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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds A des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 [EOLOGICAL and NATUEAL HISTOKYSUKVJIYOF CANADA ALFRKI) n. C. SKLWYX. LL.T)., F.H.H., F.G.S, Director. PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE PHYSICAL AND GEOLOGICAL FEATURES e of some points of the geological structure follows, together with note< on the climatic features and general character of the vegetation. To this succeeds a description, in such detail ae is doomed essential, of tlio various routes followed and surveyed, with which are incorporated the geological observations made on these routes. This portion of the report naturally resolves itself into a descriptive account of a number of passes which afford routes across the mountains and of the geological sections met with on these, together with similar details respecting a number of trails and valleys connecting these passes or lying between them. The routes followed during the exploration were selectetl oithei- as those most easy of travel, or as those likely to afford important information as to the character of the country. Though considerable intermediate tiacts remain as yet unexamijieii, they are, as a rule, those less likely to be entered by travellers or ])ro- spectors, being comparatively difficult to penetrate, owing to the dense character of the forest growth or to other circumstances. The system adopted, of incorpoi-ating the geological observation^ with the general description of routes, is not one in general to be com- mended, but is justified in this instance by the purely reconnaisanee character of the work reported on, and by the convenience of refer- ence to the main facts of whatever class met with in each part of the district, which ai'e thus together embodied in a given part of the report. These general descriptions are, however, supplemented in a subsequent chapter by a systematic, synoptical description of the geological features, to which are appended details of the useful minerals afforded by the district or known to occur in it. IMW60N.] UEOUaAPUICAL EXPLORATIONS. 7 B Geographical Exploration and Data for Map. Piovious to the preparation of the accompanying map, the only Previous maps, original map giving with approximate accuracy the general features of the diHtrict has been that published in connection with Captain PalliHor'B report.* This is based on track-surveys made in part by Puiiisor'g map. Captain Palliser himself, in part by Captain Blackiston, but chiefly by Dr. Hector, who acted as geologist to the expedition under Captain Palliser. The representation of this part of the mountains on general maps of Briti.sh Columbia and the North-west Territory are substantially copies, more or loss accurate, of Palliser's map, the changes introduced from time to time being seldom in the direction of greater accuracy. The time spent by Captain Palliser and the members of his expedition in this particular district was, however, necessai'ily very limited, its examin- ation being a portion only of a much more extended exploration; and the scale of his published map is too small I'or the representation of any but the more important features in a generalized maimer. No portion of the geographical outlines of Palliser's map (with the ex- ce])tion of the western part of the Kananaskis Pass) [has, tlierefore, been incorporated in that acconipanying this report, though care has been taken to retaiii the names then adopted for peaks, rivers and mountain ranges. The joint maps of the North American Boundary Commission, isomidury lS58-18(!2f represent a belt of about ten miles near the 49th mups. parallel, (which constitutes the International boundary), in consider- able detail, on a scale of ^nuTTo. While, however, the main lines shown on these were instrumentally surveyed with sufficient accuracy, much of the topograph}' is represented in a very unsatisfactory manner, and where checked by myself, has been found in many places to be largely hypothetical. The Boundary Commission of 1872-187-4, work- ing eastward, defined the 49th pai'allel up to the point on the main watershed at which the work of that above alluded to stojiped. The joint maps subsequently published ;|; overlap those of the first com- mission by about ten miles and represent a belt of country of similar width, the topographical features being given with general accuracy. While, therefore, these maps have been used as a basis for the repre- sentation of the part of the district to which they apply, the lopography has been improved wherever our examinations rendered this possible. On the north-east, some of the lately run lines of the ' * Index and Maps to Captain Palliser's Reports. London, Government, 1865. t Detailed maps of the North-AVest Boundary l)etween United States and British possessions. t Joint maps of the Northern Boundary of the United States. Washington, Government, 1868. Hb THE HOCKY MOUNTAINS. poininion Dominion Land Sui-voy roach \\w biiHo of tho mountainH pi-onor and Land Purveys. ^ j- . i . , ,,,, ,. i i > Horvo to tix cortuiii points with accuracy. Tho line ol" tho (Janadiun Pacific railway, following tho Bow and Kicking IIoi-ho rivers, is also tho result of instnnnental survey, to which much has boon added by linoH run (in 18S4) by Mr. T. Fawcett. D.L.S., up tho IJow Valley to the hoad-wators ol' (ho rivoi-. Connecting with thcKt^ are some local surveys made for the purpose of doHning timber limits on tho Jvunan- a.slds and Spray rivors. Tiiforiniition With tlio oxcopt ioii of tho liiios above detailed, no instrumontal survoyn inoorporiited ill -i i i i- i.i ■• i • » i u • i i i ,i -r» i present map. ai'o uvailaolo for the district, and bosides what appears on the Boundary Commission maps, little attempt has been made to indicate tho topo- graphy on these linos in any systematic manner. In conducting the geological examination of tho region, it has, thoroforo. been necessary throughout, to maintain a system oJ' careful ti-ack- or pacod-surveys which, in constriurting tho tnaj), have boon tied-in with fixed points on the instrumental lines as far as these are available. The longitudes of intermediate points have boon fixed as far as possible by long bearings on prominent summits, and the latitudes of about one hundred places liavo been determined with a good 7-inch sextant. Fi-om the j)rove(l general accuracy of these track- and pacod-surveys, and their inter- de])ondence, it is believed that tho outlines ropresenteil on tho accom- panying map will bo found correct within small limits of error. Tho topographical detail is filled in from sketch-plans and profile sketchesi, and in tho vicinit}' of the lines of travel is substantially accurate. That indicated at some distance fro travelled routes is less trust- worthy, but where the mountains have not been actually sketched no attempt has been made to delineate them. While the present map must thoi-efore be considered as merely prtdiminaiy, its publication is justified by the want of any detailed information respecting the ilistriet, ^"hich is now attracting tho attention of explorers for coal, metalliferous minerals and timber. In tho geological map of the country in the vicinity of the Bow and Belly Eivers, publisheil with the report of 1882-S4, the mountains con- stituting the eastern outline of tho Palajozoic rocks are indicated, together with a part of the Cretaceous basin which occurs west of the first limestone range and within the area of the mountains proper. The present map, therefore, to some extent overlaps that one. The writer first visited the region here reported on in 1874, as geolo- gist to the second of the above-mentioned Boundary Commissions, but his observations were at that time confined to the immediate vicinity of the eastern half of the South Kootanie Pass. In 1881 he re- examined the same portion of this pass, and explored tho eastern slope of the Crow Nest Pass, and the upper part of the Bow River nearly to Connection with Bow and IJelly Rivers map. Sun'eys. OAWION.] (lEOORAl'IIICAL RXPFiORATIONS. M It llu' position now occupied hy Caiinnoro Htation. In 1883, about twelve wi't'ks wore wpent in this ])rtrt of the mountains, and in 1884 the ;,'reater part of the working season, or uljout seventeen weeks, were devoted to the I'ogion. In 1883 he was assisted I»y Mr. J. B. Tyrroll, B.A., and in the onsuinj; year hy Mr. James White, C.E., both these ^ontle- 111(11 licini,' cliiefly occuj)ied with fjeoi^rapiucal and topographical work. ThoUf^h this jiortion of tiio Rocky Mountains liad been traversed Knowlfldgo of hv ilowso in 1810, who tollowod, (according to Dv. Hector,) the North "*"""" Saskaichowan and Blaeberry rivers, by Sir George .Simpson in 1841, (as olsowhore more fully noted), by .lamos Sinclair, and by at least two ]i:irties of ' emigrants ' in 1841 and 1854, =<= no authentic information tor any passes south of the Athabasca Pass was available at the time of the inception of Pallisoi-'s expedition in 1857. The Athabasca Pass, north of the region embn'.ced by the present loport, had long been employed as a route of trade by tho Hudson Bay Company. It was traversed in IHIO by the geographer, David Thompson, and was followed by the botanist, Douglas, in 182". So far as I am aware, the tirst published account of ti-avel in this^j|,,,p^j|,^^ part of the mountains is that contained in the narrative of Sir <^^'^oorgo Jj^'jiy^'^^v^'^-'' Sim|)hon's journey, lie crossed this portion of the range on his way to llic Pacific coast in August IH41, but his narrative did not appear till 1847. t Mis description is very indctinito, so much so, that without mtual local knowledge of the region it is impossible to identify his route. Having, however, satisfied myself on this i)oint, it ma}' be of iiilorest to place the rcsuPon record, as his Journey dates back about to tlie pi'e-historic epoch for this region. After travelling south from Kdmonton he entered the mountains by the Devil's Gap, north of tho„. •' ^ His route- Bow Kiver (as surmised by Dr. Hector) and j^assed along Devil's Lake, which ho says ho named ' Peecdioe Lake,';]; aftei" bis halt-breed guide, whoso usual hunting ground was in its vicinity. Peechee, though a half-breed, was at that time a chief among the Eocky Moun- tain frees, Simi)son then crossed Cascade Hiver and Forty-mile Creek (mentioning the mountain now called Cascade Mountain) and travelled, I believe, up tno Bow Valley to Hole in-the-wall Mountain, to which his remarks on p. 119 (Vol. I.) refer. He crossed the water- shed i-ange by the pass designated by his name on the map, as rendered evident by the time (seven hours) occupied in travelling from the Bow Eiver Crossing to the summit. Had he gone by the * See Blackiston's report in Furtlicr Papers, etc, p. 60 and Sir Q. Simpson's Narrative. t Xiirrative of an Overland Journey Round tlie World. London, 1847. t Tlii.-: name hns never, I believe, appeared on any map, or obtained any currency. The lalie IS HOW SI) well known as Devil's Lake that I hiive not endeavoured to revert to Sir G. Simpson's 'mine, but have attached the name of Peechee to a high mountain to the south of the lake. ■r:k ■Mi.. 10 u TUE HOCKY MOUNTAINS. Wliito Miin's Pjihh tho travollinLr tiiiio would luivo l)00n much ^routcM-, by tho Vorinilioii Puhh much Iomh Ihau that Hpocifiod. Tlio Whito Man's Pass was, however, pi-obaldy that taken by the party of , ' emii^rants ' to whicli ho rel'ors aa having crossed in the same yt^ar (p. 12(J); tho emigrants being <^uidcd iiy an Indian known as Ems Creche. Simpson then followed down tiie ivootanie Valloy lor some miloy, and crossed tt) tho Columbia Valloy by tho Sinclair Pass. HedescrilioM tho wikl gorge on the west end of that pass and refers to tlie ' lied liock,' a conspicuous feature Ihoro. Noai* the mouth of this pasH ho mot :i half-breed named Borland, son' with horses for him from Ft. Colvillc. He visited the hot springs near tie lower onil of the Upper Columbia Lake (p. 128). Krom the Columbla-lvootanic Valley ho struck across south-westward to Colville by the (irand Quete Jiivcr and lakes — the Choe-coos liiver of Pailiser and Moyio of later ma])s. Routes The r()ut(w of Captain Pallisor and members of his party in this |iart Kn'isor'Hejf of tlio mountains were as fol' tw.s, — in August and Heptemboi', 1S.")S. Duihtion "'^«5KQj^pjj^jjj pjiiii^yj. traversed the KananaskisPass westward, followed the Kootanio Valley southward on tho west side of tho range, and returncil to the cast side by tlu^ North Kootanio Pass. (>ai)tain Pailiser notes tluil he bad Imon inlbi'med of tlu^ existence and situation of the Kananaskis J'ass by a half-breed named James Sinclair, in 1848, when in the wc>l- orn Indian country of tho LJnilod States. Jn tho sumo yoai-, Dr. Hector entered the mountains by the How Valley, crossed the watershed by the Vermilion Pass, followed down the Vermilion River and up the Kootjinie to its source, down llic Beaver-foot, and back over the watershed range by the Jvicking llo'so Pass, now atloptod lor tho railway. He then followed the Bow Pivcr to its source, and tho Little Fork and North Saskatchewan rivers oiii to the castci-n foot-hills. Ca])lain Blackiston, iluring the same summer, traversed tho North Kootanio Pass westward, returning eastward by tho South Kooiaiiie or Boundary Pass, and rejoining tho expedition at tiie winter ([uai-ti is at Fort Kdmonton.* In the summer of 1S59, Dr. Hector again entered the mountains by the Bow Valloy, and crossed from it northward by the Pipe-stone I'ass to tho Noi'th Saskatchewan. He thou followed the latter up ami reached the Columbia by the Howso Pass, and finding it im])Gssilili' t<' proceed further west or north-west, travelled southward by the <'iii- umbia-Kootanio ValUy to beyond tlio 4!)th parallel. Captain Pallisor, lldutes followed in tsrxi * F'lrtlicr Piipcrs rotative to tlio Exploration by tho E.Ypcdition utulor Captain riiUisor, ule- Loudun, (Jovernuiunti IHtR). OAWION.] OKOORAI'HlCAli KXi'I-ORATIONS. 11 B (liiriiifij tho Htuiio 8oaHon, uguiii crosHod tho moiintiiins b^' tho No''*h Kootiiiiic' I^isH on his way wostwai'd (o tlio Pacifit! coast. Wiiliin tin) limits ol" U»o ro^ion oiul)nu'otl by I hi' proscnt. ropurl, a"'iiK'"ioi"aino». few foaturos, siu'li us tho hirgor i-isors, had aiipoai'od by name on maps previous to tho dato of tlio ox])cdition under (Japtain I'alliser. Other iiumci introduced on tlic map resuiliuL? from that cxjtodition, were llio.-0.* More detailed enquiry among the Kootanie people than I iiavo been able to make, might settle the question as to their former teri-itorial claims. It is certain, however, that tradition relates constant feuds and repeated raids across the mountains between the Kootanie and tlie Blackl'oot tribes, and that the foi-mer have been accustomed from time immemorial to cross to the eastern plains to hunt butl'alo. It is also ))robable from the habits of the lilackfoot people, who are e.ssen- tially ))lain Indians, that they would not willingly inhabit for any length of time these mountain fa.stnesses. Previous Geological Explorations. The first published geological information for this part of the Eockv ■•'• Hector'.v 1 . , " reports. Mountains is that contained in Dr. Hector's reports and journals i in connection with Palliser's Expedition. The ^ul)stanco of the geological reports is also given in a systematic form in a paper, accompanied I)}' a mup, by Dr. Hector, in tlie Quarterly Journal of the (Jeological Society.;]; In 18(j1, Mr. H. Bauerman, attached as geologist to the first of the .Mr.liHuoniiiin".- Hoimdary Commission expeditions above i-eferred to, visited and examined that part of the present district near the 49th ])arallel. The result of his investigations, hovvevei-, I'emaincd unpul)lished till 18S5, when it appeared in the last report of the Geological Survey (1882-84), -Mr. Bauerman having kindly communicated his manuscript re])ort for that purpose. report. * Western Mi.«sions and Missionaries, Rev. P. J. I)e Smct, New Vork,lS.59. + Papers relative to tlic Exploration by Captain Palliser. etc. London, flovernment, 1859. Journals, Delailcd Reports and Observations relative to the Exploration by Captain Palliser, fic. London, liovernmont. IHG^t. t Vol. XVIL, p. :«8, see also Edinburgh New Pliil. .lour., N.S., October, 1861. llavinB had occasion to re-examine many of Dr. Hector's routes in the Norlli-west Territory and Rocky M"uiilains, the writer wislics to note the great Reneral aceuriicy and value of the work done by lir. Hector, whether gcotrrapbical or Kculogical. , , - . jL 14 b THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. Other reports And papers. Under the title of " Physical Geography of the North-west Bonn dary of the United States," Mr. George Gibbs published, in 1872, in the Journal of the American Geographical Society, a paper giving an account of the orographic features of the region in the vicinity of the 49th parallel, with some notes on its geology. This paper is founded on information gained by Mr. Gibbs while connected with the United States contingent of the same Boundary Commission, to whicli Mr. Bauerman was attached. Mr. Meek subsequently described a few Carboniferous fossils obtained by Mr. Gibbs at Katlahwoko Creek, in the Eocky Mountains.* He states his belief that this locality is the furthest north in the range at which rocks of this age had been deter- mined bj' organic remains, but in this belief he was in error, as Dr. Hector had many years previously recognized Carboniferous lime- stones much further north.! In The Profession' 1 Papers of the Eoyal Engineers (Paper 14, Vol. III., read .January 22nd, 18(]4,) Lieutenant Wilson, E.E., gives some account of the geography of the same region described by Mr, Gibljs, together with details as to the mode adopted in llxing the boundary line. In 1874, the writer, as previously stated, made a geological examin- ation of a portion of the South Kootanie Pass and its vicinity, including the valley of Akainina Brook to the boundary monument on the sum- mit ridge. The result of this work forms Chapter III. in the Geology and Eesources of the 49th parallel, J where a geological section of the portion of the ])ass examined and several sketch sections of mountams are given. The I'eatures of the region are again summai- ized in a sketch of the geology of British Columbia, published in the Geological Magazine,^ and in the Sketch of the Physical Geography and Geology of the Dominion of Canada.|| Preliminary notices respecting the general structure of the pai-t of the i-ange included in the present report also occur in the i-eports on the district in the vicinity of the Bow and Belly rivers.^ Ml*. H. H. Winwood, in a letter to the Geological Magazine, in 1885, announces the discovery of Cambrian fossils in the Kicking Horse Pass.* * The publications above noted are, I believe, the only ones bearing on the geology of the region previous to the report herewith presented. • Bulletin U. S. Qcol. & Qeog. Survey, Vol. IL, p. 351, 1870. t See his report and paper above cited. I Montreal, 187.1. § London, April and May, 1881. II Published by the Geological Survey, 1884. ir Reports of Progress, Geological Sur\-ey, 1880-82 and 1882-84. • ♦ NS. Dec. III., Vol. II., p. 240. See also 'Science," Vol. III., p. 647. m OAWSON.] GENERAL OROQRAPHIO FKATURES. 15 b General Orooraphic Features. belt. The portion of the Eocky Mountains embraced by this report may xnterest be regarded, for several reasons, as one of particular interest and " "ifreBion*" importance. It is the most northern portion of the range of wliich any systematic geological — or indeed geogi*aphical — explora- tion of a connected character has yet been made, and it differs very considerably in character from that part of the range which tr;ivorsos the territoiy of Montana, where the mountains are com- pui itivcly diffuse and irregular in outline. The northern portion of the district is now traversed by the Canadian Pacific railway, which renders it easily accessible, and whether from the point of view of the ireologist, botanist or zoologist, oi- regarded merely as an alpine region atfbrding the most striking and attractive scenery and unlimited opportunities for mountain climbing and exploration, it is likely to attract in the near future many visitors. Apart from the circum- stances of the discovery of vai"ious metalliferous deposits already made, the existence of extensive basins of newer rocks holding numerous seams of excellent coal gives promise of important developments in the near future. The term Eocky Mountains is frequently applied in a loose way The Cordillera to tlie whole mountain region bordering the west coast of North America, which is more appropriately — in the absence of any other general name — denoted as the Cordillera belt, and includes a number of mountain systems and ranges, which on the 40th parallel have an aggregate width of about one thousand miles. Nearly coincident, however, with the latitude of the head-waters of the Missouri, a change occurs in the character of this Cordillera region ; it becomes com- paratively strict and narrow, and runs to the 56th parallel or beyond, with an average width of about 400 miles only. This narrower portion of the Cordillera comprises the greater })art of the province of British Columbia and consists of four main ranges, or more correctly speaking, systems of mountains, each composed of a number of constituent ranges. These mountain systems "are from east to west, (1) The Eocky Mountains proper ; (2) Mountains which may be classed together as the Cold Eanges; (3) The system of Coast Eanges Honietimes improperly regarded as a continuation of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington Territory ; (4) A mountain system which in its unsubmerged parts constitutes Vancouver and the Queen Charlotte Islands. This last is here actually the bordering range of the continent, as beyond it, after a submarine plateau of inconsiderable width, the bottom shelves very rapidly down to Ifi B THE IIOCKY MOUNTAINS. The Kooky Mountains. Trend iind width. to the abyssal depths of the Pacific. The Tertiary coast ranges of the south are hci'o entirely wanting. Between the second and third of the above mountain systems is the Interior Plateau of British Columlija. with an avei-age width of about one hundi-ed miles, a mean elevation of about 3,500 feet, and peculiar character and climate. The pi-esent report roforH more jiarticulai-ly to a portion of the Eocky Mountains proper. This system of mountains has, between tiio 49th and 53rd parallels an average width of about iifty miles, which in the vicinity of the Peace Iliver decreases to forty miles, tiie general altitude of tiie range as well as that of its supporting plat caii at the same time becoming less. Beyond the Peace iliver region these mountains arc known only in the most general and unsatisfactory way. The portion of the Rocky Mountains which has been explorwl is bordered to the eastward by the Gi-eat Plains, which break into a series of foot-hills along its base, and to the westward by a remarkably straight and definite valley, which is occupied by portions of the Columbia, Kootanio and other rivers, and is known to ])ro8erve its general direction and character for over six hundred miles. The general trend of that portion of the Rockj- Mountains here par- ticularly described, — between the parallels of 49° and 51° 30' — is ahoul N.N.W.-8.S.E., but when more closely examined it is found to inchidc three subordinate trends. That portion of the system, extending on the east side, from the 49th parallel to the South Fork of the Old iMan Eiver, has a general bearing of N. 35° "W. Thence noi-thward to tiie point at which the llighwood leaves the mountains, the general trend is N. 12°W., after which the bearing again becomes about N. 35° W,, and so continues to the northern limit of the map. Notwithstanding- the changes in general trend, the average width is preserved through- out with considerable constancy, though it becomes greater than usual in the north-and-south trending portion, where large Cretaceous infolds occur, as elsewhere more fully described. The constituoni ranges and ridges conform very maikedly to the varying directions above stated, and while these are most clearly shown by the outer eastern range, the three directions of trend are scarcely less evident on the westei-n border. The least regular ai.d most tumultuous portinii of these mountains is that in the neighborhood of the 49th parallel. The base-level of the Eocky Mountain range is much higher on the eastern than on the western side. On the east, as ascertained bv taking the average level at which the larger streams leave the moiin. tains proper and pass into the foot-hill region, it is about 4,360 feet. On the west, the average elevation of the Columbia-Kootanio Valley is ap- proximately 2,450 feet. In consequence of this ditl'erence, the passes ti'aversing the range have, (as first noted by Caj)tain Palliser), a stee]) DAWSON. ] GENERAL OROGRAI'UIC FEATURES. 17 B and siulden descent to the west of the watershed in contrast to the inoi'O ji;radual slope to the east. The foot-hills, thouii;h thoy might be reijarded structurally as a portion structure aud . , . , ^ , ^ ...... , >"iBi'i<)' the of the mountains, being composed ot rocks iloxcd and disturbed loot-hiiis. parallel to and contemporaneously with those of the mountains proper, differ much in their general appearance and character from them, and seldom equal even their outer and lower summits in height. The amount of disturbance in the foot-hills is not less than that found in the mountains, and in many places is even greater, the beds lic'iiig often vertical, or even overturned, in transverse sections several mil'js in length. They are, however, composed of the Cretaceous and lia'ainie rocks, which, further east, in nearly horizontnl and unbroken sheets, form the substructure of the Great Plains ; while the moun- tains ])roper are compo.sed of the older PaUeozoic rocks which never appear at the surface in the area of the plains. To the less resistence to (k'lmdation which the newer ami softer rocks have offered, must be attributed the inferior present elevation of the foot-hill region, and the comparatively rounded outlines of its hills and ridges, which are almost evci'vwhoro covered with vegetation. During the time intervening between the clo.se of the Laramie and the earliest Miocene, a truly surprising amount of denudation must have occurred, of which in this region no geological record remains. The averaife width of the foot-hill belt may be stated as about fifteen ^''T'*''",'"?,'^ '^ . •' the (iiot-hills. mile.s, and its eastern margin, where the sharp flexures abruptly sub- side, forms a line which is almost exactl}' parallel to the trend of the liiise of the mountains previously alluded to. The eastern base of the lugged and bare mountains coincides everywhere so closely with that of the Paheozoic rocks, that this geological line may bo taken as defining also the boundary between the mountains proper and the foot- hills. The foot-hills region is characterized by series of long ridges, or hills arranged more or less definitely in linear series, the positions of whic'li have been determined by the existence of zones of hardei' rock — generally sandstones. Between these ridges are wide valleys in which the smaller streams couise, while the larger rivers, having their souies in the mountains, generally cut across nearly at right angles. Though Foot-hills low veiy well marked south of the Old Man River, these ridges are there usually rather low, and the proportion of wooded country being <|uite small, the prairie may be said to spread up to the very base of the mountains proper. North of the North Fork of the Old Man, however, the hills and ridges grow higher and more abrupt, and the wooded areas beeome more considerable fill, about the Ilighwood River and Sheep Creek, extensive forest areas, interspersed with tracts of burnt woods, nf"'t''W!ird. render the base of the mountains well nigh inapproachable, except to tlio sontli. llit'hcr f; t V 18 b THE ROOKY MOUNTAfNS. Appcariinco of the foot-hill region . aloj g the river-valleys. The greater height and roughneHH of the foot-hill region in the vicinity of the Highwood Eivor, Sheep Creek and the Mlbovv Rivei', Ih co-ordinate witli an increased height of the ba^c- level of the mountains, which here attains its maximum ; the levels at which the Highwood and Elbow Rivei-s leave the mountains being a])- proximately 4,780 and 4,800 feet respectively. The streams which issue from the mountains at tlio lowest levels are the South and Midtlle Forks of the Old Man and the Bow Eiver. The two fii-st may be considerod together as occupying a structural break in the front of the range, and have a level at this point of little over 4,150 feet. The Bow Eiver, but for its greater size and erosive power, Avhich have enabled it to produce a great valley, would probably have at its exit from the mountains, a height as great as that of the Klbow or the Kananaskis at a cori-espond- ing point, but it actually crosses the outer range with an elevation 4,170 feet only. Where the summits of the foot-hill ridges are not crested with out- cropping ledges of bandstonc, their outlines are generally rounded and flowing. The parallel valleys contain a deep, rich, black soil, and under the influence of a sufficiently abundant rainfall, the vegetation is wonderfully luxuriant. There are indications of a veiy palpable character that the southern foot-hills were at a time not veiy remote, much more thickly wooded than at present, and that the recurrinjf fires have much extended the open country. Before many years have passed, the same influence will have produced great changes in the northern parts of this region, still thickly wooded, and districts now almost impenetrable from tangled forest and windfall will have become open pasture lands. Pew regions in a state of nature can compare with the southern part of the foot-hills in beauty. The long grassy slopes covered with xin infinite diversity of wild flowei s, the rivers fresh from their moun- tain sources, rapid, cold and clear, and the evoi'-changing views of the great background of mountains, combine to form a most attractive landscape. Structure of the -A.8 in most mountain regions (and here specially apparent on mountains. account of the strict parallelism of the rock-folding), the ruling feature of this part of the Eocky Mountains may be described as a system of parallel ridges, crossed nearly at right angles by a series of transverse breaks. These are abundantly evident, whatever their cause, which from a geological point of view is not very clear. On a larger scale, the plan of the foot-hills is repeated in the mountains, and some of the more evident breaks are continued quite through the foot- hills to the eastern plains, while in other parts of the foot-hills— as between the Middle and North forks of the Old Man — a series of similar OAVWON,] OKNEIIAL OnOORAPIITO FEATURES. 19 B hreaks is found travorsiiicr the foot-hills thompolvcs, Imt not uff'ooting tlio mountains. Tt is an interoHtinLr question, but one on whifh, as yot, Two system* WO have scarcely sufncienf evidence for decision, whether such trans- vei'HO breaks are duo to linos of comrainuted fracture and sbattcr- iiii;- of I'ocks, or whethor they represent portions of the older drainaije- valleys of the axis of elevation, which, by drawing to themselves the waters of the smaller sti-eams of the longitudinal valleys, have suc- coi'dcd in maintaining their supremacy as drainage channels even to the present time, though the longitudinal valleys have become the most noticeable features. It appears highly probable that both causes have been concerned in their formation. So far no evidonco of extensive faulting baa been discoverel in con- Routes ncrons " the iiiountiiiiig. ncction with these transverse lines. Jn no case, however, in the region now described, does such a transverse break pi'CSbive its char- acter so detinitely across the whole breadth of the range as to form a direct 'pass' or practicable route of travel, though the North , Kootanio Pass closely approaches this condition. The routes otl'ering tlic greatest facilities for ci'ossing the mountains, generally follow zig- zag courses, partly along the longitudinal valleys, and seek the lowest points at which to traverse the intervening mountain ridges. In con- Hcquenco of this, the lengj^s of the various transverse passes are often considorabh' greater than the actual width of the mountains. In the following list, the known passes in this part of the range are enume- rated in order from south to north, with the length of each measured along the direction of the trail from the eastern to the western base of tbo mountains. The altitude of each, at the Avatershed or main summit, is ifiven in the second column. — i Length Elevation in at miles. watershed. Smith Kootanie or Boundary Pass 66 7,100 North Kootanie Pass 48 6,750 Crow Nest Pass 56 4,830 North Fork Pass (1) 46 6,773 Kananaskis Pass 85 6,200 White Man's Pass (2) 70 6,807 i^impson Pass (3) oo. 70 6,670 Vermilion Pass (4) 88 5,264 Kicking Horse Pass 104 5,300 (I)' Measured from the Elk River Crossing in a straight line to the Kootanie Valley, the western continuation of this pass not having been explored. <2). Measured up the Bow Valley on the east, and at the west end crossing the Brisco Range by Sinclair Pass. Tiist of pafgex. 20 n THE UOCKY MdUNTAINS. (;}). MeiiHunvl iij) Bow Valloy on tlio enat, iiml across tho Brisco Rango^ in 11 (limit line, by repoitod passH. (4). Tho oastorn and woHtorn onils of this pass are identical with tho liist. (5). By the railway line, HI niilns. It is pr<)baV)lc that oven within this district thoro arc othor passes HCTOBS tho \vHt*4'slu'd ran/^o bcsido those hero named. Tho Indians, in tho coufso of thoir hunting expeditions, travel on foot in eveiy direction across tho mountains, but designate as passes only tho routes which are not too steep or rough for horses. Chnractcr and Most of the passes above enumerated cross subsidiary summits of imrortanco ot ;^,)„lo heiifht west of the main watershed. The South and North Koo- Ine passes. " tanio Passes have long been in regular use by tho Indians, and both these, after descending into the Flat-head Valley, in tho centre of tlic mountain region, cross a second high 'divide' between this river and tlic Kootanio Valloy. Tho Crow Nest Pass was little used by the Indians. » owing to tho thick forest prevailing along parts of it, but it was sonii; years ago chopped out, and rough bridges were thrown over some of the streams, to provide a route for taking horses and cattle eastward across the range. The North Fork Pass appears for tho lirst time on tho accompanying map, and was not known, except by Indians, till crossed by myself in 18S-t. Tho Kananaskis Pass was traversed l)y Captain I'allisor in 1858, and has been much used by the Indians. The White Man's I'ass proliably derives its name from the circumstance oi" its use by emigrants in 1841 (see p. 10 u). Sir George Simjwon in tho same year, crossed the mountains by the pass to which his name is now attached. The Vermilion Pass has long been a much-travellod Indian route, and takes its name from copious chalybeate sprini^s which deposit lai'ge quantities of ochre. The Kicking Horse Pass was little known, and scarcely used by the Indians, probably on account of the thickness of the woods and rough chaiactcr of jiarts of the valley for hoi-ses. About fifty miles north of the last-named pass, and beyond tho limits of the accompanying map, is the Howse Pass, and thence to the Atlia- basca Pass, a further distance of sixty-thi'ee miles, no practicable route is known across tho axis of the range. In 1884 I learned from tho Stoney Indians that a hunting party, having hoard reports of abundance of game in the region, had during the summer tried every valley between the Athabasca and IIowso passes, but had boon unable to get tlieir horses over, being repulsed either by impassable rocky mountain^ or by glaciers and snow-tields which tilled the intervening valleys. Con«titiicnt The ancient crystalline rocks form no part of this portion of the mountMnJ"^^ Eocky MountaiPiB, which is chiefly composed of Cambrian, Devoniiui H()W8e and Athabasciv Pflfses. CAWiON.] OKNERAL OROdllAl'iriC KKATIJRES. 