80 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
many other places. The workers of the power plant are housed in a 
very attractive cottage village on top of the c 
The Devils River is a remarkably clear and eanphert stream which 
flows for many miles in a deep limestone canyon. It has its origin in 
great springs not far north of the railroad; the clear sparkling water 
flows down the Rio Grande in a stream which for many miles keeps 
separate from the muddy water of the main river. 
In the valley of the Devils River about 8 miles above its mouth was 
old Fort Hudson, an important military post in the early days, on the 
trail from San Antonio and San Felipe. North from Fort Hudson one 
trail followed the valley of the Devils River to Beaver Lake, thence 
crossed the ridge to Howard’s Well, on Howard Creek, and went over 
the divide to Camp Lancaster, on the Pecos River, beyond which it 
joined the Emigrant or Butterfield stage route from San Angelo to 
Fort Stockton. A trail westward from Fort Hudson followed more 
nearly the present line of the railroad through Camp Bullis, Meyer’s 
Spring, and Langtry to Pefia Colorada, near Marathon. 
On leaving Devils River the railroad ascends the valley of California 
Creek on a moderately steep grade and thence, turning westward, 
climbs nearly 700 feet in a distance of about 25 miles, to a divide at 
Rona siding.” 
In this region there is considerable change in vegetation, and the 
country looks more ‘‘western.” The climate is more arid than in 
the region east of Uvalde; hin cease on the upland, and the bushes 
are smaller and more widely spaced. The principal plants that con- 
tinue are mesquite, huisache, and yucca. Sage, palofierro, Spanish 
bayonet, lechuguilla, covillea, beargrass (Nolina), sotol, ocotillo, and 
maguey begin to be noticeable.* There are also many annuals, most 
of which flower conspicuously when there is rain. Large numbers of 
sheep, goats, and cattle are raised. 
® Tn this ascent the top of the George- 
town limestone is reached near Feely 
siding, and the slopes on each side of 
the valley afford many outcrops of the 
overlying Del Rio clay, about 75 feet 
thick, capped by Buda _ limestone, 
which makes a cliff. Just southwest 
of Feely siding is a fine exposure of the 
‘there is no noticeable difference in the 
attitude of the beds, there having been 
uplift without flexing. Beyond Cabra 
siding a small doming of the strata 
brings the Del Rio clay and Buda lime- 
stone prominently into view, and these 
are also exposed in many cuts to 
and beyond Comstock (nearly to mile- 
post 416). The exposures near this 
town present another low dome which 
has the massive limestone at the top of 
by W. L. 
—— (Vegetation of the Sotol country 
in Texas; Texas Univ, Bull. 60, 1905). 
