Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-10-04
~MOuNTAINc or SALT.
What an Oid settler tias To Say Ab"u'
Tlhos. an tn. Colorado River.

Those an tn. Colorado River
One of the oldes, settlers OF Fort
Yuma. A. r., Capt. J. A. Mellon, SAID
in a recent interview: There are
stretches of hundreds Of miles on the
Colorado river that are less known
than the heart of central Africa, We
90 up there 10 get salt. There are
great mountains Of salt up in the Nlr
gin, which is a tributary of the Colo
RADIO. each Of which is larger auE.
higher than Goat island. The salt IS
pure and white; II is clearer thsu
glass. You may take a piece OF II
seven or eight inches thick and rcila n
common newspaper through 1t.
The salt mountains cover "
stretch pf about twenty-five miles on
both sides Of the Virgin, seven miles
up from the Colorado. ASlngle blast
Of giant powder will blow ont tons
upon tons of il. This salt docs not
dazzle cur eyes as you might expect
while riding alp-g ON the river steam
er or clamIyriyg over il. IL has a
laverO OF sandstone from two TO eight
feet thick over il. When this is Torn
away the salt lies in full sight. like a
great suowdriit How deep il Is no.
body knows. This salt is dCStiu
ed 10 be- a source Of great wealth.
hamilton DIsst0u, the bic sIw rpuu.
ldc.Urrr ana Baldwin. OF tae l.IaSin
locomotive works, are the only men
who have secured any Of the salt
mountains. When the Yah Southern
railroad is pushed on from Frisco,
Utah, il viii rIp the SIT mountains
md thea an enormous revenue Will
be realized from LLcm.'
Capt. Mellon brought down from
the mines, Tor the academy Of Scr
euccS. sun Francisco, some queer
llings, Under the cap rock WAS found
clarg,l wood and charcoal, besides
some mating made of cedar bark.
The salt had preserved it. 1t might
have lam there thousands of years
Evidently there had been a sid, that
covered mp The camp Cqs!page OF souIe
prehistoric mca. Strange 10 say, q
similar discovery has been made in
tho salt mines Of Louisiana. The rocks
up toward the Allt mountains are
pointed and cut into lIurnglyphlcs
which none Of tie Noiaye, Yuma,
Pluto or olhCr Indians know tie mean
ing OF
In the same Interview Capt Mellon
saIi, There ARE valleys along the
great, but as vel uuSn0wu, Colorado,
sIEgiy as much as l.3 milo, long and
twenty mics ~lIp. That will be the
real orange country OF the globe,
They are o., rich us the valley NJ tAe
Nile. Irrigation will redeem them
Water SD. 10, brought on them 2s surs
a. destiny.
ri Dorado canyon Is grlndlr, Ilar
tlcGran canyon Of the Colorado, The
'oIs of the windows IA the steamer
GIla TO not project ont more than six
inches, vt / Uay pat my head OUT
and look rs high as | can, and can't
SEQ half way up the mighty walls of
the canyon. The river is $50 feet wide
there, too. The only way you CAL
see 10 the top Is 10 get right out on
deck aud cook straight up. The walls
are 50 high that there Is perpetual
shade there. Neither the sun nor the
moon can shlue H.. IL takes ten hours
going up 20 90 through the canyon,
and two hours coming down.
BY the Colorado river and the Fir
GU you can run clear gp tu Nevada
and Utah. Many people have laugh
eli al ne fur saying l MAS going up
into mountainous Nevada by boat,
but that's just what have been do
ing ugAt along. Strange as il may
scum. and little known rs IL is, tue
Colorado has more uaylgable watch
without portage than any other river
OF tie Pacific coast. 1t has 7UO miles,
while the Columbia has but 800, The
Colorado is the only real field for cX.
plorcrs on the North American cont.
tIneDt outside Of the frigid north. The
wondcrs that could be uucarthed there
will yet attract the attention of the
greatest scientists vi the world. San
Francisco Examiner.