Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-06
THE VALLEY OF DEATH
Purposes Of tho Government in In
evestigating Its Horrors.
THE EXPLORING PARTY.
What 1t 10 Proposed 10 Aeoomplish-some
Dsscriptsons Of Death Valley and Its Neigh
Misunderstanding Birds, Mammals and
Rsptiies-Pienty Of Corpses.
ALLEY OF DEATH"

!, Long before q white
man ever looked upon
the direful spot the
Indians of California
and Nevada knew it by
Nh that name. 1t having
been announced that
&11kaAX@a an exploring expedi-
ton is about to be sent
thither a representative of The STAR set about
nndlng out just what the purposes of this ex-
ploration are and the manner in which it is to
be conducted. Ono point worth mentioning,
to begin with, is that it will be made by the
best-equipped biological party that ever started
out upon scientific enterprise, including an
unparalleled number of distinguished experts
in ornithology, mammalogy, botany, entomol-
ogy, and so forth.
1t may be well to give some general descrip-
ton of the extraordinary region which these
men are about to investigate. From the Nasatch
mountains to the Sierra Nevada extends
region of CHASTITY desert nearly all of its area in
the state OF California, though to the east it
reaches over the line into Nevada. This
frightful waste is intersected by series of high
mountain ranges running parallel north and
south, with valleys between. A birds-eye view
OF the landscape shows three principal ranges,
the lnyo and Argus mountains forming the
most westerly one, the Paramint being the
next range to the east. and the Amargosa the
third still more easterly. East of the Amargosa
range is the Amargosa desert and betweea the
Amargosa and the Paramint ranges is what Is
known as "Death valley" so called because of
death and despair it is the very abode, the like
Of which 10 not to be found elsewhere in the
world.
WHAT THE VALLEY Is LIKE.
Imagine a narrow strip of arid plain shut in
between two mighty mountain walls, the peaks
stretching up 10 900 feet into the burning sky.
So precipitous are these rocky barriers that in
q journey offourteen miles you pass from an emf
nence OF two miles above sea level to the plain
l75 feet below the ocean tide mark. The sur
face of this plain is composed of salt and alkal,
and 1t is impossible TO 60 over it on horseback,
because 1t is mere crust, through which the
animal you ride breaks up to his knees into a
thick alkali paste which eats both hair and
hide. There are paths by which one may make
ones way across, if one knows where to find
water on the opposite side.
There is something unearthly about the
whole appearance of things in the valley-the
two ranges OF gigantic peaks that hem it in be-
tween them looking like the backbones of a
couple of monstrous beasts and a gray haze
that never lifts making everything indistinct to
the view. No vegetation is to be seem save
very scanty sage brush, with leaves that are not
green. but gray, with here and there tall cac-
tus, which looks in the night like dead man
standing erect. with arms extended. But the
supreme horror of the place is the heat. which
is unspeakable There is breeze, which, in
stead OF being cool, is go scorching hot as to
blister your face. Into this natural furnace
the sun pours its rays, with never cloud in
terrupting, from one years end to another.
When the famous geologist. Prof Gilbert, sue
ceeded in crossing the valley. nearly twenty
years ago, barely escaping death from thirst
the thermometer inside his saddle bag went up
to 100 degrees and then burst.
A suggestive feature of the Death valley land
scape is the color of the mountain rocks. which
are actually sunburnt to an iron-brown hue
Chip. off little fake and you find the stone of
it's natural lighter hue underneath. Streams
How from mountain springs down toward the
valley. but never reach it because the heat
dries them up on the way. Once in great
while there is tremendous storm in the Am
argosa desert to the eastward and river mile
In width flows from the desert around the south
end OF the Amargosa range and northward
through the valley. Does it flow out again at
the other end? Not much. 1t is dried up and
lost before it gets that far.
OBJECT OF THE EXPEDITION.
The object of the government in exploring it
is simply to learn what kinds of animals live
there. This enterprise is part of great work
which the Department of Agriculture has been
for some time carrying on. the purpose of
which il to map out the whole United States
into what are called 'faunal areas" For ex-
ample, suppose it is determined what are pre-
cisely the limits of the area occupied by the
jack rabbit. When that much is known it must
necessarily be true that any plant that thrives
in one part Of that area will do well in any
other part There is such an intimate relation
between animal life and plant life in this world
that, having found out the various areas
inhabited by different birds and man.
mails, you have learned just where each
form of vegetable growth can be produced to
advantage. When the government has COM
pleted this important task the farmers of the
country will have placed before them maps
outlining with the closest accuracy the regions
within which each kind of vegetable or fruit is
susceptible Of profitable cultivation. Thus the
agriculturist, wherever he may be located, will
know with certainty wha. he ought to plant.
But the work o. outlining the areas occupied
by the animals OF the United States will not be
complete until the fauna Of every part OF the
country, even Of the highest mountains and
most hopeless deserts have been investigated.
LAST YEARS EXPLORATIONS
Last year an expedition was sent out to the
astonishing San Francisco mountain, which up
lifts its gigantic peak three miles high from the
burning plains Of Arizona, its top covered with
perennial SHOWS. Ascending its rocky preci-
pices the explorers passed from semi-tropical
to an arctic Cline Just as they would have done
IL they had travelled northward few thousand
Hilles. Eacn zone na0 It's own vegetation and
forms OF animal life suitable to the tempera-
ture. The same party that visited this noun
tain also explored the famous painted desert
near by, which gets its name from the fact that
the queer-looking hills scattered all over the
plain where the sea, which once was there, has
washed their sides away are of all the colors of
the rainbow, with heaps of fossil wood ON their
SUBMITS.
PERSONNEL OF THE PARTY.
The man who conducted these explorations
will likewise have charge of the Death valley
expedition. He is DR.. C. Hart Merriam, chief
of the division of mammalogy in the Depart
ment of Agriculture. With him will be DR..
Vernon Bayley, who ranks as the best collector
of mammals in the world. Also in the party
will be the eminent naturalist, Prof T. s.
Palmer. likewise DIR. A. X. Fisher, assistant
ornithologist OF the department.; F. V. Coville,
assistant botanist; E. w. Nelson, well-known
naturalist and topographer, and Prof Stephens,
q distinguished expert in mammalogx and