Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-11-17
LA YENTANA 4 MYTH.
Tucson Parties Scale the Alpine
 Heights.
The Mystery Selved The Journey-rhs Ascent The Wonders >een-A
 Well Wooded Country.

l t4AFE EeslltlL1 oL uceOu nave ! pointed ous to the new corners as a 1 curosity, sort of a natural bridge wonder. Viewed through telescopes 1t l presented the appearance of tunnel | through the mountain, bat there Is 1 notbllg 50 deceIvIng as a mountain ID Auzona. Parties nave been found who : had been near the window, and one asserted that 1t was a hole and that be had climbed through H. In order 10 know the truth Of this freak of nature 1 the CITIZEN local with G. H. Barnhart
 left Tucson last Satu. day afternoon bound for La Veutana. A delay was ] had tiL Sunday morning at the dairy of 1 C. c. Jones on the RillItO creek in order
 to procure his guidance.
 Mir. JuHes has a splendid dairy; at pres cut fUrty-seven COWS are on the' string" Hs has l fine lot Of calves. Ills range
 Is quite e1tensTe, being over the foot hills Of tine Santa CatHlInas. His cattle are or tue American stock, and gentle as
 one could wlsh.
 From Jones dairy the route was up
 the RlllIto to Cactus ranch, where Paul Plummer has his country residence. Thence 1t was up Alamos canyon to lis head. lt IS then only a short distance
 Co the canyon that leads up to La Ven
 taua. The grazing along here IS not
 very good as ID Ous place about seven
 teen COWS were fighting for one straw.
 Here at the mouth of the Nentana can-
 yon LeOpuldo C4rnllO has a ranch. At
 tLis place Mr. Jones withdrew his
 guldauce after giving minute directions
 how to make the ascent
 Inc horses, saddles and blankets were
 left at the foot of the mountain; its
 steep sides forbid anything to be taken
 along, except sucu as Was actually Dec-
 essary. Al ? D. n. on Sunday the ascent
 began.
 Nentans ctnyon is a grand gorge that
 runs iJwn between two high ridges tha.
 [ wer up hundreds and probably thOu-
 sand or two feet nigh. Just aDJvs iA
 mouth there Is Co remarkable echo whicL
 per.ecuy repeats every sound that Is ut
 tered.
 Whon asked, "w1il Tucson have
 smeltery the answer came back -'havr
 d shelter" Pretty soon, or not?"
 "Not," was the prompt reply. "Wu
 the SiDri1o be damned?' ''Sabrino b.
 d-i," was the prO-ane reply. "WIli
 the Point LJbO- road never be buIltY"
 Never be buIIr,' answered the windy
 oracle.
 Tue ascent IS very rapid. Every step
 took the travellers a ot or two feet
 higher. One great curiosity IS the
 bamerlUs pJIsed rocks These are huge
 Duulders that by some unknown agency
 have balanced themselves on tbe tops Of
 lodges It seem that a pistol saoi
 would upset tlsm. and although a fusil aC wa kept up on one tor awhile, Ii allowed nolL.ug JO disturb It's Calm re
 pose. Here these rocEs have stood, perhaps for ml!leHuuiums, at least fOi centuries, and uo earthquake or storm has yer UeaH able to move them.
 Ihe way was up a "back-bone." At intervals benches or flats We're reached
 hat seem tO serve as kInd of Q bas, for the next rise m the mountain.
 Suddenly a rocky ldge was reached. 4 lgm--shaped opening on its easter.i >l is was Jhe only way tO get fur.h=r. OI either side are columns Of rocks ris- Iug up, with the usual poised stone ou Top. Down thls steep a de=ceGt was made I0 the bench below, and then the regular ascent was recommended.
 Whiie tOling upward three deer were seen CrlZug on sIde-hIll, across O mall gorge to the east. At the first pistol shot they disappeared behind some rocks.
 The soIl of these mountain sides i= fer-Ile, for it Is covered with thick growth of grass. The sahuara here at talns gigantic proportions. The Span ish Dlyonet stands ady at every rock 10 resist travel, while smaller speclc- ls numerOusiy distributed. Everything seemed to have a thorn. The soil Is no' -eep, and the granite sticks ont along In great ledges, tAat often rise hun 1red feet and more into the HIr. Tn, granite everywhere contains mica ir dominance, indicating the proximity a mother ledge Some fine specimen l Of mica We're obtained, but none suft ] cieutly large to be of any particular lu 1 terest. No mineral indications were | found.
 A high, rocky cliff was scaled and II | was discovered tO be the end of the par ucllEr "Dark bone upon which the ana l tepr travellers were climbing. A preci- | plce some two hundred feet down forbiG | any further progress ID that direction. and the fact dawned upon their minds | that to reach the Nentana another mack ! bone" must be climbed. They accord | llEly descended Co a good cgmplu- place, aud kindled signal fire to the | friends left ln Tucson. The fire ws. 1 noticed by great many in Tucson ou 1 SGuday evening. 4 gale arose Tn the | night that made "fiOme howl" By tht 1 the thermometer marked twelve | degrees below freezing point Tbeii | hacks would nearly freeze while their | faces would almost roast at the fire. Tn. I absence Of blankets and the cold forbid | much rest that night
 The electric lights of Tucson were | plainly seen, and looked grand from thr mountain top.
 At break of day descent was made in- -o gorge Co the east, and by the mid lie of the forenoon the summit of the was reached that lead to the EentanA There was little more than straight walking tO do hen, and yester- lay noon the parties stood in the hither- 10 alleged window.
 The first giimpses caught of the Ven .aua from the traIl seemed to eoufiru ! ts appearance from Tucson, namely, hat lJ was really a natural tunnel 1 hrOugh a ledge Of rocks. 4 few no 1 nents afterwards solved the mystery. ] md revealed the truth. It is simply lo-ch about fifty feet deep m a gri.uit. lige that rises like a thousand other edges from the top uf mountain sum nits. Viewed from Tucson the tops of ue rocks ore apparently one uubrokel irch. A few fec to the east IS another l lltch which IS invisible from Tucson. ! lt trst the explorers could hardly be leye their own eyes, and 1t was no lutIl they actually walked in anf round the two notches that they be .ame convinced that the famous Ven ana is 0 myth. that IL IS ID reality puerto r door rather than veutana or hole ! The ledge is thirty feet wide at that par icular point The whole ledge k aboui | lghty fe,t high, sinking to about fifty | eet n the center, making the saddle ] cen from Tucson. The granite com .osiag The ledge Is full of mica. Tn 1 mystery having been solved, nothin. lpre of the curIOus remained.
 To ihe north the slopes of the "back. One' ran down some two miles to uely wooded country. Tall pines could .e seen. The scenery is remindful Of bat Of the Sierra Nevada. Ridge aftei idCe ot mountains were visible stretch 'g away 10 the north, each one nvng the appearance of being heavily lpthed with timber. Fur down th, innntain sides at the bottom of gullie- ould be seen streams of water glimmer ig in the sunlight. To the south wa lount Wilkinson hiding her head in e lp Iof clouds. Beyond were tn. J ataConia mountains, and the Sierra d. gu Jose of Sonora The Rincons, Ora oOns, and Nhetstones were plainly l slble. To the southwest were the ierritas and little further to the west ere the steep sides Of Baboquivsl a aBk. The GuDsICht aud Quijotoa were easily distinguished A he high peaks of the Santa Ctalinas n reveuted any northern view of other aces. a