the Union except upon the fundamental condition that, within the State, there shall be no denial of the elective franchise, or of any other right, to any person by reason of race or color, except Indians not taxed; and also upon the further fundamental condition that the Legislature of the State shall, by a solemn public act, declare the assent of said State to the said fundamental condition. The President objects that this condition was not mentioned in the original enabling act, was not sought by the people of Nebraska, has not heretofore been applied to the inhabitants of any State asking admission, and is in direct conflict with the Constitution adopted by the people, and declared in the preamble to the bill to be "republican in its form of government." It is also objected that Congress undertakes to authorize and compel the Legislature to change a Constitution adopted by the people, and ratified and confirmed by Congress in the first section of the bill. The President makes the further objection that the condition precedent in the bill is an assertion of the right of Congress to regulate the elective franchise in any State hereafter to be admitted. This he regards as a clear violation of the Federal Constitution.

Soon after the President's veto, and early in February, 1867, this second bill for the admission of Nebraska as a State of the Union was passed by Congress by a two-thirds vote in each branch, thus making it a law notwithstanding the President's veto.

Following the passage of the bill for the admission of Nebraska, the Legislature of the new State met at Omaha, the capital, and, on or about the 20th of February, 1867, ratified, or agreed to accept and conform to the conditions imposed in the act. Thus, so far as legislation is concerned, was completed the last act for the admission of Nebraska as the thirty-seventh State of the American Union.

CITIES AND TOWNS.-The capital of Nebraska is Omaha, situated on the Missouri River, opposite Council Bluffs, in Iowa, a little above the latitude of New York City. As the outlet of the Platte Valley, as the crossing point of the river for the North and South Platte routes to Denver, in Colorado, California, and Oregon, as the eastern terminus of the main trunk line of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the business center for north-eastern Nebraska, Omaha has great commercial promise. The capitol, built on a commanding eminence and a romantic site, is an elegant two-story brick edifice. The population of Omaha in 1860 was 1,950.

Nebraska City is the principal town below the Platte. It is on the beautiful site of old Fort Kearney, and commands a large share of the travel to Denver and the mines. It had in 1860 a population of 2,000.

The other principal towns in Nebraska are Plattsmouth, Brownville, Rule, Peru, Nemaha City, Falls City, Salem, Archer, Kenosha, Rock Bluff, and Wyoming, below the Platte; Bellevue, the site of the old Omaha mission; Florence, the starting point on the Missouri for the Mormon trains to Utah; and Fort Calhoun, De Soto, Corning City, Tehuma, Decatur, Omadi, Dakota, St. John's, Punca, St. James, and St. Helena, above the Platte, on and near the Missouri; Fontanelle, on the Elk Horn, and Fremont and Columbus, in the Platte Valley.

Fort Kearney is situated on the Platte River, near the 99th degree of west longitude, and 250 miles from Atchison, Kansas. It is at the junction of the Omaha, Nebraska City, and Atchison roads for the grand central overland route to Colorado and Utah and the Pacific Territories. MINERALS. The southern portion of Nebraska abounds in limestone, and the counties along the Kansas line, particularly near the Big and Little Blue Rivers, present some stony surface. In many places sandstone underlies the soil, cropping out along the bluffs and ravines. Rock is seldom met with in digging wells, which range from 15 to 60 feet in depth. In Cedar County, on the Missouri, and in some other localities, there is a large deposit, a few feet below the surface, of a calcareous substance, soft and pliable, which hardens on exposure, and makes excellent lime. Alum has been found in Dixon County, and coal is obtained at various points. On Salt Creek, in Lancaster County, are several rock-salt springs. The salt impregnates the waters of the creek, and in many spots, covers the ground with a crust about the thickness of window-glass, spreading in one place to the extent of three miles in length by one in breadth.

MISCELLANEOUS.-Agricultural and pastoral pursuits will chiefly occupy the people of Nebraska, as the scarcity of fuel and of good waterpower will limit manufacturing. Their traffic upon the Missouri River is already large, and promises to become immense. Three routes starting from Omaha, Plattsmouth, and Nebraska City unite at Fort Kearney, and thence follow the Platte Valley to Denver and the mountains. On all these routes the roads are excellent, wood and water convenient, and the distance less than by more southern routes. In 1860, 9,100 teams crossed the ferry at Omaha, of which about 6,000 were bound westward to the mines, California, etc.; 2,959 crossed the Loupe River, north of the Platte, by ferry; and several thousands crossed the Platte by Shinn's Ferry, east of the Loupe. Steam ferries are maintained across the Missouri at Omaha, Dakota, Bellevue, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City, and Brownsville.

