PHYSICAL FEATURES.

A zone of mountains and high plateaus extends from the northern nearly to the southern boundary of Utah Territory. The Wasatch Mountains constitute the northern portion of this zone, the High Plateaus the southern. This central zone has a general altitude above the sea of from nine to eleven thousand feet. Many peaks are higher, a few reaching an altitude of about twelve thousand feet. On the other hand many cañons and valleys have been excavated by the running waters far below the general level thus indicated.

The Uinta Mountains stretch eastward from the midst of the Wasatch. This region is a lofty table land carrying many elevated peaks whose summits are from twelve to nearly fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. This is the highest portion of Utah, and among its peaks are the culminating points.

South from the Uinta Region, and from the southern extremity of the Wasatch Mountains, another elevated district extends east-southeast beyond the borders of Utah. This table land is cut in twain by two great gorges of the Green River—the Cañon of Desolation and Gray Cañon. The eastern portion is called East Tavaputs Plateau, the western West Tavaputs Plateau.

Between the Uinta Mountains and the Tavaputs table land is the Uinta-White Basin, a low synclinal valley, drained by the Uinta and its ramifications on the west, and the lower portion of the White River on the east.

The district of country lying south of the Tavaputs table land, and east and south of the High Plateaus, is traversed by many deep cañons. This is the Cañon Land of Utah. In its midst the Green and Grand unite to form the Colorado. The Price and San Rafael are tributary to the Green. The Fremont, Escalante, Paria, Kanab, and Virgin are directly tributary to the Colorado from the north and west. From the east the San Juan flows to the Colorado, but its drainage area is not included in our present discussion.

West of the lofty zone lie low, arid valleys, interrupted by short and abrupt ranges of mountains whose naked cliffs and desolate peaks overlook the still more desolate valleys. These short longitudinal ranges are but a part of the Basin Ranges, a mountain system extending through Nevada and northward into Idaho and Oregon. That portion of the Basin Range System which lies in Utah, and which we now have under consideration, is naturally divided into two parts, the northern embracing the drainage area of Great Salt Lake, the southern embracing the drainage area of Sevier Lake, giving the Great Salt Lake District and the Sevier Lake District.

To recapitulate, the grand districts into which Utah is naturally divided are as follows: The Wasatch Mountains and the High Plateaus, constituting the lofty zone above mentioned; the Uinta Mountains, the Tavaputs table lands, the Uinta-White Basin, the Cañon Lands, the Sevier Lake Basin, and the Great Salt Lake Basin, the two latter being fragments of the great Basin Range Province.

The eastern portion of the Territory of Utah is drained by the Colorado River by the aid of a number of important tributaries. The western portion is drained by streams that, heading in the mountains and high plateaus of the central portion, find their way by many meanderings into the salt lakes and desert sands to the westward.

Considered with reference to its drainage, Utah may thus be divided into two parts—the Colorado drainage area and the Desert drainage area; the former is about two-fifths, the latter three-fifths of the area of the territory.

All of the Wasatch Mountains lie west of the drainage crest; a part of the High Plateaus are drained to the Colorado, a part to the deserts. This great water divide, commencing north of the Pine Valley Mountains in the southwest corner of the territory, runs north of the Colob Plateau and enters the district of the High Plateaus. It first runs eastward along the crest or brink of the Pink Cliffs that bound the Markagunt and Pauns-a-gunt Plateaus, and then north and east in many meandering ways, now throwing a plateau into the western drainage, and now another into the eastern, until it reaches the western extremity of the Tavaputs table lands. Thence it runs around the western end of the Uinta Valley, throwing the Tavaputs table lands, the Uinta Valley, and Uinta Mountains into the Colorado drainage, and the Wasatch Mountains into the Desert drainage.

