CONTENTS.
                         PART III.
    IlROJ. THE RIO GRAI)DE DEL NORTE TO THIE PACIFIC OCF-IA.
                         c'IIA.\TE R I.
TIHE RIO GIRAXNIE VALLEY
                        ('IIAPTElI II.
TimE?d[EMmmmaE- M)OUNTAINS AND TIlE 1If) -MIIEf%Ilt.s
'CHAPI ERl'  III.
THE IBURIO MOUNTAIN-, THE MM[I.  I'E.LATEAV, FORT ],(OWl', ANDI WHAT
   IIAIPPENEID TJI EIR.
                        (rCHAPTEl. INV.
FROM APACIrE PAS4 TO THE AR.A-AVAYPA CAKON
CIIAlFiER V.
TiE ARlAVAYPA CA4NON
                        CHIIAPTER VI.
TImE GILA VALLEY AND'SOITIIERN ('AIIIONIA
'IIAPTE11 VII.
SfNORAx
I'AOK
  1
17
30
50
63
78
9(1
HOW THE EVENINGS WERE SPENT.
Indian, who had been captured by his present master some
years ago. This savage had many accomplishments, and,
amongst others, he knew the war songs and dances of many of
the neighbouring tribes. He was very fond of our camp, for
he seldom went away empty-handed; and when the fires were
blazing up and a good circle had been formed for him, he
would come and sing his war songs until far into the night.
A different dance accompanied each chant; the music was
very wild and plaintive-a dreary dirge in a minor key-at
particular parts it became very slow and piano, then a quick
movement usually followed, the dance corresponding with the
music, until the climax was reached by a series of yells
which made the whole cafion re-echo with unearthly sounds.
Our oft-repeated applause had the effect of exciting the little
fellow to such an extent that he usually kept it up until he
was quite exhausted.
   So melancholy were the intonations of all these curious
chants, that they seemed to be the fitting funeral march of a
people speedily and for ever passing away from their place
amongst the nations of the earth.
  Three-fourths of the caion was traversed and surveyed in
four days; the remaining fourth, however, presented the most
formidable obstructions; for large masses of wall-rock had
fallen into the narrow cleft in so many places, that no sooner
had we succeeded in getting our mules and horses over one
pile of debris than a fresh one lay across our path.      We
gradually entered, however, a more broken and open country,
and gaps in the walls became proportionately frequent.
Confusion seemed here to reign supreme; no longer did the
abrupt walls hem us in, but large masses of rock, I may say
sides of mountains, lay piled up all around. We measured
one perpendicular cliff, which, from  its position, was acces73
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
sible to our instruments: found it to be 825 feet high, and
this was below the average of the walls; so it is easy to
conceive the relative magnitude of the rest. From out of
this chaos the cafion gradually emerged, widening out and
approaching more to the extent and appearance of a narrow
valley. The south side first began to break away with
sloping bluffs, covered with cactus and stunted vegetation,
while the north side continued perpendicular for three miles
and a half beyond the second "narrows," where it joined a
huge mountain of igneous formation, consisting of six basaltic
terraces one above the other, which formed a fine landmark
for miles around to show the position of the caion. Beyond
this are foot-hills on both sides for two miles more, when the
cafon merges into the widening valley, which, some six
miles further on, joins that of the Rio San Pedro just south
of Camp Grant. In this valley nearly all the water of the
Aravaypa sinks into the earth. I hear, in fact, from residents
at the fort, that for many weeks during the year no surfacewater whatever enters the Rio San Pedro from it, although
in the cafnon there is always a fine stream.
  An Indian trail, which is easily followed in single file,
except where the bed of the stream alone is left, or where
the whole path is blocked up with d'bris, leads quite through
the gorge. In the first part of the cafion there are at least
five lateral means of exit through arroyos which enter it, one
on the southern and four on the northern side, but there is
no escape whatever for the rest of the way.
   Some of our men in advance came one day across an Indian
encampment, in which the ashes of a fire were still smoking,
but nowhere did we see an Indian. Their wigwams were
of very frequent occurrence during the last eight or ten miles,
especially in the valley between the cafton and Camp Grant.
74
NO APACHES SEEN.
They all consisted of a round framework of sticks, tied
together with grass on the top, and lined within and without
with willow, grass, and weeds; a little space being left for
the entrance.
  It was evident, then, that we had frightened the Apaches out
of their natural haunts. They feared perhaps another massacre;
or they looked upon our instruments, which seemed to take
up so much of our attention, as some infernal machines,
intended to destroy them, had they given us a chance.
  Be this as it may, we were glad enough to come aboveground again; for, apart from the oppressive feeling caused
by such a place under any circumstances, the actual fact was
always present in our minds, that our enemy from above
could, almost at any moment, have completely annihilated our
whole party. Had the Indians thought proper to hurl rocks
down upon us as we passed through many parts of the passage,
from which there was no possible escape or hiding-place, not
one of us could have escaped to tell the tale of this adventure.
  On Wednesday, the 26th, I arrived at Camp Grant, and
two days afterwards the whole party reached it safely. This
              post consists, like all the others, of a collection
    Nov. 26.
              of adobe houses and log-huts, with      large
covered verandahs to keep off the sun, for it is very hot here
in the summer. The view from it over the country is a very
peculiar one; for, although not a tree is to be seen on the
hills which rise up on all sides, the Cereus giganteus takes
their place. I have never seen it growing thickly, so as to
hide a patch of ground from view, but everywhere these
solitary pillars, with their encircling arms, are to be recognised, and as no other kind of vegetation is in the least
conspicuous, they become the most prominent objects in the
landscape.
75
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
   The result of the survey from Railroad Pass to Camp Grant
is the following:                                                    Feet above
                                            Miles.  Tide-water.
      Summit of Railroad Pass.......  4,411
      Playa de los Pimas (centre of trough).. 6-50.  4,275
      Head of Aravaypa Cafiada.... 22"52    4,474
      Eureka Spring...... 589.  4,164
      Head of Aravaypa Cafion.... 19"41    3,370
      Leave high-walled cation.. 1449.  2,645
      Camp Grant....... 1212.  2,174
                Total in miles.... 8193
   The Rio San Pedro enters the Rio Gila 11-55 miles from
Camp Grant, at an elevation of 1,911 feet above the sea.
   The result of the survey from   Railroad Pass, vid Nugent's
Pass up the San Pedro to Camp Grant (the route travelled by
our wagons), is the following:                                            Miles.  Elevations.
     Summit of Railroad Pass......  4,411
     Foot of slope west of Railroad Pass..  5'8.   4,206
,,   east of Calitro Mountains.. 64     4,203
     Summit of pass through Calitro Mountains. 10"1    4,740
     Mouth of cation, Nugent's Pass.. 20"9     4,475
     Surface-water of Rio San Pedro...          3,390
,,,,... 41:3     2,662
.,,,             at Camp Grant. 22"0     2,168
          From Railroad Pass to Camp Grant vid
            Nugent's Pass... 106"5
            Average fall of the Rio San Pedro per mile 20'4 feet.
   Colton and a small escort of cavalry came with me to Camp
Grant. The second evening after our arrival the soldiers
               gave one of their fortnightly theatrical enter     Nov. 28.
               tainments, which    savoured   much   of nigger
minstrelsy and burlesque Italian opera singing; and the next
day after this pleasurable excitement, Colton and I bade goodbye to the officers and the one lady who were residing here,
and directed our course southward.
76
                   REACH CAMP GRANT.                       7
  After a few days' visit to Tucson, Colton returned to the
surveyors on the Rio Gila. I passed on to Mexico. It is,
therefore, with great pleasure that I invite my readers to
travel with my much-esteemed companion and friend to the
Pacific, before they join me in my trip through Sonora.
CHAPTER VI.
THE VALLEY OF THE RIO GILA, AND COUNTRY LYING BETWEEN
    THE RIO COLORADO OF THE WEST AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
            CONTRIBUTED BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM F. COLTON.
The Rio Gila and its Tributaries.-The Plateaux beyond the Valley.--Cultiva    tion in the Gila Valley.-Insufficiency of Rain-fall.--Great Heat of the
    Summer.-Navigation on the Rio Colorado.-Valleys along that River.    Pacific Cordilleras, the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges united.-San
    Diego Bay.-The Town.-Climate of San Diego the finest in America.    Southern California.
THE Gila River, rising in     the Mogollon   ranges of New
Mexico, has a general westerly course, passing into and
traversing the entire breadth of Arizona, and emptying
into the Rio Colorado just opposite the boundary between
California and Lower California.     From   the north  it has
numerous affluents breaking through      a region  frequently
mountainous and always much broken, but with beautiful
and fertile valleys well supplied with timber and animal life,
and remarkable for the evidences of an ancient civilisation
found in the ruins of well-built towns and extensive acequias
constructed of cut stone.
   From the south it receives but few branches, the Rio San
Pedro being the most important.     Below the mouth of the
San Pedro, the valley of the Gila for a distance of twelve
miles is open, and varies from one to two miles in width.
The river then " cafions," and for about thirty miles winds
its devious way between frowning cliffs and precipices. From
the lower end of these caions to its mouth the valley is open
THE GILA VALLEY.
and wide, with a regular and gradual descent of from 8 to
15 feet per mile.
  Ascending the bluffs which mark the limits of the valley
proper, we come upon a vast desert plain, dotted here and
there with isolated mountains rising abruptly from the general
level, and presenting sharp, serrated outlines against the clear,
rainless sky. Almost entirely destitute of water, this region
is a very uninviting one to the explorer, and but little is
known of it save that its mountains are wonderfully rich in
precious metals.
  The great mail road from Tucson runs in a north-westerly
direction, striking the Gila River at Sacaton, a mail station.
Thence it follows down the river to Maricopa Wells, where
the stream makes a great bend to the north, and does not strike
it again till it reaches Gila Bend Station, from which point
the road continues down the valley to Arizona City-a very
small place with a very big name.
  The soil in the valley of the Gila in many places is so
strongly alkaline as to be unfit for agriculture; still there is
an immense breadth of land susceptible of successful cultivation. Maize, barley, wheat, cotton, and all the vegetables of
the temperate zone are already profitably cultivated by the
few white settlers between the cafion and Sacaton, and by the
Pima and Maricopa Indians between Sacaton and Maricopa
Wells. Below the latter station there is no cultivation except
in small gardens at some of the mail stations on the lower
river.
  Not reckoning its tributary valleys, the Gila valley has
about 300,000 acres of arable land, capable of sustaining an
agricultural and mining population of 200,000, which is, no
doubt, a low estimate.   During the same season the same
land produces two crops, one of wheat and another of maize.
79
80            NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
The breadth of land now under cultivation-in many places
subject to the frequent incursions of the terrible Apaches-is
quite small.    Intelligent residents gave me the following
estimate for Southern Arizona:                ARABLE CULTIVATABLE LAND.
                                                   Acres.
       Valley of the Aravaypa......   5,000
,,,,  San Pedro.                      50,000
,,,,  Santa Cruz.....   20,000
                  Gila..                      300,000
                  Salt River......50,000
,,  Colorado......  15,000
                                     Total.. 440,000
                     UNDER CULTIVATION.
                                                    Acres.
       Tres Alamos and vicinity.    500
       Calabasas,,,,.....    200
       Tubac,,,,.....    500
       Tomacacori,,,,.....     50
       San Xavier del Bac..                        100
       Tucson....                        2,000
       Above Pimas Reservation, on Gila.           1,000
       Pima Reservation...                    1,000
                                     Total..   5,350
              MAIZE AND WHEAT RAISED IN 1867.
                                                    lbs.
       Tres Alamos...               500,000
       Calabasas.....               200,000
       Tubac.....                   500,000
       Tomacacori...                    50,000
       San Xavier...                    50,000
       Tucson.....              1,500,000
       Gila River, above Reservation.          1,000,000
       Indian Reservation wheat..      750,000
                        maize.       250,000
                                                1,000,000
                                      Total. 4,800,000
   That part of Southern Arizona lying east of a line
drawn from Baboquivari Peak to the Gila above Sacaton
possesses, in common with New Mexico, great pastoral advanEXCESSIVE DRYNESS.
tages. It is covered at all times of the year with a magnificent. growth of grama grass-one of the most nutritious
grasses known to stock-raisers; and at no season of the year
do cattle need other shelter than that afforded by natural
variations in the surface of the ground.
  Timber is scarce. In the Santa Catarina and Santa Rita
Mountains pine is abundant, but elsewhere, and then only
upon the immediate banks of the streams, cotton-wood and
mezquit alone are found to supply either timber or fuel. The
latter is a remarkably hard and durable leguminous wood, and
grows in the Lower Gila valley and in the Colorado to a size
large enough for cross-ties, and not unfrequently attains a
diameter of from 18 to 30 inches. It makes the most highlyprized pianoforte legs.
  On the plains in the immediate vicinity of the valleys and
west of the line referred to, bunch or gieta grass is abundant,
and furnishes, in addition to the valley grasses, excellent
grazing. The Pima and Maricopa Indians, as also the white
and Mexican settlers on the Upper Gila, have large herds of
cattle. Farther west, grass becomes very scarce, and gives
place to grease-wood, wild sage, artemisia, and the numerous
family of cacti, of which the Cereus gigadneus is the most
worthy of notice. A story is current that an American in
Central Arizona has been known to climb these terrible fruit
trees, but there are few who are credulous enough to put any
faith in it; hence the Far-Western phrase, "Up a cactus tree!"
   The  excessive dryness of the atmosphere during the
greater portion of the year has made these otherwise fertile
plains a barren waste.   During the months of July and
August a few showers cool the heated traveller, and give
a temporary freshness to the vegetation; and during the month
of December one or two heavy rains may be expected, which
  VOL. II.                    G
81
CONTENTS.
IIERMOSILLO
CIIAPTIER VIII.
CHAITER IX.
Tax G'LF OF CALIFORixIA
                        CILHAPTER X.
NATURAL RESOURCES OF SOOIA..
                        CHAPLITER XI.
IIow THE SURVEYORS FARED ON THE 35Ti PARALLEL
                       CILlPTER XII.
CENTRAL ARIZONA...
                       CIIAPTER XIII.
PASSAGE OF THE OREAT CAKON OF TIIE COLORADO BY JAMES WIIITE,
   THE PROSPECTOR
                       CIAPTER XIV.
RETURN JOURNEY vid SALT LAKE.
                         PART IV.
                    THE IPACIFIC RAIL 11'A YS.
                         CIHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF TIHE PROJECT..
CIAPTER II.
TTIE OMAHA LINEX.
                        CIAPTER III.
TImE KAN-AS PACIFIC R.AMLWAY
PAGE
122
133
143
164
185
199
218
237
S218
258
vi
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
raise the streams, and sometimes flood portions of the valleys.
At such times the Gila River, at the Pima villages, is from
50 to 75 yards wide and about 10 feet deep, while near its
mouth it attains a width of 150 yards, with a depth of about
12 feet.
   The summers are intensely hot, and the winters extremely
mild. At Fort Yuma snow is unknown, and the meteorological record at the hospital shows the maximum and minimum temperature to be 116 and 340 Fahr. At Arizona City,
on the east bank of the Colorado, and just opposite the fort,
the mercury has been known to reach 126Q in the shade.
  Southern Arizona is wonderfully rich in silver ores, and,
in common with Central Arizona, has immense deposits of the
sulphites, carbonates, and oxides of copper. Gold is also
found in quartz lodes and placers.
  The Colorado River is now navigated to Calville, 612 miles
above its mouth, and about 400 miles south-west of Salt
Lake City. The stream    is very uncertain in its character,
having numerous sand-bars, with a shifting channel, which
in places separates into smaller ones, none of which are
readily navigable; but the light-draught steamers used in
navigating this river, on reaching a place of this character,
proceed to the most favourable channel, and force the sandy
bed of the pseudo-channel with poles. These steamers never
run at night.
   The Colorado   Steam  Navigation Company have three
steamers and three barges on the river-the Colorado, 70 tons;
the Cocopa, 100 tons; and the Moojave, 70 tons; the barges,
each, 100 tons; total, 540 tons. These vessels draw 1 foot
light, and 2 feet when loaded.    The trips are irregular,
depending on the arrival of sailing vessels at the mouth of
the river, where all freight is transferred to the barges.
82
NAVIGATION OF THE COLORADO.
  Freight is carried at the following rates in coin:
                                           Per measured Ton.
                                              Dollars.
          San Francisco to Fort Yuma...  47"50
,,  La Paz                  57-50
,,,,    Fort Mojave..  77"50
Lumber, from   San Francisco to Fort Yuma, 60 dollars per
1,000 feet. Ore, as return freight, is carried from the
Eureka Mines to San Francisco at 15 dollars per ton.
  The valley of the Colorado is capable of sustaining a vast
population.  The large areas of arable land along the river
are separated by cafions, and are known generally as Colorado
Valley, Chemehuevis Valley, and Mojave Valley.           Between
these great valleys are many smaller ones, besides the vast
tracts of land situated on either side of the river, below the
mouth of the Gila. The bottoms are about four miles wide,
subject nearly everywhere to overflow, and capable of raising
the cereals, vegetables, cotton, and, I believe, below the Gila,
sugar-cane.   Vast quantities of cotton-wood, willow, and
mezquit are found along the river banks and in the valleys.
Cotton-wood and willow are used by the steamers for fuel,
mezquit being rejected because of the rapidity with which it
burns out the grates in the fire-boxes.
   The following figures were taken from the meteorological
record at Fort Yuma:
                                             Inches.
            Average fall of rain for 1857.. 0'33
,,,,,, 1858... 857
,,,,,,   1866... 420
,,,,,,   1867... 2-94
At Arizona City is an excellent bridging point, the river
being confined between rocky bluffs.       Between these bluffs
the river is but 472 feet wide, and from 12 to 37 feet
deep, with a very rapid current.
                            G2
83
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
   Crossing the Rio Colorado here to Fort Yuma we find
ourselves in the State of California, and but a short distance
from  the Mexican boundary.    Perhaps a more uninviting
point could not be selected at which to enter the far-famed
State, whose name is synonymous with bullion. From the
Rio Colorado to the Cordillera, or Great Range, stretches a
weary desert, 100 miles in width. Traversing this desert, and
crossing the Mexican boundary, is New River, whose waters
(when it has any) run northward into vast shallow lakes. It
is well known that a large part of the desert is below the
level of high water in the Colorado, and as New River receives its water from the floods of the former, much of this
land can be irrigated. Here the mirage is seen in great perfection, often deceiving the weary and thirsty traveller.
  The eastern drainage of the Cordilleras is marked by
rapidly-descending cafions, the waters from which find their
way down the long slopes at the foot of the mountains to the
desert, where they soon disappear in their dry sandy beds.
  The foot-slopes of these mountains ascend from the desert
by grades of from 50 to 150 feet per mile. Through these
mountains are three passes, accessible for the Gila route,
viz., Jacomba, Warner's, and San Gorgonia. The Jacomba,
recommended by    General W. S. Rosecranz, is the most
southern, and almost on a direct line from Fort Yuma to San
Diego. It would save about sixty miles over the route by
Warner's Pass, but it is deemed impracticable for a railroad.
Warner's Pass is practicable, but requires the maximum
grade (116 feet) for several miles, with very heavy and
expensive rock-work. San Gorgonia Pass is the best of the
three, but too far to the northward to be used were San
Diego to be the terminus. Considered with reference to the
route by the 35th parallel, it would be its most direct outlet
84
SAN DIEGO BAY.
to the nearest seaport-San Pedro.     But if a trans-continental railway be built by the Gila route, it is highly probable that Warner's Pass would be selected.
  Leaving the summit of Warner's Pass at the Felipe Ranche,
we descend towards the Pacific coast through lovely valleys,
in which large herds of cattle and horses graze throughout
the year. Here, on vast estates held under Spanish titles,
live the native Californians-wealthy in lands and cattle,
unprogressive, and, until lately, much    opposed   to the
American occupancy.
   San Diego Bay has acquired great prominence in view of
the construction of a southern railroad to the Pacific Ocean;
but its few intelligent Americans are too sanguine of its early
rise to grandeur and wealth.    San Francisco, as the great
commercial metropolis of the Pacific States, must be for a long
time the great terminus of Pacific railways.
   The Bay of San Diego is a perfect place of safety for
vessels, and possesses an advantage over San Francisco Bay in
that it is easy of access from the sea. Its entrance is protected
from  the strong westerly winds by a bold promontory, on
which stands the lighthouse.  It is not obstructed by a bar;
it is but three-eighths of a mile wide, and never has less than
five fathoms of water at low tide. In 1865, the steamer
Vanderbilt, drawing 221 feet, and loaded with coals, steamed
into the bay, and discharged at the plaza.    The bay has
plenty of water, and good anchorage for vessels of the heaviest
draught, and, if needed, could shelter the whole navy of the
United States. The mean tides are 62 feet, and the highest
ever known, 12 feet. (See plan of harbour facing p. 134.)
   San Diego, or " Old Town," as it is familiarly called, has a
population of about five hundred souls, mostly natives, and
lies at the northern end of the bay, just below the mouth
85
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
of the San Diego River, and, in consequence of the delta
formed by the sands carried from the mountains by this
stream, has no landing.
   New Town, about two miles to the southward, with but
three or four houses, has an excellent landing for coasting
vessels; and to build wharves reaching into deep water would
not be costly. The location of the town is excellent, the
ground admirably adapted for building, and with ample room
in the rear for a large city. There is great need, however,
of good water, most of the water obtained in wells being
slightly brackish; but a growing town could be easily supplied from a point on the San Diego River, about eighteen
miles distant, where the water is perfectly pure and very
abundant.
  The business of the place is small. About 7,000 barrels of
oil are annually produced from the Californian grey whale,
which is caught along the coast, and towed to the shore to be
" tried out." Some 2,000 head of cattle, a few horses, and a
few hides find their way through the town from Lower
California.
   It has been asserted that the country at the back of San
Diego is not capable of cultivation; but I cannot endorse
this. I believe that, with the exception of part of the grain
required for the sustenance of hundreds of thousands of population, the back country can produce everything needed,
including a great excess of cattle and horses; for olives,
oranges, limes, lemons, English walnuts, grapes, pomegranates,
barley, wheat, and all the vegetables thrive well.
   At the Old San Diego Mission, about six miles above the
town, and on the river of the same name, are many thriving
though aged olive and orange trees. I saw also at the Old
Town two old date palms which were planted by the early
86
CLIMATE OF SAN DIEGO.
Jesuit missionaries. These trees give quite a tropical aspect
to the scenery.
  Besides its fine bay, the boast of San Diego is its climate,
which for mildness and salubrity excels that of the most
famous spots within our natural limits. By the meteorological
record kept here when the place was a military station, the
minimum temperature was 400, and the maximum 82Q Fahr.
Frost and snow are of course unknown; and at all seasons of
the year the mild, delightful sea-breeze sets in about ten
o'clock in the morning. The death of a resident is looked
upon as a remarkable event; and when I was introduced to
the resident physician, his dilapidated appearance told plainly
of a very small visiting list. " Why, sir," said he, leaning
forward with his hands on his knees, and throwing an amount
of earnestness into his dilated eyes which I cannot describe,
" why, sir, a physician would starve to death if he depended
on his practice for a living! "
   I would here state that the San Diego River is every winter
bringing down from  the mountains a large quantity of sand,
and depositing it in the bay just opposite its entrance, thereby
gradually silting up that part of the harbour. This can be
easily and cheaply remedied. Just north of the harbour is
another basin--a false bay separated from it by a narrow flat;
and it is proposed to direct the waters of the river into this
hitherto useless basin.
   Southern California, so far as it is yet known, and in the
opinion of eminent geologists, is not rich in useful or precious
minerals.  Gold has been found in a few      places, as also
copper, but neither as yet pays for the labour bestowed upon
it. Tin has been found near Temecula, but is believed to
exist only in pockets.
  Indications of coal were observed thirteen years ago on the
87
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
shore near San Diego by the Mormons, who sunk a shaft to
a depth of 86- feet. Veins of good coal were found, varying
in thickness from 6 inches to 41 feet, but during the next
year Utah was invaded by the United States' troops, and
Brigham   Young ordered all the faithful to Salt Lake to
defend the " Holy City."   Thus the work was abandoned,
and the shaft is now full of water. There seems to be no
doubt that the coal can be used for commercial purposes.
  From San Diego to Temecula, a distance of fifty-four and
a half miles on the route to San Bernardino (at the western
end of San Gorgonia Pass), the road bisects numerous streams
and dividing ridges nearly at right angles, and presents an
exceedingly rough profile; but from Temecula to San Bernardino-fifty-five miles-it traverses almost an unbroken
plain. The streams crossed are, the San Diego, the Soledad,
San Diegito, San Illejo, San Louis Rey, Temecula, San Jacinto,
and Santa Anna. These streams are all full and strong, and
most of them difficult to cross, by reason of quicksands; we
were obliged to stop and lead our horses across them, for
though the bottoms easily sustained the weight of man, they
threatened to swamp the poor horses. Most of these valleys
contain a great deal of arable and extremely fertile land,
while on hills and in valleys the luxuriant grasses of California sustain immense herds of cattle and horses.   Occasionally we would pass the " casas" of some wealthy ranchero, surrounded by orange groves and vineyards, and at
several of them we were right hospitably entertained, and
refreshed with the vino del pais.
  From   San Bernardino, which is a large and rapidlyincreasing wine and fruit town, sixty miles brought us to Los
Angelos, famed for its salubrious climate, its beautiful women,
and its three thousand acres of vineyards, and twenty miles
88
PASS THROUGH CALIFORNIA.
more to the post of San Pedro, where Colonel Banning, the
commander, dispenses his hospitality in a charming manner.
  How we were entertained; how we tasted wines of various
vintages; how we passed through San Fernando and Soledad
Passes, to the Great Basin east of the mountains; how we
skirted the eastern foot of the mountains to Tehachepa Pass;
how General Palmer, with the parties from the 35th parallel,
joined us there; how we exchanged our tales of adventure;
how we traversed Tulare valley, where the wild flowers were
in bloom and fragrant in December; how we clambered over
the Coast Range at Pacheco Pass; how we passed through the
beautiful valley of Santa Clara to San Jose; how we again
rode behind a full-grown locomotive into San Francisco; how
we all met safe and sound at last in the capacious hall of the
Occidental Hotel; how heartily we commemorated that happy
event; and how General Palmer, you, my dear Bell, and myself
fared on our return trip by Salt Lake City, I must leave for
others to relate.
89
CHAPTER VII.
                            SONORA.
Leave Camp Grant for the South.--Convalescent Camp.-Cafiada del Oro.    Mezquit Forests.-Tucson.-Hunt for a Guide.-Van Alstine.-My Mule
    causes suspicion.--Routes into Sonora.-The Country.-The Papago Mis    sion of St. Xavier del Bac.-Rio Santa Cruz.--Sopori Ranche.-A Girl
    carried off by the Apaches.--Mina Colorado.-Aravaca Valley and Envi    guetta.-Obtain a fresh Mule.-Baboquivari Peak and the Zazabe Valley.
    -Papago Rancheria.-Hard travelling.--Lose our way.-Ranche on the
    Altar River.-The Midnight Massacre.-Robbers ahead.-Night travelling
    for safety.--Coffee.-Querobabi Ranche.-Tabique and its Inmates.    Change in Temperature and Vegetation.--Torreon amongst the Palms.    Opita Indian Girls.-Making Tortillas.-The Hacienda de la Labor.    Papagos in Petticoats.-- A dangerous Wood.-Our Entrance into the
    Capital.
SITUATED a few    miles to the west of the Sierra de Santa
Catarina, in the valley of the Rio Santa Cruz, lies the Mexican
               town   of Tucson.    This place of about one
     Nov. 29.
               thousand inhabitants contests with     Prescott,
in Northern Arizona, the honour of being the chief town of
the Territory. Sometimes Prescott is declared to be the
capital, and the few officials who carry on the law business
of the Territory, whatever that may be, assemble there; the
next year, or the year after, it is changed to Tucson, and the
courts are held there.
   The districts around Tucson have the reputation of being
very rich in minerals, and it was for the purpose of investigating this question that Colton left the party at Camp Grant.
I accompanied him, partly because I wanted to visit the old
Papago mission of St. Xavier del Bac, and partly because
REACH TUCSON.
I was anxious to gain information as to the best way to reach
the Port of Guaymas in the Californian Gulf.
  We were two days riding the fifty-four miles from  Camp
Grant, as it is called, to Tucson. The trail we followed,
which is far shorter than that along the San Pedro, led us
out of the valley of that river by a pass almost due west of
the post. We then turned southward, keeping the grand
granitic range, the Sierra de Santa Catarina, parallel to and
near us on the west, whilst a broken, inhospitable waste
stretched out before us to the north, west, and south, as far
as the eye could reach. This was the commencement of the
Sonora Desert.
  About twenty-four miles from Camp Grant, we stopped at
a convalescent camp, to which the soldiers who have been
reduced by fever and ague in the San Pedro valley are sent
to recruit. We found nearly half the garrison here under
canvas, their tents perched on a rising ground, at the foot of
which was the only spring upon this " jornada " of fifty-four
miles. Camp Grant seems to be very unhealthy. It is curious
that in an uninhabited country, a good supply of water anywhere is almost sure to be accompanied by those pests to all
early colonists-fever and ague. The men quickly recover
in this dry upland country to the west of the mountains.
  On leaving the convalescent camp next morning, we kept
for about nine miles along the summit of a ridge which
bounds a deep gorge, the Canfada del Oro, lying between the
road and the Catarina Mountains. In this gorge gold has
been found in considerable quantities, and all the western
drainage of the range collecting in it forms quite a torrent
after rain. When we came within seven miles of Tucson, we
rapidly descended into the valley of the Rio Santa Cruz,
crossed the dry arroyo coming from the Caiiada del Oro, and
91
CONTENTS.
                          CHAPTER IV.
                                                             PAGE
TIE NOrHLIIER PACIFIC RAILWAY..... 263
                          CHIAPTER V.
F UTURE PROSPECTs... 268
                          C  T.IIY ER VI.
EMIGRATION. 275
                         APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
    Botanical Report, by C. C. Parry, M.D.. 285
    List of Plants collected on the Survey. 292
AIPENDIX B.
    Routes Examined and Surveyed.. 303
ArPE.DIX C.
    l'hotography........... 320
vii
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
entered a vast thicket of mezquit trees, through which our
path led for the rest of the way. These mezquits cover
many square miles in the Santa Cruz valley; they are mostly
of small size, averaging 20 feet, but where the river
comes to the surface-it is here mostly subterranean-they
grow into fine trees. They afford excellent cover for the
Apaches, who are constantly "lifting " the cattle belonging
to the inhabitants of Tucson, and preventing agriculture from
being carried on anywhere except in the immediate vicinity
of the town. These trees would be most valuable if the
country were only quit of the red-skins, for they yearly
produce hundreds of tons of the most nutritious beans.
   I visited a farm in the San Pedro valley before leaving
Camp Grant; it was only four miles from the fort, and yet
all the crops that autumn had been cut down and carried off
before they were ripe by the Aravaypa Apaches, and all that
remained of the stock was a few pigs. lHalf-a-dozen soldiers
were kept at this ranche all the year round to try and protect
it, so that the fort might be supplied with fresh farm produce;
yet during three years this farm has changed hands thrice;
the first man was killed, the second was scared away by the
frequency of the attacks made upon him, the third is now
thoroughly disgusted, and talks of settling amongst the Pimas
on the Gila, a friend of his having converted seventy dollars
into two thousand by raising hogs in the mezquit bottomlands along that stream.
  At Tucson I made all possible inquiries about the best way
to reach Guaymas. My first idea was to go by boat from
Fort Yuma, on the Rio Colorado, and down that river into the
Gulf; but I learned that no regular line, either of steamers
or sailing vessels, plied between these places, and that if
water communication failed me, it would be impossible to go
92
HUNT FOR A GUIDE.
by land, as I should have to traverse the whole length of the
Sonora Desert. From Tucson the way by land was open, and I
should be able not only to see the Port of Guaymas, and judge
of its merits as a terminal dep6t for a railway on the
Californian Gulf, but should have an opportunity of traversing
Sonora, and of discovering what that out-of-the-way country
was good for, and what route would be most likely to prove
the best for a branch railway from the trans-continental main
line.
  There was a celebrated guide at Tucson, whose services
I hoped to have obtained; when, however, he heard my
proposal, he plainly told me that the risk was too great,
and that he had had so much good luck in his lifetime, that
he was getting too old to tempt Providence any more. So
I hunted about for somebody else, and had the good fortune
to meet with a man named Van Alstine who had taken
refuge in Sonora, knew   the country well, and was quite
willing, provided of course he got well paid, to conduct me
as far as Hermosillo. I hope I do not malign the character of
so good a companion and so excellent a guide when I confess
that at my first introduction to Van Alstine he was hopelessly drunk, and that he knew very little about the agreement
he had made until I routed him up next morning, and told
him I was ready to start. He was a tall, wiry old Western
man, of at least sixty, but hale and hearty; though his hair
was grey and scanty, his brain was active and his senses keen;
he was a great talker, and made, as we shall presently see,
very good use of his tongue. During the civil war he had
been arrested as a Southern sympathiser, and confined for
nine months at Fort Yuma. This is one of the many
" hottest places on the earth; " so hot was it the summer he
was there, that my guide told me of two soldiers who, noted
93
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
for their evil deeds, had died when the thermometer stood
at 1200 in the shade. The next day they sent back in all
haste for their blankets.
   Our " outfit" consisted of the following:-Van Alstine,
riding a miserable grey horse which had seen better days
              and was now on his last legs, carried a pair
     Dec. 2.
               of saddle-bags, a blanket, carbine, one six shooter, a large tin mug, and a canteen. I carried my
 buffalo robe instead of a blanket, and had, I regret to say,
 one six-shooter extra; in other respects I was similarly
 equipped. My saddle-bags contained dry biscuits, a lump of
 raw bacon, coffee, and salt; also ammunition, tooth-brush,
 a flannel shirt, handkerchiefs, soap, and socks.
   We had    so far to travel, and so little time at our
 disposal, that I had exchanged my mare, Kitty, for a
 mule, before leaving  Camp Grant.     This mule belonged
 to Reed, the guide, and was one of the best specimens
 of these useful animals I have ever met with. He was as
 strong as a lion, and as plump as a partridge. Hie was
 very docile, well used to all kinds of hardships, and could
 keep up a fast walk, or " rack "-as the Americans call it of five miles an hour from sunrise to sunset. On entering
 Tucson I became an object of suspicion directly because I
 rode this mule.   Reed lives in the Mesilla valley, at the
 other side of New Mexico, but an old pal of his recognised
 the animal at once, and, eyeing me suspiciously, asked, "Is
.that ar your mule?"  Smothering a slight feeling of resentment, I said it was; at which he replied, I' Then- I'm d-  d
if some chap han't been and stole it from my old chum, Joe
Reed, though I haven't seen him these three years." ile was
disgusted when he heard that Joe Reed had really parted with
his old beast of burden, and, giving me a slight wink by way
94
ROUTES THROUGH SONORA.
of apology, concluded by saying that, if I left the mule with
him, " I was quite welcome to the difference."
  The present boundary-line between the United States and
Mexico has been well chosen, for it pretty nearly coincides
with the southern rim of the Gila Basin. Highlands, covered
with mountain ranges, are encountered all along the boundary
from  the Guadaloupe Mountains, which connect the Sierra
Madre of Mexico with the Chiricahui Range of Arizona, to
the Sonora Desert, and separate the head-waters of the streams
flowing northward into the Gila from those running southward to the Gulf.
  There are several routes by which Sonora may be entered
from the north. There is a depression in the mountains
to the west of Janos, through which a road, or mule trail,
runs from the Casas Grandes valleys across the main divide
into the basin of the Yaqui River. North-west of this
route there is a trail, known as Cooke's Emigrant Road,
which passes through the Guadaloupe Canfon, and leads to
Fronteras and Santa Cruz. The same towns can be reached
by following up the Rio San Pedro to its source, and the
southern country can be penetrated by passing through the
Cocospera Canon, and joining the straight road from Tucson at
Imures, on the San Ignacio River. From Tucson there are
three routes by which iHermosillo, the capital of Sonora,
may be reached.     1st. There is the straight road    up
the Rio Santa Cruz, across the boundary-line at Nogales,
down the San Ignacio River to Magdalena, and thence due
south to Hermosillo and Guaymas, a distance of 343 miles.
2nd. A road branches off to the westward at Canoa, thirtyfour miles south of Tucson, and goes through Aravaca,
across the mountains to the head of the Altar River, which it
follows for some distance, then bears eastward again, and
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
meets the Magdalena Road at Santa Anna, a town a few miles
south of that place. The third route goes still more to the
westward. It leaves the second route at Aravaca, goes thence
to Altar, and strikes the Magdalena Road a few miles north of
Querobabi, a ranche eighty-five miles north of lHermosillo.*
  The first of these routes is the shortest and best; but it is
the most subject to attack from the wild Indians and robbers,
whereas the other two, lying as they do in the Papago
country, are much safer to travel by. These routes were
very little known, whereas the first one had once been partly
surveyed; this consideration finally decided us upon taking
a course of our own, in order that we might become acquainted
with the other two routes and their advantages for railroad
purposes.
   Sonora itself is a very mountainous country; from the
Gulf coast it rises gradually to a central plateau, which is
capped* by mountains called generally the Sierra Madre.
For at least one hundred miles to the west of the dividing
ridge, range after range covers the whole country.         Their
altitude is not great, but they are very continuous and persistent; they are rugged and narrow, and lie almost invariably parallel to each other, except about the United States'
boundary, where a transverse line of upheaval seems to have
thrown the whole country there into confusion. The direction of the parallel ranges is mostly north-west by southeast, with a tendency in the centre of Sonora to run north and
south. Along the narrow valleys between these ranges flow
the little streams which rise either on the southern slopes of
the northern watershed, or on the western sides of the Sierra
Madre; and hard work have they to break through this
succession of ranges.   At last, however, when the zigzag
     * These routes are given, with tables of distances, in the Appendix.
96
ST. XAVIER DEL BAC.
passages have been traversed from one parallel trough into
another, and the more open strip of country lying between
the mountains and the coast has at length been reached,
the thirsty soil usually swallows up so many of the little
streams that only two of the rivers of Sonora ever succeed in
reaching the sea, namely, the Yaqui and the MIayo; all the
others fail to cross the great Sonora Desert.
  After this short glance at the country and the routes, we
will start from Tucson, and follow the Santa Cruz River for
nine miles to St. Xavier del Bac.       This place is the most
interesting relic of priestly government to be found in the
entire region  which  was once Northern     Mexico.   Here
stands a large church, cruciform in shape, with a dome over
the intersection of nave and transept.     The western front is
lavishly ornamented with plaster saints, filigree work, and
pillars, and is surmounted by two towers, one only of which
is finished. All round, skirting the roof, is a parapet of
small pillars, and above this are other ornaments, which help
to screen the roof. On entering the church, the roof causes
the greatest astonishment. It is formed of seven domeshaped compartments-three for the nave, one for the chancel,
two for each transept, and one over the central space. Each
of these is ribbed or fluted from a central point, and the
entire roof is made of small red bricks.   The whole church is
built of red brick: even the little pillars which adorn the
tops of the walls are all made of bricks, which were moulded
to the shapes required before they were baked. The altar is
a very fair one, and above it is an elaborate combination of
black gilt pillars and saints placed in niches.      The centre
figure is that of a priest, simply dressed in black, with a
three-cornered hat. This, no doubt, is St. Xavier del Bac, a
saint about whose great piety I am, I regret to say, grossly
   VOL. II.                     H
97
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
ignorant. Most of the ornamentation appeared to be only of
stucco, yet the gilding was very rich, and has well resisted
the wear and tear of time.   Whilst I was examining the
interior, several Papagos came in to pray; they performed
their devotions mostly aloud, and one woman, after praying
for some time, began to sing. She made a most horrid noise,
something between an    Indian war-song and a Gregorian
chant, which " moved me too much," so I went away.
  This church would be considered a fine one in Switzerland
or Germany, yet not a single priest lives here now, and only
an occasional service is performed by one of the resident
clergy from Tucson.   Grouped around it are the conical
thatched huts of the Papagos, who seem to have taken
shelter under the shadow of the great giant rising from their
midst.   Not a creature lives here except these Indians.
There is not, besides the church, any building larger than a
hut. I wondered, as I looked at this strange sight, whether
it might not have fairly represented a Saxon village in the
twelfth century-a number of huts clustered around a fine
massive Norman church-and whether our ancestors then
were much more civilised than these Papagos of the present
day. As the Saxons proved, in the race of centuries, stronger
than their conquerors, will these Papagos also in time regain
their ascendency over us? They are not Red Indians; they
do not belong to that debauched and degraded stock which
melts away before the breath of the white man. They are of
the South-Aztecs, or native Mexicans, as you like-but semicivilised people, not savages. Already they have risen superior to the Spanish element, and have proved themselves
better men than the mixed blood-the Mexican.        It is,
therefore, worth while to wait and watch the meeting of
the waters, the mingling of streams never before brought
98
RIO SANTA CRUZ.
together-the Anglo-Saxon     and the semi-civilised native
American.
  How   well these Indians must have worked under the
Spanish missionaries to have built such a church! I have
seen no other building made of furnace-baked bricks in the
country; all this they must have learned. Then there was
the building of the roof of brick arches, the moulding of the
ornaments for the towers and decorations, and a thousand
other arts necessary for the successful completion of such an
undertaking. I really know not which to admire most, the
adaptability of the Papagos or the zeal of the priests.
  Leaving St. Xavier del Bac, we kept to the road along the
valley, occasionally passing an uninhabited ranche, until, after
travelling eighteen miles from the church, we found that an
American had lately taken possession of a ruined house called
" Roade's Ranche;" and here we got a shakedown for the
night.
  One word about the Rio Santa Cruz, the eccentric course of
which can be traced at a glance on the map. For the first 150
miles from its source it is a perennial stream; but four miles
south of Roade's Ranche, at a spot called Canoa, it usually
sinks below the surface; it then flows underground almost
to St. Xavier (twenty miles), and again reappears at a spot
called Punta de Aqua. The Papagos are thus supplied with
water, and are enabled to raise what crops they require
around their huts by means of irrigation. Beyond St. Xavier
it usually again sinks, rising for a third time as a fine body
of water near Tucson, enriching a broad piece of valley for
about ten miles around that town, turning the wheel of a
fair-sized flour mill, and then sinking for ever in the
desert to the north-west. During some seasons it flows further
than others, so that the length of stream above ground is
                           n1 2
99
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
subject to considerable variation; but it never succeeds in
reaching the Rio Gila on the surface, although I believe it flows
over the bed-rock and under the drift which covers it for the
remaining one hundred miles from Tucson to the Maricopa
Wells, where a large spring-the waters of the Rio Santa
Cruz, as is believed-comes to the surface and flows into the
Gila. Wherever water can be obtained, the valley is exceedingly fertile, and might, under cultivation, be made very
productive.  South of Tucson, fine pasturage clothes the
high lands on either side.
   Four miles from Roade's Ranche, on the following morning,
we left the valley and the main road, and, on reaching Canoa,
              bore to the westward along a tributary stream
     Dec. 3.
              until we reached, about mid-day, the next
inhabited ranche, called "' Sopori," distant eleven miles from
our last halting-place,
  This ranche was built on a rock, and still further strengthened
against attack by a wall of stones, which completely surrounded
it. On climbing up the rock, and getting over the other
defences, we found in the house five girls and one little boy.
The girls were all grown up, ranging in age from seventeen
to about twenty-five.   They met us as if we were rare
curiosities, and invited us to partake of their meal. Poor
people! it was bad enough, for it consisted of sun-dried
Mexican mutton fried in grease, and very badly-made tortillas.*
They told us that they were a family of Southerners; " and
as we uns could not live with you Yanks, father thought it
best to clear out in time."   The father and eldest brother
were out in the Santa Cruz Mountains, cutting pine for the
miners there; but as they had seen nothing of them for three
"* Flat cakes made of dough without yeast.
100
SOPORI RANCHE.
weeks, they began to " hope that the Indians had not got
them."
  The girls chatted away with that perfect ease which
strikes a stranger so much, even in the humblest of the
people, provided they are Americans bred and born.         This
emigrant family got on very well at first, their flocks and
herds multiplied, and the well-watered strip of land around
their house produced abundantly. But the Apaches found
them out, and drove off the stock again and again; they
killed two of their brothers, and frightened their mother to
death when their last little boy was born. " But," said the
youngest girl, "they haven't been here now for two years, so
we are expecting them every month." This girl then told
me of her experience in Indian warfare.
  About the time of the last visit from the Apaches, she and
a little Mexican girl were on their way to meet their fathers
at the mines up in the mountains, accompanied by some
peons, when they suddenly fell into an ambuscade.           The
Mexican peons fled for their lives, leaving the two girls in
the hands of the Apaches, who placed them on ponies and
carried them off across the mountains. At first they were
kindly treated; but in the meantime the peons had given the
alarm, and the father, with all the miners working with him,
started off in pursuit. When the Apaches found themselves
hard pressed, they stripped the girl (who was then fifteen
years old) of everything, even her        shoes, knocked    her
senseless with a blow on the head from a tomahawk, speared
her in several places, and, after shooting some arrows into
her, left her for dead. She rolled off the footpath down the
bank, and was thus hidden from      sight when her father and
his party passed by, but a few feet from her. As far as she
could make out, it was forty-eight hours before she recovered
101
                 ILLUSTRATIONS.
                      LITIP 1G RAIP'IIS.
TILE VAHSATCIH MOUNTAINS FIo I SALT LAKE CIT Y-Frontispiece.  VAGE
THE RIO GRANDE DEL NORTE, NEW 1EXIo..   To face 14
LA Tf-NAJA (VWATER BASINS IN THIE ROCK).,                18
TILE CITY OF ROCKS, RIO MIEMItRES..              26
APACHIE PASS, FROM FORT BOWIE..    46
TIE CANADA OF THIE AILAVAY....   62
TIIE ARAVAYPA CAO...    72
BABUQUIVARI I'EAK IN TILE PAPAGO CoUNTRY..  105
TILE SURVEYORS AT WiORK...    1)4
E',L [Mo,o (INsCuIP'rTIN 1ROCK)..,  168
TEIIAC'IAI'A PASS IN THEi, SIERRA NEVAD..               192
TIIE GREAT CA:NON OF TIlE CIOIOAIO..                  208
A HERD OF BUFFAI.O IN WVESTERN KANSAS..         233
               WO()ODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS.
TILE TEAMS AT EVENTIIE, (C'ALI,ORNIA....        tpaye.
FORT CIMMINIGS AND CoOKE'S PEAK.  20
O)Jo CALIENTE..                                         27
STEAN'S INSS BY NIOON,IG.IIT -                   Toa ce  42
OUR FIRST CAMNI'IoN ONIJ.. GON 66
Ti ('ERECUS (a;NTEI.....  71
LZATI..N... 141
YDIRAmI.Ic MININ4... 196
A AfoltrON F.\MIY                                         5,22
DIAGRAMS..  Tofac  134
   Harbour of San Frincisco.
            iSan l)ifg,,.
          S Guarnma'.
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
consciousness. Then she found herself covered with blood
and pierced with arrows, three through her arms and one
through her leg. She broke off the heads and drew them
out, and then tried to crawl up the bank and regain the
footpath. She had no water, no food, no one to help her;
and yet thirty miles separated her from the mine, which was
the nearest point where she could quench her burning thirst.
  It is almost impossible to conceive any position so terrible.
The idea of a young girl, perfectly naked, wounded in this
manner, and dying of thirst and exhaustion, finding her way
back over thirty miles of stony path, across mountains, to a
place of safety, is almost too incredible for a sensation novel;
and yet this girl did manage to creep, by slow stages, over
the entire distance, and, in six days of inexpressible suffering,
appeared in a state of high delirium before her father. She
told me this in the presence of her sisters; and they were
honest, homely people, who would not, I am confident, say
what was untrue. I saw the scars of three arrow-wounds on
her arms, and can well believe her when she says that on
her body there are several other scars to bear witness while
she lives of that terrible journey. Some time afterwards, the
Mexican child was retaken and given back to her parents.
  Van Alstine and I bade our fair hostesses adieu, thanked
them for their hospitality and their chat, and wished that they
might never see any more of their enemies, the red-skins. As
we rode along, we talked for many a mile about these five
daughters, all alone in the Sopori Ranche. They had plenty of
fire-arms, and knew well how to use them behind their stone
barricades. But what a life of anxiety and watching is theirs!
and what joy it must be to them when their father and brother
come home safe from the mountains!
   Eleven miles more brought us to the Colorado or Heintzel102
ARAVACA AND ENVIGUETTA.
man Mine. One or two hundred Mexicans still live here in
huts which were built by the proprietors of the mine for their
peons when they established their works; systematic mining
has, however, for some years been discontinued, although
the yield exceeded 200,000 dollars in silver. The inhabitants
now live by the pickings, and by extracting silver from
the ore in the roughest possible manner. We inspected the
square formed by the adobe houses of the Gambosenos,* and
my guide tried to get a few eggs, and some corn for our
animals; but failing in both, and not liking the looks of the
people, we continued on our way for four miles further. It
was then dark, and finding good grazing ground, we picketed
out our horse and mule, and went to sleep. We remained so
long at Sopori Ranche that this day's travel was only twentysix miles.
  A four miles' ride before breakfast brought us across a little
dividing ridge into another valley watered by a stream called
              the Aravaca. Here are the deserted furnaces
     Dec. 4.
              of the Colorado Mine; and a row of telegraph
poles along the hills uniting the places shows very clearly
that extravagance must have had something to do with the
downfall of this mining enterprise. The Aravaca valley runs
east and west, and a very rugged range of mountains bars the
direct course southward on the opposite side. So we turned
to the eastward, intending to cross these mountains by the trail
which strikes the head of the Altar River. On this trail, nine
miles from Aravaca, is to be found Enviguetta--another relic
of mining enterprise-where a fine steam engine and a mill
of, I believe, twenty stamps, with well-built houses for superintendent, employds, &c., now stand idle. One man takes care
of this place; and he did us a very good turn.
  * Poor Mexican miners, who mine each on his own account, and club
together for mutual protection.
103
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  Van Alstine's old charger had by this time broken down
completely. He could, in fact, go no further; but we spied a
very fat and docile-looking mule disporting himself near the
mill. Now, amongst the gentlemen of Tucson who were most
ready to assist me on my trip, and who gave me introductions which I found most useful, none was more kind than
Dr. Lord. Not only had Dr. Lord all the practice of the
place, but he seemed to have monopolised most of the business also; and so active a mind found no difficulty in combining the professions of general merchant and physician with
great ease and profit. He was also superintendent of this
defunct mining company, and owned the mule of which we
stood so much in need. I therefore persuaded his servant
to lend us the mule for the trip, to be returned by Van
Alstine some time within the space of three months. It has
not been, and probably never will be, my good fortune to
thank the doctor personally for the use of his valuable
quadruped-we should probably never have reached Guaymas
without it-so I hope that, as books nowadays travel even
further than those who write them, this expression of the
deep obligation I am under to him will some day reach him,
even at Tucson.
  The account given us of the country ahead by the man in
charge of the mill led us to change our course. The trail
leading to the head of the Altar River crossed a divide quite
impassable for any railroad, but we heard from him that
through the wide valley which lay to the east of the Baboquivari Peak, an almost level pass led into Sonora, and that a
trail to Altar went that way. This route was generally, I
may say, impracticable for travellers, from scarcity of water;
but, as luck would have it, we had heavy showers three days
in succession, so we concluded to take this latter route, at all
104
q
Vincent Brooks Day 80 Son,ith.
BABUQUIVART PE AK IN THE PAPAGO COUTNTRY,
:::
e-iiai::'~::~"r";:;~
BABOQUIVARI PEAK.
events far enough to examine the pass at the southern end of
the valley before mentioned, which I shall in future call by a
local Indian name-the Zazabe valley.
  A ride of twelve miles next morning (almost due west
from Enviguetta) brought us in sight of the Baboquivari
Peak. From some foot-hills on the east we looked westward
across a valley (Zazabe valley), about twenty-five miles
broad, and thrice that distance in length. Straight in front
of us, on the opposite side, rose a range of bare rocky mountains of exquisite outline, and surmounted by that grand
peak which formed so good a landmark for triangulation
during the Mexican boundary survey-the Baboquivari Peak.
The peak itself looks like one huge needle rock, thrust up
vertically for a thousand feet above the highest mountain
summit of the range. The valley seemed to be a wide, grasscovered trough between two parallel mountain ranges, and
in its centre there was a depression, the only indication of
drainage visible on the surface. Bearing to the southward,
we followed down the valley on the eastern slope until
evening, having a range of mountains always near us on our
left, when we made a dry camp and halted for the night.
This day's journey was about thirty miles.
  A five miles' ride before breakfast next morning brought
us to the end of the valley and to the commencement of the
              pass. Here the former had lessened in width
     Dec. 5.
              from twenty-five miles to a passage of scarcely
half a mile, which rose very gradually between the foot-hills
of the ranges on each side, and led across the divide out of
the Gila Basin. A   short distance up a side arroyo in that
narrow part we found the Zazabe spring, where we watered
our mules and breakfasted. After a ride of eleven miles
further we struck a Papago trail leading from Fresnal and
105
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Tecoloti, Indian villages west of the Baboquivari Peak, to the
valley of the Altar River, and although the country looked
anything but inviting, the direction suited us, and we determined to follow it.
  About thirty miles of terribly rough, inhospitable country
lay between the open plains we were just leaving and the
Altar River; and so difficult was it to find the way through
the endless hills and dales, crags and dry water-courses, here
encountered, that two American prospectors a year and a half
ago lost their way and nearly perished in trying to cross it
in the opposite direction. After travelling some seven miles
we came to a spring known as Ojo de Santa Lucia, where we
watered our mules, and on starting afresh, found ourselves
suddenly in the midst of an Indian rancheria. Huts appeared all around us, and in considerable alarm I cocked my
carbine, and certainly expected that we were in for a fight.
I had quite forgotten the Papagos, in whose lands we were
travelling. These were their huts, so there was nothing to
fear. Between twenty and thirty temporary huts represented
a large party of Indians, who were making one of their
periodical journeys into Sonora from their own villages in
Arizona, to trade with the Mexicans; and we perceived, from
the pony and cattle tracks, that they had much stock with
them.
  Twenty miles further, we entered a district at the foot
of a lofty conical hill, called Sombraritto, from its resemblance to a hat, where a great number of gold quartz veins
crop out on all sides, and where native miners are wont
to wash for gold at certain seasons when the gullies contain
water. Here the little indistinct paths were so numerous
that we lost our way, and got entangled in the cafions and
arroyos which cut the country into a thousand segments.
106
LOSE THE TRAIL.
Of course I had a compass, and we first tried to steer by it;
our mules responded well to the spurs, and we kept them
jogging along and climbing up and down the most terrible
places. However, the country got worse, and by sunset this
mode of solving the difficulty was proved a failure. Van
Alstine then determined to keep to one arroyo, and follow it,
if possible, down to the Altar River.
   On we went, hour after hour, winding about at the bottom
of the gully, now pushing through thick brushwood, then
climbing over masses of rock, sometimes in the darkness
knocking our heads against overhanging branches; for, as the
moon was obscured by clouds, the mules alone were able to
see. About ten o'clock we almost tumbled up to the animals'
necks, without knowing it, into a wide stream, which proved
to be the Altar River. We found a road on the other side,
and, four miles further, a ranche, where we pulled up. I
passed a capital night coiled up in my buffalo robe at the
bottom of a cart in the yard, but a worse fifty miles I never
passed over than those which formed our fourth day's march.
   One day's rest was absolutely necessary to the mules, so
next morning we did not go further than six miles, where
              was another ranche at which we could obtain
     Dec. 6.
         Dec. 6.  accommodation, and something to eat besides
dried mutton    and  tortillas. Here we passed the next
twenty-four hours, and here occurred a tragedy which is, I
think, worth relating.
   This ranche was a good representative of its class. It was
built of adobe on a rising ground overlooking the narrow
little valley of the Altar River, and was to all intents and
purposes a fortification. Four walls about 12 feet high,
without windows, enclosed it in the form of a square; and at
three of the angles three watch-towers-also built of adobe107
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
with loopholes, formed the defences. A large gateway opened
through the house into the yard, leading to the stables, sheds,
and pigsties, all of which were enclosed in the wall. On
entering the gateway, a door led to the right and left into two
large rooms; one was the storehouse and barn, the other the
general sleeping apartment, common to all the inmates. Of
course, no beds, or other luxuries which ordinarily denote a
bed-room, were visible, but an old-fashioned oaken press and
a well-swept floor sufficiently suggested the fact to any one
accustomed to rustic Mexican life. Cooking and household
duties generally were carried on in the outhouses, which were
built against the high wall all around the yard.
  After walking the mules through the house to their sheds,
and giving them plenty of corn (maize) and corn-stalks, we
watched with pleasure the decapitation of a fowl and other
preparations made by our good hostess for the coming meal.
How good was that fowl, and the poached eggs which followed
it! When bedtime arrived our little party had increased to
a tolerably good roomful, considering that we had all to take
possession of different parts of the floor. There were of the
household the mother, the aunt, the father, three little boys,
and the baby, two farm-servants, and the maid-of-all-work.
We all packed into the room, Mexican fashion; and, laying
down my buffalo robe as close to the doorway as possible,
with my head on my saddle, and my fire-arms by my side, I
was soon oblivious.
  When the lords of creation had made themselves comfortable, in crept the feathered fowl. A fine old cock and his
wives perched on the shelf just over my head, and a lot of
little chickens secreted themselves behind the press before
mentioned. These were soon asleep. At midnight, however,
the enemy came. I was suddenly aroused from my sweetest
108
THE MIDNIGHT MASSACRE.
slumbers by feeling my face most unmercifully scratched;
the air was filled with the flutter of birds and the screaming
of domestic fowl. I seized both pistols and stared hopelessly
into the darkness; up started the maid-of-all-work, and one
or two more, who tumbled over others in their attempts to
escape, and thus completed the general confusion. At last a
match was struck, and lo! nothing could be seen but a brood
of terrified chickens. There was a cause for their alarm, and
this cause we found behind the press.
  When the human beings and the fowls had fallen to
sleep, a pretty-looking little quadruped thought that this
bed-room  would be a very nice place for him    also.  He
looks like a cross between a fox and a ferret, and carries
a fine bushy tail; his body is striped with black and
white, and he rejoices in the name of Skunk. Half-a-dozen
chickens had already fallen a prey to his teeth and claws,
and he was enjoying the flavour of their heads so much
that no amount of probing up with divers long poles would
make him stir from his hiding-place behind the press, so
we sent a bullet through his head. He had his revenge,
but he kept it to the last; for the stench which instantly
followed that shot baffles description. After much good
training I thought I could have slept through anything, or
in the company of any one, but I had never before tried a
skunk. I went away, and, as it was raining, took refuge
with my docile mule. The most wonderful part of this little
incident still remains to   be  told: the Mexicans, after
grumbling a little about being disturbed, went back to their
blankets, and slept it out until morning without more ado.
Thus ended the adventure of the chickens, the skunk, and
the midnight massacre.
  With replenished saddle-bags and rested animals we started
109
C1
I.
0
0
H
c3
z
z
0
Hr
H
0,
H
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
afresh after a good breakfast, directing our course for a couple
              of miles further down the Altar valley, and
     Dec. 7.
              then branching off to the southward on a trail
leading to Santa Anna, across another rough belt of country
lying between the Altar and San Ignacio streams.
  We passed on the way two more collections of Papago
huts, made but a few days back to shelter the same party
from the heavy showers which had lately fallen. Not once
had we met any one on the road since entering Sonora, and
we were congratulating ourselves upon nearing an inhabited
region, and having safely escaped all dangers from Indians,
when a Mexican gentleman and his servant came in view.
Seeing that we were travellers, he stopped and had an animated conversation with Van Alstine, the purport of which
was, that some miles further on the road we intended to take
he had been attacked by robbers, and but for the bold front
shown by himself and his servant, they would most certainly
have been robbed, if not murdered. Both were well armed,
and they kept the brigands at bay by holding their loaded
rifles steadily to their shoulders as they passed rapidly on.
  This gentleman also stated that, a few days previously, an
obnoxious justice of the peace had been robbed and murdered
on the road, that the people were afraid to pass from one
village to another, and that this lawless state of affairs
extended down to the outskirts of Hermosillo. This news
was not pleasant for us.
  After riding twenty miles we came to some stagnant water,
where we gave our mules a drink and filled up our canteens.
A little further we entered a timbered country, covered chiefly
with mezquit, and here we rested until night arrived, when
we saddled up and continued our journey. The moon rose
about ten o'clock, and gave rather too much light for peaceful
110
SANTA ANNA.
travellers in so dangerous a country.   In a few hours we
came within five miles of the San Ignacio River, upon which
stream  there are numerous settlements. Here we halted
and slept out the remainder of the night, having completed
about forty miles since starting in the morning.
  Just as we were making a fresh start a suspicious-looking
ruffian rode up to us, and wanted to know where we were
              going. We told him we were going all over
     Dec. 8.
              the country, and showed him how beautifully
six cartridges were packed away in the butt of our carbines,
after which he took himself off.
  Van Alstine had a friend at Santa Anna, a young Mexican
dandy, who thought no small beer of himself. He had been to
Europe and the States, and had made a good deal of money
as a miller in his native village since his return.  He spoke
English fluently, and gave us some really good coffee for
breakfast, after which we went on our way. At the little
town of Santa Anna we struck the high road from Magdalena,
the largest settlement on the San Ignacio River, and followed it
for the rest of the way to Hermosillo. At Barajitta, a small
mining village twelve miles from Santa Anna, I obtained a
fine specimen of gold quartz. About twenty-six miles further
we came to some tanks close to the point where a trail from
Alameda joins the main road, and as we had made nearly
forty miles since morning, we concluded to halt; so, after
watering our mules, filling our canteens and tin cans, and
going a couple of miles away from the water-tanks for safety,
we again took refuge in the woods, lighted a little fire, and
cooked our evening meal.
   What would the traveller do without coffee? Of all
things it is the most necessary; it matters little what you
have to eat, provided it fills the vacant place within, for all
111
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the -comfort comes from the coffee. It matters not how bad
the water is, for plenty of coffee puts it all right.    Cold,
wet, and weary, our tin mug of black steaming coffee proved
the best of night-cap, and a quart a day (that is, a pint to
each meal) we found to be only just sufficient for one person.
When you must work hard and brave all weathers, even
the pipe must yield at last to coffee.
   Two ranches only fill up the long distance of eighty miles
between the San Ignacio and San Miguel rivers, and as we
wished to avoid notice as much as possible, and to prevent
any of the Mexican idlers who prowl about these places
from laying any plans to waylay and rob us, we purposely
travelled in a very eccentric manner, sometimes by day,
sometimes by night, and never stopped long at any of these
              places.  Thus we reached Querobabi early in
     Dec. 9.
              the morning, made a hasty meal, gave our
mules some corn-the real object of our visit-and started on
again.
   Querobabi is a large ruined stock-farm, where once some
great Spanish stock raiser lived in barbaric state, owned vast
flocks and herds which roamed all over this fine pasture
country, and kept a large number of rancheros, peons, and
retainers at his establishment. Such places are found all
over the country, either quite deserted and in ruins, or partly
inhabited, though stripped of all their former greatness. At
this place I found five men of the Papago tribe standing at
the entrance; they wore clean white cotton mantles thrown
over their   shoulders in  the  Spanish  fashion-leggings,
moccasins, and broad straw sombreros. As I stood by themn
I felt a dwarf, and on measuring them I found that the
average height of the five was 6 feet 3 inches. There are,
probably, few races of greater stature than the Papagos.