21 n Mild CiirlioiiifurouH strutn, violontly floxod iitid oftoii cMjIviplctoly ovor- (iiniotl. Till! dinbroncoH in resislonco to (IciiiKlation ol' thoso rockh arc not on llio largo sciilo conHulci'ublc, an»tiiiiit' iiiid Kaniiniiakia PlUSU.f. Mountaiius between Kanuniiiikia DAWION.] UKNERAIi OROORAPHIO KKATimHiS. 23 b (l(>H(^ril)0(l, and in compoHod of from oii^ht to ton main rantjos, with but two wide ititervonin;^ valloyH — ono niniiinj; from (iio head of tlio Kan- lumslviH to Spray Kivor, the other holding the hoad-watorH of the Koo- taiiio. The paralicliHm of thcHo ranges is not loss well markod, hut tlioir continuity is frcMjucntly inttirruptod lK)th hy transvorso valleys and hy an ot'liolon-liUo arrangoniont whicii Hubsists hotwoon them. Fisher's {{luiiro horo ronstitutos tho eastern front of the mountains. Behind it ft second tier is formed hy a somowhal irregular range, which ends in Pigeon Mountain on tho Bow. Tho Opal Mountains and connocting t'U'valions ending on tho Bow in Mount Bundle, t\)rm a third range, wiiile tho Kananaskis and Goat JRanges,with Toi-race Mountain, consti- tute a fourth. The Spray and Bourgeau Mountains are tho host known portions of a tifth parallel, while a sixth runs southward fntm Pilot Mountain, hut dies out before reaching the White Man's Pass. Tho blue ,\b)untains and connected mountains ending in Mount Hall on tho Voiinilion Pass, tbrm a wi'?'|^''" '."<"">; '^ '^ -^ o taiii rcKions to ill this part of the mountains, nor does the portion of the mountains ^^''''"■'*"=''- characterized by the greatest connected areas of high mon itain coun- try and crowned by most of tho higher peak;?, coincide with it. A lino ibllowing this most elevated region would probably run from the neigh- bourhood of Waterton Lake west-north-west to the vicinity of tho Lizard Mountains, thence northward to the west of tho Elk River, to latitude i'O'' 30", and thence north-westward, passing through tho Blue ^loun- tains and Bow Range. Only in the la«t-described portion of its length I J; 24 B THE KOCK\ MOUNTAINS. ActunI position of tlio water- shed' Moat lofty mountains. would h bo identified with tlio main wjitor-])!irting. Therefore, other eireunriRtanccs than the position of this lino of greatest elevation iniisi have o])orated in dotorinining the watershed; or tliat which was origin ally the highest i)art of this mountain system is still marked approxi mately by the i>resent position of the 'main divide,' but has sincti beeoino I'olatively de])rosscd by the moi-e aetive ])rogress of deiuida- tion. It is quite possible that tiie latter su])position is coi-rect. Tlic steeper pitch and eonscquent greater erosive ])Ower of Iho westward tlowing streams, with other minor eircumstancos not necessary liore 'o detail, atford ground for tlio belief that the line of the watershtMl has, (luring the process of the denudation of these mountains, retreated eastward for a greater or less distance. From the South Kootanie summit, the actual watersheil runs noi-tli- westward to the north Kootanie summit, ])robably forming a very siinious line, as it does not here appear to coincide with any single i-ange. Thence it follows the Klat-head JJange tor some distance, hul on the Crow Nest I'ass is found to lie in a coni])aratively Ioav tract several miles west of that range. Thence, for many miles northward, the High Hock ]?imge forms a definite line of water-jiarting. At tlio northern end of this range it is (piitc ])robal)lc that the watershed lies to the cast of its axis, though this jioint has not been determined. It next ibllows the Elk Mountains for a few miles, crosses the wile longi- tudinal valley in which the Kananaskis and Elk head in a common, swamp}'' tract, and after following th, 'outbei-n continuatuui of tlic Spray Mountains round the bead of the Upi>er Kananaskis Lake, falls back on the White Man's Pass to the next range lO the west. Thenco after following the Hlii Mountain Range, it is found to the east of the main axis of elevation on Sim])son Piiss, after which it beconu's identified with this axis in the Bow Range and Waputtehk Mounttiins. Regarded as the eastern boundiiry ot the province of Hritish Columlna, it p.'Psents on the map an undesirable sinuosity, but possesses a practi- cal advantage in being always easily determined on the ground in each particular locality, and rc([uiring no elaborate survey of system or land-marks to fix its position. Tn the re Jon embraced by the map. Mount Lefroy (of Hector), with an altii of 11,(!58 feet above the sea, appears as the highest peak. It is tli- most lofty of which any actual measurement has been made, but others may still bo ft)und with an equal or greater height. It is quite probable that the blunt summit a few miles north-west of Mount Lefroy, in the same range, and forming the centre to which the spurs seen on the south side of Kicking Horse Pass attach, is higher. The remarkable peak called Assiniboine Mountain, of which I estimated tho height, as seen from a considerable distance, at 11,500 aENERAI. OROGRAPHIC KEATCRKS. on ) B tool, itiiiy also prove to exceed Mount Lefioy when itHhul' he moa«- urcil, iiiid tlicro are some very lot'l}' niDUiitains in the unexplored tract west of tlie \']\k River, wliicli have been Hcon only from hi^li points •wist of t!ie Klk many milcH distant. A iiiiiiiber of mountains shown on tlic map are known, however, to I'xcccil 1(1.000 feet in hei^lit, vvhile whole i-anges and groups of peaks ill the district surpass S,0()() fee'. The tvpo of mountain structi. re mcst oxtensivelv developed in this 'if^i'nmien^ rvgioii is tluit of the escarpment, with cliffs or very steep slopes on one >;i(le, and long and comparatively light slopes on the otlier. The steeper slopes generally face eastward, in conseciuenco of the |)revalen.JO of westward di])s, tli(-iigli tli(! conditions are reversed on llie west side jf the r.iiige. 'J'he ridges are very often com])08ed of massive beds of lime- stone, and these lighter slopes ai-o atan angle sometimes identical with the di]) of the beds; in win. h case inclined sin'faces of I'OcU, almost as hare as the more abrupt, eastward-facing clilVs, are otten i'oimed. Among the more s'.i-iking instances of this type of mountains nuiy he Mieiilioncd, Prow Mountain, on the I{cd Deer, Mount llu-.dle and the range running south from it, ami olhei-s in this vicinity, also jiart of the llighwood Jiange south of Mount Head. Mountains of this I'orm are, however, numerous everywliere in this district. Where the iiioiintaiii lo])s aii- formed of nearly horizontal beds of the massive limestones, as not infre(|ueutly happens, tlie easy disintegration of these I'oeks along Jointage-planes, at right angles to the bedding, ])r()duccs siimmils with very striking forms, of which the u])})cr parts are almost ■•licor dill's, often of very great height. The cons])icuous, block-like juock-like Kiimmit of Chief Mountain is a good instance of this type, others are'"""" '"*' the ('I'ow's Nest and JJce-hive Mountain, with summits resembling broken columns, and Castle Mountain, on the Bow Jliver, with its l<>ng riinges of vertical, i'am2)art-like (diif's. A later stage in decay of inoinitains of this type produces chimney- or spire-like peaks, such as are foinid running north from tlio Crow's Nest, at tlie eastern extremity ofCiistle Mountain (N),and in a very j)ictures(|uo peak at the head of the shorl valley whicii joins the Northwest Hianch of the Old Man liiver near its head at the fall. The index-like pinnacle, at one end of Castle Mountain, of the southern part of the range, is another instance. When the limestone series has been turned completely on edge, as in^ , , , , .demited ran km the western ridge of the Saw-back Itango, in the Opal Mountains anil elsewhere, the limestones entirely lose their chaiacteristic massive iippeaiance and produce ranges »vith a very sti-uight crest, but narrow, iiiul with saw^-liko outlines. The rocks of the underlying quart/ito series, though in tliemsolvos liiird, are not in such thick beds as the limostunes, and are, moreover, 26 b THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. Unexplored region. Quart7.itc iind Very much shattered by innumerable jointage-planes. As a consequence of these conditions, the forms of the mountains composed of them are not so striking nor so much individualized. They tend to form systems of angular, steep-sided ridges, separated by V-shaped valleys, which radiate in all directions from the higher parts. If of inferior height, or when erosion has not proceeded so actively, they may become almost rounded in outline. The slate mountains on the Bow Eiver, and the Van Home Mountains on the Kicking Horse, may be mentioned as illustrations of these. The largest jjart of that portion of the Eocky Mountains represented on the accompanying map which yet remains completely unexplored, is that alluded to as lying between the Elk Eiver and the Kootanie. This region is known to be one of great difficulty, not only from its rugged, mountainous character, but from the fact that owing to it,s abundant rainfall, the forest growth is there particularly impenetrable. Judging from our experience elsewhere, however, I believe it would not on actual trial prove nearly so difficult as j'eported. It was not eiitcretl by us, merely because the time at our disposal was not more than sutticient for traversing the main routes, and for the delimitation of the more imjjortant Cretaceous areas in the region. The cause of its being avoided by the main trails is probably to bo found chiefly in tlie position of the Elk Eiver, which constitutes at all but its lowest stagos, a well-nigh impassible barrier, being as a rule too deep to ford with animals, and too swift for rafting. In view of the gold-bearing charac- ter of Wild llorsc Creek and the Bull Eiver, both heading in this unexploi-ed tract, it would appear to be one worthy of the attention of the pi'ospector. The transverse vallej'S, previously described as constituting one of the well-marked structural features of this part of the Eocky Mountains, are so numerous, that it would appear to be the normal condition for each of these to unwater a comparatively limited ti'act of the Piountains, receiving as tributaries the streams from the longitudinal valk; - To such an arrangement the valleys of the several branches of the Old Man, together Avith those of the tlighwood. Sheep, l?cd Deer, and several others, confoi'm pretty evidently. In other cases, however, owing jirob- ably to causes explicable on grounds of geological structure, the longitu- dinal valleys have become the main water-ways, and collect the streams of a number of areas which drain toward them through smaller trans- verse breaks. Of this, the Elk Eiver is the most I'cmarkable example, and the determining cause in this case is evidently to be found in the existence of the long infohl of the softer Cretaceous rocks which it follows. The upper part of tlie Kootanie Eiver is another case in point,but the importance of the valley is there due to the existence of an anticlinal axis of Cambrian rocks, which is continued northward Normal conditionp of draina^'c. Lonxitiidina intorceptinc (treams . DAWSON.] (JENERAL onOGRAPlIIC FEATURES. 27 B in tlie Beavcr-foot Valley. Both theBe stieams eventually break across tho intervening ranges to the west. The Flat-head Valley is another instance of the same kind, but the cause of its existence is not so obvious. It is worthy of note that all these large, intercepting, longi- tudinal streams How southward. The course of tho Bow River in the mountains, is very remarkable. The How Vallojr Ai'tei' first flowing in an anticlinal Cambrian valley, it turns eastward and breaks completely across the series of mountain-ridges which ' Ibrm the Saw-back Kange. It then reaches an important Cretaceous infold, and after I'ollowing it for a number of miles to the south-east, again turns nearly at right angles, and breaking through the outer ranges, reaches the foot-hills. It is highly probable that the Bow at one time flowed through tho valley now occupied by Devil's river-V^ufoys. Lake, the singular characters of which are elsewhere described, and that the change in its course tcjok place either during or subsequently to the glacial period. Such u ciiaiige might have happened in con- Hcquence of tlie more prolonged blocking of the Devil's Lake valley by glacier ice derived from the high mountains surrounding it. The only other instance which need be referred to of a now disused channel, which evidently at a former period carried a large stream, is that of the valley Avhich opens at each end um the Spray liiver and runs to the east of the Goat llange. In NO mountainous a region, such changes must necessarily be quite Aiiti(iuity of oxcx'plioual, as drainage channels once established would in general system"""'^ bo very persistent. Evidence of the gieat antiquity and jjermanence of the channels of drainage is abundant. Except it v.ere the complete blocking of valleys by mas.ses of glacier ice, circumstances under wiiiuh the larger streams '.vould be diverted from the depressions they have now produced, are well nigh inconceivable, and most of the rivei's appear to have simply re-occupied these (dd courses after the ice of the glacial period had passeil away. The transverse valleys are supposed to be, goologifjilly, tlie mo^t ancient, as they are those for wliich least appaient determining cause can be found at the presentday. A circum- stance indicating their vast antiquity, is that the lowest summits bi'twcon the tributaries of contiguous transverse valleys, are in several cases as high as, or higher, than those of the main watershed of the mountains in the same neighbourhood. A marked superiority once oblaiiK'd by^ any of the larger streams is of course likely to be perpetu- aluil and to increase at an acceleiated ratio in consequence of the greater eidsivo power thus gained. The formation of such main water-courses as the Bow, Elk, etc., is probably due to such cumulative increase. Tho laUes found in or adjacent to this part of the mountains are notLaikea. very numerous or important. The largest are tho Columbia Lakes, the 28 3 THE HOCKY MOUNTAINS. Columbii Kootaiiif ViiUcy. Its present anomalous oharaoter- character and oi-igin of which arc elsewliei-o Kpoken of. The upper hike i.s nine, the lower about eight miles in length, the width of eacli being in some places about a mile. Devil's Lake, ton miles in length, but narrow, has been referred to as probably occupying part of a former river valley. Trout Lake on the White Man's Pass is of the same character, but much smaller. The upper and larger of the Watcrton Lakes, nine miles long, is pretty certainly held in by the accumuliition of debris brought down by the Kootanio Brook, though pei'haps ;il,so in part dammed by moraine material. In any case it certainly occupies the position once held b}^ a glacier in the same valley. The lowci" Waterton F.,ake is ]>i'obably also moraine-dammed. Bow Lake doubtless occupies the bod of a former extension of the glacier still existing at its head. Several smaller lakes such as that on the summit of the Vei'milion Pass have evidently been produced by debi-is fiom tributai-y streams or torrents blocking up the valleys. Kicking Horse Lake flows westward over a lip of rock. It occupies part of the bottom of a wide valley transverse to the watershed i-ange, which probably drained eastward before it became filled by glacial diift deposits in the vicinity of Stephen station. There are also a number of small lakes and pools which lie in cirques or occupy the upper ends of deep valleys heading in the mountains, and some of these may rest in true I'ock-basins of glacial origin. The Columbia-Kootanie Valley, bordering the Rocky Mountains on the west, has already been i-eferi-ed to as an orogra])hic feature of the first importance. The portion of this valley included in the present repoi't and map extends from the 49th parallel to the mouth of the Kicking Horse, with a length of one hundred and eighty-five miles. The eastern side of the valley is here formed by the escarpment-like western range of the Eocky Mountains, while the slopes on its western side are, as has already been stated, longer and lightei'. The general direction of dip of the rocks of the first-mentioned range being ea.st- ward, this great valley maj' be considered as an exaggerated instance of the strike valleys elsewhere met with in this region. Indication? are not wanting of fracture and disturbance in the rocks along the line of the valley, but it appears probable that it has been produced for the most part by the normal action of streams cutting along the bassotr edges of the strata, and that as it has increased in depth, it has also changed its position laterally, moving to the eastward. Active erosion is, however, not now in progress in this great valley. Like most of the larger valleys, it is evidently of pre-glacial origin, and is deeply filled with drift materials. We cannot even certainly tell in which direction it discharged in pre-glacial times, tlioiii,'h it was pi'obably southward. The present condition of the valley OAWSON.] GENERAL OHOGUAPIIIC KEATURE8. 29 b in lenard lo it^ drainage is both peculiar and anomalouH. Thor.mrsesof the Columbia Eiver, finding its fui'thest source in the Upper Columbia Lake, flows thence through the second or lower lake northward for about one hundred and seventy miles to its great bend at the mouth of the Canoe Eiver, while the Kootanie River enters the same wide longitudinal valley nearly abreast of the hea thus runs for about fourteen miles through an outlying hilly and mou.^tainous country, which by a detoui- of a i'aw miles to the north may be entirely avoided, an0 to 100 fnt. D. — Compact bluish liiuostono, nomewhat magnesian, and weathering brownish. This forms some of the boldest craiis and i)eaks of the mountauis, and rests uncon- lormably on Series C. \,OO0 fed. C— Sandstones, quartzites and slaty rocks of various tints, but chiefly reddish and greonish-grey ; tlm individual beds sokloiii of great tliickness, and tho colour and texture of approximate beds rapidly alternating. In ihio series occurs a band of bright red rocks of inconstant thickness, also two or more zones of coars'i magnesian grit. 2,000 feet or more. B. — Limestone, pale-grey, cherty, and highly magnesian, hard, much alten^l and weathering white. It includes at least one band of coarse nmgnesian grit, like that found in the last series, which weather, brown. 200 feet. A. — Impure dolomiti's and fine dolomitic (luartzites ; dark purplish and grey, but weathering bright brown of various shades- 700 fed or more. * dipt. J. F. Gregory states that lit a distiinco of :iOO yards from the west shoro, whoro inter- sected hy tlio -loth Pariilk-l.ho wiu» unable to reach bottom with a line 3()0 feet long. Capt. liri'Kory gives a dot ailed map of the shores of the lake iu his report. Survey of Northern Boun- dary of United States. • c S -* ^ J£ o j C3 iffiP'l 40 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, Rooks near Watcrton Lake Scries A. Disregarding for the present the eastern outlying mountains above referred to, I shall describe the rocks seen in the vicinity of Watorton Lake. The lake is at an elevation of about 4,245 feet above the sea- level. The mountains sui-rounding it are often 8,000 feet above the same datum, and, like most of those in the eastein part of the range, are singularly bare and rocky and atford tine sections, even as viewed from a distance. They form a number of high ridges, vphieh, on both sides, abut nearly at right angles on the lake shores, and are separated by deep intervening valleys. These ridges are as a rule capped by the massive limestones of sei-ies D, which are nearly horizontal, and rest upon the part of the Cambrian series Avhich in the preceding table has been denoted by the lottei' C. At The Narrows, where the lake makes a bend, both shoi-es are composed of rocks of series A, which appears to be brought to the sui-face by a low, iri-egular anti- clinal flexui-e which crosses the lake in a north-west and south-east direction. The dolomitic rocks, which, for convenience of reference, have been denoted by the letter A, present a very remarkable appear- ance in the bare mountain sides, from the peculiarity of the tints assumed by them on weathering, which ai-e i'ov the most part bright reddish and yellowish b'-owns, and alternate in broad belts according w^ith the stratification. The bedding is very Tegular, and is marked, besides the difference in tini, by the erosion of some softej- layers composed of thin, tiaggy beds, which alternate with massive, compact layei-s sevei-al feet in thickness. The tracttire of the more massive portions is conchoidal, with a dim lustre, and the colours of fi-eshly broken surfaces are much less mai'ked than those of the exterior, vai-ying from light to dark grej', dull purplish and, in some cases, pale greyish pink. The structure of the rock is generally very close and tine, an'l from the preponderance of sedimentary matter, it frequently resembles more a hai-dened argillile than a true dolomite. It does not effervesce in cold dilute acid, but on heating gently, a bi-isk action is induced, and when the whole of the calcareous and magncsian matter has been removed, there remains a coherent though tender mass composed ol argillaceous and siliceous particles. The exposed surfaces are generally decomposed to a small extent. Of these rocks, at least seven hundred feet in thickness is exposed. They are well shown at the cascade* on the wa^stern shore of the lake, bixt to the south soon dip out of sight, the overlying beds coming down to the water-level. In 1874, and again in 1883, careful search was • One mile from The Narrows. Called Cameron's Fall on plate opposite p. 312, in Survey ol Northern Boundary of United States, DAWSON.] VICINITY OP WATERTON LAKE. 41 B made in those rooks and also in the higher members of the Cambrian of (his vicinity for fossils, but without success. Eesting directly on these peculiar dolomites is a very massive bed of series B. limestone, also dolomitic, which forms a prominent feature from the ihiilky-vvhite aspect of its weathered surfaces. It is designated by the let lor B, in the general section previously given, and is about two huiiilrod feet in thickness. It includes at least one well-marked band of coarse magnosian grit. The limestone, on fresh fracture, is of a pale grey colour, very close-grained and compact, and breaks with a splinlory fracture, the original planes of deposition being almost eiilircly lost. Some layoi-s are exceedingly cherty, the silicious matter being in places aggregated into well-defined nodules, but more usually disseminated, and tbrming an irregular skeleton, which i;ives to some weathered surfaces an exceedingly rough apjjcarance. With acid, the rock scarcely etfervesces in the cold, but on heating is rapidly dissolved, leaving a compa-atively small amount of residue, which, under the microscope, seems not to be of a detrital nature, but to bear the form of minute concretions produced by the rearrangement of the silica. This limestone appears to bo perfectly- conformable with the rocks of series A and C, below and above it; constituting, in fact, , merely a subordinate portion of this great Cambrian formation. The rocks designated by the letter C, which overlie the last, are scries C well exposed in the bare sides of the mountains on both shores of the northern end of AVaterton Lake. On the east side they form a great portion of the west side of Sheep Mountain,* while to the west a mountain, rising about 4,000 feet above the lake and extending to the entrance to the South KootanicPass, is almost entirely composed of these beds, which have there been subjected to violent flexure. As a whole. this division of the section may be described as consisting of quartz- ites and hard quartzose sandstones, slates and shales ; and its most remarkable feature is the rapid alternation of beds differing in colour and texture. Various shades of green, purplish-brown, red, and white are iiKjst prevalent. In the almost vertical western side of Sheep Mountain, the total ^iJl'eei^ . ' Mountain • exposed thickness of beds of series C, must be about 2,000 feet. These rest directly on the limestone B, and ai-e overlain by the limestone series D, the latter resting with evident unconformity on them. This uncon- formity is shown very clearly by the existence of a thick belt of bright . red roeks, forming a part of series C, which is observed to run out altogether beneath the upper formation at one end of the mountain. Ik '.Referred to as Mount Wilson in the QeoloRy and Resources of the 4nth Parallel. It has since liicoMic known locally us Sheep Mountain, and the former name is perhaps more appro- priately iipplied to the entire outlyine rnnKO of which this pcali forms a part. 6 mt 42 B THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Sootion in Shoop Moun- tain. Wilson KjtDge^ In 1881, Mr. R. G. McConnell, then acting as my assistant, ascended Sheep Mountain and measured the following section on its northern side, including part of the capping bods referred to the Devonian or Car- boniferous limestone series (D) and a considerable portion of series C. The section is as follows in descending order : — I'KEIT. 1. Greenish-white, rather coarse-grained sandstone, moderately compact, in beds 3" tol' thick 45 2. Greenish-white sandstone, weathering to a Ught yellowish colour, in bods 1" to 3" thick. Rather compact 30 3. Greenish shales 70 4. Red shales 20 5. Green shales 15 6. Greenish sandstones 20 7. Light-greenish shales, very hard, and passing into quartzite in some places 80 8. YellowLsh sandstones, somewhat ilaggy and ripple-marked... 60 9. Light-yellowish sandstone in beds 1' to 2' thick, alternating with thin beds of dark shale 83 10. Drab-coloured limestono in beds 1' to 2' thick, greatly flexed in some places, conformable with beds above, but uncon- formable with rocks below 355 11. Green shales, schistose in places, alternating with occasional beds of coarse, grey sandstone, some of the upjier beds reddish 75 12. Bright red shales, liolding occasional beds of greyish and red- disli sandstone, greenish shales and jaspery conglomerate, some beds of sandstone ripple-marked 700 13. Greenish and reddish shales alternating with some grey sandstone !'>, There is scarcel}' any more striking view to be found in the moun- tains than that obtained from the hill over which the trail iiin^ at the entrance of the pass, from which the eye follows the great trough-like valley for many miles to its termination at the base of ..-r, V , .. tbe summit ridge. At the forks above referred to, two streams of nearl}' e(|ual size unite to form that which flows into Waterton Lake, and is generally called the Kootanie J5rook, though named the Kin-7iook-kleht-nan-na on the map of the first Boundar}- Commission. Above the forks, both valleys may be described as generally wooded. The trail follows the southern branch, koe])ing on the northern side of the stream, passing along some rough hilhides and in one place wind- ing between huge blocks, which have fallen from the neighbourinj; mountain. At about five miles from the forks, the trail begins the Summit. ascent of the summit ridge, and in a short distance emerges on bare, I'ocky slopes, which pack animals surmount with diflScully by a series of steep zig-zags. The watershed ridge has here an alti- tude of 7,100 feet, very nearly.* Both to the north and south of the point at which the trail crosses the summit ridge, its eastern ftico is extremely abrupt, consisting of rugged precipices of great hoiifht. Along its western side the descent is more gradual, and nearly Ibllows the dip of the stiata composing it. From the summit it may be observed that a number of the mountains both to the etist and west of the watei'shed are much higher than the axial crest. Rocks o'' The following description of the rocks met with in the eastern poi- castMnpwtof ^Iqjj yf (.jjy p.j^j^ i^ ^jjIjq^ ^yijj^ ij^ji^, alteration from my report of 1875, previously referred to. The edition of this report, published in con- nection with the Boundary Commission, having been limited, it is now completely out of print. The rocks forming the mountains on both sides of the pass to the base of the watershed ridge have a'general light westward dip, and • In the (ieoloKy and Resources of the 4!)th I'arallel Mft IiciKht is given a.'i 6,673 feet ; by Capt. Blackiston, fmni a single observation, 6,(i.'iC feet. The above is believed to be much more "I'url' correct than either of these. It is the mean of observations made in 1881 and 1883. on 4 Hi H: O O Q t hi Cfi. H CO' C« ^i2 « B •AWaON.] KWSON,] SOUTH KOOTANIE PASS. 45 K compriso the ontiro series in ascending ordei' from C to F, both inclu- sivo. An oxtonsivo fault, witli nortli-wost and soutlioast direction and downthrow to the north-east, evidently runs along the valley at the eastern base of the watershed ridge, and here breaks the continuity of the scL'iion. The bods of Series C, are well displayed in the sides of the eastern Subdivisions of , , , , n • n n sories C. part ot the pass, and were there separated, lor convonionco ot roier- enco, into tivo subdivisions. The roclvs at the entrance of the pass have a general south-westward dip. The lowest seen are in the bed of the brook, anci must bo well down in the series. They consist of veiy hai-d, gieenish shales and compact, thin-bedded quartzitos. In the mountain on the north side, they were seen to be overlaid by reddish, gi-oenish and bluish-grey sandstones, with .''ome shaly beds, all much hardened, but forming a tiilus and not well exposed. These were dasignatoil sub-division 1. About midway up the same mountain, a massive bed of magnesian jipgng,i,j„g,,it sandstone ov grit appears, and constitutes sub-division 2. It must be about iitt}' feet in thickness, and great blocks which have broken from it are now strewn along the slope and encumber the pass. It evidently corresponds to one of the similar bods described iis occur- ring on Waterton Lake, and lithologically also i)oars a close resem- blance to that included in series B. It is composed of largo, well rounded grains of trans[)arent quartz, with ocoasionid dai'Icer pai-ticles — tiio whole imbedded in an o])aque, white calcareous and magnesian matrix, which turns brown on exposure to the weather. Next in the series, and forming the summit of this mountain, is a considerable thickness of rod, greenish and bluish-grey .sandstones and shales, which, by their alternation, give the clilfs a curious banded appoiirance. They resemble those of the tirst sub-division, and mav be named sub-division 3. On the opposite mountain, cm the south side of the pass, a series of bright led beds appeal- overlying the last. This constitutes sub-divi- sion f and is the same with that already noticed as occurring in Sheep Mountain and elsewhere in the Wilson Range. In following the ti'ail westward, this zone is found to come down almost to the level of the brook, at about a mile and a ([uarter from the entrance of the pa.ss. Its thicdcnoss at tliis place must be about two hundred feet, and from the exceedingly brightcolour of the beds, it constitutes, whei-ever it occurs an excellent reference horizon, and may often be detected even at a great distance. The beds composing this sub-division are hard red thiii-betlded saiulstones, with frequent thin intercalations of red argil- laecous material, and one or two minor beds composed of pale greenish shaly quartzite. A tilth sub-division, which intervenes in some places 4f5 H THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. Ril Scries U. Anderson's Peak. Rocks near The Forks. between the rod bods and the base of the limestoncH above, is not well seen in thiH pai-t of tbo valley. At about throe miles from the entrance to the pass, in the bottom of the valley, and near the brook, are rocks, which thoiigli not closely examined, appear to belong to the limestone series B. Tliene are probably continuously exposed in the valley which rtins thiough to Cameron's Fall on the lake, being brought up along the axis of a low anticlinal. The mountaijis about the head of the valley, which runs north-west- ward from the forks, afford fine sections and would merit careful cx:imi- nation in connection with the beds ovei'lying the limestone series D, which, ai'e there well exposed. A very remarkable ridge-like moun- tain lies in the angle between the two streams, ami, as seen from the main valley, has a sharp conical outline. This, on the map, I have named Anderson's Peak, in memory of the late Major S. Anderson, R.E,, Chief Astronomer of the second Boundary Commission, and also a mem- ber of the first Boundary Commission expedition already rcferi'ed to, In following the valley of the southern stream, the trail, after cross- ing the northern branch, runs for about half a mile parallel with the axis of a gentle anticlinal, which has an east-and-west course, and l)asse8 eventually into the ridge-like mountain in the angle. In the bed of the brook, and well down among the variegated sandstones and quartzites of sub-divisions 1 or 3 of Series C, is an extensive exposure of coarse trap. It is not certain whether this is an intei-bedded mass or an intrusion. Over twenty feet in thickness is exposed. The rock is dark-colored and compact, and some large, loose fragments whicli appear to have been derived from the same bed, show remarkable stellar aggregations, several inches in diameter, of pale-green felspar ci-ystals. Below the trap, and in the bed of the brook, an extensive series of banded red and green sandstones and quartzites appears. These beds all lie at low angles, and are not much disturbed, though somewhat corrugated on a small scale. A species of shaly conglome- rate is hero also not uncommon, though generally occurring in beds only a few inches in thickness. This rock is essentially a greenish, white or reddish quartzite. which encloses small, irregular fragments of green or red fine-grained shaly rock. The included shale-fragments resemble some beds found in the same' series, and are probably the result of slight contemporaneous erosion. These peculiar conglome- rates are not uncommon at several horizons in series C, and fragments of them have been recognized among the drift deposits far out on the plains. ..