The mystic mid-region, the deserts of the Southwest . of several deserts. There are the Nevada Desert, the Black Rock Desert,the Smoke Creek Desert, the PaintedDesert, the Mojave Desert, the ColoradoDesert, etc. ; the Great American Desertbeing the name now applied to that alkaliwaste west of Salt Lake in Utah. As a mat-ter of fact, however, these are but local namesfor a great section of arid country in theUnited States from two hundred to five hun-dred miles wide, and seven hundred to eighthundred miles lon^, and extendinor far downinto Mexico, unbroken save for an occasionaloasis furnished
The mystic mid-region, the deserts of the Southwest . of several deserts. There are the Nevada Desert, the Black Rock Desert,the Smoke Creek Desert, the PaintedDesert, the Mojave Desert, the ColoradoDesert, etc. ; the Great American Desertbeing the name now applied to that alkaliwaste west of Salt Lake in Utah. As a mat-ter of fact, however, these are but local namesfor a great section of arid country in theUnited States from two hundred to five hun-dred miles wide, and seven hundred to eighthundred miles lon^, and extendinor far downinto Mexico, unbroken save for an occasionaloasis furnished by nature, or small areas madehabitable by irrigation. Where the old Union Pacific drew its sinu-ous line across the northern section of thedesert, a trail of green spots was left to markthe various watering-stations for the Southern Pacific railroad left a similar lineof oases down through the Colorado Desert,and the Santa Fe, in like manner, dotted withgreen spots the Great Mojave Desert. Thewater at these stations is obtained in some. The Desert 5 instances by drilling wells, and where it cannot he obtained in this manner it is hauled intank cars from other points. A j)ortion of the desert lies below the levelof the sea. Death Valley, in tlie GreatMojave Desert, has a depression of one hun-dred and ten feet below sea-level, while por-tions of the Colorado Desert lie from a fewfeet to four hundred feet below the latter desert there are 3900 squaremiles below sea-level, and there are severalvillages in this desert which would be manyfeet submerged were the mountain wall be-tween sea and desert rent asunder. There is a mystery about the desert whichis both fascinating and repellent. Its heat, itsdearth of water and lack of vegetation, itsseemingly endless waste of shifting sands, theair of desolation and death which hovers overit,—all these tend to warn one away, whilethe very mystery of the region, the uncer-tainty of what lies beyond the border of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectdeserts, bookyear1904
