l',;A'-;7o'., ,;• 
 
 
Class __ 
 Book__ 
 
Ea^B'"^' "" 
 
 ■■M NATORAL RESOURCES AND ATTRACTIONS 
 
 u 
 
 :TioN,;r / 
 
 lEW MEXICO. 
 
 BEING A 
 
 COLLECTION OF FACTS, 
 
 MAINIvY CONCEBNING HEB 
 
 Geography, Climate, Population, Scliools, Mines and 
 
 Minerals, Agricnltiiial and Pastoral Capacities, 
 
 Prospective Railroads, Public Lands, 
 
 AND 
 
 SPANISH AND MEXICAN LAND GRANTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIAS BREVOORT. 
 
 Veritatis simplex Oratio est. 
 
 HANTA FE: 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ELIAS BREVOORT. 
 
 !|-H 1874. 
 
 1^^^^*=, - -...: - 
 
GRATUITOUS. 
 
 • Persons desiring copies by mail, and enclosing ten cents to 
 pay postage, will be furnished by addressing 
 
 ELIAS BREVOORT, 
 
 Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
 
 BOST & JENKINS, 
 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 This copy of Brevoort's New Mexico is presented witfi thi 
 compliments of 
 
T1V 
 
 R MTIAL mmWl MB ATT 
 
 BEING A 
 
 COLLECTION OF FACTS, 
 
 MAINLY CONCERNING HER 
 
 Geograpliy, Climate, Popnlatlon, Schools, Mines and 
 
 Minerals, Agricnllui al and Pastorjil Capacities, 
 
 Prospective Railroads, FuMic Lands, 
 
 AND 
 
 SPANISH AND MEXICAN LAND GRANTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIAS BREVOORT. 
 
 A^eritatis simplex. Oratio est. 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ELIAS BREVOORT. 
 
 1874. 
 
 •v^^ 
 

 Newspapers of New Mexico. 
 
 The New Mexican,* Santa Fe. 
 
 The RegimentaTj Flag, Santa Fe. 
 
 The Cimarron News, Cimarron. 
 
 The Railway. Press and Telegraph,... Elizabethtown. 
 
 The Las Vegas Gazette,* Las Vegas. 
 
 The New Mexico Advertiser,* Las Vegas. 
 
 The Republican Review,* Alburquerque. 
 
 The Borderer, Las Cruces. 
 
 The Mesill a News,* Mesilla. 
 
 The Mining Life, Silver City. 
 
 The Tribune, Silver City. 
 
 The Mora Mail,* Mora. 
 
 Published in English and Spanish. 
 
 
 }' 
 
f*? 
 
 £2 
 
 P 
 
 UR Authorities. 
 
 V 
 
 
 Gentlemen we are mainly indebted to for Information. 
 
 WILLIAM F. M. ARNY, Ex-Governor of New Mexico. 
 
 JOHN A. CLARK, Ex-U. S. Surveyor-General for New Mexico. 
 
 JOAB HOUGHTON, Ex-Judge Supreme Court, New Mexico. 
 
 JOSEPH G. KNAPP, the same. 
 
 JAMES K. PROUDFIT, U. S. Surveyor-General for New Mexico. 
 
 DAVID J. MILLER, Chief Clerk and Translator for same. 
 
 ABRAM G. HOYT, Register of the U. S. Land Office. 
 
 F. V. HAYDEN, U. S. Exploring Geologist. 
 
 CYRUS THOMAS, Agriculturist with same. 
 
 W. J. PALMER, Director Transcontinental Railway Survey 1867. 
 
 C. C. PARRY, Naturalist and Geologist with same. 
 
 ELIAS BREVOORT, twenty-four years residenter in New Mexico. 
 
pui\_ Refer,ences. 
 
 Gentlemen of our Personal Acquaintance we take the 
 
 LIBERTY to MENTION. 
 
 Geneeai, L. C. EASTON, U. S. A., Leavenworth. 
 
 Hon. MIGUEL A. OTERO, Granada, Colorado. 
 
 GEORGE A. HAY WARD, 421 Olive street, St. Louis. 
 
 Colonel A. J. BOONE, Denver. 
 
 SAMUEL WETHERED, Baltimore. 
 
 Hon. S. B. ELKINS, Delegate from New Mexico, Washington. 
 
 General D. H. RUCKER, U. S. A., Chicago. 
 
 LEVI SPIEGELBERG, 32 Church street. New York.. 
 
 Hon. a. M. JACKSON, Austin, Texas. 
 
 Colonel H. M. ENOS, U. S. A., Milwaukee. 
 
 HARRY M. MILLER, " Commercial " office, Cincinnati. 
 
 Hon. JUAN H. ZUBIRAN, Chihuahua, Mexico. 
 
 Hon. G. H. 0UR\% Tucson. 
 
 General SAM. D. STURGES, U. S. A., Louisville. 
 
 CHAKLES W. KITCHEN, Salt Lake City. 
 
 LEHMAN SPIEGELBERG, President Second National Bank, Santa Fe. 
 
 JOAQUIN PEREA, 535 Clay street, San Francisco. 
 
 DAVIS & FRERET, 27 Commercial Place, New Orleans. 
 
 GEORGE A. ROBERTS, with A. T. Stewart, Philadelphia. 
 
 JOHNSON & KOCH, Santa Fe. 
 
 ZENON De MORUELLE, Galveston. 
 
 REYNOLDS & GRIGGS, Mesilla. 
 
 CHARLES E. KEARNEY, Kansas City. 
 
 D. D. BRAINARD & CO., Monterey, Mexico. 
 
 MATTHIAS SMYTH, Merced, California. 
 
 FRANK McMANUS, Chihuahua. 
 
 BOST & JENKINS, 331 Montgomery street, San Francisco. 
 
p 
 
 EDICATION. 
 
 TO SOLID MEN, 
 
 MEN OF MEANS AND ENTERPRISE, MEN DESIRING THROUGH SAFE 
 
 INVESTMENT ALIKE THE WELFARE OF THEMSELVES AND 
 
 THE GROWTH AND GLORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH, 
 
 MEN OF PERCEPTION AND ACTION, 
 
 EVERYWHERE, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PAGES, 
 
 INTENDED 
 
 TO PRESENT TO THE BONE AND SINEW 
 
 OF 
 
 THE WORLD OF CAPITALISTS AND OF PRODUCERS, 
 
 FARMERS AND LIVE STOCK MEN, 
 
 BY 
 
 FAIR AND TRUTHFUL STATEMENT, 
 
 THE NOW SCARCELY KNOWN OR APPRECIATED EXCELLENCIES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO 
 
 AS A FIELD FOR 
 
 THE PROFITABLE INVESTMENT OF CAPITAL BEFORE THE COMING DAY 
 
 OF 
 
 RAILROADS, IMMIGRATION AND EMPIRE, 
 
 MAINLY IN 
 
 MINING, FARMING AND STOCKRAISINQ, 
 
 AND ESPECIALLY IN 
 
 THE EARLY ACQUISITION OF LARGE LANDED ESTATES, 
 
 ARE 
 
 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 
 
 BY 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The little work we here offer has been prepared in more of a 
 hurry than we could obviate, as our time and business engage- 
 ments while occupied upon it did not permit that application to 
 it of attention and labor which a due performance of the under- 
 taking really demanded. Nevertheless we send it forth as it is. 
 The only thing of the kind heretofore attempted was the 
 pamphlet of about one hundred pages, Interesting Items regarding 
 Neiv Mexico jgoiien up and published last year by Governor Arny, 
 the edition of which, owing to the great demand for it from 
 abroad, was soon exhausted. This fact among others suggested 
 to us the preparation of something of the same kind— though 
 far above and beyond this motive we were actuated by a desire 
 to labor in th^ task of elevating New Mexico to the high position 
 in the world of wealth and business to which her natural 
 resources and her natural advantages certainly give her a 
 commanding claim. 
 
 The population of New Mexico hitherto has not, unfortunately, 
 been of the progressive kind. The Spanish and Mexican race, 
 of whom until recently ten tenths, and at this time nine tenths 
 of the population is composed, has caused the country to pro- 
 gress scarcely a'move in the march of material improvement 
 and wealth beyond what it was in the days of the Spanish vice- 
 royalty in Mexico to which it was once subject. Hitherto 
 we have had almost absolutely no institutions of learning, no 
 statesmen, no public spirit, no boards of immigration, no colonies, 
 no railroads. 
 
 Each of the several territories of the United States aspiring 
 to the position and rank of a state of the Union through the 
 acquisition of population and the development of its natural 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 resources and capabilities, has presented and urged incessantly 
 its claims to the attention of the outer world through the instru- 
 mentality of its local press and innumerable immigration pam- 
 phlets. Surely it is time now that the oldest and most populous, 
 and yet the least known because hitheito the least ambitious, of 
 the territories, should enter the lists for the championship of 
 them all. Like the sleeping giant, New Mexico has been repos- 
 ing in the consciousness of her strength and power, to arouse when 
 the time should come, and to assume among the political divis- 
 ions and powers of the Union, and in the busy world, the posi- 
 tion and rank to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God 
 entitle her. 
 
 But some of the great philosophers declared that no man does 
 aught without a private motive. If this be true, then we, in 
 preparing this our very imperfect little work on New Mexico, 
 must have had ours; and if we had, we think it must have 
 been in this, that being a land grant agent (see our card at the 
 end), and being, as we think we are, thoroughly posted in all 
 matters and things relating to or in anywise concerning Spanish 
 or Mexican private land claims in the Territory — as to their 
 locality, extent, character, capacity and title tenure — and being 
 as we are as a ^'middle man " ready at all times to give infor- 
 mation concerning any of them or to operate in their purchase 
 or sale, we desired to enlarge our business in the ample field 
 New Mexico now aflfords therefor. And if indeed such a 
 motive we had, we only know that while one of business 
 prompted us to the task, a feeling of pleasure in the work chiefly 
 moved us in its execution. 
 
 Santa Fe, May, 1874. 
 
NEW MEXICO. 
 
 EXTENT, POPULATION, Etc. 
 
 New Mexico has pertained, at different periods and with 
 different boundaries* and extent, to three different nationalities 
 — to Spain, to Mexico, and to the United States. Under Spain 
 it was called the province of Nuevo Mexico, under Mexico the 
 province, the territory, the state,! and the department of Nuevo 
 Mexico, and under the United States it is called the Territory of 
 New Mexico, destined, we have no doubt, in a very few years 
 to become one of the States of the American Union. 
 
 The Territory was created by the act of the United States 
 congress of September 9, 1850, and the territorial government 
 put in operation March 1, 1851, with the eastern and southern 
 boundaries as they now are, and with the northern along the 
 thirty-eighth degree of latitude, and the western along the 
 Rio Colorado of the west, the eastern boundary of the State of 
 California. Afterwards a whole degree of latitude was by congress 
 taken from us on the north, and given to the Territory of Colo- 
 rado, then a portion of our northwest corner attached to the 
 State of Nevada, and then the whole of the territory of Arizona 
 lopped off from our western half— so that at this time the Terri- 
 tory extends from 103° to 109° longitude west from Greenwich, 
 and from 31° 47' to 3 7° north latitude, in other words is bounded 
 on the north by Colorado, on the east by Texas and Indian 
 Territory, on the south by Texas and Mexico, and on the west 
 by Arizona, and extends on an average three hundred and fifty- 
 two miles north and south, and three hundred and thirty-two 
 miles east and west. 
 
 '■■ The provincial deputation on January 4, 1823, in dividing the province 
 into civil jurisdictional districts, stated the boundaries of New Mexico as "on 
 the N. the Arkansas river, on the S. New Biscay to. the Mimbres mountain, on 
 the W. the Mogollon mountain the Moqui Indian pueblos, thence to the head- 
 waters of the Rio Grande del Norte, on the E. the Senisos hills and pueblo of 
 Jumanes, and thence southwardly over the sandhills." 
 
 t The Mexican congress on February 4, 1824, erected the ('Northern 
 State," created from the provinces of New Mexico, Chihuahua and Durango. 
 We believe the law was soon repealed, mainly on account of a quarrel over the 
 location of the capital, Durango demanding it at the city of Durango, and 
 Chihuahua and New Mexico at the city of Chihuahua. 
 
12 BREVOORT's new MEXICO. 
 
 The general face of the country, says the Commissioner of 
 the General Land Ofl&ce in his annual report for 1870, is 
 constituted of high level plateaus, traversed by ranges of 
 mountains from occasional isolated peaks rise to a great hight, 
 and intersected by rapid streams of water flowing through beauti- 
 ful fertile valleys, and channeling in the precipitous rocky caiious. 
 The general course of the mountains, valleys and streams is from 
 north to south, with the tendency to a deflection from northwest 
 to southeast, or towards Mexico and the isthmus of Panama, 
 the territory including the southern extension of the mountains 
 constituting what is called in more northern latitudes the great 
 Rocky Range, this being an elevated continental vertebral col- 
 umn, extending from the Arctic Ocean to South America without 
 losing its identity, or the chain of connecting peaks being 
 broken, and following a line parallel with the general contour 
 of the Pacific coast throughout its whole extent. The rivers of 
 New Mexico form parts of the water systems of both the Atlantic 
 and Pacific slopes — those on the eastern side of the dividing 
 range emptying into the gulf of Mexico by way of the Canadian 
 and Mississippi rivers and the Rio Grande del Norte, and those 
 on the western side flowing into the gulf of California by way 
 of the Rio Gila and Colorado of the West. 
 
 The general altitude of the mountain chains, rising on either 
 side of the Rio Grande and Pecos, is between 6000 and 8000 
 feet, and sometimes, especially in the northern sections of the 
 territory, they reach the hight of 10,000 and 12,000 feet above 
 the sea level. One of the most noted elevations is Mount 
 Taylor, situated northwest of Santa Fe, which rises to a hight of 
 10,000 feet above the valley of the Rio Grande, this valley 
 having itself an elevation of between 5000 and 6000 feet above 
 the sea in its northern extension towards the Colorado boundary, 
 4800 feet at Alburquerque, and 3000 feet at El Paso, just across 
 the southern boundary in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. 
 
 The climate is considerably varied by the changes of latitude 
 and by the elevation of the surface of the country. The salubrity 
 of the climate is remarkable, and constitutes one of its most 
 attractive features, the malarious maladies occasional in some 
 localities of the Mississippi valley and elsewhere where the soil 
 is imperfectly cultivated and surplus vegetation allowed to 
 decay on the surface, being entirely unknown in New Mexico; 
 
EXTENT, POPUIjATTON, ETC. 13 
 
 and seldom are persons here affected with pulmonary or hepatic 
 diseases, wliile the presence of numerous thermal and other 
 n»ineral springs, possessing extraordinary curative powers, 
 promises to render it, as soon as their virtues shall have become 
 as well known to the great public as now to the explorer and 
 pioneer, one of the most popular places of resort by those 
 residents of the cities and towns whose physical health is 
 impaired, and who seel?; recuperation, and the beauty of its 
 natural scenery must attract many who desire relief for minds 
 overtaxed with the care and labor of arduous professions or 
 engrossing mercantile pursuits. 
 
 The plateaus, valleys and hillsides of New Mexico, continues 
 the commissioner, are usually covered with various indigenous 
 grasses, furnishing the best of pasturage for sheep and cattle, 
 the most valuable and widely distributed of these grasses being 
 a variety called the mesquite or grama grass, which grows 
 during the rainy season of July and August, ripens under the 
 influence of autumnal suns and dries upon the stalk, bearing a 
 copious abundance of nutritious seeds, and constituting adequate 
 support for every kind of live stock throughout the entire 
 winter, and until the more rapidly growing herbage of the 
 spring and early summer has attained sufficient growth to 
 attract animals by its freshness from their winter sustenance, 
 and furnisli the change of food necessary to the most perfect 
 development of animal life. The herdsman and shepherd in 
 this country therefore possess great advantages over the farmer 
 and stockraiser of the more eastern states, as the latter is 
 compelled to spend a large portion of his time and labor in 
 summer in providing food for the support of his stock during 
 winter months; besides this advantage there is to be considered 
 the fact that mildness of the winters and the slight ftills of snow 
 render shelter, other than that afforded by the valleys, and 
 timber, entirely unnecessary for the protection of the herds and 
 flocks, the pure air, wide ranges, and excellent food resulting 
 in an extraordinary healthiness of the animals, among which 
 the contagious diseases, prevalent in other sections, are almost 
 entirely unknown, the horses being remarkable for their 
 endurance, and the beef and mutton celebrated for their ex- 
 cellence, while the flesh of the cattle and sheep is readily cured 
 without the use of salt, by being hung up in the open air, the 
 
14 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 variety of the atmosphere soon producing a state of dryness, 
 which will preserve it in all its natural sweetness and excellence 
 for any reasonable period. The production of wool is at present 
 one of the most profitable branches of industry in the Territory, 
 and the recent introduction of the improved breeds of sheep, 
 with the view of obtaining larger animals and finer qualities of 
 jQeece, will undoubtedly contribute greatly to the advancement 
 of this interest. 
 
 The mining interests of the Territory are important, and 
 promise to constitute in the immediate future one of the chief 
 sources of wealth and prosperity; the deposits of gold, silver, cop- 
 per, iron and coal being extensive and valuable. Embarrassments, 
 IH'oceeding from Indian difficulties, and from the want of ready 
 means of transportation for supplies and products, have greatly 
 retarded the development of the mines in the past; but recently 
 the country has become more settled and sate, in consequence 
 of the present beneficent Indian policy of the government and 
 the efticient administration of the same, the result being new 
 discoveries of valuable mines, and more profitable working of 
 the older ones, the yield of gold and silver during the past year 
 comparing very favorably with that of any of the past years in 
 the history of this interest, notwithstanding the suspension of 
 work on some of the principal mines, for the purpose of introduc- 
 ing new and improved machinery with the view of their more 
 economical working. The great desideratum in connection 
 with the mining interest is better and cheaper modes of trans- 
 portation, \^hich can only be furnished by the construction of 
 railroads, and when these shall have been extended through 
 the Territory — as they inevitably soon must be, in the course 
 of American progress — the mines of New Mexico will undoubt- 
 edly contribute greatly to the augmentation of the present 
 annual product of the precious metals in the United States. 
 
 There are certain portions of the Territory perhaps unfit for 
 either cultivation or pasturage — but it is certain that almost all 
 the valleys of the rivers, as well as the table-lands within reach 
 of irrigation, are exceedingly jjroductive, the soil possessing 
 elements of great fertility, and the occasional scarcity of water 
 alone preventing the more arid portions from producing excellent 
 crops and superior indigenous herbage. The most abundant 
 crops of the Territory are those of corn, wheat, barley, oats, 
 
EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 15 
 
 apples, peaches, apricots and grapes; all of these grains and 
 fruits thriving readily, and the crops being of excellent quality. 
 The soil, climate and nature of the surface are especially adapted 
 to the culture of the grape, this being an important hranch of the 
 husbandry of the country, the jaeld of fruit being prolific, and 
 the wine produced therefrom of excellent quality. Consequent 
 upon the necessity of irrigation, cultivation of the soil is confined 
 to those localities where water from the rivers and streams can 
 be readily obtained, the usual method of securing the necessary 
 supplies being by constructing large canals, called acequias 
 madres, of sufficient capacity for an entire town or settlement,* 
 at the cost of all who desire the benefits to be derived therefrom, 
 along the most elevated portions of the valleys or over the 
 greater elevations of the plateaus adjoining the foothills of the 
 mountains, and from this main ditch each farmer constructs his 
 own minor canal to the lands he desires to irrigate, the right of 
 each to the use of the water being confined to certain hours in 
 each week, in order that the supply may be fairly divided, a 
 farmer being able, by the use of these ditches, to water thoroughly 
 about five acres in a day, on even ground. The necessity for irri- 
 gation is certainly the source of considerable trouble and labor to 
 the agriculturist, but the certainty and excellence of the crops, 
 which result from this care, and the comparative freedom from 
 dependence upon the seasons, almost atone for this necessity. 
 But it is gathered from well tried experiments that, when more 
 attention has been given in this section to the planting of fruit and 
 forest trees, the climate \oill he materially changed in this respect, 
 greater supplies of rain following, and its fall being more evenly 
 distributed through the several seasons. 
 
 The principal forests of New Mexico are confined to the 
 mountain ranges, being constituted chiefly of pine, cedar, spruce 
 and other varieties of evergreens; but on the foothills extensive 
 tracts of piiion, cedar and mesquite are found, and in the river 
 bottoms, fringing the margins of the streams, are belts of 
 Cottonwood, sycamore and other deciduous trees, while in the 
 
 •■■• The acequias are often twenty or thirty miles long, and often afTord consid- 
 erable mill power. Each irrigation is a new coating of manure to the soil, and 
 cultivation by irrigation, instead of impoverishing, enriches the soil. The 
 Spaniard two hundred and seventy years ago found the Pueblo Indians here 
 cultivating the ground by irrigation, and the same land has been so tilled ever 
 since annually, and it is still of undiminished fertility and productiveness. 
 
16 
 
 BKEVOORT'S NEW MEXICO. 
 
 southern parts of the Territory groves of oak and walnut are 
 abundant. 
 
 We have made and we subjoin an estimate of the present 
 population of the Territory by counties, pueblos and country 
 settlements. We fear our estimate of 121,250 — which it happens 
 is just one inhabitant to the square mile — is too small in reality, 
 and would not object to the readers adding, say five per centum 
 to it. 
 
 The census of 1870 shows a population of 91,871, and that of 
 1860 showed a population of 93,516 — wherefore there appears 
 prima facie to have been during the decade a decrease of 1645; 
 whereas the truth is, there was an increase of more than 21,000, 
 or about thirty per cent. An explanation of the case is important 
 in the premises, especially as the want of it — owing in a great 
 degree to the silence and, in this matter, docility of the local 
 press — has for a long time unquestionably been giving the 
 Territory a false and an injurious reputation among those 
 ignorant of the facts. Indeed, we remember no instance of a 
 reference to the subject by any of our journals, except in a 
 recent article in the Daily New Mexican of Santa Fe, and from 
 which article we here reproduce a portion: — 
 
 " The other error is in regard to population. It is true that 
 the census of 1870 shows an apparent loss oj population during 
 the preceding decade, hut it is not really so. The population of 
 New Mexico in 1860 was 93,516, but this included Arizona, with 
 a population of 9,581, and a tier of counties, now in Colorado, 
 containing 13,318, which were all set off from us during the 
 ■decade, or a total of 22,899. By the census of 1870 we had 
 91,871, showing that we really increased 21,254, or about 30 per 
 cent, upon the population of the present territory of New Mexico, 
 which was 70,617 in 1860, and not 93,516, as people generally 
 suppose, and the mistake is but natural, for the census contains 
 no note of explanation. We claim that, considering the embar- 
 rassments under which our territory has labored, remote from 
 commercial centers, far from railroads and with totally inade- 
 quate means of communication and travel, with the false 
 reputation of being largely inhabited and overrun by savages, 
 our rate of increase was highly creditable. The average rate of 
 increase of some twenty or more of the old states was but 20 
 per cent, between 1860 and 1870. The actual rate of increase of 
 
EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 17 
 
 New Mexico property was greater in that time than that of 
 Alabama, Arlcansas, " Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, 
 Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachussetts, Missouri, Missis- 
 sippi, New Hampshire, New Yorl<:, North Carolina, South 
 Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and 
 some other states. The increase since 1870 has been much 
 greater than during any other equal lenght of time, and we 
 think fully thirty per cent, already. Including our Pueblo 
 Indians — who are peaceful, industrious and honest people, 
 living upon farms that they have occupied from time imme- 
 morial — we claim at least 130,000 people. Our flocks and herds, 
 our mineral development and other substantial wealth has 
 increased as fast in proportion as our population, if not faster, 
 and we are abundantly able* to provide for an economical state 
 government, such as our people will expect and demand." 
 
 The facts and statistics, presented by the editor, are well 
 founded and correct; and from them appear what was really the 
 population of the present territory at the census of 1800, 
 what it was in fixct at that of 1870, and what was the actual 
 increase instead of the apparent decrease during the decade 
 intervening between the two censuses, as follows: — 
 
 Census of 1860 93,510 
 
 Deduct Population given Colorado in LStil 13,318 
 
 Deduct population given Arizona in 1863 9,581 22,899 
 
 Real census of 1860 707617 
 
 Census of 1870 il 91^671 
 
 Real census of 1860 70,617 
 
 Increase in the decade 21,254 
 
 We very much doubt that the last census — taken four years 
 ago — was a complete exhibit of our population. It seems to us 
 that we had more people than that enumeration shows — that 
 we must have had then 100,000 at least. But if it was complete, 
 and if our estimate of the present population be correct, then 
 during the last four years the Territory has augmented its 
 
 " A main question just now (May, '74) in New Mexico politics is Slate or No 
 State ; and it has divided the politicians into Territory men and State men. Our 
 delegate in congress — who Is a state(s) man — has introduced a bill for an ena- 
 bling act, and the article we have quoted from was written in the " State " 
 interest. We may be " able'''' to support a state government; but we think New 
 Mexico and the New Mexicans are wot ready and prepared just yet for a state 
 autonomy. We want railroads first. These make the state, and not the slate 
 them. 
 
 2 
 
li 
 
 BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 population at least 29,379. We cannot believe we have estimated 
 too small, in the following statement, the number of souls in 
 the respective counties, towns, Indian pueblos and country 
 settlements of the Territory. 
 
 POPULATION OF NEW MEXICO. 
 
 Names and estimated resident populations of the various cities, 
 towns, villages, Indian Pueblos and counties of the Territoi^y. 
 
 County Seats in SMALii caps, Indian Pueblos in Italic, Post- 
 offices with*. 
 
 In the County of Taos: 
 
 *Fernando de Taos, 
 
 Ranches de Taos, 
 
 Rio Hondo, 
 
 *Rio Colorado, 
 
 Arroyo Seco, , 
 
 Embudo, 
 
 Taos, 
 
 Chemisal, 
 
 Las Trampas, , 
 
 Picuris, 
 
 *Castilla de New Mexico,!. 
 
 Pefiasco, 
 
 Santa Barbara, 
 
 Picuris, 
 
 Country settlements, 
 
 Total,. 
 
 3,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 1,500 
 
 1,500 
 
 1,000 
 
 500 
 
 375 
 
 325 
 
 275 
 
 250 
 
 250 
 
 200 
 
 200 
 
 150 
 
 1,500 
 
 13,025 
 
 t The New Mexico and Colorado interritorial line runs through the town. 
 
 In the County of Colfax: 
 
 *ClMMAKRON, 
 
 *Elizabethtown, 
 
 Clifton, 
 
 Ute Creek, 
 
 ^Rayado, 
 
 Country settlements,. 
 
 Total, 
 
 1,800 
 
 600 
 
 125 
 
 65 
 
 700 
 
 1,000 
 
 4,290 
 
EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 
 
 19 
 
 In the County of Mora: 
 
 *]MORA, 
 
 *SapelIo, 
 
 CevoUa, 
 
 Cueva .• 
 
 *La Junta, 
 
 Cherry Valley, 
 
 *Loraa Parda, 
 
 *Ocate, 
 
 *Fort Union, 
 
 Guadalupita, 
 
 Country settlements,. 
 
 Total,. 
 
 3,000 
 
 1,400 
 
 1,200 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 800 
 
 750 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 650 
 
 1,550 
 
 .i 11,475 
 
 In the County of Rio Arriba 
 
 Canada, 
 
 *K,ito, 
 
 Chama, 
 
 *Ojo Caliente, , 
 
 *Tierra Amarilla, 
 
 *Abiquln, 
 
 Chamita, 
 
 *Pl,aza Alcalde, 
 
 Los Luceros, 
 
 La Joya, 
 
 *8an Juan, 
 
 Cuchilla, 
 
 Santa Clara, 
 
 Country settlements, 
 
 1,750 
 
 1,100 
 
 1,100 
 
 1,000 
 
 450 
 
 1,050 
 
 900 
 
 925 
 
 700 
 
 650 
 
 350 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 1,900 
 
 Total,. 
 
 12,000 
 
20 
 
 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 In the County of Santa Ana. 
 
 Santo Domingo, 
 
 Jemez, 
 
 Santa Ana, 
 
 San Felipe, 
 
 Cochiti, 
 
 PeiIa Elanca, 
 
 Algodones, 
 
 *Majada,t 
 
 Vallecito, 
 
 Lia, 
 
 Cubero, 
 
 Jemez Si)rings, 
 
 Country settlements,.... 
 
 Total,. 
 
 1,000 
 800 
 500 
 400 
 400 
 650 
 500 
 200 
 150 
 125 
 100 
 20 
 350 
 
 6,195 
 
 t The town, nowadays frequently called Bajada, the Spanish for descent, is 
 at the western base of a high mesa upon a main thoroughfare which there 
 descends to the valley. It is properly Majada, the Spanish for sheep ranch, a 
 large one at that spot one hundred years ago giving the place its name. 
 
 In the County of Santa Fe: 
 
 *SANTA FE, 
 
 Chimayd, 
 
 Agua Fria, 
 
 Gallsteo, 
 
 Las Truehas, 
 
 San Ildefonzo, 
 
 Tesuque, 
 
 *Pojoaque, 
 
 Cienega, 
 
 Ileal de Dolores, 
 
 Tesuque, 
 
 Nambe, 
 
 Pueblo Guemado, 
 
 Pojoaque, 
 
 Country settlements,... 
 
 Total, 13,355 
 
 6,500 
 
 1,500 
 
 700 
 
 650 
 
 650 
 
 570 
 
 400 
 
 440 
 
 350 
 
 150 
 
 125 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 20 
 
 1,000 
 
EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 
 
 21 
 
 In the County of San Miguel: 
 
 *Las Vegas, 4,500 
 
 "'Anton Chico, 1,300 
 
 Tecolote, 1,200 
 
 San Miguel, 750 
 
 *San Jos6, 750 
 
 ^Puerto cle Luna, 750 
 
 La Cuesta, 700 
 
 Pecos, ; 500 
 
 La Junta, 500 
 
 Chaperito, 750 
 
 Liendre, 500 
 
 Pueblo, 400 
 
 *Saiiia Rosa, 150 
 
 Agua Negra, 300 
 
 Los Valles, 300 
 
 Las Colonias, 400 
 
 Rincon del Tecolote, 175 
 
 Las Torres, 100 
 
 Bernal, 100 
 
 Guzano, 75 
 
 Pecos, 000 
 
 Hatch's, 75 
 
 *Fort Sumner, 250 
 
 Country settlements, 1,700 
 
 Total, ■ 16,175 
 
 In the County of Bernalillo , 
 
 * Alburquerque, 
 
 Los Ranches, 
 
 '^Bej-nalillo, 
 
 Islefa, 
 
 Manzano, 
 
 Chilili, 
 
 *Alameda, 
 
 Tajique, 
 
 Barelas, 
 
 Torreon, 
 
 Pajarito, 
 
 Atrisco, 
 
 Sandia, 
 
 Tljeras, 
 
 Corrales, 
 
 San Antonio, 
 
 ,500 
 
 ,400 
 
 ,475 
 
 ,200 
 
 ,000 
 
 700 
 
 700 
 
 650 
 
 400 
 
 350 
 
 300 
 
 250 
 
 225 
 
 150 
 
 700 
 
 100 
 
 Forward, ' 14,000 
 
22 
 
 BKEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 County of Bernalilo, — continued: 
 
 Forward, 
 
 San Lorenzo, 
 
 Padillas, 
 
 San An toiii to, 
 
 Tejon, 
 
 Country settlements, 
 
 Total,. 
 
 14,000 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 60 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 14,400 
 
 In the County of Valencia: 
 
 Zurd, 
 
 Laguna, 
 
 *i}elen, 
 
 *Peralta, 
 
 Ce volleta, 
 
 Valencia, 
 
 *Los Lunas, 
 
 Cubero, 
 
 Acoma, 
 
 *TOME, 
 
 Rio Puerco, 
 
 Casa Colorada, 
 
 San Mateo, 
 
 La Joya, 
 
 Los Enlames, 
 
 Las Lentes, 
 
 Moquino, 
 
 Carson Mine,. 
 
 Country settlements,.. 
 
 Total,. 
 
 In the County of Lincoln : 
 
 Ruidoso, 
 
 *Fort Stanton, 
 
 Placita, 
 
 *Lincoln, , 
 
 Ashland, 
 
 *Roswell, 
 
 La Junta, 
 
 Real de Icarilla, 
 
 Country settlements,. 
 
 Total, 
 
 1,500 
 900 
 750 
 700 
 650 
 600 
 600 
 550 
 500 
 350 
 350 
 325 
 300 
 250 
 250 
 250 
 150 
 60 
 1,000 
 
 10,035 
 
 500 
 
 50 
 
 1,500 
 
 150 
 
 500 
 200 
 250 
 100 
 1,200 
 
 4,450 
 
EXTENT, POPULATION, ETC. 
 
 23 
 
 In the County of Socorro : 
 
 *SocoRRO, 750 
 
 "Limitar, 750 
 
 *Parage, 700 
 
 *Fort Craig, 50 
 
 Polvadera, 600 
 
 San Marcial, 1,000 
 
 Sabinal, 500 
 
 *San Antonio, 250 
 
 Alamosa, 200 
 
 *Aleman, 20 
 
 Don Pedro, 100 
 
 Silver Mines, 300 
 
 Country settlements, 1,000 
 
 Total, 6,220 
 
 In the County of Grant : 
 
 *Pinos Altos, 700 
 
 *Fort Cummings, 50 
 
 *Mimbres, 200 
 
 Rito, 150 
 
 Central City, 100 
 
 *SiLVER City, 1,000 
 
 Country settlements, 1,000 
 
 Total, 3,200 
 
 In the County of Dona Ana: 
 
 *Mesilla, 2,500 
 
 *Las Cruces, 1,750 
 
 *Dona Ana, 700 
 
 *Fort Selden, 50 
 
 Mesa, 600 
 
 Tularosa, 500 
 
 Picacho, 300 
 
 Santo Tomas, 150 
 
 Amoles, 100 
 
 San Aug-ustin Spring, 30 
 
 Country settlements, 750 
 
 Total, ; 7,430 
 
24 
 
 BREVOOBT'8 new MEXICO. 
 
 In the Cou 
 
 BECAPITULATION. 
 
 ity of Taos, 13,025 
 
 « Colftxx, 4,290 
 
 " Mora, 11,475 
 
 " Eio Arriba, 12,000 
 
 '< Santa Ana, 5,195 
 
 '< Santa Fe, 13,355 
 
 '< San Miguel, 10,175 
 
 " Bernalillo, .- 14,400 
 
 " Valencia, 10,035 
 
 << Lincoln, 4,450 
 
 << Socorro, 0,220 
 
 •« Grant, 3,200 
 
 << Doila Ana, 7,430 
 
 Total in Territory, 121,250 
 
 CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 
 
 The general elevation of the country extending from the 
 Bio Grande to the Rio Colorado of the West, averaging as it 
 does over five thousand feet above the level of the sea, and 
 rising at several points to over twelve thousand feet, ensures for 
 it that purity of atmosphere and coolness which characterize all 
 elevated regions. Another important feature is also connected 
 with the general southerly slope of the whole country, which, 
 while it serves to interrupt and weaken the force of the cold 
 northern currents, admits the warm winds from the south to 
 precipitate their moisture on the higher slopes in the form of 
 summer rains and winter snows. Hence, we have in these 
 elevated districts a climate favoring the growth of trees, a more 
 equable distribution of rain and precipitation of dew throughout 
 the year, especially adapted to the production of nutritious 
 grasses and the cultivation of grain without resorting to irriga- 
 tion. These desirable climatic features are especially noticeable 
 along the elevated slopes of San Francisco mountain in Arizona, 
 where magnificent pine forests are agreeably interspersed with 
 
CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 25 
 
 beautiful grassy valleys and parks, numerous springs, and a 
 delightfully invigorating atmosphere. In passing south along 
 the natural course of drainage, we encounter at lower elevations, 
 numerous fertile valleys, interrupted by rocky ridges and deep 
 canons, where the climate is milder, the summer heat more 
 intense, and the severities of winter, such as are experienced 
 within short distances in the higher elevations, are unknown. 
 There is, however, sufficient rain in these lower districts to 
 support a rank vegetation, and the copious water-courses offer 
 every facility needed, in the way of irrigation, to mature late- 
 growing crops. These sheltered valleys and irregular rocky 
 slopes, now resorted to by the murderous Apaches for hiding 
 places, will offer to their future civilized inhabitants comfortable 
 winter quarters, where their flocks and herds can be safely 
 sheltered during the inclement season, and kept in good condi- 
 tion till the higher mountain slopes again invite them to their 
 rich summer pasturage. In these favorable climatic conditions, 
 we can safely determine the future location of the populous 
 district of Arizona and New Mexico, which, very fortunately 
 for railroad enterprise, occupies this central continental position, 
 where extensive virgin forests, rich pastoral and agricultural 
 lands, are nearly connected with vast undeveloped mineral 
 resources to complete those desirable features, that will invite 
 and retain a permanent population. 
 
 The mildness and excellence and remarkable salubrity of the 
 climate of New Mexico has become proverbial. The dryness 
 and purity of the atmosphere all over the Territory, and espe- 
 cially in the valleys, has induced many invalids afflicted with 
 pulmonary and other diseases to test its salubrity, with great 
 benefit to them and a prolongation of their lives. 
 
 As evidencing the remarkably pure and even temperature of 
 the atmosphere in New Mexico, we introduce here in a con- 
 densed form an official report of the United States signal service 
 station at Santa Fe, for the year ending December 81, 1873. 
 
 jNIonthly mean of barometer — January, 29.77 
 
 << " << " February, 29.78 
 
 " " " " March,.... 29.73 
 
 << (' " " April, 29.72 
 
 '< " " <« May, 29.85 
 
 << « << " June, 29.88 
 
 « « <' " July, 29.92 
 
26 
 
 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 Monthly mean of barometer — August, 29.97 
 
 " " " " September, 29.91 
 
 " " " " October, 29.90 
 
 " << " " November, 29.83 
 
 '< " <' December, 29.78 
 
 ' " " 1873, 29.83 
 
 Yearly 
 
 Monthly mean of thermoftieter — January, 27° 
 
 " «< February, 34° 
 
 " " March, 38° 
 
 " " April, 45° 
 
 " " May, 58° 
 
 " " June, 66° 
 
 " " July, 67° 
 
 " " August, 87° 
 
 " " September, 60° 
 
 " " October, 49° 
 
 <' " November, 33° 
 
 " " December, 32° 
 
 Yearly " " " 1873, 149° 
 
 Monthly rainfall in inches — January, 34 
 
 " February, 20 
 
 " March, 13 
 
 " April, 14 
 
 " May, 45 
 
 " June, 2.44 
 
 " July, 2.62 
 
 " August, 2.98 
 
 " September, 27 
 
 " October, 25 
 
 " November, 01 
 
 " December, 04 
 
 Yearly " " " 1873, 9.87 
 
 The highest observed temperature during the year was 88°; 
 the lowest 5° below zero. 
 
 The greatest single rainfall was that of 1.21 inch, occurring 
 on June 4. 
 
 The wind traveled fifty thousand two hundred and twenty- 
 five miles, the prevailing direction being north. 
 
 It is supposed by many that, owing to the arid climate of 
 New Mexico, and the reported small rainfiiU, water would be 
 scarce. Such persons should remember that the reports are 
 
CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 27 
 
 generally made in reference to the valleys, and that in the 
 mountain ranges there are during the winter generally heavy 
 falls of snow, which supply our streams with an abundance of 
 water by its melting during the spring and summer months; 
 besides this, there are numerous springs all over the country, many 
 of them hot and impregnated with minerals, and many of them 
 cold springs. Thus we, in New Mexico, are blesSed with pure 
 air and water, both essential to health, and with the Nile of 
 America for irrigation, we have abundance of water to cultivate 
 the valleys of the Rio Grande and other great streams and their 
 tributaries. 
 
 On the subject of disease in New Mexico, we quote as author- 
 itative and conclusive from a published letter of Doctor Lew. 
 Kennon, now of Santa Fe, formerly connected with the United 
 States array stationed here, and who has resided and practiced 
 for more than twenty years, and is the leading physician in the 
 Territory. In the letter referred to, writing of New Mexico, 
 he says: 
 
 * * * "It is certain that even when the lungs were 
 irreparably diseased, very much benefit has resulted. Invalids 
 have come here with the system falling into tubercular ruin, and 
 their lives have been astonishingly prolonged by the dry, bracing 
 atmosphere. 
 
 <' The most amazing results, however, are produced in ward- 
 ing off the approaches of Phthisis, and I am sure there are but 
 few cases which if sent here before the malady is well pro- 
 nounced, would fail to be arrested. Where hardening has 
 occurred or even considerable cavities been established, relief 
 altogether astonishing takes place. 
 
 '<The lowest death rate from tubercular disease in America is in 
 New Mexico. The censuses of 1860 and 1870 give 25 per cent, 
 in New England, 14 in Minnesota, from 5 to 6 in the different 
 southern states, and 3 per cent, in New Mexico. 
 
 "I have never known a case of bronchitis brought here that 
 was not vastly improved or altogether cured, and asthma as well. 
 
 "Rheumatism and diseases of the heart, with or without a 
 rheumatic origin, do badly here. Valvular difficulty in that 
 organ is invariably made worse. But the most astonishing 
 
28 
 
 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 effect of this climate is seen in those cases of general debility of 
 all the functions of body and mind — that used up condition, the 
 pestilent nuisance of physicians in the great cities. People 
 come here in a sort of debacle, having little hope of living, and 
 often little desire to, and the relief is so quick as to seem mirac- 
 ulous. 
 
 <' I have no .doubt that when means of access to this country 
 are better, and therefore it being better known, it will rival or 
 supersede Florida, Madeira, Nice or Dr. Bennett's much vaunted 
 paradise of Mentone, as a sanitai'ium. The country is far distant 
 from either ocean ; it is utterly free from all causes of disease. 
 The atmosphere is almost as dry as that of Egypt. The winters 
 are so mild that there are not ten days in the whole year an inva- 
 lid cannot take exercise in the open air. The summers are so 
 cool that in midsummer one or two blankets are necessary to 
 sleep under. The whole territory has been always astonishingly 
 free from epidemic disease. 
 
 <<Forweakor broken-down children there is surely nothing 
 like it on the face of the earth. With them the law of survival 
 of the strongest, here seems not to obtain at all." 
 
 Concerning the climate and salubrity of New Mexico, Dr. 
 F. V. Hay den, who as an observer and an authority, is preem- 
 inent, says in his published report for 1870: 
 
 '' In order to understand properly the differences in climate 
 and productions observable in the different parts of this section, 
 it is necessary, not only to take into consideration the latitude, 
 but also the variations in altitude, and proximity to high moun- 
 tains. Beginning at the San Luis valley in Colorado, with an 
 elevation of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, we find when 
 we reach Santa Fe in New Mexico, the height is still 8,640 feet, 
 which is higher than some of the valleys further north. Keep- 
 ing on the. same plateau, and moving south, the elevations of the 
 principal points are as follows: Galisteo village, 6,165; Los Cer- 
 rillos, 5,804; Cailon Blanco, 6,320, and a little southwest of the 
 canon near Laguna Blanca, 6,943 feet. Moving southwest from 
 this point towards Alburquerque, we find the elevation at San 
 Antonio is 6,408 feet. But when we descend into the immediate 
 valley of the Bio Grande, as far north as Pefla Blanca, it is only 
 5,288 feet above the sea level^ or 1,552 lower than at Santa Fe. 
 At San Felipe it is 5,220; at Alburquerque, 5,026; at Isleta, 
 
CLIMATE AND HEALTH 29 
 
 4,910; at Socorro, 4,560; at Alamosa, 4,200, and at EI Paso about 
 3,800. Strange as it may appear, when we cross the ridge east 
 of Santa be, to the headwaters of the Pecos, we find the altitude 
 of Pecos village but 6,3G0 feet — about 500 feet lower than at 
 Santa Fe; while at Anton Chico it is only 5,372 feet, correspond- 
 ing very nearly with that of the Rio Grande valley at Pefla 
 Blanca. 
 
 I iiave given these particulars in regard to the elevation of 
 this region to show that, sweeping around the southern terminus 
 of the Ptocky Mountain range, is an elevated plateau, or extended 
 mesa, which reaching north along the inside of the basin for 
 some distance, occupies both sides of the river, but southward 
 recedes from it. At Peiia Blanca we descend into the Rio Grande 
 Valley proper, which continues along the southern course of the 
 river, with little interruption throughout the rest of tlie territory. 
 From this point south, fruits and tenderer vegetables and plants 
 are grown with ease, which fail no farther north than Santa Fe. 
 
