Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1865-11-08
Death Valley, California.

Death Valley" forms the southern
boundary of the State of Nevada and has
an infamous notoriety for its real and i'm
aginary terrors 1t lies in Tulare and
San Bernadino counties, in the State Of
California. Common eport-pcrhaps &C
ual suryey-places the valley l04 feet be-
low the le -el of the ocean What is gen
orally known as Death Valley is 45 miles
long and - wide, and is vast salt marsh,
with broad alkah borders The actual
extent of the valley Is 100 miles in length
with ap average breadth Of % miles and
it includes within its confines besides this
extensive salt bed, numerous canons and
mountain spurs The entrance to the
valley across Mount Magruder affords
view Of a remarkable deep pluin that
from the summit seems scarcely two miles
wide, and is fiankcd by ranges of low
blue I ills, that look inviting and give
promise of water Winding down this
mountain about 20 miles the descent is
fully 1000 feet, and the head of the valley
/. reached at the junction of the two
canons which form it. At this point
there are numerous springs, al tainted
with alkaE for there is not drop of
fresh water in the valley. Even in the
mountains enclosing the valley the springs
are imprRgnated with alkali, and in some
instances they were found to be actually
poisonous. Where these canOns unite
they form what appears to be river bed,
which runs through the centre of the val
ley, and i from 80 to 100 feet wide, with
high banks, which ut some points o~cr-
hand This water channel was undoubt~
edlv caused by heavy freshets. terrible
evidences Of which exist all around. 1t
extends through the valley a distance of
30 miles, which meander in the eccentric
course for about 10 mi'e Over this
space the valley Is broken and ragged al
most beyond description 1t IS covered
by huge mounds of stone, gravel, sand
and laya-the debris deposited from this
water course. And there are thousands
Of sand dunes, which, at distance of
several miles, nave the appearance of an
extensive Indian village. These small
sand hills are thckly filed with the
mesquit shrub, both green and witherpd
Passing down the valley some 10 miles
farther, we open upon the vast salt mash.
1t was at this point that Il large party of
emigrants suffered severely in 1853, and
1t Is now known as the Lost Wagons"
The iron work of many wagons is still to
be seen, and many other articles are oc~
cas.onally found by adventurous explor-
ers. 1t is generally believed that some
at the immigrants persisted, although it
IS not known to be the fact The border
OF tins salt marsh Is composed of salt and
alkaiI, and forms a hard road. and the
wagon tracks of the party are as fresh
onNInS a. though they were made vester-
dav
The heat in the valley Is excessive In
the months Of January and Februay of
1868, an exploring party to the head
waters Of the Colorado, noted the mercury
of 90 degrees. At midsummer the heat
must be torrid We have not been able
to learn that any party has visited the !
valley at that season of the year. and the |
general belief is it would be fatal to at /
tempt it
About Is miles down the valley numer-
Gus springs of alkali water burst forth !!
from tabie>iand 300 feet above The val I
ley. This table~land projects into the |
valley, and affords the fu lest view of TIA
horrors hen 1t Is calm the atmosphere I
In the valley is so dense as to render res. /
piration almost painful: while on this /
t"bie-land, on the contrary, the tempera-
tnre Is comparatively cool aud one breathes
easily
Terrible wind storms occur in the VAL
ley at short intervals, and they fill the
mind OF the beholder with the utmost
terror \ heavy wind, amounting to a
gale, VIII blow from the southeast several
hours, raising and carrying with it masses
ot salt and alkaline soil, and eeen coarse
gravel, until the entire space is filled with
dense black cloud. Suddenly this fierce
Wind Will lull for few miputes; but this
cloud remains suspended I'M
broken over the valley On the instant.
"a fierce Wind vill blow from the or
'osl'e quarter, hurting this dreadful look