DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR

BULLETIN 613

GUIDEBOOK

OF THE

WESTERN UNITED STATES

PART C. THE SANTA FE ROUTE

WITH A SIDE TE1P TO THE GRAND CANYON 

OP THE COLORADO

N. H. BARTON AND OTHERS

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1915
PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS OP GEOLOGIC TIME.a 

[A glossary of geologic terms is given on pp. 182-1S5.1

Era.

Cenozoic (recent life).

Mesozoic (intermediate 

life).

Paleozoic 

(old life).

Proterozoic 

(primordial 

liTe).

Period.

Quaternary.

Tertiary.

Cretaceous.

Jurassic.

Triassic.

Carboniferous.

Devonian.

Silurian.

Ordovician.

Cambrian.

Algonkian.

Archean.

Epoch.

Recent. 

Pleistoce n o 

( Great 

Ice Age).

Pliocene. 

Miocene. 

Oligocene. 

Eocene.

(6)

(6)

(6)

Permian.

Pennsylvanian.

Mississippian.

(b)

(&)

(6)

(6)

(6)

Crystall in e 

rocks.

Characteristic life.

"Age of man." Animals and plants of 

modern types.

"Age of mammals." Possible first appearance of man. Rise and development of 

highest orders of plants.

"Age of reptiles." Rise and culmination 

of huge land reptiles (dinosaurs) , of shellfish with complexly partitioned coiled 

shells (ammonites), and of great flying 

reptiles. First appearance (in Jurassic) 

of birds and mammals; of cycads, an 

order of palmlike plants (in Triassic) ; 

and of angiospermous plants, among 

which are palms and hardwood trees 

(in Cretaceous).

"Age of amphibians." Dominance of club 

mosses (lycopods) and plants of horsetail 

and fern types. Primitive flowering 

. plants and earliest cone-bearing trees. 

Beginnings of backboned land animals 

(land vertebrates). Insects. Animals 

with nautilus-like coiled shells (ammonites) and sharks abundant.

"Age of fishes." Shellfish (mollusks) also 

abundant. Rise of amphibians and land 

plants.

Shell-forming sea animals dominant, especially those related to the nautilus (cephalopods). Rise and culmination of the 

marine animals sometimes known as sea 

lilies (crinoids) and of giant scorpionlike crustaceans (eurypterids). Rise of 

fishes and of reef-building corals.

Shell-forming sea animals, especially ceplialopods and mollusk-like brachiopods, 

abundant. Culmination of the buglike 

marine crustaceans known as trilobites. 

First trace of insect life.

Trilobites and brachiopods most characteristic animals. Seaweeds (algte) abundant. No trace of land animals found.

First life that has left distinct record. 

Crustaceans, brachiopods, and seaweeds.

No fossils found.

Duration, according to various 

estimates.

Millions of years. 

Ito5.

4 to 10.

17 to 25.

50 +

o The geologic record cDnsists mainly of sedimentary beds beds deposited in water. Over large areas 

long periods of uplift and erosion intervened between periods of deposition. Every such interruption in 

deposition in any arej produces there what geologists term an unconformity. Many of the time divisions 

shown above are separated by such unconformities that is, the dividing lines in the table represent local 

or widespread uplifts or depressions of the earth's surface.

6 Epoch names omitted; in less common use than those given.
PREFACE.

By GEORGE OTIS SMITH.

The United States of America comprise an area so vast in extent 

and so diverse in natural features as well as in characters due to 

human agency that the American citizen who knows thoroughly his 

own country must have traveled widely and observed wisely. To 

"know America first" is a patriotic obligation, but to meet this obligation the railroad traveler needs to have his eyes directed toward 

the more important or essential things within his field of vision and 

then to have much that he sees explained by what is unseen in the 

swift passage of the train. Indeed, many things that attract his 

attention are inexplicable except as the story of the past is available 

to enable him to interpret the present. Herein lie the value and the 

charm of history, whether human or geologic.

The present stimulus given to travel in the home country will 

encourage many thousands of Americans to study geography at first 

hand. To make this study most profitable the traveler needs a handbook that will answer the questions that come to his mind so readily 

along the way. Furthermore, the aim of such a guide should be to 

stimulate the eye in the selection of the essentials in the scene that 

so rapidly unfolds itself in the crossing of the continent. In recognition of the opportunity afforded in 1915 to render service of this 

kind to an unusually large number of American citizens, as well as to 

visitors from other countries, the United States Geological Survey lies 

prepared a series of guidebooks l covering four of the older railroad 

routes west of the Mississippi.

These books are educational in purpose, but the method adopted is 

to entertain the traveler by making more interesting what he sees 

from the car window. The plan of the series is to present authoritative information that may enable the reader to realize adequately 

the scenic and material resources of the region he is traversing, to 

comprehend correctly the basis of its development, and above all to 

appreciate keenly the real value of the country he looks out upon,

1 Guidebook of the western United States: Part A, The Northern Pacific Route, with

' a side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 611); Part B, The Overland Route, with a

side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 612); Part C, The Santa Fe Route, with a side

': trip to Grand Canyon of the Colorado (Bulletin 613); Part D, The Shasta Route and

j Coast Line (Bulletin 614).

in
IV PREFACE.

not as so many square miles of territory represented on the map in a 

railroad folder by meaningless spaces, but rather as land real estate, 

if you please varying widely in present appearance because differing 

largely in its history and characterized by even greater variation in 

values because possessing diversified natural resources. One region 

may be such as to afford a livelihood for only a pastoral people; 

another may present opportunity for intensive agriculture; still 

another may contain hidden stores of mineral wealth that may 

attract large industrial development; and taken together these varied 

resources afford the promise of long-continued prosperity for this or 

that State.

Items of interest in civic development or references to significant 

epochs in the record of discovery and settlement may be interspersed 

with explanations of mountain and valley or statements of geologic 

history. In a broad way, the story of the West is a unit, and every 

chapter should be told in order to meet fully the needs of the tourist 

who aims to understand all that he sees. To such a traveler-reader 

this series of guidebooks is addressed.

To this interpretation of our own country the United States Geological Survey brings the accumulated data of decades of pioneering 

investigation, and the present, contribution is only one type of return 

to the public which has supported this scientific work under the 

Federal Government.

In preparing the description of the country traversed by the Santa 

Fe Route the geographic and geologic information already published 

as well as unpublished material in the possession of the Geological 

Survey has been utilized, but to supplement this material Mr. Darton 

made a field examination of the entire route in 1914. Information 

has been furnished by Erasmus Haworth, J. E. Todd, and R. T. Hill, 

as well as by others whose writings are listed in the bibliography at 

the end of the text. Cooperation has been rendered by the United 

States Reclamation Service and by bureaus of the Department of 

Agriculture. Railroad officials and other citizens have also generously given their aid, and other members of the Survey have freely 

cooperated in the work.

For the purpose of furnishing the traveler with a graphic presentation of each part of his route, the accompanying maps, 25 sheets in 

all, have been prepared, with a degree of accuracy probably never 

bsfore attained in a guidebook, aiid their arrangement has been 

planned to meet the convenience of the reader. The special topographic surveys necessary to complete these maps of the route were 

made by W. 0. Tufts. i
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

PART C. THE SANTA FE ROUTE, WITH A SIDE TRIP TO 

THE GRAND' CANYON OF THE COLORADO.

By N. H. DARTON and others.

INTRODUCTION.

In going from Kansas City to Los Angeles, a distance of nearly 1,800 

miles, by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway the traveler sees 

a wide diversity of geographic and industrial conditions. First he 

crosses the Great Plains, which extend for 500 miles, to the foothills 

of the Rocky Mountains. In the eastern part of these plains the 

rainfall is ample for crops, so that nearly all the land is in farms and 

the population is moderately dense. Toward the west the climate 

becomes increasingly arid and farms give place to scattered cattle 

ranches, except along some of the watercourses where irrigation is 

practicable. Running streams and groves of trees are numerous in 

the eastern part, but the watercourses in the western part are much 

smaller and many of them are dry in summer, and the principal trees 

are cottonwoods, which grow along some of the valleys.

The Rocky Mountain province is skirted by the railway from 

Trinidad, Colo., to Las Vegas, N. Mex., and is finally passed between 

Las Vegas and Lamy. It consists of a succession of high rocky 

ridges rising abruptly 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the Great Plains. On 

account of their great altitude these mountains receive considerable 

precipitation and in large part are forested up to timber line, which is 

at an elevation of about 11,000 feet. The rocks are steeply tilted, 

and in most of the area the granites and schists of the old earth crust 

have been pushed far upward and constitute the high central ranges. 

Over the higher parts of the uplift the sandstones and limestones 

under which the granites and schists were originally buried have been 

largely removed by the elements. Between Las Vegas and Lamy 

the railway crosses the north end of the great Corona Plateau, a high 

table-land between the Pecos and the Rio Grande which lies south of 

the Rocky Mountains and is related to the plateau province west of 

,the Rio Grande.

Beyond the Rocky Mountains the traveler crosses the Rio Grande 

and enters the great Colorado Plateau province, which extends westward across New Mexico and far into Arizona, and many miles to the 

north and south. In this province sedimentary rocks predominate, in 

large part lying nearly horizontal, so that the harder layers constitute

1
2 GUIDEBOOK OP THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

extensive .plateaus. It contains also, many great lava flows, some of 

which form the surface of the plateaus. Most of this province is more 

arid than the western part of the Great Plains. Toward the west, 

however, about Flagstaff, Ariz., and the Grand Canyon, where the 

altitude increases to 7,000 feet or more, the precipitation is much 

greater and luxuriant pine forests c6ver a wide area.

Still farther west this high plateau descends by a succession of great 

steps or westward-facing cliffs, and finally, near Colorado River, the 

traveler enters another, a very different province the desert province 

of eastern California. This province consists of wide desert valleys, 

out of which rise long, narrow mountain ranges, most of them that 

lie north of the Santa Fe line trending north and south and some of 

them continuous for many miles. These mountains are particularly 

rocky and jagged and their meager vegetation is so scattered that 

they appear to be bare. The broad desert plains of gravel and 

sand likewise have but little soil and scant vegetation, for this 

is the most arid province in the whole country. It extends halfway 

across southern California to the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains and includes the Mohave Desert, a part of the vast area known 

as the Great Basin, whose streams do not reach the ocean but are 

lost in the desert. The San Bernardino Mountains and associated 

ranges rise as a high barrier on the west side of this basin, intercepting the moist air currents from the Pacific and thus causing the arid 

climate of the region to the east. These mountains are uplifted 

blocks of tilted rocks, largely granitic and metamorphic (altered).

The coastal-plain part of southern California extends from the 

western foot of these ranges to the Pacific Ocean, a distance of about 

100 miles. Much of its surface is made up of coast and valley plains; 

its climate is mild, and although the precipitation is only moderate 

in amount the conditions for plant growth are so favorable that, 

with the help of irrigation from the streams that cross it and from 

water in the underlying sands and gravels, it has become one of the 

most productive agricultural districts in the United States.

NOTE. For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map in this bulletin are so arranged that he can unfold them one by one and keep each one in view 

while he is reading the text relating to it. The contour lines, in brown, represent 

lines of equal elevation above sea level. Each line indicates the path that would 

be taken by one who walked over the country by a course always at the same level, 

curving in and out with the irregularities of the land surface. The lines are drawn 

at the vertical distances apart ("contour interval") stated on each map. Where, 

close together they indicate a steep slope; where far apart, a gentle slope or plain, t 

A reference is made in the text to each map at the place where it should be ' 

unfolded. The areas covered by these sheets are indicated on Plate I, and a list | 

of the sheets and the other illustrations is given on pages 187-190. A glossary of I 

geologic terms is given on pages 182-185, and an index of stations on pages 191-194. }
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE I

V ',,.ltf°IS

SMaiU l , .- -

KLAHOMA

RELIEF MAP SHOWING SURFACE FEATURES OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE UNITED STATES.

^ Areas shown on the sheets of the route map are i ndicated In red. j
ITINERARY.

Kansas City, Mo. (see sheet 1, p. 14), is the commercial metropolis

of the large area of fertile prairie plains of Kansas, Missouri, and

Oklahoma. It is also an important railroad and

Kansas City, Mo. manufacturing center and one of the great cities

Elevation 750 feet. Of fae United States, ranking in 1910 twentieth

Population 248,381.1 . . T °, ., in population. It covers nearly 58 square miles. 

 Kansas City, Kans., though a distinct municipality, is really continuous with it, the two forming a single community. Most of Kansas 

City, Mo., is built on a rolling plateau on top of a bluff rising about 

200 feet abruptly from the bank of Missouri River, but its western 

part is on a low flat adjoining the mouth of Kansas River, locally 

called the Kaw. The railway station used for many years was on 

this flat, at tho foot of the bluff which rises steeply to the main part 

of the city on the east. The new station, a mile southeast of the old 

one, is in a depression, originally an old river channel extending across 

the highland.

This station and its approaches, costing $40,000,000, is the largest 

railway station west of New York. The building, which cost nearly 

$6,000,000, has room for 10,000 passengers, and 260 passenger 

trains arrive and depart daily on its 16 tracks.

The location and development of Kansas City were influenced by 

various conditions. The builders of the earliest trail found a good 

crossing in the big bend of the Missouri just below the mouth of Kansas River, where the bank was stable, and here a settlement, called 

Westport Landing, was gradually established. Later, when there 

were boats on the river, the deep water at this point made it a most 

desirable landing, and so Westport Landing soon became an important 

place. Here was fought a battle of the Civil War in which 29,000 

men were engaged. Soon outgrowing the flat area, the city climbed 

the high bluff to the south,, and in later years it has spread widely over 

the rocky plateau.

Kansas City has many factories and local industries, employing 

about 40,000 persons, with an annual output valued at $250,000,000. 

Its sales of agricultural implements aggregate $40,000,000 a year, 

and it.ranks high in the trade in lumber, mules, hay, cigars, and grain. 

Meat packing is one of the important industries, for the stock yards,

1 The figures given for the population 

of incorporated places are those of the 

United States Census for 1910. For unincorporated places the census figures

give the population of the election precinct, township, or other similar unit, 

and such figures are here marked with an 

asterisk (*).

3
-GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

which cover an area of 200 acres, handle about 20,000 animals a day. 

The flour mills have an annual output of 4,500,000 barrels.

The high bluffs of Kansas City consist of thick beds of limestone 

and shale, about 225 feet in total thickness. The harder layers of 

limestone, 130 feet in all, crop out as prominent white or gray ledges. 

The beds appear to be horizontal, but in reality they slope (dip) at a 

low angle toward the northwest. 1 The limestones and shales in the 

bluff are part of the widely extended succession of beds which underlie 

Kansas, as well as the adjoining region, as shown in the sections on 

several sheets of the route map. The materials of which these rocks 

are composed were deposited many millions of years ago, at a time 

when a large part of central North America was covered by a sea. 

The limestone consists of calcium carbonate separated from the sea 

water by various chemical .reactions, in part through the agency of 

sea plants and sea animals, and the shale was a mud which gradually 

settled from turbid water. Both kinds of sediment accumulated 

very slowly, and the great thickness of the rocks into which they 

have been consolidated represents a long period of geologic time.

1 These rocks are a portion of the Pennsylvanian series of the Carboniferous 

system. (See table on p. ii.) As shown in

formation. In accordance with the general 

practice among geologists each of these 

formations has been named from a locality

I

I ' r ' r

=-=f=^=^-==' 6' shale .sandy (Lane) 

30'limestone (lola)

-=^-^^-gj thin limestonej 

9 limestone ~1

23'shale (Cherryvale)

12' limestone, cherty (winterset) 

4' shale (Galesburg) 

13' limestone(Bethany Falls) 

' shale (Ladore)

2 (/limestone (Hertha) 

^==^r 'Shale

FIGURE 1. Section of bluff at Kansas City, Mo., showing succession of limestones and shales.

10' limestone (Plattsburg)

 Drum

figure 1, they consist mainly of the Kansas 

City formation, the upper bed of limestone and the bed of shale underlying it 

representing the lower part of the Lansing

where its beds are found in typical character. Some of the limestones contain 

impressions of fossil shells, one having 

yielded more than 70 species or varieties.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE.

On the bluffs of Kansas City there is a thin sheet of sand and 

gravelly clay, called till, which was left by the glacier or ice sheet 

that once covered this region. This occupation by ice was one of the 

most interesting events in the geologic history of the continent. 1

The new Union Station in Kansas City is in a marked depression or 

valley which lies behind the main bluff all the way from Missouri 

River on the east to the slopes descending to Kansas River on the 

west. This depression is now followed by most of the railways

1 In the earlier part of the glacial epoch, 

called the Kansan stage, the ice sheet 

extended from the north halfway across 

northeastern Kansas, reaching the present 

valley of Kansas River and in places extending a few miles south of it. Probably 

the ice sheet had much to do with determining the position of the Kansas River 

valley, for the river began at that time to 

flow in its present general course. This 

ice sheet covered about 4,000,000 square 

miles in northern North America about 

300,000 years ago and endured for a long 

time. It was several thousand feet thick, 

and it accumulated at a time when the 

fall of snow was in excess of melting 

and evaporation. Its southern edge was 

in the zone where melting kept pace 

with the advance of the ice, and apparently in some stages of its existence its 

margin remained at the same place for a 

long time. Its flow was due mainly to 

the thickness of the ice, for the land does 

not all slope downward to the south, 

which was the direction of the movement. 

The flow of a glacier of this character is 

illustrated in general by^the lateral flow 

of a thick mass of pitch lying on a table. 

As the glacier moved along it picked 

up large quantities of rock and soil. 

This material was slowly carried southward and in some areas accumulated at 

the southern edge of the ice in a deposit 

known as a terminal moraine. When 

melting gained on the rate of advance the 

glacial front receded and the clay, sand, 

gravel, and bowlders which the ice had 

contained were left behind in a sheet 

covering the rocks of the country. This 

deposit is called till or drift. Much of 

the material was brought great distances, 

and its coarser components, especially the

bowlders, are of such character that their 

sources are known by geologists familiar 

with the rocks of the country to the north. 

Some of the bowlders that were carried 

along the bottom of the glacier are 

scratched by grinding against rocky 

ledges, and in places these ledges also 

show scratches and scorings which the 

moving rocks have cut in them. Many 

of the features indicative of glaciation 

are found in northeastern Kansas as far 

south as Kansas City and Topeka.

The glacier evidently extended over 

the area occupied by Kansas City, for 

glacial scratches have been observed on 

the surfaces of limestone ledges in the 

middle of the city. The scratches trend 

somewhat east of south and are clearly 

marked, having been preserved by a 

covering of the glacial till. This till caps 

the ridge in the northern half of the city 

but appears to thin out and disappear at 

no great distance to the south, indicating 

the southern limit of the ice. No clearly 

defined moraine is known in this place. 

The till is all on the highland, indicating 

that the deep river valley now lying a 

short distance to the north did not exist 

in glacial time.

Other glacial scratches are observed on 

the bluffs on the north side of the river 3 

miles north of Kansas City, about 100 feet 

above the river. One set trends S. 24° 

W. and another S. 51° E., indicating two 

directions of ice movement, probably at 

two different stages of ice advance. 

Scratches are also exposed at the deep 

cut in the northwestern part of Kansas 

City, Kans. These scratches are clear 

cut and extend for some distance, so that 

they could not have been produced by 

bowlders in floating or floe ice.
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

entering Kansas City from the east. It has walls of limestone, the 

harder beds appearing as ledges and the softer beds as slopes. It is 

floored with sand and clay to the height of about 100 feet above the 

present river flats. It was the valley of Kansas River at a time 

geologically not very remote, probably when the glacial ice extended 

southward as far as the city and when the valleys of the region lacked 

100 feet of their present depth. The length of time that the Kansas 

followed this course to the Missouri was not great, but it was sufficient 

to cut a channel in the limestone 100 feet or more in depth. Eventually the water was, drawn off by some small affluent of Missouri River 

at the time when that stream was cutting in its southern bank the 

great concave curve along which the larger part of Kansas City, Kans., 

now lies.

Some of the lower slopes along the Missouri Valley in Kansas City 

and elsewhere are covered by a highly characteristic deposit called 

loess. 1 This material, accumulated at a time later than the glacial 

epoch, is a fine sandy loam, so thick and firm that where it is cut into 

by streams it makes prominent bluffs. Some of it can be seen in the 

eastern part of Kansas City, extending far up the limestone slopes 

and in part covering the glacial drift.

On leaving the Kansas City station the train rapidly descends a 

small valley leading into the valley of Kansas River. The south 

bank of this river is followed to Topeka by the old main line of the 

railway, but the trains that go by way of the Ottawa cut-off to 

Emporia follow it only to Holliday, a distance of 13.4 miles. Just 

before the river is reached the State line is crossed, at a point 1£ miles 

from the station.

Kansas has an area of 82,158 square miles, or nearly double that 

of New York, Pennsylvania, or Tennessee. Its length is about 406

miles, but the Santa Fe Route, in crossing it from east 

Kansas. to west, covers about 465 miles. The population of

the State, according to the census of 1910, was 1,690,949. 

The density of population averages 20.7 to the mile but is much 

greater in the eastern part of the State and far less in the western 

counties. Kansas was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and 

when Missouri was made a State its eastern boundary was defined, 

but for many years the region west of that line was regarded as an 

Indian country with no prospect of white settlement. This region 

was crossed by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804 and by 

Lieut. Pike in 1806.

1 Geologists differ in accounting for the may have cooperated in its accumulation, 

origin of the deposit known as loess, but most of it was at one time or another windmany of them believe that while rivers blown dust.
SANTA FE EOUTE.

In 1854 Kansas was organized as a Territory under the KansasNebraska act, which left the question of slavery to be settled by vote. 

This question caused several years of bitter contention, in which 

many persons came from far and near to join. The struggle of the 

slavery and antislavery forces finally became a national issue and 

was one of the causes of the Civil War. In 1861 Kansas was admitted as a "free State." It has been settled by a great variety 

of people, some of whom have come in large bodies. After the 

Civil .War many soldiers settled in the State, taking advantage of 

the provision that a person who had given military service could 

have his term of service deducted from the five years required for 

homesteading.

Kansas has considerable resources in oil, coal, cement rock, and 

other minerals, but the principal industry of the State has been 

agriculture, and in this she has taken high rank. Kansas produces 

about one-tenth of our wheat, ranking first in that crop. Nearly 

5,500,000 acres is planted in wheat, and the average annual yield 

from 1900 to 1913 was 75,347,000 bushels, but in 1914 the crop was 

177,200,000 bushels, valued at $168,340,000, or more than ever before. 

The oat crop in that year was 58,960,000 bushels, and the estimated 

total value of farm and live-stock products of Kansas for 1914 was 

$638,000,000, or nearly double the cost of the Panama Canal. The 

average yield of wheat in Kansas for the last 10 years is 14.1 bushels 

to the acre, and the State ranks twenty-sixth in that respect. The 

average yield of wheat for the United States is 14.8 bushels to the 

acre. Indian corn is an important crop in Kansas, the yield in 1913 

being 174,225,000 bushels.

The mineral products of Kansas in 1913 had an aggregate' value 

of $27,312,563. Coal ($12,036,292) was the leading item, and Portland cement (3,291,818 barrels, valued at $3,268,861) ranked second. 

The zinc produced was valued at $1,129,856; lead, $213,576; clay 

products, nearly $2,000,000; salt, nearly 2,700,000 barrels, valued at 

),000; petroleum, 2,375,029 barrels, valued at $2,248,283.

On the north side of the river is a wide, low flat, on which is 

built the southern part of Kansas City, Kans. The flat consists of. 

sand and gravel deposited by the river and extending to steep 

slopes of limestone on the north. The valley of the Kansas is from 

2 to 3 miles wide, and the stream meanders across its bottom 

in long, swinging bends, skirting the limestone bluff on one side 

foir a few miles and then crossing to the other side. Features 

of this sort are -common to all large streams that carry sediment 

across a generally flat country, especially to those which vary 

greatly in volume at different times in the year. Kansas River ir
8 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

noted for its floods, which follow exceptionally heavy or protracted 

rains. During their progress the volume of water in the stream is 

enormously increased. Overflowing the ordinary channel, the water 

extends widely over the lower lands, and as its velocity is also greatly 

increased, it does much damage. As the stream is well known to be 

subject to floods, many precautions have been taken to make railway 

embankments, bridge abutments, and other structures along it sufficiently high and strong to withstand them, but occasionally a very 

high flood causes great havoc.

The great flood early in June, 1903, was the highest since the flood 

of 1844 and was more destructive than that one because of the 

greater population in the valley. The water extended from bluff to 

bluff at most places, but fortunately there were many localities at 

which the current was not strong. At 'the Union Pacific station, in 

Topeka, there was from 7 to 8 feet of water and at the Kansas City 

Union Station the water was nearly as deep. There was great loss 

of life and property, a large amount of mud was deposited, and the 

river's course was changed in places. The flood was caused by exceptionally heavy rainfall at the end of a long rainy season, which 

had saturated the ground and increased the flow of all the streams in 

the region.

West of the Missouri-Kansas State line Kansas River makes a large 

bend to the south, cutting into the limestone slope of the valley so 

that a prominent bluff rises steeply above the stream. This bluff, 

which extends to Argentine, is nearly 200 feet high and exposes the 

same beds of limestone and shale that are seen in the bluffs farther 

downstream. The railway is built on a cut and fill at its foot.

Argentine, the first stopping place in Kansas, was named from the

Latin word for silver (argentum), smelting being the first industry

established there. It is a part of Kansas City, Kans.

Argentine, Kans. \/yest of Argentine for a few miles the railway leaves

Elevation 750 feet. ^ne immediate river bank and runs near the foot of a

Kansas City 5 miles. . wooded blun, in which may be seen most of the limestone beds that are exposed at Argentine and Kansas City. Chief 

among these is a 30-foot bed of the lola limestone, which is used 

extensively for the manufacture of Portland cement at lola, in southeastern Kansas. Next above is shale (Lane shale), and at the top of 

the bluff is a succession of limestones (the Stantoh and Plattsburg 

limestones) . All the beds descend gradually to the west, for the dip 

is mostly in that direction, and the land also rises as the valley is 

ascended. The grade of Kansas River is low; the rise from its mouth 

at Kansas City, where the elevation above sea level is about 720 feet, 

to Topeka is only about 150 feet. As the distance is 65 miles, the 

slope is less than 2£ feet to the mile.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 9

Near milepost 9 and again from* a point west of milepost 11 nearly

to Holliday the railway is on the bank of the river. At milepost 13,

east of Holliday, there is a cliff of Drum limestone, a

Holliday. ^ed which gradually descends toward the west and

Elevation veo feet. passes beneath the river near Wilder. Holliday was

Kansas City 13 miles. L , J.T.- named lor C. K. Holliday, of Topeka. Jbrom this 

place the cut-off line leads westward to Emporia. This line is 

described on pages 19-22.

Beyond Holliday the main line 1 follows a nearly west course for 

3£ miles along the southern margin of the Kansas River flat. At 

Wilder siding the valley makes a sharp turn to the 

Wilder. southwest along the outcrop of the upper beds of the 

Elevation 772 feet. Chanute shale, which underlies the lola limestone. 

ansas ij os. ^Q C0urse of the valley, however, was established 

long before these soft beds were cut into at this place. Probably its 

position was influenced by the ice sheet of the glacial epoch, the 

southern edge of which appears to have projected several miles farther south in this vicinity than in the regions to the east and west. 

The ice occupied the highlands north of the river, but it is believed 

not to have extended south of the present stream between the western part of Kansas City and Lawrence.

At Bonner Springs, across the river from Wilder, there are large 

quarries of limestone. The hills north of the river, from a point 

opposite Wilder to a point beyond Weaver, are capped by till containing scattered bowlders brought from the north by the glacial ice. 

One of these bowlders, about 8 miles north of Topeka, is 40 feet long 

and 25 feet high and weighs about 1,500 tons. In large quarries on 

the north bank of the river opposite milepost 8 the limestones are 

worked for ballast, road metal, and concrete material. When the 

clay and till were removed from the limestone many glacial scratches 

were uncovered. They bear S. 20° E. and give unmistakable evidence that glacial ice moved in that direction across the country 

before the present valley was excavated. The rock fragments 

carried in the base of the ice scored the limestone surface. Probably 

an earlier Kansas River flowed along the south edge of the ice sheet 

and received much water from the melting ice. 2

1 On this line the mileposts indicate distance west of Holliday as far as Topeka, 

beyond which they indicate distance from 

Atchison.

2 At one stage of the excavation of the 

valley, probably while the ice extended 

to the line of the present valley at Wilder,

the river flowed eastward across the ridge 

a mile south of Wilder, for an old highlevel gravel and sand bed is found on the 

east slope of this ridge. The river did 

not flow long in this course, for it cut 

only a small valley through the ridge, 

which forms the present divide.
10 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

The gentle northwesterly dip which prevails in eastern Kansas 

brings the Idla limestone almost to river level at De Soto. The south 

abutment of a bridge across the river here rests on this limestone, 

which shows for a short distance in the bank and finally passes 

beneath the alluvial filling of the river flats. About 8 miles farther 

west, the next overly ing limestones (the Stanton and Plattsburg) 

in turn pass beneath the river flat near Eudora. As the formation 

above them is soft, easily eroded shale, the bluffs along the valley 

sides here greatly diminish in height and steepness.

Eudora was named after the daughter of a Kansa chief, Pascal 

Fish, from whom the site was purchased. Here the railway crosses 

the mouth of Wakarusa Creek, which occupies a wide 

Eudora. valley extending far westward. This valley is wide 

Elevation 813 feet. mainly because it has been excavated by a good-sized 

Kansas city 33 moles, stream in a thick body of soft shales but also because 

at one time, probably during the glacial epoch, it 

served as a channel for Kansas River. Since that time, however, all 

the valleys of the region have been cut about 100 feet deeper. 

Another old channel of Kansas River extends across the wide bench 

on the north side of the .present valley, 4 miles south of Eudora, 

about 150 feet above the river. This channel, however, is older than 

the one in Wakarusa Valley, for it is higher and the coarser materials 

in it are largely flint of local origin. This channel is believed to be 

preglacial, because its deposits show none of the rocks of northern 

origin which were later spread over this region by the glacier.

The flat at the junction of- the Wakarusa and Kansas valleys is 

wide and shows terraces of moderate height, which extend some distance west of Eudora. The railway passes over this flat, and in 

places, as at milepost 23, its course is 2 miles south of Kansas 

River.

The wide flats along Kansas River contain a thick mass of sand 

and loam deposited by the river. This material affords excellent 

soil at most localities, and from Kansas City to and beyond Topeka 

it is cultivated for corn, vegetables, and other crops, which are highly 

profitable. Unfortunately some parts of this land are not out of the 

reach of ordinary freshets, and a large area is subject to flood and 

damage when the river is exceptionally high. Heavy freshets, however, are so rare that many farmers take the chances of damage by 

high water.

From points not far beyond Eudora the highlands south of the 

river are visible. Their prominence is due to a thick cap of hard, 

massive limestone which protects the soft underlying shale from 

erosion. One high butte known as Blue Mound, 5 miles southwest
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 11

of Eudora, is capped by an outlying mass of this limestone, and other 

peaks and hills farther southwest present the same feature. 1

The thick Oread limestone and the great mass of soft shale below 

it form one of the most prominent of the long "steps" crossing the 

plateaus of eastern Kansas. The formation passes under 90 feet of 

Kanwaka shale to the west, and it dips beneath the valley of Kansas 

River near Lecompton.

At the east edge of Lawrence the Santa Fe line is crossed by a 

branch of the Union Pacific system coming from the north side of 

Kansas River.

The State University of Kansas is in the southwestern part of 

Lawrence. The group of university buildings on the ridge known 

as Mount Oread 2 is about a mile southwest of the 

Lawrence. railway station and can be reached by trolley cars. 

Elevation 822 feet. The university enrollment is about 1,200 students, 

mostly residents of Kansas, to whom tuition is free. 

Connected with the university is the State Geological Survey, which has published many reports on the geology and 

mineral resources of Kansas.

Haskell Institute, a Government school for young Indians, established in 1884, is situated in the southern part of Lawrence. Most 

of these Indians come from the several reservations near by. The 

number of students is 800.

Oread limestone cover a wide area but vary

somewhat in thickness from place to place.

2 This ridge was named by the first

party of settlers in honor of Mount Oread

1 The succession of rocks near Eudora 

and Lawrence is shown in figure 2, below. 

The latan limestone (formerly called the 

Kickapoo) is 10 feet thick at the base of

Lecompton limestone.. 

Kanwaka shale........

Oread I Shale'' 10,'

limestone] s'hSfe 45'

(.Buff limestone 15'

Lawrence shale......ZOO =^=^=~

latan limestone.......10'

Weston shale....... 100'

Stanton limestone. 60'

FIGURE 2. Section of rocks exposed near Eudora and Lawrence, Kans.

Blue Mound, and in this vicinity the Lawrence shales contain a thin bed of coal 

that was formerly worked near Lawrence. 

The limestone and shales constituting the

Seminary, at Worcester, Mass., which was 

founded and owned by Eli Thayer, the 

organizer of the New England Emigrant 

Aid Society.
12 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Lawrence was settled by a colony of New England people who were 

ardent advocates of the abolition of slavery. The attempt to make 

Kansas a proslavery State was prosecuted with zeal, and vigorous 

endeavor was made to keep out settlers who were not in sympathy 

with that side. On the other hand the abolitionists of the East 

organized companies which established and assisted in maintaining 

"free-soil colonies." The New England Emigrant Aid Society, of. 

which Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, was an active member, was 

responsible for the settlement of Lawrence, Kans., in 1854. From 

this time to the Civil War the town was the stronghold of the antislavery party. In 1863 Quantrell raided Lawrence with a band of 

Missourians who killed 288 men, a large proportion of the adult 

male population at the time. Lawrence was a noted station on the 

so-called underground railroad system by which slaves escaped from 

Missouri and other States.

At Lawrence brick of various kinds is made from shale, and sand 

is dredged from the river'for use in making concrete and other building operations. The dredge is plainly visible from the railway station 

(to the north), and the principal brickworks are south of the railway, 

a mile west of the station. In the pits the shale is capped by terrace 

deposits. A 1,400-foot well just east of Lawrence station furnishes 

a small flow of saline water that is in considerable demand for the 

treatment of rheumatism. The river is dammed at Lawrence to 

afford power, which is used mainly by a flour mill.

Much stone is quarried from the ledges of Oread limestone west of 

Lawrence. About 90 feet of shale (Kanwaka) intervenes between 

the Oread and the next-higher limestone (the Lecompton), 1 which 

caps the ridges southwest of Lawrence. The Lecompton limestone 

dips west and passes below the alluvium of the valley filling near 

Spencer siding. In quarries north of Kansas River it yields large 

slabs that are used in Lawrence and other places for curbing, pavements, and trimmings.

Half a mile west of Lawrence station, on the north side of the railway, are the city waterworks. Water from the underflow of the river 

is obtained by large pits, in the bottom of which perforated pipes are 

sunk deep in the sand. The railway passes along a flat with low

1 The Lecompton limestone consists of 

five principal beds; 5 feet of limestone at 

the base, 5$ feet of shale, 16 inches of blue 

limestone, 4 feet of shale, and 10 feet of 

light-gray limestone which disintegrates 

easily. Great quantities of the peculiar 

fossil, Fusulina, occur in the basal part 

of the Lecompton limestone. It is a foraminifer of elongated oval form, generally 

about a quarter of an inch in length, 

and is common also in higher limestones. 

The shale that overlies the Lecompton 

limestone, known as the Tecumseh shale, 

is about 75 feet thick and includes two 

thin limestone beds which make riffles in 

the river.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 13

terraces on the south side that extend to the foot of a wooded bluff 

capped by ledges of limestone.

Near Lakeview several old sections of river channel or oxbows are 

conspicuous. They are now abandoned by the main stream, which 

passes north of them, but are in part filled with water. 

eview. Features of this sort are common along streams flow-

.

sand banks accumulate which dam up an old course 

for a few miles while, a new channel is scoured out by the strong 

current deflected in another direction.

Long ago Kansas River cut its valley about as deep as is possible 

with the low grade finally attained, and since that time the flats have 

been in process of being built up. The valley is being widened, however, for every few miles along its course the stream cuts into its banks 

and removes more or less of the limestone and shale. This cutting 

shifts in location from time to time, and some of these old cut banks 

now rise from old channels long ago abandoned. As its banks are 

cut back the river valley gradually widens, and if the process continues sufficiently long the side valleys also will be widened in the 

same manner and the adjoining highlands disappear.

In the region west of Lawrence the ice sheet of the Kansan glacial 

stage extended several miles south of the present Kansas River valley, 

for the south margin of the drift covers the greater part of the high 

ridge between that river and the valley of Wakarusa Creek. The 

drift margin continues in this position to Topeka and beyond, but it is 

hardly perceptible to the traveler on the railway, which follows the 

relatively recent river bottom. The rolling hills that can be seen on 

the upland in places north of the river consist largely of glacial drift.

Lecompton (see sheet 2, p. 22) was the capital of Kansas Territory 

from 1855 to 1861 and was named from D. S. Lecompte, chief justice 

of the Territory. It was a noted proslavery strongLecompton. hold and a rival to Lawrence. The " Lecompton conricvation 8-16 feet. stitution/' under which the proslavery party wished 

Kansas to become a State, was drawn up at a constitutional convention called at Lecompton in 1857. 

This constitution was overwhelmingly defeated by popular vote. 

Toward the end of the free-soil troubles the Territorial legislature was 

accustomed to convene in Lecompton and adjourn at once to Lawrence. Those days of political turmoil are happily past, and now 

Lecompton is a quiet little village.

Between mileposts 38 and 39 the Lecompton limestone crops out 

in ledges south of the track for some distance, but farther west there 

are wooded slopes which show limestone only at intervals. These 

slopes continue beyond Grover.

97579° Bull. 613 15 2
14 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Tecumseh is on a low terraced slope in a sharp bend of the river.

The name is that of a Pawnee chief and means

Tecumseh. panther. From Tecumseh low river terraces extend

Elevation 862 feet. westward for nearly a mile, to a point at which

Population 1,024* . J ., , r,,fi, - j . Kansas city 62 miles, they give place to a wide, low flat that extends to

Topeka.

Topeka, the State capital, is one of the largest cities in Kansas. It 

has broad, well-paved streets, with parking and shade trees. Its 

name is an Omaha Indian word signifying the socalled Indian potato. It is a division point on the 

Santa Fe Railway and the place of convergence of 

severa^ branch lines and other railways. The general 

offices and extensive shops of the Santa Fe system 

are situated here, and there are many factories and local industries 

of various kinds, including quarries, brickyards, sand pits, large flour 

mills, and what is said to be the largest creamery in the world. It

Topeka.

Elevation sse feet.

Admire shale ..... 

Emporia limestone.

Willard shale.......ISO =:b§=:l

Burlingame limestone , 

6 -IZ

Scranton shale.. ...170 ^^%^s

Howard limestone....lo'

^ ' Coal 7 Severy shale ........50^

Topeka limestone 20-25' 

Calhoun shale ........ 50,

Deer Creek limestone.. .25 

Tecumseh shale.......

 FIGURE 3. Section showing succession of rocks in plateau south of Topeka, Kans.

was from Topeka that the Santa Fe Co. began building a railway 

westward in 1869, but it did not reach Santa Fe until 1880.

Topeka was the scene of many riots during the conflict between the 

abolitionists and the advocates of slavery. Here in 1856 the Free Soil 

legislature, meeting in opposition to the proslavery legislature, was 

dispersed by United States troops acting under orders from President 

Pierce. Five years later, after numerous elections and conflicts, the 

first State legislature assembled in Topeka.

On leaving Topeka 1 the train goes nearly south up the valley of 

Shonganunga Creek and then up one of its branches which heads at 

the top of the plateau. The ascent is made by a moderate grade, 

about 125 feet in 5 miles. This plateau is made up of a succession of 

limestones and shales, shown in figure 3. A few ledges of limestone

1 Mileposts from Topeka to Isleta indicate distance from Atchison.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 1

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. C. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

EXPLANATION 95°

ISand, gravel, and clay

A -(Compact fine silty sand

(Gravel, sand, and clay

B Limestones separated by shale 

C Shale

D Limestones (three beds) sepa- Oread 

rated by shale

Thickness 

- in feet -

94-30' MISSOURI-KANSAS

Alluvium 

Loess

Till of Kansan ice 

sheet

Lecompton " /' .- 

Kanwaka

Quaternary

EXPLANATION

Oooo°°o Approximate southern limit of Kansan ice sheet of glacial epoch.

The lines show the eastern limit of each belt of limestone, not the full wi 

outcrop.

E -

Shale, thm limestones, sand- Lawrence

stone, and coal 

Limestone 

Gray shale

Limestone

Shale

Limestone

G Shale, gray, with thin limestone 

n Limestone, hard, massive

fc Carboniferous 

(PennsvlvanianJ Stanton

Vilas

Plattsburg

Chanute shale 

Drum limestone Shale and limestoneStain-ton limestone 

lola. limestone 

Alluvium,shown by 

stippled pattern

Scale 500,0 

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch

.. I? ... 15

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown tvtry 10 miles

The crossties <*n the railroads are spaced I mile apart
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. ' 15

crop out in the slopes of these valleys. These beds are of late Carboniferous age and slope at a very low angle to the west.

A mile south of Pauline the railway crosses the line of the old high

valley through which in glacial time Kansas River flowed across the

divide into the valley of Wakarusa Creek. This

Pauline. deflection of the drainage to the south was probably

Elevation 1,029 feet, caused by the advance of the great ice sheet southKansas city 72 miles. J &

ward between Lawrence and lopeka. The ice

blocked up the older channel, which was in a general way coincident 

with that of the present valley but, as explained on page 10, at a 

higher level, for the old channel across the divide is about 150 feet 

above the present river. It is marked by a broad depression and 

especially by deposits of sand and numerous bowlders, some of them 

very large and easily recognized as having been brought "by the ice 

from regions far to the northwest. The relations of this stream 

deposit are not well exposed along the railway but are clearly exhibited along the stream and slopes northwest of Pauline station.

At the tune when the river passed in this direction it carried the 

drainage of the west side of the glacial ice from the Dakotas and 

Nebraska far to the north, and its volume was therefore much greater 

than at present. It cut a valley toward the east, now occupied by 

Wakarusa Creek, which, however, has deepened its channel considerably, leaving remnants of the old deposits on the valley sides.

West of Pauline the land rises abruptly in a step due to the outcrop 

of a hard bed of limestone. This step or ridge is a conspicuous 

feature for the next 40 miles, the railway skirting the shale slopes and 

plains at various distances from its foot. The succession of cliffs 

due to the hardness of limestone and of slopes due to the softness of 

shale is characteristic of the eastern part of Kansas, especially in the 

drift-free area south of Kansas River. The rocks consist of alternations of beds of hard limestone, mostly from 5 to 25 feet thick, and of 

shale, from 25 to 100 feet thick except the Lawrence shale, whose 

thickness is 200 feet. The beds all dip at a slight angle to the west, 

and as the country is rolling upland, the limestone beds rise in sloping 

ledges, usually terminated on the east by cliffs of varying degrees 

of prominence. These cliffs cross the country from north to south 

at intervals of 3 to 5 miles, the distance depending on the thickness of the intervening shales and in some places on slight variations 

in the dip. From a high point in this area can be seen the long 

westward-sloping steps of limestone and the intervening rolling 

plains and gentle slopes of shale.

Nearly all of the area is in a high state of cultivation, producing 

large crops of grains and vegetables. The soil is rich, and a fair 

proportion of the rainfall, which averages 35 inches a year, comes at 

the time when crops are growing.
16 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Wakarusa.

A short distance south of Pauline the summit of the divide, which is 

on the Scranton shale, is reached at an altitude of 1,050 feet; thence

there is a down grade to the village of Wakarusa.

Here the railway crosses Wakarusa Creek at a point 

Elevation 948 feet. where the stream has cut through the shales to the

Kansas City 78 miles. ... ? . .

lopeka limestone, a ledge ol which is exposed in the 

shallow railway cut a few rods north of the station. South of Wakarusa the track rises from the creek valley to a rolling .plain, whose 

altitude is from 1,000 to 1,075 feet. At milepost 64 a 4-foot bed of 

limestone is crossed by the railway. In the higher portions of the 

ridges traversed in the next 3 miles there are several cuts in shales, 

some of which expose thin included beds of limestone.

Between Carbondale and Osage there are many small coal mines 

and numerous abandoned pits and long open cuts. Several of the 

mines produce a moderate amount of coal for local 

use and for shipment to various places in eastern 

Kansas. They are from 10 to 140 feet deep, and at 

most localities the bed is from 16 to 22 inches thick. 

Some of the coal has been mined by stripping off the 

soil and debris and more or less shale along the outcrop, but to the 

west, as the dip carries the coal deeper, it is reached, by shafts. 

For many years this field was the principal source of supply of fuel 

for the Santa Fe Railway, and several of the mines were worked 

by the railway company until other sources of coal were developed. 

In 1893 and 1894 the .annual output exceeded 200,000 tons. The 

coal 1 is bituminous, and although it is not all of high quality this 

thin bed has been worked with considerable profit. It is known to 

extend to Lebo and Neosho Rapids, and it is only about 250 feet 

deep at Emporia.

About the coal mines from Carbondale to Osage are heaps of gray 

shale excavated in sinking shafts and extending the coal chambers. 

In places where this debris has contained considerable coal waste it 

has been ignited at times by spontaneous combustion and the heat 

has given it a bright-red color, which makes the piles conspicuous. 

The Howard limestone is traversed a short distance north of milepost

Carbondale.

Elevation 1,074 feet. 

Population 461. 

Kansas City 84 miles.

1 Coal consists of carbonaceous material, originally trees and other plants of 

various kinds, that accumulated in 

swamps and was finally covered by mud. 

At the time when such material accumulated in this region it was an area of widespread swamps and morasses with rank 

vegetation. Later it was covered by the 

sea, in which were deposited the materials 

now represented by the limestone and 

shale. The coal bed is only a few feet

below the Howard limestone, which is 

therefore a guide to the location of the 

coal. The limestone and shale in this 

region are of the same age (Carboniferous) 

as the rocks which contain the great deposits of coal in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, 

and Alabama. Here, however, deeper 

water prevailed for much of the time and 

conditions favorable to the accumulation 

of coal were relatively transient and local.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 17

70, on the descent to Hundred and Ten Mile Creek, which is crossed 

1 mile north of Scranton. 

The principal industry about Scranton is coal mining, but in the

surrounding: country there are also extensive agricul- Scranton. to J "? tural interests, .brom Scranton southwest and west Elevation 1.100 feet. _. ... ,, , , ,, Population 770. to Burlingame the route crosses a nearly smooth

Kansas city 87 miles. plam of shale which extends far to the east and for

some distance to the west.

At Burlingame the railway crosses the line of the Santa Fe Trail

from Kansas City to Santa Fe, N. Mex.1 This trail followed the top 

of the plateau from Olathe and went west from Burlingame 30 miles to Council Grove, which was an 

important depot. Quantrell planned to raid the town 

°^ Burlmgamo in 1863, while the men were absent in 

the Army, but the women built a fort of rocks and

held their ground for six weeks until Union soldiers came to their

assistance. This town was named for Anson Burlingame, formerly

United States minister to China.

Burlingame.

Elevation 1,045 feet. 

Population 1,422.

1 Tliis famous old highway was about 

850 miles long. From 1804 to 1821 it had 

been traveled by a few trading expeditions using pack animals, but in 1821 it 

was formally opened for wagon travel, 

and caravans of "prairie schooners" and 

large wagons began to make their trips to 

the excellent market of Santa Fe, then 

an important Government and commercial distributing city of the northern part 

of old Mexico, and a point from which 

highways and trails extended down the 

valley of the Eio Grande and elsewhere. 

Later, after the United States had acquired the region, until the Santa Fe Railway was built, the trail was one of the 

great emigrant routes to the Southwest. 

At first the traders made only one trip a 

year, starting early in summer, as soon 

as the pasturage was promising, and arriving at Santa Fe in July. Early in the 

sixties the trade had increased to so great 

an extent that the caravans started every 

few days, and many were on the road during the season favorable for such travel.

The ordinary caravan consisted of 26 

wagons, each drawn by five teams of 

mules or five yoke of oxen, but often there 

were 100 wagons in a caravan, divided 

into four divisions, a lieutenant having 

charge of each division under the command of an elected captain of the whole 

party. A day's journey was about 15 

miles, but varied slightly with the distances to camping places. At night the 

wagons were formed into a hollow square 

inside which camp was made and the 

horses were corralled. Outposts were 

maintained for sentry duty, as the Indians 

often attacked such parties just at dawn.

East of Council Grove there was little 

to fear from the Indians, who were friendly 

to the white men. The Kansa tribe of 

Sioux had settled at the mouth of Kansas River but, persuaded by gifts, they 

abandoned one settlement after another 

as immigration progressed. So accommodating a spirit was not found among 

the tribes of the central Great Plains. 

The earlier trappers and frontiersmen had 

found most of these Indians amicable, 

but misdeeds by individuals of both 

races led to general bad feeling and convinced the Indians that they had nothing 

to gain from friendliness. Their hostility 

added greatly to the danger of travel on 

a trail that was already perilous enough 

through its lack of water and its physical 

obstacles.

In 1850 there were about 500 wagons 

and about 5,000 animals in the service, 

and in 1866 there were 3,000 wagons. On
IS GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Several coal mines are worked in the vicinity of Burlingame. A 

short distance west of the railway rises a prominent ledge of the 

Burlingame limestone, of which this is the type locality.

Beyond Burluigame the railway goes south and east of south 

across an undulating plain, making shallow cuts through the Scranton 

shale, which lies between the Howard limestone and the Burlingame 

limestone.

At Osage the Santa Fe crosses the Missouri Pacific Railway. The 

city is named from the Osage Indians, a branch of the great Siouan 

family, some of whom formerly lived near the Kansa 

Osage. Indians, north of the Arkansas. In addition to its 

Elevation 1,077 feet, coal-mining industry, it is the center for the surrounding farming community. The rolling plain of 

shale continues from Osage southwestward to Reading. The highest altitudes attained on the divides are 1,165 feet, 

or slightly higher than in the region to the north.

some trips as many as 180 yoke of oxen 

would haul two trains of wagons. In 1849 

regular coach service carrying mail from 

Independence to Santa Fe was started, 

and in 1862 the service was daily. The 

trip required two weeks. The coaches 

carried 11 passengers, who were charged 

$250 each for the trip, including meals. 

The cost of the trip from Kansas City to 

Santa Fe now, including meals and 

sleeper, is less than $35 and the time required is 15 hours. Express charges for 

carrying money were $1 a pound for gold 

or silver.

The Santa Fe Railway follows the old 

trail in general, but in places the two are 

not very close together. In eastern Kansas there were several lines of travel. 

One began at Independence, Mo., a short 

distance east of Kansas City, crossed the 

river to Westport, passed through the hills 

in Kansas City, and then went by Olathe 

and Gardner over the .plateau southeastward to Council Grove, a famous rendezvous 25 miles northwest of the present 

city of Emporia. About halfway to 

Council Grove it was joined by a route 

from Fort Leavenworth, where most of 

the Government troops outfitted. The 

Santa Fe Railway now crosses this part of 

the trail near Olathe and again near Burlingame, about halfway between Topeka 

and Emporia. West of Council Grove the

trail passed through the southern part of 

the city of Lyons, reaching Arkansas 

River near Ellinwood, a short distance 

east of Great Bend. From this place 

westward it followed the north bank of the 

river, in greater part within a very short 

distance of the course now taken by the 

railway, but in Colorado it kept on the 

north bank to Bents Fort, above Las 

Animas, where it crossed to the south side 

of the river. From this point into New 

Mexico the trail led southwestward, along 

a course very near the line of the present 

railway which crosses and recrosses it all 

the way to Raton. South of that place 

the trail went through Cimarron to Fort 

Union, near Watrous, thence to Las Vegas 

 and across the Glorieta Pass to Canyoncito, whence it turned north to Santa Fe. 

A short-cut branch crossed the Arkansas 

above Dodge and went southwest to the 

Cimarron Valley and thence to Wagon 

Mound and Fort Union. Along much 

of its course the old trail is marked 

by granite monuments erected by the 

Daughters of the American Revolution. 

(See view of typical monument given 

in PI. II, A.) The tracks of the trail 

are 200 feet wide in many places and consist of old ruts deeply scored into the sand. 

Sunflowers spread westward along the 

entire length of the trail and now mark its 

course at many places.
U. 5. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 813 PLATE It

A. GRANITE MARKER OF SANTA FE TRAIL. 

Blocks like this have been set at intervals along the old trail.

.#. RESTORATION OF MAMMOTH.

Elephas imperator, a large elephant that was common in the southwestern United States In Pleistocene time. 

From a model in the American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE in

A. PULPIT ROCK, NEAR ALUM CREEK, SOUTH OF CARNEIRO, KANS.

A hard mass of Dakota sandstone which has resisted erosion better than the 

underlying softer bed that forms its pedestal.

PAWNEE ROCK, SOUTHWEST OF GREAT BEND, KANS. 

A cliff of Dakota sandstone.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 19

Just south of Barclay the ledge of Burlingame limestone is prominent to the west, and several small outliers of it cap knolls that stand 

east of the railway.

_

West of Heading the railway turns to the west and

Elevation 1.171 feet. . jn . ., . ,111 CT-.T T

Population 681 * within 2 miles rises over the ledge of Burlingame limeKansas city 106 miles, stone, then.goes across 75 feet of the overlying Willard 

shale to the Emporia limestone, which begins on a 

Reading. divide half a mile beyond milepost 100. This bed is 

Elevation 1,074 feet, crossed again in the next divide to the southwest, and 

Population 289. a}so 011 the down grade descending to Ncosho River.

Kansas City 112 miles. . , , ° ... rm -XT which is reached near milepost 108. The Neosho is a 

stream of moderate size carrying the drainage of a wide area of eastcentral Kansas. In its north bank are bluffs of the Willard shale. 

South of the river is a long, wide flat extending 4 miles to and into 

Emporia. A mile east of the station at that place this line is joined by

the Ottawa cut-off from Holliday.

Emporia. Emporia, the county seat of Lyon County, is an

Elevation 1,134 feet, important business center for a wide area of farming

SSfSy'm'miies country and is the site of the State Normal School,

by Topeka (112 which has 2,600 students. Emporia is the type

miles by Ottawa), k^y of the Emporia limestone, which here passes

underground on its westward dip.

[The itinerary west of Emporia is continued on p. 22.]

HOLLIDAY TO EMPOKIA BY WAY OF OTTAWA. 1

Some of the trains on the Santa Fe Route now diverge from the old 

line at Holliday and tako a more direct line nearly straight southwest 

by the Ottawa cut-off. This line runs over the plateau between 

Kansas and Osage rivers, then up the valley of the latter for some 

distance, and finally across the low but wide divide to Neosho River. 

On this line the railway crosses wide areas of shale and gradually 

rises from one limestone ledge to another in the great succession of 

rocks of later Carboniferous age that constitute the surface of eastern 

Kansas. The outcrops of these limestones extend from southwest to 

northeast across the country in lines of low cliffs, above some of which 

are bare rocky slopes of varying width. As the beds dip to the west, 

each bed of limestone passes in succession beneath the overlying 

shale, so that the beds which crop out in the bluffs near Kansas City 

lie several hundred feet below the surface at Emporia. These relations are shown in the cross section on sheet 1 (p. 14). On the other 

hand, the upper beds of limestone and shale, which crop out at the 

surface in the western part of the area, originally extended far to the 

east, but they have been removed by erosion down to the general 

level of the country

1 The mileposts on this line indicate distance from Kansas City.
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UKlTED STATES.

Olathe.

Elevation 1,023 feet.

There is a vast quantity of limestone in this region, part of it in. 

beds too thin to be useful, but some of it in thick deposits and consisting of nearly pure calcium carbonate. This rock is utilized at 

lola, Independence, and other places in Kansas and elsewhere for 

the manufacture of Portland cement.1

On leaving Holliday, the train ascends the valley of Mill Creek to 

its head at Olathe, a distance of 12^ mile's and a rise of about 260 

feet. This valley is excavated in the beds that constitute the bluffs 

at Kansas City and Argentine. Several beds of shale are exposed, 

and many ledges of limestone extend along the valley sides.

Olathe (o-lay'the, th as in thin; Shawnee for beautiful) is on the 

summit of the plateau which is traversed by the railway for many 

miles toward the southwest. This plateau is mostly 

covered by shale. At long intervals the railway 

descends into shallow valleys, most of them exposing 

ledges °f underlying limestones.

At Olathe the railway crosses the line of the Santa 

Fe Trail, which is described in the footnote on pages 17-18.

The trail lies a short distance north of the railway from Olathe 

through Gardner and Edgerton, but near Edgerton it diverges toward 

the west, going through Baldwin, which was formerly 

the well-known Palmyra stage station. A short distance west of Wellsville the railway track crosses a 

thin ledge of limestone and enters a broad area of 

shale. At Ottawa Junction (North Ottawa) the main 

line is crossed by a branch of the Santa Fe system 

which extends from Lawrence southward to Tulsa, 

Okla. A mile south of the junction is ti?e town of 

Ottawa, which has a population of 7,650 and is the 

county seat of Franklin County. Ottawa is a locally 

important center and has several manufactories, most 

of them operated by water power from Osage River, 

which passes through the town. In borings at this 

place natural gas is obtained from sandstone at 

depths of 435, 665, 803, and 1,060 feet. Some years 

ago the skeleton of a mammoth was dug up on Main

Gardner.

Elevation 1,065 feet. 

Population 514. 

Kansas City 34 miles.

Edgerton.

Elevation 966 feet. 

Population 443. 

Kansas City 40 miles.

Wellsville.

Elevation 1,043 feet. 

Population 648. 

Kansas City 46 miles.

Ottawa Junction.

Elevation 915 feet. 

Kansas City 57 miles.

1 Cement is made by burning a mixture 

of ground limestone and shale and grinding the resulting clinker to a very fine 

powder. In some places clay or loam is 

used instead of shale. Some limestones 

contain naturally a suitable admixture of 

the clay element for the manufacture of 

hydraulic cements, but the term Portland 

is generally applied only to cements produced by burning an artificial mixture, 

as described. Many of the thick beds of 

limestone exposed from Kansas City westward could be utilized for cement manufacture, but at present there would be 

difficulty in competing with the southern 

Kansas product owing to the advantage 

afforded by a natural-gas fuel supply to 

the plants located farther south. Moreover, the cement market appears to be 

amply supplied by plants now in operation at many places in the United States. 

The shale in the region from Kansas City 

westward could be utilized more extensively for tile, brick, and other similar 

products if fuel were cheaper or if the 

local demand were sufficient.
THE SANTA PE ROUTE. 21

Street in Ottawa, and remains c of others have been found in the 

vicinity. These large animals, which were closely similar in form to 

the elephant, were abundant in the United States thousands of 

years ago, together with various other species long extinct. A restoration of the principal variety of mammoth is shown in Plate II, B 

(p. 18). At Ottawa Junction, just south of the railway, is a factory 

where tiles, brick, etc., are manufactured from shale.

West of Ottawa Junction the railway follows the low flats on the 

north side of the valley of the Osage (see sheet 2, p. 22) to a point 1£

miles west of Pomona, where it crosses that stream. 

Pomona. It recrosses to the north bank just east of Quenemo. 

Elevation 923 feet. This river was named theMaraisdes Cygnes (swamp

°f tne swans) by the early French trappers, from the

fact that large numbers of swans frequented its 

marshy bottom lands during the winter.

At Quenemo the Santa Fe Railway is crossed by one of the lines 

of the Missouri Pacific system. This place was named for an Ottawa

Indian who lived among the Sac and Fox tribes near 

Quenemo. Melvern. The surface rock of the valley in this 

Elevation 941 feet. region is shale, which is exposed in some of the cuts,

notably in one 20 feet deep a short distance east of

milepost 60. Most of the lower slopes of the valley 

are occupied by deposits of sand and gravel laid down by the river. 

Near Pomona the slopes on both sides of the valley are surmounted 

by low cliffs of Oread limestone in two or three prominent ledges. 

These beds, by their slight westward dip and the rise of the valley in 

the same direction, are finally brought to water level and crossed by 

 the railway at Melvern.

At Melvern the railway rises out of the Osage Valley and the railway cuts expose in close succession a number of limestones and at

several places the intervening shales. At Ridgeton, 

Melvern. west of Olivet, the railway regains the summit of the 

Elevation 994 feet. plateau at an elevation of 1,125 feet, or about 100 feet 

JtavsasCtty&o miles, higher ,thaii in the region southwest of Olathe. On

the summit there is a very instructive view to the 

Olivet. northwest, showing a succession of steps formed by 

Elevation 1,136 feet, the outcrop of the thin but hard ledges of limestones, 

Population 904.* separated by long slopes of the intervening shales.

Kansas City 86 miles. \ . . . , -,-, , Inis entire region is under cultivation, with fields of 

various crops and extensive pastures.

From Olivet to Neosho Rapids there is a continuous rolling plain of 

shale, interrupted, between milesposts 92 and 93, by a slope formed 

by the gently inclined upper surface (dip slope) of the Howard limestone, a relatively hard bed only about 1 foot thick.

miles,
22 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEKN UNITED STATES.

The coal bed lying below the Howard limestone has been worked

at mines in the vicinity of Lebo. This coal is the

*je "0< same bed that is worked in the neighborhood of

Elevation 1,155feet. Scranton and Osage. (See pp. 17,18.) The bed is 14

Population 560. ,-,- - *v i J j i/ ' * j

Kansas city 94 miles, to 16 inches thick and is mined by stripping and

tunneling.

At Neosho Rapids the railway reaches the bank of Neosho River, 

a large stream flowing in a wide valley floored with thick beds of

sand and loam it has itself deposited. Neosho is an 

Neosho Rapids. lndian WOrd meaning clear, cold water. This valley 

Elevation 1,092 feet. js followed as far as Emporia. Near milepost 104

Population 256. , ... -, -r*. T -,.-, Kansas city 102 miles, the railway crosses Cottonwood River, which in this 

vicinity occupies the same wide flat as the Neosho 

and which empties into that stream a mile to the east. The thick 

accumulation of sand and loam deposited by these streams has reduced their slope and compelled them to follow very crooked courses. 

Near Emporia the Burlingame limestone, which slopes down from 

the east, crosses the valley of the two rivers, but it is covered by the 

alluvial deposits so that its precise location underground is not 

known. A mile east of Emporia the main line from Holliday by way 

of Topeka joins the Ottawa cut-off. Near this place the Santa Fe is 

crossed by a line of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, popularly 

known as" " The Katy."

MAIN LINE WEST OF EMPORIA.

West of Emporia the railway passes over the flat bottom lands on 

the north side of Cottonwood River to Florence, a distance of 45 

miles. The valley is wide near Emporia and as far west as Saffordville, and the shale slopes on the north and south rise gradually to 

plateaus capped by limestone.

At Saffordville siding the Cottonwood Valley is much narrower and

the limestone caps on the adjacent shale ridges are conspicuous. One

limestone ledge is a short distance above the track;

Saffordvflle. 30 to 40 feet higher, with shales intervening, is another

Elevation 1,142 feet. iimestone. These two limestone beds are exposed in

Kansas City 139 miles.1 . ... ~f

many prominent ledges to the vicinity ol Clements, 

a distance of 22 miles. The lower one (the Neva) is from 7 to 8 feet 

thick, and in the outcrop breaks out into large blocks with sharp 

angles and rough surface of chalky-white color. The Cottonwood 

limestone, the upper ledge, is one of the most continuous and bestmarked formations of Carboniferous age in Kansas. It carries 

fossil mollusks of numerous species that are characteristic of the

1 Distances by way of Topeka are given for places west of Emporia. To get the 

distance traveled by way of the Ottawa cut-off 15 miles should be deducted.
SHEET 2

Oread limestoneLecompton Ijr

Topeka. limestone

J M

Burlin^ame lim

Emporia limestone V,l'l '''.I'? 

r hIJull

Americus limeston

s«

Cottonwood limestone

BSV)'i)

River deposits 'stippled pat- Alluvium 

tern)

B Limestone

C Shale and limestone

D Limestone

fShale

E ^Limestone 

[Shale

F Limestone

G Shale with limestone layers

H Limestones separated by shale

I Shale with thin limestone

J Limestone

(Shale

K -( Limestone and shale 

(_Shale with coal near top

39 L Limestones separated by shale

Americus -* ^ "^

Admire

Emporia ... " ... " -..

Willard

Burlingame -~ ^ -

Shale and sandstone 

M -< Limestone and shale

Shale

N Limestones separated by shale

0 Shale

P l^imestones separated by shale

Q Shale

oo°Approximate southern limit of Kansan ice sheet of glacial epoch.

The lines show the eastern limit of each belt of limestone, not the full width-oftp 

outcrop. ^^

Scale 50o!<)00

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 

1 O 5 10 15 2OMiles

Contour interval 200 feet

ELEVATIONS IH FCET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

stances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 mites

^ --: ^

^ "' - ^ L^

i^^ps <-:^-m'. ' ^<^v '"$*? ;&$ ( - '' --- -J-iM,- 5 ^1/k
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 23

Permian series of the Carboniferous system. (See table on p. ii.) 

Its upper part consists largely of an aggregate of the fossil foraminifer 

Fusulina cylindrica, which the quarrymen call "rice" on account of 

its general resemblance to grains of wild rice. In the vicinity of 

Strong City, Clements, and Cottonwood Falls there are more than 

20 large quarries in this limestone, constituting the largest quarrying 

industry in the State. The stone is of light color, uniform texture, 

and generally so free from joint planes that blocks of almost any 

desired length or breadth can be obtained. The two layers of which 

the formation consists in most places are only from 2 to 3 feet thick; 

locally it is in three layers. The Cottonwood stone is shipped great 

distances to places in Kansas and adjoining States.

There is one limestone quarry of considerable size in the northern 

part of Strong City (see sheet 3, p. 26), north of the railway, and others

a mile or two distant on the south side of the river, east 

Strong City. Of Cottonwood Falls. Strong City, named for W. B. 

Elevation 1,174 feet. Strong, a former president of the Santa Fe Railway

Co., is on the north side of Cottonwood River, and

the city of Cottonwood Falls is on the south bank of 

that stream, 1£ miles south of the railway at this point. At Strong 

City the Neva limestone is below the surface, and at milepost 133 

the Cottonwood limestone also goes under. Within a short distance 

to the west, however, both of them are brought up again by doming 

of the beds (see glossary, p. 182), so that near Elmdale .they are moderately high in the valley slopes. The underlying Eskridge shale also 

appears.

A boring recently made on the crest of the dome near Elmdale 

has found some natural gas, but the amount available has not been

fully determined. Petroleum and gas occur in many 

Elmdale. places where the beds are domed, because structure 

Elevation 1,195 feet. Of this kind offers a favorable condition for their

Population 253. .. . , , ,

Kansas city 154 miles, accumulation. Ihere are, however, numerous domes 

in which neither gas nor oil is found, so that this 

structure is not always evidence of their presence.

Clements is third in rank among the cattle-shipping towns of

Kansas. A large number of cattle brought from various points west

of this town are wintered here and fattened for

Clements. market. A short distance beyond Clements is a small

Elevation 1,222 feet. quarry in the Cottonwood limestone. In this part

Kansas City 161 miles. . ,, ,-, e r\ a j T>- ,1 ^

of the valley of Cottonwood liiver the slopes are 

terraced by the projection of hard layers of limestone as tabular 

shelves of considerable extent, each one terminating in a more or less 

prominent cliff, as shown in figure 4 (p. 24). In places there are three 

or four terraces or steps made by the succession of limestone beds,
24 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

one above the other, separated by softer shales. All these beds dip 

to the west and are thus crossed in turn by the railway. 1

In this valley there is a notable difference in character between the 

bottom lands, which have a deep, rich soil, and the adjoining slopes, 

where the soil is much thinner and is in many places interrupted by 

the rock outcrops. The valley lands are nearly all in a high state of 

cultivation, yielding a great variety of farm products. At many 

farms the' traveler will see the round towers, mostly of concrete, 

known as silos, in which corn leaves and stalks and other sunilar green 

materials are kept green and moist to serve as winter fodder for stock.