Their skin was almost black.
112
QUEROBABI.
   The present occupiers of Querobabi seemed       to have
nothing about them to cause suspicion. They took advantage
of the presence of a doctor to hold a long consultation with
me, and the gift of a small box of pills placed us on excellent
terms. But the next ranche, Tabique, had a bad name. Its
owners had joined the Imperialist party, and lost their all in
defence of Maximilian; and it was rumoured that since their
return from temporary exile, they were in the habit of
liarbouring brigands, even if they did not go so far as to join
them in their marauding excursions. This place was thirtysix miles distant, and could not be avoided, because the only
water to be found on the road for a much greater distance
was that contained in the tank belonging to this ranche; it
was enclosed by a wall and thick hedge, which passed around
it from the ends of the building at the back.
  As there was no help for it, we jogged up to the entrance
gateway on our tired mules just after sunset; looking, I
imagine, as poor a pair of travellers as often passed through
this deserted country; and a curious lot of people we found
inside. All around the central enclosure different families of
peons were gathered together under the tumble-down sheds
or outhouses which had been built against the lofty outer
wall. They were cooking their meals around the different
fires, the lights from which flickered up between the legs and
arms of the naked children, and half disclosed the features of
the women, whose swarthy complexions and piercing black
eyes peeped out from beneath the large shawls and robosos
which covered them.     The old mansion had been burned
down in the late war, and blackened ruins appeared here and
there, adding greatly to the general desolation.
   Lounging at the gate, or occupying the few benches which
the place afforded, were the male portion of the community.
   VOL. II.                    I
113
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Here we had a score or more of the most complete specimens
of the stage brigand. A black matted beard, and a huge
sombrero drawn well over the eyes, effectually hid their
faces; they wore mantles thrown across their shoulders, long
boots reaching far above the knee, with huge silver spurs;
the fringes of their leather breeches hung over their boots;
and knives and revolvers were but half concealed beneath
their mantles. Van Alstine was, as usual, quite master of
the occasion; he had a hearty word for the men, and chatted
so much with the women, that it seemed as if he had never
in his life been in such agreeable company. We watered and
fed our mules, and succeeded in disposing of supper, after
talking enough had been gone through to drive me almost
wild; for, alas! I was unable to join, and could not conceive
how they could find so much to talk about. The men, having
also supped and inspected us thoroughly, smoked a cigaritta
and gradually dispersed. When the place was pretty quiet,
and the gates were being secured for the night, we saddled
up and took our leave. This was a master-stroke of policy,
and very probably saved us from attack; and as it is saf6r to
kill foreigners than to allow them, when plundered, to escape
"-for much more fuss is made about them than the luckless
natives-we had good cause for mutual congratulations.
   Twenty miles further, we rode through the thick forest which
had been reported so dangerous by the traveller we had met
the day before, and then halted, as usual, in the bush, to give
ourselves and mules a little rest, having travelled fifty-seven
miles since starting the morning before. We had camped
just at the outskirts of the mezquit forest, and, as it proved
next morning, on the edge of the dry, streamless plateau. A
range of mountains bounded us, all through the day and
night, on our left, and appeared to be a continuation of the
114
TORREON.
range which lies to the east of Magdalena and the upper
portion of the San Ignacio River.
  Next morning we had scarcely started when we perceived
a gap in this range a little to the southward, and as the sun
               rose we looked down upon a silver thread
    Dec. 10.
               emerging from it; and soon a lovely rich
green valley, studded with palm trees, settlements, and
orange groves, came into view at our feet. We had reached
the valley of the San Miguel River, and a ride of three miles
brought us by a rapid descent to the picturesque little village
of Torreon.
   From  the moment we crossed the divide out of the Gila
Basin, near the boundary-line, we had been descending at the
rate of at least 1,000 feet in every fifty miles; and as at the
same time we were travelling due south, the change in
climate was very considerable. I was heavily clad at starting;
but the days were now too hot to wear a coat with any degree
of pleasure, and we usually took ours off, preferring to ride in
our shirt sleeves. And here, at last, we had reached the region
wh*re the date palm, the banana, plantain, and other hardy
palms are to be found. The first view of palm trees growing
naturally in the open country is a very beautiful one; and
this valley, dotted with groups of these trees, coming         so
unexpectedly in view, seemed like part of another world. The
cactus plants upon the plateau are wonders of their family,
and probably present more varieties and larger species in
Northern Sonora than in any other part of the globe.*      These
  ": It is probably no exaggeration to say that one-tenth of all the known
species of cactus are to be found about the boundary-line of Mexico.  Dr.
George Engelmann, whom I met at St. Louis, describes one hundred species in
his paper on the Cactacee of the Mexican Boundary Survey. Since the date of
this paper, 1856, many more species have been added to the catalogue of this
region by Engelmann, Parry, and others. The seventy-two exquisite plates
                             I2
115
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
were accompanied by large thick-stemmed mezquit trees, each
carrying a fortune in pianoforte legs, and many hard prickly
shrubs, whose tiny leaves and beautiful flowers were just
opening to enjoy the spring; but the contrast between the
crabbed, drought-stunted foliage of the plateau, and the
graceful verdure in the San Miguel valley, was great indeed.
  At Torreon every little adobe building looks like a summerhouse placed in a garden. Palms shade it from the sun; high
hedges of prickly pear-Nopala Castiliana, as the Mexicans
call it-keep out the pigs and the cattle; and groves of large
orange trees, golden with fruit, lead down to the river at the
back.   We chose the prettiest of these baby-houses, and
tapped at the cane door.   Two girls, neatly dressed in prints
and white aprons, came to let us in.         They had only just
reached womanhood, and were very good-looking; but their
cast of features was quite new to me. Their faces were oval,
almost round; eyes large, soft, and very round, of a dark blue
colour. Their complexion was rich olive, but not as dark as
that of the Mexicans generally. Their hair was jet black,
neatly dressed; their voices were soft; and they laughed
merrily when Van Alstine asked them if they would take
compassion on two such queer-looking foreigners.         My companion knew    at once that they were pure-blooded     Opita
Indians.
   This was my introduction to the most courteous race
with which the paper referred to is illustrated are lasting monuments to the
liberality of the American Government for the advancement of science.
  The following number of species were named as definitely determined:             Genera.                           Species.
          Mammillaria...... 23
          Echinocactus... 17
          Cereus... 24
          Opuntia...         28
                                                92
  The remainder were considered doubtful.
116
OPITA INDIAN GIRLS.
of Indians on the North American continent. The early
Spaniards speak of them in glowing terms. In a previous
chapter Father Marco's testimony is mentioned; but the
strongest tribute paid to them by the Spaniards is that of
naming the State, Sonora. The Opita country extends from
the Rio San Miguel eastward to the Sierra Madre. It is a fine
country, and the people are a brave and manly race.  They
were greatly delighted with the beauty of the first Spanish
lady who visited them; and as they could not give the
Spanish twang to the fi, and wished to address her in her
native tongue, they called her " Sonora," and the Spaniards,
out of compliment to them, gave that name to the State.
   It seems to be the fashion amongst many travellers to extol
the beauty of savage races; to paint glowing pictures of young
Indian squaws, and almost to rave about Hottentot Venuses.
I have seen some fine races of Indians, and men, as well as
women, of perfect symmetry; but beauty I consider quite
out of the question. The faces of all I met, who had passed
their childhood, were completely devoid of any single expression which could call forth other feelings than those of
curiosity or disgust, until I encountered the Opitas of Sonora.
   The Mexicans generally are gifted with a very small share
of good looks; chiefly, no doubt, because the Indian element
has overpowered and often destroyed the fine features of the
Spaniard. But the settlements along the two rivers which
unite at IHermosillo, and form the Rio Sonora, have been
famed during two centuries for the beauty of their women,
and this reputation I fully endorse; indeed, the mixture of
Spanish with Opita blood could not fail to produce such a
result.  As I passed along the streets of Hermosillo, and
watched the women assembling for matins, or returning from
some religious festival, their chief occupation, I recognised in
117
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
most of the pretty women-and these were not a few-the
round, oval face and the large, soft, dark blue eyes of the
Opita as distinctly as if I had known their great grandmothers.   I must not forget, however, that we have stopped
at the threshold of the little ranche at Torreon, and that I
have much more to tell about the Opitas hereafter.
   Our mules just managed to squeeze through the door into
the house, and out to the back-yard, where they got a famous
breakfast. The girls set to work, and gave us large bowls of
pap-corn and milk, followed by eggs, fowls nicely cooked,
coffee, and hot tortillas. Van Alstine was more talkative
than ever. Unfortunately for myself, I could not tell them
that I was the bachelor of the party; and, in fact, I found
the position very trying, particularly whilst the tortillas were
being made.
  Now if there is one feminine occupation more graceful than
all others; if there is one which shows in the highest perfection the delicate hand and the rounded arm, and suggests,
by an easy movement of the chest and body, the curves and
outline of figure we love to admire in their perfection, it is
the manufacture of tortillas. A lump of dough, which has
been carefully prepared from Indian corn, finely ground, is
placed between the palmns of the hands, and whilst the arms
are raised a little, a whirling motion is given to the dough,
until, by gentle pressure most delicately applied, it is flattened
out into a disc about a foot in diameter, and as thin as a
wafer.   It is then skilfully jerked upon a flat dish, and
lightly baked. I would far rather see them made than eat
them; for they are very much like my idea of underdone
chamois leather.
   When we had finished eating, the old father took us into
the orange grove, and filled our pockets with magnificent
118
PAPAGOS IN PETTICOATS.
oranges and limes.   He showed us his stock of corn, his
fields, and his poultry; and after a rest of about three hours,
he insisted upon saddling our mules himself, and would only
receive payment for the fruit. Thus refreshed at the outskirts of the settlements-for the country we had passed
through was practically uninhabited-we crossed the river,
and proceeded on our way to HIermosillo through avenues of
large cotton-wood trees, past several settlements and some
fine haciendas. The hacienda of Labor looks like a large
country-house, reminding you, however, of Spain and the
Alhambra by its horse-shoe arches and Moorish arcades.
Leading up to it is a broad avenue, lined on each side with
the square-shaped huts of the peons, made of canes, lightly
thatched and shaded by the trees above. Here hummingbirds were fluttering over the flowers near the house.
  All around, and for some distance above the river, every
acre appeared to be under cultivation.    The banks were
clothed on both sides, to the water's edge, with plantations
of sugar-cane; beyond these, some thousands of acres of
cotton had just ceased to bear the feathery pods; and further
back, again, were fields of maize, wheat, and beans.
  On the outskirts of this and several other settlements
passed on the way we met some of our old friends, the Papago
Indians. They had built very neat conical huts, thatched with
care, and seemed to be doing a prosperous trade with the
Mexicans.
  Now, I remember very well in England, before I ever
thought of coming to this out-of-the-way part of the globe,
that some near relations of mine used to meet other girls of
their acquaintance, given like themselves to good works, for
the purpose of holding Dorcas meetings and making clothes
to cover the poor heathen. I long tried in vain to discover
119
NEW TRACKS IN NORTHI AMERICA.
what garments were considered by my fair acquaintances to
be most appropriate, and what heathens were to be the
fortunate recipients of their gifts. At last, in an unguarded
moment, the secret came out-they were red flannel petticoats
for the North American Indians. In my ignorance I laughed
at the novelty of the idea; I even made fun of it, regardless
of their wounded feelings. But of the existence of Papagos I
was then entirely ignorant, so that great was my wonder and
delight when I made the discovery that the most highly-prized
garments worn by the squaws were red flannel petticoats.
There they were, without a doubt; almost every woman wore
one. Their breasts were bare, and no stockings covered their
legs, but the garment of garments, so modest and unobtrusive,
could not be overlooked.
  All the water of the river being absorbed by the Hacienda
de la Labor, eight miles of dusty road have to be traversed
before any more cultivation is seen, and then another large
farm is passed-the Hacienda del Alamita-ow-ned by Signor
Inigo, and containing several thousand acres of irrigated land.
A wood, nine miles long, lies between this place and the capital
-Hermosillo; and when we arrived at the entrance to it, we
found three poor labourers and a woman, each armed with a
bayonet only, waiting for an escort of some sort through the
wood. All day long they had been wanting to return to their
own village, but so unsafe was it to pass through the wood
that they feared to proceed alone. Our three revolvers and
two repeating rifles gave them confidence, and they trotted
close behind us all the way. We passed a mule which had
been killed the day before in a skirmish, and the vultures were
anxiously waiting on all sides for the dainty meal to putrefy.
At another place, where an arroyo crossed the road, one of the
men pointed to some large rocks, and said, " There has been
120
WE REACH HEIRM,OSILLO.
much mourning caused here;" but good fortune favoured us
to the end of our journey, and we were stopped by no one.
  The long distances we had travelled day after day, and
especially the extra night-work, had nearly finished off our
mules. This last ride made mine stone-lame, and Van
Alstine's could scarcely hobble along. In this condition, late
in the afternoon of a dry, dusty, sultry day, bereft of coats,
wearied and travel-stained, with our tin mugs and other traps
dangling behind us, we entered iHermosillo. We passed some
MIexican dandies taking their evening ride on showy horses
with gaudy trappings, and followed by their armed servants;
then, being painfully alive to our wretched appearance, and
not wishing to meet any of our future friends, we entered a
side alley and gained our hotel by a circuitous route, where
we soon indulged, with infinite relish after our weary ride, in
a good tub and a hearty supper.
121
CHAPTER VIII.
                         HERMOSILLO.
Peculiarity of its Situation.-A Marble Mound.-The Town.--Architecture of
   the Houses.-The Gardens.-Ruinous.-The City taken and retaken
   several times during the War.-Assault by the Liberals.--Rescued by the
   Opita Indians.-Mexican Politics.--Governor Pesquera.-" Volunteer   ing."-Rumours of War.-All Fire-arms demanded.-Inequality of the
   Sexes.-The Indians of Sonora.-Population.-The four Northern States
   compared.-Annexation.-Any Change must be for the better.
HEnMOSILLo is a most curious and interesting        old town.
In the first place, its situation is peculiar. For 2Q of latitude our route had been on the eastern side of a vast
plain, not far from the base of the mountains. On the
western side of this plain lies another range, too distant to
be seen from Santa Anna, but gradually encroaching upon
the plain until it joins the eastern range a little below
Hermosillo. The San Miguel River emerges from the eastern
range just above Torreon, and, having joined the Rio Sonora,
cuts through the western range at Hermosillo.     In the very
gap through which the river passes the city is built. In the
centre of this gap, and rising high above the houses all
around it, is a curious natural mound composed of variegated
marbles, chiefly white and pink, which stands out boldly
against the sky.  It is called by the Mexicans 1" Bell Rock,"
on account of the metallic sound given out by the strata when
struck.
   One would suppose, from the size of the place, that
it contained about 15,000 inhabitants; but as every third
PLAN OF THE HOUSES.
house proves, on inspection, to be uninhabited, 9,000 is probably more nearly the population. A    large Moorish town
in Spain of about the seventeenth century was probably not
unlike what iermosillo is at the present day. Many of
the houses are very large, and cover several acres. They
are built of adobe, one story high, with very solid walls,
and contain large, lofty rooms.    Outside they are ornamented more or less with paint and stucco. No windows
are usually to be seen; if a few do face the street they are
guarded with strong iron bars, and differ in shape from our
ordinary windows in being narrower at the top than below.
They represent, in fact, that shaped cornice which the Moors
introduced from  Egypt into Spain, and the Spaniards into
Mexico; and thus it has travelled more than half around the
world. An archway in the centre of the block leads through
huge oaken doors to the sahaun, or hall, with large rooms on
either side, and a court, or patio, in front. The court is
surrounded with a deep verandah, forming "the corradoa,"
supported all round by a massive Moorish arcade, and ornamented with birdcages, statuary, creeping plants, flowers, and
palms, with a fountain in the centre of the patio. Doors
open upon the corradoa from the different rooms, none of
which are set apart exclusively for sleeping; for during most
of the year temporary cane cots are placed in the corradoa at
bedtime, and removed every morning. Facing the sahaun,
or entrance-hall, on the opposite side of the patio, is usually
another archway, through which a vista, cool and refreshing,
is obtained of the garden. Every house of any pretensions has
a garden at the back. It is usually small, shut in by very
high walls on all sides, and filled with tropical and semitropical plants, orange trees, banana palms, poison olive, fruitbearing cacti, and flowering creepers; it is also ornamented
123
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
with little bowers and summer-houses, in which tame birds
chirp and twitter.
  Numerous irrigating canals run through the city, and send
off branches to the different mansions; and although in years
gone by the wealthy families must have lived in great luxury,
it was the luxury of an age very picturesque, but long passed
away in Europe. There are two plazas, several churches, a
large mint-the only modern building in the town-a fine
park ornamented with four large gates of Moorish design,
and a burial-ground full of interesting monuments. But
everything is going to rack and ruin. Civil war and family
feuds have left their marks on all; even in the late war the
city was taken and retaken several times, and the property of
each party was alternately plundered by the opposite faction.
When Hermosillo was first taken by the Imperialist party,
some cannon had just been forged at the mint by means of
native coal obtained at the Bronces Mine on the Upper Yaqui.
These field-pieces, four in number, were exhibited at the
Paris Exhibition. The city remained in the hands of the
Imperialists until the spring previous to my visit, when two
thousand so-called Liberals appeared before the place early
in the morning of the 5th of May.
  A hard fight took place between the little garrison and the
assailants; no quarter was given, and all the defenders were
at last overpowered and slain. Then the rabble crew commenced robbing and plundering all through the town. Not
an inhabitant was to be seen in the streets; every shop
was closed except those which had been broken open, and
were being sacked by the rabble. By eleven o'clock in the
forenoon the Liberals had laden themselves with spoil, feasted
and drunk until many of them were placed hopelessly hkors de
conmbat from liquor, when, suddenly, the cry came from the
124
OPITA ATTACK.
east that five hundred Opita Indians, under their brave chief
Tonera, were already within sight of the town. This tribe,
accustomed to take an active part in politics, had long adopted
the Spanish or Mexican mode of life, and when Maximilian
was made emperor, they joined his party, and fought to
the last in defence of the Imperialists. Out rushed the
Liberals from the cellars, the larders, the storehouses, and
the mansions they had been rifling, weighed down with
plunder, and   half drunk with mescal spirit.    They ran
through the streets, and met their foe upon the rugged side
of the mountains, in full view of the citizens, each party
hoping to gain there a commanding position for attack or
defence. The Indians came on fiercely, though steadily,
divided into two columns, taking advantage of every rock, or
tree, or undulation of the rugged ground, and pouring volley
after volley of well-aimed arrows against the two thousand
men, who, huddled together without organisation, could not
withstand the attack. The tide was soon turned, and back
again rushed the Liberals, for a third time, through the
streets, throwing away their ill-gotten booty in their flight,
and closely followed by the exultant Indians, who, with
shouts and yellings, speared and drove them from every nook
and alley where they had taken temporary shelter.
  By sunset quiet again reigned over the town. The Opitas
had been completely victorious. They did not kill the
wounded, nor plunder the houses and shops; they brought
confidence to the inhabitants, and soon the town was thronged
with men and women in holiday attire who came out from
their hiding-places into the streets, feeling safe and secure
under the protection of the Indians.
   Dr. Duroin, the resident American physician, assured me
that not an act of violence was perpetrated to his know125
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
ledge, and not an article of value was stolen by them from
any one. When the Imperialist cause was entirely lost, the
Opitas returned to their own lands, and left the turn of
events to take its course. -
  The present state of Sonora is almost as deplorable as can
be conceived. Before the war, a number of powerful families
contended amongst each other for the spoils of office. In a
territory so remote, whatever faction    gained  the State
governorship obtained almost absolute power to crush and
ruin those who had opposed them.
   The people-humble, indolent, and averse, above all things,
to the hardships and dangers of war-were made by force to
fight the battles of their masters.  Ground down to the dust,
these peons are still in the most abject state of almost feudal
bondage; their rights are unrecognised, they are never mentioned except as slaves, they can vote only as their masters
direct, and they dare hardly call their lives their own.
Before the war Pesquera's party had for some years been allpowerful, and he had been governor during three successive
terms of two years. During the Imperial ascendency he fled
to the States, and there became a shrewder and more farseeing statesman; so that on his return he had no difficulty in
regaining his power and greatly strengthening his position.
He banished his enemies as Imperialists, pardoned those
whom he thought might serve his interests, and snapped his
fingers at Juarez or any other man who should attempt to
interfere with him in Sonora. One-third of the leading
families are still in exile.
  A feeble remonstrance was made, by the representatives
chosen   by  universal suffrage, about  his  extravagairce.
Whereupon he met his ministers, and told them      that he
also thought the expenditure too great, and therefore should
126
GOVERNOR PESQUERA.
commence retrenchment by dispensing for the future with
their assistance, and thus saving the salaries of a number of
useless functionaries. The port of Guaymas is one of the
chief sources of revenue. The customs duties levied at the
Mexican ports along the Pacific coast average 100 per cent. on
all manufactured goods, and the moneys thus received belong
exclusively to the Central Government. This, however, was
never allowed by the Governor of Sonora, who always kept
the money, and by lessening the duties from 100 to 60 per
cent., induced many merchantmen bound for Mazatlan to enter
Guaymas instead, so that it has become customary for a vessel
to wait outside these ports until a good bargain has been
struck relative to the amount of duty to be paid on the cargo.
  A few months before my arrival, President Juarez thought
he would stop the misappropriation of his lawful revenue,
and sent one of his own men, Signor Almuda, as collector
of customs at Guaymas. Pesquera said nothing, but when
30,000 or 40,000 dollars had been collected, he suddenly
appeared with a small troop of soldiers and demanded it; on
being refused, out went Almuda from office, and another
man was placed in his stead. The money was taken, and
Almuda, finding resistance hopeless, returned after three
days to his former position as collector of customs, but this
time as servant of Pesquera, not of President Juarez. This
little transaction occurred but three weeks before I met the
Governor at Hermosillo, when, fearing that his extremely
independent action might be interfered with, he thought it
necessary to increase the State army. This was done by
spreading the report of a Yaqui war. These Indians, it was
noised abroad, had rebelled; "the whole Yaqui country was
in an uproar!" " all travel was stopped!" " the Mexicans
were being brutally massacred!" "to arms! to arms!!"
127
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AM'ERICA.
These were the cries. I was on my way to the Yaqui
country, to examine the coal-fields there, and these reports
effectually stopped my progress southward by land.
   This is the way volunteering was carried on at iermosillo.
In the evening the military band usually played either in the
plaza or opposite some gentleman's house. One evening,
whilst listening to it from a window, and watching the men
and women going to and fro, I suddenly perceived that
soldiers had taken possession of all the approaches leading to
the band, and were encircling the crowd on all sides. They
seized all the young men who were present, and carried them
off to the Government coralle, where they passed the night,
and where next morning they had either to pay a fine if they
possessed any money, or to volunteer if they did not.
  Then   there came a proclamation    that fire-arms were
required, and that five dollars would be given for any
weapon that would shoot; but if this proclamation failed,
and the police had to come and fetch them, no money would
be paid.   Thus the unfortunate people were stripped of
their arms, while robbers infested the country, and Apaches
made raids upon them, almost to the gates of Hermosillo.
How   crest-fallen and  dejected these volunteers looked
as they marched through the streets, armed with old flintlocks, broadswords, or any other weapon they could obtain!
Their pay was a mere farce, for after years of service
they would, on dismissal, receive a draft for the sums
due to them, to be cashed when the treasury had been replenished-which meant, never. As this kidnapping of young
men for the army has been going on year after year, it has
produced so great an inequality of sexes amongst the Mexican
population that in Hermosillo there are seven females for
every one male.
128
THE INDIANS OF SONORA.
  The Yaqui war was of course a myth. These industrious
labourers at first took flight, not knowing what to make of it;
but after a time, as nothing dreadful happened to them, they
returned to their usual occupation.
  A few words are due to the Indians of this State, for they have
the reputation of being the quietest and most frugal in the
whole of Mexico. The Yaquis are the hewers of wood and
drawers of water; their homes are in the South, but they are to
be found everywhere. In appearance they are not unlike the
Papagos; but are not so well off--judging by those whom I met
doing most of the labour at iermosillo and elsewhere. They
are of a rich copper colour, with long black hair and rather large
noses; they go about almost naked, with only a small piece of
linen about their loins; they are very active and trustworthy,
and obey every order they receive from the Mexicans in the
most subservient way. A Mexican signoretta will not even
take a parcel home from the shop where she has just bought
it, but the first Yaqui that passes will run off with it without
a word. I have seen this a hundred times. It is considered
degrading to intermarry with the Yaquis.
  The next tribe are the Opitas, of whom I have said enough;
they will not work for hire, and stand on perfect equality
with the Mexican population-excepting of course the chief
families, which are the curse of this unfortunate country.
  Lastly, there are the Papagos, who hold themselves quite
apart, have their own Government, and do not mix in politics,
and only come in contact with the Mexicans for purposes of
trade.
  Besides these three semi-civilised tribes-the Aztecs of
Sonora-there are a few wild Indians along the coast, but these
are dying out like their brethren further north, and have
already ceased to be troublesome.
   VOL. II.                    K
129
FROM THE RTO GRANDE DEL NORTE
          TO THE 1AC'IFIC OCEAN.
                            _---.---
                        CIHAPTER I.
                   THE RIO (;RANDE VALLEY.
Colton and Bell start (on a C'ol ilint.--  alisto.-Iovisit the Real do los
    D)olores.-Tejvras ('aiol.--Mainzana  1i1untains.- Albjuiuirque and the
    F'ri-lnds we m1ad,4 thleri..- Islta.- [The 4Rio G(raidde d,1 Norte.-M exical1
    lianch.s.-- Th Valley, the PIlata(Ix, 1LA( thw Mo)unta:ins on citheir sitde.    Fort ('raig.- (r Sturvevillg P'artivs reas.-m,hle there.- (Geli'al Wright
    and I )r. I,e o'int' leave for the States. --lhorgallisation of the Parties
    undi.ler G(.nerl I'alimner. ( liln IH ous. anlld olpen ( vllars.- Start afreish, alnd
    lIarlch sovenity miils still furthlir Siouth  inII thl  Ri, ( i;irand,, Valli-y. - Unin    halbited  f;,r ('110n  hunr11 drd  Inil,.s o,f its l,i Lth.  -Ia  M -sila Valley..Last
    ('amlp on the lfi, G;Irad.l, and,,ur Visitors. T- his Val,le a grand field for
    Emigration.-Vine Culturtr. Two I llor.-s bittien by Rattluesakes.
                        Pi'a w, 2s1 itiles.
()N the last day of Septe'hlwr, after a fortnight's sojournf
Colton and mysl slf, withl,t att(endants or luggag-, left Santa
Fe on an iiilependtlent scarch, the object of whic(h was coal.
Several spl)ts had b1 eiin niamlil  as coal-helarillg districts, and it
was ntcessarv to test the truth t,f these p,romising reports.
Without chan,ve ot' hrses, o,ur week's ride was the following:--
                                                       Miles.
      1 st day Santa Fi- to G;listo......22
      2nd., Carpenter's Ranchol (Tejorns Carion)...  40
      3rd    Allm,liwiqu,oe (liu 1;randl).....  18
      4th,. Visit to coal-fivlds, eight miles from Albuquerque.  16
      5th,,  le,hn (on Rio Grande).                   32
      6th,, Iimetar...                     41
      7th,, Fort Craig,,.....  42
                                 Total for the week.. 211
VOL. II.
B
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  None of the Apache hordes who have succeeded in depopulating Northern Sonora live in that State; their country
lies quite to the northward, in United States' territory.
  With regard to population, Colton places Sonora in his new
map of Mexico at 147,133 souls, which is simply absurd. A
Mexican estimate, formed by adding up the population of
each town, and then allowing a fair approximation for the
rest, places it at 85,664, in 1845. An American estimate,
founded on the Mexican one, considers 100,000 to be very
near the truth for 1861. But this authority includes 20,000
Papago Indians, whereas there are certainly not more than
3,000 south of the boundary-line. This reduces the estimate
to 83,000. Since 1861, both Mexicans and Indians have
been decreasing; the mines have been more and more deserted, and yet the population in the towns has not
increased; on the contrary, they also have been losing in
numbers. Hermosillo, in 1840, contained 11,655 Mexicans,
and 2,000 Yaqui Indians; in 1843, about 14,000, all told;
and to-day the population is generally placed at 9,000
Mexicans, and 1,500 Yaquis. As I before remarked, every
third house was unoccupied, and more or less in ruins. I
might add, also, a long list of frontier settlements, none of
which contain any inhabitants; and, in fact, I think that at
the present time only 70,000 souls can be allowed to Sonora,
including the Indian population.
   Comparing this with the neighbouring States, we have:                                                Area.
                                    Population.  Square Miles.
       Sonora.                 70,000.  11,953
       Chihuahua...     164,000. 15,534
       Durango. 156,519     6,291
       Sinaloa.    160,000.   3,825
   Sinaloa is the most populous, and its port, Mazatlan, is the
most thriving town on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Chihuahua
130
ANNEXATION.
has of late been fast declining in wealth, if not in population;
but not to the same extent as Sonora, because she has had
far less to contend against, both as regards hostile Indians
and civil wars. It is easy, therefore, to understand how it is
that the old Santa Fe trade has almost ceased to exist; and
until a great change takes place in these productive provinces
of Northern Mexico, there is little chance that commerce will
again return to its ancient channels, and that there will be
any permanent market for merchandise.
  As things cannot be worse than they are, many think that
they see in this utter state of prostration and national degradation the germs of a better future. Any change, they say,
must be for the better, and they look to the prosperous States
beyond the frontier to take Sonora and her sisters under their
protection, and, so to speak, to give them a chance. I did
not expect to hear this sentiment so freely and openly
expressed by the Mexicans themselves; much as they were
suffering, I supposed, until I came into their country, that
the great jealousy they were considered to feel towards
foreigners would make such an ultimatum decidedly unpopular,
but I soon found reason to alter this opinion. They seemed
to me to look upon annexation to the United States as their
destiny, and one to be hoped for with as little delay as
possible.
  In speaking as I have done of the present Governor, I do
not complain of him as a man. On the contrary, I consider
him far above the average of Mexican governors, and I feel
convinced that, as unity amongst the Mexican States is
already merely fictitious, he will be willing to favour annexation, provided he thereby secures solid advantages for himself.
That section of the governing class which now forms the
party of power, would, no doubt, follow the same course; but
                            F,2
131
132          NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
those opposed to him, although believing in the ultimate fate
of the State, would disparage a union at the present time,
simply because they could not themselves claim compensation.
Thus there will probably always be, until annexation becomes
an established fact, a strong party opposed to it from selfish
motives alone, and that party will always consist of the future
aspirants to office. National unity has already been destroyed,
and the few patriots whom I have met are only too anxious to
swear allegiance to a real republic, instead of a sham, and to
renounce for ever that system of despotism and tyranny, that
degradation of the many for the aggrandisement of the few,
that corruption in office and disregard to law, which now
disgrace one of the finest regions on the globe.
CHAPTER IX.
                 THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA.
From Hermosillo to Guaymas.--The Harbour.--The Town.-Trade.--Leave
    Sonora.-Carmen Island.--Salt Basin.-LOysters and our Oyster-man.    Pearls and a Pearl Merchant.-La Paz.-Mazatlan.--The Market.    Shopping in Mexico.-The Army.-The Harbour.-Lower California.    Arrive at San Francisco.
AFTER   remaining   nearly a fortnight at HIermosillo, and
making   several excursions  about the    neighbourhood, I
started on Thursday, the 19th of December, in a coach
drawn b: six horses-four abreast and two leaders-for Guaymas, eighty-four miles distant.
  We travelled due south over a plain between two mountain ranges, which is usually a parched and arid desert, but
which looked anything but a desert after the recent rains.
About eighteen miles from my destination, I heard the
gun fire for the steamer's departure, and had the pleasure of
contemplating another month's involuntary sojourn amongst
the people of Sonora. But my usual good luck in this trip
stood to me to the last; for, to the surprise of all, the vessel
was still in the harbour when we arrived, and did not sail
until the next morning.
   The true harbour of Guaymas covers an area of a little less
than four square miles, in which space three small islands,
the rocky peaks of sub-marine hills, rise perpendicularly from
a depth of from three to four fathoms, and form a little inner
harbour. From the bare volcanic mountains which enclose
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AM,ERICA.
the harbour, several irregular little promontories project into
the water and occupy much valuable space. The total area,
in fact, of water more than four fathoms in depth does not
exceed one-half a square mile. The entrance is not quite a
mile wide, and is guarded by a long rock island, called
Pajaros, lying exactly in front of and outside it, which makes
the harbour doubly secure. The main channel runs to the
left of the rock. On entering, its course is at first north-east
as it passes the rock, and then north-west as it enters the
harbour. To the right, another passage leads to a larger,
though shallower, basin, into which a small river discharges
its debris. The depth of the channel is five fathoms until
the rock islands within the harbour are reached, when it is
reduced to four and three. Three fathoms can be obtained in
the centre of the inner harbour between the rock islands and
the town; but it is only close to the former that four fathoms
can be found.
   The accompanying diagram of the three harbours, San
Francisco, San Diego, and Guaymas, all drawn to the same
scale, shows at a glance the relative capacity of each. There
is no question as to the value of San Diego harbour. It is
admirably sheltered, will admit vessels drawing 22- feet of
water, is at least four times as large as Guaymas, and is, next
to San Francisco, the best harbour on the coast of California.
It is, moreover, almost 300 miles nearer to New York than
San Francisco, either by the Omaha line or that of the 35th
parallel, and can be easily reached from the latter trunk line by
a branch 211 miles long, which would traverse the most
fertile portion of Southern California.
   The results I arrived at from my reconnoissance through
Sonora to Guaymas do not confirm the glowing accounts
which have been circulated relative to the harbour of the
134
BAY oi SAN FRANCISCO
SAN DIEGO
Scale ofEnglihMiles
   Thi's fath)m aiu
THE HARBOUR OF GUAYMAS.
latter. It is too small ever to become a commodious firstclass port; its situation is bad, for it is too far up the Gulf
of California (being 1,500 miles from San Francisco and 1,000
from San Diego), whilst a railroad to it from the North would
leave the richest portion of Sonora untouched. As regards
distance, supposing that the main Southern line were constructed along the 32nd parallel, and a branch thence by the
shortest practicable route to Guaymas, it would then be
2,812 miles distant from New York, against 2,935 between
New York and San Francisco by the 35th parallel route,
the difference being but 123 miles in favour of Guaymas.
Sonora, therefore, must be developed independently by
local railways radiating from the coast inland to those
sections of country which, on their own merits, are deserving
of them.
  The present trade of Guaymas is such that the three
merchantmen which unloaded there during 1867 supplied
more goods than the demand required. In Ilermosillo, as
well as Guaymas, all the store-houses of the merchants were
glutted with goods, and the general complaint was that there
were no buyers. Large quantities of Sonora wheat and flour
used to be shipped from this port to San Francisco, San
Pedro, Mlazatlan, and other places along the coast.      Now,
none goes anywhere, except to the last-named port, and not
very much there, since the monthly steamer has been prohibited from carrying it. Mazatlan has at least six times
the trade of Guaymas, because the back country is well
peopled, whereas Northern Sonora is almost uninhabited.
  Comfortably packed away on board the John L. Stevens,
one of the fine Pacific steamers, which, with their roomy
berths upon deck and good ventilation, are palaces of comfort
compared with our boasted " Cunarders," we steamed between
135
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH A'MERICA.
the rock  islands in the harbour, and through the narrow
channel into the clear, calm Gulf of California.
   On the third day from our departure, we stopped at
Carmen Island, close to the opposite shore (the coast of the
Lower Californian peninsula), to take on board a cargo of
salt and oysters.   We were immediately     surrounded  by
lighters, full of Yaqui Indians who labour on the Salt Lake,
and I went ashore in one of them.
   Carmen Island is worth a visit. It was purchased from
President Juarez, during the Mexican war, by an American
land company, which also bought nearly the whole peninsula
at a great bargain, as it was when sold more than probable
that Maximilian would have gained the day.         Of this huge
estate, the island we had just reached is the richest prize.
Close to the shore, but partitioned off from the sea by a
narrow strip of shingly beach over which the water never
flows, is a lake covering an area of about six square miles,
the bottom  of which is composed of pure white crystals of
salt-chloride of sodium-without any admixture or adulteration in the shape of sand, algoe, or other salts. Usually no
water covers this area, and the salt has only to be raked up,
packed in large sacks, and shipped to San Francisco. Here it
is ground and sold, without any purification, as the finest
table salt. Holes have been dug ten feet deep through pure
crystals of salt. How much deeper they extend I could not
ascertain, for the Indians only scrape as much from the
surface as they require for exportation. Fine volcanic mountains form a semicircle around this lake; and when it rains,
the drainage from them flows into the basin and covers the
entire surface to the depth of a few inches. When I visited
this spot it was covered with water; I tried to cross it,
but the salt crystals were too sharp for my bare feet. As soon
136
CARMEN ISLAND.
as the water dries off again, all holes or irregularities of surface caused by the removal of the salt become refilled with
crystals and obliterated.
   It was the opinion of the American resident superintendent
that this vast accumulation of salt was washed down by the
rains from the mountains, in which he supposed that large
quantities of disintegrated rock-salt were to be found. For,
even supposing that this was originally an estuary of the Gulf,
it is hard to account by that theory for the apparently
inexhaustible supply, and for the fresh accumulations which
still continue to form, although the sea has long since ceased
to enter the basin. The purity of the salt, the absence of
sand, and the great depth of the deposition cannot certainly be
accounted for by the laws which regulate ordinary salt basins.
   Seated beside me at dinner on the second day of my life
on board ship, I found a very tall and gentlemanly Southerner.
He had all the external refinement of a man who had mixed
during a long life in the best European society, and had
looked upon a princely fortune as a matter of course. The
civil war had ruined him, as it had thousands like him;
and here he was now, at the age of seventy, carrying oysters
from Carmen Island to sell at San Francisco.
  The   San  Francisco  oysters very   much   resemble our
natives. They are round, fat, plump, full-flavoured, and very
good, but do not suit the taste of those who have long
enjoyed the luxury of the large delicate molluscs which inhabit the Atlantic seaboard. There are fine beds of the longshelled oyster in the Gulf of California; and as they will not
grow in the Pacific Ocean, my Southern friend found that it
paid him well to transport them 1,700 miles by steamer, and
sell them on landing at six shillings a dozen, provided that
not more than half the cargo had died on the passage.
137
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMAERICA.
  In the object of our search we were by no means successful;
not, as we afterwards discovered, because there was no coal
in those localities which report led us to visit, but because
those who knew of it deterniined to keep it secret, supposing
that the railway company would devise some plan of robbing
them of the fruits of their discoveries. This was not surprisiing amon,gst the suspicious "Mexicans, b)ut so " dog-in-themanger " a policy is not usually a trait in the character of
American frontiersmen. At the village of Galisteo we could
not find any olie willing to show us the coal veins, although
they did not devny their existence. We were surprised to see
the lar-ge herds of hornied cattle owned(l by the Mexicans here.
The whNole place bristle(d with the poles of which the coralles
were made, and at suns1et th(ese en.losures were crowded with
stock. Notwithstanding that hundreds of cows were standing
around, not a drop of milk could be got for love or money.
   On our way to Tejeras Carion, a fine natural pass lying
betwmeen the Plaher Mountains andL the Zandia, w-e visited for
the second time the hospitable dwelling of 1)Dr. Steek at the
Real de los I)olores.
   when at eventide, after a long and difficult ride over
mountains anld ravines, through forests of pilion trees, often
without trail of any kind, we reached the ranchlc  of M r.
Carpenter half way through the pass, we soon flound by the
maimer of our host that the ob)ject of our search was not to
be attained. Ife could show us plenty of gold quartz veins,
kaolin, and gypsum; argentiferous galena also was to l)e found
in mainy places not far from his ran(che; and(l as for copper,
any quantity of it cropped out in the cahon; but of coal
there was none; this was the only thing he had not got,
-we must have been misinformned, which was not his fault.
Such was the information we received; so, after a miserable
2
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
   Unfortunately for us, this special cargo got too much sunning before being deposited in the tanks. Many consequently
died, as we quickly discovered by the most disgusting smell
which took possession of the greater part of the ship. It took
many days to pick     out the corpses, and in the meantime I
caught a fever; and notwithstanding the luxury of a bridal
chamber for a -cabin, a four-post spring-bed, and other comforts,
arrived more dead than alive at San Francisco.
   From Carmen Island we went to La Paz, a beautiful little
town which nestles amongst palm trees at the extremity of an
inlet, surrounded by those bold mountains of variegated
volcanic rock so common along the coast of Lower California.*
This is the only town on the peninsula.
   Outside this bay many Yaqui Indians were diving for
pearls, and, as may be imagined, we had a rich aquatic treat,
watching the finest divers in the world as they brought up
shells from eight fathoms of water. I need scarcely remark
that these are not oyster-shells, but large flat bivalves of quite
another family. The best pearls are contained in the body
of the mollusc, unattached to the shell, and a common way
of extracting them is to throw thousands of these soft lumps
  * Until 1867, the physical geography of this peninsula was quite unknown,
but in this year Mr. J. Ross Browne, accompanied by Mr. William M. Gabb of
the Geological Survey of California, Dr. Von Lohr of the School of Mines,
Freiburg, and a corps of assistants, made a scientific reconnoisance throughout
its whole length. A full account of their researches will be found in Mr. Ross
Browne's Official Report on the Mineral Resources of the United States for 1868,
p. 630. A correct map of the peninsula was for the first time compiled from
the results obtained by this party, and from it Mr. Ravenstein has drawn, on a
reduced scale, that portion of the general map attached to this book. The
slice of the peninsula which now belongs to an American land company has
been represented; it comprises nearly the whole of Lower California, exclusive
of the La Paz district.
  Magdalena Bay was found to be a magnificent harbour, but fresh water was
scarce, and the land arid, from deficient rain-fall.
  The article referred to is a valuable contribution to our geographical knowledge, and well worth reading.
138
of flesh into a barrel, and allow them to decompose. The
pearls, if there be any, are found at the bottom.
  A pearl merchant, Mr. Peterson, here joined us, and after
we had become well acquainted he showed me, in strict
privacy, his autumn store. He was an old Norwegian sea
captain on half-pay, and took very good care that none but
those he could thoroughly trust should even suspect the
nature of his precious cargo. The pearls were of all sizes,
colours, and degrees of delicacy. The dark, metallic variety
-which to my taste is so beautiful-was, if anything, the
most abundant; many of the white ones were very large, and
some Mr. Peterson had succeeded in matching to perfection
for earrings, by which means the value of each pair was
greatly enhanced.
  Leaving La Paz, we crossed the Gulf to Mazatlan, our last
stopping-place in Mexico. Here we found two ships of war,
one English, the other American, the former was just leaving,
with 300,000 dollars of silver on board, the produce of the
mines in Sinaloa. Although my illness was beginning to
take firm hold upon me, I dragged myself ashore at four
o'clock in the morning to attend the market, and was well
repaid for my trouble by the busy scene of animation I found
there. A motley crowd of Yaquis, Negroes, Mexicans, and
Chinese had filled a large, square market-place to overflowing
with every kind of indigenous merchandise and produce, conspicuous amongst which were the fishes and fruits.
  A country must be worth something which can produce
such a market as this; no town in any part of Europe could
have been better supplied. I bought as large a string of
bananas as I could carry for a real (one shilling), filled my
pockets with oranges, and beat a hasty retreat, for the noise
was something frightful.  All screamed at once in their
PEARLS.
139
"NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
different languages, and seemed to consider that the more
noise they made the more certain they were to sell their
commodities.
  From the market I visited the principal street, and one
glance at the large shops and mercantile establishments
showed the nature of business here.   Many of the counters
were polished mahogany, the windows plate-glass, the goods
mostly of English manufacture.   Here, as in the other silverproducing States, merchants of capital were absorbing the
precious metal, and sending it out of the country almost as
rapidly as it was taken from   the ground.   I watched the
handfuls of large silver dollars rattle on the counters, and saw
how very little the people could buy for their money. A
common shirt, for instance, costs at wholesale prices about
three shillings; on entering Mazatlan the import duties
double it, the merchant adds another three shillings as legitimate profit, and, including a penny or two for carriage, it
is retailed at two and a half dollars in    coin.  All this
comes out of the pockets of the people, and if mining is prosperous, the traders make enormous fortunes, and can well
afford to build the splendid establishments which contrast so
strongly with the poverty and degradation seen on all sides.
   I next went to the plaza. The clocks were striking eight,
and the troops were being inspected.  In this little place of
11,000 inhabitants, 2,000 soldiers were being maintained;
there were more men drilling in the plaza than could be
found otherwise engaged throughout the town.    The appearance of these soldiers was a perfect burlesque; they wore
straw hats with green ribbon, but here all distinction of
uniform  ended; one had a broadsword, another a flint-lock
musket, a third a French rifle, a fourth nothing but a club,
and all were clothed in coarse cotton cloth, called manta. It
140
MAZATLAN.
was the old story; one of Juarez's generals was expected,
and the present Governor of Sinaloa thought it desirable to be
prepared. The General did appear some days afterwards, and
both " armies"' met, and compared their respective strength;
but as the local force proved to be in the majority, Juarez's
Mazatlan.
men prudently returned to head-quarters, and the war was
thus brought to a close without bloodshed.
  The accompanying woodcut gives an accurate glimpse of
Mazatlan, and will more than answer the purpose of a
description. The long building at the head of the inlet is the
custom-house; beyond the hills at the back lies the Pacific
141
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Ocean, and the water seen about the centre is a shallow part
of the harbour, which has to be crossed in boats. The harbour
of Mazatlan is not a very good one, for it is exposed to the
south-west gales in one part, and to the north-west in another,
so that it depends much upon the prevalent winds what
position is the best for anchorage.
  I left Mexico with considerable regret, for another month
might have been well spent in travelling through different
parts of Sonora, in visiting the coal-fields on the Upper Yaqui,
and in examining the silver mines of Alamos.
  The greatest source of wealth possessed by Sonora is
undoubtedly her mines. I visited many of them, although
I did not reach Alamos; and shall therefore conclude this
account of my trip by fairly stating as much of the reliable
information I then collected as I think is of sufficient general
interest.
142
CHAPTER X.
             THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF SONORA.
Agriculture:-Extent of Cultivatable Land.--Agriculture on the Altar, San
    Ignacio, San Miguel, Sonora, Yaqui, Mayo, and Fuerte Rivers. Crops:    Cereals, Beans, &c., Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar-cane, Mulberry, Indigo,
    Edible Cactus Plants, Agave Americana, &c.-Stock-raising:-Sonora
    a fine Grazing Country.-The Grasses.-The Shrubs.-The Rain-fall.    Stock-raising under Spanish Rule.-The Formation of Tanks.-Mining:    Wide-spread Distribution of the Mineral Wealth.-The Precious Metals.
    -Silver-mining.-Mines about the Boundary-line.-History of Mining
    under the Spaniards.--Change for the worse under the Republic.-Mining
    Districts; those subject to the Mint at Hermosillo.--Average Yield of the
    Principal Mines.-Southern District, subject to the Mint at Alamos.    Gold-mining.-Coal.-Relative Value of Sonora as a Mining Country.
    -Conclusion.
                         AGRICULTURE.
THE amount of land susceptible of cultivation in Sonora
bears a very small proportion indeed to that of the whole
country. In the first place, long ranges of mountains cover
vast districts; in the second, the valleys through which the
rivers flow until they near the sea-coast are very narrow,
and   contain  little bottom-land; and     thirdly, where the
valleys do open out towards the coast, they are rendered
barren and unproductive by the sinking of the rivers, which
thus deprives them of the means by which they might be
irrigated.
   For instance: of the rivers which drain Northern Sonora,
the first irrigating dam on the Altar River is situated thirtythree miles above Altar. From this point the stream is a
permanent one down to Los Puertecitos in ordinary years,
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
thirty miles below  Altar; but the average width of the
valley for this distance (sixty-three miles) scarcely exceeds
three-fourths of a mile. On the San Ignacio River, villages
are found all along its banks wherever sufficient water exists
for irrigation; but so scant is the supply that as far from the
mouth as Santa Anna the river bed is usually, except after
rains, a broad sandy arroyo, all the water having been
diverted and absorbed by the acequias belonging to the settlements higher up the stream, viz., Santa Magdalena, San Lorenzo,
and Santa Marta.    These villages, including San Ignacio,
form an agricultural district which produces many thousand
fanegas-* of cereals, and supplies six flour-mills upon the
river. Even the San Miguel River does not supply nearly
enough water to irrigate the narrow bottom-lands which lie
on either side of it. The three flourishing haciendas of
Torreon, Labor, and Ifigo, as they are worked at present,
absorb  nearly all the water between     San  Miguel and
Hermosillo, a distance of thirty miles; and, south of the
latter town, a dry useless valley widens out indefinitely
towards the sea. There is much cultivation on the San
Miguel north of the village of that name, and also on the
Rio Sonora above UJres, where a considerable population can
be well supported. These narrow valleys have supplied
nearly all the food consumed by the mining as well as the
agricultural population of Northern Sonora, and have, during
many years of civil war, notwithstanding the ravages of the
Apaches, exported a considerable surplus of wheat and beans
beyond the boundary into United States' territory, where
Sonora wheat is a staple commodity.
  The Yaqui, Mayo, and Fuerte rivers alone-rising in the
lofty.ranges and plateaux of the Sierra Madre, and not, as do
              * 1 fane.a (410 lbs.) = about two bushels.
144
TWO CROPS RAISED PER ANNUM.
the others along the divide which limits the Gila basincarry down to the low lands along the coast an abundant
supply of water, enough in fact, to irrigate all the lowlying districts situated between them, and representing not
less than 2,500 square miles. It is this section of country,
together with the special produce it is capable of yielding,
which makes the agricultural resources of Sonora, in my
opinion, of very great importance.
  On all lands susceptible of irrigation two crops of cereals
can, without difficulty, be raised in the year: a crop of wheat
and one of maize, or wheat and beans, or even wheat and
barley. The wheat is sown from November to January, and
reaped in April-never later than May.     The land is then
given two months' rest. Maize is sown at the commencement
of the rainy season-that is, about the 1st of July-and
is harvested in November. The bean-crop may be sown even
later than the maize, and the barley about the same time.
The Australian wheat has been introduced with great success,
for it ripens a month in advance of the ordinary kinds, and
is not only out of danger before the season for smutting
comes on (just before the summer rains), but a considerable
time is thus ensured for the ground to lie fallow before
sowing the second crop-a very necessary requirement.
  Were Sonora, however, to become a populous country, and
to be traversed by railroads, cereals only would be raised
sufficient to supply the necessities of the miners and inland
population; for cotton, sugar, and tobacco are far more
remunerative, and thrive well all through the State.
  Until the introduction of the Egyptian seed, cotton was
cultivated with but little success in Sonora, for crops from
the Mississippi seed, and other varieties, were very liable to
failure. Now the Egyptian plant, properly cultivated, being
   VOL. II.                    L
145
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
at least five weeks earlier than the American varieties, produces a certain crop, more or less productive, every year on
land which can be irrigated at all seasons. On or about the
20th of March, when the frost is considered finally to have
departed, the planter commences to sow his cotton, and what
he sows in March and early April, he begins to pick in
August. Cotton is sown even as late as July, but the season
for it being consequently a short one, a third of a crop is all
that can be expected from it before the frost, which generally
appears the first week in December and destroys the plant for
that year. It is also found by those who have cultivated
cotton in this State scientifically, that if the crop be kept
clear and free from weeds, the grasshopper will not prove to
be a very dangerous enemy; for the warmth of the cotton,
heated by the mid-day sun, is too much for the gorged insect,
and the cooler resting-place which would be provided by the
weeds having been removed, he leaves the field. The caterpillar also can be to a great extent kept at bay; for if the
field be flooded as soon as this destroyer attacks the plant,
the vapour in the day, and the cold evaporation at night, will
destroy the insect, so that the planter may expect to reap a
good percentage of his crop from the fresh pods, which are
quickly reproduced after the land has been irrigated and the
caterpillar destroyed.
   Tobacco is sown as early as the frost will admit in March,
and the leaves are picked during the summer and fall. I saw
on the Altar River, in a field belonging to my guide, Van
Alstine, some acres of tobacco on the 10th of December,
1867. The plants had yielded two large pickings, and, from
the thickness of the leaf, there seemed to be one-third of a
summer picking still forthcoming. There had been no frost
up to that time, although the altitude was great.
   The sugar-cane is cultivated upon the banks of all the
146
SUGAR-CANE CULTURE.
rivers I have named, but it thrives most luxuriantly in the
Yaqui, Mayo, and Fuerte bottoms. It is sown every third,
fourth, or fifth year, in January or February, and is cut down
for sugar every year, in the winter season. The Yaqui and
Mayo country is inhabited by two closely-allied tribes of
Indians, from whom the rivers have derived their names.
They are the most industrious people in the State, and are
not by nature warlike. In every town, on every farm, and
in many of the mines, they are to be found working diligently
for hire; but as they are particularly devoted to agriculture,
higher wages is demanded for any other employment. They
are tall and athletic, very dark in colour, with    a  fine
expression of countenance. Treaties are.held sacred by them,
nor have they ever been known to resort to arms, unless
goaded on by the cruelty of the Spaniards or Mexicans.
Never having had any instruction in agriculture, their own
lands-the most productive in the State-are very poorly
tilled; and as the rivers are rapid, and the banks for the
most part high, irrigation has not been made use of by them
as by the Pimas on the Gila, but they have confined their
labours to the lowest strips of bottom-land which are subject
to overflow, and to stock-farming. Their horses, horned
cattle, and sheep, are reported to be far superior to any
others in the State. Such cultivation even as these Indians
have had recourse to, proves conclusively that the land is
productive in the highest degree; and when we consider that
frost on the Yaqui is rare and unknown southward, and that
the Pacific coast is in close proximity, there is every reason
to expect that rice and coffee will grow well there-for both
flourish in Sinaloa-and that capital would rapidly develop
these regions were not property rendered by bad government
so insecure.
                            L2
147
TEJERAS CANON.
supper and breakfast of rusty bacon and very stale bread, we
mounted our steeds and went our ways.
  The coal vein we thus ftailed to visit is situated south-west
of Carpenter's, not in the Tejeras Carson proper, but in one of
the western ravines of the Manzana Mountains, and is about
seventeen miles east of the Rio Grande. A surface specimen
given to Dr. Le Conte by Colonel Watts at Santa FeI was of
excellent quality.
   The road through the mountains down to the plain of the
Rio Grande valley is very wild and romantic.      The rock
exposures are bold and impos(ing, towering up to the sky,
and presenting great varieties of cOlouir and outline; for so5lme
are complosed of masses of' granite; some of sain(lstone, grey
and red; others are of smooth, shining, m,etamorllhic ro(,ks;
and again, others consist of marbles be,autifilly v-arie-gated,
white, pink, and grey, thle tractiur,es remaining bright and
sparkling fior a very long time ii tlle dry atmsphere of these
regions. Whel,n iln the aftern oon w  had left the mountailns
many miles to tiw eaast of us, on our way to Allbu(luerque,
and looked back at thelir shlarply-cut sides, pertectly bare,
precil)itous, and jagged, lwilliantlt lighted up by the (declining
sun, the sight wa-ms very remairkiable, and 1one long to be
remembl)ered(. Not a tree is to 1be seen oni the steep) western
slopes of the mountains, and if there )e grass or other vegetation here and thera        t the amoust tie crevices, it is not noticeable
at a distance; evervwhcre huge masses of variegated rock
rise for thousan(ls of fieet above the plain, and throw their
ever-varying shadows deep and crisp upon each other.
   Albuquerque, the second town in rank to Santa F', does
 not present an imposing appearance.     It is a straggling
 collection of adobe houses, scattered amongst innumerable
 acequias or irrigating ditches, in the perfectly flat lowlands
                             B 2
3
1NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMIERICA.
  Besides these great staples of agricultural wealth, there
are others which must not be overlooked. The mulberry
tree thrives splendidly throughout the State, and is found in
nearly every garden at Hermosillo, for the people here seem
to have conceived the idea of raising silk-worms, but to have
failed in the perseverance required to carry out the experiment. When the last census of the city was taken, the
proportion of females to males was actually seven to one, and
of late years this difference has increased. Such a surplus of
female population could not be better employed than in the
production of silk.
   The Indigo plant is indigenous to the Yaqui, and is used
by the Indians to dye their blankets with.
   This is a great country for fruit-oranges, limes and
lemons, dates, bananas, plantains, figs, and grapes, all flourish
here, and are of fine quality; while the different varieties of
cactus fruits are more highly prized by the people than all
the rest, and grow on lands worthless for anything else, as
they lie beyond the reach of irrigation.  The Pitella (pronounced Pitago) and the Sahuaro are the most prized.         In
the season the Indians live entirely upon them, and gain
much money by selling them about the towns. They make
a jelly and cheese of the former, and dry them both in the
sun for winter use. The Sineta is a small variety of the
Pitella. Then there is the Tuna, the delicious fruit of the
Nopala Castiliana, which gives so much grotesque beauty to
the garden's here. From the succulent trunk of the Viznoga
an agreeable preserve is made, much used at Mexican tables.
   The Mescal (Agave Americana) is another production of
importance. The rocky, mountainous regions of southern and
eastern Sonora are most suitable for its production; it grows,
like the cactus plants, on dry barren ground. From the
148
STOCK RAISING.
tough fibre of the leaf excellent mattresses, matting, and
ropes are extensively manufactured by the Indians, and used
everywhere throughout the State. From the root is distilled
the spirit of that name. Mescal spirit of the best quality,
matured   by age, stands on    perfect equality with   good
whiskey, and is considered, as a spirit, to be very wholesome. If watered by the retailer it is ruined; and if adulterated with the products of the sugar-cane a much inferior
article is produced. The process of making Mescal spirit has
too often been told to allow of a description here.
                 STOCK-RAISING IN SONORA.
  The great advantages which Sonora possesses as a stockraising country cannot well be exaggerated. Grama stands
first among the grasses; next comes a blue, coarse grass,
greatly relished by cattle; then follow many varieties; all
are perennials, so that in an unusually dry season they
do not altogether fail, and the stock are preserved from
starvation.
  Besides the grasses, there are a great variety of shrubs and
bushes that cattle thrive well on and eat with zest. The
Mezquit and Paloferro usually yield in early autumn an abundant crop of beans, which are called by the natives Pechita.
At this season all the cattle grow very fat.   A  species of
wild sage, which grows in many places, gives the beef a
peculiar and delicious flavour much extolled by the epicures
of the country. All these dry and nutritious forms of food
cover the inland plains everywhere, and furnish so large a
supply and variety of fodder that I doubt if any country
could feed more stock, acre for acre, than Sonora. In the
narrow valleys there grows a weed (it was just coming up
149
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH ATMERICA.
when I passed through the country in the middle of December), the virtues of which, I am told, are very great. If a
worn-out horse is pastured on it, his stiffened sinews soon
relax. He fattens faster than on anything else, and soon
acquires a new lease of life and activity. I met some
Americans who were in the habit of buying broken-down
horses in the States, and taking them       down to Sonora to
regenerate them.
  The climate is all that can be desired; frosts, in winter,
occur over the greater part of the State--a very necessary
tonic for the health of the stock. Enough rain falls during
the year to replenish the tanks of the stock ranches. The
winters are never so severe as to require stall-feeding, nor do
the occasional falls of snow lie long on the ground. The food
changes with the seasons, and there is always an abundance.
No diseases of any kind are known to prevail among the stock
north of the line of frost, but farther south, on the rich lands
of the Yaqui and Mayo country, periodical epidemics, similar
to those of southern Texas, sometimes attack the high-fed
cattle. While horses, horned cattle, and goats thrive well on
the plateaux, fine wool-bearing sheep will prove remunerative
in the mountain regions only, because the heat of the mid-day
sun has been found to thin the fleece.*
   Many districts were once famous for the enormous quantity
of stock raised by the rancheros. Amongst these were San
Pedro, San Bernardino, and Bucuachi, in the north-east;
Altar and the country north of it; Norea, Cruces, and La
Posa, north of Hermosillo; and many other places where not
a head of cattle is now to be seen. It was pitiable to ride,
day after day, for many hundred miles through magnificent
  * Sheep-farmers of South Australia may think the last remark an error.
Some varieties may be able to stand the heat without injury to the fleece.
150
MINERAL WEALTH.
grazing-lands, covered as far as the eye could reach with
thick, short, delicate grasses, so sweet and nutritious, and
never to see even the hoof-print of any kind of stock. The
whole of northern Sonora may truly be said at the present
time to be completely swept of cattle. What the Apaches
left were taken to supply the contending armies. With the
cattle went the people, driven by fear into the towns and
larger villages; so that now the ranches are deserted, the
orange-groves grow wild, and the few stray cattle which now
and then flee at the approach of the traveller have long lost
their masters. So depopulated are these vast grazing regions
that even the Apaches have ceased to visit them, for there
is no plunder to take, no animals to drive away.
  JUnder the protection of a strong government what a paradise this country would be to the stock-farmer! Not obliged to
roam about in search of fresh grass and water, he can choose
a suitable place for his stock-ranche, and dig his tank in a
hollow to which drainage sufficient could be directed to fill it;
no covering being necessary for the stock, he can confidently
rely upon the variety of pasturage, and the succession of
natural crops to keep his cattle always well supplied with
food.
           THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF SONORA.
   Almost the whole of this State is remarkable for. the widespread distribution of its mineral wealth. There is scarcely
a hill that does not show signs of gold, silver, or copper ores
-scarcely a brook that will not yield to the miner the colour
of gold. But how large an extent of country, or how many
localities are likely to prove sufficiently rich in minerals to
pay, is a question impossible at present satisfactorily to
answer.
151
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
   The general character of the veins about the boundary line
and in northern Sonora is, that they are narrow, often very
rich, generally very numerous, but capricious-giving out, or
changing their direction so continually, that the miner can
never feel certain of his prospects beyond what he actually
sees as day by day he develops his mine. There are some
exceptions to this, such as the large masses of mineral giving
a low percentage of precious metal which are situated about
the head-waters of the Rio Santa Cruz, forming what is called
the Santa Cruz mining district.   To develop this region,
many mines were opened, called the French, the Empire,
Boundary, Patagonia, &c. The ores yielded but thirty dollars
of silver per ton. They were so easily reduced (being argentiferous galena), that mining prospered here until the troops
were withdrawn at the breaking out of the American civil
war, and the region was left to the mercy of the Apaches,
who nearly succeeded in massacring those who were working
the Patagonian Mine, drove off the stock, and made mining
for a time impossible. Much fine machinery now remains
idle; for up to the present time the miners have not resumed
work.
  A second district (the Cababi), situated about sixty miles
west of St. Xavier del Bac, has now about six mines being
worked upon it. The ore is the black sulphuret of silver,
and yields an average, including first, second and third
grades, of 100 dollars per ton.
   A third district is called the Tucson district: it occupies
the mountains immediately to the west of that town. The
ores are very rich; but the veins are thin and capricious.
