222 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
At Hyder the railroad passes north of the basalt-capped mesas 
known as the Agua Caliente Mountains, the slopes of which are 
fyaer: covered with talus. A big dike in the hill just north 
: of the railroad extends southward under the northern- 
Elevation 536 feet. 
Population 20.* most of these mesas. At the south end of these mesas 
sate! *ieae 1,704 are the warm springs at Agua Caliente (Spanish for 
: hot water), where a health resort has been established 
to utilize the water. The priest-explorer Sedelmaier visited them in 
1748, and Garcés and Font mention them in their diaries of the Anza 
expedition of 1775. For a long time Agua Caliente was a station on 
the old stage road that crossed the mountains near Woolsey Well. 
Sahuaros occur on the plains and hillsides aes to Athel siding, 
together with widely spaced bushes, mainly Covil 
At Athel siding the sharp peaks of Pass ae a group of 
volcanic buttes 8 miles to the north, are seen, and northwest of Athel 
and north from Horn to Kofa (turn to sheet 25) the Palomas Mountains 
are conspicuous. These mountains consist of a cap of basalt on a 
thick deposit of volcanic tuff and ash, which lies on and against gran- 
ite that constitutes the western range of the mountains. 
From Horn to Growler siding and beyond the desert plain is cov- 
ered with low sand dunes. In this vicinity the railroad approaches 
the north bank of the Gila River in the midst of a 
H : Ses ; : 
— wide desert plain into which the river has cut a broad 
Elevation 468 feet. a 
Populat inner trench about 50 feet deep. The stream me- 
oe Orleans 1,714 anders widely in this alluvial flat, and for many miles 
the south bank of the trench presents a long line of 
northward-facing cliffs of sand, loam, and gravel. The region is arid, 
with an annual rainfall of less than 5 inches in the lowlands, and 
consequently vegetation is very sparse. Yet there are scattered 
cattle ranches and goat or sheep outfits, and in seasons of average rain- 
fall and where drinking water is nfovided the stock business has 
prospered. The river is one good source of supply, and in the ad- 
joining region water is obtained from widely scattered wells, mostly 
of considerable depth and yielding only a moderate volume. In the 
mountains of the general region there has been a small amount of 
mining or prospecting, but the results do not appear to have been 
_ satisfactory. 
At Burger siding Texas Hill is visible to the south, evidently a 
feeder for a small flow of basalt. The Anza-Garcés expedition, which 
followed the north bank of the river for a few miles, camped at the 
foot of this hill on the night of November 16, 1775. Signal Butte, 
northwest of Growler, is of similar eae In this vicinity the 
Mohawk Mountains (p. 232) are a prominent feature to the south. 
2) About 30 miles to the north the steep western front of the Kofa 
: Mountains i is is paca At its foot were the King of Arizona, 
