Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-08-16

1gneous masses beneath the earth cru st
had entirely ceased. They retain al
most fantastic shapes.
THE SNOWY RANGE.
The snowy range exhibits many
enormous canyons. Though they are
now like sinuous grooves they were
probably originally sharp-edged cliffs
and CASHIERS. The elements have
ground slowly from the heights, by
glacial, thermal and aerial actions,
fine powder, which has accumulated in
the crevlces, together with the coarser
debris hurried down from the beetling
crags. The melted snow and the rain
permeate it to a great depth and it
treacherously yields under the tread of
animals. The erosion must have been
very rapid, because immense beds of
gravel found by us on both sides of the
main ridge and within the outer rim of
the mountains showed evidences of a
very recent release from the mother
rock. The pebbles, instead of being
rounded smoothly, are angular. This
characteristic is a sign uafavorable to
the existence of gold in considerable
quantity, as it betokens that the depos-
its are comparatively modern. Still
there ere instances OF successful mining
in similar places in Montana and Neva-
da. The timber line on the Big Horn
Mountains is comparatively low. The
fact is due to the denudation of the
granite above an elevation of 10000
feet, as in some other portions of the
Rocky Mountains. Feldspar is the
principal com ponent of the rock. Veins
Of quartz, for which the gold hunter al
ways looks SO eagerly, are rare, but q
few were seen near the SUBMITS.
PICTURESQUE VIEWS.
A medley of lesser mounts. plateaus,
canyon and ravine, dingle, wood and
glade, torrent, pool and lake-chaotic,
but picturesque-lay below the glitter
ing line of snowy SUBMITS and within
the sombre foot range. The gorge
which had been for us vale of difficult
ties, was on the right, and the lagoons,
which we has passed in making the as
cent of the eastern side of the noun
tains, embosomed in sombre shade, now
were displayed like a string of sap
phires, mirroring the deep blue sky,
while the bright, willoHy fringe Of the
river contrasted with the dense colon
nades of pines, dead and living. Blush
gray smoke rose from point at the
edge of the depressed mesa.
We cast a backward glance over the
great basin of the Big Horn, encom-
passed by majestic mountains, south,
west, north and east, and were charm
ed with the sublimity of the survey.
The main divide of the Rocky Noun
tains seemed piled up like great drifts
Of cumulus clouds. Their bases were
obscured by the prevalent sultry haze,
while their SUBMITS shone with their
ghostly canopy Of eternal snow. The
graceful figure Of the Heart Noun
tain, behind which slumbers the yell
lowstone Lake, guarded by Mounts
Sheridan, Stevens and Doane, conspic-
uously overtopped the neighboring
eminences; but southwark Fremont's
and Union Peaks lowered still higher
over the dazzling phalanx of the Wind
River Mountains, the Washable Nee
dies and the Owl Creek Mountains
crouched at their feet. The higher
chains of elevations formed a vast
elllpse, like savage council ring, and
they like mighty sphinxes, shrouded
in the smoke of some volcanic calu-
met, whose aroma soothed their eter-
nal reveries. The soggy turf among
the rocks and drifts of snow was jewell
ed with tiny forget-me-nots. They are
plentiful all over the lower points
above the silurian formation, but at
the top of the pass the plants were
stunted SO that they resemble moss.
The tint of the petals was remarkably
fresh and brilliant. White stellar flow
srs were also blooming at the verge of
the snow. As we sat on our mules
there was shrill burst of song far
above our heads. It was a titlark car
cling and soaring out of sight.