Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 241, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1910 — Page 2

WONDERS OF THE SOUTHWEST

By N. H.DARTON, U.S. Geological Survey

HE southwestern section of the H United States is a province A ■ * that, presents many special yj ■ I characteristics of phvsiograX 7 I phy, climate, resources and I Smi which are not as YvPVI ■\m well known as the y deserve to be. The term “southwest” is V- usually applied to New Mexico, Arizona and southern California, an area of about the size of New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Virginias. Much public attention has of late been attracted to Arizona and New Mexico in connection with their admission to statehood, and one gratifying result of this has been a greatly increased interest in their resources and conditions. Excluding the populous and thrifty coast region of southern California, the southwest is the most thinly populated and least developed portion of the country south of Alaska. As this condition is due mainly to a climate so arid that but little can be raised without irrigation, its future velopment is to be measured by the utilization of the vast volume of flood waters now going to waste. This water can be applied to millions of acres of level lands with rich soil, which 'with the unending

sunshine of its mild climate will respond with large and profitable crops. Unfortunately, there is not enough water for all the land, but there is sufficient, if all were utilized, to support a population many times as large as the present one. The government is now spending $12,000,000 in reclamation projects in Arizona and New Mexico which supply water for nearly one-half million acres qf fertile lands. This will give great impetus to development, and in time, when settlers take up the reclaimed land, there will be a large Increase in its agricultural productions. In the great coast region of southern California, with a population of nearly 600,000, the principal product is the orange and other fruits, with a value of about $20,000,000 a

year, while in the inland districts the mining Industry is the largest source of revenue. Portions of the southwest are richly productive of various minerals, notably those of copper and recently southern California has become a heavy producer of petroleum. The value of the copper, oil and other products of the ground aggregates about $75,000,000 a year. It is probable that further exploration will disclose large additional supplies of ores of various kinds, especially those of low grade, which will prove profitable under improved methods of redaction. The southwest presents a variety of topographic features, and many of its economic resources are closely related to them. There is great range in altitude, with corresponding variation in climaticreconditions. One of the most salient features is the wide, high plateau of northern Arizona, which reaches an altitude of 8,000 feet It is surmounted by various volcanic peaks, notably San Francisco peak, which is 12,611 feet above sea level. To the east this district merges into an irregular series of high plateaus, constituting the western half of New Mexico. To the west and south it drops by huge steps Into the great region of desert valleys or bolsoms of Nevada, western Arizona, and southeastern California. These deserts are wide, long plains, lying between mountain ridges of varying lengths and heights, ridges which are all very rocky and mostly treeless and trend north and south. Diagonally across southern California there extends the long curving ridge of the Sierra Madre and San Bernardino mountains, between which and the ocean lies the large oval area known as the valley of southern California. This valley is the great citrus fruit district, and Los Angeles. There are two great rivers in the southwest, the Colorado and the Rio Grande. The Colorado river has been compared to the Nile and the similarity is notable. Both are streams of the first rank, rising in high mountains, and finally crossing a broad region of semi-tropilal, nearly rainless deserts. Both empty into seas in nearly the same latitude, and their lower courses are through wide deltas of fertile soil. The annual overflows add new sediments fertile with plant food and at a time favorable for the crops. The agricultural capabilities are closet-/ similar, but while much of the lower Nile valley is utilized the Colorado valley is just beginning to be settled. The watershed area of the Colorado, with its two head branches, the Green and the Grand, is over 200,000 square miles, its course 2,000 miles in length, and its annual discharge is 11,000,000 acre-feet, or enough to cover that number of acres one foot deep. The sediment which it carries each year into tfie gulf is estimated to be sufficient to coyer 53 square miles one foot deep. For 200 miles of Its course across the high plateau of northeastern Arizona it cuts the wonderful Grand canyon, which in places is nearly a mile deep. South of the canyon It flows mostly in broad, valleys, tut cuts through several dcs-

ert ridges, finally passing out into the wide delta plain extending to its mouth. The Rio Grande is a large river rising in the mountains of Colorado, traversing New Mexico from north to south, and finally constituting the boundary line between Texas and Mexico. The definition of a desert given by the dictionaries, “a dry.

