Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-07-14
From the Washington Union, July T.
Captain POpe,s Artesfan Well Expe-
diffOn-uiScOVeryO of SDrin0s.

An official report, bearing the date OF June
4, 1858, has been received at the War Depart
ment giving information that an exploring
party, sent from Captain Pope's camp, on the
Pecos river. nSar the mouth of Delaware
creek, has discovered large number OF
springs on the summit of the LlanO Estacado,
fifty miles east of the camp, and about hall
way between the Pecos and the Mustang
Springs" on the emigrant road. There is a
hard, gravelly road along the whole distance,
-ery much shorter than the emigrant route.
The following description of the springs is
extracted from Capt. Pope's report:
"Two hundred of these springs-some of
them thirty yards in circumference-haveb been
found extending in a direction north and
south over a space of nine miles. Everywhere
in the neighborhood of the water are found
groves of willow trees thirty feet high, and
from four to six inches in diameter"
Commencing about three miles north of
the sd parallel of latitude, and fifty miles
east of Pecos, at this camp is a range of abrupt
white sand hills, seventy or eighty feet bigh-
than the surface of the plain, which extends
in a direction a little east of south for about
fifty miles. To the east. west and north, the
country descends rapidly from the summit or
back bone of these sand hills which is the
highest line for ten or fifteen miles in any d-
rection. Along the very summit of this ridge
issue the springs have mentioned, bubbling
up through beds of loose white sand of indef-
mite or rather of undetermined depth. They
are not at all affected by surface rains, as there
is not the slightest evidence on the banks of
the river rising or falling, and the surface
drainage is from them in all directions. As
have stated, the line of these springs or pools
has been traced for nine miles toward the
south, exhibiting in this distance two hundred
considerable pools of water. In most cases
the pools are from three to four feet in depth,
but in some of the larger ones the depth is six
feet. The water is perfectly transparent, and
free from impurities. There seems to have
been originally a considerable stream of run
ming water. resembling Delaware creek in
character; that Is, a succession of deep pools,
connected by swift running stream some
two feet wide and with perpendicular banks
about three feet high. The sand seems to
have drifted before the violent winds along
the course of the stream until it has entirely
covered the small narrow stream connecting
the ponds. This could readily have been
done, as the flags, bulrushes, and cane grew so
thick and matted along these narrow threads
of water as completely to overlap each other
from both sides, so that even along Delaware
creek, the narrow stream connecting the large
pools is altogether invisible from the summit
of the bank.
:. This seems the only way TO account for
the peculiar character of these springs, and
am still further confirmed in this opinion
from the fact that holes were dug in several
places between the springs; into which water
rose from a depth of several feet and over
flowing the surface Immediately ran off in a
small stream into the spring to the SOUTH"
The lines of survey heretofore made across
the Llano Estacado pass only few miles to
the north and south of this line OF springs, and
certainly there is no evidence of the existence
of water in the midst of these bare sand hills
until you are directly in the middle of them"