The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-10-21


Country.
Among the recent arrivals at Washington
we regard as the most important that of
Colonel Samuel Adams, in the service of the
War Office, from prospecting" tour Of four
years, with party of eleven men, in the Colo
RADIO country. We mean the. extensive region
on the western flank of the Rocky Mountains
drained by the tributaries of the great Colo
RADIO Of the West-a region from north to
south through Colorado Territory, the north
west corner of New Mexico, and into the heart
of Arizona, of some seven hundred miles in
length, with width Of three or four hundred
miles. This region. from 1916, when first
crossed by Fremont in the north, to this time
has been crossed at various points by Gunnison,
Simpson, Sitgreaves and other government
explorers going west in search Of a route for
Pacific railroad; but it was reserved for
Colonel Adams to explore it from north to
south, and with special eye TO the resources
OF this interesting region.
Where Fremont crossed it in 1916, between
attitudes thirty-eght and forty north, he has
left upon the map this endorsement :-''Ele-
waited plains, fertile, gently rolling, with fresh
water lakes and timber" In the report Of
Simpsons detour further south, iSi9, we have
numerous illustrations Of ancient ruins, inscrp-
tons, paintings and pottery in the Canon de
Chaco and Canon dc Chelly, tributaries of the
Colorado. On the line of Stgreaves' tour OF
1852 in the valley Of the Colorado Chiquita,
another tributary Of the great Colorado, we
have the localities marked of numerous ruins,
''San Francisco Forest, springs, &c. Colonel
Adams from north to south has crossed all
these lines of exploration, and discovered an
country "prospected" hitherto unknown. He
found rich gold mines that can be worked all
the year round, and in the central portions of
Arizona and New Mexico he found the richest
country he has ever seen. He saw there wild
wheat, rye, oats and barley growing six feet
high, and ruins of ancient cities built of stone,
Notifications, canals and abandoned mines
The party also discovered oil wells, tar wells,
and salt and coal in abundance, and in one
section forests Of splendid timber sufficient to
supply all the wants of the timberless regions
of Southern Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona,
which are now supplied from Oregon by way
Of the Pacific and the Gulf of California and
lower Colorado river
Here, then, on the western tanks of the
Rocky Mountain chain W. have resources suf-
fcient to make of the Territories Of Colorado,
New Mexico and Arizoni rich and prosperous
States in agricultural PRODUCTS and manuac
lures. While, therefore, the lofty tablelands
on both sides Of the great canon Of the main
Colorado for a hundred or hundreds of miles
may be worthless, as described by Professor
Powell, it is disclosed ~ Colonel Adams that
eastward among the tributaries Of the Colo
RADIO there is an extensive region which may
be pronounced among tie richest in the Union
in its natural products, With the finest climate
in the world Thus, in he course of the de-
veIopment Of this beautiful mountain country,
every opening in the clasm of the Colorado
torrent may be filled with mills, foundries and
| factories, and the torrent itself may be made
available for transportation to the sea.
Such is the value of the intelligent explorer
of unknown lands in th,se days of the pro-
gress and expansion If the civilized races
Of the earth; and still, within the spacious
boundaries of the United States, we have much
to learn, leaving Alaska, from the report of
General Thomas, as only fit to be left out in
| the cold.
| MAYOR HALL TO HoMoE GREELEY. Read
the Mayors letter elsewhere in these columns.