MINERAL RESOURCES. 223 



hardly be doubted, we must come to the conclusion that in Trans-Pecos 

 Texas we have to deal with three parallel mountain chains: The one just 

 mentioned; one east of it, from the Guadaloupe range and its continuations 

 in New Mexico to the Sierra St. Jago and adjacent mountain ranges, crossing 

 over into Mexico; and one west of it, comprising the Hueco, Quitman, and 

 Eagle mountains, with their southern continuations into Mexico. 



The Franklin range, north of El Paso, has always been regarded as a con- 

 tinuation of the Organ Mountains of New Mexico. 



These mountain chains are probably coeval, at least in their oldest up- 

 heavals, and it may be found possible to connect these with the Central Texan 

 upheavals in Llano County also. The axial direction of the three chains 

 is southeast northwest, and such is the trend of the valleys where later up- 

 heavals and intercalations of newer eruptive and intrusive material have made 

 no local changes, which are, however, sometimes of great extent. 



The occasional changes in the dip as observed in the vicinity of the Sierra 

 Blanca Mountains and in the foothills of the Eagle and Diabolo ranges are 

 local, and it will be necessary to make a thorough examination of the moun- 

 tains to the north, including the Sierra Diabolo, and perhaps even the Guada- 

 loupe Mountains, before it will be safe to express an opinion about the age of 

 the most important upheavals and the cause of the general dip toward the 

 river. The local changes of the dip in the Cretaceous hills are readily at- 

 tributed to the disturbances of not very violent character, comparatively 

 speaking, which accompanied the intrusion of the porphyritic materials found 

 in them. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 



None of the mountain ranges mentioned have been explored by prospec- 

 tors to any great extent. True there are a number of shallow prospect holes, 

 showing lead, copper, zinc, and uranium, carrying larger or smaller amounts 

 of the precious metals, but only a few of these prospects reach .a depth of 

 even 50 feet. The prospectors were mostly inexperienced hands, not familiar 

 even with the character or appearance of the ores they were after. No as- 

 says or analyses were made until noticeable quantities of galena made their 

 appearance, and it is possible that valuable ores were frequently thrown on 

 the dump piles, and the prospects were given up when the first ten feet did 

 not yield evident returns of the richest ore. 



In the Quitman Mountains, the Bonanza and Alice Ray mines have shipped 

 some good ores, containing 30 per cent and over of lead, 25 to 30 per cent of 

 zinc, with from 20 to 30 ounces of silver, and traces of gold — say of an aver- 

 age value of $60 to $65 per ton; but owing to the fact that neither of the 