Cwf

FIGURE 4. Section across Cottonwood Valley southwest of Elmdale, Kans. Shows the terrace or steps 

produced by the limestone beds and the gentler slopes composed of shales. Cm, Matfleld shale; Cwf, 

Wreford limestone; Cg, Garrison formation; Cc, Cottonwood limestone; Ce, Eskridge shale; Cn, Neva 

limestone; Ced, Elmdale formation.

Between Clements and Cedar Point there are many shallow cuts in

the shales overlying the Cottonwood limestone. At

Cedar Pomt. Cedar Point the Wreford limestone is crossed, but it

Elevation 1,239 feet. is exposed only in a few ledges in the slopes north of

Kansas City 166 miles. , r i

tne t/rac.K.

A short distance east of Florence a large crusher north of the railroad is working the Florence flint and overlying Fort Riley limestone 

for road material.

1 The following list shows the beds included in the Permian series in central Kansas, 

also their character and average thickness near the Santa Fe Railway:

Formations of Permian age in central Kansas.

Sunnier group: ' Feet.

Wellington shale: Red and gray shales....................... 350

Marion formation: Limestone and shale with gypsum and salt

in upper part........................................... 160

Chase group:

Winfield formation: Cherty limestone in part and shale...... 25

Doyle shale: Shale withthin beds of limestone................ 60

Fort Riley limestone: Buff limestone........................ 40

Florence flint: Limestone, very cherty....................... 20

Matfield shale: Shale and limestone.......................... 65

Wreford limestone: Buff cherty limestone .................... 45

Garrison formation: Shales and limestone........................ 145

Cottonwood limestone: Light-colored massive limestone........... 3
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 25

Florence, named for Miss Florence Crawford, of Topeka, is a junction point at which branches to the north and south leave the main 

line. Beyond Florence the railway leaves the CotFlorence, tonwood Valley and ascends that of Doyle Creek, a 

Elevation 1,262 feet, tributary from the southwest. The strata lie nearly

Population 1.168. , , i ,1 i , T VI.TJ -i , Kansas city 172 miles, horizontal in this region, but dip slightly to the west, 

forming a continuation of the general monocline 

which exists throughout eastern Kansas.

West of Florence the traveler will note that pasture lands become 

more frequent and that cattle raising is an increasingly prominent industry. At many stations there are small stockyards with 

special gangways for loading cattle on cars for shipment east. 

There are also numerous fields of alfalfa, which is one of the most 

important forage crops in the West. 1 Some notably large fields of 

this plant may be seen just west of milepost 169.

At Peabody, which was named for F. H. Peabody, of Boston, large

numbers of range cattle are received for fattening in the adjoining

region. Here the Santa Fe line is crossed by the

Peabody. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway. West of

Elevation 1,351 feet. Peabody the country is a wide, rolling upland, with

Population 1,416. , 1/211 / ,1 i , , Kansas city 184 miles, numerous broad fields oi grain, mostly wheat, interspersed with pastures. The few railway cuts show

gray shales with some thin layers of limestone. 

Newton, named for the city in Massachusetts, is a minor railway

center from which a branch line of the Santa Fe leads to Wichita 

and other places in southern Kansas and Oklahoma.

Newton. Jt is also on one of the larger branches of the Missouri

Elevation 1,440 feet. Pacific Railway. Years ago Newton had a very largo 

Tty Wmiies. cattle-shipping business, but most of this has long 

ago moved much farther west.

'Alfalfa is generally called lucern in 

Europe. It is the oldest known plant to 

be cultivated exclusively for forage, as 

historians record its introduction into 

Greece from Persia as early as the fifth 

century before Christ. Its cultivation 

was attempted by the early colonists in 

America, but not until 1854, when a variety from Chile was introduced into California, did its development proceed rapidly. Alfalfa is peculiarly adapted to 

semiarid regions, for it does not require a 

moist climate and does not suffer from 

extreme heat or from relatively severe 

cold. It thrives best under irrigation, 

an occasional flooding being necessary for 

its growth. Besides being highly nutritive and palatable, alfalfa is, when well

rooted, of rank growth, long lived, and 

hardy. It is said that in the semiarid regions there are alfalfa fields 25 years old. 

The best yield is obtained from the third 

to the seventh year. Its roots vary in 

length from 6 to 15 feet. Though alfalfa 

fields can be started in some places with 

a pound of seed (about 220,000 seeds) to 

the acre and good stands are often obtained with 5 pounds, about 15 pounds 

are used on irrigated lands. In some 

places alfalfa is cut three to five times a 

season and therefore produces a higher 

yield than any other forage plant in the 

western United States. Over 5,000,000 

acres were in alfalfa in 1909. Kansas has 

the largest acreage,, with Nebraska and 

Colorado next in order.
26 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

In this vicinity and for the next 25 miles to the west there are 

many settlements of thrifty Mennonites, who colonized here in 1874. 

The railways conducted a campaign of advertising in Europe and 

were instrumental in settling large areas of Kansas lands with colonies of Swedish, Welsh, Scotch, English, Germans, and Russians. 

The Mennonites were Germans of a particular creed who on account 

of their thrift and industry had been invited to settle in Russia, 

an invitation which they accepted. Some of their special privileges 

having been withdrawn, however, they emigrated to this country. 

They brought with them many plants and for a long time held their 

lands in community ownership. Each family brought over a bushel 

or more of Crimean wheat for seed, and from this seed was grown 

the first crop of Kansas hard winter wheat. At first this wheat 

seemed to be more difficult to mill and bake than the hard spring 

wheat, and even Kansas millers for some time either declined to 

receive hard winter wheat or paid a lower price for it than for softer 

wheats. In 1890 the prices of soft spring and soft winter wheats 

exceeded that of hard winter wheat by about 10 cents a bushel. In 

July, 1910, for the first time the price of hard winter wheat equaled 

that of the softer wheats.

About 4 miles west of Newton is an area of sands and gravels 

which fill a broad, moderately deep underground valley in shale, 

excavated by a large stream that long ago flowed across the region 

from the north and finally deposited the gravel and sand. This 

stream was probably an outlet for several rivers of northwestern 

Kansas, the Smoky Hill and probably also Solomon and Saline 

rivers, now branches of Kansas River. The width of the buried 

valley is about 20 miles in the region west of Newton, but a short 

distance south of the railway it merges into the valley of the Arkansas. 

Its western margin is well defined by the steep slopes of the land 

rising toward the northwest, but to the north and northeast are valleys 

since excavated to a lower level. The underground relations of the 

deposit have been explored by well borings, for the large amount of 

water which it yields is of great value, especially as there is but little 

water available in the shales of Permian age in the adjoining lands 

and hi the floor under the basin. This resource has been an important 

factor in the development of Newton. When that town needed a 

city supply deep drilling soon demonstrated that little water was to 

be found underground in the city area, even at a great depth. On 

the advice of geologists tests were made in the edge of the buried 

valley a short distance west of the city, with most satisfactory results, 

and now this source yields a large volume of water which is piped 

to the city.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 3

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH. DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

9/°30' KANSAS

q

%

j^da^ravgLa^^r^^r.r -'- _ ' - -

 = =_

SECTION ShOvVIN

- Q> -

o

I retard \imestonec

J

UJ 

iwood limestone

oo 

§

K

 =-^=t = - - * =» - = ' T""-= ='= - '^SQo'ttET A8WE. S£A L£VEL

SECT1ON ShOvVING UNQERGROUND RELATIONS OF ROCKS ALONG SANTA FE RAILWAY BETWEEN STRONG CITY AND HALSTEAD, KANS.

dl

COTTONWOOD FA

B Sand and gravel McPherson formation 

Limestone, thin bedded, with Marion formation

Limestone, cherty. with sha 

Shale with thin limestone beds

Winfield formation 

Doyle shale 

 JLimestone, shaly and massive. Fort Rilev

U \ K.iff

Limestone, very cherty Florence flint 

Shale with some buff limestone Matfield shale

p Limestone, massive, cherty. Wreford -'\..i ,.. ".<" -._-. 40 

11 buff

F Limestone and shale 

G

Garrison formation

Limestone, light colored.: mas- Coltonwood 

sive

[Shale, varicolored Eskridge

\\ -^Limestone, massive,gray Neva

(Shale with beds of limestone Elmdale formatio

IQ I Carboniferous I 

150 J (IJennsylvanian)
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 27

From a point near Halstead a branch line runs to Sedgwick, connecting there with the line from Newton to Wichita 

Halstead. and beyond.

Elevation 1,388 feet. At Burrton (see sheet 4, p. 30) the Santa Fe line 

Kansas city 210 miles, is crossed by a branch of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad ("Frisco" line) running from Wichita 

to Ellsworth. South of Burrton are wide smooth plains extending 

to Arkansas River and forming part of the buried valley referred to 

above. A short distance north of Burrton is a range 

Burrton. Of sand dunes low, irregular hills composed of loose 

Elevation 1,450 feet. sand which the wind has blown out of the flats along 

Kansas cttyliv miles.'Arkansas River. These sand dunes extend northwestward for some distance past Hutchinson, not far 

north of the Santa Fe Railway. Burrton was named for I. T. Burr, 

a former vice president of the railway company.

Hutchinson, the third largest city in Kansas, is attractively laid 

out, with wide streets, most of which are bordered by several rows 

of shade trees and extensive grassy parking. It was 

Hutchinson. named for C. C. Hutchinson, its founder. The greater 

Elevation 1,527 feet, part of the city is on the north side of Arkansas River, 

but a portion known as South Hutchinson is on the 

south side. This river, called the Nepesta by the 

Spanish explorers, is one of the largest branches of the Mississippi, 

to which it carries an average of 200,000,000 cubic feet of water a 

day. It rises in the Rocky Mountains, in central Colorado. At 

Hutchinson the river valley is about 8 miles wide and is a broad 

expanse of nearly level land underlain by a thick body of sand and 

gravel that was deposited by the river and contains a large amount 

of water. Below this river deposit are shales containing thick deposits 

of salt. This mineral is extensively worked by several plants in 

Hutchinson, one of which is the largest in the world. They produce 

not only salt, but soda ash, caustic soda, and other chemicals manufactured from salt. The salt is obtained from borings about 800 

feet deep, containing an outer casing down which water is forced 

and an inner casing up which this water, saturated with salt from the 

beds below, is pumped into tanks for evaporation. The production 

of salt at this place averages 2,000 barrels a day.

The salt occurs in beds about 380 feet thick (depth 430 to 810 feet) 

in the midst of red and gray shales of Permian age (see table, p. ii), 

where it was deposited long ago by the continued evaporation of 

extensive bodies of sea water. These great salt beds may reach 

far to the west and they underlie a large area extending southward 

to the Oklahoma line, but they appear to thin out toward the north 

and east. They are worked at several other places, notably at Lyons, 

25 miles northwest of Hutchinson, where they are penetrated by
28 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEEN UNITED STATES.

a shaft 1,465 feet deep, which exposes more than 400 feet of salt, 

of which 275 feet (from 793 to 1,068 feet) is mostly in solid beds. 

There it is mined principally for the production of rock salt. The 

total annual production of salt in Kansas averages about 375,000 

tons, valued at more than $800,000.

Hutchinson is in the center of the Kansas wheat belt and her 

flour mills have a daily product of 3,000 barrels. Electric power is 

extensively used in many mills and factories.

In the early days of settlement and travel the Hutchinson region 

contained many Indians, notably the Kiowas, who had come in 

from the north, and their allies, the Comanches, who controlled a 

large country south of Arkansas River. These Indians committed 

many massacres along the Santa Fe Trail, which crossed the country 

about 6 miles north of Hutchinson. This locality is believed to 

have been the scene of a decisive battle in 1778 between the resident 

Comanches and a band of Spaniards and Pueblo Indians under 

Gov. Anza, in which the Comanches were routed and their chief, 

Greenhorn, killed.

Most of the fast trains to the West take the cut-off which goes 

from Hutchinson almost due west to Kinsley, a distance of 84 miles, 

or about 15 miles less than the distance by the old main line along 

the river. On this cut-off the railway crosses to the south side of 

Arkansas River in the southwestern part of Hutchinson. Not far 

southeast of the bridge will be noted the tall stack of the largest 

salt works in the world.

Beyond the river the routs goes nearly due southwest for a few 

miles to Partridge, rising by an almost imperceptible grade from

the valley flat to a low plateau covered by sand and 

Partridge. gravel which continues far to the west. This upland 

Elevation 1,605 feet. is covered by deposits laid down by Arkansas River

°r its predecessor in Tertiary time. It is a great

plain, most of which is occupied by broad fields of 

grain, for it is one of the most extensive wheat districts in the country. 

The soil is particularly favorable in composition, and in most years 

the rainfall is sufficient to give large crops, but occasionally there 

is a year too dry to yield satisfactory returns.

West of Abbyville is a region of sand hills. The dunes are mostly 

low and covered with soil, which bears crops of wheat or other

grains. They are old dunes and, except for a small 

Abbyville. amount of sand that blows during the windy season, 

Elevation i.65i feet, they' are not advancing materially. The railway

Kansas City 250 miles. / ,, , ° .,, ,, , , ~, cuts are shallow and show either the loose dune sand 

or the brownish compact sand of Tertiary age, which forms the 

surface of the plain.
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE |V

,1. THE GREAT PLAINS OF WESTERN KANSAS. 

Smooth and almost level, but sloping upward to the west.

. BUFFALO ONE OF THE FEW SURVIVORS. 

Photograph by E. L, Bristol, Cheyenne, Wyo. .
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE V

A. MESAS OF T1MPAS LIMESTONE, BLOOM-THATCHER REGION, COLO.

Below the limestone caps are slopes of shale (Carlile) to a wooded bench of Greenhorn limestone. Dakots

sandstone forms foreground.

S, TYLOSAURUS.

A mososaur, or great marine lizard, from the chalk beds of the Niobrara formation in western Kansas. Restoration

by C. R. Knight.
THE SANTA FB BOUTE. 29

At Stafford, named for Lewis Stafford, a captain in the First

Kansas Kegiment, the Santa Fe line is crossed by a branch of the

Missouri Pacific Railway. This region is typical of

Stafford. the Great Plains/ its smooth surface being apparently

Elevation i,858 feet, level but rising gently toward the west. The surPopulation 1.927. ,. P , i j i , i Kansas City 272 miles, * ace formation is moderately compact sand, in 

places containing concretions or streaks of calcium 

carbonate. The thickness of this deposit is not known, but it is 

probably about 100 feet. It is supposed to lie on the thin eastern 

edge of the Dakota sandstone.

iOriginally the prairies of the central Kansas region were almost 

treeless except for the cottonwoods along some of the streams, but 

settlers have planted trees around their houses and along many of 

tHeir road hedges, so that now some trees appear in every view. It 

is believed by some that the presence of vegetation of this kind has 

increased the rainfall and diminished the number and violence of 

tornadoes, but meteorologists deny that these changes have had 

any material effect.

A few miles northeast of Stafford are marshes caused by salt 

springs. The salt water was used extensively in the early days for 

curing meat, and in 1878 a small salt works was erected to extract 

the salt for sale in the surrounding country.

1 The Great Plains are smooth treeless 

slopes that extend eastward from the 

foot of the Rocky Mountains into central 

Kansas as well as into adjoining States 

on the north and south. Their western 

margin has an altitude of almost 5,000 feet 

near the Rocky Mountains, from which 

they make a practically continuous descent to an altitude of 2,000 to 2,200 feet 

in central Kansas, where they merge into 

the rolling prairies that have been described on previous pages. The plains 

are trenched by the relatively shallow 

valleys of many rivers and creeks flowing 

to the east, but extensive areaa of the remarkably smooth tabular surfaces remain 

between these valleys. One of these is 

shown in Plate IV, A.

The major part of the Great Plains is 

covered by sands, gravels, and loams of 

late Tertiary age, varying in thickness 

from 50 to 200 feet in greater part and in 

general lying on a relatively smooth surface of the older rocks. The materials 

were brought from the Rocky Mountain 

region by streams which ran in various 

£757!)° Bull. 613 15 3

courses across the region, sometimes cutting valleys but mostly depositing sediments. The time was one of relatively 

arid conditions, probably in general similar to the present, the streams bringing 

out of the mountains a larger amount of 

sediment than they could carry through 

to the great rivers on the east. The 

process was long continued, and it is 

likely also that at times the stream grades 

were somewhat less than they are at 

present, so that the deposits were not to 

any great extent deeply trenched by small 

creeks, as they are now. It is known from 

the fossil bones found in the deposits that 

the region was inhabited by numerous 

land animals of a sort very different from 

those of the present era. There were 

rhinoceroses, camels, three-toed horses, 

elephants and bisons of peculiar types, 

as well as a great many species of smaller 

animals. At certain places in the region 

large numbers of bones of these strange 

animals have been found and dug out, 

and many of these bones are now care,- 

-fully preserved in museums,
3.0 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

» 

West of Stafford, notably at milepost 261, the railway crosses a 

small belt of sand dunes, and near milepost 262 there are bare areas 

from which the sand is being blown by the wind.

St. John (see sheet 5, p. 36) is on the great smooth 

St. John. plain, in the midst of grain fields. It was named for 

Elevation 1,908feet. John P. St. John, governor of Kansas from 1879 to

Population 1,785. i ,. -i Kansas city 282 miles. 1883 and a famous advocate oi prohibition.

The region about Macksville is a gently rolling plain 

Macksville. with very low sand hills, which continue to Belpre and 

Elevation2,025 feet, beyond Lewis. Macksville was named for George 

Kansat city 293 miles. Mack, the first postmaster in Stafford County.

A large sign south of Belpre (bel-pray') station conBelpre. tains the statement that $1,250,000 worth of farm 

Elevation 2,082 feet, products were shipped from that place in 1913. BelPrc ^s ^e center of a prosperous region in which wheat 

and other grains are raised. The name is French for 

beautiful prairie.

Lewis is near the eastern edge of a pronounced belt of sand hills, 

which extends along the east side of Arkansas River for many miles. 

These dunes become prominent a short distance west 

Lewis. of Omar siding, where the railway passes through 

Elevation 2,142 feet. 20-foot cuts in the loose, cross-bedded dune sand. 

Si c'ityloo miles. Here the dune surface is too rugged for much farming,'but there are scattered wheat fields in some of 

the depressions between the dunes. About 3 miles west of Omar 

Arkansas River is crossed, and a short distance beyond is Kinsley. 

Here the Hutchinson branch or cut-off joins the old main line from 

Hutchinson by way of .Great Bend. -

[The itinerary west of Kinsley is continued on p. 35.] 

HUTCHINSON TO KINSLEY BY WAY OF GREAT BEND.

From Hutchinson (see sheet 4, p. 30) to Kinsley the old main line 

of the Santa Fe Railway follows the north bank of Arkansas River, 

but at most places the tracks are a mile or two from the stream. 

For the entire distance the route lies along the wide flat or alluvial 

bottom land, which ranges from 5 to 8 miles in width. From Hutchinson to Great Bend the course is northwest, but from Great Bend to 

Kinsley the course is southwest, owing to a remarkable bend in the 

valley.

The flat consists of smooth bottom lands elevated but slightly 

above the river, and in their lower parts subject to overflow during 

the occasional freshets. These lands are formed by a thick body of 

sand and gravel deposited by the river and lying in. a wide, shallow
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 4

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

tower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topograoh/c 

Sheet of that name.

98°30' KANSAS

SECTION SHOWING UNDERGROUND RELATIONS OF ROCKS ALONG SANTA FE RAILWAY BETWEEN PAXTON AND ELLINWOOD. KANS.

A River deposits

B Sand dunes 

C Sand and loam

D Sand, loam, and grit

E Sandstone, light gray

EXPLANATION 

Alluvium

Thickness 

in feet

McPherson formation

Dakota

--50V Quaternary

200

50 Tertiary

fCretaceous 

100 -^ (Upper

350+

.Cretaceous) 

Carboniferou 

(Permian)

38"

30'

38°

98°
THE SANTA FE KOUTE. 31

trough which this stream cut in the underlying shales and sandstones 

at an earlier stage in its development. The river belongs to the 

class of large streams in the west which have excavated wide, shallow 

valleys across the country and now, owing to their heavily loaded 

condition at times of freshets, are gradually filling them again. The 

result is a wide level plain, floored with river-borne materials, through 

which the stream meanders with irregular course and very slight 

declivity. In the Arkansas Valley from Kinsley, where the altitude 

is 2,160 feet, to the bridge at Hutchinson, where the altitude is 

1,500 feet, the fall is 660 feet. As the distance between these points 

is somewhat less than 100 miles the rate of fall is only about 6.6 feet 

to the mile, which is normal for a river of moderate size.

From Hutchinson to Sterling the level alluvial flat is an almost 

continuous wheat field. A large amount of broom corn is also raised.

About 5 miles northeast the railway is paralleled by the low ridge of 

sand dunes mentioned on page 27.

Nickerson, named for Thomas Nickerson, an official of the Atchison,

Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co., is on the broad flat about a mile

from the river bank. Sterling, the next station, is

Nickerson. about 2 miles north of the river. In the eastern part

Elevation 1,593 feet. Of Sterling, north of the railway, a large salt refinery

Population 1,195. .- u i. * \ j i Kansas city 244 miles, is obtauiing salt by lorcuig water down a pipe sunk 

deep into the salt-bearing strata and pumping out the 

Sterling. saturated solution, as in the plants at Hutchinson. 

Elevation 1,637 feet. Here a line of the Missouri Pacific Railway, which 

^ns parallel to the Santa Fe from Hutchinson, 

crosses it and goes northward to Lyons and beyond. 

In the vicinity of Alden the valley flat is nearly 15 miles wide, 

extending north almost to Lyons. Near Raymond, however, a ridge 

of the upland approaches the river from the north 

en* and narrows the valley greatly. At the base of this 

ridge appear brown ledges of the Dakota sandstone 

which extend along the foot of the hills not far 

north of the track to a point some distance beyond 

Raymond. Raymond. This sandstone is a very porous rock 

Elevation i;723 feet, and wherever it occurs underground is an important 

water bearer tliat yields valuable supplies in thousands of wells in the Middle West. The sandstone is 

near the surface in a wide area along the Arkansas Valley from the 

vicinity of Sterling to Ford, but owing to the covering of sand and 

gravel outcrops of the sandstone are rare. Some of those which 

occur have fantastic forms such as that shown in Plate III, A (p. 19). 

In this region the beds lie nearly level, for the gentle westward dips 

which exist in the region east of Hutchinson gradually give place in
32 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

this portion of central Kansas to equally low eastward dips, which 

prevail throughout the western part of the State and beyond to the 

Rocky Mountain uplift. The shallow trough resulting from this 

change of dip crosses central Kansas in the vicinity of Great Bend? 

and it is not improbable that this structural condition was the cause 

of the very notable deflection of the Arkansas Valley to the northward in the region between Dodge and Great Bend.

From Raymond to Ellinwood the Valley of the Arkansas widens 

again, especially the portion which lies south of the river, where> 

however, there is a broad bordering zone of low hills built of sand 

blown from the river bed.

Ellinwood is in the center of a wide area of fields of wheat and 

Ellinwood. other grains and a large amount of these products are 

Elevation 178? feet shipped from its station. The town was built many 

Population 976. years before the coming of the railway in 1871, for

Kansas City 275 miles, j^ ^ gmi& yQ rj^j} reached faQ Arkansas Valley.

Great Bend (see sheet 5, p. 36) is the seat of Barton County, the 

junction with a branch of the Santa Fe running to Scott City, and 

the terminus of a branch of the Missouri Pacific RailGreat Bend. Way from Hoisington. It takes its name from its 

Elevation i,843 feet, situation on the long curve in the river from northeast *° eas ^ anc^ fina%" to thesoutheast at Ellinwood. 

The town was begun in 1870 and is built on the 

smooth river flat, which is very wide here owing to the confluence 

of the Walnut Creek valley with that of the Arkansas. Water power 

from Walnut Creek is utilized in Great Bend for extensive flour mills, 

grain elevators, factories, and salt works.

Great Bend is in the country formerly occupied by the Wichita 

Indians. Near by was the mythical city of Quivira (kee-vee'ra), to 

which Coronado journeyed in 1541, expecting to obtain a great store 

of treasures. He was disappointed in finding instead of a "city" 

scattered Indian villages consisting of small groups of conical huts 

of poles thatched with grass and containing no valuables whatever. 

To the north of Quivira was the land of the Pawnees, who had permanent villages. They made frequent attacks upon individuals and 

caravans and treated their captives with appalling cruelty.

The old Santa Fe Trail passes through the courthouse square of 

Great Bend, and a short distance east of the city the railway crosses 

Walnut Creek at the place of the old ford. Here was Fort Zarah, the 

ruins of which are visible a short distance north of the tracks. The 

place is marked by a stone cannon. This fort, established by Gen. 

S. R. Curtis in 1864 and named for his son, was one of the line of 

military posts placed at intervals along the Santa Fe Trail to protect 

the traveler. It was garrisoned with soldiers who escorted wagon
THE SANTA FE BOUTE. 33

trains through the district west of Great Bend, where the Indians 

were especially dangerous, Long before the fort was established the 

place was noted for massacres and Indian wars, mainly because of a 

grove which afforded the Indians concealment. Moreover, it was

O '

on. one of the lines of travel always taken by the buffaloes in their 

annual migration and therefore was visited by the Indians on their 

summer hunting trips.

The area from Great Bend westward for a hundred miles or so was 

a famous hunting ground for all the plains tribes, as its excellent pasturage made it the home of vast herds of buffaloes, besides plenty of 

antelopes and deer. For this reason it was the scene of innumerable 

conflicts between the tribes, none of which could maintain permanent control of it. The big game has been gone for many years, and 

'how only occasional jack rabbits, squirrels, and nocturnal animals 

remain.

Arkansas River from Great Bend to Pueblo, Colo., was followed 

by Lieut. Zebulon Pike on the trip during which he saw for the first 

time the peak of the Rocky Mountains that bears his name.

In the slopes north of Great Bend and in the stream banks at 

intervals up Walnut Creek there are exposures of the brown ledges 

of Dakota sandstone, a formation in which are excavated the valleys 

of this general region. In 1887 a boring was made 3 miles north of 

Great Bend, in which the great salt bed already mentioned was penetrated for 163 feet, proving its extension in this direction from 

Hutchinson and Lyons. At a depth of 744 feet a flow of water was 

found which ran out of the casing to a height of 30 feet above the 

ground.

Near milepost 281, .which is about 10 miles southwest of Great Bend, 

Pawnee Rock is discernible in the distance, and at milepost 282 it is 

plainly in view, rising on the north side of the valley 

Pawnee Rock. a short distance north of Pawnee Rock station. The 

Elevation 1,941 feet, rock is a high southward-facing cliff of Dakota sandstone> projecting as a rocky promontory from the 

broad ridge that forms the north side of the valley. 

Its present appearance is shown in Plate III, B (p. 19). The elements 

and the hand of man have made great changes in its size and appearance since the days when the Santa Fe Trail passed along its base. 

Here were many encounters between the savages and the whites, and 

also between hostile bands of Indians, for the place is noted not only 

in pioneer history but in Indian traditions as well. Names and initials 

of many travelers, from the early trappers and the "forty-niners" to 

the later Army detachments, have been scratched on the smooth faces 

of the ledges.
34 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

. Pawnee Rock was named from the Indian tribe which roamed over 

the neighboring plains, menacing the life and property of almost 

every passer-by on the trail, as they had menaced the Spaniards for 

two centuries. The name Pawnee is. supposed to signify horn and to 

have been applied to the tribe on account of a curious custom of 

plucking out beard and eyebrows and shaving the head, except a 

narrow ridge of hair from forehead to scalp lock; this remnant was 

stiffened with fat and paint so that it stood erect and curved like 

a horn.

Half a mile beyond milepost 287, or 4£ miles southwest of Pawnee 

Rock, there may be seen west of the track a granite monument, which 

is one of the numerous markers of the line of the Santa Fe Trail.

Larned is at the mouth of Pawnee River, which enters the Arkansas 

on the southern edge of the town. On the north bank of the Pawnee, 

west of the railway, there are several quarries in the 

Lamed. Dakota sandstone which are plainly visible from the 

Elevation 1,995 feet, vicinity of milepost 292 and beyond. The rock is of 

a light-brownish color and occurs in massive beds, 

about 40 feet in all, exposed in several quarries. It 

has been used to some extent as a building stone and when fresh is 

easily sawed or chiseled.

The .railway bridge crosses Pawnee River at the old ford of the 

Santa Fe Trail. Owing to a twist in the course of the stream the crossing was difficult. Many a thrilling skirmish or frightful massacre has 

occurred here, and in 1870 a great battle was fought at this place 

between Cheyennes and Arapahoes. This locality should not be confounded with Fort Larned, which lies 6| miles due west of it.

On the old trail there was not a bridge from end to end and all 

the stream crossings were fords, which at times of high water became 

impassable. When the Army of the West crossed Pawnee River on 

its long march to take Santa Fe in 1848 that stream was in flood and 

could not be forded. However, trunks of trees were thrown across 

and over these the men clambered, carrying their baggage, tents, and 

supplies, while the horses swam across and the empty wagon boxes 

were pulled over with ropes.

In the vicinity of Larned the conditions on the two sides of the 

Arkansas present a striking contrast. On the southeast side there is 

a wide belt of sand hills composed of sand blown out of the river bed 

by the prevailing strong northwest winds. These hills are too rough 

and bare for agriculture. On the northwest side of the river, where 

the railway is built, there are bottom lands with rich, deep soil, usually 

yielding large crops of grain.

Not far northeast of Garfield a ledge of Dakota sandstone rises 

above the river flat and is cut by the railway for a short distance.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 35

Garfield.

Elevation 2,069 feet. 

Population 333.

Kinsley.

Elevation 2,164 feet. 

Population l,r>47. 

Kansas Citv 332 mill

Near Garfield the Arkansas Valley is much narrower than at most 

other places, for a ridge of the upland encroaches from the northwest 

and the sand dunes on the southeast side of the river 

rise rapidly to the broad plain which borders the 

valley on that side. Near Kinsley the ridge on the 

£es north side of the valley trends somewhat northward

and the flat widens to about 4 miles. 

At Kinsley, named for W. E. W. Kinsley, of Boston, the old main 

line of the Santa Fe by way of Great Bend is joined by the cut-off or 

Hutchinson branch, described on pages 28-30. West 

of Kinsley the railway continues its nearly direct 

course west, diverging from the valley of the Arkansas, 

and thus avoiding the southward bend of the river. 

The ascent to the surface of the Great Plains 2 is so 

gradual as to be barely noticeable, for the valley slopes west of 

Kinsley are very gentle.

At milepost 324, about a mile east of Offerle, is an 8-foot cut showing exposures of brown loam with streaks of gravel, apparently a 

part of the deposit of Tertiary age which covers the 

Offerle. Great Plains. The eastern edge of this loam appears 

Elevation 2,263 feet. ^o pass downward toward the east under the higher

Kansas City 340 miles. L . &

terrace deposits ol the Arkansas Valley, which are of 

later age. Probably both lie on the Dakota sandstone. A short 

distance beyond milepost 329 are other small exposures of the 

gravelly loam in shallow railway cuts.

West of Beliefont, between mileposts 331 and 332, and for half a

mile west from milepost 332, are cuts in the brown

sand containing white calcium carbonate concretions.

Westward of these cuts the line gradually ascends

on a very smooth surface typical of the Great Plains. 

Spearville and Wright (see sheet 6, p. 40) are on

the plain, which reaches an altitude of 2,570 feet in 

Elevation 2,451 feet, the summit a short distance west of Wright. Beyond 

Kansat c°ity535i miles, this point there is a down grade into the valley of the

Arkansas, and the train passes through extensive 

Wright. cutS; beginning near milepost 347. Brown loams 

Elevation 2,516 feet. &Ii([ fine sands of Tertiary age are exposed in these

Kansas City 360 miles. . 1 , j^jsmfj.cii-if cuts, in some places to a depth of 10 feet. South of

the railway, at a point half a mile beyond milepost 349,

there are scattered exposures of a bed of white limestone a few feet

Bellefont.

Elevation 2,347 feet. 

Kansas City 346 miles.

Spearville.

1 The distances given in the side notes 

are those by the old main line. To get 

the distance traveled by way of the 

Ottawa and Hutchinson cut-offs 30 miles 

should be deducted from the figures given 

for Kinsley and stations beyond; the

distance by way of Topeka and the 

Hutchinson branch can be ascertained by 

deducting 15 miles.

2 The Great Plains, a part of which is 

crossed on the way. to Dodge, are described in the footnote on page 29.
GUIDEBOOK 61? THE WESTEBtf UNITED STATES.

thick, which underlies the Tertiary deposits hi a wide area in this 

vicinity. The river deposits in the valley of the Arkansas abut 

against the lower portion of .this limestone at milepost 349 and for 

some distance west. 1

In approaching Dodge the railway again comes near the Arkansas 

River, the north bank of which is followed from Dodge westward. 

The wide bottom lands near the river are occupied by fields .of grain 

and orchards. In this vicinity Coronado in 1541 reached this river, 

which he called the River of St. Peter and St. Paul. On the river, 5 

miles east of Dodge, is old Fort Dodge, now a soldiers' home, but 

formerly an important frontier garrison on the Santa Fe Trail. Some 

of the old buildings remaining were headquarters of Gen. Ouster and 

Gen. Miles in the days when Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) and 

other famous scouts were aiding the United States Army to protect 

travelers and to subdue the Indians. The Indians were troublesome 

in this part of the West for some years after the Civil War was over, 

and there were massacres in western Kansas as late as 1874.

Dodge, formerly known as Dodge City, was named for Gen. Henry 

Dodge, governor of Wisconsin Territory. It is now a commercial 

center for a wide adjacent region containing numerous farms and cattle ranches. This was a famous 

frontier town, the center of important lines of freightinS> and headquarters of the cattle business, which 

attained its maximum in 1884, when herds aggregating 800,000 cattle, in charge of 3,000 men, passed through Dodge 

from Texas on the way north. Much hunting was done in this 

region, for there were immense herds of buffaloes 2 and other game 

throughout central Kansas. (See PL IV, B, p. 28.)

Dodge.

Elevation 2,478 feet,

1 In the descent into Duck Creek, a 

branch of Sawlog Creek, 7 miles northeast 

of Dodge, there are very instructive exposures of this basal limestone, 10 to 15 

feet thick, pebbly at the base, lying on 

20 feet o f Greenhorn limestone. The two

High Plain

teristic of this formation. The relations 

of the rocks here are shown in figure 5.

2 Large circular pits, called buffalo wallows, are common on the plains and are 

puzzling to the average traveler. They 

were started by buffaloes either in wet

FIGURE 5. Section of rocks in Sawlog Valley, northeast of Dodge, Kans.

(b, c in fig. 5) form a white cliff that rims 

the valley to the north. The Greenhorn 

limestone includes beds of chalky limestone as much as 6 inches thick, and some 

layers of it are filled with impressions of 

a fossil shell (Inoceramus labiatus) characspots or at places where there is salt or 

alkali, which the animals lick. The 

tramping of the hoofs of the heavy animals 

wears the sod thin, and then the wind 

soon blows out a cavity, or if water collects in it the mud is carried out in large
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 5

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S, G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

EXPLANATION

A River deposits -Alluvium---

 , , \- Quaternary B Sand dunes

C Sand, loam, and white grit -----.-..----------....__----.--159 Tertiary

Limestone, slabby-------*-.-------- --Greenhorn--- -- ---"-----50

Shale, dark-............-... ..Graneros---------------200

E Sandstone, gray to buff---- -------DakotaGREAT BEND

Dakota sandstone ^ ) 

Ham bun 

Mostly covered by sand

Macksville

EL.ZOSS I

int.

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 miles to I inch .. 

5 IO 15

Contour interval 200 feet

ELEVATtOHS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

The disunoes from Kansas City, Missouri, are shown every 10 milts 

The crosslici on the railroads era spaced I mile apart
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 37

Just across the river fi-om Dodge was, until 1835, the northeast 

corner of Mexico, and between 1835 and 1845 the corner of the 

Republic of Texas, the boundary of which extended from that point 

along the south side of Arkansas River to the Rocky Mountains. 

An account of the famous frontier characters formerly known around 

Dodge is out of place here, but they figure in many narratives and 

romances of earlier days, when it was widely known as the "wickedest 

town in the country." Now it is a model of peacefulness and tran-. 

quillity.

Change is made here from Central time to Mountain time, one hour 

earlier.

A short distance northwest o.f the station at Dodge are low cliffs of 

coarse sandstone and conglomerate of an older river channel of 

Tertiary age, lying on fine buff loam which extends down to the valley 

level. The .formations underlying Dodge have been explored by a 

boring 1,100 feet deep which yielded nothing of value except some 

water from the Dakota sandstone that did not have pressure sufficient 

to flow.

From Dodge westward to La Junta, Colo., the Santa Fe Railway 

follows the Arkansas Valley, continuing along the north side of the 

river, in most places within a mile of it. A branch line crosses the 

river there and goes southwestward to Elkhart, near the Oklahoma 

State line. The Arkansas Valley in this vicinity is from 2 to 3 miles 

wide in greater part and is bordered by moderately steep slopes or 

bluffs on the north side of the river and by a wide zone of sand hills

, amounts in the shaggy coats of the buffaloes, who delight to wade or roll in a 

water hole. For years during the decline 

of the buffaloes, and after they had gone, 

their bones were a source of revenue for 

many persons, who collected them on the 

prairie and shipped them east to manufacturers of fertilizers. At some stations 

near Dodge the shipments averaged a 

carload a day in 1875. Gen. Sheridan 

estimated that originally the buffaloes 

between Fort Dodge and Camp Supply, 

in northwestern Oklahoma, aggregated 

100,000,000 head, and in many of the 

great hunts some parties killed as many 

as 250 a day. After the Santa Fe Railway 

reached Dodge over 200,000 buffalo hides, 

200 cars of hindquarters, and 2 cars of 

buffalo tongues were shipped the first 

winter. Buffaloes were so numerous, 

even after the railway had been built, 

that when they were crossing the track 

trains had to wait many hours until the

herd had passed. Their slaughter by the 

whites was a cause of bitter dissatisfaction to the Indians and occasioned many 

conflicts. Their practical extermination 

was effected in about 20 years. Many 

were shot wantonly by passengers on the 

trains, and thousands were hunted for the 

sake of boasting of a great kill. Usually 

the white hunter took only the hide or a 

small part of the meat (hump or tongue), 

while the Indian utilized every part, including the intestines. The Indians despised the white man's methods, for the 

Indians killed by hunting on horseback 

with arrows or long spears, so that the 

number slain was small and probably 

never in excess of the natural increase. 

The Indians knew that when the buffaloes were gone their most important resource for food and clothing would cease 

to be available. The last buffalo in Kansas is said to have been sold at Kingnian 

in 1888.
38 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

on the south side. For many miles the surface is made up of sand 

and loose sandstone or conglomerate of Tertiary age. The valley 

has been cut by the river to a depth of 250 feet below the adjoining 

great plateau, but it is partly filled with about 100 feet of sand and 

clay (alluvium) deposited by the stream, and these materials are 

still in course of deposition. In places the valley is cut through the 

Tertiary deposits into underlying shale and limestone of Upper Cretaceous age, but these do not appear at the surface until they rise 

in the valley slopes near Hartland. In ascending the valley the 

railway skirts slopes that rise 100 feet or more above the river flat 

to a plain of remarkable smoothness which ascends gradually westward at about the same rate as the upgrade of the valley. In these 

slopes are widely scattered outcrops of the Tertiary deposits loam 

and sand with interbedded hard layers of coarse sandstone or conglomerate of gray color or of white "grit" consisting.of sand and 

gravel cemented with calcium carbonate.

At a point halfway between mileposts 358 and 359, 6 miles west of 

Dodge, a small exposure of conglomerate is visible from the train. A 

granite marker at this place indicates the former course of the Santa 

Fe Trail, which extended up the north or American bank of the river 

very near the course of the present railway line from Dodge to 

Bents Fort, Colo.

Several small ledges of conglomerate appear for a short distance

on the north side of the track at Ho well and again just beyond

milepost 363, a mile and a half west of Ho well. At

TT It

w . milepost 365 the sand hills on the south side of the 

Elevation 2,537 feet vauev are visible, and they extend almost continue

Kansas City 377 miles. -, " , i p -i i

ously along that side of the river into Colorado.

In places high on the slopes to the north may be seen an irrigation 

canal intended to carry water from the river to the high plain north of 

Dodge and thence to Wright and Spearville. The intake of this canal 

is a short distance west of Ingalls, and by following a grade somewhat 

less than that of the fall of the river, the canal finally reaches the level of 

the plains at a point 3 miles northwest of Dodge. The Arkansas is a 

stream of large annual flow, but as much of its water is carried at times 

of freshet and as the volume at other times is exceedingly variable, 

there is often considerable difficulty in maintaining a regular supply 

in the canal during the growing season. In the future, no doubt, 

the freshet waters of this river, as well as of most other large streams 

in the United States, will not be allowed to escape but will be held 

in suitable storage reservoirs to maintain a flow.

It will be noted that west of Dodge the valley contains fewer trees 

than it does to the east and that still farther west in the region of 

more arid climate the trees along the valley diminish greatly in number. There are also fewer cultivated fields, although some alfalfa
THE SANTA PE -BOUTE. 39

and wheat are grown. Pastures are much more extensive, for the 

raising of cattle increases in importance as the cultivation of the land 

becomes more difficult.

The village of Cimarron (sim-ar-rohn/) derived its name, which is

Spanish for wild or unruly, from Cimarron Crossing, a ford some

distance to the west, where the short cut or Cimarron

Cimarron. branch of the Santa Fe Trail crossed Arkansas River.

Elevation 2,618 feet. This branch passed through the sand hills, crossed the

Population 587. . . ^.r T-»- i i Kansas city 386 miles, plains to Cimarron Kiver, and went southwest to 

Wagon Mound and Fort Union. Cimarron was an 

important place in the time of the Santa Fe Trail. In the early days 

it was headquarters for many hunters, for buffaloes and other plains 

game were especially abundant in this vicinity. Later it was an 

important cattle center, but in recent years agriculture by dry fanning and irrigation has become the principal industry, although there 

are still many cattle in the region. A large amount of wheat is 

raised, but the climate is too arid to assure good crops every year 

without the aid of irrigation.

At points 2 and 3 miles west of Cimarron the railway is on the river 

bank and passes through cuts showing buff loams of the deposits of 

Tertiary age that form the Great Plains.

A mile west of Ingalls are railway cuts exposing hard layers of conglomerate, which also crop out in banks extending down, to the river. 

This conglomerate consists of sand and gravel that 

Ingalls. have been cemented by calcium carbonate, which 

Elevation 2,005 feet. was in solution in waters percolating through the 

Kansas cfty 393 miles, deposits. It marks the course of river channels that 

crossed the region in late Tertiary time and deposited 

the materials of the Great Plains. There are other exposures of this 

conglomerate at intervals farther west nearly to Garden City.

A prominent ledge of this rock that crops out close to the railway 

2 miles west of Pierceville is known as Point of Rocks. At this place 

there were several Indian fights. Toward Garden 

Pierceville. City (see sheet 7, p. 44) the Arkansas Valley widens, 

Elevation 2,752 feet, 'the bluff on the north side receding northward and 

SlSy^Mmiies. becoming a gentle slope, which continues for several miles west.

Garden City, the seat of Finney County, has wide streets, with many

shade trees, orchards, and garden plots sustained by irrigation. It is

the center of an extensive beet-sugar industry, and

Garden City. a } arge refinery is prominent in the northern part of

Elevation 2,829 feet, the town. In 1914 about 50,000 tons of beets were

Population 3,171. ., , ,, IT ^/^^^^« i r Kansas city 418 miios. worked at the retmery, yielding 13,000,000 pounds 01

sugar. The pulp is used for cattle feed. Several

canals bring water from Arkansas River, not only for irrigation in the
40 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

town but for many fields and orchards in the surrounding region. 

Two electric-power plants furnish power for pumping at a low rate. .

At several places in the valley individuals and the beet-sugar 

company have been pumping water from shallow wells for irrigating 

crops and in general the results are. satisfactory. Some of the wells 

yield 2,000 gallons a minute, and the supply appears adequate.

Near Garden City an irrigation project of the United States Reclamation Service, utilizing the underflow, or water contained in the sands 

and gravels of the low lands along the river, has been carried out.- 

The plant is installed at Deerfield, 15 miles west of Garden City, where 

a number of shallow wells sunk in line across the valley are pumped 

to supply water for a ditch that extends along the north slope of the 

valley to Garden City and beyond. The cost of pumping is low 

because the surface of the water is not far beneath the bottom of 

the valley and the volume is large. Of late, however, the persons 

for whom the water was provided have found that it costs more 

than they desire to pay, so that the operation of the plant has been 

suspended.

The people in the Arkansas Valley in western Kansas have been 

asserting for many years that since the river water lias been used so 

extensively for irrigation in Colorado the imderflow in Kansas has 

greatly diminished. This matter was in a degree involved in the 

famous suit in the Supreme Court for an injunction against the State 

of Colorado in 1901-1907. Many experts testified for the defense 

that the main body of underflow was derived from the slopes adjoining 

the valley and that its volume was not closely related to the amount 

of water flowing down the river, except possibly for a few rods from 

the banks. Detailed observations at the wells at Deerfield and other 

test wells sunk by the Government proved that the line of flow in the

valley deposits was mainly from the sides toward the middle. 1 The

1 A detailed investigation on the underflow in the Arkansas River valley in Kansas was made in 1904 by the United States 

Geological Survey. It was found that 

near Garden City the water table of this 

valley slopes downstream, and from the 

bluff lands in toward the river during ordinary stages. If, however, the river became flooded.by heavy rains to the west 

without corresponding rains in the vicinity of Garden City the water table near the 

channel was raised and water spread 

from the river channel into the sands of 

the river valley, but only for a short distance. It was further ascertained that a 

heavy rain at Garden City would materially raise the water table in the valley

with surprising quickness. The general

results were as follows:

 "The underflow of Arkansas River

moves at an average rate of 8 feet per 24

hours in the general- direction of the

valley.

"The water plane slopes to the east at 

the rate of 7.5 feet per mile and toward 

the river at the rate of 2 to 3 feet per 

mile.

"The moving ground water extends 

several miles north from the river valley. 

No north or south limit was found.

"The rate of movement is very uniform.

"The underflow has its origin in the 

rainfall on the sand hills south of the
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Ateheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

BULLETIN 613

I00'30' IOCT

SHEET 6 

KANSAS

EXPLANATION Thickness

in feut

A River deposits - - - - ------- ----Alluvium-----------------50

B Sand dunes ----- ---------- - - - -100

C Sand, loam, and white grit ------- -------150 Tertiary

Quaternary

D Limestone, slabby- -GreenhornE Shale, dark--------------------i--Graneros-----------------200

F Sandstone, gray--- -- -- -'--Dakota--- --------------200j

Cretaceous

(Upper 

Cretaceous)

Red shales (reached in wells-l- ------- --------Cartoniferous ?

I ' I

tn </)

E » 0 I

= S| «J

E "i 5 -g c

l^si

ffi t C

^^ffikranenpS^.grraleayifc^^^^'? "j.^3 ___ 

''^^Kptg..'^'- ^S^sa.n^stQ'n'e:':':

SECTION SHOWING UNDERGROUND RELATIONS OF^ROCKS IN_ PLATEAU NORTH OF ARKANSAS RIVER BETWEEN ^SPEARVILLE AND MANSFIELD. KANS.

Scale

Approximately 8 miles to ! inch 

5 IO IE

25 SGKilometers

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, art shown every 10 miles

The crossties on the railroads are spaced I mite apart

lOO'so' 100'
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 41

thickness of the sands and gravels in this region ranges from a few feet 

to 400 feet, the thickness found in a boring in Garden City.

West of Garden City the traveler is fairly within, the semiarid zone 

of the western United States, where there are large areas of public 

lands still available for settlement. On the plains and in the valleys 

the soil is rich, but in many places there is a lack of the water necessary for irrigation.

The settlers in the western counties of Kansas have had many vicissitudes, mainly caused by their constant struggle against the semiarid climate. After the terrible drought of 1860 thousands of settlers left the State. Those following the pioneers who failed in 

western Kansas have attacked their problems of home making with 

no more earnestness but with much greater success, owing to their 

better knowledge of the climate, of the available arid-land crops, 

and of 'methods of tillage. The dry and somewhat uncertain climate 

has been the greatest obstacle to permanent settlement on millions 

of acres of unirrigated land not only in western Kansas but in 

adjoining similar regions in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and South 

Dakota. The grain sorghums, such as Kafir, millo, and feterita, 

thrive under conditions of aridity and drought where corn is either 

a partial or a total failure. In 1893 the acreage planted to grain 

sorghums in Kansas was reported as well under 100,000 acres; in 

1914 it was over 1,700,000 acres, and the average return per acre 

was several dollars higher than that for corn. In all these States 

the grain sorghums are now rapidly supplanting corn. Stock, however, is the principal resource of this region, for the country is generally covered with good grass which not only keeps cattle alive 

but fattens them for market. It is said that uunder ordinary conditions each head of stock requires from 5 to 10 acres of grazing land 

and usually more or less feeding during the severe portions of the 

whiter.

river and on the bottom lands and plains 

north of the river.

"The sand hills constitute an. essential 

part of the catchment area.

"The influence of the floods in the river 

upon the ground-water level does not extend one-half mile north or south of the 

channel.

"A heavy rain contributes more water 

to the underflow than a flood.

"On the sandy bottom lands 60 per cent 

of an ordinary rain reaches the water plane 

as a permanent contribution.

"The amount of dissolved solids in the 

underflow grows less with the depth and 

with the distance from the river channel.

"There is no appreciable run-off in the 

vicinity of Garden City, Kans. Practically all of the drainage is underground 

through the thick deposits of gravels.

"Carefully constructed wells in Arkansas Valley are capable of yielding very 

large amounts of water. Each, square foot 

of percolating surface of the well strainers 

can be relied upon to yield more than 0.25 

gallon of water per minute under 1-foot 

head.

"There is no indication of a decrease in 

the underflow at Garden. City in the last 

live years. The city well showed the 

same specific capacity in 1904 th$,t it ha.d 

in 1899,"
42 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

At Holcomb, 7 miles west of Garden City, may be noted on the 

north side of the track a loader of the sort in general use for dumping 

beets from wagons into .the freight cars. The ordinary 

crop of beets suitably irrigated is from 10 to 15 tons

t0 tlle aCre alld they brmS ab°Ut $5 ' 50 a t011 at tQe

place of delivery. The tops are also sold for stock feed 

at about $3 a ton. The cost of cultivation, harvesting, and handling 

is $30 to $40 an acre. One ton of beets yields about 250 pounds of 

refined sugar.

. In the vicinity of Garden City and farther west the sand hills are 

very conspicuous south of the Arkansas, where they cover a district 

from 15 to 18 miles wide. This sand has been blown out of the river 

bed by the prevailing northwest winds. The sand is in a thick sheet, 

but is blown into dunes and dimelike ridges separated by irregular 

winding basins. Some of the dunes are 50 to 60 feet high, and many 

of them have crater-like holes blown out of then* tops. Much of the 

sand-hill area contains bunch grass and kindred plants, but other 

portions are bare and the sand continues to be blown farther from 

the river with every strong wind, while new supplies are added from 

the river bed. This process can readily be seen on a windy day.

West of Holcomb the part of the valley north of the river narrows 

somewhat, but the slopes are gentle and are mostly covered with

crops, so that there are no exposures of the underlyDeerfield. ing formations. In this vicinity and at Deerfield 

Elevation 2,935 feet, the north side of the valley presents a broad second 

K^cuyS miles, terrace or step, 50 to 10Q feet higher than the river

flats, a feature not common along this river. A few 

rods east of Deerfield station and just south of the tracks is the 

pumping station of the United States Reclamation Service, where 

water has been pumped from a series of shallow wells as already 

described. For a mile west of Deerfield the railway is close to th.6 

river, and the banks show thick beds of loam and sand of the later 

river deposits. Northwest of Deerfield is Lake McKinney, a large 

reservoir supplied mainly by ditches 'from, the river above Lakin. Its 

water is used for irrigation in a wide district south and northeast of 

Deerfield.

Near Lakin the higher lands of the plains approach the river from 

the north, and in the next 2 miles the steep slopes rising to them are

near the track. These sandy slopes present widely 

Lakin. scattered outcrops of a white grit rock of Tertiary 

Elevation 2,991 feet. age. One conspicuous outcrop of this rock is north of 

Kan"lfchy344o miles. tne track, 5£ miles west of Lakin, where a knoll is

capped by it. In this region there are occasional 

shallow railroad cuts in the alluvial materials of the valley fill.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. ^ 43

Beyond Hartland the valley is narrowed greatly by the encroachments of high lands on the north and of the wide belt of sand hills on

the south. The plain to the north is nearly 200 feet 

Hartland. above the valley and is a smooth expanse characterElevation 3,049 foet. istic of the Great Plains in general. Southwest of

Hartland the Government set aside a part of the sand

hills as a national forest for the cultivation of trees, 

but this area will be open to agricultural settlement after November, 

1915. Just west of Hartland is the well-known Chouteaus Island, 

at a ford across the Arkansas. Here, in 1817, a French trader named 

Chouteau took refuge from the Indians, finally escaping. It was in 

this vicinity that Maj. Riley encamped in 1829 with the battalion 

that formed the first caravan escort sent out by the United States. 

On the other side of the river the battalion was met by a Mexican 

escor.t dispatched by the Mexican Government. In 1828 a party of 

travelers cached $10,000 in silver at this place, being too exhausted 

to carry it farther. A year later they went back and recovered it.

A short distance west of Hartland shales and limestone of Cretaceous age rise above the valley bottom and continue in sight on the 

north side of the track far westward into Colorado. The surface 

on which the deposits of the Great Plains were laid down was in 

places somewhat irregular. In this vicinity there was a hill of Cretaceous material to the west and a deep hollow in the region on the 

east, as has been disclosed by the excavation of the Arkansas Valley 

by later erosion through the Tertiary gravels into Cretaceous deposits. 

Two miles west of Hartland a slight arching up of the beds brings 

into view the Dakota sandstone, which crops out in a short line of 

low cliffs on the south bank of the river at the edge of the sand hills. 

North of the track in this vicinity, near milepost 437, a short distance 

east of Sutton siding, the railway is on the steep bank of the river 

and passes through deep cuts affording excellent exposures of the 

top beds of the Graneros shale, capped by the Greenhorn limestone 

at a plane about 20 feet above the tracks. These rocks are of Upper 

Cretaceous age. The shale is dark gray and mostly in thin layers. 

About 20 feet below its top are two hard layers consisting largely 

of shells of a small oyster .(Ostrea congesta, a species which also 

occurs in large numbers in the Niobrara group). The overlying 

Greenhorn limestone, named from Greenhorn Creek, in Colorado,

where it is extensively exposed, is soft and earthy 

Kendall. anc[ weathers to a light-yellow tint. It crops out 

Elevation 3,123 feet. at intervals to Kendall and beyond, but near Mayline 

Kansas c/ty 458 miles. and for a short distance farther west is hidden by

wash on the slopes and the gravel and sand of a 

narrow terrace which borders the valley in that vicinity. This gravel 

has been dug extensively for ballast for the railway in pits a short
44 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

distance north of the tracks. The Greenhorn limestone is excavated 

for building stone in several quarries of considerable size a mile northwest of Syracuse, all visible from the railway.

Fort Aubrey, near Kendall, was one of the old forts garrisoned with 

troops to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail.

Syracuse is one of the larger villages of western Kansas and was

long the center of extensive cattle interests before the range was

broken up by homesteaders. It was settled in 1872

Syracuse. ty a C0l0ny from Syracuse, N. Y. The Santa Fe

Elevation 3,220 feet. Trail passes through the village, where a granite

Population 1,126. , r , & , -i , , a

Kansas city 469 miles, marker can be seen at the railway station. Syracuse 

has a picturesque hotel, named after the famous 

Cherokee half-breed Sequoyah. This Indian after being crippled in 

an accident turned his attention to sedentary pursuits. His great 

achievement was the invention of an alphabet founded upon the syllables of the Cherokee language. This was eagerly adopted by the 

chiefs of that tribe, and in a few months thousands of the Indians 

could read and write it. Sequoyah took part also in the organization 

of the reunited Cherokees into their new Cherokee Nation in Indian 

Territory, now Oklahoma.

At Syracuse the north side of the Arkansas Valley has slopes of 

soft impure limestone and shale, mostly covered with grass but in 

places exhibiting low cliffs of white Greenhorn limsstone. Although 

soft and not very thick-bedded, it is useful for building stone, and 

it has been burned into lime to some extent. A part of this limestone consists of minute shells, called Foraminifera, because their 

shell coverings are full of pores or small holes. These tiny animals 

existed in large numbers in the sea from which the material in this 

limestone was deposited. Shells of extinct sea-living mollusks, 

somewhat similar to our oysters and clams, are also included in it, 

which indicates that this area was under the water of a sea or arm 

of the ocean in later Cretaceous time. This inundation covered a 

large portion of western America, for these limestones and shales 

occupy many thousands of square miles in western Kansas, eastern 

Colorado, New Mexico, and other States on the north and south, 

and it continued for a long time. 1

1 Under the Greenhorn limestone is 

about 200 feet of dark shale (the Graneros) 

which is penetrated by many borings 

in the Arkansas Valley. This shale 

was clay or mud deposited in the sea 

in the earlier stage of the submergence 

above referred to, but the material of the 

Greenhorn limestone, very largely calcium carbonate, was separated from the 

water by animal and chemical processes 

at a time when the water was relatively 

clear or had ceased depositing clay. This 

water remained clear during the long 

time required for the accumulation of a 

deposit now represented by 50 to 60 feet 

of limestone.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 7

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

101 30'

 101° KANSAS !

38

EXPLANATION

A River deposits ----- ---------------AlluviumB Sand hills-------------------------------

C Sand, loam, and white grit ___.- -- __.

D Shale, dark--------------- Carlile -

E Limestone, slabby------- -- Greenhorn

F Shale, dark------------ ----Graneros--

G Sandstone, gray----------------Dakota- -

	Red shales, reached in wells--- 

Quaternary

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 

I O 5 10 .... '?

10 15 25 30Kilometers

Cretaceous

(Upper 

----200| Cretaceous)

-Carboniferous ? 

(Permian ?)

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are sAoum ev6ry 10 milts 

The crosst/es on (/)« rtilroads are spaced I mile apart

. =-- -

SSfss^:

SECTION SHOWING UNDERGROUND RELATIONS OF ROCKS ALONG SANTA FE RAILWAY BETWEEN GARDEN CITY AND MEDWAY, KANS.

IOI°3o'

38'

101
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 45

A quarry in the Greenhorn limestone is visible from the railway 

a short distance west of Syracuse, and low bluffs of the rock appear 

at intervals to and beyond Medway siding. The table-land above the 

slope on the north side of the valley is capped by the great sheet of 

Tertiary deposits already mentioned. The low white cliffs appearing 

at many points near the top of this slope consist of the characteristic 

grit of these deposits. On the south side of the valley is the broad 

zone of sand 'hills which continues to and beyond Coolidge.

East of Coolidge (see sheet 8, p. 48) and for a short distance west 

of it there are scattered ledges of Greenhorn limestone along the foot 

of the slope on the north side of the valley, but most 

Coolidge, Kans. Of ^ne slopes are gentle and grass-covered, as the 

Elevation 3,341 foot, rocks are too soft to form prominent bluffs, 

KaratwCttyS'imiles. Coolidge was named for T. J. Coolidge, a former 

president of the Santa Fe Railway Co. It is near the 

eastern limit of the. Arkansas Valley artesian area, in which flowing 

wells are obtained along the bottom lands nearly as far west as 

the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The artesian condition ends on 

the east because finally, through leakage of water to the surface, the 

head becomes too low to afford a flow.

The State line between Kansas and Colorado is crossed six-tenths 

of a mile beyond milepost 470.

Colorado has an area of 103,948 square miles and contains varied 

physical features and many natural resources. Its eastern part lies

on the higher portion of the Great Plains, and its 

Colorado. western part includes a broad area in the higher

portion of the Rocky Mountains. Numerous rivers 

afford water for irrigation, by which large crops are produced in many 

districts; the mountains have productive mines of gold, silver, and 

other metals; thick beds of coal occur in several regions; and wide 

areas are utilized for stock raising. More than 200 of the mountain 

peaks in central Colorado are higher thaii 13,000 feet above the sea, 

and 40 are over 14,000 feet. The highest are Elbert and Massive 

mountains, in Lake County, each of which rises 14,402 feet. ' When the early Spanish explorers passed through Colorado they 

found no people, but ruins of many habitations. Lieut. Pike discovered the Rocky Mountains in 1806 and Col. Long visited them in 

1820. Fremont crossed this range in the northern part of the State 

in 1843. Part of the area was included in the Louisiana Purchase, 

part was included in the Republic of Texas, and the remainder was 

ceded by Mexico in 1848. Settlement began in 1858, when the discovery of gold at Platte River, near the site of Denver, drew a large 

tide of immigrants. The Territory of Colorado, which was organized

97579° Bull. G13 15 1
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN" UNITED STATES.

in 1861, included portions of Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and 

Utah. The Civil War and depredations by Indians greatly retarded 

its development, but in 1876 the State was admitted to the Union. 

Iii 1910 the population was 799,024 and the density 7.7 to the mile, 

or nearly twice as great as in the census of 1890.

Holly is a center for ranch and cattle interests. Three-quarters of

a mile to the Avest, on the north side of the track, is a large beet-sugar

factory, utilizing the sugar beets which arty raised

Holly, Colo. by irrigation in adjacent portions of the valley. The

Elevation 3,379 tect. Santa Fe Trail passed through this place and its

Population 724. , . i i i , , - t Kansas city 490 miles, location is marked by a granite monument opposite 

the station. A short, distance to the south is an old 

stone building built in 1873 for protection against Indians. In the 

vicinity of Holly, and thence to Amity, the valley slopes present few 

rock outcrops excepting occasional ledges of nearly horizontal beds of 

Greenhorn limestone.

The village of Amity was created by. the industrial division of the

Salvation Army for the purpose of giving outdoor work to a colony of

250 persons connected with that organization. It

Amity. wag started as "Fort Amity" in 1898, with a tract of

Elevation 3,410 feet. IOQQ 'acres. Considerable land has been cultivated.

Kansas City 49.5 miles. . , . '

mainly for the production of sugar beets to send to 

the factory at Holly. The broad alluvial flats along the north side 

of the river are especially suited to the cultivation of this 'plant, 

which is irrigated by water brought in canals from higher up the 

valley. This industry is increasing, and now there are six factories 

between Pueblo, Colo., and Garden City, Kans., that have a total 

capacity of about 5,000 tons of beets a day.

Just beyond milepost 480 the railway crosses Arkansas River, to 

continue on the south bank to La Junta. A branch, however, 

intended for local service in the valley, especially in connection with 

the sugar-beet industry, leaves the main line at Holly and follows 

the north slope of the valley as far as Rocky Ford, famous for its 

cantaloupes. In the Colorado portion of the Arkansas Valley, which 

the railway follows to La Junta, about 205,000 acres is irrigated from 

the river, and there are many ditches for distributing and several 

large reservoirs for storing water. 1 Fruit, grain, vegetables (including 27,350 acres of sugar beets), and forage crops are the principal 

products.

1 The mean discharge of the Arkansas 

at La Junta, determined by gagings by 

the United States Geological Survey, 

is 338 second-feet that is, cubic feet a

second. In dry times the flow diminishes to less than 10 second-feet, and at 

times of flood it has exceeded 10,000 

second-feet.
THE SANTA FE BOUTE. 47

Granada is built near the site of the great cattle depot of Trail City

in the da}rs of the Santa Fe Trail. Here one of the principal trails

from Texas reached the river and large numbers of

Granada. southern cattle were delivered to herders, who drove

Elevation 3,438 feet, them to the northern ranches. ID this vicinity the

Population 359. . . . J

Kansas city soi miles, river is in a wide valley, with level floor and long 

slopes rising on each side to the table-lands of the 

Great Plains. The railway is on the alluvial deposits, only a few feet 

higher than the river. In the adjoining slopes are outcrops of 

various rocks of the Cretaceous period. The relations of these rocks 

are shown in the section on sheet 8 (p. 48). The beds form a basinlike sag in the vicinity of Granada, so that the Greenhorn limestone 

lies several hundred feet deep, and the overlying shales and limestones 

constitute the surface. These shales (the Carlile), about 200 feet 

thick, together with the overlying limestone (the Timpas), crop out 

in low bluffs a short distance south of Granada, as well as in the 

slopes on the north side of the valley. The limestone is quarried to 

some extent for building stone and lime. It is soft and chalky and is 

very similar to the Greenhorn limestone in most respects, but occurs 

in somewhat thicker beds. 1 A 1,000-foot well at Granada obtains 

water from the Dakota sandstone, underlying the Graneros shale, 

but the pressure is not great enough to afford a flow, as in the many 

borings farther up and down the valley.

West of Granada the rocks rise gradually. In the vicinity of

Grote siding the Greenhorn limestone comes up again, although, near

the river it is covered by the alluvial deposits which

Grote- floor the valley. Near milepost 496 the Dakota

Elevation 3,486 feet, sandstone reaches the surface, and except for a short

Kansas City 507 miles. ,. T . ., , \ , distance at Lamar it appears all along the lower portion of the valley slopes to Las Animas and beyond. The structural 

relations of the strata which result in the cropping out of the Dakota 

sandstone are shown in the section on sheet 8.

1 The Timpas limestone contains impressions of shells and large numbers of 

Foraminifera, showing that it was deposited by the sea under conditions very 

similar to those which prevailed during 

the time of the deposition of the Greenhorn limestone.

There is in this succession of limestone 

and shale formations an interesting chapter in geologic history, the Graneros and 

Carlile shales consisting of deposits from 

muddy water and the Greenhorn and 

Timpas limestones consisting of deposits 

from waters containing but little clay or

sand in suspension. These conditions 

were widespread over a great extent of 

the plains country east of the Rocky 

Mountains, for this repeated alternation 

of shale and limestone is general throughout the area. During this time there 

was a great variety of life in the waters, 

as shown not only by large numbers of 

shells but remains of fish and reptiles, 

especially in the Niobrara beds. A 

restoration of one of the most remarkable 

creatures is shown in Plate V, B. This 

restoration Avas based on bones found in 

the Niobrara rocks in western Kansas.
48 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

»

Between mileposts 495 and 496 there is a long railway cut 5 to 10 

feet deep, through loam with interspersed beds of bowlders, gravel, 

and sand of the alluvial deposits that floor the valley and constitute a 

terrace slightly higher than the river flat to the east and west. The 

material was deposited by the river a few thousand years ago, and 

the variations in coarseness and texture were caused by alternations 

of swifter and slower currents, the former bringing coarse materials 

and the latter depositing silt and sand. Changes of channel are frequent in Arkansas River, as in many other large streams. A notable 

illustration of such a change is visible halfway between mileposts 496 

and 497, where a new channel has been cut by a recent flood.

Lamar, the seat of Prowers County, was named for L. Q. C. Lamar, 

a former Secretary of the Interior. It has extensive agricultural 

and cattle interests in the surrounding country. 

Lamar. Besides several mills and factories, the town has a large 

Elevation 3,577 feet, milk-condensing plant, supplied by many dairy farmKansas city 518 miles, ers in the vicinity. In 1914 the milk of 2,000 cows 

was being condensed. There is also a beet-sugar factory here, but of late it has not been in operation because the farmers 

in this vicinity have come to the conclusion that beet raising is not 

sufficiently profitable for them. Bees are kept in large numbers, 

and honey is an important local product.

Very few rocks are visible in the vicinity of Lamar, although 

ledges of the Dakota sandstone appear in some of the slopes southeast of the town and at many places farther west along the valley. 

This rock becomes conspicuous in the river bluffs at Prowers and west 

of that place on both sides of the stream. It is exposed along or near 

the railway from milepost 509, 1^ miles east of Prowers, nearly to 

Las Animas. Near milepost 520 the railway cuts expose shale, which 

separates some of the beds of Dakota sandstone at most localities. 

