VALLEY OF THE RIO GRANDE. 
31 
danger and enormous losses, the Mexicans cannot refrain from pasturing their stock in this 
region of plenty. 
The valleys between the Guadalupe mountains and the Hueco and Sacramento range, and 
between these latter mountains and the Organ range, are occupied along their lowest lines by 
the Salt lakes, which supply the whole country with that commodity, and which have been the 
occasion of many hitter controversies. 
The evaporation of the water leaves a deposite of pure salt several feet in depth, into which 
trains of wagons are driven and loaded. It is quite impossible to estimate the extent or value 
of these dry lakes; but the quantity of salt is so enormous, and so easily obtained, that, with 
cheap communications with a market, they would supply the United States at a cost far below 
the present market prices. 
The three ranges of the Guadalupe, the Hueco, and Organ mountains occupy the summits of 
these table-lands, and are, so far as investigations have extended in constant apprehension of 
attacks from Indians, prolific of the precious metals. The Sacramento and White mountains 
(a continuation of the Hueco range) have long been marked in old traditions, and recent state¬ 
ments, as regions rich in gold and silver; but the constant and immediate danger from Indians, 
who are to the last degree jealous of any encroachments upon their lands, has hitherto prevented 
any close examination. 
On the west side of the Organ mountains, which bound the valley of the Kio Grande, valu¬ 
able silver and lead mines are found, extending over a continuous distance of twenty-five miles. 
The want of means to open them, and the ignorance of mining, characteristic of the Hew Mex¬ 
ican, have altogether prevented any development of their richness, and it has only been within 
the last eighteen months that anything like a serious commencement has been made. 
Mr. Stevenson has opened a mine about fifteen miles from the river, at Dona Ana; and, not¬ 
withstanding the impossibility of getting an experienced miner, and the crude and imperfect 
manner of smelting he has been compelled to adopt, the results have been exceedingly profitable. 
The ore is powdered between two stones, and the smelting is done without one convenience com¬ 
mon to the States. The refuse probably contains half as much silver as the original ore; and, 
notwithstanding this, from a mule-load of three hundred pounds of the ore he gets $18 of silver. 
Many specimens from these mines were brought in, and their analyses will be found in the 
appendix to this report. 
Valley of the Rio Grande.— That portion of the valley of the Eio Grande, of the agricultural 
resources of which I shall present a brief sketch, is embraced between the southern terminus of 
the “Jornada del Muerto” and the town of San Elizario, in Texas. The only cultivated lands 
within this distance of eighty-five miles are the immediate bottom-lands along the river, which 
can be conveniently irrigated. 
At the northern extremity is the town of Dona Ana, on the river and about seven miles 
below the Jornada. Extending from this village a distance of fifteen miles along the east or 
left bank of the river are the towns of Las Cruces and Las Tortugas, and the military post of 
Fort Fillmore. Opposite we find the valley and town of Mesilla. 
The settled portion of the Mesilla valley is about ten miles in length along the river, and 
from one to three miles in width, to the base of the table-lands. It contains a population of 
about 3,000, and notwithstanding its equivocal position during the disputed question of bound¬ 
ary, and the constant annoyances and discouragement to the inhabitants in consequence of so 
precarious a condition, it has thrived wonderfully, and now raises nearly double the amount of 
products of the valley on the east side of the river. The village of Mesilla contains a popula¬ 
tion of 2,500, although first settled as late as 1850, and doubtless the settlement of the vexed 
question of jurisdiction will give a renewed impulse to its progress. 
The oldest town in this part of New Mexico is Dona Ana, which, although settled as early 
as 1842, is nevertheless the least populous and thriving of the villages I have named. 
The post of Fort Fillmore has been established opposite the southern extremity of the Mesilla 
