Next in our ascent, we reach the region of the firs,

and the tamarack pine,

at 7000 to 9000 feet above the sea, in the middle of the State; and above this belt we find yet another, characterised by the Pinus flexilis, struggling with the winds and frosts for an existence on these mountain heights.

11. The "Big Trees."

The groves of the Big Trees (Sequoia gigantea) are limited in geographical range, both horizontally and vertically. There are eight distinct groves known to exist, and they are all between latitude 36° 00' and 38° 15', and between 5000 and 7000 feet in elevation.

The Calaveras Grove is the one most visited and best known. It is on the western slope of the Sierra, in Calaveras County. It occupies an area 3200 feet long by 700 feet broad. There

GIANT TREES.

are between ninety and one hundred trees of large size in the grove, besides many smaller ones. One of the largest and finest has been cut down by vandals; its greatest rival has had the bark peeled from it so as to destroy it.

Thirty-one of the trees in this grove have been measured. The highest is 15 feet in diameter at 6 feet from the ground, and 325 feet in height. Others, though not as high, exceed this in diameter; the "Mother of the Forest" being, without the bark, 20 feet through. The smallest of the thirty-one trees measured is 10 feet in diameter and 231 feet in height.

12. Agricultural Resources of the Cordilleran Region.

Throughout this vast region, extending over 20° of longitude, the rainfall is so slight, and the aridity and consequent evaporation so great, that agriculture cannot be carried on, except in a few isolated spots, without artificial irrigation. It is almost as much a matter of course with the farmers of this sparsely settled region as the sowing of the seed. The soil of the plains, plateaus, and mountain valleys of this great region is almost everywhere extremely fertile, and the one thing needed to transform a seeming Sahara into a land of plenty is water.

The supply of water for irrigation, which the streams of this country afford, is by no means sufficient to render productive all the land which is otherwise suitable, but by careful management a large part of it may be brought under cultivation. In the Great Plains the amount of arable land is measured directly by the quantity of water brought to them by the streams, as there is undoubtedly far more land, suitably situated in other respects, than the streams can water. In the mountains, while in some of the larger valleys, and especially in the Great Basin, this holds good, yet in the smaller valleys some streams will

unquestionably run to waste. Again, many large areas, otherwise well situated, are so high that the seasons become too rigorous for agricultural pursuits to succeed.

Numberless proofs of the fact that the soil of what has been called a desert is rich in the elements of fertility may be adduced. Salt Lake Valley was as unpromising in appearance as the "Great American Desert" before the "Latter Day Saints" attacked it, but the application of water has made it one of the most fertile regions in the world. At St. George, in Southern Utah, the victory over Dame Nature has been even more complete. So it is all over the West. The natural products of the country, even though they be artemisia, grease-wood, and cactus, are no indication of the barrenness of the soil. Because a soil naturally produces these only, it by no means follows that these only can be produced. To condemn the country because, under its natural conditions, it does not produce useful grasses, timber, etc., is as unreasonable as to expect a tract of dry land to produce cranberries.

Besides agriculture, a very large interest is cattle and sheep-raising. The cattle ranch consists generally of one or more houses built of logs, near which are log stables and corrals-yards enclosed by strong high fences, built of logs set firmly on end in the ground and placed close together. The cattle belonging to the ranch range wild, the year round, on the neighbouring plains in great herds, mingled with those of other ranches, and to be distinguished from them only by the brand of the owner. Only once a year does the owner see his cattle-at the annual "round-ups." In the latter part of May and early in June these take place. A large number of herders are employed, and all the cattle-for many miles in all directions are collected and run into a great corral. It is a stirring, lively scene, the "cow boys," as the herders are called, on their half-wild Indian ponies driving in the great

bands of wild cattle, which are constantly breaking and running in all directions, pursued by the herders. Horses and men alike enter into the spirit of the scene.

Once gathered together, the cattle of each ranch-man are placed by themselves, and the calves born that spring, and which still run with their mothers, are marked with the brand of the owner. Such as are destined for immediate sale are taken out, and the rest are turned loose together on the range again.

Through most of the year the life at a cattle ranch is easy, but at certain times there is call for high powers of courage and physical endurance. There are few investments of money which pay more surely or more largely than this, but it involves a solitary semi-barbarous life, with many privations.

The Great Plains form one vast cattle range. From Texas to Montana we find them dotted over with the huts of the ranch-men, and covered with herds of cattle. They follow closely the retreating steps of the buffalo. So, in the great valleys of the mountain region, the Parks of Colorado, the Laramie Plains, the Gallatin and Bitter Root and other valleys of Montana, the great valley of California, and those of Oregon,-indeed, wherever grass grows and hostile Indians are not too plentiful,-there we find herds of cattle. Some of the cattlemen are very wealthy, numbering their cattle by hundreds of thousands.

CHAPTER X.

GEOLOGY OF THE CORDILLERAN PLATEAU.

1. General Review.

THE general character of the geology of the region west of the Mississippi, extending to the Pacific coast, has been given by two great lines of elevation, viz. the Rocky Mountain belt, and the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges. They divide the country into three belts-first, the Great Plains; second, the Basin and Plateau Region; third, the Pacific Coast trough, which includes the California. Valley, and the Columbia Valley region in Oregon and Washington Territory.

The Great Plains extend from the Mississippi Valley to the east base of the Rocky Mountains.

The Basin Region stretches westward from the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the Sierra, and southward into Mexico as a high table-land.

The Sierra, with the Coast Ranges, form a raised margin along the Pacific Coast, and are cut by gorges, which were the gateways through which a large portion of the interior region was drained.

The Pacific Coast trough is a narrow region between the mountains and the Pacific Ocean. North of the California Valley it is nearly obliterated by the encroachment of the mountains.

2. Rocky Mountains.

The outlines of the western part of the North Ameri