EXTRACTS FROM [ PRELIMINARY] REPORT. 11 
herds of buffalo are occasionally seen grazing upon the hill-sides. Turkeys congregate under 
the dark green foliage of scattered copses, that form an agreeable contrast to the pale red tint 
that is spread over the landscape of river and plain. As we proceed, the Canadian becomes 
deeper and less muddy. Numerous streams bring down their tribute from the hills, but disap¬ 
pear beneath the surface where they unite with the valley of the Canadian. 
Many of these rivulets are well wooded, and will furnish a small supply of timber. 
The alluvial bottom lands of the Canadian, as well as the narrow belts of its tributaries, 
which increase in length and importance as we recede from the vicinity of the headwaters of the 
False Washita, produce natural vineyards and orchards of plum trees. The grapes, unlike 
wild varieties in the eastern States, possessed a thin skin and a soft pulp deliciously sweet. 
Colonel Long, in 1817, and Lieutenant Abert, in 1845, noticed upon this part of the river the 
same general characteristics: “The valley of the Canadian, twenty miles from its issue out of 
the mountains, appeared twenty-five miles in width ; and, though not so fertile as some lands 
in the Mississippi valley, might, by proper cultivation, support a numerous population. At 
the junction of Tucumcari creek the river bed was found to be sixty yards wide, forty 
yards being covered with water ten inches deep. On the 8th were found grape vines loaded 
with fruit. Descending the Canadian, the country became more plain and fertile. The 
river valley opened wide, and was bounded on both sides by low and rounded hills, instead of 
abrupt and perpendicular precipices. The general surface was hut little elevated above the 
river, and nearly unbroken.” * * * “The immediate valley of the river had now become 
little less than ten miles in width, and had in some places a fertile soil.” * * * “ The next 
camp was on the southwest side of the river, under a low bluff which separates the half-wooded 
valley from the open and elevated plains. The small elms along this valley were bending 
under the weight of innumerable grape vines now loaded with ripe fruit; the purple clusters 
crowded in such profusion as almost to give a coloring to the landscape.” 
To such testimony of the adaptation of this country to the culture of fruit and the manufacture 
of wine, it is scarcely necessary to add the coincidence of our own observations. 
This portion of our route being so well known to be favorable to the location of a railway, 
we left the Canadian valley, and, passing several pleasant brooks and springs, gradually ascended 
to the Llano Estacado. That apparently boundless plain, without a shrub or tree as far as 
sight could penetrate, is covered with a thick carpet of buffalo grass, cropped by numerous herds 
of antelope and deer. The formation of the Llano is of the cretaceous period, overlying trias. 
The upper stratification is chalky limestone, upon marl and red sandstone. Numerous clear 
rivulets of pure water issue from the base of the cliffs, and fertilize narrow belts of the valleys 
leading to the Canadian. Upon these little streams grow a border of trees, and a profusion 
of vines loaded with purple fruit. 
The northern slopes of the Llano, under the bluff edge, one or two hundred feet above the 
base, are covered with a dense forest of cedars. Protection from the prevailing southwest winds 
has enabled these trees to obtain a moderate size. It is possible that some may be found 
suitable for railroad ties. The supply of fuel from this source would be abundant. The wood is 
exceedingly hard and durable—inferior only to mezquite, with which our route abounds. 
Among the ancient ruins of fortifications, upon Pueblo creek and elsewhere, erected previous to 
the conquest of Mexico by Cortez, were found cedar beams or ties which remain nearly perfect. 
A specimen, now deposited in the Smithsonian Institute, was procured at the ruins of “ El Moro,” 
where are Spanish incriptions, dated 1606, testifying to the existence of these ruins at that early 
period. 
The remarkable durability of the prairie and mountain firs of this region give them a valuo 
for timber above what has usually been awarded them. For fuel, the traveller of the prairies 
has long held them in high estimation. 
Leaving the Llano Estacado, we pass a belt of forty miles in extent, with numerous woodless 