The predominant features of the formation, however, are the cliffs of 

massive coarse gray sandstone. This material is used to some extent 

as a building stone, although much of it is too slabby or irregular in 

texture or color to be of any great value for that purpose.

Caddoa derives its name from the linguistic family of which the

Pawnee and Wichita Indians of this vicinity were branches. Here

the immediate river valley is narrow, bluffs of Dakota

Caddoa. sandstone rising from the alluvial flat near the stream

Elevation 3,758 feet. on kotn sides. To the north these bluffs are surPopulation 329.* , , . , ,

Kansas city 537 miles, mounted by an irregular terrace covered with gravel 

and sand, and to the south they are interrupted by 

sandy slopes partly occupied by dunes. A well at Caddoa, bored 582 

feet deep, passed through the Dakota sandstone but did not obtain 

a very satisfactory water supply in its lower portion, and the water 

did not have sufficient pressure to come to the surface.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 8

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each Quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name. *

KANSAS- COLORADO

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 miles to I inch 

S 10 .15

A Gravel and sand

8 Limestone and limv shale

Shales, gray, with concretions Carlile 

and sandstone Cretaceous

(Upper 

Cretaceous)

Contour interval 200 feet D Limestone, slabby

E Shale, dark

F Sandstone (stippled pattern)

Greenhorn 

..Graneros 

Dakota

The distances from K,nsts City, Missouri, are sAown every 10 miles 

The crossties on the railroads are spaced 1 mile apart

Note: Sand and gravel (alluvium) in valley not shown.

-______ 

F ; . DsJ<cfta sandstone '".

SECTION SHOWING UNDERGROUND RELATIONS OF ROCKS ALONG SANTA FE RAILWAY BETWEEN COOLIDGE KANS. AND CADDOA CO' ;
THE SANTA FE BOtJTE. 49

Opposite Hilton siding (see sheet 9, p. 54), about three-quarters 

of a mile beyond milepost 526, is old Fort Lyon, a well-known military post on the Santa Fe Trail, which was an important depot of 

supplies. A regiment of soldiers was garrisoned there to give protection to travelers. The old fort is on the top of the bluff of Dakota 

sandstone on the north side of the river, and the few remaining 

buildings are plainly visible from the railway. They are now 

utilized as a United States naval sanitarium. Seven miles northeast 

of this fort a boring was sunk 815 feet by the United States Government in 1881 to test the underground-water conditions. It cost 

more than $18,000 and obtained only a very small flow of water, but 

it gave considerable information as to the succession of strata.

At milepost 534 the railway crosses Purgatoire River, which flows 

from the south and drains a large area of the western Great Plains in 

southeastern Colorado; the railway reaches it again, at Trinidad. 

This river was named Rio de las Animas Perdidas (river of lost souls) 

by the Spaniards because of the loss of a party of travelers in its 

treacherous waters. The French visitors translated this to Purgatoire, which the frontiersmen pronounce and spell "Picketwire," 

and that name is now in local use.

Las Animas (ahn'ee-mas), the seat of Bent County, derives its 

name from the Spanish name for Purgatoire River. It is said 

that from this locality in 1806 Lieut. Zebulon Pike 

Las Animas. first saw the peak which now bears his name. 1 One 

Elevation 3,856 foot, of the principal industries of Las Animas is a large 

Kama^city ssfmiies keet-sugar factdry, the beets for which are raised at 

many places in the vicinity by means of irrigation 

from ditches extending along the north side of the valley. Besides 

beets, of which the yield is 25 tons to the acre, much wheat is produced here, and all along the valley from Las Animas to Rocky 

Ford the famous Rocky Ford cantaloupes are raised.

On the outskirts of Las Animas, not far west of the station, on the 

south side of the track, is a small settlement of Mexicans living in 

characteristic adobe houses. This is the first of these settlements 

to be observed on the Santa Fe route, but they are very numerous 

through southwestern Colorado and New Mexico. The old home of 

the noted scout Kit Carson, at Las Animas, is still in existence, and 

another survivor of the old days is the stage coach in which Horace 

Greeley toured the West in 1859.

1 Pike's expedition ascended Osage 

River and crossed the country northwestward to the Pawnee Republic, in Republic 

County, Kans., where he compelled the

Indiana to haul down the Spanish flag. 

He then proceeded south westward to Great 

Bend, Kans., and ascended the Arkansas 

to the foot of the mountains in Colorado.
50 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

A few niiles west of Las Animas, on the north bank of the river, 

was Bents Fort,1 a noted place on the Santa Fe Trail. This fort was 

very prominent in the days when the Army of the West marched 

through in 1846, but it was demolished in 1852 because the Government would not purchase it at the price asked. The building was a 

very large (180 by 135 feet) one-story structure 15 feet high, with 

walls 4 feet thick, situated several miles above the junction of Purgatoire and Arkansas rivers, where the trail crossed Arkansas River. 

In early days the Arkansas was the northern boundary of Mexico 

westward from a point near Fort Dodge. On crossing the river the 

caravans passed from the protection of United States troops to that 

of Mexican soldiers.

Five miles west of Las Animas the railway approaches bluffs of 

dark Graneros shale capped by the Greenhorn limestone, which extend 

along the south bank of the river for some distance to the west. A 

slight westerly dip finally carries the shale, below the surface of the 

alluvial filling of the valley, but cliffs or ledges of the limestone are 

almost continuous nearly to La Junta. These ledges consist of 

alternating thin beds of limestone and dark shale, a feature which is 

highly characteristic of this formation and is shown in Plate VI 

(p. 52). In an exposure 20 feet high there may be thirty alternations of such beds. This feature indicates that,- at the time of their 

deposition, there were rapid and repeated changes from muddy 

water, depositing dark clay, to clear water, from which the calcium 

carbonate, now represented by the limestone, was separated. It is 

thought that these changes were due to changes in climatic conditions. As this feature is characteristic of the Greenhorn limestone 

in a region more than 2,000 miles from north to south and 500 miles 

from east to west in the Great Plains province, it shows that the 

conditions of deposition were uniform over a wide area.

On the north side of the river flat west of Las Animas is the edge 

of a table-land showing bluffs at intervals, in which are many small 

outcrops of the Timpas limestone, a formation about 200 feet higher 

in the geologic column than the Greenhorn. Outlying areas of this 

table-land some distance south of the tracks may be seen at intervals 

for 6 miles. A few rods east of milepost 552 a small canyon south

1 The Bent family was prominent in 

frontier history and established successive trading posts, each known as Bents 

Fort, among the Indians. The original 

post, up the river toward Pueblo, Colo., 

was built in 1828. The fur-trading firm 

of Bent & St. Vrain was next in size to 

the American Fur Co. Charles Bent 

was appointed Territorial governor of 

New Mexico by Gen. Ivearney when

the Army of the West took possession 

of Santa Fe. William Bent, one of the 

brothers, was a "squaw man," having 

married the daughter of a Cheyenne 

chief. His son, after receiving a good 

education in St. Louis, gathered about 

him a band of savage Indians and 

became so dangerous an outlaw thatthe Government offered $5,000 for his 

capture.
THE SANTA .FE ROUTE. 51

of the railway shows the characteristic alternation of shale and limestone beds in the Greenhorn limestone.

La Junta (hoon'ta), the seat of Otero County, is a railway division

point where all trains stop for change of engine and meals are

served. Here also the line for Colorado Springs and

La Junta. Denver branches off, continuing westward up the

Elevation 4,046 feet, valley of Arkansas Kiver to Pueblo. La Junta is a

SSy £?miles. ver7 old town for this Part of the country. Seventy 

years ago it was an important trading center on the 

Santa Fe Trail which crossed the river a short distance below and 

from La Junta continued, southwest near the line of the present railway to Trinidad. A stone monument a block south of the station 

marks its location in La Junta. The principal industrial interests 

here are the large railway shops, but the city also has the trade of 

an extensive adjacent ranch country. The name is a Spanish term, 

meaning junction, and refers to the convergence of the old trails at 

this place. Much of the water supply of La Junta is obtained from 

artesian wells sunk through the limestone and shales to the porous 

Dakota sandstone, in which the water is under enough head to afford 

a flow.

The long westward journey across the plains terminates a short 

distance west of La Junta, and beyond may be seen the eastern 

edge of the Rocky Mountain ranges, rising above the western edge 

of the plains and extending from north to south, presenting a magnificent panorama. The sight of these mountains cheered the hearts 

of the overland wagon-train immigrants after their dreary marches 

across the plains, and it still cheers the sons of the West as they 

return to their mountain homes and also welcomes the stranger to 

the Cordilleran country. These ranges extend 270 miles southward, 

to Glorieta Pass, and in order to get around them the railway now 

begins to turn in the same direction and will soon enter a region that 

presents interesting phenomena along their foothill margin.

A short distance west of La Junta the route leaves the valley of 

Arkansas River. It crosses the plains toward the foothills of the 

Rockies, following a course nearly due southwest to Trinidad. It is 

close to the old Santa Fe Trail all the way. There is a continuous 

upgrade, at first on long, gentle slopes of the Timpas limestone, 1 a 

rock which appears in numerous cuts and small outcrops along the 

track to and beyond Timpas siding.

1 The Timpas limestone, which was so 

named from its occurrence on Timpas 

Creek, is widespread in the central Great 

Plains region and constitutes the lower 

formation of the Niobrara group. The 

principal body of limestone ia from 50 to 

(!0 feet thick in most places aud grades

upward through 100 feet or more of limy 

shales and thin-bedded limestone to the 

Apishapa shale, the upper formation of 

the Niobrara group. The gray shales of 

the Apishapa constitute the hills went of 

Timpas siding and they are also crossed 

bv the railway farther southwest.
52 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

In this region the strata rise southwestward at a rate slightly 

greater than that of the railway grade. This structure is shown on 

the cross section on sheet 9, which represents not only the attitude of 

the rocks but also the relative thickness of the formations and facts 

revealed by deep borings at intervals.

The old Santa Fe Trail passed 400 feet east of the site of the station at Timpas. A short distance beyond this place the Timpas 

limestone caps mesas x or buttes of considerable promiTimpas. nence, especially along the. east side of the track, and 

Elevation 4,409 feet. a ^tle farther southwest it extends southward in 

' a long line of low westward-facing cliffs. Below these 

cliffs are slopes of Carlile shale, at the foot of which, near Ayer, is 

a bench of the Greenhorn limestone. Along this portion of the 

valley of Timpas Creek, on both sides, are excellent exposures of 

long, sloping mesas capped by the Timpas limestone. This rock, 

s N though soft as rocks

go, is much harder 

than the shales and 

remains where the 

overlying shale is 

washed away. The 

limestone caps project in a cliff presenting the greater part of the thickness of the 

formation. Most of the mesas slope to the northeast because the 

limestone dips in that direction.

From Symons to and beyond Bloom the ordinary features presented 

in the Timpas Creek valley are a low, wide bench or shelf of Greenhorn 

limestone at or near the bottom and a slope of about 

200 feet of Carlile shale, rising to a cliff at the edge of 

the tabular surface of the mesa of Timpas limestone. 

(See PI. V, A, p. 29, and fig. 6.) 

The areas of Timpas and Greenhorn limestones carry a small growth 

of "cedars" (Juniperus occidentalism, termed sabina by the people of 

the country. The cane cactus (Opuntia arborescens) becomes conspicuous in this vicinity and is abundant to the south and west through 

Colorado and New Mexico, together with flat-leaved cactuses of 

various species. (See footnote on pp. 155-156.)

The Dakota sandstone is exposed a short distance west of the railway at milepost 590, being brought up by a low dome, as shown in the 

cross section on sheet 9. The outcrop of this sandstone extends to 

Delhi and beyond, with the adjoining higher slopes of shales and 

limestone in a relation closely similar to those shown in figure 7.

FIGURE 6. Section across Timpas Creek valley near Bloom, Colo., 

looking southwest, a, Timpas limestone; b, Carlile shale; c, 

Greenhorn limestone; d, Graneros shale.

Bloom.

1 Mesa (may'sa), a Spanish word meaning table, is applied to a flat-topped butte 

or hill, while one that has a sloping tabular surface is called a cuesta (kways'ta), 

from one of the Spanish words for hill.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

GREENHORN LIMESTONE NEAR THATCH

Shows characteristic alternation of thin layers of limestone and shale, indicating 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE VII

A. WEST SPANISH PEAK, COLO, FROM THE NORTHEAST. 

Dikes of igneous rock in foreground. Flat-lying Tertiary rocks in middle slope of the mountain.

£. DIKE OF IGNEOUS ROCK FORMING NARROW WALL, SPANISH PEAKS, COLO.
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 53

At Delhi the railway crosses the Santa Fe Trail, the old wheel 

tracks of which are plainly visible in the slope rising to the west. A 

few rods west of Delhi a deep canyon cuts through the 

Dakota sandstone and exposes the beds of the shales 

Elevation 5,042 feet. an(j sandstones of the underlying Purgatoire formaKansas City 607 miles J & . b ,, . ,

tion (Lower Cretaceous). At West siding the Dakota 

sandstone again appears in the bottom of the valley west of the railway, and from a point a few miles south of West to and beyond 

SE . NW Thatcher the railway runs along the 

top of this sandstone 

\ d and the lower edge 

of the Graneros 

shale is a few rods

FIGURE 7. Section across Timpas Creek valley at Thatcher, Colo.,look- , ,1 , qri 

ing southwest, a, Timpas limestone; 6, Carlile shale, with sandstone lo t'Jle( east« IHIS

at top; c, Greenhorn limestone; d, Graneros shale; e, Dakota sand- foatUTG is due to ft

stone;/,Pnrgatoire formation. slight Upward arching of the beds that are cut into by the valley. The relations of the 

formations in this vicinity are shown in figure 7.

A short distance east of Thatcher is a bench of Greenhorn limestone 

with scattered junipers, and at the top of the mesa beyond is the 

Timpas limestone with numerous jumpers. The old 

Thatcher. Santa Fe Trail extends southwestward along the west 

Elevation 5,400 feet, slope of tho valley in this vicinity, its course being 

marked by a granite monument a mile west of 

Thatcher. A few miles farther southwest the railway 

again crosses the trail.

Southwest of Thatcher the railway passes from the Dakota sandstone across the Graneros shale, the bench of Greenhorn limestone, 

and the slope of Carlile shale, reaching the summit of the plateau of 

Timpas limestone a short distance beyond Simpson siding. (See 

sheet 10, p. 62.) The smooth surface of this plateau extends for 10 

miles or more southwestward along the railway, rising gradually. 

From its summit are visible far to the west the Spanish Peaks (PI. 

VII, A), two symmetrical cones rising in front of the main range of 

the Rocky Mountains, which are conspicuous in the background. 

During much of the year the higher summits of all these peaks and 

mountains show considerable snow.

The Spanish Peaks consist of large masses of igneous rocks which 

were intruded in molten condition into the sandstones and shales at 

the foot of the Rocky Mountains. (See fig. 8, p. 54.) The east peak 

is 12,708 feet high and the west peak 13,623 feet. They were 

called Wahatoya by the Indians and Los Dos Hermanos (the two 

brothers) by the Spanish. It is to be regretted that the distinctive
54 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEBF UNITED STATES.

Indian name has not been retained, especially as there are other 

Spanish Peaks in the West. A remarkable feature of this intrusion is 

the large number of narrow dikes of the igneous rocks, mostly branching from the large masses- through cracks in the sedimentary strata 

and extending out in every direction for many miles from the foot 

of the peaks. Owing to their hardness they stand above the surface 

as narrow walls in many places. One of these is shown in PL ':e 

VII, B. The sandstones and shales adjoining the larger igneous 

masses are baked and otherwise altered by the heat of the intrusion 

and are considerably upturned.

Half a mile north of Tyrone a granite marker just east of the track

indicates the location of the old Santa Fe Trail. Behind the Spanish

Peaks rise the main Rocky Mountains, herc t called

Tyrone. Sangre de Cristo Range (sahn/gray day cris'to, SpanEievation 5,520 feet. ^ for bi00(j Of Christ). Fishers Peak, east of TriniKansas City 624 miles. . . '

dad, is also visible irorn the plateau about lyroiie, but 

is almost straight ahead of the line of railway. Five miles beyond

West Peak East Peak

FIGURE 8. Section through Spanish Peaks, west of Tyrone, Colo., looking north. Underground relations

largely hypothetical.

Tyrone the train enters a wide area of shale (Apishapa) lying nearly 

level and extending to Hoehne siding. The shale includes limy 

layers, some of them of light color and many of them weathering to 

a light-yellow tint. One of the best exposures is in a ditch north of 

the track, near milepost 620, where the unweathered shale is black. 

The water of this ditch is brought from Purgatoire River, some distance to the southwest, and serves to irrigate a small area about the 

new village of Poso, which is at milepost 615.

Beyond Earl the route crosses a low ridge of Apishapa shale and

thence southwestward descends into the valley of Purgatoire River,

the west side of which is followed to Trinidad. This

Earl> stream, which was passed farther east at Las Animas,

Elevation 5,073 feet, brings considerable water from the mountains west of

Kansas City 634 miles. m . . , , , . .

Irmidad and is especially subject to treshets, some 

of which cause great damage along the lower part of the valley. 

The greatest known flood, in 1904, had a volume of 45,000 secondfeet. In 1912 nearly 36,000 acres of land was irrigated by water 

from this stream, most of it in the region between Trinidad and Las 

Animas.
BULLETIN 6)3 SHEET 9

Hil-ton.well

Hadley

La Junta,well

3loom.wd! r

Thatlier. well t=fe

104 I03°30' COLORADO

38'

F

F 

r ,

37

30

Scale 500.000

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 

5 10 I

15 20 25

2OMiles 

30Kilometers

Contour interval 200 feet

e distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 mil

The crossr/es on the railroads are spaced 1 mile apa apan

\

3*.

**

tf

Terrace deposits 

Nussbaum formation

Thickness 

in feet

20 Quaternary

ithers Apishapa 

ick Timpas

concretion?

slabbv

dark gray 

Sandstone (stippled pattern)

H Sandstone and shale

:hed in wells <

(Shale and sandstone

Carlile 

Greenhorn 

Graneros 

Dakota

Puz'gatoire formation 

Morrison fonnation

40

400

200

200

50

200

250

Tertiar

Cretaceous

(Upper 

Cretaceous 1

^Sandstone and shale, both red

230-V Cretaceous 

100 <! (Lower

L Cretaceous) 

300 Jurassic or C:

ceous 

Triassic 1

^

-M;.0^ jG/-.

Note: Sand and gravel (alluvium) in valleys not shown

104- I03°30'
SANTA EE 55

Elmoro.

Eievation 5,833 feet,

At Hoelme a broad area of the Pierre shale x is entered. It extends 

to the base of the cliffs of Trinidad sandstone, 10 to 15 miles west 

Hoehne. ftnc^ south of Hoehne. A short distance beyond 

Elevation 5,700 feet inilepost 627 is a narrow dike of igneous rock, probPopuiation &r)2.* ably an extension of one of those connected with the 

ansas ity 642 miles. m^rusjon of ^ne jgneous mass in the Spanish Peaks.

On account of the hardness of the rock, this dike makes a low but 

conspicuous ridge a short distance west of the railway.

At Elmoro are extensive ovens in which the coal of the Trinidad 

field is made into coke, 2 for use in blast furnaces and smelters. Many 

Mexicans reside in the vicinity of Elmoro and Trinidad. Some of them belong to the order of "Penitentes," who from intense religious zeal suffer flagellation and other forras of bodily Punishment, even to 

crucifixion. Many Mexicans in southern and central 

New Mexico belong to this order.

Trinidad is a railway division point where all trains stop, some of 

them for meals at the Hotel Cardenas (car'day-nas), built in the 

mission style. The hotel is named in honor of Garcf a 

Lopez de Cardenas, who accompanied Coronado's expedition and was sent by him to find the great river 

of whicn the Indians spoke. This was the Colorado 

in the Grand Canyon, and Cardenas was the first 

white man to see it.

Trinidad owes much of its importance to the coal mining in the 

surrounding hills. It is also a railway center, and there are many 

ranches in the adjoining region which bring considerable trade. It 

is the terminus of a branch of the Denver & Rio Grancle Railroad and

Trinidad.

Eievation 5,9C7 feet,

1 The Pierre shale is about 1,200 feet 

thick. It consists of a remarkably uniform succession of thin layers of compact 

dark-gray to black clay, representing a 

large part of the later Cretaceous succession in a wide area of the central Great 

Plains. It was deposited while this broad 

area continued to be occupied by the sea, 

the limy sediments of the Apishapa being 

succeeded by the almost pure clay of 

which the Pierre shale consists. As the 

material was a sediment from muddy 

waters, it was undoubtedly deposited 

slowly, and therefore a long time was required for the accumulation of so thick a 

body of it. Its marine origin is indicated 

by numerous remains of shells of many 

kinds which lived only in sea water. The 

Pierre shale is not well exposed along the 

Santa Fe route, for, owing to its softness,

it has been washed down into gentle 

slopes, mostly covered with sod.

2 Coke is the product obtained by the 

distillation or partial combustion of certain grades of bituminous coal in retorts, 

or ovens, at high temperatures. When 

the process is one of partial combustion, 

as in ovens, it is accomplished by the 

admission of a limited supply of air into 

the combustion chamber, the oxygen thus 

supplied being sufficient for the combustion of the volatile matter in the 

coal only. In retorts the heat is applied 

through flues on the outside of the retort 

by the combustion of the gases distilled 

from the coal. By either process the coal 

is changed into the cellular, silvery product known as "coke." In the Trinidad 

region the former method is the only one 

employed.
56 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEBN UNITED STATES,

is on the line of the Colorado & Southern Railroad from Denver to 

Texas.

At Trinidad the plains give place to the high, rugged foothills of 

the Rocky Mountains. This change is due to the fact that here the 

Pierre shale is overlain by the Trinidad sandstone, which is surmounted by 2,000 feet of shales and sandstones that are resistant to 

erosion. The shales and sandstones above the Trinidad sandstone 

contain valuable deposits of coal. These coal-bearing rocks extend 

along the foot of the mountains for many miles in southern Colorado 

and southward for some distance in New Mexico. They are nearly 

horizontal in the vicinity of Trinidad. The prominent mountain 

mass southeast of Trinidad consists of coal measures and overlying 

strata capped by a thick sheet of black lava (basalt), constituting 

an extensive plateau with nearly flat top, known as Raton Mesa. 

One spur of this mesa projecting northward for some distance is 

named Fishers Peak after a German artillery officer who commanded 

a battery in the Army of the West that camped at its foot in 1846.

SE. ' NW. 

Fishers Peak

FIGURE 9. Section through Trinidad, Colo., showing relations of rocks, looking southwest, a, Vermejo 

formation with coal bed; 6, Trinidad sandstone.

Its altitude is 9,586 feet, or more than 3,600 feet higher than Trinidad, 

so that it is a conspicuous object for many miles north and east. It 

is shown in Plate VIII. The mesa or plateau, which extends south 

from this peak, has a relatively level top about 20 square miles in 

area and is the remnant of a widespread lava flow that was poured 

out over the surface prior to the excavation of the valleys that are 

now so far below the mesa level. A portion of the same mesa, 

extending far to the southeastward at nearly the same altitude (8,511 

feet), is known as Bartlett Mesa. A section from Trinidad southeastward to Fishers Peak and through Raton Mesa is given in figure 9. 

It is evident that many years have elapsed since the outflow of the 

lava sheet capping these mesas, because an enormous mass of material 

has been removed from the surrounding country, especially in the 

lower region to the north and east. However, the lava is geologically of relatively recent age, being considerably later than the middle 

of Tertiary time.

In the western part of Trinidad is a high ridge known as Simpsoiis 

Rest. Upon it stands an obelisk marking .the grave of George 

Simpson, a noted mountaineer and trapper.
'J. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

FISHERS PEAK, NEAR TRINIDAD

View eastward. The peak and mesa, a projection of Raton Mesa, consist of a thick bed of lava which lies on n

shale valley in foreground.
WALL OF DAKOTA SANDSTONE WEST OF TRINIDAD, COLO.

Outcropping edge of sandstone upturned on east slope of Rocky Mountain uplift. Soft overlying shales to the 

left of the ridge and red beds to the right.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 57

There are numerous coal mines in all the high hills adjoining 

Trinidad. The principal centers are at Gray Creek and Englevjlle, 

to the east; Starkville, Sopris, Cokedale, and Primero, to the southwest; and Berwin, Hastings, Delagua, and other camps, to the north. 

The coal field occupies a long, narrow basin of about 2,000 square 

miles along the foot of the Rocky Mountains. This region contains 

the largest and best deposits of bituminous coal west of Missouri 

River.1

The most extensive coal bed lies just above the Trinidad sandstone, which crops out prominently in the bluffs about Trinidad. 

This coal averages 6 feet in thickness but varies from place to place. 

In some localities there are sev.eral other beds within a short vertical 

distance. Most of the coal is of high rank and cokes satisfactorily. 

The coke is shipped to the smelters at Pueblo and to other places. 

Here and there in this coal field igneous rocks have been injected 

between the beds, and where coal is near by it has been altered to 

"natural coke." The yearly output from the general Trinidad region 

is given at about 6,000,000 tons of coal and 1,000,000 tons of coke. 

Numerous coal beds also occur at intervals in the rocks above the 

Trinidad sandstone, but they appear to be less widespread than the 

lower coal beds. The coal in this field was discovered in 1851 by the 

exploring expedition under Stephen H. Long, but it was not developed extensively until the Santa Fe Railway was built through and 

coal was required for use in the locomotives. This region was the 

scene of the long strike of coal miners in 1914, when serious conflicts 

occurred between the strikers and the State troops and strike breakers.

At Trinidad two extra locomotives, a helper and a pusher, are 

attached to the heavier trains to haul them up the steep grade to the 

Raton Pass, 10 miles south of Trinidad. Tho rise is 

Janscn. 1,636 feet and the maximum grade 3^ per cent. The 

Elevation 6,058 feet, valley of the Purgatoiro is followed for the first 2 

SfSy 654miles. miles to Janson, where the line turns up the valley of 

North Raton Creek to begin the mountain climb. To 

the east, south, and west are cliffs or steep slopes (see PL IX) and a 

few miles to the southeast is Fishers Peak. In the valley occur scattered outcrops of the black upper shales of the Pierre formation, surmounted by cliffs of the massivo gray Trinidad sandstone, about 100 

feet thick, which imderlies the coal measures. About 1£ miles west

1 The coal-bearing rocks occur in two 

formations. The lower one, known as the 

Vermejo formation, is generally from 200 

to 400 feet thick, and the upper one, the 

Baton formation, is nearly 2,000 feet 

thick. Both formations contain large 

numbers of the remains of plants, those

of the Vermejo being of Cretaceous age 

and those of the Baton of Tertiary age. 

There was an interval of time between 

the deposition of the Vermejo and that of 

the Baton, with slight uplift and considerable erosion, during which the lower coal 

was removed over a considerable area.
58 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN" UNITED STATES.

of Jansen this sandstone crosses the valley, causing a cascade in the 

creek just east of the railway. A mile farther along the sandstone is 

quarried on the east side of the track.

There are coal mines at intervals in the slopes, especially to the

south, in the vicinity of Starkville, where there are several large

mines and numerous coke ovens. The principal

Starkville. mine here is one of the largest and oldest in the field.

Elevation 6,333 feet. The main opening is in a gulch east of the railway and

Kansas City 657 miles. . r . <? ° J

the mine entries extend eastward under the slopes of 

Fishers Peak, emerging at Engleville, on the north side of the 

mountain, 3-^- miles to the northeast. The coal has been removed 

from a large area beneath the mountain. The coke ovens on the 

east (left) side of the railway present a brilliant spectacle at night, 

for usually 30 or 40 of them are in operation. At a point a mile 

beyond Starkville there is a specially good view of Fishers Peak, 

the summit of which is about 3 miles east of the railway. Half a 

mile farther south the northern boundary of the Maxwell land grant, 

originally the Beaubien and Miranda grant, 1 is passed. This boundary 

line is marked by a sign east of the railway.

As the train climbs the slope toward Raton Pass, the landscape 

changes greatly, for the high slopes present sandstone cliffs and 

clumps of pines grow along many of the ledges. Some of the cliffs 

are more than 100 feet high, notably in the vicinity of Gallinas siding. 

At Morley a slight upward arching of the beds brings the top of the 

Trinidad sandstone and also the Pierre shale to view in the bottom 

of the valley, and the coal bed in the overlying 

Vermejo formation appears at the surface. There is 

one large mine just east of the railway. The coal bed 

crops out a short distance beyond, on the west side of 

the tracks, and also in the south portal of the tunnel 

just beyond Wootton siding. Other higher beds crop out at intervals 

in the next 2 miles.

Morley.

Elevation 6,748feet,

1 This grant was one of the many large 

concessions made by the Spanish Government to some of the early settlers in what 

are now New Mexico and southern Colorado. In the treaty with Mexico it was 

provided that the United States should 

recognize these grants, but as the boundaries were loosely defined and in some 

grants were misrepresented by claimants, 

there have been many contests over them. 

The question of the validity of this grant 

was in the courts for many years, but 

title was finally established. It includes 

about 1,750,000 acres, lying mostly in

New Mexico, and it extends for 62 miles 

along the Santa Fe Railway. The grant 

came to Maxwell through his wife, the 

daughter of Beaubien, one of the original holders. Maxwell was a famous figure 

in the annals of the Southwest. For a 

while he was a trapper, but later as a 

scout with Fr6mont and others he was 

the hero of daring episodes. He will 

perhaps be remembered longest as the 

host of "Maxwell's ranch," at Cimarron, 

where he lived in considerable luxury 

and entertained many of. the passers-by 

on the Santa Fe Trail.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 59

 *i

The rocks a feAv hundred feet north of Wootton have yielded large 

numbers of fossil plants including remains of magnolias and palms. 

These indicate that when the formation was laid down the land surfaces which existed from time to time were covered by a semitropical 

vegetation very different from the pines, junipers, oaks, and other 

northern species which grow on the hillsides of this region to-day. , At Wootton was the home of "Undo Dick" Wootton, one of the 

famous scouts of' the early days when emigrants were passing through 

the country and, Indians were a source of great danger. 

Wootton, Colo. The Raton Mountains were also a favorite hold-up 

Elevation 7,495 feet. piacc fol- highwaymen. Wootton was an associate

Kansas City 667 miles. * , r\ J '3 J £ ±1 -TV of Kit Carson, and guided some ot the military 

exploring parties. The portion of the wagon road passing over the 

Eaton Pass was constructed by Wootton under charter from the 

legislatures of Colorado and New Mexico, and for many years he 

collected toll from those who traveled over it. Originally there 

was only a mountain trail through the pass, and considerable labor 

and expense were required to fit it for the passage of heavy wagons. 

In the ascent on the north side of the pass it crossed Raton Creek 53 

times. In 1846, when Gen. Kearney and the Army of the West 

crossed these mountains on the way to take Santa Fe, it was necessary to draw the wagons up and let them down by ropes. The 

soldiers at this time were on half and third rations. The remains 

of Wootton's substantial adobe house, built somewhat like a southern plantation home, arc visible on the wagon road west of the track. 

A short distance beyond Wootton the train crosses the State line 

between Colorado and New Mexico. It was the intention that this 

line should follow the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude, but late 

surveys have shown that the line located on the ground was somewhat 

south of that parallel.

New Mexico is one of our newest States, having been admitted to 

the Union January 6, 1912. It is less developed along industrial lines

than its neighbors to the east and north. The main 

New Mexico. line of the Santa Fe Railway runs through it for 430

miles. The area of the State is 122,634 square miles, 

or slightly more than that of Colorado. It includes the south end of 

the Rocky Mountains and many outlying ranges of that system, 

together with wide plateau areas, in large part higher than 5,000 feet 

above sea level. Part of it was included in the Republic of Texas 

and part in Mexico. It was organized as a separate Territory of the 

United States in 1850, and its area was reduced to its present limits 

in 1863. In 1910 its population was 327,301, and the density of 

population was 2.7 to the square mile, having more than doubled 

since 1890. More than half the population are Mexicans, a people
60 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

consisting partly of descendants of Mexican settlers of long ago and 

partly of descendants of local Indians with wliom the Mexicans and 

others have intermarried. Spanish is the language of a large proportion of the population, and in many sections it greatly preponderates over English. A large number of Indians live in the several 

reservations in the State.

Of the 78,485,760-acres of New Mexico, nearly half is public land, 

14,000,000 acres State land, 12,000,000 acres in ranches, 12,000,000 

acres in private grants and Indian reservations, and 9,000,000 acres in 

national forests. Somewhat less than 2,000,000 acres is cultivated, 

and less than 600,000 acres is irrigated. Of the irrigated area 

200,000 acres belongs to individuals or partnerships, 50,000 acres to 

commercial organizations, 300,000 acres to cooperative or community organizations, and 30,000 acres to Indians. The remainder is 

irrigated under Government reclamation, and the area so served will 

be considerably increased when the lands below the Elephant Butte 

Dam are utilized.

Probably the principal mineral resource of New Mexico is coal, 

which occurs in the large fields west of Raton, near Cerrillos, about 

Gallup, and in several minor areas. There are also mines of gold, 

copper, silver, lead, zinc, and a great variety of other minerals, clays, 

and building stones. The State contains also abundant supplies of 

underground water.

New Mexico contains many ruins of settlements of aborigines, some 

of them of great antiquity. There were large villages at many places 

long before the coming of the Spaniards, and irrigation was extensively practiced.

Just beyond the State line the train enters a tunnel half a mile

long which extends under Raton Pass, at an altitude of 7,608 feet. 

For 30 years there was only one tunnel at this place, but a few years 

ago a second one was built. This pass is on the divide between the 

drainage basins of Arkansas River on the north and Canadian River 

on the south. The old Santa Fe Trail passed up the same canyon as 

the one followed by the railway and crossed through Raton Pass on 

the way south.

The mountain which is crossed at Raton Pass is not part of the 

main range of the Rocky Mountains, but is a lateral spur which 

extends eastward for 30 miles. Its height is due largely to the thick 

cap of lava which covers the high mesas east of the railway. This 

rock is so hard that it has resisted erosion and so maintained the high 

ridge. Doubtless the lava-covered mesa was originally much more 

extensive than it is at present, for the removal of the underlying 

sandstone and shales undermines the lava sheet, large blocks of 

which occasionally fall from the cliffs to the talus slopes below. The 

high mesa disappears about 35 miles east of Raton Pass, and the
THE SANTA FE KOUTE. 61

question is often asked, "Why doesn't the railway build around this 

high summit rather than go over it?" The principal reason is that 

the line was built to Trinidad to get the local coal, which does not 

extend far east of that place, and from Trinidad there is no feasible 

course other than that across the mountain. Another line is being 

built farther south, leaving the main line at Dodge, Kans., and 180 

miles farther south is the Belen cut-off.

As the train emerges from the south portal of the Katon tunnel an 

extensive vista is presented. To the east stands the lava-capped 

Bartlett Mesa, and farther south are rolling plains lying far below the 

point of view and extending to the horizon. Toward the west is a 

mesa made up of the coal-bearing rocks, behind which rise the high 

peaks of the Culebra (coo-lay'bra) Range, a portion of the Rocky 

Mountains, with many lofty summits on which snow remains the 

greater part of the year. In the downgrade south to Raton. the 

train passes rapidly across the coal-bearing rocks, then through a 

short gorge in the Trinidad sandstone, and finally out into the plain 

of Pierre shale on which the town of Raton is located. -Good views 

of the lava-capped Bartlett Mesa to the east are presented at mileposts 654 and 655, the latter showing the great blocks of lava lying 

in a talus at the foot of the cliffs. Near milepost 654 there is an outcrop of coal on the east side of the track.

A short distance beyond milepost 658 the Pierre shale appears under 

a prominent cliff of the heavy Trinidad sandstone extending far to 

the east as well as to the southwest. Near milepost 659 there are 

extensive exposures of the Pierre shale west of the track, a fine view 

of Bartlett Mesa to the northeast, and a more distant view of the 

extensive Johnson Mesa, capped by lava, to the east.

Raton, the county seat of Colfax County, N. Mex., is the center of 

the mining industry of the coal field on the south side of the Raton 

Mountains, although no large mines are located in 

Raton, N. Mex. .the immediate vicinity. 'There are several other 

Elevation 6,622 feet, industries in the region, especially stock raising and 

fc« production of wool. In the southern edge of the 

town brick and other clay products are manufactured 

from the Pierre shale. The Santa Fe Trail passed through Raton, 

then known as Willow Springs. The name Raton (Spanish pronunciation rah-tone', locally pronounced rat-toon') is Spanish for mouse. 

Goat Hill, which rises precipitously in the western edge of Raton, 

consists of Trinidad sandstone. About 6 miles due east is Johnson 

Mesa, a lava-capped table-land that rises to an altitude of about 8,000 

feet and is similar to the Raton Mesa in structure. It is occupied by 

many ranches, for, owing to the high altitude, there is more rain-and 

snow on this mesa than in the adjoining lowlands, and good crops are 

usually obtained.

97570° Bull. 613 15- 5
62 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEKN UNITED STATES.

Branch railways connect Raton with Yankee and Sugarite, two 

mining towns to the east, where coal is mined from beds lying a short 

distance above the top of the Trinidad sandstone. The mines of Colfax County produce about three-fourths of the coal output of New 

Mexico, which amounts to more than 3,700,000 tons a year, valued 

at nearly $5,000,000. The St. Louis, Rocky Mountain & Pacific Railway, a part of the Santa Fe system, has a branch running to Raton 

from Clifton House, a few miles to the south, parallel to the Santa Fe 

main line.

From Dillon (see sheet 11, p. 66), 3 miles from Raton, a branch 

road extends up Dillon Canyon, in the mesa west of Raton, to coal 

mines at Blossburg and Brilliant. These mines were 

Dillon. developed mainly to supply fuel for the railway and for many 7ears yielded the §reater Part of the coal

produced in the Raton field. Coke ovens at Gardiner, 3 miles southwest of Raton, still produce a large amount of 

coke, used in smelters in the Southwest. From Raton southward for 

many miles' the mesa of Trinidad sandstone and overlying coalbearing rocks is a prominent feature of the view.

Southwest of Otero (o-tay'ro), a siding 5 miles beyond Raton, the 

face of the mesa west of the railway is very precipitous, because it is

formed of thick sheets of hard, igneous rock (basalt), 

Otero. which were intruded into the coal-bearing rocks in 

Elevation 6,378 feet a moiten condition. The heat of these intrusions

Kansas City 680 miles. ,,,,,. has changed the coalinto graphite m many places 

in an area of several square miles. These highlands culminate in 

Red River Peak, a prominent pinnacle 3 miles southwest of Otero, 

which in the early days of exploration served as an easily recognized 

landmark for the "prairie schooners" traveling the Santa Fe Trail. 

This trail, after passing through Raton Pass, came down the mesa a 

short distance north of Red River Peak, passed south near its foot, 

and went thence southwestward to Cimarron. The peak owes its 

prominence to the presence of a chimney-like mass of hard intrusive 

rock forced into the shale in a state of fusion. Beyond Otero the 

route crosses the St. Louis, Rocky Mountain & Pacific Railway, a 

line 94 miles long that lies wholly in New Mexico.

A mile southeast of Hebron is a large storage reservoir covering 

7,000 acres, to supply water to an extensive irrigated area about

Maxwell. East of Hebron and Dorsey there are 

Hebron. great masses of volcanic rocks constituting wideEievation 6,156 feet. sprea(j platforms of moderate height, surmounted in

Kansas City 687 miles. , ,r , , , , -, places by high ridges and peaks, some of which were 

originally active volcanoes. One of the most conspicuous of these 

cones is Eagletail Peak, due east of Dorsey. Laughlin and Tinaja 

peaks are other prominent summits farther east.. The sheet of dark
NE.

SECTION NEAR SANTA FE1 RY. ALONG LINE SHOWN ON MAP
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 63

lava lies on the soft Pierrc shale, and at some places its margin 

presents a cliff showing more or less columnar structure. This cliff 

exists because in most places the original thin margin of the lava flow 

has been removed by erosion and the thick mass of lava, with its 

characteristic columnar structure is exposed.

In the region extending from Raton Mesa to these volcanic peaks 

there has been prolonged volcanic activity in several separate epochs. 

The caps on the high mesas are remnants of the earliest flows, poured 

out before the surrounding lowlands had been excavated. After 

these outflows ceased erosion progressed, developing valleys and cutting away a portion of the earlier lava sheets. Then followed eruptions of lava, mostly from new vents, which spread out over the lower 

lands. This was repeated at least three times, and between successive outflows the valleys were considerably deepened. The last eruptions were very recent, for they closed with the building of cinder 

cones that are still steep-sided and have central craters apparently as 

fresh as if they had just cooled off. Eagletail and other smaller cones 

are visible from the railway; others can not be seen, but the largest, 

Mount Capulin, is only 20 miles east of Hebron.

From Hebron to and beyond Dorsey the line of cliffs to the west

continues to be a conspicuous feature. As explained

Dorsey. above, these cliffs mark the outcrop of the Trinidad

Elevation 5,885 feet san(jstone at the base of the coal-bearing rocks. They

Kansas City 691 miles. ^ ° J

gradually trend away toward the southwest, however, and near Maxwell are 15 miles from the Santa Fe line.

Several railways that lead to the coal fields beyond the cliffs on the 

west cross the Santa Fe line south of Raton. One from Dillon to

Blossburg and another south of Otero have been menMaxwell, tioned; a third goes from Hebron to Van Houten, and 

Elevation 6,063 feet, the f ourth is a branch of the El Paso & Southwestern 

Kansas cuy 7oi miles, system, which crosses at French, affording an outlet

from the extensive mines and coke ovens at Dawson. 

In the Stag Canyon mine at Dawson, on October 22, 1913, occurred 

one of the most disastrous coal-mine explosions ever known in the 

West, causing the death of 263 men. This happened in a completely 

equipped mine, in which all precautions had been taken by the management, but disregard of regulations by the miners caused coal dust 

to become ignited, and an extensive explosion followed.

The valley followed by the railway from Dillon to French is that 

of Canadian River, which rises in the hills west of Raton and flows in to

Red River in southern Oklahoma. This stream was 

French. originally called Red River, on-the supposition that 

Elevation 5,784 feet, it was the head of the Red River of Louisiana and 

Kansas city 706 mnes. Arkansas> a mistake finally rectified through explorations by.Capt. Marcy, who discovered that the headwaters of the
64 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

much shorter but so-called main branch of Red River are far to the 

southeast, in northwestern Texas.

The Canadian River valley is broad from Otero southward because 

it is excavated in the soft Pierre shale; which crops out in a wide zone 

across this portion of northern New Mexico. This shale is exposed 

here and there in shallow cuts along the railway. South of French the 

Timpas limestone is crossed, but its outcrop is hardly noticeable from 

the trains. From this point southward are shales which probably 

represent the upper formation (Apishapa shale) of the Niobrara group.

The town of Springer is .built on the north bank of Cimarron Creek, 

a running stream of moderate size, which rises in the Rocky Mountains 35 miles west. This creek is an entirely different 

Springer. stream from Cimarron River, which rises a few miles 

Elevation 5,768 feet. east of Raton and flows through Oklahoma. CimarKansas (my 715 miles. ron Creek passes through the village of Cimarron, on 

the Santa Fe Trail 20 miles northeast of Springer, and 

empties into Canadian River a few miles east of Springer.

A short distance below the juncture of Cimarron Creek and Canadian River is the beginning of the long, deep canyon which the 

Canadian cuts into the Dakota sandstone and underlying red beds. 

The water of the Cimarron, which has an average volume of 14 to 25 

second-feet, is used for the irrigation of 30,000 acres in the wide 

plains from Springer west to Cimarron Village. Formerly this region 

was entirely devoted to the cattle industry; now it is producing large 

crops of alfalfa, wheat, beans, potatoes, corn, oats, barley, and peas. 

Its fruit season begins in July with cherries, continues with apricots, 

plums, peaches, and pears, and ends in October with apples.

A short distance south of Springer there are extensive exposures of 

the Timpas limestone in stream and railway cuts. Some years ago an 

attempt was made to utilize this rock for the manufacture of cement, 

but the project was not successful, and the old kilns are all that 

remain of the enterprise. The limestone is in beds mostly from 6 to 

20 inches thick, alternating with thin layers of black shale. The 

rocks contain marine shells that are distinctive of the deposits of that 

period in this part of the intracontinental seas.1

To the south and west of this place are extensive exposures of overlying shales supposed to represent the Apishapa shale. They give 

rise to low but conspicuous buttes to the west and finally grade up 

into well-defined Pierre -shale.

1 In this region the Timpas limestone is 

underlain by 250 feet of unmistakable 

Carlile shale, extending to the top of characteristic Greenhorn limestone, which is 

extensively exposed in the banks of

Cimarron Creek a few miles east of 

Springer. There are cuts in Timpas limestone at intervals as far south as milepost 

704, where 6 feet of beds are exposed in 

layers 12 to 18 inches thick.
BULLETIN 613 PLATE X

A. ALLOSAURUS.

A great carnivorous dinosaur or megalosaurian. Restored by Charles R. Knight from bones found in the Morrison

formation, Colorado.

IS. STEGOSAURUS. 

A huge lizard that lived at Ihe time of the deposition of the Morrison formation. Restoration by Charles R. Knight.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XI

A. BRONTOSAURUS. 

A great amphibious dinosaur from horizon of Morrison formation, Wyoming. Restoration by Charles R. Knight.

B. SKELETON OF D1ADECTES.

A reptile that lived in the Southwest at the time the red beds were deposited. From the Wich-ta formation 

(lower Permian) of Texas. Specimen in American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
THE SANTA PE EOUTE. 65

At Rayado the front of a high mesa is conspicuous about 8 miles 

west of the railway. It is capped by lava (basalt) and is an out- 

. . lying portion of a widespread sheet of lava that caps 

Kaya o. ^.jle j^o^ mesa or plateau to the south and west.

?5at°on5 i9o73*feet' South of Colm°r the line gradually approaches the 

Kansas city 721 miles, east end of this plateau and at Wagon Mound passes 

through a gap in.it. The mesas in this vicinity are 

Colmor. not as high as those at Ratori Pass, but as they rise 

Elevation 5,924 feet, several hundred feet above the adjoining plains they

Population 224* . 1 , i / , AT -nrr Kansas city 725 miles. are prominent topographic features. JNear Wagon 

Mound the lava is at two levels, representing two 

stages of outflow, but that at the lower level is of small extent. 

The lava covering the higher mesas came from vents to the west, 

probably in large part from the Ocate (o-cah'tay) volcanic cone, the 

location of which is shown on sheet 11 (p. 66).

Wagon Mound is one of the old settlements on the Cimarron branch 

of the Santa Fe Trail, which came southwestward from a point near 

Dodge, Kans. Two monuments a few rods east of the 

Wagon Mound, railway station show the line of the old highway. 

Elevation 6,177 feet. This branch of the trail crossed the line of the railway 

K^sas city 741 miles. a short distance south of the station and passed 

southwestward to Fort Union, where it joined the 

other branch, which came through Raton and Cimarron and over the 

volcanic mesa west of Colmor and Wagon Mound. For a long tune 

there was a Mexican customhouse at this place. Its name is derived 

from the resemblance of one of the peaks near by to a wagon top, 

when seen from points far to the northeast.

The relations of the two lava sheets are well exposed about Wagon 

Mound. The higher sheet reaches many miles west and northwest, 

as well as along the top of the narrow ridge extending 11 miles east 

of the village. This sheet is about 100 feet thick and lies on a platform of Pierre shale that was originally the floor of the valley down 

which the lava flowed. Subsequent erosion has cut away the adjoining lands to much lower levels and considerably diminished the extent 

of the lava sheet by undermining its edges. These edges now present 

steep cliffs, in places exhibiting columnar structure and having at 

their bases talus or piles of loose fragments. The softness of the 

underlying shale greatly facilitates the breaking down of the edges 

of the lava sheets, and in places there are extensive landslides 

where huge slivers of the hard lava have been let down in this way.

Leaving Wagon Mound the train passes across a narrow tongue of 

the lower lava flow and a short distance farther south crosses a wide 

valley from which there are excellent views of the high lava-capped, 

mesas to the north. The high, ridge known as the Turkey Mountains
66 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

is a prominent feature west of Bond. (See sheet 12, p. 72.) It is due 

to a dome-shaped uplift of the rocks which in the center exposes an 

extensive area of red beds and underlying limestones of Carboniferous 

age. The light-gray foothills are the outcrop of the upturned edges 

of the Dakota sandstone.

For some distance south of milepost 730 the Greenhorn limestone 

is near the track, and finally, as it is crossed by the railway, it is exposed 

extensively in cuts, notably between mileposts 732 and 734. A short 

distance beyond milepost 734 the route descends from the flat ridge 

of the limestone into a broad area of lava (basalt). This lava came 

from the Maxson Crater, an irregular volcanic cone which is visible on 

the southeast slope of the Turkey Mountain uplift, 5 miles west of 

Optimo (op'tee-mo). The lava flowed down slopes of Dakota sandstone, then across the broad flat which is now traversed by the railway

from Optimo nearly to Shoemaker, and finally down the 

canyon of Mora River nearly 

to its mouth, 20 miles to the 

southeast. The flow is moderately recent and exhibits a 

variety of features characteristic of the later basalt flows. 

Its surface is considerably 

blistered, and much of the 

rock is vesicular or spongy, 

with small cavities due to the escape of steam.

In the broad valley south of Optimo the lava spread out widely, but

in flowing down the deep canyon of Mora River it was narrowed to a

few hundred yards. It filled this canyon about halfOptimo. wav Up its sides, but the river has since cut a narrow

Elevation 6,365 feet. inner gorge into the lava sheet and in places through

Kansas City 751 miles. , , ? T i -, -, ^

the lava into underlying rocks, as shown in figure 10.

This lava-filled canyon begins 6 miles east of the railway, and its outer

walls of sandstone are plainly visible from the vicinity of milepost 740.

Halfway between mileposts 741 and 742 the southern margin of the

lava sheet abuts against a cliff of Dakota sandstone which extends

northwestward. A short distance beyond this place, 

Shoemaker. near Shoemaker, the bank of Mora River is reached, 

Elevation 6,256 feet. an(j fa& railway follows this stream along the north

. Kansas City 758 miles. ... ,, J . . -IT^I side oi the deep canyon which it has cut in the Dakota 

sandstone and underlying beds. . The beds lie nearly horizontal and 

in places the high cliffs of sandstone have at their bases the greenishgray shale of the underlying Morrison formation. On the north side 

of the track at milepost 748 the Dakota sandstone is extensively 

quarried for railway ballast. Two miles beyond there is, on the south

L-ti.-Hl-l^-1-V: ~_-:=^l- Red' 'bed s V ~^=-'_r '-r'. rf '.-. .^.'^-l^.':

FIGUKE 10. Section across canyon of Mora River southeast 

of Optimo, N. Mex., showing relations of lava flow, looking east. The total depth of the canyon is about 700 feet.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

EXPLANATION Thickness 

in feet

A Dikes (.basalt, etc.)

B Lava flows (basalt, etc.)

Quaternary ?

Quaternary 

and Tertiary

c

D

E 

F

6 

H

1

J

K

L

M

Sandstones and shales; coal

Sandstone, shale, and coal

Sandstone 

Shale, dark, of marine origin

Limy shale of marine origin 

Limestone of marine origin

Shale with concretions, of 

marine origin

Limestone, slabby, of marine 

origin

Shale, dark, of marine origin

Sandstone

Shales, mostly pale g-reen

Raton formation

Vermejo formation

Trinidad '"" " 

Pierre

Apifehapa 

Timpas '""'cco^"0 ".- 

Carlile

Greenhorn ' "^~-

Graneros

Dakota and Purgatoire

Morrison formation

1800=

0 175"

100 

2250

500 

50 

250

 V- 60

loOj

200

150

t Tertiary

""""

Cretaceous 

> (Upper 

Cretaceous)

("Cretaceous 

 \ (Upper 

(_and Lower)

Jurassic or 

Cretaceous

N Shales and sandstone, both red "Red Beds 100CH- Triassic ? and 

Carboniferous

Sheet Wo/O OE. olOA-30'

ection along line P-P

Trinidad sandstone

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 miles to I inch 

10 5 10 15 20M

«8alcl,yPeak Contour interval 200 feet

ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles 

The crossties on the railroads are spaced ! mile apart
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 67

bank of the river, a bluff of Dakota sandstone, with Morrison shale 1 

at its base.

Watrous is the railway town for extensive cattle, sheep, and other 

interests. It dates back to the time of the Santa Fe Trail, the

Cimarron branch of which passed through the western 

Watrous. portion of the village. Eight miles north are the 

Elevation 6,398 feet, rums of Fort Union, one of the most important miliK^fcitv3^*miles *aiT stations on the Santa Fe Trail, where the two

principal branches of the trail from the north joined. 

The place may be seen far to the north from points a short distance 

beyond Watrous. The adobe houses are unroofed, most of the walls 

are falling into ruins, and the grounds are overgrown with grasses, 

but the visitor may see that the fort had accommodations for a large 

garrison. This fort served not only as a refuge for the settler and the

traveler, but its storehouse and arsenal carried a large stock of Army 

supplies. Its possession was the strategic object in the Civil War in 

the far West. To its protection Union volunteers rushed over the 

snowy mountains from Denver, while Confederate troops marched a 

thousand miles from Texas to take it. Only the defeat of the Texas 

soldiers at Glorieta Pass prevented the Confederates from capturing 

the Army supplies and ammunition stored in Fort Union.

In the vicinity of Watrous there are wide alluvial flats that have 

long been utilized for farming, mainly by the assistance of irrigation 

from Mora Kiver and a branch stream, Sapello Creek. The Mora 

drains a portion of the east slope of the Rocky Mountains. Gagings 

by the United States Geological Survey at -La Cueva (kway'va), 15 

miles above Watrous, found that its average flow was 29 secondfeet in 1909 and 20.3 second-feet in 1910.

On the south side of the track three-fourths of a mile beyond 

Watrous is a large quarry for obtaining massive blocks of Dakota 

sandstone, which are used for making embankments along portions 

of the railway as a protection from washouts.

East of the railway at milepost 753 is a granite monument marking 

the location of the Santa Fe Trail from Fort Union to Las1 Vegas. 

Its course was very nearly the same as that now followed by the 

railway. A short distance beyond Kroenigs siding the upgrade of

1 During the time of deposition of the 

clays constituting the Morrison formation 

there existed a great variety of remarkable 

reptiles of huge size. Restorations of 

some of them are shown in Plates X and 

XI (pp. 64, 65), based on bones exhumed 

from the formation in southern Colorado. 

These bones, which are in places abundant, are the remains of animals that were 

mired in the soft clay of which the Movrison formation largely consists. Some of 

these creatures, such as the Brontosaurus 

(PI. XI, A), were 60 feet long. Many of 

them had remarkably small heads, notably the Stegosaurus (PI. X, B), which 

had such a diminutive brain that it must 

have been very stupid. This animal 

was undoubtedly very clumsy also, but 

its huge size and protective armor aided 

in its preservation.
68 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WBSTEBN UNITED STATES.

the railway carries it from tlie Dakota sandstone to the Graneros 

shale 1 and thence within 2 miles to the summit of an extensive 

plateau of Greenhorn limestone, above which to the west rise buttes 

of Carlile shale. This plateau is the divide between the drainage 

basin of Mississippi River and that of the Rio Grande. A fine vista 

of the Rocky Mountains is afforded toward the north and west; due 

west is Solitario Peak, a knob of granitic rocks rising to an altitude

SE NW.

FIGURE 11. Section 6 miles north of Las Vegas, N. Mex., looking southwest, a, Carlile shale; b, Timpas 

limestone; c, Apishapa (?) and Pierre shales; d, Greenhorn limestone; e, Graneros shale; /, Dakota 

sandstone and Purgatoire formation; g, Morrison formation; 7i, red beds.

of 10,200 feet, and farther northwest are still higher peaks near the 

center of the range. The Turkey Mountains and Ocate Crater are 

conspicuous toward the northeast.

Onava is a small settlement sustained by irrigation with water 

brought through canals from streams and reservoirs a few miles to 

the northwest. From Onava southwestward the railway runs on a gentle down grade to Las Vegas, all 

way on khe sul%face °f the Greenhorn limestone, 

except where it is covered by a thin capping of the 

Carlile shale. The bed dips gently to the west and southwest, so 

that the surface of the plateau is in greater part a dip slope of the

Onava.

? mies

E. w.

FIGURE 12. Section through Las Vegas, N. Mex., looking south, a, Carlilo shale; b, Greenhorn limestone; c, Graneros shale; d, Dakota and Purgatoire sandstones; e, Morrison shale; /, massive sandstone, capped by thin limestone; g, red shales and sandstones; h, sandstone in middle of red beds; 

i, lower red beds; j, Magdalena limestone.

limestone. This rock is exposed in many railway cuts, especially 

near Las Vegas, and to the west at varying distances is a line of 

buttes of the overlying Carlile shale. The relations of the rocks near 

Onava and along a line passing through Las Vegas are shown in 

figures 11 and 12.

1 A contact of these rocks is well exposed at a point half a mile west of Kroenigs siding. To the south and west of 

this place is a low ridge of the Greenhorn limestone, which overlies the Graneros shale. All the beds in this 

vicinity lie nearly level or dip at a low 

. angle to the west.
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 69

Las Vegas.

Elevation 6,384 feet.

Las Vegas (vay'gas) is a railway division point where all the trains 

stop, most of them for meals at the Castaneda (cas-tahn-yay'da), 

a hotel named for the young soldier who accompanied 

Coronado's expedition and wrote the narrative of it. 

The Santa Fe Railway reached Las Vegas in 1879 

^t continued building rapidly to the south. The 

portion of Las Vegas near the railway is relatively 

modern; the "old town," or original Mexican settlement on the Santa 

Fe Trail, is some distance west of the station. The name is Spanish 

for the meadows. On the flat roof of a building in Las Vegas Gen. 

Kearney stood in 1846 to administer to the Mexican citizens the 

oath of allegiance to the United States. Five years before that 

the plaza of Las Vegas was the scene of a great celebration over the 

surrender of the various detachments of Texans who had entered 

New Mexico to induce the inhabitants to join the Texas Republic. 

Gallinas Creek, which flows through Las Vegas, is a small stream 

draining a portion of the east slope of the Rocky Mountains. Gagings 

by the United States Geological Survey have shown that its average flow is about 23 second-feet. The water is utilized for irrigation. 

A branch railway goes northwestward from Las Vegas, 6 miles to 

the Montezuma Hot Springs in a gap in the foothills where there is a 

large hotel and sanitarium that, in recent years, has not been open. 

Most of Las Vegas is built on the Greenhorn limestone, and this 

formation also crops out extensively in the high bluff just east of the 

railway station, where all its beds may be seen. At the base, near 

the stream, is the underlying Graneros shale/ passing upward by a 

few feet of transition beds into the Greenhorn limestone. This limestone presents its usual characteristic features of an alternation of 

many thin beds of nearly pure limestone and dark shale. In some 

of the shale and in a few beds of the limestone there are abundant 

impressions of the characteristic fossil Inoceramus labiatus, a mollusk 

with oval shell somewhat similar to the oyster. The thickness of the 

Greenhorn limestone in these exposures is fully 100 feet, and the top 

of- the formation constitutes a mesa extending some distance east to 

low hills of Carlile shale which rise above it. 3

1 A short distance north of Las Vegas 

the Greenhorn limestone passes under the 

Carlile shale, a formation which carries 

numerous round concretions in. its upper 

portion. This is overlain by a thick body 

of shale representing the Niobrara group 

and Pierre shale and occupying a basin 

which pitches to the north and the beds 

on the western edge of which are steeply 

upturned along the foothills. In these 

foothills a short distance west of Las Vegas, and especially in the canyon near the 

hot springs, are extensive outcrops of the 

succession of rocks underlying the Greenhorn limestone, comprising the Graneros 

shale, Dakota and associated sandstones, 

Morrison formation, "Red Beds" of Triassic and Carboniferous age, and older 

Carboniferous limestones, all standing 

nearly vertical on the east side of the great 

mass of granites and schists of the main 

Rocky Mountain uplift.
70 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

A few miles east of Las Vegas the plateau or bench of the mountains on which it is situated terminates in a great vertical escarpment of Dakota sandstone, which overlies the Morrison formation. 

This escarpment overlooks the Canadian and Pecos valleys, which 

lie between the Las Vegas Plateau and the western edge of the 

Staked Plains of Texas.

At Las Vegas an extra engine is attached to haul the train up the 

heavy grades of the long climb over the south end of the main chain 

of the Rocky Mountains, which lies between Las Vegas and Lamy. 

In order to find suitable grades for crossing this range it was necessary to deflect the railway line far to the south, for in the country 

west and northwest of Las Vegas the lowest passes through the mountains are at altitudes greater than 10,000 feet, or more than 2,500 

feet higher than Glorieta Pass, the one utilized.

On leaving Las Vegas, the train goes southward, at first -over a 

rolling plain of the Graneros shale along Gallinas Creek (gahl-yee'nas; 

locally gah-yee'nas) . Within 2 miles the base of this shale is reached, 

and the underlying Dakota sandstone appears in railway cuts and in 

the canyon a short distance east of the track. Half a mile beyond is 

a shallow basin of the shale, in which small outliers of the overlying 

Greenhorn limestone rise as hills on both sides of the track.

Just west of Romero (ro-may'ro) siding the railway turns west into

a gap through a "hogback" ridge that constitutes one of the foothills

of the mountains. This hogback consists of Dakota

Romero. sandstone and associated rocks steeply upturned on

Elevation 6,287 feet. fae edst Q^e of ^e upiift of the main range of the

Kansas City 791 miles. £ . °

ilocky Mountains. I he ridge is caused by the hardness of the upturned beds, which resisted to some extent the elements that eroded to a lower level the soft overlying shale on the 

east and the red shales on the west. The hogback ridge extends far 

to the north along the foot of the mountains, but toward the south, 

where the dips become gentler, it finally merges into a plateau presenting steep cliffs to the west and south, which are visible east of the 

railway for several miles.

Beyond the hogback ridge the railway goes southward up a valley 

of red shale, but in places it bears westward through gaps in several 

small ridges caused by layers of sandstone included in the red shale. 

The manner in which these sandstones give rise to small ridges is an 

instructive illustration of the relation of hard and soft rocks to the 

topography. The hard layers vary in thickness, but all make ridges 

of greater or less prominence. To the west of the railway there rises 

out of the red shale valley a bed of hard sandstone of considerable 

thickness, which constitutes a high ridge extending for many miles 

north and south parallel to the hogback ridge. The relations of these 

rocks are shown in figure 13, a section across the railway in the vicinity
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 71

of milepost 779, half a mile beyond Ojita siding. The Spanish word 

ojita (o-hee'ta) means little spring.

The sandstone in the ridge west of the railway is thick and hard, and 

is a persistent member in the middle of the great succession of red 

beds throughout this region. It is crossed by the railway in a sharp 

turn to the west at milepost 785, at the bridge over Tecolote (tay-colo'tay) Creek.

From this place westward the surface of the sandstone is traversed 

for some distance. On some of the higher mesas adjoining the track 

the overlying red shales remain.

E. w.

FIGURE 13. Section across the east slope of the Eocky Mountain uplift near Ojita, Smiles southwest of 

Las Vegas, N. Mex. a, Limestone of Magdalena group; 6, thick, hard buff sandstone; c, beds of hard 

sandstone in red shale; d, Triassic sandstone; e, gray shale (Morrison); /, Purgatoire formation and 

Dakota sandstone:

At Chapelle there are long slopes of the hard sandstone. A mile

; beyond Chapelle the old Mexican plaza of Bernal (bare-nanl') is

passed a short distance north of the railway. Near

Chapelle. j^ a^ Bernaj Springs, the Colorado volunteers

Elevation 6,068 feet. campeci m ig62 before their successful battle with the

Kansas City 805 miles L f r.£ *. iiir-il Texans, who were iresh irom victory over the Jb ederal 

troops at Valverde and encouraged by their easy occupation of 

Albuquerque and Santa Fe; A mile south of Bernal rises the wellknown landmark Starvation Hill, a butte capped by a thick mass of 

the hard sandstone above referred to. This butte was the refuge of 

a party of Spaniards pursued by Indians, and it is stated that they 

were kept on the hiH until they finally starved to death. There is a 

cross on the top, erected by the Penitentes, of whom there are many

 among the Mexican residents of this region. The butte is an outlier 

of a high mesa to the south, which consists of a widely extended 

platform capped by the hard sandstone that extends along the railway east of Chapelle, here carried to considerable height by the upward 

rise of the strata. Owing to the hardness of the capping rock and 

the softness of the underlying red shale the mesa presents a very 

precipitous outward slope toward the north.

In passing along the foot of this mesa the railway is on the lower

\ red beds for a short distance and then from milepost 792 to 794 on the
72 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

still lower limestone of the Magdalena group, 1 of Pennsylvanian age, 

which is exposed .in many of the railway cuts.

Just beyond Bibera (ree-bay'ra) the railway crosses Rio Pecos

(pay'cos), a large stream which rises in the south end of the Rocky

Mountains, flows across eastern New Mexico and the

Ribera. western part of Texas, and finally empties into the

Elevation 6,019 feet. Ri0 Qrande. This is the first important stream of

Kansas City 815 miles. > -n- /~\ -IT- -i i

the Kio Grande drainage basin met m the westward 

journey, although Gallinas .and Tecolote creeks, above referred to, 

are in the Pecos basin. According to gagings by the United States 

Geological Survey at Cowles, 20 miles or more to the north, the 

flow of this river averages about 100 second-feet. The water is 

used for irrigation at many places. There are many Mexican settlements along Rio Pecos. One of these, San Miguel (me-gale'), is a 

large plaza plainly visible from Ribera station, about a mile to the 

south, and another, San Jose (ho-say'), formerly an Indian village, is 

a short distance east of milepost 802. It was at San Jose that Gen. 

Kearney and the Army of the West encamped in 1846, expecting the 

next day to have a battle with 2,000 Mexicans under Gov. Armijo 

(ar-me'ho), who were reported to be waiting for them in the canyon 

beyond the summit. The following day near Pecos they learned that 

the Mexicans, after constructing elaborate breastworks, had quarreled among themselves, and the governor and his forces had discreetly 

retreated, leaving the way to Santa Fe open to the Americans.

It will be noted that most of the houses of the Mexican settlements 

are built of adobes (ah-doe'bays), which are large bricks made of 

sun-dried earth.2 The roofs and in some houses also the framework 

are made of jumper posts, and the better houses are plastered. 

Houses of this sort are warm in winter and cool in summer.

South of Sands and Fulton is a high plateau known as Glorieta 

Mesa, the northeastern foot of which is followed by the railway to

Glorieta (glo-reeay'ta). This mesa presents tpward 

Pulton. £ne northeast a continuous line of cliffs, with level 

Elevation 6,526 feet. crest surmounting long slopes which descend to the

Kansas City 823 miles. ; ° » r .

valley 01 the recos. The railway is built along this 

slope on an irregular shelf or series of shelves due to various sandstone beds in the lower part of the red bed series. Glorieta Mesa is

1 This limestone is a light-colored massive rock containing numerous impressions of marine shells and is brought up in 

a low arch along a prolongation of one of 

the axes of the main Rocky Mountain uplift. It is about 1,000 feet thick and is 

underlain directly by the old granites and 

schists which may be seen in the high

ridges beginning 4 or 5 miles north of milepost 794. At this milepost the railroad is 

on the lower portion of the red beds again, 

and these continue for several miles west. 

2 In the West the term adobe is commonly used both for the material from 

which the bricks are made and for a house 

built of them.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 12

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S, C. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

i Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 

5 10 15

10 15 2C 

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, «re shown every 10 mr'/es 

The crossiies on the railroads are spaced i mite apart

EXPLANATION

in

80 Quaternar;, 

Rierreand Apishapa --- 2400 | 

 Titnpas-------------------50

LaCHendre 

A Lava flows 'basal*.

