Texas Nature Observations and Reminiscenses Page: 245
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TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 245
of San Antoino, and the blasting
(f the huge rock walls at that
kiln sounded like cannon shots
and the roaring of artillery fire,
reechoed along the hilly regions.
Thle queer little Mexican huts pre-
sented a very picturesque and
lively little Mexican village, sur-
rounded as it is by evergreen hills
and fields, and as it was "water
melon time," we enjoyed a twen-
ty-pounder "sandilla"-con mun -
eho gusto!
Returning home a large batch
of mail was awaiting me, and:
among the letters, one especially
was very interesting, coming front
a dear friend and relative, who
had, on account of his health, just
traveled nearly a thousand miles
in New Mexico, and as his letter
shows the great contrast of that
wild country as compared with
our cultivated Texas regions, I
append same in these fe w
sketches, to-wit:
Gallup, New Mexico, July 21,
1913.-" Shortly after leaving the
mountains last spring, three oth-
ers and myself rigged up an out-
fit of a wagon. six burros, tents,
cooking utensils, guns, fishing
tackle and lots of chuck. Two of
the boys also bought saddle horses.
Our intention was to make an all-
summer trip of it, spending sev-
eral weeks in the White moun-
tains of New Mexico and White
mountains of Arizona, go through
the petrified forest, see the pre-
historic cliff dwellings and the
Grand Canyon of Arizona.
The sport in the White moun-
tains of New Mexico proved to be
rather tame, as we did not see
any game, with the exception of
l)irds and such like.
We hunted for large game for
a week, and as we did not have
any success, pushed on to the
White mountains of Arizona. Our
first town in Arizona was a small
Morman settlement eighty miles
from the railroad. At that placewe got information about the best
grounds in the mountains for
camping. The road up the moun-
tain was a mere cow trail, awful
steep and rough. Going up we
broke the wagon tongue, and com-
ing down, the rear axle, both acci-
dents occurring within three hun-
dred yards of one another, and
about six miles from the town.
We had to pitch camp both times
and ride into town for repairs.
It was a hard trip, but I feel that
it was worth it, as I have never
seen prettier country. We camped
on what is called the upper fork
of Black river. The hills are
covered with fine grass and wild
flowers, and the mountain
streams were cold as ice, and
were stocked with mountain trout.
It was the latter part of June that
we camped there, but there was
quite a bit of snow on the ground
and there was ice in our pails
several mornings. At sunset we
would start a big bonfire, which
we kept going several hours.
Those were the hours I enjoyed
most of all. A big bonfire, a
pipe or two of tobacco and a
bunch of good, congenial fellows.
makes a very pleasant closing of
the day.
After leaving the mountains.
we got down in the flat country,
where we almost burned up.
We went through the petrified
forest, which consisted of pieces of
petrified tree trunks and limbs
strewn about the ground.
The largest solid piece I saw
was about five feet thick and six
or seven feet long. They are varie-
gated, and make rather a pretty
sight. From there we went
through the Navajo Indian res-
ervation, stopped at a govern-
ment school and also a mission
school.
We suffered quite a bit through
that part of the country, as most
of it is desert and barren of grass.
We carried grain, but not hay
with us, and several days the stock
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Menger, R. Texas Nature Observations and Reminiscenses, book, 1913; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143558/m1/249/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.