   In the Santa Rita Mountains there is a fourth district of
the same name (Santa Rita).     Silver mines were opened
here; but since the manager, Mr. W. Wrighton, was killed
152
IIISTORY OF MINING UNDER THE SPANIARDS.
by the Apaches, all work has ceased. The largest enterprise
was that which led to the opening of the Colorado Mine, and
caused the erection of the twenty-stamp mill and other
machinery now standing at Enviguetta, which I have already
mentioned. Mismanagement and extravagance brought this
company to ruin.
  The above districts are all in United States' territory.
They represent the first abortive attempt at silver mining
in the south, and tend to show that the natural disadvantages
peculiar to these regions are at present almost too great to be
overcome. Labour and provisions are high, the expense of
transporting and putting up machinery is enormous, water
is scarce; but for all that the silver is there, and will
eventually be got at.
  In forming a true conclusion as to the value of the mineral
resources of Sonora, the history of its mining operations is a
very necessary part of the evidence.   Sonora and Sinaloa,
under Spanish rule, were one State, and had their base of
supplies, not at Guaymas, Agiavanpo, or any harbour on the
Pacific coast, but at Vera Cruz. From this far-distant port,
all the supplies sent from Old Spain to the settlers-everything, in fact, that they required-had to be packed on mules,
a distance of 2,000 miles, first to the city of Mexico, thence
along the great military road to Chihuahua, across the Sierra
Madre vid Concepcion, to Arispe, the then capital of Sonora,
where the troops were paid, and from which point supplies
were distributed to the military posts and missions scattered
all over the country. But notwithstanding the remoteness of
the province from its base of supply, the Spaniards during
nearly a hundred years of peace, and under the protection of
a strong military government, carried on their mining and
agricultural operations most vigorously, discovered most of
153
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the large rich veins throughout the country, and worked
them to a very considerable extent.
   The government exacted from the miner five per cent. of
the gross produce of his mine; and gave him military protection in return. But the Spaniard, although the Indian popution afforded him abundance of labour to work the mines, had
neither machinery to use when the water-level had been
reached, nor the knowledge necessary for reducing the rich
sulphurets which he was pretty sure to encounter at that
point.
   The system  of reduction known as the "patio" worked
well in the reduction of the free ores which had been
oxidised above the water-level; but other systems of reduction being there unknown, the mine was generally abandoned
when the water-level had been reached. Even the necessity
of abandoning the mine before it was half worked out
naturally led to the discovery of a greater number of veins
and a more thorough investigation of the mineral resources of
the district; and thus the whole country was thoroughly
prospected. No capital was used to develop the mine, no
tunnel was bored to drain it; but still, with the croppings
alone to represent the capital, and the Indian slaves, the
labour and machinery, the production was far greater than
it has ever been since, or probably will be for many years to
come. This was the state of the mining interest up to 1827,
when all the energy, ability, and capacity for organization
was suddenly    withdrawn   from  the  country  when   the
Spaniards were banished by the new-born Mexican Republic.
   When the mushroom     creole aristocracy sought in the
mines for the wealth which had made their Spanish masters
so enviable, knowing nothing in most cases of mining, they
left the management of it to others, squandered the proceeds
154
EXPULSION OF THE SPANIARDS.
when the vein was productive, and reserved nothing for the
future when unremunerative work should become necessary;
and thus many fine mines were abandoned when a small
expenditure would have again made them profitable.
  Besides the indolence, extravagance, and ignorance of the
new owners, a second blow fell heavily upon the mining
interest-the withdrawal of troops from the frontier provinces to take part in the intestine strifes nearer the centre.
The Opitas rebelled and caused much damage to the mining
districts of the north-east; the Apaches discovered how
things were, and poured down from the north in larger hordes
than ever.
  The third adverse influence was the work of the Gainbosinos. Under the mining laws of New Spain, the miner
was obliged to support his mine by leaving a sufficient
number of pillars (formed of ore not removed) to ensure its
safety; but under the Republic no laws could be enforced,
and when the mines became abandoned, they immediately
fell a prey to the Gambosinos (men who worked in companies,
but each for himself), and as the pillars came first to hand,
and yielded immediate returns, they were removed, and, in
consequence, down came the walls, burying beyond reach the
unexhausted treasures of the mine itself. Thus it is that
most of the old mines of this State, the best and most
productive, having enriched their original owners and being
still unexhausted, are now mostly buried under their own
ruins. Notwithstanding this, the general opinion amongst
those who are capable of forming one is, that the path which
leads to the most important mineral deposits is sure to be
found by following, to a great extent, the footsteps of the
Spanish miners. They found the best veins, and would have
increased the production of silver year by year, had they not
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
been driven away, leaving for others mines which are only
half developed, and which contain their precious metals in
the best possible form, now that we know how to manipulate
them-I mean      as sulphurets.    But to get at these it is
necessary that capital should be expended which cannot
at the outset be remunerative, for a tunnel to drain an old
mine cannot be bored in a day, much less can the debris be
cheaply removed. When Sonora becomes Anglo-Saxon there
will be some hope for the future-until then, there is none.
   The following are the chief districts in which silver mining
has been or is still carried on.
      1. Alamos, in the south.
      2. Barojica, between Rios Yaqui and Mayo.
      3. Santa Juliana, near Los Cedras.
      4. San Marcial, on the Rio San Jose.
      5. San Xavier.
      6. Los Bronces,           Upper Yaqui.
      7. San Antonio de la Huerta. Upper Yaqui.
      8. La Barronca.
      9. San Juan de Sonora.
      10. Babicamora,
      11. Banawachi, in north-eastern Sonora.
      12. Nacasari,
      13. Zubiate, forty miles south-west of Hermosillo.
      14. Aquagu (Minos Prietos).
      15. Alameda.
      16. Zaric, Rio Altar.
      17. La Cieneguita,
      18. Mulatos,    between Saguaripe and Jesus Maria, in the
      19. Jerva Buena,            Sierra Madre.
      20. La Cananea, )
      21. Soyopa, Rio Yaqui.
      22. Limposos.
      23. Carrigole.
      24. La Dura, Rio Chico.
      25. Relitos.
      26. Tecoripa, twenty miles west of San Antonio.
      27. Batopilas,
      28.' Chimipas, head-waters of Rio Fuerte.
      29. Urique,
      30. Bucuachi.
Outside these districts scattered ledges of gold or silver
156
SILVER MINES.
bearing quartz are of course to be met with, and there are
many insignificant localities not named in the above catalogue;
for almost every ranche has some favourite mine near it, the
boundless wealth of which forms part of the belief of the
inhabitants, who, however, seldom show energy enough to put
their belief to the test.
   The above districts are subject, according to their position,
either to the mint at Hermosillo, or that at Alamos, in the
southern part of the State. The average amount coined at
these establishments during the five years preceding the
Maximilian war was about 60,000 dollars per month at each
mint.  During the war, that is for nearly three years, both
mints were stopped, and since that time Hermosillo has been
coining about 30,000 per month, Alamos, 60,000, with every
probability of an increase to 70,000 or 80,000 dollars in a few
months' time, on account of the productiveness of some mines
recently taken up in the vicinity.*
   1st. The district tributary to Hermosillo.
   The Bronces and Trinidad mines, besides the Nahuila
worked with the Bronces, are owned by a Mexican, Matias
Alzua by name.   The former, from  January to November of
1867, furnished 83,000 dollars to the mint; the latter, 15,500.
In both, all the rich ores were sent to Europe for reduction.
The Bronces and Nahuila supply a mill of twenty stamps,
but they could keep twenty-five stamps always employed.
The Trinidad supplies a fifteen-stamp mill, which ought to be
increased to twenty.  The El Taste Mine (Tecoripa district),
worked by an American company, sent, up to November,
1867, 38,000 dollars to the mint. A ten-stamp mill is equal
  * The particulars here stated were gathered from persons on the spot in
December, 1867; I have especially to thank Mr. Johnson of San Marcial, and
Mr. Simons, part owner of the mint at Hermosillo, for rendering me so much
assistance in obtaining reliable mining information.
157
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERTCA.
of the Rio Grande valley. Inl a direct line it is sixty-three
miles from Santa Ft. A fi,w grroves and solitary cotton-wood
trees gi\ve a de-gree of slhadle to the place, but bevyoind this it
might be a brick-yard as seen at a distance. Distance here
certainly (loes not Illnd e'llehantillent to the \view, for on close
inspection every house is fiound to possess a gardein weAll
filled with p(acll(hls, apples, plums of every de.scription, and
vinles bearing most d(li,iouls grapes. Then, as one approachels,
fields of Indian corn pop, up oi all sides, having beeln hidden
from view by the lowness of their position; and, lastly, in
thie centre oft tile townm, a v(.ery inviting.1chur(.h, with twin
spires, adds gr1e atly to tlhe alppe,arance of tile plaza.
   The little Aitierican ',liy hIere received us most hospitabldy.
In the eve,liing" all sat togetlher, a party of n11arlv a doze,n, ill
the large1 c()),1 room of one of lthe recsident miirchants, and
'enjoyed a social chat whilst full justice was done to the
flowing howl.
  3onlley-lllakimig is, of course, tile great desideratumll  whitch
attracts the white mian to so out-of'-tlie-way a coun.try, fitr
from hIlonie, anld fte'll also fro,l all lthat is dear to 111111.  )ice
herel, he cares little what le dtoes provided it pays. The
most enterrtainimng mian of tlhe eve,i"g at AlbIquierlque was a
young Souftlerner, wlho kept its in rloars of laughter with his
droll stories, while hIe( did the hliomoairs of the evecniing with
the most dlitiul tase and g,1   d 1reediuug. At parting, lie
told us that we, should lte called earl next mi oIrning to visit
some of tlie fruit gardens and take anl carly breakfitstbreakfhist No. i-of grapes and pa:ches.    " You must comnc
and see Inc on your way,' said he       I am the butcher of
Albuquerque, and as the people must have their chops, youn
mIust OXCsOS mIy abSemIN-.'  So next mllOrilln   s  e' were,
being comnducted to the vineyards, we recognised our friend4
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
at present to its requirements. There are several mines and
mills lying idle in this district, some from mismanagement,
some for want of ores. The San Marcial American Mining
Company has sent, in the last two months of the same year,
17,000 dollars from their ten-stamp mill. The Governor's
mine at Banawachi has sent this year, up to November, 15,000
dollars from  its twenty-stamp mill.   In the Babicamora
district, below Arispe, a Mexican is erecting a mill, which
promises to be remunerative, as much silver was formerly
obtained here by the old patio process. At La Dura (Rio
Chico) a Mexican company is commencing work. Then La
Barronca (San Antonio de la HIuerta district) produced considerable silver for two years, but this has been temporarily
arrested while a tunnel is being made. At Chipionena an
American company is also commencing work. At Zubiate a
Mexican company sent 30,000 dollars to the mint in 1867,
and expected to double that amount in 1868. The mill works
fifteen stamps. Besides Banawachi, Governor Pesquera has a
mine at Cananea (three days' journey north of Arispe), of lead,
silver, and copper. This was a good mine, but having been
abandoned during the revolution, the Apaches burnt the steam
engine and destroyed the smelting works.         Santa Theresa
and Los Ginga of Zuape are both good mines, and worked to
advantage. The yield of the above veins, taking an average
of all the ores, is about the following:                         Dollars per ton.
       Bronces.            50
       Nahuila.. 150
       Trinidad.. 150
       San Marcial. 100
       El Taste.... 100
       Chipionena           60
       Zubiate.            50
       Banawachi            35, 17' of silver and 171 of gold.
       Babicamora           60, also partly gold.
158
PRO-MONTORIA AND TIRTE VEINS.
  2nd. The southern district, tributary to Alamos.
  There is no district in the State to compare in importance
with that of Alamos. The two great veins, if they are not
the same vein, are the Promontoria and the Tirte.
  The Promontoria Mine belongs to the heirs of Almuda, and
has produced many millions' worth of silver. Before the late
war, the owners were in treaty with an English company to
sell the mine for 150,000 dollars. It was then full of water,
and could not be thoroughly examined.       Since then an
American company, which bought the Tirte Mine, has, by
driving a tunnel, completely drained the Promontoria, and I
have since heard that the English company are again prepared
to bid for it. The famous old mine, the Deus Padre, is also
on the same vein, and is being reopened by an American
company.    The vein upon which these mines are situated is
fourteen yards in thickness, and all metal, yielding an average
of from sixty to eighty dollars to the ton. The ore is black
sulphuret of silver. Eighteen leagues from Alamos is situated
the famous mine of Don Miguel Urrea-the Palmarejo.
This mine, by the Mexican process alone, can still produce
30,000 dollars per month, whilst one thousand "barreteros"
can work at one time in the passages of its " labores." A
mine bought for 150,000 dollars by the English company
which is in treaty for the Promontoria, and situated at
Uruachi, is yielding large quantities of silver, and quite
equals the expectations of the owners. A new silver mine
has recently been discovered near Soyopa, on the Rio Yaqui,
the ores of which are abundant, and yield by the simplest
Mexican process of amalgamation, without need of roasting,
from 400 to 800 dollars per ton.
  Alamos also receives silver from Batopilas (in which district
there are no less than six hundred distinct veins), Jesu Maria,
159
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Juaguparis, Chinipas, Urique, and several other smaller districts in the mountains about the borders of Chihuahua and
the heads of the Rio Fuerte.
   Besides the silver contributed by the few prominent mines
already referred to, there is a considerably less, though appreciable, amount brought in driblets by the Mexican mining
population inhabiting chiefly the districts named, who support themselves by this means. These people, chiefly Gambosinos, are the best possible judges of ores, but the worst
possible hands at their reduction. As, however, the mineral
wealth of the State is so diffused, and as there are such
countless numbers of narrow rich veins, an indefinite increase
of silver might be supplied from this source, if the country
were cleared of Apaches and robbers, and the miners enabled
to work in peace.
  As a gold-bearing State, Sonora has not become as yet conspicuous. The production has never averaged more than
one-seventh in value that of silver, and of late years has
seldom exceeded one-twelfth. There are not three stamp mills
crushing gold quartz in the State. Placer mining is carried
on chiefly by the Indians in different places all over the State,
but only during the wet season.
   Some of the chief districts for placer mining are         Los Lanos, near the main road from Hermosillo to Altar.
         Metape, eighteen leagues from Ures.
         La Brisca, near Arispe.
         Bucuache,,,,,
         San Antonio de La IHuerta, Rio Yaqui.
         La ]3onanata, near San Marcial.
         Barajita, south of Santa Anna.
         La Sombrareta, west of Zarie.
   The question of coal supply to the Pacific coast is one of
the greatest possible importance. There are many places in
California where lignite and inferior coals come to the surface;
160
THE COAL-FIELDS OF SONORA.
the most important of these districts is the Monte Diabalo
basin, near San Francisco. The best proof of the quality of
this coal is that the annual production has not yet reached
100,000 tons; it is only fit for consumption in private houses
and for a few other purposes. All the coal used for shipping,
blacksmiths' forges, steam engines, &c., is imported into San
Francisco from Vancouver's Island, where there is an abundance of the best qualities.
  Now in Southern Sonora the true carboniferous strata are
to be found, and with them  an abundance of coal.  It lies,
unfortunately, too far from the sea-coast to be of any practical
value at present; still it is there.  I examined specimens from
several localities, but cannot say much for the greater number.  San Marcial, sixty miles from Guaymas, is the nearest
point to the coast where large quantities are to be found.
What I saw from   that place, however, was not good.  The
good coal lies far away in the interior, upon both sides of the
Upper Yaqui River, and from some spots there I obtained
specimens equal in every respect to the finest coal of Newcastle or Pennsylvania.  The future of Sonora depends, of
course, greatly upon her coal. There can, in fact, be no
doubt but that Sonora contains much mineral wealth; she
cannot vie with such States as Guanaxuato or Zacatecas, nor
have any veins been yet discovered equal to that of the Real
del Monte, the Sombrerete, or La Luz; but so uncertain is
mining, and so little known is Sonora, that, any day, some Vita
Madre or Vita Grande may be discovered which will rival
those of the above-named States.
  As regards her sister State, Chihuahua, it was my opinion
on leaving Mexico that the eastern State was the richer of the
two; the mineral wealth is more concentrated, and some of
the veins near the city of Chihuahua, although abandoned
   VOL. II.                  3M
161
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
now, were enormously productive. I read with great interest
Mr. Charles Sevin's paper on the mines of Chihuahua, in the
" Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860." Here
much valuable information will be found on this subject."
The only other information on Chihuahua I can name is to be
found in " Dr. Wislizenus' Tour to Northern Mexico. 1848
(30 Congress, No. 26)."      These reports confirm     me in my
belief that Chihuahua is a State of no ordinary merit, and
surpasses Sonora both in mineral wealth and fertility.
   The absorption of the four northern States of Mexico by
the Great Republic will be a real gain to the civilised world,
and ought to be a source of unfeigned congratulation to all
branches of the Anglo-Saxon family, as a fresh and valuable
addition   to their territories.   No nation    understands the
"development"      of a new     country   so thoroughly    as the
Americans; and they know well what they are about.            The
time has not yet come when this rich addition of territory can
be quietly and inexpensively absorbed into the Union. A
  * "Santa Eulalia," says Mr. Sevin, "a little town of 1,500 inhabitants
surrounded by several hundred mines, is only five leagues distant from the
town of Chihuahua, where ever since 1703 the ores have been transported for
their metallurgical treatment, the situation of the mines themselves being
rather unfavourable for that purpose. By the immense wealth thus concentrated at Chihuahua, the population of this city, now reduced to 12,000 inhabitants, was raised at one time to 76,000. In the space of ten square
leagues more than two hundred mines have been worked, and upwards of fifty
of them have been sunk to the depth of 200 yards. Some of them are so
extensive that a whole day will not suffice to see the different parts of one
alone.
  "With regard to the immense amount of silver extracted from these mines,
the following statements will be found interesting. At the most flourishing
time a contribution was raised of two grains of silver from every marc (I lb.)
extracted, for the purpose of building two churches. They were built in a few
years; the cost of one was 600,000 dollars, that of the other 150,000, and a
surplus remained of 150,000 dollars. Thus the contribution amounted to
900,000 dollars, and represented an amount of metal equal to 145,000,000
dollars extracted from the mines of Santa Eulalia in the course of a few years.
  " In the year 1833, a census of the whole amount was made, and it reached to
43,000,000 marcs of silver, or 430,000,000 dollars " (a dollar = 4s. 2d. in silver).
162
FUTURE PROSPECTS.
trans-continental railway must first be completed through the
southern territories of the United States; there must be a
fair sprinkling of American settlers scattered throughout the
States to be acquired, so as to lead the people in the paths of
enlightened republicanism; and the Mexican population, at
present ruled by Congress, must be more firmly united to the
Americans by the bonds of political freedom. All this I am
confident will be done in time, and a very few years will
elapse, after the boundary line has been again moved southward, before we shall find railroads traversing the countrya line to Chihuahua, another to Guaymas, or, still better, to
Toquivampo or Mazatlan, and a third, perhaps, entering from
southern Texas. Then will follow a rapid increase in the
production of the precious metals, a result which directly
affects all nations burdened with a heavy national debt.
  Sonora and Sinaloa, with a fine healthy climate of which
States farther south cannot boast, situated, moreover, along a
coast well supplied with harbours, and having an industrious
Indian population accustomed to labour, should hold a similar
position towards the Pacific States, as the South naturally
occupies towards the North.     All the semi-tropical productions, such as rice, sugar, coffee, indigo, cotton, and
tobacco, should here be grown for California and the Northern
Pacific; while mining, machinery, merchandise, and all the
luxuries which accompany Anglo-Saxon civilisation, would
form the obvious articles of exchange. Thus, although the
present is a day of darkness to them, there is more promise
in the immediate future for these northern provinces than for
any other part of the Mexican Republic.
M2
163
CHAPTER XI.
     HOW  THE SURVEYORS FARED ON THE 35TH PARALLEL.
Alone in San Francisco.-Arrivals.-The Surveyors on the 35th parallel.-El
    Moro.-Spanish Inscriptions.-Dr. Parry at Zutii.-Sierra Madre.    Colorado Chiquito.-M-ount Agassiz and the San Francisco Peaks.-General
    Palmer's Narrative:-Difficulties of a Cation country.--Sycamore Caijon.
    -Indian Attack.-Scaling the Walls.--Attempt to skirt the Caiion above.
    -Failure.-Again enter the Caiion.-Night.-Firing into the fire.    Camp at last.-The fate of Signor and Don.-Lessons taught by the
    Fight.
WEEK after week passed slowly away at San Francisco; I was
quite an invalid, and thereby learned to appreciate perhaps
more thoroughly    than  I otherwise should have done, the
advantages of some of the institutions of America; and that
too without any expense, for I was very short of money at the
time, having carried as little as possible with me through
Mexico. I became member of a first-rate library, where,
amongst other luxuries, the English journals and daily papers
regularly arrived.  Every morning I searched the provincial
news of the south to get a glimpse at the progress of our
surveyors. But with the exception of finding that three of
my friends, General Palmer, Major Calhoun, and Dr. Parry,
had reached Fort Mojave on the Rio Colorado, and that the
centre of California was impassable on account of the floods,
not the slightest clue could I discover as to their whereabouts.
   It rained for three weeks day and night incessantly; it was
too sultry for warm clothes, too damp for cool ones; yet I
must confess that San Francisco, even when seen to the
A.~ v; ~J0~n II[ii
Up1 ""~~   ~~i'
WR'7...f
slrr;o E"
i
E
SAN FRANCISCO.
greatest disadvantage, as I saw it, is one of the pleasantest
cities in the world. It is the least American city in the
States, and yet it has all that is good of American institutions. Cosmopolitan of course it is. Every morning I had
my boots blacked by an African, my chin shaved by a
European, and my bed made by an Asiatic; a Frenchman
cooked my dinner, an Englishman showed me to my seat, an
Irishman changed my plate, a Chinaman washed my tablenapkin, and a German handed me my bill. But of this
delightful city I will not say a word; an old college friend of
mine has already given the public so vivid a sketch of San
Francisco, so full of thought, vigour, and truth, that nothing
remains for me but to render to Mr. Dilke my best congratulations on the complete success of his delineation.
  At the end of the seventh week, my own party arrived by
sea from San Pedro; two days later, another came in from
the 35th parallel; and the next morning, when I went from
my hotel, the Cosmopolitan, to hear the latest news at the Occidental, in came five of the shabbiest-looking fellows I ever
saw. Their coats were torn, their caps washed into shapeless
mushrooms of felt, their faces tanned and bearded, and their
figures covered with mud; these were      Palmer, Colton,
Calhoun, Parry, and Willis; all my old friends had arrived
together. What congratulations we had! How we startled
the " Frisco" dandies who were languidly perusing          the
morning papers; with what determination they (Palmer and
party, not the dandies), sat down to breakfast while the
waiters covered the table with the choicest fare of the best
hotel in the States; and how they enjoyed that first " square
mealI" of civilization!
  The festivities, the convivialities, the cocktails, and the
punches which followed, soon instilled new life into me, and
165
         Uibrary
lininersity of FittBsburgp
Da rlington.Wino4jal Library
   (flasii
~1,
ALBUQUERQUE.
with blue blouse and paper cap-knife in hand, performing
wonders in dissection upon his slaughtered sheep.      Two
hours later, on our return to the hotel, we stopped at the
office of the Albuquer,lue Clrwonivle. At the door we met the
editor and prop1,rietor, whoh, to our great amusement, was no
other than our flicetious host of the night before, the butcher
of All,uquerque, aiil now, bereft of blouse, the energetic
editor of the daily paper.
  Is not a lesson to be learned from this little sketch of
W,estern lift? I w(,ould at least last respecthifully recommendll it to
the.ollsideration  f o ur would-be emiigramilts.
  From Albuquerque we travelled in the valley of the Rio
(; ram1de, 11.5 miles, to Flort ('raig.  For the whole of this
dista(ce tlhe valley was studded o(l both sides with numerous
villages, some  )elonging to Pellho  Indians, the greater
n111iumber to'Mexicans. The largest of the fiarmier was Isleta,
wl('re ((Coltoll a11d myself rested(l an hour or two at mid-day,
after leavig All U)Iq(lerque, alu,m( enja oyd th lie produce of a
very fine vin'yardl, cult ivated, ()f course, by the Iindians. The
hIll(ses were b)uilt, like those (of tlhe MexicIanis, of adobe, but
were mu11111h larger; many were (of two stories; all seemed to
contain more thanll ome thlmily, al were not entered from the
outside or friom tlle roo', as it is ('c(1 on11(  in sonm  pueblos, but
ge,erially V frI. m an illel'r 1' lurt. The irri-gatingj dit(-hes were well
built and cared ftr, and thle whole place had a more well-to-do
look about it than tlhe Mexican villages generally exhilbit.
Thle crops were also lineir. Soime of the Indians, clothed in
1)uckskil and in fur, lay iask,ing in the sun, and took little or
no notice of us as we passd(l.
   Thlie greater part of the valley is here almost entirely
destitute of trees. This may be partly accounted for by the
fiact t that the banks of the rie\-r are of a sandy, friable nature,
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
enabled me to shake off the dregs of a fever which seemed
until then determined to keep me down.
  As may be imagined, so much was said about the surveys,
that those who had been on the 32nd parallel almost fancied
they had traversed the 35th also, and those who had devoted
their energies to exploring the Colorado Chiquito, felt that
they knew just as much about the Gila. For my own part I
can scarcely believe that I have never read the Spanish inscriptions on El Moro, or tried to trade, like Dr. Parry, with
the Indians of Zuffi, or that I did not form part of Palmer's
little band when they were attacked by the Apaches in
Sycamore Caiion; that the San Francisco peaks and the lovely
parks around them have only as yet been seen with the eye
of fancy; and that James White, the hero of the Great CaRion,
did not tell his wonderful tale to me. On the way back,
when Palmer, Colton, and I recrossed the continent by stage
through Salt Lake City, we worked out together many of the
little problems in physical geography which I have mentioned
in this book, and killed the monotony of the dreary hours by
comparing notes of our different journeys.
  I devote this chapter to a brief notice of some of the most
interesting features met with by the surveyors on the 35th
parallel. The region they traversed was far richer in objects of
interest than that farther south, by which I completed my
crossing of the continent. My original intention was to have
taken this more northern route, but a doctor was wanted on the
32nd parallel, and as a professional photographer arrived from
the States just in time to accompany the parties on the 35th
parallel, I found it advisable to alter my plans, and to become
doctor and photographer of the southern half of the expedition.
   I shall not describe the different routes taken by the
166
EL MORO.
separate parties, for such an attempt would fill a volume
instead of a chapter, but I shall relate, with the help given
me by my friends who were present, the most interesting
adventures met with on the way, and shall sketch here and
there the country traversed by them.
  Whilst two parties were surveying north      of the bold
volcanic cone, San Mateo (Mount Taylor), west of the Rio
Grande, and exploring Navajo Pass (Campbell's Pass), the
third was travelling south of the mountain; visiting the
interesting pueblos of Laguna and Acoma, examining Inscription Rock, which the Spaniards named El Moro, and
making the acquaintance of the Aztec Indians of Zuhi.
   On approaching Inscription Rock you are struck with its
wonderful resemblance to a Moorish castle, and acknowledge
at once the justice of the old Spanish name. It is-as may be
seen by the engraving, an exact copy of a photograph taken by
our professional artist- sufficiently large to be a fine landmark for the surrounding district, and it is fortunate for
us all that the earliest Spanish pioneers thought so too, for
they have engraved their names and the dates of their expeditions on every side of the rock, leaving behind them a record
of events, some of which would otherwise have been entirely
lost to history. Close to the left hand corner, almost hidden
by the brushwood, is the most ancient date of all.
               " DoN JOSEPH DE BASEMZELES, 1526."
  Arranging the inscriptions in chronological order, and using
the translation furnished by Lieutenant Simpson in his report,
we find the following:            "Passed by this place with despatches....
                    16th day of April, 1606."
  "J. APARELA, 1619 (hieroglyphics not decipherable).
  " Governor and Captain-General of the Province of New Mexico, for our
167
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Lord the King, passed by this place, on his return from the Pueblo of Zufii,
on the 29th of July, of the year 1620, and put them in peace at their petition,
asking the favour to become subjects of his majesty, and, anew, they gave
obedience; all which they did with free consent, knowing it prudent as well
as very Christian.... (words effaced).... to so distinguished and gallant
a soldier, indomitable and famed, we love;".... (remainder effaced).
  "JuAN GONZALES, 1629.... MANUEL.... " (probably Francisco
Manuel).
  "Passed this place, Sergeant Major, and Captain JUAN ARCHULETA, and
the traveller DIEGO MARTIN BARBA, and Second Lieutenant JUAN YNES
JOSANO, in the year 1636" (hieroglyphics).
  " ARITOMA GON SALEZ, in the year 1667.... country of Mexico, in the
year 1632. Folio.... BENGOso, by order of Father LEBADO LUJAN."
  " Here passed General DON DIEGO DE BARGAS, to conquer Santa F6 for the
royal crown, New Mexico, at his own cost, in the year 1692."
  " In the year 1641 BARTOLOME ROMELO...."
  "ANTONIO B.... DON FRANCESCO.... for the impossibility....
JENE.... there to subject; his arm undoubted, and his valour, with the
wagons of our Lord the King, a thing which he alone did-E. FECIO DE
ABToslo-six hundred and twenty-nine" (probably intended for 1629).
  " In the year 1696 passed D. M." (hieroglyphics).
  " Captain JUDE VUBARRI, in the year of our Lord 1701."
  " JUAN GARCIA DE LA RIVAS, Chief Alcalde and the first elected of Santa
F6, in the year 1716, on the 26th of August. By the hand of BARTOLO FERNANDEZ ANTONIO FERNANDEZ MORO."
  " AUGUSTINE DE YNOJOS."
  "In the year 1716, upon the 26th day of August, passed by this place DON
FELIX MARTINEZ, Governor and Captain-General of this kingdom, for the purpose of reducing and uniting Moqui..."
  " Licentiate Chaplain Friar ANTONIO CAMARGO, Custodian and Ecclesiastical
Judge."
  " SIMON DE SALAS."
  " ANTONIA NOMOYA."
  "On the 14th day of July, of the year 1736, passed by this place General
JUAN PAEZ HURTADOR, Inspector; and in his company, Corporal JOSEPH
ARMENTA, &C."
  On the 28th day of September, in the year 1737, arrived at this place the
illustrious Doctor DON MARTIN DE LIZO COCHEA, Bishop of Durango, and on
the 29th left for Zufii."
  " JOSEPH DOMINGUEZ passed by this place in October, and others, September 28, with much caution and some apprehension."
   There are many other Spanish names of later date and less
interest.
168
('MQO0 NOIT,cdllSc NI) OuOx ria
*OP TGa10-TyooiguDuLI
'' -a?;
  I;.  i: ~-;-~id na:i:lr
.~
;:: ~ir
;-t R~~
,
     ~P~
~~L:
     ~~I~ i.
 Z_- ~:: ~_`~'
DR. PARRY AT ZUNI.
  When Lieutenant Simpson added his own name, and that
of many of his party, to the above inscriptions, on September
18th, 1849, there was only one previous inscription in English,
this was:  " O. R., March 19, 1836."
  Since then, Whipple's expedition and the names of many
of his party; Beal's expedition, and the names of some of his
companions; many more names of Californian volunteers;
and, lastly, the chief names connected with the present survey
of the U.P.R.W., E.D.,* have been added to the list; so that
now, what with Indian hieroglyphics and English names, the
old historic ones are harder to decipher than ever.
  I heard some curious stories about the behaviour of my
friends Dr. Parry and Major Calhoun during the few days they
were encamped at Zuhi, which is situated but a few miles west
of El Moro. Their love of science and Indian curiosities had
led them, I believe, to invest about one hundred dollars whilst
at Santa Fe in things which they thought would be most prized
by the Indians to be met with on the way. With great
difficulty they had succeeded in transporting their goods and
chattels to ZuRi, and here they determined to unfold their rich
treasure to the envious eyes of the untutored savage. They
wanted -to exc: ange their sham bijouterie-radiant with the
largest diamonds and brass-and their fine linen made of cotton
print, for the embroidered robes, weapons, native implements,
and other objects of Indian vertu possessed by the ZuRians.
  These good people, however, did not seem to relish the
exchange; nose-rings, ear-rings, and other adornments, produced not the least effect upon them; even Calhoun's best
speeches failed to raise the bartering emotions of the tribe.
      "~ Then the Union Pacific ailway Company, Eastern Division.
169
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
The doctor had broken down his favourite mule by the
length of his geological rambles, but he failed to obtain a
substitute in the shape of a pony from the Indians. They
accepted his gifts with much apparent gusto; they willingly
-rather too willingly-accompanied him in his search for
fossils and flowers; they exchanged their corn for goods
when a very advantageous offer was made them, but everything of value they kept to themselves.
  Our party only succeeded, after infinite bargaining, in
obtaining two small sheep out df their numerous herds, and
left, fully persuaded that the ZuRians were the "smartest"
traders west of the Mississippi.
  Zufi is situated fifty miles to the west of the dividing
ridge of the continent, called in consequence the Sierra
Madre; the divide is crossed vid Navajo Pass at an elevation
of 7,177 feet, through Zuii Pass at 7,926. Much coal crops
out in many places on the way to Zuii from the Rio Grande
valley, and the country about this pueblo is very beautiful
and fertile, producing abundance of fruit, chiefly peaches, and
large crops of maize, without irrigation.
  The western slopes of the Sierra Madre are considered by
General Palmer to be infinitely superior in every respect to
those of the Wahsatch Range, which the Mormons have
colonised for several hundred miles with a population
amounting to 100,000 souls, converting that so-called desert
into plantations, orchards, and fields of waving corn.
   About one hundred miles west of the continental divide
the main line reaches the Colorado Chiquito, and follows the
valley for about fifty miles; for which distance it varies in
width from one to three miles, and possesses a rich alluvial
soil, with abundance of running water for irrigation. Then
comes a short canon, above which the valley is fertile and
170
MOUNT AGASSIZ.
beautiful, varying in width from three to five miles, for fifty
miles farther, when it is merged in a huge cafion which
extends with unbroken walls to the Rio Colorado.
   Leaving the valley of the Colorado Chiquito, the line
next passes for one hundred miles through the most beautiful
country on any part of the route from Kansas to California.
   To the south lie the Mogollon Mountains, thickly timbered
and well watered; towards the north and north-west extend
the parks and grassy plateaux from which the San Francisco
peaks rise so superbly. Winter and summer the whole
country is thickly covered with nutritious grasses; the soil
is black and rich, from the decomposition of the lava that has
been ejected in immense quantities from the extinct crater of
Mount Agassiz and its three companions, and is capable of
producing, without irrigation, wheat, barley, oats, potatoes,
and all temperate produce in abundance. This is the country
of which Beal-himself a great traveller--declares, " It is
the most beautiful region I ever remember to have seen in
any part of the world. A vast forest of gigantic pines, intersected frequently by extensive open glades, sprinkled all over
with mountains, meadows and wide savannahs, and covered
with the richest grasses, was traversed by our party for many
successive days." (See Frontispiece Vol. I.)
   The most attractive place of summer resort on the line of
the road will be here on the slopes of Mount Agassiz. It has
every attraction-scenery, sky, water, elevation, climate; and
proximity to the greatest natural curiosity known on the
American continent,-the Great Cafion of the Colorado, from
which it is distant some forty or fifty miles.
   The streams which flow from the San Francisco peaks into
the Rio Verde, a northern tributary of the Gila, cut their
several ways deeply into the plateaux lying to the southward
171
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
over which they pass, thus forming innumerable canons
which bar the way westward in the       less elevated  and
apparently smoother country below their mountain-sources.
It was not the wish of our surveyors to carry a line of
railway over the actual base of the San Francisco peaks at an
elevation exceeding 7,000 feet for 100 miles, if a lower grade
could be obtained farther south. With this object in view,
General Palmer, after having pushed rapidly forward in
advance of the parties to Prescott, determined to retrace his
steps through this intricate caion country, and ascertain if
there was any possibility of finding a practicable route through
it. He was accompanied during these excursions by iHinchman, whom my readers will remember as one of my companions in the earlier chapters; and he had also a small
detachment of soldiers and a few more members of the
survey to assist in the work; at one time General Gregg, who
happened to be at Prescott, joined him with his escort. As
General Palmer has himself furnished me with a short account
of his adventures whilst conducting these reconnoissances,
written on the spot with all the freshness which the vivid
recollections of scenes just passed alone can give, I will tell
the story in his own words:               Camp in Signal Cafion, Eastern Foot of Mogollon Range,
                         near San Francisco Mountain.
                                       Arizona, Dec. 8, 1867.
  After climbing and scrambling among these mountains for
more than two weeks since leaving Prescott, endeavouring to
find a route eastward to the Colorado Chiquito without
passing over San Francisco Mountain, I have at last reached
the valley of that river, and am waiting here in camp this
pleasant December Sunday for the return of Hinchman, whom
172
SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF CANONS.
I have sent down the river to get news if possible of Greenwood's whereabouts. Hinchman will probably find a mound
there with a letter buried, containing an account of Greenwood's movements, and stating where we can find him. We
have two signal fires burning on the highest points overlooking our camp to guide Hinchman to us, and from this
we have called the tributary of Canion Diablo in which we
are encamped, " Signal Cafton." I have called it a camp, but
it is only a " high-toned" bivouac, as we parted with tents and
wagons a fortnight ago, and since that time have relied on
pack mules, and even these have been unable to cross the
rugged country through which this reconnoissance has been
made without sacrificing some of their number to the good of
the cause.
   Last Monday, for instance, at the close of the day, while
following an old Indian trail across one of the Mogollon
ranges, suddenly, without the least previous indication,
there yawned at our feet one of those fearful chasms-the
terror of all tired travellers, when they think a few more
miles of gentle march will bring them to a good camping
spot-which are here one of the great characteristics of the
country.  If " unexpectedness" be one of the elements of
romantic grandeur in scenery, this gulf of brown and grey
rock has high claims for pre-eminence in this respect, with its
precipitous sides, 500 feet deep, and apparently so narrow
that it is at first difficult to appreciate fully the hard fact
that, before you can continue your march, it is absolutely
necessary to descend to the very bottom, and then, if you
can, to ascend on the other side. Perhaps days would have
to be consumed in heading the inexorable channel. There is
no help for it, and although the tall spruce trees in the bed
look like saplings, and the stream of water rushing along
173
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
and that the bed of the stream is always changing its position,
sometimes to one side, sometimes to the other; thus destroying fields of corn, irrigating canals, and villages; taking from
one man and giving to another, covering rich tracts of alluvial
soil with sand and rubbish, and undermining the trees which
had arrived at maturity on the firm dry land. About latitude
320 13' are two flourishing towns, La lMesilla and Los Cruces.
Not long ago the lriver passed between them, but now they
both lie on the left banik, the stream   having completely
chlianged its channel without disturbinig eitlher.
   Betw\veen the villages we oftetn met with ruins of towns,
 now quite deserted, but once fIar more extensive than those
 still inhabited. Thliese ruins were generally of adobe; but
 soIele ot' tlhe most extelnsive hlad stone fominidations, and were
 thererfre, witll(ut doIIt, otf Aztec o(rigin.
   Our d(laily wanlts obligred us often to visit the cottage of a
 Mexican fi)r lodging or reft'resllment; anid although the latter
 was usually scanty emough,ll  tie former was the perfectioii of
 rustic neatness. IIouseoldl cleanliness is as natural to some
 nations as "pigstN,osity-" is to otllers. (ompilare the Irish
 peasantry and the Mexican pe, Ils.Both are Roman Catholics;
 neither, as a rutle, are well fid or well c'lothled; both are
 indolemI,t byv lature; and, as far as brains go, surely the Irish maln stands foremiost. Yet enter their cotta(res. In one case
 you ins.tnctivelv hol your nse, aiind back out. Inm the other
 you sit on lthe floor with pleasure, anid use it as a table with out the least compunetion.    Although great neatness is
 the rule wherever I have travelled amongst tihe Mexicans,
 the cottages along tihe Rio (Grande, especially towards the
 south, seeVimed to be kvept with special taste. When shown
 into the parlour, we woutild look with dismay at our dusty
 boots and soiled apparel, for the floor would be often com6
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
among great boulders resembles a thread, and your head
swims as you gaze down from the brink, the course lies eastnorth-east; and where none but the Apache has ever gone
down before, and he on foot, you have to lead your horse,
jumping out of his way when he slips and slides on the bare
rock, and dodging the loose boulders which are rolled down
by the column following you.
  It is assumed in this country that wherever an Indian
has made a foot trail a pack mule can follow. We expected
to come across many such paths, and, after our previous
experience, would have been much surprised had we not met
some of the trail makers as well as their trails. In the
ascent of this cafion by which we are camped there was
considerable difficulty. One strong mule, who had nearly
reached the top, slipped and rolled over and over till he
reached the bottom-dead. Another tumbled nearly as far,
but must have had a very steady and well ordered brain,
as the moment he struck the river-bed below, he stood up on
his feet, and has made a day's march with us since; but we
had to shoot him yesterday. A third tumbled half-way
down, and is an ugly spectacle, with his gashed eye and
flank, but is marching along all right now, doing regular
service.
   But very few days have passed since leaving Prescott in
which we did not meet recent signs of Indians; the rude
wigwams of bunch grass and branches, which the Arizonians
call " wicky-ups;;" the moccasin tracks; the mescal heaps,
where the Indian has been roasting his supply of winter
subsistence, composed almost entirely of this root; the sweating-house or earth oven, which he gets into when sick, and
which is almost his sole remedy for disease; the fresh trail,
and the "rancheria," or village of a greater or less number of
wigwams.
174
RECENT SIGNS OF INDIANS.
  We have been surrounded by these constantly, but all
were abandoned; and although the stealthy Apache was
watching us from every rocky look-out, we could nowhere
catch sight of him. An inexperienced traveller would have
imagined that there had been a general exodus, and that the
whole race had disappeared-had gone to the Tonto basin, or
the Gila, or some remote hiding-place.
  If he wanted to have this mistake corrected, he should
have done as we did: he should have gone down into a caion
and travelled along its bed for a few miles, until he had
reached a place where you can look up on either side and not
discover the remotest chance of getting out-where ahead,
and in the rear, as far as.you can see, it looks like a deep
grey coffin. Then suddenly he would hear a war-whoop that
would make him think that all the savages in the Rocky
Mountains, from Fort Bridger to Apache Pass, were within
bow-and-arrow range.
  A week or two ago, on an occasion very similar to the
above, General Gregg was with me. We were hunting for a
route from the Val de Chino, eastward to the Colorado
Chiquito, by crossing the head-waters of the streams flowing
into the Rio Verde close up to where they emerged from the
high rocky wall at the base of the San Francisco Mountains,
when we came to the cation of Sycamore Fork. We succeeded
in descending the gorge; but the ascent was so exceedingly
steep, that we thought the pack-train could not climb up
out of it; and concluded, in spite of its violating the fundamental rule of Indian warfare in these mountains, to return
to the bed of the cafion and follow it to its mouth.
   It was strewn with fragments of red sandstone, from the
size of a church to that of a pebble, over which we dragged
our foot-sore animals very slowly. We had made some eight
175
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
miles when, as it seemed, at the roughest part of the whole
way, where nature had made a sort of waste closet at random
for all the shapeless blocks and sharp-cornered masses of rock
and washed-out boulders that she had no time to work up
and wished to hide from sight, we suddenly heard a shot from
the brink of the cason at our rear, and the dreaded warwhoop burst upon us.  Then we looked up to the right and
left, ahead and to the rear; but the walls seemed everywhere as
tall as a church-steeple, with scarcely a foot-hold from top to
base. They had looked high before, and the chasm narrow,
but now it seemed as though we were looking up from the
bottom of a deep well or a tin-mine, and no bucket to draw
us up by. Soon the shots were repeated, and the yells were
followed by showers of arrows. We staggered and stumbled,
about as fast as a very slow ox-team, along the rocky bed,
till we came to some bushes, and then stopped.
  Some of the Indians had got on the edge of the cafion
ahead of us, whose yells answered those from the rear; and
the whole concatenation of sounds echoed among the cliffs till
it seemed to us that every rancheria in Arizona had poured
out its dusky warriors to overwhelm us.
  It was a yell of triumph-of confidence. It appeared to
say, " Oh, ye wise and boastful white men, with your drilled
soldiers and repeating guns, and wealth and power, who came
out to hunt the poor Indian from his wigwam, look where we
have got you! We have only been waiting for you to make
some blunder; now we shall take advantage of it, and not
let any of you escape. It shall be worse than at Fort
Kearney, for not even one shall be spared to tell the story. It
will be a good place to bury you; in fact, you are already
buried in as deep a grave as you could wish. We shall only
leave you there, that is all, ha! ha! What are your Spencer
176
ATTACKED IN A CANON.
carbines worth, and your soldiers with their fine uniforms and
drill? It is only the old lesson we are teaching you: our forefathers taught it to Braddock, and it has been repeated many,
times since; but we shall drive it into you deeper than ever
it has been before, ha! ha! You thought we had all gone,
but our eyes were never off you; and now we are gathering
our warriors from every hiding-place. This is the way we
call them out-whoop! whoop! whoop! and they are lining
the edge of the cafion before and behind you. You can take
your time. It is only ten miles to the mouth; and the
farther you go, the deeper the caAons get. Perhaps you wish
to retreat? It is only eight miles back, and you know what
sort of a path it is. From the cedars on the brink we will
pick you off at our leisure, and you shall not see one of us.
This country belongs to us-the whole of it; and we do not
want your people here, nor your soldiers, nor your railroad.
Get away to where you belong-if you can, ha! ha!"
  It was not all this in detail, but the sum and concentration
of it, that flashed through my mind as I listened to those
yells, now rising clear and wild on the breeze, and now dying
away in the distance.
  We moved close up to the foot of the wall, from the top of
which the shots came, thinking it would be too steep for
them to hit us; but the great rocks that came rolling down
upon us, resounding almost like heavy ordnance through the
canion, drove us away from that slight shelter. Here was a
new danger, and a very serious one, since there was no hope
that this kind of ammunition would give out, and the Indians
evidently knew how to use it.
   " Now, officers, be quick and sharp in giving your orders!
Throw away precedent and drill, and come down to native
common-sense!" " Now, soldiers, be prompt, and jump at the
   VOL. II.                    N
177
NEW TRACKS IN NORTHI AMERICA.
word of command, and don't get disheartened! And you,
muleteers; scatter out your animals, keep them sheltered as
much as possible, and avoid all disorder. Now, everybody
keep cool, for every man's life hangs upon a single movement
here; and if a panic breaks out, all is lost, and the latest
tragedy in the great Apache war, which they say has been
waging against the Spaniards and Americans for over two
hundred years, will have been enacted! " Soon the sharp,
clear voice of the adjutant rang out from behind a huge rock
in the channel, his carbine at a "ready," and without moving
his eyes from the cliff-" Sergeant, send six men to scale that
side of the caton!"
  As they moved out, General Gregg joined them and directed
their movement.
  I gave the next order to the little escort I had brought
from  New Mexico: " Sergeant Miller, station five men on
this side of the cafion to cover that scaling party with their
fire. Let them  take shelter behind the rocks."   This was
done, and the devoted little band began slowly to ascend
what seemed an almost vertical wall of sandstone.
  Until now, although the yells had rung all around us, the
firing was confined to the west side of the cadon, but at this
moment a very close shot was fired from the other side, and
our plans could not be carried out unless this was stopped.
Another scaling party of six men was accordingly detailed, of
which I took command, and began ascending the eastern cliff,
covered by the fire of a second small party in the caiton.
This disposed of all our fighting force, the remainder being
required to take care of the animals. How we got up, God
knows; I only remember hearing a volley from below, shots
from above, Indian yells on all sides, the grating roar of
tumbling boulders as they fell, and the confused echoing of
178
SKIRTING THE GORGE.
calls and shouts from the cafion. Exhausted, out of breath,
and wet with perspiration, boots nearly torn off, and hands
cut and bleeding, I sat down on the summit and looked
around. Across the narrow chasm    I saw the other scaling
party. Everything was as quiet as death, the Indians had
disappeared-melting away as suddenly and mysteriously as
they had at first appeared. They had gone to their hidden
lairs, cowed by our determined approach.
  It had been hurriedly arranged before we ascended, that
the scaling parties should move on down stream at the brink
of the calon, covering the pack-train and animals which
would march along the bed. Accordingly we moved on
towards the Rio Verde; but, in consequence of side canons,
were compelled to keep back at least half-a-mile nearer to
the foot of the mountain than the course of the caion.
  Six miles farther, while skirting a ridge which projected
from the mountain, the Indians from the top began yelling
again like demons, and firing at us, but the range was too
long to do any harm. They were too cowardly to attack
even our small party, and now that we were no longer
engulfed in a canon, we laughed at their whoops. They
followed us, however, hoping to catch us in a ravine, but we
always sent three men across first to cover the rest and be
covered by them in turn.
  Just as the sun was setting we recognised from a high
point the mouth of the Sycamore and the valley of the Rio
Verde. We had not been able, from the roughness of the
country, to approach the side of the cafion in which we
supposed the rest of the party were moving, and could not,
therefore, ascertain their whereabouts. But at last, towards
dark, we descended a second time, by a deep side gorge, into
the caion, dropping down fully 2,000 feet in the space of
                            N2
179
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
half an hour. It was just light enough when we reached the
bed of the main caion to discover that our party had not
passed down it, and although fearful lest the Apaches should
notice our descent and again pepper us in the narrow ravine,
we turned up it to meet them.
  That night's march up the caion, over the broken rocks
and through the tangled thickets, was worse, if anything,
than the attack. Every pebble in the darkness was magnified
to a boulder, and every boulder seemed as large as a house;
fording the rapid stream twenty times, we shivered with cold
and wet when we halted for a brief rest; expecting every
moment to meet our party encamped, we yet wondered how
they would dare to stop in such a place. Finally, near midnight, we halted under some sheltering rocks, and concluded to
take some sleep; but the guides protested against having a fire,
saying the Indians would detect and shoot into it. To sleep
without one, however, was impossible. At last I concluded
that it was better to die from an Indian arrow than to freeze to
death in the darkness, and ordered a small one to be lighted,
beside which we sat and slept and shivered until a little
before day-light, when we took another smoke for breakfast
and pushed out into the darkness to continue our march up
the stream.
   During the night a great rock had either become dislodged
or had been rolled down by Indians, but it fell into the
cafion with a report like thunder. I started up and found I
had not dreamt it. I would give something to have a
faithful picture of that little party, with the expression of
each as they stood or leaned, staring out into the pitch-dark
canon and wondering what would come next.
   By day-break we had got well on our way; when we
heard shots in the rear, which we presumed to be Indians
180
CAMP AHEAD.
firing into our abandoned camp. We commended ourselves
for early rising and pushed on, wondering what could have
become of General Gregg's party. Finally, the guides insisted on getting out of the caion and striking towards
Prescott, but I ordered them to keep a-head, feeling confident
that we should soon meet the party or its trail.
  At last all hope seemed to be gone, and I agreed to climb
out up the western cliff. It was as much as we could do to
reach the top, and imagine our feelings on arriving there to
find that we were merely on a vertical ledge of rock, and that
immediately on the other side was the same cafion we had
come along an hour before. We scrambled along the narrow
ledge, however, faint from hunger and fatigue, having come
nearly twenty miles on foot, up and down cafions and steep
ravines, climbing through mountain passes and stumbling
over the rocky bed of the streams-equivalent to at least sixty
miles, as we thought, on a level road. We had had nothing
to eat for over twenty-four hours, and very little sleep; the
night was bitterly cold, our over-coats were left behind when
we scaled the cliff during the Indian attack, and we had
nothing to comfort us but a " Tucson blanket " each, which
scant covering can scarcely be interpreted in genteel society.
  Such was our condition when one of the party cried out,
" What is that smoke?"    I got out my field-glass and saw
two fires, and some animals grazing contentedly on a distant
hill. " That is camp, boys! Orderly, fire two shots in quick
succession! " The shots were fired. Anxiously we listened
for the acknowledgment. It came soon-the two welcome
answering shots, and we strode on with renewed heart.
  Now if we had not seen camp, I could have walked as many
miles as we had already gone without giving up, but when
I came within two miles of camp, and felt certain of succour;
181
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
and could talk with General Gregg across a deep caRon, only
half-a-mile distant, my legs, somehow or other, refused to
carry me farther, and I came to the conclusion that infantry
service was disagreeable on an empty stomach. So I made a
fire and laid down to sleep, and sent for rations, which my
faithful servant, George, brought out to me in the rain, with
a flask of whiskey from General Gregg, and strict injunctions
to be ~sure to drink it all-a command I promptly obeyed. I
hope the Temperance Society will forgive me, as I could
have drunk a demijohn under the circumstances without
being affected by it.
  It was by no means a short walk even from where we
were to General Gregg's camp, as we had to head the deep
side cation, and to cross several others near their sources. It
was raining, and the ground and rocks were slippery; but at
last we arrived and received the gratulations of the party,
who had heard the Indian shots and shouts, and feared we
had met too many of the " noble reds."
  General Gregg had found a way out of the Sycamore
Cairon along a horrible trail, by unloading his pack mules
and making several trips of it. He had signalled to us, but
had no means of communication, and supposed we had struck
for Camp Lincoln, a military post in the valley of the Verde
fifty miles to the south.
  My noble grey horse, Signor, is gone. He had helped to
carry me faithfully from Santa Fe through New Mexico, and
thus far into Arizona, but he has fallen a martyr to the
topography of the sources of the Rio Verde. While George
was leading him up a precipitous path he lost his footing in
jumping over a rock, and tumbled to the bottom of the
cafion, 100 feet, killing himself instantly. My other valuable
horse, Don, whom I intend to take home if I get him safely
182
THE MORAL.
to the Pacific, had just scrambled over the same obstruction
without stumbling. It was nothing less than a miracle that
nobody was hurt. These Indians are poor shots, which, with
the scarcity of guns among them, must account for our
escape. They are afraid also of our " heap-firing guns" as
they call the Spencers.
  A little experience of this sort, occasionally, is not without
use. It enables you to determine a number of nice problems
which   otherwise might never have    been  solved, to say
nothing of the new phases in which it exhibits the character
of your comrades; the test of their true-heartedness, their
pluck, perseverance, and generosity. There are also some
important minor questions to which it supplies accurate
solutions.  For  instance, how   would a man    ever know
whether a smooth boulder of lava or a flat sandstone slab
would make the best pillow, until such occasions had induced
him to test the matter practically at frequent intervals during
the same night? And how could he ever ascertain the
durability of a pair of Santa Fe boots under active service,
until a trial of this kind had placed it forcibly before his
observation?   And while he might hitherto have had a
theoretical appreciation of the value and excellence of a slice
of fat pork with "hard tack" for dessert, it is doubtful
whether he would ever comprehend the essential sweetness
and delicacy of these dishes until, after twenty-four hours'
fasting, he had watched with a field-glass across a caflon
until they should start out towards him  from  a camp two
miles distant.
   We have given the question of evading the side of San
Francisco Mountain with our railroad line a pretty thorough
investigation, and are at last compelled to give it up.  First,
I tried to head the Sycamore and other northern branches of
183
THE VALLEY.
pletely covered with snow-white lamb-furs; the ottomans, or
rather the folding mattresses surrounding the room, would be
cased in beautifully-washed white cotton counterpanes, or
Mexican blankets striped with different colours, but equally
pure and spotless as the counterpanes. They have also a
neat way of covering the ceilings with canes similar to
bamboo-canes, which are arranged in patterns very much like
those we often see lining the walls of an Engilish summerhouse. Although a frizzled-up mutton-bone, or some sundried meat swimming in tilt, with tortillas (unfllrmented bread)
about as thin, tough, and tasteless as buckskin leather, are
generally all you can confidently look forward to, still you
may feel quite certain that your host has donie his best. The
1)eolple are most courteous to their guests; but they seem
quite ignorant of the existence of butter, bread, or vegetables of any kind, except in a few of the larger towns.
Chili (Colorado (red pepper) beans, Indian corn, and muttoni
(mostly sun-dried) pretty -well comlplete the list of their
necessaries of life1-not forgettinlg, of course, tobacco, and
water-melons whien in season.
  O()n the afternoon of Octo,lber;th, after an unusually long
stretch (thirty miles) of unillnhalited valley, we came in view
of the flag which waved over Fort C'raig,-a military post,
placed on the the,p of' so,e barren, sandy,luffs overlooking
the strealm. Between Albuquerque alnd this point (1 5 mihles),
the valley varies in width from five or six miles to a few
hunidred yards. When I say " the valley," I mlean the level
central trough between the bluffs or cliffs on either side. It
is very seldom, in this distance, that these bluffs approach so
close as to hem in the stream and obliterate the valley; and
whe1n they do it is only for a veryv shiort distance. Isleta is
one of these points; San Felipe another; Fort Craig a third.
7
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the Verde, and to cross the country on a somewhat uniform
level between 5,000 to 6,000 feet above tide, from the
Colorado Chiquito to the Val de Chino. Second, to keep
down the valley of the Verde itself; but the crooked cations
prevented this. Third, to keep along the foot-hills of Tonto
Mountain overlooking the Verde from the south and west
side. Fourth, to cross the Tonto Mountain and descend into
the Verde at Copper Cafion, near Camp Lincoln, then to
re-ascend east of the Mogollon Range and cross it to the
Colorado Chiquito.   But the valley of the Verde is an
immense gulf, from 1,000 to 2,500 feet below the level of
the mountains, or rather plateaux east and west on either
side. Finally, within the last few days the profile of the
line crossing the Mogollon Range, south of San Francisco
Mountain, has pretty nearly-satisfied me that there would not,
after all, be much to gain by a southern route, especially if
our line can descend to the Great Colorado in the vicinity of
Fort Mojave, instead of by the Bill Williams Fort, of which
I have hopes. My reconnoissance has settled some important
questions of route, concerning which we should always have
been in doubt, and Greenwood has continued his survey
across the side of San Francisco Mountain without being
delayed a day, using all three of his parties. The grades up
to this place are easy, and the line runs for nearly 150 miles
through a dense forest of fine tall pines, which will of themselves be a great advantage to the railroad in many ways.
184
CHAPTER XII.
                      CENTRAL ARIZONA.
Hinchman lost for four days.-General Features of the Country west of the
    San Francisco Peaks.-Val de Chino.--Upper Valley of the Rio Verde.    Ruins everywhere.--Lower Valley of the Verde-Country around Pres    cott.-Valley of the Colorado.-Mineral Wealth.-Mogollon Ranges.    Mining Districts around Prescott.-Wickenburgh District.-La Paz Dis    trict.-The Salt Mountains.-The Great Basin Region.-Difficulties of
    the Surveyors.-Tehachapa Pass.-Mining in California.--Yield of Pre    cious Metals.
NOTWITHSTANDING the bonfires which were kept blazing all
night above Signal Cafion, Hlinchman did not return. Next
morning they searched for him in all directions, but in vain.
Fearing that he had fallen into the hands of the Apaches,
they redoubled their exertions, and continued the search for
three days, but still without success; and at last Palmer had
to give it up and return to Prescott, persuaded that one of the
greatest favourites of our whole party had fallen a victim to the
cause.  Hinchman, however, was intended by Providence for
better things than to furnish a scalp and a night's amusement
to the red-skins. He had lost his way, and, becoming confused in the intricacies of the caon country, thought it best
to make his way as well as he could to Prescott, where he
arrived on the fourth day, thoroughly exhausted, not having
tasted food during all that time.
  After leaving the San Francisco Mountains to the eastward,
the line by the 35th parallel enters a region not so well
watered or timbered, but equally good for grazing purposes.
   " The Val de Chino, which we now enter," says General
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Palmer, " is a splendid meadow, ten miles in width, lying
between the Aztec Range and Black Mountains on the south
and west, and the Laja Range, Black Forest, and Tonto
Buttes on the east and north. It extends south-eastward
beyond the line of Prescott, and northward to within twenty
miles of the Grand Cation of the Colorado. This distance
is considerably over 100 miles.
   " Throughout it is covered with the finest grama grass,
which gives the name to the valley. The soil is rich, and only
needs water to enable the breadstuffs of an entire State to be
raised here. Whipple thought irrigation might no more be
necessary here than in the Zuii valley; but it is impossible
to try the experiment, as the Wallapi Indians infest the
country.
   " The average elevation of this great valley is about 4,500
feet above tide. Tributary to it are various small but rich
mountain valleys, in some of which ranches have been started.
Such are Pueblo and Walnut Creek, Turkey Creek, Partridge
Creek, Round Valley, Williamson's Valley, Granite Creek,
&c., most of which, in the rainy season and when the snows
melt, pour down large volumes of water into the main valley.
The Val de Chino is the proper head of the Rio Verde, along
which, north and east of Prescott, lies much rich irrigable
land in the open valleys between the numerous impassable
cafions of this stream. The' upper valley of the Verde,'
which I visited, is about forty-five miles long, and an average
of five miles in width. The soil is rich, water permanent
(without alkali), and sufficient for all purposes of irrigation,
the elevation being only 3,000 to 3,500 feet above tide.
Snow is unknown; and the valley having a deep sandy soil,
is richer than the valley of the Rio Grande; it is mixed, like
the latter, with the detritus of lava deposits, and, being
186
VAL DE CHINO.
admirably sheltered by mountain-walls on each side 1,200 to
2,400 feet high, is especially adapted to the production of
wine and fruits. Wild grapes are everywhere abundant. The
few settlers near Camp Verde informed me that they had
raised seventy-five bushels of maize to the acre, without
irrigation; also wheat and barley. All vegetables, except
potatoes, flourish in the greatest abundance.
   "I In this valley, even to a greater extent than in the valley
of the Colorado Chiquito, on the Mogollon Range, and in the
Aztec Mountains, we met constantly the broken pottery,
ruined foundations of pueblos, and abandoned caves, which
indicate the former existence of that populous, semi-civilised
race, which, for want of a better name, are called' Aztecs.'
   " Below the upper valley, but separated from it by a rugged
and tortuous cation, is the lower valley of the Verde, twenty
five miles long, and equally rich, and filled with Aztec ruins
and pottery. These sheltered Verde valleys are, without
doubt, well adapted for the production of cotton.
   "1 There is much good arable country around Prescott also,
and at the heads of the Agua Fria and other valleys leading
southward to the Gila. Nuimerous ranches have been established here, and crops are raised without irrigation.
   " We now descend gradually to the Rio Colorado, whose
valley is wide and fertile. Whipple pronounced the soil
superior to that of the Rio Grande valley.       Of course the
climate has much more of a tropical character, the elevation
above the sea being less than 400 feet, snow being unknown,
and the winter sometimes passing without any frost. Both
climate and soil fit it for cotton, tobacco, hemp, castor beans,
rice, and even sugar, to which products all the valley-land
will, perhaps, be devoted, leaving the cereals to be brought
down from   the higher valleys of Arizona, or eastward from
187
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the Tulare and San
Bernardino valleys of California. The Mormons raise a
great deal of cotton at their settlements. On the Virgin
and its tributaries, 150 miles north of Fort Mojave, they have
several cotton factories in operation, and are building more.
They also raise some sugar.
   " At present the Mojaves, Chemenevis, and other populous
tribes of Indians inhabiting the valley of the Colorado, raise
corn, wheat, beans, melons, and squashes; and a large amount
of hay is cut by them for Fort Mojave and the mining stock
near Hardyville. Wheat ripens in April; barley harvest
takes place in May. There is as yet no artificial irrigation,
the valley being inundated annually by the river, which rises
seventy-five feet in summer from the melting of the snows
at its mountain sources. We found some stalks of fine Sea
Island cotton growing here near Hardy's Mine, about 1,000
feet above the river, and melons were brought in by the
Indians on Christmas week.