These two regions are highly differentiated in orographic structure and other geological characteristics. The sedimentary formations of the eastern region are in large part of Cenozoic and Mesozoic age, though Paleozoic rocks appear in some localities. The Cenozoic and Mesozoic formations are largely composed of incoherent sands and shales with intercalated beds of indurated sandstone and limestone. The great geological displacements are chiefly by faults and monoclinal flexures, by which the whole country has been broken up into many broad blocks, so that the strata are horizontal or but slightly inclined, except along the zones of displacement by which the several blocks are bounded. Here the strata, when not faulted, are abruptly flexed, and the rocks dip at high angles.

The Uinta Mountains are storm carved from an immense uplifted block. The mountains of the Cañon Lands are isolated and volcanic. In the High Plateaus sedimentary beds are covered by vast sheets of lava. The sedimentary beds exposed in the mountains of the Desert region are of Paleozoic age, and many crystalline schists appear, while the sedimentary beds exposed in the valleys are Post-Tertiary. The crystalline schists and ancient sedimentaries of the mountains are often extensive masses of extravasated rocks. The prevailing type of orographic structure is that of monoclinal ridges of displacement. Blocks of strata have been turned up so as to incline at various angles, and from their upturned edges the mountains have been carved. But these monoclinal ridges are much complicated by mountain masses having an eruptive origin.

In the eastern districts the materials denuded from the mountains and plateaus have been carried to the sea, but in the western districts the materials carried from the mountains are deposited in the adjacent valleys, so that while the mountains are composed of rocks of great age, the rocks of the valleys are of recent origin. In that geological era known as the Glacial epoch the waters of a great lake spread over these valleys, and the mountains stood as islands in the midst of a fresh-water sea. For the history of this lake we are indebted to the researches of Mr. Gilbert. It had its outlet to the north by way of the Shoshoni River and the Columbia to the North Pacific. These later beds of the valleys are in part the sediments of Lake Bonneville, the great lake above mentioned, and in part they are subaërial gravels and sands.

The Wasatch system of mountains is composed of abrupt ranges crowned with sharp peaks. The several minor ranges and groups of peaks into which it is broken are separated only in part by structural differences, since ridges with homogeneous structure are severed by transverse valleys. The drainage of the whole area occupied by the Wasatch Mountains is westward to the Great Salt Lake. The streams that head in the western end of the Uinta Mountains and West Tavaputs Plateau cut through the Wasatch Mountains.

Great Salt Lake and its upper tributary, Utah Lake, exist by virtue of the presence of the Wasatch Mountains, for the mountains wring from the clouds the waters with which the lakes are supplied.

Walled by high ridges and peaks, many elevated valleys are found. In the midsummer months these valleys are favored with a pleasant, invigorating climate. Occasionally showers of rain fall. Vegetation is vigorous. The distant mountain slopes bear forests of spruce, pine, and fir; the broken foot hills are often covered by low, ragged piñon pines and cedars; and the flood plains of the streams are natural meadows. About the springs and streamlets groves of aspen stand, and the streams are bordered with willows, box elders, and cottonwoods. Now and then a midsummer storm comes, bringing hail, and even snow. When the short summer ends, the aspen and box elder foliage turns to gold flecked with scarlet; the willows to crimson and russet; the meadows are quickly sered, and soon the autumn verdure presents only the somber tints of the evergreens; early snows fall, and the whole land is soon covered with a white mantle, except that here and there bleak hills and rugged peaks are swept bare by the winds. The brief, beautiful summer is followed by a long, dreary winter, and during this winter of snowfall are accumulated the waters that are to be used in fertilizing the valleys away below in the border region between the mountains and the desert basins.

From the Wasatch on the north to the Colob on the south are elevated tables, in general bounded by bold, precipitous escarpments. The lands above are highly and sharply differentiated from the lands below in climate, vegetation, soil, and other physical characters. These high plateaus are covered with sheets and beds of lava, and over the lava sheets are scattered many volcanic cinder cones. The higher plateaus bear heavy forests of evergreens, and scattered through the forests are many little valleys or meadow glades. The gnarled, somber forests are often beset with fallen timber and a vigorous second growth, forming together a dead and living tangle difficult to penetrate. But often the forest aisles are open from glade to glade, or from border cliff to border cliff. In the midst of the glades are many beautiful lakelets, and from the cliffs that bound the plateaus on every hand the waters break out in innumerable springs.

