Morning journal and courier., 1891-10-12

To Professor Blake of this city belongs the honor of the discovery of this vast, mysterious desert, and ,as stated above, the fact which he, away back in '53 in his re- port to the United States government, pre- dicted as in the course of events likely to occur, has been accomplished-th desert, | or, rather, large area therein, has again, after vast number of years, become an inland sea.
 The Colorado Desert Lake. A DESCRIPTION BY PROFESSOR BLAKE WRIT
 TEN BY REQUEST FOR THE JOURNAL AND
 COURIER.
 The recent overflow of the Colorado and the submergence of a large portion of the Colorado Desert, although so unex- pected and so startling to most people, is simple matter and is only one in series of similar events of which we have ample evidence. Nearly forty years have passed since the conditions permitting the inflow and the drying up were fully dis cussed and described in my report to the especially interested may find all the de- tails and many pictorial illustrations and geological map of the desert (See volume V, Pacific railroad reports.)
 The Gulf of California and the Colo rado river of the west are the two great factors in the phenomena of the over flow. The gulf occupies the great valley, or trough, which separates Old Mexico from Lower California, but the head of the gulf is not at the head of the valley. The valley really extends some 200 miles further to the northwest and up to the very base of San Bernardino mountain, which towers above the valley of that name, and supplies the water for the Redlands and other colonies in which l many New Haven people are interested. The explorer may stand on this noble | mountain and look down upon the vine- | yards, gardens and orange groves of the
 coast slope all verdant and smiling with
 abundance, and on the other hand see a
 treeless expanse of ash-colored desert, hot,
 arid and death dealing
 It was in the fall of 1853 after toiling
 back and forth through the then almost
 unknown passes of the Sierra Nevada we
 were glad to rest for few days in the Mormon settlement of San Bernardino be- | fore attempting the unknown valley of the desert. The best railroad pass through the
 whole chain of the Sierra Nevada was be- fore US, this was evident, but it's altitude
 had not been taken and the nature
 of the country beyond no one
 knew. It had not been traversed l by any explorer. Fremont's routes were
 far north of us and Emory had crossed
 to San Diego, much further south, and no
 one had discovered any depression below
 the sea level, and indeed no such de-
 pressed area had then been found to exist
 in America. We were thus unprepared
 for the discovery which awaited us. From | the summit of this pass we descended to
 the desert and found it lower than the
 valley on the seaward side. The barone-
 ter already indicated nearly the sea 1evel
 but the surface sloped away lower and
 lower for miles beyond. Soon beach was
 found, but no water, then water line on
 the rocks, sharp and distinct, then depos- it's of travertin from the water line down
 ward, then dead shells of fresh water spe-
 cies covered the ground. We had entered
 the bed of an ancient lake, the shores of
 which were at the sea level. White beds
 of salt in the distant and deepest depres-
 sion showed that the water had been salty
 and gradually evaporated, and some shells
 of brackish water species indicated that
 portions of the old lake once contained sa- | line waters for considerable period.
 Here then was 8 problem. How had
 this great expanse of water been made to disappeara Theories of elevation of subsi- dence, of sand dunes and all other hy- | potheses were unsatisfactory, as for days l and nights we struggled on over the clay l floor of the ancient lake below the level of the sea, and without rivulet or spring
 of water to give blade of grass chance 1 to grow.
 l There was one charming exception. We | found green spot, veritable oasis, where springs of warm and of cold water were | surrounded with accacias and palms; here
 too, there village of Cohuilla In- dians, and the warm spring was half full of dusky maids who shyly crept out through
 the bullrushes on the far side as we crowded to the water. The old Alcalde
 was delighted to see wagons in his valley, and he discoursed volubly about the great floods that had driven their fathers from the valley, while afterwards the floods had dried away little by little. The question | of origin and disappearance, however, still remained unsolved, and only after seeing amount of silt it carried down to the sea,
 was it possible to formulate a theory that
 could meet all the conditions.
 l It will be seen on looking at map of
 the region that the Colorado river does not enter the valley of the gulf at it's ex- | treme head, but one hundred miles or more southeast of it. The explanation of 1 the origin of the lake then is that the de- | posits of the river gradually formed delta across the gulf and, aided by the | high tides, built up a bar like dam from one side of the gulf to the other, along which the river ran, sometimes emptying into the lake-like portion cut off from | the gulf-and again directly into the gulf, | until finally it's course was chiefly to the gulf and the water above the bar being without supply gradually dried away and left the | smooth floor of the desert.
 It would appear that now at times of ex- ceptionally high water portion of the l river flood finds it's way in some of the old l channels back to the desert. The channel l called New River is one of them. There are seasons at long intervals when water flows there, being supplied by the overflow of the Colorado, the banks of which, like | the banks of the Mississippi, are higher | than the country back from the river The conditions of the Colorad in it's lower DOT | tions are analogous. Crevasses are formed and the low country is inundated. Con- l sidering the great depression of the desert | the flow is, of course, rapid and in large l volume. It is possible that it may lately l have been sufficient to cut permanent channel through which the river may enter | and refill the lake, but as the stream prob l ably divides and spreads over a large sur | face as it descends its cutting power is di- | unfinished and as the river falls the flow 1 will probably be-. eversed and cease.
 Very little is known of the topography | of the Colorado below the mouth of the | Gila. It is in the Mexican territory. There are broad and fertile bottom lands cut by old channels, sloughs and bayous through which water at times of food will find it's | way. Much is written and many opinions are expressed about the effect upon the climate by permanent filling of the valley with water. It will not be appreciable.