New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-10-24
YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION.
GEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES NEAR THE YELL
LOWSTONE.


LOWSTONE.
MARCHING TO PoMPEY's PILLAR-GEoLoGY OF THE
YELLOWSTONE vMLEY-FossHs FOUND AND
ADDED TO TUE CoDRCnoNs-DhRY or THE
MARCH
typou rur specIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNEl
YELLOWSTONE RIVER, Montana, Aug. 13-
The sudden and unlnved decentralization OF the Indians
against the expedition resulting in their defeat in their
battles OF Tongue RI yer and the Big Horn' compelled me
In the short and important interval allowed o the propa
raton ~ NV Last mail 10 surrender oil other topics TO
tbose which Sitting Bull and his discounted warriors
had dictated The interests Of chronology VIII suffer
little, however, II antodate my last TWO letters oy
going back TO camp on tho YELLOWSTONE
The 26th of July II days after oar arr" Oh the her
lowstone found the west $40 OF tno r'or reay "
begin our march TO Pompeys Pillar point ON the Vel
owsone $40 miles from the point where we hrst struck
e river and the limit Of our Western journey During
onr stay ON the river we had built stoekade transferred
all our stores from Glendye Creek IL miles up the
river and the point where the steamers hau orlSais
expected to meet u.s. taken an account VI ioiaso anu
supplies and having stored the superuity IN the stock
| ade had ferried tho command. inc uanShp'uen' VI
stores from Glendive Creek occupied so'ora' DAYS AZ
ferry the command over the river was no easy WORK
We had but one boat the Key West aud that not adapted
| to fcrrying wagons. -
1t is hard endure this rne insidous anu upl1i'ouS
alka dust which forms large an element III our Ter
| rIf
know Of 1t possessed OF an everlasting disposition
90 iroc lila only scaniy covered with vegetation,
and te roots OF the grass flowers, and each that In
habit n re eaaily disturbed bed OF this dust I'D your
tent "a the meanest Of all earthly possessohS II 81
easily oosened that cannot step WITHOUT hiohnK
IN dnst In the vicinity OF wandering "u'o vi
wagon that follows the beaten track OF the traih
absolneIy uncomfortable IL IL 30 fine, ight, ufY, hlu
inslnuatinc That floats the merest " "a
hrccze and dispOsos itself every acceslDe phI W
| V an "a M
| som 90 but dry POLISH an arnS phrase o' ~
| strained toilet made in tue absence OF water
GEOLOGY OF THE YELLOWSTONE VALLEY
While in camp on the Yellowstone We had an oppor-
,,nitv IN become well acquainted with The geological
features ~ the country around Though we found
nothing OF striking Importance, our EXAMINATIONS were
! not devoid Of interest. The tall yellow buhs OF clay
and sand which along the river pTeseTnG no regu
| worst decree now projecting boldly 20 tho river,
then recedng 20 make way for strip OF taDIe ahu
below furnished little reward 10 tho naturalist Neither
fossil nor life OF any Importance were thIe, nti1 ID
general aud irresponsible way these {elioW mus were
fine trustees of series national bdnks ilch IN uepos
rs VIII o'si, ~. Tins opened TO Wow in ra.
vines aud foundations Of the superlinpoSed cray were
! mposed of. a loose green mari Tine treasures We
Somnt we're locked up in oOnoraOuary limestOnes dis
nosd here and there through the soit mari From the
shifting nature Of the exposed mari nuch Oh ~ Daylug
been washed down INFO ravines ana arroyO-' carrying
clear to tho bottom many nOdules ana cOcreuOhs, We
could not easily ascertain the 9ilglha pelptudic
lar line depth But they appeared 70 DC MY OF more
feet in thickness Ia fossil m0usks iese Deds were tho
richest OF any We had Many Of these c0hcroons
were found In PLACE; but more OF INN were washed
down nearly 20 the river level Some from very excess
OF treasure had crumb cd 10 pieces, anu eIt ther mem
Dries OF bygone ne scattered along tne river snore;
Though dried, neshess and wholly inedibe no bushei
Saddle Rocks Blue Points ever FURNISHED better
feast for nn epcuTe than these ancient she ldfnsned
Prof. Allen, industrious paltOht0iOgi5i. Ihey nave
left behind an enduring literature me M aI
is older than Moses IL was certainty KNOWN IN the Gro
taceous age Every oyster snail or gasieroPOd Deien,
mite OF what not had left an auGithDgiap AZ tie nara
roci When every particle OF tne printers Oohr. Aad
| nerisbed the picture, the history was ther0. Every
convection OF rock we found was library vi wonders.
