: breeze to fall

104

CROFUTT’S NEW OVERLAND TOURIST

 

by where. the Bridger. Pass Station is situ-
ated on the old overland stage road.

With a last look at this rugged, barren,
desolate region, we speed away over the
crest, and shall have down grade for the
next 108 miles, descending in that distance
1,110 feet.

Latham— is reached 71g miles west,
but our train does not stop; and 7 6-10
miles more brings to

Wash-a-kie—named after an old
chief of the Shoshone Indians, whose por-
trait will be found on page 61. At
this place is another artesian well, 638
feet deep, which, at 15 feet above the sur-
face, flows 800 gallons of pure water per
hour.

Red Desert—is 93-10 miles from
Wash-a-kie. The country around here is
called the Red Desert, from the color of the
barren soil. Itis a huge basin, its waters
having no outlet. Several alkali lakes are
found in it, but nothing lives on its surface.
The soil is bad between Table Rock and
Creston, the extreme points of the desert,
388 miles apart. Itis composed of the de-
composition of shale and calcareous clays,
and is deep red, showing the presence of
an hydrous sesquioxide of iron. The

_|. southern margin of the basin is mainly

sand, which is lifted up by every passing
in drifts and shifting
- mounds.
_ Wiptom—a side-track, where our train
does not stop, is 6 6-10 miles west of Red
Desert, and 6 7-10 miles further, the train
wul.stop at

Table Rock—This station is on the
outer edge of the desert, which has an ele-
vation of 6,890 feet. Off to the left can
be seen a long line of bluffs, rising from
50 to 500 feet above the surrounding coun-
try. They are of red sandstone, which is
mainly composed of freshwater shells,
worn, cut, and fluted by the action of the
elements. One of these bluffs, which
gives its name to the station, is level on
the top, which rises about 500 feet above
the road, and extends for several miles.
Heavy cuts and fills are found here, show-
ing that the road is passing through the
rim of the desert. After passing through
this rim, and by the side-track, called

Agate—we go on, through a rough
and broken country for ten miles, when
we arrive at astation called

Bitter Creek—aAt this place the
company have a ten-stall round-house,
and a machine shop, for repairs.

As we leave this station, we begin the
descent of the celebrated Bitter Creek,
the valley of which we shall follow to
Green River, about 60 miles west. The
valley is narrow, the bluffs coming near
the creek on either side. The stream is
small and so strongly impregnated with
alkali as to be almost useless for man or
beast. The banks and bottoms are very
treacherous in places, miring any cattle
which attempt to reach its fetid waters.
This section was always a terror to travel-
ers, emigrants and freighters, for nothing
in the line of vegetation will grow, ex-
cepting grease-wood and sage-brush. The
freighter, especially, who had safely navi-
gated this section, would “ring his pop-
per’? and claim that he was a “tough cuss
on wheels, from Bitter Creek with a per-
fect education.”

‘From the source to the mouth of this
stream, every indication points to the fact
that deposits of oil underlie the surface.
Coal veins—-valuable ones—-have been
found, and an oil-bearing shale underlies a
large portion of the valley. The old over-
land stage and emigrant road follows this
valley from its source to Green River.
From the bluffs, spurs reach out as though
they would like to meet their jagged
friends on the opposite bluffs; and around
the rough points the cars roll merrily on
down, down to the Green.

Black Buttes—is 9 1-10 miles down
the creek.

Haliville—an unimportant station to
the tourist, is 54g miles from the Buttes,
and 5 8-10 miles to

Point of Rocks—Here an artesian
well, 1,015 feet in depth, supplies an abun-
dance of pure water.

Extensive coal mines near this station
are being worked by the Wyoming Coal
Company, who ship as high as 100 car-
loads daily. In one bluff, at a depth of 80
feet, five veins of coal have been opened—
one upon the other—which are respectively
one, three, four, five, and six and a half feet
in thickness. On the bluff, just above the
coal, is a seam of oyster-shells six inches in
thickness, which Hayden says “is an ex-
tinct and undescribed species, about the
size of our common edible one.”

The sandstone bluffs, at points along the
road, are worn by the action of the elements
into curious, fantastic shapes, some of
which have been named “Caves of the
Sand,” “ Hermit’s Grotto,” “ Water-washed
Caves of the Fairies,’ “Sanko’s Bower,”