The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-11
THE CANYON OF PAL0 DUR0
AN IMPRESSIVE CHASM IN 4 GREAT
TENiS PLAN.
The Effect upon the Traveller Who Una.
wares Approaches Its Briuk-A bar
rier to Seiticment-Csed by Cattlemen
ax IA Winter shelter for Herds

CANYON CRY, Tex, Feb 2S 1t may not 10
generally known that some Of the grandest and
ruygedest scenery in the country is to be met
with un the plains; but such IL the fact And
this is no more surprising than the first glimpse
OF ii, even when the sightseor knows IL Is there.
Surprising him 10 I've riding down from Amarillo
on horseback, he will see, after he has left the
town a few miles, nothing hut tho wide stretches
OF the plains, dotted here and there with the dug
outs ana shacks of the settlers and threaded with
the few fence lines; and all the scene distorted
and dancing in the mirages which lift and low~
and fade ont like clouds Of sl livery mist, and though
at times settle and look like CLASSY lakes mirror
ing fantastic scenes.
by the time H. has travelled ten or a dozen
miles he will see far away to tho sou,hward a dim
rcd line running due cas-, and ives, like a wagon
trail That is what he takes II to be, for II looks
exactly like one. As he rides nearer 1t slowly
wilena toward him and he recalls the fact thas
the great cattle trails Of the old days were soms.i
times a hundred yards wide in those parts Of the
country where water abounded, and knowing
that there is water in the Palo Duro he will decido
that that is what IL is aud ride on,
Not until he is within a hundred yards OF IN
brink will he realize that he Is watching the oppo-S
site wall Of the canyon. Then suddenly an0
with the appearance Of actual movement, the'
| scene will right itself. Involuntary he WIN.
check his horse, lest, coming neai'r, anothSr
appalling shift might flip him, si"ei ana ally
right out over the fringe Of grass 100 Yards AWay6
which marks the BRINK Of the chasm
As he slowly approaches, stuGyine tne iaoS
Of the opposite wall, he Is amazed At the StAruln6'
dis'a nee al which IL hangs the grass over therSe
is mere color, and little humps OF green, WHOA
he knows are pTickly pear by then ou,line, seem
time he has come 10 the brink and dismounte1s
he will begin TO realize that the great red alb
blotched with white in places and e~xerEWhe
scanned with cracks and caves, Is fully han
mile away And the bottom OF it---he VIII SEQ
that only when lying face downward with his toeS
digging frantCally Into the tough sod, ne peelvr
down, down, 1000 feet or more. There II fiseeet
rough as at the top. from the edge oil a wuaiy.
picturesque little valley, strewn with trees thsSs
look no bigger than bushes. among when W.
dimly outlined the huge masses Of rock that rom
time to time have broken of the walls and tumbleos
! down. And gltnung. up through the bush0
| OF shimmering like silver In the open places 10
sees the sun on the water Of Palo Duro creek
Far up and down the valley as the eye can seq,
| the view is the same, everywhere the same ruggeol
! rising preCipit0uS walls, the same picturesque,
valley and the same bits OF sunlight on the wateh
! As he ga7esdowna again along the face ofthe sheer.
wall beneath him near TO the bottom he may SEQ
He thinksitisa thrush and watches II curlouSly-
up. up it comes, larger and larger. II Is a crows
1t rises nearer and still increases in bulk, and h0
decides thatit is a huz7atd-butit is far down yets
1t rises faster, bigger and bigger, untl " is right,
under his face, and then with mighty wing beats
I IhTNf- 'lFI' lMN 'N''' " kNih'h 49,
| al his involuntary movement IL sails away across
the chasm; and, %pe1ohing on the opposite wall,
" flying, a thousand yards below, With an idee
Of the immensely Of the canyon thus fixed in bis
| mind his ~nextwish will be TO get dow n intoit,
To do this IT will be necessary for him TO ride
eight or ten miles 10 the westward, where Terra
Blanco runs in from the south, at which poinS
the walls OF the canyon are much less a1rult ana
Fort Sumner and Les Cruces crossed in the days
of the f%reigbter, and now the PeCos Valley and
down to Canyon city, makes a grade OF over
a thousand feet Going down in the bed Of the old
trail he finds in the valley the traces OF the great
camp grounds made by the frcighters and trnlI
outfits who passed here, back and forth, during
he twenty or more years they drove, the cattle
outtEom New Mexico and freighted in the supplies
which they built their fires and spread their beds
when The wind was blowing rom the west. and
deer hollows worn in the hard earth, where nighs
by night the tethered horses stood.