 As the Territory of New Mexico includes within its bounds 
 some portion of the Rocky Mountain range on which snow 
 remains for a great part of the year, and also a semi-tropical 
 region along its southern boundary, there is, of necessity, a wide 
 ditierence in tlie extremes of temperature. But with the 
 exception of the cold seasons of the higher lands at the north, 
 it is temperate and regular. The summer days in the lower 
 valleys are sometimes quite warm, but as the dry atmosphere 
 rapidly absorbs the perspiration of the body, it prevents the 
 debilitating effect experienced where the air is heavier and 
 more saturated with moisture. The nights are cool and refresh- 
 ing. The winters, except in the mountainous portions at tlie 
 north, are moderate, but the ditierence between the northern 
 and southern sections during this season is greater than during 
 the summer. The amount of snow that falls is light, and 
 seldom remains on the ground longer than a few hours. The 
 rains principally fall during the months of July, August, and 
 sometimes September, but the annual amount is small, seldom 
 exceeding a few inches. When there are heavy snows in 
 the mountains during the winter, there will be good crops the 
 following summer, the supply of water being more abundant, 
 and the quantity of sediment carried down greater than when 
 
 the snows are light. During the autumn months the wind is 
 
30 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 disagreeable in some places, especially near the openings between 
 high ridges, and at the termini of or passes through mountain 
 ranges. There is, perhaps, no healthier section of country to be 
 found in the United States than that embraced in the boundaries 
 of Colorado and New Mexico. In fact, I thinli I am justified in 
 saying that this area includes the healthiest portion of the 
 Union. Perhaps it is not improper for me to say that I have no 
 personal ends to serve in making this statement, not having 
 one dollar invested in either of these Territories in any way 
 whatever. I make it simply because I believe it to be true. Nor 
 would I wish to be understood as contrasting with other sections 
 of the Rocky Mountain region, only so far as these Territories 
 have the advantage in temperature. It is possible Arizona 
 should be included, but as I have not visited it I cannot speak 
 of it. There is no better place of resort for those suffering ivith 
 pulmonary complaints than here. It is time for the health 
 seekers of our country to learn and appreciate the fact that 
 within our own bounds are to be found all the elements of health 
 that can possibly be obtained by a tour to the eastern continent, 
 or any other part of the world. And that, in addition to the 
 invigorating air, is scenery as wild, grand, and varied as any 
 ■ found amid the Alpine bights of Switzerland. And here too, 
 from Middle Park to Las Vegas, is a succession of mineral and 
 hot springs of almost every character." 
 
 The geologist and naturalist connected with the survey across 
 the continent for railroad routes, made in 1868, speaking in his 
 official report of the selected route across New Mexico for the 
 Atlantic and Pacific railroad, says of the country: 
 
 " A salubrious climate favorable to health and activity, acces- 
 sible to the moist southerly currents, while at the same time 
 protected from the severe northern blasts, receiving along the 
 higher elevations precipitation of rain and snow sufficient to 
 favor the growth of natural forests and upland grasses, without 
 forming any obstruction to winter travel. 
 
 A pleasant variety of atmospheric temperature, connected 
 with differences ot elevation or exposure in closely adjoining 
 districts, which can be selected to suit the requirements of the 
 season, or the particular taste of individuals. 
 
CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 31 
 
 An agricultural capacity that in its proper development can 
 be made ample to supply the prospective wants of this region, 
 and in the production of fruits and garden vegetables, can afford 
 the delicacies that enter into the essential wants of civilized 
 communities. 
 
 A pastoral region unequaled in the extent or quality of its 
 grasses, which, in adjoining districts, keeps up aconstant supply 
 of nutritious fodder through the year, requiring only the light 
 labor of herding to secure the remunerative returns of this 
 branch of industry. 
 
 A mining region yet undeveloped but sufficiently known to 
 be characterized as second to none on the continent in the extent 
 and variety of its mineral products, only waiting for the facilities 
 of railroad transportation to invite and retain permanent capital 
 and industrious labor. 
 
 A location of route which presents the special advantages of 
 a main trunk line in being naturally connected with adjoining 
 rich districts that will thus seek an outlet by branch roads to 
 central commercial points. 
 
 All these several conditions combine to present those habi- 
 table features which render the construction of a continuous 
 railroad route not only highly desirable, but as a matter of 
 speedy development, essentially necessary. 
 
 The experience of our engineer parties has covered, in going 
 and returning, nearly every season of the year, giving us a large 
 amount of exact information on this subject; and we have, 
 besides, the results of the experience of previous explorers, who 
 have traversed the route, or a portion of it, in different years. 
 Altogether, these observations cover such an extended period, 
 that we may say there is very little to learn about the climate 
 of this route, as it may affect railroad construction or travel, or 
 the adftptation of the country to settlement. Although a vast 
 new region, inhabited for the most part solely by Indians and 
 game, we have such a mass of information on this subject, in- 
 cluding the records of the military posts, that we can feel entirely 
 confident of the practical deductions that may be made from 
 this data. 
 
32 brevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 The route throughout is singidarly favored in the matter of 
 climate. The people of the eastern half of our eontiiient have 
 scarcely a conception of the physical pleasure of mere existence 
 in the pure air and fine weather of this elevated southern plateau. 
 For healthf Illness, it is conceded to have no superior. In our 
 engineer parties, numbering with attaches, some 150 young- 
 men, and exposed to numerous hardships, there was not, either 
 going or returning, a single case of real sickness, and all came 
 home much heartier and more robust than when they started. 
 This covered also a winter in the mountain regions of Arizona. 
 Our exj)erience, in this respect, agrees with that of Beale, who 
 says: < During the entire winter (of 1858-9) my men were 
 exposed night and day to the open atmosphere — some not using 
 for the whole journey their tents, and others but very rarely, 
 yet not one of them had occasion to complain of the sligiitest 
 sickness during the journey.' " 
 
 The observations taken by Dr. I'arry, and the records which 
 lie obtained from the various government posts, show a remark- 
 able uniformity of temperature throughout most of the route. 
 
 a For railroad purposes, the climate is unexcejyfionable. I am 
 satisfied that on no portion of the line will there be any greater 
 liability to interruption of trains from snow or other winter 
 obstacles, than there is, for instance, on the Pennsylvania 
 Central Railroad. 
 
 Personally, I passed over the entire mountain country west 
 of the Rio Grande — including the Sierre Madre, two crossings 
 of the San Francisco mountains (highest summit on the line,) 
 and the Sierra Nevada — in the winter season, from the middle 
 of October, 18G7, to the middle of February, 1808, without 
 encountering but one snow storm, or seeing any snow lying on 
 the ground, except on one point. This was a fall of two inches, 
 at Fort Wingate, New Mexico, which had disappeared from the 
 summit of the Sierra Madre by noon of the following day. 
 During this period the days were uniformly mild and pleasant, 
 and, although the nights were sometimes cold, I rarely used a 
 tent on the journey. 
 
 Our wagon trains made this long winter march through the 
 mountains without difficulty, the mules and the herd of beef 
 
CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 33 
 
 cattle, which was driven along from the Rio Grande nearly to 
 the 'Colorado, finding an abundance of granaa and bunch grass 
 even on the highest summits. 
 
 Our party, on the return survey, encountered several storms 
 of snow in Arizona and Western New Mexico, but it melted 
 rapidly, and did not prevent the animals from thriving on the 
 constant good grass. 
 
 But little snow falls east of the Sierre Madre, On the summit 
 of that range, at Navajo Pass (7,177 feet,) there was no snow 
 early in November, 1867, when our parties crossed it. There 
 had been, on October 31, a fall of two inches, which disappeared 
 the next day. Whipple met none there late in November, 
 1853. Chavez met a very little in crossing this range December 
 21, 1863, but it was thawing December 25. Our return party, 
 under Mr. Holbrook, encountered a severe snow storm on the 
 5th of May, at Agua Fria, in this range, but it only lasted two 
 hours, and melted almost immediately. Navajo Pass is a broad, 
 smooth plateau, from three to ten miles wide, which would not 
 give trouble, even if considerable snow should fall, which is not 
 the case. There may be very rarely a fall as deep as eighteen 
 inches, but it melts rapidly. At Fort Wingate, the yearly mean 
 temperature, from 1863 to 1866, inclusive, was 52°. 
 
 At the city of Santa F6, twenty miles north of the railway 
 survey line, the heaviest snowfalls they have do not exceed 
 fifteen inches, and these are very rare, and in all cases the snow 
 disappears rapidly, sleighing never lasting more than two or 
 three days at a time. In the valley of the Rio Grande, at Albur- 
 querque, snow very seldom falls; and at Mesilla winter is 
 scarcely known, figs being cultivated with great success. 
 
34 BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, Etc. 
 
 The one hundred and twenty-one thousand two hundred 
 square miles, or nearly seventy-seven and a half millions of 
 acres of land in New Mexico, are drained by innumerable rivers 
 and creeks, some of the principal of which are the Rio Grande 
 del Norte, flowing centrally from north to south through the 
 Territory, the San Juan, the Chama, the Canadian, the Canada 
 or Santa Cruz, the Picuris, the Pojoaque, the Tesuque, the Santa 
 Fe, the Galisteo, the San Cristoval, the Colorado, the Arroyo 
 Hondo, the Taos, the Lucero, the Pueblo, the Pinos, the Ojo 
 Caliente, the Jemez, the San Jose, the Puerco, the Gallo, the 
 Alamoso, the Gila, the Mimbres, the Pecos, the Bonito, the 
 Hondo, the E-uidoso, the Gallinas, the Concho, the Mora, the j 
 Cimarron, the Vermejo, the Sapello, the Penasco, the Chamizal, 
 the Tecolote, the Agua Azul, the Ocate, the Nutrias, the Navajo, 
 the Rito Blanco, the Piedras, the Florido, the Animas, the Plata, 
 the Colorado Chiquito, the Zufii, the Seven Rivers, the Penasco, 
 the Agua Negra, and numbers of smaller mountain streams of 
 more or less volume. 
 
 From the Rio Grande to the Colorado of the West the whole 
 country presents the character of a vast upland, crossed by a 
 succession of mountain ridges, and basin shaped valle;ys, inter- 
 rupted by the product of recent volcanic eruptions in the form 
 of extinct craters, cones, and streams of lava, which have over- 
 flowed and buried up the lower sedimentary rocks. The prin- 
 cipal mountain axes exhibit a granite nucleus, which, at certain 
 points, is exposed to view in irregular mountain ranges, trend- 
 ing northwest and southeast, and constituting the general 
 frame-work of the country, as exhibited in the Sierra Madre, 
 the Mogoyon Range and the Pinaleno Mountains of Central 
 Arizona. Intermediate to these is the great table-land or mesa 
 formation of Western New Mexico and Eastern Arizona, 
 comprising the sedimentary strata of triassic and cretaceous 
 rocks, which spread out into broad uplands, abruptly termi- 
 nated by steep mural declivities, bounding valleys of erosion, 
 or presenting isolated buttes and fantastically castellated rocks, 
 that serve to give a peculiar aspect to the scenery. The prin- 
 cipal foci of extinct volcanic action are represented by the ele- 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 35 
 
 vated cones of San Mateo and San Francisco, attaining an 
 elevation of over 12,000 feet above the sea, whose alpine 
 slopes, reaching above the timber line, present in their cover- 
 ing of snow the only wintry feature pertaining to this latitude. 
 
 It is in the eastern section of this district, New Mexico, that 
 we meet with the most populous and flourishing of the inter- 
 esting tribes known as Pueblo Indians; here they secure not only 
 defensive positions for their towns on the tabled summits of iso- 
 lated hills, but also fertile valleys adjoining, suited to their rude 
 agriculture, and a wild scope of grazing country, limited only 
 by the necessity of protection from the thievish and roving 
 Navajo and Apache. 
 
 What is known as the Navajo country, extending still fur- 
 ther to the west and north, comprises a similar character of 
 broken country, with fertile valleys, grassy slopes, and deeply 
 sheltered cailons, especially adapted to their mode of life as 
 nomadic and at the same time partially agricultural; still better 
 suited, however, to the wants of an energetic civilized com- 
 munity, who can properly appreciate the advantages of a 
 healthful climate, combined with a useful variety of soil, and 
 that picturesque beauty of scenery which adds such a cliarm to 
 rural life. 
 
 The district of the Rio Grande, so termed for convenience 
 in describing the country, although chiefly confined within the 
 bounds of New Mexico, penetrates into the southern portion of 
 Colorado. Beginning at Punche Pass, about 38° 30' north lati- 
 tude, it extends southward to the southern boundary of the 
 Territory, and is about five hundred miles long. As far south 
 as Santa Fe its width is tolerably uniform, averaging very near 
 one hundred miles, but here it begins to expand rapidly on the 
 eastern side, to embrace the area drained by the Pecos, termi- 
 nating in this direction in the Llano Estacado or "Staked Plain." 
 Excluding the Staked Plain from our calculation, the entire area 
 of this district amounts to about seventy thousand square miles, 
 about five thousand five hundred of which belong to Colorado, 
 according to the old boundary line. 
 
 The district may conveniently be divided into three sections, 
 corresponding with the natural aspect of the country: First, the 
 San Luis Valley (sometimes called the San Luis Park,) which 
 
;3G 
 
 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 constitutes that portion of the district which lies north of tlie 
 point where the Rio de Taos enters into the Rio Grande; second, 
 the central ix)rtion of ihe Territory, including the Rio Grande 
 Valley proper and the tributary valleys leading into it between 
 the southern rim of the San Luis Valley and the southern 
 boundary of the Territory; third, the Pecos Valley, which, 
 beginning east of the mountains, about opposite Santa Fe, runs 
 a little east of south to the Texas line, and includes only the 
 area drained by the Pecos River. 
 
 This district embraces nearly two-thirds of New Mexico, 
 leaving a strip along the western boundary varying from fifty to 
 one hundred miles in width, and drained by the tributaries of 
 the Colorado and Gila rivers, and a triangular area in the north- 
 east corner drained by the Canadian river. It embraces the 
 central, and, with the exception of a few valleys, the most pro- 
 ductive portion of the Territory; and, although much of it is 
 occupied by broken ranges of mountains and elevated mesas 
 yet there is a large portion which can be irrigated by the streams 
 that traverse it, and a still larger ratio which affords rich j)as- 
 turage for sheep and cattle. Here also can be found every 
 variety of climate, from the cold of the mountain region along 
 its northern rim, to the tropical valleys of its southern border. 
 
 The length of the Rio Grande valley from north to south, 
 counting from the mouth of the Rio de Taos to the Mexican 
 line, is about three hundrecl and fifty miles, with an average 
 width of one hundred and ten miles. It is difficult to estimate, 
 even with approximate accuracy, the amount of arable land in 
 this area, as, with the exception of the comparatively narrow 
 valley proper of the Rio Grande, it lies in small, irregular valleys 
 and detached spots. And, in addition to this difficulty, great 
 diversity of opinion exists in regard to the average width of this 
 valley, varying from two to twenty miles. Yet this difference 
 is not wholly due to error in either party, as the term << valley " 
 is used in different senses, some meaning thereby only the bot- 
 toms immediately along the river, while others include the 
 lower terraces which at some points flank the bottoms. Perhaps 
 the best data we have upon which to base an estimate is to be 
 found in the report of Lieutenant Whipple, who, after a careful 
 examination, estimates the cultivable area of a belt thirty miles 
 wide, and one hundred and eighty miles long, east and west — 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 
 
 reaching from Anton Chico to Campbell's Pass — at three hun- 
 dred and sixty square miles, or one-tifteenth of the whole area. 
 As this belt reaches directly across the entire width of the sec- 
 tion under consideration, it may be taken as an average of the 
 whole; for, although it includes the valley of the San Jose on 
 the west, the east end stretches over the broad Mesa de la Vista 
 almost from Anton Chico to San Antonio. This proportion 
 would give for the section nearly two thousand six hundred 
 square miles of tillable land, which may be increased by the 
 proper husbanding of water. 
 
 In order to understand properly the differences in climate 
 and productions observable in the different parts of this section, 
 it is necessary, not only to take into consideration the latitude, 
 but also the variations in altitude, and proximity to high moun- 
 tains. Beginning at the San Luis Valley in Colorado, with an 
 elevation of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, we find when 
 we reach Santa F^, in New Mexico, the height is still 6,840 feet, 
 which is higher than some of the valleys further north. Keep- 
 ing on the same plateau, and moving south, the elevations of 
 the principal points are as follows: ^alisteo, 6,165; Los Cerillos, 
 5,804; Canon Blanco, 6,320, and a little southwest of the canon, 
 near Laguna Blanca, 6,943 feet. Moving southwest from this 
 point toward Alburquerque, we find the elevation at San 
 Antonio is 6,408 feet. But when we descend into the imme- 
 diate valley of the Rio Grande, as far north as Peiia Blanca, it 
 is only 5,288 feet above the sea level, or 1,552 lower than at 
 Santa Fe. At San Felipe it is 5,220; at Alburquerque, 5,026; 
 at Isleta, 4,910; at Socorro, 4,560; at Alamosa, 4,200, and at El 
 Paso about 3,800. Strange as it may appear, when we cross the 
 ridge east of Santa Fe, to the headwaters of the Pecos, we find 
 the altitude at Pecos Village but 6,360 feet — about 500 feet 
 lower than at Santa Fe; while at Anton Chico it is only 5,372 
 feet, corresponding very nearly with that of the Rio Grande 
 valley at Peiia Blanca. 
 
 These particulars in regard to the elevation of this region 
 show that, sweeping around the southern terminus of the Rocky 
 Mountain range, is an elevated plateau, or extended mesa, 
 which, reaching north along the inside of the basin for some 
 distance, occupies both sides of the river, but southward recedes 
 from it. At Peiia Blanca we descend into the Rio Grande 
 
38 BllEVOORT'S NEW MEXICO. 
 
 Valley proper, which continues along the southern course of 
 the river with little interruption throughout the rest of the 
 Territory. From this point south, fruits and the tenderer vege- 
 tables and plants are grown with ease, which fail no farther 
 north than Santa Fe. 
 
 But the difference in altitude is not the only influence tend- 
 ing to vaiy the temperature and vegetation between the north- 
 ern and southern parts of the section, for about opposite the 
 point where this lower level begins, the mountain range on the 
 east terminates, and, as a matter of course, the depression of 
 temperature and the cold of the nights, so far as caused by the 
 proximity of snowy peaks and icy waters, also ceases. 
 
 From the region of the Galisteo south the features of the 
 country change; instead of the vast and lofty ranges of the 
 Rocky Mountains, a succession of shorter, narrower, and less 
 lofty mountains, foi*ming a chain which runs directly north and 
 south a short distance east of the river and almost parallel with 
 it; and what is somewhat remarkable, instead of corresponding 
 with the range east of the_ San Luis Valley, this chain runs 
 almost directly in a line with the bottom of the valley. While 
 the mountains have thus diminished, on the other hand the 
 miniature table lands of the regions farther north are here 
 replaced by vast plateaus which spread over the country, form- 
 ing its general level, out of which are scooped the valleys and 
 basins. 
 
 On the east side of the Rio Grande, between the Taos Val- 
 ley and Joya, the country is broken and mountainous, mostly 
 covered with a heav.v growth of timber, chiefly pine and fir. 
 Tills area is traversed east and west by a few small streams, 
 which are bordered by narrow strips of cultivable lands. The 
 three principal ones are the Penasco, Pueblo, and Chamizal; 
 the first being a vigorous creek which traverses a valley vary- 
 ing in width from one to five miles, which is flanked on each 
 side by high bluffs. A good part of it is already under culti- 
 vation, and, as the soil is fertile and the valley sheltered, the 
 crops produced are quite heavy. The other two are smaller 
 and less important than the Penasco. 
 
 Between this broken region and the Rio de la Canada or 
 Santa Cruz, on the south, lying along the Rio Grande, is a mod- 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 39 
 
 erate breadth of arable land, some of which is very fertile, and 
 produces not only the hardier cereals, as wheat, oats, and barley, 
 but also corn, which grows large and fine. The tillable area 
 here could be considerably enlarged by irrigation from the Rio 
 Grande. 
 
 The Rio de Santa Fe, Rio Galisteo, and Tuerto Creek afford 
 strips of arable land, varying in width from one to ten miles,- 
 but here also the amount might be increased by proper efforts 
 and more extensive acequias. 
 
 The valley of the Rio Puerco is flanked by elevated table 
 lands, and its lower portion is not supplied with living water 
 but a part of the year; but its principal tributary, the San Jose, 
 runs through a fine, wide valley, in which there is a consider- 
 able amount of cultivated land and a number of villages, the 
 breadth available for agricultural purposes being equal to the 
 capacity of the stream. 
 
 At Santo Domingo the valley of the Rio Grande is quite 
 narrow, and continues so for about six miles below San Felipe, 
 wliere it again widens to six or seven miles, the soil being quite 
 sandy. At Bernalillo it is of considerable breadth, but grows 
 narrow in the vicinity of Zandia, again expanding and affording 
 a tolerable broad area at Alameda. From Alameda to a point 
 some distance below Isleta, there is a moderate width of good 
 bottom land. Contracting near Peralta, it widens again in the 
 neighborhood of Tome with improved soil, the belt continuing 
 with very little interruption to the bend of the Rio Grande, 
 below the mouth of the Puerco, where the bordering hills close 
 in upon it, reducing it to about one mile. At Socorro there is 
 a medium belt, which exiwnds southward, presenting a very 
 fine agricultural section, which is interrupted in the vicinity of 
 of Fra Cristobal mountains. Between San Antonio and Dona 
 Ana are some of the finest portions of the whole valley, oppo- 
 site which on the east side stretch the sandy wastes of the 
 dreaded Jornada del Muerto. Near Mesilla and Dona Ana are 
 also some fine openings, which are partially cultivated. 
 
 The volume of water sent down by this river is sufficient to 
 irrigate an immense area of land. At Tome, Lieutenant Emory 
 found by measurement the entire volume, including two ace- 
 quias, to be equal to a width of ninety-three feet and depth of 
 
40 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 two feet, or the area of a transverse section, one hundred and 
 eighty-six square feet. The rate of fall between PeSa Blanca 
 and Isleta is nearly six feet to the mile. 
 
 As a general thing the soil along the Bio Grande is quite 
 sandy, but when well watered proves to be very fertile; and, 
 although seemingly adapted to the growth of wheat, this cereal 
 does not prove as productive here as farther north. Indian corn 
 grows finely, and when the better varieties are introduced and 
 cultivated, large and remunerative crops may be raised. Here 
 is to be found one of the finest grape-growing sections in the Union, 
 its only rivals being the valleys of California. All the usual 
 varieties of fruit can be raised in abundance and with great 
 ease. Melons, pumpkins, frijoles, and in the southern extrem- 
 ity, cotton, can be produced. In the greater part of this valley 
 two crops of cereals can be raised in one season. 
 
 The valley of the Pecos river is one of erosion, worn out of 
 the broad plateau of this region, and presenting, north of the 
 Guadalupe mountains, the appearance of one vast arroyo. Its 
 tributaries are few, and, with the exception of two or three, of 
 but little importance in an agricultural point of view. 
 
 The Gallinas river and its tributaries afford narrow belts of 
 fertile soil, the area being equal to the supply of water. Around 
 Las Vegas a considerable breadth is under cultivation, corn 
 being the chief crop. The Pecos, to its junction with the Gal- 
 linas, runs through a very narrow valley, which has been cor- 
 rectly described as <' ribbon-like," a few bay-like expansions 
 forming the only exceptions, as at San Miguel. The vaUey 
 bottom throughout this distance is generally flanked by high 
 bluffs, which sometimes, as in the neighborhood of La Cuesto, 
 reach an altitude of five hundred feet. Lieutenant Whipple, 
 whose line of survey crossed at Anton Chico, estimates the 
 cultivable land in a belt thirty miles wide and reaching directly 
 across this section, from Pajarito creek to Anton Chico, at one- 
 thirtieth of the area embraced. In the neighborhood of Fort 
 Sumner there is a considerable breadth of fertile land which 
 can be irrigated, and which is well adapted to the growth of 
 fruits and grapes. Along the headwaters of the Bio Bonito 
 there are some fertile spots, where not only fine crops of cereals 
 are raised, but where fruits, grapes, and even sweet potatoes 
 grow well. 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 41 
 
 From the north end of the Guadalupe Mountains to the 
 mouth of the Delaware River the valley of the Pecos is level 
 and very fertile, averaging in width some three or four miles. 
 The tillable area could be extended far beyond the immediate 
 bottoms. For here the plateau, instead of terminating in abrupt 
 bluffs, descends gradually and in a somewhat gentle slope to 
 the river bottom. The supply of water in the river being ample, 
 and the Ml rapid in this part of its course, irrigating canals 
 could be carried far up the slope, if not to the top of the plateau. 
 The soil on the upper level possesses all the ingredients neces- 
 sary to productiveness, except that furnished by water. Supply 
 this and all the table lands of New Mexico will yield rich returns 
 for the labor bestowed upon them. 
 
 The valley in which the Mexican town of Don Fernandez de 
 Taos, and the Indian pueblo of Taos, known as the Taos valley, 
 in the northern section of New Mexico, are situated, may be said 
 to be formed by a notch or bend in the mountain range. On the 
 southwest is the Ficuris Range, with a strike nearly northeast 
 and southwest. The next range east of this trends about north 
 and south. It is about eighteen miles in extent from east to 
 west, and sixteen from north to south, the narrow valley of the 
 Arroyo Hondo forming its northern extremity. There is also 
 an open area, about eight miles wide, on the west side of the 
 Rio Grande, which may properly be counted as a part of it. 
 The entire area, including the strip west of the river, amounts 
 to about two hundred and fifty square miles, or one hundred 
 and sixty thousand acres, a large part of which may ultimately 
 be brought under cultivation. The deep arroyo or valley at the 
 north end is from one to two miles wide, affording a fertile 
 spot, easily irrigated, where there is a small Mexican settlement 
 and village. The entire valley of Taos seems to have been one 
 broad field of sage, which, on the parts where it has not been 
 disturbed, excludes every other growth, giving a very barren 
 appearance to the landscape. 
 
 Besides Taos there are several other villages and settlements, 
 chiefly Mexican, in the southeast part of the valley. The 
 amount of land in cultivation is not more than fifteen thousand 
 acres. Unless the cailon through which the Rio Grande emerges 
 into this valley should present some insurmountable difficulty, 
 the greater part of its area may be irrigated, the northern and 
 
42 beevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 western portion from this river, and that part along the moun- 
 tains from tlie streams that flow into it. 
 
 The soil is quite different from that of the valleys further 
 north, being very finely pulverized and loose; it also is of con- 
 siderable depth and very fertile. The cause of its fertility will 
 be understood from the following quotation, made from the 
 preliminary report of the United States Geologist on the '-'Geolo- 
 gical Survey of Colorado and New Mexico," 1809, p. 70: 
 
 "The valley proper is scooped out of the Santa Fe marls, 
 which must at one time have prevailed extensively, as in the 
 country north of Santa F6, but the surface has been smoothed 
 off, so that nowhere are the marls conspicuous; still they can be 
 seen all along the base of the mountains bordering the valley, 
 where portions of the recent deposits lie high on the mountain 
 side. No sedimentary rocks of older date are seen, and the 
 Santa Fe marls rest directly on the metamorphic rocks." 
 
 The effect of this marl upon the appearance and chitracter of 
 the soil is plainly seen. The consequence is, that that which in 
 its wild state appears as but a barren sage plain, across which 
 the wind sweeps the fine particles of the light soil, piling it in 
 little heaps around the bushes, by the application of water is 
 changed into a fertile field. Sufficient wnetit to supply the 
 Territory might be raised in this valley. It is considered the 
 best wheat growing region in New Mexico. The climate appears 
 to be milder here than in the San Luis Valley proper in Colo- 
 rado, although but narrowly separated from each other, and 
 the diflerences of latitude and altitude being slight. 
 
 The Cimarron and Vermejo rivers afford considerable breadth 
 of arable land, the former presenting a valley some twenty-five 
 or thirty miles long, varying in width from one to six miles, 
 which can be easily irrigated. The latter presents a valley of 
 more uniform width, and bordered, generally, by higher lands. 
 It is about the same length as the former, and where we crossed 
 it about two miles wide, and very rich and fertile, the creek 
 supplying sufficient water to irrigate the whole of it. 
 
 The Rayado runs through a valley somewhat similar to that 
 of the Vermejo, the bottoms being very low and easily irrigated, 
 but they are subject to occasional overflows. The creek is 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 43 
 
 sufficient to supply the lower level with water for irrigation, 
 but the second level is rather too high to be reached except by 
 a lengthy canal. 
 
 The Ocate winds through a narrow valley of erosion, the 
 high bordering bluffs descending to it in steep curves, beautifully 
 carpeted over with grass. Not a tree or bush is- to be seen; all 
 is as smooth as a meadowy lawn. This valley is generally 
 narrow, varying from one-half to a mile or so in width, but it 
 expands as it approaches the river. 
 
 The Mora valley is the finest in this section, and, next to the 
 Taos valley, the best wheat growing region in the Territory. 
 The upper or mountain portion of it is some eight or ten miles 
 long, and about three miles wide. After passing out of this 
 through a narrow gorge, the creek enters the more open plains, 
 and is bordered for the greater part of its length by a tolerably 
 broad and very fertile valley. The entire length is, perhaps, 
 some sixty or seventy miles, and the width of the irrigable lands 
 that skirt the creek will probably average four or five miles. 
 
 The comparatively low elevation and southeastern exposure 
 of this section, together with the mountain barriers west and 
 north, give to it a more moderate climate than that of the 
 section immediately west. Not only is wheat, which is produced 
 here, remarkably fine, but corn grows large, with full, fine ears. 
 The fruits, if cultivated, would produce crops almost, if not 
 quite, equal to those of the Rio Griinde valley. And in the 
 southeast part of the section, along the Canadian river, grapes 
 can be grown without any difficulty. The native grape, without 
 having the aid of irrigation, grows here in rich profusion, the 
 stunted vines often being loaded down with the clusters. 
 
 The Canadian river (called indiscriminately the Canadian, 
 the Rio Colorado, and Red river), is the great water artery of 
 that section of New Mexico, lying between the Raton mountain 
 on the north, and the Pecos river section, or Llano Estacado, on 
 the south and southwest, and which contains about 15,000 square 
 miles. Professor Cyrus Thomas estimates the area of arable land 
 in the section of about 1400 square miles, or 900,000 acres; but 
 his estimate, founded upon slender and unreliable data, is 
 probably very much too small. The pastoral extent and capacity 
 of the section is said to be unsurpassed. The Canadian, rising 
 
44 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 in the Raton mountain, runs soutiieast for about one hundred 
 and fifty miles, to Fort Bascom, where it turns east, and passes 
 out of the Territory, a little north of the thirty-fifth parallel — 
 its whole length within the limits of New Mexico being about 
 two hundred miles. Most of its tributaries of any importance 
 in an agricultural point of view flow in from the west, of which 
 the following are the principal ones: Vermejo, Little Cimmarron, 
 Ocate, Rayado (a branch of the Ocate,) Mora, Rio Conchas, 
 Pajarito creek, and Tucumcari creek. 
 
 As will be seen by a glance at the map of this region, its 
 western part slopes eastward , while the general descent is 
 toward the south. Hence the highest portion of its general 
 surface is found in the northwest angle, where the elevation is 
 probably about five thousand feet above the sea-level, while the 
 southeast corner, which is the lowest, has an elevation of only 
 three thousand feet. 
 
 Starting from the crest of the Raton mountains, immediately 
 above the source of the Canadian river, after passing down 
 through a dense forest of magnificent pines and firs, we enter a 
 beautiful little valley, covered over with a thick sward of 
 luxuriant grass. Here a considerable amount is annually cut 
 for hay, and taken to Trinidad. But this valley soon terminates, 
 and the little stream and road enter a rugged canon, bordered 
 by precipitous bluffs of gray sandstone, which continue to the 
 plains at the base of the mountain. Here a grand panoramic 
 view spreads out toward the south; a broad, valley-like plain 
 slopes southward as far as the vision will reach. Scarcely a tree 
 or shrub is to be seen; all is one smooth, grassy carpet, which, on 
 the distant gentle slopes, looks more like pale, pea-green velvet 
 than anything else to which I can compare it. Rising up from 
 the broad base are two or three huge basaltic tables, lifting their 
 perfectly level surfaces one hundred and fifty feet or more into 
 the air, and all clothed in the same velvety covering, but which 
 fails to destroy the sharp outline of circular rim. The little 
 stream, like a silvery thread, is seen winding its tortuous course 
 along the gently descending plain, joined now and then by a 
 slender rill flowing down from the mountain on the west. It is 
 a magnificent pasture ground for sheep and cattle , where 
 thousands might be grazed securely at a very small expense. 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 
 
 45 
 
 The Rio San Juan, a large and important tributary of the 
 Colorado of the West, although rising in the San Juan moun- 
 tains of Colorado territory, bends south and traverses the north- 
 west portion of New Mexico, where it receives a number of 
 affluents. These valleys afford an extensive breadth of very 
 rich land, which can be irrigated, and which will produce fine 
 crops of the cereals, vegetables and fruits, usually grown in the 
 Middle States. As this area, said Prof. Hayden, in 1868, 
 appears to be almost, if not entirely, unoccupied, it would 
 present a good point for a colony, and, indeed, colonies are at 
 this time (1874) being established there; and the excellencies of 
 the region are attracting a large permanent mining and agri- 
 cultural population into that section. We have elsewhere 
 written more fully of the San Juan river and of the section it 
 traverses. 
 
 The Gila river in southwestern New Mexico has upon its 
 margins much good agricultural land, a long distance above 
 where it enters Arizona, but the bottom lands about the head- 
 waters of the stream are said to be pebbly, and comparatively 
 inferior. Emigration however is extending westward, and 
 much of it settling down in the Gila country, where, among 
 other inducements, the good mining character of the mountain- 
 ous region adjoining on the north and south is a principal 
 attraction, several very valuable discoveries of gold, quartz and 
 placers, and of copper ore, having been recently made, though 
 as yet the country has been but to a limited extent penetrated 
 and explored by prospectors. 
 
 The Rio Mimbres, in the same section of the Territory as 
 the Rio Gila, runs through a beautiful valley of moderate width 
 and fertile soil, where all the productions of the Central States 
 can be raised, and where even those things which belong to a 
 more southern climate can be grown without difficulty. This 
 river is a smaller stream than the Gila, and the land along its 
 margins is being much more rapidly occupied by settlers under 
 the homestead laws, there being no Spanish or Mexican or other 
 grants (except the Texas Pacific railroad subsidy), anywhere in 
 that section of country. 
 
 The Rio Puerco, the first stream of any considerable size 
 west of the Rio Grande (in the central part of the Territory), 
 
46 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 into which it empties, runs through a deep, narrow channel 
 nearly its wliole course, having along its margins wide and fer- 
 tile bottom lands, which are being settled upon in many places, 
 now that the hostile Navajos, who for centuries had prevented 
 the extension of settlements westward, have been reduced to 
 subjection, and are no longer to be feared. The water is not in 
 all places permanent in it all the year round, but can be made 
 permanent and available by sinking or damming, as has been 
 proven by some of the settlers upon west of Alburquerque, and 
 by which means they obtain all the supply of water needed. 
 In the months of May and June we have seen the Puerco carry- 
 ing an average volume of muddy water ten feet wide and four 
 feet deep. 
 
 The Rio Pecos is an important and a very beautiful stream, 
 heading a short distance east of the city of Santa Fe, and 
 emptying into the Rio Grande in Texas. It is an exceedingly 
 crooked stream its whole length, with a very narrow and deep 
 channel, its width averaging, we think, about a hundred feet, 
 and its depth about eight feet — the water depth perhaps about 
 five feet. The water in the stream in New Mexico is clear and 
 sweet, though after it enters Texas it becomes so brackish or 
 salty as to be utterly unpalatable, owing to the extensive alka- 
 line regions it traverses as it approaches the Rio Grande. Upon 
 its banks in New Mexico there are numerous towns and settle- 
 ments, and many thousands of acres of excellent land are irri- 
 gated with its water, and thousands of herds of sheep and cat- 
 tle are found grazing upon the extensive pasture grounds in its 
 vicinity. 
 
 The Tecolote is a brisk little river, the principal settlement 
 upon it being the town of that name in San Miguel county. 
 The average width of the creek is, we think, about seventy- 
 five feet. 
 
 The Gallinas is a beautiful and an important stream, having 
 upon its margins various flourishing towns and settlements, the 
 principal of which is the city of Las Vegas, county seat of San 
 Miguel. It is somewhat larger than the Tecolote, and has upon 
 its banks a greater number of settlements of all kinds. 
 
 But we cannot stop to describe even briefly all the principal 
 streams of the Territory. None of them are large rivers, but 
 all are handsome streams and important water-courses in the 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 47 
 
 natural economy of New Mexico. The one first mentioned in 
 our catalogue — called indiscriminately the Rio Grande, the Rio 
 Bravo, the Rio del Norte, and the Rio Grande del Norte, is not 
 only the great river of New Mexico, but it is the Nile of Amer- 
 ica, having a most striking resemblance to tliis great African 
 river. It is 1 ,800 miles in length, and of almost equal volume 
 from the source to the mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. It has 
 two branches, and flows hundreds of miles without receiving a 
 tributary. It is fed almost entirely from the Rocky Mountains. 
 An annual rise occurs about the month of June from the melt- 
 ing of the snows each spring. Like the Nile, it is almost the 
 sole reliance of the farmer. The natives have made to each 
 town and adjoining lands, canals for irrigation. These are often 
 tAventy or thirty miles in length, affording also considerable 
 mill power. The waters of the Rio Grande, like the Nile, are 
 exceedingly turbid, carrying a large proportion of sediment — 
 probably at high water one-fifth of the bulk of the water. 
 Each irrigation is consequently a coat of manure to the soil; 
 and cultivation by this process instead of impoverishing the soil 
 enriches it. The natives never use any other manure. In El 
 Paso valley the Spaniards found a tribe of Indians cultivating 
 the soil nearly three hundred years ago, and it has been culti- 
 vated continually ever since, yet the soil is of undiminished 
 fertility. 
 
 The valleys of all the streams are extremely rich and produc- 
 tive, and the uplands everywhere in the Territory are vastly 
 more so than the unexperienced and unreflecting would expect 
 or believe. Professor Hayden on this subject says: << It is only 
 after a careful examination of a vast number of experiments 
 made in New IMexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, &c., that I 
 am forced to acknowledge what I before did not believe, viz: 
 that loherever there is soil in these regions, it is rich in the pri- 
 mary elements of fertility. Major Emery, in his < Reconnoisance 
 in New Mexico and California,' speaking of the Mora Valley, 
 says: 'The plains were strewed with fragments of brick-dust, 
 colored lava, scoriae, and slag; the hills to the left capped with 
 white granular quartz. The plains are almost destitute of vege- 
 tation; the hills bear a stunted growth of pifion and red cedar.' 
 And although he adds that rain had recently fallen, and the grass 
 in the bottom was good, yet it fails to obliterate the picture of 
 
48 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 barrenness he had drawn. But that which wore such a desolate 
 appearance in 1846 is now one of the richest wheat-growing 
 valleys in the whole Territory, its only rival being the Taos 
 valiey, which was once covered with nothing but sage-bushes, 
 and was likewise counted as barren and worthless." 
 
 The Territory has its prairie districts and its timber districts. 
 
 In most of the mountain cafions and gorges, timber, large 
 and excellent, principally pine', is found in great quantity. The 
 report of the 35th parallel railroad route through New Mexico 
 refers to the supply of timber to be found along the proposed 
 railway line. 
 
 From the most reliable data within reach, we estimate that 
 in New Mexico there are ^Y.e millions of acres of timber land, 
 including all lands not destitute of trees. In New Mexico the 
 timber region commences twenty to thirty miles west of the 
 Rio Grande, near latitude 32° 30^, and extends to the north 
 boundary of the Territory. In places, to wit : at and above lat- 
 itude 35° 30^, it approaches nearer to the river, but within the 
 above limits there are extensive prairies or plains, covering 
 probably three-fourths of the entire area. East of the Rio 
 Grande the timber is confined chiefly to the range of moun- 
 tains commencing at the north boundary of the Territory, and 
 terminating a few miles southeast of Santa Fe, the Sandia 
 mountains southwest of Santa Fe, and the Sierra Blanca and 
 Sacramento mountains in the vicinity of Fort Stanton in the 
 southeastern portion of the Territory. 
 
 From the Pueblo of Isleta on the Rio Grande, to the Mexican 
 town of Rito, forty-eight miles west, there is no timber except 
 cedar bushes on the Rio Puerco. The cedar thickets which 
 Whipple found on the Puerco, in 1853, have all been swept away 
 for fuel by the Rio Grande settlements. The construction tim- 
 ber for this section must come by rail from the Sandia moun- 
 tains east of Alburquerque, an average haul of 45 miles. For 
 fuel, the coal of Sarocino Canon exists close to the line. 
 
 From Rito to the "Remances" (30 miles), an abundance of 
 large pine timber can be obtained from the spurs of the San 
 Mateo, a wagon haul of 12 or 15 miles. Near the Remances it 
 is but 4 miles distant in the Caiions. And from the Remances 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETa 49 
 
 to Navajo Pass (44 miles), parallel with the Sierra Madre, the 
 splendid forests of that range are only from 4 to 12 miles dis- 
 tant. This timber is pine and spruce, of fine quality and appar- 
 ently inexhaustable. The whole of this range south, nearly to 
 the route of the 32d parallel, is believed to be covered with a 
 dense growth of large timber. In connection with the supply 
 on the Sau Mateo spurs, it will furnish all the construction 
 wants of the road as far west as the Little Colorado, and give it 
 a large commercial traffic. 
 
 On the "Zuni Route," Miller's line ran through or closely 
 adjacent to timber, from fort Wingate nearly to Zuiii village, a 
 distance of 65 miles, west of which cedar and pinon continued 
 the supply for fuel purposes to Farewell Ridge, 25 miles further. 
 
 On the San Felipe line, Schuyler found pine abundant and 
 large enough for ties, a few miles north and westof "Moquino," 
 and a good growth of pine in the mountains, within 6 to 10 miles 
 of Zia (14 miles from the Rio Grande), on the Jemez River. 
 So that on this route the timber supply begins much nearer the 
 Rio Grande than on the Isleta line. At San Felipe an abun- 
 dance of timber can be got by floating it down the Jemez or 
 Rio Grande during the high water of early summer. 
 
 On or near the proposed line of the road north of San Mateo 
 mountain good pine timber is abundant. West of the Sierra 
 Madre along Navajo Creek, there is enough piiion and cedar for 
 fuel — though it will not be needed for that use, as coal will be 
 used. Railroad construction timber will have to be brought 
 from the slopes and gorges of the Sierra Madre. 
 
 Between Fort Union and the Rio Grande, one hundred and 
 forty miles, the route is well timbered, the supply being either 
 directly upon or within easy access of the proposed railroad. 
 It approaches to within fifteen miles of the Rio Grande inTijeras 
 canon, and in the Placer and Sandia Mountains it occurs in the 
 greatest abundance, extending south the whole extent of the 
 Organ Mountains. The timber — pine, spruce, oak and cedar — 
 is of fine quality, and would furnish a fine traffic for the railway. 
 
 On the Galisteo route for fifty miles there is no timber fit for 
 construction purposes, though there is enough cedar and pinon 
 for fuel if wanted, but pine can be obtained in abundance from 
 Canon Blanco Pass, and from the Placer and Sandia mountains 
 by hauling ten or fifteen miles — and would maintain the timber 
 
 4 
 
50 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 supply to the road on that route nearly to the Rio Grande. In 
 the Santa Fe mountains, 25 miles north of the valley of the 
 Galisteo, the timber is of large size and abundant. 
 
 If the line should follow the Rio Grande below San Felipe, 
 timber can be obtained by floating it down the Jemez, at the 
 proper season, and by hauling it from the Sandia mountains 
 which bound the Rio Grande on the east, south of the Galisteo. 
 
 On the whole, this route opens up a more extensive supply 
 of timber than the Raton mountain line, and has, besides, the 
 very great advantage of admitting, for most of its length, of the 
 use of large streams for the economical transportation of timber 
 to the points at which it may be required. 
 
 In the valley of the Rio Grande, south of Alburquerque, the 
 only timber consists of occasional scanty groves of cotton wood. 
 There is timber in the Manzano or Organ Range on the east 
 side of the river, and in the Magdalena mountains, ten miles 
 west of Socorro. The Magdalena range bears thence southwest- 
 ward, and contains large pine and pinoreal, and some other 
 timber. 
 
 The quality of the pine in New Mexico and Arizona is not 
 always very good; but in the dry climate of this elevated plateau 
 it will probably endure as long as the best varieties of wood in 
 the Atlantic Slope, and will answer for bridging and all other 
 purposes. The Douglas spruce of the Sandia mountain. Sierra 
 Madre and Sierra Mogoyon is excellent. 
 
 Timber can be floated down the Arkansas and also the Rio 
 Grande with its tributaries, during the summer rise, from the 
 mountain supplies to the points of crossing. The experience of 
 the Union Pacific Railroad on the Laramie and other rivers in 
 the Rocky Mountains upon their line, has demonstrated how 
 readily and cheaply this can be done. 
 
 The whole line is well supplied as well as with timber, with 
 building stone, limestone, and so forth. East of the Rio Grande 
 there is in Colorado the wood-colored sandstone of Fort Wallace, 
 the quarry at Fort Lyon of excellent sandstone, and in New 
 Mexico the eruptive rocks of the Raton mountains, good sand- 
 stone and limestone thence to the Pecos river, other sandstone 
 not so good in crossing the Canon Blanco summit, granite arid 
 limestone in the Sandia mountain range, and extensive deposits 
 of limestone between it and the Placer mountain. Between the 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 51 
 
 Rio Grande and the Rio Colorado occur tiie extensive sandstone 
 beds which line the Rito valley; the superior Jemez marble; 
 the indestructible lava rocks, which are abundant all the way to 
 the Sierra Madre, and will be very useful for many purposes of 
 construction and especially for ballasting; the Rito gypsum, 
 whose prepared material will be useful in bridging, lining of 
 tanks, acequias, &c. ; the granite and carboniferous limestone of 
 the Sierra Madre; and the cretaceous sandstones between this 
 range and the Mogoyon, which, although mostly unfitted for 
 the purposes of railroad construction, yet, in the arid climate 
 where they are mainly located, they will furnish an unlimited 
 supply of cheap material, easily worked, and suflftciently durable 
 for storehouses and stations for railways, and innumerable 
 other uses on a large scale. 
 
