It was covered with brush and cedars, with here and there lichened rocks showing above the bleached grass.

Below the Knoll was a wide, grassy flat or meadow through which a willow-bordered stream cut its rugged boulder-strewn bed.

Water flowed abundantly at this season, and the deep washes leading down from the slopes attested to the fact of cloudbursts and heavy storms.

This meadow valley was dotted with horses and cattle, and meandered away between the timbered slopes to lose itself in a green curve.

A singular feature of this canyon was that a heavy growth of spruce trees covered the slope facing northwest; and the opposite slope, exposed to the sun and therefore less snowbound in winter, held a sparse growth of yellow pines.