ON THE LLANO ESTACADO.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8677, 29 December 1893, Page 2

ON THE LLANO ESTACADO.

" Weekly Press." I ' By Rawietnu. , Few of us who live in these fertile and favoured islands have any conception of the trials and hardships endured by the pioneers of civilisation in sterile and desert islands. On the island continent of Australia, where vast tracts of country are entirely without water, we can see an example of how such lands retard the advance of a civilised people, and of the difficulties to be overcome before they can be brought to support a population. We note wit h admiration the gallant effortmade by explorers to give to the world a knowledge of the unknown land, and are proud of tha achievements of such intrepid ■■pints as Burke and Will-, as Leichardt, Gregory, and Grey. The great deserts of America, however, afford a better illustration of the perils and dangers to travellers than those of Australia, for the former lay in the direct route to the fertile and golden lands of California and Oregon, while the few who have crossed the vast deserts of Central Australia had no such goal before them. In these days of tran .continental railroads we hear little of the Great American Desert, for the traveller now rolls across it in the luxurious Pulraan cars, but in the pre-railroad times it was a ghastly and ever-present fact. Thousands of adventurous and restless Anglo-American race crossed the dreaded waste on foot, and many a hundred of them left their bones to bleach on arid 'sands. But though we do not hear much of that desolate land in these later years, and although many parts of it. are being brought under cultivation by the science of irrigation, the Great American Desert is still a grim and death-like expanse as of yore. I have traversed its parched and inhospitable area on foot as well as. on the cars, and have a vivid recollection of its horrors. Over the space of years comes the memory of toilsome and exhaustive marches over burning sands and burnt, black lava ; of the alluring and deceitful mirage; of the fierce eagernes- with which ws drank of putrid and alkaline waters. Again I see stretching before mc the-vast, illimitable waste of glaring, thirsty sands and barren rocks, again I view the strangely hued and fissured mountains and gloomy canons, once again I see the burning sky overhead and the dead and desolate earth below. And over large areas of this marvellous land are seen the ruins of ancient towns built of stone or adobe, on the desolate mesas are the crumbling walls of immense communal dwellings of from one to five hundred rooms. In the valleys are still discerned the irrigating canals, and in the precipitous, dismal canons, the singular cave dwellings of that unknown, pre-historic race, that has passed away and left no signs but these. I hold it as a fact that over the genuine adventurer the desert exerts a strange and powerful fascination, and its mysterious recesses and golden secrets lure many a reckless adventurer to his death. As already noted, a desert like the one in question ia a great b_.rrier to the progress of civilisation, and will check i the advancing tide of an invading race longer and more effectually than great mountain ranges or the hostility of savage tribes. As time goes on, however, various Jiloueers return from the dangerous ourney and tell of the strange things to be seen in the " Terra Incognita," Many expeditions to explore and colonise the new land end in death or disaster, until the pressure of an increasing population from behind, combined with the old BerBerker love of peril and adventure break down the barrier, and the restless tide of conquest surges forward across the drear j desert and takes possession of the promised land. Away to the north of that part of the great State of Texas known as the Terri- j tory of Bexar, away beyond the fertile ! plains of the Brazos and Trinity, called by the Chichemecsof old, "Tehas," or "paradise," away beyond the head-waters of the Rio Colorado and the broad savannahs of Lampasas, lies a lonely land. It is a land avoided alike by man and beast. The bison of the-nrairies in their, vast semi-annual migration north and south shunned this lone land and, swerving to the eastward, followed the well-worn buffalo run by Palo Pinto, Wichita and the Cross Timbers. The warloving Comanche in his red raids to the south against the hated Mejicanos of Coahuila and Chihuahua, avoided the dreaded Jornada del Muerto, and crossing the Rio Pecos at Bosque Redondo, took the ancient war trail on the Rio Abajo, and woe to the frontier settlements on the Rio Bravo del Norte when the long lances of LoSlndios Bravos were seen glittering on the northern horizon. Treeless, waterless, and almost entirely without vegetation this arid region between the Rio Pecos on the west and the affluents of the Brazos and Red River on the east, stretching northward to the