CHAPTER TEN.
The "Llano Estacado," or "Staked Plain" of the hunters, is one of themost singular formations of the Great American Prairie. It is atable-land, or "steppe," rising above the regions around it to a heightof nearly one thousand feet, and of an oblong or leg-of-mutton form,trending from north to south.
It is four hundred miles in length, and at its widest part between twoand three hundred. Its superficial area is about equal to the island ofIreland. Its surface aspect differs considerably from the rest ofprairie-land, nor is it of uniform appearance in every part. Itsnorthern division consists of an arid steppe, sometimes treeless, for anextent of fifty miles, and sometimes having a stunted covering ofmezquite (_acacia_), of which there are two distinct species. Thissteppe is in several places rent by chasms a thousand feet in depth, andwalled in on both sides by rugged impassable precipices. Vast masses ofshapeless rocks lie along the beds of these great clefts, and pools ofwater appear at long intervals, while stunted cedars grow among therocks, or cling from the seams of the cliffs.
Such chasms, called "canons," can only be crossed, or even entered, atcertain points; and these passes are frequently a score of miles distantfrom each other.
On the upper plain the surface is often a dead level for a hundredmiles, and as firm as a macadamised road. There are spots covered witha turf of grass of the varieties known as gramma, buffalo, and mezquite;and sometimes the traveller encounters a region where shallow ponds ofdifferent sizes stud the plain--a few being permanent, and surrounded bysedge. Most of these ponds are more or less brackish, some sulphurous,and others perfectly salt. After heavy rains such aqueous deposits aremore numerous, and their waters sweeter; but rain seems to fall byaccident over this desolate region, and after long spells of drought thegreater number of these ponds disappear altogether.
Towards the southern end of the Llano Estacado the surface exhibits avery singular phenomenon--a belt of sand-hills, nearly twenty miles inbreadth and full fifty in length, stretching north and south upon theplain. These hills are of pure white sand, thrown up in ridges, andsometimes in cones, to the height of a hundred feet, and without tree,bush, or shrub, to break their soft outlines, or the uniformity of theircolour. But the greatest anomaly of this geological puzzle is, thatwater-ponds are found in their very midst--even among their highestridges--and this water not occasional, as from rains, but lying in"lagunas," with reeds, rushes, and _nymphae_ growing in them, to attestthat the water is permanent! The very last place where water might beexpected to make a lodgment.
Such formations of drift-sand are common upon the shores of the MexicanGulf, as well as on European coasts, and there their existence is easilyexplained; but here, in the very heart of a continent, it cannot beregarded as less than a singular phenomenon.
This sand-belt is passable at one or two points, but horses sink to theknees at every step, and but for the water it would be a perilousexperiment to cross it.
Where is the Llano Estacado? Unroll your map of North America. Youwill perceive a large river called the Canadian rising in the RockyMountains, and running, first southerly, and then east, until it becomespart of the Arkansas. As this river bends eastwardly, it brushes thenorthern end of the Llano Estacado, whose bluffs sometimes approachclose to its banks, and at other times are seen far off, resembling arange of mountains--for which they have been frequently mistaken bytravellers.
The boundary of the west side of the "Staked Plain" is more definite.Near the head-waters of the Canadian another large river has its source.This the Pecos. Its course, you will observe, is nearly south, butyour map is not correct, as for several hundred miles the Pecos runswithin a few degrees of east. It afterwards takes a southerlydirection, before it reaches its embouchure in the Rio Grande. Now thePecos washes the whole western base of the Llano Estacado; and it isthis very plain, elevated as it is, that turns the Pecos into itssoutherly course, instead of leaving it to flow eastward, like all theother prairie-streams that head in the Rocky Mountains.
The eastern boundary of the Llano Estacado is not so definitely marked,but a line of some three hundred miles from the Pecos, and cutting thehead-waters of the Wichita, the Louisiana Bed, the Brazos, and Colorado,will give some idea of its outline. These rivers, and their numeroustributaries, all head in the eastern "ceja" (brow) of the Staked Plain,which is cut and channelled by their streams into tracts of the mostrugged and fantastic forms.
At the south the Llano Estacado tapers to a point, declining into themezquite plains and valleys of numerous small streams that debouch intothe Lower Rio Grande.