Shales, gray to bla 

C Limestone - Cretaceous 

(Upper

Cretaceous

D Shales, gray, with concretions-----Car!ile ---

El Limestone, slabby-- --------------Greenhorn--

F: Shale, dark-- -------------- -Graneros----------------)60j

Cretaceous 

(Upper 

nd Lower)

-Dakota and Purgatoire

H Shale, gray to greenish - - - - -----Morrison formation

I Shale and sandstone, red - ------ Upper red beds - -

Sandstone, ,gray, ,massive (capGlorieta Mesa, etc.) 'stippled pattern)

Carboniferous 

(Permian ? and 

Pennsylvania!!.'

Shales and sandstone, mostly red 

(including Manzano group)

L Limestone, light gray 

M Granite, schist, etc.

105
THE SANTA FE KOUTE. , 73

capped by the gray to buff sandstone of the same bed which caps 

Starvation Hill and the mesa southwest of Chapelle.

At Pajarita (pah-ha-ree'ta), a small Mexican settlement north of 

the railway, 3 miles beyond Gise siding (see sheet 13, p. 88) and for 

a mile or two west of that place, the railway is on or near the top of the 

Magdalena, the same limestone as that which is exposed between 

mileposts 792 and 794. This limestone is deeply trenched by the Eio 

Pecos, which flows in a deep canyon 1 to 2 miles north of the railway 

in the vicinity of Pajarita and Rowe. The high mesa cuts off the 

view to the south, but there is in this region an extended vista to the 

north up the valley of the Rio Pecos and along the many rocky ridges 

'constituting the southern extension of the Rocky Mountains.

A short distance beyond milepost 819, 3 miles north of Rowe, the

remains of Old Pecos Church are visible about 2 miles north of the

railway, and they continue in sight to and beyond

Rowe* Decatur siding, 1 mile beyond milepost 820. They

Elevation 6,805 feet. are sn0wn in Plate XII, A (p. 74). These ruins mark

-Population358.* . vi * / / 1 / \

Kansas city 831 miles, the site oi the old pueblo oi Cicuye (see-koo yay), 

which occupied a large area on the top and slopes of 

a long low ridge of red sandstone.

The traveler is now entering the land of the Pueblo Indians, who 

have an interesting history, extending back many centuries. The 

name Pueblo (pweb'lo) was applied to them by the earliest explorers 

because they lived in well-established permanent villages (pueblos 

in Spanish), in marked contrast to the transient camps of the nomadic 

tribes to the east and west. With the Spanish conquerors and after 

them came many self-sacrificing missionaries and other colonists 

from Mexico and Spain, endeavoring to civilize the Pueblo people. 

It is not easy to-day to appreciate the heroism of the men who so 

bravely entered this strange and isolated country and ruled its 

natives for 300 years. There were many struggles and massacres, 

and the early chronicles are touching in their evidence of a religious 

zeal that overcame severe privations.

At the time of Coronado's march of conquest there were reported 

to be 71 pueblos in New Mexico and eastern Arizona, but numerous 

remains of habitations of this character show that originally there 

were many more of them and that they occupied a much wider 

territory in ancient times. In the seventeenth century the missionaries endeavored to concentrate the Pueblo people into fewer 

settlements, not alone to strengthen them against attacks from the 

savage nomadic tribes, but also to facilitate their conversion to 

Christianity. The revolt of the Pueblo people against Spanish 

authority, in 1680 to 1692, caused the abandonment of still more 

pueblos. Only about 20 pueblos are now occupied, and of these
74 . GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN" UNITED STATES.

only Acoma and possibly Isleta (ees-lay'ta) are on the same sites as 

before the revolt of 1680.

The Pueblo houses are of uniform architecture, built of stone or 

adobes in terraces one upon another, the roof of one house being the 

yard of the next. Ladders were used both for exterior and interior 

climbing. Entrance was effected through a hole in the roof, through 

which also the smoke escaped. Doors, chimneys, and the domeshaped ovens which seem so characteristic now were all introduced 

by the Spaniards. The women built the houses and later the 

churches as well.

The Pueblo people have always been weavers and potters, and it 

is believed that the "Navajo blanket" was introduced to the Navajos 

by Pueblo women. They raised cotton prior to the conquest, and 

the Spaniards introduced sheep. The Spaniards imposed an annual 

tax on the Indians of a yard of cotton cloth and a.bushel of corn 

from, each house.

In general the Spaniards were received with hospitality on their 

arrival in 1540, but the lightness with which Coronado viewed his 

promises to the Indians caused serious hostility. Not until Juan de 

Onate (ohn-yah'tay) arrived in 1598 were the Pueblo tribes favorably influenced toward civilization. Onate divided the country 

into districts, to each of which a priest was assigned. Missionary 

work flourished during the seventeenth century until the successful 

revolt of the Indians against the civil authorities in 1680. Then for 

12 years the Pueblo people were free from Spanish dominion, but as 

during this time they were also deprived of -Spanish protection, they 

suffered from the attacks of their ancient enemies, especially the 

Navajos and the Apaches. They were reconquered in 1692 by De 

Vargas, probably the greatest of the Spanish governors, and since 

then the Pueblo Indians have been at peace with the white inen, 

both Spaniard and American. They still live in pueblos on their own 

land, most of which was covered by Spanish grants and is now in 

Government reservations.. Their population has remained for 

several centuries at about 8,000.

The ruins of one of the most famous of these historic pueblos is 

Pecos, the one above referred to, which lies 3 miles northwest of 

E-owe. In Coronado's time Pecos was a well-established city, known 

as Cicuye, much admired by the Spaniards. At that time it had two 

communal structures four stories high, with over 500 rooms on the 

ground floor, as well as other buildings, and a population estimated 

between 10,000 and 20,000. In 1617 the Indians erected an elaborate 

church, with four high towers, and a convent, under the encouragement of the missionaries, who .established schools of reading, writing, 

and music. These Indians belonged to the Jemez (hay'mace) tribe, 

though their isolation led to their being considered a separate nation.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE Xll

A. RUINS OF OLD PECOS CHURCH, NORTHWEST OF ROWE, N. MEX. 

The ruins of a very large pueblo cover a hill near the church.

JFVX't,

Jl. SANTO DOMINGO, N. MEX. 

An Indian pueblo on the Rio Grande at the mouth of Galisteo Creek, Rio Grande in the distance.
U. 6. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XIII

A. WEST FRONT OF SANDIA MOUNTAINS NEAR BERNALILLO, N. MEX.

Granite and schist capped by sandstone and thick beds of limestone (Magdalena group). Plain of Santa Fe marl

in foreground.

!>'. CRATCR OF EXTINCT GEYSER THREE MILES WEST OF SUWANEE, N. MEX.

View northward; railway in distance. The material is silica deposited by hot water, which has built up a low

cone around the crater.
THE SANTA PE ROUTE. 75

The decline of this stronghold began with its revolts against the 

Spaniards. Then followed sanguinary raids of hostile Indians, one 

band of Comanches killing nearly every man of the tribe. Epidemics 

also devastated their ranks, so that finally only 17 survivors remained. 

They were removed to the parent village, Jemez. When Maj. 

Emory passed through this region in 1848 he found that the place had 

been abandoned only recently and learned that the devotional fire 

had been kept burning in the estufa (a sacred ceremonial chamber 

found in. all the pueblos) until within' a very few years. Now only the 

low mounds of ruins remain, except for the church, of .which the 

heavy walls falling into ruins are still a landmark (see PI. XII, A), 

as in the days of the Santa Fe Trail. These ruins have recently 

been acquired by the Historical Society of New Mexico, which has 

made provision for their preservation. Half a mile away was the 

favorite eating station on the entire trail, where notably substantial 

meals were served, including delicious trout caught in the stream 

near by. In this part of his journey the traveler passes picturesque 

canyons, cliffs, and mesas of varicolored rocks, among which deep 

reds and browns are the prevailing tints.

The train makes a long, steep climb to Glorieta Pass, just west of 

Glorieta siding, where the road reaches an altitude of 7,421 feet in 

a cu^ ^ fee* deep through the summit. 1 This pass 

is at the divide between the waters of the Pecos and

. 

those of the Rio Grande. lo the north are fine 

^^ of foe high peaks of the Rocky Mountains. 

One of the higher pinnacles, known as Thompson Peak, 10,546 

feet above the sea, is about 7 miles northwest of Glorieta and 

plainly in view, and other peaks, some of them 2,000 feet higher, 

may be seen farther north. The range which culminates in these 

peaks and whose axis is crossed at Glorieta is described as the Santa 

Fe Range by some authors and as the Glorieta Mountains by others, 

but the entire system of higher ridges constituting the" southern 

extension of the Rocky Mountains is usually called the Sangre de

Glorieta

Elevation 7,417 feet.

Population 349* 

Kansas city 841 miles.

1 The rocks at Glorieta station and in 

the slopes east and west are the lower 

members of the great series of red beds, 

in part of Pennsylvanian age, which are 

extensively exposed all the way from milepost 775. The rocks in the cut are red 

shales, including many beds of red, brown, 

and gray sandstones. They contain numbers of the leafy twigs, branches, and 

cones of Walchia, an ancient type of 

cone-bearing trees nearest related to the 

Norfolk Island pine (Aralicaria), now so 

common in conservatories. The fossil

plants found in this cut show the age of 

the rocks to be Permian. The red beds, 

most of which were laid down in fresh, 

water, extend some distance up the slopes 

of the ridge north of the cut, where they 

give place to underlying limestones (the 

Magdalena) rising on a steep dip toward 

the east. Not far beyond appear the 

granites and schists of the main Rocky 

Mountain range. These rocks have been 

brought up by arching and faulting, and 

they rise rapidly into prominent peaks 

that constitute the main ridge.
76 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Cristo Range. It extends continuously northward through northern 

New Mexico into Colorado. After passing through Glorieta Pass the 

railroad turns southwestward and follows a series of canyons and valleys, the headwaters of a branch of Galisteo (gah-lis-tay'o) Creek, on 

a continuous down grade to the Rio Grande at Santo Domingo. In 

40 miles the descent is 2,175 feet, of which the steeper part (963 feet) 

is between Glorieta and Lamy.

This portion of the journey takes the traveler over a historic 

battle ground, for here occurred a decisive clash between Union and 

Confederate forces in 1862. A preliminary skirmish ending in favor 

of the northern forces was followed by a battle that lasted nine hours 

and ended in a truce. The Confederates, who were from Texas, were 

superior in numbers and equipment, but their stores were burned in 

a brilliant flanking movement. They returned to Santa Fe and 

the northern forces to Fort Union. This is variously known as the 

battle of Glorieta, of Apache Canyon, and of Pigeon's ranch, which 

was near the scene of battle.

Beyond the big cut at Glorieta there are extensive exposures of 

the lower red beds for some distance, extending up to the great cap 

of hard sandstone that constitutes the mesa to the east. This is the 

western face of Glorieta Mesa, which at Glorieta Pass turns southward. In a cut about 2 miles beyond the summit some thin-bedded 

blue clays, included in the red beds, contain the remains of fresh-water 

shells and insects, and ferns of Permian age. A short distance below 

milepost 829 the sandstone that caps the mesa is brought down below 

the track by an abrupt bend of the beds, and at this place it is well 

exposed in cuts and canyon walls. Not far west it is cut off by a 

great fault:

On leaving the narrow pass in the canyon the tram passes the little

Mexican village of Canyoncito on the right. At this place the Santa

Fe Trail, which the railway has followed thus far

Canyoncito. down the canyon, turns to the west to cross the hills

Elevation 6,855 feet, to Santa Fe. Canyoncito was a well-known point on

the trail m the old- days > when its stores> saloons, and 

hotels were well patronized. Not all the caravans, 

however, used this route, many of them, especially in the earlier days, 

leaving the main trail near Cimarron and crossing the range to the 

Indian pueblo of Taos and thence to the city. Santa Fe, the capital 

of New Mexico, is 12 miles to the northwest, at the west foot of the 

mountain range which is crossed at Glorieta.

Below Canyoncito the railway follows Apache Canyon, in which 

there are extensive exposures of the lower red. beds on both sides. 

Just beyond milepost 832 the train enters a narrow gorge in granite 

which has been brought up by a fault. This granite extends for 

nearly a mile to another fault that cuts it off on the west. The
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 77

canyon in the granite is very narrow, deep, and winding and presents 

many picturesque features carved in hard rock. This is the only 

place at which the oldest rock of the Rocky Mountains is crossed by 

the railway, and its presence here is due to two faults, or breaks in 

the earth's crust, along which a narrow wedge of the granite has been 

uplifted in relation to the adjoining red beds. At the mouth of the 

granite canyon, just east of the track, are the remains of the Lamy 

church and convent, built by the Spanish missionaries several centuries ago. It is now in ruins, but the general character of the building is evident.

Most trains stop at Lamy, some of them to connect with a branch

that extends north to Santa Fe, 18 .miles, and some for meals at the

remarkably pretty little hotel named El Ortiz. Lamy

Lamy. takes its name from the first American archbishop

Elevation MM foet. of ganta ^Q. At Lamy the valley of Galisteo Creek

Kansas City 850 miles. ITT , -TT T-T widens, and although on its east side there are high 

masses of the southern continuation of Glorieta Mesa, the region to 

the west and south is mostly a rolling plain. This is part of the 

broad basin of the Rio Grande, which is occupied by a widespread 

accumulation of sands, gravels, and loams of Tertiary age. This 

basin extends far westward to the foot of the mountains, which may 

be seen in the distance, and down the Rio Grande valley through all 

of central New Mexico. The eastern edge of the Tertiary deposits 

lying against the older rocks is exposed in the ridges a short distance 

north and west of Lamy.

Eighteen miles north of Lamy and easily accessible by trains on 

the branch line is the quaint and interesting town of Santa Fe, one 

of the oldest white settlements in the country. " It was established in 

1605 by Juan de Ofiate as a seat of the Spanish Government. Many 

of the ancient buildings and churches still remain. In the excellent 

museum kept by the State Historical Society in the old palace there 

are many souvenirs of. the early and late history of New Mexico. 

This history has been one of extraordinary interest, from the time 

when a mere handful of Spaniards made Santa Fe their headquarters 

in controlling thousands of hostile Indians to the later days of the 

American occupation, beginning in 1846. The first Territorial legislature of New Mexico (then including Arizona) met here June 1, 1851. 

The church of San Miguel, the oldest church in the United States, is 

in Santa Fe.

To the transcontinental traveler the town is of special interest as 

the terminus of the old Santa Fe Trail. Every summer the caravans 

found on their arrival that people had corne to Santa Fe from all sides, 

even from places as far away as El Paso, to purchase their wares, and 

many stores were opened in Santa Fe expressly for the sale of their 

goods. The wagons of many of the traders had a capacity equal to 

97579° Bull. 613 15 6
78 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

that of a small canal boat. They carried a load of domestic cottons, 

silks, hardware, etc., which they were able to sell at 50 to 100 per 

cent profit. This high rate was necessary considering not only the 

long and perilous journey of transportation but also the import tax 

that was levied upon these merchantmen of the plains by the Mexican 

authorities an exorbitant duty, sometimes as high as 100 per cent. 

This entry duty was succeeded by another duty on the money carried 

away, so the early traders frequently invested their gains in beaver 

skins, which passed through free and yet netted a good profit on sale 

in St. Louis.

At the ruins of San Cristobal (cris-toe'bahl), which is only about 7 

miles south of Lamy and is easily reached by a good road through the 

Pankey ranch, there are sandstone cliffs marked with many wellpreserved Indian pictographs. They are opposite the site of San 

Cristobal pueblo, which has recently been extensively excavated. 

The pictographs were apparently traced by a hard-pointed stone or 

arrowhead. Pictures were of great importance to the Indians, not

FIGURE 14. Section across Galisteo Valley at Lamy, N. Mex.

only those on rocks but the markings on their own bodies. The 

body markings often acted as personal badges of bravery, marriage, freedom, or slavery and in the same way, it is believed, most 

of the rock pictures recorded the achievement of some individual.

Just west of Lamy station shales and limestones of Upper Cretaceous age (Mancos) are well exposed, dipping steeply eastward, and 

the Dakota sandstone and underlying Morrison shale crop out half a 

mile north of the station. On the east side of the flat east of the 

village these rocks are cut off by a prolongation of the fault which 

passes down Apache Canyon. East of this fault rise steep slopes of 

the red beds which underlie.the high mesa extending southward from 

Glorieta Mesa. The relations of the rocks at Lamy are shown in 

figure 14.

The prominent butte just south of Lamy, known as Cerro Colorado, 

consists of Mesaverde sandstones overlying the Mancos shale. These 

sandstones dip southwestward and underlie the country on both 

sides of the railway for some distance. They are exposed extensively in railway cuts and form prominent ridges along the railway 

at intervals from Lamy to and beyond Kennedy.
THE SA1STTA FE EOUTE. 79

A short distance north of Kennedy the Santa Fe line is crossed

by the New Mexico Central Railroad, which extends from Santa

Fe, 25 miles north of Kennedy, to Torrence, on the El

Kennedy. Paso & Southwestern system, 90 miles south. Just

Elevation G,ooe feet. north of Kennedy the railway crosses a vertical dike

Kansas City 859 miles. n. v- i. * j * J 4- 4-1, of basalt which extends east and west across the 

country for a long distance, cutting the sandstone. Its width averages about 30 feet, and, owing to the great resistance to erosion 

offered by the hard igneous rock, its course is marked by a distinct 

ridge from 30 to 100 feet high.

Two miles east of Kennedy is the Mexican village of Galisteo, 

which was an important settlement two centuries ago. A short distance north of it are numerous low red mounds with traces o'f walls 

marking the site of the Galisteo pueblo. In 1680, or at the time 

of the massacre, it had a population of about a thousand Tanos 

Indians under control of the Spaniards, who had erected a handsome church. Six miles east, up the creek, was another pueblo, 

San Cristobal, now marked by extensive ruins. Galisteo remained 

prominent until late in the eighteenth century, when the Tanos, 

greatly depleted by smallpox and the depredations of the Comanches, 

removed to the village of Santo Domingo, on the Rio Grande, a 

little farther west, where their descendants now live, preserving their 

language and many customs.

About 5 miles south of Kennedy is a prominent butte, known as 

Cerro Pelon (pay-lone', Spanish for bald), which consists of a thick 

mass of igneous rock lying on sandstones.

A few rods beyond Ortiz, at milepost 847, is a quarry where a rock 

known as breccia is taken out in large blocks to be used in protecting the railway embankment at various places. This 

Ortiz- breccia consists of angular masses of volcanic rocks 

Elevation 5,820 feet. of various kinds mixed with more or less sand and

Kansas City 862 miles. . . . .

cemented together into stone ol considerable hardness. The cementing agent is lime or silica deposited by underground water passing through the deposit. This rock crops out in 

extensive cliffs on the north side of the track for some distance on 

both sides of Ortiz. It is a member of the Galisteo sandstone 

(of probable Tertiary age), which occupies a basin of considerable 

area extending northward under the sands and clays known as Santa 

Fe marl.

The name Ortiz, applied to various features in central New Mexico, 

belongs to a family which has been prominent in the history of the 

Southwest since the arrival of its founder with De Vargas's expedition 

of conquest after the pueblo revolt of 1680-1692.

A mile and a half beyond Ortiz siding the Ortiz Mountains are 

visible, 10 miles southwest of the railway. They consist of a thick
80 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

body of igneous rock intruding the coal-bearing Mesaverde sandstone. 

Considerable gold ore has been found here and there along the 

slopes of these mountains and also in placer form in the wash of many 

of the draws leading out of them... The mining is done mainly by 

Mexicans; none of it is on a large scale, but it has been in progress 

for more than two centuries and at intervals still yields a small profit. 

Gold was taken from the Dolores mine in this district as early as 1830. 

At milepost 849 the sandstones of later Cretaceous age rise from 

beneath the Tertiary beds and appear in ledges of considerable prominence just north of the railway, the ridge of breccia dropping back 

to the north. Halfway between mileposts 849 and 850, this sandstone contains numerous petrified logs,1 some of them 50 to 60 feet 

long, exposed in a small area a short distance north of the railway. 

From this place westward the sandstones are conspicuous in prominent ledges, in which most of the beds dip steeply to the southeast. 

Buff is the prevailing color, but some of them are red.

White ash coal.

Peacock coal \ 

.Cook and White <

Shaleand sandstone. Igneous 

rocK

Mancos shale Shale and sandstone Igneous rock

Horizontal and vertical scale 

O 500 1,000 E,OOOFeet

FIGURE 15. Section through Madrid, 3 miles south of Los Cerrillos, N. Mex.,showing relations of coal 

beds to the sheets of igneous rock.

Just north of the railway, halfway between mileposts 851 and 852, 

a large mass of igneous rock cuts across the beds of sandstone and 

shale. It was forced up in molten condition through cracks in the 

strata. A short distance farther west, where the igneous rock is 

quarried extensively, it is exposed cutting across vertical shales. 

This is in the eastern part of the village of Los Cerrillos.

Los Cerrillos (sair-reel'yos, locally sair-ree'yos; Spanish for little 

hills) is an old village sustained mostly by mining in the adjoining 

hills. At Madrid, a few miles south of it, are large 

coal mines whose product is taken by a branch railway to Waldo, the next station beyond Los Cerrillos. 

The total amount of coal so far mined is more than 

2,500,000 tons, and the output in 1913 was approximately 68,000 tons. Coal was discovered here in 1835. Before the 

railway was constructed the output of the mines was small, but 

in 1882 the deposits here became a very important source of supply, 

and a large area has since been worked out. There are three prinLos Cerrillos.

Elevation 5,669 feet. 

Population 674.* 

Kansas City 868 miles.

1 These appear to be the remains of 

a forest of Cretaceous age. The stems 

are largely chalcedonized, but the microstructure shows that they were conifers. 

(See also the description of the Petrified 

Forest, pp. 107-109.)
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 81

oipal beds of coal, ranging from 3 to 5 feet thick in greater part. The 

field is about 12 miles long and 3 to 8 miles wide. The coal occurs 

in sandstone and shale of the Mesaverde formation. An interesting 

feature of this place is that a considerable part of the coal has been 

converted into anthracite and some of it into coke by the heat of 

two extensive sheets of igneous rock which have been forced in a 

molten condition between the beds. A large amount of this anthracite is mined, most of it from a bed which in other parts of the area 

yields bituminous coal.

Four miles north of Los Cerrillos are the mines from which for 

many years our principal supply of turquoise was obtained. The 

mineral is found in small veins and other masses in an igneous rock 

(diorite porphyry), which cuts the Cretaceous shales and sandstones. 

It occurs very irregularly through the decomposed portions of the 

rock and also varies greatly in size, color, and suitability for use as a 

gem. It is believed that the turquoise has been deposited in cracks 

in the igneous rock by percolating waters which brought together, in 

solution, its constituents derived from the decomposing diorite porphyry. Besides the principal mine there are several small openings 

in which small pockets of turquoise have been found from time to 

time. The value of the product has risen to $500,000 in some years; 

in 1895 one stone obtained was valued at $6,000. The locality has 

been known to the Indians for many centuries and was the source of 

the material used by them, in large amount, for beads and jewelry. 

Some- of them regard it as a specific against contagion. When Pedro 

de Tovar, one of Coronado's men, visited the Hopis in Arizona they 

presented him with specimens of turquoise which undoubtedly came 

from this place. Many of the early explorers visited the locality 

under the guidance of the Indians, for the place is referred to in the 

journals of all the expeditions which passed in this vicinity. On 

the slopes of Mount Chalchihuitl (tchal-tchi-wee'tl, the old Mexican 

name for turquoise), one of the minor peaks of the hills called Los 

Cerrillos, 1 the earliest observers discovered large pits that had been 

long abandoned, for the debris was overgrown with good-sized trees,

1 The Mils north of Los Cerrillos station 

are of similar origin to the Ortiz Mountains, on the south that is, they consist 

of masses of igneous rock (diorite porphyry) that has been forced up in molten 

condition through the Cretaceous shales 

along irregular vents of various sizes. 

They constitute a group of six conical 

peaks occupying an area of about 12 

square miles. The relations of one of 

these masses is well exposed a short dis-. 

tance east of the station, and other contact

phenomena are visible at intervals in the 

next mile west. Nearly a mile west of 

Los Cerrillos a wall of the igneous rock 

rises 150 feet above the railway track and 

continues for nearly a quarter of a mile. 

At intervals westward past Waldo many 

large dikes of the igneous rock cut the 

shale, and most of them give rise to low 

but conspicuous ridges extending several 

miles acros? the country. Some of these 

dikes are plainly visible a short distance 

north of the railway.
82 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Waldo.

and found numerous stone hammers. It was evident that the workings were of great antiquity.

The ruins of the old pueblo of San Marcos stand a short distance 

north of Los Cerrillos.

At Waldo the branch railway from Madrid joins the main line. 

West of Waldo the route crosses a thick body of Mancos shale, dipping 

mostly eastward. Near milepost 858, about 4 miles 

west of Waldo, the Dakota and associated sandstones 

Elevation 5,606 feet. an(j shales are brought up in regular succession from

Kansas City 869 miles. 1111 -, -T under the shales, and they present excellent exposures not far from the railway. The main mass of sandstone, which 

rises in a ridge of considerable prominence, is underlain by a thick 

series of sandstone and light-colored clays, believed to be the Morrison formation. These beds are underlain by a 60-foot bed of gypsum, 

which comes to the railroad in a high bluff at milepost 859 and continues in sight to the north for nearly a mile. This thick deposit of 

gypsum, 1 on account of its snow-white color and the large mass 

exposed, is one of the most conspicuous occurrences of the mineral in 

the Southwest.

At Rosario siding the cliff of gypsum may be seen to bear off to 

the northeast, and the country for many miles west of that place is 

occupied by the sands, gravels, and loams of the formation known 

as the Santa Fe marl, which is of late Tertiary age. There are conspicuous exposures of this formation all along the slopes of the valley 

of Galisteo Creek, past Domingo station, to the Rio Grande. The 

beds lie nearly level and are mostly carved into badland forms. In 

some of the mesas in view far to the northeast these marls are overlain by some thick sheets of black lava (basalt), which were poured 

out over the plain before the valleys had been excavated as deep as 

they are at present.

By looking up the Rio Grande from the mouth of Galisteo Creek, 

which is 2 miles west of Domingo, the traveler may discern White 

Rock Canyon, through which the river flows for several miles and in which it is joined on the west by Domingo.

Elevation 5,248feet. paj arita and Frijole (free-ho'lay) creeks. In the deep

Kansas City 881 miles. J , , J , ft

canyons 01 these creeks are some ol the most extensive and remarkable cliff dwellings in the West. The rock of the 

canyon walls is a volcanic tuff of very massive structure and only 

moderate hardness. This great body of tuff lies against the east 

flank of the Valle Grande (vahl'yay grahn'day) Mountains, which rise 

prominently 20 miles to the northwest. In the canyon walls this

1 Gypsum consists of calcium sulphate 

with about 20 per cent of combined water. 

It is the source of plaster of Paris, which 

ia used extensively in the arts and which

is prepared by heating gypsum to a moderately high temperature to drive off the 

combined water and grinding the resulting mass to a fine powder.
THE SANTA PE ROUTE. 83

tuff rises in high, cliffs, in which thousands of excavations were cut 

by the aborigines. These places afforded particularly favorable conditions for dwellings, owing to then1 inaccessibility to the enemy and 

comparative ease of defense.

The cliff dwellings, of which there are many in New Mexico and 

Arizona, were occupied by Pueblo Indians and their ancestors, especially in time of danger from hostile tribes. Some of them were 

located near streams and fields and it is likely that they were occupied as dwelling places and for storage of grain and other property 

at times when no danger threatened. In the edge of the Jemez 

Plateau, which faces the Rio Grande a few miles north of Santo 

Domingo, there are thousands of caves that were thus used. The 

early history of the Pueblo people affords many examples of their 

willingness to abandon an old home, or even a pueblo, when it suited 

their interests to do so. This, in some measure, accounts for the 

great number of ruins in the Southwest, and thus it must not be 

imagined that cliff dwellings were deserted only because of the extermination of the tribe that had occupied them.

The Rio Grande, the east bank of which is followed by the railway 

from the mouth of Galisteo Creek to Albuquerque and beyond, is 

one of the longest streams in the United States, draining a wide area 

of the central Rocky Mountains in Colorado and northern New 

Mexico. Its valley was the natural route for all the exploring parties 

and the site of the settlements of many of their colonists. It was 

named by Hernando de Alvarado, of the Coronado expedition, Rio 

de Nuestra Senora (River of Our Lady). The bottom lands that 

extend along the river at most places have been utilized for many 

centuries for agriculture and there are almost continuous settlements 

and ranches along both sides. As early as 1680 there were 19 ranches 

of Spaniards in the general Albuquerque region.

Many of the present ranches and villages are peopled by Mexicans, 

but there are also numerous settlements of Indians. One large Indian 

village is at Santo Domingo (see PI. XII, B, p. 74), not far north of 

the railway, half a mile below the mouth of Galisteo Creek. This 

pueblo, known to be the third one built on this site, was established 

as Gipuyi 200 years ago. Because of its proximity to the Rio Grande 

it has suffered disastrously in three great floods. There are at Santo 

Domingo now about 800 Indians living in fairly comfortable adobe 

houses and cultivating an extensive area of adjoining fields, largely 

irrigated from the Rio Grande. These Indians have for a long time 

been the chief traders in the turquoise from Los Cerrillos. Together 

with those at San Felipe (fay-lee'pay), Cochiti (co-chee'tee), and several other pueblos, they are remnants of the eastern division of the 

Keresan tribe, of which the Acoma and Laguna Indians form the 

western division. They have a language very different from that of
84 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.,

other Indians in New Mexico. On their feast day, which is about 

August 4 to 7, a great celebration occurs, with dances and other 

features. This is attended by a large number of people, who are made 

welcome.

Southwestward from Santo Domingo along the east bank of the 

Rio Grande there are extensive exposures of the Santa Fe marl in 

long slopes, partly of a badland character. In places on the west side 

this material constitutes the slopes of mesas of considerable height, 

which are capped by lava flows (basalt).

Opposite milepost 875, 2^ miles beyond Elota (ay-lo'ta) siding, 

there is another Indian pueblo, known as San Felipe. Although it 

is on the west bank of the river it is plainly visible from the trains, 

and many of its features may be seen in passing. A conspicuous 

building is the large church of curious architecture in the center of the 

settlement. As early as 1607 San Felipe had a church. The 

present town was built at the beginning of the eighteenth century. 

On top of the mesa a short distance north of San Felipe are ruins of a 

still older pueblo built for protection against the Spaniards. At a 

still earlier time the Indians had other places of residence, including Cubero (koo-bay'ro), all bearing the name Katishtya. These 

Indians, like those at Santo Domingo, are of Keresan stock. They 

now number about 500.

Behind San Felipe there is a moderately high mesa of Santa Fe 

marl capped by a sheet of black lava (basalt). The edge of this 

sheet shows the columnar structure characteristic of rocks of this 

kind. The lava came out of cracks some distance to the west and 

spread over a considerable area at a time when the bottom of the 

valley was about 150 feet higher than it is at present. There have 

been many of these eruptions at different places in the valley of the 

Rio Grande, as well as on some of the adjoining highlands, and 

volcanic activity appears to have continued until very recent time. 

The Pueblo Indians have traditions of "floods of fire/' and it is 

stated that volcanic ash fell in seven of the twelve years following 

their revolt for independence from Spanish rule.

Algodones (ahl-go-doe'nace) is a Mexican village which is an

important center and shipping point for ranches and the sheep

industry. The valley of the Rio Grande in this

Algodones. vicinity contains many large fields of alfalfa and

Elevation 5,089 feet, other crops irrigated by water supplied by canals

Population 1,078.* » ,, . r ,.,, , , n . , . , ,, Kansas city 894 miles, from the river. I he hills on both sides consist 01 the 

gray to pink Santa Fe marl, which extends along 

the valley in a belt of considerable width. On the west side of the 

river these beds are capped by a lava sheet forming a high mesa. 

This material is called marl because it is a fine light-colored silt, 

similar to the true marl deposited in ponds. Ridges rising out of
THE SANTA FE BOUTE. 85

Ruiz.

the Santa Fe marl, at a point 6 miles northeast of Algodones, consist 

of the Dakota and associated sandstones and the red beds, while 

farther south the underlying rocks appear in a ridge of limestone 

(the Magdalena) which rises gradually to a high range known as the 

Sandia Mountains (sahn-dee'ah, Spanish for watermelon). This 

range is a very prominent feature that extends along the east side 

of the Rio Grande valley for 7 miles. Its higher summits rise somewhat above an altitude of 10,000 feet that is, 5,000 feet above the 

river.

Ruiz (rwees) is a contraction of the name of the Franciscan friar 

Rodriguez, who organized a small expedition from Mexico in 1581. 

On an exploring trip through the pueblos, he and 

two other Franciscans remained after the departure 

Elevation 5,063 feet of their golciiers. The three friars were murdered

Kansas City 898 miles. .

by the Indians, Rbdriguez being the last of the three. 

He was killed in this neighborhood, and his body was thrown into 

the Rio Grande, which was then in flood.

On the west side of the river opposite Ruiz, a small body of black 

volcanic rock (basalt) is exposed, cutting across the marls and forming 

a small peak. Probably this represents a feeder for the lava flow on 

the mesa, which here trends off to the northwest.

Near Bernalillo the steep western front of the Sandia Mountains is 

plainly in view (PI. XIII, A, p. 75). The greater part of the slope is 

granite and schist, but at the top there is a capping of several hundred feet of limestone, which also dips continuously down the more 

moderate eastern slope of the range. This limestone presents to the 

west a light-colored, almost unbroken cliff of considerable height, 

which is readily recognized above the darker, rugged, granite slopes. 

A cross section of the Sandia Mountains 1 is given in figure 16.

1 This range is the northernmost of a 

series of nearly similar ranges which 

stretch from north to south east of the 

Kio Grande, extending as far south as El 

Paso, where they abruptly end. The 

limestone capping the Sandia Mountains 

is of later Carboniferous age (Magdalena 

group), and in the valley east of the 

mountains it dips beneath a thick series 

of red beds (Pennsylvanian to Triassic), 

as shown in the section. It has long 

been supposed that the beds on the west 

front of these mountains are cut off by 

a great fault, or in other words that 

they are due to an uplifted block of the 

earth's crust broken off along its west 

side. There is, however, considerable

evidence afforded by small exposures of 

limestone .along the west foot of the moimtains to show that they are due mainly to 

an upward arch of the strata, effected 

mostly by bending, but doubtless with 

minor local breaks. Most of the limestone and the overlying rocks that extend 

along the west foot of the mountains are 

covered by a thick sheet of the Santa Fe 

marl, which occupies a large part of the 

Rio Grande valley. These deposits crop 

out at many places in the slopes on both 

sides of the river. They are sands and fine 

loams, with some layers of reddish tint, all 

lying nearly horizontal. The broad basin 

or old valley which they occupy is excavated in soft shales of Cretaceous age.
86 GUIDEBOOK OP THE WESTERN" UNITED STATES.

Bernalillo (bare-nah-leel'yo, locally ber-nah-lee'yo; Spanish for 

little Bernard) was so named because it was settled by descendants 

of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who was associated with 

Bernalillo. Cortez in the conquest of Mexico. The population 

Elevation 5,033 feet, consists mainly of Mexicans, and the village is one of 

the oldest settlements in the valley. The fertility of 

the wide valley and the favorable conditions for irrigating by use of the water of the Rio Grande have been the principal 

factors in sustaining a large settlement at this place. De Vargas, 

the Spanish governor who restored Spanish domination after a lapse 

of 12 years, died here in 1704. There have been Indian villages on 

the same site and in the vicinity for centuries.

A short distance north of Bernalillo began the province of the Tigua 

group of Pueblo people, who became famous through the narratives 

of the early historians. They comprised three geographic divisions, 

of which the one living in the region extending from Bernalillo 35

FIGURE 16. Section through Sandia Mountains, near Bernalillo, N. Mex., looking south, a, Sandstone; 

6, Magdalena limestone; c, red sandstone; d, gray sandstone and limestone; e, red shale; /, massive 

red sandstone (Wingate); g, gypsum and limestone; Ti, Morrison shale; i, Dakota sandstone; j, Mancos 

shale; fc, Mesaverde coal measures.

miles south was the middle. The reported population in 1630 was 

7,000, living in 15 or 16 pueblos. Their principal settlement, 

Puaray (pwa-rye'), called by the early explorers Tiguex, lies in 

ruins at the south end of the present village of Bernalillo. It was 

probably here that Coronado spent his first winter and here that he 

conducted a 50-day siege during the revolt of the Tigua villages 

against him. His success led to the first plundering of the town 

by the Spaniards; the last occurred at the time of the general revolt 

of the Pueblos against Spanish rule in 1680 and resulted in the final 

abandonment of the village by the Indians.

From Bernalillo to Albuquerque, a distance of 16 miles, the railway 

continues along the east side of the Rio Grande, but in some places it 

is separated from the stream by wide alluvial flats, which at Albuquerque are more than a mile across. The Tigua pueblo of Sandia is 

on the east side of the Rio Grande about 12 miles north of Albuquerque. It was visited by Coronado and had many vicissitudes of 

abandonment and burning, but was reestablished by the missionaries.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 87

Ten miles from Albuquerque is the ruined pueblo of Alameda

(ah-lah-inay'da, Spanish for row of cottonwoods). This was a

Tigua village which was built upon the banks of the

Alameda. Rio Grande, but owing to a change in the course of

Elevation 4,980 feet, that variable stream, it lies now a mile from the river's

zZS a^o*mnes. ed£e- Here Cardenas had 200 Indians burned at the

stake, a crime for which he was thrown into prison

when he returned to Spain. Like its companion villages of Puaray

(at Bernalillo) and Sandia, Alameda was burned by the Spaniards at

the time of the general uprising in 1680.

To the east there are fine views of the west front of the Sandia 

Mountains. (See PL XIII, A, p. 75.) Near Albuquerque it may be 

seen that this range .is terminated on the south by a deep gap, 

south of which rises another range, of similar structure, known as the

Manzano Mountains.

The portion of Albuquerque (ahl-boo-care'kay) known as "old 

town" extends along the river bank a mile to the west; the part 

near the railway is much younger. The city was 

Albuquerque. founded in 1701 by Gov. Pedro Rodriguez y Cubero, 

Elevation 4,954 feet, who established 30 families there and applied to it 

the name of the Duke of Alburquerque, who had 

been viceroy of New Spam. The duke, who never 

came to America, ordered the name changed to San Felipe de 

Alburquerque as a compliment to the reigning king. In the course 

of years the name has been reduced to one word and a slight change 

has been made in the spelling. Albuquerque was an important 

center in the Spanish and Mexican occupation, and Gen. Phil. 

Sheridan made it his headquarters until 1870. It is now the 

largest city in New Mexico and is an important commercial and 

industrial center. It is a railway division point, with large machine 

shops and a plant for creosoting railway ties. All the trains stop 

for half an hour or longer, close to the large Alvarado Hotel, named 

for Hernando de Alvarado, who accompanied Coronado on his 

journey of discovery and conquest. In one part of this beautiful 

building is an interesting salesroom of Indian goods, which is a 

museum of Indian arts. The entire building is in the mission style. 

Indians from Isleta frequent the corridor of this building, offering 

pottery and other products of their handicraft at low prices.

In the eastern part of the city, about a mile from the station, are 

the State University buildings, of Pueblo Indian style, and in the 

old town to the west still stands the mission church of San Felipe de 

Neri, built in 1735.

From Albuquerque an important branch of the Santa Fe continues 

south down the Rio Grande valley to El Paso, and from this branch 

another diverges at Rincon to Deming, Silver City, and Lake Valley.
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

The railway was built through to Albuquerque in 1880 and the line to 

Deming was opened in the spring of 1881. For some time before the 

building of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, now the western part of 

the Santa Fe system, this line by way of Deming'and thence over 

the Southern Pacific was the principal outlet to the Pacific coast.

There are but few mines in the vicinity of Albuquerque, although 

some small ones are worked for gold and other metals in the mountains to the east. Much of the product of the many ranches is 

brought to the city, and the wool from a wide area is received there, 

most of it passing through a scouring plant that handles 7,000,000 

pounds a year. The gross annual trade in sheep in the vicinity 

amounts to about $10,000,000.

On leaving Albuquerque the train goes nearly due south, passing

Abajo (see sheet 14, p. 98) and continuing along the east side of the

Rio Grande valley for about 10 miles. To the west

AbaJ°- is a mesa of moderate height, capped by a thin sheet

Elevation 4,945 feet. Of lava which appears to have flowed from several

Kansas City 920 miles. . . . ,

small cones rismg above its surface some distance 

back 011 the mesa and in plain view from the trains. This lava lies 

on the Santa Fe marl, which occupies the Rio Grande valley through 

the greater part of central New Mexico. The railway crosses the 

Rio Grande x 10| miles from Albuquerque and follows the west bank 

2 miles to Isleta.

1 Tliis stream is one of variable volume; 

during the dry season it dwindles to a 

few small shallow channels and even becomes dry at the surface in many places, 

but early in the summer and sometimes 

at intervals later it carries great floods, 

which usually overflow most of the adjoining lower lands. For a large part of 

the year the flow near Albuquerque averages about 1,500 cubic feet a second, but 

in some years the average flow is less than 

500 cubic feet a second. At times of flood 

the volume of water is 10,000 to 20,000 

cubic feet a second or even more. It is 

estimated that the average total yearly 

flow is sufficient to cover 400,000 acres 

(625 square miles) to a depth of 3 feet, 

which is the amount required for most 

irrigation in this region.

The great differences in flow are due to 

the variations in the amount of rainfall and 

in some degree to the nature of che country drained by the river. The greater 

part of the surface in the Rio Grande 

basin has a very scanty cover of vegetation, so that but little of the rainfall is 

absorbed by the soil or passes underground; therefore it runs off rapidly into 

draws and creeks and soon reaches the 

river. Most of the rainstorms, though 

relatively short, are violent, and when 

the storm area is large a vast amount of 

water is carried into the river.

As a rule, most of the water of river floods 

is lost, for the water used for irrigation is 

taken out at times when rivers are at the 

ordinary stage of flow, and no provision 

is made for storing the floods. In the 

Rio Grande valley, however, this condition is soon to be changed, for the United 

States Reclamation Service is building 

a storage dam near Elephant Butte, about 

140 miles below Albuquerque. The dam 

will be 1,200 feet long, 300 feet high, and 

215 feet wide at the base and will contain 

600,000 cubic yards of masonry. It will 

create a lake 41 miles long, extending 

nearly to San Marcial with an average 

width of If miles and a capacity of 

862,000,000,000 gallons, or more than
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 13

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atclieson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

NEW MEXICO

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 miles to I inch 

5 10 .

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles 

The crossties on the railroads are spaced 1 mile apart

\ \ v

EXPLANATION

A Sand, clay, and loam-----------Alluvium-- ----- -50

B Lava flows i basalt)

C Volcanic tuff------------------------------- - 5

D Intrusive rocks ' basalt, andesitej

JSand, clay, and silt ------------Santa re marl-- - - - - -----150

(Sandstone and shale -----------Galisteo sandstone- - ---------Tertiary (?)

F' Sandstone and shales ------------Mesa verde formation----- 800 Cretaceous

(Upper 

G Sandstone and dark shales ------- Dakota and Mancos - - - - 2400

Jurassic or 

Cretaceous H Shale, greenish gra;

I Gypsum

J Sandstone, pink ---------------Wingate ?

K Shale, red- -

etf- *** I Sandstone and limestone

33

jWM /

E /

&* SM

X^/CHl^V^

/My

M

0

Shales and sandstone, mostly red]

i

Manzano group !*

- -nooj

Carboniferou 

(Pennsylvania

H

Pre-iianltfia 

1

10630'

106'
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 89

Isleta.

Elevation 4,896 feet. 

Population 1,085.* 

Kansas City 930 miles.

other pueblos.

Isleta consists mainly of an Indian pueblo built on the bank of the 

river a.short distance east of the railway. This pueblo may be seen 

best from points a short distance north of Isleta 

station.1 Isleta,. named thus by the Spaniards on 

account of its location on an islet in the Rio Grande, 

was discovered by Coronado in 1540. It was a 

Tiguex village but has had accessions of Indians from 

At the time.of the rebellion of 1680 it revolted, 

together with the other Tiguex villages of the Bernalillo and Santa 

Fe region. The Spanish governor stormed it and captured over 500 

natives. These were sent as captives to El Paso and the rest of the 

tribe fled for refuge to the Hopi pueblos in Arizona. Early in the 

eighteenth century the pueblo was resettled under the name San 

Agustin de la Isleta.

From Isleta, on the Rio Grande, which flows into the Gulf of 

Mexico, the railway begins its long journey across the interesting 

plateau country, which, with its bordering areas, extends almost to 

Colorado River, which flows into the Pacific. This vast area of high, 

nearly level country lies between the rugged and generally higher 

ranges of the Rocky Mountains to the north and the alternating 

short ranges and deserts of the lower lying north end of the Mexican 

plateau country to the south.

This is a land of interesting landscapes, rocks, and.people. In 

places the plains and cliffs are vividly colored by natural pigments of 

red and vermilion. The rocks of the plateau are surmounted by two 

large volcanic piles, which stand far above the general level of the 

plain and which were master volcanoes in but comparatively recent 

time Mount Taylor on the east and the San Francisco Mountains 

on the west. From the immensely thick, almost horizontal sedimentary strata that compose most of the mass of this plateau layer 

after layer has been eroded away over wide areas, leaving remnants 

of harder strata which inake picturesque cliffs and valleys and exposing fossil forests that were long ago buried in the sediments of which 

these strata are made. Erosion has also carved many canyons, 

notably the majestic Grand Canyon of the Colorado.

2,500,000 acre-feet. This basin will hold 

the floods of the Rio Grande and conserve 

the water for use when needed for irrigation all along the river in southern New 

Mexico and Mexico. Of course it will not 

prevent floods in the Albuquerque region 

and higher in the valley, but it will save 

that water for use in a region where it can 

be utilized advantageously for irrigation.

In January, 1915, the Elephant Butte darn 

was said to Be about two-thirds built, and a 

large volume of water will be held in 1915. 

1 This station is at milepost 915. The 

numbering of the mileposts from Atchison 

continues south from Isleta along the El 

Paso branch line. Mileposts on the main 

line west of Isleta indicate distance from 

Albuquerque.
90 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Elevation 5,286 feet,

Kansas City 941 miles.

Here and there in the rocky cliffs and canyons are the present and 

former communal homes of aboriginal peoples, whose arts and religious ceremonials partly lift the veil of the past and reveal glimpses 

of earlier stages of human culture. These vast expanses were long 

ago the abode of aboriginal tribes; later they were explored and 

dominated by the mounted Spanish conquistadores ; and finally they 

have been made accessible to all by the comfortable railway of to-day. 

The plateau country and its approaches, hi all their aspects geologic, 

ethnologic, and historical form a region which will hold the attention of all passers-by in whom there exists a spark of appreciation of 

striking natural phenomena and significant human events.

A short distance beyond Isleta the main line of the Santa Fe begins

its climb out of the valley of the Rio Grande, ascending by a rather

steep grade to the mesa which lies west of the river

Sandia. gat ^e cregt Qf t^g mesa }s reacnecl at Sandia

siding.1 In the cuts on this ascent there are many

° . i\ -i i

exposures of sands and loams (Santa I e marl) which 

are capped by sheets of lava and volcanic cones on both sides of the 

track. The railway reaches the edge of the lava sheet a short distance beyond milepbst 16 and passes over it for 2 miles or more. 

There is a group of volcanic cones 2 miles west and another group to 

the northwest of milepost 21. From these cones small flows of lava 

spread over areas of moderate extent at a time not very remote 

geologically, when the river valley was about 200 feet less deep than 

at present.

From the top of the mesa just beyond Sandia siding there are 

extensive views in every direction. About 15 miles to the east may 

be seen the bold western front of the Manzano Range, the high ridge 

which constitutes the southern extension of the Sandia Mountains and 

which is of similar structure. Far to the south is a prominent peak 

known as the Sierra Ladrones (lah-dro'nace, Spanish for thieves), consisting of a large but isolated mass of pre-Cambrian granite overlain 

by limestone of the Magdalena group. To the west is a wide region of 

high plateaus, 2 out of which rises a very prominent peak, known as

1 This place should not be confounded 

with the ancient pueblo of Sandia, which 

lies 12 miles north of Albuquerque.

2 The region west of the Bio Grande, 

well known to geologists as " the plateau 

country," is a province which differs in 

its geography and geologic structure from 

most of the country to the east. The 

width of this plateau province is about 

450 miles, its western margin being far to 

the west in Arizona. The predominant 

type of structure is widespread tabular 

surfaces or plateaus consisting of great

sheets of the various sedimentary rocks 

lying nearly horizontal or presenting very 

wide dip slopes. Most of these plateaus 

extend across the country in huge steps 

with steep fronts and relatively level or 

smooth tops. The harder formations constitute the surface of the plateaus; the 

softer beds crop out in the slopes. There 

are many mesas or portions of these plateaus cut apart from the main area by 

erosion.

The rocks are sandstones, limestones, 

and shales of Cambrian to earlier Tertiary
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 91

Mount Taylor, 11,389 feet high. It will be seen that the mesa or high 

plain of Santa Fe marl extends far to the north and south, partly 

filling a broad basin between the mountains. Originally its surface, 

was a continuous plain, but the Rio Grande has cut a wide valley 

for itself 200 feet or more deep through the center of the plain, and 

now the river flows along the bottom of this valley, with a mesa or 

plateau of the "marls" forming cliffs or slopes on each side.

After crossing the low divide on the plateau beyond Sandia siding the train descends by a tortuous route to the valley of the Rio 

Puerco (pwair'co, Spanish for dirty). On the way it passes through 

many cuts in the Santa Fe marl that exhibit the characteristics of 

the deposits, which are mostly sands and loams, in some places 

consolidated into loose sandstones.

The Rio Puerco is a long stream draining the mesa country to the

northwest and emptying into the Rio Grande some distance southeast 

of the crossing. Its valley is excavated mostly in soft beds of the 

Santa Fe marl and underlying shales (late Cretaceous). To the west 

is the Mesa Lucera (loo-say'ra), a plateau capped by a thick sheet of 

lava (basalt) lying on sandstones and shales. These strata dip 

steeply eastward in a low line of foothills extending along the east 

side of the mesa, but they are nearly level under the lava cap.

A short distance south of Rio Puerco station there are several 

small knobs of volcanic rock rising above the wide valley bottom. 

West of Rio Puerco siding the old main line is paralleled for a few miles by a new track diverging to the 

Elevation 5,049feet. ieffc for ^e westbound traffic and rejoining the old

Kansas City 953 miles. J . °

line a short distance beyond South Garcia (gar-see ah) 

siding. From Rio Puerco to the Continental Divide, a distance of 

nearly 100 miles, the railroad ascends the valley of the San Jose 

(ho-say'), which empties into the Rio Puerco at Rio Puerco station.

Rio Puerco.

age, capped on some of the plateaus and 

mesas by thick sheets of lava. At many 

places high cones or necka of older-volcanic rocks rise above the platforms, and 

widely scattered cinder cones mark the 

orifices of later eruptions. The province 

is markedly different in physiographic 

and structural characters from the Rocky 

Mountain country on the east and the 

region of deserts and long rugged ridges on 

the west.

This section of the country .is one of 

great interest to the student of geology, 

for most of its relations are clearly exhibited, and therefore it presents more 

striking illustrations of geologic features 

than the adj oining provinces. 11 extends

far to the north of the railway in New 

Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and for some 

distance to the south through central New 

Mexico. It is a region in which the beds 

constituting the earth's crust have been 

uplifted or depressed in broad waves and 

in places dislocated by faults or breaks, 

along which great blocks have moved 

bodily up or down on one side in relation to those on the other side. These 

peculiar structural conditions, due to -a 

special kind of stresses in the earth's 

crust, are here localized in a zone of relatively great extent, surrounded by regions 

in which there is much more intense 

tilting and breaking of the strata by folds 

and faults.
9< GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED' STATES.

Near milepost 39 is the termination of a narrow flow of lava, which 

appears to extend continuously from a source far up the valley. It 

widens in some places and narrows in others, and at intervals is covered 

in whole or in part by the alluvium or wash laid down by the stream.

Suwanee station is on this lava sheet. A short distance to the

southeast is a small mesa in which an older lava sheet 

Suwanee. capg ^ug sandstone (Dakota), shales (Morrison?), and 

Elevation 5,455 feet, underlying gray and red massive sandstones (Zuni).

Kansas City 968 miles Ti ,-. - j f ^ i i, ,

Jb arther south is the precipitous edge of the lava sheet 

capping the high north end of the Mesa Lucera. 1

A fault of considerable magnitude is crossed a short distance west 

of Suwanee station and extends far north along the eastern margin of the high plateau known as Mesa Gigahte (he-gahn'tay, 

Spanish for gigantic). This fault is a vertical break in the earth's 

crust along which the region to the west has been uplifted several

w. E.

Mesa Gigante

a\

t>

9

.-,.,-.- . ._-. .- . . .". . . .v^

TT.rT^TTT. ...~TZ^T,~IZTr._l' T7V. . ."..T. .T. . . .. ..'.'^T. .'.'... 

X,

(/ h

. .:.".*:. .=::

f'

Alnor \

^ . . _

i^a^zi

^^

-aults

^ 1

C*2S7ZSd L^y

FIGTOE 17. Section north of Suwanee, N. Mex., looking north, showing relations of faults, a, Dakota 

and overlying sandstones and shales; 6, shale probably equivalent to the Morrison formation; c, buff 

massive sandstone; d, red sandstone; e, gypsum on thin-bedded limestone; /, massive pink sandstone (Wingate); g, rod shales and sandstones.

hundred feet, bringing into view a thick mass of red beds. The 

relations are as shown in figure 17.

Where crossed by the railway this fault is covered by lava because 

the lava occupies a valley that was excavated long after the earth 

movement had taken place. North of the railway and west of .the 

fault rises the Mesa Gigante, which is capped by massive gray to buff 

sandstones (Dakota and overlying Cretaceous). Below the sandstone cliffs are banks of shale or clay, in greater part of pale-greenish 

tint (probably equivalent to the Morrison formation), descending to 

long slopes and extensive cliffs of red sandstones and shales. These 

red cliffs are very conspicuous, notably from points near Armijo 

(ar-me'ho) siding and for some distance westward.

1 A mile north of Siiwanee on the north 

side of the valley is a long ridge of moderate height capped by buff sandstones 

(Dakota) surmounting slopes of light 

greenish-gray clays probably equivalent 

to the Morrison formation. These clays 

are in turn underlain by a thick layer of

massive buff sandstone, and in the bottom 

of the valley, not in view from the train, 

the top of a 50-foot bed of the underlying 

gypsum is exposed in a small area. Small 

faults which extend northward into the 

ridge at this place cut off the gypsum on 

the east and west.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 93

Three miles west of Suwanee there is an extinct hot spring or 

geyser cone not far south of the tracks. (See PI. XIII, B, p. 75.) 

It contains a shallow crater 30 feet in diameter with walls of a hotspring deposit, which also constitutes the low cone in which it is situated. The form of the bowl and cone indicates that at a time not 

very remote there was at this place a hot spring, or possibly a geyser, 

similar to those now active in the Yellowstone Park. South of 

Armrjo siding a large valley from the south enters that of the San 

Jose. About 10 miles up this valley is a large recent volcanic cone, 

Cerro Verde (vair'day), and its lava flow appears to extend down to 

the San Jose Valley.

RITO ROSARIO

Gray massive sandstone 

of Laguna and Acoma

Red sandstone

Gypsum 80 

Limestone (thin layers)

Massive sandstone 

(gray above, red below) 

(Win gate)

Red shale

Buff sandstone 

(Dakota)

Shale (Morrison)

Gypsum 60 

Limestone (thin layers)

Massive sandstone 

(buff above, red below)

Red shale

Rito.

FIGURE 18. Sections showing relations of gypsum bed at Rito and near Rosario, N. Mex.

At Rito (ree'to) the railway passes a small pueblo (El Rito) of 

Laguna Indians, built on a low lava-capped plateau a short distance 

south of the railway. There are now only a few 

Indians at this place, as those living higher up the 

Elevation 5,664 feet, valley cut off the water during the irrigating season.

Kansas City 981 miles. J r-.i i_ jx J

These Indians subsist by raising sheep and goats and 

cultivating small crops.

South of Rito there is a high mesa of red and buff sandstone (Zuni) 

extending far to the south. To the north is a high cliff capped by 

bright-red sandstones, at the base of which is the outcrop of a great 

deposit of pure-white gypsum, 50 feet or more thick. As shown in 

Plate XIV, B (p. 96), it extends along the north side of the track 

for some distance. It is one of the most prominent exposures of 

gypsum known, rivaling the one east of Rosario station (see p. 82) 

and apparently of the same age. Figure 18 is introduced to show 

the succession of rocks in which the gypsum occurs at both places. 

This bed of gypsum crops out at several points in the region between 

Rosario and Rito with the same relations to. adjoining rocks, so that 

there is no doubt as to its continuity. It is the same deposit which 

is exposed north of Suwanee, as shown in figure 17. It has been 

97579° Bull. 613 15 7
94 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

removed by erosion over wide areas where the rocks are uplifted, 

but, on the other hand, it underlies a district of great extent in 

which it has not been sufficiently uplifted to be subjected to erosion. 1 

West of Klto the San Jose Valley narrows considerably and the 

railway follows its very crooked course to Quirk siding. In this 

interval there are numerous exposures of the edge of the lava flow 

which ran down the San Jose Valley to and beyond Suwanee. Most 

of the lava is south of the railway in this vicinity; on the north side 

are bluffs of the buff Zuni sandstone above referred to. This sandstone is also exposed in deep railway cuts west of Quirk, where it is 

overlain by light-colored shales and clays that extend up to a thick 

succession of sandstones (Dakota and higher). In the high mesas a 

mile or two north of the railway these sandstones are capped by a 

sheet of older lava (basalt).

Laguna station is nearly a mile north of the Indian pueblo of 

Laguna, through which the railway passed prior to a 

recent change of course to diminish distance and 

grade. This pueblo is one of the most interesting and 

accessible along the Santa Fe Railway and is visited 

by many tourists, who find accommodations, if necessary, at the houses of some of the American residents of the small 

settlements adjoining the pueblo.

The Indians at this place are a branch of the Keresan tribe, to 

which the Acoma Indians also belong, but according to their own

Laguna.

Elevation s,797 feet.

1 The origin of gypsum deposits of this 

character is a problem of considerable interest, for the precise conditions of deposition arc not known. It is believed that 

the gypsum was deposited during the 

evaporation of an inland sea that probably occupied a region of considerable 

extent in the central United States during later Carboniferous and early Mesozoic time. The thickness of the deposit 

together with its freedom from admixture 

with the sand and clays which constitute 

the rocks overlying and underlying it is 

"remarkable, doubtless indicating that the 

area of deposition was remota from streams 

that could bring mud and sand into the 

sea. For this reason it is believed that 

the deposit was laid down at a time of 

scanty rainfall, when the waters of the 

sea were evaporating rapidly. Waters of 

this kind were also very salty, but in the 

course of their evaporation the gypsum 

was first deposited and the salt later, as 

the drying up continued. However, no

salt deposits have been discovered in 

connection with the gypsum in this portion of New Mexico. Very salty waters 

emerge from some of the lower strata of 

the underlying red beds at various points, 

indicating that deposition of salt went on 

during part of the general period, but 

most of this salt is in rocks that were laid 

down prior to the thick deposit of gypsum 

which is so conspicuous at Rito, Rosario, 

and other places.

The red sandstones overlying the gypsum at Rito, together with a thick body 

of overlying buff sandstone, probably represents the lower part of the Zuni sandstones. This buff, massive sandstone is 

conspicuous in the bluffs north and northeast of Suwanee (see fig. 17), as well as in 

extensive railway and stream cuts along 

the valley west of Rito, notably near 

Laguna station and for some distance 

west. The red sandstone becomes very 

thin northeast of Suwanee and it also thins 

toward the south.
- . THE SANTA FE ROUTE. . 95

tradition they are of mixed stock from the older pueblos. Their town 

is a relatively new settlement, dating back to about 1697, when it 

was established with the name San Jose de la Laguna, by Gov. Cubero. 

The village is built on ledges of buff sandstone on the north bank of 

San Jose River, which the Indians at that time called the Cubero. 

This stream affords water for domestic use as well as for the irrigation of small areas of various kinds of crops on which the natives 

subsist. The Indians had a Spanish grant of over a quarter of a 

million acres, most of which, however, was desert land. Around 

their principal pueblo, Laguna, they had many small villages, in 

which they lived during the summer. Of late years they have occupied some of these villages (Paquate, Negra, Encino, and Casa Blanca) 

permanently. About 1,800 Indians live in or near Laguna.

On both sides of the valley of San Jose River at Laguna, and along 

the branch canyons from the north and south, are high mesas with 

cliffs of sandstone. The beds lie nearly horizontal. The mesas are 

capped by gray to buff sandstones (Dakota and.younger), while the

^Dakota sandstone Acoma Dakota sandstone

) ' ,-^-aM^ j Gray sandstone /'.:'.''.'.'.'

Al.luvium

FIGURE 19. Sketch section through Aconja, N. Hex., looking south.

lower cliffs are of massive buff Zuni sandstone. In the intermediate 

slopes there are extensive exposures of the pale greenish-gray clays, 

as in other sections east, which extend along the sides of the valley 

for some distance west beyond Cubero (koo-bay'ro) siding.

A short distance southwest of Laguna there comes in from the 

south a large valley, which heads in the vicinity of Acoma, one of 

the most remarkable Indian pueblos in the Southwest. As shown 

in Plate XV (p. 97), this place is built on top of a high, isolated mesa 

with precipitous walls of gray sandstone (see fig. 19) and has been 

an object of great interest to travelers ever since the first visit of 

Coronado. It is notable as the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States. Unlike most of the other pueblo villages, 

Acoma is recorded in the early chronicles as the home of a people 

feared by the residents of the whole country around as robbers and 

warriors. Its location upon a precipitous white rock (Akome, 

"people of the white rock") rendered it well-nigh impregnable to 

native enemies as well as to Spanish conquerors, for the only means 

of approaching it was by climbing up an easily guarded cleft in the 

rock. However, one of the Spanish expeditions, with 70 men, succeeded in killing 1,500 of these Indians half their total number 

in a three-day battle in 1599. The entrance and stairway in use
96 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

now are the same that were described by Alvarado on his visit with 

Coronado's expedition in 1540. The height of the mesa is 350 feet. 

The Acoma people are expert makers of pottery, as are also the 

Laguna Indians.

A short distance north of Acoma is the famous Mesa Encantada 

(enchanted mesa), shown in Plate XIV, A, on which was located, 

according to' the tradition of the Acomas, their prehistoric village of 

Katzimo.

Acoma is easily reached from Laguna by a drive of 18 miles, for 

which a team and Indian driver can usually be obtained at Laguna. 

It will be found that the Indians of Acoma are rather indifferent to 

the desire of the tourist to see the sights of the,place unless some 

remuneration is offered. The large church, built mainly of slabs of 

rock, is still in excellent condition, although it was built about 1699. 

The New Mexico building at the Panama-California Exposition at 

San Diego is patterned after this church, with the portico modified 

after the church at Cochiti. The population in 1902 was 566. . West from Laguna the1 railway continues to ascend the valley of 

the San Jose. This stream for part of the year furnishes water for a 

small amount of irrigation, mostly by the Indians of the Acoina 

tribe, who maintain summer villages at different places.

At Cubero, now a small Mexican village, there was formerly a 

pueblo of San Felipe Indians, who now live near Santo Domingo. 

The name Cubero is that of the Spanish governor 

Cubero. in office at the end of the seventeenth century. The 

Elevation 5,929 feet, real town of Cubero, a Mexican settlement, is 8 miles 

to the northeast. There are many Penitentes in 

these villages. About 2 miles beyond Cubero, near 

milepost 74, there is a view up the valley in which the pueblo of 

Acoma and the Mesa Encantada are situated, about ip miles to 

the south in an air line. On both sides of the^San Jose Valley are 

high walls of the Dakota and Mancos sandstones, which lie nearly 

horizontal, so that the railway rises to higher and higher beds as it 

ascends the valley.

Near milepost 77, 5 miles west of Cubero siding, there is to the 

north a fine view of Mount Taylor, a huge cone standing on a high 

plateau of sandstone and lava. It was named for President Zachary 

Taylor, but this name has not entirely displaced the local name, 

Sierra San Mateo. This mountain is an isolated mass consisting 

largely of gray lava (andesite) and represents an eruption of considerable antiquity, much older than the sheets of black lava (basalt) 

which cap the plateaus or mesas along the. north side of the valley. 

Since these' early lava outflows the valleys have been cut to their 

present depths of 1,500 to 2,000 feet and a considerable area of the 

plateaus has also been removed, as shown in figure 20. Mount
U. 6. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN eis PLATE xiv

SEEN FROM THE NORTH,

The mesa is about 350 feet high, md its width is about one-third its length. 

of the lower part of the Zuni formation.

The rock is buff massive sandstone

BED OF GYPSUM AT RITO, N. MEX.

View northward. The bed is 50 feet thick and lies under red sandstone opposite the Indian pueblo just north 

of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, The base of the gypsum bed (A) rests on limestone.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

PUEBLO OF ACOMA, N. MEX. 

Church in center. The pueblo stands on a high mesa of massive buff sandstone of the lower part of the Zuni fo
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 97

Taylor is held in great veneration by the Pueblo Indians, who call 

it the "mother of the rain." In the spring a party of them usually 

goes to its top for sacred dances to invoke the rain god for a plentiful 

harvest.

A short distance south of the track near milepost 77 is the small 

pueblo of Acomita, which belongs to the Acoma Indians and serves 

as a home for about 200 of them during the summer when they are 

cultivating the fields in the bottom of the valley. There is a United 

States Indian school here and a good road southward to Acoma.

Mount Taylor is again visible from Alaska siding and west from

that place for a mile or two. The platform from which it rises is covered by a sheet of black lava (basalt) capping cliffs

Alaska. an(j Jong slopes of the later Cretaceous sandstones.

Elevation 6,041 feet yar to faQ QQUfa rise extensive high plateaus occupyKansas City 999 miles. . , . to r rj 

mg the region west 01 Acoma.

Halfway between mileposts 80 and 81, the lava sheet in the bottom 

of the valley is plainly visible. The lava flowed out of vents in the

Mt.Tayfor

Cretaceous-'sandstone-and-shale^

FIGURE 20. Sketch section showing relations of lava sheets near Mount Taylor, N. Mex. a, b, c, d 

Four successive lava flows later than flow in Mount Taylor; e-e, former surface of plateau before 

valley of San Jose River was excavated.

region to the west at a time much later than that of the eruption of 

the lava sheet which caps the mesa that extends along the north side 

of the valley from Laguna westward. At milepost 81 there is an 

exceptionally good view of Mount Taylor.

McCartys is a trading center for ranches and the Indians in the San.

Jose Valley and adjoining region. At Acoma siding McCartys.

iies there is an Indian village of moderate size on the 

south side of the valley, used as a summer home by 

some of the Acoma Indians.

In the bottom of the valley, a short distance beyond Acoma siding, 

is the termination of a lava flow that is evidently more recent than 

the lava that occupies the valley farther east. The railway extends 

along its northern margin for several miles, affording excellent views 

of the rocks which present features characteristic of recent flows 

from some of the great volcanoes in various parts of the earth. The 

sheet is narrow, for the sandstone walls of the canyon are not far apart 

in this region. The surface of the lava is exceedingly rough, parts of it
98 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

having been shattered into large fragments by the flow movement, 

and other parts consisting of great blisters, mostly broken and showing caverns underneath. Much of the smoother surface of the lava 

is black and ropy, very similar to slag from a blast furnace. There 

is but little vegetation over its surface, and all its features indicate 

that it is a relatively very recent flow. Some of the Pueblo Indians 

of the region have a legend, handed down for several generations, of 

a river of fire in San Jose Valley, and it seems not unlikely that the 

forefathers of these people witnessed this outflow. It is said that the 

lava has flowed around the corner of an old stone wall at one point 

above McCartys, but on inspection of this wall it appears more likely 

that the wall was built into an angular jog in the margin of the sheet. 

