NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. |. Vor, I. ‘S VNOZINV ‘SUVAd OOSIDONVUA NVS WHHL? ZISSVOV LNOOW uy u0s F y ABTS SyOOIG YUBOUTA ~ ang? rr be 7 Bae fk eo N.Y NORTH AMERICA. A dournal of Trabel and Adventure WHILST ENGAGED a THE SURVEY FOR A canpeaiong RAILROAD TO THE ACIFIC OCEAN RING « By WILLIAM A. BELL, M.A., M.B. Canras., FELLOW OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETIES, Laying the Track. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 869 } MISSOURI ROT: NICAL, GA N. [All Rights Reserved.] i a aaa This Book I DEDICATE TO MY FATHER IN ENGLAND, AND TO GENERAL W. J. PALMER, OF ST. LOUIS, IN AMERICA. To Gzenerat W. J. Pater. My pear GENERAL, It gives me great pleasure to associate my Father's name with that of the most valued of my American friends, whose intercourse contributed so much to make my sojourn in the Far West a period to which I shall sie look back with the brightest recollections. Believe me to remain, : My dear General, Ever yours very sincerely, W. A. BELL. NEw UNIversity Cuvs, St. JAMEs’s STREET, May 15th, 1869. PREFACE. Iy placing this book of travels before the public there are some points to be explained, some indulgencies to be asked for, and many friends to be named whose assistance merits my warmest gratitude. It is right at the outset to remind my readers that they must not criticise a book of travel too severely as a literary production. Whilst the novelist and the historian are always using their pen, the traveller of necessity isolates himself from all literature, and yet when he does write he finds num- bered amongst his readers the man of science, the lover of adventure, and the practical public. In order, if possible, to make the following pages acceptable to all, I have tried to arrange my subjects in such a way that any special topic can be omitted without difficulty by those: whom it does not ' interest. q |The success with which the Royal Geographical Society has for years been conducting its meetings has made that branch of science quite popular, at least amongst the reading pl blic of London. I feel, therefore, that no apology is viii PREFACE. necessary for having devoted the first fifty pages to Physical . Geography, pure and simple. In like manner another fifty pages at the end of the first volume have. been given to Ethnology—to a terse account of aboriginal tribes, well worthy of study. As the different races of man are at the present time occupying much public attention, this will, I trust, be acceptable. I have been in considerable perplexity as to the best way of treating the bulk of my narrative, chiefly because it was impossible to forget the fact, that whatever interest the book might excite would be shared by the American as well as the English reader. I have used many words which are foreign to ourselves ; I have often transgressed in like manner the ordinary phraseology of our Atlantic cousins. I have also borne in mind from the commencement, and indeed it was impossible for an eye-witness to forget, that the country | of which I treat, though it is almost without tillage or inha- | bitants, is not like Africa, Central Asia, or even South | America, in being far removed from the present limits of | Anglo-Saxon occupation; but that it contains cradles for nations which are destined to spring from our own hardy | and prolific stock, and that practical and special knowledge | about it is desired, in the first place, by the Americans them | selves; in the second place by our own nation, supplying, | it does, at least two-thirds of the emigrating population i | Europe. | PREFACE. ix In reading some of the chapters in the second volume, it | must not be supposed that because the scenes there related are unusually strange, they are of necessity highly coloured, for this is not the case. I have kept closely to fact through- out, and even in choosing my illustrations have taken great pains that everything should be true to nature. Here and there a figure has been introduced by the artist, but with very few exceptions all are exact copies from photographs taken on the spot. My best thanks are due to Dr. John Le Conte, of Phila- delphia, through whose. personal influence I became a member of the expedition to survey a route for the Southern Trans-continental Railway. To Mr. Aubrey Smith, of Philadelphia, I am indebted for aving taken charge of my little botanical collection; for aving, with infinite trouble, obtained the names of nearly all the plants from the most distinguished botanists in the United States ; and for having sent them to me, thus named, in the best possible condition. | General Palmer, of St. Louis, has not only given me access to all the documents connected with the railway survey, and flered me all possible assistance, but he has contributed one | the most thrilling incidents related in the following pages. These services, however, I value as nothing compared with 1 © warm friendship which our travels together have matured. : To Captain Colton I offer my best thanks for the valuable x PREFACE. contributions which, true to his promise, he has sent me relative to a district over which I did not pass. I gratefully acknowledge the service rendered to me by Mr. John Browne, of Philadelphia, who, as an amateur, has acquired a high reputation amongst photographers. Mr. Browne not only initiated me into the art, but sent out after me all the necessary instruments and chemicals. It is with great pleasure also that I thank Major Calhoun and Dr. Parry for their valuable contributions, both in the field of adventure and science. Lastly, I shall not soon forget the debt of sents I owe to my fellow-countryman and friend Mr. R. K. Cautley, | whose assistance during the production of this book has been — unceasing. W. A. BELL. 18, HertTrorD STREET, Mayrarr, Lonpon, _ May, 1869. f CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE I. SKETCH OF THE ROUTE . XV II. PuysicAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE piteccuicines use AND OF THE Rocky Mountains . oy . s i 3 > en III. Puysicat GroGRAPHY OF THE patna week ; . P< <2) TV. PuysicAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE ‘‘GrREAT BAsIN REGION” . 3 oly PART iI. FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE RIO GRANDE DEL NORTE. CHAPTER iE: ‘THE CAPITAL OF THE WEST . : ; pe ; : ; : 1 i CHAPTER IL Re ROMS ok ee Oe ee eee a q Z CHAPTER III. eee ON TEM PIAINS (6S 6 6 eR lk | CHAPTER IV. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE FaR-wEsTERN Puarns . . . . 41 CHAPTER Y. Fortnicut AT Fort WALLACE . ‘ i : é : . CB CHAPTER VI. xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PAGE THE VALLEY OF THE PURGATOIRE . ; a . P ; : Pena: CHAPTER VIII. THE Raton MountTamns . ‘ : ; 7 ; : : F ee CHAPTER IX, Rep River VALLEY - : j : j 104 CHAPTER X. THE Rocky Mounratn COAL-FIELDS . ‘ ; ; ; . Tas CHAPTER XI. Fort UNION . ‘ ‘ : 3 ‘ . ; . < . 120 4 CHAPTER XII. ik Pisces Mover Pte ee CHAPTER XIII. | SANTA FR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 | | { PART II. | THE NATIVE RACES OF NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA. CHAPTER I. : fon Seur-corvinzexd Tees 6 eS a Se 137 CHAPTER II. mee Wito. Teens ce a I eas CHAPTER III. Tur Azrec Rurmvss oF NEw Mexico AND ARIZONA eee CHAPTER IY. NEw MEXICO WHEN DISCOVERED BY THE SPANIARDS . Peart . CHAPTER VY. Tue Risk AND Fatt oF AzrEc PowEr tN NorTHERN MEXICO - > ILLUSTRATIONS. - — > LITHOGRAPHS. PAGE t AGASSIZ AND THE Saw Francisco Peaks, ArIzoNA—Frontispiece. CoLORADO PLATEAU, LOOKING OVER THE GREAT CaNon To face xlyiii BULL TRAINS” CROSSING THE PLAINS. . =~. . . #5 28 9 oR Town INDIANS oF THE R10 GRANDE . : . vs 160 I lw i Oe ON OF THE PUEBLO, Hunco PAVIE ° ° ° i 194 LAN AND DETAILS oF HunGo PAVIE. é ‘ ‘i 195 BOTANICAL PLATES. xiv ILLUSTRATIONS. WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE LAYING THE TRACKS -. . ‘ ‘ ' . . : Title-page. GEOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE Cotorapo CaNon . . . ~~ « ivi Sioux Inpran Lopes. | 26 A Prarrie-poc Town AND ITs INHABITANTS 31 MusHroom Rock 45 ARRIVAL OF Marts aT Fort WALLACE . 57 THE MUTILATED SERGEANT 64 STRIKING THE ARKANSAS. 73 THE PURGATOIRE RIVER . 83 THe ‘OvutTFIT” IN DIFFICULTIES 130 A Gotp Quartz Minn ? 139 Group or Navaso INDIANS 147 Mosave INDIANS. 189 GENERAL Map To FACE First PAGE OF THE INTRODUCTION. f 00 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA, INTRODUCTION. po 5 SKETCH OF THE ROUTE. In the spring of 1867 a very extensive surveying expedition was organised by the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, in order to determine upon the best route for a southern railway to the Pacific coast through Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and the southern part of California. Until the Rio Grande ‘del Norte (about equidistant from the Mississippi and the Pacific) had been reached, three separate ‘surveying parties were required; but between that river and the Pacific coast, no less than five parties, each capable of making an accurate instrumental survey, were employed, and crossed that part of the continent by different routes on ~~ ‘ifferent parallels of latitude. The United States Govern- 4 tent, by furnishing escorts and transportation, rendered : issistance without which such an undertaking would at that Aime have been impossible, for most of the Indian tribes ae 4 rere at war with the whites. 4 Through the kindness of some of my friends in Phila- j elphia, I became attached to this expedition; but not until xyl INTRODUCTION. all the vacancies but one had been filled up. A photographer alone was wanted ; and as no idle man could be allowed amongst the party, I aceepted the office with, I must confess, considerable diffidence, as. only a fortnight remained before starting to learn an art with which I was then quite unacquainted. After we had been in the field but a short time, the return home of the physician of the expedition left that post open tome. It proved to be almost a sinecure, for the healthy life we led: in such a glorious climate was far better than physic. Thus it happened that, taking no part in the actual suryeys, I was able to move hither and thither, to travel sometimes with one party, sometimes with another, and to take long journeys independently through regions hitherto almost unknown, but which, from their position, were of great importance to those interested in the success of the trans-continental railway. The distance I travelled beyond the pale of civilisation and railways was about 5,000 miles; this distance, however, was but a fraction of the combined lengths of route survey ed and examined by the separate parties. I now proceed to give an outline of these routes. From St. Louis, the starting-point, we went by rail to Salina (Kansas), the terminal depét at that time of the Kansas Pacific Railway. At this point, 471 miles west el the Mississippi, we exchanged the locomotive for the mu train, and marched due west over a sea of grass for 21) miles to Fort Wallace, a military post on the borders of thy State of Colorado. . On this vast plain the buffalo are still very abundant | After a delay of a fortnight at Fort Wallace, caused b_ the hostility of the plain Indians, we commenced our surve. at that point, and proceeded in a south-westerly directio, SKETCH OF THE ROUTE. xvii across a desert region to the Arkansas River, and up that stream to New Fort Lyon, a point close to the mouth of the Purgatoire River. Distance, 114 miles. ‘! From Fort Lyon one of our parties continued to ascend the Arkansas River until it reached a tributary called the Huerfano, which it followed into the most elevated portion of the North American continent—the centre of Colorado— where the Arkansas, Rio Colorado of the West, Platte, and Rio Grande del Norte have their sources. Having surveyed ~ several passes in this region, the party descended the last- F named stream for about 380 miles to Fort i in southern New Mexico. ~ Two parties, to one of which I was attached, surveyed a route from Fort Lyon up the Purgatoire River, and across __ the valley of the Rio Grande del Norte, and down that valley ™ from Albuquerque to Fort Craig, 219 miles farther. In @™ the valley of the Rio Grande, the fast-disappearing remnants a! of the Aztec nation—the Pueblo or Town Indians—are still to be found liying in peaceful simplicity in their villages, and aising their fruits and crops by a well-regulated system of igation. , At Fort Craig our parties were reorganised, their numbers enease and the escorts doubled, preparatory to exploring more difficult country lying to the westward. From the Rio Grande to the Rio Colorado of the West, and mee across the desert, or Great Basin, as it is commonly ed, into California, our parties surveyed and examined o entirely different districts, lying parallel to each other, separated by lofty mountains and table-lands, and distant : ad about 2°. One party, consisting of three bodies b XYVlil INTRODUCTION. of surveyors, passed into California through the Moa (a semi-civilised race of Indians) country and Northen Arizona,—a land abounding in wild and beautiful scenery, and studded all over with the ruins of a large native popu la- tion now extinct. s This country was explored some years since—first Whipple (1854-5), and afterwards by Beal (1858). It about the 35th parallel of latitude, and is known as the parallel route across the continent. The other part of our expedition, consisting of two suz ing parties, continued to descend the Rio Grande yalle seventy-two miles below Fort Craig before turning westwa They then explored the barren districts lying betray Rio Gila and the boundary of Mexico. As the 32nd paral of latitude traverses this region, the route through i called the 32nd parallel route. After visiting many places of interest in New Mexi took the 32nd parallel route, and travelled with one or of the parties to Camp Grant, in the centre of Ariz this distance, which by the continuous line surveyed by x party was found to be 345 miles, we crossed many m¢ ranges, traversed the Great Madre Plateau, and through a gorge—the Aravaypa Cafion—of unusual g1 and interest. I left the surveying parties at Camp and travelled, with a single companion as guide, in al due southerly direction for 600 miles, through the Sts Sonora, in Mexico proper, to the port of Guaymas, in Gulf of California. The object of this trip was to obt much general information as possible respecting that § especially as to its mineral and agricultural merits, : feasibility or otherwise of constructing a branch 1 through it to Guaymas. After visiting Carmen SKETCH OF THE ROUTE. xix Paz, and Mazatlan, in the Gulf, I sailed northward to San Francisco, where, in course of time, all our surveying parties collected. : About the middle of February, 1868, I started afresh from San Francisco, and recrossed the continent about the 41st Vparallel of latitude. The Sierra Nevada and Rocky Moun- USfais were this time crossed in the depth of winter; the Wesert or Great Basin was traversed at a part where it is 700 niles wide. I visited the Comstock lode, the largest silver ode yet discovered, and other mining districts in “The yilBasin ;” I passed through Great Salt Lake City, thence risited Denver, and finally completed the circle of travel by iitstriking my old route at Fort Wallace. As the greater part lf this return-journey was made by the well-known overland Troute through Nebraska, Utah, and Nevada, I have thought + unnecessary to give a detailed description of it, but have endeavoured to contrast fairly this strip of country with those over which our parties passed about the 35th and 32nd Iparallels respectively. The accounts of adventure, Indian fights, &c., scattered ough the following pages, are, with a few insignificant ceptions, the unvyarnished recitals of events in which we selves took part or were closely connected. 7 Several articles, upon districts surveyed by our parties, but t visited by me, have, through the kindness of friends, contributed to this book. One article describes the try from Camp Grant, where I left my friends, westward the Pacific Ocean ; another gives an account of the passage ithe Great Cafion of the Colorado by a man named James te, whom some of the members of the expedition met at - Mojave, a point south of the mouth of the cafion; in ppendix will be found an article written by our botanist, | XxX INTRODUCTION. together with a catalogue of plants indigenous to the regions traversed by us, dried specimens of the greater number ot which I have been able to collect and place in the a i Department of the British Museum. Another friend hat given me his assistance in describing the 35th parallel route, along which I did not pass. q I have explained the physical geography of the coun ey | west of the Mississippi, across which the Americans are con- structing two, if not three, trans-continental railway at some length, and have placed it at the end of this Introduction n, because I desire that those of my readers who are especiall; interested in the Western country should carefully read i before commencing the narrative. When in the following pages mention is made of the Southern or the Kansas Pacific Railway, the same railway will be implied, viz., that formerly called the Union Pacifi Railroad, Eastern Division, now being constructed thro Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and the sow part of California to San Francisco. When the central r or railway is referred to, then that Union Pacific Ré which passes by Salt Lake, through Nebraska, Wyom Utah, Nevada, and California to San Francisco m understood. Farther north still, a third line is in cont tion, uniting the waters of Lake Superior with the Pacifie Portland and Seattle. This railway is known by one : " only—the Northern Pacific Railroad. The last chapter is devoted to railway topics and emig tion, and is intended to explain the modus operandi of B Pa 7 railway construction in the United States—a subject w present is attracting considerable attention. In a s1 country like England, railways are, comparatively : a luxury, and are only carried through districts ; - SKETCH OF THE ROUTE. xxi populous to warrant their construction; but in the great West, where continuous settlement is impossible, where, nstead of navigable rivers, we find arid deserts, but where, nevertheless, spots of great fertility and the richest prizes of he mineral kingdom tempt men onward into those vast regions, railways become almost a necessity of existence— certainly of development; and the locomotive has to lead instead of follow the tide of population. Il. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN, AND OF THE | WATERSHED OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. The Country east of the Mississippii—The Basin taken as a whole.— of the Country from South to North; ee East to West.—The ‘ sein Plateau.”—The Table-lands lying between the Summit Plateau and t Sierra Nevada.—Physical Geography of California. —tThe Rocky Mountaii —The Dual Main Chains.—The Central Parks.—Primary “Divides = Madea ta —Sources of the Great Rivers, the Missouri 4 the Columbia, Rio Colorado, Arkansas, oe Grande del Norte. -—The Geneeil bef g 5 By g er o a8 a8 mn fou Et ra ia 4, ‘a Q 3S o bd & 7 3%, i] @ § M to the Mountain Ranges only which rise from the ‘‘ Summit Plateau.” Tue United States, or rather the great central division ¢ North America, is divided into three nearly equal parts by the Mississippi River and the so-called Rocky Moun uns. The average width of each division is about 15°, or 1,04 2 miles; so that the Atlantic is separated from the Mississi Witte runs nearly north and south, by a belt of coum usually not much more than 1,000 miles across, while t Pacific Ocean is double that distance from the Mississipp The entire Central third of the country, with the small ex tion of Southern Texas and part of New Mexico, is drained bj Western branches of the Mississippi, viz., the Minnesota, D Moins, Missouri, Arkansas, Red River, and their tributarieé The area of territory thus drained is about 1,231,000 squi ] miles (geographical), an extent of surface six times as larg oe France. Of the Eastern third scarcely a quarter is drained tributaries of the Mississippi; for the Appalachian range | its basin on the south-east, and the highlands parallel tol PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. xxiii great lakes separate it towards the north and north-east from ‘the latter, and from the basin of the St. Lawrence, leaving a, triangle scarcely larger than France to supply the great tributaries of the Ohio River. The Western third—that is, of the country between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains—is so cut up by mountains, that we shall leave the consideration of its drainage for the present. The physical geography of the Western two-thirds, which consists of the country west of the Mississippi, is peculiar, although by no means complicated, and will exclusively occupy our attention. I will first indicate the general rise of these regions, from the Mississippi on the east and the Pacific on the west, to ‘their lofty central elevations, and then discuss the several mountain systems which have been upheaved by forces very di ferent, both in degree and mode of action, from those which uniformly raised the entire country from its bases to its centre. q From the Gulf of Mexico, where the elevation is nil, passmg _northward up the Mississippi, we do not rise more than 470 » feet during the 1,202 miles from the mouth of the river to s . Louis. *" During the next 730 miles, up to St. Paul, the rise is “again nearly 470 feet. The falls of St. Anthony, nineteen miles above St. Paul’s, are the limit to which continuous * steam navigation at present extends, the total distance being fF 1,952 miles. ™, A hundred miles further up stream the elevation is found to (ye 1,152 feet, which is not much below that of the little lakes sift om which the head-waters rise. Lake Superior lies from pity to a hundred miles only to the east of these lakes, and is an elevation of 600 feet, while the land intervening, which XX1¥ ~ INTRODUCTION. forms the divide,* can be crossed at an elevation of 1,158 feet, on the same parallel as the southern shore of Lake Superior. § From the head-waters of the Mississippi northward, the land } falls gradually towards Lake Winnipeg in British territory. Thus the rise of the continent, north and south, only ~~ exceeds 1,000 feet. Passing westward from the Mississippi, and disrogardiall mountains altogether for the present, the elevation of the | continent gradually increases, until it attains its highest level at South Park, about the centre of Colorado. © If we compare the rise and fall of the continent on ' all sides to two saddles, placed pommel to pommel, the pommels will represent South Park, the highest part of the median line of maximum elevation, while the prominence, sloping downwards from each pommel, and disappearing at the back of each saddle, will well illustrate the course of the ‘Summit Plateau.” For this “Summit Plateau,” if it may be so called, diverges from its greatest elevation in a north- westerly direction, to form the less elevated watershed in Montana, between the heads of the Missouri and Columb rivers; while to the southward it gradually falls also, and $4 * The term ‘* divide,’ > used as a substantive, may be objected to, on ground that it is not English. This I grant; but as it is in co throughout North America, is often to be heard at the Meetings of the R Geographical Society, and’ is frequently so printed in pie pti _ preferred to use it generally instead of its synonym ‘“‘ water- re in such compound expressions as ‘‘ secondary witenipaue ing GF wut nen water-parting, ‘‘ seconda: ary divide ” or ‘‘ continental divide,” sounds shorter crispe ividing-ridge,”’ of course, is only applicable when a mountain r forms the divide It may be well at the outset to give the following de A watershed is the slope between a water-parting, or - ave anda waeeee A divide is the boundary-line between contiguous basins and watersheds. — Two watersheds united at their watercourses constitute a valley. ; The whole series of yalleys traversed by a es and its tributaries of ih err tee — third order, &c., constitutes a basi ee ** Physical Geography,” from Cuphaii Tatas a y: the Preticki of Th. Layallée, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. xXxV ridens out into the Llano Estacado (staked plains) of Northern 'exas, and the vast plain—the Madre Plateau—which ecupies Southern New Mexico. A few figures, representing average elevations only, may e desirable. The staked plains of Texas average 3,500 et; the Madre Plateau about 4,000. Rising from these, ud passing northwards, the “‘Summit Plateau” attains an yerage elevation of 7,000 feet in Northern New Mexico, of om 8,000 to 9,000 feet in Colorado, 7,000 in Wyoming, and a, 0m 9,000 to 2,000 in Montana, whence it passes into ritish territory. j, The country lying between the highest portions of the Summit Plateau” in Colorado and the Mississippi ascends more rapidly than the adjoining country south of it, which es not ultimately attain in New Mexico so great an evation; while to the north of Nebraska, Kansas, and olorado, the country has not only a still lower elevation to ach on the Summit Plateau in Montana, but (consequent on the north-westerly direction of that central line of imum elevation) has a far longer distance in which to h it. We therefore actually find what theoretically we uld expect—that the largest river in the continent flows ugh this district. The Missouri at Fort Benton, the head of steamboat gation, is 2,500 miles by water from its mouth, and 3,737 n tide water, and yet at the 111th meridian (South Park ing on the 106th) it is only 3,000 feet above the sea. cause is obvious. The streams of the high lands of rm Montana, where the springs do not average more 6,000 feet, pass northwards around the most lofty part of ulf until 700 miles separate them from their western ™ continent, and do not commence a southward course towards - Xxvi INTRODUCTION. sources. United then into one vast stream (the Missouri), they meander through the less elevated districts, receiving the Platte tributary at an elevation of 968 feet, and , Kansas River at 710, before joining the Mississippi at 2 elevation of 460 feet. The streams which cross the elevated country avoide ol by the Missouri, namely, as before mentioned, Nebrask ay Kansas, and Colorado, give very different results. The most; westerly sources of the North Platte rise about 2° east by 4° south of those of the Missouri. But the Sweet-water branch has an elevation of 7,220 fect in the highest platea Medicine Bow Creek, 7,000; Laramie River, 7,175; Me the South Platte at Denver, on the plains, is 5,000 feet aboy the sea; and farther up the stream, in the level portion 4 South Park, it attains no less an elevation than 9,000 fee The Arkansas and Canadian rivers in the same manner pa at first through very elevated regions, not taking into accou at all the actual mountains or the mountain streams whi debouch upon these upland plateaux, for at present I re f only to the general elevation of the country. West of the ‘Summit Plateau,” the country falls at but only to a limited extent compared with the eastern for the entire district lying between the “Summit Pl and the Sierra Nevada consists of table-lands, vary elevation from 4,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea. The tion of nearly all Utah exceeds 5,000 feet, excepting © part of the Great Salt Lake basin, the surface of which is 4,290 feet. Utah Lake, whose surplus waters — Great Salt Lake, is 4,790 feet high, and Lake Sevier, s further south im the same basin, is, if anything, a little lo The greater part of Nevada lies between 4,000 and 6 feet above the sea, but to the southward the land PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. | XXvil gradually, though unevenly, towards the Rio Colorado, and directly towards the Gulf of California. A remarkable epression occurs about latitude 36°, which is separated both m the Rio Colorado and the Gulf by table-lands varying height from 1,000 to 5,000 feet above its lowest portion. his depression is known as Death Valley. Lofty table-lands extend also over all New Mexico and izona, but gradually fall away towards the mouth of the Rio ila and the Gulf of California, in the south-west angle of the ter territory. In Southern New Mexico the entire country comes depressed into an extended plain,* about the 32nd rallel, having an average elevation of from 3,500 to 4,000 et. The depression, however, does not extend south more aan from fifty to one hundred miles before the general rise mmences, which forms the lofty savannas of Mexico, upon hich the mountain ranges of that country rest. West of the Sierra Nevada of California, the land slopes idly towards the west coast. Nature has, however, placed barrier in the way by throwing up a series of ranges along e coast, known as the coast ranges. They run for the most parallel to each other, but obliquely to the coast, so that nge after range becomes lost in the sea, forming prominent dlands and rocky islands all along the shore. About the ntre of the Californian coast, a great gap occurs in tHese The ‘first promoters of the grand scheme sptli-yeoy She the Atlantic and cific by a railway crossing the continent in U. States t erritory seem to ve laid great stress upon the importance of this depression. They affirmed, the height of 4,000 feet, they would meet about the 32nd parallel, — 0 huge islands, the one to represen the lofty plateaux and mountain ins of the Seen spe ee: it probable that this depression would prove to be the only practicable the Pacific Railway, cups on that account urged the United States : ica ie to buy it from Mexi This was done on the 20th of — ; ten million ee were paid re it, and the official document fixing th boundary i is called the Gadsden Treaty. XXvVili INTRODUCTION. ranges, which forms the ‘‘ Golden Gate” of San Francisco The sea enters through the narrow channel, and spreads ouf into three large basins, protected on all sides by mountain belonging to the coast ranges, thus forming the best and largest harbour in the world. Between the coast ranges and the lofty Sierra Nevada lies a wide plain or valley, averaging some sixty miles across, and extending north and south for nearly the entire length of the State. The waters which flow from the western slope of the Sierras and collect in this inland valley cannot penetrate the, coast ranges, and go direct to the sea. So those of Southern California form the San Joaquin River, and those of Northern California, the Sacramento ; the former runs to the northward. and the latter to the southward, in the trough between outer and inner mountain chains, and both empty themselvqfl into the Bay of San Francisco. This is the drainage syste; of California. I have briefly indicated the course which the general 1 or upheaval of the continent has taken. We will now conside the excrescences and irregularities on its surface. 3 The entire country between the Alleghanies (Appalachia range) and the “Summit Plateau,” which extends from th Gulf of Mexico in the South to the watershed of Hudson! Bay in the North, is mainly one vast flat for thousands | Square miles in the prairie States east of the Mississippi; or less undulating on the western plains, most depres the valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri, and sufficiently elevated at its northern limit to determine the of the waters in the two opposite directions, north and Scarcely a trace of volcanic disturbance is to be seen this vast region. On the “Summit Plateau,” however, m0 tains for the first time rise from the plains. All alow PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Xxix 3 of general elevation, independent ranges, varying con- srably in direction, height, and extent, have been piled in great apparent confusion, while here and there some | *y lofty peaks mark the probable centre of voleanic action pecial localities, he explorations made under the auspices of the American vernment, and embodied in the bulky volumes of the cific Railway Reports, have been followed up by surveys d explorations, undertaken by private companies and others, that the knowledge acquired from these many sources has, think, disclosed a certain regularity of design throughout yme entire ‘Summit Plateau” system, which greatly simplifies ans topography. o the question, Where is the central range of the Rocky ountains? I confidently answer, Nowhere! There is no ntinuous central chain whatever. It appears to me, on the pntrary, from my own observations, and from diligently xamining the explorations of others, that the so-called Rocky Tountain system, from the northern boundary of the United tates to their southern termination, consists usually of two ins of mountain ranges, occupying the eastern and western jdges of the “Summit Plateau,” and separating it from the ains on either side. These eastern and western chains communicate by means f transverse ridges at irregular distances, thus cutting up the Summit Plateau” lying between them into a succession of olated plains or “ parks” of great elevation. The word “park,” in Rocky Mountain phraseology, has a ific signification, and is used exclusively to designate those fty, well-watered plains, or prairies, to be found all along the ‘Summit Plateau,” shut in on all sides by mountains. Secondary ranges radiate from the primary chains, and jut Xxx INTRODUCTION. . out into the less elevated plains, east and west, along t whole extent; while the surface of the central or park distric is not unfrequently much disturbed by lesser ranges piled in endless confusion. } The “continental divide,” by which I always mean th water-parting of the Atlantic and the Pacific rivers, sometime passes through the western chain and sometimes through th eastern, crossing and recrossing the “Summit Plateau” by means of the transverse ridges. Had the “‘ Summit Plateau : been capped by one vast central pile, this would not have been the case. Again, the points which show signs, by their lofty peaks of the most imtense volcanic action, and, by the range radiating from them, that they were the centres of mountain making forces, are always to be found along the western 0 eastern main chains, at the edges, and not in the centre ¢ the “Summit Plateau,” which represents the back-bone 1 the general upheaval of the continent. Such volcanic peaks are :— Fremont’s Peak . : . P : 13,570 feet. Laramie Peak 4 3 . ; - ; not known. Long’s Peak ‘ : : . . . 13,575 feet. Mount Lincoln* . ‘ ‘ ‘j ‘ 17,000 feet. Mount Gray ee te ee ee 14,400 feet. : Pike’s Peak . ‘ r a ; ; “ i Spanish Peak. ‘ 11,000 feet. None of which have a a ogee on the “ Summi Plateau.” The general direction of the ‘Dual Main Chains” is th same as that of the “Summit Plateau,” upon which thej rest. From the 49th to the 42nd parallels it is north-west and south-east; from the 42nd to the 38th, nearly north au! south. From ae this parallel the main chains part com * On a transyerse ridge, although nearly central. