SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 235 
that it no longer is subject to the devastating floods which it formerly 
carried. 
The long deflection of the railroad in following the river around the 
north end of the Gila Mountains is avoided by the highway, which 
goes through a high pass nearly due west of Wellton. 
; Dome is a sma : 
satis aoa 3 place, but Gila City, = 
Nees + its predecessor, was 
a turbulent boom 
town with a population of perhaps 
1,000 people when placer mining 
was in progress in 1858 and a few 
Dome. 
following years. SS 
From Dome the railroad passes ey wa 
through Blaisdell, Fortuna, and  wanny wigs 8 13 
Araby sidings. To the east are Se aE 
fine views of the steep western front aN i 
of the Gila Mountains. Twelve : a 
miles southeast of Fortuna siding iM 
is the old Fortuna mine, which at 
: nN 
one time produced considerable 
rich ore, aggregating, it is reported, 
$3,000,000 worth of gold (Yearbook 
of Arizona, 1930). The rocks at < S 
this place are mostly hornblende - Bae ol 
schist, and the gold occurred in 
included quartzose members. The 
very pronounced schistosity dips 
to the south and west at an angle 
of 45°. Feldspathic dikes cutting 
the schists appear to be branches 
of the great intrusive masses of 
granite that form the higher peaks. 
After passing the north end of 
the Gila Mountains west of Dome 
the railroad bends to the south and 
in about 6 miles reaches Blaisdell 
siding. In this bend the railroad 
follows the south bank of the Gila Li 
River. Tothenorth aregood views © . 
of the eastern part of the Laguna 8 
Mountains, which consist of schist = 
similar to the rock on the north end of the Gila Mountains—in fact, 
_ the river gorge is simply a gateway eroded across this mass of schist. 
The western part of the Laguna Mountains consists of a thick body 
of conglomerate and boulders, probably of Tertiary age. It is 
FiGuRE 61.—Section of north end of Gila Mountains, Ariz. 
