THE RIO PUERCO CAMP 



Photo by Professor D. W. Johnson 



thing but palatable. As were already 

 longer on the journey than we had an- 

 ticipated the grain for the ponies was 

 getting low, only enough for one small 

 feed being left after giving them their 

 supper that night. But all of our 

 troubles were soon forgotten, for we 

 rolled into our blankets and slept. 



Next morning we were up before 

 the sun, and breakfast was over before 

 he rose above the mesa into the clear 

 blue of a typical New Mexico sky. A 

 rainy day was a blessing hardly to be 

 hoped for, as the rainy season had not 

 yet begun. Edwards made an excur- 

 sion down the river some distance, and 

 found where the opposite bank could 

 be made accessible by an hour's work 

 with pick and shovel. We accordingly 

 removed all of our outfit to the ground 

 and let the empty wagon go backwards 

 down the sloping bank near camp, into 

 the river, controlling it with a long 

 rope tied to the tongue and then drawn 

 around one of the trees. It was an easy 

 matter to get the wagon down to the 

 place selected by Edwards, but here 

 the real work began. The bank at this 

 point was formed by a series of steps, 



each one several feet high, but broad 

 and flat on top. The first of these steps 

 was the worst, and we set to work to 

 cut out a roadway., building up the in- 

 cline with the excavated dirt. In less 

 than an hour the task was done, and, 

 hitching both the ponies and ourselves 

 to the end of the long rope, we pulled 

 the empty wagon up the first step. 

 Thrice more was this process gone 

 through with, but as the other steps 

 were less difficult they were soon 

 passed, and we drove the wagon back 

 to a point on the bank just opposite 

 camp. 



Turning the ponies loose to let them 

 graze, the reloading was accomplished 

 by carrying the things down the slope 

 to the foot of the wall, and then haul- 

 ing them up over the cliff with a rope. 

 This done, and our canteens filled with 

 the salty water, we again continued on 

 our cross-country trip, our immediate 

 plan being to drive over to the foot of the 

 mesa, and then continue north until we 

 found some place where we could get 

 up to its level top. In this way we 

 would avoid the worst part of the nu- 

 merous gullies, which were impassable 



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