The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1851-06-19
stated to me by DR.. Archer himself, and by
others. have never known DIR. Archer
engaged in any other duel.
RICHARD +. ARCHER.
POpOcatapetl.

gencer, is part Of the description given By
Lieut.. Buckuer, now at Fort Smelling, o
his visit, with several other gentlemen, ia
ls4s, to the peak of Popocatapetl, voIca.
no, and one Of the highest mountains on this
continent; on the summit of which they had
the satisfaction Of planting the starry flag o
our country. If we had room, we would
publish the whole account Of the trip from
the city Of Mexico to the summit Of Pop
ocatape,l, which Cortez, withhis n,en, could
not quite reach:
"The crater seems to be formed Of three
cylindrical surfaces, Of about the same
length, but slightly unequal dameters, hav-
ing a common vertical axis. The lower
section Of each cylinder is connected with
the upper section Of the one below it by an
irregular cnnical surface; while the debris
of the broken masses of rocks falling from
the sides and top Of the crater have formed
a similar surface connecting the lower cyl
inder with the bottom; so that, the general
form of the crater is that Of an inverted
ffustiim of cone whose vertex is very dis
tant from its base. The right section OF
either Of the cylinders would not materially;
differ from circle. The lip of the crater
following The declivity Of the mountain, Isl
an irregular ilIiptical figure, whose longest
diameter is in the direction Of vertical Sec
tion through the summit Of the mountain
The diameter, think, does not exceed a
quarter of a mile in length. The depth of
the crater varies from perhaps four to six
hundred feet; the difference Of depth in diff
ferent places being caused by the slope OF
the mountain. The centre of the crater is
nearly southeast Of the summit, which is so
slightly removed from the highest part Of
the circumference, that it may be regarded
as forming one point Of the lip. At the time
we reached the edge of the crater, the smoke
was issuing in constant stream from Gre
vice near the eastern side of the bottom,
nearly opposite the point where we stood
as well as occasionally from other parts o:
the interior. Considerable quantities of
sublmated lphur had been deposited on
the bottom and interior conical surfaces;
and the quantity Of sulphure,ied hydrogen
gas evolved from the crater WAS highly Of
fensive' aud injurious. The first of the par
ty succeeded in reaching the summit Of The
mountain, the highest point of land, with
single exception, in North America, at ten
minutes past ten o'clock, A. Nj. Attwenty
minutes past ten O'Clock, having att,ched n
small flag TO one of the poles which had
been used in the ascent, we planted the
"stars and stripes" firmly on the highest
peak OF Papocatapetl, overlooking the dark
crater which was smoking below.
The view from this point is unsurpassed
in extent and magnficence. The eve look
ed in every direction, far as human vision
can extend, upon almost boundless tracts of
di' ersified and enchanting prospect. To
the nor.h, and below US, was the white sum-
init of lztaccihuail shrouded in clouds Be-
yond it, and to the left, reposed the magnif-
icent capital Of the Aztecs, amidst the beau
tiful plains aud placid lakes of the valley.
shut in, as ifby enchantnIent, by chain of
lofty mountains, which concealed its beau
ties from the surrounding world. To The
south extended the fertile valleys of A,lixco
and Cuernavaca, and the distant plains Of
Oaxaca, enclosed between mountain chains,
which appeared one beyond another, until
lost in the rising n,ists Of the terra calientc.
In the west shone the snowy top of the Ne
vada de Toiuca, and further to the north
were the more distant plains Of Morelia or
MIchOacan. 10 The east lay the city and
valley Of PuebIa, the celebrated Pyramid Of
Cholua amidst the ruins of the ancient city,
and, at the base of the Maiinche, the noun
tain country of the Tlascalans. Further off
were the more elevated table land of Perote,
and the remarkable "Cofre" above them,
while but short distance from the sea
shore rose the hoary head of Orizava, gilt
tering in the bright beams of the morning
light. As the day advanced, the a,nos-
phere which had at first been unclouded,
was oppressed with the mists which were
~ hnr n hrIn lou
beautiful and singular sight to lock upon the
whi'e clouds rising from the valley thou
sands of feet below US, and rolling their va
pory masses in feecy folds around the base
of the mountain, and over the distant plains,
and darkenng with their moving shadows
vast tracts OF the surrounding country, while
the blue sky above Us was unobscured by a
single cloud.
On account Of the very rarified state Of
the atmosphere, HDd the sickening vapors
which were constantly issuing from the era
ter, we fouEd It necessary to descend much
sooner than we desired. Leaving the sum-
init about eleven O'clock A. NJ, we retrac-
ed our steps until we reached the head OF
the sandy valley which we entered after
passing the Pico del Fraile, and following
down it, leaving the fraiI on our right, we
easily arrived, after descending several
miles, at its issue from the rocky ridges
which enclose it. Turning then to our
right, and moving nearly in n horizontal di-
rection around the base Of this immense
cone, we passed the lower termination OF
the first ridges we had encountered in the
ascent, and entering, near the upper edge Of
the forest, the pathway we had then made
over the sand and snow, returned to our
camp about one o'clock, P. M.
As nearly as we can estimate the distance
along the surface Of the mountain, from the
limit Of vegetation to the top is about three
or four miles. The snow extended on this
day about four thousand feet in a verticie
line from the summit. The therr1oule,er,
at half past ten O'Clock, A. M, stood at 26
degrees Fahrenheit on the summit. On The
seventh Of April, il was % deg, ees Fahren-
het three thousand feet below that point.
The altitude of the summit, according TO a
geo,netrical measurement hy Baron Hum
boldt is II, ,756 feet. According to barou,-
e,rical measurement by Mr.. Glennie, H.
696 feet, from similar measurement by
Mr.. Ainslie it is 1852 feet. Seventeen
thousand eight hundred feet is the usual es-
innate for iIs height above the level of The
ocean. @
The following are the names Of the per-
sons who succeeded in reaching the summit