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. XXxi . The course of the eastern ranges is mostly north and , until they become lost in the detached mountains een the Rio Grande and the Pecos River; the western es run more west of south, until they sink below the in the great Madre Plateau of New Mexico. the innumerable ranges of hills and mountains which r the regions west of the main chains, and east of the a Nevada, and which do not obviously jut out from the , ought not to be placed under the head of the Rocky ntain system. Such a classification only causes confusion, is not warranted either from the physical relations or gical formation of the mountains themselves. establish the truth of the above assertions with respect e Rocky Mountains and their general topography, I must to the map, while I very briefly point out the facts ich have led me to such conclusions. Commencing at the north, near the British American ntier, the two main chains are represented by the Bitter ot Mountains on the west, and by the “Flat Head Moun- ns” * on the east. A transverse range, The Big Hole ountains, unites these ranges a little south of the 48th allel. The Park region, thus enclosed, is fully one hundred miles oss, by thrice that distance in length. It is traversed in all ections by lesser ranges covered with pine, and enclosing ks and prairies, forests and lakes. The general slope of this country is towards the north- st, and the only outlet through which the drainage of the tire district can escape is in that direction. The stream ere formed is known as Clark’s Fork, and is the main * Name not permanently fixed, sometimes called Deer Park Mountains. I r the name derived from the Indians who inhabit these regions. XXXii INTRODUCTION. branch of the Columbia River. This region is at present special interest, as being that through which the Northe: Pacific Railway Company proposes to cross the ‘ Summ Plateau.” They intend entering it through Cadott’s Pass, the Flat Head range, crossing at this point the continent divide (which is found here in the eastern main chain), at a elevation of 5,330 feet. The railroad must then follow tl general direction of the drainage towards the north-west, § as to pass around the northern extremity of the Bitter Ro Mountains, which it heads near Pend d’Oreille Lake, onl 2,020 feet above the sea, and 240 miles from Cadott’s Pas As this pass (Cadott’s) is only one out of several at the bac of Helena, and as it entails a long tunnel, a better route wi in all probability be found when the district is thorough] surveyed. All this region abounds in mineral wealth, esp cially in gold leads, which have of late years been so prodit tive as to make Helena, the centre of the largest ni district, a place of considerable importance. The continental divide, having crossed the “Summit . teau” through the Big Hole Mountains, traverses the westé chain in a south-easterly direction for about a hundred milé where it crosses the “Summit Plateau,” for a second time, # right angles, passes into the Wind River Mountains, and thé resumes its former general direction southward. The easte / chain is here represented by hills forming the local divié between the Maddison and Jefferson rivers, which are t terminal forks of the Missouri. The central, or Park distri¢ much resembles that separated from it by the Big Hot transverse range. It is hilly, heavily timbered in places, contains several fertile parks, such as Big Hole Prairie, Ho Prairie, and Hooked Man’s Park. The duality of the chief ranges is not clearly defined # € PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. XXXili next hundred miles ; nor is this surprising, considering that his section one of the main divides of the western country .. that between the waters of the Gulf of California and e of the Northern Pacific—joins the mountains on the ummit Plateau.” A little north of Fremont’s Peak, the lofty summit of the Wind River range (elevation 13,570 , the Bear Mountains jut out towards the Great Wahsatch e, as a spur from the Rocky Mountain system. Along range the divide passes—the waters destined for the Gulf ; California, which flow south, being represented by the ds of Green River, the northern branch of the Rio rado; and those of the Northern Pacific by the terminal ches of Lewis Fork or Snake River, which latter flows to the Columbia. F To the north-east of the Wind River Mountains, and rising om the plains, are the Big Horn, the Snow, the Girdle, and her ‘‘lost mountains,” our present ignorance of which, both graphical and geological, will not allow us to group into general system. South-east of the Wind River Mountains, and forming its uthern continuation, runs a range of hills upon the western ge of the lofty ‘“‘Summit Plateau,” representing the western ain chain. Along this range passes the continental divide, having South Pass, Bridger’s, and others in its course. The stern main chain is here called the Black Hills; that part the “Summit Plateau” which intervenes is the level park strict, known as the Laramie Plains. The great elevation of these plains, which exceeds 7,000 et, coupled with their high latitude, renders them useless for ‘iculture, although for the most part they are good grazing nds. The mountains, however, present so small an obstacle engineering works (having in reality sunk into hills), that c ‘eexty INTRODUCTION. the Union Pacific Railway Company has chosen this distriet as affording the best passage across the continent for 1 central route. They have cut through the Black Hills by means of a short tunnel at Cheyenne Pass (elevation 8,2 feet), with an average grade of 74 feet per mile, have the iron ways across the level ‘Summit Plateau” ( Plains), and have crossed the continental divide by a still difficult pass than that through the Black Hills (situat about midway between South Pass and Bridger’ s), at elevation of 7,534 feet. These elevations are enormous, surpassing even the famo Summit Railway which crosses Mont Cenis at an elev: . of 6,800 feet. There are few engineering difficulties, ho ever, to contend against, and the construction of the rail is comparatively inexpensive. 1 The continental divide continues its south-easterly dire tion for about fifty miles from Bridger’s Pass in the we main chain, then passes due south for another fifty and then crosses the ‘‘ Summit Plateau” from the weste the eastern main chain. The portion of the plateau nor this transverse range (for such is the divide here) is as North Park; it is cut off from the Laramie Plains by minor range, and is shut in along its eastern boundary byt eastern main chain, a spur of which juts up into the Plains, as the Medicine Bow Mountains. : The only outlet for the drainage of North Park is ‘thr a cleft in its northern boundary. Through this the run, forming the north fork of the Platte River. stream traverses the Laramie Plains, passes out at the western corner, winds eastward around the Black Hi finally crosses the plains of Nebraska towards the River. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. | ~-XXXV Having crossed. by the southern mountain boundary of rth Park into the eastern main chain, the continental de lies now on the eastern side of the ‘“‘ Summit Plateau,” only through 1°; it then crosses again from Long’s to the western chain, forming three sides of a jare, enclosing the next park, Middle Park, which, of irse, is drained by streams flowing west. These streams he head-waters of Grand River; they escape through a in the western main chain, and, uniting eventually with en River, form the Great Colorado of the West. rhe next section of the ‘‘ Summit Plateau ” is South Park ; hemmed in on all sides, like the other parks, by moun- , the eastern and western main chains being well defined. e continental divide traverses the northern and western es which bound the park. The drainage is collected two streams, and passes through the other two sides through the eastern forms the south fork of the Platte, ile that which escapes through the southern becomes the kansas River. South of South Park the two main chains of the Rocky ountain system are never again united by transverse ranges, t diverge very considerably, as may be seen by referring the map. In the fork thus formed rise the head-waters of he Rio Grande, and as the ranges diverge, so does the valley this important river widen out. High up in the fork the ‘Summit Plateau” is called the St. Louis Park, and with ts crystal streams, its corn-fields, and its lake abounding in ut, is well deemed the most beautiful of all the Parks. It no less than 7,500 feet above the sea; the mountains unding it on the east are called the Sierra Blanca, and ose on the west the Sierra de San Juan. Gradually the “‘Summit Plateau” widens out, and sinks . e2 XXxyl INTRODUCTION, to the southward, until it can no longer be recognised as a, distinct table-land. The following elevations along the Rio Grande valley, from the St. Louis Park to the Mexican frontier, demonstrate the downward slope most clearly :— Intermediate distances in miles. Elevations, St. Louis Fark < i i z : i 4 7,0 Santa Fé . i ‘ s WOOO : : 6,846 Albuquerque . . ‘ 62:96 ‘ ; 5,033 Isletta s ‘ ; ; 14-0 : k 5,022 Fort Craig ‘ , y» San ‘ ‘ 4,508 El Paso . , : . 147 - E 3,830 South of El Paso, the Rio Grande encounters the coded extremity of the central plateau of Mexico, and, like a tru ; Western river, cuts its way through it, forming for nearly, 4 180 miles a succession of magnificent cajions. The eastern chain of the Rocky Mountain system te Al nates a few miles south-east of Santa Fé, scarcely reach ii the 35th parallel; for the long narrow ranges of gold af silver-bearing mountains, the Placer, Zandia, Manzana, So¢ dad, Organ, &c., which form almost an unbroken chain alo} ; the eastern side of the Rio Grande valley, should not classed in the Rocky Mountain system; they are differen ‘ in formation, and more recent in date. ; The western chain continues from South Park, to represest the continental divide. In it different ranges have recei special local names, but all are spoken of in general terms : the ‘‘ Sierra Madre of New Mexico.” How many, or how fey of these ranges, from the Sierra de San Juan north of the parallel to the Miembres and Burro Mountains, which the northern boundary of the great Madre Plateau south the 33rd, ought to be considered as southern continuation the Rocky Mountain system, must remain undecided the country north of Mount 7 is better tH PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. XXXVil xpect that a well-marked geological separation will then be found to exist between the more recent volcanic formations . which that mountain and its southern continuations are composed, and the far older structures and primitive up- heavals characteristic of the true Rocky Mountain system. III. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE COLORADO BASIN. The Three Great River Basins west of the Rocky Mountains compared.— Wahsatch Mountains.—Lieutenant Ives’ Expedition.—The Colorado Boe | consists of a succession of lofty, arid Table-lands.—Dr. Newberry on th’ Origin of the Strata forming these Table-lands.—The Drainage passes{ usually through Caiions.—The Colorado Plateau, and the Great Caiion which H passes through it.—How are Cafions formed ?—To what causes are due they Table-land features of the Country ?—Central Arizona.—The Mo gollo San Francisco, Pina-lefio, Sierra Madre, and other Mountains in tly Colorado Basin.—Valleys of the Rio Colorado.—Valley of the Rio Gila. THE country lying between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada consists of three regions. The basin of Columbia River forms tlie northern, that of the Colorado eastern and southern, and that of the Great Basin syste the western. There is not very much difference between areas of these districts. « a SB08 Hep ee curd i St aeled - 4,600 fe -_—_ _ Pe q SAA LOY SF GALS aoe > ay = SSE Fe Se En BEE EE Fe : 2 Ree! SP if) Limestone, mud-rocks, (yo f Penile Sone eet and sandstones. oS Fe a BSS Silurian, ean q SE Le set mmmetee | = z ft, 1,000 ft, << Potsdam sandstone. (1. 1 2,300 . ie ee ee ee oS rn a ep, pe 4 po > Pn fe A ee eR i ~~ = ~~ A pe Fae ™ ye Pa ine an ~ Wea tn UF ay eee fu 2 a ae oe : wpe we tere ars a bic. aia | a f 4, oe “Ne ga wr | ee ee ee cde. hating es q ~~ %& h, am ha yl ee ~_ E a Lea —4t The River. J w bis 1,300 it sep an mn, ~ag “a y ? hy ‘pus Ay Ane be Cizzz a aM Ar. A tit ge eet ws Nhs 4 ‘A ear i as Hr ~”L a pe - io ae i 3 x tia ae Sie rt eee Sale No | 3, 6 rag wi + a 42. £ 43, flo™” £4) ft? 3 sh Hig! eva rs r ct z (by om Newberry, MD! It chanced, howe the Colorado Chiquito, an unfortunate prospector, name James White, was actually passing through the entire leng# of this chasm upon a simple raft of cotton-wood. Asa account of this hazardous and thrilling adventure will _ PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. xlvii ind elsewhere, I need not here make any further allusion it. Between the Colorado Plateau—through which the Little jlorado also cuts its way to join the main stream, like rand and Green rivers, in a lofty-sided cafion of its own— d the Moquis country (another very elevated table-land), elongated basin extends from the Mogollon Mountains rth-westward into Utah. As variegated marls here come the surface, much of this wide trough has received the me of the “Painted Desert.” Through a great part of s depression the Colorado Chiquito flows, with open nks, through fertile bottom-land of considerable extent, til it enters the Colorado Plateau. ‘To the north-west the country again rises step by step, mesa om mesa ; and upon the edges of several of these latter may fotind those interesting fortified towns—the pueblos of the quis Indians. When Licutenant Ives’ party visited these regions, they sd to explore the country to the north-east, but want of = ter and extreme barrenness compelled them to return, and ex itinue their journey eastward by Fort Defiance into the ) Grande valley, and thence across the plains. Dr. New- y thus speaks of the Moquis country and the districts ond :— i “This mesa is, geologically and physically, the highest ich we actually passed over on our route west of the cky Mountains. Near Fort Defiance its summit has an | de of nearly 8,000 feet. At the Moquis villages, the ata forming the table-lands begin to rise towards the at ; ; and near Fort Defiance, where the mesa country reaches 00 feet, they plainly show the disturbing influence of the Bel axis of elevation of the Rocky Mountain system. iets - INTRODUCTION. Further east, to the Rio Grande and beyond it, they are mu dislocated, and finally lose their distinctive character in th intricacies of the mountain ranges. 4 “In the interval between Fort Defiance and the Rio Gra rises a great volcanic mountain, Mount Taylor (San Mail which, like that of San Francisco, has burst through th sedimentary strata, and poured over them floods of lav which are as fresh as though ejected but yesterday. ‘ “The highest of the table-lands which we passed over Wi formed of Lower Cretaceous strata ; and yet another must | added to the series before my Pee nee of them will complete. “On our route across the continent, we passed somewh south of the centre of what we may, perhaps, properly call t th basin of the Upper Colorado, and did not, therefore, ma quite to the summit of its geological series. Going “nor from the Moquis villages on the Lower Cretaceous mesa, 0 : progress was arrested by a want of water, the surface bel everywhere cut by deep cafions, by which it is drained? excess, every rain-drop which falls finding its way immediatel ‘ into the bottom of these ravines, where it,is hurried off to # th far deeper cafions of the Colorado and its larger tribute : Before we turned back, however, we had approached neat to the base of a wall, rising abruptly from the mesa in whit we stood te the height of more than 1,000 feet. This W was as white as chalk, and reflected the sunlight like a of snow. It is evidently the edge of another and a hi plateau, and apparently reaches to the Rio Colorado, whe caps the high mesa, forming part of the stupendous ™ faces presented towards the south and west, which were tinctly visible when we had receded from them to the ¢ is of one hundred miles. — PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 7 ae * What the character of this upper mesa is I had no means _determining at that time, and even now there may be some aestion about it; but I have scarcely a doubt that it is mnposed of the Upper Cretaceous strata, the equivalents of e true chalk of Europe.” This has not yet been recognised y any geologist on the American Continent.* From what has been said, we can now answer the question How are cafions formed, and what are the physical condi- ons necessary for their formation ? Cafions are usually formed by the action of water only, maided by volcanic force, which is often erroneously said to > the primary cause of the so-called fissures and cracks through which the waters flow. _ The physical conditions are,—Ist. A dry climate, in which even periodical rains do not fall to any considerable amount ; 2nd. The passage of never-failing streams from their distant and exterior sources through this dry country; 3rd. It is “req uisite that the surface strata should be of such a nature as asily to yield to the action of the current ; but when once a “groove has been furrowed, and the water channel definitely ‘fixed, it does not appear to matter of what the underlying ocks are composed, since the unceasing attrition of ages has, n some instances, succeeded in cutting through 1,000 feet of the hardest granite; 4th. It is requisite that the fall of the and should be sufficiently great to insure a rapid current. It is impossible for a country in which cafons abound to anything but sterile and utterly worthless, for the deep cuttings everywhere drain it to the utmost; and the waters, buried deep in the bowels of the earth, lie far beyond the reach of animal or vegetable life on the surface. Tn answer to the question, To what causes are due the mesa, * Vessels are ballasted with true chalk from London to New York. a 1 INTRODUCTION. or table-land, features of this country ? I quote Dr. Newberry in his own words :— ‘‘ Like the great cations of the Colorado, the broad vill bounded by high and perpendicular walls, belong to a vast system of erosion, and are wholly due to the action of water Probably nowhere in the world has the action of this age produced results so surprising, both as regards their mage and their peculiar character. Itis not at all strange that a cau se which has given, to what was once an immense plain, unde1 : laid by thousands of feet of sedimentary rocks, conformable throughout, a topographical character more niches that 1 that of any mountain chain; which has made much of i t absolutely impassable to man, or any animal but the wing ; orders of creation, should be regarded as something out of the common course of nature. Hence the first and most plausih le explanation of the striking surface features of this region ; to refer them to that embodiment of resistless power—™ ne sword which cuts so many geological knots—voleanic force. “The great cafion of the Colorado would be considered # vast fissure or rent in the earth’s crust, and the abrupt termination of the steppes of the table-lands as marking lines | of displacement. This theory, though so plausible, and 0 entirely adequate to explain all the striking phenomena, lem is a single requisite to acceptance, and that is érwth. ; ‘ Aside from the slight local disturbance of the sediment ar rocks, about the San Francisco mountain—from the gpurs the Rocky Mountains, near Fort Defiance on the east, to those of the Cerbas and Aztec mountains on the west—the strata 0 the table-lands are as entirely unbroken as when cna ‘ Having this fact constantly in mind, and examining wit possible care the structure of the great cafions which W entered, I everywhere found evidence of the exclusive ti PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. li water in their formation.- The opposite sides of the eepest chasm showed perfect correspondence of stratification, onforming to the general dip, and nowhere was there displace- nent ; the bottom rock, so often dry and bare, was, perhaps, leeply eroded, but continuous from side to side, a portion of he yet undivided series lying below. The mesa walls should ye included in the same category with those of the cafions— ometimes, indeed, they are but cafions, miles in breadth. “The origin of the series of escarpments which are met yith in crossing the table-lands from west to east is, I think, lependent upon very general, but yet appreciable causes, to vhich I can here, however, but briefly allude. “From the Cerbas Mountains to the base of the high nesa,* the strata composing the high table-lands have a t rth-easterly dip of about 100 feet to the mile. There they ise, but soon dip again into the valley of the Little Colorado, ®heir strike being nearly at right angles with the course of he great draining stream, the Colorado. By a glance at the ap, it will be seen that the watershed, made up by the San ancisco group, the Mogollon, and the spurs of the Rocky fountains, which throws the water into the Colorado over the Mable-lands from the south, south-east, and east, forms a semi- Fircle imperfectly parallel with the course of the Colorado, o which the drainage from the different parts of this semi- cle falls nearly at right angles. The flow of waters from ‘he > mountains has therefore been here, as elsewhere along the ike of the strata, north and north-west from the San ancisco and Mogollon mountains on the western side of the sin. The legitimate and inevitable effect of this combina- n of causes has been to erode the softer down to the harder trata, forming broad valleys, bounded on the west by the _ * That mesa, N.E. of Fort Defiance, supposed to consist of true chalk. d 2 * hi INTRODUCTION. denuded slope of the harder rocks; on the east by the abrupt wall of the softer strata, most precipitous when capped by harder material. The erosion, for the most part produced by water flowing from a distant source, has taken place on th harder material at the bottom only of each trough, and thug has preserved the abruptness of the wall.” * Leaving the weird, worthless regions north of the 36th parallel, let us glance for a moment at those forming Centra! Arizona, lying between the Colorado Chiquito and the Rio Gila. Nearly all this region has been greatly disturbed by innumerable ranges of mountains, more or less voleanic, while the surface is covered with the products of volcanoes noW extinct, and with the drift washed from the mountain “ident q Between the head-waters of the Rio Gila and the Colorado 4 Chiquito is a very elevated tract of country, chiefly oon by the various ranges known as the Mogollon Mountains which shed their waters in a southern direction to form th Rio Gila, and in a north and north-western direction towé is the Colorado Chiquito. The hostile Indians, the Apaches, ot these regions have, up to the present time, so kept the white man at bay that no explorations haye been made through them; and we know nothing of the country, except from the few eae prospectors whom thirst for gold has led to ris their lives in its pursuit. The reports of these men, who ¢ wonderfully shrewd and reliable, describe the land as being very beautiful and of great fertility. Forests of noble pin cover large portions of the mountains, enclosing well-wateret a: parks and valleys of considerable extent, clothed with lux * I have quoted Dr. Newberry at some length, because I feel that ¢ credit is due to him for so clearly laying down “those ingen which, whe thoroughly grasped by the Western traveller, enable him to read the ace . intelligently, and to account for much of what is very striking, anner satisfactory to himself, eyen thuugh he may not be versed in gooleet PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. hii nt Grama grass; and although much of it is wild and rren, cut up by ravines and impassable barriers, still the gns of mineral wealth everywhere abound, and predict a osperous future for this section of country. The moisture from the Gulf of Mexico has no great obstacle bar its way between the Texan coast and these regions, and cause its precipitation before arriving at them; for the Summit Plateau” in this latitude has sloped away, and the ocky Mountain chains have ceased to be conspicuous, so 1at the rainfall about the mountains of Central Arizona is far 1 reater than the travellers who have passed north, or, as is ore usually the case, south of them, in the: more level though nore arid districts, are aware of. The next belt of mountain ranges, also trending north-west nd south-east, is that which has the Aztec Mountains, Bill ) illiams Mountain, and perhaps the San Fraticisco peaks, to nark its northern extremity. It passes obliquely across izona, cresting the San Francisco Plateau, forming the ina-lefio Mountains, north and south of the Rio Gila; the Jhiricahui Mountains, their continuation; the Sierra Calitro ir d Sierra de Santa Catarina, parallel ranges; then, crossing he boundary line into Mexico, the mountain sources of the Jan Pedro and Santa Cruz rivers form part of the same belt f upheaval. At last it is merged into the Sierra Madre, which caps the plateau of Mexico. If the Sierra Madre, or main mountain chain of Mexico proper, be a continuation of in y northerly chain, it is of that which I have just mentioned, and not, as is commonly but erroneously supposed, of the i ‘ocky Mountains, which undoubtedly lose themselves at least 2° to the north-east in the broad plateau of New Mexico, 0 ommonly known as the Plateau of the Sierra Madre. When a range of mountains forms the main continental > liv INTRODUCTION. water-parting, the Mexicans of the locality very commonly call it the ‘Sierra Madre,” or Mother Mountain; thus it happens that there are several Sierra Madres, which belong not only to the actual Rocky Mountain system, north of the 34th parallel, but also rise from the highest plateaux of Mexico _ proper. And while referring to this distinction, I may add that I have thought it desirable to carry the same idea further, — and leave out the word Sterra in the name given to the great { plateau of Southern New Mexico, thus calling it simply the Madre (or Mother) Plateau, because the continental divide — actually crosses it, although no range of mountains, or In fact any perceptible inequality of surface, marks the water- 4 parting. : 1 North of the Rio Gila, the description of the Mogollon — mountain belt applies with equal truth to these ranges, except q that portions of country amongst the latter have been settled ] up, partly by Mexicans, the remnant of the Spanish occupa- { tion of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and partly by q Americans, since the annexation in 1848. Extensive mining — districts have been discovered ; mines have been opened and found to yield abundantly; herdsmen have commenced raising — stock ; and farmers have found that crops could be grown, evel 4 without irrigation, in many places around Prescott (the 3 capital), situated in the northern part of this belt of moun tains. But the wild Indians of these regions are waging, as they have been waging for ages, unceasing war against the ” cultivator of the soil, whether he be Aztec, Mexican, 1% Anglo-Saxon; and, although vastly inferior beings in eVe'Y — 2% = respect, these savages are even now successfully stamping out 4 the efforts of the white men to inhabit the country. . Apaches, who have ever lived by the plunder of their neigh- bours, are at this moment driving back the tide of emigra- q PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. ly m in Central and Southern Arizona; and neither the ttlers nor the military dispersed throughout the country @ able to contend successfully against them. Is the country v fays to remain a wilderness ? Wherever we or our parties have been we have found the F hole country strewn with the ruins of villages, irrigating s und pottery belonging to a populous race now extinct. ‘The Indians of the Moquis villages, which have been fe = to; the Indians of the Pima villages, who cultivate rge tracts of land in the Rio Gila bottoms; and the wander- ig tribe, the Papagos, who inhabit a large tract of country, most a desert, south of that river, are the only civilised idians now to be found in Arizona. The fertile valleys of lese regions once supported a very considerable population. ave the Apaches overpowered them, or have recent physical anges in the country led to their disappearance? There is uch to be said in favour of either hypothesis ; but we will ave the discussion of them until we have travelled through e country and made i acquaintance of its present inha- fants. . E etween the comparatively fertile belt of mountainous untry which we have been considering, and the Rio ; lorado, lies a district less elevated, and becoming very : 7 and arid as we pass westward. It is, however, covered or less with short ranges of bare, volcanic hills, rich in inerals, gold and silver veins, which are attracting the te ention of miners from California more and more every ear. At last the Colorado Desert is itself reached. This , having traversed the lofty plateau in almost a due rly course, takes a great bend to the south, and emerg- from its caioned table-lands into the lower country, ders through broad and sultry valleys, which become lyi INTRODUCTION. more and more parched and sterile as they near the head of the Gulf of California. : The Rio Gila does much the same thing: it cuts throug ‘ the Pina-lefio Mountains north of Camp Grant by means of a succession of cafions. Its bottom-lands are extensive and fertile above these cafions for a distance which at present 1s not ascertained, and below them for about fifty miles in he Pima country. But, further west, it enters the sterile region known as the Gila Desert, the continuation northward of 7 Great Sonora Desert, and passes through it for the remaiming 150 miles of its course until it reaches the Colorado. ; This completes our rapid survey of the Colorado Basin. 1, We will now pass over the Wahsatch Mountains, forming its western boundary, and take a bird’s-eye view of the count! y beyond. . IV. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE GREAT BASIN. Sh ape, Boundaries, and Elevations of the so-called ‘‘ Great Basin.’’—The Region is covered throughout with short Volcanic Mountain Ranges.—The Soil.—The Drainage: its Peculiarities—The term ‘‘ Great Basin” is a misnomer.—Lakes and Rivers.—Oases in the Desert.—Mormon Settle- ments.— Mineral Wealth.—The Comstock Lode. Brrwern the Wahsatch Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, extending northward beyond the 42nd parallel, and southward into Lower California, lies a district considerably larger than the kingdom of France, which goes by the name of the Great Basin. It has received the name simply from the fact th at none of its rivers enter the sea. It is not an appropriate name, however, for it embodies a glaring topographical error. The Colorado Basin represents in shape a triangle, whose | apex lies to the north or north-east; the Great Basin (we must retain the usual name) is also shaped like a triangle, whose apex points to the south or south-west. From this apex at the Gulf of California, the ground rises from the level of tide-water to ,000 feet, or thereabouts, in Central Nevada; and this is bout the general level of the whole country between the — Sierra Nevada and the Wahsatch Mountains in the broad part of the Great Basin. North of the Humboldt, where the drainage divides, this elevation is exceeded, and there are ‘innumerable local depressions which scarcely reach 4,000 “feet ; but north of the 37th parallel there are few places below this elevation. “~ lyiii INTRODUCTION. There is great uniformity throughout the whole of the ‘ country ; the surface is covered everywhere with short ranges ' of volcanic mountains of recent origin. Their general trend seems to be influenced mostly by their relative positions with | q respect to the great ranges on either side of them—the Sierra Nevada and the Wahsatch Mountains; for the tendency is.to_ run parallel to whichever of these they are nearer to, and in— the centre of the basin the general direction is north and : south. In crossing the Great Basin, from Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada to the Wahsatch range at Salt Lake, we passed over no fewer than twenty of these ranges, the basin | at that latitude being 700 miles across. On the 35th parallel, nine ranges were crossed ; on the 32nd, a less number ; as 12 the one case the distance across was less than 300 miles, and — in the other under 200. q The ranges consist chiefly of volcanic tufa, trachyti¢ ; breccia, trachyte, and diversely-coloured porphyry, all more OF | less decomposed. They are mountains in miniature, beauti ; in outline, variegated by many-tinted rocks, and usually pel 1 fectly bare of trees, or even shrubs. They show on their sides the effect of rains and water to an enormous extent, for” the voleanic rocks of which they consist are easily decom- posed by the elements, and then washed away. The rang may in former times haye been very long and continuous but it is evident that, ever since their formation, water b been cutting them through, washing them down, and fillin up the valleys with drift from their sides. The average width of the ranges would be about twely miles, the height above the general level of the basin fr 1,000 to 4,000 feet. The valleys are mostly about twen miles wide, and often of great length; but more frequently the are limited above and below by transyerse ranges, which,” oe eee PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. lix owever, are sometimes washed down to very inconsiderable imensions, so as to form a number of separate little basins. he well-preserved water-marks which are everywhere visible dicate extreme dryness, upon which dryness most of the eculiar characteristics of the country depends. Artemisian crub (sedge-brush) and grease-wood* alone spring from the ry, parched earth, except where some stream of unusual ersistence supports a row of cotton-wood trees ¢ and a few icres of grass along its edges. From the decomposition of volcanic rocks, the soil in its ingredients is very rich, and, where irrigation can be supplied, yields most abundant crops. [here are broad, level districts, however, called by the settlers ‘ alkali flats,” which are covered with salts, usually nitrate ff soda, and are thereby rendered perfectly barren. These white, glistening sheets, in the dry, unsteady atmosphere of he desert, form the most tantalising mirages to which a hirsty traveller could be exposed. At certain seasons they re covered for a short time with a thin coating of water— he local drainage of the surrounding district—which is soon lissipated by the scorching sun. » The plateaux of the basin-region were undoubtedly the last portions of the Western Continent raised from the sea—the last rom which the Gulf of California retired. Even now sub- erranean fires are active, and the process of gradual upheaval nay still be going on. Earthquakes are frequent; mud yolcanoes are still to be found in places; huge cracks in the sarth’s surface have occurred within the memory of living men ; craters, recently active, dot the whole district ; and hot springs are so numerous that I have counted fifty-two jets of steam issuing from the ground like pillars of smoke in one . alone. *% Obione cunescens. + Populus angustifolia. Ix INTRODUCTION. When the Great Basin came into existence, or rath emerged from the water, there were dry lands and mounts east, west, and north of it, shutting out from it the mois in of the Pacific Ocean, as well as any that might trav e thither from the far-off Gulf of Mexico. The climate maj be considered to have been then not unlike that of the presel time, so that the rain-fall was far less, even in the new-bor ‘Basin Region,” than it was over the Colorado Basin in it primeval state, which was then washed by a broad Pacifi i Ocean. The effect of these climatic peculiarities was that | a sufficient quantity of rain never fell upon the “Basin Region’ to form a complete system of drainage from the highest lane ' down to the sea. | We can easily conceive that, in the formation of an exter si drainage system, the little primitive streams form lakes at ‘he first serious obstacle met with in their course. These 1a i? when full to overflowing, find at length some outlet, and wea the channel of exit deeper and deeper, until the obstacle 18 overcome, and the lake drained. Thus lake after lake } formed, and disappears as each succeeding obstruction is ctl through, until the independent streams, having sought e lowest levels of the country, unite their waters into a singl® channel, and so pass into the sea. There is nothing whatevé in the physical construction of the Great Basin to have P* e vented the formation of one great river, emptying into the Gut of California, either as an independent stream or as a tributar y of the Rio Colorado. It is not because the Great Basi 5 really a complete basin without an outlet, or with a c presenting an insurmountable barrier to the drainage, its waters do not escape to the sea, but rather because it is BG a single basin at all, but a collection of perhaps hundreds 0 basins, which have always remained in their primitive isolate PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. ‘xi ondition, each with its stream and its lake at the end of it, and because the separate streams have never had force enough to break through the barriers which all streams have at first ~ to encounter, and to unite their waters, so as to form a - complete drainage system. There is no doubt that formerly _ the atmosphere was more humid, and that more rain fell, for © the remains of fresh-water shells of the present epoch, , covering large tracts of desert, prove the existence at one time of lakes much greater in extent than any which can _ now be found; but instead of being filled to overflowing, and breaking through their barriers to the sea, these lakes lost more water by evaporation and percolation than their tributary streams supplied, and thus were gradually dried up. The drainage, then, of the Great Basin is in a primi- tive stage of existence, and will probably always remain so. Wherever in this region there are lofty mountains, there we are pretty certain to find a lake proportionately great. If the lake has no outlet, it of necessity contains salt water, which becomes salter and salter as time advances, from the concentration, by means of evaporation, of the salts washed into it from the decomposed rocks of the mountains. But When the lake has an outlet, the water is, as usual, fresh. — Great Salt Lake is an example of the former class ; Utah Lake of the latter. Most of the lakes, however, are not perma- nent; they form broad sheets of water after rain, but are perfectly dry and barren during the greater part of the year. They vary greatly in elevation and size. Great Salt Lake exceeds 4,000 feet above the level of the sea; Sevier, _ 9,000; Lake Tahoe, 6,250; Monro Lake, 6,454; Pyramid, 8,940 ; Williamson’s, 2,388 ; Morongo Sink, 1,500 ; Mojave _ Sink, 1,000; and Perry Basin, 530. ;. - Pwo: depressions, at least, are below the level of the Lxii INTRODUCTION. sea: the one is a large saline flat, situated a little north of the Mexican boundary line, which is usually called Soda Lake. It is about 70 feet below tide-water, and although nearly always perfectly dry, a long dyke, known as Handy Colorado or New River, flows through the desert towards it t when the Great Colorado is flooded. Leaving the latter stream about half-way between Fort Yuma and its mouth, 1 it receives the back-water of the Colorado, flows northward across the boundary line, and becomes lost in the desert before reaching Soda Lake. If it had sufficient volume, thi fs large depression would become filled with fresh water | very desirable result. The most wonderful depression, however, is Death val the sink of the Amargoza, which is 175 feet below the § Although this depression is an arid desert, an enormous é of country drains into it, extending from lat. 37° to the ® Barnardino Mountains, from which the Mojave River rise’ and comprising not less than 30,000 square miles. At st sight it might appear that the existence of these depressions rather contradicted what I have said as to the causes vi have produced the hydrographic peculiarities of this “ Bast Region.” But a glance at the Colorado Basin at once, I ‘ think, decides the question. Let us suppose that a h mi climate had poured abundant rains upon the table-land, 1, 000 feet high, which separates Death Valley from the low I: ads at the head of the Gulf. A fine sheet of water would cov Death Valley, and this lake would have had an outlet to. sea through the opposing table-land. If 7,000 feet of tabi land yielded to the waters of the Rio Colorado, surely 1, 000) feet of similar formation would not prevent the overflow 7 large lake from reaching the coast. | Great Salt Lake, the largest in the Great Basin, 18 abou PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Ixiii sixty miles long, by ten miles broad—a very small sheet of water compared with the fresh-water lakes of the Eastern ‘States, or those of Central Africa. But there is abundant 4, evidence all around it to prove that in former times it 4 covered an area twice, if not thrice, as great as it occupies at present. Of late years this lake has steadily been rising ; ‘80 steadily that, if this rise continues, thousands of acres ‘which are now lake-shore will soon be re-covered with | water. It is a question of considerable interest whether the : large tracts of land now irrigated by the Mormons have not , a caused this result, by considerably extending the area of evaporating surface, and increasing, as a consequence, the Aa yearly rain-fall. , the largest stream in the Great Basin is the Humboldt, Which is more than 500 miles long, and passes from east to _ west across the entire district, at its northern part, before emptying itself into Humboldt Lake. The valley of this _ river is said to be generally so sandy as to be worthless even a if irrigated ; but this conclusion may be premature, for many , of the lands most productive when irrigated, look sandy and _ utterly worthless in their parched and wild condition. Much of the Rio Grande valley bears testimony to the truth of this assertion. Reese River fertilises a narrow valley of about 100 miles in length, near the centre of the basin, in which are several agricultural settlements. The same may be said of the Tuckee, Carson River, Walker River, and some others, _ Which flow from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada into lakes in the desert. Along these, and the western slopes of the Wahsatch Mountains, a great many spots are favoured With enough running water to support a considerable popula- tion; and, in fact, all over the Great Basin the most tempting localities are being colonised and settled up by little lxiv INTRODUCTION. communities of Mormons from Salt Lake City, who are all : agriculturists, and nothing else. Tf, however, the Great Basin had only these attractions to hold out to emigrants, it would be a region of as little interest as any on the globe; but amongst these barren, monotonous ranges lie the vast deposits of silver ore which, since the discovery of the Comstock lode, have been found to be scattered throughout the entire region. The lode just named has yielded, in the four years ending April Ist, 1866, 51,380,500 dollars, or upwards of £11,000,000 sterling. Its present annual yield is about 600,000 pounds avoirdupois of silver (containing more or less gold), worth about £4,000, 000 sterling, a yield which exceeds the present yearly total of 3 1 the silver mines in Mexico. One mine company alone—the Savage—during 1867 paid in dividends a larger sum thas 1 that derived from all the metallic mines of England a Wales put together. Any day we may hear of another ‘ ‘Veta Madre” (as the Mexicans call one of these wide rich veins) being discovered, for by far the greater part of ne basin is as yet quite unknown, even to the indefatigable prospectors, who brave all privations in the search for th e precious metals. Mr. Ross Brown, in his last Report ° : mining operations in the districts west of the Mississipph gives the total yields of the gold-fields of California, : the year 1867, at the small sum of 25,000,000 dollars, while that of Nevada is 20,000,000 dollars, of which 8 Comstock lode furnished about 14,500,000 dollars, thu a leaving the large amount of over 5,000,000 dollars as ™ yield of the newly-discovered districts. 