Full text of "The resources of Arizona; a description of its mineral, farming, grazing and timber lands; its rivers, mountains, valleys and plains; its cities, towns and mining camps; its climate and productions; with brief sketches of its early history, pre-historic ruins, Indian tribes ... etc"

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A DESCRIPTION 

Of its Mineral, Farming, Guazing and Timber Lands; its Rivers, 

Mountains, Valleys and Plains; its Cities, Towns and 

Mining Camps ; its Climate and Productions ; 



Brief Sketches of its Early History, Pre-Historic Ruins, Indian 

Tribes, Spanish Missionaries, Past and Present, 

etc., etc. 



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SECOND EDITION : 
enlarged and illustrated. 




compiled ey 

PATRICK 'HAMILTON, 

Under Authority of the Legislature 

1SS3. 







Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1883, 

BY rATRICK HAMILTON, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



A. L. Bancroft & Co., Pkintkhs, 
San Francisco. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



A Historical Sketch 7 

Physical Features 16 

Fauna and Flora ^^ 

Counties and Towns 43 

Tucson. . .» 44 

Prescott 48 

Tombstone 50 

Phoenix 54 

Yuma 57 

Florence 58 

Globe 60 

Clifton 61 

Mines and Mining 64 

Cochise County 74 



Yavapai 

Graham 

Pinal 

Gila 

Mohave 



89 
103 
110 
118 
124 



TAGK 

Pima County 129 

Yuma " 135 

Maricopa " 139 

Apache " 140 

Agriculture 143 

Grazing 168 

Wood and Water 191 

Climate 198 

Wages and cost of Living .... 208 

JBy Railroad and Stage 212 

Schools, Churches and Society 221 

Civil and Military 227 

The Indian Tribes 232 

The Early Spanish Mission- 
aries 247 

Pre-Historic Arizona 256 

What can I do ? 265 

A Look Ahead 272 



TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Prescott, Capital of Arizona — Frontispiece. page. 

Ruins of Casa Grande 1 6 

Grand Caiion of the Colorado 32 

City of Tucson , 48 

City of Tombstone 64 

Street in Globe 80 

Town of Clifton 96 

" Silver King 112 

Some Natural Productions 128 

Street in Phoenix 144 

Town of Yuma 1 60 

Natural Bridge 192 

Yuma Indians 208 

Phoenix School House 224 

Apache Scouts 240 

Church of San Xavier 272 



TO THE READER. 



ITf'HE pamphlet published two years ago by authority of the 
— Legislature, created such a demand for information relat- 
ing to the Territory, in all parts of the Union, that the session 
of 1883, provided for the issuing of another edition. This edit- 
ion — enlarged and illustrated — is now presented to the public. 
It has been entirely re-written, contains a great deal of new mat- 
ter, and is much fuller in detail and more comprehensive in 
scope than the first publication. Indeed, it may be considered 
an entirely new compilation. 

The information it contains is fresh and reliable, and has been 
gathered by a tour throughout the Territory, and a personal visit 
to every city, town, mining camp and farming settlement of im- 
portance within its borders. Authorized by the representatives 
of the people, paid for out of the public treasury, and sent forth 
with the stamp of authority and the sanction of law, the truth 
has been sought, and the facts presented, and the statements 
made can be relied upon. 

It is not claimed that the publication is exempt from the errors 
inseparable from a work of this nature, but it is believed such 
errors have been reduced to the minimum, and are of but minor 
importance. A perusal of its pages, it is hoped, will convey to 
the reader some definite idea of the grand resources of the least 
known political division of the American Union. As will be 
seen, it has made rapid progress in wealth, population and ma- 
terial developments during the past two years. 

The opening of railroads is fast bringing its hidden wealth and 
its great natural advantages to the notice of the capitalist and the 
immigrant. To them the following pages are addressed with the 
belief that the facts they set forth will be sufficient to show the 



6 TO THE READER. 

opportunities for the investment of money and muscle in the com- 
ing country of the southwest. 

To Rt. Rev. Bishop Salpointe of Tucson; Hon. Donald Robb, 
of Globe ; Lieut. M, P. Maus, U. S. A. ; Geo. W. Brown, Esq., 
Tucson; Paul Riecker, Esq., Tucson; Ridgeley Tilden, Esq., 
Tombstone; H. C. Hooker, Esq., Sierra Bonita Ranch; 
Ivy H. Cox, Esq., Phoenix; M. P. Romney, Esq., St. Johns; 
D. L. Sayre, Esq., Clifton ; Arthur Lang, Esq., Tombstone, and 
Hon. R. C. Brown, Tucson, the author is indebted for assist- 
ance in the collection of the information herein contained, and 
tenders his sincere thanks for the same. The illustrations pre- 
sented have been taken from photographic views kindly furnished 
by G. H. Rothrock, of Phoenix; D. F. Mitchell, of Prescott ; 
J. C. Burge, of Globe, and C. S. Fly of Tombstone. 

PATRICK HAMILTON. 

Phcenix, Arizona, Sept. 5, 1883. 




A HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



The adventures of Cabeza de Vaca and Marco de Niza — The expeditions of Coronado 
and Alarcon — The Explorations of Antonio de Espejo — Father Kino establishes 
the first Mission — Founding of the Presidios of Tucson and Tubac —Aban- 
donment of the Missions — The Gadsden Purchase — Efforts to establish 
a Territorial Government — Origin of the name "Arizona" — Break- 
ing out of the Civil War — A Territorial Government estab- 
lished — Trials and Hardships of the Early Pioneers — 
The Apaches placed on Reservations. 




'/'i f RIZONA is an olden land with a modern history. That 
it was once Uie home of a semi-civilized race, there is 
ample evidence in the ruins left by its former occupants, 
in nearly every valley and mountain range. The origin and 
history of the people who once held sway in this remote region 
of the western world is lost in the mists of antiquity, and the 
twilight of time gives to their modern successors but a dim con- 
jecture as to who they were, whence they came, and what were 
the causes which led to their complete extinction. These ques- 
tions suggested themselves to the first Europeans who penetrated 
the territory now known as Arizona, nearly three hundred and 
fifty years ago, and the answers to them were as indefinite then 
as they are to-day. There is every reason to believe that the 
most interesting epoch in Arizona's history lies buried in those 
mysterious mounds which are an enigma alike to the savant and 
the sightseer; and the relics which are dug from them, suggest 
mutely, yet eloquently, the time when every valley smiled with 
peace and plenty; when mountain and mesa were covered with 
flocks and herds ; when towns and cities beautified the plain, 
and a happy and contented people enjoyed the gifts of boun- 
teous nature in this favored land. This was the golden age of 
Arizona ; but not even tradition gives a whisper as to the causes 
which brought to so sudden an ending, a civilization at once so 
extensive and so unique. 

The modern history of the region now embraced within the 

limits of Arizona Territory, begins with the advent of the early 

Spanish adventurers. More than a quarter of a century before 

their countrymen laid the foundations of St. Augustine, and long 

'before Captain John Smith established the "first families" at 



8 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Jamestown, or the Puritan Pilgrims had sighted the inhospitable 
shores of Massachusetts Bay, the daring Conquistadores had 
penetrated the wilds of Arizona and New Mexico. To Alvar 
Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, belongs the honor of being the first 
European to set foot upon Arizona soil. He was a member of 
the expedition which accompanied Pamphilo de Narveaz to the 
coast of Florida, in the year 1538. This leader, imbued with 
the wild spirit of adventure, which was the leading characteristic 
of the men whose conquering swords added a new world to the 
crown of Castile and Leon, met with only disappointment and 
disaster. Instead of the golden treasures and the Fountain of 
Perpetual Youth, which his excited imagination had pictured as 
lying hidden in the Land of Flowers, he found a barren and in- 
hospitable region whose swamps swarmed with venomous and 
repulsive reptiles, and whose every breeze bore upon its wings 
the deadly malaria. In his haste to get away from a country so 
uninviting, he abandoned to their fate five of his followers, who, 
it is supposed, were absent on some expedition when the vessel 
which carried Pamphilo and the other adventurers hoisted sail 
and bore away for Vera Cruz. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca 
was one of the five unfortunates whom de Narveaz so heartlessly 
deserted on the wild and desolate shore of the Florida Penin- 
sula. They waited many days, anxiously looking for the return 
of their leader, but as he was never heard of more, it is supposed 
he perished, with all his companions, at sea. 

Nunez and his comrades were left in a desperate plight, 
before them stretched hundreds of leagues of treacherous sea; 
behind them lay an unknown region of vast extent, never yet 
pressed by the^ foot of a European. A council was held, and as 
they had neither compass nor provisions, it was resolved to pen- 
etrate the wilderness to the west and make an attempt to join 
their countrymen in Northern Mexico. They waded the swamps 
and ))ayous of Florida, passed through the Indian towns of the 
region now embraced within the States of Georgia and Alabama, 
and were treated kindly and furnished with provisions by those 
savages. They discovered and crossed the Father of Waters two 
years before De Soto stood upon its banks and found a fitting 
resting-place beneath its turbid flood. They traversed the great 
plains of the West, passed up the Arkansas River, entered what 
is now known as New Mexico, visited the pueblo towns on the 
Rio Grande, pressed on westward and entered the Zuni and Mo- 
quis villages. After a short stay in the pueblos of the last-named 
tribe they turned their faces southward, passed through Central 
Arizona, were the first white men to see the ruins of Casa Grande 
and the Pima settlements on the Gila, and, after many privations 
and numerous adventures, succeeded at last in joining their coun- 
trymen at Culiacan, in Sinaloa. 

They gave glowing accounts of the country over which they 
passed, and their highly-colored description of the " Seven 
Cities of Cibola," the Moquis towns, and other points on the 



A HISTORICAL SKETCH. 9 

route, aroused the spirit of adventure and cupidity among the 
restless Spaniards, ever ready to face any danger or undergo any 
hardship that promised glory or gain. The pious ardor of the 
zealous missionaries was hkewise fired by the tales which Nunez 
and his fellow-travelers told of the hordes to the northward, 
steeped in pagan idolatry and awaiting the coming of those who 
would lead them to the true God. An adventurous pioneer of 
the cross in the western world, Padre Marco de Niza by name, 
hstening to the stories told by Cabeza de Vaca, resolved to 
satisfy himself as to their truth or falsity. Early in 1539, the 
good Father, under the patronage of the Viceroy Mendoza, and 
accompanied by a few followers, set out from Culiacan in 
search of the "Seven Cities of the Bull." They passed through 
the country of the Pimas, up the Santa Cruz, by the present site 
of Tucson, across the valleys of Central Arizona, into the coun- 
try of the friendly Yavapais, over the great plateau, and, after a 
long and arduous journey, their eyes were at last gladdened by 
a sight of the mysterious " Seven Cities." Father de Niza sent 
forward a black attendant, named Estevan, to the first city to 
notify the chief of his arrival and the peaceful nature of his mis- 
sion. It is said the black Lothario became a little too familiar 
with the Moc^uis maidens, which so incensed the warriors that 
they dashed out his brains with their war clubs. The Father, 
hearing of the fate which liad befallen his dusky follower, did 
not enter the city, for obvious reasons. He set up the emblem 
of Christianity, named the country the New Kingdom of San 
Francisco, and returned to Culiacan. 

The public mind throughout New Spain was wrought up to a 
high pitch of excitement by the news which Padre de Niza 
brought on his return. The desire to extend the dominion of 
the Cross, produced in the breasts of the fathers a spirit of holy 
adventure; and the thirst for gold and glory possessed alike the 
belted knight and the sturdy man-at-arms. The Viceroy Men- 
doza became infused with the spirit which surrounded him, and 
fitted out two expeditions to explore the marvelous country to 
the north; one by land under Vasquez de Coronado, and the 
other by sea under Fernando Alarcon. In April, 1540, Coro- 
nado marched out of Culiacan with nearly a thousand men, the 
greater number being Indians. He entered Arizona by the 
valley of the Santa Cruz, and passed by where Tucson now stands. 
He visited and examined the ruins of Chichiticala, which he 
named Casa Grande, followed the Salado to its junction with 
the Verde, up the latter stream to the Valley de Chino, and 
thence across to the San Francisco mountain country. From 
there he passed into the valley of the Colorado Chiquito, and 
finding large quantities of wild flax growing on its banks he 
named the stream "Rio del Lino." From that point three days' 
march brought him to the first of the Moquis Villages, forty- 
five days after starting from Culiacan. 

The rich and populous cities which the adventurers expected 



10 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

to find proved to be but a collection of poor and insignificant 
villages. The houses were small, built in terraces and laid in 
rough stone as they are at the present day. The province con- 
tained seven villages each governed by a chief. The people 
were peaceful, intelligent and industrious. They raised good 
crops of corn, beans and pumpkins; cultivated fine peaches, wore 
cotton cloth and dressed deer-skins, and were in no respect ma- 
terially different from their descendants, the Moquis and Zunis of 
the present day. At one of the towns which he named Granada, 
the inhabitants offered resistance, and Coronado took the place 
by assault. Large quantities of grain were found in the store- 
houses, and every room was well supplied with domestic utensils, 
fashioned of baked clay. But he failed to find the treasures of 
gold which he had been led to believe existed in such vast quan- 
tities in the "Seven Cities." 

Disappointed in his quest, the Spanish leader turned his face 
eastward. He visited the New Mexico pueblos on the Rio 
Grande, which he found larger and more populous than those 
of the Zuni and Moquis, and whose customs and mode of life 
were exactly similar. But among them, as among the tribes 
first visited, there was a notable dearth of the royal metal, and 
save a few silver and copper ornaments, their dwellings were en- 
tirely destitute of the wealth they had been reported to contain. 
Coronado explored the country as far east as the Canadian river, 
and north to the fortieth parallel of latitude, and in the spring 
of 1582, after two years of profitless wanderings, the expedition 
returned to Culiacan. 

While encamped in the San Francisco mountains, Coronado 
sent out two detachments to explore the country to the west. 
One of these, commanded by Captain Diaz, discovered the 
Great Colorado below the Caiion and followed it to its mouth. 
Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was sent northward with a com- 
mand of twelve men, and was the first white man to gaze upon 
the wonders of the Grand Canon. 

The expedition of Alarcon set sail about the time Coronado 
marched. It was intended to co-operate with the land forces, 
but there was little concert of action in the movements of either. 
Alarcon discovered the Gulf of California, which he named the 
Sea of Cortcz. He also discovered the Colorado and the Gila 
rivers. Not being able to steam the current of the former stream, 
he manned two boats and ascended it some ninety leagues to 
the mouth of the Grand Caiion. He then set sail and returned 
to Mexico. 

It was not until 1582, that any further efforts were made to 
explore the region known to the Spaniards as " Arizuma." In 
that year Antonio de Espejo led an expedition toward the North. 
He penetrated to the region of the Rio Grande, traveled up that 
stream some fifteen days and named the country Nuevo Mexico. 
He passed through many pueblos, and turning westward, visited 
Zia and Acoma. The former place he speaks of as having a 



A HISTORICAL SKETCH. II 

population of 20,000 souls, "and containing eight market-places 
and better houses, the latter plastered and painted in diverse 
colors." The Zuni pueblos were next visited and named Cibola. 
From this point, Espejo traveled westward to the Moquis towns, 
where he was received most hospitably and presented with 
baskets of corn and mantles of cotton cloth. Tarrying here but 
a short time, he again journeyed on, and forty-five leagues south- 
west of Moqui, on a mountain easily ascended, he discovered 
rich silver ore. The mines were situated near two rivers, whose 
banks were lined with great quantities of wild grapes, walnut 
trees and flax " like that of Castile." 

There can scarcely be a doubt that one of those streams was 
the Rio Verde, and that the mines were situated at no great dis- 
tance from it, probably in the region of country now known as 
the Black Hills. This is the first authentic account we possess 
of the finding of precious metals within the limits of Arizona, and 
to Antonio de Espejo must be awarded the honor of the dis- 
covery. He was the pioneer prospector of our Territory, and 
little dreamt what magnificent results were to flow from his find. 
History is silent as to whether the old cavalier set up his 
"monuments" and marked his "claim," but as he shortly 
afterwards returned to Zuni, it is presumed he did not consider 
his discovery of sufficient importance to merit much attention. 
From Zuni, Espejo retraced his steps to the Rio Grande, and 
crossing over to the Rio Pecos, descended that stream to its 
mouth and then returned to Mexico, where he arrived in 1583. 

A century elapsed after these explorations, before any effort was 
made to establish a permanent settlement in "Arizuma." In 
1686, the Jesuit missionary, Fray Eusebio Francisco Kino, left 
the city of Mexico and journeyed to the north, with the intention 
of spreading the light of Christianity among the wild tribes of 
Sinaloa and Sonora. Being joined by Padre Juan Maria Salva- 
tieraz, the two pious friars pushed on to the country of the 
Sobahipuris, and in the year 1687, the first Mission within the 
territory now known as Arizona, was established at Guevavi, 
some distance south of Tucson. The Mission of San Xavier del 
Bac was founded about the same time, or not long after. The 
zealous propagandists preached the gospel truths to the tribes 
living along the Gila, many of whom ranged themselves beneath 
the banner of the Cross. Fray Kino and another priest pushed 
their apostolic peregrinations to the Gulf of California, and 
calculated the width of that desolate sea to be about fifty miles, 
from shore to shore. In one of their visits to the Gila, they 
tried, but unsuccessfully, to establish a Mission near the ruins of 
Casa Grande. In 1720, or thirty years after the founding of 
Guevavi, there were nine Missions, all in a prosperous condition 
within the present limits of the Territory. The population of 
those Missions was almost entirely composed of converts from 
the Pima tribe, who took the name of " Papago," (baptized) and 
a few subjugated Apaches. The Missions were prosperous, and 



12 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

the untiring labors of the pious Fathers brought forth good fruit 
in the peaceful and industrious Indian colonies which grew up 
about them. But they were subject to constant raids from the 
untamed Apache; and in 175 1 an outbreak occurred among 
the Pimas, many of the priests were killed, and several of the 
Missions destroyed. After this insurrection, the vice-regal gov- 
ernment established the presidios of Tucson and Tubac, and 
maintained therein small garrisons for the protection of the 
neighboring Missions. 

In the year 1765, a royal decree was issued at Madrid ordering 
the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain and her colonies. This 
was a severe blow to the Missions in " Arizuma " and one from 
which they never recovered. 1 he decree was not carried into 
effect until 1767, when the last of the followers of Loyola were 
driven from the scenes of their labors and triumphs in southern 
Arizona. In May, 1768, eight Franciscan friars arrived in Tuc- 
son, from Mexico, to take the place of the expelled Jesuits. On 
their arrival, they found the Missions in a declining condition 
and subject to frequent attacks from the savage Apache. Life 
and enterprise seemed to have fled with their founders, and they 
maintained an uncertain and constantly harassed existence until 
the breaking out of the war for Mexican Independence. Being 
deprived of the fostering care and protection of the vice-regal 
government, they rapidly declined, and were finally abandoned 
by a decree of the Mexican government in 1820. During the 
regime of the Mission Fathers, a number of settlements were 
established in what is now southern Arizona. Besides the 
presidios of Tucson and Tubac, the flourishing haciendas of San 
Bernardino, Babacomari, San Pedro, Calabasas, and Arivaca, 
were rich in flocks and herds, but after the abandonment of the 
Missions, they were despoiled by the savages and deserted by 
those who escaped the tomahawk and the torch. 

By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1847, all that portion 
of the Territory, north of the Gila river was ceded to the 
United States. At that time there was not a single white inhab- 
itant in all that vast region stretching from the Gila to the Utah 
boundary, and from the Colorado of the West to the present line 
of. New Mexico. Northern and Central Arizona was an untrod- 
den wild and the unconquered Apache was lord of mountain, 
river and plain. The few inhabitants who eked out a precarious 
existence within the miserable presidios of Tucson and Tubac, 
were the only inhabitants of the country, then called Pimiera 
Alta. In 1854, that portion of the present territory lying south 
of the Gila was acquired from Mexico by the treaty negotiated 
by James Gadsden, then Minister to our sister republic. The 
price paid for the purchase, embracing some fort)'^ thousand 
square miles, was ten millions of dollars. A good deal of ridi- 
cule was cast upon Mr. Gadsden for throwing such a sum upon a 
" worthless desert," and it was generaHy considered that the 
Mexicans had decidedly the best of the bargain. But although 



A HISTORICAL SKETCH. 1 3 

Minister Gadsden failed in achieving the main object he had in 
mind: the securing of Guaymas and the control of the gulf, yet, 
in view of the marvelous mineral wealth contained in the terri- 
tory acquired, it must be considered a cheap and valuable 
acquisition. Subsequent to the ratification of the Gadsden 
treaty, the territory was attached to the county of Dona Ana, 
New Mexico. In 1855 the country was formally turned over 
to the United States by the Mexican authorities; American 
troops took possession of Tucson and Tubac; the Mexican colors 
were lowered, the stars and stripes hoisted in their place, and the 
authority of the Great Republic established where Spaniard and 
Mexican held sway for more than two hundred years. 

After the acquisition of southern Arizona, several expeditions 
were sent out by the War Department to explore the almost 
unknown territory of the southwest. The reports of Lieutenants 
Whipple and Ives were the first valuable contribution to our 
knowledge of Arizona. In 1854, Lieutenant Williamson made 
a survey of the country north of the Gila, with the object of 
discovering a route for a railroad from the Atlantic to the Paci- 
fic. In the same year. Lieutenant Gray surveyed the route from 
Marshall, Texas, to Tubac, and from thence to Port Lobos, on 
the Gulf, and also to Fort Yuma and San Diego. A year later. 
Lieutenant Beale made numerous surveys throughout northern 
Arizona. 

On the last day of December, 1854, a memorial to Congress 
was introduced in the Legislature of New Mexico by the Repre- 
sentative from Dona Ana county, praying for the organization of 
the Territory into a separate political division. The name first 
chosen was " Pimeria," but the one afterwards adopted was "Ari- 
zona." Authorities differ as to the origin of the name. It is a 
corruption of " Arizuma," first applied to the country by the early 
S{)anish explorers. Some maintain that the word is of Pima 
origin, and means " Little Creek," while others hold that its deri- 
vation is from the two Pima words "Ari," a maiden, and " Zon," 
a valley or country, having reference to the traditionary 
maiden queen who once ruled over all the Pima nation. Before 
it was conferred on the whole Territory it was borne by a moun- 
tain near the celebrated Planchas de Plata, on the southern 
boundary of the Territory. 

The first attempt to secure a Territorial Government proved a 
failure. But this did not deter energetic and enterprising men 
from pushing their way into Southern Arizona. In August, 1856, 
an expedition under the leadership of Charles D. Poston, en- 
tered the Territory from San Antonio, Texas, for the purpose 
of working the rich silver mines said to exist in the Santa Rita 
and Arivaca districts. About the same time the Government 
established two military posts in the Gadsden Purchase, one at 
the head of the Sonoita, some sixty miles east of Tucson, called 
Fort Buchanan, and the other on the lower San Pedro, near the 
mouth of the Arivaipa, and known as Fort Breckenridge. In 



14 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

August, 1858, the Butterfield semi -weekly stage route was 
established. During the next two years a large amount of cap- 
ital was invested in mining development; and notwithstanding 
the enormous cost of supplies and material of all kinds, which 
had to be transported hundreds of miles over wretched roads, 
the country made steady progress. Its great resources were 
becoming known, and it seemed on the high road to prosperity 
when the breaking out of the Civil War ended abruptly Ari- 
zona's onward march in the path of progress. The troops at 
Forts Buchanan and Breckenridge received orders to evacuate 
the Territory, burn and destroy all Government property they 
could not carry away, and fall back to the Rio Grande. The 
two forts were reduced to ashes, together with large quan- 
tities of Government stores, and the military abandoned the 
country. About the same time the Butterfield mail line, deprived 
of all protection against hostile savages, was stopped, and the 
route changed further north. 

Every enterprise came to a stand-still, and every American 
who could get away fled to California or Sonora. The Apache 
marauders swept down from their mountain strongholds and car- 
ried death and destruction throughout Southern Arizona. Mines, 
ranches and stock ranges were abandoned, and the few whites 
left in the country took refuge within the walls of Tucson. The 
savages indulged in a saturnalia of slaughter, and the last glimmer 
of civilization seemed about to be quenched in blood. In Febru- 
ary, 1862, one Captain Hunter, with a company of Texans, en- 
tered Tucson, and hoisted the Confederate flag. He held posses- 
sion of the plac.e until May, when the advance of the California 
volunteers caused him to retreat to the Rio Grande. With the 
advent of the California troops and the feeling of security which 
their presence inspired, the country began slowly to awaken from 
\ the horrible nightmare which had crushed out every vestige of 
peaceful industry. The discovery of rich gold diggings on the 
Colorado, at Weaver Hill, and on the Hassayampa, gave a fresh 
impetus to immigration, and business of every kind began to re- 
vive. 

The people had long clamored for a territorial government. 
A bill looking to that end was introduced in the Congress of 
1857, but failed to pass. Again, in i860, the people made an 
effort in the same direction, and Sylvester Mowry was elected to 
proceed to Washington and urge upon the National Legislature 
the necessity for such a measure. Another bill was introduced, but 
political jealousies defeated the effort, and the breaking out of the 
Great Rebellion indefinitely postponed the matter. Arizona 
remained attached to New Mexico until the 24th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1863, when the bill giving it a separate political ex- 
istence received the President's signature. The civil officers 
appointed to conduct the affairs of the new Territory entered on 
their duties at Navajo Springs, the 29th day of December, 1863. 
The national colors were given to the breeze, a salute was fired, 



A HISTORICAL SKETCH. 1 5 

an address delivered, and the Territorial government formally in- 
augurated. The seat of government was first established at Fort 
Whipple, which had been built by order of General Carleton for 
the protection of the miners then working the rich placers of the 
Sierra Prieta. It was afterwards removed to Prescott, where, ex- 
cept for a short interval, it has since remained. 

From 1863 to 1874, the history of Arizona is written in blood. 
Population increased slowly, and the rich mineral discoveries in 
the northern part of the Territory attracted the larger portion of 
the immigration. But the Apache stubbornly disputed the ad- 
vance of the white man, and many an adventurous pioneer fell a 
victim to savage treachery and left his bones to bleach on the 
desert plain or bleak mountain side. In the ten years just men- 
tioned, it is estimated that not less than eight hundred victims 
of Apache ferocity found bloody graves within the length and 
breadth of Arizona. But steadily the red man yielded to his 
destiny. Towns and villages sprang up all over the Territory. 
Rich mines were discovered in every direction ; the fertile bot- 
tom lands were brought under cultivation; herds of sleek cattle 
covered mountain and plain, and foot by foot the dauntless 
pioneer won this rich domain from the dusky fiends who so long 
had cursed it by their presence. But it was no easy victory ; 
and the intrepidity, self-sacrifice and indomitable courage of the 
heroic band who achieved it, are worthy to be embalmed in the 
pages of Arizona's history, and handed down to future time as 
an emulation to those who possess the land which their valor 
and self-denial so gallantly won. Rough perhaps, were they 
in manner, and rude of speech, but they had in abundance those 
sterling virtues which flourish best on the border and which adorn 
and ennoble our common humanity. They had stout hands 
and honest hearts, a courage which no danger daunted, a will 
which no obstacles could turn aside, and an energy proof against 
every disappointment. Peace to their ashes, and green be the 
memory of their gallant deeds in the hearts of their countrymen ! 

After years of murder, rapine and robbery, the hostile Apaches 
were brought to terms by General George Crook, in 1874, and 
placed on reservations. Since then the progress of the Terri- 
tory in wealth, population and material development has been 
steadily gaining year by year. The population has more than 
quadrupled; hundreds of rich mines have been made to yield up 
their long buried treasures; vast stretches of the desert have been 
reclaimed and made to yield bountiful crops of grain and fruits; 
hundreds of thousands of cattle roam at will over mountain, 
valley and mesa, and the signs of peace and prosperity are seen 
on every hand. With the building of two transcontinental rail- 
roads through the northern and southern portions of the Territory, 
Arizona may be said to have entered on a new epoch in her 
history. She is no longer an isolated and unknown region 
infested by the fiercest of savages. She stands on the highway 
of nations and the fiery annihilator of time and space has heralded 



i6 



THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 



throughout the land the vast richness of her mines, the fertihty 
of her soil, the salubrity of her climate, and the grand opportu- 
nities which she offers both to the capitalist and the immigrant. 
It is not the purpose of this publication to speculate on the fu- 
ture of this great Territory where nature has done so much and 
man, as yet, so little. One of the first discovered portions of the 
western world, long cursed by the demon of isolation and the 
blight of savage dominion, it is only the past few years that its 
grand resources and vast possibilities began to be known. Rich 
in all that go to build up a strong and prosperous commonwealth, 
it requires no prophetic e\'e to discern the brilliant future 
in store for this favored region. It has entered on the full tide 
of prosperity, and throughout the Union eager eyes are casting 
longing looks toward the land of " sunshine and silver." In the 
following pages the author will endeavor to tell them what kind 
of a land if is, and the inducements it holds out to the stout- 
hearted and strong-handed who are looking for homes nearer 
the setting sun. 





5EE PAGE 257 



RUINS OF CASA GRANDE. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 




Area and Boundaries— The Great Colorado Plateau— The Country South of the 
Thirty-fourth Parallel — Wild and Striking Scenery — A Field for the 
Scientist and the Sightseer — The Painted Desert — Geological 
Features — The Mountain System of the Territory — The 
Rivers of Arizona — Altitude of Principal Moun- 
tains — Grand Canon of the Colorado. 

I^HE Territory of Arizona extends from the 109th degree 
of longitude, westward to the Great Colorado ; and from 
31° 28' of north latitude to the thirty-seventh parallel. 
It is bounded on the north by Nevada and Utah, on the east by 
New Mexico, on the south by the Mexican State of Sonora, and 
on the west by California and Nevada. It comprises the extreme 
southwestern corner of the United States, and has an area of 
113,947 square miles. Its greatest length from north to south is 
about 400 miles, and from east to west, very nearly 350. The 
country may be generally described as a vast elevated plateau 
crossed and seamed in its nothern part by deep canons, mighty 
fissures and narrow valleys. This great plateau has an elevation 
of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet in the north, which gradually des- 
cends to sea-level in the extreme southwest. Rising like a giant 
sentinel above this lofty table-land, is the extinct volcanic cone 
of San Francisco. This magnificent mountain has an altitude of 
13,000 feet above the ocean. It is in latitude 35° 30' north, and 
longitude iii"^ 45' west. Its summit is crowned with snow for 
more than six months in the year, and its towering peak, loom- 
ing up in solitary grandeur through the clear air, can be dis- 
tinctly seen nearly 200 miles away. The most extensive of 
the grand mesas or table-lands of Arizona is known as the 
Colorado plateau. It may be said to extend from the thirty- 
fourth parallel of latitude to the northern boundary of the 
Territory, and has an average elevation of between 4,000 and 
6,000 feet. Its surface is diversified by massive mountain 
ranges, like the San Francisco, the Bradshaw and the Mogollon, 
with many detached spurs and peaks. Lying between these 
ranges are extensive grassy plains, beautiful valleys and charm- 
ing mountain glens, with a rich soil and a delightful climate. 
This immense region is drained by the Colorado of the West, the 
Verde, Colorado Chiquito, and many smaller streams. 



1 8 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

From the base of the San Francisco peak, there is a rapid 
descent to the south, and during the melting of the winter snows, 
or after the heavy summer rains, the deep gorges and dry ravines 
are foaming floods, whose irresistible fury carries everything 
before them. South of the thirty-fourth parallel, there is a 
marked change in the aspect of the country. The descent from 
the upper plateau is abrupt, the climate is much warmer, and 
there is a difference of between 2,000 and 3,000 feet in altitude. 
From this point, to the boundary of Sonora, Arizona is a country 
of vast plains and wide valleys, crossed in all directions by de- 
tached mountain ranges, and dotted with many an isolated peak 
torn into fantastic shapes by the storms and floods of centuries, 
and baked and blistered by burning summer suns. This portion 
of the Territory has a gradual descent towards the California 
Gulf; a large quantity of the water which falls on the elevated 
plateau to the north, finds its outlet to the sea through its wide 
valleys, enriching them with the detritus which it g ithers in its 
course. Mountain, valley, plain and viesa, are the features of 
Arizona's topography. 

The southwestern portion of the Territory, adjacent to the 
Gulf, is made up of wide gravelly plains, covered with a sparse 
growth of coarse grass and scanty shrubbery, and crossed by 
detached ranges and isolated spurs, devoid of vegetation. Water 
is scarce, and the soil of a poor quality. In the southeast, 
the mountains assume lofty and massive proportions, like 
the Santa Catalinas, the Santa Ritas, the Huachucas, the 
Graham range, and the Chiricahuas. These ranges are clothed 
with verdure to their very summits, are well wooded and 
watered, and are among the most delightful spots in the entire 
Territory. Broad valleys, covered with rich and nutritious 
grasses and affording pasturage for immense herds of cattle, 
stretch away from these mountains to the foot-hills of the Sierra 
Mad re. 

Central Arizona is well watered, and contains the largest and 
richest body of farming land in the Territory. The valleys of 
the Gila and the Salt river are among the finest on the continent. 
There are hundreds of thousands of acres with a soil that will 
grow anything raised within the temperate and semi-tropical 
zones. The climate is superb, and the productiveness of these 
rich bottom-lands is not equaled by any portion of the great 
West. Although the mountain ranges of the Territory are de- 
tached and broken, they have a marked and regular parallelism 
in the trend and direction of their axis from northwest to south- 
cast. The physical features of the country present a panorama 
which has not its like in the western world. Massive ranges, 
crowned to their summits by the lordly pine, isolated peaks, bare 
and barren, of strange and fantastic shapes, smiling valleys 
clothed in their garb of green, rocky gorges and dark and gloomy 
caflons, where the sunlight scarcely ever penetrates, rolling grassy 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 19 

plains, dry sandy wastes, and over all the cloudless skies, the 
wonderfully clear and balmy air, and the bluish purple haze 
which lends such a charm to the view and softens the harsh out- 
line of rugged mountain and barren plain. 

That portion of Arizona, north of the thirty-fifth parallel and 
■east of the Colorado Chiquito and the Great Colorado, is mostly 
a barren region, but little known. The geological structure is 
sandstone, and the country is made up of lofty mesas, their 
summits covered with dwarf pines and cedars, and their precip- 
itous sides cut by deep gorges. Between these mesas some- 
times occur narrow valleys well watered, which afford fine 
pasturage for stock. The extreme northeastern corner of this 
wild region — embracing a strip of country forty miles long by 
eighty wide — is a portion of the Navajo Indian Reservation. It 
is a mountainous district, watered by the Rio de Chelle and its 
tributaries. The entire country, north of the Moquis villages, is 
occupied by the Navajos, who pasture immense herds of horses 
and sheep on its rich uplands during the summer months. 

North from the junction of the Little Colorado with the great 
river is that remarkable region known as the Painted Desert. 
It is a wild and desolate plateau, entirely destitute of water or 
vegetation, its entire surface covered by lofty columns, isolated 
peaks and buttes, composed of sandstone, and worn into gro- 
tesque and fantastic shapes by the storms and floods of ages. 
This weird region is a veritable " Fata Morgana," and presents 
the most marvelous mirages. On its air of dazzling clearness 
are depicted " palaces, hanging gardens, colonnades, temples, 
fountains, lakes, fortifications with flags flying on their ramparts, 
landscapes, woods, groves, orchards, meadows, and companies of 
men and women, herds of cattle, deer, antelope, etc., and all 
painted with such an admirable mixture of light and shade that 
it is impossible to form any conception of the picture without 
seeing it." The Indians call it the "Country of Departed Spir- 
its," and carefully avoid it. 

The geological features of the Territory are as varied as the 
character of its surface. That portion north of the Little 
Colorado and extending to the Utah line, is composed almost 
entirely of sandstone. It contains large deposits of coal, but 
as yet none of the precious metals have been found in that 
region. The country south of the San Francisco mountain, east 
to the line of New Mexico, and north of the thirty-fourth paral- 
lel, is covered by the lava flow, which in ages past was poured 
out in mighty volumes from the fiery furnace which seethed 
within the depths of this lofty peak. Evidences of the lava stream 
from this once active volcano are found all over the Colorado 
plateau, south and east from the San Francisco cone, and for a 
radius of nearly lOO miles in this direction, traces of the fiery 
flow are visible. The main ranges through the central portion 
of the Colorado plateau are composed mostly of granites, por- 
phyry and slates, with occasional belts of trap, metamorphic 



20 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

rock, and limestone. Eruptive rock is found in many locali- 
ties, and likewise quantities of con^i^lomerate drift. The 
mountain ranges of the upper Colorado basin are generally por- 
phyritic granites, with shistose and metamorphic slates. 

The ranges in the southeastern portion of the Territory, below 
the Gila, are mostly composed of primitive rocks, but large beds 
of lime, gypsum, felsite, trap, and other secondary rocks are not 
uncommon. The lower portion of the great Colorado basin 
bears traces of violent volcanic disturbance. The mountains 
and the dry and narrow valleys between them are covered with 
scoria, volcanic ash and large masses of igneous rock. There 
can scarcely be a doubt that this portion of the Territory was 
at some remote period the theatre of volcanic action, and the 
isolated ranges and jagged peaks of which it is composed, are 
scorched and riven by the fiery flood which once swept over this 
portion of Arizona. The geological characteristics of the region 
known as the Papagueria, in the southwestern corner of the Ter- 
ritory, present a curious geological medley. Granite, porphyry, 
mica schist, trachyte, quartzite, lime, quartz, feldspar, and many 
other varieties are found in juxtaposition. The mountains ex- 
tending from the Gila through the center of the Territory to the 
Sonora line, and including the Santa Catalinas, Santa Ritas, and 
Huachucas, are generally formed of granites, porphyry and slates. 

