Page 56 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

photograph (above) which was the basis for the lithograph in the book (See top of page 53.)
Above, I alluded to modern geologic reports which contained information about these formations. Jerry Mueller & C. R. Twidale’s, “Geomorphic Development of the Giants of the Mimbres, Grant County, New Mexico” appeared in New Mexico Geology in May 2002 (Volume 24, Number 2). It is an excellent work, containing wonderful photographs and a thorough documentation of the geologic questions associated with the site. The same authors published “Landform Development of City of Rocks and Giants of the Mimbres.” (See cover at link for attributions.)
The rock at the Giant of the Mimbres site is Kneeling Nun Tuff, specifically Sugarlump Rhyolite.
The following page shows these formations in 2016. William Bell’s photograph of the area, from 1867, is shown above.
There is a significant amount of rhyolite, forming spectacular spires and other forms in this area. Just beyond the High Bridge on NM 152 (two miles west of Hillsboro) there are many spires
visible on both sides of the road. These formations are just as striking as the Giants of the Mimbres, but they did not benefit from mention in the publications of the 1880’s - too far north to draw the attention of officials from the Boundary Survey. Most of these formations are on private land and are not accessible.
BARTLETT’S TRIP TO THE MIMBRES
When Bartlett found the formation he was following the same route to the copper mines, from El Paso, that Wright would follow a few months later. Bartlett left Doña Ana on April 27, 1851 and headed north. At noon on April 28 Bartlett’s party “reached a new settlement on the river’s bank, called Santa Barbara”. The inhabitants had just constructed a deep acequia and were flooding and tending their agricultural fields. Bartlett departed Santa Barbara on the 29th and reached Mule Spring at 1:00 p.m. the same day. “This spring is in an arroyo or ravine, and contains a few barrels of water. Some ash and cotton-wood trees mark its course from the mountains where it rises. Colonel Craig, when he passed here with his command a few months before, opened the spring and sunk a barrel in it. The water is very good. In the rainy season, this arroyo is probably filled with water, as the trees and banks exhibit the marks of it.”
Giants of the Mimbres, William A. Bell, 1867
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