DEPARTMENT OF THE ISTKlilOU

BULLETIN

OF THE

UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

No. 1O5

TEE LARAMIE AND Till'] OVKKI.YTXG UVIXGSTON 

FORMATION IX MOXTAXA

' '.MMNTIKG OFFTOE 

1 8!) 3

LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS.

United States. Department of the interior. (U.'S. geological survey). 

Department of the interior | | Bulletin | of the | United 

States | geological survey | no. 105 | [Seal of the department] | 

Washington | government printing office | 1893

Second title: United States geological survey | J. W. Powell, 

director | | The Laramie | and | the overlying Livingston formation in Montana | by | Walter Harvey Wood | with | report on 

flora I by | Frank Hall Knowlton | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office 11893

8°. 68pp. 6 pi.

Weed (Walter Harvey).

United States geological survey | J. W. Powell, director | | 

The Laramio | and | the overlying Livingston formotion in Montana | by | Walter Plarvey Weed | -\vith | report on flora | by | 

Frank Hall Knowlton |'[Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1893

8°. 08pp. 6 pi. 

[UNITED STATES. Department of the interior. (TJ. S.. geological survey). 

Bulletin 105.]

United States geological survey | J. W. Powoll, director | | 

The Laramie | and | the overlying Liviugston formation in Montana | by | Walter Harvey Weed | with | report on flora | by | 

Frank Hall Knowlton | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1893 .

8°. 68 pp. o pi.

[UNITED STATES. Department of the interior. (U. S. geological survey), 

Bulletin 105. J

G 2328

ADVERT ISKMENT.

[Bulletin No'. 105.]

The publications of the United States Geological Survey are issued in accordance with the statute 

approved March 3, 1879, -which declares that 

.'' The publications of the Geological Survey shall consist of the annual report of operations, geological 

and economic maps illustrating the resources and classification of the lands, and reports upon general 

and economic geology and paleontology. The annual report of operations of the Geological Survey 

shall accompany the annual report of the Secretary of the Interior. All special memoirs and reports 

of said Survey shall be issued in uniform quarto series if deemed necessary by the Director, but otherwise iu ordinary octavos. Three thousand copies of each shall be published for scientific exchanges 

and for sale at the price of publication; and all literary and cartographic materials received in exchange

shall bo the property of tho United States and form a part of the library of the organization; and the 

money resulting from the sale of such publications shall be covered into the Treasury of the United 

States."

On July 7,1882, the following joint resolution, referring to all Government publications, was passed 

by Congress:

"That whenever any document or report shall be ordered printed by Congress, there shall be priuted, 

in addition to the number in each case stated, the 'usual number' (734) of copies for binding and 

distribution among those entitled to receive them."

Except in those cases in which an extra number of any publication has been supplied to the Survey 

by special resolution of Congress or has been ordered by tho Secretary of the Interior, this office has 

no copies for gratuitous distribution.

ANNUAL EEPOETS. 

I. First Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, by Clarence King. 1880. 8°. 79 pp. 

1 map. A preliminary report describing plan of organization and publications.

II. Second Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1880-'81, by J. W. Powoll. 1882. 

8°. lv, 588 pp. 62 pi. 1 map. ,

HE. Third Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1881-'82, by J. W. Powell. 1883. 

8°. xviii, 564 pp. 67 pi. and maps.

IV. Fourth Annual Eeport of the United States .Geological Survey, 1882-'83, by J. W. Powell. 1884. 

8°. xxxii, 473 pp. 85 pi. and maps.

V. Fifth Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1883-'84, by J. W. Powdl. 1885. 

8°. xxxvi, 409 pp. 58 pi. and maps.

VI. Sixth Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1884-'85, by J. W. Powell. 1885. 

8°. xxix, 570 pp. 65 pi. and maps.

Vn. Seventh Annual Eoport of the United States Geological Survey, 1885-'86, by J. W. Powoll. 1888. 

8°. xx, 656 pp. 71 pi. and maps.

VIII. Eighth Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1886-'87, by J. W. Powoll. 1889- 

8°. 2pt. xix, 474, xii pp. 53 pi. and maps; 1 p. 1., 475-1063 pp. 54-76 pi. and maps.

IX. Ninth Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1887-'88, by J. "W. Powell. 1889. 

8°. xiii, 717 pp. 88 pi. and maps.

X. Tenth Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1888-'89, by J. W. Powell. 1890. 

8°. 2 pt. xv, 774 pp. 98 pi. and maps; viii, 123 pp.

XI. Eleventh Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1889-'90, by J. W. Powell. 1891. 

8°. 2 pt. xv, 757 pp. 66 pi. and maps; ix, 351 pp. 30 pi.

XII. Twelfth Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1890-'91, by J. W. Powell. 1891. 

8°. 2 pt. xiii, 675 pp. 53 pi. and maps; xviii, 576 pp. 146 pi. and maps.

XIII. Thirteenth Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey, 1891-'92, by J. W. Powell, 

1893. 8°. 3pt.

MONOGEAPHS.

I. Lake Bonnoville, by Grove Karl Gilbert. 1890. 4°. xx, 438 pp. 51 pi. . 1 map. Price $1.50.

II, Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District, with atlas, by Clarence E. Dutton, Capt. U. S. A. 

1882. 4°. xiv, 264 pp. 42 pi. and atlas of 24 sheets folio. Price $10.00.

I
II ADVERTISEMENT.

HE. Geology of the Comstock Lode and tlio Washoe District, with atlas, hy George F. Becker. 1882. 

4°. xv, 422 pp. 7 pi. and atlas of 21 sheets folio. Price $11.00.

IV. Comstock Mining and Miners, by Eliot Lord. 1883. 4°. xiv, 451 pp. 3 pi. Price $1.50.

V. The Copper-Bearing Bocks of Lake Superior, by Roland Dner Irving. 1883. 4°. xvi, 464 pp. 

151. 20 pi. and maps. -Price $1.85.

VI. Contributions to the Knowledge of the Older Mesozoic Flora of Virginia, by William Morris 

Fontaine. 1883. 4°. xi,144pp. 541. 54 pi. Price $1.05.

VII. Silver-Lead Deposits of Eureka, Nevada, by Joseph Story Curtis. 1884. 4°. xiii, 200pp. 1C 

pi. Price $1.20.

VIH. Paleontology of the Eureka District, by Charles Doolittle Walcott. 1884. 4°. xiii, 298pp. 

241. 24 pi. Price $1.10.

IX. Brachiopoda and Lamellibranchiata of the Raritan Clays and Greensand Marls of New Jersey, 

by Eobert P. Whitfleld. 1885. 4°. xx,338pp. 35 pi. 1 map. Price $1.15.

X. Dinocerata. A Monograph of an Extinct Order of Gigantic Mammals, by Othniel Charles Marsh. 

1886. 4°. xviii,243pp. 561. 56 pi. Price $2.7o!

XI. Geologi'cal History of Lake Lahontan, a Quaternary Lake of Northwestern Nevada, by Israel 

Cook Russell. 1885. 4°. xiv, 288pp. 46 pi. and maps. Price $1.75.

XII. Geology and Mining Industry of Leatlville, Colorado, with atlas, by Samuel Franklin Emmons. 

1886. 4°. xxix, 770 pp. 45 pi. and atlas of 35 sheets folio. Price $8.40.

XIII. Geology of the Quicksilver Deposits of the Pacific Slope, with atlas, by George F. Becker. 

1888. 4°. xix,486pp. 7 pi. and atlas of 14 sheets folio. Price $2.00.

XIV. Fossil Fishes and Fossil Plants of the Triassic Rocks of New Jersey and the Connecticut Valley, by John S. Newberry. 1888. 4°. xiv, 152 pp. 26 pi. Price $1.00.

XV. The Potomac or Younger Mesozoic Flora, by "William Morris Fontaine. 1889. 4°. xiv, 377 

pp. 180 pi. Text and plates bound separately. Price $2.50.

XVI. The Paleozoic Fishes of North America, by John Strong Newberry. 1889. 4°. 340pp. 53 pi. 

Price $1.00.

XVLT. The Flora of the Dakota Group, a posthumous work, by Leo Lesquereux. Edited by F. H. 

Knowlton. 1891. 4°. 400 pp. 66 pi. Price $1.10.

XVIII. Gasteropoda and Cephalopoda of the Raritan Clays and Greensand- Marls of New Jersey, 

by Robert P. Whitfield. 1891. 4°. 402pp. 50 pi. Price $1.00.

XLX. The Penokee Iron-Bearing Series of Northern Wisconsin and Michigan, by Roland D. Irving 

and C.R. Van Hise. 1892. 4°. xix, 534 pp. 37 pi.

XX. Geology of the Eureka District, Nevada, with atlas, by Arnold Hague. 1892. 4°. 419 pp. 8 pi.

In press: '

XXI. The Tertiary Rhynchophorous Coleoptera of North America, by Samuel Hubhard Scudder. 

XXH. A Manual of Topographic Methods, by Henry Gannett, chief topographer. 

XXIII. Geology of the Green Mountains in Massachusetts, by Raphael Pumpelly, J. E. Wolff, 

T. Nelson Dale, and Bayard T. Putnam.

In preparation:

 Mollusca and Crustacea of the Miocene Formations of New Jersey, by R. P. Whitfleld.

 Sauropoda, by 0. C. Marsh.

 Stegosauria, by 0. C. Marsh.

 Broutotheridai, by 0. C. Marsh. '

 Report on the Denver Coal Basin, by S. F. Emmons..

 Report on Silver Cliff and Ten-Mile Mining Districts, Colorado, by S. F. Emmons.

 The Glacial Lake Agassiz, by Warren Upham.

BULLETINS.

1. On Hypersthene-Andesite and.on Triclinic Pyroxene in Augitic Rocks, by AVhitman Cross, with a 

Geological Sketch of Buffalo Peaks, Colorado, by S.F. Emmons. 1883. 8°. 42pp. 2 pi. Price 10 cents.

2. Gold and Silver Conversion Tables, giving the coining value of troy ounces of fine metal, etc., computed by Albert Williams, jr. 1883. 8°. 8pp. Price 5 cents.

3. On the Fossil Faunae of the Upper Devonian, along themeridian of 76° 30', from Tompkins County, 

Now York, to Bradford County, Pennsylvania, by Henry S.Williams. 1884. 8°. 36pp. Price 5 cents.

4. On Mesozoic Fossils, by Charles A. White. 1884. 8°. 36 pp. 9 pi. Price 5 cents.

5. A Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States, compiled by Henry Gannett. ]884. 8°. 325 pp. 

Price 20 cents.

6. Elevations in the Dominion of Canada, by J. W. Spencer. 1884. 8°. 43pp.' Price 5 cents.

7. Mapoteca Geologica Americana. A Catalogue of Geological Maps of America (North and South). 

1752-1881, in geographic and chronologic order, by Jules Marcou and Jghn Belknap Marcou. 1884. 

8°. 184 pp. Price 10 cents.

8. On Secondary Enlargements of Mineral Fragments in Certain Rocks,by R.D.Irving and C.R. 

Van Hise. 1884. 8°. -50pp. 6 pi. Price 10 cents.

9. A report of work done in the Washington Laboratory during the fiscal year 1883-'84. F. W. Clarke, 

chief chemist. T. M. Chatard, assistant chemist. 1884. 8°. 40 pp. Price 5 cents.
ADVERTISEMENT. Ill

10. On the Cambrian Faunas of North America. Preliminary studies, hy Charles Doolittle Walcott.

1884. 8°. 74 pp. 10 pi. Price 5 cents.

11. On the Quaternary and Recent Mollusca of the Great Basin; with Descriptions of Now Forms, 

l>y B. Ellsworth Call. Introduced by a sketch of the Quaternary Lakes of the Great Basin, by G. K. 

Gilbert. 1884. 8°. 66 pp. 6 pi. Price 5 cents.

12. A Crystallographic Study of the Thinolite of Lake Lahontan, by-Edward S. Dana. 1884. 8°. 

34'pp. 3 pi. Price 5 cents.

13. Boundaries of the United States and of the several States and Territories, with a Historical 

Sketch of the Territorial Changes, by Henry Gannett. 1885. 8°. 135 pp. Price 10 cents.

14. The Electrical and Magnetic Properties of the Iron-Carburets, by Carl Barns and Vincent 

Stronhal. 1885. 8°. 238pp. Price 15 cents.

15. On the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Paleontology of California, by Charles A. White. 1885. 8°. 33 pp. 

Price 5 cents.

16. On the Higher Devonian Faunas of Ontario County, New York, by John M. Clarke. 1885. 8°. 

8(5 pp. 3 pi. Price 5 cents.

17. On the Development of Crystallization in the Igneous Eocks of "Washoe, Nevada, with notes on 

the Geology of the District, by Arnold Hague and Joseph P. Iddings. 1885. 8°. 44 pp. Price 5 

cents.

18. On Marino Eocene, Fresh-water Miocene, and other Fossil Mollusca of Western North America, 

by Charles A White. 1885. 8°. 26 pp. 3 pi. Price 5 cents.

19. Notes on the Stratigraphy of California, by George F. Becker. 1885. 8°. 28 pp. Price 5 cents. 0

20. Contributions to the Mineralogy of the Rocky Mountains, by "Whitman Cross and W. F. JEillebrand. 1885. 8°. 114 pp. 1 pi. Price 10 cents.

21. The Lignites of the Great Sioux Reservation. A Report on the Region between the Grand and 

Moroau Elvers, Dakota, by Bailey Willis. 1885. 8°. 16 pp. 5 pi. Price 5 cents.

22. On New Cretaceous Fossils from California, by Charles A. White. 1885. 8°. 25 pp. 5 pi. 

Price 5 cents.

23. Observations on the Junction between the Eastern Sandstone and the Keweenaw Series on KowoenaAV Point, Lake Superior, by E. D. Irving and T. C. Chamberlin. 1885. 8°. 124 pp'. 17 pi. 

Price 15 cents.

24. List of Marino Mollusca, comprising the Quaternary Fossils and recent forms from American 

Localities between Cape Hattoras and Cape Eoque, including the Bermudas, by William Healy Dall.

1885. 8°. 336pp. Price 25 cents.

25. The Present Technical Condition of the Steel Industry of the "United States, by Phineas Barnes. 

1885. 8°/ 85 pp. Price 10 cents.

26. Copper Smelting, by Henry M. Howe. 1885. 8°. 107 pp. Price 10 cents.

27. Eeport of work done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the fiscal year

1884-'85. 1886. 8°. 80pp. Price 10 cents.

28. The Gabbros and Associated Hornblende Rocks occurring in the neighborhood of Baltimore, 

Maryland, by George Huutington Williams. 1886. 8°. 78 pp. 4 pi. Price 10 cents.

29. On the Fresh-water Invertebrates of the North American Jurassic, by Charles A. White. 1886. 

8°. 41 pp. 4 pi. Price 5 cents.

30. Second Contribution to the Studies on the Cambrian Faunas of North America, by Charles Doolittle Walcott. 1886. 8°. 369 pp. 33 pi. Price 25 cents.

31. Systematic Eeviewof our Present Knowledge of Fossil Insects, including Myriapods and Arachnids, by Samuel Hubbard Scudder. 1886. 8°. 128 pp. Price 15 cents.

32. Lists and Analyses of the Mineral Springs of the United States; a Preliminary Study, by Albert 

C. Peale. 1880. 8°. 235 pp. Price 20 cents.

33. Notes on the Geology of Northern California, by J. S. Diller. 1886. 8°. 23 pp. Price 5 cents.

34. On the relation of the Laramie Molluscan Fauna to that of the succeeding Fresh-water Eocene 

and other groups, by Charles A. White. 1886. 8°. 04 pp. 5 pi. Price 10 cents.

35. Physical Properties of the Iron-Carburets, by Carl Barns and Vincent Strouhal. 1886. 8°. 62 

pp. Price 10 cents.

36. Subsidence of Fine Solid Particles in Liquids, by Carl Barus. 1886. 8°. 58 pp. Price 10 cents.

37. Types of the Laramie Flora, by Lester F. Ward. 1887. 8°. 354 pp. 57 pi. Price 25 cents.

38. Peridotite of Elliott County, Kentucky, by J. S. Diller. 1887. 8°. 31 pp. 1 pi. Price 5 cents.

39. The Upper Beaches and Deltas of the Glacial Lake Agassiz, by Warren Upham. 1887. 8°. 84 

pp. 1 pi. Price 10 cents.

40. Changes in River Courses in Washington Territory due to Glaciation, by Bailey Willis. 1887. 

8°. 10 pp. 4 pi. Price 5 cents.

41. On the Fossil Faunas of the Upper Devonian the Genesee Section, New York, by Henry S. 

Williams. 1887. 8°. ]21pp. 4 pi. Price 15 cents.

42. Report of work done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the fiscal year

1885-'86. F.W. Clarke, chief chemist. 1887. 8°. 152pp. 1 pi. Price 15 cents.

43. Tertiary and Cretaceous Strata of the Tuscaloosa, Tombigbee, and Alabama Rivers, by Eugene 

A. Smith and Lawrence C. Johnson. 1887. 8°. 189pp. 21 pi. Price 15 cents.

44. Bibliography of North American Geology for 1886, byNelson H. Darton. 1887. 8°. 35 pp. 

Price 5 cents.
IV ADVEKTISEMENT.

45. Tlio Present Condition of Knowledge of the Geology of Texas, by Kobert T. Hill. 1887. 8°. 94 

pp. Price 10 cents.

46. Nature and Origin of Deposits of Phosphate of Lime, by E. A. F. Penrose, jr., with an Introduction by N. S.'Shaler. 1888. 8°. 143pp. Price 15 cents.

47. Analyses of "Waters of the Tellowstone National Park, with an Account of the Methods of 

Analysis employed, by Frank Austin Gooch and James Edward "Whitfleld. 1888. 8°. 84 pp. Price 

10 cents.

48. On the Form and Position of the Sea Level, by Eobert Simpson Woodward. 1888. 8°. 88 pp. 

Price 10 cents.

49. Latitudes and Longitudes of Certain Points in Missouri, Kansas, and New Mexico, by Eobert 

Simpson "Woodward. 1889. 8°. 133 pp. Price 15 cents.

50. Formulas and Tables to facilitate the Construction and "Use of Maps, by Eobert Simpson Woodward. 1889. 8°. 124 pp. Price 15 cents.

51. On Invertebrate Fossils from the Pacific Coast, by Charles Abiathar "White. 1889. 8°. 102 

pp. 14 pi. Price 15 cents.

52. Subaerial Decay of Eocks and Origin of the Bed Color of Certain Formations, by Israel Cook 

Eussell. 1889. 8°. 65 pp. 5 pi. Price 10 cents.

53. The Geology of Nantucket, by Nathaniel South gate Shaler. 1889. 8°. 55pp. 10 pi. Price 10 

cents.

54. On the Thormo-Electric Measurement of High Temperatures, by Carl Barus. 1889. 8°. 313pp. 

incl. 1 pi. 11 pi. Price 25 cents.

55. Eeport of work done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the fiscal year 

188C-'87. Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, chief chemist. 1889. 8°. 96 pp. Price 10 cents.

56. Fossil W ood and Lignite of the Potomac Formation, by Frank Hall Knowltou. 1889. 8°. 72 

pp. 7 pi. Price 10 cents.

57. A Geological Eecounaissance in Southwestern Kansas, by Eobert Hay. 1890. 8°. 49 pp. 2 pi. 

Price 5 cents.

58. The Glacial Boundary in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and'Illinois, by George 

Frederick Wrigbt, with an introduction by Thomas Chrowder Chamberliu. 1890. 8°. 112 pp. incl. 

1 pi. 8 pi. Price 15 cents.

59. The Gabbros and Associated Eocks in Delaware, by Frederick D. Chester. 1890. 8°. 45 pp. 

1 pi. Price 10 cents.

60. Eeport of work done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during th6 fiscal year 

1887-'88. F. W. Clarke, chief chemist. 1890. 8°. 174 pp. Price 15 cents.

61. Contributions to the Mineralogy of the Pacific Coast, by William Haiiowe Melville and Waldemar 

Lindgren. 1890. 8°. 40 pp. 3 pi. Price 5 cents.