Canadian in the Panhandle, and southward to the source? of the Concho, this Sahara of the west lies directly in the path.of the adventurous explorers who, year after year,' endeavoured _o penetrate the unknown wilderness, and reach the far distant settlements of New Mexico. This i. the desert described by the old Spanish' padres , in their adventurous journeys to the north, at a time when the Iberian race was In the flood tide of energy and conquest, and carried their banner into far and unknown lands. It Is tbe weird desert called by the Spanish discoverers the Terra del Muerto or " Land of Death," it is the Llano E.tacado of the Mexican, the Staked Plains of the AngloSaxon'pioneer. The origin of the best known of these names is as follows: The first authentic account that we have of this desert is that written by oneof a party of Missionaries who crossed it in tho early part of the 17th century. In crossing the vast llano they found great difficulty in keeping a direct course, and finally overcame it by erecting stakes at intervals, and thus lining their way across the Slams. And, therefore, even unto this ay, is it .called the Llano Estacado or Staked plain. In after years the great Spanish Trail which crossed the continent from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of Aha, California, took the same route between San Antonio de Bexar and S_nta Fe. The stake line was probably destroyed by the Indians during the. great revolt of 16S0. There are only two places In which tbe Staked Plains may be crossed in safety, a* has been proved by modern exploring parties of the U.S. Geographical

Survey, one of which entered the desert never to return, the whole expedition perishing of thirst. The unknown has always tf great charm for the true Bohemian. How alluring were the early Spanish accounts of the mineral wealth ot Prl.to and San Juan, of the Rio Gila and Sierra de loa Mimbres. How exciting to adventurous minds the wonderful legend of Cibola. Was the story ot the wandering Priest true ? Was there really a civilised race dwelling in the mysterious region north of the Gila? Rumour also located the fabulous mountain of gold in those great sierras of the I unknown north. AU these things tended ! towards tbe settliug of New Mexico, and as the degenerate Mexicans retreated before tho invasion of the Apache and Navajo, the Ute and Comanche, from the north, the fresh young Anglo-Saxon race streamed in by hundred, across the Llano Kstacado, and by the old Santa Fe Trail from Fort Scott. Thus, for the third time in history, the great region of Northern Mexico was occupied by a conqueriug race. They searched long and wearily for the mythical gold mountain, but the shining cliffs of the Prleto were but glittering mica and sparkling selenlte, and the new-comers .finally turned their attention towards settling the fertile valleys of the territory. The Llano Estacado is one of the most peculiar formations of prairie-land. It Is a huge mesa or table land, elevated about 1009 ft above the surrounding plains. Iv length it exceeds 400 miles, and It averages about 250 miles in breadth. In places this mesa is traversed by immense canons hundreds of feet in depth. The rainfall in this region is slight, and there are but few springs in the Barrancas. Salt water ponds are seen in some sections, as also are plains of salt efflorescence and ot gvp-um. Another singular feature are the miniature forests of " shin oak," the trees of which are about two feet In height and are perfect but lillpu'lan members of the oak. Vast tracts of this desert are totally devoid of vegetation whatever, and others are.but a succession of white sand-hills, such ns are seen north of Fyote. The traveller across thi. Llano sees numerous grave mounds as he journeys on, the last home of the west-bound emigrant. At many of the old camps on the Pecos plaius, where men died of thirst in the early days, water has been found at a depth of only fifteen feet. If they had but known 1

Let us follow one of the expeditions ot pre-railroad day., and see how it fares. It is night on the plains. A camp-fire brightly blazes in a timber motto on the head witters of the Rio Braitos. Around the fire are grouped a band oi! adventurous men who have left their homes on the Sabine,and are en route for the more fertile valleys of New Mexico. Travelling by Carthage, Athens and Port Worth, th.sy have crossed the Brazos at Palo Pinto, add have encamped at Puuta del Aqua. where they " spell" the cattle and prepare for the passage Of the desert. The waggons, harness and gear are carefully examined. The Mexican ciboleros have been busy for days "jerking" meat as rations for the journey, The ollas or water jars are rilled and carefully secured. Each man fills his gourd with the precious fluid. At a signal from the leader the teamsters and arrieros lay on their quirts, and, turning their backs to the Brazos and civilisation, the whole force moves