It is remarkable that no meteoric stones have ever been discovered, either near the Pacific coast or, indeed, so far as we know, anywhere on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Masses of meteoric iron, on the other hand, are known to exist in quite a number of localities, and many of these masses are of very large size.
On page eleven, of the third volume of the Academy’s Proceedings, I have given a list of the localities of meteoric iron known in Arizona and Northern Mexico. This was done in order to attract the attention of explorers and prospectors to these remarkable masses, and in the hope of getting more definite information in regard to some of them. Indeed, some additional items have already been obtained in reference to the masses there noticed.
It is stated by several persons who have visited Southern Arizona, among whom Dr. Horn may especially be mentioned, that it is universally believed, and vouched for by apparently trustworthy explorers, that there are many large masses of iron near the summit of the range next east of Tucson. This is called on the latest map of Arizona, (that published by Mr. Gird) the “Sierra de la Santa Caterina.” Whether this is the same as the “Sierra de la Madera,” mentioned by Velasco, as the locality of “enormous masses of pure iron, between Tucson and Tubac,” I have been unable to ascertain.
Dr. J. B. Trask saw, in August, 1849, a large mass of meteoric iron, at the village of Rio Florida, partly buried in the ground at the corner of the plaza. This may, perhaps, be the same mass mentioned by Mr. Bartlett, as existing “at the Hacienda de Concepcion, on the road from Chihuahua to Rio Florida.” Dr. Trask, however, has a distinct recollection that the mass he saw was at the village of Rio Florida, and not at the Hacienda.
Dr. Veatch saw, in 1849, a large mass of iron at Santa Rosa, Coahuila, which was then in use as an anvil, at a blacksmith’s shop, and was informed that many pieces of native iron had been used there for various purposes. The mass which Dr. Veatch saw, was of about the size of an ordinary anvil. It was said to have been brought from the mountains northwest of the town. This statement corroborates that of Schott, in the Mexican Boundary Report. (Vol. I, Part 2, page 34.)
It is a remarkable fact, considering the abundance of meteoric iron near our borders, that no meteorite, either stony or metallic, has yet been found within the limits of California. The piece of iron from Honcut Creek, found by Dr. Trask, and supposed to be of celestial origin, proved, on careful examination, to be ordinary cast iron. A fragment of the mass was referred to Professor Brush, and pronounced by him not to be meteoric. The existence of a piece of cast iron, in the locality where this was discovered, is not easily explained. In connection with what has just been said of the existence of meteoric iron in California, it should be added, that Dr. J. G. Cooper thinks that he observed some small pieces of native iron on the Mohave River, a little above its sink. By accident no specimen of this supposed meteorite were saved, so that it is not possible to say that Dr. Cooper may not have been mistaken. The attention of explorers in that region is invited to this supposed locality.
An additional reason for believing Dr. Cooper’s observations to be correct is, that the locality lies in the prolongation of the path or belt in which a considerable number of masses of meteoric iron have already been found. It is certainly either a very interesting fact, or else a remarkable coincidence, that the localities of meteoric iron in Arizona and northern Mexico, lie nearly in a straight line with each other, which line extends from northwest to southeast, for a distance of twelve hundred and fifty miles, or from the Colorado River, at La Paz, to the province of San Luis Potosi, in Mexico. Along this line, at points from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles apart, in some places one mass of iron, and in others quite a number of them, have fallen, indicating very strongly a common origin for the whole, or that they may all be fragments of one immense meteor which passed diagonally across the continent, throwing off masses in its progress. The large mass of iron discovered by Dr. Evans, on Bald Mountain, near Port Orford, in Oregon, is in a locality not far distant from the path of the supposed meteor.
The belt of meteoric iron masses may also be prolonged much farther to the south, through Mexico, and in the same general southeasterly direction, as far as the province of Oaxaca. The localities in the provinces of Durango, Zacatecas, Mexico, and Oaxaca lie very nearly in the same northwest-southeast direction from each other; but are in a line a little to the west of the main belt which has been traced down from the Colorado River. It is certain that the central part of Mexico has been highly favored in respect to the distribution of meteoric iron masses, which are not only of frequent occurrence, but often of large size. Perhaps it may be not too wild a speculation to suggest, that the grand disruption of the meteor may have taken place in this part of its course, and that the fragments were scattered far and wide in all directions. It certainly seems difficult to account for the peculiar position of the masses of iron found on the Pacific side of the continent, and their great abundance in central Mexico, on any other theory than the one which has here been suggested.