62. The Greenstone Schist Areas of the MenoTniuee and Marquette Eegions of Michigan; a contribution to the subject of dynamic metamorphism in eruptive rocks, by George-Huntington Williams; 

with an introduction by Eoland Duer Irving. 1890. 8°. 241 pp. 16 pi. Price 30 cents.

63. A Bibliography of Paleozoic Crustacea from 1698 to 1889, including a list of North American 

species and a systematic arrangement of genera, by Anthony W. Vogdes. 1890. 8°. 177 pp. Price 

15 cents.

64. A report of work clone in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the fiscal year 

1888-'89. P. W. Clarke, chief chemist. 1890. 8°. 60pp. Price 10 cents.

65. Stratigraphy of the Bituminous Coal Field of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West "Virginia, by Israel 

C. White. 1891. 8°. 212pp. 11 pi. Price 20 cents.

66. On a Group of Volcanic Eocks from the Tewan Mountains, New Mexico, .and on the occurrence 

of Primary Quartz in certain Basalts, by Joseph Paxson Iddinga. 1890. 8°. 34pp. Price 5 cents.

67. The Eelations of the Traps of the Newark System in the New Jersey Eegion, by Nelson Horatio 

Darton. 1890. 8°. 82 pp. Price 10 cents.

68. Earthquakes in California in 1889, by James Edward Keoler. 1890. 8°. 25 pp. Price 5 cents.

69. A Classed and Annotated Bibliography of Fossil Insects, by Samuel Hubbard Scudder. 1890. 

8°. 101 pp. Price 15 cents.

70. Eepert on Astronomical Work of 1889 and 1890, by Eobort Simpson Woodward. 1890. 8°. 79pp. 

Price 10 cents.

71. Index to the Known Fossil Insects of the World, including Myriapods and Arachnids, by«Samuel 

Hubbard Scudder. 1891. 8°. 744 pp. Price 50 cents.

72. Altitudes between Lake Superior and the Eocky Mountains, by Warren Upham. 1891. 8°. 

229 pp. Price 20 cents.

73. The Viscosity of Solids, by Carl Barus. 1891. 8°. xii, 139 pp. 6 pi. Price 15 cents.

74. The Minerals of North Carolina, by Frederick Augustus Genth. 1891. 8°. 119 pp. Price 15 

cents.

75. Eecord of North American Geology for 1887 to 1889, inclusive, by Nelson Horatio Darton. 1891. 

8°. 173 pp. Price 15 cents.

76. A Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States (second edition), compiled by Henry Gannett, 

chief topographer. 1891. 8°. 393pp. Price 25 cents.

77. The Texan Permian and its Mesozoic Types of Fossils, by Charles A. White. 1891. 8°. 51 pp, 

4pL Price 10 cents.
ADVERTISEMENT. V

78. A report of work done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the fiscal year 

1889-'90. F. W. Clarice, chief chemist. 1891. 8°. 131pp. Price 15 cents.

79. A Late Volcanic Eruption in Northern California and its Peculiar Lava, by J. S. Diller. 1891. 8°. 

33pp. 17 pi. Price 10 cents.

80. Correlation papers Devonian and Carboniferous, by Henry Shaler "Williams. 1891. 8°. 279pp. 

Price 20 cents.

81. Correlation papers Cambrian, by Charles Doolittle "VValcott. 1891. 8°. 447 pp. 3 pi. Price 

25 cents.

82. Correlation papers Cretaceous, by Charles A. White. 1891. 8°. 273pp. 3 pi. Price 20 cents.

83. Correlation papers Eocene, by William Bullock Clark. 1891. 8°. 173 pp. 2 pi. Price 15 cents.'

84. Correlation papers Neocene, by W. H. Dall and G. D. Harris. 1892. 8°. 349 pp. 3 pi. Price 

25 cents.

85. Correlation papers The Newark System, by Israel Cook Russell. 1892. 8°. 344 pp. 13 pi. 

Price 25 cents.

86. Correlation papers Archean and Algonkiaii, by C. R. Van Hise. 1892. 8°. 549 pp. 12 pi. 

Price 25 cents.

90. A report of work done in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the fiscal year 

1890-'91. F. W. Clarke, chief chemist. 1892. 8°. 77pp. Price 10 cents.

91. Record of North American Geology for 1890, by Nelson Horatio Darton. 1891. 8°. 88pp. Price 

10 cents.

92. The Compressibility of Liquids, by Carl Barus. 1892. 8°. 96 pp. 29 pi. Price 10 cents.

93. Some insects of special interest from Florissant, Colorado, and other points in the Tortiaries of 

Colorado and Utah, by Samuel Hubbard Scudder. 1892. 8°. 35 pp. 3 pi. Price 5 cents.

94. The Median ism of Solid Viscosity, by Carl Barus. 1892. 8°. 138pp. Price 15 cents.

95. Earthquakes in California in 1890 and 1891, by Edward Singleton Holden. 1892. 8°. 31 pp. 

Price 5 cents. 

90. The Volume Thermodynamics of Liquids, by Carl Barus. 1892. 8°. 100pp. Price 10 cents.

97. The Mesozoio Echinodermata of the United States, by W. B. Clark. 1893. 8°. 207 pp. 50.pl. 

Price 20 cents.

98. Flora of the Outlying Carboniferous Basins of Southwestern Missouri.by David White. 1893. 8°. 

139 pp. 5 pi. Price 15 cents.

99. Record of North American Geology for 1891, by Nelson Horatio Darton. 1892. 8°. 73 pp. 

Price 15 cents.

100. Bibliography and Index of the publications of the U. S. Geological Survey, 1879-1892, by Philip 

Groveling Warman. 8°. 495 pp. Price 25 cents.

101. Insect Fauna of the Rhode Island Coal Field, by Samuel Hubbard Scuddor. 1893. 8°. 5? pp. 

2 pi. Price 5 cents.

104. Glaciation of the Yellowstono Valley north of the Park, by W. H. Weed. 1893. 8°. 41 pp. 

4 pi. Price 5 cents.

105. The Laramio and the overlying Livingston Formation in Montana, by Walter Harvey Weed, 

with Report on Flora, by Frank Hall Knowlton. 1893. 8°. 68 pp. 6 pi. Price 10 cents.

108. A Geological Recoimoissance in Central Washington, by Israel Cook Russell. 1893. 8°. 108pp. 

12 pi. Price 15 cents.

In press:

102. A Catalogue and Bibliography of North American Mesozoic Invortcbrata, by C. B. Boyle.

103. High Temperature Work in Igneous Fusion and Ebullition, chiefly in relation to pressure, by 

Carl Barus.

106. The Colorado Formation and its Invertebrate Fauna, by T. W. Stanton.

107. The Trap Dikes of Lake Champlain Valley and the Eastern Adirondacks, by J. F. Kemp.

109. The Eruptive and Sedimentary Rocks on Pigeon Point, Minnesota, and their contact phenomena, by W. S. Bayley.

110. The Paleozoic Section in the vicinity of Three Forks, Montana, by A. C. Poalo.

In preparation:

 The Moraines of the Missouri Coteau, and their attendant deposits, by James Edward Totld.

 On the Structure of the Ridge between the Taconic and the Green Mountain Ranges in Vermont; and On the Structure of Monument Mountain in Great Barringtou, Mass., by T. Nelson Dale.

 A Bibliography of Palepbotany, by David White.

STATISTICAL PAPERS.

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1882, by Albert Williams, jr. 1883. 8°. xvii, 813 pp. Price 

50 cents.

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1883 and 1884, by Albert Williams, jr. 1885. 8°. xiv, 1016 

pp. Price 60 cents.

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1885. Division of Mining Statistics and Technology. 1886. 

8°, vii, 576 pp. Price 40 cents.
VI ADVERTISEMENT.

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1886, by David T.Day. 1887. 8°. viii, 813pp. Price 50 cents.

Mineral Kesources of the United States, 1887, by David T. Day. 1888. 8°. vii, 832pp. Price 50 cents.

Mineral Eesources of the United States, 1888, by David T. Day. 1890. 8°. vii, 952 pp. Price 50 cents.

Mineral llesources of the United States, 1880 and 1800, by David T. Day. 1892. 8°. -viii, 671 pp. 

Price 50 cents.

Mineral Eesources of the United States, 1891, by David T.Day. 1893. 8°. vii, 630pp. Price 50 cents. 

In preparation:

Mineral Eesources of the United States, 1892.

Tho money received from the sale of these publications is deposited in the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Treasury declines to receive bank checks, drafts, or postage stamps; all remittances, therefore, must be by POSTAL NOTE or MONEY ORDER, made payable to the Chief Clerk of the U. S. Geological 

Survey, or in CURRENCY, for the exact amount. Correspondence relating to the publications of the 

Survey should be addressed

To THE DIRECTOR OF THE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

WASHINGTON, D. C.

WASHINGTON, D. C., June, 1S93. .
BULLETIN IO5 PL. I

Distribution of 

OUS FORMATIONS NEAR LIVINGSTON, MONTANA, Laramie La, Montana Colorado

SCALE. 

CONTOUR INTERVALS 200 FT.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BULLETIN

OP THE

UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

No. 1O5

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1893

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUBVEF

j. w. POWELL, "DIKECTOK

THE LARAMIE

THE OVERLYING LIVKTON FORMATION IN MONTANA

WALTEE HAEVEY WEED

WITH

REPORT ON FLORA

BY

FRANK HALL KNOWLTON

WASHINGTON

GOVEKNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1893

CONTENTS

Letter of transinittal......................................................... 9

Outline of paper............................................................ 10

Introduction ............................................................... 11

Geography of the region .............................................. '...... 12

General geology ............................................................ 13

The Mesozoic section.................................................... 15

Jura................................................................ 16

. Cretaceous.......................................................... 17

The Laramie formation ..................................................... 18

The Livingston formation................................................... 21

Distribution............................................................ 21

The Leaf beds........................................................... 22

Blue Rim section.................................................... 23

Distribution and character.......................................... 24

The volcanic agglomerates .............................................. 26

Distribution........................................................ 27

Relation to Leaf beds ................................................ 29

Liviugstone conglomerates.............................................. 30

 Materials composing the Livingston..................................... 32

Fossil remains of the Livingston ........................................ 33

Fossil Fauna ....................................................... 33

Fossil Flora .......... I............................................. 34

Unconformity between Laramie and Livmgston formations.............. 34

Fort Union formation.........._...................'......................... 35

Age of the Liviugston formation ............................................ 36

Canadian nomenclature................................................. 37

Post-Larainie volcanic eruptions ............................................ 38

Summary................................................................... 40

FOSSIL PLANTS OF THE BOZEMAN COAL FIELD, by F. H. Knowltoil .......... 43

Annotated list of species................................................ 43

Table of distribution.................................................... 45

5

.ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

Plato I. Map showing distribution of the Laramio and Livingston beds in 

the country adjacent to Livingston, Mont...............Frontispiece

II. Tilted agglomerate beds near Springdale.......................... 28

III. Conglomerate beds forming anticlinal ridge between Brackett and

F]atliead creeks .............................................. 30

IV. Conglomerate beds showing si ze and ronnding of pebbles......... 32

V. Fossil plants from the Laramio and overlying Livingston formation

of Montana................................................... 64

VI. Fossil plants from the Laramie and overlying Livingston formation 

of Mxmtana...................................................

Fig. 1. Diagrammatic section showing exposures near Hunters Hot Springs.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK DIVISION.

Washington j D. <?., July 18,1892.

SIR : I take pleasure in transmitting, herewith, a paper by Mr. Walter 

H. Weed, entitled "The Laramie and the overlying Livingstou Formation in Montana," with a report upon their Flora, by Mr. Frank H. 

Knowlton.

 In working out the geology of the Cordillera there are no more important chapters than those that relate to the physical history of the 

Laramie and the overlying formation. These rocks are well developed 

in the Tellowstone valley, between the Bridger, Snowy, and Crazy 

mountains, and Mr. Weed has devoted much time to their study, embodying the results of Ms investigations in the present paper. He 

presents most forcible reasons for dividing the great thickness of beds 

which have heretofore been included in the Laramie into two distinct 

horizons, restricting the use of the term "Laramie" to the sandstones 

conformable to the underlying marine Cretaceous, and designating the 

overlying unconformable beds as "the Livingston formation." Tbe 

physical conditions shown in the Yellowstone valley are strikingly in 

accord with those described by Mr. Cross along the Front range in Colorado. It is by such detailed studies that we shall filially arrive at the 

true geological limits of the Laramie formation.

In the accompanying paper Mr. Knowlton admirably supplements 

the work of Mr. Weed. He discusses the fossil flora from both horizons 

in the Yellowstone valley, reviewing all the material obtained since 

1871. The two papers taken together form an important contribution 

to our knowledge of these beds.

I take pleasure in recommending its publication as a Bulletin of the 

U. S. Geological Survey.

Yours, very respectfully,

ARNOLD HAGUE, 

Geologist in Charge.

Hon. J. W. POWELL,

Director U. S. Geological Survey.
OUTLINE OF PAPER.

Briefly summarized, this paper gives an account of a series of bods heretofore embraced within the Laramie, and covering the-greater part of the state of Montana 

east of the Kocky mountains. It is shown that the thickness of some 13,000 feet of 

sandstone shales and conglomerates belong to three formations: the Laramie, the 

overlying Livings-ton, and the higher Fort Union beds. The Laramie is briefly described, and an account given of the overlying series of strata composed of waterlaid and assorted volcanic material, which are named the Liviugstou beds. Observations prove that these beds overlie the coal-bearing true Lairamie rocks., and that 

they contain intercalated beds of true volcanic .agglomerate. The entire Livingstou formation is overlain by a great thickness of beds of fresh-water sandstones, 

of which the Crazy mountains are formed, Avhich are believed to be of Fort Union age. 

Stratigraphica.1 evidence is presented to show that the Livingston beds are of postLaramie age, yet older than and distinct from the Fort Union Fjoceno. Evidence is 

given showing an uplift with erosion during the accumulation of the Livingston 

beds, and after the formation of the Laramie coal beds, and it is shown from the composition of the conglomerates and their relation to the consolidated ejectainenta of 

explosive volcanic eruptions and from the nature of the overlying beds forming the 

Crazy mountains, that we have undoubted proof of powerful dynamic movements, . 

accompanied by an eruptive activity following soon after the epoch of the coalbearing Laramie, and marking the inception of that long period of volcanic action 

which continued with various interruptions into Pleistocene times, and-formed the 

great volcanic area of the Yellowstone National park. 

10
THE LABAMIE AND THE OYERLYING LIVINGSTON 

FORMATION OF MONTANA.

By WALTER HAEVEY WEED.

INTRODUCTION. - '

The region of the Great Plains which forms the eastern portion of 

Montana and the Cordilleran region of the western part of the state, 

present widely different types of scenery and geological structure. 

The first is but a continuation of the broad trails-Mississippian plains 

stretching northward along the eastern front of the Kocky mountains 

far into Canadian territory. The latter is a complex of mountain ranges, 

where the folding and faulting of the rocks is both intricate and obscure. It is with a portion of the border line between these two sharply 

contrasted regions that the present paper deals, a region where the 

slightly folded rocks of the plains are warped and crumpled upon the 

flanks of the mountains that form the easternmost portion of the Cordilleran area.

In the foothill country, lying at the base of the mountains south of the 

YelloA\rstone river, near Livingston, Montana, a series of water-laid 

strata, composed mainly of volcanic detritus and overlying the coal-bearing Laramie beds, was observed by the writer in 1890, while studying 

the geology of the region, in continuation of the work of the Yellowstone park survey. Further exploration proved that the series covers 

a large part of this region and is separable lithologically and by evidences of unconformity into a distinct formation.

Measured sections of the strata about the Crazy mountains show a 

thickness of 12,000 feet of fresh water sandstones and clays referred to 

the Laramie. It is now possible to subdivide this great thickness of 

beds into Laramie, a higher horizon herein named the Livingston, and 

the still higher beds of the Crazy mountains, which have not as yet 

been differentiated into horizons, but probably represent the Fort Union 

beds of eastern Montana.

These beds present proof of a series of events following the epoch of 

the coal-ma,king Laramie similar to those described by Whitman Cross,1

'The Denver Tertiary Formation. Amer. Jonrn. Sci.,, vol. xxxvn, April, 1889. 

Post-Laraiuie Deposits of Colorado. Am. Jour. Sci., xuv, July, 1892.

11
12 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FOKMATIONS IN MONTANA. IBULL.IOS.

in Colorado, of which the Arapahoe and the Denver beds are the evidence. The importance of this post-Laramie elevation and erosion with 

accompanying volcanic activity has been strongly insisted upon by Mr. 

EmmonSj 1 and is confirmed by rapidly accumulating evidence observed 

in different parts of Colorado.2

The strata described in the present paper, though differing in many 

points from those of Colorado, attest a somewhat similar period, and 

afford the first recognition of the epoch outside of Colorado.

In this part of Montana the orographic movements that produced 

the Kocky mountain ranges were accompanied by periods of volcanic 

activity prolonged into late Tertiary time, which resulted in the accumulation of vast quantities of agglomerates, breccia, and lava flows, 

out of which great mountain ranges have been carved. These volcanic 

accumulations have been studied for many years in the region of the 

Yellowstone park and the adjacent country, where they rest upon 

Archean gneisses, eroded Paleozoic limestones, and Cretaceous sandstone alike, but no definite age could be assigned to the beginning of 

this long period of disturbance and volcanic activity.

Examinations of the Laramie and post-Laramie strata east of Livingston showed that these beds were several thousand feet thick, and 

included an intercalation of volcanic agglomerate that represents, in 

"part, the source of the sands and pebbles of the stratified rocks. As 

the water-laid beds of the series contain determinable plant remains 

and a scanty fresh-water fauna, they possess decided interest in the 

light they throw upon the age at which the remarkable series of volcanic 

eruptions of this region began.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE REGION.

The region in which these formations have thus far been mapped

and studied embraces a part of the Rocky mountains and the country 

eastward. Geographically the region is an interesting one, embracing 

the headwaters of the Missouri river, and its great tributary, the Yellowstone. The country north of the Yellowstone National park, with 

that about the headwaters of the Missouri, is a mountainous tract, 

through which the Yellowstone and the three rivers that uniting form, 

the Missouri, have cut valleys that divide this elevated area into north 

and south ranges, known as the Snowy mountains and the Gallatin, 

Madison, and Jefferson ranges. These mountains end abruptly northward in the Yellowstone and in the Three Forks valleys, but the front 

range of the Eocky mountains is continued north of the Gallatin range 

by the lesser uplift of the Bridger, which with the lower elevations of 

Sixteen-mile creek connect the southerly ranges with the Big Belt and 

Little Belt mountains. The Snowy mountains, which inclose the park

1 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. i, 1890, pp. 245-280. 

"R. C. Hills, Proc. Col. Sci. Soc., 1890.
WEED.] GENERAL GEOLOGY. 13

upon the north, are encircled by the Yellowstone river, whose broad 

valley^ about Livingston is typical of its further course.

North of the Yellowstone river are the Crazy mountains, a strikingly picturesque and rugged group of peaks. They form an isolated 

mountain mass standing out prominently by themselves, and separated 

by wide valleys from the front ranges of the Kockies that encircle them 

on three sides. In the Crazy mountains and the valleys between them 

and flanks of the adjacent ranges the formations herein described attain 

their most interesting development. The southernmost part of this 

region has been called the Bozeman coal field, as it is an area distinguished by the occurrence of the productive Coal-measures of the Laramie lying east of the city of Bozeman. The "field" is adjacent to 

the Northern Pacific railroad and is situated 50 miles north of the 

Montana boundary line, embracing the entire foothill country between

the Yellowstone river and the mountains to the south, from Big Timber to Livingston, as well as the rugged country westward, forming 

the Missouri-Yellowstoue divide and the foot slopes of the Bridger 

range. The mountains bounding the field upon the south are steep 

and rugged peaks belonging to the Snowy range, through which the 

larger streams have cut deep canyons on their way to the lower country of the plains. The largest of these streams is the Yellowstone 

river, which, after leaving the Yellowstone park, flows through a couple 

of picturesque mountain valleys and intervening canyons and emerges 

from the mountain region at Livingston. West of this point the railroad follows up a small stream to the Muir tunnel, which gives access 

to the Missouri drainage, the coal-bearing strata forming a belt south 

of the railroad as far as Eocky canyon, where they turn northward .and 

are continued along the base of the Bridger mountains and the low 

uplifts that connect this range with the Little Belt mountains.