forward into the desert. Another picket of the army of invasion has gone forward as a hostage to fortune. How will it fare ? For some days the route lies in a northerly direction, and then diverges to the north-west past Las Tulanes. From here the caravan heads straight for Puerta de Luna on the Rio Pecos. They are now fairly in the heart of the desert, and the country before them is sterile and arid in the extreme. Day after day they travel 00, the mules toiling painfully over the hot sandy plains, for the waggon wheels sinking in the loose sand require them to put forth all their strength. At nighb the wearied cattle are unhitched and given a small quantity of water and corn, for even the coarse "mezquito" grass is not seen. Men are told off to guard the mnlada and caballada, the remainder, wrapping themselves in their five-point Mackinaws, lie down upon the ground to sleep. Day after day the same dreary surrounding of sterile solitude, the same burning sun above their heads. Day after day they toll on io slow progress, the teams are weakening and many of the cattle die by the Way. No springs are met with in this Inhospitable region.and they have to rely on the supply in the ollas. One by one the Cattle die of thirst hunger and overwork, one by one the riding horses fall by the wayside. Food they have yet in plenty, but in the passage of these waterless stretches it is the thirst that kills. At last the waggons have to be abandoned on the desert and the party, with a last look at the derelict camp, and with dark forebodings in their hearts move forward on their lonely way. Altering their course somewhat to the south they push on for the barranca of El Coyote In tho hope of finding water there. AU ] night they strugnle wearily onward and i at dawn of day expect to see the great butte which marks the approach to the canon, but no; the desert Is still before them. During the night the last drop of water in the canteen, had been consumed, and they know that they must soon reach water or die. On those dry, hot plains thirst comes on with terrible rapidity and when the means to quench it are not obtainable it soon becomes intolerable agony. Some become insane, and killing their horses'drink the warm blood as ie flows; others talk of green fields and rippling brooks, and yet others chew the leaden bullet or pebble of chalcedony and ride on ia sullen silence, i-ome. overcome by exhaustion, fall down upor the quivering sands and take a good long rest, the rest that knows no end. Aqua cries the Mexican, arriero, Per amor Dios, aguaita., (Watgr, for the love of God, a little water.) But there is no water. And then, behold, a strange thing happens. They see water, they see a beautiful lake before them in the distance ; there can be no deception, they can even see the light rippling of the wavelets on the sandy shore. With hoarse cries some rush forward to wade neck deep, and drink for ever the God given water, but the old frontiersmen, versed In desert lore, restrain them, for they know that it is but the deceitful mirage. Men are seen searching for the spheroidal cactus to quench their raging thirst, but not a sign of even this hardy member of the cacti is to be seen. Both horses and men are now dropping out of the line every hour, and falling to rise no more. At last, far away on the horizon is seen the butte of El Coyote, at last the water is before them. If there is any chance for life, if water is to be found, it will be In the canon, so, putting forth thejr last falling energies, they toil slowly and painfully forward until, with trembling limbs they scramble down the rugged gulch, and with dry, cracked lips and a wolf-like glare in their deep sunk eyes they—The Spring Is c\ ry« Some fall and die in the arid canon while other make a last effort to reach the Rio Pecos, but weak, weary and crazed bj their awful sufferings, the way Is not long. One by one they fall exhausted, and perish quickly and silently in that lonely > laud. * And now there is but one unfortunate left alive. As his last comrade falls he looks around ; around on the dry, -parched ' earth and whit- sand dunes, on the ions i desert land and brazen sky. Far as hii ■ eye can reach nothing but the desert meets his gaze, neither stone nor shrub breaks the drear monotony. The vasl I death-like waste of the Llano Estacadc i lies calm and silent as upon the morning * of the First Day. The awful solitude ' oppresses him with a uameless horror. I« . this the end of all, is there no living beinp i but he in the vast burning expanse, is the ) whole world dead? But no sign or sound comes unto him from the mysterious un \ known, and far and wide over the Land ol L Death a great silence prevails. l The old Spanish pad res were right, it l« . indeed the Terra del Muerto. And so, with one last lingering gsz* t around upon the cheerless horizon, hi . sinks down upon the arid earth in despair, for he knows that the end is come.