Here, also, a brief summer is followed by a long winter, and through its dreary days the snow is gathered which fills the lakelets above and feeds the springs along the bordering cliffs. The springs of the cliffs are the fountains of the rivers that are to fertilize the valleys lying to the east, south, and west.

The Uinta Mountains constitute an east and west range. From a single great uplift, nearly 200 miles long and from 40 to 50 miles wide, valleys and cañons have been carved by rains and rivers, and table lands and peaks have been left embossed on the surface. Along its middle belt from east to west the peaks are scattered in great confusion, but in general the highest peaks are near the center of the range. The general elevation descends abruptly both on the north and south margins of the uplift, and at the crest of each abrupt descent there are many limestone ridges and crags. Between these ridges and crags that stand along the bordering crests, and the peaks that stand along the meandering watershed, there are broad tables, some times covered with forests, sometimes only with grass.

This is a third region of short summers and long winters, where the waters are collected to fertilize the valleys to the north and south.

Away to the southward are the twin plateaus, East and West Tavaputs, severed by the Green River. These plateaus culminate at the Brown Cliffs, where bold escarpments are presented southward.

Outlying the Brown Cliffs are the Book Cliffs. These, also, are escarpments of naked rock, with many salient and reëntrant angles and outlying buttes. The beds of which they are composed are shales and sandstones of many shades of blue, gray, and buff. In the distance, and softly blended by atmospheric haze, the towering walls have an azure hue. Everywhere they are elaborately water carved, and the bold battlements above are buttressed with sculptured hills. In 1869, when the writer first saw this great escarpment, he gave it the name of the Azure Cliffs, but an earlier traveler, passing by another route across the country, had seen them in the distance, and, seizing another characteristic feature, had called them the Book Mountains. Gunnison saw, however, not a range of mountains, but the escarped edge of a plateau, and this escarpment we now call the Book Cliffs. From the Brown Cliffs northward these plateaus dip gently north to the Uinta-White Basin. From the very crest of the Brown Cliffs the drainage is northward.

This is a fourth region of short summers and long winters, where the moisture is collected to fertilize adjacent lands; but the altitude is not great enough nor the area large enough to accumulate a large supply of water, and the amount furnished by the Tavaputs Plateaus is comparatively small.

Such are the lofty regions of Utah that furnish water to irrigate the lowlands.

TIMBER.

In these elevated districts is found all the timber of commercial value. This is well shown on the map. The map also exhibits the fact that many portions of the elevated districts are devoid of timber, it having been destroyed by fire, as explained in a former chapter. Doubtless, if fires could be prevented, the treeless areas would in due time be again covered with forests, but in such a climate forest growth is slow. At present, the treeless areas will afford valuable summer pasturage for cattle, and doubtless such pasturage would be advantageous to the growth of new forests, by keeping down the grasses in which in part the fires spread. It has already been shown that, to a great extent, the fires which destroy the forests are set by Indians while on their hunting excursions. The removal of the Indians from the country will further protect the forests. Eventually, the better class of timber lands will fall into the hands of individual owners, who will be interested in protecting their property from devastation by this fierce element. By all of these means the standing timber will be preserved for economic uses; but it will be a long time before complete immunity from fires will be secured.

The demand for lumber will never be very great. A variety of causes conspire to this end. The adjacent country will sustain but a small agricultural population, because the irrigable lands are of limited extent. The people of the lowlands will eventually supply themselves with fuel by cultivating timber along the water courses and by using the coal so abundant in some portions of Utah. The lumber will never be carried to a foreign market because of the expense of transportation: first, it will be expensive to get it down from the highlands to the lowlands, and, second, there are no navigable streams by which lumber may be cheaply transported from the country. In general, the lumber is of inferior quality, and cannot successfully compete for a permanent place in the markets of the world. But there will be a demand for lumber for building and fencing purposes in the valleys, and for mining purposes in the mountains.

If the timber region can be protected from fire, the supply of timber will equal the demand.

