Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1889-07-19

interest to your readers
The country under consideration may
be, in general, described rs boidered on
the north by the Rio Santa Fe, Oh the
south by the Rio Galisteo, on the east by
the Santa Fe range and Oh the west by 81
line drawn from north to south along the
eastern foot OF the Cerrillos, an area iii
Which about 1920 acres oil public land
Is situate,
SURFACE DESCRIPTION.
On the Whole, the valley south and
west OF Santa lie between the above
boundaries may be considered Il plain !;
the surface has a southwesterly slope
which, drawing bee line from Hondo
station, U,354 ieet elevation, to San Mar
COS spring, 6,O36 elevation. and which
nearly runs through he center OF the plain,
amounts to 703 feet in distance Of 1914
miles, or 65.l5 feet per mile, or l.23
iert III 100 feet. In consequence Of this
general slope the proded valleys and
numerous rayines, like Arroyo Chamiso,
Arroyo HGndo, Canada del Rancho,
Canada de las Minss and Canada Ancha
have the same general southWerstel ~
dir ction.
The constant water supply Of the two
running streams, Rio Santa Fe aud Gal
isteo, comes from the Santa re range on
the east, the former from Lake Peas,
II ,4O0 feet high, the latter from GlOrieta
Badly, {, 49,. feet high, where Canoncito
and Apache cree ks, forming the Galisteo,
rise. Snow Of the mountains in winter,
and more Copious rains that fail on the
mountains and not upon the plains in
summer time, are the sources of these
streams. While o. CopiOus flow how
ever in the mountains, their volume great
l. diminishes or gets totally lost in sum
mer time OH the plain by the rapid evap-
Grafton on account OF the dryness OF the
earth and the atmosphere.
Arroyas, canadas and rayines bear water
only after rains. The plain is dotted with
cedar and pinOn, rolling III some places,
apparently level in others he soil is good
ana only needs the seasonable application
OF water 10 make il fertile. The valleys,
or eroded depressions, are treeless their
sides slope gently from the uplands or
higher general level OF the plain.
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES.
The first one to define the geological
formations around Santa Fe was Prof. |.
S. Newberry, who in 1858 with Lieut..
Tors, and in 1893 with Capt, Mascomb,
visited this country, and it only remains
to say that his examinations have been
corDboraled by other scientists in follow
ing years. 1t is his reports and those Of
Marsou, Hayden, Cape and others upon
which these lines are based.
The nucleus OF the Santa Fe range are
Archarau rocks granite, gneiss and mica
schists, which all are metamorphic rocks
cially granite OF q coarse, bright, brick
red ieluspathic constitution, with numer-
Gus, sometimes very large veins OF quartz.
Agalnst it are tanked on the west side OF
the range, j. e., toward the plain, and at its
base, cartOnilerous strata, upturned and
dipping from 10 degrees to 81 degrees
west the limestone OF this formation can
be traced ali along the range from Taos to
south Uf Sunta Re wherever the everything
mails have been worn away :; it is associated
v it'll red and gray shaes and some beds
OF course sandstones, two 10 three ieet
thick, OF the same period the limestone
is fUsslllerous and the formation con-
lains ,oa, us shown III the Barnum mine
bet~ cen Cayauaugh's mill and the reser-
voir Of the Water Works company; in |
II. ,.lt al IL, urL
In the hills immediately |
back (east) Of Santa Fe these curbonifer-
DIS strata are about 50J feet thick up the |
Rio Santa re about ninety eight feet at
lie foot OF { erro Giordo about ll6 feet
In turn the carbonllerous strata are |
lanked by nlesoyois beds, but OF these, |
lie ,retaceUus, Iurussic and frassiC, only !
,ome thin layers OF the iiiassic have been |
uund northeast Of Santa Fe, while of the |
urassic none have been observed, so that
Jnly the crttaceOus or upper chaiks with !
lint, lower chalks and greensands, remain |
o he considered.
OF the more recent tertiary period,
iliocene, miocene, eorene, bat scattering
races are lett, as near San ii iefoEso,
\ here it is supposed to belong to the
Except for the surfnre eros on which /.
las SO gre tly modified the topography oil
lie region surrounding Santa te, these |
TetaceOus formations would lie It'll h-h |
Up the mountain sides, covering the ,
Underlying rocks. The cretaceous, us
exhibited around Santa Fe, belongs TO the
over series consisting OF coarse gray
,andbeds and layers Of sandstone; upper
series, consisting OF calrareous shues and
If lerrugenous, sialy, cream colored sandy
imcstones with numerous marls, and
oose material OF trachyte, granite, sands,
lay and marty or "chalky" llmestones.
Nearer the Gslisteo, and entering its
valley, these cretaceous beds incline from
b to 81 degrees, but the marls them
selves have only general dip of from 3
% degrees westward. The cretaceous
beds a e from 800 to ! 800 feet thick.
About nine miles south of Galisteo,
where Capt. Pope bored his well, the
thickness OF the strata are as follows:
!, calcaresus, cream colored or white
eriary limestone, % feet; 2, gray and
elbow shaes. 1000 feet; 3, grayish or
yellow sandstone, 100 feet; 4, gray or
blush shalcs with bands of red, thin lay.
FRS of arenaceous limestone, 800 feet; 5,
brow nish or yellow thick bedded sand
stone, 35U ieet--l775 feet; =, white, fine
grained calrareous sandstone; Z, red CAL
areous sands and marls.
II the experiment had been carried on
it seems probable that the low er cretaceous
sandstones would have been struck hich |
lip down from the PLACER mountains, so
that the water flowing through them
would have risen 10 the surface.
sENLaAL CONDITIONS FOR BORING ARTEsIAS
WELLS.
Water 10 supposed TO follow the laws OF
nydrostatic pressure, that is, where the
surface water reaches an impermeable
stratum, it follows the inclination of that