sandy region without vegetation or inhabitants,” is defective, and the idea that it is necessarily flat is erroneous. Most portions of the average desert bear an extensive, though somewhat widely spaced, flora. Many desert regions contain numerous settlements, the Sahara desert for Instance having a population of 2,500,000. Loose sand is a minor feature, and much more prevalent on the seacoasts and along the bottom lands of rivers. There are wide areas of bare rocks, and the larger deserts include mountains, ridges, mesas and deep canyons. The deserts of the southwest are regions of very scanty rainfall, parts of them having only three inches a year and evaporation of eighty inches or more. This canyon is the mile-deeo gorge cut bv the Colorado river across the high plateau of northern Arizona. The view from the rim reveals the most stupendous panorama imaginable, for one sees into an ar»a of about COO square miles filled with an endless variety of most rugged topographic forms of many beautiful colors. On the sky-line, ten to fifteen miles away, is the edge of a wide-reaching plateau, and in the middle ground of the picture flows the Colorado river, nearly a mile below one’s feet. The features are so gigantic and so plainly in view that all sense of scale is lost, and it is not until one has been down to the bottom of the caovon at the river level that any adequate sense of proportion can be gained. The canyon was discovered by Cardenas, who went to its edge in 1540 on a branch trip from Coronado’s expedition, on information obtained by Tovar from the Hop! Indians. The original name given to the river was Tison, Spanish for firebrand, and it is to be regretted that the name has not been retained to avoid the present confusion due to the river having the same name as the state. » Coon butte, another of the greatest wonders in our country, is also situated in the southwest. but owing to Its distance from the railroad it is seldom visited. It is a great crater--ike bowl in the plateau, about ten miles south oC Canyon Diablo station. “The crater” is

about 4,000 feet wide and 600 deep, ■with an irregular encircling rim of loose rock fragments irom 120 to 160 feet high. The petrified forests attract piany visitors, especially the most accessible one south a station on the Santa Fe railroad a few miles east of Holbrook. There is a large quantity of the material in sight here, some of it in large logs. One of these logs spans a small draw as a natural bridge. Arizona possesses a very picturesque natural bridge of limestone spanning Pine creek, in Gila county,

pinnacles and monuments. Some of-these features appear also in the great wall of red sandstone on the north side of the wide depression through which the Santa Fe railroad crosses the continental divide east of Gallup. One of the most remarkable pinnacles of this wall is fancifully termed the iSTavajo Church. Few persons who travel across the southwest realize that in Arizona and New Mexico there are enormous forests of valuable timber and that the lumbering is an important industry. In both territories there are several large forest reservations, and one of these in Arizona, the Coconino forest, with nearly 6,000 square miles, is the largest single reserve in the United States. The total forest area reserved in Arizona is 15,250,130 acres, or more tSan 24.000 square miles, and in New Mexico there are 10,971,711 acres, or more than 17,000 square miles. Southern California also has several large reserves.' ./* The Coconino forest in Arizona occupies part of the great plateau in which the Grand Canyon is cut, and extends to the brink of Che canyon. The visitor to the southwest usually takes keen interest in the Indians, who are numerous not only along the main lines of travel, but in many remote villages. Some tribes, notably the Apaches, who continued to be troublesome until a relatively recent date, have become famous for the misdeeds that materially retarded the development of Arizona and western New Mexico. Now, however, all is peace and tranquillity. The newspapers, especially eastern ones, occasionally print accounts of uprisings, but these prove to be local quarrels with a few individuals. The Indians of the Southwest are of two kinds, differing greatly in most of their characteristics. One is the nomad type, represented by the Apaches, Navajos, the Yumas, Papagoes and Pimas, and smaller tribes; the other is the pueblo type, which is comprised of 26 pueblos, or villages, scattered through central and western New Mexico, and in the Hopi reserve, la northwestern Arizona. Probably there is greater popular interest in the pueblo people, for their settlements are

70 miles south of Flagstaff. It does not, however rival the great bridges recently discovered 1 n Utah. Its span is •80 feet, its height about 125 feet, and its length up and down the ereek is over 400 feet. Canyon de Chelly is one of the most notable scenic features in Arizona, but it is so far off the main line of travel that it is rarely visited. It is cut deeply into soft sandstones, which rise in vertical walls, with many outlying

permanent and mostly very ancient, and their religious ceremonies are extremely elaborate and picturesque. They live in villages of several hundred inhabitants, in substantial stone or adobe houses, some of which are In groups, rising in tiers to a height of four or five stories, with streets and central plaza. They are peaceful and industrious, raising crops largely by irrigation. They have herds of cattle and sheep, and spinning, weaving and making their garments is one of their important occupations. Work appears evenly divided between men and woman in the queblos. The men do the farming, tend to the cattle and sheep, do the hunting, build #he houses, and have many

