoos ates 
 
 tis 
 
 Talmagen Washes 2.22 nso Seer = oeen ke 
 Tapper Ne aR aret 2 sana) ae bon oun beat 46 
 Taylor Novels. oo eer eae cee 
 TeAnaway, Wass, <2 ones ee taes 179 
 "Terry, Monae cai eae. ay eae ences 69 
 ‘Rhorp, Vass... dase eae bese 178 
 Thompson Falls, Mont................ 145 
 Thrall, Washr2. <2, 555.<coeeawee. seen 177 
 Threeforks; Mont. c.20:5. cbeeteese eee 100 
 ‘Tokio, Washs sa7c62005. neers eee 
 Doppenish, Wash: ses c.. «<8eh ca eeeee 172 
 Toston, Montittsc-she.c. cae ae eee 119 
 Tower City, .N. Dakz.2c.. cas) eee 41 
 Townsend, Mont</s.5552<-0. ssneeueee 119 
 Trail Creek? Monts: ui..dceeveeegree 
 Triderit; Mont 3.3 suv hasta eee ree 117 
 
 Sheet. 
 
 Lo 
 0 
 27 
 7 
 29 
 9 
 11 
 26 
 6 
 16 
 8 
 16 
 17 
 20 
 9 
 6 
 15 
 16 
 5 
 21 
 22 
 14 
 26 
 2 
 6 
 7 
 4 
 15 
 16 
 9 
 25 
 7 
 
 26 
 6 
 8 
 
 26 
 
 11 
 
 26 
 
 20 
 
 26 
 
 16 
 
 22 
 
 25 
 
 16 
 5 
 
 17 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 O 
 
 INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Trout Creek, Mont... i. 125.00 seeae 148 
 Turah, Mont... ...,-.:s_s2¢o" Sane 
 Tuscor, Mont... .--2 22.0. cesne eee 
 Tusler, Mont....;...2..0cecssee eee 
 Tyler, Wash........ 2-<8.00 eu ane 162 
 
 LA 
 Ulmer, Mont... 34-5... 3-6e0 a eee 
 Urbana, N. Dak..:.- 2.7. pean eeneeeee 
 
 Vea 
 Vale, Wash... ... ..¢2sam-0 ce eee 
 Valley City, N. Dak..2..2...0. 2 eee 42 
 Velox, Wash. .......:. 225 acs 
 Vermilion, Mont....2.....4 4.16) -aeee 
 Verndale, Minn.;....:.......2sce eee 26 
 Vista, Wash, 0... 0..>20eh40 0 en 169 
 
 Ww. 
 Waco, Mont. 2.0222.) 2. oe see 78 
 Wadena, Minn... 7.2222. 22e eee 26 
 Waldon, N. Dak... sea 
 Wapato, ; Wash. ..-.2:2.2. 2p eeeeee 173 
 Warm Springs, Mont... <2. 2.02, paaaeeee 113 
 Watab, Minn... .... 7: -.22). eee eee 
 Watago, Mont. ... 2... .-2:.42.5 ope ‘ 
 Weeksville, Mont... 22.22.2209 eee 144 
 Welch, Mont. .i2..-. eee ee 
 West End? Mont. 229.220. 2s.) eee 
 Westmond, Idaho........ 242-4. ae 
 Weston, Wash...-2...:.. 2.0.4... ae 
 Wheatland, N. Dak. 3.2... 2) pee 39 
 White Pine, Mont... :.7..... oe eee 
 Whitehall, Mont... .0,..:.. ecu use 105 
 Wibaux,,Mont.. 2... 20. ues een 64 
 Willis, Mont. 7° -. <2. 225m aan 
 Willow Creek, Mont........-2.5. seen 101 
 Windsor, N. Dak. .\2 3222235 2 eee 45 
 Winston, Monte >... 5.2..0.g2 e000 eee 120 
 Woodlin, Mont. <.cite.fe05 dene eee 
 Worden, Mont.t« sic: 2..05379 2 eee 
 Wymier, Washo. 2.302.620. cee eee 176 
 
 Ye 
 Yakima, Wash..:.-::2.22052e02 nee 174 
 Yates, Mont. 2.22.5 .2.0 5 22322oeeeeeeee 
 Yegen; Monts .:.i¢ 1 ee Oe 
 Youngs Point, Mont... .::.222252.5seee 83 
 Z. 
 Zenith, N. Dik 
 Zero, Monte.) 20.5200. oss cas ee ee 
 
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