The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-01-07
wYc,mINtn cURIosiTiEs.
A cIlmp Sc al the Bad Lands and
tt,eIr r ossiI Remains.
roma ha world-Herald.l

fodies. in fac told Gen. Ashley, ac-
comraniod by the well known trapper
and no,lntair feer, Jim Bridger, turned
west from Il e Sheetskadee, on Green
river after following one of its numer-
ous tributaTie S, called Henry's Fork, for
the distance If about thirty miles, they
changed tbei course and proceeded due
north. 10 lini ! themselves one day upon
the ridge Of steep bluffs overlooking the
valleys Of 81 hith's and Blacks Forks, and
unon The LAT ter stream they decided to
establish a Trading post. Gen. Ashley
was suppos sed to have been at that time
in the emp 10y of the American Fur COM
many and for some reason or other soon
retraced hills steps eastward, leaving jim
Bride,er in possession of the valley that
now bearsf his name.
jim, witkh a spirit of pardonable pride,
called his camp Fort Bridger." He
married wife, built hut of woven
willows and logs, after the fashion of his
Indian neighbors, and for several years
carried on a most successful traffic with
the Indians and the emigrants, chiefly
Mormons, who began to settle in the Vi
cinity.
Among the guides and trappers who,
during the years following its establish
ment, made Fort Bridger their head
quarters, were two Frenchmen, named
COSTA presumably a contraction of Gau-
tier and Mariana, known by their com.
rades as the TOAD eatin parley voos."
They were perhaps the first to discover
certain very minute weapons and crude
tools of stone and iron upon the plateau
of Smiths Fork, and interpreted to trav-
elers the following fantastic Indian leg
end concerning their origin and utility.
A race of pygmies had formerly inhabi-
ted the valley and heights, and waged
eternal war upon the eagles. They fash
Toned and stored away in numerous
mountain caves and crevasses the tiniest
arrow heads and spears, and fought va
iantly for their existence. But in the
end the eagles were victorious, and de-
voured their lilliputian adversaries with
pitiless voracity. Then in after years the
rains washed down the weapons, and the
Indians made use of them for petty traf-
fic and various games.
Since 1868 the tertiary beds in the vi
cinity of Bridger have proved of primary
Importance to biologists and paleontolo-
gists in all parts of the world, and Pro-
fessor Geikie, of Edinburgh, in the inter-
esting sketch he published of his journey
through the United States, speaks of the
intense eagerness with which he had al
ways looked forward to visiting the
''most wonderful fossil beds of the
world-the cretaceous and tertiary de-
posts of northwestern America" The
yield of fossil specimens, in fact, has
equaled that of the famous terres maui
VASES Of Dakota, and extensive research
by Professor Hayden, Professor Marsh,
DR.. Leidy and other noted scientists
have brought to light an especial fauna,
the former existence of which was I'M
known.
Among the earlier and more unin,-
portant fossils discovered in the Green
river and Bridger basins were flies,
fishes, insects and shells-especially the
long, gracefully shaped oyster shells, SO
abundant in central and northern Europe,
known as Ladies' Fingers" Almost re-
markable specimen was the feather of a
bird which Professor Marsh regarded as
unique and Of great value. Many species
of turtle were discovered, the vertebra
Of crocodiles, and, in the intervening
years, the cranial bones of a mammoth
extinct animal 10 which Professor Marsh
gave the generic appellation of Dinoce-
rata, and which DIR. Leidy, on the other
hand, designated as the Uintatherium.
Some impression of the size of the speci-
mems may he gained when it is stated
that the finely preserved tusks are twenty
inches long and the jaw bones, showing
the perfectly enameled teeth and deep
fangs, measure over foot in length.
To DIR. j. Van A. Carer, residing at
Fort Bridger. and DR.. Corson, of the
army, is de the credit Of having dis
covered many of the finest fossil speci-
mems to be seen in the archaeological
collections uf the Smithsonian Institution
and the Academy OF Science, of New
York, and IL the remains of "a small ami
NAL similar TO the European hedgehog,
forwarded by Dr.. Carter to DIR. Leidy,
was given the name of Omomys Carteri,
in honor OF its discoverer. The ''moss
agate" beds are especially numerous
around Bridger, and occasionally stones
of great beauty, which would take an
extraordinary polish, were sold for $50
and S75 Bits of amber, resembling the
murky gems found on the coast of Pal
estine, are now and then picked up, and
a few beautiful specimens of opals have
been found among the Uintah mountains.
In appearance, the 'bad lands OF
Bridger basin more nearly resemble the
ruins of the Nile, near the confines of
the desert, than any other natural forma-
ton or artificial constructions visited by
the tourist of the present day. Though
deficient in great historic interest, the
indescribable grandeur and picturesque
ness of the locality, apart from the Curl
osity excited by scientific research,
make exploration in the "bad lands" a
delight to all artists and lovers of beauty
in its most savage form.
Professor Denton's brief but graphic
description cannot be improved upon, so
l give it here:
"Looking from the summit of high
ridge on the east, tract of country con-
tanning 500 or 600 square miles is dis
tinctly visible. Over the whole surface
is rock, bare rocks cut into ravines,
canyons, gorges and valleys, in magnifi-
cent relief, terrace on terrace, pyramid
above pyramid, rising to mountain
heights, amphitheatres that would hold
a million spectators, walls, pillars, tow
crs, castles everywhere. 1t looks like
some ruined city of the gods, blasted,
bare, desolate, but grand beyond a
mortars telling"