From the brief description given above, it will be seen that the timber region will never support agriculture. Much of it is mountainous and inhospitable, and the climate is cold. The timber region is ever to be such; mining industries will slightly encroach on it on the one hand, and pasturage industries on the other, but lumbermen will control the country.

The forests of these upper regions are monotonous, as the variety of tree life is very small. All of the timber trees proper are coniferous, and belong to the pine, fir, and juniper families. The pine of chief value is Pinus ponderosa, locally distinguished as the “Long leaved pine”; the wood is very heavy and coarse grained, but is suitable for the ruder building and mining purposes. It is usually found on the slopes between eight and nine thousand feet above the level of the sea. It attains a large size, and is a stately tree, contrasting grandly with the darker and smaller firs that usually keep it company.

Pinus aristata is of no commercial value, as it is much branched and spreading with limbs near the base; it grows on the crags at an altitude of from nine to eleven thousand feet.

Pinus flexilis grows at the same altitude as the last mentioned, and often shows a similar habit of growth. On the southern plateaus it is less branched and has a tolerably straight trunk, but it is too small and scarce to be important as timber. It is highly resinous, and is called “Pitch pine.”

Pinus monticola, or Sugar pine, is found on the southern plateaus, but is not abundant, and rarely attains milling size.

Pinus edulis is the well known “Piñon pine”. It covers the foot hills and less elevated slopes adjacent to the river valleys. The tree is low, diffusely branched and scrubby, and is of no use for lumber; but the wood is well supplied with resin and makes an excellent fuel, for which purpose it is extensively used in consequence of its accessibility.

There are three valuable species of Abies, namely: A. Douglasii, A. concolor, and A. Engelmanni. Abies Douglasii, or Douglas’ spruce, bears some resemblance to the eastern spruce, A. Canadensis, but it is a finer tree, and the wood is much superior. Though rather light, it is tough and exceedingly durable. The heart wood is red, from which circumstance lumbermen distinguish it as the “Red pine”. In building it is used for all the heavier parts, as frames, joists, rafters, etc., and it makes excellent flooring. Its value is still further enhanced from the fact that it occupies a belt of from seven to nine thousand feet altitude, and thus is easily obtained. It may readily be distinguished by its cones, the bracts of which are trifurcate, sharp, pointed, and conspicuously exserted, and they are unlike those of any other species.

Abies concolor, known in Utah as the “Black balsam”, grows at about the same altitude as the last mentioned species, and though rather cross-grained makes good lumber, being quite durable and strong. From its silvery foliage, the leaves being glaucous on both sides, this tree is known to tourists as the “White silver fir”. Lumbermen sometimes call it the “Black gum”, the wood being very dark colored.

Abies Engelmanni, or Engelmann’s spruce, occupies the highest elevations, and constitutes the only timber above 11,000 feet in altitude. Above 11,500 feet it is reduced to a dwarf. On the terraces of the high plateaus, at about 10,000 feet altitude, it appears to flourish best, and here it becomes a large, beautiful tree. The leaves are needle shaped, and thus differ from both the preceding species. The trunks are straight and free from limbs or knots, making fine saw logs. The wood is white and soft, but fine grained and durable, and being easily worked is held in high esteem for all the lighter uses, such as sash, doors, etc. Its place in the lumber industries of Utah is about the same as that of the “White pine” (Pinus Strobus) in the east. Lumbermen usually call it “White pine”. Because of the altitude of its habitat it is difficult to obtain, yet it is systematically sought, and large amounts are yearly manufactured into lumber; it also makes good shingles.

Abies Menziesii, or Menzies’s spruce, usually called “Spruce” by lumbermen of the country, is botanically very similar to the species last described, but the cones are larger and the leaves sharper pointed. It bears a large quantity of cones, which are generally aggregated near the top, obscuring the foliage, and giving the trees a peculiar tawny appearance. The wood is light, white, and fine grained, and would rival that of the last named species but for the fact that the trunk has a number of slight curves, so that it is impossible to obtain good saw logs of sufficient length from it. Its habitat is along the cañons from seven to nine thousand feet altitude, and seems to end about where A. Engelmanni begins. It is, however, a smaller tree, and less abundant.

