WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 915 



like that of any other State or Territory, It may be stated that Xew 

 Mexico is the mother of the sheep industry of the Eocky Mountain re- 

 gion and the great plains.. The prices realized by the New Mexican 

 flockmasters have always been small, but this fact has enabled men of 

 moderate means to get a start that would probably never have occurred 

 had it not been for the cheapness of the sheep. The ewes purchased 

 were small and interior animals, but were capable of marked and rapid 

 improvement, so that the purchaser was enabled to realize a good profit 

 on his investment by the use of pure-bred bucks. 



The surface of New Mexico is marked with mesas, valleys and moun- 

 tains, foothills, bluifs, canyons, and mountain parks. The mountain 

 ranges, from north to south, generally break into spurs, buttes, and 

 foothills, diminishing in altitude and spreading into mesas or high 

 table-lands. 



In the northern part of the Territory the Culebra range looms up 

 to the east into the Eaton spur, and to the south is known, according 

 to proximity to local towns, as Taos, Mora, and Santa Fe Mountains. 

 To the west is the Conejos and Tierra Amarilla ranges. Southeast of 

 the old city of Santa Fe and east of the Eio Grande a broken range 

 runs south, variously known as the Placer Mountains, the Sandia, 

 Manzana, Oscura, Jumanes, Fra Cristobal, Caballo, San Andres, and 

 Organs, the latter crossing the southern border of the Territory near 

 El Paso. To the east of the above range is a series of high table- 

 lauds, reaching to the mesa known as the Llano Estacado, or Staked 

 Plains, and broken by the low mountains and peaks named on the maps 

 as the Gallinas, Jicarillas, Carrizo, Capitan, Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe, 

 Jarilla, Hueco, and Sacramento. 



On the western side of the Eio Grande, from the isolated peak near 

 the northern boundary known as the San Antonio Mountain, another 

 broken range extends south, known locally as Pateca, Yalles, Jemez, 

 San Mateo, Ladrones, Oso Magdalena, Socorros, Gallinas, Southern 

 San Mateo, Pinos Altos, Burro, Black, and Mimbres ranges, and the 

 Florida Mountains near the southern border. 



Farther to the west, and near the Arizona line, appears the conti- 

 nental divide, composed of mountains and peaks variously known as 

 Tunicha, Chusca, Zuni, Datil, San Francisco, Escudilla, Tulerosa, Luera, 

 Mogollon, Pyramid Steins, Animas, and Peloncillo. These mountains, 

 equally distributed as they are, furnish a large water supply, a great 

 amount of timber, and are excellent for stock during storms. 



The mesas and table-lands in the northern part of the Territory are 

 generally about 6,000 to 6,500 feet above the sea level. In the central 

 portion of the Territory the mesas attain an elevation of about 5,000 

 feet, and in the south about 4,000 feet. The fall of the Eio Grande, 

 from the northern border of the Territory to the point where it cuts the 

 New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua boundary, is about 3,500 feet. The 

 ranges generally rise from 2,000 to 5,000 feet above the mesas and high 

 table-lands. 



