FROM GREEN RIVER CITY TO FLAMING GORGE. 129 range. We name it Flaming Gorge. The cliffs, or walls, we find on measurement to be about 1,200 feet high. May 27.--To-day it rains, and we employ the time in repairing one of our barometers, which was broken on the way from New York. A new tube has to be put in; that is, a long glass tube has to be filled with mercury, four or five inches at a time, and each installment boiled powell-canyons-87.jpg OUR GUIDE'S BOY. over a spirit lamp. It is a delicate task to do this without breaking the glass; but we have success, and are ready to measure mountains once more. May 28.--To-day we go to the summit of the cliff on the left and take observations for altitude, and are variously employed in topographic and geologic work. 130 CANYONS OF THE COLORADO. May 29.--This morning Bradley and I cross the river and climb more than a thousand feet to a point where we can see the stream sweeping in a long, beautiful curve through the gorge below. Turning and looking to the west, we can see the valley of Henry's Fork, through which, for many miles, the little river flows in a tortuous channel. Cottonwood groves are planted here and there along its course, and between them are stretches of grass land. The narrow mountain valley is inclosed on either side by sloping walls of naked rock of many powell-canyons-88.jpg GREEN RIVER PLAINS. bright colors. To the south of the valley are the Uintas, and the peaks of the Wasatch Mountains can be faintly seen in the far west. To the north, desert plains, dotted here and there with curiously carved hills and buttes, extend to the limit of vision. For many years this valley has been the home of a number of mountaineers, who were originally hunters and trappers, living with the Indians. Most of them have one or more Indian wives. They no longer roam with the nomadic tribes in pursuit of buckskin or beaver, but have accumulated herds of cattle and horses, and consider themselves quite well to do. Some of them have built cabins; others FROM GREEN RIVER CITY TO FLAMING GORGE. 131 still live in lodges. John Baker is one of the most famous of these men, and from our point of view we can see his lodge, three or four miles up the river. The distance from Green River City to Flaming Gorge is 62 miles. The river runs between bluffs, in some places standing so close to each other that no flood plain is seen. At such a point the river might properly be said to run through a canyon. The bad lands on either side are interrupted here and there by patches of Artemisia, or sage brush. Where there is a flood plain along either side of the river, a few cottonwoods may be seen. powell-canyons-89.jpg THE CHIEF KIVA OF SHUPAULOVI. 132 powell-canyons-90.jpg WALPI. 133 CHAPTER VI. FROM FLAMING GORGE TO THE GATE OF LODORE.