HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



147 



whites, and have hitherto prevented any explorations 

 of their country, and do not permit emigrants to pass 

 through it. Therefore, parties from Santa F, on 

 their way to California, are compelled to make a cir 

 cuit of near a thousand miles northward to the Salt 

 Lake, or about the same distance southward fry the 

 route of the Gila. Although this valley is little known, 

 there are indications that it is fertile and valuable. 



" The name of the river * Colorado' is descriptive 

 of its waters ; they are as deeply colored as those of 

 the Missouri or Red River, while those of the Gila, 

 which we know flows through barren lands, are clear. 



"It would seem impossible for a large river to col 

 lect sediment enough in a sandy, barren soil, to color 

 its waters so deeply as to give it a name among those 

 who first discovered and have since visited its shores. 

 The probability, therefore, is, that this river flows 

 through an alluvial valley of great fertility, which has 

 never been explored. This conjecture is strengthened 

 by the fact that the Indians who inhabit it are hostile, 

 and oppose, as far as they can, all persons who attempt 

 to enter or explore it. This has been their uniform 

 course of conduct respecting all portions of the conti 

 nent which have been fertile, abounding in game and 

 the spontaneous productions of the earth. 



"As this valley is situated in the direct route from 

 Santa Fe' to California, its thorough exploration be 

 comes a matter of very great importance, especially 

 as it is highly probable that the elevated regions to 

 the north of it, covered with snow during most of the 

 year, will force the line of the great national railway 

 to the Pacific through some portion of it. 



" The soil I have described, situated west of the 

 Sierra Nevada, and embracing the plain of the Sacra- 



