COUNTRY BETWEEN THE LLANO ESTACADO AND VALLEY OF RED RIVER. 9 
eastern limit except the existence of the tributaries of that stream. Neither bluff nor uncom- 
mon swell of ground marks its existence as you approach from the east or west, nor is its uni- 
formity of surface disturbed at any point between the Pecos and the Colorado. 
That this singularly favorable combination of circumstances only exists along the line of the 
32d parallel is verified by the reports of Captain Marcy, who examined it at the head of Red 
river, and of Marcy and Simpson, who crossed it on the parallel of 35°, and by my own exam- 
ination of it to the south. To the north, its eastern side is faced by an abrupt precipice five 
hundred or six hundred feet high, difficult of approach, and absolutely impracticable of ascent. 
. On the south it is intersected by a range of hills of white drift-sand, absolutely destitute of 
vegetation, and seventy feet above the general level of the plain. 
These hills, over a distance of thirteen miles, present steep ascents, through short distances, 
in many places; and the loose, movable character of the sand, and its depth, render the pas- 
sage through it with loaded wagons next to impossible. On approaching from the east or west, 
these hills bear every appearance of the sand-ridges along the coasts of South Carolina and 
Florida, and the first hard wind will destroy the traces of the most numerous party. The shift- 
ing character of the sand, and its great depth, would render the construction of a railroad 
through it exceedingly difficult, and it would require constant labor to prevent the road from 
being buried under the drifting sand. 
The Llano Estacado along the line of the 32d parallel (as indeed everywhere else) is des- 
titute of wood and water, except at particular points during the rainy season; but a close ex- 
amination of its geological features—the detailed results of which will be found in their appro- 
priate place—exhibits the practicability of boring artesian wells at as many points on its 
surface as would be desirable. The peculiarly favorable character of the ground along the 
route of the 32d parallel, the directness of this route over it, and the difficulties to the north 
and south, would seem to present inducements eminently favorable to the construction of these 
wells. For thirty miles east of the Pecos the surface of the plain is hard, and covered with 
grama-grass; and from thence to a point about thirty miles west of the head of the Colorado 
the hard surface alternates with patches of dark red sand, covered with a coarse bunch-grass, 
about two and a half feet high. Although the sand packs readily into a hard surface, the 
passage over it for the first time with loaded wagons, and embarrassed by the bunches of high 
grass, was laborious in the extreme. 
The Llano Estacado presents no inducements to cultivation under any circumstances; but 
with a supply of water at reasonable intervals, it would offer, though in a less degree than the 
table-lands to the west, facilities for the raising of stock. 
Of the country between the Llano Estacado and the valley of the Red river.—The space between 
the eastern base of the Staked Plain and the Red river, at the parallel of 34°, is occupied by 
that portion of northern Texas drained by the tributaries of the Colorado, the Brazos, the 
Trinity, and the Red rivers. With rapidly increasing advantages as you proceed eastward 
from the Llano Estacado, this region is well timbered, well watered, and possessed of a soil of 
extreme fertility, capable of sustaining a dense population, The entire country is so gently 
undulating in its surface, and presents such an abundant and well-distributed supply of wood 
and water, that it can be traversed in any direction with trains of wagons, and is of so genial 
a climate that little choice of the seasons is considered desirable in undertaking an expedition 
through it. A great portion of the timber of the region intersected by the Colorado and its 
tributaries along this route is the mezquite, which, about thirty feet in height, and from six to 
ten inches in diameter, divides about equally with the prairie lands this entire district of 
country. The Brazos and its tributaries are better supplied with oak timber of a larger size ; 
the country is more undulating, and the water more abundant. Immense coal-beds, of good 
quality, crop out along the valley of the river, and every natural advantage of soil and climate 
is offered to the emigrant. A military post (Fort Belknap) has been established upon this 
stream, near the 33d parallel, But by far the richest and most beautiful district of country I 
Ze 