   " From the head of navigation at Callville, for sixty miles
down to Cottonwood Valley, there is no bottom-land. In
this stretch occur Black   Cafion and Painted Cafion. In
Cottonwood Valley, which is from one to five miles in width,
there are about twenty square miles of arable land, which the
Mormons talk of occupying for cotton plantations. Thence
the river flows for twenty-five miles through Pyramid and
other lesser catons to a point three miles above Fort Mojave,
where the bottom widens out on both sides of the river, in
some places to ten miles, and so continues to where our line
crosses it three miles above the' Needles.' This is the
Mojave valley; it is rich in soil, and contains about 100
square miles, of which over one-half is covered with cottonwood and mezquit trees. Below our crossing occur the
188
GOLDEN BULLETS.
Needles, where the projecting spurs of the Mojave Mountains, which wall in the Colorado on either side, impinge for
probably six to eight miles directly on the river. Then comes
the Chemenevis valley, about five miles wide, and very similar
to the Mojave valley.   Below the mouth of Bill Williams
Fork there are occasional narrows, with wide and long
stretches of bottom-land, sometimes, as at La Paz, thirty
miles wide. This alteration continues to Fort Yuma.
   " Whipple estimated the Colorado valley to contain, from
Fort Mojave, south, 1,660    square miles of arable land,
without including the southern   desert-that part of the
Great Basin lying south of the MAorongo Range-which might
be rendered fertile by means of irrigation."
  Before considering the mineral productions of this section
of the route, I will conclude the accounts of its physical
characteristics with Dr. Parry's testimony:-" In point of
fact, without taking into consideration the undeveloped
mineral wealth locked up in her granite mountains, central
Arizona comprises as large an extent of habitable and productive country as any other section west of the agricultural
basin of the Mississippi."
  The Mogollon ranges, which reach as far north as the Rio
Gila, are found, by the united testimony of all explorers who
have dared to' traverse this section of the Apache country,
to be very rich  in gold and other minerals.     It is here
that Aubrey reported having met Indians with golden
bullets. " They are," said he, " of different sizes, and each
Indian has a pouch of them. We saw          an Indian load his
gun with one large and three small gold bullets to shoot a
rabbit."
  None of our surveyors were fortunate enough to be able to
corroborate this report; but they obtained seven or eight
189
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
bullets of native manufacture which contained a larger percentage of silver than of lead.
   From the San Francisco Mountains to the Aquarius Range,
seventy-five miles east of the Colorado River, the proposed line
passes to the north of the ascertained and developed mineral
wealth, which is abundant in that extensive section of central
Arizona, of which Prescott is the mining capital.        This is,
however, readily reached by a branch of easy grades, sixty
miles in length, which can be cheaply built down the Val de
Chino; and a fork can be extended thence to the Wickenburgh mining region.
   In this district the most promising mine is the Vulture,
which yields about 25,000 dollars a month, and in which
seventy-five men (mostly Mexicans) are employed.
   The following statement will show at a glance how hard it
is for even a first-class mine to pay largely in these regions
whilst they remain shut out as they are from the rest of the
world.
          VULTURE MIINE AND MILL.--MONTHLY EXPENSES.
                                                 Dollars.
       Pay roll.......        9,000
       Incidentals........ 3,520
       Hauling ore, 864 tons, at 10 dollars.... 8,640
       Fuel........  720
       Interest on capital invested..... 875
       Total monthly expenses...... 22,755
                      MONTHLY RETURNS.
       864 tons, yielding 30 dollars per ton... 25,920
       Net monthly profit....... 3,165
   On both sides of the Colorado River north and south of
Fort Mojave are mines of gold, silver, and copper, the value
of which   is greatly enhanced by their proximity to this
stream, which will thus serve as a most valuable feeder to the
190
MINES ALONG THE COLORADO.
railroad. Of these the best known are the copper mines of the
Bill Williams, of which Mr. Ross Brown says-" There are
fifty good mines of rich copper, black and red oxides, silicates,
and carbonates, all of such a character that they can be
readily smelted by heat alone. The ores average forty per
cent. of metal. Many of these ores are also rich in gold, for
which mills have been erected."
  These mines were visited by Dr. Parry in December, who
reports that they were shipping all ores of forty per cent. and
over to San Francisco by an uncertain and circuitous waterchannel nearly 2,500 miles long, and that the main bulk was
thence transported, by way of Cape IIorn, to Swansea, in
Wales, for reduction.  Even then they paid their possessors.
   Dr. Parry also visited the mining regions in western
Arizona, south of Bill Williams Mountain, of which he
reports:-" At several points gold has been successfully
worked, yielding, in a few instances, rich returns from the
rudest processes of dry washing.  Quartz veins crop out in
wonderful abundance in several isolated localities; especially
noted ten to fifteen miles west of La Paz, where rich deposits
of silver and copper ores are also known to exist, and have
been partially worked; but, in nearly every instance, mining
enterprise has been forced to succumb to insurmountable
difficulties, and in not a few cases to actual loss of life."
   From  ten to forty miles north of Callville, which is 100
miles above Fort Mojave, both being on the Colorado, are the
famous Salt Mountains, where there is an inexhaustible quantity of pure rock salt very accessible to miners. At one point
there is a surface exposure of seventy feet, clear as a crystal.
For several miles square the formation is reported to be
almost exclusively of this crystalline salt.  There is a little
sloop, of twenty-five tons, running from Fort Mojave to
191
N1EW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Callville, which takes up merchandise and brings back salt,
potatoes, and other produce. Aubrey reports having found
rich gold placers between Fort Mojave and Callville, near the
mouth of Yampa Creek.
  California, to the Western traveller, means civilisation; the
very name implies " square meals " (del)etner d la fourchette?),
arm-chairs, boot-blacking, and other luxuries; but the man
who enters it by crossing the Colorado at the Needles would
certainly not recognise the Golden State. Two hundred and
thirty-five miles of complete desert have to be passed through
before he reaches the base of the Sierra Nevada. The line
surveyed by our parties, after leaving the river at an elevation of only 428 feet, ascends again 2,151 feet to Piute
Summit, where it enters the Great Basin and then gradually
descends into a natural depression only 675 feet above the
sea.  From   this basin-called " Perry Sink," after our
botanist-it passes into the Mojave Basin, and at last reaches
the foot of Tehachapa Pass, where the fertile slopes of the
sierra are soon reached. Here the surveyors met agricultural
settlements for the first time for many weeks, and found the
mountain glades well furnished with fine timber. Their camp
in one of the oak groves, which are so abundant here, forms
the subject of the accompanying engraving.
   The rains, which were so incessant during the month of
January at San Francisco, extended with diminished force
over this southern desert also, and greatly impeded the
progress of the parties; when, however, they had crossed the
mountains and tried to march through the central trough of
California-the Tulare valley-they found themselves almost
brought to a standstill. General Palmer here left them, and
in company with Colonel Willis, Dr. Parry, and Captain
192
* cn
Hr
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
But, usually, there is a large tract of irrigable land on each
side, capable of sustaining a very considerable population.
  On ascending the bluffs on either side, you come upon a
level grass-covered plain, which slopes up gradually towards
the mountains be,oyiid, and usually contains no water whatever. On tlhe eastern side tlihe mountains consist of detached
ranges-fth  Zandlia, Manzana, Sierra de Coboleta, and Sierra
de(l ()so. One of these ranges is always within view from
the river, )but iione approachi very close to twh lower valley.
Below Fort Craig, hoi wever, the eastern rangiies encroach so
much on tlhe rive(r as to obliterate tlhe grass-covered plateau,
and redhulce the bottomIl-hid in Iany places to an insignificant
strip.
  On tll(, western side th(e plateanlu'eyond the bluffs usually
slopes 1)a1.k inuch fairthlir before ream1lillg tll(' iiounitains,
Nwhich are fitr i)llore 1foirmi(lda l tali those oil thle vastern
side of' tihe valley. These are the Zuniii M,ountains, which
traverse obli(pqueIly'2 of l o gllitude, firnol C'ampbehll's Pass to
th(.e R io railde, near Fort Craig, where11 thevy seeiml to be
(contiuled onil the otlier side by a rangi,e of mountains-the
Sierra (el ('aballo-whiih hugs thfe eastern bank. It was
thought very n,aturallv ])y General Wright, that lhaving
turnle(l the lowNer end( of this range in the neighl)bourhood of
Fort Craig, we mighlit 1e alle to pass westward, and strike
the Rio Gila witlhout g)ing furithier soutl; bulit l)(ehinl(I the
Zui'i raglle rise(s another quite as formidable. Nor was there
to be found any break in it which would give the least chance
of suei(-ss for railway pulrpo(s(es miuntil after it had joined the
mass of mounitainiis kno)wn as the 3Miemlres Mountains, south
of latituide 33.0 As these formihdablhe barriers form the divide
lbetweeii tlhe waters of the Colorado Chiq(uito and(l the Gila
on (nle side (.emptying into the Pacific), and those of the Rio
8
MINERAL WEALTH.
Colton, who had joined him from San Diego, found his way,
as best he could, by horse, wagon, stage and rail, to San
Francisco.
   It is useless to praise the agricultural resources of California, for they are well known, or to speculate upon the
most probable route for the railway through its midst; for it
matters little whether it runs to the east or west of the Great
Tulare Lake, whether it continues all the way in the San
Joaquin valley, or crosses the coast range into the fertile
plains of the Salinas. Whatever be its course it will develop
vast areas of land unsurpassed in productiveness by any on
the globe.
  As regards mineral wealth, the southern half of the Great
Basin is quite as rich in silver as the northern; and although
" unexplored" covers this barren tract in our atlases, it is
in reality divided into countries and mining districts, which
latter are fast multiplying every year.
  Most of the gold mining in California is carried on along
the western foot of the Sierra Nevada, and although it does
not yield the same amount as formerly, it has developed into
a steady thriving industry, with no more excitement about it
than any other regular occupation.
  The ingenuity displayed by the Californian miners in
trying to obtain the gold from the soil is extraordinary.
The first arrivals used only the pan, a flat iron saucer about
eighteen inches in diameter, for extracting the gold. Soon
the rocker was introduced. It is shaped like a cradle with a
riddle above at one end, upon which the pay dirt is placed,
and transverse grooves along the bottom to catch the gold,
while the miner rocks the cradle with one hand, and washes
the pay dirt through the riddle with the other. For the first
four years, although the pan and the rocker were alone
   VOL. II.                     O
193
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
relied upon, most of the rich, well-watered placers were soon
exhausted, and it was necessary that some means should be
devised for directing water to less-favoured districts. This
led to the introduction of mining ditches to carry water from
the highest springs in the hills to the auriferous ground at
their base. Such ditches were expensive, for the water had
to be brought in "flumes" for miles across ravines 200 or
300 feet deep, along the rugged mountain-sides, and often
through rock cuttings; and the capital required to make
these aqueducts had usually to be borrowed at the rate of
from 3 to 10 per cent. per month.
   With the mining ditches came the "tom" and sluice. The
tom is a trough twenty feet long and eight feet deep; it is
fifteen inches wide at the head and thirty at the foot. This
trough rests upon a flat box; its bottom is formed of sheetiron pierced with holes, through which the pay dirt is
washed by a constant stream of water. The gold is caught
by transverse''cleets," or'" riffles," which rise from    the
bottom of the box, and all the pay dirt which passes over the
tom undecomposed is again thrown back, to go through
the same process again. The sluice is the box of the tom in
principle, elongated to any length from 100 to 1,000 feet;
it has transverse cleets along its whole length, to catch the
gold, and is placed at an inclination of one in twenty, so as
to cause the water to rush through it like a torrent. This
was a great invention, for twenty miners could work at one
sluice together, and, with plenty of water, they had nothing
to do but to throw in the pay dirt and take out the gold. If
many sluices discharged into one stream or ditch, a tail sluice
was often dug in the ground to catch the gold which had
escaped from the sluices, and this tail sluice often paid largely,
with no labour save that required to " clear up " occasion194
GOLD MINING.
ally, that is, to wash out the metal from the sand at the
bottom.
  By the end of the year 1852 the surface placers were
nearly exhausted, good sluice claims were at a high premium,
and there was not work enough for one-third of the miners.
Large amounts of capital were required for the ditch companies, and almost as much for the sluices.
  In this predicament, the attention of the American miners
was suddenly directed to quartz mining. The Mexicans had
worked quartz veins for a long time by pounding the ore in
mortars, or grinding it in their rude arrastras, and extracting
the fine gold-dust by means of quicksilver. The Americans
immediately introduced stamp mills, and their ideas were so
large that the most bulky and elaborate machinery was soon
in operation; companies with large capital were rapidly
formed; many hands were employed; quartz was crushed in
enormous quantities in a great number of places, whether it
was rich or poor, and complete failure was consequently the
result in the great majority of cases. A stamp mill has
already been explained and figured in chap. xii., vol. i.
  The first attempt at quartz mining having proved unsuccessful, the miners tried to invent a process by which the gold
could be cheaply extracted from   large quantities, of land
which contained only a small percentage. This led to the
hydraulic process.  With "1poor dirt" to work up, the
shovel did not furnish earth enough for the sluice, and the
wages of twelve out of twenty men must, if possible, be
saved. As early as 1852, a man named Mattison, of Connecticut, invented an hydraulic machine, by means of which
a stream of water could be directed, under heavy pressure,
against a bank or hill-side, containing placer gold, and the
earth torn down by the action of the jet of water and carried
                           o02
195
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
into the sluice to be washed, thus saving the expense of
shovelling.
  It was long before this process made much way in California; but at present it is in general use, and pays largely.
Its advantages are enormous. A man with a rocker, for
instance, can wash out one cubic yard of earth in a day; with
IHydraulic Mining.
a tom, two; with a sluice, four; and, with an hydraulic squirt
and sluice together, fifty, or even a hundred. A stream of
water rushing through a two-inch pipe, under pressure of 200
feet perpendicular, has tremendous force, and the hill-sides
crumble away before it as if they were made of sawdust.
196
THE HYDRAULIC PROCESS.
  In the engraving, the water-pipes, the hydraulic squirt,
and the sluice are clearly shown. The two former are usually
owned by a water-company, which supplies the water to the
miners at so much a thousand cubic feet. Hundreds of miles
of iron pipes now ramify through the mountains in every
direction; and even their transportation to these remote
regions represents an enormous amount of capital.
  This powerful agent has changed the whole face of nature
in a hundred districts along the base of the mountains. I
have seen valleys obliterated, hills levelled to the ground,
rivers turned from their course and fertile tracts of country
covered with bare heaps of gravel miles in extent. It is an
extraordinary sight to pass through a region which has for
some time been subjected to the hydraulic process. A Californian might well return from a year's travel in Europe, and
find, like Rip Van Winkle, that everything had so changed
in his absence that not a hill remained standing where he
had left it.
  Notwithstanding all the varied and ingenious appliances
which the Americans have introduced, the yearly production
of gold in California has steadily been on the decrease, whilst
the exportation of precious metal has, owing to the productiveness of other territories, been as steadily advancing.
  Since 1848, the Western States and Territories have produced
no less than ~250,000,000 sterling of precious metals, and
they continue to yield yearly about ~15,000,000 more.
Mexico produced in the three hundred years previous to
1845 about ~540,000,000. Since then the annual yield has
probably not exceeded ~5,000,000; so that, although the
total yield up to 1867 would be about ~600,000,000, the
United States will probably exceed that sum before the end
of the present century.
197
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  Whilst General Palmer, Dr. Parry, and Major Calhoun
were examining the natural productions of the country, and
the surveyors were hard at work trying to find a level route
across the regions which lie about 100 miles south of the
Great Cafon of the Colorado, an unfortunate prospector was
actually floating through that stupendous chasm on a simple
raft of cotton-wood. Dr. Parry had the good fortune to meet
this man, after his perilous trip, at HIardyville, on the Rio
Colorado, and to hear from his own lips the story of his
adventure. The doctor carefully noted all the particulars of
the story, and closely cross-questioned the hero of it, who,
although a simple and illiterate man, was brave, straightforward, and one to be thoroughly believed. Major Calhoun,
who had appointed to meet him at Fort Mojave, but was prevented from doing so, has kindly compiled for me the following account from the notes taken by Dr. Parry, and is thus
the writer of one of the most tragic pages to be met with in
the histories of actual adventure.
198
CHAPTER XIII.
  PASSAGE OF THE GREAT CANON OF THE COLORADO BY JAMES
                 WHITE, THE PROSPECTOR.
TWENTY years ago the trapper and hunter were the romantic
characters of the Far West. They still figure in fiction, and
there is a fascination about their daring deeds which, in
America, makes Boone a household name, and throws an
air of chivalry, seldom to be felt now-a-day, around the
exploits of such men as Carson, Crockett, and Williams.
Nor is our admiration for these hardy men undeserved; they
have trapped on every Western stream, and hunted on every
mountain-side, despite the opposition of the Indian and the
barrier of winter snows. They have been the skirmish line
of that great army of occupation which is daily pushing
westward, and they have taught the savage to respect the
white man's courage and to fear the white man's power.
  While the field for the trapper and hunter has been
gradually growing less, another class of adventurers has come
into  existence-the  " prospectors" in search of precious
metals. Within the last nineteen years these men have
traversed every mountain slope, from the rugged peaks of
British Columbia to the rich plateaux of old Mexico; and
have searched the sands of every stream from the Mississippi
to the shores of the Pacific, stimulated by the same hope of
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
reward that led the early Spaniards to explore places, still
unsettled, in their search for an' El Dorado." Could the
varied and adventurous experience of these searchers for gold
be written we should have a record of daring and peril that
no fiction could approach, and the very sight of gold would
suggest to our minds some scene of startling tragedy, some
story of hair-breadth escape. Could we but gather and set
down in proper form the geographical knowledge possessed
by these men, we should know as much of the western wilds
as we now do of the long-settled portions of the American
continent.
  It has fallen to the lot of one of these prospectors to be
the hero of an adventure more thrilling than any heretofore
recorded, while, at the same time, he has solved a geographical problem which has long attracted the attention of
the learned at home and abroad, who could but theorise
before his voyage as to the stupendous chasms or caiions
through which the Colorado cleaves its course.
  James White, our hero, now lives at Calville, Arizona
Territory, the present head of navigation on the Colorado
River. His home is in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He is thirtytwo years of age, and in person is a good type of the Saxon;
being of medium height and heavy build, with light hair and
blue eyes. He is a man of average intelligence, simple and
unassuming in his manner and address, and without any of
the swagger or bravado peculiar to the majority of frontier
men. Like thousands of our own young men, well enough
off at home, he grew weary of the slow but certain method
of earning his bread by regular employment at a stated
salary. He had heard of men leaping into wealth at a single
bound in the Western gold-fields, and for years he yearned to
go to the land where fortune was so lavish of her favours.
200
THEY JOURNEY ON FOOT.
  He readily consented then to be one of a party from his
neighbourhood who, in the spring of 1867, started for the
plains and the gold-fields beyond. When they left Fort
Dodger, on the Arkansas River, April 13th, 1867, the party
consisted of four men, of whom Captain Baker, an old miner
and ex-officer in the Confederate army, was the acknowledged
leader. The destination of this little party was the San Juan
valley west of the Rocky Mountains, about the gold-fields of
which prospectors spoke in the most extravagant terms,
stating that they were only deterred from working the rich
placers of the San Juan by fear of the Indians. Baker and
his companions reached Colorado " city," at the foot of Pike's
Peak, lat. 380, in safety. This place was, and is still, the
dep6t for supplying the miners who work the diggings
scattered through South Park, and is the more important
for being. situated at the entrance of Ute Pass, through
which there is a wagon-road crossing the Rocky Mountains,
and descending   to the plateau  beyond.    The people of
Colorado "city" tried to dissuade Baker from    what they
considered a rash project, but he was determined to carry out
the original plan. These representations, however, affected
one of the men so much that he left the party, and the others,
Captain Baker, James White, and Henry Strole, completed
their outfit for their prospecting tour.
   The journey was undertaken on foot, with two pack mules
to carry the provisions, mining tools, and the blankets they
considered necessary for the expedition. On the 25th of May
they left Colorado " city," and crossing the Rocky Mountains,
through the Ute Pass, they entered South Park, being still on
the Atlantic slope of the continent. Ninety miles brought
them across the Park to the Upper Arkansas, near the Twin
Lakes. They then crossed the Snowy Range, or Sierra
201
FORT CRAIG.
Grande on the Atlantic slope, they have received by the
Spaniards the collective name of Sierra Madre, which name
must not cause them    to be confounded with the Sierra
Madre 30 south of them     in Mexico proper. This fact is
certain, that no railway can ever be constructed across this
great western barrier between Campbell's Pass and the
Miembres Mountains; and even if it were possible to cross
the main divide between these points, and to strike the Rio
Gila in   New M3exican territory, it would be perfectly
impossil)le to follow  that stream  through its mountain
gorges.
  We found all our parties congregated at Fort Craig, for it
had been made the general rendezvous previous to reorganisation and a fresh advance westNward. Mr. Imbrey Millar,
having taken his meii safely tlihrough the Sangre de Christo
Pass, and surveved a liiine over that lofty region to the headwaters of the Rio Grande, had rapidly marched with them
"straight down the valley 380 miles. Mr. Eicholtz and his
party hlad surveyed a good line through the Abo Pass;
and Mr. Rink, under the iiiiiuediate superintendenee of
General Wrignht, had continued the main line, of survey down
the Rio Grandle valley from Isleta to Fort Craig.
  Having thus far completed the object of the expedition,
Gveneral Wright's laboutrs in the fieldl came to an end; and
here he left us, in company with our geologist, Dr. Le
Conte, the one to make up his reports and lay tlhem before
the expectant directors, the other to visit the coal-fields near
Dienver.
  IHere we found Palmer straining every nerve to hasten as
quickly as possibled the fresh start. For some time it had
been uwndecided whether the route along the 35th parallel
would warrant a separate examination or not; for Jeffcr9
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Madre, and descended towards the Pacific. Turning southwest, they passed around the head-waters of the Rio Grand
del Norte, and after a journey of 400 miles, they reached in
safety the Animas, the most northern branch of the San Juan
River, which flows into the Great Colorado from the east.
  They were now in the land where their hopes centred, and
to reach which they had crossed plains and mountains, and
forded rapid streams, leaving the nearest abodes of the white
man hundreds of miles to the east. Their prospecting for
gold began in the bed of the Animas, and though they were
partially successful, the result did not by any means reach
their expectations; so they followed down the stream into
the main valley of the San Juan. There was gold there, but
not in the quantity they expected; so they gradually moved
west, along the beautiful valley, for 200 miles, when they
found that the San Juan entered a deep and gloomy cahon.
To avoid this they forded the river to the right bank, and
struck across a rough timbered country, directing their
course towards the Great Colorado.
  Having travelled through this rough country for a distance
estimated at fifty miles, they reached Grand River, being
still above the junction of Green River, the united waters of
which two streams form the Colorado proper. At the point
where they struck the river it was hemmed in by cliffs of
perpendicular rock, down which they could gaze at the
coveted water, dashing and foaming two thousand feet below.
Men and animals were suffering for water, so they pushed up
the stream along the rocky uneven carfon wall, hoping to
find a place where they could descend to the river. After a
day spent in clambering over and around the huge rocks
that blocked their way, they came upon a side caaon, which
they succeeded in descending with their animals, and where
202
DISAPPOINTMENT.
they obtained the water of which all stood so much in
need.
   On the night of the 23rd of August they encamped at the
bottom of the cation, where they found plenty of fuel, and
grass in abundance for their animals. As they sat around
the camp fire they lamented their failure in the San Juan
country, and Strole began to regret that they had undertaken
the expedition. But Baker, who was a brave, sanguine
fellow, spoke of placers up the river about which he had
heard, and promised his companions that all their hopes
should be realised, and that they should return to their
homes to enjoy the gains and laugh at the trials of their trip.
So glowingly did he picture the future, that his companions
even speculated as to how they should spend their princely
fortunes when they returned to the States. Baker sang songs
of home and hope, and the others lent their voices to the
chorus till, far into the night, they sank to sleep unguarded,
to dream of coming opulence, and to rise refreshed for the
morrow's journey.
   Early next morning they breakfasted, and began the ascent
of the side cation up the opposite bank to that bywhich they had
entered it. Baker was in the advance with his rifle slung at
his back, gaily springing up the rocks towards the tableland above. Behind him came White; Strole, with the
mules, brought up the rear. Nothing disturbed the stillness
of the beautiful summer morning but the tramping of the
mules and the short heavy breathing of the climbers. They
had ascended but half the distance to the top, when stopping
for a moment to rest, suddenly the war-whoop of a band of
savages rang out, sounding as if every rock had a demon's
voice.  Simultaneously with the first whoop a shower of
arrows and bullets was poured into the little party. With
203
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the first fire Baker fell against a rock, but, rallying for a
moment, he unslung his carbine and fired at the Indians, who
now began to show themselves in large numbers, and then,
with the blood flowing from his mouth, he fell to the ground.
White, firing at the Indians as he advanced and followed by
Strole, hurried to the aid of his wounded leader. Baker, with an
effort, turned to his comrades and said with his last breath,
" Back, boys, back! save yourselves; I am dying."  To the
credit of White and Strole be it said, they faced the savages
and fought till the last tremor of the powerful frame told
them that Baker was dead.
   Then slowly they began to retreat, followed by the exultant
Indians, who, stopping to strip and mutilate the dead body
in their path, gave the white men a chance to secure their
animals, and retrace their steps into the side cafion, beyond
the immediate reach of the Indians' arrows. Here they held
a hurried consultation. To the east, for 300 miles, stretched an
uninhabited country, over which, if they attempted to escape
in that direction, the Indians, like bloodhounds, would follow
their track. North, south, and west, was the Colorado with
its tributaries, all flowing through deep chasms across which
it would be impossible for men or animals to travel. Their
deliberations were necessarily short, and resulted in a decision
to abandon the animals-first securing their arms, a small
stock of provisions, and the ropes or lariots of the mules.
Through the descending side cafion they travelled due west
for four hours, and emerged at last on a low strip of bottomland on Grand River, above which, for 2,000 feet on either
bank, the cold grey walls rose to block their path, leaving
to them but one avenue for escape-the dashing current of
the river.
   They found considerable quantities of drift-wood along the
204
THEY TAKE TO THE RIVER.
banks, from which they collected enough to enable them to
construct a raft capable of floating themselves, with their
arms and provisions. This raft consisted of three sticks of
cotton-wood, about ten feet in length and eight inches in
diameter, lashed firmly together with their lariots. Procuring
two stout poles with which to guide the raft, and fastening
the bag of provisions to the logs, they waited for midnight to
come with the waning moon, so as to drift off unnoticed by
the Indians. They did not consider that even the sun looked
down into that chasm for but one short hour in the twentyfour, and then left it to the angry waters and blackening
shadows; and that the faint moonlight reaching the bottom
of the canon would hardly serve to reveal the horror of their
situation. Midnight came, as they thought, by the measurement of the dark, dreary hours; when, seizing the poles,
they untied the rope that held the raft, and, tossed about by
the current, they rushed through the yawning canon on their
adventurous voyage to an unknown landing.     Through the
long night they clung to the raft as it dashed against halfconcealed rocks, or whirled about like a plaything in some
eddy, whose white foam was perceptible even in the blackness.
   They prayed for the daylight, which came at last, and with
it a smoother current and less rugged banks, though the canon
walls appeared to have increased in height. Early in the
morning (August 25th) they found a spot where they could
make a landing, and went ashore. After eating a little of
their water-soaked provisions, they returned and strengthened
their raft by the addition of some light pieces of cedar, which
had been lodged in clefts of the rocks by recent floods. White
estimates the width of the river where they landed at 200
yards, and the current at three miles per hour. After a short
stay at this place they again embarked, and during the rest of
205
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the day they had no difficulty in avoiding the rocks and
whirlpools that met them at every bend of the river.
   In the afternoon, and after having floated over a distance
estimated at thirty miles from the point of starting, they
reached the mouth of Green River, or rather where the Green
and the Grand unite to form the Colorado proper. Here the
cafions of both streams form one of but little greater width,
but far surpassing either in the height and grandeur of its
walls. At the junction, the walls were estimated at 4,000
feet in height. Detached pinnacles appeared to rise, one above
the other, for 1,000 feet higher, from amidst huge masses of
rock, confusedly piled, like grand monuments to commemorate
this "meeting    of  the waters."   The fugitives felt the
sublimity of the scene, and in contemplating its stupendous
and unearthly grandeur, they forgot for the time their own
sorrows.
   The night of the day upon which they entered the Great
Cafion, and indeed on nearly all the subsequent nights of the
voyage, the raft was fastened to a loose rock, or hauled up on
some strip of bottom-land, where they rested till daylight
next morning.
   As they floated down the cafion the grey sandstone walls
increased in height; the lower portion was smooth from the
action of floods, but the perpendicular wall-rock above became
more and more rugged, until the far-off sky appeared to rest
upon a fringe of pinnacles on either side. Here and there a
stunted cedar clung to the cliff-side 2,000 feet overhead, or a
prickly cactus tried to suck sustenance from the bare rock.
No living thing in sight beyond the raft, for even the wing
of bird which could pass the chasms in the upper world never
fanned the dark air in those subterranean depths.   Nought
to gaze on but their own pale faces and the cold grey walls
206
THE FOURTH DAY.
that hemmed them    in, and mocked at their escape. Here
and there the raft shot past side caflons, black and forbidding,
like cells set in the walls of a mighty prison.
  Baker had informed his comrades as to the geography of
the country, and while floating down they remembered that
Calville was at the mouth of the cafion, which could not be
far off; " such wonderful walls could not last." Then hope
came with the promise of escape. A few days would take
them to Calville; their provisions could be made to last for
five. So these two men, thus shut in from the world, buried,
as it were, in the very bowels of the earth, in the midst of a
great unknown desert, began to console themselves, and even
to jest at their situation.
  Forty miles below their entrance into the cafion of the
Colorado, they reached the mouth of the San Juan River.
They attempted to enter it, but its swift current cast them
back. The perpendicular walls, high as those of the Colorado,
with the water flowing from bank to bank, forbade their
abandoning their raft to attempt escape in that direction. So
they floated away. At every bend of the river it seemed as
if they were descending deeper into the earth, and that the
walls were coming closer together above them, shutting out
the narrow belt of sky, thickening the black shadows, and
redoubling the echoes that went up from the foaming waters.
   Four days had elapsed since they embarked on the
frail raft; it was now August 28th. So far they had been
constantly wet, but the water was comparatively warm, and
the current more regular than they could have expected.
Strole had taken upon himself to steer the raft, and, against
the advice of White, he often set one end of the pole against
the bank or some opposing rock, and then leaned with the
other end against his shoulder, to push the raft away. As
207
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
yet they had seen no natural bridge spanning the chasm
above them, nor had fall or cataract prevented their safe
advance. About three o'clock on the afternoon of the 28th,
they heard the deep roar as of a waterfall in front of them.
They felt the raft agitated, then whirled along with frightful
rapidity towards a wall that seemed to bar all farther progress.
As they approached the cliff, the river made a sharp bend,
around which the raft swept, disclosing to them, in a long
vista, the water lashed into foam, as it poured through a
narrow precipitous gorge, caused by huge masses of rock
detached from the main wall. There was no time to think.
The logs strained as if they would break their fastenings.
The waves dashed around the men, and the raft was buried
in the seething waters. White clung to the logs with the
grip of death. His comrade stood up for an instant with the
pole in his hands, as if to guide the raft from the rocks against
which it was plunging; but he had scarcely straightened,
before the raft seemed to leap down a chasm, and, amid the
deafening roar of waters, White heard a shriek that thrilled
him to the heart, and looking round he saw, through the mist
and spray, the form of his comrade tossed for an instant on
the water, then sinking out of sight in the whirlpool.
  White still clung to the logs, and it was only when the
raft seemed to be floating smoothly, and the sound of the
rapids was left behind, that he dared to look up; then it was
to find himself alone, the provisions lost, and the lengthening
shadows warning him of the approaching night. A feeling
of despair seized him, and clasping his hands he prayed for
the death he was fleeing from. He was made cognizant of
more immediate danger by the shaking of his raft, the logs
were separating; then he worked, and succeeded in effecting
a landing near some flat rocks, where he made his raft fast
20S
                                       vincemntBrooks Day& ScnLit.
THE GREAT CANON OF THE COLORADO.
RAPIDS AHEAD.
for the night. After this he sat down, to spend the long
gloomy hours in contemplating the horror of his situation,
and the small chance for completing the adventurous voyage
he had undertaken. He blamed himself for not having fought
the Indians till he had fallen with Baker. He might have
escaped through the San Juan valley and the mountains
beyond to the settlements. Had he done so, he would have
returned to his home, and rested satisfied with his experience
as a prospector. And when he thought of " home," it called
up the strongest inducements for life, and he resolved, to use
his own words, " to die hard, and like a man."
   Gradually the dawn, long perceptible in the upper world,
began to creep down the black caAon, and gave him light to
strengthen his raft, and launch it again into the treacherous
river. As he floated down he remembered the sad fate of
Strole, and took the precaution to lash himself firmly to the
raft, so as to preclude the possibility of his being separated
from it. This forethought subsequently saved his life. His
course through the canon was now over a succession of rapids,
blocked up by masses of rock, over which his frail raft
thumped and whirled, at times wholly submerged in the
foaming water. At one of these rapids, in the distance of
about a hundred yards, he thinks the river must have fallen
between thirty and forty feet. In going over this place the
logs composing the raft became separated at the upper end,
and, spreading out like a fan, White was thrown into the
water. He struggled to the side by means of his rope, and with
a desperate strength held the logs together till they floated
into calmer water, when he succeeded in refastening them.
   White's trials were not yet at an end, and in relating the
following incident he showed the only sign of emotion exhibited during his long series of answers.
   VOL. II.                    P
209
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
son Davis, when Secretary of War, after several elaborate
Government surveys had been made, gave the route along
the 32nd parallel the decided preference. Palmer, however,
after collecting all the information possible throughout the
country-after holding consultations with the most experienced guides and prospectors who could by any means be
summoned to meet him at Santa F6 and elsewhere-after
consulting with the commanders of forts, Indian scouts,
Mexican shepherds, and examining every source of information connected with the almost unknown regions to the westmward-came gradually to the opposite opinion, and determimned
that the route along the 35th    parallel should be most
thoroughly explored. liHe sent back to Kansas for two more
surveying parties under Colonel Greenwood to meet him at
Albuquer(que, and applied   to (lovernment for additional
transportation and another escort of sixty cavalry for their
protection.
  Two parties were intrusted with the examination and
survey of the 32nd paranlel route. One, under Mr. Runk,
was to continue the main line down the Rio Grande so as to
strike the passage westward through the Miembres Mountains, known as Cooke's Calion, which opens upon the vast
plain, the Madre Plateau. To Mr. Eicholtz and his party
were intrusted the " cut offs," that is, the examination of
doubtful passes, which, if practicable, would shorten and
improve the line run by AMr. Runk across country which was
already known andl considered practicable. Geneiral Palmer
himself, with the third party, viz., that under the command
of AMr. Imbrey Millar, was to retrace his steps to Albuquerque, and then, being reinforced by the two fresh parties
brought by Colonel Greenwood, was to explore the route
along the 35th parallel.   Three parties, therefore, were
10
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERTCA.
  About four miles below where the raft separated he reached
the mouth of a large stream, which he afterwards learned was
the Colorado Chiquito. The cafion through which it enters
the main river is very much like that of the San Juan, and
though it does not discharge so large a body of water, the
current is much more rapid, and sweeps across the Great
Colorado, causing, in a black chasm on the opposite bank, a
large and dangerous whirlpool. White saw this and tried to
avoid it, but he was too weak for the task. His raft, borne
by the current of the Colorado proper, rushed down with
such force, that aided by his paddle he hoped to pass the
waters that appeared to sweep at right angles across his
course from the Chiquito. When he reached the mouth of
the latter stream the raft suddenly stopped, and swinging
round for an instant as if balanced on a point, it yielded to
the current of the Chiquito and was swept into the whirlpool.
  White felt now that all further exertion was useless, and
dropping his paddle, he clasped his hands and fell upon the
raft. He heard the gurgling waters around him, and every
moment he felt that he must be plunged into the boiling
vortex. He waited with his eyes closed for some minutes,
when, feeling a strange swinging sensation, he opened them
and found that he was circling round the whirlpool, sometimes close to the vortex, and at others thrown back by some
invisible cause to the outer edge only to whirl again towards
the centre. Thus borne by the circling waters he looked
up, up, up, through the mighty chasm that seemed bending over him  as if about to fall and crush him. He saw
in the blue belt of sky which hung above him like an ethereal
river the red tinged clouds floating, and knew that the sun
was setting in the upper world. Still around the whirlpool
the raft swung, like a circular pendulum measuring the long
210
THE WHIRLPOOL.
moments before expected death. He felt a dizzy sensation,
and thinks he must have fainted; he knows he was unconscious for a time, for when again he looked up between the
walls, whose rugged summits towered 5,000 feet above
him; the red clouds had changed to black, and the heavy
shadows of night had crept down the cafion.
  Then, for the first time, he remembered that there was a
strength greater than that of man, a power that holds the
ocean in the hollow of His hand. " I fell on my knees," he
said, "1and as the raft swept round in the current, I asked
God to aid me. I spoke as if from my very soul, and said,
' Oh, God! if there is a way out of this fearful place show it
to me; take me to it."' Here White's voice became husky,
and his somewhat heavy features quivered as he continued" I was still looking up with my hands clasped when I felt
a different movement in the raft, and turning to look at the
whirlpool, it was some distance behind, and I was floating
down the smoothest current I had yet seen in the caion."
  This statement is the only information White volunteered;
all the rest was obtained by close questioning. One of his
friends who was present during the examination smiled
when White repeated his prayer. He noticed it, and said
with some feeling: " It is true, Bob, and I'm sure God took
me out."
  Below the mouth of the Colorado Chiquito the current was
very slow, and White felt what he subsequently found to be
the case-viz., that the rapids were past, though he was not
equally fortunate in guessing his proximity to Calville. The
course of the river below this he describes as exceedingly
" crooked, with short, sharp turns," the view on every side
being shut in by flat precipitous walls of "' white sand-rock."
These walls presented white perpendicular surfaces to the
                           P2
211
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
high water-level, which had a distinct mark of about forty
feet above the August stage. The highest part of the cafion,
White thinks, is between the San Juan and the Colorado
Chiquito, where the wall appeared to him more than one mile
(5,280 feet) in perpendicular height, and at a few points even
higher. Dr. Newberry states, from barometrical observations,
that for a long distance the altitude is nearly 7,000 feet.
But we must not begin to draw conclusions too soon, much of
interest remains to be told of this unparalleled adventure.
  The current bore White from the Colorado Chiquito slowly
down the main river. His clothing was torn to shreds, and
the few rags which clung to his frame were constantly
saturated with water. Each noon the sun looked into the
cation only to pour his almost vertical rays on the famishing
man, and to burn and blister those parts of his body that the
scanty rags did not cover.    One, two, three, four days
dragged slowly past since he tasted food, and still the current
bore him through the towering walls of the cafon. The
hunger maddened him. He felt it burning into his vitals.
His thoughts were of food! food! food! and his sleeping
moments were filled with Tantalus-like dreams. Once he
raised his arm to open some vein and draw nutriment from
his own blood, but its shrivelled, blistered length frightened
him. For hours as he floated down. he would sit looking into
the water, yet lacking courage to make the plunge that would
rid him of all earthly pain. On the morning of the fifth day
since he had tasted food, he saw a flat bank with some
nmezquit bushes upon it, and by using all his strength he
succeeded in reaching it with his raft. He devoured the few
green pods and the leaves of the bushes, but they only
increased his desire for more. The journey was resumed,
and he remembers that during the last two days of unbroken
212
SIX DAYS WITHOUT FOOD.
cafion wall, the rocks became very black, with shining surfaces-probably where the igneous took the place of the
cretaceous rocks.
  Six days without food, save the few   green leaves, and
eleven days since starting, and still the uneven current bore
on the raft with its wretched occupant. He saw occasional
breaks in the wall, with here and there a bush. Too. weak to
move his raft, he floated past and felt no pain, for the overwrought nerves refused to convey sensation.
  On the afternoon of this, the sixth day, he was roused by
hearing the sound of human voices, and, raising himself on
one arm, he looked towards the shore, and saw men beckoning to him. A momentary strength came to his arms, and,
grasping the paddle, he urged the raft to the bank. On
reaching it he found himself surrounded by a band of
Yampais Indians, who for many years have lived on a low
strip of alluvial land along the bottom of the cafion, the trail
to which, from the upper world, is only known to themselves.
One of the Indians made fast the raft, while another seized
White roughly and dragged him up the bank. He could not
remonstrate; his tongue refused to give a sound, so he
pointed to his mouth and made signs for food. The fiend
that pulled him up the bank, tore from his blistered shoulders
the shreds that had once been a shirt, and was proceeding to
take off the torn trousers, when, to the credit of the savage
be it said, one of the Indians interfered, and pushed back his
companions. He gave White some meat, and roasted mezquit beans to eat, which the famished man devoured, and
after a little rest he made signs that he wanted to go to the
nearest dwellings of the white men. The Indians told him
he could reach them in "two suns " by his raft, so he stayed
with them all night, and with a revolver that remained
213
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AXMERICA.
fastened to the logs, he purchased some mezquit beans, and
the half of a dog.
  Early the next morning he tottered to the bank, and again
pushed into the current. The first day out he gave way to
the yearnings for food, and, despite his resolution to the
contrary, he ate up his entire stock of provisions, which did
not, by -any means, satisfy his craving.      Three long days
of hope and dread passed slowly by, and still no signs of
friends. Reason tottered, and White stretched himself on
the raft; all his energies exhausted, life and death were to
him alike indifferent.
   Late in the evening of the third day after leaving the
Indians, and fourteen days from the time of starting on this
perilous voyage, White again heard voices, accompanied by
the rapid dash of oars. He understood the words, but could
make no reply.   He felt a strong arm thrown around him,
and he was lifted into a boat, to see manly bearded faces
looking on' him  with pity.    The  great objective point,
Calville, was reached at last; the battle for a life was won,
but with the price of unparalleled suffering.       The people
of this Mormon settlement had warm, generous hearts, and,
like good Samaritans, lavishly bestowed every care on the
unfortunate man, so miraculously thrown into their midst
from the bowels of the unknown cafion.        His constitution,
naturally strong, soon recovered its terrible shock, and he
told his new-found friends his wonderful story, the first
recital of which led them to doubt his sanity.
   Charles McAllister, at present an assistant in the store of
Mr. Todd at Fort Mojave, was one of the three men who went
in the boat to White's assistance.  He said that he never
saw so wretched a looking man as White when he first met
him; his feet, legs, and body were literally flayed, from ex214
SAFE AT LAST.
posure to drenching from water and the scorching rays of the
sun. His reason was almost gone, his form stooped, and his
eyes were so hollow and dreary, that he looked like an old
and imbecile man. Mr. W. H. Hardy, of Hardyville, near
Fort Mojave, brought White thither, that we might see and
talk with him. Mr. Hardy corroborates the statements of
McAllister, and from  his knowledge of the country above
Calville, says that it would be impossible for White to have
come for any distance by the river, without travelling
through the whole length of the Great Cafion of the Colorado.
Mr. Ballard, a mail contractor, in whose employment White is
now earning money to take him home, says he believes him
to be a sober, truthful man; but, apart from White's statement, Ballard is confident he must have traversed, and in the
manner stated, that hitherto unexplored chasm which completes the missing link between the upper and lower course
of the Great Colorado.
  Dr. Parry, our geologist, thinks that the subjoined conclusions may be summed up as some of the new additions to
our previous geographical knowledge of the hydrography of
the Great Colorado of the West, derived from this remarkable
voyage.
  1. The actual location of the mouth of the San Juan forty
miles below Green River junction, and its entrance by a
cafion continuous with that of the Colorado, above and
below the point of junction.
  2. From the mouth of the San Juan to the Colorado
Chiquito, three days' travel in the swiftest portion of the
current allowing four miles per hour for fifteen hours or
sixty miles per day, would give an estimated distance of 180
miles, including the most inaccessible portion of the cafion.
   3. From the Colorado Chiquito to Calville occupied ten
215
216.. NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
days' travel. As this part of the route was more open, and
probably  comprised  long  stretches of comparatively  still
water, it would not be safe to allow a distance of over thirty
miles per day, or 300 miles for this interval. Thus the whole
distance travelled would be 550 miles, or something over 500
miles from Green River junction to the head of steamboat
navigation at Calville.
  4. The absence of any distinct cataracts, or perpendicular
falls, would seem to warrant the conclusion that in time of
high water, by proper appliances, in the form of india-rubber
boats and provisions secured in waterproof bags, with good
resolute oarsmen, the same passage might be safely made, and
the actual course of the river mapped out, and its peculiar
geological features properly examined.
   5. The construction of bridges by a single span would be
rendered difficult of execution, on account of the usual flaring
shape of the summits. Possibly, however, points might be
found where the mesas approach sufficiently near each other
for such a purpose.
  6. The width of the river, at its narrowest point, was
estimated at 100 feet, and the line of high-water mark at
forty feet above the average stage in August.
  7. The long-continued uniformity of the geological formation (termed  "white sandstone,"   probably  cretaceous) is
remarkable; but under the term may have been comprised
some of the later stratified formations. The contrast on
reaching the dark igneous rocks was so marked that it could
not fail to be noticed.
   8. Any prospect for useful navigation up or down the
cafion during the season of high water, or the transportation
of lumber from the upper pine regions, could not be regarded
                        CONCLUSION.                      217
as feasible, considering the long distance and the inaccessible
character of the river-banks.
   9. No other satisfactory method of exploration, except
along the course of the river, could be adopted to determine
its actual course and peculiar natural features; and James
White, as the pioneer of this enterprise, will probably long
retain the honour of being the only man who has traversed,
through its whole course, the Great Cafon of the Colorado,
and lived to recount his observations on so perilous a trip.
CHAPTER XIV.
            THE RETURN JOURNEY Vtd SALT LAKE.
Leave San Francisco.-Ascending the Sierra Nevada on the Central Pacific
    Railroad.-Sledging across the Mountains.-Virginia City.-Our Fellow
    Passenger.--Staging across the Desert.-How we crossed an "Alkali    flat."-Austin.--The Mormons.-Polygamy.--Will they migrate or will
    they remain?-The Anti-polygamy Party.-Mr. Dilke on Mormonism.    The Electric Telegraph in the Desert.-Cross the Black Hills.-Cheyenne.
    -Drive to Denver.--Enormous herds of Antelope and Buffalo.-Fort
    Wallace again.
LATE on the afternoon of February 21st I started from San
Francisco, and took the river boat for Sacramento, where
next morning I was joined by Palmer and Colton. We left
the State capital enveloped in steaming drizzle, and were glad
to exchange the sultry oppression of the coast for the snowflakes and bracing air of the Sierra Nevada.   We were told
by the " conductor" of our train, as we left the dep6t of the
Central Pacific of California, that the mountains commenced
two miles east of Sacramento. It is necessary to be told this
fact, for to all appearance the country is a dead level, and the
only way of accounting for it is, that so the government has
decided.
   The line does however ascend, though gradually, for sixty
miles, at which point we entered the snows at an elevation
of 2,700 feet, and very soon the mountain scenery became
Alpine in its character, and snow-clad giants appeared and
disappeared amongst the clouds and drifting snow-flakes.
The train twined in and out amongst the mountains like a
serpent; sometimes clinging closely to the edge of a precipice
CROSSING THE SIERRA NEVADA.
whose depth was lost in the mist below, sometimes crossing
deep ravines on lofty tressel bridges, now dashing through a
tunnel, then entering a mile or two of snow-sheds, and at
times whirling round so sharp a curve that we felt as if
centrifugal force would send us flying off the rails. Higher
up, the grades became steeper; another engine was added as a
pusher to the train, and our speed was much reduced. The
vistas up and down the ravines between the mountains were
superb; the graceful Californian pines, with their dark
foliage, seemed to rest their heavy limbs upon the white
glistening breasts of the hills, for so deep was the snow that
the bare portions of the trunks were buried beneath it.
  I was strongly reminded of one scene in Switzerland as we
crept up the mountains-the pass of the Col de Balme into
the Valley de Chamounix.
  At thirteen miles from the summit we reached the temporary
limit of the railway, and exchanged the warmed cars for the
Overland Mail Company's sledges. There were half-a-dozen
of these waiting our arrival, each drawn by three pair of
mustangs, in the sleekest possible condition. The sun was
setting, and a brilliant crimson tint was thrown for a few
moments over everything as we dashed off with a chorus of
whoops from the drivers, and shot like lightning over the
hard crisp snow.
  Those who cross the mountains by stage in summer enjoy
quite an exciting drive; those who pass over them by sledge
during the winter revel in scenes of inexpressible grandeur.
  From twenty to forty feet of snow lies below you, the summits
have to be crossed at an elevation exceeding 8,000 feet, the
road is cut for miles along precipices whose edges are but
vaguely visible to the stranger even by a bright moonlight,
and the cold is intense, so much so that a dozen thicknesses
219
EXPEDITION REORGAMISED.
organised to survey the northern route, and two the southern.
I took the latter route.
   Before bidding adieu to Fort Craig, I must here acknow ledge the great hospitality of Mr. Wardwell, the sutler at
 whose house General Palminer, Colonel Willis, Captain Colton,
 and myself remained as guests during our stay there. The
 good old mediteval custoni of' keeping open house has very
 nearly passed away, even from those spots where for ages it
 was the pride of' the proud lords of' the soil; but the still
 more bounteous " institution " of keeping open cellars is not
 unfrequently met with in the Far West, and nowhere on such
 a scale as at our host's in Fort Craig. All day long, and
 oftetn far into the night, did the doors of these capacious
 vaults remain open. Rows of glasses stood te1mptingly at the
 enltraince; and below, in dimi twilight, might be seen rows of
 casks, from all of' wllich stuck out the unlocked tap. The
 barrels were not of' beer, btit lorbon whiskey and other
 spirits, El Paso wine, and real ('Coginiac. All who had the
 slightest clailits to acquainitanc'eshlip with the hlost, which in
 this land of freedom  meiant " a pretty big crowd," were at
 li)berty to hi(lpli themselves wh,enever they felt inclined, and
 seldtlom indeed did I approac'lI that seduc'tive cave without
 hearing the suggestive pop of' tihe c,hiamipagine cork.
   On Tuesday afternoon we started afresh on our journey.
I joined Mr. Eicholtz's party. During the week we marched
              seventy miles due south, to a point on the Rio
    October 8.
              Grande sixteen miles north of Fort Thorn, where
we left the valley by a gentle ascent, and proceeded westward.
So much had this portifon of the valley been ravaged by the
wild Indlians--the Apache,s anld'Navajos on one side, and the
Comnanches on the other-that it was completely depopulated.
Travelling down the western side, we passed through the
11
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
of shawl or blanket wrapt over your head fails to keep out
the piercing icy blast. For all this there is so much life and
excitement in the scene that even the drivers, who are
accustomed to it, wake up from their usual stolid moodiness,
and playfully' wake up" their horses also. How we dashed
on through the snow, up hill and down dale, all through the
night! About twelve o'clock we had a biting snow-storm,
which completely covered the track, and left us nothing to
steer by but the long row of poles which were stuck in the
snow to mark the road.     Much of the country upon the
summit was level, or nearly so, and there the snow lay
deepest. The lofty telegraph poles only just raised the wire
above the surface, and many of the younger firs showed no
more than their tops above the crust.
  The track upon which we drove, or rather galloped, was
only wide enough for one vehicle, and now and then all
through the night one or other of the sledges would run off
the beaten way and upset in the deep snow, dragging the horses
after it, and burying them up to their necks. Then we would
have to tumble out, and help to lift the sledge on to the track
again. We all got upset in turn, and some of our parties
twice; and occasionally we met trucks on runners, returning
for fresh loads of railway iron, or sledges coming from the
opposite direction. There was no room to pass on the track,
so that one or other had to run into the snow, and submit in
cold blood to being upset.
   Thus the night went by.     We changed horses every
sixteen miles, and arrived by morning at the head of Donner
Lake, at the eastern slope of the sierra, where the snow had
already thawed so much that we were obliged to leave our
comfortable sledges and proceed by mud-wagon to Virginia
City, about eight hours farther on.
220
VIRGINIA CITY.
  A mud-wagon is shaped like a coach, but it is hung lower,
is more heavily built, and has its sides made of canvas instead
of wood and glass.
  Most of the passengers who occupied the six sledges were
booked for Virginia City; where, next morning, we learned
that only two were going to join us across the Great Basin.
We were discussing after breakfast the merits of the different
silver mines, and trying to decide upon which to visit on the
famous Comstock lode, when a very tall and bulky man, his
hair cropped as close as that of a convict, with a round, jovial,
beardless face, and enveloped in a huge overcoat made of the
thickest of Californian blankets, offered his services in the
most friendly way, and took us to the Savage Mine, where we
watched the rapid extraction of the grey and white quartz,
many pieces of which were glistening with silver.
  The Comstock lode and the silver mines which ramify
through it have been too often described to require any
comment here. Our bulky friend, the jovial proprietor of the
Occidental Hotel of San Francisco, may not be as well known
in the East as he is throughout the Far West; and since he
became from this time the most prominent feature of the
homeward journey, I must describe our start from Virginia
City, and introduce him in doing so.
  When Palmer, Colton, myself, and another passenger, had
seated ourselves and packed away our wraps and blankets, to
use whenever any great increase of elevation should make it
very cold, the agent called out for Mr. Leland, and as Mr.
Leland did not respond to the summons, he had forcibly to
be conducted from the bar-room by his friends (to whom he
had been saying good-bye in the usual manner nearly all the
morning), and pushed with difficulty, blanket, coat, and all,
through the door of the mud-wagon; then came half-a-dozen
221
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
blankets to match the coat, and sealskin boots reaching to the
hips; then a large bag, labelled " muck-a-muck," which he
soon informed us was food for the journey, should we need
anything between times; then came a gallon keg of whiskey,
then a second ditto, then a third, a fourth, and, lastly, a
demijohn of the same. Bang went the door!  "All aboard?
Whoop! " shouted the driver, as he cracked the whip over
the leaders; and thus, amidst a chorus of cheers from our
new acquaintances, and a long string of messages to Tom,
Dick, and Harry from the stentorian voice of Leland, as he
bid them good-bye, we bumped and rattled through Virginia
City. The whiskey was all finished before we reached Salt
Lake; and, although it was at times a nuisance, and notwithstanding the fact that the owner of it drank with every one
along the road, whether they wished or not, it was, nevertheless, a source of great amusement, and probably helped
the horses, through the driver, out of many a " tight" place.
  Travelling day and night by stage across 700 miles of
desert is wearisome at all times, but it is especially trying
when the frost first breaks up, and the soft, friable soil is
converted into mud which is slightly frozen over at night,
and lets the wheels sink through it to the axletrees. This
happened to be our case. Had we been one week earlier, we
could have gone upon a smooth road from Virginia City
to Salt Lake in four days. As it was, our average rate of
progression was reduced to two miles and a quarter per hour.
All the'' alkali flats " were flooded and covered with ice, too
thin to bear, but quite thick enough to damage the legs of
the horses; the ruts were terrible, and both through the day
and night we were jolted, first on one side, then on the other,
and thrown violently forward into the arms of our vis-a-vis.
Every now and then the driver would call out, " Left!" or
222
HOW WE CROSSED AN ALKALI FLAT.
"I Right!" which meant that those inside were to bear all
their weight on the side named, to prevent the wagon from
being upset on the other. Twenty times at least we stuck in
the mud, and had to spend hours in digging out the wheels;
and there was not a single night in which we had not to turn
out and walk over some especially bad place.
  On one of these occasions, the driver pulled up at the edge
of a large sheet of water, covered with about an inch of ice.
It was bitterly cold, and there was no moon; the ground was
so boggy that it was very doubtful whether we could possibly
reach the opposite shore, two miles distant, and yet we could
not stop where we were. This time we were drawn by four
powerful horses; and it was at last decided that Colton, the
other passenger, the driver, and myself, should first ride the
horses across, and then that they should return for the others.
How we got through it I can hardly say; the water reached
above the horses' girths; every instant they would lose their
footing in a cart-rut or a boggy spot; at some places the ice
would almost bear, and then it would suddenly break and let
us through. We reached the other side, however, soaked to
the skin, and fast stiffening, as our clothes froze around us.
Back went the horses; but when the driver contemplated the
probable fate of seventeen stone, enveloped in a Californian
blanket coat, attempting to cross an alkali flat, his heart
failed him, and he determined to put the horses to again.
In the course of a couple of hours, the horses succeeded in
getting the wagon across, and we all went on again. A little
farther we met another stage, which, from the steady appearance of the lights, as seen from a distance, was evidently at
a standstill. This mud-wagon was buried up to the body in
mud; it carried no passengers, but was heavily laden with
bars of silver, which lay at the bottom of the wagon. The
223
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
driver, being alone, could do nothing; so we set to work, took
out the silver, dug out the wheels, and fastened our own
horses in front of the others.  Having set this "outfit"
moving again we started afresh, with very considerable doubts
however as to how it would get through the alkali flat.
  Time, of course, could not be kept, and we took our meals
at any hour during the day or night; at last we became so
demoralised that no distinction could possibly be discovered
between breakfast, dinner, or tea; so that all went indefinitely
under the name of supper. We usually supped once every
eight hours, and did not therefore suffer from want of food.
  About half-way across the desert, four days from Virginia
City, we reached Austin, at which thriving mining town we
rested for a night, and enjoyed the luxuries of a dinner, a
bed, and a breakfast. Nothing is more surprising than the
good fare which can be had at most of the mining towns in
California and Nevada. Our dinner at the French restaurant
was fine; we had fresh oysters from San Francisco, large
salmon-trout from the Humboldt River, and a variety of dishes
beautifully cooked and served. We drank Perrier Jouet of
the best quality, and claret which was not to be despised.  Of
course, the luxuries were expensive, but they were supplied
on all sides to the groups of miners and others who were
dining with us.
   Two days' and nights' more travel brought us to the
Mormon city, where we remained some time to recruit our
strength and see the place.
   " Have you been to Salt Lake? " and "What do you think
of the Mormons?" were the two questions I had most
frequently to answer on my return home.
  Although the Mormons have been too much written on as
well as "too much married," yet I do not altogether agree with
224
                  THE MORMON QUESTION.                  225
much that has been said of them lately, and shall not therefore remain altogether silent on this subject.
  The English view of the Mormon question is very different
from  the American   one; and as Utah is an American
territory, not an English county, we should certainly consider the question from  an American stand-point. In the
first place, I deny the common assertion that Salt Lake City,
setting aside polygamy, is a moral place and that the Mormons
A Mormon Family.
are a moral people. Is it likely, in a community where
men have almost unlimited license, that the women will
practise strict fidelity to their masters (husbands)? Polygamy and strict morality have never up to the present time
existed in company, and my impressions of Salt Lake City
led me to conclude that the Mormons are no exception to this
rule. Why should the Mormon elders mysteriously hint at
  VOL. II.                    U
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
death as the punishment inflicted by them for female infidelity?  Surely because they feel how   impossible it is to
maintain such fidelity in a community like theirs.
   Every spot upon American soil, not occupied by the
Mormons, is open to the world for trade or settlement; but a
Gentile settler in Utah finds himself beset on all sides by so
many petty annoyances, that he invariably decamps. Letters
advising him to join the community are followed by others of
a threatening character; and if these fail to convert him, more
active means are taken to prove how useless, and even unsafe,
it is for him  to resist the pressure of Mormon tyranny.
Only conceive how offensive this is to the feelings of
Americans!
   The degradation of women, however, is the deepest grievance of all. There, in the midst of a country where woman
appears to stand higher than anywhere else-where she is, on
the whole, better educated-where her influence is greater, and
where more homage is paid to her-a community rises up
which is trying to lower her position to that of a servant in
her own household. It may be very utilitarian, but it is
extremely revolting to a people so sensitive on this subject as
the Americans. It is rare to hear a Mormon husband talk
of his wives, he always calls them his women, and this little
fact speaks volumes. UJsually, if you dine at an elder's table,
his guests will be men, and his wives will wait upon the
party.
   It is customary to   envelop  Mormonism    in a highlycoloured cloud of religious fervour; we are told how
devotedly they trust to the guidance of God; how      strict
they are in their religious observances; how they bring
religion into their daily life, and walk as saints upon earth.
In reality, however, there is, amongst the Mormons, an entire
226
WESTERN VIEW OF THE SUBJECT.
absence of religious devotion. To an ordinary individual,
they appear to worship no deity but the works of their own
hand-not wood and stone exactly, but coin and fruit-trees,
factories and theatres. Their text is the old one-that Providence will help those who help themselves; and their whole
religious teaching, if such it may be called, is pure utilitarianism. They may convert the poor people of Wales and
Norway by concealing the truth; but it is very doubtful
whether they ever make one true male disciple in Americathat is, one who joins them from religious conviction, and
that alone.
  The day after leaving Salt Lake City we picked up a very
curious little fellow on the road. He was a hump-backed
German Jew, and expressed strongly in his features that
quick and combative form of mental development traditional
to dwarfs. I was much amused at one remark he made, and
it very well expresses the general opinion amongst frontier
men. We were all standing over a blazing log-fire at a ranche
in the Bitter Creek country, and I was listening to a tall
Western man as he laid down the law on the Mormon question, when one of the party remarked in the forcible language
of the country, that he could not conceive how any man
could have the bare-faced impudence to set himself up as a
Christ amongst the people, as Brigham Young has done. At
this, the little hump-back squeaked out from       one corner,
" He ish right! he ish right!  How much monish do you
shuppose he hash made?"
  In truth, the Mormons are becoming very wealthy; and,
indeed, they are not the only section of the "faithful " who
have profited by their position on the great highway of travel
across a continent. Besides, their colonization system is perfect, their government is very effective, and the taxation                           a 2
227
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
screw is not applied until the settler is firmly rooted; then,
however it is sharply turned, and the man finds, when it is
too late, that he has to pay very dearly for the start given
him in life by his Mormon brethren.
   It is interesting, although not perhaps very profitable, to
speculate on the future of these people.
   Will they migrate, or will they remain? Will they modify
their views and actions, or will they hold out against
Americanization? The last year or two has shown, I think,
what course events are likely to take. The Mormons know
perfectly well that they will remain unmolested and in full
possession of all the lands they have taken without acknowment from the United States' Government, if they only give
up polygamy. They may profess to believe what they like,
and govern themselves as they please; but if they persist in
degrading women as they at present do, some method will be
devised to break up the " institution." Under the influence
of this argument, the Joe Smith anti-polygamy party are
making rapid strides, especially among the outlying settlements scattered over Utah and southern Nevada; and even
the most orthodox of the saints are beginning to discover
that polygamy is not an essential doctrine. Even the great
Brigham has, I am informed, lately stated openly that he has
received no direct revelation on this important subject; and
that therefore, at present, although he is in favour of it personally, he cannot speak with authority either for or against
the practice. This is fortunate, and leaves a very safe loophole for escape in time of need. The institution is very
unpopular amongst the majority of the women, especially the
younger ones. I used to discuss the subject a good deal
with  a young   Mormon    wife  of great intelligence, and
although she professed to approve of it to me, I found out
228
THE ANTI-POLYGAMY PARTY.
that she had insisted upon her husband's relinquishing the
idea of taking a second wife into her own household.
