16 BULLETIN 56, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



28, after exploring a greater extent of the upper portion of the Cajon 

 BonitoVallej^than had hitherto been done. At this period the dreaded 

 Apache Kid's band of Indians was present in the neighborhood. On 

 September 24 my men obtained the skull of a puma which had just 

 been skinned by these Indians, the puma's body being still warm 

 when the soldiers found it. Steward Merton came upon the Indian 

 camp in a canyon of Cajon Bonito Creek on the night of September 

 27, but fortunately avoided observation and succeeded in reaching 

 my camp during the night, although a severe storm was in progress 

 and the streams swollen. At daybreak we left this stream which 

 had proved treacherous on several occasions. In 1892, Colonel Barlow 

 and two men, besides myself, had been caught in this canyon when a 

 cloud-burst filled its banks with rushing torrents which bore along 

 huge trees uprooted from the mountain, and which washed away the 

 earth and trees from the springs forming the head of the right fork 

 of Cajon Bonito Creek, utterly devastating and changing the aspect 

 of the locality which had been one of the most attractive on the 

 Boundary. Months later a similar torrent threatened to engulf a 

 hunting party, including Lieutenant Gaillard and myself, camping 

 in the broad canyon of Cajon Bonito Creek, near its junction with 

 the San Bernardino River. Fortunately the animals and packers 

 were encamped on the bluff out of reach of the water ; but the rest of 

 the party only saved themselves and their belongings by hastily sus- 

 pending their guns, bedding, saddles, etc., to the limbs of a huge 

 sycamore tree into which they climbed and remained until the flood 

 had passed. The volume of water Avas surprisingly great as no rain 

 had fallen near us, though mutterings of thunder were heard during 

 the afternoon at the distant source of the stream in the San Luis 

 Mountains. The water reached us near midnight, when we were 

 awakened by the noise and warned by sight of a descending column 

 of water, white in the moonlight, stretching across the valle3^ We 

 were sleeping upon a hummock which was not inundated by the first 

 wave, but was soon covered by the rajjidly rising water until only the 

 sycamore stood above the flood, apjDearing to our packers on the 

 bluff much " like a Christmas tree." 



October 2 to 4, 1S93. — Moved camp to Hall's Ranch, in Guadalupe 

 Canyon, and remained until October 4. 



Octoher 4i 1893. — Sending the wagons by a more direct route, I 

 left the Boundary near Hall's Ranch and, accompanied for a part of 

 the distance by Lieut, George H. McMaster. followed out the course 

 of Guadalupe Canyon to its junction with the San Bernardino River, 

 which latter was then ascended to a camp on the Boundary at San 

 Bernardino Springs and Monument No. 77. 



Octoher 5 and 6 were spent at the San Bernardino Springs. 