• , The upper part of the mountain already referred to as Anderson's Peak, which occupies the angle between the two streams, is com- OAWiOK. SOUTH KOOTANIE PASS. 47 B posed oi' tlio thick limostono beds of Hories D of (ho gononil Hoction. Forms of Tlieso weather light brown or fuwii-colour, iind conHtitiito the HummitH,I"i,"nt'iUnH. of the hii',hoi' mountainH on both Hides of the paHH. When, aw in this iiistiincc, they form the crest of a pouk or ridge, diHintogration i)i'oceo(ling most rapidly along vortical linos of jointagc, produces extremely picturosquo and rugged outlines. When, however, moroly exposed in tho side of a mountain and Htill covered b}' other botis. they form steop terraced slopes or vertical clitts of quite ditforonl aspect. Tho lower beds of the limestone in this vicinity are much moie iiiiissivo than tho upper. Mount Hlackiston, the towei'ing moun- tain to the south, on the o])posito side of tho valley, probably includes the whole thickness of series D, with a small outlyor at the summit of series E, the contemporaneous trap. At about three miles above the forks, the general westwai-d inclinti- Bedded trap. tioii of tho I'ocka brings tho base of tho limestones down to tho bottom of tho valley, while tlie contemporaneous trap, above referred to, appears at about the same place, capping the limestones in the moun- tainH on the north side of the valley. Tho trap must here be at least fifty foot in thickness, and groat masses have fallen from it into the valley below. The rock is greenish, purplish or brown in coloui", and shows numerous amygdaloidal cavities. It is probably a diabase, though under the microscope it appears much decomposed. Series F and G also occur overlying tho trap in tho summit of the mountains in this vicinity, but were not here examined. Tho rocks forming tho . watershed ridge, and seen on the trails ,^j. ^^ from its eastern base to about three and a half miles beyond its shed tidge. summit, appear to belong entirely to series C. The fault previously refeiMod to as probably running along the eastern base of the ridge was not actually observed, but the relations of tho bods leave little doubt of its existence, and show also that a similar fault, but with a down-throw on the west side, must cross the valley of the trail, at the distance above stated, west of the summit — the summit ridge thus consisting of Cambrian rocks bounded by down-throw faults to the east and west. Tho steop ascent from the valley at tho eastern base of tho ridge is about 1,022 feet; on the west, a little brook is crossed at about three- quarters of a mile at an elevation 1,325 feet lower than the summit, or 300 foot below tho stream last crossed on the east side. The rocks of sei'ies C, here met with, dip at low angles to the west or north-west. Bed sandstones are abundant on the eastern slope, while greenish and grey schists and quartzites preponderate on the western. Near the point above defined as three-and a half miles from theAkamina summit, the valley of Akamina Brook joins that of the pass, from the southward. This valley was that followed both on the first and second Valley. 48 It THF. UdCKY MOUNTAINS. boundary CommiHHion oxpoditions for Iho purpose of ronchiiig the torminal moiiiiiiK'nt iTiiirkin^ tlio iiitorsi'ction of the 4ntli piirulljl with tlic watiiVNlioil. Tlio roclxH ol»Morvo, ami dilVoring from it markoLlly in colour, it was always at a gieat height above the valleys. Camp Aliiimiiia The spot known as Camp Akamina, tho eastern terminal station of the old North-west Boundary Commission, is situated at the head of the valley just described. It has an elevation of about (!,00)) foot above tho sea, and is a sheltered hollow with thick s» "o woods of tine growth. The Akamina Valley terminates jus th of the 4ilth parallel in a tine, though small, cirque, holding a o tarn which is rimmed with shattered blocks of limestone. The terminal moniimont of the first Boundtry < 'ommission expedition stands in a saddlo-.^liiiped depi'ossion of the watershed I'idge, walled in on two sides by liigii. rocky peaks, while the other two are bounded by an almost precipit- ous descent. Its altitude is 7,05G feet, according to observations of the first Boundary Commission. Fai- down, on the east side of the ridge, is a lake about a mile in length, fV«/m which flows the brook Ibrming the Cameron Fall on Waterlon Jjake. In the opposite direction the view extends for eighteen miles down the valley of the Kintla Lake.s, which are overhung by gigantic precipices and thickly- wooded slopes. Few landscapes to be met with in tho mountains sui-pass those of thi- vicinity in grandeur. Near Camp Akamina the rocks are rci.' ."ifindstones, but are not well shown or regular in position. In the mountain side between the camp and the boundaiy monuiaont, however, the rocks arc well exposed, and hero the character ot series F and G of tho general sec- tion was best seen, and over six hundred feet actually examined. The pSuillIllll monument. Rocks near summit monument. Series F. It Hoction liore omhrucos tlio lowor bods of HoricH G, and tlio wliolo of KoricH F. Tlio higho8t hocU oxiiininod consist nltriost oiitircly of Ha^'f^y, dull-rod, coinpnct HiimlHtonos, which are freciuontly ripplo- murUod. Above tboso, about two hundred foefc of Himilur roddi^h bods JH visible in distant hill-sides, and those again are ovorlain by the U|»|i(M' fawn-coloured seiies 11. In descondini^, from the beds first mentioned, the red begin to alternate with grey and fawn-colouix'd siiiidstones, tho latter magnosian, and white on fresh fracture. Lowor in the section, wbilo red and pui-plish-rod sandstones still C(jntinue, whitish and fjiwn-colourod limestones — frcqucmtly concretionary — are intercalated, and become thicker and more fre(|uent toward the base. The lowest rock seen in series K, is a dark-i)urt)lish sandstone, and not isippio nmrks , . . , , . 1 • 1 .1 ami iinpri'ngKins tar lieneath it, 18 the trap designated m the general section by tho "f •^aii crygtiii». letter R. Many of tho sandy beds throughout the entire section are ripple-marked, and rain pitting and sun ci-acks are not iiifroqiient. At several ditl'erent levels, too, the Miifaces of sandstone beds show impressions of salt crystals, which have subsequently been dissolved and replaced by clayey matter. Some of the.se are as much as half an inch in diameter, and exhibit distinctly the peculiar hopper-shaped forms characteristic of sodic chloride. The division made between series F and G, and that between G and Relations of ir, are probably not of groat importance. Xo unconformity obtains, K'uUon."''*" and very similar conditions of deposition appear to have prevailed tlirouirhont, the and magnoian limestone. The divisions arc therefore recognized a matter of convenience onl^', and aro founded on the ditl'erent C' >ur8 of the zones as they apjiear in tho mountain sides. Tiie trap K is still importani at this ])lace, though not so thick as in some other localities. It is dark-purplish in colour, and full of irregular aniygdaloidal cavities, which arc lined with groen chloritie matter ami general!}' tilled with white calcite. Here, as elsewhere, it overlies tlie ureat limestone series. ' South Kootanie Pass {Continued). Akamina Brook is, as already mentioned, a tributary of tho main Kish-c-nehn stream followed by the South Kootanie trail. This stream, is on tho "" ' map of tho tirst Boundary Commission named Kish-c-nelin Creek. My oliservatioiis in connection with the Boundary Commission exten '< coal scams. The places at which these rocks have been recognized in tlie North Kootanie Pass are as follows : — 1. About a mile west of the Places at which these outcrop. little brook at the entrance of the pass, in the bank of the main stream. The volcanic material is here considerably mixed with ordinary arenaceous matter and appears to be thinning out. 2. About six miles above the mouth of the Little South Fork in the banks of the stream, and forming part of a prominent hill on the south side. The only peculiar circumstance in connection with this outcrop is the occurrence of some obscui e vegetable impressions, longitudinally striated. The • carbonaceous matter has been removed and replaced by crystalline calcite. 3. About three miles oast of the summit. Small exposures in a dense wood. There is probably a tburth outcrop between this point and the summit. In all these places the dip is west- ward at varying angles, and, indeed, the greater part of the entire Cretaceous series hero exposed, dips in the same general direction, leading to the belief, as above stated, that a series of overturned folds exist. The entire thickness of the volcanic material was not shown at any of these points, but it is evidently much less considerable than on the Crow Nest Pass. The rock has a greenish-grey colour and is often distinctly fragmental, sometimes showing distinct fragments of amygdaloid an inch or more in diameter. It is generally speckled with greyish, greenish and reddish points, and is more or less cal- careous throughout. 8 ■ ti.-i 58 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Con I fienms at entronoo to pass Second ooal outcrop. Beds a^iacent to eoaL The first outcrop met with at the eastern end of this pass, in the stoop banks of a small stream crossod by the trail, is important as showing ooal seams, which are with little doubt referable to the same hoiizon as those in the Crow Nest Pass (p 69b ). These are refened to on p. 99 c. Report of Progress 188:^-84. The highest part of the section at this place con^'sts of massive sandstones, twenty fcot or more in thickness, below which is a coal seam two feet ten inches thick, and though somewhat variable, capable of yielding at least one foot six inches of good coal. This is followed by about thirty feet of shales and sandstones of general dark colours, below which is a second seam of coal one foot five inches thick. The dip is S. 45° W. < 20. The coal, though thin, is of fair quality, and may prove to bo of some value locally. The horizon of the seam is about 2,400 foot below the first exposure of the volcanic bod above noticed, and the series is apparently a regular ascending one between the two points. Some imperfect specimens of fossil plants were collected near the coal scam. Among these Sir J. \V. Dawson has recognized Podozamites lanceolatus (Lindl.) and Zamites montana (Dn.)* The second Icicality in which coal has boon discovered in this part of the pass, is about four miles above the mouth of tho Little South Fork, where the immediate baidcs of the stream become steep and the valley caiion-like. The exposures are on tho south side of tho stream ami exhibit a considerable thickness of sandstones and tdiales, with coals and coaly layers or carbonaceous matter, at several stages. Tho beds are somewhat disturbed at this point, being bent into a small synclinal, and there is also a difference of appearance in diflerent parts of individual la3'ers, which may show that tho gi-cat development of tho coals at this place is a local phenomenon. No fossils were obtained, but the coals here are supposed to bo at about the same horizon as those last noticed. Tho thickest seam shows nine feet nine inches of good coal, and is underlain by eight inches of shale, bolow which is a second seam fourteen inches in thickness, the whole being capable of yielding about ten loot of clean coal. Mr. Hoffmann's analysis of the coal of the nine-foot seamf shows it to contain. — ■., - ■•,1, , ^.|:l^ Hygroscopic water 1 . 93 Volatile combustible matter 23.23 Fixed carbon 57.50 Ash 17.34 The disturbance of the measures would render this an unfavour- able point for tho actual working of the coal, bi;t the scam * See Proceedings Royal Soc- of Canada, Vol. III., Sec. 4. t Keport M, p. 8. cAwsoN.] NORTH KOOTANIE PASS. 69 B w'v^ht he traced up to some more suitablo locality in the noigh- . hnuriii!^ hills. Some of the massive sandstones in this vicinity wore observed to overlie tho beds including the coal with apparent unconformity. This is the only place in wh'ch any appearance of iincnnformity has so far been met with, among the very thick Creta- ceous soi'ies of the mountains, and it is probable that it may have resulted merely from local contemporaneous erosion and may here have no fundamental structural imjiortanco. The entire section observed at this place, as measured by Mr. J. B. Section inoiud- Tyrrell, is as follows, in descending order. — "' FEET. INCHES. 1. Tliiok-bedded, yellowish- weathering sandstone — — 2. Thin-bedded sandstone ". 10 ■^. Coal 1 4. Sandy shale 8 5. Sandstone 8 0. Shale 3 7. Coal 9 9 8. Shale 8 9. Coal 1 2 10. Sandstone and shale 6 n. Coal 3 6 IL'. Sandstone and ironstone 3 13. Coal 3 5 14. Sandstone 2 15. Carbonaceous sliale (> 10. Sandstone and sandy sliale 30 17. Carbonaceous shale .-. 2 18. Sandstone and ironstone (1 19. Coaly slialo 8 20. Sandstone 25 Under this lies a bed of dark shale, then a bed of light shale, and thou another betl of dark shale. The rocks of the Cretaceous series are last seen about a mile and a Fnuit paat of half from the summit, where the older formations of the Flat-head''"™™'* Range appear. The junction of the two series was not seen, but it is almost certainly a faulted one, the Cretaceous being brought in by an extensive down-throw to the east. The older rocks dip nearly due west, at an average angle of about 30°, and it might be supposed that they • ... ■ n lOnu an overturned anticlinal, like those so frequently met with in this part of the mountains, but that this is not the case is shown by the fact that they occur in regular ascending order. The first of the older Rocks I'ocks seen is a grey, compact limestone, which is followed and over- i'lmostono series lain by a series of yellowish-grey, flaggy, more or less dolomitic limestones, at least 200 feet in thickness. These arc followed by sandstones for the most j^art i-ed, which show ripple-marks, sun- Ml HO « THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. cracks and psoudomorphous impressions of salt crystals. Over those lies a bod of contemporaneous trap, about 100 feet in lliick- nosB, which can bo traced running up the slopes of the moinitiiinH on both sides of the valley, forming bold cliffs. This is followed, in ascending oi'der, by a second scries of i-ed beds, reproducing the characters of the first, but about 000 foot in thickness, iil)()ve which is a soi-ies of flaggy and shaly dolomitic sandstones, wcatiior- ing to brown and fawn colour, and showing in some layers imprcH- sions of salt crystals. Drusy cavities wei-e observed to occur in a few places, lined by small dolomite cr^'stais, Avith a few of baryto and copper pjM'itcs. The thickness of these I'ocks is again about (JOO feet. Thoy are followed by a similar volume of red bods, almost entirely sandstone, which frequently form rathei- thick layers. These con- tinue to the actual watershed, and are the highest beds seen at the summit of the pass, whei-e another extensive fault causes them to Summit fault, abut on tho older limestones. Near the fault, these sandstones have become locally changed into hard quartzites of a purplish-grey colour, in which the iron appears to have become concentrated in certain layers while the intervening lamina? have become almost coloi-loss. Comparison The I'ocks here displayed evidently represent those from the summit Tocks elBewhcro 0^ *li<-' great limestone series, to tho top of the secil.Mi as represented in the South Kootanie Pass, or from series D, upward. They may be sum- marized as below to facilitate comparison with the section on page ;;9b. It will be observed that while the general conditions of deposit indicated by the red and fawn-colored beds are similar in both sections, tho thick- ness and arrangement is somewhat dilt'eront in the two localities, the most important change being the existence here of a considerable thick- ness of red beds below the trappean flow. There is ever}' reason to believe that the trap occurring above the great limestone series represents a single period of eruption, as its continuity is unbroken for many miles, where good sections enable it to be followed, near tho South Kootanie Pass. This being so, it would appear that the conditioiw producing the red sandstones set in somewhat earlier to the north; and further, from its association, that the trappean eruption should be classed rather as a portion of the red series than as a separate member between this and the limestones. ... «Q«nerai section The entire soction is as foUows in descending order. — ' ' FBHT. 1. Quartzites and red sandstones 610 2. Fawn-coloured beds. . - (about) 600 3. Red sandstones, shales, etc " 600 4. Amygdaloidal diorite (?) 100 4. Red sandstones, shales, etc 100 6. Yellowish, dolomitic, flaggy limestone, 200 or more 200 2,210 0AW.1ON,] LITTLE SOUTH PORK. Little South Fork. 61 B Bof'oro {'ontinuiiig tho lUiscription of tho pass wostoftho main summit, a few words may bo added respecting tho Little South Fork, vuiiey. Tlii stream, tho most important tributary of tho South Fork, joins it t'oui' miles from (he entrance of the pass. Tho Little South Fork ia neiiily o(|ual to the main stream in volume and is formed, at a distance of about six miles above its mouth, by the Junction of two rapid streams, ouch about tliirty feet wide by isix inches deep, fed by a number of rtinallor brooks which issue from rugged valleys in the limestone indiiiitains. A woll-boaten Indian trail i-uns up the western branch, ami probahl}' passes over the lango to the head-waters of the Flat. head, though it was followed about two miles only above the lorku referred to. Tho valley of tho Little South Foik is wide, with many patches of prairie, and some of tho adjacent hill-slopes have lieoii almost completely denuded of timber l,y fire, Tho Ci'otaceous locKs exposed along the stream aro generally sandstones and present no I'catures of special interest, though a band of dark shales ami hhaly sandstones, several hundred feet in thickness, occurs near tho mouth. The sti'iko is very I'Cgular in the lower part of the valley, avoiiiging N. 50° W. with clips at an angle of about 30° south-westward. A Npccimcn of Pinna Lakesii was found in sandstone on the west side of the stream, and with the exception of .some fragments of Belcmnites, is (lie only fossil mollusc obtained in the Cretaceous rocks of this viciiiily. (riiivol banks ncai one- hundred feet high, occur in some places oil the stream, and these, towai-d the base, aro hardened by calcareous mutter into a s|)ecies of conglomei-atc. No overlap of the Creta. toous ri)cks on tho older beds ol" the mountains was observed, but il is probable that the irregular edge of these rocks to the sot.th is partly of this character and in part doiined by faults. At this point the end is found of the important trough (Crow Nest trough) of Ci'e- taouoiis rocks which runs northward bi'hind tho first range of tho mouutaina for ninety-five miles. "''"' North Kootanic Pass {Cant i lined.) ''■■'■■'. •''*■' '•• ■! '.: ).iT-i- .'. I-;- .';:;:?.(! ••■:i From tho east or main summit on the North Kootanio Pass, the Hemi-wiitcrs trail descends rapidly to the south-wcNt by the valley of a small brook, wIikIi in three miles Joins the Flat-head. It then follows the north liuiik of the F'lat-head, crossing four considerable and several smaller brooks, and in fourteen miles further roaches the tsourco of the river and the western summit. The valley is generally wooded, but in its lower part several little meadows occur, and near tho western summit tho 'i*'«fS.''f'' of Fliit-lieiid. V 02 B TUB ROOKY MOUNTAINS. 'I View from wcBtcrn summit. vvoods bccomo open in coriHcquonco of tlio ultitudo attuinod, nnvl liltio alpine moadovvH are fVo<[Uont. Tlio aHcont lo tlio woHlorn Humn.it is (|uito f:jracend8 by , which 'ccupies the aii'de Neai the mouth of .e 0»W30N.] NORTH KOOTANIE PASS. 63 B Wi;,'wam, tlio VAk may ])robably bo ford'nl at low water, but the trail now gonortilly roUowod ruiiH up tho Elk llivor, on the cast Mido, for about throo miles, to tho bridge which has been tlirown across at tlio uppor (Mid of tho cafion. (800 p. 78 h.) Thin part of tbo trail is roiiiili, tollowin^ a brokon slope above tho odgo of tbo chasm, sovoral huiiilrod foot in depth and with almost vertical sides, in which tho Elk horo flows. Tho valloy of tho Wigwam and adjacent hills and slopes are gene- ■ ' rally well wooded, particularly on tho Nouth side of tho river, and as tliJK pass has as j'ot scarcely been used, save by Indians, very little duHt ruction from forest tiros bus occurred. No detailed section can bo given of tho rocks botwoon tho cast and J^i*'„'i'^i'nj*J^^gf" wo^t summits on tho Ncu-tb Kootanio Pass, as the country is ull '*""""''*• densely wooded and exjiosuros are few. Tho general structure is, liowevor, sufficionlly simple, being that of a 83'nclinal of Cretaceous locks, of which the east side dips westward, while the opposite side dips to tho north-east. The rocky notch by which tho trail crosses the , , ^ , eastern range is evidently a break produced by an extensive fault, with down-throw to the eastward. This has ilready been refoi red to (p. GO b) as the summit fault, and by it the red sandstones and associated Fuuits. rocks of the mountains on the east side of tho notch, and stream beyond it, aro brought in contact with the massive Dovono-Carboniferous lime- stones on the west. The throw of tho fault must be at least 1,500 feet and is probably much greater. It runs about N. 40° E. thi-ough tho notch, but appears to turn to nearly due north on the cast side of the summit. A number of fossils were collected from tho limestones near llu" summit, among which a preliminary ^examination shows the fol- lowing forms. — Dcndropora. Aulopora. ' Syrivgopora (?). Striatojmra. ZaphrentiK. Productus Hallantis {f), Strophodonta, Sp. Spirifera Maia. Atrypa reticularis. Atri/pa ."pinosa {?). Rttzia Verneuiliana. There are probably several other important faults in this neigh, bouihood, one of which must run between the western base of the the summit range and the series of narrow ridges of Cretaceous rocks which lies south of tho Flat-bead, where it is first reached by tho trail. This is rendered evident by the fact, that to the north of the river the Cretaceous sandstones rest directly on the limestones, while they are here brought in contact with the much higher red rocks, and though the Cretaceous and limestone series must bo regarded as unconform- 64 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Junction of Cretaceous and limestone series. Cretaceous basin. il Limestone rniiftoB nc!«- Wigwam. able, it is improbable, from analogy with other parts of the dJHtijct, that they lie upon two such diffei-ent portions of the older series within so short a distance. The ridges last .'cferred to run about north- cast and south-west, and appear to form a system it^olated by faults from those characterizing this basin generally. At the summit notch, the limestones dip northward at rather low angles. They form the mountains on the north side of the ti-ail; and Flat-head River, to the second large brook which is crossed (a stream of about ten feet by six inches), dipping, where last seen, nearly west, and having a total width at right angles to the stiike of about five miles. The gravel in the bed of the brook just referred to, is about half Cretaceous sandstone, the i-emaindor being either limestone or pale calcareous sandstone of the kind subsequently mentioned as forming the upper layers of the limestone sei-ies on the Crow Nest Pass. It is probable that the Cretaceous here rests directly on the calcareous sand- stones, as occurs a few miles northward at the upper Cruw Nest Lake: The main Cretaceous synclinal above alluded to, from this point, where its eastern range is reached, to the crest of the western summit, is almost nine miles wide, on the line of the trail. It may be com- plicated b}' minor flexures. It is conjecturally terminated southward on the map, according to the observed genei-al strikes of the I'ocks. though the region here lying between this and the South Kootanie Pass was not examined. The ascent to the western summit is made nearly on the slope of the beds which dip north-eastward at angles not exceeding twenty degrees, and consist, so far as seen, of sandstone of the usual character, v:i(h some conglomerate. Those arc well exposed alonff the crest and on the escurninent of Ihosummit ridyc on the \\i<'- warn River side, where they dip in a similar direction at an angle ot about forty dogi'ces. A . liort distance down the escarpment, the sand- stones become rather shnlyand one or more thin coal scams occur. The Cretaceous scries extends on the trail foi" about two miles beyond tlic summit and where last seen was nearly vei-tical. It would appear that the thickness of the Ci-etaceous series, fiom the loeks at the summit of the ridf^e downward is at least 7,000 feet, though the section is not continuous. The rugged mountains already mentioned as Ijing to the south and u^h-east of the summit ridge, apponi- to be entirely or chiefly com- posed of limestone, the Cretaceous rocks of the .'>ummit i-idge termi'.iat- ing among them in the form of a bay. The range to i:; ) south shi..vs from a distance a shai'p anticlinal fold as its dominant structure. The precise south-western edgeof the Cretaceous was not defined on thcWii,'. warn, the rocks being concealed "or some distance north east from the first range through which the valley cuts. This and a second range, beyond JAWSON.] CROW NEST PASS. G5 B it, are conipo.sed of limestone of the usual character. Between these mountain masses, on the north-west side of the stream, is a small area of ide of the Eocky Mountain range, hax-ing previously been noted in connection with the South Kootanie Pass, need not be repeated here. It may, however, be mentioned that the Douglas tir occur.-, in the valley of the South Fork, on the east slope, and near the mouth ol' the Wigwam on the west side. It is never an alpine tree in this region. The trees found near both summits arechieliy Abies siibalpina, Picea Engelmanni and Pinus albicaidis. The vegetation about both summits is, as might be expected from the altitude, quite alpine in character. The little meadows on the west summit, still partly covered by patches of snow, were gay with the bright yellow flowers of Enjthroiiiuni minor on the 2Gth of Juh'. On the east side of the easlein summit, a hill-side was observed a few daj^s later complete!}' covered with the Iteautiful Rhododendron albifforiwi. Croiv J^^est Pass. ': This pass is that which has of late years been most used as a means General of eomraunication between the (Jreat Plains and the Kootanie country'-, n,"™';'*'" A piacticablc trail has been cut out, and bridges built over several of liio larger streams, and considerable numbers of horses and cattle have 1 ecu ('riven ea. r by it. The trail, as now laid out, does not correspond with an} well-known Indian route, and though possessing some advan- tages over the North Kootanie Pass, is by no means so direct. It follows up the Middle Pork of the Old M.vn, or Crow Nest Rivei- to its 9 I' 66 b THE ROOKY MOVNTAINS. Valley of the Middle Pork. source, beyond (ho Crow Xest Lake, crossin;^ a low summit to the head- waters of a branch of Michel Creek, a tributary of the Klk. Another summit is crossed between Michel Creek and Coal Creek, also a tributary of the Elk. Coal Creek is then followed down to the Elk. After reachinpj the Klk, the trail I'uns along the oast bank of the river to the cailon where a bridge has been thrown across. The wide Koo- tanio valle}^ is tinally entered at a point only a few miles north of the western end of the North Kootanio Pass. The eastern end of this pass is well marked by the Livingstone or outtsr limestone ranges of the mountains, cut through by the Middle Fork in a deep, narrow vallo}'. This is usually designated " The Gap.' Within the Livingstone Eango, the valley of the Middle Fork is wide and open as i'ar as the lake, or for about oiglit miles. This pai't of the valley is characterized hy wide, grassy toi-raccs, and many of the hills bounding the valleys to the noi'th arc open and grassed 1o their very summits. Those on the south, are, however, generally wooded, and north of the valley, the whole country becomes either densely woodo( llijw iiikI liclly UivtTB District, 1882. i I 68 b THE ilOCKY MOUNTAINS. 1 f li CretaoroHS, east of Living- stdiie Range TheOap. Rocks of Crow Nfest Cretiiceoiis trouKh ■ about forty degrees, but in some places becoming neaily vertical. The impression at first conveyed is that the limestones are brought up by an extensive fault running along the base of the range parallel to its direction, but the proved existence in a number of places of overturned folds, and the resemblance of the limestone lidge here to an anticlinal of this chai-acter, leads to the belief that it is an overtui-ned anticlinal, combined with a fault with down-throw to the eastward. On com- paring the parallel portion of the North Kootanie section, it even appears probable that the fii'st large overturned Cretaceous anticlinal on it may be the southern continuation of the same fold, which has here become so considerable as to bi-ing the limestone to the suiface. Outside the Livingstone Kange, the Cretaceous rocks met with on the trail eastward, to the wide, crumpled belt of dark shales which runs thi'ough from the South Foi-k (see map accompanying lieport of Pi'o- gress. 1882-84), are chiefly sandstones, generally gj-eenish-grey in colour, and sometimes shalj^. In some beds, the sandstones are brown-weather- ing, and in others, pale gi'ey, weathering to reddish tints. These rocks all (lip very regularly to the south-west, at angles of 30° and upward. The valley crosses them very obliquely, and no extensiv'> beds of dark shales were observed. The sandstones are sometir^es so hard that they might almost be described as quartzites. On the east side of a large brook which joins from the north, less than a mile fioni the edge of the limestone, rather massive beds of (conglomerate occur. with westward dip at an angle of about 10°. The pebbles are all well rounded, and consist largely of chert from the limestones, together with quartzites and quart/ose-schists like tho.se of the Cam- brian, among which a fine-grained, flesh-i-ed (|uartzite is prominent. There are also some pebbles of a grey, slightly porphyritic ciystallini' rock, of whiclt the origin is uncertain. On the west side of the brook, tit a short distance, are thick beds of very hard, speckled sandstone vertical, with a strike of S. 2^ E. In The Gap, the valley becomes quite narrow, but widens again immediately the limestones are passed. The breadth of the limestone axis on the trail, which crosses it nearly at right angles, is about a niile and a quarter. At its western edge, the rocks dip with groat regularity westward, and are overlain by the Cretaceous sandstones dipping in the same direction and at a similar angle. Thence, for three miles, the only rocks seen were sandstones, which in one placi^ Avere obsei-ved to become conglnuRM'itic, and in another to be composed largely of vbitish felspar in sub-angular grains. The section is not continuous, i.i i could only be made so by including in an accurate^ sui*vey the whole of the neighbouring hills ; but the series appears to be n regular, ascending one, and if not complicated by unknown flexures tAWSON.] CROW NEST PASS. 69 b or faults, must be about 1,000 feet in thickness.* At this point the trail Coai seams. is crossed by a brook fiom the north, in which rolled fragments of coal wevo observed, and at a distance of about half a mile to the north, the seams from which these fragments had been derived were i'ound in the banks. There are three seams in all, included in an exposed thickness of about forty feet of brownish, greenish and dark-grey shaly sandstones and shales, the whole being overlain by massive grey sandstonet. The liighest seam is two feet thick, and is separated b}' about twelve teet of shales and shaly sandstones from the next, which is two feet ten inches thick, and about tifteen feet below it is a third, one foot tive inches thick. The dip is here S. 85° W. < HO". The coal is a bitu- minous one, and yields a firm coke. An analysis by Mr. Ilotfmann shows it to contain only 1-82 per cent, of water, and 51"22 of fixed carbon. It yielded, however, 2241 per cent, of ash. (see p. 6 m.) The appearance of the section including these coals is so close to that previously noticed as occui-ring at the entrance to the North Koo- tanie Pass, that I believe the horizons represented to be identical. Fov a distance of a mile and a third from those exposures, grey Reds overlying sandstones, with occasional layers of chert}' conglomerate and greenish- grey shaly sandstones, ai-e exposed at intervals. It is very probable that there is a considerable proportion of shales, but if so, these, owing to their soft character, are for the most part concealed. At this point the base of a great series of rocks of volcanic orii in Volcanic rocks. 