4 Enough, however, has been said to give a general idea © the Great Basin, so we shall leave the further consideratial of this subject, and of the probable results to be peal PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Ixy when two great railways are completed across it, to be more fully discussed in subsequent pages. The short reference already made in this introduction to jit the drainage of California, and to the mountain ranges of that State, will suffice to give a general idea of ‘how the land lies” between the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific coast. PART I. FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE RIO | GRANDE DEL NORTE. FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE RIO GRANDE DEL NORTE. CHAPTER I. THE CAPITAL OF THE WEST. Arrival at St. Louis.—The Mississippi.—History of St. Louis from its first — settlement in 1764.—Its present prosperity and future prospects. —Natural resources of Missouri.—Depression caused by the War.—Pernicious effects of Slayery.—St. Louis the Capital of Missouri.—St. Louis the Centre of Commerce throughout the Mississippi oes —St. Louis the most natural spot for the Federal Capi a _ Tux moment I felt the train slackening itS speed, as it __ neared St. Louis, I threw open the window and looked steadily > ahead, to catch a first glimpse of the Mississippi. It separates _ the railway terminus from the city; and, as the line runs _ close to the river for a short distance, a fine view is gained of its grand proportions. It is marred considerably by the total ; 7 absence either of large timber or good houses on the: eastern : ] bank ; but the opposite side, marked by the broad bustling : j quay, and a string of many-storied river boats, two miles in : 7 length,—the dense piles of warehouses and the rest of the city 4 _ built on a higher level, forming the background,—is perfect as _ picture of American progress. On leaving the train, on the q SD cstien bank, you find half-a-dozen large omnibuses, drawn ' by four horses, and the usual accompaniments of hacks and J ’ carriages, waiting to receive you. When the omnibuses are | 4 ‘ 2 : NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. filled, they all start down to the river-bank and drive straight — on to the ferry-boat, closely followed by the small fry. The omnibuses and carriages take up one side of the boat, the carts and wagons fill the other; the whistle sounds, and off — we go, apparently up stream, but we soon find that the current is carrying us across, and that in reality we only hold our ground against it. It is now that we fully realise the _ width of the river and the great rapidity of its current. | The St. Louis ferry-boat will soon be a thing of the past, — for the foundations of a splendid bridge are already laid. It is, I believe, to be built on arches for some distance on each | side, and to be united in the centre by a suspension bridge 600 feet in length, and so lofty that the largest river boats may pass beneath it without lowering their chimneys. This | bridge, like that of Niagara, is to combine road and rail, one above the other. Besides this, a tunnel is also in contempla-_ tion, which will supply to another section of the city similar advantages. ~ It would not, I think, bé just to St. Louis to leave it | behind us without devoting a few lines to its history and future prospects. The capital of the West may be taken as 4 a sample of those large commercial centres of the United | States whose growth has been so marvellous. Not more than a century ago, in the summer of 1763, Pierre Lascede, with a party of French trappers and traders,” started up the Mississippi, from New Orleans, for the purpos’ of establishing a trading-post at the junction of the two gem ' rivers—the Mississippi and the Missouri. After five months r travel, their destination was reached, but the low lands . treacherous banks at the junction did not satisfy them; “e they retraced their steps to a rising ground which they hat passed twenty miles below on the western bank ; and her ST. LOUIS AS A TRADING-POST. 3 on the 15th of February, 1764, the birthday of Louis XV., ‘they landed and established a permanent settlement. Like most French colonists on the American continent, these men managed to live in peace with the Indians. Instead of trying to “improve” them off the earth, they did not scruple to unite with them in social bonds, which resulted in the rising generation being mostly half-breeds. The trader’s hut was little better than a wigwam, and he himself became after a time not so far removed from a red-skin. The same year in which the colony was founded, all the country east of the Mississippi came into the hands of the English ; and several French settlers, who did not relish a change of nationality, joined the little colony at St. Louis. No sooner, however, had they arrived, than fresh tidings _ came that all the French possessions west of the great river _ had been ceded by Louis XV. to Spain; and thus St. Louis became an outpost of Spanish Louisiana, and remained so for thirty years. During this period, trade with the Indians, and that alone, caused a gradual increase, more, however, of the wealth than of the population in the settlement ; and in 1804, when Spanish Louisiana became part of the United _ States, the colony scarcely numbered 1,000 inhabitants. What _ 4 startling event this must have been for the little community of Frenchmen, squaws, and half-breeds! Freedom of worship and a post-office were at once established; in 1808 there appeared a newspaper; in 1809 a fire company; in 1810 road-masters were established; in 1811 two schools—one _ French, the other English—and a market were opened; in 1812 the first Mission Fur Company was formed, which _ Yevolutionised the entire fur trade; in 1813 lead mining commenced; and in 1815 the first steamboat was seen at _ St. Louis. Not content, however, with these innovations, the . B2 4 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. Anglo-Saxon intruders set to work at that early day to Phila- — delphianise the “city,” or rather to reproduce Philadelphia, — then their model of perfection, on the banks of the Mississippi. Five years after the era of steamboat navigation, the ques- — tion of slavery came before the people of St. Louis, and they, — after prolonged deliberation, voted in favour of it; by which 7 act they saddled upon the whole of Missouri an institution — which was thoroughly unsuited to the State, situated as it is in so northern a latitude, and containing within itself such , varied sources of wealth. | From 1820 to 1830 the tide of emigration gradually crept q westward, until at last, between 1830 and ’35, the discovery — of the enormous agricultural value of the prairie regions, | which oecupy so large a portion of the eastern part of the | Mississippi basin, caused the wave of emigration to pass like a flood over all that country. Chicago was unborn, and the © great north-west was almost unknown when St. Louis became — the outlet for the produce of the western prairie farmer. — From this epoch her population has rapidly increased, her j wooden shanties have been replaced by large buildings of brick and stone, her narrow French streets have become ; broad avenues, and the merchants of St. Louis have gradually amassed an amount of wealth far greater than © those of any other city west of the Alleghany Moun-— tains. Nothing has more forcibly shown how solid the com- | mercial prosperity of St. Louis really is than the wonderful : ’ manner in which her inhabitants have withstood the pro longed depression caused by the rebellion. By far the | majority of the influential men in the city were Secessionists ; | still the Republican minority, with the aid of the Germans, © who represent a population of 30,000 souls, and assisted | occasionally by the central government, defeated all attempts | THE GROWTH OF ST. LOUIS. 5 at carrying the secession ordinance, and thus kept Missouri within the Union. The State, however, being a border State, _ was swept over and over again by the contending armies; so fiercely, indeed, did the passions of civil strife rage in the _ breast of the Missourians, that where one party held pos- _ Session of a district, none of the opposite faction could live _ therein, all had to leaye and seck homes elsewhere. With the country in such a condition for at least the first two- thirds of the war, complete stagnation of trade, and some- thing nearly resembling a state of siege, existed in the city. Yet, notwithstanding this, scarcely a mercantile house of any note “fell through,” and nearly all the merchants were able to resume business on their former firm basis immediately after the war had ceased. The following table shows the gradual growth in population of St. Louis :— As a trading-post. A.D. A.D 1764 120 1830 5,852 1780 687 1840 16,469 1799 925 1850 74,439 1811 1,400 1859 185,587 1820 4,928 1866 204,327 1867 220,000 What shall we say of the present city? The traveller from the east finds himself at home directly; he knows almost where every house is situated, and can go straight to his des- tination without asking the way; for the streets, which run parallel to the river, are all named, as in Philadelphia, Ist, . 2nd, 8rd, &e., from the quay inland; while the familiar names of Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, and Pine meet him at every corner, since these avenues (also according to Phila- delphian rule) cut the numbered streets at right angles. There are no natural limits to the expansion of the city. 6 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH: AMERICA. Most of the streets are wide and beautifully paved; the houses are fine, and, until three days before my first arrival, the largest hotel in the States was located here. I only saw : its smoking ruins. As the traffic is not of necessity confined — to any single thoroughfare, on account of the chess-board — regularity of the streets, an air of quiet and repose usually j rests upon the city. Signs of a considerable French popula- tion are everywhere to be recognised, and that too, not only © in the shops and cafés, but about the streets; society also — is softened and refined by it, trade is less wild and enthu- siastic, pleasure is more sought after and enjoyed. Sunday — also wears a characteristic garb, for half the population are — Roman Catholics. q Enough, however, has been said of St. Louis past and present. Let us take a glance at the probable future of this city, which for nearly half a century has been trebling its , population every ten years. | FP St. Louis is, in the first place, the commercial capital of — Missouri, a State unsurpassed by any of her sisters in the © plentitude of her natural resources. The soil throughout — almost the entire area of 65,037 square miles * is most fertile — and well watered; it consists of alternate tracts of heavily ™ timbered country and prairie land. Some of the finest dis- 3 tricts are picturesquely undulating ; others consist of the pet- h fectly level bottom-lands of the Mississippi and Missouri. In | some counties the rocks are partly of volcanic origin, 2 4% - others the limestone and carboniferous strata prevail. The } composition of the soil being so various, the number of pro — ductions is unusually great. Besides the cereals, all of which © thrive luxuriously, hemp, tobacco, the grape-vine, sorghum, — imphee, and cotton in the south, are among the most * Area of England and Wales — 58,320 square miles. THE MINERAL WEALTH OF MISSOURI. 7 | important. Forty-five per cent. of the hemp grown in the United States comes from Missouri, the tobacco is equal to that grown in Virginia and Kentucky, and the manufacture of wine is progressing most satisfactorily, both as regards _ quality and the yearly yield per acre. As regards the mineral wealth of Missouri, more than one- third of the entire State lies upon a vast coal-field, many veins of which average 15 feet in thickness. Iron of the best quality is very abundant, not below the surface only, but above it; for a few miles from St. Louis there are two mounds, Pilot Knob, 585 feet in height, and Iron Mountain, which - covers an area of 500 acres; both of these are solid masses of the richest iron ore. Extensive deposits of lead and copper are also situated in the vicinity, and from these mines short lines of railway carry the coal, iron, lead, and copper to the furnaces and factories of St. Louis. Quite recently, tin has been discovered in large quantities ; while zinc, platina, silver, gold, nickel, pipe-clay, marble, granite, and other kinds of building-stone are amongst the mineral productions of dif- ferent parts of the State. There can be no question but that slavery has greatly retarded the development of all this natural wealth, for it has, to a great extent, kept out the industrious emigrant of small capital who was willing to farm with his own hands; and it has also acted as a continual damper upon all those sources of industry which are dependent upon skilled labour ; so that St. Louis was checked in her manufactures by the same influences which kept back the mining and agricultural interests of the country at large. Now, however, slavery is no more, and the immense tracts _ of uncultivated land, which at the termination of the war amounted to at least, 25,000,000 acres, have since been 8 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERIOA, nearly all taken up, either from the Government under the . IIomestead Act, or by small purchasers from the original , great land-owners. The effect of this influx of small farmers into Missouri is well shown by the corn market receipts. In q 1860 (before the war) the corn receipts amounted to 4,250,000 of bushels. In 1863 (during the war) they fell to less than — 1,000,000. In 1865 (after the war) they again rose to j 3,000,000; and in 1866 they reached the unprecedented amount of 7,233,671 bushels. There is scarcely an industry which has not made almost — as rapid growth. The quantity of machinery and iron goods — now manufactured at St. Louis is enormous. The flour trade _ is probably the largest in the States; next in importance — come the sugar refineries; these and many other manufac- | tures are rapidly increasing in numbers and importance, as railway extension and the advance of settlement westward, enlarge year by year the market to be supplied by them. St. Louis is not, however, the commercial capital of Mis- souri only, she is also the great trading centre of the Missis- sippi valley. More than 260 river steamers are employed in her carrying trade; and I have counted sixty of these curious three-storied structures, combining the hotel above and the merchant ship below, lying along the quay. These boats ascend the Mississippi 740 miles, to St. Paul, and descend it to its mouth, 1,212. They go up the Missouri 685 miles to Council Bluff, and traverse the upper part of the river for 1,166 miles farther. The Ohio River takes them to Pitts burgh, 1,195 miles distant, and its branches are navigable still farther up, into the oil regions of Pennsylvania; and although the contemplated canal, which is to connect the waters of the Upper Mississippi with the Great Lakes, is not yet in being, still the navigable portion of the Father of THE FEDERAL OAPITAL. 9 | Waters and his tributaries, representing a total length of 12,000 miles, places St. Louis in communication with every city of importance in the largest river basin on the globe. It cannot be said that man is not striving to make the most of what nature has done for St. Louis. Apart from the many railways which already radiate from the city towards _ every point in the compass, there is one which is destined, before many years have passed, to unite her with San Fran- cisco on the Pacific coast. When this trans-continental high- way is completed we shall not only see the steamer laden with furs from Minnesota, lying by the New Orleans orange boat at the levée of St. Louis, but trains, carrying the silks and teas of China on the one hand, and the choicest products of Europe on the other, shall enter the city from opposite directions, and discharge their freights under the same roof. There is yet another consideration for the future. Each succeeding year adds so materially to the political influence exercised by the Western, as well as by the Pacific, States in Congress, that a national question of no small interest to St. Louis must soon be brought forward for public consideration. If the great Republic is destined to continue its growth as one nationality, Washington cannot long hold its position as the political centre of the whole country. Apart from its geographical position, there is little doubt but that the theory of arbitrarily choosing a particular spot for the political centre, and of thus isolating the executive and commercial capitals, has not worked well. Abuses have crept into many of the State legislative bodies, if not into Congress itself, which could not have successfully evaded the vigilance of a large number of intelligent lookers-on, who, being of necessity on the Spot from interests, setting aside polities, would have watched everything, and have protested publicly against any such 10 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. abuses. It is, in fact, far better to follow the natural tendency towards centralization, and to place the seat of Government, whether it be that of a state or nation, in the most convenient and central of its great commercial towns, where energy, talent, and wealth are of necessity to be found ; for in such a centre the Government is assuredly most secure. Where then shall the Federal capital be placed, seeing that | Washington is neither a commercial, agricultural, nor geogra- — phical centre? From the reasons I have named, it seems — more than probable that the final answer will be at St. Louis. Although two-thirds of the territory of the United States lie — to the west of the Mississippi, yet this region, taken as a — whole, can never support so great a population as the remain- — ing eastern third ; it has no navigable rivers of any importance, — and will never produce an inland city which can rival, in any © respect, the commercial capital of the Mississippi valley. CHAPTER II. EASTERN KANSAS. Depét.—Camp Life at Salina.—Our Visitors and their Adieus. ; Distance travelled 471 miles, g Two railways cross the State of Missouri, to connect St. Louis d _ with Kansas City, a distance of about 282 miles. The one is w the Pacific Railroad of Missouri, running on the south bank of g the Missouri River; the other is the North Missouri Railroad, 4 traversing the valley on the northern side. The scenery on the more southern of these roads—yviz., that over which I travelled—is very beautiful. At one time we would skirt the broad and majestic river; at another dive into the forests—for all this country is still thickly covered with hard timber ; and then shoot over one of the innumerable brooks and rivulets which crossed our way, so that a constant succession of leafy vistas delighted us as we passed. Farther ‘ west, much of the country was gracefully undulating ; and although we passed no large towns, villages were very numerous; while the well-made fences and good-sized farm- houses, which could be seen across many a “ hundred-acre clearing,” spoke well for the richness of the land, and the prosperity of the husbandman. At the entrance of Kansas, exactly on the eastern boundary line of the State, two large towns, the fruit of commerce, have 12 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. sprung up—Kansas City and Leavenworth. The former is situated on the southern bank of the Missouri, just at the point where that stream makes its huge bend northward, and receives the waters of the Kansas River. Its population is” about 18,000. The latter lies also on the left bank of the Missouri, about thirty miles above, and to the north. It is beautifully situated, on extensive heights overlooking the surrounding country, and has long been the most favourite — military post west of the Mississippi. It claims a population of from 27,000 to 30,000. Great rivalry exists between these young giants; they are — both striving for an enormous prize, and never were two — horses at the Derby more evenly matched. The tendency of development in the inland States has been to raise, at distances of from two to three hundred miles, large — and independent commercial centres; such for example as Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis. The advantages of position on the great lines of © travel have, more than anything else, determined the points at which such cities as these should eventually spring up. At first they simply start as active distributing posts to the countries around, selling goods manufactured elsewhere, and buying for transportation the agricultural produce of the neighbourhood; then as the population increases, factories rise, and the raw material is manufactured on the spot. Sool the mineral wealth of the country becomes developed, and as the coal, the iron, the copper, or the lead flow into the busy centre of capital and construction, rolling-mills and machine- shops are soon hard at work, and the plough, the iron rail, and the steam engine, with all other sorts of manufactures, are produced on the spot, and an industrial centre, cone - itself, is thus established. RAILWAY CONNECTIONS. 13 | _ There is no London or Paris in the United States, there is no , single nucleus, to which all who can resort for the enjoyment .. of a three months’ season ; but when I pass from one of these ; American cities to another, when I find each with its opera- ,, house, and theatres, its parks and suburbs, its elaborate system ;, of railways radiating from it, its distinct society, acknow- ; _ ledging no superior, I do not recognise a large country town, ", but a young capital rapidly advancing to maturity. As years ,, 0 by, and the population is numbered, not by the thousand, " but by the hundred thousand—when we begin to talk of _ the wholesale part of the city, the best street for shopping, “, and the correct part to live in—for I fear even America is not free from vanity and Mrs. Grundy ;—when, in fact, we - commence to be aristocratic, and ask, Who is who? we find, ; } to our astonishment, that the rich old gentleman we have _ learned to look up to was once the happy owner of no more ., than an acre of waste land on Main Street, and that all the _ families at whose hospitable fireside we received a hearty __ welcome, have an unlimited belief in the advance in value of | veal estate. Such in short will suggest the history of the , cities I have named. _ The merchants and tradesmen of Kansas City and Leaven- worth know all this perfectly well. They look around them and see that 2,500 miles of navigable waters, leading far up into the north-west, pass their doors. To the east lie the rich agrieultural lands of Missouri, extending to St. Louis, 300 miles distant ; to the west, one-half Kansas is not inferior to Missouri in soil and climate ; while to the south, the fertile Neosho valley, and the coal and marl-fields of South-Eastern Kansas, complete the vision of future greatness. They recognise fully the importance of the position, the natural wealth of a locality which has out of its abundance produced 14 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. twin cities almost on the same ground; but as both cannot grow to equal greatness; as one is destined to remain a country town, the other to become a large and flourishing city, both parties put their shoulders to the wheel, and turn their energies to the perfecting of those connections which are to_ unite them to the rest of the continent. But here, again, fortune does not seem inclined to favour one city more than the other. The Southern Trans-continental Railway has given to each an eastern terminus; that at Kansas City unites — with the railways from St. Louis, that at Leavenworth with those from Chicago and the north-east; the forks unite at Lawrence, distant about 30 miles, and continue onward as a | single line. So much for the railroads, destined to give them a western outlet at San Francisco, on the Pacific, just 2,000 | miles distant. Due south of Leavenworth, on the 95th meridian, lies the fine harbour of Galveston, the natural ~ outlet on the Gulf of Mexico for all this region. A railroad — to this port also, has been commenced, and, like the — Kansas Pacific, starts from Kansas City as well as Leaven- — worth. Both forks are to unite some 100 miles to the — south, and continue onwards as a single line, traversing regions of unrivalled richness, including the coal-fields of Southern Kansas, the Indian territory, and Eastern Texas. To connect with the civilised world cast of the Missouri, this river must be bridged, and, in the matter of bridging, Kansas City has beaten Leavenworth ; her bridge is finished, and the trains of two railways daily pass over it. But the men of Leavenworth have already set to work; and although the river is much more difficult to bridge there than at Kansas City, they will undoubtedly do it before long, thus uniting the Kansas Pacific Railroad a second time with those of the — east and north-east, so that they can compete on almost equal 4 ’ q : THE SOCIAL SYSTEM IN KANSAS. 15 terms with their rivals for the great through trade of the West. Had it been possible, I should have prolonged my stay amongst the people of Kansas, for their social system is peculiar. The State well deserves its name—* The Paradise - of Petticoats” —for, disregarding its early existence, when, as _“ Bleeding Kansas,” it passed through a baptism of blood, and only studying the new life upon which it has since entered, we find that if woman reigns supreme anywhere upon _ earth,.it is here. All the advanced form of thought upon _ education and woman’s rights have been imported direct from _ the New England States, and have quickly developed in this 1 virgin soil to an extent hitherto unprecedented. Schools i) Spring up like mushrooms wherever a dozen houses can be »@ found within a mile of each other, for the “ progressive ” ye inhabitants are always looking ahead, and consequently pre- » pare for the expected families. From the sixth annual report of the Superintendent of , the Public Institutions, the following statistics have been i) «gleaned :— * Increase 1865. 1866. in a year. Number of Free Schools. . . 721 871 150 mn Reiohers--v «v2 997 1,086 ” Scholars. 4. .<.« 26,048 31,258 4,917 Dollars. Dollars. Teachers’ Salaries. . . . - 87, "398 116,924 29,026 Assessed in districts for Schools 106,589 192,620 86,031 Besides these free schools, there are 83 select schools, with 113 teachers, and 3,228 scholars; 3 academies and 9 colleges, numbering 39 professors and teachers, and 948 _ students, subscribed for and supported by members of sec- 4 tarian denominations, political or religious ; lastly, there are , three high schools, or State insitutions, viz., the - State F Normal School of Emporia, in Lyon County, for the special 16 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. education of teachers; the State Agricultural College, at Manhattan, endowed with 90,000 acres of fertile land; and the State University, at Lawrence. Neither in the granti ng of degrees, nor in the course of instruction, is the slighte st distinction made as to sex. “This, without doubt,” says the President of the University, “is both just and expedient. It is no small honour that the Mediterranean State should be the first to recognise the rights of woman in her educationa : evening in the week is set apart for the reception of the male friends and brothers of the girls, so that, from infancy, the sexes are but little separated. The progressive school at Kansas hopes soon to do away with ladies’ academies altogether, sO that the gratifying sight now to be seen at these three high | schools, of young men and maidens reciting together in the | same classes, will become the universal custom. Can it be wondered at, that scarcely a political contest takes place anywhere in Kansas, at which petticoats are not well to” the front; and that woman’s suffrage and equal rights form a part of each platform in every election? Bold, indeed, would be the man in Kansas who dared to oppose openly 3 this phalanx of political Amazons. 4 Let us, however, bid good-bye to the busy towns and the pushing traders, to the railway connections, the Missourl River, and to the lady politicians. “ Westward, Ho!” is our watchword, as rapidly the railway takes us past Lawrence, noted for its youthful factories; Topeka, the Kansas capital, famed for its State-house, now being built, its college and its female institute, and Manhattan, Te markable for the beauty of its situation, and agricultural 3 school. Next comes Junction City, whose fine building : stone is the best in the State, and whose commercial q i 7 WHOLESALE TOWN-MAKING. 17 enterprise is fast converting it into a fine, well-built town ; then Solomon, surrounded by salt springs, and situated at the entrance of a fertile valley, 250 miles long. Lastly, we reach Salina, 185 miles west of the Missouri, where we exchange the cars for the camp, the locomotive for the mule team. _ On the 1st of June, 1867, this little town of 1,000 inhabi- tants was the terminal station at the end of the line. Eight months afterwards, when we were hastening home, the train took us up 100 miles to the west, and two other towns— vt Hayes City and Ellesworth—had sprung up west of it. The iy eight towns I have just named are not temporary trading- posts, called suddenly into existence by the presence of a large staff of railroad officials and workmen, and destined to perish, one after the other, as the customers pass onward with the advancing line. At one time, each of these places, u besides many others now no more, served its time as the | q terminal depét, and was thereby forced into existence with _hot-house rapidity. But the natural advantages of their : positions, situated as they are for the most part at the mouths of streams,—such as the Big Blue, the Republican Fork, ,@ Solomon Fork, and Big Creek,—which water rich valleys of 100 miles and upwards in length, not only ensure their _ future existence, but add to their size and importance month | : by month, as settlers arrive and bring the lands of these 4, Valleys under cultivation. Wholesale town-making may not be a romantic theme, or | one capable of being made very attractive to the general 3 q reader ; but it is the great characteristic of this part of our _\ route, and is only to be seen to perfection along the line of _g_ these great railways. On the Platte, where the central line 44 across the continent often advances at the rate of two miles a 4 day, town-making is reduced toasystem. The depot at the end : C 18 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. of the line is only moved every two or three months; and as rich valleys are far scarcer in this section of country than in Kansas, the town usually moves also, while nothing remains to mark the spot where thousands lived, but a station, aname, and a few acres of bare earth. Last winter, Cheyenne was the terminal depot on this route, and increased in size to 5,000 inhabitants.) A man I met at Denver, who had just come. from Cheyenne, told me that while he was standing on the railway platform, a long freight train arrived, laden with frame houses, boards, furniture, palings, old tents, and all the’ rubbish which makes up one of these mushroom “cities.” | The guard jumped off his van, and seeing some friends on the platform, called out witha flourish, ‘‘ Gentlemen, here’s J ules- burg.” The next train probably brought some other “ city,” to lose for ever its identity in the great Cheyenne. The men of Kansas have discovered in these towns as fine — a field for speculative amusement as the best managed Homburg could offer. Thousands of dollars are daily won - and lost all along the line by speculating in town lots. Aj spot is chosen in advance of the line, and is marked off into | streets, blocks, and town lots, sometimes by the railway company, sometimes by an independent land company. As” the rails approach it, the fun begins, and up goes the price of the lots, higher and higher. At last it becomes the terminal | depét—the starting-point for the western trade—where the goods are transferred from the freight vans to the ox trains, and sent off to Denver, to Santa Fé, Fort Union, and other | points. It then presents a scene of great activity, and. quickly rises to the zenith of its glory. Town lots ar | bought up on all sides to build accommodation for the , traders, teamsters, camp-followers, and “loafers,” who see to drop from the skies. This state of things, however, lasts ee al SALINA. 