Arizona is a land of marvels for the scientist as well as the 
sightseer. Nowhere on the globe can the work of nature be 
traced more clearly and intelligently. Torn and riven by stu- 
pendous gorges, crowned by lofty mountains, adorned with grassy 
plains, beautiful valleys, delightful parks, and lofty table-lands, 
the typography of the Territory presents a picture of weird 
beauty and massive grandeur, unequaled on the continent. The 
plateau of Arizona shows, throughout its entire extent, marked 
traces of water and volcanic action, and it is evident that the 
greater portion of its surface was, for ages, a series of vast lakes 
or inland seas. The isolated peaks, rising like islets above its 
valleys and plains, and the fantastically castellated buttes, which 
are so striking a feature of its varied landscape, show clearly the 
erosion caused by the retreating waters. Fire and flood have 
left the indelible marks of their visitation on the face of Arizona, 
but it has only added a new charm, to her wild beauty, and given 
added variety to hill, mountain and vale. The geologist will 
find here a land full of interest and instruction. Nature was 
evidently in a varying mood when she formed a region whose 
geological and mineralogical features are in such striking con- 
trast with long-received and firmly-established theories. It is a 
land sui generis in its strata and formation, full of the most un- 
expected combinations and startling contradictions; but it is a 
land where the student of nature will find her great book with 
every page full of instruction, and with such a record of countless 
ages, that the historic period of man is but as yesterday. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 21 

Arizona has been called a Mountain Land, and the name fits 
it well. The ranges, spurs and peaks which cover so large a por- 
tion of its surface are among the most interesting physical fea- 
tures of this wonderful country. Although apparently broken 
and thrown about without regard to continuity or regularity, the 
general trend of their axes have a marked inclination from north- 
east to southwest. The mountain system of the Territory is a 
continuation of both the Rocky Mountain chain and the Sierra 
Nevada. In 43° 30', north latitude, the Wind River chain of 
the Rocky range divides about the remote sources of the Great 
Colorado. One branch trends southward, and, passing around 
the sources of the Platte, the Arkansas and the Rio Grande, is 
merged into the Guadaloupe mountains, and at last loses itself 
in the great prairie plains of the southwest. The other branch, 
turning to the west and south, forms the Wasatch range, the 
eastern rim of the Utah Basin, and, widening out to the level 
of the great plateau, reaches the canon of the Colorado near 
112° of longitude. 

A branch of the Sierra Nevada deflects from that range 
east of Owens river, and, with a general trend to the southeast, 
passes by the head of the Rio Virgin, becomes merged in the 
plateau, and unites with the Wasatch at the Grand cafion. These 
united ranges form the mountain system of Arizona, and south 
of the great river break up into parallel ridges, isolated groups, 
detached spurs and peaks, which are again united in one massive 
chain in the Mother of Mountains, in Northern Mexico. The 
San Francisco peak may be considered the apex of the Arizona 
mountain plateau, and the northern limit of the numerous ranges 
extending from the thirty-fifth parallel to the Sonora line, and 
from the 109th to the 113th degree of longitude. 

From the San Francisco mountain a ridge extends southeast 
which separates the waters of the Little Colorado from those of 
the Gila. This is known as the Mogollon range, while its south- 
eastern spurs are known as the Sierra Blaiica, or White Moun- 
tain. These ranges are well wooded, containing some of the 
finest timber to be found in the Territory. They are also well 
watered by springs and streams, are adorned with many beauti- 
ful parks and elevated valleys, covered with rich grasses, which 
afford excellent feed for stock. West of the Mogollon, and run- 
ning parallel with that range, is the Sierra Mazatzal. Like the 
Mogollon, it is an extension of the San Francisco Mountain 
system. Its course is east of the Verde, and south to the Rio 
Salado. Its slopes and summit are covered with an abundance 
of pine, juniper and oak, water is found in several streams and 
springs, and its valleys and foot-hills are covered with a fine 
growth of rich grasses. 

Between the Mazatzal and the Mogollon are several detached 
spurs and short ranges. The largest of these is known as the 
Sierra Ancha. It is situated in what is known as Tonto Basin, 



22 THK RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

and is a flat-topped mountain, some thirty miles in length, 
covered with one of the largest and finest bodies of pine timber 
to be found in Arizona. Between the Salt river and the Gila are 
many mountain groups, some of which attain a considerable 
elevation. The most prominent are the Superstition range, 
which rears its lofty and rugged front east of the great plains 
stretching between the Salt and the Gila; the Pinal range, which 
runs nearly parallel with the Gila, and whose northern slopes are 
heavily timbered; the Salt river and Apache mountains, south 
of the Salado; the Gila range, Sierra Natanes, and the Sierra 
de la Petahaya. Nearly all of these offshoots from the main 
ranges are well watered and timbered. 

That vast region west of the Rio Verde, and extending from 
the Great Colorado to the Gila is crossed by numerous mountain 
ranges. Running paralleled with the former stream, and west of it 
are the Verde mountains. The northern end of this ridge is 
called the Black Hills, and is a massive elevation covered with a 
heavy growth of timber, having several fine springs and known 
to contain rich deposits of gold, silver, and copper. The northern 
slope of the Black Hills is washed by the Verde, and running 
north of that stream is a range of hills which culminates in the 
Bill Williams mountain, a prominent peak west of the San Fran- 
cisco cone. The next range to the west is the Bradshaw and 
the Sierra Prieta. This is one of the most, magnificent mountain 
chains in the territory. It may be said to begin at Granite 
Peak, some ten miles north of Prescott, and extends in a south- 
westerly direction to the wide plains which stretch along the 
Salt river near its junction with the Gila, being nearly fifty 
miles in length with an average width of about twenty miles. 
This grand mountain ridge is clothed with a fine growth of 
pine, oak, cedar, and many other varieties; is carpeted with a 
mantle of succulent grass ; has many fine streams, and de- 
liciously cool springs ; is adorned with many a lovely vale and 
beautiful glen, and throughout its entire length is penetrated by 
rich veins of gold, silver, copper, lead, and many other valuable 
minerals. North of the Sierra Prieta and connected with it by 
a chain of low hills, is the Juniper range, well timbered with 
the wood from which it takes its name. A great portion of it is 
covered by the lava flow from the San Francisco, and, as yet, no 
mineral discoveries of any value have been found in it. 

Between the Juniper and the Colorado, and north of Bill 
Williams fork are a number of irregular spurs running paral- 
leled, and known as the Mount Hope, the Cottonwood, the 
Hualapai, the Cerbat, and the Black mountains, bordering on 
the Colorado. Some of these elevations, such as Mount Hope 
and Mount Hualapai, are well wooded, while the others have 
but a sparse growth of timber. But nearly all of them are 
rich in the precious metals, and have been mined success- 
fully since the first settlement of Northern Arizona. Between, 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 23 

these ridges are many valleys covered with a growth of coarse 
grass, cactus, and the kedeundiila, or grease-wood, destitute of 
water and given over to solitude. Southeast from Prescott, and 
extending from Date creek to the Hassayampa, is w.hat is known 
as the Weaver range. It clearly defines the limits of the Upper 
Colorado plateau, and south of it there is a sharp and sudden 
descent to the plains and valleys of the Gila and the Salt rivers. 
It is famous through the length and breadth of Arizona as being 
the locale of Antelope peak, on the summit of which was found 
that wonderful deposit of gold, an account of which will be found 
in another place. 

South of the Gila to the Sonora line the ranges of the plateau 
system are clearly defined. The Peloncillo is the first encoun- 
tered west of the line of New Mexico. It is low and broken, 
and generally destitute of timber. Lying to the west, and sep- 
arated from it by the magnificent San Simon valley — one of 
the finest grazing regions of the Territory — is the massive chain 
of the Chiricahua, one of the largest and most continuous moun- 
tain ranges in the Territory. In places it is twenty miles in 
width, and is over 100 miles in length, taking the Pinaleiio, and 
the Santa Teresa ranges which join it on the north, and which 
are really the same mountain ridge— the only break in their 
continuity being the low divide known as Railroad Pass. The 
Chiricahuas are well watered, and contain some of the finest 
timber and picturesque scenery to be met with in Southern 
Arizona. They are also known to be rich in minerals, and many 
valuable discoveries have been made within their borders. 
West of the Chiricahuas, and separated from them by the rich 
grazing lands of the Sulphur Spring valley, is the Dragoon 
range. It is not so lofty or so well wooded as the Chiricahuas, 
but is a well-defined and rugged ridge with many striking pe- 
culiarities of structure. 

North of the Whetstones and connected with them by low, 
rolling hills, the Santa Catalina lifts its rocky front and majestic 
crest from the desert plain. It is one of the most imposing of 
Arizona's many mountains, and as seen from Tucson impresses 
the beholder with its vastness and rugged grandeur. Its sum- 
mit is crowned with pine, oak, juniper, ash, and other varieties, 
while many springs bubble out in its shady glens and find their 
way to the thirsty plain through deep and rocky gorges which 
have been worn by the rains and floods of centuries. The Santa 
Catalina range extends north to the Gila, the upper portion 
being known as the Tortilla mountains. East of the Santa 
Catalinas, and between that range and the Pinaleno group, the 
Galiuro mountain lifts its sombre crest. It extends from the 
canon of the Gila in a southwesterly direction, until it abuts on 
the Sulphur Spring valley, having a length of between thirty 
and forty miles. In many places its slopes and summit are 
heavily timbered, and its foot-hills and narrow valleys are among 



24 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA, 

the best grazing lands in the Territory. Its formation belongs 
to the tertiary period. Its northern extremity is crowned by the 
imposing peak known as Mt. Turnbull, a prominent landmark 
in this portion of the Territory. 

Southwest from the Santa Catalinas is the mountain group 
known as the Santa Ritas, whose lofty peak, Mt. Wrightson, 
rises into the clear air some 10,000 feet above sea level. The 
Santa Ritas are historical landmarks in the modern annals of 
Arizona. The first attempt at mining, by Americans, was made 
in this region, and the blood of many a pioneer has moistened 
their hills and vales. They are rich in all the minerals, and 
mining has been carried on here since the purchase of the 
country from Mexico. The Santa Ritas are well timbered 
towards the summit and have a delightful climate. To the 
southeast and joined to the Santa Ritas by the Patagonia 
mountains, is the Huachuca range. This is a massive elevation 
well wooded, and watered by numerous streams and springs. 
It contains many beautiful valleys and grassy glades, has a 
superb climate, and is one of the most delightful spots in the 
whole Territory. Its eastern slope fronts on the San Pedro 
valley, and the boundary line of Mexico passes through its 
.southern end. 

West of the Santa Rita range and between the Gila and the 
line of Sonora, the country is composed of wide grassy plains, 
with detached ranges, isolated spurs, and solitary peaks and 
buttes covering its surface. The most prominent of these 
ranges are the Atascoso, which walls in the valley of the Santa 
Cruz on the west and embraces a rich mining region ; the Sierra 
Verde, which bounds the lovely vale of Arivaca on the west. 
The Baboquivera peak in this range is one of the most prominent 
landmarks in Southern Arizona. It rises to a height of over 
8,000 feet, and its sharp outlines can be clearly seen nearly 
100 miles away. It stands like a giant sentinel guarding 
that wild and weird region to the west known as the Papagueria 
or home of the Papagoes. The Cababi, the Quijotoa, the Ajo 
and many other isolated groups are found in this section. They 
are generally rugged and rocky with little vegetation, but rich 
in nearly every variety of mineral. 

Between the Gila and the thirty-fourth parallel and west 
of the 1 1 2th meridian, the country is similar to the one we 
have just described. Extensive plains, covered with coarse 
grasses, and stunted shrubbery, and barren mountains mostly 
destitute of water and bare of vegetation. The best known of 
those rugged groups are the Harcuvar, the Sierra de Estrella, at 
the junction of the Gila and Salt, the White Tank mountains, 
the Haqui-hela, the Big Horn, the Plomosa, the Castle Dome, 
the Chocolate range and the ridges which run paralleled to the 
Colorado. Nearly all of those rocky elevations carry either 
gold, silver or copper, and furnish an abundance of water at a 
short depth below the surface, 



• PHYSICAL FEATURES. 2$ 

This sketch will convey to the reader some idea of the grand 
mountain system of Arizona. They are the most striking feat- 
ure of the country's topography, and contain within their rocky 
recesses more mineral wealth than any region of a like extent 
on the globe. Their rugged outlines have a wild and fascinating 
beauty of their own; and the delicate tints of light and shade 
with which an Arizona sun enwraps their jagged peaksand gloomy 
gorges, form a picture seen nowhere else outside the land of 
cloudless skies and perpetual summer. 

The altitude of the different mountain ranges above sea level 
is as follows: 

San Francisco Peak 12,561 feet. 

Siena Blanca 11.496 " 

Mount Graham 10,516 " 

Mount Wrightson (Santa Ritas) 10,315 " 

Santa Catalina 9.950 " 

Mount Kendrick 9,800 " 

Mount Turnbull 9, 500 " 

Mount Sitgreaves 9,097 " 

Bill Williams 9.080 " 

Chiricahua , 9,000 " 

Mount Union (Sierra Prieta) 9,000 " 

Four Peaks (Mazatzal) 8,600 ' 

First among the rivers of Arizona is the Colorado of the West 
which washes the western border of the Territory, and takes 
rank among the great waterways of the continent, both on ac- 
count of the vast area it drains, and the mighty volume of water 
it carries to the ocean. It belongs to that grand system of rivers 
which have their sources in the Rocky mountain Cordilleras, and 
drain the continent, from ocean to ocean; and next to the Co- 
lumbia, is the principal tributary of the Pacific ocean on the 
American continent. The Colorado takes its rise in the Wind 
river chain of the Rocky mountains, some 12,000 feet above the 
level of the sea. It flows southeasterly in its upper course, and 
is known as the Green. In southeastern Utah it is joined by 
the Grand, which flows down from the western slope of the Rocky 
mountains. The streams, united, form the Colorado proper, and 
from the point of junction to the Gulf of California it is known 
by that name. Below the junction, the course of the stream is 
southwesterly, until it is joined by the San Juan, from the east, 
above the entrance to the Great caiion. From there it runs 
southwesterly through the tremendous chasm of the plateau, to 
the mouth of the Virgin, and from there it winds its way almost 
due south to the Sea of Cortez. The great river was discovered 
by Captain Fernando Alarcon, on the 9th of May, 1540. He 
ascended the river in boats as far as the cafion, and was proba- 
bly the first white man who gazed upon the wonders of the Great 
gorge. 

The length of the Colorado, from the headwaters of Green 
river to the Gult, is over 1,500 miles, and the area of territory 
drained by this mighty river is larger than New England Penn- 



26 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

sylvania and Virginia combined. Above its junction with the 
Grand its waters are clear and limpid, but after passing through 
the Grand canon, they are as turbid as those of the Missouri. 
The river is navigable by boats of light draft for over 600 miles, 
but it is one of the most changeable and capricious streams on 
the continent. It is continually shifting its channel, and it re- 
quires long experience and careful study to pilot a boat through 
its sinuous current. It is claimed that the channel changes every 
twenty-four hours, and where the river ran last year is often a 
fertile bottom overgrown with weeds and willow. Owing to the 
shifting sands and shoals, the Colorado can never be utilized to 
any great extent for travel or traffic. No doubt many of the 
camps along the river will receive their material by this route, 
but the building of two trans-continental railroads forever pre- 
cludes the possibility of its suppl>'ing any large area of country. 
The Colorado drains the entire Territory of Arizona, and every 
drop of water which falls on its mountains, plains and mesas, 
finds its way to the great river. In its course through the Ter- 
ritory it receives but two tributaries of any consequence — the 
Little Colorado and the Gila. 

The Grand canon of the Colorado is the most stupendous 
chasm on the globe, and has not a parallel anywhere on earth. 
It is a tremendous gorge, over 400 miles in length, and from 
1000 to 6000 feet in depth, cut through the eruptive rock of 
the elevated plateau by the river in its passage for ages from 
its mountain sources to the sea. A recent visitor to this 
wonder of the western world thus gives his impressions in 
the Ce?it)'al Nezu Mexico: "Four hundred and sixty-five miles 
west from Albuquerque, at Peach Springs, Arizona, is the point 
on the A. and P. railroad nearest the canon, it being only eighteen 
miles northward down Dry Wash and Diamond creek to the 
river. At this point you take a wagon and start down Dry 
Wash. Almost from the commencement the scenery becomes 
interesting. Every mile you advance raises the walls above 
you; every corner you turn discloses some new castle, a higher 
pillar or huger column. About half way down you enter the 
Amphitheatre — well named indeed. The canon at this point 
widens out; its walls are a succession of stairways of strata, 
forums and pillars occupy the arena, and the upper walls are 
turreted with sandstone monuments that stand like sentinels 
against the clear sky. 

"Farther down. Diamond creek enters the canon abruptly 
through a side door, as it were, from a major gorge of its own. 
The canon is very deep at this point, and the rest of the distance 
to the river grows rapidly deeper. Some magnificent scenery is 
now presented to view — Noah's Ark, Moses on Sinai, the Par- 
thenon, etc. The canon widens out, leaving a sort of triangular 
mountain in the bottom, and this is nearly 3,000 feet above the 
water of the creek. A lady, who recently visited this spot, is one 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 2/ 

of the first that ever accomplished the feat of climbing to the 
summit of this mountain in the canon, and declares that it has 
pillars on its surface i,ooo feet high, which do not begin to reach 
the top of the canon proper. She says, also, that the walls of 
the canon look just as awfully high after climbing this 3,000 feet 
as they did from the creek. 

"On down the canon a little further and you are at the great 
gorge itself. The scenery in this vicinity is beyond the power 
of language to describe. The pen of T. Starr King would falter 
at the task. Moran or Elkins would die of grief at the inade- 
quacy of their brushes to paint it. 

"The sun shining in at different peaks behind the castellated 
walls produces a rainbow here, throws a grotesque shadow there, 
or brings a profile into relief at another. The rocks in this light 
are of many colors — white, dark gray, pink and purple. From 
some of the narrow side canons the stars are visible at midday. 
In fact the walls are so high that the sky seems a spangled azure 
cover laid gently across from brink to brink. The grand old 
Colorado itself, fifty feet in depth, is a roaring torrent, rushing on 
with high wave and fury, wearing its bed even deeper yet. 

"Every turn you make in its tortuous course brings newer vis- 
ions still. Up its side canons you catch glimpses of heaven 
through vistas of brink that would enchant a fairy; all along its 
banks cloud-reaching, polished, buttressed, moss and vine cov- 
ered castles lift their lofty heads up amongst pictures of light and 
shadow so high that they are hazy in the distance. Variegated 
sandstone Babels, run up higher still, until the blue air of heaven 
clasps them round in gauzy-like embrace. 

"The awfulness of the scene is appalling. Rocks overhang the 
pathway as you advance, and histrionic statues point scornful 
fingers at you from all directions. Frowning profiles seem to 
threaten your every step, and misty caves suggest filmy appar- 
itions as you gaze into their depths. 

"Every stream that enters this great gorge has cut another 
chasm ; every rivulet, rill and brook has cut its cafion too. In fact, 
the whole of the Grand caiion, along its whole length, is a vast 
labyrinth of gorges, a tangled maze of cailons, pillars, cathedrals, 
castles, Pisas and battlemented Babels, which, as the sun ad- 
vances on its course, present an unpaintable, untellable and wholly 
indescribable picture. 

"No description that can possibly be written of this "paradise 
of the geologist," until it can be more thoroughly explored, can 
at all convey an adequate idea of its grandeur. Its whole course 
is through the Union's greatest table land, averaging as high as 
8,000 feet above sea level. It might truly be said that this great 
river flows on the ground floor of America, and the Rocky moun- 
tains are built up around it." 

This awe-inspiring and mighty work of nature has been ex- 
plored its entire length by Major Powell, who has given a most 



28 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

interesting and vivid description of its many wonders. So grand, 
gloomy and peculiar a view is found nowhere else on earth. To 
stand beside the dark and seething waters of a rushing river, 
over a mile below the crust of the earth, and gaze up at the but- 
tressed and battlemented walls, whose summits seem to reach 
the sky, is a spectacle so different from the ordinary scenes of 
nature that it is sure to attract thousands of visitors from all 
parts of the country. 

The Little Colorado, named by its Spanish discoverers, Rio 
de Lino, and known to the Mexicans as the Colorado Chiquito, 
takes its rise in the Sierra Blanca range, near the line of 34° 
north, and only a short distance from the sources of the San 
Francisco, the Black and the Salt rivers. The country around 
its head waters is covered with extensive pine forests, and con- 
tains many beautiful mountain parks, springs and small lakes, 
the latter fed by the heavy snows which fall on these mountains. 
The course of the stream is northwest, and its first important 
tributary is the Zuni river, which comes down from the pueblos 
of that name, in New Mexico. A short distance to the north- 
west it is joined by the Rio Puerco, which likewi.se has its source 
in New Mexico. About ten miles above its junction with the 
Little Colorado, the Puerco receives Lithodendron creek. On 
the banks of this creek is one of the most remarkable natural 
curiosities in the United States. It is a large petrified forest, 
extending over many miles. They are silicified conifera of a 
gigantic size. One has been discovered that measures more than 
twenty feet at the base, and at a break, 100 feet from the 
base, it was ten feet in diameter. Limbs and branches, pet- 
rified to solid rock, are found scattered about in every direction. 
It is also said that many fossil ferns eJcist in conjunction with 
the trees. This singular freak of nature belongs to the car- 
boniferous period, and is evidently a portion of that vast forest 
which once existed in this treeless waste, and now forms the 
great coal measures that underlie its surface. The texture and 
form of the dead trees is clearly discernable, resembling much 
the immense redwoods of California. Many fossils of animals 
of an unknown and extinct species are found scattered about 
among those immense rocky trunks, solidified to pure dolmite 
or magnesian limestone. 

The " Petrified Forest " is one of the wonders of Arizona, and 
is already attracting many visitors from the Thirty-fifth Parallel 
Railroad. West of the Lithodendron, the Little Colorado is 
joined by Leroux fork from the east, and Chevelon's fork from 
the west, both small mountain streams. From thence the river 
flows in a northwesterly direction, keeping about thirty miles to . 
the north of the San Francisco peak. Below the Moencopy 
which joins it from the north, it enters a deep and rocky caiion, 
whose eroded walls show the action of the water for ages in 
wearing its bed to the great river. Through this caiion, which 



. PHYSICAL FEATURES. , ZQ 

is in places a half a mile in depth, with smooth, perpendicular 
walls, the stream flows on to the Colorado of the West, which it 
enters at the Grand caiion. The Colorado Chiquito has a length 
of nearly 200 miles, and contains some large and fertile valleys 
along its upper course. 

Next to the Colorado the Gila is the largest river of Arizona. 
Its sources are in one of the eastern spurs of the Mogollon moun- 
tains, near the summit of the divide that separates the waters 
flowing into the Mexican gulf from those that seek an outlet in 
the Pacific ocean. It crosses the Territory from the line of New 
Mexico to the Colorado near Fort Yuma, following very nearly 
in its course the thirty-third parallel of latitude. Almost the 
entire Territory, south of the thirty-fifth parallel, is drained by 
the Gila, and four-fifths of the streams within its borders are 
tributary to it. For more than half its length it is a mountain 
stream, dashing through deep gorges, rocky cafions, and wild and 
rugged scenery. After passing the boundary line it forms a nar- 
row valley with a rich soil, until it enters the Sierra de la Petahaya 
and the Sierra Natanes. From the latter range it receives the Rio 
San Francisco, a clear and impetuous mountain torrent. A few 
miles west of the San Francisco the Gila receives the Bonita and 
Eagle creek, beautiful mountain streams having their sources in 
the Sierra Blanca, and bordered by grassy valleys containing 
many acres of rich arable lands. Below the mouth of the Bo- 
nita the Gila forms a valley nearly forty miles in length, and 
from two to four in width. This magnificent vale is known as 
Pueblo Viejo (Old Town), and throughout its entire length are the 
ruins of former habitations, the marks of large irrigating canals 
and fragments of broken pottery, showing that a dense population 
once had their homes here. The valley is being rapidly settled 
up. At this point the great valley of the San Simon sweeps 
down from the foot-hills of the Sierra Madre, and the waters of 
its underground river — the Rio del Sur — enters the Gila near 
the town of Solomonville. 

Below the Pueblo Viejo, the Gila cuts its way through the 
Santa Teresa, the Galiuro, the Mescal, the Tortilla and other 
detached ranges. In its course through these rocky barriers, it 
forms deep gorges and narrow canons for a distance^ of nearly 
sixty miles, exhibiting in places mountain scenery grand in 
its solitude and savage beauty. Before entering the canon the 
Gila is joined from the north by the San Carlos, a large stream 
with a rich and fruitful valley. The remains of irrigating works 
and the ruins of former dwellings which line its banks show that 
a large and industrious population once existed here. The name 
has become familiar throughout the United States as the home 
of thousands of idle, worthless and vicious Apaches. Midway in 
its course through the caiion, the Gila is joined by the San Pedro 
flowing from the south, one of its longest and most important 
tributaries, a full description of which will be found later on. 



30 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

About ten miles above the town of Florence the Gila emerges 
from its mountain fastnesses, enters on the wide plains which 
extend to the Colorado, and flows through a large, rich and fer- 
tile valley to its junction with the latter stream. 

This valley of the Gila embraces a large portion of the arable 
lands of Arizona; has a soil of exceeding richness, and produces 
magnificent crops of grain, vegetables, grasses and fruits. At 
Florence and other points to the west, this valley is under a state 
of cultivation, a full and detailed description of which will be 
found under the head of Agriculture. Near Maricopa Wells the 
Santa Cruz mingles its waters with those of the Gila, by an un- 
derground passage. It is a sluggish stream, and for two-thirds 
of its course its waters sink in the thirsty sands. Some ten miles 
west of the town of Phoenix the Salt river joins the Gila, from 
the north. This is the most important tributary which it receives 
in its course. Indeed, it can hardly be called a tributary, as its 
volume of water is much larger than the last-named stream. 
From the Salt to the Colorado of the West, the Gila receives no 
living stream, though several dry river-beds like the Hassayampa 
and the Agua Fria are often swollen by the summer rains, and 
carry down vast volumes of water from the Bradshaw and Sierra 
Prieta ranges. 

The Salt river, which joins the Gila below Phoenix, is formed 
by the Black and White rivers, which unite their waters in the 
Mogollon mountains, about twenty miles west of Fort Apache. 
These streams have their sources in the Sierra Blanca, and be- 
fore they unite receive many sparkling tributaries, fed by the 
springs and snows of this elevated region. The most important 
are the North Fork of White river, Bonita fork, and Carizo creek. 
These water-courses, as well as the White and the Black, con- 
tain some magnificent mountain trout, and afford fine sport for the 
angler. Below the junction of the last-named streams the Salt 
river enters the mountain system through which the Gila winds 
its way, some forty miles to the south. The caiion formed in its 
course is longer than that of the Gila, and much more striking 
in its scenic effects. The deep gorges, with their towering walls 
on either side, and masses of rock piled in wild confusion and 
twisted ii\to most fantastic shapes by the storms and floods of 
centuries; the numerous cascades and frills over which the v.'atcr 
foams and whifls, present a scene of wild beauty worthy the 
pencil of an artist. 

During its course through the caiion, the Salt receives several 
tributaries from the north, the largest being Tonto, Cherry and 
Cibicu creeks. These streams sometimes carry large bodies of 
water and are bordered by rich but narrow valleys. About 
thirty miles above its junction with the Gila, it is joined by the Rio 
Verde flowing from the north. The Salt river drains a large 
area of country, and, next to the Colorado, carries the largest 
volume of water of any stream in the Territory. After leaving 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 3 1 

the cafton it flows through the richest and most extensive body 
of agricultural land in Arizona. Its length, reckoning from the 
head of Black river, is nearly 200 miles The San Pedro, 
which enters the Gila at the lower end of the canon, takes 
its rise in the spurs of the Sierra Madre, in Sonora, and flows 
north through a fertile valley, with grass-covered mesas, gradually 
swelling into the mountain ridges on either side. It is a slug- 
gish narrow stream, but carrying sufficient water to irrigate the 
rich bottom-lands through which it flows. 

Its principal tributary is the Arivaipai which enters it from 
the east near the site of old Camp Grant. This stream heads in 
the Pinalefio range, and flowing to the northeast forms a deep 
and precipitious canon in its passage through the northern end 
of the Galurio mountains. This canon contains some of the 
wildest mountain scenery in the Territory, and has been the 
theatre of many a bloody encounter with the Apaches, who long 
looked upon it as one of their strongholds. 

The Santa Cruz, briefly alluded to heretofore, is perhaps the 
most remarkable of the streams which go to form Arizona's 
system of water-ways. Its sources are in the southern end of 
the Patagonia mountains near the Mexican line. From thence 
it flows to the south through Sonora for sev^eral miles, and then 
making a sharp bend to the north, passes by the towns of 
Calabasas, Tubac and the city of Tucson. Its bed is formed of 
loose sand, and for the greater portion of its devious way it 
seeks an underground channel. From its source to Tucson, it 
is bordered by a valley of exceeding fertility which yields large 
crops of cereals and fruits, wherever the land can be irrigated. 
At Calabasas, Tubac and Tucson the water forces itself to the 
surface and the valley is under a state of cultivation. From the 
last named town the Santa Cruz pursues a northwesterly course 
to its junction with the Gila,, losing itself completely in the bar- 
ren plain, and only appearing once at Maricopa Wells before it 
unites with that stream. Its entire length is about 150 miles. 

The Rio Verde is formed from a series of springs in what is 
known as Chino valley in the great Colorado plateau, and be- 
tween the Juniper range and Bill Williams mountain. Thence 
flowing southeast it receives sev^eral small streams from the south, 
among them Granite creek, on which Prescott is situated. Still 
pursuing its southerly course the Verde passes around the northern 
slopes of the Black Hills receiving from the mountainous region 
of the east, Turkey, Oak, Beaver and several other creeks flowing 
from the base of the San Francisco peak. Below Fort Verde, 
Clear creek. Fossil creek, the East fork and many smaller water- 
courses enter the stream from the Mazatzal range on the east. 
The Verde carries a volume of water almost as large as the 
Gila. During its course it forms several small but exceedingly 
rich and beautiful valleys, many of which are under a high state 
of cultivation. The waters of the Verde are clear and limpid ; 



32 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

its banks are shaded by a fine growth of cotton-wood, ash, box 
elder, maple, willow and many other varieties ; it is well stocked 
with fish, and is one of the most beautiful water-courses in the 
Territory. Its entire length is nearly 150 miles. 

The Agua Fria takes its rise some ten miles east of Prescott,, 
and sweeping around the northern slopes of the Sierra Prieta 
range, pursues a southern course, paralleled to the Rio Verde, 
and some thirty miles west of the latter stream. It is fed by 
the rains and snows which fall on the southern spurs of the 
Sierra Prieta basin, and drains in its course the eastern slopes 
of the massive Bradshaw range. It enters the Gila at the 13ig 
Bend by an underground channel, 120 miles from its mountain 
home. 

The Agua Fria forms many beautiful farming and grazing 
valleys, which contain some pleasant homes. Some twenty 
miles west of the Agua Fria the Hassayampa enters the Gila. 
This stream heads in the Sierra Prieta range, ten miles south- 
east of Prescott. It flows south through a mountainous region, 
draining the western slopes of the Bradshaw and the Antelope 
mountains. It contains a few narrow valleys, which yield 
prolifically of grain and fruits. Bill Williams Fork is formed 
by the junction of the Santa Maria and the Big Sandy. The 
Santa Maria rises into the elevated plateau known as Peeples 
valley, lying north from the Antelope mountains. Thence it 
flows northward, and is known as Kirkland creek. Being joined 
by Sycamore creek from the Mount Hope range it turns to 
the west and unites with the Big Sandy. This latter stream 
heads in the Cottonwood range near the thirty-fifth parallel, and 
pursues a southerly course. Bill Williams Fork, below the 
junction of the two streams just described, follows a nearly 
straight course westward to the Colorado, The country through 
which it passes is a dry and barren region, but rich in the 
precious metals. The upper sources of the stream contain 
some small but rich valleys, which produce good crops of hay, 
corn and vegetables. In the hills and mountains adjacent there 
is also some excellent grazing land. 

These are the principal water-courses of Arizona. Although 
considered a dry country, it will be seen that the Territory is 
well supplied with the life-giving clement. Its streams arc the 
arteries which convey life and verdure to its surface, causes the 
parched desert to bloom, makes the arid waste to don its robes 
of green and brings to mountain, plain, valley and glen, beauty,, 
fertility and productiveness. 





B'.MMorr-uru-s.r. 



GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO- ^eT^^geT 



FAUNA AND FLORA. 




The Wild Animals of Arizona — Habitat of the Bear, Elk, Deer, etc. — The Feathered 
Tril)e of Arizona — Reptiles and Insects— The "Gila Monster" — Fish — The 
Ceretis Gigantns and the Cactus Family — The Maguey Plant ; 
Its Value for Manufacturing Purposes — The Amole, or 
Soap-Weed — The Native Woods of the Terri- 
tory — The Mesquite Tree— The Iron 
Wood — The Native Grasses 
of the Territory. 

'he Fauna and Flora of Arizona, are both interesting and 
extensive, and contain some species in each, pecuHar to 
this .semi-tropic cHme, not found in any other part of the 
United States. Nearly all the animals indegeneous to the tem- 
perate zone, are found in the Territory, and its variety of fish, 
fowl and wild game, make some portions of it the very paradise 
of the sportsman. 

The bruin family are well represented, and almost every 
wooded mountain throughout the Territory, can show a speci- 
men. The grizzly inhabits the White mountains and the neigh- 
borhood of Fort Apache ; the cinnamon, the black and the 
brown bear are met with in the San FrancLsco, the Mogollon, the 
Sierra Blanca, the Bradshaw, the Juniper, Bill Williams, the Ma- 
zatzal, the Santa Catalinas, the Chiricahuas, the Huachucas, the 
Santa Ritas, the Galiuro, the Pinal, the Dragoon, the Pinaleilo, 
and, in fact, in every mountain range of any size throughout the 
Territory. Although rarely seen so far south, some magnificent 
specimens of the elk family inhabit the ravines and glens of the 
San Francisco and Sierra Blanca. The California lion, or cou- 
gar, makes his home in all the mountainous regions of Arizona. 
He sometimes attains a large size, but is cowardly and treacher- 
ous by nature. The leopard is known to exist in Southern Ari- 
zona, and several, of a good size, have been killed. They are 
however, rarely seen. 

, The black-tailed deer is found in all parts of the Territory. It 
attains a large size, and specimens weighing over two hundred 
pounds are often brought down by the successful hunter. The 
early settlers depended almost entirely on the deer for their sup- 
ply of fresh meat, and the wholesale slaughter, at all seasons, 
3 



34' THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

has almost exterminated this noble game in some portions of 
Arizona. The antelope is found in large herds on the grassy 
plains of the upper plateau, and in nearly every valley from the 
thirt}'-sixth parallel to the southern boundary. The coyote, or 
prairie wolf, roams over the deserts, plains and mesas, Sind his ear- 
splitting )-clp pierces the drowsy ear of night from the Sonora 
line to the Utah border. Another species of the wolf family in- 
habits some of the mountain ranges ; they are large, gaunt and 
fierce, and do not hesitate to attack and kill full-grown calves, 
colts and other domestic animals. 

The beaver is a habitat of the streams throughout the Mogol- 
lon and the White mountains. Its watery domiciles are also 
found along the Verde, the Little Colorado, the Upper Gila and 
Salt rivers, and the San Pedro. The Arizona beaver is not as 
large as his northern brother, nor is his fur so valuable. The 
big-horn mountain sheep is a dweller in the elevated rocky 
ridges of Arizona's mountain system, but is most numerous in 
the lofty, barren crags of the Colorado plateau. The most deso- 
late and inaccessible regions are the favorite haunts of this ani- 
mal. 

The fox makes his home in all parts of the Territory ; the 
Arizona specimen is much smaller than that known in the 
Eastern States, "but has all the sagacity and cunning of his 
larger brother. The wild cat is seen in nearly every wooded 
mountain ; many of them attain a large size and have all the 
fierce instincts of their race. That species of the hare, known 
as the "jackass rabbit*" is a noticeable feature of the landscape 
throughout the dry, barren plains and foot-hills of Arizona ; the 
flesh is coarse and tasteless, but that of the smaller variety 
known as the " cotton tail " is as white and tender as that of a 
chicken. Squirrels are numerous everywhere — the larger va- 
riety inhabiting the wooded mountains, while the ground 
squirrel seeks the plains and foot-hills. The wood rat and the 
kangaroo rat are at home in every portion of the Territory ; 
gophers inhabit the valleys along every water-course, as well as 
the dry plains, and in places make sad havoc with growing 
vegetables. The Mephitis Americana is found all over Arizona. 
The varieties most common are of a beautiful black and white 
color, but here as everywhere else, distance lends enchantment 
to the view, and this peculiar animal appears to the best 
advantage the farther he is off 

Of the feathered tribe, the Territory possesses a rich and 
numerous variety. The ornithologist has here a field both inter- 
esting and instructive, while the devotee of rod and gun can 
revel in the delights of his glorious sport. The American 
eagle makes his home among the lofty peaks and deep canyons 
of the Mogollon, Sierra Blanca, Pinalcno, Chiricahua and other 
wooded ranges. It sometimes attains a large size. The wild 
turkey abounds in all the principal mountains of the Territory. 



FAUNA AND FLORA. 35 

It IS a noble bird, very often weighing twenty and twenty-five 
pounds, with a flesh white, tender and exquisitely flavored. 
The bird is shy and difficult to kill, being often known to 
receive several charges of coarse shot, and then succeed in 
eluding the hunter. Wild duck frequent nearly all the water- 
courses of the Territory, and the wild goose is occasionally 
seen on the Colorado, the Gila and the Salt. The quail, or 
California partridge, is extensively distributed throughout 
Arizona, and seems to be rapidly increasing. They are a 
beautiful bird, with a flesh of delicious flavor and tenderness. 
All attempts to domesticate them have proved a failure. 

The Arizona mocking-bird is found from Utah to Sonora, 
and from New Mexico to the Great Colorado. Wherever there 
is a spring or a grove the melody of this sweet songster breaks 
the stillness, and enlivens the solitude of mountain, valley and 
plain. Blackbirds are found everywhere, and pigeons inhabit 
the mountain ranges. The hawk is met with from end to end 
of the Territory ; some of the species reach a large size, and 
their partiality for young chickens is as strongly marked in 
Arizona as elsewhere. 

Many species of the owl family inhabit the Territory, and their 
nocturnal serenades have been often anathematized by the weary 
traveler or prospector. The crow tribe are strongly represented^ 
and wherever the industrious pioneer has made a home and re- 
deemed the soil, those dusky scavengers are sure to be found. 
There are many varieties of the thrush, and his sweet song fills 
with melody the mountains, valleys and glens of eastern Arizona. 
Humming-birds of beautiful plumage are met with in the central 
and southeastern valleys and mountains, as are also warblers and 
finches. The water ousel and the blackbird are encountered in 
the mountain ridges of southeastern Arizona. The persistent 
tap of the wocxipecker is heard in every timbered region of the 
Territory; and the chatter of the thievish blue-jay disturbs the 
song of his more musical neighbors everywhere. The oriole is 
found in the Galiuro, Pinaleno and Chiricahua ranges; he is a 
beautiful bird and a sweet singer. 