GENERAL GEOLOGY.

The structural features of the region present several peculiarities of 

interest. The mountains lying between the National Park and the Yellowstone river, known as the Snowy range, consist in the main of 

Archean rocks and volcanic accumulations. The northern peaks of 

the range show Paleozoic rocks dipping steeply to the northward 

away from the Archean plateaus. The canyons cut by the streams that 

issue from the mountains show an S-shaped fold parallel to the mountain 

front, and modified by a tendency to en Echelon folding. Faulting of 

this fold has brought up Archean rocks, which form high and sharp 

peaks entirely surrounded by Paleozoic rocks. West of Livingston 

the warping takes the form of a succession of short anticlinal folds arranged en Echelon, with a northeast trend, their axes dipping more or 

less steeply in the same direction. These folds end in the overturn 

forming Mount Ellis and the south end of the Bridger range. Nowhere 

is the relation between geologic structure and topographic relief more
14 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

clearly shown, and the cutting across of the anticlinal folds by the 

mountain streams clearly reveals the details of their structure.

The Bridger range is a fold involving the Livingston and all earlier 

rockSj of which the eastern side alone now remains. The low mountains northward show parallel anticlinal folds, running north and 

south, broken through in the Elk mountains by an extensive intrusion 

of quartz porphyrite. In the extensive synclinal basin thus inclosed 

upon three sides by the uplifts of these front ranges of the Rocky mountains, the Crazy mountains, form a magnificent monument of erosion. 

The main mass of these mountains is formed by a synclinal of postLaramfe strata, in which the sedimentary rocks have been baked and 

metamorphosed about a great core of igneous rock, from which dikes 

radiate on every side.1

The geology of the (lallatin, Madison and Jefferson ranges, defined 

by the three forks of the Missouri, is discussed by Dr. A. 0. Peale in 

the text of the Three Forks Atlas sheet of the TJ. S. Geological Survey.

A number of carefully measured sections were made at different localities, from a study of which and the review of the fossil remains thus 

far collected, the different terranes have been discriminated. The following section represents the entire stratigraphic series from Cambrian 

to post-Laramie as developed in the region under discussion.

1 Geology of the Crazy mountains; Montana, J. E. Wolff, Bull. Geol. Soc. Ainer., vol. 

3, pp. 445-452.
WEED.] SECTION NEAR LIVINGSTON, MONTANA. 

Geological series exposed near Living ston, Montana.

15

7,000

4,700

400

1,000

Ann

oor

1,000

1,500

1,000

COO

400

1,500

250

200

 110

425

Livingston beds sandstones, shales, and conglomerates.

Lariunio coal-bearing sandstones and shales; leaf reinaius, and invertebrates.

Montana sandy shales and argillaceous shales.

Colorado argillaceous limestones, with bituminous shales at base.

Dakota sandstones and conglomerates.

f Sandstones.

[Limestones and shales.

Quartzites, sandstones, and interbedded limestones.

Limestones, massive, fossilifcrous.

( Limestones and shales.

l Limestones very massive.

f Limestones, generally massive, with limestone conglom1 erate, alternating with shales.

Soft shales, with interbedded impure limestones and basal 

\- quartzite.

Algoukian schists.

The section is well exposetl in the canyon of the Yellowstone, 4 miles 

south of Livingston.

THE MESOZOIC SECTION.

A detailed section of the strata overlying the Jurassic limestones has 

already been published by the writer, but is republished herewith in. 

greater detail, in order that the nature of the Laramie and its relations 

to the underlying M'esozoic and overlying Mission creek beds may be
16 LARAMIE AND LIV1NGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

fully understood. It represents the series as exposed near the town of 

Cokedale, some 10 miles west of Livingston.

This section was measured on the slopes west of the south fork of' 

Cokedale creek, and begins at the point where this stream cuts across 

the anticline of Canyon mountain and exposes the Jurassic shales and 

limestones.1 A section of the strata in this vicinity was made for the 

Northern Transcontinental Survey, a graphic representation of which 

is published in the very interesting account of the Bozeman coal field 

written by Mr. G. H. Eldridge.2

Section at Cokedale, Montana.

30

2

210

6

112

20

575

75

150

1149

25

300

Chocolate conglomerate, 400' above coal-seam horizon.

Shaly beds; chocolate-colored.

Conglomerate local and passing into sandstone; volcanic.

Limestone.

Sandstone, shaly.

Coal (seam worked at Cokedale).

Sandstones.

Sandstone ledge; fissile; crest.

Sandstone; thick beds alternating with thin seams of shale and coal.

Bluff sandstones; massive, white, etc.

Tombstone sandstones.

/ shaly beds.......................... 175

e sandy shales; dark gray............ 245

d shales and thin layers of sandstone . 315

c shuly sandstone .................... 40

b sandstone shale..................... 112

a shale ............................... 262

Sandstone, forming crest ledge of 2'-6' (25' near creek); very prominent; pitted, 

and outcrops marked by pines.

(e shales 195 

> d sandstone 3

Slialy beds, weathering down to brown earth with intercalated ( c shales 50 

sandstones. I b sandstone 2

[a eh ales 40

Sandstone; big ledge, but not showing on summit of hill; conglomerate at top. 

Sbales; gray; sandy. 

Yellow sandstone, tine-grained and fissile, forming striking topographical feature of

this depression.

Shales marked by sharply cut gully.

Sandstone ledge; gray, very fissile; massive crop, and not generally a ledge. 

Shales.

Sandstone; micaceous; fucoid impressions; forms low hogback ridge. 

Shales.

Quartzite; supposed to be summit of Dakota.

Sandstones; fissile and slabby.

Red or yellow limestone or sandstone, with pebbles.

Quartzite.

Lilac limestone, magnesian, becoming pebbly at base; passing above into red clays.

Dakota conglomerate; forming hogback.

Sbales; dark gray; crumbly and cartliy.

Sandstones; indurated, slabby, cross-bedded; white quartz grains, and rusty cement.

No exposure.

Sandstone; fissile and crumbly.

Red shale.

Dark-gray shale.

Limestones, forming lenses in sandstone grit or conglomerate, both carrying broken

fossils. 

Sandstones. 

Myacites beds. 

Quartzite; Carboniferous.

JURA.

The base of this section is the belt of impure limestone and shale that 

overlies the heavy bed of quartzite capping the Carboniferous. These 

Jurassic limestones and shales contain an abundance of fossils, among

l Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. n, pp. 349-364. 

s Roports, Tenth Census U. S., vol. xv, Mining Industry, p. 739.
WEED.] THE CRETACEOUS. 17

which Gryphea and Myacites are tbe most plentiful. The rocks are 

soft shales or impure limestones, readily weathering- down so that the 

beds most frequently form a gulch parallel to the strike, where monoclinal folding prevails. Overlying these beds the strata are sandy, and 

grade into a coarse crystalline limestone full of fossil fragments and 

changing rapidly into a very remarkable cross-bedded grit, frequently 

conglomeratic. This bed has been recognized over large areas of central 

Montana and is generally a conspicuous ledge outcropping on the slope 

beneath the Dakota " hogback." The fossils found in it are largely 

fragmentary, but show Grypliea^ Ostrea stringulata, Gamptonectes pertenuistriatus, and Rhynconella myrani in abundance. Between this bed 

and the Dakota conglomerate there is a series of shaly beds in which 

no fossils have been found, alternating with sandy strata possessing no 

marked characteristics. Both sandstones and shales are seldom exposed, but form the slopes between Jura and Dakota ledges. These 

beds have in the section been assigned to the Jurassic. They correspond in stratigraphic position and lithological character to the freshwater Jura of Colorado, are variegated in color, but in the absence of 

fossils can not be positively assigned to the Jura.

CRETACEOUS.

The Dalcota. The Dakota forms the most persistent and readily 

recognizable horizon of the Eocky mountain Mesozoic.- In this region 

it is generally a sandstone usually with a characteristic conglomerate 

at the base, which, with the associated sandstones, resists weathering 

and in the upturned strata of the foothills stands out very prominently. 

This conglomerate is overlain by variegated magnesian limestone, carrying pebbles at the base, and of a prevailing lilac or red tint. These 

beds grade into soft sandstones succeeded by sandy shales, and these 

by a thin bed of fine-grained dark-gray limestone, full of gasteropod 

shells. An examination of these fossils by Dr. C. A. White,, together 

with the stratigraphical position of this limestone, shows it to be equivalent to the fossiliferous Dakota beds of Bear river, recently described 

by Mr. T. W. Stanton. This is overlain by sandy shales with some 

carbonaceous markings (but no recognizable plant remains), capped by 

the dense pink and white finely granular sandstone or quartzite that 

is assumed to be the top of the Dakota. It is a very hard rock, resists 

erosion well, but breaks into great cubical blocks, whose debris is 

abundant on the slopes and in the valley drift.

Colorado group. Overlying the beds referred to the Dakota there 

is a great thickness of shales, Avith interbedded sandstones. The lower 

part of this series consists of rather dark carbonacequs shales, with 

lighter arenaceous beds and occasionally sandstones. In their sandy 

nature and the presence of beds of sandstone, the beds show evidence 

of the proximity of a shore line. Fossils obtained from these beds by 

Bull. 105 2
18 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

W. M. Davis prove the Colorado age of the strata. The following 

species were identified by E. P. Whitfield:

Inoceramus umbonatus M.

prol)lematicus M. 

sp?

unddbundris M. 

Ostrea congesta. 

Grypliea vesicularis, 

Exogyra.

Gyrodes depressa M.

Pholadomya Berthoudi (probably P. papyracece).

Several other species that appear to have no taxonomic value were also 

found.

Montana group. A satisfactory discrimination between the beds of 

the Colorado and those forming this group can not be made on paleontological grounds, as few fossils have been collected in the beds assigned 

to the Montana. The lower thousand feet consists of sandy shales, 

impure limestones, and occasional thin sandstones, the whole becoming more arenaceous towards the top and grading into thinly bedded 

sandstones. These latter beds sometimes form, bluff exposures, but 

more often weather out in "tombstone ledges." In the eastern part 

of the field the dark gray sandy shales are directly overlain by a heavy 

ledge, of yellow, rather dark, and very massive sandstone, which is 

thought to be the equivalent of the Fox hills. It is immediately overlain by the whiter, cross-bedded, and somewhat softer massive beds of 

the Laramie Coal-measures. No fossils have been obtained from this 

supposed Fox hill sandstone, which may prove to belong to the 

Laramie.

- Those irregular and local elevations of the Cretaceous sea bed that 

occurred in the region east of the mountains in Canada and northern 

Montana, and resulted in the accumulation of estuarine and lacustrine 

deposits, known as the Belly river beds, are not indicated in the rocks 

of this vicinity. The Montana beds indicate a varying subsidence and 

the proximity of a low land mass with a gradual shallowing of the 

waters that resulted in the accumulation of the sandstones and coal 

seams of the Laramie.

THE LARAMIE FORMATION.

The Laramie, the chief coal-bearing formation of the Eocky mountain region, is well developed in Montana. In the particular area 

under discussion the strata form a continuous belt stretching westward 

along the flanks of the Snowy mountains, and northward upon the 

slopes of the Bridger and Little Belt ranges. Isolated exposures also 

occur in the mountainous region to the west, which though of small geographical extent, present structural features of much interest.

The area in which the Laramie strata are exposed is the region 

adjacent to Livingston is shown upon the geological map, Plate I.
WEED.] THE LARAMIE. . 19

The rocks of this formation form a group which is sharply defined 

both by fossils and physical characters. The beds consist of massive 

light-colored sandstones, with intercalated shale beds and coal seams 

near the base, becoming less frequent toward the top. The lower 

delimitation of the Laramie is assumed to be the dark and heavy bed 

of massive sandstone, assigned to the Fox hills, found below the lowest 

workable coal seam and resting directly upon the readily distinguishable aud lithologically distinct gray shales and fissile argillaceous sandstones of the Montana group. The upper limit of the Laramie in the 

region studied is marked* by an abrupt change in the composition of 

the beds and closely resembles in general characteristics that change 

which has been found so prominently developed in Colorado.

This definition of the Laramie is in accord with the original definition of King, and conforms to the usage of Newberry, Emmons, and 

Cross, though differing from the limits assigned on theoretical grounds 

by Prof. White, which are based uj>on faunal characteristics. The 

occurrence of marine Cretaceous fossils in the Laramie, showing temporary recurrence of salt-water conditions following a considerable 

period of coal-making depositions is now a well-established fact.

As exposed at various localities throughout this region the average 

thickness is IjOOO feet. This is exceeded in the hills north of the Bridger 

mountains, but is about the thickness throughout the. Bozeinan coal 

field. The exposures can not be directly compared, however, sin ce there 

is proof of a considerable period of erosion following the deposition of 

the beds of the Laramie group, during which the upper portion of the 

series may have been in part removed, before the deposition of the 

Livingstou. The sandstones which form the characteristic feature of 

the group and distinguish it from the underlying formations occur in 

 beds of varying thickness, alternating with gray shales carrying plant 

remains, and seams of coal. 0 The thicker beds of sandstone are generally massive, but the rocks have a laminated structure, following the 

cross bedding, and erode into picturesque bluff faces. The shales and 

coal seams, abundant near the base, become less frequent higher in 

the series, though a workable coal seam, is generally found near the 

top of the series as exposed throughout the Bozeinan field. These coal 

seams form a prominent feature of the series, and though but three or 

four of the many seams are of workable thickness and purity, have 

given an economic importance to the formation that has stimulated 

exploration and added much to our knowledge of the areas covered by 

this formation.

In general-these coals are valuable fuels, differing materially from the 

lignites of the plains to the east, and are in ready demand throughout, 

the state. They are mined at a number of localities throughout the 

Bozeman coal field, but elsewhere in this part of the state have not been 

commercially developed.
20 LAEAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

The following section is typical of the lower part of the Laramie 

throughout this region:

Section of Laramie Coal-measures at the Mowers mine.

Number Thickness 

of bed. in feet.

28 30 Massive sandrock, firm, light gray.

27 \ Coal seam.

26 10 Sandstone, breaking into small angular fragments.

25 1 Shale, dark gray.

24 6 Coal seam.

23 12 Shale, hard and slaty. . ,

22 10 Sandstone, with shelly structure.

21 3 Coal; middle seam.

20 6 Eed limestone, very maguesian.

19 3 Sandstone.

18 f Coal; called by the miners "upper bastard vein."

17 30 Sandstone, thinly fissile, brown.

16 f Coal.

15 10 Sandstone, shaly at top.

14 4 Coal.

13 20 Fissile and leafy sandstone.

12 30 Sandstone, massive, with jointed surfaces rounded.

11 6 Coal; poorly defined; vein 2 or 3 feet; the rest shale.

10 15 Sandstone, massive, brown, much pitted by weathering.

9 2 Coal.

8 3 ' Sandstone.

7 8 Coal and slate.

6 3 Sandstone, very fissile ami soft.

5 10 Sandstone, hard and firm.

4 1* Coal.

3 3 Shale.

2 18 Sandrock.

1 2 Coal.

Cl

The general characters of the formation are very constant in this 

particular region though there is a decreasing amount of coal as the 

strata are followed northward to the Musselshell river, or into the 

plains region east of the Crazy mountains.

The lithological characters of these Laramie sandstones present few 

points of especial interest by themselves, but are of importance when 

compared with those of the overlying formations. The rocks are rarely 

compacted, or so firmly cemented as to form quartzites; in thin sections they are seen to be typical sandstones, formed mainly of wellrounded grains of quartz, with mica and accessory minerals, all indicating the erosion of Archean rocks. No fragments or minerals of an 

eruptive nature are found in any of the sections so far examined. No 

vertebrate remains have been discovered in the Laramie strata of this 

particular part of Montana. Leaf remains occur abundantly in the 

shales overlying many of the coal seams, but the rocks are so crumbly 

and the specimens so difficult of preservation, that few have been 

brought in. Leaf remains rarely occur in the sandstones.
WEED.*] THE L1VINGSTON. 21

Tlie perfect strati graphic continuity of the marine Cretaceons with 

the Larainie is apparent everywhere. JSTo break occurs and no evidences of unconformity have been observed, up to the top of the formation. The evidences of such a break and unconformity between 

this and the overlying Liviugston formation are given in the description of those beds.

In the clay shales associated with the productive coal seams, Unio 

remains have been found, the specimens being too poorly preserved for 

specific determination, and Corbula sultriyonalis M. and H. has been 

identified for me by Dr. White. Fossil pi ant remai us are not uncommon 

in these shale beds, but the material is too soft to bear transportation, 

and only a few forms have been brought in. They are discussed at 

length in Prof. Knowlton's report.

THE LIVINGSTON FORMATION.

Overlying the coal-bearing Larainie strata, there is a series of beds 

constituting a newly recognized formation, for which the name Livingston is proposed, as it is typically developed in the vicinity of Livingston, Montana. The formation consists of a series of beds, in places 

aggregating 7,000 feet in thickness,- composed of sandstones, grits, 

conglomerates, and clays, made up very largely of the debris of andesitic lavas, and other volcanic rocks, and including local intercalations of volcanic agglomerates.

DISTRIBUTION.

The accompanying map, Plate I, shows the surface distribution of the 

Livingston beds in the country about Livingston, the map representing 

part of the geological atlas sheet bearing that name. The formation 

attains its greatest development in this region, and in, the country 

immediately north of the area shown by the map that is. in the region 

east of the Rocky mountains. But exposures also occur within the 

mountain region, in the Madison and Jefferson ranges, where they have 

been mapped and described by Dr. A. C. Peale and indicated upon the 

Three Forks atlas sheet, and the region drained by Sixteen mile creek, 

north of the Bridger range, contains a considerable area of these beds. 

lu the Crazy mountains the Liviugston is covered by the Fort Union 

strata, which in this part of the field everywhere overlie and conceal 

the earlier deposits.

Although the origin of the formation is such that it varies greatly at 

different localities so that horizons cannot be closely defined, there are 

three general divisions into which the formation may be separated, 

viz: The leaf beds, the conglomerates, and the volcanic agglomerates. 

The first two comprise the lower and upper parts of the formation. 

The third is an intercalation of volcanic ejectamenta that only occurs 

locally, though attaining a thickness of 2,000 feet in-the southeastern
22 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL.IOS.

part of the region covered by the Liviugston beds. The total thickness 

of the formation approximates 7,000 feet in the region east of the mountains, where the agglomerates are absent. Of this total thickness from 

600 to 2,000 feet may be assigned to the lower division.

THE LEAF BEDS.

The strata grouped together under this name embrace the basal portion of the formation up to a point where a decided change in color, 

mechanical constitution, and general nature appears, and includes the 

various horizons in which plant remains have thus far been found. A 

definite upper limitation is not always possible. On the flanks of the 

Snowy range the intercalated agglomerates form a convenient point at 

which to draw the line. Elsewhere it is marked by light colored, thinly 

bedded sandstones, with green or purple shales, which are readily distinguishable in the field, and are arbitrarily assumed to be the base 

of the conglomerate series.

This lower division of the Livingston deserves a somewhat detailed 

description, because it is the only portion yielding paleontological 

remains, and presents, moreover, features of lithological character 

and mechanical constitution separating it from the Laramie strata 

that so generally underlie it. The character of these lower beds, as 

exposed throughout this region is, therefore, quite fully described. In 

general it consists of a series of sandstones, conglomerates, and shales 

composed largely of angular or but slightly water-worn d6bris of volcanic eruptions and ash showers, that rest directly upon the productive Coal-measures. Usually the beds are dark colored and weather 

into ledges whose appearance suggests a volcanic rock, often breaking 

down into fine angular de"bris, forming slopes that support a scanty 

vegetation. Consisting mainly of sandstone, grits, and conglomerates, 

the beds vary in coarseness at different localities. Contrasted with the 

Coal-measure sandstones beneath, the rocks are darker, much harder, 

well indurated, brittle, and break into fine angular bits, while the Coalmeasure sandstones are fissile, light colored, and often crumble into 

sand on weathering. Their intimate composition presents a striking 

difference in the nature of the two formations, the Laramie sands being 

well rounded quartz grains derived from Archean land areas, the materials being well assorted and stratified; the Livingston rocks, on the 

contrary, being composed of angular or slightly water-worn grains, showing no assorting of the material and consisting mainly of andesitic fragments cemented by fine volcanic ash. Plant remains are abundant at 

various horizons. The thickness of the leaf beds varies greatly at different localities; it is least in the easternpart of the field and increases westward, reaching a thickness of over 2,000 feet in the vicinity of the Muir 

tunnel and in the range of hills east of the Bridger mountains.

