RANGES OF MOUNTAINS DESCRIBED. 
3 
southward they connect with, and may he regarded as the continuations of the Organ mount¬ 
ains, which are also on the east of the Rio Grande, and which form the eastern border of the 
Jornada del Muerto. 
Opposite Albuquerque, the Sandia mountains rise with a hold and rather precipitous front to 
the height of 12,000 feet above the sea. 1 The precipitous face is turned westward towards the 
river, while the opposite slope is much more gentle and gradual. The direction of this elevated 
range is a few degrees east of north, and it does not retain this great elevation for more than 
fifteen or twenty miles, when it breaks down into lower ridges. 
Gold Mountains. —The Gold mountains rise about ten miles northeast of the northern end of 
the Sandia range, and are of much less importance in point of magnitude and elevation. The 
greatest length of their base is probably not over fifteen miles, this estimate being made from the 
map of that region. 
Santa Fe Mountains. —The Santa Fe mountains rise to the northward of the route, and their 
southern extremity does not reach the line of profile. This range, however, appears to be 
geologically the equivalent of the Sandia range, and some fossils in the collection were obtained 
at Pecos village, on the eastern flank of its southern termination. This range is separated from 
the Gold mountains by the valley of Rio Galisteo. It extends northwards with an increasing 
altitude towards the Park mountains, from which it is separated by the Sangre de Cristo Pass at 
the head-waters of the Huerfano river. Its elevation probably exceeds that of the Sandia range, 
but it has not yet been instrumentally explored. 
Sierra Madre. —The next great range is known as the Sierra Madre, and properly holds 
nearly the same relations to the Anahuachian chain as those just described. Its direction, how¬ 
ever, is not so nearly meridional, its divergence towards the west being greater than the Sandia 
or Santa Fe mountains. This range has a very considerable extension to the north and south 
of the line. Moreover, it is the highest point reached by the survey, and is the great dividing 
ridge in that latitude between the waters of the two oceans. This summit of Campbell’s Pass 
was found to be 7,750 feet in elevation, and El Canino del Obispo, by which the main party of 
the expedition crossed, has an altitude of 7,946 feet, and the adjoining peaks were considered to 
he from three to five thousand feet higher, and the general elevation of the highest points of the 
range to be not less than 12,000 feet. The same range, or its continuation northward, is known 
as the Chusca mountains, or Sierra de Tunecha, and was crossed by Lieutenant Simpson. The 
ascent to the summit of the pass (Campbell’s Pass) from the Rio Grande, or from the Puerco, a 
few miles west, does not present any striking peculiarity. It is gentle and uniform, becoming 
more steep as the summit is approached, the grade changing from 23 to 35 feet per mile, while 
on the opposite or western side, the slope, though similar, has a grade of 19 feet to the mile, 
and is somewhat longer. In this case, the abrupt descent, if it can be called such, faces the 
east, the reverse of the conditions found in the Sandia range. It is most probable that this 
range does not extend far beyond Fort Defiance, but on the south it is probably prolonged to 
the Rio Grande, opposite the northern end of the Organ mountains. 
Aztec and Aquarius Banges. —These ranges are far to the westward of that just considered, 
and although having a general parallelism with it, have no connexion, and are united with a 
different group of mountains. The two ranges are also distinct ; but being parallel, and near 
to each other, their mass constitutes one elevation, and appears as such upon the profile. This 
is true of the portion traversed by the trail; further south, the ranges are separated by a broad 
plain or valley. The Aztec mountains are the first great elevation west of San Francisco 
volcano, and from the summit of the pass by which they are crossed, the line descends to the 
base of Cactus Pass, in the Aquarius range, and after a short ascent, again descends to the 
valley of Hawilhamook, or Bill Williams’ fork of the Colorado river. The elevation of Aztec 
Pass is 6,281 feet, and of Cactus Pass 5,182 feet. The Aztec range, south of the pass, reaches 
an elevation of about 8,000 feet, and, north of the pass, has a table-like summit, presenting a 
1 This elevation was determined trigonometrically by Lieutenant Ives. See Lieutenant Whipple’s Report, Itinerary, p.' 48. 