This lava flow extends 20 miles up the valley, and except for a short 

distance near milepost 89 the railway is close to its northern edge. 

As the valley widens beyond Horace the lava sheet spreads out to the 

south, and probably it came from cones which are visible in that 

direction.

Near milepost 90 the beds of rock in the canyon walls begin to rise 

gradually toward the west, and the Dakota sandstone and underlying beds, including the massive gray sandstone seen 

Horace. near Laguna and Acoma, appear again. These rocks 

Elevation 6,321 feet, extend along the base of the cliffs far to the north and

Kansas City 1,012 miles. °

south oi the railway. I he rise oi the beds continues 

past Horace siding for 1£ miles to milepost 92, where a sandstone 

butte north of the track shows the beds dipping eastward at angles 

between 5° and 10°.

Just north of Horace the sandstone mesa north of the track is 300 

or 400 feet high and capped by a thick sheet of older lava (basalt), 

which extends for a considerable distance east and west. This mesa 

finally bears off to the northwest as the valley widens, and a corresponding cliff extends south. Four miles west of Horace the valley 

is several miles wide and the greater part of its bottom is occupied by 

the very recent lava flow mentioned above.

Grant is a local center for ranch and stock interests in the adjoining 

region. Just north of Grant is a lava-capped mesa which continues

about 5 miles west, gradually bearing off to the north. 

Grant* In places the edge of the lava shows columnar strucEievation 6,464 feet. ture. South of the track there are good exposures of

Kansas City 1,017 miles. . r. . i t j j. i. the recent lava sheet above ret erred to, showing a 

large amount of very rough surface with great broken blister cracks 

and much ropy lava.

A few miles west of Grant the Zuni (zoon'ye) Mountains are in sight 

to the west. These mountains are the result of an extensive domeshaped uplift of the earth's crust. In its higher central part, from 

which the sedimentary rocks have been removed, the old granites and
BULLETIN 613

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist " R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on (he map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. C. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

SHEET 14

I07°30 107° NEW MEXICO I

	EXPLANATION 

A Sand and gravel------------------Alluvium-------------------80 Quaternary

B Lava flow t basalt)

~ Lava flows, black (basalt and

^ andesite)

n Sand, gravel, and loose sand- Santa Fe marl-

^ stone

35

P Sandstone, buff to gray, and Dakota, Mancos.

*- dark shale and Mesaverde

F Shales, pale green to maroon------- 2

G Sandstone, gray, massive-------

[Cretaceous

Upper 

[Cretaceous)

-----200 Jurassic or 

Cretaceous

Scale 500,0 

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 

5 .. 'P ....'?...

10 15 20 25 SOKilometers

-2001

L, Gypsum on thin-bedded lime- _^*'"*~_~~~~ 

H stone

I Sandstone, buff and red, massive Wingate------------------ 80

Jurassic ?

Contour interval 200 feet 

ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles 

The crossiies on the railroads are spaced 1 mile apart

Sandstones and shales, mostly Manzano group--- -1200 Carboniferous 

red (Pennsylvania!!)

I07°3o'

35

30

107
100 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

buttresses are carved into a great variety of massive forms. These

very conspicuous and beautiful features continue in sight for a long

distance along the north slope of the Zuni uplift.

The strata appear to be horizontal, but they dip at low angle to

the northeast or at right angles to the line of the railway.

Figure 21, a section near the Continental Divide, shows the succession of beds on the slopes of the Zuni Mountains south of the railway

and in the walls of red sandstone and overlying rocks to the north. 

In the region about Thoreau the principal industry is the raising of

sheep, goats, and cattle. Many Navajo Indians, engaged mainly in 

goat raising, live in the country to the north. This 

is- the place from which the extensive prehistoric ruins 

of Chaco Canyon, 50 miles to the north, are reached. 

One of these ruins, now called Pueblo Bonito, was a 

house of about 1,000 rooms. At Thoreau and for the

next few miles beyond there are especially fine views of the great cliffs

of red Wingate sandstone to the north.

Thoreau.

Elevation 7,135 feet,

Vertical scale

soo o 1,000 Feet

FIOUBE 21. Section from the Zuni Mountains northward across the Santa Fe Railway near Thoreau,

N. Mex., looking northwest.

The climb up to the Continental Divide is made on a very moderate 

grade, about 21 feet to the mile. There is no mountain top to be 

attained, for the divide is in a broad east-west depression known as Campbells Pass. The summit, which 

. ^s reacned at Gonzales siding, half way between mileposts 130 and 131, is at an altitude of 7,250 feet, or 

358 feet lower than Raton Pass. A large sign erected just north of 

the track states that the Continental Divide is crossed at this place. 

This divide, which crosses the Zuni Mountains to the south and passes 

over the high cliffs to the north, separates the waters of San Jose 

River and the Rio Puerco, affluents of the Rio Grande, from those of 

the Rio Puerco (of the West), a branch of the Little Colorado, which 

flows into the Colorado and so empties into the Pacific Ocean.

West of Gonzales there are two lines as far as Perea; the westbound trains take the left-hand track and pass through South Guam 

siding, halfway between mileposts 136 and 137. In this vicinity the 

great red wall to the north is a prominent feature, and to the south 

rise the long slopes of sandstone and limestone leading up to the
THE SANTA PE ROUTE. 99

schists appear, constituting a group of high summits of considerable 

prominence. One of these, Mount Sedgwick, has an altitude of 9,200 

feet. The Zuni Mountains extend westward along the south side of 

the San Jose Valley and across the Continental Divide nearly to 

Gallup, the railway deflecting its course somewhat to the northwest 

to pass around their foothills. Many features of the limestone ridge 

on the northeast slope of this uplift are visible between Grant and 

Bluewater stations, including some deep canyons rimmed with high 

cliffs of the white limestone and sandstone of later Carboniferous age. 

The northeastward dip is plainly perceptible, and the rough, craggy 

ridges of granite of the interior of the uplift may be discerned, culminating in Mount Sedgwick.

Northeast of the railway a wide valley extends to the foot of low 

cliffs of red sandstones and gray sandstones (Dakota), with formations 

of later Cretaceous age farther back. From a point near Bluewater 

station there are fine views of the west side of Mount Taylor to the 

east, showing the high lava-capped plateau on which this mountain 

stands.

South of Bluewater is a Mormon settlement using water from Bluewater Canyon to irrigate fruits, alfalfa, and vegetables. Three miles 

north by east of Bluewater station there rises on the 

Bluewater. valley slope a round black cone of moderate elevation, 

Elevation6,634 feet. kn0wn as El Tuitero (tin-tay'ro, Spanish for ink pot),

Population 237 * i i . . . ,

Kansas city 1,028 miles, irom the deep hole or crater in its top. It is shown 

in Plate XVI, B (p. 100). The lava flow flooring San 

Jose Valley at Horace and Grant extends to this cone, which perhaps 

marks a source of the outflow. El Tintero is plainly in view to the 

north of the track for several'miles, or nearly to milepost 110, where 

the lava ceases and is succeeded by red and gray shale of Triassic age. 

The shale represents some of the red shales and sandstones which 

overlie the massive sandstone of the midde of the red beds in the 

Glorieta region, between Las Vegas and Lamy.

A short distance southeast of the railway low knobs mark the outcrop of sandstone (Shinarump?) underlying this shale, and a short 

distance farther south still lower limestones, of Carboniferous age, 

rise gradually on the northeast slope of the Zuni uplift.

From milepost 110 to the Continental Divide at Gonzales and 

thence down the west slope for 20 miles farther the railway is built 

through a broad valley underlain by the soft red and gray shale above 

mentioned. This valley extends northward for 2 or 3 miles to the 

foot of walls of bright-red sandstones (Wingate), mostly 300 to 400 

feet high, capped by lighter-colored sandstones (the Zuni and Dakota) 

which rise as great steps to a ridge of considerable prominence extending continuously across the Continental Divide. This red wall 

is recessed by numerous small canyons, and some of the intervening
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE xvi

A. PYRAMID ROCK AND RED CLIFF OF WINGATE SANDSTONE NORTH OF ZUNI SIDING, A FEW

MILES EAST OF GALLUP, N. MEX, 

View northeastwaid. Navajo Church at extreme right. Santa Fe Railway in middle distance.

ELTINTERO, A VOLCANIC CONE WITH A CRATER IN ITS TOP, THREE, MILES NORTHEAST

OF BLUEWATER STATION, N. MEX. 

View northeastward over fields of lava ejected from a vent at this place.
U, S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XVII

NAVAJO CHURCH, NORTHWEST OF WINGATE, N. MEX. 

Carved by rain and wind-blown sand in white Zuni sandstone. Note cross-bedding,
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 101

wooded summit of the Zuni Mountains. A small ridge, constituting 

a foothill to these mountains is due to the outcrop of the bed of coarse 

Shinarump sandstone which lies beneath the shales of the wide valley 

followed by the railway.

The wall of red Wingate sandstone 2 miles north of Perea siding is 

broken into numerous massive buttresses, which rise to a high shelf 

of moderate width extending back to still higher steps of lightercolored sandstones and shale (the Zuni), capped by the Dakota sandstone far in the background. These features continue in view to 

Wingate station.

Wingate is the station for old Fort Wingate, which is 3 miles due 

south of it. Until recently this fort was sustained by the Government as a military depot, with several regiments 

Wingate. ready for active duty. During part of 1914 the old

Elevation 6,743 feet, buildings were used for housing the 4.000 Mexican

Kansas City 1,067 miles.,-, . ? . , '. ... ° , '

federal troops and their lamilies who were forced into 

Texas at Eagle Pass. These people were employed in working roads 

in the vicinity.

The traveler is here well within the land of the Navajo (nav'a-ho) 

Indians, now peaceful blanket makers, herders, and farmers, but for 

a long tune one of the predatory savage tribes, the terror of the Pueblo 

people and their ancestors. 1

1 The Navajos were wily warriors, and 

usually their raids or other depredations 

were victorious. After the acquisition of 

the Southwest by the United States, they 

killed many citizens, especially when the 

frontier troops were withdrawn to participate in the Civil War. Several attempts 

were made to subdue the Navajos, but 

none succeeded until 1863, when Col. Kit 

Carson drove them into eastern New 

Mexico, where they were held as prisoners until 1867. Then they were permitted 

to return to their old haunts in western 

New Mexico and northeastern Arizona, 

where a large reservation was apportioned 

to them. Since that time they have been 

peaceful and in some ways prosperous. 

It is estimated that the warfare against 

the Navajos and Apaches from 1849 to 

1886 cost the United States $50,000,000.

The Navajo Reservation covers more 

than 9,000,000 acres, most of it above an 

altitude of 6,000 feet. Its southeastern 

corner is 20 miles northeast of Wingate, 

its southwest corner is a short distance 

west of Canyon Diablo, in Arizona, and 

it has a length of about 190 miles. This

is an area of about 35,000 square miles, 

which is greater than Massachusetts and 

New Jersey together. The Navajos number about 30,000. Their number has been 

steadily increasing for many years; it was 

9,000 when they were counted in 1869. 

They were not mentioned by travelers 

prior 'to 1629, and apparently began as 

a small offshoot of the Apaches. They 

call themselves .Dinneh, meaning "the 

people." The Spaniards called them 

"Apaches de Navaj6," from Navahu, 

the name of an old TigUa pueblo in 

the vicinity of which they lived. Most 

of them live in temporary hogans, built 

simply of sticks covered by earth and 

branches, and they frequently move from 

place to place. Usually a few families 

live near together, and they congregate 

about watering places and trading posts. 

The women weave their famous blankets, 

which bring them nearly $500,000 a year, 

and men and boys tend their sheep and 

goats and raise a few crops. They live a 

life closely adjusted to their environment, and with very few requirements 

beyond the simplest necessities. They
102 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

West of Wingate the railway continues along the red shale valley 

but gradually approaches much nearer to the foot of the great red 

cliffs than in the region farther east, affording particularly good views 

of some of their picturesque features. Due north of milepost 150 a 

remarkable rocky pinnacle, known as the Navajo Church (see PL 

XVII), may be seen. Its sharp spires of white sandstone, about 200 

feet high, rise conspicuously above the rocky slopes at the top of the 

walls of red sandstone. It is a striking object, fashioned by the 

irregular erosion of the massive Zuni sandstone by rain and frost, and 

in some measure also by wind-blown sand. A short distance to the 

west is Pyramid Rock (shown in PL XVI, A), a conical mass of the 

same material.

Not far west of Zuni siding (milepost 152) the axis of the arch of 

the Zuni uplift is crossed, the beds on its crest pitching steeply to the

northwest. West 

of the axis the beds 

all dip steeply to 

the west and southwest. This feature 

may be observed 

between mileposts 

153 and 155, especially at the latter, 

where the railroad 

and creek pass 

through a narrow 

gap having walk of nearly vertical beds of the Dakota and overlying 

sandstones, as shown in Plate XVIII. This steep dip to the west 

carries these sandstones underground within a short distance, beneath 

coal-bearing sandstones that occupy a shallow basin to the west. (See 

PL XIX, A.) The change .of dip from nearly vertical to horizontal 

is so rapid as to give the appearance of a fault in the slope north of 

the railway, but close scrutiny has shown that there is no appreciable break. The relations of this flexure are shown in figure 22.

The narrow zone of steep dips extends all along the west side of 

the Zuni uplift, and the ridge marking its course may be seen bearing 

off to the south from the vicinity of milepost 156. The basin west of

FIGURE 22. Section of coal-bearing Mesaverde formation, Dakota sandstone, and underlying beds in and near the gap 3 miles east of Gallup, 

N. Mex.

own about 30,000 cattle, 1,400,000 sheep, 

320,000 goats, and 250,000 horses, burros, 

and mules. In 1914 they sold 3,375,000 

pounds of wool from native sheep, and 

293,463 pounds of merino wool, valued in 

all at $465,000.

Despite the;r history as predatory savages, the Navajos are in general jovial, 

truthful, intelligent, and, as Indians go,

industrious and capable. They have an 

ample vocabulary, a complex grammar, 

an elaborate religious system, and hundreds of songs. They have numerous 

schools scattered widely over the reservation, and many of them are eager to have 

their children attend. About 10 per cent 

have tuberculosis, and 20 per cent have 

trachoma, a contagious eye affection.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

TILTED BEDS OF SANDSTONE DIPPING WEST ON WEST SLOPE OF ZUNI 

View southward. Valley of Man cos shale 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IULLET1N 613 PLATE XIX

A. SHARP BEND IN BOUNDARY OF ZUNI MOUNTAIN UPLIFT AS SEEN FROM SANTA FE RAILWAY THREE MILES EAST OF GALLUP, N. MEX.

View northward Nearly horizontal coal measures (Mesaverde formation) at I oft of center of view, in background.

B. GREAT ARCH IN THE RED SANDSTONE NORTH OF HOUCK, ARIZ. 

View nprthward,
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 103

this uplift contains an extensive area of sandstones and shales of 

later Cretaceous age (Mesaverde) , including several beds of excellent 

subbituminous coal which are worked at a number of places.

Gallup is a railway division point and meal station. Its principal 

industry is coal mining and most of the mines are in the immediate 

vicinity of the town. 1 There are also two brick kilns 

Gallup. make a large output. Many cattle, sheep, and

Elevation 6,503 feet, goats are raised in the adjoining country. A large

Population 2,204. fo . ' j ~ T J 4. /^ 11 KansasCity i,o79miies. number oi JNavajo and Zum Indians come to Gallup 

to trade and each year bring in an increasing amount 

of wool for sale. Formerly they received their pay in merchandise, 

but now the clip of wool is so large that they receive considerable 

balances in cash. The Navajo Reservation is a short distance north 

of Gallup and 40 miles to the south is Zuni, one of the largest pueblos 

in the Southwest. This place is visited by many persons and is easy 

of access by vehicles from Gallup over fairly good roads. At Zuni 

there are ample facilities for taking care of visitors overnight. A 

special occasion is the Shalako dance, usually held in November.

Zuni is one of the famous seven cities of Cibola, the objective 

point of the Spanish expedition under Coronado in 1540. The 

largest of these seven pueblos contained about 500 rooms. Some 

of the ruins of old Cibola are still to be seen. Near Zuni is the precipitous-sided mesa of Toyalane, to which the Indians of this tribe 

fled whenever they feared invasion or punishment, remaining there 

sometimes for many years, while their abandoned pueblos fell to 

ruins. The present pueblo of Zuni was built 200 years ago, and here 

was concentrated what remained of the people of Cibola. The United 

States has recently built a dam to hold water for irrigation at Zuni, 

an undertaking which is greatly appreciated by these progressive and 

prosperous Indians. Their population, which is 1,640, has remained 

about the same for the last 30 years.

1 The coal that is extensively mined 

about Gallup is a subbituminous coal 

(formerly known as black lignite), which 

occurs mainly in a bed 5£ feet thick, contained in the Mesaverde formation. It is 

used on locomotives and shipped great 

distances along the railway for manufacT 

turing and domestic use. Its keeping 

qualities, however, are not entirely satisfactory, the coal having a disposition to 

break up into fine slivers when exposed 

to the air, on account of the large amount 

of water it contains. The rapid evaporation of this water from the surface layers 

causes them to shrink and curl up or scale 

off and to heat spontaneously when stored

for a long time in large quantities. Eventually it will be compressed into briquets, a result which will overcome 

these tinfavorable characteristics. The 

average Gallup coal contains about 42 

per cent of fixed carbon, 40 per cent of 

volatile combustible matter, 11 per cent 

of moisture, and 6 per cent of ash. The 

heating value is 11,700 British thermal 

units. In 1913 the production of coal 

from the Gallup region amounted to 

nearly 825,000 tons, valued at»$l,367,364. 

The coal-bearing series consists of an alternation of sandstone and shale. Ledges 

of sandstone crop out extensively around 

Gallup and for some distance west;
104 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

At Gallup a large supply of excellent water is obtained from artesian 

wells sunk through the coal-bearing rocks into^ the underlying sandstones. Without this underground supply the town would be greatly 

hampered, for the surface waters in the vicinity are very small in 

volume and mostly of bad quality. The well water is carried in tank 

cars to supply many stations along the railway where the local water 

is not satisfactory. 1 <

A coal mine, plainly visible a quarter of a mile north of the track a 

mile west of Gallup, is one of the large producers of the area. Just 

south of a point two-tenths of a mile beyond milepost 163, west of 

West Yard siding (see sheet 16, p. 108), is a knob due to a mass of 

dark igneous rock (vogesite), cutting the /coal-bearing rocks, and 

another small dike of the same material appears half a mile farther 

southwest.

At milepost 163 sandstones below the coal measures appear, and a 

short distance north of milepost 166, which is at Defiance siding, they 

arch over, forming a well-marked anticline. Beyond this arch the 

beds dip west for a short distance at moderately steep angles, into a 

shallow syncline, out of which they rise again on an easterly dip at 

milepost 167. The easterly dip continues for some distance, bringing 

up lower and lower beds of the sandstone in succession toward the 

west. Finally at milepost 176 appears one of the lower sandstones, 

200 feet thick, forming a high wall on both sides of the Rio Puerco 

valley, which in consequence becomes a canyon. These cliffs continue for several miles to the west.

At Manuelito (mahn-way-lee'to) considerable trading is done with 

the Navajo Indians who live on the reservation a short distance 

north. This place was named for a Navajo who 

was elected chief in 1855, when a treaty was 

arranged with the Navajos to end then- depredations. This treaty, however, was not ratified by 

Congress, and lawlessness continued till the final 

subjugation of the tribe eight years later. Subsequently Manuelito 

was made head of the native police force and proved loyal to the 

Government.

Two-tenths of a mile beyond milepost 179 the State line is crossed 

and Arizona is entered. The State line is on the thirty-second 

meridian west of Washington (about 3 miles west of longitude 109° 

west of Greenwich) and was so defined by law at a time when the ,

Manuelito, N. Mex.

Elevation 6,260 feet. 

Population 75.* 

Kansas City 1,095 miles.

1 The first wells at Gallup were not very 

deep and obtained only a moderate volume of water, but on the advice of a geologist of the United States Geological Survey deeper borings were made with great 

success. Several other wells have been 

sunk at places on this railway on similar

advice and important water supplies 

obtained. The study of the conditions 

under which waters occur underground is 

a branch of geologic investigation requiring the determination of the succession 

and structure of the water-bearing rocks 

and their associated beds.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 15

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. C. S, Topographic

Sheet of that name.

NEW MEXICO

NAVA40 INDJAN

VJ ; " ! V-l Wr, 1^ ',' T ,

RESERVATION Scale 500,000 

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 

5 !O 15 20Mil

Contour interval 200 feet

nsas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles 

n ths railroads are spaced 1 mile apart

EXPLANATION 

A Lava flows (basalt)- -- ------- _____________________Quaternary

B Lava flows .'andesite and basalt)----- - ------------- -----Tertiary

r Sandstone and shale, coal bear- Mesaverde forma- 1000

>~ inor tion

Cretaceous

(Upper 

Cretaceous)

Shale and sandstone, with Mancos shale 

marine fossils

E Sandstone 

F Shales and sandstone 

(Sandstone, mostly

Upper part of Zuni 

sandstone

Lower part of Zuni 

G ^ sandstone 

[Sandstone, very massive, red Wingate

M Shale, redi gray, and purple

. Sandstone and conglomerate, Shinarump con-/^ _^ 

' gray to brown glomerate ~ ~"

. Shale, gray buff, red, and pur- Moencopie formaJ plish tion

450 Carboniferous 

(Permian ?)

K Limestones and sandstones ---------- -----------_--uoo

~'»v v'^'

nnsylvanian 

L Granite and schist JVe - Cambrian

5? Coal mine
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 105

Government was attempting to establish an initial meridian passing 

through the old Naval Observatory at the National Capital. At this 

place the canyon walls show very massive gray sandstone with numerous shallow caves, alcoves, and buttresses, capped by dark-gray sandstones (probably Dakota).

The area of Arizona is 112,956 square miles. It comprises wide

plateaus, in large part from 5,000 to 8,000 feet in height, numerous

ridges and mountains, and many wide desert valleys.

Arizona. On account of its great variation in altitudes and its

great width from north to south, the State presents

a wide diversity of climate, from that of the hot regions near Fort

Yuma to that of the cold forested mountains and high plateaus.

Arizona leads in copper production in the United States, the output 

in 1913 being valued at $63,228,127, or about 90 per cent of the total 

mineral production of the State. Gold was produced to the value 

of $4,023,911, and silver, which is mostly a by-product obtained in 

reducing copper ore, amounted to $2,384,647.

Although the agricultural possibilities of the State are not developed to then1 full extent, the cultivated hay crop approached a value 

of $4,000,000 in 1914 and wheat $1.085,000. Wool yielded about 

$939,000. Range cattle growing is'a large industry. Fruit of citrus 

and deciduous trees, cotton, and corn are being more and more 

cultivated as new lands are brought under irrigation.

The word Arizona is taken from the Papago language, in which 

it is said to signify place of small springs. With a population of 

204,354, according to the census of 1910, or 1.8 persons to the square 

mile, it is one of the more thinly populated of our Western States, 

though less so than Wyoming and Nevada. The ratio of males to 

females is 138.2 to 100. Of its 72,000,000 acres only 5,000,000 are 

privately owned, the remainder being public land, Indian reservations, or national forests. Originally Arizona was part of New 

Mexico, and it continued as such under United States dominion until 

1863, when it was made a separate Territory and formally organized 

at Navajo Springs. Later the capital was at Fort Whipple, Frescott, 

Tucson, again at Prescott, and finally at Phoenix.

The settlement of Arizona has progressed slowly, and up to 1886 

the murderous disposition of the Apache Indians greatly retarded its 

development. Mainly for this reason there were no white inhabitants 

in the large area north of Gila River prior to the treaty of 1848. From 

1853 to 1857 several governmental surveys were made across the 

region, mainly to find routes for railways. Most of the earliest 

visitors were prospectors, and from 1847 to 1860 many mines were 

opened under more or less protection by the Government. The withdrawal of troops for the Civil War gave the Apaches opportunity to
106 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

resume depredations, and about 1,000 settlers were killed. Most of 

the mining operations were discontinued, and the few white people 

who remained fortified themselves in Tucson, which was taken by the 

Confederates and held until Union troops came from California. 

After the war also there was much bloodshed by Indians', who killed 

about. 400 settlers. Gen. Crook subdued the Apaches in 1873 and 

concentrated them in a reservation, but there were many serious 

outbursts later under Victorio and Geronimo, with numerous massacres. Victorio was killed in an engagement in 1863, but it was not 

until 1886 that Gen. Miles forced Geronimo to surrender, and then the 

Apaches were removed to other States. The Indians were difficult 

to fight, for they avoided open "engagements and could travel fast 

and far on their ponies.

The Southern Pacific Railroad was built through Arizona in 1880, 

and the Atlantic & Pacific (now a part of the Santa Fe system) in 

1883'.

The history of the aborigines in Arizona is extensive, for on plains, 

on mesas, and in the cliffs there are many ruins of places occupied 

by the early people. Some of these ruins must be very old. However, it is believed that the number of people living in the region at 

any time may not have been great, for the aborigines frequently 

moved from place to place. The early expeditions of the Spanish 

explorers found many pueblos. The first Spaniard to enter Arizona 

was Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan friar who crossed its southwest 

corner in 1539. A year later Niza led Coronado to the Pueblo 

country, and two small expeditions from this great exploring party 

visited the Hppi country. The present Indian population of the 

State is nearly 42,000. '

' About a mile west of Lupton the Zuni and Wingate sandstones, 

which passed underground 3 miles east of Gallup, rise rapidly in 

succession, especially to the north of the railway, 

Lupton, Ariz. where the dips are steep for some distance. (See 

Elevation MBS feet, pj xiX, B, p. 103.) South of Lupton and extending

Kansas City 1,101 miles . ' ;r ' f . &

to a point south ol milepost 181 there are high elms 

of white to pink sandstones (the Zuni and Wingate) showing 

many remarkable pinnacles, buttresses, caves, and other features 

characteristic of erosion in soft, massive rock. They have been 

eroded by the ram, and especially by wind-blown sand, which cuts 

rapidly into rocks of this character. One of the most notable 

arches in these rocks is shown in Plate XX, B. It-is some distance 

north of the railway. Beyond the cliffs west of Lupton the-rise of 

the beds to the west brings up. the thick succession of shales which lie 

beneath this sandstone. West of milepost 182 the dips are very low, 

so that the same rocks continue on both sides of the railway for a
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 013 PLATE XX

A. BED OF RIO PUERCO AT NAVAJO SIDING, ARIZ.

View southwestward. A typical arid-land arroyo, which is filled to the brim with a swiftly flowing torrent after £ 

rain but soon becomes dry again.

E. NATURAL BRIDGE IN MASSIVE SANDSTONE NEAR THE HAYSTACK ROCKS, NORTH OF

MANUELITO, ARIZ. 

Shows the work of a small stream which enlarged a crack along a joint plane.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY lULLETIN 613 PLATE XXI \

PETRIFIED LOGS SOUTH OF ADAMANA, ARIZ. 

The logs were buried in the clays shown in the views.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. ' 107

considerable distance. They are gray and purple shales with layers 

of gray sandstone, some of which are sufficiently thick and hard to 

form low mesas that rise at intervals far to the north and south.

A short distance west of Houck siding the train enters a canyon 

about 2 miles long, the walls of which consist of the hard, coarse sandstone that underlies the shales exposed to the east.

This rock is regarded as the eastward continuation

Shmarump conglomerate, which is conspicuous 

in the country to the northwest. The dip to the west 

carries this sandstone below the surface west of the canyon, and 

rolling hills of red shales with gray sandstone layers continue westward to Winslow and beyond. These rocks are exposed here and there 

in shallow cuts along the railway and in the slopes of the adjoining 

. hills and low mesas. They lie nearly flat.

A 303-foot well at Chambers affords a supply of water rising within 

60 feet of the surface.

The first Territorial capital of Arizona was near Navajo, and there 

has been an Indian trading post there since 1863. Jacobs Well, 

XT . an important water hole, is not far south. Near J\9.vsno

milepost 218 the train passes through a shallow

Elevation 5,633 feot. . 111 i i i -i ,1 i -j. Kansas city 1,134 miles. cany°n m rec^ shale which is capped by a thin deposit 

of gray sandstone. These beds have a scarcely perceptible dip and constitute the surface along the slopes of the Rio 

Puerco valley past Pinta siding and Adamana, with remarkable uniformity over a wide area. The Rio Puerco in this region has a 

bed of considerable width and high banks, but most of the time it is 

dry or nearly so, as shown in Plate XX, A.

The "Petrified Forest," or series of petrified forests, lies a short distance south of Adamana, and the trip to it is made from that station. A small hotel provides accommodations for 

travelers. The distance to the farthest point usually 

v^ite(l is 9 miles, and this tour can be made in a day 

or less. In the region south of Adamana there are 

four "forests," the first 6 miles out, the second 8£ miles, the third 

13 miles, and the fourth, the "Rainbow Forest," about 2 miles northwest of the third. They are included in a Government reservation 

called "Petrified Forest National Monument," created by President 

Roosevelt in 1906 and placed in charge of the Secretary of Agriculture. The name "forest" is not appropriate, for the petrified tree 

trunks are all prostrate and are broken into sections. (See PI. XXI.) 

The logs are the remains of trees that grew in Triassic time. The 

trees were of several kinds, most of them being related to the Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria excelsa), now used for indoor decoration. 

These gigantic fossil trees are of later date than those represented 

by the cones and twigs in the beds at Glorieta Pass, and, as might 

be expected, they resemble the living Araucarias more closely. They
108 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES,

are probably the Triassic descendants of the Permian progenitors of 

the araucarian family. Doubtless they grew in0 a near-by region 

and, after falling, drifted down a watercourse and lodged in some 

eddy or a sand bank. Later they were buried by sand and clay, 

finally to a depth of several thousand feet. The conversion to stone 

was effected by gradual replacement of the woody material by silica 

in the form called chalcedony, deposited by underground water. A 

small amount of iron oxides deposited at the same time has given the 

beautiful brown, yellow, and red tints which appear in much of the 

material.

All the "forests" present objects of interest, but a visit to the first 

and second illustrates most of the features. In places the logs 

are scattered over the surface in large numbers. They vary in size 

and in length of the trunk sections; in most places the sections are 

in no regular order, but some of them lie in line very nearly in their 

original positions. In the first forest they are all out of place, having 

either rolled down from their original positions in a sandstone layer 

at a higher level, or been left on the ground as the clay or sand that 

once inclosed them was washed away. In the second and third 

forests the original log-bearing stratum may be seen, with many 

logs only partly uncovered by erosion. Some of the tree trunks 

are 6 feet in diameter and more than 100 feet in length, but most of 

them are about half these dimensions. In the first forest there is a 

fine trunk that forms a natural bridge over a small ravine, the water 

having first washed away the overlying clay and sand and then, 

following a crevice, worked out the channel underneath. The length 

of this log is 110 feet, diameter 4 feet at butt and 1£ feet at top. 

(See PI. XXI, A.)

The petrified woods are beautiful objects for study. When thin 

slices are carefully ground down to a thickness of 0.003 inch or less 

and placed under the microscope they show perfectly the original 

wood structure, all the cells being distinct, though now they are 

replaced by chalcedony. By studying the sections, F. H. Knowlton 

has found that most of these araucarian trees were of the species 

Araucarioxylon arizonicum, a tree now extinct. It is known to have 

lived at the same geologic tune also in the east-central part of the 

United States, where the remains of some of its associates have also 

been found. These included other cone-bearing trees, tree ferns, 

cycads, and gigantic horsetails, which indicate that, at that time, the 

rainfall was abundant.

The entire area of the "forests" is included in the Government 

reservation, and visitors are prohibited from carrying away any of 

the petrified wood or damaging the logs in any way. Petrified wood 

occurs in many other places in these same beds to the north and south, 

\notably in an area 6 miles north of Adamana or 5 miles north of Aztec
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 16

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on (he U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of thai name.

!09°3o' NEW MEXICO-ARIZONA

EXPLANATION

A Ssnd and gravel .-..-----:--- 

B Dikes of igneous rock (vogiesite)

C Sandstone and shale, with coa! Mesaverde forma

tion

[Shale and sandstone, marine Mancos shale 

D < deposits

[Sandstone Dakota

[Sandstone, white, pink, and Zuni 

E *, gray

^Massive sandstone, mostly red

F Shale, gray and red

G Conglomerate

H Shale,red

>_' NAJ/AJO INDIAN RESERVATION rrr" " " " ~^~ ' ~ \~^nr ;:~ 

<|uJ i'MW^

Cretaceous 

7r.n f (Upper 

 M I Cretaceous)

^A)) A\,1'«i;<?/:,£^

Moeneopie forma 

tion

Scale 500,000 

Approximately 8 miles to I inch

J?. . . . , '? . . . . '5

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 milts 

The crosslies on the railroads are spaced I mile apart
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 109

siding, where there is an interesting "forest," known as the North 

Forest, of considerable extent. The logs are all in beds not far above 

the horizon of the Shinarump conglomerate.

A short distance west of the main Petrified Forest, at the head of a 

small valley which joins the valley of Little Colorado River at Woodruff (see sheet 17, p. 112), is a group of prehistoric pueblo ruins which 

have been thought to be of Zuni origin.

A boring was made in the red shale at Adamana to obtain a water 

supply, but the water, though found with sufficient head to afford a 

flow, was too salty for use. This condition is almost universal in the 

red shale of the Moencopie formation, which was penetrated in the 

boring.

West of Adamana the railway continues down the valley of the Rio 

Puerco, which widens somewhat because of the softness of the red

Moencopie shale, in which it is excavated. The conglomerate (Shinarump) which lies next above this shale, caps slopes and buttes some 

distance to the north and south.

The beds lie almost flat, so that the railway in descending the 

valley crosses successively older and lower beds.

A short distance beyond milepost 251 the Rio Puerco empties 

into Little Colorado River, which flows from the south but turns 

almost due west after its junction with the Puerco. 

From this place the railway continues along the 

. nortn bank of the Little Colorado nearly to Winslow. 

The ^valley is wide and contains extensive flats of 

alluvium, with more or less loose wind-blown sand. In a few places 

there are ranches where the river water is utilized for irrigation.

Holbrook is sustained largely by scattered ranches in the surrounding country. One of the principal industries of the region is 

 lbr k the raising of stock, sheep, and goats, and it is reported 

that 200,000 pounds of wool were shipped from HolElevation5,080feet. . ' .. 5 -., . ., 11 f , -,i ,, Population GOO.* brook in 1914. There is considerable trade with the 

Kansas city 1,174 miles. jnciians ner6j for ^he Navajo Indian Reservation is

only a few miles northeast and the Hopi country 

begins not far to the northwest. Holbrook is also an outlet for 

considerable travel coming down the valley of the Little Colorado 

from St. John and other places farther south.

Holbrook is situated on the red shales and sandstones of the Moencopie formation. The beds dip very gently to the north, and within 

a few miles in that direction the red rocks pass under the Shinarump 

conglomerate, the outcrop of which is marked by low cliffs and 

numerous buttes. The red rocks of the Moencopie formation are 

prominent all along the valley from Holbrook to Winslow, cropping out in many low cliffs and mesas. A few miles north of the

97579° Bull. 613 15 8
110 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

valley are wide areas of badlands, as shown in Plate XXII. These 

are developed by erosion in the soft sandy clays in the formation 

overlying the Shinarump conglomerate.

North of Joseph City siding is the Mormon settlement of St. Joseph, 

where crops are raised by irrigation from the Little Colorado. To 

the south is an area of 800 acres irrigated from deep wells. These 

places are conspicuous green oases in a region where the gray desert 

aspect prevails. Along the Little Colorado Valley at intervals are 

cottonwood trees, some of. them large and clustered in groves of considerable extent.

As the Little Colorado Valley widens near Manila and Hardy 

sidings, there appear to the north many mesas and slender pinnacles 

of igneous rock which rise high above the general 

plain. Far to the north in the Navajo Reservation

. may be discerned the cliff at the edge of an extensive 

mesa, which contains a large coal field that has not 

yet been developed.

About 2 miles east of Winslow the railway crosses the Little Colorado, which here makes an abrupt turn to the north. A few miles 

farther west the river bends to the northwest to join Colorado River 

in the Grand Canyon at a point about 100 miles northwest of Winslow. 

The original name of this stream was Rio Lino (that is, Flax River), a 

distinctive name which would be preferable to the present name.

Winslow is a railway division point where many trains stop for

meals. It is the headquarters for. a large surrounding stock country

and ^an important center of trade with Hopi and

Winslow. Navajo Indians (see PL XXIII) in .the reservations

Elevation 4,854 feet, not . f ar north.. Near Winslow are the ruins of

Kansas city 1,207 'miles. Homolobi Pueblo, claimed by. the Hopis to be the 

home of their ancestors before the tribe had to flee 

to the high cliffs far to the north to be safe from their enemies.

Winslow is at the south end of the Painted Desert, a district of 

undulating plains and bright-colored cliffs, which extends far northward into Utah. The Painted Desert lies between the canyons of 

Little Colorado and Colorado rivers on the west and the buttes and 

plateaus of the highlands on the east. Its width in general is about 

40 miles, comprising, the outcrop of sandstones and shales that are 

mostly of Triassic age.

Except in the two rivers there is no running water on the Painted 

Desert, and springs and water holes, are far apart and of small volume.

The Hopi Indian villages of Oraibi (PL XXIV), Walpi, Schimopavi, 

Shipauiluvi, Mishonginivi, Sichomivi, and Hano .are picturesquely 

built on the cliffs which project from a high plateau of sandstone into 

the western margin of the Painted Desert, about 60 miles north of
LJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

BADLANDS NORTH OF HOLBROOK. 

View southward. The material is sandy clay. Lava-capped buttes o
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN G13 PLATE XX1I1

A. NAVAJO INDIANS VISITING THE HOPI INDIANS AT ORAIBI, NORTH OF WINSLOW, ARIZ, 

Photograph furnished by Santa Fe Railway Co.

7?. AN EVENING WITH NAVAJO INDIANS ABOUT THE CAMP FIRE, NORTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

ORAIBI, A HOPI VILLAGE ON THE SANDSTONE PROMONTORIES EAST OF TH
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XXV

A. VIEW OF CRATER MOUND, ARIZ., FROM THE SOUTHWEST. SHOWING ENCIRCLING RIM.

F,. NEAR VIEW OF RIM OF CRATER MOUND.

0. VIEW ACROSS THE CRATER OF CRATER MOUND, SHOWING UPTURNED LIMESTONE BEDS 

. - .. IN ITS WALLS.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. Ill

Winslow. They are in a reservation about 50 by 70 miles in extent 

which the Government has set aside for the Hopis.1

The first white men to visit the Hopi Indians were the members of a party under Pedro de Tovar (toe-vahr'), sent by Coronado. 

At that time seven villages constituted the province of Tusayan 

(too-sah'yan), as it was subsequently known. These were in the 

neighborhood of the present Hopi villages, but the Hopi Indians 

claim as ancestral homes ruins found as far away as Verde River and 

the Rio Grande. The present Hopi villages are the objective point 

of many tourists, especially on the occasion of the far-famed snake 

dance, which occurs in August.

For centuries the Pueblo people of this arid climate have been 

developing the Indian maize, a peculiar corn with wonderful droughtresisting properties. It is planted from 6 to 12 inches below the 

surface, the depth depending on the condition of the soil, and the long 

single root goes deep to gather the scant moisture of the sandy soil. 

A stem also extends straight to the surface and there concentrates 

its energy in seed development, with only a few straggly leaves from 

its short stalk. Consequently a field of maize presents a very poor 

appearance compared with an eastern cornfield. However, if there 

is a little rainfall at the critical part of the growing season, it yields a 

fair crop.

The climate of this region is typical of much of the higher portions 

of Arizona, with its scanty rainfall and large percentage of cloudless 

days (about 60 per cent). The days are dry and hot in summer, but 

the night temperatures are usually 40° cooler. At Holbrook the 

mean annual precipitation is 9.16 inches and the mean annual temperature 54.2°. At Winslow the precipitation is 7 inches and the 

temperature 55°, while Flagstaff, on the plateau 2,000 feet higher, 

has nearly 24 inches of rainfall and a much lower temperature, 44.7°.

Winslow is on the red sandstones and shales of the Moencopie 

formation. To the northeast these rocks pass under the Shinarump 

conglomerate, the outcrop of which extends across the country in 

low bluffs that may be observed 6 miles northeast of Winslow.

1 The name Hopi means "peaceful 

ones," and the (to them) very unacceptable word Moki, sometimes applied to 

them by other Indians, is derisive, meaning "dead ones." They are Shoshonean 

in language, but are a composite of various 

stocks. They are intelligent, thrifty, 

tractable, hospitable, and frugal. Their 

lives are full of toil to raise crops in an arid 

region, and full of prayers and religious 

ceremonies largely intended to persuade

their gods to send water for the crops. 

They are monogamists and faithful to 

marriage ties. Murder is unknown among 

them, theft rare, and lying deprecated. 

They now number about 2,100, having 

diminished considerably in the last 50 

years. Escalante reported nearly 7,500 

in 1774 and only 798 were recorded in 

1780, more than 6,000 having died of 

disease. A very large proportion of them 

have trachoma.
112 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Beyond this conglomerate is a wide area occupied by a thick succession of light-colored shales, and in the distance are scattered buttes 

of still higher red sandstone (the Wingate), capped by small remnants of old lava sheets. Some of these lava buttes are very prominent features in the landscape-far to the northeast of Winslow. The 

Moencopie formation extends northwest of Winslow and Moqui siding 

in a broad belt down the valley of the Little Colorado, which finally 

cuts down into the underlying limestone (the Kaibab). West 

of Winslow the train leaves this valley and climbs gradually to 

the Arizona Plateau. This extensive table-land rises continuously to 

Flagstaff and beyond and also northwestward to the edge of the 

Grand Canyon. The greater part of its surface consists of bare limestone (the Kaibab), which dips at a low but nearly uniform angle to 

the east and southeast. At Winslow this limestone is some distance 

beneath the surface, under the red sandstones of the Moencopie formation, but as it rises to the west at a somewhat more rapid rate 

than the ascent of the railway it finally reaches the surface. It first «/ /

appears at a point a short distance beyond Dennison siding (see sheet 

18, p. 120), but for several miles, to and beyond Sunshine siding, 

numerous outlying masses of the basal red sandstone of the Moencopie remain on it. Just south of Sunshine this sandstone has been 

quarried to a considerable extent for building stone.

About 10 miles south of Sunshine is Crater Mound, long known as 

Coon Butte and for a while as Meteorite Mountain, perhaps the most 

mysterious geologic feature in the West. Viewed 

from the railway, it appears as a low ridge (see PI. 

Elevation 5,341 feet. XXV, A), but on near approach this ridge is found

Kansas City 1,227 miles i i j , f . i i A ^r, £ j.

to be circular and to inclose a great nole 4,000 leet 

in diameter and 600 feet deep.1 (See PL XXV, 0.} The encircling 

ridge is from 100 to 150 feet high and consists of loose fragments

Sunshine.

1 The cause of this great hole in the 

ground has not been ascertained. Several geologists believe that it was made by 

the impact of a great meteor, a view suggested by the occurrence of many small 

masses of meteoric iron in the vicinity, 

as well as elsewhere in the surrounding 

country, but a mining company organized 

to find and work the large mass supposed 

to be buried in the hole failed to obtain 

any evidences of its existence. Many test 

borings and a shaft were sunk 200 feet 

into the detritus in the floor of the hole, 

and a 1,020-foot hole found that the underlying sandstones are not disturbed. 

Moreover, a detailed survey with a magnetic needle, hung to swing vertically,

failed to show any evidence of the presence of a body of metallic iron.

Another suggestion is that the hole is 

due to an explosion of steam from volcanic 

sources below, accumulating in the pores 

of the sandstone and finally reaching the 

limit of tension. This would account for 

the broken sandstone and limestone constituting the encircling rim and for the up-- 

turned edges of the strata, which doubtless 

would bend upward somewhat before 

they broke. The large amount of fine 

sand produced would result from the 

violence of the explosion of steam contained in the interstices of the sandstone. 

Such an explosion might not greatly disturb the underlying Supai sandstone if the
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 17

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. C. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

N A VA J 0

INDIAN

RESERVATION

// °

-yfL - 

m ^r^l

A Lava flows (basalt)------- - ...........

B Shales, gray and reddish--

C Conglomerate, gray to brown- - Shimu-ump ----

D Shale and sandstone, red-------- -Moenoopie forma- 

	tion

,- Limestone, massive, light Kaib-n

*~ colored

- Quaternary

Triassic

Scale 500,000 

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch

600 

-.-100

- - -500 Carboniferous 

(Permian CO)

- 600 Carboniferous 

(Pennsylvania!!)

10 15 20 25 30Kilometers

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from K&nsas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles 

The crossnes on the railroads are spaced I mile apart

110 30 110
THE SANTA FE ROUTE.

of rock and sand blown out of the hole. (See PI. XXV, B.) The 

beds of rock in the walls of the hole are Kaibab limestone at the 

top and Coconino sandstone below, both more or less upturned near 

the hole and in part considerably shattered. The relations are shown 

in figure 23. The best view of Crater Mound is obtained from points 

near milepost 309.

West of Sunshine there is a nearly continuous exposure of the 

Kaibab limestone to Flagstaff, and this rock also extends far to the 

north, south, and southwest. As the slope is ascended northwest of 

Sunshine siding there is a fine view of the Painted Desert far to the 

northeast, and beyond it may be seen dimly the high promontories 

or plateaus on which the Hopi villages are built.

Debris

FIGURE 23. Generalized section across Crater Mound, Ariz.

A short distance beyond Canyon Diablo station the railroad 

crosses the canyon on a long steel bridge, affording a very good 

view of this interesting feature. (See PI. XXVI.) 

Canyon Diablo. The canyon ig gteep waued, about 225 feet deep,

. 550 feet wide' and entirely in the Kaibab limestone. 

The beds, which are thick and massive, are nearly 

horizontal and appear as huge steps descending to the bottom of the 

canyon.

Just beyond Hibbard siding is another canyon known as Canyon 

Padre (pah/dray), not as deep as Canyon Diablo, but of similar shape. 

Both of them are excellent illustrations of the results of erosion in 

hard limestone by streams of considerable slope. The flow is transient, for only at times of rainfall is there any water in them, but then 

the current is swift and the water carries much sand, which vigorously 

cuts away the limestone.

West of Canyon Padre there may be seen ahead and to the north 

many knobs and ridges rising above the plateau surface. They 

consist of volcanic rocks which cover a wide area to the northwest

zone of explosion were in the overlying 

Coconino sandstone, which is much the 

more porous material. The locality is in 

the midst of a region of former great volcanic activity, for although there are no 

lava flows in the immediate vicinity of 

the hole there are large outflows and 

vents not many miles away in all directions. A somewhat similar hole or crater 

holds the Zuni Salt Lake, 115 miles to the 

southeast. From its center rise two very 

recent cinder cones, one with a deep crater in its top. The rim surrounding the 

big hole consists of a mixture of volcanic 

ejecta and fragments of rocks from far 

below the surface.
114 GUIDEBOOK OP THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

and culminate in the high peaks of the San Francisco Mountains, 25 

miles away, which are prominently in view for many miles along the 

railway.

At milepost 320 there is a cinder cone a short distance north of the 

railway, with a lava flow extending from its base to the east and 

another to the south, the latter reaching nearly to the track. The 

cone is remarkably symmetrical and fresh looking, and the lava flow 

is closely similar to that which is exposed near Grant and Horace, 

220 miles farther east. A short distance north of the cone is the southern margin of a wide area of lava (basalt), which extends far to the 

north as well as to the northeast and northwest. On its rugged surface are many cinder cones which are visible more or less distinctly 

from the train. (See PL XXVII.)

Between mileposts 319 and 320 is a signboard reading "Eastern 

boundary Coconino National Forest." This forest is one of two 

Government reservations which include the great forest of yellow 

pine (Pinus ponderosa) covering the higher part of the Arizona or 

Coconino Plateau.1

As the limestone plateau is ascended, the first trees observed are 

stunted junipers and pinons; these rapidly increase in size and abundance as the higher altitudes are attained, a feature especially noticeable between Angell and Winona sidings.

1 These great forests extend northwestward to the Grand Canyon, westward 

to and beyond Williams, and southward 

to the southern margin of the plateau. 

They include about 1,317,000 acres of 

western yellow pine. In parts of the

forest and in a broad zone around its margin are junipers (Juniperus ocddentalis 

var. monosperma) and pinons (Pinus 

edulis). The pines grow on the limestone 

and volcanic rocks, and the forest limits 

are determined by the moisture, which in 

turn is largely controlled by the altitude. 

Accordingly the pine growth is nearly all 

in the area higher than 6,200 feet, for at 

lower altitudes than this the precipitation 

is insufficient; in fact, even in some of the 

western portions of the high plateau, 

where the altitude is slightly above this 

amount, the rainfall is too scanty or the 

soil too dry to support a forest. The yellow pine gives place to other trees, mainly 

firs, spruce, and aspen, above 8,500 to 

9,000 feet, and the forest ceases at an altitude of 12,000 feet on the San Francisco 

Mountains.

The investigations of the Geological 

Survey and the Forest Service on the 

relation of forests to water supply and soil 

waste indicate that forests in mountainous 

districts conserve the precipitation for 

stream flow and increase the underground

storage of water. The trees break the

violence of the rain, retard' enow melting, 

and increase absorption by the soil, all of 

which diminish erosion of the surface and 

rapidity and volume of run-off. Underground seepage is increased, so that a 

steady flow is maintained in springs 

and streams, and less silt is removed, 

hence there is less to obstruct the stream 

beds.

Fires have ravaged many parts of the 

forests, and one of the principal functions 

of the Forest Service is to prevent or extinguish them. Lookouts are maintained 

on high points. Lightning starts fires and 

destroys many trees that do not ignite. 

It has been estimated that 40,000 trees 

were struck in three years in the high 

plateau province of Arizona and adjoining 

regions.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

CANYON DIABLO, ARI

i up the canyon at a point between Winslow and Flagstaff. The steplike ledges of Kaibab limestone 

time train of Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, the predece
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEV BULLETIN 613 PLATE XXVM

A. RECENT CINDER CONE EAST OF SAN FRANCISCO MOUNTAINS, NORTH OF WINONA, ARIZ. 

Rises above broad sheets of lava and marks a vent.

li. CINDER CONES IN COCONINO FOREST EAST OF SAN FRANCISCO MOUNTAINS, ARIZ. 

View from edge of a recent cone showing large fragments of lava and cinder
SANTA FE ROUTE. 115

At Angel! and for several miles west many cinder cones are visible

on the widespread lava sheet which begins a short distance north of

that sidmg. Most of these cones are from 150 to 250

AngeII> feet high. They consist of piles of loose, dark volEievation 5,910 feet. canic cinder or pumice which varies from pieces 2

Kansas City 1,243 miles., , . f _ i , inches in diameter to fine sand. The deposit includes volcanic bombs, rounded masses of more compact lava, which 

were ejected from volcanic vents. This region of lava occupies an 

area about 15 miles wide from north to south and 70 miles long from 

east to west, with the San Francisco Mountains near the center. It 

has been designated the San Franciscan volcanic field.1

1 Three general periods of volcanic activity are indicated in this field. First 

came a widespread outflow of basalt;

which issued from numerous cracks in 

the limestone and xmderlying strata in 

a very fluid condition and spread widely 

over the gently sloping surface of the 

plateau. In the second period occurred 

the eruption of several large masses of 

more viscous lavas (andesite, dacite, and 

latite) now constituting San Francisco 

Mountain, Kendrick Peak, Elden Mountain, O'Leary Peak, and other high 

summits. These lavas, being less fluid 

than the earlier basalt, piled up and in 

part arched up on it in high mounds .of 

relatively small extent. As these rocks 

are hard and massive they give rise to 

very prominent topographic features. It 

is probable that there was a considerable 

interval of time between the first basalt 

eruptions and the outflows of less fluid 

lavas, but apparently all of them were 

extruded late in Tertiary time. There 

are also bodies of intruded rhyolite which 

apparently cut across the earlier basalt 

at several localities, notably in Sitgreaves 

Peak, Government Mountain, and 

O'Leary Peak. This rhyolite is a lightgray or nearly white rock, usually breaking into thin slabs.

In the third period of eruption in the 

San Francisco volcanic field occurred an 

extensive outflow of black lava (basalt) 

similar to the first." It came out of numerous cracks and other orifices, mostly 

within the area of the earlier lava sheets. 

The lava at many localities ran down 

valleys which had been eroded in the

earlier lava sheets or the underlying limestone in the interval between the periods 

of eruption. Most of this later lava is 

exceedingly fresh in appearance, similar 

to that occupying the San Jose Valley at 

Grant and McCartys, N. Mex., which is 

described on pages 97-98.

At many of the vents the cessation of 

lava flow was followed by an outburst of 

cinders and ash. This material was 

thrown up into the air for some distance 

and, settling back about the vent, formed 

a cone, as a rule with a central crater. 

The building of these cinder cones usually 

marked the last stage of activity of the 

crater, but in some places a later gush of 

lava was poured out from the side or base 

of the cone. The lava contained a vast 

volume of steam, for much of it is highly 

porous, owing to the .expansion of the 

steam in the cooling rock as it flowed out 

over the surface. The cinder consists of 

lava filled with small steam holes, so 

that most of it is completely porous or 

pumaceous. In the cinder cones are 

usually included masses of compact lava 

probably thrown out as bombs. These 

vary in form from perfectly round balls 

to elongated and irregular shapes such as 

might be expected in molten material 

ejected from a vent. Their surface is 

smooth. In places there are flattened 

masses of lava several square yards in 

extent, in part twisted around some of the 

cinder in which they are inclosed. Several of the cinder cones doubtless date 

back to the earlier basalt eruption, but 

most of them appear to belong to the last 

period.
116 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

There are several hundred cinder cones in the field, presenting a 

great variety in size, height, and stage of preservation. Many have 

deep craters or hopper-shaped cavities at the top. The distribution 

of most of them is shown in figure 24, which also shows the approximate extent of the lava fields. Excellent views of cinder cones may 

be had to the northwest from mileposts 321, 324, and 325, and at 

Winona there are two small cones a short distance south of the track.

At milepost 326 the railway reaches the south edge of the great 

basalt flow. It continues along this edge but is built mostly on the 

underlying limestone almost as far as Flagstaff. There is a cut in 

the basalt on the north side of the track at milepost 326. At milepost 328, just east of Winona, the railway enters the basalt area, on

o

7

/ \ r

 - '

 ^ **t*.x * ' Sitgreaves Pk ? 'Mtn x x * * » *x ""x jAshTork. x T xx x & ,, x/ , 

 

X «*Jf» * / t -"? ** x /" x x3an Francisco ****** i » x ^ ' * * *

^

> X % ^ X x.x * " EldenMtn ** ** /''*"~*~'

f*-'*''^ * */ *

x= Cinder cones v -/ > i' \_ ^ ! 

mostly recent <^.-~.^~^^^-~^ [ 'Mormon Mtn [

20 30 Miles

FIGURE 24. Map of the lava field in the San Francisco Mountain district, Ariz., showing distribution 

of cinder cones marking vents of eruption. (After H. H. Kobinson.)

which it continues for about a mile, and at many points in the next 

few miles the edge of the basalt is a short distance north of the tracks.

Between Winona and Cosnino sidings the San Francisco Mountains 

are in plain sight to the northwest, and many minor volcanic peaks 

are also visible to the north. In greater part the railroad is built 

on the Kaibab limestone, which is well exposed in several cuts.

At Cosnino the pines begin to be numerous and of large size, and

a short distance to the west, at an altitude of about 6,300 feet, the

traveler enters the great pine forest which extends conCosnino. tinuously to Williams. Cosnino is a name formerly

Elevation 6,466 feet, applied to the Havasupai tribe of Yuman Indians.

Kansas City 1,254 miles. \T r . ^ , . £ r^j^ who live in Cataract Canyon, near Grand Canyon. 

They once occupied permanent villages on the Arizona Plateau but
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 117

were forced to abandon them owing to the hostility of tribes living 

farther east.

Two miles beyond Cosnino the train approaches a large cinder 

cone which extends for about a mile along the north, side of the track, 

and halfway between mileposts 336 and 337 there are cuts exposing 

some features of the cinder deposits constituting this cone. Most of 

the material is fine grained but there are many included masses 

consisting of cinder agglomerated together and numerous bombs.

One of the most notable examples of a recent cinder cone is Sunset 

Peak, which is visible 10 miles to the north from the vicinity of 

milepost 337. This cone is 300 feet high and has steep slopes of loose 

cinders, part of which are of a bright-red color, giving the cone the 

appearance of being illumined by the setting sun. The crater at 

the top is 80 feet deep and ,.__^ 

200 feet in diameter, but 

the original orifice under 

this depression is covered 

by the loose material 

sliding down the steep 

slopes.

Halfway between mile- ? . ' MILE

posts 338 and 339 is a red FIGUKE 25. Section of Elden Mountain, east of Flagstafl,Ariz.,

r>in rl OT nr>r> o 9OO f <W Vii rrVi showing relations of beds upturned on its east side, o, LiraeCUiaer COne ^5UU leet nign, stone (Kaibab); &> ^ sandstone (Coconino); c, red sandstone

half a mile north Of the (Supai); d, limestone (Redwall); e, igneous rock. (After H. H.

railway, with a small Robinson->

tongue of lava extending from its base southward to a point a short

distance east of milepost 339.

At Cliffs the train runs near the south edge of Elden Mountain, 

a prominent mass of dark-colored dacite of the second period of volcanic activity. The lava is in heavy beds presenting 

Cliffs< an arched appearance, suggesting strongly that the 

Elevation 6,829 feet. }ava was poured out in thick viscous layers which

Kansas City 1,260 miles. r J

were finally bent upward by the pushing of some 

central force at or toward the end of the period of eruption. That 

this range has been considerably upthrust is further indicated by 

the presence of some large uplifted masses of the sedimentary rocks 

of the plateau along its east side. In this uplift are exposed the 

Redwall limestone, the red sandstone of the Supai formation, the 

Coconino sandstone, and the Kaibab limestone, all dipping steeply 

eastward with the relations shown in figure 25.

Half a mile south of Cliffs there are some remarkable sink holes in 

the bottom of the valley, known as the Bottomless Pits (PI. XXVIII). 

They form the entrance to a cavern in the Kaibab limestone made 

by the solvent action of water on the limestone in its passage underground through joints and fissures to outlets in the depths of Walnut 

Canyon, a few miles south.
118 GUIDEBOOK OP THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Along the walls of this canyon, 5 miles southeast of Cliffs, is a wellknown group of cliff dwellings, shown in Plate XXIX, A. They belonged to Indians of a race that existed many centuries ago and lived 

hidden in these canyons. They built stone houses under the overhanging ledges of limestone a hundred feet above the stream bed. 

These ledges are due to the variations in hardness of the beds of 

Kaibab limestone, the soft beds weathering away, leaving the hard 

beds in the form of ledges. One soft bed in particular which has 

weathered out along both sides of Walnut Canyon for some distance 

gave the Indians an excellent site for many houses of this character. 

It has been estimated that 1,000 persons lived in these cliff dwellings, which are easily accessible by an excellent carriage road from 

Flagstaff, the principal town of this region.

A short distance beyond milepost 342 the railway passes along the 

north edge of a small lava field occupying a valley, and in slopes north 

of the track is an outlying mass of the red Moencopie sandstone, which 

extends for a mile and a half, or nearly to Flagstaff. The sandstone 

is overlain by an older sheet of lava (basalt), which caps the mesa 

northeast of Flagstaff. This sandstone has been extensively quarried 

a few rods north of milepost 343, furnishing a beautiful red stone 

which has been used at many places in the West, notably in the 

Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, and the city hall at Los Angeles.

Flagstaff is a growing city, largely sustained by the lumbering 

business and surrounding ranches. It was named from a pole set by 

a party of immigrants who camped near by and celeFlagstaff. brated the Fourth of July. Formerly it was the 

Elevation 6,896 feet, point of departure for stages for the Grand Canyon, 

Kms^c^i'^s miles. 60 miles to the northwest, but this service has been 

mostly superseded by the railway line from Williams. 

An excellent road, however, has been built to the canyon. It 

passes around the east side of the Elden and San Francisco mountains to a point near Sunset Peak and thence north across the volcanic field and plateau, reaching the edge of the canyon at Grandview. When conditions are favorable this trip can be made in five 

or six hours by automobile.

There are large lumber mills at Flagstaff deriving much of their 

supply from the pine timber of the Coconino National Forest, which 

they purchase "on the stump" from the Government. In accordance with the regulations of the Forest Service, only the mature 

trees are cut. The average age of old pine trees in the Coconino 

Forest has been determined to be 348 years, but some have been found 

as old as 520, years, dating back a century before the first visit of 

Columbus to America. Recent investigations made to ascertain rainfall-conditions in the past as indicated by variations in rings of growth
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

BOTTOMLESS PITS SOUTH OF CLIFFS, EIGHT MILES S

The water passes into a sink or cave formed by the so
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. CLIFF DWELLINGS IN WALNUT CANYON, SOUTHEAST OF

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. 

Ruins of houses are under overhanging cliff of Kaibab limestone.
THE SANTA PE HOTJTE. 119

in trees show marked 'changes in climate in alternating long cycles of 

drier and more rainy periods.

On the edge of the high mesa in the western part of Flagstaff is the 

Lowell Observatory, which is equipped with an especially fine telescope through which Dr. Percival Lowell and his assistants have 

made their famous observations on the planet Mars. The clear, 

steady air of this high altitude is particularly favorable for astronomical work.

The peaks of the San Francisco Mountains 1 are prominent from 

Flagstaff, and the trip to their summit can easily be made on horseback from that place. The region, from these mountains to Gila 

River was the domain of the Apaches (Final Coyote) until their 

final surrender through the efforts of Gen. Crook and Gen. Miles 

in 1886. At one time the San Francisco Mountains were the refuge 

of the Havasupai Indians, who fled there when driven from their 

home on the Little Colorado. These Indians are the only ones 

among the Yuman tribes who had a culture similar to that of the 

Pueblo people farther east. A number of ruins are ascribed to them 

as far south as the Rio Verde, in central Arizona, and the early name 

Cosnino, by which this tribe was known, has been applied to many 

features in this region. They now live in Cataract Canyon, 60 miles 

northwest of Williams.

West of Flagstaff the train continues to climb up the plateau slope. 

In this vicinity the Kaibab limestone is mostly covered by lavas of 

various kinds, but its surface appears for a short distance in a depression just west of Flagstaff. For the first 5 miles west the railroad 

passes along the southern foot of a mesa consisting of a light-gray 

lava (latite), poured out over the surface in a thick mass during the 

second period of volcanic activity.

1 The structure of these mountains is 

shown in figure 26. They consist of a

These rocks appear to lie on the limestone 

platform of the plateau, but the beds may

eassiz Peak

Early basalt vent?q/ ^-t-Andesite vent 

Dacit :ite vent-^(_

Early basalt vent

Latite vent

FIGURE 2(i. Generalized section through the San Francisco Mountains, northeast of Flagstaff, Ariz., 

looking north. Dotted portion eroded; broken line hypothetical.

thick pile of latite lying on a sheet of 

earlier basalt and overlain by flows of 

other lava, mainly dacite and andesite.

be upturned, and possibly some Moencopie sandstone may underlie the central 

mass of latite.
120 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Just east of Riordan siding, eight-tenths of a mile beyond milepost 

350, the Arizona Divide is crossed at an altitude of 7,311 feet, the 

highest point reached by the railway on the plateau. 

ior an. place and westward to and beyond Williams

surface is dark lava (basalt) of somewhat irregular configuration, with many large cinder cones 

on every side.

Bellemont is in a wide "park" or open space in the forest, near the 

southern edge of one of the large lava flows. A short distance to the

south, where the lava lies on limestone, there are 

Bellemont. copious springs of exceptionally good water. This 

Elevation 7,132 feet, water is derived from rain and melting snow on the 

KaLas city 1,277 miles, surf ace of the lava. It percolates through the porous

rock to the underlying limestone and flows along the 

surface of the limestone to its outcrop. It is pumped to the station 

and used on the railway. On a well-watered flat north of this 

station is probably the heaviest stand of timber "in Arizona or New 

Mexico.

At Nevin siding, 2 miles west of Bellemont, a small cinder cone has 

afforded the railway company a supply of ballast which has been 

used on the tracks for many miles to the east and west. The pit, 

which is north of the siding, is large and presents an especially fine 

section through the cone. The principal working face, nearly 100 feet 

high, shows thick beds of cinders with large numbers of scattered 

bombs of various sizes and flattened masses of lava which have been 

thrown out bodily. The vent from which all this material was ejected 

has not been exposed by the excavations. As in many other cones, 

much of the material is red, owing to the oxidation of the iron which 

the lava contains. This oxidation develops more extensively in the 

cinder or bombs than in the solid basalt, for air and water, which 

facilitate the oxidation, have more complete access to material that 

is in the porous form.

South of Nevin is Volunteer Mountain, a very large pile of cinders 

including some hard layers which appear to have been mud flows and 

consist of cinders that evidently flowed out mixed with more or less 

water and are now cemented into a porous rock. There are other 

thick piles of cinders to the north and northwest of Nevin and Maine. 

From Bellemont westward at intervals to and beyond Maine (see 

sheet 19, p. 122) there are excellent views of Kendrick Peak, which is

12 miles north of Bellemont, and of Mount Sitgreaves, 

Maine. which is 8 miles northwest of Maine. These peaks 

Elevation 7,084 feet. are due to thick masses of lavas of the viscous type

Kansas City 1,283 miles. i , i .1 j i j; . j

poured out during the second period of eruption and 

rising high above the plain of older basalt. The mass culminating in 

Mount Sitgreaves consists mainly of rhyolite; the principal rocks in
BULLETIN 613

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshal), Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S, C. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

SHEET 18

I II 30' ARIZONA

35

Crater Mound 

Mormon Mtn,4

-", >) ' " : 'VS& Mormon Lake

Cinder cones, volcanic vent 

(stippled pattern)

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 miles to I inch 

5 IO 15

I . . . . . . 1

Quaternary 

and Tertiary

Lavas, black (basalt) 

Lava, light gray (rhyolitei

I,avas. dark gray (andesite, 

dacite, and latite)

Sandstone, and shale, mostly 

red

Limestone, massive, light 

Sandstone, gray, massive 

Sandstone and shale, red

5000 Tertiary

IO 15 20 25 30Kilometers

Moencopie formation

! Limestone, ma.- sive, bluish

Kaibab 

Coconino 

Supai formation

Red wall

700

toooj

500

Carboniferous 

(Permian ?)

Carboniferous 

'Pennsylvanian")

Carboniferous

(Pennsylvar.ian

and Mississippian'

Contour interval 200 feet

I I I 30'

TVie distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles

The crossties on the railroads ere spaced 1 mile apart

III
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 121

Kendrick Peak are andesite' and dacite. Mount Sitgreaves received 

its name from an Army officer who explored this country in order to 

find a suitable line for a road to the West. He crossed from Zuni 

by way of the San Francisco Mountains to the Colorado above 

Mohave River.

From Maine to Williams there are to the north and south many 

large cinder cones, mostly of red color. To the southwest rises Bill 

Williams Mountain, named for a noted trapper who was originally a 

Methodist preacher in Missouri. He lived with many Indian tribes 

and learned their language, an accomplishment which made him 

useful as a guide, and he was with Gen. FrSmont in his expedition. 

He was finally killed by Indians while trading with them.

Bill Williams Mountain is a huge isolated pile of andesite and 

dacite of the second stage of eruption, forming a prominent landmark 

for many miles in all directions. It is a short distance south of 

Williams and rises to an altitude of 9,642 feet. Some of the same 

kind of rock as that of which the mountain consists is exposed in the 

railway cut a short distance east of Williams.