  The rank and file of the faithful are also becoming a good
deal enlightened as regards the payment of tithes. They do
not give so freely as formerly; and the loud complaints made
by the bishops and elders on this head only prove how widespread is the feeling that they are being heavily taxed to no
other purpose than that of maintaining a system of tyranny
dignified by the name of " church government." " If," say
those who are averse to polygamy, " we only do what is
natural to our race, and refrain from marrying more than one
wife, there will be no need then for maintaining a strong
military organization, since the incentive to molestation will
have been removed." This argument is one of the chief
causes which makes the Joe Smith schism of such importance,
and it may eventually break down the whole system. I certainly expect in time that the American forms of thought,
which are so deeply rooted in the hearts of the masses, will
prove to be too strong for Mormonism as it now exists, and
that instead of any violent measures being necessary to remove
the obnoxious sect to some more distant wilderness, its tenets
will become modified into some system which can be tolerated
while it lasts; for eventually it will die away, as thousands
of other similar abnormalities have done since Christianity
has been established.
  Mr. Dilke, in writing on this subject, says: " Mormonism
comes under my observation as the religious and social system
of the most successful of all pioneers of English civilization.
From this point of view it would be an immediate advantage
to the world that they should be driven out once more into
the wilderness, again to found an England in Mexico, in
Polynesia, or on Red River."    I cannot agree with him;
229
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
ruins of a large village, formerly known as the Alamosa,
about half way between Craig and Thorn. The inhabitants,
having abandoned their homes and the rich lands around them,
had built another village on the opposite bank, under the
protection of a small post, Fort M'-Rae, garrisoned by a few
United States troopl,s. Nemw Alamosa., as it is called, is the
only village we saw on the opposite bank for sevcnty miles;
and on our side, Polomas, a place of some, twenty houses,
alone remained inlal,it ed. lI,r twenty miles further down
the river than we went the vallev is albalidoned to) the lizard
and tihe rattlesnake.   Tlhen comies a section where the
Mexican populatim, has 1been stro,ng en ough to h,hl(d its own,
and hias lbeen able to plant vinlevard(s and (orange-groves, aind
to gatlher ill their firuits in due season. Tle district is called
thle Mesilla valley, and is spoke,n of with pri(le by the people
of the country as the " (Gaurden of the Rio (Grande."
  AWhile resting (luring Sunlldav at our last camp on the Rio
(Irande in a large valley, snome tweintv miless long by six
b,road, a party of Mexicans and Americans caine f'r,lll Mesilla
to meet General Palmir and to give us welcome.          h Tie
General, of course, was not withi us, but we drlank his health
in fragrant Ul Paso, growIwn in the M1 silla valley, and lrought
to us by our new friends. We were surprised to collme a(-ross
this little party in so hmnely and deserted a place. I had
much talk with them on tihe sub,ject of tlhe valley I had just
descended for so many hundred miiles. Tlhy co,mlpared the
part we were then encamped in with tle AMesilla valley,
and said that natrally it was finer in every reslpect, but
beinig uninhabited and unirrigated, it was to tle eve little
better than a parched desert tilled with meziquit 1ulshies and
brushwood. Tihe opinion expressed by these menl, the information I had gleaned from    every source, and my own
12
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
first, because I consider that even Mormon polygamy has the
elements of social corruption and decay inherent; secondly,
because if rapid emigration and colonisation be the great
desideratum, we can obtain these ends far better by other
means than that of Mormonism-an institution which he
himself admits must give way again and again to the
advancing tide of Christian Saxondom; and thirdly, because I
have yet to learn what kind of colony that will become which
was founded originally upon Mormon principles.
  In crossing the western desert on the Salt Lake route,
you are never removed more than thirty miles from telegraphic
communication with the civilized world. The system adopted
on this line, as well as throughout the United States generally,
is a most admirable one.     Every message is ticked out
simultaneously in every office all along the line; it is reproduced perhaps a hundred times at the same moment, and
usually the office clerk takes no notice of it unless it is
intended for his own station; then he listens to the ticking of
the instrument, and writes off the message from the sound.
All along the route there is a station every fifty miles, and as
the impeachment trial of President Johnson was just commencing while we were on the road, our first inquiry on
reaching one of these stations was whether there had been
any fresh news from Washington.   Sometimes the clerk would
say that some messages had passed through for San Francisco,
but he had not been attending to them. Sometimes he had
the very latest news to give us of events which had only just
transpired, the first of these being the impeachment itself;
and not unfrequently a long abstract of speeches delivered in
the Senate on the same day were traversing the wires whilst
we were waiting at the station, and the clerk was able,
without the least trouble, to give them to us word for word as
230
THE BLACK HILLS.
they were ticked out in passing. Many scraps of European
news reached us in this way, and made it hard to believe that
we were 6,000 miles nearer sunset than those who spoke to
us through the wires. Brigham Young has private telegraph
wires laid down all over Utah and the Great Basin, uniting
his isolated communities with the central seat of government.
These all enter his house near the Tabernacle.
  We accomplished the 1,350 miles from San Francisco to the
foot of the Black Hills by means of four kinds of conveyance;
124 miles were travelled by steamboat, 92 by rail, about 250
by sledges, and the rest in mud-wagons. The 250 miles of
sledging were divided into five intervals of from 30 to 100
miles each, in which we crossed the highest mountain summits on the route; these were the Sierra Nevada, the Wahsatch Mountains, Reed's and Bitter Creek summits, Bridger's
Pass, and the Black Hills. Such changes broke the journey,
and rendered it much less fatiguing than it otherwise would
have been. On reaching the station at the foot of the Black
Hills, where the stages branch off to Denver and the south,
we found that a heavy fall of snow had stopped the traffic by
train along the Platte route; but as the storm had not
extended as far west as the Rocky Mountains, travel was still
open to Denver, and thence by the Smoky Hill Fork, our old
route, to St. Louis. We woke up Leland, who was asleep in
the boot-his favourite resting-place, but how he squeezed
into it has ever remained a mystery-and held a consultation
as to whether we should go on to Cheyenne or take the coach
for Denver. The deliberations ended in a general break-up
of our little party of four.  Colton started off to see how the
tunnel was progressing in Evan's Pass, Leland went on in the
stage to Cheyenne, where he expected to meet many friends,
and to get some refreshment before continuing his journey,
231
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
and Palmer and I took the world easy. We got a shake-down
on the floor of the ranche or stage-station, and had a good
night's rest preparatory to starting for Denver by the midday stage on the morrow.
  The Denver stage started for Cheyenne at seven o'clock, so
that it reached our ranche about mid-day. As it came in
sight we quickly spied a well-known bulky figure, enveloped
in an equally well-known blanket coat, seated next the driver.
His cap was on the wrong way; and when all the passengers
had rushed from the stage to make the most of the twenty
minutes allowed for refreshment, he alone remained master of
his commanding position. 1" Well, Leland," we asked, " what
do you think of Cheyenne?"  "Pretty good sort of town for
its size, Gen'l, but it is the most warlike place I was ever in.
Whiskey!   It's not whiskey at all, nor blue lightning either,
its nitro-glycerine, you bet!" "But won't you get down,
old fellow?" we suggested. "No, thankee," was the submissive reply, " I think I'll take a sleep in the boot."
  The drive from the foot of the Black Hills to Denver was
a glorious one, and occupied about nine hours. The same
man drove us the whole way; his cattle were of the best,
for traffic had been very light of late; and as the thaw had
not reached this part of the route, the road was in splendid
condition. During the whole distance of eighty miles we
averaged nine miles an hour, including stoppages.        The
Rocky Mountains lay in full view of us all the way, gradually
increasing in grandeur as we neared Denver; the moon was
very brilliant, and the view over the plains to the eastward
presented an endless expanse of undulating whiteness, upon
which the moonlight played like phosphorescence on the
sea.  The complete solitude, the vastness of the expanse
on all sides, the clatter of the four-in-hand as they dashed
232
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ENORMOUS HERDS OF BUFFALO.
along at a gallop, the keen sharp air, and the refreshing
influence of a long night's rest made this drive inexpressibly
delightful.
  Three days passed quickly away at Denver, after which we
again took to the stage, and continued our route southward
to the end of the Kansas Pacific Railway, whose terminal
dep6t was at that time called Coyote. It was situated 295
miles from Denver, and ninety-two miles east of Fort Wallace,
the old starting-point of our survey.
  Between Denver and the fort we had no fear of Indians,
nor need of escort, for the snow was yet on the ground, and
the time for hot;flities had not commenced. Big game, however, was most abundant here. One herd of antelope was so
large that, although they commenced to bound like lightning
across the road in single file as soon as they caught sight of
us, the tail of the herd nearly came in contact with our
leaders. Like many other wild animals which congregate in
herds and follow a chief, all considered themselves bound to
keep exactly in the same track. As for the buffalo, they were
in prodigious numbers. I had heard of wagon-trains being
stopped for a whole day to allow them to go by, of thousands
taking fright and rushing helter-skelter over everything, and
of places where it was absolutely necessary to provide against
a stampede; but such a sight I never expected to see, and
should never have witnessed had I returned, as I had expected,
by the Platte.
   On one occasion, about 150 miles from Denver, to the left
of the road, as far as the eye could reach, that is for very
many miles, the plain was completely covered with them.
There were thousands, millions if you like, for such numbers
were beyond calculation, and perhaps the best idea I can
give of such a sight is to refer to the accompanying sketch,
233
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
which gives a fair idea of one of these countless herds of
American bison.
  Early in the morning of the 10th of March, 1868, we
came for a second time in sight of Fort Wallace.       I was
sitting next the driver, and the sight of the red buildings
and Sibley tents reminded me painfully of the scenes which
had been enacted there during my last visit. I pointed out
to the driver the ground upon which the Indians had fought
our men, and I told him that there we had lost nine men
killed and four wounded in one engagement. Hie turned
slightly round, and gave me a curious look of suspicion as he
said, " Now there I guess you lie, for I happened to be in
every brush we had with the Indians along this here road
last summer, and although we lost ones, and twos, and threes,
some fours, and a five, we never lost nine at one time, I'll
swar." iHe thought I had referred to a stage-coach skirmish.
  But two of the old officers remained at the fort, the others
had gone elsewhere, and one poor fellow had been killed by
the red-skins. We stopped for an hour, and had a talk over
the incidents of the summer. There were three companies
now established here. All the houses which were being built
when I knew the post were finished, and a fine hospital had
been added, composed entirely of the building stone found in
the vicinity. Next morning we reached the rail, and thus
returned to St. Louis.
234
        PART IV.
THE PACIFIC RAILROADS.
        THE PACIFIC RAILROADS.
                         -4--
                     CHAPTER I.
                 HISTORY OF THE PROJECT.
IF we were to start from the very commencement of the
Pacific Railroad project and trace its gradual development,
we should glance in succession over all the great events
which have crowded so thickly upon each other during the
last twenty years of North American history. All influenced
it one way or another, some retarding and others hastening
it towards maturity. At the close of the Mexican war in
1848 the people of the United States found themselves
possessed of the whole country lying between the Mississippi
and the Pacific Ocean. California, New Mexico (now New
Mexico and Arizona), and Texas were then united under the
one flag; and not long after this event the Pacific Railroad
question became a pet subject for speculation amongst the
most advanced promoters of railway enterprises.
   The first printed notice of such a scheme, however, dates
much further back, for in the New York Courier of 1837, an
article was written by a Dr. Hartley Carver, advocating a
Pacific railway. As is usual in such a case, the doctor had
his reward; by some he was considered a wild enthusiast, by
others a madman.
   One year only after the conclusion of the Mexican war
WINES OF THE R1IO GRIANDE.
conviction rh-awn firom close observation, have convinced me
that there is no more splendid field now open for emigrants
than this lolg-deserted valley of the Rio Grande del Norte,
for the streamll itself is not shut up ini a gorge or cafoin for a
single mile through 4, of its course in New Mexico, although
only a few miles south of the Mexican boundary-line it
becomes almost buuried in the earth for 160 miles, so continuously is it enclosed in lofty caion'ls.
   I would especially reco(mminted this fine valley to the consileration of Gerliman emigrants who are acquainted with the
cultivation of the vine, ft,r no 1production is so much in demand
and conlamllds so high a price throughout the States as drinkable wille (,t ainy sort. Clamp,agiie, made in Missouri and Ohio,
costs from two to faour dollars a bottle, and the few good still
wines iiiade at (Cincinlati 1biring exorlbitant sums. The same
may lie said (ft Californian wines; but most of these are of
intferior quality, anid require( d(ctoring to make thiemi keep.
Not so( tile juiee of tihe Rio G(ranhde grape.  Originally,
mlost of, tlle.species gr.wnl here caime flr( m Spain; the fruit is,
if anythillg, too sweet to thlie taste, and very full-flavoured; but
as the( al(lmut (of alehl ldepenld(Is (chief'ly l111)(n the amiount of
sugar, the wiles nma(de fr,-oli it are very' full-lodied, and(l,
jul(dging flroti the' El Pas() wine, whiich alone has received
any attentioin whattever, are likely to d(evelop very high-class
(qualities whenI matured by age. As each soil produces its
distinct varieties of wine, almost regardless of the original
se-ies op f grape, it is hard to give an idea of any particular
wine by giving it a well-known name.         Dr. Le Conte
compares the wines now made in small quantities on the Rio
Grande to mi(ddlle grades of Sauterne; but they (do not
possess the mawkish sweet flavour pe)(culiar to Sauternes, and
have a great deal more body. Were I to name Madeira, I
13
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
came the cry of gold, which sent thousands of miners from
every quarter of the globe, by every route, to California and
the Pacific coast. Whilst the greater number went by sea
around the Cape and across Panama, thousands boldly set out
from the Eastern States by land into the unknown regions of
the Far West, and crossed the continent by different routes
on different parallels of latitude.
  Under the stimulus of this fresh necessity for a transcontinental highway, the Pacific Railroad enterprise could no
longer be kept out of Congress; and early in the decade of
1850 it received the cordial support of both branches of the
legislature. By an Act passed March 31st, 1853, the War
Department was entrusted with the task of making such
explorations and surveys as it might deem advisable in order
to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a
railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, and
the necessary appropriations were duly granted. The Secretary of War at that time was none other than Mr. Jefferson
Davis, and the result of the explorations made under his
direction between 1854 and 1857 are comprised in the thirteen
bulky volumes of Pacific Railroad Reports, which are as well
known to botanists, naturalists, and geologists as to geographers and engineers.
  Two-thirds of the territory of the United States lies to the
west of the Mississippi, and crouched along the centre of this
vast tract, barring off as was supposed the westward wave
of population, stretch the Rocky Mountains--that great
Grisly Bear, over whose body it was thought impossible to
step; but these Pacific surveys threw great light upon the
anatomy of the Grisly Bear. They proved that his back
was very broad, that the slope up his sides was very gradual,
that his spine did not extrude unpleasantly in the centre, but
238
ROUTES SURVEYED.
lay, on the contrary, rather sunk between the two rows of
muscles or mountains on either side. They found depressions
along the spine-such as the North, Middle, South, and
St. Louis parks-shut in on each side by the rows of muscles
which made the animal so formidable. They showed, moreover, that, although he had a hump on his back (the centre of
Colorado), from which his muscular frame sloped down on all
sides, yet that this was flat also, and could be surmounted, if
necessary, even by a railroad; that his body ended about the
35th parallel, only leaving an insignificant tail in the way
south of that line; and also that his broad shoulders (the
Laramie plains), although exceeding 7,000 feet in height,
were so smooth and rounded off that they almost invited
the pathfinder to choose this place for crossing in preference to any other.
  The chief routes examined and reported upon were the
following:  1st. Between the 46th and 48th parallels, to unite Lake
Superior and the head of navigation on the Mississippi with
Puget Sound and the Columbia River. This has developed
into the North Pacific Railroad route.
  2nd. Between the 41st and 42nd parallels, to unite the
Missouri River at Council Bluffs (Omaha) with the harbour of
San Francisco. This has developed into the Union Pacific
Railroad.
   3rd. Between the 38th and 39th parallels, from Westport
(Kansas City), at the great bend of the Missouri, due west
across the continent. This was an attempt to run an " airline" straight over the hump on the bear's back through the
centre of Colorado, and thence in a direct line to San Francisco.
The muscles on the eastern side were found to present no
insurmountable obstacles, and one of the depressions (the
239
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
St. Louis Park) along the spine was easily crossed; but the
muscles on the other side, and the furrows or gorges between
the ribs made this route quite impracticable.
  4th. Near the 35th parallel from   Fort Smith, on    the
Arkansas River, to the harbour of San Pedro (Los Angelos)
on the Pacific coast. This route, with the important modification of changing the starting-point to Kansas City on the
Missouri, and the Pacific terminus to San Francisco, is the
one proposed by the Kansas Pacific, which stands in the same
relation to St. Louis that the Omaha line does to Chicago.
  5th. Near the 32nd parallel, uniting Preston on the Red
River in Eastern Texas with the Pacific at San Diego, San
Pedro, or San Francisco.
  When all these surveys had been completed, and Mr.
Davis had carefully weighed and examined the results, this
last route was the one to which he gave the preference,
strongly urging its adoption by Congress. It was said with
perfect truth, that if the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were to
rise to the height of 4,000 feet they would meet about the
32nd parallel of latitude over the vast plateau south of the
Rocky Mountains-the Madre Plateau; while the greater
part of the continent to the northward, as well as the lofty
plateaux of Mexico to the south, would form         two huge
islands, separated by this strait. Although the surveys across
other sections of the continent had almost swept away the
conventional idea of the Alpine grandeur of the Rocky
Mountains, yet they were too rapidly conducted, and the
task was too great to remove minor obstacles, which swelled
the estimates of the cost of a trans-continental railway to sums
which made such an undertaking appear all but hopeless.
The level route by the 32nd parallel shone out in striking
economic contrast to all the rest, and the result was that
240
INFLUENCE OF THE WAR.
10,000,000 dollars were immediately given to Mexico in
payment for shifting her boundary line a little farther south
to make way for the railway.
  Between 1853 and 1860 the political horizon was gradually
assuming a lowering aspect. The storm was gathering which
ultimately revolutionised the Pacific Railway question, as it
did almost every other great question throughout the States.
Whilst Southern influence appeared to be, as usual, carrying
everything before it at Washington, and the truce brought
about by the Missouri compromise was being respected in the
East, the vital questions of slavery, State rights, and the rest,
were being solved in the Far West throughout " bleeding"
Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, and the surrounding territories,
with a freedom and rough rapidity natural to the condition of
the inhabitants.  The climate influences were adverse to
slavery and weighed heavily on the side of those emigrants
who poured in from the Free States with an ever-increasing
majority, bringing with them political emotions verging on
fanaticism, and a fixed determination to uphold the laws of
equal justice to all men at any sacrifice. The pro-slavery
platform was defeated in the West, war followed as a direct
consequence, and the almost matured project of constructing a Southern Pacific Railroad by the 32nd parallel fell
through as a matter of course.
   The Pacific Railway question soon took another form.
Statesmen whisperingly asked eachX other, What if the Pacific
States were to waver in their loyalty to the Union? Their
isolated position was for the first time keenly felt, and thus
the necessity of binding California closely to the North by iron
ways laid across the continent, became the highest card held
by those who made it their business to agitate for a Pacific
Railroad. Again the question came prominently before Con  VOL II.                      R
241
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
gress; but, before watching the result of this political contest
at Washington in 1862, we must glance for a moment at the
hands of the players.
   California held some great cards. The production of gold
had been enormous; agriculture had developed into an
interest rivalling that of mining; cereals were raised in
quantities far exceeding the local demand; southern California had added grape culture to stock raising, and was
striving to export wine as well as hides and tallow; trade
had sprung up with Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and, most
important of all, with China; quicksilver was almost flowing
from the mines of Almaden, and the strong desire felt by the
Californians for a Pacific Railroad was brought to a climax by
the discovery that a practicable route across the snow-clad
sierra did exist through Donner Pass, midway between San
Francisco and Virginia City. Some of the richest merchants
pledged their entire fortunes to the scheme; the State Legislature liberally gave its sanction and aid; and it only remained for Congress to grant a fitting subsidy. Nevada had
one high trump card to play in support of California. The
Comstock lode had been discovered, and the wealth of silver
which poured from it had already raised that Territory into
the council of the States.
   Chicago and the north-west backed by New York, and
St. Louis and the middle States supported by Philadelphia,
carried with them to Congress most powerful but antagonistic
influences.  The railways of the eastern States and their
prolongations westward may be said to form two separate
railway systems, the one having Chicago in the north-west as
its western terminus, the other St. Louis, the most central
point in the Mississippi valley. The capitalists of both these
cities, fully alive to the importance of directing the Pacific
-242
CONTEST AT WASHINGTON.
trade through their own commercial centres, came forward
eager for the contest which would bring so much triumph
and profit to the winning side. The men of Chicago urged
that they had already projected three lines across the State of
Iowa to meet at Council Bluffs (Omaha), where they were
bridging the muddy Missouri; that from      this point to the
Rocky Mountains, Nature herself had graded a line for them
up to the very summit of the continental watershed, that
here only a few hills had to be crossed, that another 500
miles would take them   to the great Mormon settlement at
Salt Lake, and that their Californian friends assured them
that the Sierra Nevada might be crossed at the back of
Virginia City, and San Francisco reached, without any insurmountable difficulty.
  St. Louis, on the other hand, pleaded     that she had
passed from words to deeds; that lines westward had not
only been projected but built; that the Missouri Pacific
Railroad, commenced in 1857 with aid from the State, already
ran straight as an arrow westward across Missouri to Kansas
City; and that, lastly, as Kansas (not Nebraska) was the
"~mediterranean" State, and St. Louis more central than
Chicago, Kansas City and not Council Bluffs, should be the
starting-point of the grand route westward. Money was
spent like water in the contest. I remember seeing it stated
in an American journal that one company alone " employed
the element of influence " to the extent of three millions
of dollars. The civil war was hotly raging on all sides,
and the whole nation was in a ferment.          Five hundred
thousand pounds sterling were leaving the treasury daily
to meet the current expenses of the Northern armies; even
Washington   was threatened, but for all that the Pacific
Railroad Bill was carried triumphantly. Grants of land
                           R2
243
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
and a large subsidy, increasing in amount as the line
advanced   westward, were granted, but no definite conclusion was arrived at as to the eastern starting-point of
the route. The great precedent, however, was establishedthat Government aid, to the extent of about half the total
amount necessary, would be provided out of the national
treasury  to  assist a Pacific Railroad  enterprise. Bills
succeeded each other in rapid succession, and party contests
raged hotly at every session; until, finally, the following
programme was definitely adopted, and the undertaking was
actually commenced.
   The main line was to extend from Omaha on the Missouri
River to Sacramento, in California, 1,721 miles. St. Louis
was to be provided for by a subsidised branch line to connect
with the main line on or about the 100th meridian of
longitude east of the Rocky Mountains. Three companies
were to prosecute these works, and to stand on an equal
footing as regards land grants, loans, mortgages, &c.
  First: the Union Pacific Railway Company, constructing
the line westward from Omaha.
  Second: the Central Pacific Railway of California, proceeding eastward from Sacramento. These companies were
to make their roads as quickly as possible from either end,
and to meet at an intermediate point not fixed. Thus it was
to the advantage of each to lay as much track as possible; for
the amount of Government subsidy, as well as the share of
managemental influence, depended upon the proportion of
line laid.
   Third: the Union Pacific Railway Company (Eastern Division) obtained the Government subsidy for a distance of 400
miles west of Kansas City. Thus it is evident that Chicago
had gained the day. If the civil war had not intervened I
244
GOVERNMENT GRANT.
think it more than probable that although 1869 might not
have seen the locomotive plying between New York and the
Pacific, we should never have had an iron road laid across
the Black Hills. Chicago would have built the branch line,
and the main trunk would have been laid farther south, below
the barrier of winter snows; it would have passed round the
Rocky Mountains, not over them; across productive valleys,
instead of through worthless deserts; and along the rich
central trough of California, instead of climbing an alpine
pass more than 7,000 feet above the Pacific.
  The chief clauses of the Government grant are these:  Congress confers upon the three companies mentioned the
right of way through all its territories, an absolute grant of
12,800 acres per mile of the public lands through which the
roads run; i.e., alternate sections of one by twenty miles on
each side of the line; the right to use the coal, iron, timber,
&c., thereon; and authorises a special issue of United States'
Bonds, bearing 6 per cent. interest, proportionate in amount
to the length and difficulty of the lines, to be delivered to
the companies as the works progress; and, as short sections
of the road (usually twenty-mile sections) are passed by the
Government inspectors as being satisfactorily completed.
  The distance from Omaha to Sacramento is 1,721 miles;
and the grants of bonds are as follows:  Between the Missouri and the eastern base of the Rocky
Mountains (525 miles), 16,000 dollars per mile; Rocky
Mountain section (150 miles), 48,000 dollars per mile; Salt
Lake section (900 miles), 32,000 dollars per mile; Sierra
Nevada section (150 miles), 48,000 dollars per mile. Total
issue in bonds, about 50,000,000 dollars. The Kansas branch
received a subsidy of 16,000 dollars per mile for 381 miles;
and other short branches were similarly subsidised.
245
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  The time of maturity for these bonds is placed at thirty
years after date of issue.      They   are made subordinatestanding in the position of a second mortgage-to the bonds
issued by the companies, under the following important
restrictions, viz.: That the railroads and telegraph lines be
kept in proper repair; that the companies shall always give
Government dispatches, munitions of war, &c., the preference when required, and shall not charge higher rates for
their transmission than are paid by private parties for like
services; that all compensation for services rendered to the
Government shall be applied to the paynment of said bonds and
interest until the whole amount is fully paid; and that at
least 5 per cent. additional of the net earnings of the
railroads shall also be annually applied to the liquidation of
the Government bonds as soon as the roads are completed.
The Californian Company, on consideration of the natural
obstacles to be surmounted, were allowed to retain during
construction one-half of the compensation for services rendered to the Government.
  Mortgages, equal in amount to the subsidies, were authorised to be issued from time to time as first mortgage bonds,
bearing the same date, time of maturity, and rate of interest
as those loaned by the Government. A small amount of
capital stock was subscribed in each case. Thus the two
railway companies which have just completed the Salt Lake
line state their construction resources as follows:                 UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.
 CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT RESOURCES FOR 1,100 MILES OF RAILROAD.
                                               Dollars.
       United States' Bonds... 29,328,000
       First Mortgage Bonds...     29,328,000
       Capital........ 13,243,000
              Total.......  71,899,000
246
FINANCIAL RESOURCES.
   I have purposely omitted the land grant of 14,080,000
acres, as it is not immediately available for income.
              CENTRAL PACIFIC OF CALIFORNIA.
       CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT RESOURCES FOR 726 MILES.
                                                Dollars.
       Donations (without lien). 11,225,000
       Capital stock                           8,000,000
       Net earnings to 1867.                  1,520,235
       Bonds (State guarantee)                 3,000,000
       First Mortgage Bonds. 25,517,000
       United States' Bonds.. 25,517,000
              Total...     74,779,235
   Fourteen million dollars of this sum   represent the liberality of the State of California and its wealthy citizens, and
form an additional source of revenue for which the eastern
company has no equivalent.
   These sums are far more than sufficient to carry out
the work according to the American system; but neither
company will either require or call up all this capital, for
both lay claim to building a greater mileage of road than the
total length requires.  They met on the 11th of May about
the meridian of Salt Lake; thus giving 726 miles to the
western company, and 995 to the eastern.
247
VincentBrooks,Dayo&Son.lith
THE RIOLGRANDE DEL NORTE, NEW MEXICO.
:I
iXP
I 1 4
"::"";
Clr
CHAPTER II.
  THE OMAIHA LINE (UNION PACIFIC AND CENTRAL PACIFIC OF
                        CALIFORNIA).
THE Union Pacific Railroad runs through the Platte valley from
Omaha to Julesburg (377 miles), and that of Lodge Pole Creek
(a tributary) to the foot of the Black Hills, about 160 miles
farther.  Of these 537 miles, only the first 150 pass through
land susceptible of cultivation. But one-fifth of Nebraska can
be cultivated without irrigation, and the remainder cannot be
irrigated because the scanty streams which traverse it are
useless for that purpose. Beyond the limits between long.
980 and 99o, where the rain-fall is insufficient to raise crops,
good grazing lands extend for about 100 miles, when we
gradually enter a region so parched and barren that it can
scarcely support a meagre covering of stunted grass. Three
hundred miles of this arid region have to be crossed before
the traveller, having imperceptibly ascended the slope of the
continent to an elevation of 6,500 feet to the foot of the
Black Hills, finds the pasturage improve, from     its close
proximity to the mountains. But as the Black Hills are low,
they do not cause sufficient rain-fall to enable the farmer to
settle on their eastern slopes. For 500 miles scarcely a tree
is to be seen. The River Platte presents to the eye, at most
seasons of the year, a vast expanse of sandy bed, often one
mile wide, with a few trickling streams meandering like
silver threads around innumerable sand-banks and islands,
some few of which are covered with cotton-wood trees. These
SKETCH OF THE ROUTE.
beautiful clumps of foliage are soon left behind, and nothing
remains to break the monotony of the undulating plains but
the bluffs or cliffs which mark the edge between the sunken
valley and the parched plateau beyond.
   In the Black Hills some fine views of timbered country
are obtained, and the dividing ridge is crossed with ease at
an elevation of 8,262 feet, no grade being higher than ninety
feet, and this only for a short distance. The Laramie plains
are then crossed. They form, for the most part, a level upland
plateau, exceeding an elevation of 7,000 feet. They are
covered with good pasturage, particularly along the courses of
the streams. During the short summer which exists here
the ranche-men have found it possible to raise some garden
vegetables; but even oats, although they come up well and
form capital fodder, will not ripen. These plains are bounded
on the west by a broad undulation, or range, forming the
continental water-parting. No engineering difficulties occur
here, and the Pacific slope is reached without a tunnel or any
grades steeper than 75 feet per mile, which it is necessary to
resort to for a short distance. One hundred and forty miles
separate the Black Hills from this summit.
  North of the Laramie plains lies the Sweet-water mining
district, which is now attracting thousands of gold-diggers.
South of it lie the gold-fields of Colorado, many of which are
supplied at the present time with nearly all the necessaries of
life from Cheyenne,-the Denver of these northern mining
districts.
  The sterility of these regions is not an unmitigated evil to
the railroad which crosses them; for the miners, whose wants
are very great, require all the necessaries and many of the
luxuries of life to be carried to them by rail. A non-producing population-say of 1,000 miners-as well on account
249
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
of their migratory habits as their many requirements, is a
larger source of revenue to a railroad than six times the
population dependent upon agriculture, even if we disregard
altogether the transportation of ores, an item often of the
greatest importance.
  After crossing the continental water-parting through a pass
at Benton (near Bridger's Pass)--elevation, 7,534 feet-the
railroad leaves the Rocky Mountains and traverses the BitterCreek country; crosses Green River, the main tributary of
the Rio Colorado of the West; and reaches the foot of the
Wahsatch Mountains. This country, 200 miles wide, is
fairly represented by Mr. Stansbury, who accurately surveyed
it, as consisting of " Artemisian barrens, with some pasturage
on the streams." The water is bitter, sulphurous, or strongly
saline; the earth is for the most part bare and rugged, showing the wear and tear of ages, and the cracks and fissures of
the more recent water-courses. A more forsaken region I
never saw.
  The Wahsacht belt of mountains is sixty miles across, and
the dividing ridge which   separates the waters of Green
River, which flow into the Californian Gulf, from the tributaries of Great Salt Lake, is crossed within the first twenty
miles, without any heavy grades, at an elevation of 7,567
feet. Nature has herself cut a path through the remaining
forty miles of mountain by means of two fine gorges, Echo
and Weber caiions. Without the intervention of these extraordinary natural passes, the Wahsatch Mountains would have
formed an insurmountable barrier to a railroad. The railroad
thus reaches the shore of Great Salt Lake, thirty miles north
of the Mormon city. It does not pass through this town,
but turns northward around the lake, and then, bending
westward, leaves the Salt Lake Basin and enters that of the
250
THE DESERT PORTION.
Humboldt; the rim separating these basins being here but
1,360 feet above the Lake.*
   The inland or Great Basin region of North America extends
from the dividing ridge of the Wahsatch Mountains to the
summit of the Sierra Nevada, 721 miles by the railroad. It
is a vast desert, considerably larger than France, covered with
short volcanic mountain ranges; it possesses a fertile soil, but
suffers from an insufficient rain-fall; none of its scanty streams
enter the sea, but each discharges its waters into a little lake
and remains shut up within its own independent basin. Rich
silver mines are being discovered, year by year, all over the
basin region, and the yield from them already equals in value
that of the gold-fields of California.  It contains three towns,
Salt Lake City, Austin, and Virginia City; the railway
passes within thirty-five miles of the first, 100 miles of the
second, and sixteen only of the last.
  The railroad follows the valley of the Humboldt River,
from Humboldt Wells, north-west of Great Salt Lake, where
it rises, to Humboldt Lake, not far distant from its " sink "
(distance 280 miles), and reaches the base of the Sierra
Nevada 100 miles farther westward.
  From the Truckee River, elevation 5,866 feet, to the summit of the sierra, the distance is fourteen miles, and the
ascent 1,176 feet, making an average grade of 84 feet per
mile. From the summit, elevation 7,042 feet, to Colfax, on
the western side of the range, the distance is fifty-one miles,
and the descent 4,594 feet, or an average grade of over 90
feet per mile. In fact, the Central Pacific Railroad, starting
from the Sacramento, only 56 feet above the level of the sea,
reaches the summit of a mountain ridge exceeding 7,000 feet
in 105 miles. Here all the engineering difficulties of the
              * Elevation of Great Salt Lake, 4,290 feet.
251
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
line centre. Most of the heavy grading averages 95 feet
per mile; for three and a half miles only is 116 feet, the
maximum grade allowed by Congress, resorted to; there are
thirteen short tunnels, making altogether a length of 6,262
feet.  The longest is 1,700 feet. It is a very hard strain
upon two powerful engines to drag ten passengers' cars with
luggage up so steep an ascent, and the carriage of heavy
freight is necessarily costly.
  This bold undertaking has been carried out with an amount
of energy beyond all praise. The road has been built, not
by a staff formed of scientific engineers-they might have
shrunk from so reckless a venture-but by a few go-ahead
merchants of San Francisco, who left their counting-houses
to become railway contractors. All last summer ten thousand
Chinamen and about three thousand teams, were employed to
grade and lay the track across the basin region. During the
previous winter I saw them transporting long lines of sledges,
laden with iron rails and ties, across the summit to the valley
of the Truckee and the Humboldt. When the snow         had
sufficiently thawed to enable them to complete the tunnels, an
average of 500 tons of ties, rails, spikes, bolts, and chairs
were carried over the sierra, in fifty cars drawn by ten
locomotives every day, and were sent from 300 to 400
miles to the scene of operations.   Here   two miles, and
sometimes more, were laid per day, and each two miles
required 500 tons of material for its construction. The rails
usually weigh from 56 lbs. to 64 lbs. per yard.
  For thirty miles across the mountains the snows of winter
presented an obstacle which at first seemed to be insurmountable, but these Californians would not give in; they have
covered the line with strong wooden sheds over the entire
distance in which snows are likely to stop the traffic, and had
252
RAPIDITY OF CONSTRUCTION.
completed twenty miles of roofing on the 1st of January
this year. It is hard, after so much has been done, to be
obliged to pronounce this summit railway a mistake. Yet
there is no question about it. IIad the Sierra Nevada been
more thoroughly examined before this gigantic enterprise was
undertaken, Beckworth's Pass-thirty miles to the north,
and only 4,500 feet in height-would most certainly have
been adopted. So expensive is it to carry freight up such
steep grades for so great a distance, that although the Central
Pacific Company at present ignore the Beckworth route,
they will be obliged ultimately to adopt it if the freight traffic
at all equals their expectations. Although the engineering
difficulties upon other points of the Pacific Railroad are not
great, yet the rapidity with which the work has been
accomplished is marvellous. It was not until January, 1866,
that the first forty miles of railroad were laid down from
Omaha; in January, 1867, 305 miles were completed; and
in January, 1868, 540. In the meantime the Californian
Company were hard at work tunneling, and had only ninetyfour miles open to business on the 1st of January last year.
  During 1868, 866 miles were added to the railway by the
united companies; being an average of two miles and twothirds a day, Sundays excluded, and the remaining 346 miles
were completed in 107 days more. In the history of railway
construction this. rapidity has no precedent; and when it is
remembered that for 1,600 miles wood for ties could only be
obtained at three points accessible to the road, and also that
the country is mostly an uninhabited desert, the result
appears even yet more marvellous. The following quotation explains, in true American style, how the track is
laid:   " One can see all along the line of the now completed road
253
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the evidences of ingenious self-protection and defence which
our men learned during the war. The same curious huts and
underground dwellings which were a common sight along our
army lines then, may now be seen burrowed into the sides of
the hills, or built up with ready adaptability in sheltered
spots. The whole organisation of the force engaged in the
construction of the road is, in fact, semi-military. The men
who go ahead, locating the road, are the advance guard.
Following these is the second line, cutting through the
gorges, grading the road, and building bridges. Then comes
the main line of the army, placing the sleepers, laying the
track, spiking down the rails, perfecting the alignment,
ballasting the rail, and dressing up and completing the road
for immediate use. This army of workers has its base, to
continue the figure, at Omaha, Chicago, and still farther
eastward, from whose markets are collected the material for
constructing the road. Along the line of the completed road
are construction trains constantly'pushing forward to the
front' with supplies. The company's grounds and workshops
at Omaha are the arsenal, where these purchases, amounting
now to millions of dollars in value, are collected and held
ready to be sent forward. The advanced limit of the rail is
occupied by a train of long box cars, with hammocks swung
under them, beds spread on top of them, bunks built within
them, in which the sturdy, broad-shouldered pioneers of the
great iron highway sleep at night and take their meals.
Close behind this train come loads of ties and rails and
spikes, &c., which are being thundered off upon the roadside,
to be ready for the track-layers. The road is graded a hundred
miles in advance. The ties are laid roughly in place, then
adjusted, gauged, and levelled. Then the track is laid.
   " Track-laying on the Union Pacific is a science, and we
254
LAYING THE TRACK.
pundits of the Far East stood upon that embankment, only
about a thousand miles this side of sunset, and backed westward before that hurrying corps of sturdy operatives with
mingled feelings of amusement, curiosity, and profound respect.
On they came. A light car, drawn by a single horse, gallops
up to the front with its load of rails. Two men seize the end
of a rail and start forward, the rest of the gang taking hold
by twos until it is clear of the car. They come forward at a
run. At the word of command the rail is dropped in its
place, right side up, with care, while the same process goes on
at the other side of the car. Less than thirty seconds to a
rail for each gang, and so four rails go down to the minute!
Quick work, you say, but the fellows on the U. P. are
tremendously in earnest. The moment the car is empty it is
tipped over on the side of the track to let the next loaded car
pass it, and then it is tipped back again; and it is a sight to
see it go flying back for another load, propelled by a horse at
full gallop at the end of 60 or 80 feet of rope, ridden by a
young Jehu, who drives furiously. Close behind the first
gang come the gaugers, spikers, and bolters, and a lively time
they make of it. It is a grand Anvil Chorus that those
sturdy sledges are playing across the plains. It is in triple
time, three strokes to a spike. There are ten spikes to a rail,
four hundred rails to a mile, eighteen hundred miles to San
Francisco. That's the sum, what is the quotient? Twentyone million times are those sledges to be swung-twenty-one
million times are they to come down with their sharp punctuation, before the great work of modern America is complete!" (See title-page, vol. i.)
   Passing over all other collateral subjects, I must mention
that an abundance of coal, sufficiently good to be burned by
the locomotive, has been discovered in several localities near
255
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the railroad, viz., in the Black Hills, 550 miles from Omaha;
near Bridger's Pass, 130 miles farther west; on Bitter Creek,
and some other branches of Green River; and lastly, some
fine deposits are now being mined in Echo Caflon. None has
been found between Great Salt Lake and the Pacific coast.
  It has long been the opinion, however, of many railroad
men in the States, that this great national highway should
not have been constructed along the 41st parallel at all; and
they have anxiously awaited the results of last winter's
experience to prove or disprove the truth of their forebodings. The Senate Committee, in their Report just issued
on the Pacific railways, say that " It is an undetermined
problem if the Union Pacific Railroad between Omaha and
Sacramento can be operated (i.e. L worked') throughout the
year. Of the elements to solve this question there are:
First, the known effects of drifting snow upon the railway
fines of Central Illinois, and the hilly districts of New
England and Pennsylvania; second, the known depths to
which snow falls and packs in portions of the Rocky Mountain
region; third, the extraordinary height of the grades, and
sharpness of the curves, in the passage of the Sierra Nevada.
Railroad communication in Massachusetts, New York, and
Pennsylvania, is often suspended in winter. These vicissitudes take place in States where labour is abundant, where
the stations on the lines are very near together, where fuel
and food, draught animals and tools, are plentiful and
accessible. But the line between Omaha and Sacramento is
at present almost a continuous wilderness-portions of it
never will be settled; population is scarce; help in trouble,
beyond that of the passengers and employgs on the train,
cannot be had; the stock of accessible fuel may be limited to
the supply on the cars. If such interruptions should take
256
SNOW BLOCKADES.
place, their effect upon the new trade from Asia to Europe
across the United States, would be very damaging; they
would characterise the route as one not to be relied on for
international commerce."
   It is comparatively easy to roof the line across a snow-belt
of thirty miles through the Sierra Nevada, where timber is
abundant; it is impossible to cover 300 miles of rail in
the Rocky Mountains, where timber is either entirely absent
or very scarce.  As I remarked in a preceding chapter, I
could not proceed eastward by the Platte route in March,
1868, even from Cheyenne City, on the plains, and was
obliged to proceed southward by Denver, and strike the
Kansas Pacific.  The latest accounts from America confirm
the gravest doubts of the Senate committee.
  Last February there was a snow blockade for twenty days
at Cheyenne, and on the Laramie plains traffic was completely
stopped for five weeks, so that orders had to be given for all
mails from New York to San Francisco to be sent for the
time round by Panama.
  Can anything be much more miserable than to be snowed
up for a month in the Bitter Creek country?      Yet this did
occur as late as last March; fifty of the passengers arrived
at Laramie Station, after walking ninety miles through the
snows, at an elevation of over 7,000 feet above the sea; 150
passengers were left behind, and had not been rescued at the
time I received the above information, although on April
the 1st through traffic had not been resumed.
VOL. II.
257
S
CHAPTER III.
                THE KANSAS PACIFIC RAILWAY.
THE more advanced of the two Pacific railroads yet to be
described is that which passes through districts already made
known to my readers in previous chapters; it is therefore
unnecessary for me to go over the ground a second time.
  The Kansas Pacific Company has completed more than 400
miles of road, reaching to the borders of Colorado, and expects
to complete its branch through Denver to the Omaha line, a
distance of 321 miles farther, within the present year.
  In the meantime, the Southern Pacific of California, which
stands in the same relation to the Kansas Pacific as the
Central Pacific of California does to the Union Pacific (or the
Omaha line), had laid eighty miles of road in March,'69, and
is fast " locating " a further section, which is to pass through
the Panoche Pass, in the coast range, into the Tulare valley,
and west of Tulare Lake to Tehachapa Pass, in the Sierra
Nevada.
  The Report of all the surveys referred to in this book
has just been published, and now lies open before me, forming a small volume of 250 pages; not written in the highflown, exaggerated manner of too many documents of a similar
nature which we yearly receive from America, but full of information, which, although usually too condensed, is forcibly
put and justly represented.
   So extensive a surveying expedition was probably never
THE TWO ROUTES COMPARED.
organised. The total length of routes accurately chained,
levelled, and surveyed by instruments, is no less than 4,464
miles; and a considerable distance more was examined,
and the various elevations barometrically obtained. These
UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY.                 KANSAS PACIFIC RAILWAY.
                          Dis- Eleva- Eleva- Dis                          tances. tions. tions. tances.
                          Miles. Feet.   E'eet. Miles.
 Forks of the Platte...............  290  2,830  3,725  525  Arkansas River at Fort Lyon    p4
 Foot of Black Hills...............  228  7,040  4,266  50  Mouth of Chequaco Valley...  4
 Evans' Pass........................  31  8,242  6,166  40  Cimarron Pass (Raton Mtns.)       A
                                    5,634 64   Red River........................ I
Laramie River.................
Rattlesnake Pass................
North Platte.......................
Bridger's Pass...................
Bitter Creek......................
Bitter Creek Summit............
      Green River.....................
      Reed's Summit...................
    r Bear River...................
  CD Echo Pass...........................
      Great Salt Lake..................
      Humboldt Wells..................
    L Humboldt Lake...............
-    Donner Pass (crest)...............
  S   Sacramento.....................
      San Francisco..................
30
35
54
23
97
13
20
75
30
18
127
130
283
123
105
124
7,175
7,560
6,695
7,534
6,315
7,175
6,092
7,567
6,045
6,879
4,290
5,650
4,047
7,042
  56
CENTRAL PACIFIC OF CALIFORNIA.
Total distance............................. 1,846 miles.
Between New York and San Fran  cisco vid Salt Lake................ 3,300 miles.
6,233  76
5,406  26
6,917  30
5,000  60
7,177 122
4,998 118
7,510 102
4,748  89
5,241  39
3,473  61
428    49
2,579  40
675    36
2,100  59
1,900  10
2,375  25
3,080  65
4,008  15
700   145
2,100  15
      165
Los Vegas
Rio Pecos........................
Cafion Blanco Pass.
Rio Grande del Norte............
Navajo Pass (Campbell's) -
Colorado Chiquito...............
Leroux Summit..................
Val de Chino.........................
Yampa Gap........................
W allapi Pass........................
Rio Colorado.............
Pi-Ute Pass
Perry Basin......................
Crater  Pass.......................
M alpais Sink........................
Mojave River............
East foot of Sierra Nevada......
Tehachapa Pass
Polvodero................
Summit of Coast Range.........
San Francisco.....................
SOUTHERN PACIFIC OF CALIFORNIA.
Total distance............................. 2,026 miles.
Between New York and San. Fran  cisco vid shortest and easiest route
  by lat. 35Q...........................   3,252  m iles.
explorations were conducted, be it remembered, mostly
through a country inhabited by hostile Indians; every party
had to be guarded whilst at work by a body of cavalry; and
                                      s2
0
tz
259
-~
m
8.
L
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
every surveyor carried his firearms by his side, and his
surveying instruments in his hands.
   The results of these surveys are most encouraging, and
prove conclusively that a railroad can be made, uniting St.
Louis with San Francisco, along the 35th parallel of latitude,
which shall form a shorter route between New York Harbour and San Francisco than that vid Salt Lake. Not a tunnel
is required throughout the entire distance; and although the
ascents and descents are many, the grades are never of necessity steep. Obstruction from snow is unknown; and the
Sierra Nevada, instead of requiring thirteen tunnels, and
grades varying from 95 to 116 feet per mile, is crossed at an
elevation of 4,008 feet without any ascent steeper than half
the latter grade. The two routes can easily be compared by
means of the table on the preceding page.
  Each line, although usually separated from its rival by a
belt of country ranging from two to six and a half degrees
in width, passes across corresponding river-basins, ranges,
and streams; the basin of the Rio Grande del Norte, which
does not extend as far north as the Salt Lake line, being the
only exception.
  Eastern   Kansas, Western   Kansas, the valleys of the
Arkansas, Purgatoire, Red River, and Rio Grande del Norte
have all been described; the country along the 35th parallel,
the beautiful districts about the San Francisco peaks, and the
arid desert between the Rio Colorado and the Sierra Nevada
have also been mentioned in detail; and the mineral wealth
of New Mexico, Arizona, and California have not been altogether passed over..The conclusion I have arrived at is
similar to that which Mr. Davis has stated in his report for
1855, viz., that " a much larger area of cultivatable lands, and
a greater frequency and extent of forest growth, exist between
260
THE COUNTRY ALONG LAT. 350.
the Rio Grande and the Colorado, on the 35th parallel, than
on any other latitude throughout the western territories of
the United States."
  Personally, I have no interest whatever in railway enterprises in America; yet, for fear of being considered unjustly
partial, I almost think I have under-coloured rather than
otherwise the natural resources of this tract of country; and
as my friend General Palmer is quite incapable of any
attempt at exaggeration in these particulars, I will give the
deductions he has arrived at in his own words:   " To sum up this subject, it may be said:   " 1st. That while the western half of the continent is not
an agricultural Paradise, yet, certainly on this route, it is far
from being a desert, as many have supposed. That it has
been shown to be almost continuously inhabitable, and that
there are frequent and extensive districts of great attraction to the farmer; while to the grazier, except in the
Great Basin, it presents one vast, uninterrupted        belt of
uniformly superior pasturage, extending from Kansas to the
Pacific Ocean, on which horses, mules, cattle, and sheep can
be raised in countless herds, as cheaply, perhaps, as anywhere
in the world.
   "2nd. That the mildness of the climate on this parallel
greatly enhances the value both of its arable and pastoral
resources, enabling more than one crop to be raised in a
season, permitting stock, without care, to fare as well in
winter as summer, and adding the vine, cotton, and other
semi-tropical fruits or products to those of our temperate
latitudes. On the survey, we drove our beef cattle along in
the winter season, and always found for them and for the
mules of our trains abundant nutritious grazing, on the highest
summits of the line equally with the deepest valleys.
261
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
   " 3rd. That although, for nearly the whole of this distance,
irrigation is resorted to, yet, by more thorough cultivation, it
is likely that, at many points, this will not be required.
Besides, irrigation is not necessarily a drawback, since it
enables the farmer, to a great extent, to be independent of
the seasons, serves to enrich his grounds by the constant sediment with which the water is charged, and, with a properly
organised plan, is not costly; while the crops are made to
yield much more bountifully, as a general thing, than in the
Mississippi valley. The quality of the wheat grown in these
elevated valleys and dry atmosphere is most highly prized,
especially for transportation.
   " Lastly. That the hills and mountains over this extended
range contain an amount of mineral wealth of all kinds, the
useful as well as the precious, which may be considered
practically inexhaustible.  Furthermore, that these   subterranean treasures are not confined to a few localities far
apart, but have a remarkable diffusion along the route.
Indeed, from the Arkansas River to the western spurs of the
coast range, near San Francisco, a distance of 1,500 miles,
the mountains, which are never out of sight, may almost be
said to possess continuous deposits of one kind or another of
valuable minerals, which, beginning with the coal and iron of
Colorado, end only with the quicksilver of New Almaden.
   " When it is remembered how little and how carelessly this
vast territory, the home of savage Indians, has been explored
by white men, and that, even in the small and old-settled
district of Cornwall, where mining was carried on before the
Christian era, and where the earth has been burrowed for ages
at a great depth, new discoveries are still made of tin and
copper lodes, we may well wonder at the amount of hidden
treasures which the few disclosures already made would
indicate."
262
CHAPTER IV.
             THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY.
IT is quite impossible to weigh the advantages held out by
the Northern Pacific route without becoming a convert to the
scheme. By making use of the Great Lake system of the
continent and the rivers which flow east and west above
the meridian of New York, it would be possible to pass from
that city to Portland on the Pacific, 3,205 miles, by steamboat for 2,480 miles, and by rail for the remaining 825.
The object of the Northern Pacific Railroad is not only to
develop the country through which it passes, but to unite
the following great steamboat routes with one another:  1st. The Great Lakes at the western end of Lake Superior.
  2nd. Steam  navigation on   the Mississippi by a short
branch to St. Paul.
  3rd. Steam navigation on the Missouri at Fort Clarke and
Fort Benton.
  4th. The Columbian River, from the falls of which one
branch is to continue onward to Portland at its mouth,
another to deflect northward to Seattle, in Puget Sound.
Here the advocates of this route say that they are nearly
500 miles nearer to Shanghae than at San Francisco, and that
the distances to the ports of Japan, Northern China, and the
Amoor are still more in their favour.
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
The following table gives the elevations and distances:             THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY.
iterediste iDistances Elevations
grades.                                in miles. in feet.
        S Lake Superior...    600    Lake Superior
          Lake  Superior.......................................  0         Basin.'
  19    Dividing Summit................................ 32 1,158
    D   M ississippi River....................................  111  1,152  1
    S` Hauteur des Terres...............................   177      1,419
  40    Red River........................................  232     985
        Plateau du Coteau du Missouri................    365      2,400      Mississippi
   40   M issouri River....................................  485  1,800       Basin.
        Dividing Summit........................... 625 2,500
  40    Yellow Stone River..............................  675    2,100
  30    Point of Judeth Mountain.......................  936     3,495
  70    Cadott's Pass*.......................................  1,115  5,337
  70    Flathead River.................................   1,225   2,410
  40    Pend d'Oreille Lake...........................  1,355    2,020
  30    Summ it................................................  1,405  2,620
  30    Spokane River....................................  1,405  1,720
                                                      1 ColumbiaRiver
  40    Summit....................................... 1,425 2,380 CoBasin.
  40    Columbia River..................................  1,535    430
        Portland.........................................  1,755
   40   Columbia River..................................  1,535    438
   50   Snoqualmie Pass....................................  1,694  3,325
   90   Base of Mountains...............................  1,738    175
        Seattle..................................... 1,775... Puget Sound.
        Mean elevation above the sea.....................      2,215
        Distance, in miles from New York, vid Great Lakes to Portland, 3,285 miles.
        Mean annual temperature, 50Q Fah.
   As I have never traversed the route proposed for this railway, I extract the following quotation from the Report already
referred to of the Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads, dated
February 19th, 1869, as I presume no better authority could
be obtained.
   " There are between Lake Superior and Puget Sound and
the mouth of the Columbia River 500,000 square miles of
territory, upon the larger portion of which the United States'
Government can impress prosperity, wealth, and power, like
          * This pass is supposed to require a tunnel 21 miles long.
264
RESOURCES OF THE NORTHERN ROUTE.
that of Illinois. It is the winter-wheat region of this continent. It is a region of alternate prairies and pine forests.
It is a region rich in coal, iron, gold, silver, and copper. It
is a region the salubrity of whose climate has made it the
sanatarium for consumptives from the Atlantic slopes. It is
a region whose Rocky Mountain section, broken down in its
formation so as to be passable by loaded ponies, is blessed
with a temperature so mild that countless herds of cattle
range and fatten through the winter upon the natural grasses
within ten miles of the summit of the continental waterparting. It is a region in all whose valleys peaches, apples,
pears, plums, cherries, grapes, and sweet potatoes have rapid
growth and complete maturity. It is a region so rich in grass,
and so blessed in climate, that it has ever been the home, in
winter as well as summer, of the buffalo, the elk, and the
antelope.  It has timber, water-power, and stone.  It has a
population of 1,410,000 people. Illinois possessed no such
endowments.    Her inheritance, so amazingly developed by
railroads, was a garden soil, deeply underlaid with a thin
seam  of coal and a deposit of friable sandstone. She had
nothing else. But every element of wealth, every condition
of social growth and prosperity exist in superabundance and
beyond exhaustion in the territory between Lake Superior
and Puget Sound.     For this immense region, embracing
Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington,
and a part of Wisconsin, railroads can do more than they have
done for Illinois."
   The statement made in the above quotation as to climate
may appear strange to those who are unacquainted with the
great bend northward which the isothermal lines make west of
the Mississippi. The winters are long and severe in Minnesota, but a little farther west, the proposed railroad enters a
265
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
much warmer region. Half-way between Chicago and the
Pacific the same average temperature is found to exist in
latitude 50Q, more than three degrees north of the proposed
line, as is experienced eight degrees farther south in Illinois
and the regions east of that State. Hence the agricultural
value of our Saskatchewan settlements.
  The northern line will always have to contend against one
great drawback, that is the closure of Lake Superior to traffic
for seven out of twelve months every year. Neither this inland
sea nor Lake Michigan become frozen over, but most of their
harbours, and especially their shallow entrances, are always
rendered impassable for from five months in the lower basin,
to seven, and sometimes eight, in the upper.
  Whilst we are languidly considering whether it is or is not
to our advantage to unite our Pacific and Atlantic North
American colonies by a national railroad across Canada, the
Americans will very probably settle the question for us in a
way which will not be altogether flattering to our national
pride.  On this subject the same Report observes:   " The line of the North Pacific road runs for 1,500 miles
near the British possessions, and, when built, will drain the
agricultural products of the rich Saskatchewan and Red
River districts east of the mountains, and the gold country
on the Fraser, Thompson, and Kootanie rivers west of the
mountains. From China (Canton) to Liverpool it is 1,500
miles nearer by the 49th parallel of latitude than by the way
of San Francisco and New York. This advantage, in securing
the overland trade from Asia, will not be thrown away by the
English, unless it is taken away by our first building the
North Pacific road, establishing mercantile agencies at Puget
Sound, fixing mercantile capital there, and getting possession,
on land and on the ocean, of all the machinery of the new
266
                      ANNEXATION.                       267
commerce between Asia and Europe. The opening by us
first of a North Pacific railroad seals the destiny of the British
possessions west of the 91st meridian. They will become
so Americanised in interests and feeling that they will be in
effect severed from the new Dominion, and the question of
their annexation will be but a question of time."
TWO HORSES BITTEN BY RATTLESSNAKES.
early morn. An abundance of very large cotton-wood timber
is seen in the background. Such views as these are met with
ev   wherywhere throughout the hundred miles of uninhabited
valley; but, thirty miles north of Fort Craig, timber begins to
diminish, and the higher you go amongst the settlements the
scarcer, unfortunately, it becomes. Twenty years, however,
would make the bare parts of the valley quite as beautiful as
the uninhalbited districts fiiurther south, were cotton-wood
trees planted along the acequias.
   D)uring thie last (lav's march along the Rio Grande two of
our horses were bitten by a rattlesnake, the same one having,
it is supposed, bitten both in the under lip as they were
feeding together in some long grass. I did not see them
until a few hli,urs afterwards, and they were then in the most
pitiab)le (comditif,n. The submaxillary, piarotid, and all glands
situated aboiut the he(ad and down the neck became greatly
enlarged, disfiguring the poor animals dreadfully. From
their nos.trils an(I swNollen giums a clear mucous discharge ran
(lo,wn.''Their eyes were glair", pupils greatly dilated, coats
r'ughl and staring; thelvy woul not look at their (corn, and
w(Tre o sulbillissiNye tlat ul c,ould (10 anythiiilg %withi themi
you liked. They were at the tiume in thie best condition, but
onel of the'm hlld evid(eitlv re(i\vc'd a mu(ch stronger (lose of
the )poisonl tliani lie otlher. I gave eac(h of them half a pint
of' whiskey with a little wat(er, and half an ounce of ammonia.
I kept the wounds fomented with a strong infusion of tobacco,
and p1otlticed them with the chopped leaves of the same. I
exp)ected that one horse would certainly have died, but both
recovered. One, although reduced in flesh and thrown out
of condition, was fit for work in a week; but the other only
just escaped with his life. lie became a perfect skeleton, and
would have been abandoned had I not wished to see the
                       CHAPTER V.
                  PUTURE PROSPECTS.
WILL the Pacific railroads pay?
   The traffic receipts, and the deductions to be drawn from
other considerations, lead us to believe that they will pay
well; we must, however, bear in mind that facts, as well as
figures, can be so represented as to prove almost anything in
cases such as these, and that time alone will show what
will be the fate of undertakings which have had as yet no
precedents.
   The Union Pacific Company thus states its earnings and
expenses for the year ending June 30th, 1868, on an average
length of 472 miles.
EARNINGS.
Passengers..
Freight
Express.
Mails..
Miscellaneous
                    Ex
Conducting transportation
Motive power
Maintenance of cars and wa~
General expenses.
    Balance.
Interest on 1st Mortgage Bo.
,,    Government Boe
    Surplus. I     I
                   Dollars.
....   888,335
.... 3,233,371
S....    30,955
S...    66,800
S....    26,579
                  4,246,040
PENSES.
                   Dollars.
....   517,803
S....   977,011
ys.... 1,040,688
                    149,255
                  2,684,757
                  1,561,283
nds...   631,680
ds...   451,200
                    478,403
WILL THE PACIFIC RAILROADS PAY?
   But here it certainly appears that the transmission of
construction material over the road has been charged to the
item  of freight, thus making the company itself the best
customer.
   The local traffic between the State of California and the
interior mining towns of the Great Basin is already very
great, and likely to be enormous; the manufactures and
wares consumed in Oregon, Washington, Columbia, Idaho,
and Nevada, are nearly all drawn thence; and so rapidly are
the Pacific States and Territories increasing in population and
wealth, that three railroads across the Sierra Nevada would
soon have as much work as they could well take over a single
line of rails. The Central Pacific Company of California is
now demanding 10 cents per mile for passengers, and 15
cents per ton per mile for freight-charges which, paid in
gold, are too exorbitant long to be maintained.
   The year's business on the Kansas Pacific Road for 1868,
over an average length of 403 miles, stands thus:                          EARNINGS.
                                               Dollars.
       From transportation.. 1,910,161
       From land sales...  255,205
                                              2,165,366
                          EXPENSES.
       Traffic, maintenance, &c..... 1,036,494
       Interest on 12,800,000 dollars, with Bonds at 6 per
          cent..720,000
                                              1,756,494
          Surplus......          408,872
   The operating expenses were equal to 54 per cent. of the
gross receipts. Although the transportation of construction
material may have been added in this case also, yet, as the
extension of the road westward was suspended, this item must
have been small. The 400 and odd miles of road opened
269
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
during these periods ended in both cases in the uninhabited
wilds, and could scarcely have been expected to pay their
way at all. Yet the results are most encouraging. Now that
the line from San Francisco to Omaha is open throughout, we
shall soon learn the solution of the problem. Experience has
taught that, although the through traffic is generally most
relied upon in the establishment of a line, it is the local
traffic which proves in the end to be the most important.
Mile for mile, the local traffic must be small throughout
four-fifths of the distance between Omaha and San Francisco,
unless a large business is done in the transportation of ores;
yet the through traffic ought, in this exceptional case, to
compensate fully for the deficiency. Fifteen hundred miles
of country separate a thriving population of thirty-two
millions from an equally wealthy and flourishing community
inhabiting California, as well as the great producing nations
of Asia-China and Japan.
   Even the passenger traffic to and from the Pacific coast
must be enormous, and all will probably pay at least 6 cents
per mile (from 2d. to 3d.) upon the entire distance. If the
central line pays, the financial success of the southern one
is certain, for the local traffic will rapidly increase as the
comparatively   fertile districts along the   route  become
colonised; the through traffic will at least be shared on
equal terms, and probably the absence of impediments from
winter snows will give the latter in the end a decided advantage. The prospects of the northern route rest upon rather
different grounds, and cannot yet be fairly judged; politically,
it may be very desirable that the American Government
should subsidise this road also, for reasons already referred
to; and one fact is certain, that, whether these undertakings
are destined to pay at once, or after many years, they will
270
THE NEW BILL.
immediately be of infinite service to the Government, by
settling the Indian question, by adding to the taxable wealth
of the nation, and by increasing to an enormous extent the
yield of precious metals.
   The Bill returned this spring to Congress from the Senate
Committee proposes, by its comprehensiveness, to dispose
finally of the Pacific Railroad question. Its opponents call it
the " Pacific Omnibus Bill," others stigmatise it as " the great
railroad job."   It  seems, however, to     an  unprejudiced
observer to form a part of that far-sighted policy which
the Government of the United States has ever followed in
relation to the development of its vast territories, and forms
another convincing proof of the wonderful success obtained
by railroad extension as a means of colonization.
