172:"From our camp it can be approached through a narrow opening in the rocks, but the mules are driven over the hills on either side down into the chasm, where they can be watered one or two at a time in two small basins at the foot of the main one, some 15 or 20 feet below it. The process is a long one but easy enough. We had also found abundant water in a large pond on the roadside, three miles from the river. Day clear and pleasant. Our camp was Within a mile of the table-land that stretches, almost without interruption a level plain, to Guadalupe Pass. Ascending from the river, the mountain scenery is various, striking, and grand, comprehending a view of the Organos and El Paso mountains. The river here runs off short to the east, while the emigrant road takes nearly an opposite direction."
81:
sixteen miles, and all up-hill; the prairie being usually gravelly, and not rough. The water is about 100 feet lower than the camp, in a rocky chasm, difficult of descent for animals. The chief supply is a natural rock-bound well, thirty feet in diameter, and twenty four feet deep. It contains about 55,000 gallons. Many feet below it are two smaller holes, which the animals can get at two or three at a time. There is no fuel, save a few bushes and
Spanish bayonets. The country is well covered to-day with gamma grass, and, also, I saw buffalo grass. We came over a high point, and had a fine view of the
76:, but met at the same time two of the guides, who directed us to leave the river short to the right, stating it was fifteen miles to water. I followed a smooth inclined plane (between two bluffs,) three miles, and then had a steep ascent; then following ridges and making ascents occasionally, we reached another inclined bed of a rainy-weather stream. From this we wound up a long valley to a ridge which bound it, following that over a very rocky prairie.
167:, and at the end of 24 miles from the morning's camp we entered a little cove to the right of the road, where Capt. C. had already found water; abundant grass on the hillsides; fuel, a little mezquite and stalks of the Spanish bayonet. This is "Foster's Hole," described by Col. Cooke as "a natural rock-bound wall, thirty feet in diameter and twenty-four feet deep, containing about 55,000 gallons of clear, pure water."
163:"Tuesday, 20th: In about 12 miles the appearance of the country strongly indicated that we were soon to bid farewell to the river. At several points plain wagon tracks Seemed to lead off. At length we made a turn toward the hills, hardly perceiving our destination at first, winding up a long cañon of gentle ascent, in general; descending again into a wide bottom; thence over a rolling country covered with
62:
November 9.—Leroux came back last evening; he went down about fifty miles, struck off where the river turns east at San Diego, and in fifteen miles found some water holes; then he saw from a high hill a creek running out of the mountain at an estimated distance of thirty miles; the next water, over a
293:
Report from the
Secretary of War, Communicating a Copy of the Official Journal of Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, DURING A SPECIAL SESSION BEGUN AND HELD AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, MARCH 5, 1849, Congressional Edition,
232:
account of the route to Fort Thorn from Cooke's Spring, omit mention of
Fosters Hole or any water source after Mule Spring on the 22 mile route between Mule Spring and the head of Cooke's Wagon Road on the Rio Grande. The location of Forsters Hole, was lost until it was rediscovered in 1988, in Jug
216:
military road construction project in 1856, wagon traffic soon diminished on the longer route by way of San Diego
Crossing. In Marcy's, The Prairie Traveler (1858), his ITINERARY XXIII, From Fort Thorne, New Mexico, to Fort Yuma, California; gives the distance to "Water Holes" from Fort Thorn as
80:
had gone to the head of the inclined plane, and found, he thought, an outlet. The water is at its head; but he did not return in time to direct all the wagons, and it is doubtful with me if it would have been better. The wagons arrived at this ground about an hour by sun, having come fifteen or
110:
November 13th.— A mile or two from camp a note from Leroux was found on a pole, but also two return guides were met, who directed the march short to the right ; and a march of fifteen miles was made in a south-west course, always ascending over gravelly prairie, uneven but not very
116:
The Mormon battalion was left fifteen miles west of the Rio Grande, in camp near a deep ravine in which was a natural well of rock, which the sagacity of the guides had discovered, to make their first venture in the desert a success. This was
November the 13th,
111:
difficult ; and then, in a rocky chasm a hundred feet deep, a natural well or reservoir of pure water was found. There was no fuel, save a few bushes and
Spanish bayonet, but the country was well covered with grama and buffalo grass.