In the foot slopes of the Snowy range these leaf beds are generally 

green in color and differ somewhat in character from the beds belonging to this horizon in other localities.
WEED.] LIVINGSTON LEAF BEDS. 28

THE BLUE RIM SECTION.

A fine exposure of the lower horizon is seen in the canyon "walls 

of the west Boulder river in the extreme eastern part of the region 

shown in the map (PI. I). The rocks occupy a shallow synclinal 

trough capping gray Cretaceous sandstones, and form picturesque cliff's 

locally known as the Blue rim. A few miles above these cliffs the 

river emerges from a canyon with walls of gneiss 2,000 feet high, at the 

northern end of which the section of upturned Paleozoic rocks is well 

exposed, and the succession of beds from the base of the Cambrian to 

the rocks of the Blue rim is clearly revealed.

The following detailed section of the beds is introduced to show the 

variations of the strata:

Slue rim section.

29. Sandstones of varying nature, color, weathering, and fracture, but of substantially the same rock. Occasional pebbles, but not assorted nor arranged. 

Cross bedding rare. Lense bedding occasional. In general, the arrangement 

and appearance of the strata is similar to that of the Yellowstone tuff beds of 

the Fossil Forest. Jasperi/ed wood occurs, but the trees are prostrate. 

28. Sandstone, fine grained, and breaking into slabs.

27. 6'. Shale? a dark brown ferruginous belt, that is unusually persistent. 

26. 2'. Shaly rock, crumbly, earthy brown, not unlike ordinary Cretaceous shales. 

25. 8'. Tuff-sandstone, very fine grained and green colored. 

24. 6'. Sandstone or ash bed; forms lowest ledge of cliff. 

23. 20'. Sandstone, gray and breaking into small fragments. 

22. 3'. Sandstone, massive, weathering like a Laramie ledge. 

21. 30'. Shaly bed, fissile and shaly, dark ferruginous, with carbonaceous material

staining surfaces. , 

20. 1'. Sandstone, rather gray a,nd micaceous. 

19. 8'. Shaly sandstone.

18. 3'. Sandstone jointed, gray, hard, and indurated. 

17. 25'. Shaly beds, crumbly brown bed, covered by slide of ledge above. 

16. 12'. Sandstone, forming persistent ledge, well jointed, very hard, and holding

lenses of brown cemented rock in lower part. 

15. 1'. Green ledge of crumbly rock. 

14. 9'. Shaly rock. 

13. 6'. Sandstone, massive. 

12. 5'. Shaly brown beds. 

11, 3'. Sandstone, massive gray, cross bedded, thickens to north and thins out to

south. 

10. 12'. Splintery shale, greenish brown.

9. 3'. Sandstone, massiAre.

8. 8'. Shale, splintery, crumbly, green micaceous.

7. 2'. Limestone, dark blue.

6. 5'. Crumbly brown shale.

5. 3'. Gray sandstone.

4. 5'. Sandstone, green earthy, fracturing.

3. 30'. Massive sandstone, probably Laramie.

2. 20'. Shale, dark gray, carbonaceous, with thin layers of sandstone.

1. 50'. Massive sandstone.
24 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

The Blue rim section shows beds of water-laid sandstones and 

shales at the base, while the sandstone forming the blue cliffs are 

made of volcanic detritus, the finer-grained rock and the shaly beds 

being of volcanic ash-and showing but little assorting. Plant impressions occur near the top of the section and prostrate tree trunks of 

silicified wood are seen. The shale belts are peculiarly inconstant, 

and the brown color is the result of the oxidation of the fine-grained 

green rocks.

An examination of thin sections of the rocks of the Blue rim section 

under the microscope, made by Mr. J. P. Iddings, show that the sandstones at the base consist of well-rounded grains of Archean material, 

mainly quartz, well assorted and quite like the sandstones of the Laramie Coal-measures of other places. Fifty feet above the basal sandstones the rock shows, in thin section, decidedly angular grains of plagioclase, quartz and a little mica, and though but one fragment of andesite is seen in the slide the rock has more the appearance of a volcanic 

ash than a true sandstone. Still higher in the section the sandstone 

(No. 16) is formed of rounded grains of Archean material, but above this 

the rocks show in thin sections a decidedly volcanic nature, consisting 

of fine fragments of pyroxene andesite and andesiti c breccia. The sh aly 

strata are formed of so fine an ash that but little can be distinguished in 

thin section, but they grade into the coarser beds whose composition is 

clearly volcanic.

DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER.

Followed'westward the beds of the Blue rim increase in thickness 

and include more water-worn material, the tuff beds becoming less 

prominent. The rocks form picturesque combs along the valley of 

Little Mission creek and are well exposed where the BlueEim syncline 

is cut across by Mission creek above the forks. At this place the rocks

consist of brownish ash beds overlain by green fissile sandstones and 

conglomerates. In the walls of McAdow canyon of the Yellowstone 

the beds are well exposed and their relation to the coal rocks clearly 

seen. At this locality the shaly beds are often quite carbonaceous and 

contain an abundance of plant remains and a few fresh-water shells.

At Livingston fine exposures of the formation occur in the hills north 

of the town, where the beds dip at 10° northward. The rocks are 

dark chocolate colored or green sandstones, carrying lenses of fine 

grained tuff-like rocks, that contain plant remains. Local beds of volcanic debris, showing little if. any water-assorting, also occur. In the 

sag between the two hill tops, an opening has been made on a two-foot 

seam of impure lignite, overlaid by a thickness of several hundred feet 

of sandstones that are locally conglomeratic.

A detailed section of the beds of the Livingston formation at Cokedale 

would be of little value, as the beds vary rapidly from quite finegrained sandstones to coarse grit, with thin intercalations of conglom-
WEED.] CHARACTER OF LEAF BEDS. 25

crate. Thin sections of the rocks, when seen under the microscope, show 

a variation in the amount of Archean material present. The rocks immediately overlying the coal are good sandstones, harder than those 

associated with the coal, but water-laid and formed of assorted waterworn grains. The rocks above change rapidly, however, to coarsegrained sandstones of angular fragments, showing but little assortment. 

Many of the rocks resemble a fine-grained volcanic agglomerate in the 

hand specimen, while the finer layers that crumble into small angular 

bits are volcanic ash beds. There is a noticeable admixture of Archean 

detritus with the volcanic grains of some of the ledges, but the latter 

largely predominate and frequently form the entire rock. At some 

2,300 feet above the coal the Archean material is very abundant, showing a cessation of the ash showers, but the grits above and those associated with the shales of the Billinan creek valley are wholly of volcanic 

material.

In the exposures of Eocky canyon and vicinity, from which the larger 

part of the plant remains obtained from the Liviugston beds have been 

taken, the rocks immediately overlying the workable coal seam at the 

top of the Laramie are dark green or brown and resemble fine volcanic 

tuffs made up of andesitic debris, overlaid by grits and sandstones, with 

conglomerate intercalations, at 400 feet above the coal. Leaf remains 

occur at various horizons, but the collections all come from the lower 

500 feet of the formation.

Upon the eastern flanks of the Bridger range, and northward to the 

Castle mountains, the leaf beds possess the same general characters. 

Hard sandstones of varying texture and grain, generally-dark colored, 

and rarely conglomeratic, alternate with dark olive brown shales, 

that are hard and indurated, but crumble into fine angular bits. The 

conglomerates are composed almost wholly of pebbles of andesitic materials, but pebbles of white, brown, and blue quartzite occur sparingly, 

together with rounded fragments of coal and normal sandstones. Intercalations of volcanic agglomerate occur on the slopes of the Bridger 

range at Flathead pass, and farther north, about the headwaters of the 

Musselshell.

Fine exposures of this lower division of the Livingston occur in 

the hills drained by Cottonwood creek, where they rest upon the 

Laramie. The lowest beds are seal brown, very fine-grained sandstones, containing fossil plant remains in abundance, overlaid by 

coarser, lighter-colored sandstones and grits, which at higher horizons 

are interbedded with soft shales. In the exposures at the head ot 

Smith river, near Castle, a few gasteropod shells and Unio remains 

were found in the finer-grained beds. In this vicinity the first marked 

change is observed in the beds. Throughout the region north, of the 

Crazy mountains a prominent bed of white calcafeous sandstone occurs, 

interbedded with the dark colored sandstones, grits, and shalebeds of the 

Livingston, about 500 feet above the base. No fossils were observed
26 LAEAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL.IOS.

in this rock in the vicinity of Castle, but near the forks of the Musselshell river this bed is composed of brackish-water shells of Laramie 

types. The northern portion of the Crazy mountains is composed very 

largely of Livingstou rocks. A section made along Lebo creek east of 

the mountains showed a total thickness of 7,100 feet of Livingston sediments, in which the lower beds do not form so distinct a division as 

elsewhere in the neighborhood of the Crazy mountains.

In the mountainous region south of the Gallatin valley the only 

exposure of the Livingston is in the Madison range, where the beds 

cover an area of 15 to 20 square miles in the vicinity of Sphinx mountain. 

They are thus described by Dr. A. C. Peale: "The strata consist of 

indistinctly bedded volcanic material, mostly audesitic in nature, and 

of a somber hue. At one or two places conglomerates made up of all 

sorts of pebbles are seen near the base." The beds rest unconformably 

upon the eroded edges of all the Cretaceous formations, and are unconformably overlain by the coarse conglomerates assigned to the Eocene. 

On the eastern flanks of the Jefferson range another exposure of the 

Livingston occurs. The beds present a somewhat different aspect from 

those just described, not being so dark in color and showing more distinct evidences of bedding and seemingly'more nearly conformable to 

the underlying Laramie beds with which they are in contact. In the 

vicinity of the Jefferson canyon they have a dark greenish-gray color, 

and apparently contain interbedcled hornblende andesites, which seem 

to have been laid down as lava flows. Other beds are conglomerates 

composed of all sorts of volcanic material, andesites, however, as at 

other localities, apparently predominating. The period during which 

they were deposited was undoubtedly one of great volcanic activity.

The water-laid beds of the basal portion of the formation thus far 

described contain but small and local bodies of conglomerate. In the 

section which has already been given, made in the vicinity of Cokedale, 

these beds have been estimated to be 2,400 feet thick. In the Blue Eim 

section, which does not embrace the entire thickness, there is some 600 

feet, and on the Bowlder river, where they are capped by the volcanic agglomerate, the total thickness is not thought to exceed some 700 feet.

THE VOLCANIC AaGLOMEKATES.

Beds of consolidated volcanic ejectamenta form the mountains of the 

western part of the Crow Indian reservation and terminate the Bozeman coal field at the Boulder river. These agglomerate beds rest 

directly upon the lower beds of the Livingston formation, and thinning 

out westward are overlain by the upper part of the same formation, 

capped in turn by the great thickness of sandstones and clays forming 

the Crazy mountains.

The volcanic agglomerate attains its maximum development in the 

region drained by the Boulder river. This stream is a clear mountain 

torrent, heading in the high plateaus and peaks north of the Yellow-
WEED.] VOLCANIC AGGLOMERATES. 27

stone park, and emptying into the Yellowstone river at Big Timber. 

In its lower course below the forks the valley is ~ut in the volcanic 

agglomerates, wliicli weather into castellated knobs and mural faces, 

adding much, to the picturesqneness of the scenery. At the forks of the 

stream the Laramie Coal Measures dipping northward are overlain by 

the dark-colored rocks of the Liviugston formation, readily distinguishable by their color, fracture, and weathering. The upper parts of this 

section are cross bedded, poorly assorted sandstones, very clearly 

of shallow water formation. The grains are angular, but little water 

worn, though not less so than the rocks of the Blue Rim. A careful 

examination shows at a number of localities a decided unconformity 

between, the beds at the top of the series and the overlying agglomerates. At other localites there is an apparent gradation of the waterlaid strata into the fine breccias, so that the section shows distinctly

water-laid beds capped by a series of strata in which those beds alternate with beds showing no traces of such action. The latter become 

more frequent in ascending the series until the rocks are all fine-grained 

breccias that pass rapidly into the coarse volcanic agglomerates made 

up of large angular fragments of andesitic lavas. The agglomerate beds are very light colored, possessing in a general view a warm 

gray tint. The fragments composing them are of various tints of gray, 

brown, lilac or green, the last color often predominating. There is a 

rude bedding brought out by the rapid weathering of fine-grained material forming thin intercalations rarely more than a few inches thick. 

The agglomerate fragments range in size from minute particles up to 

blocks four feet in diameter, though seldom so large as the latter. 

The lavas from which the agglomerates are formed are all andesitic, 

the rocks possessing but slight variations in. character. Augite-andesite is often conspicuous, the large augite phenocrysts being very 

abundant. In several large blocks of basic-looking andesite large isolated hornblende prisms were noticed. As a whole the rocks though 

so light colored, are decidedly basic and in thin section are seen to be 

pyroxcne-andesite.

These agglomerates represent the products of explosive volcanic 

action from a vent on the shore or in the shallow water of the lake 

whose sediments formed the Livingston ^beds. The flanks of the cone 

built up of this volcanic de"bris were covered by the lake waters in the 

subsidence that caused the deposition of the great thickness of sandstones and clays that form the Crazy mountains.

DISTRIBUTION.

In the valley of the lower course of the Boulder river the total thickness of agglomerate interbedded between the Livingston rocks is estimated to be at least 2,000 feet. The beds dip at a low angle downstream 

and are seen to be overlain by sandstones and purple clays a few miles 

above Big Timber, frequent sections being exposed in lateral stream 

cuttings.
28 LARAMIS AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

East of the Boulder river these agglomerates form the highly accid en ted country of the Crow reservation, where they rest upon upturned 

and eroded Mesozoic rocks. In this region a thickness of over 2,000 

 feet was observed in a canyon where the underlying rocks were not exposed to view. A x)ortion of this breccia is, however, believed to represent subaerial accumulations deposited contemporaneously with the 

water-laid strata that cover the agglomerates near Big Timber.

Followed westward from the' Boulder river the agglomerates are 

exposed as far as McAdow canyon and Hunter's hot springs. In 

the hilly country between the Boulder and Yellowstone rivers the 

agglomerates are of little moment in the topography; gentle grassy 

slopes fall off gradually to the broad cobble-covered terrace flats that 

border the Yellowstone river. In this region exposures must be sought 

in the rocky walls of the little canyons cut by the branching headwaters 

of Mendenhall and Antelope creeks. These exposures show a gradual 

thinning out of the agglomerates to the north.

In the bold bluffs facing the river near Springdale, a railroad station 

25 miles east of Livingston, the rocks dip at an angle of 15° eastward, showing the influence of the McAdow canyon folding. The 

Springdale bluff shows a thickness of about 700 feet of breccia, resting 

upon typical Livingston beds and covered by the purple clays and lilac 

sandstones that prevail eastward. The cliffs are some 200 feet high, 

formed of light-colored agglomerates that, when seen at a little distance, closely resemble ordinary sandstone. The base of the section 

consists of dark tufaceous sandstones resting upon the water-laid beds 

of the Livingston series. The lowest ledge of the Springdale bluff 

is a very hard and dense, almost black, sandstone, very brittle, and 

breaking into angular debris. It is immediately overlain by a ledge 

locally characteristic of the base of the breccia. This rock is full of

dark brown, round concretions, 1 to 2 feet in diameter, that resemble cannon balls. The "cannon ball" bed is overlaid by beds of fine 

volcanic material resembling a coarse and poorly assorted volcanic ash 

showing no evidence of water action. These ash beds are in turn overlain by a second cannon-ball ledge in which the concretions are much 

smaller. Above this last bed fine-grained agglomerates and very 

coarse agglomerates alternate in rapid succession and without persistence of horizon. The fragments composing these agglomerates of the 

Springdale block are andesitic lavas identical with those forming the 

beds of the Boulder river; green, brown, lilac and gray in color and 

varying in size from fine lapilli to blocks of 5 feet across (see PI. n).

In the bluffs of Meudenhall creek east of Springdale station the 

same rocks are exposed underlain by the cannon-ball beds and resting 

upon the earthy brown and splintery shales and sandstones of the 

Livingston series. East of Mendenhall creek the agglomerates are 

covered by the overlying sandstones.

The most northern exposure of the agglomerates yet found is near
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

*-^

TILTED AGGLOMERATE BEDS NEAR SPRINGDALE
WEED.] VOLCANIC AGGLOMERATES. 29

that local health resort. Hunter's hot springs, some 3 miles north of 

the Yellowstone river. In this interval the agglomerates thin out 

rapidly, and in the section exposed by the creek a mile west of the hot 

springs, just south of the wagon road, the conglomerate is but 25 feet 

thick and rests unconformably upon the sandstones beneath. The 

upper surface is uneven and covered by the lilac sandstones and purple 

shales that usually are above it. (See fig. .1.) There is a general deFiG. 1. Diagrammatic section at Hunter's Hot Springs.

crease in the size of the fragments, as well as the thickness of the beds, 

from the Boulder river northward. In the area thus far mapped and 

studied the volcanic agglomerates cover about 75 square miles. They 

also extend over a larger area in the western portion of the Crow Indian reservation.

Small and local intercalations of volcanic ejectamenta showing no 

assortment or rounding by the action of water, occur, however, at a 

number o'f localities in the lower part of the Livingston formation. 

Such accumulations are prominent in the vicinity of Flathead pass, and 

at the head of Smith river, near the mining camp of Castle. The beds 

exposed east of the Crazy mountains frequently consist of finer grained 

material, which, in thin section under the microscope, is seen to be a 

good pyroclastic rock. The areas of Livingston rocks in the Madison 

range and along the Jefferson river, described by Dr. A. 0. Peale, also 

consist in part of true volcanic accumulations, the latter exposure 

showing interbedded lava flows.

KELATIONS TO LEAF UEDS.

A gradual increase in the thickness of the beds is noted in tracing the 

thinning out of the agglomerates, and the thickness at Cokedale corresponds approximately to that of both the agglomerates and underlying beds together of the eastern localities. It is supposed that in a 

general way the deposition of the subaerial agglomerates was synchro, 

nous with the formation of littoral deposits of de"bris washed down from 

the slopes of the neighboring volcano, making beds of a somewhat 

higher horizon than those beneath the agglomerate. At the same time
30 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA.

\

there was a shore to the westward supplying Archean debris which 

mixed with A'olcanic particles appears in increasing quantity as the 

rocks are followed westward from the Boulder.

LIVINGSTON CONGLOMERATES.

The upper portion of the Livingston is for convenience designated by 

this name, as the conglomerates form the most important and often the 

most conspicuous beds of this part of the formation.

Overlying the leaf beds and volcanic agglomerates there is a series 

of shales and interbedded sandstones and grits that form a prominent part of the formation wherever the upper portion is exposed. In 

the eastern part of the region the sandstones are fine and uniform in 

grain, making an excellent building stone in the vicinity of Big Timber. 

Traced westward these beds are easily recognized by their red soils that 

form the terrace flats to the south of the Tellowstoue river as far as 

Springdale. Beyond here they form the low hills and the country north 

of Livingston. It is in these same shales that the valley of Billrnau 

creek has been cut, and they have also afforded the material out of 

which the long strike valley east of the Bridger mountains has been 

eroded. In the extension of these beds westward there is a general 

persistence of character of the shales themselves, but on the other 

hand the thin beds of "freestone" of the east change in character, 

become coarser, and in the Billinan creek valley form lenticular bodies 

of coarse and illy assorted grits and conglomerates. Northward the 

open valley of Flathead creek and the synclinal basin north of the 

Shields river valley are both eroded in this part of the Livingston formation. The exact nature of the soft clayey shales it is difficult to 

make out; they crumble readily, are sometimes quite micaceous,-and 

change from green to red on weathering. Thin sections of the associated sandstones show them to be made of volcanic material, grains of 

andesitic breccia forming a considerable part of the mass. This series 

of beds has thus far failed to yield any fossil remains.