1 Tosses the valley, and it was here, in 1881, that materials of this character were fii'st observed in the ('retaceous of the region.f These rocks are chiefly, if not entirely, fragmcntal. consisting of agglomerates of vaiying coarseness, which are frequentl}' so fine as to be designated volcanic ash rocks. They are for the most pai-t greyish-green or purplish in coloui-, and toward the base, in some places, weather easily, forming rounded, crumbling masses. There are also reddish and grey, tine, shaly layers hero and there, and small segregations of coppcM' pyrites were seen forming scattered granules in some of the agglomerates. They ai-e generally, if not in all cases, distinctly calca- reous, effervescing freeh* on the application of an acid, and nepheline nppcars to lie present in addition to folspai*. Those rocks, owing to their greater boinogencity and resistance to weathering, form a high, straight striko-ridge, running for a number ' miles to the north and south. Where they cross the stream, its immediate valley becomes narrow and steep sided. • This is itleiitical with the thickiies.s — indepcndunll.v estimated — from the hiise of tlu' formn- tioii In ijn' horizon iit which thin coal seams (probably the same with thesej occur on the North Kdiilanic Pass. p. 04 ii. t It inay bo observed in this connection that Prof. .1. ,1. Stephenson notes the occurrence of vcileaiiic roek.s and volcanic asli in the lower portion of the Cretaceous in Colorado. If. S. (!ool. Siirv. West of 100 Merid., 1875, Vol. III., p. 500. »' 70 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Thickness The thiclcTieHS of the HCthmentary beds interveniiii? between the coal- of strata. i • i • • • i . i . i i • i i i ueiiring' lionzoii anil the volcanic rock.s in hero apparently consiueiably ^I'eatei- than where previously estimated at the enti-ance to the North Jvootanio Pa.ss, being about 8,350 feet. The thickness of the agglome- rate and ash beils is about 2,200 feet, which is so much in excess of that elsewhei-e observed, as to lead to the belief that this place is not far remote from the centre of ei'ui)tion which has ])roduced this inter- calation. Probable faults If the order of Succession observed on the Noi-th-west Branch of the North Fork obtains here, a considerable thickness of shales should ovei'lie the agglomerates. These, however, were not observed, and it' piesent, must occupy a small breadth on\y. This fact, taken in connection with the circumstance, established on other grounds, thai at tho east base of Crow's Nest Mountain there is almost certainly a fault, with extensive down-throw to the east, which might be expected to cioss the valley heie, leads to the belief that the locks met witli west of the volcanic series, to the end of the lake, probably represent those underlying the coal horizon. So far as the exposures enable an opinion to be formed, the rocks ai-e sandstones of similar character to those i^rcviously seen, with similar westward dips. The distance from the summit of the volcanic series to the last sandstone expo- sures at the lake, is three miles, and if legular and not disturbed by further faults, the thickness of the beds should bo about 9,800 feet. The junction between these rocks and the limestone series, next met with, is evidently a faulted one. CrowNestLiike The Ci'ow Nest Lake, with an elevation of 4,250 feet above the sea, is about two miles in length, with an extreme width of a little more than half a mile. It lies in a deep, transverse valloj' which here cuts through the central limestone range of the mountains, and which enables the Middle Fork of the Old Man to draw a portion of its water from tho country to the west of this range. Tho mountains rise in bold clitfs and scarps on both sides of the lake, rendering this, one of the most picturesque spots in the mountains, which is easy to reach. The old trail, turning to the north at the east or lower end of tiie lake, ran westward, nearly paiallel to it, in a narrow, dry valley. Abetter track has lately, however, been found along the north shoi-e of the lake itself. Halfway up the lake, also on the noi-th side, is a very remarkable spring which constitutes tho chief feeder of the lake, and may be designated the source of tho Middle Branch, or Ci'ow Nest River. The spring issiioh from a large, overhung grotto in the face of the limestone clitf, the water welling up from the interior of the grotto, and filling a deep, clear pool at its mouth. It then falls about twenty feet to form a large, vi\\nd brook, which, alter a course of a few yards, loses itself in the Remarkable spring. fl'Mi i DAWSON. ] CROW NEST LAKE. 11 B liiko. The water has worked its way through the limewtone along a rioiulj horizontal crack or joiiitage-plaiie, and is probably supplied by the drainage of the valley to tlio north of the mountains already irt'o! rod to. The immediate border of the lake is low at the west end, but a steep hill rises at no great f<'rL'tiicoussene» the two formations following the narrow valley between these ridges. Thence to the summit crossed by the trail, though at a considerable Urokfii-Jrifi- -' . ' ° covered country elevation and in the heart of the mountains, the country is character- ized by low, broken hills and ridges, composed of or deeply covered by drift material I'esembling buulder-clay, and cut up by little ravines. Terraces are distinctly traceable to levels about 500 feet above that (if the summit, and some of the ridges ai-e evidently morainic in origin. This peculiar tract is shut in on all sides but the north-west by high and rugged mountains. Jt is thickly strewn with angulai- ivhrh of Oretareous sandstones, and its occurrence doubtless depends on the .soflei- character of the rocks of that series. To the southward , lire two valleys. One, which holds a small tributary of the stream flow. lug to Crow Nest linkc, ends in a rather extensive snow-field ; the other, lurthei- to the west, and wide, though not low, ])robably leads along the western foot of the main limestone i-ango to the Flat-head Valley. Tliii woods have been almost entirely lemoved by fire from the broken I'omilry about the suii«mit. On descending from the summit, westward, l)y a rathei' nari'ow Divcmit to tlie valley, the country becomes distinctly moio humid in character, and**"" '^'"^ llic trail ])as.ses for several miles through line woods. A mile and tliroe (juarters from the summit, it reaches the bank of the East Branch of Michel Creek, a large, rapid stream issuing from a wide valley luaiiing otf to the south-east. This is followed for about a mile, when it is crossed by a foi-d. The track then runs over a wooded jjoint and along some terraces, till, in three quarters of a mile, it reaches Uie oast side of the AVest Branch of Michel Creek, a stream foi ly toe' wide by ten inches deep. This is crossed by a itridge, and the stoop hill-side forming the loft bank of this stream is followed by a rough, dillicult trail, iill a descent is again made to the water-level at the mouth of Marten Brook, which joins from the north. iMom the summit to this point, the sui-rounding country is a ma.ss ,. I • 1 1 ^1 • 1 • 1 1 I ■ . Cretaceous hills 01 low, sloep-sided, trotaceous mountains, which seldom rise ::,U()0 tbet, and often only 1,000 feet above the level of the stream. The 10 >'v 74 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Western -summit nini Coal (^reck . mk 'Unloareotts 8andstonct<. valleyn, which intorsoct thorn in ail dircctionn, aro narrow and nijjffjod. Tl»080 hills, an; tho valleys, but at no very great elevation above the streams. With tho excc|)tion of very restricted patches of living wood in the valleys or on I'cmote slopes, the surface bristles with standing dead trees oi* is covered with fall(Mi burnt logs. Crossing iMai'ten Brook, which is a small stream in a narrow i-ocky valley, the trail ascends rapidly, following a little stream from the level of the brook (4,800 feet) to that of tho western summit on the Orow Nest Pass, with an elevation of 5,500 feet. In less than two miles a descent is then made by the valley of Coal Creek, of more than 1,100 feet, alter which the stream has a less rapid descent, and in eight miles falls into KIk Eiver, which at this point has an elevation of 2,200 feet. Tho second or western summit on this pass, though actually higher than the main watershed, only sepai-ates the head waters of Michel and Coiil creeks, both tributaries of the Elk. Tiie trail crosses to avoid the necessary detour and thick timbei' which would bo met with in tbilowing Michel Creek north-westward from the point where it is first i-eached, to the Klk. In taking this direct route, tho trail reaches at the summit a height only a few hundred leot inferior to that of the surrounding Cretaceous bills. The appearance of the whole country from Marten Brook to tho Elk, and in the wide valley of the latter, is desolate in the extreme, the forests with which it has been covered .•aving been almost entirelj' destroyed by repeated tires, which have swept over the region since the Crow Nost Pass has become a travelled route. The vallej'^ of Coal Creek is deeply cut among tho Cretaceous hills of raoaotonous and plateau-like outline, and no wide view of the country is obtained till the Elk is reached. The geological features of this part of the pass aro sufficiently simple. Near the point at which the East Branch of the Michel Creek is tiist reached. Cretaceous sandstones occur, but are immediately followed by whitish calcareous sandstones, underlying tho last and representing those before desci-ibed as attaching to the limestone series. These occur on both sides of the stream where it is crossed, and dip eastward at an angle of 35°. The calcareous sandstones probably occupy a small area only, as they were not again seen, and the fragments generally strewing the surface are so unifoi-mly of the brownish Cretaceous sand- -mtones and conglomerates as to indicate, even in the absence of expos- '•] CROW NEST PASS. 75 b iiros, that theno clmrjvc-ti'rizo almost the entire ro/^ion. Ah, for three inilcH furth(!r, no exposuicH wore mot with in the valley of the Wost |{i;iru"h of Michel Creek, it is uiK-oi-tain whether those (■aii'arooiis hand- stones are cut oil' by a iault to the west, or form the isalient angle of a luld. Before reaching Marten Bi-ook a low anticlinal of Cretaceous rocks coni (.onmM on similar to those ahove alludeil to, iw crossed, and on Marten Hpook '^'"''™ "'*"''• the strata have a westward dip at anj^les of 25 to 30 degrees. Marten Brook nearly follows the sti'iko, and is interesting on account of the occurrence of coal on it. In a section at the tiail-crossing, on the west side, is a seam showing a thickness of at least three and ])ossibly four li'Ct of very fair coal, with one stony parting of about two inches. Just above the crossing-place three thin seams are seen, one with nearly two feet of coal, the others less than a foot in tiiickness, and all irregulai-. A K])ecinion frc i 'His seam, examined hy Mr. lloti'mann, was found to yield a '• "o ft contained ;il2 per cent, of water, 43*48 per cent, i i can n, and 27"48 of asli. The great pi"oportion of ash being, howovei-, partly due to adhe- niit earthy matter in jointage-plancs. (See p. 3 m.) A mile above the crossing are four seams, included in about a hundi"cd feet of meas- ures, all less than a foot in thickness, and similarly irregular. The hcds associated with the coals are massive or shaly sandstones which often weather to yellowish or reddish tints, with grey and blackish , shales and cherty conglomerates. A number of well-preserved fossil pogsji piantg. I lunts, chai'acteristic of the Kootanie group, wore collected hei'c, includ- '.ig the following species. — * Dicksonia, Sp. Asplenium iMartinianvm, Dn. Dionites borealis, Dn. Podozarnites lanceolatus, Lindl. Zamites montana, Dn. Zamites acuUpennis, lleer. Sphenozamites, sp. Salisburia Siberica, Heer. Salisburia lepida, Ileer. Baiera lom/ifolia, llcor. Pinus Sus/cwaensis, Dn. Between Marten Brook and the west summit, the dips continue west-ugja orerlying ward at angles of 20 to 25 degrees, and fully 1,500 feet in thickness of '"'*'*• beds must here overlie the coals. The rocks, so far as exposed, con- * Trans. Royal Soc. Canada, Vol. III., Sec. IV., p. 8. 111 til. .\ I( If-' 16 M THE HOCKY MOUNTAINS. Coal Creek . Fosxil plant." Coul-bvuring liorizon. Elk «ivir. Hist of Buridistonos and con^'lomoraloH of the ubuuI character. At tht Kummit Moino vory /nawMivo coii^rlorncratos were observed. On doscoiul ing westward, the IxhIh dip iiraily at the an;,'le of the hI'M)0, hut after wards turn northward, tlio sliiUe then nearly eoiiicidin«,' with tlu direction of the valley, and the outcrops of the sandstone beds showin^^ in the adjacent hills as hovi/ontal or K""<'.y undulating lines. Five and a half miles west of Marten Brook, on foal Creek, coal seams of a few inches in tliickness occur, associated with beds precisely like those ol Mai-ten Brook, and holding fossil |)lan(s of the same Hpocieb, among which the following forms have been recognized. — Aspknium Dicksonianuvi, lleei'. Foilozamites tanceolatua, Lindl. Salishuria lepida, Dn. Pinuti Siisktraeiw's, Dn. /Sequoia Smittiana, Ileer. The hoi-i/,on is j)roliably identical, and the general otVoct of the section as shown on the trail, from Marten Brook to this point, is that of a wide, low synclinal. There is also every i-eason to believe that the coal-bearing Jiorizon here met with, is the same will that described east of the Crow Nest Lake, and though the exj)osun are few near tlie main or watershed summit, it is not iinprohabie that the same hori/un may recur there, occu])ying the trough of a synclinal midway between the upper lake and the crossing ol' the Ea>t Branch of Michel Creek. Near the mouth of Coal Creek, high eastward dips were oltserved, but these appeal- to be local, as the general a.spect of the outeiops in the higher hills is nearly horizontal, with a slight though distincl ten- dency to dip away eastwaid from the valley of the Elk. In thi- part of the VAk Valley small exposures of soft crumbling sandstones were seen, but the valley is generally floured by terraced drift deposits. At this point, the Elk is a swift, clear, blue, mountain river, about 300 feet wide. Its valley has not been examined, northward, for a di>- tance of twenty-eight miles, but the gravel ibrming its bed heiv consists of Cretaceous sandstones and conglomerates, with much lime- stone, and there is no reason to believe that any rocks underlying the limestones come to the surface along this part of its course. Nearly opposite the mouth of Coal Creek, a stream whicli is evidently ol considerable size and is known as Lizaid Creek, joins the Elk from the opposite side. The valley of this stream is wide and straight, and is bordered by high mountains, particuhirly on the south side. E)'oni the high terrace on the east side of tlie Eliv, it can be seen for about six 1 es :«« .] CROW NRST PAHS. 77 n mikw, running noarly due wont, in which direction it appoars to tornii-Liwird Creek, imto lunong high, donsoly-woodi'd mountains. It woidd ntrord n direct iDiilo tor the continuiilion of tiio (>ro\v Nosf I'uhh trail to the month it' Hull |{iv(ir, on tho Kootanio, and avoid tiic present dotoiir to the soulii; l)nt apart tV')in I lie ])rol>alily roui;h character of the intervening inountuinrt, it in rendered impracticable hy the impossibility of fording tlio Kik except at veiy low stHgos of the water. This ])art of the Elk Valley i-uns iioarly north and-sonth in the heart KIk Valloy. lit llio Rocky Mountains. Kollowing along the lefl or east liardv ;)f the river, the trail turns southward, and continues in that diivct ion for cloven miles. The valley is from a mile to a mile and a half wide lietween the bases of the hills, and is occupied by terraces which are ' sandy and inucdi cut up by lenndalion. The whole region, with the nxception of some sheltei'eil valleys along the west side has been burnt over. The mountainw on the east side rise about 2,000 feet above the river, with uniform outlines, and are all composed of (Votaceous rocks. KuvU'H of the same scries are seen in the valley in a few j)laces. and the ilcjpi'ossion appears to follow the striUe of a belt of soft, slialy beds and sandstones, which must be low down in the Cretaceous. On the west side, the mountains are higher and more rugged in outline, and con- stitute the continuation of those mentioned as occurring to the south of Lizard Creek. These may be called the Lizard Mountains, for convenience of description. They are evidently conij)>»sed of rocks of tiio Paheozoic series, which dip south-westward at an aver.igc angle of about 40 degrees, ])roducing a steep escarpment liUe front to the east. The river next flows south-westward for three miles, and then west " The Ciinyon." Ibr a like distance, in this part of its course cutting across the range just described. The valley is here narrow and bordered by high mountains, and is generally referi-ed to as ' The Caiiion,' though no i-eally vertical rocky clitl's rise from the river, and at the lower end the mountains recede gradually, letiving rather wide flats, which are covered with line timber, still unburnt, including much cedar. The rocks of the lange cut through by the j-iver are chiefly limestonos, tiiose seen near the trail resembling those of the lower part of the section on Crow Nest Lake; but higher up the slopes, much crinoidal liiucstone, like that of the up]jor part of the Crow Nest Lake section, must occur, as the riehris in rock-slides is largely of this charactei'. S|)oeiraens of fossils, including a small Productus, which resembles P. llallanut<, were conected here. This would indicate a Carboniferous age tor the limestones. On the west side of the range, rocks of the Cumbrian series, coming out beneath the limestones, owing to the easterly dip, form all the lower hills. ^tmfSf'f* n 78 H THE IIOCKV MdllNTAINB. i .1 nt the bridK«- KIk liivpi- bridmi IjimI.s On I'cacliiii^ tlio west Hi(J(3 of tlie raii^c, (Ii»! i-iver tiiniK iibi'upljy {(,. the 8i)ii(l), loacliing tho KIk Eivor bridge a milo and a half lowor down. After nine and a half miles of a soiitli-vvoHtorly coureo, tho Elk (lowH into the Kootaiiio Jiivor. Tho (.'row Nosf I'aHs may bo said to) toim.'nato al tho bridge, whore tho doscriDtion of the North Kootanic Paws, given on a forinof ,yage, also ends. Cambriim rooks The Camhi'ian rocks above alluded to ai-e well expensed on houic high hill-sides, followed by *lie ti-ail near tho west end of the naiTowed |i:)i'(i()ii of the valley; also ifi tho banks an several miles below the bridire The most characteristic rocks ai(' hero greenish and greenish-grey (|iiart/ites, uflen of a very tine gi'ain aniv(' greenish ((uarlzites are supposed to occupy a position faj- down in the great (,'and)rian seiies of the mountains. l'"or convenience of reference they ma}' Le provisionally designated the I-'.ik IJivcr bridge bods. The bridge is thrown across between two I'cxdiy clill's, at a height 'i| :iboul lifly feet above the stream, whi(di hei'c begins its plunge over .'i sc'ies of smaU fiills and through wild I'apids into tho deep and narrow gorge — a true cafion on a small scab — which it occupies Irom the briilg(! to the mouth of ihe Wigwam. This canon is due to tlu! fae.l that the ma^sive (jU.-ii'l/.iies are I'cgulai'ly jointed at right angles lo Iheii' bedding |)lanes, enabling Ibt! stream to (piarry them away bloi !< by blo(d\ and leiive wall-sided (dill's. The (dian';e in character in the vegetal; m leetwilh in crossing froni the cast lo (he west wide se>, being li. I from a dry region ui one of very considerable pri'cipilation. it is never! helo'^s of interest lo note the point al which some of the more characteristic forms appear in e;ich instance. On Ihe west slope of tiie ei>s.ern oi' watershed summit, Ihe woods, already described as of line growth, consist of Piciui KuijchiutHni, P'mus Mur rai/ttiui, Pkt;uiiii;h the oiiler or Livingstone Kang(! as a largo Hiroam, carrying llu; ualcrsdf ;in exUin^ivc li'ai'l of (/'I'elaceous hi 1 1> which foiins the crjulinn- aliun of the (-'row Nest (!relaeeous (rough, and inlerveiies helween the Livingsloneand High Koek ranges. I'nlike the Middle i-'ork, however, the North Fork derives none of its waters from the western sich; of tht; ]Iii;li Koek h'linge. this I'ange her(M'on.sliluting the actual waiershcd. In ISS] our surveys were cai'ri.'il ;is fai' as the oulor odgool tho l*al!co-''^'ii'*''V''- ■/DJc I'dcks of the [jivingstone IJiinge, hut as it was late in the siutumn. ami heavy snow-sloinis, with (!ver_y appearance! o*" winter iiad set in, 1 uas iiii;il)U> lo penetrate; Ihis I'iuigc! for the purposes of aseortuining wlirllii'i- lh(! ('row Nest trough, which had hccn diseovereil ;i few 'lays p;t;vious|y, extended so lai' Id tlir nuilh. In IHHIJ a Mpocial trip was inaile for Ihis pui-posc, hut having hcen nnahic lo learn Muylliing III' iho cdiaraeter of the country wilhin this |)arl of 'he Li. iiigslone Riiiige, wo were nn| pre jiai'cd for so great an ex- Iciii of Meso/.oie rocks as act lally exists, nor lo find so many and such long Irihutarios; so, after examining IIk; Soulh-west, North anil Niirlh-west, Hraru'lies lo their siuirces, and exhausting our whole 'tuck of provisiouB, wo wore ohligod lo i el urn. In LSHl, the heail <»l the Wot Hranch waa reacdicd l>y the Norlh l''ork I'asM, from Ihe , A, ill HO n THE HdCKY MOUNTAINS. North Kdik (I 111' Imiiaii ]jiviiiK>'l I'llk River, and ii siiivey cai-rifd (liroii^li Iroiii llui North \vos( i5i'aii(|i to tlio ^olltIll!rn soiirceK of llio llighwood l'iv(!r, thus coinplt^tiii^ tlic oxamiuiitioii ol'all tho main tribuliii-itiH of tlic Old Man IJivor. 'Plio LividffHlono Jlari^c/'^ wlicrc cut (liroiiuli hy tlitt Norlli l-'ork, i< <|ui((' iian-ow and al>iii|)t, and (hoii;^li prolialil^' nowhcro tniicli sl!r|)a^^- • •r, in;; 7,0(l() \\tv\ al)ove l\n'. si'adovid, is, owin^' to its rocUy (diarac ainiost dostitutnol' trt^os. ' Tlu! (»ap ' of tlu' Noi'tii l-'oik, iis it, iH locally nanunl, w a narrow rii^t!,e(l iz;or<^e crosHing (he rango uitli a doiililcMMirvc sonn'wliat in tlus shape of tlio ItHtcr S. and about a mile and a half in Icn^i'th. The riv«'r is very rapid in Ihi.s part, of its coiirnc, lint shows no iihriipl fall, and thonifh th(! I,ratd< at pro.S(!nl,oxiH(intoncs and small boulders, and (;vidontly w)yy old, tiic t woolheissmaller. As these arc of no use as landmarks, they have pi-obably luicn formed in the eouise of years by the addition of a stone by each Iiuiian cntei' in^ the rnountainrt by this route, 'lor in.k.' On a narrow jjieee of llat oncn ii'ronno, a s hort distance furthei- on, are the obsciiie remains of couple of rectangles formed of lar;;t!r stones. This place is well known 10 all the lndian^, and named by them the " ( )ld Man's playing j^round. 1 1 is fi'oin this spot that the Old Man River coiiiiiilfil liv .1. .Airnw-iiiilli (IHC'J). Tlii' luirt nt' llui liiviii^.-ldnn HniiKOur IJIinU i.'lnii. hclwtM!!! III! Nortli I'ork iiikI HikIiwixhI Klvc-r, I" iikiiii'il Ch'iiiikI' Modiitiiins. Sfu, Itiili^li <'i>liiiiil)la iiiitl V'aiiouiivur iHlaiiil, by D. (i. K Mii<;iJoiiiUided s))urs of ('relaccous ro(!ks, hare of trees, and more or less uni- formly covered with grass and low alpine vegetation, their higher portions attaining (ilevations ratlmr greater than (1,000 fcujt. They are separated by deej) V-Bhaj>ed valleys lilhsd with dense green woods. Though not oxti-emely luggcd, the mountain sceneiy liere, from its varied outline, ami the contrasts in colour liclwecn tho pale limostone peaks, the light-green meadows of the higher slopes and the sombre tbrests of tin; hollows, is peculiai'ly pleasing. 'IMiouich cutting almost dii-cetlv acioss the Cretac(ious troui^h, the,, . geological sccti(m attbrded by the South-west iJranehis not particularly ■^"'""'j""'"' III structive. Immediately west of the edge of the limostone, sandstones Ur oh, * l''- was examined. No fragments of coal wore obsei'ved in the gravel or wash of this stream. Vest Brancii. The West Hi'anch joins the North Branch at a point two and qnartei' miles above The Gap. The valley leaves that of the North Branch ;il a rijrht anjile. and runs nearlv due west for ten miles to the base of the watershed range. For three miles it is somewhat narrow and cuts through a series of high sandstone ridges, which strike neai-ly nortli- and-soutb. In this part of its length it is vbout half-wooded, \vithman\ little meadows and grassy slopes to the north. The hills then fallaM^ay Pra" f ^^^^ become lower, and an extensive prairie, with an area (withoni counting the giassy slopes of bighei' hills) of about a scjuare niiie, appears on the north side. This is known to the Stonoy Indians by an unpronounceable name, meaning the '' Praii-ie where the Kootanie child died." Thence for about six miles the valley is again rather narrow . i)ut the boi'(loring hills are low, and as viewed from a height, the country is almost ])lateau-like, and nearly everywhei'e wooded. This uniformity leads to the belief that the Cretaceous i-ocks are here little disturbed Timlwi. which is fui'ther borne out by the attitude of the rocks themselves wherever seen. Along the vrlley is a considerable tjuantity of timber of fair growth, and very little of it has so tar been destroyed by fire. The trees are sjiruce {Picea EiKjehnanni), blaclc pine (Pinus Miirraynna] and balsam-spruce (Abies subal/iina). There are also, along (his part ut ^iould'.- Dome. Hio valley, numerous oj)en glades with good pasturage t'oi- animals. The last of these is situated due south of the summit of a high, rough, lime stone mountain, which is in sight from many points during the ascent of the valley, and constit'.lcs a remaikable outlier of the main range. This mountain is sup|)i)sed to be identical with that seen from a (lis .tancc by Capt. Hl^ckiston. and nameil by him (ioulds Dome. y Oh.] NORTH I'ORK IWSS. 83 b i)i\ rcficliing the oastevn slope of tlie muiii rango. tlie valley turns to ilio north, and nms hctwooii this and the soutliorn spur of Gould's Dome, for two and a half miles. The stream Ls here quite small. Iieing about ten feet wide by tlii-ee inehes deep, antreain, most of tlie way through thick woods, hut iniiiiini Kik at one ])lace along the edge of a high cliff of limestone. Here an extensive view is obtained to the south, wljoro rounded and densely wooded ridges are seen succeeding tlic bare central portion of the main range to the west. Four miles from the summit, the trail reaches tlie jiinetion of the stream followed, with a second, coming from the north, and about etiual in ti/.e. Tlie united streams flow then south-west- «aid between gravelly flats, more or less densely wooded, till they I i I If- t » ■ 'I i - . 'if ni 1 s. 84 B THE ROCKY MOlNfAINS. ?. r: i{=- Kocks lietwccii siimmil and Elk River. reach llio eastern base of a narrow, abrupt limestone range, which still intervener between this point and the valley of the Klk ^iver. This Wi-suk-i-tshak range, which it is proposotl to call the Wl-suk-i-tshak Range, runs parallel with the 11 igh Rock Range, nearly north-and-south. It ends to the northward in about six miles, and to the south may continue i'ov a greater distance. It is cut completely through nearly at right angles, by the stream followed by the trail. The passage thus made is a narrow, rocky dctilc, bordered by dill's and crags, and about two miles in length. The trail is I'ough, and ciosses the stream a number of times. A fall of about fifteen feet occurs at one place. After thus passing the Wi-suk-i-tshak Range, the great valley of the Elk Hiwv, heie about throe miles in widtji, is entered, and the Kortli Fork Pass may be said to end. The limestone strata of the western slope of the High Rocic Range, dip westward at moderate angles, and arc overlain by hard Cretaceous sandstones, which occup}' the valley between this and the Wi-suk-i tshak Range, with a wid." of about two miles. So few exposures of these rocks were seen, that their attitude cannot be stated with certainty, but they probably ibrm a synclinal tongue, connected to the nortli with the main mass of Cretaceous roclcs which lici-e occupies the I'^lk Valley. Rolled fragments of bituminous coal were found in the northern branch of the brook previously described. The Wi-suk-i-tshak Range shows, wlieie traversed, two anticlinal folds, with an intervening synclinal, and consists of rocks of the limestone series, which here, however, includes a wide zone of brown-weathei'ing (piartzite. This, in some places, holds IVecpicnt small pyritous concretions, while the limestones are often cherty. The eastern anticlinal in this section is lather low, while the western is slightly overturned on the inteivening synclinal. While the ti averse above (lescril;ed by tiie West Branch of the Old Man and across the summit to the Klk has been spoken of as following a 'trail,' it should be explained that it appears to have been very little used as a connc ed route. We fouiul a moderately well-beaten track- in some places, while in othei-s scarcely any vestige of trail exists. This pass might be made part of a through route to the Columbia- Kootanio Valley by utilizing a trail, reported by the Indians, wiiicii leaves the west side of the Elk Valley nearly opposite the point at which it enters the same valley from the east. This trail is stated to cross liy the head-waters of Bull River to the Kootanieand to reach the latter a few miles above the point at which it leaves the nioim I tains. The impossibility of fording the Elk River, howevoj-, at times ot high water, would render this route precarious. CliiinicttT 1)1 Nortli Fiirk I'liss trail. tliroui The resemb I'f the im feet, ami, on For Die lent cam the ueej) II J»WSON.] NOIJTII-WRST BRANCH. 85 B Tlio North-west Bi-anch of the North Fork joins the Nortli Branch Nortli-wost or Livingstone River at a point five and a iialt' miles north of The Gap. The valley fii-Ht runs two and a half miles nearly due west, then eiijrht and a-half miles in a general bearing of N. 45° W. to the fall, Mini tinally a similar distance — turning first a little more to the nortli ami then rather to the east of the last hearing — to its termination at the base of tlie High Kock Range. We camped at the upper end of the east-and-west or lower part of Q|,„,|,gj„, ^f \ tlie valley on the evening of August 8th, 188;}. Up to this point the ^^c valley, valley is wide, with open ten-aces and grassy hiil-sidosto the north, the stream, whore not confined between low, rocky clitfs, being about fifty feet wide by one foot deep, and everywhere rapid. The hills border- ing the valley, which are low near the mouth of the stream, become high and i)old near the point designated, the valley hero cutting through a well marked range, which runs i'ov many miles northward. For about a mile above this point, the valley maintains the same character, but further on becomes more contracted, and generally wooded, with much tangled wind-fall in places and only occasional grassy meadows. ( )n the lower part of this portion of the valley the hordering hills are broken, but further on assume the character of wide ridges, rather plateau-like in aspect, and attaining an elevation of about 1,200 feet above the valley in some places. Two streams, apparently of some size, come in from the southward, and two from the north, one about six, the second about fifteen feet wide. The trail — a Stoney Indian liuntingtrack — follows the loft or north-east bunk. The fall is about thirty-tive feet in total height, and notwithstanding y.^ugy „j,j,^ tiie quantity of standing and fallen burnt woods with which the hills '*"''''"• aie hero covered, its surroundings are very picturesque. A valley, canying a stream of some size, opens from the south-west just above the fall, and aflbrds a grand view of the limestone mountains of the watershed range, here about two and a half miles distant. Though the peaks in the vicinity scarcely exceed 8,000 feet above the sea-level, ,,• , v, . their forms are singularly bold and varied, one of the nearest i^culmin-^"Ke uting in vertical, organ-like columns. A round-topped mountain, much resembling the Crow's Nest in outline, standing a little in advance of the main range and higher than it, has an elevation of about 8,500 foot. This is about four and a half miles west-north-west of the fall, and, on account of its peculiar form, may be called Bee-hive Mountain. For the benefit of futui-c travellers, I may add that thei'O is an excel- lent camping ground, with good pasturage. Just above the fiill, while the deep 2>ool below is a good fishing place. Hi Rfl i< THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS, Vullcj. (if (jloi)lott.\ of Mortli-wesi llraiioli. Tlic woatlior l)oiii^ cxtromoly wot, anil i\w valloy a'tove ap)»aioiitl\ vor}' iniicli ciK'uinbeicMl by wiiiil-l'all, Mr. Tyiifll, my asHistaiit in \H8'.'>, procoodod on foot, in s<^afcli of a |)ra('ti(.'al»U' roulo to llio lioad-watcrK ol tiio nuiin struani, wliilo I asconiU'd a lii:.;li liiil to tiic sontli of tlio fall. ibr the purpose of sketching the topograpliy and i,'aining such Unowl- cdi^o of the region as tlic clouded condition of ilic alinosi)hcrc would permit. Ilavini;- ascci-tainMl that the upper ])ai'l of the valley was noi .'^o ditHcult as had iieen .sM|)posed. we travelled the next day almost in thehaseofthe Higii Roek JJange. and there choosing another observa tion ])oinl on a liigli spur of the range, obtainoil sUefchcs and bearings of the whole sni-roiinding country. A high sandstone and conglomerate I'idge. which abuts on the valley at the fall, I'uiis boldly no!lhwarl)li(|iiely across a series ot parallel strilsO I'idgcs. This part of the valley contains sevei-al grassy glades, but is frequently obstructed by bui-nt and fallen timber. The valley then turns west ward, cutting almost directly aci'oss the strilic, and becoming at the same time, f(tr about two miles, (juite open, with low bordering ridges, or ])lateau-lil. forming the furthest soui-ccs of Ihe Old Man, are observed to fall. From the noilh, no less than live streams join Ihiit of the main valley above the fall, with but one of any si/e from the southward. •For about a mile, near the ))oint at which the valloy lir.-t lurn> westward, the stream itself Hows between low rocky clitj's in the bottom of the valley. By the vtdley of the seccnd stream from the north above this miniature caiion, we subsequently tbund ji route to the soutlicrn feeders of the Jlighwood. The stream itself was named Oyster Creek, on account of the occurrence on it of lianks strewn with fossil shells ot' this kind. While the geological features, observt'd in crossing the <'i-ow Ne-t (j'etaceous trough by the Xorth-west Hranch, arc hirgcly a repetition ol thoscalready described on the more southern branches, and thoobliiiuity of the general course of the valley to the strike, renders the section more oliscure than on those, some p(dnts deserve special note The sandstones and conglomerates, met with near the junction of thi> stream with the Xorth Hi-ancb. dip uniformly westwarU from the flank 10. IJ. 12. 13. 14. UAASON.] NORTII-WKST HHANCII. 87 b- i < ( > < •. 1 ^ : 15 of the LiviritiMtoMc T?!ingf. Between the Livin/iijstoiie TJivoi- and (Hir riimp of August 8tli, above alluded to, two and a lialf miles west, the licds form u low synelinal, followed by u similarly low antieliiial, and at llie point juHt desi (1 (1 {) ■ ) »> 2 J ti •> !» li I . Siipertidial gravels •2. Co'il ::. Slialo 4. Coal .'). Sluile (i. Coal 7. Shale 5. Conf. il. Sandstone 10. liliale and (!Oiil I J. Sandstone and .siiale 12. lUack shale 13. Sandstone 14. lilack shalo with coaly layers anil some ironstone !» 1"). ( 'lay-shales and ironstone (to water) The total thi(d ■'l- 1 , ^^Y: ; .|l 1 ^ ^ ■•n n\ :!i 1 ■ill ■ }i 'n .1 : • III LiviiiRS'tono Range. Break in the range- Twenty-mile Creek. 