OCR Text |
Show 201 the following series of rocks were observed: Syenite, trachyte, syenite, feldspar-porphyry, quartz- porphyry, granulite, trachyte- porphyry, granite. On account of the rapid march through the cafion, I cannot give the exact limits of each zone of rock. In places the banks of the Colorado Creek contain auriferous drift, but not enough gold has been found thus far to pay for working. Just east of the head of the Colorado Creek, feldspar- porphyry occurs that has been much decomposed. The rock is soft enough at the surface to allow a trail to be made with but little difficulty, which is much used in crossing the range on the way to Elizabeth town. Metalliferous deposits occur in the Colorado Ca& on. The following particulars were furnished me by Mr. Hess: ORE- DEPOSITS IN THE TAOS RANGE.- THE GOLCONDA MINE IN THE COLORADO CREEK CANON. This mine was discovered by W. C. Hess in 1873, but no work was done until the spring of 1875. The lode runs northeast and southwest, and occurs in the main range. The country rock is granite. The lode varies from 6 to 10 feet in thickness. But two men were at work at the time of my visit. The chief ores found are those of copper and lead in the form of sulphides. The individual minerals occurring at this mine are described elsewhere in the list of minerals. The mine is owned by WT C. Hess, Charles Yernon, and Louis Noes. White men work for $ 2.50 a day and Mexicans for $ 1. There is plenty of wood and water in the vicinity. The Colorado is a swift- running stream, about 12 feet wide, and flows within a hundred yards of the lower part of the lode. A trace of gold has been found in the quartz along the banks of the Colorado Creek. There are ontcroppingB of ore in three places- on the lower part of the ridge near the creek, near the summit of the ridge, about half a mile south of the creek, and on the side of a gulch near the second outcrop. Game is abundant. Deer, mountain-sheep, and grouse are found. The cost of freight from Pueblo is 2 cents a pound. The owners of the mine are desirous of securing three claims of 300 feet on either side and 1,500 feet in length, making in all 600 by 4,500 feet. The owners contemplated building a blast- furnace at the time of my visit, in order to smelt the ore at the mine. The recorder of the Golconda Mine is the county clerk at Taos, N. Mex. In passing through the Flechao Cafton, which separates the Taos and Mora ranges, yellow sandstone is seen, containing fossil leaves similar to those in the foot- hills east of the Cimarron range. The sandstone dips gently to the east. Passing over the divide, blue limestone outcrops on the side or the wagon- road running along the north side of Fernandez Creek. A zone of limestone runs north and south that contains many crinoids and brachiopods. Among the brachiopods are: Productu* semireticulatus, Products costatus, Productus praltanianus. Spirifer rockymontanus, Spirifir ( Martinia) lineatus. According to Dr. C. A. White, these fossils belong to the carboniferous. This zone of limestone outcrops about 6 miles east of the town of Taos. Just west of the limestone yellow sandstone occurs again, beyond which is the alluvium forming the fertile plain of Taos. The Mora range is chiefly composed of sandstone. No igneous rocks were observed within the limits of the range, excepting granite. The ridge- line of the Mora range is quite level, there being no promineut peaks as in the other ranges. No fossils were found in the parts of the Mora range examined, with the exception of a fine specimen of a fossil fern in the sandstone forming the eastern slope of Mora Mountain. This fern has not yet been determined. A few masses of eruptive gray granite occur in the eastern side of the Mora range. It is possible that the belt of carboniferous limestone observed just at the southern extremity of the Taos range runs through the Mora range. If so, it must be on the western side of it, as I failed to discover limestone on the east side. Although the Santa Fe" range was surveyed by the main party, to which I was attached, my examination of it was confined to the southern extremity. This was owing to a side trip taken to the " bad lands," in the northwestern part of New Mexico, which prevented me from accompanying the main party in their exploration of this range. From the descriptions of the topographer and previous explorers, it may be said that the predominating rock in the Santa Fe" range is granite. I think the entire range consists of archsean rocks, excepting a narrow strip of blue limestone extending along the western side of the range near the base of it. This limestone outcrops within half a mile of Santa Fe", on the east of the town. The strata dip westward at an angle of about 25°, and hence underlie the town. The limestone contains well- known invertebrate fossils, such as Productus and Spirtfer, similar to that found near Taos. I think there can be no doubt that the rock is of carboniferous age, and that a belt of this limestone extends northward as far as the Sangre de Cristo Pass, in Colorado. Mr. Justice, of Santa Fe*, who has studied this limestone, informs me that it extends north for at least 100 miles. Although I traced the rock in very few localities, owing to the particular direction the party took in exploring the country, I am still of the opinion that the limestone at Santa F6 is identical in age with that at Taos and Trinchera Pass, on the north side of Calebra range. |