Ex. Doc. No. 41. 609 



"that 80 Mexicans (cavalry) had chased 400 Americans at the 

 Tarines (corbtan^) between the Pueblo and San Pedro, and had 

 driven them back, and had captured a cannon called the Teazer. 

 The letters being opened, were resealed by Capt. Turner, and all 

 returned tp the man, who was discharged. These fellows tell vari- 

 ous stories about the ownership of the horses; they all acknow- 

 ledoje that a part of them belong to General Castro. We are en- 

 camped one mile and a half south of the junction of the Gila and 

 Colorado; these two rivers join together and run through a stone 

 hill, through which they have broken a passage, although there ars 

 bottom lands on either side of the hill by which they may once 

 have flowed; the place is remarkable, and being the junction of two 

 important rivers, both of which are to a certain degree navigable, 

 this point being also a point in the route from Sonora to Cali- 

 fornia, may one day fill a large space in the world's history. The 

 Colorado disappears from here in a vast bottom; the last we can 

 see of its cotton-woods is in the southwest, beyond which lies a 

 low range of mountains, whether on the right or left bank, is not 

 'plain, probably on the right bank. Toiling about through the sand 

 hills in thick boots, one is convinced that to perform a journey on 

 foot in this country, a moccasin, with a thick but elastic sole, is 

 far preferable to the boot. The condition of our anii; als is sad 

 enough to take the Jornada, Poor animals, that have come with U3 

 from the United States will lay their bones on the desert; some of 

 the few horses we brought through are not able to go on; an ani- 

 mal fat, and well rested in New Mexico, could have come through. 

 It is necessary in this country of loose stones to look at least once 

 a day into the feet of shod animals, otherwise you may have them 

 lamed by a loose stone getting in the shoe. 



Moveniber 24. — Completed our trading with the Mexicans; Cap- 

 tain Moore's men being in part remounted on wild horses, on which 

 never man sat, they got of course many tumbles, but they stuck to 

 the furious animals until they succeeded. One old Mexican said, 

 *' Why those fellows can ride as well as us, if they had good horses; 

 they are not a bit afraid!" We got off about 10 o'clockj and march- 

 ed about ten miles to the river, and encamped on the sand bar, the 

 ■willows being about 10 feet high and thick, with a good deal of 

 grass mixed with their roots; the river is perhaps one third of_a naile 

 wide, and about four feet' of water in the channel; its color is like 

 that of the Arkansas at Fort Smith, and resembles that river where 

 its banks are lowest; the banks of the Colorado are about six feet 

 above the water now low. The bottom, on the river here is about 

 ten miles wide, and much of the land could bear cultivation; it is 

 all now overoTown with almost impenetrable thickets of willows, 

 mesquite, Fr6montia, &c. We did not dare to let our animals loose, 

 as we could not hope to see them again. We followed the trail of 

 the horse drovers, and found four animals which they had lost, two 

 of which we secured; but the others got off before our New Mexi- 

 can arrieros could lasso thera, they not being so expert with the 

 noose as the Californians. The mare we took soon was carrying a 



food 



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