19 only for a time. The terminal depét must soon be moved forward, and the little colony will be left to its own resources. If the district has good natural advantages, it will remain ; if not, it will disappear, and the town lots will fall to nothing. ‘Salina, when we were there, was just at this zenith stage of existence ; so I shall describe it as we found it. _ On the open grass land between the Smoky River and the Saline Fork several broad streets could be seen, marked out ‘with stakes, and crossing each other like a chess-board. The : central one was deeply cut up with cart-rucks, and strewn — _ with rubbish. There had been heavy rains, and the mud was : so deep that it was almost impossible to move about. On each # side of this main street were wooden houses, of all sizes and incall shapes of embryonic existence. Not a gardén fence or __ tree was anywhere to be seen. Still paddling about in the _ mud, we came to the most advanced part of the “ city,” and _ here we found three billiard saloons, each with two tables, and the everlasting bar. Then came an ice-cream saloon; f@ then a refreshment saloon. Next—we could scarcely believe j our eyes—appeared the office of the Salina Tribune (I will not # vouch for the name). All these “institutions,” as well as a g temporary school-house, and several small well-stocked shops yi made of wood unpainted, evidently represented first principles @ —the actual necessities, in fact, of Western life. Opposite was a j@ tow of substantial “ stores,” having their fronts painted. The ;@ builder here was evidently a rash speculator. He did not look Jj? upon Salina asa Julesburg, but intended to tide over the stage 4’ of depression. Lach of these houses was already inhabited, | and piles of unpacked goods lay fronting them in the streets. # On each side was an “ hotel,” at the door of which—it being ; just mid-day—the landlord was ringing furiously a great bell ,, to announce to the inhabitants that dinner was ready. And o2. 20 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. what a dinner !—fried fish, fried mutton, fried eggs, fried mush (a great luxury), fried potatoes, and fried pudding— all swimming in grease ; bad coffee without milk, dough cak 8 without butter, and muddy water out of dirty glasses. Ss to escape up a side street, we discovered the Methodist Chapel, the Land Agency Office, labelled “‘ Desirable town lot for sale,” the Masonic Hall (temporary building), and the more preten- tious foundations of the Free School, Baptist Chapel, and Episcopal Church. The suburbs consisted of tents of all shapes _ and forms, with wooden doors; shanties, half canvas, halt” wood. These were owned by squatters upon unsold lots. All around were scattered the empty tins of the period, labelled in large letters, ‘desiccated vegetables,” “ green corn,” ‘‘ pears,” “peaches,” ‘ oysters,” and other untold luxuries. Still farther from the centre, dotted here and there, white and glistening in the sun, we could see the camps of the “ bull _ trains,” each made up of from ten to twenty huge wagons, — covered with white canvas, coralled sometimes in the form of @ square, sometimes of a circle, so as to form a place of protection if attacked by Indians. An unusually wet season, and the ] fearful depredations caused by the red-men further west | detained an unusual number of these trains at that time — around Salina. Partly shutting out the horizon on two sides, ¢ was a continuous belt of rich green trees. These might have © been the commencement of a fine forest ; but alas! as we came up to them, we found only two rows—one on each side of the river ; and beyond, the same broad sea of age the undulating ies relieved only by some distant blufis. The grass was rich and abundant—a very fortunate circumstance; for everywhere were to be seen the droves of oxen, mules; and horses belonging to the wagon trains, feeding and fattening on their idleness. About the railroad station, and | | | See PREPARATIONS. 21 on each side of the line for some distance, lay pile after pile of the munitions, not of war but of peace—iron rails, oaken ties, cradles and pins, contractors’ cars, little houses on wheels, trucks innumerable, both empty and full; while at the opposite side to the town, our picturesque little camp of twenty wall tents, formed in a square, and flanked by our _ wagons and ambulances, lay peaceful and cool on the short green sward. Our chief, General W. W. Wright, who had nee gained for himself lasting laurels by the manner in which he had conducted the railroad operations of Sherman’s march through Georgia, made Salina the rendezvous for all our parties. Here _ many of us met for the first time, and the fortnight’s sojourn, spent in completing our organisation and waiting for the _ weather, passed pleasantly by. Settlers rode into camp from 1 4 far and near, one with a lump of gypsum, another with a piece x of coal, a third with a curious fossil, and a fourth with a block y=, of building-stone—all anxious to know what our geologist, 44 Dr. John Le Conte, thought of their specimens; ready to tell _ all they knew of the country (especially of the advantages of _ their own locality), and eager to hear about the intended _ survey. Then our botanist, Dr. Parry, commenced his _ rambles amongst the prairie flowers, and very beautiful were these heralds of spring, all quite new to us, though - well known to that experienced western traveller. Dr. - Lewis, who had no sick to cure in this fine air, would bring | in each night some new and curious insect, some wondrous | coleopter, to add to his collection. The surveying instru- ments were unpacked, and Messrs. EHicholtz, Runk, and Imbrey Miller might be seen, each coaching his party, | trying his transits and levels, running a line here, and a .y. line there, and getting everything into working order. 22 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. My friends, Stuart and Captain Blair, were even in greater demand than any of us; for on them devolved the task of organising the commissary and quartermaster’s departments. But as old soldiers, though young men, they were by no means novices in these branches, so necessary in an expedition — like ours. And lastly, while unpacking my glass, making my collodion, trying my camera, and fitting up my ambulance, I could not altogether be put down as an idle man. The idle man in fact was not represented. The day but one before we started was long remembered, and talked over by us around our camp fires. One of those large excursion parties so much in vogue i the United States, had been given by Mr. John Perry, presi- dent of the company. Many ladies and gentlemen from | | | | far-off Philadelphia (2,000 miles away), and many more from St. Louis, had all come to learn how railways were built, to travel over the plains, to see a buffalo hunt, and, in many cases, to bid good-bye to sons and brothers already amongst us at Salina. If senators and congress-men, “‘literates” and railway sabi could make a party distinguished, this company certainly had no need to fear obscurity. But when we met bright laughing — faces at our doors, and heard sweet voices in our tents,— when, for the last time, little gloved hands touched ours, — and fair ones wished us “‘ God-speed, and a happy return,” 1 fear we would have forgotten the congress-men’s presence — altogether, had they not carried off so soon our sisters and friends. CHAPTER III. LIFE ON THE PLAINS. Commence our March.—Frightful Storm overtakes us.—Effects of the Storm Indian T: —Reach Fort Harker.—Military Posts of the Western Country.—The Indian Difficulty.—Ellesworth.—Harmless and Poisonous Snakes, Horned Toads, and Prairie Dogs.—Antelope and Buffalo; at First Death.—Indian Troubles ahead.—Reports of Massacres come in from all sides.—Stage- coach attacked.—Reach Fort Hayes.—A Buffalo Tints Distances :—Salina to Fort Harker, 36 miles; Harker to Fort Hayes, 72 miles. Total, 106 miles. Earty on the morning of Saturday, 7th of June, our line of wagons, twenty in number, headed by three ambulances, Fines. slowly moved away from our first camping- ess ground. The weather had been, and was, still very unpropitious; every night, and in fact all night through, the horizon was almost a continuous sheet of flame, and constant thunder-showers drenched the ground, and filled the gullies to overflowing. I have passed through many a thunderstorm amongst the Alps, and have seen ‘fa storm in the Rocky Mountains,” in reality as well as on canvas, but nowhere have I encountered one in such perfection as on the plains. Nowhere do the elements appear so frantic with rage. The fight seemed to us almost endless, for if we were not actually on the battle-field, we could see it raging all the same at some point on the horizon. The thunder, I often noticed, was never as loud as I have heard it in the Eastern States and in Europe, but the thick bars of lightning would remain visible for a much longer time, and 24 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. quiver twice or thrice before they darted into the earth; and the chains of fire would twine like serpents among the clouds with a marvellous brilliancy. About noon, on our first day’s- march, thick clouds began to creep over the sky, while distant — lightning played around as usual. The air was very sultry — and oppressive; the mosquitoes unusually annoying. Scarcely had we come in sight of our camping-ground, known as Spring — Creek Station, when down came the rain and hail in torrents. — Half-a-dozen tents were soon out of the wagons, and with — ereat exertions we fastened them down tight and crept inside. ' Hour after hour down poured the rain, the thunder and light- — ning were not an instant still, the low land in front of us was — already a muddy lake, and nearer and nearer came the water’s — edge. At last, just about dark, we were drowned out like — rats, and had to hunt for some other resting-place. Wading up to our knees in slush, we crept from one wagon to another as we found them filled with teamsters and troops; for those who had no tents were the first to take to the wagons. All crept in somewhere; and as everything has an end, daylight at last relieved us of any more vain attempts.at sleep, and brought the first night of our journey to a close. All along the Smoky Hill valley this storm had been unusually severe. It deluged the senatorial party, while they were camped at Fort Harker, twenty-four miles distant ; and I was assured by some settlers afterwards that for seveD- teen years such a storm had not visited the West. Seventy miles west of Fort Harker, at the next military post, Fort Hayes, the stream which enters the Smoky River at that point, known as “ Little Big Creek,” rose so rapidly 02 this same night of the 7th of June, that five men who were sleeping in their huts close to the river-bank were drowned ; and one of the officers, with his wife and family, had great | i a , 1 — BUFFALO TRACKS AND INDIAN TRAILS. 25 difficulty in escaping from the roof of their log-hut on an improvised raft. The ground was so heavy, and the brooks were so swollen, that our daily travel was slow, and we had considerable difficulty in fording many of the gullies. Curious things are these meandering streams of the plains. The banks are low, and formed of dark, rich clay ; the water is muddy, alkaline, and often reddish; there is scarcely a tree, except on the larger streams, to mark their course, and yet their length is almost interminable. A little stream you can jump across has its source, probably, 300, 400, or even 500 miles away in the West. Before we reached Salina, trees had become very scarce— the cotton-wood and willow on the margin of the streams alone being visible; but as we moved farther, even these ceased to grow, except in favoured spots, which were often miles apart. The short, tender buffalo-grass gradually appeared—at first only here and there, but at last it abounded everywhere; and ever and anon we crossed the well-beaten trail of the monarch of the plains. Buffalo- wallows—round flat basins about three yards in diameter— often covered an acre or two, showing how the animal loves to bathe his irritated hide and scratch his winter coat off by rolling in the mud. With great curiosity we examined an Tndian trail, and learned to tell one from that of the buffalo. The trail of the Plain Indian consists usually of three paths, close together, yet at fixed distances apart. They are produced as follows:—The framework of their lodges or tents are made of long poles which, on a journey, are tied to each side of a pony, and allowed to trail upon the ground. The result is that a long string of ponies, thus laden and following each other, will wear a triple path—the central one 26 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERIOA. being caused by the tread of the ponies, the two outer by the trailing of the lodge-poles. From Salina to Fort Harker our course took us along the travelled road to Denver and New Mexico, and plenty of company we had on the way. At every mile or so we would pass long ox-trains heavily laden with goods (I have counted as many as eighty wagons in a train), and if we found the Sy Sioux Indian Lodges or Tents; one packed for a journey, the other standing. bad roads difficult, how much worse was the travelling for them! Each wagon carrying from 6,000 lbs. to 8,000 lbs., would be drawn by eight, sometimes ten, yoke of oxen, which number would require about three ‘“bull-whackers” ( generally swarthy Mexicans) “to help them along,’ with their heavy leather thongs. When one of these wagons stuck fast in 2 gulley, it was amusing to see the enormous amount of brute ee eee THE BULL-TRAINS IN DIFFICULTIES. 27 force which was applied to pull it out. The oxen from two of the wagons which had passed safely across would be attached to the one in difficulties, making a continuous string of from ‘eighteen to twenty yoke. To accomplish even this, usually required an amount of swearing and torturing on the part of the drivers which would be startling to the nerves of most men not reared on the plains. When all was ready, and a dozen ‘‘ bull-whackers ’”’ had taken their places along each side of the line of oxen, a frightful shout would fill the air, followed by the fierce cracking of whips on the devoted hides, and the usual chorus of endearing terms. The poor oxen, thus goaded on to madness, would give one tremendous tug, the usual finale of which used to be, not in the least to move the wagon, but to break the thick iron chain which fastened all together. As we retired out of sight over the brow of the next undula- tion of the plain, we would usually leave our Mexican friends trying in vain to stop the loosened string of oxen (who could not be persuaded they were not dragging something), pre- paratory to going through the whole process again. Our general course lay in the valley of the Smoky Hill Fork. Our destination was Fort Wallace, 216 miles from Salina, at which point our survey was to commence. The rule was to breakfast at 5 o’clock, and start at about 6.30, so as to get over as much as possible of the road before the heat of the day. The rains, however, having cleared the air, there was no necessity to break the march by a mid-day halt, while the cool breeze from the far-distant mountains, springing up usually near noon, made travelling even in June and July by no means disagreeable. On the afternoon of the 10th we camped at Fort Harker, thirty-six miles from Salina, a well-built, three-company post, with spacious storehouses filled with munitions of war, but, like all these military 28 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERIOA. establishments, carrying out in no particular the term ‘fort.’ Along the main lines of travel throughout the — whole western country, at distances of from 60 to 300 miles apart, the United States Government are obliged to maintain a great number of these little military establishments. There are upwards of fifty of them in the territories we passed through en route to the Pacific. In many instances not a white man lives in the intervening country, and yet with- out them overland travel would be impossible. Too thinly garrisoned to wage aggressive war against the red-men, they afford the only protection the emigrant or the traveller has to hope for on the way. It is hard to conceive any life more lonely or monotonous than that of the two or three officers stationed in one of these distant forts. It is often dangerous even to hunt in the country around, for the sneaking Apache or the treacherous Comanche may be lurking hard by, like a snake in the grass. There are no rivers to fish in, no neighbours to visit, and as for books, they are soon read through. I remember the lamentation of one of these poor officers. On leaving Fort Leavenworth with his regiment for distant service, and anxious to take with him a good stock of books, he applied to the quarter-master, to enable him to transport this extra quantity of personal baggage. ‘Government regulations were imperative ; only so many pounds could be allowed— regretted not having the power to grant the favour asked.” Such was the reply. So the extra weight of books had to be abandoned. Another officer afterwards applied, and stated his case. He was the fortunate possessor of two ten-gallon casks of the best Borbon whiskey, “So unusually fine that you must allow me to send you up a sample, you can then appreciate more fully,” FAR WESTERN FORTS. 29 said the bashful suppliant, ‘‘ what my feelings must be at the thoughts of leaving it behind.” ‘“* My dear sir,” replied the quarter-master, touched to the heart, “of course you can take it; anything in reason, my dear sir, anything in reason.” Where wood can be obtained, the fort generally consists of rows of log huts or frame houses, well-built and often made very comfortable, enclosing a central parade ground, with a large building or storehouse; a hospital corresponding to the size of the post; a suttler’s store, where usually many things can be bought which are rare luxuries on the plains, but at very high prices; a blacksmith’s forge, and other buildings. If the post is so small that an attack on the little community itself is not improbable, a low wall of mud-bricks (adobe), stones, or both combined, is built around it, and one or two six- pounders may not unfrequently lurk behind this breast-work. Otherwise no attempt whatever is made at outer fortifica- tions. If good building-stone can be had close at hand, then the fort becomes a far more durable structure, and consider- able pride is often taken by the officer commanding in the designs and construction of the buildings; but if wood is scarce, and there is no good stone near at hand, then the Mexican style of building is resorted to. Bricks are made of mud and straw dried in the sun; and of these all the buildings are constructed. One unaccustomed to this style of archi- tecture would be surprised to see what comfortable houses, and even large buildings, can be made in this way; but as in New Mexico we shall become very familiar with it, there is no need at present to mention it further. Although the cost of maintaining these posts is enormous, their usefulness is undoubted ; but how much better would it be if the evil which necessitates them could be removed ? The construction of railroads throughout the country is with- 30 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. out doubt the only permanent way of solving the difficulty. As these advance, the forts on the lines of travel, one by one, become useless, while the Indians, after receiving a series of good thrashings from the settlers, soon learn, like the Great Pah-ute nation in California, that their days of successful — warfare are over, and that their only chance is to keep Ee ) and to allow the Government to feed them. We left Fort Harker on the morning of the 11th, and, three miles beyond, passed through Ellesworth, a wonderful place, having seven or eight ‘‘stores,” two hotels, fifty houses of other kinds, occupied by nearly a thousand persons, and yet just ‘one month old. Six weeks ago the wild buffalo was roaming over its site, and the Indians scalped a foolish soldier whom they caught sleeping where the new school-house now stands. The day of the buffalo and Indian have passed for ever; never again will the one graze, or the other utter a wet whoop on this spot. During the two following days we strained our eyes in ‘vain for a glimpse at the big game; their marks were every- where—tracks, wallows, and skeletons innumerable. We killed many reptiles—the pretty: little garter snake, and the long and graceful racer, one of which species measured over six feet ; and several of those venomous pests of the plains, the rattlesnake. As a general thing, it is not hard to tell @ poisonous snake from a harmless one. The head of the former is covered with large scales, usually five in number, while that of the latter is clothed with small ones, similar to, and continuous with, those covering the neck and body. Again, if you turn the serpent over you will find that, if it is harmless, the succession of semicircular scales which covet ——-- ti‘ _ ‘OC! - aie ——— - the under surface, continue unbroken to the tip of the tail, — while at the caudal extremity in the venomous species these ea THE PRAIRIE DOGS. 31 entral scales become divided in two, and continue so to the tip. Several tortoises were seen, and one specimen of the horned toad was captured—a prickly little fellow whom we did not expect to meet quite so far east. _ But what most delights all travellers on the plains, at first, are the prairie dogs. These little rodents are the size of a rabbit, the colour of a hare, have the hair of a rat, and the fs . .s es <= A Prairie-dog-town and its Inhabitants. face of a squirrel; but their tails are original, they stand up straight over their back, and do a most enormous amount of wagging. They are the most sociable little fellows in the world; by nature they live in colonies, called by the ranch- men “ Prairie-dog-towns,” where they often cover many acres of land with their little mounds. Each mound has a hole in the top, leading to the family apartments. They 32 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. appear to take a most lively interest in “the advance of | empire,’ for wherever there is a road, there they congregate in unusual numbers. In the centre of the main street at Salina, three of these little fellows had established them- selves, they seemed to enjoy the bustle of that place, and — were the great delight,of the children, who used to feed them — with nuts and crackers, and get them to sit upon their — haunches, and eat with their claws. To frighten or kill one — would have brought down the just indignation of the whole neighbourhood. As our line of wagons moved along the road, and approached a “ dog-town,” the little fellows who were above ground, cropping the grass and playing about, would immediately rush each to his “look-out station” on the top of his mound, while lots of little heads would sud- denly appear as those from below came up to see the fun and join in the chorus of sharp barks with which they were wont to greet intruders. They would shake their sides with barking, and at every bark the tails would wag until, worked up to a climax of fear and delight, they would rush into the earth with a volley of half-uttered barks, and a last defiant wag of the little tail. No sooner had we passed than they would appear again, and keep up a chorus of adieus until we were out of hearing. Their flesh is good to eat, beg very much like squirrel or chicken; but they are too sharp to be caught away from the top of their mounds, and if shot in this position they always fall into their holes, and die out of reach. The only way to get them is to drown them out by pouring water into their holes, and if the subterranean connections are extensive, or the soil very porous, this cannot be accom plished. It has been stated by western travellers that the rattle- snake and a small species of owl live in peace with the INDIAN TRIBES UNITED FOR WAR. 33 ‘prairie dog and share his dwelling. I have frequently seen them all in company together, as represented in the sketch, a ut it is probable that, although the mature prairie dog can "protect himself, and has therefore no fear of the intruders, the young are devoured by the latter. _ At mid-day, on the 13th, we had just pitched our tents on - the banks of the Smoky River when the ery of “‘antelope!”’ was _ raised, and, sure enough, a small herd, frightened by something behind them, ran swiftly by our camp. They immediately _ received a volley of rifle balls, which produced no other effect _ than to send them bounding off gracefully across the river. This little excitement was hardly over when buffalo were _ sighted across the Smoky. There was an immediate rush for _ the high bluff close by, and away to the left we could plainly see through the glasses six black shaggy fellows languidly _ chewing the cud, about five miles distant. Three of our party immediately started on foot, notwithstanding the heat of the day and the eighteen miles march just over, for as: yet but few of us were mounted, and these only on mules. From this point, until we reached the Arkansas River, buffalo were a common sight. Before night we had seen several herds roaming about upon the plains, the largest, however, only containing twenty head and some calves. At sunset one of the three hunters came back to announce the success of their chase, and to give notice to the watch that his i two companions were following more slowly, heavily laden | with choice pieces of the carcass they had killed. As our meat had for some weeks been almost entirely salt, this news was especially agreeable. We had no sooner found ourselves in the land of the antelope and the buffalo, beyond the little “cities,” and out of hearing of the locomotive, than Indian troubles began to D 34 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. cast their shadows around us, deeper and deeper, as we moved forward. : Never before had hostility to the pale-face raged so fiercely in the hearts of the Indians of the plains, and never had s¢ large a combination of tribes, usually at war with each other, been formed to stop the advance of the road-makers. From Dakota to the borders of Texas every tribe, save the Utes, had put on war paint, and had mounted their war steeds. Reports came from the north that the Crows. and Blackfoots had made friends with the Sioux, and from the south that the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, the Kiowas and Comanches, had been seen in large bodies crossing the Arkansas, and moving northward. The horrors of the last summer were fresh im the minds of the frontier men, who remembered many a com- rade scalped by the red-skins. They laughed at the treaties of the Fall, at General Sherman’s councils, and Samborn’s wagon-trains laden with gifts. They said, ‘ Wait till the spring, till the frost is out of the ground, and the grass 1s green and abundant, and then see how the savages will keep their treaties.” This season had arrived, and the Indian horizon looked blacker than ever. The Fort Kearny massacre, in which some of the wives of the officers were brutally murdered, and the energetic demands of the railway company on the State had resulted in a considerable military foree being sent into Nebraska to protect the road to Salt Lake. This had the effect of driving many additional bands of Indian warriors southward, to harass the poorly-guarded route | along the Smoky Hill Fork. : The warriors in many a big talk had sworn to clear thelr hunting-grounds of the hated intruder. He should no longet drive away their game, or build embankments and put dow? stakes across their broad lands. So they commenced the fight in their own fashion. . HOSTILITIES COMMENCE. 35 A company, called the “‘ United States Express,” carrying the United States mails, had been organised two years before, ‘0 run from Denver to the end of the railway advancing along she Smoky Hill River. Stage stations had been built along chis route, at distances of from twelve to eighteen miles apart, where the stock of the company was kept, and at which the sxoaches changed horses. During the winter these coaches ran yretty regularly; but April had scarcely passed before the stages and mail stations became the first though not the only rbjects of attack. Reports, one by one, came in to us from he West. On the night of April 30, Goose Creek Station was attacked, he stock carried off, and three mules killed. On May the 9th, Monument Station, midway between Hayes md Wallace, and Big Timbers Station, were simultaneously ittacked, while a third party ‘tried to burn Chalk Bluff station. I may add that as Big Timbers, twenty-five miles vest of Fort Wallace, had been formerly a favourite Indian yurying-ground, it was on that account especially subject to ttack. Two days after, Pond Creek Station, two miles west of “ort Wallace, was attacked and fired. On the 18th, the Indians attacked Smoky Spring Station ; n the 24th, Big Timbers again; on the 27th, Pond Creek gain, and drove off many head of cattle. The day before they ad attacked the stage-coach, and had commenced the month f June by scalping and horribly mutilating two frontier men nthe 3rd, and two more on the 7th, within a few miles of ‘ort Wallace. These, and many other massacres, took place long the road while we were at Salina; but in so large and ninly-peopled a country, news of a portion of them only ould be expected to reach us. The savages even penetrated p2 36 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. to within twenty-five miles of Salina, and killed three Germar farmers, who had that spring settled im the valley of th Solomon. As we advanced, every stage or train from the West (the were however becoming few) told the same tale. On th 12th, the stage horses at Hanshaw’s Ranche were drive1 off; Hugo Wells Station was attacked; and the mules of Mexican train on another part of the road were stampeded. On Saturday, the 14th, as we neared Fort Hayes, we me the overland mail-coach from Denver: the passengers ha@ ” been obliged to fight their way through, and had such , ceeded in running the gauntlet, with the loss of one soldief killed and one civilian wounded. They had been attacked by twenty-five warriors, on the 11th, near Big Timbers. Hoping 7 that the Indians only desired plunder, they threw some of th © baggage from the coach, and then started their horses off at | gallop, while the half-dozen soldiers on the roof, who acted a | escort, kept up a brisk fire. In this way they reached th a | next stage station. j @ The coach was riddled with bullets and spattered wit ¢ blood, so that I was not a little surprised at the remark of th ‘‘lady” passenger inside, who, in answer to our sympathy said, ‘‘She had not been much frightened.” I remembered however, that we were in Kansas. ; Sunday, the 15th, was passed at Fort Hayes. We foun dy the garrison nearly all under canvas; for, as I mentioneg* before, the storm of the 7th had completely flooded the miseyf - able collection of log-huts which were known by that nam@ # ' Here we left our temporary guard of two dozen darkeg)” soldiers, and met our regular escort, a company of the 7t?). . United States Cavalry, numbering about fifty, under the conf”) mand of Captain Barnitz, an officer in whose pleasant societf! LEAVE FORT HAYES. 37 ' have had so many delightful rides, and exciting chases ‘fter the buffalo, that I shall long remember him as one of the best of my Western friends. On the previous Wednesday, General Hancock, Mr. Perry, md one or two more—the remnant of the gay excursion varty—had started with an escort to visit Fort Wallace, en route for Denver. The general had come out West to see if she Indian depredations were a myth or not (for at Washing- ton, and in the East generally, no one believed the reports), and, if necessary, to devise some effective course of action. During his whole journey, as might have been expected, he neither saw an Indian nor heard a war-whoop, but enough fresh-turned sods and dying soldiers greeted him on his homeward march to convince the greatest sceptic that the Indian war was no idle tale. Soon after sunrise, our train of wagons moved slowly June 16. past Fort Hayes. We had gained greatly in strength since our last day’s march ; the twenty wagons had increased to forty-seven, and the cavalry, which flanked us on the right in the form of a little square, with flag flying gaily in the centre, added immensely to the dignity of our march. The day before I had picked up a very good nag, a chestnut sorrel mare, nearly thorough-bred, whose master had’ given up all hopes of getting her safely to Denver. I was trying her paces, and wishing for a gallop over the short, elastic sod, when suddenly I spied four fine buffalo throwing themselves along, and bearing straight down upon us as fast as their awkward legs could carry them. Borrowing an addi- tional revolver, I darted off, and found that a rival in the field, who was pressing them hard in the flank, was the original cause of their flight. Singling out the one to the extreme left, a tough old bull, I made straight for him, Colt 38 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. in hand, cocked and ready. As soon as he saw a fresh enem approaching, he stopped, surveyed the position for an instan jerked his huge head to one side, which seemed to swing hi body round, and rushed off in the opposite direction. I wa soon alongside, watching his every movement. What curious freaks of nature these North American buffal are! The small hind-quarters look out of all proportion t the massive strength of the shoulders and chest ; smooth, an apparently shaven, like the back of a French poodle, they d not seem to belong to the same animal. The hind legs ar small, and stand close together; the fore legs thick, short; — and far apart. Between them the huge head hangs low ; it i completely covered with long shaggy hair, matted together, — which hides the features, and only allows the tips of the crescent-shaped little horns to appear. Thick hair, for the — most part, conceals the hump from sight, but both add_ immensely to the massive effect of the fore-part of the body: — the little corkscrew tail, ends in a tuft. My antagonist kept lashing his naked flanks, while at moments I could see, by the sideward toss of his head, that he was having a look at — me, though his eyes were completely hidden by the hair. My first shot, I presume, passed harmlessly over his back ; with my second, from the distance of half-a-dozen yards, I planted a ball in his side, but too high up to take immediate effect. He threw himself angrily round for an instant, and off swerved the mare, for she evidently knew her friend and his habits well. He did not charge, however, but ‘made straight for Little Big Creek, which was swollen to a deep torrent by the heavy rains of the previous week. My companion in the chase, who had with his last shot brought down the fat cow he was following, then dashed by, and planted a second ball in the brute’s carcass. The ball did not, however, lessen his hs wer preety == Se | | | A BUFFALO HUNT. 39 speed. Just before he dashed into the creek I came up again and gave him his third bullet. The crossing he had chosen was very miry, and too full of timber for our horses, so we entered the stream a little higher up. It was very deep and rapid, and we had some difficulty in swimming across. When we caught up to our buffalo again he was a good deal exhausted, and we could plainly see three little streams of blood trickling down his sleek hide. As escape was hopeless, he became very savage. When I hit him again, he turned deliberately round and charged. He did this three times; but each time his gait was slower, and he threw himself along with greater difficulty. At last he pulled up; we also drew in the reins, but kept close enough to see everything dis- tinctly. He shook his shaggy main two or three times, and lashed his flanks angrily, as he looked around and saw us watching him. He walked a few yards farther, and blood poured from his mouth and nostrils ; then he laid quietly down, and rolled over on his back, with his legs thrown up in the air. We sent a bullet, for precaution, through his heart, and in a few moments our knives were out of their sheaths, and our delighted horses were burying their nostrils in his-matted mane. When a large herd of buffalo is encountered, there is little or no danger risked from the animals themselves by riding straight into their midst, for panic seizes them all, and their only thought is flight. But when one of those little herds of from four to a dozen are attacked, which have now in most districts taken the place of the larger herds, these wary old fellows are often found to be very dangerous. Some weeks after the hunt just described, I nearly ruined my mare for the sport by persisting in my efforts to bring down one of these champion buffalo. 40 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. Having succeeded in separating her (for she was a cow) from her half-dozen companions, she sternly refused to make any further attempts to escape, and bravely challenged me, although unwounded, to single combat on the open plam. Thrice, when I approached her, she charged down upon me in splendid style; and as I had nothing to aim at but her head, I fired each time straight in her face, which, as might have been expected, proved quite useless. My mare at last was so terrified at such unusual pluck on the part of her opponent, that she became unmanageable, so I confessed myself beaten. The cow was killed a few hours later by some of our party on foot, and they found that one of my bullets had passed through the muscles of the back, parallel with the spine, from the front of the neck almost to the tail. It is well to be cautious in attacking a small herd, for if the horse trips up in a prairie-dog’s hole, or the rider is thrown from any other cause during the chase, the buffalo is not unlikely to trample him to death. Soil i ak eae, CHAPTER IV. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY FROM SALINA, KANSAS, TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Causes which lead to the waa | i Trees.—Buffalo-grass and other Grasses Wild-flowers very beau sign of fertility.—Country becomes arid between long. 99° and pro i a ieee and this arid tract reaches to the base of the Rocky Muineaathe Country improves again on reaching the Rocky Mountains.—Pine Forests and Coal Beds.—Will Cultivation increase the Rain-fall?—Camp of Death Hollow.—The Surprise.