Williams is a growing village sustained very largely by the lumber 

industry and numerous neighboring ranches. Several large mills cut 

into lumber logs brought from the west side of the 

Williams. Tusayan National Forest, a reservation covering the 

Elevation 6,762 feet, western part of the great forest beginning east of 

K^aSySgmiies. Flagstaff, of which the Coconino National Forest is the 

eastern part. The hotel at Williams, the Fray 

Marcos, was named from Marcos de Niza, who was the provincial 

father of the order of Franciscans in New Spain. He made an 

expedition into this unknown country in 1539, guided by the negro 

Estevan, who had accompanied Cabeza de Vaca in his earlier expedition from the Gulf of Mexico across what is now the southern 

border of the United States and who, on meeting the Spanish conquistadores in Sinaloa, aroused their interest in the exploration of 

this region. Estevan went ahead into Cibola (Zuni) and was slain, 

the Indians doubting his story that white men were following him, 

because he was black. On hearing of Estevan's fate Fray Marcos 

retreated to Mexico, but he returned the next year as guide and 

spiritual director of Coronado's expedition.

[The itinerary westward from Williams is continued on p. 131.]

WILLIAMS TO GRAND CANYON.

From Williams a branch of the Santa Fe Railway runs nearly due 

north 63.8 miles to the Grand Canyon. In the first part of its course 

this line passes over a rolling plateau of black lava (basalt) with 

numerous cinder cones on all sides. One notably large cone of brightred color is 7 miles north of Williams, and there is another one 10
122 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

miles north. Between mileposts 13 anol 15 the Kaibab limestone, 

which underlies the lava, appears at the surface in several localities, 

but the irregular margin of the lava extends to milepost 18. From 

several points there are excellent views of Mount Sitgreaves to the 

east and Kendrick Peak to the northeast.

Beyond milepost 18 the entire surface is Kaibab limestone, which 

constitutes most of the great Arizona Plateau. This limestone rises 

gradually northward to the rim of the Grand Canyon and is trenched 

at intervals by small valleys opening westward and draining into 

Cataract Creek, a stream which flows into the Grand Canyon 60 miles 

to the northwest. In this region the plateau does not bear the pine 

forest which is so characteristic of it farther east, and even the 

junipers and pinons are widely scattered, much of the surface being 

covered by small brush. This change is due to diminished rainfall, 

for the other conditions are identical with those found farther east.

Lava 125 feet

Plateau ^Lr=

\ \ \ ri i 

i ii ii i ii i iii

 Sh

I I 

1 Kaibab

r7TTa^ bU reet

1 l 

limestone I

conglomerate ^oninarump;

Sandstone 

^Z__

i i T" i i i i i i 11 i i i

i

FIGURE 27. Section through Red Butte, near Grand Canyon, Ariz.

From points near milepost 40 (see sheet 19A, p. 130) Ked Butte is a 

conspicuous feature, rising about 850 feet above the plateau a few 

miles east of the railway. As shown in figure 27, this butte is an 

isolated pile of gray and red shales, red sandstone, and conglomerate, 

protected by a 125-foot cap of black lava (basalt). The preservation 

of these beds in this butte is of great interest, for it shows that 

younger rocks formerly covered the Kaibab limestone of the plateau 

to a thickness of at least 800 feet. These rocks have been removed 

by erosion over the wide area extending to Sunset and Winslow on 

the east, and to the Vermilion Cliffs, far north of the Grand Canyon, 

as well as for an undetermined distance to the west and south. 

The small remnant remaining in Red Butte has been protected by 

hard basalt, probably a local outflow of lava of no great extent;

By the presence of this outlier it is possible to recognize some of 

the geographic conditions existing at a time when the plateau was 

developed on the surface of higher strata than it is at present and 

when it may have been as extensive and as level as now. A few 

other outliers of these rocks overlying the Kaibab limestone at several 

points on the plateau help to show that originally the rocks of which 

they consist extended over a wide region south of the Grand Canyon.
BULLETIN 613 

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

Cinder cones marking volcanic 

vents (stippled pattern)

I-ava, black f basalt) 

Lava, light gray (rhyolite)J Lava, dark gray fandesite, etc.;

Quaternand Tert

Moencopie form tion 200+ Carbonif

(Permia

Limestone, gray 

Sandstone, gray, massive 

Sandstone and shales, all red

Kaibab Coconino Supai formation

Carbon

(Pennsy

f Carbon

550 <, ''Pennsy

[and Mis

--800- ---Cambria

Limestone, massive
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 123

Anita is a small siding from which considerable copper ore was 

shipped some years ago. The mines were 4 miles to the northeast. 

The copper ore occurs in irregular masses in the Kaibab limestone. 

It has been brought by underground solutions and deposited in part 

as a replacement of the limestone and in part in crevices and fissures 

in that rock.

At milepost 50, near Hopi siding, jumpers and pinons appear more 

abundantly, and toward the edge of the canyon they constitute a 

thick growth at most places and in parts of the region east of the 

railway make a forest of considerable extent. From Hopi northward 

ledges of Kaibab limestone become conspicuous. The beds dip to the 

south at a very low angle, which is hardly perceptible to the eye. 

Owing to this tilt in the beds, they rise toward the canyon and 

northward. The railway terminus is in a small depression a few rods

south of the brink of the Grand Canyon.

The hotels are built on the edge of- a deep alcove that affords a

superb view into the Grand .Canyon and across it to the great Kaibab

Plateau on the north side. Few persons can realize

Grand Canyon. on a first view of the canyon that it is more than a

Elevation 6,866 feet. miie deep and from 8 to 10 miles wide. The cliffs

Population 299.* , i i. ... j J.T. j? J?T_ Kansas city 1,363 miles, descendmg to its depths lorm a succession OT huge 

steps, each 300 to 500 feet high, with steep rocky 

slopes between. The cliffs are the edges of hard beds of limestone 

or sandstone; the intervening slopes mark the outcrops of softer beds. 

This series of beds is more than 3,600 feet thick, and the beds lie 

nearly horizontal. Far down in the canyon is a broad shelf caused 

by the hard sandstone at the base of this series, deeply trenched by a 

narrow inner canyon cut a thousand feet or more into the underlying 

"granite." (See PI. XXXIII, p. 127.) The rocks vary in color from 

white and buff to red and pale green. They present a marvelous 

variety of picturesque forms, mostly on a titanic scale, fashioned 

mainly by erosion by running water, the agent which has excavated 

the canyon.

The great river which has made its course in this deep canyon is 

the Colorado, one of the largest rivers of North America, which rises 

in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming and empties into 

the Gulf of California. In the Grand Canyon it is a stream about 300 

feet wide and 30 feet deep at mean stage and flows with a mean 

velocity of about 2 miles an hour; the discharge at this stage is 26,400 

cubic feet a second. At flood stages, in May, June, or July, the depth 

may reach 100 feet, and the velocity and volume are greatly increased. 

In its course of 42 miles through the central part of the canyon the 

river falls about 500 feet, or 12 feet to the mile. The water contains 

much sediment, and in time of flood not only carries a large quantity 

of sand and clay but moves a considerable amount of rock down-
124 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

stream.1 Every rain fills the side canyons with rushing torrents, 

which carry into the river a heavy load of debris washed from the 

adjoining slopes. It has been by this means that the canyon was 

excavated, and the deepening and widening process is still in active 

operation. It began at the surface of the plateau and it will continue 

until the river reaches a grade so low that it can no longer move the 

debris; meanwhile the side streams will cut away the adjoining slopes 

and the canyon will widen until its sides become gentle slopes. 

Under present conditions this will require a million years or more. 

The formations exposed in the walls of the Grand Canyon are the 

rocks which underlie the Arizona Plateau, and most of 

them extend far beyond that province. The first 3,.600 

feet of beds, all of which lie nearly horizontal, are as follows:

Rocks.

Strata above granite, in walls of Grand Canyon (beginning at brink of the canyon).

Feet.

Limestone, light colored, partly cherty, mostly massive (Kaibab). 700 

Sandstone, light gray, massive, cross-bedded (Coconino)......... 300

Sandstones and shales, all red (Supai formation)................. 1,100

Limestone, light blue-gray, massive, surface mostly stained red 

(Redwall)................................................... 550

Shale, with limestone and sandstone layers.... -i c 800

Sandstone, hard, dirty gray to buff (on granite) /Tonto SrouP { 150

These formations are readily recognized by their color or character, 

as they are practically uniform in aspect and relative position from 

all points of view. (See PI. XXXII, p.. 126.) The top limestone, 

which caps the great plateaus on both sides of the canyon, has been 

removed in whole or in part from some of the promontories and 

buttes that project into the canyon; the Coconino, Supai, or Redwall

beds have been removed from the lower-lying features. The outcropping edge of the Coconino sandstone 2 is marked by a distinct 

band of light-gray rock all along the canyon walls 700 to 800 feet 

below the top. The red beds of the Supai formation 3 everywhere

1 A very large amount of material is 

removed from the land and carried to the 

oceans by all rivers. Careful estimates 

based on analyses of river waters and 

measurements of volume of flow have 

shown that in a year the* rivers of the 

United States carry to tidewater 513,000,- 

000 tons of sediment in suspension and 

270,000,000 tons of dissolved matter. 

The total of 783,000,000 tons represents 

more than 350,000,000 cubic yards of 

rocks, or a cube of about two-fifths of a 

mile.

2 This sandstone also caps many buttes 

such as Isis, Osiris, and Manu temples,

and Angels Gate, as well as Buddha, 

Zoroaster, Brahma, Deva, and Vishnu 

temples and other similar features on 

which more or less of the overlying limestone remains.

3 Such features as O'Neill Butte, Newton Butte, Tower of Set, Tower of Ra, 

Horus Temple, Rama Shrine, Lyell 

Butte, and Sagittarius Ridge consist of 

the Supai formation. It also is conspicuous in the slopes of many great 

ridges capped by higher beds, such as 

Shiva Temple, Wotan's Throne, Brahma 

Temple, Osiris Temple, Zoroaster Temple, and Vishnu Temple.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. ' 125

constitute the middle slopes of the canyon walls, usually presenting a 

great series of terrace-like steps of red sandstone^ These steps are 

caused by the projection of harder layers of sandstone. The Redwall 

limestone * forms a conspicuous cliff at the foot of the Supai slopes. 

The rock is hard and massive, and its resistance to erosion makes 

it a prominent feature in the canyon. Its surface is stained red by 

wash and drippings from the overlying red shales.

The Redwall and the overlying Supai, Coconino, and Kaibab beds 

represent the greater part of the Carboniferous period. (See p. ii.) 

The Supai, Coconino, and Kaibab are of about the same age as the 

limestones along the Santa Fe line from Kansas City to Strong City, 

Kans., but there is a marked difference in their character.

The Tonto group, below the Redwall, consists of 800 feet of shales, 

largely of greenish color, and a basal sandstone averaging 150 feet 

in thickness. This group is very much older than the Redwall, and 

though at their contact the beds of the one are practically parallel to 

the beds of the other, there is a hiatus here which represents a very 

considerable portion of geologic time not represented by rocks in 

this region but recorded by many thousand feet of rocks in other 

portions of North America and in other countries. The shales make 

a long slope, interrupted by some subordinate ledges of limestone 

and sandstone, descending to a pronounced shelf of the sandstone, 

called the Tonto Platform. This slope and the wide shelf at its-foot 

are both very characteristic and easily recognized features eytending along the lower slopes of the Grand Canyon. 1"

For many miles this shelf of sandstone of the Tonto group.is cut 

through by the steep inner gorge (shown in PL XXXIII, p. 127),-which 

descends to the river, 800 to 1,000 feet below, and exposes the underlying granite and gneiss in very dark rugged ledges. These rocks 

are part of the old earth crust, which has been subjected to great heat 

and pressure. Later in its history its surface was worn down to a 

plane upon which were deposited thick beds of sand, clay, and other 

materials. In a wide area the .basal sandstone of the Tonto lies 

directly on the smooth surface of this schist and granite, but in some 

places, notably in the broad part of the canyon northe-ast of Grandview, in Shinumo basin, in part of Bright Angel Canyon, in Ottoman 

and Hindu amphitheaters, and in the ridges extending northwest and 

southeast from a point near the mouth of Bright Angel Creek other 

rocks lie between the granite and the Tonto rocks. These are a 

succession known as Grand Canyon series, comprising the Unkar 

and Chuar groups, all named from localities in the canyon where they

1 The Redwall limestone projects in 

many flat-topped spurs and buttresses 

and constitutes outliers isolated by ero97579° Bull. 613 15 9

sion, such as Cheops Temple, Newberry 

Butte, and Sheba Temple, which form 

striking topographic features.
126 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

are well exposed. Their thickness is 12,000 feet or more and the beds 

dip at moderately steep angles. Their surface has also been worn 

off to a rolling plain, with many local hills on which lie the shales of 

the Tonto group. The Unkar group, which is the one exposed from 

most points of view, consists of a succession of basal conglomerates, 

dark limestone in thick beds, bright-red shales, heavy quartzites, and 

brown sandstones.1 This succession of rocks is plainly visible in 

Bright Angel Canyon and in the ridge culminating in Cheops Pyramid 

(see PI. XXX), also in a wide area along the river in the region 

northeast of Grandview Point.

Many interesting features of the geologic history of the plateau 

region are recorded in the rocks of the Grand Canyon, and a summary 

of these records is given below. 2

1 These rocks have been named Hotauta 

conglomerate, Bass limestone, Hakatai 

shale, Shinumo quartzite, and Dox sandstone.

2 The granite and gneiss at the bottom 

of the canyon are part of the oldest group 

of rocks constituting the earth's crust. 

The gneiss, which is the older, is in nearly 

vertical layers: It has been subjected to 

great heat and pressure, and into it the 

granite was forced in' a molten state. 

Later the surface of these rocks was eroded 

to a plain by running water.

The next event of which there is evidence was the submergence of this plain 

and the deposition in water, of varying 

depth, of a thick series of sediments now 

represented by the 12,000 feet or more of 

sandstone, limestone, and shale constituting the Unkar and Chuar groups. 

These strata are believed to represent the 

Algonkian period (see p. ii), the earliest 

in which remains of life have been found. 

Several million years was required for the 

accumulation of_ these sediments. The 

materials of the limestone were laid 

down in the sea, those of the sandstone 

on beaches and along streams, and those 

of the shale mostly in estuaries.

Next there was extensive uplifting of 

the earth's crust, with tilting and faulting 

of the rocks. Erosion then swept away 

a large amount of the Unkar and Chuar 

sediments, and over wide areas they were 

all removed. In figure 28 are shown some 

conditions of this sequence of events, as 

indicated by the relations of the rocks on

the north side of the river opposite El 

Tovar.

When the surface was reduced to a rolling plain with a few hills rising in places, 

there was another submergence by -the 

sea, which deposited the sediments of 

the Tonto group. First the sand was d,eposited over the smooth granite surface 

(as shown by the heavy line in fig. 28, B). 

With deepening waters or diminishing 

force of the currents, the clay now represented by the shale of the Tonto group 

was laid down, soon burying the islands 

of Unkar and Chuar rocks and accumulating to a thickness of 800 feet or more. 

Remains of life in these rocks indicate 

that they represent a portion of later 

Cambrian time. The conditions in this 

region during the next three long and 

very important geologic periods are not 

known, for their representatives are absent except a small amount of the Devonian rocks found at one or two places. 

The sea may have laid down here, during 

those periods, deposits of great thickness, 

which were later uplifted into land areas, 

so that they were removed by streams 

and other agents of erosion.

In early Carboniferous time, the period 

characterized in other parts of the world 

by the accumulation of the older coalbearing deposits, the entire region was 

submerged by the sea, which deposited 

calcium carbonate in nearly pure condition, now represented by 500 feet or more 

of the Redwall limestone. Much calcium 

is carried into the sea by streams, and its
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XXX

NORTH SIDE OF GRAND CANYON AS VIEWED BY TELESCOPE FROM EL TOVAR HOTEL.

G, Granite and gneiss; U, sandstone, red shale, and limestone (Unkar); T, sandstone of Tonto Platform; Sh, shale 

of Tonto group lying directly on quartzite of Unkar; R, limestone (Redwall); S, red sandstone and shale (Supai); 

C, gray sandstone (Coconino); K, limestone (Kaibab). The Rod wall butte in center is Cheops Pyramid. Beyond 

it are Buddha and Manu temples. The background is the Kaibab Plateau.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

VIEW NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE GRAND CANYON FROM ZUN

The lower slopes are red shales, limestones, sandstones, and lava of Unkar group, dipping east and overlain u

limestone; S, red beds of Supai formation; C, gray sandstone (Coconino); K, Ka
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

SOUTH WALL OF GRAND CANYON EAST OF GRANDVIEW POINT.

View eastward. K, Kaibab limestone; C, base of gray sandstone (Coconino) on 1,100 feet of red shale and red 

sandstone (Supai) extending to top of Redwall limestone at D; R, top limestone of Tonto group.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

THE GRANITE GORGE IN THE GRAND CANYON, NORTH

Depth, 1,000 feet. Shelf of basal sandstone of Tonto group on cides; shale slopes above. R, limestone (Re

Temple to right.
THE SANTA FE KOUTE. 127

A fairly complete idea of the Grand Canyon can be obtained by 

observation for a few hours from the rim near the hotels. It is 

much more satisfactory, however, to go to Hopi and 

Yavapai points and down to the river, or at least 

to the Tonto Platform. A visit to Grandview Point (Pis. XXXI 

and XXXII) adds greatly to the completeness of the trip, and

Local features.

separation is effected by organisms of various kinds as well as by chemical reactions 

not connected with life. This deep submergence was succeeded by shallow water 

in which the red muds and sands now 

represented by the Supai formation were 

laid down to a thickness of a thousand 

feet or more. Where these sediments 

came from and the conditions under

coarse gray Coconino sandstone usually 

lies directly on the soft red shale at the 

top of the Supai formation. The sand of 

which it is formed was laid down on 

beaches and in. places where there were 

strong currents, for the grains are clean 

and light colored and the extensive crossbedding (see PI. XXIX, J5, p. 119) indicates that there were vigorous currents in

All removed

by running

water after

uplift '"^ ^ ^T.'c';.:x>.vJ *

 'v -"^VSurf.ace'^V^v^ii.

Tonto group

. tv.v.v.v.Sah'dv.'tv.^v.VA^i.y^^l^^-i^^,.^^:;^

FIGURE 28. Ideal sections of faulted blocks of Unkar rocks in Grand Canyon, Ariz. A, Uplifted blocks 

that have been removed by erosion; B, rocks of Tonto group deposited on surface of Unkar group and 

granite.

which they were deposited are not known, 

but undoubtedly they were derived from 

land surfaces not far away, where granites, limestones, and other rocks were 

decomposing and yielding red muddy 

sediments to streams flowing out across 

the area of Supai deposition.

The change to the deposition of the Coco11 ino beds was a very decided one, for the

various directions. Such a deposit usually accumulates rapidly, so probably the 

300 feet of sandstone represents a relatively short space of geologic time.

This epoch was terminated abruptly 

by deeper submergence due to a longcontinued subsidence of the region, and 

in the extensive sea thus formed was laid 

down the thick deposit of calcium car-
128 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

the Hermit trail is very interesting. The descent down the trails 

to the river is especially helpful in affording a sense of the scale 

of the canyon and giving opportunity to inspect the rocks at close 

range. There is neither difficulty nor danger in the journey. The 

Bright Angel trail descends at El Tovar by a great series of zigzags 

following the course of a very old Indian footpath. For the first 700 

feet it goes down the irregular ledges of Kaibab hmestone, the base 

of which is reached at the entrance to a small tunnel through which 

the trail passes.. At this place there is a fault by which the rocks to 

the west are lifted 125 feet higher than they are to the east. The 

plane of this fault is at the entrance "to the tunnel. The relations 

are shown in figure 29.

T^he character of this massive cross-bedded rock is well shown in 

the cliff just west of the fault. Next below are red shales and red 

sandstones of the Supai formation, 1,100 feet thick, extending to the 

top of a cliff of Redwall limestone, 550 feet thick, down which the 

trail winds in a tortuous course. Thence the trail goes down slopes 

of shale of the Tonto group to the Indian Gardens, where a spring has 

made an oasis formerly utilized by Indians. Not far beyond is the 

platform or broad terrace caused by the basal sandstone of the Tonto 

group making a wide shelf through which the main gorge is cut 1,000 

feet deep into the granite. (See PL XXXIII.) On the north side 

of the river is a great mass of dark sandstone, red shale, and hmestone 

of the Unkar group, overlain by shale of the Tonto group farther 

back. These Unkar rocks are twisted and faulted but in general dip 

to the north at a moderate angle, as shown in figure 30 (p. 130).

From Hopi and Yavapai points, which are within 2 miles of the 

hotels, there are superb views up and down the river, showing a great 

succession of cliffs, promontories, and buttes in endless variety of form, 

with geologic relations most clearly exhibited. They are all shown 

on sheet 19A (p. 130). The cross sections in figure 30 show the general

bonate now represented by the Kaibab 

limestone. The numerous shells in this 

deposit are those of animals that lived in 

the sea. The water probably was moderately deep, and it is believed that the 

limy sediments accumulated very slowly 

during a long period of gradual subsidence. 

The time required for the accumulation 

of 700 feet of sediments of this sort must, 

have been very great, surely several million years; it continued for a large part if 

not entirely through the later portion of 

the Carboniferous period.

Upon the Kaibab limestone, which constitutes the present surface of the high 

plateau, there were deposited many thousand feet of sandstones and other rocks 

through Permian, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic 

time. These rocks originally covered the 

present plateau area but were in greater 

part removed by erosion before the beginning of the excavation of the canyon. 

Remnants of them may be seen in Red 

Butte, not far south of El Tovar; in 

Cedar Mountain, far to the east on the 

Coconino Plateau; and in the great line 

of the Vermilion Cliffs, far to the north, 

beyond the Kaibab Plateau. Their removal required several million years, 

and most of it was completed before the 

excavation of the present canyon was 

begun.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XXXIV

MAJOR J. W. POWELL AND THE BOATS IN WHICH HE MADE THE TRIP DOWN THE

GRAND CANYON. 

. . The view is In Marble Canyon. ' .
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 129

features. From Grand view Point there is an extended view to the 

east and northeast, to the point where the canyon of the Little Colorado comes in. A wide area in the lower part of the canyon in this 

district is occupied by rocks of the Chuar and Unkar groups.

If the observer is impressed by the long time required for the excavation of the Grand Canyon in the slowly rising plateau, let him consider also the time required for the accumulation of the sediments in 

the many thousands of feet of rocks in the canyon walls. He may 

reflect also on their vast area, for they underlie not only the plateau 

he sees, but also a large part of our continent. An inch of the limeEAST WEST

Kaibab 

limestone 

675 feet

Coconino 

gray sandstone 

5 7 3lOfeet

Su paired shale

and sandstones ^

I (20 feet

Red wall 

lifriestone 

550 feet

Shale of 

Tonto group

FIGURE 29. Section of rocks exposed on Bright Angel trail, Grand Canyon, Ariz., showing relations of 

fault, and the position of bench marks of the United States Geological Survey (brass caps with elevation 

above sea level). This fault and the pile of debris from the beds broken by it has made a trail practicable 

at this place, for generally the 300-foot cliff of Coconino sandstone is inaccessible.

stone required many years for its deposition, the shale was mud 

brought from distant hills by turbid streams and spread in thin 

layers, and the sands were deposited by streams or spread on beaches 

far from their original sources in the rocky ledges of the higher lands. 

It should be noted also that in the canyon section are lacking the 

rocks which represent a large part of geologic time in other regions. 

A very long time was also required for the deposition of 12,000 feet of 

the Unkar and Chuar groups and the planation of their surface and of 

the granite surface on which they lie. Probably this required as
130 GUIDEBOOK OP THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

much time as is represented by the horizontal rocks in the upper and 

middle canyon slopes. Finally, a great period of time before all this 

is represented by the granites and associated rocks exposed in the 

inner gorge. They underlie the plateau and present a chapter in the

earliest known history of the crust of 

our earth.

The first white 

men to see the 

Grand Canyon 

were Cardenas and 

his 12 companions, 

who were guided 

there by Hopi Indians from Tusayan. Cardenas was 

sent by Coronado 

to find the wonderful river of which 

DeTo var had heard 

from the Indians. 

He remained four 

days on the rim at 

some point now 

unknown, looking 

in vain for a way 

to descend. It is 

always interesting 

to recall the heroic 

trip made by Maj. 

J. W. Powell down 

the Grand Canyon 

in small boats when 

practically nothing 

was known of its 

course or character. His journey 

began at Green 

River, Wyo., May 

24; 1869, and was 

notably successful. 

A portrait of Maj. 

Powell and a view of his boats are given in Plate XXXIV (p. 128). 

The hotel at Grand Canyon was named for Pedro de Tovar, who was 

ensign general of Coronado's expedition. He and most of his associates were men of high social position, De Tovar's father being the
EXPLANATI3N

A Lava flow (basalt)

Conglomerate 

Sandstone, red

v Limestone, massive, light

* colored

C Sandstone, gray, cross-bedded

S Sandstone and shale, all red

R Limestone, massive

T Shale

1 Sandstone

H Sandstone, shale, and limestone

ij Quartzite. sandstone, shale, 

	limestone, and conglomerate

J Granite, gneiss, etc.

Shinarump 

Hoencppie formation

Kaibab

Thickness

infest

60

600

756]

Quaternary 

or Tertiary

Triassic 

Carboniferous 

(Permian ?)

Supai formation 

Redwi(ll -<«V^

Tonto group

Chuar group

Unkar group

L Carboniferous

iiooj

f Carboniferous 

V« 550 < (Pennsylvanian 

{and Mississippian )

900 Cambrian

siool

6800 lpre-Cambrian

J

Buddh, Tsmf'f

Phantom Cr
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 19A

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a. name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on (he if. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

112° ARIZONA

36

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 mites to I inch 

5 _ ... Ip , ... 15

10 15 20 25 aOKilometers

Contour interval 200 feet

The crossties on the railroads are spaced I mile apart

A CAPE ROYAL Gc GUNTHER CASTLE 

_B CAPE FINAL H VENUS TEMPLE 

Ba BRIGHT ANGEL CANYON- I CAPE SOLITUDE

Bu BUDDHA TEMPLE

C WOTANS THRONE

Ca CARDENAS BUTTE

Cb C'HUAR BUTTE

Cc CHUAR CREEK

D VISHNU TEMPLE

Dr DRAGON HEAD

Dv DEVA TEMPLE

E SHEBA TEMPLE

F NEWBERRY BUTTE

G JUPITER TEMPLE

J COMANCHE POINT 

K ZUN1 POINT 

L THOR TEMPLE 

M ANGELS GATE ' 

Ma MANU TEMPLE 

N YAVAPA1 POINT 

Nb NEWTON BUTTE 

0 O'NEILL BUTTE 

P ISIS TEMPLE 

PC PIPE CREEK 

Pd BRAHMA TEMPLE

Pn PHANTOM CREEK

Q HERMIT CREEK

R COCOPA POINT

S -MT. HUETHAWALI

Sh SHIVA TEMPLE

T SHINUMO CREEK

U DIANA TEMPLE

V VISHNU CREEK

W OSIRIS TEMPLE

X TOWER OF RA

Y TOWER OF SET

Z CHEOPS PYRAMID 

Zo ZOROASTER TEMPLE

Sheet No. 19 112°
THE SANTA FE KOUTE. 131

guardian and lord high steward of Dona Juana, the daughter of King 

Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who married Philip the Second. On 

no other exploration were there so many distinguished men as accompanied Coronado on his- dangerous journey from Mexico into this 

unknown land.

MAIN LINE WEST OF WILLIAMS.

From Williams (see sheet 19, p. 122) westward for some distance 

Bill Williams Mountain is a prominent feature south of the railway. 

Cinder cones are in view to the north, and one of considerable size also 

lies at the foot of Bill Williams Mountain a short distance south of the 

tracks. Aiter passing Supai siding, 3-miles west of Williams, the 

train begins the long descent from the high plateau of lava and Kaibab 

limestone. From Supai to Corva a new line with an easier grade 

has been built for the eastbound trams. The lava (basalt) extends to 

the edge of the plateau and for a considerable distance down its western slope, but the deeper canyons in the slope cut through into the 

Kaibab limestone.

There are deep cuts in the basalt at the entrance to Johnson Canyon. This gorge affords an advantageous line of descent for the 

westbound trains and exhibits many features of interesting geology 

and attractive scenery.

Halfway between mileposts 388 and 389 the Kaibab limestone 

appears under the lava, and the train passes through a tunnel in the 

limestone with the lava cap not far above. On leaving the tunnel it 

goes over a long trestle, below which are many cliffs of the limestone, 

most of them with a capping of lava. In the deep canyon to the 

south are some sink holes in the limestone, known as the Bottomless 

Pits, into which the water disappears when there has been sufficient 

rain to develop a stream in the canyon. They are similar in character and origin to the pits described on page 117.

A short distance beyond milepost 390 the lava descends over the 

limestone ledges to a level somewhat below that of the bottom of 

Johnson Canyon, and for several miles west from this place it constitutes a broad bench that extends for some distance north and south 

of the canyon. From these relations it appears that the outflow of 

lava, probably issuing from a vent on top of the plateau west of Williams, flowed westward over the plateau surface and down its western 

slope. The canyons have been eroded by streams since the time of 

this eruption, and some of the deeper ones have been cut through the 

lava- into the underlying limestone. In part of the slope a few miles 

south of Johnson Canyon the grade down which the lava flowed was 

very steep, and at this place the igneous rock is very much broken 

where it cascaded over the limestone ledges. This outflow occurred 

many thousand years ago, as much erosion has taken place since; but
132 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

compared with most of the other events in geologic history it was 

very recent.

The broad bench made by the lava at the lower- level just mentioned is well exhibited near Corva, where the eastbound track 

joins the old line. Fairview is a siding on this 

Fairview. bench. A short distance beyond Fairview is a cut hi 

Elevation 5,935 feet. a iow cinder cone that shows that there was a volKansasCityl,315miles. . n i c 1-1 ^ i

came vent at this place from which may have issued 

some of the lava on the lower bench. Two miles farther west is a 

long cut in cinders, including numerous bombs of various sizes.

About 4 miles west of Fan-view there are excellent views of the 

edge of the high plateau extending off northwestward. The white 

ledges of Kaibab limestone appear in places, capped by the black 

lava at the summit of the plateau and underlain by the Coconino 

sandstone extending down some distance to the lava-covered bench 

above mentioned. The extension of the cliff to the southeast is also 

visible but less plainly.

W. E.

\\filliams 

Arizona Plateau___|

^TTiTlTmT|TmT^

yfa=pc±:Limestx>ne (.Kaibab)^', i ',.

AifFork ^iiuimimuiiiJiujjM^V^Vs^

 'RpH;.;Aa'n'clsf,one'-:- :--'--'-'-^^':-^'''-^

FIGURE 31. Section of the west slope of the Arizona Plateau between Williams and Ash Fork, Ariz.,

looking north.

At milepost 399, 5 miles west of Fairview, there are long cuts in 

cinders with bombs, beyond which the railway descends westward in 

long sweeping curves that extend nearly to Ash Fork. At the foot of 

this down grade there is a wide valley trending northwest and occupied largely by lava which has flowed from many local orifices, in 

most places marked by cinder cones. A section showing the general 

relations in the descent of the great escarpment east of Ash Fork is 

given in figure 31.

This descent is the first in a series of great westward-facing steps 

formed by the thick pile of sedimentary rocks constituting the plateau 

region of western Arizona. These rocks are shown in cross section in 

the Grand Canyon, and in the westbound journey the traveler sees, 

beyond Williams, the same succession that is revealed in the descent 

into the canyon from the rim. The first step is the western edge of 

the Kaibab limestone which caps the plateau and finally terminates 

in the Aubrey Cliffs. The second great step consists of the Grand 

Wash escarpment, Music Mountain, and the cliffs south of Peach 

Springs, in which the western edges of the lower part of the Redwall
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 133

limestone and the underlying shales and sandstones are presented. at 

the termination of the plateau province.

Ash Fork owes its existence mainly to the fact that it is the junction

of the branch railway to Fresco tt, 57 miles south, and Phoenix, 194

miles south. Many of the trams stop here for meals

Ash Fork. a^. ^ne Escalante, a hotel named in memory of Franevation 5,144 feet, cisco S. Velez Escalante, a Spanish missionary who 

>a^ed through this country in 1775., Ash Fork 

has an exceptionally good climate and is ambitious 

to become a winter resort.

A mile west of Ash Fork, in a low cinder cone just south of the 

railway, there is a large pit from which material is excavated for 

ballast. The exposed face, 50 feet high, exhibits the relations of the 

cinders with many included bombs and. more or less admixture of 

volcanic ash. For some distance westward the train passes over a 

plain of lava which floors the wide valley in which Ash Fork is situated. 

To the west rises the prominent peak known as Picacho (pee-cah'tcho) 

Butte, and to the northwest Mount Floyd, both large masses of the 

older igneous rock similar to that in the San Francisco Mountains and 

Bill Williams Mountain.

A mile or more beyond Pineveta the eastbound tracks diverge to 

the north, crossing over the old line, which is reserved for westbound 

traffic and which climbs out of this valley up the steep grade to the 

west by numerous large curves, including one notable loop known as 

Horseshoe Bend. On these loops there are excellent views to the 

east, in which Bill Williams Mountain is a prominent feature, rising 

far above the relatively even sky line at the crest of the high plateau. 

Farther east on the horizon the peaks of the San Francisco Mountains 

are conspicuous, though somewhat dwarfed by distance. The slope 

on which the track rises consists of lava (basalt) and toward its higher 

portion there are many junipers.

Near Crookton, one-tenth of a mile west of milepost 419, where

the summit of this grade is reached, the two tracks come together

again, with that for the westbound traffic on the

right-hand side. The summit consists of lava (basalt)

Elevation 5,691 feet. an(j t^s TQCfc extends along both sides of this divide

KansasCity 1,339 miles. .. <= . .

and down the west slope, ricacho Butte is a prominent feature to the south and Mount Floyd and the surrounding 

peaks rise about 8 miles to the north.

From Crookton to Seligman there is a long descent of 450 feet on 

lava-covered slopes into the valley of Chino (chee'no) Wash. The 

lava lies on the sloping surface of the limestone which caps the 

Aubrey Cliffs to the north. The interruption in these cliffs in this 

portion of their course was a fortunate thing for the construction of 

the railway. If they had extended continuously across the country
134 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

at a height of 1,200 feet, as to the north and south, there would have 

been great difficulty in building the railway down them. The break 

in their continuity was developed by erosion or faulting prior to the 

time of the volcanic eruptions, and now the sloping surface is covered 

by the extensive sheet of lava extending from Crookton to Seligman 

and beyond.

Seligman, being a railway division point, is sustained largely by the 

railway interests, together with trade from scattered ranches in some 

of the adjoining valleys. The railway time changes 

Seligman. here from mountain to Pacific time, one hour earlier. 

Elevation 5,242feet. Formerly the branch line to Phoenix joined the main 

. 11116 at this Place> following a relatively easy grade 

up Chino Vallej^. It was changed to shorten the 

distance from Phoenix to the East. There is a road from Seligman 

north 67 miles to Cataract Canyon, a branch of Grand Canyon, which 

has high red walls and several picturesque waterfalls. Here live the

w

Aubrey Cliffs

d

Chino Wash

I

FIGURE 32. Section through Aubrey Cliffs, northwest of Seligman, Ariz., looking north, a, Limestone 

(Redwall); 6, red sandstone and shale (Supai); c, gray sandstone (Coconino); d, limestone (Kaibab); 

e, lava.

Havasu (Supai) Indians, who cultivate a few acres of rich land by the 

water from the great springs that form Cataract Creek.

Railway cuts a short distance west of Seligman show the red sandstone and shale of the Supai formation lying on Redwall limestone. 

Three miles west of Seligman, near Chino, high cliffs of red sandstone 

(Supai formation) are conspicuous along the northeast side of the 

railway. They extend along the lower slope of the Aubrey Cliffs, 

which continue as a long, high wall far to the north. Above the red 

sandstones in these cliffs are ledges of light-gray sandstone (Coconino), 

which is softer and less conspicuous here than in the walls of the 

Grand Canyon. At the top of the cliff are light-colored ledges of the 

cherty Kaibab limestone, forming a plateau that slopes somewhat to 

the east. The relations in this cliff are shown in figure 32.

The Aubrey Cliffs extend for many miles across the plateau region 

on both sides of the Grand Canyon. As explained above, they are 

caused by the western edge of the great sheet of limestone that caps 

the Arizona Plateau. The depression at their foot, here known as 

Aubrey Valley, is followed by the railway for some distance to the 

northwest, past Audley and Pica sidings. The floor of the valley
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 6t3 PLATE XXXV

A. MESCAL, OR MAGUEY. 

These plants grow at many places on the ridges in western Arizona,

OCOTILLO, A CHARACTERISl 1C L i^£RT PLANT. 

In the spring it is covered with red flowers.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

CLIFFS OF SANDSTONE OF THE TONTO GROUP IN CANYON FO

Cliffs on north side of Grand Canyon of the C
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 135

consists in part of the lower red shale of the Supai formation and in 

part of the upper surface of the Redwall limestone. The railway 

follows the boundary line between these two formations, in some 

places on the red shale and in others on the limestone. The Aubrey 

Cliffs are prominent in the landscape to the east as the train bears 

away northwestward by rising on the gentle slope of the eastwarddipping beds to the summit of the plateau of Redwall limestone. 

This plateau is the next "step" in the descent from the great plateau 

of Arizona, a descent which is begun a short distance west of Williams 

and continues nearly to Colorado River.

At Pica (see sheet 20, p. 138) there are wells 1,100 

lca' feet deep sunk on the recommendation of a Governgeologist. They furnish water for locomotives 

and also for a large number of cattle and sheep. 

The summit of the slope of Redwall limestone is reached at Yampai, 

where there are cuts in this limestone. At the summit is a wide 

pass, west of which the train enters Yampai Canyon, 

ampai. cuj. ^ ^ Redwall limestone to Peach Springs, 

s. a ^stance of about 14 miles. Below Fields siding the 

walls of the canyon show extensive ledges of the limestone, and at Nelson this rock is quarried to a moderate extent for 

burning into lime.

Massive beds of hard limestone, weathering to a light dove-gray 

color, are highly characteristic of the Redwall in this region, as also 

in places in the Grand Canyon where the rock is not 

Nelson. stained red by wash from the overlying red shale. 

Elevation 5,106 feet. On some of these limestone walls there may be seen 

population 3oo.* ^e peculiar mescal plant, or maguey (man-gay'.

KansasCity 1,380 miles. L . NT.- . -vvV - \ ^ *l Agave amencana) shown m Plate XXX V, A. After 

several years of growth the plant sends up a tall flower stalk which 

develops from a cabbage-like heart greatly prized by the Indians, 

who roast it in small pits in the ground. Its juice is sweet and when 

fermented and distilled yields the mescal brandy so extensively used 

in Mexico and the Southwest.

Near Peach Springs the Yampai Canyon widens into a valley 

known as Truxton Wash, which for some distance westward is

occupied by a lava flow (basalt) that is well exposed 

pnngs. £or jiaj£ a m^e or more key0nc[ Cherokee siding. The

. 11^6 north of the valley consists of RedwaU limestone. On its north side there are canyons descending into the Grand Canyon of the Colorado at a point only 18 

miles north of the Peach Springs station. These smaller canyons 

are cut mainly in sandstone and shales of the Tonto group (see 

PI. XXXVI) lying on. granite, which is deeply trenched in turn as 

Colorado River is approached. A fairly good road extends from
136 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Peach Springs to the bank of the Colorado. The walls of the Grand 

Canyon are not as high here as in the region farther east, yet it still 

has a deep inner gorge of granite extending up to cliffs and slopes of 

sandstones and shales, of the Tonto group surmounted by high cliffs 

of Redwall limestone. The escarpment or cliff of Redwall limestone 

is prominent south of Peach Springs, where it gradually attains a 

high altitude, and it extends nearly due south for many miles.

From Cherokee nearly to Truxton the valley widens greatly and is 

floored by gravel and sand washed from the adjacent mountain slopes. 

At Truxton the valley merges into a gorge in which 

appears the granite underlying the Tonto group.

. 8 sranite extends northward to the foot of Musi«

Mountain, a high cliff and peak which is prominently in view 7 miles to the northwest from the vicinity of mileposts 

475 and 476. It is the same rock that is exposed in the lower part of

rux on.

;Jv:V,>'>V Lava (rhyolite) 

Lava (basalt)

Lava (rhyolite)y , rn J,,,^ v v v .. .^^.Jv » ^^^ v ^> A v. ^ ^J^r^

f^^^^'^'''^''\(''^GR'Ab£^^^ V' '-V

: '.-.* ^'^'' 7 ' -''c ', ranite : .' ' . ;, '- /

FIGXJRE 33. Sections showing relations of granite and lava in canyon of Truxton Wash between Valentine 

and Truxton, Ariz. A, Section across the canyon east of Valentine, looking west; B, section along the 

canyon, looking north.

the Grand Canyon. Music Mountain is the southwest corner of the 

Grand Wash Cliffs, of which more can be seen from Antares, 1.8 miles 

farther west.

A short distance west of Truxton there appears to be a great 

fault crossing the railway, with the uplift on its east side. It is 

probably the southern extension of the fault extending along the 

west foot of the Grand Wash Cliffs shown in figure 33. On the 

west side of this fault the railway passes into a lava field and for 

some distance follows a narrow canyon in the lava.

On approaching Crozier the train passes below the edge of the lava 

cap into a gorge in the underlying granite, which is prominent in the

lower walls of the canyon nearly to Hackberry. The. 

rozier. relations of the lava to the granite are well exposed

between Cr0zier and Valentine, as shown in figure 33.

The lava sheet constitutes an extensive elevated shelf 

or plateau north and south of Crozier and Valentine. It lies on
THE SANTA'FE ROUTE. 137

Valentine.

an exceedingly irregular surface of the granite, filling up valleys 

and burying low peaks and ridges, as shown in figure 33. It was 

poured out in relatively recent geologic time, but before the valley 

of Truxton Wash was cut to the depth which it now has near Crozier 

and below.

At Valentine is a school for the Hualpai Indians on a reservation 

of 730,000 acres. They are a branch of the Yuman tribe and are 

closely allied to the Supai or Havasu Indians living 

in Cataract Canyon. There are about 500 of these

dpai Indians> the remnant of a ^rge tribe which 

once controlled a wide area in the middle Colorado 

Valley. They were famous for their prowess in hunting and their 

general enterprise, but are making little progress toward civilization. 

The granite in the gorge from Valentine to Hackberry is characteristic of much of the granite in the ranges of western Arizona. It is 

very massive and coarse-grained and weathers out in typical rounded 

forms or huge bowlders. This process is facilitated by numerous 

joints,1 which cause the rock to break into large blocks; these 

blocks on weathering soon lose their corners, so that the resulting 

pinnacles and masses have rounded forms.

Hackberry is sustained mainly by a few small mines and ranches 

in the adjoining region. Here the train passes northwestward out 

of the granite gorge into the wide desert slope or 

Hackberry. plain known as Hualpai Valley. (See PI. XXXVII, 

Elevation 3,554 feet. A, p. 140.) The Peacock Mountains, a granite ridge 

0* considerable prominence, project out of it on the 

west ; on its east side are granite slopes surmounted 

by the lava-capped plateau. The westward-facing edge of this plateau, extending far south from Hackberry, is known as the Cottonwood Cliffs.

At Antares the railway reaches the summit of the low northern 

extension of the Peacock Mountains, the granite of which crops out 

on both sides of the track. A few miles north and 

Antares. northeast are the precipitous slopes of the Grand 

^^ cliff which extend far to the north, crossing

,,-,-,' , ,

Colorado River 75 miles north of this place, at the 

western outlet or termination of the Grand Canyon.

These cliffs form the last step in the descent across the great succession of sedimentary rocks constituting the high plateau of Arizona. 

They are capped by the lower part of the Redwall limestone, lying on

Elevation s.eos feet

KansasCityl,416miles.

1 Joints in rocks are cracks, generally 

not of great length, due to shrinkage 

or earth movements. They may run 

in various directions or may be arranged 

in sets of nearly parallel cracks which

intersect other sets at approximately 

constant angles. Joints differ from faults 

in being much smaller fractures that show 

little or no slipping of the rock along 

the break.
138 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

500 feet or more of sandstones and shale of the Tonto group, and have 

a long rugged lower slope of granite descending to the Hualpai 

Valley. The line of the escarpment is nearly straight. Part of its 

height is apparently due to a fault passing along its western foot, with 

uplift on the east side, as shown in figure 34. This fault probably has 

a displacement of 1,000 feet or more, as indicated by the extent to 

which the strata are elevated.

At the Grand Wash Cliffs the plateau country ends, for although 

some of the ridges of volcanic rock to the west have tabular surfaces 

the great plateaus of nearly level sandstones and limestones which 

occupy a large portion of Arizona and New Mexico cease at these 

cliffs. In northwestern Arizona, southern Nevada, and California 

north of the Santa Fe Railway the desert basins are separated by 

ridges that trend northward. The Peacock Mountains, south of 

Antares, are the first of these ridges, and many others will be seen in 

the journey west to Colorado River, and in southeastern California.

Doubtless the sedimentary rocks of the high plateau extended 

across most or all of this area in former times, but they have been

FIGURE 34. Section of the Grand Wash Cliffs, north of Hackberry, Ariz., looking north.

broken into blocks by numerous faults and mostly removed, leaving 

the underlying granite bare. In places, however, the granite was 

covered later by great masses of volcanic material which are the most 

prominent features of the area.

From Antares to Kingman the railway ascends Hualpai (wahTpie) 

Valley, a typical flat-bottomed desert valley, which extends north to 

Colorado River. It presents wide areas of smooth land with excellent 

soil and mild climate, which would yield large returns to agriculture if 

water were available for its reclamation. There is, however, but very 

little water underground, and although at the lower part of the valley 

is Colorado River, which carries a vast quantity of water, this stream 

lies more than 2,000 feet lower than the district visible from the railway. Pumping water to that height for irrigation is now regarded 

as impracticable.

At the south end of the Hualpai Valley, south of Berry siding and 

east of Louise siding, rise the Hualpai Mountains, a high ridge consisting mainly of granite, similar to the Peacock Mountains. On 

the west side of Hualpai Valley, as seen from points between Hackberry and Louise siding, there is a high ridge known as Black Mesa,
SECTION SHOWING RELATIONS OF ROCKS ALONG SANTA FE RAILWAY BETWEEN AUOLEY AND LOUISE. ARIZ. 

VERTICAL SCALE IS S TIMES HORIZONTAL
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 139

consisting of a succession of sheets of rocks of volcanic origin of a 

character not found in the region farther east but occupying large 

areas in the country to the west.1

Kingman (see sheet 21, p. 148) is sustained mainly by extensive

mining operations in the adjoining mountains. The mines have been

opened for many years, and some of them have proKingman. duced a large amount of ore. The principal mines

Elevation 3,336 feet. are m tne Cerbat Mountains, 8 or 10 miles north of

Population900* , 1' ... , . ,

KansasCity 1,437miles.-Ivingman, and are reached by a railway which 

branches from the mam line at McConnico. Some 

of the ore is brought to Kingman for reduction.

West of Kingman there are railway cuts in the volcanic series which 

extends south from Black Mesa. These cuts show that there are 

several flows of rhyolite separated by thick beds of fragmental materials. Ths lavas issued from vents and flowed more or less widely on 

all sides, the earliest one apparently filling the inequalities of an 

irregular surface of granite. The tuff consists of coarse volcanic ash

Higher members of 

volcanic series in 

mountain to the north- Volcanic tuff. 

Massive brown lav;

Volcanic tuffMassive brown lava.

FIGURE 35. Section showing relation of volcanic rocks between Louise and McConnico, Am.,

looking northwest.

blown out of the craters or cracks of eruption at intervals between 

the lava flows. Some features of the succession in the canyon 

between Kingman and McConnico are shown in figure 35. The beds 

lie nearly horizontal, and the railway descends across their edges on 

the down grade through the canyon. The granite floor is reached

1 The succession consists of an alternation of lava flows of various kinds, mostly 

rhyolite, with thick beds of light-colored 

tuff and volcanic ash, in part capped by 

flows of black lava (basalt). These rocks 

are in thick sheets, which in Black Mesa 

dip at a low angle to the east. They are 

much older than the late lava flows 

(basalts) of the Ash Fork country and the 

San Francisco Mountains, but may be of 

the same or nearly the same age as the 

older lavas of the San Francisco Mountains, Bill Williams Mountain, Picacho 

Peak, and Mount Floyd.

Undoubtedly these lavas were once 

very much more extensive than at present, for they have been uplifted, tilted, 

and in large part removed by erosion.

They were poured out over the surface in 

flows, in most places to a thickness of 100 

feet or more. The tuff is fine-grained 

material, differing from the basalt cinder 

in being less coarsely cellular. It is 

mostly of light color and consists mainly 

of ash and fine-grained pumice blown out 

of craters and deposited in great sheets 

over the lava flows or other surfaces. In 

most places it has in turn been covered 

by later lava flows, the eruptions consisting of alternations of lava outflows and 

material ejected in fragmental condition. 

There were also mud flows consisting of 

materials similar to the tuff and ashes but 

poured out, mixed with water, and spread 

over the surface in plastic condition, in 

places to a thickness of 50 feet or more.
140 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

finally, and in the next few miles this rock is seen to extend along 

the base of the mountain to the north and south, underlying the 

younger volcanic series.

A short distance beyond McConnico is a projecting spur of the 

granite which shows in low cuts on both sides of the track. From 

Hancock, the next station, the railway goes a little west of due south 

across Sacramento Valley, a characteristic southwestern desert consisting of a long, wide, flat-bottomed valley bordered by mountain 

chains of very irregular outline and sustaining a very scant vegetation. 

The sandy floors of such valleys slope up gradually to the foot of the 

mountains, where they give place abruptly to steep rocky slopes, as 

shown in Plate XXXVII, B. The valleys are underlain by deposits 

of sand, gravel, and other wash from the mountains, and in some 

areas well borings show that deposits of this sort attain a thickness' of 

more-than 1,000 feet. The detrital materials partly fill valleys that 

were excavated at a time when the region was higher than it is at 

present.

At Drake siding (milepost 527) there are excellent views to the 

west over a typical desert valley to the foot of Black Mesa, 8 miles 

away. This mesa/which rises about 1,500 feet above the valley, 

consists of a great succession of alternating lavas and tuffs similar to 

those at Kingman, in beds tilted slightly to the west.

At milepost 537 there is a 10-foot cut in the valley filling, showing 

the succession of gravel and sands.

Erosion proceeds with considerable rapidity in the desert region, 

notwithstanding the scarcity of continuously running water, for 

rock disintegration is accelerated by the great daily variations in 

temperature. The rocks are heated to 125° or even higher on the 

hot summer days and cool off rapidly at night to 70° or less, a difference of 50° or more; and in spring or autumn, when the sun heat is 

less, the night temperatures are relatively lower. In winter there is 

frost in the higher lands, but this factor is less effective.

The weather in the deserts of the Southwest is peculiar, and so far 

as plant growth is concerned there are three seasons the warm, 

moderately moist spring, from March to May, where growth is rapid; 

the long drought of June to November, when plants rest except 

during showers; and the winter, from December to February, when 

it is too cool for vegetation to advance materially.

The desert plants present considerable variety and have special 

characteristics that adapt them to their environment. t The most 

conspicuous plant, covering the desert flats from Kingman, Ariz., 

to Hesperia, Cal., is the creosote bush (Covillea tridentata). This 

plant grows 2 to 6 feet high and is rather widely spaced, after the 

habit of desert plants, which require wide-spreading roots in order to
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XXXVII

:>,-V-|^,?5Mi 

."r*^.&&\

A. TYPICAL DESERT VALLEY OF NORTHWESTERN ARIZONA.

View northward from north end of Hualpai Mountains near track of Santa Fe Railway. Granite Mountains to 

right; Grand Wash Cliffs in the distance.

 *& 

JJ. EDGE OF DESERT PLAIN ON WEST SIDE OF HUALPAI MOUNTAINS, ARIZ. 

The sandy plain gives place abruptly to a slope of granite which is weathered into hugo fragments.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XXXVIII

A. A WATER BOTTLE IN THE DESERT. 

Taking a drink pressed from the pulp that forms the interior of a barrel cactus, or visnag

E. BARREL CACTUS, OR VISNAGA. 

One of the larger cactuses of the deserts of western Arizona and southeastern California.
 THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 141

gather the moisture from an ample area. For most of the year its 

leaves are covered with a resin that acts as a protection against 

evaporation and also renders them very unpalatable to animals. 

The popular name is due to the tarry odor given off when the plant 

is burned. On the rocky slopes arid less abundantly on the plains 

several species of cactuses will be noted, including the barrel cactus 

or visnaga (Echinocactus wislizeni lecontei; PI. XXXVIII), the smaller 

EcJiinocactus joJinsoni, and clusters of the niggerhead cactus (Echinocactus polycephalus), which bears beautiful deep-red flowers in the 

early summer. All these cactuses are covered with large spines and 

contain considerable water, which is protected from evaporation by 

the thick skins of the trunk. The desert rats gnaw into some of them 

and clean out their watery pulp, leaving an empty shell of thorns. 

Travelers often obtain a drink of fair water from the barrel cactus. 

On some of the desert slopes grow the curious candlewood bushes, or 

ocotillo (Fouguieria splendens; PL XXXV, B, p. 134), the tips of which 

are brilliant with flame-colored blossoms in the spring. The paloverde (Parlcinsonia torreyana)-, a bush or small tree consisting entirely 

of green spikes, grows in many of the valleys, associated with the 

una del gato (oon'ya del gah/to), or cat claw (Acacia greggii), a bush 

with myriads of little curved thorns and deliciously fragrant yellow 

blossoms. On some of the sandy soils are many yuccas or soap weeds 

of several species, which in the spring send up slender stalks bearing 

clusters of cream-white flowers.

The desert animals are small and are not often in sight. The rats, 

which live in large colonies in the sandy areas, are nocturnal, and 

most of their companions have the same habit. Various lizards and 

the bold little horned toad (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) are abundant, 

and in places the variety of rattlesnake known as "sidewinder" 

(Orotalus cerastes) is found. This common name refers to his sidelong motion both in locomotion and attack. The rare tiger rattler 

(Crotalus tigris] lives in the rocks in many out-of-the-way places. 

The Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) does not often come as far 

north as the Santa Fe line, but a few are reported from, the Colorado 

bottoms near Needles and even along Virgin River in southern Utah. 

The larger lizard known as the chuckwalla (Sauromalus uter) may 

be seen here and there, and the Indians find him as palatable. as 

chicken. The tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) roams widely over the 

desert, and his empty shell is a common sight. Most of these tortoises are from 8 to 10 inches long; some are larger. They are generally found far from water holes, and it is a marvel that they can 

exist with so little water.

97579° Bull. 613 15 10
142 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

The railway company sank a well 1,004 feet deep at Yucca some

years ago which yields a supply of excellent water rising within 104

feet of the surface.1 The east face of Black Mesa

Yucca. continues in view beyond Yucca. The general sucEievation 1,804 feet, cession of beds in this face is shown in figure 36.

Population 138* . & .. . Kansas city 1,461 miles. I-he rocks present considerable variety, comprising 

light-colored lavas (rhyolites) and black lava (basalt) 

in widespread sheets of varying thickness, separated by thick deposits of light-colored tuffs, which were thrown out of volcanic 

vents in fragmentary condition. Extensive cuts in this volcanic 

series through a southern projection of the mesa show massive 

breccia and tuff capped by a sheet of light-colored lava (rhyolite). 

The breccia consists of large fragments of volcanic rocks of various

FIGURE 36. Section showing. succession of volcanic rocks in east face of Black Mesa, northwest of

Yucca, Ariz.

kinds, and some of the material appears to have flowed out mixed 

with hot water. Beyond this point the railway swings to the west 

around the south end of Black Mesa, but it continues to follow Sacramento Wash to Colorado River at Topock.

A short distance west of Haviland siding are low 

Haviian . terraces and hills composed of the valley filling, and

. at milep°st 647 is a railway cut i}* & one of ^^

exposing from 30 to 50 feet of bowlders and sand. 

. At Powell Colorado River is in sight to the northwest, occupying 

a broad valley between typical desert ranges. About 2 miles beyond

Powelt there may be seen in the foothills of the 

Powell. rugged mountains to the south a hole through a 

Elevation764feet. peak, which is known as the "Eye of the Needle."

KansasCityl,480miles. i. , , IT- -i i i i

it has been eroded in a narrow ridge, largely by 

wind-blown sand, which is an effective agent of rock sculpture in the 

arid regions.

1 The water comes from a mass of tuff lying at depths of 555 to 805 feet. This tuff 

is underlain by 22 feet of dark lava, 78 feet of tuff, and 99 feet of "granite."
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 143

At Topock (Mohave for bridge) the bank of the Colorado is reached 

at a point where the water is only about 480 feet above sea leveL 

This river marks the boundary between Arizona and 

opoc , nz. California, and a large bridge crosses it to the Cali- 

.fornia side. To the north the river flows in a wide 

valley. To the south it passes into a rocky canyon 

through a chain of jagged ridges which extends from northwest to 

southeast. A group of pinnacles on one of these ranges about 3 miles 

southeast of Topock, and plainly visible from that place, is known 

as The Needles. The rocks of these mountains are largely of the 

younger volcanic series, similar to those constituting Black Mesa, a 

few miles to the northeast. They form sharp peaks of striking outline owing to rapid erosion along joint planes traversing the hard 

massive igneous rocks.

Colorado River was reached by two of the early Spanish explorers 

from Mexico in 1540; one was Melchior Diaz, who came across 

country and went only a short distance above Yuma, and the other 

was Alarc6n, who came in boats from western Mexico. Owing to 

the custom of the natives of carrying firebrands in winter with which 

to warm themselves, Diaz named the stream Rio del Tiz6n (Firebrand 

River), a name more distinctive than the present one, which often 

causes considerable confusion because no part of the river is in the 

State that has the same name.

California, known as the Golden State, is next to the largest State 

in the Union. It is 780 miles in length and about 250 miles in average 

width, though owing to its shape it covers very nearly 

California. as wide a range in longitude as Texas. It has also 

great diversity in altitude, for some of its desert 

valleys are below sea level and in the Sierra Nevada are the highest 

peaks south of Alaska. The State has a total area of 156,092 square 

miles, being nearly equal in size to New England, New York, and 

Pennsylvania combined. The population of California in 1910 was 

2,377,549, or about one-tenth that of the Eastern States named. 

This was a gain of 60 per cent in 10 years. The number of persons 

to the square mile is only slightly more than 15, having doubled since 

1890, but the density varies greatly, becoming very low in the desert 

regions east of the Sierra Nevada. The ratio of males to females is 

125 to 100. The area covered by public-land surveys is 123,910 

square miles, or nearly 80 per cent of the State, and 21 per cent of the 

State was unappropriated and unreserved July 1, 1914.

Along the State's 1,000 miles of bold coast line there are comparatively few indentations. The bays of San Diego and San Francisco 

are excellent harbors, but they are exceptional. \
144 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

The climate of California varies greatly from place to place. Along 

the coast in northern California it is moist and equable. Around 

San Francisco Bay a moderate rainfall is confined almost wholly to 

the winter, and the range in temperature is comparatively small. In 

parts of southern California typical desert conditions prevail. The 

great interior valley is characterized by moderate to scant winter 

rainfall and hot, dry summers. Snow rarely falls except in the high 

mountains.

Forests cover 22 per cent of the State's area and have been estimated to contain 200,000,000,000 feet of timber. They are notable 

for the large size of their trees, especially for the huge dimensions 

attained by two species of redwood Sequoia wasJiingtoniana (or 

gigantea), the well-known "big tree" of the Sierra Nevada, and 

Sequoia sempervirens, the "big tree" of the Coast Ranges. Some of 

these giant trees fortunately have been preserved by the Government 

or through private generosity against the inroads of the lumberman.

The 21 national forests in California have a total net area of 40,600 

square miles, or about one-fourth of the State's area. The national 

parks in the State are Yosemite (1,124 square miles), Sequoia (252 

square miles), and General Grant (4 square miles).

Agriculture is a large industry in California, and with the introduction of more intensive cultivation its importance is increasing 

rapidly. In 1914 the grain crops yielded nearly 63,000,000 bushels, 

of which two-thirds was barley. The value of the cultivated hay crop 

that year was over $43,000,000. In the variety and value of its fruit 

crops Calif ornia has no rival in the United States, if indeed in the world. 

Its products range from dates, pineapples, "and other semi tropical 

fruits in the south to pears, peaches, and plums in the north, but it is 

to oranges and other citrus fruits and to wine grapes that California 

owes its horticultural supremacy. During the season from November 

1, 1913, to October 31, 1914, California produced 48,548 carloads of 

citrus fruit, 42,473,000 gallons of wine, and 12,450 tons of walnuts 

and almonds. The value of the annual crop of citrus fruits is about 

$50,000,000, and of olives $2,200,000. Wine and brandy yield to 

the grape industry $25,500,000 annually. Some other notable 

products are hops, about 20,000,000 pounds; lima beans, 1,150,000 

sacks; beet sugar, 162,000 tons; potatoes, 11,000,000 bushels; and 

butter, 54,000,000 pounds.

Of its mineral products, petroleum ranks first in total value and 

gold next. In 1914 California's output of petroleum was valued at 

$48,466,096, about 25 per cent of the world's yield, and its output of 

gold at about $21,000,000. In the production of both petroleum and 

gold California leads all other States in the Union. Other mineral 

products are cement $10,500,000, copper $5,000,000, silver $750,000, 

mercury $750,000, and borax $1,500,000.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 145

California's fisheries bring a profit estimated at $3,000,000 a year, 

the canning of the delicious tuna yielding about $2,000,000. Nearly 

11,500,000 pounds of wool was clipped in 1914, estimated to be worth 

$1,852,000. In most parts of the State only a small part of the 

water available for power or irrigation has been utilized, and large 

areas of swamp lands are being reclaimed. Cotton and dates promise 

to be important crops in the southeast corner of the State, and rice 

production is increasing rapidly.

Sir Francis Drake, who landed on the California coast in 1579, 

named the place New Albion, but later the name California was 

applied, taken from a Spanish romance. From 1769 to 1823 many 

missions were established under the direction of the Franciscan friar 

Junipero Serra and other missionaries of his order, and most of them 

still remain, although some are in ruins. The first overland caravans 

to California began in 1827. The discovery of gold by J. W. Marshall 

at Sutters Mill in 1848 brought a large crowd of gold seekers and 

settlers.

California was formerly a part of Mexico but in 1848 was ceded to 

the United States .and on September 9, 1850, was admitted to the 

Union as a State.

At the California end of the bridge at Topock there is a conspicuous 

outcrop of red conglomerate in massive ledges which is part of the 

older valley filling. It Outcrops at other places farther west, and a 

small mass of the same rock also appears on the east bank of the river 

just north of the bridge. From the bridge to Needles the railway 

follows the west bank of the river, and owing to the many small gullies and terraces there are numerous cuts for the railway grade. 

These cuts exhibit materials of the valley filling, which appear to 

comprise a younger, high-level gravel and sand, lying on the somewhat irregular surface of an older deposit of silt of pale-buff or greenish tint, in large part distinctly bedded. This older material lies 80 

to 100 feet above the present river and was laid down at a period of 

slack current, during a time when there were no notable freshets for 

many years.

Needles is built on a low terrace or higher flood plain of Colorado

River, less than a mile from the river bank. It is a railway division

point with a large hotel at the station, where most

Needles, Cal. trains stop for meals. This hotel is named El Garces

Elevation483feet. after Francisco Garce's. a Spanish missionary who

Population 3,067.* . ' * ., ,_/. .

Kansas city 1,499 miles, journeyed through this country in 1771-1774 and 

visited the Hopis in 1776. Needles is becoming a 

winter resort owing to its mild, equable climate and large proportion of sunny days. Many trees have been cultivated here, including date palms and the' tall, stately palm NeowasJiingtonia filifera, a
146 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

native of the Colorado Desert, which is extensively utilized for ornamental plantings in Los Angeles and other towns in the coastal 

region of southern California.

Many Mohave Indians live along the flats at Needles, and they have 

a reservation of considerable size extending along the river bank some 

distance above the city, where they dwell hi small, low buildings 

roofed with brush and sand. They cultivate small areas of the fertile 

bottom lands along the river and raise grain and vegetables for their 

own use and for the local market. Some of them come to the trains, 

offering bead trinkets of various kinds for sale to the passengers. 

They are a branch of the Yuman stock, numbering about 1,400 and in 

general diminishing hi number. The name Mohave mo-hah/vay is 

Yuman for the three pinnacles of the Needles south of Topock. 

Formerly these Indians were warlike, but this would not be inferred 

from their present appearance.

In the western part of Needles there is a steep ascent to a long, 

moderately steep slope which rises to the foot of the Sacramento 

Mountains 1 on the west. This slope is the surface of a thick body of 

sand, gravel, and bowlders derived from the mountains. It is intersected by many gullies or small valleys which carry large volumes of 

water on the rare occasions whsn there is rain.

Leaving Needles the train begins to climb the slope, running northwestward toward a pass that separates the Sacramento Mountains on 

the south from the Dead Mountains on the north. On this slope 

there are many railway cuts that reveal the materials of which it is 

composed. Some of the deposits are fine silts; others are crossbedded sands containing a large amount of coarse material. All are 

of recent geologic age.

Two miles beyond Java the rocks of the mountains are exposed in 

railway cuts and slopes of Sacramento Wash, the valley of a stream 

which has cut the pass through the mountains. The material is 

gneiss or mica schist, probably pre-Cambrian, which constitutes the 

greater part of the ranges north and south.

Near Klinefelter siding this rock .gives place to coarse, massive red 

conglomerate, which at several points rises in mounds of moderate 

height. This rock is not old, but appears to be a valley filling that 

accumulated before the deposition of the gravel and sand which form 

most of the slopes of the desert valley. The materials were derived

1 The Sacramento Mountains consist of 

schists of supposed Archean age. The 

highest part of the mountains, 10 miles 

southwest of Needles, is capped by a 

thick body of latite. From the occurrence of fragments of blue limestone in the 

elope southwest of Needles it is probable

that some Paleozoic rocks also occur in the 

range. Near the foot of the range southwest of Needles masses of red conglomerate in which are included sheets of basalt 

appear in small knobs and probably this 

material underlies the alluvium of the 

slopes.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 147

largely from the adjoining mountains of gneiss, but they include also 

some volcanic tuff and agglomerate and old lava (basalt). The beds 

are tilted at various angles, the dip being to the southwest in a considerable area west of Klinefelter and almost due west, at angles 

approaching the vertical, along the foot of the Dead Mountains, 

northeast of that place. A short distance beyond Klinefelter siding a number of springs issue from this deposit, affording water 

which has been extensively utilized by the railway company for its 

locomotives. These springs are just west of the track.

A few rods east of the railway, at milepost 590, a mile north of 

Klinefelter, the conglomerate stands nearly vertical and includes 

between its beds a 6-foot sheet of basalt. At a place just east of the 

tracks it includes another sheet of basalt.

At Klinefelter the railway is in a wide desert valley that'is drained 

through Sacramento Wash, which heads far to the west. To the 

east rise the Dead Mountains, 1 culminating in Mount Manchester; 

to the southwest is Ibis Mountain, which ends southwest of Ibis 

siding. The up grade continues past Ibis to the summit, half a mile 

east of Goffs. The divide at this place (altitude, 2,584 feet) is in the 

wide sand plain of the desert, but there are ridges of granite not far 

to the north and south, and doubtless here this rock is at no great 

distance beneath the surface. At Goffs, however, in a well 926 feet 

deep, from which the railway company obtains water, the first rock 

reported was at a depth of 680 feet.

A branch railway leading to Barnwell and Searchlight, two mining 

camps to the north, begins at Goffs, which is an old settlement, supported mainly by gold, silver, and copper mines in 

Goffs* the mountains to the northeast, northwest, and 

Elevation 2,584 feet, south.2 The ores occur in part as veins, in part as

Kansas City 1,530 miles.. r . r

irregular bodies oi shattered altered rocks, somewhat 

after the manner of the ore bodies at Goldfield and Tonopah, Nev.

