Arizona republican., 1901-01-28
THE MORMON EXPEDITION
What Prof. Cluffs Party is Doing iu
 Mexico.

The party of "Morm)n" scientists and students under r,vt Benjamin Cluff. from Brigham Young college, at Provo City. Utah, who are making a trip overland from Provo City tc Val p2raiso. Chilli have arrived at The City of Mexico.
 The party started from Provo City, in the northern part of Utah, on April Y last. The expedition Is not fer any one purpose, but to acquire general in- formation. The topography ot the countries visited, their resources and general conditions, the people and eus- toms, the flora and fauna, and the his tOry and archaeology are being s;udle1 as the party progresses. Original ar chaeological research is being made and much time will be devoted a eX- cavatlon in Central and south Amari- ca. Botanical and Geological collections are being made, The story of the trip thus far as told by Proi, CluT frl- lows
 STORY OF THE TRIP.
 Our journey took this directlon be- cause the young people of tn" west know comparatively nothing of Mexico and the countries south of here. I thought 1t would be extremely profita ble to study Mexico, Central America and south America awhile instead of Europe all the time. So li,tle iS known of this country in the United States that our friends actually feared for our lives before we started. We have found Mexico to be just as safe a coun- try to travel in as any country in the world. We have been most hospitably received and entertained wherever we have been, not only by the rancheros and haC.Cndados but by the common people. Our horses and belongings have never b2cn molested, and We have yet to have the smallest thing stolen. On the other hand. when on two diff crent occasions one of our mules and one of the horses wandered off, with saddles and equipments on them, they were returned to us without 80 much as spur missing. l venture to say this would not occur in any other couH- try. Considering that we are strang- CTS in the country and do not speak the language except through our interpre- ter, this strikes me as really wonderful.
 The large haciendados have well
  Especially was this true on the san Francisco ranch, in sonora, and Mir. Franks ranch in Queretaro. Of course, wherever we met English speaking people they were our friends.
 ITINERARY IN THE STATES.
 Starting from northern Utah We travelod to Kanab, on the border be- tween Utah and Arizona, thence east to Lees Ferry, on the Colorado river. where We were ferried across, and tCnce by as direct route as we could choose, considering pasturage and wa tar, to the southern border of Arizona. We passed through the. SClomonvlllc and Gila valleys cn route to Nogales, stopping for some time in the Gila valley. We also stopped for some time in the Bucksk,n mountains, visiting the Colorado river and some of the cliff dwellings. We spent some time on the L&te Colorado, visiting the famous uctrified forests of Arizona. We were detained a month in Nogales gettins through the custom house.
 From Nogales we journ yed through Sonora southeast to the Sierra Madre mountains. We remained some time at Cave Valley. in Chihuahua, some fifty miles from CGsas GranCes where there are large caves containing buildings of the old cave dwellers.
 MAKE EXCAVATIONS.
 We next stopped in the Garcia val Icy, where we spent some time in eX- Cavating. We found therC a great num- hr of mounds or 'montezumas,' as thy are called, the date of which is entirely unknown In the mounds where we eXCavated we found some well built houses. made of stone, well plastercd and most of them having ca- rIent floors. The houses usually con-