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Show 34 RECONNAISSANCE IN THE UTE COUNTRY. narrow sandy mesas covered with sage- brush and scant pine timber,, broken by ridges, riven by arroyas, and often completely obliterated by descent of mountain- skirt. Below the Great Gateway the valley suddenly opens out to a width varying from a quarter to three- quarters of a mile, the river running in a deep channel between gravel- bluffs 15 to 30 feet high. This valley r mostly sandy, and covered with sage- brush, having an occasional bit of river- bottom, moist, grassy, and bearing a few willows and cotton- woods. These places ^ srere all cropped close by recent large Indian camps. The trail is now a broad double one, like a wagon- road, many trails coming into it from the mountains southwest, west, and northwest. About a mile and a half above Camp 47 was a large grassy flat with remains of a recent Indian camp of fifteen or twenty lodges. Here a trail crosses the river evidently toward the Los Pinos agency. Immediately below this point the hills close to the river for a mile, the trail passing high up over bowlders on the hill- side. Just above Camp 47 the hills suddeuly recede, leaving a little park of irregular circular form half a mile across, the river running close to the western hills. On both banks sky- lines and slopes have rounded washed lines, but steep; trap and basalt everywhere. Immediately below camp the river enters a canon exceeding 2,000 feet in depth, extending to its junction with Grand Eiver. Lower Canon of Lake Fork.- Tliis canon wras not especially picturesque ; the walls were exceedingly steep, rugged, and of a red hue, and the bottom so narrow that we were unable to run our stadia- line down it. The great Indian trail to the Uncompahgre Valley leaves the river above the cafion and runs farther west. We followed it for nearly two miles up the mountain- side until we reached the high table- land above. We then followed the general course of the Lake Fork for a distance of about four and a half miles at a distance of about a mile west of it The country is very rough and broken, being intersected by numerous small streams flowing in rocky canons, which become very deep and precipitous as they approach the river. The table- land extends west for about six miles, where it is broken by some low hills, and beyond these we could see some distant mountains. There was very little grass or timber where our line ran, the ground being covered with loose rocks, patches of sage- brush, and many wild flowers. West of our trail the surface of the country is more even, and there is also some timber and grass. At the point where our line terminated we could overlook the Lake Fork and see in the distance a valley bounded by high mountains, running from the southeast to the northwest, which we supposed to be the valley of the Grand Eiver. Its junction with the Lake Fork was judged to be at a distance of three miles, bearing K 70 W. A little to the east of the point of junction is a break in the mountains to the north, appearing like the valley of a large stream coming in from that direction. The mountains in the northwest appeared to be low, compared with those on the north and east. Several small creeks were seen flowing into the Lake Fork from a high ridge of hills on the east,. which ran parallel with the creek and distant about four miles from it, : he intervening country being very rough and broken. While at Camp 47 we were visited by many western Utes, mostly well irmed, well mounted, and well dressed; uncommonly clean, smiling, ad civil; short men, with broad muscular shoulders 5 good- looking for udians; bland, courteous, and great beggars. |