Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-04-21
MAXWELL CITY TOEMBUD0
An Account of a Railroad Survey
Made Over a Feasible Route in
the Year 1893.
r. A. JONES, THE SURVEYOR.

ldOS Ndlley halfway company was re-
Gently incorporated to build a railroad
from Maxwell City to Taos by way of
Elizabethtown and that a railway pro-
ject to build from Fort Garland, Colo
RADIO, to the Rio Grande valley by way
of Embudo and Taos is being discussed
the following account of the survey
over the proposed route, made in 1893.
by Prof. F. A. Jones, at present direct
or of the New Mexico School of Mines
at Socorro. will be of great interest:
perhaps no route in New Mexico Of
fers such scenic charms or more enrap-
lures the admirer of nature. than
does the trail leading from Maxwell
City westward up the Cimmarron can
yon to Elizabethtown, over the giddy
heights of the Taos pass, through the
ancient pueblos of Taos and thence to
the valley of the Rio Grande.
1T was on the lit day of September,
1893, that the writer with a sturdy
corps of engineers, turned the object
glass of his transit westward and gave
the peremptory order to advance. The
blue outline of mountains about sew
enty miles distant. marked the great
est elevation of the Rockies in New
Mexico.
I'm the center of grandeur old
Badly lifted its head to the clouds at
the towering height of 14.176 feet.
From Maxwell City to the quiet town
of Cimarron stretches a vast plain,
through which flows the Vermejo and
wends it's tortuous way towards the
town of Springer. This plain is also
traversed by bitches. being improve
ments of the Maxwell Land Grant com
pany. The ranges in this section of
the country are the best for grazing
that can be found in New Mexico.
Farther west toward the town of CHM
arron two other streams flow toward
the southeast; they are the C~eresose
and the Ponil, not so large as the Yer
mejo.
About three miles east Of the little
town of Cimarron our line of survey
crossed the famous Santa Fe trail, run.
ming from the Ration pass to Fort I'm
ion. On the line of this historic trail,
there still remained in evidence broken
pieces of wagon, the old rut now worn
to a deep gully. the d~isintegrated jaw
bone of some faithful OK, all of which
reminded us of the h%ardships of the
past.
"In setting up my transit by this re-
nowned trail, | was almost overcome
with emotion. when l thought of my
father who had made the survey of
a trail a quarter of a centpry before.
from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Union,
for the purpose OIL checking the dis
lance of freight hauled for the govern.
ment.
The town of Cimarron is situated
just below the mouth Of the canyon
which gave 1t it's name. This point is
regarded as a very favorable place for
the location of a smelter. To the west
and northwest are virgin beds OIL coal
untouched by the hand of commerce
Also the coal fields of Blossburg and
Dawson are near at hand, which would
furnish iuel for smelling purposes at a
nominal price. Cimarron is the only
gateway through which the wealth OF
western Colfax county in its timber
and mining production can pass.
when a railway tapping the vast
resources of mineral from the mines in
the adjacent camps of Badly. Eliza
BEETHOVEN, Mereno and Red River
Cimarron would soon take rank with
the largest cities Of the territory. In
passing up the Cimarron canyon one is
awed with the gandeur Of nature
Here tall trees, rushing water and pal
isades of columnar basalt, rising per,
~pendicularly over a thousand feet,
greet the a~ppreciative eye.
about ten miles up from the mouth
of the canyon the country opens out In
what is known as Ponil park. This Is
truly a delightful spot of growing grass
and waving pines. Should a railroad
ever be built through this section
which there will be before many years
Ponil park will be an important point
in the shipping of ore and lumber. Al
of the wealth from the mines on the
east side of Badly mountains will be-
loaded here.
"On this side of the mountain Is thu
famous Aztec mine which has produc
ed in free milling gold upward OF 50,
DOC, 900.
THE canyon at Ponil park turn
somewhat more to the southwest
though the grade Is lighter and the va
ley broader.
I'm entering the Moreno valley tn,
pass is very narrow, with perpendicu
lar walls of porphyry hundreds of fee
in height.
This is by far the best place to bull,
a dam for the storage of water of an!
place in the west. The Moreno vale.
at one time was a vast lake, abou
twenty miles north and south, by fv'
miles east and west.
Through the lapse of ages the wat
er has worn through the porphyry an,
granite at this narrow entrance an,
drained the lake.
I'm this valley are, perhaps, tn
richest and most extensive deposits o
placer gold in the United States. Tn
floor of the entire vaIIey is LITERAL
strewn with nuggets and gold dusi
The truth of this statement is veriie
in every ease where bed rock has bee
reached. About six miles TO the mort
of the gateway Of the Moreno valley
the picturesque camp of Elizabethtow
This town les in the lap between wv
mountains Badly mountain on tn
east and the Taos mountains on tn
west.
"Elizabethtown in the early day
was the scene OF great mining %activit,
IL is claimed at one time the popull