GROVES OF MEZQUITE—SAND DRIFTS 
111 
About, fifteen miles from tbe Alamo well tbe road descends from the bank or terrace to the 
level of the low ground already described as seen from the camp at the well. Thick groves of 
mezquite trees extended on all sides, and were sufficient indications to me that the ground was 
well supplied with water, at a moderate depth. 
Mezquite Wells. —These are dug on the low ground along the trail, and were mere holes 
scooped out in the clay to a depth of six or eight feet. In one of them a keg, or barrel, had 
been sunk, and was partly full of brackish, muddy water. The mesquites grow very thickly 
about these wells, and attain a large size. We travelled for many miles among them, ‘occa¬ 
sionally passing across several acres where all the trees were dead, and gave th'e country the 
appearance of a dried up swamp, or of a forest that had been killed by the influx of water. 
These mezquite trees continue along the road to Cook’s Well. The trail winds along under and 
near the bank or terrace, which rises on the left and presents an almost uniform bank, about thirty 
feet high. The larrea grows in clumps on the top of the bank, and is often a nucleus for the 
driving sand, which accumulates about the roots wherever the force of the wind is broken. 
Cook’s Well. —This was dug in the clay under a bank or terrace, about thirty feet high, simi¬ 
lar to that at the Alamo and Mezquite well. It was also nothing more than a hole scooped out 
in the clay, and the water was small in quantity and slightly brackish. It could not be obtained 
clear, as it was surrounded by fine clay, and held a large amount of it in suspension. A good 
well, lined with plank, would remedy this difficulty and afford abundance of water. 
December 7.— Cook’s Well to the Colorado River , 15 miles. —The trail beyond Cook’s Well passes 
over a level clay surface, and among groves of mezquite, similar to those already described. A 
continuous bank or terrace extends on the north of the trail the whole distance. This bank was 
about thirty feet high, and nearly perpendicular. Near the well it was formed of clay, with a 
superficial coating of gravel and sand ; but at the Indian village, (Algodones,) near to the 
Colorado, there was a thick upper stratum of pebbles and rounded stones, about as large as hens’ 
eggs, held together by a cement, which appeared to be carbonate of lime. 
Sand-drifts. —The greater part of the bank just described was hid from view by a thick 
covering of blown sand, that had accumulated into drifts and hills on its top and near to its 
edge. In some places these drifts had progressed so far as to fall over into the plain below, 
filling up the angles formed by the steep bank, and presenting a gradual slope of sand. These 
were the principal and most formidable sand-hills that we had yet met. 
As we came within six or seven miles of the Colorado, the groves of mezquite were gradually 
replaced by clumps of willows and tall cotton-wood trees, many of which were dead, and one or 
two, near the high bank on the left, were partially buried in the blown sand that had fallen over 
its edge. Two miles from the Colorado, we descended a bank ten or fifteen feet high, at the 
Indian village, located at the base of the sand-hills. A spring at this place furnished the Indians 
with water, and numerous shallow canals ( acequias ) showed that it was obtained in quantity 
sufficient for purposes of irrigation. 
These Indians cultivate the ground around their village and raise corn and melons. One of 
the fields was covered with the dead stalks of maize ; and an Indian boy brought me ears of 
corn to exchange for tobacco. Immense quantities of sliced melons and yellow pumpkins were 
suspended from poles to dry, and large piles of the seeds were spread out on platforms for the 
same purpose. These form an important part of the food of the Indians. There can be no 
question of tbe fertility of this region, and of the clay soil of the Desert, at any point where water 
can be obtained in sufficient quantity for irrigation. 
