1788 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. 



by Senor Caledonia Valdez, the present owner, for $450. The boat sunk in the follow- 

 ing fall, and last spring it was replaced by the present one, very serviceable and 

 greatly superior to Stewart's. It is about 45 feet long and 12 in width, and strongly 

 constructed of stout timbers. A strong side-railing is provided, and a small row-boat 

 is in tow, for a possible necessity, certainly a wise precaution ; for the river in June 

 was here 10 feet in depth and about 250 feet in width. The cable is firmly held upon 

 strong piles about a foot in diameter, with heavy triangular braces, thence passing 

 over a windlass to the rear. The crossing with a load was made in four minutes. The 

 charges are about the same as at Stewart's ; its capacity greater. The owner reported 

 that at a single crossing they had carried 400 sheep, the charge for the trip being $5. 

 In its location this ferry has, furthermore, an advantage over its rival. The river is 

 here about 25 feet below the general surface of the plain, and as the road descends 

 gradually and easily, no possible miring of teams can occur. A short distance below 

 this point the Rio Grande enters its long canon, which increases in depth southward, 

 the lava sides vertical or piled with sharp-edged rock, perfectly impassable, and a 

 veritable scene of desolation in nature. 



To the San Antonio River, en route to Conejos from the ferry, the road is a magnifi- 

 cent natural one, tine, hard, and level ; on the way, upon either side, some tAvo or three 

 miles off, rise rounded hills with sandstone strata, on which lay the cold, volcanic 

 rocks, blessed with but little timber, and that but a poor pin on, with an occasional 

 cedar, the only kind that will befriend so dismal, inhospitable a surface. Lava rocks 

 lie strewn along the bases of the hills and out over the plain everywhere, its hot and 

 parched surface relieved only by an occasional breeze from the mountains to the west. 

 Its vegetation is exceedingly sparse, almost nothing save sage-brush and a few cacti 

 breaking the monotony. No grazing can be found at or near the ferry, nor on the 

 lower road to any extent beyond the crossing of the Trinchera, until the San Antonio 

 is reached. The latter was found very high and the ordinary ford impracticable, 

 necessitating our crossing a mile lower down. 



Of the two routes from Garland to Conejos, the upper or Trinchera is preferable. 

 Its chief disadvantage is the inferior condition, in addition to low approaches of Stewart's 

 ferry as compared with that of Chavez, the latter as a crossing being greatly preferable. 

 The upper route has, however, several advantages over the lower not to be lost sight 

 of, which are mainly — 



1st. It is considerably shorter. 



2d. Its hard surface or natural road, save a small sandy portion, less than half of 

 that on the other. 



3d. Wood, water, and sufficient grazing for convenient camping places at no long 

 intervals, the Conejos being timbered with cottonwood. 



4th. Except the Rio Grande, bat a single stream of any importance to be crossed, 

 the Rio Conejos at the plaza of Conejos (or Guadalupe), while on the lower road are 

 the Trinchera and Culebra east of the Rio Grande, and the San Antonio on the west. 

 By one route a bridge is essential for the Conejos, by the other for the passage of the 

 San Antonio. At the plaza of Conejos the river was formerly passed by a bridge which 

 was, they there informed me, washed away in 1874. Afier numerous resolutions to re- 

 rejdace it, the citizens have let the matter drop, and teams now find their way over as 

 best they may. At the town, fortunately, there is a spot where the river broadens to 

 over three times its usual width, so that generally a passage may be found. The river 

 here is about 200 yards and the approaches low, so that a slight rise in the water ma- 

 terially increases the difficulties of passage. A suj)erior location may be found not far 

 distant and the river bridged at a cost not exceeding $1,300. 



CONEJOS TO PAGOSA. 



Communication between the above may be considered under the following heads : 



1st. Old line via Tierra Amarilla section. 



2d. New line via Tierra Amarilla section. 



3d. Proposed lines. 



1st. The old lines. — Up to the present summer the only mode of access from the rail- 

 road to the Lower San Juan was from Conejos southward to Ojo Caliente and north- 

 west to Tierra Amarilla, a distance of 150 miles. A cut-off above Ojo Caliente via 

 Cueva, shortening this distance to 120 miles, has diverted travel in its favor. It is in 

 general a good and easy road, being largely over country with a hard and level surface, 

 having been the scene of volcanic eruption; some mesas passed over present difficult 

 points, the chief objections, however, being the absence of grazing and the long dis- 

 tance between water making it an exceedingly hot summer route. 



Crossing the Chama at Los Ojos, where it was about 75 feet wide, 2| feet deep, the 

 "upper" route is over a natural road, through low valleys or over gently undulating 

 hills, covered with fine grass wherever shepherds may not have tarried. The conti- 

 tental divide is here a line of sharp mesas of the steepest kind, 400 to 600 feet in height, 

 with sandstone outcroppings and sides timbered with scrubby piiion. The road winds so 



