Mercedes Tribune (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 11, 1924 Page: 3 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Mercedes Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.
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HURSDAF, SEPTEMBER 11, 1924
MERCEDES TRIBUNE
PAGE THRES
ROM GULF TO PACIFIC
By EDITH HERZIG
Hie Genie and the Jos'-As He Sees It.
The industrial life of the city is
important, large smelters, cement
Y mills and factories are located here.
__>low, that the great irrigation sys-
tem of the government at Elephant
iutte is completed the farmer will
Jd substantially to the prosperity
'Hi Paso. More of this big dam
-- next time.
Fro u Friday, July 26th, the second
Comm jf our touring drama was start-
sione’ Our brave Buick was still heav-
court oaded by our friends’ kindnesses,
flood Vvly we moved through the San-
of c Yncisco Street and soon we had
tion Paso behind us. We followed the
to aved road, along the smelters into
bonhe Mesilla Valley. There we left
a Id Texas and passed into New
r^ lexico. One of the boys was surely
be .veil prepared for this most serious
Ar aoment. He had four handker-
b* chiefs in his pocket. Wonder if
c' somebody could imagine for what
iuse? Most certainly to wipe all tears
off when we leave the land of his
birth. Well, don’t blame us, if you
should experience a sudden rise of
(the Rio Grande, we could not help.
It was a nice ride up the valley of
~our old good, grande river, until the
1 car came to a standstill. We looked
“ the machine over, gave her good,
I friendly words. Nothing doing. An-
0,tner car palled us to Las Cruses
c#ijB after a little while with $1.50
v .xpense we could take up our spurt
f1 again. Unclean gas!
Ju-About 44 miles up the valley the
b :oad divides. The Old Spanish Ti*ail
c i urns west via Deming, Phoenix,
? .into California. This is called the
short, or Southern route to Califor-
nia, very hot and sandy in summer.
The other road goes north about 200
miles to Socorro, joining at that
l point “The Old National Trail.” We
v*
- chose this route, although 400 miles
tT :nger. It’s much cooler and more
r -cf lie to travel over those moun-
tains. There are so many important
viewsj which draw the interest of
ythe tourist along this Old National
Trail: the Elephant Butte dam, the
Blue Canyon Pass, the Datil Forest,
the petrified forest in Arizona and
the Grand Canyon.
The Elephant Butte Dam. — We
camped on the west side of this gi-
gantic monument of engineers art.
Early the next morning we drove ov-
er the dam down to the border of
the lake. This dam was completed
1916 at a cost of five millions of dol-
lars. Ten millions were spent on
diversion dams and ditches, 1,700 feet
long on top, 18 feet roadway, 200
feet thick at river level, 300 feet
thick at bottom of excavation, 318
feet high from bottom of foundation^
storage capacity 2,866,000 acre feet.
Lake 45 miles long when full, 8
miles wide, furnishes water for irri-
gation to 180,000 acres of land in
New Mexico and Texas and 20,000
in old Mexico.
A good graded and partly gravel-
led road leads up the Valley through
little adobe villages, along alps, or-
chards, over green hills and down
the canyons. Here we got a taste
of mountain scenery. Later we found
that those canyons, reverse turns,
sharp curves, stiff-hills, were just
an easy start to oil that had to come.
At noon time we reached Socorro,
a nice town on the border of young
Rio Grande, a little stream up here,
4,500 feet above sea level, 220 miles
from El Paso. Dark clouds hang
over the Blue Mountains and cever
the summit. Over this mountain
goes the Old National Trail, which
we had to take. With good courage
we started this wild romantic trip
and a stretch of six miles brought
us safely over the top 6,300 feet. It
surely was a task for our young
chauffeur and we could not help
it when a feeling of fright crawled
over our backs. In Magdalena, 20
miles further a heavy rain set in.
We waited patiently until it was over
then we proceeded on a good moun-
tain road until night. The Datil
Auto Camp had a nice log-house
ready for us; it was too wet and cool
to camp outside. What wonderful
pure, clear air, 8,000 feet altitude,
for some people too1 thin.
The next morning was Sunday, we
will never forget. On a most perfect
road we traveled through the Datil
forest. Oh, those gigantic pine trees
on the roadside, over the peaks and
down in the canyons, then everything
green, cattle grazing up and down,
the road winding in turns upward,
higher and higher the Datil pass, up
to the continental divide, hummit of
the Rocky Mountains, altitude 8,455
feet. This is one of the most beauti-
ful scenic drives through the pine
forests in the DatiL mountains.
This day again, we had stopped in
a Springerville, Arizona camp. A
hea'vy down-pour came hindering our
way. It was cool, 60 degrees. Later
in the evening the sun broke through
the clouds and a few minutes later
we were ready to make another rush.
About two miles outside a deep
mountain creek crossed our path-
way. In a few minutes a long line
of cars was behind us. Finally a
man took the lead over a detour. It
was a little soft, but we helped each
other and all came through. Long
after dark we put up our tent in St.
Johns auto camp. Here was no rain.
Monday had another world’s wond-
er ready for us wonder seeking peo-
ple—the petrified forest of Arizona.
Of the petrified forest area 40 miles
square have been se,t aside as a
national monument.
