OCR Text |
Show UTAH SUPERINTENDENCY. 201 can be cultivated; but alkali begins to make its appearance in the soil. The bottoms of the two rivers unite three or four miles from the junction,and some portionsof them have been overflowed the past-season, which, however, has been an extraordinary season for snow and rain, and it may not overflow in ordinary seasons. About the junction of tbe Duchine and Uintah rivers is a stlip of timber, say three milen long by one mile wide, of cottonwood, quaking aspen, kc. The rivers, also, have trees along their banks. The Uintah, wliich here comes in from tlle north, has a wide strip of timber; and, for fourteen miles above the junction, has a bottom from six to eight miles wide of good land, which could be irrigated by damming the river above and turning a portion of its water,, at the same time making a good water-power. l'his is a fine location, and is the one. designatca to you by Antero, one of the Utah chiefs, as the place where he wished a house built for himself. Above this the valley comes through a caEon, three or four miles long, above which the bottom widens again to five or six miles; some of it good for cultivation. Here the Uintah is formed, by the juuc-tion of three forks coming in, respectively, from the northwest, north, and north-east, on which the men wit11 me say are good vallzys, a11 excellent grazing, and considerable tillable laud. I t is at the junction of these streams that Robideaux, years ago, had a post for trading with the Indians. Prom the mouth of the Duchine the Uintah runs nearly due east tn Grcen river, fourteen miles, the hottom from one to two miles wide till near its nrouth, whkre thky uqite with those of Green river. Green river is well skirted with timber, has a bottom, includhg botli sides of. the river, of ten or twclve miles wide, presenting a very fine a pearanee. The soil, however, is by no means as good as that we have passe $ over, containing too much alkali; but still no more, I jhdge, than some lands in this Salt Lake valley, which produce fair crops. I did not cr8ss Green river, there being no good ford; hut the lauds on the east side had the same general appearance as those on the vest. In returning we followed back our own trail 6; where we first reached the Duchine river when going out. We.then followed up the Duchine to where the Strawberry river joins it from the west, the Duchine coming in from the south-west; then up the Strawbeny to a point about thirty-live miles from the mouth of the Duchine. Thim far these rivers have no bottoms xorth mentioning, run-ning generally through deep gorges in the mountains. Finding the ascent of the Strawberry difficult, we left it entirely, crossing over the mountains to the northwest about ten miles, where we came into a tine open cormtry on 9. tribu-tary of the Strawberry, having small hottoms suitable for cultivation, and on either side a wide scope of excellent grasa and grazing land, extending north nearly to Red Bhtte valley, which we considered about ten mile% distant. Through here the Overland Mail Company laid out their new road from Denver Oity to Utah lake last year. We passed up the Strawberry, leaving it to tho south for some distance to avoid the hilla, and crossing several of its tributaries, with small but good bottoms, till we entered Strawberry valley on it# southeast side.. This valley lies from northwest to southeast, is ahout twenty-five miles long, and varying from six to twelve miles-wide. I t is intersected by numer-ous small spring creeks, which unite, forming the Strawberry river, flowing out of its southeast cor~~er.T his is a beautiful valley of very superior grass arid grazing land, but is supposed to be altogether toohigh to be useful for cultiva-tion. Its altitude may he jblged from the fact that, on coming out at its north-west end, we had only to make a gentle ascent--by no means di0icult for a wagon-forOhi~%y or forty rods, and we were again on the summit of the Wau-satch mountains-the "divide" between the waters of Great Salt lake and the Gulf of California. This is also the western boundary of the Uintah reserva-tion. It is a gradual rise from Green river to this summit, and a good road is not only practicable, but of easy and comparatively cheap construction. From this sum& we descende.d to Round valley, on the Provo river, through Daniel's |