Arizona weekly miner., 1877-05-25
THE LITTLE COLORADO.

Chas. A. Franklin. in a letter to the MINER, dated at Florence, May IS, in de- scribing the Little Colorado and its tributa- ries. says:
 The river, for 10 miles from its source, contains immense quantities of as line speck- led trout as ever was seer in any country The general course of the river for the first forty miles is about east; here it Is joined by the Nutrioso The two valleys together are called, by the residents, "Round Valley. From this point, the river runs north a dis tance of 35 or 40 miles; here Is another large settlement, called St Johns, or El Badito, containing several thousand acres Of agricultural land, and millions of acres of grazing country. From Col. J. (. Hunts ranch, the river runs nearly west for % miles, to where lt is joined by another Stream-Chevalon's Fork. The distance from the head of the river to the mouth of Chevolon'S Fork is about 125 miles, follow ing the course of the stream. The first tributary is a small stream from the south, without any name. Tue next Is the Nutrioso, as already mentioned above. The two val leys together are called Round Valley" and contain about 1000 acres of rich, alluvial soil. The valley Is surrounded by high, basalt mesas, and in the sides of their cliffs are numerous coyes containing rude imple
 ments of agriculture, also thousands of bows and arrows. etc. etc. that were used by the former inhabitants of this part of the country. From the mouth of Chevalon's Fork, the course of the Little Colorado Is northwest. and continues this direction until it empties into the Grand Colorado T. srsir hslp Chevalon's Fork is the Rio Puerco of the West, which comes Tn from the north, and about 10 miles below. The Rio Puerco
 heads in the Sierra Madre, near New Fort Wingate. in the Territory of New Mexico. The next is Le RouX Fork, from the north, and about seven miles below the Rio Puerco
 There is no water ia the Le RouX Fork in
 the dry season, except near the head. The next is Little Dry Fork. from the south.
 The next in order Is the Big Dry Fork, from
 the south. The Big Dry Fork heads within half-mile of Tonto Basin, and is from 500
 10 GOO feet deep. There are mountain sheep here, and some of the grandest scenery that man ever behcld. The next
 tributary Is called "COttOnwood Fork,
 from the northeast and about three miles
 below Big Dry Fork. From the head oi the
 Little Colorado to the mouth of Cottonwood
 is about TO miles, and from here to the
 first falls or cascades k about @ miles more.
 These falls are about no feet high the first 70. and the second 60 feet, with a bench between of solid rock 20 feet wide Here begins the big canyon Of the Little Colo rado. How Long" and short got over
 these falls without pcrceiving them, bangs. Il creation. unless they scoOtcd over them m the night when they were asleep. The can
 yon begins here and gets larger, higher and
 g.ander the further down. The Little Colo rado. at high water. rushing through thls canyon, makes a roar equal to tha, of Ma gara, and can b2 heard at a great distance. agree with Moss, that man must ccr- tainly possess, if not the devil himself, the devils spirit, 10 go over these falls, which are from five to ono hundred feet high, and down through the rocks and houlGcrs, with the waters rushing, pitching, boiling, and plunging in every direction at the same ! time. How any boat could stand such buff ] feting k more than | can understand. From | the head of the canyon to the Noquis villa ges k about 9 miles and across the Painted
 Desert Here upon this desert are high 1 isolated mc,aS. disconnected from each other. resembling islands in the Sea, some ! of them 400 to 800 feet high, and perfectly i level on the top. The formation of these
 mesas is conglomcrated cement mo- ticed. in places on the south side of some of these mesas, where the wind had an unin- ! terrupted sweep from the San Francisco
 mountains, that the loose, white sand had
 drifted up against the mesa until it had
 reached the top, some 900 feet from the ! level of the plain.
 The above is interesting so far as the Lit
 tie Colorado is concerned but does not apply
 to John Moss or the Big Colorado. Mr. Moss
 exploits being entirely through the Grand Canyon of the latter stream Ed.