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61 o f d e c id u o u s s p e c i e s c o n f i n e d t o t h e b a n k s o f t h e l a r g e r r i v e r s a n d s tr e a m s i n t h e v a l l e y s which n e a r l y e v e ry w h e re i n Mormondom a r e 2 ,0 0 0 t o 3 ,0 0 0 f e e t below t h e c o n i f e r o u s t r e e lin e . Almost a l l Mormon s e t t l e m e n t s were s i t u a t e d n e a r a s t r e a m on a v a l l e y f l o o r o r a d e l t a i c fa n some 10 t o 40 m i l e s from t h e c o n i f e r o u s f o r e s t s . Thus, th e d e c id u o u s g a l l e r y f o r e s t s , th o u g h f r e q u e n t l y l i m i t e d i n q u a n t i t y and q u a l i t y , were s i g n i f i c a n t l y more a c c e s s i b l e t o t h e new s e t ­ t l e r s t h a n were th e m o u ntain e v e r g r e e n s and were t h e r e f o r e t h e m a jo r (th o u g h n o t e x c l u s i v e ) s o u rc e o f b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s f o r t h e v a s t m a j o r i t y o f new s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e i n i t i a l p h a s e . The u s a b l e t r e e s o f t h e g a l l e r y f o r e s t in c l u d e d s e v e r a l s p e c i e s o f co tto nw o od (P o p u lu s a n g u s t i f o l i a , P . t r i c h i c a r p a , and P . f r e m o n t i ) , w illo w s ( S a l i x s p . ) , and i n a few p l a c e s a s c r u b a l d e r (A ln u s t e n u i f o l i a ) and b i g t o o t h maple (Acer g r a n d id e n ta t u m ) , and i n th e h i g h e r e l e v a ­ t i o n s q u a k in g a s p e n ( P o p u lu s t r e m u l o i d e s ) ( F o s t e r , P r e s t o n , 9 9 -1 0 3 ) . 56-57; C ottonw oods, by f a r t h e most i m p o r t a n t t o t h e Mormons, were a m a jo r s o u r c e o f lo g s i n numerous s e t t l e ­ m ents i n n e a r l y e v e r y p a r t o f t h e Mormon c u l t u r e r e g i o n . A r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e t r e e , t h e co tto n w o o d h a s r a t h e r s o f t wood and can be f e l l e d e a s i l y w ith a n a x , b u t i t s b ra n c h e s te n d t o be c ro o k e d and k n o t t y and t h e wood h a s a te n d e n c y t o d ecay r a p i d l y when i n c o n t a c t w ith m o is t g ro u n d . W alls made o f co tto n w o o d lo g s lo o k e d shab by an d u n e v en , b e in g composed o f l o g s v a r y i n g g r e a t l y i n s i z e and sh ap e and r e q u i r i n g c o n s i d ­ e r a b l e c h i n k i n g betw een t h e w ide and u neven i n t e r s t i c e s Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.