1 The Dead Mountains, northeast of 

Ibis, consist of schists, in most of which 

the foliation is well defined, dipping in 

part at a low angle to the west. The 

slopes and ridges south and southwest of 

Klinefelter show a variety of rocks. For 

the first few miles there is much breccia 

and conglomerate that include sheets and 

masses of basalt. The ridges farther 

southeast are granite and schists. These 

pass down to the west under latite or 

rhyolite and breccia, which appears first 

in knobs and finally rise in prominent 

peaks near Eagle Pass, 10 miles south of 

Klinefelter. For about 2 miles the granite and rhyolite are separated by limestone and sandstone, which are of Paleozoic age and contain at one point fossils 

that are probably Carboniferous, Six 

miles southwest of Klinefelter is the high, 

conspicuous Tabletop Mountain, consisting of a cap of basalt on a mass of tuff and 

agglomerate lying west of the main body 

of rhyolite. The high ridge next northwest, which extends nearly to Ibis, is 

composed of schist and light-colored 

granite. The Ibis mine (now idle) is on 

its east slope.

2 A short distance south and southeast 

of Goffs is the north end of a mountain 

range which extends far southward. It 

consists largely of granite, partly schistose,
148 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEE1ST UNITED STATES.

From Goffs the railway runs nearly due southwest for many miles 

(see sheet 22, 'p. 158), descending continuously into one of the great 

interior basins that are characteristic of a large part of southeastern 

California. The slope is covered with a thick mantle of gravel and 

sand, constituting a typical desert plain from which detached mountain ranges rise abruptly at intervals. These ranges have steep sides, 

are deeply recessed by canyons, and have remarkably ragged or 

pinnacled summits. The plain slopes up toward the mountains and 

is built of the products of their disintegration. The deposits are 

thick, for they have been accumulating for a long time and every rain 

causes a local flood that carries the rock waste farther and farther 

down the slopes and at the same time adds a new supply from the 

mountain sides.

There are many instructive illustrations of the relations of these 

desert plains from Needles all the way across southern California, but 

some of the most impressive ones are in the region southwest of Goffs. 

Rain is infrequent in this region, as the average total precipitation is 

considerably less than 6 inches a year. However, much of the rain 

falls in remarkably heavy showers, or cloudbursts, which quickly 

flood the drainageways with a swiftly flowing body of water sufficiently powerful to roll large bowlders and to transport a vast amount 

of fine material far down the slope. These floods are exceedingly

cut by masses of darker rocks. It also 

contains some large bodies of diorites 

which, are cut by the granites. Half a 

mile southeast of Goffs, at the foot of the 

main mountain mass, there is a conspicuous butte, capped by black lava 

(basalt). Two miles south of the station 

there is a high peak, known as Black Top, 

just west of the main mountain slope. I ts 

tabular top is due to a thick sheet of lava 

(basalt), which lies on a thick deposit of 

sand and granite bowlders that are underlain by the coarse granite of the main 

mountain slope. This peak is a conspicuous feature for many miles to the west. 

Three miles north of Goffs several low 

hills rise above the desert. They consist 

of white granite, a material that also constitutes the higher ridges farther north 

to and beyond the Leiser-Ray mine, 8 

miles' northeast of Goffs, and the California copper mine, 9 miles northwest of 

Goffs. A prominent butte known as 

Signal Peak, a short distance so'utheast of 

the Leiser-Ray mine, is capped by black 

lava (basalt) similar in relations to the

lava caps south of Goffs and of the same 

age. Smaller masses of this rock also rise 

from the desert in low buttes 8 miles 

northwest of Goffs. They are parts of 

lava flows that were poured out over the 

desert surface at a time not very remote. 

In the high ridges in the region north 

and west of Vontrigger (see sheet 22) 

the next station on the Barn well branch, 

10 miles northwest of Goffs, there is a 

thick series of Tertiary igneous rock of 

the same character as that in Black Mesa, 

near Kingman, Ariz. It overlies granite along a line that passes a short distance west of the California mine. The 

series consists of thick sheets of tuff and 

agglomerate alternating with extensive 

flows of light-colored lavas (rhyolite and 

latite). These sheets dip to the east and 

southeast, and the harder beds present 

great steplike cliffs facing the west and 

northwest. These cliffs are conspicuous 

far to the north to the traveler from Goffs 

to Fenner, and northwest of Fenner abut 

against the east flank of the Providence 

Mountains.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 21

GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail en the U. S. C. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.

ARIZONA-NEVADA-CALIFORNIA

A Lava flows (basalt)

B Gravel, sand, and siit (valley filling)

C Conglomerate, red

1000 }. Quatcrnarj 

800J

D Volcanic rocks iandesite, latite, rhyolite, and tuffs) 2500 Tertiary

E Limestone

F Granite ("monzonite, diorite, etc.) and schist 

Mines of gold, silver, or copper

200 Carbon i f erous

lMMNfV^/ / /

^'" - Francon/a 

Scale 500,000

Approximately 8 miles to ! inch 

5 10 15

5 IO 15 20 25 

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles 

The crosslies on the railroads are spaced I mile apart
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 149

troublesome to the railway company, which must make long deflection ditches and dikes to prevent serious washouts. Work of this 

sort along the Santa Fe lines in the desert region has been as large 

an item of expense as flood protection and repair in regions where 

there are large rivers subject to freshets. The run-off is very rapid 

hi the deserts, because the rocks are bare, the soil is hard, and most of 

the slopes are steep. Very little water passes underground, and 

springs, even in the mountains, are exceedingly rare. Much water, 

however, is lost by evaporation.

Fenner is on a desert plain or flat-bottomed valley of considerable width. (See PL XXXIX, p. 1?50.) A few miles to the east rises 

the high mountain range which begins at Goffs and 

enner. extends far to the south. Its higher part, southeast 

s.<* D«*7.- B known as Old Woman Mountain. This

range consists largely of granites but also includes 

some limestone which, has been mostly altered to marble by the 

intrusion of igneous rocks. The heat and pressure of these intrusions 

are the agencies which have effected this change. The process is 

one of crystallization, the massive or earthy limestone changing into 

an aggregation of crystals, usually white, to form marble.

The prominent range known as the Providence Mountains, west 

and northwest of Fenner, consists of a thick mass of limestones and 

other sedimentary rocks (Cambrian, Devonian, and Carboniferous) 

lying on granites and cut by thick bodies of monzonite and rhyolite. 

These mountains are the south end of a great north-south divide 

which separates the Las Vegas and Colorado valleys on the east from 

the deserts on the west and which in general seems to be an important but little understood geologic boundary in this region. In its 

northern extension, known as the Charleston Range, near Good 

Springs, there are rich mines of lead and zinc, and a remarkable 

deposit of gold, platinum, and palladium ore has recently been discovered. The range contains also interesting stratified formations 

not found to the west in southern California. The southwestern 

course of the railway from Needles to Cadiz was determined for the 

purpose of paralleling the east side and getting around the south end 

of this range, which is reached at Cadiz.

The basin about Fenner is probably underlain by later volcanic 

rocks, portions of which protrude above the plain in many small 

buttes. One of these is a mile northeast of the station, and a group 

of them occurs about 10 miles due west of Fenner. They consist 

of rhyolite, a fine-grained brown glassy-looking rock, much of which 

contains cindery fragments and many vesicular cavities caused by the 

steam included at the time of outflow. In the midst of these rhyolite 

hills, 10 miles west of Fenner, there is an outcrop of pure white marble 

which some time may have economic importance.
150 GUIDEBOOK OP THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

From Fenner to Danby the railway descends the valley near its 

center. A short distance to the west rises a high ridge known as 

Clipper Mountain/ which consists mainly of a thick succession of 

Tertiary volcanic rocks, which lie on gneiss that crops out extensively 

at the north end of the range. This ridge is about 10 miles long and 

some of its peaks rise more than 1,500 feet above the surrounding 

plain. The rugged slopes of Clipper Mountain present a great variety 

of strong colors, mostly yellow and brown, due to the oxidation of 

the tuffs and other rocks.

1 The rocks of Clipper Mountain are 

principally tuffs and agglomerates, interbedded with many thick flows of lightcolored lava (rhyolite) and penetrated by 

a number of thick stocks of this and other 

igneous rocks. The tuff and ash beds 

near the top are capped by a thick sheet 

of black lava (basalt), which dips northwestward. Small masses of this kind of 

lava also appear at several points in the 

plain south and southwest of the mountain, but these are probably of later age 

than the summit cap. The agglomerate, 

tuff, and ash of this succession were 

ejected from volcanic vents and probably 

accumulated very rapidly, with intervals 

in which eruptions of rhyolite and other, 

lavas flowed over their surface. The 

final eruption was the sheet of black lava 

(basalt) now capping Clipper Mountain, 

which probably flowed out at the same 

time as the sheets capping Signal Peak, 

north of Goffs, and Black Top, southwest 

of Goffs. The same succession also constitutes the high ridge extending through 

Vontrigger to the east slope of the Providence Mountains northwest of Fenner.

Southeastern California presents the 

record of a varied succession of events, 

mostly of igneous activity on a land surface, during later geologic time. Great 

masses of molten rock were intruded 

through the various older sedimentary 

rocks, followed at intervals by the outflow 

of lavas and the ejection of fragmental 

volcanic material. Some of these volcanic 

outbursts were so recent that they appear 

to have been almost within the historic 

period. The largest bodies of lava, however, were accumulated in middle and 

later Tertiary time, when a vast amount of

fragmental material was thrown out of 

numerous vents of various kinds and 

spread over a wide area. These formed 

thick deposits of breccias, which consist 

mostly of fragments of lava, tuff, or finergrained ejected material of the nature of 

ash and cinders, in part mixed with large 

volumes of fine volcanic ash. Most of 

this ejected matter was piled up as it fell, 

but in some places water had a part in its 

distribution, and from some of the vents 

there also came extensive mud flows. 

At intervals and from place to place there 

were great outflows of lavas of various 

kinds, which spread widely over the surface of the deposits of fragmental material, 

and subsequently were buried beneath 

accumulations of breccia, tuff, and ash. 

In general, the order of rocks erupted in 

Tertiary time has been latite, rhyolite, 

diabase rhyolite, and several varieties of 

basalt. The configuration of the region 

was probably much smoother at that time 

than it is now, for in general the old rock 

surface on which the volcanic deposits 

lie appears to be smooth at most localities. 

In places, however, ridges of older rocks 

protruded which were not covered by the 

volcanic materials. After the main period 

of volcanic action in Tertiary time the 

region was uplifted and the beds broken 

and tilted. It is from the erosion of this 

irregular surface by streams and other 

agencies that most of the present land 

forms are derived. In places the uplifted volcanic rocks have been removed, 

laying bare the underlying older rocks. 

Several times after the uplift there were 

extensive eruptions of later lavas, some 

of them accompanied by the ejection of 

tuff, ash, and other fragmental material.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

 *$

DESERT AT FENNER, C

View southeastward to Flute Mountains. Knob of rh
A recent cinder cone and i

MOUNT PISGAH, BETWEEN LUDLOW 

great lava sheet. View southward from a point near Santa Fe Railwa

foreground.
THE SANTA PE ROUTE. 151

y'

By the judicious use of a small amount of water and fertilizer, 

date palms, cottonwoods, and various other plants have been cultivated at Danby, making the place an oasis in the

desert. Water is obtained from a well, and an addi- 

. tional ^PPty is brought by a pipe" from a spring 4

miles to the northwest, where a tunnel has been run 

into the hillside in such a way as to gather the water seeping from a 

small fissure in the volcanic rocks. Cupper Mountain, with its brightcolored slopes and steep pinnacles of volcanic rocks, is a conspicuous 

feature north of Danby station. Five or six miles east of Danby 

are the Piute Mountains, and to the southeast rises Old Woman 

Mountain, both ranges presenting long, bare slopes and rugged peaks 

of granite.

From Danby to Siam, a distance of 7 miles, the railway descends 

the broad desert valley on a southwesterly course. Southeast

of milepost 640 several scattered knobs 1 of volcanic 

Siam> rock rise from the desert a short distance east of 

Elevation 1,037 feet. tne tracks. These are outliers of Ship Mountain.

KansasCity 1,563 miles. - . . x . '

a short but prominent range which continues to a 

point 7 or 8 miles southeast of Siam. A deposit of volcanic ash 

and some associated tuff in the ridge 3 miles east of Siam is about 

100 feet thick, and portions of it are snowy white and sufficiently 

pure to be serviceable as polishing powder. Material of this character is used in many of the cleansing powders now on the market.

A short distance south of Siam there is considerable limestone, 

most of which has been changed to marble by the heat of intruded 

granite. This marble constitutes a high ridge 2 miles southeast of 

Siam and several outlying knobs west of the foot of the ridge at 

intervals southward for 2| miles. The marble is cut off to the north 

as well as to the south and southeast by the granite constituting the 

central portion of Ship .Mountain. In the Siam mine, 2 miles southeast of Siam, which was worked for several years, considerable gold 

and copper ore was found along or near the contact of the marble and 

granite. In places in the altered limestone east of Siam there are 

seams and pockets of yellow and red ocher of excellent quality. 

This material is extensively used for paints.

North of ,the railway beyond Siam are the Iron Mountains, a 

narrow but prominent range which is in general a southward contin1 The knobs just east of milepost 640 

consist of rhyolite, but farther back there 

is a small knob of basalt, and still farther 

southeast rises a prominent tabular mass 

in which a thick sheet of lava (basalt) caps 

a deposit of volcanic ash, overlying a

\'Mck body of angular fragments of gneiss. 

The sheet of basalt dips northeastward 

and passes beneath the desert plain, which 

is here about 10 miles wide and which 

extends to the west foot of Old Woman 

Mountain.
152 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Cadiz.

uation of the Providence Mountains. To pass the south end of this

range the railway has to be deflected far southward in its course

beyond Goffs.

At milepost 646 the railway passes the south end of the Iron

Mountains 1 and bears slightly north of west to Cadiz. Along the 

west side of the mountains is a westward-facing cliff 

of the sandstone and limestone, surmounting rugged

Elevation 821 feet. slopes of granite. At a point on the mountain slope

Kansas City 1,569 miles. r ^ 4. JT n J- 1,-u i

2 miles northeast ol Cadiz a quarry has been opened 

in dark Cambrian limestone, which yields a material of attractive 

appearance, but it has not yet been shipped to any great extent.

At Cadiz the main line is joined by a branch from Phoenix, Ariz., 

which crosses Colorado River at Parker, 60 miles below Needles, and 

rises with easy grade over the divide that separates the river valley 

from the long basin extending to Cadiz and beyond. One branch of 

this basin is followed by the main line of the railway from Goffs to 

Cadiz, far down its slope.

From Cadiz westward, the course of the track is somewhat north of 

west, through the center of a series of wide basins bordered on both 

sides by high mountain ranges. The bottom of this basin is reached

1 The Iron Mountains present a considerable variety of rocks, including preCambrian granite and overlying quartzites, limestones, and shales of Cambrian 

to Carboniferous age. These are cut by 

masses of intrusive rocks which have 

altered most of the limestone to marble. 

In places thick deposits of volcanic ash 

and tuff lie on the older rocks and are in 

turn overlain by a thick sheet of black

body of overlying limestone and shale, 

all dipping steeply to the east. From the 

vicinity of milepost 645, which is about 

halfway between Siam and Cadiz, the 

contact of these sedimentary rocks on the 

granite is visible about half a mile northwest of the track, as shown in figure 37. 

The contact and the beds all dip at a 

moderate angle to the east. The granite 

has a wave-worn surface, and the beds

FIGURE 37. Sketch section showing quartzite (hard sandstone) on granite at south end of the Iron 

Mountains, southwest of Siam, Cal., looking north.

lava (basalt), capped by a sheet of light- 

'colored lava (rhyolite). The sheets of 

lava cap a succession of high eastwardsloping ridges on the summit and east side 

of the range, 6 to 8 miles north of the railway.

The granite crops out extensively in the 

two gaps near the south end of the range. 

It is overlain in ridges north and south of 

these gaps by rocks of Cambrian age, consisting of a basal quartzite with a thick

were deposited on this surface when it 

was a sea bottom, a fact which establishes 

the age of the granite as pre-Cambrian. 

A small knob a short distance west of 

milepost 644 is of rhyolite, like the knobs 

east of Siam and others farther north on 

the east side of the Iron Mountains.

This is the southernmost place at which 

Cambrian fossils have been found and 

apparently the southernmost outcrop of 

the Paleozoic rocks in this region.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE.- 153

between Bengal and Amboy, at an elevation of 613 feet, a descent of 

1,975 feet from the divide east of Goffs. The origin of this basin has 

not been fully ascertained, but as the depression is completely surrounded by a rock rim it can not be due entirely to erosion and probably has resulted from tilting of a portion of an old stream valley.

The bottom of the general basin consists of a series of broad saucerlike hollows or playas * in which lakes usually form when the rainfall 

is sufficiently heavy. Because evaporation is fairly rapid and the 

precipitation meager, these lakes soon dry, leaving their dissolved 

salts, such as sodium chloride and calcium sulphate, together with 

more or less fine sediment. These accumulations have been in 

progress for a long time, and there is now a thick body of them 

forming the floor of the basin. Sodium chloride (common salt) 

exists in large amount, and there is also considerable gypsum. These 

deposits are quarried extensively east of Amboy. At Saltus siding, 

nsar milepost 657, there is a salt refinery a short distance south of 

the railway, which ordinarily produces a car or two of salt a day. 

The salt is mined 4 miles farther south, in the lowest part of the 

basin, and brought by the company's railway to the works, where 

it is refined for market. The mining is done by open pits. The salt 

is covered by a few feet of sand, under which the nearly white rock 

salt forms a pavement of wide extent. It is in several layers, separated by thin deposits of silt, and from 5 to 7 feet of it is taken out 

at most places.

The gypsum occurs in irregular bodies, one of which crops out 

along the railway from milepost 657 nearly to Amboy. It forms a 

white crusty surface with protruding lumps of harder masses of the 

mineral. A short distance north of the track, as well as at Amboy, 

it is covered by wash from the mountain slopes. Just south of mile1A. playa is a shallow, flat-floored depression, characteristic of valleys having 

no regular drainage to the sea, in which 

storm waters collect and evaporate. It 

may be a shallow lake or a salt-incrusted 

mud flat.

In his description of the ancient Lake 

Lahontan, in Nevada, Russell writes:

"The scenery on the larger playas is 

peculiar and is usually desolate in theextreme but is riot without its charm. 

In crossing these wastes the traveler may 

ride for miles over a perfectly level floor, 

with an unbroken sky line before him 

and not an object in sight to cast a shadow 

on the ocean-like expanse. Mirages, 

which may be seen almost every day on 

these heated deserts, give strange fanciful

forms to the mountains and sometimes 

transfigure them beyond recognition. A 

pack train crossing the desert a few miles 

distant may appear like some strange 

caravan of grotesque beasts fording a 

shallow lake, the shores of which advance 

as one rides away. The monotony of 

midday on the desert is thus broken by 

elusive forms that are ever changing and 

suggest a thousand fancies which divert 

the attention from the fatigues of the 

journey. The cool evenings and mornings in these arid regions, when the purple 

shadows of distant mountains are thrown 

across the plain, have a charm that is 

unknown beneath more humid skies, 

and the profound stillness of the night in 

these solitudes is always impressive."
154 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

post 659 there are extensive pits 6 to 8 feet deep in which the gypsum 

is obtained. It is carried by a small railway to the plaster mill at 

Amboy, where it is heated to expel the water and ground to the fine 

powder known as plaster of Paris.

Amboy is dependent on the plaster mill and a few mines in the

mountains. A stage line which runs to Dale, a mining camp 45

miles to the south, crosses the lowest part of the

Amboy. basin near the salt deposit and goes through a pass or

Elevation en feet. depression in the Sheep Hole Mountains, which are

KansasCityl,583miIes. , r . mu , . f

about 11 miles distant. These mountains consist 01 

granite and schist of pre-Cambrian age and form a part of the topographic barrier of granite and other igneous rocks which borders the 

south side of the valleys traversed by the railway as far as Barstow.

The Marble Mountains, constituting the north rim of the basin a 

few miles north of Amboy, consist mainly of coarse-grained granites, 

mostly light gray, penetrated by large bodies of dark coarse-grained 

quartz monzonite. Many masses of limestone altered to white 

marble occur north and northeast of Amboy. At one locality 4 miles 

north of Amboy considerable iron ore has replaced the limestone near 

the igneous contact. In the foothills of this range 2£ miles north of 

Amboy there is a low ridge of light-colored lava (rhyolite), and a 

short distance northwest of this a large rounded hill of fine-grained, 

dark-colored rock (diorite), probably much older than the lavas. 

A mile east of these knobs is a small pit in light-colored clay which 

has been used for mixing with the plaster at the Amboy mill. This 

clay is probably part of the mass of earlier sediments that underlie 

the valley and are here upturned along the foot of the mountain rim. 

A 700-foot well in Amboy is reported to be entirely in sand and 

gravel and to have yielded only salt water, which occurred in considerable volumes, especially near the surface. At a depth of 70 

feet it penetrated a deposit of gypsum.

Summer temperatures in this part of the desert are very high, those 

at Amboy often exceeding 120° F. However, the mean annual temperature at Amboy is much less than that of places at lower altitudes 

farther south within our borders, a maximum of 130° having been 

recorded at Salton, in the Colorado Desert. The rainfall in the 

desert region of southeastern California to Barstow and beyond is 

very small, averaging only about 5 inches a year. West of Amboy the 

train passes a series of rather recent volcanic cones and lava flows.

In the center of the basin, not far southwest of Amboy, there is a 

fine cinder cone on an extensive sheet of black lava (basalt). This 

lava is, geologically, very recent and may have flowed out over the 

bottom of the basin within the last thousand years. It covers a 

nearly circular area about 5 miles in diameter. Its surface is remarkably rough, being covered with large blisters, most of them broken,
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 155

and it has many caverns where the hot lava has run out at lower 

levels as it congealed at the surface. All the rock is black, practically unchanged by weathering, and full of vesicles or small holes, 

due to the escape of steam carried by the molten lava. The edge of 

the sheet is irregular, just as the lava congealed at the margin of the 

flow. At milepost 664 the railway is at the north edge of the lava, 

which it followsc for a mile or more to the west, affording an exceptionally interesting and instructive view of the flow and cone. The 

cone, which is near the center of the flow, about 2 miles south of 

milepost 664, is about 200 feet high. It consists of a pile of black 

or dark-gray cinders or pumice, with a large crater in the center. 

In its southwest side there is a deep breach, from which extends a 

thin later sheet of lava that flowed out over the main sheet. This 

accumulation of cinders marks the later stage of the eruption, when 

the vent sputtered out a shower of cinders and fragments of lava 

frothing with steam bubbles. At the same time there were ejected

Vent* 

FIGURE 38. Ideal section through a recent lava field and vent.

occasional bombs of more or less completely consolidated lava, which 

are now embedded in the cinder. This volcano and the one at Pisgah, 

43 miles farther west, are exceptionally good examples of a modern 

lava flow, and many features of both are visible from the train. The 

structural relations of flows of this character are shown in figure 38. 

From Amboy to Bagdad the railway line begins to rise gradually 

on the west slope of the basin.

All trains stop at Bagdad for water and fuel oil. The water is 

brought daily on a train of 20 tank cars filled from springs at Newberry, 56 miles to the west. Deep borings at Bagdad and at other points in the basin have obtained 

Elevation 787 feet. onjy saft water. 1 A short distance north of Bagdad

KansasCity 1,590miles. . ^ . .,. . . , , , , °

is a low ridge which extends tar to1 the northwest. 

It consists of dark massive igneous, rock (quartz monzonite), overlain 

by volcanic tuffs and sheets of lava (rhyolite). About 9 miles north 

of Bagdad are the Marble Mountains, already mentioned. In this 

range is located the Orange Blossom mine (in granite aplite), which 

has yielded copper ore carrying more or less gold.

Bagdad.

1 In preserving for the traveler the 

water supply of this 'desert country the 

cactus plays an interesting part. The 

roots of this distinctly American plant' 

extend widely, for the most part at 2 to 4

inches below the surface, so that they 

suck up a quantity of water from the soil 

very quickly after a rain. Once stored 

in its tissues, this water is retained by 

the cactus with great tenacity. Water
156 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

South of Bagdad there is a desert plain 8 miles across, partly filled 

on the east with the lava sheet. West of this sheet the flat contains 

salty and gypsum-bearing deposits, mixed with more or less fine 

sand. This is the west end of the basin which contains the salt and 

gypsum east and south of Amboy but which, just west of Amboy, 

is floored with lava. On the south side of the basin rises a prominent 

ridge of volcanic rocks of supposed Tertiary age, consisting of agglomerate and tuff associated with large bodies of light-colored lavas 

(latite and rhyolite). An old lead-silver mine in this range has produced considerable high-grade ore from a vein that is exceptionally 

well exposed at the surface. Three miles farther south is the high 

range known as the Bullion Mountains, which consists of igneous 

rocks of various kinds.

West of Bagdad the train begins to climb rapidly out of the basin 

along the slopes of cinder cones and masses of black lava (basalt) 

lying on older granitic rocks. Halfway between mileposts 672 and 

673 a small black hill south of the railway is evidently the remnant 

of a cone or larger mass of basalt. Near milepost 674 there is in view 

just north of the track a large cone made up of inclined beds of 

reddish cinder.-

Another similar cone is also visible a few miles farther northeast. 

As the train ascends the slope to the north it approaches hills and 

ridges of volcanic tuff and ash, overlain in places by flows of basalt. 

A mile south of milepost 678 several small, low" black knobs rise out 

of the desert plain, probably the remnants of an old crater or a flow 

of lava (basalt), considerably eroded and buried by sand and gravel. 

West of Siberia siding the railway makes some long, sweeping horseshoe curves in rising on the slope of the basin. These curves give 

fine views back into the wide basin, in which the cinder cone near 

Amboy is a prominent feature. At Klondike siding (milepost 682)

absorbed by plants is evaporated through 

their green surface. Most of the cactuses 

have leaves, but as a rule the leaves are 

minute or even microscopic, and the 

structure of their cells is such as to hinder 

transpiration and 'conserve the water 

stored. In the walls of the cells are thin 

sievelike places which permit the easy 

passage of water from one cell- to another 

throughout the interior. A barrel cactus 

was found to contain 96 per cent of its 

weight of water. The water contained 

in cactuses is often palatable, but not invariably so. It is interesting to note that 

those in which the water is nauseous are 

less protected by spines than those whose 

juice is sweet and tempting. In experimenting with desert mice it was found

that they will not drink water, a fact 

which suggests that they secure moisture 

.from the plants they consume, or possibly 

they have a special means of separating 

moisture from the air. The spines of the 

cactus are straight or curved, hairy or 

feathery, and grouped in starry clusters 

or in rows. They have been used for 

fishhooks, needles, and combs and in various other ingenious ways by the primitive tribes. The flowers of the cactus 

vary in form, and most of them are extremely beautiful. The different species 

display brilliant tints of purple, yellow, 

orange, and rose. Some open by day; 

others by night. Many of the species 

bear edible fruits, and the seeds of some 

are used by the Indians for food..
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 157

an altitude of 1,652 feet is attained. To the northeast are hills of 

volcanic tuff and ash, and one long butte capped with black lava 

(basalt). To the southwest is a group of hills of tuff with bodies of 

light-colored lava (rhyolite), which extends for some distance west.

'At rnilepost 684 the railway is just south of hills of volcanic tuff, 

capped with basalt, and just south of the track is the end of a lava 

flow at a lower level, upon which the train runs within a short distance. At the next milepost the lava of this flow is exposed in railway cuts. It occupies a saddle or wide valley which extends westward 

past Ash Hill siding. Here the train passes over a divide (altitude 

1,944 feet) in a depression between the hills, to the north and south, 

which rise a hundred feet higher. The entire surface of the divide, as 

well as the adjoining slopes, is covered with a lava flow (basalt) of 

relatively recent age though not nearly so recent as the one in the 

basin near Amboy. The lava extends down the west slope also 

nearly to Ludlow; its source was probably in the hills north of Ash 

Hill siding, but no evidence of a crater was noted in that area.

The Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad runs north from Ludlow (see 

sheet 23, p. 162) to Goldfield, Nev., noted for its rich gold mines, and a 

small branch road goes south 10 miles to the BagdadLudlow. Roosevelt mine. Ludlow is in the south end of 

Elevation 1,779 feet, another basin, which extends far to the north. For 

. a ^onS ^me t^s Dasm lias been receiving the drainage 

of a wide area of surrounding hills, so that the thick 

deposit of silt and sand which it contains includes evaporation products as well. A deep boring (1,500 feet) at Ludlow and another (600 

feet) 8 miles to the north penetrated many sand beds containing 

water, but all the water carried so much salt that it could not be utilized. The water for town and railway consumption is brought from 

the spring at Newberry by a daily tram of tank cars. A short distance 

south of Ludlow are buttes and ridges of volcanic agglomerate and 

tuff containing sheets and intruded masses of light-colored lava 

(rhyolite) .*

1 Nine miles south, at the BagdadRoosevelt mine, there are ridges of older 

igneous rocks (mainly monzonite porphyry and latite). A sheet of breccia of 

considerable extent at this place carries 

gold and also in places rich copper ores, 

which have been extensively mined. 

This ore-bearing breccia is a rhyolite porphyry crushed into fragments and cemented together by silica. Its relations 

are clearly exposed in outcrops and some 

of the shallower workings. Northwest of 

Ludlow there is a high rugged range

97570° Bull. 613 15 11

known as the Cady Mountains, consisting 

of bright-colored volcanic tuffs and lavas 

(rhyolite), in large part of green, brown, 

and buff tints. This series also constitutes 

the hills and ridges northeast of Ludlow, 

but farther north, near Broadwell station 

on the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad, 

high ranges of light-colored granite stand 

on both sides of the basin. Thirteen 

miles northeast of Ludlow volcanic tuffs 

capped by black lava (basalt) are exposed, abutting against granite in the 

slope of the higher ridge on the north.
158 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

The bottom of the basin a few miles north of Ludlow usually presents a vast expanse of glistening, mud-cracked surface, but sometimes 

it is covered by water. This bare plain is in conspicuous contrast to 

the general area of the desert, which is covered with the creosote bush 

(Oovillea tridentata).

Ludlow is the outlet for the Death Valley borax, now carried by rail 

but formerly by the well-advertised 20-mule team. One of the wagons 

used in this, transportation is now on exhibition on the north side of 

the track a few rods beyond the station. Its capacity is 10 tons.

West of Ludlow the train climbs rapidly along the slopes of buttes 

of volcanic rocks (rhyolite and tuff), which rise to considerable height 

in a series of ridges extending far to the south. These rocks are well 

exposed at Argos siding, 5 miles west of Ludlow.

At a point 1.4 miles west of Argos, just beyond milepost 700, the 

train crosses a low divide and enters another basin. The bottom of 

the basin is largely occupied by a very recent sheet of lava,1 the edge 

of which is half a mile beyond milepost 701. The railway skirts the 

northern edge of this lava flow for 6 miles, or to a point a short distance beyond Pisgah siding. Near the center of the flow, about 2 

miles southeast of Pisgah siding, rises a beautifully symmetrical cinder

1 The lava is black and cellular, and although the sheet is not very thick it presents a surface of extreme irregularity, 

closely resembling some of the most recent 

flows in other portions of the world.

As in the other recent flows, the lava 

welled out of an irregular orifice and 

spread widely over the bottom of the 

basin. As its area widened the surface 

congealed, but the hot lava broke out 

from underneath, causing tunnels and 

irregular caved-in areas which are typical. 

That the molten lava was filled with steam 

is shown by the scoriaceous or honeycombed character of the rock. Many of 

the details of flow are clearly shown by the 

surfaces, which in some places are ropy, as 

the lava puckered in congealing, and in 

others are glassy and smooth, like slag 

from a blast furnace. Many of the tunnels 

are extensive, and there are also innumerable huge bubbles or blisters, more or less 

cracked by deep fissures dae to the contraction caused by cooling. The margin 

of the flow presents an irregular edge of 

low cliffs, in most places consisting of 

great masses of broken fragments, formed

as the congealing rock was pushed along 

by the advance of the flow.

The cinder cone was built up at the end 

of the eruption and undoubtedly marks 

the place of the orifice. In its last stages 

the action was mainly a violent escape of 

steam, which blew out a large amount of 

cindery or pumiceous material, together 

with occasional hardened masses of lava. 

This was all thrown to a considerable 

height in the air, and, falling on all sides, 

quickly built up a cone. A mass of cinder 

lying against the west inner side of the 

cone is slightly different in color, and 

probably is the product of a final supplemental outburst.

The recent date of this cone is indicated 

by the fact that the pile of loose material 

has not been affected by the powerful 

erosive processes of the region, and there 

is no perceptible oxidation of the rocks or 

cinders. The lava still shows the jagged 

edges due to accidents of flow, and there 

are many minute stalactites of lava hanging in the roofs of the tunnels. The material also overlies and abuts against sand 

deposits that are of recent age.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 22

CALIFORNIA

Lava flows (basalt) and cinder cones

Sand, gravel, and clay of desert slopes and valleys

Volcanic rocks (rhyolite, basalt, latite, tuff, and 

volcanic ash)

Granite (including monzomte and other intrusive 

igneous rocks)

Post-Carboniferous 

in greater part

Limestone, shale, quartzite, and marble 

Granite and schist

Mines of gold, lead, and copper and quarries of salt, 

.gypsum, clay, and marble

A

Crater 

Lava, 

(basalt)

Scale 500,000 

Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch v 

5 IO IS 20Miles

Contour interval 200 feet

The ^/stances from Ktnsms City. Missouri, tre shown every 10 miles 

The crossties on the railroads are spaced I mile apart
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA F.E ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. C. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 159

cone about 250 feet high, with a large, deep crater in its summit. This 

cone, which is usually called Mount Pisgah. is as fine an example of a 

recent volcanic outflow as can be seen anywhere. Some of its features 

are shown in Plate XL (p. 151).

The mountains which rim the basin north and south of Pisgah siding 

consist mostly of granites, the thick mass of volcanic tuffs and lavas 

constituting the southeast end of the Cady Mountains northwest of 

Ludlow apparently having ended at a point northeast of Pisgah. 

From Pisgah to Troy, a distance of 12 miles, there is a down grade of 

368 feet into the. basin.

North and south of Hector there are low hills of Tertiary volcanic 

tuff. The western extension of the lava sheet from Mount Pisgah lies 

some distance south of Hector, but it is approached and crossed by 

the railway between Hector and Troy.

At Troy siding the basin opens out westward into a broad flat 

that extends to Mohave River, about 7 miles to the north. The 

plain here is remarkably smooth, and it is covered in part by silt and 

in part by low sand dunes. In an area of considerable extent about 

Troy there is a large volume of fairly good water only a short distance 

below the surface, and it rises within 4 feet of the surface near the 

siding. On account of this supply a number of settlers have recently 

taken homesteads in this flat, expecting to pump the water for irrigation. At most places here the water does not carry very much salty 

material, for this part of the valley drains into Mohave River, and 

salts appear not to have accumulated in it.

A short distance northeast of Troy is a range of low hills consisting 

of volcanic tuff and lavas (rhyolite and basalt), which bear off northwestward to Mohave River. These materials probably also underlie 

the flat, for they appear in a number of low knobs to the west, south, 

and southeast of Troy. The larger mountain mass, 5 miles south of 

Troy, however, consists of light-colored granite (quartz monzonite). 

A very thick deposit of bowlders and gravel lies against these granite 

slopes, constituting high hills of rounded form. In one area of 

considerable extent these gravel beds are surmounted by a flow of 

black lava (basalt),1 which caps a high mesa clearly discernible southsouthwest of Troy.

1 This lava came from a .cinder cone at 

high altitude behind the main granite 

range and flowed to the north and northwest down a valley of moderately steep 

slope. Its irregular termination 4 miles 

southwest of Troy is not very high above

the level of the railway. A portion of the 

northern rim of this old valley in the higher 

slopes 6 miles south-southwest of Troy has 

since been cut away by erosion, so that 

part of the black edge of the upper portion of the flow is now visible from Troy.
160 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Newberry siding, 6 miles west of Troy, is notable for the great 

spring which issues from the volcanic tuff at the foot of the mountain 

a short distance southwest of the station. The water 

ew erry. . g p^e(j ^. Q ^e station, pumped into tanks, and used

. ^or rau<way and residents as far east as Bagdad, an 

interval in which no good local water is obtainable. 

For this service the operation of a daily train of 20 tank cars, holding 10,000 gallons each, is required. This spring is supplied by rain 

water which sinks underground in crevices on the . mountain slope 

and finally accumulates in some main joint plane which extends to 

an outlet at the foot of the range.

North of Newberry is a wide flat extending to Mohave River, the 

course of which is indicated by a line of mesquite trees plainly in 

view from the train. These trees are always indicative of the proximity of water, although in some localities the supply is deep underground and in but small volume. They occur in considerable numbers 

about the spring at Newberry and on the flat near Troy, where the 

water is so near the surface. To the south is Newberry Mountain, 

a prominent steep ridge showing a thick succession of volcanic rocks 

(tuff, breccia, and rhyolite) dipping at a moderate angle to the southwest. These beds are probably the "Rosamond series," a formation 

characteristic of the borders of the Mohave Desert.

The Mohave Desert is a large quadrangular area of arid land lying 

north of the San Gabriel Mountains and southeast of the Sierra 

Nevada. Its eastern limits have not been exactly defined. The 

railway runs close to the southeast border of this desert between 

Barstow and Summit.

From Newberry to Daggett the country is nearly level, for the train 

traverses the broad river plain and gradually approaches Mohave 

River, which is but a short distance north of Daggett station.

The village of Daggett serves as a source of supplies for numerous 

mines and a few ranches scattered along the valley. Here trains of 

the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, 

* coming from the northeast, pass upon the Santa Fe 

s. ^acks, which they use to Colton. Two miles north 

of Daggett the Calico Mountains, so named because 

of the bright variegated color of their slopes, rise abruptly from the 

north margin of Mohave Valley. They consist of a thick succession of beds of ash and other fragmentary materials thrown out of 

volcanoes and sheets of light-colored lava (rhyolite), dipping at a 

moderately steep angle to the east. On the south slope is the Calico 

mine, which has been a large producer of silver. On the east side 

of the Calico Mountains the volcanic series includes clays containing
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 161

colemanite,1 a crystalline borate of lime. These clays have been 

mined extensively for the production of borax. For many years large 

amounts of this material were treated at a refinery in Daggett, but 

the working of deposits of purer mineral in other areas has forced 

this refinery to cease operations. The "borax mines" are not visible 

from the railway except possibly by a very distant view to the northwest from Newberry.

South of Daggett is a broad range of rounded hills which rise 

steeply from the valley. Canyons among them reveal thick deposits 

of gravel and sand, in part cemented into conglomerate. Beds of 

volcanic tuff and ash are also included in these deposits.2

From Daggett to Barstow the train ascends the valley of Mohave 

River along its south side and in places follows the bank of that 

stream. For much of the year the water does not flow as far down 

as Daggett, but sometimes after a heavy rainfall the river bed is 

filled from bank to bank. The Mohave is one of the largest of the 

so-called lost rivers of the desert provinces. It rises on the north 

slope of the San Bernardino Range, flows northward for about 50 

miles, to Barstow, and then, east of Daggett, turns eastward into a 

stretch where it ceases to flow except at times of high flood, when it 

ultimately reaches Soda Lake, or the sink of the Mohave, just south 

of the Amargosa drainage basin. Mohave River is in sight of the 

railway all the way from a.point near Newberry to a point south of 

Victorville.

Near milepost 745, about 4 miles west of Nebo siding, the river 

valley is narrowed by high buttes of reddish lava (rhyolite) and other 

rocks, and bends considerably to the north around a ridge projecting

1 Colemanite contains 50.9 per cent of 

boric acid, 27.2 per cent of lime, and 21.9 

per cent of water. The deposits near 

Daggett are believed to have been formed 

by replacement of limy beds that were 

laid down locally during, the evaporation 

of lake waters of Tertiary time, in intervals between some of the great outbursts 

of volcanic ejecta, which formed so large 

a part of the Tertiary deposits. The boric 

acid was undoubtedly derived from fresh 

volcanic materials and carried to its 

present position by underground waters. 

The deposits are in two principal beds, 

each 5 feet thick and about 50 feet apart. 

These beds dip steeply and have been 

mined to a depth of 500 feet. All the 

borax produced in the United States is 

obtained from California mines, mainly

from Lang, north of Los Angeles and 

Death Valley. The value of borate ores 

in 1913 is estimated at nearly |1,500,000. 

The borax is produced by heating the 

pulverized colemanite with a solution of 

sodium carbonate, forming the soluble 

sodium borate, which crystallizes.

2 At the base of this series is a coarse 

breccia which, in the canyon 6 miles 

south of Daggett, is underlain by granite. 

It contains large fragments of various 

igneous rocks and also of the underlying 

granite. Farther southeast it includes 

many fragments and bowlders of dark 

fine-grained rock (basalt), evidently derived from Ord Mountain, a high ridge 14 

miles southeast of Daggett. In the northwestern slope of this mountain there are 

mines of copper ore carrying gold.
162 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Barstow.

Eievation 2,106 feet,

from the south. Recently a deep cut, a mile in length, has been 

excavated through this ridge for the railway. The principal materials exposed in this cut are gravels and sands deposited by Mohave 

River a long tune ago. In the central part of the cut a red lava 

(rhyolite) is reached, and the gravels and sands are exposed abutting 

against slopes, of the lava, which rises to the surface in prominent 

buttes not far north and also constitutes several small knobs along 

the river bank from this place to Barstow.1

Barstow owes its existence mainly to railway and mining trade. 

It is a railway division point where the line to San Francisco, by 

way of Bakersfield, diverges from the line to San 

Bernardino, Los Angeles, and San Diego. A spacious hotel is located here under the title of Casa del 

Desierto (house of the desert). The valley of Mohave 

River is narrow at Barstow. There are two prominent buttes of red lava (rhyolite) in the southern part of the 

town, and ridges consisting of volcanic tuff interstratified with 

sheets of lava rise a short distance north of the river. A small 

but very prominent butte of red lava (rhyolite) stands in the center 

of the valley just north of Barstow station.

The railway, which has run north of west for 100 miles beyond 

Cadiz, here turns southward toward Cajon Pass and San Bernardino. 

After leaving Barstow2 the train continues to follow the south 

or east bank of Mohave River past Todd, Hicks, Wild, Helen, and 

Bryman to Oro Grande and beyond. The low flat along the stream 

is not wide, but most of it is utilized for irrigation at numerous 

ranches. The long slopes adjoining the river flat consist of gravels 

and sands apparently underlain at no great depth by volcanic rocks.

1 The sedimentary rocks of this region 

comprise about 3,000 feet of beds of middle Tertiary age. They lie on a somewhat irregular surface of granite and 

gneiss and are very much flexed and 

faulted. Three general divisions are 

recognized. The lowest, 1,200 feet or 

more thick, is mostly fine tuff and volcanic ash, with thin lava flows and at the 

base some sandstones, in large part conglomeratic. It weathers into irregular 

hills in which brown, gray, greenish-yellow, and purplish shades prevail. The 

middle division, 1,500 feet or more thick, 

is made up of pale-greenish clay, with 

thin beds of sandstone, ash, and limestone, and at the base a deposit of coarse 

granite fragments in places cemented into 

breccia. The top division consists of 

loose beds of angular rocks, fine gray ashy

sand, and clay, forming round buff-colored hills. It contains abundant fossil 

bones of extinct species of horses, camels, 

and other mammals believed to be of later 

Miocene age, some of them the same as 

the bones found in the Santa Fe marl. 

The Tertiary rocks cropping out along the 

north side of Mohave River from Daggett 

to Barstow are fine sands and clays, with 

thin interstratified limestones and volcanic rocks. A dark rocky ridge of tuff 

and volcanic flows comes to the river a 

snort distance west of Daggett. The 

rocks in the knobs immediately about 

Barstow are rhyolite, but clay and limestone appear not far north and granite 

and schist crop out to the northwest and 

to the northeast.

2 Mileposts to Los Angeles indicate the 

distance from Barstow.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 23

CALIFORNIA

Quaternary 

(Recent) .Lava now (basalt)

8 Sand, gravel, and clay of desert slopes and valleys 1000 Quaternary 

Lavas (rhyolite ana latite) with tuffs, sandstone, 2800

and limestone

Post-Carboniferou 

in greater part D Granite (including monzonite; intrusive)

E Granite, gneiss, and schist

Mines of silver, goid, and borax

Contour interval 200 feet

The distances from Kansas City. Missouri, are shown every 10 miles 

The crossties on the railroads are spaced 1 mile apai't
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OF THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 163

South of Hicks (see sheet 24, p. 178) hills of various kinds of rocks

border both sides of the valley. To the west are ridges consisting of

beds of fragmental materials ejected from volcanoes,

Hicks. wiih some lava flows in their higher portions. The

Elevation 2,278 feet. jow ranges southeast of Hicks consist of granites and

Kansas City 1,680 miles. ,.., T-TI diorites, the lormer apparently in dikes penetrating 

the latter. South of milepost 15 are two prominent buttes of coarsegrained massive light-gray granite.

Granite is exposed in a small cut on the railway near milepost 17, 

a few rods north of Wild siding, and a short distance farther west a 

small knoll of the same rock rises from the river flat just west of the 

tracks. At milepost 18 and for a mile and a half southwest of it 

there are cuts' in gravels and sands which are part of the alluvial 

filling of the valley, deposited long ago by Mohave River. Beds 

of fine-grained material cropping out at the base of these deposits 

are probably somewhat older still and mark another period of deposition by a stream flowing across the region. At milepost 20 is another 

small cut in dark granite which underlies the gravels along the east 

bank of the river.

East of Helen siding a group of buttes and hills of moderate elevation lie a short distance southeast of the railway. They consist of a 

peculiar fine-grained light-colored lava (rhyolite) intersected by some 

small masses of dark rock (hornblende diorite), either in dikes or inclusions. This lava extends several miles to the southeast in hills 

and ridges of moderate height. Some portions of it are completely 

decomposed to white kaolin,1 and material of this sort 4 miles east 

of Bryman is worked extensively to supply'" chalk" works at Bryman. The product, being of pure white color and very fine grain, 

is used for various purposes.

At Oro Grande (Spanish for big gold) there is a large Portland 

cement plant. Here Mohave River contains water nearly all the 

year, and it is used for the irrigation of various crops 

in a narrow strip of bottom land. East of the town 

is a high ridge consisting of granite, marble, schist, 

and hard sandstone.2 The marble is used in the manufacture of cement at the plant in Oro Grande. It is 

quarried at several large openings half a mile east of the railway.

Oro Grande.

Elevation 2,635 feet. 

Population 70.* 

Kansas City 1,699 miles.

1 This kaolin results from chemical 

changes due to weathering, in the course 

of which feldspar, one of the component 

minerals of the rhyolite, loses alkali by 

leaching, a large proportion of claylike 

aluminum silicate being left behind, together with more or less quartz and other 

minerals which are in the form of hard 

grains. After thorough mixing with 

water, the fine aluminum silicate or kaolin 

is floated off and deposited in tanks, leaving the granular constituents behind.

2 The structure of the ridge east of Oro 

Grande is complex, for the beds are bent 

and broken and cut by great masses of 

granite (quartz monzonite) which have 

been intruded through limestone, shale, 

and sandstone, the resulting heat and 

pressure altering these rocks to marble, 

mica schist, and quartzite. The high 

central peak and several lower ones consist of very hard quartzite, and the hills 

on the south side of the range are of 

granite.
164 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

The plant also uses a small amount of schist and the decomposing 

granite. These rocks are ground, mixed in proper proportions, and 

melted into a clinker, which, when pulverized finely, forms Portland 

cement. Portions of the marble are so nearly pure calcium carbonate 

that they are suitable for calcining into lime for use in beet-sugar 

manufacture, and a large amount of it has been obtained for that 

purpose from quarries about a mile east of Oro Grande.

Granite extends west to the river bank and railway half a mile 

beyond milepost 32, or nearly a mile beyond Oro Grands. At the 

railway bridge across Mohave River at milepost 34 it constitutes 

the walls of a canyon through which the river flows for 2 miles. In 

slopes east of the bridge are conspicuous exposures of the granite 

cropping out in bare ledges, appearing like a great pile of huge 

bowlders and slabs. This rock is quarried extensively for building 

stone at several places southeast of Oro Grande. It is a handsome 

and durable material, easy to dress, and uniform in color.

For several miles beyond milepost 34 the railway follows the foot 

of a high bank of sand and gravel, much of it in regular, horizontal 

layers. This material constitutes a flat-topped river terrace; it was 

deposited by Mohave River at an earlier stage of the development of 

the valley and of the terrace plain, which extends far to the west. 

The sand and gravel continue along the west side of the track for 

several miles, but the best exposures of the beds are near milepost 36. 

Across the river east of this place are numerous rocky ridges ending 

in a small knob near the river. These ridges consist mostly of granite, but some of the more distant ones include also large masses of 

white and variegated marbles which have been quarried for building 

stone.

Victorville is an old settlement that has grown gradually as headquarters for mining, quarrying, and ranch interests in the surrounding region. Above and below the town there are many 

Victorville. ranches that use the river water for irrigation. A 

Elevation 2,716 feet, short distance south of Victorville the river passes

. tlirOUgh a sll0rt narr°W nJ °f the granite> with

walls about 150 feet high. The railway is built 

on the west bank of the river, partly on an embankment and 

partly on a shelf cut in the rock. The canyon is due to a projecting ridge of the granitic rock which slopes down abruptly under 

the great sheet of sand and gravel which underlies the wide 

plain extending far to the west. The canyon is a gateway to 

a wide valley bottom with numerous ranches. Possibly some 

time a dam will be built in the canyon to create a storage reservoir that will extend some distance up the valley. Although the 

flow of the Mohave in the dry season appears small, a large amount of 

water passes through this gap in a year, and heavy freshets some-
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 165

times occur. For several years the United States Geological Survey 

gaged the flow in the gap and the stream was found to have an annual 

volume of 68,000 acre-feet, or a mean of 95 cubic feet a second. One 

freshet carried 13,400 cubic feet a second but was not of long duration. The water of Mohave River is now used for irrigating about 

15,000 acres, mostly in alfalfa, grain, and garden truck.

At milepost 39, 2 miles south of Victorville, the train leaves the 

bank of Mohave River and, entering a small valley, begins to climb 

the steeper part of the long ascent of about 1,000 feet toward the 

high mountain ranges which lie between the Mohave Valley and the 

coastal region of southwestern California. The course of the railway 

continues nearly due south. The slope, which is the southern edge 

of the Mohave Desert, consists of a thick succession of sheets of 

gravel and sand which extend far up the mountain sides and beyond 

the summit at Cajon (cab-hone') Pass. Near milepost 42 the railway 

has risen above the bottom lands of the Mohave Valley, and from 

this point south westward for 10 miles or more there are fine views

NE.

FIGURE 39. Section through sand and gravel deposits of the sloping plain along the Santa Fe Railway 

north of the San Gabriel Mountains, near Victorville, Cal.

of the great mountain ranges ahead. To the southeast and south, 

across the upper Mohave Valley, rise the San Bernardino Mountains; the ranges ahead and to the southwest are the San Gabriel 

Mountains. These two ranges come near together at Cajon Pass, 

which leads into a gap between them. Mohave River and many 

other streams deposited the sand and gravel of which the plain is built, 

but later they have cut deep valleys across it. The relations of this 

detrital deposit are shown in figure 39.

A peculiar yucca, locally known as the Joshua tree (Yucca or 

Clistoyucca arborescens) is conspicuous on the grade up the mountains. 

(See PI. XLI, A, p. 168.) It begins with a few scattered trees below 

Victorville and becomes very abundant in the region about Hesperia 

and the slopes above, nearly to Cajon Pass, its upper limit being 

closely determined by the altitude and temperature. It is said that 

attempts have been made to utilize the fibrous trunk of the yucca 

for manufacturing paper, but the tree is now used chiefly in making 

souvenirs and trinkets.
166 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Hesperia is a small village that forms a trade center for ranches 

along Mohave River a few miles to the east and several ranches and 

orchards near by cultivated by irrigation. There are 

Hesperia. Of these irrigated orchards just southwest of the

Elevation 3,189 feet, village, and another a mile farther south, on the west

Population 92.* . & ' i

KansasCity|i,7i3 miles, side oi the railway. Some grain is also grown on

the adjoining plain. Considerable water, which is

being used for irrigation, is obtained from wells 500 to 800 feet deep.

Near Hesperia the creosote bush gives place to the Joshua tree

and other plants suited to the higher altitudes. Between Hesperia

and Summit there are many cuts in the thick body of gravel and

sand constituting the great sloping plain.1

The traveler will note as he ascends the slopes that the bushes 

which are so widely scattered on the desert to the east and north become thicker and larger, and several new plants appear, notably the 

manzanita, 2 one of the most beautiful of the highland bushes, which 

forms a thick growth on the higher mountain slopes of this part of 

southern California. A far western variety of juniper (Juniperus 

californica utahensis) is also present, together with a peculiar pinon 

(Pinus monophylla) differing from the Arizona tree by bearing larger 

nuts and a single leaf. Its nuts have been an important food product 

for the Indians. The beautiful Yucca whipplei is conspicuous, with 

its straight stalks which in the early summer bear a great cluster of 

white flowers.

At Summit the railway reaches the top of the grade necessary to 

carry it through Cajon Pass, but the actual divide is in a cut a short 

distance west of the station. Cajon Pass is the 

great gap through the mountain barrier between the 

. desert and the San Bernardino Valley, a gap occupied and drained by Cajon Creek and its tributaries. 

The train enters the pass proper as it descends from the divide on

Summit.

1 Near mileposts 50 and 52, where the 

railway ascends along the side of a small 

valley, the cuts are 30 feet deep and the 

gravels and sands are well exposed. 

Between rnileposts 52 and 54 some of the 

gravel is consolidated into a loose conglomerate and the beds show a slight dip 

to the south, steeper than the upgrade 

of the plain. This feature indicates that 

there has been tilting of the crust of the 

earth in this region since the material 

was deposited. Near the mountains this 

dip is noticeable in many of the exposures. Between mileposts 55 and 56 there 

are some deep cuts in fine sand of buff

color, with scattered beds and streaks of 

gravel.

2 The manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula) 

is a shrub having a smooth bark of rich 

chocolate color, small pale-green roundish 

leaves, and berries that resemble diminutive apples. It is this resemblance that 

gives the shrub its common name, Spanish 

for little apple, by which it is known everywhere on the Pacific coast. Bears are very 

fond of these berries. The manzanita covers many of the hills in California with a 

stiff, almost impenetrable growth. Its wood 

is hard, and the blaze from an old gnarled 

root cheers many a western fireplace.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 167

the edge of the desert into the valley of Cajon Creek. Beyond the 

summit cut the traveler gets a view of the deep valley of this creek, 

which crosses the main range and cuts deeply through its rocky ledges. 

Only a small branch of this stream heads near the summit, however, 

the valley proper heading a few miles west back of the San Gabriel 

Range, in a part of the slope that is considerably higher than the 

gap crossed by the railway. An outline map showing these relations 

is given in figure 40.

After passing through the deep cut west of Summit, the train follows a winding course, mainly to the west and southwest, along the 

side of steep slopes descending into the canyon of Cajon Creek. Along 

the railway grade descending from Summit there are many deep 

cuts through projecting spurs. These cuts reveal thick deposits of 

sand, gravel, and loose-textured sandstone which extend continuFIGURE 40. Bird's-eye view of Cajon Pass and vicinity, California, .showing the general features of configuration near the Santa Fe Kailway.

ously northward into the Mohave Desert. These materials abut 

against the steep slopes of ledges of old rocks in the mountain ranges 

on the south, and beds apparently having a thickness of more than 

2,000 feet are exposed in the descent from Cajon Summit to Cajon 

Creek. Cajon Creek flows east and south with sinuous course, finally 

running through a pass * between the San Bernardino Range on the

1 This pass has been caused by a great 

fault or series of parallel faults of relatively recent age geologically, crossing 

the axis of the general mountain range 

extending across southern California. 

These faults, one of which is the southern extension of the San Francisco earthquake rift, extend for many miles along 

the south foot of the San Bernardino Range 

and on southward into the Colorado Desert. 

At the pass their northwesterly course 

crosses the mountains diagonally, so that

to the westward they define the north side 

of the San Gabriel Range. There were 

several planes of movement not far apart 

with huge slivers or narrow blocks of 

schists and other rocks between them. 

The latest uplift apparently was on the 

northeast side, for the San Bernardino 

Range appears to be the most recently 

uplifted. Its central part presents wide, 

relatively level areas or remnants of 

plains in striking contrast to the eroded 

top of the San Gabriel Range.
168 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

east and the San Gabriel Range on the west, which affords an easy 

outlet into the great coastal plain or valley of southwestern California. 

It is 40 miles west to the next pass, and to the southeast of this gap 

mountains of considerable height extend for 200 miles continuously 

to Colorado River. Some of the most notable cuts, 60 feet deep, are 

near Dell siding, in one of which will be seen a remarkable framework 

several stories in height, designed to "prevent the sand from washing 

and sliding into the cut.

 Toward Gish the principal material is moderately compact, lightcolored massive sandstone with conglomeratic streaks.1 It contains 

many fragments of feldspar and quartz, evidently derived from 

granite.

Halfway between mileposts 64 and 65 the canyon narrows, turns 

south, and passes between steep ledges of hard, older rocks of the 

igneous and metamorphic series constituting the mountain ranges to 

the east and west. 2

The mountain slopes are covered with bushes in considerable 

variety, in great contrast to the sparse vegetation on the Mohave 

Desert. The difference is due to increased moisture on the ocean 

side of the mountains.

Near milepost 69 the canyon of Cajon Creek widens into a valley 

bordered by mountainous slopes, but with a wide wash in its center 

and a broad sloping terrace at the foot of the mountains on the north 

side. This terrace is terminated by a steep slope or high bank at its 

foot, where Cajon Creek has cut into it, a feature which is conspicuous for 2 or 3 miles. As the valley widens, however, the cut 

bank ends and the slope blends with the general plain, which rises 

gradually to the rocky 'ledges at the foot of the mountain. These

terraces and slopes consist of sand and gravel washed down from the 

mountains and deposited at their foot. On the terrace are several 

ranches with orchards of considerable size.

At Verdemont station the west wall of the canyon ceases as the 

mountain1 slope bears away to the west, and the railway is in the

1 Just west of Gish, along Cajon Creek, 

are many prominent ledges of this rock 

dipping to the northeast at an angle of 20° 

or more. As the valley of the stream is 

descended (on a southeast course) the 

ridges on each side show numerous outcrops of .the lower beds of 'the sandstone 

series about Cajon siding, and for some 

distance beyond. In this vicinity the 

beds are more and more tilted up until 

they dip north, or away from the mountains, at an angle of about 30°. They are 

believed to be of Miocene age. The railway and the valley in this locality follow 

the line of the faults which cut across the 

range.

2 Southward from this place these rocks 

appear extensively in the rocky slopes of 

the valley and they are cut by the railway 

grade at several points. The principal 

rocks are schists of greenish color. In 

places on the lower slopes of the valley 

there are remnants of narrow terrace deposits of gravel and sand, notably in cuts 

just beyond milepost 67^ which is fourtenths of a mile.beyond Keenbrook siding.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 613 PLATE XL]

A. JOSHUA TREE. 

A characteristic desert plant on the grade from Victorville to Cajon Pass, Cal.

7,'. SAN GABRIEL MISSION, CAL.

Founded by Padres Cambon and Somera under the direction of Fray Junfpero Serra September 8, 1771. 

Photograph furnished by Santa Fe Railway Co.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS

Redlands and its orange groves in the foreground, San B
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 169

great'San Bernardino plain, which is about 15 miles wide and 30. 

miles long, one of a series of the foothill valleys that border the 

southern edge of the San Gabriel Range for 90 miles. These valleys 

are filled with debris of unknown thickness, and their surface is made 

up of talus and wash from, the adjacent ranges. The altitude here 

is 1,750 feet, and the distance to the ocean is about 50 miles. The 

valleys that extend to the coast lie between low ranges of granitic 

and other rocks. The chief of these ranges is the Santa Ana Mountains, which culminate in Santiago Peak, 5,680 feet high, and are 

visible on the southwestern horizon. A line of isolated hills of schist 

lies east of the railway for some distance beyond Verdemont, and 

another, which is crossed near Ono, rises into a ridge of considerable 

size north of milepost 78.

From Ono and beyond there is a magnificent view, to the northeast, 

of the San Bernardino Range (PI. XLII), which includes many high 

summits. One of these, San Gorgonio Mountain, reaches an altitude 

of 11,485 feet, and not far west of it is San Bernardino Peak, which 

reaches 10,630 feet, or more than 9,000 feet above the valley land at 

the foot of the mountains. This high range-extends far to the east 

but with diminished altitude and finally becomes the north side of 

the great desert basin in which Salton Sea is situated. At a time 

not far distant there were small glaciers in the higher parts of this 

range. From points near milepost 79 and beyond, there may be seen 

the remarkable scar, like a huge arrow point, on the mountain slope 

at Arrowhead Springs. This feature is not always conspicuous, its 

distinctness depending on light and foliage, but it can be discerned 

on close scrutiny. It is due to a peculiar-shaped area of bare rock 

ledges and thin vegetation. Here there is an interesting group of 

hot springs, some of which have temperatures exceeding 180° F. and 

about which buildings have been erected to form a popular health 

resort.

At Highlands Junction the main line is joined by a branch road 

known as the "high line," on which trains run frequently to Redlands and other points east of San Bernardino.

One other transcontinental railway, the San Pedro, Los Angeles 

& Salt Lake, passes through San Bernardino over the Santa Fe 

tracks, and another, the Southern Pacific, goes through 

San Bernardino. Colton, 3 miles to the south. This city is the seat of 

Elevation 1,078 feet. gan Bernardino County, the largest county in the 

Kansascity 1,749miles. United States, having an area of slightly more than 

20,000 square miles, or almost equal to that of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey combined.

San Bernardino is built over a wide area of the plain, about 5 miles 

south of the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains. It is an old settlement, dating back to the Spanish occupancy of southwestern
170 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

California, but in the last 20 years or so it has grown into a large 

modern city with many industrial interests. About 15,000 acres of 

land in the surrounding region within 5 miles is under cultivation, 

mostly by irrigation. Much water is obtained from wells, many of 

them flowing wells, which draw their supply from the gravel and 

sand that constitute the plain. 

The first eastern immigrants to settle in the San Bernardino Valley 

were a party of Mormons headed by Capt. Hunt, who came through 

Cajon Pass in 1851. Before this, however, there had been mission 

settlements in the area. One was established in 1810 near Bunker 

Hill, but it was destroyed by the Indians. Later a larger one 

was begun at old San Bernardino, on the south side of Santa Ana 

River. The padres in charge dug ditches, beginning between 1820 

and 1830 with one from Mill Creek, which is the oldest ditch in 

the valley. In 1837 the mission lands were taken by the Mexican 

Government and given to Mexican landholders. It was from one 

of these landholders that the Mormons under Capt. Hunt purchased 

in 1851 the cultivated areas for 17,500.

At first the old ditches sufficed for the needs of the settlers, but 

as population increased other small ditches were dug. It was not 

until 1870 that the Riverside colony, made up mainly of settlers from 

New England, began the first large canal, but in the next 20 years 

many irrigation projects were developed. These utilized the greater 

part of the running water and considerable of the underground 

water. Most of the water was used for irrigating oranges and other 

citrus fruits. In 1904 an area of about 54,000 acres in the vicinity 

of San Bernardino, Redlands, and Riverside was under irrigation by 

water derived mainly from the San Bernardino Mountains, either 

from surface streams or from the underflow in the gravels at their 

foot.

It was soon found that the best conditions for citrus growth were to 

be had on the benches, where there was less liability to the low temperatures which sometimes kill the trees in the valley bottoms. The 

first orange trees were some seedlings grown in old San Bernardino, 

but it was not until the Riverside colony of 1870 was established that 

marketing of oranges began, The Bahia navel orange was first introduced at Riverside. 1 The principal factor in the orange business was 

the building of the railways which could give outlet to eastern markets; after this outlet was provided the production increased rapidly 

to its present great proportions. As the demand for water increased

1 The original cuttings, from Bahia, 

Brazil, were sent to Florida from Washington, but some one, whose identity is 

not now known, took two of these cuttings 

to California. One of these two and all

the cuttings in Florida died, so that the 

enormous business in navel oranges has 

grown from the slender beginning of a 

single cutting. The tree that lived may 

still be seen at Riverside. -
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 171

the methods of irrigation were improved, first by avoiding waste and 

then by careful application, so that in ordinary practice the volume 

used has diminished from 1 miner's inch* for 3 acres to about half as 

much. In the region about San Bernardino it is possible to obtain 

artesian water which flows under moderate pressure from the wells. 

The drain on this source of supply has somewhat reduced the volume 

and head of the water, so that the area in which flows are obtainable 

is now less than it was originally, though greater than it was after 

the dry period before 1900.

Much of the water is used in the orange groves, but fruits of deciduous-leaved trees, small fruits, and vegetables are grown, and there 

are many acres of alfalfa. Grapes and barley require less water and 

need irrigation only in dry seasons, and these and beans are generally regarded as "dry" crops. Sugar beets are a very important 

crop, the great refinery near San Bernardino using 40,000 tons a 

year.

On leaving San Bernardino the train turns from a southerly to a 

due west course and begins its journey through the foothill valleys 

along the south side of the San Gabriel Range, first running across 

the plain which slopes gently southward to Santa Ana River from 

the foot of the Sail Gabriel Mountains.2

From the rear platform of the train the traveler, on leaving San 

Bernardino, can view the great mountain amphitheater, with its 

numerous ranges and peaks, which lies north of the east end of the 

San Bernardino Valley. Especially fine views may be had of San 

Gorgonio (altitude 11,485 feet), the highest peak in southern California; San Jaginto (altitude 10,805 feet), standing like a watch 

tower at the north end of the great range which extends southward 

for hundreds of miles to the end of Lower California; and San 

Antonio (sometimes called Mount Baldy; altitude 10,080 feet). San 

Antonio Peak is the highest summit of the San Gabriel Range, but 

not the highest mountain in southern California, as many suppose. 

All three of these peaks may be embraced in a single view: San 

Gorgonio Pass, through which runs the Southern Pacific Co.'s Sunset

1 A miner's inch (in California) is the 

amount of water which flows continuously through an orifice 1 inch square 

under a head of 4 inches. It equals 9 

gallons a minute, -^ second-foot, or 1 foot 

deep over 14,478 acres in a year. Citrus 

lands require about 1 miner's inch continuous flow for every 5 acres.

2 The San Gabriel Mountains, like the 

San Bernardino Mountains, consist of 

granitic rocks of several kinds and a

variety of other crystalline rocks, mainly 

schists, which were originally shales and 

sandstones, but have been altered by intrusions. It is believed that the range 

was uplifted in greater part in late 

Tertiary time. Apparently the uplift 

consisted of the rise of a huge block of 

the earth's crust along fault lines mostly 

trending N. 60° W. The main block 

was traversed by minor faults which 

have made the structure very complex.
172 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Rialto.

Elevation 1,199 feet,

Route to Yurna, Ariz., and beyond, may be seen in the distance, to 

the southeast.

From points west of San Bernardino, Colton, 3 miles to the south, 

is visible. Colton has large cement works with a capacity of 3,000 

barrels a day, using the marble which constitutes Slover Mountain. 

Peaks of granite rise at intervals to the southwest. Riverside, 10 

miles to the south, is faintly visible. It is one of the greatest orangeshipping centers in the world, receiving $4, 000, 000 yearly for its 

output. Riverside is famous for its beauty, the county courthouse 

and the high school being examples of notable architectural achievement. Near Riverside there is a large cement plant, one of the 

largest in California.

