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Show 20 tbe clearness proverbial of the interior mountain- valleys and plateau-regions of Colorado and New Mexico. The homeward route lay through a beautiful, park- like valley, reaching from the foot of the high mountains, from which the river breaks out through a precipitous cation, to the junction of the two forks; thence the trail winds iu and out, following the ridges dividing the drainage between these forks to a tributary of the South Fork of the Rio Grande, which is followed by a tortuous trail, often leading out of the valley of the stream to avoid canons, to its mouth; and thence along tbe inclosed mountain- valley, through which flows the Rio Grande proper, to the little mining- town of Del Norte, facing the San Luis Valley. This trail had not apparently been frequented for years, but must have been of considerable importance to the Utes in their journeys in and out of the San Juan from the Rio Grande before their location upon reservations. Most of the summits passed were in excess of 10,000 feet above tide, and covered with heavy timber. Thunder and lightning, rain, hail, and snow- storms were our lot during this difficult trip, taken at the close of the month of September. Trails crossing passes of so great elevation, in this section of territory become difficult later in the season than October 1; and the months of July, August, and September are the only ones of the year during which surveying parties obliged to climb the high surrounding peaks in succession can work with safety or advantage. The large rain fall has served to give fantastic shapes to the intricate drainage- areas shaped by the geological structure of this region, and determine for it an apparent inaccessibility, except along certain lines. The meager number of Indian trails in the area comprised by the heads of the Rio Grande, San Juan, and its northern tributaries, the Dolores, Uncompahgre, and Lake Fork of the Gunnison Rivers, in a section not long ago fully ranged over by certain of the Ute and Apache tribes, is a fair indication of the difficulties of traversing these regions, while the physical obstacles met by the parties in their clamberings throUgh these mountains could only be hinted at in long- drawn itineraries of their routes, which time, space, and the scope of the reports of the strvey alike forbid. The South Fork of the Rio Grande, although dignified in title, is insignificant iu comparison with the main stream that it joius. It is simply the largest creek that enters the Rio Grande between its source and debouchure into the San Luis Valley. From Del Norte our route followed along the northwest arm of San Luis Valley, via Saguache, and thence across Poncho Pass aud the creek of that name to the South Fork of the Arkansas, and thence to the end of a branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Narrow- gauge Railway at Canon City, near the mouth of the main cafion of the Arkansas River. The pass discovered by Lieutenant Marshall, to the head of the . Lake Fork of the Gunnison, or passing by the head of the main fork of Puucho Creek, leads up the above- named creek from the point at which it is joined by the road in question. The impressions left upon my mind as to the general resources of Southwestern Colorado, as yet mostly in prospective, have been extremely favorable. Better communication, more settlers, and money for the development of its mines, are the needs of the present state of settlement; certainly, nature has kindly supplied the earth with much that energetic industry cau subjugate to the wants of man. The expedition of 1875 has been divided into two sections, known as the California or Pacific- coast sectiou, and the Colorado or Rocky Range section. Lieut. Wm, L. Marshall, Corps of Engineers, has |
