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The author's lively description of the Santa Cruz valley is quite refreshing to one after following him for many hundred miles through sterile plains and rugged mountains. Of this valley he

says:

"A few miles brought us to the Puerta, or gate in the mountain; pursuing which, we emerged into a very broad and open plain of remarkable beauty. From the elevation where we first saw the valley, the prospect was exceedingly picturesque. Around us grew the maguay, the yucca, and various kinds of cacti, together with small oaks; while beneath us, the valley spread out from six to eight miles in width, and some twelve or fifteen in length. Unlike the desolate and barren plains between the mountain ridges, which we have crossed between the Rio Grande and the San Pedro, this valley was covered with the most luxuriant herbage, and thickly studded with live oaks; not like a forest, but rather resembling a cultivated park."

In his rambles between the camp on the Rio San Pedro and Santa Cruz, Mr. Bartlett passed through a beautiful valley watered by a small stream, but we are not informed whether this stream is a tributary of the San Pedro or of the Santa Cruz. He says:

"The valley for the last ten miles of our march resembled an old and highly cultivated place, from which the people and their habitations had suddenly disappeared. Large cotton-wood trees and willow bushes lined the stream, while here and there in little groves were beautiful oaks and large mezquit trees; for the latter, although adapted to every soil, becomes a large tree in rich soil like this. It seemed that each grove, as we approached it, must conceal some dwelling place and cultivated grounds; but in reality all was solitude, and there was no evidence that a furrow had ever turned the virgin soil, or a seed had ever been sown there."

He says nothing of the width of this valley, but we infer that it is quite narrow.

Notwithstanding the valley of the San Pedro is represented as being sterile at the place where Mr. Bartlett crossed it, yet it is probable that it may be more fertile in other parts. The valley of the Babocomori, one of its tributaries, crossed by Mr. Bartlett, is described as being from a quarter to a half a mile in breadth, and covered with a luxuriant growth of grass. The stream is about twenty feet wide with willows and large cotton-wood trees growing on its margin.

In a summary view of the route the author states:

"From San Antonio to Fredericksburg [69-67 miles] the road is very stony a portion of the way, the remainder good. The soil is excellent. Wood, water and grass are always found at conven

ient distances, and in abundance. The soil continues of a good quality until the San Saba is reached; [137 miles from San Antonio] from that river to the north fork of Brady's Creek it is not so good. The grass is generally light to the latter place, with less wood and water, though enough for parties travelling. We now begin to get on the great table-land of Texas, where there is little rain and a poor soil. Several small streams emptying into the Colorado or the Concho here intersect the road, on the immediate banks of which there are a few trees. But the intermediate country is destitute of timber, save a very few small oak or mezquit. The grass too is poor, except near the water courses. On leaving the head waters of the Conchos, nature assumes a new aspect. Here trees and shrubs disappear, except the thorny chapporal of the deserts; the water courses all cease, nor does any stream intervene until the Rio Grande is reached, three hundred and fifty miles distant, except the muddy Pecos, which, rising in the Rocky Mountains near Santa Fe, crosses the great desert plain west of of Llano Estacado, or staked plains. From the Rio Grande to the waters of the Pacific, pursuing a western course along the 32d parallel, near El Paso Del Norte, there is no stream of a higher grade than a small creek. I know of none but the San Pedro and the Santa Cruz, the latter but a rivulet losing itself in the sands near the Gila, and the other but a diminutive stream scarcely reaching that river. At the head waters of the Concho, therefore, begins that great desert region, which, with no interruption save a limited valley or bottom land along the Rio Grande, and lesser ones near the small courses mentioned, extends over a district embracing sixteen degrees of longitude, or about a thousand miles, and is wholly unfit for agriculture. It is a desolate barren waste, which can never be rendered useful for man or beast, save for a public highway. It is destitute of forests, except in the defiles and gorges of the higher mountains or on their summits. Along the valley of the Rio Grande, which is from one and a half to two miles in width, there grow large cotton-wood trees and a few mezquit; but between this river and the north fork of Brady's Creek there is no timbered land."

Now, admitting that the region of country described by Mr. Bartlett affords a route as level as could be desired for the construction of a railroad, still, in an economical point of view, intelligent, practical men must doubt the practicability of making a railroad across a "desert region" a thousand miles wide; which with such slight interruptions "is wholly unfit for agriculture.' Other conditions and appliances besides a level surface are necessary to make a railroad upon terms that will render it profitab le to the builders.

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There is no point between the Gulf of Mexico and the mouth of

the Gila from which the line could be supplied with iron.