Larks, swallows, buntings, wrens, grosbeaks and linnets are 
found in all parts of Arizona. Magpies are seen in the south- 
eastern mountain ridges near the Sonora border. The Arizona 
vireo is widely distributed and is one of our sweetest songsters. 
Of aquatic birds, herons, snipes, sandpipers, cranes, etc., large 
numbers are found along the Colorado, Salt, Gila, Verde and the 
larger streams. In brilliancy of plumage, variety of species and 
sweetness of song, the birds of Arizona will compare with any 
portion of the Union. To give a detailed description of their 
habits, etc., is beyond the scope of this work, but it would be a 
subject both interesting and instructive. 

Before closing this notice of the fauna of the Territory, some 
allusion should be made to the reptiles and insects which popu- 



36 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

lar belief has lonjT considered Arizona to be plagued with. First 
among these singular curiosities comes that large saurian, com- 
monly called the "Gila Monster." It is of the lizard species and 
sometimes reaches a length of two feet. It is usually of a black- 
ish-red color, covered with scales, and has anything but a pre- 
possessing appearance. It is generally found in the southern 
portion of the Territory and makes its home on the dry and bar- 
ren viesas between the thirty-fifth and thirty-second parallels and 
between the one hundred and eleventh and one hundred and 
fourteenth degrees of longitude. It is not entirely harmless; and 
when sitting on a rock with its mouth sending forth a greenish, 
frothy slime and puffing like a minature steam-engine, it presents 
a formidable appearance to the new arrival. 

Many smaller species of the lizard family exist in Arizona and 
are generally found in tlie most barren and desolate locali- 
ties. The horned toad, another branch of the family is met with 
on all the plains and barren uplands. Rattlesnakes of several 
varieties are seen, but they are not near so numerous as ver- 
acious (?) travelers would have their readers believe. On the 
upper plateau and in the elevated mountain regions, they are 
rarely met with. The same will apply to tarantulas, scorpions 
and centipedes. These poisonous insects are scarcely ever found 
in the wooded mountain regions. In fact, it has been said, and 
with truth, that Arizona has fewer venomous reptiles than any 
portion of the continent, and this has been attributed to the dry, 
pure atmosphere which wraps her mountains and plains. 

The fish found in the waters of the Territory have some strik- 
ing peculiarities of their own, which may be of interest to the 
reader. In the Colorado there is a large fish known as the "Col- 
orado Salmon." The taste is something like the sturgeon, but 
the fish is coarse and devoid of flavor. Some weighing seventy 
pounds have been taken near Yuma. In the Gil^ is found a fish 
resembling a sucker; it is well-flavored but very bony. The 
"Colorado Salmon" is also found in this stream. In the Salt 
river a fish called the '• humpback" is found in large numbers. 
Although well-flavored it has too many bones to be of much 
value as a food fish. In the Verde is a fish known as the 
" Verde trout." It sometimes reaches a weight of five pounds, 
has an excellent flavor, but is so full of small bones that it is not 
likely ever to come into favor. The same fish is also found in 
the Salt River, but the change does not affect its bony peculi- 
arities. In the streams which form the headwaters of the Col- 
orado Chiquito, as well as those of the Salt and the Gila, trout 
are found in abundance. In the cool and sparkling streams which 
flow down Irom the winter snows of the Mogollon and the Sierra 
Blanca, these beautiful fish find a permanent h )me. They are 
equal in flavor to the best Eastern or California brook-trout, and 
magnificent specimens, weighing as high as four and five pounds, 
are not unfrequently taken. 



FAUNA AND FLORA. 37 

The Territorial legislature has created a fish commission, and 
made an appropriation of several thousand dollars for the pur- 
pose of stocking the rivers and lakes of the Territory with carp 
and other varieties suitable to the climate. Spawn have been 
placed in the Colorado, Gila, Salt, Verde, Agua Frio, Colorado 
Chiquito, and other streams. Many individuals have also ar- 
ranged large ponds on their premises, and stocked the same with 
the young fish. So far tried, the carp thrives and increases 
with wonderful rapidity in the waters of Arizona. The temper- 
ature of the streams in the southern part of the Territory — al- 
though a trifle warm during the summer months — has no injurious 
effect on this fish ; and altaough many of them are destroyed 
each year by the native varieties, who look upon them as interlop- 
ers, they multiply at so rapid a rate, that in a year or two they will 
swarm in every stream. 

The flora of Arizona, like all else relating to the country, has 
many distinct peculiarities of its own, and embraces many varie- 
ties found nowhere else in the United States. Here the vegeta- 
ble productions of the tropic, the temperate and the frigid zones 
grow side by side, presenting a picture often strange and anoma- 
lous. Arizona is the land of the ccreJts gigantus, called by the 
Indians and Mexicans the sahuaro. This is the largest species 
of the cactus family, and sometimes attains a height of forty 
feet. The body of the sahuaro is made up of thin pieces of 
wood, arranged in the form of a cylinder, covered and held to- 
gether by the outside skin or fibre. This fibre is a pale green, 
and the trunk is fluted like a Corinthian column. Near the top, 
large arms, in shape like the main trunk, put out from it like 
the branches of a candelabrum, the whole being covered with 
sharp, prickly thorns. A beautiful purple blossom decks its 
top, and in the latter part of June a pear-shaped fruit ripens, 
and is much prized by Mexicans and Indians. The fruit tastes 
a good deal like a fig, and is exceedingly palatable. 

This singular plant is found on the waterless plains and rocky, 
gravelly mesas in every portion of the Territory, and is one of 
the most curious objects which greets the eye of the traveler. 
The sahuaro is short-lived, and the elements of decay are at 
work ere it has fairly began to grow. It first begins to rot at 
the base, and at last topples over. The Mexicans use the nar- 
row ribs of wood for roofing thQir adobe houses, building fences, 
etc. The nopal, or prickly pear, is another species of the cactus, 
extensively distr'buted all over the Territory. Its fruit, known 
as the tuna, is both palatable and refreshing, and second only to 
that of the cereus in its saccharine qualities. Its height is from 
four to six feet, with large fleshy leaves, which, in their tender 
state, are cooked by the natives and taste not unlike string 
beans. Like all the cactus family, it is a mass of sharp thorns 
which men and beasts carefully avoid. Another variety is known 
as the " vinegar cactus," so called from a small, deep-red berry, 



38 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZOiS'A. 

exceedingly acid in taste, which it bears. The Indians use this 
fruit as an anti-scorbutic. 

One of the most valued varieties of the cactus is called the 
bisnaga, or " well of the desert." It is of a cylindrical shape, 
covered with sharp thorns, and is found growing on the dry 
plains and foot-hills. By cutting out the center of the plant a 
bowl-shaped cavity is formed, which soon fills with excellent water 
and affords the thirsty wanderer a refreshing drink. The "grape 
cactus" is another variety of the plant. It grows to a height of 
from four to six feet, with numerous branches bearing clusters 
of fruit of the ttma variety, and reminding one forcibly of grape 
clusters. This cactus also bears bunches of large thorns, capable 
of penetrating the strongest leather. On the elevated plain be- 
tween Florence and Pinal there is a regular forest of this un- 
sightly plant. 

The Cholla is another variety of cactus. It seldom reaches^ 
above a foot in height, and most generally is found in little 
bunches, nestling among the grass. Many a thoughtless traveler 
who inadvertently sat down on this prickly nuisance has risen 
with a suddenness only equalled by the volume and emphasis of 
his remarks on the occasion. The ocotilla is, by some, classed 
with the cacti family. It is a beautiful plant, growing in clus- 
ters of straight poles, from ten to fifteen feet in height, and cov- 
ered with coarse thorns. In the spring it puts forth green leaves 
and scarlet blossoms, and is one of the most attractive objects 
the eye rests upon on the table-lands of Arizona. This plant is 
extensively used for fencing in portions of the Territory where 
there is a scarcity of wood. There are mkny other varieties of 
the cacti family in the Territory, but there is a sameness among 
all, which would be of little interest to the reader. They are a 
marked peculiarity of the country, and a never-ending source of 
wonderment to the newcomer. 

The inas^uej, or mescal, sometimes wrongly called the century 
plant, is the most useful of all the natural vegetable products of 
the Territory. It flourishes on the foot-hills, elevated table-lands, 
and often on the mountain sides. It prefers the southern slopes 
where it receives more sunshine, and seems best adapted to a 
dry, drift soil. In the neighboring republic of Mexico, large 
tracts are devoted to the cultivation of the plant, which is a 
considerable source of revenue to the country. The Mexicans 
make from it a distilled liquid known as mescal, and containing 
a large percentage of alcohol. It is as clear as gin, has the strong, 
smoky taste of Scotch whisky, and will intoxicate as quickly as 
either. From the fiber of the plant the Mexicans also manufac- 
ture a coarse cloth and paper of an excellent quality. The plant 
is of circular shape, its center being in appearance something 
like a cabbage head, surrounded by long, sharp-pointed green 
leaves, fleshy and stiff, their edges being covered with thorns. 
From the center of the head springs a slender pole, eight ta 



FAUNA AND FLORA. • 39 

twelve feet in height, and crowned with short branches, bearing 
small, yellow flowers. These flowers are shaped like a tiny cup, 
and when in full bloom are filled with a syrup, having a sweet, 
strong taste. The head of the mescal is the most valuable part, 
and was looked upon by the Apaches as their chief article of 
food. 

In preparing it for use, the outer leaves are peeled off and the 
head placed in a primitive oven made of round stones, sunk in 
the ground, which have been heated by a fire of mesquite wood. 
The mescal is placed on these stones, covered by the hot ashes 
and earth, and roasted ; after which it is taken out and a few 
outside leaves being removed is ready for use. It is sweet and 
nutritious, tasting like a boiled beet. The Apaches likewise 
make it into' flat fibrous cakes which constituted the only com- 
missary carried by war parties during the long and bloody 
struggle against the whites. The Indians also make from it a 
syrup of which they are very fond, and by fermentation an in- 
toxicating drink called tizivin. It will thus be seen that the 
maguey is a most valuable plant, and, with proper cultivation, can 
furnish the raw material for many industries which could be 
profitably engaged in here. 

The amok, or soap weed, is another of the valuable plants 
indigenous to Arizona. It grows in profusion on all the dry 
plains and rolling uplands of the country, and reaches a height 
of from two to three feet, with long and narrow leaves, which 
will make excellent rope, paper, cloth and other fabrics. The 
roots are used by the Mexicans as a substitute for soap ; a heavy 
lather is made by agitating the crushed roots in the water which 
is said to be superior to ordinary soap for the cleansing of flan- 
nel fabrics. It is also used as a hair-wash, and is said to keep 
it clean, soft and glossy. The hedeundilla, or grease wood, is 
found on the hills, table-lands and plains over the entire extent 
of the Territory. It is a bushy shrub, growing to a height of 
from two to eight feet, with dark-green leaves, and in the early 
summer, produces a yellow blossom ; by rubbing the leaves be- 
tween the hands an unpleasant odor is produced and a greasy 
substance adheres to the fingers. A gum exudes from the plant, 
which resembles much in color and quality, gum-Arabic. It is 
an evergreen and seems to be indigenous to this country. 

The yucca plant, or Spanish bayonet, is another of Arizona's 
peculiar vegetable productions. It grows in all parts of the 
Territory, and its strong, fleshy, sharp-pointed leaves contain a 
fibre which makes excellent paper. On the foot-hills of the 
mountain ranges of the Colorado plateau the California man- 
zanita grows luxuriantly ; and along the dry valleys and water- 
courses the arrow weed and the black willow are found in pro- 
fusion. The former furnishes the aborigines with arrows for 
their rude bows, and the latter, with some resemblance to the 
weeping willow, bears a large purplish blossom devoid of frag- 



40 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

ranee. Among the other plants of the Territory should be 
mentioned the pectts, the creosote bush, and the snake weed. 
The first named has an odor like essence of lemon, and the 
last is valuable as an antidote against the bites of venomous rep- 
tiles. The Indians masticate the leaves and apply them to the 
wound which proves an effectual remedy against the poison. 
The aborigines use a great many plants for their curative prop- 
erties, and no doubt when the flora of Arizona is classified, and 
thoroughly known, the pharmacopoeia will be enriched by many 
valuable remedies from its plants and herbs. 

Grapes, currants, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, and 
raspberries are found in the mountains and valleys of northern, 
central and southern Arizona. The wild grape is especially 
prolific. It is rich in saccharine matter, and a very palatable 
wine, of the color and taste of light claret, is made from it. It 
contains a fair percentage of alcohol, and by grafting with the 
domestic varieties a very fine wine grape is produced. Walnuts 
grow in profusion along all the wooded mountain ranges of the 
Territory ; and immense quantities of acorns, used by the 
Indians as an article of food, are found wherever the oak tree 
grows. 

A shrub, bearing a close resemblance to the coffee-plant, is 
found in different portions of Arizona. The beans, of 
which there are generally two in the pod, has a strong flavor of 
domestic coffee, and when prepared in the same way makes an 
excellent substitute for the genuine article. Wild flax grows in 
the valley of the Colorado Chiquito, and in several other places 
on the great plateau ; the wild tobacco plant has been found in 
the Santa Cruz valley, and the wild potato is at home in the 
Santa Ritas, the Huachucas and the Santa Catalinas. It is also 
found in the valleys north of the Moquis villages, and is used 
extensively by the Navajocs as an article of food. The root is 
about the size of an English walnut and when cooked is dry, 
mealy, and of a fine flavor. Arizona has a great number of mer- 
curial plants and a great variety of wild flowers which bloom 
after the rainy season, and send forth a delightful fragrance over 
the arid desert and lonely plain. 

Pine, spruce, cedar, oak, and juniper cover the principal moun- 
tain ranges of the Territory. The great pine forest of the Mo- 
gollon extends from the San Francisco peak to the thirty-third 
parallel, and has an average width of over sixty miles. This 
extensive timber belt contains some of the finest and largest 
specimens of the pine family to be found'on the continent. The 
upper portion of the Colorado plateau has a scattered growth of 
scrub pine, and cedars; while the Bradshaw and Sierra Prieta 
ranges show magnificent forests of pine, oak, and juniper. In 
the ranges south of the Gila the same variety of timber abounds, 
while the rolling foot-hills have a fine growth of oak. There are 
two varieties of the oak in the territory, the white oak, which 



FAUNA AND FLORA. 41 

people in the Atlantic and Western States are familiar with, and 
the black oak. The latter has an extensive growth in Califor- 
nia and Arizona, and also in Northern Mexico, and bears a 
strong resemblance to the live oak of the Southern States. 
, Sycamore, ash, walnut, elder, maple, willow, cottonwood are 
found growing along the water-courses in all parts of the Terri- 
tory. The ash makes excellent timber for spokes and wagon 
tongues ; while the Arizona cedar makes beautiful cabinet-ware — 
its fine texture, beautiful color, and delightful odor being espe- 
cially adapted for the more delicate kinds of work. 

The mesquite tree is among the most valuable of the woods 
of Arizona. It may be considered a native of the region south 
of the Great plateau, and is nearly always found growing in rich, 
heavy soils. Large groves of the tree are found in the rich bot- 
tom-lands of the Colorado, the Gila, the Salt, the Santa Cruz, 
the San Pedro, and on nearly all the principal streams through- 
out Central and Southern Arizona. On the lower Colorado, a 
short distance above Yuma, on the Gila, near Casa Grande, and 
on the Santa Cruz, near the mission of San Xavier, are extensive 
forests of mesquite, many of the trees reaching a height of forty 
feet, and measuring over two feet in diameter. 

The tree puts forth many limbs, and has a bushy appearance ; 
its leaves resemble those of the locust, and it bears large quanti- 
ties of a bean-like fruit, which are gathered by the Indians and 
considered by them as their staple article of diet. The fruit is 
dried and ground into a flour from which a bread is made that 
is highly prized by the natives. These beans also make a rich 
feed for cattle and horses, being superior in their fattening qual- 
ities to either corn or ba' ley. The wood of the mesquite makes 
excellent wagon timber, being peculiarly adapted to this climate ; 
it also makes a handsome shade tree, and in all respects is the 
most valuable of the native woods of the Territory. 

The pa/o vei'de, or green tree, is a native of Arizona. It loves 
the dry, gravelly mesas, the waterless plains, and the barren 
deserts. It seldom attains a height of over twelve feet ; has 
sharp thorns instead of leaves ; has soft, spongy wood ; gives a 
poor shade, and is perhaps the least attractive of Arizona's 
arboreous productions. The pepper tree is found growing along 
many of the water-courses of Arizona. It scarcely ever attains 
a height of more than fifteen feet. When properly cared for it 
makes a handsome shade tree. The iron wood, ligmnn vitcs, 
is another wood, native and to the Arizona manor born. Its 
leaves closely resemble the mesquite, but its wood is much 
heavier, close-grained and susceptible of a high polish. When 
dry it is hard and brittle, and will dent the finest tempered axe. 
It was in allusion to this peculiar wood, and the coarse, native 
grass of the deserts, that the genial traveler, Ross Browne, 
humorously wrote, " in Arizona, hay is cut with a hoe and wood 
with a hammer." The wood of this tree makes an intense heat ; 



42 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

it bears a bean similar to the mesquite, very rich in grape-sugar, 
and highly prized by the Indians as an article of food. In the 
cultivated valleys of the Territory, different varieties of shade 
and ornamental trees are being introduced with most gratifying 
results. The Lombardy poplar, the mulberry, the China um- 
brella tree, and many other varieties do well. There is no 
reason why all the beautiful flowering and shade trees of the 
semi-tropic zone should not, with careful cultivation, flourish in 
Arizona. 

Of the grasses of the Territory, the most widely distributed 
is the gramna, which grows in every portion of the country. 
There are two varieties of this grass, the black and the white 
gramna, both of which are excellent food for stock. Cattle in 
Arizona, fed on this grass, keep fat winter and summer, and 
their beef is unequaled in flavor and quality. In the moun- 
tain regions the pine, mesquite, and other varieties grow 
luxuriantly, and afford rich and nutritious feed. In some 
portions of northern Arizona the a/fileria, or wild clover, has 
been introduced by sheep driven from California, and is fast 
spreading all over the country. On the barren plains in the 
west and southwestern portions of the Territory, a coarse grass, 
called by the Mexicans gaette, grows extensively. Cut when 
green, and properly cured, it makes a fair substitute for hay. 

In many of the southern valleys and foot-hills there is a grass 
called the " buffalo ;" it grows in bunches, and stock are very 
fond of it. Although Arizona has been considered a barren, 
sandy waste, it can show as fine a growth of rich and succulent 
grasses as any region of the southwest, and its capabilities as 
a stock-growing region are almost limitless. 




COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 

Pima County — Tucson: its History, General Appearance, Public Puildings, Gas, 
Water Works, Electric Light, and its Educational Advantages, etc. — Yavapai 
County — Prescott: its Buildings, Public and Private, Delightful Situation, 
Trade, etc. — Whipple Barracks — Cochise County and its Early His- 
tory — Tombstone: Its Appearance, History, and Characteristics — 
Benson — Bisbee — Maricopa County — Phoenix and its Charm- 
ing Surroundings, Public Buildings, Trade, etc — Tempe— 
Yuma County, Town and Fort— Pinal County — 
Florence — Pinal — Gila County — Globe — Gra- 
ham, Mohave, and Apache Counties — 
Population of the Territorj'. 




)IMA county was the first portion of Arizona settled by 
Europeans, and is one of the oldest political divisions of 
the Territory, having been organized by the first legis- 
lature, which assembled in 1864. Its original boundaries in- 
cluded all that vast region .south of the Gila, and east of the line 
of 113° 20', west longitude from Greenwich, the larger portion of 
the Gadsden purchase. Since then the whole of Cochise county, 
and portions of Pinal and Graham have been taken from Pima. 
But it is still a good-sized domain, being about 180 miles in 
length from east to west, and averaging over fifty-five miles in 
width, from north to south, containing an area of something like 
10,500 square miles. The county is bordered on the north by 
Maricopa and Pinal, on the east by Cochise, on the south by 
Sonora and on the west by Yuma county. 

The western portion of Pima, bordering the line of Sonora 
and extending along the Gulf of California, is a series of wide 
rolling plains, with detached mountains and isolated peaks scat- 
tered over its surface. These mountains are rocky and rugged ; 
the plains are covered with a sparse growth of grass and shrubs, 
and in some places with mesquite wood. Water is generally 
scarce in this uninviting region ; and did not every mountain, 
and peak, and butte, contain rich deposits of the precious metals, 
there would be few attractions for the white man in this portion 
of Arizona. South of Tucson the country is made up of grassy 
plains, rolling hills and lofty mountains. East to the line of 
Cochise, it is of a similar character, while to the north the dry 



44 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

plains are crossed by the massive chain of the Santa Catalinas. 
South and east the county is crossed by the Santa Rita, the 
Patagonia, the Whetstone, and the Atascoso ranges. The Santa 
Cruz flows through the county from its source in the Patagonia 
range to the boundary of Maricopa, and is the only running 
stream of any consequence in Pima. 

The histor}' of Pima county is the history of Arizona up to its 
organization as a Territory in 1863. Its early settlers had more 
than their share of the hardships, dangers and vicissitudes which 
were the lot of old Arizonans. For years after its acquisition 
from Mexico, it was practically without any government, the 
only semblance of authority being on the Rio Grande, over 300 
miles away. Its valleys and mountains have been moistened by 
the blood of many an adventurous pioneer, and for years its ad- 
vancement was retarded by a handful of red demons. But Pima 
has passed through those dark and early days, and stands in the 
bright sunshine of progress and prosperity. The railroads, 
already in operation, have greatly assisted in the development 
of her grand mining and grazing resources, and those projected 
will do much more. Her condition is a prosperous one, and 
immigration and capital are every day making it more so. The 
total valuation of property in this county is $4,903,362 ; total 
indebtedness, $530,000; rate of taxation, $2.90 on each $100. 
The population of the county, according to the census of 1882, 
was 17,427. 

Tucson, the oldest and largest city in the Territory, is situated 
on a gently sloping mesa, on the right bank of the Santa Cruz, 
about two hundred and fifty miles east of the Colorado river, and 
three hundred miles north of Guaymas, on the California gulf. 
The situation is a commanding one. North and west, the wide 
plain is overlooked by the massive chain of the Santa Catalinas, 
while to the south the peaks of the Santa Ritas loom up dim 
and shadowy through the purple haze. To the east, the low and 
irregular range of the Sierratas borders the river valley and over- 
looks the town. On all sides the view is bounded by lofty and 
rugged mountains, and in the center of the wide plain the old 
town sits like a relic of the past which has been rudely awakened 
from the slumber of centuries by the rush and roar of modern 
civilization. Tucson is said to be a Pima word. It is pronounced 
Chook-son, by that people, and means " Black creek." Its early 
history is involved in obscurity, but it is known that an Indian 
rancheria stood here, before the Spaniards established a military 
station, to protect the Mission of San Xavier. This was in 1694, 
so that the history of the town may be said to date from that 
time. During the loi1g years of Spanish and Mexican rule, and 
up to the breaking out of the California gold fever, Tucson was 
an insignificant village. The rush of adventurers to the new 
Eldorado, infused a little life into the sleepy o.d place, and it be- 
gan slowly to improve, until the building of the S. P. R. R. 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 45 

Since Ihen, Tucson has made rapid strides in the path of pro- 
gress and prosperity. The old landmarks are gradually disap- 
pearing, and the spirit of improvement and enterprise is seen in 
the many fine public and private residences which are visible on 
every side. The old and the new civilization have here 
met, and the town is in that transitory condition, where 
the one-story, flat-roofed adobes and the narrow, crooked 
streets are giving way to handsome structures and broad, roomy 
thoroughfares. But it yet retains many of the peculiar features 
of a Spanish-American town, and the division known as the 
Barrio Libre, with its tortuous lanes and alleys, its uninviting- 
adobes, with their cool, roomy courtyards in the interior, its 
motley population of Mexicans and Indians, and the mellifluous 
chatter oila lengua Castellana, looks like a bit of old Mexico trans- 
planted to the Northern Republic. 

Several handsome public buildings and many attractive pri- 
vate residences have been erected within the past three years, 
and many more are in course of construction. The county 
court-house is an imposing structure of brick, faced with stone 
and surmounted by a handsome tower. Its cost was $75,000. 
The Catholic cathedral is a large building, ornamented with a 
handsome facade and lofty spire. It is built of brick and stone. 
The Congregationalists have a commodious place of worship, 
the Methodists have a neat, brick church. The Presbyterian 
church is a tasteful building, and the Baptists have also a cred- 
itable place of worship. Tucson contains the largest mercantile 
houses in the Territory. Some of them carry immense stocks of 
goods, and do a heavy trade with Sonora and Northern Mexico. 
Water is brought to the city in iron pipes from a point on the 
Santa Cruz, seven miles south. The streets, stores and private 
residences are well -lighted with gas. The electric light has 
lately been introduced, and the mast from the summit of the 
court-house tower casts a brilliant light over the city. Herdic 
coaches traverse the city in all directions, and are a great con- 
venience to the public. A handsome opera-house has been 
erected near the railroad depot, and two variety entertainments 
are always open, and well patronized. 

The secret societies are in strong force, and all appear to be 
in a flourishing condition. The following orders are represented: 
Arizona Commandery No. i. Knights Templar; Tucson Chap- 
ter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons; Tucson Lodge No. 4, Free and 
Accepted Masons; Santa Rita Lodge of Perfection, No. i, Scot- 
tish Rite, F. & A. M.; Tucson Lodge No. 3, Knights of Pythias; 
Arizona Lodge No. i. Ancient Order of United Workmen; Ari- 
zona Legion No. i. Select Knights, A. O. U. W.; Pima Lodge 
No. 3, "Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Aztec Lodge No. i, 
American Legion of Honor; Tucson Lodge No. 4, Independent 
Order of Good Templars; Arizona Lodge No. 337, I. O. B. B.; 
Division No. 28, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; Tucson 



46 THE ri:sourcp:s of Arizona. 

Typographical Union, No. 210. A public library has been es- 
tablished, and is under the control of a l^oard of Trustees selected 
by the City Council. 

The educational advantages of the city are excellent. The 
public school has been graded, and a corps of competent teachers 
are employed. A handsome and commodious high school is 
now in course of construction on Military plaza. It will be 
ready for occupanc\' b}' the first of December and will cost 
$50,000. Every branch of business is represented in Tucson. 
There are two flouring mills which furnish an excellent article 
from Arizona wheat. Two breweries, manufacture large quan- 
tities of home-made "lager," a favorite beverage with the thirsty 
Tucsonites during the summer months. While inclined to be a 
trifle hot for about three months in the year, the climate of Tuc- 
son from the first of September to the middle of May, is as near 
perfection as can be found anywhere. Although the ther- 
mometer sometimes reaches 1 10' during the heated term, yet so 
pure and dry is the atmosphere that a person feels more com- 
fortable than he would in the eastern cities with the mercury at 
80°. Sunstrokes are unknown and no injurious effects are oc- 
casioned by the heat of the summer months. 

The city is steadily advancing in wealth, population and busi- 
ness. Real estate commands a good price, while choice resi- 
dence lots bring as high as $500 — fifty feet front. The adobe, 
or sun-dried brick, is peculiarly adapted to this climate, and when 
properly finished and plastered, makes very handsome buildings. 
Brick of a good quality is made here, and there are many attract- 
ive residences of wood. A gray, porous rock of volcanic origin, 
is found near the city, and will eventually come into general use 
for the construction of public and private edifices. The new 
Catholic church will be built of this material, and when finished 
will be an ornament to the city. Large smelting works will soon 
be erected here which will purchase ores from the surrounding 
districts, and will not alone benefit the town but the mining in- 
terests of the county. 

There are many pleasant drives in the neighborhood of Tuc- 
son. The old church of San Xavier is only nine miles up the 
Santa Cruz, and is a favorite resort of tourists. Fort Lowell, at 
the base of the loft}' Santa Catalinas, is seven miles away, over 
a hard, smooth road. Opposite the city the valley of the Santa 
Cruz presents a beautiful appearance with its green fields and 
groves of cottonwoods. Four newspapers are published in the 
city. The Star and the Citizen are both dailies, and in their 
appearance and make-up will compare with any south of San 
Francisco. The Index is a weekly, devoted to the mining and 
other resources of the Territory, while El Fronterizo supplies the 
.Spanish-speaking population with the current news once a week. 
The population is about 10,000. 

Situated on the main highway between the east and thj west, 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 47 

with one transcontinental railway passing through it, and with 
branches projected, and in course of construction to the rich min- 
eral and agricultural regions north, south, and west, Tucson has 
every reason to feel secure in its brilliant future. It must always 
be the center of trade for an extensive country. Its merchants 
and property-owners are showing their faith in its future by the 
many improvements which are being made on every side. One 
of the oldest towns in the Union, it has awakened from the leth- 
argy of centuries, and entered on a new career of prosperity. 

The county of Yavapai occupies the greater part of the Col- 
orado plateau, and is the largest political division of Arizona, 
containing an area of 30,01 5 square miles, or more than one-fourth 
of «the entire Territory. Yavapai was one of the four counties 
organized at the first session of the legislature in 1864. Orig- 
inally it included the whole of Apache and portions of Maricopa 
and Gila. It is bounded on the north by Utah, on the east by 
Apache county, on the south by Maricopa and Gila counties, and 
on the west by Mohave. Its physical features may be described 
as an immense table-land elevated from 4 to 7,000 feet above the 
sea-level, and crossed in all directions by lofty mountains, 
adorned by beautiful valleys and grassy plains, and seamed and 
riven by deep caiions and rocky gorges. The San Francisco 
peak lifts its snow-clad crest toward the clouds near the eastern 
line of the county; the Bill Williams range stretch across it near 
the center; while the Sierra Prieta, the Black Hills, and the Brad- 
shaws crown its south and southeastern border. These mountains 
are well wooded, and those south of the thirty-fifth parallel are 
rich in minerals of every variety. 

The county is watered by the Verde, Little Colorado, Hassa- 
yampa, Agua Fria, Kirkland Creek, Santa Maria and many 
other small streams, while beautiful, clear springs are found in 
the mountains, valleys and glens. The climate is cool and 
bracing during the winter months, and in summer is one of the 
most delightful in the West. Of that portion of the county 
north of the Colorado, but little is known, but it is understood 
to be a continuation of the plateau, crossed by rugged moun- 
tains, riven by deep cafions and gorges, and generally destitute 
of water. 

The first permanent settlements were made in Yavapai, in 
1 863. A party of prospectors from New Mexico under the leader- 
ship of old Joe Walker, discovered gold in paying quantities on 
the Hassayampa and Lynx creek. About the same time, a band 
of treasure-hunters from California, made the wonderful discov- 
ery at Antelope peak. Soon after these discoveries the Territo- 
rial government was established at Fort W hippie, and a rush of 
adventurers came from the east and the west. 

Valuable mineral discoveries were found in nearly every' 
mountain range, ranches were taken up, quartz and saw mills 
were brought in and many flourishing camps were established. 



48 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

But here, as elsewhere, the hostile Apache stood in the path of 
progress, and persistently opposed the advance of the whites. 
Population slowly increased until 1874, when the savages were 
removed to a reservation. Since then Yavapai has made rapid 
strides in wealth, population, and material development. Many 
valuable mines have been opened, thousands of cattle and sheep 
have been driven in, and the completion of the Atlantic and 
Pacific railroad has opened to the world her vast and varied 
resources. The population according to the census of 1882, 
was 27,680. The total value of taxable property is $6,000,000; 
indebtedness, $184,000; rate of taxation, $3.25 on the $100. 

Prescott, the Territorial capital and the largest town in 
Yavapai county, is situated on Granite creek, in a beautiful gljide 
among the foot-hills of the Sierra Prieta range. The town stands 
on a sloping bench above the creek, thus giving it excellent 
drainage. It is walled in on three sides by mountain ranges. 
To the west and south the pine-clad Prieta's bound the horizon ; 
while to the north the massive Granite mountain, and its outlying 
spurs, shut in the view. To the east, rolling, grassy hills stretch 
away to the Black Mountains, while in the distance, the San 
Francisco peak, like some ghostly spectre, rears aloft its snow- 
capped head. The view is enchanting, and the situation of the 
town among the most charming to be met with in the Territory. 
It is in latitude 34'-^ 30', and in longitude 1 1 2° 30', west from 
Greenwich, and is about 5,600 feet above sea-level. 

The climate is delightful, and the cool, bracing air, laden with 
the odor of the pine woods, and the clear cold water make it a 
most desirable place of residence. In the center of the town is 
a large plaza where stands the county court-house. It is a 
handsome structure of brick and stone, two stories in height, 
with a mansard roof crowned by a handsome tower from which 
the " town clock " sends forth the hour, day and night. The 
streets are laid out with the cardinal points of the compass. The 
principal business is done around the plaza. The houses are 
principally of wood and brick, and the place has the appearance 
of a homelike eastern town. On the hills surrounding the plaza, 
many neat and comfortable homes have been built, which com- 
mand a charming view of the town and surrounding country. 
Prescott has some large and handsome mercantile houses, built 
of brick, which carry heavy stocks and do an extensive trade 
with the surrounding country. There is also a well-arranged 
theatre and a public hall, where amateur theatricals are frequently 
given. 

A public school-house, built of brick, and two stories in height, 
is one of the ornaments of the town, and would be a credit to 
any eastern city of ten times the population. There is also a 
bank, a handsome brick structure two stories high, a good hotel, 
a fine hall for the use of secret societies, two breweries, a planing 
mill, some eighteen stores, blacksmith and wagon shops, and 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 49 

numerous saloons. The Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights 
of Pythias, and other secret societies have flourishing lodges 
here. Three daily papers are published in the town, the Arizona 
Miner, the Journa/, and the Courier, all devoted and untiring in 
their efforts to give publicity to the vast resources of northern 
Arizona. The Miner is the pioneer newspaper of the Territory, 
having been started in 1864. The Methodists, Catholics, Con- 
gregationalists, Baptists and Presbyterians have handsome 
houses of worship. Prescott is fifty-two miles south of the 
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, and is the center of an extensive 
mineral, pastoral, and agricultural region. With a branch to 
the main line, which is projected and will soon be built, the 
trade of the town will be greatly increased and a fresh impetus 
given to all branches of business. 

Besides being the seat of the Territorial government, Prescott 
also enjoys the distinction of having the headquarters of the 
military department of Arizona located in its immediate vicin- 
ity. Just one mile from the court-house, Fort Whipple stands 
on the rolling hills that overlook Granite creek. The buildings 
are of wood, but tastefully and substantially constructed. Here 
are located the residences of the general commanding, and the 
different staff officers, together with the commissary, quarter- 
master and other storehouses. The town and fort are almost 
united, the buildings in the former stretching up to the line of 
the reservation. With its charming situation, superb climate, 
and the vast undeveloped resources which lie all around it, Pres- 
cott is always destined to be a place of importance. Its present 
population is about 2,000. 

Cochise county was organized in 1881, from a portion of Pima. 
It occupies the extreme southeastern corner of the Territory, 
and is bounded on the south by Sonora, on the east by New 
Mexico, on the north by Graham, and on the west by Pima 
county. Its area is 5,925 square miles, and its topography is 
made up of lofty mountains, wide valleys and grassy plains. The 
Chiricahua range crosces the eastern part of the county, while 
the Huachuca, the Whetstone, the Mule and the Dragoon ranges 
run through it on the west. The mountains are well timbered, 
while the valleys and foot-hills are covered with fine grasses. The 
San Pedro is the only running stream in Cochise. It flows 
through the county from the line of Sonora to the boundary of 
Pinal. The wonderful mineral wealth of its mountains and 
mesas have given Cochise a national reputation, while the nutri- 
tious character of its grasses have drawn within its borders 
thousands of cattle. One of the smallest, it is one of the richest 
counties in the Territory, and there are few regions tha"^ can 
show so many varied natural resources. 

Although one of the newest of Arizona's political divisions, it 
has made history at a rapid rate, and can show a record of stir- 
ring events second to none. The Dragoon range, north of 
4 



50 rill'; RKSouRCEs of arizoxa. 

Tombstone, was for years the headquarters of the famous 
Apache chief (who has given his name to the county) and his 
bloodthirsty band of Chiricahuas. From his eyrie among the 
crags of the Dragoon Peak, this copper-colored bandit eager!)' 
watched for the coming of his unsuspecting victim on the plains 
below. Every mile of the road through these rugged mountains 
has drank the blood of slaughtered men, women and children. 
No portion of the Territory has suffered so much from Indian 
deviltry, and nearl}^ every mountain pass, trail and watering- 
place, has been the scene of massacre and murder. 

After the removal of the Indians, the hardy prospector was 
not long in putting in an appearance, and the marvelous dis- 
covery of Tombstone was the result of his patient labors. The 
rush which followed brought with it a great many rough char- 
acters, and for a time their lawless acts gave Cochise an unen\i- 
able reputation. Its position on the border, has made of it a 
kind of debatable land, where the outlaws of both nations, for 
a time held high carnival. But, happily, those things are over. 
The Mexican banditti are either killed or captured, the cowboy 
rides no more, and peace blesses the border-land. 

Cochise has entered on an era of prosperity which promises 
to be lasting. Her wonderful mines are sending forth their 
treasures, her hills and valleys are being covered with cattle, 
railroads are penetrating in every direction, and immigration is 
rapidly pouring in. According to the last census, the popula- 
tion of the county was 9,640. The total valuation of taxable 
property is $4,500,000 ; total indebtedness, $200,000 ; rate of tax- 
ation, three cents on each $100. 

Tombstone, the leading town of Cochise county, and the min- 
eral metropolis of Arizona, is built on an elevated mesa where 
the northern spurs of the Mule mountains lose themselves in the 
rolling plains that st.retch towards the Dragoons, sixteen miles 
away. The city has a healthy and commanding situation, with 
excellent facilities for drainage. To the north the rocky peaks 
of the Dragoons raise their jagged heads; to the west the rolling- 
grassy plain, which stretches to the San Pedro, is bounded b}' 
the Whetstone and the dark chain of the Huachucas. Behind 
the town rises a series of rolling hills, dotted with hoisting works 
and scarred by cuts and tunnels, while to the east the rolling- 
plain is bounded by the horizon. Tombstone is in latitude 31' 
30' north, and in longitude no'' west of Greenwich. It is nine 
miles east of Contention station, on the San Pedro river, and 
about twenty-eight miles south of Benson, on the Southern Pa- 
cific railway. 