The school system of Nebraska is modeled after that of Ohio. The number of schools maintained in 1860 was 121; school districts, 139; number of children entitled to attend the public schools, 7,041; and the actual attendance at the schools was 2,930. There were land-offices at Brownville, Nebraska City, Omaha, and Dakota, at which millions of acres were subject to entry. The civil code of Ohio and the criminal

code of Illinois were adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1856. Ten newspapers were then published in Nebraska. Most of the religious denominations in the United States, including Mcrmons, are represented.

NEW MEXICO.

NEW MEXICO is a portion of the territory acquired from Mexico by the treaties of 1848 and 1853, and extends from 31° 20′ to 37° of north latitude, and from 26° to 32° of longitude west from Washington, including an area of about 100,000 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Colorado, on the east by the Indian Territory and Texas, on the south by Texas and Old Mexico, and on the west by Arizona.

FACE OF THE COUNTRY, ETC.-This Territory is, for the most part, a high table-land, crossed by several ranges of mountains. The valleys of the Rio Grande and its tributaries occupy the middle part of New Mexico, and lie between and among different ranges of the Rocky Mountain chain, which crosses the Territory from north to south. The western limit of the Rio Grande Valley is the Sierra Madre Mountains, and the eastern, the Jumanes, the Del Cabello, and other ranges of the Rocky Mountains. Much of the Territory lies west of the Sierra Madre Mountains, and partakes of the general character of the Fremont Basin. (See Utah.) The mountain ranges in the east are the Guadalupe, Sacramento, Organ, (Sierra de los Organos,) Sierra Blanca, Hueca, and other divisions which diverge from the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, and pass off into Texas, forming the western boundary of the valley of the Pecos. Mount Taylor, in a south-west direction from Santa Fe, among the Sierra Madre Mountains, has been computed at 10,000 feet elevation above the valley of the Rio Grande, itself a high tableland of 6,000 feet in the north part, 4,800 feet at Albuquerque, and 3,000 feet at El Paso.

MINERALS. It is highly probable that New Mexico abounds in the precious metals, but owing to the jealousy of the aborigines, and the unskillfulness with which, even when worked at all, they have been managed, they have not, so far as we are informed, hitherto produced abundantly; yet gold and silver are known to exist, and mines of both metals have been worked. Mines of gold have been worked in a district along the Placer Mountains, 30 miles south-west of Santa Fe. They are known as the Ortiz, Bigg, and Davenport mines. From 1832 to 1835, when mining operations were most flourishing, from $60,000 ta $80,000 per annum was taken from them, and from their discovery to 1844, they yielded about $300,000. The ore exists in quartz, which is easily crushed. At placers in the vicinity, gold is obtained by washing. Near the Placer Mountains, the whole soil seems to be impregnated with the precious metal. It is believed by those who have explored it, that this district would be one of the richest gold-bearing countries in the world, if science and capital were employed in its development. Silver mines, 80 miles north-east of El Paso, and near Dona Ana, are reputed to be the richest in New Mexico. Iron occurs in abundance, and gyp

sum in large quantities has been found near Algadones; copper is plentiful, and mines of that metal were extensively worked in the vicinity of what is now Fort Webster previous to 1838, when the forays of the Indians caused their abandonment. Gold is found in the same vicinity. Some coal is found, and salt lakes, about 100 miles south-south-east of Santa Fe, have been resorted to for that necessary culinary article. Silver mines have been discovered about 18 miles east of Fort Fillmore. Lead and zinc ore are also found. Salt lakes, or salinas are numerous in the country, and are chiefly found between the Rio Grande and the Pecos. From these all the salt used in New Mexico is procured. Chihuahua also receives its chief supply from the same source. A train of 10 or 15 wagons, each capable of carrying 5,000 pounds of salt, goes once a year from El Paso to a salt lake district east of the Organ Mountains, for the annual supply. Mineral and warm springs, some of which possess rare medicinal virtues, are found in different parts. RIVERS. The Rio Grande, or River Bravo del Norte, as it was formerly called, which crosses the entire territory from north to south is the largest river of New Mexico, and drains the great valley which lies between the Sierra Madre Mountains on the west, and the Jumanes, and the Sierra Hueca or Waco Mountains on the east. The Pecos River drains the eastern slope of the same mountains, and passes off into Texas. The Puerco, a river of 200 miles in length, is the principal tributary of the Rio Grande from the west; but in the hot season it is often completely evaporated in the lower part of its course, rendering no tribute whatever to the parent stream. The Canadian River has its sources in the north-east of New Mexico, from which it runs in a south-east direction, to join the Arkansas. The Gila, which rises on the western slope of the Sierra Madre, runs almost directly west to its mouth in the Colorado. The Rio Grande has in the Territory a direct course of 500 miles, and, including windings, a course of 1,200 miles. It varies in width from 150 to 600 feet, and in dry seasons is nearly all absorbed for purposes of irrigation. The broadest arable valleys lie along this river. The Mesilla Valley lies on its west bank, beginning about ten miles north of El Paso, and it is about thirty miles in length, and from half a mile to two miles in width.

