The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-04-14
ODD THINGS IN The WEST.
.S~DsnruL NATURAL cuRIosI.
TIES IN ARIZONA AND NEVADA.
Whole Mountains of salt-stranGc
PctrifactioB, Subterranean Rivers
and Prehistoric fsemafos.

TN the State of Nevada and tho Ter
ritory OF Arizona occur the most
extensive natural stores OF salt In
the United States. Not only arc
there salt springs, wells. lake. ."d nond'.
J ..,.L ioius or SAT- In tho deserts, but
also immense deposits Of rock salt. In
the early days OF silver mining on the
Comstock lode salt, for use In the ANAL
gamation Of the ores, was brought over
the Sierra Nevada Mountains by teams,
as IL had been seen by tho emigrans to
California in crossing the plains, but the
owners OF the teams could not be induced
to venture out into those great wastes
aud watcrlcss tracts. In 1862 camels were
brought to the Comstock mines for use
in the deserts, aud train Of fifteen OF
those animals was employed In packing
salt from Sand Springs. This was In
desert of sand aud alkali, about eighty
miles cast Of Virginia City. Wagons
being used in the transportation OF salt
| from this deposit, as we'll as tho camels,
the price OF the article was soon reduced
| to $50 ton. Soon the occupation Of
| the "ships OF the desert" was gone;
prairie schooners' crowded them to tho
rocks. They were sold to Mcxicins,
who used them in packing wood down
the mountains. Among the rocks the
poor brutcs became footsore, aud by III
usage were rcducoi to mere skelet ons.
They were then sold to a compassionate
Frcnchman who owned ranch on tho
Carson River. Their new owner turned
tho animals out to roam at will. Tha
bitter and prickly shrubs CT our deserts
bolng tho same rs or akin to those OF
their native deserts, tho herd soon in
creased to over thirty, great and small,
They were at last sold to parties In Ari-
zona to be used in packing orc from the
mountains to mills In tho valleys. Tho
hriz )na men soon turned tho whole horI
loose to shift for thc'nsclyc, in tho viii.
dcrncss. At last accounts they were
running wild on the Ola River, whore
they find congcnial home.
Great quantities ofpctritied wood arc
seen in many places. In somo localities
tho trunks OF whole trees, three or four
feet In diameter, lio stretched along the
ground. These arc now solid stone.
Cioudbursts, sweeping tho ,oil out OF
ravincs aud cutting throu ,h mountain
.lats, havo often brought to ligat thick
strata Of logs aud bolgns, or long lines
of stumps OF large trees standing ac they
grew, the roots and all parts thoroughly
pctri6ed.
1t is evident that n. ono tino trees
and vegetation must have been abundant
in tho Great Basin Region, rs it was the
home Of animals now only found in tho
forests and junglcs Of tropical countries.
Under stratum of sandstone about
twenty feet thick nt the State prison
quarry, Carson City, in u layer OF fine
grained stone that appears to have once
Decn the soft, oozy margin of lake, arc
to be seen hundreds Of tracks of various
kinds Of animals aud birds. These tracks
look as fresh and distinct as those we
frequently SEQ Of domestic auimals in
the mud at and about ponds after the
soft material has hardened un1cr tho
heat OF. the sun. There arc tracks of
elephants, rhinoceros, horse, deer, lions,
tigers, wolves, hycnas, Of many kinds of
birds, large and small. There arc also the
tracks OF what Is supposed to have been
man Of prehistoric times. The tracks
arc such us might have been mado by
big.footod man. The tracks Of all tho
larger animals lead in one direction and
all were evidently moving toward tho
Same object, winch object must have
been watcr-a lake or n spring. AS tho
soft mud, all now stone, is seen to have
been squeeze up or splashcd aside by
the feet of some Of the heavy beasts the
tracks cannot be far from where lay tho
,ncicnt lake or pond, and by stripping
)n the superintendent strata for n short
distance further some wonderful discov-
cries might be made.
The greatest single deposit of salt in
Nevada is that which is sometimes
:allcd "Salt Mpuntain," and is ~ range
II hills Of pure rock salt situated in the
southwestern corner OF the State, in Lin
.Dln County. This mountain mas, of
ock salt is OF unrivalci purity ana pos
csses tho solidity of marble. 1t lies on
he Rio Virgin, tributary Of the Colo
ado River, IN tho northern portion Of
he Colorado basin. A solid wall o:
Ialt is c1 ,,o;cd on each silc Of Cavo Hill
canyon, which is so hard that it is nee
,1sary to blast it down. 1t is worked
ike an open quarry and tho salt ls taken
,ut in largc blocks, which arc so trans
aren't that newspaper can be read
trough them. From this mountain
iige of salt might bc quarried an
,;uount Of that article sufficient to sup
ply the whole United States for ,os.
In several places in this region, lin.
coin County, Ncr., and the adjoining
country about Death Valley, CAL, are
found traces of former occupation by
some race Of civilized people, probably
the Spanish. In the Kingston range Of
mountains, on the eastern face Of Clarke
Mountain, near its summit, is q perpen-
dicular cliff Of limestone $50 feet in
height and with smooth surface. On
HE face of this cliff, at height Of 100
feet from its base are engraved the fol-.
towing characters: tx l. D." The
cross and letters are Of mammoth pro-
portions. being not less than sixty feet
In height. They are cut into the solid
rock to II depth Of two feet, aud are
plainly to he seen at n great distance.
No one in the country knows how,
when or by whom the letters wcrc cut.
The Indians living in the vicinity have
no tradition in regard to the inscription.
AS the inscription is in Roman letters