The first house was erecte-d in April, 1879, ^"^1 now there is 
here a live, active, energetic population of 6,000. A fire in June, 
188 1, reduced nearly half the city to ashes; but it had scarceK' 
been rebuilt, when, in May, 1882, a more disastrous visitation de- 
stroyed nearly all the business portion, and left the city a heap 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 5 I 

of blackened walls and smouldering ruins. But, nothing daunted 
b\' these reverses, the indomitable energy of the people asserted 
itself, and to-day not a vestige of the burnt district is to be seen. 
Since those fires the buildings erected have been nearly all of 
adobe, and, except in the suburbs, the city is mostly built of that 
material. The streets are wide, hard and smooth, and cross each 
other at right angles. The houses are nearly all of one story, 
with roomy arcades shading the sidewalks. In the evening, when 
the hardy miner is off "shift," when the streets are alive with ve- 
hicles, when the saloons and stores are brilliantly lighted, and 
when the sidewalks are thronged by the ever-moving crowd, 
Tombstone has the appearance of the liveliest city in the Terri- 
tory. 

There are some commodious business houses, and many com- 
fortable private residences. There is a large and well-arranged 
theatre, two hotels, two banks, and four churches — Methodist, 
Catholic, Episcopal and Presbyterian. The Methodist place of 
worship is a tasteful building of sun-dried brick. There is a 
public school, which is well attended, and a private academy 
which receives liberal patronage. The new county court-house 
is a handsome structure of brick, the foundation being of cut 
stone, and the corners being faced with the same material. It 
is two stories in height, with an ornamental tower, and cost $50,- 
000. The new city hall is a substantial and roomy building of 
brick and stone. In it are located the offices of the various city 
officials. 

Tombstone can boast the finest water supply in the Territory, 
and equal to any on the coast. It is brought from the 
Huachuca mountains, some twenty-one miles distant. A 
-Strong dam is built in one of the canyons, which forms a large 
reservoir. The water is conveyed from this source in iron pipes 
down the grassy hills, across the San Pedro, and over the 
rolling country to another large reservoir on the summit of a 
hill, about one hundred and fifty feet above the city. From 
this point mains are laid through all the principal streets, and 
pipes carry the supply to every house. Fire-plugs are at every 
corner ; a well-appointed and efficient department is always 
ready, and no fire can ever again do much damage in Tomb- 
stone. The source of supply is about three hundred and fifty 
feet above the city, and the force of the water is such, that a 
.stream through on ordinary nozzle will bore a hole through a 
two foot adobe wall in five minutes. The water is clear, pure 
and cold. 

The Masons, Odd P'ellows, Knights of Pythias, Red Men, 
Grand Army of the Republic, Good Templars, and other 
secret and benevolent orders have flourishing lodges here. 
Two daily newspapers are published, the EpitapJi and the 
Republican. They are both ably conducted, and have done 
much to advertise the grand resources of Cochise county. 



52 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Tombstone is the center of an immense area of rich mineral 
territory. It has a large and steadily-growing trade with 
Sonora, and the building of the line from Deming to Fairbanks 
will place it on the highway between the California Gulf and 
the Atlantic Ocean. It is a typical mining camp, active, ener- 
getic and exciting. Its growth has been remarkable, and its 
bullion yield has astonished the world. Its situation is admir- 
able, and with through rail connection with Sonora it should 
become a large supply point for that region. That it will 
continue for many years to yield those treasures which underlie 
it, there is hardly a doubt ; and the shrill shriek of the whistle, 
and the dull concussion from the blasts in the tunnels and 
stopes beneath its streets, will continue to astonish and bewilder 
the "tender-foot" visitor for many a year to come. 

Benson is situated about half a mile from the San Pedro and 
at the junction of the Arizona and New Mexican railway with 
the Southern Facific. It is a railroad town, built along the 
south side of the track of the Southern Pacific for over a 
quarter of a mile, and containing several stores, saloons, 
restaurants, and other business houses. Before the building of 
the Sonora branch it was the shipping point for Tombstone, and 
done a large business with that lively camp. Here are located 
the works of the "Benson Smelting and Refining Co," 
who have erected large and substantial buildings and are doing 
a prosperous business. The company have two water-jacket 
furnaces with a daily capacity of seventy-five tons, and are pre- 
pared to work all varieties of gold, silver, copper, and lead ores. 
The works are connected by side tracks with both railroads, and 
bring ores from different points in the Territory, as well as from 
Sonora and New Mexico. Fine fire-clay is found only six miles 
from the works, and coke is shipped from Wales, and Trinidad, 
Colorado. Heretofore the bullion produced has been shipped 
with its base surroundings, but refining works are now in course 
of erection, and the product will be separated on the ground. 
About sixty men are employed and the yield since the first of 
the present year has been over 1.500 tons. The population of 
Benson is about 600. A weekly newspaper called the Herald 
has lately been started here, and is doing effective work to ad- 
vance the interests of the town. 

Bisbee is situated in a narrow gorge of the Mule mountains, 
and is a live, bustling mining camp, with a steady growth. The 
town is made up of one narrow street, above which the moun- 
tains on the south side tower to the height of over 1,000 feet, 
covered to their summits with a heavy growth of black and 
white oak, cedar and juniper. Bisbee has three stores, several 
restaurants, saloons, and the usual appendages of a live mining 
camp. The reduction works of the Copper Queen company are 
situated here, and rich deposits of silver and copper surround the 
town in every direction. The Queen Company have opened a 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 53 

fine road over the mountains to Tombstone, thirty miles distant, 
and also to Fairbanks, on the Arizona and New Mexico rail- 
way, over which they ship their bullion and receive their sup- 
plies. Bisbee is destined to become an important and populous 
camp. The mines that surround it are large and rich, it has 
every facility for ore reduction, and is blessed with a charming 
situation and a delightful climate. Present population about 
500. 

Charleston, another busy town of Cochise, is situated on the 
San Pedro river, about nine miles west of Tombstone. The re- 
duction works of the Tombstone Milling and Mining company 
are situated here, The town has a pleasant location in the river 
bottom, and has four stores, a hotel, restaurants, saloons, etc. 
It lies on the main highway to Sonora, and does a thriving trade 
with that State. The houses are mostly one-story adobes, and 
the weather during the summer months is a trifle sultry. The 
population is put at 400. 

Maricopa county embraces the extensive valleys of the Salt 
and Gila rivers, and occupies nearly a central situation in the 
Territory. The western portion of the county is made up of 
wide plains, crossed by detached mountains, and covered by 
coarse grasses, with grease wood and /■a/o verde growing in many 
places. The northern and eastern divisions are crossed by rugged 
mountains, and intersected by spurs from the Mazatzal, the 
Verde, and the Bradshaw ranges. The central portion is com- 
posed of rich and fertile valleys, bordering the Salt and the Gila. 
Maricopa is bounded on the north by Yavapai, on the east by 
Gila and Pinal, on the south by Pinal and Pima, and on the 
west by Yuma. It embraces an area of 9,354 square miles, and 
had a population in 1882, of 6,408. 

The history of Maricopa county dates from 1868, when the 
first settlements were made in the Salt river valley, at that time 
a barren and uninviting waste. Since then its annals have been 
quiet and uneventful. Slowly but surely it has advanced on 
the road of prosperity, and its growth has demonstrated to 
the world the grand agricultural possibilities of Arizona. 

For years its early pioneers battled bravely against obstacles 
which would have discouraged less determined men. But they 
held on and the fruits of their toils and privations is seen to-day 
in the beautiful valley, which will ever remain a monument to 
their enterprise and foresight. Besides its grand agricultural 
resources, Maricopa contains rich mineral deposits of gold, silver 
and copper, many of which are being worked successfully. The 
county is one of the most prosperous in the Territory. Popula- 
tion is steadily growing, and property values increasing. Most 
of the settlers who are finding their way to this region, come 
with the intention of making permanent homes. There is none 
of the feverish fluctuations seen in a mining camp. While, per- 
haps, business is not so active, it is more steady and lasting. 



54 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

There is no county in the Territory with a brighter future. 
Its prosperity rests on that solid foundation, which, in all ages, 
has been the corner-stone of wealth and power — land. The 
total valuation of taxable property in the county, is v$2,000,ooo; 
total indebtedness, $50,000; rate of taxation, three dollars on 
each one hundred dollars of valuation. 

Phcenix, the county seat of Maricopa county, is situated near 
the center of the great Salt River Valley, about two miles north 
of the stream and twenty-eight miles north of Maricopa station, 
on the Southern Pacific railroad. Approaching the place over 
the dry and dreary wastes of level plain which surrouncl the tow n 
beyond the line of vegetation, the eye is relieved by the masses 
of green, and the refreshing shade in which it sits embowered. 
So dense is the foliage that the houses are almost hidden frorti 
view, and the traveler does not realize that he is in the heart, of 
the town until the coach pulls up before the hotel. The streets 
are broad and level, shaded on either side by rows of Cottonwood 
and willow, and cooled by streams which give life and verdure 
to trees and shrubbery. The houses are built of adobe, brick 
and wood. The former material predominates, and is best 
adapted to this climate. The traffic of the town is principally 
confined to one main street, which shows many large and hand- 
some business houses. Several of these are of brick, two stories 
in height, and present a solid and attractive appearance. The 
Catholics -and the Methodists have erected churches, and the 
Baptists are also represented by a neat place of worship. 

The public school-house is one of the finest in the Territory. 
It is of brick, two stories in height, surrounded by beautiful play- 
grounds, shaded by a dense cottonwood grove. The new comity 
court-house, now in course of erection, will be one of the hand- 
somest buildings in the Territory. It will be of brick, with a 
stone foundation, and is modeled after the Cochise county court- 
house. Two plazas have been laid out in the town, and present 
a charming appearance, with their rows of cooling cottonwoods 
and shady walks. In one of these plazas the new building will 
stand. 

The secret societies are well represented in Phuenix. The, 
Odd Fellows, Masons, Red Men, United Order of Workingmen, 
Knights of Pythias and Good Templars have flourishing organ- 
izations here. Two newspapers, the GaseUc and the He7-ald, are 
published daily and weekly. They are well-conducted, newsy 
journals, and able exponents of the grand resources of the Salt 
River Valley. There is a flouring-mill, with a capacity of 
125 barrels in twenty-four hours. It produces an excellent qual- 
ity of flour from Arizona wheat, and turned out in 1882 2,200,- 
000 pounds. The present year its product is expected to reach 
4,000,000 pounds. 

The town does a large trade with the surrounding valley, and 
has also a steadily increasing business with the adjacent mining 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 55 

camps, north, east and west, and for which it is the natural sup- 
ply point. Many handsome structures are being erected, and 
many permanent improvements made. Real estate within the 
city limits is rapidly advancing in price, and desirable lots on 
the business streets command fancy prices. . Within the past 
year the town has taken a fresh start, and is growing rapidly. 
Confidence in its brilliant future is being strengthened daily by 
the investment of capital and the improvements going on in 
every direction. 

Phoenix contains the most beautiful homes of any city or 
town in the Territory; surrounded by shady groves, ornamented 
with choice shrubbery and inviting grassy lawns, and em- 
bowered in a wealth of clinging vines, evergreens, and rose- 
bushes. From shady arbor and porch hang bunches of luscious 
grapes, while the orchard trees are bending beneath their 
loads of peach, pear, apple, pomegranate, fig, plum and fifty 
other varieties. The ripple of laughing waters is heard on all 
sides, and the air is heavy with the perfume from flower, and 
tree, and shrub. The stranger, who had imagined Arizona a 
desert waste, while strolling by the pleasant homes of Phoenix 
with the beams of a .summer moon glinting with its silver sheen 
the murmuring acequias, and casting a mellow radiance over 
grove and garden and orchard, will swear that no more charm- 
ing scene of quiet beauty has rarely met his eye in older and 
more populous lands. 

The population of Phoenix is put at 2,000, but it is rapidly 
increasing, and it is yet destined to be second to no town in 
Arizona. Situated near the center of the Territory, and in the 
midst of its finest body of farming land ; with rich mines in 
the mountain ranges which surround it, its situation as a trade 
center is unsurpassed by any city within its borders. A branch 
railroad to the Southel-n Pacific will soon open a larger and 
more remunerative market for its products, and give a fresh 
impetus to its advancement. Rich in abundance of water; rich 
in a soil of wonderful fertility; rich in a superb climate; rich in 
fine farms, beautiful gardens, happy homes, and all the elements 
of permanent prosperity. Phoenix may well rest secure in its 
brilliant future. 

Tempe, situated about nine miles up the river from Phoenix, 
is a beautiful village, which is fast assuming the proportions of 
a good-sized town. It contains several stores, a lumber yard, 
blacksmith's shop, and saloons. A large flouring mill, driven 
by water power, is located here, and the village has grown 
up around it. This mill manufactured during the year 1882, 
2,750,000 pounds of flour, 50,000 pounds of cracked wheat, 
50,000 pounds of corn meal, and 1,000,000 pounds of cracked 
barley. The village is built at the foot of a rocky bluff which 
overlooks the river. The streets arc shaded with trees and 
cooled by running water, and the valley, in its cliarming beauty, 



$6 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

has not been inaptly named after that lovely Grecian vale, 
famous in song and story. 

Yuma county comprises the southwestern portion of the 
Territory, and is bounded on the west by the Colorado river, on 
the north by Mohave county, on the east by Maricopa and 
Pima, and on the south by Sonora. It is one of the four 
counties into which the first legislature divided the Territory. 
Its area is 10,138 square miles, and its population in 1882, 3,922. 

That portion of the county lying along the Colorado is traversed 
from north to south by parallel ranges of rugged mountains, al- 
most devoid of vegetation but rich in gold, silver and copper. 
The eastern part is a high table-land, covered with a fine growth 
of grass and crossed in every direction by detached spurs, rocky 
and barren, and destitute of wood and water. The Gila river 
flows through the county for nearly 100 miles, forming, in its 
course, a rich and fertile valley. The Colorado washes its west- 
ern boundary, and has large bodies of arable lands, which will 
be described in another place. Yuma county has rich mines 
and large tracts of agricultural land. Besides the railroad, it has 
the advantages of a navigable stream, which must ultimately 
develope and bring into prominence its great natural resources. 
The total valuation of the county is $805,000; total indebtedness, 
$80,000 

Yuma, the county seat, is situated on the Colorado, just below 
the junction of the Gila. The old town, and the fort on the other 
side of the river, from which it takes its name, have had rather a 
stirring history. In i/yi.the Spanish fathers established a mis- 
sion here which was destroyed by the Indians a few years later. 
The first permanent settlement on the site where Yuma now 
stands, was made by a Dr. Lincoln and others, in 1849. They 
established a ferry to accommodate the thousands who flocked 
to the gold regions of California, over the southern route. The 
Indians w^ho at first professed peace, soon rose against the stran- 
gers and only three of the whites escaped with their lives. In 
1850 the ferry was again started by Don Diego Jaeger, who still 
resides on a ranch near the town and is as full of life and energy 
as he was a quarter of a century ago. Jaeger's party was attacked 
by the Indians in 1851, compelled to retreat to California, and 
the enterprise was again abandoned. 

In 1852, Colonels Heintzelman and Stoneman, both of whom 
afterwards rose to high distinction in the civil war — the last- 
named being now Governor of California — marched across the 
Colorado desert with a detachment of troops and established 
Fort Yuma. The ferry was again started and maintained until 
the Southern Pacific railroad threw a bridge over the Colorado, 
and forever put an end to its usefulness, In 1864, Yuma was 
made the distributing point for all the military posts in the Ter- 
ritory, and advanced rapidly in population and business. It was 
also the shipping point for Tucson and all the camps and settle- 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 57 

ments in Southern Arizona. It was then a live, bustling frontier 
town, where business was prosperous, gambling and drinking 
the most popular avocations, and where "a man for breakfast," 
was looked upon as a very ordinary incident. 

The opening of the railroad destroyed Yuma's forwarding 
business, but it has yet quite a brisk trade with the surrounding 
country. It has several stores with large stocks of goods, a hotel, 
(built by the railroad company), a large wagon manufactory 
which turns out vehicles especially adapted to this dry climate, 
saloons, restaurants, etc. The Sisters of Charity maintain a school 
here which is largely attended ; there is also a public school 
open all the year. On a rocky bluff between the town and the 
river, stands the Territorial prison. It is a secure and roomy 
structure built of stone quarried from the bluff, and dressed and 
laid by prison labor. The present number in confinement is 
about lOO. The railroad company have repair shops at Yuma 
and give employment to a large number of men. The Arizona 
Sentinel, a weekly newspaper, is published here and is unceasing 
in its efforts to bring to notice the many resources and advan- 
tages of Yuma county. The population of the town is about 
i,ooo. 

Many a threadbare joke has been perpetrated at the expense 
of Yuma's climate, and strangers approach it with fear and 
trembling in the summer season. But even then no injurious 
effects are experienced. The air is wonderfully pure, dry and 
elastic, and has none of the depressing effects seen in moist, hu- 
mid atmospheres. In winter, the climate is perfection itself, 
and no place on the Pacific is more favorable to the cure of pul- 
monary diseases than Yuma. Its qualities, in this respect, only 
require to be known to make it one of the most popular sanita- 
riums in the United States. The population is about i,ooo. 

The old fort, over which, for nearly a quarter of a century, 
floated the national emblem, has lately been abandoned, and the 
ancient landmark, in a {q\w years, will succumb to neglect and 
inevitable decay. Around it cluster many interesting associa- 
tions, but the advent of the iron-rail put a period to its useful- 
ness, and the march of civilization has flanked this old frontier 
fortress of the southwest. 

Pinal is one of the central tier of counties which embrace the 
largest portion of the agricultural lands in the Territory. It is 
bounded on the south by Pima, on the west by Maricopa, on the 
north by Maricopa and Gila, and on the east by Graham. 
South of the Gila, it is a country of open, grassy plains, dotted 
with clumps of barren mountains. To the north and east the 
Pinal, the Tortilla, the Mescal, and the Superstition, impign on 
the rolling plains and valleys. The Gila flows through the 
county from east to west, and its southeastern end is watered by 
the San Pedro. Its total area is 5,210 square miles, and its 
population 3,362. Although one of the smallest of the counties, 



58 'l'][K RESOURCES OE ARIZONA. 

Pinal is one of the richest in the Territory. It possesses lar^e 
and rich tracts of ai^ricultural land, excellent grazing grounds, 
and some of the most valuable mines yet discovered in Arizona. 
Besides its ledges of gold, silver and copper, large deposits of 
coal have been found within its borders, which will, no doubt, 
yet prove valuable. 

The county is in a prosperous condition, and is stead ih' grow- 
ing in wealth and population. Its total tax valuation is $2,000,- 
000; its total indebtedness only $11,000; and its rate of taxa- 
tion $2.50 on each $100 of taxable property. Pinal county was 
organized in T871, from a portion of Pima. Its growth was 
slow, and retarded by Indian depredations until the discovery of 
the wonderful Silver King demonstrated its great mineral wealth. 
Since then the county has advanced steadily, and, to-day, offers 
inducements to the immigrant not surpassed by any county in 
Arizona. 

Florence, the principal town of Pinal, stands in the valle\' of 
the Gila and about half a mile from the stream. It is twenty- 
five miles northeast of Casa Grande station, on the Southern 
Pacific Railroad, and eighty miles north of Tucson. Like 
Phrenix, it sits embowered in groves of cottonwoods, and streams 
of clear water run through every street. The valley surrounding 
the tcn\n is under a high state of cultivation, and fields of 
waving grain and alfalfa, and orchards loaded down with deli- 
cious fruit, meet the eye in every direction. The place has a 
delightful situation, and with its pleasant homes surrounded by 
trees and shrubbery, its pure water and healthy climate, it is 
one of the most attractive spots in the Territory. The buildings 
are principally of adobe and generally one story high. There 
are several large stores with stocks of general merchandise, two 
hotels, two public schools, a flouring mill, brewery, restaurants, 
saloon.s, blacksm.ith shops and all the other accessories of a 
frontier town. 

The Catholics have a handsome church, built of adobe. The 
county court-house is also of the same material, and is a plain 
but commodious building, The town was laid out in 1868, and 
has a brisk trade with the surrounding valley and the different 
mining camps. It has a population of nearly 1,200, ^)\& Terri- 
torial Enterprise is published here. It is one of the brightest 
papers in the Territory, and has done good service in bringing to 
notice the resources of its town and county. Florence is about 
500 feet above sea-level, with a climate during the summer 
months that will rival that of its famous namesake on the Arno. 
With its commanding situation and great natural advantages it 
is destined to grow and prosper. There is room for ten times 
the number of people in the valley which surrounds it, and as the 
rich land now lying idle is brought under cultivation Florence 
will become one of the leading towns of the Territory. 

Pinal is next in imi:)ortancc to 1^'lorencc. It is situated on 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 59 

Queen creek, about thirty-five miles northeast of the latter town. 
Towering above the town on the west is the lofty Tordilla peak, 
an immense mass of basaltic rock. A picket post was maintained 
at this point for several years as a protection to the farmers of 
the Gila valley against the raids of the Pinal Apaches. The 
town is built of wood and stone, and presents a solid and at- 
tractive appearance. There are several stores with stocks of 
general merchandise, two hotels, one bank, built of stone, with 
restaurants, saloons, etc, There is a handsome Methodist church, 
and a public school, which is well attended. The Odd Fellows 
and Masons have flourishing" organizations here. The Pinal 
Drill is published here once a week. It devotes special attention 
to the mining interests of the country, and has done much to 
make them known abroad. 

The mill and reduction works of the Silver King Mining Co. 
are situated at this point, and the many mines which surround 
the town in all directions bring a prosperous trade. Population 
about 600, Silver King is the only other town of importance in 
Pinal county. It is built up around the famous mine from which 
it takes its name. It is a prosperous camp, with a population of 
about 400. It is five miles from Pinal, and has three stores, two 
hotels, and many saloons. 

The county of Gila was formed from portions of Pima and 
Pinal by the legi.slature of 1881. It is the smallest county in the 
Territory — its area being only 3,400 square miles. It is bounded 
on the north by Yavapai, on the east by Graham and Apache, 
on the south by Pinal, and on the west by Pinal and Maricopa. 
It is a compact mineral county, crossed in all directions by de- 
tached mountain spurs, while its rolling uplands are covered by 
a fine growth of grass. The Pinal range, which crosses the 
county south and west, is heavily timbered, while the Sierra 
Ancha and the Mazatzal ranges, on the north, have a heavy 
growth of pine, oak, and juniper. The Salt river flows through 
the northern portion of the county, while the Gila washes its 
southern border. Every mountain and peak is rich in minerals, 
and fine stock ranges are found in every direction, but the largest 
and best portion of its farming lands are found within the San 
Carlos reservation. The population of the county, by the census 
of 1882, was 1,582. Its tax valuation is $1,000,000; indebted- 
ness, $15,000; rate of taxation, $2.90 on each $100 of valuation. 

The first permanent settlement in Gila county dates from the 
mineral discoveries in the Globe district, in the year 1 876. These 
were among the richest ever made in the west, and created a 
sensation in mining circles all over the coast. Population in- 
creased at a rapid rate, and five years later the people demanded 
a separate county organization. The distance to a railroad 
has been a serious drawback to the development of Gila's re- 
sources, but that obstacle will soon be overcome, and the county 
placed in direct communication with the outer world. It has 



60 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

great natural gifts in the way of mineral, timber and grass, and 
will eventually become one of the most populous and prosperous 
counties in the Territory. 

Globe, the county seat of Gila, is a beautiful town, situated on 
Pinal creek, among the rolling, grassy foot-hills of the Pinal 
mountains. It is 120 miles northwest from the railroad station 
at Wilcox, and about ninety miles northeast of Florence. The 
town stretches along the narrow valley of the creek, while many 
private residences occupy charming situations on the smooth, 
grassy hills which rise on either side. The houses are built of 
wood, neatly painted, and present a very attractive appearance. 
The climate is delightful all the year, the water is pure, clear and 
cold, and Globe is one of the healthiest places in Arizona. 
There are twelve mercantile houses, two hotels, restaurants, 
saloons, lumber and feed yards, a brewery, blacksmith and wagon 
shops, and the other business establishments usually found in a 
mining camp. There is one bank, a public school, and a hand- 
some Methodist church, built of wood, and a Baptist meeting 
house in course of construction. The town sprang into existence 
after the rich mineral discoveries in the vicinity, in 1876. It is 
the supply point for nearly the entire county, and its business 
men do a large and prosperous trade. The population is about 
1,000. Globe has two weekly newspapers, the Silvei' Belt, and 
the Chronicle. Both are generously supported, and have done 
valuable work in calling attention to the varied resources of Gila 
county. With the building of the Mineral Belt railroad. Globe 
promises to become one of the most prosperous mining towns 
in the Territory. The Masons, Odd Fellows, and United Work- 
ingmen have prosperous lodges here. 

Graham county was organized in 1881, from portions of Pima 
and Apache. It embraces the rich agricultural lands of the 
upper Gila, and the extensive copper deposits of the San Fran- 
cisco and its tributaries. The county has an area of 6,485 
square miles, and a population of 4,229. It is bounded on the 
east by New Mexico; on the south by Cochise; on the west by 
Pinal and Gila ; and on the north by Apache. The Galiuro, 
the Graham, and the Peloncillo mountains extend through the 
county south of the Gila, while the Sierra de Petahaya and the 
Sierra Natanes cross its surface north of that stream. The 
mountains are generally well wooded, and the roiling plains and 
valleys arc covered with rich grasses, which support large herds 
of stock. The Gila river flows through the county from east to 
west, forming the Pueblo Viejo, one of the finest agricultural 
valleys in the Territory. 

Graham has the three great elements which build up prosper- 
ous communities — mining, farming and grazing. It has an 
abundant water supply, rich soil, fine grasses and extensive 
mineral deposits. It has, besides, a perfect climate whose equa- 
ble temperature brings health and strength every month 



COUNTIES AND CHIEF TOWNS. 6l 

throughout the year. The county is in a prosperous condition. 
The total valuation of its taxable property is $800,000; total 
indebtedness, $15,000; rate of taxation, $2.75 on the $100. The 
population is rapidly increasing, and many families are seeking 
homes in the beautiful Pueblo Viejo, while large droves of cattle 
are being driven in from Texas and Colorado. Its vast mineral 
wealth has caused the investment of a large amount of capital, 
and, although one of the youngest, few counties in the Territory 
are making more rapid advancement. 

Solomonville, the county seat of Graham, is situated near the 
center of the valley, and is surrounded by a rich, agricultural 
country. The location is a delightful one, with the valley 
spreading like a sea of verdure to the east, west and north, with 
the pine-clad Graham mountain uplifting its dark and precipi- 
tous front to the south and west, and with the circling hills of 
the Gila and Ash Peak ranges shutting in the view to the north 
and east. A county court-house is now in course of construc- 
tion, and several business houses and private residences are also 
under way. There is a large general mercantile establishment, 
a hotel, blacksmith shop, saloons, etc. Surrounded by a rich, 
agricultural and grazing region, Solomonville will yet become 
one of the most beautiful and prosperous towns in the Territory. 
Present population, about 300. 

Saffbrd, the former county seat, is six miles down the valley 
from Solomonville. It is a pretty little village, surrounded by 
cultivated fields and orchards, and containing two stores, a 
hotel, flouring mill, and several neat private residences. 

Clifton, the largest town in the county, is built in a narrow 
canon on both sides of the San Francisco river, with towering 
cliffs of trachyte and conglomerate rock rising precipitously on 
either hand. The town has all the peculiar features of a new 
mining camp. The houses are built of adobe and wood, and 
are scattered along the river at the foot of the cliffs for over 
a half mile. Many of the inhabitants live in tents and canvas- 
covered shanties. The population is about 800, and rapidly in- 
creasing. There are half a dozen mercantile establishments, two 
hotels, saloons in plenty, restaurants, and all the other belong- 
ings of a young, prosperous and active minin-^ town. The 
place is growing rapidly, and owing to the narrow limits of the 
building ground between the river and the rocky walls on either 
side, lots command a good price. The reduction works of the 
Arizona Copper Company are situated here, and employ a large 
number of men. The narrow-gauge railroad from Lordsburg 
has its terminus here. Despite its unfavorable situation, Clifton 
will grow and prosper, and for years to come be one of the 
liveliest towns in Arizona. The Clifton Clarion is published 
here every week. It is a newsy journal and an able exponent 
of the vast resources of the district. 

Mohave county occupies the northwestern corner of the Ter- 



62 T1[K KKSOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

ritor)-, and is one of the four orii^inal political divisions into 
which Arizona was divided. It is bounded. on the west by the 
Colorado river, on the north Utah and Nevada, on the east by 
\'avapai, and on the south by Yuma. Its area is 12,000 square 
miles, and its population 1,910. Mohave is a land of rus^ged 
mountain rang^es, and broad valleys covered with nutritious 
grasses. Four well-defined ridges, the Sacramento, the Cerbat, 
the Hualapai and the Cottonwood, traverse the county from 
north to south. The Hualapai and the Cottonwood have a fine 
growth of timber, while all of them are mineral-bearing. 

Mohave county was organized in 1864, ^^d has been the 
scene of active mining operations ever since. For years its only 
means of communication with the outer world was by the long, 
tedious, and uncertain route of the Colorado river, and as a 
consequence the development of its resources was slow. The 
building of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad has changed all 
this, and cheap freights and rapid communication will bring 
capital and population to Mohave. 

Mineral Park, the county seat, is situated on an elevated bench 
on the western slope of the Cerbat range. It stands in an am- 
phitheatre of rugged mountains, with the rocky cone of Sherum's 
Peak towering over all. It is 30 miles east of the Colorado and 
1 30 miles northeast of Prescott. The houses are mostly of adobe. 
There are four stores, a hotel, restaurant, five saloons, black- 
smith shops, etc. There is a commodious public school-house, 
which is well eittended. The town is the supply point for numer- 
ous mining camps and cattle ranges. Its present population is 
about 400, which is being rapidly increased since the building of 
the railroad. The station nearest the town is Kingman, situated 
about 10 miles distant, in the Hualapai vallc}'. 

The last, but by no means the least important, of the ten 
counties of the Territory, is Apache, it was formed in 1879 from 
the eastern portion of Yavapai, and is the second largest county 
in the Territory, having an area of 20,940 square miles and a 
population of 6,816. It is bounded on the north b}' Colorado, 
on the east by New Mexico, on the south by Graham and Gila 
counties, and on the west by Yavapai. The county embraces the 
eastern portion of the great Colorado plateau, and its elevation 
above sea level is from fo 'r to seven thousand feet; some of its 
lofty peaks attain a height of over 11,000 feet. It is a well 
watered and timbered region, and iis elevated table lands and 
valleys bear a fine growth of grass. North of the Little Colorado 
the country is made up of elevated mesas, isolated mountains 
and canons worn deep into the earth by the floods of centuries. 
In the northern part of the county is that remarkable plateau 
known as the Alesa la Vaca, a smooth table-land raised nearl)' 
a thousand feet above the surrounding" country. It is covered 
by a growth of fine gras.s, and by clumps of stunted pines and 
cedars. Here is the great coal region of Arizona, which extends 



COUNTIES AND CHIJ^K TOWNS. 6^ 

across the county and contains fuel enough to supply the United 
States for ages to come. 

South of the thirty-fifth parallel, Apache county is one of the 
most attractive portions of the Territory. The snowfall in the 
winter months is quite heavy, and gives rise to many beautiful, 
clear streams which flow out from the Mogollon and Sierra 
Blanca into the adjoining valleys. This region is one of the 
most delightful summer resorts in Arizona. Large and beauti- 
ful trout are found in nearly all the streams, and the mountains 
are full of bear, deer and wild turkey. With a camp by the 
side of a clear, bubbling spring in some grassy glade, shaded by 
towering pines, one can pass the summer months here as 
pleasantly as in any part of the great west. Since the comple- 
tion of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad, the isolation which 
Avas so great a bar to the material advancement of the county 
has been removed, and population is rapidly pouring in. Many 
Mormon colonies from the neighboring territory of Utah have 
settled in Apache county, and reclaimed large tracts of rich 
lands along the water-courses. With its vast deposits of coal, 
valuable forests of pine, extensive stock ranges and rich farm- 
ing lands, Apache has all the natural advaatages to build up a 
rich and populous community. The taxable [)roperty of the 
county is $1,663,731. Rate of taxation 2^/4 per cent. 

St. John, the principal town of the county, is on the Little 
Colorado, and about sixty miles south of Holbrook, on the 
Atlantic and Pacific railroad. The town has a population of 
over a thousand souls, and is growing steadily. It is the center 
of trade for a large agricultural and grazing region. There are 
five mercantile houses that do a heavy trade in grain, wool and. 
hides. There is a handsome court-house, a public school, and a 
commodious Catholic church. A weekly paper, called the 
Orion Era, is published here, and sets forth the advantages of 
its town and county in an able manner. St. Johns has an 
admirable situation, and is destined to become a place of im- 
portance. The town is built principally of adobe, but there are 
many handsome residences of wood. 

P>om this short sketch of the different counties which com- 
pose the Territory, it will be seen that its total population is 
<S2,976. According to the census of 1880, the number was 
41,580. These figures show that the population has almost 
doubled within the last two years, a more remarkable increase 
than can be shown by any state or territory in the Union. 
With the opening of the numerous branch railroads now being- 
built and projected, there is every reason to expect a like in- 
crease during the next two years, thus giving Arizona the 
requisite population to entitle her to the honors of statehood. 
And when she takes a seat among her sisters, there will not 
be in that bright galaxy a fairer face crowned by a richer or 
rarer diadem. 




MINES AND MINING. 

First Attempt at Mining in the Territory — The Planchas de Plata — First Mining by 

Americans — The Difficulties under which it was Prosecuted — The Gold 

Discoveries in Northern Arizona — Variety of Minerals — Process 

of Reduction — Yield of Silver and Copper — Opening 

for Capital — The Mines of Tombstone and 

their Yield — Mines of Pinal, Yavapai, 

Gila, Pima, Graham, etc., etc. 

RIZONA has been well-named a land of sunshine and sil- 
ver. History and tradition have long made famous 
its marvelous mineral wealth, and the glamour of ro- 
mance has hung about it ever since Cabeza de Vaca told his 
wondrous tale of the "Seven Cities," and Padre Niza embellished 
it with all the coloring which his zealous missionary ardor 
could inspire. The very name of "Arizona" is synonymous 
with vast treasures of glittering gold and virgin silver, hidden 
away in the dark recesses of rugged mountains, guarded by the 
fiercest of aborigines. The daring Spaniards, who braved the 
perils of hunger and thirst, and the dangers of death at the 
hands of its unconquered savages, had their imaginations fired 
by the tales and traditions of the Pimas, and the mystic region 
to the north of Mexico was to them a land "fraught with the 
rarest charms of romance." Its massive mountains, its jagged 
and fantastically shaped peaks, its vast and solitary stretches 
of plain and mesa, and over all, the rich, glowing atmosphere, 
that lent such an inexpressible charm, was to them a country 
where anything was possible. A country whose wonderful 
streams, like those 

"Where Alph, the sacred river, ran 
Through caverns measureless to man 
Down to a sunless sea," 

had their banks "three leagues in the air;" whose glowing skies 
eclipsed in brilliancy their own Castile, and whose every breeze 
wafted across mountain and desert, whispered golden tales of in- 
exhaustlcss wealth. 

No wonder Coronado and the daring band who followed him 
were ready to risk life and limb in the eager quest, and undergo 



MINES AND MINING. 65 

any hardship, however great, to gain the prize in view. They 
did not find the golden treasures they expected in the Moquis 
towns, but the hidden wealth which they passed over in their 
journey thither was greater than that which Pizarro wrung from 
his Peruvian captive, or that Cortez found in the halls of the 
Montezumas. But the men who made the expedition to Cibola 
were not of the kind who dig and delve for gold and silver. If 
there was a chance to win it by the aid of their good swords 
and strong arms, they were ever ready to undertake the job; 
but when it could only be had by laborious toil they preferred 
that some one else should do the work. So the first white men 
who penetrated Arizona did nothing to demonstrate its great 
treasure of precious metals, and it was not until more than a 
century had elapsed that the first effort was made to develop the 
hidden wealth of this region. 

The Jesuit fathers were the pioneer miners of Arizona, and 
the first Europeans to attempt the extraction and reduction of 
its rich silver ores. When or where this first mining was done 
we have no means of knowing; but it could not be long after the 
establishment of the missions at San Xavier and Tumacacori. 
That it was prosecuted on an extensive scale, there is reason to 
believe from the old shafts and tunnels which are found in the 
mountains surrounding these old Missions, and from the piles of 
slag which are yet seen in the vicinity of the ruins. 

The success of the Mission fathers induced others to engage in 
the business. Many rich discoveries were made, and a great deal 
of bullion was transported from Pimiria Alta. The unearthing 
of vast masses of virgin silver in the Arizuma mountains, near 
the line of Sonora, made a tremendous excitement in Old and 
New Spain, and carried the fame of Arizona as a silver-produc- 
ing region to the remotest corners of the civilized globe. Such 
masses of the pure metal were never found before. One "nugget" 
weighed 2,700 pounds, the largest piece of native silver ever 
unearthed. This magnificent lump was confiscated by Philip V., 
on the ground that it was a curiosity, and therefore rightfully be- 
longed to his Majesty. Many other specimens of the native 
metal weighing from 200 to 400 pounds were also found, and the 
stories of the marvelous wealth of the region to the north, were 
at length being verified by tangible proofs. 

Under the vice-regal rule mining was prosecuted vigorously 
in Sonora and Arizona, a vast amount of treasure was taken out, 
and a great deal of work done. The system of mining was crude 
and imperfect, and the appliances for ore reduction of the most 
primitive kind. Water and ore was packed out of the mines on 
the backs of peons, and nothing but ores entirely free from base 
metals could be worked successfully. But so rich was the grade 
that under such disadvantages they were made to yield hand- 
somely. The war for Mexican independence put a stop to nearly 
all mining enterprises in Sonora and Arizona, and in the latter 
S 



66 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

region it never reached that degree of prosperity under Mexican 
rule which it had attained under the government of Spain. 

When that portion of the Territory south of the Gila passed 
into the possession of the United States, there was not a single 
mine worked within the limits of the Gadsden Purchase, or in all 
of Arizona. Want of protection from Apache depredations had 
caused the abandonment of every mining enterprise, and the 
old shafts and tunnels, and the blackened walls of haciendas and 
furnaces, were all there was left of once prosperous mining es- 
tablishments. The first mining done by Americans in the newly- 
acquired territory was in the S'^.nta Rita mountains. Hon. 
Charles D. Poston, who was afterward elected the first Delegate 
to Congress, organized the Sonora Mining and Exploring Com- 
pany and the Arizona Mining Company, some time in 1855. 
These companies secured possession of many of the old mines 
which had been opened in early times by the Mission Fathers, 
and re-commenced work upon them, aided by all the improved 
machinery and appliances then in vogue. Many difficulties had 
to be overcome, and many dangers to be met. The country was 
overrun by the murderous Apaches; machinery, tools and sup- 
plies of every kind had to be freighted overland for hundreds of 
miles, skilled labor was scarce, and the country was virtually 
isolated from civilization. 