—More Indian Depredations.—Reach Fort Wallace. Distance 108 miles. ANoTHER week’s marching brought us to within a day’s journey of Fort Wallace, during which time nothing of special interest occurred. By day we fought the mosquitoes, for the weather had become very warm, especially in the morning until the mid-day breeze had sprung up. By night we kept a vigilant watch, and often transformed a hungry prairie wolf into a hostile Indian creeping through the grass. Midnight alarms were at first decidedly more numerous than red-men. It is not easy, in a few words, to report fairly on the country through which we passed since leaving Salina. For the first 100 miles there could be no doubt about the fertility of the soils: the loam on the surface was thick and rich, streams were numerous, and there was every indication of a plentiful yearly rain-fall. The scarcity of timber on these plains arises neither from want of water nor poorness of soil, but simply from the difficulties and dangers the young trees in their wild state have to pass through. Prairie fires in the autumn kill them ; and the buffalo not only eat the tender 42 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. shoots, but, while shedding their coats in the spring, pull down quantities of trees along the river banks. Colonel Greenwood, — who has up to this point surveyed most of the railroad, complained terribly of these animals knocking down his guide stakes along the track in this way, so that miles of the road had to be re-staked. When the young plants can be protected from the fires and the buffalo, there is no doubt but that the settler in this section of country, just as well as on the prairies of Indiana and Illinois, can grow as many trees as he likes, and cover his garden with refreshing shade. Almost the only tree to be found here is the cotton-wood (Populus monilifera), so called from its white downy seeds. It belongs to the same family as the willow and poplar, grows rapidly to a large size, and gives a beautiful shade; but the wood is the worst possible, rotting rapidly if exposed to the weather, and forming a most fertile nest for insects if used for in-door purposes. Close following the cotton-wood from the East, as settlement advances, come the alder and ash; and, some distance behind, may be surely expected the heavier and harder timbers of Missouri. Both the soil and climate are most favourable to the cultivation of peach and fig trees, and also to that of apricots, plums, and cherries; the two latter are found wild in the greatest abundance in many places along the streams. The short delicate buffalo-grass (Buchiloe dactyloides, Eng.), beautiful as it is with its bunches of pink stamens, and curious clusters of pistillate flowers, is by no means the most desirable grass, as far as the land is concerned. Its close, thickly-matted fibres keep the ground very dry, by preventing the rain from penetrating into it. I have noticed, times and again, after a sudden thunder shower, how rapidly the rain flowed off into —s Caztis TRmjry) "IDIg ‘SLLONOVIN SVIdaTIOSy Vig Se RK | i \Gy, Ny N “WHOVAVIda'IOSy T ALV UL ‘azis [RINIRU sJoTO[ A Cazis Teanywu JTBE) ‘VEVINOINAY Sa “TTD NGL VuaqIoy Cazis pranyeit yyepp) 'SSVND VNVID 'Z 'S8VNH OTVAAN “T “K AOVAVIdHIOSy ' \ ees Ae FR ll ll bs, 24a al a —t(‘(ié THE WILD FLOWERS. 43 the gullies, filling up the streams, and helping to cause those sudden floods and freshets which so often harassed us on our march. Doubtless no grass could bear so well the heavy tramp of thousands of buffalo continually passing over it ; but it is a good thing for the land that, as settlers advance, and domestic herds take the place of the big game, the coarser, more vigorous, and deeper-rooted grasses destroy it, and take its place. These new-comers grow with great luxu- riance, yielding very fine hay; and at the same time loosen- ing the sod, opening up the soil, and retaining the moisture in the ground. Next come the wild flowers. The leguminous plants were very abundant; Paptisia Australis was at first the most striking, and remained conspicuous for nearly 100 miles west of Salina; many species of Psoralea appeared as we entered a drier region, and with them the Astragali, so abundant on the steppes of Russia. They frequent the far Western plains in such abundance that I soon collected a dozen different species. The Mallows and Composite presented some very gay and striking varieties; amongst the former were Caillirrhoe macrorliza and C. involucrata, the one an exquisite yellow, the other a rich purple. Penstemona were also very numerous, the most beautiful of six species which I collected being Penstemon cobea. For miles along the march, perhaps, two or three species would make the whole country gay; then a stranger or two would appear—first few in number, but farther on in greater abundance, until at last they would replace altogether their rivals, and become complete masters of the situation, to be ousted in their turn, twenty miles farther, by other fresh varie- ties. I remarked, especially, that these wild flowers looked neither stunted nor starved; on the contrary, the species that 44 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. I greeted as old friends, were larger and brighter than I had — ever before seen them, giving most convincing proof of the - fertility of the land. The colours seemed also to follow the same kind of gener regularity ; at one part all would be white, at another yellow; : covering often many square miles, all would be pink, more — rarely blue, and sometimes purple. I think, most assuredly, if we consider even what I have said, there cannot be a doubt that all this region, extending beyond the 99th meridian, and almost to the 100th in Kansas, is susceptible of cultivation throughout without irrigation, — and is likely to yield abundant crops and large profits to the farmer. Not many miles west of Fort Hayes, vegetation begins to suffer from the diminution in the rain-fall, and the general fertility which I have been describing gradually disappears. — Streams become less frequent, and dry arroyos take their place. Scrub bushes even are hard to find, and the only fuel to be had during marches of twenty miles or more, is the dry chips of the buffalo dung. Both to the north and south, this line of demarcation exists between the well-watered plains to the eastward, and the more arid regions separating them from the Rocky Mountains. To the north, the line deflects east- ward, and to the south it diverges to the west, so that a greater portion of Nebraska is dry and unproductive than of Kansas; while Kansas, taken as a whole, is less fertile throughout than the Indian territory south of it. There are places where this dry belt is very narrow, and were it absolutely desirable for a trans-continental railroad to avoid it altogether, and to pass all the way to the Rocky Mountains through land capable of continuous cultivation, either with or without irrigation, this might easily be accom- "> CT ———E rll ENTER AN ARID DISTRICT. 45 plished by leaving the present road at Salina, or Fort Harker, crossing direct to the Arkansas River, following it to New Fort Lyon, and then continuing up the Purgatoire into New Mexico. It is, however, often considered better to make short cuts, than to keep too persistently to the fertile valleys. Some dozen miles from Fort Hayes, as I have said, we began to enter this impoverished country, and as we advanced day by day, the marks of less frequent rains left their impress on the mineral, as well as on the vegetable kingdom. The country was not so well rounded off into rolling prairie; the bluffs stood out more sharp and bold; and the effects of floods and freshets were more distinctly visible. These are appear- ances which always increase with the dryness of the region. In a great many instances, the soft, dry land had, in process 46 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. of time, been washed away from the harder foundations, leaving the latter standing on the open plain as grotosgil masses of sandstones, marls, &e. q Many of these were named, and formed good land-markel 7 such were Castle Rock, Monument, Carslile, Hall, Chal < Bluffs (not made of chalk, however), and others all along the route. Their average height above the plain was from 100. to 300 feet. 7 The most singular of these formations is that met with about six miles east of Fort Harker, and known as Mushroom Rock. The engraving is an exact representation of it. The worst part of the route was from Donner Station, | twenty miles west of Hayes, to within twenty miles of Fort Wallace, a district of about sixty miles across, and even over — this sixty miles there was no lack of forage; and in many — places very fair grazing could be had, suitable either f sheep or for horned cattle. On nearing the Rocky Mountains the rain-fall gradually increases. Along its eastern spurs 1 is pretty abundant, producing a good growth of hardy an nutritious grasses, amongst which may be noticed the moun- 4 tain bunch-grass, as well as the grama (Boutelorea oligastuchya), both most excellent for cattle. 4 Early in March I found the cattle actually fat; they had been out all winter, without shelter or hay, and the frost was still in the ground.’ I am now speaking of the country between Fort Wallace and Denver, and north of Denver, towards the Black Hills. I may add, however, that the entire belt of country along the spurs of the mountains, espe- cially to the southward, cannot, except in New Mexico, be surpassed by any other region for purposes of sheep farming. Almost due west of Fort Wallace, a considerable spur from the mountains juts out into the plains. This spur is | | | WILL THE AVERAGE RAIN-FALL INCREASE? 47 thickly covered with fine pine timber—a treasure almost beyond price in such a region; and, curious enough, while the timber grows above, a fine bed of coal lies below the surface. This forest is entered about one hundred and eighty miles from Fort Wallace, and extends for at least forty miles up into the mountains. Whether it is that the timber attracts an additional quantity of moisture, or prevents it from evaporating when deposited, or whether the soil is unusually rich, I know not ; but I can say of my own knowledge, that in this district vegetation is very luxuriant, and the country very beautiful. Along the streams flowing from the mountains around Denver and south of it, fine crops and vegetables can be raised by irrigation ; but as the altitude of these regions is very great (about 6,000 feet), crops do not flourish much farther north at that elevation. As only a small proportion of these streams on leaving the mountains succeed in crossing the comparatively dry part of the plains, and as the few which do not sink flow for one or two hundred miles with much-diminished volume, I fear that but little irrigation can be obtained from: them, and I am decidedly of opinion that, without irrigation, crops cannot at present be raised. This leads naturally to a very important question. As settlers advance from the East; as they sow corn, plant trees, and open up the soil, will the rain-fall increase to any considerable extent? The knowledge gained from many places in the Western country, where farming on a large scale has already existed for years, leaves no doubt now, that this question can safely be answered in the affirmative. The district around Salt Lake is the most striking example I have met with; here, since cultivation has extensively been carried on, the rain-fall has been 48 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA, nearly doubled, and during months which used always to | pass by with cloudless skies, reviving showers are of frequent 4 occurrence, and heavy dews refresh the ground. We may — confidently expect, therefore, that the area of arable land on | these vast plains will gradually increase, and that the dry | belt of country will become narrowed indefinitely, by the skill and industry of the husbandman. At sunset, on this Sunday evening, unusual mativiy might June 23. have been seen in our camp. We had crossed the Smoky Hill Fork for the last time, and had pitched our tents on its banks, in a spot known as Death Hollow. The name was not a prepossessing one, but so many trains had | been attacked there, and so much life had been taken on that piece of bottom-land, that it was, at all events, appro- priate. Trains which camped there, it was said, were sure to be attacked; there were, however, three most tempting inducements to remain—abundance of wood, water, and grass. On one side were the bluffs, which abruptly separated the depressed valley from the general level of the plain. On the other flowed the stream, its banks clothed with willow, cotton- wood trees, and tall rank grass; beyond were the bluffs of the opposite side, lying pretty aloes to the river. About a mile farther up the stream, on a carpet of the greenest grass, beneath a cluster of large cotton-wood trees, the bleached skeletons of a great many buffalo lay altogether, showing that this place had been a favourite camping-ground for Indian hunting parties. At seven o’clock we were roused from our languid enjoy- ment of the cool evening breeze and the glorious sunset, by two or three shots fired in quick succession from the plains, and one return shot from our sentinel on the bluffs, who ran CAMP IN DEATH HOLLOW. 49 directly into camp erying “ Indians! Indians!” Inamoment we were ready, with our Spencer carbines in our hands; but we heard no war-whoop—saw no enemy. ‘Two large objects, however, quickly came in view, which soon developed into two stage-coaches, covered outside with soldiers and their rifles. These soldiers had mistaken our men on the bluffs for — Indians, and had fired at them, at which our escort, who were mostly recruits and unaccustomed to being made targets of, thought that their end had come, and that the Indians were upon them ‘ sure.” Not much was said about the mistake, for both sides were a little ashamed of it, and cur great desire was to hear the news. It was the old story, but rather worse than usual. Nearly a Week before, the coaches had left Fort Wallace, and - had tried to run the gauntlet together to Denver. On the ™ Se 7 a eee Se iat at eee ete anata adil 17th, however, before they had travelled more than thirty miles, they were attacked by a band of 200 warriors, all mounted and well armed. Unable to go farther, they tried to retrace their steps, and had a running fight with the Indians for eight miles, when the savages, after losing several comrades, gave up the chase. Two soldiers and one civilian were killed, and their bodies left on the road; two of the ‘guards were wounded, and Mr. Blake, of Philadelphia, who had come out with the excursion party, and was on his way to Denver, had been shot in the shoulder. He was sufficiently recovered, however, to leave Fort Wallace that afternoon, and commence his homeward journey. From him we received a description of the fight. The stages had started eastward two days previously, and been driven back to the fort; but with indomitable perseverance, they had tried again, and this time successfully. That night we dug rifle pits around our camp; and long E + ae 50 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. shall I remember discussing with my companion of the watch as we sat together in one of them, whether a light that appeared suddenly over the opposite bluff was an Ind i signal or only a star. The coyotes howled dismally al | through the night, and at daybreak joined in a chorus of such unearthly yells, that some of the knowing ones in Indi mn warfare declared that these coyotes had no tails, but 1ces like red-men, and teeth made of lead. q Next day we entered Fort Wallace, and found the little garrison quite worn out by the dangers and anxieties of last few days. I shall, however, leave it to my friend, M Calhoun, who had previously arrived with General Hane and his staff, to recount what had transpired before ou arrival, in a fresh chapter. The Major and I became great friends at Fort Wallace although my junior in years, he looked a middle-aged m for he had gone through hardships during the civil which few men could have survived. He had been oe through the lungs, had lost a leg, and had been thrice take prisoner; worse than all, he had lingered for eighteen month in the dungeons of a Southern prison. Twice he tried t escape across the swamps of the Chickahominy, and twice was recaptured and brought back.to expiate that offence greater sufferings and more acute starvation. At last succeeded, shoeless and in rags, in breaking through the lines” and reaching the Northern piquets in safety, where he learned that he had already been exchanged. The bracing climate : of the Rocky Mountains did wonders for him, and soon he was able to go through as much fatigue as the stronges t amongst us. a 5 a CHAPTER V. A FORTNIGHT AT FORT WALLACE. General Hancock arrives at Fort Wallace, June 16.—First Indian st etee on the Fort, June 21.—Attack on the Quarries,—The Garrison worn a Sunday.—False Alarm.—Arrival of General Wright and atte: June 4.—The Mail-bags. Bi jose: Indian Attack, 25th.—The Fight.—The Mitilatod Dead.—Wonderful Recoveries.—Pond Creek Station.—Detain a poy at Fort Wallace.—General Hancock returns from Denyer.— He cannot give us any more men.—Proceed in company with Colonel Siecaianed and Party. ‘Ar sunrise on Sunday, the 16th, General Hancock and escort broke camp fourteen miles north-east of Fort Wallace. “Winding down from the dividing ridge, about 9 a.m., a cheer came from the head of the column. Riding out, I saw in the distance the white tents and long reddish buildings of Fort Wallace. Glad, indeed, were we to see human habita- tions; and in the bright sunlight Fort Wallace looked like a beautiful little village, nestling on the far-off hill-side. We passed large beds of flowering cacti on our way down, and the lower ground appeared to be one mass of waving flowers. Though the fort seemed to be but a very few miles off, we really found it seven, so clear is the atmosphere in this region. About 600 yards from Fort Wallace we went into camp, and soon all were busy in washing themselves, and Fort Wallace. _ donning apparel more befitting the Sabbath-day and rest. We had been in camp but a short time, when Captain Kehoe, of the 7th Cavalry, the commandant of the post, Adjutant Hale, Lieutenant’ Bell, and other officers, came down to welcome us. Fort Wallace is situated on Pond Creek, the south branch of E2 MISSOURI BOTANICAL fA DIMA AT 52 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. ; the Smoky Hill River, and about ten miles south-west of the present terminus of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. It was_ called after General Wallace, and is two miles from the present Pond Creck Station. There is accommodation here for 500 men; but, owing to the constant Indian depredations, the troops that should be at the fort are scattered in small parties over the roads between Fort Hayes and Denver, vainly trying to protect the overland stages from the attacks of the savages. ** Colonel Greenwood, his little party of twenty engineer and a small escort of twenty-five coloured troops, had just completed the survey for the railroad up to this point. Their destination was Denver, 200 miles distant, to which town they intended making a preliminary survey for a branch line; but the Sioux and Cheyennes had harassed them so much that they were obliged at last, after losing thirteen mules, to come into the fort to refit, and to obtain, if possible stronger escort. “On the Friday after our arrival General Hancock started for Denver. The people there were in great distress, and were calling out loudly for help; provisions were becoming scarce, prices enormous, and trade almost at a stand-still; for communication with the East had been almost entirely stoppell by the Indians. Wagon trains had ceased either to arrive or to leave, and the mining population in the adjoining districts, dependent entirely upon supplies from the East, were — even in a worse condition than the traders of Denver. | “Captain Kehoe, and far more troops than could well be- spared from Fort Wallace, accompanied the General, leaving behind only about fifty fighting men, as many civilians, and Colonel Greenwood’s little escort of twenty-five coloured troops, to guard the post. Such was the state of affairs when, on the FIRST INDIAN ATTACK. 53 next morning (Saturday 22nd), in company with Lieutenant Beecher (post quarter-master) and four cavalry men, I went down to Colonel Greenwood’s party, who were making a survey of the Government reservation around Fort Wallace. On our way back we ascended a hill which brought us in full view of the fort; there we saw men rushing across the plain in apparent excitement, and just beyond, a large number of mounted warriors were dashing back and forth on their horses. This was accompanied by the rattle of musketry. With a cry of ‘Indians!’ Beecher galloped on, and it did not take us many minutes to come within rifle-shot of the 400 Indians who were encircling the fort. ‘*T was mounted on Lieutenant Bell’s horse, but he met me outside the fort, and, on my dismounting, jumped into the _ saddle, and galloped directly for the enemy, which a small body of twelve cavalry men was holding in check. I secured the horse of a wounded man, and, anxious to see how the ‘noble red-men’ fought, I rode to the front. Here I found a number of wounded men, and an irregular line of soldiers and civilians on foot; while the mounted men, under Lieutenant Bell, were in the advance, skirmishing with the Indians. On the left of the little line of battle, a body of some fifty Indians rushed forward just as Sergeant Dummell, with ten men, appeared over the hill from the fort. Shouting to his men, three of whom followed him, the gallant fellow plunged in amongst the Indians ; and for a few minutes the yells of the savages, the rattle of ‘Spencers,’ and the encouraging shout of the young sergeant, could be heard. Before assistance could reach them, the Indians were reinforced, and the devoted little band were trampled under the feet of the Indian horses. After the soldiers had fallen, the brutal Indians fired on them, and speared them. They were about scalping them, when 54 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. the remainder of our little force rushed to the rescue, and the ~ red-men fell back, carrying with them their own dead and q ) - wounded, and the horses and equipments of Dummell’s men. — All the fallen men were recovered, with one exception. This poor man’s body lay hidden for some minutes by an undula- q tion in the plain; but on being discovered by a civilian, a rush 3 was immediately made towards the corpse. It was safely secured before the savages had succeeded in taking the scalp, — and carried to an ambulance which had been sent out for the | wounded. q “ Fearing an attack directly on the fort, Adjutant Hale called — in all the men on foot and posted them, so as to be ready in — case the Indians made an united assault. The latter showed 4 a great deal of their accustomed bravado. For instance, a ; band of ten or twenty rushed out of their irregular line, q brandishing their spears, and whooping all the time; then, | wheeling rapidly, they fired, and ran back to their comrades, — while our carbiniers made the atmosphere very hot about their ears. 4 “Lieutenant Bell was well mounted, and riding close to the Indians to ascertain their force, a man on a white horse — galloped out of the line, as if to court combat. Bell, how- — ever, kept on, at which the Indian jerked in his horse, fired, and galloped back. This man led on the Indians in their first rush. He is believed to be a half-breed, son of Colonel Brent, by a Cheyenne wife. He is twenty-four years of age, and disowned by his father. He shows his affection for him by swearing he will shoot him at the first opportunity, — and wear his father’s scalp in his belt. : _ “T was somewhat surprised to see the regularity of the Indian advance when they made their last dash. Leaving — their main or dismounted in line, ‘standing to horse,’ SS Cl So st, See. THE FIGHT. 55 thirty were moved forward, and deployed as skirmishers, at distances of two paces. But after coming within range of our carbines, they changed their minds and returned. “IT must say I felt glad when I saw Colonel Greenwood’s coloured troops forming to the rear, though their advent noarly resulted in my own death. I was galloping towards the ground upon which the black men were posted, when I heard a whiz! whiz! whiz! close to my ears, and looking up, I saw the sergeant taking aim at my head. He was close to me, and I mildly insinuated that his conduct was not at all — pleasant. He replied, ‘Gosh! I was gwine for yeh—thought | yeh was an Ingin, shuah! I need not assure you that I did not take the negro’s remarks in a complimentary sense, and [ particularly objected to his manner of presenting them. When [ returned to camp,.1 borrowed a glass; and as I saw my long black hair, brown silk shirt, brigandish cavalry hat (Captain Kehoe’s), and generally demoralised appearance, I changed my mind about going down to Greenwood’s camp to ‘demand an explanation.” Even my mother might have made the same mistake. ‘¢ About three miles from Fort Wallace, and at the foot of a long range of hills which partly surround it, are situated the quarries from which the stone is procured for the buildings now being erected. Six teams are employed in hauling the stone, and some thirty men in getting it out. The labourers have tents, and remain at the quarry. ‘¢ Simultaneously with the Indians’ appearance in front of the fort, a large body made a dash at the teams, two of which were near the quarry. One succeeded in getting in; but the other, in full view of all, was overpowered, and the driver, Patrick McCarty, cut down. It was astonishing to see the rapidity with which the Indians cut loose the mules and ran 56 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. them off, after which they upset the wagon. Owing to the fire kept up by the men in the quarries, they did not scalp _ the teamster. Seeing a movement on the part of the men in — the quarries to evacuate, our little handful of mounted men : galloped over to head off a body of Indians who were riding q for the labourers. In this we were successful ; but the quar-— ries had.scarcely been evacuated ten minutes before the Sioux 3 and Cheyennes had taken possession of them, and set the works and huts on fire. Our loss that day was eight men—_ four killed and four wounded—the latter, I regret to say, q severely. 7 ‘There was but little sleeping in Fort Wallace on Saturday 4 night. Every man was needed, and there was an air of © determination about the men which led me to believe that if — the Indians assaulted the fort that night, their success would — be purchased at a.terrible price. Every man was armed. | Lieutenant Lea, stationed here temporarily, was very active, — and did much towards giving the men confidence. aq ‘A calm Sunday followed the storm. We buried the poor — fellows that had been killed the day before in the little grave- _ yard, by the side of their comrades, not one of whom had died a natural death. : “There was no rest, however, for the little garrison, nearly — broken down with arduous guard and picket-duty. Every | hour the horizon was closely scanned; not a tall tuft of grass moved in the distance, not an antelope bounded over the plain, that was not noticed by the sentinel. ’ “The next night passed quietly by, and no fresh attack = was made. At 10 o’clock in the morning, however, a column j | of dust was seen rising seven miles off to the eastward. That — was the direction the Indians had taken. They might be — returning to renew the fight. So, quicker than it takes to . THE GARRISON WORN OUT. 57 tell it, the little band stood ready with arms for an enemy and hands for a friend. The column of dust approached. Then a long line came over the hill, four miles distant. The bright sun shone on the white covers of the wagons, and was reflected from the shining barrels and glittering scabbards of the advancing cavalry. No Indians ever approached in that slow, solid step. So a thrill of pleasure ran through all Arrival of the Mails at Fort Wallace. as Adjutant Hale, from ‘the look-out,’ on the roof of the sutler’s ‘store,’ announced the approach of General Wright and his surveying party, with a large cavalry escort.” * * * * * While friends were clasping hands in warm welcome and overflowing with questions, a second pleasure was in store for us all. Scarcely were the tents pitched and the mules let 58 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. loose to roll on the grass and play in the serio-comical — manner peculiar to the race, when two coaches from the East | brought us the first mails we had received since starting. — The bags were carried into the little mail-room, and their — contents emptied out upon the floor. Most of us found our 7 names amongst the pile. How sweet the news from far-off — Philadelphia and dear old England none can appreciate who | have not felt it for themselves. So all went merrily on | through the day. The officers were most hospitable; we | spent the evening at their quarters, and retired to our tents — thoroughly contented with ourselves and at peace with all | men. Peace did not last long, however, for early dawn brought the red-skins back again. They were evidently ignorant of | the fresh reinforcement, and came determined this time to | take the fort and repeat in all its horrors the Fort Kearney | massacre. Pond Creek Station was the first point of attack; — but, as usual, this little fortress—for in fact it was quite a 2 | stronghold in its way—proved too much for them. They — succeeded in stampeding four of the stage-horses ; and almost | the first intimation received at the fort of an attack was qj brought by these horses galloping straight towards us, two- : and-two, exactly in the same order as they were accustomed to be driven. One was bleeding from a wound in the hind leg, another had been shot in the neck. The Indians followed on their horses, whooping and yelling like a host of demons. Without a moment’s delay, a dozen cavalry from the fort, united with some thirty-five of our escort, and led by our | officer, Captain Barnitz, were in the saddle. The i 4 sounded, and out they went across the open plain. The Buffalo Indians are probably the finest horsemen in the world. Accustomed from their childhood to chase the HOW THE INDIANS RIDE. 59 buffalo, they live half their time in the saddle. No reins are used to guide their horses, but they press with their heels on whichever side they want to turn. Both hands and arms are consequently free to use the rifle, the bow, or the spear at pleasure. These men were splendidly armed with rifles for long ranges, bows and arrows for short distances, and spears and tomahawks for hand-to-hand combat. They were tightly strapped to their saddles, so that they could bend down at either side of the horse, and completely hide their bodies from view as well as from the bullets of the enemy; and when shot they did not fall to the ground, but were carried off the field by their ponies, unless the latter were disabled also. Leading on the red-skins could distinctly be seen the tall warrior with the long lance on the white horse, who was so conspicuous in the fight of Saturday. As the little column advanced, the Indians commenced signalling by walking their horses in a circle, while the chief made signs to some warriors out of view by means of a shining instrument or mirror, which flashed brilliantly in the sun. The savages had evidently not expected to find so large a body ready to meet them, or to see an additional line of tents and wagons added to the fort. All this signalling seemed to result in the gradual withdrawal of the attacking party from the imme- diate vicinity of the fort behind a ridge some two miles distant, where, as it turned out, a much larger number were waiting in concealment. At the first ery of “ Indians !” we were all out of our tents, rifle in hand. My friend, Walter Hinch- man, Criley, our carpenter, and myself, started immediately for a ravine about two miles off on the right, which formed a covered approach of six miles or more in length leading in the direction of our camp. General Wright very 60 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. wisely detained the rest of the party in camp to defend it im case of attack while the cavalry were away. Finding ne Indians advancing along the ravine, we returned to brea fast, feeling it undesirable to go farther unprotected ai ‘alone. Two hours of great suspense followed, which was n much relieved by the appearance of a horseman from the fie of action, who came to get an ambulance for the dead a1 wounded. The following is an account of this engagement :— No sooner had the cavalry followed the retiring ba beyond the ridge, exchanging shots and skirmishing all #1 way, than on either flank two fresh bodies of warriors sw denly appeared. They halted for a few minutes; a powe ful-looking warrior, fancifully dressed, galloped along the front shouting out directions; and then, like a whirlwin with lances poised and arrows on the string, they rushed the little band of fifty soldiers. The skirmishers fired fell back on the line, and in an instant the Indians amongst them. Now the tide was turned. Saddles ° emptied, and the soldiers forced back over the ground tow the fort. The bugler fell, pierced by five arrows, and instantly seized by a powerful warrior, who, stooping doy from his horse, hauled him up before him, coolly stripped body, and then, smashing the head of his naked victim wit. tomahawk, threw him on the ground under his horse’s feet. the left of our line the Indians pressed heavily, cutting men, among them Sergeant Frederick Wylyams. With } little force, this poor fellow held out nobly till his hor was killed, and one by one the soldiers fell, selling their liv dearly. The warrior who appeared to lead the band was. to this time, very conspicuous in the fight, dashing back forth on his grey horse, and by his actions setting an exal ee ae ee i a en re i ae SECOND INDIAN ATTACK. 61 to his warriors. In the mélée, however, one of our cavalry men was thrown to the ground by the fierceness of the Indian onslaught, when this leader, who I have since learned was the famous Cheyenne war-chief Roman-nose, attacked the prostrate man with his spear. Corporal Harris, of “G” company, was near him, and struck Roman-nose with the sabre which he held in his left hand. Quick as thought, the chief turned on him; but as he did so, the faithful ‘‘Spencer’’ of the corporal met his breast, and with the blood pouring from his mouth, Roman-nose fell forward on his horse, never again to lead his “ dog-soldiers” on the war-path. By this time it was more than evident that on horseback the soldiers were no match for the red-skins. Most of them had never been opposed to Indians before ; many were raw recruits; and their horses became so dreadfully _ frightened at the yells and the smell of the savages as to be quite unmanageable. So Captain Barnitz gave the order to dismount. When the dismounted cavalry commenced to pour a well- directed volley from their Spencers, the Indians for the first _ time wavered, and began to retire. For two hours Captain Barnitz waited with his thinned ranks for another advance of the Indians, but they prudently held back; and, after a prolonged consultation, retired slowly with their dead and wounded beyond the hills, to paint their faces black, and lament the death of one of the bravest leaders of their inhuman race. I have seen in days gone by sights horrible and gory— death in all its forms of agony and distortion—but never did I feel the sickening sensation, the giddy, fainting fecling that came over me when I saw our dead, dying and wounded after this Indian fight. A handful of men, to be sure, but 62 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. with enough wounds upon them to have slain a company, if | evenly distributed. The bugler was stripped naked, and five arrows driven through him, while his skull was ‘tora ‘ smashed to atoms. Another soldier was shot with four 4 bullets and three arrows, his scalp was torn off, and his brains knocked out. A third was riddled with balls and — arrows; but they did not succeed in getting his scal although, like the other two, he was stripped naked. Jam Douglas, a Scotchman, was shot through the body wi arrows, and his left arm was hacked to pieces. He was brave fellow, and breathed out his life in the arms of his — comrades. Another man, named Welsh, was killed, but all | subsequent search failed to discover his remains. Sergeant Wylyams lay dead beside his horse; and as the fearful — picture first met my gaze, I was horror-stricken. Horse and _ rider were stripped bare of trapping and clothes, while — around them the trampled, blood-stained ground showed the desperation of the struggle. I shall minutely describe this horrid sight, not for the sake of creating a sensation, but becarf&Se it is characteristic of mode of warfare soon—thank God!