GRADES.—WATER—BUILDING MATERIAL, ETC. 
43 
the mountain in a southerly direction, and reaches the plain at a distance of eight miles—hav¬ 
ing accomplished a descent of 1,800 feet in that distance. Its eastern side is an abrupt rocky 
precipice 1,000 feet above its bed, and on the west it is bounded by a narrow spur of the mount¬ 
ains, which descends to the plain with a slope even greater than that of the ravine. The west 
face of the mountains is perfectly uniform, and interrupted neither by spur nor ravine, and has 
a gentle slope to the plain of the salt lakes, along which, descending diagonally, any grade 
could be obtained. It became very important, therefore, to find some method of passing, with 
practicable grades, from the east to the west face of the mountains. This, after some examination, 
was accomplished, by passing round the south point of the range, and close under the high 
peak. This, however, would require some heavy work, principally the filling up or bridging 
over of two narrow and deep rocky ravines, which penetrate to the very face of the precipice 
which terminates, at the south, the high summits of the Gruadalupe mountains. Two short 
curves and a deep cut at the point of entrance to the pass from the east would also be required. 
By these means we reach the western face of the mountains at a distance of three miles from 
the summit of the pass, and with a grade of 108 feet to the mile. From thence, descending 
diagonally along the face of the mountains, the plain of the Salt lake is reached by any grade 
which may be considered advantageous. The work over the short distance of three miles along 
the south face of the mountain would be heavy, but all materials for embankments or bridges 
are at hand. 
A map and profile, on a large scale, exhibit the position of the line and of the wagon road, 
with the descents along each. 
It is proper to remark that the line of survey was not carried over this immediate line further 
than the determination of the relative heights of the points on the east and west faces of the 
mountains, and the distance between them was computed. A reconnaissance was made, how¬ 
ever, sufficiently close to be convincing of its practicability. 
From the Ojo del Cuerbo, along the table-lands, we reached the “Cornudos,” at a distance 
of twenty-four miles, and with a gradual and uniform ascent to the mile of 23.8 feet. At the 
Cornudos are the immense natural tanks which I have already described, and which by enlarge¬ 
ment would supply abundance of water. 
From the Cornudos to the “Alamos,” near the springs, the line still continues along the 
table-lands, and over a distance of 8.2 miles ascends at the rate of 26 feet to the mile. The 
springs of the Alamos supply water in abundance. From thence to the east base of the Hueco 
mountains, a distance of 20.4 miles, the ascent is 0.9 foot to the mile. The ascent is quite 
uniform, and no grading would be required. 
From the east base of the Hueco mountains an ascent of 227.1 feet, over a distance of 1.7 
mile along the wagon road, is presented, to the summit of the pass. Ho difficulty, however, 
in obtaining any desirable grade occurs at this point. The faces of the hills are very uniform, 
and descend gently to the plain, and are approachable from the east at any point. I have 
therefore increased the length of ascent to 3.7 miles, which gives a grade of 57 feet to the mile. 
From the summit of the pass the wagon road descends rapidly into the dry bed of a ravine, 
which conducts to the table-land west of the mountains, at a distance of 3.8 miles, and through 
a descent of 219.3 feet to the mile. The hills, however, which border the ravine on each side, 
descend into it gently and with a slope quite uniform, and the line passes diagonally along 
their face, with a grade of 79.8 feet to the mile, and a gain of seven miles of distance. The 
descent to the plain is made at a point four miles north of the low, isolated range of hills in 
which are found the Hueco Tanks. Water and building material of stone are readily obtained. 
The cuttings along the face of the hill present little difficulty, and no lateral ravines interrupt 
the uniformity of the slopes. 
From the point at which the descent to the plain is made, the line is straight to the highest 
line of the table-land near El Paso, passing close along the north face of the isolated hills 
which contain the Hueco Tanks. An ascent is made of 56.5 feet over a distance of 27 miles, 
