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Show Death Valley Is Deepest Dry Depression in U. S. Death valley proper is nbout KK miles from north to south and from two to ei;,rht miles wide, and it lies (n the midst of a vast re-ion of rugged, barren ranges and gorges. It is the deepest dry depression in the United States, most of it lying from 200 to S"0 feet below sea level, observes n writer in flie New York Times. It is shut in by the I'ana-mint, I'ana-mint, Cottonwood. Grapevine and Funeral mountains, the ranges rising ris-ing abruptly on every side. Less than 100 miles away Is Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the United States, with an elevation of 14,490 feet. Varying stories are told of the disasters which gave the valley its sinister name. The most generally accepted one is to the effect that a party of 00 emigrants, on their way to the California gold fields, entered the valley by mistake, lost their way and perished of thirst. Others Oth-ers believe that the party was attacked at-tacked by Indians and fought, with their wagons in a circle, until the last man fell. Two survivors are said to have reached the coast. It is thought, too, that the travelers may have drunk from poisonous springs, of which there are many In the valley's hemming mountains. |
