northwest, giving it a fine climate and a semi-tropical flora that for richness and
variety has never since been ecjualed on the coast.
We have seen that all through the Eocene and Miocene periods the Willamette valley was covered by the ocean, with only off-shore islands to mark the western boundary of the future Oregon. At the close of the Miocene age these detached sections became the United Coast range, and the ocean was shut out not only, but the valley was elevated above sea level, so that all fossils and sea shells com- mon in the quarries of the valley represent either Eocene or Miocene life. If the ■ student is in search of Eocene shells, they can be found near Monroe, Albany and Corvallis, in the range of hills elevated into an island at the close of the Eocene. If he wishes to collect Miocene fossils they can be found throughout the valley, not only a few feet below the surface of the level prairies, but most of the lower hills and isolated buttes were once old Miocene sea beds. Also in the South Yamhill valley above Sheridan and in the hills back of Clatskanie in Co- lumbia county. Chehalem mountains, the Eola or Polk county hills, the Waldo hills, the Linn county buttes and most of the buttes of Lane county, were ele- vated about this time. In some of these elevations the eruptive force was only strong enough to leave a dome-shaped hill, over which the sandstone of the Miocene sea-bed remains unbroken ; but with others the strain was great enough to tear open the top of the dome, and the lava which poured out covered the sum- mit and flowed down the sides, perhaps leaving hexagonal blocks of basalt to speak of those days of violence.
The Pliocene age was a time of elevation all o\er the Western United States and as the land was elevated the sea beach naturally moved farther westward until Oregon became much wider east and west than it is today ; and the Pliocene sea beach with its fossil fish, shells, sharks and seals, must now lie buried in an off-shore line, perhaps far out at sea.
The lakes of Eastern Oregon and Washington had been filled up and drained off until onlj' a remnant remained of their once great expanse of waters. But there seems to have been an extensive lake at this time in southeastern Oregon, the dimensions of which have not been accurately determined, but it may have covered the same area as the later Pleistocene lakj, indicated on our geological map as covering the Silver lake region. The name Fossil Lake has been applied to a part of this basin, but we will here use the lame as including the whole of the Pliocene lake. This fossil field was discoveied many years ago by the late Governor AVhiteaker and through his kindness explored by Professor Condon and later by Professor Cope, the Paleontologist. Here Professor Condon made a collection of beautifully preserved bird bones which he sent east to be identified, but which seemed too valuable to be returned and were finally lost to the rightful owner. Here at Fossil lake lived five species of gulls, two of terns, eleven species of ducks, four of geese and one of which ' ' must have been nearly as large again as our common wild Canada goose." There was also a large species of swan named for Governor Whiteaker — Vitikeri. There were great horned owls, black birds, coots, herons, crows, eagles, grouse, prairie hens and a great cormorant. "But the strangest figure upon the scene among the birds was a true Flamingo."
Perhaps some Klamath high school student while spending his summer vaca- tion, working on a new railroad survey or an irrigating ditch, may come across some of those rare fossils now covered by a few inches of desert sand, or perhaps