The trees, which have been trans-
formed into a very hard substance
closely resembling agate, are not
standing, but lie scattered over what
is believed to be the bed of an an-
cient sea. Many exceed 100 feet in
length and the cross sections reveal
every tint of the rainbow. The bulk
of the petrified wood is found in
short sections and fragments.
The first forest, the smallest ■ of
the three deposits, contains princi-
pally short sections and fragments.
The National Bridge, a petrified tree
trunk spanning a ravine (like a. foot-
log across a stream) is situated in .a
short detour between the first and
second forests. The second forest
contains a number of large trunks in
addition to the smaller pieces that
are everywhere abundant, and which
show the grain of the original wood
more distinctly than those found in
other places. The third, or Rain-
bow forest, is traversed by a short
detour from the State highway. Here
are found hundreds of long tree
trunks and the colors truly ustify
the name, Rainbow Forest.
We obtained some souvenirs of
this stony wood. I wonder by what
process all these trees have trans-
formed to such rocks, hard like dia-
mond and glimmering in all colors of
the rainbow. The government cus-
todian cannot give any information.
He said that many scientists have
been there, and studied these prob-
lems without results.
Leaving these forests, we hastened
westward. The Grand Canyon of
Arizona was next on our program.
We made good time on a road mark-
ed on the maps as very rough. In .the
afternoon we heard thunder in the
far distance, but it came nearer and
nearer and this time we had no camp
house as shelter, and had still a
long way to the canyon. Neverthe-
less that cloud poured down, and it
seemed as if it would ne'ver quit. We
had beside our tent, a good new
water-proof cover with us and made
good use of it. After the rain we
started again and although we had
to reduce our proposed speed we ad-
vanced fairly well. “I don’t know if
you can make it/’ said a ' service
waiter, “it rained heavy along the
canyon.” But we had to make it.
On we went; the road was lined with
big pine trees and made the night
so much darker. The road was first-
class in hilly parts, but where level,
very soft. Several mud-holes were
passed easily. .
The Grand Canyon National
Park is in Northern Arizona. Its
958 square miles inclose 56 miles of
the Grand Canyon stretching west of
its beginning at the mouth of the
Marbel Canyon. Through it winds
the Colorado River for a distance of
103 miles. From rim to rim the
canyon varies from 8 to 20 miles in
width and is more than a mile deep.
There is no doubt that the Grand
Canyon is one of the world’s very
greatest spectacles. It is impossible
to compare it with the tremendous
white spectacle of the Himalayas, or
with the House of the Everlasting
Fire of the Hawaii National Park, or
with the 17,000 feet of snow and
glacier which rise abruptly between
the observer’s eyes and the summit
of Mount McKinley, because it has
nothing in common with any of
these. But of its own kind there is
nothing in the world which approach-
es it in form, size, and glowing col-
or; it is by far the greatest example
of stream erosion. And its power to
arouse the emotion of the looker-on,
to stupefy or exhilerate, it has no
equal of any kind anywhere, unless
it be the starry firmament itself.
Approaching by rail or road, the
visitor comes upon it suddenly.
Pushing through the woods from the
motor camping ground, or climbing
the stairs, from the railroad station,
it is there at one’s feet disclosed in
the sublimity of its templed depths,
in the bewildering’ glory of its gor-
geous coloring. There is no prepar-
ation of mind and spirit. To some
the revelation is a shock, no matter
what the expectation. The rim of
the Grand Canyon is one of the
stillest places on earth, even when it
is crowded with people.
After seeing the most important
points, we proceeded to the Arizona
western boundary, where we arrived
July 30 at noon time, via the mining
towns, iKngman and Oatman-Topock.
It was real hot there. In a shady
place we waited for the cool evening.
Then we started out, over the Colo-
rado bridge up to Needles, the first
town in California. Still we had
200 miles of desert ahead of us. A
few more hours of speeding in a
splendid graVel road, one more des-
ert camp, a hasty, jolly morning ride
and we were through. In Victor-
ville we rolled with “hello” on the
first asphalt road, a beautiful Cali-
fornia State highway. There we
made good time s it was hard to
keep speed limit • down the scenic
San Bernardino Canyon pass into
Sam Bernardino. Here we needed a
thorough “ovehrauling.”
(To be continued.)
LAST CALL ON PLANTS
II
PLANTING TIME
Do NOT Put All of Your in One Basket!
Competitive States May Not Freeze Out at an Opportune
Time as They Did Last Year—Therefore DIVERSIFY and
and Plant an Assortment of Vegetables.
We Have Plants for Transplanting NOW—Peppers, Tomatoes and Eggplant
Theg Should Be Planted NOW —----
w . tj ONION SEED, Very Scarce
We also nave: BEAN SEED, Supply Limited
SPINACH
BEETS
CARROTS, Scarce
PARSLEY
TURNIPS
OKRA
CAULIFLOWER
Should Be Planted NOW
SQUASH
MUSTARD
TOMATOES
THE CHAS. SALADINO CO
MERCEDES, TEXAS.
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Holland, W. D. & Buell, Ralph L. Mercedes Tribune (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 11, 1924, newspaper, September 11, 1924; Mercedes, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1002918/m1/3/?q=stolen+land: accessed June 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.