 The forest growth of timber is usually the "Rocky Mountain 
 pine," which, from its durable quality, regularity of growth, 
 and facility for working up into the different qualities of lum- 
 ber, is probably the most valuable of any western pine. When 
 growing singly this pine is apt to assume a branching shape, 
 with an irregular oval outline; but, in extensive forests, it pre- 
 sents a more uniform trunk, less knotty, and better suited for 
 boards and dimension lumber. The interior wood, being to a 
 considerable extent impregnated with resin, renders it durable 
 and well adapted for railroad ties. This is the prevalent pine 
 tree which is met with on all the elevated mountain slopes 
 extending from the eastern Rocky mountains to the Sierra 
 Nevada. 
 
 Along the different lines of the surveyed railroad routes 
 through southern Colorado and New Mexico, a very peculiar 
 pine, very abundant in New Mexico, makes its appearance along 
 the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, clothing the low, rocky 
 ledges with patches of dark green, as seen in a distant. view. 
 This is the nut pine, or PiFion of the natives, Pinus edulis of 
 botanists. It is generally of a low, branching habit, its short 
 stocky trunk dividing near the surface of the ground into 
 branching arms, giving it a globular outline. When growing 
 in large bodies its straggling branches intertwine to form almost 
 ihextricable thickets. It is generally associated, at lower eleva- 
 tions, with a cedar of a similar straggling habit, which further 
 west gives place to the Arizona Juniper. These trees are all 
 
52 BREVOOKT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 well adapted for fuel, burning when dry with a clear, intense 
 flame, which is prolonged and steady, especially suited for steam 
 purposes. In some sections the pinon presents a more upright 
 growth, and has short, uniform trunks, suitable for railroad ties. 
 The wood is durable but knotty, and with a twisted fibre, so 
 that it is unfitted for other purposes of construction. 
 
 The distribution of the piilon and cedar forests are particu- 
 larly favorable for convenient supplies of railroad fuel, being 
 scattered along the line of the route, easily accessible, and in 
 inexhaustable amount, the range extending through New Mex- 
 ico, northern Arizona, and to the eastern base of the Sierra 
 Nevadas in California. 
 
 The true pine belt of this interior portion of the continent 
 ranges between six thousand and ten thousand feet above the 
 sea; here it secures the needful moisture in the form of rain, 
 dew, or winter snow, and is also naturally associated with the 
 protruded granite rocks which form the central nucleus of the 
 higher ridges. It would he difficult to conceive of a more conven- 
 ient distribution of these 2iine forests for railroad construction or 
 transportation, than that presented on the line of the 3dth pai'allel. 
 Intercepting first the high pine clad ridges of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, it skirts for some distance their eastern base, thus render- 
 ing accessible the great bulk of timber products to supply the 
 treeless wastes of the great plains; and by means of the passes 
 leading to the valley of the Rio Grande, furnishes that exten- 
 sive agricultural district with the material for building, bridging, 
 and railroad construction. 
 
 Still further in western New Mexico the high ridges of the 
 Sierra Madre, while offering everything desired in the way of 
 satisfactory railroad passes, presents on the higher adjoining 
 ridges, including the elevated volcanic peaks of San Mateo 
 mountain, a magnificent growth of untouched forests especially 
 adapted to the supply of treeless districts to the east and west. 
 
 The principal trees found in the mountain valleys of New 
 Mexico, are the ash, walnut and hack berry, and on the moun- 
 tains, pine, oak, cedar, pinoreal, and piiion. The principal tree 
 of the deep vallej^s and stream margins is the cottonwood, a 
 brash tree, which will not make lumber, but is a beautiful shade 
 tree, frequently found transplanted around residences, and which 
 answers most of the requirements for building and fencing. 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 53 
 
 The willow is common. It is much used by the Jicarilla 
 Apache Indians for making baskets, <fec. 
 
 The mesquite or screwbean tree becomes, particularly in the 
 Gila river valley, a considerable tree. The wood has a fine 
 grain, and resembles the black walnut. It is very durable 
 wood, and as a fuel makes an intense heat, more so than any 
 with which we are acquainted. These trees emit vast quantities 
 of a gum resembling and possessing similar qualities to the gum 
 arable of commerce. The Apache Indians eat the mesquite 
 bean, grinding it upon hand mills into flour, and the bread is 
 very palatable. Horses fatten upon the beans. On the table 
 lands is found a peculiar variety of the mesquite. It can hardly 
 becalledatree, being rather a stunted, almost leafless shrub^ grow- 
 ing in the most barren places. In summer they are covered with 
 beans. The mesquite tree has the most stupendous roots, 
 though the tree above them often appears but a shrub. A patch 
 of these presented to an observer is always but the visible part 
 of a forest underground. Twelve feet square around one of 
 these bushes will often yield by digging a cord of firewood. 
 They are really the fuel-beds of a district, and nature has 
 furnished in this way thousands of tons of fuel for the smelting 
 of minerals. The roots, both dead and green, make most excel- 
 lent fire- wood — burn entirely to ashes. The climate being arid, 
 they never rot in the ground. The dead roots are a natural 
 charcoal, and instances have occurred where burning them in a 
 close room has produced death. 
 
 The beargrass is common and abundant all over the mesas 
 or table lands of New Mexico, and is very useful. In Mexico, 
 gunnybags, rope, saddlers' and shoemakers' thread, are made 
 from the fiber. During the blockade of the coasts in the late 
 civil war, the manufacture of ropes of this plant was carried on 
 in Texas. 
 
 The soapweed, called in New Mexico by its Spanish name, 
 amole, is another useful plant, and is very common. The natives 
 prefer it to soap for washing woolen goods. It extracts all grease 
 and restores the lustre of tlie goods. The lather makes the best 
 shampoo. It is also an antidote for certain poisons. 
 
 The maguey plant, known as the American aloe, and called 
 by the Mexicans mescal, is common in all portions of the Terri- 
 tory. In lower Mexico, where the plant is cultivated and is 
 
54 brevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 quite popular, the Mexicans make from it a beverage they call 
 pulque, and in the upper country, including New Mexico and 
 Arizona, they make from it a very intoxicating brandy called 
 mescal. The Indians, who cook and eat the heart of the plant, 
 esteem it a great delicacy. 
 
 Hops grow wild in the mountains all over the Territory, and 
 are of a superior quality. 
 
 Vegetables of all kinds do well, though potatoes, both sweet 
 and Irish, failing in some portions, yield largely in other por- 
 tions. In the valley in which the city of Santa Fe stands we 
 have often heard it remarked that everything expected to grow 
 and yield in that latitude and elevation does well there, with 
 the sole exception of watermelons and potatoes. 
 
 In passing down into the valley of the upper Rio Grande, 
 says Dr. Parry, naturalist to the railroad route survey, we en- 
 countered a flora very distinct in its general features, including 
 a number of peculiar plants and strange shrubbery, having a 
 Mexican type. The river here, hemmed in along a great por- 
 tion of its upper course by dark igneous and basaltic rocks, flows 
 in deep inaccessible canons, which open out below into wide 
 sandy basins. The San Luis Valley, lying above this canoned 
 portion of the valley, presents a wide alluvial basin, including 
 extensive tracts of fertile soil lying along the course of the 
 numerous tributary streams flowing down from the high moun- 
 tain ridges on either side of the main valley. This section is 
 particularly adapted to the growth of cereals and root crops, and 
 in its cool atmosphere, abundance of grass and clear flowing 
 water is eminently a dairy region. In these respects the two 
 portions of the main valley, designated by the Mexican popu- 
 lation as the Upper and Lower River, maintain the natural 
 distinction in their products — the former being adapted to small 
 grains, potatoes, butter and cheese, the latter to corn and fruits. 
 In this condition of things an exchange of products would prove 
 of mutual advantage, and afford profitable business in the way 
 of transportation in both directions. 
 
 The natural supply of fuel, for all this region, is furnished 
 in the extensive forests ot pinon and cedar, which occupy ad- 
 joining rocky and barren ridges, while the higher mountain, 
 ranges will supply lumber and building material to any desired 
 extent. 
 
MOUNTAINS, STREAMS, ETC. 55 
 
 The lower portion of the valley of the Rio Grande includes 
 the district of New Mexico. Here we find the valley spread 
 out into wide alluvial or sandy bottoms, bounded by bluffs of 
 gravel and occasional rocky declivities capped with basalt 
 The flora here includes the plants referred to in Dr. Parry's list 
 as New Mexican. Owing to the more porous nature of the soil, 
 and the greater summer heat, the general aspect of vegetation 
 is characterized as arid. There is a scarcity of tree growth, 
 confined to the cottonwood and willow, which occupy the moist 
 bottoms or direct margins of the river. The grass of the valley 
 is coarse and frequently saline, and on the adjoining uplands it is 
 scant, though of a nutritious quality. The low bottom lands, 
 susceptible of irrigation, are well adapted to the growth of corn, 
 vines and peaches, being subject to irregular overflows, which, 
 when moderate in extent, and occurring at the proper season, 
 help to maintain the natural fertility of the soil, but are occa- 
 sionally very destructive, in flooding growing crops, or under- 
 mining and transporting large tracts of fertile soil, leaving in 
 its place the coarse, sandy layers of the changeable river bed. 
 At other points of the valley the prevalent westerly winds 
 gather up the light drifting sands of the adjoining bluffs, and 
 deposit them in changeable, ripple-marked dunes, on the fertile 
 bottoms, thus consigning them to a hopeless sterility, as well as 
 obstructing the ordinary roads by their deep sandy beds. Still 
 further south, in the neighborhood of Socorro, sub-tropical 
 shrubs, including Acacia, Ifesguite and Larrea make their 
 appearance, marking the north jrn limits of the Mexican flora. 
 
 On the uplands west of the Rio Grande, near the 35th 
 parallel, west longitude, we meet with a great variety of sur- 
 face exposures. These are exhibited in extensive mesas, or 
 table-lands, composed of light-colored porous sedimentary rocks, 
 abounding with abrupt mural faces, valleys of erosion; these 
 strata are interrupted at various points by igneous protrusions, 
 and overflows of basalt and lava, serving to diversify in a 
 remarkable manner the external features of scenery, and modify 
 the texture and composition of the overlying soil. This is 
 especially noticeable in the character of the native vegetation, 
 which is directly adapted to these variable conditions. Thus, 
 on the dry uplands and mesas we find a scattered growth of 
 grama grass, interrupted with occasional growths of cedar and 
 
56 BREVOOET'S new MEXICO. 
 
 pinon. On the more elevated mountain ridg-es we meet with 
 dense forests of Rocky Mountain pine, spruce and fir, inter- 
 mingled in favorable locations with oak and aspen. The lower 
 valleys, adapted to agriculture, support a growth of coarse grass 
 and shrubbery, interrupted by occasional bare saline flats. In 
 certain sections of this district deep cafioned valleys conceal from 
 view clear running streams in which the vegetation is rank and 
 luxuriant, while at other points the valleys expand into wide, 
 grassy basins, where, during the dry season, running water dis- 
 appears from the surface, or is exhibited only in brackish springs. 
 This character of country comprises the once favorite home of the 
 roving Navajo and Apache, and, in certain defensive positions, 
 has been occupied since the earliest historic periods by the indus- 
 trious and contented Pueblo Indians. It extends, with slight 
 variations, through western New Mexico and northern Arizona, 
 the surveyed rail route on the 35th parallel traversing the most 
 desirable portions. Being passed over by the surveying parties 
 during the late fall and winter months, only an imperfect view 
 of its botanical features could be obtained, but the faded vestiges 
 of floral beauty were manifested on every hand to testify to the 
 luxuriant richness of its summer dress. 
 
 The list of plants Dr. Parry presented, is a contribution from 
 one of the latest and most complete railroad surveys ever con- 
 ducted on this continent, to our knowledge, of the natural vege- 
 tation of the far West. Without aiming to be complete, it is at 
 least sufiicient to show, that along the entire length of the rail- 
 road survey, extending from Kansas through south-eastern 
 Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, to the Pacific, there is an 
 extent of habitable country which only needs to be made easily 
 accessible from the populous districts of the Mississippi valley, 
 and the western seaboard, to support and maintain a prosperous, 
 civilized population. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that one of the most noticeable 
 features of the Territory is the amount of timber, which is 
 found at numerous convenient distributing points. Whipple 
 and Beale have dwelt especially on this feature, both pronounc- 
 ing the proposed thirty-fifth parallel to be the best supplied of 
 any route across the continent. The language of the geologist, 
 Dr. Parry, may most fittingly sum up the case : 
 
 ''It would be difficult to conceive of a more convenient dis- 
 tribution of these pine forests for railroad construction, or trans- 
 
AGEICULTUKE. 
 
 57 
 
 portation, than that presented on the line of the 35th parallel. 
 Along the entire route, located at convenient distances for 
 transportation, and directly available for the supply of adjoining 
 treeless districts, is an abundant source of this necessary article, 
 not only amply sufficient for all prospective needs of railroad 
 construction, but also furnishing a material for profitable trans- 
 portation to adjoining mineral and agricultural districts." 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 The productions of New Mexico, as might be inferred from 
 the variety of its climate, are varied, but the staples will 
 evidently be cattle, sheep, wool, and v;ine, for which it seems 
 to be peculiarly adapted. The table-lands and mountain valleys 
 are covered throughout with the nutritious grama and other 
 grasses, which, on account of the dryness of the soil, cure upon 
 the ground, and afford affort an inexhaustible supply of food for 
 flocks and herds both summer and winter. The ease and 
 comparatively small costs with which they can be kept, the 
 rapidity with which they increase, and exemption from epidemic 
 diseases, added to the fact that winter feeding is not required, 
 must make the raising of stock and wool-growing a prominent 
 business of the country. 
 
 Wheat and oats grow throughout the Territory, but the 
 former does not yield as heavily in the southern as in the 
 northern part. If any method of watering the higher plateau 
 is ever discovered, we think that it will produce heavier crops 
 of wheat than the valley of the Rio Grande. 
 
 Apples will grow from the Taos valley south; but peaches 
 cannot be raised to any advantage north of Bernalillo in the 
 central section, but it is likely they would do well along some 
 of the tributaries and main valley of the Canadian river. They 
 appear to grow well and produce fruit without irrigation in the 
 Zufli country; and the valley of the Mimbres is also adapted to 
 their culture. Apricots and plums grow wherever apples or 
 
58 bbevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 peaches can be raised. I neglected to obtain any information in 
 regard to pears, but, judging from the similarity of soil and 
 climate here to that of Utah and California, where this fruit 
 grows to perfection, I suppose that in the central and southern 
 portions it would do well. The grape will probably be the chief, 
 or at least the most profitable product of the soil. The soil and 
 climate appear to be peculiarly adapted to its growth, and the 
 probability is that as a grape-growing and wine-producing 
 section it will be second only to California. 
 
 We differ from Professor Hayden in his opinion that Irish 
 potatoes are inferior to those raised further north. Cabbages 
 grow large and fine. Onions from the Raton mountains south 
 have the finest flavor of any we ever tasted, and therefore are 
 not surprised that Lieutenant Emory found the dishes at 
 Bernalillo "all dressed with the everlasting onion." Sweet 
 potatf)es have been successfully tried in the vicinity of lort 
 Sumner, and along the head-w^aters of the Rio Bonito, and in 
 many other localities. Melons, pumpkins, frijoles, etc., are 
 raised in profusion in the lower valleys; and cotton was formerly 
 grown in limited quantities. 
 
 As a general thing, the mountains afford an abundance of 
 pine for the supply of lumber and fuel to those sufliciently near 
 to them. Some of the valleys have a limited amount of cotton- 
 wood growing along them. In addition to pine, spruce and 
 Cottonwood, the stunted cedar and mesquite, which is found over 
 a large area, may be used for fuel. The east side of the 
 Guadalupe range has an abundant supply of pine of large size. 
 Around the head-waters of the Pecos is some excellent timber. 
 Walnut and oaks are found in a few spots south, but in limited 
 quantities, and of too small a size to be of much value. 
 
 The arable land of a large portion of the country is admirably 
 adapted to agriculture and to the culture of the grape. This is 
 especially true of the valleys of the Rio Grande. Those 
 experienced in the cultivation of the vine represent that all the 
 conditions of the soil — humidity and temperature — are united 
 in these regions to produce the grape in the greatest perfection. 
 The soil, composed of the disintegrated matter of the older rocks 
 and volcanic ashes, is light, porous and rich. The frosts in the 
 winter are just sufliciently severe to destroy the insects without 
 injuring the plant, and the rain seldom falls in the season the 
 
AGRICULTURE. 59 
 
 plant is flowering, or when the fruit is coming into maturity, 
 and liable to rot from exposure to humidity. As a consequence 
 of these conditions of things, the fruit, when ripe, has a thin 
 skin, scarcely any pulp, and is devoid of the musky taste usual 
 with American grapes. 
 
 Corn is raised to a great extent, and is a staple agricultural 
 production of the Territory. Barley, wheat and oats do well. 
 Irish potatoes do not grow well anywhere in the immediate val- 
 ley of the Rio Grande, but very fine crops are produced in the 
 mountains and in the mountain country generally. Beans do 
 well, and are extensively cultivated — they are, indeed p to the 
 native what the potato is to the Irish. The onion, particularly 
 in the valley of the Rio Grande, is also cultivated to a large 
 extent, and in the locality named onions of a pound in weight 
 are a common thing. Chile, or pod pepper, of excellent quality 
 is raised everywhere, and extensively. It is said to excel in 
 quality that raised anywhere in the States, on account of its 
 mild nature, and is extensively used in cookery and as a stand- 
 ard dish. 
 
 From the Raton mountain to the Pecos river, near Anton 
 Chico, IGO miles, says General Palmer, the numerous little val- 
 leys watered by the tributaries of the Cimarron, Canadian and 
 Pecos, which head in the mountains on the west, make the 
 entire country productive and inhabitable. 
 
 Irrigation only is necessary, and this is readily accomplished 
 by proper appliances, as for instance, at Kroenig's, near Fort 
 Union, where the waters of the Mora are led into a large artifi- 
 cial lake, one-eighth of a mile in diameter, and 20 feet deep, 
 which serves to keep under cultivation 2,500 acres, on which 
 are raised excellent crops of all kinds of grain and vegetables 
 (except potatoes.) The valley of the Mora is cultivated for 30 
 miles above Kroenig's, and 13 miles below. Along the foot of 
 this range (Spanish Range,) is a cordon of small Mexican settle- 
 ments, which extend from the Raton mountain to the Pecos 
 river, whose inhabitants cultivate the fertile valleys of the Dry 
 Cimarron, the Vermejo, the Poiiil, the Cimarron, the Ocate, the 
 Mora, the Gallinas, Spring Hollow, the Tecolote, the Pecos, and 
 others. 
 
 Besides Las Vegas, which has a population of 2,500, there 
 are Anton Chico and 18 other towns in the valley of the Pecos 
 
60 BREVGORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 alone, within 20 miles of the crossing point of the Atlantic and 
 Pacific railroad survey, which contain a population ranging trom 
 200 to 1,000 each. 
 
 This population, which lives entirely by raising sheep, cattle, 
 horses, mules, and producing corn, wheat, oats, melons and 
 vegetables, is kept in a state of constant alarm and uncertainty 
 by the fears of incursions of the Navajos and Apaches, though 
 the time for these fears, it is hoped and believed, is now passed 
 and gone in New Mexico. 
 
 In the valley of the Pecos, near Anton Chico, grapes, peaches, 
 and other fruits are raised, and the valley is cultivable for 90 
 miles below Fort Sumner, and wherever there is bottom land, 
 for 90 miles above Anton Cliico. 
 
 The valley of the Rio Grande, for 200 miles north and south 
 of Alburquerque, has an average width of five miles, and apjjears 
 to be formed of a highly productive loam, frequently covered 
 by a drift of sand, that does not, however, seem to affect its 
 fertility. Everything grows luxuriantly in this soil by irri- 
 gation — for which the water of the river is used cheaply and 
 extensively. Wheat yields over 50 bushels, and corn 80 bushels 
 to the acre, and the finest grapes are grown in the greatest 
 abundance all along the valley, whose climate and soil are, 
 without doubt, as specially adapted to the vine culture as the 
 pasturage of the elevated mountain valleys and mesas or table- 
 lands of New Mexico is to the cheap raising of good stock. 
 
 Crossing the range at Puntia Pass (called also Punche Pass,) 
 we enter the well watered San Luis Park, 5 to 40 miles in width, 
 which produces all the smaller grains, besides having superior 
 value for pasturage, excelling the best grazing lands of Texas. 
 
 South of the San Luis Park are numerous branch valleys, the 
 Taos, the Embudo, Canada Tesuque, the Chama, Ojo Caliente 
 and others, which join the Rio Grande, and furnish in connection 
 with the valley land immediately along that stream, between 
 its caiions, a considerable sum total of arable district, filled with 
 the small towns and settlements of unenterprising Mexicans 
 and Pueblo Indians, but capable of supporting a large population 
 of Anglo Saxons. 
 
 Below the Santa Fe Cailon to Alburquerque, the Rio Grande 
 has a broad, fertile valley, such as has been heretofore described, 
 occupied by cornfields, vineyards and orchards. 
 
AGRICULTURE. 61 
 
 "West of the upper Bio Grande and the San Luis Park, there 
 is a tempting field, which will be eventually penetrated from 
 this line, the somewhat famous San Juan country and other 
 districts, across to which the Cochetopa, Charaa and other passes 
 lead, and which is now receiving a large mining and agricultural 
 population. 
 
 Of this section, from the Rio Grande to the Colorado, on the 
 route of the 35th parallel. Dr. Parry, naturalist, says: Sufficent 
 is now known to characterize it as at least self-sustaining in an 
 agricultural point of view, and capable of immense production 
 for export of animal products from the proper development of 
 its pastoral resources. A large section of this country is naturally 
 adapted to fruit, of which the various surface exposures may be 
 suited to different varieties. 
 
 Whipple's rough estimate of the area of cultivable soil, wood- 
 land and pasture on this division of the route within 15 miles on 
 each side, was as follows: 
 
 Cultivable soil, 953 square miles. 
 
 Woodland, 2,193 " 
 
 Prairie and pasture, 11,008 " 
 
 Total, 14,154 " 
 
 There was not as much known then of the country to the 
 right and left of the line, and Gen. Palmer regards his estimate 
 of cultivable soil as entirely too low; and of course a much 
 wider belt than 15 miles would be rendered accessible by the 
 construction of a railroad — perhaps 100 miles on each side. 
 
 But let us see what there is: 
 
 1st. The table land between the Rio Grande and the Puerco 
 — which is nine miles wide from crest to crest; it is covered 
 with excellent grama grass, but without water. It makes a good 
 sheep country. 
 
 2d. Then ensues the north and south valley of the Puerco, 
 three miles in width, whose soil is very rich and only requires 
 irrigating, which can be done, as there is plenty of water in the 
 channel for eight months of the year. Thirty miles above the 
 mouth of El Rito the valley is one mile wide; the surveying 
 parties found it covered with luxuriant grass, and the soil very 
 fertile, a portion of which the Mexicans had under cultivation. 
 
 3d. Thence we have the valley of the El Rito, which the 
 line follows for 75 miles to the base of the Sierra Madre. It is 
 
62 brevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 from one-half to three miles wide — above Fort Wingate much 
 wider — and there are several fertile intersecting valleys. 
 
 It is cultivated for 4 miles below the town of El Rito by the 
 Mexicans, and by the Acoma and Laguna Indians for 10 miles 
 above Laguna, and at the foot of San Mateo mountain, near 
 Cubero, by the Mexicans. The Indians raise 40 bushels of corn 
 to the acre, with very rude cultivation. They also raise large 
 herds of cattle. It might be tilled for its whole length, except 
 in the six mile cafion, if proper measures were taken to econo- 
 mize the water, or to increase the supply by artesian wells. 
 
 4th. Both slopes of the Sierra Madre are rich, and tolerably 
 well watered. On the west side, north of El Moro, Beale saw 
 a country of " uncommon beauty," with numerous springs and 
 water courses. 
 
 Fifty miles west of the summit, Gen. Palmer's party found 
 the Zuni Indians cultivating the soil extensively without irriga- 
 tion, and having large crops of corn and wheat, while every 
 house in the town was filled with dried peaches of excellent 
 quality. Dr. Parry says of this Zuiii valley: It possesses an in- 
 exhaustible fertility, which it still maintains, after the lapse of 
 centuries far beyond the historic period. This is at an elevation 
 of 7,000 feet above the sea. We also saw these Indians driving 
 up their flocks and herds, which were very large. 
 
 The slopes of this range are far superior, in every way, to 
 those of the Wasatch Range, which the Mormons have strewn 
 for several hundred miles with a population amounting to 
 100,000, converting that so-called desert into plantations and 
 orchards. 
 
 6th. In the valley of Navajo Creek we skirt the southern 
 edge of the "Navajo country," where General Can by 's troops 
 in 1862-63 found immense herds of stock, and very numerous 
 fields of corn and peach orchards, the driving off and des- 
 truction of which were the only means by which these intelli- 
 gent and warlike Indians were finally reduced. Colonel Willis, 
 of the California Column, states that he assisted in destroying 
 some of these corn fields as low down as the vicinity of Navajo 
 Springs, and that the corn was as high as his head. Even in 
 the dry country, near Jacob's Well, we saw traces of an ancient 
 irrigating canal. 
 
 6th. The valley of the Little Colorado is next reached, and 
 
AGRICULTURE. 63 
 
 is followed by the line for from 25 to 60 miles, depending on 
 the route adopted. In this distance it is from one to three miles 
 wide, with a rich alluvial soil and plenty of water for irrigation. 
 Grass in the valley excellent. The upper valley of this river, 
 above the caSon,at the mouth of the Zuni, is said to be very 
 beautiful, 50 miles long, and from 3 to 5 miles wide, and the 
 Sierra Blanca country, in which it heads, is noted for its beauty 
 and fertility, as well as for its attractive deposits of gold, which 
 the Apaches have prevented all explorers from remaining long 
 enough to develop. 
 
 The numerous little sheltered cafions leading into this river 
 above and below Sunset Crossing, are especially adapted to fruit 
 culture, also to wheat. There is a vast extent of attractive 
 country in the heavily timbered Mogoyon mountains, south from 
 this part of the surveyed route. 
 
 7th. For the next 100 miles, in crossing the Mogoyon Range, 
 we have the finest country met with, perhaps, on our entire 
 route. It is the famous San Francisco Mountain country, mag- 
 nificently timbered, well watered, and covered winter and 
 summer with the most nutritious grama grass. Its soil, 
 black and rich from the decomposition of the lava that has 
 been ejected in immense quantities from the extinct crater of 
 Mt. Agassiz, will produce, without irrigation, wheat, barley, 
 oats and potatoes in the heaviest crops. The summit and slopes 
 of this range, which lies partly in eastern Arizona, are dotted 
 everywhere with beautiful little grassy parks, openings in the 
 virgin forest of gigantic pines which cover the mountain. On 
 all sides rise tall, volcanic peaks, emulating the central figure, 
 Mount Agassiz, whose crown, far above the timber line, seemed 
 to be just topped with snow, as late as the middle of December. 
 
 This is the country of which Beale declares: It is the most 
 beautiful region I ever remember to have seen in any part of 
 the world. A vast forest of gigantic pines, intersected fre- 
 quently by extensive open glades, sprinkled all over with 
 mountain meadows, and wide savannahs, filled with the richest 
 grasses, was traversed by our party for many successive days. 
 
 And Dr. Parry says: We have in these elevated districts a 
 climate favoring a growth of trees, a more equable distribution 
 of i-ain and precipitation of dew throughout the year, especially 
 adapted to the production of nutritious grasses and the cultvation 
 
64 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 of grain without resorting to expensive processes of irriga- 
 tion. Tliese desirable climatic features are especially noticeable 
 along the elevated slopes of the San Fiancisco mountain, where 
 magnificent pine slopes are agreeably interspersed with beautiful 
 grassy valleys and parks, numerous springs, and a delightfully 
 invigorating atmosphere. 
 
 The most attractive place of summer resort on the line of 
 the road is at Mt. Agassiz. It has every attraction; health, 
 scenery, sky, water, elevation, climate, and proximity to the 
 greatest natural curiosity known on this continent — the << Grand 
 Canon " of the Colorado Biver, from which it is distant some 40 
 or 50 miles. 
 
 8th. In descending the lower slope of the Mogoyon Range on 
 the west, we enter a drier and more sandy country, pretty well 
 covered with thickets of cedar and pinon, to which the great 
 pine forests give way. The soil, however, is rich, and only 
 requires irrigation, which can be readily secured by damming 
 the numerous caiions with which this district is filled, and 
 thereby preserving the supply of water, of which there is an 
 infinite quantity in the spring (as also during the summer rains). 
 
 The grazing is perhaps equally fine on this section, as higher 
 up on the slopes of the Mogoyon mountains, in the beautiful 
 region just described, the similarity of the country being pre- 
 served, both in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona. 
 
 General Palmer, in speaking of his survey of the 35th parallel 
 railroad route through New Mexico, says: Thus, we pass from the 
 middle state productions of Kansas, to the country of the vine 
 and of semi-tropical fruits; from the bracing summits of the 
 Rocky Mountains, Sieri'a Nevadas and Mount Agassiz, to where 
 winter is rarely known, in the valley of the Rio Grande, and 
 never in the valley of the Colorado, to cotton and sugar in the 
 latter, and oranges and pomegranates on the western foot-hills 
 of the Sierra Nevada. It may be repeated that the value of 
 the grazing, and of general agriculture, is greatly enhanced by 
 the mildness of the climate. The grass is nearly as good in win- 
 ter as in summer, and the animals of our surveying party were 
 taken through and returned over the most elevated and moun- 
 tainous part of the route, from October to May, finding every- 
 where an abundance of the best grazing. 
 
 But this remote country has been carelessly charged with being 
 
AGRICULTURE. 65 
 
 a desert, and unfit for extensive settlement. It has been said 
 that the western tide of emigration in the United States must 
 stop somewlaere in the vicinity of the 100th meridian, and make 
 one leap across to the coast of California. This was natural 
 when the country was so little .known. The question of its 
 future capabilities, as deduced from a scientific view of its char- 
 acteristics, is so ably treated by the geologist of the expedition, 
 Dr. Parry, in his report, that it is scarcely necessary to add any- 
 thing thereto. It may be pointed out, however, that it so hap- 
 pens that nearly all the tribes of Indians on this route, the 
 Navajos, Zunians, Moquis, Mojaves, and even the Piutes and 
 Apaches, to a greater or less extent, cultivate the soil. The Zuni 
 Indians had plenty of corn and dried fruits to sell us as we 
 passed their town. 
 
 The country has looked with wonder on what has been done 
 by the Mormons in Salt Lake Basin on the slopes of the "Wahsatch 
 Range. But the slopes of the Sierra Madre will, when this line 
 crosses it, build up numerous larger settlements than those of 
 Utah, within five years after the completion of the road; and 
 the parks of Mt. Agassiz, to which the Mormons are already 
 talking of emigrating from Southern Utah, will, independently 
 of any mining interest, attract and support a very large agri- 
 cultural population. We have, indeed, on this route, a contin- 
 uous extent of comparatively elevated countrj^, which affords 
 the moisture that makes the country inhabitable and attractive, 
 and gives timber growth, and when the line descends it enters 
 into great valleys with large streams, like the Rio Grande, the 
 Great Colorado, Little Colorado and Tulare valleys. 
 
 It should also be remembered, in connection with this ques- 
 tion, that on a portion of this route, and accessible thereto, a 
 considerable population already exists — 110,000 in New Mexico, 
 probably over 1,000,000 in the northern states of Old Mexico, 
 which will be supplied from this line, 50,000 in Colorado, with- 
 out mentioning the smaller but energetic Indian-harrassed 
 settlements of Arizona, and the rapidly increasing population of 
 Southern California. The Santa Fe trade is already large, and 
 even on the present basis, a railroad would find considerable 
 business in supplying the wants of this population. 
 
 The mere fact that mining can be carried on at all in New 
 Mexico and Arizona, under all the discouragements of costly 
 
 5 
 
66 BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 transportation, Indian attacks, and remoteness from the con- 
 veniences of life is, to the thinking mind, strong evidence that, 
 witln these drawbacks removed, through tlie agency of a rail- 
 road, the development of mining industry would be enlarged 
 in an extraordinary degree. While only the larger and richer 
 veins can now be profitably worked, when the cost of transpor- 
 tation is reduced to one-fifth, and the risk to property and life 
 removed by the settlement of the Indian question, capital will 
 find it advantageous to open up the smaller and less productive 
 veins, and, as these are much more abundant and wide spread 
 than the richer ones, the field of mining industry will thus at 
 once be much more than proportionately enlarged.- 
 
 Along the whole valley of the Rio Grande, from El Paso 
 northward to the latitude of Santa Fe, is to be found one of the 
 best wine-growing districts in the world. The native wine of 
 New Mexico is a very popular one among those who have tested 
 it. It is exported from the Territory for sale in the states, and 
 will in due time become widely sought after by the wine-drink- 
 ing world. It is of this wine that the United States Surveyor 
 General for New Mexico in his annual report for 1869 says: 
 << Yearly new vineyards are coming into bearing, counting their 
 vines by the thousands, while the production of wine is annu- 
 ally becoming more and more an article of commerce and profit. 
 Between Bernalillo on the north and El Paso on the south, the 
 traveller may find — and that often in great perfection — both the 
 light white and red wines of the Rhine and Bordeaux, and as 
 he goes south, the heavier Burgundy, port, sherry, and with 
 age, even a good Madeira. With a grape acclimated by two 
 hundred years' cultivation, unexcelled for richness and luscious- 
 ness of flavor, always free from blight and diseaseof every kind, 
 so destructive to European vineyards, so fatal to wine-growing 
 on the Atlantic slope, and often so damaging even to California, 
 with a soil as rich as that of the Nile, with abundance of water 
 for irrigation, and with sunny days and dewless nights, increas- 
 ing in strength as the summer heats increase, the wines of the 
 Rio Grande promise to become as varied and as excellent as those 
 of France and ISi^ain.''^ 
 
 The variable conditions of climate and soil necessarily deter- 
 mine the character of agricultural capacity or adaptation for 
 grazing. A certain degree of elevation in this medium latitude 
 
AGRICULTURE. 67 
 
 of 35° is necessary to secure atmospheric moisture, favorable to 
 the growth of trees or nutritious grasses. Districts tlius elevated 
 are especially adapted to the growth of small grain, while the 
 lower alluvial valleys deriving their main supplies of water from 
 these higher sources, are best suited to the growth of corn, 
 fruits, and other staples requiring a higher temperature and 
 longer growing season. Hence, the mountain districts and 
 higher alluvial slopes present a well marked district adapted to 
 the growth of timber, small grain and summer grazing, while 
 the lower valleys supply farming lands suitable for corn, vine- 
 yards and orchards, and oifer desirable locations for permanent 
 settlement. Over all this section of country, except the more 
 arid tracts, the uplands are occupied with a peculiar growth of 
 grasses and shrubbery, especially adapted to stock raising. The 
 great variety of these different exposures, according to their 
 elevation or geological structure, occasions a prominent differ- 
 ence in their relative capacity for supporting animal life. 
 
 Til us certain desert tracts, on which, during the greater part 
 of the year, no animal could live on account of absence of 
 water, and scarcity of grass, during a short rainy season may be 
 clothed with a verdure capable of sustaining immense herds. 
 Again the lower valleys, which in the winter season afford shel- 
 ter and pasturage for stock, which can be kept in good condi- 
 tion on the refuse of agricultural fields, become parched 
 and oppressively warm in the summer season, so that the fresh- 
 pasturage of the high mountain ridges is preferable. Hence, 
 successful stock raising in this central district will naturally be 
 more or less of a roving character, and be carried on by a class 
 of shepherds and herders adapted to the nomadic mode of life. 
 When thus regulated, agricultural and pastoral pursuits profita- 
 bly^ complement each other, and both unite to sustain the largest 
 population, and yield the greatest amount of surplus products of 
 which this section is capable. Sufficient is now known of the 
 central section of country now under special consideration, to 
 characterize it as at least self-sustaining in an agricultural point of 
 view, and capable of immense production for export of animalpro- 
 ducts, from the 2)roper develjoement of its pastoral resources. In 
 the valley of the Colorado the semi-tropical character of the 
 climate adapts it to the growth of staple products pertaining to 
 warm countries, including especially cotton, hemp, tobacco, and 
 
68 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 sub-tropical fruits, while the mild winter seasons admit the suc- 
 cessful growth of wheat, which may be harvested before the 
 period of river overflow, to be succeeded the same season by a 
 late maturing corn crop. A large section of this country is 
 naturally adapted to fruit, of which the various surface expos- 
 ures may be suited to different varieties. The cultivated grape 
 has long been successfully raised in the alluvial bottoms of the 
 Bio Grande, and also seems particularly adapted to sections 
 where volcanic rocks are exposed on the surface, the decompo- 
 sition of which supplies a large proportion of potash, necessary 
 to perfect the rich, vinous juices adapted to wine making. 
 Peaches are extensively raised by the Pueblo Indians in the 
 sheltered valleys and cafions of the district they inhabit, where, 
 without any special care or resort to irrigation, they produce 
 abundant'y and attain a great age. The native fruits, including 
 especially the Cacti, have an agreeably acid flavor, and might 
 by cultivation be so improved as to add an important item to the 
 wholesome diet of this region. They are already much used and 
 esteemed in Sonora, Sinaloa, etc. 
 
 STOCK-RAISING IN NEW MEXICO. 
 
 For the profitable raising of horses, mules, cattle, goats and 
 sheep, on the most extensive scale, no portion of the world can 
 rival this district. Its mild climate presents no rigors, while 
 its mountain slopes, valleys, and plains are unlimited ranges of 
 excellent pasturage. The grasses of the plains and mountain 
 slopes are not the least of nature's wonder. The << grama" and 
 "mezquite" varieties have a peculiar tenacity to life, and 
 survive a succession of dry seasons, and, when aparently dead, 
 a few showers will bring them out in full freshness; indeed, it 
 is said, they change from a single shower. These grasses are 
 sweet and nutritious, dry or green, and cattle thrive upon them 
 and fatten. They cure in the dry season, in the stalks, making 
 a natural hay. 
 
STOCK RAISING. 69 
 
 About the year 1540, a small lot of Spanish Merino sheep 
 were introduced into this country from Spain, and from this 
 importation the present sheep, owned mainly by our Mexican 
 citizens and the Pueblo and Navajo Indians, were derived. 
 Owing to the constant "breeding in" without much change in 
 the stock, or attempts at improvement, these sheep have degen- 
 erated and decreased in size and quality of wool; yet in various 
 respects the mutton and wool of New Mexico is better than 
 that of the States; this arises from the fact that the climate and 
 grasses are adapted to this class of animals and it shows the 
 advantage of this country over other portions of our land for the 
 rearing of this kind of stock. At the commencement of the 
 rebellion, sheep owners were raising their stock not for the 
 wool, but for the meat, which was of better flavor, and more 
 nutritious than the mutton of the States. The wool was allowed 
 to go to waste and be dragged off the sheep's back while passing 
 through the brush. It was thought that the prices of meat 
 would decline at the close of the war, and some of our wise men 
 in New Mexico now say, produce sheep and wool in the ratio 
 you propose, and increase the quality and quantity of the meat, 
 and you will reduce the price so that it will not pay to raise 
 sheep in New Mexico, for this cannot be the case for many 
 years to come. The demand for long wool both in Europe and 
 in this country (for it is evident that in England the supply of 
 combing wools is not sufficient for the demand), will make 
 combing wools an article which will be a source of wealth to the 
 producer for many years yet in the future. 
 
 Our shores are swarming, and for years will swarm as never 
 before, with foreign immigrants, hungry for meat, however 
 poverty may have stinted their former supply. All these 
 mouths, and those of millions unborn, are to be supplied in the 
 years of the immediate future. With what shall we feed them? 
 Not with pork, becoming vastly dearer with the increased price 
 of corn; not altogether with beef, while there is such a demand 
 for wool, and just precisely the kind of wool produced by 
 mutton sheep. We must have mutton; and sensible men with 
 money in their pockets will pay prices that must command good 
 mutton, and render its production higly profitable. Conditions 
 now exist favoring adequate remuneration in this branch of 
 husbandry that have never before been brought together in so 
 
70 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 potent a combination in New Mexico. There is an opportunity 
 to achieve a fame and a success in this direction in a field as yet 
 almost entirely new, that should engage the effort, capital and 
 ambition of the enterprising; and there is little doubt that 
 it will be promptly and successfully occupied by strangers, if our 
 own citizens do not avail themselves of the opportunity. 
 
 Those, therefore, who now commence with judgment and 
 energy the production of real superior mutton and combing 
 wools in New Mexico, will reap an abundant harvest of profit, 
 and the earlier the start, the quicker the reward, and that it will 
 engage the attention of enterprising people, and meet their just 
 expectations there is no room for doubt. 
 
 The peculiar suitability of the country to the raising of the 
 various kinds of stock, will in future years make New Mexico 
 a country whence large supplies of meat for food, and wools for 
 manufacturing clothing, will be derived, and which will be a 
 great source of wealth to our citizens, while it will furnish 
 healthy food for the dwellers in our large cities east of the 
 Territory. 
 
 The natural configuration of this vast Rocky Mountain region 
 is not the least of the many desirable advantages it presents. 
 It is situated many thousand feet above tide water, fanned by 
 the purest atmosphere, and supplied with innumerable salubrious 
 streams ruiming from the mountain springs, and furnishing pure 
 water, one of the essential elements for the sustenance of both 
 man and beast. This country having a high and dry range, so 
 conducive to the health of all animals, especially sheep, which 
 animal, if properly reared and improved, will prove a greater 
 source of wealth than even our untold and vast mineral deposits. 
 The one we have in the earth — the means of producing the 
 other we have on the earth. The succession of mountain and 
 valley affords the most ample defence against the heat of 
 summer, as well as the bleak winds of winter; artificial pro- 
 tection indispensable at the north and necessary in many of the 
 states of the Union, which is so apt to induce disease by which 
 whole flocks and herds are sometimes lost, are rendered unnec- 
 essary in our more favored country. New Mexico. Our mesas 
 and mountain gorges, and many portions of our valleys, are 
 most prolific in a variety of herbage suitable for all classes of 
 animals, but especially adapted to sheep, and during winter 
 
STOCK RAISING. 71 
 
 they afford a supply of pasturage so abundant that no additional 
 food is required. The animals can have access to a continuous 
 supply of good food and pure water during the winter, and by a 
 judicious management the only expense of rearing sheep and 
 cattle in this country is the hire of herders, which is compara- 
 tively a trifle. 
 
 The constant supply of proper food by which the secretory 
 powers are retained in full action and uninterrupted increase of 
 meat and fat in animals, and of growth of wool on sheep, is 
 promoted; while cases of constipation, and various diseases 
 frequently fatal in the states by reason of sudden changes of 
 food, are unknown here; there is scarcely a day in the year in 
 which cattle and sheep cannot find here sufficient food of a 
 proper kind to keep their digestive organs in a healthy con- 
 dition. The soil in our mountain regions is generally good, 
 and it is by no means uncommon to find it fertile and producing 
 araraa grass even to the tops of the mountains; and although 
 there are to be found considerable bodies of thin soil, yet even 
 are these more disposed to the production of grass than lands of 
 a better quality in the states. My experience, remarks Governor 
 Arny, for over thirty-five years in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and 
 Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico corroborate, what is well 
 known to all sheep raisers, that, when lands are freely pastured 
 by sheep, their capacity for producing grass is much assisted, as 
 by close grazing the more useless grasses, briars, etc., are sub- 
 dued, and the desirable descriptions allowed to strengthen their 
 hold; this, together with the tramping of the land and the 
 droppings of the sheep, induces a more prolific growth of good 
 grass. 
 
 << In my travels over a large expanse of country within the 
 limits of New Mexico and the eastern borders of Arizona," con- 
 tinues Governor Arny, <<I have found growing wild clover, and 
 several varieties of grass which indicate that they can be pro- 
 duced in this country by cultivation. It is only a question of 
 time and the construction of railroads when this country, in 
 addition to its native grasses, which may be greatly increased, 
 will have large meadows and pasture grounds of cultivated 
 grasses, and it has been for nearly forty years a favorite theory 
 of mine, confirmed by my practical observation, that so far as 
 the quality and relative coarseness and fineness of wool is con- 
 
BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 cerned, more depends upon the character of the grass than upon 
 any one other thing, except it may be the constant change of the 
 breeding animals. A stocI<: raiser may determine by a judicious 
 selection of his breed, and the character of the grass he allows 
 them to use for food, the quality and quantity of the wool his 
 flock of sheep will produce, and of course the quality of his wool 
 will regulate the price he will get in the market, and determine 
 the profit arising from the investment of his capital. This is 
 especially so in regard to sheep, but is also to a great extent 
 applicable to horses, cattle, goats and hogs." 
 
 Referring to Governor Amy's remark about wild clover, we 
 may mention that this excellent feed for animals is not only 
 found here wild, but when cultivated yields in exti-aordinary 
 abundance; and alfalfa, or Mexican clover, is raised throughout 
 the Territory, yielding in the southern portion as many as five 
 cuttings a season, and at the altitude of Santa Fe, near 7000 feet, 
 three and four cuttings are produced. Though alfiilfa is exten- 
 sively cultivated and sought after on the Pacific Coast, it is not 
 so here, owing to our extensive and superior pasturages, and is 
 in New Mexico cultivated as yet only in small patches for the 
 use of farm animals. 
 