Abies subalpina is of little value as a timber tree; the wood is soft and spongy, from which circumstance it is locally known as “Pumpkin pine”, but the more appropriate name of “White balsam” is also applied to distinguish it from A. concolor, which is called “Black balsam”. This species grows high up on the mountains and plateaus, generally from nine to eleven thousand feet. It is very tall, often attaining a height of 80 or 90 feet. Its trunk is straight and limbless for a great distance. This species has been but little known to botanists heretofore, from the fact that it has been confounded with A. grandis, but Mr. Engelmann decides, from specimens collected by Mr. L. F. Ward, that it must be considered as a new species.

Abies amabilis and Abies grandis, spruces resembling the “White balsam” in their general appearance, occur in the Wasatch Mountains, but are not abundant.

Juniperus Californicus, var. Utahensis, or White cedar, is very abundant over the foot hills and lower mountain slopes, and, like the piñon pine, is much used for fire wood. It has also the characteristic durability of the junipers, and makes excellent fence posts. It grows low, is diffusely branched, and is valueless for milling purposes.

Juniperus Virginiana, or Red cedar, is also found in this region. Its habitat is near the streams and at moderate altitudes. It is said to lack the durable qualities for which it is noted at the east, and which seem to be transferred to the other species.

Populus angustifolia, or Cottonwood, is the chief representative of the poplar family in this region. The people of the country distinguish two varieties or species, the Black cottonwood and Yellow cottonwood. The former is said to be useless for lumber, while the latter has some slight value. It forms no part of the forest proper, but fringes the lower reaches of the streams, rarely occurring higher in altitude than 6,000 feet. Its rapid growth and its proximity to the irrigable lands make it valuable for fuel, although it is not of superior quality.

Populus monilifera, the Cottonwood of the Mississippi Valley, grows with the above in the southern part of the Territory, and has about the same value.

Populus tremuloides, or Aspen, is found about the moist places on the mountain sides, and often borders the glades of the plateaus. The long poles which it furnishes are sometimes used for fencing purposes; it makes a fair fuel; the quantity found is small.

Acer grandidentata, a species of Maple, abounds at the north as a bush, and rare individuals attain the rank of small trees. Its wood is highly prized for the repair of machinery, but is too scarce to be of great service.

Negundo aceroides, or Box elder, is found along the water courses in many places. Sometimes along the larger streams it attains a height of 25 or 30 feet. It makes a good fuel, but is found in such small quantities as to be scarcely worthy of mention.

Quercus undulata, or White oak, is very abundant as a bush, and sometimes attains a diameter of six or eight inches. It is too rare as a tree to deserve more than mere mention.

Betula occidentalis, a species of Birch, grows about the upland springs and creeks. Its habit is bushlike, but it often has a height of 20 feet, and it makes a tolerable fuel.

The Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) and two species of Ash (Fraxinus coriacea and F. anomala) grow as small trees, but are exceedingly rare.

The above is a nearly complete list of the forest trees of Utah. The number of species is very small; aridity on the one hand, and cold on the other, successfully repel the deciduous trees. The oak, hickory, ash, etc., necessary to such a variety of industries, especially the manufacture of agricultural machinery, must all be imported from more humid regions. The coniferous trees, growing high among the rocks of the upper regions and beaten by the cold storms of a long winter, are ragged and gnarled, and the lumber they afford is not of the finest quality; and the finishing lumber for architectural purposes and furniture must also be imported from more humid regions.

IRRIGABLE AND PASTURE LANDS.

UINTA-WHITE BASIN.

The Uinta-White Valley is a deep basin inclosed by the Uinta Mountains on the north and the Tavaputs highlands on the south. Eastward the basin extends beyond the limits of Utah; westward the Uinta Mountains and West Tavaputs Plateau nearly inclose the head of the Uinta Valley, but the space between is filled with a section of the Wasatch Mountains. From the north, west, and south the Uinta Valley inclines gently toward the Duchesne River. Many streams come down from the north and from the south. In the midst of the valley there are some small stretches of bad lands.