Overlying the seiies of purple shales just described, the rocks are 

chiefly sandstones and conglomerates. They do not form a distinct 

conglomerate bed throughout the field, but rather a series of sandstones 

and silty shales holding intercalated beds of conglomerate, the latter 

rocks becoming more prominent toward the west, and attaining their 

maximum and most prominent development along the eastern front 

of the Bridger range. That they form a true part of the series is 

indicated by their composition and by the gradual transition of the 

underlying beds into the conglomerate series. Because of their coarser ( 

nature a study of the pebbles is more easily made in these beds, and 

this has been most feasible in the exposures of the western part of the 

field.

Near Hunter's hot springs the monoclinal ridges back of the hotel 

are formed of sandstones belonging to this horizon that include lentic-
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

CONGLOMERATE BEDS FORMING ANTICLINAL RIDGE BETWEEN BRACKET
WEED.] ^ LIVINGSTON CONGLOMEEATES. 31

ular intercalations of conglomerate, in which, besides the usual variety 

of volcanic rocks, gneiss, quartzite and limestone pebbles were recognized. These ledges are overlain by sandstones and purple clays that 

represent the higher part of the formation. At the mouth of Shields 

river the sandstones interbedded -with the purple and green clays are 

dark and greenish in color and contain conglomerate layers with 

quartzite and limestone pebbles.

From Big Timber westward the grains forming these rocks become 

very slightly coarser and in the high hills east of the Bridger range 

become conglomerates. These hills are separated from the mountains 

by a long strike valley cut in the purple shales and drained by Bridger 

and Brackett creeks. The cliffs east of these creeks show a thickness 

of over 2,000 feet of sandstones, conglomerates, and sandy shale. Several detailed sections were made, but are of little general interest, save 

to show tlie proportion of conglomerate. Brown earthy-colored sandstones grade rapidly into conglomerates and alternate with gray, silty, 

incoherent clay shales. The rugged ridge separating Brackett creek 

from the flat valley to the north is formed by a sharp anticlinal uplift 

of these conglomerates. Plate in shows the ledges on the summit 

of the ridge. The importance which attaches to these conglomerates 

arises from the light they throw upon the relation of the Livingstou 

formation to the Laramie, and to the post-Laramie movements which 

elsewhere had been found to be so important. The large size of the 

pebbles of the conglomerate permits a ready recognition of their lithological nature, and this upon examination proves to be of the greatest 

interest. In the cliffs east of Bridger creek and the ridges cut by 

Brackett creek, the conglomerates of the series occupy a very prominent part of the formation. The accompanying illustration (PI. iv) 

shows the size and well-rounded character of the pebbles forming the 

conglomerates. It is reproduced from a photograph. Sections made 

near Stone's creek and on Brackett creek show a thickness of 2,000 feet 

of very coarse sandstones and conglomerates in which a large number 

of pebbles are noted that are not of volcanic origin. In both these 

sections the conglomerates contain pebbles of granite, quartzite of various colors, limestones showing chert and. Carboniferous fossils, and 

cretaceous shales and sandstones. The volcanic rocks also show a wide 

variety; whereas the pebbles of the-lower beds show but little variety 

of the andesite,' those of the higher strata exposed at Bridger and 

Brackett creeks contain olivine porphyrite, hornblende-porphyrite, 

pyroxene-andesite, quartz diorite, and dacite. The first of these rocks 

is unknown elsewhere in this region. The dacite occurs as an intrusion 

in the Laramie Coal-measures.

There is some evidence that may prove sufficient cause for a separation of these conglomerates and silts from the Livingston formation 

and their recognition as the base of the Fort Union group.
32 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BOLL. 105. 

MATERIALS COMPOSING THE LIVINGSTON.

The peculiar appearance of the rocks overlying the coal beds of the 

Bozenian coal field was noticed by the geologists of the Hayclen Survey, 1 but the volcanic nature of-the pebbles was first established by 

the geologist belonging to the Northern Transcontinental Survey, by 

whom descriptions of the conglomerates were published. 2

The general appearance of the coarse sandstones of the lower part 

of the formation suggests the volcanic nature of the materials composing them. In the hand specimen particles of andesite are frequently 

distinguishable, and the opaque white feldspars derived from the 

andesites are always a conspicuous feature of the rocks. The conglomerates of the leaf beds, though always of merely local development, are frequently prominent parts of the outcrop. The pebbles of 

these conglomerates are almost wholly audesitic in character, the rare 

exceptions being a few pebbles of quartzite found at a few localities 

at this horizon.

Microscopic examinations of the rocks show a mixture of volcanic 

with archean material. The character of the rocks of the Blue rim 

section has already been stated. That of the strata in the vicinity of 

Cokedale is typical of this formation generally. The lower 1,000 feet 

of beds show an admixture of andesitic debris with Archean material, 

the latter being much more abundant than in the rocks of the Blue 

rim, but in widely varying quantity at different horizons. Many of 

the Cokedale rocks show no assortment of the grains, as there would 

be if there had been wave action during their deposition, and they 

probably represent ash showers. The andesites are all of types represented by the intercalated volcanic agglomerates, described later. 

Thin sections kindly examined for me by Mr. .Whitman Cross show the 

rocks overlying the coal near the Chestnut mine to be composed of fine 

to coarse andesitic debris but little different from that seen in thin sections of rocks from the same horizon north of the Crazy mountains.

The conglomerates of the upper part of the formation show a much 

wider variety in composition. Inconspicuous features in the exposures 

east of Livingston, they form, the high hills east of the Bridger range, 

where they attain their greatest development and become less and less 

prominent parts of the formation northward. In the hills just mentioned the conglomerates consist of well-rounded pebbles up to 10 

inches in diameter, which, though chiefly of volcanic rocks, are of many 

types, arid include moreover a conspicuous proportion of other rocks. 

Microscopical examinations show the following variety of igneous rocks:

Olivine-porpkyrite. 

Hornblende-porpliyrite. 

Pyroxene-andesite. 

Quartz-dLorite. 

Dacite (or rkyolite?).

L Dr. A. C. Peale, Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. andGeog. Survey, 1871, pp. 49, 173; idem, 

1872, pp. 25, 112. 

z Waldemar Lindgren, vol. xv, Tenth. Ceiisus U. S., p. 725.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CONGLOMERATE BEDS SHOWING SIZE AND ROUNDING O
WEED.] FOSSIL REMAINS OF THE LIVINGSTON. 33

Pebbles of Archean, gneisses, and quartettes also occur, together 

with limestones showing Paleozoic fossils and Dakota conglomerate.

FOSSIL REMAINS OF LIVINGSTON FORMATION.

The fossils of the Livingston formation consist of plant remains, 

found most abundantly in the southern exposures, throughout the 

Bozeman coal field, and a meager inolluscan fauna most abundant in 

the extreme northern portion of the -Crazy mountain country.

FOSSIL FAUNA OF THE LIVINGSTON.

The molluscan remains are of two kinds, fresh-water and brackishwater forms. The former occurs together with leaf remains in the cliffs 

of McAdoAv canyon of the Yellowstone and at the headwaters of Smith 

river. At the first locality Unio remains, specifically indeterminable, 

and fragmentary gastropods have been collected. At the head of the 

south fork of Smith river a small collection of fossils was obtained 

from the black calcareous shales of the formation, but the shells have 

been deformed by the flexing of the strata. Unio remains are abundant, but can not be preserved. The other shells brought are abundant 

and .have been examined for me by Mr. T. W. Stanton, who reports as 

follows: u The fosssils from this locality are very imperfectly preserved 

and the identifications are too doubtful to be of value. All that can. 

be said of them is that they are fresh-water forms having some resemblance to species from the Fort Union bed near Fort Union and at the 

mouth of the Yellow stone^ as follows:

1. Goniabasis tenuicarinata M and H.

2. Goniabasis nebrascensis M and H.

3. A third form represented by a single mold resembles Tliaumastus 

limnceiformis M and H, a land shell."

In the region northeast of the Crazy mountains, drained by theMusselshell river, a bed of limestone full of shell remains occurs, interbedded with the Livingston sandstones and conglomerates, a few hundred feet above the base of the formation. The species obtained from 

this bed, are thus described by Mr. Stanton: "Thethree species and one 

variety in this lot are all brackish-water forms, and were all originally 

described from the Judith river beds near the mouth of Judith river. 

The Corbicula and the Corbula have been found in the Laramie of 

the valley of Bitter creek, southern Wyoming, and the Corbula ranges 

well down in the marine Cretaceous. There is no doubt that these fossils came from the Laramie.

1. Ostrea subtrigonalis M. and H.

2. Corbicula cytheriformis M. and H.

3. Corbula subtrigonalis M. and H.

4. Corbula subtrigonalis, var. perundata, M. and H. 

The horizon from which these brackish-water forms were obtained is 

below that at which the fresh-water mollusks were found 

Bull. 105 3
34, LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL.IOD.

FOSSIL FLORA. OF THE LIVINGSTON FORMATION.

The abundance of fossil plant remains in both the true Laramie and 

the Mission creek formations has already been noted. Collections were 

made from both horizons as early as 1871 by Dr. A. 0. Peale and other 

members of the Hayden Survey, and together with further collections 

made in 1872 and 1878 were submitted to Prof. Leo Lesquereux. In 

subsequent years the collections were largely increased by Dr. Peale, 

Prof. F. H. Kuowlton, and the writer. At my request a careful revision 

of this work, together with a study of all other material from the same 

region, was undertaken by Prof. Knowlton, and his report is a very important contribution to the paleobotany of the Laramie. This work not 

only describes and tabulates the species collected from the Laramie Coalmeasures and those from the Livingston formation, but it clears up the 

confusion resulting from the mixing up of collections from various horizons and localities described in the early reports of the Hoyden Survey, 

a work so frequently referred to in the literature of the Laramie. As 

many of Lesquereux's type species of Laramie plants were in these collections, the importance of a careful separation of collections from different localities and horizons will be readily appreciated. This necessitated a careful examination of each specimen of the Hayden collections. 

This has been done by Dr. A. C. Peale, by whom most of the specimens 

were obtained. This has shown that fossil plant remains from both 

the Laramie Coal-measures and the Livingston formation were placed together, and with specimens from the volcanic rocks of the Yellowstone 

park were described as Laramie species. The latter have been separated out and the specimens from each locality and horizon in the Bozeman district discriminated. The collections studied by Prof. Knowlton 

are from five different localities and represent two horizons, viz, first, 

Laramie Coal-measures, aud, second, the Mission creek formation. The

first includes the specimens labeled Bear creek, Fir canyon, and Fort 

Ellis, Chestnut and the Craig and Horr mines (Cinnabar field). The 

specimens labeled Hodgson coal mine, Flathead pass, Mission creek 

and Bear creek (Madison valley) are from the lower portion of the 

Livingston formation, and can be readily distinguished by their volcanic 

matrix from the specimens obtained from the Laramie rocks.

In the accompanying report Prof. Knowlton has shown the similarity 

of the flora of the Livingston beds with that of the Denver formation, 

and the table of distribution and the relative abundance of certain 

species show quite clearly that the flora of the Livingston is distinct 

both from that of the Laramie and that of the Fort Union formation.

UNCONFORMITY BETWEEN LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS.

Unconformity between these two formations has been observed by 

Dr. A. C. Peale in the vicinity of Sphinx mountain in the Madison 

range. At this place an area of Livingston beds, representing the
WEED.] THE FORT UNION FORMATION. 35

lower part of the formation, rests in marked angular unconformity upon 

the Dakota, and all later formations including the Laramie. An uplift, followed by an erosion of about 3,000 feet of strata at the close of 

the Laramie and before the deposition of the Livingston, is quite clearly 

evidenced. Throughout the region east of the mountains examined 

by the writer, the Livingston beds have not been found resting upon 

strata older than the Laramie. Considerable variations in the thickness of the latter are believed, however, to be in part due to a period 

of erosion preceding the deposition of the Laramie.

Undoubted proof of Unconformity between the two formations is, 

however, afforded by the pebbles of the conglomerates of the Livingston. The Cretaceous section up to and including the Laramie affords 

proof of considerable oscillation of sea and land, but there is good 

ground for believing that the earlier sediments of this age were 

nowhere elevated and subject to erosion, The sandstone and conglomerates of the Laramie all indicate their derivation from Archean land. 

No fragments of other rocks have yet been observed. In the Livingston, on the contrary, there are pebbles from all earlier rock masses, 

indicating very clearly the erosion of adjacent land masses consisting 

in part of upturned sedimentary rocks and forming the record of a 

period of erosion of 6,000 feet or more of strata. The conglomerates 

contain pebbles referable by fossils or lithological peculiarities to the 

Laramie, Montana, Colorado, Dakota, Jurassic, and Carboniferous, 

together with others of limestone that may be Cambrian, and a variety 

of quartzites and gneisses that are probably Archean. This lithological proof of a great unconformity is in itself a sufficient cause to disregard the apparent conformity of the two formations in the region east 

of the uplifts of the Front ranges. It is evident moreover that the 

slight erosion of this region, and the horizontal attitude of the strata 

during the erosion interval, would necessarily make an unconformity 

less marked and much harder to detect in this region than nearer the 

shore line where the coarser sediments and the greater uplift and erosion 

all reduce the unconformity more apparent.

THE FORT UNION FORMATION.

In the Crazy mountains and the broken plains country to the east 

the Livingston is overlaid by a series of beds, believed to be a distinct 

formation, corresponding in stratigraphic position and fossil contents 

to the beds exposed along the Missouri river at the month of the Yellowstone, so long known in geological literature as the Fort Union, 

beds. A detailed description of this formation will not be given here, 

as it will be discussed in another paper. The formation consists of 

rather massive, cross-bedded sandstones, with gray, silty shales and 

local lenses of impure limestone. In lithological habit and general 

field appearance the formation is 'easily distinguished from either the 

Laramie or Livingston rocks, and its fossil contents consist wholly of
36 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

land and of fresh-water mollusks, and of plants characteristic of the 

Fort Union of the Missouri river. A measured thickness of 4,000 

feet was observed overlying the Livingston, on Labor creek east of 

the Crazy mountains. The rocks of this formation have never been 

found west of the foothills of the Bocky-mountains, but cover the 

greater part of the plains to the eastward.

AGE OF THE LIVINGSTON FORMATION.

The different Views held by geologists upon the age and relations of 

the Laramie group, are due to a fundamental difference in the definition. The name was originally applied by King to the series of conformable sediments ending the marine Cretaceous.1

A very much wider significance was given to the term Laramie by 

Dr. White, who correlated the various lignite-bearing strata of the 

Eocky mountain region, under the name Laramie group. Thus defined 

the name included formations which further researches show to be distinct in both stratigraphic relations and paleontological remains.2 It 

is evident also that collections of fossils from this heterogeneous group 

of strata, having been described as from, the Laramie group, have made 

the so-called Laramie flora and fauna an unreliable criterion, by which 

to distinguish true Laramie from post-Laramie strata.

The facts of stratigraphy and of lifchology herein presented demand 

the recognition of the importance of the interval between the Laramie 

and the Livingston deposits. The importance of this interval is also 

shown by the plant remains of the two .formations, which present such 

differences and biological development as fully sustain the deductions 

from stratigraphical evidences. It should be stated, however, that it is 

only now, since the thorough revision of the flora of the so-called Laramie, in which the collections from the Denver and the Fort Union have

been separated, that such evidence is of value.

Unfortunately, the known molluscan remains do not aid us in determining the importance of this erosion interval, because the invertebrate 

fauna of the Laramie is as much in need of revision as the fossil flora. 

It has been repeatedly stated, by eminent paleontologists, that sedimentation has been continuous and uninterrupted from the beginning of 

the Laramie to the end of the beds called Fort Union, which are, in 

this paper, separated from the Livingstou as a higher series. The fossil 

fauna has been said to be the same from base to top throughout this 

series. A careful tabulation of species from, different horizons shows, 

however, that this is not true in the collections made from the vicinity 

of the Crazy mountains.

The oyster bed, found in the Livingston, clearly shows an interval of

!Rep. Fortieth, Par. Survey, vol. i, p. 331.

2 The Denver Tertiary Formation; Am. Jour. Sci., April, 1889. Post-Laramie Deposit Of Colorado; Am. Jour. Sci., July, 1892.
WEED.] AGE OP THE ' LIVINGSTON FORMATION. 37

quiet, succeeding the formation of the sandstones and grits of volcanic 

material, during which the beds were covered by brackish waters.

The fresh-water invertebrate fossils, at higher horizons, seemingly 

indicate a change in the character of the waters, and the final recession 

of the sea. The fossils of the oyster bed are, however, indentical with 

forms characteristic of the Coal-measures of the Laramie, underlying 

the Liviiigston in this same region, and therefore they can not be used 

as an argument for the separation of the two formations, but clearly 

show the existence of a Laramie fauna in brackish Avaters, after the 

deposition of several hundred feet of Livingston beds. It should be 

stated, however, that none of the conglomerates of the formation, in 

the region in which the oyster bed is found, contain pebbles indicating 

unconformity. It is indeed possible that these beds are incorrectly 

assigned to the Livingston, and should be classed as Laramie.

As the stratigraphical evidence herein presented shows an uplift, 

followed by a period of erosion after the deposition of the Laramie 

Coal-measures, and before the Livingston period, and the plant remains 

show a flora distinct from the Laramie flora, and allied to that of the 

Denver beds of Colorado, the Livingston beds are clearly to be 

assigned to the post-Laramie.

The facts discovered make it necessary to limit the use of the term 

Laramie to the original definition, which applied the name to the strata 

ending the sequence of conformable sediments of Cretaceous age; this 

leaves ho alternative but to call the Livingston beds post-Laramie. 

Such a designation will, of course, be questioned by those using the 

term Laramie in a broader sense. The great thickness of beds overlying the Livingston formation, aggregating some 8,000 feet of strata 

and forming the Crazy mountains, has thus far proved too barren in 

fossils to assign positively any definite age to the strata. Upon lithological grounds and from its stratigraphical position it is regarded as 

an equivalent of the Fort Union strata of eastern Montana. This is 

supported by the leaf remains obtained from the beds.

CANADIAN NOMENCLATURE.

In the northward extension of the Great Plains and the foothills of 

the Rocky mountains into Canadian territory, the careful work'of the 

geologists of the Canadian Geological Survey has added much to our 

knowledge of the Cretaceous terranes. Both Dr. Dawson and Mr. 

Tyrrell have subdivided the great thickness of strata found overlying 

the Montana group into series strati graphically distinct. Though the 

term Laramie group is retained for the entire thickness, Tyrrell states 

clearly that the lower of the two series into which he divides the strata 

(i. e., the Edmonton beds) is alone entitled to that name. The overlying 

Paskapoo series he considers distinct, and though there is no apparent 

break or unconformity between them and the Edmonton, the flora and 

fauna indicate an Eocene age. These beds are probably identical with 

the Fort Union group of Montana.
38 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105;

The Edmonton is described by Tyrrell as the most characteristic 

series of the Northwest territory, for although its thickness never 

exceeds 700 feet the strata are horizontal and overlie a great extent of 

country. They consist of whitish or-light gray clays and soft clayey 

sandstones weathering rapidly and into rounded outcrops. The beds 

are frequently seamed with layers of ironstone whose nodules cap pinnacles cut in the soft sandrock. It is essentially a coal horizon and of 

considerable economic importance. The fossil fauna and flora includes 

a number of brackish-water shells, and dinosaurian remains and plant 

remains closely related to the Belly river, and of unquestioned Laramie 

types.

The Paskapoo beds include all the rocks generally ascribed in this 

part of Canada to the Laramie that overlie the Edmonton series. A 

thickness of 5,700 feet is exposed on the outer edges of the foothills. 

The rocks are light gray or yellow sandstones weathering brown, thickly 

bedded and cross bedded with light blue gray or olive sandy shales, 

holding intercalations of hard lamellar sandstones, and rarely lenses of 

blue concentric weathering limestones. The whole series is characterized by the presence of land and fresh-water shells, and a flora of Fort 

Union type.

