The Western United States

Western United States, by Harold Wellman Fairbanks

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Title: The Western United States A Geographical Reader
Author: Harold Wellman Fairbanks
Release Date: August 13, 2007 [EBook #22302]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WESTERN UNITED STATES ***

Produced by Robert J. Hall

[Illustration: THE TWINS, BLUFF CITY, UTAH
The distance from the bottom of the cliff to the top of the erosion columns is 275 feet.
Frontispiece]

THE WESTERN
UNITED STATES
A GEOGRAPHICAL READER
BY
HAROLD WELLMAN FAIRBANKS, PH.D.
AUTHOR OF "STORIES OF OUR MOTHER EARTH," "HOME GEOGRAPHY," "STORIES OF ROCKS AND MINERALS," "PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA," ETC.
BOSTON, U.S.A.
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
1904

PREFACE
In the preparation of this book the author has had in mind the needs of the upper grammar grades. The subject matter has not been selected with the object of covering the field of Western geography in a systematic manner, but instead the attempt has been made to picture as graphically as may be some of its more striking and interesting physical features, and the influence which these features have exerted upon its discovery and settlement.
Those subjects have been presented which have more than local interest and are illustrative of world-wide principles. Clear conceptions of the earth and man's relation to it are not gained by general statements as readily as by the comprehensive study of concrete examples.
Nowhere outside of the Cordilleran region are to be found so remarkable illustrations of the growth and destruction of physical features, or so clear examples of the control which physical features exercise over the paths of exploration, settlement, and industrial development.
The fact that the West furnishes a wealth of material for geography teaching has long been recognized in a general way, although there has been but little attempt to present this material in a form suitable for the use of schools.
The illustrations are, with few exceptions, from the author's own photographs, and the descriptions are made up from his personal observations. Since the illustrations are numerous and have been selected with much care, it is hoped that they will add greatly to the value of the text. They should be used, and a proper understanding of the pictures made a part of every lesson.

CONTENTS
THE WORK OF THE COLORADO RIVER
A TRIP INTO THE GRAND CA?ON OF THE COLORADO
HOW THE COLUMBIA PLATEAU WAS MADE
THE CA?ONS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS
AN OREGON GLACIER
SOMETHING ABOUT EARTHQUAKES AND MOUNTAIN BUILDING
THE LAST VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
THE MUD VOLCANOES OF THE COLORADO DESERT
THE HISTORY OF A COAST LINE
THE DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER
THE GREAT BASIN AND ITS PECULIAR LAKES
FR��MONT'S ADVENTURES IN THE GREAT BASIN
THE STORY OF GREAT SALT LAKE
THE SKAGIT RIVER
THE STORY OF LAKE CHELAN
THE NATIVE INHABITANTS OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE
THE STORY OF LEWIS AND CLARK
THE RUSSIANS IN CALIFORNIA
DEATH VALLEY
THE CLIFF DWELLERS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS
THE LIFE OF THE DESERT
THE PONY EXPRESS
HOW CLIMATE AND PHYSICAL FEATURES INFLUENCED THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST
THE LIFE OF THE PROSPECTOR
GOLD AND GOLD-MINING
COPPER-MINING
COAL AND PETROLEUM
THE CLIMATE OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE
SOMETHING ABOUT IRRIGATION
THE LOCATION OF THE CITIES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE
THE FOREST BELT OF THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS
THE NATIONAL PARKS AND FOREST RESERVES

THE WESTERN UNITED STATES
THE WORK OF THE COLORADO RIVER
The Colorado River is not old, as we estimate the age of rivers. It was born when the Rocky Mountains were first uplifted to the sky, when their lofty peaks, collecting the moisture of the storms, sent streams dashing down to the plains below. Upon the western slope of the mountains a number of these streams united in one great river, which wound here and there, seeking the easiest route across the plateau to the Gulf of California.
At first the banks of the river were low, and its course was easily turned one way or another. From the base of the mountains to the level of the ocean there is a fall of more than a mile, so that the river ran swiftly and was not long in making for itself a definite channel.
Many thousands of years passed. America was discovered. The Spaniards conquered Mexico and sent expeditions northward in search of the cities of Cibola, where it was said that gold and silver were abundant. One of these parties is reported to have reached a mighty ca?on, into which it was impossible to descend. The ca?on was so deep that rocks standing in the bottom, which were in reality higher than the Seville cathedral, appeared no taller than a man.
Another party discovered the mouth of the river and called it, because of their safe arrival, The River of Our Lady of Safe Conduct. They went as far up