Report on the geology of the Henry MountainsGilbert, Grove Karl
Science
Report on the geology of the Henry Mountains
Gilbert, Grove Karl
Geology -- Utah -- Henry Mountains; Intrusions (Geology) -- Utah -- Henry Mountains
If these pages fail to give a correct account of the structure of the
Henry Mountains the fault is mine and I have no excuse. In all the
earlier exploration of the Rocky Mountain Region, as well as in much of
the more recent survey, the geologist has merely accompanied the
geographer and has had no voice in the determination of either the route
or the rate of travel. When the structure of a mountain was in doubt he
was rarely able to visit the points which should resolve the doubt, but
was compelled to turn regretfully away. Not so in the survey of the
Henry Mountains. Geological exploration had shown that they were well
disposed for examination, and that they promised to give the key to a
type of structure which was at best obscurely known; and I was sent by
Professor Powell to make a study of them, without restriction as to my
order or method. I was limited only in time, the snow stopping my work
two months after it was begun. Two months would be far too short a
period in which to survey a thousand square miles in Pennsylvania or
Illinois, but among the Colorado Plateaus it proved sufficient. A few
comprehensive views from mountain tops gave the general distribution of
the formations, and the remainder of the time was spent in the
examination of the localities which best displayed the peculiar features
of the structure. So thorough was the display and so satisfactory the
examination, that in preparing my report I have felt less than ever
before the desire to revisit the field and prove my conclusions by more
extended observation.
In the description of the details of the structure a demand arose for a
greater number of geographic titles than were readily suggested by
natural forms or other accidents, and recourse was had to the names of
geologists. Except that the present members of my own corps are not
included, the names chosen are of those whose cognate studies have given
me most aid. Mr. Steward and Mr. Howell saw the Henry Mountains before I
did, and gleaned something of their structure from a distance; Dr.
Newberry, Mr. Marvine, Dr. Peale, and Mr. Holmes have described allied
phenomena in Colorado and New Mexico; and the works of Messrs. Jukes,
Geikie, Scrope, and Dana have been among my chief sources of information
in regard to igneous mountains in general. If any of these gentlemen
feel offended that their names have been attached to natural features so
insignificant, I can assure them that the affront will never be repeated
by the future denizens of the region. The herders who build their hut at
the base of the Newberry Arch are sure to call it “the Cedar Knoll”; the
Jukes Butte will be dubbed “Pilot Knob”, and the Scrope, “Rocky Point”.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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