The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-01-04
PIKE,s PBAR AND TIE sIEDRA San
IuIAM

dwctiOMs Of AMsrica and the Sierra S1R JMa'
Delivered as Kansas City, Nor. IS. 1876
Iron the Kansas City JearnAl Of Commerce.
Phvsicsl gsogrsphy arranges the surface !
the continents into basins and the mOnntai
crests which divide them. Thus the basin I
the Miesissippi il that surface which, bein
drained By oil the continent branches Of tn
river. discharges it, fresh waters into the Gu
Of Mexico. This surface is An undulating, cal
careous plain Of one million two hundred thsu
sand square miles of area: il is embraced en-
| tirey within the temperate zone; occupies th
heart and splendor Of our continent, and ID u
most magni6cens dwelling place marked out b
God for mans abode. Three more similar ca
careons basins, each drained by single syster
Of rivers--the basin Of the St. Lawrence, IN
basin Of the Saskatchewan of Hudson's Bay
and the artic basin Of the McKenzie-restin
upon one another and apon the basin Of tn
Mississippi, form together one continuous ex
panse, geologically uniform and identical. Thi
| immense expanse defines itself as the calcareou
Plain Of North America. Limestone, horizon
tally stratified, underles this whole expanse, be
ing formed, like cheese from milk, from the sed
iment and pressure Of tie ocean which ono
rolled over il, but has now retired.
| This calcareous plain, thus forming a unit II
| physical geography, embraces four seventies Q
| the area Of our continent. 1t ia encompasset
all round by a circuit Of primary mountains
| within which it forms an amphitheatre. Thes,
| mountains are the Alleehanies, towards the At
lantic; the Cordleras OF the Sierra Madre ant
| the Andes, towai DIS the Pacific. The mouths o
the great rivers form the doors or outlets thro
them to the oceans This crcnmierent wall o.
mountains is Of immense breadth toward the
Pacific. l. is the second unit in physical geog
raphy, and covers two-sevenths OF the area Of
our continent. External 10 the mountain for
nation is the Maritime Slope, washed by the
ocean and penetrated by the tides. This exter
nal division is the third unit in ply steal geogra
ply, and forms all round one-seysnth of the
area OF our continent
Behold, then, the physical arrangement OF our
continent; at once simple, complete and sub
lime. The Calcareous Plain, four-sevenths; the
Mountain Formation,two ssyerilhs; tie Maratime
Slope, one-seventh.
The geological structure of our continent has
the same order, like magnitude of dimensions
and arrangements, parallel simplicity. The
Caicareous Plain is uniform, secondary fofma.
ton OF limestone. horizontally deposited and
stratihed. The Mountain Formation is Of gran
lite, presenting the primeval crust Of the globe
rent by volcanic forces and elevated vertically.
The Maratlme Slope presents the external noun
tain base, partly revealed and partly covered by
the washngs of the sea.
Everybody is familiar with the manufacture
Of shot. This is accomplished by pouring liquid
lead, at high elevation, through perforated
moulds. Each pellet Of lead descending into
the air is formed, as it cools, into sphere, By
the invisible force OF gravity. The globe OF the
earth has had similar orgin--once a liquid
mass, now sohd, gravitating sphere, such as
we inhabit. Geology explains how the mate
rial mass OF this grea: sphere has arranged it
self, in cooling, into layers enveorns one an
other. like the successive coatings vi an onion.
Specific gravity accounts for the relative posi-
ton OF these layers, one upon the other, and
explains to us when and how to penetrate to
their metalliferous contents. Il is in the prime
va! rocks exclusively that the precious metals
and precious stones are iognd. The base metals
are contained in the calcareous or secondary
rocks. The same stupendous scale holds in the
abundance of the metals, their purity and their
widely extended distribution.