OBJECTS OF INTEREST TO TOURISTS.-Crossed as New Mexico is by lofty chains of mountains, it can not fail to possess many objects of striking interest in its scenery; but they have been hitherto imperfectly explored west of the Rio Grande. Among and beyond the Sierra Madre Mountains are vast canons, (kan-yuns', i. e. deep channels in the earth,) mostly forming the beds of streams, often two or three hundred feet in depth, and almost shut out from the light of day. In the same region are found steep bluffs of red and white sandstone rock, worn by the action of the elements into very striking resemblances of fortresses, castles, etc. Lieutenant Simpson has given some sketches of the most remarkable, in his recent work on New Mexico. One curiosity of the country is the deserted pueblos, or Indian villages, which give evidence of having been the abode of a much more dense population than subsists there at present.

The pueblo of Taos, in New Mexico, is one of the most remarkable now existing. It consists of an edifice about 400 feet long by 59 wide, and is divided into long ranges of apartments, one above the other, forming a pyramidal pile of 50 or 60 feet, and five or six stories in height. This great building, it is said, affords habitations for five or six hundred people.

The second class, where the tribe or community live in a village, consist of buildings generally of one story, but sometimes of two. When of the latter, the entrance is by ladders from the outside, as before mentioned. The object of this is to render them perfectly isolated, and to afford them protection from an enemy. To render these dwellings more secure, villages and large edifices are usually built upon the summit of a rock, or hill, and when this is not convenient, on the open plateau, where there is neither tree, bush, nor rock to conceal an enemy. These people often choose a spot near some eminence which may command a view of the adjacent country, where they may establish a look-out, and place a sentinel to give warning, if an enemy should approach.

"Cascade Grotto," says Lieutenant Whipple, "is too wildly beautiful to pass unnoticed. A series of cascades, formed by a mineral spring, which gushes from the mountain, leap from cliff to cliff, until they join the Gila, 1,000 feet below. Beneath the first water-fall is a charming cave, filled with petrifactions. Among the Organ Mountains, (themselves an object of great interest, rising as they do 3,000 feet above the river,) a little stream whose source is far within a defile, tumbles over the rocks in a single fall of 50 feet."

CLIMATE.-The habitable part of the valley of the Rio Grande lies in the latitude of the northern and central portions of the southern States; but its climate is very much modified by its great elevation, giving it a temperate but constant climate. The mercury sometimes rises to 100°, but the evenings are always cool. Some of the higher peaks of the mountains are covered with perpetual snow. Considerable rain falls between July and October, but New Mexico has essentially a dry atmosphere, being most of the year parched where there is no irrigation.

SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.-Many parts of the valley of the Rio Grande and of other streams, are highly productive, and yield fine crops of Indian corn, wheat, and other grains, besides apples, poaches, melons, apricots, and grapes. Among the valleys of the Sierra Blanca, in the north-east of New Mexico, the pasturage is excellent; and the large valley of San Luis, in the same region, is one of the most fertile in the Territory. But in most places irrigation is necessary to suecessful agricultural operations. During the dry season, however, in some districts, even this resource fails, from the total evaporation of the streams. On the table-lands there grows a peculiar grass, which in the dry season cures and preserves its nutritious qualities. On this cattle, sheep, horses and mules feed all the winter, and preserve themselves in good condition. The mutton of New Mexico is excellent. The principal agricultural district of New Mexico is the valley of