The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-08-01

tered from end to end OF tho interior OF the range to
pauss IN amazrment III the thought of the immensely
anu power Of The agencies that have worked together
TO shape these masses BY what iDconcelvabe fires
was this adamant forged, and with hat unspeakaUo
throes OF nature was II cast up, and through what
patent labor Of winter and summer glacier light
nng, IL fashioned into its present lorms Conjec-
ture long may busy ITSELF and science ponder WELL bo-
tore ia. history OF these monuments OF the IN ancy Of
the globe made pain to To try TO mink OF when
these rocks we're new is 10 begin 10 understand In
what very ancient times We live
But 10 resume more literal treatment OF NV
theme, IL is enough 10 say that these interior. cllu
hcmmed valleys arc very grand Each one Is a vast
OF the year. and having no apparent outlet or draining
through narrow cleft 10 form q river below. Seen
from above these LAKES look black, except when
covered with snow and from them the land asccnds IN
masses OF solid rock and slopes OF spntered deDrs to
the high peaks the top OF the lus boundary
wall which often has vertical face ofa thousand heen
hundred, or two thousandfeet Within these canyons
some trees may grow perhaps, along The edge OF the
lake but are scraggiy aud show that they have hard
time OF II, and you may creep down into most OF the
basins and creep out again, but having done II once
you Will not care to repeat the feat know this from
experience
THE PATH OF THE GLAciER
Tho inside walls OF all the mounains have already
immense eghts, but their outsides show series OF
slopes divided into great ridges and buttressos by
glaclercut canyons aud propped up by foothills OF uu
usually rough aspect Nowhere IN the West Is The
piodlgious effect OF ice In shaping mountain ranges
more man fest TIL IN this cham. The paths OF Old
glaciers and The gganlc burrows they nave ploushed.
visible all the way 10 the desolatop sum.
mlts, while rank behind rank OF the outer foothills,
the plains hey them are moraines of gravel
showed up under the feet OF the glaciers or deposited
along their sides, or rolled out from beneath their blue
arches by tue rivers, which their melting fed In
many cases these banks OF gravel and powders REMAIN
rs they were heaped up by ice, but more
oIten they arc changed from their original form,
owe their present appearance from the action water
subsequent not only TO the retreat oil the great
mental sheet AZ the close oil the glacial epoch,
also after the disappearance OF The local glaciers which
remained Tor thousands OF years, no doubt, in this
stronghold OF cold, but gradually snccumbed to the
increasing warmth Of the air n the progress toward
tho present continued. WHAT now are canyons these
local glaciers lied full OF slowly but steadily moving
ce thousands OF eet thick whose under surface shod
with rasp oil granite blocks frozen III, nleu deeper
ana deeper the grooves in which they slid, pushing
The chips out ahead of thor advancing trout aud
spreading them far and wide by torrents OF water
poured from beneath Them Eaci, wear az Tho chance
from the rigid 10 warmer climate went on, the
tiers would DC shorter and less severe he snow less
ana less IN amount, afordng tho glaciers
mcnt ana curtalling their growth. Each summer
therefore, the ridge pushed up by the of the
Ice during the previous winter would be ltlc behind
The ridge made BY The larger growth Of the previous
year; and Illus Of ridges OF rolled fray
Mens ana soil would be lott lying across the valleys
from the Outermost ejge OF the mountains up toward
tho SUBMITS The canyons at last being vacated by the
glaciers when the mllu climate would longer allow
OF their formation, would then become channels
for the drainage OF the vast depths OF which ut
that covered tho range anu how these great
oil melted is PLAIN rom the vice beds
cut down the side OF every mountain Busthe Warmth
OF the climate ol this latitude continued 10
less snow TO fall annually, and the volume OF
OF the greatest snow banks rills
among the pebbles oil The ancient channels far within
River of to-day compared with the Green River 10 900
years agoand the general is the same now as
thon-s as a scratch of my pen down the page on
which Iwrite
CHAOS ENTHRoNED.
