The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1921-12-16

prepared by the National Geographic So.
ciety, Washington. ID. c.
The Grand Canyon Of the Colorado,
with It's ~stupendous scenic effects, its
beauty and its grandeur, Is little cal
culated to raise practical thoughts in
the minds Of most Of its behOlders.
But anyone with n touch Of the en-
gineer In his makeup who gaZes into
this great chaSm must marvel at the
tremendous energy hat has been eX-
erted by running water in carving its
way more than a mile in depth through
rocks of various degrees Of hardness.
And into his mind, as his eye gauges
the vast canyon, is sur to come the
question: What has become Of the
billions Of cubic yards of material
that once filled this pit?
The lower Colorado country-a region
Of fascination despite its deserts and
marshes, It's mud volcanoes and shift
ing sa~nd-dunes--is the answer; for 1t
is truly the creature of the river.
built from the countless tiny grains of
o'ft a'b oht NAioN us navy
brought down through the centuries.
The mouth Of the Colorado Is one
of the least-known regions OF North
America. Only 60 miles to the north
In an air line the American town of
Yuma has existed for the better part
Of a century, and through 1t passes
n Of the principal transcontinental
railroads OF the United States; while
little o than a hundred miles to
the west lies the rich valley of south
ern California and the coast cities
with teeming populations.
Its Mouth 10 In Mexico.
There are physical difficulties In
reaching the mouth of the Colorado;
but the chief impeachment Is an imag-
mary line-the Mexican border. For
while the Colorado Is essentially a
river Of the United States, and
~traverses its soil FOR some nineteen
twentieths of It's length, for the last
rs miles before 1t reaches the sea it's
banks are formed by Mexican terri
tory. And to add to the isolation the
sea which the Colorado reaches Is the
long narrow Gulf of California, whose
northern end. into which the Colo
RADIO pours, Is bounded by desert
sands and rocky, largely barren noun
tains. For 200 miles or more below
the mouth of the Colorado, the shores
of the gulf form a desolate region, al
most the only permanent inhabitants
of which are half-civilized Indians.
The Colorado may be compared in
n way to the Nile. since for hun
dreds of miles both flow through des-
ert regions practically without tribu-
taries. Above Yuma, before reclama-
ton work was undertaken, the sud-
denness with which one travelling In
the desert would stumble upon the
river at almost any point along us
course was a continuous source OF
wonder.
One of the striking features of the
lower Colorado country is just north
west of the river, opposite Yuma,
where Is to be found n of Americas
closest approaches toward duplicating
the Sahara. This stretch Of country
is given over to dunes built of wind
swept sands brought down by the
river and washed by the rare torren-
tial rains from the adjacent hills. A
series Of long, sinuous ridges with
sharp crests, constantly travelling back
and forth as the wind shifts their
tiny units, this dazzling waste Of sand
needs only a camel on some summit to
have all the atmosphere Of the Sa-
hara.
Not only has the Colorado created
deserts; 1t has made what may be
considered their opposites, marshes.
as well. Below Yuma, where the
river energies from the rough coun-
try. the Colorado delta stretches away
to the sea. almost entirely In Mexico.
The stream does not flow In n chan
mel on this last lap Of Its journey, but
divides into numerous branches and
spreads ove a wide, nearly level area,
especially In flood season. Between
the streamlets are extensive marshes
grown up In cat-tails, with willows
lining the channels. Halfway to the
sea the many streams meet In a lake
which serves as a settling basin.
There, then, III being deposited much
Of the solid material now washed
from the upper Colorado; and while
the streams which enter the lnke are
dark and muddy. those which flow out
are almost clear.
Queer Mud Volcanoes.
On the edge Of this lake are nuiner-
ons mud yoisaiocs, small mounds
which appear from a distance like
roughly conical shocks OF hay. From
tl.e,r craters bolls soft. scald'n. hot