The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-07-13

IT, arid wastes through the picturesque
Gorgnnio Canyon. Moonlight lent H.
weired enchantment 10 the shadowy out
lines ~ distant mountains dimly seen
beyond the dark rocks through which
our way was cut. The cold winds
reached Us from The snow mountains
.Cold Is itv' asked The brakeman
"ie'll be begging for half a breath ~
II before morning. We realized this
when we descended into what might be-
called 1.-The valley Of the shadow of
death'-~if there could be a shadow
there. There Is no object on this vast
area. 1000 miles long and from 100 10
goo miles wide, that Is capable u max
ing "A shadow. In the deserts of Africa
there are GASES with their shady palms
and wells Of living water: here there i
nothing but stuntcd sage brush and
Struggling spears Of yellow grass. For
many miles not even these are seen !:
nothing, absolutely nothing but an ever
lasting waste 81 sand bounded by the
horizon or the bases Of distant noun
tains. whose blue outlines have SO often
mockcd the hopes Of the weary traveller.
doomed 70 perish for want Of the water
in their sight, signing for the streams
that gush from their canyons
This is the
GREAT AMERICAN SAHARA,
which. although mostly in the limits Of
California, is called the Colorado
Desert, and has become familiar 10 the
public through the proposition Of DR..
Wozcncraft. That enthusiastic gentle
man has long been endcavoring 10 per-
suade Congress 10 give 10 the company
he represents the right Of turning the
Colorado River into the desert for the
purpose Of irrigating few millions Of
acres and making them profitable a.
farming lands. have not seen single
individual who has crossed this plain
who characterizes this scheme ~ any
thing but insane, and now that we have
seen Il for ourselves | am fully of this
opinion.
The valley was Enthusiastically at one
time an arm Of the sea. and ii the ex-
pertinent would not result in the destruc-
ton of the railroad il could not be put
70 a better use than 10 make il revert 10
the original owner. This could be ac-
complishcd easily by cutting canal
only few miles from the coast and let
ting in the Pacific Ocean, which is high
er than the plain. Our track actually
descended, before we reached Yuma. To
a depth Of 253 feet feet below the sea
level, and we have some marine shells
picked up from the sand. There are
stories told ~ a wreck that was found
here not long ago, proving that this was
ONCE A NAvIGABLE SEA.
But such aprocryphal legends are need
less. In this case fact can sustain itself
without the aid Of fancy. The ind-
cations furnished BY the shells and 9th
er outward appearances are made still
more conclusive by the extraordinary
depression Of the ground. and by the
fact that the water brought up in these
ow bottoms is salt.
We were discussing this project Of
ocean inundation as we journeyed with
4 native Of California. at would not
answer he said. ..to take the risk.
some folks say il would be an advantage
to the climate and give us more rain;
but then il might make il like Boston,
and from what heartfelt Of that country
wouldn't like 20 live there"
On the higher grade water has not
yet been reached AZ one station where
we were delayed. men were boring an
artcsian we'll. They had perforated
lsj feet Of sand, a dry al this depth as
AT the surface.
One glance at Or. Wozcncraft's
scheme should be sufficient to condemn
IL The Colorado Rivera stream whose
Importance has been greatly exaggera-
ted, j. not an eighth Of mile wide where
we crossed il at Yuma. and i so shoal
that il is only navigable for stern-whee
boats drawing less than two feet. Still,
il i too valuable for purposes Of nayi-
CATION 70 be taken out Of it, bed. But
supposing II turned on to this desert,
Il would be lost in almost the first acre
Of sand The Mississippi would not
wander far before II would be literally \
sucked in, as Congress will be, met
aphorically, II il should give its sane
tion to such an absurdity.