Mr. Tyrrell says the Eocky mountain uplift began after the deposition 

of the Edmonton Laramie, the plains gradually sinking beneath the level 

of the fresh-water lake. The distinction between the Fort Union and 

the coal-bearing Laramie has been strongly insisted upon by Newberry, 

by whom the Fort Union with its wholly distinct flora was regarded as 

Eocene. That no unconformity has been recognized between the two 

in the region of the Great Plains is to be expected, but the collections 

of Prof, L. F. Ward from near Gtlendive, on the lower Yellowstone river, 

seem to show the absence of the Laramie as defined in this paper at that 

locality, the Fort Union restin g directly upon Fox hill strata. The interpolation of the Livingston series and the great unconformity it shows, 

between the coal-bearing Laramie and the Fort Union, seems to be 

good and sufficient grounds for the adoption of Prof. Newberry's divisions, and places us in accord with the results of recent work in Colorado, so fully described by Cross and Hill in their recent publication.

POST-LARAMIE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.

The rocks described as parts of the Livingston formation all suggest 

the importance and extent of the volcanic activity that followed the 

coal-making period of the Laramie. The water-laid sediments and the 

terrestrial accummulations of breccias and agglomerate both clearly 

show the proximity of volcanic centers. These rocks have now been 

identified over parts of a large area of the Eocky mountain front in 

Montana and show that the eruptions were not merely local in character. At only one locality, observed by Dr. A. 0. Peale, near the Jef-
WEED.] VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. 39

ferson river, have interbedded lava flows been observed. The deposits 

generally seem to indicate a period of volcanic outbursts, rather than 

profound intrusions or extensive outflows of later ages. This volcanic 

activity became the most important feature of Tertiary time in this 

region and profoundly modified the topography, which is today largely 

due to the breccias and lavas of that age. The importance of the Livingston rocks is apparent when it is considered that the volcanoes of 

that period were the ancestors of the great volcanoes of Tertiary time, 

and the definite establishment of the stratigraphical position of the 

earliest records of this activity is the foundation for the study of the 

order of succession of the volcanic rocks of the region and the geological history which they record.

It may be of interest in this connection to refer briefly to other occurrences of volcanic rocks in the Cretaceous. The presence of con gloinerates formed of volcanic pebbles in what is here designated the Livingston series was noted by Lindgren while studying the relations of the 

coal beds to the older rocks for the Northern Transcontinental. Survey. 1 

In his later, paper on eruptive rocks from Montana,2 he states: "Thecharacter of the subaerial masses accompanying these eruptions is not 

well known; only a few conglomerates in the Laramie give some hint 

as to their nature. In the case of a volcanic conglomerate at the coal 

fields of Bozeinan, the horizon could be determined to be 2,200 feet 

above strata in which fossils of the Fort Benton group were found. 

This conglomerate consists of pebbles of hornblende-andesite, to which 

consequently no later age than lower Laramie can be assigned."

In a conglomerate about 1,000 feet above Cretaceous No. 2, in the 

Highwood mountains, dacites and andesites were found by the same 

observer. Augite-andesite pebbles form a conglomerate exposed on 

Sixteen-mile creek, and considered by Lindgren to be Laramie.

In Canada Dr. Dawson has described the occurrence of volcanic 

agglomerates similar to those of Montana interbedded in a series of 

strata overlying the Kootariie coal seams, and referred to the Dakota. 

These agglomerates occur at a horizon about 3,350 feet above the 

Kootanie coal seams, and consist of "volcanic rocks chiefly, if not 

entirely, fragmental, forming an agglomerate of varying coarseness, 

frequently so fine as to be designated a volcanic ash." For the most 

part they are grayish green or purple, and toward the base weather 

easily, forming rounded crumbling masses. This description is equally 

applicable to the agglomerates of the Bozeman coal field. In the general geology of his report, Dr. Dawson alludes still further to the volcanic agglomerates: " The volcanic ash beds and agglomerates of the 

Cretaceous in this region are evidently due to a local eruption which 

had its center in the latitude of the Crow Nest pass. These volcanic 

rocks have, however, been traced north and south from this point over

1 Tenth Census, vol. xv, p. 725.

3 Proc. Cala. Acad. Sci., sor. 2, vol. in, p. 51.
40 LARAMIE AND LIVTNGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

a total length of 45 miles, and may probably have at one time had as 

great an extension east and west? though this has subsequently heen 

diminished by the folding together of the beds. The volume of strata 

between the coal-bearing horizon and the base of the volcanic rock is 

estimated approximately at 3,350 feet in the Crow Nest pass, and 2,400 

feet on South Kootanie pass. The volcanic rocks themselves are 2,200 

feet thick at Crow JSTest pass and thin rapidly to the north and south. 

Dakota plants are found a few hundred feet below these volcanic 

rocks."

SUMMARY.

The facts presented in this paper are believed to be an important 

contribution to our knowledge of the orographic and structural geology 

of the Eocky mountains. The post-Larainie movements that formed 

so important a part of the mountain building period in Colorado are 

herein shown to have this parallel in Montana and to accord with the. 

observations made in Canada by Dawson and Tyrrell.

The facts which have been presented maybe summarized as follows:

First. The coal-bearing Larainie terminated the succession of conformable cretaceous sediments.

Second. The beds overlying the Larainie Coal-measures give evidence 

'in their pebbles of an unconformity with them and are distinguished 

by a remarkable change in their composition. To this series of beds 

the name Livingston formation is applied. It consists of sandstones, 

conglomerates, and shales, formed chiefly of andesitic volcanic material, 

with an admixture of Archean debris near the shore line. The beds 

show very little assorting by water action, the fragments are angular, 

and the lower part of the series is decidedly tufaceous, being frequently 

a fine volcanic agglomerate. These beds are consolidated, water-laid 

sediments formed of cinders, lapilli, and other ejectarnenta of explosive 

volcanic eruptions. This material fell directly into the lake waters or 

was washed into them from the slopes of the volcano. The abundant 

plant remains of this formation are discussed at length in Prof. Knowlton's report.

Third. Volcanic agglomerates are intercalated in the Livingston 

formation. They are unmistakably subaerial deposits of coarse volcanic ejectamenta, compactly cemented by fine-grained ash and rudely 

bedded. They represent the material forming the flanks of a postLaramie volcano, whose northern base was subsequently covered by the 

waters of a lake whose sediments form the rocks of the Crazy mountains.

The lower division of the Livingston beds is thinnest on the Boulder 

river, where the agglomerates are thickest, increases in thickness as 

the latter thins out, and attains a niaxiuin development on the Missouri-Yellowstone divide, where the agglomerates are farthest away.

It is believed that the Livingston series and the volcanic agglomerates are the record of volcanic eruptions which began after the close
WEED.] SUMMAEY. 41

of the coal-making Larainie and were attended by an uplift of considerable extent. Erosion of the volcanic slopes supplied the rounded 

pebbles and sauds, while ash showers formed the coarser tufaceous 

rocks. In the eastern part of the Bozeman coal field the quantity of 

ejected material being greatest as nearer the source, the shallow waters 

were soon filled and the formation of the agglomerates began. Such 

gradual shallowing and filling are clearly indicated in the beds beneath 

the agglomerates. An examination of thin sections of the rocks forming the lower part of the Mission creek formation shows them, to be 

composed of the same andesitic material as the agglomerates.

The rocks of this formation generally rest directly upon the Larainie 

Coal-measures in apparent conformity. The direct unconformity of the 

Livingston beds observed at Sphinx mountain and the positive proof of 

a great unconformity and subsequent erosion afforded by the composition of the conglomerates of the series show that the epoch of the coalforming Laramie was terminated by an uplift of considerable extent. 

The land area resulting from this elevation was exposed to erosion during a prolonged period, in which a thickness of 4,600 feet of Mesozoic 

beds was removed and the Paleozoic limestones were exposed to denudation. The Livingston beds were deposited during this period.of erosion. 

The lowest beds of the series in which no pebbles of sedimentary rocks 

have been detected may represent the area deposits following elevation. 

They certainly evidence a time of intense volcanic activity. The source 

of volcanic material is probably to be found in the volcanic outbursts 

of the Boulder river on the east and of the Flathead pass country to 

the north.

The recognition of the Fort Union formation above the Livingston 

is also believed to be an important discovery. This formation has long 

been a cause of controversy, and has by many been excluded from the 

Laramie. As its molluscan fauna is wholly fresh water, and, as such, 

is of little value in determining its age, the fossil flora has been relied 

upon for its discrimination, and this is clearly Eocene. The stratigrapic relations herein detailed seem to confirm this view.

ANNOTATED LIST OF THE FOSSE PLANTS OF THE BOZEMAN, MONTANA, COAL FIELD, WITH TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION AND DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPECIES. ,

By F. H. KNOWLTON.

The first collection of fossil plants from what is now very generally 

known as the Bozeman coal field was made in 1871 l by the members of 

Dr. F. Y. Hayden's party while they were encamped at Fort Ellis, preparatory to beginning their memorable exploration of the Yellowstone 

national park. The actual collecting was done by Dr. A. C. Peale, 

Mr. Joseph Savage, and Mr. W. H. Holmes. The specimens, as I am 

informed by Dr. Peale, were all obtained on the same day and from the 

same vicinity, although not all at exactly the same spot. As the country 

was at that time new and unsettled, the nearest fixed point was the 

military reservation of Fort Ellis, and the specimens were labeled by 

the various collectors as follows: " Six miles above Spring canyon (now 

known.as Rocky canyon), near Fort Ellis, Montana"; "above Spring 

canyon, near Fort Ellis," and "near Fort Ellis, above coal." The fact 

that there were three kinds of labels lead Prof. Lesquereux, to whom the 

specimens were submitted for examination, to suppose that they came 

from quite different localities, but in his published account 2 he referred 

them to the same horizon. Most of these specimens are fortunately 

still preserved in the collections of the TJ. S. National Museum, and it 

is therefore possible to correlate them with considerable certainty with 

the recent collections made in the same region.

The specimens of this first collection may be very readily separated 

into two groups by the character of the matrix in which they are preserved. The first consists of a very hard, dark metamorphic shale, 

breaking across the plane of stratification, and therefore rarely affording 

perfect impressions. The other is a lighter colored, but very coarse, 

hard sandstone not well suited for the preservation of the details of 

nervation.

The exact spot from which the original specimens in dark metamorphic shale were obtained has been revisited by Dr. Peale and myself

Haydeu's Ann. Kept., 1871, p. 296. 2 Haydeii's Ann. Kept., 1872, p. 404.

43
44 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL.IOS.

and a considerable collection gathered, which contains nearly all of the 

species known, from a comparison of the types in the National Museum, to have come from there. It is the locality now known as Hodson's coal mine, and is on Meadow creek, about 12 miles southeast of 

Bozeman.

The precise point at which the specimens preserved in the coarse 

sandstone were obtained has not been rediscovered, as they were collected in 1871 by Messrs. Holmes and Savage, who have never revisited the place. There is, however, little reason to doubt but that it is 

the same horizon as that at which plants in exactly similar material 

have been obtained in recent years at the mouth of Bear canyon and 

near the mouth of Fir canyon. If this supposition be true, and there 

is no reason to suppose the contrary, as it can be traced continuously 

from the mouth of Bear canyon to the Meadow creek locality, this 

horizon is a little lower than the former or the one containing the dark 

cross-bedded shales.

Following is an enumeration of the material which has furnished the 

basis for the present paper, with a statement of localities and collectors:

The original collection of 1871, embracing forty specimens and twenty species preserved in the U. S. National Museum.

Timber line, Gallatin county, Montana. Collected by Dr. A. C. Peale, August 30 and 

and 31, 1883. A few nearly indeterminable fragments.

East side of Bridger range, 8 or 10 miles north of Bridger canyon, Gallatin county, 

Montana. Collected by Dr. A. C. Peale, August 9,1885. Fragments determinate 

generically only.

East side of Bridger range, half mile north of Flathead pass, Gallatin county, Montana. Collected by Dr. A. C. Peale, August 28,1885. Contains only three species.

Bear canyon, half mile above its mouth and 6 miles southeast of Bozemau, Gallatin 

county, Montana. Collected, August 25, 1886, by Dr. A. C. Peale. This is the 

coarse sandstone mentioned above and contains fragments of five or six species.

Near head of Fir canyon (north side), 8 miles east of Bozeman, Gallatin county, 

Montana. Collected by Dr. A. C, Peale, July 23, 1887, and September 28, 1888. 

Embraces about a dozen species.

Stone quarry on the road to Meadow creek and about half mile above its mouth. 

Collected by Dr. A. C. Peale and F. H. Knowlton, September 27, 1888.

Hodson's coal mine on Meadow creek, 12 miles southeast of Bozemau, Gallatin 

county, Montana. Collected by Dr. A. C. Peale, August 16, 1888, and by Dr. Peale 

and F. H. Knowlton September 28,1888.

Mouth of Fir canyon, east side of East Gallatin river, 4 miles southeast of Bozeman, 

Gallatin county, Montana. Collected by F. H. Knowlton, July 3,1888.

Between middle and north branches of Bear creek, east of Madison valley, on the 

east side of the Madison range. Collected by Dr. A. C. Peale August 20, 1889. 

This is really extralimital, but is included beca.use it is the only other lot of 

plants from this part of Montana, and is moreover in material similar to that from 

Hodson's coal mine., and also contains some of the same species.

Horr and Craig mines, Cinnabar mountain, Montana. Collected by W. H.Weed July 

17 and 18, 1890.

Near Little Mission creek and east of Mission creek. Collected by W. H. Weed, August 22,1890.
ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES.

ANEMIA STJBCRETACEA (Sap.) Ett. and Garcl.

Gymnogramma Haydenii Lx.

Only two or three small fragments observed.

ASPIDIUM LAKESII (Lx.) Kn. 

Plate IT, figs. 1-4.

LatJircea arguta Lx. Hayden's Annual Eeport, 1869, p. 90.

Sphenopteris eocenica Ett. Eoc. Fl. d. Mont. Prom., p. 9, PI. II, figs. 

5-8; Hayden's Annual Eeport, 1872,'p. 376.

Sphenopteris Lalcesii Lx. Tert. FL, p. 49, pi. II, figs. 1, la.

Sphenopteris membranacea Lx. Hayden's Annual Eeport, 1873, p. 

394; Tert. FL, p. 50, pi. n, figs. 2, 2a, 3, 3a.

Habitat. Between middle and north branches of Bear creek, east ot 

Madison valley, on the west side of the Madison range, Montana. Collected by Dr. A. 0. Peale August 20, 1889.

As stated in the list of localities this material is not from the Bozeinan coal field proper, but is included on account of the fact that it is 

the only other lot of plants from this part of Montana, and moreover 

possesses exceptional biological interest. It is undoubtedly of same 

age as the Hodson's coal mine material. The form to which, these specimens are referred occurs in great abundance in the Denver beds ot 

Colorado and may be regarded as one of the most characteristic species 

of that formation. The collections from Colorado contain hundreds 

of specimens, but strangely enough, not one has been found in fruit, 

and it is therefore of great interest to find the fruiting specimens and 

be able to settle definitely its systematic position. In absence of the 

fruit it was referred to the genus Sphenopteris by Lesquereux, but the 

fortunate finding of these fragments in fruit, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 

of PL vi, makes necessary their reference to the genus Aspidium.

The complete description of this species in the light of all known material is reserved for a subsequent publication, but in order to show 

that the Montana specimens agree in matter of outline and nervation 

with those from Colorado, a single specimen is figured (PL VI, Fig. 4) 

from near the Douglas coal mine at Sedalia, Colo.

EQUISETUM (?) 

A minute fragment of doubtful identity.
46 LAEAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL.IOS.

ABIETITES DUBIUS Lx.

Lesquereux, Tert. Fl., p. 81, PI. vn, Fig. 24; non Figs. 20, 21, 21a.

The specimens upon which this species was founded are preserved 

in the TJ. S. National Museum. After a careful study of them, together with all material since obtained from the same region, I have 

divided the species as denned by Lesquereux, a part going to Sequoia 

Reiclieribachi Gein. (q. v.), and the small, rather doubtful remaining 

ones are retained under A. dubius.1 . Abietites setiger Lx., described at the same time, is to be dropped. 

Schenck (ZitteFs Handb. d. Pal., vol. n, p. 350) was the first to suggest 

that the fragment upon which this was founded was probably nothing 

but the roots of some plant, and an examination of the type specimens 

in the U. S. National Museum abundantly confirms this view.

SEQUOIA BEICHENBACHI Gein.

Abietites dubius Lx., ex. p., Lesquereux, Tert. FL, p. 81, pi. V.T., figs. 20, 

21, 21a.

Sequoia Reichenbachi is essentially a Cretaceous species and enjoys a 

very extensive vertical and areal distribution. It first appeared in the 

extreme upper Jurassic, is abundant iu the Kootanie and Potomac formations and other lower and middle Cretaceous deposits, and is also 

found in the lower or true Laramie and the post-Larainie of Colorado 

and Montana.

The National Museum contains several specimens under this name 

from Spring canyon (Hodson's coal mine), although it does not appear in any of Lesquereux's publications, as found at this place. The 

recent collections also contain a number of fine specimens. They are 

distinguished from AMetites dubius Lx., by the smaller, more arched 

and very acute leaves, which were deeply sharply angled. I have referred here Figs. 20, 21, 21a, pi. vii, of Lesquereux's Tertiary Flora, 

there called Abietites dubius.

TAXODIUM DISTICHUM MIOCENUM Heer.

Heer, Mioc. Bait. F1.3 p. 18, PI. n; in, Figs. 6, 7; xiv, Figs. 24-28; 

xv, Fig. la; Flor. foss. arct., v, Pt. n, p. 33, PI. vin, Fig. 256; ix, 

Fig. 1; Lesquereux, Tert. Fl., p. 73.

Taxodium dubium Heer. Lesquereux, Hayden's Annual Eeport, 

1872, p. 389; 1873, p. 409.

Several specimens of this widely distributed species were found in 

the Hodson's coal mine material. One of them is a large, well preserved specimen, which makes the determination very satisfactory.

GlNKGO ADIANTOIDES Ung.

Represented by several fine specimens.

1 For full discussion of the conifers of the Bo/eman coal field, see forthcoming 

Monograph on the Laramie and allied formations, in preparation.
 LIST OF SPECIES. 47

THINNFELDIA. POLYJIORPHA (Lx.) Kn. 

Plate i, Figs. 1-4.

Salisburiapolymorplia Lx. Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., vol. xxvn, 1859, 

p. 362; Hayden's Ann. Rept., 1872, p. 404; Tert. Fl., p. 84, PI. LX, Figs. 

40, 41; Knowlton, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. vn, p. 153.

Leaves cuneiform or long wedge-shaped, narrowed from above the 

middle downward into a strong thick petiole and rounded, erose or 

irregularly lobed or cut at apex; margin entire or more frequently 

strongly irregularly undulate or toothed; mid-vein very strong, continuing to the apex or In some cases nearly or quite vanishing just 

below the point; veins thin, close, simple, emerging at an acute angle 

from the mid-vein, thence running with slight curve to the margin.

The leaves of this species are very large, measuring in some instances fully 30"n in length and 9-llcin in width. The smallest specimen (Fig. 4), which may not be complete, is 10CIU in length by 3cm in 

width, but most of the specimens, of which there are numerous fragments, are fully as large as the maximum size given above. They were 

provided with a strong thick petiole, as in Fig. 3, at least 3CIM long and 

3mm in diameter. In outline the leaves are long wedge-shaped at base, 

and rounded or variously, irregularly lacerate-toothed at the apex, as 

seen in Figs. 1 and 2. The margin, perhaps best seen in Fig. 2, is 

irregularly undulate, or in some cases, as in Fig. 4, slightly toothed. 

The mid-vein or rib is very thick and prominent, sometimes running 

"clear to the apex, as in Figs. 2 and 4, while in others it vanishes just 

* below the apex, as in Fig. 1. The lateral veins emerge at a very acute 

angle and are close, fine and only slightly curved in running to the 

border.