90 b THE ROCKY XfOUNTAINS. twenty feet wide by six inches deep — coming from the north-westward througli a narrow valley, while a trail going northward by a seconil valley crosses by an elevated pass to the head-waters of the Middle Branch of the Highwood in the foot-hills (see p. 94 b). The Livingstone Eango, composed of limestone, constitutes the east- ern side of the valley of the Livingstone River, while the Cretaceous rocks form the hills on the west. The stream flows, however, till near its head, altogether on the Cretaceous, the junction between the two series lying close in to the abrupt base of the limestone mountains. These are in general very steep, with much bare rock, scarps, cliffs and screes. The higher ])oints rise about 2,000 feet above the valley, while the sandstone hills seldom attain 1,500 feet and are generally not more than 1,000 feet. • The slope of the valley itself is considerable, yet the higher points of the hills and to a less degree of the Livingstone Range also, seem throughout to preserve about the same elevation relatively to it. The limestone range is most rugged in its southern half, and though generally showing wciitward dips, in places exhibits eastward ones. Northward, the summits of these mountains are generally rounded and bald, and evidently composed of rock crumbled in place. Though thus far spoken of as continuous, the Livingstone Range i« interrupted for a distance of probably three miles, at a point about ten miles north of The Gap. The stream here turns away from the base of the range and for some miles is bordered on both sides by Cretaceous hills, which are continuous to the east with those of the outer foot-hills. Where the limestone range resumes, it appears to represent a distinct anticlinal fold, the axis of which lies further to the east. One tributary from the east flows com- ])lelely tlirough the Livingstone Range, while two others enter through the break above referred to. The larger tributaries, howevei-, come from the westward, of which the West and North- west Branches, previously described, are the most important. Another rapid stream — seventeen feet wide by six inches deep, — enters from the west, twenty miles from The Gap, and. near this point the edge of the lime- stones turns westward, the ttrike changing to the same direction. The Cretaceous hills to the south of the stream are steep and escarpment- like, and constitute the end of a well-marked high range, which runs southwaid about ten miles, parallel to the main valley and a few miles west of it. The sandstone hills, of which this constitutes a iwrt, form a broken, irregular country, with narrow valleys and are almost uni- formly wooded. The forest has not been much desti oyed by tire, but the timber is tmly of fair quality and not very large in size. The limestone of the Livingstone Range, as far as examined, appears ■chiefly to resemble that of the upper cherty beds of the Crow Nest Lake. ■ (■- DAWSON.] HIGHWOOD RIVER. 01 13 tliough there is also some criooidal limestone. The banks of the Rocks of Tiivingstone Eiver show tine sections of Cretaceous rocks, though, as un "g?f '^"*' tlie stream noarlj' follows the .strike, the same zones constantly recui-. Gvoy or brown sandstones, sometimes I'ather massive, alternate with (•(jffee-coloured, or bottle-green, crumbling and shaly sandstones, and occasional beds of iionstono. For about three miles above the entrance i)f the North-west Branch valley, the Cretaceous rocks are much dis- turbed, and are in places nearly on edge. In the wash of a stream entering at fifteen miles from The Gap, and '^'""''■ again in that of the Twenty-mile Stream, above alluded to, fragments of ooal occur, and it is probable that closer investigation will bring to liii'ht a number of coal outcrops in the vicinity. The lower part of the Livingstone Valley shows in many places thick beds of rounded gravel Gravel dcpo.=it?- Dverlying the Cretaceous ; and narrow terraces occur several hundred feet above the stream in some localities. In the upper part of the valley A deposit resembling bouldei"-clay, and charged with large sub-angular limestone blocks appears, forming terraces eighty feet above the stream. No glaciated stones were, however, found, nor \»'oro any striated rock- surtaces observed. The gravel of the streams is remarkably local in origin in all this part of the mountains, and there is little apparent evidence of extensive glaciation. The tbllowing are the elevations of some points on the branches of Kievations. the North Fork of the Old Man Eiver, within The Gap, barometrically determined, antl in each case referring to the water-level of tho^ >ti'eam : — XoETu-wKST Branch. — Eight miles from Gap (2J miles above mouth of this branch) 4,9(30 feet. Above the fall, 5,512 feet. Near source, about half a mile from base of main range, 6,311 feet. LiviNGsroNB KivER 01! NoKTH BuANCH. — Two milcs from Gap, 4,709 feet. Sixteen miles from Gap, 5,371 feet. Head-v:ater& of the Highioood River. The southern soui-ccs of the High wood Eiver wore reached hy fol-Tmii xo lowing up the tributary of the North-west Branch of Old Man Eiver, nninc'iu which has already been alluded to under the nantc of Oyster Creek. The trail followed, which is rather an Indian hunting-track than a leiiiilarlj' ti-avellcd route, crosses and re-crosses Oyster Creek and small streams joining it, till about four and a half miles from the valley of the North-west Branch, the watershed between this and the Ilighwood is iiossed, and Lost Creek, a tributar}^ of the Cataract Bi-anch ot the ilighwood, is reached. 03'8ter Ci'eek and Lost Creek flow in opposite ! I* '92 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. t> li 6.vster Creek. Larainio rocks Coal. F088il.x directions in a persistent valley, with a nearly north-and-south bearing, which lies along the base of the westernmost of the series <<£ parallel Cretaceous ridges which characterize the country between the Livingstone and High Ki c limestone ranges. This valley is at an average distance of about three miles from the crest of the lattei- range, and is separated from its base by irregular wooded hills. The High Eock Eange, though here sinuous with regard to the lino of its crest, is continuous and wall-like toward the east, and crowned at intervals by bare, rugged summits of irregular and striking forms. The limestone rocks composing it have a persistent westward dip and several high, bare, flat-topped ridges project eastward from its base. In following up Oyster Creek, the country is generally wooded, though the trees arc, as a rule, small, and there are numerous little meadows in the valleys. The elevation of the summit is G,22G feet, and the country gradually descending northward from this point is denselA' wooded, though the trees are here also usually not of great size. The first little prairie occurs at about three miles from the summit. At six miles from the summit, this tributary of the Cataract Branch, aban- doning its northward course, turns abruptly eastward. The valley follows the general strike of the rocks throughout. Near the head-waters of Oyster Creek, sandstones and shales, generally of a soft character, are well exposed in the banks, and dip nearly due west at angles of 45° to 50°. A massive bed also occurs, which is composed almost entirely of oyster shells, and exactly resembles some of those seen in the eastern foot-hills near the .49th jiarallel. (See Eeport of Progress, 1882-84, p. 55 c.) They are overlain by soft shales and sand- stones, holdiig coal-seams, of which the thickest observed is about two feet. Just north of the watershed, the same coal-bearing horizon is again seen in several places, and though the seams are here all quite thin, it is not impossible that thicker ones might be found in this vici- nity. The coal found at this place is a ti'ue bituminous one, yielding a firm coke, but a specimen examined contained 24*69 per cent, of ash. (Sec Eeport by Mr. Hoffman, p. 8 m.) The Ostrea, above referred to, has been determined by Mr. Whiteaves to be 0. glabra, var. Wi/omingensis. Corbicula occidentalis occurs in the same bed in smaller numbers, and silicified wood is also found. The horizon is almost certainly near the base of the Laramie, and the locality is interesting as being almost the only one in which beds of this age have been clearly recognized in the Mountains. The greater part of the space between the valley of Oyster and Lost creeks and the base of the mountains, may be underlain by these rocks. DAWSON.] HIGH WOOD lUVEH. 93 I^ Another point of interest is the entire absence of gravel deposits Absence of about the summit between Oyster Creek and Lost Creelc, where even '"■'*^"'' '1''p°*''*- the smallest rills cut channels into the beds above described. Lower down on both streams, gravelly and other detrital deposits are met with in the usual abundance, and include much limestone from the adjacent mountains. The part of the valley of the Cataract Branch, into which Lost Cieok Country near falls, runs neai-lj' east-and-west from the base of the High Rock or Branch! watershed range to the outer Ilighwood Kango, which forms a northern continuation of the Livingstone Range. Its western extremity rises rapidly toward the base of the High Rock Range, and is wide and shal- low, bounded by low-wooded hills, with open alpine meadows toward the higher levels. Eastward, it becomes a deep trough, and cuts directly across tive or six high Cretaceous ridges. Of these the most important is the central one, which attains a height both to the .south and north of the valley, of about 2,000 feet above it. The point to the north, which was ascended, attbrds a very tine view of the upper east-and- west part of the valley of the Cataract Branch, which has a length of about eight mile.>J, and the contrast is very marked between the high parallel ridges, characterizing the eastern part of the Cretaceous area, with the gentle flowing outlines of the hills forming a belt of several miles along the base of th" High Rock Range. This ditferenco is no doubt dependent on the different attitude of the rocks, which in one case form a series of sharp folds, in the other, whether in this noi-mal posi- tion or — as may very likely bo the case — completely inverted, lie at comparatively low angles. The east-and-west portion of the Cataract Branch valley contains Cataract many patches of prairie along the stream, and these often i-un up on the "^''° ***'*'• southward-facing slopes to a considerable elevation. The woods are not much destroyed by tire, but the size of the trees is small. At the foot of the Ilighwood Range is a rather lai-ge, triangular, flat, terraced area, in which a small stream — Salter's Brook — coming from the pass which leads across the range to the eastern foot-hills, joins the river. It was our intention to follow the river now called the Cataract Branch to its junction with the main Ilighwood, but about two miles below the mouth of Salter's Biook, the valley, running northward along the base of the Highwood Range, becomes narrow and densely wooded, and we came abruptly to the edge of a gorge, into which the river plunges, making paii a picturesque fall, the upper leap of which is about ten, the lower about thirty feet. Finding no vestige of a trail beyond this point, and the character of the valley rendering it evident that it would be difficult if not impossible to take our animals further, we turned back lO Salter's Brook and crossed the Highwood Range. ii I') 4X :i' 7! Crcliict'Ou.s rocks. Limestoiii' series^. Pms over Ilighwooil Range. 94 B THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. No features of special geological interest wore obHorved cluriiig liic ti'averso of this part of the Crow Nest Cretaceous trough. The strike of the rocks varies from N. 34° W. to K 22° W., and the dips are almost uniformly to the south-west at very high angle.'*, the beds becom- ing vertical in some places. Two considerable belts, characterized bv dai'lc shales and shaly sandstones, cross the east-and-wost part of the Cataract Branch valley. One about a mile wide, just east of the mouth of Lost Creelc, the other, probably less important, about u nule above the mouth of Suiter's Creelc. The remaining rocUs arc sandstones with some conglomerate, which are often considerably indu- rated and weather to a brownish colour. Each of the shale belts pro- bably consists of sevei-al compressed folds, giving an appeai-ance of very great thickness. The fir^t oi* western belt is apparently continuou> with that described on the North-west Branch ofthe North Fork (p. 89b) Just above the fall, the limestones of the Highwood Eange first appear on the river with a dip of N. 82° W., at an angle of 5". These lime stones weather brownish, and have the appearance of the beds of this series frequently found immediately underlying tlie Cretaceous. At the fall, the limestones are of the usual blue-grey colour, and dip S. 73° W. < 20°. The limestones of the western part of the Highwood Range dip westward at angles of 35 to 40 degrees, and as this is nearly the slope of the mountain sides, wide, flat surfaces of bare rock aw exposed. In following Salter's Brook eastward, toward the summit of the pas.< over the Highwood Range, it is soon found to become a rough stony torrent-bed, which we woi-e obliged to cross and re-cross. The valley ij now contracted and the mountains rise abruptly on either side to a height ofa bout 2,000 feet. The summit is reached at about four miles after leav- ing the Cataract Branch, and has an elevation of 6,398 feet. The descent to the east is at first very steep, and leads down into an amphi- theatre, open to the north, and bounded to the east by Sentinel Moun- tain, which forms a high projecting spur of the limestone range. The scenery is of a wild alpine character, and several streams from the encircling mountains fall towai'd the centre of the great depression, forming the sources of the Middle Branch of the Highwood River. There is probably here a synclinal fold of Cretaceous rocks, compressetl and overturned betAveen the limestone masses forming the range just traversed on one side and Sentinel Mountain on the other. The Creta- ceous rocks ai'e. however, much disturbed and irregular, and the .synclinal runs out to the southward against a high irregular mass of limestone mountains, across which, we wore informed, an Indian trail runs to the head of the Livingstone River. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the sources of Salter's Brook are actually on the Cretaceous sandstones H ' TT bAWSON.] HIGIIWOOD HIVEIl. 95 n to the cast, and tlmt it runs coniplololy across tlic fimostono bolt of the Highwood Eango. This oirouni8tance shows, that when liavdenod, the Cretaceous sandstones arc capable of affording to denudation a i-csist- unco as groat as the older limestone series. Fi'Oin its source, the Middle Branch of the Ilighwood runs in a direc- Middle UraneU tion a few degrees east of north for sovon miles, beyond which point it ^^j,."^*''"'""^'* turns eastward, The valley is at first deep and shut in by high, steep loot-hills, but as it gradually recedes from the base of the Highwood Kange, it becomes more open. Successive tires have almost entirely removed the wood from the upper part of the stream, and the slopes have become grassed, with the irregular, scanty growth often observed in the high and bleak parts of the foot-hills. Before rcacliing the j)oint at which this stream bends eastward, however, several luxuriant prairie patches interspei-sed with coppice are passed through. No detailed examination of the Cretaceous rocks of this part of tlie foot- hills was made, but an important band of dai-k shales appears nearly to follow the u])per part of the stream and running across the inter- vening countr}' to the main stream of the Highwood, gives rise to a wide, low valley. The foot-hills, bordering the Ilighwood Eangc in this vicinity, run f °"t''i,"uu** out in a series of long, comb-like spurs, nearly at right angles to the range, and to tho general direction of strike. This peculiarity, which is again referred to, is in marked contrast to the usual system of strike- ridges met with in the foot-hills and other folded Cretaceous areas. It would appear that where tho Cretaceous rocks form the flanks of a dominant range, the streams, for some reason, tend to follow lines of transverse fissure rather than the strike. Following up tho so-called North Branch of the Highwood, which is U^fle"'*"'^ in reality tho main stream, wo again entered the mountains, eight miles north of the pass just described. The Highwood Valley, in the foot-hills adjacent to the mountains, is a wide depression, with prairie flats and terraced sides. The hills near it are from one-half to two-thirds wooded, chiefly with aspen, but much of the wood is dead and blackened b}- fires. The gap. or gorge, by which the river leaves the Highwood Eange, is iiigiiwood Oap. narrow, the elevation of tho river at this point being about 4,V80 feet. Tho Cretaceous rocks east of the range dip toward it, or westward, at angles of 30'' to 35°, but on approaching their junction with the limestone, become vertical and show evidences of very great pressure. The line of junction appears to follow tho crest of a high ridge for some distance south of the river. The limestone series forming the Highwood Eange has, on the river, a transverse widtn of about two miles, and probably presents the usual anticlinal structure as the dips are westward, and tho limestones are again followed to the west by tho Cretaceous series. The ■m v. It- ' i' m ■ '. -I '.■' I' I 'if >■ ' ; .ft ■ ' ill ^l m Mount Head. Change in trend of range liKb Valley in the MountAinf. Ohiiraotor of the valley . &6» frit ROOKY mountains; mountalri htass to the north of The Gap, of which only the high spurn are seen in following the river, I take to be Mount Head, of the maps. A mountairt 'with this faamo appears on Palliser's map, and has boon given great !fynominence oh several more recent maps, but I have been unable to as(5*rtain by whom the name was applied, oi- to find any des- cription or IfSarings by which it might bo satisfactorily identided. It may probably have been a ])eak seen from the eastern plains or foot-hills, at a gi^eat distance. Its latitude, and position in the eastern range of the mountains, as shown on Palliser's map, accord nearly with thc' mountain here referred to, and under the circumstances there is nO' I'eason why the name should not be preserved in connection with this mountain, even if it be not that originally intended. The Ilighwood River breaks through the outer range at a point at which the latter suffers a marked change in trend, running more to the north-westward, and making an angle of neai-ly fifteen degrees with its former general course. The High Rock Range to the west, and the intervening Cretaceous ridges of the noi-thern part of the Crow- Nest Cretaceous trough, participate in this changed trend,, which must therefore be of some structural importance. Within the Ilighwood Range, the river-valley runs westward for about two miles, crossing a series of Cretaceous ridges, like those seen on the corresponding portion of the Cataract Branch. The i-ocks, so far as exposed, are usually sandstones, varying in texture, and in colour from yellowish and brownish to greeiish-grey. The dips are west- ward at an average angle of about 60°. From the point last mentioned the valley turns to the north-west- ward, occupying nearly the centre of the Cretaceous area between the two limestone ranges, for a distance of twelve miles, when, by the interpolation of a third range of limestone mountains, of Avhich Mist Mountain constitutes the southern extremity, the Cretaceous trough is divided into two branches, the stream at the same time bifurcating. The western branch — Storm Creek — occupies a valley which runs across to the Kananaskis, the eastern — Mist Creek — rises six miles north fi'om the forks at the base of a high transverse ridge formed by the inosculation of the foot-hills of the Mist and Highwood ranges. From The Gap to the forks, neai' Mist Mountain — a distance of fourteen miles — the valley contains a number of prairie patches, but becomes more generally wooded on toward the forks. The river at the forks has an elevation of 5,736 feet. The hills on both sides are^ as a rule, rather densely wooded, t.nd several small tributary streams fall in, both from the Ilighwood and High Rock ranges. About six miles up the river from The Gap, an indistinct trail, which we had fol- lowed so far, was lost, and in trying back, we fell upon an old trail, ! ■ , ;lii ^;i' IIL DAWSON.] HIQHWOOD HIVBR. n7B which for about three miles, runs parallel to tho river, behind a low intervening ridge. This trail, though now obstructed by wind-fall, liiis evidently at one time been much travelled, and, I believe, formed part of the north and south 'pitching trail ' of the mountain Indians. Tho Cretaceous hills to the cast of this part of the river arc high and I'ough and arc broken at intervals by torrent-valleys which bring down the waters of the Highwood Range. This i-ange was hei-e not well seen, liiit so far as observed, the limestones appear to dip southward at high angles. In tho High Eock Range, on the contrary, the limestones lie at comparatively low angles, though dipping in the same direction. The hills intervening between the river and the High Rock Range, are again comparatively low and gently rounded, and are densely wooded. The range itself resembles in character that near the head-waters of tho North-west Branch of the Old Man, and has some summits with i-emai'kable block-like forms. One very high, pointed mountain is noai'ly on the latitude of the Highwood Gap. In following up Storm Creek ten and a half miles, between the Pa.ts between Mistj' Range and a parallel range on the west, a summit separating the Kunanaski!'. waters of the Highwood and Kananaskis, is reached. The valley is continuous and straight, and tho Kananaskis Valley, at a distance of about four miles, may be seen from it. This summit, which has a lieight of 7,217 feet, is very nearly in the same latitude with that between the Kananaskis and the Elk (p. 107 b), and only three and a half miles distant from it, with one intervening range. Bearings were obtained from this point on mountains previously fixed on the Kana- naskis, but my examination whs not carried beyond the summit. Storm Creek, is really the main source of the Highwood, and carries gj^^^j ^^g^jj nearly twice as much water as Mist Creek. The valley is generally wooded, and is rather narrow and rough for a few miles above its mouth, after which it becomes wide and flat bottomed, and runs parallel to the enclosing ranges. The woods have not yet been much dostroyed by fire, and some trees of very fair growth occur in the upper ])art of the valley. The elevation becomes such before the summit is reached, however, that the valley assumes an open alpine character, with scattered groves of larch {Larix Lyallii), and the slopes rising- above it are there quite bare of wood. Near its mouth, the Cretaceous hills on the south are very high and irregular. Though the height of these hills and the bad weather prevailing at the date of our visit, prevented certainty in the matter, there is every appearance of a break in the main range in this vicinity, and it is possible that one of the larger tributaries of the Klk may rise tc the east of the range. Beyond ^ the position of this supposed gap, the limestone range to the south-west is very high and broken. At the summit of the pass, a high Creta- ' 13 'Hp' l^' m — ^^rt-'-y— ■r~-- —^ I I -J 1 98 B THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. Mist Creek. Qood timber. ceou8 ridge intervenes between the streiim and these mountains, while the bare limostone slopes of the Misty TJan^^o rise on the opposite sido. Frngmoiits of coi'l were observed in the stream a few miles south of the summit of the pass. On the night of the 16th of July, 1884, we experienced a heavy snow-storm in the pass, the snow being four inches deep the next morning. Mist Creek, for six miles above the forks, runs in a straight north- west and south-east valley, receiving one lai c brook from the oast and three or four from the west. In the lower part of the valley and in the adjacent hills is a considerable ([uantity of good timber, consisting principally of spruce and black pine (Picea Ewjelmanni and Pinus Murray ana). This might be run down the stream at high stages of the water. The straight valley is eventually blocked l>y the fusion of the high Cretaceous hills which form the basal ridges of the Misty Range on one side, and the Ilighwood Range on the other. Tui-ning abruptly to the west at this point, the source of the stream is reached in about a mile and a half, in a j^rofound amphitheatre or cirque, at the base of the first-mentioned range. The floor of this amphitheatre con- sists of green, alpine meadows and slopes, with scattered clumps of Lyall's larch. Its elevation is 7,266 feet. As it proved impossible to go further in this direction, we returned down the valley to the point at which it bends, and climbing the bare ridge, found ourselves eventu- ally on a narrow crest, at an elevation of 7,632 feet, with a practicable though steep and rough descent on the other side, to the valley of Sheep Creek. i>x'" -:>-~Jjm^^^ FIG. 3. MI8T MOUNTAIN FROM THE SOUTH. LJ-. .* -• JMiat Mountain, ^i^t Mountain, with an elevation of about 10,000 feet, is one of the highest summits in this region. It occupies a position of peculiar prominence, forming the pi'ow-like, south-eastern extremity of the massive limestone range which separates Storm and Mist creeks. It is singularly bold and precipitous, and, as seen from the southwaixl, rises in the centre of several high spurs composed of Cretaceous rocks, which surroundjjit on three sides, and about their bare tops have a reddish MWtON.] IIIOIIWOOD HIVKR. OD H ;i!sltoct which cofilnistM with tho groy of tiio limoHtono clirts of tho culminating ])eali. To tho nortli it attucljos to othor niounlaiiiH of tiu' laiigo not mufli inibrior in height, which, m tlioy widon nortliward, boconu' inoi-c or k'ss separated into two parallel subor- (linafo ridgeis, between wliich the furthest source of the Klbow Uivor appears to riso. The Misty IJiinge is exceedingly rugged and bare Misty Hainre. ill its southern part, both on the side facing Mist Ci-eck and that toward Storm Ci-eek. The foot-hills of (jretacoous rocks l>ing between Mist Creek and the range, again show the remarkable comb-like structure previously alluded to. tho ridgos in this case arc sharp-edged, witli wide intervening valkys which have semi-circular outlines in cross section. This feature is illustrated in the accompanying plate, on which tho ridges to the right and left of the view (with birds shown near them) are of Cretaceous rocks. As already indicated, the head-watoi-s of tho Highwood proper, as ^'f"'''','*''"" well as those of the Cataract Branch, are included in the northern trough, continuation of wliat may still bo designatoil.as the Crow Nest Creta- ceous trough. Between tho bounding limestone ranges, from the Highwood Gap to Mist Mountain, tho Cretaceous rocks have a breadth of about six miles, and so far as observed in most places, maintain their usual westward dips. Further north, the trough is split into two long arms, the limestone mass of the Misty Range separating these. Tiie western arm, or that occupied by tho valley of Storm Creek, gradu- Rocks on ally narrows, and at the summit of tho pass is only about a mile and a half wide. In the lower part of tho valley, high Cretaceous ridges appear on both sides, but furtlier up this valley, and down that which slopes toward the Kananaskis from the fui'ther side of the pass, there is but a single Cretaceous ridge, and this borders the western rangu. The Crotacoous rocks on this side of the v.illey dip at angles of 25° to 40° toward the limestones of the Elk Mountains, which may possibly vest upon them in the form of an overturned anticlinal. Those on the ■east side of the valley very generally dip eastward at rather low angles, and appear to abut against the nearly vertical limestones of >.he Misty Range along the line of a fault, as shown in the annexed diagramatic section. The extremity of this branch of the Cretaceous KIG. 4. DIAGRAMATIO SECTION NEAR THE HEAD-WATERS OF STORM CREEK. rocks seems to run out compleitely behind the range fronting on the Kananaskis. .1 1 1! I I ikion It Creok. 100 B TIIK UOOKV MOINTAINS. Tho Misty Ran^o is with littlo d<)iil»t a groat comjirortHcd anticlinal of liniostono. ovorturiiod oaHtward. Tlx' ovidonco of tliiH structuii is perfectly clear on both niilcH of tho ciniuo at tho head of Mist Crook, where tho Cretaceous shaloH and sanilstonoH pasH beneath thc' iiniOHtones at an angle of about 40°, and to the oust of tiiem aic tiirown into a serioH of overlapping folds, more or loss frncturcil This sti'ucturo, as shown in the south side of the cirque, is illustratiil in the accompanying cut, in which the rocks of tho steep slope to tlu I'ight are limestone. It is of interest in connection with tho probable analogous crumpling of parts of tho Cascade coal basin, further norlh. VU„ ."). OVICUTURXEn I'OI.DS OK ( 'ROTACEXiqS RCM'KS AT .lUNlTIOX W Trit I.IMPaTONi:, MIST (KEEK. ii Conl. Pass from Higlnvood to Sheep Creek. The western bi'anch of the Ci'etacoous ti'ough, along which Mist Creek runs, is still about two and a half miles wide at the source of the stream, and, as subsequently noted, i-uns up the valley of Sheep Creek nearly to the Elbow River. That coal occurs in greater or less ([uantity, pretty generally distri- buted throughout the Oi'ctaceous rocks of this I'cgion, is evidenced liy its constant appearance in tho streams in i-ollod fragments. In addi. tion to the places of such occurrence already noted, it was found in several small tributaries of Mist Creek. Seams a few inches tliic k. were seen in place in the ridges near the head of the creek, and nitiiv complete examination might lead to the discovery of workable deposits. Head-waters of Sheep Creek and Elbow River. In travelling northward in this part of the range, it was our object to fix the limits, as definitely as possible, and trace to its northern extremity, the great Crow Nest Cretaceous trough. Having been unable to secure the services of any Indian acquainted with the region, wo were obliged to select for ourselves what appeared to be the best routes, iinticliital Htructiiic I of Mist iKMlth (he tlioin iMT tViictui'dl. illiiutratcd )po to tlu ;i |)i'()l)al)l( lior noi'lli. vnii rhich Mist iivce of llu leep Creek illy distii- idenced by In adili- s found in jhes thick. ;, and more e deposits. our object ts noi'tliern been nnalilo region, we best routei", o m o « fe '., I'll o 00 « »WS0N.] SHEEP CREEK AND ELHOW HIVEIl. 101 n a circumstance resulting in some loss of time, and on several occa- >ii)n8 causing us to fall into very rough, impracticable countr}'. We luul anticipated strik'-ig the Hlbow River beyond the sources of Mist Creek, Imt on attaini;ig the summit of the pass, ^aw at once that the head- waters of Sheep Crook were interposed. From this summit to Sheep Crook, a rapid descent of about 2,600 I'eet was ettectcd, and the valley leached at a point at which it makes nearly a right angle, the upper ])art trending north-westward, parallel to tlie general direction of the mountains, the lower turning to the oast and breaking aci'oss the outer range toward the foot-hills. From this point to that at which Mr. McConnell* examined Sheep Ci'eok westward, in the foot-hills, a space of nearly twelve miles remains unexplored. The outer oi- eastern limestone range is hero either much wider than usual, or there is an ailditional echelon range contiguous to it. A couple of miles below the point at which we reached the valley, is a mountain of which the iiorthorn side presents a remai'kablo, sheer cliff, about 2,000 feet in height. Sheep Creek is here a rapid stream, about thirty feet wide by six Sheep Creek. inrhos or a foot deep. The valley is rather wide and Hat bottomed, and risi's ])retty rapidly for tive miles, till the source of the stream is ii'achcd, on a high plateau ovoi'looking the deep, transverse valley of t'"<; Mlbow Eiver, at an elevati(m of 0,877 feet. The whole upper valley of Sheep Creek has been devastated by forest tii'cs, which, in .»ome cases have recurred till the trees have been entirely removed, grassy flats or slopes encumbered with stumps and fragments of i)urnt trees taking their place. In others, the blackened or bleached trunks are still standing, and the otfoct is dosohito in the extreme. The limestones of the mountains on the north-oast side of this part ()fy,"'''<«;V' , ' Sliooi) Crook. the valley dip with great regularity to the south-wostward, at an angle i>t' about 40°, and the Cretaceous rocks are seen in one or two places lo overlap them with apparent confoi-mity. On the opposite side, the tVotaceous constitutes the foot-hills of the northern part of ho Misty liange. At a distance of two miles /rom the Klbow River, the Creta- ceous trough still has a width of nearly two miles, but between this point and the river, having now become a thin, superficial shoot, it hilurcatos. The western branch extends to the edge of the Fli)ow Valley, and is evidently cut off l»y it, though there is some appearance M ; '■ 11 I .1; ■ t I I •! I ,! TTeaJ of Elbow River. Valley of Elbow Uiver. Rocks on Elbow Ilivor. 102 « THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Igolatcil ('rctiii'couf nr Tho hoad-watcrs of tho Klbow Eiver occupy one of the remarkable- vallcyH 80 frequently found in this part of the Rocky Mountains, which lie exactly at right angles to the trend of the constituent ridges and strike of the rocks. The valley in this case terminates abruptly about two miles west of the source of Sheep Creek, at the base of a very high and rough limestone range, which separates it from the Kananaskis. Two streams converge at this point. That from the south, which drains the central vnlley of the Misty Rang ,>, is evidently the larger. The second, coming from tho north or north-Mcst, is said by Indians to afford a rough pass to the Kananaskis. Below the junction of these two streams, the valley is remarkably wide and Hat, and as .seen from a height, contrasts curiously with the vojy rugged surrounding moun- tains by which it is almost enclosed. Tho .sconer)- is grand, and would be beautiful, but for the fact that the forests have been almost entirely destroyed by tire. Ridges which appear to bo moraines, occur in this part of the valley, and further down, glacial strise were ob.served following its direction. The lower part of the valley is narrower than the upper, and a weli- beaten, though rather rough and hilly trail leads down it, along the bank of the stream. The woods are in some places dense, and the mountains bordering it are often abrupt and cliff-like, though not remarkably high. About two miles before reaching the outer edge of the limestone range, a wide wooded valley opens southwai-d, and from this point, that of the Elbow trends northward. The total length of the transverse valley occupied b}' the Klbow is about eight miles. At the eastern edge of the limestone ranges, where the stream issues into a low region among Cretaceous foot-hills, the river bed is nearly a quarter of a mile wide, and consists at low water, chiefly of dry, gravel bars. It is evi- dently subject to very heavy floods. The rocks forming the mountains on both sides of the portion of the Elbow above described, are, so far as could be observed, entirely of the great limestone series. At the point at which tho trail from Sheep Creek reaches the Elbow, they dip south-westward, at an angle of about 40°. but flatten out further down the valle}', and appear to lie in a serie.i of light undulations with low dips. At the outer range they are again found dipping in the direction just noted, but at an angle of about 25°, and the first Cretaceous rocks seen to the east have a similar dip, and in the same direction. Whetbci- this circumstance is here due to overturned folding, or to faulting, is ca uncertain. Three miles up the river from the western edge of the Cretaceous rocks of the foot-hills, exp^s^res were found in tho bottom of the valle}' of shales and santlstones which appear to belong to the Cretacous series. They are seen in the vicinity of tho stream for aboui 300 3'ard8, and may bo more e.xtensivo, but are evidently confined if ii'ii ) DAWSON.] SHEEP CREEK AND ELBOW RIVER. 