1750 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. 



REPORT ON THE SAN JUAN RECONNAISSANCE OF 1877, BY LIEUTEN- 

 ANT C. A. H. M>CAULEY, THIRD ARTILLERY, IN CHARGE. 

 i 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Headquarters Department of the Missouri, 



Office of the Chief Engineer, 



Fort Leavenworth, Kans., July 15, 1878. 



Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith my report of the San Juan reconnaissance 

 of 1877, made pursuant to Special Orders No. 106, Headquarters, Department of the 

 Missouri, June 6, 1877, and instructions in detail that were furnished me. 



The country examined consisted of that part of Southwest Colorado which is known 

 as the San Juan Region and a portion of New Mexico. Leaving Fort Leavenworth 

 June 10, 1877, for Fort Garland, Colo., the rendezvous of the party, an escort was ob- 

 tained there consisting of First Lieut. G. Valois and 22 men of the Ninth Cavalry, aud 

 the field taken June 20 ; being absent from Fort Leavenworth five months, of which 

 time 123 days were in the field, 96 different camps were occupied, not including those 

 of a supply nature. 



The total distance traveled after leaving Fort Garland was 2,030 miles; this was 

 wholly in the field, mainly with pack-trains, and is confined to that made in person, 

 not including the mileage made by detached wagon and pack trains, or by any members 

 of my party unaccompanied by myself. 



Of the total, 1,850 miles were meander work, careful topographical notes, &c, being 

 taken. 



In addition to the regular work of the reconnaissance and the special orders in de- 

 tail regarding the selection of a site for a new military post in the San Juan region, 

 the relations between the Indians and white settlers, the intertribal relations among 

 the Indians themselves (the three southern tribes of Utes being dissaffected), and 

 matters upon which reports not intended for publication have been rendered to the 

 department commander, a representation of the flora, the avifauna, &c, was essayed, 

 in accordance with my instructions that " natural history collections made would be 

 of interest,'' with the following results: 



In botany, a collection of 1,300 specimens, the classification of which was made by 

 Prof. Asa Gray, and will be found in Chapter VI, relating thereto. The notes of Mr. 

 T. S. Brandegee, civil engineer, of Canyon City, Colo., the only botanist personally 

 acquainted with the San Juan country, were contributed gratis, and will be found in 

 the same chapter. 



In zoology, between one and two thousand of the ArticuJata, especial attention being 

 paid to the Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera, and the Acrididcv of the Ortlwptera. 



Classification and report upon the Orthoptera was made by Prof. Cyrus Thomas; 

 upon the Lepidoptera, &c, by Prof. Herman Strecker, the subjects treated being con- 

 tained in Chapter VII, in Entomology. Being now under orders to proceed to the field 

 for duty with the commission appointed by the President to treat with the Ute Indians, 

 and to make further " explorations in the San Juan country and portions of Colorado 

 beyond," the reports of Professor Strecker, which are not yet completed, will be for- 

 warded by him to the Chief of Engineers direct about the 15th proximo. 



A general collection of the Vertebrata (skins), embracing mammals, birds, and fishes, 

 was also made. The classification and report in preparation by the writer has not 

 been concluded, and is retained for future use. 



A general collection of mineralogy, consisting of about 800 specimens, largely gold 

 and silver ore from the various mining districts, to accompany statistical and de- 

 scriptive memoranda, all of which will be found in Chapter V; a number of fossils 

 were also collected;' no examination or report on which has as yet been made. 



A large quantity of fragmentary pottery, &c, of the Aztec (so called) or prehistoric 

 dwellers in mess houses previously known, and also found on the Rio Piedra, the Upper 

 and Lower Rio de las Animas, and, in addition, upon the dry and desert region south of 

 the Rio Dolores, sketches of habitations, masonry, &c, accompanying. Photographs 

 of a cranium, sent to the Army Medical Museum, were furnished through the kindness 



