We are told that so

quence, less than ten per cent. of this large surface. bears forests of any value. scant is the moisture, if the whole current of every water-course in this district were utilized for irrigation it would not be possible to redeem four per cent. of the land. Some of this surface, however, bears grasses and plants that, to an extent, make pasturage. The precious metals and other useful minerals are found in abundance, and various parts of the region have been developed by the many valuable mines, making their owners enormous fortunes.

Through this vast mountain district, over deserts and along devious defiles, a half-dozen great railways lead from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific slope. The Southern Pacific Railway we have already followed from New Orleans across to Southern California. Northward from its route at El Paso a railway leads through New Mexico to the next great transcontinental line, the Atchison system, coming from Chicago by way of Kansas City and Santa Fé southwestward. The main line traverses Kansas, and branches go south into the Indian Territory and Oklahoma. In the former are the reservations of the civilized tribes of Indians originally removed from east of the Mississippi-the Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws and Seminoles, with some others who number nearly two hundred thousand souls, most of them engaged in agriculture. To the westward, south of Kansas and Colorado, is the

"Boomers' Paradise" of Oklahoma, or the "Beautiful Land," a fertile and well-watered region, originally part of the Indian reserved lands, but bought from them by the Government. People from Kansas long had a desire to occupy this prolific land, and only with great difficulty were they kept out. The portion first got ready was opened to settlement by proclamation at noon on April 22, 1889, a large force of troops being in attendance to preserve order. Over fifty thousand people crossed the boundaries and entered the Territory the first day, taking up farms and starting towns. The "Cherokee Strip" along the northern line was subsequently obtained and opened to settlement in September, 1893, when ninety thousand people rushed in. These great invasions of the "Oklahoma boomers" became historic, cities of tents springing up in a night; but while there then was much suffering and privation from want of food and shelter, yet the new Territory has since become a most successful agricultural community.

The Atchison route, after crossing Kansas, enters Colorado, passing La Junta and Trinidad, and then turning southward rises to the highest point on the line, crossing the summit of the Raton Pass, at an elevation of seventy-six hundred and twenty feet, by going through a tunnel, and emerging on the southern side of the mountain in New Mexico. The railway is then laid along the slope of the Santa Fé

Mountains, and on their side are Las Vegas Hot Springs, about forty of them being in the group, their waters used both for bathing and drinking, and having various curative properties. The Glorieta Pass is subsequently crossed at seventy-five hundred feet elevation, and beyond is Santa Fé, the capital of New Mexico. This is a curious and antique town, the oldest in the United States next to St. Augustine in Florida. It was an Indian pueblo or town in the very early times, and in 1605 the Spaniards came along, captured it, reduced the Indians to slavery, and worked the valuable gold and silver mines. In 1680 the Indians revolted, expelled the Spaniards and destroyed their churches and buildings, but they recovered control a few years later. There are now about seven thousand people of all races, having a good trade, and being chiefly employed in mining. It is a quaint old place, with crooked and narrow streets and adobé houses surrounding the central Plaza, on one side of which is the ancient Governor's Palace, a long, low adobé structure of one story, wherein the Governors of Spanish, Mexican and American rule have lived for nearly three centuries. It contains various historical paintings and relics, and here General Lew Wallace wrote Ben Hur while Governor of New Mexico in 1880.

Beyond Santa Fé is the Rio Grande River, which the railway follows down through a grazing country past Albuquerque, its mart for wool and hides.