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Show RECONNAISSANCE IN THE UTE COUNTRY. 65 500 feet above the base of the range. For four miles above Camp 18 the valley is contracted, but then it widens out again, sweeping away toward the southwest around Bristol Head, and forms a park ( Antelope Park) of many thousand acres of tillable land, much of which might be irrigated. But the climatic conditions incident to so high elevations in this latitude would probably prove unfavorable to the growth of a great range of agricultural products. For the purposes of grazing, as it is conducted here, it is even now of considerable value. Three miles from Gamp 19 we enter Antelope Park Canon, a narrow gorge of some eight miles in length, with nearly a perpendicular wall on the right; and on the left, at the fbot of an encampment, a steep slope affording precarious footing for our animals. The walls are from 100 to 1,200 feet in height from the water- line. In some places on the left the upper formation is a ferruginous scoria; lower down, porphyry, of close texture and handsomely variegated, on a dark violet ground, and at or near the base a dark earthy- brown trachyte. Soon after leaving Antelope Canon I found masses of conglomerates of partially rounded and angular fragments of such rocks as are found in place in the vicinity. The escarpments on the left of the valley are of red feldspathic granite, and patches of white clay were frequently observed high up on the slopes. Leaving the valley of the Rio Grande in the vicinity of the LostTrail and passing up the left slope of the valley over to the head of a valley leading back to Antelope Park, I found on the summit, when the barometer indicated 20.791 inches, or approximating 9,500 feet above the Gulf, 15 feet of chalky- white, porous, crumbling limestone. About 600 feet lower down in the valley occurs a ledge of hard, compact, brown limestone, accompanied with gray shale. I found no organic remains in either, except what might have been the impression of wood in upper or white limestone. A short distance above Camp 20 the valley of the Rio Grande widened and maintained an average of about half a mile, with boggy bottoms overgrown with willows. It would afford pasturage for a limited herd. Northwest of Camp 21 is a formation of clay resting high up against the slope of the valley. The upper portions are of a bright purple and blue, but the larger portion at the base is green. The space thus occupied is over 300 feet in height. These clays were rarely out of sight during the day, and often ranged high up in the mountains. The base of the mountain, as exhibited in the valley, is mostly composed of a beautiful red granite, and the high peaks of trachyte and other volcanic productions. At or near Camp 22 the green clay of the preceding march is found in a slope of 75 feet, stratified, partially indurated, siliceous, and weathers into plastic clay. It contains a large quantity of partially water- worn, calcareous, and arenaceous bowlders, as well as angular fragments of like characteristics. I found no organic remains except a water- worn wood opal. Fragments of these clays were constantly in sight during the day, often up at timber- line. % In crossing Hamilton Pass the ground was covered with snow. Formations in the distance on a side of the mountaiu, uncovered, seem to be of igneous origin. Timber- line on the eastern slope from one observation was 19,365 inches, or about 11,300 feet above the Gulf. Summit of the pass from one observation was 18,980 inches, or about 11,966 feet above the Gulf. H. Ex. 193 5 |
