WILLIAM PHIPPS BLAKE AND THE 1857 WAGON ROAD SURVEY: A GEOLOGICAL EXCURSION AMONG MULES, CAMELS, INDIANS AND THE ARMY

From 1853 to 1856, William Phipps Blake (1826-1910) served as a government geologist and mineralogist with the Pacific Railroad Survey (PRS) in the Far West. Upon completing his PRS commitments in 1856, including compilation of the 1854 field notes of Jules Marcou, and preparation of Marcou's PRS report encompassing the area along the 32nd Parallel from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to San Pedro, California, and 35th Parallel from Preston to El Paso, Texas, on to Dona Ana, New Mexico, Blake pursued employment on another western expedition. He subsequently acquired a position with the government Wagon Road Program under Supt. of Indian Affairs E. F. Beale, despite objection from Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. The formal wagon route was to run from Fort Defiance, Arizona, westward to the Colorado River, then on to California. The survey was of historical significance marking the onset of Comanche unrest and the Civil War, and the introduction of camels to the American desert. Blake departed New York in May 1857, via rail to St.Louis, Missouri, then proceeded down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. The official party proceeded west, crossing the Gulf by steamer to Indianola then to Galveston, before traveling by land to San Antonio, Texas, and west through New Mexico. Due to illness, among other factors, Blake did not complete his ambitious plan to proceed further west with Beale to California, and only made it as far as Fort Defiance before heading back to the east coast, returning to New York by October of 1857. During his travel through west Texas and New Mexico, Blake would perform numerous geological traverses, as time and circumstances allowed, visit several mines throughout New Mexico, and make many noteworthy geological, agricultural and historical observations. Notably, Blake would rediscover the ancient turquoise workings at Los Cerrillos, part of the oldest mining district in the United States, and make the determination that such workings pre-dated the advent of the Spaniards.