New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-10-30
WESTERN EXPLORATION.
rup yp1JowsToyE EXPEDITION.

THE NEED OF WATER AND THE iMPhACIlCADn1
ITY OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS WELLS SUI
GEsTED-NO MINERALS OF VALUE DISCOVERED
lPRoM THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE Tribune
YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION, Montana Ter,
Aug 2O-The geological and geographical features u
the country on the Yellowstonehthrough when We
marched from where VIC left the Josephine to Pompey
pillar have waited for description untl matters u
moro pressing moment were disposed OF. Ihey nave
waited many years for description. 1t must De borne III
mind that tho country the Yellowstone has previous
10 this been almost entirely unknown FOR accouhtSV u
Its geography and geology, It's agrcuitura anu uuoi
illogical value We have been mainly dependent on "o
reports OF one or two surveyors whose iacl'teS "o
NOT always equal to the larger task which this expeu
ton has undertaken The exploration by the expedon
OF Clark and LOWS in 1903 from the head"aer oi 'no
yelowstono WAS the FIRST introduction the public had 10
any knowIedee of that river IL was necessarily inco
plete One Of them sailed down the fl'er III u sn'''
boat landed ut various points, ana recoIueu Ills op
va,iops lie named the rapids aud two or three prom
nent points on the river. Adventurous miners anu
others from Western Montana returning to the East OF
osnoctnp for GOLD have repeated this trip but seldom
adding 10 tho information which that early voyage
furnished. 800. ., .
The survey OF Reynolds and Masnader IN lSo9-o' was
moro thorough They furnished us with the only map
we have OF this section Of the country we haNo h"u
occasion to test the accuracy OF TINS map anu nave
A correct
ever It viii bear good deal of revision Its determine
,ors of distance and direction not always accurate
Our ovvn man made appreheBd, with more perfect IN
struments and larger corps OF observers VIII FURNISH
now and revised register OF this country as accurate DIS
survey can well make it, In tho matter Oh topography
however the map OF Reynolds admits OF Out Htte I'M
movement Il was evidently recorded Dy practiceu
eve Whatever Is lacking In it, however mas oee"suP
ped by the skilled observation OF our ohei topographer
ma Of
selsbeI ia therefore an important contribution 10 inc
geography of this region. Taken together WIN tho
scientific description OF the country It's geoogcaI MS
tory and agricultural future, have record OF the
FIRST f and complete view had of this large section oil
country by the explorer
FOSSIL SHELLS DISCOVERED
The nature of the country tho vicinity OF dlendiye
Creek where the Expedition first struck the yellow
stone have already noted, well as the vicious char
acter of the Powder River Bad Lands where the rycr
enters the Yellowstone. In another portion oil these
Bad Lands about ten miles above Powder RIVER Froi
Allen was rewarded by the discovery of several species
OF fossil shells OF different tyre aud belonging to an
feren; period FROM had seen. Our previous ca
ploratons on tho Yellowstone had shown cretaceous
deposits very strongly marked. The geological part-
tiou between the tertiary and cretaceous periods IL
sometimes very thin 1t Il often difficult to tell
from the nature Of the deposits which series ID rep
resented unless forms strongly characteristic of one or
the other OF these periods discovered Some OF theo
fossil forms We were fortunate III collecting such as
species OF fresh water clans, Unto; a common fresh
wafer pond shell, Paudine and species OF univalVe'
common in our Western rivers and lakes, belonging 90
the genus rnelanln were found OF the higher
buttes on tho fork OF little creek, which, from as
unfriendly disposition TO easy and rapid transit was
named bad Route " Creek. Where first found they
occurred on two three small points prominent above
the other butes. Afcrward on the other side Of the
rcd Tor
sandy ridge. They occurred through thickness OF
some 90 more abundant at any point but
scattered large Tho mousss of the tertiary
age are noted for their resemblance 10 living species
This resemblance in the Of these shells very
strongly marked They all have live representatives.
some OF them very common IN fresh water These ndi
cations furnished evidence that were collecting the
bequests OF a geological period subsequent to that
which exposed its record sixty miles back the Vel
lOWsOne. In this short journey which we made In four
DAYS We had passed from chronological era Into
another contiguous indeed. but remarkable in the
biological and continental changes 10 had recorded. To
refresh the memories Of your readers who have not
geology at hand TO the relation TO geological time
OF this PERIOD let revert to the regular order Of
geological succession, indicating. so to speak, the birth
times life in the world. First azoc time, destitute OF
all animal fr, unless the most minute FORMS and prob
ably very nearly destitute OF vegetable hS and repre-
scented mostly in grant c gneissc and other crystalline
rocks. Next paieOZOlc age, whose remnants nave
acquired popular celebrity through Bret Harte's
poetry than from any scientific biography 1t includes
SUCCESSFULLY the age OF mousks tho age Of fishes and
the age of coal plants. The mousks and fishes
popular acquantances. But nearly all OF your urban
have OF It's vegetable remains slowed away
in their cellars Third, the mesozoc middle period,
distinguished for the abundance and diversity OF ITS
reptiles, and divided by most BIOLOGISTS into three
periods the trassic, urassie and cretaceous Fourth
fl,a or IN az n VIZ nj tip
tertiary and post-tertian periods Fuliy the age OF
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES or THE REGION.
The exposures Of nearly all this region range from the
cretaceuus to the tertiary aud pO5tertary. In the
geological calendar they thus 10 be compare
lively late, but still remote when compared with the
boundaries Of time into which tho old chronologists
sought confine the worlds history. The transition
from the to the tertiary age was marked by
the introduction Of the first whales horses dogs ele-
plants, cames, monkeys, and vast number of the
mammaa which preceded man in the great procession
forms We had hopes that i'll striking this register of
later life, might add large collection Of these YER
tebrates TO the molusks had collected. But such
was not good fortune. II the tertiary area In this
latitude had such animals their graves were concealed
from and had rot the pleasure OF gathering their
bones In fact the tertiary region which we had struck
not at all constant. They not marine beds
but entirely Of fresh water origin, and the exposures
seemed to alternate with those OF the cretaceous As
the tertiary beds overe those Of the cretaceou on the
tops OF the highest ridges frequently found the ter
tary eoverld At other points early foundations bad
probably carried of the tertiary layers the
beds had received elevation In the Rocky Noun
ains, higher than the succeeding tertiary attained and
thus left exposed. About $50 miles mp the river,
proceeding along the left bank, found some large
fat ammonites, unlike any had seen In our re-
searches the right bank They course belonged 70
the oretaceous period. Tho country there was very
much broken. and consisted largely of marls with over
lying sandstone. The marls dry and very loosely
deposited. Our horses in crossing them went nearly up