   No less than seven railway companies are recommended for
subsidy in the Bill, representing a combined length of railroad exceeding 4,570 miles.
                                               Computed Miles.*
       The Northern Pacific Railroad              1,770
       The Atlantic and Pacific                     640
       The Little Rock and Fort Smith.             160
       The Kansas Pacific                           400
       The United States' Southern Pacific          650
       The Southern Pacific of California           524
       The Oregon Branch of the Central Pacific.   500
   These, however, only represent different sections of the
three great routes which have been described. The Atlantic
and Pacific, and the Little Rock and Fort Smith are to form
a continuous line, uniting the railways of the Southern States
with the trunk line of the 35th parallel, and to meet the
Kansas Pacific at a point east of the Rio Grande in New
Mexico, where both are to unite their forces in building the
United States' Southern Pacific.
  Again, the Southern Pacific of California is to construct
    " These distances arc exclusive of any sections of line already built.
271
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the trunk line from San Francisco and to meet the above
about the Colorado River.
  The Northern Pacific has at present no other company to
share its task.  The last line is a branch from  the Humboldt valley to Portland, uniting Oregon with the Central
Pacific route; it does not, therefore, directly form part of
any of the trans-continental routes.
   One point of importance in the Bill is a change in the
mode of granting the subsidy. Instead of issuing to the
railway companies Government six-per-cent. bonds, varying
in amount with the supposed difficulties of construction, the
same system is proposed as we have adopted with our East
Indian railways, viz., a Government guarantee of six per
cent. upon the capital stock of each company. Very stringent measures are proposed in order to guard against the
Government aid being misapplied, as well as to ensure prompt
payment of the interest.
   If the Bill is carried, the Pacific and Western States, as
well as the Territories lying between them, will be provided
with a railway system so complete in itself that the development of these enormous regions must proceed with a rapidity
never before witnessed. Five years is the time named for
the completion of all these railroads, and there is little doubt
but that this short space is sufficient.
   From two points of view, we as a nation, and, in fact, all
Europe, are immediately and closely interested in all these
railroad projects. In the first place, we are led to inquire
whether the main currents of trade between Europe and the
East-China, India, Japan, New     Zealand, and Australiawill be shifted into new channels. In the second place,
emigration will certainly be systematically encouraged upon
so large a scale that we are likely to lose no inconsiderable
272
DIVERSION OF TRAFFIC.
proportion of our surplus labour. If these railway enterprises
are completed in five years, they will open almost as large a
field for emigration as the discovery of a new continent with
a circumference equal to the combined length of the railroads
in question-4,644 miles; for, without highways for transportation of produce, land is comparatively valueless to the
colonist.
  Let us first inquire to what extent the existing currents
of European traffic will be affected.
  The improvements now in progress along the present lines
of travel between Europe and the East must be weighed
against the new routes across North America.
  Trade between Europe and our Indian empire will not, of
course, be affected. Our trade with China requires a little
consideration. For quick passenger traffic, the completion of
our railroad system across India will cause the following
results:
                           Vid Marseilles and Vid New York and
                              Bombay.         San Francisco.
       London to Hong Kong. 39 days... 47 days.
       Shanghae.. 43,,,
Some of the passenger traffic to China, therefore, will certainly avoid the tropics and go by San Francisco. The
passage of freight, however, is somewhat different.
   The handling of goods is so expensive an item that nearly
all the valuable productions of China come to us in clipperships round the Cape. Merchandise which can afford to pay
the additional tax of a quick passage will be carried in
steamers through the Suez Canal, and save a distance exceeding 4,000 miles of sea. Very little traffic goes to China
by Panama; none will cross the American continent when the
Suez Canal is open to navigation. If the import duties at
New York were not so heavy, it is far more likely that the
   VOL. II.                      T
273
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Eastern States would continue to receive the silks and teas of
China from us, than that the latter should come to us
through them.
  Passenger traffic with Japan and New Zealand will probably be diverted into the new channel:                           Vid Marseilles and Vid New York and
                              Bombay.         San Francisco.
       London to Yokohama. 48 days.. 38 days.
  Again, the shortest route to New Zealand is vid Panama;
but San Francisco is 700 miles nearer New Zealand than
Panama is, and already the line of steamers which did run
between Panama and New Zealand has been discontinued,
and a line from San Francisco established instead. We shall
be able, in fact, to go from London to Wellington in thirtyseven days, thus:       London to New York...... 10 days.
       New York to San Francisco.....  6,,
       San Francisco to Wellington... 21,,
              Total....... 37,,
Our Australian goods traffic will not be affected, and but few
passengers will incur the increased expense of a long land
journey by crossing North America.
274
CHAPTER VI.
                       EMIGRATION.
WmILsT emigration is actually being opposed in some of our
own colonies, the Americans are demanding with greater force
than ever more hands and more brains.
  " It can be shown by official records," says the Report
before mentioned, "' that the Kansas Pacific, the Union Pacific,
and the Central Pacific have been instrumental in adding
hundreds of thousands to the population of the States of
Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, California, and Nevada.
Minnesota owes to the rapidity and cheapness of transportation by rail her best immigrants-over 100,000 Germans,
Norwegians, and Swedes. Every foreign labourer landing on
our shores is economically valued at 1,500 dollars. He rarely
comes empty-handed.    The Superintendent of the Castle
Garden (New York) Emigration Dep6t has stated that a
careful inquiry gave an average of 100 dollars, almost
entirely in coin, as the money property of each man, woman,
and child landed at New York. From 1830, the commencement of our railway building, to 1860, the number of foreign
emigrants was 4,787,924.  At that ratio of coin-wealth possessed by each, the total addition to the stock of money in the
United States made by this increase to its population was
478,792,400 dollars. Well might Dr. Engel, the Prussian
statistician, say-' Estimated in money, the Prussian State has
lost, during sixteen years, by emigrants, a sum of more than
                          T2
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
180,000,000 thalers. It must be added that those who are
resolved to try their strength abroad are by no means our
weakest elements. Their continuous stream may be compared
to a well-equipped army, which, leaving the country annually,
is lost to it for ever. A ship loaded with emigrants is often
looked upon as an object of compassion. It is, nevertheless,
in a politico-economical point of view, generally more valuable
than the richest cargo of gold dust.'
   "1The Kansas Pacific Railway Company has organised
immigration to its lands. It has agents in Europe who tell
of the resources of Kansas, and induce people to seek a home
there; aiding them, if necessary, to cross the Atlantic and to
reach that State by rail, and selling them lands on long credit.
This liberal and wise example will be followed. Let the
Northern and Southern Pacific railroads and the Homesteadlaw go together across the Continent; and in less than ten
years we shall see upon the lines of those roads and their outlets at least three millions of the best population of Northern
Europe-farmers, graziers, mechanics, and miners. Reckon
up their worth at 1,500 dollars a head; add to the product
the quantity of coin they will bring, 100 dollars each person;
then say if, in 4,800,000,000 dollars added to the wealth of the
country, our Government cannot find authority and courage to
guarantee the interest of the bonds issued to assist in building
the roads."
  Although the Prussian statistician mourns over the loss of
his emigrating countrymen, we in England are not justified
in joining him in his regrets. The long-continued misunderstanding between capital and labour which exists in this
country has done much to assist other European nations in
raising their manufactories to a level with our own. We are
no longer the workshop of the world. We have more cotton276
WE REQUIRE DEPLETION.
mills, more machinery, more iron-works, and more operatives than are required to supply the markets dependent upon
us. We require depletion. The abject poverty which now
stares us in the face is becoming unendurable. How can our
destitute artisans educate their children when they are clothed
with rags?-or what do starving parents care for school
reform? Equilibrium between the demand and supply of
labour must be attained; and wholesale emigration is the only
means by which this can be accomplished.
   The fact of the United States being a foreign country ought
not to affect the question in the least. Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, all or any one of our colonies may soon become
independent of the mother country; and perhaps it is better for
both that they should before long dissolve partnership. It is,
however, our desire, and also greatly to our advantage, to
remain on the best terms with our American neighbours.
With one section of them-the emigrant Irish-this is at
present impossible. They hate us so intensely that, were it
possible for them to gain the ascendency, war would surely
follow. It should therefore be our aim to maintain the
ascendency of the Saxon and Teutonic elements in States.
   The Americans complain of our gross ignorance as regards
their politics, institutions, and social life; and although they
are probably right in this accusation, our ignorance of them
certainly finds a counterpart in their ignorance of us. If the
North was not unanimous in its views as to the desirability
of carrying on war with the South, how could they expect us
all to be of one mind? Yet most Northerners believe that
we sided altogether with the South, and they look upon us
as enemies in consequence.    Again, if they had carefully
watched the state of public opinion here since the war, they
would have perceived that if parties in England were pretty
277
16           NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
ultimate results. At the end of three months he also began
to lpick up, and eventually recovered without any abscesses
or sloughs having taken place.    I saw one horse, which
had been bitten in the leg, literally covered with sloughy
gangrenous ulcers; these lwhealed, however, and hlie ultimately
recovered.
  There is a little weed common throughout the Western
country called by Fnge'mhann Eiphorbia latl, a by Torrey
Eutphorbia dilftata, which is said to be a specific for the bite
of the rattlesnake. A doctor, whose name I forget, has
published an accounIt of his experiments with this plant; he
gave a strong infusion of it to a dozen dogs which were in
diffterent stages of ('ollaIse from snake bites; all recovered
but one, and he could not swallow the drh'ug. At the very
time when I wanted this plant I could not find it, although I
met with it everywhere along our route.
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
evenly balanced in private sentiment with respect to the
struggle when it was in progress, the direction which public
opinion has since been taking is towards the Republican party
and the policy of the North.
  This drifting of the majority of Englishmen towards
acquiescence in the unity and prosperity of the States will
receive a severe check if the American Government perseveres
in its most unjust treatment of the Alabama question; for it will
convert many to the opinion that perhaps, after all, we should
have done ourselves and the world generally a great service
by assisting in the partition of the Union instead of remaining
strictly neutral in the quarrel. If the Americans insist upon
keeping up ill-feeling by refusing to settle amicably these
outstanding claims; if they continue to make mountains of
molehills, and think it worth while to risk a war, which
would be thrice as expensive as that which they have just
waged, for the sake of gratifying a vague feeling of jealousy
which has no real foundation, they will receive from us but
very few emigrants and very little capital.
   So much has been said and written, even within the last
few months, on emigration, that I will not attempt to discuss
the subject in detail; but I have, in conclusion, one simple
scheme to propose, which I consider eminently practical, and
which is the result of much reflection and of some experience.
   A would-be emigrant generally finds it almost impossible
to obtain reliable information; he knows nothing, as a rule,
of distant lands; and those, unfortunately, to which he proposes himself to go, lie far away on the outskirts of civilisation, and quite beyond the beaten track of ordinary travel.
He knows nothing of the expense, nothing of the requirements, nothing of the chances of success or failure, and it
often happens that when he has reached the country of his
278
AN EMIGRATION SCHEME.
adoption he goes to ruin before he has had time to learn how
to live there. A wise man, on emigrating, generally asks
himself this question-" lHow can I support life, and keep
the little capital I have (supposing he is not quite destitute)
until I learn how the land lies?"  Thousands stop at home
in misery and want because they cannot answer this question,
and dare not take this first step in the dark. Suppose there
were established in London, in connection, say, with a central
committee on emigration, a newspaper (call it The Emigrant)
devoted to the subject, and an office to which all who desired
could apply, we should be able in time to supply much of the
information required.
  The editor of The Emigrant would be able to assist all
parties, first by publishing, under authority, so to speak,
reliable information of every kind bearing upon the subject,
and, secondly, by bringing    interested parties -shippers,
agents for land and railway companies, colonial and other
Government agents, landowners, and the rest-face to face,
through the advertising columns, with those who need lands
and conveyance to them.
  One indispensable point would have to be reliability of
information. We must have no more British Columbia lies,
such as were palmed upon us a few years ago by a " largeprint " correspondent in a daily paper. Better lack of information than false statements.  The advertisements should be
quite distinct from the editorial part of the paper, and those
which were evidently false should be omitted.
  The office should be an inquiry office, and might be conducted on the general plan of our registry offices for servants.
It might be made almost self-supporting by demanding a
small charge for services rendered. A library and readingroom would form an indispensable branch of the establish279
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
ment, where colonial and other papers would be received and
filed, and where books bearing on the subject, bills of sailing,
fares for transportation, &c., could be found. Such kind of
information would naturally gravitate thither; and if such a
system were once in active operation, it could be extended
indefinitely, and agencies might be planted in the countries
demanding immigration, as well as in those suffering from
over-population; each would work in its several capacities,
the one to obtain information, the other to impart it-the one
to pave the road, the other to show the way.
  Employers of skilled labour would no doubt often find it
advantageous to import fresh hands through this channel;
they could communicate directly with the central office, and
would no doubt obtain the assistance they needed.
   Stock-raisers, vine cultivators, agriculturists, masons, &c.,
could apply also for aid, and would be able to select, within
certain limits, those regions in which their particular knowledge would be of practical value. All, however, would soon
learn that success as a colonist depends chiefly upon the art
of readily adapting oneself to whatever kind of labour is
most in demand, whether it be, as my friend at Albuquerque
proved by his actions, killing sheep, editing a newspaper, or
both combined.
  It is unnecessary to do more than roughly sketch the
scheme, for there is no difficulty in filling in the details.
Such an institution should not savour of a charity; it should
not patronise, but assist the emigrant; and his advancement,
irrespectively of nation or politics, religion or caste, should be
the sole object to be attained.
  There is no lack in this country of philanthropists whose
great and lifelong desire is to do good to their fellow-men.
Here, then, is an opportunity for those who have time and
280
                       CONCLUSION.                     281
money at their command, and who look for their reward, not
in the homage paid them here, but in the inward consciousness that they have done some service to suffering humanity.
  If our great landowners, our merchants, and especially our
manufacturers, do not further this great end; if we, as a
nation, persist in keeping down labour by feeding millions of
unproductive paupers at home, instead of helping them to
find employment elsewhere, we shall richly deserve to be
overpowered by that rabble form of democracy which aristocratic England dreads so much.
APPENDICES.
                      APPENDIX A.
BOTANY OF THE REGION ALONG THE ROUTE OF THE KANSAS
     PACIFIC RAILWAY, THROUGH KANSAS, COLORADO, NEW
     MEXICO, ARIZONA, AND CALIFORNIA.
           BY C. C. PARRY, M.D., BOTANIST TO THE SURVEY.
THE native vegetation, which is the most prominent external feature that first
attracts the eye of the observing traveller in a new country, is found, on a
more careful examination, to afford the most direct means of arriving at those
peculiarities of soil and climate that indicate its capacity for agricultural
productiveness, as well as its adaptation for desirable civilised habitation,
Hence lists of plants, especially in regions that have not been subjected to long
experience or modification in the pursuits of agriculture, are valuable as indicating the particular class of vegetable products to which they are best
adapted, or whether they are fit or unfit to reward human industry by profitable
returns.
  The unguarded and loose use of the term "desert," as employed, not only
in popular writings, but also in scientific descriptions, has given origin to
wrong impressions in reference to a large portion of our Western territories,
that hold with remarkable persistence both on the popular and scientific mind.
Thus, although to a certain extent the desert wastes of our old geographies
are contracted, or pushed farther west into unexplored districts, the prevalent
idea remains, that much of the continental regions beyond the 1000 of west
longitude is unproductive and unfitted for human habitation.
  The readiest means of correcting this wrong impression would be to exhibit
the plants which naturally grow on these supposed desert wastes; or, to one
somewhat versed in the nomenclature of botany, a list of the native plants of
such a district would serve at once to dispel this old and cherished illusion.
Thus, let the intelligent traveller pass through Eastern Kansas in the month of
September, and note the gigantic weeds and sunflowers that all but obstruct his
view along the beaten road, and it will not be difficult to convince him that,
where such rank annual vegetation can secure nourishment, there corn and
other useful agricultural products can be raised in perfection. Or, on the
great plains beyond, let him see the broad uplands bedded with nutritious
grasses, and he will not be slow in arriving at the conclusion that, if only
partially adapted to agriculture, it certainly possesses great pastoral capacities.
  Still farther west, where mountain slopes bound rich alluvial valleys, well
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
watered, and displaying a luxuriant vegetation, similar in many of its aspects
to what he has been accustomed to in cultivated eastern countries, he will have
no hesitation in assuming that, with ordinary facilities for working the soil,
still greater returns will reward his toil from the virgin sod unexhausted by
protracted culture.  Again, where natural forests abound, there we may
reasonably expect to find all the conditions of successful tree or fruit culture;
and even where many of these indications are wanting, a soil rich in mineral
ingredients for the growth of plants, but exposed to the intense aridity of
a rainless sky, may be restored to fertility by processes of artificial irrigation.
  Thus, according to past experience, the real danger to be guarded against
in estimating the productive capacity of an undeveloped country is an undue
depreciation of its real value, and where definite knowledge of natural products
is substituted for easy ignorance, the deserts disappear from our geographic
horizon.
  The list of plants herewith presented is a contribution, from one of the latest
and most complete railroad surveys ever conducted on this continent, to our
knowledge of the natural vegetation of the Far West. Without aiming to be
complete, it is at least sufficient to show that, along the entire length of the
railroad survey, extending from Kansas through South-Eastern Colorado, New
Mexico, and Arizona, to the Pacific, there is an extent of habitable country,
which only needs to be made easily accessible from the populous districts of the
Mississippi valley and the Western seaboard, to support and maintain a prosperous and civilised population.
   Commencing with Eastern Kansas, we note the rank vegetation pertaining to
rich alluvial districts: the bottom-lands are occupied with a heavy growth of
forest trees, including elm, black walnut, hackberry, ash, and cotton-wood;
the uplands support rank prairie grasses and a variety of plants, exhibiting a
strange mingling of north-western, and more southern, forms, corresponding
to the peculiar mixed climate which characterises this section.  Proceeding
westward, a gradually increasing atmospheric aridity is evidenced by a corresponding disappearance of forest growth, which is confined to the moist margins
of constant streams or water-courses, dry during the summer season, and
is represented only by the persistent cotton-wood, box-elder, and willow. On
the uplands, buffalo grass and gramna take the place of the rank prairie sod, and
are characterised by a short curly growth, and dense fibrous roots, often
growing in clumps, and penetrating deeply into the dry though still nutritious
soil.
   Still farther west we find the depressed basins and valleys exhibiting a
white saline efflorescence, due to the intense evaporation, which in the dry
season concentrates the saline ingredients derived from the washed soil of the
uplands on the saturated bottoms, overflowed in the season of rains. With
this peculiar condition of things we meet with a class of saline plants, many of
them identical with such as are found along the sea-shore, or in connection
with salt marshes. Here the uplands acquire more distinctly an arid feature,
to which, however, the term of desert cannot be properly applied, as, although
in great measure unfit for ordinary agriculture, they still support a close
growth of peculiar grasses, which in the summer rainy season assume a dull
verdure, and in the succeeding dry season become converted into a nutritious
hay, the saccharine and organised juices being concentrated in the dried perennial stem and leaves.
   On the upper alluvial benches of the principal valleys we encounter dense
286
BOTANICAL REPORT.
moorish growths of " wild sage " (Artemisia), Sarcobatis, and Obione, or greasewood, well known to all Western explorers.
  The conditions essential for timber growth, viz., superficial moisture, and
shelter from fierce winds, are here confined to the deeper valleys and constant
large water-courses, where cotton-wood and willow maintain a variable existence, occasionally occurring in extensive tracts along the Arkansas and the
Republican Fork, while elsewhere the country presents a treeless and open
waste.
  The idea frequently suggested by those unacquainted with the true physical
features of this section of country, of planting trees, and thus securing shelter
and an increased precipitation of moisture, will by no means stand the test of a
common-sense view, where the objects to be gained are precisely such as the
country does not naturally admit of; and furthermore, its perfect adaptation to
grazing is so manifest, that any other view of its application to useful production is not even to be desired.
  Before arriving at that point of extreme aridity which a continuous open and
level country would no doubt eventually reach, deserving the name of a true
desert (and which is actually realised farther south in the staked plains of
Texas), we encounter the abrupt elevation presented by the Rocky Mountain
range, with its steep broken slopes and irregular rocky spurs. This at once
changes the whole aspect of the scenery; its elevated ridges and snow-clad peaks
presenting a cool condensing surface, on which the warm moist currents of air
are deposited in the form of summer rains and winter snows. These necessarily
give rise to perennial streams and springs, which send their watery tributes to
the arid plains below, and maintain verdure in the lower valleys, which are
thus adapted to cultivation by processes of irrigation.
  This obvious change from increasing aridity to sufficient moisture is at once
characterised by a great profusion of vegetation, including trees, shrubbery,
and a variety of plants, either identical or similar to such as are met with
in well-watered mountain districts to the east.
  Where a sufficient elevation is attained to insure a constantly cool atmosphere, forests abound, consisting mainly of evergreen pines, spruce, and fir,
but also including a scattered growth of scrubby oak, maple, birch, cottonwood, and willow. The principal valleys that penetrate this mountain district,
including the Arkansas, with its numerous branches, as the Huerfano, Purgatoire, and Greenhorn, comprise sections of great natural fertility, abundantly
watered, and conveniently located for supplying adjoining mining districts
with their surplus agricultural products. Hence they represent the main
populous districts, which, combining all the agreeable accessories of a fine
salubrious climate, and conveniences for building and fuel, will invite and
retain a permanent population devoted to the mixed pursuits of agriculture and
grazing.
  In the accompanying list of plants, those referred to as occurring in the
valley of the Huerfano and Sangre de Christo will serve to represent the
natural vegetation of this peculiar mountain district.
  In passing down into the valley of the Upper Rio Grande, we encounter
a flora very distinct in its general features, including a number of peculiar
plants and strange shrubbery, having a Mexican type.        The river, here
hemmed in along a great portion of its upper course by dark, igneous, and
basaltic rocks, flows in deep inaccessible cations, which open out below into
wide sandy basins.
287
CHAPTER II.
      THE MIEMBRES MOUNTAINS AND THE RIO MIEMBRES.
'Leave the Rio Grande Valley.-" La Tenaja," or the Water-bowl.-Mule
    S   n)ring.-Search for Palmer's Pass.-Survey the Pass.-Cooke's Carion.'Ilhe D iscovery of Copper in the Miembres Mountains by the early Spanish
    P,xplor4ers.-.Subsequent History of the District.-Discovery of rich Gold
    I)eposits.-Success of the Miners until the Indians drove them away.    Work resumned again four years later, but abandoned on account of the
    Indians.-The Pinos Altos Mines.-Mangas Coloradas.-Tho Days of
    Indian Wars are numb)er,ed.-The Rio Miembres.-The City of Rocks.--
    ()jo Caliente.-Colton arrives from Mesilla with Guides.--' Jornadas."
    Distance, from Rio Grando to Ojo Caliente, vri Palmer's Pass, fifty miles.
 THE mountains to the west of our course having gradually
 mj,,'rge(, into rough undulating countryN foirmed of b)luffs whose
 ridges run at right angles to the river, we b)ade good-bye to
 thlle io (Iranide, and (omm,ence(d to survey and explore the
 first "' c(ut offt" b  followinig ul) onle of thei ravilies to tlh  west walrd-the C('aiada (de St. Barbara-towards tle \ieuimbres
 Mountains.   Nine miles lroiiugllt us to a water-hole, called
 " I,a Tenajal" by the Mexicans, where three 1)asilns, one above
 the other, were scooped out in a large mass of rock, which here
 l)locks up the channel of the gorge. There is, without doubt,
 a beautiful cacascade here at times; but then (Oct. 14th) the
 bed of the stream was quite dry, although one of the natural
 basins was nearly full of good soft water.  It was, however,
 quite inaccessible to the stock, which could only approach the
 lowest b)owl with difficulty. The water had therefore to be
 poured in bucketfuls from the middle basin down to that below.
   Another march of ten miles brought us to the foot of the
 mountains, and we camped at a spot called Mule Spring, where
 we found a good supply of water by digging.
   VOL. II.                     C
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  The San Luis valley, lying above this cafioned portion of the valley, presents
a wide alluvial basin, including extensive tracts of fertile soil, lying along the
course of the numerous tributary streams flowing down from the high mountain ridges on either side of the main valley.
  This section is particularly adapted to the growth of cereals and root crops,
and in its cool atmosphere abundance of grass and clear flowing water is
eminently a dairy region.
  In these respects, the two portions of the main valley, designated by the
Mexican population as the Upper and Lower River, maintain the natural
distinction in their products, the former being adapted to small grains,
potatoes, butter, and cheese, the latter to maize and fruits. In this condition
of things, an exchange of products would prove of mutual advantage, and
afford profitable business in the way of transportation in both directions.
  The natural supply of fuel for all this region is furnished in the extensive
forests of pihion and cedar, which occupy adjoining rocky and barren ridges,
while the higher mountain ranges will supply lumber and building material to
any desired extent.
  The lower portion of the valley of the Rio Grande includes the district
generally referred to as New Mexico. Here we find the valley spread out into
wide alluvial or sandy bottoms, bounded by bluffs of gravel and occasional
rocky declivities, capped with basalt. The flora here includes the plants
referred to in the accompanying list as New Mexican. Owing to the more
porous nature of the soil, and the greater summer heat, the general aspect
of vegetation is characterised as arid. There is a scarcity of tree growth,
confined to the cotton-wood and willow, which occupy the moist bottoms or
direct margins of the river. The grass of the valley is coarse, and frequently
saline, and on the adjoining uplands it is scant, though of a nutritious quality.
The low bottom-lands susceptible of irrigation are well adapted to the growth
of maize, vines, and peaches, being subject to irregular overflows, which, when
moderate in extent, and occurring at the proper season, help to maintain the
natural fertility of the soil, but are occasionally very destructive in flooding
growing crops, or undermining and transporting large tracts of fertile soil,
leaving in its place the coarse sandy layers of the changeable river-bed. At
other points of the valley the prevalent westerly winds gather up the light
drifting sands of the adjoining bluffs, and deposit them in changeable ripplemarked dunes on the fertile bottoms, thus consigning them to a hopeless sterility,
as well as obstructing the ordinary roads by their deep sandy beds. Still
farther south, in the neighbourhood of Socorro, sub-tropical shrubs, including
Acacia, Mezquit, and Larrea, make their appearance, marking the northern
limits of the Mexican flora.
  On the uplands west of the Rio Grande, near the 350 parallel, west longitude,
we meet with a great variety of surface exposures. These are exhibited in
extensive mesas, or table-lands, composed of light-coloured, porous, sedimentary
rocks, bounding, with abrupt mural faces, valleys of erosion; these strata are
interrupted at various points by igneous protrusions and overflows of basalt
and lava, serving to diversify in a remarkable manner the external features of
scenery, and to modify the texture and composition of the overlying soil. This is
especially noticeable in the character of the native vegetation, which is directly
adapted to these variable conditions. Thus, on the dry uplands and mesas, we
find a scattered growth of grama, interrupted with occasional growths of cedar
and piion.    On the more elevated mountain ridges we meet with dense
288
BOTANICAL REPORT.
forests of Rocky Mountain pines, spruce, and fir, intermingled in favourable
localities with oak and aspen.    The lower valleys adapted to agriculture
support a growth of coarse grass and shrubbery, interrupted by occasional
bare saline flats.  In certain sections of this district deep cahoned valleys
conceal from view clear running streams, in which the vegetation is rank and
luxuriant, while at other points the valleys expand into wide grassy basins,
where, during the dry season, running water disappears from the surface, or
is exhibited only in brackish springs. This character of country comprises the
favourite home of the roving Navajo and Apache, and in certain defensive
positions, has been occupied since the earliest historic periods by the industrious and contented Pueblo Indians. It extends, with slight variations,
through Western New Mexico and Northern Arizona, the surveyed railroad
route on the 350 parallel traversing the most desirable portions. Being passed
over by the surveying parties during the fall and winter months, only an
imperfect view of its botanical features could be obtained, but the faded vestiges
of floral beauty were manifest on every hand to testify to the luxuriant richness of its summer dress.
  The uplands of the valley of the Colorado, and the desert beyond, extending
to the foot of the Sierra Nevada, comprise a singular and very interesting
flora, the general features of which, though not thoroughly examined, are still
fairly represented in scientific collections. Here arborescent Cacti and tree
yuccas form a conspicuous feature in the landscape, whilst the true desert flora,
such as the neat evergreen Larrea with its myrtle-shaped leaves, together with
a host of thorny Mimosce, dull-coloured Obione, or grease-wood, and prevalent
Artemisias, all serve to give a faded aspect to the vegetation.
  The annual growth is here exceedingly rapid and evanescent, and consists
mainly of delicate grasses and tender-foliaged plants, which expand quickly
with the early spring rains, and disappear as suddenly when the scorching sun
licks up the superficial moisture, leaving no trace of their previous existence,
save the diminutive seeds buried from sight in the light drifting sand or
gravelly soil. In the dry water-courses of this district we meet constantly
the Cercidium floridum, or "green-barked Acacia," the arborescent Dalea
(Dalea spinosa), with its silvery leafless branches, and the valuable " ironwood" (Olneya Tesota).
  The Chilopsis linearis, allied to Catalpa, is also abundant, being known under
the common name of the " desert willow," its long slender branches being used
by the Indians for basket-work. In the river bottoms we meet with luxuriant
growths of mezquit and " screw-bean," the former furnishing a very durable
wood, affording excellent fuel, occasionally of sufficient size for railroad ties;
the screw-bean is the principal reliance for feeding mules and cattle, as a substitute for grain.
  Most of the plants of this district, including especially the Artemisias and
other shrubby Comnpositce, are smeared with a resinous varnish, which gives
out a pleasant stimulating aroma, noticed by nearly all desert travellers. It is
quite probable that some of these plants possess valuable medicinal qualities,
or are adapted for dyes or varnishes, presenting a subject well worthy of
investigation.
  In reaching the Pacific slope of the Californian mountains, the rich vegetation of this district is brought forcibly to view in contrast with the desert
forms before noticed. In the moist humid soil of the mountain valleys we
here meet with those gigantic monsters of the forest found nowhere else.
   VOL. II.                           U
289
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Broad-sprealing oaks, both evergreen and deciduous, nourish in their leafy
shade delicata plants and vigorous shrubbery, while the open valleys and hilly
slopes present a patchwork of flowers rivalling the colours of the rainbow.
This rich botanical field, which has already given many choice plants to
enrich Eastern gardens, is not yet exhausted, and new discoveries are being
made every year by the zealous botanists connected with the California State
Geological Survey. A regular flora of this region is now in course of preparation by Professor W. H. Brewer, under the able assistance of Professor Gray, of
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
            THE FOREST TREES ON THE ROUTE OF THE SURVEY.
  The importance of the tree product near the line of the surveyed railroad
route, both as regards supplies of fuel and purposes of construction and repairs,
is of sufficient interest to receive some special notice in a general botanical
report.
  After leaving the wooded district of Eastern Kansas, which occupies the
principal valleys with belts of timber of variable extent, and which diminishes
rapidly to the west, we at length, near the 1000 west longitude, enter upon
a treeless district, extending for over 50, and reaching to the foot of the Rocky
Mountains. Here, with an increase of elevation and condensation of moisture,
we encounter the pine forests of Eastern Colorado. A very remarkable outlier
of this pine growth occupies an elevated district south-east of Denver, which,
not properly pertaining to the Rocky Mountain range, in the absence of granite
or metamorphic rocks, is comparatively smooth in its general outline, and
easily accessible. The forest growth is here almost exclusively confined to the
Rocky Mountain yellow pine (Pinis ponderosa), which, from its durable quality,
regularity of growth, and facility for working up into the different qualities of
lumber, is probably the most valuable of any Western pine. When growing
singly, this pine is apt to assume a branching shape, with an irregular oval
outline, but in extensive forests it presents a more uniform trunk, less knotty,
and better suited for boards and dimension lumber. The interior wood, being
to a considerable extent impregnated with resin, is thus rendered durable,
and well adapted for railroad ties. This is the prevalent pine tree which is
met with on all the elevated mountain slopes extending from the Eastern Rocky
Mountains to the Sierra Nevada.
  Farther to the south of the Denver pine-region, along the different lines of
the surveyed railroad route through Southern Colorado and New Mexico, a
very different and peculiar pine makes its appearance along the foot-hills of the
Rocky Mountains, clothing the low rocky ledges with patches of dark green, as
seen in a distant view.
  This is the nut-pine, or Piiion of the natives, Pinus edulis of botanists. It is
generally of a low branching habit, its short stocky trunk dividing near the
surface of the ground into branching arms, giving it a globular outline.
When growing in large bodies, its straggling branches intertwine to form
almost inextricable thickets.
  It is generally associated at lower elevations with a cedar (Juniperus occidentalis) of a similarly straggling habit, which farther west gives place to the
Arizona juniper (Juniperus pachyphlcea, Torr.)
  These trees are all well adapted for fuel, burning when dry with a clear
intense flame, which is prolonged and steady, especially suited for steam
290
BOTANICAL REPORT.
purposes. In some sections the piion presents a more upright growth, and
has short uniform trunks, suitable for railroad ties. The wood is durable, but
knotty, and with a twisted fibre, so that it is unfit for other purposes of
railroad construction.
  The distribution of the pifion and cedar forests is particularly favourable
for convenient supplies of railroad fuel, being scattered along the line of the
route, easily accessible, and in inexhaustible amount, the range extending
through New Mexico, Northern Arizona, and to the eastern base of the Sierra
Nevada in California.
  On the higher crests of the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Madre, San
Francisco, and the Sierra Nevada we meet with other varieties of pine and
spruce, occasionally forming extensive forests, and affording material for the
various uses to which different tree products are adapted. Of these we may
specify the Piho real (Pinus contorta), which is noted for its slim, regular
growth, particularly suited for telegraph poles and cross ties; the Douglas
spruce, or mountain hemlock, affording a very durable and tough wood;
Menzies' spruce, and A bies Engelmamni, the latter furnishing a light, soft
wood, well adapted to inside work. Besides these, on the high alpine ridges,
we meet with Pinus flexilis and Pinus aristata, which extend to the extreme
limits of tree growth on the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
  It will be noticed that scarcely any mention has been made of hard wood, as
oak, ash, or walnut, in the central mountain region. While we have representatives of each of these, they are so comparatively rare, or of such insignificant growth, as not properly to enter into the account in any economical view
of our central mountain forests. In certain sections of the Rocky Mountains,
and the lower valleys of the San Francisco Mountains, we meet with a
deciduous-leaved white oak, sometimes of fair size, and suitable for railroad
timber, but generally of scrubby growth, and not fit for any useful purposes of
construction. The same is true of the occasional scattered growths of walnut
and ash, which are rarely of sufficient size or quantity to attract attention.
  But on reaching the Sierra Nevada range in California, we meet not only
with a great variety of peculiar pines and firs, but also large oaks, forming
extensive forests, and well adapted to all the required uses of hard wood in
Eastern countries. Of those deserving special notice is the white oak (Quercus
lobata) found along the eastern tributaries of the Tulare valley, a perfect
giant of vegetable growth, which covers extensive tracts of country. Besides
this, there are several varieties of live-oak, occupying the interior and coast
ranges, which, though not generally durable, and of a stocky growth, are no
doubt applicable to a variety of useful purposes.
  Then we have the red-wood forests of the coast range, the timber of which is
highly prized for its durability and facility for working.
  The peculiar qualities and distribution of the Californian forests would
require a long special report to do justice to the subject, and will no doubt
eventually receive attention when the railroad interests of that section demand
more thorough investigation. For other items of information in regard to the
botany of the region connected with the railroad survey, reference may be had
to the following list of plants.
u2
291
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
LIST OF PLANTS COLLECTED OR OBSERVED ON THE SURVEY
                 OF THE KANSAS PACIFIC RAILWAY,
                            IN 1867 AND 1868.
(The numbers refer to the author's collection in the Botanical Department of the British
                                  Museum.)
     Clematis Douglasii
     Aquilegia cevrulea
     Delphinium scopuloruim
 141 D. azureum
 143 Argemone hispida
 144 A. Mexicana
 145 Pachypodium integrifoliumn
 152 Erysimum Arkansanum
 153 E. pumilum
 153 E. asperum
 146 Stanleya pinnatifida
     Draba streptocarpa
     Lepidium alyssoides
     L. flavum
148 Streptanthus linearifolius
150 Sisymbrium incisum
147 Cleome integrifolia
94 Polanisia uniglandulosa
149 P. graveolens
Ionidium lineare
34 Sisyrinchium Bermudiana
Hypericum Scouleri
Canotea holocantha
     Silene acaulis
     Paronychia pulvinata
     P. sessiliflora
     Sagina Linnae
     Arenaria stricta
151 A. Fendleri
     A. arctica
RANUNCULACEE.
  Hook
  Torr.
  Gray
  Michx.
  PAPAVERACEA.
  Gray
  Linn.
  CRUCIFErmE.
  Nutt.
  Nutt.
  Nutt.
  De C.
  Nutt.
  Gray
  Gray
  Gray
  Gray
  Engel.
  CAPPARIDACE.
  Torr. and Gray
  De C.
  Raf.
    VIOLACEE.
  Torr.
    IRIDACE.A.
  Linn.
  HYPERICACEME.
  Hook.
  Torr.
CARYOPHYLLACEE.
  Linn.
  Gray
  Nutt.
  Presl.
  Michx.
  Gray
  Steven.
Valley of the Huerfano
Sangre de Christo Pass
Raton Mountains
Kansas
New Mexico
Valley of the Huerfano
Colorado
Sangre de Christo Pass
Colorado and New Mexico
Upper Arkansas River
Sangre de Christo Pass
Fort Garland
Colorado Desert, Feb., 1868
New Mexico
Colorado and New Mexico
Raton Mountains
Kansas
Purgatoire Valley
Sangre de Christo Pass
Arizona
Sierra Blanca
Northern New Mexico
Kansas
Sangre de Christo Pass
Sierra Blanca
292
BOTANICAL REPORT.
179 Callirhoe involucrata
181  C. macrorhiza
     Sidalcea candida
     S. malvaeflora
     Sphoaralcea incana
     S. Emoryi
     Malvastrum exile
182 M. coccineum
95 Linum rigidumn
184  L. perenne
     Thamnosma montanunn
 35  Commelyna Virginica
 36 Tradescantia Virginica
     Larrea Mexicana
     Ceanothus Fendleri
     Acer glabrum
189 Negundo aceroides
86 Polygala a,lba
88 Lupinus pusillus
87 L. decumbens
     Trifolium involucratuni
     T. nanum
     Psoralea esculenta
 92 P. argyrophylla
 93 P. campestris
 96 P. cuspidata
 91 P. floribunda
 89 P. lanceolata
 90 P. digitata
     P. floribunda
121 Desmanthus virgatus
100 Dalea nana
99 D. luxiflora
     D. mollis
     D. spinosa
     D. Emoryi
     D. Parryi
 97 Amorpha fruticosa
 98 A. canescens
     Parryella filifolia
   MALVACEAW
   Nutt.
   Gray
   Gray
   Gray
   Torr.
   Gray
   Gray
   Gray
   LINACEMIT.
   Pursh.
   Linn.
   RUTACEA-.
   Gray
 COMMELYNACEA.
.Gray
 Linn.
ZYGOPHYLLACEX.
  Moric.
  RHAMNACEIE.
  Gray
  ACERACEA.
  Torr.
  Moench.
  POLYGALACE.,E
  Nutt.
  LEGUMINOS2E.
  Pursh.
  Torr.
  WVilld.
  Torr.
  Pursh.
  Pursh.
  Nutt.
  Pursh.
  Nutt.
  Pursh.
  Nutt.
  Nutt.
  Says Gray
  Torr.
  Pursh.
  Torr. and Gray
  Gray
  Gray
  Torr. and Gray
  Linn.
  Nutt.
  Torr. and Gray
Kansas
Valley of the Huerfano
Upper Arkansas
Colorado Desert
Purgatoire Valley
Smoky Hill, Kansas
Colorado Desert
Raton Mountains
New Mexico and Arizona
Northern New Mexico
Sangre de Christo Pass
Kansas
Kansas
Smoky Hill, Kansas
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo Pass
Sierra Blanca
Smoky Hill, Kansas
Purgatoire Valley
Smoky Hill, Kansas
Purgatoire Valley
Smoky Hill, Kansas
Purgatoire Valley
Smoky Hill, Kansas
Raton Mountains
Upper Arkansas
New Mexico
Colorado River
New Mexico
Rio Grande and New Mexico
293
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
     Robinia Neo-Mexicana
     Algarobia glandulosa
116  Sophora sericea?
     Strombocarpa pubescens
119  Cassia Roemeriana
     Schrankia uncinata
104  Glycyrrhiza lepidota
     Astragalus carycocarpus
105 A. pectinacea
107 A. Missouriensis
106  A. cyaneus
     A. Plattensis
113 A. lotiflorus
112 A. mollissimus
138 A. microlobus
110 A. gracilis
     A. adsurgens
     A. diphysus
     A. lonchocarpus
111 A. racemosus
     A. hypoglottis
     A. flexuosus
     A. pectinatus
     A. Nuttalianus
     A. glabriusculus
     A. Fendleri
     A. decumbens
     Oxytropus Uralenesis
     0. splendens
     0. deflexa
114  0. Lamberti
     Hedysarum Mackenzii
     H. canescens
115  Baptisia australis
118  Hoffmanseggia Jamesii
     H. drepanocarpa
117 H. Drummondii
     Cercidium floridum
     Olneya Tesota
101 Petalostemon candidum
102 P. violaceum
103 P. macrostachyon
     Prunus pumila
     Sorbus Americanus
     Cercocarpus parvifolius
 120 Fallugia paradoxa
     Dyas octopetala
     Cowania Mexicana
 126 Rubus -?
     R. deliciosus
     R. strigosus
     Fragaria Virginiana
     F. vesca
 123 Potentilla Pennsylvanica
 122 P. rivularia?
      P. diversifolia
 124 P. hispidula?
LaEGUMINOSYE (COntinued).
     Gray            Valley of the Huerfano
     Torr. and Gray  New Mexico
     Nutt.,,
     Gray           New Mexico and Rio Colorado
     Scheele         Raton Mountains
     Willd.         Smoky Hill, Kansas
     Nutt.          Kansas and New Mexico
.Pursh.         Smoky Hill, Kansas
     Gray            New Mexico
     Nutt.          Smoky Hill, Kansas
     Gray           New Mexico
     Nutt.           Smoky Hill, Kansas
     Hook.
     Torr.
     Gray,,
     Nutt.
     Pall.          Sangre de Christo Pass
     Gray           Northern New Mexico
     Gray           Valley of the Huerfano
     Pursh.         Kansas
     Linn.          Valley of the Huerfano
     Doug].
     Dougl.         Kansas
     Gray           New Mexico
     Gray           Sangre de Christo Pass
     Gray           New Mexico
     Gray,,
     Linn.          Sangre de Christo Pass
     Dougl.,,,,
     De C.,,
     Pursh.         Kansas
     Richards        Valley of the Huerfano
     Nutt.,,
     R. Br.         Kansas
     Torr. and Gray Upper Arkansas
     Gray            New Mexico
     Gray,,
     Benth.          Arizona
     Gray            Southern Arizona
     Michx.          New Mexico
     Michx.
     Torr.
       RosAcEzE.
     Linn.           Kansas
     Willd.          Greenhorn Mountain
     Nutt.           New Mexico
     Torr.
     Linn.           Sierra Blanca
     Dougl.          Arizona
                     New Mexico
     Torr.
     Michx.          Sangre de Christo Pass
     Eurhart,,,
     Linn.,,
     Linn.           New Mexico
     Nutt. (Gray says,,
           not)
     Lehm.           Sangre de Christo
     Torr. and Gray  New Mexico
294
BOTANICAL REPORT.
Ribes hirtellum
Parnassia parviflora
Saxifraga punctata
S. caspitosa
S. bronchialis
Sedum Rhodiola
130
126
131
128
129
139
211
136
140
134
132
133
137
138
191
192
193
Epilobium paniculatum
E. coloratum
Stenosyphon virgatus
Gaura coccinea
G. parviflora
(Enothera lavendulefolia
(E. triloba
(E. pinnatifida
(E. Missouriensis
(E. serrulata
(E. coronopifolia
(E. canescens
(E. biennis
(E. albicaulis
(E. speciosa
Mentzelia multiflora
M. (Eucnide) urens
M. ornata
M. Wrightii
M. nuda
Opuntia arborescens
O. Bigelovii
O. Davisii
O. Emoryi
0. tessellata
0. frutescens
Echinocactus Simpsonii
E. Wislizeni
Cereus, giganteus
C. Engelmanni
C. phoeniceus
     Cucurbita perennis
     C. digitata
127  Cyclanthera dissecta
     Cynomarathrum saxatile
     Heracleum lanatum
     Cymopterus alpinus
SAXIFRAGACEJE.
Michx.
De C.
Linn.
Linn.
Linn.
CRASSULACE-E.
De C.
ONAGRACEB.
Nutt.
Muhl.
Spach.
Nutt.
Dougl.
Torr. and Gray
Nutt.
Nutt.
Sims
Nutt.
Torr. and Gray
Torr.
Linn.
Nutt.
Nutt.
  LOASACE.E.
  Nutt.
  Parry
  Torr.
  Gray
  Torr. and Gray
  CACTACEXE.
  Engel.
  Engel.
  Engel. and Big.
  Engel.
  Engel.
  Engel.
  Engel.
  Engel.
  Engel.
  Parry
  Engel.
CUCURBITACE2E.
Gray
Gray
Arnott
UMBELLIFERIE.
Nutt. in herb.
   Durand.
 Michx.
 Gray
Valley of the Huerfano
Upper Huerfano
Sangre de Christo
Sangre de Christo
New Mexico
Kansas
,,
New Mexico
Kansas
New Mexico
Kansas
Purgatoire Valley
Upper Arkansas
Purgatoire Valley
,i
,,
Valley of the Huerfano
Colorado Valley
New Mexico
New Mexico
Colorado Desert
Western New Mexico
Colorado Desert
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo
New Mexico
Southern Arizona
Arizona
Valley of the Huerfano
Kansas
Arizona
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo
Valley of the Huerfano
Sangre de Christo
295
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
      Liatris scariosa
 195 L. punctata
     Kuhnia eupatoria
177  Pyrrhopappus grandiflorus
     Erigeron grandiflorum
 199 E. speciosum
     E. compositum
200  E. bellidiastrunm
     E. caespitosum
196  Brickellia reniformid
198  B. grandiflora
     Baccharis Wrightii
     Machaeranthera canescens
197  M. tanacetifolia
204  Diplopappus ericoides
     Townsendia strigosa
202  T. grandiflora
     Gutierrezia Euthamike
     Solidago rigida
201  S. Missouriensis
     Aplopappus spinulosus,
203  A. Fremontii
     A. Nuttallii
     A. Parryi
205  A. rubiginosus
     Linosyris graveolen s
     L. Bigelovii
     L. Howardii
     L. depressa
     Tetradymia inermis
     T. spinosa
     Tessaria borealis;
     Aster spinosus
     A. tortifolius
194  Pectis angustifolia
     P. filipes
     Carphephorus junceus
166  Gaillardia pinnatifida
168  G. pulchella
     Porophyllum scopariumn
     Psathyrotes ramosa
     Perityle nuda
     Palaloxia linearis
     Monolopia minor
     Leptosyne Newberryi
     Diaperia prolifera
210  Engelmannia pinnatifida
207  Melampodium cinereuim
157  Rudbeckia laciniata
     Lepachys tagetis
158  L. columnaris
     Helianthus petiolaris
159  H. lenticularis
165  Heliomeris multiflora
     Helianthella uniflora
     H. Parryi
156  Heliopsis laevis
     Encelia nivea
155  Zinnia grandiflora
161  Thelesperma gracile
180  T. filifolium
COMPOSIT.
WTilld.          Upper Huerfano
Hook.            New Mexico
Linn.,,
Nutt.
Hook.            Sangre de Christo
De C.            New Mexico
Pursh.           Sangre de Christo
Nutt.            New Mexico
Nutt.
Gray             Purgatoire Valley
Nutt.            New Mexico
Gray            Valley of the Huerfano
Gray,,,,
Nees.            Kansas
Less.
Nutt.           Valley of the Huerfano
Nutt.
Torr. and Gray
Linn.            Kansas
Nutt.,,
De C.
Gray            Valley of the Huerfano
Gray,,
Gray            Sangre de Christo
Torr. and Gray  Purgatoire Valley
Torr. and Gray  New Mexico
Gray            Valley of the Huerfano
Gray
Gray
Nutt.
Nutt.            Colorado Desert
Gray            Rio Grande and Rio Colorado
Benth.          New Mexico
Gray            Arizona
Gray            Valley of the Huerfano
Gray            Prescott, Arizona
Gray            Rio Colorado
Torr.           New Mexico
Foug.
Gray            Arizona
Gray            Colorado Desert
Gray            Rio Colorado
Lag.,,
De C.           Sierra Nevada
Gray
Nutt.           New Mexico
Torr. and Gray  Kansas
De C.           Valley of the Huerfano
Linn.           New Mexico
Gray            Upper Arkansas
Torr. and Gray  New Mexico
Gray            Valley of the Huerfano
Dougl.          Raton Mountains
Torr. and Gray  Sangre de Christo
Torr. and Gray
Gray
Pers.           Raton Mountains
Torr. and Gray  Southern Arizona
Nutt.           Purgatoire Valley
Gray            Kansas
Gray            Raton Mountains
296
BOTANICAL REPORT.
                             COMPOSITr (continued).
     Bidens tenuisecta           Gray
     B. cernua                   Linn.
162 Ximenesia encelioides        Cav.
     Sanvitalia Aberti           Gray
     Bahia biternata             Gray
170 B. oppositifolia
     Villanova chrysanthemoides  Gray
     Lowellia aurea              Gray
     Schkuhria Neo-Mexicana      Gray
163 Dvsodia chrysanthemoides     Lay.
169 Hymenopappus scabeoseens     Herit.
171 Hymenopapus -       --?
167 H. corymbosus                Torr. and Gray
     Helenium Hooperii           Gray
     Actinella scaposa           Gray
     A. acaulis                  Nutt.
     A. Richardsonii             Nutt.
164 Riddellia tagetina           Nutt.
     Senecio exaltatus           Nutt.
175  S. longilobus                Benth.
     S. Bigelovii, var. Hallii   Gray
208  Grindelia squarrosa         Duval
     Hymenoclea monogyra         Torr. and Gray
     Dicoria canescens           Gray
209 Berlandiera incisa           Torr. and Gray
     Franseria deltoidea         Torr.
154 F. Hookeriana                Nutt.
     Artemisia tridentata        Nutt.
173 A. filifolia                 Torr.
     A. frigida                  Willd.
174 A. Canadensis                Michx.
     A. Parryi                   Gray, nov. sp.
     Grapholium strictum         Gray
     Antennaria                  R. Br.
     A. dioica                   Gcertn.
178 Muhlgedium pulchrum          Nutt.
176 Lygodesmia juncea            Dougl.
172 Achillea millefolium         Linn.
206 Chrysopsis villosa           Nutt.
.New Mexico
Fort Garland
Valley of the Huerfano
New Mexico
Valley of the Huerfano
ipper Arkansas
VTalley of the Huerfano
New Mexico
Kansas
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo
Valley of the Huerfano
Sangre de Christo
Valley of the Huerfano
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo Pass
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo Pass
Kansas
New Mexico
Colorado Desert
New Mexico
Southern Arizona
New Mexico
,,
Sangre de Christo
Arizona
Sangre de Christo
Fort Garland
Sangre de Christo
Valley of the Huerfano
Kansas
New Mexico
    Campanula uniflora
85  C. rotundifolia
    Vaccinium myrtilloides
    Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
    Pyrola secunda
    Chimaphila umbellata
 3 Apocynum cannabinum
 84 Plantago Patagonica
    Primula angustifolia
83 Lysimachia ciliata
    Androsace chamoajasme
    A. occidentalis
    A. septentrionalis
CAMPANULACEA.
Linn.
  Linn.
  ERICACEA..
  Hook.
  Spreng.
  Linn.
  Nutt.
  ArOCYNACEE.A.
PLANTAGINACE2E.
  Jacq.
  PRIMULACEA.
  Torr.
  Linn.
  De C.
  Pursh.
  Linn.
Sangre de Christo
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo
Rocky Mountains
Kansas
Kansas
Sierra Blanca
Raton Mountains
Sierra Blanca
Kansas
New Mexico
297
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  The most southern spur of the Miembres Mountains, called,
from its highest summit, Cooke's Peak Range, is about twentyfive miles long. Seven miles fro, its termination it is cut
through by Cooke's Cafion; but Palmner had heard at Santa Fe'
that another pass existed more to the north, that a train of
wagons had once passed through it, and that it was practicable for a railroad. We now set to work to find this pass.
Our guide, Juan Ahrrolls, had never even heard of it. Nothing
daunted, we started at daybreak next morning, a little party
of six, up into the mountains. Biy twelve o'clock we were
resting our panting horses and surveying the peaks all around
us from a grass-covered eminence. Looking westward, we
saw, a few miles distant, a deep break in the mountains, and
a caion, or narrow arrayo, leading to it. This we followed.
Every mile it became better and smoother, and opened straight
upon the plain without any precipitous descent. Our delight
was great; so we determined to turn back, and trace the
cafion, if possible, across the medium line of the mountains,
and see if it opened upon the eastern iplain from which we had
come. After riding all day, we came in view of the eastern
plain, just as sufficient light remained to see it, and to prove
that our labour had not been in vain. We were still far from
camp; mountains were all around us; the sun had set; there
was no moon; and darkness soon covered everything. We
could not so much as see the face of our compass, and had to
keep in the closest siingle file, for fear of losing each other.
   It was in such a predieament as this that the wonderful
faculty of locality which is peculiar to the semi-civilised man
shone out so conspicuously. Not one of us could tell even
the direction of camp; yet the Mexican guide brought us
straight to it, after a three hours' ride, over country he had
never traversed before, and this, too, in pitch darkness. It was
neverthelless a rough ride, for, regardless of obstacles, we w-cnt
18
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
26  Humulus lupulus
    Chilopsis linearis
82  Martynia proboscidea
    Phelipoea Ludoviciana
    P. erianthera
81 Pentstemon Torrevi
78 P. albidum
77  P. acuminatum
75 P. grandiflorum
79  P. glaucum
80  P. cobeae
74  Gratiola Missouriensis
    Pambignum
    Maurandia Wislizeni
71 Orthocarpus luteus
    0. purpureus
    Castilleia purpure;:.
76  C. sessiliflora
72 C. integra
    Rhinanthus angustifolius
    Cordylanthus Wrightii
    Sericographus Californicus
69 Verbena Aubletia
70 V. stricta
73 Lippia reptans
63 Teucrium lanciniatum
    T. Cubense
62 T. Canadense
    Stachys palustris
68 Hedeoma Drummondii
    Hyptis Emoryi
    Scutellaria resinosa
64  S. Drummondii
67 Salvia trichostemoides
65 Monarda aristata
66 M. fistulosa
    M. Sibirica
    Mertensia alpina
 61 Cedronella pallida
 59 Eritrichium glomeratum
    E. crassisepalum
60  Lithospermum pilosum
    Nama hispida
58 Phacelia circinata
   URTICACEA.
   Linn.
   BIGNONIACE-&.
   De C.
   Glox.
   OROBANCHACE,:E.
   Dougl.
   Engel. nov. sp.
SCROPHULARIACEX.
   Benth.
   Nutt.
   Fras.
   Nutt.?
   Nutt.
   Engel.
   Torr.
   Engel.
   Nutt.
   Gray
   Dougl.
   Pursh.
   Gray
   Gmel.
   Gray
   ACANTHACENE.
   Gray
   VERBENACEJE.
   Linn.
   Vent.
   Knuth.
   LABIATEE.
   Gray
   Linn.
   Linn.
   Linn.
   Benth.
   Torr.
   Torr.
   Benth.
   Nutt.
   Linn.
   Dougl.
   Dougl.
   Lindl.
   BORAGINACEJE.
   De C.
   Torr.
   Nutt.
 HYDROPHYLLACEY,.
   Gray
   Jacq.
Purgatoire Valley and N. M.
New Mexico and Arizona
Valley of the Huerfano
Rio Grande, New Mexico
Raton Mountains
Kansas
New Mexico
Kansas
New Mexico
Kansas
Valley of Purgatoire
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo
New Mexico
Arizona
Kansas
Raton Mountains
New Mexico
Raton Mountains
Valley of the Huerfano
Raton Mountains
Valley of the Huerfano
Raton Mountains
Arizona
Kansas
Raton Mountains
New Mexico
Raton Mountains
Raton Mountains
Greenhorn Mountain
Sierra Blanca
Raton Mountains
Raton Mountains
Fort Garland
New Mexico
New Mexico
Raton Mountains
298
BOTANICAL REPORT.
     POLEMONIACEAR.
    Fouquiera splendens
58  Gilia longiflora
56  G. tenuiflora
    G. pinnatifida
57  G. pulchella
54  Ipomoea Smithii (Unique)
    I. leptophylla
55  I. fandurata
51  Cuscuta Gronovii
62  Evolvulus argenteus
53  Convolvulus Hermannii
47  Solanum Jamesii
48  S. eleagnifolium
50  S. nigrum
49  S. rostratum
45  Physalis lobata
46  P. longifolia
    P. mollis
    P. cardiophylla
 6  Datura meteloides
 2  Withania sordida
    Gentiana acuta
    G. Parryi
    Frasera speciosa
    Asclepias speciosa
    A. Jamesii
 7  A. macrotis
 8  Acerates auriculata
 10 A. asperula
 9  A. decumbens
    A. viridiflora
    A. paniculata
 4  A. verticillata
 6  A. linearis
    Mirabilis multiflora
11  M. triflora
15  Abronia fragrans
14  A. cycloptera
1   Oxybaphus coccineus
12  0. nyctagineus
13  O. angustifolius
    Teloxys cornuta
    Sarcobatis vermicularis
    Obione canescens
16 0. occidentalis
    Eurotia lanata
Engel.
Dougl.
Nutt.
CONVOLVULACEA.
  Bell
  Torr.
  Meij.
  Willd.
  Pursh.
  SOLANACEA.
  For.
  Pursh.
  Linn.
  Dunal.
  Torr.
  Nutt.
  Nutt.
  Torr.
  Dan.
  GENTIANACE,E.
  Michx.
  Engel.
  Dougl.
ASCLEPIADACEE,.
  Torr.
  Torr.
  Engel.
  De C.
  Decaisne
  Ell.
  De C.
  Linn.
  Durand
  NYCTAGINACEAX.
  Gray
  Benth.
  Nutt.
  Gray
  Torr.
  Sweet.
CHENOPODIACEAE.
  Torr.
  Torr.
  Moq.
  Moq.
  Moq.
299
Arizona
New Mexico
Raton Mountains
Sangre de Christo
Raton Mountains
Purgatoire Valley
Kansas
Purgatoire Valley
Raton Molmtains
Purgatoire Valley
Upper Arkansas
Kansas
Valley of the Huerfano
Valley of the Pecos, New Mexico
Rio Colorado
Purgatoire Valley
Sangre de Christo
Upper Arkansas
Valley of the Huerfano
,,     Purgatoire
     I          P
,,Kansas
Kansas
Raton Mountains
Purgatoire Valley
Valley of the Huerfano
Raton Mountains
Upper Arkansas
Purgatoire Valley
Purgatoire River
New Mexico
Upper Arkansas
Purgatoire Valley
Upper Arkansas
,,
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
             AMARANTHACE.E.
    Acanthochyton Wrightii
19 Froelichia Floridana
17 Polygonum amphibium
20 Eriogonum Jamesii
    E. racemosum
22 E. tenellum
21 E. lachnogynum
    E. cernuum
    E. effusum
    Acanthogonum rigidum
18 Rumex venosus
Comandra pallida
Euphorbia dentata
E. marginata
E. lata
Aphora humilis
     Juglans rupestris
187 Rhus toxicodendron
Quercus lobata
Q. Emoryi
Q. agrifolia
29 Croton muricatum
Betula alba
186  Kallstrcemia maxima
27   Salix longifolia
     Populus tremuloides
     P. angustifolia
     P. monilifera
185  Geranium Fremontii
     Ephedra antisyphilitica
     Pinus ponderosa
     P. contorta
     P. aristata
     P. edulis
     P. flexilis
     P. Coulteri
   Gray
   Moq.
   POLYGONACER.
   Linn.
   Benth.
   Nutt. (?)
   Torr.
   Torr.
   Nutt.
   Nutt.
   Torr.
   Pursh.
   SANTALACEJE.
   De C.
   EUPHORBIACE1E.
   Michx.
   Engel.
 JUGLANDACE2L.
 Engel.
 ANACARDIACEME.
 Linn.
 CUPULIFERAE.
 Nees.
 Torr.
 Nees.
 SPARSIFLORXE.
 Nutt.
 BETULACEME.
 Spach.
ZYGOPHYLLACEA).
  Torr.
  SALICACE-E.
  Muhl.
  Michx.
  Torr.
  Ait.
  GERANIACEXE.
  Pursh.
  CONIFER2E.
  Berland.
  Dougl.
  Dougl.
  Engel.
  Engel.
  James
  Dougl.
Rio Grande
Raton Mountains
Raton Mountains
New Mexico
Valley of the Huerfano
New Mexico
Valley of the Huerfano
Colorado Desert
New Mexico
Kansas
Upper Arkansas
Purgatoire Valley
Kansas
Arizona
New Mexico
Western New Mexico
Arizona
California
Raton Mountains
Sangre de Christo
New Mexico'
Upper Arkansas
Sangre de Christo
Valley of the Huerfano
Western valleys
New Mexico
New Mexico to Arizona
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific
Sangre de Christo
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo
Sierra Nevada
300
25
24
23
BOTANICAL REPORT.
    Abies Engelmanni
    A. Menziesii
    A. Douglasii
    A. grandis
    Juniperus occidentalis
    J. pachyphloea
28  J. Virginiana
    Goodyera Menziesii
    Corallorhiza multiflora
30 Sagittaria variabilis
Agave Americana
33  Calochortus venustus
    Lloydia serotina
    Yucca angustifolia
    Yucca            (?)
    Dasylirion graminifoliumn
31 Allium cernuum
32 A. striatum
Juncus Balticus
J. longistylis
J. nodosus
J. Mertensianus
J. tenuis
188 Oxalis violacea
Scirpus pungens
Fimbristylis spadicea
Cyperus inflexus
    Panicum virgatum
    P. obtusumn
    Eriocoma cuspidata
37 Aristida purpurea
    A. Californica
    Agrostis scabra
    Sporabolus ramosissimus
    Vilfa tricholepis
    Muhlenbergia gracilis
38 M. gracillima
    Vaseya comata
    Pappyphorum boreale
    Pleuraphis Jamesii
39 Bouteloua oligostachya
    B. eriopoda
    B. polystachya
42 B. curtipendula
CONIFERM (continued).
    Parry.
    Dongl.
    Hook.
    Dougl.
    Hook.
    Torr.
    Linn.
    ORCHItDACEE.
Lindl.
Nutt.
  ALISMACE ~.
  Engel.
AMARYLLIDACEX.
  Linn.
  LILIACE-E.
  Benth.
  Reich.
  Pursh.
  Tucc.
  Roth.
  Jacq.
  JUNCACF1.
  Willd.