 The report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
 for 1868, says of New Mexico: — 
 
 Grass abounds in every portion of this Territory, and even 
 in the forests grows luxuriantly the entire year. At great alti- 
 tudes this grass is in winter-time covered with snow, though 
 not deadened to the ground, for, as soon as the snow melts, it 
 affords excellent grazing upon the Tuesas (tablelands,) and through 
 the valleys grows the justly celebrated grama grass, which is 
 cured as it stands, afibrding abundant food for flocks and herds 
 throughout the winter. * * * * * * 
 
 The facilities and cheapness of raising sheep and goats, ap- 
 plies equally well to the raising of horses and cattle, and, when 
 fully protected from Indian depredations, and convenient trans- 
 portation is afforded to the markets of the east by the construc- 
 tion of railroads, the hills and mountains will be literally cov- 
 ered with flocks and herds. 
 
 No department connected with the breeding of domestic 
 animals in New Mexico has received so little attention as the 
 23roductio)i of first class horses. While we have in the Territory 
 
STOCK RAISING. 73 
 
 all kinds of horseflesh, and some very hardy and splendid rid- 
 ing animals, derived from California and the wild native ponies 
 of the country, ^^broncos'^ and '< mustangs," we have scarcely 
 any thorough bred or blood horses, and very little is known by 
 our farmers in regard to the improvement of our horses. 
 
 The <' native stock" of our cattle would be much improved 
 by the introduction for beef or the dairy of the short horn Dur- 
 hams, Ayrshire, Devons, Herefords, and Jersey or Channel 
 Island cattle. The short horns are generally the greatest favor- 
 ites for beef from their large size and early maturity, though 
 not making so fine beef as the Devons or Herefords. Those of 
 our people who wish to improve their stock of cattle would do 
 well to procure the several volumes of the American Herd Book, 
 and acquaint themselves with the best animals to improve our 
 native breeds. 
 
 A correspondent of the Santa Fe New Ifexican, writing re- 
 cently on the subject of sheep and sheep raising, states as follows 
 for the information of numerous persons in Colorado and east- 
 ern States, who had been writing out to New Mexico for reliable 
 data on the subject : — 
 
 " The best native ewes can be bought for two dollars a 
 head ii> greenbacks, and delivered to purchaser within 75 or 80 
 miles from here without additional charge. For a herd of 10,000 
 sheep, five herders are necessary, two of them should be mounted 
 by the owner of the herd, the others go on foot. The man in 
 charge of herd (mayordomo) gets about $40, the others from $8 
 to $11 and rations a month. The herd being always moving 
 from one watering or grazing place to another, seldom stopping 
 in the same camp two consecutive days, provisions in bulk (ex- 
 cept fresh meat for which sheep from the herd are used,) are 
 issued to the herders as often as convenient. The cost of one 
 month's rations for one man is about $7. Six jackasses to carry 
 the rations and camp outfit, which cost about $15 each, and the 
 necessary arms and ammunition are furnished by the owner 
 of the herd. An excellent breed of ''shepherd dog" is used 
 here. From 1st to 15th November, the bucks are put among 
 the ewes — then the number of herders should be incj eased 50 
 per cent, for two months, to prevent their running during this 
 the rutting season. From about the 15th of April to the last of 
 May, the lambing season, most important of all, herders should 
 
74 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 be increased to five for every one thousand head of ewes, or fifty 
 men for the herd, these extra herders to be kept about six weeks, 
 and are usually paid the same or possibly a little more per month 
 than the regular herders are, and can always be hired from the 
 settlements. About 1500 bucks are necessary for the 10,000 
 ewes; they cost about $1.25 to $1.50 a head. Some of our more 
 intelligent sheep owners are now bringing Cots wold and other 
 fine blooded bucks to improve the breed. Average increase in 
 live sheep at the end of the year from 75 to 80 per cent. Two 
 to three year old common Mexican mixed sheep, bucks and 
 ewes, yield an average of one and a-half pounds of wool a 
 year. This statement is made in a liberal spirit towards the 
 sheep raiser, so that he will find on coming here, that while all 
 the prices for cost and herding are full, the ratio of increase and 
 weight of fleece is estimated rather low. The tablelands and hill 
 sides are abundantly supplied with a variety of nutritive grasses, 
 which being cured by the operation of the climate, afford ex- 
 cellent pasturage throughout the year. The most valuable and 
 widely distributed of these is the grama grass, its peculiar value 
 consisting in its adaptation to all the requirements of an arid 
 climate. It grows during the rainy season and ripens a large 
 quantity of seed as the dry season approaches, while the leaf 
 and stem retain most of their nutritive qualities in drying, form- 
 ing superior feed for sheep during the entire season. The herds- 
 men and shepherds of New Mexico being thus furnished with 
 natural pasturage through the winter months, have a great ad- 
 vantage over the sheepraiser of the northern and southern states, 
 who are obliged to expend much of their time and labor in the 
 preparation of food to sustain their sheep during the winter 
 months, nor is any shelter necessary. The immense range 
 afforded by the extensive pastures of New Mexico has a very 
 beneficial effect on the health of sheep, the diseases common to 
 many localities are here almost unknown." 
 
 A verj^ large proportion of the present stock of sheep of New 
 Mexico are the descendants of the Spanish Merino of other 
 days. The ewes are small, weighing about 33 pounds average, 
 with coarse wool, but celebrated as remarkable breeders, hardy 
 and healthy the year round, and adapted to breed or cross with 
 the imported Cotswold and Merino bucks, as has been proven 
 by actual experiment during the past few years. The former 
 
STOCK RAISING. 75 
 
 are purchased in the Territory at an average price of $2 per 
 head for breeding purposes, in the months of August, September, 
 October and November. When bought with lamb running, or 
 pregnant, $1 per head extra is charged usually. Wethers, for mut- 
 ton 1* to 6 years old, mixed lots and ages, $1.25 to $1.75 per head; 
 imported Canada bucks, $30 each; Spanish ewes, purchased in 
 Chihuahua, and on Mexican soil, 400 to 600 miles distant, can 
 be had, duty (20 per cent.) paid, for $1.10 to $1.65 per head in 
 specie, including expense of driving, which must be done by 
 experienced parties. 
 
 Regarding cattle, large numbers of mixed grades are driven 
 yearly from Texas, following up the Pecos river, when reached, 
 to a point 120 to 200 miles from Santa Fe, where the stock is 
 rested and grazed, usually until the middle of, and sometimes 
 until after the rainy season, when, as a general thing, the herds 
 begin to move towards Colorado and a market. During the in- 
 terval of resting, the herds accumulate, and prices range as fol- 
 lows: yearlings, $5 to $7; twos, $9 to $11; threes and cows, $13 
 to $15; bullocks, 4 years old and upwards, $18 to $22. 
 
 We have mountain, valley and extensive rolling prairie lands 
 adapted for pastoral purposes. No hay, shelter or grain is pro- 
 vided for stock, yet we can boast of as fine, fat beef and mutton 
 as is pastoral-raised anywhere in the world. 
 
 The Cimarron News of this spring, in concluding an article 
 on sheep grazing in New Mexico, reinarks : 
 
 * * * < < In New Mexico the per centage of 
 
 increase being commonly measured simply by the productive 
 powers of the flocks. This brings us to say, that the preeminent 
 advantages which New Mexico offers to wool growers are fast 
 becoming known and appreciated. Within the last six months 
 a large number of enterprising men from California have come 
 here for the purpose of engaging in the sheep business, and 
 from them we learn that there will soon be a large immigration 
 from that quarter. The fact is the sheep ranges have become 
 almost exhausted in many portions of that state. By excessive 
 grazing the native grasses have been killed, while the price of 
 land has become so great as to very materially reduce the profits 
 of the business. In casting about for a new field of operations, 
 these men have decided upon New Mexico as being in all 
 respects superior to any other known region. The united testi- 
 
76 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 mony of those men who come here is, that the mild climate, the 
 excellence of the grasses, and the extended ranges which we pos- 
 sess, render this country the most desirable location in the United 
 States for their business. We may expect to see many large flocks of 
 fine sheep brought into this county during the coming season, 
 and we welcome them as valuable additions to the production of 
 the region. There is ample room for all who want to come. 
 From the mountains to the Texas border there is one continuous 
 and magnificent range, in any portion of which may be found 
 water, shelter and grass. There is no doubt that a few years 
 will see New Mexico the greatest wool producing state in the 
 Union, and the present influx of enterprising Ccilifornians, 
 having both capital and experience, will be an important factor 
 in the achievement of that important result." 
 
 METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, Etc. 
 
 The great wealth of New Mexico, in the precious, as well as 
 in many of the baser metals and stones, is every day becoming 
 more and more an admitted fact. All intelligent observers of 
 the mineral indications here concur in pronouncing them at 
 least equal to those found in any of the great mining regions of 
 the United States. '< Undoubtedly the latent and undeveloped 
 mining resources, the lodes and placers of this Territory," re- 
 ports the United States Surveyor General, < ' need but the appli - 
 cation of capital and machinery to render New Mexico, on their 
 account, the 2^eer of either of the states and territories famous for 
 their mineral deposits and coal fields." Hitherto the immense 
 mineral wealth of the Territory has been allowed to lie compara- 
 tively occult and dormant, for New Mexico has been allowed to 
 remain theleast known of the territories. Unlike some of her sisters, 
 whose public men and whose local press have presented them to 
 the world nolens volens, as the true El Dorado found at last, New 
 Mexico has not in like manner sought or received attention, 
 immigration and wealth. But now that the advent of railroads 
 is near, now that her traditional red enemy has gone to his res- 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 77 
 
 ervation, and now that the stream of emigration approaches, 
 her day of empire dawns. 
 
 As the Territory has been as yet but slightly prospected by 
 the searcher for mines, and as those found remain in almost 
 every instance undeveloped for want of capital and machinery, 
 its resources in this great element of material wealth are com- 
 paratively unknown, though they are not undoubted. Evidences 
 of mines worked in ancient times by the Spaniards, who are 
 said to have furnished from New Mexico large quantities of 
 gold and silver, are frequently found in different portions of the 
 Territory, and work been renewed upon them. We cannot 
 now refer in detail to all the mining districts in the Territory, 
 or the mines therein promising or yielding best, but we desire 
 to demonstrate from what we know and state, that mining in 
 New Mexico will ere long become a very prominent and import- 
 ant industry of the country. 
 
 The mines and placers and coal fields of the territory seem, 
 from the discoveries made and from the indications, to exist 
 scattered all over the country. Gold, silver, iron, quicksilver, 
 marble, coal, building stone and precious stones — indeed nearly 
 all the known metals and other productions of the ground, 
 which contribute to the use and pleasure and wealth of men — 
 appear to exist in New Mexico. 
 
 The Commissioner of the General Land Office in his annual 
 report for 1868, says of our mineral resources, that valuable min- 
 erals are found in every portion of New Mexico. In numerous 
 localities may now be seen shafts and drifts, the work of former 
 generations, and the only monuments left of their energy, 
 activity and industry, while the almost daily discovery of new 
 lodes of gold and stiver bearing quartz and auriferous placers indi- 
 cate that mining operations in the future will be as productive 
 as in the past. New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Southern 
 California present an area of productive soil and genial climate 
 that promises under the stimulus of railway communication to 
 attract and support a large industrial population. Both the 
 agricultural and mineral resources of these regions are on a 
 magnificent scale. 
 
 The present United States Surveyor General for New Mexico, 
 in a recently published letter to the General Land Office at 
 Washington, says of the Territory: I have travelled to Fort 
 
78 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 Bascom on the Canadian river near the Texan frontier, a round 
 trip of about three hundred and fifty miles, and to Fort Craig, 
 down the valley of the Rio Grande, another journey of about 
 the same extent. I made these trips mainly that I might learn 
 something of the characteristics of the district and its people 
 from personal observation. Including the route from the terri- 
 torial boundary near Trinidad, Colorado, to this city, my travels 
 in the district amount to above one thousand miles; and I am 
 satisfied that this Territory deserves better and more liberal 
 treatment than it has ever received; it appears to be misrepre- 
 sented^ and genercdly friendless and forlorn, but it has immense 
 LATENT RESOURCES. I beliove it has more gold, silver and cojyper 
 than Colorado or Nevada, and there are also vast quantities of 
 iron, lead, coal and other minerals, together with plenty of good 
 timber. It has a most salubrious, mild and equable climate, and 
 cannot be excelled for grazing purposes. All its fine valleys and 
 almost endless plains are feeding grounds, covered the year 
 through with nutritious grasses, and stock does not require to be 
 housed at any time, the winters are so mild and stormless. 
 Fruit, especially grapes, together with vegetables and grain, 
 flourishes in all the valleys and wherever the land can be irri- 
 gated. ' 
 
 The congressional appropriation of 1868 for a geological sur- 
 vey of Colorado and New Mexico being inadequate to secure a 
 thorough one, the work of the geologist was necessarily brief 
 and imperfect; yet in an examination of only a few days spent 
 in New Mexico (no portion of which was given to the west side 
 of the Rio Grande), he reports the following '^7?iine)xds of coni- 
 cial value, ^^ and the localities where observed: — 
 
 Iron Pyrites, Copper Pyrites — Mostly auriferous, widely dis- 
 tributed in veins over the flanks of the Rocky Mountains in 
 New Mexico, and in numerous lesser chains of granitic and 
 metamorphic rocks. 
 
 3IalacJiite, green vitriol, blue vitriol — Principally from decom- 
 positions of the above wlierever the ores have been exj^osed to 
 weathering. Widely distributed in veins over the flanks of the 
 Rocky Mountains in New Mexico, and in numerous lesser chains 
 of granitic and metamorphic rocks. 
 
 Zineblende, often argentiferous — Sandia, etc. 
 
 Oalena, often argentiferous — Maxwell's, near Mora. 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 
 
 79 
 
 Brittle Silver — Maxwell's, near Mora. 
 
 Fahlerz — Maxwell's, near Mora. 
 
 Specular Iron Ore — Real Dolores, near Ortiz mine. 
 
 Bed and Brotcn Hematite — Widely distributed; Old Placer, 
 etc. 
 
 Magnetic Fyritcs — New Placer. 
 
 Coal — Raton mountains, Maxwell's, Real Dolores, etc. 
 
 Cerussite — Maxwell' s. 
 
 Anglesite — Maxwell' s. 
 
 Native Gold — Arroyo Hondo, Moreno, Brahm Lode, New 
 Placer, etc. 
 
 Native Silver — Maxwell's. 
 
 Horn Silver — Maxwell's. 
 
 Titanic Iron Ore — Real Dolores. 
 
 Smithsonite — Sandia. 
 
 Silver Glance — Moreno, New and Old Placers. 
 
 Light and dark Buby Silver — Maxwell's. 
 
 Spathic and Ilicacious Iron Ores — Real Dolores. 
 
 Turquoise — Cerrillos, between Santa Fe and San Lazaro 
 mountains. 
 
 The valuable ores abound, continues the geologist, almost 
 everywhere in the granite and gneiss of the Rock.y Mountains, 
 and the economic question is not to find the material, but the 
 capital and labor with ivhieh to work. That the country over 
 which these investigations were made is replete with those 
 minerals which by their decomposition are found by experience 
 to most enrich the soil, as it is with the before-mentioned 
 minerals of commercial value. 
 
 Gold is known to exist in over fifty different localities in the 
 Territory. It and silver must have been known and extensively 
 mined by the Aztecs, as the presence of their old ruins is said 
 to be an almost unfailing indication of mines. The Spaniards 
 mined gold, silver, and copper in this region, and Jesuit priests 
 more thoroughly prospected it than it has been since. They 
 reported at all points great riches, and the existence of all the 
 precious metals. At the Placer Mountain, the Old and New 
 Placer, quartz lodes have been opened since the war. 
 
 At Moreno mines, at Ute Creek, and other tributaries of the 
 Cimarron and Red river, large deposits of gold have been dis- 
 covered and worked. The Commissioner of the General Land 
 
80 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 Office, in his report of 1868, says of the Aztec mine at Cimarron: 
 
 There lias recently been received at this office a specimen of 
 ore, consisting of a silicious deposit of exceedingly loose texture, 
 through which are interspersed fibers of pure gold, some of 
 which exceed two inches in length. It is claimed that an assay 
 made at the Denver mint of a specimen of this ore, in which no 
 gold was visible to the eye, yielded at the rate of $19,000 to the 
 ton. The locality in which this specimen was obtained is on the 
 headwaters of the creek, a branch of Cimarron river, and the 
 existence of the deposit was hitherto unsuspected. 
 
 The gold found in the gulches is shot-gold mostly. The 
 specimens from the lodes are rich quartz, and the gold can be 
 distinguished with the naked eye. This whole section is 
 evidently abounding in gold. 
 
 At Pinos Altos, quartz gold-mining has received considerable 
 attention. Thirty lodes were discovered, paying from forty to 
 two hundred dollars per ton. In this district two years ago 
 thirty lodes of gold quartz were worked, ten of silver or a 
 combination of silver and gold, and three of copper. There have 
 been picked up in one day in a gulch at Pinos Altos ores of gold, 
 silver, lead, zinc, magnetic iron, and plumbago. The number 
 of mines now worked there has largely increased. 
 
 Twenty seven miles from the City of Santa Fe is the Real de 
 Dolores or old Placer, discovered in the year 1833, and from that 
 up to 1840 it contained a i^opulation varying from 2000 to 3000 
 persons, the most of whom were engaged in washing out gold, 
 laboring under great disadvantage on account of the scarcity of 
 water, it being necessary to carry the dirt to the water, a dis- 
 tance of nearly two miles, or pack water in kegs and barrels to 
 the dirt; there were at one time some dozen or more stores 
 there with merchandise; the amount of gold taken out by this 
 rude process is variously estimated from $300,000 to $500,000 
 yearly. Many rich gold-bearing quartz lodes were discovered, 
 but owing to the want of water and proper machinery were not 
 worked to any extent. 
 
 The Ileal de San Francisco, ten miles south of Ileal de 
 Dolores, was discovered in 1840, and was considered much richer 
 than that of Dolores, and was worked about six years, the miners 
 laboring under the same difficulties as to water, as occurred at the 
 Dolores; there were over 5,000 people at this place at one time. 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 81 
 
 and it is stated by reliable parties who were there at the time 
 engaged in trading, mining etc., that the diggings yielded 
 upward of a half million of dollars yearly, the gold being of the 
 finest quality. 
 
 Thousands of persons could here find profitable employment, 
 with a sufliciency of water, and millions of dollars uncovered. 
 A very large proportion of the earth of these placers was never 
 touched or worked. The bulk of these placers are private 
 property, covered by confirmed and surveyed grants, and invite 
 the attention of capitalists, who must some day reap large paying 
 results, and give employment to large numbers of miners. 
 
 At the commencement of the war a placer had been discovered 
 in the Jicarilla mountains in Lincoln county, where some 300 
 miners, chiefly Mexicans, were at work, and doing well. Other 
 companies were about to commence operations on the silver 
 lodes of the Organ mountains. The Stephenson company had 
 shipped a lot of machinery and material to work extensively the 
 Stephenson silver mines. These reached their destination the 
 very week hostilities commenced on the frontier. The mine, 
 now called the San Agustin, is being worked. 
 
 In 18fi2 a large number of persons entered the San Juan 
 region on account of the gold excitement. They built a town on 
 the E,io de las Animas, and named it Las Animas, which they 
 were compelled to abandon, the houses now remaining unoccu- 
 pied, unless, as is probable, the town is lately reestablished. 
 Many of them returned to the settlements in a starving con- 
 dition, although gold and silver was found in the mountains, 
 and on all the streams tributary to the San Juan river. The 
 mineral wealth of the San Juan country is again attracting 
 attention, and that region is now rapidly filling with miners and 
 settlers. 
 
 The mining district near the Mesilla valley, in the Organ 
 mountains, has a mean altitude of 4,400 feet, and is intersected 
 with ravines, affording most favorable opportunities for hori- 
 zontal drifts in opening the veins. There is a belt or seiies of 
 veins containing six principal veins, varying from two to fifteen 
 feet in width. On the largest of these veins is the celebrated 
 San Agustin mine. This belt of veins crosses the Organ 
 mountain at or near the San Agustin pass, and both sides of the 
 chain of mountains present similar features and equal richness. 
 
 6 
 
82 BKEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 The celebrated mine just mentioned was formerly known as the 
 Stephenson silver mine, and the claimants of it under this name 
 are now in litigation with those who during the war "denounced" 
 it, and now claim it under the name San Agustin. The whole 
 Organ mountains are extremely rich in silver. Over fifty mines 
 have been discovered therein, the ore being generally argentif- 
 erous galena, admitting of simple reduction by smelting, the 
 mines paying from $40 to $200 per ton. 
 
 The country bordering on the north portion of Chihuahua is 
 a rich silver district. Just over our line are the mines of 
 " Corralitos," the most successful mines in the state of Chihua- 
 hua. They have been mined for nearly fifty years. Their 
 productiveness has overcome all obstacles, and the mines have 
 employed annually several hundred hands. 
 
 Near the old town of El Paso tradition places the locality of one 
 of the richest silver mines of those formerly known to the Span- 
 iards. Its site had been lost since the expulsion of the Jesuits 
 until last year. It is said that the Jesuits of Northern Mexico 
 were the last to suff'er the decree of expulsion, and had sufiicient 
 notice of the edict, and carefully covered up the traces of the 
 mining there. In this way the localities of many of the richest 
 mines of New Mexico have been lost. As the section in which 
 this remarkable old mine is situated is a portion of the mineral- 
 bearing mountain system of New Mexico, we will here give a 
 condensed account of the mine and its history. The locality 
 and history of the mine, called the 3Iina del Padre^ having been 
 gathered from the old church records at El Paso, several gen- 
 tlemen there determined to re-open it, which they did in the 
 winter of 1872-'3. The year 1680 was the year the mine was 
 discovered by the monks of the order of Saint Francis, in charge 
 of the church at El Paso; the same year the Spaniards under 
 Governor and Captain General Otermin were all expelled from 
 New Mexico by the Pueblo Indians. Skilled in the science of 
 mineralogy, they were not slow to discover the extraordinary 
 richness of the Padre vein, and their knowledge of the art of 
 metallurgy enabled them to work it very profitably for many 
 years. From the silver obtained from this mine, naost of the 
 churches in northern Chihuahua were enriched and endowed. 
 The Jesuits were never friendly to the Franciscans, and when 
 in the early part of the eighteenth century, the order of Jesuits 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPBINGS, ETC. 83 
 
 obtained complete control in Spain, it was not long ere the bare- 
 footed Franciscans were ordered to depart from Mexico, and 
 surrender tlieir rich possessions to the dominant Jesuits. When 
 information of the coming change reached the monks at El Paso, 
 they quietly covered the mine, and obliterated as near as pos- 
 sible all traces of its existence. Years passed on, the Jesuits, if 
 they had learned the secret of the silver treasure, never availed 
 themselves of it. In 1792 the mine was again opened, and 
 worked for several years by a company of Mexican gentlemen. 
 The works for the reduction of the ores were situated near the 
 river banks of the Rio del Norte or Rio Grande. The revolution 
 of 1810, followed by the declaration and establishment of Mexican 
 independence, again interrupted the working of the mine, and 
 it was a second time iiUed up and abandoned, and so remained 
 until the late re-discovery and re-opening. Tiiis was done at 
 considerable trouble and expense. A shaft was sunk ninety feet 
 through the material which had been used to fill up the mine, 
 and which, from lapse of time, had become almost as firmly 
 cemented together as the original soil. Although the main lode 
 is not yet reached, the ores that have been taken out during 
 the progress of excavation prove to be unusually rich. Soon 
 after it was opened a gentleman arrived upon the ground who 
 had come from California expressly to search for this very mine, 
 having obtained there some clue to its value and its locality. 
 He was not aware that similar data had been obtained at El 
 Paso, and he was Just in time to be too lace. The mine is situ- 
 ated dt the southern point of the Organ mountains, here about 
 lj500 feet high, two and a half miles from the City of El Paso, 
 and is a lode or vein of black chloride of silver, containing 
 sulphurets, the out cropping about forty feet wide. This im- 
 mense lode, or vein, runs north and south, dipping to the west 
 at an angle of 45°. The silver lode lays in a bed of old red sand- 
 stone, and the overlying face rock is igneous, with traces of iron 
 in it. There can be no doubt that this lode is extremely rich, 
 and immensely valuable. 
 
 West from the Mesilla Valley, the principal towns in which 
 are Mesilla, Las Cruces and Dona Ana, is the new and very 
 flourishing mining town of Silver City. The mines were dis- 
 covered in the locality in the spring of 1870; and since then 
 Silver City has been founded, and now has a population of nearly 
 
84 BBEVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 fifteen hundred, the town containing, besides miners and mining 
 establishments, lawyers, physicians, preachers, editors and so 
 forth, and churches, schoolhouses, printing offices and mercan- 
 tile houses; some of the most handsome brick dwellings too, be- 
 ing found there. Most of the mines opened and worked in that 
 section well sustain their reputation. Governor Arny, two years 
 ago, obtained specimens from upwards of sixty different mines 
 and lodes in that section. On the Mirabres river, in the same 
 section of country, or near that stream, is an extensive gold 
 placer, which was formerly worked by the Mexicans in a very 
 rude fashion, and yielded well, though they had to carry the 
 dirt to the water; whether worked or not we are not 
 aware. A canal to convey water a few miles in length at 
 this point, would develop an extraordinarily rich gold deposit. 
 
 On the headquarters of the Rio Gila, in New Mexico, and on 
 its tributary, the Bio San Francisco, in Arizona, discoveries of 
 gold, silver, copper and quicksilver have been made; the gold 
 prospecting in the bed of the stream from one cent to one hun- 
 dred cents to the washing pan. It was in this region where the 
 Indians procured the gold to make the bullets which the explo- 
 rer Aubrey, twenty years ago, found in use among the wild 
 Apaches there.* Placers of gold are found throughout the moun- 
 tains along those streams; but for the present the lack of water 
 necessarily renders them unavailing, comparatively. 
 
 Accessible to the Rio Grande, south of Alburquerque, lying 
 in the mountain ranges which bound the valley on either side, 
 for nearly its entire length, are extensive deposits of mineral 
 wealth, waiting for the capital, skill and labor to develop them. 
 This development, but just started, will begin in earnest as soon 
 as the railroad reaches Alburquerque, but will be greatly accel- 
 erated by the construction of the proposed branch down this 
 valley to El Paso and on to Chihuahua. These may be briefly 
 itemized as follows: 
 
 1. In the range east of the Rio Grande, known in different 
 parts of its course as the Manzano, Jicarilla and Organ moun- 
 
 * In his report of meeting the Indians with golden bullets, Mr. Aubrey says: 
 " They are of different sizes, and each Indian has a pouch of them. We saw an 
 Indian load his gun with one large and three small gold bullets to shoot a rab- 
 bit. They proposed exchanging them for lead, but I preferred trading other 
 articles. 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 
 
 85 
 
 tains, but called generally in connection with the Sandia moun- 
 tain, the "Organ Range," are found veins of silver and copper 
 (many of which were formerly worked by the Spaniards,) 
 almost wherever it has been explored. This range lies from 18 
 to 25 miles from the river. 
 
 2. On the same side of the Rio Grande, north of Fort Craig, 
 occur the excellent coal mines of Don Pedro, and veins of 
 copper, galena and iron ore. 
 
 3. On the east side of the river is a range formed of spurs 
 from the Sierra Madre, which are called at different points, the 
 Mimbres, Magdalena, Ladrones, San Mateo, and (north of 
 Alburquerque) the Jemez and Abiquia mountains. In this 
 range, whose north and south extent is over 250 miles, rich lodes 
 of copper are numerous. It is found at certain localities almost 
 in a pure state, and at others combined with gold and silver. 
 There are two copper mines at Jemez— one large, of virgin ore, 
 and heretofore extensively worked. There is a large mine in 
 the Magdalena mountain, west of Socorro, of copper, with a 
 large percentage of silver, new developments of which within 
 the last several months are exceedingly promising. Recently 
 also, within the Magdalena mountain section, mines of other 
 metals have been discovered, and some of them opened and 
 worked, and the reports from them show that they are valuable, 
 and that Spring Hill mining district, embracing them, will, 
 in due time, become one of the most productive in the Terri- 
 tory. 
 
 Upon, or accessible to the surveyed route of the 35th parallel 
 railway, west of the Rio Grande, there are, 
 
 1. The deposits of coal in the valleys of the Puerco, the 
 Rito, the Jemez, and north of the San Mateo mountain. 
 
 2. A fine marble quarry, on the Rio Salado, a branch of 
 the Jemez, about 25 miles west of the Rio Grande. Mr. Hol- 
 brook, civil engineer, reports the quality equal to that of the cele- 
 brated Rutland quarries, and that the deposit is very large and 
 accessible. "Large quantities of gypsum were seen near this 
 point, and also on the Jemez, south of the junction of the 
 Salado, where our party saw more marble." 
 
 3. Near Jemez, about 30 miles Avest of the Rio Grande, was 
 recently found serpentine of great beauty, easily quarried, in any 
 sized blocks. 
 
86 bkevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 4. Very extensive beds of gypsum immediately adjoin the 
 railroad survey line near Rito, 40 miles west of Alburquerque. 
 They are reported by the geologist to be of a very pure quality, 
 lying in regular strata, presenting a continuous bluff 80 to 100 
 feet thick. They are amorphous and fibrous. The value of this 
 material in its crude form as a fertilizer is well known, and may 
 eventually give rise to an extensive demand for distant transporta- 
 tion. In other respects it will prove valuable in a prepared form, 
 and can be extensively used in different processes of building, 
 and in various other forms. 
 
 Saltpeter is common, but is rarely found pure. At one place 
 near the international boundary line, it is found pure, near a 
 spring where extensive deposits are made upon the clay, whence 
 it is gathered in considerable quantities, mainly by the Mexicans 
 Jrom the city of Chihuahua, the locality being just within the 
 Mexican territory. The state government of Chihuahua regu- 
 lates by law its collection, and, in like manner attempts the pro- 
 hibition of its exportation. 
 
 In New Mexico plumbago has been found in many localities. 
 Zinc is found in the Sierra Madre, in the Sandia mountain and 
 in the San Juan country. We do not remember to have heard 
 of it elsewhere. Quicksilver, virgin and cinnabar, is found in 
 the Rio Grande country, below the Taos mountain pass. Old 
 Spanish records mention the Mogollon mountain as <<the place 
 where cinnabar is found." 
 
 The deposits of iron ore are numerous, extending from the 
 Raton mountains to the Placer and Sandia mountains, overlooking 
 the Rio Grande. It is found of excellent quality near Las 
 Vegas, where we traced two veins, one of magnetic oxide, 4 
 feet thick and very rich, and the other of specular iron ore, also 
 rich, and 6 feet in thickness; at the Placer mines, south of 
 Santa F6, where are three veins, 6 to 10 feet thick, of rich mag- 
 netic iron ore ; also, on the Maxwell grant; in the Apache 
 Hills, north of Fort Union; and near Jemez. 
 
 Many of these deposits being quite near to coal and limestone, 
 their value is greatly enhanced for manufacturing purposes. 
 Such is the case in the Raton mountain, at the Placer mountains, 
 and with those at Maxwell's. At the Placer mountains, south 
 of Santa Fe, there is sufficient timber within a radius of 10 miles 
 from the Tuerto ore, to smelt a half million of tons — even if the 
 coal should not answer. 
 
METATiS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 87 
 
 Gold, silver, copper, lead, gypsum, china clay and salt have 
 been developed in great abundance between the Arkansas and 
 the Rio Grande, in the Rocky mountains, and their foot hills. 
 The localities may be briefly named: 
 
 Placer and quartz gold at the Moreno mines, 18 miles from 
 Maxwell's — where about 2,000 miners are at work. 
 
 Also, at the Placer mountains, south of Santa Fe, which have 
 been worked a long time, and are very rich. From the placers 
 there at least $1,000,000 has been taken. Here the New Mex- 
 ican Mining Company have 40 stamps at work, and expect to 
 take out $200,000 in gold the coming year. The number of pro- 
 ductive veins in this Placer mountain district is extraordinary — 
 20 having been shafted upon in the San Lazaro mountain alone. 
 These mines alone will furnish a heavy traffic to a railroad, and 
 attract a large population, but they comprise only one of the 
 numerous similar localities in New Mexico. 
 
 Gold bearing quartz is also found in the Sandia mountain, 
 where Captain Colton visited two veins near Tejon. And gold 
 dust is reported in nearly all the arroyos near this mountain. 
 
 At the base of all the Placer mountains the drift is impreg- 
 nated with gold, and it is proposed to lead water from the Pecos 
 river, 68 miles distant, by a ditch, at an estimate cost of $250,000, 
 for the purpose of washing it, for which a company has been 
 formed. 
 
 Gold is found in the range east of the Rio Grande, in New 
 Mexico, to a large extent — for 100 miles south of Santa Fe, and 
 northward for 120 miles to Sangre de Cristo. 
 
 Silver and Lead. — The Sandia range, 18 to 25 miles from the 
 Rio Grande, which it adjoins on the east, is the great repository 
 of argentifierous galena in New Mexico, and its mines have been 
 extensively worked in former times by the Spaniards — using 
 the Pueblo Indians as slaves. 
 
 Captain Colton and Dr. Bell visited a number of mines in 
 this district, and report them apparently rich, as also the veins 
 of argentiferous galena in the Placer mountains. Both are de- 
 scribed in detail in Captain Colton's report. The Sandia moun- 
 tains are the great << Organ range" of New Mexico, which ex 
 tend from the Galisteo southward for over 200 miles, and in 
 which are found throughout lodes of silver and copper, many of 
 
BBEVOORT's new MEXICO. 
 
 which were worked by the old Spaniards before the Pueblo In- 
 dians rose and drove them out, two hundred years ago, filling 
 up these mines. 
 
 Silver lead is also found in the Moreno mining district, near 
 Cimarron, on Maxwell's grant, and in Turkey Mountain, north 
 of Fort Union, but has not been developed as yet in either 
 locality. 
 
 The beds of auriferous copper ore on the surveyed railroad 
 route, which are very numerous and rich, will probably be found 
 to furnish the most profitable business of all to a railroad. Many 
 of these ores in the Placer mountain district will bear a freight 
 charge of $50 dollars per ton, and yield a handsome profit to the 
 miner and smelter. This would pay 6 cents per ton per mile 
 to Kansas City. For some time, until labor becomes cheaper, 
 and capital more abundant, it is probable that a large amount of 
 these, as well as of the silver ores, will be transported to the 
 Missouri or Mississippi — there to be smelted — especially as the 
 road can atford for several years, while the process of building 
 up this country is going rapidly on, to carry ores as return freight, 
 at a very low charge. They must eventually all be reduced 
 here where coal abounds. 
 
 These copper ores are found in the Cimarron district; in 
 Turkey mountain, north of Fort Union; and on the Sandia moun- 
 tains, adjoining the Rio Grande; along the whole extent of the 
 Organ range; and in abundance in the Placer mountains, south 
 of Santa Fe, where we visited several good veins, one of which 
 was over 20 feet thick, and reported to contain from 15 to 26 per 
 cent, of copper, and also to be rich in gold. 
 
 On the San Ysidro mountain, in this district, there are 
 numerous lodes of copper, as well as silver and gold, which 
 were worked many years ago — before the memory of the old- 
 est inhabitant. The ruins ^of numerous furnaces and arastras 
 are to be seen. 
 
 On a rich vein, recently opened in Tijeras Cailon, on the San- 
 dia mountain, one mile from the town of Tijeras, and close to 
 the railway surveyed line (east of the Rio Grande,) the shaft has 
 been sunk about 200 feet — the vein being 3 feet thick, and im- 
 proving as the mine deepens. A large quantity of good ore had 
 been taken out, and a smelting furnace was erected close by. 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPKINGS, ETC. 89 
 
 There are good veins of very pure China clay in the Placer 
 mountains; and gypsum, which the Mexicans use as plaster, for 
 window lights, etc. , is very abundant along the route from the 
 Purgatory valley, to and into the Sandia mountains, where, at 
 the towns Tejon and Una de Gato, quite a business is carried 
 on by the people, who make plaster and sell it at Santa Fe, and 
 along the Rio Grande, for $1 per bushel. It may be expected to 
 furnish a considerable local business. Near Tejon, Captain Col- 
 ton rode over an extensive bed of gypsum, crystalline and 
 opaque, which was three miles long, 300 yards wide, and 10 feet 
 deep, and on Tecolote creek it was equally abundant. 
 
 On the great plateau of the Rocky Mountains, southwest of 
 Canon Blanco summit, are the Salinas, which furnish an un- 
 limited quantity of good salt. A large part of New Mexico is 
 supplied from here, it being wagoned to Santa Fe, Las Vegas, 
 to the towns along the Rio Grande, and even to Chihuahua. 
 The only cost is that of transportation. It occurs in quantity in 
 many places in New Mexico, often mixed with alkali — and also 
 pure in lakes. One vein is in the neighborhood of Fort Stanton. 
 The evaporation in the salt lakes makes an annual deposit of salt 
 several inches in thickness^ coarse, strong, and of the best quality. 
 It has often been taken to the city of Chihuahua for sale, as the 
 salt of that state is inferior, being mixed with alkali. The 
 principal lakes are in the valley between the Organ and Sacra- 
 mento mountains; one lake on the Texas line, and the best one 
 sixty miles northward, and another large and excellent one about 
 sixty miles south of Santa Fe, nearthe town of Manzano, whence 
 many wagon loads are regularly carried to Santa Fe and other 
 distant points, the article forming quite a commodity of interior 
 commerce. 
 
 Coal is very abundant in numerous localities in New Mexico, 
 and will furnish a heavy traffic for the supply of the timberless 
 districts of the plains, and the mines and mills in the moun- 
 tains — the latter trade being in proportion to the extent of the 
 development of the mines of precious ores, and those of cop- 
 per, lead, iron, and so on. 
 
 Deposits of coal are known to extend as far west as the Moqui 
 villages, more than 300 miles from Alburquerque, where Dr* 
 Newberry saw a bed 12 feet thick. 
 
90 bbevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 The most westerly deposit reported by Dr. Parry was on the 
 Zuili Pass line, 15 miles east of the Indian pueblo or town of 
 Zuni, where he saw a bed 4 feet thick, near Pescado Springs, at 
 a good elevation in the bluffs for mining, and to all appearances 
 sufficiently extensive to be valuable: in quality rather slaty at 
 outcrop, but likely to improve as opened. There were also 
 other beds, the outcrop showing along the bluff for several miles. 
 This is 140 miles west of the Rio Grande at Alburquerque. 
 
 In the Sarcino Cailon, about 30 miles west of the Rio Grande, 
 and within 3 miles of the surveyed line on the Rito, are three 
 distinct seams of coal, averaging 3 to 4 feet in thickness; one of 
 these is 4 feet thick, and apparently without any included slate 
 veins. It dips about 40°, and the quality is not very good at the 
 outcrop, but it may improve at greater depth. The extent of 
 the deposit remains to be proven, but as we hear of coal existing 
 north, south and west of this locality at intervals over long dis- 
 tances, there is a reasonable prospect of finding an abundance of 
 fair coal. 
 
 Dr. Parry found near Acoma, 60 miles from the Rio Grande, 
 west from Alburquerque, cannel coal in veins as thick as 20 inches^ 
 which the Indians use for jet ornaments, and very good coal at 
 San Jose, 7 miles west of Cubero, in three veins, of which the 
 total thickness was three feet — the thickest seam being 20 
 inches. 
 
 On the San Felipe line, near Gavilan Pass, 20 miles from the 
 town of EI Rito, is found a good vein of coal of workable thick- 
 ness. And on the same line, near San Pedro, on the divide 
 between the Puerco and the Jemez, was seen a vein of fine can- 
 nel coal, two feet thick, and nearly everywhere indications of 
 an abundance of cannel coal; this was 60 miles west of the Rio 
 Grande. We were informed of numerous veins of coal, two to 
 four feet thick, and covering an area of 40 miles, existing at 
 Agua Azul, but did not see them. Dr. Wizlezenus saw coal 
 near the village of Jemez. Good coal is found immediately 
 west of the Sierra Madre, near Fort Defiance, and is reported to 
 extend to within a few miles of Campbell's Pass. 
 
 The proposed railway via San Felipe, north of San Mateo 
 mountain, will probably lie nearer to extensive deposits of good 
 coal than those further south. Several localities of coal, in thick 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 91 
 
 beds, are reported in that country, between Jeniez and the 
 Sierra Madre; and Simpson saw coal in the Canon de Chaco, 
 near the 36th parallel, almost due north of San Mateo. 
 
 The occurrence of anthracite coal in workable beds in the 
 western territories, near the gold and silver mining districts, is 
 of such importance that a reference to the anthracite coal beds 
 between the Old Placer mountains and the Cerrillos in Santa Fe 
 county, occurring as they do in connection with carbonate of 
 iron and hematite, and having numerous veins of rich magnetic 
 iron ore within a few miles of them, cannot fail to command 
 the attention of the intelligent reader. The outcroppings of 
 coal in the district referred to were first exposed in the center 
 of the little branches that run into the Galisteo. The first one 
 is about four miles south of the Galisteo. The following 
 section of the strata was taken ascending: 
 
 1. Laminated clay, with thin seams of sand passing up into 
 carbonaceous clay as a floor for coal. 
 
 2. Anthracite, 5 to 6 feet. 
 
 3. Drab clay, indurated, 15 to 29 feet. 
 
 4. Ferruginous sandstone, passing up into a light grayish 
 sandstone 30 to 50 feet. 
 
 The mine is opened by a tunnel 90 feet in length; the dip is 
 15° to the east; this coal contains 88 per cent, of fixed carbon. 
 In another locality the coal is opened by three tunnels, two 
 twenty-five feet long, and one forty feet long, and has a thick- 
 ness of four feet of anthracite. The coal from this mine con- 
 tains 87 per cent, of fixed carbon, and when burning shows only 
 the short, blue flame of carbonic oxide. This coal has been in 
 use in driving the engine of the New Mexico Mining Company's 
 stamp mill in the vicinity. A hundred pounds brought to Santa 
 Fe was used by Professor Bruckner in his assaying furnace, in 
 order to test the heating power practically. He found that a 
 white heat was reached in a very short time, and that this heat 
 lasted about three times as long as that produced by an equal 
 weight of charcoal. As the material does not coke in the least, 
 it is evident from this test that it is perfectly adapted to use in 
 blast furnaces, though it will require a higher pressure of blast 
 on account of its density, than charcoal or coke. As far as its 
 application for all practical purposes is concerned, it is undoubt- 
 
92 brevoobt's new Mexico. 
 
 ediy fully equal to Pennsylvania anthracite, and really the best 
 fuel discovered so far in the West. 
 
 Between these two mines exists a bed of excellent fire-clay. 
 It has been thoroughly tested, and proved to be fully adapted as 
 fire-proof material for furnaces. 
 
 Coal banks have been opened at a number of points to the 
 north of the above mines, and the proof is conclusive that it ex- 
 ists in large quantities. Between the clay and the following 
 sandstone stratum, beds of iron ore are found. Both carbonate 
 and hematite are present. Ores of this kind, as well as veins 
 of magnetic iron of great purity, abound in this vicinity. 
 
 The existence of mines of gold and silver, of lead, zinc, 
 copper and antimony, and of the different ores of iron, in almost 
 immediate connection with deposits of anthracite coal, and fire- 
 proof material, indicates at once the valleys of the Galisteo and 
 Santa Fe, as points which have all the natural requirements to 
 guarantee the erection upon a large scale of metallurgical works 
 and machine shops for railroads, etc. 
 
 Other coal beds have been found in the county of Santa Fe, 
 mainly upon the Santa Fe, the Tesuque, and the Galisteo 
 streams. 
 
 In the Tijeras canon, in Bernalillo county, a mile and a half 
 above the town of Tijeras, a vein of bituminous coal four and 
 a-half feet thick, was seen and traced by sinking shafts along the 
 vein for a distance of two thousand feet, by the engineer of the 
 railroad survey. 
 
 In the Pecos valley coal has been found in various localities, 
 and also in the Gallinas valley, in San Miguel county. There 
 is a fine bed of it five miles above the town of Anton Chico, on 
 the Pecos, and another on the eastern slope of the Chupaines 
 mountain, near the town of Las Vegas, on the Gallinas. 
 
 In the Cimarron section a large vein of coal, fourteen feet 
 thick, is reported on Rabbit Ear Creek, four miles below the 
 wagon road ford. 
 
 Accessible to the Rio Grande valley, from the mouth of the 
 Galisteo southward to El Paso, a large amount of coal is found. 
 The following are the localities reported, of which tliose on the 
 Puerco, in Tijeras caiion, and near Don Pedro, are the only ones 
 that have been actually examined. 
 
METALS AND MINING, HQT SPRINGS, ETC. 93 
 
 1st. Near San Felipe, thickness and quality reported good. 
 2d. Six miles east of Algodones, reported very good. 
 3d. In Tijeras caiion, already referred to, 4J feet thick, qual- 
 ity at outcrop not very good; expected to improve when opened. 
 
 4th. West of Los Lunas on the Puerco, of fair quality — has 
 been used in government shops. 
 
 5th. Near La Joya, on east side of river. 
 
 6th. In the Sierra Magdalena, west of Socorro. 
 
 7th. North of Fort Craig, 8 miles east of Don Pedro, vein 5i 
 feet thick. Dr. Leconte, geologist, examined this bed, and 
 reports it of good quality, and that it may be worked for many 
 years. 
 
 8th. In the Caballo mountains, on east side, below Craig. 
 
 9th. At Robledo. 
 
 10th. Abundantly near Doiia Ana and Mesilla, on both sides 
 of Rio Grande, 3 feet thick of good bituminous coal. 
 
 In reference to the proposed railroad branch from Albur- 
 querque to EI Paso and Chihuahua, these deposits along the Rio 
 Grande assume great imijortance. They will furnish a large 
 traffic to the road, besides enabling it to be operated cheaply. 
 They are also invaluable to the mines of silver, gold, copper, lead 
 and iron, which line both sides of the Rio Grande almosc continu- 
 ously, enabling these ores to be cheaply produced and smelted,- 
 and they will furnish fuel to the large agricultural population 
 which will before long fill up this unwooded valley. 
 
