Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/329

 NEW MEXICO 317 The number of blind persons was 159 ; deaf and dumb, 48 ; insane, 50 ; idiotic, 46. There were 24 convicts in prison on June 1, 1870 ; number of persons convicted of crimes during the prece- ding year, 95. Of the whole number (29,361) 10 years old and upward returned by the cen- sus as engaged in all occupations, there were employed in agriculture 18,668, including 10,- 847 agricultural laborers and 7,629 farmers and planters ; in professional and personal services, 7,535, including 51 clergymen, 1,365 domestic servants, 3,348 laborers, 48 lawyers, 27 phy- sicians and surgeons, 1,116 United States sol- diers, and 49 teachers ; in trade and transpor- tation, 863 ; in manufactures and mining, 2,295. Nearly all the inhabitants are of Mexican de- scent and speak the Spanish language. Much of New Mexico, especially the S. and W. parts, has until recently been subject to Indian incur- sions, and the Apaches in the south are still somewhat troublesome. The number of tribal Indians (not included in the census) in the ter- ritory in 1874, according to the report of the United States commissioner of Indian affairs, was 25,268, viz. : Navajos, occupying a reser- vation of 5,400 sq. m. in the northwest, partly in Arizona, 9,068, besides 2,000 not on the res- ervation ; Mescalero Apaches, with an agency at Fort Stanton in the southeast, 1,800 ; South- ern or Gila Apaches, on a reservation near the hot springs in the southwest, 400 ; Capote Utes (500), Weeminuche Utes (750), and Jica- rilla Apaches (500), of the Abiquiu or Tierra Amarilla agency, about 100 m. N. W. of Santa Fe, 1,750; Muache Utes (290) and Jicarilla Apaches (460), of the Cimarron agency in the northeast, 750; Pueblos, occupying 19 pueblos or villages in the N. W. part of the territory, 9,500. The 'Pueblos have several times been decided by the territorial courts to be citizens of the United States, but have preferred to retain their tribal organization, each village having its own government. (See PUEBLO INDIANS.) The general surface of New Mex- ico consists of high level plateaus, traversed by ranges of mountains, between which are many broad fertile valleys, and from which rise occasional isolated peaks of great height. The valley of the Rio Grande has an elevation of between 5,000 and 6,000 ft. above the sea near the N. boundary, 4,800 ft. at Albuquerque (lat. 35), and 3,000 ft. at El Paso, Mexico, near the S. boundary of the territory. The general altitude of the mountain ranges on each side of the valleys of the Rio Grande and the Pecos is between 6,000 and 8,000 ft. above the sea, sometimes, especially in the north, rising to 10,000 or 12,000 ft., the sum- mits being covered with perpetual snow. Mt. Taylor in the Sierra Madre range, S. W. of Santa F6, rises 10,000 ft. above the valley of the Rio Grande. The general direction of the mountains and streams is from N. to S. The Rocky mountains before entering the territory from Colorado are divided into two ranges. The eastern, formed by lofty peaks and high continuous ridges, terminates abruptly a few miles S. of Santa Fe" ; the western, called the Sierra Madre, consists of many detached moun- tains of less height, with low passes between them, and forms the connecting link with the Sierra Madre of Mexico. Nearly two thirds of the territory lies E. of the Sierra Madre. S. of the termination of the E. range of the Rocky mountains a lofty plateau extends be- tween the Rio Grande and Pecos, interrupted by numerous minor ranges of mountains. The region W. of the Sierra Madre has been imper- fectly explored, but is known to contain table lands or mesas (often standing apart from each other and bearing great resemblance to gigantic fortresses and castles) and detached ranges of mountains, with many fertile valleys and occa- sional peaks of extinct volcanoes. E. of the Pecos river and the E. range of the Rocky mountains the country slopes gradually toward the Mississippi river and the gulf of Mexico. The S. E. part of the territory is occupied by the W. portion of the Llano Estacado or Staked Plain, an elevated tract destitute of wood, and of any vegetation except immediately after rain, of which the fall here is slight. The prin- cipal river is the Rio Grande del Norte, which, rising in Colorado and entering New Mexico between the Sierra Madre and the E. range, flows S. through the entire territory, and, after forming the boundary between Texas and Mex- ico, enters the gulf of Mexico. The Pecos rises on the E. slope of the E. range, flows S. through the E. portion of the territory, and joins the Rio Grande in Texas. These two rivers have many small tributaries, chiefly from the west. The largest of those of the Rio Grande are in the N. part of the territory. The N. E. sec- tion is drained by the head waters of the Ca- nadian, a branch of the Arkansas, and the N. W. corner by the San Juan, a tributary of the Colorado of the West. In the southwest are the sources of the Gila, and here also is the Rio de los Mimbres, which flows S. into Mex- ico. The central portion of the region W. of the Rio Grande contains the sources of the Col- orado Chiquito or Little Colorado, which flows N. W. and joins the Colorado of the West in Arizona. Most of the mountains of the central plateau between the Rio Grande and Pecos are composed chiefly of syenitic rocks, which du- ring their upheaval broke through palaeozoic sandstones and carboniferous limestones. The limestones are found generally on the flanks of the ridges, but sometimes on their tops. Both the syenites and carboniferous limestones are traversed by mineral lodes. Dikes of porphyry are frequently met with near the lines of in- tersection. The plateau itself has underlying it for the most part tertiary and lower creta- ceous rocks. The sandstone frequently forms table mountains or mesas, and contains in many localities beds of lignite and bituminous coal, 2 to 5 ft. thick, alternating with layers of iron ore, fire clay, and shales. The latter are fre- quently filled with large fossil leaves. Wher-