The name of Salisburia polymorplia was first given by Lesquereux 1 

to some fragmentary specimens collected by Dr. John Evans at Nanaimo, 

Vancouver island. It was not described in this publication, the only 

statement bein g that, besides several species of dicotyledons, there was 

also " a very fine Salisburia, very variable in the outline of its leaves and 

named Salisburia, polymorpJia (Lesq.), distinctly related to Salisburia 

adiantoides (Ung.), found in the Pliocene of Italy." Lesquereux's next 

mention of this species was in Hayden's Sixth Annual Report (1872), 

when he identified as belonging to it certain fragmentary specimens 

obtained by Dr. A. 0. Peale andMr. Joseph Savagefrom " six miles above 

Spring canyon, near Fort Ellis, Montana," \vhich locality is the same as 

that now known as Hodson's coal mine! He alludes to the Vancouver 

specimens, and states that they had been " described and figured for a 

final report, which was delivered to Dr. Evans but was never published." This report still remains, so far as known, unpublished, and 

therefore the Vancouver specimens are still without description or fig1 Am. Jour. Sci., 1859, p. 362.
48 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

ures, existing only in name. The Spring canyon (or Hod son's coal 

mine) specimens were more fully described and illustrated, under the 

name of Salisburia potymorpha, by Prof. Lesquereux in his Tertiary 

Flora, where he states that he is not quite positive that they are actually 

the same as those from Vancouver, a view that, in the light of the present large series, is likely to prove correct. But in absence of either descriptions, drawings or specimens from Nanaimo, it is manifest, that 

according to the laws of nomenclature, the name must be permanently 

associated with the specimens first actually described, and it therefore 

falls to the Montana specimens. If subsequent investigation, shows 

that the Nanaimo specimens are actually the same as those from Montana, they will of course take this name, but if they represent a good 

species of Salisburia (or Ginkgo) allied to S. adiantoides, as Lesquereux 

has said, they must receive a new name.

Some of the forms of this species seem at first sight strongly to resemble certain forms of Ginkgo, as Fig. 4, and in absence of a series 

for study Prof. Lesquereux was undoubtedly justified in supposing them 

to represent leaves of this genus. But when a considerable number of 

specimens are examined it is seen that they do not agree closely with 

Ginkgo, although it is possible that they are in some way connected 

with it. Four leaves of Ginkgo that have been identified as G. adiantoides, are found in beds of nearly the same horizon, but not actually 

associated in the same place. As these leaves can not be received in 

Ginkgo, I have thought best to place them under the somewhat miscellaneous genus of Thinnfeldia, which, according to recent views, seems 

best characterized to contain them. The genus Thinnfeldia should be 

placed according to the latest authorities among the conifers, a view 

which the present specimens undoubtedly confirm, but it has been shifted 

about from place to place. Thus Schenk at one time regarded it as 

belonging to the Cycadacese; while Saporta, Schimper, and at first 

Nathorst, would place it among the ferns, a position which some of the 

forms included under it would undoubtedly demand, for there are, 

judging from the published drawings, some true ferns. On the other 

hand, Ettingshausen and Nathorst, in his later views, would put this 

genus among the conifers, the former writer supposing it to be allied to 

the genus Phyllocladus.

The species under consideration is found in company with and is undoubtedly related to the following species, which in turn, is very closely 

related to T.Lesquereuxiana of Heer from the Atane beds of Greenlaud. Heer identified with his species Lesquereux's Phyllocladus subintegrifolius from the Dakota group of Kansas and placed it, under the 

heading Incertce sedis, after the ferns. Whatever may be the disposition of the various species of Thinnfeldia, for this genus seems to be in 

need of revision, I am convinced that the Montana specimens under 

consideration belong to the conifers and are not far removed from the 

genus Phyllocladus.
KNOWLTON.] LIST OF SPECIES. 49

Certain of the smaller fossil leaves, as Fig. 4, have a strong resemblance to certain living species of Phyllocladus, as for example P. 

rliotnboideus Bich., from Tasmania, which is irregularly toothed or lobed 

on the margin but is larger and more regularly wedge-shaped at apex. 

The rachis is much the same in both. It is possible that it may be 

connected with other living species of Phyllocladus, but the limited 

herbarium at my command will not admit of further comparisons.

THINNFELDIA LANCEOLATA n. sp. 

PLATE v, Fig. 5.

Leaves long-lanceolate, tapering gradually below into a thick petiole 

and above into a long, slender acuminate apex; margin entire or slightly 

undulate-crenate, especially above the middle; mid-vein very strong in 

the lower portion, gradually becoming thinner above and vanishing below the apex; veins numerous, close, simple or rarely forked; at an 

acute angle of divergence, running straight to the margin. 

" This species is well represented by the very perfect specimen figured 

(PI. v, Fig. 5), as well as by several smaller less perfect fragments. It 

has a length of 31cin and a width in the middle of 4cin. The midrib at 

the base is very strong and thick and was evidently extended into a 

thick petiole, which is now broken. Another specimen of exactly the 

saaie shape is only about 25cm long and 3C1U wide, but has neither the 

apex or base preserved. The midrib is very pronounced in the lower 

half of the leaf, but becomes gradually thinner until it vanishes in the 

upper fifth of the leaf. The nerves emerge from the midrib at a very 

acute angle. They are close, parallel and rarely, possibly never, forked.

This species is found associated in the same beds, and even on the 

same pieces of matrix, o with the preceding, and is evidently closely related to it. The thick, prominent midrib and the numerous close veins 

emerging at an acute angle from it, are the same in both species, but 

the present species is readily distinguishable by its lanceolate form, 

with nearly entire margins and long acuminate apex. It is possible 

that they may represent leaves from different parts of the same tree, 

or of the same species .under different circumstances, for as is well 

known, many living trees exhibit such striking differences in form and 

size of foliage as almost to preclude the probability of their'belonging 

to the same species. But as both forms can be so readily separated by 

the characters pointed out above, and particularly as no intermediate 

forms have been detected, it is thought best, provisionally at least, to 

describe them as distinct.

The only described species of Thinnfeldia with which this form seems 

to be related is T. Lesquereuxiana Heer (Fl. foss. arct., vi, Abth. 2, p. 

37, PI. XLIV, Figs. 9,10; XL vi, Figs. 1-12), with which Heer has also 

identified the Phyllocladus sulintegrifolius of Lesquereux (Cret. Flora, 

p. 54, PL I, Fig. 12). It, however, differs by its much larger size and in 

Bull. 105 4
50 LAEAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

being always pointed at apex and quite entire. It is not improbable, 

however, that they may be more closely related than the present specimens permit of deciding.

There are several living conifers with which this species is undoubtedly related, and were it not for the fact that it seems to be related to 

the preceding form (T. polymorpha), it might perhaps best be described 

under the name of the living genus. This living genus is Podocarpus, 

of the tribe Podocarpese. The species which it most resembles is P. 

macrophylla Wall., from tropical India, which has lanceolate leaves 6 

to 8 inches in length and a little more than one-half inch in width, arid 

of exactly the same shape as the fossil leaves. It has also a strong midvein with close, divergent, lateral veins, as in the fossil. P. Rumphii, 

from New Guinea, is also quite like the fossil species, as is P. leptostacliya Bl., from Borneo, and P. salicifolia, from the island of St. Martha.

PHRAGMITES ALASKANA Heer.

The specimen referred by Lesquereux to this species is in the U. S. 

National Museum collection, and the newly obtained material agrees' 

exactly with it.

CAULINITES SPARGANIOIDES Lx.

The fragments which Lesquereux had from this place were referred 

with considerable doubt to this species. The specimens in the latter 

collections are similar to those seen by Lesquereux, but the question as 

to whether they or any of them really represent the species under consideration is unsettled.

POPULUS MUTABILIS, var. ovalis Heer. 

Not observed in the recent collections.

POPULUS L^EVIGATA Lx.

Only a single specimen, which is of the same character as that figured 

by Lesquereux from Eock creek, Laramie plains, being, however, much 

smaller.

POPULUS cf. AECTICA Heer.

Plate II, Figs. 7-9.

Leaves broadly reniforin with rounded lobes, a heart-shaped or slightly 

'wedge-shaped base and very rounded apex; 5-nerved from the apex of 

the petiole,.the nerves all of the same strength.

Habitat. Near mouth of Bear canyon, 6 miles southeast of Bozeman, 

Montana. Dr. A. G. Peale, collector.

As will be seen from the figures the three leaves here referred provisionally to this species differ considerably among themselves, and 

there may possibly be two species, although probably not. Two of them
KNOWLTON.] LIST OF SPECIES.. ' 51

(Figs. 8, 9, of PL vi) are clearly similar. They have a very rounded 

outline, with a distinctly heart-shaped base. The five nerves, which 

are of nearly equal strength, all, or usually, arise from the apex of the 

petiole and do not arch much in passing to the borders. The other leaf 

(Fig. 7) has the same rounded outline, being as broad as or broader than 

long, but is wedge-shaped at base. The nerves are five in number, a§ 

in the others, and-they diverge from the apex of the petiole in the same 

manner, but as the leaf is narrower the nerves have a more acute angle. 

In all the leaves it is a noticeable fact that the five nerves divide the 

leaf into approximately six equal parts, thus making a wider angle in 

the broad leaves than in the wedge-shaped one. The branching of the 

nerves, as far as it is possible to make it out, is the same in all. The fur: 

ther fact that they all occur at the same place and even on the same 

piece of matrix is suggestive of their belonging to the same species. 

The question of their identity with P. arctica Heer is quite another

thing. They can hardly be regarded as typical P. arctlca, and yet they 

do not diifer greatly from a few that have been figured as belonging to 

this species. Heer, Fl. foss. arct., Vol. I. PI. V, Figs. 3, 4; PL xxi, Fig. 

14; op. cit.j Vol. ill. Mioc. Pfl. v. GronL, PL II, Fig. 20a; op. cit., vol. 

IV, Beitrage z. foss. FL Spitzb., PL xxxn, Fig. 3; Lesquereux, Tertiary 

Flora, PL xxm, Figs. 1, 4, etc., while not absolutely similar, are very 

suggestive. In absence of sufficient material to make out a fuller description it has been thought best to leave them as above.

POPULUS 1? PEOBLEMATICA U. Sp.

Plate yi, Figs. 5, 6.

Fruiting ament long peduncled, the peduncle rather thick; capsules 

oblong, rounded at apex, pediceled.

Habitat. Head of Fir canyon (north side) 8 miles east of Bozeman, 

Montana. Dr. A. C. Peale, collector.

The best preserved specimen (PL »vi, Fig. 5), appears to have had 

a shorter peduncle than, the other (Fig. 6), but it is partly obscured by 

the matrix and its full length can not be ascertained. The capsules at 

the base of this ament are long pediceled, but the pedicels become 

gradually shorter toward the apex of the ament and the capsules also 

become smaller. The other specimen (Fig. 6) is very obscure and the 

figure of it is in a measure conventional. It has a long, naked basal 

portion, and the capsules, if they be such, are more closely oppressed 

to the axis than in the best preserved specimen. It appears to have 

been in a younger state than the other at the time of its fossilization. 

It is also possible that it (Fig. 6) is not the game species as the other, 

for as remarked above, it is so obscure that it is made out with great 

difficulty.

It is with a good deal of hesitation that these aments are described 

under the name of Populus. As they occur at the same place, and one
52 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL.IOS.

of them actually on the same stone with specimens of Thinnfeldia polymorpha, the first thought is that they represent fruiting aments of 

this species, a view further supported by the fact that no leaves of 

Populus have been detected in this bed. A careful consideration, however, fails to develop other than negative support for this theory, for 

the aments that have been described for similar forms differ widely. 

Thus the aments described as belonging to Ginkgo in the various 

volumes of Heer's Arctic Flora are entirely different. The nearest 

approach to it is Czekanowslcia setoceaHeer, 1 which has pediceled fruits 

not unlike Fig. 5. But the leaves of this genus, which have sometimes 

been found attached to branches bearing the fruits, are entirely different from anything that has ever been found in the Bozemau coal field. 

There is, therefore, very little reason for supposing that these aments 

belong to this genus.

On the other hand, these aments have a decided resemblance to the 

mature fruiting aments of certain living species of Populus. They are 

for example very like Populus monolifera Ait., and more particularly 

P. Fremonti, Wats., var. Wislizeni Wats., from the state of Chihuahua, 

Mexico, as 'preserved in the herbarium of the TJ. S. National Museum. 

The living species mentioned have long aments with the large capsules 

pediceled as in the fossil and they decrease in size from above downward in the same manner.

While no leaves of Populus have so far been obtained in the same 

beds with these aments, no less than three well-marked species have 

been found in other parts of theBozeman coalfield, thus showing that 

this germs was undoubtedly present. It is, however, open to question, 

and it is to be understood as a merely provisional name awaiting the 

possible discovery of new and more decisive material.

SALIX ANGUSTA ~A1. Br.

The recent collections contain a great number of leaves or fragments 

of leaves which seem to be the same as those so identified by Lesquereux, 

but they are mostly without nervation and therefore in doubt.

QUEECUS CHLOROPHYLLA Ung.

The specimens referred by Lesquereux are in the Museum collection 

and are found to have come from the coarse sandstone layer. They are 

very obscure with very little nervation. The specimens in the recent 

collection are also in the coarse sandstone and are equally obscure.

They are, however, the same as those referred by Lesquereux to this 

species.

QUEE.CUS CASTANOPSIS Newberry.

This determination is based on a single fairly well-preserved leaf, and 

can not therefore be regarded as of much value.

1 Fl. foss. arct., vi, Nachtrage z. Jura Fl. Sibiriens p. 18, PL vi, Fig. 15.
KNOWLTON.] LIST OF SPECIES. 53

QUERCUS GODETI? Heer.

The specijnens referred by Lesquereux to this species are in the 

Museum collection, while the later collections do not contain it.

QUEROUS f FRAXINIFOLIA Lx.

'No additional specimens of this species have been seen. 

QUERCUS ELLISIANA Lx.

The .most abundant ^species of oak found in the collections.

Quercus Pealei Lx., was founded upon a single leaf from Spring 

canyon. This specimen is fortunately preserved in the TJ. S. National 

Museum, and after some consideration I have decided to reduce it to 

Q. Nllisiana. Lesquereux in his last mention of Q. Pealei (Tert. Fl., p. 

156) said: " This small leaf * * * may be referable to the former 

species." It comes from the same beds, and is the on.ly one ever obtained. At first sight the nervation may appear quite unlike the typical Q. Ellisiana,) but by comparing all the figures and recent specimens 

it is found that the position and direction of the lowest pair of secondaries depend upon the shape of the leaf, and the narrower examples 

of Q. Mlisiana have the same character.

JUGLANS RUGOSA Lx.

A number of good specimens obtained.

JUGLANS DENTICTJLATA Heer.

No specimens observed in the recent collections, and none of those 

referred to this species by Lesquereux are in the Museum collection*

JUGLANS RHAMNOIDES Lx.

The specimens referred to this species by Lesquereux are also missing, and none that could be regarded as similar have since been found.

PLATANUS GUILLELMJE Gopp.

A number of well preserved leaves were found which seem clearly to 

belong to this species. They are evidently closely allied to the following species, as pointed out by Lesquereux, 1 and have usually been found 

associated with it. They probably represent a single variable species.

PLATANUS ACEROIDES Gopp.

None of the recent material contains specimens that seem to belong 

to this form, and its presence is based on Lesqucreux's determination

l.,p. 183, etscq. -
54 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

and upon a single broken specimen in the Museum collection under the 

name Quercus platanoides, now regarded as a synonym of P. aceroides.

FlCUS ATJEICULATA Lx.

The recent collections contain nothing but a number of fragments 

that are doubtfully referred to this species, while the type specimens 

are missing.

FlCUS TILIJEFOLIA Al. Br.

This species enjoys precisely the same status as the former.

FlCUS PLANICOSTATA Lx.

The recent collections embrace a number of well preserved 'leaves 

that are referred with much certainty to this species.

ClNNAMOMTJM SCHEUCHZEEI ? Heer. '

The specimens in the collection of 1872 were doubtfully referred by 

Lesquereux to this species. They are preserved in the Museum collection and agree exactly with a number in the late collections. They 

are, however, not sufficient to settle the real question-of their identity.

ClNNAMOMUM ELLIPTICTJM 11. Sp.

Cinnamomum polymorplium Al. Br., Lesquerenx, Tert. Fl., p. 221, pi. 

xxxvii, fig. 10 [non fig. 6].

Cinnamomum Eossmdssleri Heer, Lesquereux, Hayden's Ann. Kept.,

1872, p. 379,

* Leaf of medium size (about 9cm long and 4cm broad), long-elliptical in

outline, apparently rounded above to a short acumen (broken), and below to a rounded, slightly wedge-shaped base; lateral nerves thick, as 

prominent as the hiidrib, ascending to near the upper extremity, branching outside; midrib sparingly branched above the middle.

Habitat: Hodson's coal mine on Meadow creek, 12 miles southeast 

of Bozeman, Montana.

It is with some hesitation that this species is described as new to 

science. It depends upon a single well preserved leaf and a number of 

more or less doubtful fragments. This nearly perfect specimen was described by Lesquereux as C. polymorplmm, Al. Br., and is the only specimen upon which the presence of this abundant European species in 

American strata rests. In the discussion regarding C. polymorphum, Lesquereux says: ''In the leaves 1 which I refer to this, species, the surface 

is coarser cut by deeper nervils, the midrib more divided than in G. affine. 1 

But the essential characters of C. polymorplmm are not sufficiently distinct upon our specimens, none of them having the upper part of the

'The other one of the two so referred is now placed under C. affine Lx. F. H. K.
KNOWI.TON.] LIST OF SPECIES. 55

leaves or the acumen preserved, and the areolation and flbrilloe of the 

borders being obsolete. Therefore we may have in the two leaves referred here to G. polymorplmm mere varieties of C. affine, and thus it 

may be that all the American Cinnamomum leaves represent only one 

species."

A careful comparison of the many published figures of C. polymorphum 

does riot show any that agree satisfactorily with the one under discussion. It is for example much nearer to G. Rossmtissleri Heer2 with which 

Lesquereux appears at first to have identified it. It is also less like 0. 

ajfine than he supposed it to be.

LITSEA WEEDIANA n. sp.

Tetranthera sessiliflora Lx. ex. p. Lesquereux, Tert. Fl. p. 217, pi.

xxxv. fig. 9.

Leaf sessile 1?, entire, oblong-lanceolate in outline, broadest below the 

middle from which point it tapers upward gradually, then rather abruptly, into a sharp-pointed apex, and downward into a rounded heartshaped base; midrib straight; secondaries about 6 or 7 pairs, subopposite, camptodrome, lowest pair emerging from just above the apex of 

the petiole at a more acute angle than the upper ones, joining the 

second pair just above the middle of the leaf; just below the first 

prominent pair of secondaries is a pair of thru veins that arch along 

nejir the lower margin of the leaf and unite with a branch of the first 

pair at about the middle of their length; cross nervation at right angles 

to the midrib.

Habitat: Hodson's coal mine on Meadow creek, 12 miles southeast of 

Bozeman, Montana.

The specimen of this species figured in the Tert. Fl. pi. xxxv, fig. 9, as 

Tetranthera sessiliflora was said by Lesquereux. to have come from 

Evanston. Wyoming. Fortunately this specimen is still preserved in 

the IT. S. National Museum collection (No. 305). A glance at the 

matrix shows conclusively that it could not have come from any known 

horizon at Evanston, and on referring to the Museum catalogue it is 

found properly recorded from "Spring canyon, Montana." The Museum 

contains another very perfect specimen (No. 834) of this species from 

the same place recorded under the name of Cassia, and the recent collection.'also affords another fine leaf, both of which agree perfectly with 

the one figured in the Tert. FL, loc. cit.

These leaves differ markedly from Litsea (Tetranthera) sessiliflora 

in being apparently sessile, in being broadest much beloAv the middle, 

with a heart-shaped base and in having 6-7 pairs of secondaries with a 

single pair of thin veins below the lowest prominent pair. I have 

therefore regarded them as new to science and have named the species in honor of Mr. Walter H. Weed of the U. S. Geological Survey, 

who has done so much to unravel the intricate geology of this region.

1 Fl. Tert. Helv. n, pi. xciir, fig. 15.
56 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

LAUEUS SOCIALIS Lx.

A number of fairly well preserved leaves are referred to this species. 

FRAXINUS DENTICULATA HEER.

Several leaves with dentate margin are referred with considerable 

certainty to this form. It is, however, not well characterized.

ANDROMEDA GRAYANA HEER. 

Probably the most abundant species from this locality. 

ANDROMEDA AFFINIS Lx.