—to be abolished ; and because the mutilations have, as we shall presently see, most of them some meaning, apart from brutality and a desire to inspire fear. A portion of the sergeant’s scalp lay near him, but the greater part was gone; through his head a rifle-ball had passed, and a blow from the tomahawk had laid his brain open above his left eye; the nose was slit up, and his throat was cut from ear to ear; seven arrows were standing in different parts of his caked body; the breast was laid open, so as to expose the heart; and the arm, that had doubtless done its work against the sacle was hacked to the bone EACH TRIBE LEAVES ITS MARK ON THE DEAD. 63 his legs, from the hip to the knee, lay open with horrible gashes, and from the knee to the foot they had cut the flesh with their knives. Thus mutilated, Wylyams lay beside the mangled horse. In all, there were seven killed and five wounded. As I have said, almost all the different tribes on the plains had united their forces against us, and each of these tribes has a different sign by which it is known. The sign of the Cheyenne, or “ Cut arm,” is made in peace by drawing the hand across the arm, to imitate cutting it with a knife; that of the Arapahoe, or “Smeller tribe,’ by seizing the nose with the thumb and fore-finger; of the Siouz, or “‘ Cut-throat,” by drawing the hand across the throat. The Comanche, or ‘* Snake Indian,” waves his hand and arm, in imitation of the crawling of a snake; the Crow imitates with his hands the flapping of wings; the Pawnee, or ‘ Wolf Indian,” places two fingers erect on each side of his head, to represent pointed ears; the Blackfoot touches the heel, and then the toe, of the right foot; and the Avowa’s most usual sign is to imitate the act of*drinking. If we now turn to the body of poor Sergeant Wylyams, we shall have no difficulty in recognising some meaning in the wounds. The muscles of the right arm, hacked to the bone, speak of the Cheyennes, or ‘‘ Cut arms ;” the nose slit denotes the ‘‘ Smeller tribe,” or Arapahoes; and the throat cut bears witness that the Sioux were also present. There were, therefore, amongst the warriors Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and Sioux. It was not till some time afterwards that I knew positively what these signs meant, and I have not yet dis- covered what tribe was indicated by the incisions down the thighs, and the laceration of the calves of the legs, in oblique parallel gashes. The arrows also varied in make and colour, 64 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. f according to the tribe; and it was evident, from the number | of different devices, that warriors from several tribes had each — purposely left one in the dead man’s body. I had made the acquaintance of poor Sergeant Wylyams only the day before. He was an Englishman, educated at Eton, and of good family, but while sowing his wild oats, he had made a fatal alliance in London, and gone to grief. Dis- The Mutilated Sergeant. owned by his family, he had emigrated to America, joined the army, and was daily expecting promotion out of the ranks. The day on which he was killed he had promised to help me in printing off some copies of the photographs which I had taken on the way. I had to print off my negatives alone, and to take a photograph of him, poor fellow, as he lay ; a copy of which I sent to Washington, that the authorities WONDERFUL RECOVERIES. 65 should see for themselves how their soldiers were treated on the plains. — These Indian troubles detained our party nearly a fortnight in idleness at Fort Wallace. The hospital tents were crowded, and I must say that I never saw better surgery or more - careful management than here, under the hands of Dr. Turner, the medical officer of the post. Two cases he was especially proud of, and certainly with reason. One was a Mexican, the other a soldier; both had been shot through the body, by an arrow. They both recovered without a bad symptom. ‘The soldier I watched from the extraction of the arrow until he was able to walk about. The arrow had entered the back two inches from the spine, and the point had reappeared just below, and about two inches from, the navel. It had, probably, passed quite through the liver, without touching any other organ; still, four layers of peritoneum must have been pierced, and the recoveries, in both cases, say as much for the healthiness of the, climate as for the skill of the surgeon. General Wright did not think it advisable to leave Fort Wallace with so small a force to guard it. His chief reason, however, for remaining, was the hope of obtaining a larger escort for himself on General Hancock’s return from the West. As, however, we were splendidly armed, had abundance of ’ ammunition, and were supplied by the Government with every necessary in order that the Indians should not succeed in stopping or delaying us, this inactivity was by no means popular with the majority of the party. One day I examined Pond Creek Station, and as it is a very good specimen of one of those fortified stage stations which are to be found along the overland routes, a short description may not be uninteresting. F 66 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. Standing side by side, and built of wood and stone, — are the stables and the ranche in which the drivers and 1 the ostlers live. Behind is a coralle, or yard, divided off — from the plain by a wall of stones. In this is kept the hay, : &e., belonging to the station. A little subterranean passage, — about five feet by three, leads from the stables to the house. 1 Another one leads from the stables to a pit dug in the . ground, about ten yards distant. This pit is about eight or ] ten feet square, is roofed with stone supported on wood, and just on a level with the ground portholes open on all sides. The roof is raised but little above the general level of the — ground; more, however, at this station than at most of them. — Another narrow subterraneous passage leads from the house | to a second pit, commanding the other side of the station; — while a third passage runs from the coralle to a larger pit, commanding the rear. In both houses, many repeating ~ Spencer and Henry breech-loading rifles—the former carry- | ing seven, and the latter eighteen charges—lie loaded | and ready to hand; while over each little fort a black — flag waves, which the red-men know well means “no ~ quarter” for them. When attacked, the men creep into | these pits, and, thus protected, keep up a tremendous fire — through the portholes. Two or three men, with a couple of breech-loaders each, are a match for almost any number of — assailants. I cannot say how many times these little forts have been used since their construction, but during the three | weeks we were in the neighbourhood, the station was | attacked twice. The Indians are beginning to understand | these covered rifle-pits, and the more they know of them the — more careful they are to keep at a respectful distance from | them. 1 At the close of the following week General Hancock | NO MORE TROOPS TO BE OBTAINED. 67 _arrived. He had left so many of his escort here and there along the road, that no additional troops could be spared for us; and our expedition might have ignominiously returned at its outset, had not Colonel Greenwood most liberally offered to escort us with his surveying party and his coloured troops—making, in all, nearly fifty additional men—across the remainder of the country considered unsafe. F2 CHAPTER VI. CROSSING THE DESERT BETWEEN THE SMOKY HILL FORK AND THE ARKANSAS RIVER. Moun a —A Hunting Party arrive.—Threatened with Cholera.—Spread — of the Epidemic over the Plains. 4 Distance travelled 114 miles. THE country between Fort Wallace and the Arkansas River was very little known ; no road traversed it, and no one ever — crossed it but the hunter and trapper, and they but rarely. 4 It was thought to consist of an undulating plain covered with 4 buffalo grass, and to be almost entirely destitute of water. — The best maps of that section of country had placed one — stream, “Sand Creek,” between the head waters of the _ Smoky Hill Fork and the Arkansas River; but this was re-— ported to be only an arroyo, usually dry. General Wright’s wish was to cross this country obliquely, and strike the — Arkansas River either at or a little below New Fort Lyon, 4 | post then being formed at the mouth of the Purgatoire, one of | the southern tributaries of the Arkansas River. The distance ‘ was estimated at about seventy-two miles, and as no guide — could be obtained, the imperfect maps of the country had alone to be relied upon to direct our course. . : THE SURVEYORS AT WORK. 69 From the great bend of the Missouri at Kansas City, to Fort Wallace, we had gradually been ascending, until -at the Fort we were 3,275 feet above the sea, so that, as the elevation of the Missouri at Kansas City is 710 feet, the average rise per mile is 6:2 feet for the distance of 412 miles. On Monday, the 8th of July, before the sun had risen, and in a thick mist (the only one I eyer saw on the plains), our line of wagons crept away from Fort Wallace, first fording the stream, and then winding about through the cliffs and broken country which separate the valley on the south side from the more lofty plateau beyond. Two days previously, the line of survey had been run across this country for six miles, so that, as soon as our wagons came to the end of this line, the engineer corps commenced work, and continued it onward as fast as possible. The ground had to be measured, stakes driven in at regular intervals, and every undulation of the surface had to be accurately determined by means of proper instruments ; and this had to be done through an Indian country, which was, moreover, so dry that it was probable we should not find a drop of water along the whole. seventy-two miles. The greatest possible expedition was therefore required on the part of the surveyors, and their achievements across this country were really wonderful. There were under General Wright, at that time, three parties or divisions, each capable of “running a line” independently. At Fort Wallace, the transit-man, leveller, and topographer of each division, had obtained mules, and one of the wagons had been emptied of its contents, and devoted, for a time, to the surveyors. One division commenced work, and the men were soon spread out Monday, July 8. 70 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. into line a mile long, upon the plain, measuring and taking observations at every point. On one side of this line came the wagons, following each other closely, and guarded by a — small body of the escort. The. remainder of the cavalry — moved with the surveyors—some in front, others in the rear, — and the greater number in the centre, so that, being between — this body of cavalry and the wagon train, the long line of — surveyors was well protected. The transit-man, carrying — his instrument on his shoulder, and riding a mule at a gallop, — would suddenly stop, jump off, arrange the transit, wave to the flag-man ahead, wait until satisfied of the correctness of — his observation, then back into the saddle, shoulder his — transit, and gallop away again. Behind him came the rod-— men and leyellers, mounted in the same way, and advancing © with a like rapid accuracy. It was very hard on the mules, 4 but by five o’clock that evening fifteen miles had been — chained, “located,” and levelled—no chance nor guesswork, ; but an accurate preliminary survey. Under a July sun this activity could not possibly be kept : up indefinitely ; so, about every two hours, when one party was tired, those in the emptied wagon would relieve them, — while the men who had been working would get in and rest. — In this manner the day passed by, and evening came. After working until it was too dark to see any longer, we halted; and, too tired for the most part to pitch tents, threw our blankets on the ground, and soon fell asleep. Our day’s march was twenty-one miles, but of these, six had been surveyed before. About mid-day we had passed two pools of stagnant water, — left after the rains. All the animals were supplied from these, so that they did not suffer much from thirst during the night. It was, however, a miserable camping ground, on ' si st i- BUFFALO AND WATER. 71 the dry bed of a creek; the grass was scant and poor in- quality ; and all the mules had to be tied to the wagons, both for safety and for fear of their straying back to the last watering-place. During the next day our tired animals toiled along over the endless undulations of the dreary, arid plain; occasionally crossing dry water-courses, but nowhere was there a drop to drink. About five o’clock, far away on the horizon, a number of black specks came in view. At first, even with the glasses, we could not make them out; though they were evidently moving and coming towards us. In half an hour we could plainly see that they were a herd of over one hundred buffalo. At this sight our hopes of finding water were greatly revived ; for at eventide so large a herd would certainly not be found far from it. I could not resist a chase, although early that morning I had had a successful one. On my way towards the herd I saw evidence of a heavy local rain, and on my return found our party camped-within half-a-mile of some large pools of water. Since morning we had travelled twenty-one miles, and the engineers had surveyed “‘a line” the whole of the way. In a very few minutes our clothes were thrown off, and, like shouting school-boys, we were splashing each other in the sparkling water. These pools were all transitory, and probably in less than a week afterwards had disappeared into the sandy soil. Long before the streak of pink and gold, so beautiful in : thie region, had begun to appear in the east, the heavy sleepers were roused. By five o’clock the engineers were at their ' transits and levels; and as General Wright was desirous that the train should accompany the surveyors, the unfed animals were slowly pulling the wagons through the yielding earth. As the day advanced, the mules of the engineers began to give 72 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. -out ; still the party, both mounted and on foot, kept bravely on | through the scorching heat, unfil twenty-three miles of the desert had been staked, levelled, and chained. By this time — the sun was setting; and the hot wind coming from the south, sent up clouds of dust. As no “Sand Creek” came — across our path, I started on a-head about four o’clock with the chief wagon-master to search for it, and, if possible, to | find water to camp by. We kept a little to the right, and after a ride of ten miles came to a broad arroyo, or dry bed, which we thought might be “Sand Creek.” This we followed — for four miles; but not finding a trace of water, returned at — sundown to camp. Two or three tents were being pitched, while several of the party, from the top of a lofty undulation, were intently viewing through their glasses a distant row of — trees, and a long silver thread, winding away to the eastward. — Could it be water, or only a mirage? Perhaps a bank of — shining sand in some dry water-course ! As the setting sun lit up the horizon, there seemed to be no | doubt, from its breadth, that, if it were water, it must be the — Arkansas.- General Wright consulted his maps, and concluded — that this was impossible, as the Arkansas River could not be less than thirty-two miles distant. So we halted for the night. | All our stock were suffering terribly for want of water. The horses stood motionless on three legs, with ruffled coats and drooping necks, now and then snuffing the dry parched grass, and refusing even to look at their corn. The mules, as is their wont, did manage to eat up their corn, but they made the night hideous with their frightful cries. A hundred mules uniting their voices at intervals in chorus, louder and more frequent as the night changes into morning; kicking at each other, and rattling their chains, in vain éfforts to escape and quench their burning thirst: these form perhaps the most diabolical STRIKING THE ARKANSAS. 73 combination of sounds that ever broke the slumbers of a worn-out traveller. Such was the conclusion I came to, as I watched with impatience the first streak of day. Four miles of travel next morning solved the question of the previous evening. From the top of our “ Mount Pisgah” Thursday, We had indeed seen “the promised land,” July1!- the rich yalley of the Arkansas, the wooded shady banks, the islands of cotton-wood trees, and the shining Suiking the Arkausas, river. Three hours after daylight our horses were wading through a sea of long rich grass, and snorting with excitement as they smelt the water. As for the mules, they were quite unmanageable. With difficulty the teamsters prevented them from rushing straight into the river with the wagons behind them; and when once unyoked, each team, regardless of 74 ~NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. harness, with outstretched necks, and white with dust, plunged en masse straight down a bank 3 or 4 feet deep, and buried their heads in the water. The rapid current carried some of them off their legs, but they did not care for that, and scrambled ashore where best they could. Their thirst quenched, and their bodies refreshed, they set to work at the grass. Slowly and steadily they “ crowded it down,” as our teamsters remarked, until their sides bulged out to such a degree that it was evident they could hold no more. It was delightful to see a broad stately river again, with its family of trees and waving rushes; and to hear the birds, the insects, and all the little sounds of life that you scarcely notice when you live amongst them, but which you miss so much in the desert; and these seventy-two miles we had just passed over were not only practically a desert, but by no means a good desert for railway purposes. The course we had taken was, so to speak, against the grain of the land ; every undulation crossed our line almost at right angles, and would have, ‘on location,” to be cut through. The highest of these undulations, that is, the dividing ridge between the Arkansas and Smoky rivers, was 4,028 feet above the sea; we crossed it sixteen miles from the Arkansas, and fifty-six from the Smoky River. ‘The Arkansas, at the point where we met it, flowed at an elevation of 3,593 feet above the sea. It is a fine broad stream, with a very rapid current, varying in depth from 10 feet to an inch or two, containing the usual snags, shoals, and quicksands of a Western river, and having an average fall of 7:5 feet per mile. The waters are muddy, but sweet to the taste; the banks consist of the rich loam of the bottom- lands, and are always falling away into the stream, at one side or the other, as the river changes its bed. On which- OE Ett ees iia sisi ieee eee VALLEY FERTILE BUT UNINHABITED. 75 ever side the banks are old, large cotton-wood trees grow in considerable numbers ; but the side upon which the river is wont to encroach is usually bare, the trees having fallen into the current as the banks gave way. In many places the stream had made for itself an entirely new channel, and the old bed had become a thick tangle of willows, young cotton- woods, reeds, and rushes. The Santa Fé road, from Fort Harker and Ellesworth, ran along the northern bank ; and as all the wagon-trains for New Mexico took this route, from the termination of the railroad, we had no difficulty in finding out our position from the passing teamsters. We were forty-two miles east of New Fort Lyon, and six miles below thé mouth of Sand Creek. The valley on both sides, as far as we traversed it—that is to say, for fifty miles—was most fertile, the grass was of very good quality, and, like all the vegetation, grew most luxuriantly. There was no sign of alkali, nor was the valley anywhere sandy or barren. It varied considerably in width as the bluffs, which formed the edge of the elevated plateau on either side, approached or receded from the river. It seemed curious to us that, for the whole distance I have named, not a ranche, farm, hut, or cultivated patch of land was anywhere to be found. There were no flocks or cattle of any kind to graze upon the beautiful pasture-lands, if we except the few oxen and mules of the passing wagon-trains. All this abundance was going to waste, year after year, from two causes—the presence of Indians, and the absence of railroads. Following up stream, we passed Bent’s Fort, and Old Fort Lyon on the following Saturday, and arrived at New Fort Lyon on Sunday the 14th. Bent’s Fort and Old Fort Lyon lie close together. The former is a small square building, 76 ~NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. placed on a bluff overlooking the river, and was garrisoned temporarily with about twenty-five men. It was the second military station established by Colonel Bent in former days. The first one, known as Bent’s Old Fort, is situated thirty- four miles farther up the river, and is now abandoned. Old Fort Lyon was formerly called Fort Wise. It was of considerable size, and although it had been abandoned only three months, was so completely dismantled as to look like an ancient ruin. Its situation was very unhealthy, being exposed to floods, and infested with rats and rattlesnakes. So a new site was chosen, twenty-two miles farther west (where New Fort Lyon now stands), on an eminence on the north bank of the river. The hill overlooks the stream, is well wooded, and consists partly of a stratum of grey sandstone, very good for building purposes. On. our arrival, all the troops were under canvas; but the officers’ quarters were nearly built, and a large body of the masons were engaged in quarrying the stone for the privates’ barracks, and in preparing it for use. If the present plans are carried out, this will make a very fine military establishment, especially if they continue to build it entirely of stone. On the third day after our arrival, Captain Barnitz and his company of cavalry, having escorted us to the borders of the military district of New Mexico, retraced their steps to Fort Wallace. With them went Colonel Greenwood and his party. They did not return the way we had come, but directed sere course straight for the fort, and surveyed a very good line across the arid region. Transverse ridges did not cross their path ; but the country was on the whole quite as barren and worthless as that over which we had passed. Old Fort Lyon. July 14. | CHOLERA ON THE PLAINS. 77 At New Fort Lyon we caught the first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. For in the clear soft light of sunset, far away to the westward, two broad flat cones were seen to break the hitherto endless level of the horizon. These were the lofty summits of the Spanish Peaks, more than 100 miles distant. The day after our arrival, a hunting party of gentlemen arrived from the East. They had had very poor sport on the way, and brought the unwelcome news that cholera had broken out on the plains, and was rapidly advancing westward. The 38th Regiment of coloured troops had been ordered from Fort Leavenworth, in eastern Kansas, to Fort Union, in New Mexico; and just before starting, this terrible scourge showed itself amongst the soldiers. A regiment thus infected, ought certainly not to have been allowed to traverse the country, and spread the contagion ; but all efforts to stop it proved of no avail, so that these troops brought death and mourning, first amongst the new towns and settlements and the railway employés along the Smoky Hill River, and then infected Fort Dodge and other places on the Arkansas. In this latter district, the hunting party came in contact with it, and suffered much from choleraic diarrhoea in consequence. While camped at Fort Lyon, the tent of our geologist, and that in which I lodged, happened to be situated next to the new arrivals, and we both suffered considerably from diarrhcea in consequence. In the meantime, the coloured regiment kept gradually approaching ; and Colonel Penrose, the post com- mander at New Fort Lyon, on hearing that they had reached the old fort, sent out a messenger to request that they should not proceed farther. The answer returned was, that daily change of camp was necessary for the preservation of the men, and that the epidemic was fast abating, although, in fact, New Fort Lyon. 78 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. they were camped by the burying-ground for convenience- sake. Thus the risk was needlessly run of introducing cholera into the inhabited district of New Mexico. Our parties left, however, before this regiment arrived, and we therefore escaped the serious risk of infection. Gradually, the epidemic was stayed by the careful management of the surgeon in charge, and did not extend farther west than Fort Lyon; but it was very severely felt all through Kansas, and at several points along the Santa Fé trail. CHAPTER VII. THE VALLEY OF THE PURGATOIRE, A Glance of the Country ahead.—The Arkansas Ferry-boat.—Boggs’ Ranche, or the First Mexican Settlement.—Its Inhabitants and their Progenitors.— Colonel Bent and his Sons.—Ute Indians.—The Valley almost uninhabited. —Its Great Fertility —Its Fauna.—Land easily Irrigated.—We leave the Valley for the Pla teau above.—Bear Rock.—Photographers in Diffi- culties.—The Great Cafion of the Purgatoire.—Origin of the Name.—We Capture Cattle.—Trinidad.—Lynch Law.—Fighting at Trinidad Distance :—In a direct line, 90 miles from Fort Lyon to Raton Mountains, WE left Fort Lyon on the 22nd of July, and camped at the foot of the first range of mountains which barred our west- ward course on the 4th of the following month, having travelled a distance of about 100 miles. These mountains form the Raton range, and jut out into the plains almost in a due easterly direction from the eastern main chain of the Rocky Mountains: about lat. 37°. The summits are mostly flat, resembling, at first sight, huge masses of mesa land with steep sloping sides; but on inspection they differ entirely from the latter, being of vol- canic origin, and representing a true local range, formed partly by upheaval, and partly by the solidification of molten matter poured out from the earth upon the elevated portions. This basaltic coating does not extend farther than about twenty-five miles east from Trinchera Pass, situated about the centre of the range. Here the mountains become flattened, and pro- longed into true mesa country, which extends as an undu- lating plateau some distance between the heads of the Cimarron and Purgatoire rivers, under the name of the Mesa 80 ‘NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. . del Maia. The Cimarron rises on the eastern and south-eastern {| slopes of the Raton Mountains, from springs amongst the volcanic rocks; thence it passes over this Mesa del Maia, through which it cuts a channel, forming a cafion known as the Cafion of the Cimarron. The Purgatoire (first changed into Purgatory, and then corrupted into Pickel-Wire) rises | in the northern angle which the Raton Mountains make with | the main chain. Along the base of those mountains it waters a very fertile valley—the upper valley of the Purgatoire—ot variable breadth, and about thirty miles long. The general course is north-easterly. Coming, at length, into contact | » ee with, or rather passing over, a northern continuation of the Mesa del Maia, this river, like the Cimarron, forms a caiion, within which it is enclosed for thirty-two miles. On emerging _ from this defile the river flows more to the northward, through a succession of valleys shut in by bluffs, which represent the abrupt termination of the table-lands on either side, for between fifty-five and sixty miles, when it joins the Arkansas one mile and a half above Fort Lyon. Our course ran parallel to this stream, partly in the valleys, but more generally on the dry level plateau lying to the west of them. On leaving Fort Lyon the surveyors crossed the Arkansas River about half a mile below the mouth of the Purgatoire, in a boat which had just been built; while the wagons, and those who were mounted, passed over on an eccentric ferry- boat, which an energetic Yankee had established four miles above. By an ingenious system of ropes and pulleys he was | enabled to take advantage of the strong current of the river to propel his heavy boat, in either direction, from side to side without assistance; and in this way, one by one, our train of twenty wagons and three ambulances passed over in safety. | Three miles farther we crossed the Purgatoire, to join the BOGGS’ RANCHE. ‘ 81 surveyors on the eastern bank, over a bridge built by the settlers who lived in this part of the valley. It was a great pleasure to us to find farms and settlements ° here, for they were the first we had met with since leaving civilisation. The banks of the Purgatoire are well-timbered on both sides, not by single rows of cotton-woods, but by groves of many kinds of trees—box, elders, willows, &c., amongst which the wild vine, the hop, and other creepers grow luxuriantly, and give an abundance of refreshing shade. The inhabitants of this little settlement formed a wonderful mixture of races; and when curiosity to see my camera had - brought the inhabitants from their adobe houses and log-huts, it would have been difficult to find a more motley group. To this point the ancient wave of Spanish occupation had just | reached, and a few families of indolent Mexican half-breeds still remain to represent the Peons of a few years back. Some of them had the woolly heads of the African ; in others the high cheek-bone and broad mouth of the Indian were the most striking features; while in some few the large, dark, g lustrous Spanish eye shone out unmistakably from the other- wise unattractive visage. Then there was Mr. Boggs, a tall, shrewd, energetic Western man, by whose perseverance the fine | fields of maize and wheat seen on either side had been planted. | He gave occupation to all who chose to work, and had already 1,000 acres of land under cultivation, besides some fine herds of cattle. Every one knew Boggs’ Ranche, which name embraced generally the whole settlement. Two or three ' other Americans, doing business in a small way, either as ' traders or farmers, also lived in the colony. Here also we met one of the sons of Colonel Bent, a well-known veteran of the plains. A few days previously the father had visited /General Wright at the fort; he was over sixty, with small VOL. I. G 82 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. black piercing eyes, and face as deeply bronzed as that of an _ Indian. ' The old warrior commenced life by fighting the red-skins, | but afterwards married a couple of squaws, and spent nearly all his days afterwards trading amongst them in peace. The son we met at Boggs’ Ranche is a half-breed, and as such is. decidedly a good specimen, for in every respect the American in him predominates over the Indian. He is sufficiently educated for ordinary life, and owns a flourishing farm two miles farther down the river, which I regret not having been able to visit when invited by him to doso. He has a brother, however, whose proclivities led him quite in the other diree- tion, and whose white blood made him even amore dangerous and relentless savage than his half-brethren. He is chief of the band of Cheyennes, to which his mother belonged, and has for years been the terror of the unprotected settlers. To complete the group of “ human curiosities” at Boggs’s Ranche, a family of Ute Indians had built their little lodge of sticks and old sail-cloth in a grove behind the cattle-shed. These hideous creatures, half clothed with skins, their coarse black hair falling in matted clusters over their faces and shoulders, stared vacantly at us as we passed, and terrified our horses as much as if they had been wild beasts. On crossing the river we found a large well-filled ranch on the opposite side, which had only just been built by two enterprising Yankees. Here we could buy everything— clothes and candles, bowie-knives and groceries, canned fruits | and Mexican saddles, powder and shot, boots and shoes, an and crinolines, Worcestershire sauce, whiskey, and drinks” without end. This well-stocked storehouse, raised up in the wilds, to which everything has to be carried hundreds of ; miles by wagons through a hostile Indian country, speaks | ENERGY OF WESTERN TRADERS. 83 more for the extraordinary energy and foresight of these Western traders than any panegyric I could write. The cir- cumstances which caused these two enterprising traders to invest their all in such a venture was simply this :—they recognised the great fertility of the Purgatoire valley ; they saw the success which accompanied the efforts of the few settlers who had come there, and they became convinced that such a district could not long remain an uninhabited wilder- ness. So, having built their ranche at the head of the valley, The Purgatoire ie. i where all must enter, they confidently expect soon to reap a rich and lasting harvest. Fight miles up the stream there is another farm, or ranche as it is called, belonging to an American, named Sizer, who acted as our guide through this country. There may be two G2 84 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. or three others, of small size, but beyond these the whole valley (or rather succession of valleys), from the mouth of the Purgatoire to the Great Cafion, a distance of nearly sixty miles, is quite uninhabited. If it were generally known what a beautiful country this is it would not long remain thus unoccupied. The river is deep, I bathed in it frequently and always found it out of my depth, and when we recrossed it, on the third day after our departure, we had great difficulty in finding a ford. The current is very rapid, and a large body of water is always to be found in the channel, even during the driest season. The banks are usually from three to five feet above the stream, and are formed of dark, rich loam. The average fall is from eight to nine feet per mile. To farm successfully irrigation is necessary, and for this purpose no country can be better adapted. The bluffs on either side of the river enclose between them large areas — of the richest ground, which might be called bottom-lands, only they are not subject to inundation. Riding through a succession of these valleys, we were ‘charmed with the graceful trees, the long wavy grass, the groves and vistas which everywhere abound, and produce an_ effect which strongly recalls the lovely parks of the south of England. »r Mexican origin. The church is built of red sandstone, in she form of a cross; the length of nave and chancel is (140 feet, that of the transept is 50; the widths respec- ‘vely are 33 to 18 feet; the walls are but 2 feet thick and 30 feet high. | At Abo there is also a eceiesl church, cruciform in shape, 3 he arms being respectively 27 and 129 feet; it is built of | » mall, beautifully-cut stones, placed together with the utmost ‘iicety. Other extensive ruins are scattered around it. | At Gran Quivera there are extensive ruins of Spanish *mnildings, having upon them the arms of different families ; but there are other ruins undoubtedly of Indian origin, which fully | Carry out the statement of the historian Venegas and others, 'that this ancient pueblo was a large fortress, consisting of even terraces, rising in steps one from the other. The i. emains of Sos acequias are to be seen in the vicinity both ‘vf Gran Quivera and Quarra. So much for the ruins of the itio Grande basin, | There are not, to my —— any ruined pueblos as far VoL, i. = ~ zi 194 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA, north as the main valley of the Rio San Juan, but there are. — several upon the two most southern tributaries—the Rio de Chelly and the Cafion de Chaco. The most remarkable are the pueblos Pintado, Una Vida, Wegigi, Hungo Pavie, and Bonito, all on the latter stream. Besides these there are five others in a more ruined state. The Pueblo Pintado has three stories, its whole elevation being about 30 feet. The walls are built of small flat slabs of grey, fine-grained sandstone, 21 inches thick, and are put together with- much art and ingenuity by means of a.kind of mortar made without lime. At a distance they have the appearance of mosaic work. The thickness of the outer wall of the first story is 1 yard at the base, diminishing at each successive story, until the top wall scarcely exceeds 1 foot. There are, as usual, no external openings in the ground floor. The length of the — edifice is 390 feet ; the ground floor contains fifty-three rooms, which open into each other by means of very small doors, in. — many “instances only 33 inches square. The floors are | made of rough beams, over which transverse cross-beams — _ are laid, and above all is a coating of bark and brushwood ~ covered over with mortar. The wood appears to have been cut with some blunt instrument. The ruins of Wegigi are similar to those of Pintado, being 690 feet in length, and having ninety-nine rooms on the ground floor. The Pueblo Una Vida is no less than 984 feet — long, and the Pueblo Bonito is still more extensive. The estufa of the latter is very large, and in a fair state’ of pre- — servation. It is 180 feet in cireumference, and the walls are — regularly formed of alternate layers of small and large stones, held together with mortar. e Another pueblo, Chetho Kette, measures 1,300 feet in cir- U cumference, and was originally four stories high. It has the — a tes eee soe OLD PUEBLOS IN THE CANON DE CHACO. 195 Yemains of one hundred and twenty-four rooms on the first Story. The most perfect of the ten ruined pueblos dis- covered by Lieut. Simpson in the Cafion de Chaco is that of Hungo Pavie (or the Crooked Nose). Its circumference, including the enclosed court, is 872 feet. It faces, as usual, q the cardinal points, and contains one estufa, placed in the _ Centre of the northern wing of the building. 