The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-12-13
SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS


interesting letters from the exploring expe.
ditions into the Western Territories, led re.
spectively by Prof. Hayden and Prof.
Marsh. Prof. Haydens expedition is ell
gagged in the Parks of Colorado and the
adjacent mountains.
The scenery here appears to be unique
and Of the grandest character. Saws the
correspondent:
cat twenty-five or thirty miles from
Fairplay we came upon the South Park at
its northeastern corner, and the sudden
sight of it was like magic. A broad bit of
the great plains outside, it seemed trans
planted to within the mountains, and fenced
in with hills, green and wooded, or rough
and bare, or rising into -streaked sum-
mits; as if part of the prmeval even
surface had escaped the tremendous throes
by which the immense mountain region was
upheaved and scanned and Scared There
is no part Of any of the Parks that answers
moro exactly ones idea of a park than
this. One finds, on going further, that
though low and broad and level by COM
parison with the surrounding mountains,
and valleys, they have their own Irregular
tiles, and on no very small scale"
The mountains and plains here are alike
full of mineral wealth.
Gold and silver, iron, lead, and coal in
the gulches and far up the heights; gold
dust in the great beds of stone and gravel
below. That one of the innumerah,a
branches Of the Platte, on whioh The little
town itself lies, is made to wash its avn
hanks down long troushs, in which are
caught the fragments of yellow metal. ,,d
there seems to ba no reason ,,,,u .,,.
placer mines may not b. worLed f,r r,.n,,
years."
MOUNT LINCOLN.
The grandest and highest of the noun
tainS around the South Park is Mt. Lincoln
1t was at one time thought to be the high
est mountain in the country, but It's height
seems to have been over-estlmated, and
may be exceeded, or at least equalled, by
that OF several other peaks. 1t is to he
measured by the spirit level, the most &C.
curate of all methods.
The view from Mt. Lincoln is one that
almost surpasses description.
"Such grand panorama of mountains
is to be seen in few other regions of the
world-perhaps only in the Himalayas aud
the Andes. We reckoned with careful
count, and estimated that we had in view
more than $50 peaks which would not fall
below $4,000 feet, and at least so of IA, 900.
The two great connected ranges which were
most conspicuous were Sierra Madre to the
west, beyond the Arkansas Valley, and
the Blue River range to the north, con-
tinuation Of that upon which we were, but
bending around westward enough to bring
great line of rugged peaks against the
sky. In the Sierra Madre lie two promi-
neut submits, named Yale and Harvard
By Prof. J. D. Whitney, in his exploration
here four years ago; and the ridge finishes
abruptly at the north with the highest peak
of all, estimated by us at full, $4,000 feet,
and named the Holy Cross, from the two
immense snow banks intersecting each
other conspicuously on it's side, as seen
from Gray and Evans, further north than
this
"On the whole, this mountain summit
commands points in region of country
nearly or quite $4,000 square miles in ex-
tent. No such view is to be obtained in
nifcence of the included heights. Yet, of
course, one misses the beauty of the pure
Alpine mountains, with glaciers streaming
down their sides. Here the snow lies
abundantly in lines, and banks, and masses,
but it absolutely covers nothing"
Fine panoramic views have been OBJ
tanned by the artists of the expedition.
TERTIARY TREASURES.
Prof. Marsh's expedition is examining
the wonderfully rich beds Of tertiary fos-
sils on the banks of the Niobrara River.
On their way from the railroad on the
North Platte, they had to pass through
country which seems quite destitute Of
charms for the tourist and settler.
"Made up of great sand ranges trend
ing northwest and southeast, some of them
hundreds of feet high, and only very
scantily clad in spots with dry grass scarce
ly sufficient to keep the sand from drifting
with every wind In other parts it is brok-
en- up into high knobs, basins, and sharp
ridges, like great waves in chopping sea.
Occasionally in our tortuous march, as we
rose into a ridge higher than the rest, we
could see around us in every direction the
dreary, endless succession of brown hills,
all alike to our unaccustomed eyes, and
only so many more elements in the torture
which we must endure before we reached
the Niobrara. Not tree or shrub to
break the smooth brown curve of the hills,
or afford the least protection from the hot
test of July suns" But " the Niobrara is
broad, winding river which has channeled
deeply through the white rocks, and in
some parts the bed has widened SO as to
form beautiful wooded parks at the bottom
of the canon, often from three to five
hundred feet deep, in which the deer Craze
and bears and wolves Turk. We saw
also, in some of the canons, considerable
groves of oaks and elms. feature most
remarkable in country like this"
Of the scientific results obtained, st is
sufficient to say that fishes turtles, croco-
diles, snakes, birds, lizards, mastodons,
elephants, and diminutive horses, some not
more than two feet high and three-toed,
the camel and rhineceros and numerous
large carnivores and rodents indeed, al
most all of the vertebrate groups were repre-
sented in the beds which we explored.
The soldiers of our escort were at first in
clned to make merry at our expense, and
to despise the ill-directed zeal which we
exhibited; but they, too, were soon drawn
into the vortex, and became the most ardent
of collectors, although at the cost of two
or three mastodons and camels which were
broken up and thrown aside as rubbish"