The New Mexico Trail - page 1 of 4
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From the north bank of the Gila River the expedition would continue up an arroyo with a drainage pattern that caused confusion and the belief they were heading back towards the river. This is an important clue about where the expedition was on April 19, 1795.
Two scenarios are presented here. First, there are a number of small sierras south of the larger Mogollon Mountains. The pediments and slopes of these small sierras combine and sweep southward in a large arc causing a great bend in the river. Flowing southwest out of New Mexico, the Gila gradually curves west along the edge of the arc towards Duncan, Arizona and then bends north-northwest towards Clifton.
From the captain’s ford or the Gila just south of Duncan a number of arroyos provide an eastward ingress into the high country south of the Mogollon Mountains. Zúñiga’s perception that they were heading back to the river may have been caused by the east orientation of the arroyos with respect to the great bend in the river. Travelling up Bitter Creek, Sanders Wash, Goat Camp Wash, or Sand Wash the river would have been on the expedition’s right and with increased elevation, the bend in the river (though several miles away) was almost in front of them possibly giving the feeling that they were heading towards the river. I can not rule out one of these arroyos as the expedition path.
The second scenario involves a trail up Carlisle Canyon. From its juncture
with the Gila its orientation is northeast. Except for Bitter Creek, Carlisle is one of the easiest routes into the high county from their crossing place near Duncan. This arroyo is chosen as the most likely route taken by the expedition based on the ease of access to the Mogollon and a single topographic anomaly that could explain the temporary confusion mentioned above. I admit that the line of evidence is slight but I offered it here for consideration.
First, it seems that the expedition route was not reconnoitered in advance of their departure from the river on the 19th, and perhaps this can be explained by the early action of the captain. As soon as he crossed the river on the 16th Zúñiga sent eight scouts and the infantry on a two day mission into the badlands beyond “Puerto del Chibato” in search of Apaches (probably the rugged region upstream and beyond present day Canador Peak and north of the Gila in what was known by Spaniards as La Casita). Upon their return on the 17th he then dispatched 40 men to follow tracks.
On the 19th, with all troops reassembled, and without the benefit of scouting the path, they entered the mouth of one of the two broad arroyos left of Carlisle Canyon. About a quarter league into their march (less than a mile), the expedition could only go to the right curving around some bluffs and into the head of another short but broad arroyo. From here they could see the river a mile to their right and without an adjustment in their course they could only return to the river. Climbing out of the unnamed arroyo towards the east, the expedition dropped into Carlisle Canyon.
Carlisle Canyon is a broad sandy wash that gradually narrows into a steep-sided meandering canyon as elevation increases. The canyon has a good bottom from its mouth to its headwaters at Crookson Peak (about 13 miles distance or about 5 leagues). Like many nearby canyons, Carlisle supports springs and cottonwoods.
As the expedition climbed in elevation they left the desert and entered into the conifer zones of piñon pine, juniper and occasional ponderosa pine. The expedition named Carlisle Canyon “la Casa del Arroyo de los Alamos” [Photo 3]. This designation in its simplest terms means a stream where poplar trees dwell (in this case cottonwood trees).
It should be noted here that a Spanish lance blade and a spur were found in Carlisle Canyon years ago. Though not necessarily related in any way to the 1795 expedition these artifacts reveal that the canyon was traversed occasionally in Spanish-Colonial times by soldiers and Apaches alike.