1780 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. 



Descending over 1,200 feet, by a fine wagon-road and over a natural route, the Man- 

 cos is readied, its eastern branch about 12 miles from the La Plata, the main stream 

 half a mile beyond. Grassy hills intervene, of gentle inclination, their slopes covered 

 with scrub oak, with larger forest growth beyond. At about 7 miles from Parrott City 

 is passed a magnificent grazing section known as Thompson's Park, about 4 miles long, 

 averaging perhaps 2 in width, well covered with handsome spruce, and containing 

 fully 4,500 acres of fine pasturage. The streams which are mapped as watering this 

 region were found, unfortunately, wholly dry. 



Before reaching the water of the Mancos, but a few hundred yards distant and on 

 the right of the road, was observed a fine mineral spring with a strong but not very 

 disagreeable odor, due to the presence of hydrogen sulphide, an element acquired in its 

 passage over the black shales, exposed not far distant, and. seen also on the opposite 

 side of the La Plata. 



The valley of the Mancos is very attractive. To the traveler from the west, after a 

 passage of the deserts, the barren, arid wastes that intervene between running water, 

 it seems doubly so, a sort of garden region, with its groves of lofty spruce and cotton- 

 wood and willows bordering the clear and sparkling stream with well-grassed banks. 



In the most desirable portion the land is almost wholly taken up ; the section pre- 

 ferred is that part of the valley from the crossing of the road to the south. In this 

 distance, 7 miles altogether, there were located 27 ranches, nearly 20 of which pos- 

 sessed improvements generally of a meager character beyond the dwellings. 



The amount of cultivated land was small, a total of but 75 or 100 acres only being 

 well farmed ; the ranch of Mr. Merritt, apparently in better condition than any on the 

 river, contained 30 acres of corn and wheat. The former was still standing ; the lat- 

 ter, he stated, had yielded 25 bushels per acre. 



The last place on the river is that of O'Donnell, a ranchman with a genuine Irish 

 heart, who, with Mr. Sheets, of Animas City, the principal capitalist, and a few oth- 

 ers, are engaged in stock-raising, having about 30 horses and nearly 1,500 head of cat- 

 tle. Aside from theirs, scarcely more than 400 head of stock were in the valley. 



The remarkably fine condition of all the stock, which roam about uncared for, attests 

 the fertility of the soil in the nutritious grasses growing over the waterless plains. 



The ranch of O'Donnell & Co., occupying a frontier place, has suffered from depre- 

 dations chiefly of the Iudians. A week before our passing, four horses belonging 

 thereto had been stolen by Mexicans. Their trail for 100 miles had been followed, 

 thence Navajo Indians had been employed to continue the pursuit, which, without 

 success, was not abandoned until after 12 days of very hard riding. Cattle had been 

 stolen at various times, and in August a herd of 40 or 50 of their stock had been driven 

 off by Indians, their trail going to the northeast is the direction of Ouray. From such 

 loss and molestation, not only is the present settlement of the section suffering, but 

 that of the future is being discouraged and prevented. 



The aspect hence to the south is uninviting. At the distance of a mile, rise, like a huge 

 sea-wall, above us the Mesa Verde, its line extending here directly west. Here and 

 there, reft by small chasms or canons, the projecting rectangular masses, desolate, 

 black, and forbidding, extend toward us like huge castles upon some towering hills. 



The Mancos now receives no running tributary ; the whole region is arid and deso- 

 late ; its course is southwest in an imposing canon, at points 2,000 feet in depth cut 

 through the middle and upper series of the mesa. Narrow below, rising in steps and 

 abrupt outward slopes, with walls of vertical escarpments in the upper sandstones, 

 this region is of great interest to archaeologists, from the ruins and cliff- houses that lie 

 within the canon. 



Earlier, during the rainy season, the general aspect of the country may be different, 

 but when visited in September it had a sterile look. The Mancos itself was sunken 

 largely, being merely in occasional holes, and not running during the last 25 to 30 miles 

 of its course. 



THE RIO DOLORES. 



The Rio Dolores signifies the River of Grief, and excepting this river on the north, 

 whose course is to the northwest, there is no running stream of any kind watering the 

 entire section of Colorado from the Mancos to the Utah line, an area of over 1,200 

 square miles. 



On leaving the Mancos and ascending the hills near by, over which the trail to 

 the Dolores passes, a fine view of the outstretching country is presented; the altitude 

 is about 7,500 feet, the atmosphere is clear, and the outlook is only limited by the range 

 of vision. 



Direct to the south the high walls of the Mesa Verde stretch out to the west; imme- 

 diately below us lies, spread out to Ute Mountain, the "Montezuma Valley/' filled with 

 ancient ruins, a section susceptible, from its immense sage-brush, almost rendering it 

 impassable, of the highest cultivation and fertility, providing water, the one thing 

 lacking in this entire region, could be provided. Beyond, 25 miles to the southwest, 

 rises Ute Mountain, with other elevations, to over 9,000 feet, near which is a large and 



