68 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
the railway carries it from the Dakota sandstone to the Graneros 
shale? and thence within 2 miles to the summit of an extensive 
plateau of Greenhorn limestone, above which to the west rise buttes 
of Carlile shale. This plateau is the divide between the drainage 
basin of Mississippi River and that of the Rio Grande. A fine vista 
of the Rocky Mountains is afforded toward the north and west; due 
west is Solitario Peak, a knob of granitic rocks rising to an altitude 
FIGURE 11.—Section 6 miles north of Las Vegas, N. Mex., looking southwest. a, Carlile shale; 6, Timpas 
limestone; c, Apishapa (?) and Pierre shales; d, Greenhorn limestone; e, Graneros shale; f, Dakota 
sandstone and Purgatoire formation; g, Morrison formation; h, red beds. 
of 10,200 feet, and farther northwest are still higher peaks near the 
center of the range. The Turkey Mountains and Ocate Crater are 
conspicuous toward the northeast. 
Onava is a small settlement sustained by irrigation with water 
brought through canals from streams and reservoirs a few miles to 
the northwest. From Onava southwestward the rail- 
a way runs on a gentle down grade to Las Vegas, all 
Kansas City 775 mies, {he way on the surface of the Greenhorn limestone, 
except where it is covered by a thin capping of the 
Carlile shale. The bed dips gently to the west and southwest, so 
that the surface of the plateau is in greater part a dip slope of the 
FreureE 12.—Section through Las Vegas, N. Mex., looking south. a, Carlile shale; b, Greenhorn lime- 
stone; c, Graneros shale; d, Dakota and Purgatoire sandstones; e, Morrison shale; f ; Massive sand- 
stone, capped by thin limestone; g, red shales and sandstones; h, sandstone in middle of red beds; 
i, lower red beds; j, Magdalena limestone. 
limestone. This rock is exposed in many railway cuts, especially 
near Las Vegas, and to the west at varying distances is a line of 
buttes of the overlying Carlile shale. The relations of the rocks near 
_ Onava and along a line passing through Las Vegas are shown in 
figures 11 and 12. 
"A contact of these rocks is well ex- | horn limestone, which overlies the Gra- 
posed at a point half a mile west of Kroe- | neros shale. All the beds in thi 
nigs siding. To the south and west of | vicinity lie nearly level or dip at a low 
this place is a low ridge of the Green- | angle to the west. 
