El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-03

Mans great foes, says an editor
ial writer on one OF our great metro
politan dailies, in the struggle with
which civilization has been born, have
been the desert, the sea and the cold.
No country with natural rainfall ever
had any civilization worth mentioning
until the last few hundred years. Civ
ilizatiOn flowed through an irrigation
ditch in the early ages Judea is half
desert, Egypt and Babylonia ere re-
claimed desert lands. Japan is an irri-
gated country. So is India, and so is
Italy"
But if it is in the struggle with these
forces that civilization is born, can
they properly called the great foes"
OF mani Are they not, rather, great
friends in disguise, put here by the
Creator to awaken and develop the
powers of the soul? The country of
natural rainfall, covered with green
and Iuxuriant vegetation, is an ex-
ample ard inspiration to man; the
desert is a challenge, it awakens his
fighting instincts and appeals TO his
sense Of the heroic. Sterility is the
greatest curse and the clarion an
nouncing battle with 1t has summoned
the most intrepid spirits OF every age
There is q region in southern New
Mexico now being developed which
furnishes an inspiring example Of the
courage and ingenuity Of man pitted
against the cunning OF nature The
Mimbres river is clear mountain
stream, with its source just east Of
the great continental divide. If a drop
OF rain happens to hit on top Of a GER
tain ridge OF pointed rocks between
the head Of the ella and the head Of
the Mimbres, the western half Of the
drop is destined to find its way into
the Gulf Of California, while the east
ern half viii find its way down the
Mimbres and, finally, into the Gulf Of
Mexico. But nature has provided a
subway for the half q drop that goes
into the Mimbres, for just as this river
issues from the mountains 1t disap-
pears, as does the famous Oxus river
Of Turkestan, into the sands South
ward, 20 miles, Just below the line Of
Old Mexico, il rises to the surface and
forms a tremendous lake.
The vast stretch Of level valley lands
from the Cooks range Of mountains
south to the line Of Old Mexico, and
comprising hundreds Of square miles,
was until recently, considered g good
COW country when it rained, and when
1t did not rain it was not considered
good for anything. A few hardy plants
like the cactus, the scrub1mesquite and
the sotol, managed somehow to store
away, camel like. moisture enough dur
ing wet years to tide them over years
Of drouths but this scant and thorny
vegetation only served to render the
general desolation more vivid and com
plete- The range would become over
stocked by ambitious stOckmen during
the years OF rainfall, and then the
years Of drouth would come and their
herds would be decimated- The
bleached bones Of thousands of cattle
which now strew the valley still attest
the enormous losses which the cattle
kings OF those days sustained.
few years ago, however, an engf-
neer IN the employ Of the government
made a survey Of this region. He gave
it as his opinion that the Mimbres river
was not entirely lost, but continued to
flow at a depth Of from 20 to so feet
through sand and gravel strata under
this entire valley The soil of the MINI
bres, he said, had been built up by the
erosion Of mountains surrounding it.
It seems that at one time in the history
Of the world, what is now a great val
ley was but an immense gorge in
mountains which were miles high, and
that the bottom of this gorge was a
gigantic river over 20 miles wide in
places. When sufficient soil was built
UP, the valley supported vegetation,
tropical IN its luxuriance. There was
also abundant animal life. This the
engineer proved by the fact that bones
are encountered at a great depth all
over the valley. In many places, hu-
man bones are found buried 10, 20 and
80 feet deep, and it seems quite likely
that these are the remains Of some
prehistoric race The overflows Of this
great river during thousands Of years
kept depositing their silt, thus cover
ing the river deeper and deeper until
none of the moisture of its hidden
waters could reach the surface. The
country then became a desert, except
during years Of excessive rainfall,
when the naturally rich soil supported
abundant grass 1t thus took nature
thousands of years to hide this river,
but she did her work well The gov
eminent engineer expressed the belief
that there was an abundance Of water
in this underground river to irrigate