The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-06-08

pAEsStits well ulHThSu EpuLAdSlS 4SiIS- ing from the nearly level surfaces of the desert valleys, where the general elevation is about four thousand feet, to the rugged snow-clad sumnlits of the Cascade Mountains, the loftiest Of which, Mount Jefferson, reaches a height of 1O,85O feet.
 Almost in the exact geographic cen- ter of the state is what is known as the Great Sandy Desert, an extensive tract of nearly level land which has been termed sandy on account of the thick she5t of pumiceous sand and dust that covers large portions of it. The length of the desert is in the neighborhOod of one hundred and fifty miles, and its width is from thirty to fifty miles.
 So nearly uniform is the surface that one might drive throughout it's length without meeting any greater obstruc- tion than the rugged sage brush, and, to indicate the aridity of the region, without finding q single watering place for men or animals. The borders of this vast tract are indefinite as it is bounded by mountains, both of volcan- ic origin and formed by upheaYal, he- tween which lie the extensive plains that unite to form the central plain.
 On the plain itself there are promi- nent elevations, either isolated buttes or groups of hills or mountains, which are rendered especially conspicuous be- cause of the general smOothness of the surface from which they rise as we'll as by the steepness, and in some instances the ruggedness of their sides. The most common and conspicuous eleva- tions are due to volcanic eruptions. In travelling west from Burns to Sis ters number of the volcanoes were found in the first half of the journey, and farther west a number of ancient craters, or much eroded volcanic peaks, l and numerous young volcanoes were located. These young volcanoes are situated for the most part in the north ern port of Lake county, and in the southwestern part of Crook county. Their cones, so recent in many in- l stances that erosion has not yet broken their crater rims, are so numerous that : fifty or more frequently can be counted ] in single view, while a change of a | few miles in the position of an obser- yer brings perhaps as many more with | in the range of the vision.
 l The topography of the whole region is characterized by the broadness of its | elevations, which Is due in a minor way | to the presence of eminence left by ] widely extended erosion, but principal 1 ly to the constructive volcanic activity. l The valleys between the mountains, buttes, hills, &c.,, are in general level | floored.
 Sheets of basalt which have invaded | the valleys and given them level floors occur widely throughout this section, 1 and in many localities form the present I surface. These lava sheets range in thickness from ah average of eighty to one hundred feet, up to probably seve- ral hundred feet.
 Following the spreading out of the volcanic products, both liquid and frag- | mentary, came heavy and widely dis 1 tributed shower of pumiceous frag- ments ranging in size from dust parti cles to masses of highly vesicular pum- ice two to three feet in diameter which | still ranges in thickness up to at least seventy feet. S&8E
 This covering lies on it like q great snowfall over an extent of several thousand square miles, particularly
 east of the Cascades. Not only has il 1 produced many changes in the minor | features, but on account of its extreme I porosity is it one of the leading factors 1 controlling the agricultural value of the
 country it covers.
 This portion of central Oregon forms | the extreme northern end of the great
 interior basin, which for so long was
 re garded as the insuperable barrier tt | western development. This portion oi
 the great basin in south-central Oregon
 comprises the country west of Harney
 and Malheur lakes and north of War
 ner, Albert Summer and Silver lakes
 and also about forty townships north
 east of the Glass Buttes.
 It is practically without su>fact
 streams, owing to the small precipita.
 tion, the porous character of the soi
 and the Assured condition of the un
 deriving lava sheets. The entire regior
 shares in the same general geologic
 and climatic conditions; the valleys are
 occupied for the most part by basaltit
 lava flows; the surface over broad
 areas is composed of loose porous ma
 terial, largely volcanic dust and lapilla
 the rainfall is small, and the surface
 streams are generally absent.
 nharartarist'in fnatI1ra of inc oreai