But against all these obstacles, operations were pushed vigor- 
ously forward. Roads were opened, buildings erected, hoisting 
works put in place, mills and furnaces were constructed, and the 
sights and sounds of a prosperous mining industry were again 
seen and heard in Southern Arizona. Tubac, the headquarters 
of the company's operations, became the most prosperous town 
in the Territory, and could boast a mixed population of between 
400 and 500, with handsome residences, store-rooms, gardens, 
orchards, and many of the luxuries of civilized life. At Santa 
Rita, Sopori and Arivaca the reduction works were constantly 
at work, and a great deal of bullion was taken out. The ores 
were exceedingly rich and easily reduced, and, notwithstanding 
the constant raids of the Apaches, the work of development went 
steadily forward. 

The breaking out of the civil war brought to an abrupt end- 
ing this effort to develope the mining industry of Arizona, and 
retarded for years the Territory's advancement. The garrisons 
stationed in the country were withdrawn, and the population 
left to the mercy of the Apaches. At this time camps were es- 
tablished at the Patagonia, the Santa Ritas, Cerro Colorado, 
Sopori and in the Cabibi district. The withdrawal of the troops 
was the signal for the savages to make their incursions more 
openly and vigorously. The marauding Mexicans from Sonora, 
believing that the government of the United States was broken 
up, crossed the border in large bands and carried off what the 
Apaches did not destroy. Exposed to constant attack, sur- 



MINES AND MINING. 6^ 

rounded by savage foes, and harrassed by semi-savage outlaws, 
the mining camps and haciendas were abandoned. Tubac was 
surrounded by a horde of bloodthirsty wretches, and had not a 
party from Tucson come to its relief, every person within its 
walls would have been massacred. The Apache and the Sono- 
raian outlaw burned, robbed and destroyed; Tubac was reduced 
to a mass of blackened adobe walls, and in a few short months 
heaps of desolate ruins were all that was left of the prosperous 
mining camps of Southern Arizona. Those who were fortunate 
to escape with their lives fled from a country which seemed 
acursed of heaven and a very hell upon eartn. 

Two years of death and desolation passed over Arizona before 
the mining industry was once more revived. This time it was 
in Northern Arizona, and gold was the glittering prize that 
allured thousands to the banks of the Colorado. In the year 
1862, placer gold, in paying quantities, was discovered by Pau- 
hne Weaver in the neighborhood of La Paz, and within a year 
over 2,000 men were digging and delving after the yellow treas- 
ure in the mountains and dry gulches, east of the Colorado. A 
year later a party headed by the same indomitable old pioneer, 
discovered the diggings which bear his rrame, in Yavapai county, 
and a short time after, the whole coast was electrified by the 
wonderful discovery of Antelope Peak. This find attracted 
thousands of adventurers to Northern Arizona, and mining re- 
ceived such an impetus as had never been known in the previous 
history of the Territory. Ledges of gold, silver and copper were 
discovered and located, rich placer deposits were worked success- 
fully, quartz mills were erected and a veritable "boom" appeared 
to have struck Yavapai and Mohave counties. The mines worked 
were all gold-bearing, the quartz being exceedingly rich and 
easily reduced. 

But in the meantime the Apache was not idle. He saw his 
chosen domain invaded by the pale faces, and he saw the hated 
race receiving fresh reinforcements day after day. He saw the 
game ruthlessly slaughtered and his favorite mescal grounds 
staked off and claimed by the prospector, and he resisted the 
^^\^x\CQ o{ los Americanos. By the lonely trail and the public 
road, behind bush, and rock, and tree, the red assassin lay in 
wait for his victim, and many an unsuspecting pioneer was sac- 
rificed to his hate. Provisions and supplies of all kinds were 
only to be had at extravagant prices, almost everything being 
brought across the Colorado desert, at a cost of from fifty to 
twenty-five cents a pound. Under such unfavorable conditions 
it is no wonder that mining made slow progress in Arizona. 
But, nevertheless, it did advance. Capital was invested, many 
mines were opened, and a number of mills and furnaces erected, 
and considerable gold found its way out of the country. 

The placing of the hostile Apaches on reservations, in 1874, 
marks one of the brightest periods in Arizona's history. Fresh 



68 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

life and hope was infused into the mining industry all over the 
Territory; prospectors struck into the regions lately infested 
by the savages, and Globe and Silver King were the rewards of 
their toil and industry. The fame of these discoveries spread 
over the land; thousands of restless adventurers turned their 
faces southward, and millions of dollars sought investment in 
Arizona mines. The discovery of Tombstone, a few years 
later, created a grand excitement, not only on the Pacific coast 
but throughout the east, and the rush to the wonderful Arizona 
camp has only been equalled by that to Leadville. The high 
grade of the ores, the vast extent of the deposits, and the small 
cost of reduction, caused a heavy investment of capital in the 
bonanza camp. The steadily increasing yield of bullion has 
been the marvel of the mining world; has demonstrated beyond 
cavil or doubt the richness of Arizona's mines, and shown that 
her right to wear the title of queen of our mineral realm is well- 
founded and fairly won. 

1 he completion of the Southern Transcontinental route in 
1879, and of the Atlantic and Pacific the present year, have re- 
moved the bars of isolation, and opened the Territory to immi- 
gration and capital. All portions of Arizona have felt the 
quickening and progressive impulses imparted by the iron rail. 
The country has been drawn into close communion with the 
great commercial arteries of the Union, and no longer is beyond 
the pale of modern progress. Its vast resources are becoming 
more thoroughly understood and appreciated, and the mining 
interests of the Territory have entered on a career of prosperity 
never before known in its annals. Capital is seeking investment, 
mills and furnaces are being erected, new discoveries are being 
made, and new camps are springing up, prospectors are swarm- 
ing through mountain and plain, a steady stream of bullion is 
finding its way out of the country, and Arizona is pushing her 
way to the front place as the leading mineral region of North 
America. The brilliant future which many of her ardent ad- 
mirers years ago prophesied seems at last about to be realized. 
The legends, tales, and traditions of the past, about her wonder- 
ful wealth, are proved to be well-founded ; and some of the late 
discoveries would show that the half has not been told about the 
metallic treasures of this wonderful land. 

That great traveler and scientist. Baron Humboldt, is credited 
with the saying, "the wealth of the world will yet be found in 
Arizona and New Mexico." The distinguished German never 
uttered a truer remark about the Territory. The country is one 
vast mineral field. From north to south, from east to west, 
gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and a score of other minerals, are 
found in every mountain range and in every isolated peak. No- 
where on the continent is there such a variety or such an ex- 
tensive distribution of the precious metals. In other mineral- 
bearing States and Territories the precious deposits are found 



MINES AND mining;. 69 

within certain well-defined limits, but in Arizona no such dis- 
tinction prevails. 

The whole Territory is literally a net-work of veins and ledges. 
Nature, here, in a prodigal mood, scattered her treasures with 
a lavish hand, and neglected no portion of her chosen mineral 
domain. In no part of Uncle Sam's vast mining farm is there 
found such a variety of ores, or such a number of beautiful min- 
eral combinations. This marked feature of the Arizona mineral 
field, was early noted by the explorers and scientists who visited 
it. Such rare specimens are found nowhere else. So beautiful 
in form, so rich, so dazzling with color, and so brilliant in lustre, 
no other country produces. Silver occurs in its native .state, as 
a chloride, bromide, ruby silver, silver glance, brittle silver, poly- 
basite, sulphides, carbonates, antimonial silver, sulphurets, and 
many other rich combination.s. Gold is found in its native 
state in alluvial deposits, in combination with sulphurets, and in 
its matrix of quartz. Copper occurs in its pure state, as a red 
and black oxide, as a carbonate, copper glance, a malachite, and 
someti'mes as a sulphate. 

No mining region on the globe can show ores carrying so 
high a percentage of the precious metals as Arizona. In this 
respect the country stands pre-eminent. Ores which range 
from $1,000 to $5,000 per ton, are of such frequent occurrence 
that they create no comment; and rich chlorides, sulphides and 
glance, ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 per ton, have often 
been shipped out of the Territory. Before the opening of the 
railroad, ores that would not go $100 per ton, were cast aside as 
worthless; and even now, in many of the camps, anything less 
than fifty-dollar " rock " is scarcely looked at. And as with 
gold and silver, so it is with copper. Ores ranging from sixty 
to eighty per cent., are of common occurrence, and those which 
do not average above fifteen per cent, are ' passed by unnoticed. 
So also with iron, lead and other minerals; the grade of all 
being higher than any other mining country can show. 

Besides the extraordinary richness of its ores, Arizona offers 
many natural advantages for the prosecution of mining enter- 
prises, which few other countries can show. Its climate stands 
unrivaled. No mountains of snow and no intense cold here in- 
terferes with the labor of the miner, and retards operations for 
sev'eral months in the year. Work can be prosecuted in the 
open air, in winter as well as in summer, and in this equable cli- 
mate, miner and millman can pursue their labors day and night 
without interference from the severity of the elements. Wood 
and water is plentiful in nearly every district, and if there is 
sometimes a scarcity of the latter at the surface, an abundant 
supply can always be had by sinking a short distance. The 
cost of opening roads is much less than in other regions, where 
the mountains are higher and more precipitous ; and since the 
competition of two railroads, the expense of getting in machinery 



70 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

is much less than in many other mining regions of the west. 
No country can show better returns for the money invested, than 
Arizona. For every dollar that has been put in, it is safe to say 
ten dollars have been taken out. While in other States and 
Territories, assessments have been the rule and dividends the 
exception, here in Arizona the reverse has been the case. 

Capital has done but little in the way of development. The 
intrinsic merit and wonderful richness of the mines, have devel- 
oped themselves. When a mine ceased to pay for the erection 
of machinery, the work of exploration, meet all running ex- 
penses, and pay regular dividends to stockholders, it has gen- 
erally been abandoned. While immense sums have been ex- 
pended in "dead work" in other Territories, and so-called mines 
carried on for years without returning a dollar of the money in- 
vested, an Arizona mine has had to pay from the "grass-roots" 
before capital would deign to notice it. The country has never 
yet had justice done to its vast mineral resources, or received 
that aid in their development, which has been poured with so 
lavish and reckless a hand into other States and Territories; 
and yet, there is no mining country where capital has met with 
such encouraging results, or which offers a finer field for invest- 
ment. 

All mining regions are cursed, to a greater or less extent, with 
incompetency, ignorance and mismanagement in the conduct of 
operations, but it would appear as if Arizona has had more than 
her share of the quacks, who are such a serious detriment to the 
prosperity of mining countries. Many a promising enterprise 
has been brought to a disastrous ending, and many a fine prop- 
erty ruined, by the mismanagement of such men. 

The mournful monuments to their incapacity and dishonesty, 
are seen in the abandoned mills and furnaces, in all parts of the 
Territory. So long as companies formed in the East, will persist 
in appointing men to handle their properties and spend their 
money, whose knowledge of mining has been learned from 
books, so long must they e.xpect their money to be squandered 
recklessly and carelessly, and so long will the Territory have to 
bear the odium of disastrous failures. And yet, those gentle- 
men who appoint such incompetents, are, no doubt, careful busi- 
ness men, who would hesitate before placing in their counting- 
rooms or stores, men who were not thoroughly conversant with 
the duties to be performed. "Every man to his trade, is a safe 
motto in mining as in every other business, and practice is the 
only thorough school. 

The ores of Arizona are very easily reduced. In the early 
days of mining, the Jesuit Fathers employed the primitive 
arastra and the rude adobe smelting furnace. From these 
imperfect facilities remarkable results were obtained, and in 
some districts both are yet used by Mexicans as well as by 
Americans. In the reduction of silver ores, the wet crushing 



MINES AND MINING. 71 

system is generally pursued. Pans and settlers are also used, 
and the metal amalgamated by the aid of a few simple chemi- 
cals in conjunction with quicksilver. This is the process which 
prevails in the Tombstone and other districts where the ores are 
free from base combinations. Where silver occurs in connection 
with other metals, the ores are first crushed dry, after which 
they are roasted, and then passed through pans and settlers. 
Smelting ores of gold or silver are not plentiful, and there are 
only a few establishments where the smelting process is em- 
ployed. The percentage of loss is very small, and a saving of 
ninety-five per cent, is not an unusual result. 

The reduction works in the Territory, at the p esent time, are 
not equal to the task of handling the ores which lie piled up in 
every district. Nearly all the mills and furnaces are kept em- 
ployed on ores from mines owned by the companies or indi- 
viduals who put them up. The poor mine-owner who gets out 
a few tons of ore is compelled to ship it to San Francisco, 
Denver, Omaha, or to New York for reduction. Ore must be 
of a high grade to stand the expense of transportation such a 
a distance, and, as a consequence, thousands of tons that will 
go from $40 to $100 are lying idle in every district. There are 
grand opportunities for the erection of reduction works like 
those in Denver, where the poor miner can turn his ore into 
cash. There is room for several establishments of the kind in 
the Territory, and their erection will not only prove a profitable 
investment to their owners, but will do much toward the 
development of the latent resources of this great mineral 
region. 

We have said there is here the finest opening for capital 
presented by any mining country in the west, and the results 
already achieved will justify the assertion. Although not one- 
twentieth part of the money has been invested in Arizona that 
has found its way to Colorado or California, yet the dividends 
from the Territory, for over a year, have exceeded those from 
either of those States. Although the shipments of bullion from 
the country, seven years ago, were but a little over a hundred 
thousand dollars, it now stands third on the list of producers, and 
destined in a short time to occupy the first place. We have 
seen what the building of two railroads have done for Arizona 
within a short few years, and it is not unreasonable to look for 
a corresponding improvement from the building of others. It 
has been clearly demonstrated that cheap and rapid communi- 
cation is the chief aid which Arizona requires to place her in 
the front rank of the bullion-producing States and Territories, 
and from present appearances the day is not far distant when 
every county in the Territory will be provided with it. 

As showing the wonderful increase in the yield of Arizona, 
since the opening of the Southern Pacific Railroad, we give the 



72 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

figures compiled by Wells, Fargo & Go's Express, for the past 
four years: 

Production for 1879 $1,942,403 

" 1880 4,472,471 

" 1881 8,198,766 

" 1882 9,298,267 

From being seventh in the list in 1879, Arizona became fifth 
in 1880, fourth in 1881, and third in 1882. A large quantity of 
rich ore and base bullion which finds its way out of the country 
is not included in the above, and it is safe to estimate the value 
of such ores and bullion as ten per cent of the figures given. 
There is no mining region on the coast or east of the Rocky 
Mountains which can make so flattering a showing. Facts speak 
much louder than words, and Arizona points to her record in the 
past as an earnest of what she will do in the future. 

The copper product of the Territory for the past three years 
has been, as near as can be ascertained, as follows: 

Production for 1880 2,000,000 pounds 

" 1 88 1 5,000,000 

" " 1882 15,000,000 " 

Estimated yield for 1883 20,000,000 

The value of this product has been as follows: 1880, $400,000; 
1 88 1, $1,000,000; 1882, $2,400,000. Putting the price of Arizona 
copper for the year 1883 at fifteen cents, which is a low estimate, 
the value of the product will reach $3,000,000. The growth of 
the copper industry of the Territory has been something remark- 
able. Nine years ago there was only one furnace in the coun- 
try — a primitive concern in the Mexican style — with a capacity 
of from one to four tons wer day. Now there are in active op- 
eration ten furnaces, with a capacity of over 400 tons daily. 
There are, besides, several lying idle, temporarily, awaiting the 
opening of branch roads and the cheapening of the price of fuel. 
At the present rapid strides which this branch of mining is mak- 
ing, it promises in a few years to rival silver in the value of its 
product. 

Many mines of value have been discovered in Arizona, and 
many more yet remain hidden in her hills and mountains. The 
prospectors that are now seeking for mineral indications through 
her rocky ranges are daily making discoveries in localities which 
had been passed over time and again by their predecessors. A 
country so thoroughly mineralized will not be fully explored 
for a century to come, and long after the present occupants, and 
their children's children, are mouldering in the dust, rich discov- 
eries of the precious metals will be made in Arizona. 

The possibilities of such a region are simply without limit. 
Where every mountain and hill, and peak, and isolated butte is 
seamed, and crossed, and gridironed with mineral veins, fortunes 



MINES AND MINING. ' 73 

will be found centuries hence. The poor miner, with no other 
capital than his stout heart and strong arm, has done much to 
bring those treasures to light. He has suffered hunger and 
thirst, endured the scorching suns of the desert, and the chilling 
winter winds of the mountains. He has done all that an un- 
domitable will and a dauntless energy can do, and he can do no 
more. 

He has opened the way, and marked the road and stands 
beckoning for capital to follow after. He has shown the rich- 
ness and extent of this vast field and pointed out the opportunities 
for men of means who are desirous of investing in mining pro- 
perties. He has demonstrated that this southwestern corner 
of the United States is the treasure-house of the continent, and 
that vast fortunes are here waiting for men who have the enter- 
prise and the energy to reach out after them. Here is virgin 
territory, as yet, hardly touched by the pick or the drill. Here, 
large sums are not required for the erection of costly machinery 
to hoist the ore from thousands of feet below the surface, and 
keep out the vast quantities of water constantly flowing 
in. Here are millions of tons lying on the surface ready to 
be put under the battery or passed through the furnace. Here 
are high-grade ores; here is an equable clime; here are proper- 
ties to be had at a mere nominal figure; and here is every in- 
ducement for investment in legitimate mining enterprises. 

It is not possible in a publication of this nature to give more 
than a passing glance at the vast mineral fields of Arizona. A 
volume would be required to do full justice to it, and convey to 
the reader a clear idea of its richness, variety and extent. In 
this necessarily brief resume the leading mines of the Territory 
can only receive special mention. No doubt there are many 
others, equally as valuable, now undeveloped. But as the ac- 
knowledged test of the value of a mine is its bullion yield, those 
who have not yet made such a record cannot look for extended 
notice. For the purpose of conveying to the reader some idea 
of the mineral resources of the different portions of the Territory 
the mines of each county are given separately. 

Cochise is the banner mining county of the Territory, and has 
well earned that proud distinction. In the extent of its ore 
bodies, their high grade, the comparative cheapness of mining 
and working them, and the output of bullion, it ranks with the 
great mining camps of the United States. It is safe to say there 
is no mineral region of like extent in the West that can make a 
better showing for the same length of time; there is none can 
show a larger return for the money invested, none where the div- 
idends have been larger or more regular, and none where the 
assessments have been fewer. 

There is no division of the Territory more thoroughly miner- 
alized. Every hill, mountain and mesa within its borders is 
seamed with some valuable metal. The natural facilities for the 



74 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

reduction of ores are not surpassed in Arizona. There is abun- 
dance of wood and water in its mountain ranges, and the San 
Pedro river, which flows near its principal silver belt, always 
furnishes a never-failing supply of the latter. The climate is as 
perfect as one could desire, and out-door operations can be car- 
ried on in winter as well as in summer. The topography of the 
country makes the principal mining camps easy of access, and 
two railroads running through the county give it direct com- 
munication with the outer world. 

Tombstone, the leading mining camp of Arizona, and one of 
the most prosperous in the West, has gained a national reputa- 
tion for the marvelous richness of its silver deposits and its large 
bullion yield. Its output during the past four years has upheld 
the reputation of Arizona as a mining region abroad, caused the 
investment of capital, and attracted the attention of moneyed 
men to the grand opportunities which this Territory offers. 

The discovery of mineral in this portion of the territory, dates 
from the latter part of 1877. The region was long known to 
contain deposits of the precious metals, and as early as 1858 
some prospecting was done near the San Pedro and the Bron- 
kow mine discovered, but the presence of hostile savages pre- 
vented any extended development, The district was the favor- 
ite haunt of the noted chief Cochise, and his band of blood-thirsty 
Apaches. From his natural fortress among the rocky crags of 
the Dragoon Mts. he overlooked the country for miles, always 
on the lookout for the coming of any small party of prospectors 
or travelers. 

When A. E. Shieffelin, a persistent prospector, announced his 
intention of exploring the country beyond the San Pedro, he 
was warned that he would find a tombstone instead of a fortune 
in Cochise's domain. Nothing daunted by these gloomy prophe- 
cies, the indomitable prospector left Camp Huachuca in the lat- 
ter days of 1877, and directed his steps east of the San Pedro. 
In February 1878, his industry and eiiergy was rewarded by the 
discovery of the rich silver deposits that have since gained a 
world-wide reputation. In remembrance of the doleful prognos- 
tications of his companions at Huachuca, he named the district 
"Tombstone," and thus it came that a name so "gloomy and 
peculiar ' was conferred on this famous mining camp. 

The report of the rich discoveries in Southeastern Arizona, 
spread like wildfire to every camp east and west of the Rocky 
mountains, and an army of adventurers flocked to the new Sil- 
verado. Thousands of locations were staked out and many val- 
uable discoveries made, a city sprung into existence as if by 
magic, reduction works were erected, and a steady stream of 
bullion began to find its way out of the camp. The first stamp 
was dropped in June 1879, and since that time the flow of the 
precious metal has been steadily increasing. During this per- 
iod — a little over four years — it is estimated that the district has 



MINES AND MINING. 75 

produced $25,000,000, and from not more than 150 stamps. 
There is no camp on the coast can make so good a showing, and 
the work of development is yet in its infancy, the deepest explor- 
ations being but a little over 600 feet. The ores thus far reduced 
have been found above water-level, and it is only within a 
brief period that preparations have been made to tap the bodies 
of mineral below the water-line. 

In the size of its veins. Tombstone stands pre-eminent among 
the mining districts of the Territory. Ore bodies of such size 
and richness have been found in no other portion of Arizona. 
The ores are generally chlorides and are very easily worked, 
yielding ninety per cent and upwards by the "wet" process of 
stamps, pans and settlers. Thus far all the ores of the camp 
have been reduced by this treatment, which has given very gen- 
eral satisfaction. 

The mineral belt of Tombstone extends about eight miles 
east and west, and may be said to extend south to the Bisbee 
copper deposits, nearly twenty-five miles. 

The geological features of the belt are an interesting study. 
Porphyry is the most widely distributed, and is the formation in 
which most of the large ore bodies occur. The veins and de- 
posits are nearly all covered by a capping of lime, and in some 
places large chambers of ore are found in this rock. As depth 
is reached the lime disappears, and considerable quartzite is en- 
countered. This also gives way as the work of development 
proceeds, and at the water-level a felsdpathic porphyry encases 
the ore bodies. On the western ledge of the district there is a 
well-defined granite formation, the veins being compact and 
regular with smooth walls. The country in the leading, in 
which the mines of the district occur, may be described as a se- 
ries of rolling, grass-covered hills, being the northern end of the 
Mule mountains. 

In the work of development. Tombstone leads all camps in 
the Territory, and, although a greater depth has been reached 
in other localities, there is none where that development has 
been so general, or carried forward so s-stematically. The lead- 
ing mines are provided with the most-improved machinery, and 
immense pumps, capable of handling the heavy flow of water, 
are now being introduced. It is Arizona's representative mining 
camp, and well does it maintain that position. Its present out- 
put is about $500,000 per month, and the yield for 1883 is put 
at over $6,000,000. 

The camp can show a brilliant record in the past, and has a 
bright outlook for the future. It is now undergoing the crucial 
test in passing through what may be termed the surface deposits 
to the ore chambers below the water level. That such ore 
bodies exist has already been proved, and there is every 
reason to believe they will show larger and richer than those 
above. When they are fairly opened up, mining throughout the 



7^ THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

district will receive an impetus never before known, and a long 
and prosperous career assured to this camp. There are over 
3,OCXD locations in the district. In this short sketch we can only- 
notice a few of the leading bullion producers, although, no doubt, 
there are many yet undeveloped which will prove equally as 
valuable. 

The Contention is the leading mine of the camp, and, consid- 
ering its bullion production, is the leading mine of the Territory. 
Since its discovery, it has produced over $5,000,000, and gives 
no sign of diminution in the size of richness of its immense ore 
body. Outside of the Comstock, there is no mine on the coast 
with such a magnificent record. As showing what development 
will accomplish, it may be stated, that the mine was at one time 
on the point of being abandoned by its original owners, and was 
disposed of for the insignificant sum of $10,000. The property 
was first incorporated in 1880 as the Western Mining Company, 
which, about the close of 1881, on the consolidation of the prop- 
erty with the Flora Morison, and 600 feet of the south end of the 
Sulphuret, was changed to the Contention Consolidated Mining 
Company, under which name it now carries on its business. 

The claim originally cost $10,000. 

The Western Mining Company paid the following dividends: — 

In 1880, 7 dividends $525,000 

1881, 12 " 950,000 

$1,475,000 

As Contention Company : — 

In 1882, II dividends $687,500 

1883, "5 " 312,500 

$1,000,000 

Total dividends to May, 1883 $2,475,000 

In 1882 the company extracted a total of 25,017 tons of ore, 
an average of 2,086 per month. This produced 632 bars of 
bullion, valued at $1,676,795.96. 

In the first five months of 1883, the ore raised and treated 
amounted to 13,652 tons, which produced 205 bars of bullion, 
valued at $553,085.91. 

In this mine there are five levels ; the depth of the main 
working shaft is 550 feet, and the amount of underground 
workings on all the properties, including drifts, cross-cuts, 
winzes, raises, intermediary levels, etc., etc., measure very nearly 
twenty miles. 

The average number of men employed is no. The cost of 
mining is only one-third of what similar work costs on the 
Comstock, the rock being, for the most part, soft and easily 
blasted ; whilst, so far, the depth attained, has not been great, 
and not nearly as much timbering is required here as in Nevada. 
The ore is met with in porphyry, the walls being coinposed of 
quartzite, limestone, and shales, while the gauge is quartz. The 
water-level is about thirty feet below the present deepest workings, 



MINES AND MINING. JJ 

to which a winze has been sunk from these workings. To cope 
with the water expected to be encountered this company have 
lately gone to great expense in increasing the size of their 
main working-shaft and erecting substantial pumping apparatus. 
The cost will be about $350,000, and until operations are begun 
dividends have, in the meantime, been stopped. The work of 
raising ore, however, goes on, and the company's mill (twenty- 
five stamps^, at Contention, is kept steadily going. 

Before incurring so heavy an expenditure, the management 
have taken every means in their power to find, beyond doubt, 
that the ore body below the water-level will amply repay for 
such an outlay, and the engineer and acting manager. Professor 
I. E. James, speaks in the most sanguine manner of the outlook, 
and gives it as his opinion that the bodies of ore that will be 
opened up, as sinking goes on, will astonish the mining world, 
and none more so than the fortunate shareholders of this valu- 
able property. Josiah H. White is the local general manager 
and superintendent. 

The Grand Central Mining Company, of Youngstown, Ohio, 
own and control Grand Central, Leviathan, Naumkeag, South 
Extension, Grand Central, and other claims. The company 
possess two steam-hoisting works, the old hoist being now aban- 
doned. The new hoist, one of the most complete and substan- 
tial on the Pacific coast, is with its present capacity capable of 
sinking 2,000 feet. There are six levels, and a total of under- 
ground workings of at least twenty miles. Depth of shaft, 750 
feet, the level of the new hoisting works being fifty feet higher 
than the old. About 100 tons of ore are raised daily, and shipped 
to the company's thirty-five stamp mill on the San Pedro river, ten 
miles west of Tombstone. This mill started milling about March, 
1 88 1, and since then has produced $2,893,742.65, in gold and 
silver bullion. 

To cope with the water in the lowest levels, extensive and 
complete pumping apparatus has been placed in position. For 
the short time it was in operation, it pumped about 1,000,000 
gallons per twenty-four hours, and during this period it was 
found that the water in the bottom of the Contention shaft was 
considerably lowered, when further work was stopped until that 
mine (Contention) could get their own pumps going. When 
this great work is once fairly started, it is confidently expected 
that, together, these two mines will be fully able to handle the 
water and reach the great ore bodies which are known to exist 
below. The water appears to lie in large basins, and when 
once emptied will cause no further trouble. Everything con- 
nected with the mine is of first-class make and finish. Machin- 
ery, buildings and ore-bins are most substantially constructed 
and put together, while the underground workings are well ven- 
tilated and timbered. 

The property joins the Contention on the south, and embraces 



78 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

over a mile of surface ground, all of which is mineral -bearing, 
and carrying, no doubt, within its lines, the extension of what 
is known as the Grand Central fissure vein. The Grand 
Central South, Naumkeag, Leviathan, Grand Dipper, Eme- 
rald and Moonlight are owned by this company, but the 
principal development has been confined to the Grand 
Central. The vein is a strong and well-defined one, and 
has every appearance of a true fissure. It is one of the great 
mines of the camp, and has been ably managed by E. B. Gage, 
who is general superintendent. 

The Tombstone Mill and Mining Company is a New York 
corporation, and was among the first to commence operations 
on an extensive scale in this district. 

The company own eleven mining claims, having a total area 
of \6\]4, acres. These claims were first located in March, 1878. 
Mining began June, 1878; and milling, in June, 1879. 

From June, 1878, to March 31, 1883, the com]iany 

extrncted from iheir claims 73.565^^ Tons of Ore. 

Which produced in Gold $ 6.856 42 

" " Silver 2,863,930 70 

Total bullion $2,870,787 12. 

The total weight of which is about 98 1-5 tons, avoirdupois. 

This ore has produced in .Silver, per ton $50 29 

" " " Gold, per ton i 92 

Total $52 21 

Since commencement the company has paid out in the shape of 

dividends §1,250,000 

Amount paid owners whilst incorporated under the laws of 

Arizona 400,000 

Total $1,650,000 

At first, the claims on which the principal work was done 
were the Toughnut and Goodenough mines. The bodies or 
bunches of ore, were found in many instances close to the sur- 
face, mostly in limestone and porphyry. 

The Goodenough main-shaft is down 350 feet, while the deep- 
est workings on the Toughnut are 268 feet deep. Latterly, 
owing to the litigation pending between this company and the 
Way Up Mining Company, for the possession of a large and 
valuable ore body running from the Goodenough into the Way 
Up ground, extensive developments have been made on the 
West Side Claim, showing this property to be most valuable 
and one of the true fissures of the camp. 

The West Side main-shaft has reached a depth of 416 feet, 
and the work of sinking goes steadily on. There are four levels 
and over a mile of underground openings; the ledge being 
opened for a distance of over 1,200 feet. I'he average value of 
this ore, is about %6t, per ton, silver and gold. The percentage 
of gold in the West Side, is much larger than in either the 
Toughnut or Goodenough claims. 



MINES AND MINING. 79 

The past year has seen the cost of mining and milhng sensi- 
bly reduced, viz: from $23.96 per ton, to $19.86 per ton; whilst 
the erection of a smelter and concentrating works of lOO tons 
daily capacity, enables the management to get the largest pos- 
sible percentage of mineral from their various classes of ore. 
): The average market value of the ore, has risen from $25.25 to 
$31; to $41.79, to $52.34 per ton. The richness of that ob- 
tained from the West Side being the principal cause. 

Total of ore obtained from Goodenough since commencement . .41,588 tons. 
" " " Toughnut " " ...24,700 " 

Total of manganese ore obtained from Lucky Cuss for fluxing 

purposes 880 

No. of steam hoists on Toughnut, Goodenough and West Side 5 

Monthly average of men employed at company's mines 125 

" " " " " mills 60 

Total 185 

The Toughnut, Goodenough, Lucky Cuss and other claims 
owned by this company, were the first locations made in the 
camp by Shieffelin, and have been worked continuously since 
their discovery. The company have erected a smelter near 
their mill, on the San Pedro, for the working of the tailings. It 
has proved a complete success, the manganese from the Lucky 
Cuss, making an excellent flux, and also carrying some silver. 

Professor John A. Church is superintendent and manager of 
this property. 

The Empire is a Boston incorporation. The property adjoins 
the Tranquility Girard, and Goodenough. There are two .shafts 
on the claim, one a double compartment, being down 500 feet, 
and the other a " whip" shaft, 200 feet deep. Both are connected 
by a drift 300 feet in length. Four levels have been run, 200, 
300, 400, 450 feet respectively, making the total amount of un- 
derground workings about 3,000 feet. The ledge runs northeast 
and southwest and dips to the west. There are now on the 
dumps of this mine over 3,000 tons of ore, which will average 
$25 per ton in silver. This is no doubt a valuable property. 
The situation and the surface indications are good, and the ore 
is easily reduced. The mine has complete hoisting works, and 
although operations have been temporarily suspended it is ex- 
pected the work of development will soon be resumed. 

The Sulphuret joins the Flora Morison and Contention 
on the northwest. Tne main working shaft is down 540 feet (which 
would be 650 feet in Contention), and there is an air shaft down 
250 feet. There are six levels, and the total of underground work- 
ings is 10,000 feet. No ore has been milled, so far, from this pro- 
perty; and there is now, it is supposed, forty feet of water in main 
shaft. In the fall of 188 1, 600 feet of the southerly portion of this 
mine were incorporated with the Flora Morrison and Contention, 
whilst the remaining 900 feet of ground are now the property of 
the North Sulphuret Mining Company. 



8o THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

The Girard Gold and Si'vcr-Mining Company was incorpo- 
rated in 1879 as a non-assessable company with 200,000 shares. 

It is not a full claim, only measuring 980 feet, by 600 feet in 
width. The main shaft is down 450 feet; from which there are 
four levels, viz.: at 150, 250, 279, and 349 feet. In the way of 
prospecting and development less work has been done here than 
in any of the group of mines that was started about the same 
time. Two thousand feet of underground openings being the 
entire extent. The location of the property leaves nothing to be 
desired, and there is a large body of ore, the extent of which 
can only be ascertained on further development. The ledge runs 
northeasterly and southwesterly, dipping slightly to east, but 
in the main it is nearly perpendicular. Three thousand six 
hundred tons of ore have been extracted, which averaged about 
$60. This was mostly worked at the Girard mill, described 
below. An assay of the tailings, from the one worked, showed 
them to contain $47 per ton silver. 

An official circular shows that the company received from ore 
milled $83,355.00, and a profit on purchase and sale of stock, of 
$1,226.00. The expenses for milling the ore were $64,058.00, and 
with other expenses exceeded the receipts. The indebtedness of 
the company is about $62,749.00. The unwillingness of the 
shareholders to subscribe sufficient to keep things running shows 
the shortsightedness of non-assessable corporations. The mine, 
therefore, was closed down in May, 1882, and lately both mill 
and mine were attached and sold at sheriff's sale. The property 
was purchased by a syndicate of five Philadelphia men, and no 
doubt will soon be placed on a running basis. 

The Girard mill, erected near the Girard mine, contains twenty 
stamps, and cost $85,000. During the short period it was in 
operation it milled 15,000 tons of ore, 8,000 of which was third- 
class Contention ore, which yielded $35 per ton. The Tranquil- 
ity supplied it with a further quantity, the grade being from $180 
to $90 per ton. The mill is supplied with all the latest improve- 
ments, and is one of the most complete in Tombstone district. 

The Boston and Arizona Smelting and Reduction company 
is a Boston incorporation, and non-assessable. It has a twcnty- 
stamj) mill and a pater.t roasting furnace (rotary). These works, 
as well as the Stonewall mine, which is also the property of the 
company, have been worked steadily, and have paid handsomely. 
The improvements noticed at the mine, as well as many altera- 
tions made at the mill, entailed an expenditure of $20,000, which, 
in addition to $40,000 or $50,000 paid in accordance with their 
articles of incorporation as interest on bonds outstanding, but 
which are in fact really to be considered as dividends, entitle 
this company to be enrolled as one of the dividend-paying prop- 
erties of the camp. 

This mill, which is situated on the San Pedro river, between 
the towns of Charleston and Contention, three miles from the 



MINES AND MINING. 8l 

former place and ten miles from Tombstone, have, since they 
started up work, reduced and treated ore as follows: 

Customs oie 12,500 tons. 

Knoxville " 5>300 " 

Total 17,800 ions. 

Total bullion product therefrom was $1,250,000 

" amount paid by company for customs ore 54.0.000 

" bullion delivered to some of company's clients I40,0X) 

Expenditure incurred since commencement in improvements... 20,ooo 

The Old Guard is situated near the IngersoU Consolidated. It 
has a main-shaft sunk 230 feet on the ore body, having followed 
the ledge from the surface. There are over 300 feet of under- 
ground workings. The last develop;Tient work opened up an 
ore body three feet wide, averaging $I03 per ton, on ths fourth 
level. Considerable ore has been e.Ktracted and sloped from this 
property. The returns from lOD tons, in June, came to over 

$5,ODD. 

The Vizina is a New York incorporation, and is non-assessa- 
ble. The main shaft is 485 feet deep, including a winze fifty feet. 
The total underground workings amount to 5,500 feet. 

No. of tons of ore shipped from this mine hai been 8,022, 

producing in bullion $592,880 

Which, for the amount of ore, is the highest averagi so far 
obtained in the camp (being .$86.38 per ton). 

The amount of dividends paid, so far, has ueen $14.0,000 

Cost ot claim in tirst instance 50,000 

For year, ending December i, 1882, average of ore, per ton 68.70 

average net 44. 85 

The property is not being worked at present. 

The Arizona Queen is a Boston incorporation. There are 
200,000 shares, non-assessable. The developments on the claim 
consist of two shafts, one being 100 feet in depth, and the other 
twenty-five feet. Twenty-five tons of ore extracted has aver- 
aged $100 per ton. 

The Alps lies parallelled to, and west of the Grand Central. 
The property is opened by two shafts, one being down 13S feet, 
and the other 104 feet. A tunnel has been run on the side of 
the hill, a distance of 126 feet, which has tapped the vein, show- 
ing .it to be five feet wide, containing streaks of rich ore. On 
the south side of the claim an incline shaft is down 1 10 feet. 
There are five other shafts on the property, making in all over 
600 feet of openings. On the south side of the Alps float has 
been picked up, that went $7,000 per ton, which evidently has 
come from a rich chimney. A working b^nd of this property 
has been given to certain parties, who are now busily at work 
developing it. 

The Helvetia group of mines are about three miles west of 

Tombstone, ani embrace nineteen claims and three mill-sites. 

On the Clara D^n there is a tumel sixty feet, and a forty feet 

shaft ; on the Helvetia there is a shaft seventy feet. The 

6 



82 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Mason and the Jackson are opened by two shafts, each fifty feet 
in depth. On this group there is a good showing of ore, which 
proves conclusively that the dimensions of the main ore belt in 
the Tombstone camp are much larger than has been generally 
supposed. 

