Show colorado exploring expedition Lieu tIves the commandant coinman lant of the eppedi ex edl edi tion for the exploration of the colorado 0 of the west has made a preliminary report gelef san francisco in in november 1857 rials plats for building a small iron steamer which was on the be of december following fol foi follows lowi when hig his ascension of the river commence commenced by thiloh the lith alth be had got gol miles beyond which bohs boMs could not go he then proceeded with a it pack mule train to explore the upper colorado and its tributaries tributa ries visiting the region of the parallels arriving the of june at albuquerque on the rio grande after traveling about miles from where he left his boat during bis big the water edly low so that he tried the navigation of the river at its worst stage the banks at the tha adouth of the colorado are flab flat and muddy and the bars and shoals changeable for foi thirty liles bp lup navigation is frequently made dangerous by the strength of the spring tides which rie rise and fail fall 25 to 30 feet f beet this T his rise is preceded by singular tide bavei ivars from four to seven feet high which bich ru rub ruh rush h up the river with tremendous velocity elo eio city the map tides fall only 10 feet between tidewater tlde tide waterland water and fort yuma the principal obstructions are sand bars which grow mote more frequent as you abu ascend the channel is very crooked and consequently changing with an average depth of about eight feet fiet yet there are frequent shoals shoal of less than two feet these bars and shoals are mostly of soft boft and arid loose materials belbo fortyuna fort fori there arc no rocks but snags the average velocity of the current is 21 2 milas an all hour and during the july freshet five biye miles when the river is is ten feet higher than in winter for miles above fort yuma the navigation is in character very similar to that described during the next miles gravelly bars occur frequently bat but the channel is better than below for the next hirty fifty miles the river bed is coarse gravel and andi stories with swift rapids then comes tho the Blick kanyon 25 miles long with numerous and difficult rapids above this gorge the river is wide and shallow hallow so that this ibis kanyon may be considered the head of navigation there is 1 i s plenty of wood for fop fuel along dong the banks inu anu S the examination from freiri the black canyon 1 anyon toward the utah emigrant road showed sholie d that a wagon ro road lad might be opened between that trail and abia the bead of navigation for 16 miles the country ia is rather rough but after that the re malnin naming 25 miles is easy the navigable part of the niver river runs nearly north south the country is is flat and unbroken but further north broken valleys wl with ith rugged mountains of volcanic origin the kenyons for medby formed by the passage of the river through the mountains are wonderfully wild and grand above the black kanyon is fit a most sterile and barren region with n no trace of vegetation for foi niles miles this isa is a vast tableland table tabie land hundreds of miles in breadth extending east to the sierra lerra leria madre and north int into 0 utah rising in in immense ishmen se plateaus p 1 I ale aie aus like sti successive steps the most b el elevated being to tc f feet above sea and rocky surface opposed insurmountable barriers barriera to traveling lii lih lit ili any fixed direction and the want of water rendered explorations difficult west of the Litile Colorado some cedar and pine forests relieved the barrenness but eastward toward the towns of bf the indians the country is almost a desert the indians alon aion along the abe lower part of the river agrenot very ver y nurn burn numerous but idle and inquisitive the mohave tribe is the most numerous they are so symmetrical ym I 1 ethical and stai stal stalwart warts that they are arecton con si dered dired physically the finest race upon the continent the tha countr country yeast ast of the colorado alon alor along g the 1 and sath barall parallels Is is a almost uninhabited affee ladiao indians an gs er they area wretched race living rl and occasionally a little corn grown in sonie dismal ravine they are exceedingly and ignorant the maquis are about boog in number and live in tolerably constructed towns they have reservoirs to save water orchards of peach trees and other fruit fields of cotton corn and melons sheep and poultry men alen ana and women labor in the fields clad in garments of ham e manufacture they are an lu raade Bh ambling race but perfectly peaceable and inoffensive they are sometimes some bome timis plundered by their neighbors the warlike Nava joes but I 1 little can be said of chis country as an agrico agricultural district in the he mohave valley the atmosphere mo sphere was balmy and arid delicious dolic delic iou ion there here wire were fields of grain in the spring season pro raising luxurious hix urious cropp comfortable houses and g granaries ananies overflowing 0 with last years stores but whether the country will ever be of value to the whites is doubtful owing to the difficulty of river navigation navi atlon the seasons also are ver very Y variable crops crop s are arg frequently lost by f frost r t geologically the soil is bad it being impaired by excess of 0 alkaline substances the same remarks apply even strop ger er to the rest odthe of the country on the river and also to the valley valleys of the little colorado the latter region abounds in ruins and of abor a former population but ia is al 1 tog jog W ether it lapp appears abw rs hat bat over thib this ogre thre 0 erria lo tory rythe athe p population opu latiol has died out and the C country 0 t has hat Is a for foi ages been growing more and P marei e 1 sterile sterlie teril and aed difficult for human h abita labita tion l k ai along ong the parallel there are some bright bab ts yet these are subject to seasons of drouth so excessive as 3 to lorender render habitation ti 0 11 doubtful the mineral resources in in some sowe places are considerable promising gold ihor mercury silver copper lead andiron A copper mite mige mine ip i being v worked 46 miles above fort afta coal kocl salt balt and nd mark marb mir above leare 16 aie ale atso also abiol found in natural history several new nev species of fossils I 1 minerals m plants p lants and linit animals were collected A careful survey of the ahe navigation was made and meteorological tidal and topographical observations were made the work of reducing the notes of this re aport are in ili progress I 1 the amount of land transportation saved by sending supplies by the Col coi colorado orao route would be to salt lake miles to fort defiance miles and to forte Buchana buchanan ii 1100 mile mlle and ives sees no reason why wily the river should not be used as the medium ot of communication to the greater portion of new mexico east california and utah r N Y P tribune dec 25 |