 Coal and iron are generally associated, that is to say, the 
 widely spread ores of iron are generally found in connection 
 with workable coal beds, and their value depends much upon 
 this connection. Recent extended examinations show that the 
 largest and most valuable of the recent coal deposits are connec- 
 ted with the tertiary strata, such being the formation in which 
 the thick beds of carbonaceous deposits are met with along the 
 eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, extending from the 
 vicinity of Long's Peak, to the western tributaries of the Ar- 
 kansas in Colorado, and the Cimarron, the Canadian and the Pecos 
 in New Mexico. But besides these well determined beds, so 
 conveniently located for railroad purposes, we meet with other 
 deposits in the valley of the Rio Grande, the Puerco of the 
 
94 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 west, the San Jose and Ojo Pescado, shoioing an extension of the 
 coal deposits fully two hundred miles west of the Rio Grande. The 
 precise character of these deposits is not yet fully determined; 
 most of the beds here exposed consist of thin irregular seams, 
 widening out at points to a workable thickness, and at other 
 times associatated with igneous protrusions that have converted 
 them into anthracite. The most promising of these beds are 
 those connected with the Puerco coal basin; they present a suc- 
 cession of beds from two to five feet in thickness, generally 
 steeply inclined and associated with shales and sandstones, con- 
 taining frequent bands of iron ore. To determine satisfactorily 
 the precise character and actual value of these deposits would 
 require detailed examinations and extensive excavations, which 
 can be more advantageously effected in the process of railroad 
 construction. In the meantime the large extent of country 
 over which these deposits are found, warrants a reasonable 
 expectation, that when thoroughly examined, the coal product 
 of this section will be ample to meet the requirements of rail- 
 road fuel, and also afford freighting material for transportation 
 to destitute districts. 
 
 Other crude material connected with the work of economical 
 railroad construction, such as huilding-stone, lime, cement, 
 gypsum, clay, etc., are located along the surveyed line of the 
 road at such distances that they can be conveniently employed 
 in processes of first construction and repairs, and also afford 
 material for transportation. In this class is especially noticeable 
 the superior quality and great abundance of rock, suitable for 
 buildings or heavy masonry, which in different varieties of 
 texture and composition adapt them to a great variety of special 
 uses. 
 
 In general terms it would be safe to assert as the result of 
 observations over this entire mineral region, extending from the 
 eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, that the 
 proper railroad facilities comprise all that is necessary to induce 
 capital and labor to enter into this new field of mining industry, 
 and develop to the fullest extent its productive resources. 
 
 Enough has been shown in the foregoing to prove that a 
 large amount of good coal is found between the Arkansas river 
 and the Pacific, sufficient not only to answer all the purposes of 
 a trans-continental railroad, and the resident mining, manufac- 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 95 
 
 turiiig and farming population, but to furnish a large traffic for 
 transportation to less favored districts. 
 
 The cotil trade will, in all likelihood, be one of the largest 
 sources of business such a road will have. It remains to be 
 ascertained whether the varieties found are as well adapted to 
 the reduction of iron, as they undoubtedly are to locomotive use. 
 If so, the supplies at Cafion City, on the Vermejo, in Colorado, 
 and near the Placer mountains, and along the Eio Grande, in 
 New Mexico, will prove of the greatest value, in consequence of 
 their occurring in connection with rich beds of iron ore, and 
 close to limestone. And, before long, we may expect this 
 country to be filled with furnaces and rolling mills like the 
 rugged mountains of Wales. 
 
 Mineral, and warm and hot springs are met with in almost 
 every portion of New Mexico. We shall briefly refer to some of 
 them. The principal hot springs are found respectively near 
 Las Vegas, in San Miguel county, near Don Fernandez, in Taos 
 county, at Ojo Caliente, in Rio Arriba county, near Jemez, in 
 Santa Ana county, near Fort McRae, in Socorro county, and 
 Fort Selden in Doiia Ana county, and at Mimbres, in Grant 
 county. 
 
 The Las Vegas spring is about six miles above that town on 
 the west bank of the Gallinas. The spring, on account of the 
 valuable medicinal qualities of the water, has a fine reputation, 
 and the locality is a pleasant place of resort. Many invalids 
 visit it from the States, and from the surrounding country, the 
 accommodations, both for invalids and visitors, being excellent. 
 
 The Don Fernandez spring is situated at the foothills of the 
 mountain near Los Ranehos, on the south side of the Rio Grande 
 de Taos, about three quarters of a mile from it, and about six 
 miles from the town of Don Fernandez de Taos. The water is 
 of a good temperature for bathing, the spring being more 
 properly a '< warm" than a ''hot" spring, and is said to possess 
 valuable healing qualities. 
 
 The Ojo 'Caliente spring is one possessing an excellent repu- 
 tation, due to the acknowledged efficacy of its water in curing dis- 
 ease. The accommodations are also good and ample, though the 
 surroundings are, perhaps, not so attractive to the pleasure-seeking 
 visitor. It is within a few hundred yards of the old Mexican 
 
96 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 town of Ojo Caliente to the east, the spring being imraediately 
 on the west bank of the stream of the same name, and the town 
 standing on tlie elevation at the east edge of the river valley. 
 The stream and the town take their names from the spring — 
 oJo caliente — being the Spanish for hot spring. From tlie city 
 and neighborhood of Santa Fe the resort receives a large pro- 
 portion of its visitors. 
 
 The Jemez spring is near the Mexican town of Canoncito, 
 and about 12 miles north of the Indian pueblo of Jemez, the 
 town and pueblo standing upon the Jemez river, and the spring 
 upon the east bank of its tributary, the Ojo Caliente creek, in 
 San Diego canon, about fifty miles west of Santa Fe. At pres- 
 ent there are no adequate accommodations for visitors. The 
 healing qualities of the water, which is of a high temperature, 
 are said to be very good, and some instances of remarkable 
 cures in our knowledge attest the fact. The spring is more 
 generally resorted to from the valley of the Rio Grande. Fish- 
 ing and hunting is good in the vicinity, and the place is often 
 made the headquarters of sporting parties from Santa F6. The 
 Fort McRae springs called the Caballo hot springs, are about five 
 and a half miles southwest from the fort, near the Rio Grande. 
 They burst out from the foot of a mesa or table-land, form some 
 large natural bathing pools, and discharge into the river about 
 half a mile distant. They have a temperature of about 136° 
 Fahrenheit, and contain soda, lime, magnesia, and many other 
 chemical ingredients, a full analysis never having been published, 
 which have brought them in great repute for curing rheumatism 
 and all scrofulous and cutaneous diseases. There are as yet no 
 adequate accommodations for the reception and care of visitors 
 and invalids; but as the place shall become more and more one 
 ef resort that want will naturally become supplied . 
 
 The Mimbres springs are two, a warm and a hot spring. The 
 former bolls up cut of nearly level ground, the surrounding plain 
 being volcanic. The stream it emits would about fill a six-inch 
 pipe, and affords enough water to irrigate the land for about a 
 mile and a half below. The temperature is about the proper 
 one for bathing. We are not aware whether the properties of 
 the water are mineral. The hot spring in the same vicinity is a 
 great natural curiosity. It is circular, twenty-two feet in 
 diameter, and rises to the top of a mound about one hundred 
 
METAIiS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 97 
 
 feet high, and four hundred feet in diameter at base, and one 
 hundred at top. The mound is very isolated, looming up prom- 
 inently above the surrounding volcanic plain, and appears to 
 have been thrown up by the action of the elements beneath. 
 Its exterior, like the portion surrounding the water in the spring, 
 has the appearance of having- once been liquid, and poured out 
 as it were over the entire surface of the mound. The water is 
 so hot that the hand cannot remain in it more than three seconds, 
 without being withdrawn. A goat leaped into the spring, and, 
 though remaining only a few seconds of time, on being taking 
 out it was lifeless, and completely deprived of hair. This spring 
 is celebrated in southern New Mexico for the healing qualities 
 and efficacy of its water, particularly in chronic cases. Both the 
 warm and the hot spring are in township 20 south, of range 11 
 west, the former in section 18, and the latter in section 20 of the 
 township, about twenty-five miles southeast from Silver City. 
 
 In proper connection with the mention we have made of the 
 various national productions and characterics of New Mexico, 
 comes a reference to what is known of our native jewels. The 
 garnets found in the Navajo country, in the northwestern section 
 of the Territory, are abundant, and of good quality, and their 
 existence there has been long known. "We are not aware of any 
 discoveries of precious stones in any considerable quantity in 
 any other section of the Territory. The United States Surveyor 
 General for New Mexico in his annual report for 1872, in writing 
 of the diamond region, so called, in northwestern New Mexico 
 and northeastern Arizona, and in referring to a collection of 
 specimens received by him from some gentlemen who had 
 recently prospected in that region, says: — 
 
 '' These gentlemen exhibit and present to me a considerable 
 quantity of precious stones of great brilliancy and beauty, which 
 they assure me, and I believe, were found in the region spoken 
 of. Among these stones are said to be well authenticated and 
 thoroughly tested rough diamonds. There are also the following 
 classes of rough stones: — True oriental ruby, hyacinth ruby, 
 spinel ruby, garnet, sapphire proper, emerald, zircon, topaz of 
 different colors, amethyst, opal of different varieties, corundum, 
 crystalized alumina, black carbon or diamond, beryl, tourmaline, 
 and various other kinds of native jewels of commercial value. I 
 am also assured that the same region contains many very fine 
 
 7 
 
BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 specimens of crystalized fossils, including' really immense quan- 
 tities of petrified wood, the latter occurring in what is called 
 fossil groves or forests. The soil where the precious stones have 
 so far been found in this district is composed of crystalline mat- 
 ter and conglomerate, crushed, broken, and disintegrated by the 
 action of the elements and other natural causes. There is evi- 
 dence of volcanic influences in the geological formation, lava 
 and scoria occurring frequently and in considerable quantities 
 and masses. The prevailing rock is red and gray sandstone, 
 the formation having the appearance of a sedimentary deposit. 
 All stones so far found have been picked up upon the surface of 
 the earth in natural washings, and upon the ant hills. It is 
 believed that when proper energy is bestowed upon this branch 
 of industry in that region it will become of commercial import- 
 ance. The distance from Santa Fe to Fort Defiance, near where 
 the stones are found, is about 200 miles due west." 
 
 The total yield of the precious metals in the United States 
 during 1873 is said to have been $72,258,000, being an increase 
 of about $10,000,000 over that of 1872, and nearly one-half of 
 which, $35,000,000, chiefly in silver, was contributed by Nevada. 
 Of the balance it is stated California contributed about $18,000,- 
 000, Utah $5,000,000, Colorado $4,000,000, Montana $4,000,000, 
 Idaho 2,000,000, Oregon $1,500,000, Washington $225,000, and 
 Arizona $48,000. We believe there is included in the $72,000,- 
 000, about $1,225,000 from British Columbia, and about $1,000,- 
 000 from Mexico. 
 
 It is very noticeable thatinthis statement, which in substance 
 is being published in the press all over the world, there is an 
 entire omission of any reference to the produce of precious metals 
 in Neiv Mexico, unless the amount is included — as much else of 
 our productions are — in the amount credited to Colorado. The 
 editor of the News, at Mesilla, New Mexico, states that it is safe 
 to allow for the gold and silver brought to that place from Silver 
 City and vicinity, in the adjoining county of Grant, during the 
 year 1873, at $3,000 a week, which gives $156,000 from Grant 
 county alone. To this must be added the amount taken out at 
 the mines near Socorro, and in Colfax county, which together 
 Mill be about the same as from Grant. Considerable gold and 
 silver have also been found in Santa Fe, Taos, and Lincoln 
 counties, and a portion of the San Juan mines are also south of 
 the Colorado line. These amounts must reach as high as $350,- 
 
METALS AND MINING, HOT SPRINGS, ETC. 
 
 99 
 
 000. We hope the people of New Mexico and their press, says 
 the editor, will unite in gathering the statistics of not only our 
 crop of precious metals, but also of the wool, hides and pelts 
 shipped, and stock driven from this Territory, that it may 
 receive the credit due for its i^roductions. 
 
 In concluding the foregoing chapter, embracing the subject of 
 mines and (quartz and placer gold) mining in New Mexico, we 
 deem it proper to append, for ready reference, for the use and 
 benefit of miners and other dealers in gold dust the following table : 
 
 Shoiving the value of any amount of Gold Dust, from 1 grain 
 to 10 ouuceH, at $10 to $23 per ounce. 
 
 OTJOSrOElS. ~ 
 
 No 
 
 SI 6 00 
 
 $17 00 
 
 $18 00 
 
 $19 00 
 
 S2u 00 
 
 $21 00 
 
 $22 00 
 
 $23 00 
 
 
 per oz. 
 
 •16 
 
 per oz. 
 
 17 
 
 per oz. 
 
 18 
 
 per oz. 
 
 19 
 
 per oz. 
 
 20 
 
 per oz. 
 
 21 
 
 per oz. 
 
 22 
 
 per 02. 
 
 1 
 
 23 
 
 2 
 
 32 
 
 34 
 
 36 
 
 38 
 
 40 
 
 42 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 3 
 
 48 
 
 51 
 
 54 
 
 57 
 
 60 
 
 63 
 
 66 
 
 69 
 
 4 
 
 64 
 
 68 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 80 
 
 84 
 
 88 
 
 92 
 
 5 
 
 80 
 
 85 
 
 90 
 
 95 
 
 100 
 
 105 
 
 110 
 
 115 
 
 6 
 
 96 
 
 102 
 
 108 
 
 114 
 
 120 
 
 126 
 
 132 
 
 138 
 
 7 
 
 112 
 
 119 
 
 126 
 
 133 
 
 140 
 
 147 
 
 154 
 
 161 
 
 8 
 
 128 
 
 136 
 
 144 
 
 152 
 
 160 
 
 168 
 
 176 
 
 184 
 
 9 
 
 144 
 
 153 
 
 162 
 
 171 
 
 180 
 
 189 
 
 198 
 
 207 
 
 10 
 
 160 
 
 170 
 
 180 
 
 190 
 
 200 
 
 210 
 
 220 
 
 230 
 
 iF'Easrasr'sr'v^Eio-xiTs. 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 85 
 
 90 
 
 95 
 
 100' 
 
 105 
 
 110 
 
 115 
 
 2 
 
 160 
 
 175 
 
 180 
 
 100 
 
 200 
 
 210 
 
 220 
 
 230 
 
 3 
 
 240 
 
 255 
 
 270 
 
 285 
 
 300 
 
 315 
 
 330 
 
 345 
 
 4 
 
 320 
 
 340 
 
 360 
 
 380 
 
 400 
 
 420 
 
 440 
 
 460 
 
 5 
 
 400 
 
 425 
 
 450 
 
 475 
 
 500 
 
 525 
 
 550 
 
 575 
 
 6 
 
 480 
 
 510 
 
 540 
 
 570 
 
 600 
 
 630 
 
 660 
 
 690 
 
 7 
 
 560 
 
 595 
 
 630 
 
 665 
 
 700 
 
 735 
 
 770 
 
 805 
 
 8 
 
 640 
 
 680 
 
 720 
 
 760 
 
 800 
 
 840 
 
 880 
 
 920 
 
 9 
 
 720 
 
 765 
 
 810 
 
 855 
 
 900 
 
 945 
 
 990 
 
 1035 
 
 10 
 
 800 
 
 850 
 
 900 
 
 950 
 
 1000 
 
 1050 
 
 1100 
 
 1150 
 
 o-i^L^A^iisrs, 
 
 1 
 
 3* 
 
 ^ 
 
 H 
 
 4 
 
 H 
 
 4* 
 
 41 
 
 4f 
 
 2 
 
 H 
 
 7 
 
 71 
 
 8 
 
 8* 
 
 n 
 
 9 
 
 91 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 101 
 
 lU 
 
 12 
 
 121 
 
 13 
 
 131 
 
 14i 
 
 4 
 
 131 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 16t 
 
 171 
 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 5 
 
 16t 
 
 171 
 
 18f 
 
 20 
 
 20^ 
 
 21^ 
 
 221 
 
 23f 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 221 
 
 24 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 281 
 
 7 
 
 231 
 
 241 
 
 261 
 
 28 
 
 291 
 
 301 
 
 311 
 
 331 
 
 8 
 
 26f 
 
 28 
 
 30 
 
 32 
 
 33^ 
 
 34t 
 
 36 
 
 38 
 
 9 
 
 30 
 
 311 
 
 33J 
 
 36 
 
 371 
 
 39 
 
 401 
 
 42^ 
 
 10 
 
 331 
 
 35 
 
 371 
 
 40 
 
 411 
 
 431 
 
 45 
 
 471 
 
100 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 MANUFACTURING FACILITIES. 
 We in New Mexico depend as yet almost entirely uj)on for- 
 eign markets for the purchase of all the manufactured articles in 
 use among us. Iron, nails, steel, leather, woolen fabrics, every- 
 thing indeed, is bought away from home, and transported over the 
 Plains, when every one of the articles named could be economically 
 manufactured here. In the present method of furnishing our 
 markets with these supplies, millions of dollars are drained from 
 the Territory which never return, and which go into the pock- 
 ets of manufacturers in the States. The elements of manufactu- 
 ring success ABOUND IN New Mexico. Our iron ore is uncom- 
 monly rich, coal abundant and labor cheap. There is not one 
 article into the fabrication of which iron enters but what could 
 be produced as cheaply in our Territory as it can in any other 
 part of the United {States. The same may be said of leather, of 
 which article there is also a large amount consumed annually by 
 our people. Our forests abound with timber which yields a bark 
 of the best quality for tanning purposes. Thousands of hides 
 are yearly thrown away as worthless, though many of late years 
 are exported. With these inducements before them it is strange 
 to say that the people have neglected this branch of business 
 entirely, and have depended on the States to get leather for the 
 most ordinary uses. The wool which our sheep would give for 
 the manufacture of cloth is almost inexhaustible in quantity, and 
 could be bought for a very moderate price. Capital applied to 
 either of these branches of manufacturing could not but produce 
 large incomes to the capitalist, and at the same time give an im- 
 petus to the material jorogress of the Territory that would be as- 
 tonishing. Our wool was disposed of here in the Territory a few 
 years ago at from nothing up to ten cents per fleece, the owners 
 of the animals being glad to get the wool from the sheep's back 
 without trouble to themselves; this wool was transported across 
 the plains to the States, there manufactured and probably 
 returned here in cloth, clothing and blankets, to be sold with all 
 the costs of transportation, profits, labor, etc., added. 
 
 We might give other facts and illustrations — but enough has 
 been said to suggest very clearly that we ought to develope and 
 avail ourselves of the manufacturing materials and facilities we 
 possess. We will here but briefly refer to some of our manu- 
 facturing elements and facilities, and not enter into that detail 
 
MANUFACTURING FACILITIES. 101 
 
 of facts and argument which could be arrayed, and which would 
 malce the balance sheet show in dollars and cents the eaormous 
 net profits that a judicious system of the culture of the soil, the 
 establishment of manufactories, and increase and improvement 
 of the sheep, horses and cattle of New Mexico, would annually 
 pour into the pockets of our people, and of capitalists who would 
 invest in this way. Manufacturing in the Territory can hardly 
 as yet be said even to be in its infancy; but capital which 
 always for itself searches out its abiding place, will ere long and 
 in due time discover the great west hereaway, and come and 
 grow up with the country. 
 
 The Commissioner to survey the route for the Thirty-fifth 
 Parallel Railroad across New Mexico, in his report of the survey 
 says : 
 
 << Along the route there are numerous points where water 
 power can be used to great advantage for the manufacture of 
 wool, the stamping and reduction of ores, etc. 
 
 << In the caiions of the Arkansas river, by which this stream 
 breaks through the easterly wall of the Rocky Mountains, and 
 obtains an outlet to the great plains, there is an unlimited amount 
 of water power, fully equal to the best in New England, and 
 which will create at these points, especially near Caiion City, 
 very large manufactui'ing and metal reducing works. The Pur- 
 gatory and Pecos rivers also furnish, where they canon, admir- 
 able positions for water power; and the three canons of the Rio 
 Grande, between the mouth of the Santa Fe river and the San 
 Luis Park, can scarcely be surpassed for this purpose. 
 
 " The woolen mill at Kroenig's, near Fort Union, New Mex- 
 ico, is highly successful.* 
 
 "West of the Rio Grande, as well as east, there are numer- 
 ous smaller caiions in the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Madre, 
 the Mogoyon range, the Sierra Nevada and Coast range, where, 
 by the construction of dams, a portion of the immense volumes 
 of water which pour down these mountains in the rainy season, 
 and during the melting of the snow, may be economized and 
 applied to running, on a limited scale, grist and saw mills, 
 stamping machinery, etc. The Canons of the Little Colorado 
 
 ■•••■ This manufacturing establishment, the only one in the Territory, has since 
 been destroyed by fire. 
 
102 BREVOOET'S new MEXICO. 
 
 and the Verde, may be used on a much larger scale, while the 
 grand canon of the Colorado probably presents facilities that are 
 without limit if they can be made available. 
 
 " If our line should follow one of the routes suggested, north 
 of Mount Agassiz, it will skirt the falls of the Little Colorado, 
 where this river enters a caiion 100 feet deep and 200 feet wide, 
 affording, it is estimated, from 4,000 to 6,000 horse-power in 
 low water, and suggesting the site for a considerable manufac- 
 turing place. There is the greatest abundance and variety of 
 mountain timber adjacent; the altitude is medium, say 4,500 
 feet above the ocean; the valley above the falls fertile and ex- 
 tensive; the climate exceedingly healthy, and the position other- 
 wise advantageous as being immediately at the base of the 
 highest range on the route. Here may be the great cabinet 
 shop of the plains. 
 
 << Manufacturing will also be carried on at various points along 
 or accessible to the line, where coal is found abundantly, or in 
 connection with desirable accessories. For instance, on the 
 Arkansas, below the Great Canon; south of the Raton moun- 
 tain, near Maxwell's*, near Las Vegas, in New Mexico — if the 
 beds of coal should prove to be thick enough; at the eastern 
 base of the Rocky Mountains, near Anton Chico; at numerous 
 localities on the Rio Grande, on the slopes of the Sierra Madre, 
 and most probably on the Great Colorado river. At such points, 
 in addition to coal, we find attractive positions for settlement — good 
 land, abundance of water, timber, and a healthful and genial 
 climate. 
 
 " Several of these localities appear to offer superior induce- 
 ments for the manufacture of iron for the many purposes of a 
 mining country, and to supply the wants of the railroad at cen- 
 tral points, that will save the burthen of the present lengthy 
 tran sportation. ' ' 
 
 ■••' Now the town of Cimarron. 
 
EDUCATION. 103 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Until recently this important subject has received very little 
 practical encouragement in the Territory. The little advance- 
 ment it had received was solely through the instrumentality of 
 private enterprise. Before the acquisition of the country by 
 the United States, in 1846, as evidenced by the journals of the 
 provincial and territorial deputations and departmental assem- 
 bly, respectively, the legislative bodies of the province, the ter- 
 ritory and the department of New Mexico, those bodies regu- 
 larly made provision for the education of the youth of the 
 country in primary education.* They do not appear to have 
 ever established any institution of learning here, or indeed to 
 have contemplated giving any but an elementary education to 
 the youth. The salaries provided for the teachers were small, 
 and those at the capital were paid from the public treasury by 
 appropriation, while in the different jurisdictional 2^<^>'tulos, into 
 which the country was divided, the prefects thereof were required 
 to see that schools were provided and were maintained by local tax- 
 ation or from a retained portion ofthe revenue collected for the gen- 
 eral treasury. But since the change of government at that time, 
 and the inauguration of new laws, usages and customs, the state, 
 until within the last three or four years, had ceased in New 
 Mexico to afford any encouragement whatever to the education 
 of the rising generation in the Territory, whose legislatures have 
 allowed one generation at least to grow up without any provision, 
 so far as they are concerned, for its education. The legislature 
 of 1871, however, enacted the existing public school law, which 
 appears to be satisfactory to the friends of education here. Cer- 
 tainly the system of schools and their operation under it, seem to 
 progress well, and the great beneficial results of the law are 
 everywhere manifest. 
 
 - About the first action we are aware of, had legislatively concerning educa- 
 tion, was the adoption of a resolution by the provincial deputation, April 27, 
 1822, at the close of the war for national independence, declaring that it was the 
 duty and the intention of the province to provide ways and means for the edu- 
 cation of the youth of New Mexico. 
 
104 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 As fully and suflaciently presenting the actual condition of 
 education in the Territory, we subjoin the following official 
 information on the subject from the federal Secretary of State 
 for New Mexico, charged by the territorial statute with the gen- 
 eral superintendency of schools therein: — 
 
 Tekritoby of New Mexico. ") 
 
 Office op the Secbetaby, s- 
 
 Santa Fe, Dec. 31, 1873. j 
 
 Hon. John Eaton, 1 
 
 Commissioner of Education: j 
 
 In answer to your inquiries of October 1st, and December 
 19th, respectively, for ''information respecting schools in New 
 Mexico," for your report of 1873, I have the honor to post 
 you the following: 
 
 The public school law of New Mexico creates a board of 
 supervisors and directors of public schools for each county 
 consisting of three persons elected biennially, with the Probate 
 Judge of the county as ex-officio president of the board. '< The 
 sole and entire management, supervision and control," is given 
 to this board, "of the public schools within their respective 
 counties;" as also is the ''entire and exclusive management and 
 supervision of the school funds of the respective counties, and 
 of the control and expenditure thereof." 
 
 THE SCHOOL FUND 
 
 consists of 25 per cent, of the entire tax on property, a poll tax 
 of $1.00 on every male citizen above the age of twenty-one 
 years, and any "surplus of more than five hundred dollars in 
 the treasury of any county, after paying the current expenses of 
 such county." 
 
 This school law and the provision for the school fund was 
 enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 1871-72, and is probably 
 the most efifective law that the friends of education in New Mex- 
 ico have ever succeeded in placing on the statutes. The great- 
 est practical results at least have followed, and its workings have 
 unquestionably popularized free schools throughout the Territory. 
 
 The better to learn the progress of the work under the law, 
 and to give a clear idea respecting the same, on the receipt of 
 your letter in October last, I addressed a circular letter and blank 
 to presidents of school boards, teachers and educational men 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 105 
 
 throughout the Territory, asking for certain statistics therein 
 indicated. Most of these persons have answered, and with a 
 commendable interest. Much delay has been unavoidably in- 
 curred by reason of the entire absence of any system for obtain- 
 ing the information sought. I give you the following aggre- 
 gated statement of the schools in this Territory. 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 O 
 Ms 
 
 
 CD 
 <-i 
 
 Average No. 
 of months 
 taught. 
 
 Average of 
 wages of 
 teachers. 
 
 Languages 
 taught.* 
 
 FUNDS. 
 
 Public Schools 
 supported by 
 taxation 
 
 Private Schools 
 Pueblo Schools 
 
 133 
 
 26 
 
 5 
 
 5625 
 1370 
 
 107 
 
 136 
 53 
 
 7 
 
 6i 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 $28 69 
 
 r 10 E. 
 
 } 111 s. 
 ( 12E.S 
 f 7 E. 
 1 19 E. S 
 
 E. 
 
 $29,721 57 
 
 27,100 00 
 4,000 00 
 
 
 164 
 
 44 
 
 7102 
 1798 
 
 196 
 
 
 
 
 $60,821 57 
 29,886 00 
 
 Census returns 
 1870— public 
 and private 
 schools 
 
 72 
 
 
 
 
 Increase for '73 
 
 120 
 
 5304 
 
 134 
 
 
 
 
 $30,935 57 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 •■■• E stands for English and S for Spanish. 
 
 Right here allow me to digress for a word, and call the 
 attention of those who within the past year or two have seemed 
 to delight in 
 
 MISREPRESENTING THE EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS 
 
 of New Mexico through the public press outside of the Territory, 
 both east and west, and otherwise, by asserting with a reckless- 
 ness for truth astonishing to relate, that either there are no 
 schools whatever in the Territory, or, at most, a number ex- 
 pressed by a unit of medium value. I would respectfully refer 
 those making tli^se erroneous statements to the census report of 
 1870, table XII, of New Mexico, vol. 1, and to the report of 
 the Commissioner of Education for 1873, where will be found the 
 statement above set forth for 1870, of public schools. 
 
106 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 We glean the following items from the mass of local reports 
 at hand. There is taught in all the schools reading, writing, 
 and arithmetic, grammar in 41, geography in 34, and history in 
 17; a few also teach other of the higher branches. The county 
 of San Miguel reports two public schoo. houses worth $ J 824.43. 
 In Silver City, Grant county, 
 
 THE LADIES HAVE FORMED AN EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY, 
 
 have raised a fund of $1,400, and express a determination to 
 increase it to $2,500. They have also adopted plans for a brick 
 school house, 20x40 feet on the ground, and we doubt not that 
 they will carry the enterprise to completion. God bless the 
 ladies! A subscription is also out in Lincoln for the same noble 
 purpose. 
 
 Doubtless there are other enterprises of a similar character in 
 other enterprising towns, of which mention has not been made. 
 In very many districts the use of a school room is donated; in 
 others, rented for a moderate sum. In Doiia Ana and Grant 
 counties the supervisors of public schools donate their per diem 
 allowed by law to the school fund. 
 
 THE SCHOOL BOOKS 
 
 used, are legion in variety, and run from a sectarian catechism 
 to Ollendorf's method. School books are very generally bought 
 for the indigent. So deep is the interest in some of the counties, 
 that the local school boards have made inquiries of the territorial 
 officers, if there was not a law or some means by which the 
 attendance of children could be enforced. One county reports 
 that boys only are admitted to the schools. Four public schools 
 reported, are combined with parochial or mission schools. Taking 
 the usual percentage of children relative to the agregate popu- 
 lation, and there are 22,969 children in New Mexico of school 
 age. Deduct the number reported attending both the public 
 and private schools, and we find still in the Territory 
 
 15,974 CHILDREN ABSENTEES, 
 
 in most cases doubtless without the opportunity of attending 
 school. Of private schools, five are convents under the control 
 and management of the << Sisters of Loretto" with an attendance 
 of 546 pupils, 120 of whom are poor. To them tuition is free. 
 They have 21 teachers, and an income of $12,000. Next are the 
 schools under the control and management of the "Christian 
 
EDUCATION. 107 
 
 Brothers" (Catholic), of which there are three; two of these 
 schools have an attendance of 180 pupils, 10 teachers, and an 
 income of $5,450. 
 
 There is also a Jesuit school at Alburquerque. There are two 
 Presbyterian Mission schools reported, with an attendance of 80 
 pupils and three teachers. Tuition generally free. There is also 
 one Methodist Episcopal Mission school, with an attendance of 
 80 pupils, two teachers, and an income of $700. 
 
 The above schools, as also others of the private schools, teach 
 both the common and higher English and Spanish branches, and 
 will doubtless prove of great value in educating teachers. Some 
 of them, we have reason to believe, are model schools. 
 
 PUEBLO INDIAN SCHOOLS. 
 
 We learn from the Pueblo Agent, that two of these schools 
 are under the Presbyterian Board of Missions, but that they are 
 not managed in a spirit of sectarianism, that a growing interest 
 is manifest, and that they are open to all who apply. Twelve 
 hundred dollars of the fund is contributed by the Presbyterian 
 Board, and $2,800, by the general government. 
 
 THE MANIFEST NEED 
 
 ainong the public schools at this time is a uniform system 
 throughout the Territory, — something in the nature of a central 
 board of commissioners composed of practical educators, who 
 feel a pride in the work, with authority to establish some simple 
 general plan, embodied in printed form for the government of 
 schools. 
 
 The necessity for such board is intensified, for the reason 
 that the masses of the people are entirely unused to the advanced 
 systems of free schools of the present day and age; and with 
 few honorable exceptions are also unacquainted with the manage- 
 ment of public schools in any form. There is scarcely less need 
 for public school buildings. 
 
 There is also a want of uniform school books in individual 
 schools, and also of competent teachers, both in English and 
 Spanish. Some standard of qualification among teachers should 
 be adopted, and to that end an examining officer or a board of 
 examiners is an absolute necessity. It should also be their duty 
 to visit and examine the schools at stated times. 
 
108 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 , • 
 
 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 
 
 now in session, shows a commendable interest in behalf of 
 progress; indeed, we may say, are unanimously in favor of 
 further legislation to that end. 
 
 A joint committee has been appointed, having for its object 
 a revision of the assessment and tax laws, the improvement of 
 the school system, so as to admit a more general availability of its 
 advantages, and an increase of the school fund. It is confidently 
 expected that minor differences about details will be harmonized, 
 and healthy progress be the result. 
 
 OF THE PEOPLE, 
 
 it is simple justice to say, that as a class they are kind, hospi- 
 table, industrious, tractable, and law abiding; and in point of 
 morals and integrity, they will compare favorably with very 
 many who have enjoyed much greater advantages in life. They 
 pay their taxes as promptly and as fully as any people in the 
 land; and submit as cheerfully when they are satisfied that a 
 substantial public good is to be the result. 
 
 It is well to bear in mind the entirely anomalous condition 
 of the people and Territory, when compared with any other state 
 or territory in the Union, and that the power has not in all 
 cases been vouchsafed to human wisdom to eradicate the abuses 
 of years in a day. New Mexico, before its acquisition by the 
 United States, had been 
 
 UTTERLY NEGLECTED FOR GENERATIONS 
 
 by the government of old Mexico, in all things appertaining to 
 its material prosperity and social advancement; and that the 
 people were only cognizant of a superior power, as indicated in 
 the presence of exacting revenue officers, or the recruiting 
 sergeants, incident to the chaotic and turbulent state of a govern- 
 ment beset with revolutions and counter-revolutions, which in 
 effect were, of course, most paralyzing to productive industries, 
 exhausting to accumulated resources, and which made even 
 existence itself problematic. In those times, self-preservation, 
 the first law of nature, became the chief thought in the family 
 circle, and the main business of life with each family. There 
 was no time, opportunity or impulse for social or intellectual 
 improvement, nor had there been for generations. Such, in 
 brief, was the condition in which the government found the 
 
EDUCATION. 109 
 
 people at the time the Territory became part of the Republic. 
 They were, and likewise continued to be for a long time, 
 
 BESET ON Alili SIDES 
 
 by hostile and nomadic Indian tribes, embodiments of all the 
 villainies incident to unregenerate man, and also with not a few 
 of the outlaws, a hair-brained, and graceless set, ever present on 
 the frontier of an advancing American civilization. Scarce had 
 the government, through the civil and military authorities, 
 made an impression toward bringing order out of chaos, when 
 
 FOLLOWED THE REBELLION, 
 
 threatening the integrity and life of the nation; during which 
 event, be it said to the credit of the people of New Mexico, they 
 remained true to the flag, and cheerfully 
 
 CONTRIBUTED THEIR QUOTA OE PATRIOTIC CITIZENS 
 
 towards the defense of her soil and the suppression of the 
 rebellion. This event, of course, still further kept education 
 and progress in abeyance. 
 
 Under the protection which they have enjoyed from the 
 government, more particularly for the past few years, and the 
 freedom from oppression of the old government, and the result- 
 ant prosperity, they are coming to think of those matters cal- 
 culated to better their condition in life, and not the least of 
 these is education. 
 
 New Mexico has, we submit, 
 
 MADE A COMMENDABLE START 
 
 in educational interests. It will never be less; but, to the con- 
 trary, is destined to develope and grow with accelerating pro- 
 gression, ever onward with the approach and advent of railroads 
 and telegraphs, and the consequent development of its material 
 resources, its rich and varied mining deposits, its extensive 
 agricultural, pastoral, and lumber interests, and the manu- 
 factories, intelligent immigration, and general accessories that 
 hand in hand naturally accompany, and which go to make the 
 sum of the advancing elements of a 
 
 HIGHER CIVILIZATION, 
 
 in store for the near future of New Mexico. 
 Very Respectfully, 
 
 W. G. RiTCH, 
 
 Secretary of New Mexico. 
 
110 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 RAILROADS. 
 There is as yet not a mile of railway constructed in New 
 Mexico, tliougli various important roads are pointing tiiis way, 
 and are in course of construction. The roads being now con- 
 structed are tlae — 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific, or 35th Parallel ; 
 
 Texas Pacific, or 32 d Parallel ; 
 
 Denver and Rio Grande Narrow Guage ; 
 
 Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. 
 
 Several others are projected, and charters and rights of way 
 have been obtained, the two principal ones being the New Mex- 
 ico and Gulf, and the Arkansas Valley and Cimarron, though 
 we believe the right of way over the public lands conceded by 
 Congress to the former has terminated, owing to non-compliance 
 with its conditions. The Arkansas Valley and Cimarron road 
 proposes, we believe, connecting with the Atchison, Topeka and 
 Santa Fe road, starting from some point in the valley of the 
 Arkansas river,* the line bearing thence in a southwesterly di- 
 rection, first to the head waters of the Dry Cimarron. 
 
 The necessity and importance of the early construction and 
 operation of railroads in New Mexico are constantly becoming 
 more and more manifest; and the prospect of one or more of 
 them reaching and of at least one of them traversing the Terri- 
 tory in the early future, and thereby connecting us with "the 
 rest of mankind," is rapidly brightening. The United States 
 Surveyor General a few years ago oflicially estimated that 
 including the wagons used for government transportation, there 
 were used for freighting from the States to New Mexico during 
 the year, three thousand wagons; that the average burden of 
 each was five thousand pounds, equal in the aggregate to 
 fifteen million pounds of freight; that the value of goods im- 
 ported from the States amounted to three millions of dollars, of 
 which two hundred thousand dollars in value was exported into 
 Mexico; that there was imported from Mexico goods, dried 
 fruit, &c., to the value of seventy-five thousand dollars; and 
 that 750,000 pounds of wool, valued at one hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars, was exported to the States; an estimate of the 
 value of the various other articles and items of domestic trade 
 not being attempted. 
 
 ■■' The Rio Napeste of the Mexicans. 
 
RAILROADS. Ill 
 
 The Texas Pacific or 32d Parallel road, says United States 
 Surveyor General Proudflt in his last annual report, is being 
 rapidly pushed towards us in New Mexico from both Texas and 
 California, and under the able management of the distinguished 
 railroad men and capitalists who now control it, there is no 
 doubt of its early completion. This road will enter the Terri- 
 tory near Paso del Norte, or Franklin, on the Rio Grande, in all 
 probability, and continue northwesterly to the western boun- 
 dary of the Territory. 
 
 The Atlantic and Pacific, or 35th Parallel road, does not seem 
 to be pushed with equal energy, but it has a fine line, running 
 nearly centrally through the Territory, east and west, with easy 
 grades, through fine grazing and irrigable lands, entirely below 
 the line where snows are troublesome. It and the Texas Pacific 
 possess the two best lines yet projected for transcontinental rail- 
 ways, and no better can be found. It also possesses, as does the 
 Texas Pacific, a magnificent land grant in this Territory. These 
 lands will become immensely valuable as the roads progress 
 through them. The Atlantic and Pacific road is of much 
 greater importance to the Territory than the more northern line 
 on account of its more central and commanding route; and, if 
 built to the Pacific, it would beyond all question speedily become 
 an exceedingly popular and profitable road. 
 
 The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe road, with its present 
 terminus at Granada, Colorado, is being rapidly built westward, 
 and it is confidently expected it will be completed to Cimarron 
 in this Territory, about one hundred and fifty miles northeast 
 from Santa Fe, within the next twelve mouths. Its ultimate 
 ambition is doubtless to reach the Pacific ocean, or the Mexican 
 capital. It has no land grant west of Kansas, but is more de- 
 serving in this respect than some corporations which having 
 large grants do not use them for the benefit of the public by 
 building the roads promised when the grants were made. 
 
 The Denver and Rio Grande narrow-guage road, now run- 
 ning to Pueblo, Colorado, with a branch to Canon City, has 
 thrown out its grading parties of late fifty or seventy-five miles 
 towards our Territory; and we have the strongest assurances 
 that it means to come down the valley of the Rio Grande, 
 which it will probably enter by way of Sangre de Cristo Pass. 
 
1 12 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 This north and south line will be of great benefit to the Terri- 
 tory when completed. 
 
 Taken all in all the prospects of this Territory, as regards 
 railroad communication, may be considered as very flattering; 
 and with their advance a new era will dawn upon New Mexico. 
 And with her admirable olimate, her mineral resources, her bound- 
 less pastures, her fruitful valleys, magnificent and sublime scenery 
 and health-giving mineral waters, she will draw to her borders 
 all sorts and conditions of men, who will build up a common- 
 wealth which will be an honor to the great nation of which she 
 will form a part. 
 
 One of the most practically successful railway enterprises of 
 those we have named, is the Denver and Rio Grande. Its west- 
 ern terminus is now at Pueblo, in Colorado, and to that point it 
 is doing an immense freight business. With a capacity of 200 
 freight cars and 10 locomotives, the wants of the shippers along 
 its line could not be supplied. There are eighty cars ordered 
 and two new locomotives, to be supplied in the month of Decem- 
 ber. The company are now erecting a brick round house at 
 Denver, and making many improvements along the line of their 
 road. This narrow guage road will penetrate, says one of the 
 Pueblo journals, one of the richest mineral bearing districts, as 
 well as the great pastoral country of New Mexico. Southern 
 Colorado is greatly benefitted and developed by this road. The 
 projectors and owners of this road should meet witli perfect 
 success, for it is an enterprise that required energy and pluck to 
 place it in a prosperous position. 
 
 The Arkansas Valley and Cimarron road, in the first portion 
 of its route to the headwaters of the Dry Cimarron, will traverse 
 a section, which, while of comparatively small value for farming 
 purposes, is nevertheless not without considerable value on 
 account of its great advantages as a grazing district. As evi- 
 dence of this, for a number of years past almost countless herds 
 have been kept in this district, winter and summer, with the 
 best of success. Leaving this section of country, and continu- 
 ing soutwestwardly, the line crosses the Dry Cimarron, in a 
 beautiful valley, much of which is already settled, in anticipa- 
 tion of the time when the advent of the locomotive will place 
 them in closer communication with the outside world. Thence 
 continuing the same course, it passes for a few miles through 
 
BAILROADS. 113 
 
 the most magniflcent scenery that one could imagine or desire. 
 From Capulin mountain, proceeding westwardly, the line begins 
 to descend by the Tinaja, a small stream, to the Canadian valley, 
 and thence direct across a beautiful plain, well watered by the 
 Canadian, the Vermejo, the Poiiil and the Cimarron, to the town 
 of Cimarron in Colfax county. The route of the road lias been 
 surveyed, we believe, as far as Cimarron, and although the loca- 
 tion surveys have not as yet been prosecuted west of that point, 
 a series of examination reconnoisances have been made, extend- 
 ing westward through the Spanish range, to the valley of the 
 Rio Grande, which, while demonstrating that no less than three 
 available railway passes existed within fifty miles of Cimarron, 
 that one — the Taos pass — was eminently practical. To reach 
 this pass a line with comparatively light work and easy grades is 
 found running directly from Cimarron up the valley and canon 
 of the Cimarron river to the Moreno valley, thence keeping up 
 the valley to the summit, across and down Taos creek to the 
 city of Taos, making a distance from Cimarron to Taos of only 
 about fifty miles, and by far the cheapest and best crossing of 
 the mountains between Alburquerque^ Santa Fe and the Black 
 Hills, and at the same time passing the entire distance through a 
 country that will afford an immense local tr'afflo. Not only this, 
 but reaching the Rio Grande vtiUey, it at once opens up the im- 
 mense area of agricultural, mineral and pastoral country to the 
 westward. Another route is proposed from Cimarron, via Las 
 Vegas, an enterprising town, the county seat of San Miguel county, 
 and thence to the Rio Grande by way of Anton Chico, or the 
 Galisteo creek. 
 
 We may mention another proposed New Mexico railway, 
 which if constructed, would doubtless be a very useful and pop- 
 ular road — we mean upon a route from the Arkansas river, con- 
 necting with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe road, and also 
 with the Kansas Pacific, and running from the Colorado line 
 through Mora county, and thence due west into Rio Arriba 
 county to the Rio Grande, and down that river to Santa Fe, 
 thence to Alburquerque, making a junction with the Atlantic 
 and Pacific Railroad, and then down the Rio Grande, parallel 
 with the river to El Paso, Mexico, and connecting with the 
 Texas Pacific road, in southern New Mexico. This is a superior 
 route to connect Denver and Santa Fe with the east, and to con- 
 
114 BREVOOBT'8 new MEXICO. 
 
 slrvict railways to the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, because the 
 mountain elevations of the country admit of their being built at 
 the least possible expense, because it traverses a country exceed- 
 ingly rich in minerals which would, immediately upon their 
 being built, make them self supporting; and principally because 
 the route presents no solitary obstacle throughout the mountain 
 portion of the country in ^^reventing its operation icith the same 
 facility in ivinter as in summer. The construction of a road on 
 this route would benefit the government in bringing the public 
 domain through which it would pass into market, in the settle- 
 ment of the Indian troubles in Colorado, New Mexico and Ari- 
 zona, and the opening of mineral, agriculturaland pastoral lands, 
 on which thousands of families could obtain happy homes, all of 
 which would save and produce more annually than the whole 
 cost of the road. 
 