The Lima Consolidated Mining Company own Lima, Green 
Cloud, and Old Necomis mining claims, situated on the north 
slope of Military Hill, directly south of the Grand Central 
mine. An incline-shaft has been sunk on the ledge, 270 feet. 
There are levels at 85, 135, 190, and 250 feet from the surface. 
Amount of drifts and underground workipgs, 250 feet. The 
ledge at the bottom of the shaft is four and a-half feet wide. 
There are 200 tons of ore on the dump that will average $35 
per ton, silver. A tunnel is now being run from the level of 
the road to connect with the shaft. This tunnel will cut the 
shaft at sixty-five feet, and from this point follow the ledge all 
the way. Some very fine chloride and manganese ore has been 
taken from the tunnel. An average of the ore has been milled, 
showing its value to be as follows : 

First quality $i8o and $190 per ton, silver. 

Second " 80 and 35 " " 

The ledge is strong and well defined, with every indication of 
opening up a large mineral deposit with sufficient development. 

This property was located in 1878, and the company incor- 
porated in San Francisco on the 22d of June, 1881. 

The Bunker Hill, Mammoth, and Rattlesnake are south of 
the Grand Central, and are owned by Chicago parties. The 
company also own the Watervale five-stamp mill which is kept 
steadily at work. Development goes steadily forward on these 
claims, and some very fine chloride ore is being extracted. At 
a depth of 160 feet the Rattlesnake and Mammoth have been 
connected by a drift over 400 feet in length. The ore body in 
the claims mentioned varies from four to eight feet in width. 
This group of mines are among the most promising in the 
camp, and give every .indicat.on of becoming steady bullion 
producers at no distant day. 

The San Diego mine is owned by the Woronoco Mining 
company, and is about two miles east of Tombstone. The 
main shaft is down 490 feet, from which several levels have been 
run. The ore carries considerable galena and a smelter has 
lately been erected for its reduction which is said to give good 
satisfaction. Some of the ore reduced in the smelter has gone 
$400 per ton. 

The Eden Lass is situated about three miles southwest of 
Tombstone. There is a shaft 100 feet deep, showing a small 
but very rich vein of chloride and carbonate ore, which has 
milled as high as $400 per ton. 

The Ground Hog, one of the oldest locations in the camp, 
runs paralleled to the Eden Lass, and has much the same 



MINES AND MINING. 85/ 

character of ore. The vein is four feet wide and will mill, by 
assorting, $75 per ton. Both these claims are owned by an 
.Eastern company who are vigorous!)- prosecuting work- 

The Prompter is one of the most promising mines in the 
camp. The vein is well defined and continuous carrying con- 
siderable chloride, and in places shows over forty feet in width. 
The formation is porphyry and quartzite. Shaft No. i is 
down 210 feet. The ledge has been crosscut at the bottom, and 
shows a width of forty-three feet. There are three pay streaks, 
five, seven, and nine feet respectively. The average of the ore 
milled from each has been $35 per ton, silver. Shaft No. 2 is 
450 feet east of No. i, and is down fifty feet. A crosscut shows 
the ledge at this point to be thirty-five feet wide, with ore of 
the same character as in No, i. Shaft No. 3 is 300 feet east of 
No. 2, and is down fifty feet, all the way in ore worth $40 per ton. 
Shaft No. 4 is 200 feet east of No. 3, and is ninety feet in 
depth. This shaft is on a spur from the main ledge. At a 
depth of seventy feet a cross-cut connects it with shaft No. 5. 
In running this cut a body of carbonate ore has been encoun- 
tered, eight feet wide, assaying $100 per ton. Shaft No. 5 is 
down 340 feet, and has three levels run. Work is pushed for- 
ward vigorously, and the Prompter promises to become one of 
the great mines of the camp. 

The Way Up joins Good^n.ough, Empire, and Gilded Age. 
The discovery shaft is down 280 feet, and the main double 
compartment working shaft, 180 feet. These two shafts are con- 
nected by a drift 435 feet in length. The ore incline, which 
commences on the 100-foot level, runs to the 200-foot level, 
a distance of 250 feet. No. 2 shaft is down 155 feet. The 
various underground workings are about looo feet. Since the 
commencement of operations the quantity of ore raised has 
been from 700 to 800 tons. Amount of bullion shipped, $62,- 
000. The average of ore smelted yielded $310 per ton; milled, 
yielded $100 per ton. Twenty-eight tons of ore shipped some 
time back to San Francisco returned a gross yield of $3,551. 
This mine has been shut down for the last twenty-six months, 
owing to litigation with the the Tombstone Milling and Mining 
Company, the latter claiming the valuable ledge which runs from 
Goodenough into Way Up ground. The late decision is in 
favor of the Way Up company, but the case being hotly con- 
tested, will likely be carried to a higher court. 

The Mountain Maid is a San Francisco incorporation, 
(assessable) incorporated in 1881. The claim covers a portion of 
the town of Tombstone. The main shaft is on Allen street, and 
is 160 feet deep. No. 2 shaft is between Second and Third streets, 
and is 140 feet deep The Combination shaft is on Fifth street, 
and was sunk by this company and the Tombstone Mill and Min- 
ing Company, on Toughnut ground. Several stringers of rich ore 
have been encountered. There are about 700 teet of underground 
workinsfs. 



84 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

The C. O. D. is a property adjoining the Luck Sure, and in 
the neighborhood of the Lucky Cuss. The main shaft is down 
172 feet. The east drift, on the seventy-foot level, has struck 
a fine ore body. On the surface the ore seems mixed with hard, 
flinty quartz, which in the shaft disappears. No. 2 shaft is fifty 
feet deep, and still sinking. 

The Blue Monday adjoins the Ingersoll Consolidated. The 
claim has been opened by two shafts, each 200 feet in depth, 
besides which there are 300 feet of other openings. The average 
value of ore shipped has been $83 per ton, silver, while twenty 
tons of select ore has yielded $156 per ton. 

The Randolph is owned by a non-assessable company, in- 
corporated under the laws of Illinois. The mine has been opened 
by three 100-foot shafts, and by over 1,000 feet of drifts, cross- 
cuts and other underground workings. It is estimated there are 
over 200,000 tons of ore in sight in this mine. The ore is 
not of high grade, but is easily reduced, and with proper man- 
agement should pay. About 300 tons of select ore has 
milled at the rate of $40 per ton. The claim is now lying idle, 
but it is certain that such a valuable property will not long be 
allowed to remain so. 

The Contact is a fine-looking property, lying in a formation 
between lime and porphyry. The main shaft is down 170 feet, 
showing a vein about three feet wide, which gives assays from 
$40 to $100 per ton. There are 400 tons of ore on the dump, 
and work is going on regularly. 

The Ingersoll is west of the Tombstone Mining Company's 
properties. It has produced large quantities of ore that milled 
$100 per ton. The vein is a strong one, and the mine has been 
opened to a depth of over 400 feet. Complete hoisting machinery 
has been put in, and the work of development goes steadily on. 

The Sydney is west of the Grand Central, and has been 
opened to a depth of 1 50 feet. Work is carried forward regu- 
larly, and it is supposed the Grand Central vein runs through 
this property, and will be struck at a certain depth. 

The Big Comet is east of the Rattlesnake. There is a forty- 
foot shaft on the ledge, showing the vein to be from two to 
three feet in width, which assays $60 per ton, silver. 

The Mamie is about three miles west of Tombstone, on the 
road to Charleston, and has produced some of the richest ore 
taken out in the camp. There is a shaft on the property 250 
feet deep; and the claim is further opened by drifts and levels. 
The ore is a chloride and carbonate. A lot of fifty-three tons 
lately worked at a custom mill, yielded $4,000. The property is 
now being worked under a lease. In the neighborhood of the 
Mamie are a number of claims which have produced rich ore, 
and on which a great deal of work has been done. Among the 
most prominent are the Juniata, Bonanza, Blue Jacket, and 
several others. 



MINES AND MINING. 85 

The Stonewall is a strong vein, situated on the western edge 
of the ore belt. It has been opened to a depth of over 300 feet; 
has a total of 3,000 feet underground workings; and shows a 
strong, well-defined ore body, which has yielded about $75 per 
ton. This claim has turned out over $300,000, and is one of the 
finest properties in the camp. 

On the western line of the district there are a number of fine- 
looking properties, upon which but a limited amount of dev'^elop- 
ment has been done. The formation here is granite, and the 
ledges have every appearance of permanency. The most promi- 
nent are the Monitor, Mcrrimac, True Blue and Argenta. The 
Monitor has a five-foot vein, of free milling ore that will go $30 
per ton, silver. It is opened by a shaft 120 feet deep. The 
Merrimac shows four feet of ore, some of which has milled $60 
per ton. The Argenta is west of the Monitor, and is a strong 
and regular vein four feet across. Assays have gone as high as 
$600 per ton, silver. There is a shaft eighty feet deep. 

Near the San Pedro river there is a group of mines which 
have produced very rich ore. The Bradshaw is the principal 
claim of this group. It is opened by several shafts, and has 
yielded over $50,000, but is not being worked at present. The 
Bronkow, the first location in the district, is in this neighbor- 
hood. It is notable only for the number of men who have been 
killed in the contest for its possession — some seventeen having 
met with violent deaths from this cause. 

BiSBEE, the great copper camp of Cochise, is in the southern 
end of the Mule mountains, about thirty miles directly south of 
Tombstone. The copper-bearing belt embraces an area of about 
five miles in length by from two to three in width, and is situ- 
ated on a spur which strikes easterly from the main range. The 
large ore bodies are found in lime and quartzite, but there is 
also considerable porphyry. The camp is easy of acces.s, 
the ores are of high grade and easily reduced, and there is 
abundance of wood and water. 

The Copper Queen is the leading mine of the camp, and one 
of the great copper mines of Arizorta. It was discovered in 
1877 by Hugh Jones, and re-located in 1878 by George Warren, 
Ray, "Kentuck" Edelman and others. They gave an interest 
to George Anschutz for doing the assessment work, in 1880. In 
the same year Warren bet his interest on a foot-race and lost it, 
the winner being G. W. Atkins. In 1881 James Reilly bonded 
the mine for $28,000. It was purchased by the company 
who now own it, and who have since developed it into the valu- 
able property it now is. The original discoverer, Jones, gave it 
up, as he could see nothing in sight but some "copper-stained" 
rock, and Warren threw away a fortune in a drunken frolic. The 
mine has once changed hands for $1,250,000, and to-day could 
not be bought for double that amount. 

The mine is opened to a depth of over 300 feet, and by many 



:86 THE .RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

levels, cross-cuts, drifts, etc. The ore body at the 300-foot level 
is found to be i 50 feet in length and eighty feet in width. The 
ore occurs in immense chambers in the limestone. It is com- 
posed of carbonates and oxides, and carries sufficient fluxes for 
smelting. The quantity of ore extracted up to September ist 
has been over 65,000 tons, worth $3,000,000. 

The dividends have been $1,000,000. The present daily out- 
put of ore is 100 tons. 

Ihe daily output of bullion is twelve tons, 96.5 fine. The 
bullion has a fineness equal to the best Lake, and is three-fourths 
of a cent higher in the market than any other Arizona product. 
Two smelters, with a combined capacity of 100 tons daily, have 
been put up near the mine, and the ore is being hoisted on an 
incline and dumped on the smelting floors. The present inflow 
of water in the mine amounts to 125,000 gallons daily, which is 
raised by a pump with a capacity of 500,000 gallons every twenty- 
four hours. The company use Cardiff coke, which is brought in 
wagons from the Arizona and Sonora railroad, some twenty-five 
miles distant. The number of men employed is about 1 50. The 
Queen is one of the great mines of Arizona, and gives assur- 
ance of continuing for years a regular dividend-paying property. 

The Atlanta is south of the Queen, and paralleled to the latter. 
It shows some rich ore on the surface, and it is supposed the ore 
body of the Queen pitches into the Atlanta ground. A tunnel has 
been driven on ths claim 300 feet, from the bottom of which a 
shaft will be sun.< to tap this ore body. Work is carried for- 
ward steadily. 

The Copper Prince is situated west and partly paralleled to the 
Queen. Although but little work has been done, it shows a 
large and rich ore body. The Copper Queen Company claimed 
this was a part of their vein, and brought suit to prevent the Prince 
people from working it, but the courts decided against such 
a claim, and it is expected this valuable property will now be 
worked on a large scale. It is certainly one of the finest-looking 
prospects in the camp. 

The New York is one mile east of Bisbee. It joins the Mam- 
moth, and is a portion of that immense ore body. The outcrop 
shows 127 feet in width, and assays go from five to sixty per 
cent, copper, and as high as $100 in silver. The ore is self- 
fluxing, carrying iron, lime, etc. There is a fifty-foot shaft and 
several openings, showing good ore everywhere. 

The Mammoth is about one and a half miles .south of Bisbee. 
It is opened by two forty-foot shafts, and shows a strong vein in 
both. It is said the ore will average sixteen per cent. 

The Neptune is about 3,000 feet southeast of the Queen. It 
is explored by a shaft seventy-three feet deep, and carries cop- 
per g'ance ore of a high grade. Work has lately been resumed 
on this property, and the outlook is most encouraging. 

The Uncle Sam and the Hayes are owned by the company 



MINES AND MINING. iS/ 

who control the Neptune. The former has a shaft 1 50 feet deep, 
with a fine dump of rich ore. The Hayes has been opened to a 
depth of forty feet. Both claims are fine-looking prospects. 

The Black Jack is near the southeast end of the Neptune. It 
shows a strong body of high-grade carbonate ore, and has two 
shafts, forty feet each. The Copper King adjoins the Queen 
on the west, and is one of the finest prospects in the camp. 
Although but little work has been done, it shows rich ore wher- 
ever opened. The property is at present idle, pending the issue 
of a suit for its possession. 

The Iron Clad is an immense outcrop of hematite iron ore, 
carrying copper. It adjoins the New York, and gives promise 
of becoming a valuable property. 

The Hendricks is southwest of the Queen. It has a tunnel 
fifty feet, and also a fifty-foot shaft. The ore is a carbonate of 
lead, carrying silver. This is the first claim north on the silver 
and lead belt which extends west of the copper belt and runs 
paralleled with the same. Several locations have been made 
upon it. The ore carries about thirty per cent. lead. 

The Copper Monarch, Empire, Belle Isle, Rucker, Delamack, 
Galena, and numerous other fine copper prospects are in the 
Bisbee camp. There are few places in the Territory which offer 
better opportunities for the investment of capital. 

About seven miles east of Bisbee are a group of silver-bearing 
ledges, the most prominent being the New Eldorado. It is 
opened by an incline shaft 100 feet deep, and shows a small 
vein of rich chloride ore which yields from $100 to $500 per 
ton. 

Cochise district is situated in the northern spurs of the 
Dragoon mountains adjacent to the line of the Southern Pacific 
railroad. It has a good supply of wood and water, and one of 
the most delightful climates in the Territory. The principal 
mine in the district is the Peabody. The claim is in the low 
rolling hills, seven miles north of Summit Station, on the South- 
ern Pacific railroad. The ore is copper-bearing, but it also 
carries some silver. A smelter has been erected, and has been 
in operation for over a year. Regular bullion shipments are 
made, and the mine is thoroughly opened by shafts, drifts, 
levels, etc. The company are a close corporation, and not dis- 
posed to give any information in regard to their business. 

Eight miles east of Summit station, and a few miles south of 
the track, is situated the Golden Rule gold mine. It is con- 
trolled by an Eastern incorporation who have opened the prop- 
erty by several shafts, drifts, etc. The deepest workings at 
present are about 150 feet. The vein is a strong and well- 
defined one, and the ore is said to be high-grade and easily 
reduced. Six miles from the mine, itt the Sulphur Spring val- 
ley, the company have erected a ten-stamp mill, which will soon 
commence operations. The situation and surroundings of this 



88 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

company are all that could be desired, and the prospects for a 
successful mining venture are very flattering. There are many 
other fine prospects in this district well worthy of inspection by 
those seeking opportunities for investment. 

Winchester mining district is west of Cochise. Some very 
rich ore has been found here and considerable work has been 
done. At present operations have been temporarily suspended. 

Dos Cabezas. — This district is situated in the Chiricuhua 
range, in the northeastern part of the county, and a short dis- 
tance south of the Southern Pacific railroad. The camp has 
abundance of wood and water, and every natural facility for ore 
reduction. The ledges are large and regular, carrying gold and 
silver. A ten-stamp mill has been erected in the district, and 
has turned out a good deal of bullion. The Silver Cave, 
Juniper, Silver Cave South, Murphy, Bear Cave and Greenhorn 
are the leading claims. The first-named contains three veins, 
running from seven to three feet wide, which have yielded $35 
per ton, gold. The Juniper shows a four-foot vein, select ore 
from which goes $150 per ton, gold and silver. Although under- 
going a temporary depressi(;n, Dos Cabezas will yet become a 
prosperous camp. 

The Huachucas and also the Whetstones, are rich in gold, 
gold, silver and copper, and possesses in abundance those im- 
portant factors in mining operations, wood and water. Although 
no great amount of work has yet been done in the Huachuca 
range, the development is sufficient to show the merit of its 
mines. The Black Bear is a fine copper property, which has 
been opened by some shallow workings. The ore is of high 
grade, and the ledge a large one. In what is known as Hart- 
ford district, in the northern end of the range, there are some 
very promising prospects. With every facility for mining and 
milling, and with an unrivaled climate, the Huachucas will yet 
become the scene of an active and profitable mining industry. 

Turquoise district embraces the southern end of the Dragoon 
range, and is about eighteen miles north from Tombstone. 
There is plenty of water and sufficient wood for all necessary 
purposes. The ores are smelting, and yield from $40 to $300 
per ton, silver. The Mono is a strong vein, averaging about 
three feet wide, and assaying about $80 per ton. There are over 
600 feet of shafting and drifting on the property. The Defiance 
shows a large ledge of carbonate ore, which assays $75 per ton, 
silver. The Dragoon, Belle, Bodie, Star and Challenge are fine 
prospects. With large veins of ore, easily reduced, and an ad- 
mirable situation. Turquoise district offers a fine opening for the 
investment of capital. 

California District, — This district is in the Chiricahua 
mountains, twenty miles south of the Southern Pacific railroad. 
The camp is well wooded, and there is a plentiful supply of 
water. The ores are a galena and carbonate of lead, carrying 



I 



MINES AND MINING. 89 

silver. A smelter was erected in the camp two years ago, but, 
owing mainly to poor management, it proved a failure, and the 
district received a severe set-back in consequence. But it is sure 
to come to the front. It is situated near a railroad, has large 
ore bodies, plenty of water and wood, and will yet become a 
steady bullion producer. The Texas shows the most develop- 
ment of any mine in the camp. It has been opened to a depth 
of 100 feet, and by many levels and drifts. On this property 
the smelter was erected which is now lying idle. The Eclipse 
is a fine copper property, which has been exposed at several 
points on the surface, showing a strong vein of high-grade ore. 
The Hell claim has been opened to a depth of 100 feet, 
showing a fine vein of silver-bearing carbonate ore. The Silver 
Creek, Ophir, Humming-bird, Drum, Josephine and Tower 
Hill are among the principal claims in the district. 

Yavapai county has long been noted for the great richness and 
variety of its mineral deposits. For years it was the leading 
mining region of the Territory, and before "the opening of the 
Southern Pacific railroad the largest bullion producer. No 
portion of Arizona is so abundantly blessed with those two 
important factors in mining operations — wood and water. The 
ledges are regular and well-defined veins in the primitive rock, 
and generally free from the surface displacements, so noticeable 
in other localities. Silver is found in its native state as a 
chloride, a sulphuret. a carbonate, and in nearly every other 
possible condition in which the metal occurs. The great rich- 
ness of some of the deposits found in the county has been 
something phenomenal. Quantities of chlorides and sulphides, 
ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 per ton, have been taken from 
many of the districts, and ores assaying from $500 to $i,ooo per 
ton are of common occurrence. 

Yavapai county has always been the leading gold producer of 
Arizona, and has yielded more of this metal than all the 
rest of the Territory combined. It is also rich in copper of a 
remarkably high grade, as an oxide, carbonate, malachite, 
glance, and as a sulphuret. 

The history of mining in this county dates from the discovery 
of the rich placers on Weaver creek, in May, 1863, and the 
remarkable deposit on Antelope Peak. Those discoveries 
attracted a large number of adventurers to Northern Arizona ; 
several mills were erected, and successful progress made in 
working the free quartz, but when sulphurets were reached the 
primitive appliances at hand were not equal to the task of 
reducing them, and nearly all of the mills suspended operations. 
Bad management, together with ignorance and dishonesty, com- 
bined to bring about this result, and have always been a serious 
drawback to the progress of mining in Yavapai. But against 
all the disadvantages of isolation and mismanagement, the 
county has gone steadily forward. The value and permanency 



90 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

of the mines has been proved beyond doubt, and the completion 
of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad is sure to draw capital from 
the East and from the West. With a climate unsurpassed for 
salubrity, with plenty of wood, and an abundant water supply; 
with rail connection to the monied centres of the continent, 
there is no good reason why Yavapai county should not become 
one of the leading bullion producers of the Territory. Some 
twenty mining districts have been organized in the county, of 
which the following are the most prominent : 

Peck District. — This rich camp is thirty miles southeast 
fro n Prescott in the northern foot-hills of the Bradshaw range, 
l^he finding of the famous ledge, after which it is named, was 
one of those accidents to which many great mines owe their 
discovery. In June, 1875, E. G. Peck, T. M. Alexander, C. C. 
Bean, and William Cole, were prospecting in the neighborhood, 
and had established a camp not far from the mine. Mr. Peck 
took his gun and went out to find a deer. Passing the immense 
croppings of the ledge, which now bears his name, he stopped 
to quench his thirst at the spring which bubbled out below 
them. While stooping over, his hand rested on a rock which he 
picked up, and found to be dark-colored and heavy. He carried 
it to the camp where it was submitted to a blow-pipe test, and 
found to be rich sulphide of silver, worth $10,000 per ton. 

Claims were at once staked off and work commenced. The 
first ten tons of ore taken out were sold in Prescott, for $1,300 
per ton. A mill was put up and the mine worked successfully 
until 1879, when the original owners became involved in a law 
suit, which ended by the property passing out of their hands and 
into those of California parties. It is estimated that the mine 
produced over $1,250,000 during the short period it was worked. 
Some of the ore was among the richest ever found in the Terri- 
tory, and masses of chlorides and sulphides, ranging from $1,000 
to $20,000 per ton, were of frequent occurrence. The formation 
that encloses the vein is a quartzite and a porphyry. The rich 
vein will average about a foot. The croppings are masses of 
quartzite, the rich stringers of ore being covered by the debris 
which has fallen over. Owing to continued litigation, the mine 
has lain idle for nearly four years, but the present owners have 
lately commenced operations, and made preparations to thor- 
oughly develop the property. A shaft has been sunk 400 feet, 
and four levels, aggregating 1,400 feet, have been opened. A 
fine ten-stamp mill, with a roaster attached, has been put up 
near the mine. The Peck is a strong, well-defined vein, and 
with proper management will again become one of the leading 
bullion producers of the Territory. 

The Peck belt extends north and south for several miles, and 
is located all the way. The Alta is south from the Peck, and 
shows a foot vein of chloride ore, which has assayed from $190 
to $5,000 per ton. The Evening Star is south of the Alta. It is 



MINES AND MINING. QI 

opened by several shafts and drifts, and shows ore similar to the 
latter, and equally as rich. The Fares claim is still farther south 
and shows a strong vein of carbonate and chloride ore assaying 
high in silver. The Asa Buffum is north of the Peck location, 
and has produced ore that went $i,000 per ton. The Kautz is 
also a northerly extension, and is opened by a tunnel, lOO feet 
in length. The Alexander and many other locations are on the 
Peck vein, north of the original location. But little work has 
been done on any of them, although some rich ore has been 
taken out. South from the Peck claim locations have been 
made for several miles. 

Scarcely half a mile east of the Peck a large parallel vein 
occurs, and is known as the Silver Prince. The Prince has pro- 
duced over $150,000, the ore being nearly of the same character, 
and almost as rich as that of the Peck. The mine is opened by 
several shafts and drifts, and by a tunnel over 600 feet in length. 
The vein is a strong one, the rich ore bodies occurring in 
pockets and chimneys. It is now the property of a New York 
company. 

The Black Warrior is south from the Prince, and is supposed 
to be on the same ledge. It is a large and well-defined vein, 
showing an ore body from two to three feet in width. The ore 
is different from the Peck and Prince, being composed of sul- 
phurets, galena, native and antimonial silver, which gives an 
average yield of over $100 per ton. The mine is the property 
of the company who own the Prince. Work is being pushed 
forward vigorously. The vein is opened by a shaft to a depth 
of nearly 300 feet, and by tunnels. It is one of the finest prop- 
erties in the county. The ore is now being reduced at the 
Tuscumbia mill. 

South of the Warrior, and presumably on the same ledge, are 
many locations which give a favorable showing for the amount 
of work done. The Doyle, Lone Juniper, and a dozen others 
are in this locality. North of the Prince are the Curtin, New 
York, and many other locations, on some of which considerable 
work has been done. The Peck district has every advantage in 
the way of wood and water, and a fine climate. 

Tip Top — This camp is about fifty miles in a southeasterly 
direction from Prescott, and about forty-five north of Phoenix, in 
the southerly spurs of the Bradshaw range. Discovered and form- 
ed in 1875, it has been worked continuously ever since, and ha^ 
produced more bullion than any district in Yavapai county. It 
has been the best chloriding camp in the Territory, and many a 
poor miner has made a "stake" from working the small but 
rich veins which abound there. The formation is a micaceous 
granite, and the veins, though small, are well-defined and regu- 
lar. Chlorides, carbonates, sulphides, and sulphurets are m.ainly 
the qualities of the ore. 

The Tip Top, the principal mine of the district, was dis- 



92 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

covered in 1875, and has been worked steadily ever since. The 
property was purchased from the original locators by a Califor- 
nia company, who have taken out over $2,000,000. The size 
of the vein runs from ten to eighteen inches, and is found 
solidly imbedded in the hard country rock. The ore is a sul- 
phuret carrying large quantities of ruby silver, and giving an 
average yield of over $200 per ton. The ledge has nearly a 
northerly and southerly direction and crops on a high, narrow 
divide. It is opened by a working shaft, now down 800 feet, 
and by several drifts and adit levels. From the surface down 
there has been no apparent change in the size of the vein or the 
grade of the ore. About 1 00 men are steadily employed. New 
hoisting works have lately been put in place. On the Agua 
Fria, about nine miles from the mine, a ten-stamp mill and 
roaster have been erected, and have handled the ore very satis- 
factorily. If we judge from the bullion yield, the Tip Top must 
be accounted the leading mine in the county. Its production 
has been nearly double that of any other, and it promises to 
pour out its silver stream for many a year to come. 

The Crosscut is we.t of the Tip Top some four miles. It 
crops boldly, is traceable across the country for several miles, 
and is the largest mine in the district. It is located nearly all 
the way, and shows some promising claims, among which are 
the Foy, with a two-foot vein assaying from $50 to $200 per 
ton. This claim has a shaft, 180 feet, and several shallow cuts. 
The Pearl, south of the Foy, is a large ledge of good milling ore. 
It has been sunk upon to a depth of sixty feet. The; Seventy- 
six is a small vein of rich chloride ore, as are also the Silver Mu- 
seum, El Dorado, Camp Cole and Argus. These claims are now 
being worked profitably, the ore being shipped to reduction works 
outside the Territory. The Virginia No. 2, situated on Tula creek, 
four miles from Tip Top, is another small but exceedingly rich 
vein, which has produced a great deal of ore worth over $i,030 
per ton. There are many other fine prospects, well worthy of 
mention, many of which are paying their owners good wages. 

Turkey Creek. — This district, which has lately been brought 
into prominence by the discovery of the wonderful deposits of 
almost pure silver, is situated on the eastern slopes and foot-hills of 
the Sierra Prieta range. The camp has a bountiful supply of wood 
and water, and a climate among the most delightful in the Ter- 
ritory. The formation is granite, porphyry and slate, and the 
distance from Prescott twenty miles, in a southeast direction. 

The Pine Spring mine, who.se recent discovery has created 
such a stir all over the Territory, is one oftho.se mineral marvels 
peculiar to Arizona. From a small shaft not more than twenty 
feet in depth, $50,000 have been taken. The ore — if, indeed, 
nearly pure silver can be called such — yields from $2,000 to $25,- 
000 per ton. Such masses of horn silver were never before 
found in the Territory — chunks weighing sixty pounds, and worth 



MINES AND MINING. 93 

$14 a pound, having been taken out. The vein, as exposed in 
the shaft, shows in places two feet of chlorides that will go $5,000 
per ton. The mine was discovered by an old pioneer named Billy- 
Gavin, who was prospecting on a "grub stake" when he hap- 
pened on the buried treasure, in June of the present year. There 
are no indications on the surface, and the discovery was made 
by "tracing" the dark, metallic pieces of float found on the hill- 
side, some distance below. The financial condition of the finder 
was at a low ebb when he "struck it." To-day he has a fortune 
in sight, and refused an offer of $150,000 when down only three 
feet. The mine is being worked steadily, and gives promise of 
proving one of the great mines of Arizona. That there are 
scores of other such bonanzas throughout the Territory, as yet 
undiscovered, there can scarcely be a doubt. 

The Goodwin is the oldest location in the district, and is 
claimed for several thousand feet. The Holmes' claim is opened 
by a tunnel, 200 feet in length, and by a shaft eighty-five feet 
deep. The ledge will average three feet wide. The ore is a 
rich, gray copper, and antimonial silver worth from $50 to 
$1,800 per ton. The Hatz and Collier claim is north of the 
Holmes. It is owned by a Chicago company, who have a force 
of men at work opening it. The vein is from two to three feet 
wide, the ore being of the same character as that in the Holmes. 
There is a shaft 200 feet, and a tunnel 250 feet. 

East of the Goodwin, the Hidden Treasure Mining Company 
are at work on a number of claims. On the Quick Relief they 
have erected hoisting works, and have a shaft down 150 feet. 
The vein is small, but carries some good ore. The 
Gold Note Mining Company, of Chicago, own a number of 
claims near the head of the creek. The most promising is the 
Gold Note, on which a shaft has been sunk 200 feet. The ore 
is smelting, and the company are preparing to put up reduction 
works. On lower Turkey creek a company are operating on 
the Franklin. The claim is opened by a shaft 200 feet deep, 
and by a tunnel. The ore is an iron sulphuret, carrying lead 
and silver, the vein being from one to two feet in width. The 
Trinity, Compton, Sultana, Peerless, Succor, McLeod mine, Ne- 
vada, Yankee Boy, Tuscumbia, and many other fine properties 
are in Turkey Creek district. 

Lynx Creek. — This, one of the oldest districts in Yavapai 
county, is six miles east of Prescott, and embraces a stretch of 
pine-covered hills and spurs on the northern slopes of the Sierra 
Prieta. Lynx creek has been the richest gold-bearing stream 
in Arizona, and is yet mined successfully when water can be 
had. It is estimated that over $ 1 00,000,000 has been taken from 
the gravel beds of this creek. No spot in the territory is better 
supplied with wood and water. The ores, while rich in the pre- 
cious metals, carry large quantities of base material. This has 
been the great drawback to the camp's prosperity, but, at last, 
the difficulty has been overcome. 



94 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

The Howell Mining and Smelting Company have lately erect- 
ed extensive works in this district, and are prepared to handle 
ores of every kind and quality. The smelter has a capacit)' of 
thirty tons daily. Attached to it is what is known as the Howell 
Chloridizing Furnace. The ore is first broken, and carried by 
an elevator to the furnace. In this furnace, the ore passes 
through a flame which destroys the sulphur and other base com- 
pounds. After leaving the furnace it is cooled, and then, in 
connection with lime and iron, which are used as fluxes, it is 
put through the smelter. 

By this mode the most rebellious ores can be successfully 
worked. Although in operation but a short time, the process 
has proved a complete success, and at present, is turning 
out five tons of base bullion per day, worth about $250 per ton, 
in silver and gold. The company are buying ores from mines 
throughout the district, and have made arrangements to enlarge 
their works to meet the increased ore production of the camp. 
In connection with the smelter, a five-stamp mill will soon be 
erected for the treatment of free-milling ores, and those that are 
dry and will not smelt readily. If base, they are first passed 
through the furnace, then crushed and treated by the pan 
process. 

A refinery is also being put up, where the product of the 
mill and furnace will be treated and the pure metal extracted, 
the litharge being again used to smelt dry ores. The works, 
when finished, will be as complete as any in the West. The 
enterprise has been of great benefit to the mining interests of 
Northern Arizona. It has solved the problem which so long 
has puzzled the miners and millmen of this section of the Ter- 
ritory, and shows that the ba.^e ores of the Sierra Prieta region 
can be worked successfully and profitably. About 100 men are 
at present employed, and quite a lively camp has sprung up 
near the works. 

Besides the ores purchased from the miners of the district 
the company own the Belle mine, situated about two miles from 
the smelter, on the divide, between Lynx Creek and Big Bug. 
This is a fine property, and is opened by two tunnels, which 
pierce the vein on the side of the steep mountain, on which 
it is located. The combined length of both is over 1,200 feet 
and the distance between them is 100 feet. They both follow 
the vein, and are connected by winzes and shafts, from the apex 
of the hill. The main shaft is eighty feet below the floor of the 
lower tunnel, and 380 feet from the surface, with good ore in the 
bottom. The ore body, wherever exposed, shows the same well- 
defined and continuous vein, averaging over eighteen inches in 
width. It is a heavy galena, which smelts readily, and is said 
to average $50 per ton, of which $30 is gold. It is estimated 
there are 15,000 tons now in sight. The vein is encased in solid 
granite walls. 



MINES AND MINING. 95 

The Hamilton and Poland adjoin the Belle on the south. 
There arc two shafts on the former, one sixty feet, showing an 
ore body similar to that in the Belle. On the Poland there is a 
shaft lOO feet, and a body of ore fully as large as the Belle, and 
of the same character. 

The Shelton is one of the most valuable claims in the district. 
It has been opened by a tunnel driven on the vein, 150 feet, and 
by a shaft. The vein is strong, well-defined, and continuous. 
It will average four feet wide, and has assayed as high as $600 
per ton. The ore is a carbonate of lead, with iron pyrites, and 
carries gold and silver. 

The Pine Mountain shows a two-foot vein, that assays $200 
per ton, gold and silver. It is opened by a shaft fifty feet deep. 
The Kitty is a strong vein, showing an ore body similar to the 
Belle, and fully as rich. A shaft has been sunk upon it to a 
depth of 100 feet. The Mount Vernon is an exceedingly rich 
gold ledge, carrying quartz worth $200 per ton. The claim has 
produced over $20,000. The Accidental shows more develop- 
ment than any mine in the district, and has produced some very 
rich ore. This mine has yielded over $75,000. 

The Gray Eagle, Mountain Lion, Orion, Hirshel, American 
Flag, Real del Monte, Mark Twain, Eureka, Champion, Hidden 
Treasure, and scores of other fine prospects are in this district. 

Agua Fria. — This district is sixteen miles east of Prescott, 
in the foot-hills bordering the stream of the same name. The 
ores are silver of a very high grade, and the veins are found in 
a contact between slate and granite. The Silver Belt is the 
principal mine of the district, and one of the richest in the 
county. It has already produced over $150,000. It is opened 
by three shafts, the deepest being 300 feet, and by many drifts 
and winzes. The ore is a carbonate, carrying large quantities 
of chloride, and yielding over $250 per ton. A rude furnace 
has been erected on the Agua Fria, four miles distant, where the 
ore is reduced, and the base bullion shipped to San Francisco. 
Hoisting works have lately been put up on this property, and 
the work of development is being pushed forward vigorously. 
The Kit Carson, Silver Flake, Agua Fria, and Raible and Hatz 
claim, are all very fine prospects, showing rich ore. 

Weaver. — This is the oldest district in the county, and 
famous as the scene of the discovery on Rich Hill. A Mexi- 
can, in the employ of Jack Swilling, who was mining on 
Antelope creek, in crossing over the mountains to the Weaver 
camp, happened on the wonderful deposit. In a depression on 
the summit of the mountain, about 6,000 feet above tide-water, 
the coarse gold was found lying on the bare bed-rock. Pieces 
of the pure metal, worth sever d hundred dollars, were picked 
up, and over $500,000 was taken from about an acre of ground. 
Butcher knives were used to dig the gold out of the seams in 
the rock, and it was not an uncommon thing to find from $1,000 



g6 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

to $5,000 under a small boulder. How the gold was deposited 
in such a place is a mystery which has not yet been solved. 
The gulches and ravines running down from the mountain con- 
tained considerable treasure, and arc worked by Mexicans up to 
the present time. It is estimated that Weaver has produced 
over $1,000,000 in placer gold. The ledges are nearly all gold- 
bearing. The Marcus, two miles west of Antelope peak, has 
produced sulphurets that yielded $1,000 per ton. It has a shaft 
over 200 feet. The vein is two feet wide. The ore from this 
mine has been shipped to Newark, New Jersey, for reduction. 
The Leviathan is a large ledge of gold-bearing quartz, and has 
yielded ore that worked $50 per ton in arastras. It is opened 
by a tunnel, which cuts it 100 feet below the surface. It is 
estimated there are a million tons of ore in sight in this 
immense vein. The Metallic Candle, the Sexton, the Buckeye, 
the Emerald, and scores of other promising claims are in this 
district, which is one of the foremost gold camps of the 
Territory. 

Hassayampa. — The first discoveries were made in this dis- 
trict in 1863, and the creek has been worked for gold ever since. 
It is estimated that over half a million dollars have been taken 
out. The district adjoins Lyn.x Creek on the south, and em- 
braces the best wooded and watered portion of the Sierra Prieta 
range. During the summer months its beautiful glens and grassy 
glades are among the most delightful spots in the Territory. 
The ores of the district are a free gold quartz on the surface, 
which changes into sulphurets and a high percentage of silver, 
as depth is reached. 

The Senator has been worked extensively, and has produced 
$150,000 in gold. A ten-stamp mill has been erected, which is 
now lying idle, solely on account of bad management. The vein 
is from two to four feet wide — copper and iron sulphurets — and 
has yielded from $20 to $40 per ton. There is a shaft 250 fjet 
in depth. 

The Davis is about four miles south of the Senator, on the 
eastern side of the Hassayampa mountains. It is a large vein, 
carrying gold and silver, traceable on the surface for many 
miles, and located all the way. The original location has a tunnel 
driven on the ledge, over 200 feet in length. The vein will 
average five feet in width, and has produced ore that yielded 
$300 per ton. Considerable work has been done along the vein, 
and wherever opened it shows remarkably well. 

Southwest from the Davis are a group of mines discovered 
within the past two years. The Dosoris is the principal loca- 
tion, and has produced ore worth $i,000 per ton. It is now being 
worked, and the ore shipped east. As admittance to the mine 
was denied, its present condition cannot be stated. The vein is 
said to be very narrow, out rich. The mine is opened by several 
shafts and tunnels. 