Above this place there is no canyon, and wher.
ever the stream is not ,,t0EEy' II can be crossed
Red River, a hundred miles away, in the whole
course OF the canyon, there are not more man iour
or five places where II is possible for teams TO go
| up or down; in many miles Of the course the walls
are too steep even for q man 70 scale Them
The bed Of The cany on is well wooded, bu. owing
10 the irrccrsihility, little Of the timber has been
taken out, although the demand for II makes
valuable Some years ago the manager Of The
T Anchor ranch decided TO get some If 1t out fox
posts; accordingly he sent three or four men down
there with axes and camp supplies, y INCH they
| packed in on ponies md told themto cute thousand
| posts and snake" them out 10 where they could
OF weeks and then came back, having cut the re-
quired number, and then learned that there WA.
| too much brush and rock In the valley 10 permiN
dragging them out They are In there yet ana
will be until the camping and hunting parues
haveused them all up for tirewoodi.
Is considerable game. Wild turkey and blue.
quail are abundant a. every season, and durinSt
the Winter , 9sT d E,ld e, Sq s. ,o 1s P asd oSH.s innii az,
black bear The hunting, however, Ia nos
nearly SO good as the fishing, fol, the creek. which
Of the Pan handle, does not ank into the sand ~
half It's length, but runs free and open. aGord<
Ing fine pools and rapids which are fun OF bas1
, After ali, though, Il " the indescribable wi6S
ness Of the canyon which makes a camping ~
il Of ea a plocs hitHerto uneSploped and no mat,
ter how often tho traveller Passes through Il ho
sees things which he did not know were thTrS
and always overhead the great walls seem ready
"Wifc tic grandeur and the hunting and nsh.,
Ing e Est The ,sd PISS nio are EpT no, eS tHsa on be s1s p,a Il in r.
| fines, place in the country for the cattle when
the mothers sweep down across the plains, for
Watered, there is enough moisture in the soiL
SO that tho grass is always green. Every yeaS
thousands q cattle winter there, never coming
condition. On this account those ranchmsA
whose ranges ate traversed by a section OF lG
do not need % make any provision Tor winners
ing their stock and naturally look upon 1t ~
| tic most valuable real estate IN the country.
Despite tho advantages Of IL in the way Of pro-
tec tnn for the ca tile II has greatly hindered the
settlement Of two or three counties which
liz ~ the south Of II, acting az n great barnes
to nil who seek 70 Cross II with supplies from Tho,
Fort Worth and Denver, which is the great failc
way of the plains, and which swings up slonGi
the canyon not far from II in the whole 100 miles
between ChildTesS, where II opens into the Red,
River Valley and Amarillo, south II which III
Is first impossible People living on the plains
south Of il may not be over twenty miles from
the railrotd, yet in order 10 get 10 IL they may
! have % drive 1ve tines that distance. Thefa
have been a few efforts made 10 put roads down
the walls; great cuts have been begun In several
places with a view Of inClining straight down
into the canyon, but a. these have only been
undertaken by ~scttlers who are without tie means
| necessary 20 finish such enterprises they have
always been abandoned .As It matter II fact,
/, would cost Ten times as much as II would DO
worth
In any part of the country the Palo Duro would
be- considered a wonderful canyon, were there
mountains and broken country along its course
II would sun be n picturesque wonder, but yawn-
ing night up in the middle of the unbruken plains
which are level as a floor 10 the brink 81 It's mighty
walls, II ia without dubt the one Of most remark-
able In tho entire country
LTEUE. GiLLEUER'S 'iREER
=. 1. nslrar HnlcI Rrrcn,Iy In the pLilsn.