Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-07-15
Interesting Description

Frank w. Brady, writing for the
June issue OF Mines and Minerals,
gives an interesting description OF the
great White Sands OF New Mexico,
| lying near A~lamogordo. The article
Is In part:
Nature has been very lavish In the
United States, displaying such a var.
iety Of wonderful contracts In her
handiwork as to stagger the mind In
Its attempt to classify them OF to
make a comparison OF their features
Of relative superiority. But most OF
these places Of interest have had
their natural beauty marred to some
extent and only those in the most iso-
lated localities have been preserved
In their primeval simplicity and
grandeur. However. out In the great
southwest, where the size Of corner
lots Is that OF quarter sections and
where dry air is the chief asset, there
are some unusual scenic attractions
which are being visited each year by
rapidly increasing numbers Of tour
lists. Among those places Of interest
may be mentioned the Grand Canyon
Of the Colorado, the Fortified Forest
OF Arizona, and the Enchanted Mesa
OF New Mexico. But however much
may be said regarding these there
Is yet another that is more remark
/ uh11 IL, cnynn raunnpfu than apu ne Tho
ones just mentioned. Neither has it
been subjected o artificial changes
moi made hideous by offensive and
vulgar bill boards as has been done
elsewhere, as for example at Niagara
Falls. 1t might also be stated re-
garding these great attractions of the
west that there the tourist will find
outdoor freedom. No doubt he would
prefer the fellowship Of the rattle
snake, the centipede and the tarantula
to the horde OF persistent beggars
who constantly pursue the tourist at
Niagara Falls and persist in offering
unnecessary services for cash,
On the great plain lying between
the San Andreas and Organ mountains
on the west and the Sacramento
mountains on the east In southwest
ern New Mexico at an altitude of
about 1000 feet above sea level there
Is a wonderful exhibit of nature.
Locally 1t Is known as the white
Sands or simply as "the sands" A
more technical name Is the Gypsum
Hills" because it is not sands at all
but a vast deposit of nearly pure
gypsum. The deposit is so unusual,
the quantity so great and its appear
ance SO beautiful and unexpected that
the spectator Is amazed when he first
behOlds 1t. The gypsum is of a nearly
pure white color. 1t is of finely d.
vided granular form with the grains
rounded and smooth resembling pa
tent process white corn meal. 1t has
drifting before the prevailing north
erly winds into hillocks, some Of
which are thirty or thirty-five feet
high. These hillocks cover an area
Of probably ter or twenty miles, the
greater extension being northward
by southwark.
The conditions causing the pre-
sence Of this gypsum were probably
brought about through the remark
able and extraordinary changes asso.
ciated with one or more volcanic
eruptiOns that occurred many centur.
les ago, and which made this region
one Of desert dryness. Also a large
section Of this southwest country was
probably at the bottom of an inland
sea. and the immense beds Of gypsum
now visible In the surrounding coun.
try. were deposited from the water,
The soluble salts were deposited as
the water disappeared and large guam
titles have since leached out and have
been drifted by the winds into
mounds from the surface of the dry
, soil.
Away TO the north Of the sands
arises the crater Of an extinct volcano
standing like q grim seminal watch.
Ing the results of Its wanton destruc-
ton. The black lava, o~bsidian, filled
the bed Of a large river which was
flowing through the valley at that
time. diverting the water to another
valley and made what Is now an al
most plain, called the bad lands" or
Nal Pals.
The White Sands begin near the
southern end Of the Nal Pals and lie
southwest Of the remaining portion of
the old river bed which at the pre-
sent time is a wide. deep and dry
chasm cut into the alkali soil. II is
claimed by a Spanish legend that a
beautiful valley, inhabited by a pros
porous people, was here before the
eruption occurred and destroyed the
river and brought about the present
deSOlation.