Many scientific societies received me most cordially.
The Government in Washington readily furnished me with the official papers I required.

The late Mr.James G.Blaine, then Secretary of State, did everything in his power to pave my way in Mexico, even evincing a very strong personal interest in my plans.
In the summer of 1890, preparatory to my work, I visited the Zuni, Navajo, and Moqui Indians, and then proceeded to the City of Mexico in order to get the necessary credentials from that Government.

I was received with the utmost courtesy by the President, General Porfirio Diaz, who gave me an hour's audience at the Palacio Nacional, and also by several members of his cabinet, whose appreciation of the importance and the scientific value of my proposition was truly gratifying.

With everything granted that I wanted for the success of my expedition--free passage for my baggage through the Custom House, the privilege of a military escort whenever I deemed one desirable, and numerous letters of introduction to prominent persons in Northern Mexico who were in a position to further my plans--I hurried back to the United States to organise the undertaking.

My plan was to enter, at some convenient point in the State of Sonora, Mexico, that great and mysterious mountain range called the Sierra Madre, cross it to the famous ruins of Casas Grandes in the State of Chihuahua, and then to explore the range southward as extensively as my means would permit.
The western Sierra Madre may be considered a continuation of the Rocky Mountains and stretches through the greater part of Mexico into Central and South America as a link of the Cordilleras, which form a practically uninterrupted chain from Bering Strait to Cape Horn.