This species was first described by Lesquereux in Hayden's Annual 

Heporl;, 1874, p. 348. It is there said to have come simply from." Spring 

canyon," without indication of the state or territory, and is included 

Avith the plants of the Dakota group. The type specimen is preserved 

in the TJ. S. National Museum where it Avas found among the specimens 

from Spring canyon, Montana, from which place it undoubtedly came 

as shown both by its original number and by the matrix in which it is 

preserved. In the Cretaceous and Tertiary Floras, p. 60, it is described 

among the Dakota group plants, an error Avhich is also perpetuated in 

the final Flora of the Dakota Group, Monograph U. S. Geological Survey, xvn, p. 118.

NYSSA LANCEOLATA Lx.

The original specimens from Spring canyon that were referred by 

Lesquereux to this form are missing and none of the recent material 

contains it.

CORNUS RHAMNIPOLIA 0. Web.

The specimens in the 1872 collection were preserved in the coarse 

sandstone and as they are very obscure they Avere with doubt referred 

to this species. The material from the mouth of the Bear canyon contains one or two leaves that have been referred here, although they are 

so obscure as to render their identification doubtful.

LEGUMINOSITES CASSIOIDES Lx.

A number of specimens are referred Avith ce'rtainty to this form as 

determined by Lesquereux's identification of the 1872 material.

ClSSUS TRICUSPIDATA f Lx.

Doubtfully referred to this species.
KKOWLTOK.] LIST OF SPECIES. 57

BHAMNUS RECTINERVIS Heer.

There are no specimens in the recent collections that can be referred to this form and the type specimens are also missing.

BHAMNUS SALICIFOLIUS ? Lx. 

A number of fragments are doubtfully referred here. 

CELASTEINITES LJEVIG-ATUS Lx.

The types of this species are preserved in the National Museum and 

are the only specimens ever found.

DOMBEYOPSIS PLATANOIDES Lx.

The types of this species are also to be found in the National Museum, 

and one or two fairly good additional specimens have been found.

NELTJMBO. 

A very obscure fragment doubtfully referred, as above.

DISCUSSION OF TABLE.

Before passing to a consideration of the table it may be well enough 

to call attention to several points which would seem worthy of more 

consideration and weight than has usually been given them in many discussions of this kind, and in doing this I can hardly do better than 

quote from a recent paper by Prof. Fontaine.1

J Fossil plants from the Great Falls coal field, Montana. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1892, 

vol. xv, p. 489.
PUB uoqjBQ : I : I x ; ; ; ; x x ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; x x x

 jgAagrr x x;;;;;;;;;;x;;;;;;;;xxxx

^» 

8

*(j>nTjii9q v,i vv ...i. vv i... *i>. >/.«

g .Y«J/^\ t>TI.IIUT:UI-r * ^.^''.....^^.........^.^

_c

B9mra MO'H'

o

S 

"S «-

 (l)noAnBq ........ ..... x . x .. xx

r« . ".! J°

Cn

tt^^i.i.^i^iiii!!i»x 

JVXI- ! ! !

'^^ x x

3[99IO UOtSSlJ"

h 

« 

 (Afi)K>nn x ' x x

 (A.!l) r 

pJotf'e.nospoH : x '. x ::x;xx;:x:xx:xxxxx

w ' : J ^

- M H W

&^ ol'^P.Sg^

^ J3 a S^'&^ l5sgMlS:« w S«M:riri 

§ ~ 5l§«|*S« hq ^«^ !S-s S^^M58
X ?

x

X '

X ?

X

X *

X ?

X

x X x

X ?

y

,

X 1

x

States.

States; typical in California 

Miocene.

group.

coal field.

tion omitted.

w

f

I

02

J Liv=Livingston beds. * L = Laramie beda.

CO
60 LARAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [DULL. 105.

After discussing at some length the facies of the Great Falls flora 

Prof. Fontaine says: "In this connection I will repeat an opinion expressed before. In determining the age of an unknown group of fossil 

plants, greater weight, as evidence of age, ought to be assigned some 

plants than others. These are the plants whose fossils have marked 

and salient features, that permit them to be identified without danger 

of error. An example of this kind is Frenelopsis, especially F. parceramosa of the Potomac flora. Where these are fully established and 

at -home in a formation, a£ would be shown by their general distribution and the abundance of fossil specimens that they afford, they ought 

not to be considered as units in a sum total to establish a percentage. 

Their evidence would thus be neutralized by that of other units which 

are newcomers or belated survivors. This is especialy true of floras 

in a critical stage of evolution, and which contain a considerable number of newcomers and survivors. The Potomac flora was one of this 

character, in which Jurassic types were being cast out and Cretaceous 

ones introduced."

The Bozeman coal field presents a problem somewhat similiar to 

that of the Great Falls coal field and remotely of the Potomac formation. That is, the fossil plants play an important role in confirming 

the results of stratigraphy. But as Fontaine has said we. should 

not take absolute percentages but should take into account the 

species which may be identified with absolute or at least reasonable 

certainty, and also their relative abundance. Several European species 

were identified by Lesqnereux with hesitation in this flora, such as 

Quercus Godeti, Cinnamomum Sclieuclizeri, Rliamnus salicifolius, etc., 

and it would manifestly be not only unwise but probably absolutely 

wrong to attach much weight to the foreign distribution of species of 

so doubtful a status. Such determinations are especially hazardous 

when, as in the present instance, the specimens are fragmentary or 

preserved in a matrix which will not retain the essential nervation.

Again, it T|puld seem well to use with caution evidence derived from 

a single specimen of a species, no matter how certain its identification 

might be. It may be a waning type or a newly introduced one. The 

force of this argument, however, is somewhat reduced by the fact that, 

unless the exploration of the beds has been very thorough, we can 

never be certain that the specimens seen are a fair and full representation of everything found at that place. There is always the possibility 

that the next blow of the hammer may have revealed an abundance of 

what is now considered rare or perhaps represented by a single specimen.

Lesquereux, in his original consideration of this flora, referred it to 

the lower lignite \ or true Laramie. Prof. Ward, on the other hand, 

inclined to regard it as belonging to the Fort Union 2 beds, but he ini Hayden's Ann. Rept., 1872, p. 409.

9 Synopsis of the Flora of the Laramie group, p. 441.
KNOWLTON.] DISCUSSION OF TABLE. 61

eluded with the Bozeman coal field the somewhat indefinite localities 

in or near the Yellowstoue National park, known as Yellowstone lake, 

Elk creek, and Snake river, therefore attaching undue weight to 

species common to these places and the Fort Union beds. The specimens that Lesquereux examined from, these localities are fortunately 

nearly all preserved in the National Museum, and from a study of the 

matrix in which they are preserved, together with the recollections of 

Dr. A. C. Peale, who either collected them personally or was with the 

parties when they were obtained, we are able to arrive at a pretty definite conclusion as to their position. Those from the "Snake river," or 

rather from the "Divide between Snake river and Yellowstone lake," 

were collected by Dr. Hayden's party in 1871, and are from strata resting directly upon the Fox hills, therefore probably true Laramie. This 

view is confirmed by the present members of the U. S. Geological Survey connected with the Yellowstone park division. This is the type

locality for Gymnogramma Haydenii or Anemia subcretacea, as it is now 

called.

The specimens from the Yellowstone lake were obtained during the 

same season by Dr. Hay den himself, and come from the west side of 

the lake, probably not far from Stevenson's peak. The material is the 

brittle shales, characteristic of what is known as the Volcanic Tertiary 

of that region. jEquisetum limosum ? Linn., was identified from, this 

place.

The specimens from Elk creek were obtained by Dr. Peale, who is 

able to locate the spot very definitely on the present map of the Yellowstone park. They came from the foot of low bluffs just above (N. 

W.) the trail to Pleasant valley. That is, they came from the base of 

Crescent hill, about one mile above Yancey's. Several specimens 

were obtained here, among them Platanus nobilis or Aralia notata, as 

it was called by Lesquereaux, the species which Prof. Ward seems 

largely to have relied upon to establish their connection, with the Fort 

Union beds.

Having disposed of the localities clearly confounded with the Bozeman coal field, we may turn to a consideration of the table of distribution. This table embraces 44 more or less satisfactory species, 

which composes the flora of these beds. Of this number 5 are regarded as new to science, and are, therefore, dismissed as having, in 

themselves, no diagnostic value or at most only negative value. Of the 

remaining, 11 species have so far never been found outside of these beds, 

thus leaving 28 species having a distribution, and upon which we must 

largely rely for comparison. 'Of these 28 species no less than 22 are confined to the Livingston beds, Avhile only 2 are confined to the Laramie 

proper, and 4 are found in both Livingston and Laramie beds. With 

this distribution of species within the Bozeman coal field in mind, we 

may pass to a comparison with other floras.

Of the 28 species only 7 have been found in the Fort Union beds.
62 LABAMIE AND LIVINGSTON FORMATIONS IN MONTANA. [BULL. 105.

These are Qirikgo adiantoides, Phragmites alaslcana, Juglans rugosa, 

Platanus aceroides, and Taxodium distichum-miocenum, which are positively identified in the two horizons, and Quercus castanopsis, which 

depends upon a single broken leaf from Hodson's coal mine, and Mcus 

tiliccfolia, found only in fragments in both places. Of the first four 

species, Ginkgo 'adiantoides has a very wide distribution outside of the 

United States in the Miocene and Pliocene of Europe. Juglans rugosa 

was originally described1 from. Marshall's mine, near Denver, Colorado, 

and is also especially abundant in the Denver formations at Table 

mountain, Golden, Colorado. It has a wide distribution in the United 

States and has also been found in the English Eocene at Alum bay 

Isle of Wight.

Of the 22 species of the Livingston beds having a distribution outside of this area, we find that 4 species (Populus Icevigata, Juglans dentieulata, Ficus auriculata and Nyssa lanceolata) are confined exclusively 

to the Denver beds of Colorado 5 3 species occur in the Denver and later 

formations; 3 species in Tertiary beds; 10 species in Denver and Laramie, and only 2 species (Sequoia, Reiehenbachi and Rliamnus salicifolius) in Laramie exclusively. That is, no less than 17 of the 22 

species are found either exclusively in the Deliver or have their greatest 

development in this formation.

Of the 4 species (Abietites dubius, Salix angusta, Platanus Guillelmoe 

and Andromeda Gray ana] found in both Livingston beds and BozeinanLaramie, Abietites dubius is of doubtful status, being questionable in 

the Bozeman-Laramie; Salix angusta is a common European Eocene 

and. Miocene species and is not found in the Laramie outside of the 

Bozeman coal field; while the other two are clearly identified in both 

horizons.

The two species found in the Bozeman-Larainie exclusively are 

Anemia subcretacea and Quercus chlorophylla, the first depending on 

a.few fragments and the second upon a single specimen.

As the localities of Carbon and Evanston, Wyoming, are still open 

to question as to their age, it has been thought best to keep up the 

distinction by placing them in a separate column. They were regarded 

by Lesquereux as belonging to his Upper Lignltic, and therefore possibly belong to what has since been differentiated as the Denver group, 

to which they have been referred in the above tabulation, although 

Dr. 0. A. White 2 would probably regard them as true Laramie, as he 

considers the Arapahoe and Denver formations as contemporaneous 

with the upper part of the Laramie, where it is complete. A more 

thorough study of these localities in the light of present knowledge 

would undoubtedly be productive of important results.

The only group which it remains seriously to consider is the true 

Laramie or coal-bearing series of strata, the Lower Lignitic of Les-

'Hayden's Ann. Kept., 1869, p. 96.

8 Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 82, p. 150.
KKOWLTON.] DISCUSSION OF TABLE. 63

quereux as typified at Eaton mountains, New Mexico, Point of Kocks, 

and Black buttes, Wyoming, etc. Of the 28 species taken as the basis 

of comparison in the Bozeinan coal field 14 have been found in the Laramie proper. This, it is to be understood, is the absolute number, of 

which, several, from one cause or another are doubtful; thus, excluding 

the 2 species found only in the Laramie of both areas, and at least 

5 of the 10 species above pointed out as common to the Denver and 

Laramie, we have no more than 6 or 7 of the 28 species belonging, 

in numbers worthy of much consideration, to the Laramie.

From these considerations it appears, beyond question, that the flora 

of the Livingston formation finds its nearest relationship with the<flora 

of the Denver beds of Colorado. This result appears to differ from the 

results obtained by a preliminary study of this flora as set forth in a 

short paper published in July, 1892, on the Fossil Flora of the Bozeman Coal Field. 1 In that paper it was stated that an equal number

of species were common to the Bozeinan flora, and the Denver and Laramie of other parts of the United States. This statement was based on 

the distribution of the Laramie plants as contained in the books, which 

were published before the Denver beds had been separated as a distinct 

series, and when it was consequently impossible to tell exactly where 

a species came from, when as at Golden, Colorado, both formations are 

present, and both plant-bearing. Since that time much labor has been 

expended on a thorough revision of the Laramie and allied floras, based 

upon most of the original material, together with extensive recent collections. The result of this has been to fix definitely the distribution 

of a large number of the species, the horizon of which were before loosely 

given or often wholly unknown. This modification of our knowledge 

of distribution had made possible the above corrections in the working 

out of the affinities of the Bozeman flora.

NOTE. Since the foregoing paper was written Mr. W. H. Weed has 

submitted to me a small collection of fossil plants obtained by him at 

the foot of the Crazy mountains, on Big Timber creek, Park county, 

Montana. The collection numbers nine specimens which I have been 

able to identify as follows: A single specimen each of Sequoia, Langsdorfii Heer, and Populus genatrixT$e>w\>exry, and four specimens of Ulmus 

speciosa ? Newberry, with fragments of a Platanus (possibly P. nobilis), 

a Phragmites and Ulmus sp.

Sequoia Lwngsdorfii has been abundantly found in, but is not confined to, the Fort Union group, while Populus genatrix and Ulmus 

speciosa are typical Fort Union plants. While it is manifestly unsafe 

to place much dependence in such meager data all the species identifiable belong to or are found in the Fort Union group.

'Proc. Biol. Soc., Wash., vol. vn. pp. 153,154.
PLATE V.

FiGS. 1-4. Thinnfeldia polymorpha (Lx.) Kn.

From head of Fir canyon, 8 miles east of Bozeman, Montana. 

FIG. 5. Thinnfeldia lanceolata n. sp.

From head of Fir canyon, 8 miles east of Bozeman, Montana.

64
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 105 PL. V

A

v..

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM THE LARAMIE AND OVERLYING LIVINGSTON FORMATION OF MONTANA.
PLATE VI.

FIGS. 1-3. Aspidium Lakcsii (Lx.) Kn.

From point between Middle and North branches of Bear creek, east of

Madison valley, Montana. 

FIG. 4. Aspidiiim Lakesii (Lx.) Kn.

From Quarry No. 2, 3,000 feet east of the Douglas coal mine, Seclalia, Colorado. (Introduced for comparison.) 

FIGS. 5, 6. Populus ? problematica n. sp.

From head of Fir canyon, 8 miles east of Bozeman, Montana. 

FIGS. 7-9. Popultis cf. arctica Heer.

From near mouth of Bear canyon, 6 miles southeast of Bozeman, Montana.

66
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 105 PL. VI

FOSSIL PLANTS FROM THE LARAMIE AND OVERLYING LIVINGSTON FORMATION OF MONTANA.
INDEX.

Page. 

Abietites dubius ........................... 46,62

Andromeda affinis.......................... 56

Grayana ............................... 56,62

Anemia subcretacea......................45,61,62

Aralia notata (=Platanus nobilis)......... 61

Aspidium Lakesii.......................... 45

Blue rim, section at........................ 23

Bower's mine, section of coal-measures at.. 20 

Bozeman coal field, location of.............. 13,19

fossil plants of....... ................. 43-66

Canadian nomenclature.................... 37-38

Caulinites sparganioides ................... 50

Celastrinites lasvigatus.................... 57

Cinnamonum ellipticum.................... 54

Scheuchzeri............................ 54

Cissus tricuspida.......................... 56

Coals of the Laramie....................... 19

Cokedale,Montana, section exposed near... 15-16 

Colorado group, place of.................... 17-18

Cornus rhamnifolia ........................ 56

Crazy mountain beds, place of ............. 11

Cross, Whitman, cited ..................... 11

l>akota horizon....... .->..................... 17

gasteropod shells of.................... 17

Dambreyopsis platanoides ................. 57

Davis, "W. M., fossils obtained by........... 17-18

Dawson.D., cited .......................... 37,39

Eldridgo, G. H., geological section given by. 16 

Emmons, S. F., cited........................ 12

Equisetum................................. 45

limosum................................ 61

Fecus auriculata.....................'...... 54,62

planicosta.............................. 54

tiluefolia............................... 54,62

Fontaino, W. M., cited...................... 60

Fort Union formation ...................... 35-36

Fossils, Jurassic ........................... 16^17

marine Cretaceous, occurrence of, in the

Laramie............................ 19

Laramie................................ 21

Fossil plants, Bozemau coal field........... 43-66

table................................... 58-59

Fraxinus donticulata ...................... 56

Gasteropod shells.......................... 17

Gingko adiantoides ........................ 46,62

Gyranogramma Haydenii (=Anemia subcretacea), type locality of........... 61

Hills, K. C., cited.......................... 12

Page. 

Hunter's Hot Springs, section at........... 29

Iddings, J. P., cited........................ 24

Juglans denticulata........................ 53,62

rhamnoides............................ 53

rugosa................................. 53,62

Jurassic limestones and shales, fossils in.. 16-17

Laramie coal-making period, geological

events following.................... 11-12

Laramie formation......................... 18-21

rocks of................................ 19

delimitation of......................... 19

definition of............................ 19

thickness of............................ 19

typical section of.:..................... 20

lithological characters of............... 20

fossils of............................... 20-21

unconformity with Livingston...... .34-35,41

volcanic eruptions succeeding age of.... 38-40

Laurus socialis............................. 56

Leaf beds of the Livingston formation..... 22-26

Leaf remains in the Laramie............... 20

Leguminosites cassioides................... 56

Lesquereux, L., cited on plants of Bozeman

coalfield........................... 43,60

Lindgren, W., cited........................ 39

Litsea Weediana................ ........ 55

Livingston, Montana, section near......... 15

conglomerates.......................... 30-31

formation, place of...................11,21-35

name proposed......................... 21

general divisions of.................... 21-22

leafbedsof............................. 22-26

volcanic agglomerates of............... 21-22

conglomerates of.....................21,30-31

leaf beds of............................. 22-26

section of.............................. 23

volcanic beds of........................ 26-30

materials composing................... 32-33

fossil remains of ..................33-34, 36-37

unconformity with Laramie ......... 34-35,41

ageof.................................. 36

Montana group ............................ 18

Nelumbo................................... 57

Nyssa lanceolata ........................... 56,62

Peale, A. C., cited on geology of southern

Montana........................... 14

cited on volcanic beds of the Livingston

formation .......................... 26

67
68 INDEX.

	Page.

Pbragmitea alasltana....................... 50, 62

Plants, Livingston formation.............. 22-26

fossil, table ............................ 58-59

Platan us 1 aceroides......................... 53,62

GnilldmsB............................... 53.62

nobilis ................................. 61

genatrix................................ 63

lajvigata ............................... 50,62

mutabilis............................... 50

1 problematica ......................... 51

cf. arctica .............................. 50

Quercus castanopsis........................ 52,62

clilorophilla............................ 52, 62

Ellisiana............................... 53

fraxinifolia............................. 53

godeti ? ................................ 53

Rhamnus rectinervis....................... 57

salicifolius............................. 57,62

Salixaugusta.............................. 52,62

Page. 

Sequoia Beiclienbacln...................... 46,62

Langsdorfli.............................. 63

Stanton, T. ~W., cited ....................... 17

Taxodium distichuin raiocenum............ 46,62

Thinnfeldia lauceolata ..................... 49-50

polymorpba ............................ 47-48

Tyrrell.'Mr., cited.......................... 37,38

Ulmus speciosa ............................ 63

Unioremains in the Laramie............... 21

Volcanic accumulations in region about

Yellowstone park .................. 12

Volcanic agglomerates of the Livingston

formation .......................... 26-30

Ward, L. F., cited on geological place of flora

of Bozeman coal field............... 60-61

White, C. A., cited.......................... 17,62

"VVhitfleld, R. P., fossil species identified by. 18 

Wolff, J. E.. cited on geology of the Crazy

mountains ... ............ .... 1