MINES AND MINING. 97 

The Blue Dick is west of the Dosoris. It is opened by two tun- 
nels, and shows a small vein of rich silver ore. The Mark Twain 
is south of the Blue Dick, and is a very encouraging prospect. 

The Ruby is east of the Davis, and runs parallel with that 
mine. It shows a strong vein of high-grade sulphuret ore, aver- 
aging over a foot in width, and yielding ovv.r $200 in gold and 
silver. The sulphurets contain copper and iron, and are easily 
reduced. Two tunnels have been driven on the vein. One is 
over 200 feet and the other 160 feet. The vein is strong and 
continuous all the way, and this discovery promises to become 
very valuable. There are over 100 tons on the dump. The ore 
is shipped to Denver, and also worked at the Howell smelter. 

The Dunkirk is east of the Ruby. It is opened by two shafts 
and a short tunnel, and shows a ledge two feet wide. Selected 
ore has gone $250 per ton. As depth is reached, the ore prom- 
ises to be of the same character as in the Ruby. 

The Crook is three miles east* of the Hassayampa, and has 
produced over $50,000 in gold. It is opened by shafts, tunnels 
and open cuts. A ten-stamp mill was erected, but as the ore 
changed to sulphurets, it failed to save the gold. East of the 
Crook is the Summer, a remarkable vein of micaceous iron, some 
of which is richly impregnated with silver. Ore from this mine 
has assayed as high as $2,000. West of the Hassayampa, and 
about eight miles from Prescott, is the Perry claim. It shows a 
large vein of sulphuret ore, and some assays show $500 per ton. 
It has a shaft 200 feet. The Sterling is an old location, and had 
a ten-stamp mill erected on it in the early days. It yielded 
some very rich quartz near the surface, but when sulphurets were 
encountered the gold could not be saved. These sulphurets 
assayed $200 to the ton. There is a shaft on the property 100 
feet deep, now partly filled with water. With proper appliances 
for treating the ores, the Sterling will again become a bullion 
producer. 

The Grub claim, Pine Tree, Savage, Grovanor, Madison, Del- 
aware, Montgomery, Silver Trail, General Sherman, and hun- 
dreds of other encouraging prospects are met with in Hassay- 
ampa district. 

Tiger District. — This camp is thirty-five miles south- 
east from Prescott, in the southern spurs of the Bradshaw range. 
It has every natural facility in the way of wood and water for 
ore reduction, "^he formation is granite, the veins are large and 
regular, and carry silver and gold. The Tiger mine, which has 
given its name to the district, is a large ledge, being in places over 
seventy feet between smooth and regular walls. It has been 
opened to a depth of 400 feet, and is supplied with steam hoist- 
ing-works and a ten-stamp mill. The ore is a sulphuret, carry- 
ing considerable quantities of native silver. The property is at 
present idle, but with proper management should be made to 
yield a profit. 
7 



98 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

The Ti'fTcr has produced nearly $200,000. The vein is a true 
fissure and has been located for several miles. The Riggs and 
Hammond claim adjoins the discovery on the south. It is a 
strong ledge carrying some high grade ore, and is opened by 
several shafts and tunnels. The Linn claim, north of the dis- 
covery, shows a large ore body and is explored by several shafts 
and open cuts. The Grey Eagle is two miles east of the Tiger. It 
is a large vein of sulphuret ore carrying gold and silver. Assays 
give fro. n $40 to $150 per ton. The Oro Bonita lies between 
the Tiger and Grey Eagle, It has been worked for several 
years by steam arastras yielding $80 per ton, in gold. The 
vein will average two feet in width. 

The Eclipse and Cougar are two miles east of the Tiger. 
They are good-sized veins, and carry some rich chloride ores. 
The latter claim has a shaft lOO feet deep and 300 tons of ore 
on the dump. The Lorena is supposed to enter the Eclipse 
nearly at right angles from the east. It shows a vein eighteen 
inches wide which, it is claimed, will go $200 per ton. The ore 
is a black sulphuret carrying horn silver. Work is being 
steadily prosecuted on this mine. The Benton and California 
are supposed to be northern extensions of the Tiger. Both 
show considerable development and have produced some rich 
ore. 

In what is known as the " Basin," north of the Tiger, are 
many fine prospects, surrounded by an extensive timber belt. The 
Buckeye is a small vein which has produced some rich gold and 
silver ore. The Union, formerly known as the Kansas, is south 
of the Buckeye. It has been explored by a tunnel 175 feet in 
length, and by a shaft seventy feet deep. The Espcranza is a 
two-fooc vein of sulphuret ore, carrying gold and silver. A ten- 
stamp mill was erected on this property some years ago, but 
:failcd to save the gold in the sulphurets. It is now worked suc- 
cessfully by Mexicans, who grind the ore in arastras and then 
smelt it in a rude furnace. It is said the ore yields as high as 
-$400 by this process. 

North of the Basin, in what was formerly known as Pine 
■Grove district, there are many fine properties, on some of which 
a large amount of work has been done. Among them are the 
"War Eagle, which has been developed by several shafts, and 
has produced over $50,000, the Del Pascoe, Bradshaw, Basin 
Rock, Red Rover, Union, and many others, all carrying gold 
.and silver. 

Black Hills. — This camp is twenty-five miles east of Pres- 
acott, on the eastern slopes of the mountains, after which it is 
jnamed. It is well supplied with wood and water, and has a 
delightful situation. For over three miles in width and one 
mile in length, rich deposits of copper are found in this district. 
The geological features of the range are eruptive rocks on the 
aiorth end, and limestones, metamorphic slates, syenite and 



MINES AND MINING. 99 

quartzite in the center, and granites and porphyry on the south- 
ern end. Near these limestone zones in beds of porphyry and 
slate, the copper is found. The United Verde Copper Com- 
pany, an incorporation formed under the laws of the State of 
New York, are now prosecuting operations on an extensive 
scale in this district. They have built a road through the range 
which taps the farms on the upper Verde, and from which sup- 
plies of grain, hay, and vegetables can be drawn. This road 
has cost $25,000, and is one of the best mountain grades in the 
Territory. By this new route the distance to the railroad at 
Ash Fork is only fifty-four miles, and freight on bullion and 
coke is greatly reduced. 

The company own the following mines: Eureka, Wade 
Hampton, Hermit, Chromo North, and Chromo South, South 
Azure and North Azure, Venture and South Venture. 

The Eureka is an immense mass of copper ore, being at one 
point over 100 feet wide. A tunnel has been run on the ledge 
274 feet, which taps it 190 feet below the surface. The ore body 
can be traced for over 500, and at no point does it appear to be 
less than twenty-five feet in width. The character ot the ore on 
the surface is a green carbonate, and a red oxide, and at the end 
of the tunnel an oxide carrying large quantities of iron. The 
entire body will average twenty per cent. Some 700 tons have 
been taken from the running of the tunnel. The matrix of the 
ore is iron and the country rock that encases it metamorphic 
slate. The ore is self-fluxing, carrying all the lime and iron 
required. 

A shallow gulch separates the Hampton from the Eureka, 
and some consider it a continuation of the same deposit. The 
ore is similar, and the formation the same besides its strike is 
towards the Eureka. There is a shaft on the claim 6^ feet, 
which exposes a body of ore sixteen feet wide. Careful tests 
have shown that this will go fifteen per cent, in copper. The 
ore is as easily reduced as the Hampton, and promises to be- 
come equally as valuable. 

The Hermit is a quarter of a mile east of the Eureka. A 
tunnel has been driven which struck the vein at a distance of 
seventy-one feet. A winze was then sunk on the ore body to a 
depth of eighty feet. The vein is regular and will average over 
four feet in width. The ore is a red oxide, carrying iron and 
lime, and large masses of oxidized copper glance. The ore 
averages twenty-five per cent., and with development the claim 
promises to become a valuable one. 

The Venture is situated about two miles southeast from the 
Eureka. It is a well-defined and compact vein, encased in por- 
phyry and slate. The ore body will average about three feet, 
and is very rich in metal, yielding as high as thirty-five per 
cent. The character of the ore is a malachite, an auzerite, an 
oxide and a glance. There is a shaft down 100 feet. This 



lOO THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

mine promises to become a most valuable property with develop- 
ment. The Chrome South and Chrome North adjoin the 
Eureka on the east. The ores are a carbonate and a silicate, and 
the veins will average from two to four feet in width. Although 
but little work has been done, they show fine ore bodies. The 
Azure North and Azure South are very encouraging pros- 
pects. 

Near the Eureka the company hav^e erected a water-jacket 
furnace, which is now in successful operation. The ores from 
the Eureka and the Hampton are brought to the smelter on 
cars propelled by hand. The works are erected just below the 
road, and a tramway leads from the floor of the furnace to the 
rich croppings on the Eureka, which are used to flux leaner 
ores. The furnace is supplied with a Blake crusher, and is a 
most complete affair, with a capacity of forty tons daily. The 
present output of bullion is eight tons per day. The ore is 
rapidly running into silver, the bullion produced being worth 
from $400 to $500 per ton in that metal. The ores smelt readily, 
and no difficulty has occurred since the start. 

The water to supply the works is brought in iron pipes from 
a spring two miles distant. The tanks, with a capacity of 5,000 
gallons each, receive the water, and the supply is abundant for 
all purposes. This water also supplies the prosperous camp 
which has sprung up near the mines, and which contains 
several stores, saloons, restaurants, etc. All the supplies and 
material for the reduction of the ore are hauled from Ash Eork, 
coke costing, at the works, $32 per ton. This enterprise pro- 
mises to be of great benefit to the copper interests of Northern 
Arizona. It is the first intelligent effort made to handle the 
rich ores of that portion of the Territory, and it has proved a 
most flattering success. The company own some of the finest 
copper properties in the Territory. The situation, in the midst 
of a well-wooded and watered region, is all that could be asked, 
and a long and profitable run is assured. The management is 
in the hands of experienced men, and a brilliant success is 
assured. Something like 100 men are at present employed in 
this camp, and no other in all Arizona presents a brighter out- 
look. 

The high percentage of silver in the ore is a most agreeable 
feature, and makes the property one of the most valuable in 
Arizona. The average of 125 tons of copper bullion produced 
in August and September was $450 per ton, in silver. The 
copper runs from ninety-four to ninety-eight per cent. fine. 
The works are running to their full capacity night and day, the 
only difficulty so far, being the lack of transportation. 

Cherry Creek. — This district is in the .southern end of the 
the Black Hills, has plenty of wood and water, and a desirable 
situation. The ores carry gold and silver, and are easily 
handled. The camp is thirty miles east of Prescott, and ten 



MINES AND MINING. lOI 

miles from the Verde river. A mill has been erected in the 
district, but ignorance and incompetency caused it to prove a 
failure. Recently, however, some new investments have been 
made, and the camp has taken a fresh start. The principal 
mines are the Mammoth, with a shaft 125 feet; 350 tons of 
ore from this mine milled $20 per ton, while the tailings assayed 
$16. The Conger Mining Company, of Canton, O., own four 
or five claims on the Verde slope of the mountain, which they 
are now developing. On the Conger they have sunk a shaft, 
and are taking out some very rich quartz. The vein is from 
twelve to eighteen inches wide. On the Cactus a tunnel has 
been driven 100 feet, showing a vein with two feet of fine ore. 
The company have hoisting works on the ground, and pro) o 
to erect a mill, on the Verde river, five miles distant, to be 
driven by water-power. The Gold Ring and the Potomac are 
fine prospects. The former has been explored to a depth of 
lOO feet A mill test of lOO tons yielded $100 per ton. The 
St. Nicholas, Gold Queen, Joe Johnson, and many other flatter- 
ing prospects are in this district. 

Walnut Grove district embraces the southeastern end of the 
Antelope range, and the foot-hills adjacent. A ten-stamp mill 
has lately been put up by a Kansas company, to work the ores 
from the Josephine mine, and a ditch constructed to bring the 
waters of the Hassayampa to the rich deposits of Placerito creek. 
The ledges of the district are gold-bearing, and have produced 
some high grade ore. 

Black Canon district is twenty-five miles east of Prescott, and 
extends from the foot of the Bradshaw range to the Agua Fria. 
The veins are principally gold-bearing. The Iconoclast and the 
Black Mesa are the prominent claims. They have both been 
explored by shafts and tunnels, and their ores have yielded 
handsomely in arastras, for several. years. 

TONTO Basin. — ^This district has a delightful situation in the 
southeastern part of the county, and between the Mogollon and 
the Mazatzal ranges. There is an abundance of wood and water. 
The ledges are well-defined, the formation being principally 
granite and porphyry. On the Gowan mine, a ten-stamp mill 
has been put up, and is running steadily. The ore is a gold 
quartz, and is said to yield handsomely. A great deal of de- 
velopment work has been done on the property. The Excursion 
is a large vein, assaying well in gold and silver. It is opened by 
several shafts and drifts. The Zulu, Last Chance, Osceola, 
Dougherty, and many other valuable prospects, are in Tonto 
Basin. This mineral-bearing region embraces a large area, but 
its isolated position has hitherto been the chief obstacle to its 
advancement. With rail connection it promises to become one 
of the leading camps of the Territory. 

Groom Creek. — This pleasant camp is six miles south of 
Prescott, in one of the very best timbered and watered sections 



I02 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

of Arizona. The climate in summer is uncqualed. The ledges 
carry gold and silver, and are found in a granite formation. Al- 
though not large thcv are rich in gold and silver. The Lone 
Star has a two-foot vein of galena, which assays $ioo per ton. 
It is explored by a tunnel, 160 feet in length. The Dauphin 
shows a four-foot vein of milling ore, carrying gold and silver. 
The Nevada has a vein twenty inches wide, worth $100 per ton. 
Select shipments of ore from the Minnehaha have yielded $300 
per ton, in San Francisco. The Golden Chariot, Mountain, 
Maribile, What Cheer, Surprise, Heathen Chinee, and dozens 
of other fine prospects, are to be seen in this district. 

Big Bug, one of the oldest camps in the county, is east of 
Lynx creek. A great deal of gold was taken out here in the 
early days from the free quartz found near the surface, but as 
depth was reached, sulphurcts were encountered and operations 
ceased. The district contains some very high-grade sulphuretted 
ores, which only require the proper treatment to make them 
valuable. The Dividend, Galena, Big Bug and Eugenia have 
been worked extensively, and have produced considerable 
bullion. They are all patented. The Belcher, Lottie, Champion, 
Mesa and Oury are all encouraging prospects, but have little 
work done upon them. 

Crossing the Sierra Prieta range, which walls in Prescott on 
the west, the traveler reaches what is known as Copper Basin, 
This basin is at the foot of the range, and is formed by the 
mountain spurs that lie between it and Skull and Kirkland val- 
leys. It is composed of low rolling hills, crossed by shallow 
ravines, and covered by a grow'th of scrub oak, juniper and pine. 
Near the center of the basin two prominent knolls rise above 
the surrounding hillocks, each of which is literally seamed by 
small, but rich veins of copper ore. These knolls, and the coun- 
try in every direction, for nearly half a mile from them, is 
thoroughly impregnated with the mineral, and as depth is reached, 
the ore bodies grow stronger and richer. The geological fea- 
tures of the basin show evidences of great surface disturbances. 
Granite, of a very coarse variety, porphyry, syenite, quartzite, 
lime and felsite are found jumbled together in a confused mass. 

By the foot of the knolls mentioned, and along the little val- 
leys formed by the washes on each side of them, huge masses 
of coarse conglomerate are found lying in a horizontal position, 
and thoroughly impregnated with copper. This conglomerate 
extends over the basin for nearly a mile square. Wherever 
found, it is rich in copper, and when a few feet are sunk on any 
part of the level territory around the knolls, it is encountered. 
It shows the action of fire and water, and evidently received the 
metal by precipitation. 

The extent of the copper territory in this singular locality is 
about two miles north and south, and one mile east and west; 
but the heaviest bodies of mineral are embraced in areas of about 



MINES AND MINING. IO3 

2,000 by 1,800 feet, and of which the knolls are the center. The 
ore is a green carbonate, an auzerite, and a black and red ox- 
ide. The oxides are found in the small veins already men- 
tioned, while the auzerite seems to be the most generally dis- 
tributed, and has stained the country in every direction. Careful 
estimates put the quantity of ore in sight, on the surface, at 20,- 
000 tons, which will average over twelve per cent. In fact the 
basin may be considered a vast mineral farm, there being over 
600 acres that show ore wherever sunk upon. As yet little de- 
velopment has been made upon this great deposit. Several 
shallow holes have been dug, and two tunnels started to tap the 
ore bodies supposed to be contained in the knolls. The beds of 
conglomerate are in places five feet thick, and have been traced 
to the wall of the Sierra Prieta, from which the flow has evi- 
dently come. There is an immense deposit of ore here, and 
with the facilities at hand for its reduction, it ought to be mined 
and worked successfully. A smelter will soon be erected, and 
an effort made to garner the ripened harvest in this vast mineral 
farm. It is the most remarkable copper deposit in Arizona, and 
its development will be watched with interest. 

Before closing this sketch of the mines of Yavapai, mention 
should be made of the group of silver mines on the. western 
slope of the Black Hills. The Black Hills and the Homestake 
are the leading claims. They have been opened by several 
shafts, and show large veins carrying free milling ore of a good 
grade. On Cataract creek, near the Ave Supie village, a hori- 
zontal deposit of galena ores have been made in the rocky wall 
of the canyon. Considerable work has been done, and assays 
of the ore give a yield of from $30 to $80 per ton. i 

/ Graham county has rapidly developed within the past twoi^ 
years as the great copper camp of Arizona, and to-day it has 
more capital invested in this branch of mining than any county 
in the Territory. Besides its vast copper deposits, it also con- 
tains gold in ledges and in alluvial deposits, likewise silver and 
coal. There is a large portion of the county within the San 
Carlos reservation that has not yet been prospected, but which 
is known to be rich in the precious metals. Wood and water 
is abundant in this region ; the ores are of a high grade, and 
the climate, the year round is superb. The first mineral discov- 
eries, in what is now Graham county, were made by a party of 
prospectors from Silver City, N. M., in the fall of 1871. They 
discovered the Longfellow, the Detroit, and the Metcalf group. 
Bob Metcalf, the discoverer of the Longfellow, gave the 
Lesinsky Bros., of Las Cruces, N. M., an interest in the prop- 
erty, and in the early part of 1873 they ereced a crude 
Mexican furnace, and worked the ores successfully for nearly a 
year, when they erected a water-jacket on the San Francisco 
river. In a short time the original locators were bought out, 
and the Lesinskys became the sole owners. They worked the 



104 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

property until September, 1882, when it was purchased by a 
syndicate composed of Scotch capitalists. 

During the time the mines were worked by Lesinsky Bros., it 
is estimated they produced 20,000,000 pounds of copper bullion, 
and this under many disadvantages. The nearest railroad 
station was at La Junta, Colorado, nearly 700 miles from the 
mines. Roads had to be opened to Silver City, the nearest 
supply point, and coke was brought from the Burro mountains, 
eighty miles distant. All material and supplies cost enormously, 
but against all those obstacles, the richness of the ore left 
a handsome profit. Since the mines passed under the control 
of the present owners many important improvements have been 
made, and a large sum expended in opening the several groups. 
Not the least of these improvements is the building of a narrow- 
gauge railroad from Lordsburg, on the Southern Pacific, to the 
furnaces at Clifton, a distance of seventy miles. The cost of 
grading and equipping this road will be $20,000 per mile, or 
$1,400,000 for the entire road. This railway will effect a great 
saving in the cost of material and supplies, and will make it 
possible to work very low grade ores. The opening of the 
road will also be a great benefit to the district, and many a 
mine now lying idle can be worked to a profit, when fuel and 
supplies are cheapened. 

Two furnaces (water-jackets) are in operation near the San 
Francisco river, seven miles from the mines. These furnaces 
are run by the abundant and never-failing water-power of the 
stream, which is here a strong and rapid torrent at all seasons of 
the year. The company will shortly erect five furnaces, with a 
united capacity of 150 tons daily. Water from the river, equal 
to 100 horse-power, will turn a turbine wheel which will run all 
of them. This fine water-power is an important factor in ore 
reduction, and those of a much lower grade can be handled than 
if the motive power was steam. The mines owned by the com- 
pany are situated on the spurs and summits of steep mountains, 
on both sides of Chase gulch, a tributary of the San Francisco. 
To bring the ore from them cheaply and expeditiously, a nar- 
row-gauge road (twenty-inch track) has been constructed up 
this gulch, and a small engine brings down car-loads of ore and 
carries back supplies. A great deal of heavy grading and cut- 
ting had to be done on this road, and the cost (seven miles) has 
been over $200,000. 

Leading up the steep hill-sides to the different groups of mines 
on each side of the track, inclines have been built, and the loaded 
car coming down brings up the empty one. Ore houses are 
built at the /oot of these inclines, where the ores are dumped, 
and then dropped by a shute into the cars which carry them to 
the smelter at Clifton. The grade on portions of this road from 
the smelter to the mines is 300 feet to the mile. The incline to 
the Longfellow is 2,200 feet in length, that to the Metcalf group 



MINES AND MINING. I05 

is 1,400 feet, while that to the Coronado group leads up the side 
of a rocky precipitous wall and pierces its jagged peak a distance 
of 3,200 feet, and from there, by a gradual descent on the other 
side, to the mine. This dizzy track is at an angle of 32°, and is 
probably the longest incline in the United States over which 
cars are run by their own specific gravity. 

The company have at present in their employ 450 men, one- 
half being Mexicans and Chinese. There are two incorpora- 
tions. One, under the laws of Arizona, known as the "Arizona 
Copper Company," own the mines and reduction works, but the 
entire property, including the railroad to Lordsburg, is owned 
by the "Arizona Copper Company, Limited," of Scotland. But 
one furnace is now running, the product being 8,000 pounds of 
ninety-six per cent, copper daily. When the railroad is com- 
pleted and the new furnaces built, the output will lead all Ari- 
zona. This is the most complete plant for the reduction of 
copper in the Territory, and few countries can show so heavy an 
outlay by one company. When the railroad from Lordsburg 
is finished, there will be expended, in improvements and the 
purchase of the mines, nearly, if not quite, $4,000,000. But the 
magnificent ore bodies fully justify this heavy outlay, and will yet 
return it twenty-fold. 

The Clifton copper belt extends from the San Francisco river 
to Eagle creek, some ten miles east and west, and nearly twelve 
miles from north to south, or 120 square miles of copper-bearing 
territory. The general formation of this immense ore belt is 
porphyry, quartzite and lime. The larger ore bodies are found 
in felsite and lime. They occur in large chambers and deposits, 
but there are some, like the Coronado and the Queen, that give 
indications of being regular veins. The ore bodies are found in 
the steep and rocky spurs of the Peloncillo range. These moun- 
tains are much broken and cut by deep cafions and gorges. 
They are covered with oak, juniper and pine, and there is always 
an abundant supply of water in the San Francisco, Chase gulch, 
and Eagle creek. Conglomerate beds of volcanic origin sur- 
round the district on nearly all sides, which effectually shut off 
the ore bodies. This volcanic flow is a portion of that which 
once rolled down the MogoUon range from the great cone of 
the San Francisco. The gold belt seems to lie all around the 
copper deposit, being between it and the eruptive rocks. The 
country shows, in every direction, the traces of a mighty up- 
heaval, and of powerful volcanic action. The entire area men- 
tioned is seamed with copper veins, and the waters of Chase 
creek are highly impregnated with the metal. The ores are of 
a high grade and easily reduced, and with its fine, natural ad- 
vantages and railroad facilities, Clifton is destined to become 
one of the great copper-producing regions of the United States. 

The Longfellow is the principal mine of Clifton camp, and 
since its discovery has produced over 20,000,000 pounds of cop- 



I06 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

per. The mine is about five miles from the smelting works, on 
the west side of Chase creek, and near the summit of a rugged 
mountain, which rises over 1,500 feet above the level of the creek. 
The property is worked by a tunnel, which taps the ore body 
about 200 feet below the apex of the mountain. Some 200 feet 
below the present tunnel another has been started, and both 
will shortly be connected by winzes. The ore is found in beds of 
felsite, resting on layers of lime, and occurs in large deposits, or 
chambers, some of which are lOO feet in length, by eighty feet 
in width. As far as explored the ore body appears to be about 
600 feet in length, by 500 feet in width. Throughout this entire 
space the ground is honey-combed in every direction, by drifts, 
crosscuts, winzes, levels, stopes and inclines, making altogether, 
over five miles of underground streets and alleys. 

The ore is always found near the lime belts, which sometimes 
cut it off; but by driving through these dykes it is again en- 
countered beyond. The entire ore body will average fifteen per 
cent. It is mostly a red oxide, and an auzerite. No ore has 
yet been discovered outside of the felsite and lime, and the 
mineral deposit seems to be confined to the space meiitioned by 
the porphyry zone, which bounds it on the north and east. In 
the early history of the mine no regular system was observed in 
its working, and the pillars of ore left standing to support the 
roof proved inadequate to the task, and a cave has occurred in 
one portion of the workings. The damage, however, is not serious, 
and is being rapidly repaired. The extent of the ore body in 
the Longfellow has not yet been determined. It seems to ex- 
tend through the mountain to the Detroit Company's ground, 
and for a depth of 400 feet good ore has been encountered. It 
is certainly the grandest copper deposit yet opened in Arizona. 

The next group of mines owned by the company are known as 
the Metcalf group and are about three miles from the Longfellow, 
up Chase creek. The mines are on the sides of a steep mountain, 
1,200 feet above the bed of the creek. The Littls Annie, Little 
Giant and Oriental are the principal claims. The Annie shows 
the most development, the ore being taken from a series of 
open cuts along the ledge. The mineral occurs in pockets and 
chambers in a formation of lime and porphyry. It is a glance, 
with red oxides, carrying a high percentage of copper, and is 
covered by an iron capping, which also carries some copper. A 
tunnel has been started below the present workings to tap the 
ore bodies supposed to exist in the hill. It is now in 1,000 feet. 
Two tunnels have pierced the croppings, one being 230 and the 
other 400 feet. Good ore has been taken from each, and there 
is every indication of its depth and permanency. The Oriental 
adjoins the Little Annie on the east. It is a large ore body, 
and shows traces of old Indian workings, the savages having 
evidently resorted to the deposits of chrome iron and bromide, 
for their paint. The Hughes and Shannon claim is north of 



MINES AND MINING. 10/ 

the Annie. It is not owned by the company, but is surrounded 
by their properties. It shows a bold out-crop, and is opened by 
several shafts and cuts, all in good ore. 

The Queen group of mines are about two miles above the 
Longfellow. They include a half dozen in all, but the Queen is 
the only one opened. Four adit levels have been run on the 
ledge, being respectively, 200, 250, 200 and 225 feet in length. 
These levels are connected by winzes, and show a vein about 
eighteen inches wide that goes twenty per cent. The Queen 
has the appearance of a regular vein. It is encased in por- 
phyry walls, and has a dip of 45°. The mine has, heretofore, 
been worked in primitive style by Mexican labor, but under the 
new management it is expected a different order of things will 
prevail. 

The Coronado group are on the summit of a steep and rocky 
range on the west side of Chase creek, and about eight miles 
from Clifton. The mine is approached by an incline from the 
railroad in Chase creek, which has alread}^ been noted. After 
passing over the summit of the rocky hill, the track is carried 
down a gradual incline, for over a mile, until it encounters the 
mountain on which the mine is situated. A tunnel has been 
driven through this mountain, following the vein, 1,200 feet. 
The track is laid through this tunnel, and the ores on the upper 
levels are let down by shutcs into the cars, while those below 
will be raised by steam. Above this level two others have been 
started, and will follow the vein through the hill. The levels 
have been connected by winzes, and large ore bodies exposed. 
After passing through the mountain, the track will be carried 
around on the hillside above the other claims on the vein, which 
will be connected with it by inclines. This railroad and incline 
system of the Coronado group is a fine piece of engineering, and 
is one of the sights of the Clifton camp. 

The Coronado is a well-defined vein, averaging ten feet be- 
tween smooth walls. The ore occurs in chambers, or swells, 
and is said to average fourteen per cent. It contains large 
quantities of silica, and requires to he mixed with other ores to 
smelt readily. There are six locations on the Coronado, some 
of them being opened by shafts and tunnels. Wherever opened 
the ledge is strong, continuous, and well-defined, and has more 
of the appearance of a regular lode than any claim yet discov- 
ered in the district. With the present elaborate appliances for 
de\"eloping it, the Coronado promises to become one of the lead- 
ing mines of the camp. The company own some forty claims, 
in all. but the above are the present ore producers. 

The Detroit Mining Company of Arizona is another successful 
enterprise in Clifton district. The reduction works of this incor- 
poration are situated on the San Francisco about four miles below 
Clifton. Here two water-jacket furnaces, with a daily capacity of 
seventy-five tons, have been put up. One furnace is running 



I08 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

steadily and turninir out five tons of bullion — ninety-eight fine — 
every twenty-four hours. The power to drive tne machinery is 
furnished by the San Francisco river. The^ ore is a carbonate 
and oxide, with some copper glance, and smelts very easily. 
The mines are about seven miles from the river, the ore being 
hauled that distance in wagons at a cost of $2.50 per ton. 
English coke is used, and it is found that one ton of it will 
smelt seven tons of ore. The works have been in operation 
about one year, and have already produced 3,580,000 pounds of 
copper. This copper is known as the "Anchor" brand, and 
always commands a high price. 

The claims owned by the company lie adjacent to the Long- 
fellow, and are named the Yankee, Montezuma, Copper Moun- 
tain, and Arizona Central. The Yankee is on the other side of 
the hill from the Longfellow, and is a continuation of the same 
ore body found in the latter. A shaft has been sunk 150 feet, 
from which two levels have been run on the ore. Lateral drifts 
from these levels show it to be over lOO feet in width. North 
from the shaft, there is also a fine body of carbonate ore, which 
shows a width of twenty feet. On the surface, directly over 
this body of ore, the out-crop is 200 feet square, nearly all ore. 
North of the main shaft, 400 feet, another has been sunk to a 
depth of fifty feet, all the way in copper glance, of a high grade. 
From the bottom two cross-cuts have been run, twenty-five feet 
each way, both in ore. Average assays give eighteen and one- 
half per cent. 

The Montezuma is south of the Yankee and has ore of a 
similar character. It is opened by a fifty-foot shaft and several 
open cuts. The Copper Mountain is about 500 yards from the 
Yankee, and is opened by an adit level 600 feet in length, follow- 
ing the ore. At the mouth of this level a shaft has been sunk 
which cuts the ore at a depth of eighty feet; from the bottom of 
this shaft a level has been run 600 feet, the entire distance in ore. 
Lateral drifts have also been opened, from which ore is now 
being extracted. It will average twelve per cent., and is a car- 
bonate with a manganese gangue, and a red oxide with an iron 
gangue. 

The Arizona Central is east of the Copper Mountain, and is 
opened by two shafts, eighty-four and fifty feet, respectively. 
The ore is a green carbonate with some copper glance and will 
go twenty per cent. The ore from this mine when mixed with 
that from the Copper Mountain makes a fine smelting material. 
These ores are all found in large chambers and deposits in beds 
of felsite. The beds lie horizontally, pillars being left standing 
to support the roof The company employ about 125 men, two- 
thirds of whom are Mexicans. 

The Clifton Copper Company, a New York incorporation, own 
a group of mines northeast from the Arizona Company's proper- 
ties. The principal claims are the Lone Fine and Keystone, 



MINES AND MINING, IO9 

both of which show large ore bodies that give an average of from 
twelve to twenty per cent. They are opened by several shal- 
low shafts, the deposit showing about twenty feet wide, and being 
capped with iron croppings from ten to thirty feet in depth. On 
the western side of Chase creek, and about eight miles from 
Clifton, there are a group of claims upon which some work 
has been done. The Bon Ton, Mountain Lion, Lulu and 
Capitan are the most promising. The Lulu carries galena, which 
assays 240 ounces to the ton, in silver. The Bon Ton is opened 
by over 400 feet of tunnels, and has on the dump over 300 tons 
of ore, which is said to go twenty per cent, copper. Although 
but little work has been done on these properties, they show 
extremely well. 

The Copper King Company own a group of mines on what is 
known as Greenle Gold mountain district, about five miles above 
Clifton, on the San Francisco. They are on a steep mountain, 
1,500 feet above the river bed, and are known as the Union No. 
I, Union No. 2, New England and Montezuma. But little work 
has yet been done on these properties, but wherever opened they 
show strong, well-defined veins in a granitic formation. The ore 
is an oxide and a copper glance, some of it going as high as 
twenty per cent. 

The Great Western company own the Ollie and the Great 
Western, situated westwardly from the Copper King company's 
claims. They are in the same formation, and the ore is of the 
same character. There is a seventy-foot shaft on the Ollie, 
which has yielded ore that went thirty-seven per cent. There is 
plenty of timber near these properties, and-water power in 
abundance in the San Francisco. 

About four miles above Clifton, on the San Francisco, large 
gravel deposits are encountered. These gravel beds are all 
gold-bearing, and careful tests have proved they will pay. The 
Clifton Hydraulic Company have brought water in iron pipes a 
distance of four miles, to these beds. They have sunk shafts 
and driven tunnels and thoroughly exploited the ground. The 
gravel is on both sides of the river, will average in depth from 
ten to thirty feet, and has an estimated area of 3,000 acres. 
Gold is found all through this gravel, from the surface to the 
bed-rock. The company have expended a large sum in getting 
ready for work. They have the latest improved hydraulic 
machinery, a splendid fall from the San Francisco, and every- 
thing, in good shape for a long and successful run. High up on 
the mountain-side, above the gravel deposits, are a g oup of 
gold-bearing quartz ledges. These veins are from two to six 
feet in width, in a formation of granite, and can be traced for 
several miles across the country. A few openings have been 
made, and some ore worked that produced over $20 per ton. 
With the fine water-power to propel machinery so near at hand, 
very low-grade ores can be worked, and a prosperous gold camp 
will yet spring up here. 



no THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Mayflower district is south of Clifton, and east of the Gila. It 
contains some promising ledges of silver and copper, upon which 
a little work has been done. 

Lone Star district is north of the Gila, opposite the town of 
Safford. It has some small but exceedingly rich copper veins. 

Pinal county is, at the present time, next to Cochise, the 
largest bullion producer in the Territory. Its ores have long 
been noted for their extraordinary richness, and for the variety 
of their mineral combinations. The ledges are large and well- 
defined, and the formation in which they are found gives every 
assurance of permanency. The Gila river, which flows through 
the mineral belt, aftords an unlimited supply of water, while 
wood is found everywhere in sufficient quantities for ore re- 
duction. The formation of the Pinal ore belt has many of the 
complex characteristics peculiar to the geological structure of 
Arizona. In many of the mountain ranges the remains of 
former volcanic action are seen in the masses of conglomerates, 
lava-rock and sand-stones, yet found in many places. Lime- 
stones, quartzitc, syenite, granite and porphyry are found every- 
where, the last two generally containing the ore bodies. 

Every mountain range in the county seems to be thoroughly 
mineralized, and gold, silver, copper, lead and iron are met with 
in every hill and peak. No county has produced such magnifi- 
cent native silver specimens, and none can show such immense 
masses of native copper. Except Cochise, no county has made 
a better record in the past, and none has a brighter outlook for 
the future. It has the ores in abundance, has an ample supply 
of wood and water, and is blessed with a perfect climate every 
month in the year. 

Pioneer District. — In the year 1871, the present governor 
of California, who was then a colonel in the regular army, com- 
manding in Arizona, established a picket post near where the 
town of Pinal now stands. The Apaches were very troublesome 
at that time, and were constantly raiding the farming settle- 
ments on the Gila from their fastnesses in the Pinal Mountains. 
A road was also constructed over the mountain into the higher 
valleys of the Pinal range, which is yet known as the "Stoncman 
Grade," and is the main traveled route from Pinal and Silver 
King, to Globe. A soldier, named Sullivan, employed in build- 
ing this road, when returning from his work, one evening, sat 
down to rest on a ledge, near the camp. Seeing some black- 
looking pieces of rock, he picked them up and attempted to 
break them, but he found that they flattened out like a piece of 
lead. He knew nothing about silver ores, but he put them in 
his pocket and wended his way to camp. 

Shortly after his term of service expired and he drifted to the 
ranch of Charley Mason, on the Gila River. Sullivan remain- 
ed here some time, and frequently showed the- black ore (pure 
sulphide of silver) to Mason and others, but would tell no one 



MINES AND MININCx. Ill 

where he found it. One day he suddenly disappeared, and was 
not heard of for years. He was supposed to have been killed by 
the Apaches, or to have perished on the desert in the attempt to 
return to the place where he found the black nuggets. 

For several years prospecting parties explored the Pinal range 
in search of Sullivan's find, but without success. In the search, 
a party of four farmers from the Gila valley penetrated to where 
the town of Globe now stands, and located the rich copper 
mine after which the town is named. In 1875, Chas. G. Mason, 
Benjamin W. Regan, William H. Long and Isaac Copeland 
started for the Globe mines with a train of animals to bring in 
some of the ore. On the way back they camped for the night a 
short distance from the present hoisting works on the King. 
Next morning when preparing to start, it was discovered that 
one of the mules was missing. Copeland went out to hunt the 
animal, and after a short search, found him standing on the top 
of a "little brown hill" near the foot of the Stoneman grade. 
Going up to secure him, Copeland stumbled over the croppings 
of the great mine which has since become famous as the Silver 
King. Sullivan's secret was a secret no longer, and they had at 
last found the long-sought treasure. The discovery was made 
on the 22d of March, 1875, and it was the first claim staked off 
in what was afterwards known as Pioneer District. Thus was 
the famous Silver King discovered, and it is recorded that the 
mule who played so important a part in making it, was turned 
out to graze in green pastures, and never more carried saddle 
or afarejo. 

The mine was worked by the original locators until June, 

1876, when Copeland sold his interest to Mason. Previous to 
thi a great deal of rich ore had been shipped to California. A 
short time after Long sold his interest to Regan, and he and 
Mason became the sole owners. In January, 1877, Mason sold 
his interest to Col. James M. Barney, and on the 9th of May, 

1877, the Silver King Mining Company was incorporated under 
the laws of the State of California, and the work of develop- 
ment began in earnest, A twenty-stamp mill was put up 
on Pinal creek, five miles from the mine, and later on concen- 
tration works were added. 

The total yield of this mineral wonder, since its discovery, has 
been over $4,000,000; $1,500,000 of which has been paid to 
stockholders, and to-day, at a depth of over 800 feet, it looks 
better than at any time in its history. The mine crops on a 
little conical hill, at the foot of the Pinal mountains. The for- 
mation enclosing the -ore is porphyritic, but there are also 
many indications of quartzite. 