Viewed from tho west, anu taucy equally from the
plains which spread irou us eastern base tho Wind
River range nils tie horizon with tumuil OF lofty
mountains. am warned by the fate OF many before
mo not 10 attempt any set description oil this chaos
ID RI cau and, riau
and mighty slabs on edge ike the curbing
OF continent, and these do not stand
In orderly rank, behind the other but evorywnere
between the eastern and western foothills are tossed
In white crcsts aud ridges like the foaing
and curling tops Of the Dewilaered waves In chopped
sea- They seem ready any instant to break into new
combinations Of domo aud freak yet stand forever
the same. IL Is what Thoreau called "tumutuous
silence" They seem ever stormy Our experience
among them nave detailed II was like Febr uary all
the Time Since We have left these canyons W. have
the storms marching among them back and orth
mastering upon the high SUBMITS and charging down
the valleys. This stormy climate, the quantity Of
snow they hold, the atencss OF the season before II
begins W melt the new appearance Of The cliffs the
cleanliness Of the soil aud size of tho rivers the young
look OF the forests all point to conclusion that
when the ice held full sway among these remark.
able mountains and when winter was mover absent
from their businesses. Old Boreas Is even now oatn
10 leave this castle
There Is no range OF mountains Ia this country,
ami none perhaps IN the world, OF equal size, which
supports SO large drainage. From The southern end
lows lie sweetwater u river 200 miles long,
largest afuent oil the Platte Near here halt a dozen
large streams mud their way out of the canyons and
unne TO form the Wind River, which emptes tho
Big Horn River $50 miles north receiving many small
streams by the way while tho Big Horn Itself takes
origin here. Then The western slope feeds through
Vulnerable creeks the Green River winch heads
now 1000 The Gull of California for rea ~ the
Great Colorado nothing but the lower end OF Green
RIVER But this not all Rising At Union Peak, tho
northcrnmost oil the Wind River Mountains, and d.
vided from the Green by line OF hills, the Snake
River starts ON us long journey southwark through
Wyoming aud Idaho, and thence northwestern
into Oregon TO make the Columbia Clarke's
Fork OF the Columbia, the YELLOWSTONE the
eros Venlrc and innumerabie minor warehouses;
also owe ihcr strength TO these generous
The amount OF snow that stored up be slowly
dealt out can be appreciated wnen it is considered
many thousands OF miles its MEETINGS run. And IT is
not difficult to understand why the neighborhood OF
such abode oil cold IN the midst Of VIDE heated
plails should be scene oil almost perpetual storm. 1t
Is the headquarters al meeorology this Of the
world. TINS single group OF mountains saves Wyoming
from beng what Old geographers used 10 have TIA
great American desert
MINERAL ASPECT.
The mountains OF thus cham consist altogether of
granite, this preval rock beug manifested in all Its
fofms, win more or less Snciss Al the northern end
high bluffs OF sandstone AID Limestone tipped up
against the granite, overlyngit. OF course Of
quartz intersect The granite ~ every direction and IN
endless variety OF character, shape and con-
dition. Our men, familiar with the appearance of
all sorts OF American auriierous quartz could duplicate
every Kind IN the specimens cnipped from tho
founu IN The washes" OF roged gravel There were
VEINS oil pure shining crystals adhering sharply to
their granite walls or lying between granite
side anu sness on the other; veins OF onaque green
quartz veins OF decomposed quartz, red. as clnnaJar
VEINS dark brown. veins ocnre-yellow, veins OF all
manner OF mineral uearing rock with the coarscr
metals sticking out Of them OF silver apparent,
ana no Reasonable doubt oil The presence Of gold
But whether II Will pay to any all OF these
lodes Tor either silver or gold Is another question.
From the encouragement which has been met with by
prospectors AT the northern end OF the range the
qua,y vi the rock rudely examined in the neigbhoI-
hood of Wind River and Frcmonps peaks, ana from
the careless frying pan prospecting We have done ODD
moments. am Wiling to predict mat II Will be only
lew ycars-nay, lew moDtha--bcfore rich mines
discovered In these gulcnes-both quartz and placer.
But Inc survey must not be held responsU Tor this
statcment since its geologists yet only
very lew oil ITS features ana nave reported upon none.
Let one, therefore, take this opinon Of mInc,
iuy considered though II IL, us made cdsedra aud
forthwith stampede to the ind River Mountains But
when the stampede does begin will DO gratied
10 lind some VI tho richest (scemingy) leads very
cessDle from Without And It will be the easiest Of
work TO Railroad up the Green River 10 the base
OF the mountains. If people iry live in those
foothills, bough they Will find the climate ike that Of
Bakers Park, IN Colorado, when miner described 10
the fret morning got there ''Dlne months win
aud three months damned Iato the fall IN