 In the case of railroads, it is not alone the resources of the 
 country immediately traversed that contribute to the trade of 
 the road, but those of districts even somewhat remote from the 
 line, which will be immediately rendered greatly more accessible 
 than at present, and will gradually be put into direct communi- 
 cation by branches. Thus, as a legitimate and certain effect of 
 the construction of the trunk line, private capital will hasten to 
 use various points along the route each as a new base from 
 which to strike, in order to tap new and distinct sources of 
 wealth and trade. Thus, when the 35th parallel road for instance, 
 is made, almost immediately a branch will be constructed from 
 Cheyenne Wells to Denver, reaching by the shortest practicable 
 route the gold and silver mines of the Clear Creek region — the far- 
 thest north of any discovered mineral wealth in Colorado — and the 
 coal, iron ore, and manufacturing facilities at Golden City and Boul- 
 der; and another branch will, at an early day, be extended up the 
 easy grade — less than 20 feet per mile — of the Arkansas valley, 
 to the coal, timber and iron ore at the base of the Eocky Moun- 
 tains, to the unexampled manufacturing facilities at the Big 
 Caiic-n, to the mines of gold and silver, and the arable parks and 
 valleys, and the unrivaled pastures of southern Colorado, and to 
 that most promising reservoir of the precious metals near the 
 head of the Arkansas, and in the South Park. As mining devel- 
 opments advance, this line will be pushed on westward over 
 the great continental divide at Arkansas Pass (which can be 
 crossed with a grade of 75 feet per mile), to the waters of Grand 
 
KAILBOADS. 115 
 
 River, and so on eventually through western Colorado into Utah. 
 A southward prong of this line will be extended from the 
 Arkansas, across Punche Pass to the San Luis Park, traversing 
 that beautiful basin for its whole length, and opening up an 
 extensive mining region in the Spanish Range, on the east, and 
 the San Juan mountains on the west. This line, by gradual 
 extension southward along the Rio Grande, tapping the Abiquin 
 and Jemez copper mines en route, will finally again intersect the 
 trunk road near Alburquerque — the wlu)Ie route being through 
 a country of good resources, and, except in crossing the Punche 
 Pass, the grade nowhere exceeding 20 feet per mile. A third 
 branch will soon be constructed from Alburquerque down the 
 valley of the Rio Grande, 250 miles to El Paso, traversing all 
 the way, by a grade from 5 to 10 feet per mile, a broad, j^^^o- 
 ductive valley and vineyard, where enough good ivine can be raised 
 to siqiply the United States; and opening up the mines of argen- 
 tiferous galena and copper in the Organ range, which encloses 
 the valley on the east for the whole distance, and of gold and 
 silver and copper in the Ladrones, Socorro, San Mateo andMim- 
 bres mountains on the west; the coal near Fort Craig, and the 
 extraordinary rich deposits of copper and gold at Pinos Altos 
 and Silver City, with the agricultural wealth of the Mesilla val- 
 ley. This branch will be extended from El Paso, 200 miles 
 more across a gentle mesa to the City of Chihuahua, the capital 
 of the rich northern states of Mexico, which have produced an 
 amount of gold and silver, compared with which the production 
 of California and all our mineral states and territories is as yet 
 but a trifle; where in a single small mining district, that of 
 '< Santa Eulalia," more than200mines were formerly worked in a 
 space of two square leagues, 50 of them to a depth of 600 feet, and 
 where a census, taken in 1833, showed that §430,000,000 had, 
 up to that time, been taken from the mines in this single limited 
 district. But, although the population of the city of Chihuahua, 
 adjoining Santa Eulalia, then 76,000, has dwindled to 12,000, 
 and very few of the mines are now, by reason of bad govern- 
 ment, and its result — insecurity from the Indians, worked atall, 
 yet great wealth is still there to reward those who are to extract 
 it under the new and stimulating influences of railroad commu- 
 nication. This Chihuahua branch may be extended to Durango, 
 and eventually to the city of Mexico, opening up a trade with 
 7,000,000 of our neighbors, from the best direction to benefit the 
 
116 BREVOOKT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 people of the United States. This is in many respects perhaps 
 the most important branch of all, and the rich traffic that it 
 promises will induce its construction promptly after the main 
 line reaches the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The supplies of 
 Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, and other Mexican states which 
 are cut off from the ocean by high mountain barriers, are now 
 wagoned from the coast in Texas, and were formerly wagoned 
 from IlissourL This trade will be at once restored to its ancient 
 channel, and vastly enlarged, when the track reaches Albur- 
 querque. The people of Chicago and St. Louis, and of the 
 cities of the Mississippi valley ^outh of the latter, will then be 
 found competing for the supply of clothing, machinery, grocer- 
 ies, etc., to the Mexican states, as they now are to the miners 
 and raneheros of Colorado, Montana and New Mexico. The 
 silent but certain political effect of this influence is not less 
 notable than the stimulus to trade. The ores of Silver City and 
 Pinos Altos, west of the Rio Grande, in southern New Mexico, 
 are very rich, and now pay for wagoning supplies over 900 miles 
 from the Gulf of Mexico at Indianola. What a development 
 will be seen in such a region with the railroad finished to Albur- 
 querque, or better still, with the Rio Grande branch constructed, 
 and the Apaches fully disposed of. In western New Mexico 
 branches will be constructed from the 35th parallel northwest- 
 ward and southeastward along the slopes of the Sierra Madre. 
 
 The transcontinental road or roads, destined sooner or later 
 to traverse this Territory, will be the great instrumentalities of 
 our greatness and our glory. They will be the popular vehicle 
 of a very large proportion of that commerce between the two 
 worlds, now carried on across the Isthmus, over the seas, and 
 over the Union Pacific railroad. But aside from all this, and 
 aside from our own exjjorts and imports, the local traffic will be 
 very considerable and important, and will occasion tap railways 
 everywhere, and network the Territory with them — for there 
 will have to be transported, of our own products and in our own 
 commerce and business, ores in large quantities to favorable 
 local points, where they may be reduced by water power or 
 steam, and the products of rich placer mines from dry localities 
 to water; wood and coal to the mines, reduction works and 
 ranches; timber, lumber, iron, building material, etc., to the 
 mines and mills; and, when the native manufacturing resources 
 
PUBLIC LAND. 117 
 
 are utilized, clothing, pottery, blankets, and so forth; breadstuffs, 
 vegetables and iruits from the valleys to the mines and table- 
 lands; passenger travel, the United States mails, live stock from 
 the pastoral uplands to the grain growing valleys and the min- 
 ing districts; volcanic ash and tufa for manures; gypsum for the 
 same and for plaster; marble, serpentine, granite, and other like 
 material; mescal and pulque — and innumerable other articles 
 and materials which enter into the list of necessities or luxuries 
 of American life, and a great many new products peculiar to 
 the combination of latitude and elevation. 
 
 PUBLIC LAND. 
 
 The United States surveyor general for New Mexico, 
 James K. Proudfit, states that at this time there are, within 
 the area of 121,201 square miles in the Territory, embracing 
 
 in acres 77,508,640 
 
 Military reserves surveyed 189,485 
 
 Indian reserves surveyed 1,752,960 
 
 Private grants surveyed 4,377,750 
 
 Mines and town sites surveyed 705 
 
 Townships subdivided 4,839,480 
 
 11,160,380 
 
 Leaving acres unsurveyed 66,408,260 
 
 Of the nearly five millions of acres of surveyed lands in the 
 Territory indicated by " townships subdivided," but about one 
 and a-half millions have ever been placed in the market for sale. 
 This has been done in a single instance, which was the sale of 
 August, ordered by the proclamation of the President, of May, 
 1870 — the lands then proclaimed being those lands selected for 
 sale by the General Land Office, without any prior consultation 
 with the local land officers for ascertaining in which of the sur- 
 veyed sections of the country lands were most in demand — 
 whence it resulted, of course, that much, of the land offered in 
 the sections so selected, was not only not in demand, but was 
 
118 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 not public land at all, and, consequently, but little of it — 
 about 33,000 acres — has been sold. AVe are indebted to 
 Captain A. G. Hoyt, register of the United States land oflBce 
 at Santa Fe, for a memorandum statement of the localities, and 
 amounts in acres of the lands thus placed in the market, and of 
 the lands taken up by entry and purchase, in the several 
 counties of the Territory. 
 
 Lands Offered. 
 In Mora county — on the Mora river, southeast and near 
 
 Fort Union 23,040 
 
 In Rio Arriba county — on the Valles mountain, near 
 
 Baca location No. 1 4,100 
 
 In Santa Ana county — on the Valles mountain, near 
 
 Baca location No. 1 50,000 
 
 In Santa Fe county — in the southern half. 407,880 
 
 In San Miguel county — 45,410 acres near Baca location 
 No. 2, on the Rio Colorado, 454,915 on the Rio 
 Colorado and Rio de las Conchas, and 92,475 on 
 the Rio Pecos, embraoing the towns of Puerto de 
 
 Luna and Agua Negra 592,800 
 
 In Socorro county — on the east side of the Rio Grande 229,790 
 In Lincoln county — south-east of Fort Stanton, on the 
 
 Rio Bonito, Rio Ruidoso and Rio Hondo 323,125 
 
 Offered lands in Territory 1,630,735 
 
 Lands taken up by Entry and Purchase. 
 
 In Mora county, acres 2,000 
 
 In Santa Fe county 7,000 
 
 In San Miguel county 22,000 
 
 In Lincoln county 18,000 
 
 In Colfax county 2,500 
 
 In Doila Ana county 500 
 
 In Grant county 1,000 
 
 In Valencia county 5,000 
 
 Total acres 58,000 
 
 Two railroads — the thirty-second parallel, or Texas Pacific, 
 and the thirty-fifth parallel, or Atlantic and Pacific — have each 
 a land subsidy in New Mexico, the great body of the land along 
 the surveyed route, in each case, lying outside of the portions of 
 
•PUBLIC LAND. 119 
 
 the Territory now surveyed. The first mentioned road has in 
 its grant in New Mexico about 10,000,000, and the other about 
 3,500,000 acres of land, the odd sections of the townships in the 
 surveyed regions being already withdrawn by tlie secretary of 
 the interior from entry and sale, and the even sections declared 
 subject to the laws applicable to the public lands within railroad 
 grants. The government is bound under the laws chartering 
 the roads to survey and subdivide the regions embraced by the 
 subsidies, so as to enable the companies to make available their 
 landed interests. 
 
 Of the area of the public lands in the Territory yet unsur- 
 veyed, and, of course, unoffered and not disposed of, at least 
 one- tenth is susceptible of cultivation, and it is capable of sus- 
 taining an extremely large agricultural, pastoral and mining 
 population, the actual amount of cultivable land in the valleys 
 being very fertile and productive. The table-lands and plains 
 are inexhaustible in pasturage, and in the mountains are 
 treasures of vast stores of mineral wealth. It embraces a 
 country, much of which is terra incognita, it having been but 
 very partially explored, and, so far as metals are concerned, 
 scarcely at all prospected, 
 
 '<Of this vast area (of 121,201 square miles, or 77,568,640 
 acres in New Mexico) the Spanish and Mexican grants, which 
 will be found to be valid, it is confidently believed," says Sur- 
 veyer General Proudfit, "will not exceed, including those sur- 
 veyed, an aggregate of more than 9,000,000 or 10,000,000 acres, 
 or approximately one-eight of the total territorial area. A very 
 large portion of the unsurveyed and unclaimed public domain of 
 the Territory is fine agricultural, grazing and timber lands, all 
 of which are increasing in value and desirability as the prospect 
 of the railroad communication with the States becomes more 
 certain of fulfillment in the near future. Two of the roads which, 
 it is hoped, will soon reach the Territory, and one of which — 
 the Texas Pacific — is being pushed with great vigor, have large 
 land grants in this district, and will expect, as will settlers, a 
 survey of the lands along their lines. Heretofore, and for 
 various reasons, but principally because the Territory and its 
 people have been persistently misrepresented and misunder- 
 stood, but small appropriations have been made for public sur- 
 veys. A good deal of the ignorance in regard to this region has 
 
120 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 been propagated by interested parties intentionally, and a good 
 deal of it by those who were uninformed and did not seek to 
 learn, and what has given the bad impression of the Territory a 
 great deal of its weight is the fact that among the latter class 
 were certain government officials whose business it was to learn 
 the truth, and state facts. During my residence in the Terri- 
 tory, my travels have amounted to more than one thousand miles 
 in different parts thereof. I have done this traveling mainly 
 that I might learn by actual observation the nature and capa- 
 bilities of the country, and the characteristics of the people. I 
 know that the Territory is tvell deserritig of more liberal treat- 
 ment than it has received from congress, and that, as a matter 
 of business management purely, the public surveys ought to be 
 rapidly prosecuted hereafter." 
 
 PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 
 
 The subject of Spanish and Mexican land grants in New 
 Mexico is one of great importance to the welfare and progress 
 of the Territory, and especially so with respect to its settling up 
 by immigration. These grants have been issuing from the au- 
 thorities here, to the subjects and citizens of the country since 
 its first settlement by the Spaniards, and during the whole period 
 of its occupation by them and the Mexicans. Soon after the 
 Spanish arms in the sixteenth century penetrated and occupied 
 New Mexico as one of the ultramarine possessions of the crown 
 of Spain, the governors and captains general of the province — 
 then pertaining to the viceroyalty of Mexico — were authorized 
 and empo^.vered to make concessions of land to the settlers. 
 Afterwards they were made to individuals for distinguished 
 loyalty to the crown and important services to the state in the 
 Indian wars then harrassing the people and impeding the devel- 
 opment and progress of the country, and still subsequently these 
 
PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 121 
 
 concessions were made in numerous instances to the descendants 
 of those i^ersons who had thus manifested their loyalty and 
 contributed their services. During the Spanish regime in New 
 Mexico, as elsewhere in the Mexican viceroyalty, it was always 
 the declared policy of the sovereign that thepublic domain s/widd 
 be popidated and utilized through the mediun of grants of land 
 to his subjects, as individuals or as communities. Afterwards, 
 when the Mexican republic succeeded to the sovereignty of the 
 soil, it was the declared policy of that government to encourage 
 agriculture by making to its citizens and to communities liberal 
 donations of the national domain for cultivation and stock rais- 
 ing and also for mining purposes. 
 
 It is said by those who ought to know, that there are very 
 few, if any, spurious grants in the Territory — certainly very 
 few compared with the number brought to light in California. 
 Some of these grants of land are now held by our citizens, other 
 grants by large and flourishing communities, and others have 
 been purchased by capitalists and wealthy companies with a 
 view to their settlement and application to agricultural, stock 
 growing and mining uses. 
 
 Now that predatory incursions of the wild Indians have, un- 
 der the policy of the present national administration, become 
 less frequent and serious, and now that the advent of railroads 
 is foreseen in the near future, settlers are beginning to search 
 out and locate homesteads on the public domain beyond the fron- 
 tier, under the government of the United States, and on private 
 grants by purchase. 
 
 The only provision hitherto made by the Congress of the 
 United States, which alone, under the constitution, has the pri- 
 mary dominion and control of the soil, for the ascertainment and 
 settlement of private land claims in New Mexico, emanating 
 from the former governments of the country, is the statute of 
 July 22, 1854, establishing the office of Surveyor General, and 
 authorizing and requiring that officer to hear and adjudicate all 
 such claims presented to him for the purpose, and report them, 
 with his opinion thereon, j^'^'o or con, for the final determination 
 — the confirmation or rejection — of Congress. The following 
 extract from the law referred to, prescribes the powers and du- 
 ties of the Surveyor-General in the premises : — 
 
 <'Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty 
 of the Surveyor-General, under such instructions as may be 
 
122 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 given by the Secretary of the Interior, to ascertain the origin, 
 nature, character and extent of all claims to lands under the 
 laws, usages and customs of Spain and Mexico, and for this pur- 
 pose may issue notices, summon witnesses, administer oaths, 
 and do and perform all other necessary acts in the premises. He 
 shall make a full report upon all such claims as originated before 
 the cession of the Territory to the United States by the treaty 
 of Guadaloupe Hidalgo of 1848, denoting the various grades of 
 title, with his decision as to the validity or invalidity of each of 
 the same under the laws, usages and customs of the country 
 before its cession to the United States, and shall also make a 
 report in regard to all the pueblos existing in the Territory, 
 showing the extent and locality of each, stating the number of 
 inhabitants in the said pueblos respectively, and the natuie of 
 their titles to the lands, such report to be made according to the 
 form which may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, 
 which report shall be laid before Congress for such action thereon 
 as may be deemed just and proper, with a view to confirm bona 
 fide grants and give full effect to the treaty of 1848 between the 
 United States and Mexico; and until the final action of Congress 
 on such claims, all lands shall be reserved from sale or other dis- 
 posal by the government, and shall not be subject to the dona- 
 tions granted by the previous provisions of this Act." 
 
 The treaty of Guadaloupe Hidaigo, referred to in, and which 
 gave occasion for the enactment of the foregoing section, stipu- 
 lates and provides in its eighth article that: "Mexicans now 
 established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and 
 which remain for the future within the limits of the United 
 States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to continue 
 where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the Mexican 
 Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said 
 territories, or disposing thereof and removing the proceeds 
 wherever they please, without their being subjected on this 
 account to any contribution, tax or charge whatever. * * 
 
 In the said territories property of every kind now belonging to 
 Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably respected. 
 The present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who 
 may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with 
 respect to it guaranties equally ample as if the same belonged 
 to citizens of the United States." 
 
PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 123 
 
 And the treaty with Mexico of December 30, 1853, commonly 
 known as tlie Mesilla valley treaty, or Gadsden purchase, in its 
 fifth article stipulates and provides that: "All the provisions of 
 the eighth * * articles of the treaty of Guadaloupe 
 
 Hidalgo shall apply to the territory ceded by the Mexican 
 Bepublic in the first article of the present treaty, and to all the 
 rights of persons and property, both civil and ecclesiastical, 
 within the same, as fully and effectually as if the said articles 
 were herein again recited and set forth." 
 
 The law of Congress of August 4, 1854, extended the federal 
 and territorial civil jurisdiction over the additional territory 
 acquired by the treaty of 1853, whereby the statute whose 
 eighth section we have quoted, became operative also over the 
 Gadsden purchase. 
 
 The law quoted, it is observed, prescribes no term within 
 which the claims for lands under concessions emanating from the 
 former governments shall be filed for adjudication: it is entirely 
 optional loith the claimants to present or decline to present their 
 claims — and it is no doubt due mainly to this omission that com. 
 paratively so few have been filed and determined. The sur- 
 veyors general have several times recommended that a date be 
 fixed by Congress, on or before which time all these claims shall 
 be filed, else be forever barred from recognition and confirma- 
 tion; and the present surveyor general proposes July 4, 1876, 
 for such prescribed date. The propriety and expediency, and 
 indeed the necessity of fixing some limit to the time wherein 
 these grant claimants shall make their titles known to the gov- 
 ernment, and to the people interested in knowing which is pub- 
 lic domain and which is not, are too manifest to admit of 
 question, and too urgent to admit of delay. Congress of course 
 might in its discretion extend the term. When once estab- 
 lished, however, we think the effect would be to cause nearly or 
 quite all the claims to be brought forward and filed, leaving 
 little reason for an extension of the filing term. 
 
 Under the law, as it stands, about one hundred and fifty 
 claims — exclusive of Pueblo grants — have been filed with the 
 surveyor general. Of these some ninety have received his 
 favorable, and several his unfavorable action, and been reported 
 to congress; and of those reported, congress has by law confirmed 
 about one half, has rejected one, has restricted two to smaller area, 
 
124 bbevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 and has most of the remainder now — May, 1874 — pending before 
 it in a bill for their confirmation. Of the confirmed claims about 
 twenty have been surveyed and two patented,* the surveys all 
 being executed by the government, and, in most instances, at 
 its expense. Since 1862 congress has required that the surveys, 
 when made, be executed by authority of the government, but 
 at the cost and expense of the grant owner — which latter 
 requirement we think is a palpable violation of the spirit and 
 intent, and indeed of the letter of the << contribution, tax or 
 charge" clause of article VIII of the treaty of Guadaloupe 
 Hidalgo, before quoted, and it has certainly had the eff"ect of 
 preventing the survey and segregation from the public domain 
 of numerous confirmed grants in this Territory, and in the 
 ascertaining and fixing of whose locus and area the government, 
 which is necessarily ignorant of both, is at least as much inter- 
 ested as the land owner himself, who, of course, knows where 
 his tract is, and which are its boundaries, and what its extent. 
 
 The Indian << pueblo grant" claims constitute a series of 
 claims distinct from that of the "private claims." They are 
 community grants, designated at the surveyor general's office as 
 A, B, C, etc., down to T, inclusive, and have all been reported 
 and confirmed, and many of them been surveyed and; in 1864, 
 patented by the government. 
 
 In neither class of claims has any fraudulent one been 
 detected and exposed; and, indeed, very few spurious claims, 
 if any at all, are believed to exist in the Territory — the low 
 value of lands here up to this time being an insufticient incentive 
 to the fabrication of spurious muniments; though, as our lands, 
 with the advent of railroads, capital and immigration, increase 
 in value, the incentive to their fabrication will correspondingly 
 augment, and it may be that New Mexico will then rival Cali- 
 fornia in the production of fraudulent land grants. For, as Sur- 
 veyor General Proudfit remarks, "it is becoming known that 
 the country enjoys a magnificent climate, that all its valleys are 
 well adapted to a variety of crops, and that its mesas or table- 
 lands are the finest stock-grazing regions in the world. Stock 
 
 •■■■ Recently the General Land Office declined to patent surveyed conflrnied 
 private land claims in New Mexico, on the ground that the grant itself was the 
 equivalent of a United States patent. But on appeal to the secretary of the 
 Interior, and reference of the question by him to the attorney general, the 
 ruling was reversed, and patents will issue to the owners of all such claims. 
 
PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 125 
 
 feeds the year round upon the grama and other nutritious grasses; 
 and the winters are so mild and equable, and. comparatively 
 stormless, that stock needs little or no care, except herding, to 
 prevent straying or other loss. In view of these and other con- 
 siderations, there is a large and increasing call for public surveys, 
 very many preferring to obtain their land direct from the 
 government, instead of attempting to purchase in small quanti- 
 ties from grant owners. The impression which has prevailed 
 in official circles at Washington that all, or nearly all, the Terri- 
 tory that is of any value was claimed under or covered by grants, 
 is erroneous and without foundation in fact." 
 
 In the adjudication of land titles in New Mexico held under 
 concession from either of the former governments, the stipu- 
 lations and the principles of the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, the 
 model international compact of the age, with respect to landed 
 property having a status at its date, enter and largely govern in 
 their determination. Our government in deciding upon the 
 validity of these grants always appears to have been actuated by 
 the most liberal principles, as evidenced both in the legislation of 
 congress and in the decisions of the supreme court concerning 
 them. If the grants were incipient and inchoate at the date of 
 the change of national sovereignty under the treaty of Guadaloupe 
 Hidalgo, or if acquired in good faith, though imperfect in form, 
 or defective in requisites not absolutely essential, they are recog- 
 nized and confirmed. The claimant therefore under one of 
 these old grants, though he hold in good faith but the color of title, 
 may rely with confidence upon the government for an equitable 
 and generous consideration of his claim. 
 
 As showing the large authority and powers exercised in New 
 Mexico by the governors and captains general under the vice- 
 royalty, and by the governors and political chiefs under the 
 subsequent different governments of Mexico in the disposal of 
 the royal and national domain, then almost absolutely useless 
 and without value, in this distant section of Mexico (the bound- 
 aries and limits of the tracts granted being often described 
 simply as from mountain to mountain, and from river to river), 
 we here insert extracts from two decisions of the United States 
 surveyor general for New Mexico, made upon private land 
 claims Nos. 4 and 17, adjudicated by him in 1856 and 1857, and 
 both of which — each for at least a million acre tract — were 
 
126 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 approved by him. We believe it is a settled principle that the 
 official acts of an officer are the acts of his government, under 
 whose laws he officiates, and hold good until duly annulled. 
 And if the principle in international law that a person exercising 
 public authority represents pro tanto his government, which is 
 but the embodiment in an international sense of all the employes 
 and persons exercising that authority, be the correct and binding 
 principle, then the facts stated by the surveyor general in the 
 extracts mentioned become an important consideration in con- 
 nection with the adjudication of our large land grants, since 
 these are to be dealt with not under the provisions of our 
 national constitution and laws, but under the stipulations and 
 guaranties of that <' higher law," the treaty. 
 
 "At the period (1843) when this grant was made, the 
 province of New Mexico had just emerged from a series of 
 revolutions and civil commotions which had caused the general 
 government of the republic to confer upon the governor of the 
 province extraordinary and almost absolute power in all things 
 relating to the domestic affairs and internal government of the 
 province. Under this authority and the extraordinary powers 
 so vested in him this grant is purported to have been ^ made." 
 
 " The supreme authorities of the remote provinces of New 
 Spain — afterwards the republic of Mexico — exercised from time 
 immemorial certain prerogatives and powers which, although 
 not positively sanctioned by congressional enactments, were 
 universally conceded by the Spanish and Mexican governments; 
 and there being no evidence that these prerogatives and powers 
 were revoked or repealed, by the supreme authorities, it is to 
 be presumed that the exercise of them was lawful. The sub- 
 ordinate authorities of the provinces implicity obeyed these 
 orders of the governors, which were continued for so long a 
 period, until they became the universal custom or unwritten 
 law of the land wherein they did not conflict with any subse- 
 quent congressional enactment. Such is the principle sanctioned 
 by the Supreme court of the United States, as expressed in the 
 case of Fremont versus the United States (17 Howard, page 
 542), which decision now governs all cases of a similar nature." 
 
 In concluding our chapter upon private land claims in New 
 Mexico, we present the following article, written at our request 
 
PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 127 
 
 by Judge Joab Houghton, of Santa Fe, who has resided in the 
 Territory for more than thirty years, and who duiing that time 
 has held here the offices of United States vice-consul and com- 
 mercial agent in 1844 (before the conquest), chief justice of the 
 provincial territorial government in 1846, register of the United 
 States land office in 1861, and associate justice of the supreme 
 court of New Mexico in 1865, and who is now one of the lead- 
 ing practicing lawyers of the Territory: — 
 
 The people of New Mexico have just ground for complaint, 
 not only on account of the course of procedure adopted by the 
 administrative officers of the Land Department of the govern- 
 ment respecting their grants of land derived from their former 
 government, the Republic of Mexico, but also the evidently 
 erroneous, if not unconstitutional legislation of Congress in as- 
 suming to cut down and curtail the area and extent of these 
 grants in several instances to less amount and extent than that 
 ceded by the government of Mexico, and in which they 
 have been placed in judicial possession by the legal officers of 
 that government years before the acquisition of the Territory 
 by the United States, under the treaty of 1848, between the two 
 governments. Such legislation has not only operated oppressively 
 and injuriously on the interests of the numerous holders and 
 occupants of these grants, but upon the prosperity of the whole 
 people of New Mexico, by creating doubt and confusion as to all 
 titles to lands in the acquired Territory of New Mexico, granted 
 to them or their predecessors as citizens of the Republic of 
 Mexico; and by them held and possessed as bona fide grants, and 
 as such considered and respected by the Government of Mexico 
 up to the date of the transfer of her sovereignty over the Terri- 
 tory, to the United States. That the Government of Mexico so 
 held and respected these grants of land to her citizens, and that 
 she considered them segregated from her public domain, and as 
 private property, lawfully in the possession of the grantees, and 
 their legal representatives, is conclusively shown by the safe- 
 guard thrown around these private vested rights of her citizens 
 inhabiting the ceded Territory at the date of the Treaty of Ces- 
 sion, in Article VIII of that Treaty— the Treaty of Guadaloupe 
 Hidalgo, of February 2, 1848— one the following stipulations: 
 
 "Mexicans now established in the Territories previously be- 
 longing to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the 
 
128 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 limits of the United States, as defined by the present Treaty, 
 shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to return at 
 any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property they 
 possess in said Territories, or by disposing thereof, and re- 
 moving the proceeds whenever they please, without their being 
 subjected on this account to any contribution, tax or charge, 
 whatever." 
 
 <'In said territories property of every kind, now belonging to 
 Mexicans not established there, should be inviolably respected. 
 The present owners, the heirs of them, and all Mexicans who 
 may hereafter acquire said property by contract, should enjoy 
 with respect to it guarantees equally as ample as if the same 
 belonged to citizens of the United States." And in Article 9: 
 " Mexicans * * not preserving the character of citizens 
 of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated 
 in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the United 
 States, and be admitted * * to the enjoyment of all the 
 rights of citizens of the United States, * * and in the 
 mean time shall be maintained, and in the free enjoyment of 
 their liberty and property." 
 
 It is evident that these solemn treaty stipulations, agreed to, 
 signed and ratified by both the high contracting parties, mean 
 exactly what they state — nothing more, nor nothing less, which 
 is, that " property of every kind now (at the date of the Treaty) 
 belonging to Mexicans" must be inviolably respected, with equal 
 guarantees, as if the same belonged to citizens of the United 
 States, whether retaining the character of Mexican citizens, or 
 becoming citizens of the United States, and to be equally pro- 
 tected in the enjoyment of the same. 
 
 Is it not clear and beyond doubt that Mexico, in making this 
 treaty, meant that the whole property her citizens in these ceded 
 territories had and then possessed under her government and 
 authority, should be thus protected and guaranteed, and that the 
 United States also thus understood it, and by agreeing to, and 
 ratifying the treaty, pledged the nation's faith to the fulfillment 
 of the same? 
 
 By what right, therefore, can Congress, in disregard of the 
 solemn stipulations of this treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo — the 
 highest law of the land, under the constitution, in all things to 
 
PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 129 
 
 which it pertains— by its legislation alter, amend or add to, the 
 meaning, intent or obligation of that treaty, or in any way 
 diminish, curtail or destroy the property, whether land or other 
 property, which the government of the United States is under 
 obligations to guarantee and protect to the possessors? Would 
 it not be a stain upon the nation's faith, and an outrageous inva- 
 sion of the private vested rights oiihesQ acquired Mexican citizens 
 and their heirs and assigns, to legislate 2i proviso into the treaty 
 of Quadaloupe Hidalgo. <' That they shall be protected in the 
 property they possessed at the date of the treaty: provided no 
 one individual claimed more than eleven square leagues of land, 
 eleven thousand sheep, eleven hundred mules and asses, and 
 other property in proportion? Yet upon this principle Congress 
 has legislated on the land grants in New Mexico, ignoring its 
 own legislation in the Act of July 22, 1854, establishing the 
 principal upon which the private land claims of New Mexico 
 should be investigated and decided as to the validity of their 
 title <' under the laws, usages and customs of the country, before 
 the cession to the United States," and reported to Congress for 
 confirmation, when found to be bona fide grants made by Spain 
 or Mexico, and lawfully in possession of the grantees, or their 
 legal representatives at the date of the treaty. 
 
 Congress has assumed the position and functions of a court, 
 for the correction of the errors of the Mexican government, in 
 the execution and practice of her own laws, in the granting and 
 distribution of her own lands, and in the segregation of the 
 same from her own public domain, and has in one or two 
 instances legislated to the effect, that neither the government of 
 Mexico, nor the governors and legislative assemblies of New 
 Mexico, late a department of the Republic of Mexico, and acting 
 under its authority and laws, had a right, under the colonization 
 laws of Mexico of 1824, and regulations of 1828, to grant to one 
 individual colonist more than eleven square leagues of land, and 
 that these colonization laws apply to all land grants in New Mex- 
 ico made by the government of Mexico since the year 1824, and 
 that therefore all grants of land made during that period, in 
 excess of eleven square leagues to any grantee in New Mex- 
 ico, was unlawful as to the excess, but good as to the eleven 
 leagues, and notwithstanding the faith of the government so 
 decidedly pledged in the treaty to protect and guarantee " prop, 
 erty of every kind" in the possession of the inhabitants of the 
 
130 BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 acquired territories at the date of the treaty — declares in its 
 capacity of a court for the correction of the errors of adminis- 
 tration of law by the preceding government, that they will cor- 
 rect this error, and by legislation cut down and curtail such grant 
 to eleven leagues to each grantee. 
 
 But let us examine the colonization law of 1824 — especially 
 as to its applicability to land grants made by the Republic of 
 Mexico in her province of New Mexico. In the examination of 
 law it is the fair and proper principle to look at the whole law, 
 and construe it according to its general interest and purpose. 
 
 Section first of the decree (of the Mexican Congress) of 
 August 10, 1824, respecting colonization, is as follows: "The 
 Mexican nation promises to those foreigners who may come to 
 establish themselves in its territory, security in the persons and 
 property, provided they subject themselves to the laws of the 
 country." 
 
 The 2nd section says, << The objects of this law are those 
 amtional lands which are neither private property, nor belong to 
 any corporation or pueblo, and can therefore be colonized." 
 
 Section 4 says, << Those territories comprised within twenty 
 leagues of the boundaries of any foreign nations, or within ten 
 leagues of th6 sea coast, cannot be colonized without the previ- 
 ous approval of the supreme general executive power." 
 
 The 12th section of the decree restricts the ownership of one 
 person (colonist) to eleven square leagues in all. 
 
 Now is it n%t sutHciently and clearly declared in this decree, 
 that its sole and only object and j)urpose is to colonize »< those for. 
 eigners who may come to establish themselves, etc., etc.," and 
 the general intent to restrict the granting of lands to foreigners? 
 
 It will be seen that the restrictions as to locality and quantity 
 are such as exclude foreigners from settling on the sea coast and 
 frontiers of the, Republic, and from acquiring such positions and 
 strongholds as to endanger the country in the event of foreign 
 war. 'This .was evidently the ichole intent and scope of this 
 decree of the Mexican Congress. It is evident that it was not 
 applicable^ or intended to ap:ply to grants made to Mexican citi. 
 zens. The spirit, intent or practice under this decree does not 
 sustain the idea that the Republic of Mexico in regulating dona- 
 tions of her public domain to foreign colonists, intended to restrict 
 
PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 131 
 
 her right of sovereignty in the granting of her own public 
 domain to her own citizens, nor is sucli a restriction at all sustained 
 by the practice. 
 
 Tlie daily practice of the Mexican government in all the 
 states and provinces of the Republic since the acquisition of its 
 independence of Spain, has been to grant to her own people the 
 lands petitioned for by them, within certain bounds and natural 
 land mark^, regardless of quantity or extent of area, or measure- 
 ment of leagues, or restrictions mentioned in the decree of 1824. 
 
 The records of every state and territory of the Republic of 
 Mexico, the records of New Mexico, show the same practice in 
 the granting of lands by her authorities duly empowered to do 
 so, by the general government of Mexico, and further, no grant 
 thus made in New 31exico, from 1821 to 1848, has been vacated or 
 annulled by either the general government of Jfexico, or the local 
 government of Kew Ilexico acting under the authority of that 
 general government. It is moreover a fact shown by the record, 
 that no grant of land has ever been made in New Mexico — with 
 any — the slightest regard to the decree of 1824, as to quantity of 
 land or form of grant; and that with -the exception of some ten 
 or twelve grants, of all those which have been investigated, 
 approved and confirmed, under the Act of the United States 
 Congress of July 22, 1854, no mention is made of leagues or 
 measured distances, or square leagues, except in one instance. 
 The large majority of land grants in New Mexico made by the 
 governments of Spain and Mexico, are described by natural 
 objects as land marks, or artificial monuments, erected for the 
 l>urpose by the otficer placing the grantees in possession. 
 
 The facts therefore stand clearly proven, that in practice, 
 neither the government of Mexico, nor the local officers of her 
 province of New Mexico, ever considered the restrictions con- 
 tained in the Mexican Congressional decree of 1824, respecting 
 colonization, as in any way applying to, or restricting them in the 
 granting of lands to citizens of the Republic, and that the 
 Republic of Mexico made no mistake in holding and protecting 
 these grants as valid, vested, private rights, around which she 
 attempted to extend her protection, in making the solemn treaty 
 stipulations contained in the articles of the treaty of Guadaloupe 
 Hidalgo above cited. 
 
 Congress therefore, in constituting itself a high court for the 
 
132 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 correction of errors of the government of the Republic of Mex- 
 ico in granting her own lands to her oivn citizens, prior to the 
 treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, stands thus: 
 
 1st. It finds no errors to correct that could possibly be 
 acknowledged as such by the principal party in interest, tlie 
 government of Mexico having acknowledged and sanctioned, by 
 long and continued practice, the granting of her own lands to 
 her own citizens, greatly in excess of eleven square leagues.' 
 
 2d. If such error existed in the execution of her own laws 
 by the government of Mexico, Congress has no right under the 
 constitution, the treaty, or the laws of nations, to correct it, as 
 it cannot be a court of review over the administration by a for- 
 eign power of its own laws. 
 
 3d. Congress by such legislation violates the nation's faith, 
 pledged to the Republic of Mexico to protect and guarantee to 
 the Mexican inhabitants of the acquired territories the property 
 in land, and all other property which had been in their posses- 
 sion under their own government, and remained theirs in legal 
 possession, acknowledged by their government at the date of 
 the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo — not a part of that property, 
 or such part as Congress may decide that the Republic of Mexico 
 had a right to give — but the whole property in the hands and 
 possession of Mexican citizens, with the sanction of the Mexican 
 government at the date of the treaty. 
 
 4th. The result of such legislation, if carried into effect, 
 would be an inexcusable and unwarranted invasion of private 
 rights, destruction of private interests — disregard of treaties, 
 national and international law, heretofore unparalleled in our 
 national legislation, or in the treatment of all civilized and 
 enlightened nations, of the inhabitants of territories acquired 
 either by conquest, treaty or purchase. 
 
 5th. Congress by such legislation assumes to reverse or ignore 
 the decisions of the supreme court of the United States in a 
 large number of cases, arising in acquired territories since the 
 acquisition of Louisiana and Florida, and especially thosearising 
 the recently acquired territory of California, in regard Ho the 
 extent of grants of land. I will here refer to a few of them 
 only. 
 
PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS. 133 
 
 In the case of Higueras vs. The United States, 5th Wallace, 
 827, the Supreme Court says: "That when the grant is made by 
 specific boundaries, the grantee is entitled to the entire tract 
 described." 
 
 United States vs. Sutherland, 19 Howard, pages 363, 365, the 
 court says: " Since the country (California) has become part of 
 of the United States, these extensive rancho grants, which then 
 had little value, have now become very large and very valuable 
 estates. They have been denounced as enormous monopolies, 
 princedoms, etc., and this court has been urged to deny to the 
 grantees, what it is assumed the former government had too 
 liberally and lavishly granted. This rhetoric might have a just 
 influence when urged to those who have a right to give or refuse. 
 But the United States have bound themselves by a treaty to 
 acknowledge and protect all bona fide titles granted by the previ- 
 ous government, and this court has no discretion to enlarge or 
 curtail such grants, to suit our own sense of propriety, or defeat 
 just claims, however extensive, by stringent technical rules of 
 construction, to which they were, not originally subjected." 
 
 United States vs. Iloreno, 3d Wallace, pages 478, 491: Broad 
 vs. Tedey, the Supreme Court held that " the cession of Cali- 
 fornia to the United States did not impair the rights of private 
 property — these rights are held sacred by the laws of nations, 
 and protected by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo." 
 
 In the case of The United States vs. Peralta, et al.,1^ Howard, 
 p. 347, the court says: '<We have frequently decided that the 
 public acts of public oflicers, purporting to be exercised in an 
 oflicial capacity, and by public authority, shall not be presumed 
 to be usurped; but that a legitimate authority has been previ- 
 ously given or subsequently ratified." 
 
 To these references to the opinionand decisions of the United 
 States Supreme Court I will add the remark, that in no case 
 taken by appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States from 
 any of the acquired territories, has the title to lands under a 
 grant from Spain or Mexico, in other respects unobjectionable, 
 been held void by that court, upon the sole ground that the 
 quantity of land granted was in excess of eleven square leagues, 
 or on the ground of any quantity of land it might contain within 
 the boundaries described in the papers of the grant. 
 
134 bkevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 IRRIGATION. 
 
 In the United States, east of about the 103d meridian of 
 longitude, west from Greenwich, irrigation is rarely resorted to, 
 all the cereals growing to maturity without its aid. But west of 
 that meridian to the Sierra Nevada it is essential toasureandan 
 abundant crop. Though it is viewed in the states to the east of 
 us as an unnatural, a costly, and an unnecessary auxiliary to 
 niiture, and is unpopular, the new great west hereaway believes, 
 and from experience has found to the contrary. It is an im- 
 portant and profitable part of our system of agriculture. To be 
 understood and appreciated it must be seen in practice and 
 through its effects. It cost less in money and labor than does 
 clearing the lands in the eastern states, or draining them in the 
 western. It fertilizes the land, the water being charged with" 
 fertilizing matter, and keeps up its producing capacity thereby. 
 It saves all loss of crop by drouth or irregular rainfall. It enables 
 the farmer to regulate his work to his will and convenience, 
 a given amount of labor and attention to his fields thus going 
 much further than when the work presses at irregular and 
 uncertain times. And it often doubles or quadruples the crop 
 cultivated by its means. 
 
 The United States surveyor general in a communication to 
 the General Land Office of June 25, 1868, in writing of the 
 barrens and desert lands in New Mexico, and the means of irri- 
 gating and reclaiming them, says: — 
 
 '< Properly so called there are neither barren nor desert lands 
 to any great extent in this district. The Territory is properly 
 divided between valleys, which can be irrigated by the streams 
 flowing through them, mesas or table-lands — under which 
 designation I class all the lands not mountain or irrigable val- 
 leys — and mountains. In a communication to the General Land 
 Office in 1866 I estimated the arable lands of this district at 
 one million acres. The term arable was used as synonymous 
 with irrigable, as no lands can 'be cultivated here with any 
 certainty of raising a crop without irrigation. There is a con- 
 siderable rainfall during the months of July and August, but 
 there is so little rain during April, May and June that without 
 irrigation crops will ordinarily perish. 
 
 "The method of irrigation is as follows: — Ditches or canals 
 are excavated, and the water conveyed from the stream with 
 
IRRIGATION. 135 
 
 just fall enough to preserve the full quantum or volume deemed 
 necessary, and diverging from the stream as the surface of the 
 land will permit, so as to include all the lands below, i. e. 
 between the greatest elevation to which the ditch can be carried 
 along the tract to be irrigated and the stream. The land is 
 prepared for planting by laying it off in beds or lots averaging 
 in size, according as the surface is level or otherwise, from a 
 sixteenth part of an acre to two or three acres. Around each of 
 these beds — which are required to be level or nearly so — there 
 is raised a light embankment, six or eight inches above the 
 level, clearing a shallow acequia between, through which the 
 water is drawn, and from which the land is flooded to the depth 
 of two or three inches, as often as required for the growth of 
 the crop. The water being let through the embankment as 
 above, and the beds covered to the proper depth, the embank- 
 ment is again closed, and the water left to be absorbed by the 
 soil. The small irrigating ditches above described communicate 
 with the main ditch, the acequia madre, but the water is only 
 suffered to flow in them when needed for the irrigation of the 
 land which they divide or to which they lead. To mature a 
 crop of corn, wheat, barley or oats, the land should be irrigated 
 ordinarily once in ten to fourteen days, vegetables a little oftener; 
 but during the months of July and August the rains supply 
 much of the necessary moisture, so that irrigation during those 
 months, or a portion of them, is often unnecessary. It may 
 be proper to state th^ amount of irrigable land is only 
 limited by the amount of water in the stream — even the Rio 
 Grande might all be used in the irrigation of the lands in 
 its valley. The water supplied by irrigation not only affords 
 the necessary moisture for the growth of vegetation, but also 
 enriches the soil by depositing the sedimentary matter held in 
 solution, and thus lands which have been under annual cultiva- 
 tion for more than two hundred years still produce excellent 
 crops, "without ever having been manured or restored by other 
 means. It will be observed that to prepare land for planting, 
 and to cultivate it properly by means of irrigation, requires 
 very much more labor than where Providence sends the early 
 and the latter rain; but it has its advantages also. If the farmer 
 has a never- failing stream of water with which to irrigate his 
 land, his crop need not be cut short by drouth, nor injured by 
 excessive rains. 
 
136 
 
 BREVOORT'S NEW MEXICO. 
 
 <'The mesas or table-lands include fully two-thirds, and 
 perhaps three quarters of the entire surface of New Mexico. 
 The greater part of the land produces excellent grass for pasture, 
 and, with irrigation and cultivation, would produce all of the 
 cereals and vegetables equally well with the valleys; but for the 
 most part they have so great an elevation above the streams 
 that, if there were surplus water after irrigating the valleys, 
 they could not be reached by irrigating canals. The only hope 
 therefore of reclaiming the table-lands of New Mexico is by 
 means of artesian wells. ***** * j^o 
 other attempt (thaa that made by the general government, and 
 suspended in 185 8-' 59-' 60, on the staked plain, and on the mesa 
 twenty-five miles south of Santa Fe*) has been made in New 
 Mexico to obtain water by sinking artesian wells; and the 
 question as to the practicability of obtaining water for irrigation 
 by this means is yet to be decided. The soil upon the greater 
 part of these table- lands, or plains, as they are sometimes called, 
 is good. The vegetable growth is grama grass of two or three 
 varieties, the palmilla, amole or soapweed, many varieties of 
 the cactus, and in places the artemesia. Scattering piilon and 
 cedar, and in the south a species of the live oak, cover con- 
 siderable districts, connecting generally with the forests of the 
 mountains." 
 
 The surveyor general in his annual report for 1873, speaking 
 of irrigation, says: — 
 
 <<This is a subject of first class importance to this as to the 
 other Territories. Considerable attention is bestowed upon it 
 by prominent citizens. * * * * * * It is 
 proposed, I believe, to digest a plan to be laid before congress, 
 to grant some portions of the public domain to aid the work. It 
 would be very proper and politic for the general government to 
 do this, on the same principle that it gives the swamps and 
 overflowed lands to the States in which they lie to be by them 
 reclaimed. The principle, I suppose, is the same — but in one 
 case there is a troublesome surplus of water, and in the other a 
 dearth of that useful fluid. If it is proper to give wet land 
 PROVIDED WE WILL DRY IT, it IS surely right to give us the 
 DRY LAND IP WE WILL WET it! With an efficient sj'stem 
 of irrigation in the valleys of our streams, the finest of crops 
 
 * And we may add except that made in 1870 at, the Placer mines, south of 
 Santa Fe, and after partial success suspended for want of capital. 
 
