Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-09-04
MOUNTAINS OE SAIL.
what an Old Settler Has to Say About
Those on the Colorado River.

what nm Old Settler Has to Say About
Those on the Colorado River.
One of the oldest settlers of Fort
Yuma, A. T.. 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
20 up there 10 get salt. There are
great mountains of salt up in the Vir.
gin, which is a tributary of the Colo.
RADIO, each of which is larger aud
higher than Goat island. The salt is
pure and white; it is clearer than
glass. You may take a piece Of il
seven or eight inches thick and read a
common newspaper through it
THE salt mountains ove a
stretch Of about twenty-five miles on
both sides of the Virgin, seven miles
up from the Colorado. A single blast
OF giant powder will blow out tons
upon tons Of it This salt does not
dazzle your eyes as you might expect
while riding along on the river steam
er or clambering over it 1t has a
layer OF sandstone from two TO eight
feet thick over il. When this is torn
away the salt lies in full sight like a
great snowdrift How deep it is no.
body knows. This salt is destin-
ed to be a source of great wealth.
Hamilton Disston, the big saw manu-.
facturer, and Baldwin, Of the Baldwin
locomotive works, are the only men
who have secured any of the salt
mountains. When the Utah Southern
railroad is pushed on from Frisco,
Utah, il will tap the salt mountains
and then an enormous revenue will
be realized from them"
Capt. Mellon brought down from
the mines, for the Academy of Sci
ences, San Francisco, some queer
things. Under the cap rock was found
charred wood and charcoal, besides
some mating made Of cedar bark.
The salt had preserved it. 1t might
have lain there thousands OF years.
Evidently there had been a slide that
covered up the camp equipage of some
prehistoric men. Strange TO say, a
similar discovery has been made i'm
the salt mines of louisiana. The rocks
up toward the salt mountains are
pointed and cut into hieroglyphics
which none of the Mojave, Yuma,
Piute or other Indians know the mean
ing of
In the same interview Capt. Mellon
said: There are valleys along the
great, but as yet unknown, Colorado,
singly as much as 100 miles long and
twenty miles wide. That will be the
real orange country Of the globe.
They are as rich as the valley Of the
Nile. Irrigation will redeem them.
Water will be brought on them as sure
as destiny.
'El Dorado canyon is grander than
the Grand canyon Of the Colorado. The
tops of the windows in the steamer
ella do not project out more than six
inches, yet ! may put my head out
and look as high as / can, and can't
see half way up the mighty walls of
the canyon. The river is $50 feet wide
there, too. The only way you can
see to the top is to get right out on
deck and look straight up. The walls
N SO high that there is perpetual
shade there. Neither the sun nor the
moon can shine in. 1t takes ten hours
going up to go through the canyon,
and two hours coming down.
by the Colorado river and the vir-
gin you can run clear up to Nevada
and Utah. Many people have laugh
ed at nee for saying l was going up
INTO mountainous Nevada by boat,
but that's just what | have been do
ing right along. Strange as it may
seem, and little known as it is, the
Colorado has more navigable water
without portage than any other river
on the Pacific coast Ii has 700 miles,
while the Columbia has but $50. The
Colorado is the only real field for ex-
plorers on the North American CONT
tinent outside of the frigid north. The
wonders that could be unearthed there
will yet attract the attention Of the
greatest scientists OF the world. San
Francisco Examiner.