The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-07-16
Z. YsrsR1ous lAKa.
The Great Desert iii southern Cali
fCrnia Inundated

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Fhe Great Desert iii Southern Cali
Icrnia Inundated.
A special from Yuma says the Colorado
iesefJ basin Al saIton. sixty miles west
Of hnia, is rapidly filling up with fresh
watet ieom "a sunterranean passage be-
lIeVed So be connected with the Colorado
river, caused by Che high waters OF last
February Al last advices it was con-
verted into a lake many miles wide The
Is heieg removed troin HE salt
factories n Saiton The Southern Pa
eiic Railroad track passes through the
basin fer more than CITY miles, its lowest
point being as9 feet below the sea level.
Tho Colorado river is 1850 feet above the
sen level ar Yuma If the snbterranean
passage connects with the Colorado river
above Yuma the lake viii be over four
hundred feet ia depth and over fifty
miles long If the waters continue to
rise the Southern Pacific track will be
submerged for nearly 100 miles, and the
great desert of Colorado will be converted
into a vast lake.
Colorado desert, the scene of this
nounced now to he filling with water,
forming a great inland lake, is in San
Diego county, the most southern county
of California It is bordered by the Col
10 ~, no eide the Nan
Bernardino mountains on the north,
Lower California on the South, and the
fertile coast lands on the west. Taken
all in all, ii makes a district about sev>
enty miles wide by one hundred and forty
long. The great inland basin at its lowest
part is 27j feet below the sea level. This
region was named the Colorado Desert
because of its barren, sandy. alkaline soil
and scanty vegetation. In some places
the soil is composed of sand, packed to-
gether firmly. with hard, smooth sur
face which reflects light like mirror; in
other places are mountains of loose sand
which are continually shifting. This re-
gion of California is of recent formation,
and is sterile and forbidding to the last
degree. 1t has many dry lakes and creek
beds These lakes or CULTS, often very
deep are always salt or bitter and often
without water most of the year. but the
beds of the lakes are covered with aka
line deposits.
Like the famous Death Valley, there
are some who think the Colorado Desert
of volcanic origin. 1t is more likely,
however, to have come from the recession
of the waters However this great hole
may have first been scoOped out, there
are unmistakable signs of former marine
life. shells and other things extending up
to the San Gorgonio Pass in the San
Bernandino mountains, the gateway
from the desert to the orange groves OF
Southern California. The commonly &C
cepted opinion is that the Gulf Of Calls
fornia once reached several hundred
miles farther north than it now does,
and that the Colorado River in long ages
deposited SO much aliuviuta as TO make
banks down to the present head of the
Gulf, thus cutting of from its connection
a part of the great basin until recently
so dry and sterile The evaporation in
this desert far exceeds the fall of rain; so
it was not long before this lake which
was left behind was dried up.
Mr.. Joseph F. James. who spent four
weeks at the head of q surveying party
which travelled over this desolate region
some wears ago, on his return gave this
graphic and blood boiling account of his
heated and cherries experiences: Neith-
er the Desert of Cobb in Asia, nor the
Great Sahara in Africa can be worse in
respect 10 heat than it's small relative,
the Colorado Desert in California.
No industry can thrive here except in
places where there are deposits Of salt.
Near SaIton this product is found in al
most its natural state. and large salt
works are located there, which, it is now
reported, are ruined by the sudden and
mysterious food. There is, OF course, no
chance in this great region for agricul-
ture, aud no great part of it was ever
successfully irrigated. Such project
was early contemplated being suggested
by its remarkable situation below the
level of the sea with great river to the
west, a great gulf to the south, and a
stream called New River which dur>
ing the wet season is filled from the seep-
age of the Colorado, to flow out into and
across the sands toward the mountains
It was this river on the desert the south
ern contingent OF the pioneer gold hunt
ers came to in the early summer of 1S49,
when they were YEARLY trudging on
towards the Ell Dorado. 1t was to them
say the chroniclers of that suffering time,
as if another Moses had smitten the earth
and caused the waters to gush forth.
The overlooking of Colorado Desert
continues and there is now a prospect
that the inpouring waters will not cease
until the entire desert is covered. Al
ready a vast inland lake has been formed
and its area is being momentarily ms
creased
Already the circumference of this in
land sea, which seemingly arose from
the bowels of the earth, measures one
and four miles Thus far DO
serious damage has attended it's growth,
but unless it's limits are soon reached
damage is sure to result,
particularly to the property of the South
ern Pacific Railroad Company.
The correspondent of the New York
World telegraphs from San Jose that the
wonderful lake is the result of an earth
quake. The correspondent has just re-
turned from the scene of the great flood
He had unusual opportunities to observe
the waters ravages. Two terrific earth
quake shocks shook all Southern Cali
fornia last Monday morning.
A Sermon in a Sentence.
We pay that man six dollars a day."
said the proprietor of a small shop re-
Gently to US, for the reason that he is
the best man in the United States on
that kind of work, and we think our