El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-21
Continued from Yesterday

Continued from Yesterday
November 23rd to December ION
the morning of the 23rd of November.
we left the Red rivera most uninter-
esting one to the gaze. presenting moth
ing pleasing to look upon On the ven
ing of December 4. encamped upon the
main fork of the Brazos: the distance
from the former to the latter, about
ninety-siX miles. The route for this
entire distance lay upon the divide be-
tween the Big and Little Wichita. with
the exception of the last ten miles,
whcih crossed the divide between the
Wichitas and the BraZoS- 1t passes
over a siightly-rolling prairie. with in
teryals for miles of perfect dead level
oats. Near the Red river the soil is
slightly sandy. and you meet with some
few post oak mots. 1t then becomes a
fine mez1uite country. well timbered
with mezquite. and for miles perfectly
level: and even when a rolling prairie,
the elevations and depressions are
small. The grass at first is principally
graInma. and the ordinary Sedge. and
their species: but the ncome the fine
early mezquite and the winter meZ-
quite. The whole extent was well
watered by numerous branches of the
two WichitaS. The country appeared
10 bdFt Itth iiOOhtd ny previous hCdNy
rains. and numerous water-holes were
met at nor intervals. Most of the
streams possessed Il slightly brackish
taste; all of them were well timbered.
The Big Wichita, l have been in
formed. rises in the old Wichita noun
tains. 1t is much larger and rises
much farther west than any of the 9TH
er branches of the Red river. Upon
leaving the divide and approaching it.
the ground is exceedingly rough and
uneven: deep gullies had been washed
through the clay and sand. and numer-
Gus small mounds had been formed
by the swift currents during the high
freShe to which this stream must be
subject. From the our of drift
scattered about, it must rise to a very
great height. and its currents become
remarkably swift. On this side the
banks were high sand bluffs. but on the
opposite side they are much lower. n
a gradual descent to the edge of the
water. Its breadth is about thirty
yards. and depth only a few feet. with
no very strong current The water is
of the same color as that of the Red
river. and tasted very brackish INT bit
ter; young cottonwood seems to be the
only timber which grows along it,
Within a few yards of its banks you
find many lakes or ponds, the water of
which is more agreeable to the taste.
The Indian name for this stream is
"Ah-he-we-wo-nah:" translated into
English. it signifies Pond creek"
The Little Wichita ead within six
miles of the waters of the main fork of
the BraZOs-the Trinity heading up
against both of these streams. and but
u few miles from both. The divide be-
tween the two Wichitas is also very
narrow at the same point. the W be-
ing separated from each other by about
eIUNfy mjlQS The first StrQam iG about
rs or 100 miles in length; its breadth,
at different points at which | saw 1t.
varied from ten to fifteen yards; it's
depth was but a few feet. and it's bot
tom very Doggy. The bottom land is
100 yards in width, and heavily
timbered with elm, blackberry. and cot
tonwoOd. a strip of land, o a mile
in width, along this stream. presents a
peculiar appearance. and has been sub
Jet to some powerful influence; deep
guiiies, low ridges. innumerable small
mounds. and hillocks of every conceiv-
able shape. thrown together without
order or arrangement. present to the
. quite a contrast to the central por-
ton of the divide. The soil here is a
reddish sandy clay. Limestone is found
lying about. and the ground is covered
with gravel. The whole is the result of
heavy rains. and the freshets which
have been occasioned by them. They
can all be avoided by continuing upon
the divide. The distance is thus slight
Iy increased. but the road woul be al
most perfectly level and no labor would
De required The clearness of the wat
ers of the Little Wichita forms a strik-
ing contrast to those of the Lower
Wichita; il is a clear running stream,
although the water tasted very slightly
5rackish. Almost the entire distance
from the Red river the w Wichitas
were constantly in sight, and could be
easily traced by the lines of timber
along them.
Crossing the divide of the BraZOS.
rou travel over a continuation of the
%uezquite range. and come across the
Brazos without the slightest indica-
ton of it's presence. No timber along
its banks as far as the eye can see; you
stumble upon it without any forewarn-
fng. High bluff banks along its very
edge conceal it until you reach the top
of them. Its channel is about fifty
yards in width. and bounded by a small