TEXAS NATURE OBSiERVATIONS AND REKHNISCENCBS. 246 



of San Antoino, and the blasting 

 of the huge rock walls at that 

 kiln sounded like cannon shots 

 and the roaring, of artillery fire, 

 reechoed along the hilly regions. 

 The queer little Mexican huts pre- 

 sented a very picturesque and 

 lively little Mexican village, sur- 

 rounded as it is by evergreen hills 

 and fields, and as it was "water 

 melon time," we enjoyed a twen- 

 ty-pounder "sandilla" — con raun- 

 cho gusto ! 



Returning home a large batch 

 of mail was awaiting me, and 

 among the letters, one especially 

 was very interesting, coming from 

 a dear friend and relative, who 

 had, on account of his health, just 

 traveled nearly a thousand miles 

 in New MexicoJ and as his letter 

 shows the great contrast of that 

 wild country as compared with 

 our cultivated Texas regions, I 

 append same in these few 

 sketches, to-.wit: 



Gallup, New Mexico, July 21, 

 1913.— "Shortly after leaving the 

 mountains last spring, three oth- 

 ers and myself rigged up an out- 

 fit of a wagon, six burros, tents, 

 cooking utensils, guns, fishing 

 tackle and lots of chuck. Two of 

 the boys also bought saddle horses. 

 Our intention was to make an all- 

 summer trip of it, spending sev- 

 eral weeks in the White moun- 

 tains of New Mexico and White 

 mountains of Arizona, go through 

 the petrified forest, see the pre- 

 historic cliff dwellings and the 

 Grand Canyon of Arizona. 



The sport in the White moun- 

 tains of New Mexico proved to be 

 rather tame, as we did not see 

 any game, with the exception of 

 birds and such like. 



We hunted for large game for 

 a week, and as we did not have 

 any success, pushed on to the 

 White mountains of Arizona. Our 

 first town in Arizona was a small 

 Morman settlement eighty miles 

 from the railroad. At that place 



we got information abtfut the best 

 grounds in the mountains for 

 camping. The road up the moun- 

 tain was a mere cow trail, awful 

 steep and rough. Going up we 

 broke the wagon tongue, and com- 

 ing down, the rear axle, both acci- 

 dents occurring within three hun- 

 dred yards of one another, and 

 about six miles from the town. 

 We had to pitch camp both times 

 and ride into town for repairs. 

 It was a hard trip, but I feel that 

 it was worth it, as I have never 

 seen prettier country. We camped 

 on what is called the upper fork 

 of Black river. The hills are 

 covered with fine grass and wild 

 flowers, and the mountain 

 streams were cold as ice, and 

 were stocked with mountain trout. 

 It was the latter part of June that 

 we camped there, but there was 

 quite a bit of snow on the ground 

 and there was ice in our pails 

 several mornings. At sunset we 

 would start a big bonfire, which 

 we kept going several hours. 

 Those were the hours I enjoyed 

 most of all. A big bonfire, a 

 pipe or two of tobacco and a 

 bunch of good, congenial fellows, 

 makes a very pleasant closing of 

 the day. 



After leaving the mountains, 

 we got down in the flat country, 

 where we almost burned up. 



We went through the petrified 

 forest, which consisted of pieces of 

 petrified tree trunks and limbs 

 strewn about the ground. 



The largest solid piece I saw 

 was about five feet thick and six 

 or sev^n feet long. They are varie- 

 gated, and make rather a pretty 

 sight. From there we went 

 through the Navajo Indian res- 

 ervation, stopped at a govern- 

 ment school and also a mission 

 school. 



We suffered quite a bit through 

 that part of the country, as most 

 of it is desert and barren of grass. 

 We carried grain, but not hay 

 with us, and several days the stock 



