Page 31 - Wood Plenty, Grass Good, Water None

" F r o m t h i s p o i n t o u r j o u r n e y l a y , f o r s o m e d a y s , alongbeautifulvalleys,andoftenthroughthick and dark forests of cedars. ..."
AfterrejoiningthewagonsatNewYear'sSpring,the reconnaissance party rested and worked on equipment foraday,thenonJanuary8,theyallstarteddownthe westernslopeoftheMogollonRim.Theirroutewas probably close to the present gas pipeline leading west wardfromRadioHill(andHitsonTank)toaspringthey called Lava Spring. Whipple, in his handwritten diary, calls this Santo Domingo Spring, showing that names changed and evolved as the party discussed them over time. Dr. Andrew Wallace (unpublished manuscript) presentsevidencethatLavaSpringwasapproximately at the present site of Canyon Tank, some 5 miles N W of the present town of Williams. Whipple's notes for the day tell us little about the vegetation or terrain, but Stanley wrote on January 8:
"Movedthismorning— awesterlycourse— over a country of dreadful extremes—rough and difficult. Surface of the country undulating with canon in the traprock. Pine timber for six miles— where the character of the surface changes somewhat and the growth is scrub cedar. Encamped, after a march of ten miles, attheheadofadeepandruggedcanon,where water is abundant, but hard to approach. No game except a few small rabbit."
Stanley therefore documents their transition into juniper vegetation. His description generally fits the area today. His comment on "scrub cedar" suggests the juniper trees may not have been large. Through this stretch today, the uplands around Canyon Tank
are covered with dense stands of alligator-bark juniper interspersed with pinon. Ponderosa pine grows along the drainages.
For January 9, leaving Lava Spring, Whipple notes:
"A dense growth of tall cedars and pifions covered the ground.... Having travelled ten miles,we encamped inthevalley,nearacedar grove, where we found good grass as usual, and a patch of snow upon the hillside which supplied us with water."
In his diary, he describes the camp for January 9 as being"amongfinecedarswithgrass...."
Tidball writes for January 9:
"Traveled 10 1/2 mi. leaving our exploring trail slightly to our right. E n c a m p e d without water,
g o o d g r a s s , a n d s o m u c h c e d a r t h a t it i s d i f f i c u l t totravelthrough thethickets."
Stanley, January 9:
"Marched ten miles to-day, over an undulating countrycoveredwithcedar.Encamped without water.Fromoneoftheheightsto-dayhadan extensiveview,embracingSanFranciscoMt., Sitgreaves, Sennrick [Kendrick?], Pineletta [Pinevita?], Bill Williams, Picacho, Black Mountain, north of puno [?] villages. Passed down averybadhillandthroughadensegrowth of cedar. Encamped in a pretty little valley at the mouth of a deep canon. To our north we have an extensive plain, extending north to theColorado"
John P. Sherburne did not often mention the vegeta tion,buthisfewdescriptionsarerevealing.On January 9, he notes: "No water in camp, plenty of wood.... Part of the road had to be cut, the timber (cedar) was sothick."
This is the stretch between Lava Springs [Canyon Tank] and Cedar Creek [Polson D a m Draw]. There is littledoubt that a fairly dense woodland existed on this westerlyfaceoftheMogollonRimin1854.Today,this area is an ecotone between alligator-bark juniper and Utah juniper. They were entering the general area that Whipple had earlier noted dense juniper on the recon naissance and where Beale later mentioned difficulty passing through the area because of tree densities. Thus, itseemsthatsomewhereinthevicinityofPolsonDam Drawandperhapsextendingacrosswhatisnowcalled ParadiseRidge,abeltofextremelydensewoodlandwas present. Polson D a m Draw is now an open valley.
I cannot, from the journals, plot their exact route through this stretch, however I suspect that they fol lowed close to or just north of the present railroad, perhaps leaving itat the head of K Y Canyon, starting down that canyon, climbing out one side or the other (most likely the north side) then dropping over the rim ofPolsonDamDrawtocamp(perhapsnearthemouth of K Y Canyon). Wallace (unpublished manuscript) supports this route.
Whipple notes on January 10:
"We traversed the fine valley of Cedar creek, and passed westwardly over an almost inap preciable ridge into a wide ravine; which by gradual descent, led into the great basin of the Black Forest. Thence four miles south brought us to large pools of water in a rocky glen called Partridge creek. It is believed that water exists here at all seasons. O u r c a m p ground is excel
USDA ForestServiceRMRS-GTR-177. 2006.
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