1782 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. 



side to side against the sandstone walls and continues the erosion of the past, its de- 

 flection giving a tortuous flow. At its inception or southern part the valley is narrow, 

 about 400 yards in width, decreasing to 350 farther on ; gradually it broadens and 

 at 3 miles spreads to 600, rapidly widening at the incoming little valley from the 

 west, until, for a limited distance, is found a grassy bottom of 1,200 yards, all of 

 which could be irrigated. A thousand yards below, the hills close upon the river, and 

 within a mile the opposite walls draw near and the valley abruptly terminates. 



The elevation at the southern part (Camp 64) was 6,980 feet ; about 4 miles below, at 

 the junction of the Ouray trail, it is but 40 feet less. The area of culture must, how- 

 ever, be slightly limited from the serpentine course of the river and the walls of rock, 

 defining the initial points of irrigating-ditches. In the aggregate it contains, prob- 

 ably, 700 acres of good land, much of which, if not all, can be cultivated. A true 

 valley of erosion, the bottom-land is exceedingly rich, and of its yielding fine crops on 

 proper cultivation there can be no doubt. The grass is fine and tall ; the timber, mainly 

 Cottonwood and willow, is of magnificent growth, some of the former being of im- 

 mense size, under which were evidences of former Indian camps; the character of the 

 undergrowth along the bank is at some points so rank and interwoven as to be almost 

 impassable, which was practically learned in getting within gunshot-range of some 

 ducks observed at a distance upon the river. Upon the first 3 miles of the valley one 

 old and three new cabins were found ; beyond that two old ones, all with the owners 

 absent save the one at the entrance to the valley on the south. No land anywhere 

 cultivated, the last settlers but lately arriving. 



Of the absent cabin-owners a few were said to be prospecting in the mountains, and 

 the others, after building their houses, had gone out to return with their families and 

 stock. Upon settling here they were ordered to leave by the Indians, who threatened 

 them in case of non-compliance, but have since not troubled them save to beg provis- 

 ions. The Indians had offered for sale some American horses having Mormon and 

 other brands. A feeling existed that they would remain undisturbed, and that a per- 

 manent settlement would be there established. - Numbers of trails from all directions 

 center here, and from its geographical situation it is a point of some value, the dis- 

 tance to Salt Lake City being stated to be 250 miles, which is undoubtedly incorrect, 

 the maps of the General Land Office making it beyond 300* 



Leaving the Dolores, and traversing the country to the west and south, the whole 

 region, as already stated, is thoroughly mountainous and sterile. To the south, to the 

 west, everywhere, near by and beyond, in Utah, exist immense areas of ruins of the 

 ancient cities and towns now reduced, in general, to mounds and piles of debris. Their 

 former conditions of being, their mode of life, origin, habits, and disappearance is a 

 problem shrouded in mystery, as yet unsolved ; their present existence in this habitat 

 would be scarcely possible. The general surface is of the lower sedimentary rocks of 

 the Cretaceous period, and everywhere fragments of sandstone and crystals of heavy 

 spar were observed ; piTion, sage and cacti, soap-plant here and there, with tufts of 

 bunch-grass, alone vary the monotony and rescue it from being wholly a barren desert 

 with its burning, alkaline soil. 



The proposed irrigation of "Lookout Valley" to the south, containing perhaps 3,000 

 acres of good grazing, a bright relief to the traveler, may be deemed wholly imprac- 

 ticable, as well as that of Montezuma Valley, farther east, containing some 4,600 acres 

 of fertile land. A spring hard by, with alkalescent properties, soon sinking in the 

 earth, was the only water found. 



Near the latter point, in Montezuma Valley, a solitary settler had located in a "dug- 

 out," built, it was said, for a permanent residence. In a hillside, with half of his home 

 underground, he had chosen his abiding place with hopes of a better future, doubtless, 

 for the outlook then was far from bright. With nothing but grazing here for cattle, 

 and in the absence of water, which had to be hauled for any and all purposes from the 

 distant Mancos, it was difficult to surmise the object of his location. 



SUMMARY. 



This closes the Lower San Juan and, with the approach to the Utah line, the section 

 most remote, but not devoid of interest in agricultural inquiries, has been traversed. 



Of the San Juan proper, the lower region is the one strictly adapted to agriculture, 

 where it has already taken foothold, and where only it can thrive. Glancing at the 

 valley of the Chama, the region of the Conejos and similar and adjacent sections, a 

 great possible fertility is found to exist; the primitive inhabitants with their anti- 

 quated Mexican ideas are in possession, American enterprise has scarcely taken a bare 

 foothold, and no material development of the country can be said to be in progress. 



To the west are seen the NaA r ajo, the Blanco, the Upper San Juan, and the Piedra 

 rivers, almost untouched. Here and there a solitary spot is being slowly developed, 

 lying almost unnoticed in the immense surroundings where settlements have not 

 appeared. 



Emigration has passed beyond and located within the depressed area of wide extent 



