The weekly Arizona miner., 1869-12-25
Lieutenant Wheeler--Items of his Trip
 to and From the Colorado.

Lieui.nant Wheeler returned night before ! last to Hamilton from his expedition to the | Colorado. From him we have obtained the | following interesting memoranda: The final | preparations having been made, guides, pack ! CT, etc, and such preliminary information as
 could bc, having been obtained, the command ! moved from Harsiton, July sl The leading | features contemplated by the reconuoissnce ! were Co proceed eastward to Steptoe Valley; ! thence making soHth on such line or lines ! as to obtain the principal typographical fea- ! tures as far e,lst as the eastern boundary of the State; thence as far to the south as the l Colorado river, examining the same as far as
 possible with regard to the practical head of navigation. then fo rafHrn on more west ] erly line, making as complete 2 snrTey of The ] territory lying between the latitudes of W bite | Pine and the Colorado, and included between | the one hundred and fourteenth and the one ! hundred and sixteenth degrees of longitude,
 as the circumstances would permit. Success, as far as travesing the entire extent, has been attained, snd returning, the command made camp at the, Monte CristO mill Novem- ber I6. During this time, sixteen mining
 districts have been visited; twenty three val
 leys trayersed, each in nearly a a'longitudinal
 direction, and topography acquired over ! and seventeen hundred miles including all
 sections. Eight mormon settlements have
 been encountered during the trip, whose peo- pie vary from one hundred to six hundred in Fnumber. These commence iH a valley Q the east " ard of Pattersoh, and follow in line ! generally northeast and southwest till St. ' Thomas, on the Muddy, the lowest one, Is | reached The Colorado was reached a; ,he | mouth of the Rio Virgin, and from thence parties on this side Of the river succeeded in
 reaching Fl Dorado Canyon, some seventy
 five miles below; returning to the train at
 Los Vegas Ranch, after one of the severest
 marches of the trip. The general course of ' the mountains is northerly and southerly.
 On the downward trip, water and grass was
 generally in abundance, while upon return
 ing. the reverse has been the rule. The most
 of the valleys are long and marrow, showing only limited areas tit for cultivation; but
 many of them have a vast number of acres
 of grazing land, which is generally found in
 the'eastern slope of the mountains. Pahran- sgat Valley shows the greatest amount of agricultural land Of any met on the route,
 and will amount to from fifteen to eighteen
 thousand acres, if properly handled. Timber of large size is found only at rare intervals;
 but in many sections nut pine, cedar, etc,
 abound and grow in the greatest profusion in
 the canyons and on the hills facing to the
 eastward of the ranges. Opposite the mouth
 of the Virgin, seems to be the only point at
 which practicable route can be made in the
 most direct line to the section of Arizona in
 .szs vicinity f !'=S7c7;: '==S77c7;:- .st al 0ts5T places
 but this and Fl Dorado Canyon, the noun
 tains approaching, the river on the other side
 are exceedingly rough and precipitos, and
 none of the washes leading from the same aSe
 practicable. At present. the route being fol- lowed by parties going from White Pine to . Prescott is pia Quinn Canyon, the Crescent
 mill, near the line of the Pah Utah, Indian
 Springs and Las Vegas; below this, leaving
 Fl Dorado a little to the left, and crossing the river at Hardyviile; thence following the road from Fort Mohaye to Camp Whipple, 2 Prescott. Most of the mines out from W hite E Pine are HndeEeloped, and mus. remain SO , for some time, on account of inaccessibility 2 and want of capital, provided a railroad is not soon built through to the South. Wait ing for time, the results anticipated are cer- tain to prove very great. No river of any ? magnitude is met with The Virgin-except- E ing, of couyse, the COloradO-is the largest, a miserable, hasty, alkaline stream, unconfined ! to any regular bed. but finding it's way be- tween the walls of a sort of canyon until its confluence with the Colorado is reached. Tie t Muddy meets the Virgin at St. Thomas, and 1 is little more than a creek, having it's appa- rent rise in some springs that come out below
 Pahranagat Valley. The waters of Pahran- 2 agat Valley sink in Pahranagat Lake, and q doubtless show themselves againin the source 2 sof the Muddy Many creeks rise in the 1 knountains and sink The ratio of arabic land to the entire area is very small Nevada 2 can hardly be said to be an agricultural State, ' but as a mineral bearing region, especially in
 silver, its equal is not to be found on the
 Pacific slope, and probably not in the world e looking, of course, to the legitimate develop , ment of places that make a surface showing. , Returning, Camp Halleck will be reached - about the 25th of November, where the escort f and transportatiOp will be turned over, and , the ofiicss commanding the expedition, with ! the professional corps, will proceed to San { Francisco, at which place the maps and re- ,, port to be connected herewith will be made 7 up. The whole command are in good health, c but generally wearied, and the journey has c been especially severe on the stock, fully one 6 third of the animals having perished on the t route. Lieutenant Wheeler estimates the 2 distance from Hamilton 10 the Colorado at e two hundred and twenty five miles, and says n railroad could be built on half dozen lines !, withou. any serious impediment His report e which will probably be finished in a few O weeks, will be full of interest, especially to d dwellers in this portion of Nevada. Inland