IRRIGATION. 137 
 
 can be raised, and with more certainty as to their growth, and 
 with more safety in harvesting, than where the reliance is 
 entirely upon the fall of rain." 
 
 In the suggestion of the surveyor general, which we have 
 emphasized in the foregoing, we find combined an excellent 
 instance of official wit and a laconic array of solid argument. 
 The plan which he says it was proposed to digest and present 
 to congress for its sanction is now pending before that body in 
 the form of a bill for reclaiming and utilizing by means of irri- 
 gation the vast fertile table-lands west of the Rocky mountains. 
 We trust the bill will be enacted into a law. In this Territory 
 the subject of conveying the necessary volumes of water from 
 the rivers to the fertile uplands and rich gold placers, with the 
 purpose of irrigating those, and washing the dirt of these, has 
 received some attention. And in this connection we may 
 mention that an estimate has been made of the practicability 
 and cost of carrying four thousand inches of water from the 
 Pecos river to the gold placers south of Santa F6. The subject 
 was considered, and the estimate made by very competent par- 
 ties, and by them it is believed to be quite feasible to take a 
 ditch out of the Pecos, sufficiently high to carry 4,000 inches of 
 water to a point which will give an altitude of 600 to 800 feet 
 higher than the placers. From this terminus of the ditch, a 
 distance of about 35 miles, iron pipe to convey the above amount 
 of water is estimated to cost $300,000; with the proposed head 
 20 hydraulics could be supplied, washing an immense amount 
 of rich pay-dirt, and uncovering, we may say, sufficient gold to 
 pay expense of ditch and pipe in six months, and eventually 
 uncovering millions of dollars' worth of gold, and besides the 
 thousands of tons of rich gold bearing quartz, copper and silver 
 ores it would bring to light, and give employment to a large 
 number of miners. 
 
138 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 INDIANS IN THE TERRITORY. 
 Besides the seven thousand peaceable, and peaceful and hon- 
 est and industrious Pueblo Indians in their villages in New 
 Mexico, there are nearly twice as many << wild" Indians — sav- 
 ages who. quite until the recent inauguration of the present 
 reservation policy of President Grant, had been for centuries the 
 scourge of New Mexico and the New Mexicans. They depre- 
 dated upon life and property continually, extensively and every- 
 where. This country has witnessed and experienced, genera- 
 tion in and generation out, an incessant war of races between 
 the white man and the red, the latter continually raiding for 
 blood and booty uj^on the frontier settlements, and the denizens 
 of these as often pursuing him for revenge to his inaccessible 
 mountain fastnesses. It was so alike under the Spanish, the 
 Mexican and the American governments; and while this relation 
 of the two great classes of the inhabitants of the Territory con- 
 tinued, of course there was no encouragement for the develop- 
 ment of the resources of the country, and indeed hardly a 
 motive for the acquisition or accumulation of perishable estate 
 or for the utilization or improvement of landed property. 
 
 The wild Indians of New Mexico, some of whom still roam 
 and prey, but most of whom are now gathered upon reservations, 
 are in name and about in number as follows: 
 
 Navajos 8,500 
 
 Apaches 4,500 
 
 Utes* 1,500 
 
 14,500 
 
 The Navajos being a tribe- without subdivisions, the Apaches 
 being subdivided into Jicarillas, Gilas and Mescaleros, and the 
 Utes into Capotes, Wemenuches and Mohuaches. 
 
 All these are the red rascals who, together with the frequent 
 assistance in earlier times of their confederates in crime and 
 thievery, the Comanches and Kiowas, so long depredated upon 
 the lives and property of our people. But their day has gone, 
 though the savages themselves remain; and while the land yet 
 stinks of their presence, we shall here say a few words concern- 
 ing them and their management. 
 
 ■•■' The proper spelling and pronunciation of the word is Yuta — the Americans 
 having corrupted and spoiled it with " Utah," and then annihilated it with 
 " Ute." The Territory of Utah has a hideous misnomer. 
 
INDIANS IN THE TERRITORY. 139 
 
 For the last year or two all has been comparatively speaking 
 quiet in New Mexico, with the exception of the Apaches in the 
 south western part of the Territory, who are fast coming under 
 the banner of peace, the result of the formidable and just chas- 
 tisement they are receiving at the hands of General Crook — 
 something they have deserved for many years. The depredating, 
 unsettled state of affairs in certain localities instead of having 
 been quashed and silenced, have been buoyed up by the mal- 
 action, and utter ignorance of authority appointed to select 
 reservations and to control the Indians. We refer to the Quaker 
 policy, the Collier and Howard humbugs whose ignorance in 
 such matters must cost the government millions of dollars; the 
 great and fatal mistake of Howard in selecting an Indian reser- 
 vation, one of the boundary lines of which being the national 
 boundary between the United States and tlie Republic of Mex- 
 ico, is preposterous. The money consideration of this blunder 
 is slowly but surely coming to light, and will be enormous in 
 amount. The states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango, 
 have in a manner been in part devastated and ruined from the 
 forays of the Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona, and well 
 may we say that the money consideration will be enormous, 
 when the Republic of Mexico shall have justice meted out to her 
 from the treasury of the United States to cover these depreda- 
 tions. 
 
 Why the government should select and send out such men, 
 who know nothing whatever of tlie Indian character, or of the 
 wants and wishes of the people of the Territory, we cannot 
 imagine, unless it be for favor to one, whilst thousands suffer the 
 consequences. Why does not the government leave to the peo- 
 ple of the Territory, to her experienced men, who are identified 
 with the country, the selection of proper reservations, in proper 
 localities, and why are not these Indians placed under experi- 
 enced men, who are numbered by scores in the territories? To 
 the contrary, inexperienced, unfitted strangers are sent out to 
 dictate to the people where the Indian shall be placed, regardless 
 of the consequences to the inhabitants of the Territory — no won- 
 der we have trouble. The cause of the constant complaint from 
 both parties is apparent, and it is high time it should be reme- 
 died, before blood and massacre pay the tribute. In other times 
 of our recollection, Indian men, or in other words, men of expe- 
 rience in Indian matters, were called Indian men, and were 
 
140 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 selected to make important treaties and demands, who appeared 
 upon ihe council grounds, backed in force by the military power, 
 and demands made which were always acceded to by the Indian. 
 Now the style is to ask the Indian to dictate his own terms, as 
 in the Howard-Cachise case. After thirty years experience on 
 the frontiers, several of which were spent with different tribes 
 of Indians, we are prepared to say this: First, it is essentially 
 necessary and all important to whale them without mercy, and 
 until they crawl. upon their hands and knees and beg for peace, 
 and be sure there is no deception, or in other words, possuming. 
 Then place them on reservations, disarm and dismount them 
 completely, make it the penalty of death to be seen off the res- 
 ervation; likewise to the white man who is caught upon it with- 
 out permission after well defined boundaries are established and 
 constantly proclaimed, with a double line reservation, or a strip 
 of land five miles wide as neutral ground , around the reservation, 
 to be seen upon which the penalty shall be death; give them a 
 sufficient number of breeding cattle and sheep to warrant the 
 yearly increase cannot be consumed by them after breeding five 
 years. In the mean time feed them high with flour, bacon, 
 grease, sugar and coffee and meat, and after about two years of 
 such feeding they will die off faster than they can be killed off 
 any other way in a christian like manner. After five years, if they 
 have not learned to raise wheat and corn, let thena subsist on 
 meat alone, not allowing them to waste any under severe penal- 
 ties, or if they have corn and wheat, have it made into flour and 
 meal, not allowing them to manufacture the grain into tizwin, 
 upon which the rascals get continually drunk. Let the military 
 arm of power control Indians and reservations, use the black 
 snake whip freely on the lazy, indolent characters, and make 
 them git to the herd or work, and you will soon have no idlers, 
 but a peaceable, docile lot of aborigines in camp. 
 
 Our idea of a reservation for the Ute Indians, noAV occupying 
 the northwestern part of New Mexico, the southwestern part of 
 Colorado, and the southeastern part of Utah, would be a point 
 below the junction of Green and Grand rivers, making the Colo- 
 rado river of the west the western boundary of said reservation, 
 selecting on the north and south, at a suitable distance, one each 
 of the numerous immensely deep chasms which run from the 
 plains on the east into the Colorado river, and on the east a line 
 
INDIANS IN THE TERRITORY. 141 
 
 of military works sufficient to guard that line alone. Here the 
 western boundary of the reservation, the canon of the Colorado 
 river, is impassable for man or beast; on the north and south the 
 boundaries are a species of awfully sublime, deep, rugged, almost 
 bottomless chasms, and as difficult to cross as the canon of the 
 Colorado above referred to. Here is a place for a reservation 
 where no white settler will venture for the next century; where 
 the Indian can find game for time indefinite, and be entirely out 
 of the way of the immense immigration which is flowing west, 
 and which is not unlike the tidal wave of the ocean — every 
 obstacle in its way, particularly the Indian, will be crushed and 
 exterminated, if not removed in time. 
 
 Every article of merchandise furnished them, viz: blankets, 
 diff'erent sizes, coarse cloth and indigo blue merrimac prints, 
 which are really the only three articles they require, should be 
 manufactured expressly of some peculiar pattern, and the words 
 Indian Department worked into the material in large letters, 
 the hoes, spades, knives, and such articles should also be stamped 
 in the same way, and a law made, making it an oflFence 
 punishable by imprisonment five years at hard labor for any 
 person to have in his or her possession any of the above articles. 
 With such a policy we would have no more trouble with wild 
 Indian tribes, reduce the cost of maintaining them several 
 millions of dollars, with a sure and certain prospect, a fact 
 beyond doubt, that they would after five years subsist themselves 
 from off" the increase of their cattle and sheep herds, and have a 
 surplus of beef and mutton to turn over to the government 
 yearly for use of the troops, and in payment of their annuities 
 in merchandise; we could unite at great length upon the advan- 
 tages of such a policy, and show its real merits; we might also 
 make mention of the reservation selected for Jicarilla Apaches, 
 The absolute and monstrous outrage here committed upon the 
 inhabitants of the Territory, and the unfitness of the location 
 for the Apaches — but we stay further comment — the Indians 
 have been humored to such an extent that nothing but a sound 
 thrashing will bring them to reason, subjection and respect, and 
 that time may come the present season from all appearances. 
 
 In writing of the New Mexico Indian, it is pleasant to turn 
 from the wild savage to the gentle and meritorious Pueblo. The 
 Pueblos, like the Israelites, are a <' peculiar people." They 
 
142 
 
 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 number in the Territory about seven thousand, all of them the 
 inhabitants of well constructed villages, and of comfortable 
 dwellings therein, the cultivators of the soil, and the growers of 
 live stock. They were living in towns when first discovered 
 by the Spaniards.* The testimony of the earliest explorers — 
 Cabeza de Vaca, Bastafieda and Coronado — is conclusive upon 
 this point. In the year 1G80 they revolted against their Spanish 
 oppressors in the country, and aided, as it may be supposed, by 
 the wild Indians, killed or drove them all out of the province. 
 The re-conquest was not complete until the year 1G93; but in 
 1G89 the governor and captain general, Domingo Jironza Petriz 
 de Cruzate, issued from El Paso to all the pueblos, except that of 
 Sandia, which was established since (in 1748), a paper recognizing 
 their respective claims to the lands occupied by them — in some 
 cases granting them certnin limits, in others simply admitting 
 and conceding the limits claimed by the pueblo. 
 
 The pueblo Indians of New Mexico live entirely by agricul- 
 tural pursuits. They have small flocks of sheep and goats, and 
 herds of cattle and horses, which they pasture upon that part of 
 their lands unfit for cultivation. The flocks are always attended 
 by pastores who drive them to the pasture grounds in the 
 morning, and return them to the village for safety at night. 
 The milk of the ewes and goats furnishes no inconsiderable 
 portion of their daily food. They profess the Roman Catholic 
 religion, and are sober, industrious and virtuous. Under the 
 Mexican government they voted and held office, and enjoyed 
 all the right of citizenship — rights which have not heretofore 
 however been acknowledged by the United States. Each pueblo 
 or village is a community within itself, f The male inhabitants 
 of the village on Christmas eve annually elect a governor, 
 lieutenant governor, war captain, and subordinate officers, who 
 order the internal affairs of the pueblo, the people obeying 
 implicitly the officers of their choice. 
 
 •■' The earliest record we have looking to the pnebloization of the Indians of 
 ultramarine poissessions of Spain is the decree of the emperor Carlos II, of March 
 21, 1551, setting forth that in pursuance of a royal command, of 1546, tlie prelates 
 of New Spain, now Mexico, specially convened, had resolved that the Indians 
 should be reduced to pueblos; and Telipe II made a statute and regulations for 
 the protection of the Pueblo Indians, and for the settlement of others not then 
 living in villages. 
 
 t The populations of the pueblos respectively are given in our tabular state- 
 ment of the population of the Territory by counties. 
 
INDIANS IN THE TEREITOEY. 143 
 
 The study of the Pueblos is a most interesting one, though 
 one which it is believed will never unveil the mystery of who 
 they were in the zenith of their power and glory in this portion 
 of the world. We believe it was the ancestors of those we have 
 among us to-day who built and inhabited the evidently immense 
 and populous ancient pueblos or towns whose ruins stand all over 
 New Mexico — but the mystery as to wiio and what manner of 
 people it really was who built the ancient pueblos we refer to, 
 is as much a question still as is the mystery of the builders of 
 the i^yramids. Certainly they were a people powerful in num- 
 bers, and advanced in the arts. These ancient people are 
 usually referred to as the Montezumas. In our mountains and 
 valleys are many ruins of the Montezumas, and they extend 
 south into Chihuahua, and west into Arizona. Some of these 
 old ruins of pueblos indicate that their denizens numbered even 
 tens of thousands. The Montezumas clearly were the most civ- 
 ilized of all the Indians, and they were evidently advanced in 
 many arts and sciences ; had a complete system of government, 
 and their kings had absolute sway over an empire whose extent 
 was great, and much of which, since it has been acquired by the 
 United States, remains unexplored, and whose population 
 amounted to hundreds of thousands. They were an industrious 
 people, adepts in the cultivation of the soil (by irrigation, as the 
 remains cf their ditches show), in mining, and in the manufac- 
 ture of woolen goods, in which latter industry some of the 
 Indians of the country, the Navajos, still excel. They built 
 houses and temples; they were a great nation of miners ; the 
 empire was and remains a rich extent of precious metals, and 
 indications are found of their working of mines on the streams 
 and in the mountains. 
 
 The Pueblos of to-day — says Major John Ward, formerly 
 government agent among them, and whom twenty-five years of 
 constant, intimate intercourse with them had made tlioroughly 
 acquainted with their character and all their customs — are all 
 of them nominally Roman Catholics in religion, and as far as can 
 be discerned, appear to be sincere and earnestly devoted to the 
 rites of that church, whose showy ceremonies present to them a 
 religion they can see, and for that reason in some degree compre- 
 hend and appreciate. Each town has its church edifice, which 
 is held in high respect. The people esteem and obey their 
 priests. They generally marry, baptize and bury according to 
 
144 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 the rules of that sect. The holy days are generally attended to. 
 Each has its patron saint, whose name the pueblo bears, with 
 few exceptions, and whose anniversary is never neglected. On 
 that day a great feast takes place, and after the ceremonies 
 pertaining to the church are over, which occupy the first part of 
 the day, amusements of all kinds are universally resorted to, 
 such as foot racing, horse racing, cock fighting, gambling, 
 dancing, eating and drinking, with the usual accompaniments. 
 On such occasions liberality is an especial virtue, and no pains 
 are spared to make everybody welcome. Some of the Pueblos 
 are noted for these feasts, and great numbers from distant parts 
 of the country flock thither to enjoy the amusements and share 
 their hospitalities. Independently of the foregoing, however, 
 there is every reason to believe that the Pueblos still adhere to 
 their native belief and ancient rites. That most of them havefaith 
 in Montezuma is beyond a doubt, but in what light it is difficult to 
 say, as they seldom or never speak of him, and avoid conver- 
 sations on the subject. Like other people, they do not like to be 
 questioned on subjects which they believe to concern no one but 
 themselves. It is stated by some that the Montezuma of the 
 Pueblo Indians is not the Montezuma of thg conquest, but an 
 agent of the Spanish and Mexican governments, formerly chosen 
 to protect the rights and interests of the Pueblos, and called 
 Protector de los Indios. Be this as it may, one thing is certain: 
 that this view of the subject differs entirely from that of the 
 Indians. They believe to this day that Montezuma originated in 
 New Mexico, and some go so far as to designate his birth-place. 
 In this they differ, however, some affirming that he was born at 
 the old pueblo of Pecos, just east of the city of Santa F6, and 
 others, that his birth-place was an old pueblo located near Ojo 
 Caliente, the ruins of which are still to be seen, north of Santa 
 Fe about fifty miles. 
 
 There are within the limits of New Mexico nineteen existing 
 << pueblos," the names of all of which are given at the end of 
 this paragraph, including that of Pecos, the one most recently 
 depopulated, and whose remnant of inhabitants removed to, and 
 incorporated themselves with the Jemez pueblo some years since. 
 The pueblo of Zuni stands in Arizona we believe, though it is 
 thought by some to be in New Mexico, wherein all the maps_, 
 locate it. The interritorial line, which is 100° west longitude. 
 
INDIANS IN THE TERKITORY. 145 
 
 has not yet been surveyed and marked, and the pueblo probably 
 stands a few minutes west of it, in about latitude 35° 10^ It 
 belongs naturally to the pueblo system of New Mexico, and we 
 have included it among the population of our county of Valencia, 
 tl^ough it belongs more properly perhaps to that of the county of 
 Santa Ana. 
 
 The old Spanish archives preserved at Santa Fe, show that 
 formerly the respective pueblos were referred to as of theTegua, 
 the Queres or the Taro division of the Pueblo Indians. The fol- 
 lowing list of the villages examined in connection with a map 
 of the Territory, showing their localities, will elicit the inter- 
 esting fact that some intervening villages speak dialects different 
 from those of their nearest neighbors, and identical with those 
 of distant ones; which circumstance suggests, we think, that 
 at some time long agone, some cataclysm must have occurred in 
 this country among the pueblos, which occasioned a radical con- 
 fusion and disorganization of peoples and communities. 
 
 The Indians of the pueblos of Santa Clara, Tesuque, Nambe, 
 San Ildefonso, San Juan, Pojoaque, Pecos, Jemez, speak one dia- 
 lect — the Tegua; those of the pueblos of Taos, Picuris, Sandia, 
 Isleta, speak one dialect — the Tano; those of the pueblos of Santo 
 Domingo, Cochiti, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sandia, Laguna, 
 Acoma, speak one dialect — the Queres. 
 
 These interesting inhabitants of our Territory, the Pueblo 
 Indians, are an important, and when they assume the practical 
 exercise of their political rights and privileges, a powerful con- 
 stituent of the body politic. Possessing and exercising the 
 functions of Mexican citizens under the constitution and laws of 
 the Republic of Mexico, and having a status as such citizens at 
 the time of the change of national sovereignty in 1848, though 
 declining until recentlj'^ to claim citizenship under the Ameri- 
 can government, they are nevertheless, and have been for the 
 last quarter century, under international treaty, and entirely 
 aside from Article XIV of the United States constitution, de jure 
 and de facto American citizens, and entitled to vote and hold 
 office, and exercise and enjoy all the other rights and privileges 
 of such citizens. The supreme court of New Mexico has twice 
 so held and decided — once in 1867, and again in 1874. On this 
 occasion several cases were before the court on appeal involving 
 the status of the Pueblo Indians as to whether they are citizens 
 
 10 
 
146 BEEVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 of the United States, by what tenure they hold their lands, and 
 whether they have the right to sell and dispose of the same as 
 other citizens may do. These cases were brought into the 
 supreme court from the district court, and were instituted to 
 recover the penalty imposed by act of Congress of 1834, known 
 as Indian Intercourse Act, for settling on Indian lands. The 
 court decided substantially that the Pueblo Indians of this Terri- 
 tory were made citizens of the Republic of Mexico by the plan of 
 Iguala, the treaty of Cordova, and the decrees of the Mexican 
 Congress passed in 1824, and being citizens of Mexico at the 
 time that New Mexico was acquired, were included in the term 
 < Mexicans,' as used in the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, and 
 thereby became citizens of the United States, with full power to 
 sell and dispose of their lands, which they hold primarily under 
 grants from Spain and Mexico, which have been confirmed by 
 acts of Congress, and patented in conformity with law. Many 
 of these grants are more than two hundred years old, and these 
 Indians have exercised the right to sell and convey in fee sim- 
 ple for more than fifty years. The Indians themselves make no 
 complaint, but maiTitain good faith towards the purchasers, and 
 wonder why the government should seek to annul their bo7ia 
 fide contracts, or interfere with their rights and privileges as 
 citizens. 
 
 It is conceded that their lands are fully equal to any of the 
 fruit or grain lands in the Territory in location and productive- 
 ness, and their standard of cultivation equals in excellence the 
 best methods of the country. This decision will augment the 
 voting population of the Territory at least four thousand, and 
 will relieve the government from the necessity and expense of 
 supporting pueblo agents, and the distribution of farming imple- 
 ments amongst them, when they are as well or better able to buj^ 
 for themselves than the majority of our other citizens. The 
 purchasers of these lands number at least five thousand people 
 throughout the Territory, and they are now relieved from anxi- 
 ety as to the tenure of their estates, because they believe that 
 the supreme court of the United States will approve the decision, 
 the cases having been appealed by the government. 
 
THE MESILLA VALLEY. 147 
 
 THE MESILLA VALLEY. 
 
 This portion of southern New Mexico did not become United 
 States territory, lil<:e the balance of New Mexico, in virtue of 
 the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo of 1848. It was acquired 
 under the treaty pf December 30, 1853, and the United States 
 Congress, by the act approved August 4,. 1854, declared that 
 ''until otherwise provided by law, the territory acquired under 
 the late treaty with Mexico, commonly known as the Gadsden 
 treaty, be and the same is hereby incorporated with the Territory 
 of New Mexico, subject to all the laws of said last named Terri- 
 tory." 
 
 Previous to 1850 there were no white settlements, except at 
 Doiia Ana, in the Mesilla valley. Between the dates of the 
 treaties of 1848 and 1853 the national governmentof Mexico and 
 the state government of Chihuahua were desirous that those 
 Mexican citizens in New Mexico who wished to retain their 
 character as such, should remove into the territory of the Mexi- 
 can Republic, and they each made provision for their transpor- 
 tation thither. A considerable number of families went into the 
 valley from the up country, and located in colonies, authorized 
 and aided by those governments, more particularly the state 
 government, which had made grants of land to the colonists, 
 and encouraged with practical aid emigration and settlement 
 there. 
 
 At Doiia Ana Bend, a colony grant, as shown by the records 
 at Chihuahua, was made by the state government in 1839, and 
 a colony, which for a time flourished, was established there. 
 We do not know that it was ever depopulated and abandoned, 
 though this is very probable, in view of the fact that in those 
 days settlements everywhere in New Mexico were ruinously 
 harrassed by Indian depredations upon life and property. The 
 place is now well settled, a large and flourishing population of 
 farmers and stock-raisers inhabiting the spot. The United States 
 surveyor geneial reports in 1865 that the grant to the colony of 
 Dofiia Ana, made by the state government of Chihuahua in 1853, 
 is about sixteen miles in length along the left bank of the Rio 
 Grande, and fi-om one to three miles in width of irrigable land, 
 and one league in width of mesa or pasture land, called erjidos, 
 or commons. The grant embraces the town of Dona Ana, con- 
 taining about a thousand people, Las Cruces containing about 
 
148 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 two thousand, Tortugas, containing about tliree hundred, and 
 ranchos containing about three hundred and fifty. 
 
 Tlie town of Mesilla, below Doiia Ana, was settled in the 
 year 1850 on public land, to which, in 1853, the inhabitants 
 received a grant from the Mexican government as a colony, the 
 limits of which colony lands embrace also the town of Picacho, 
 the whole on the right bank of the Rio Grande, between it and 
 the mesa or table land, and extending north and south about ten, 
 and east and west about two and a half miles. The town of 
 Mesilla contains perhaps two thousand, and the town of Picacho, 
 with surrounding ranchos, perhaps one thousand souls. 
 
 The town of La Mesa, just south of La Mesilla, is situated, 
 we think, upon public land, and contains about seven hundred 
 people. They claim a tract of land extendingsometeuortwelve 
 miles along the right bank of the Rio Grande, embracing about 
 two hundred ranchos of eighty acres each. Santo Tomas is a 
 town of about three hundred souls, situate between La Mesilla 
 and La Mesa, and was settled in the year 1852. The people 
 claim a tract of land about four miles square. The town of 
 Amoles, on the west bank of the Rio Grande, below La Mesa, 
 was settled in 1851, and is a flourishing settlement, the people 
 claiming, we believe, under a Mexican grant, one league of irri- 
 gable and one league of pastoral Innd. 
 
 The government of Mexico in the year 1851 or J 852, granted 
 to a number of citizens a tract of land for the colony of Refugio, 
 on the west side of the Rio Grande, about six leagues north of 
 El Paso, the land then lying in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, 
 now in the Territory of New Mexico, United States, the place 
 being now occupied by a considei-able number of inhabitants. 
 
 A prominent citizen of the valley, .Judge Knapp, has re- 
 cently written and published a series of interesting, and no 
 doubt reliable articles, setting forth the various natural advan- 
 tages and attractions of southern New Mexico, and particularly 
 of tlie Mesilla valley, and we here append the major portion of 
 the same. 
 
 The Mesilla Valley. ' 
 
 '< People in the fog-clad states are constantly inquiring, where 
 can our asthmatics and consumptives go to find relief from those 
 ..i-iM~>- which must sooner or later take away those who are 
 
THE MESILLA VALLEY 149 
 
 aflfectecl by them? Florida, Cuba, southern Europe, and the cold 
 clime of Minnesota have been tested, and failed to give the 
 needed relief; then all eyes have been turned to Colorado. The 
 ranlv, tropical vegetation of Cuba and Florida, saturated with 
 moisture, and rooting under a summer heat, has proved more 
 dangerous from their miasms, than the diseases from which the 
 patient has sought relief. Southern Europe has proved too damp 
 and changeable, and many a bright intellect has sunk there from 
 the diseases they have endeavored to escape. Coloiado has 
 bright days, warm summer sunshine, cool nights, arid climate, 
 but too cold and snowy winters, too high an elevation for persons 
 on whose constitutions disease has fastened its fangs; aixl the 
 desired spot has not yet been found by the world, because the 
 public mind has not been pointed to this place. 
 
 fms SANITORIA OP THE UNION 
 
 is located in southern New Mexico, where the atmosphere is 
 more dry than in Colorado, the sky brighter, the nights suflflci- 
 ently cool for refreshing sleep, and free from 'damp night air,' 
 and the elevations are such as to suit each case, varying from 
 the elevation of the Rio Grande at 4000 feet, to the mines in 
 Grant county, and the high cattle ranges in the Guadaloupe 
 ranges in Lincoln county, where 7000 feet may be selected, on the 
 clear trout streams and cool springs of water, in an air fragrant 
 with the scent of the pine and the spruce. 
 
 One of the reasons urged upon congress and the people 
 of the United States for the confirmation of the Gadsden 
 Purchase Treaty, was the acknowledged salubrity of the climate 
 in this Mesilla valley. Since that period, and especially since 
 the Butterfield overland mail has been drawn off, on account of 
 the war between the North and South, little has been said about 
 the valley itself. It has passed from the public mind as its sight 
 has been lost from the public eye. ^ 
 
 THIS VALLEY EXTENDS ALONG THE filO GRANDE, 
 
 between the 33d, and 31 J degrees, is seventy miles long, and 
 from one to six miles wide, and contains about two hundred and 
 eighty square miles, over which the irrigating ditches may be 
 carried. It is hemmed in on the north-west by a range of 
 mountains, nearly 1000 feet higher than the river, on the north 
 by the Dona Ana range, which has peaks 1500 feet high, and on 
 
150 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 the northeast the Organ peaks tower, more than three thousand 
 feet above the valley. Thus is the valley secured from the cold 
 winds from these directions, and which sweep over the plains 
 and valleys farther north. Hemmed in bj'^ these mountains, in 
 winter the ground is never frozen to obstruct the plow, and the 
 days always bright, allow the invalid to exercise in the sunshine 
 every day, in an almost summer heat. When the overland 
 mail ran here, many persons reached it in search of that health 
 they had lost in the States, and succeeded in a remarkable 
 degree. 
 
 THERMOMETRICAL POSITION OF THIS REGION. 
 
 In latitude, southern !New Mexico corresponds to Savannah, 
 Georgia, and has a great summer heat, though in the shade it is 
 always cool and pleasant. Its elevation gives it the winter 
 climate of Wilmington, North Carolina, as is manifest from the 
 vegetation which can be grown here. 
 
 THIS CLIMATE CANNOT BE EXCELLED 
 
 for its sanatory qualities. But once since the annexation to the 
 [Jnited States has the mercury been noted below zero, and then 
 it remained at that point but a few hours. SnoWs seldom whiten 
 the ground, and never fall to the depth of two inches, or lie 
 thirty-six hours. Not a flake has fallen for more than a year. 
 Damp, chilly days and hot sultry nights, are unknown. The heat 
 of summer is not oppressive, and sunstroke has never been 
 known. The sky is clear the year round, and no day has been 
 known when the sun and stars have not been seen. The atmosphere 
 is unsurpassed for its dryness and purity. Full of electricity, it 
 is wonderfully exhilirating, and never burdened by malarious 
 or poisonous exhalations. Blankets are necessary for all beds on 
 nights which follow the hottest day, because the nights are cool, 
 though not damp. Sleeping with doors and windows open, or 
 in the open air may be practiced without risk of 'taking cold.' 
 The asthmatic or consumptive invalid may sit out of doors, ride 
 or walk in the sunshine 360 days in the year, with pleasure and 
 comfort, and may always enjoy refreshing sleep at night, thus 
 securing the most essential condition for the restoration of a 
 shattered nervous system, and broken constitution. 
 
THE MESIIiLA VALLEY. 151 
 
 FUBE AND FULL BREATHING OF PURE AIR 
 
 is the most important for a sufferer from diseases of the liver and 
 lungs. Make such a person breathe, and he will live; whatever 
 makes him breathe faster makes his blood flow more rapidly and 
 be better aerated. His appetite will increase, digestion and 
 assimilation will respond to the increased action of the lungs, 
 whicli is secured by the elevation of this valley. Here one 
 must breathe more fully and more rapidly than nearer the sea 
 level, and his air is the purest on the face of the earth. A 
 permanent increase of breathing capacity, caused by rare air, 
 prevents the formation of tubercles, and often heals those already 
 formed. At this elevation, 4000 feet, this increase is not so 
 great as to be injurious, as is sometimes the case at higher 
 elevations. Such are some of the conditions which give to 
 to Mesilla an extremely healthy and invigorating climate, free from 
 the malaria of the hot, damp regions of the river beds and low 
 lands of the southern states, and from the mountain fevers, 
 colds, influenzas, asthmas, and consumptions, of the higher 
 ranges of Rocky Mountains, and cold fog-bound regions of the 
 northern states. A more desirable climate cannot be found the 
 world over. Persons shut out from the light of the sun are most 
 disposed to consumption. For such daily sunlight is everything. 
 Southern New Mexico has more sunny days than any region of 
 the United States, probably more than any other place; and the 
 invalid here cannot but enjoy that benefit, unless he purposely 
 excludes himself from it. 
 
 WHAT PHYSICIANS SAY. 
 
 Florida and Cuba are warmer in winter, but they have an 
 atmosphere loaded with vapor, and winter is the j^eriod of the 
 greatest rains and, consequently, cloudy days. The invalid 
 seeking to regain his health will not go to them, if he follows 
 the advice of Dr. Chambers in his lectures on the renewal of 
 life. That eminent English physician says: 
 
 ' In choosing a home for your consumptive, do not mind the 
 average height of the thermometer, or its variations; do not 
 trouble yourself about the mean rainfall; do not be scientific at 
 all, but find out by somebody's journal how many days were fine 
 enough to go out forenoon and afternoon: that is the test you 
 require; and by that you may be confidently guided.' 
 
152 ■ BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 Tried by such a test, and the invalid must locate in the 
 Mesilla valley in preference to all other jjlaces. Here is no 
 rank, rich vegetation, saturated with moisture, and constantly 
 undergoing decomposition. Vegetation dries up, never rots.. 
 Meat hung in the open air and sun, cures, and is preserved 
 without salt. Such air, when inhaled, gives a stimulus and 
 vital force, which can only be given by so pure an atmosphere. 
 One having a predisposition to consumption, comes to this 
 valley, and is immediately relieved. 
 
 The caution given by Dr. Bancroft, of Denver, and apjiroved 
 by Dr. Pancoast, of Philadelphia, is not aiDplicable to this valley, 
 though it may be to the higher regions. And if he had lived 
 here, as he did in Denver, he would not have penned these 
 words : 
 
 < While earnestly recommending the curative powers of 
 Colorcido, I must stoutly warn persons in the advanced stages of 
 pulmonary consumption against venturing into the rare air of 
 these elevated plains; because the necessity for increased action 
 of the respiratory organs tends to hasten, instead of retard, a 
 fatal termination. The same cause is applicable to any form of 
 organic disease of the heart, excepting that induced by asthma.' 
 
 The Mesilla valley is at that mean elevation which will 
 induce proper activity of the lungs, yet its air is not so rare as 
 to produce the injurious effects mentioned by these physicians, 
 and while this is the best location for those suffering from 
 pulmonary disease, it is even more true of those afflicted with 
 asthma, and for those whose constitutions have beeia broken down 
 by misamatic fevers. 
 
 CURATIVE PROPERTIES IN OTHER DISEASES. 
 
 Diseases of the liver, spleen, bronchitis, phthisis, dispepsia, 
 general depression of the nervous system, are all relieved or 
 cured by a residence here. The remarkably tonic properties of 
 the atmosphere are beneficial in all these forms of disease, and 
 restoration to health may be expected while here. 
 
 Many cases of cure might be cited, but this communication 
 will not allow it. • Many persons have arrived here suffering 
 from a pre-disposition to consumption, from asthma to such a 
 degree that they could not lie down to sleep, from nervous debil- 
 ity, and while here have either been greatly relieved or become 
 
THE MESILLA VALLEY. 153 
 
 entirely free from their distressing effects. Some liave attempted 
 to return to tlieir old homes, before the cure was completed, and 
 have succumbed to renewed attacks, or been obliged to return. 
 Any person with a fair constitution, who settles in this portion 
 of New Mexico, stands a better chance of enjoying a healthful 
 life, and attaining his full period of 'three score years and ten,' 
 than in any other part of the Union. To the young of consump- 
 tive families, it offers special inducements. Here many a 
 brilliant and useful life, which might be lost in a less strengthen- 
 ing climate before reaching the meridian of manhood, may be 
 prolonged to a vigorous old age. 
 
 IRRIGATION AND PRODUCTIVENESS. 
 
 This valley can all be irrigated from the Eio Grande, than 
 which no stream, not even the ISJile, affords better water for that 
 purpose. The descent of the valley, between four and five feet 
 to the mile, and flat, is the very best form for successful irri- 
 gation with facility. The soil is a rich, sandy loam, easily culti- 
 vated, and abundantly supiDlied with mineral salts. All the fruits 
 of the warmer temperate regions grow in wonderful perfection, 
 free from fungoid, and insect diseases and attacks. The yield 
 of whatever is planted is enormovis. The seasons ripen wheat 
 in .Tune, and corn, beans, a fodder or root crop may be taken 
 from the ground the same year. Wheat gives from 40 to 60 
 bushels to the acre, averaging, when well tilled, 50 bushels of a 
 quality that should be classed XXXI, and weighing 05 pounds 
 to the bushel. This land is cheap, even such as have connections 
 with the irrigating ditches, can now be bought for a dollar an 
 acre. It will not be so cheap long. 
 
 COLONIES NEEDED. 
 
 No place in the 'far west ' has so many inducements for the 
 formation of colonies for settlement, as has this valley, or where 
 labor will be more surely rewarded, and health and long life 
 enjoyed more fully. Colonial agents should look this way, be- 
 fore choosing elsewhere. All that is needed is to be better 
 known, and ready communication wdth the populous portions of 
 the Union, to make the Mesilla valley as famous as it is valuable. 
 These it will soon possess, by the Texas and Pacific Railway. 
 Its merits can never be written; it must be enjoyed to be known 
 and appreciated. 
 
154 brevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 THE WARM TEMPERATE BELT. 
 
 Between the parallels of 31 and 33 degrees lies the most 
 productive belt of the continent. Its great staples are cotton, 
 rice and tobacco. But, it also produces all the fruits found further 
 north, and many that will not grow there. All the great cities 
 of the Union are striving for its commerce, and though but 
 partially improved, the railways and rivers groan with the 
 burden of its crops. The fiat of commerce has gone forth, and 
 the i^astures of Texas, as well as wood lands, farther east, are 
 demanded for cotton, and the thousands of cattle must feed on 
 drier grounds where cotton cannot be depended upon for want 
 of rains. In this belt lies southern New Mexico, on whose rich 
 grasses the herds of Texas may feed the year round, and on 
 whose irrigable lands all the productions of this favored belt can 
 be reared, by men breathing the purest air on the continent. 
 
 The Mesilla valley is the brightest gem in this girdle. It is 
 seventy miles long, and contains 280 square miles of land 
 between the banks on either side. The Rio Grande winds its 
 way through it, touching tlie hard land at several points. At 
 these points watering canals may be taken out, and, if need be, 
 the whole stream used for irrigating the valley. Its soil is a 
 rich alluvium of river deposits, highly charged with mineral 
 salts, and containing sufficient sand to make easy cultivation. 
 Its climate is mild in winter. Frosts never impede the plow, 
 and the summer days, if hot, are always followed by cool nights. 
 The clear, pure atmosphere always permits the sun's rays to 
 penetrate the earth, and force forward vegetation, but dry air 
 being a bad conductor of heat, the shade is always grateful. 
 Refreshing coolness covers the valley at night, and the weary 
 sleep, and are refreshed. 
 
 AN AGRICULTURAL CENTER. 
 
 The agricultural out-look of the Mesilla valley is peculiar, 
 and the agriculturist will here be favored as at no other poiut in 
 the far west. His position is exactly reversed from that of 
 his fellow in the east, where competition every year cheapens 
 the market for farm supplies. Here the 280 square miles have 
 but to compete with an equal amount of land scattered over the 
 breadth of the Territory where irrigation may be procured, and 
 without irrigation only grass and weeds grow. While population 
 
THE MESILLA VALLEY, 
 
 155 
 
 ill the mines and matiiifactures, and among- the herders of the 
 phiins, and of non-producing- seekers of health and pleasure will 
 increase in number, the consumption of food must be increased 
 indefinitely, the producing farm land will remain in a fixed quan- 
 tity, and the cultivators of the soil must forever monopolize the 
 feeding- of a population destined to be dense, who are eng-ag-ed in 
 producing gold, silver, lead, copper, and other valuable metals 
 and minerals, and in herding the thousands of sheep and cattle 
 which shall feed on the plains and mountain sides. Thus it is 
 that the farmer's chance for a large return for his investment 
 must grow better with successive years. The prices he will 
 obtain can only be limited by the cost at which the same products 
 can be furnished here from elsewhere. 
 
 THE MOST FERTILE DISTRICT IN THE BELT, 
 
 and also the most fertile valley of the Rio Grande, is the Mesilla. 
 The greatest argument, used by the friends of annexation, was 
 the fertility of the valley. Experience proves the truth of their 
 claim. The yield of wheat, which is planted at any time from 
 October to March, and harvested in June and early July, is 
 three and four times as great as any of the states. Sixty to one 
 of seed is the ordinary yield. Barley gives an average of 3000 
 pounds to the acre, and is sown in January and February, and 
 harvested at the same time as wheat. Corn averages as high as 
 in Illinois. Beans, peas, oats, potatoes, and sorghum, grow as 
 well as anywhere in the same latitude. 
 
 FRUITS AND GARDENS. 
 
 The Mesilla valley excels in its fruits and gardens. The < El 
 Paso' grapes for wine making are unsurpassed. The juice is 
 heavier than from the grapes of Madeira or Portugal, as the 
 grapes remain on the vines until they commence to dry, before 
 being crushed; and the wort contains as much sugar as the 
 sweetest of Malaga. A thousand gallons of pure grape juice 
 wine is manuiactured from an acre of vineyard, which has cost 
 for tending about twice as much as an acre of corn. As soon as 
 grapes of proper size shall be introduced, Mesilla will become as 
 famous as Smyrna for its raisins. Those grapes already here 
 make an excellent raisin except in size. 
 
 Apples from the Northern States were introduced by myself 
 into Mesilla ten years ago, in the form of root grafts, by mail. 
 
156 
 
 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 Some of those trees are now a foot in diameter, and capable of 
 bearing thirty bushels of apples to the tree. Apples often bear 
 fruit in three years from the root graft, and varieties that bear 
 but every alternate year in Pennsylvania, here produce full crops 
 every year. The fruit is uncommonly large, fair and high 
 flavored; but it ripens, as do apples elsewhere in the same lati- 
 tude, considerably earlier than in Pennsylvania. No insect or 
 disease has yet attacked the fruit or tree. The price is limited 
 by the discretion of the seller, and must always be high. 
 Peaches, pears and quinces of superior cpialities have been intro- 
 duced from the Mexican Missions. The trees grow large, are 
 long lived, free from all diseases, and produce large crops. The 
 almond tree grows as well as the peach, but the fruit is some- 
 times lost from the late frosts in the Spring. Almonds and apri- 
 cots which would not bloom earlier than the apple would be a 
 great acquisition here. No doubt such will be found or produced 
 from seed. 
 
 ALL KINDS OF GARDEN PLANTS GROW. 
 
 In the gardens everything which is produced in tlie neigh- 
 borhood of Washington can be grown, and of enormous sizes. 
 All the small fruits thrive and do well, except the red currant. 
 Oni(..ns deserve special mention for their size and mildness of 
 flavor. Beets are a sure crop and large, and it is believed that 
 the manufacture of sugar from beets will yet be successful. 
 
 IRRIGATION AND WATER. 
 
 Large watering canals could be cut on each side of the river, 
 and if constructed with locks could be navigated, and excellent 
 water powers would be created at suitable points. From these 
 canals water for irrigation could be procured, and the entire val- 
 ley watered most of the year. The descent is between four and 
 five feet to the mile, which gives a good fall, and enables the 
 water to be carried to every point of the valley proper. No bet- 
 ter water exists for irrigating purposes than the Rio Grande, as 
 it is so loaded with sediment as to leave a scale of mud after 
 each application to the ground, and is well supplied with min- 
 eral salts; land thus watered will always remain fertile, if a 
 small allowance of vegetable matter is annually supplied. 
 
 Water may also be obtained from the ground by pumps 
 driven to the depth of less than twenty feet, and the water 
 
THE MESILLA VALLEY. 157 
 
 raised by wind or other means, and caught in reservoirs. Thus 
 orchards, vineyards and gardens may be always supplied, with- 
 out reference to the state of the river. 
 
 FORAGE CROPS. 
 
 The only forage crop yet reared is alfalfa, which can be cut 
 five times during the summer, and gives a yield of eight tons of 
 green feed to the acre, at each cutting. Land fully stocked and 
 watered freely requires no further care. Its roots are large, 
 strike to great depths, and are permanent for many years. For 
 dried fodder, corn or sorghum planted in drills or sown broad- 
 cast, and late sown wheat or barlej^, might be used successfully. 
 Large quantities of hay are cut on the plains whenever a fair 
 supply of summer rains have fallen. Beets, carrots and turnips 
 for feeding stock or household use, need not be raised from the 
 ground till required for use, as the frosts do not injure them, 
 especially if they are watered during the winter. 
 
 THE WINTERS ARE USUALLY DRY. 
 
 Rains seldom fall in the valley between the months of August 
 and June, and snows exceeding two inches in depth, or lying- 
 two days at a time, have never been known. The railroad 
 which will cross the continent by this belt, will never be im- 
 peded by snows or hindered by the vicissitudes of the seasons. 
 The fiirmer can do so much of his work during the cool season, 
 that he can afford to rest from his labors, under the shade of his 
 fruit tree or his grape vine, during the heat of the day. 
 
 A RAILROAD CENTER. 
 
 The solid foundation of a soil and adjacent country capable of 
 sustaining population, being given, experience has demonstrated 
 that the growth of a place must depend upon its railway rela- 
 tions. Tried by that test, and the future of the Mesilla valley 
 1 ; already fixed. All the mountain ranges, which pass from the 
 Isthmus of Darien to the north, that form the Cordilleras of 
 Mexico, and the Rocky and other mountainranges further north, 
 are here broken down to plateaux, with but one elevation above 
 5,000, and the water shed is but 4,900 feet above the level of the 
 ocean. The surveys show that the continent may be here crossed 
 without a variation of a degree of latitude. Over this divide 
 the Texas and Pacific is constructing its line to San Diego. The 
 
158 brevoort's new aiexico. 
 
 Denver and Rio Grande narrow guage projects its line througli 
 tliis valley. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, or the branch 
 of the Kansas Pacific, which are heading towards New Mexico, 
 will find their interest to be to unite and pass down the Rio 
 Grande, rather than pass over the high continent, often snow 
 covered, near the 35th parallel. The conclusion seems inevitable 
 of a railroad center in this valley. 
 
