30 
TABLE LANDS BETWEEN THE PECOS AND RIO GRANDE. 
in the appendix, contain sulphur in various proportions—in some barely perceptible, while in 
others it gives out an odor which is sufficiently perceptible at fifty yards. There are six of 
these sulphur springs. From the south side of the bluff issues a spring strongly impregnated 
with soda, and all the springs uniting in one of the small lakes or ponds of Delaware creek 
form a compound detestable both in smell and taste. The animals, to my surprise, greatly 
preferred this lake to the pure water of the spring. 
That the mineral properties of these springs are very valuable and peculiar, there can ho 
no question; and the delightful air, and fine, bracing climate of the country will render them, 
in the event of the construction of a railroad, a resort altogether preferable for health or plea¬ 
sure to any now frequented in the United States. 
To this point it is proposed to remove the present post of Fort Fillmore, and it is to he doubted 
if a more attractive spot in all respects can he found west of the Mississippi. 
Beyond the immediate valley of Delaware creek, the table-lands, which extend uninterrupt¬ 
edly to the valley of the Rio Grande, are, from the absence of rains at convenient intervals, 
entirely withdrawn from all prospect of cultivation; hut overgrown as they are with the grama- 
grass, abundantly supplied with water, easily accessible, and favored with a climate mild and 
equable at all seasons of the year, they present advantages for raising and maintaining stock 
as remarkable as they are limitless. 
Sixteen miles from the head of Delaware creek we find the Independence springs, which hurst 
from the surface of the ground in a small valley or depression in the table-lands. They are 
two in number, and, igniting at a short distance below, they flow off to the southeast in a small 
stream, which within a few miles becomes dry. There is a sparse growth of the hackherry and 
dwarf cedar in the neighborhood. These springs are about five feet in diameter ; and although 
a pole ten feet long was thrust into them, the bottom was not reached. Five miles further to 
the west we reach the east base of the Guadalupe mountains, at a fine spring of pure water; 
and four miles further, at the southern base of the high peak, we find another large spring, 
which runs off to the south through a rocky ravine. 
There is abundance of large pine timber in the ravines and gorges along the east face of the 
mountains, and the ridges to the south are overgrown with the dwarf cedar. 
Twenty-three miles to the west, and at the western base of the mountain, we come upon the 
spring and two small lakes, slightly sulphureous, known as the ££ Ojo del Cuerbo,” or Crow 
spring. These lakes cover four or five acres of ground, and, although shallow, contain abund¬ 
ance of living water. Many wells have been dug in the vicinity, which supply water less im¬ 
pregnated with sulphur than the lakes. Twenty-seven miles to the west are the “ Cornudos,” or 
Thorne’s wells. These are natural tanks of immense size, distributed through a mass of rocks 
one hundred and fifty-feet high, piled upon each other in the most singular and grotesque con¬ 
fusion. The water which falls during the rainy season percolates through the crevices of the 
rocks, and is received in immense rocky basins and reservoirs, capable of containing many 
thousands of gallons, and entirely sheltered from the sun. Some of these reservoirs are reached 
by the beds of streams which issue from them when the basins overflow; others are in caves, 
and some far up the sides of the rocks. By a little labor in deepening and increasing the num¬ 
ber of these cisterns, water could he accumulated to almost any extent. Eight miles further 
are the wells of the ££ Alamos.” About five hundred yards from the route, and on the northern 
face of an isolated hill, there are seven wells of living water, which, during the seasons of 
rain, overflow, and are discharged by a small rocky stream along the face of the hill. Twenty- 
five miles further are the ££ Hueco tanks,” in all respects similar to the “Cornudos.” Twenty- 
four miles from thence we reach the Rio Grande at El Paso. 
These immense table-lands, covered with the grama-grass—nutritious at all seasons of the 
year—and thus supplied with water, have been from time immemorial in undisputed possession 
of the Apaches, who occupy the valleys among the mountains; and notwithstanding constant 
