Page 23 - Wood Plenty, Grass Good, Water None

twelve miles, we spread our blankets beneath a cedar tree three miles west of Bill Williams' mountain. Good grass and timber are found here;butwe havefailedtoreachthewatersof Bill Williams' fork...."
"We arenow nearthetrailofCapt.Sitgreaves, who passed around the southern base of Bill Williams' mountain, and thence proceeded towards the west-northwest, in the direction of Yampais creek. Lieut. Tidball has taken a sketch showing the Sierra de la Laja and Picacho, some twenty-five miles distant, between which the trail crossed. A chain of blue hills appears in the distance, and extends t o w a r d s t h e s o u t h - s o u t h e a s t ; its c r e s t e v i d e n t l y preserving nearly the same altitude; but the descent of the valley along its foot causes the southern portion, represented in the sketch, to appear a formidable range. The drainage of the
Figure 10. View from Radio Hill, December 1996. Wal lace (unpublished manu script) has identified this as the hillclimbed by Whipple on December 31, 1853. "Looking west and south west appeared an open country with imperfectly defined valleys, among a dense growth of cedars; but it was difficult to say in what direction was the slope. A blue mountain range some fifteen or twenty miles distant lim ited the view." The dis tant mountains are Mount Floyd, called Sierra de la Laja by Whipple. Photo graph by Harley Shaw.
Figure 11. View to north west from Radio Hill, De cember, 1996. Whipple's
1853 description was: "North and northwest were black volcanic hills, and a high prairie devoid of snow, and nearly destitute of trees." The woodland has grown denser in this direction. The valley to the northwest of Radio Hill, w h i l e stil l h a v i n g s o m e o p e n grassland, now holds a mixture of ponderosa pine, alligator barked juniper, and pifion. Photograph by Harley Shaw.
r a v i n e s is t o w a r d s P i c a c h o , t h r o u g h a g e n e r a l l y level country, containing prairies mingled with copses of pifions and cedars. The soil, being of decomposed volcanicrock,isrich;and.judging from the vegetation which covers it,must be well-watered. Captain Sitgreaves, according to Leroux, found this region to be a plain intersected by numerous and difficult ravines. The country beyond proved to be an elevated prairie,considerably broken, and nearly devoid of water and wood, forming a dreary jornada. The grass,though nutritiousand abundant,was parched,indicatingalongdrought.The soilwas so light and porous, that there appeared little chance of finding water in pools...."
"The region from the San Francisco mountain tothisplacecontainsmuch volcanicsandand scoriaceous rock, quickly absorbing rain and melting s n o w .... Pine forests ,interspersed with
USDAForestServiceRMRS-GTR-177. 2006.
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