Along the lower part of the Uinta and the Duchesne, and the lower courses of nearly all the minor streams, large tracts of arable land are found, and from these good selections can be made, sufficient to occupy in their service all the water of the Uinta and its numerous branches. The agricultural portion of the valley is sufficiently low to have a genial climate, and all the crops of the northern States can be cultivated successfully.

Stretching back on every hand from the irrigable districts, the little hills, valleys, and slopes are covered with grasses, which are found more and more luxuriant in ascending the plateaus and mountains, until the peaks are reached, and these are naked.

On the north of the Uinta, and still west of the Green, the basin is drained by some small streams, the chief of which is Ashley Fork. Except near the lower course of Ashley Fork, this section of country is exceedingly broken; the bad lands and hogbacks are severed by deep, precipitous cañons.

From the east the White River enters the Green. Some miles up the White, a cañon is reached, and the country on either hand, stretching back for a long distance, is composed of rugged barren lands. But between the highlands and the Green, selections of good land can be made, and the waters of the White can be used to serve them. From the White, south to the East Tavaputs Plateau, the grass lands steadily increase in value to the summit of the Brown Cliffs. Many good springs are found in this region, and eventually this will be a favorite district for pasturage farms.

Fine pasturage farms may be made on the southern slope of the Yampa Plateau, with summer pasturage above and winter pasturage below. Altogether, the Uinta-White Basin is one of the favored districts of the west, with great numbers of cool springs issuing from the mountains and hills; many beautiful streams of clear, cold water; a large amount of arable land from which irrigable tracts may be selected; an abundance of fuel in the piñon pines and cedars of the foot hills; and building timber farther back on the mountains and plateaus.

The whole amount of irrigable land is estimated at 280,320 acres.

THE CAÑON LANDS.

South of the Tavaputs highlands, and east and south of the High Plateaus, the Cañon Lands of Utah are found. The lower course of the Grand, the lower course of the Green, and a large section of the Colorado cuts through them, and the streams that head in the High Plateaus run across them. All the rivers, all the creeks, all the brooks, run in deep gorges—narrow, winding cañons, with their floors far below the general surface of the country. Many long lines of cliffs are found separating higher from lower districts. The hills are bad lands and alcove lands.

The Sierra la Sal and Henry Mountains are great masses of lava, wrapped in sedimentary beds, which are cut with many dikes. South of the High Plateaus great numbers of cinder cones are found.

On the Grand River there are some patches of land which can be served by the waters of that river. On the Green, in what is known as Gunnison Valley, patches of good land can be selected and redeemed by the waters of that river.

Castle Valley is abruptly walled on the west, north, and northeast by towering cliffs. East of its southern portion a region of towers, buttes, crags, and rocklands is found, known as the San Rafael Swell. In this valley there is a large amount of good land, and the numerous streams which run across it can all be used in irrigation. Farther south, on the Fremont, Escalante, and Paria, some small tracts of irrigable land are found, and on the Kanab and Virgin there are limited areas which can be used for agricultural purposes. But all that portion of the cañon country south of Castle Valley and westward to the Beaver Dam Mountains is exceedingly desolate; naked rocks are found, refusing footing even to dwarfed cedars and piñon pines; the springs are infrequent and yield no bountiful supply of water; its patches of grass land are widely scattered, and it has but little value for agricultural purposes.

A broad belt of coal land extends along the base of the cliffs from the Tavaputs Plateau on the northeast to the Colob Plateau on the southwest. At the foot of the cliffs which separate the lowlands from the highlands, many pasturage farms may be made; the grass of the lowlands can be used in the winter, and that of the highlands in summer, and everywhere good springs of water may be found.

The extent of the irrigable lands in this district is estimated at 213,440 acres.

THE SEVIER LAKE DISTRICT.

