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Show 78 BECONNAISSANCE IN THE UTE COUNTRY. shales appear to constitute the right slope of the valley, with occasional remains of conglomerate. About four miles above the canon and above where the trail ascends the left slope for Deadman's Gulch, the walls of the valley are of thick, brick- red, arenaceous beds in horizontal strata, reaching up nearly one thousand feet above the bottom of the valley. This formation is distinct from the shales and limestone found below, and is probably more recent, and resembles a like formation on the west branch of Mineral Creek in Las Animas Valley, and also in Animas Park. In the vicinity of Camp 20 occur heavy beds of conglomerate composed of angular fragments of gray limestone of like quality as that found on the right slope of the valley of East Eiver above the canon. The high peaks between Deadman's Gulch and East Eiver are of volcanic trachytes. On descending Deadman's Gulch, outcrops of gray and brown sandstone and black slate are of frequent occurrence. At the point where the trail leaves the gulch a high bluff is covered with blue slate, with a stratum of blue slaty limestone at the base in horizontal position. One mile above the mouth of Spring Creek, ( which the trail ascends,) on the left side, 120 feet above the bottom, is a ledge of gray, brown, and blue granular and crystalline limestone, 65 feet in height and seemingly destitute of organic remains. This formation flanks the valley tor a short distance and then dips beneath it. A short distance farther up the stream, on the right side, is a slide of 200 feet, exposing coarse, brown sandy shale, sandstone, and bituminous shale, in which occur Fmylina cylindrical, Spirips lineatus, and Spirigera, MaconemiSj well-marked coal- measure species. Still further up the stream, the limestone last referred to, with 135 feet of sandy shale and sandstone above it, is seen where the trail leaves the valley. Immediately after leaving the valley of Spring Creek, there occurred an extensive slope of loose fragments of grayish- brown trachyte. A few hundred yards farther, the mountain- slope is lined, to the height of 250 feet, with hard, compact blue limestone much altered by heat. This formation rests against a porphyritic trachyte, and, where well exposed, it is seen in ranges of large cuboidal blocks. For strength and durability this rock could not well be surpassed. For the remainder of the day's march, including 5 miles, much of the surface and foot- hills have forms indicating conditions of Spring Creek Valley. Between Camps 21 and 22 the lower slope of the mountain is composed of gray hornblendic granite. I visited the gold- mines 14 miles south of Camp 22. The trail leads down Taylor Eiver for 11 miles, when that stream enters a formidable canon on the right. The trail then crosses the foot- hills over into a circular park 4 miles in diameter, drained by Willow Creek, that passes through a narrow canon into Taylor Eiver. The places were known as the Cotton, Grass- root, and Union Gulches. The first is exhausted; the second abandoned, and the last is now but feebly worked. Formerly this latter gulch yielded large returns, but now it seems to have become nearly exhausted. The valley of Taylor Eiver from Camp 22 to the canon is from one to three miles in width. The low bottoms are boggy and afford fresh, coarse grass. The high grounds are dry with a thick growth of arte-misia and cacti. The valley proper and the two tributaries coming in from the left afford a large scope of good grazing. The park too, in which the gold- mines are situated, has some excellent pastural facilities. |