74 EXPLORING EXPEDITION FROM SANTA FE 



* * * As we approached Rito Blanco we entered a narrow ravine or canon 

 cut in the Upper Cretaceous rocks yellow sandstones and gray shales which rapidly 

 deepens till, at its junction with the Rito, its bounding hills have an altitude of ;i 

 least 1,000 feet. 



"This canon is verv picturesque; the sides covered with vellow pine, Douglas' 

 and Menx.ies' spruc.es, the latter now tor the first time seen in Xevv Mexico. It grows 

 here very beautifully, somewhat more spreading than in Oregon, the foliage very 

 dense and silvered. Among the evergreens are slopes on which grow thickets of wild 

 cherry, serviceberry, and gooseberry, all now in fruit. In the bottom are bushes of 

 black currant, also fruiting, all these berries are called HHtn.:niit<tx little apples by 

 the Mexicans, but the serviceberrv is particularly distinguished hv this name by those 

 who would be exact. The California iiuutztMta lias better claim to the name, and is a 

 very different plant. The cliffs of Rito Blanco arc? frequently precipitous, but so 

 widely separated as to leave a pretty valley between. They are wholly composed of 

 Cretaceous strata, mainly of the middle division, with a capping of the yellow sand- 

 stones and marls of the upper member of the formation." 



Pagosa, July 28. "Left Rito Blanco early this morning, passing through a 

 country similar to that of yesterday. At i) o'clock, came down a pretty ravine to the 

 San Juan, here 30 yards wide, 3 feet deep, very rapid. At this point it enters a 

 canon, cut in the Upper Cretaceous sandstone, which lias a strong local dip toward the 

 north. Above this canon is a delightful valley, running up to the foot-hills of the San 

 Juan Mountains, which are here very beautiful in form, and lofty, as patches of snow 

 are visible upon them. The river San Juan here issues from the narrow valley 

 between the Sierra San Juan and Sierra del Navajo, where it takes its rise, and this is 

 apparently the first intei-val of level land through which it Hows. In the upper part 

 of this valley is the I'agosa, one of the most remarkable hot springs on the continent, 

 well known, even famous, among the Indian tribes, but, up to the lime of our visit, 

 never having been seen by the whites. It can hardly be doubted that in future years 

 it will become a celebrated place of resort, both for those who shall reside in the sur- 

 rounding country, and for wonder-hunting htalth-seeking travelers from other lands. 

 There is scarcely a more beautiful place on the face of the earth. The' valley is 

 three miles long by one broad; a verdant meadow of the finest grass, thick! v 

 strewed with flowers, through which winds the bright and rapid river, margined by 

 clumps of willows, and most graceful groups of cotton-wood. On every side are hills 

 covered with gigantic pines or the slender Oregon spruces, and on the north, far above 

 these, rise the forest-clad slopes and craggy crests of two great Sierras. The 1'agosa 

 is at the edge of this prairie. As the river leaves the great wooded gorge embraced 

 between the San Juan and Navajo Mountains, and comes out into this beautiful 

 amphitheater, it sweeps round in a curve, inclosing some 20 acres. From all parts 

 of this space, which is evenly turfed over, the surface rises very gently to the center. 

 Here is a great basin, oval in form, 40 by . r >() feet in diameter, its walls of white rock, 

 of unfathomable depth, in which the deep-blue water seethes and surges as in a boil- 

 ing caldron, giving off a column of vapor which in damp weather is visible for miles. 

 The water, though hot, is not at the boiling-point, and the ebullition is produced by 