dry air and mild climate the southwest has become famous as a health resort, especially for those having tuberculosis of the respiratory organs. The percentage of cures made in New Mexico, Arizona and California, great as it Is, would be much greater if a larger proportion of those who are seeking health came in necessary to-come before the vitality is too greatly diminished and then to live under favorable conditions, the most essential of which is to be out of doors as much as possible. Many health-seekers spend most of their money in railroad fare to reach the desired resorts. Physicians d 6 a great wrong to patients in sending them so home, friends and care without means to provide suitable quarters, nourishment and attention to sustain them while making their fight against death. The climate of the southwest presents considerable variety, but in all- the lower lands the winters are delightfully mild, and everywhere blue sky is in evidence for more than 300 days in the year. The summers are warm; in the southern desert area they are decidedly hot for several months, but the dry air even then is much more endurable than the sultry summer weather of the eastern and central states. Sunstroke is unknown, and laborers continue their work without distress. The valley of southern California is protected from the cold northern winds of winter by high 'mountain ranges, while to the south it is open to the Pacific. Owing to the peculiar configuration of the coast the cold California current from the north Is deflected west near Point Conception, and hence the southern California shores have waters warmer by about ten degrees than those to the north. This beneficent climate is responsible for the giant industry of fruit growing which has made California famous over the globe. California furnishes the major part of the very large amount of oranges and other citrus fruits consumed in the Unitqd States, and this business has been the cause in the development of southern California. The orange and other citrus fruits of southern California have an output of about 30,000 carloads a year, with a net value of more than $15,000,000. East of the mountains in southern California is an extensive desert country, much of it without water, but large areas can ba reached by ditches from the Colorado river. The most notable district of the sort of in the Salton desert, near the Mexican boundary. A few years ago this was a lonely and -forbidding region, but now, by aid of irrigation from the Colorado'river, it has several thriving settlements, with 100,000 people and 200 000 acres of cultivated land. That portion of it known as Imperial YallerTnnrthe greatest development, and with rich soil and semi-trop-ical climate 'phenomenal results have been obtained when water is applied. One of the best known products of this region is the canteloupe, of which the annual shipments are IqVer 1,800 cars, bringing nearly a million dollars. This valley contains over 400,000 acres of land, and just across the Mexican lino are 200,000 more The great oil fields of California are in the southern part of the state, and with rapidly increasing production they promise to be the largest producers in the oountry.

smaller trades and occupations. The women do the housework, grind the corn, make pottery,, blankets and clothes. The visitor is generally impressed by the pueblo people and pleased with the agreeable home life and simple h os p it a 1 it y which they readily offer. The interesting features of the southwest, notably the beauty of the coast region and the special climatic advantages, draw a large number of tourists and healthseekers, especially in winter, and every/ year sees a substantial increase in the Influx of visitors. Because of its

fliGMuocm u, WHEgJR D NErarr

Ah, here ts the picture taken By a flashlight at the feast— When it snapped, your nerves were shaken. Yes, they were, or shocked, at least. Let us look at It together To discover who is who— Also, try to flnd> out whether This is he or that is you. For you are a"Judge and he is a Sir— But one is a smudge and one is a blur; And maybe that's Scott and maybe that’s Burt, But who is the man who is nothing but shirt? It is splendid in the morning To reflect on hdw you Sat When they gave to you the warning That the lens would go to bat. How you Henryclayed your features. How you lifted up your face. Knowing that of all the creatures None excels the human race! Well, one came to speak, and one owns a bank, But one is a streak and one is a blank. And one down in front has a face that must hurt. But who is the man that Is nothing but shirt? Since Belshazzar’s famous blow-out It has always been the same, When the flash would spurt and go out All the diners dreamed of fame, But upon the morrow- morning When the picture they would see. With a frown their brows adorning Each would murmur: “Which is me?” © For there was a Judge and there was a Sir— But now one’s a smudge and one is a blur, Y;Pt tell me, I pray—and don’t think ms pert— Who is the poor man who is nothing but shirt?

Rubbing It In.

“I suppose,” says the interviewer to Roderick O’Hamme, the eminent purveyor of dramatic art, “that it is most annoying to members of your profession to see these jokes about actors counting the ties, and all that sort of thing?” “Indeed, it is,”’ gloomily says Mr. O’Hamme. “It is doubly disagreeable when one picks up the paper containing such a joke to while away the moments when he is resting between the countings.”

Next.

After four years of privations hi the north the explorer returns to civilization. “I did not discover the pole,” he announces. Immediately fifteen eminent savants, nine hundred scientists, ten rivals, six Eskimos, one man who ig posted on astronomy and a gruff old sea do* who can calculate the latitude backward with his left hand, supported by an affidavit brigade of appalling proportions, demonstrate that he must have discovered the pole.

As Recited by Freddie Jones.

Wen free dumfrummer moun tonight Unfurlder stander toothy air Sheet ore the azherobe of nye Tap set this starsuh glory there. Sheem Ingle dwith its gorge us dice Theem llky bald rick of the skies Sand stripe dlts purecey lestshul wlte With stree kings suv the morning light. Then frummls nmnshun nln tfie sun She calder tggle bare er down Nan gavln two his my tyhand The cymbals uwer chose an land.

Unmanageable.

“Thiß," gaßps'the first man, “is what the poets call the ‘driven snow.’ •* “Yes,” wheezes the second man, endeavoring to pick a handful of it out of his ear, while about a peck of It slides down his back. “And it acts as if a woman were driving it.” Brevity being the soul of wit, we beginto understand the immortality of the conundrum about the cow that crossed the road.