We halted on a bare conglomerate scalp near a little creek, which we called “Bonito,” and which shortly below our camp joins the Gabilan, an affluent of the Bavispe River which probably has its origin near Chuhuichupa.  The elevation of our camp was 6,620 feet.  The summit of the sierra toward the east appeared to be 2,000 feet high, and the first ridge, at the foot of which we camped, rises here almost perpendicularly about a thousand feet.  The little stream already mentioned originates in a deep canon and adjoining it are four large cordons descending from the ridge east of us and spreading themselves out like a gigantic fan, which we had noticed from some distance on the previous day.  From our camp led a track eastward, up along one of these cordons, and a reconnoitring party found a Mormon settlement ten or twelve miles off.

The day after our arrival I went out to take a look at the country.  South of us, at no great distance from the camp, I found patches of fertile black soil partly cultivated with corn and turnips that did not appear to be flourishing, and with potatoes which were doing well.  An old horse stood there, and I also noticed a small tent.  Going up closer I found a plough standing outside.  This made quite a queer impression in these solitary mountains, but the implement was apparently not out of place, judging from the beautiful black soil near-by.  In the tent I saw a heap of bed-clothes piled up on some tin pails, and there were also some pots with potatoes and corn.  The owner of all this was not at home; but the atmosphere was American, not Mexican.  I had evidently come upon an outpost of one of the Mormon colonies.

Throughout January the days continued to be fine, though at times a southerly cold wind was blowing; but at night it was cold and the water in our buckets was often frozen.  Then we felt what a real comfort a large camp-fire is.  Before sundown we would gather the fallen trees and such sorts of wood, and roaring fires were built in front of each tent.  The smoke, to be sure, blackened our faces, but the fire made the tents wonderfully comfortable, filling them with light and warmth.  For beds we used fragrant pine boughs.

We also had several falls of snow, the heaviest two and a half inches, and on the coldest night, on January 10th, the thermometer went down to 6 deg.  F. As the rays of the sun partly melted the snow in the course of the day, the animals could at least get a meagre meal.  On January 15th a cup of water froze inside of my tent, but during the day we had 57 deg.  F.

We soon found out that in the river Gabilan, some four miles south of our camp, there were immense quantities of fish, which had come up to spawn.  No one ever interfered with them, and their number was simply overwhelming.  As the task of feeding thirty men in these wild regions was by no means a trifling one, I resolved to procure as many fish as possible, and to this end resorted to the cruel but effective device