The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-04-07
The Great Southern Eoute
Across the Continent.

Il I -
was evidently scared by the Tcxa.
.Cow-Bovs," tells the following tale O
Adventure =
The new transcontincntai route was
opened BY the departure of the fir
through passenger train from San ran
cisco March Is, | started some days
before this date, and had to ride part 81
the way on construction trains and &c
lie over al several points. The conse-
queuce was that | saw something more
OF the country than will be likely TO
fall under the eyes Of the ordinaly
through passenger. AmoD- other
things, | had a good view o! that he'll
upon earth, the naScent town OF Dem
ing. Keep this in mind, readerD
The Dew route IS from San Francisco
bv the Southern Pacific RAILROAD to
Deming, New Mexico. This town is on
the plateau Of the Sierra Madre, about
thirty miles north of the Mexican Dor
der and eighty mics west northwest OF
El Paso del Norte. From Deming tie
route is by the Alchison Railroad to
Kansas City, Mo and thence eastward
BY either one of several lines. Alter
leaving San Francisco you travel along
the San Joaquin Valley. Then you
begin the ascent ofthe Tehachepi Noun
talns. The railroad here performs
several extraordinary evolutlons. 1t
doubles upon itself; 1t ties itself into a
a 'loup;' it goes over itself and
under itself and around itself, and,
after boring Itself through a um-
Der of mountains. energies from one of
these as though nothing had happened
and IL had been as straight as a string all
the time. Below Tehachepi Pass it
crosses the Great Mohave Desert, and
descends to the famous orange groves
ofSan Fernando, Los Angeles, and San
Bernardino.
This is semi-trorical California. Here
it is that the Spaniards first settled, that
gold wa, discov cred aud gold mines
worked years before Marshall unearthed
his historical. nugget at Coloma, that
the orange, the lime, the grape, ana
the pomegranate were planted by the
Mission Fathers. and that Spain found
its Arcadia in the New World. Moth
ing can exceed the natural beauty and
resources of this wonderful region 1t
is more than 100 miles from San Fer
nando to San Goreonio. There Is al
average of thirty miles etween the San
Bcrnardino range and the sea. This l.
the size of Paradise. The air Is balmy,
the skies are clear, the earth Gems With
vegetable riches, mountains are full Of
metals, and the sea swarlnS with fish.
When we passed through the vale OF
San Bernardina the trees were laden
with oranges, which were altered tor
sale through the car wlnderS at 10 cents
g dozen. An excursion party of editors
and reporters from San Francisco were
loading each other with orange gar
lands. A wonderfully rich gold mine
had recently discovered in the noun
tains. a coal mine was being openeued
in CoIon Pas. i couple of poor trech
men had amaSsed $50, 600 by herding
cattle near Point Conception Some
British noblemep were witering at Los
Angeles, and a number of New Workers
were curing themselves of rheumatism
at the hot mud baths Of San Bernar
dino.
This was the news of the neighbor-
hood. When you thread the pass OF
San Gorgonio you hear no more news.
You are on the desert. The earth has
turned to sand, the orange trees 10
leahess and deformed cacti, the grass to
scant and withered sage bush, the
rivers 10 dry arr oyas, the sun to a bon
fire, the air to a furnace blast, and men
to blackhed stones. You descend from
a thousand feet above the sea level 10
three hundred feet below 1t. The skel
etons of many animals lie bleaching III
the sunshine to tell Of past enterprises
and suffering and miserable deaths;
and the crow and vulture sail silently
through the air, starving to death for
lack Of fresh victims. But their day
is over. The railroad has changed and
Is still more cEangiI e the face OF the
country. Water and coallng stations
wayside restaurants appear. Arteslan
wells are being bored water Is obtain
ed, and with water everything Is posi-
bic. 1t took twelve hours to pass
through the Colorado Desert.
THROUGH ARIZONA.
Crossing the great bridge at Fort
Yuma we stood upon Arizona Territory.
river is wide, deep, and muddy Sever
al large, high pressure steamboats, la.
below the bridge bound for points above.
The coal beavers were Mohave Indians
tail, well-shaped, sinewy fellows, nearly
naked. with coarse black hair. sometimes
a yard long. b~eardless, beetle-browed,
british, and degraded. One Of them
had his hair done up in mud. The
women were employed as pack animals.
An Indian had three sacks of flour to
convey from the railroad camp, six
miles distant. He loaded three Squaw>
with Il sack apiece. then mounted his
horse aud rode leisurely behind his tot
terins harem. Upon being asked why
he did not load some of the -four upon /
his horse, he replied that the horse was
worth money, while he got women for
nothing.
From this point eastward to New
Mexico your journey lies in the valley Of.
the ella. Near Yuma the bottom lands
OF this valley are cultivated. Beyond
this the CHA so often fails of water that
cultivation is neglected and the country
becomes practically a desert. Near
Tucson, where you enter the valley of
the Santa CruX. cultivation is resumed.
Near Benson the San Pedro crosses the ,
the road. The water of this river Is
now fouled with the debris ofthe Tomb
stone mining mills, but it is still good
for irrigation, and ranches are cUltiva-
ted along its bottoms.
All this time you have been climbing
up hill. At Yuma you were only LOCO
feet, but at Tucson you are 1000 feet
above the sea level.
You are now on the Plateau of the
Sierra Madre, and you will remain in
this plateau until YOU reach the Rocky