  Torr.
  Linn.
  Bong.
  Willd.
  OXALIDACEAE.
  Linn.
  CYPERACEA.
  Vahl.
  Vahl.
  Muhl.
  GRAMINEX.
  Linn.
  H. B. K.
  Nutt.
  Nutt.
  Willd.
  Kth.
  Torr.
  Torr.
  Torr.
  Thurb.
  Ledb.
  Torr.
  Torr.
  Torr.
  Torr.
  Gray (Chloris)
Sangre de Christo
Arizona and New Mexico
Arizona
Raton Mountains
Greenhorn Mountains
New Mexico
Arizona
Valley of the Huerfano
Sierra Blanca
Kansas
Arizona and Colorado Desert
Arizona
Raton Mountains
Sangre de Christo
Valley of the Huerfano
Kansas
Kansas
Smoky Hill, Kansas
Valley of the Huerfano
Upper Arkansas
Upper Arkansas
Valley of the Huerfano
Kansas
New Mexico
Upper Arkansas
New Mexico
Sangre de Christo
Musca Pass
New Mexico
Upper Arkansas
Kansas to Arizona
New Mexico and Arizona
Arizona
Kansas
301
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
40 Buchloe dactyloides
44 Bryzopyrum strictum
    Munroa squarrosa
    Tricuspis acuminata
    T. speciosa
41 Lepturus paniculatus
    Tristeum subspicatum
    Danthonia sericea
    D. spicata
    Festuca ovina
    Poa Andina
    Koeleria cristata
43 Andropogon furcatus
    Pellmea atropurpurea
    P. longimucronata
    Cheilanthes lanuginosa
    C. Fendleri
    Notholana dealbata
    N. Fendleri
    Woodsia Oregana
GRAMINEX (continued'.
    Engel.
    Torr.
    Munroe
    Nutt.
    Beauv.
    Nutt.
    Beauv.
    Linn.
    Nutt.
    Pers.
    Muhl.
      FILICES.
   Link.
   Hook.
   Nutt.
   Hook.
   Kunze.
   Kunze.
   Eaton.
Kansas
New Mexico
Kansas
New Mexico
Upper Arkansas
Sangre de Christo
New Mexico
Arizona
,7
Valley of the HIuerfano
Prescott, Arizona
Kansas
Valley of the Huerfano
New Mexico
302
                       APPENDIX B.
                               ROUTES.
   TABLES OF DISTANCES AND ELEVATIONS EAST OF THE
                             RIO GRANDE.
     No. 1.-FROM THE END OF THE TRACK IN KANSAS TO THE
                   ARKANSAS RIVER AT FORT LYON.
 Elevations                                       Local    From     From
above Tidter.-         Distances                 Distances. Sheridan. Kansas City.
  Feet.                                           Miles.  Miles.   Miles.
  2,957  Sheridan, Kansas..........................      405
  3,056   To Fort Wallace......................    12      12      417
  3,126     Pond Creek.........................   3       15      420
            Cheyenne Wells, Colorado............  40       55      460
            Denver Junction....................    10      65      470
  4,192     Big Sandy..........................    5       70      475
            Colton's Spring...................... 15       85      490
  3,725     Fort Lyon, Colorado................   35      120      525
                    No. 2.-RATON MOUNTAIN LINE.
              Distances from
Fort Lyon, Colorado....................
To Mouth of Chequaco...............
   Cimarron Pass (Point of Raton Mountain)
   Cimarron River.....................
   Capulline Summit...................
   Vermejo.........................
   Red River Crossing (45 from Cap. Smt.)
   Fort Union Dep6t (Krcenig's)........
   Divide between Canadian and Pecos....
   Las Vegas..........................
   Priest's Gap.......................
   Chupaynas Summit...............
   Tecalot6 Crossing.................
   Pecos River (Biyendante)...........
   Capot6 Pass........................
   Cafion Blanco Summit................
   L agunas............................
   Zuii Timber.......................
   M onte Largo........................
   Aguaji Colorado....................
   T ejeras............................
   Rio Grande at Albuquerque..........
   Rio Grande at Pajarida............
   Rio Grande at Isletta..............
  Local   From     From
Distances. Sheridan. Kansas City.
Miles.  Miles.     Miles.
..    120      525
   50     170      575
   40     210      615
   13     223      628
   6      229      634
   45     274      679
   54     328      733
   15     343      748
   7      350      755
   4      354      759
   1~     356      761
   91     365      770
   11     376      781
   13     389      794
   17     406      811
   5      411      816
   8      419      824
   17     436      841
   7      443      848
   6      449      854
 (17      466      871
   17     466      871
   18     466      871
REMARKS.-Summit of Trinchera Pass from Fort Lyon...............................  111i  miles.
            ",,,     Elevation............................... 6,973 feet.
          Foot of Flagstaffat Fort Union, Elevation........................... 6,613 feet.
          Fort Craig, from Pajarida.......................................            103  miles.
                  E levation.............................................................  4,361  feet.
Elevations
above Tide  water.
  Feet.
  3,725
  4,266
  6,166
  7,030
  5,634
  6,718
  6,233
  6,156
  6,264
  5,406
  6,917
  4,833
  4,803
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA,
       No. 3.-GALISTEO ROUTE.
Elevations
above Tide-          Distances from
  water.
  Feet.
  6,917  Cafion Blanco Summit.............
         To head of South Fork of Galistoo....
            Forks of Galisteo...............
            Santa F6 Dep6t..................
            Anthracite Coal Mine (Placier Mtn.)
  5,042     San Felipe.....................
           Distances by " San Miguel Cut off."
         To Tecalot6 Intersection............
            B ernal..........................
            Pecos Crossing (1 mile above San
              M iguel)......................
            Summit of Spanish Range (2 miles
              west of Pigeon's Ranche)......
            Galisteo Town..................
            Forks of Galisteo...............
            San Felipe..................
Local  From
Dis-   Sheritances. dan.
Miles. Miles.
       406
   4    410
   21   431
   5    436
   4    440
   23   463
4
8
28
15
3
32
365
369
377
405
420
423
455
   From      From
Kansas City, Kansas City,
vid Raton mr. via Cimarron.
   Miles.    Miles.
   811        739
   815        743
   836        764
   841        769
   845        773
   868        796
770
774
782
810
825
828
860
698
702
710
738
753
756
788
No. 4.-CIMARRON ROUTE.
Elevations
above Tide  water.
  Feet
  1,466
  6,233
  5,406
  6,917
  5,042
  4,803
Distances from
Fort H arker..........................
To Fort Zarah (Arkansas River)......
  Fort Larned.......................
  Fort Dodge.................
  Upper Cimarron Crossi*ng of the Arkansas
  Sand  Creek........................
  Lower Crossing of the Cimarron......
  East Side of Eight-Mile Ridge........
  Middle Cimarron Spring..............
  Head of Twelve-Mile Valley..........
  Crossing of the Cimarron............
  Upper Cimarron Spring..............
  Cold Spring.......................
  Cedar Spring.......................
  Sim's Spring.......................
  Rabbit-Ear Creek....................
  W hetstone Creek....................
  Rock  Creek.........................
  Point of Rocks.....................
  R ed River.........................
  Fort Union Dep6t (Krcenig's)........
  Las Vegas..........................
  Pecos River above Anton Chico........
  Cafion Blanco Summit................
  Rio Grande at San Felipe............
              at Isletta................
  Local   From      From
Distances. IHarker.    Kansas City.
Miles.   Miles.
41
35
51
24
60
14
12
18
12
15
  8
  7
  14
  14
  23
  13
  11
  14
  26
  31
  22
  26
  30
S60
41
76
127
151
211
225
237
255
267
282
290
297
311
325
348
361
372
386
412
443
465
491
521
578
581
Miles.
218
259
294
345
369
429
443
455
473
485
500
508
515
529
543
566
579
590
604
630
661
683
709
739
796
799
304
I
305
        APPENDIX.
No. 5.-HUERFANO ROUTE.
Elevations above
   the sea.
   Feet.
   3,725
   3,892
   4,063
   6,287
   9,186
   7,783
   7,301
   5,042
   4,868
   4,833
   4,803
                                           Local      From
              Distances from              Distances. Kansas City.
                                           Miles.    Miles.
Fort Lyoni, Colorado....................  120        525
To Bent's Fort........................     18        543
   Huerfano Junction..................     50        593
   Union Cross Roads..................     50        643
   Sangre de Christo Summit............    35        678
   Fort Garland........................    25        703
   Rio Grande at Toas Cafion............   33        736
   San Felipe..........................   113        849
   Albuquerque........................     30        879
   Pajarida............................     6        885
   Isletta..............................    6        891
REMARKS.-H-osca Pass, Elevation............................ 9,577 feet.
,,    distance from Fort Lyon............... 158 miles.
No. 6.-PUNTIA PASS ROUTE.
Elevations.               Dist
  Feet.
  3,725     Fort Lyon, Colorad
  3,892     To Bent's Fort...
               Fort Reynolds.
               Pueblo........
               Cafion City.....
               MicCandless Parn
               Pleasant Valley.
  6,500        Forks of the Ark
               Point of leaving
  8,600*       Summit of Punti
               Sahwatch (East)
               Conejos.......
               Juan.........
  5,042        San Felipe.....
  4,868.      Albuquerque...
  4,833        Pajarida.......
  4,803        Isletta.........
ances from
S....................
..n..................
.....................
.....................
.....................
....................
.....................
ansas................
ditto................
a Pass..............
....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
  Local     From
Distances. Kansas City.
Miles.      Miles.
             525
   18        543
   54        597
   17        614
   41        655
   10        665
   20        685
   20        705
   10        715
   15        730
   20        750
   40        790
   83        873
   30        903
   30        933
   6         939
   6         945
" Barometer measurement.
VOL. II.
X
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
TABLES OF DISTANCES AND ELEVATIONS FROM THE RIO
    GRANDE TO THE RIO COLORADO, vid 35TH PARALLEL.
 No. 1.-PRINCIPAL LINE (viad NAVAJO PASS, WHIPPLE PASS,
            PARTRIDGE CREEK, AND YAMPA SUMMIT).
Elevations.
  Feet.
  4,803
  5,276
  5,031
  5,310
  5,535
  5,633
  5,711
  5,870
  6,185
  6,375
  6,557
  7,177
  6,649
  6,220
  5,855
  5,626
  5,512
  4,998
  4,765
  5,294
  6,358
  7,101
  7,196
  7,510
  7,558
  7,199
  7,206
  5,512
  5,285
  5,088
  4,648
  5,127
  5,241
  3,783
  3,170
  3,473
  1,286
  353
   From Isletta, 12 miles south of Albuquerque.
Isletta to  Puerco Summit.....................
  Mouth of El Rito.................
  Sheep Springs.....................
  E l  R ito...........................
  Laguna Intersection...............
  Laguna...........................
  Cuvero............................
  Remances (Ricket Post)..............
  Fort W ingate......................
  Aguo Azul..........................
  Navajo Pass (Summit of Sierra Madre)..
  Carizo Springs......................
  Old Fort Fauntleroy (New Fort Wingate)
  Zufii and Fort Defiance Road...........
  Caiion of Navajo Creek.............
  Navajo Springs......................
  Signal H ill.........................
  Little Colorado (mouth of Navajo Creek)
  Sunset Crossing..................
  Cafion Diablo.......................
  Cotton-wood Cafion..................
  Padre Cafion........................
  San Francisco Ridge................
  Leroux Spring.....................
  Tonto Pass (Leroux Summit, near Mount
    Agassiz).........................
  Bald Peak (unnecessary summit)......
  Park Spring.......................
  Whipple's Pass..................
  Forks of Partridge Creek...............
  Russel's Tank......................
  Mouth of Partridge Creek Valley......
  Crossing of Val de Chino..............
  Beale's  Pass........................
  Yampa Gap (entrance to Yampa Cafion)
  Truxton's Spring....................
  Peacock Spring.....................
  Wallapi Pass (Railroad Pass)..........
  M ojave Gap.......................
  Colorado River (near the Needles, 25
    miles below Fort Mojave)..........
  Local
Distances.
Miles.
   14
   13
   13
   8
   4
   4
   8
   14
   10
   12
   22
   6
   10
   18
   30
   14
   5
   35
   35
   28
   11
   10
   13
   2
   3
   9
   6
   5
   32
   6
   20
   11
   17
   22
   27
   20
   14
   27
   22
From
Isletta.
Miles.
  14
  27
  40
  48
  52
  56
  64
  78
  88
  100
  122
  128
  138
  156
  186
  200
  205
  240
  275
  303
  314
  324
  337
  339
  342
  351
  357
  362
  394
  400
  420
  431
  448
  470
  497
  517
  531
  558
  580
306
307
     APPENDIX.
No. 2.-LAGUNA LINE.
Dis
tances from San Felipe, on Rio Grande, 30 miles
        north of Albuquerque.
San Felipe (Rio Grande) to  M outh of Jemez....................
  Mouth of Salt Creek.................
  Rio Puerco Summit..................
  Rio Puerco.........................
  San Antonio Summit................
  Ojo de Chamisa...................
  Laguna Intersection.................
  Local     From
Distances. San Felipe.
Miles.
  7
  21
  11
  14
  10
  7
  8
Miles.
  7
  28
  39
  53
  63
  70
  78
                      No. 3.-WHITE MESA LINE.
Elevations above             Distances from                Local      From
  Tide-water.                                            Distances. Park Springs.
    Feet.                                                  Miles.     Miles.
    7,199      Park Spring (357 miles from Isletta) to    6,102 }      Junction with Park Creek Line........      15         15
    5,579        Cedar Creek Cafion (Crossing)........     10         25
    5,498        Point of White Mesa................       23         48
    5,677        Point of Blue Mesa..................      11         59
    5,908        Summit between Val de Chino and Cata                   ract Creek........................      10         69
   6,166         Yampa Gap-Summit.................          7         76
   5,178         Crossing of Aubrey Valley............     10         86
   5,369         Junction with Principal Line near Yampa
                   Gap...............................        9         95
                        No. 4.-LAJA GAP LINE.*
Elevations above             Distances from                Local      From
  Tide-water.                                            Distances. Park Springs.
    Feet.                                                  Miles.     Miles.
    7,199      Park Spring (357 miles from Isletta) to                 Laja Gap (Summit)...................      44         44
                 Val de Chino........................       9         53
    6,166        Mesa Gap..........................         8         61
    5,369        Yampa Junction....................        19         80
                                * Estimated.
x2
Elevations above
  Tide-water.
    Feet.
    5,042
    5,633
Dis1
Vincert+ Brooks Day &- Soalith
LA TENAJA (WATER BASINS IN THE ROCK.)
;::LiS:"
c ~;':-4P::sW:-P5
       ~x ~-: dB~: i~'-::-1 ""
:i a
'itp.;;
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
                    No. 5.-COSNINO CAVES LINE.
Elevations above                                         Local   1  From
  Tide-water.              isances om setta.            Distances. Isletta.
    Feet.                                                Miles.     Miles.
    4,765     To Sunset Crossing.......................           275
    4,580        Mouth of Cafion Diablo..............    33        308
    6,090        Cosnino Caves......................     26        334
    6,428       Junction with Padre Cafion Line......     6        340
Being 13 miles longer than from Sunset Crossing to same Junction by Cafion Line.
                       No. 6.-AZTEC PASS LINE.
Elevations above
  Elevations above        Distances from Isletta.
  Tide-water.
    Feet.
    7,199     To Park Spring.......................
    6,132        Junction of Park Creek with White
                   M esa Line.......................
    5,810        In Dry Cafion......................
    5,731        In bed of Cedar Creek................
    6,033        Summit bet. Cedar and Partridge Creeks
    5,521        Junction of Park Creek with Whipple
                   Pass Line.......................
              To same point vid Whipple Pass Line....
5,315
5,285
5,088
4,653
4,649
5,139
5,609
6,117
5,170
4,980
5,052
5,076
4,972
4,892
4,783
To Pearl Spring.......................
   Russel's Tank......................
   Mouth of Partridge Valley............
   Junction with Yampa Line............
   Crossing of Val de Chino............
   Turkey Creek......................
   Connection of Miller and Schuyler....
   Summit of Aztec Pass................
   Anvil Rock.......................
   Cafion.........................
   South of Cross Mountain..............
   Divide between Cafion Creek and Fort
     Rock Spring.....................
   North of Fort Rock Spring..........
   Divide between White Cliff and Cafion
     C reek............................
   E nd of  Line........................
  Local     From
Distances.  Isletta.
Miles.      Miles.
            3.57
15
5
5
5
37 2
377
382
387
6         393
  10      393o0
  6       399
  1       400
20        420
8         428
2         430
12        442
6         448
9         457
13        470
8         478
3         481
4         485
3         488
5         493
2         495
                                  No. 7.
                                                                      Miles.
From the Rio Grande to the Rio Colorado by White Mesa Line............ 563
,,      by Laja Gap Line..............  548
,,,,,,  by route N. of Mount Taylor and
                                         Partridge Creek Line........ 558
,,,,,,      North of Mount Taylor and Laja
                                         Gap Line..................  526
308
APPENDIX.
TABLES OF DISTANCES AND ELEVATIONS WEST OF THE
                         COLORADO RIVER.
No. 1.-ROUTE FROM THE NEEDLES (COLORADO RIVER) TO SAN
                   FRANCISCO (vid BENITO PASS).
Elevations above
    Tide.
    Feet.
    1,159
    2,579
    675
    530*
    1,000
    1,200
    1,700t
    2,100lt
    1,900t
    2,375
    2,388
    3,080
    4,008
    2,020
    795
    700t
    700t
    2,100t
Distances from
To Sacramento Springs..................
   Piute Pass (Summit)................
   Chemeuvis Pass......................
   Sink of Perry Basin..................
   Crater Station......................
   Volcanic Point.....................
   Squaw Summit......................
   Crater Pass (Summit)................
   M alpais Sink.......................
   M ojave River.......................
   D esert  Lake........................
   Eastern foot of Sierra Nevada........
   Tehachapa Pass....................
   Bird Point..........................
   Tulare Plain.......................
   Buena V ista........................
   P olvero........................
   Summit of Coast Range (San Benito Pass)
   Gilroy..............................
   San Jos6...........................
   San Francisco......................
  Local
Distances.
Miles.
   22
   18
   26
   14
   20
   10
   15
   10
   25
   30
   35
   15
   20
   15
   35
   75
   15
   85
   30
   50
From the
Colorado.
Miles.
   22
   40
   76
   "90
   110
   120
   135
   145
   170
   200
   235
   250
   270
   285
   320
   395
   410
   495
   525
   575
"* Line does not descend to level of sink.
t Estimated.
No. 2.-THE CHALAIMA ROUTE.
              Distances from
Summit of Tehachapa Pass..............
To Bird's Point........................
   Western foot of Sierra Nevada........
   Buena V ista........................
   Chalama Pass (Summit of Coast lange)
   Forks of Estrella....................
   Mouth of Estrella.....................
   San Benito Branch (Head of Salinas
   V alley)..........................
   N atividad..........................
   Head of Pajaro Valley................
   G ilroy..............................
   San Jos6............................
   San Francisco......................
  Local     From
Distances.   Colorado Riv.
Miles.
20
15
35
47
15
18
30
58
12
13
30
50
M les.
250
270
285
320
367
382
400
430
488
500
513
543
593
* Estimated.
Elevations above
    Tide.
    Feet.
    4,008
    2,020
    795
    700*
1,500 to 2,000
Railway
completed
in 1868.
{
309
310              NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
                    No. 3.-PANOCHE GRANDE ROUTE.
  Elevations above                                        Local      From
      Tide.                   Distances from             Distances. Colorado Riv.
      Feet.                                               Miles.     Miles.
      4,008     Tehachapa Summit......................        250
      2,020     To Bird Point..........................   20        270
      795         Western foot of Sierra Nevada........    15       285
      700*        Point of Buena Vista Lake............    26        311
                  North Point of Tulare Lake..........    66        377
                  Posey China Creek..................     22        399
                  Panoche Grande Creek................    23        422
     2,200        Panoche Grande Pass (Summit of Coast
                    Range)..........................     22        444
                  Polvadero..........................     19        463
                  Gilroy..............................   27        490
                  San Jos6............................    30        520
   Tide-water.    San Francisco......................     50        570
                                 * Estimated.
            No. 4.-TULARE VALLEY ROUTE * (EAST SIDE).
Elevations above            Distances from              Local      From
    Tide.                                              Distances. Colorado Riv.
    Feet.                                               Miles.    Miles.
    4,008     Tehachapa Summit.......................       250
    795       To west foot of Sierra Nevada............ 35        285
                Kern River........................      7        292
                Posey Creek........................      9        301
                W hite River.......................    24        325
                Deer Creek................................  15     340
                Tule River.......................        5        345
                Outside Creek.....................      20        365
                Deep Creek........................      4        369
                Packwood Creek....................       3        372
                Visalia............................      2        374
      22        Stockton..........................    180        554
 Tide-water.    San Francisco......................     79        633
 PACHECO PASS ROUTE AND EAST SIDE OF TULARE VALLEY.*
             Visalia..............................        374
             To King's River.......................    23        397
                Fresno..............................     38        435
                San Luis Ranche (eastern foot of Pacheco
                  Pass).............................    62        497
                Summit of Pacheco Pass..............     5        502
                Hollenback's (western foot of Pacheco
                  Pass)............................      8        510
                Gilroy.............................     20        530
                San Francisco......................     80        610
  * The line would be shorter, more cheaply constructed, and less liable to interruption
from floods on west side of Tulare Valley, but would not develop local resources as well
-the west side being dry and unattractive to settlement.
311
        APPENDIX.
No. 5.-SAN DIEGO BRANCH.
Distances from
Elevations above
    Tide.
    Feet.
    675
    530
    600*
    1,140*
    1,500*
    2,000*
    1,500*
    2,327*
    1,677*
    1,201*
    1,101
    2,808
 Tide-water.
Distance from Colorado River to San Bernardino, 213 miles;
above tide. (Valley of Santa Anna.)
  Local     From
Distances. Colorado Riv.
  Miles.    Miles.
              76
   12         88
   8          96
   6         102
   4         106
   1         107
   6         113
   10        123
Chemehuevis Pass, Cal. (Junction of San
     Francisco Line).................
To Crater (Sink of Perry Basin)..........
   Mouth of San Diego Pass............
   Porphyry Butte.....................
   Lucky Gap..........................
   Quartz Point........................
   Summit of Bullion Range (San Diego
     Pass)............................
   Morongo Basin.....................
   (Morongo Sink, estimated elevation 1,300
     to 1,500 feet)
   Antelope Ridge.....................
   Bunch Grass Mountain..............
   Morongo Pass (Summit)..............
   Head of Morongo Cafion..............
   Foot of Morongo Cafion (Coahuilla Valley)
   Mouth of San Gorgonia Pass..........
   San Gorgonia Pass (Summit)..........
   San Diego (distance, estimated on straight
   line, is 80 miles)..................
  131
  135
  145
  148
  155
  165
  187
  287
1,118 feet
* Estimated.
   8
   4
   10
   3
   7
   10
   22
 100
elevation,
General lable oj Distances between New York, San Francisco, and San Diego, by Kansas Pacfie Railway and 35th Parallel.
RoUTE.
FROM
           1. Vid              Kansas City....
                              o S. Louis.
Raton Mountain, Tejers Cailon, St.Louis..
  and Partridge Creek.         Chicago............
                              S New York.........
          2. Vid              Kansas City......
Raton Mountain, TejerasCaion,  St.Louis.........
  Isletta, and Mesa Gap.       Chicao............
                             3.  New York.........
          3. Vid              Kansas City......
Raton Mountain, San Felipe,
  San Mateo, and Mesa Gap.
4. Vid
Puntia Pass, Isletta, and Mesa
  Gaup.
          5. Vid
Puntia Pass, San Felipe, San
  Mateo, and Mesa Gap.
          6. Vid
Aubrey Route, San Felipe, San
Mateo, and Mesa Gap.
          7. Vid
Cimarron, San   Felipe, San
  Mateo, and Mesa Gap.      I
St Louis.........
Chicago............
New York.........
Kansas City......
St. Louis.........
Chicago...........
New York.........
Kansas City......
St. Louis.........
Chicago..........
New  York.........
Kansas City......
St. Louis.........
Chicago............
New York.........
Kan-as City......
't. Louis..
Chicago..........
New York.........
          45      60      781     811       871      99     1,451
          275 680 905   1,056   1086      146,268    76
  488     893   1,118   1,269   1299      1,359     1,481   1.9390
         00                        s 0 0 -           0   E-1                   E,                                  0.1 W,.                                         Isletta.
Mites.  Miles.  Miles.  Miles.  Miles.    Miles.    Miles.  Miles.
          405     630     781     811       871      993    1,419
  275     680     905   1,056   1,086     1,146     1,268   1,7694
  488     893   1,118   1,269   1,299     1,359     1,481   1.9079
1,318   1,723   1,948   2,099   2,129     2,189     2,311   2,779
                                         Isletta.
          405     630     781     811       871      993    1,419
  275     680     905   1,056   1,086     1,146     1,26843 1,6694
  488     893   1,118   1,269   1,299     1,356     1,481   1,907
1,318   1,723   1,948   2,099   2,129     2,189     2,311   2,7127
                                         Isletta.
...............      945      1,067   1.493
...............     1,220     1,342   1,768
                                          1,433     1,555   1,981
                                          2,263     2,385   2,811
                                       San Felipe.
... 405 630......      903      1.003   1,429
 275     680     905......     1,178     1,278   1,704
 488     893    1,118 j.....      1,391     1,491   1.917
1,3i8   1,723   1,948......     2,221     2,321   2,747
                                       San Felipe.
.........     746     776       833       933    1,359
...                    1,021   1,051     1,108     1,208   1,634
                        1,234   1,264     1,321     1,421   1,847
                        2,064   2,094     2.151     2,251   2,677
                                       San Felipe.
......709 739    796       896    1,322
                         984    1,014     1,071     1.171   1,597
                         1,197  1,227     1,282     1,384   1,810
                         2,027  2,057     2,114    2,214   2,640
E. EsMiles. Miles.
1.701   1,946
1,976   2,221
2,169   2,434
3,019   3,264
1,669   1,914
1,944   2,189
2,157   2,402
2,987   3,232
1,644   1,889
1,919   2,164
2,132   2,377
2,962   3,207
1.743   1,988
2,018   2,263
2,231   2,476
3,061   3,306
1,679   1,924
1,954   2,199
2,167   2,412
2.997   3,242
1,609   1,854
1,874   2,129
2,097   2,342
2,927   3,172
1,572   1,817
1,847   2,092
2.060   2,305
2,890   3,135
   d
Miles. Miles.
2,026   1,738
2,301   2,013
2,514   2,226
3,344   3,056
1.994   1,706
2,269   1,981
2,482   2,194
;3,312  3,024
1.969   1,681
2,244   1,956
2.457   2,169
3,287   2,999
2,068   1,780
2,343   2,055
2,556   2,268
3,386   3,098
2,004   1,716
2,279   1,c91
2,492   2,204
3,322   3,034
1,934   1,646
2,209   1,921
2,422   2,134
3,252   2,964
1,897   1,609
2,172   1,884
2,385   2,09,)
3,215   2,927
x
H
F-3
C-)
z
z
0
H
IAPPENDIX.
TABLES OF DISTANCES THROUGH SONORA AND CHIHUAHUA.
                               No. 1.
From Camp Grant to Tucson (west of Sierra Santa Catarina)......
54 miles.
                              No. 2.
           From            Miles.
Sacaton
To Oneida Station......  11-10 Wood, water, and grass.
  Blue Water..............     970   No wood; sometimes water, grass.
  Pecacho (point of mountain) 39"10   Wood, water, and grass.
Tucson.................... 15-00   Water, wood; no grass.
                           74-90
313
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
No. 3.-DISTANCES FROM TUCSON TO THE PORT OF LIBERTAD (GULF
  OF CALIFORNIA) vid ARIVACA, Z'AZABE, AND ALTAR. MEASURED BY
  MAJOR D. FERGUSSON, U.S.
From            Miles.  Total
                       Miles.
  Tucson toMission of San Xavier del Bac
El Rancho Viejo..........
Punto del Agua............
Sahuarito, or Columbus....
Roade's Ranche............
Los Taraises..............
Reventon, or Kitchen'sRanche
Sopori Rancho............
Mina Colorada............
Arivaca..................
Los Alamos, or Old Arivaca..
Covodepe Cuesta..........
Spring in the bed of Arroyo
Z'Azabe..................
Charco de los Mesquites....
Tecalote Trail............
Charco....................
Rancheria................
Forks of Road............
Forks of Road............
Ascent to Mesa............
Tinaja, or Charco..........
Los Paredones............
Jesus Maria..............
Altar....................
Dry Arroyo..............
Road to Zepedas Ranche....
Foot of Hill............
Summit of Hill............
Pitiquito..................
Cienega and Caborca Road..
Laguna Mosca..........
Bajia de Aquituna..........
El Zanjon (dry arroyo)....
Tinaje del Viejo..
Angostura Pass..........
Picu.....................
Pozo de las Cristolas........
Charco de los Papagos......
Tinaja del Tule...........
Derisadero Prieto..........
Point where Gulf is first seen
Port of Libertad..........
8-89
1"71
  ".79
  8-38
  8-56
  2"82
  2-98
  5-70
11-36
7*76
  "-50
  6-13
  5.39
  8-62
  6-42
  "-08
  4"58
  2'27
  "*50
  ".35
'95
  6-39
15"01
14-73
8"58
4-05
6-20
2"23
  "*36
  1-16
  7-59
  5"00
  6"58
  2"97
  7.39
  7-17
11"14
  ".57
  1"00
  4*12
  4-50
  "*83
21"93
10'60
11-39
19"77
28'33
31-15
34"13
39-83
51"19
58"95
59.45
65-58
70-97
79-59
86-01
86"09
90"67
92"93
93-43
93-78
94-73
101'12
116'13
130-86
139-44
143'49
149'69
151"92
152-28
153"44
161"03
166-03
172"61
175'58
182-97
190-14
201-28
201"85
202'85
206'97
211'47
212"30
225-23
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
Good road;
No water.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood, water, and grass.
wood; water scarce.
wood, water, and grass.
Water, wood, and grass.
Good grass.
Water, wood, and grass.
Good road; wood, water, and grass.
Good road; water, wood; grass scarce.
Good road; grass scarce; wood, water.
Good road.
Good road.
Good hard road.
Good hard road; wood, water, grass.
Good hard road.
(Good hard road; no water in dry
Sseason; good grass.
Good level road; wood and grass;
   no water.
Good road; wood and grass.
"Water.
Good hard road; wood, water, grass.
Good hard road; wood, water, grass.
Very little water or grass.
Good hard road; wood; no grass.
Wood, water; no grass; road bad.
314
APPENDIX.
No. 4.-DISTANCES FROM TUCSON TO GUAYMAS, vid TUBAC AND
                           HERMOSILLO.
           From            Miles. Total
                                 Miles.
  Tucson toSan Xavier del Bac........  9     9   Wood, water, and grass.
Agua de la Canoa.......... 25    34   Wood, water, and grass.
Ford of Santa Cruz River.. 12    46   Wood, water, and grass.
Tubac....................   21   481  Wood, water, and grass.
Rancho de las Calabasas..  13    61~  Wood, water, and grass.
Agua Zarca..............   23T   843  Wood, water, and grass.
Cibuta.................... 111   96   Wood, water, and grass.
La Casita................   31   991  Wood, water, and grass.
Los Alisos Rancho........... 3  103   Wood, water, and grass.
Imures................... 111  1141  Wood, water, and grass.
San Ignacio.............. 6.    121   Wood, water, and grass.
La Magdalena............    5   126   Wood, water, and grass.
Santa Anna..............   12   138   Wood, water, and grass.
Barajita.................. 13   151   Bad water, wood, and grass.
Rancho Querobabi........   12   163   Wood and grass; water in tanks.
Rancho de Tabique........  36   199   Wood and grass; water in tanks.
Hacienda de la Labor...... 28   227   Wood, water, and grass.
Hacienda de Alamita......   8   235   Wood, water, and grass.
Hermosillo................ 13  248   Wood, water, and grass.
Rancho de la Poza........  16   264   Wood, water, and grass.
Rancho de la Palma........ 16a  2801  Wood, water, and grass.
Rancho del Posito.......... 8   2881  Water often scarce.
Rancho de la Cunequita...  15   304.  Good water, &c.
Rancho de la Moche Buena..  194  323A  Water sometimes scarce.
Rancho del Caballo........  9   332A  Wood, water, and grass.
Guaymas.............       10   343
No. 5.-DISTANCES FROM SAN XAVIER DEL BAC TO FRANKLIN
                         (RIO GRANDE).
                 From
  San Xavier del Bac toCienega de los Pimas.....................
San Pedro River..........................
Quercus Cafion...........................
Playa de los Pimas (Croton Spring)..........
Fort Bow ie..............................
Cienega del Sauz..........................
Ojo de la  Vaca...........................
Rio M iem bres............................
Cooke's Spring..........................
La M esilla...............................
Fort Fillmore..........................
Franklin.................................
Miles.
24'
23"52
630*76
30.
25"30
54"05
17"
17"60
53-11
2"50
40"
Total Miles.
47-52
53"52
84-28
114-28
139-58
193"63
210-63
228-23
281-34
283"84
323-84
315
316              NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
   No. 6.-DISTANCES FROM FORT YUMA TO ALTAR, ACROSS THE
                           SONORA DESERT.
From
  Fort Yuma toLeave Rio Gila......
Las Cuevitas........
Las Tinajas Altas....
El Corral..........
El Tule............
La Salada..........
Agua Dulce........
Quitob:iquita........
Santo Domingo......
Rancho de Sonoyta..
Pozo del Macias
Rancho del Sofii
Lis Caborquefias....
Rancho del Bamori..
Las Tinajitas........
A ltar..............
Miles.
2"63
26'45
16-49
15'33
115
44"89
289
6'54
5 70
7'73
47"15
870O
22'69
15 83
6 73
465
Total Miles.
   29'08
   45.57
   60.90
   62.05
   106 94
   109-83
   116.37
   122.07
   129 80
   176.95
   185.65
   208.34
   224.17
   23090
   235.55
No. 7.-DISTANCES FROM ALTAR (SONORA) TO
EL PASO (NEW MEXICO),
vid COCOSPERA, GUADALUPE CANON, AND JANOS.
                  From
  Altar toCharco de San  Raphael...................
Rancho del Ocuca.........................
Santa A nna..............................
Im ures..................................
Rancho de Babasaqui......................
Cocospera................................
San Lazaro...............................
Santa Cruz............................
First Tributary of the Rio San Pedro........
Second Tributary of the Rio San Pedro......
Third Tributary of the Rio San Pedro........
Fourth TriLutary of the Rio San Pedro......
Fifth Tributary of the Rio San Pedro........
Sixth Tributary of the Rio San Pedro........
Ash Creek.............................
San Bernardino...........................
Entrance of Guadalupe Cafion..............
Spring in  Cafion.........................
San Lino Spring..........................
San Francisco Spring......................
Pelatado.................................
Jan os....................................
Corralitas..............................
M ines of San  Pedro.......................
Santa Maria............................
Salado..................................
Salamurca.............................
E l P aso..................................
Miles.
8'
18-4
21-38
23"68
5.
1581
17"28
7"18
13"50
161"97
0"50
3.
9"81
22"32
3016
9-27
12-73
11-70
16-10
27-13
10"50
20"26
19.
27"18
27'
36"31
2502
Total Miles.
26-4
47-78
71-46
76 46
92'27
109"55
116"73
130-23
146'23
148"20
148"70
151"70
161-51
183 83
21399
22326
235.99
247 69
263"79
290 92
301"42
321"68
340"68
367 86
394 86
431'17
456'19
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
................. I....
......................
APPENDIX.
No. 8.-DISTANCES FROM ALTAR, vid OQUITOA, EL ATIL, TUBATAMA,
  AND ZARIC, IN SONORA, MEXICO, TO TUCSON, ARIZONA. MEASURED
  BY MAJOR DAVID FERGUSSON, FIRST CAVALRY, CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS.
          From             Miles. Total
                                  Miles.
  Altar toO u4A.                                   f Good hard smooth road; grass scarce;
Gonzales'...ill............
Gonzales' Mill............  1-23
El Rancho Realito........
E l A til..................
Santa Teresa..............
First Crossing of River....
River Bottom..............
La Puenta..............
Tubatama...............
Ford of River............
Moreno's Mill............
Zigzags..................
Descent into Valley........
El Ranchito..............
Top of Hill...............
Top of Hill near Estancio..
El Estancio (Rancho)......
Van Alstine's Ranche......
Forks of Road...........
Babocomari Hill..........
B:ibocomari Ranche........
Cafion de Quimori........
Saric, or Zaric............
Las Galeritas.............
Rancho de B usani..........
Forks of Road............
Charco de los Fusones......
Agua Escondida..........
La Tinaja.a................
Las Tres Bellotas..........
Arivaca and Tubatama Trail
Foot of Hill..............
First BeLch of Hill........
Sum m it..................
Foot of H ill..............
Arivaca Trail.............
Las Jarretillas............
Angle in Road............
Mouth of Cafion.........
Mina de Logavina........
Las Fraguits...........
Hill above Arivaca Valley..
Arivaca..................
Tucson..................
8-48
4-13
  "-61
'85
  "*91
  1"56
  "-30
  "-46
  "-52
  1"46
  "*85
  1"11
  1-97
  "*48
  1-14
  3 05
  1"87
  1"27
  358
  "54
  3"46
  1"79
  3"16
  8-00
  1"32
  2 91
  4 90
  1.09
  1-33
  "-30
  1"61
  "57
  1-03
  1"21
  "*80
  ".70
  "-48
  "-30
  ".747
  2-03
58"95
       *  water
  7-43 ( Good h
          scarce
  9'37 Good har(
  17"85 Itard road
  21'98 Good road
  22"59 Good har
  23"44 Sandy roa
  24"35
  25"91 Fair road.
  26-21
  26"67
  27'19
  28'65
  2950
  30"61
  31"68
  3216 (Rocky
          abund
 33'30 Wood, wa
 36 35
 38"22
 39 49
 43"07
 43'61  Good har(
 47'07 Rough ro
 48"86  Good hart
 5202
 60"02 Hard leve
 61"34  Good leve
 64'25 Fine level
 69"15
 70"24
 71'57 Road good
 71 87 Steep hill
 79'48
 8005
 81"11
 82"32 Water in
 83"12
 83-82  Grass, wo
 84-30  Fair road
 84"60 Road rocd
 85-34
 87-37  Good roa
146"32  Good road
and wood abundant.
ard smooth road; grass
; water abundant.
I smooth road.
i; some grass, wood, water.
1; grass, wood, and water.
d road.
d.
road; water and grass
ant.
Lter, and grass abundant.
d road; good grass, water.
ad; wood and water.
d road; wood, water, grass.
1 road; grass, wood, water.
1 road; wood, water, grass.
Sroad; water, wood, grass.
Sand hard; grass and wood.
; fine grazing.
spring; fine grass, wood.
od; road tortuous and stony.
ry and winding; no water.
I; fine grass, wood, water.
i.
317
1. A
318             NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
No. 9.-ROUTES PRACTICABLE FOR A RAILWAY TO GUAYMAS, WITH
    COMPUTED DISTANCES FROM RAILROAD PASS AND SACATON.
                                                                  Miles.
  1st. From Railroad Pass, vid Rio San Pedro, Cocospera, Imures, Hermosillo.. 428
  2nd. From Railroad Pass, vid Cienega do los Pimas, Rio Santa Cruz, Tubac,
           Imures, and Hermosillo......................................  418
  3rd. From Railroad Pass, vid Cienega de los Pimas, Arivaca, Z'Azabe Valley,
           Altar, Hermosillo.......................................     429
  4th. From Sacaton (Rio Gila), rid Cababi Mines, Fresnal, Altar, Hermosillo.. 394
  No. 10.--TOTAL DISTANCE FROM NEW YORK TO SAN DIEGO AND
                              GUAYMAS.
    By 32nd parallel to Guaymas--
                                                           Miles.
       New York to Kansas City.............................. 1,318
       Kansas City to Rio Grande (between Albuquerque and Isletta)  799
       To Fort Craig.......................................      102
       Railroad Pass...........................................   204
       San Pedro Crossing....................................      46
       Tubac.................................................      58
       Calabasas.............................................      13
       Los Nagdales.............................    8
       Im ures.................................................     49
       La Magdalena.......................................         11
       Hermosillo.............................................    110
       Guaymas..............................................    86
                       Total................................. 2,804
                                                               Miles.
    By 35th parallel from New York to San Diego...................... 2,927
    By 32nd parallel from New York to San Diego (by Warner's Pass).... 2,96
No. 11.-DISTANCES FROM      JANOS    (CHIHUAHUA) TO     OJO DE   VACA
  (NEW  MEXICO). FURNISHED BY MR. CHANDLER, OF THE M1EXICAN BOUNDARY
  COMMISSION.
                      From                      Miles.   Total Miles.
       Janos to     Las Lagunitas...........................         8"-7
     Palos Blancos............................ 13'8        22i 5
     Espia..................................... 14-1       36"6
     Desechado................................ 18"8        55-4
     Carrizzalillo............................... 19'3     74-7
     M ountain Point.......................... 22"6        97"3
     Ojo de Vaca............................... 20"       117-3
APPENDIX.
No. 12.-DISTANCES FROM MESILLA, NEW MEXICO, TO THE CITY OF
  CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO, i EL PASO. MEASURED BY MLAJOR DAVID
  FERGUSSON, FIRST CAVALRY, CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS.
From
MIiles.
Total
Miles.
  Mesilla toFort Fillmore............
Texas Boundary Line......
Hart's M ill..............
Franklin.................
Puerto de los Indios........
La Ciga..................
Point of Low Sierra........
Samalaguea..............
Top of low Hill............
Sand Hills................
End of Meadow............
Dry Camp...............
El Lucero................
6"65
17-00
19'53
1-20
9.79
11"84
6"52
9"00
3-22
1-05
3-71
1"58
29-06
La Laguna................  5"88
Carrisal..................
Ojo Caliente..............
Arroyo del Carmen........
Dry Camp................
Gallego..................
Dry Camp................
Forks of Encenillas........
Arroyo del Sauz..........
Pinolito..................
El Sauz..................
Sacramento..............
El Salitre..............
Chihuahua................
15"04
11-52
1-43
22"58
19"58
11"42
7.33
24'53
3-34
6-14
13-87
8-87
8'23
23"65
43-18
44'38
54'17
66-01
72'53
81"53
84'75
85-80
89"51
91-09
120-15
126003
141'07
152"59
154"02
176"60
196"18
207 60
214'93
239 46
242"80
248"94
262-81
271'68
279"91
Fair road.
Fair road; wood, water, and grass.
Fair road.
Wood, water, and grass procurable.
Good hard road; water and wood.
Good hard road; thin grass.
Good hard road; grama grass.
Goodroad, good grass, wood; no water.
Grass en route.
Fair road.
Road sandy; wood and grass.
Road sandy and heavy; no water;
   grass and wood.
Road sandy; wood, water, and grass
   abundant.
 Good road; grass and wood; warm
   sulphur water.
Road level; grass, wood, and water.
Road level; good grass, wood, water.
Good road.
Good road through grass valley.
Good hard road; no water; good
   grass and wood.
Fine hard road; wood and grass.
Fine hard road; grass.
Good level road; fine grass, water,
   and wood.
Good level road; grass and water.
Good level road; grass and water.
Good level road; grass abundant;
  Swood.
Fine hard level road; grass scarce.
Fine hard smooth road.
_ I
319
                    APPENDIX C.
                        PHOTOGRAPHY.
As by far the greater proportion of travellers who start on their journeys
through remote regions with the necessary chemicals and apparatus for taking
photographic views do not succeed unless they have previously become
thoroughly acquainted with the art, I will here give the formulpe which were
written out for me by my friend Mr. Browne, and which did me good service
all through my trip. I am sure they will be found most useful to those who
desire to take views of what they see, and are, like myself, unacquainted with
photography.
                              THE GLASS.
  Take off the sharp edges by rubbing them against each other. Clean with
water and wipe dry, then rub with alcohol and flannel, and polish with a silk
duster. Brush off the dust'with a camel's-hair brush.
                           THE COLLODION.
        Iodide of ammonia...............................     5 grains.
        Bromide of cadmium, or magnesium.................. 22,,
        Alcohol............................................  1  ounce.
        Ether...............................................,,
  Pary's gun-cotton, 7i grains to the ounce of mixture.
                           1N. GATIVE BATH.
        Fused nitrate of silver............................... 45 grains.
        W ater.............................................   1 ounce.
  Add 5 grains of iodide of silver, or let a coated plate remain in the bath overnight; make it very slightly acid with pure nitric acid. Filter.
                              DEVELOPER.
        Protosulphate of iron............................... 20 grains.
        Acetic acid, No. 8.................................  2 drachms.
        W ater................................................  I  ounce.
  In warm weather add equal parts of cold water, to reduce the strength of the
iron, and then filter.
APPENDIX.
  After developing with iron, should the negative not be strong enough to
print, wash well, and pour over it the following solution of citrate of silver:        Citric acid.................................... 30 grains.
        Nitrate of silver...................................... 20,,
        W ater..............................................  1  ounce.
  Divide the water into equal parts; to one portion add the citric acid, and the
nitrate of silver to the other; when dissolved, pour the solutions together.
Filter and use.
  To strengthen a negative, pour from the stock bottle about half an ounce
of citrate of silver into a small bottle, flow it over the plate, drain (the solution
may be used several times), and redevelop with iron developer; in warm
weather diluting the strength of iron to 10 grains to the ounce. Keep the
developer moving over the plate, watching carefully so that no fogging takes
place. Of course this must be done in the dark room. By this treatment the
negative will quickly be made strong enough to print without losing the middle
tints. Wash well and fix.
                          FIXING SOLUTION.
  Hyposulphate of 8oda, saturated solution.
                        PRINTING       PROCESS.
                           SILVER SOLUTION.
        Nitrate of silver................................... 80 grains.
        W ater............................................ I ounce.
  Add ammonia carefully, until there is a heavy precipitate of oxide of silver,
then clear up with nitrate of ammonia, and add half an ounce of alcohol to the
pint of bath. Filter and use. Do not let the silver fall below 60 grains to the
ounce; test with a standard solution of salt, as the hydrometer will not give
the correct amount of silver. This bath will keep perfectly clear. I have had
the same solution in use over two years, of course strengthening it frequently,
never adding silver alone, but using a larger amount of silver, say 100 or 200
grains to the ounce of water, also increasing the proportion of ammonia and
alcohol. This is done to prevent a large bulk of solution.
  Other baths were found to work as well as'his formula, but each had a
tendency to become clouded.
  The great recommendation of this process for amateurs is, that the bath
may be put aside for one month or twenty; at either time it will be found
perfectly clear and ready for use, only requiring filtering as a matter of
prudence, there being a very slight deposit in the bottom of the bottle after
standing.
  Float the papers from one to three minutes; it will answer for either plain
or albumen papers. Dry perfectly, and expose to the fumes of ammonia for
ten minutes.
                                 TONING.
  For the last five years I have entirely given up the use of chloride of gold
in a crystallised form, using instead an acid solution of gold, prepared in the
following manner:-Having obtained a solution of metallic gold, of a known
321
VOL. II.
Y
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
amount, in aqua regia, evaporate in a sand-bath until the solution appears
like syrup, then dilute with water, in the proportion of 1 grain of gold to
the drachm of water; filter, and it will be ready for use. No change or
precipitation of gold can take place, so that the bottle is always in good order.
                            TONING BATH.
        Warm water......................................  8 ounces.
        Chloride of gold...................................  2 drachms.
  Neutralise carefully with ammonia. Do not get an excess, or the prints will
be liable to blister, then add 30 grains of salt.
  Wash the prints well before toning, then place them in a dish of warm
water, putting half-a-dozen at a time into the toning bath. Almost any colour
desired may be obtained.
  Of all the many toning processes given to the public-some very complicated
ones among them-none, I think I am correct in saying, gives more certain or
better results than the old alkaline bath. Some very strong prints are possibly
improved by the addition of a small quantity of nitrate of uranium. This
chemical is, however, tricky and unreliable. Wash for half an hour, and fix.
                           FIXING SOLUTION.
       Hyposulphate of soda............................... 1 ounce.
       Water............................................ 6 ounces.
  When the hyposulphate is dissolved, add to it three or four drops of ether;
wash thoroughly. If possible, use warm water in the.last washing.
  The climate in which I worked was usually so dry that I had to use my
collodion much diluted with ether; and so alkaline was the water in many
places, that the thin film became, when washed, even thinner; and the negative,
although it was usually full of detail, was not strong enough for ordinary
printing; and what I gained by strengthening, I lost again by rewashing with
the bad water. Such negatives should be kept as they are, and never destroyed,
for they are the very best from which to take sunlight enlargements afterwards.
  When my bromide of cadmium failed, I replaced it with iodide of potassium,
and obtained quite as good results with landscapes, with the advantage of
having a more permanent collodion. The softest pictures were, however, from
the bromide of magnesium collodion, although this will not keep more than a
fortnight. I found the first hour after sunrise and the last before sunset to be
the best for taking views, as the air was calm and clear, and the temperature
low.
                                 THE END.
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Our poor horses were quite worn out, for they had travelled
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drea(dfully romndal)out; and the sufferings of the emigrants,
   * Tho Santa Pita C'opper Mine are forty-one miloe from Fort Cummings. r.ii
(Wijo ('alilent and Fort Bayard. ninety-five from Fort Craig direct, and 110
imiiles from Mfesilla.
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GOLD DISCOVERIES.
from want of water and the loss of their stock, might well
form a subject for one of Mayne Reid's novels. This passing
to and fro of a mining population naturally led to the reopening of the Santa Rita mines, situated as they are close
to the line of travel. Much valuable machinery was put up
here at an ilmmense expense, together with the most improved method for obtaining the blast.     All around the
neighbouring mountain sides other rich discoveries were
made. In 1861, the Hanover Mines, six miles to the north,
were discovered, and fiurnaces were there erected. The ore
occurs ramify'ing through decomposing felspar, sometimes
from 50 to 60 feet thick, and gave on analysis 72-64 of
oxide, or 58 per cenit. of metallic copper. A little to the
south-west, the San Jose mines were also discovered, and,
in the same ye,ar, the gold mines of Pinos Altos. The region
in which all these mines lie is more than 6,000 feet above
the sea level. I will give the discovery of the latter place,
and the desolation which fldlowed, in the words of General
(arlton, who visited it before we arrived in the district.
   "In May, 1860, a Colonel Snively and a party of Californian miners camine to this region, and discovered gold near
the present site of tihe town of Pinos Altos, in what is known
as Rich Gulch. In June of that year people commenced
coming to work in' placers.'   In  )ecember, 1860, there
were, say, 1,500 here from (hihualhua, Sonora, Texas, and
from California. They at the same time'averaged to the
hand' some ten or fifteen dollars per day. Other gulches
were discovered during the fall and summer of 1860. In
December, 1860), the first quartz mine was discovered by
Mr. Thomas Mastin with a party of prospectors. This vein
is called the Pacific; it runs through the hill, or mountain
21
NEW TRACKS IN NORTII AMERICA.
rather, which constitutes the divide of the continent, and has
bceen worked on each slope of that mountain.
   " In the spring of 1861 this mine was b,ought by Mr. Virgil
Mlastin, a brother of the discoverer, and it was successfully
workcd d(iuring the rest o,f the year.  During 1861 the
Apache Indians mad(e formidable raids on the stock of the
miners, and nearly strippe)(d them of the means to prosecute
thflir labours. A severe b)attle was fought between the
miners and a band of this tribe, under Mangas Coloradas
and Cacheos.   The Indians numllbered ablout five hundred
warriors, and came directly into the town now known as
P'inos Altos, whiich the minlers had establlished at a p1oint
central to the scene of their lahbuirs. This was on the 27th
,of September, 1861.   Thomas Mlastin, who commlande(l a
c,,1ompany of voluniteers, was killed in this fight. The Indians
were (driven off, bult the impression they( had made on the
minds of the inmiialitants of the town was so great as to
frighten most of the latter away. iThie 1Ireaking out also of
the rebelli,on h1ad the effe('t of' inducing many to leave. A
few only lield on, and( amongst them was Mr. Virgil MAlastin,
who foresaw the futuire development of the great wealth of
this re-gion.
   "\~ t mu11 h was d(O(me in discove,rig or in testing the
merits of,new veins flromlli 18s1 to 1864, whlen still another
at tellmpt was 1made to w%ork tihe Pacific Mine, and a few other
miimes wili.ch Mr1. Virgil 1astin ha,l in the meantime disCONlvered.''These latter l,des are known as the Atlantic,
Adriatic, and liear (Creek. The work commenced(l on these
was prosecuited bulit a short time, when the Apaches again
came and stripped the minmers of twheir stock. This caused(l
anothe0 r vsuSls'nsimn of labour until 1866, when Mr. Virgil
Mastin and others organised a company under the name of
INDIAN DEPREDATIONS.
'The Pinos Altos 3Mining Company,' under charter granted
by the Legislature of New    Mexico.   This company has
three lodes, viz., the Pacific, Atlantic, and Bear Creek,
and it now has a steam mill in the town o(f Pinos Altos
(June, 1 S8(7) which drives three batteries of' five stamps
each. When all three batteries are kept at wo-rk night and
day, they crush twenty tons of,ore in twentvy-fitr hours.
The average yield of ore extracted fr~m the Pacific Mine is
from eighty to one hundred and fifty dollars per ton. O)re
can be selected from the lode, which will yield one thousand dollars per ton. There are now within a radius of six
miles from the centre of the town of lPin(ls Altos over six
hundred lodes of gold and silver, as I have be,en inf,rmned by
good authority.
  " The population in October, 1 8S(;, at the time of renewing
operations by the Pinos Altos Mining Company, did not
exceed sixty miners. They now numbered from eight lhundred
to one thousand, and have erected, and are now lIildinmg, som0
vetalewelling-h, and om ry comfortale dlwelling-hiouses, ad Soe vr co('ncmodiills
stores at Pinos Altos. It is my opinion that befire six
years shall have passed away there will 1e a town at o,r
near this place larger than D)enver, for it may be doubted
if there is on the known surface of the earth an equal
numbl)er of sq(uare miles on   which   may be fuind so
many rich and extensive veins, both of the nsefiul and
the precious metals, as at and near Pinos Altos, New
Mexico."'
  The history of the Pinos Altos miners is the history (,f
all the others in the neighl)ourhood. In 182 an act     f
treachery was committed by the troops which brought the
   * "New MIexico " (a pamphlet), by Charles P. Clever, D vcl-gate from New
MAexico, Isb$.
23
NEW TRACKS LN NORTH AIMERICA.
Indian hostilities to a climax. 31angas Coloradas, who was
the greatest chief in the whole country, was induced to enter
a military post, now abolished-Fort M'Lane, twenty miles
west of the Rio 3iiembres-on the plea of making a treaty
and receiving presents. The soldiers, however, imprisoned
him in a hut, and the sentry shot him at night, on the excuse
that he feared lie wouhl escape. This act roused the whole
Apache tri,be to, vengeance.   The Iiembres Aplaches, the
espIecial band of the massacred chief, spread themselves fhr
and near all over the countiry, and every white man they could
find was doomnid to fall by1 their silent arrows.
   Cooke's Ca('oin, then traversed almost daily, was one of
their f'avcurite spots, and it is said that as many as four
hundred emligrants, soldiers and Mexicans, have lost their
lives in that short filur-mile gorge.  I have conversed with a
settler who has coumnted nine skeletons while passing through
the cafroln, aild the graves and hieaps of stones which now
fringe the road will long bear record of those dreadflful times.
The breaking out of' thl civil war caused the withdrawal of
many tro(ops who garrisoned the collections of' mud huts,
dignified by the niame of forts, which were scattered up and
down the country; so that the miners were left at the mercy
of the red men; travel was completely stopped; the bright
spark of enterprise which had just burst into flame was, for
the second timie since( the discovery of the country, actually
snuffiMd out; the mines and machiniiery were abandoned; the
villages left in ruins; and thus the land relapsed once more
into its original s(litulde.
  Again the wave is turning in favour of the white man and
settl'Icment. Fort ('ummings, a c('harming little fort enclosed in
a square palisade, now pro'te(ts C('ooke's Canion. Fort Bayard,
situated almost equidistant between Pinos Altos, Santa Rita,
24
RIO MIEMBRES.
and the Hanover Mines, is well garrisoned, and many other
posts have been either reopened or newly established. The
Apaches have learnt in most places that resistance is hopeless; and while constant warfare ever tends to lessen their
numbers, they cease to increase in anything like the same
proportion; gaine becomes scarcer and scarcer; and as they
do not cultivate the soil, they now confine themselves to
" running off " stock, and to murdering any white man who,
unprepared or alone, may fAll into their power.
   Having surveyed Palmer's Pass, the whole party moved
forward across the plain drained by the Rio Miembres,
towards tlhe ext great obstacle which barred our westward
progress-the Burro Mountains. As the general direction of
Pl'aImer's Pass is not west, but very nearly north-west, we
camlle )upon the plain on the western side of' the mountains,
so,me sixteen miles north of the western end of' Cooke's
Carion.
  After three and a half miles travel, a cafiada, or little
valley covered with dry grass, took us, in four and a half
miles more, straight down to the banks of the river, the
descent in the nine miles being 573 feet. This bright and
sparkling strieam, filled with trout and beautifully shaded
with cotton-woods and sycamore trees, appeared to our eyes
perfiection, for clear liquid water rippling over a peblble
bed is a very rare sight in these regions. Yet, as I rode
through the little stream, about up to my horse's knees,
and disturl,ed thie wild ducks and wid(geon which were here
very abundant, I could not help smiling as I thought of the
bubble c~ompany by which some " smart " Western speculators
had nlade this spot memorable. These men thought they
would found a city here. They bought the land-I do not
know whether they ever saw it or not-and forthwith issued
25
TNEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
circulars soliciting investments in town   lots upon   this
magnificent site. Drawings were made of the noble city, in
which might be seen, besides the endless rows of lofty buildings, shady avenues, and the broad matjestic river, (locks, and
a steamboat. These last items were unfortunate, for, in the
first place, the Great Rio Miembres has got a very capricious
habit of disappearing and reappearing, one might say at
pleasure; and in the second, even if it were to flow uninterruptedly for many miles below the' city," it would only be
found to empty itself in a small lake, the Laguna de Guzman in Chihuahua, which has no communication with the
sea.
  Six miles below our camp on the stream is a little Mexican
settlement of some three hundred people. This had been
abandoned for years on account of the Indians, but in 1865 it
was again reinhabited. It is the only "city " as yet to be
found on the Rio Miembres. Much fine bottom-land skirts
the stream from the village to its source, hardly any of which
is cultivated. Many curious natural ruins are to be foiund near
the western bank. There are the valley of rocks, the city of
rocks, &c., in which huge masses of sandstone form pillars,
chimneys, altars, giant mushrooms, and temples which would
compare not unfavourably with Stonehenge, had they not been
geological curiosities only. I enjoyed a fiew hours' photographing amongst these grotesque f',rms, for they made
splendid subjects for the camera.
  Six miles bevond the river is a fine hot spring, Ojo
Caliente, the second met with on our route.       It issues
from a mound which rises some 50 feet abol,ve the level plain;
it is some 12 feet deep, and about the siinm in diameter, and
looks very like the crater of an extinct volcano, although the
mound may have been formed by the incrustations of lime
"26
S}TH~J4[II OI' MDOU0j O KoID aHi4
ippi''Uoj ha~q001 oj ou.i...1.;
i;- *
                   i~-'~"":'PR
 i-:7t  i
                 b':~.:"::::: X2
  -..:;-,,,,,,;.,
                   ii.
         jl;c i,
OJO CALIENTE.
deposited for ages from the water. Carbonic acid gas bubbles
up continually from the bottom, and the more the bubbles the
hotter the water becomes. The temperature, when I visited
it, was 1270 Fahr. Nitrate of silver produced no precipitate;
evaporation, no perceptible residue; and as the water is tasteless and gives no odour of sulphur, I conclude that it is of
unusual purity, though not medicinal in any way. I kept an
egg in the crater all night, but it was still uncooked in the
                          Ojo Caliente.
morning; the spring is, however, a little too hot for bathing,
and would scald any one unfortunate enough to slip into it.
Some future hog-raiser will doubtless find it useful. Three
hot and smoking streams trickle down from          the mound
through gaps in its side, one of which is conducted into a
bath-house, composed of seven rooms.         This hydropathic
establishment belongs to Mr. Virgil Mastin, father of the
27
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
chief proprietor in the Pinos Altos Mines. He lives here
with his wife and daughter, and has made his house celebrated
for its well-filled table and delicious dairy produce. I almost
blush with shame when I think of the amount of true animal
enjoyment which half-a-dozen " square meals" gave me at Ojo
Caliente. My readers, however, who have travelled long in
the wilds, and lived month after month on anything that
would satisfy the desire for food, will, I am sure, forgive this
gluttony.
  The garden, irrigated from the hot spring, supplied the
table with fresh vegetables, amongst which tomatoes and the
delicate Gumbo pod (for our hosts were Southerners, and had
brought it from the land of cotton) were most worthy of
notice. The butter was faultless, and told as much for the
richness of its pasturage as for the skill of the fair daughter of
our host. A housekeeper, either in London or New York,
would decidedly object to the price-two dollars a pound.
The neighbours at Fort Cummings (thirty miles) and at Mesilla
(seventy-five miles) were, however, very willing to give it.
Mr. Mastin is waiting patiently for the development of the
country, when he feels no doubt that he will become a rich
man. He has several springs on his property, besides Ojo
Caliente, around which he can irrigate a good deal of very
productive soil. The grazing is unlimited, and, curious to
relate, the Indians have not as yet " run off" any of his stock.
   Colton here rejoined our party, and found in my tent a
hearty welcome and a vacant space. He had gone from Fort
Craig down to La Mesilla to procure guides, during which
trip he traversed the " Jornada del Muerto," or journey of
death, as the road across the arid plain which lies at the
back of the Sierra del Caballo is called by the Mexicans.
In a distance of eighty miles permanent water is only once
28
JORNADAS.
found. Jornadas, or long stretches of country without water,
form the greatest difficulty, next to the Indians, which beset
the path of the traveller and emigrant, and they become more
and more frequent until California is reached. Year after
year, however, these jornadas are cut down in length by the
discovery of springs or better-watered routes, or by digging
out and enlarging transient water-holes, so that a sufficient
supply can be retained in them, after the rains, to last during
the intervening droughts.
  Two guides had been engaged by Colton; both were
Americans-one for each party. We could not hope for a better
one than Juan Arrolles, who was still with us; but Colton
having heard that a prospector, named Simpson, had passed
through the largest and most difficult gorge on our proposed line
of survey-the Aravaypa Cafion-thought himself fortunate
in being able to engage him, for very few had ever entered
that defile. It was considered as dangerous as it was known
to be difficult, and even the most experienced of Western
travellers laughed at the idea of our attempting to force our
way through it, or survey it for a railroad.
29
NIEW'1-\RACKS IN
NORITI AMERICA.
      V%" I..  If.
                       CHAPTER      III.
THE BURRO MOUNTAINS, THE MADRE PLATEAU, FORT BOWIE, AND
                   WHAT HAPPENED THERE.
