Excerpt from The Red Desert of Wyoming: And Its Forage Resources

The region known as the Red Desert lies in southern Wyoming. Our knowledge of the plants of this region has heretofore been very imperfect, due chiefly to the difficulty and hardships involved in con ducting investigations during the summer months. As the Union Pacific Railroad traverses the entire region from east to west, informa tion concerning its vegetation has, of course, been accumulating, but previous to the present season (1897) no systematic survey of its resources has ever been attempted.

There is little in view from the car windows to invite closer inspection or more personal contact. From the Platte River to the Green River, a distance of 150 miles, there is not within sight of the railroad any vegetation larger than sage-brush and grease-wood, and through much of the distance these also seem dwarfed and scattering. Bright green hues are extremely rare. With the exception of the fringes on the banks of the few little creeks and the occasional bogs, the vegetation is marked by colors which blend closely with those of the ground, the dull grayish greens and grays varying to silvery white. To this absence of bright coloring in vegetation, is largely due the singularly barren appearance of the whole region, and no doubt its reputed desert-like condition is traceable to the same cause. Portions of the region are deserted during a part of the year, but it is far from being a desert if by that term is meant bare of vegetation. This is attested by the fact that great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are profitably wintered there year after year.

The conditions surrounding the Red Desert made it evident that the region was an interesting field for investigation either from an economic or a botanical standpoint. In order to gain an adequate idea of its vegetation, it was deemed necessary to make at least three incursions into the heart of the region for the Spring, summer, and autumn floras, respectively. In pursuance of this plan, the first trip was made under the direction and in the interest of the experiment station of the Uni versity of Wyoming. The two later expeditions were made under a commission from the Secretary of Agriculture through the chief of the Division of Agrostology.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.