103 b the bottom of the valley. They probably constitute a small, isolated area, let in by faults, thoufjjh it is just possible that the limestones of the mountains have been pushed eastward on a nearly horizontal thrust- plane over the (Iretacoous. The evidences of enormous pressure from the westward, in this part of the moutains, would lead us to suspect the ])08sible existence of such over-thrusts. The eastern, or outer range of the mountains proper, is here the outlying limc- Fisher Eange of Pallism-'s map. Beyond this, however, there is an **""® "'■''*• ^ outlying area of the Bvvc)nian or Dcvono-Oarboniferous, limestone series, resembling an island in the Cretaceous foot-hills, but not much more rugged than these, nor very much exceeding them in height. The main stream of the Elbow cuts across this limestone area, and when, in 1882, Mr, McConnell followed u]) the Elbow for the purpose of defining the western edge of the Cretaceous rocks, he stopped at the outer or eastern edge ol" this area.-'^ The northern and southern terminations of this limestone area, have not been accurately defined, but are, probably, nearly as shown on the map. Its greatest width is about four miles, and total length, probably, about fifteen miles. The structure of this outlying area of limestone is veiy simple, being Anticlinal structurG that of a broad, low anticlinal, in which the base-level of the Creta- ceous rises above the plane of denudation. Where crossed to the north, on the Cailon Branch of the Elbow, it shows near the west edge a subsidiary synclinal which holds a narrow trough of Cretaceous rocks. For four miles be^'ond the point at which the Klbow ci-osscs the Fisher Branch eastern edge of the main limestone area of the mountains, it flows nearly due north in a wide valley with extensive gravelly flats. Near the point at which it again turns eastward an being ajiparently all westward, antl often at angles as high as 00°. The ^""^^ withcoal. southern extension of the Cascade Cretaceous trough, which runs U H I ill it; Kunannskis iind Opal RangcF. FesBils. 106 b THE KOOKY MOUNTAINS. across from the Bow, is then met with, forming a region of lower hills, and bounded to the west by high and nigged mountains attached to ■ Wind Mountain. It was intended to revisit and closely examine the Ci-efaceous rocks hero, but this was not accomplished. The exposures of the rocks near the rivoi- are few, the valley being wide and trough-like. The Cretaceous rocks appear, however, to cross the valley obliquely and to tci-minate to the southward in the manner shown on the maj). That their coal-bearing character, as developed on the Bow, continues, is ovidenccd b}- the occurrence of fragments of anthracite in the streams. To the south-west of the Cretaceous area, the river occupies a valley bounded by the Kananaskis Eange on the west and the Opal Mountains on the east. The ricks of both ranges dip westwaid, the former at angles of 30° to 40°, the latter at TO" to 80°, increasing southward, and in the vicinity of Tomb-stone Mountain becoming abso- lutely vortical and forming a very steep, rough-edged range. Both ranges ajipoar to be composed chiefly of limestone, but the west- ward slopes of the Opal Mountains show a considerable thickness of brown-weathering quartzites. and these, or beds precisely resembling them from a distance, occur at the summit of the Kananaskis Eange; giving reason for the belief that a fault, with eastward down-throw, runs along the valley separating the ranges The throw of the fault must be at least equal to the height of the scarped eastern front of the Kananaskis, or about 4,000 feet. Nearly on the horizon of the quartzltes, but in limestones, on the west slope of the Opal Mountains, some fossils were found. The lime- stones at this place are much fractured and jointed and often weather to brown or reddish colors. Small cavities, lined with quartz ciystals, occur both in these and the adjacent quartzites, and jointage sur- faces are found, coated with films of opal, which, however, seldom shows the least play of colour. In one fragment of quartzite some obscurely preserved shells a])pearod, in which the original calcareous matter had been completely replaced by amber-coloured opal. The fossils men- tioned are scarcely detei-minable, but represent a species of Productns and a Strophomena or Strophodonta, possibly Devonian. The nearly isolated mountain forming the northern end of the Opal Range is cap- ped by dark crumbling beds which m;iy possibly rei)resent a Cictii- ceous outlier, and in the southern part of that portion of the valley between this and the Kananaskis i?ange, Cretaceous shales definitely occur, forming — as far a.s I hiive been able to ascertain — the extreme northern end of the I'jik Bivcr Cretaceous ti'ough. It is pi'obable that a considerable part of the low area about the head-watoi's of the river, previously mentioned, is underlain by Creta- •] ELK RIVEK VALLEY. 10*7 B it is dec])ly covered by drift deposits and the outline probabio limit p is in consequence lartrelv hvnotlictical. These" (•0OH8 rocks, but j,'iven on the map is in consequence largely hype rocks may even be continuous or nearly so with those, of which the existence is suspected in the valkn* lietween the KananaskiH and Spray Mountains, but this valley has not j'et been examined. Tiie actual mean surface of the countr}', in this part of the region, is nearly on the plane of junction of the limestones and Cretaceous rocks and it is, therefore, by no means improbable that a number of small Cretaceous intblds, the existence of which was not observed, may yet bo proved. The Kananaskis Valley, it'st des^cribcd, forms the eastern part of Western part the puss of the same name, but from this point we turned soutliward, P"»s. following the Elk Kiver Cretaceous trough. A general description of the western portion of the pass, b}^ Captain Palliser, may bo found in his report (p. 94 et se*, generally wooded, which intercept the view of the High Rock Range. Finding tho main valley almost impassable trom fallen timber and Foiiiinu River, swampy ground, we climbed the ("i-otaceous ridge nearly opposite the mouth of the tributary just alluded to, and after following it for some miles, descended easward to tho head-waters of the Fording River. This stream tlows southward, parallel to the Elk, and in the san'O great Cretaceous trough, for over twenty-tive miles, — nearly midway between it and tho baseof the High Rock Range, but separated ,iom it by the Green Hills and continuing ridges. Occasional fragments of coal were observed on the gravel bars of the f.^,! .,^,,„„s. Klk above this point, but on reaching the upper part of tho Fording River, so much drift coal was found in it, that half a day was devoted to tracing it up to the seams from which it was derived. The position of those is marked on the map. There are several thin seams at this place, the thickest observed being about two feet, but the exposures are not very good or extensive. The coal is bituminous and apparently of good quality, and occurs in association with shales and sandstones of the usual character. In these, a few fragments of fossil plants were ound, resembling those elsewhere obtained in the Kootanie group, and including specimens of Phius Suskicaensis. The dip is eastward at low angles; but it appears, from views of the High Rock Range, after- wards obtained, that the C'l-etaceous beds take a reverse inclination larther east, dipping westward from the flanks of those mountains. After following tho Fording River south-westward for afow miles, we (iwon iniis crossed the Green Hills by a sort of pass, and again reached tho JOlk. unigd Tho summit has an elevation of 6,220 feet, the hills above the notch by which it is crossed being several hundred feet higher. From this point, a very extensive view was gained both to tho east and west, as well as down the Elk Valley. The country between the Green Hills and the High Rock Range is a mass of steep. Cretaceous hills, which reach an altitude, in some cases, of 7,000 feet or more, and are often bare and treeless about the summits and upper slopes. VVhero rocks come to the surface, they generally weather to reddish tints, and are easily dis- tinguished from the more distant grey limestone peaks of the main lange, of which they form foot-hills. The limestone ridge constituting the High Rock Range, is here narrow, but attains a height of at least and High l{ocl< TT'j-;;..| hi 'i r\ 110 n THE UOOKY MOUNTAINS. Hreatt'st wiiltli •of Uretiiceous, 8,000 foot, and is miirkod by soino conHpicuDiiH, bold poaku, ono of wliich was recognizod ns biiviii^ boon Hoon in 1883, from tbo hcad-\va(ors of tbo Norlb-wost }{raiicb of Ibo Old Man. Moiiiitiiiiixwcsi To tiio west, tbi' niii^o on tlio opposite ,sido of tho I'jIIv is ovidoiitly alinoHt ontiioly of limostono, wiiieb in pbioos is nearly (lal, but nioro generally bas a low, westward dip. TIjo front of tiio range boro prosonts a .series of ruggod dirt's, broken at intervals by wild gorges, an. I. I 112 n THE nnOKT MOUNTAINS. White Man's Pass and Sinclair Pass. M Eaitcntrnii.'c Opposite Canmoro Mtation, on tlio Cuiiadiiin I'aciHc railway in tlio tuim^H. jjo^y Valley, the fiitranci' to tlio White Man's Pbhh (no-called by tlio Stone)' Indians) ajipoai's as a I'oninfkalilo notch in tlu* front ofllio mas- >ivo ranye which runs soiitli-oast IVoiii Mount KuikIIo. A inilo and lliroc- (|uartor8 from the Mow Jiivor, tho haso of the i-an^je is reached, and thence a rapid ascent is made of about 1, ()((() foot, tho trail following tlio riirht bank of a little torrent, near which, about half-way up tho ascent, a cave occurs/i- The suininit lovol is reached at ahoi^ht of r),;{()() feet, and hero tho valley followed by tho trail boconies a narrow V'-shaped dofilG, tho bottom of which is encumbered with rocky debris frCiH tho im])endiniC mountains. The stream just referred to, flows out from bonoath the loose matorial u short distance below tJio summit. On passiiiii- through the defile, the ti'uil roaches a little flat inoadow at its western embouchure, without making any ai)precial)lo descent, and joins the wide, longitudinal valley between the range just crossed and tho (!oal J{ange. Valley iirtwocn The south-west side of Mount llundio range, tbi-mini^tbe back of the Rnnai'i'im.uii- Three Sisters, and other peaks seen from tho Bow, is largely composed '"""■ of bare surfaces of limestone, dipping nearly at the angle of the slope, while the opposite front of tho Goat iJange repeats the precipitous and rough appearance of the corresponding aspect of tho first-inontioned range. The longitudinal valley between them runs south-eastward lor six and a half miles, and then south-south-west for six miles, there inosculating with that of the Spray .River, at an elevation of about r),2()0 feet. A short distance south from the opening of the delile, a watci'shod occurs in the valley, one small stream flowing in the direc- tion just indicated, to tho Spray, tho other going north-westward and joining tho same river after it enters this valley, by passing between the Goat Eange and Tei'race Mountains. The height of the watershed scarcely differs from that of the defile, and the valley throughout is rather wide and flat-bottomed, and tilled moie or less deeply with detrital materials. It is highly probable that tho Spray, or some former representative of that stream, at one time flowed through this now abandoned valley from end to end. ., . . , Six miles south-east from the defile, tho trail leaves the valley foi Very hifch ' •' mountains. somo distance, and crosses a spur of the Goat Mountains, descending again to the border of Trout Lake, about two miles in length, which ' I'll : • Of this oave the Indians tell some curious stories, but it is not extensive oocording to Mr. D. McDougall, who has esamined it. OAWION,] WHITE man's pass. 113 b lios trftnfivorHoly to tho ^oriornl trend of tho mountain axiw, botv/oon tlio ends ol' tho (Joiit and KannnuHUis liangcs. From a point nonr tho ouHt ond of tho lulart of the pass just described, are all refei- ablo to the gi-eat limestone series, and in Cone Mountain and the Spray Mountains, are almost absolutely vertical, and may be considered as forming a continuation of the similarly characterized western ridge JAWSON.] WHITE MAN S PASS. 1 15 n of tho Saw-back Range to the north. It is not improbable, liowover, that tho valleys to the east am' west of the Spray Mountains may iiold infohls of Cretaceous rocks, as previously indicated in connection crgf^^goug with tho Kananaskis (p. 107 b). Tho culminating peak of the Spray '''"''*^* Mountains shows a high spur on its west side, between Avhich and the ai)ex, is soon a narrow fold of vertical, dark-coloured rocks, which are almost certainly Cretaceous. iVt the eastern base of tho Blue Mountains tho limestones appear to dip south-westward, but further up towanl the summit, have a general tendency to dip to the north-east, though often wildly contorted and exhibiting a series of largo, parallel corru- „ , •' ° . Ilocks at tlio gations. The actual summit apj^ears to coincide with a well-marked ^nimiiit. anticlinal axis, v^hic!) rnna with tlio range. On the east sido,*tho lime- stones are r arly vertical, but turn over and dip at low angles south-west- ward on tho opposite slope. Some red beds appear near t he sumni it, which may possibly represent tho Triassic rocks seen further southward. From tho summit, the Cross Rivor is followed down to the Kootanio. I'e.^cent ' westward. This stream is called Tshakooap-le-ha-wap-ta, by the Stonoys, and its name alludes to the circumstr.ncc related by them that some eaily traveller set up a cross in the pass, not far from the summit.* From tho summit, the stream descends very i-apidly to tho south- wostward, in a narrow rocky valley, shut in by high and rough moun- tains, falling about 2,.300 feet to the mcuth of North Creek, at v.hich point its elevation is 4,471 feet. North Creek and other tributaries lecoivcd in this part of its course have the character of mountain tor- rents. Half-way between the summit and North ('rock, a high, rocky viilloy opens southward, which towards its head holds masses of glacier- ice, and shows a number of small cascades. After breaking through the next range to the westward, the Cross Rivor flows northward fo'- a couple of miles, in a nanow, wooded, longitudinal valley, and before again turning west, joins a stream of about equal size,-— the North Fork, — derived from the northern and wider continuation of the same valley. To this point tho descent of the rivor continues very stoop, and it shows numerous little cascades and rapids, the clear blue wtitcr having carved its bed in white marble. It next flows westward t'oi- about seven miles, in a wide and flat valloy, characterized by extensive gravel bars and numerous sloughs and flood-channels, and precisely resembling tho corresponding portions of the Kicking Horse !ind Vermilion valleys. Before reaching the Kootanie, it again * i^inc! tlio above WIS written, T have hail iiii opportunity of refcrrinsr to De Sinot's Orrqun iVi'««i'-m<( (New York. 1847). Do Sinet in lii.s Missionary Journey of I8t-"i evidently triiverseil wlial 1." now named tlie Sinclair Pass. He snbsequcntly mentions the "Vermilion Kiver," as on the iil'liriiach to the watershed, but this name is probably not applied to the same stream now so- oiilloil. lie describes the oroeti(m of a cross at tho loint at which ho traversed the watershed (p. tH), and this fact, taken in connection with the Indian tradition above referred t,), and tho context of his narrative, render it almost certain that he crossed to the Bow lliver by the While Man's Pass. I f? II: Mu 116 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 'l! i W! m :n I Rocks on west slope. Marble. Vein matter. Cause of iilteration of rocks. Rocks west of North Fork. Diorite. changes its direction to southward, flowing past the long, sloping,, wooded end of the Mitchell Bange. The trail there leaves the river, cutting across a spur and reaching a ford of the Kootanie at an eleva- tion of 3,440 feet. From the immediate vicinity of the summit of the pass, westward to the mouth of the North Fork, the limestones, both in the bottom cf the valley and so far as could be observed, to the tops of the adjacent moun- tains, have become changed to marble, which is in some places veiy coarsely ci'ystallino. In colour, the marble generally varies from white to yellowish shades, but blotched grey and while, and brown and white varieties were also observed. More or less pyrites and grains of mag notito are generally dissominn.ted through the i-oclc, and in all tlio streams a great abundance of crystalline vein-matter, calcareous, dolo- mitic, or silicious, was noticed. Though no metalliferous minerals ol value were observed, this appears to be a locality worthy of the atten- tion of the prospector, on account of the extent and character of the local motamoiphism. In no other place in th'- mountains were the limestones observed to bo altered over so extensive an area. The cause of the alteration is obscure. It is accompanied by no evidences of special mechanical violence, as the beds west of the summit dip south- westward at low, regular angles, nearly equalling that of the slope of the valley, and further down, becomes nearly horizontal, or show very light north-easterly dips. There is reason to believe, however, that an intrusive mass, resembling that r>ubsequently described, (See also p. 122 b) may here nearly approach the sui-face, though it has not actually been exposeed by denudation. In about four miles belovv the mouth of the North Fork, the wide valley cuts through two mountain ridges, which together show agenei'al synclinal structm-e. At the western edge of this syncline, however, a a narrow anticlinal, bodily overturned to the eastward, was observed far up in the mountain range, opposite the mouth of the North Fork. The rocks of this p:i t of the valley seem to belong, chiefly, or entirely, to the limestone series, though their broken and jointed character rendered it difficult to distinguish the nature of the beds in tho mountain sides. At the mouth of tho second tributary below the North Foik, on the same side, are numerous large masses of greenish-grey diorite (?), some what resembling the intrusion of Ice Elver (p. 122 b) but apparently not, like that, a nepheline-syenito. These have been derived from an intru- sion of tho same material, against which tho limestones liso to an angle of 45°, and form the steep, western edge of tho synclinal just mentioned. The area of the intrusive mass may be extensive to the north of tho valley of the pass. Associated with, and cutting the diorito, are quartz veins, cai-iying copper pyrites, but on assay by Mr. Ilotf- mann, these proved to contain neither gold nor silver. Tho vicinity D*W80N.] SINCLAIR PASS. 117 B of this intrusive mass, hpwovor, is one to which tho prospector might devote attention with some probability of good results. Beyond the stream near which this intrusion occurs, the main vail 03' Cambrian rooks becomes floored by slaty rocks, which vary from nearly black to grey in colour, and are generally glossy and usually rather soft. The bedded structure has been almost entirely obscured by cleavage, but tho slates are often more or less calcareous, and from tho appearance liore and also at some places near the bases of tho mountains further up the valley, there is reason to suspect a passage of the^e into tho overlying limestones, with possible conformity. The circumstances in this connection repeat those elsewhere noticed on the Kicking Horse, and the rocks ai-e very similar in appearance. The spur forming the termination of the Mitchell Range is again composed of the usual grey massive limestone. Tho Sinclair Pass forms a direct western continuation of the White ^PfjirKootanie Man's Pass, and affords a cross section of the western range of the Rocky Mountains, which appears under the name of the Brisco Range to the north, and the Stanford Range to tho south. The Upper Koo- tanie Valley lias been mentioned in the introductory part of this report as one of the most important in tho mountain region. It is hero about three miles in width between the slopes of the adjacent mountains. Its surface is formed chiefly of terrace accumulations, and is generally wooded, scarped banks here and there along the river showing white silts with interbedded gravels like those elsewhere described (p. 30 b). Tho ford is a good one at low water, but it would be impassable when the river is in flood. Tho range crossed by the Sinclair Pass has a width of about nine Sinclair Pagg. miles only. The valley ti-aversod by the pass is not structurally a very important one, being rather narrow, particularly about the sum- mit. The trail is rough, crooked, and in places very stony, following in some places tho bottom of tho valley, in others climbing fjxr up the steep slopes. On tho cast side, the timber has not been extensively tlostroyod by fire, but it is nearly all burnt on the western slope in the valley of Borland's Creek. The I'ange crossed, is found to consist of at least, three subsidiary mountain ridges, but the intervening valleys are narrow and not very definitely continuous. The summit, with an elevation of 4,6lJ2 feet, is reachoil at three miles from the eastern base, and Borland's Creek, flowing westward, heads in a pool or small lake, Keriandg which is evidently held in by an accumulation of debris washed into the valley from tho adjacent mountains. Where it cuts fhi-ough tho west- ern mountain ridge, tho stream flows for over a mile and a half in a very deep, narrow gorge, after leaving which, it cuts for itself a wider, but still deep valley in the high gravelly and silty terraces of the J rr-r-^£:».^-i:i^ T^fWI^^^pi^iip 'isi^iams^ \ ■ Vegetation. m Rocks on iSincliiir Pas.- 118 b THE KOCKY MOUNTAINS. Reddened limestoncp. Puss in the How Kanpt'. Columbiu Valloj. The cedar grows in the jwss from the summit to- the western base of the range. The birch and shrubby maple (Acer glahrum) characterize the pass throughout, together with the Douglas fir, Engelmann's and the balsam spruce and the black pine. Fatsia horrida is found about the summit. The Cambrian rocks, which are supposed to underlie the flat valley of the Kootanie, were not seen on this traverse, and the rocks of the mountains between the Upper Kootanie and the Columbia, appear to bo all i-eforable to the limestone series. These, in the eastern ridge of the mountains, form an anticlinal, but westward, are almost everywhere on edge. Near the middle of the gorge, the cliffs assume a bright red colour, and from the Columbia Valley, the same red zone may be traced for sevei'al miles along the front of the mountains, apparently nearly following the strike of the vertical rocks. On examination, the red rock is found to be in general completely shattered, and generally more or less porous and cavei-nous, though ic-cemented by calcareous matter. This shattered zone appears to have formed a conduit for mineral waters, which may possibly have been thermal and the color- ation has been produced, either by the deposition of iron by these waters, or by the peroxidation of ferruginous minerals already present. Sir George Simpson's description of this pass has already been referred to (p. 10 b). Simpson Pass. This, as previously stated (p. 9 b), is the pass followed by Sir George Simp.son to the Upper Kootanie Valley in 1841. By the Stoney Indians it is known as the Shuswap Pass. It leaves the Bow River at a height of about 4,500 feet opposite Ilole-in-the-wall Mountain, to the west of Bourgeau Mountain, and follows 3Ieoi3''s Creek to its source, crossing the watershed at a height of about (i,>♦ fli m £ Chalybeate springs. Vermilion River valley. Cambrian elates. Pass in Vermilion 120 b THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. Tho Vermilion Pass takes its name from the oxistenco of considera- ble deposits of ochre on the river-flals, about six miles west of the summit, near the place previously alluded to as tho bend. These are produced by very copious chalybeate springs, which flow out in the ijravel, and may some day bo utilized medicinally. The ochre is naturall}-^ yellow, but the Indians cause it to assume a red colour by burning it. Near the bend, a couple of largo streams enter from the mountains to tho westward, and the river more than doubles its former size. The valley of one these streams appears to cori'espond with tho longitudinal valley occupied by the Otter-tail farther north, with which it is, very probably, continuous. From this point the Vermilion flows south-westward, fifteen miles, in a valley which at first averages about a mile in width, but becomes much wider where it is joined by the Simpson River. This portion of the valley presents no features of particular interest. The Vermilion Kange, to the south-west, has a synclinal structure; the axial summits, which reach elevations of about 9,000 feet, are nearly three miles back from the valley, tho intervening space being occupied by buttress-like spurs, attaching to the central mountains, but separated from each other by a number of deep, rough narrow valleys. These spurs appear to be en- tirely referable to the Cambrian series, and to consist chiefly of schistose or slaty rocks, with persistent, south-westward dips, at an angle of about 30°. The axial mountains are evidently of limestone. On the opposite side of tho vallej', tho bordering mountains are more rounded in form, and glimpses can only occasionally be caught of higher and rugged peaks further back, towaid the watershed range. The I'iver foi' a number of miles nearly follows the strike of a band of yoUowish-gray, glossy slates and schists, which often hold little nodulcsof pyrites, and resemble those seen near Boulder Creek on the Kicking Horse. Grey and black, distinctly argillaceous and often, calcareous slates, also occur, in which the cleavage cuts the bedding at a high angle. Tho cleavage- strike at one place was obsei-ved to be N. 05° W., with dip at an angle of 45° southward. Largo pebbles of diorito or nejiholine-syenite, in the river, appear to indicate, cither that the intrusion of rocks of this character, seen on Ice River (p, 122 n), extends to some of the sources of the Vermilion, or that another similar intrusion occurs within its drainage area. Turning westward again at a i-ight angle, from the mouth of Simpson River, the Vermilion cuts through the mountains, which separate it from the upper part of the Kootanie, and, in about seven miles, joins that river at an approximate elevation of 3,800 feet. Tho river runs foi- part of this distance in a narrow gorge, while the trail, following tho DAWSON.] KOOTANIE-BEAVERFOOT VALLEY. 121 B hill-side to tho north, is very rough and bad. On approaching the limo- stono which fornDs the central mountains of tho Vermilion Range, tho slaty rocks become bluish in colour, and occasionally hold beds of haitl, l)laclcish-bluo limostono, giving rise to tho same appearance of a passage between tho series, as occui's near the mouth of tho Beaver-foot. On the north-east side of tho sj'nclinal, tho limestones dij) at first at angles of 40° to 45°, but westward, become in this place nearly vertical. The axial mountains, on both sides of the gorge, are very steep and bold. Tho forest in tho Vermilion Valley has been comparatively little Timber, destroyed by fire, and there are some areas of timber of vei-y fair quality, both on the slopes of tho mountain and to tho noi'th-oast of the valley above the mouth of Simpson Rivei', and in tho narrower part of the valley below that river. Tho Vermilion liivor is nearly twice tho volume of the Kootanie at nend-waters their point of junction, and might, in consequence, be regarded as Jj|j]^|]g|^y^'®. entitled to bear tho latter name; but the circumstance that the *°° Kootanie occupies the larger and more continuous valley, induced Dr. J lector to name these streams as they now appear on the map. Tho valley of the Kootanie is continued north-westward by that of the JJeaver-foot, to the angle of the Kicking Horse River, and between the Vermilion and Brisco Ranges, has an average width of nearly foiu" miles, resembling — though on a somewhat smaller scale — that of the parallel portion of the Columbia. Up to the summit between the Koota- nie and Beaver-foot, tho valley is generally wooded, and contains some good timber, though with occasional open meadows and littlo prairies. The water of the Kootanie is cleai", and tho cui-rent rather swift, though much less so than tho Vermilion. Tho river follows a tor- tuous coui'se in a trough-like depression in the centre of the valley, about three-quarters of a mile in width, and bordered by gi-avelly tor- vacos, which run back to tho bases of the mountains on either side. The rise in the valley from tho junction of the two streams to the summit above referred to, is about 338 foot, in a distance of seventeen milos, the summit elevation being 4,158 feet. The summit is swampy, and Dr. Hector describes the Kootanie as rising here in two small lakes, which, as we kept close to tho base of the mountains to the east, we did not see. Tho rocks seen along the upper part of tho Kootanie are rather soft, ^^^^^^ grey oi- yellowish, silvery slates. These or similar Cambrian rocks appear to occupy the whole width of the valley, and also to constitute all the lower hills of the Vermilion Range. The centi-al mountains of iliis range are very bold and steep, leaching heights greater than 5,1(00 feet, and being apparently still compo.scd for the greater part of limestone. The Brisco Range, on the opposite side of the valley, 16 122 b THE ROCKV MOUNTAINS. ' h M '.'» i m Beaver- foot River. appears to bo throughout this part of its length entirely of limostono, 'vhich at first has persistent low westward dips, but toward the Kootunie-Boavorfoot summit becomes in some places more disturbed and neaily vertical. The Beaver-lbot rises in the mountains to the north-east of the wide valley, just beyond the summit, and after flowing north-westward in the valley, twelve and a half miles, reaches the Kicking Horse at its angle. Where it enters the valley it is a swift stream, about thirty-tive feet, wide bysi.K inches deej). About four miles further on it is joined by Ice liiver,* which is about equal in size. The part of the valley occu- pied by the Beaver-foot is not so wide and parallel-sided as that hold- ing the Kootanie. The original forest has in most places been replaced by second-growth woods, including much aspen, though belts of good spruce timber still exist in places, particularly along the banks of the river. The valley is generally marshy near the river, and at the sides bordered by irregular gravelly terraces. On approaching the Kicking Horse, the Beaver-foot Eange, forming the south-west side of the valley, becomes bordered b^' rounded and wooded hills, composed of slaty Cambrian rocks, and rocks of the same kind underlie the valley, as far as observed. f The centre of the high range on the opposite side of the valley, however, is here formed of an important mass of intrusive syenitic rocks, which were examined on Ice Rive/, where they are extensively developed. The i'alley of Ice Eiver runs northward for about seven miles into the heart of the Otter-tail Mountains, between Mounts Vaux and Goodsir, of Hector, and terminates at the base of a high narrow range which separates it from the Otter-tail Valley. It is deep and narrow, being closely liemmed in by the neighbouring mountains, while the stream itself is a mere torrent, often encumbered by masses of rocks from the rough mountain slopes. The mountains at the head of the valley are covered with glaciers, one of which shows, from a distance, a cliff of solid blue ice which is probably several hundred feet in height. Important ^^^^'^ intrusive mass above alluded to, is first seen on Ice Eiver abour iniruaive ma«8. ly^Q niilos Up the valley from the south-western base of the mountains at its entrance. The mountains on the east side of the valley are here composed of this syenitic rock for their whole height. Further up it • Wanli-ma-wnp-ta of the Stoneys. t Dr. Hector, who followed the route here ilescribtd, writes : — " In the bottom of the vivlley we passed several mnsses of true gneiss with one or two grecfistono dykes." (Journal.s, Detiiiled Reports and Observations Relative to the E.xplorations by Cai)tain Pallisor, etc., p. Itt")). It i.«, therefore, probable that crystalline rocks like those of Ice River may occur also in some placc-i. near the I3eaver-foot, but none of the rocks seen by us could be described as true gneiss. Ice River. DAWtON.] KOOTANIE-HEAVERPOOT VALLEV. 123 B forms tho entire mass of the mountains on the opposite side of the valley, and apparently also of those at its head. Southward, tho same mass continues at least as far as tho head of the Boavor-foot, where it is again seen constituting the axial mountains of the range. Its termination in this direction has, however, not boon defined, nor has the western edge of the mass been outlined. Its extent and char- actor deserve further investigation, as its occurrence is correlated with the appearance of much vein matter in the noighboi'ing rocks, and very probably with the metalliferous deposits now being prospected on the Otter-tail Eiver. 'J he circumstances connected with the contact of this intrusive mass '/""ct'"" "i", lirnoous rooks With tlio slaty Cambi-ian rocks on tho Ice River, show that it is newer with Cumbrian, than these rocks, but older in date than the cleavage which has since iitt'ected them, and which is probably referable to pressure in connection with the main period of mountain upheaval. The mass may in part break through the Cambrian, but it has also forced the rocks of that formation upward, causing them to dip away from its flanks. Near the mass, these elsewhere slaty rocks lose all appearance of cleavage, and though plainly showing their original bedding, are baked and porcc- iainized. They are generally grey to black in colour, though in some cases nearly white, and form a hard petrosilex, which rings under the hammer. Tho intrusive mass itself, though very varied in ^ippoar- P|'j^[j'J?