Hot Spring (Lemon Spring).-Large Cactus Groves abounding in Game.    No Water.-We discover Water at the foot of the Burro Mountains.    Deceptive appearance of this Range when seen from a distance.-Grand
    View from the Summit.--Examination of a Pass through the Range.    It proves unfit for a Railroad.-Abandon the Line.-Soldier's Farewell.
    -The Madre Plateau.-Barney Station.-The Water-hole and those who
    drink at it.-The Mirage.-Fresh Arrivals.--Mr. Runk's Party.-Result
    of Survey from Fort Craig to Barney Station.--Stean's Pass (Peloncello
    Range).-A Moonlight March.--Fifty-seven Miles without Water.    Cienega de San Simon.-How the Mails are carried through a Hostile
    Indian Country.-The Chiricahui Mountains.--Cachees and his War    riors.-Apache Pass.-Fort Bowie.-The Surprise.-The Pursuit.--Com    rades missing.-The Search.--Another March by Moonlight.-The Grave    yard amongst the Mountains.
                        Distance, 108 miles.
ON Friday, October 25th, we left Ojo Caliente, and came,
in less than three miles, to a very fine spring, which bubbled
up vigorously from the ground in a little basin surrounded by
lofty cotton-wood trees. The water, however, was hot, but
not so hot as that we had left.    Here we camped while a
reconnoissance was made in advance to discover water and to
direct the course of the survey; for we had followed neither
road nor trail since leaving the Rio Grande. In the evening
the little party returned, and reported open country ahead,
but no water, at least for twenty miles, the distance they had
been.   It was, however, determined to fill up the water-kegs,
eight in number, each holding ten gallons, and to push forward
SEARCH FOR WATER.
to some willows and cotton-wood trees about eighteen miles
distant, where we hoped by digging to find a spring.
  At sunrise next morning (Saturday) we started, traversing
a slightly undulating plain, covered, as far as the eye could
reach, with the most magnificent pasturage. For five miles,
as we followed a dry valley or trough in the plain, our route
passed through a continuous grove of cactus plants, averaging
from  10 to 20 feet in height.    Here and there a yucca
plant, or " Spanish bayonet," shot up its lofty stems amongst
the cacti, adding very much to the grotesqueness of this
curious vegetation. The cactus groves were as thickly stocked
with the Gila quail, really a species of grouse, as a moor in
Scotland with its feathered game of a similar kind. Enormous
coveys of thirty or forty brace rose up on each side as we
passed, and ran along in front of our horses.
   On reaching the willows, no amount of digging produced
a drop of water; so after trying several places, both up and
down the dry bed of a stream, we were obliged to put up
with a dry camp. The poor horses, as usual in such a plight,
looked the picture of misery after their dusty march, and
seemed to ask with their eyes, " Why are we forgotten?"
We chained up the mules with extra care, and let them kick
away to their hearts' content, and make the night hideous
with a chorus from their seventy dry throats.
  Sunday, throughout the expedition, was generally kept as
a day of rest; but this was an anxious one to us, for besides
the mules, we had forty horses and five oxen, and scarcely
water enough for cooking and drinking purposes. I joined the
water-hunters at daybreak, and, armed with spades and picks,
as well as our carbines and "six-shooters," we directed our
course towards the Burro Mountains, the next obstacle to the
westward. We had, in fact, nearly crossed the plain between
31
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
Cooke's Range and these mountains, and soon entered a ravine
leading up to them.    After ascending for seven miles, we
were gladdened by the sight of a little water trickling over
some rocks. The first glance satisfied me that all was right,
and in a few minutes holes were dug in the dry bed, which
quickly filled with good spring water.
  The water question being thus satisfactorily decided, a
messenger was sent back for the whole party, while we
continued our ride for the purpose of exploring the mountains, and of finding a caiton supposed to cut through them
near our point of junction. We had received very conflicting
reports about this range (the Burro Mountains). At a distance
of some twenty or thirty miles it does not appear an imposing
obstacle, for it seems to consist of three mountain masses,
united by two long low ridges; but on approaching these ridges
they turned out really to be only long undulations of the
plain, which hide from   view very rough and formidable
mountains behind them. Our first surprise occurred when,
on reaching the top of the ridge, we found the real mountains
still in front of us. We pressed on, however, and after a few
hours' more riding the crest of the main range was gained,
and one of the grandest panoramas I have ever seen was
disclosed to us on all sides.
   To the south lay numerous isolated ranges and peaks,
whose names we did not know, stretching far into old Mexico,
and rising out of the great Madre Plateau, which lay between
us and them like lofty rock islands from a motionless sea. To
the south-east the graceful Florida Mountains retained their
usual outline, while far beyond them the curious peaks of the
Organ Range, whose fluted basaltic columns justly suggest
the name, were distinctly visible near the horizon, although
situated east of the Rio Grande more than a hundred miles
32
VIEW FROM THE BURRO MOUNTAINS.
distant from us. Due east of us lay the range we had left,
with Cooke's Peak rising nobly from its centre, and the exit of
our pass (Palmer's Pass) distinctly visible. Still following the
circle towards the north, the confused mass of the Miembres
Mountains came into view; then those of the Santa Rita and
Pinos Altos, semi-detached portions of the same. Quite to
the north, twenty or thirty miles distant, some very high
snow-capped mountains were conspicuous, forming part of
that great system of mountains-the Mogollon Ranges, north
of the Rio Gila, the home of the blood-thirsty Apache-which
has never yet been explored.
  The summit upon which we stood was, in fact, the dividing
ridge of the North American continent; the little water-course
at our feet was the first we had reached which flowed down
the slopes leading to the Pacific; and the broad arid plains
which lay between us and our next obstacle to the westward
gave a most extensive forecast of our future course. Nearly
forty miles of almost complete desert, with little chance of a
drop of water, formed the undulating plain between us and
the Peloncello Mountains. To the south-east a secondary
range, called from its conical peaks the Pyramid Range, filled
up a part of the centre of this vast tract. Our field of vision
did not even end with the Peloncello Mountains, for Juan
Arrolles, our guide, pointed out in the dim horizon, far beyond
them, the rounded peak of Mount Graham, and the two sharp
heads of the Dos Cabezas, the most prominent landmarks in
the Pina-lefio Range, and the boundaries on each side of Railroad Pass. These ranges all lay far below us; they evidently
rose from a much lower level, and seemed to show, even to
the eye, that the ground sloped rapidly down towards the west.
So extensive a panorama as that which I have attempted,
however feebly, to describe, could never be witnessed in
  VOL. II.                   D
33
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMKERICA.
Europe, or in any country where the atmosphere is much
impregnated with moisture. For more than one hundred
miles in almost every direction, nothing seemed to limit the
extent of our vision but the incapability of our eyes to
distinguish objects which were rendered too small by their
remoteness.
  Our guide knew    the cafon we were in search of, and
brought us next day directly to it~ head. It was not by any
means a gap in the range, but only a large and well-defined
gorge on the western sides. We followed it down to the
plain. Two miles from the summit a large spring of clear
cold water flowed from beneath a perpendicular mass of rock,
and formed a stream, which we followed until the canon, cut
out by it, became so narrow and so filled up with rocks and
vegetation that we were obliged to bear away to the right,
and strike it again lower down. The stream had disappeared
in the interval, and the calion from  this point gradually
widened out, lost its fertility, and entered the plain as a dry,
open valley, trending towards the Gilas, scarcely twenty
miles distant. The length of this cafion, from its head above
the spring to its entrance as a canada or valley on the plain,
is about thirteen miles. For half its course many large and
beautiful trees adorn the path, amongst which we recognised
sycamore, a very beautiful species of evergreen oak much
resembling  holly, a black walnut (Juglans     WlTjpplean)a),
rough-barked cedar (Juniperius pachydermia), pines, pifions,
acacia, cypress, mezquit (Alyarobia glandulosa), plum, and
several species of cactus. An Indian trail led through the
entire length of the caion, including the two miles of very
narrow gorge, and also over the hill, avoiding it, which latter
route we adopted. It was evident from the recent pony
tracks that the red men still used it, and were probably
34
A NATURAL WALL OF MNARBLE.
well acquainted with all our movements. Other signs were
recognised by our guide, such as bunches of grass tied up
and made to point in particular directions, and were looked
upon as conclusive evidence of the activity and watchfulness
of our hidden, but probably ever-present, enemies. Game
was abundant: two kinds of quail, black and white-tailed
deer, bears, beavers, squirrels, and hares innumerable. Extensive fires had burnt down the bushes and laid bare large
tracts of land all along the base of the mountains.
  While taking advantage of the delay, which the difficulties of the country necessitated, to enjoy a little deerstalking and   grouse-shooting, Lieutenant  Lawson   (who
commanded our escort) and myself were attracted during our
rambles by a curious wall of rock which fringed, like a
trap-dyke, the summit of a rather lofty range of foot-hills.
On reaching the top we found that it consisted of a thick
stratum of marble, which had been tilted up vertically
to the height of from 7 to 20 feet above the ground, and
that it extended for miles both ways along the hill-tops.
This wall was beautifully variegated with white, grey, and
red marbles, and presented the finest as well as the most
singular exposure of the kind I have ever seen. In many
places through the mountains we found quartz ledges, giving
good indications of gold; and near the marble wall a vein of
galena cropped out, of considerable width. Over this vein I
shot a new and beautiful species of mountain grouse.
  Four days were occupied in trying to find a good pass
through the range, but our efforts were useless. We found,
after surveying to the summit of the ridge which skirted the
base of the mountains, that it was 1,208 feet higher than Ojo
Caliente, twenty-three miles distant, and that the average
grade for the last three miles had exceeded 160 feet per
                            D2
35
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
mile, and this, too, before the mountains themselves had been
reached. These Burro Mountains were not, as they appeared
to be, an ordinary range rising from the plain, but the crowning
ridge or summit of the great continental water-partings; and,
although they rose from a much higher base than the ranges
to the east and west of them, the slope up to their sides was
not rapid enough at first to be distinctly apparent without the
aid of our surveyors' levels. Nothing remained for us, therefore, but to abandon the line which we had been surveying,
and to pass round the southern extremity of the range, twenty
miles distant, by the great Madre Plateau, in which level
district Mr. Runk's party was then at work.
  A march of seventeen miles parallel to the mountains
brought us to Soldier's Farewell, a solitary ruin which
              was once a station on the mail route during
     Oct. 31.
              S the short time it was established along the
32nd parallel.   Two miserable water-holes are the great
sources of attraction in this place. We feared they might
be empty, as it was the end of the driest season of the year,
but a shower of rain early that morning had providentially
filled them partly up again. While we looked at the thick
green puddle, full of creeping things, slime, and all sorts of
abominations, from which we had to drink, a feeling of dread
for the future involuntarily crept over us.
   The whole country had changed, for we had at last entered
that vast plateau upon the 32nd parallel which had so
long been considered the only practicable highway for a
railway route across the continent. The Madre Plateau is a
vast plain, extending from the Rio Grande on the east for
3a  westward, and separating the Rocky Mountains from
those of Mexico. How thoroughly I pity the lover of the
beautiful in nature who is obliged to traverse this fright36
BARNEY STATION.
ful plain from El Paso on the Rio Grande to Apache Pass!
Although the mountains were still close to us, the landscape
was as dreary as could well be conceived. At the bottom of
a hollow caused by some broken ground lay the two putrid
water-holes or ponds, overlooked by the tumble-down walls of
a coralle and ranche. Before us extended an endless parchedup waste; some places were covered with poor grass, others
were perfectly bare, and as the wind swept over them, clouds
of dust were driven along or whirled up into the air like
pillars of smoke.
   From  Soldier's Farewell we marched westward to the next
water-hole, " Barney Station" (twenty-one miles), also an
uninhabited ruin like that we had left, and, if anything, more
dreary. There were no mountains near it, the land looked a
dead level on every side, and not far distant towards the
south lay what the Mexicans call a huge "' playa," or dry
lake.  Over such a tract you may travel fifty miles in a
straight line without crossing a water-course.   When it
rains the water collects in whatever part of the almost
mathematically level flat happens to be slightly depressed,
and here often covers many square miles of land to the depth
of a foot, or even less. In such places even the scanty grass
of the desert will not grow, and the whole earth becomes
covered, as soon as the rain-water has evaporated, with a
hard white shining crust, resembling cracked china, thus
forming a " playa."
  The water-hole here (Barney Station) was even more disgusting than those we had left, for it served to water, not
only the men and stock of the "bull-trains " and troops
which passed through the country, but all the wild animals
dwelling within a radius of many miles. Flocks of birds,
large and small, kept going and coming all day long. It
37
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
was a beautiful sight to see them  all swoop down together
like a sheet of feathers, flutter for an instant over the pool,
and then flit away.   At sunset might be seen at a great
distance a V-shaped figure approaching from        the clouds:
this would be a flock of ducks, geese, or teal, coming for
their evening bath. Unhappy stags and herds of antelope
would stealthily approach, and, not liking the look of the
intruders, make off again. Not so the wolves and coyotes;
these fellows seemed to suffer frightfully from      thirst, for
after we had been    camped for a few    hours they would
become so bold, or rather so eager for water, that neither
the whiz of our bullets about their ears nor the crack of our
rifles could keep them away from the pool.
   The extraordinary vividness of the " mirage " is one of
the great peculiarities of this region. We recognised it often
on the plains of Western Kansas and elsewhere, but it is not
seen to perfection until the Madre Plateau is reached.     Half
an hour after sunrise is usually the best time to watch for it;
then the distant mountains become distorted into the most
grotesque and fairy forms.  Magnified to many times their
natural size, they appear lifted into the sky, and are there
cut up, sometimes horizontally, sometimes vertically, by the
peculiar magical haze which surrounds everything.         Often
they look like terraced citadels; sometimes the phantasm
takes a pillared form, and presents to the eye ruined temples
like those of Greece or Egypt. This is not only the case with
the mountains, for at a little distance everything appears distorted; the horses are changed into giraffes, the tents become
elongated into snow-capped peaks, while the tufts of grass
and the meagre scrubby vegetation are transformed into noble
forests of gigantic trees; every little " playa" becomes a
beautiful lake, from the waters of which are seen reflected
38
UNEXPECTED ARRIVALS.
the magic transformations into which all surrounding objects
have been changed. So complete is the delusion, that I have
often remarked to a companion, as we watched the horsemen
ahead of us dashing through the midst of a phantom lake, in
which waves, shadows, spray, and sunlight were all portrayed to perfection, " How is it possible thus to disbelieve
one's senses in broad daylight?"
  Barney Station is 4,211 feet above the sea, which is about
the average height of the entire plateau. During the two
days' march from our camp at the foot of the mountains we
had descended 2,000 feet.
  The sun was setting, and I was just taking a striking
picture of desolation, or rather a photograph of Barney
Station in ruins, when two strange objects appeared in sight.
The one developed as it approached into a most dilapidated
and old-fashioned coach, the other into an equally shaky
spring-cart, and both were drawn by mules; two ladies occupied the former and half-a-dozen armed soldiers the latter
vehicle. The gentlemen of the party, four in number, rode
on each side of the coach, and completed the travelling
" outfit."
  Between the Rio Gila and the AMexican boundary, Arizona
boasts of possessing one town, Tucson, on the Santa Cruz
River, now, I believe, the capital of the territory. This was
the destination of one of the fair travellers, a very pretty girl
of sixteen, in whose veins the fiery blood of Spain had been
softened, but not obliterated, by union with that of our own;
she was returning with her father, an American, having just
completed her education at St. Louis. Her companion was
on her way to join her husband at Fort Bowie, and to share
with him the anxieties and solitude of a post which guards
the most dangerous pass in Arizona-Apache Pass.       We
39
S
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
shall presently get a glimpse of what such a life is.        It is
easy to fancy what extreme pleasure the presence of our fair
friends gave us. They were just entering the most dangerous
part of their journey, where defiles had to be passed through,
in which half-a-dozen soldiers and four civilians were a very
insufficient escort, so that we were delighted to render them
the protection which increase of numbers afforded.
   On the afternoon of November 2nd, Mr. Riunk's party came
in sight, and completed their survey up to our camp that
              evening.   Since parting from  us a month ago
     Nov. 2.
              they had met with open country, and no obstacle
but Cooke's Cahon, through which their route lay.       The
Apaches had succeeded in driving off half their oxen, but
beyond this all had gone well with them. Altogether we
mustered a large party at Barney Station, and notwithstanding the mud puddle of which we thankfully drank, and the
dreariness of the place, we managed to make ourselves exceedingly jolly. A little whiskey was discovered amongst
" somebody's luggage;" the fatted calf, our best bullock,
was killed and cooked; and many good stories and bold
adventures were told around the camp fires.
   A few figures will give the result of Mr. Runk's survey:                                                  Elevations.
                                          Miles.    Feet.,
     Fort Craig (on Rio Grande)......  3,857
     Fort Craig to Fort Cummings (foot of Cooke's
         Cailon)....... 1041.  4,094
     Summit of Cooke's Calion....  31.  4,384
     Foot of ditto.......  36.  4,046"7
     Continental divide (Madre Plateau at the foot
         of Burro Mountains)..... 360      4,452
     Barney Station...     22"0     3,502
         Total from Fort Craig to Barney Station. 168-8
After leaving the Rio Grande his party had found the country
40
STEAN'S PASS.
weird and desolate in the highest degree, and very similar to
that last described.
  Next morning, Lieutenant Lawson, commanding the escort,
started with nine of our men and some empty wagons to Fort
Bowie for rations and forage; and our new friends, with
Colton and myself, completed the party by joining him also.
  For twenty-one miles we traversed the level plateau, and
then entered the next range of mountains-the Peloncello
Range; halting a short distance within the pass leading through
it, known as Stean's Pass. At this spot was situated the only
spring to be met with on the road. It was, however, dry on
the surface, and we had not time to deepen it. A beautiful
conical mountain-Stean's Peak-forms a good landmark for
this pass and spring. From Stean's Peak to Fort Bowie, in
Apache Pass, leading through the next mountain range (the
Chiricahui), the distance is thirty-six miles, without a drop
of water, making in all a "jornada" of fifty-seven miles
without one drinking station.
  We rested until sunset at Stean's Peak, in order to avoid
the heat of the day, and then started through the grandest
part of the pass. The moon was almost at its full, the night
was perfectly calm, and a liquid softness smiled upon everything. These mountains were infested with Indians; and the
ladies were rather nervous, as now and then we passed
through a narrow gorge, or under some lofty crag. To keep
them in good heart, we sang songs and choruses, in which
they soon joined; these were re-echoed again and again from
side to side. The cavalry rode in front, and the wagons
brought up the rear. Now and again the horses' hoofs would
ring out and rattle over a bed of rocks; or the moon, obscured
behind the mountain, would suddenly throw a flood of light
over the white wagons and glistening rifles of our party.
41
42           NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
The air had become very cool and refreshing, and the scenery
for at least eight miles through the pass was so grand in its
rugged barrenness, that, seen at such a time, it left an
impression never to be forgotten.
  The accompanying engraving, drawn by R. P. Leitch, is
taken from two photographs which I made of the pass a few
days later, and is so true to nature that it brings back the
scene with wonderful vividness to my mind.
  A march of five hours, at the rate of four miles an hour,
brought us to the Cienega de San Simon, where, as the name
Cienega implies, there is at some seasons of the year a small
marsh, with a little stream running through it. We found,
as we had expected, no signs whatever of water, but plenty
of good grass; so here we made our midnight halt.
  Before daybreak next morning our fires were rekindled,
and our coffee made, for we had carried wood with us from
the pass; and before the sun had peeped over the eastern
mountains we were again on our way.
  Amongst the party was the mail contractor for this road.
Twice a week a mail carrier rides from Tucson to Fort Bowie,
106 miles; another then carries the mails on to Soldier's
Farewell, eighty-six miles; where he meets the solitary mail
carrier, who had come from  La Mesilla, 129 miles to the
eastward. The mail-bags are exchanged, and each returns
the way he came. The men who thus pass unguarded backwards and forwards through a hostile Indian country require
no small share of reckless bravery. Their pay is high, being
200 dollars in gold (or ~40 a month). The contractor told
me that a year never passed without one or more of his mailcarriers being "jumped" by the Indians, under which circumstances he always made a point of carrying the mails himself
for a fortnight at least, over the very section of road upon
STEAN'AS - Y SP I(NSIS  It.
THE CHIRICAHUI APACHES.
which his man had been killed. He had never any difficulty
afterwards in finding some one else sufficiently reckless to
risk his life for the ordinary remuneration.
  During the latter ten miles of our march most of the route
lay through thick brushwood, composed of mezquit, greasewood (Obione canescens), two kinds of aloe, yucca, a very
large species of prickly pear, and other cacti, besides many
other kinds of thorny bushes, which formed an almost impenetrable thicket, very well adapted for an ambuscade.
Here and there my companion pointed to spots where one or
other of his mail-carriers had been killed, or where he himself
had been "jumped," and related how he had escaped at this
place by the speed of his horse, or at that by good service
done by his revolver.
  Many of his anecdotes were most exciting, yet there was
no apparent tendency towards exaggeration; while, on the
other hand, he openly avowed that the more you have to do
with Indian warfare, the more you dread the Indians, and try
to keep out of their way. " Men may be very brave at first,
but the continual anxiety soon takes the dash out of themyou bet!" and this avowal came from a man of undoubted
courage.
  On reaching the mountains at the entrance of Apache Pass,
he pointed to a foot-hill on the right, and gave me a little
sketch of the Chiricahui Apaches during his residence on
the spot.
  Until the winter of 1861-62 the Apaches of that range
(Chiricahui Mountains) had not shown     any very determined hostility to the Americans, and the mail company,
for the two years during which they ran coaches along this
route, kept on good terms with them, by giving occasional
presents of blankets and food. At the breaking out of the
43
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
rebellion, however, an upstart Federal officer, named Barkett,
was sent to take charge of this part of the country, and soon
after his arrival at the entrance of Apache Pass, where he
formed his camp, some Mexicans applied to him      about a boy
of theirs, whom they suspected had been stolen by the
Apaches. Barkett summoned the chief, Cachees, and his
head men to the camp. Being on friendly terms with the
troops, the red men immediately responded to the summons.
Cachees and his six men, however, positively denied the
charge of kidnapping the boy; upon which orders for their
arrest were immediately given.      Cachees in a moment slit
open the canvas of the tent with his scalping-knife, and
escaped; his companions were all secured.       A man named
Wallace, who had long lived on the most amicable terms with
the tribe, volunteered to go alone and treat with them. He
did so, and sent back a message to Barkett that, in his
opinion, the boy had not been stolen by them, but added that
he himself was retained as a hostage in their hands. Barkett
became furious, and swore that he would hang the red men if
the boy was not returned that night; and he kept his word.
On the heights to the left, those half-dozen savages were strung
up next morning; and, shocking to relate, poor Wallace, who
had trusted so implicitly to the personal affection shown for
him by the red-skins, was immediately hanged on the summit
of the heights on the opposite side of the pass.  This tragedy
over, Cachees and his entire band fled back once again to
their mountain fastnesses, never more to come in contact with
the white man, unless in the execution of their unquenchable
revenge.
  Fort Bowie is situated about six miles up the pass. It
consists of a small collection of adobe houses, built on the
summit of a hill, which rises as a natural look-out station in
44
FORT BOWIE.
the centre of the defile, and commands the road both ways for
two or three miles of its length. The only officers at the
time of our visit were Lieutenant Carrol, Lieutenant Hubbard,
and the resident surgeon; the only troops, one small company
of forty men. The officers insisted upon Lawson, Colton,
and myself sharing their quarters; they had not had a
visitor of any kind for months, and had almost forgotten
that the world was inhabited.
  After luncheon I strolled out upon a higher hill-top to
choose a good position for taking a photograph of the fort
and pass.   The view   was a very beautiful one, for we
were hemmed in on all sides by lofty mountains, the most
conspicuous of which is Helen's Dome. Some two miles
distant in the pass, the sheep and oxen belonging to the
fort were peacefully grazing, when suddenly I perceived
a commotion amongst the garrison. All were hurrying to
the highest part and    looking  towards the cattle, from
which direction I heard a few shots fired. It appeared
on inquiry that the mail-carrier, going west to Tucson, had
only gone on his way a short distance past the cattle, just
beyond the turning in the road which hid him from the fort,
when he suddenly came upon two Indians who were stealthily
creeping up towards the stock. Shots were exchanged, and
he immediately turned back to give the alarm to the men
guarding the cattle, and to the sentinels at the fort. The
Indians showed themselves two or three times in the open,
and then disappeared. It was useless for us, with our wearied
horses, to join in the chase after a couple of naked red men, so
we remained behind.
   So poorly supplied was this little fort, if such a term may
be applied to a collection of mud huts, that two horses represented the entire stock. It was customary to keep one of
45
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
them with the herd and the other in the stable, and the
favourite chestnut of the lieutenant's, a high-mettled, splendid
creature, happened this day to be at home. It was immediately saddled. Carrol was quite young; he had only seen
eighteen summers, and looked even younger, for his hair was
very fair, and he had not the least tinge of whisker on his smooth
cheeks. I remember watching him spring with one bound
from the ground into his saddle, wave his hand merrily to us,
and then dash down the steep winding road which led from
the fort to the pass below. Again we saw him racing as fast
as the horse could gallop along the pass after the mail-carrier,
who, being previously mounted, had started off with the
infantry. I went back to my photography, for there were
many views I wished to obtain; but my friend, Lieutenant
Lawson, could not remain long inactive. HIe was a great
character. Although very short, quite grey with years, and
not in the least like a military man, he was the gamest little
fellow I ever met.   So fond of soldiering did he become
during the war, that he could not settle down again to business. Though one of the steadiest of men, and a religious
man also, a great rarity out West, he actually left his good
wife and family comfortably settled at Cincinnati, changed his
social position from wholesale hardware merchant and excolonel of volunteers to simple lieutenant in the regular army,
and started to join a Western regiment. The merest chance
of a brush with the Indians was irresistible; so he ordered
out his six men and their six jaded horses, and off they went
down the winding road, and then away out of sight along the
pass.
   As the afternoon went by, most of the infantry returned by
twos and threes, and we were just sitting down to dinner
when Lieutenant Lawson and his men rode into the fort.
46
     IL4
(9
m
1:I
I~
I,
I
TRACKING THE APACHES.
They had hunted about all over the mountains and through
the ravines, but had encountered no savages, nor even caught
a glimpse of a red-skin. Carrol, to our surprise, was not
with them.   We made inquiries, and found that all had
reported themselves except the lieutenant and the mail-carrier.
We questioned those who had gone the farthest, and a
shepherd just back from over the hills; these agreed that
they had heard the distant report of fire-arms, coming apparently from the western plain. This was the direction the
two red-skins had taken. So we saddled our horses without
a moment's delay, and, with sickening forebodings in our
hearts, started across the mountains to the western plain.
We scrambled up the base of Helen's Dome, which was so
steep as almost to baffle our horses, well trained as they were
to all sorts of bad places; then, after skirting the side for
some distance, we crossed a ravine to another mountain slope,
down which we plunged, over large blocks of limestone and
marble, leading our horses by the bridles, and clambering
through them as best we could. Every moment was precious,
for the sun had almost set before we reached the plain.
  Then we spread out in line, nine in number; for there was
no enemy in sight, and our only hope was to strike the trail;
for we knew they must have passed somewhere in this direction. Every eye was fixed on the ground, every blade of
grass was closely scanned; our souls were in our eyes. At
last one marked'"pony tracks;" then another called out,
" This way they lead;" not two, three, or four tracks, but
many; perhaps a dozen. The white men had evidently followed too far in pursuit, and falling into an ambuscade, had
been cut off from their comrades. Mlost of the hoof-prints
were naked, but two sets were shod. These were certainly
those of the missing horses. We could not hurry on very
47
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
rapidly without losing the trails, and yet there was not half
an hour's daylight. For three miles farther we pressed on,
carefully tracking our way. We passed a spot much trampled
down and blood-stained.   Here the poor fellows had made a
stand; had probably tried to cut their way back through their
enemies, who were driving them    from the fort.  A  little
further, and all hope of one life was gone. The mail-carrier
lay stretched  upon the open plain-scalped, naked, and
mutilated-in the setting sun. This poor man wore whiskers,
and the savages produced even a more startling effect than
usual by scalping one of them. Thus half of the face was
stripped of skin, and the bleeding muscles were laid bare.
  We could not stop a moment; but, dragging up two huge
magay plants to mark the spot, we followed the pony tracks.
The sun sank, and it was only by the red glare thrown up
from behind the horizon, and reflected by the bare mountains
of rock to the east of us, that we were able to track our way.
So difficult was it at last that we began to despair of ever
learning the fate of poor Carrol. We longed to see his dead
body; for the idea of his being taken alive to be tortured and
roasted over a slow fire, whilst the fiends danced round him,
and exulted over his agony, was the one dread consummation
which made our blood run cold. No one spoke, for we all
knew well that such would be his fate if that sun had not
shone upon his corpse.
  As we took a last searching look over the dimly-lighted
plain in front of us, we saw an object move slightly on the
grass. We quickly rode towards it, and in half a mile further
we found that it was the faithful dog of the lieutenant. He
was guarding the stiff and lifeless body of his master. So we
wrapped the naked body in a saddle-cloth, and tied it on a
horse.
48
BRINGING BACK THE DEAD.
  But for the moon, we should not have found the spot where
the mail-carrier lay. We placed him also on another horse,
and then turned our faces towards the pass. The wolves
were already gathering round the spot, and the night winds
were blowing up cold and chill. The night before, that same
beautiful moon which now shone peacefully down upon us,
had lighted us through the noble gorge in the Peloncello
Mountains, while we sang choruses and enjoyed the grandeur
of the scene. This night she lighted us through another
gorge, in another range of mountains-Apache Pass-but
how different were our feelings as slowly we marched in
mournful silence over the nine miles which led up to the fort!
Thus ended the 5th of November.
   Next morning we buried the poor fellows in the little
graveyard amongst the mountains.    The doctor read the
burial service, and Lieutenant Hubbard, Colton, Lawson, and
myself were the chief mourners. When the final volley had
been fired over our two poor comrades, and I turned to glance
at the tablets of their companions, I read on the wooden
crosses over every grave but one, the same sad story of their
fate               "KILLED BY THE APACHES."
When Cachees' six best warriors were wantonly hanged five
years before, that bold chieftain vowed that for every one of
his lost comrades a hundred white men should die by the
hands of himself and his band. Two more scalps were thus
added to the long strings of those which already hung from
the belts of the Chiricahui braves.
VOL. II.
49
E
CHAPTER IV.
        FROM APACHE PASS TO THE ARAVAYPA CANON.
Return to Eicholtz's Party at Stean's Pass, and all proceed thence to Railroad
   Pass in the Chiricahui lountains.--The Valle de Sauz.--A Curious
   Mirage.-The Physical Geography of our Route through Southern Arizona.
   -Railroad Pass.-Change of Escort.-Join Runk's Party and conduct
   them to Railroad Pass.-A Ride of sixty miles, and the Incidents on the
   way.-The Calada of the Aravaypa.
                     Total distance, 211 miles.
LEAVING our disconsolate friends to their solitude, we retraced
our steps with supplies to the foot of Stean's Peak, where
     Nov. 6.   we found our party encamped, and the surveyors
               at work along the pass. This pass through
the Peloncello Range, however, proving unfit for a railroad,
we did not remain to complete its survey, but started next
morning for the Chiricahui Range.         The Puerto del Dato,
or Apache Pass, was known without doubt to be impracticable; but about twenty miles north of it lay a depression
in the mountains, with so gradual an ascent and descent that
it received the name of Railroad Pass from its discoverer,
Lieutenant Parkes.
   So after a few hours' photographing in Stean's Pass, taking
a special view of " El Pecacho de Santa Lola," a lofty
peak christened by us in honour of the young lady we had
escorted to Fort Bowie-who, by-the-bye, had to cross the
fatal ground the day after the catastrophe just related, on
her way to Tucson-I proceeded with the rest towards RailA CURIOUS MIRAGE.
road Pass. Our route was a perfectly straight one; direction,
100 south of west, across the flat Valle de Sauz; the distance
from pass to pass being forty-six miles, odometer measurement. No water was to be found on the way, but we had no
difficulty in making the distance in two days with one dry
camp. As for the Rio de Sauz, I have been unable to find
it anywhere but on the map, although I have crossed the
valley five times in different places.  A river ought to flow
through a valley thirty miles wide and 120 long, but with
the exception of an occasional dry water-course of most insignificant dimensions, trending in a north-west direction towards
the Rio Gila, I could discover no evidence of one. Even when
we had reached Railroad Pass we did not find water without considerable difficulty, so that instead of camping in the
pass itself, we were obliged to follow a dry water-course for
six miles, until we reached a spring issuing from the side of
the lofty Dos Cabezas (two heads).
  Our guide, Juan Arrolles, while following up this arroyo,
was fired at by some Apaches from the summit of a hill
overlooking the spring.   Although we galloped up immediately on hearing the shots, we could not find a trace of the
savages.
   I must not forget to mention a very curious mirage which
Mr. Eicholtz and myself observed early in the morning, as
we were approaching Railroad Pass. We were watching the
gap in the mountains, for which we were making, when we
observed between it and us a perpendicular cliff, in which
the horizontal strata of the rocks were most distinctly visible.
We were greatly disappointed; Mr. Eicholtz was almost
alarmed; for if this was Railroad Pass, the easy slopes of
whose sides had been so much extolled, there must be some
mis-statement.   Looking round, however, we noticed that
                            E2
51
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
this perpendicular cliff not only extended across Railroad
Pass, but formed the base of the mountains in front of us.
We looked back, and there it was also, in exactly the same
relative position at the foot of the range we had left the day
before. Then the real nature of the illusion became manifest,
for we had not climbed down any such obstacle; had it been
a reality, we could not have overcome it without letting down
the wagons and cattle by ropes; our dreaded barrier must
therefore be a myth. And so it was, for in half an hour the
cliffs had disappeared, and behold! a sloping grass-covered
plain alone stretched out before us.
  Let us pause for a moment at Railroad Pass, so as briefly
to review the physical geography of the country over which
we have so rapidly travelled, and to take a prospective glance
at our future course.
  The most northerly pass westward out of the Rio Grande
Basin, practicable for a railroad, we found to be Palmer's
Pass, through Cooke's Range, the most southern spur of the
Miembres Mountains. Some eight miles south of Palmer's Pass,
Cooke's CaRon was found to be practicable with a tunnel;
but both passes could be avoided by going only six miles
further to the south, and passing around the end of the range
in the Madre Plateau.
  The second range of mountains encountered was the Burro
Mountains, along which runs the main divide of the continent.
We found that it was impossible to build a railroad through
these mountains, but there was no difficulty in passing south
of them in the great plateau. I have spoken of passing out
of the Rio Grande Basin, across Cooke's Range, and of crossing
the continental divide to the Pacific slope over the Burro
Mountains; I have not, however, stated where the drainage of
the intermediate district goes to. The plain between these
52
THE RANGES PASSED.
ranges, limited on the north by the Miembres Mountains,
forms part of the basin of the Laguna de Guzman, in Chihuahua, towards which, as I have before remarked, the
Rio Miembres flows. The vast plain, the continuation northwards of the Madre Plateau, lying between the Burro Mountains and the Peloncello Range, is not inaptly called the
Valle de los Playas, for playas are common all over it, while
water-courses are few. The Rio Gila, and the mountains on
the opposite side of that river, limit it on the north.
  The minor upheaval, the Pyramid Range, may be called
the third range encountered. Mr. Eicholtz's party passed
around its northern extremity; Mr. Runk found Lightendorfer's well road an easy and practicable route through it.
  Next comes the Peloncello, or fourth range. This is a fine
range, but abounding in passes.    The most northerly is
Doubtful Pass; eight miles south is Stean's Pass; twelve
miles lower, Runk's Pass; then comes the pass through which
Lightendorfer's road leads to the Cienega de Sauz; and
lastly, thirty miles still further south, Cooke's emigrant road
passes through the range. Stean's Pass Mr. Eicholtz found
impracticable, but that discovered and adopted by Mr. Runk
answered every requirement for a railroad.
  Having crossed the Valle de Sauz, however, we encounter
the first range (Range No. 5) of that extensive cordillera
which appears to stretch northward to the plateau of the
Colorado beyond the 35th parallel, and to be continuous
southward with the Sierra Madre of Mexico proper. The
general trend of the ranges forming it is, like most of those
in this part of the continent, north-west by south-east.
Exactly in front of our course westward, the cordillera consists of three parallel ranges; the Pina-lerto and the Chiricahui forming the first continuous range, the Sierra Calitro
53
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
the middle, and the Sierra de la Santa Catarina the outer or
most westerly. Between these ranges are two troughs: the
eastern trough is called the Valley of the Aravaypa, north of
Railroad Pass; south of that pass it goes by name of Sulphur
Spring Valley.   The western trough consists of the long
narrow valley of the Rio San Pedro.    Both these troughs
were explored, and as no practicable pass could be found
through the first of these ranges but Railroad Pass, and as that
one was unusually good in every respect, this entrance into
the first trough was made use of by both parties. From this
point the parties again separated, the one under Mr. Eicholtz
to follow down the first trough, through the stupendous
gorge, the Aravaypa Caflon-a narrow passage cut by nature
through the middle range-into the San Pedro valley to
Camp Grant, a point sixteen miles from the junction of that
river with the Rio Gila; the second party, under Mr. Runk,
to deflect southward from Railroad Pass, to cut through the
middle range (Sierra Calitro) by Nugent's Pass, and to follow
down the San Pedro valley to the same point-Camp Grant
-where the Aravaypa and Rio San Pedro unite.
  One may naturally ask, How does the Rio Gila, in its course
from east to west, make its way through the cordillera?
This river strikes the mountains almost at right angles, and
passes through them   in a succession of caions, three in
number, varying, as far as has yet been ascertained, from
twelve to twenty-five miles each in length.
  At Camp Grant we are still in one of the troughs (the San
Pedro valley) between the mountains; one range more still
bars the way, and there are three routes by which it is possible
to escape. The first and most northerly is by following the
Rio San Pedro down to the Rio Gila, and then passing westward along the latter stream through its last cafion, twelve
54
RAILROAD PASS.
miles long; the second is to cross the mountains by a
natural pass almost due west of Camp Grant, over which a
road leads to Sacaton, on the Gila; and the third way is to
cross by another pass seventy miles to the south, which leads
from the San Pedro crossing (a good ford about latitude
320 5'), vid Cienega de los Pimas, to Tucson.
  The ranges of the cordillera crossed, there are no more
mountains of any magnitude to be found between them and
the Sierra Nevada of California. The whole of the intervening country on this parallel is parched, worthless, and
nearly all desert.
  After this digression, let us carry our minds back again to
camp at the spring in Railroad Pass, and continue the narrative of our daily life.
   Mr. Eicholtz recommenced his survey at a fine cotton-wood
tree, a conspicuous landmark 14-33 miles east of the summit
of the pass. From   this point the twin peaks of the Dos
Cabezas appeared to great advantage. The mountain itself
forms the southern boundary of the pass, and the northern
end of the Chiricahui Range.    Opposite the Dos Cabezas,
and forming the northern boundary of the pass, is another
fine mass, named Mount Graham, which is the southern
extremity of that continuation of the range northward called
by another name, the Pina-leRlo Mountains. The length of
the pass is fourteen miles--seven up and seven down; its
width averages from eight to ten miles. It looks more like a
plain which has been slightly uplifted than a pass through a
range of mountains, covered as it is with magnificent grass,
and devoid of trees. It is grooved in its centre by a broad,
smooth, grass-covered arroyo, which commences as the dry
bed of a little stream near the summit. A wagon-trail,
known as Leache's Old Road, traverses it; but when we
55
NEW
TRACKS
     NORTH AM\ I ERICA.
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NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
passed over it, this road did not appear to have been used for
years.
  Looking westward, straight through the pass, a very
abrupt wall of mountains is seen exactly in front. This is
the first view obtained of the Sierra Calitro.
  In crossing the Peloncello Range, forty miles in our rear,
we had passed the boundary-line between New Mexico and
Arizona, and had entered the military district of California.
A messenger arrived at our camp from Fort Bowie on the
11th, with orders for Lieutenant Lawson to proceed to the
Cienega de Sauz with his detachment of cavalry, in order to
meet those escorting Mr. Runk, so that they might both be
relieved at that point by a company of Californian troops
sent there for the purpose. We were very sorry to lose
Lieutenant Lawson, whose age and experience we appreciated
so much, and whose firmness and kindness towards his men
kept those wild fellows perfectly under command. This
change of troops, however, gave me an opportunity of joining Mr. Runk's party, and of guiding them direct to the
spot where they were to unite their line with that of Mr.
Eicholtz.
  On Tuesday, the 12th, we marched to Fort Bowietwenty-four miles; and on Thursday joined Mr. Runk's party
at the Cienega. By Saturday at sunset, with great exertions
on the part of the surveyors, who were actually at work each
morning at sunrise, we completed the line to Railroad Pass,
and camped that night on the old camping-ground, which had
been vacated three days previously by Mr. Eicholtz. Many
square miles of the plain passed over were covered with
mezquit bushes, which had to be cleared away, in order to
adjust the levels, &c., thus causing considerable delay. In
many places there was an abundance of good grass, while
MR. RUNK'S SURVEY.
some parts were quite bare, and no signs of water were
anywhere to be met with.
  The result of the survey    from Barney Station was the
following:                                                  Elevation.
                                         Miles.    Feet.
     Barney Station.                              4,210
     Summit of Pyramid Range              8.... 2. 4,610-5
     Eastern foot of Runk's Pass (Peloncello Range) 12"3.  4,174
     Summit of Runk's Pass..             39.  4,166
     Eastern foot of Railroad Pass...  38"9    4,035
     Summit of ditto......  69.  4,411
        Total distance from Barney Station to
            Railroad Pass..... 702
  The object of my visit to Mr. Runk and his pleasant party
having been accomplished, I started next morning with two
              cavalry men to catch up my own party, which
    Nov. 17.
              I expected to overtake either spending the
Sunday at Kenedy's Spring, thirty miles down the Aravaypa
valley, or, if the ground proved rough, at Bear Spring, a few
miles nearer.
  As we followed the wake of the wagons, we remarked
numerous tracks, which could not have been made by any of
our party. These were the footprints of at least a dozen
pair of moccasins, besides the unshod tracks of many ponies,
and all had been made since our party had passed over the
ground.   Could a band of Apaches be closely following our
men in the rear, prepared to take advantage of the slightest
opportunity for murder or plunder? If so, how could we,
only three in number, manage to run the gauntlet? These
were our thoughts as, mile after mile, all through the day we
followed the mysterious trails. There could be no doubt of
the presence of Indians all through these mountains; for if
we had not had so melancholy a proof of that fact at Fort
57
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.'
Bowie, we had passed no less than four well-worn Indian
trails, which crossed different parts of Railroad Pass, from
one part of the range to the other. This was, in fact, the highway leading from the Sierra Blanca and other mountain fastnesses north of the Gila, to the State of Sonora, where those
sons of plunder were wont, ever since the strong military
rule of Spain had ceased, to make constant raids upon the
helpless Mexicans.
  About seven miles from the summit of Railroad Pass we
crossed a large playa, about three miles wide, and two miles
further on we passed the remains of one dry camp.         The
valley was very level, and for the most part covered with fine
grass, but not a trace of a central river-bed was to be seen.
We kept close to the base of the Calitro Range, because most
of the springs lay on that side, and by half-past five the few
cotton-wood trees which mark the situation of Bear Spring
came in sight. On arriving there, we found by the wagon
tracks that they had not halted; so on we rode without a
moment's delay, but did not reach Kenedy's Spring until the
night had overtaken us. All was silent there also. After
two hours' more riding we decided upon a halt, to rest our
horses and get a snatch of sleep. We struck a match and
examined the track.    There were the pony and moccasin
tracks as visible as ever; so, for precaution, we went a little
way off the road before we lay down to rest.
   Clouds in the meantime had covered the sky, and as
luck would have it, it actually rained. A shower had
fallen three weeks before in the Burro Mountains, but that
was all we had had for two months. Cold, hungry, and
wet, neither rest nor sleep was possible, so we soon
saddled up again, and went on our way. It was so dark
that the road made by our dozen wagons, like all other
58
A MIDNIGHT RIDE.
objects, was quite invisible, so that we were obliged
to leave it to the horses to keep the track, which they did
apparently without difficulty. Hour after hour passed away,
and on we rode in the pitch darkness. By the help of a
match we again examined the trail, and again discovered that
even since the rain had fallen, while in fact we were resting,
two pair of fresh moccasins had "made tracks" over the
road. Was it possible that we also were being followed?
  The moon rose and the clouds broke a little, so that now
and then a glimpse was gained of the world around. On each
side towered up a mountain range; between them lay the flat,
monotonous plain. At last we came to a sudden depression
or groove in the centre of the valley; the land had sunk from
beneath, and formed a second little valley at the bottom of
the first. This was the commencement of the cafiada of the
Aravaypa. We descended into it, and followed along the dry,
grass-covered bottom until the sides had assumed the magnitude of bluffs. The ground became more fertile; brushwood,
and even willows, grew in places; and soon a well-defined
water-course could be made out running along one side of us.
  Suddenly, about three    o'clock in the morning, there
appeared close before us out of the darkness a white tent and
a smouldering camp fire. Thinking that our camp had been
at last reached, I trotted briskly forward, calling out "Friend!"
so as to warn the sentinel and prevent his firing at us. But
to my surprise I found myself in the middle of a motley
group of brigand-looking fellows, who started up in the
greatest consternation, and pointed their long rifles at us.
They had sense enough, however, to see that we were not red
men, and we soon discovered them to be a band of Mexicans.
On their feet were the moccasins which had caused us so
much anxiety, and not far off stood the ponies, whose unshod
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
hoofs had completed the deception. Mutual explanations as
to who we were quickly followed. We warmed ourselves by
their camp fire, and gladly accepted from them some hot
coffee and a loaf of bread.
  The circumstances which had brought these Mexicans to
such a place as this are easily explained. They had come all
the way from   Toas, east of the Rio Grande, a party of
twenty, and being bound for Southern California, had taken
the 32nd parallel route.   Although not acquainted with
the country, they had made their way very well by following
the mail-road until they reached Stean's Pass.       But here
they  found  two  roads, one  going  to Fort Bowie, and
the other, well marked by our wagons, leading to Railroad
Pass. This latter they had taken, and, once on our trail, they
had followed it up to this point. They did not know where
they were, but felt quite sure that so well-marked a trail must
lead to California. Daylight soon came, and brought to view
two American prospectors, who had joined the Mexicans for
mutual protection. The goods and chattels of the party
consisted mostly of buffalo robes, and were carried on the
backs of mules and ponies, sixteen of which formed their
entire stock. As we considered that such a reinforcement,
tolerably well armed as they appeared to be for Mexicans,
would be a great addition to our own party, we advised them
not to return, as they had come so far from the overland route,
but to push through the Aravaypa CaiTon in company with us.
This course they agreed to adopt.
   Again we mounted our weary horses, and left Eureka
Spring, which was warm and sulphurous, and neither fit for
man nor beast. Ten miles further we rode before the shouts
of the surveying party told us that our long weary journey
was drawing to a close. About this point (ten miles from
60
LOS ALAMOS GRANDES.
Eureka Spring) we encountered a large spring, which bubbled
up from the ground in the centre of the cafiada; from    it
flowed a perennial stream of considerable volume, whose lifegiving waters filled the valley below this point with thick
luxuriant vegetation.
  At last, when camp was reached, after a continuous ride of
sixty miles from nine o'clock one morning until eleven
o'clock the next day, and we dashed through the rivulet into
the thick grove of cotton-woods which hid the tents from
view, no small amount of anxiety was lifted from our minds.
My readers can hardly appreciate what pleasure it was to see
once more around me trees and flowers, to listen to the song
of birds, the rippling of waters, and the subdued rustling of
the leaves overhead; it seemed that the deserts had all been
crossed, and that danger was but a dream.
  A slightly elevated piece of ground at the back of our camp
was covered with the stone foundations of many buildings,
large and small. The divisions of the rooms and entrances
could plainly be made out. Much broken pottery, such as the
Pueblo Indians make, was picked up amongst the ruins; but
no trace of recent occupation could be discovered. " Los
Alamos Grandes" is the name we gave to this spot. It is
only six miles and a half from the entrance of the cafton, which
distance we travelled on the day following my arrival at camp.
  With the help of the results attained by our surveyors, I
can give a tolerably accurate account of the physical features
of the trough between the mountains in which we have been
travelling. I retain the word trough, in preference to valley,
for reasons to be soon explained. After descending from Railroad Pass to the centre of the trough (six and a half miles),
and on changing our course towards the north-west, we do
not continue to descend; but, on the contrary, in the first
61
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
twenty-two miles we rise again some 200 feet. At about
this point we cross a divide, and commence the real descent
towards the Rio Gila; or, in other words, we enter the basin of
the Aravaypa. This fact is soon made manifest by the appearance of the canada of the Aravaypa as a groove at the bottom
of the trough between the mountains.      From the commencement of this canfiada to the point where its walls approximate
so closely as to form the canon proper the distance is 25-30
miles, in which interval the total descent is 1,104 feet.
  As this great fall does not represent the slope of the trough
between the mountains, but the gradual deepening of the
groove in its centre (the canada of the Aravaypa), it is easy to
understand how the cliffs or sides of the caniada become higher
and higher as we descend. Sometimes they approach each other,
and form a natural gate or narrow passage for the river bed.
Sometimes they recede to the distance of two or three miles
apart. In places they have perpendicular walls. Often they
become sloping banks, and being composed of soft, friable
material, mostly drift, they are sometimes transformed by
erosion into very picturesque objects, resembling forts, castles,
long lines of earthwork, and the like, which are chiefly remarkable for the mathematical regularity of their outlines,
thus giving a very peculiar appearance to the whole country,
since the traveller is never out of sight of these singular formations; for no sooner is one passed than another appears at
the next turning of the gorge. At the back rise the black
shining walls and the deeply-serrated. summits of the volcanic
ranges on either side. These gradually approach each other
until the trough itself becomes obliterated, and the walls of
the cafiada in its centre are of necessity merged into the
mountain sides. At the point where the mountains seem to
unite, the canon proper begins.
62
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CHAPTER V.
                    THE ARAVAYPA CANON.
Preparations to advance through the Gorge.-A glimpse at the Country above.
    -Formation of the Walls.-First Night in the Cafion.-Difficulties of the
    Surveyors.--Remains found by us after a Massacre in the Calion.-The
    Gorge increases in grandeur as we advance.-Animal Life.-The Vegeta    tion.-Photographing.-The Surprise.-The Caiion becomes very narrow
    and tortuous, and the Perpendicular Walls exceed 1,000 feet.-A Change
    in the Rocks and Plants.-The Cereus giganteus and other Cacti.-Our
    Camps in the Cailon, and how the Evenings were spent.-Indian War    songs.-End of the CaEion.-Indian Trails and Apache Wigwams.-Reach
    Camp Grant.-Colton and I leave for the South.
                        Distance, 34 miles.
CAMP having been pitched at the entrance of the cation, a
party was formed to make a preliminary examination of
               it, and  to   determine   whether our wagons
     Nov. 19.
               could be taken through or not. Two cavalry
men were also despatched, with a guide, to Fort Goodwin, fifty
miles distant-at the other side of the Pina-lefio Range-to
obtain, if possible, a few more troops; for our escort had been
cut down, by the change of command, from thirty men with
everything necessary for campaigning, to fifteen men destitute
almost of everything. These matters having been settled,
Stuart, our quarter-master, and myself started over the mountains upon two good mules, in order to obtain a view of the
defile from above, and to study the general lie of the country.
The scenery was wild and utterly desolate beyond the little
narrow streak of beautiful vegetation which filled the gorge
and the caiada leading to it.     Not a tree was to be seen,
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NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
nor a single patch of green. The country seemed to consist
of a succession of mesas, piled up one above the other, like
terraced mountains, presenting from five to a dozen parapets.
Volcanic force considerably assisted in producing the wild
confusion which surrounded us; for many of the summits
were formed of pointed masses of plutonic rocks which had
been forced up from below, while considerable areas of surface
had been covered with a thick coating of lava, the broken
edges of which shone out smooth and black in the sunlight.
The most prominent mass in the landscape-called, from its
shape, Saddle Mountain-is probably an extinct volcano.
It stands exactly in front of the trough between the mountains which we had left, and seems to be the chief obstruction
which prevented the Aravaypa River from      continuing its
direct course into the Rio Gila, and obliged it to deviate from
north-west to south-west; for looking over the dreary landscape in the latter direction, the rugged outline of the mesa
country seemed to us less obstructed by formidable barriers on
that side; while at our feet we could trace for miles the black
cleft in the earth's crust which we knew to be the Aravaypa
Cafion. With a good deal of climbing, we managed to enter
a side gorge which debouched upon the main canon, and by
following  its windings at last entered the latter about
three and a half miles from its head, and then followed its
course to camp, fully persuaded that if the caiion itself was
impracticable for wagons, no way could be found through the
country above it. A rapid exploration of a very few miles of
the canon proper was sufficient to prove that it would only
add greatly to our difficulties to attempt to take our wagons
with us.
  On the third day the party from Fort Goodwin returned,
bringing us some extra mules, pack-saddles, and thirty in64
THE ENTRANCE.
fantry; so, having packed our provisions and other necessaries
              upon the mules, we severed our connection
              with the wagons, and commenced our journey
through the gorge. The wagons, escorted by the infantry
from Fort Goodwin, were obliged to retrace their steps and
to travel southward to Nugent's Pass, through which they
were able to turn westward into the San Pedro valley, and to
follow it down to Camp Grant. They had to travel 150 miles
to reach that point, whereas we were only thirty-four miles
distant from it at the head of the cafion.
  Never shall I forget the six days and five nights we spent
in cutting our way through this wonderful defile; and,
though the remembrance of it cannot but be a vivid one, I
feel that it is quite impossible to give anything like a fair
description of it.
   Guarding the narrow entrance rises a conic hill, to which
we gave the name of " Look-out Mountain," for it commands
a very extensive view both into the cafion and up the cafada,
in the opposite direction; furthermore, it is most probable
that when this country was inhabited it was used for that
purpose, for the stone foundations of a building which
formerly covered the summit are still distinctly visible.
Close under this hill a very large spring gushes out of the
ground, the waters of which more than double in size the
Aravaypa stream. Without this large permanent supply of
running water the cafnon could probably never have been
formed.
   For the first two miles the walls are perpendicular on one
side, and sloping on the other; the former do not exceed 500
feet in height; but at the end of that distance a large triangular
mass juts up from the centre of the ravine, which seemed to
us to bar all further progress. The stream, however, had
   VOL. II.                   F
65
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
managed to twine around it, and by following in its bed we
succeeded in doing so too.
  From this point the walls on both sides are perpendicular.
They are formed for the first few miles of conglomerate alone,
which is horizontally stratified; in fact, drift-washed down
by primeval waves from   the mountain's side. But as the
Our First Camping Ground.
gradual fall of the stream bed, which is on an average 50
feet per mile, brought us deeper into the earth, we reached
the sandstones, and gradually passed through them to the
hard granite beneath.
  Luxuriant vegetation fills up the space between the walls;
the undergrowth consists of willows, young trees, bunch
grass, reeds, &c., forming in many places an impenetrable
thicket; and above them a succession of noble trees tower
66
CUTTING OUR WAY.
up towards the sky, as if striving to gain a glimpse of the
upper world. Under a grove of the loftiest cotton-woods and
sycamores, at a distance of four miles from the head of the
cafion, we threw down our blankets for the first night's rest.
Not far distant, a few deserted Indian wigwams were visible,
perched upon the top of the cliff, which painfully reminded
us of danger. The setting sun beautifully illuminated three
Norman watch-towers, which some freak of nature had
carved out upon the precipice that rose above our grove of
trees.
  The obstacles our surveyors had to contend against naturally made our progress very slow, not more than from two
and a half to three miles per day being cleared; for a path had
to be cut through the brushwood which choked up the narrow
passage, and every tree obstructing the vision of the levellers
had to be felled. The Mexicans whom we had picked up
were of great assistance to us. We hired six of their animals
for pack mules, and several of the men to help as axe-men in
cutting a path through the thickets. I obtained a mule for
my photographic " outfit," and was thus enabled to take a
number of views of the gorge. During the second day's
advance we came to a cave, hollowed out in the northern
wall, capable of concealing about fifty men, and opposite this
we picked up several Indian skulls and human bones. To
these relics there hangs a tale.
  In 1863 a company of Californian volunteers on their way
eastward to fight the " rebs," and glad enough to get a little
professional practice en route, joined in an expedition headed
by a Captain Tidball, the object of which was to break up
the chief rancheria of the Aravaypa Apaches, which was
located on this spot. The citizens and soldiers, guided by
some tamed Apaches who were        kept  at  Camp   Grant,
                          F2
67
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMhiERICA.
entered, as we did, the head of the cafon, and came upon the
Indian village just as the evening was changing to night.
They hid quietly until daybreak, and then attacked the savages
with such effect, that out of seventy, who formed the band,
but twelve escaped; all the rest were massacred-the women
and children by the tamed Apaches, the warriors by the
Americans. The fate of this band was not undeserved, for
it had been the terror of the country round for a long time
previously, and had committed many frightful atrocities upon
the helpless Mexican and American settlers. These Apaches
had carried on agriculture to some extent in the cafnon, for
we passed the remains of a few small irrigating canals in
places where the space between the walls left a sufficient
extent of bottom-land for such a purpose.
  As we advanced, the caiion became more and more tortuous.
Bold walls of rock often enclosed us in front and rear, as well
as on either side; nor could we tell which way to turn until
we had come close upon the      apparently insurmountable
barrier. Higher and higher towered the walls. For the
first few miles they were flat and continuous from base to
summit, although portions here and there stood out like huge
needles or lofty spires from the main cliffs; but after attaining a certain height, the walls became divided into two, the
upper portion of which seemed to lean a little back and to
rise from the lower one, like a cliff springing from a cliff.
The walls, in fact, became two stories high, and each story
measured about 400 feet. The strata of the upper story or
cliff continued, as before, to consist of conglomerate; but
grey sandstone appeared at the base of the lower one, and
gradually extended upwards.    Caves and grottoes became
very numerous, and every mile added to the grandeur of the
chasm.
68
PHOTOGRAPHING IN THE CANON.
   The stream had to be crossed over and over again-often
at every hundred yards; and it was curious to see how active
the little axe-men of nature, the beavers, had been, for many
a wetting was saved by our men on foot being able to cross
over the large trees which, having been felled by these little
fellows, had fallen athwart the stream. Nor were beavers the
only inhabitants. Deer came down to drink at the brook,
but by what paths remained a mystery to us; quails and
doves were very abundant in places; and birds with beautiful
plumage-some bright red, others rich blue, and a third
variety, a black and white kingfisher with a bright red crest
-especially attracted our notice.
  I was photographing with a companion one afternoon in the
cafion, about half a mile in the rear of the surveyors, when
suddenly a succession of shots ahead made us start up from
our work. The gloomy grandeur of such a place was not
good for the nerves; and we feared terribly an Indian attack,
where the advantages of position were so much against us.
Leaving the camera, black tent, and the rest to take care of
themselves, we hastened towards the front. A horse, minus
his rider, dashed rapidly past, which did not increase our confidence. On arriving, however, at the scene of action, we were
not a little relieved on finding that a fine flock of turkeys had
so tempted the foremost of our party, that, forgetful of the
alarm they would cause, they had seized their rifles and fired
at them. The explosion caused by even a single shot in
such a chasm sounded like the report of a dozen cannon, so
great was the reverberation, and so many the echoes which
followed it.
  About seven and a half miles from the entrance, the caTon
becomes so narrow that it appears only as a cleft between the
huge perpendicular walls which tower above us: there is no
69
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
space whatever on either side between the bed of the stream
and the rocks, so that the only passage is in the river itself.
The action of the water, moreover, has hollowed out the base
of the southern wall-rock for from 20 to 30 feet of its
thickness, so that we rode under the rock itself for some
distance.
   The first "narrows," as we called this passage, having
been passed, we came to an open space of some fifteen acres,
giving us a good camping ground and plenty of grass for the
stock. This space is situated about the centre of the cai-on,
and is very beautiful, being filled with splendid timber,
cotton-wood, sycamore, live oak, ash, willow, walnut, and
grotesque old mezquits of most unusual size. Fine branches
of mistletoe hung from many of the trees; we met no girls,
however, on this occasion, but the laughter-loving parasite
was a great surprise.
  Just past this open space a great change takes place. In
order, it would almost seem, that the traveller should not
weary of the cold grey sandstone and conglomerate formations, the sombre tints and horizontal strata, large quantities
of volcanic rock, with their smooth facets and their rich tints
varying from purple and red to black, burst into view, and
alter completely the appearance of the walls. A deep rich
fringe of basaltic columns adorns the terraces on either side, and
this lavaform coating is bright and shining; the edges are as
sharp in outline as if cut with a knife, and produce fantastic
forms in the shape of turrets, &c., quite different in appearance from those met with previously. Nor is the change to be
seen only in the rocks-the vegetation immediately shows
the difference of soil; and, identical in position with the new
strata, appeared for the first time on our route the Cereus
giganteus, the  largest cactus with   which   botanists are
THE CEREUS GIGANTEUS.
acquainted. Here these huge grooved columns thrust their
thick trunks from between the crags, and rise up on all sides
far above our heads to heights varying from the baby-plant to
the forty-feet. They seem to require no earth; and in places
the walls are covered with them to the very summit. The
secondary columns shoot out from the central stem, and then
turn upwards with studied regularity, forming a circle of
The Cereus giganteus.
four or six arms around the parent trunk. Besides the
"Monumental Cactus," as it is sometimes called, large bushes
of prickly pear, tufts of Spanish bayonet and magay, with
other species of prickly plants, also find a genial abode up
amongst the crags, producing a contrast most singular and
striking between the grotesque spinous vegetation upon the
walls and the graceful foliage in the narrow passage beneath.
71
NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA.
  A little further, the rocks on either side approach so closely
as to obliterate for a second time the entire passage, and this
time the bed of the stream alone remains between the walls
for two miles and a half of its course. At this part the walls
present another break in their perpendicular height, and
appear to consist of three terraces or cliffs piled one above
the other, each capped with basaltic columns; thus showing, as it appears to me, the real nature of the terraced
form. Each cliff or terrace is, in fact, a land-slip into the
gorge, the lowest terrace representing the part earliest
detached; for as each terrace is covered with lavaform
basalt, it is evident that at some time each ledge so covered
must have formed part of the surface of the ground over
which the lava had flowed.
  Between the two " narrows" the calion did not widen
much, so that the lengthening shadows overtook us very
early in the evening, and obliged the surveyors to cease from
their work; and when the sun had left the upper world,
and night had really come, the blackness of darkness around
us was absolutely awful, and the stars, which covered the
narrow streak of sky above, seemed to change the heavens into
a zigzag belt, every inch of which was radiant with diamonds.
Our camps, too, were very picturesque. The mezquit tree,
with its tortuous stems, grows to an unusual size here, and as
the wood makes magnificent fuel, we found the foot of one of
them to be the best place to pass the night. Dotted about
amongst the trees the cheerful blaze of a dozen fires would
light up the branches and foliage, making the darkness
visible, and giving us a glimpse now and then of the massive
walls which towered up above us. We discovered an amusement for our long evenings quite in harmony with the place.
  Amongst the party of Mexicans there was a tame Navajo
                                     Vincent BrooksDay&SonLlih
THE ARAVAYPA CANON, SOUTHERN ARIZONA.