4 The accompanying engravings are taken from Simpson’s “Navajo Expedition,” and show at a glance the form of _ these structures. The terraces of Hungo Pavie are here 7 represented as facing the central court. This may have been _ the plan adopted in many pueblos, but not in all. At Zui, j for instance, the terraces face outwards and rise in steps 7 towards the centre, and while the ruins in the Cafion de @ Chaco seem to show that there the outermost wall was the _ highest, many ruins elsewhere prove that the opposite was often the case. Thus two forms were probably in use: the q one rose from without in steps towards the centre of the 4 building, the other faced the courtyard, and was encircled by its highest wall. One or more estufas have been discovered in each pueblo. Some are rectangular; others circular. There are similar Tuins in the Valle de Chelly. The Navajo Indians, in whose Country these pueblos are situated, say, I am told, that they Were built by Montezuma and his people at the time of their emigration from north to south, and shortly before their dis- Persion on the banks of the Rio Grande, and over other parts of Mexico, 7 The country oceupying the fork between the Great Colo- tado and the Colorado Chiquito forms a part of that vast table- land, the Colorado Plateau, through which both these streams Pass in deep caiions. | 02 196 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. The land is deeply eroded, being cut up into lofty mesas of | variable size, and is very arid and worthless. The seven Mogqui villages crest the edges of some of the mesas which — form the south-eastern escarpment of the Colorado Plateau. — Further to the north-west, and nearer the Colorado, there is _ another group of pueblos in ruins, larger than those of the Mogqui Indians, but situated, like them, on the flat summits of mesas, containing estufas, reservoirs, terraces, aqueducts, and walls of at least four stories high. No trace has as yet been found of their former inhabitants. Next we come to the ruins on the Colorado Chiquito and 1 its southern tributaries. There are ruins upon El Moro, ~ ruins north of Zuni, Old Zuii, and others along the Zui River ; ruins, also, on the Rio Puerco of the West, amongst 4, which our parties found abundance of pottery ; and there are | most extensive ruins in the main valley, both above the falls — and between the falls and the entrance of the cafion of the 4 Chiquito, scattered along a fertile basin of at least a hundred 4 miles in length. At Pueblo Creek the remains of Several 4 fortified pueblos were found, crowning the heights which 4 command Aztec Pass ; but west of-this point (longitude 113° 4% west) no other ruins have as yet been discovered. i Leaving the basin of the Colorado Chiquito, we pass south- 4 ward to that of the Rio Gila, where the most extensive ruins of all are to be found. Some fine streams enter this river on | the north, draining a country very little known, but of great interest, and containing many fertile valleys. The chief of | these tributaries are the Rios Preito, Bonito, San Carlos, | Salinas, and Rio Verde, which latter two unite before joining q ‘ the Gila, twelve miles from the Pima villages, and lastly, the Agua Fia. The great New Mexican guide, Leroux, started q northward from the Pima villages in May, 1854, crossed over — RUINS ON THE RIO VERDE. 197 _ to the junction of the Salinas with the Rio Verde (also called Rio de San Francisco), ascended the latter stream, and crossed from it to the 35th parallel route along the Colorado Chiquito. _ He represents the Rio Verde as a fine large stream, in some ] places rapid and deep; in others, spreading out into wide lagoons. The ascent was by gradual steppes, stretching out _ on either side into plains which abounded in timber—pine, oak, j ash, walnut, sycamore, and cotton-wood. The river banks were q covered with ruins of stone houses and regular fortifications, _ which were evidently the work of a very civilised race, but did not appear to have been inhabited for centuries. They _ were built on the most fertile tracts of the valley, where were j Signs of acequias and of cultivation. The walls were of solid j masonry, of rectangular form, some twenty or thirty paces q in length, and from 10 to 15 feet in height. They were q usually of two stories, with small apertures or loopholes 3 for defence when besieged, and reminded him strongly of the Moqui pueblos. The large stones of which these struc- _ tures’ were built must often have been transported from a ; great distance. At one place he encountered a well-built _ fortified town, ten miles distant from the nearest water. Other travellers and prospectors report many ruined pueblos along the Salinas, others on the San Carlos, and several very _ extensive ones in the fertile Tonto basin, which is drained by 4 tributary of the Salinas. Of many of the ruins on the — Gila itself, and in the valleys of its southern tributaries, I can _ Speak from personal knowledge. A little west of the northern extremity of the Burro Mountains, the Rio Gila leaves the Santa Rita and other ranges, and meanders for a distance of - from seventy to one hundred miles through an open valley _ f considerable width. This long strip of fertile bottom-land Is studded throughout with deserted pueblos, which, at the 198 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA present time, belong almost entirely to the third class—viz., those of which the foundations alone mark the localities. It is impossible to travel more than a mile or two along the margin of the lowlands without encountering them, and one of our guides, who knew the ground well, told me that at least one hundred thousand people must at one time have occupied this valley. The ruins follow the river quite to the mouth of the first cafion by which the Gila cuts through the Pina-lefio Mountains. In the cafiada of the Aravaypa, on the western side of this range, I examined the ruins of two pueblos, one being a fortification covering the top of a steep hill which guarded the entrance to the Aravaypa Cajion. All along the San Pedro valley, through which Mr. Runk’s party travelled for 160 miles, ruined pueblos were frequently met with. Amongst them the remains of pottery, such as is generally used by the town Indians and Mexicans, were picked up im great abundance. Remains of acequias also were very numerous. . Between Camp Grant, where I left my party to enter Old Mexico, and the Pima villages, the mesas bordering on the Gila are pretty thickly studded with ruins, but further west than the confluence of the Rio Verde no more traces of pueblos are to be found. Two good-sized ruins are situated near the Pima villages ; one is known as Casa Montezuma, the other as Casa Grande. Casa Montezuma, also called Casa Blanca, consists of the remains of four large houses, one of which is tolerably perfect asaruin. Around it are piles of earth showing where others had been, and although ten miles distant from the river, all the intervening space is intersected by acequias, and was no doubt once under cultivation. The chief ruin is four stories high, and 40 feet by 50 wide; the walls face the cardinal PIMA LEGEND. | . ve ‘Points, and there are four estufas 4 feet by 2 in size. The ‘Tafters inside were almost entirely destroyed by fire, but as far as could be seen they had been very roughly hewn. ‘The walls consisted of brick, mortar, and pebbles, smoothed without and plastered within. The arrangements of the -Tooms, the presence of doors, and the absence of terraces Would lead one not to attribute this building to Aztec d origin. The Pimas, however, account for it thus :—Long ago ~4woman of exquisite beauty ruled over the valleys and the Tegion south of them. Many suitors came from far to woo her, and brought presents innumerable of corn, skins, and 7 cattle to lay at her feet. Her virtue and determination to - continue unmarried remained alike unshaken, and her store of ; Worldly possessions so greatly increased, that when drought — and desolation came upon her land, she fed her people out of ‘ her great abundance, and did not miss it, there was so much left. One night, as she lay asleep, her garment was blown _ from off her breast, and a dew-drop from the Great Spirit fell upon her bosom, entered her blood, and caused her to conceive. In time she bore a son, who was none other than Montezuma, and who built the large casas and all the other ruins which _ are scattered through the land. _ After instructing his people in the arts of siilecsat he departed for the South, and then disappeared. Casa Grande is situated a little below the junction of the Rio Verde and the Salinas. It is a rectangular ruin, 220 feet by 68 feet, whose sides face the cardinal points. The highest walls are, as usual, to be found in the centre of . pile, and they appear to have been three or four stories _ Besides abundance of broken pottery, we found sea-shells, hen pierced and otherwise converted into ornaments, about 200 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. the ruins which skirt the Gila and neighbouring streams, showing that these people must have had some intercourse | with tribes living along the coast. These shells may have | been brought by tribes inhabiting the Lower Colorado across the Sonora Desert, to exchange for food, clothing, and other Pima manufactures; but I think it most probable that the kindred race, the Papagos, were the chief venders of shells, for they are great traders, and wander through all Northern Sonora, from the Gulf of California to the Sierra Madre, and even now supply the scanty population of this region with sea-salt obtained from some salt lakes near the coast. The Pimas themselves state positively that at one time they were a great and powerful nation, living in houses similar to the ruins found on the Gila; but after the destruction of their kingdom they travelled southward, settled in the valley where they now dwell, and, fearing lest they should again become an object of envy to a future enemy, were content ever afterwards to live in huts. Lastly, I would mention one more cluster of ruins which, although they lie south of the boundary line of the United States, belong without doubt to the same class as those I have been considering ; these are the Casas Grandes and Casa de Janos, situated on the Rio Casas Grandes, which flows northward into the Laguna de Guzman in North-western Chihuahua. The former, according to the historian Clave- gero, is similar in every respect to the ruined fortresses of New Mexico, consisting of three floors, with a terrace above them, and without any entrance to the ground floor. The doors led into the buildings on the second floor, so that sealing ladders were necessary. A canal, says Dr. Wislizenus, conveyed water from a spring to this place. A watch-tower, probably Casa Janos, stands two leagues to the south-west of it, commanding a wide extent of country, and along the CASAS GRANDES, CHIHUAHUA. 201 ream are many mounds in which have been found earthen jessels, painted white, blue, and violet ; also weapons of stone, : none of iron. The following eeteulete are from Bartlett’s ersonal narrative :—“ The ruins of Casas Grandes face the : ardinal points, and consist of fallen and erect walls, the a er varying in height from 5 to 30 feet, projecting bove the heaps of ruins which have crumbled to decay. Vere the height estimated from the foundations, it would be greater, particularly of those of the centre part of the building, where the fallen walls and rubbish form a mound 20 feet above the ground. If, therefore, the highest walls now standing have their foundations on the lowest level, ir probable height was from 40 to 50 feet. I conclude t the outer portions of the building were the lowest, ut one story high, while the central ones, judging from height of the walls now standing, and the accumulation of bish, were probably from three to six stories. Every tion of the building is made of adobe, which differs from i now made by the Mexicans in that the blocks are very h larger, being 14 or 16 inches long, 12 inches wide, 3 or 4 thick; the others are usually 22 inches in thick- s, and 3 feet or more in length. Gravel was mixed h these large adobes, which greatly increased their hard- 8, but no straw was used. The building consists of three Ses, united by walls, of probably but one story, forming haps only courtyards; they are now weather-beaten down long lines of mounds. = Eth entire edifice extends from north to south 800 feet, 1 from east to west 250. The general character is very ilar to Casas Grandes near the Pima villages and the on the Salinas. Not a fragment of wood remains; any Biase are to. be seen, but the lintels have gone, and top has in most cases crumbled away and fallen in. 202 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. ‘Some of the apartments arranged along the main walls are 20 feet by 10, and connected by doorways, with a — small enclosure or pen in one corner, between 3 and 4 ~ feet high. Besides these there are many other exceedingly | narrow apartments, too contracted for dwelling-places or | sleeping-rooms, with connecting doorways, and into which — the light was admitted by circular apertures in the upper — part of the wall. There are also large halls, and some ~ enclosures within the walls are so extensive that they could 7 never have been covered with a roof. The lesser ranges of — buildings which surrounded the principal one may have been ~ occupied by the people at large, whose property was deposited | within the great building for safe keeping. Although there appears to be less order in the tout ensemble of this great collection of buildings than in those further north, the — number of small apartments, the several stages or stories, the inner courts, and some of the minor details, resemble in _ many respects the large edifices of the semi-civilised Indians 4 of New Mexico.” : The builders showed much sagacity in their choice of so fine a region for agricultural purposes. There is none equal to it from the lowlands of Texas, near San Antonio, to the | fertile valleys of California, near Los Angelos; and with the — exception of the Rio Grande, there is not one valley equal in size to that of the Casas Grandes, between those of Eastern Texas and the Colorado of the West. The water of the Rio | - Casas Grandes, unlike that of the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Colorado, is clear, sweet, and sparkling. Not more than one ~ hundred yards’ distance is another ruin, about 15 feet — square. Garcia Conde says that these edifices were known to have. had three stories and a roof, with steps outside, — probably of wood. Healos repeats the story of the Aztec : NO RUINS IN SONORA. 203 aigration, and states that this was the third stopping-place that people on their way from the North to the city of exico. T met with no Indian ruins in Sonora, nor have I heard of ay other similar ones either there or in Chihuahua. ; et us now try to discover, from the writings of a few of e earliest Spanish explorers, what kind of people they und on their discovery of the country. I think Ihave ad enough about the small remnant of civilised Indians still mai ning, and of their natural enemies, the wild and un- amable savages, to prove what a striking difference exists tween them. I haye also probably given a longef catalogue Tuins than the patience of my reader has been able to _ ‘The question, however, of the greatest interest still s to be answered—viz., Who were the ‘builders of ruins, and why have they disappeared? The early ards throw considerable light upon this question; and i, after hearing what they have to say, we may draw a ur conclusion for ourselves. I have neither had time nor nity to make researches amongst the long-forgotten ves of Spain or Mexico; but Lieutenant A. W. Whipple discovered in Colonel Peter Force’s extensive library, at hington, some very interesting matter; a little more al has been added from other sources, pa I collected y additional facts at Santa Fé during my fortnight’s visit I may also add that the second, third, and fourth of Fernando Cortez to the Emperor Charles V. were ted in America by George Tolson (New York, 1843, ), and that the fifth letter has just appeared in the urnal of the Hakluyt Society,” by Don Pascual de ayangos (1868). The first letter has not been translated, se its authenticity is still doubted. CHAPTER IY. NEW MEXICO WHEN DISCOVERED BY THE SPANIARDS. es of Joseph de Basconzales, A.D. 1526; of Pamphilo Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca, A.D. 1527 to 1538; of Friar Marco de Nica, A.D. 1539; of Seances Vasques de Coronado, Fernando Alarcon, Melchior Diaz, and | Garci Lopez de Cardenas, A.D. 1540.—The Rio Colorado discovered by three explorers in the same yéar, one of scious describes the Great Canon. —Expedition of Antonio de Espejo. Ir is the fashion nowadays to sneer at any undertaking carried out for an ddea. If some solid advantage cannot be demonstrated mathematically, we are told that it is useless to urge this practical generation to a needless expenditure of energy, capital, or muscle. We now know that thé philo- sopher’s stone is a myth, but we are apt to forget that chemistry owes its origin to the labours expended in trying to discever it. No civilised nation would dream in this: the nineteenth century of upholding at the point of the sword any peculiar set of- religious dogmas; yet what force has been more potent all over the world; what influence has determined the fate of greater ee or swept bare and repopulated vaster regions with alien races, than that of religious fanaticism? But is it really true that we have become so material, so un-idealistic, that we can no longer be stimulated to great deeds by the force of moral influence alone,—that no belief has sufficient hold upon us to make us leave the farm or the workshop, and willingly buckle on the — sword to fight in its defence? Emphatically,no! The most BASQONZALES. 205 ctive war of modern times was as absolutely fought for n idea as the wars of the Crusaders and the siege of Troy. ‘Until the moral conviction that slavery was a curse to the ing elo-Saxon race had taken deep root in the hearts of the imerican Republicans there was slight chance indeed of their Tus hing the Southern Confederacy ; but when the masses in ¢ North were thoroughly roused, and invited to sell their ives for an idea pure and noble in itself and worthy of any acrifice, the best men from all sides rushed into the ranks, ringing such new life and fixed determination with them, h the ultimate fate of the Confederacy was no longer oubtful. Since, then, the present is not, after all, so very mii ke the past—especially in the springs of action which lead fo the greatest events—we can share the feelings of the early Span iards when they performed feats of almost superhuman nogth and daring in their efforts to wrest their ideal El rado from the pagan world. Early in the spring of 1526-—ninety-four years before the ding of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England, and thirty- years after the shores of St. Salvador delighted the eyes Columbus—Don Joseph de Basconzales crossed the centre Arizona towards the Great Caiion, and penetrated at least far as Zuni. No record remains of this, the first expedition that country, but the bare memento of the fact carved on side of ‘El Moro;” for none of the expedition ever mmed to tell of their adventures. They perished either the hands of the Indians, or met a more miserable end mongst the labyrinths of chasms still further north, across hich nought living but the birds can successfully pass. Those who remember the wonderful achievements of.Cortez n Mexico may call to mind one Pamphilo Narvaez, who in 520 was despatched by Velasquez, Governor of Cuba, with a ee, 206 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. detachment to arrest Cortez in the midst of his victories, and i to deprive him of authority. Cortez was then in the city of # Mexico, beset with many and appalling difficulties. Never- | theless, he marched at once with a few trusted comrades 7 towards the coast, attacked Narvaez with one furious onslaught, MM overcame him, and took his whole detachment prisoners. ®. ‘‘Esteem it great good fortune,” said Narvaez, “that you have taken me captive.” Cortez disdainfully replied, ‘“‘It is the least of the things that I have done in Mexico.” This ™& was the Narvaez who afterwards obtained from Charles V. the h right to make extensive conquests and explorations north of ad the Gulf of Mexico. i In the winter of 1527-28 he fitted out an expedition, & consisting of four hundred men, eighty horses, and five ; ) ships, left San Domingo, and, after a prosperous voyage, — ; reached the coast of Florida about the middle of April. I There, while carrying on explorations in the interior, he M was deserted by his squadron, and obliged to put out to @ sea in five rude boats made by his famished soldiers. His — usual bad fortune, however, followed him; he was wrecked — ' on one of the islands at the mouth of the Mississippi, and oh perished with all his companions save three: these were — Cabeza de Vaca, treasurer and second in command; Esteva j A Dorantes, an Arabian negro; and Castillo Madonado. Vaca | was a man of letters, and of great strength of character, and t boldly determined at all hazards to advance into the unknown @ regions before him, and strike, if possible, the Pacific coast. ’ » He was taken prisoner, however, by the wild Indians of © Southern Texas, and remained a captive for six years. After : that time the three adventurers made their escape, and after 4 travelling for twenty months in a north-westerly direction, .. amongst hostile tribes and over arid deserts, they struck the 1 FRIAR MARCO, 207 P adian River. This they followed in a westerly direction, ip Pessod over the dividing ridges into the valley of the > Grande. After wandering from pueblo to pueblo, they Dost made their way, in the month of May, 1538, to the il: age of San Miguel, in Sonora, scarcely sixty leagues from e Pacific coast, and finally reached the city of Mexico. aca Teturned next year to Spain, and laid before the King a ur ing narrative of his adventures. His description of the rge towns with lofty houses containing many stories, which ® had heard of in the Rio Grande valley, of the civilised nd ans who cultivated maize and adorned themselves with re = stones, and of the mineral wealth which he had is overed, soon led to the organisation of a fresh expedition. On the 7th March, 1539, Friar Marco de Niga started from he town of San Miguel, in the province of Culiacan (Sinaloa), n his journey northward, according to instructions received rom Don Antonio de Mendoca, Viceroy of New Spain. His soMmpanion was Friar Honoratus, and he carried with him a ro named Stephen, and certain Indians of the town of ‘illo, whom the Viceroy had made free. He proceeded to tlan, where he rested three days, and left his com- n, Honoratus, sick. Thence, “ following as the Holy did lead,” he travelled twenty-five or thirty leagues, ‘nothing worthy of notice, saving certain Indians from sland of Saint Iago,” where Fernando Cortez of the Valley been. From these he learned that among the islands were great stores of pearls.”* Continuing through a desert of four journey, accompanied by the Indians of the islands and of mountains through which he passed, he found other Indians, These were probably Yaqui Indians, who still visit the Pearl Islands along posite shore fay ane California), in order to carry on their occupation of mf pearls. are great tra yellers, and would therefore le 208 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. who marvelled to see him, having no knowledge of any Christians, or even of the Indians from whom they were separated by the desert. They entertained him kindly, and— called him ‘‘ Hayota,” in their language signifying a man come from heaven.* He was told by these people, whom | Vasquez Coronado had named Coracones, that four or five days’ journey within the country, at the foot of the mountains, — ‘there was a large and mighty plain, wherein were many great towns, and people clad in cotton.”” And when he 4 ‘showed them certain minerals which he carried, “they took 5 the mineral of gold,” and told him “ that thereof were vessels j among the people of that plain, and that they carried certain 4 round green stones hanging at their nostrils and at their ears, and that they had certain thin plates of gold wherewith they ¥ scrape off their sweat, and that the walls of their temples are | covered therewith.” But as this valley (previously called a } plain) was distant from the sea-coast, he deferred the “dis- covery thereof” until his return.+ Marco de Nica travelled three days through towns inhabited — by the people of the Coracones, and then came to a “town of » reasonable bigness,” ¢ called Vacupa, forty leagues distant from the sea. The sacle of Vacupa; he states, showed him “ great courtesies,” and gave him “great store of good victuals, because the soil is very fruitful, and may be watered.” Here the negro, Stephen, was sent in advance to reconnoitre. At the end of four days Father Marco received a message from * These were Opita Indians, occupying the valley either of the Rio Sonora or its main tributary, the Rio ae San — el. They r received (a description of some of the ruins of which has been given), and, no doubé, : Sy a cities amongst the Indian tribes. a Magdalena, on the Rio de San Miguel.” —( Whipple.) EARLIEST MENTION OF CEVOLA. 209 tephen, stating that wonderful accounts had been told him of a great city, called Cevola, thirty days’ journey distant. th e negro pushed on without waiting as he was ordered, and succeeded in making the discovery of that people, who finally ki ed him. Upon the same day that Nica received these messages from Stephen, there came to him three Indians of those whom he called Pintados, because he saw their faces, breasts, anc arms painted. ‘These dwell further up into the country, towards the east, and some of them border upon the seven cities.”* With these Pintados he departed from Vacupa upon Easter Tuesday ; and having travelled three days north- ward, the way that Stephen had gone before him, he was informed that a man might travel in thirty days to the city of Cevola, which is the first of the seven. He was told also that, besides the seven cities, there were three other king- doms, called Marata, Acus, and Totonteac. He asked of these s why they travelled to Cevola, so far from their es. They said that they went for turquoises, ox-hides, and other things, which they received in payment for labour Mm tilling the ground.+ They described the dress ef the inhabitants of Cevola to be “a gown of cotton down to the with a button at the neck, and a long string hanging n at the same; and that the sleeves of these gowns are broad beneath as above.”+ They gird themselves with dles of turquoises,§ and besides: these, “ some wear good. a others, hides of kine,|| very well dressed.” The ders and pinned he a wooden butten at the neck. The n at tural folds of “is garment would produce ‘sleeves as broad beneath as oni "Uap } _-§ Probably Pima or Zuiii belts, ornamented with green stone || Buckskin or b VOL. I, Pr / 210 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. Pintados carried certain sick folk to see him, that he might — 7 heal them, and the invalids sought to touch his garments for 4 that purpose. | } He continued his journey five days, always finding in- habited places, great hospitality, and many “‘ turquoises”’ and ox-hides: He then understood that after two days’ journey , he would find a desert where there was no food. Before he | reached this desert, he arrived at a very pleasant town, by | reason of great stores of water conveyed thither to water the : same.* Here he met with many people, both men and | | : | women, clothed in cotton, and some covered with ox-hides, — “which generally they take for better apparel than that of cotton.” + ‘ All the people of this village,” he states, ‘ go in caconados—that is to say, with turquoises hanging at their 4. nostril and ears, which turquoises they call cacona.’’t . The ‘lord of this village” and others visited him, ‘‘ap- | parelled in cotton,” ‘in caconados,” and each with a collar of | turquoises about his neck. They gave him conies, quails, maize, and nuts of pine trees, and offered turquoises, dressed | ox-hides, and fair vessels to drink in, which he declined. | They informed him that in Totonteac was a great quantity — of woollen cloth, such as he himself wore, made from the : fleeces of wild beasts. These beasts they told him were about — the same size as two spaniels which Stephen carried with him. = The next day he entered the desert, and when he was to ® dine, he found bowers made and victuals in abundance by 2 ~ * This was probably St. Xavier del Bac, hth in a rich and fertile valley, — watered by acequias from the Santa Riv 4 i f allowed for ‘‘ox-hides”’ to read suaaain, the account will apply to the Nj Papagos and Pimas of the present day. ai t It is usual for all the principal Indian chiefs of the Sie fsa Colorado, as well as those of Zuiii, to wear blue stones pendent from the MARCO’S DESCRIPTIONS. 211 river side.* Thus the Indians provided for him during four days that the “wilderness”? continued. He then entered a ey,t very well inhabited with people, who were dressed also in cotton robes, with turquoises pendent from their ears and nostrils, and numerous strings of the same encircling th eir necks. Through this valley, which was feibsibiiéd by “a goodly people,” he travelled five days’ journey.t The country was 4 well watered and like a garden,” “abounding in victuals,” “sufficient to feed about three thousand horsemen.” The I oroughs and towns were from a quarter to half a league long. Here he found a man born in Ceyola (Zuiii), having escaped from the governor or lieutenant of the same; “for the lord of the seven cities liveth and abideth in one of these towns called Ahacus (Acoma), and in the rest he appointeth lieutenants under him. This townsman of Ceyola is a white man,§ of 2000 complexion, somewhat well in years, and of far greater pacity than the inhabitants of this valley, or those left hind.” Friar Marco thus describes Cevola rom report :-— It is a great city, inhabited by a great store of people, and ving many streets and market-places; in some parts of this y there are certain very great houses, of five stories high, erein the chief of the city assemble themselves at certain 3 “Thi is rian ios at the present day — = the Indians of Zuii are pte. They haye a fair skin, blue eyes, ee auburn hair, and are ue eee They claim to be fall: blooded Pasi, and ance wg tra- S of intermarriages with any foreign race. The circumstance creates no rise anitip this people, for te time immemorial a similar class pace persons existed in the tribe.” —( Whipp - 212 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. days of the year. The houses are of lime and stone; the gates and small pillars of the principal houses are of turquoises ; and all the vessels wherein they are served and other orna- ments of their houses are of gold. The other six cities are built like unto this, whereof some are bigger, and Ahacus is the chiefest of them. At the south-east there is a kingdom called Marata,* where there were wont to be many great cities, which were all builded of houses of stone, with divers lofts. And these haye and do wage war with the lord of the seven cities, through which war the kingdom of Marata is for the most part wasted, although it yet continueth and maintaineth war against the other. “Likewise the kingdom of Totonteac + lieth ina the west—a very mighty province, replenished with infinite store of people and riches; and in the said kingdom they wear woollen cloth, made of the fleece of those beasts pre- - viously described; and they are a very civil people.” He told also of another kingdom, called Acus.t Here they showed him a hide half as big again as the hide of an ox, which they said belonged to a beast with one horn. The colour of the skin was like that of a goat, and the hair was a finger thick. The inhabitants requested him to stay here three or four days, because from this place they were “ four days’ journey into the desert, and from the first entrance into the same — desert unto the city of Cevola are fifteen great days’ journey nae | et Abe this to have been in the upper valley of the Rio Gila, where so many ruin remain. + henry: is doubtless the country lying upon the waters of the Rio Verde and Pueblo Creek. Civilisation and the arts must have made considerable pro- gress there, but the valleys are now quite desert: ¢{ The position of the kingdom of Acus is not mentioned, It may have been upon the Colorado Olserate, or in the Cafion de Chaco; at both places there are ancient ruins already described. VESSELS OF GOLD. 213 nore.’ Accompanied by thirty of the principal Indians, with others to carry the provisions, he entered this second sert on the 9th of May. He travelled the first day by a very broad and beaten way, and came to dinner unto a water, and at night unto another water, where the Indians provided him with a cottage and victuals. In this manner he travelled twelve days’ journey. At that point he met one of Stephen’s Indians, who, “in great fright and covered with sweat,” informed him that the people of Cevola had at first imprisoned and afterwards killed the negro. _ Father Marco himself then became fearful of trusting his life in the hands of that people. But he told his companions that he “purposed to sce the city of Cevola, whatever came of it.’ So he ascended a mountain and viewed the city. E de describes it as “situated upon the plain at the foot of a ‘Tound hill,* and maketh show to be a fair city; and is better ted” than any that he has seen in these parts. The houses were builded in order,” according as the Indians had told im, ‘all made of stone, with divers stories and flat roofs. € peoplet are somewhat white; they wear apparel, and on beds ; their weapons are bows; they have emeralds and ther jewels, although they esteem none so much as turquoises, wherewith they adorn the walls of the porches of their ouses, and their apparel and vessels; and they use them mstead of money through all the country, Their apparel f cotton and of ox-hides, and this is their most commend- ble and honourable apparel.”” They use vessels of gold and er, for these metals are found in greater abundance than in Peru. They buy the same for turquoises in : say Thi ecometue, answers quite well to Zuii at the present day. See 164. ae “The fa following he would not have seen, but probably states on the authority ‘his informers,” — Whipple.) 214 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. the province of Pintados,* where there are said to be mines — " of great abundance. Of other kingdoms he says he could not obtain such particular information. When he told the Indian chiefs that were with him what a goodly city Cevola seemed, they answered him that it was the least of the seven cities, and that Totonteac was the greatest and best of them all, because it had so many houses and people that there was no end to them. Having set up a cross and made a heap of stones, he named that country El Nuevo Regno de San Francisco. Then, “with more fear than victuals,” he returned. In two days he overtook the people he had left behind, crossed the desert, hurried from the valley, and passed the second desert. Having arrived at the valley of the Gila, he determined to visit the great plain he had been in- formed of towards the east; but for fear of the Indians, did not go into it. At its entrance he saw “but seven towns” of a reasonable size, which were afar off in a low valley,t} being very green, and having a most fruitful soil, out of which ran many rivers. : : : Fired by the high-coloured reports brought back by Father Marco, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, already famed as a great soldier and explorer, determined himself to start for Cevola. His expedition was composed of the flower of Spanish chivalry, and as he marched northward through Sonora by land, Fernando Alarcon, with two ships, was sent up the coast to render assistance should occasion require. It was not known at that time (1540) that Lower its In the mountains around Tucsan many gold and silver mines have been discovered, proving that there must have been some foundation for this statement. + These pueblos have already been referred to; he probably passed the Pina- leno Cordilleras to the eastward, and looked down upon a part of the upper valley of the Gila. Pa eee DISCOVERY OF THE COLORADO, 215 falifornia was united to the mainland, so that Alarcon oon found his progress stopped at the head of the Gulf of ¥ ifornia. He ascended the Rio Colorado for eighty-five leagues, and not encountering Coronado, returned by water to New Mexico. - Soon after Coronado had started, one Melchior Diaz set out after him, with twenty-five men. He, however, by directing his course to the westward, also discovered the Colorado, and ned to Mexico by sea, bringing back the first announce- nent that Lower California was not an island. He described the Indians along the Rio Colorado as being a very tall race, almost naked; the men carrying banners, and bows and arrows; the women wearing feathers and an apron of deer- sk cin. Their noses were pierced, ornaments hung from their s, and the warriors smeared themselves with bright- e pared paint. _ Nearly at the same time Coronado, having penetrated with his party to Zufii, despatched one of his officers, Garei pez de Cardenas, with a detachment of men to the Moqui ages, and this party made a third discovery of the Rio colorado, many hundred miles above its source. After elling for twenty days through a broken volcanic country, ere they experienced great scarcity of water, they sud- y came upon a deep cleft in the earth’s surface which ed all further progress. Lopez describes it as bemg r than the side of the highest mountain, while the surging torrent below seemed not more than a fathom wide. © men tried to descend, but after with difficulty climbing nm a third of the way they were stopped by a rock, which, ough from above it did not appear larger than a man, as, in reality, higher than the tower of the cathedral at ille. “In no other part of the continent had they seen so 216 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. deep a gulf, hollowed out by a river for its course.” Thus n the discovery of the Great Cafion of the Colorado dates back — to the year 1540. Coronado’s trip to Cevola does not seem to have been quite as prosperous at first as that of Father Marco. He met with great hardships, and lost many of his horses and men before reaching the Rio Gila, and, after resting there two days, seems to have had great difficulty in making his way through the Mogollon Mountains. ‘ But,” he continues, ‘after we — had passed thirty leagues of the most wicked way, we found fresh rivers and grass, like that of Castile, and many nut trees (Pifion pines), whose leaf differs from those of Spain, and there was flax, but chiefly near the banks of a certain river, which therefore we called El Rio del Lino (Colorado Chiquito*). Here he was met by some people of Cevola, who first appeared friendly, but afterwards attacked his army very valiantly. At last he arrived at the walls of Zufi, and sent messengers thither, but they were ill treated and fired at, upon which, after an attack and skirmish without the walls, he boldly assaulted the city, and, after considerable resist- ance, took it by storm. The Indians fought with bows and arrows, and threw stones upon them from the walls. Coronado himself was twice unhorsed, but his Spanish armour saved him. Plenty of corn was found in the town, of which they were greatly in need, several persons having starved on the way. “It remaineth now to testify,” writes Coronado, ‘“‘of the seven cities, and of the kingdoms and provinces whereof the father provincial (Friar Marco) made report to your lordship; and, to be brief, I can assure your horour he said the truth in nothing that he reported, but all was quite contrary, saving only the names of the cities and the * Still called Flax River. i a a ee ZUNI TAKEN BY CORONADO. 