1t is your request that | speak especially, on
his evening, OF the gold production Vt our coun-
ry, and specifically of the region surrounding
Pixies Peak and the Sierra San Juan. Specific
gravity guides US to disco:eF the rocks in which
he precious metals may be found and where
hey are totally absent. ifinto hollow pillar
II glass be poured quart of quicksilver, one
# water, one OF oil, and one OF alcohol, these
liquids will rest one upon the other, in this or
Ter: If piece of gold, OF iron, OF wood, and q
Gather, be thrown in, they will sink-the gold
0 the bottom, the iron 70 the quicksilver, the |
rood to the water, ami the feather to the OIL
this mass be concealed 10 ice, this arrange.
lent will remain solid and permanent; the gold |
aust be sought Tor sediments ry to the qucksil- |
mr.. fhai rnn ohnva I,.t 4;
7ater, the wood sedimaltary to the oil. In the |
reat order OF nature, a similar arrangement |
ODDS in the rocks which compose tie globe Of |
he earth, and in their contents, once all liquid
ut now permanently soG in the order of their
alative specific GRANTEES II is the primeval
lass then, of the Mountafa Formation which
lone is auriferous, and within it only can the
recious metals, and especially gold, be sought
,r with success.
The Mountain Formation which occupies the
cstern portion Of our co4ssnent to the extent
two-sevenths ofits VIII III area consists of the
ordera of the Sierra MutIro on the east, the
ordillera of the Andes on the wesl, and the
ateau OF the Table Lands embraced between
em. 1t is uniformly primsval and everywhere
lriferous The Plateau of the Table Lands
above Tehaunt"pec, where the Cor.
lleras begin 10 open tron one another. Il
ms through the continent 70 Behrin IS Straits,
id is one thousand miles III width, in our Iati.
de, &c.
The general elevation oi its surface is G. 900
ct above the sea, that OF the Cor!leras is
700 feet. The Plateau is traversed across by
eat mountain chains, whica sutdiyide it into !
sins. Three OF these basins contain, respec- I
rely, the great rivers, The Columbia, the Cole
do, and the Rio del Nefte, which paree the
'fdilleras and escape to tie seas. Tlree other
sins contain tie stagnAi4t lakes, the Great /
ilt Lake, the Lagana, aid The Lake ct the CITY {
Mexico; these have no outlets or drainage TO |
e seas. VI these mountaia chains tie most q
tereslhg TO us is tie Sierra Mimbres. This
sides asunder the basins 81 the Colorado and |
G Del Norte, which rest III inst it as back
ne. II leaves the western flank OF the Cor I
lera OF the Sierra Maarr, in latitud. 80 deg. t
d traversing the Plateau ~ due southern $
urse for ! 400 miles, jcii.s the Cord era Of t
2 Andes III the Mexican STATE of Durango in h
itude % deg. This mountain chain is volcan. il
containing craters and the overflow of lava. 2
e Gordillera OF the Anaa, is also Volcanic
csc mountain chains consist of the primeval {
,ks, broken from their original positions /
aved up edgewise by the expansive power Of II
! internal fires of the globe, and revealed TO i
ut and search. Moreover, the Colorado riy 4
IN escaping to the sea, pierces the Cordillera $
the Andes diagonally, having rent its way g
a chasm bored through The very bowels of s.
} Cordillera. athwart from base to base. This a
ism, four hundred miles in length, is known r.
the Canon OF the Colorado. This Canon pre- r,
lts the unique aud novel fact to mankind a
II primary mountain ci,Ain whose summit il t,
the aurlierous rocks, Is hus gorged TO its Ct
many Thousand feet in depth! It n
'ere, upon the plateau, in the arcana of the ii
un,an formation, and the activity Of the stu. 9,
ldons forges OF nature, that the precious r,
tails may be sought in mass and in position, i'd
reover, the Sierra Mimbres, where it's south. "a
half bisects the Mexican States Of Dor,nro Il
Chihuahua, contains twenty one mines OF al
er, which, wrought for three centuries by A
SpaDiards, have furnished the world with its al
er coin and bullion. Moreover, where the "
IRA Mimbres. IN its course to the north. ap- in
aches to its junction with the Sierra Madre W
Increases to prodigious bulk. Il rises to the 1t
tude Of perpetual snow, aud assumes, for 200 m
es, the local name Of Sierra San Juan. Here
that the dislocation OF nature by volcanic :,
'es, and the consequent mctaiferous deyel. :,
aent, attain their highest elimination. p
What is about to follow the arrival of our :.
neer people within this region, May be ex- =
~ illustrated by what il already dana wi,h;, -