Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-11-19
DESCRIPTION OF THE OVERLAND

VI
Ell. .s ROUTE. m~f 80
Mr.. J.W. Farwell, Of the Alta Californian wa
one Of the passengers by the overland mail, anc
from him the st. Louis Republican obtained
the following interesting description of this i'm
portant mail route: -a. a. .a.s..t,r I.
"The road up to within fifteen miles of Lo
Angeles was very good On the pass here
which is about two and u half miles in length
the people Of Los Angeles expended abou
$4,000 in improving it, 70 induce the mail com
pany to adopt that route. At Kern river, tn,
ford was bad for short distance. Again a
Temecufa the road began to grow bad, and con
tinues SO until San Felipe or DEVILS Canon i,
reached. Ten miles from the latter place tht
road enters the Desert; 1s miles further on is I
new station, called Palm Springs, from the fac
that until recently palm trees grew in that vi
einity. The next station is at Carisarick, q
small stream of water strongly impregnatec
with sulphur. .... .. =
"lndian Wells is the next station Along thi,
portion OF the road the dust is very bad, beins
strongly OF an alkaline nature Ii is offensive "a
the smell, and very irritating to the skin. A
Almo, the succeeding station, few days befor,
our traveller arrived there, the men having the
charge of mail left tho wagon and undertook
to get through on horsebac to the NEXT station
In tornado which overlook them, one of the
men lost his hat; on getting down to get which
his horse took fright and ran away His com
panion dropped his blankets, and in endeayor
ing to get them, lost his horse but succeeded ;r
saving the mails, which he carried on foot tr
the next station, the IndianW ellis on the Yuma
Although but few yards distant from each
other In the storm, the sand was 90 thick tbey
were unable to see, and thus became separated
The one who was left behind remained lost or
the desert tor three days and nights, and would
have perished with thirst had he not discovered
| a broken-dOwn bullock some emicrants had
left by the wayside. He succeeded in kiIlinO
the animal with his knife; be drank its blood
by which means he saved his life He was res
cued by men sent out from the station in search
of him.
passing several unimportant stations, Mr.
Farwell arrived at Fort Yuma. Seventeen
miles from this fort are the newly discovered
gold mines Of Arizona. From inquiries made
here be ascertained that miners, OF whom there
were about hundred at work, were making
from seven to forty dollars per day. 1t was
reported that the diggings were much richer
IN the hills above the present mines, but large
band of hostile Indians, of the Tonic Apache
tribe, were encamped there, and it was got
deemed prudent to prospect in that direction
until the Indians were run of, which they
hoped to be able to do in a short time
The next station worthy Of notice is Fill
buster Camp, about fifty miles from the dig
gings. 1t Is thus named from the fact that
Henry Crabbe and his companions, who were
supposed to have designs on Sonora, were killed
by the Msxicans. The next place is Tucson,
Spanish town of some four hundred inhabi-
tants. AT this place they were warned to look
out for Apaches, who were reported 10 be en-
camped some distance ahead. About I7O miles
from Tucson, found 400 Apaches encamped for
the winter. The Indians showed no signs of
hostility. Two hundred miles from this place
is the MiembTies river, little branch of the
Gila. - Wv
" Leaving this they came on the MesiIla val.
ley, where they first struck the Rio Del Norte
Passing Fl Paso, the next place of note reached
was Sierra Guecho. At this point are several
largo natural tanks in the solid rock, which
were supposed to contain sufficient water for
the mail trains passing this point. On the ar
rival OF the mail here, it was discovered that
the tanks had gone dry; and water had 70 he
hauled distance Of thirty miles for the mules
Ii was found on examining the tanks that they
could be made to contain sufficient water 10
supply the trains IL, however, water sufficient
cannot be provided here the route will be
changed TO that Of the old San Antonio trail,
nifty miles longer than the present route, but
more level, and afording more water.
AT the next station, thirty six miles fu-.
ther on, there are natural reservoirs which
have also gone dry, and to which water had
been hauled distance of thirty miles. Sew.
eral Indian signs were seen in this vicinity
The road is very bad, being sandy and rocky.
alternately. Next station, Guadaloupe. eig6.
teen miles distant. Four miles beyond this is
the Pinery, where grove Of pine trees, the
only ones to be met with on the road, is found.
Next stopping place is the Pagos river, sixty
miles from the Pinery. From this place there
is a stretch of fifty -four miles without change
Of teams. Leaving Horsehead, the route
stretches across the Llano Estacado, or Staked
Plain, the most beautiful portion of the route,
the road being as hard and as level as a barn
floor.
They travelled over this place distance of
eighty miles without water, except what was
carried in keg for the use Of the passengers
the mules having none. The large herds of
deer and antelope, and the AOcks Of fowls, led
to the inference that there must be water on the
Llano, in opposition to the generally received
idea in respect thereto. The FIRST water reached
on the Llano is at the head of the Little Concho
river. Between this place and about thirty
miles west of Fort ChadbOurn, is Grape Creek.
From this place the road continued good until
they reached the Red river, where they met
with the effects Of recent rains in that section.
After crossing the Big Boggy and Little Boggy,
the roads continued to grow wors;, until they
arrived at Springfield, in some places being al
most inpassable."