 UNOCCUPIED EAND. 
 
 Not one-tenth of the valley is occupied. Four small grants 
 
 are located in the valley, and the state of Texas has also sold a 
 
 small quantity of land. But to more than three-fourths of the 
 
 valley the title is still in the United States, the state of Texas, 
 
 with the contingent right of the Texas and Pacific railway to 
 
 one-half. The other half is subject to settlement. Much of 
 
 the granted lands are unoccupied, or uncultivated, and may now 
 
 be purchased for less than government prices. Emigrants may 
 
 go much further and fare worse than to locate in this valley. 
 
 Such need but understand that the demand for irrigation re- 
 ft 
 quires colonial or united action, and that large communities will 
 
 do better than small ones. Small farms for the individual are 
 
 preferable to large ones, unless there be a community of interest, 
 
 in all the people of a settlement. Much of the land can be 
 
 doubly cropped each year, so that one acre in the Mesilla valley 
 
 answers to two in Colorado. Every farm should be cultivated to 
 
 its full capacity, and all the refuse returned to the soil. Every 
 
 acre should wear the image of agarden, and it will give support 
 
 to a human being. While agents for colonies are running hither 
 
 and thither seeking locations, they should look to the valley 
 
 lying in this favored climate, where lands are cheap, on the line 
 
 of the Texas and Pacific railway, and whose track will reach it 
 
 before the hardy emigrant can possibly prepare for the advent. 
 
 Time in thiscase is most surely money in the pockets of the first 
 
 comers. 
 
 EAKLY TIMES. 
 
 For centuries past stock-raising has been recognized as one of 
 the great industries of New Mexico. When the gold discoveries 
 drew thousands of men to California, New Mexico had the droves 
 of cattle and flocks of sheep to nearly supply the prospectors 
 with meats. But owing to the inroads and pillages of the Indians 
 in southern New Mexico, thousands of cattle, sheep and 
 
THE MESILLA VALLEY. 169 
 
 horses were destroyed, and most persons were deterred from 
 engaging in the business. The flocks and herds could only be 
 kept in proximity to the settlements, whence immediate pursuit 
 could be given whenever the stock was raided upon, and thus 
 some could be saved, but often with large losses. War has beeri 
 the normal condition between the Mexican and Indians; stock was 
 the object sought by the Indian, and defended by the Mexican. 
 These wars and depredations narrowed the limits of the stock 
 districts to the oldest and strongest settlements, which were then 
 near the 35th parallel, and southern New Mexico, though often 
 looked at with anxious eyes, was by reason of the great number 
 of Indians infesting it, given up to them. The dreaded 'Jour- 
 ney of the Dead' separated the Mesilla valley from the settle- 
 ments above, and on either side lay regions unexplored, yet 
 roamed over by men worse than the Bedouins of Arabia and 
 Egypt, the terror and dread of all, whom to meet was the signal 
 for a deadly fight. Happily the successions of the descendants 
 of Europe have increased faster than the Indians, and their 
 weapons of warfore more effective, till now comparative safety 
 prevails, and the rich pastures of southern New Mexico are open 
 to flocks and herds. 
 
 PASTURES EAST OF THE RIO GRANDE. 
 
 On the east of the Kio Grande, near the 3oth parallel, the 
 range has broken down to a high plateau, with several isolated 
 ranges, one of which, the white mountain, near Fort Stanton, 
 rises to nearly a hight of 8,000 feet above the level of the ocean. 
 This plateau and the mountain sides are covered with fine, rich 
 grasses, on which cattle and sheep become remarkably fat in 
 summer, and which dries to a hay in early autumn, and supplies 
 the herds with winter food. 
 
 WATERING PLACES. 
 
 These mountain ranges are the source of numerous springs, 
 which form small rivulets, some of which sink after running a 
 short distance ; others find their way into the Rio Grande or 
 Pecos, forming mill-streams of more or less magnitude. From 
 these the cattle and sheep may feed to the distance of several 
 miles, returning as often as they require drink. At many 
 places wet grounds exist, where water may be procured in ex- 
 cavations and wells, and can be saved in tanks for large herds of 
 
160 BEEVOOKT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 cattle. These will also be utilized, and thus new pastures be 
 added. 
 
 CLIMATIC LOCATION. 
 
 In the Atlantic is the great whirl which causes the Gulf 
 Stream, and collects the floating trees and seaweeds in the sea 
 of Saragossa. A similar whirl exists in the Pacific ocean. These 
 whirls, with centers about equally distant from southern New 
 IMexico, differently atfect our climate. Their foci are oscillated 
 north and south as the sun passes from solstice to solstice. In 
 summer the winds in the Atlantic whirl drives the rain belt over 
 us, and gives to New Mexico its rains, which produce our grasses, 
 while the winds of the Pacific whirl are confined to California, 
 and the rains are pourhig over the eastern coast of Asia. In 
 winter the Atlantic whirl is withdrawn, and the Pacific winds, 
 robbed of their moisture by the Sierras and mountains to the 
 northwest, reach us arid and rainless. Thus the dry grasses 
 retain their nutritious properties, till they grow anew. 
 
 THE VALIiEY OF THE PECOS. 
 
 The Pecos, which rises in the high mountains northeast of 
 Santa Fe, flows east and south through a valley of its own, and 
 enters the Rio Grande in Texas. On this stream are many val- 
 uable places where fine tracts of land may be irrigated; but the 
 valley is also the center of the best pasture lands in New Mexico, 
 which will in a few years be purchased and held as private 
 property, and then those who do not own their watering grounds 
 must be driven out with their herds. The best portions of this 
 river are in southern New Mexico. 
 
 THE STAKED PLAIN. 
 
 Has generally been supposed to be a desert region, but the 
 latest explorations demonstrate that it is an immense grassy plat- 
 eau^ ^vith icater found in pools and tanks, wet meadows and small 
 springs, which flow but short distances, and that most of this plain 
 is good pasture land. 
 
 PASTURES WEST OF THE EIO GRANDE. 
 
 South of the Gila in New Mexico, there is only a bifurcated 
 range of mountains, Cooke's Peak forming the eastern branch, 
 and the Burro the western, between which flows the Mimbres, a 
 beautiful mill stream, and which will form excellent powers for 
 manufacturing purposes, and irrigate most of the river bottom 
 
THE MESILLA VALLEY. 161 
 
 lands. These ranges also give many small springs, from which 
 large herds can procure water the year through. They rise from 
 a plateau elevated from 4,700 to 6,000 feet above the ocean, and 
 mountains and plains are coated with excellent grasses. Prof. 
 Maury, who traveled over this Territory in 1858, says: < The sun 
 never shown upon a finer grazing country than upon the three 
 hundred miles west of the Rio Grande. The traveler has be fore 
 him, throughout the entire distance, a sea of grass, whose nutri- 
 cious qualities have no equal, and the stock raiser in January 
 sees his cattle in better condition than our eastern farmer his 
 stall fed ox.' 
 
 On the 7th of August, 1872, while accompanying the explor- 
 ing party on the Texas and Pacific railway, when we were pass- 
 ing by Cooke's Peak, and after I had ridden about twenty miles, 
 I made this entry in my journal: ' To-day I have passed most 
 of the time over plains of the black grama, one of the most 
 nutritious of the perennial grasses of this region. It is now 
 growing rapidly under the influence of the late rains, and mill- 
 ions of cattle could be pastured here throughout the year.^ 
 Similar entries are made on other days, and for other places, till 
 we passed into Arizona. In most of these meadows were found 
 pools of good, sweet water, and judging from tlie surface indica- 
 tions, it appeared evident that water in abundance from common 
 wells could be readily procured. 
 
 COUNTLESS HERDS CAN FEED HERE. 
 
 The lands which cannot be irrigated produce these rich 
 grasses, on which countless herds of cattle, sheep and horses 
 may pasture the year round, requiring no other feed or shelter 
 than such as they can find in their ranges, and no care but the 
 herdsman to keep them together. These lands are never cov- 
 ered by snows which lie for two days, or that cover the grass 
 from the bite of the stock. The perennial grasses are always 
 green at the bottom, and the tops are hay, as are also the annual 
 grasses which spring up with the summer rains, and fill all the 
 ground not occupied by the perennials. 
 
 HEALTH OF STOCK. 
 
 The free, pure air of this entire region allows no epidemi 
 disease to arise, or when disease is introduced, to become injur- 
 iously epidemic. When the epizooty passed over this region in 
 
 11 
 
162 beevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 the spring of 1873, the horses suffered but slightly from its 
 effects. The herds and flocks need not lie on the same ground 
 two nights in succession, and before they require to reoccupy it, 
 all miasmatic exhalations will have disappeared. 
 
 PROFITS OF STOCK-RAISING. 
 
 Without enlarging on the details of the profits of stock-rais- 
 ing in southern New Mexico, or specifying cases, a few data 
 from which deductions may be made will alone be given. Each 
 cow between two and fifteen years of age may be expected to 
 drop a calf, and the twins will equal the percentage of calves 
 which will die, as none perish from inclemency of weather. 
 Hence each hundred cows will produce and rear one hun- 
 dred calves, one-half of which will also have a calf at the end of 
 the second year. The steers will more than pay all expenses of 
 herding and marketing, and the heifers are clear gain. 
 
 With sheep the increase is still greater. Each ewe of one 
 year will drop a lamb, and the twins will more than equal the 
 deaths of the entire flock for the year. Hence the man who 
 commences the year with one thousand ewes, will at the end of 
 the year have 2,000 sheep, of which 1,500 will be ewes, and 500 
 wethers of one year, to be sold. At the end of the second year 
 his flock will be 3,000, of which 2,250 will be ewes, and 750 
 wethers for market, and at the end of the third year he finds 
 himself with a flock of 3,875 ewes and 1,125 wethers for market. 
 Thus after selling 1,875 wethers, he has 3,375 ewes left, as the 
 produce of his 1 ,000 ewes in three years. 
 
 The better the quality of the stock, the greater the income 
 from it. From these data each one can easily calculate the 
 profits." 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 The territorial archives and records show that a considerable 
 portion of the Territory is covered by numerous large and small 
 grants, made by the Spanish and Mexican governments, long 
 prior to the American occupation of this acquired Territory in 
 the year 1846, which grants are recognized as good and valid 
 against the public domain, under the treaties of 1848 and 1853 with 
 Mexico, and vary in size and extent from 1000 to 500,000 acres 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 163 
 
 and upwards, and were made with a view to embrace agricul- 
 tural, pastoral, wood and timbered lands, and as one inducement 
 to extend the frontier as far as possible, so as to protect the 
 interior settlements. Minerals of all kinds, such as gold-bearing 
 quartz, copper, iron, silver, lead, etc., including placers, abound 
 as a general thing throughout the hilly and mountainous part of 
 the Territory, and are claimed, go with, and belong to the grants 
 covering them. The foot-hills and lower lands are covered with 
 natural grasses in variety, such as the celebrated blackhead 
 grama, grama chino, buffalo and river-bottom grasses. The first 
 is the most extensive, and is cut and cured in its wild state, 
 making the choicest of hay, and is admitted to be far superior 
 to timothy, furnishing green pasture in summer, and hay in 
 winter. Cattle, horses and sheep live and keep fat upon it the 
 year round, without being sheltered or requiring extra food, 
 the climate being considered as fine as there is on the continent. 
 
 In a majority of cases the grant lands are held by the heirs 
 and legal representatives of the original grantees, all natives of 
 the country. For a stranger to judiciously and successfully 
 purchase from them it is necessary to operate through such 
 parties here as have a knowledge of the country, and of the 
 people and their language — the Spanish, and who has made these 
 land grants a study, and understands the land laws and regula- 
 tions, and the nature and character of tho grants. The grant 
 titles are equal, if not superior, to the United States land 
 patents. 
 
 Traveling south-west from Santa Fe, the valley of the Rio 
 Grande del Norte is reached in a distance of 25 miles, and is 
 more than 1500 feet lower than Santa Fe, where one comes in 
 contact with a portion of the agricultural lands ; extensive 
 vineyards which bear a profuse and delicious grape, large quan- 
 tities of which are manufactured into an excellent wine. To- 
 gether with the grape, corn, wheat, oats, etc., are cultivated for 
 a distance of 350 miles or more down the valley of the Rio 
 Grande, at intervals, and wherever there are towns and settle- 
 ments. 
 
 Eastward, northeastward and south is an extensive pastoral 
 country, reaching as it were to the very borders of Texas and 
 Mexico. The Pecos river, which has its source in the moun- 
 tains within thirty miles of Santa F6, in a northeasterly 
 direction, winds its way southeasterly, and waters, together 
 
164 bbevoobt's new Mexico. 
 
 with its tributaries, an immense country, pastoral and agricul- 
 tural, where, as in the Rio Grande valley, the grape is success- 
 fully raised on the lower lands, as well as other crops of corn, 
 wheat, etc., with vegetables of every kind and description. 
 
 The lower Pecos and Rio Grande valley country will some 
 da5^, like southern California, boast of their grape-growing and 
 wine-making capacity and facilities. North, northwest and 
 west, the country is more elevated and mountainous, still 
 affording a remarkably fine climate, immense stock-ranges with 
 their natural grasses and shelters, and from which comes much 
 of the fat beef and mutton which supplies Santa Fe and its 
 surroundings. This region, as a general thing is well timbered, 
 well wooded, and well watered. The valleys are not so exten- 
 sive in width (leaving out the Rio Grande) on this, the Atlantic 
 slope, but are extremely rich and fertile, too elevated for the 
 grape, yet admirably adapted to the potato, and an exceedingly 
 fine article of wheat and barley. 
 
 The region known as the Tierra Amarilla, Chama river and 
 its tributaries, the Puerco and Jemez rivers, with their numerous 
 tributaries, are all noted regions for pastoral capacity, and for 
 large numbers of sheep and cattle. Thousands upon thousands 
 of the former winter in many of these localities, and are found 
 to be fat and healthy in the spring of the year, without any food 
 or shelter except what nature provides. The mountains and 
 foot-hills bear ample evidence of fine pine timber, pifion and 
 cedar forests, together with minerals. The elevated or table- 
 lands are covered to a fair extent with pifion and cedar tree 
 groves, which also dot the extensive gently-rolling prairie 
 country for many miles north, south, east and west. 
 
 In cultivating the land, irrigation has to be depended upon. 
 In many localities, however, near the base of mountains, fine 
 crops are raised without irrigation, upon lands which are called 
 temporal. On a large portion of the prairie country there is a 
 scarcity of water for irrigating purposes, consequently but little 
 farming is done outside the valleys which contain living streams. 
 This does not, however, go to prove that it will always remain 
 so, for that portion of the country can, and eventually will, be 
 utilized by Artesian boring, wind-mill power, and ordinary 
 wells, as also by building tanks, or throwing up artificial em- 
 bankments at the base of long slopes, thereby collecting the 
 drainage of many miles in circumference during the rainy 
 
CONCLUSION. 165 
 
 season, which usually commences between the 15th and last 
 days of June, raining at intervals, and lasting until August, and 
 sometimes September, after which we usually have from two to 
 four months of most delightful Indian summer-like weather. 
 
 During the winter, as a general occurrence, we have occasional 
 rains in the lower, and light snows on the middle altitudes, with 
 heavy snows in the elevated and high mountain ranges, the 
 melting of which feeds the streams up to the time of the fall of 
 rain. In many localities, especially on the rolling prairies and 
 plains, are found natural basins which are susceptible of being 
 made to hold water at a small expense (collected from the rains) 
 for time indefinite. Again there are numerous lakes of water, 
 both fresh and salt, distributed over a large area of country, all 
 of which can be utilized for agricultural and pastoral purposes. 
 
 In the building of houses, for city or rancho, the ordinary 
 sun-dried adobe, made of common earth, is used, and costs from 
 $5.00 to $7.50 per 1000—2,500 of which will build a warm 15x20 
 feet 18 inches thick wall, 10 feet high, put up in mud mortar, 
 and covered with earth, after the fashion of the country. 
 
 Colonies of 50 families, and upwards, can find very desirable 
 locations in the shape of land grants, which can still be purchased 
 at from 25 cents to 50 cents per acre. At some points there are 
 large, valuable grants located on and near the line of anticipated 
 railroads, which embrace extensive forests of pine, saw and tie 
 timber, which will eventually, or in a very few years, sell for 
 tenfold the amount paid in the first instance for the entire grant 
 and possessions. 
 
 True, we have at this date what would seem free and exten- 
 sive grazing regions; so it was in California twenty years since; 
 but what is there to-day? The common pasture lands of that 
 day in California, worth then 10 to 25 cents per acre, and thought 
 to be high at that price, and unfit for any other purpose but 
 grazing, now rent at that price per acre, year after year, for 
 pastoral purposes alone, and are to-day worth from $5.00 to 
 $50.00 per acre in many instances, and are in many localities in 
 a high state of cultivation by the simple process of fallow plow- 
 ing. What California was twenty years ago, New Mexico is to- 
 day, and those who now secure their land grant, large or small, and 
 stock it with sheep and cattle, or even let it remain unstocked 
 a few years, will realize their every hope, and live in ease and 
 comfort and luxury in after years from their present investments. 
 
166 brevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 Stock-raising labor is here remarkably cheap. For instance: 
 a native boy who has been reared from infancy as it were, with 
 the sheep and goat lierd, will with the assistance of two or three 
 native shepherd dogs, attend a flock of 500 to 2000 sheep, at an 
 expense of $5.00 to $7.00 per month, not including his board, 
 which consists generally of goat milk, and coarse bread and 
 beans. 
 
 As to railroads, the prospect is, indeed, most flattering. The 
 Texas Pacific will pass along the line of the 32d parallel, and the 
 Atlantic and Pacific along the line of the 35th, about 18 miles 
 south of Santa Fe, en route to the Pacific coast. The Atchison, 
 Topeka and Santa Fe road will pass through southern Colorado 
 into New Mexico, and after reaching the Cimarron will probably 
 ascend that river, and cross over into the Taos valley, crossing 
 the Rio Grande del Norte north of Santa Fe some 70 miles, 
 making a detour northwesterly, after reaching Abiquin, 50 miles 
 from Santa Fe, with a view to tap and pass through the immense 
 agricultural, pastoral, mineral and timbered region of the cele- 
 brated San Juan river country, the first waters of which are 
 about 120 miles northwest of Santa Fe, and which belong to the 
 Pacific slope. 
 
 As we have at considerable length spoken of the Mesilla 
 valley in extreme southern New Mexico, we will mention now 
 somewhat in extenso extreme northern New Mexico, on the 
 San Juan river. The region of country drained by the San Juan 
 and a large number of tributaries to that stream, we assert, from 
 personal observation, to be as fine as there is on the continent, 
 with a capacity sutficient to give homes to a population equal to 
 that of the whole Territory, embracing, as it does, all that nature 
 could do for scenery, broad and fertile valleys, from one to 
 twenty-five miles wide, with crystal waters in superabundance, 
 stocked with the favorite mountain trout peculiar to that 
 region, with a forest of pine timber, from which can be selected 
 thousands upon thousands of pines that show a stump that will 
 measure 24 to 40 inches and upwards; millions of acres of 
 natural grasses, peculiar to this country and climate, in many 
 places interspersed with large patches of wild oats, stirrup-high, 
 with water-power, from appearances sufficient to run the 
 machinery of the world. This super-extraordinary country, 
 which nature seems to have favored to extremes, is all that is 
 desirable, and which is located immediately south and west of 
 
CONCLUSION. 167 
 
 the immensely high mountain range, is claimed and occupied 
 by numerous bands of Ute Indians, of good conduct generally, 
 occupying on an average each about 34 miles square of territory. 
 The cry now arising against the occupation and monopoly of this 
 magnificent country, extending to Grand river, in the territories 
 of Utah and Colorado, and far beyond, by the Ute Indians, will 
 cause, and indeed will force the government to remove them to 
 a proper sized reservation, or the flow of immigration will 
 drive them from this immense country lying contiguous to 
 what are known as the San Juan river mines. The region 
 embracing the mountains and mineral part just ceded by the 
 Utes to the government of upwards of 2,000,000 of acres, as far 
 as prospected, lies in Colorado, and shows masses of mineral 
 gold, silver and copper of fabulous richness and extent, which 
 is now attracting an unusually large immigration. 
 
 Hundreds, yes thousands of fortune-seekers are to-day wend- 
 ina their way there, by the different routes leading to this new 
 paradise and mass of wealth, from the eastern states. Their 
 routes are mainly from Denver, Pueblo and Trinidad, in Colo- 
 rado, via the Sangrede Christo, and other passes in that vicinity, 
 to La Loma and Rio Grande city, thence up the Rio Grande del 
 Norte and over the summit, which is 12,000 to 14,000 feet above 
 the ocean, into Baker's and Los Animas Parks; also wa Conejos, 
 over a small mountain range to Tierra Amarilla, Elbert and 
 Hermosillo, on the south side of the high range just mentioned; 
 also down the San Luis Park and valley of the Rio Grande from 
 La Loma and Conejos; or, as soon as the Sangre de Christo Pass 
 has been traveled, via Ojo Caliente, Abiquin and Tierra Ama- 
 rilla, New Mexico, into the San Juan river country proper, 
 reaching Las Animas river at the new towns of Elbert and 
 Hermosillo, from whence it is but 33 miles to the Little Giant 
 mine, and is accessible the year round, generally, when by Del 
 Norte City and summit they are only accessible for about four or 
 five months in the year. Another and fiir preferable route which 
 will in time be appreciated and extensively traveled in prefer- 
 ence to any other, will be from Pueblo or Trinidad, in Colorado, 
 to Cimarron, via Moreno mines, Taos valley and Cieneguilla, in 
 New Mexico, at which named points the government is expend- 
 ing a congressional appropriation of $25,000 in building suitable 
 bridges across the Rio Grande, and grading a military road 
 between Taos and Rio Arriba counties, to Embudo, Plaza 
 
168 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 Alcalde, and th^ pueblo of San Juan, re-crossing the Rio Grande 
 at this point, and proceeding to Abiquin, etc. 
 
 In the valley of Taos large quantities of wheat are manu- 
 factured into a superior article of flour. Oats, corn and vege- 
 tables are also cultivated. Here the emigrant can get his supply 
 of No. 1 flour at about $4.00 per 100 pounds, and at Plaza 
 Alcalde and the pueblo of San Juan any amount of grains, and 
 pass on through a beautiful fertile country, reaching the new 
 towns of Elbert and Hermosillo (at the base and south side of 
 the high range,) laid out on the banks of the Animas river. Here 
 one is struck with the grandeur of the scenery, the immense 
 water power, the beautiful broad valley below, and at once is 
 impressed with the future importance of these localities as 
 proper sites for immense and numberless reduction works, 
 which must very soon send up their dense clouds of black smoke 
 in token of success. 
 
 In this vicinity, but a few miles distant, have been discovered 
 and located several very heavy veins of apparently a superior 
 article of coal. Midway between Tierra Amarilla, Elbert and 
 Hermosillo, near one bank of the San Juan river, are the famous 
 Pagosa boiling sulphur springs, now in Colorado (admirably 
 located by nature in a spot especially adapted for the building 
 of a large city,) whose waters will cure all diseases of the human 
 system, throwing out a sufiiciency of water for a thousand health- 
 giving baths per hour. 
 
 In the matter of railroads, before spoken of, we mention here 
 the Denver and Rio Grande railroad, now within about 300 
 miles (over the route it is supposed to pass) from Santa Fe, and 
 designed to pass through the San Luis Park country, an elevated 
 valley formation, on the upper Rio Grande, in a northerly 
 direction from Santa Fe, following down the Rio Grande to or 
 near Santa Fe, cutting the line of the proposed Atchison, Topeka 
 and Santa Fe, Atlantic and Pacific, and Texas Pacific railroads, 
 and leaving New Mexico at El Paso, Mexico, a point 350 miles 
 down the valley of the Rio Grande from Santa Fe, and passing 
 into the Mexican republic, through the city of Chihuahua, and 
 on through other cities and states to the city of Mexico. 
 
 In conclusion, we desire to say that it has here been our aim 
 to bring into at least partial light the geographical position and 
 character of New Mexico, and the superior natural advantages 
 which she possesses, and which she off'ers with extended arms 
 
CONCLUSION. 169 
 
 open to receive and embrace in welcome all who may choose to 
 cast their lot with ours. 
 
 First — For the peculiarly charming climate, free as it is from 
 all and every epidemic, mild, and yet invigorating, and singu- 
 larly pure and pleasant and salubrious. 
 
 Second — For her millions of tons of hidden treasure in the 
 shape of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, iron, lead, and coal, 
 which lie buried within the bosoms of her majestic mountains, 
 which stand guarded by enormous armies of gigantic pines and 
 other forest kings, and constituting forests of incalculable worth 
 and value, whose heads tower high above the average plain, 
 reaching to the very heavens, as it were. 
 
 Third — For her vast pastoral domain, which is unequaled by 
 that of any territory or state in the American Union, and whose 
 sweet nutritious grasses, fanned by the purest air, and moistened 
 by the virgin waters, emanating from the snow-capped ranges, 
 and borne thence with the vaporous floating clouds, and then 
 descending with all their freshening purity. The valley, the 
 plain, and the mountain alike keep the thousands of herds of 
 cattle and sheep in a state of contentment, causing them to thrive 
 and be always in marketable condition from season to season, 
 and from year to year, and come to maturity earlier, and be 
 more prolific — all without extra care or extra food. 
 
 Fourth — For the immense and valuable water powers coming 
 from her massive mountains and their towering peaks, sufficient 
 to run the machinery of the world, apart from the amounts 
 which win some day be required for extensive wool factories, 
 and numberless quartz mills and stack furnaces, and last, not 
 least, the broad and inviting field of adventure, here open and 
 offered to the capitalist and the enterprising, unequaled any- 
 where upon the continent, from whose capital or labor greater 
 results in actual profits will accrue, with less risk and care than 
 are obtained in the general, ordinary routine of successful busi- 
 ness in the commercial cities of the Union — investments which 
 will yield eighty per centum compound interest, and which 
 really only require two months of close attention out of the 
 twelve. In this we refer to the rearing of cattle and sheep? 
 and more particularly the latter, and to the one month at lamb- 
 ing, and the one month at shearing time. 
 
 Fifth — For her lands in large bodies, whose titles, under 
 grants from the former governments of the country, are equal 
 
170 BREVOOBT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 to the United States land patents, and which can now be pur- 
 chased at mere nominal prices, as it were, but which must in a 
 very few years command fabulous prices for pastoral purposes 
 alone. If we examine the industrial history of California for 
 the past quarter century, we have an illustrative idea of what 
 New Mexico will be a few years hence. 
 
 We repeat, no Territory or State offers such inducements as 
 New Mexico; for the investment — the safe and 2^fofitabIe invest- 
 ment — of capital, though its amount be millions of dollars, 
 chiefly in landed estates. 
 
 If we have failed to bring to light and attention at least a 
 few of the many advantages our Territory possesses and offers, 
 in the foregoing pages, it has been the fault of the head and 
 not of the heart. And here we leave the subject, to be renewed 
 at an early day, we trust, by a more able, but not less impartial 
 pen than ours. 
 
 A WORD SPECIAL. 
 
 Inasmuch as in New Mexico we have not as yet the means 
 of general and facile conveyance off the principsll thoroughfares, 
 and travel conveyance may not always be readily procured for 
 examining particular parts of the country, we suggest to parties 
 coming into the Territory with a view of seeing and investing 
 in it, that they procure at the terminus of the railroads a light 
 wagon and a pair of animals, to better facilitate their move- 
 ments in examining such parts of the country as they may 
 desire to see, after which, sale can always be made of the outfit, 
 such being exceedingly scarce. It is with great difficulty that 
 a team and wagon can be procured here at from $5 to $6 per 
 day, if at all. 
 
 Distance from terminus of railroads to Santa Fe, about three 
 hundred miles; coach fare, twenty cents per mile; meals, one 
 dollar each, extra. Coaches leave and arrive daily from termi- 
 nus of railroads; also a weekly coach from Santa Fe to El Paso 
 and Silver City — fare same as eastern line, with a daily mail — 
 balance of week days mail goes daily on << buckboard," 
 
 On other routes the mails are weekly and semi-weekly, 
 carried generally on horseback. 
 
NEW MEXICO. 
 
 After the manuscript of this work had been placed in the 
 hands of the printer, and the matter put in type, the following 
 from the Washington correspondent of the Alta California, C. A. 
 Wetmore, and published in its issue of June 5, 1874, came to 
 our notice, and it is inserted here as containing additional intel- 
 legence from an undeniable source, and we believe will be read 
 with interest by parties desiring further information of the 
 Territory of New Mexico ! 
 
 [From the Special Correspondent of the " Alta," at Washington. 
 
 Washington, May 25, 1874. — New Mexico is halfway into the Union at 
 present writing. She is a territory in chrysolis, about to emerge into the 
 panopolies of one of the great sisterhood of States. The House having 
 passed, by a large majority, the bill providing for the admission of the Ter- 
 ritory of New Mexico into the Union, the Senate can liardly do less. Still, 
 it is feared the Senate may prove hostile, or at least refuse to act on the bill 
 this session. There are no tenable objections against the admission of New 
 Mexico. In population and in resources she compares favorably with the 
 new States which have preceded her, and under a State Government her 
 population is certain to increase rapidly, while her resources will be more 
 fully developed. 
 
 Mr. Elkins, the Delegate from New' Mexico, in his very able speech on 
 the admission of that Territory — a maiden effort, by the way, and one 
 which had the undivided attention of the House — asked for the admission 
 of New Mexico as a State into the Union on the following grounds and for 
 the following reasons : 
 
 First — Because she is entitled to such admission as a matter of right, 
 having the requisite population prescribed by law, and the capacity to sup- 
 port a State Government. 
 
 Second — She is entitled to admission into the Union by reason of the 
 promises and assurances made by our Government to her people previous 
 to the ratiiication of the Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, by which she was 
 ceded to the United States, as also by the terms and stipulations of the 
 treaty itself. 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 Could a correct census have been taken in 1870, Mr. Elkins believes it 
 Avould have shown a population of about 110,00t), not including the Pueblo 
 Indians, recently decided by the Supreme Court of New Mexico to be citi- 
 zens of the United States. Taking, however, the census of 1870, and con- 
 sidering the 23,000 given to Arizona and Colorado Territories, it will show 
 the increase in the population of New Mexico to have been about 35 per 
 cent., notwithstanding during most all of this period the Territory was 
 cursed by sanguinary Indian wars, her people killed and her property sto- 
 len, her mining, stock-raising and other industrial enterprises paralyzed, 
 and the nearest railway a thousand miles from her border. 
 
 The average increase of twenty or more of the older States during that 
 time was only about 20 per cent., and the actual increase proper of New 
 Mexico has been about 10 per cent, greater in the last ten years than that 
 of Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, 
 
172 brevoort's new Mexico. 
 
 Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and 
 Tennessee. 
 
 The present population is estimated to be about 135,000. The south- 
 ern, northern and eastern portions of the Territory are rapidly settling, 
 and have been since 1870, with a very substantial class of inhabitants, de- 
 voted as they are for the most part to stock-raising and farming. This 
 increased impetus given to immigration to the portion of the Territory just 
 named, is owing to the fact that for the last three years New Mexioo has 
 been free from Indian hostilities, for which reason also, since 1870, in those 
 portions large mining districts have been opened and occupied. 
 
 Fifteen States have been admitted into the Union with a less population 
 than New Mexico had, even in 1870 (this was a stumper for the opponents 
 of the bill), and, it is asked, " if fifteen of the twenty States admitted since 
 the original thirteen have been so admitted, on an average population of 
 less than 63,000, shall New Mexico, with an admitted population of 60,000 
 or 70,000 in excess of this average, be allowed this long denied right?" 
 The ratio of representation entitling a State to admission into the Union 
 has been as follows : at first it was 30,000 ; in 1793 it was 33,000; in 1813 
 it was 35,000 ; in 1823 it was 40,000; in 1833 it was 47,700 ; in 1843 it was 
 70,680; in 1856 it was 93,420. No less than four States — Florida, Oregon, 
 Nevada and Nebraska — have been admitted without the required ratio, 
 New Mexico having more population than either of these States at the date 
 of their admission. 
 
 NEW MEXICO SOUND, FINANCIALLY. 
 
 The ability of New Mexico to support a State Government is not 
 doubted by those acquainted with her condition and resources. She will 
 start on her new career with virtually no debt, the sum being now only about 
 $75,000, with a sure prospect of being liquidated in a year or two at fur- 
 thest. Not a county in the Territory has created a debt for any purpose. 
 The warrants in most of the counties are worth one hundred cents on the 
 dollar. The people favor the cash system. They are wisely conserva- 
 tive in all monetary affairs, and are adverse to creating either a territorial 
 or county debt, and their conservatism has been greatly strengthened by 
 the fact that they see in other portions of the country the inhabitants are 
 groaning beneath town, city, county and State debt, often recklessly in- 
 creased. New Mexico being an old country, her improvements and wealth 
 ai'e substantial, the result of two centuries. Her people have been censured 
 for want of enterprise and public spirit, but now that they owe compara- 
 tively nothing, and there is no necessity for any increased taxation, the 
 Territory becomes peculiarly inviting to those seeking homes. While New 
 Mexico is little known throughout the country generally, her merchants 
 have been long and most favorably known to the commercial world in the 
 cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis. 
 
 RESOURCES. 
 
 The resources of New Mexico are not surpassed by those of any state 
 or territory in the Union. She has always produced and always will pro- 
 duce enough to support her population. For the last ten years she has done 
 this, and with the surplus supplied the army and the Indians now on res- 
 ervations in the Territory. Iler beautiful and fertile valleys yield an abun- 
 dant return to the farmer for his labor, and as a wheat producing country 
 she is certainly surpassed by none and equaled by but few of the States 
 and Territories. 
 
 Her boundless plains and plateaus, covered with the most nutritious 
 grasses known, make her take rank preeminently as a stock-growing region. 
 This branch of industi-y is now encouraged by accession to her stock-grow- 
 
ADMISSION AS A STATE. 173 
 
 ers from all parts of the country. The receipts for wool and hides shipped 
 to St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York, amounts annually to about 
 $2,000,000, and the cattle sent to the eastern markets, together with beef 
 supplied to the Indians and the army, amount to near $2,000,000. 
 
 The Territory abounds in minerals of all kinds, principally coal, iron, 
 lead, copper, silver and gold, and in inexhaustible quantities, but little de 
 veloped and worked for want of machinery and railway connections. It is 
 estimated that the mines yield annually of gold, silver and copper, about 
 $2,000,000. The observations of all scientists and travelers who have vis- 
 ited the Territory confirm in the amplest manner her claims to immense 
 coal-fields and iron deposits, rivaled only by those of Pennsylvania, and 
 being almost equal to hers in extent and quality. 
 
 FUTURE COAL TRADE. 
 
 It is estimated by one of the best authorities in the whole country that 
 in the completion of either the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, or the Kan- 
 sas Pacific Kailway to Cimarron, New Mexico, there will grow up in a short 
 time a coal trade of three thousand tons per day to supply six hundred 
 miles of country, reaching from the base of the liocky Mountains down the 
 Valley of the Arkansas Kiver far into the neighboring State of Kansas. 
 This coal must be supplied from New Mexico ; it can come from no other 
 quarter ; and this will be only the beginning of the coal trade, not to speak 
 of the copper, lead, iron, and precious ores that will be shipped for reduction. 
 
 MANUFACTURING ELEMENTS. 
 
 New Mexico must become a manufacturing country. She has all the 
 elements necessary to this end. Unskilled labor and the necessaries of life 
 are cheaper in New Mexico than in the Atlantic states and in the Missis- 
 sippi valley, and when it is considered that New Mexico has in the greatest 
 abundance coal, iron, lead, copper and silver, also wool and hides, the time 
 is certainly not far distant when she will have manufactures of all kinds, 
 and instead of paying high freight for cloths, carpets, shoes, machinery, 
 farming utensils and railroad iron, she will not only from her own manufac- 
 tures supply the wants of her people, but compete with the manufactories 
 of the east in supplying less favored sections. 
 
 RAILWAYS. 
 
 Five lines of lailway are under construction, and pointing to New 
 Mexico — the Texas and Pacific, Atlantic and Pacific, Atchison, Topeka and 
 Santa Fe, Kansas Pacific, and Denver and Rio Grande ; three are within 
 ninety miles of her borders, with a fair prospect of being rapidly extended, 
 and three will terminate within the heart of New Mexico, and two it is sup- 
 posed will become transcontinental. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Although education has been much neglected in New Mexico, I have 
 pleasure in stating that the people have become aroused to its transcendent 
 importance, and in 1871 the Legislature passed an Act establishing a com- 
 mon-school system throughout the Territory, and provided for the support 
 thereof that there should be set apart not only the poll tax and one-lburth 
 of all other taxes, but a certain surplus in the various county treasuries. 
 This Act has been in operation about three years, and according to the re- 
 port of the Secretary of the Territory there are now established and in full 
 operation, one hundred and thirty-three public schools. From this it will 
 be seen that New Mexico appropriates a larger share of her taxes for the sup- 
 port of her public schools than any other State or Territory in the Union, and 
 as yet she has had no help from any source whatever for school purposes. 
 In addition to the public schools there are a number of colleges and high 
 schools in the Territory. 
 
174 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 WHY TERRITORIES SEEK TO BECOME STATES. 
 
 It is often asked why Territories seek so zealously to become States. 
 To those who have lived in Territories no answer to this interrogatory is 
 needed, but to those who have not enjoyed this experience, I desire to say 
 that the interests of a Territory to the General Government are necessarily 
 secondary. The Territories have no vote and no power, and are therefore 
 not heard. The long arm of the Government cannot reach the distant and 
 remote sections and jealously guard the rights of the people, anticipate their 
 wants and build up their interests. In trying to do so the GoYcrnment is 
 attempting too much, and what was never contemplated. The Territories 
 want local self-government, because they can better build up their own 
 interests and insure their own prosperity as States. The history of the 
 whole country attests that States flourish and increase more rapidly than 
 Territories. The following table will show these facts: 
 
 Tennessee admitted in 1796 ; {wpulation in 1790, 35,791 ; in 1800, 
 105,602. 
 
 Ohio admitted in 1802; population in 1800, 45,365; in 1810, 230,760. 
 
 Louisiana admitted in 1812; population in 1810, 76,556; in 1820, 
 153,407. 
 
 Indiana admitted in 1816; population in 1810, 24,520; in 1820, 
 147,178. 
 
 Mississippi admitted in 1817 ; population in 1810,40,322; in 1820, 
 75,448. 
 
 Illinois admitted in 1818; population in 1810, 12,282; in 1820,55,200. 
 
 Missouri admitted in 1821 ; population in 1820, 66,586; in 1830, 140,455. 
 
 Arkansas admitted in 1836 ; population in 1830, 43,388 ; in 1840, 
 97,674. 
 
 Michigan admitted in 1837 ; population in 1830, 31,639 ; in 1840, 
 212,267. 
 
 Florida admitted in 1845 ; population in 1840, 54,477 ; in 1850, 87,445. 
 
 Wisconsin admitted in 1848 ; population in 1840, 30,495 ; in 1850, 
 305,391. 
 
 Iowa admitted in 1848 ; population in 1840, 43,112 ; in 1850, 192,214. 
 
 California admitted in 1850; population in 1850, 92,597. 
 
 Minnesota admitted in 1858 ; population in 1850, 0,077 ; in 1860, 
 17S 855 
 
 Oregon admitted in 1859; population in 1850, 13,294; in 1860, 52,4(k5. 
 
 Nevada admitted in 1864; population in 1860, 6,857 ; in 1870, 42,491. 
 
 Nebraska admitted in 1807 ; population in 1860, 28,841 ; in 1^70, 122,993. 
 
 THE EASTERN IDEA OF A TERRITORY. 
 
 The idea of a Territory to the people of the east suggests want of law, 
 want of protection to property and life, want of society ; indeed, the word 
 is a synonym for disorder and lawlessness, for which reason emigration and 
 capital find their Avay so slowly into the territories ; but, on the contrary, a 
 state carries Avith it the idea of law, order, strength and dignity, and has 
 invariably attracted immigration and promoted prosperity. 
 
 But, in addition to all this, the keeping and holding large bodies of peo- 
 ple in remote localities in teri*itorial bondage and subjection ; governing 
 them by laws they have no part in enacting; taxing them without repre- 
 sentation ; denying them the right to elect their own officers ; appointing to 
 the highest places among them entire strangers, who have no interest in the 
 country, who sometimes prove to be mer^ political adventurers, is not only 
 unjust and unrepublican, but hostile to our ideas of true government. 
 
 It is often said you have a legislature and a delegate in congress. This 
 is worse than no answer. The first is a farce, a political hybrid, without 
 
ADMISSION AS A STATE. 175 
 
 sovereignty ; the second only a beggar at the doors of the executive and 
 congress, vrithout power. Then, to escapefrom this vassalage, subserviency 
 and injustice, where there is no growth, no encouragement, but where 
 everything is dwarfed and limited, we ask to be admitted as a State. 
 
 AN ELOQUENT APPEAL. 
 
 New Mexico has been in her pupilage about twenty-six years. She has 
 had her delegates during that period on this floor, who, like other delegates, 
 in season and out of season, have implored and importuned the general 
 government for attention to the wants of the people, showing that their 
 necessities were great ; but for the most part Congress, I learn, has been 
 deaf to their entreaties. 
 
 By applying for admission. New Mexico testifies her willingness to 
 relieve you of the expense of continuing in existence a territorial govern- 
 ment, and enables you to reduce your annual appropriations at a time when 
 economy and retrenchment is the popular demand. She has shown herself 
 amply able to support a State government and keep her credit; and above 
 and beyond all, she has shown her devotion to our institutions, and her fit- 
 ness to become a member ot the Union, by giving up the lives of some of 
 her noblest sons to maintain the one and preserve the other. 
 
 THE MEXICAN POPULATION. 
 
 One reason argued against the admission of New Mexico has been her 
 large Mexican population. Of this class Mr. Elkins said: Unlike many of 
 own people, more fortunate, who had been born and educated under our 
 flag, the Mexican population did not hesitate, did not doubt, but saw their 
 duty clear ; and when the proclamation of the President of the United 
 States came, calling for troops for help; and when the cause of the Union 
 looked dark and doubtful, and when General Sibley's trained soldiers from 
 the Confederate armies were already on the soil, these people as one man 
 rallied under their adopted flag, and fought gallantly to preserve the Union 
 into which they now seek admission. How well they did their duty let the 
 graves at Fort Craig and Peralta, on the banks of their owa loved Rio 
 Grande, and at Apache Canon, testify. They loved the Union well enough 
 to fight fur it, and the Union ought to love them enough to adopt them as 
 her sons in truth and in fact. 
 
 But apart from all these considerations, which it would seem were of 
 themselves overwhelmingly sufficient to induce Congress to at once provide 
 for the admission of New Mexico into the Union, I claim her right to 
 admission on still higher grounds and for stronger reasons, which cannot, 
 certainly ought not, to be disregarded by Congress. I claim it by virtue of 
 the stipulations of the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, and the promises and 
 assurances of our government previous to the ratification of the same. 
 
 Of this treaty Mr. Elkins gave a full and interesting history. He then 
 treated of the history of New Mexico, of its salubrious and bracing climate, 
 its agricultural, pastoral and mineral resources, its capacity as a wine pro- 
 ducing country, and concluded with these eloquent and prophetic words: 
 
 "The Rocky mountains not only maintain a peculiar relation to the great 
 plains that lie between her base on the Missouri river, so ably set forth by 
 Professor Wilbur, but with the whole country. The Mississippi valley and 
 the Pacific coast are no longer divided by an inseparable barrier ; they have 
 shaken hands across the backbone of the continent, and become wedded in 
 a common interest, the ceremony having been performed in the presence of 
 the majestic and snow clad peaks of the Sierra Nevadas, who stood as the 
 grand and silent witnesses to this happy union, which has been recently 
 more closely strengthened by bands of iron. 
 
176 BREVOORT'S new MEXICO. 
 
 The Rocky mountains rest on vast coal beds. Here, in the not very far 
 future, we must go for coal, the great desideratum of our civilization, the 
 basis of almost all power and nearly of all wealth, without which the world 
 would suddenly stop, but with which it will move on to new and astonishing 
 conquests in science, art, mechanics and manufactures. 
 
 By an unnatural usurpation cotton was once called and believed by some 
 to be king ; but time and the natural laws of comriierce have served to dis- 
 pel this delusion, and coal, with his ebon brow, has come to the front, and 
 by unanimous consent been crowned king forever; and from his dark throne, 
 with his brother iron, wields the scepter of empire over all human indus- 
 tries, his realms being measured only by man's ingenuity. 
 
 In the United States the home and throne of this king is in the Rocky 
 mountains ; his children live and rule in the AUeghanies and the Missis- 
 sippi valley. The Rocky mountains will play no ordinary or secondary 
 part in the future of this country. So long unknown, light is beginning to 
 dawn ; we are but catching glimpses of the future grandeur and glory of 
 this great empire. 
 
 In New Mexico the time is not far distant when a thousand furnaces for 
 the reduction of ores will light up the sides of her vast mountains, and this 
 ore, drawn by a thousand engines busy by day and night, will be poured 
 into the lap of the Mississippi valley ; and millions of sheep, cattle and 
 horses will feed on her boundless plateaus." c. a. w. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 59 — Second line from bottom of page: read " a popu- 
 lation of 4,500," instead of << 2,500." 
 
 Page 60 — Sixth line from top of page: read '■^heretofore 
 has been,''^ instead of, ^^is kept in a state of constant alarm." 
 
 the end. 
 
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