217 great houses of stone, whereof there are about two hundred wcompassed with walls, and I think that with the rest of @ houses which are not so walled there may be together five hundred.” In other words, the conqueror found neither silver, gold, nor precious stones, but he gives a very accurate description of the appearance, dress, and mode of living of the people, which does not differ in any particular from that of the present day. ‘‘'The seven cities are seven small towns, ul made with these kind of (many-storied) houses that I speak of; they stand all within four leagues together, and are called collectively the kingdom of Cevola.” . ... ‘They eat the best cakes I ever saw, and they haye the finest order and way of grinding, so that one Indian woman of this country will grind as much as four women of Mexico.” .... “‘That which these Indians worship, as far as we hitherto n learn, is the water, for they say it causeth their corn to ‘grow and maintaineth their life.” As regards the answers ; they gave him about other cities, Coronado says that he thinks they do not tell him the truth. They said that they killed the negro, Stephen, because “he touched their women.” After leaving Zuii, Vasquez de Coronado travelled east- ward into the Rio Grande valley, and discovered, or rather Te-discovered, the pueblos built upon that stream. Amongst these were Acuco (Acoma), “a town upon an exceeding trong hill,” Tiguex (Pecos), Quivera, Axa, and Cicuic, four leagues from which they met with a new kind of oxen (buffalo), wild and fierce, whereof the first day they killed fourscore, which sufficed the army for flesh. ‘All the way Wwas*as full of crooked-backed oxen as the mountain sierras Spain are of sheep.” Nowhere did they find gold, silver, precious gems; and in the end of March, 1542, Vasquez oronado, after receiving a severe fall from his horse while 218 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. tilting at Tiguex, returned in disgust with his army to © : Mexico. “It grieved Don Antonio de Mendoga very much that the army returned home; for he had spent about three- score thousand pesos of gold, and owed a great part thereof still.” The Abbé Domenec states that as early as the year 1542 the Spaniards had gained possession of no less than seventy- one towns, distributed amongst fourteen provinces,* of which Tiguex formed the centre, and Ceyola probably the furthest westward. These provinces, therefore, do not include any of the communities celebrated in those days, such as Totonteac, Moqui, Acus, Marata, &c., which occupied regions far removed from the Rio Grande. On the 10th of November, 1582, another expedition, headed by a citizen of Mexico, called Antonio de Espejo, left the valley of San Bartolo’ (160 leagues from the city of Mexico) to explore the Rio del Norte, and to discover the fate of two friars, Lopez and Ruyz, who were reported to have been murdered there. Directing his course northward, he met with great numbers of Conchos (Papagos), who dwelt in villages or hamlets covered with straw. These Indians went nearly naked, cultivated maize,* pumpkins, and melons, and were armed with bows and arrows. They worshipped neither idols nor aught else. The caciques sent information of the expedi- tion from one town to another, and the party was well treated. They passed through the Passaguates, the Zoboses, and the Jumanes, who were called by the Spaniards Patarabueges. “Their villages are upon the Rio del Norte; their houses * The provinces were—Cevola, containing 7 towns; Tucayan, 7; Acuco, 7; Tiguex, 12; Cutahaco,8; Quivix,7; Sierra Blanca, 7; Ximena, 3; Cicuyé, 1; Hemes, 7; Oji Caliente, 3; Yuque-Yunque, 3; Braba, 1; Chia, 1:—in all 71. ESPEJO’S JOURNEY. 219 e flat-roofed, and built of mortar and stone.” These people were well clothed, and seemed to have some know- ledge of the Catholic faith. Ascending the great river, they discovered another province of Indians, who showed them many curious things made of feathers, with divers colours, and many cotton mantles striped blue and white, like those brought from China. These people showed by signs that five da ays’ Jj journey westward there were precious metals. Journeying thence northward along the Rio del Norte, they were well received amongst a numerous population. Here they were told by a Concho Indian who accompanied them, that fifteen days’ journey towards the west could be Beend a broad lake,* and great towns with houses three and tour stories high. They noted especially the excellent tem- rature of the climate, good soil, and abundance of precious _ From this province they travelled fifteen days without eeting any one, passing through woods of pine trees bearing uit like those of Castile. Having thus trayelled eighty leagues, they arrived at vil- es where there was much excellent white salt. Ascending € valley of the aforesaid great river twelve leagues further, they arrived at the country which they calked New Mexico. ere all along the banks of the river grew mighty woods of = (cotton-wood), in some places four leagues broad, and eat store of walnut trees and vines, like those of Castile. Ving travelled two days through these woods, they arrived ten towns situated upon both sides of the river, where were ten thousand persons. Here were houses four stories height, with “stoves for the winter season.” They had Probably the Laguna de Guzman and the pueblos on the river which it. 220 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. “plenty of victuals and hens of the country.” ‘Their gar-— a ments were of cotton and deer-skins, and the attire, both of W men and women, was after the manner of Indians of Mexico.” | ‘‘Both men and women wore shoes and boots, with good soles _ he of leather—a thing never seen in any other part of the | Indies.” ‘There are caciques who govern the people, like 1% the caciques of Mexico, with sergeants to execute their com- to mands. In all their arable grounds, whereof they have great kk plenty, they erect on the one side a little cottage, or shed, & standing upon four poles, under which the labourers eat and 1% pass away the heat of the day, for they are a people much | given to labour.” “This country is full of mountains and & forests of pine trees.” ‘Their weapons are strong bows hh and arrows pointed with flints.” ‘‘ They use also targets or | : shields made of raw hides.” After remaining four days in this province, not far off they ii came to another called the province of Tiguas (Tiguex), con- a taining sixteen towns, in one of which the two friars, Lopez and Ruyz, had been slain. Hence the inhabitants fled. The — Spaniards, entering the town, found plenty of food, hens, and — rich metals. Here they heard of many rich towns far toward — the east. Two days’ journey from the province of Tiguas — they found another province, containing eleven towns and . about forty thousand persons. The country was fertile, and bordered on Cevola, where was abundance of kine. Here\> were signs of “ very rich mines.” Having returned to oat they ascended the Rio del Norte six leagues to another pro- vince called Los Quires. Here they found five towns, and — fourteen thousand persons who worshipped idols. Among the — curious things seen at this place were a pig in a cage and — “canopies like those brought from China,” upon which were — painted the sun, moon, and stars. The height of the © RIO GRANDE THICKLY PEOPLED. 221 oe ole-star led them to believe themselves in north latitude 73°. Pursuing the same northerly course, fourteen leagues hence they found another province, inhabited by Cumanes (or Punames), with five towns, of which Cia (Zia) was greatest, aving twenty thousand persons, eight market-places, and — houses plastered and painted in divers colours. The in- habitants presented them with mantles curiously wrought, nd showed rich metals, and mountains near which were the mines. Having travelled six leagues north-west, they came to Ameies, “‘ where are seven great towns and thirty thousand souls.” One of the towns was said to be very great and fair ; | but as it stood behind a mountain they feared to approach it. Fifteen leagues west they found a great town, called Acoma, : ‘containing about six thousand persons, and situated upon a high rock, which was above fifty paces high, having no mtrance except by stairs hewed into the rock. The water of this town was kept in cisterns. Their corn-fields, two leagues ant, were watered from,a small river, upon the banks of hich were roses. Many mountains in this vicinity showed Signs of metals ; but they went not to see them. Twenty-four leagues westward from Acoma they arrived at ui, by the Spaniards. called Cibola, contaming great num- ars of Indians. Here were three Christian Indians, left by ronado in 1540. They informed Espejo that “ threescore s’ journey from this place there was a mighty lake, upon e banks whereof stood many great and good towns, and t the inhabitants of the same had plenty of gold, as shown y their wearing golden bracelets and earrings.” They said iat Coronado intended to have gone there, but having avelled twelve days’ journey, he began to want water, and turned. Espejo, desirous of seeing this rich country, 222 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. departed from Cibola, and having travelled twenty-eight ™ leagues west, found another great province* of about fifty thou- ia sand souls. As they approached a town called Zaguato, the + multitude, with their caciques, met them with great joy, and % poured maize upon the ground for the horses to walk upon, 1 and they presented the captain with forty thousand mantles of — G cotton, white and coloured, and many hard towels with tassels — nt at the four corners, and rich metals which seemed to contain much silver. Thence travelling due west forty-five leagues, _they found mines, of which they had been informed, and took - out with their own hands rich metals containing silver. The — n mines, which were on a broad vein, were in a mountaint easily ascended by an open way to the same. In the vicinity © of the mines there were numerous Indian pueblos. ‘‘ Here- about they found two rivers of a reasonable bigness, upon — the banks whereof grew many vines bearing excellent grapes, and great groves of walnut trees, and much flax, like that of Castile.” Captain Espejo then retried to Zuni Thence he deter- mined to ascend still higher up the Rio del Norte. Having | | travelled sixty leagues towards the province of Quires, twelve leagues further east they found a province of Indians, called Hubates, containing twenty-five thousand people well dressed in coloured mantles of cotton and hides. They had many mountains full of pines and cedars, and the houses of their towns were four or five stories high. Here they had notice of another province, distant one day’s journey from thence, inhabited by Indians, called Tamos (Toas), and containing * Mohotze (Moqui ?) + Probably San ——s Mountain, near which are large ruins described by Captain Sitgreay: { Probably the ( Colorado Chiquito (Rio del Lino) and Rio Verde. CONCLUSIONS FROM ESPEJO’S NARRATIVE. 223 orty thousand souls. But this people having refused admit- ance to their towns, the Spaniards returned, and following 120 leagues down a river called Rio de las Vacas (Rio Pecos), united again with the Rio del Norte, and went homeward in July, 1583. In conclusion, the author adds,— Almighty od vouchsafe His assistance in this business, that such numbers of souls redeemed by His blood may not utterly Pp erish ; of whose good capacify, wherein they exceed those of Be eo and Peru, we may boldly assert that they will embrace the Gospel and abandon such idolatry as now the ‘most of them do live in.” If this account of Antonio de Espejo be a tolerably accurate chronicle of facts, the Rio Grande valley must have been very well peopled. He describes no less than sixteen provinces or | kingdoms, and mentions others from hearsay; and if his : estimates of population at all approach the truth, there were far more people in that one valley in the sixteenth century than there are now in the whole of New Mexico and Arizona ited, including both Mexicans and Americans. Although the Pueblo Indians seem to have been unac- quainted with the working of metals, yet we hear reports of ‘old and silver being discovered after this time (1582) in many parts of the very country which was reported by its discoverers to be utterly unworthy of colonisation. It would, however, be iving the subject more attention than is here desirable, were to quote further from Spanish sources, especially as I think chief object has been already gained, namely, of proving that the towns now in ruins were thickly inhabited when the first Europeans entered the country. CHAPTER V. THE RISE AND FALL OF PUEBLO INDIAN POWER IN NORTHERN MEXICO, The Pueblo Indians come from the South ; they subdue = — and colonise New Mexico.—They discover the Rio Grande at that valley from the North.—They fond populous Seni —The Spaniards — subdue and enslaye them.—They rebel and are reconquered. —Spanish Grants.—The wild tribes become dominant, and complete the ruin o: Aztecs.—Physical changes in the country. —Conclusion. Looxine at the question of the rise and fall of Pueblo Indian power in New Mexico and Arizona from a geographical as well as an historical point of view, I have come to the fol- lowing conclusions respecting it; but in expressing these — views I do not bind myself very closely to them, for I think | it quite probable that far more light may some day be thrown upon this interesting subject by others, who will be able to | bridge over many gaps in the evidence which now form — almost impassable barriers to a complete line of argument. These town-building Indians, I consider, were the skirmish — line of the Aztec race, when that race was united and in the plenitude of its power. They came originally from the southern provinces of Mexico, probably in separate detach- ments—the restless spirits of semi-civilised tribes, speaking — distinct dialects, although more or less united under one — central government ; and they tried, with all the skill brought from Anahuac and the southern provinces of Mexico, to — colonise the outlying countries to the northward. The route — taken by these Aztec pioneers was probably that which the physical geography of the country naturally suggests, — AZTEC MIGRATION NORTHWARD. 225 iZ., through the provinces now called Sinaloa and Sonora, vest, of course, of the main Cordilleras, to the Gila valley, and thence northward, along the tributary streams of that river towards the Great Cafion of the Colorado. Some followed the Gila, across the Gila desert, to its mouth, and thence up the Colorado, until, attracted by the fertility of me of its valleys, they planted a colony on its banks, and to have fraternised to a great extent with the native of that district. And thus it was that Captain Fernando argon, who, in 1540, discovered the Rio Colorado, “‘ having passed various tribes,” as he ascended the stream, ‘“ without being able to communicate except by signs, at length reached | 2 people who understood the language of an Indian he had brought with him from Mexico, and told him of a similar People who dwelt far to the eastward in great houses built of ne, wore long white robes, and came yearly to the river to uy maize; for their fields were small, whereas the lands mg the Colorado being subject to an annual overflow, oduced food in abundance.” * The main stream of emigration evidently flowed northward; rich bottom-lands along the Gila were occupied and ced under irrigation; the valleys of the Rio Verde, inas, and other’streams were taken possession of; and the hes, who probably carried on agriculture to some extent their banks, were driven into the mountains. These es were probably treated by the Aztecs as barbarian whom they found it impossible thoroughly to subdue, > who harassed them perpetually, and obliged them to ie tribe here spoken we may be the Mojaves; if so, contact with the 0 paee tribes must haye caused them sadly to ats for at present rare polygamists, like the other Colorado tribes, and do not seem superior em in intellect or manner of livi OL. I. IE 226 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA, | | devise means of protecting their settlements against surprise, and their rich corn-fields from pillage. Thus they introduced the art of building houses of stone and adobe from Mexico into their newly-acquired territory, and adopted that system of communism in their fortified towns which best suited their purpose. They chose commanding positions upon the summits of the mesas overlooking large tracts of fertile bottom- land, and added story to story in such a manner that a few resolute defenders could keep almost any number of assailants, similarly armed, at bay. The Apaches seem to have been at last so successfully kept under, that Father Marco and Vasquez de Coronado were conducted by the Aztecs through the very centre of a country which is now entirely given over to the savages, and across which no one at the present time would dream of passing. Nor do we hear much about these sons of plunder until nearly the middle of the eighteenth century. : he town-builders gradually pushed their way northward to Pueblo Creek, the Aztec Mountains, and the San Francisco | Peaks; but on trying to penetrate further, their progress was suddenly arrested by an impassable barrier—the cafions of — the Colorado and Flax (Chiquito) rivers, which, united, form — a gulf three hundred miles at least in length, directly across — their course. Stopped more effectually by nature than by any barrier | man could devise, they naturally rejected the worthless regions lying to the westward, and turned their course — towards the east, occupying the fine valleys of the Colorado Chiquito above its cafion, and following its branches to their — source. Having established the kingdom of Cevola, of which — Zuni was the capital, and several other clusters of towns on the neighbouring streams, they commenced to push still © AZTEC MIGRATION SOUTHWARD. 227 © further up into the N avajo country, and tried to protect themselves wherever they went against that tribe by building fortified towns. Thus the seven Moqui villages were built, and, still further to the north, another cluster of ruins bears record of yet one more colony. To the north-eastward they passed from the heads of Flax River to the southern branches _ of the San Juan, where they built many populous towns, as ' the ruins in the Camion de Chaco and the Valle de Chelly bear witness, until at last, by following up the head-waters - of the Rio de San Juan into the mountains of Colorado, they entered the commencement of the Rio Grande valley, and thus discovered a new and still finer region to colonise and to subdue. Gradually they worked down the valley from the north, as their traditions assert, and very naturally built a large a stronghold at Toas, to protect that magnificent valley against the attacks of Utes from the mountains, to which it Was exposed. In time the entire valley was peopled and _ studded with groups of towns from latitude 87° to 32°, a distance of over four hundred miles. So numerous did the Pueblo Indians become in the main valley that they found it unnecessary to live in fortified towns there ; but the settle- ments on the outskirts, such as Pecos, Quarra, or Gran - Quivera, where raids from the Buffalo Indians (Arapahoes and Comanches) were to be feared, or Laguna and Acoma, -unpleasantly near the homes of the Navajos, were constructed on the same plan as those in the oe basin, and were uite as strongly fortified. _ Lastly, it is so short and easy a route from the Rio Grande valley about El Paso—which district, according to early ‘Spanish authorities, contained many towns and a great number of people—to the — and fertile valley of the 228 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERIOA. Rio Corralitos and its lake, the Laguna de Guzman, that I feel convinced the Casas Grandes on this stream were built by a colony from thence, and that-the people now occupying it were quite right when they told Mr. Bartlett that the big houses were built by Montezuma’s people, who came there Srom the north. . Thus it is that the town-building Indians of New Mexico, not having any record of their former emigration from Old Mexico, have introduced the worship of Montezuma and a state of civilisation quite unknown in North America, and yet affirm in many oft-repeated traditions that they came from the north—the head-waters of the Rio Grande. They are right as far as they go, but they seem to me to have misled every authority I have met with on the subject, some of whom have expended much ingenious argument in trying to prove that they came from the north-western part of the continent (perhaps originally from Kamtschatka), that they crossed a region occupying the upper basin of the Colorado, inhospitable enough to repel any colonists under the sun, and that their town building and Montezuma worship were of indigenous growth, founded by that great emperor himself. This is certain, viz., that as one community claims the head of the Rio Grande as the birthplace of the great king, another, some district in its own part of the country, and so on, there is no reliance whatever to be placed on any such attempts at local exaltation ; but that these people are an off- shoot of the race which, under the name of Aztec, overspread Mexico previously to the invasion of the Spaniards, there is, I think, very little doubt. As late as the end of the sixteenth century all or nearly all the ruins scattered throughout the country, besides many CONQUERED BY THE SPANIARDS. 229 lesser ones now worn away, were inhabited; and the country, according to Spanish accounts, was very fairly populated. At first the Spaniards were received with confidence and j kindness: they seem to have been welcomed, by a race q ‘striving after civilisation, as superior beings come to help 3 them in their struggle against barbarism. But they soon - found that conquest and conversion by force to a new creed q were the ruling passions of the intruders, and that they must _ fight to the last to protect their homes. From the scraps of information furnished us by Spanish missionaries and commanders we know that the stand these people made for freedom was a long and gallant one. But it _ was, of course, useless. _ The Papagos, who rendered so much assistance to the ; ; earliest pioneers, made a most protracted resistance; and, _ after years of warfare, at last united in a body, invoked their deity, who was supposed to live on the summit of Babu- | quivari peak, placed all their families, cattle, and worldly - goods in a situation of safety, and risked and lost their all | in one final battle. Since then they have forsaken their old _ faith, and remained in peace with the Mexicans. All the Pueblos were at last subdued, even to the Moquis, far to the northward, who, before the middle of the seven- teenth century, had been ‘“ wholly converted and reduced” by the zeal of the Franciscans. Until 1680, the Spaniards appear to have Ireld undisputed Sway everywhere; and they adopted their usual course of nslaving the entire population. They colonised the country im considerable numbers, explored the mountains for precious metals, and did a great deal of mining in many places. If slavery when applied to field labour is destructive to life, what must it be when directed to mining? By means of 230 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. manual labour alone—that is, by carrying the ore in hand- baskets from the ‘labores,” and the water of the deeper workings in buckets, and by grinding the quartz in the rude *‘arastras,” to which men were yoked—large fortunes were made by the conquerors. The ruins of a large prison at the copper-mines in the Miembres Mountains, old mines dis- covered in greater numbers year by year, which have been carefully stopped up, as well as the traditions of the Indians, all show clearly how the Spaniards used their power. At last the miserable Pueblos could bear their degradation no longer, and rose throughout the entire country upon their task-masters. Thoroughly detesting the Spaniards, they gave no quarter, and swept them completely from the land. The inhabitants of Santa Fé escaped with their lives down the Rio Grande and founded El Paso, which was the most northern point retained by the whites. The people of Moqui joined with all their other neighbours in the insurrection, and renounced the Catholic faith. They were never afterwards brought under subjection, nor was the Cross again planted either there or at Zufi. As regards the other ‘‘kingdoms,” they were gradually retaken; but not until seven years of hard fighting had thoroughly crushed the inhabitants. We may be tolerably certain that, after massacring their kinsfolk and renouncing Christianity, the Pueblo Indians received no mercy from the Spaniards. When peace and Christianity were again restored, a more humane policy seems to have been inculcated from the home government and strongly demanded by the clergy on behalf of their poor brethren. As early as the year 1551 we find statutes amongst the laws of Spain laying down, “‘in the first place, what means are most suitable for the instruction of the Indians in the Holy Catholic Faith,” &c.; and in the second SPANISH GRANTS. : 231 pls ce, providing that “the Indians should be brought to ettle,” and that such lands be chosen for them as are | © healthy ascertaining if there may live in them men of great age, and youths of good condition . ... whether mals and flocks are healthy and of ample size... uts and articles of food good . . the land suitable for mie (Charles V., 21st Masih 1551. Decrees ated June 26th, 1523, and De Ist, 1543.) Also decrees of Philip II., 1638, are to a similar effect. But one dated “Madrid, June 4th, 1687, is of especial importance, for it no longer talks of placing the Indians upon reservations; but it | extends the system of giving Spanish grants to the Pashia § Indians, and it presents them with those very letters patent which they now hold, and which the United States Govern- | ment has promised to respect. __ The following are a few abridged quotations from it :— | “Whereas, as in my Royal Council of the Indos, the 3 Marquis Folces, Viceroy of New Spain, ordered that each pueblo as might need land to sow, &..... should be -Siven 5,000* varas, and more if necessary, and that no land Should be granted to any one nearer than 1,000 varas, cloth or silk measure, to the houses and lands of the Indians. . . . . And whereas these Indian lands have been encroached _ Upon by owners of estates and lands, thereby depriving the’ Indians of them, and seizing upon them, sometimes violently, Sometimes fraudulently, for which cause the miserable Indians have lost houses and towns, which is what the Spaniards seek and desire..... I have thought it wise to order and com- mand that there be given and assigned generally to all the Indian pueblos of New Spain for their farming lands not only 9,000 varas around the place of settlement, measured from = * 5,000 varas = 1 legua = 2°636 English miles. 232 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. the farthest house in the place north, south, east, and west, and not from the church (generally placed in the centre of the | village), but also 1,000 varas more, and shall be authorised to — mark off as many more varas of land as shall appear neces- — sary without limitation.” The size of these grants differs considerably amongst the — pueblos. In eight pueblos each grant covers between 17,000 — and 18,000 acres; Isleta contains 110,000 acres; Santa Domingo, 74,000 acres; the smallest is 13,000 acres. Most | of them date back to 1689, two years after the passing of the | above Act. The date of the patent of Sandia is 1748. Thus, — then, we have a distinct acknowledgment by the Spanish — government of the necessity for granting special licenses to | this industrious and semi-civilised people. | One of the greatest evils, however, which existed. under Spanish rule was the almost entire absence of responsibility in officers sent out to govern the remote provinces. However poor the masses became, the men in office must grow rich. It mattered but little how much native labour was consumed, so long as the coffers of the wealthy were rapidly replenished. And thus it happened that the Pueblo Indians gradually decreased ; wars and slavery did their worst, until they were unable in many places even to hold their own against the © “Apaches, who, quick in discovering the weakness of their — neighbours, did not hesitate, we may ag sure, in trying to complete their ruin. All the pueblos situated along the Rio Verde, the Salinas, and other northern branches of the Gila were from their | position most exposed to attack. The dead tell no tales; but if those ruins could speak, I think they might relate dismal stories of crops yearly destroyed all around them, of | cattle run off by thousands, of famished children calling for — EFFECTS OF SLAVERY. 233 read, and of sons and fathers left dead amongst the moun- uns. The pueblos on Pueblo Creek, those on the streams n the Navajo country, and others similarly situated, shared he same fate; the Indians of Zui, the Pimas, and the F apagos were able to protect themselves. The Moquis were saved by the impregnable nature of their country, and the remnant of the kingdoms in the Rio Grande valley were, of rse, protected by the Spanish population. The time at last came when the strong military establish- nts, so well kept up when Spain was powerful, gradually fell decay as troops were required to maintain the semblance power in the southern provinces, and thus the Mexicans, s well as the Pueblos, found themselves unequal to the task f keeping the savages at bay. No further proof is required of this statement than the owing quotation from Miguel Venegas’ “ History of Cali- nia,” dated 1758. After accurately describing the dimen- ons of the Apache country, he continues :—‘‘ Within a uit of three hundred leagues the Apaches reside in their Ul rancheras erected in the valleys and in the breaches of mountains. They are cruel to those who have the misfor- me to fall into their hands; and amongst them are several bostates. They go entirely naked, but make their incur- ions on horses of great swiftness, which they have stolen ‘om other parts. A skin serves them as a saddle. Of the me skins they make little boots or shoes of one piece (moc- ns), and by these they are traced in their flight. They in the attack with shouts at a great distance, to strike the emy with terror. They have not naturally any great share ‘ courage ; but the little they can boast of is extravagantly eased on any good success. In war they rather depend artifice than valour; and on any defeat submit to the 234 +. NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. most ignominious terms, but keep their treaties no longer than suits their convenience. His Majesty has ordered that if any require peace, it should be granted, and even offered | to them before they are attacked. But this generosity they — construe to proceed from fear. Their arms are the common bows and arrows of the country. The intention of their | incursions is plunder, especially horses, which they use both | for riding and eating, the flesh of Wilane creatures being one of their greatest dainties. “These people, during the last eighty years past, have been — the dread of Sonora, no part of which was secure from their violence. . . . Of late years, the insolence of these savages has been carried to the most audacious height from the success of some of their stratagems, particularly owing to the variances and indolence of the Spaniards. . . . The Apaches penetrate into the province by different passes, and, after loading them- selves with booty, will travel in one night fifteen, eighteen, or twenty leagues. To pursue them over mountains is equally dangerous and difficult, and in the levels they follow no paths. On any entrance into their country, they give | notice to one another by smokes or fires ; and at a signal they | all hide themselves. The damages they have done in the — villages, settlements, farms, roads, pastures, woods, and mines 4 are beyond description ; and many of the latter, though very | rich, have been forsaken.” No better description than this could be given of the Apaches at the present time. With respect to Casas Grandes, in Chihuahua, these pueblos, when built, were evidently liable to the incursions of the — Apaches, otherwise they would not have been constructed — as fortified towns. But rich mines were early discovered in — the mountains hard by, and extensively worked by the PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE COUNTRY. 935 paniards ; so that it is impossible to say whether slavery or Be Acaches, or both, caused the destruction of the entire we Senlation. 3 It only remains, in concluding this account of the Pueblo in * ns and their history, to say a few words on a subject isually brought forward as chief amongst the causes which ave bed to the extinction of that race. ; have heard it affirmed on all sides that the country has become depopulated because it is no longer capable of sustain- 2 its former inhabitants, and that as the face of nature shanged, so did those dependent upon nature diminish. The untry has changed for the worse. A few centuries ago, the ain-fall was greater ; forests were more abundant ; spots were roductive which now are barren; and springs gushed from he ground which now are dry. But at this period, also, a nuch larger area of land was probably under cultivation— oth with and without irrigation—than to-day ; and I think | t far more likely that the decrease in the amount of land cul- ated tended to produce aridity than that the change of limate made the country uninhabitable. The Spaniards pro- ably did great mischief by stripping the hills of timber for nining purposes, and thus drying up springs, the waters of ich were so needed in the valleys. The greater part of the Grande was swept of its timber, and is very different now rom what it was when Antonio de Espejo visited it in 1582.* 1¢ Apaches also have a very destructive habit amongst their ng catalogue of vices of firing the forests of their enemies. th ough these facts may account for the gradual drying up ‘the country, they will not explain how it happens that the e pee enring of the Grande, in chap. i., vol. = a it as Rio ; this view, however, was taken in a diaheink te uninhabited, \ d one, moreover, which has remained so for a very long Feriod. * 236 NEW TRACKS IN NORTH AMERICA. fertile bottom-lands along the Rio Verde—a country, ac- cording to Leroux, ‘well timbered, and containing many lagoons ”—are now uninhabited; while the people of Moqui, who live almost in a desert, have managed to fight out the battle of existence down to the present day. Colonel Greenwood, who had charge of one of our engi- neering parties, discovered two very remarkable objects near the San Francisco Mountains. One was a broken jar, into the hollow of which lava had flowed. The other was the skeleton of a man, encased in the same material. If the colonel was not deceived, it is certain that some of the lava which now covers large tracts of country in many parts of New Mexico, and especially Arizona, and still looks bright and fresh, was poured over the surface within the present epoch, but it cannot prove that either the convulsions of the earth or climatic changes produced by them so altered the condition _ of the land that it starved out its inhabitants. The natural workings of cause and effect are, I think, sufficient to account for the present desolation of these regions, without calling to our aid either meteorology or geology. END OF VOL. I. VIRTUE AND CQ., PRINTERS, CITY ROAD, LONDON.