^^^''j^^^^^ ance in ditVeront places, is, in tho main, a nephelino-syenite. The form most abundantly- represented is a medium- to coarse-gi'ained crystal- line rock, composed of felspar, nepbeline and hornblende in varying quantities, with grains of magnetite and some crystals of sphene. Tho colour generally varies from pale- to dark-grey, becoming nearly black in some places, when the hoi-nblcnde greatly preponderates. In such black varieties sphene is particulai'ly abundant. The crystals of the component minerals aie occasionally nearly an inch in length, while in rare instances thoy become almost cryptociystalline. Other specimens derived from the same occui-rence, but found as boulders in the bed of the torrent, have a banded and almost gneissic aspect, and under the microscope prove to contain numerous grains of quartz. A material of this character is ju-obabl}' that to which Dr. Hector has referred as gneiss, but there is no evidence of its sedimentary origin. As fai- as I was able to determine, the mass appears to have been Its structure. . much disturbed, and, as it were, kneaded together while in a plastic or semi-])lastic state. Portions of it have become l)recciatcd, and are re-cemented by similar material, diH\3ring only in texture or colour. Veins and crevices, which have evidently been filled by segregative action, also occur, and in these, minerals similar to those composing the main mass are developed ; but with them, in considerable abundance, •i». 124 B THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. :'i 'Ilmenile. Sodaliti'. sodalito of n beautiful iiKrnmiirino-bluo colour is found. In tho snmo veins cryHtnls of ilmonito were observed. Tlii.s mineral baw been Hub- Joctcd by Mr. C. llod'mann to a rougb quantitalivo analysis, and found to contain tituniuni dioxide, 475 percent.; iron, equal to 398 per cent, of ferrous oxide, witb 6-5 per cent, of mani^aneso. No otbor constitiients wore sougbt for, and tho Hpecimon included a small per- coiitago of gangue. Tho largo proportion of manganese is very remarkable. The sodalito has been analysed by Dr. B. .1. Harrington, who describes it in the Transactions of tho Eoyal Society of Canada, Vol. IV., Sect. IV. It much resembles lapis lazuli in appearance, and would have considerable value as an ornamental stone. It is not confined to a single part of the intrusive mass, as it was found also to occur in fragments brought down from the mountains further south, in tho bod of the Beaver-foot, and closer search than wo wore able to make would probably load to the discovery of even larger pieces than those wo obtained, some of which are several inches in diameter. Intrusive rocks are of such raro occurronco in this part of tho inirunive rocks, mountains, and tho appearance of those horo mot with is .so char- acteristic, that detached fragments at once catch the oye. The occur- rence of such fragments on tho Vermilion, below tho bond, has already boon noted, and its significance alluded to. Small pieces of tho same rock wore found in tho Kicking Horse above tho mouth of tho Boavor- foot, and apparently show that some similar intrusive mass occurs on its bead-waters or those of tho Otter-tail. A few woll-roundod pieces of the same material wore found in 1883 in tho Columbia-Kootanio valloy south of the lakes. It is uncertain whether these were car- ried to their i:)resont position by the Vermilion and Kootanio Elvers, at a former period, or by a southward movement of ieo during the glacial period. Tho lattei- supposition appears the most probable, as tho fragments occurred on a terrace at some height above tho present stream. Drift fraK mentfl of Bow Valley. Account lioru given merely rrcliminary. The character of tho portion of the Bow Valley within the. moun- tains has already boon described in general terms (p. 27 b). It is of par- ticular inteiost as being the loute adopted for tho railway which now renders it readily accessible to every traveller. Tho geological features of tho Bow and Kicking Iloi-se valleys wore, however, not more closely investigated than those of other parts of tho extensive tract of moun- tains hero reported on, and as Mr. E. G. McConnell is at present engaged in supplementing such reconnaissance work by a special and thorough y l.f.if e*w«ON.] BOW VALLEY. 125 b examination of (hoso partioulur valloyn, the results of which will Noon bo prepared for piililication, it in coriisiderod unnocossary hero to enter into any lon^'&|DIRECTOR. ftEOLOGICAL MAP nc OA or- ncTue ka "^TPr^- 07' Section showing Coal Seams exposed 3lonq stream ^V^)/7>%v S*-' E. Cor. Sect.8 Tp.26 Re.Xll %?C<^r>t^ i I i I I Wltit. M««°' . T Sections across Cascade Coal Basin South of Bow River ^^ fi^ltfrtff^mt* W*^ '^^1 f***^ 9tM*'U QHmr*9 T. mnth thtA eamJ itm^ts W^^ ? , 1" . . I T I I 1 — 1—3" '*" J nirHARn.B AP sr MH GEOLOGICALAND NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY OF CANADA AUFRtO R.C.SILWYN C*l.a,LlA,fR.&,01RECTOR. GEOLOGICAL MAP Of PART OF THE CASCADE COAL BASIN ROCKY MOUNTAINS TO ILLUSTRATE REPORT BY GEORGE M.DAWSON D.S.,F.G.3. 1886. Surviypd linen fror/i'Dominion L ands Branch and C. RRy. Surveys. Topography chiefly from sketches und Surreys by J.V/hite CEyrith adcUiions by K.d.M-ConnellBA.. S^/e ^ Mi{es , , L, Y me BUftl*NOl'TM CO MONTHFAl l\ t,rf\." i^l DAWSON. ] 0A80ADE COAL BASIN. 127 B extremity on the Kananaskis it has now been continuously traced to the Red Doer River, a total distance of sixty-five miles, and it is still i'ound running to the north-westward, parallel to the enclosing ranges of mountains beyond that river to an undetermined distance. It is probably coal-bearing in character throughout, as coal has been found in a number of places fi'om one extreme of its known length to the other. The portion of this Cretaceous trough included by the accompanying wpecial map, is about thirty miles in length, and has a total area ol over sixty square miles. The quantity of drift material present, and the wide spread of the shingle terraces, above alluded to, in this part of the valley, renders the detailed investigation of the structure of the field difficult; but the great regularity of the strike of the rocks to Home extent counterbalances this, and the general structure of the trough is now fairly well understood. The south-western edge of the trough is pretty clearly defined by exposures throughout, with the exception of that portion between Cascade Mountain and Mount Rundle, but the north-eastern is for most of its length entirely con- i;ealed. The limestones on this side are known by isolated exposures to extend from a mile to two miles from the base of the mountains, into the bottom of the valley itself, and the strike of the beds indicates the position of their junction with the Cretaceous to be nearly as nhown on the map, though pre-glacial denudation may have removed the thin ovei-lapping edge of these rocks for considerable widths in some places, leaving a gravel-filled hollow of unknown width along the outcrop as indicated hypothetically in the section shown in Fig. 8. Oiitlinod of coal-boaring area. (li r-V; FIG. 0. OVERTURNED ANTICLINAL OF LIMB8TONH ROCKS NORTH OK BNTRANC: TO WHITB man's I'ASS. The Cretaceous rocks may be described, in general terras, as form- its general ing a long, narrow synclinal fold, which, owing to the immense ^'""'*"*^*' pressure from the south-westward, has been bodily overturned in the opposite direction ; the mountain i-ange on the south-west side being composed of an anticlinal of the limestone series, similarly compressed dii l»v 128 b THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. m :'il Overturned anticlinal and synclinal. and folded over on the Cretaceous rocks. Owing to this circumstance the direction of dip of the rocks in tae mountains bordering the valley on either side, and in the intervening Cretaceous trough, is almost uni- formly to the south-westward. This fact at first induced the belief that the Cretaceous rocks wore bounded, along the base of the south- western mountain range, by a very extensive fault, with down-throw to the north-eastward, but further investigation proved this view to be incorrect. Figure 6 shews the overturned anticlinal in the range to the south- west, as actually observed in the mountains to the north of the entrance to the White Man's Pass, opposite Canmore station. Figure 7 is a sketch illustrating the synclinal form <(' the Cretaceous rocks, . I 1 iiij lid Minor omplication^. FIG. 7. SECTIONS OF CRETACEOUS SYNCLINAL SHOWN IN RIDGES HBTWBBN BOW AND KANANA8KIS RIVERS. as shown in a series of high ridges which run out from the base of the Wind Mountain range. In this, the wooded slope on the right, together with the distant rough summits, which are vei-tically shaded, are composed of rocks of the limestone scries, while the intoi'vening ridges show five successive cross-sections of the Cretaceous synclinal, in which the character of the folding is clearly evidenced by certain more prominent beds of conglomerate and sandstone. This structure may be seen at a glance, in looking down the valley to the south- eastward from points between Canmore and Grotto Mountain, from one of which the sketch here reproduced was taken.* Though thus comparatively simple in its great structural features, this Cretaceous ti-ough is complicated by minor irregularities, which will require to be allowed for in connection with the tracing out and working of the coal-seams ; though, on account of the general paucity of exposures, it is yet difficult to do more than indicate their existence. The south-western border of the trough, though spoken of as primarily characterized by the folding back of a limestone anticlinal upon the Cretaceous rocks, is probably in many cases accompanied by more or * it should bo remarked that Dr. Hector clearly recognized the synclinal structure here met with, and shows in His section, No. 24, the same ridges here illustrated. His sketch must have been made from a point near the base of Grotto Mountain. Journals, Detailed Reports and Observations Relative to the Exploration under Captain Palliser, etc., p. 321. See also Quart. Joum. GeoLSoc, Vol. XVI [., p. 442, Fig. 11. :.ii. 1?' rcumstanco ; the valley almost uni- the belief ^ the south- lown-throw view to be I the south- i-th of the n. Figui-e oous rocks, ilTWHEN base of the the right, lly shaded, ntorvening synclinal, by certain s structure the south- itain, from 1 features, ies, which g out and al paucity existence, primarily upon the •y more or ture here met ch roust have 1 Reports and ec also Quart. 0AW80N.] CASCADE COAIi BASIN. 129 b lc33 Jiiulting. This is cleai'ly shown on Mr. McConncU's section C-D Faults, (on iho map), though the actual lino of the fault separating the two 6P/ic3 is there only diagramatically indicated. In this, and other eases, the character of the pressure to which the rock series has been 8ub jocted may have been such as to produce over-thrust faults, in which the older rocks have been pushed bodily over the newer, along a nearly horizontal plane. On the Cascade River, and boj^ond it, near the north-west corner of the map, the north-eastern border of the Cre- taceous is also pretty evidently accompanied by faulting, and it is scarcely likely that the area of the Cretaceous rocks itself is altogether free from such distuibance, — a point to be borne in mind in estimates of the amount of workable coal in given areas. Theie are also indications of a tendency to the production of a minor subsidiair anticlinal fold in the Cretaceous rocks, near their south-western edge."" Such a flexure is clearly shown between the Bow River and the base of the mountains at the entrance to the White Man's Pass, near Canmore, where the exposures are more than usually numerous, and is shown in Fig. 8. Disturbance of the character of that found to occur along the western edge of the Crow Nest Cretaceous trough on Mist Creek (see Fig. 5, page 100 b), may also be looked for in the corresponding part of this Cretaceous infold. The total thickness of Cretaceous rocks actually known to be '"cpi'G- rpj^j^^^ggg sentcd in this basin is about 5,000 feet, but it is probable that the o*" *""**• actual thickness will eventually be found to be considerably greater. The coTiglomeratcs seen in the high ridges near Wind Mountain occur at a horizon about 3,000 feet above that which shows the most import- ant coal-seams. Rocks of th's character were not seen in the vicinity of Cascade River, and it is probable that the portion of the synclinal there remaining does not include beds so high in the series as these. The small number of available exposures, with the fact that most of j,^ osures the coal outcrops do not show well-marked correspondence in thick- 'i'8c°""*'<''^ «f I ; i' '■ 1 tj- •;h- ' ■ t* pi iii lines, represent the limestone scries, and tho vertically shaded layer, tho superficial, gravel 1}'^ deposits and terraces. Tho actual contact of the limestones and Cretaceous rocks was not scon, but near (his line, the latter are almost absolutely vertical, and here Mr. McConnell lias found a scam of coal about three feet in thickness. Nearer the Bow Eiver, on the small stream which issues from tho pass, a sharp synclinal fold occurs, and shaly beds, containing a thin seam of crumbled coal, appear in addition to the sandstones, elsewhere more prominent. On .the bank of the river, throe quarters of a mile below the mouth of tho DAWSON.] CASCADE COAL BASIN. 133 B of thoso ,uro, but )n of tlio itly war- Iso bcoii go 10 M, ,nd givcK 1.04 9.15 87.18 2. 03 ng south- Pass, tho tho cdgo 10 bnHO of 16 valley. t, CXpOBOS however, I c seen in iomowhat ransverso RE STATION. led layer, contact of is line, tho nnell has tho Bow ) synclinal bled coal, nent. On uth of tho Htream, tho bods bocomo nearly flat, and contain a soam of good coal, about ono foot thick. In sbaly layers, associntod with this, n number of fossil plants, characteristic of tho Kootanio group weio collected, Fossils, amon^ which aro Asplenhim clistans, Anomozamites acutiloba ? and Pinus Siiskuuumsiti.'^ To tho south-cast of these exposures, tho bonlor of tho Cretaceous ^yji'^oooiis • ' ri(U(m between rocks rises gradually in tho slope of the mountains, and in the base of!'i>wiind tiio Thrco Sisters, forms a coiisiderablo purtof this slope. Still further oi\, in the same dii-ectioii, the area of tho Cretaceous trough which continues toward tho Kanaiiaskis, is chaiacterized by a series of high Cretaceous ridgos, tho strucluro oxiiibitcd in which has already boon ref'orred to. These have been examined by Mr. McConnell, and atlbrd excellent sections, as shown on tho accompanying map. Near tho eastern base of tho tirst of these ridges, occur two coal-.scams, ropoi-tod by jMr. McConnell as about 12 and 15 foot thick respectively. This place, which is about a mile and a half from tho Bow liiver and OdO foot above its level, is known as " Marsh's Mine." The two coals " Mnrsh's aro separated by about tifly feet of shales and sandstones, and both' '""■ have boon opened, an adit nearly a hundred jairds long having been driven in tho upper seam. Tho coal appears to bo of good quality, but has boon so much shattered in tho manner previously desci-ibod, that it crumbles on exposure. Mr. McConnell, however, states that coal-seams at or about tho samo horizon can bo traced at intervals for several miles toward the Kananaskis, and believes it to be probable that localities might be chosen in which tho coal Avould bo proved to bo more solid. Tho beds above tho coals and between that horizon and that of the conglomerates are more or less coal-bearing throughout and contain a number of thin seams. Erect tree-trunks woie also observed in this part of tho section at several levels. These stand on dark shaly beds, doubtless, representing tho soil on which they grow and extend up through beds of sandstones. Tho two outcrops at "Marsh's Mine" belong to tho nortli-eastei'n side of the synclinal fold, and tho coals do not appear on the opposite or rover.sed side of the fold. As already stated, much exploration, by means of boring, will boOcncrni necessary betore the structure of the coal basin is fully known, but its occurronco on the lino of the railway (which actually runs on the Cre- tiiceous rocks for a distance of thirteen miles), taken in connection with the excellent quality of tho fuels which it is capable of affording, must bo considered as a circumstance of tho first economic importance. As tho result of tho observations made up to the present time, it may bo • Sue Trans. Royiil Soo., Canada, Vol. III. Sect. IV. t '■: 134 b THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. Banff to Castlo Mountain aiding. iii Htatod that tho diHtiii-buncos and subsidiary folding of tho beds most likoly to prove troublosomo in foliowinfjf and working the coal, occur, for the niost i)urt, on tho Houlh-wostorn wido of tho trough, or in connec- tion with tho ovorturnod nido of tho niiiin Hynclinal told. Tho nortlj- oastorn outcrop.s of tho coal Hoams, thoroforc, a])j)arontly J)oh>o>s tho greatest valuo and should i-occive the first attention in thodoveloi)mcnt of tho field. Tho groutost tlilliculty to be apjjrohcndcd is, iindoiibtodly, that of the cru.shod character in which the coal is frctiuontly found, and though such more or less pulvoriilent coal, is not without value as a fuel, and may bo used in locomotive and other engines constructed to burn it, it is, as a salable commodity, much inferior to tho solid anthra- cite. The crushed character of ])art8 of tho coal has doubtless resulted from movement affecting tho containing I'ocUs subtioquont to that which accompanied and probably caused the change of the ordinary bituminous coals of tho Kootanie group into anthracite or semi-anthracite. As stated on previous pages of this report, biluminous coals, in other parts of the mountain area, are, occasionally, found in a similar shattered condition. The north-western continuation of the Cascade Cretaceous trough, as far as the Eed Deer River, is described on a subsequent page. # Boiv River Valley {continued). Beyond Banff station, near which tho Bow River enters the wide Cretaceous basin just described, the Bow Valley has a west-south-west direction for seven and a half miles, to Castle Mountain siding, cutting •directly across the run of the mountain ranges. To the south there are three well-marked pai-allcl ranges, ending at the valley in Rundlo Mountain, Terrace Mountain and Mount Bourgeau. On the eastern slope of Terrace Mountain, occur several hot sjirings, which have already become well known. On the north the constituent ridges arc not so well marked, the mountains forming part of a wide belt which is still collectively designated as tho Saw-back Range, though this name belongs more especially to its western constituent ridge, which ends on the river iu Ilole-in-the-wall Mountain, and is composed of vertical beds of limestone. In this part of the valley a couple of small lakes, and s me swampy meadows again occur, recalling those which are found in tho similarly situated transverse part of the valley east of Gi'otto Mountain, and like those, evidently formed by interruption of tho drainage by material washed in fi'om the neighbouring mountains. The rocks composing the mountains on both sides of tho valley arc almost entirely of the limestone series, and show continuous high south-westward dips. m OAWSON.] BOW RtVER VALIiET. 136 b 0(l8 most nl, occur, 1 conncc- !io north- »Hso,s8 tho olo])mcnl oiilitc'dly, )un(l, and aluo us a riictcd to d anthra- ^ resulted lat whieli tuiuinous cite. As in otlior ii Himilar rough, as tho wide outh-\vo«t [,', cutting )uth tliorc in liundlo lO eastern licli have ridgos arc )clt which ough this ge, which n posed of Ic of email ose which ley oast of ruption of nountains. valley arc iious high From Casllo Mountain siding to Bow Lako, tho valley prosorvos a Cimtio v.oun- noarl}'' dii'cct course to tho north-west. J'or thii-teon mnes this course uko. is oblique to tlio general diro-tion of tho mountains, but after passing the south end of Castle Mountain, the trend of the mountain ran-^es changes to the same direction witli tho valley, which follows tho axis of an important anticlinal, in which Cambi-ian rocks aro brought to tlie surface, for at least twenty-si.v miles. The first ])ortion of tho valley is rather iri-egular in width, but further on it becomes a wide, definitely bordered and parallel-sided trough liUo other important longitudinal valleys of tho mountain region. Castle Mountain is in apjicarance one of the most remarkable on ^l^o Mountain, How Valley, and contrasts markedly \ ith tho.so forming tho western border of tho Saw-back liango, — from which it is scpaiatod only by Johnson Crook (called also Silver Creek). Its higher part is formed entirely of rocks of the groat limestone series, which apparently in the main, foi-m a shallow synclinal, and have low, regular tlips. As first seen from the south-eastward, its extremity appears as an almost isolated index-like pinmicle, but on closer approach this is found to bo merely an outlying peak of a range of rampant-like clitt's which border the Bow Valley on the east for a distance of ton milos. Deposits ofCopper. purple copper oro have boon found in a number of places on and near Copper Mountain, and mining locations have been staked out, but as far as I am awaro no great amount of prospecting woi-k has boon accomplished on any of them. Opposite the south end of Castlo Mountain, across tho Bow Eivor, iscoppor Copper Mountain, 8,500 feet in height. This mountain is so named on Mo""'"'"- account of the occurrence of similar deposits of copper oro, and tho-io, as work was in pi-ogro-ss toward their development, wore oxamined with some cai'o in 1884. Copper Mountain k separated by tho deep, narrow valley of lied Karth Crook from tho higher summit to the south-cast known as Pilot Mountain, in which bods of the limo.sfono series appear nearly horizon- tal or forming a low anticlinal. Tlie summit of Copper Mountain has a crescontic outline, concave toward the north-west, with a couple of short, high ridges, interpolated between tho horns of tho crescent. Its eastern slopes aro densely wooded, and were not closely examined, but appear to consist of limestones, also lying at rather low angles of inclination. Toward the western end of the mountain, however, those beds became quite vertical, with a north-and-.south strike, and its extreme western part is composed of quartzites referable to the Cam- brian series, also in a vertical attitude, as shown in the eastern part of section No. 1. Tho r ost important occurrences of copper ores aro in the vertical portion of the limestones series a short distiincc east of its JUk' 13(i B THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. J'M'f : I" ' •{ ■Mli I,' I'li ii!' Copper nroR ■ Work oarriod on. Principal expoKurcg of ore. Summit of Copper Mountain. juiiclion with tlio qimrlzitoH, nnd npponr in tho vicinity of ono of the KpurH ui)()vo moritioiiofl, three iind ii half niileH neai ly duo Hoiitli from Silver City stntion, iit uUitud(!8 botwoon 7,000 and 8,000 foot. Tho theory in accordanco with which work was bein^ carried on at the time of my viwit, waH, that tiio orodopoKit ran north-and-Hoiith alon/:^ thi- npur jimt lefoned to, inoro or Icmh jjurallol to the ntrilto of tho limestone. Copper oro had been uncoveied at several places along tho crest of tho spur within a length of half a mile, and an adit had been run in from tho valley at its ea^itern base for a dis- tance of over 200 feet. It would bo necessary to continue tho adit for Bovoral hundi'cd feet furthei- before it would reach tho presumed lino of tho ore-deposit, and no oro had, so far as I could learn, boon found in tho progress of tho drifting. Tho four principal points at which some work had boon doiio on tho odgo of the spur, in order from north to south, ])re.«ented the following ap])earanco : — (1). Quartz scams, in shattered limestones; tho seams running neaily north and south, with an eastward dip < 40°. Some small s])ecimens of good ore, but no ap])eai"anco of a continuous vein. (2). A mass of quartz running N. 20° lO. through the limestones, nearly vertical. This includes some small lich scams of ore, and a few bunches or pockets, (3). A fairly well-defined quartzose vein, about two feet thick, running cast and west, Avith southward dip< 80°. This is colored by copper carbonates, evidently produced from the decomposition of sulphides, and is said to have yielded several fine masses of ore. (4). This is a somewhat irrc^' ilar vein, but, like tho others, has not very v/cU defined walls. It runs "ross the edge of tho spur S. 80° E., with southward dip< 80°. Whci best dev ■loped the width is about seven feet, and is made up of a foot > f barren granular quartz at each side, with about five feet intervening of good ore, con- sisting of copper ])yrites, purple oi'o and copper glanco disseminated, generally in pretty fine granules, through a quartzose matrix. It is much decomposed, with blue and gi'ccn carbonates filling crevices, and the limestone bordering it is considerably fissui'cd, and occasionally holds a little oro. This is the most promising of the openings, and it will be observed that both this and JS'o. 3, run directly across the ridge or spur and tho strike of the limcstono beds. The somewhat plateau-like top of Copper Mountain is deeply covered with angular I'ocky fragments, which are doubtless duo to tbepi'olonged action of the fi-ost and weather. Among those are a number of masses of considerable size, of porou'^, yellow and blackish gossan, which have apparently come from tho docompo.-cd outcrop of a copper vein, which must run across tho summit, probably in an cast and west bearing. From tlie size of the fragments, the vein is likely more important than DAWION.] COPPER MOUNTAIN. 137 n those nhovo doscribod, nnd it would not roqiiiro much work tonHccM-tnin thiH point. On lumlyHis the -'ot't, line-grained, grey-bluo argillite, which the Indians have used in the manufacture of pipes. Some * Pc, for tho most part, aie pooi-ly preserved. They indicate, however, a Devonian or Carboniferous age, and include, besides numerous fragments of DAWSON.] UPPER VALLEY OP CASCADE RIVEU. 143 b ,•"¥« crinoids, two epopios of Prodwtus, Athyris Royssii (?) Atrypa reticularis, OrthiSy sp. (aresupinato form), Spirifera, twospocioH, Straparollus jyeva- densis (?) and a Cyprirardhv'a. Tho beds immediately undorlving (ho Crotaeeous rocks on the north- Fossils from • 1 1 1 ,. tV mi ,-. . 1 1 , Ciisoado River. cast Side, near tho mouth ot Uovil s Creek, are calcareous isaiidstones, passing, in some i)lacos, into quartzites, and weathering to rccklish or yellowish tints. These resemble those clsowhoro seen in tho upper part part of tlie limestone scries (>'co pp. *73 B.. 74 b., 113 b., etc.) and are probably of Carboniferous age. Their thickness at tliis place is several hundred feet, and they form a series of low, I'ough, rocky ridges, which run obliquely across tho Cascade Valley. Moderately well preserved H\^(ichneus of Productus semireticulatus, of a JihynchoncUa, (a]>p:irently closely related to Ji. mesacostalii^) and an Aviculopecten, (probably a new species), wei'c obtained from them. In rocks derived from the mountains about tho gorge which opens Cnmbrian. on tho valley from tho north, a mile and a half oast of tho upper end of Devil's Lake, a specimen of Ftychoparia Oweni, M. &!!., indicating a Cambj'ian horizon, was found, but no outcrops of tho Cambrian quartz- ilcs or slaty I'ocks were observed. At the same place, it was iioted that in tho wash from tho gorge, pieces of soft shales occur, resembling those of tho Cretaceous. if 5^ Upper Valley of Cascade River and Route thence to the_ Red Deer. Tho route hero described follows the northern continuation of tho Cascade Cretaceous trout;h, and was traversed for the purpose of ascer- taining its length and character. (See p. 184 B.) Tho stream now called tho Cascade Itivcr, is roughly indicated, but cascade River. nut named, on Palliser's map. It is designated Fa-ma-sae-xvap-ta in Stonty, Ka-kls-kl-kwe-niht-sT-pl in Crce, both names referi-ing to a story of a murder, in which an Indian is said to have cut otf the head of a companion. For thico miles above tho mouth of Devil's Creek, tho rivor flows in iTppcrpnrt a rocky gorge, between limestone ridges, close in to tho mountains y,^iioy^''^° which i'orm tho north-east side of the valley. The eastern edge of the Cictaccous rocks runs nearly up the centre of the valloj'', diiectly across tho bend of tho river, A straight, narrow, subsidiary valley marks tho junction of these rocks and tho limestones. Both series at tiist dip westwaid at high angles, but further north the Cretaceous rocks dip at a low angle to tho east, and their junction with the liine- stone series is evidently a faulted one. Nine miles above tho mouth of Devil's Creek, a stream from tho mountains to tho eastward, supplies M .ij.i.»mi atn I ''\ 1 t ! ' i 1^1 ;"".•'(. siS' Ui,l. i'*.;', !]<-•'■ > li fh 1 ) ^1 s's; « : ■ ' ;•;'[, fy '■ 1 ' 144 n THE IIOOKY MOUNTAINS. Saw-baok Mountain!<. Mountning ■east of valloy. about half the volume of the Cascado Itivci", and following tho valloy five and a half miles furlhor, Saw-back Crook joins from tho range of the Kamo name on tho west. A low, stoop-Hided ridgo hoio ocounios tho eontro of tho valloy. This, soon from tho Houth-casitward, appears conical in form, and tho course of tho valley is so direct that it may bo observed from the vicinity of Canmoro, twenty-five miles distant in that direction. Tho valloy, in this part of its length, averages about a niilo in width, and is, for the most part, ])retty densely wooded up to tho mouth of the eastern ti'ibutar}- stream above mentioned. Thence to Saw-back Ci-eek there are a number of little open meadows. The mountains to the west ai'o connected with Cascade Mountain, and form a continuous range from 8,500 to 9,000 feet in height, though decreas- ing gradually northward, and terminating near tho mouth of S;iw-b.ick Creek, whore the next range to tho westward becomes that which bor- ders the valloy. In tho north part of Cascade Mountain, the. Creta- ceous rocks form the lower thii-d of its total height above tho valley. In tho mountains further on thoy rise gradually till thoy occupy about half tho height of tho mountain sides. The lino of junction then descends again in tho slopes, till it roaches the level of the valloy. The limestone rocks, forming tho higher parts of the range, are in seve- ral places clearly seen to preserve tho anticlinal character found in the Mount Rundlo range, further to tho south-eastward; but tho anticlinal has not been so completely overturned on tho Cretaceous trough, and it runs out in a point, in tho northern part of the ridgo near the mouth of Saw-back Creek. Rocks which appear to be Cietaceous, are seen on the western side of this mountain range, some miles southward from this point, and it is probable that a subsidiary infold of tho Creta- ceous occurs behind the first range, as indicated on the map, though its dimensions are shown only conjccturally. The mountains on tho opposite side of tho valloy are broken in their southern part by a number of deep transvoi'so gorges. South of tho largo eastern tributary, previously mentioned, a narrow band of the Cretaceous rocks is seen high up on their slopes. This evidently represents tho eastern edge of the mtiin Cretaceous synclinal lot down by a fault parallel to its direction. The same band is probably con- tinued for a couple of miles north of tho tributary vallej^, as repre- sented on tho map, where the eastern bounding mountain ridgo becomes regular and unbroken, forming a steep, nearly bare range, in which the limestone strata increase in angle of dij) till thoy eventually become almost vertical. The whole width of tho Cretaceous trough is less than a mile, a short distance south of Saw-back Creek. North of the conflueuco of Saw back Creek, tho Cascade is a small, rapid stream, and both it« immediate valley and the slopes of the "•] UPPER VALLEY OP CASCADE RIVER. 146 b Cuscude Rivor. adjacent hills are rough and wooded, for two or three mileH. Beyond Soiircn of this, in consequence of the increasing altitude, they become open, and the stream is found to be formed by three brooks, flowing from valleys in theCrotacoous hills. Tbo trail follows the eastern vaUey, and the sum- mit is reached at a distance of five and a half miles from Saw-baek Ci-ook, at an altitude of (!,549 feet. A well-mariced trough, like an old stream- valley, runs across the summit. It is blocked hore and there by newer (lella deposits from lateral tributaries, one of Avhich has produced a small jjool, in which rises a little stream, flowing in the opposite direc- tion. Tills stream, falling about 500 feet in four miles, roaches tho deep, transverse valley of the Panther River,* a tributary of tho Rod panther River. Deer, Avhich flows eastward through the limestone range to tho right. The same transverse valley is continued to the westward into tho eastern front of tho Saw-back Eango, but its upper part is wide, and bordered hy the rounded and wooded Cretaceous foot-hills of tho Saw-back Range, Still continuing in the same general northward direction, a branch of tho Panther River is followed up to a second summit, five miles beyond it, with a height of 7,203 feet. Tho valley Pnii'ior River of this stream is at first a deep narrow ravine, wh'"h the trail River, follows on the east side. Near tho summit, however, it becomes wide and moor-like, with low thickets of willow and birch, and rough tus- socky grass. Beyond tho summit, a stream, which rises in tho hills to tho east, enters the valley, and turning at right angles, joins the main Red Deer River in five miles further. Its valley is generally wooded, and tho stream flows in a deep, narrow gorge. Tho height of the Red Deci- at the mouth of this stream is, approximately, 5,500 feet. A short distance north of Saw-back Creek, tho Cretaceous trough Complionted attains a width of about three and a half miles, and about tho sources formations, of the Cascade, is a region of Cretaceous hills, which, though rounded in outline as compared with the rougher aspect of tho limestone moun- tains, reaches heights of about 1,000 feet above tho summit level. Tho plane of tho present surface of the country is evidently near that of the top of tho limestone series and base of tho Cretaceous, and, in con- He([ucnce of this, tho flexures of the strata lender the outlines of tho t'onuations complicated and irregular. Opposite tho summit, on tho east, the Cretaceous appears to fold completely over tho limestone ridge, which has up to this point been continuous, as shown on tho map. Further on, tho denuded crest of this anticlinal again exhibits tho limestone rocks, which resume as a continuous ridge, in tho Bare * Panther River is probably a sufficiently near approach to the Indian name of the stream, whicli signifies "The river where tho mountain lion was killed." This, in Stoney, is rendered Jt-mos-tunga'-mooii-ta-ga-(e'-icap-ta' ; in Cree, Min'-n'-pi'-awo-ka'-nipu'-hi/it-ai'-pi'. 