einnncnt with the thoughts OF the past indeeO, many
NJ fbe casts OF smells beautiful and showed
clearly every hneament OF the writer's character and
| hardly regret that the shell Was not there
ADDITIONS TO TIE COLLECTIONS.
We know that when these shells existed this vast
reclou of the Upper Missouri under water, a1d tho
Rocky Mountains had hardly begun 70 sprout. Tue
most characteristic fossils gathered showed that We
were dclving in beds OF the creaceous period which
modern geology Ia classci tho latest period OF the
Ncsozole or Reptan age According TO Dana the Rocky
Mountains were ~ least G.0OO 1000 feet lower than
nnon them. The Mexican Gulf then spread over
large part OF Georgia Alabama, aud Mlsss ippi, aud
west OF Missouri and Kansas stretched far north over
the present slopes Of the great western mountains,
reaching perhaps to tie Arctic though on t5 p1nt the
eydencc il not vet decisive The Chesapeake and Della
ware Cults were stil in the ocean, and Florida st
under water" In fact, only portion Of the border
.t. ~ bs rTn,nn Geoogcay AZ well "a no icaiiv
fine Eastern and dle States ana portions OF the
ern consolidated before those OF the West and h9
Territories. The Yellowstone at that time was only
part of the great warm interOcean which spread over
The interior basin. PlerOdactyls, lcnbyosaurs, PesO
saurs IguauOdOns, aud other hardnamed and hard
featured reptiles then controlled western life and poll
tics Geofogcally they are believed 20 be extinct.
prsed specimens Of 20 different species OF dor.
eut genera-ammonites, belemntes gryphea blcuntes.
pectans, dentaa being well represented. Our hopes OF
finding fossil mammals here were extinguished when
found the wide extent and well-ietermined char
Of the creaceOus deposits No birds mammals
/ have found IN this formation.
Another day OF our stay on the Yellowstone was i'm
proved in visiting interesting dip which Prof Allen
! had discovered about four miles down the river The
exposure the side of ridge about feet run
ning north aud south the strata composed OF alter.
nate layers OF clay and sand several feet la thickness
| with frequent intervals OF iron. This argaceOus
ridge formed chapter In the history of the first
American revolutions geological c0DmotiOn long
terror to the political one The strata III this ridge
thrown up at an angle OF - degrees ana bad regis
tered this disturbance for nearly mile showing ire
quently the peculiar fracture ard displacement which
biologists call fault. This Is SIMPLY displacement
break the continuity OF the strata when the rails
Of cartrack instead of making continuous line, are
broken at the joints and overlap each other The gen
eral direction OF the bluffs was at night angles 10 tho
direction OF the river Further to the south the hor
zOntal stratheatlon was resumed showing clearly the
bounds OF tins disturbance. The large quantities Of
Ss of tSc exSossd saG together win t6s un OF
the strata, furnished sufficient evidence or local vol
eanie or gneous action Pfol Allen ana his assistant,
curing BulOcs. orole the rock wren and the Western
blueOird The Missouri striped squirrel was also aided
STORY OF THE MARCH.
On the 26th OF July the command broke camp Oppo,ite
the stOckade and moved miles further up the river
there wait day for the return OF ,the eng
who had gone up the river the Key West Tue
steamer came down the next day took our mail, and
steamed down the river The next morning. the 25th OF
July, the buge once more sounded Westward
hop Our general route from the stOckade for
the purposes OF the survey to DO as follows: no
follow the valley OF the Yellowstone praeea
bic from the stOckade 10 point on the Yellowstone
designated by Clark In his boat trip down that river "a
POmpey's Pillar thence TO strike north west In
the @usselshell River, and follow its valley northeast