And, after a careful examination of Mr. Bartlett's description of the country, we conclude that there is not sufficient timber within one hundred miles of a line of road located between the parallels of 31° and 32° north latitude to construct it; this would be the case for at least one thousand miles of the route. And it may be confidently affirmed that a supply of bread and grain sufficient to feed the number of hands and teams which must be employed on the work, it prosecuted with reasonable speed, could not be obtained within two hundred miles of the line, after leaving the sources of the Colorado of Texas. Nor is it practicable, according to the facts stated by Mr. Bartlett, to increase, to any considerable degree, the productions of that region. He has shown that as much land is already in cultivation in the valley of the Rio del Norte as can be supplied with water. There are three towns in the valley of the Santa Cruz containing in all about seven hundred inhabitants, which comprise the population of the valley; and the following extracts will show how little prospect there is of increasing the agricultural products or population in that region. The author

states:

"As an example of the uncertainty of crops from artificial irrigation in this country, I will mention a circumstance which occurred at Tubac. The preceeding fall after the place had been again occupied, a party of Mormons in passing through on their way to California was induced to stop there by the representations of the commandante. He offered them lands in the rich valley, where acequias were already dug, if they would remain and cultivate it; assuring them that they would find a ready market for all the corn, wheat and vegetables they could raise, from troops and from passing emigrants. The offer was so good, and the prospect so flattering, that they consented to remain. They therefore set to work, and ploughed and sowed their lands, in which they expended all their means, anticipating an abundant harvest. But the spring and summer came without rain: the river dried up; their fields could not be irrigated, and their labor, time and money were lost. They abandoned the place," and proceeded to California.

The author relates another instance in the ruins of a large rancho known as Calabasa.

"This Calabasa, I was told by Leroux, was a thriving establishment when he visited it twenty years ago, A large tract of land was then under cultivation, and herds of cattle were reared on the adjacent hills. But the stream did not furnish a sufficient quantity of water to irrigate it, without cutting off entirely the towns

of Tubac and Tucson, and consequently it was abandoned. This is the difficulty with these small water-courses; for having few or no tributaries to keep up the supply, as our northern streams have, and frequently running a course of several hundred miles before they terminate, their water cannot be drawn off without destroying the crops below them, even depriving the people and animals of water to drink."

With so few natural resources and such little prospect of enlarging them, an element enters into the cost of building a railroad through this region, which will astonish the friends of this route, when the estimates are made upon a practical basis. Where is the engineer that will risk his reputation by estimating the cost of labor, provisions, timber and iron on such a route at an amount which would authorize the most reckless speculator to undertake the enterprise?

If this region be correctly described by Commissioner Bartlett, we do not hesitate to affirm, in an economical point of view, that the construction of a railroad through it is totally impracticable, and that the work will never be accomplished. But were a road built through this desert region, it would be of little value, except as a means of transit from ocean to ocean, and hence one of the chief objects of building railroads; the development of the resources of the country through which they pass would not be obtained in this case.

The foregoing extracts from Commissioner Bartlett's narrative will give our readers a tolerable good idea of the value of the country acquired by the late treaty. The area is estimated at about 20,000,000 acres about one half the size of the State of Missouri. If we are right in supposing that it includes the town of Santa Cruz, it contains besides that, the town of Messilla on the Rio Grande, and the towns of Tubac and Tucson in the Santa Cruz valley; containing in all a population, according to Mr. Bartlett's accounts, of about 2,600 inhabitants. According to observations taken by Dr. Wislizenus, El Paso is on the parallel of 30° 45′ 50, and consequently is not included in the Mesilla purchase. TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO. Message from the President of the United States, transmitting a copy of the Treaty between the U. S. of America and the Republic of Mexico.

TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I have received information that the Government of Mexico has agreed to the several amendments proposed by the Senate to the treaty

between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, signed on the 30th of December last, and has authorized its Envoy Extraordinary to this Government to exchange the ratifications thereof. The time within which the ratifications can be exchanged will expire on the 30. instant.

There is a provision in the treaty for the payment by the United States to Mexico of the sum of seven millions of dollars on the exchange of ratifications, and the further sum of three millions of dollars when the boundaries of the ceded territory shall be settled.

To be enabled to comply with the stipulation, according to the terms of the treaty, relative to the payment therein mentioned, it will be necessary that Congress should make an oppropriation of seven millions of dollars for that purpose before the 30th instant, and also the further sum of three millions of dollars, to be paid when the boundaries shall be established. I, therefore, respectfully request that these sums may be put at the disposal of the Executive.

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a copy of the said treaty.

WASHINGTON, June 20, 1854.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

Treaty between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic, concluded at the City of Mexico, December 30, 1853.

In the name of Almighty God!

The Republic of Mexico and the United States of America, desiring to remove every cause of disagreement which might interfere in any manner with the better friendship and intercourse between the two countries, and especially in respect to the true limits which should be established, when, notwithstanding what was covenanted in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in the year 1848, opposite interpretations have been urged, which might give occasion to questions of serious moment. To avoid these, and to strengthen and more firmly maintain the peace which happily prevails between the two republics, the President of the United States has, for this purpose, appointed James Gadsden, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotertiary of the same near the Mexican Government, and the President of Mexico has appointed as plenipotentiary "ad hoc" his Excellency Don Manuel Diez De Bonilla, Cavalier Grand Cross of the National and Distinguished Order of Guadalupe, and Secretary of State and of the office of Foreign Relations, and Don Jose Salazar Villarregui, and General Mariano Monterde, as scientific commissioners, invested with full powers for this negotiation, who, having communicated their respective full powers, and finding them in due and proper form, have agreed upon the articles following:

ARTICLE I-The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the following as her true limits with the United States for the future; retaining the same dividing line between the two Californias as already defined and established according to the fifth article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the limits between the two republics shall be as follows: Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the fifth article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined in the said ar

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