93:," where the river turns to the east. For a road coming up the river, there is a very fine valley, gradually ascending to this point. The course to-day, allowing for a variation of the needle of 12° E., was S. W. Some antelopes were seen.
350:, Published by Authority of the War Department, New York, Harper & Brothers, Publishers, Franklin Square, 1859. List of Itineraries, XXIII.—From Fort Thorne, New Mexico, to Fort Yuma, California.
271:
Utah
Historical Quarterly Volume 57, Number 3, (Summer 1989).pdf Carmen Smith and Omer Smith, "The Lost Well of the Mormon Battalion Rediscovered," Utah Historical Quarterly 57. No.3 (Summer 1989)
454:
130:, the translator for the expeditions officers, who found it. Its name and location appear in a sketch map adjunct to W.H. Emory's main map of the route of the Army of the West under
348:
The
Prairie Traveler. A Hand-Book For Overland Expeditions. With maps, illustrations, and itineraries of the Principal Routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific
273:
336:
Benjamin
Ignatius Hayes, Marjorie Tisdale Wolcott, Pioneer Notes from the Diaries of Judge Benjamin Hayes, 1849-1875, Privately Printed at Los Angeles, 1929
360:
WAR OF THE REBELLION, SERIES I, VOLUME L, IN TWO PARTS. PART I, pp,124-125 E.E. EYRE,Lieutenant- Colonel First
California Volunteer Cavalry, Comdg. July 6.
404:
from livinginnuevomexico.blogspot.com, accessed March 19, 2016. This blog has some photos of Fosters Hole and the route to it from the Rio Grande.
398:
from battaliontrek.com Mormon Battalion Trek 2008. This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 10:20 pm and is filed under Journal.
160:, coming down the Rio Grande from the north described Fosters Hole when he camped there on his way to California in November, 1849:
102:
90:
449:
209:
270:
256:
Robert Eccleston, Overland to California on the Southwestern Trail 1849, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1950
410:
345:
401:
86:
391:
373:
378:
193:
77:
35:
153:. From there it was then 8 miles up a dry arroyo then 4 miles on rolling hills to "the water" (Fosters Hole).
105:, and had found a water hole fifteen miles on our course, and seen a prairie stream about thirty miles beyond.
157:
51:
381:
Photos by Rose Ann Tompkins, PHOTOS FROM CHAPTER SYMPOSIUM IN SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO, APRIL, 2015, from
150:
213:
310:
Philip St. George Cooke, The Conquest of New Mexico and California, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1878
185:
31:
138:
127:
27:
205:
320:
221:
177:
146:
142:
101:
November 9th.— ... Mr. Leroux returned; he had left the river where it turned eastward opposite
181:
323:
accessed December 17, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History,
234:
229:
131:
55:
395:
277:
224:
Santa Barbara, and other settlements in the area had been driven away by the start of the
82:
192:
was built between where the roads left the Rio Grande for Fosters Hole, and the town of
149:
then 17 miles to a camp on the river with a cutoff to his route near the future site of
73:
443:
385:
Southern Trails Chapter, Oregon-California Trails Association, accessed March 5, 2016
228:
removing locals (except the Apache) with knowledge of the Fosters Hole. In 1862 the
309:
292:
321:
Sketch of part of the march & wagon road of Lt. Colonel Cooke, Map, ca. 1847
225:
189:
69:
39:
425:
412:
54:
described Fosters Hole in his 1849 official journal of the expedition of his
164:
220:
Fort Thorn had been abandoned in 1859 and by 1861 at the beginning of the
388:
327:; crediting University of Texas at Arlington Library, Arlington, Texas.
217:
14.3 miles, "One mile west of hole in rock. Water uncertain; no wood."
204:
When a shortcut was built between the crossing of the Rio Grande at
184:, and 12 miles more to Cooke's Spring on what had become known as
382:
324:
294:
Volume 547, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1849.
38:. It is located in narrow crevasse at the foot of a cliff in
141:
and later travelers used the route proposed by him, from the
42:
that is difficult to spot, except from a few vantage points.
97:
St. George Cooke described Fosters Hole in his later book:
72:
this morning a mile or more, we found a pole and note from
237:. The owner of the ranch was unaware of its existence.
402:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Mormon Battalion Trail Hike
126:
This natural well was later named Fosters Hole, for
200:
Subsequent Decrease in Use, Abandoned and Forgotten
16:Waterhole on the Cooke's Wagon Road in New Mexico
379:Vicinity of Fosters Hole, southwest of Hatch, NM
455:Bodies of water of Doña Ana County, New Mexico
288:
286:
8:
176:From Fosters Hole it was 10 miles onward to
252:
250:
58:, from Santa Fe to San Diego in 1846-47:
196:was built nearby southeast of the fort.
346:Randolph B. Marcy, Captain U. S. Army,
305:
303:
301:
266:
264:
262:
246:
7:
134:across the southwest to California.
389:Monday, Nov 10 – Foster’s Hole, NM
137:Subsequent to Cooke's expedition,
68:November 13.— After following the
14:
122:Fosters Hole named, and its use
46:Discovery by Cooke's Expedition
1:
383:http://southern-trails.org/
325:http://texashistory.unt.edu
233:Canyon, on a ranch west of
471:
45:
36:Sierra County, New Mexico
30:on the original route of
89:, and the mound called "
158:Benjamin Ignatius Hayes
52:Philip St. George Cooke
426:32.69583°N 107.41556°W
119:
113:
107:
95:
65:
114:
108:
99:
66:
60:
431:32.69583; -107.41556
374:Tank at Fosters Hole
128:Stephen Clark Foster
422: /
87:"El Paso" mountains
63:rather level plain.
450:Cooke's Wagon Road
394:2010-11-20 at the
276:2016-03-03 at the
222:American Civil War
214:Pacific Wagon Road
186:Cooke's Wagon Road
147:San Diego Crossing
143:Jornada del Muerto
32:Cooke's Wagon Road
235:Hatch, New Mexico
230:California Column
212:, as part of the
462:
437:
436:
434:
433:
432:
427:
423:
420:
419:
418:
415:
361:
358:
352:
343:
337:
334:
328:
318:
312:
307:
296:
290:
281:
268:
257:
254:
56:Mormon Battalion
470:
469:
465:
464:
463:
461:
460:
459:
440:
439:
430:
428:
424:
421:
416:
413:
411:
409:
408:
396:Wayback Machine
370:
365:
364:
359:
355:
344:
340:
335:
331:
319:
315:
308:
299:
291:
284:
278:Wayback Machine
269:
260:
255:
248:
243:
226:Chiricahua Wars
202:
124:
48:
34:in what is now
17:
12:
11:
5:
468:
466:
458:
457:
452:
442:
441:
406:
405:
399:
386:
376:
369:
368:External links
366:
363:
362:
353:
338:
329:
313:
297:
282:
258:
245:
244:
242:
239:
210:Cooke's Spring
201:
198:
174:
173:
169:
168:
161:
123:
120:
47:
44:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
467:
456:
453:
451:
448:
447:
445:
438:
435:
403:
400:
397:
393:
390:
387:
384:
380:
377:
375:
372:
371:
367:
357:
354:
351:
349:
342:
339:
333:
330:
326:
322:
317:
314:
311:
306:
304:
302:
298:
295:
289:
287:
283:
279:
275:
272:
267:
265:
263:
259:
253:
251:
247:
240:
238:
236:
231:
227:
223:
218:
215:
211:
207:
199:
197:
195:
194:Santa Barbara
191:
187:
183:
179:
171:
170:
166:
162:
159:
156:
155:
154:
152:
148:
144:
140:
135:
133:
129:
121:
118:
112:
106:
104:
98:
94:
92:
88:
84:
79:
75:
71:
64:
59:
57:
53:
43:
41:
37:
33:
29:
25:
21:
407:
356:
347:
341:
332:
316:
219:
203:
188:. In 1853,
175:
139:Forty-niners
136:
125:
115:
109:
100:
96:
67:
61:
50:Lt. Colonel
49:
23:
20:Fosters Hole
19:
18:
429: /
417:107°24′56″W
178:Mule Spring
78:Charboneaux
444:Categories
414:32°41′45″N
280:: 277-286]
241:References
190:Fort Thorn
182:Mule Creek
151:Fort Thorn
74:Mr. Leroux
40:Jug Canyon
103:San Diego
91:San Diego
28:waterhole
24:La Tinaja
392:Archived
274:Archived
26:, was a
206:Mesilla
145:across
83:Organos
132:Kearny
165:grana
117:1846.
70:river
208:and
85:and
180:or
22:or
446::
300:^
285:^
261:^
249:^
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.