New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-09-07
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY.
XVII.
XVII.
CARSON yALLEY-THE SIERRA NEVA' "a

Thouob the Carson ankle in or u .n,orbsd by
,,s came desert with the Humboldt blanca at its
-o,,t c,ta.e ,ufces 70 convince ,le traveller that
the former waters b. far The. more hopeful region.
Large Coitonvoo's dot. lie banks very near its
mouth and its VALE 4, wherever moist, is easily
rendered PRODUCTIVE. You feel that you are once
more in hid where the arm Of Industry need
not be pS.nslyzed by s:erility, obstruction, aid
despair.
Soil, TIE prevalence Of drc1:h is here tes''ul
fact. No rain in Sommer--thst IL, none th.t can
be cslcllsted On, none thtt amounts - anything
might well sppsll the cultyator accustomed 70
warm, refreshing showers throUgbou. the growing
season. We crossed, on our rapid tide up the Car
ION. a single high plain twenty.si1 miles long anS
from six to twelve vide, which drouth alone doo'ns
70 Sseebru,h, .t,ril.y and wcrthlessness. Two
or three other pains or high intevales further up
are nearly as scorched and barren. All these may
DO rendered most productive By irrigation, and
here is the water at hand. II the new Gold Mines
in this valley shall ultimately justify their present
premise, q very large demand for Vegetable Food
will speedily spring Up here, which can Only be
satisfied ty domestic production. The vast deserts
eastward cannot roeet it, the arabic region about
Salt Lste ia at once too restricted and too dstant;
inland California is dear country, and the trans
porta,ion Of bulky staples over the Sierra costly
operation. The time viii ultimately comet may
or msy not be ir our day-when two or three great
damn over the Carson will render the irrigation OF
these broad, arid plains on It's banks perfectly
ks.be; and then this will be one of the most pro-
ductve regions on earth. The vegetable food Of
One Million People can easily be grown here, while
their cattle may be reared and fed in the mountain
wales north and south Of this valley. And when
the best works shall have been constructed, and
all the lights Of science and experience brought to
bear on the subject, it Will be found that nearly
everything that contributes to human or brute suS-
tenaDce can be grown actually cheaper by the aid
of irrigation than without it. AS yet, we know
little or nothing of the application of water to land
and crops, and our ignorance causes deplorabe
waste and laundering Every year henceforth will
make us wiser on this head
Twenty miles or so below Genoa, we passed
"Jobntown" Chinese settlement, whose people find
employment in the recently discovered Gold Mines.
There mines are some eight miles northward of
"Gold Canon" and are reported immensely rich.
Silver ard Copper are blended with Gold in the
same yein-stOne. A few are making money very
fast here but these few control all the available
water, and it seems impossible to introduce more.
II supply can be obtained at all it must be at
enormous cost. Ihsve vaguely heard of patented
process or processes for separating Gold rom other
minerals or esrhs without the use of water; fthere
be any such process, which is not humeug, lurge
the owner of the patent to haste to Carson Valley
and there make his fortune. j assure him of an
enthusiastic welcome.
Carson City," just above Jobntown, though
it has few houses as yet, aspires to be the EN-
porium of the new Gold Region, and perhaps OF
the embryo State Of Neveds; but Genoa ten or
fifteen miles further up, is the present emporium,
though village of but forty or fifty houses Here
q Convention had been in session for fortnight
and had completed Constitut on for the aforesaid
embryo State of Nevada only the night before our
arrival We met some of the delegates bound
Aomewsrd Said State is to comprise the western
hall very nearly Of Utah. with Il beieve)
email strip of eastern Csfornis. California may
object to this; but trust progress will organize
at least the Territory of Nevada at an early day
Is is an established fact that n division OF power
between Mormons and Gentiles seldom works
harmoniously; but in Utah there is no divisi N
she Mormons hsve all The people of Carson Val.
ley, and Of Western Utah generally, are not Nor
mons the Legislation of Ussh is unsuited and un-
aecep, able TO them; they desire 10 be set off and
trust they soon may be. Though few in numbers
- yet they are rapidly increasing, and viii soon
petsess all the ele neDts Of State.
had previously seen some beautiful valleys, but
] place none of these ahead of Carson l Judge
that portion of it already in good part under cult
walton about thirty miles long by ten to fifteen
wide-an area destined 10 be largely increased, as
have already indicated. This valley, originally
grand meadow, the home of the deer aud the ante
lope, is nearly incc,ed by high mountains down
which especially from the north and west, come
innumerable rlvulets leaping and dancing or their
way to form or join the Carson. Ea'y arrested
and controlled because of the extreme shallow.
ness Of their beds, these streams have been made
r. inisare large portion Of the upper valley, pro
SuciDg an abundance of the sweetest Grass and
insuring bounteous hsrvests also Of Vegetables,
Barley, Oats, &c. Wheat seems 10 do fairly here
Corn Iot 80 well in f'ct, the nights are too cold
10. it If the water were not For this spring
water, leaping suddenly down from its mountain
sources, 10 too cold too pure, TO be we'll adapted to
irrigation; could il be held back even a week, and
exposed in shallow ponds basins to the hot sun.
shine il would be vastly more useful. When the !
II, y .taM