Page 64 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

Cooke’s Spring to Fort Thorn like this: "July 4, left Cooke's Spring at 6.30 a. m.; took Fort Thorn road, which keeps a north- northeast course, while the Mesilla road turns to the right immediately at the springs and bears east-northeast, passing
the Overland Mail Station, which is seen on the hill about half a mile distant. Marched thirteen miles to Mule Spring; good road. Here no water could be found even by digging, having sent a party in advance with spades for that purpose. Left Mule Spring at 12 a. m.; marched twenty-two miles to the Rio Grande, and encamped at 7 p. m. near Fort Thorn. Course, north- northeast and northeast; thirty-five miles. The road for about eight miles after leaving Mule Spring is very good, when it enters a rolling country, the hills becoming more and more abrupt for a distance of about six miles, when it descends into a broad canon, which is followed on a good road to the river. July 5, moved three miles down the river to and reoccupied Fort Thorn; three miles.” (War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, published Under the Direction of The Honorable Daniel S. Lamont, Secretary of War, by Maj. George W. Davis, U. S. Army, Mr. Leslie J. Perry, Civilian Expert, Mr. Joseph W. Kirkley, Civilian Expert, Board of Publishers, Series I, Volume L, in Two Parts. Part I, Reports, Correspondence, Etc., Government Printing Office, 1897, p. 125, Letter from Lieutenant Colonel E. E. Eyre, First California Volunteer Calvary at Fort Thorn to Headquarters, Column from California, July 8, 1862.)
From the Fort Thorne location, Mule Spring is southwest. (To go to Mule Spring from Hatch would require a party to go northwest (passing just east of Cooke’s Spring in the process.)
63