19. : i i I I 'M 146 b THE nOCKY MOUNTAINS. MountniiiH. Tho wostorn side of tlio Biiro Afounlains is, howovor, formed altogotlu'i' of Cretaooous sandHtonos, which dip westward at an angle of about (50°. Tiie rohitions of tho Ci-otat'oous and limestono Herios, in thiw i-ange whoi-e cut across by tho Panther l{ivcr, as thoy appear in tho mountain on the north side of the valley, uro illus- FIG. 10. NATURE OK JUNt'l'ION OV CHETACBOL'S AND LIMK8TOXE SKKIES IN HARE MOUNTAIS8. M I i Character of Ore. -loous trougu. Coftl-seam on ^d Deer. tratod ill tho section to tho loft on Fig. 10. The section to the right of tho same figure, illustrates, diagramatically, tho flexures shown in White's ^[ountain, forming tho north end of the Bare Moun- tains on tho lied Door. In both sections, tho transversely marked beds represent tho rocks of tho limestone series. From Saw-back Creek to the Red Deer, tho Cretaceous rocks preserve their gOMOi-al character as a synclinal, with overturned wostorn edge. Tliey dip boiioiith the eastern border of the Saw-back Eango at angles of 30° to 40°. Much higher di])s arc, however, often met with in the central part of the synclinal, where tho beds are sometimes vertical, and evidently much disturbed and broken. The Cretaceous rocks on tho eastern edge of the synclinal u .ally dip wcstwai-d at angles of about GO^. The various streams, along which tho trail runs, have excavated the gi'oater part of their valleys, in a bolt of dark, soft, shaly rocks, which appear to be continuous throughout. East of the Bare Mountains is a second, smallci- Cretaceous infold, and the explorations of Mr. McConnell, in 1885, have shown that there are additional considerable areas of Cretaceous rocks, still further eastward between these and tho last limestone lango which separates tho moun- tain district from that of tho foot-hills. Beyond the Red Deoi-, the Cretaceous rocks of the Cascade basin still continue a;^ a wide belt running to the noith-westward. We did not, however, follow them further in this direction, but turning westward by the valley of the Red Deer, travelled to the Pipe-stone and upper valloy of tho Bow. In the northern face of Prow Mountain — a bare, bold, limestone peak — the overturned cliaracter of the western eilgo of the Cretaceous trough is clearly seen. On the Pod Doer River, at its base, and quite close to tho overlapping edge of the limestones, is an exposure showing a coal-seam sevoi-al feet in thickness, but so much crumbled and broken that tho precise width could not be ascertained. Coal was also observed " 1 N I ariii'los 0AW80N.] BED DEER VALLEY. 147 b (iliic'.ors. in tho bed of a stroum joining tho rivor from tl»o nortli. A specimen from tho bed on tho river, was found to yield u lirm coke, and to be, so far UH compoHltion goes, an excellent I'liel, giving 2'9 per cent, of iiygr()sc<)|)ie water, G2"!)r) per cent, of fixed carbon and only 489 per cent of ash (nee p. 7 m). Tho Red Deer Hiver, where first reached, is a small stream, about andOoe, hundred and fifty feet wide by six inches or a foot deep. Just above tho ^""">'- <'oal outcro]), it foiins a fall about thirty feet high over limestone rocks. Above this ])lacc, the valley turns to the south, and becomes very wide, a character which it preserves for about seven miles, or to the base of Mount Douglas. The lower, or noi'thorn part of the wide portion of (he valley is generally wooded, and but small areas of the forest have been burnt. Tho timber is, however, of inferior ([uality. Near Mount J>ougIas the valley beconies open, and is characterized by gravelly hills. Several streams join tho river in this part of its course, one of which, coming from the vulloy at tho east base of Mount Douglas, is reported to rise in a lake. The south-eastern slopes of tho mountain are entiielv covei'od Ijy an extensive snow-tiold, which gives rise to a glacier which fills the head of tho vallo}' just mentioned. The head of the valley, which lies between Mounts Drummond and Macoun, is similarly blocked by a wide snow-rield and glaciei', and one part of the summit of .Mount. Macoun is crowned by a clifVof blue glaciei'-ice, fragments of which, from time to time, fall over the vertical fac'> of tho mountain into the valley bonoath. The m iruiins in this vicinity attain heights of 8,t100 to over 9,000 feet, and are singularly varied and striking in form. Tho soui'ce of the Rod Deer, at the summit of the pass Ucnd-watera between it and the Pipe-stone, is found in a small lake, at an elevation of iijtJtJO feet above tho soa-lovel. From this summit a rapid descent is made to the valley of tho Little Pipe-stone, tho sources of this L>treani being at a distance of seven miles, in the mountains to the south. The valley of tho Little Pipe-.- iiolp of iri'iijfatioii, raised excellonl crops. The '.'ouiilry between the Kootanio and .loseph's I'raiiio is undulatinn- or hilly, parti}' wooded, arid with oceasional small ])rojee(ions of slaty Cambrian roeks. It forms an Ciittlr oo'iiiiry (^xeellent eattio ranersistont snu)kc, little was seen of the mountains foi-ming the eastern bolder of this i;-rea I valley, between the lo;ty-ninth pai'allol and Wild Horse Creek, and the outline of the western edi!;o ol the limestone series is shown on the map wilh aj)proximate accuracy oidy. Tho greater part of the vallc}' is, howovor, without doubt, underlain by Cambi-ian slates and quaitziles of tho usual cliaractei-, and iMr. Hanei'inan's ])revious observations show that these rocks also charactoi'ize, tor a longdistance, the mountains to tho wost of the valley neai- tho forty-ninth parallel. =1= These rocks a]>pcar to lie in a peries of wide undulations, generally at rather low angles. Near the mouth of the Klk, some 0X])osures occur of greenish and grey line-grainod ([uartzitos, precisely resembling those ])roviously described as the Klk River bridge beds (]). 78 h). At this ])lac<\ some puri)lish beds alsoapjiear, in which small pseu(lomor]ibous imprc-sions of salt crysl;ds(see ]>. .'").5 u) were observed, togellior with ripple-marked surfaces. JJocks of the same general character are seen in n few j)laces north of the VAk Kiver, but as no connected section can be oUored, it is eonsiilored unneccssai'y iiero to describe them in detail. LiiiH'stomMimv Oil the lowor ))art of the Hull iiivor, near the banks of the ivootanic to the south of it, and elsewhere in this vicinity, roeks of the limestone series occur. Thoarea aifording these oxj)Os\iros, is outlined in a general way on tho map, and is 8U])posod to bo boundod to tho east by an extensive fault, which must run near the base of the mountains. The i''nestono i.s grey in colour, lies generally at riither low angles, (not oxcecding i'O" so far as observed), nii ii. DAWSON.] COLUMmA-KO0TAN[E VALLEY. 151 B and not far from tlio buso of tho mountains, a low, isolated lull was ibuiid to lio composed of a remarkable erystalline roeU, wbieli is evidently intrusive. It is ebielly eomposed of well-formed, ortboelaso felspar ervstals, wbieb are |)inkisli in colour, and, in some cases, nearly an inch in leni^tb. 'flie rocU is ratlier porous, owin^ to the decomposi- tion which it has sutVerod, and its Jointa^e-planes are coated with rusty incrustations and micaceous ha>matito. It may be ro<.(arded as a variety Q„„rtsi- of ([uarl/- porpliyiy in which tho ([uartz is, however, observable under'"""' ■'^'''^" the microscope only. As loose pieces of a similai" material were found in Klk River.it is ])ossible that other similar intrusions occur elsewhere* in this neii^diborhood. Ncai' the base of The Steeples, and at the bridge o^-or Hull Ttiver, are jl;';;!"; "" °"" nunuM'ous exposures of (|uarlzi(es, of i^r(M>nish ami l)!'()\viiish colours, passing into grey tints and interbedded with, and mei'giiig into black- ish argillites and slaty rocks. Some layers become conglomeritic, tho pebbles being composed of a black, somewhat silky schist. Tho dipH are in general eastward, at ratlier high angles, though locally disturbed, Tho rocks being on the strike of tho;-e on the Hughes Jfange, may be taken as typical of those composing it. A number of strongly marked Jointago-planes, which run parallel to the direction of the base of the range, with high dips to tho westwanl, may bo connected with the supposi'd great fault previously mentioned. Small (iiiartz veins are Voin». iiiunorous, and become rusty and jjorous on weathering, from the renu>val of dolomitic matter. They were observed to includo also little segregations ot' iion ami copper pyritc'. Gold has been obtiiinod inooid. paying (luanlity on Hull b'ivor, near this place, but only at very low stages of the water. Near the mouth ol' the river, wtM)btained numeroua ' colours ' by washing the gravel of the banks. A few ' colours ' to liic pan were also found on Sand Creek. On Hull River, lu-ar the bridge, louse ho tdder s occur, of a line-'' Saiul ('reek, and a largo fragment of ioliated lignite was picked up on Hull {{iver. IMuMu-currence of Ibis material .'ippears to allord proof that Tertiary rocks, resembling those of (he Klat-hcad, occur also in ilie wide vailoy of the Kootanie in this vicinity. The (luanlily of super- licial iiiiilerial, however, renders i( im])ossiblo to deliiio this urea, oven iipproximately. I'l-rliiiry ftrcn. m m '■'I, ■l-i '!»■, !:;., J w M b fl'^ 5^1 Wild Horse Creek. Placer gold mines. Character of the mines . Origin of the gold. 152 B THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Wild Horse Creek, named Skirmish River on Palliscr's map, has been, from the first, llie gold-mining centre of the ]\ootanie district. Its aurifei'ous character was discovered in 18G4, and it was this dis- covery which first drew the attention of miners to the Kootanio country. Since 18(»4, ])lacer mining has Ijeen continuously carried on, and the total value of the gold obtained is ju'obabl}' not much le.ss than §500,000. From 1878 to 1885 the returns show a yield of $188,380. Whore it reaches the Kootanio, Wild Horse Creek is, at low- water, a swift stream of about forty feet in width by one in dc])th. For about two miles from its mouth, it occupies a deep trough, which it has excavated in the silty and gravelly terrace-deposits of the main valley, and this part of its course is now much obstructed by tailings washed down from the mines above. Further up, the valley is narrower, with steep banks, which show many exposures of rock, and high and very stecj) mountains rise above it on both sides. The portion of the valley in which successful mining operations have been carried on, is about two miles only in length, and extends north-eastward into tlie Hughes Range, from the base of the mountain slopes. The ' bed rock ' was reached at no great depth below the bed of the present stream, in this part of its course, and was found to yield much coarse gold ; nuggets valued at $100, being frequently obtained. Endeavours to reach the channel of the old river further down, have 80 far been unsuccessful. A sum of ^10,000 was expended in one such attempt, but the surface of the rock, when readied, was found to slope steeply down beneath the detrital deposits of the great Kootanio depression, and work was abandoned. The mining has, consequently, no\. , for some years, been confined to the " side-ground," consisting of nari'ow, terrace-flats, M'hich bordei- the stream, and irreg- ular sheets of gravel and detrital matter which lie upon the slopo.s. Of late years, the mining has fallen almost altogether into the hands of the Chinese. There is still much of this ' side-hill ground,' and. though poi'tions of. it are probably too ])ooi- to bo worked in the mannei' employed hitherto, it is i)robable that the whole might bo utilized with advant!ige with the aid of suitable liydraulic aj)]»liances. The gold obtained is valued at $18'2r) por ounce. No platinum, silver or galena have been found with the gold in (he sluice boxes, magnetic ii'op sand being its usual as.sociate. The gold of Wild Horse Creek is evidently of local origin, but no gold-bearing quartz has yet been observed in its valley. The rocks in the Hughes Range, to the south of AVild Horse Creek, di]) north-eastward, at angles averaging about 40", and the range presents a steep escarpmcnt-liUo front (o the Kootanio. They con- sist, so far as observed, of quarlzites, blackish and greenish schistose- P..J WILD HORSE CHEEK. 153 b ;ili, bill ;. Tlu- Q Creole, rocks und argillites, with some compact greenstones, which probably occur as interbedded masses. Jlocks of the same character are Rocks on Wild lopresented on "Wild Ilorso (JrooU, but the strike there changes io a nearly noi-th-and-south bearing, and the beds are nearly vertical. In ascending the valley, the first rocks met with, at the base of the range, aro grconish-gi-oy, rough and rather massive schists. Following these, are blackish, gi-eenish and grey, rather silvery schistose rocks, not distinctly micaceous, but probably owing their lustrous appcai-anco to talc or chlorite. They aro sometinios essenti- ally argillitics, but very often, on ci-oss-fracturo, prove to be tine quai'tzitcs. Cleavage is in some places tlistinctly marked, but its strike is parallel to that of the bedding. Tliesc blackish and silvery schistose rocks run with the valley in its auriferous portion, and aro probably the source of the gold. They are traversed by very nume- rous seams and veins of quartz, and bands of the schist have become in places more or less completely silicitied throughout; the whole evi- dencing much BOgregativo and probably hydrothormal action. Noygj^g, large or regular ijuartz veins were, however, observed. The small veins generally contain sjiathic iron and dolomite, as well as quartzj and were noticed also to hold iron- and copper-pyrites, and minute specks of galena. They resemble much those seen neai- Bull River bridge (p. 151 b). The gold now found concentrated in the bottom of the valley has a])])arently been derived from tho wearing down of a gi'cat mass of these schistose rocks with their contained quartz vein , none of which may be individually of such size as to pay for working. It is by no moans improbable, however, that per- sistent veins of workable dimensions will be found in this rich little district, and now that tho placer deposits have so much deteriorated in value, attention should be turned in that direction. From Wild Horse Creek northward to the point at which the Koo- Kootanie ..,,,.., ,, „ , • • 1 .1 V;'ley north of tame enters this wide valley, no leatures occur requiring length- w.' I llorso. cued notice. The wide trough in which tho river Hows shows flats, some of which arc cultivable, and others, which are evidently flooded at times of high water, would atl'ord much good hay. This axial tiougli is bordered by low torrai-e-s, which are often of considerable width, and produce good grass. The valley is more genoiaily wooded tluui in its southern portion, but is «eldom thickly forested till the liases of the mountains are approacdiod. The Lussier liivei', a stream about equal in size to Wild Horse Creek, is the only considerable trii)U- taiy from the east, i-endering it evident that the Hull Kiver must uiiwater the greater ]iart of the country behind the Hughes JJange. This range, noi'th of Wild Ilorso Creek, is less I'cgular in form, and «liows more ]>roiniiient peaks than to the south, but ai)pears throu::h- 20 154 b THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. ml' tt.')\ If m J m out to be composed of similar rocks. North of Lussier Eiver, tlic limestones again form the range bordering the valley. Partial views obtained (when the smoky chai'aoter of the atmosphere happened to bo abated by showers) of the mountains on the west side of the valley, showed those to be rounded in form, and not very high, ami it is prob- able that the greater part of the Purcell Eange is formed of similar Cambrian rocks. The peculiar relations of the Kootanie to the Upper Colund)ia Lake have already been noticed (p. 2!) h). The white, silty deposits continue to form the basis of niost of the terraces along the valley, and were seen near the head of the Ui^per Columbia Lake, at a height of about 300 feet above it, or 3,000 feet above sea-level. UpperCoIumbiii The Upper Columbia Lake is about 2,700 feet above scadevcl, and, as determined barometrically, is a little less than f )rty feet lower than the nearest part of the Kootanie Rivei-, in the same valley. Its banks are formed by terraces, about one hundred feet in height, of the white silt deposits. The main valley' has been blocked at the head of the lake by the delta formed by the Kootanie, and possibly also in part by that of Fim'lay L'reek, on the opposite side. The lake is similarly held in at its lower end by the delta deposit of Dutch Creek. The ti-ail follows the east eido of the lake and runs part of the way along fine, grassy slopes, which lie between the lake and the base of the mountains. (yOpious spi'ings issue in several places along this slope, and deposit considorabU' quantities of calcareous matter. Near the first stream from the oast, beyond the lower end of the lake, and about two miles distant from it, is a copious hot spring. It is about half a mile east of the trail, on the slope of a hill, and issues in several places from the summit and sides of a rounded, calcareous knoll formed by its deposit. The main efflux, at the summit of the knoll, has produced a raised basin, which within measures about eight by four feet, and is two feet deep, forming an admirable natuial bath. The discharge at this place is probably not less than twenty gallons per minute, and the temperature of the water at this (the hottest) point, was found to be 112° F. There is no discharge of gas, but the watei- has a slight sfyptic saline taste. The brook immediately south of, and opposite the spring, has formed a miiuature canon by cutting for a considerable distance, through calcareous tufa, which in super- posed flaggy layers, foims a thick deposit, overlying the gravelly material of the higher terraces. Sir George Simpson, who visited this spring in 18-11, gives the following notes respecting it. — "Near our encampment, we observed that the stones in the bed of a little stream were covered with a yellow crust. Before starting for the day, Berland conducted us to throe hot springs, about three miles distant, which doubtless caused tho phenomenon in question. The Ilot spring. Sir Georprc Mmpson's remark.*. U^ It! 0AW6ON.] COLUMBIA-KOOTANIE VALLEY. 155 b waters tasted sliglitly of alum, and appeared to contain a little magne- sia; and, though wo neglected to take our therjnometer with us, yet, on returning to camp, we estimated the three temperatures respec- tively at about ninety, a liundred and a hundred and twenty degrees- Two wintci's back, Borland, while sutl'oring from a severe illness, made a bathing-place of these springs; and he either actually was, or believed that he was, benefited by them."* The Lower Columbia Lake is separat'xl from the Upper by about [(^i^^j^j^^j^^^^ seven miles of marsliy valley, through which the river winds. Its gcnei-al appearance is similar to that of the Up])ei' Lake. The general direction of the valley, with its bordei-ing i-anges, hei'e suffers a marked change in trend, turning more to tlie westward, in correspondence with the similar change in direction found on the east side of the range at the Ilighwood Gap, which is in the same latitude. From the lake-; to (he Kicking lloi'se JJiver, tlie character of the Columbia 11 • 1 1 1 "^ rill 1 . . 1 Valley. valley is nearly everywhere the same, ilie depression in the centre of the valley, in which the Columbia flows, is a mile or more in width, iind is occujiied by a series of swamps and lagoons among which tlie river pursues a tortuous course, with a comparatively sluggish current. This axial depression is bordered on both sides by teri'aces, of variable widtl' which become more densely and uniformly wooded northward, and are broken by the deep valleys of numerous small tributary streams. On the west side, the valle}'' for the grcate;* ])art of its length, spreads widely, the surAico rising gradually but irregularl}^ in terraces and low ridges toward the base of the fSelkirk Mountains) • Long Mountain and high, rocky ridges to the north of it, however' narrow the valley for a distance of about twenty-five miles, being interposed between the river and the Selkirk ^lountaiiis. The limestone range, which borders the valley continuously on fhej^j'^^jJ'j^PJ^ east, is steep, rough and bare, but seldom includes mountains exceed- "inges. ing 8,000 feet in height, till it approaches the Kicking Horse. The t lower poition of tho rocks hero described were deposited, was a basin separated from tho ocean, and, occasionally, if not continuoi. ly, in tho condition of a saturated brine, may in itself explain tho absence of life of any kind, at least in this particular region. i Tho facts at present available do not warrant any definite statement as to tho character of the beds which appear to occupy a position between tho Cat^'oi-ian and the Devono-Carboniforous limestone series. It is evident th'it strata filling at least a part of this interval, occur in tho north-western portion of tho district hero described, and their investigation is at present in progress by Mr. McConnell. Tho great limestone series of tho n^juntains is referable, in a general way, to the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, and charac- teristic fossils have now been collected from many parts of it. Its thickness and development is probably irregular, and dependent on tho contour of the older rock-surface on which it rests uncomformably Near tho eastern end of tho South Kootanie Pass, its volume was csti. mated at 1,000 feet (p. 39 b), while on tho same pass, near Mount Yarrell, its minimum thickness is about 4,000 feet (p. 50 b). On tli& Ci'ow Nest Lake there is an apparent thickness of 9,610 feet, but sub- sequent investigation renders it probable that this is duo to folding, and that the actual exposed thickness is 3,575 feet, the base of the formation not being seen (p. 72 b). In this section and elsewhere, between 1,000 and 2,000 feet of tho upper portion of the limestone is highly crinoidal in charaotor. A prolonged period of quiet marine deposition is indicated by this great body of limestone. • Amcrictiii Journal of Science, Vol. XXVI., p. 437. t Ibid, Vol. XXXIL.p. 138. Limestone scries. N.] (JENERAIi OKOLOUV. 161 B t particu- iirt of tho fthoColo )ccnrrciu'0 the (rrund 10 form of i tho 8orie« tho pvesf*,t III fiiunii in foiti it to a mo' ;""ocn . is hich . ) was a bawin timioi. ly, i" the absence jito Btatemcnt py a position lestono sorio^*. 31'val, occur in bed, and their cferable, in a Is, and charac- artrt of it. Its dependent on ncomformably olumo was esti- ;b, near Mount 50 B). On the- LO feet, but sub- duo to folding, tho base of ti»o und elsewhcie, Lhc limestone is idicated by this Ovorlyin;^, and blending with tho highoHt bods of tiiirt liniestono iiiKhrst hodn Honos 18 H tliicKnosH of hovoral hmulrod loot ot rather inassivo calca- scries. I'oous HandstonoH, which woathor to roddisli or yellowish tints. Those wero well soon near tho Crow Nost Lako (p. 7.'5 n). On tho Soiitli Koo- taiMO Pass, west of tho Flut-head (p. 54 b), at tlio west ontranco to tho (iap of tho North Fork of tho Old Man (p. 80 n). Near tho oast, ond of the White Man's I'ass (p. 113 n), on tho Cascade Itivoi- (p. 143 u) and eisewhcro. In those bods, or in tho limestones near this horizon, tho groator part of tho distinctly Carboniferous forms wero found. On tho Row llivor, near tl>c mouth of Red Karth Crook, and on tho FIbow, foi'ining tho eastern edfj;o of tho isolated limestone area in tho foot-hills (|i. 104 n) a considerable thickness of black, 11 agi^y, highly ealearoous shales was observed occnpj'ing a similar position at tho top of the limestono series, and possibly ropi-osonting a local dittbronce in character of sodimcntiUion on the same horizon. South of the line of the ("row Nest Pass, the limestone sories is eon-Triiissio. lot mably overlain by rocks which aro referred to the Triassii. orPermo- Triassic. In the vicinity of the South Kootanie Pass, an intorbcddod, aniyu'daloidal diabase everj'whei e oceui's at the base of tho Triassic idcks. This, though flassitied under a separate letter (K) in tho gene- ral section of that region (p. ;30 n), is now known from the ociiuri'ence of a similar bed (if not the extension of the same ono) among tho dis- tinctively Triiissic rocks of tho summit of the North Kootanie Pass (p. (10 n) to be more properly ranked as a member of that series. The trap How has a thickness of lifly to one hundred feet, and is overlain near tho South Kootam'e Pass by red beds and fawn-coloured magne- sian sandstones, GOO foot in thickness. Near tho North Kootanie sum- nut it forms part of a similar series of alternating, Maggy, magnesian i-andstones, and rod sandstones and shales, 2,000 feet in thickness (p. CO u). in connection with the red beds, ripple-marked siu'f'ace>., nnul-cracks and impressions of salt-crystals occur, tho whole indicating, as the conditions of deposition of tho rocks, those of a basin cut off troni tho main ocean. Willi the single doubtful exception of certain red beds, seen from a Distribution, distance, near the summit of tho White Man's Pass (p. 115 b), these Triassic rocks aro entirely confined to the district south of tho Crow Nest Pass, and, as elsewhere more dly pr( •ly I r the northern limit of a great Triassic mediterranean sea, which o.vtonded far to the southward in thq western part of the present Con- tinental area. • Trans. Royal Soc. Canada, Vol. L, 8cct. IV., p. 14:!. 21 1^; X' 5*1 Ui2 H THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. Procifin atto (luiibtfiil. Crctiiccoiit. F(l88il!>. Tho entire iibHonoo of fossilw mukos it im))0.s8ii)le to dccido the nge of tliOHO bedsoti piiliwontolo/^iciil groiiiKls, but their Htnitignipbiciil posi- tion and situilaiMty to tho TriuHaic of regions to tho Houth, render i( nearly coitiiin (luit they are, in part at loaBt, ])roporly referred to that fornuitioM. Tho gradual character of tho ])aHsago iVoni the upper bods of tho limestone series (broken only by tho casual intercalation of trap), tends to show that part of tho lower portion of the series may not improbably reprosent the Permian period. Tho rocks of tho C'rctaceous, are the next in ascending order known in this region. Over the ai'ca of the great ])lains, both in tho United States -ind Canada, anil in the liocky Mountain legion south of this district, tho lowopt rocks of tho C'l-etaceous sei-iea developed, are those of tho Dakota, of Middle Crotaceous age. In tho vicinity of tho "West Coast, Lower Cretaceous rocks aro found, and in this part of the moun- tains wo appear to enter upon tho edge of tho area of dejiosit of the Lower Cretaceous, the beds hero named tho Kootanio series occupying Kootaniosorios. that horizon. Tho geological horizon of tho Kootanio series is deter- mined by its position relatively to the higher members of tho Cretaceous series, and by the fossil plants which it has yielded, which are enumerated on former pages. No fossil remains but those of plants have been found, with tho exception of a broken fragment of a mollusc, which is pretty evidently a Goniobasis, from tho plant beds of Coal Creek, and ))art of the guard of a belemnite fiom tho beds of the Cascade basin. Though tho Kootanio series is here throughout spoken of as a portion of the Crotaceous, its fossil flora shows, according to Sir J. W. Dawson, points of affinity with tho Jurassic of some othei- regions. The plants "consist of ferns, cycads and conifers, some of them identical with, or closely related to, those of tho Jurassic of the Amur countiy in Siberia, and others similarly related to the Lower Cretaceous of Greenland, as these floras have been described by Heer, This group, undoubtedly represencs the flora of tho Lowest Cretaceous which has not hitherto been recognized in Western America."* The localities from which plants of this stage have already been collected, in the district here described, are comprised within an area about a hundred and forty milos in length by forty in breadth, but occur in several now distinct Cretaceous infolds. That the series characterized by those plants is a wide-spread and important one, is shown by tho fact that one of the species (Pinus Suskicaensis) had previouslj' been found on Suskwa Kiver, in Northej-n J^ritish Columbia, at a distance of 580 miles north-west of the most northern locality here referied to. • Trans. Royul Soo. Canada, Vol. III., Sect. IV'. I OAWtON.] (lENEHAI, (lEOLOay. in:} B The relation of tho loweat beds of the Kootniiio worioM, or base ot'tho^"'"!'.'.'""" »/ ae|iiiHitl()n of Cretaceous, to tlio TriaHwic bodwof tho Koutliorn i)art of tho district, has'i,"'-i"i"«'<'i""l •/'t boon obsorvod, but northward, in a number of phico.s,tlioso rocks have boon found to rest with an a])])('aranco of conformity on tlie calcareous sandstones, previously described as forming tlie summit of tho limc- stono scries. Tho occurronco of conglomoratos in association with the Kootanie series, hirgoly composed of j-ollod chert pobblos from the limoslonos, and containing, also, fi-agmonts of limestone, evidences, iiowevor, that the limeslono series was fully hardened, and that sogi-e- gative action had had time to produce its charactci'istic silicious con- cretions bofbro t'le oods of Kootanie ago wore formed. We huvo ali-eady soon, tb.it it is probable that tho Triassic red beds never extended to tho north of the southern part of this portion of the llocky Mountains. If they did so, tlicy must have boon lemovetl by denu- dation before the deposit of tho tirst Cretaceous beds, and it is highly Improbalilo that this should have occun-ed in such a way as to leave tho calcareous sandstones above mentioned, so generally at tho actual surfiace, at the moment when the deposition of the Cretaceous commenced. Tho denudation necessary for the removal of tho Tri- assic bods, would probably have produced a rough, irregular, worn surface, on which the Kootanie beds would be found to I'ost. Tho fact being otherwise would a]i))car to show, that deposition coased in the northern part of the area dui'ing the Triassic, in conBO(|Ucnco of the gentle upraising of this northern region to form a wide area of low, tlat land, not likely to bo all'ected by severe denudation. It is possible that this land was actually that which separated the enclosed Triassic mediteri'anoan of tho south, from the truly marine Triassic area of the Monntis beds, developed in the Peace Itivor region and elsewhere to tho north. At a later date Hexuro occurred, the waters again invaded the land area by hollows and depressions, in which the lowest beds of tho Kootanie group wore at once laid down ; while intervening anticlinals stood out as rocky islands and more or lu;;s extensive land areas, the wearing away of which supplied tho materials for tho conglomerates and sandstones of the Ivootanie and later Cretaceous beds. Xo complete section can yet be given of the Cretaceous rocks of tho <'ons. 88 b), fossil plants, believed to rejiresent tho hori/on of the Dakota, are fc md a few nundred feet below those volcanic beds, This observation would make the hori/on of the volcanic rocks tliem- m ^ 1' " See Report of Progress, 18?'l-84, p. IW c. DAWSON.] GKNEUAL OEOLOGY. 165 b solves as nearly as possible identical with that of those previously rofei'ied to (p. 69 b), as having been noted by Prof. Stevenson in Colorado. It is, therefore, not improbable that we find in these two vory widely separated localities, traces of an epoch of volcanic activity in the Dakota poi-iod, which may yet ])rove to bo important. Volcanic rocks are also largely developed in connection with the lower parts of t."\o Cretaceous on the west coast of British Columbia. The sections i-epresenting the upper part of the Cretaceous rocks ofKocksof the mountains are, unfortunately, very unsatisfactory, the best being tliiiL of the North-west Branch just alluded to (p. 88 b). The volcanic beds are thoi-o followed by dark shales which attbrd a few fossils referred to the Benton grouj), and are estimated to attain a minimum thickness of 1, 400 feet. Above these are sandstones and shales, generally of pale tints and possibl}' several hundred or a thousand \'v> in thickness, which are supjwscd to represent the Belly River series of the plains to the oastwai'd. A concealed area beyond the.se, is pirsumed to be underlain by the Pierre shales, and still higher in +'io section are beds I'of'ei'able to the base of tiie Laramie, v.'ith oharacieristic fossils. The tliicknoss of the Lai'amic at this place is indelerminalo, but must be r-vnsiderable. The section of the Cretaceous rocks of the Cascade trough, to the Rocks of north, has not been referred to in the preceding ]> agraphs. Its dis- "'''" ^ ''""'^'• taiice from the localities here particularly desci'ibed, and the entire absence of the volcanic intercalation, renders precise correlation at present imjios-sible. The i^lants found in association vvith the principal coal horizon are. however, simiKr to those elsewhere observed in the same connection, and, as previous stated, it is not impossible that the thicker coal-.seams occui)y a similar horizon throughout. The chief al-i-cams here hold a middle position in a socition showing at least feet of sandstones and shfily beds, and imluding numerous less important coal-seams. A^ 2,500 to ;},000 feet above the thickest coal- scams, are important beds of conglomerate, which are possibly on the same Ik rizon as those of the summit beyond MailenBi'ook on the west part of the Crow Nest Pass, which were estimated to be at least 1,500 feet above the coals of Marten Brook. On the hypothesis that the pi'incipal coal-bearing horizon of the Cascade basin occupies the isaine position as that developed in the couthorn part of the district, tlic thickness of bods found above this plane in the Cascade basin, would appear to indicate that the upper members of the section there, may be referable to the Dakota group. None of the characteristic plants of that group have, however, so far been obtained from these rocks. A provincial general i-cjji-esentation of the Cretaceous beds of the I h^^ Bl'i (lonoral Moctioii of rrctiiceoiiii. 166 b THE ROOKT MOUNTAINS. mountains of this i-egion, as compared with those of the plains to the cast,* may bo given as follows, in descending order: — Rocky Mountains. Totnl volume. I Oiroumstances of deposition. I'-BBT. Foot-hills and Plains. FEOT. Porcnpino Hill beds 2,500 St. IMary River hods (base) ' Fox H ill and i'icrro Belly Kivor series AVillow Creek beds . St. Mary Kiver bods I'ox Hill and Pierre. not known]. ] " ]. Belly Kiver series Benton and (Niobrara V) ' 1,400 " Lower Dark Shales". Volcanic rocks (greatest thickness). 2,200 Dakota and upper part of Kootanie series to coal-beaiin