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Show APPENDIX NN. 1275 1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP THE COUNTRY. The country traveled by the party was entirely so nth of the Arkansas, and may be divided into three belts: First, that extending from that stream to the south to the Raton spur of the Rockv rang*; second, the heads of the Canadian and its branches in the main range; third, the valley of the Rio Grande and the plateau between it and the Pecos. This first belt constitutes a vast rolling plateau of uninteresting aspect, treeless, save along the b; ooks which seek outlet in the Arkansas. Little agricultural land is found; that little is confined to the immediate vicinity of the streams. Valuable this land certainly is as grazing land, but it has little to attract the stranger. In the belt, nearly a hundred miles across, but few ranches are found. Along the immediate valley of the Purgatoire, evidence of the farmer is seen, and it is claimed, doubtless justly, that the finest of fruits thrive in this valley. The grain there produced is very promising. Once ont of the immediate valley a wide expanse of gently rolling monotonous country pains ibe eye in the hot, dry air of an August noonday. Here and there it is broken by an arroyo, in which an unuertaiu supply of alkaline water may be found. These arroyos deepen as they approach the Purgatoire, aud may well near their months be termed canons, boxed up as they are by their sandstone walls, rendering the country almost impassable, which, farther out on the plains, can be traversed in almost any direction by wagons. Here little is seen of more interest than the large herds of antelopes, which, with gentle swinging gait, keep just out of rifle range. On the main freight wagon route from West Las Animas, but a year ago the terminus of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe* Railroad, we find a few ranches. After leaving Sizer's ranch on the Purgatoire, at which point the road diverges therefrom, we first come to the old stage- station known as Alkali Station. Here is a little hnt, with stables and corral, used as a shelter to the stock- tender and his animals. It is now deserted, or was at the time we passed. The water is slightly impregnated with alkaline salts. Farther on are Vogel's ranch, Bent's Cafion, Lock wood's ranch, and Hogback; of these, that at Bent's Cafion is much the most promising ranch. Near Hogback is a sharp, bare hill of plutouio rock, from which this station gets its name. About 8 miles from Trinidad the road again approaches the Purgatoire at a point where the valley widens ont, rendering available considerable arable laud, depending simply upon proper irrigation and cultivation to provide ample supplies for the town springing up at £ 1 Moro, the present terminus of the Denver and Rio Grande narrow- gauge road, which, with enterprise, is feeling its way to the south, gathering the freight of New Mexico. This latter town has all the bustle of the last railroad town, and may eventually be extended to unite with Trinidad, the older and larger place, some 5 miles beyond, the growth of which seems to have increased with the proximity of £ 1 Moro, rather than to have been sapped by it, as is so frequently the case. Situated as these are at the entrance to Raton and Long's Canon Passes, they are less likely to die out as the road passes on beyond. The coal- field in the vicinity of Trinidad will contribute to its support. Beyond the cul- de- sac in which Trinidad is situated, the character of the country changes entirely. The rise from West Las Animas to Trinidad, of 2,158 feet, is very gradual. Here the foot- hills of the main Rocky range and the Raton spur close in. Leaving the main stape- road at Trinidad, our course lay up the Purgatoire for about 8 miles. Ranches, with their cultivated fields, claimed each inch of ground capable of tillage, till leaving the stream we follow a less frequented road, ascending the cafion with even grade. Gently rising, we pass beyond the piuon growth marking the lower hills and reach the pine- covered country extending to the heavily broken plateau of the Raton Pass, hardly to be styled as a mountain range in comparison with the bare, bold crests of the serrated range from which it springs. Although not reaching the elevation, it offers in its broken surfaces^ its many callous, its sharp rises and sudden cuts, almost as great difficulties to engineering skill in locating a road across it as the more prominent ranges. From the Purgatoire to Elizabethtown is a fan- like succession of secondary ridges, broken by the canons of the Vermejo, the two branches of the Ponil and the Van Brimmer Park. This whole section is well grassed, timbered, and watered, and for a mountain range could not IMS excelled for cattle. For a railroad pass to Cimarron and country east of the mountains it is, while higher, of so much better grade than the Raton Pass, that Long's Cafion would probably be adopted in preference to the latter, having for its southern outlet the course of the Canadian to Red River Station. For a direct pass to Elizabethtown it could be only made available by the most careful study of the minor topography, deviating in many places from the present located wagon routes. Elizabethtown is situated at the head of a fine park at the base of the Bald, between this peak and the main range; with perhaps less bustle than in former days, it is still a mining town of some little prosperity. From Elizabethtown to the entrance of Taos Pass extends a beautiful park, presenting no difficulty to a railroad route; the pass is a good one, and will doubtless be eventually utilized; the wagon road is fair, but in need of work. Taos Valley is one of the finest grain- growing districts in New Mexico, extending from |