Rialto, nearly 4 miles west of San Bernardino, is in the midst of a 

thriving irrigation district which ships over 1,200 carloads of citrus 

fruit annually; her crop for 1914 brought $900,000. 

From this village a fine view is afforded of the east 

end of the San Gabriel Mountains,1 to the northwest. 

^° *ae southwest, at a distance of 4 to 6 miles, is a 

small range known as the Jurupa Mountains, rising 

about 1,000 feet above the plains. They consist of quartzites, schists, 

and limestones, or metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, penetrated by 

diorite and other igneous rocks. They are in sight to and beyond 

Fontana. Some of the plain in this region is not under cultivation 

on account of lack of water. '

The village of Etiwanda is about 2$ miles north of the railway 

station, or halfway across the plain reaching to the 

foot of the mountains. There are in this vicinity some 

^ ai^e vineyards and also a considerable -acreage of 

fruits of various kinds, notably of lemons, for which 

Etiwanda is famous.

Cucamonga is almost in the middle of the wide valley or plain that 

slopes southward from the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains to 

Santa Ana River. This region is' extensively cultivated, in part without irrigation. It specializes in 

raisin and table grapes and in wines, of which it 

Produces large quantities. The largest single vineyard in the world is located here. Cucamonga also has 

about 2,000 acres of oranges and lemons and 2,000 acres of peaches. 

From the railway fine views may be had of the San Gabriel Mountains. One peak, Cucamonga, which has an altitude of 8,911 feet,

Etiwanda.

Cucamonga.

Elevation 1,113 feet,

1 The San Gabriel Range, one of the 

most conspicuous and beautiful ranges 

of southern California, forms the watershed for the irrigation of a large part of 

the foothill valleys. Its individual peaks

are more numerous than those of the San 

Bernardino plateau, and in its entirety it 

is a long uplifted fault block bordered on 

the north and south by downthrowu 

areas.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 173

is conspicuous due north of the station, and other high ones are in 

view farther back in the range.

Deep canyons lead out of the mountains at short intervals, and 

most of these contain living streams, whose water, if not diverted by 

irrigation ditches, sinks immediately at the mouths of the canyons 

and passes as a general underflow into the gravel and sand of the 

slope beyond. In times of freshet the streams flow greater or less 

distances across the slope, carrying much sediment, which is dropped 

as the water spreads out on the plain. Occasional great floods cross 

the plains, but much of the large volume of water they carry at such 

times is absorbed by the porous gravels of the stream beds. The 

courses of these ephemeral streams are marked by dry washes, usually 

shallow sandy channels, many of them splitting up irregularly and 

some of the branches rejoining.

One effective method of conserving water in this region, where 

water is so valuable, is to divert the flood waters near the canyon 

mouth, causing them to spread out widely over the coarse deposits, 

into which they sink, thus adding to the volume of underflow tapped 

by the many wells.

At Upland station the railway passes 2 miles north of Ontario, a

city on the Southern Pacific Railroad, surrounded by wide areas of

orange groves and other products of irrigation. Four

Upland. miles to the northwest is the mouth of San Antonio

Elevation 1,210 feet. Canyon, one of the large canyons in the San Gabriel

Population2,384. >r , -, i t i j i i , o Kansascity 1,769 miles. Mountains, which lumishes considerable water for 

irrigation. On the plain its bed spreads into half a 

dozen irregular washes, which are crossed by the train between Upland 

and Claremont. From the gravel and sand under this plain a large 

amount of water is pumped for irrigation. Water is saved by lining 

the canals with concrete and by distributing it in underground pipes, 

methods which prevent loss by leakage and by evaporation.

West of Claremont a spur of the San Gabriel Mountains on the 

north extends nearer to the railway, and the San Jose Hills, 1 a northern extension of the Santa Ana Mountains, approach 

Lordsburg. from the south. Owing to these conditions the valley 

Elevation 1,039 feet, narrows to about 3 miles at Lordsburg. In order to 

Kansa^aty i,776miles, pass the San Jose Hills the railway has been deflected to the northwest, a course that soon takes it 

near the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, which are closely skirted 

from San Dimas to Pasadena. Lordsburg was originally a Dunkard 

settlement. It has numerous orange and lemon groves.

1 The San Jose Hills consist mainly of a 

thick series of sandstones and shales of 

the lower part of the Fernando formation

97579° Bull. 613 15 12

(Miocene), flexed in broad basins and 

arches. At their east end, south of 

Lordsburg, is an area of granitic rock.
174 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

From Lordsburg to Azusa the irrigated areas are almost continuous, 

and many extensive and beautiful orchards may be observed at frequent intervals. Water for irrigation is brought from San Gabriel 

Canyon, and large amounts are pumped from wells and distributed 

by numerous canals.

North of San Dimas (dee'mas) a mass of sandstones and shales with

interbedded volcanic rocks is exposed at the foot

San Dimas. of ^ne mountains. The beds dip north toward the

Elevation 939 feet. older rocks of the range, from which they are sepaKansasCity 1,778 miles. , , ,, to ' J . r

rated by a lault.

Near milepost 112, halfway between San Dimas and Glendora, the 

train crosses the dry wash of San Dimas Creek, which heads in a 

large canyon a few miles to the northeast. It is a good example of a 

wash formed by a powerful intermittent stream. Beyond San Dimas 

Wash the train skirts the east end and north side of an isolated hill 

consisting of Tertiary sandstone and shale and enters the village of 

Glendora.

From Glendora to Azusa and in a wide area on the south are

numerous orange groves and other orchards, most of them irrigated

by canals from San Gabriel River, which comes out of

f^ | 1 V '

ora. a jarge canvon a f ew miles to the northwest. Pump-

^ Plants also add to the ^PP1^ for there is considerable water in the sand and gravel under the plain. 

Near Azusa the railway is within a mile of the foot of the steep

southern front of the San Gabriel Mountains, which has been followed 

all the way west from the mouth of Cajon Canyon

Azusa. . anc[ continues to Los Angeles. Two miles west of

Elevation 614 feet. Azusa ^ train ^ San Gabriel Wash, the bed

Population 1,477. n/~ti-i-i-»- 11 n Kansascity 1,785 miles, of San Gabriel River, the largest stream flowing from 

the San Gabriel Mountains. The canyon through 

which the San Gabriel emerges from the mountains is in sight about 

3 miles northeast of the trestle over the wash. During the rainy 

season San Gabriel River is a stream of considerable size, furnishing 

water for irrigating many citrus groves and other orchards and fields 

on the slope south of the mountains. During the dry periods it 

dwindles to a mere brooklet, even within the .canyon. Under ordinary conditions the wash below the canyon is dry between the canyon 

mouth and a point 10 or 12 miles to the southwest, where the water 

breaks out in springs. Some of it also comes out in Lexington Wash, 

near El Monte. In times of freshet a large volume of water passes 

down San Gabriel Wash, as may be inferred from the large bowlders 

in its bed. These bowlders are crushed for road material and other 

uses. The crusher and deep pit are on the south side of the track 

and a large amount of material is available in masses convenient to 

elevate directly into the crusher.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 175

. Monrovia station is in the southern part of Monrovia, an old 

settlement lying against the foot of the mountains. West of Monrovia the railway swerves to the northwest for 2 

Monrovia. miles and then goes west through the small towns of 

Elevation 432 feet. Arcadia, Santa Anita, and Lamanda Park into PasaPopulation 3,576. , ' ' n . Kaasascity 1,790miles, dena. Ihere is a gradual ascent in this part of the 

line for about 350 feet.

Ahout 3£ miles south of Lamanda Park is the San Gabriel Mission, 

one of the 21 missions established by the Franciscans between San. 

Diego and San Francisco. It is in an excellent state of preservation and is typical of the architecture introduced by the friars. (See 

PI. XLI, B, p. 168.)

Pasadena is situated in a "rincon" or corner between the San

Gabriel Range, which bears off to the northwest, and the San Raf ael

Hills,1 which rise as rocky ridges nearly 1,000 feet

Pasadena. nign wes^ of northwest of the city. It is undoubtedly

Elevation sso feet. these features which give Pasadena certain climatic

Population 30,291. . . , , . Kansas city i.soo miles, conditions (protection from cold winds and slightly 

greater rainfall than that in some of the regions farther 

east and south) that make it particularly attractive as a winter 

resort. The name Pasadena is an Indian word meaning crown of 

the valley. Here the railway turns south to reach South Pasadena 

and thence goes southwest for several miles, over a low pass 

through the hills separating the Pasadena Plain from the Los Angeles 

Valley. The portion of these hills near the railway consists of soft 

buff sandstones and shales,2 gently flexed in broad basins and arches. 

As the train leaves South Pasadena it enters the valley of the 

AiToyo Seco, which it follows to Los Angeles River, in the northern 

part of the city of Los Angeles. The city is built on the low river 

terraces, on the inner edge of the coastal plain which extends west 

and south to the Pacific Ocean, and on the hills of folded and faulted 

Tertiary sandstone and shale which rise above the plain and the 

ten-aces. Los Angeles River itself, like other streams of the arid 

Southwest, is a river in name only except during the heavy rains of

1 The San Rafael Hills are part of a 

low mountain block of granites and 

schists believed to have been unlifted 

between two faults trending west-northwest, parallel to a great fault here extending along the south foot of the San Gabriel 

Mountains. A part of the southern slope 

of these hills between Pasadena and Glendale is made up of heavy sandstone of 

Tertiary age. Eagle Rock, a well-known 

topographic feature here, is a picturesque 

outcrop of this sandstone. .

2 The rocks of the Monterey group are of 

marine origin and indicate that in Miocene 

time (see p. ii) the Coastal Plain region was 

submerged by the sea at intervals and the 

sands and muds were deposited in wide 

estuaries and along beaches. There was a 

long epoch of general subsidence, and a 

great thickness of these materials thus 

accumulated. They .have since been 

uplifted, bent, and faulted, and later 

terraces and plains were developed across 

the surface.
176 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

winter, when at times it becomes a deep torrent which often does 

considerable damage.

Los Angeles (Spanish pronunciation loce ahn'hay-lace) is the

largest city of the Southwest, in. area, population, and business.

It was here, in 1846, that Gen. Fre"mont first raised

Los Angeles. |-ne American flag. The settlement, however, was

Elevation 293 feet. founded in 1781, by a garrison of soldiers from the

Population 319,198. . . , o '~ J, . ° ,

Kansascity 1,809 miles, mission oi oan Gabriel, 65 years prior to J^remont s 

visit. In 1831 it had a population of 770, and as 

late as 1880 it was an easy-going semi-Mexican town of 12,000 

inhabitants centered about the old plaza with the mission church 

of Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles (Our Lady Queen of the 

Angels), from which the city takes its name. With the coming of 

the Santa Fe Railway in November, 1885, homeseekers began to 

arrive, and a great increase in property values and the extent of 

the city followed. According to the United States census, Los 

Angeles made a greater percentage of increase in population from 

1880 to 1900 than any other town in the United States, and the 

figures have shown remarkably rapid increase since 1900. A city 

census taken in June, 1915, indicates a population of 528,000. Two 

important factors in its growth have been the development of electric 

power from mountain streams as much as 240 miles away and the 

availability of cheap petroleum fuel.

In the northern part of the city is a belt of oil-producing territory 

5$ miles long, covering an area of 2 square miles. Here hundreds of 

derricks have been erected in close proximity to dwellings. 1

The City field was discovered in 1892, 

when a 155-foot shaft was sunk near a 

small deposit of brea on Colton Street. 

The first successful well was drilled later 

in that year on Second Street, and by the 

end of 1895 there were more than 300 

wells. This field forms a narrow belt 

about 5$ miles long running through the 

northern part of the city; the total area is 

about 2 square miles. The wells are from 

500 to 1,200 feet in depth, and the gravity 

of the oil ranges from 12° to 19° Banine". 

The limits of the field are well defined. 

The wells have always been small producers, necessitating pumping, and owing 

to the great number of wells drilled within 

a small area the field has been drained at 

a rapid rate and water allowed to enter 

the oil sands in many areas.

The first well in the Salt Lake field was 

drilled in 1901 by the Salt Lake Oil Co.,

following notes are based on a 

concise account of the geology and technology of the California oil fields by 

Ralph Arnold and V. R. Garfias:

The production of petroleum in California is the most important mineral industry in the State, the annual value of the 

oil output equaling that of all the metals. 

Since 1903, with the exception of 1907 

and 1908, California has annually produced more petroleum than any other 

State in the Union, and in 1914 the production was over 100,000,000 barrels.

The principal oil fields adjacent to Los 

Angeles are those of the Los Angeles district and the Puente Hills district. The 

Los Angeles district includes the City 

field, lying in the city of Los Angeles, 

and the Salt Lake field immediately 

west of the city limits, about 4£ miles 

from its business center.
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 177

One notable feature in the recent development of the city has been 

the construction of an aqueduct 226 miles long to bring water from 

Owens Valley. The capacity of this line is 250,000,000 gallons a day, 

sufficient to supply a population of more than a million. It cost 

about $25,000,000. At present (July 1, 1915) the surplus water is 

used for the irrigation of about 8,000 acres a few miles north of 

the city. Los Angeles County claims to be the richest county in the 

United States in value of farm property and agricultural products. 

The estimated value of all property in the county January 1, 1915, 

was given at $1,500,000,000. General building operations in the 

city in 1913 represented an expenditure of more than $31,000,000 for 

materials and labor. Los Angeles has many parks, including one 

containing 3,000 acres, the largest municipal park in the world. 

There are 726 miles of improved streets, and the adjoining region has 

many miles of fine roads. About 25 miles south of the main body of 

the city is San Pedro, on the ocean, a port from which there is an 

extensive coast and trans-Pacific trade.

The Museum of History, Science, and Art is one of the most interesting places in the city. It has fine collections in many branches,

and since 1902 this field has been the 

chief producer in the Los Angeles district. The wells are deeper than in the 

City field, ranging between 1,200 and 

3,000 feet, and the average gravity of the 

oil is between 16° and 18° Baume". Considerable gas under strong pressure accompanies the oil, which causes the wells 

to gush during the early part of their life.

The oil in the Los Angeles district is 

derived largely from the upper 500 feet 

of the Monterey group and the basal beds 

of the Fernando formation. During 1914 

the district produced about 2,500,000 

barrels of oil, and between 1894 and the 

end of 1914 it produced over 40,000,000 

barrels. At present there are.about 700 

producing wells in the district. The average production in the City field is about 

2£ barrels a day for each well and in the 

Salt Lake field about 23 barrels.

The oils of the City field are uniform in 

quality, although they vary considerably 

in gravity. They contain considerable 

sulphur, and owing to the entire absence 

of light products are of little value for 

refining, being used almost entirely for 

fuel. The oils produced in the Salt 

Lake field show a marked similarity in 

general properties, being characterized

by a high percentage of sulphur. The 

heavy oils are highly viscous, and the 

yield of asphalt is considerable.

The Puente Hills district, from 12 to 34 

miles southeast of Los Angeles, was the 

second oil district discovered in California. The first producing well in it 

was completed in 1880. Until 1893 the 

Puente Hills and Santa Clara River 

Valley districts yielded practically all 

the oil produced in California. The 

average depth of the wells in the Puente 

Hills district is somewhat more than 

1,300 feet and the average life of the 

wells about 16 years. The gravity of the 

oil varies between 21° and 32° Baume".

The lighter grades of oil are believed 

to come from the Monterey groups, the 

heavier grades are derived largely from 

the coarser sediments of the Fernando.

On December 31, 1912, there were 470 

producing wells in the Puente Hills district, and the output for the year was 

nearly 7,000,000 barrels. The total production of the field from 1889 to 1912, 

inclusive, was nearly 41,000,000 barrels. 

The oil produced varies greatly in composition, the greater portion being of light 

grade and utilized by refineries near Los 

Angeles.
178 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES..

exhibited in an attractive and instructive manner. The museum 

authorities control the wonderful bone deposits in the asphalt springs 

of Rancho La Brea, about 8 miles directly west of the city. These 

springs have been for centuries the most effective natural animal 

trap known, and the asphalt has preserved the bones of the thousands 

of extinct as well as modern animals caught in its deceptive and 

sticky pools. The skeletons of elephants, camels, sloths, sabertoothed tigers, bears, and myriads of smaller animals, including many 

birds, are being gradually dug out and set up in the museum. Among 

the bones has recently been found the skull of a human being who 

lived probably not less than 10,000 years ago, contemporaneously 

with many animals now extinct.

With the permission of the Museum of History, Science, and Art 

the Rancho La Brea may be visited. On the way thither the traveler 

passes over a portion of the great alluvial plain of Los Angeles, which 

is underlain, at least in part, by three Quaternary formations, the 

oldest of which is a marine deposit laid down horizontally on the 

beveled edges of a very thick series of tilted Pliocene beds. This 

marine Quaternary deposit has a thickness of 100 feet in the northwestern portion of the city, but thins to an edge near the ancient sea 

cliff beyond. Los Angeles River excavated a valley about a mile 

wide and 100 feet deep in the marine deposit and filled the trench 

with river deposits, the second Quaternary formation. This in turn 

is covered by the alluvium of the present plain.
BULLETIN 613 SHEET 24

CALIFORNIA

Thickness 

in feet

Sand and gravel (alluvial valley filling, terraces, and 50-500

slopes

Sand, soft sandstone, and conglomerate 

(in Cajon Canyon, etc.)

Sandstones,shale, and conglomerate (Fernando forma- 1500 

tion, lower part)

Sandstone and shale (Monterey group) 3000

Lava flows and tuffs (rhyolite)

Lava flows and dikes (basalt, etc.) (stippled pattefn)

Granite, schists, etc.

Marble

Quaternary 

and older

Pliocene and 

late Miocene

Scale 00,000

Approximately 8 miles to ! inch 

5 10 '?

Contour interval 200 feet

ELEVATIONS IN FEET A13OVE MEAN SEA LEV£L

The distances from Kansas City, Missouri, are shown »v*ry 10 mites 

The crossties on the railroads are spaced I mile apart

-O I/ ^, '

'"),. Hesperia A A ^

3o, SanGabrie! Peak

Lamanda Sant 

Par

SOUTHER* '' PACIFIC

\ xoe Bioorningfon nANGELEL

i.ZS3 .

anhattan"
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP

OP THE

SANTA FE ROUTE

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California

Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Sheets, 

from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by the Atcheson, 

Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and from additional information 

collected with the assistance of this company

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 

David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer

1915

Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 

lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 

Sheet of that name.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS DESCRIBING GEOLOGY ALONG 

THE SANTA FE RAILWAY.

EASTERN AND CENTRAL KANSAS.

ADAMS, G. I., GIRTY, G. H., and WHITE, DAVID, Stratigraphy and paleontology of 

the Upper Carboniferous rocks of the Kansas section: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

211, 1903.

BEEDE, J. W., Stratigraphy of Shawnee County: Kansas Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 15, 

pp. 27-31, 1896.

 McPherson Equus beds: Idem, vol. 15, pp. 104-110, 1898.

 Formations of the Marion stage of the Kansas Permian: Idem, vol. 21, pt. 2,

pp. 247-256, 1909. See also Prosser and Beede. 

BEEDE, J. W., and SELLARDS, E. H., Notes on Permian formations of Kansas: Am.

Geologist, vol. 36, pp. 83-111, 1905. 

GOULD, C. N., The Dakota-Cretaceous of Kansas and Nebraska: Kansas Acad. Sci.

Trans., vol. 17, pp. 1-64, 1901. 

HAWORTH, ERASMUS, Report on field work in Kansas: Kansas Univ. Quart., vol. 2,

pp. 99^142, pis. 4, 5, 1894.

 McPherson Equus beds: Kansas Geol. Survey Rept., vol. 2, pp. 287-296, 1897. 

KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Transactions, vols. 1 to 22, 1868-1909. 

KANSAS UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, Reports, vols. 1 to 9, 1896-1908. 

PROSSER, C. S., Revised classification of upper Paleozoic formations of Kansas: Jour.

Geology, vol. 10, pp. 703-737, 1902. 

1 Notes on the Permian formations of Kansas: Am. Geologist, vol. 36, pp. 142-

161,1905. 

PROSSER, C. S., and BEEDE, J. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Cottonwood Falls

folio (No. 109), 1904.

SMITH, A. J., Geology of Lyon County, Emporia, 1902.

SMYTH, B. B., Well boring at Topeka: Kansas Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 14, p. 207. 

TODD, J. E., Drainage of Kansas ice sheet: Kansas Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 22, pp.

107-112, 1909.

 History of Wakarusa Creek: Idem, vol. 24, pp. 211-218, 1910.

. . WESTERN KANSAS.

DARTON, N. H., Geology and underground water resources of the central Great Plains: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 32, 433 pp., 72 pis., 1905.

JOHNSON, W. D., The high plains and their utilization: U. S. Geol. Survey Twentyfirst Ann. Rept., pt. 4, pp. 601-741, pis. 113-156,1900; Twenty-second Ann. Rept., 

pt. 4, pp. 631-669, pis. 51-65, 1901.

SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO.

DARTON, N. H., Geology and underground water resources of the Arkansas Valley in 

eastern Colorado: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 52, 90 pp., 28 pis., 1906.

HILLS, R. C., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Spanish Peaks and El Moro folios (Nos. 

71 and 58).

RICHARDSON, G. B., The Trinidad coal field, Colorado: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 381, 

pp. 379-446, 1910.

STOSE, G. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Apishapa folio (No. 186), 1912.

179
180 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 

NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO.

BRYAN, KIRK, Geology of vicinity of Albuquerque: New Mexico Univ. Bull. 51,

Geol. ser., vol. 3, No. 1, June, 1909. 

LEE, W. T., Stratigraphy of the coal fields of northern-central New Mexico: Geol. Soc.

America Bull., vol. 23, pp. 571-586, 1912. 

 The Cerrillos coal field, Santa Fe County, N. Mex.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull.

531, pp. 285-312, maps, Washington, 1913. 

LEE, W. T., and GIRTY, G. H., The Manzano group of the Rio Grande valley, New

Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 389, Washington, 1909. . 

JOHNSON, D. W., Geology of Los Cerrillos Hills: Colorado Univ. School of Mines Quart.,

vol. 24, pp. 173-246, 303-350, 456-500; vol. 25, pp. 69-98, 1903. . 

STERRETT, D. B., Gems and precious stones (Turquoise of Los Cerrillos): U. S. Geol.

Survey Mineral Resources, 1911, pt. 2, pp. 1065-1071, 1912.

WESTERN NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA.

DARTON, N. H., A reconnaissance of parts of northwestern New Mexico and northern

Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 435, 88 pp., 17 pis., 1910. 

BUTTON, C. E., Mount Taylor and the Zuni Plateau: U. S. Geol. Survey Sixth Ann.

Kept., pp. 105-198, pis. 11-22, 1886. 

GREGORY, H. E., The Shinarump conglomerate: Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 35, pp.

424-438, 1913. 

JOHNSON, D. W., Volcanic necks of the Mount Taylor region: Geol. Soc. America

Bull., vol. 18, pp. 303-324, 1907. 

KNOWLTON, F. H., Fossil forests of Arizona: Am. Forestry, vol. 19, pp. 207-218,

April, 1913.

MERRILL, G. P., The petrified forest, 23 pp., 7 pis., Adamana, Ariz. 

ROBINSON, H. H., The San Franciscan volcanic field, Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey

Prof. Paper 76, 213 pp., 14 pis., 1913. 

SHIMER, H. W., and BLODGETT, M. E., Stratigraphy of the Mount Taylor region, New

Mexico: Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 25, pp. 53-67, 1908.

GRAND CANYON.

DARTON, N. H., A reconnaissance of parts of northwestern New Mexico and northern

Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 435, 88 pp., 17 pis., 1910. 

DAVIS, W. M., Excursion to the Grand Canyon: Harvard Coll. Mus. Comp. Zool. Bull.;

Geol. ser., vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 107-201,1901. 

NOBLE, L. F., The Shinumo quadrangle, Grand Canyon district, Arizona: U. S.

Geol. Survey Bull. 549, 100 pp., 18 pis., 1914. 

WALCOTT, C. D., Pre-Cambrian igneous rocks of the Unkar terrane, Grand Canyon of

the Colorado, Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey Fourteenth Ann. Rept., pt. 2, pp.

497-524, pis. 60-65,1894.

WESTERN ARIZONA.

LEE, W. T., Geologic reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey

Bull. 352, 96 pp., 11 pis., 1908. 

SCHRADER, F. C., Mineral deposits of the Cerbat Range, Black Mountains, and Grand

Wash Cliffs, Mohave County, Ariz.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 397, 226 pp., 16

pis., 1909.

SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA.

ARNOLD, RALPH, and STRONG, A. M., Some crystalline rocks of the San Gabriel Mountains, California: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 16, pp. 183-204, 1905.

BAKER, C. L., Notes on the later Cenozoic history of the Mojave Desert region in 

southeastern California: California Univ. Dept. Geology Bull., vol. 6, pp. 333-383, 

pis. 34-43, 1911.
THE SANTA PE ROUTE. 181

CAMPBELL, M. R., Reconnaissance of the borax deposits of Death Valley and Mohave 

Desert, Cal.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 200, 23pp., 1902.

DARTON, N. H., Discovery of Cambrian rocks in southeastern California: Jour. Geology, vol. 15, pp. 470-473, 1907.

ELDRIDGE, G. H., and ARNOLD, RALPH: The Santa Clara Valley, Pueiite Hills, and 

Los Angeles oil districts, southern California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 309, 266 

pp., 41 pis., 1907.

HERSHEY, 0. H., Some crystalline rocks of southern California: Am. Geologist, vol. 

29, pp. 273-290, 1902.

 The Quaternary of southern California: Univ. California Dept. Geology Bull.,

vol. 3, pp. 21-25, 1902. 

KEYES, C. R., Borax deposits of the United States: Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., vol.

34, pp. 867-903,1909. 

LINDGREN, WALDEMAR, The silver mines of Calico, Cal.: Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans.,

vol. 15, pp. 717-734,1887. 

MENDENHALL, W. C., Hydrology of San Bernardino Valley, Cal.:' U. S. Geol. Survey

Water-Supply Paper 142, 83 pp., 5 pis., 1905.

 Two mountain ranges in southern California (San Bernardino and San Gabriel): 

Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 19, pp. 660-661, 1908.

 Ground waters and irrigation enterprises in the foothill belt, southern California:

U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 219,180 pp., 9 pis., 1908. 

PACK, R. W., Reconnaissance of the Barstow-Kramer region, Cal.: U. S. Geol.Survey

Bull. 541, pp. 141-154, 1913. 

STORMS, W. H., Mineral resources of San Bernardino County, Cal.: California State

Min. Bur. Eleventh Ann. Rept., pp. 345-348, 1893. 

YALE, C. G., and GALE, H. S., Borax: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resoiirces, 1912,

pt. 2, pp. 839-846, 1913.
GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGIC TERMS.

Alluvial fan. The outspread sloping deposit of bowlders, gravel, and sand left by a 

stream where it passes from-a gorge out upon a plain.

Andesite. A lava of widespread occurrence, usually of dark-gray color and intermediate in chemical composition between rhyolite and basalt.

Anticline. An arch of bedded or layered rock suggestive in form of an overturned 

canoe. (See fig. 16, p. 86; fig. 25, p. 117; PI. XIX, B, p. 103.) See also Dome 

and Syncline.)

Badlands. A region nearly devoid of vegetation where erosion, instead of carving 

hills and valleys of the familiar type, has cut the land into an intricate maze of 

narrow ravines.and sharp crests and pinnacles. Travel across such a region is 

almost impossible, hence the name. (See PI. XXII, p. 110.)

Basalt. A common lava of dark color and of great fluidity when molten. Basalt is 

less siliceous than granite and rhyolite, and. contains much more iron, calcium, 

and magnesium.

Bolson (pronounced bowl-sown/). A flat-floored desert valley that drair>s to a central 

evaporation pan or playa.

Bomb. See Volcanic bomb.

Br.eccia (pronounced bretch'ya). A mass of naturally cemented angular rock fragments.

Cross-bedding. Irregular bedding at an angle oblique to the general plane of stratification (see Sedimentary rocks), formed by the action of tides or currents varying in direction and force. (See PI. XVII, p. 101; PI. XXIX, p. 119.)

Crystalline rock. A rock composed of closely fitting mineral crystals that have 

formed in the rock substance, as contrasted with one made up of cemented grains 

of sand or other material or with a volcanic glass.

Diabase. A heavy, dark intrusive rock having the same composition aa basalt but, 

on account of its slower cooling, a more crystalline texture. Its principal constituent minerals are feldspar, augite, and usually olivine. Olivine' is easily 

changed by weathering, and in many diabases is no longer recognizable. Augite 

is a mineral containing iron and magnesium and is similar to hornblende.

Dike. A mass of igneous rock that has solidified in a wide fissure or crack in the 

earth's crust. (See fig. 8, p. 54; PI. VII, p. 53.)

Diorite. An even-grained intrusive igneous rock consisting chiefly of the minerals 

feldspar, hornblende, and very commonly black mica. If the rock contains 

much quartz, it is called quartz diorite. Quartz diorite resembles granite and is 

connected with that rock by many intermediate varieties, including monzbnite. 

The feldspar in diorite differs from that in granite in containing calcium and 

sodium instead of potassium. Hornblende is a green or black mineral containing 

iron, magnesium, calcium, and other constituents.

Dip. The slope of a rock layer expressed by the angle which the top or bottom of 

the layer makes with a horizontal plane. (See fig. 3, p. 14; fig. 13, p. 71; PI. 

XVIII, p. 102; PI. XX, B, p. 106.) (See also Strike.)

Dissected. Cut by erosion into hills and valleys. Applicable especially to plains 

or peneplains in process of erosion after an uplift.

Dome. As applied to rock layers or beds, a short anticline, suggestive of an inverted 

basin. 

182
THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 183

Drift. The rock fragments soil, gravel, and silt carried by a glacier. Drift includes the unassorted material known as till and deposits made by streams flowing from a glacier.

Erosion. The wearing away of materials at the earth's surface by the mechanical 

action of running water, waves, moving ice, or winds, which use rock fragments 

and grains as tools or abrasives. See PL XVII, p. 101; Pis. XXX-XXXIII, 

pp. 126-127.) Erosion is aided by weathering. (See Weathering.)

Fault. A fracture in the earth's crust accompanied by. movement of the rock on 

one side of the break past that on the other. If the fracture is inclined and the 

rock on one side appears to have slid down the 'slope of the fracture the fault is 

termed a normal fault. If, on the other hand, the rock on one side appears to 

have been shoved up the inclined plane of the break the fault is termed a reverse 

fault. (See fig. 14, p. 78; fig. 17, p. 92; fig. 28, p. 127.)

Fault block. A part of the earth's crust bounded wholly or in part by faults.

Fault scarp. The cliff formed by a fault. Most fault scarps have been modified by 

erosion since the faulting.

Fauna. The animals that inhabited the world or a certain region at a certain time.

Fissure. A crack, break, or fracture in the earth's crust or in a mass of rock.

Flood plain. The nearly level land that borders a stream and is subject to occasional 

overflow. Flood plains are built up by sediment left by such overflows.

Flora. The assemblage of plants growing at a given time or in a given place.

Fold. A bend in rock layers or beds. Anticlines and synclines are the common 

types of folds.

Formation. A rock layer, or a series of continuously deposited layers grouped 

together, regarded by the geologist as a unit for purposes of description and 

mapping. A formation is usually named from some place where, it is exposed 

in its typical character. For example, Denver formation, Niobrara limestone.

Fossil. The whole or any part of an animal or plant that has been preserved in 

the rocks or the impression left by a plant or animal. This preservation is invariably accompanied by change in substance, and from some impressions the original 

substance has all been removed. (See PL XXI, p. 107.)

Gneiss (pronounced nice). A rock resembling granite, but with its mineral constituents so arranged as to give it a banded appearance. Most gneisses are metamorphic rocks derived from granite or other igneous rocks.

Granite. A crystalline igneous rock that has solidified slowly deep within the earth. 

It consists chiefly of the minerals quartz, feldspar, and one or both of the common 

kinds of mica, namely, black mica, or biotite, and white mica, or muscovite. 

The feldspar is the kind known as orthoclase, and may be distinguished from 

quartz by its pale-reddish tint and its property of breaking with flat shining 

surfaces (cleavage), for quartz breaks irregularly. The micas are easily recognized by their cleavage into thin, flexible flakes and their brilliant luster.

Horizon. In geology any distinctive plane traceable from place to place in different 

exposures of strata and marking the same period of geologic time. A particular 

horizon may be characterized by distinctive fossils.

Igneous rocks. Rocks formed by the cooling and solidification of a hot liquid material, known as magma, that has originated at unknown depths within the earth. 

Those that have solidified beneath the surface are known as intrusive rocks, or 

if the cooling has taken place slowly at great depth, as plutonic intrusive or 

plutonic rocks. Those that have flowed out over the surface are known as effusive 

rocks, extrusive rocks, or lavas. The term volcanic rocks includes not only lavas, 

but bombs, pumice, tuff, volcanic ash, and other fragmental materials or ejecta 

thrown out from volcanoes.

Lithologic. Pertaining to lithology, or the study of rocks. (See also Petrology.) 

Pertaining to rock character.

Lode. An ore-bearing vein (see Vein); especially a broad or complex vein.
184 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Loess (pronounced lurse with the r obscure). A fine homogeneous silt or loam 

showing usually no division into layers and forming thick and extensive deposita 

in the Mississippi Valley and in China. It is generally regarded as in part at 

least a deposit of wind-blown dust. . . Meander. To flow in serpentine curves. A loop in a stream. The term comes 

from the Greek name of a river in Asia Minor, which has a sinuous course. Most 

streams in flowing across plains develop meanders.

Metamorphism. Any change in rocks effected in the earth by heat, pressure, 

solutions, or gases. A common cause of the metamorphism of rocks is the intrusion into them of igneous rocks. Rocks that have been so changed are termed 

metamorphic. Marble, for example, is metamorphosed limestone.

Monzonite. An even-grained intrusive igneous rock intermediate in character 

between diorite and granite. It resembles granite.

Moraine. A mass of drift deposited by a glacier at its end or along its sides.

Oil pool. An accumulation or body of oil in sedimentary rock that yields petroleum on drilling. The oil occurs in the pores of the rock and is not a pool or 

pond in the ordinary sense of these words.

Outcrop. That part of a rock that appears at the surface. The appearance of a rock 

at the surface or its projection above the soil. (See PI. IX, p. 57.)

Paleontology. The study of the world's ancient life, either plant or animal, by 

means of fossils.

Peneplain. A region reduced almost to a plain by the long-continued normal 

erosion of a land surface. It should be distinguished from a plain produced 

by the attack of waves along a coast or the built-up flood plain of a river.

Petrography. The description of rocks, especially of igneous and metamorphic 

rocks studied with the aid of the microscope.

Petrology. The study of rocks, especially of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Placer deposit. A mass of gravel, sand, or similar material resulting from the 

crumbling and erosion of solid rocks and containing particles or nuggets of gold, 

platinum, tin, or other valuable minerals, which have been derived from rocks 

or veins.

Play a (pronounced plah/ya). The shallow central basin of a desert plain, in which 

water gathers after a rain and is evaporated.

Porphyry. Any igneous rock in which certain crystal constituents are distinctly 

visible in contrast with the finer-grained substance of the rock.

Quartzite. A rock composed of sand grains cemented by silica into an extremely 

hard mass.

Rhyolite. A lava, usually of light color, corresponding in chemical composition to 

granite. The same molten liquid that at great depth within the earth solidifies 

as granite would, if it flowed out on the surface, cool more quickly and crystallize 

less completely as rhyolite.

Schist. A rock that by subjection to heat and pressure within the earth has undergone a change in the character of the particles or minerals that compose it and 

has these minerals arranged in such a way that the rock splits more easily in 

certain directions than in others. A schist has a crystalline grain roughly comparable with the grain of a piece of wood.

Sedimentary rocks. Rocks formed by the accumulation of sediment in water 

(aqueous deposits) or from air (eolian deposits). The sediment may consist of 

rock fragments or particles of various sizes (conglomerate, sandstone, shale); of 

the remains or products of animals or plants (certain limestones and coal); of the 

product of chemical action or of evaporation (salt, gypsum, etc.); or of mixtures 

of these materials. Some sedimentary deposits (tuffs) are composed of fragments 

blown from volcanoes and deposited on land or in water. A characteristic feature 

of sedimentary deposits is a layered structure known as bedding or stratification. Each layer is a bed or stratum. Sedimentary beds as deposited lie flat or 

nearly flat. (See PI. VI, p. 52; PI. XXVI, p. 114; PI. XXXII, p. 126.)
THE SANTA FE EOUTE. 185

Shale. A rock consisting of hardened thin layers of fine mud.

Slate. A rock that by subjection to pressure within the earth has acquired the 

' 'property of splitting smoothly into thin plates. The cleavage is smoother and 

; more regular than the splitting of schist along its grain.

Stratigraphy. The branch of geologic science that deals with the order and relations of the strata of the earth's crust.

Strike. The direction along which an inclined rock layer would meet the earth's 

surface if that surface were level. The outcrop (which see) of a bed on a plain 

is coincident with its strike.

Structure. In geology, the forms assumed by sedimentary beds and igneous rocks 

that have been moved from their original position by forces within the earth, 

or the forms taken by intrusive masses of igneous rock in connection with effects 

produced mechanically on neighboring rocks by the intrusion. Folds (anticlines 

and synclines) and faults are the principal mechanical effects considered under 

structure. Schistosity and cleavage are also structural features.

Syncline. An inverted arch of bedded or layered rock suggestive in form of a canoe. 

(See fig. 12, p. 68.)

Talus (pronounced taylus). The mass of loose rock fragments that accumulates at 

the base of a cliff or steep slope. (See PL XXXVI, p. 135.)

Terrace. A steplike bench on a hillside. Most terraces along rivers are remnants 

of valley bottoms formed when the stream flowed at higher levels. Other terraces have been formed by waves. Some terraces have been cut in solid rock, 

others have been built up of sand and gravel, and still others have been partly 

cut and partly built up.

Till. The deposit of mingled bowlders, rock fragments, and soil left behind by a 

melting glacier or deposited about its margin.

Tuff. A rock consisting of a layer or layers of lava particles blown from a volcano. 

A fine tuff is often called volcanic ash and a coarse tuff is called breccia.

Type locality. The place at which a formation is typically displayed and from 

which it is named; also the place at which a fossil or other geologic feature is 

displayed in typical form.

Unconformity. A break in the regular succession of sedimentary rocks, indicated 

by the fact that one bed rests on the eroded surface of one or more beds which 

may have a distinctly different dip from the bed above. An unconformity may 

indicate that the beds below it have at some time been raised above the sea 

and have been eroded. In some places beds thousands of feet thick have been 

washed away before the land again became submerged and. the first bed above 

the surface of unconformity was deposited. If beds of rock may be regarded as 

leaves in the volume of geologic history, an unconformity marks a gap in the 

record. (See fig. 28, p. 127; fig. 30, p. 130.)

Vein. A mass of mineral material that has been deposited in or along a fissure in 

the rocks. A vein differs from a dike in that the vein material was introduced 

gradually by deposition from solution whereas a dike was intruded in a molten 

condition.

Volcanic bomb. A rounded mass of lava thrown out while in a hot and pasty condition from a volcano. A bomb, like a raindrop, is rounded in its passage through 

the air and may be covered with a cracked crust due to quick cooling.

Volcanic cone. A mountain or hill, usually of characteristic conical form, built 

"up around a volcanic vent. The more nearly perfect cones are composed principally of lava fragments and volcanic ashes. (See fig. 38, p. 155; PL XIV, B, 

p. 100; PL XXVI, p. 115.)

Volcanic glass. Lava that has cooled and solidified before it has had time to crystallize.
186 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Volcanic neck. A plug of lava that congealed in the pipe of a volcano. When 

the tuffs and lava flows that make up most of a volcanic cone have been washed 

away by erosion the neck may remain as an isolated hill. (See fig. 20, p. 97.)

Volcanic rocks. Igneous rocks erupted at or near the earth's surface, including 

lavas, tuffs, volcanic ashes, and like material.

Weathering. The group of processes, such as the chemical action of air and rain 

 water and of plants and bacteria and the mechanical action of changes of temperature, whereby rocks on exposure to the weather change in character, decay, 

and finally crumble into soil. (See PI. XXXVII, p. 140.)
ILLUSTRATIONS.

' ROUTE MAP.

For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map are so folded and placed that he-can unfold 

them one by one and keep each one in view while he is reading the text relating to it. A reference in parentheses is given in the text at each point where a new sheet should bo unfolded.

Page.

SHEET 1. Kansas City, Mo., to Lakeview, Kans............................ 14

2. Lecompton to Ellinor, Kans...................................... 22

3. Strong City to Halstead, Kans................................... 26

4. Paxton to Stafford, Kans.......................................... 30

5. St. John to Bellefont, Kans....................................... 36

6. Spearville to Mansfield, Kans.................................... 40

7. Garden City to Medway, Kans.................................. 44

8. Coolidge, Kans., to Caddoa, Colo................................. 48

9. Hilton to Thatcher, Colo......................................... 54

10. Simpson, Colo., to Raton, N. Mex............................... 62

11. Dillon to Wagon Mound, N. Mex................................ 66

12. Bond to Fulton, N. Mex. ....................................... 72

13. Gise to Albuquerque; N. Mex.................................... 88

14. Abajo to McCartys, N. Mex...................................... 98

15. Acoma to Gallup, N. Mex....................................... 104

16. West Yard, N. Mex., to Adamana, Ariz............................ 108

17. Adamana to Moqui, Ariz ....................................... 112

18. Dennison to Nevin, Ariz......................................... 120

19. Maine to Chino, Ariz............................................ 122

19.A. Anita to Grand Canyon, "Ariz ................................... 130

20. Audley to Louise, Ariz......................................... 138

21. Kingman, Ariz., to Goffs, Cal................................... 148

22. Piute to Ash Hill, Cal........................................... 158

23. Ludlow to Todcl, Cal........................................... 162

24. Hicks to Los Angeles, Cal........................................ 178

PLATES.

Page*.

PLATE I. Relief map showing surface features of the western part of the

United States................................................ 2

II. A, Granite marker of Santa Fe Trail; B, Restoration of mammoth. 18

III. A, Pulpit Rock, near Alum Creek, south of Carneiro, Kans.; B,

Pawnee Rock, southwest of Great Bend, Kans................ 19

IV. A, The Great Plains of western Kansas; B, Buffalo one of the

few survivors. .............................................. 28

V. A, Mesas of Timpas limestone, Bloom-Thatcher region,. Colo.;

B, Tylosaurus.............................................. 29

VI. Greenhorn limestone near Thatcher, Colo....................... 52

VII. A, West Spanish Peak, Colo., from the northeast; B, Dike of igneous

rock forming narrow wall, Spanish Peaks, Colo................ 53

VIII. Fishers Peak, near Trinidad, Colo............................... 56

I.. Wall of Dakota sandstone west of Trinidad, Colo. ............... 57

187
188 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

PLATE X. A, Allosaurus; B, Stegosaurus.................................. 64

XL A, Brontosaurus; B, Skeleton of Diadectes....................... 65

XII. A, Ruins of old Pecos Church, northwest of Rowe, N. Mex.; B,

Santo Domingo, N. Mex....................................... 74

XIII. A, West front of Sandia Mountains, near Bernalillo, N. Mex.; B,

Crater of extinct geyser 3 miles west of Suwanee, N. Mex ....... 75

XIV. A, Mesa Encantada, N. Mex., seen from the north; B, Bed of

gypsum at Rito, N. Mex....................................... 96

XV. Pueblo of Acoma, N. Mex...................................... 97

XVI. A, Pyramid Rock and red cliff of Wingate sandstone north of Zuni 

siding, a few miles east of Gallup, N. Mex.; B, El Tiiitero, a volcanic cone with a crater in its top, 3 miles northeast of Bluewater station, N. Mex......................................... 100

XVII. Navajo Church, northwest of Wingate, N. Mex................... 101

XVIII. Tilted beds of sandstone dipping west on west slope of Zuni uplift,

3 miles east of Gallup, N. Mex................................ 102

XIX. A, Sharp bend in boundary of Zuni Mountain uplift as seen from 

Santa Fe Railway 3 miles east of Gallup, N. Mex.; B, Great 

arch in the red sandstone north of Houck, Ariz.................. 103

XX. A, Bed of Rio Puerco at Navajo siding, Ariz.; B, Natural bridge in 

massive sandstone near the Haystack Rocks, north of Manuelito, 

Ariz. ....................................................... 106

XXI. Petrified logs south of Adamana, Ariz............................ 107

XXII. Badlands north of Holbrook, Ariz................................. .110

XXIII. A, Navajo Indians visiting the Hopi Indians at Oraibi, north of 

Winslow, Ariz.; B, An evening with Navajo Indians.about the 

camp fire, north-central Arizona.......... ; ................... 110

XXIV. Oraibi, a Hopi village on the sandstone promontories east of the

Painted Desert, north of Holbrook, Ariz........................ 110

XXV. A, View of Crater Mound, Ariz., from the southwest, showing encircling rim; B, Near view of rim of Crater Mound; C, View 

across the crater of Crater Mound, showing upturned limestone 

beds in its walla............................................. Ill

XXVI. Canyon Diablo, Ariz........................................... 114

XXVII. A, Recent cinder cone east of San Francisco Mountains, north of 

Winona, Ariz.; B, Cinder cones in Coconino Forest east of San 

Francisco Mountains, Ariz..................................... 115

XXVIII. Bottomless pits south of Cliffs, 8 miles southeast of Flagstaff, Ariz. 118

XXIX. A, Cliff dwellings in Walnut Canyon, southeast of Flagstaff, Ariz.;

B, Cross-bedding in Coconino sandstone in Walnut Canyon, Ariz. 119

XXX. North side of Grand Canyon as viewed by telescope from El Tovar

Hotel....................................................... 126

XXXI. View northeastward across the Grand Canyon from Zuni Point,

east of Grandview Point....................................... 126

XXXII. South wall of Grand Canyon east of Grandview Point............. 126

XXXIII. The Granite Gorge in the Grand Canyon, northwest of Grandview

Point........................................................ 127

XXXIV. Maj. J. W. Powell and the boats in which he made the trip down

the Grand Canyon............................................ 128

XXXV. A, Mescal, or maguey; B, Ocotillo, a characteristic desert plant..... 134

XXXVI. Cliffs of sandstone of the Ton to group in canyon 4 miles north of

Peach Springs, Ariz........................................... 135
ILLUSTEATIONS. 189

PLATE XXXVII. A, Typical desert valley of northwestern Arizona; B, Edge

of desert plain on west side of Hualpai Mountains, Ariz.. 140

XXXVIII. A, A water bottle in the desert; B, Barrel cactus, or visnaga. 141

XXXIX. Desert at Fenner, Cal..................................... 150

XL. Mount Pisgah, between Ludlow and Barstow, Cal ......... 151

XLI. A, Joshua tree; B, San Gabriel Mission, Cal ............... 168

XLII. San Bernardino Mountains, Cal.......................... 169

FIGURES.

Page.

FIGURE 1. Section of bluff at Kansas City, Mo., showing succession of limestones and shales ............................................ 4

2. Section of rocks exposed near Eudora and Lawrence, Kans ....... 11

3. Section showing succession of rocks in plateau south of Topeka,

Kans....................................................... 14

4. Section across Cottonwood Valley southwest of Elmdale/Kans.... 24

5. Section of rocks in Sawlog Valley northeast of Dodge, Kans....... 36

6. Section across Timpas Creek valley near Bloom, Colo.............. 52

7. Section across Timpas Creek valley at Thatcher, Colo ............ 53

8. Section through Spanish Peaks west of Tyrone, Colo............. 54

9. Section through Trinidad, Colo., showing relations of rocks ........ 56

10. Section across canyon of Mora River southeast of Optimo, N. Mex. 66

11. Section 6 miles north of Las Vegas, N. Mex ..................... 68

12. Section through Las Vegas, N. Mex............................. 68

13. Section across the east slope of the Rocky Mountain uplift near

Ojita, N.Mex............................................... 71

14. Section across Galisteo Valley at Lamy, N. Mex.................. 78

15. Section through Madrid, 3 miles south of Los Cerrillos, N. Mex... 80

16. Section through Sandia Mountains, near Bernalillo, N. Mex ...... 86

17. Section north of Suwanee, N. Mex ........................:.... 92

18. Sections showing relations of gypsum bed at Rito and near Rosario,

N. Mex..................................................... 93

19. Sketch section through Acoma, N. Mex ......................... 95

20. Sketch section showing relations of lava sheets near Mount Taylor,

N. Mex..................................................... 97

21. Section from the Zuni Mountains north across the Santa Fe Railway near Thoreau, N.Mex .................................... 100

22. Section of coal-bearing Mesaverde formation, Dakota sandstone, 

and underlying beds in and near the gap 3 miles east of Gallup, 

N. Mex..................................................... 102

23. Generalized section acrosa Crater Mound, Ariz ................... 113

24. Map of the lava field in the San Francisco Mountain district, Ariz. . 116

25. Section of Elden Mountain, east of Flagstaff, Ariz................. 117

26. Generalized section through the San Francisco Mountains northeast

of Flagstaff, Ariz............................................. 119

27. Section through Red Butte, near Grand Canyon, Ariz............ 122

28. Ideal sections of faulted blocks of Unkar rocks in Grand Canyon,

Ariz. ....................................................... 127

29. Section. of rocks exposed on Bright Angel trail, Grand Canyon,

Ariz........................................................ 129

30. Sections across Grand Canyon, Ariz............................ 130

31. Section of the west slope of the Arizona Plateau between Williams

and Ash Fork, Ariz......................................... 132

97579° Bull. 613 15 13
190 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

Page. 

FIGURE 32. Section through Aubrey Cliffs, northwest of Seligman, Ariz....... 134

33. Sections showing relations of granite and lava in canyon of Truxton

Wash between Valentine and Truxton, Ariz ................... 136

34. Section of the Grand Wash Cliffs north of Hackberry, Ariz........ 138

35. Section showing relation of volcanic rocks between Louise and

McConnico, Ariz............................................. 139

36. Section showing succession of volcanic rocks in east face of Black

Mesa, northwest of Yucca, Ariz .............................. 142

37. Sketch section showing quartzite (hard sandstone) on granite at

south end of the Iron Mountains, southwest of Siam, Cal....... 152

38. Ideal section through a recent lava field and vent............... 155

39. Section through sand and gravel deposits of the sloping plain along 

the Santa. Fe Railway north of the San Gabriel Mountains, near 

Victorville, Cal. ............................................ 165

40. Bird's-eye view of Cajon Pass and vicinity, California........... 167
INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS.

A. Page. Sheet.

Abajo,N. Mex.....................'... 88 14

Abbyville.Kans....................... 28 4

Acoma,N. Hex....................... 97 15

Adamana, Ariz........................ 107 16

Alameda, N. Mex..................... 87 13

Alaska,N.Mex....................... 97 14

Albuquerque, N. Mex................. 87 13

Alden, Kans.......................... 31 4

Algodones,N.Mex.................... 84 13

Allantown, Ariz....................... 16

Altura, Cal............................ 22

Amboy, Cal........................... 154 22

Amity, Colo........................... 46 8

Angell, Ariz........................... 115 18

Anita, Ariz............................ 123 19A

Antares, Ariz.......................... 137 20

Apex, Ariz............................ 19A

Arcadia, Cal........................... 175 24

Ardell, Kans.......................... 5

Argentine, Kans....................... 8 1

Argos, Cal............................. 158 23

Arimo, Cal............................ 22

Armijo,N. Mex....................... 92 14

Ash Fork, Ariz........................ 133 19

Ash Hill, Cal.......................... 157 22

Athos, Ariz..............:............. 21

Audley, Ariz.......................... 134 20

Ayer, Colo............................. 52 9

Aztec, Ariz............................ 109 17

Azul, N. Mex.......................... 12

Azusa, Cal............................. 174 24

B.

Baca, N. Mex......................... 15

Bader, Kans.......................... 3

Bagdad, Cal........................... 155 22

Bannock, Cal.......................... 21

Barclay, Kans......................... 19 2

Barstow, Cal.......................... 162 23

Barton, Colo.......................... 8

Beal, Cal.............................. 21

Bellefont, Kans....................... 35 5

Bellemont, Ariz....................... 120 18

Belpre, Kans.......................... 30 5

Bengal,Cal............................ 153 22

Benton, Colo. ......................... 9

Bernal,N.Mex........................ 71 12

Bernalillo, N. Mex .................... 86 13

Berry, Ariz............................ 138 20

Bibo, Ariz............................. 16

Blanchard, N. Mex.................... 12

Bloom, Colo........................... 52 9

Bluewater, N. Mex.................... 99 15

Bond, N. Mex............... .......... 66 12

Braddock, Kans....................... 3

Bryman, Cal.......................... 163 24

Burlingame, Kans..................... 17 2

Burrton, Kans........................ 27 4

C. Page. Sheet.

Caddoa, Colo.......................... 48 8

Cadiz, Cal............................. 152 22

Cajon, Cal.............:............... 24

Canyon Diablo, Ariz................... 113 18

Canyoncito, N. Mex................... 76 13

Carbondale, Kans..................... 16 2

Carrizo, Ariz........................... 17

Casa, Colo............................. 9

Cedar Point, Kans..................... 24 3

Chalender, Ariz........................ 19

Chambers, Ariz........................ 107 16

Chapelle, N. Mex...................... 71 12

Charleston, Kans...................... 6

Cherokee, Ariz ........................ 136 20

Chino, Ariz............................ 134 19

Choteau, Kans............... ......... 1

Cimarron, Kans....................... 39 6

Ciniza, N. Mex......................:. 15

Clare, Kans............................ 1

Claremont, Cal......................... 24

Clarendon, Kans...................... 4

Clements, Kans....................... 23 3

Cliffs, Ariz............................. 117 18

Coconino, Ariz......................... 19A

Colmor,N. Mex....................... 65 11

Coolidge, Kans........................ 45 . 8

Corliss, Kans........................... 1

Corva, Ariz............................ 132 19

Cosnino, Ariz.......................... 116 18

Craig, Kans. (Ottawa cut-on5 )......... 1

Craig, Kans. (main line) .............. 2

Crooktou, Ariz........................ 133 19

Crozier, Ariz........................... 136 20

Cubero, N. Mex....................... 96 14

Cucamonga, Cal....................... 172 . 24

D.

Daggett, Cal........................... 160 23

Danby, Cal............................ 151 22

Dartmouth, Kans..................... 5

DeSoto, Kans......................... . 1

Decatur, N. Mex...................... 73 13

Deerfleld, Kans........................ 42 7

Defiance, N. Mex...................... 104 16

Delhi, Colo............................ 53 9

Dell, Cal.............................. 168 24

Dennison, Ariz........................ 112 18

Devore, Cal........................... 24

Dillon, N. Mex........................ 62 11

Dillwyn, Kans........................ 5

Dodge, Kans.......................... 36 6

Domingo, N. Mex..................... 82 13

Dorsey, N. Mex....................... 63 11

Drake, Ariz........................... 140 21

Duarte, Cal............................ 24

Dundee, Kans......................... 5

191
192 INDEX. OF RAILROAD STATIONS.

E.

Earl, Colo.....................

Edgerton, Kans. ..............

Ellinor, Kans.................

Ellinwood, Kans..............

Elmdale, Kans .................

Elmoro, Colo ..................

Elota, N.Mex.................

Emporia, Kans. ...............

Essex, Cal. ....................

Etiwanda, Cal. ................

Eudora, Kans... ..............

F/

Fairview, Ariz ................

FennpTj C,s\\ . , L Fields, Ariz ...................

Flagstaff, Ariz.................

Florence, Kans. ...............

Fontana, Cal ..................

Fox, N. Mex ..................

Franconia, Ariz ...............

French, N. Mex. ..............

Frisbie, Kans. . ...............

Fulton, N. Mex. ..............

G.

Gale, Cal. .....................

Gallinas, Colo .................

Gallup, N. Mex ...............

Garden City, Kans ............

Gardner, Kans ................

Garfield, Kans. ...............

Garvanza, Cal .................

Gate, N.Mex.................

Gise, N. Mex. . ................

Gish, Cal......................

Gleed, Ariz. ...................

Glendora, Cal .................

Glorieta, N. Mex. .............

Goffs, Cal.....................

Gonzales, N. Mex. ............

Granada, Colo. . ...............

Grand Canyon, Ariz. ..........

Grant, N. Mex ................

Great Bend, Kans. ............

Grote, Colo. ...................

Grover, Kans .................

'H.

Hackberry, Ariz.. . ............

Hadley, Colo. .................

Hahn, N.Mex.................

Halstead, Kans... . ............

Hamburg, Kans. ..............

Hancock, Ariz. ................

Hardy, Ariz. . .................

Hartland, Kans. ..............

Haviland, Ariz ................

Haynes, Cal ...................

Hebron, N. Mex.. . ............

Hector, Cal. ...................

Helen, Cal.....................

Hesperia, Cal. .................

Hibbard, Ariz. . ...............

Hicks, Cal.....................

Highlands Junction, Cal ......

Hilton, Colo. ..................

Page.

....... 54

....... 2

....... 32

....... 23

....... 55

....... 84

....... 19

....... 172

....... 10

....... 132

....... 149

....... 135

....... 118

....... 25

....... 172

....... 63

....... 72

....... 103

....... 39

........ 20

....... 35

........ 73

........ 168

........ 174

........ 75

........ 147

........ 100

........ 47

........ 123

........ 98

........ 32

........ -17

......... 13

........ 137

........ 27

........ 140

........ 110

........ 43

........ 142

........ 62

........ 159

........ 163

........ 166

........ 113

........ 163

........ 169

......... 49

Sheet.

10

10

2

4

3

10

13

2

22

. 24

1

19

22

20

18

. 3

 24

13

21

11

1

12

23

10

. 15

7

1

5

24

11

13

24

19

24-

13

21 '15

8

19A

15

5

8

2

20

9

13

3

5

21

17

7

21

22

11

23

24

24

18

24

9

Sheet 

17 

10 

17 

7 

1

Hobson, Ariz..........................

Hoehne, Colo. .......................... 55

Holbrook, Ariz........................ 109

Holcomb, Kans....................... 42

Holliday, Kans........................ 9

Holly, Colo...............:........... 46

Homer, Cal............................

Hopi, Ariz............................. 123

Horace, N. Mex....................... 98

H omers, Kans.........................

Houck, Ariz........................... 107

Howell, Kans.......................... 38

Hualpai, Ariz.........................

Hutchinson, Kans..................... 27

I. 

Ibis, Cal............................... 147 21

Ingalls, Kans.......................... 39 6

Isleta, N. Mex......................... 89 14

J. 

Jansen, Colo........................... 57 10

Java, Cal.............................. 146 21

Joseph City, Ariz...................... 110 17

K.

Kadrew, Colo.......................... 10

KansasCity,Mo....................... 3 1

Kaster, Ariz........................... 21

Keenbrook, Cal........................ 24

Keller, Colo........................... 9

Kendall, Kans.....1................... 43 7

Kennedy, N.Mex..................... 79 13

Kent, Kans........................... 4

Keota, N. Mex........................ 10

Khartoum, Cal......................... 21

Kinginan, Ariz........................ 139 21

Kinsley, Kans......................... 35 5

Klinefelter, Cal........................ 146 21

Klondike, Cal......................... 156 22

Koen, Colo............................ 8

Kroenigs, N. Mex..................... 67 12

L.

La Junta, Colo........................ 51 9

Laguna, N. Mex....................... 94 14

Lakeview, K'ans....................... 13 1

Lakin, Kans.......................... 42 7

Lamanda Park, Cal................... 175 24

Lamar, Colo........................... 48 8

Lamy, N.Mex........................ 77 13

Lang, Kans........................... 2

Larned, Kans......................... 34 5

Las Animas, Colo..................... 49 9

Las Vegas, N. Mex.................... 69 12

Lavic, Cal............................. 23

Lawrence, Kans....................... 11 1

Le Loiip, Kans......................... 1

Lebo, Kans........................... 22 2

Lecompton, Kans...................:. 13 2

Levy, N. Mex......................... 11

Lewis, Kans.......................... 30 5

Lordsburg, Cal........................ 173 24

Los Angeles, Cal....................... 176 24

LosCerrillos, N. Mex.................. 80 13

Louise, Ariz........................... 138 20

Ludlow, Cal........................... 157 23

Lugo, Cal............................. 24
INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 193

Sheet.

Lupton, Ariz........................... 106 16

Lynn, N. Mex......................... 10

M.

McCartys, N. Mex..................... 97 14

McConnico, Ariz....................... 139 21

Macksville, Kans...................... 30 5

McLellan, Ariz........................ 19

Maine, Ariz........................... 120 19

Manila, Ariz........................... 110 . 17

Mansfield, Kans....................... 6

Manuelito, N. Mex.................... 104 16

Martin, Colo.......................... 8

Maxson, Kans......................... 2

Maxwell, N. Mex...................... 63 11

Mayline, Kans........................ 7

Medway, Kans........................ 45 7

Melvern, Kans........................ 21 2

Mineral Springs, N. Mex.............. 15

Minneola, Cal......................... 23

Mission, Kans......................... 3

Monrovia, Cal......................... 175 24

Moqui,Ariz........................... 112 17

Morley, Colo.......................... 58 10

Morris, Kans.......................... 1

Morse, Colo........................... 8

 N. . Navajo, Ariz.......................... 107 16

Nebo,Cal............................. 161 23

Needles, Cal........................... 145 21

Nelson, Ariz........................... 135 20

NeoshoRapids,Kans................. 22 2

Nettleton, Kans....................... 5

Neva, Kans........................... 3

Nevin, Ariz........................... 120 18

Newberry,Cal........................ 160 23

Newton,Kans......................... 25 3

Nickerson, Kans...................... 31 4

 Nolan, N. Mex....................... 11

Noria, Kans........................... 1

North Chaves, N. Mex................ 15

North Garcia, N. Mex................. 14

North Guam,'N. Mex................. 15

North Pomona, Cal................... 24

Nueve, N. Mex........................ 13

O.

Offerle, Kans.......................... 35 5

Ojita, N. Mex......................... 71 12

Olathe,Kans.......................... 20 1

01ivet,Kans.......................... 21 2

Omar, Kans........................... 30

Onava,N.Mex........................ 68 12

Ono, Cal.............................. 169 24

Optimo, N. Mex....................... 66 12

Ormega, Colo.......................... 9

Oro Grande, Cal....................... 163 24

Ortiz, N. Mex......................... 79 13

Osage, Kans........................... 18 2

Otero,N.Mex......................... 62 11

Ottawa Junction, Kans................ 20 1

P.

Pan, Ariz............................. 19

Paquita, N. Mex....................... 14

Partridge, Kans....................;.. 28 4

Pasadena, Cal......................... 175 24

	Sheet.- 

Pauline, Kans......................... 15 2

Pawnee Rock, Kans................... 33 5

Paxton, Kans......................... 4

Peabody,Kans........................ 25 3

Peach Springs, Ariz.................... 135 20

Penzance, Ariz........................ . 17

Perea,N.Mex......................... 100 15

Peterton, Kans........................ 2

Pica, Ariz.............................. 135 20

Pierceville.Kans...................... 39 6

Pineveta, Ariz........................ 133 19

Pint^Ariz............................. 107 16

Pisgah, Cal............................ 158 23

Pitt, Ariz............................. 19

Piute, Cal............................. 22

Plevna, Kans......................... 4

Plymouth, Kans...................... 2

Pomona, Kans........................ 21 2

Poso, Colo............................. 54 10

Powell, Ariz........................... 142

Prowers, Colo......................... 48 8

Q.

Quenemo, Kans....................... 21 2

Querino,~Ariz......................... 16

Quirk, N.Mex........................ 94 14

Quivero, Ariz......................... 19

R.

Raton,N.Mex........................ 61 10

Rayado, N.Mex...................... 65 11

Raymond, Kans...................... 31 4

Reading, Kans........................ 19 2

Red Lake, Ariz....................... 19

Rialto,Cal............................. 172 .24

Ribera, N.Mex....................... 72 12

Richter, Kans......................... 2

Ridgeton,Kans....................... 21 2

Rio Puerco, N.Hex..................... 91 14

Riordan, Ariz.......................... 120 18

Rito,N.Mex.......................... 93 14

Riverdale, Colo.-....................... 9

Romero,N.Mex...................... 70 12

Rosario,N.Mex.......................' 82 13

Rowe, N.Mex........................ 73 13

Ruiz.N.Mex.....................:... 85 13

S.

Saffordville,Kans..................... 22 2

St. John, Kans........................ 30 5

Saltus,Cal............................ 153 22

San Bernardino, Cal................... 169 24

SanDimas, Cal........................ 174 24

Sanders, Ariz.......................... 16

Sandia,N.Mex....................... 90 14

Sands, N.Mex........................ 72 12

Santa Anita, Cal...................... 175 24

Santa Fe, N. Mex..................... 77 13

Schomberg, N. Mex................... 11

Scranton, Kans....................... 17 2

Sears, Kans........................... 6

Seligman, Ariz........................ 134 19

Sereno, Ariz........................... 19

Shoemaker,N.Mex................... 66 .12

Siam, Cal............................. 151 22

Siberia, Cal............................ 156 22
194 INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS.

. Page. Sheet.

Simpson, Colo......................... 53 10

Snow, Kans........................... 1

South Garcia, N. Mex................. 91 14

South Guam, N. Mex................. 100 15

South Pasadena, Cal.................. 175

Spearyille, Kans...................... 35 6

Spencer, Kans........................ 2

Spiess, N. Mex........................ . 13

Springer, N. Mex..................... 64 11

Stafford, Kans........................ 29 4

Starkville, Colo....................... 58 10

Sterling, Kans................'-....... 31 4

Strong City, Kans..................... 23 3

Summit, Cal.......................... 166 24

Sulzbacher, N. Mex................... 12

Sunshine, Ariz........................ 112 18

Supai, Ariz........................... 131 19

Sutton, Kans......................... 43 7

Su\vanee,N.Mex..................... 92 14

Sylvia, Kans.......................... 4

Symons, Colo......................... 52 9

Syracuse, Kans....................... 44 7

T.

Tauy, Kans........................... 1

Tecumseh, Kans...................... 14 2

Thatcher, Colo........................ 53 9

Thoreau, N. Mex...................... 100 15

Thorn, Cal............................ 24

Timpas, Colo.......................... 52 9

Todd, Cal............................. 162 23

Toltec, N. Mex........................ 15

Topeka, Kans......................... 14 2

Topock, Ariz.......................... 143 21

Toril, N. Mex......................... 11

Trinidad, Colo........................ 55 10

Troy, Cal. ..............t............. 159 23

Truxton, Ariz......................... 136 20

Turner, Kans......................... 1

Tyrone, Colo......................... 54 10

U.

Upland, Cal.

Page. Sheet. 

... 173 24

V.

Valentine, Ariz....................... 137 20

Valle, Ariz............................ 19

Verdemont, Cal....................... 168 24

Victorville, Cal........................ 164 24

W.

Wade, Cal.......... 1................. 24

Wagner, Kans........................ 3

Wagon Mound, N. Mex............... 65 11

Wakarusa, Kans...................... 16 2

Waldo,N. Mex....................... 82 13

Walton, Kans......................... 3

Watrous, N. Mex..................... 67 12

Weaver, Kans........................ 1

Wellsville,Kans....................... 20 1

West, Colo............................ 53 9

West Yard,N.Mex................... 104 16

Wettick, Kans........................ 6

Whiteside, Kans...................... 4

Wiggam, Kans........................ 2

Wild, Cal.............................. 163 24

Wilder, Kans.......................... 9 1

Willaha, Ariz.......................... 19

Williams, Ariz......................... 121 19

Wingate, N. Mex...................... 101 15

Winona, Ariz.......................... 116 18

Winslow, Ariz......................... 110 . 17.

Wootton, Colo......................... 59 10

VVright, Kans......................... 35 6

Y.

Yaggy, Kans..........................' 4

Yampai, Ariz........................... 135 20

Yucca, Ariz........................... 142 21

Z.

Zarah, Kans........................... 1

Zenith, Kans.......................... 4

Zuni, N. Mex.......................... 102 15

o