This singular tract is without one fixed dweller; even the Indian nevermakes abode upon it beyond the few hours necessary to rest from hisjourney, and there are parts where he--inured as he is to hunger andthirst--dare not venture to cross it. So perilous is the "Jornada," orcrossing of the Llano Estacado, that throughout all its length of fourhundred miles there are only two places where travellers can effect itin safety! The danger springs from the want of water, for there arespots of grass in abundance; but even on the well-known routes thereare, at certain seasons, stretches of sixty and eighty miles where not adrop of water is to be procured!
In earlier times one of these routes was known as the "Spanish Trail,"from Santa Fe to San Antonio de Bexar, of Texas; and lest travellersshould lose their way, several points were marked with "palos," orstakes. Hence the name it has received.
The Llano Estacado is now rarely travelled, except by the ciboleros, orMexican buffalo-hunters, and "Comancheros," or Indian traders. Partiesof these cross it from the settlements of New Mexico, for the purpose ofhunting the buffalo, and trafficking with the Indian tribes that roamover the plains to the east. Neither the hunt nor the traffic is of anygreat importance, but it satisfies a singular race of men, whom chanceor inclination has led to the adopting it as a means of subsistence.
These men are to the Mexican frontier pretty much what the hunter andbackwoodsman are upon the borders of the Anglo-American settlements.They are, however, in many respects different from the latter--in armsand equipments, modes of hunting, and otherwise. The outfit of acibolero, who is usually also a _coureur de bois_, is very simple. Forhunting, he is mounted on a tolerable--sometimes a fine--horse and armedwith a bow and arrows, a hunting-knife, and a long lance. Of fire-armshe knows and cares nothing--though there are exceptional cases. A lazois an important part of his equipment. For trading, his stock of goodsis very limited--often not costing him twenty dollars! A few bags ofcoarse bread (an article of food which the prairie Indians are fond of),a sack of "pinole," some baubles for Indian ornament, some coarseserapes, and pieces of high-coloured woollen stuffs, woven at home:these constitute his "invoice." Hardware goods he does not furnish toany great extent. These stand him too high in his own market, as theyreach it only after long carriage and scandalous imposts. Fire-arms hehas nothing to do with: such prairie Indians as use these are furnishedfrom the eastern side; but many Spanish pieces--fusils and escopettes--have got into the hands of the Comanches through their forays upon theMexican towns of the south.
In return for his outlay and perilous journey, the cibolero carries backdried buffalo-flesh and hides--some the produce of his own hunting, someprocured by barter from the Indians.
Horses, mules, and asses, are also articles of exchange. Of these theprairie Indians possess vast herds--some individuals owning hundreds;and most of them with Mexican brands! In other words, they have beenstolen from the towns of the _Lower_ Rio Grande, to be sold to the townsof the _Upper_ Rio Grande, and the trade is deemed perfectlylegitimate,--at least, there is no help for it as the case stands.
The cibolero goes forth on the plains with a rare escort. Sometimes alarge number of these men, taking their wives and families with them,travel together just like a tribe of wild Indians. Generally, however,one or two leaders, with their servants and equipage, form theexpedition. They experience less molestation from the savages thanordinary travellers. The C
omanches and other tribes know their object,and rather encourage them to come amongst them. Notwithstanding, theyare often cheated and ill-used by these double-faced dealers. Theirmode of transport is the pack-mule, and the "carreta" drawn by mules oroxen. The carreta is of itself a picture of primitive locomotion. Apair of block-wheels, cut out of a cotton-wood tree, are joined by astout wooden axle. The wheels usually approach nearer to the oval, orsquare, than the circular form. A long tongue leads out from theaxle-tree, and upon top of this a square, deep, box-like body is placed.To this two or more pairs of oxen are attached in the most simplemanner--by lashing a cross-piece of wood to their horns which hasalready been made fast to the tongue. The animals have neither yoke norharness, and the forward push of the head is the motive power by whichthe carreta is propelled. Once in motion, the noise of the wooden axleis such as to defy description. The cries of a whole family, withchildren of all sizes, in bitter agony, can alone represent the concertof terrible sounds; and we must go to South Mexico to find its horridequal in a troop of howling monkeys.