69 



abundant in the mountains (which it is not, except at great eleva- 

 tions,) the coal is much more accessible and desirable. It is valu- 

 able not only for railway purposes, but to the inhabitants of the 

 region, and is specially important for mining and metallurgical 

 operations. 



There is great reason to believe that the Rocky Mountain 

 chain is rich in silver ores in the form of arjirentiferous galena. 

 Stevenson's mines, near Franklin, (El Paso,) have long been 

 known and are very rich. Although worked very irregularly, 

 and the ores smelted in the rudest manner, large amounts of silver 

 have been extracted, while the lead and copper which occur with 

 the silver have been totally disregarded and throw^n away. Sim- 

 ilar ore is said to occur in the Sandia mountains, near Albu- 

 querque, where there are very ancient but now deserted mines. 

 In the group of mountains known as Los Cerillos^ fifteen miles 

 from Santa Fe, I examined two or three argentiferous veins, the 

 principal minerals being galena and blende with copper and iron 

 pyrites. These veins occur in a porphyritic rock and are very 

 promising in their appearance. They have been worked upon 

 slightly, and some of the excavations appear ancient. The Mexi- 

 cans say they were made before the Conquest. 



Of copper ores, there are several localities. Sulphuret of cop- 

 per, with blue and green carbonates, occurs in the Placer moun- 

 tains. Native copper and red oxide of copper are found near 

 Jemez, in the valley of the Rio Grande. The specimens from 

 this locality are peculiarly rich and promising, and much resemble 

 the red oxide and native copper of Arizona, which occurs in such 

 abundance. % 



Magnetic iron-ore, exhibiting polarity very strongly, is abun- 

 dant in the mountains near the gold mines, and at some future 

 day may be profitably worked for iron and steel, as coal and 

 limestone are abundant in the vicinity. Specular iron is reported 

 to exist in veins or beds, but whether it is abundant or not was 

 not ascertained. 



In addition to the useful metals and ores, there are many val- 

 uable minerals and gems. The much prized Chalchihuitl (chal- 

 chee-wee-tee) of the ancient Mexicans, held in the highest esteem 

 by the Montezumas at the time of the Conquest by Cortez, was 

 obtained in the mountains about ten miles from the gold placers. 



