72 
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
still lower limestone of the Magdalena group,’ of Pennsylvanian age, 
which is exposed in many of the railway cuts. 
Just beyond Ribera (ree-bay’ra) the railway crosses Rio Pecos 
(pay’cos), a large stream which rises in the south end of the Rocky 
Mountains, flows across eastern New Mexico and the 
Ribera. western part of Texas, and finally empties into the 
Pelee Ls hk Rio Grande. This is the first important stream of 
‘the Rio Grande drainage basin met in the westward 
journey, although Gallinas and Tecolote creeks, above referred to, 
are in the Pecos basin. According to gagings by the United States 
Geological Survey at Cowles, 20 miles or more to the north, the 
flow of this river averages about 100 second-feet. The water is 
used for irrigation at many places. There are many Mexican settle- 
ments along Rio Pecos. One of these, San Miguel (me-gale’), is a 
large plaza plainly visible from Ribera station, about a mile to the 
south, and another, San Jose (ho-say’), formerly an Indian village, is 
a short distance east of milepost 802. It was at San Jose that Gen. 
Kearney and the Army of the West encamped in 1846, expecting the 
next day to have a battle with 2,000 Mexicans under Gov. Armijo 
(ar-me’ho), who were reported to be waiting for them in the canyon 
beyond the summit. The following day near Pecos they learned that 
the Mexicans, after constructing elaborate breastworks, had quar- 
reled among themselves, and the governor and his forces had discreetly 
retreated, leaving the way to Santa Fe open to the Americans. 
It will be noted that most of the houses of the Mexican settlements 
are built of adobes (ah-doe’bays), which are large bricks made of 
sun-dried earth.? The roofs and in some houses also the framework 
are made of juniper posts, and the better houses are plastered. 
Houses of this sort are warm in winter and cool in summer. 
South of Sands and Fulton is a high plateau known as Glorieta 
Mesa, the northeastern foot of which is followed by the railway to 
Glorieta (glo-reeay’ta). This mesa presents toward 
the northeast a continuous line of cliffs, with level 
Mea ae _ crest, surmounting long slopes which descend to the 
valley of the Pecos. The railway is built along this 
slope on an irregular shelf or series of shelves due to various sand- 
Fulton. 
stone beds in the lower part of the red bed series. 
! This limestone is a light-colored mas- 
sive aise con taining 
. as 
a low arch along a prolongation of oni a 
the axes of the main Rocky Mountain up- 
lift. It is about 1,000 feet thick and is 
underlain directly by the old granites and 
schists which may be seen in the high 
Glorieta Mesa is 
4 1 . “1 +} ile. 
794, At this setae the railroad is 
on the lower portion of the red beds again, 
and these continue for several miles west. 
2Tn the West the term adobe is com- 
monly used both for the material from 
which the bricks are made and for a house 
built of them 