This district embraces all the country drained by the waters which flow into the Sevier Lake, and the areas drained by many small streams which are quickly lost in the desert. The greater part of the irrigable land lies in the long, narrow valleys walled by the plateaus, especially along the Sevier, Otter Creek, and the San Pete. The arable lands greatly exceed the irrigable, and good selections may be made. Most of the irrigable lands are already occupied by farmers, and the waters are used in their service. In the valleys among the high plateaus, and along their western border, the grasses are good, and many pasturage farms may be selected, and the springs and little streams that come from the plateau cliffs will afford an abundant supply of water. The summits of the plateaus will afford an abundant summer pasturage.

Westward among the Basin Ranges feeble and infrequent springs are found; there is little timber of value, but the lower mountains and foot hills have cedars and piñon pines that would be valuable for fuel if nearer to habitations. The cedar and piñon hills bear scant grasses. The valleys are sometimes covered with sage, sometimes with grease wood, sometimes quite naked.

The amount of irrigable land in this district is estimated at 101,700 acres.

THE GREAT SALT LAKE DISTRICT.

This district has already become famous in the history of western agriculture, for here the Latter Day Saints first made “a home in the valleys among the mountains”.

The rivers and creeks bring the waters down from the Wasatch Mountains on the east. The high valleys among the mountains have to some extent been cultivated, and will hereafter be used more than at present for meadow purposes. In general the people have selected their lands low down, in order to obtain a more genial climate. Yet the irrigable lands are not very far from the mountains, as a glance at the map will reveal. Utah Lake constitutes a fine natural reservoir and discharges its waters into Salt Lake by the Jordan, and from its channel the waters may be conducted over a large area of country. The waters of the Weber and Bear Rivers, now flowing idly into the lake, will soon be spread over extensive valleys, and the area of agricultural lands be greatly increased. Westward the influence of the mountains in the precipitation of moisture is soon lost, and beyond the lake an irreclaimable desert is found.

Near to the mountains the grass lands are fair but they have been overpastured and greatly injured. Out among the Basin Ranges little grass land of value is found.

The amount of irrigable land in this district is estimated at 837,660 acres.

The lofty zone of mountains and table lands with arms stretching eastward, with its culminating points among summer frosts and winter storms, is the central region about which the human interests of the country gather. The timber, the water, the agricultural lands, the pasturage lands, to a large extent the coal and iron mines, and to some extent the silver mines, are all found in these higher regions or clinging closely to them.

GRASSES.

While the forests present but a few species of trees, the pasturage lands present a great variety of grasses. Between fifty and sixty species have been collected by parties connected with the survey under the direction of the writer, and these are distributed among twenty-six or twenty-seven genera. Most of them belong to the mountains or highlands, and are rich and sweet. Nearly all of them are bunch grasses. The spaces by which the bunches are separated are bare or occupied with weeds and shrubs. This is often the case on the mountains and high plateaus. A continuous turf is never seen. Where a sward is seen in moist places, about springs and in glades, the verdure consists in chief part of other plants, sedges and reeds.

Of the bunch grasses the Poas are by far the most abundant. Of this genus nine species were obtained, but this gives an inadequate idea of the variety. Of one species alone Dr. Vasey has enumerated nine varieties, and advances the opinion that several will be eventually considered as species. They are found at all altitudes, mostly on the slopes. Perhaps the most important single species in that region is the Bouteloua oligostachya, the so called “Circle grass”. It has a peculiar habit of forming partial or complete circles on the ground, with areas of bare ground in the center. These turfy rings are comparatively narrow, often not more than three or four inches in width, while the circles are from two to four feet in diameter. The form is not always circular, but often assumes irregular shapes. The grass is sweet and nutritious, but its chief value consists in its power to resist inclement seasons, as it cures standing, like the “Buffalo grass” of the Great Plains.

Another very valuable grass is the Eriocoma cuspidata, which is known by the name of “Sand grass”. It grows at much lower altitudes, and is properly a valley grass. It has a solitary, scattering habit, or at least the bunches are small and turfless. Horses and cattle select it with care from among other species, and it seems especially nutritious. It has a large black grain, which is often collected by the Indians for food.

