Notes of a military reconnoissance from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California : including parts of the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila rivers

Page 73

E ... Doc. No. 41. 93 with the motion of the mul !:j grazing, nnd my ob sr rvation. wer r , thrrcforr, not very sa ti sf'a rt ory. 11 eir_'cum-mrrit_lian alt~tnde s of procyon.' antl 12 altitudes of p o­laris, gtvc th · latrtudc of the camp, 32J 4.3' :38" . 1 .Novcmbe'r .20.-'l'hc table lands w<·rt• of sand, ant1 tht• holtom of the riV l' l' ·onstantly rc · •ivt•d d<•pos iteH fr om th!'tn, whic·h chancrcd its bed frcqu tllly, a~ mi ght .be srcn from the· difT\•rcnt g-rowths c7r cot­ton wood markin~ the old land. Our road, about fi , r milt•s from lclsl ni ghts ca111p, wa .· traversed by a sp ur of conrs( p;rained ~ra n ite undC'rlaid by old red santJ stone dipping some 80) to the south anti w c s L. 'l' il e d i r c c t ion of t It c spur was ne ar I y par a I I e 'l to tho s <' h l' fore noted, northwest and ':iouthea ' t, which is the dir ect ion of the axis of th ·maximum <:I ·vation of most of the mountains t raversing the course of tb ·Gila. Our ·amp was pitrlH•t1 on a little patch of gra~s two miles from. tht• river, ni ght came on before the hor. c:-:; r(•arll<'d it, and tlrey were without water for tw<·uty -four hours · tlrere was~ pond near th' ca mp, but ~o ,all that th · horscs cou ld not drink it. At noon, tltt• th ermom 'lrr was '711°, Ill n, p . 111., 52°, and at G o'clo ek the n<•xt mornin g, UP, whieh has be •u about the av('ra,re ran~e of lcmp •raturt' for the last two wP<·ks. b .N'ovembc1· 21.-To-d<'Y w' marche(l only t•ight <111<1 a half mil<'s, antl halted for a patelt of g rama, which was an agr<'eable and bt·n<'­fi e i a I (' h a n g ' t o o u r m u I e s , t h at h a d 1> · · n ) i v ill g on c; an c an d ·w il­low for some days pa.<.;l. The p l a i n s a r n o w a l m o s l en t i r <' l y of san ( l , :111< l eo m posed of sanely and ca ]('n.n·ous loam with iron pyrites an d C'omuJOn .-all, co~­er d sparst' ly with cha.miza, Iarrea Mcxicana, antl a shrubby sp ·cics of .age, ( salv ia.) T observed at ni ght for lat itu de ancl time, and there lH·ing two occultations of Jupilt't''s sat •llilcs, I was lt·mplrtl to observe them with our inferi or telcsropr, whi ch only gave us au othe r proof of its us<.•lcssnc. s for the purpos ' . . Nov ember .22. - Mr. Warn r antl I started before the atlvan e sounded, and climbed the sharp spur of a ro nlinu ous ·omb rf moun­tains coming from the so utheast, to try if wt rould see the Uolorn.do of th west. Th' tnounlains ros abruptly from th plains as th(·y mostly do in this reg ion, res mbling in appea rance lar ~e dyke· t •r­minating at top in a. harp ri dge whirh a man c:oul d, at any part, £lraddle. Tht·y were of hanl g ran it<·, pepper anrl , all ·olored, traver cd by s ·ams of white qtiartz. This spur g ive· the ri v •r U ila. quite a b nd to the north, and from that point to its moHtlt, which we reach tl at 11ight, the river is s traight in ils gcne rnl direction; but its course is nookcd and dotted with sandbars, by ill cur­sions from the saudhills whi ·h now flank both its sides. The sand is u rought down hy t h winds from the va ll (•y of th c Co lorado. Its volume seemed, I tbink, a li ttle diminished, probably abso rbed by the sand. The day wa · warm, the du t oppres. iv , ant1 the mar ch, twenty­two miles, Yery long for our jad ·d and ill-f ·d brul~·s. The gcne­" al s horse gave out, antl he was obliged to mount hJs mule.