A remarkable lowland grass is the Vilfa (Sporobolis airoides). It has something of the appearance of “Hair grass”, with a widely spreading purple panicle and large perennial roots. The old culms persist at the base, and with the new ones form thick and almost woody tufts. These tufts are scattered about in the strongly alkaline soils of the river bottoms, and are extensively pastured by large herds of cattle. A marked characteristic of this grass, common, however, to several others, is its power to take up saline matter, which gives to the whole plant a salty taste. The effect of this upon the stock feeding upon it is doubtful, judging from the conflicting reports of the inhabitants; but it seems that when cattle are first pastured upon it they are injured by the excess of salt, but that after a time they cease to be injured by it. All of the so called “Salt grasses” are cropped to a greater or less extent by stock.

The chief grasses of the elevated timber tracts belong to the genus Bromus. When young they are good, but they become stale and valueless with age. The only grass that can compare with those of the eastern meadows, and which forms a continuous sod and covers the ground with a uniform growth, is a variety of Aira cæspitosa, a red topped grass, which was found surrounding the small lakes of the mountains and plateaus, at elevations of 11,000 feet and over. This is an exceedingly beautiful grass as it waves in the gentle breezes that fan the lakelets of the upper regions.

Phragmites communis, the so called “Cane”, is common in the glades and sloughs; and, though large and rather dry, it furnishes the only verdure obtainable for months in severe seasons.

Much of the hay and pasturage of the country, which is there called grass, consists of plants of different families. Notable among these are several species of Carex (sedges), particularly Carex Jamesii, which springs up wherever artificial meadows are made by the system of flooding commonly practiced. The plants have large, strong, subterranean root-stocks, forming a tangled mass which, when once established, cannot easily be eradicated. The leaves are broad and grasslike, and, though coarse and comparatively insipid, form a good sward which can be mowed—a rare condition in that country; and hence such meadows are highly prized.

Juncus Balticus, var. montanus, which has a blue color, terete culms, and tough fiber, and which the settlers call “Wire grass”, is very abundant. It is cut for hay, and is said to serve a good purpose as such.

There are some shrubs that furnish excellent browsing, among which, perhaps, the grease wood takes the first rank. The sage brush, Artemisia, on the contrary, is seldom resorted to. There is one shrub to which great virtues are ascribed which may be mentioned in this connection. This is the Cercocarpus parvifolius, which occupies the mountain sides for a wide zone of altitude. The foliage, though not strictly evergreen, remains most of the winter, and is said to afford the only food for horses and cattle that can be obtained during some seasons of deep snows. This shrub is a congener of the well known mountain mahogany, C. ledifolius, which grows at higher altitudes, and has truly evergreen foliage.

The small perennial plant Eurotia lanata, or “White sage”, found growing in the valleys and plains, is held in high esteem as winter food for stock.

The growth of grass, even on the plateaus, is often scant; on the foot hills it becomes less, and farther away from the highlands it still diminishes in quantity until absolute deserts are found. Most of the grasses seem to protect themselves from the great aridity by growing in bunches. They appear to produce proportionately a greater amount of seeds than the grasses of the Humid Region, and their nutritive qualities, especially in winter, seems to be due thereto. In general, the grasses seem to have large, strong stems, and are not so easily broken down as those of the Humid Region, and the rains and snows by which they would be so broken down are infrequent. Again, for these reasons, the grasses, standing long after they are cut by frosts, cure themselves, forming thereby a winter pasturage.

The irrigable lands of Utah will be discussed more thoroughly and in detail in subsequent chapters by Mr. G. K. Gilbert, who has made the Great Salt Lake District his study; by Capt. C. E. Dutton, who has prepared the chapter on the irrigable lands of the Sevier Lake Drainage, and by Prof. A. H. Thompson, who has written the chapter on the irrigable lands of the Colorado Drainage.

The following is a table of the irrigable lands, arranged by districts, as discussed in the present chapter. The table is compiled from those presented in subsequent chapters.

Table of irrigable lands in Utah Territory.