The vein formation of the King mine is different from any- 
thing yet found in Arizona, and has long been an interesting 
study for scientists. To quote from Professor Blake's descrip- 
tion, "this quartz-veiHj instead of forming a sheet-like mass, or 



112 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

filling between parallel walls, is approximately cylindrical or 
columnar in its form, filling a nearly vertical, spirally-formed 
cavity, as if it had risen as smoke rises in a chimney, but 
circling about the riven rocks, until it reached the surface by 
many outlets." This is the Silver King ; an immense circular 
deposit of ore, with thousands of veinlets running into the 
country rock which surrounds it. These veins reticulate and 
cross each other in every conceivable direction. Along the 
western side of this immense ore-chamber an irregular mass of 
white quartz, of a circular shape, and some eighty feet in 
diameter, is fouVid all the way to the deepest workings. This 
body of quartz carries bunches of rich ore, and has never yet 
been thoroughly explored. In fact, to quote the language of 
Mr. Phillips, the superintendent, "the ore-limits of the mine arc 
not known in any direction underground." 

So far as explorations have extended, no well-defined bound- 
ary to the ore has been found. Wherever the little veinlets are 
followed beyond the main chimney ore is found, and as there is 
nothing like a wall, the size of the ore body cannot be deter- 
mined. Seven levels have been opened. The seventh, or lower 
level, is the largest. It is an immense chamber, 200x100 feet, 
and which has already produced nearly 20,000 tons of ore. 
Following around the walls of this immense chamber, the 
native silver, and the other beautiful mineral-combinations, 
reflect back the light of the candles in a thousand brilliant 
flashes. Wherever penetrated, the small veins are still found run- 
ning into the porphyry from the rich ore body in the center. 
The floor of this level is the richest yet found in the mine, and 
fairly sparkles with native silver in every direction. 

From this level, and from those above it, there is now enough 
of ore exposed to keep the works running for the next three 
years. About sixty tons are sent to the mill daily. The ore is 
concentrated, and the product shipped to California. The ore, 
as it comes from the mine, is not assorted, and consequently a 
great deal of waste rock is put through. The average for 1882 
was $61 per ton. From fifteen to twenty tons are concentrated 
into one. The mine pays its regular dividends of $25,000 per 
month, which could easily be trebled by increased reduction 
facilities. 

The richness and variety of the ores of the Silver King have 
made it famous throughout the mineral world. Such beautiful 
clusters of native silver no mine on the continent has ever pro- 
duced. It is estimated that before the reduction works were 
put up, $1,000,000 were shipped to California, and that this ore 
averaged $1,000 per ton. The general character of the ores in 
the deep workings are sulphides of lead, zinc, and copper, highly 
impregnated with silver. Among the minerals found in this 
mine are argentite, zinc blende — in large quantities — barite, 
copper glance, horn silver, auzerite, and a dozen other varieties. 




SEE PAGE III 



TOWN OF SILVER KING,A.T. 



MntUcnvt-T-irrtf-^t 



MINES AND MINING. II 3 

Nowhere, throughout the mineral regions of the west, has Nature 
set up such another laboratory. The native silver is found in 
beautiful forms of leaf and wires, and also in threads as fine as 
hair or silk, and of a dazzling whiteness. It is said that one- 
fourth of the bullion has occurred as native silver. A railroad 
from the mine to the Gila river is in contemplation, and will, no- 
doubt, be built at an early day, and extensive reduction works 
put up at that point 

Whether we consider its singular geological structure, the 
wonderful richness and variety of its ores, its immense deposit,, 
or its yield of bullion, the Silver King must be rated among the 
great mmes of the world. It stands alone in its original and 
distinctly marked features ; alone in its wealth of virgin metal 
and unapproachable in the extent, grandeur and almost un- 
limited possibilities of its future. It has been rightly named, 
and is a worthy monarch for Arizona's vast mineral domain. 
No other can show such a treasure-house of silver gems, and 
there is none in either continent that has so brilliant a future. 

Pioneer district extends ten miles each way from the Silver 
King location, and includes many valuable minin ' properties,, 
which have produced exceedingly rich. North and south from. 
the King, and for miles along the western slope of the Pinaf 
range, the country has been located for miles. West of the 
Silver King, and adjoining that property, are the Bilk and 
Mowry locations. On the Bilk a perpendicular shaft has been 
sunk to a depth of over i,ooo feet, and is still being pushed down^ 
It is understood that the pitch of the great ore chamber in the 
King is to the west, and the owners of the Bilk hope to strike 
it within the limits of their claim at a depth of i,200 feet. The 
ground they are sinking in is similar to that which encloses 
the great bonanza, and they have strong hopes of cutting the 
deposit. 

Southerly, a company called the South Silver King, are also- 
sinking with the hope of finding the great ore body. They are 
now down over 400 feet. On the North King and the Eastland 
locations, situated north and east, respectively, from the Silver 
King, shafts have been sunk with the hope of finding the great 
chamber, but without success. 

In the vicinity of the King are the Last Chance and Mount 
View owned by the Windsor Consolidated Mining Company. 
The former has a shaft 400 feet, and has produced ore worth 
$100 per ton, It is a four-foot ledge. The Mount View is a 
three-foot vein, which has yielded $100 per ton. The ores are 
an argentiferous galena, and are worked at the company's five- 
stamp mill at Pinal. The Josephine mine is one mile north of 
the King. It is a large vein, and has been located for over two- 
miles. The principal claims on the ledge are the Pike, Union 
East, Lost Prize and Rosalie. Ore from the Pike has yielded 
$50 per ton. 



114 1'HE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

The West Union has a shaft 240 feet, and shows a two-foot 
vein of antimonial silver that assays from $50 to $200 per ton. 
The Monarch of the Sea is one mile from the King. It is a 
small vein, but exceedingly rich. There is a tunnel on the ledge 
340 feet. The Washington is 1,200 feet north of the King. 
There is a continuous ledge, the entire length of the claim, eight 
inches wide, that goes from $100 to $700 per ton. The First 
Chance, an extension of the Mount View, Big Pete, Alice Bell, 
Fernandez, Flagstaff, and many others in this neighborhood, 
are very promising properties. The Fernandez has five or six 
locations on it. The Redeemer runs parallelled with the Fer- 
nandez, and four locations, the Amador, Norway, Scotland and 
Black Cloud, have been made upon it. These claims are owned 
by the Terra Rica Mining Company, of Pinal, are from two to 
four feet in width, and assay from $50 to $100 per ton. 

The Silver Queen is about two miles south of the King. It is 
the first location in the camp, and carries silver and copper. The 
Wanna Whatta adjoins the Queen. It is opened by several 
shafts and tunnels, and has produced a great deal of ore that has 
yielded $400 p^r ton. The Athens is north of the King, and 
has produced some of the richest ore ever taken out of the dis- 
trict. The Copper Top adjoins the Silver Queen. It has a 
shaft 200 feet. The Web-foot adjoins the Wanna Whatta, and 
shows a five-foot vein of galena that yields $30 per ton. There 
are scores of other claims within a radius of three miles from the 
King, showing some development, good ore, and well worthy 
of mention here. 

Some ten miles south of the King, at the Hastings camp, are 
a group of mines upon which considerable work has been done. 
The Surpriser has been opened by a tunnel 800 feet in length, 
and by several shafts. A fine twenty-stamp mill was erected on 
the property, but, owing to some misunderstanding among the 
members of the company, the property is lying idle. The Gem, 
adjoining the Surpriser, has a ten-stamp mill, and has been 
opened by several shafts and tunnels, but it is also idle. The 
Arco, Lewis, Queen Creek and many other claims are in this 
section. A great deal of work has been done, and some very 
rich ore taken from them. 

About five miles south of Pinal are a group of mines that are 
looking extremely well. The Savage, Emma, Hope, and Hayes, 
are the most prominent. The first named has produced ore 
that has gone $800 per ton. The Continental group are situated 
about six miles from Pinal on the road to P'lorence, and embrace 
the Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australia. They are all 
on one immense ledge which stretches across the country for 
several miles. This vein will average over six feet wide and is 
thoroughly mineralized. The ore is mostly free milling, but 
there is, also, considerable galena. Two parallel veins run along 
on either side of the main ledge and unite with it at the south- 



MINES AND MINING. II5 

crn end. This massive vein, which seems to be the mother lode 
of the couni-ry, has been explored by several shallow shafts and 
short tunnels, and wherever opened shows a strong vein of good 
ore. The formation of this portion of the district is mica shist 
and talcose slate. Happy Camp is situated about three miles 
northeast of Pinal. The veins which are found in granite and 
quartzite are small but rich. 

Rodgers district is in the Superstition range twelve miles 
north of Pinal. There is abundance of wood and water, and 
while the ledges are not large the ore is a rich carbonate. The 
World Beater is the principal ledge, and has produced ore that 
yielded $i,63D per ton. A small furnace has been erected on this 
property, and is now turning out considerable bullion. Coles 
district is to the west of the Rodgers camp, in the same range. 
It is a beautiful country, and its ledges are producing very rich 
carbonate ores. Box Caiion camp is six miles south.vest of 
Pinal. It has some fine-looking properties, the Bruiser being 
the principal vein. It shows a six-foot vein of galena worth $30 
per ton, silver. 

Belle Air Dlstrict, is situated about fifteen miles east of 
Florence, and about six miles north of the Gila river. The for- 
mation is porphyry, and the ore is a galena and carbonate of 
lead, carrying silver. The veins are large and there is abund- 
ance of water and wood at the river. The Silver Belle and 
Columbia are the principal mines of the camp. Both claims 
are situated on a steep mountain and are worked by adit levels. 
The Belle shows an ore body thirty feet wide, galena and car- 
bonates. It is opened by a 300-foot tunnel which taps the vein at 
a depth of 225 feet. From this level a winze has been sunk 100 
feet to connect with the Columbia. Over 5,000 tons have already 
been taken from this mine, which has yielded over $160,000. 
The Columbia joins the Belle, and is opened by a tunnel 200 
feet in length. It is fully as large a vein as the former, and car- 
ries ore of the same character and equally as rich. 

These properties are owned by the Pinal Consolidated 
Mining Company, who have erected a water-jacket furnace of 
twenty tons capacity at Butte, on the Gila, six miles from the 
mines. Here, the ores are run into base bullion, worth $250 in 
silver, which is shipped to San Francisco. The works are com- 
plete in all respects, and include five large kilns for the burning 
of charcoal. 0.fi:e3. boarding-houses, etc., have been erected and 
quite a little village has sprung up at Bjtte. The company also 
purchase rich ores from the surrounding camps, and its bullion 
shipments go forward as regularly as clock-work. The Marti- 
nez, Blue-bird, Guild, and many other valuable properties are 
found in Belle Air district. 

Mineral Hill Dlstrict, is situated in the foot-hills of 
the Pinal mountains, fifteen miles from Florence. The Specie Pay 
and the Alice are the principal locations. The former shows a 



Il6 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

vein from five to ten feet in width. The ore is an argentiferous 
galena, and smelts readily. The Specie Pay joins the Alice, 
carries ore of the same character, and shows a ledge fully as 
large. It is opened by a tunnel which taps the vein at a depth 
of 250 feet. Work is now being prosecuted on these mines, and 
some very fine ore is being extracted. The ledges occur in the 
contact between granite and slate. 

Mineral Creek. — This district is about twenty miles east 
of Florence, on a tributary of the Gila. The ores are copper- 
bearing, and the ledges are among the largest and richest in the 
Territory. The Ray Copper Company own the following 
claims : Ray, Copper Bell, Clifton, Copper Bottom, St. Julien, 
Reed, Melrose, Burnside, Esperanza, National, Lily, Ida Bell, 
Tibbets, Monday, Monroe, Bilk and Scorpion. The company 
is an unassessable one, incorporated under the laws of the State 
of New York, with 500,000 shares, with a par value of $10 per 
share. Geo. H. Sargent, of Boston, is president, and Louis 
Zeckendorf, of Tucson, secretary. The mines are near the 
Gila river, and on the line of the proposed narrow-guage rail- 
road from Tucson north, now under course of construction. 

A thirty-ton furnace has been erected on the banks of the 
Gila, and is steadily producing bullion. The work of develop- 
ment is being vigorously pushed on the Ray, Scorpion and Bilk, 
and about forty men are regularly employed. 

The Ray is one of the most remarkable mines in the Terri- 
tory, and appears to be an immense mass of native copper, in a 
formation of decomposed syenite. The mine has been opened 
to a depth of over 100 feet by tunnels and shafts. A cross-cut 
at the fifty-foot level shows the vein to be over thirty feet, con- 
sisting of native copper, oxides and glance, which assay from 
thirty to seventy per cent. Not a pound of waste has yet 
been hoisted, and there is ore enough in sight to supply the 
smelter for two years. The Ray is certainly one of the most 
valuable copper properties in the Territory. 

The Bilk is opened by a 100-foot shaft, and a drift 160 feet. 
The vein is from three to four feet wide, the ore being a carbon- 
ate of copper, averaging eighteen per cent. 

The Scorpion has a shaft 120 feet, and shows a strong vein, 
yielding at the rate of eighteen per cent, copper. But little 
work has been done on the other claims owned by the company, 
but they all show fine surface indications. 

The Keystone, one mile northeast from the Ray, shows large 
croppings of copper ore, sixty feet wide, on the surface. It is 
opened by several cuts and short tunnels. The ore is said to 
average sixteen per cent. The Dreadnought, Burnside, and 
many other very promising claims are located here, and with 
development the camp promises to become one of the largest 
copper producers in Arizona. 

Between Mineral creek and Butte there are a number of fine 



MINES AND MINING. 11/ 

copper properties, the most prominent being the Copper Belle, 
which has lately been sold to an Eastern company, who are now 
prosecuting work upon it. 

Some five miles east of Dripping Springs station, on the road 
to Globe, and near the line of the San Carlos reservation, the 
Tweed copper mine is located. It is a large ledge, carrying 
very high grade, and although but little work has been done, it 
promises to become one of the leading copper properties of the 
county. 

In Saddle mountain district, near the junction of the Gila and 
San Pedro, are some large silver-bearing ledges, on which con- 
siderable work has been done. There is an abundance of wood 
and water in this camp, and the climate is delightful. The veins 
are from two to four feet wide, and assay all the way from $50 
to $500 per ton. 

Bunker Hill District contains some very fine copper 
properties. The Kentucky Giant has a tunnel over 100 feet, and 
a shaft 50 feet. The formation is porphyry, granite and lime. 
The ore body is large and will average from 15 to 20 per cent. 
The ore is a carbonate of copper, and is found associated with 
iron in large quantities. 

The Owl Heads camp is thirteen miles north of Red Rock 
station, on the Southern Pacific railroad. The formation is 
porphyry and syenite. The ledges are well-defined and crop 
out strongly on the surface. Water is found in springs, and 
mesquite and palo verde grow on the hillsides. The Jessie Ben- 
ton is the principal mine. It is opened by a shaft 100 feet in 
depth, and shows a vein of chloride ore, two feet wide, which 
yields 200 ounces to the ton. The Desert adjoins the Jessie 
Benton, carries the same character of ore, and is opened by sev- 
eral shafts and tunnels. These properties are owned by the 
Jessie Benton Mining Company, who have erected a five-stamp 
mill, and are making regular shipments of bullion. There are a 
number of fine-looking prospects in this camp which are idle at 
present. 

Casa Grande District. — This district is twenty miles south 
from Casa Grande station, on the Southern Pacific railroad. The 
principal mine is the Vekol. It was discovered by a Papago In- 
dian, and has produced remarkably rich chloride ore. There is no 
regular vein, the ore being found in the chambers and caves of 
a limestone hill. Three tunnels have been driven into this hill, 
the longest being over 300 feet, and from these tunnels cross- 
cuts have been run in all directions, so that the hill is literally 
honeycombed in the search for the ore. For a distance of 600 
feet along the length of the location, and for 300 feet in width, 
ore is found in streaks of from three inches to eight feet wide. 
The ore bodies have been tapped by a winze from the main tun- 
nel, 1 50 feet below the surface. In fact, wherever opened, rich 
rock has been discovered. The ore is a chloride, containing 



Il8 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

large nuggets of metallic silver. It is assorted, and the richest 
shipped to the Pinal smelter. Since the opening of the mine 3CO 
tons have been worked, and have yielded at the rate of 250 
ounces per ton. There are now over 3,coo tons on the dumps, 
which is estimated at $50 per ton. The property has paid its way 
from the start, and with reduction works on the ground would 
become one of the leading bullion producers of the county. The 
entire hill seems to be one immense bed of ore, whose length, 
breadth or depth has not yet been determined. Abundance of 
water is found one mile from the mine, and there is wood suffi- 
cient for all purposes on the surrounding hills. 

Six miles south of the Vckol there is a group of copper ledges, 
the principal claims being the Coporosity and Welshman. A 
forty-foot shaft has been sunk on the Welshman, and a cross- 
cut made, exposing a body of ore nearly twenty feet wide, rich 
in oxides, carbonates and glance. This vein, it is claimed, will 
go eighteen per cent, copper, and it is certainly one of the finest 
copper prospects in the Territory. 1 he Little Chief, Silver 
Monarch and White Flag, and several other large copper and 
silver bearing ledges, are in this neighborhood. 

The Reward copper claim is in a spur of the Vckol range, and 
some six miles east of that mine. It shows large croppings on 
the surface, and has been opened by a tunnel 175 feet in length. 
Large bodies of ore are on the dump, and the ledge is a strong 
one. It is owned by a Boston company, who are doing work on 
a well in order to secure a water supply. The ore carries large 
quantities of iron. 

The Jack Rabbit is ten miles east of the Vekol, in one of the 
isolated ranges which cross this country in every direction. The 
vein is found in contact between lime and porphyry, is small but 
exceedingly rich. The average of the shipments to the Pinal 
smelter is over 300 ounces to the ton. The deepest shaft is 
ninety feet. The claim has paid its way since its discovery, and 
is emphatically a poor man's mine. The Silver Bell, Providence, 
Pacific, and scores of other very promising claims are in this re- 
gion, which is known as the Papago county. Water is some- 
what scarce, but an abundant supply can be had by sinking. 
They are easy of access, convenient to the railway, and a large 
and prosperous camp will yet spring up here. 

Gila county, the smallest political division of the Territory 
has long been famous, both at home and abroad, for the rich- 
ness of its ores. It is one of the most thoroughly mineralized 
regions of Arizona, and every hill and mountain within its 
borders is crossed and seamed with ledges of gold, silver, 
copper, iron and various other minerals. With the Salt river 
flowing through it on the north, and the Gila wa.shing its south- 
ern border, it is as well provided with a water supply as any county 
in Arizona. The masses of native silver, which have been found 
in Gila have been equaled only by those famous Planchas de 



MINES AND MINING. II9 

Plata of the early days. For years it has been one of the lead- 
ing bullion producers of the Territory, the output for 1882 
being over $500,000. Its isolated situation, and the cost of ma- 
terial and supplies of all kinds, have been a serious hindrance 
to its advancement. Wilcox, the nearest point on the Southern 
Pacific, is 120 miles from Globe, and over this long distance 
everything has to be hauled in wagons. 

But the projected railroad from Winslow to Benson will pass 
through the heart of the county, and open up as rich a mineral 
region as can be found in North America. Gila was once the 
retreat of the Pinal Apaches, who guarded long and well the 
treasures of their mountain home. Many attempts were made 
to penetrate it, and as early as 1871, an expedition numbering 
300 men, under the lead of the then Governor of the Territory, 
explored a portion of this region, but as the quest was for placer 
gold, they discovered none of the rich silver Icdes over which 
they passed. The first location made in the county wis the 
Globe copper ledge, found by the men who were searching for 
the Silver King. The discovery of the famous Stonewall Jack- 
son, and the silver nuggets in Richmond basin in 1875, led to 
the organization of the Globe district, and the establishment of 
the town which bears that name. At that time the large por- 
tion of the district was within the lines of the San Carlos reser- 
vation, and even now, some of the richest mineral lands of the 
county are set apart for the use of those savages. 

The geological structure of the county is made up principally 
of granites, porphyry, and slates. Limestone occurs in many 
places, and there are also masses of conglomerates and lava 
rock, which would indicate volcanic action at some remote period. 
Of wood there is an abundant supply in the Pinal mountains, 
and in the spurs and detached ranges along the Salt river. The 
ores of the county are noted for their high grade and variety of 
mineral combinations. In the Pinal mountains the silver ores 
are generally a sulphuret, requiring to be roasted. In the vicin- 
ity of Globe, Richmond Basin and McMillenville, they are a 
chloride, and easily worked by the wet process. The wonderful 
richness of the ores shipped from the Globe camp in the early 
days of its discovery created a furor all over the coast. Tons 
and tens of tons, sent to San Francisco, went from $1,000 to 
$20,000 per ton, and the magnificent specimens of native silver 
from the Stonewall have scarcely ever been excelled. 

Until two years ago, very little attention was paid to copper 
mining in Gila county. Now it leads gold and silver in the 
value of its product and the amount of capital invested. The 
copper ores of this portion of Arizona are found to be remark- 
ably rich, extensive, and easily reduced. Four smelters, with a 
combined capacity of nearly 300 tons daily, have been erected, 
and it is estimated the yield for 1882 was nearly 4,000,000 pounds. 
But the cost of coke and other supplies has greatly retarded this 



120 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

'development, and none but high grade ores can be worked to a 
profit. Coke, shipped from Cardiff, Wales, costs, delivered at 
the furnaces, $65 per ton. Owing to this state of affairs, three 
of the furnaces have stopped, preferring to wait until freights are 
reduced to a more reasonable figure, before working their ores. 
When that time comes, and appearances indicate that it is not 
far off, the Globe country will be one of the great copper-pro- 
iducing sections of the Territory. As near as can be ascertained 
this copper belt is over eight miles in length, and over a mile in 
width. The ore bodies within this area, occur in veins and in 
•^immense deposits, and are generally found between lime and 
•syenite. They are mostly carbonates, oxides and copper glance. 
Some of them are silicious, but there is abundance of fluxing 
material in the neighborhood. 

Owing to a variety of causes, principally its remoteness from a 
railroad, the silver mines of the county have not made very rapid 
advancement. The rich surface ores having been exhausted, 
those of a lower grade cannot be worked under the present 
■conditions with any profit to the owners. Where everything 
that has to be used or consumed costs so high, silver ores below 
.$50 per ton are practically valueless. There are scores of 
mines with this grade of ore all over Gila county now lying 
idle, awaiting the time when cheap and rapid transportation 
shall solve the problem, and give their owners a chance to 
realize some profit from the woking of them. 

The Construction and Development Company of the pro- 
posed Mineral Belt railroad have under contemplation the 
•erection of immense reduction works on the Salt river, to be 
driven by the abundant water-power of that stream. If this is 
done, there are hundreds of mines in the county carrying large 
bodies of low grade ores which can be successfully worked, and 
the stream of silver bullion whidi will flow out of Gila county 
will be larger than at any time in its history. 

But little deep mining has yet been done in Globe district, 
and with few exceptions the development is confined to mere 
■surface-.scratching. The Mack Morris mine, in Richmond 
basin, about fourteen miles north of Globe, has been sunk upon 
to a depth of 800 feet, and has produced over $700,000. The 
surface ores of this mine were wonderfully rich. A ten-stamp 
mill is kept running steadily on Pinal creek, five miles away. 
In this basin, situated on the western slope of the Apache 
mountains, were found the nuggets of silver which attracted 
thousands to the Globe country in early days. It is calculated 
that nearly $100,000 in pure silver was picked up on the surface, 
and a few feet below it. The Silver Nugget, so called from the 
planchas, which were found a short distance from it, has pro- 
duced some rich ore. The East and West Richmond are strong 
veins, carrying low grade ores, which, with the coming of a rail- 
road, can be made to pay handsomely. There are 'many other 



MINES AND MINING. 121 

promising properties in this part of the district which are not 
being worked at present. 

McMlLLENVlLLE. — This camp is twenty miles north of Globe, 
and eleven miles south of Salt river. The famous Stonewall, 
mine is located here. This was the richest discovery ever made 
in the district, and at one time shipped to San Francisco nine 
tons of ore which yielded nearly $200,000 ! This rich ore, two- 
thirds native silver, came from a small vein which entered the 
main ledge at nearly right angles. Portions of this vein, three 
and four inches wide, were actually pure silver. The Stone- 
wall ledge is an immense fissure which cuts across the country 
for several miles. It has been developed to a depth of 700 feet, 
and the work sinking is still going on. The Democrat and the 
Little Mack are on another spur which enters the main vein. 
They were extremely rich near the surface and produced over 
$100,000 in native silver. A little five-stamp mill has been 
erected on this vein which it is said has produced over $300,000. 

The Hannibal, Washington and R. E. Lee are on the Stone- 
wall ledge, and have been developed to a considerable extent. 
The country north, east and west of the town of Globe is a per- 
fect net-work of veins. Many of them are small but extremely 
rich, and have produced a great deal of high grade ore. Several 
of them are also large and strong ore bodies of medium grade, 
which cannot now be worked owing to the cost of material. 
Careful estimates show that there is now on the dumps of mines 
in the district 6,000 tons of ore that will work from $40 to $50 
per ton, and the quantity in sight in stopes, drifts, and tunnels 
is almost unlimited. 

Many of the small, rich veins are being worked by poor 
miners, who ship their ores or have them reduced at some of the 
mills. These "chloriders" earn good wages by this method, but 
are careless about making any systematic development. The 
Silver Fame is one of the richest of these veins, its ores being 
pure chlorides and sulphides, It is opened by a shaft and sev- 
eral tunnels, and has already produced several thousand dollars. 
What is known as the Tidwell claim, near the Chrome mine, is 
also turning out a great deal of bullion. A five-stamp mill has 
been erected, and is running steadily. 

The Irene is a strong vein, and is opened by a shaft 300 feet 
deep. The shaft shows four feet of ledge matter, which has 
yielded $100 per ton. The Stonewall No. i is a ledge that 
crops in places twenty feet above the surface. It carries some 
rich chloride ore, and is opened by a shaft lOO feet in depth. 
The California has two feet of $50 ore, and is opened by several 
shafts and tunnels. The Miami has produced over $30,000. 
The Golden Eagle has yielded over $80,000. It is thoroughly 
opened by shafts and tunnels. A ten-stamp mill has been 
erected on Pinal creek to work the ores from this mine, some of 
which have gone as high as $5,000 per ton. The Centralia 



122 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Emeline, Champion, Chromo, Townsend, Independence, Anna, 
Cox and Copcland, Blue-bird, Buckeye, Empire, Imperial, Res- 
cue, McCormick, and scores of other claims are in the immedi-. 
ate vicinity of Globe. Many of them show considerable de- 
velopment, and nearly all of them have produced rich ores. The 
prospect of the speedy completion of a railroad has caused a re- 
newal of work on many of them, and a great deal of ore is being 
piled up awaiting^ the time when cheaper milling and mining 
will make it profitable to reduce it. 

Pioneer District. — South from Globe, on the southern 
slope of the Pinal mountains, a lively mining camp has sprung 
up, and a great many discoveries have been made. Wood and 
water is abundant in this region, and the ores are of a high 
grade. Two mills have been erected, one of five and the other 
of ten stamps, with roasters attached, the ores being mainly sul- 
phurets. The formiation is a granite and porphyry, the ledges 
being strong and compact. The Pioneer, South Pioneer and 
Howard are the leading mines. Work is being prosecuted 
steadily, and the properties are thoroughly opened by shafts, 
tunnels and levels. We have been unable to get any definite 
information in relation to the grade, and the amount of bullion 
produced. The claims are owned by incorporated companies, 
Tlie Howard and the Pioneer are at present producing bullion, 
and the mines are said to be looking well. There are many 
claims in Pioneer district which show good-sized veins and some 
high grade ore, but few of them are being worked at present. 

The Globe copper mine, the first location in the district, is 
about one mile north of the town. The ledge shows immense crop- 
pings on the surface, and is opened by two shafts — 320 and lOO 
feet respectively. There is an incline 150 feet deep. At a depth 
of 200 feet a level has been run on the ore body, and connec- 
tions made with all the shafts. Two cross-cuts have been made, 
which show the mass of ore to be 186 feet in width. The foot- 
wall of this great deposit is syenite, the hanging-wall lime. The 
foot-wall is smooth and well-defined, and maintains its regularity 
all the way. The ore is a red and brown o.xide, mi.xed with car- 
bonates, and carries sufficient lime and iron to make it self- 
flu. xing. 

The total output of ore up to June, 1883, has been 12,000 
tons, and the average grade has been 15^/^ per cent. Tlie daily 
output at the present time is 100 tons of ore, which could be 
readily doubled if necessary. It is estimated there is now 
opened up and in sight, 20,000 tons of ore not including 
the immense outcrop which carries from 3 to 10 per cent, 
copper. The strike of the vein is to the south, and its pitch 
about 35°. 

A quarter of a mile from the mine, on Pinal creek, the 
Company have erected three water-jacket furnaces, with a com- 
bined capacity of 150 tons, daily. Two furnaces are in opera- 



MINES AND MINING. I23 

tion constantly, one being kept in reserve. English coke is used, 
and the bullion produced is 98 per cent. fine. 

The works have been in operation since June, 1882, and have 
produced up to June, 1883, 2,000 tons of copper. The company- 
is known as the Old Dominion Copper Company, and is in- 
corporated under the laws of the State of New York. Like all 
the other copper companies operating in this camp, the great 
cost of fuel and supplies is a serious obstacle to the successful 
working of the property; and if it were not that the ores carry 
their own fluxes and were of a high grade, they could not be 
made to pay under the present condition of things. With a 
railroad to the camp, the Old Dominion will become one of 
the great copper producers of the United States. 

The ore supply seems inexhaustible, and it appears to steadily 
improve as depth is reached. Besides the Globe ledge the com- 
pany own the Old Dominion, about two miles down Pinal creek, 
and also the Keystone. Those claims have produced over 1,000 
tons of ore which has yielded from twenty to twenty-five per 
cent. The company have another group of mines about five 
miles west of Globe, from which over 500 tons of ore have been 
taken, which has averaged eighteen per cent. 

The Tacoma Copper Company own the Tacoma, Big 
Johnny, and O'Doherty, situated about two and a half miles 
northwest of Globe. The first named is opened by two shafts 
and a tunnel. Shaft No. i is down 140 feet, and shaft No. 2 
200 feet. The tunnel is in 220 feet. The shafts are 700 feet 
apart, and it is designed to connect them with levels which are 
now being run. The ledge will average four feet wide, and car- 
ries oxides, carbonates, and some very rich copper glance. Some 
of the latter has yielded as high as fifty per cent. The Big 
Johnny and the O'Doherty are also well-defined veins, showing 
very high grade ore. The company have leased a smelter of 
sixty tons daily capacity, situated on Pinal creek. The ore re- 
quires a considerable admixture of iron and lime to smelt it. 
Owing to the high rates on freight the company have suspended 
operations at the furnace for the present, but the work of de- 
velopment goes on in the mine. 

The Buffalo and Mark Twain are situated north of the Globe 
ledge, and are supposed to be a continuation of the same vein. 
On the Buffalo a tunnel has been driven 800 feet, which taps 
the ore 150 feet below the croppings. The ledge is found be- 
tween lime and quartzite, has all the marks of a regular lode, 
and runs from four to fifteen feet in width. The ore is com- 
posed of carbonates', silicates, and oxides, and averages from 
twelve to fifteen per cent. To be smelted it requires a flux of 
iron and lime. A water-jacket, with a capacity of thirty tons, 
has been erected on Pinal creek to work the ores from this 
mine. It has produced 600,000 pounds of copper, ninety-eight 
per cent. fine. Owing to the cost of transportation it has been 



124 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

compelled to shut down. The Buffalo is one of the finest prop- 
erties in Globe district, and under favorable conditions will be- 
come one of its leading copper producers. 

The Long Island Copper Company is another Eastern incor- 
poration, operating in Globe. It has put up a smelter some 
distance below the town, and turned out some bullion, but 
owing to the heavy tariff on freights, has been compelled to sus- 
pend. Its mines are situated near the town, but no data in re- 
gard to them was obtained. The copper interests of Globe 
district are yet in their infancy, but enough has been done to 
show they are among the richest in the Territory. With direct 
railroad connection, their output promises to be enormous. If 
there were no other resources to be developed, these mines alone 
would be a sufficient inducement for the construction of the 
road. 

The county of Mohave is pre-eminently a mining region. 
Every mountain range within its borders contains mineral. Its 
agricultural lands are limited, and mining and grazing must 
always be the leading industries of its people. Gold, silver and 
copper abound in its hills and mountains. The geological for- 
mation of the county is composed, mainly, of primitive rocks; 
the ledges are clearly defined, and the ores of a high grade. 
There is abundance of wood for the reduction of ore, and where 
water is scarce at the surface, a supply can always be had by 
sinking. The ores of Mohave county carry many metallic com- 
binations, and generally require roasting before the precious 
metals can be extracted. In the southern part of the county 
free-milling, silver ores are sometimes encountered, but they 
change into sulphurets at a short distance below the surface. 

'i he history of mming in Mohave, by Americans, begins in 
1858. In that year a party of prospectors explored a portion 
of this region, but it does not appear that they made any loca- 
tions or done any work, their search being for placer gold. In 
1863, a portion of that swarm who were drawn to Arizona by 
the discovery of the gold deposits, at La Paz, drifted into Mo- 
have county. Many locations were made, and a great deal of 
work was done. The hostility of the Hualapai Indians, who were 
then on the war-path, prevented any real development. These 
savages attacked small prospecting parties, wherever the oppor- 
tunity presented itself, and several miners were killed, while at 
work in their shafts, and their bones left to moulder in the 
graves which they had dug for themselves. In 1871 began the 
work of steady development in Mohave, and since then mining 
has been prosecuted with varying success tJiroughout the county. 
Several mills and furnaces have been put up, and a large amount 
of bullion has been shipped from the country. A great many 
mines have been opened, and the richness and extent of the 
mineral belt fully demonstrated. 

But Mohave county, like all other portions of the Territory, 



MINES AND MINING. 12 5 

has had to struggle against many disadvantages. First among 
these drawbacks was the cost of material and supplies. Isolated 
and cut off from the outside world, its only means of communi- 
cation was by the slow and uncertain route of the Colorado river. 
For years, nearly everything used or consumed in the county 
was shipped by water from San Francisco to the mouth of the 
Colorado then transferred to light-draft boats and brought up 
the river. By this tedious mode of communication, goods and 
material were sometimes months in transit, and the cost, when 
delivered at the different camps, was simply enormous. For 
years a poimd of flour, bacon, sugar or coffee, was worth from 
seventy-five cents to $i ; and powder, steel, and all other mining 
material in like proportion. 

The want of reduction works necessitated the shipping of ores 
to San Francisco, and so heavy were the freight charges that 
scarcely any profit was left to the miner on ore that would not 
go over $500 per ton. Under these adverse conditions it is no 
surprise that mining in Mohave county has made slow progress, 
or that capital has not sought investment within her borders. 
Yet despite every obstacle and drawback which her remote situ- 
ation naturally entailed, the faith of those who thoroughly un- 
derstand her great mineral resources has never wavered, and 
with an energy and perseverance which no failures or disap- 
pointments could dampen, they have waited patiently for the 
dawn of that brighter day when Mohave should take her place 
as one of the leading bullion producers of the Territory. 

Their years of weary waiting are over at last, and the com- 
pletion of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad heralds the dawn for 
the mining interests of this portion of the Territory. This road 
passes through the heart of the richest mineral regions of the 
county, gives them direct communication with the centers of 
capital, east and west, and men of means are no longer com- 
pelled to travel hundred of miles by buckboard to visit and 
inspect a mining property. This railroad will prove of incal- 
culable benefit to the mines of Mohave, and hundreds of claims, 
which for years have lain dormant, will awaken to new life and 
activity under the quickening impulse of cheap and rapid trans- 
portation. The thousands of tons of low-grade ores found in 
every district of the county, will have a value, and the work of 
development will be stimulated and encouraged by the cheapen- 
ing of supplies and material. 

Capital will seek investment in a region long famous for the 
richness of its ores, blessed with so admirable a climate, and 
possessed of such perfect railroad facilities. The " boom " for 
this part of the Territory, so long delayed, is near at hand, and 
the county will, in a short time, become one of the foremost 
mining regions of the Territory. Already the signs of renewed 
activity are visible all along the line, and the sound of the pick 
and the drill is heard in many a camp where undisturbed 
solitude has reigned for years. 



126 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

HUALAPAI District. — This district, which includes the town 
of Mineral Park, is situated in the Cerbat range, about thirty- 
five miles east of the Colorado river. The Atlantic and Pacific 
railroad passes down the valley on the east of the range, and 
the different camps are from ten to fifteen miles distant. There 
is an abundance of wood for milling purposes, and in nearly all 
the principal veins water is found as depth is reached. The 
formation of the district is generally a granite and a porphyry. 
The ore is of high grade, and the veins compact and regular. 
The Lone Star, near Mineral Park, has been opened to a depth 
of 200 feet, and has produced $75,000. The ore is a sulphurct, 
and very rich. The vein is small but regular. The Keystone, 
in the same neighborhood, is a ledge of a similar character. It 
has been opened by several shafts, the deepest being 250 feet. 
The ore has worked $100 per ton, and it is said the mine has 
yielded over $100,000. The F"airfield is on the sanie vein as 
the Kevstone. It has been opened by a tunnel over 1,200 feet 
in length. The Ithaca, southeast from the Keystone, shows a 
ledge two feet wide, from which has been taken chloride ore 
that has gone $70 per ton. It is opened by several shafts, 
drifts and tunnels, and has produced more than $15,000. These, 
and many other valuable claims, are in the vicinity of Mineral 
Park. About four miles north from the Park is the camp of 
Chloride, which has yielded a great deal of rich ore. The 
Connor shows a two-foot vein that has assayed $100 per ton. 
It is opened by a 100-foot shaft, and has produced $20,000. 
The Donohue and the Rodgers, very promising properties, are 
opened by several shafts, and have turned out more than 
$18,000 each. The Empire carries rich sulphurets, and has pro- 
duced some $10,000. The Valley View is a large vein, from 
four to eight feet wide, with an ore body that averages $40 per 
ton. The Schenectady, San Antonio, and many other fine pros- 
pects are in this camp, which is well worthy of inspection by 
those seeking mining investments. 

Todd's Basin is south of Mineral Park about four miles. There 
are a number of fine-looking properties which show only a 
limited amount of development. Among them may be men- 
tioned the Oro Plata, with a tunnel over 100 feet, and a four- 
foot vein of milling ore going about $50 per ton. The Todd is 
a foot-ledge, carrying sulphurets worth $5o per ton. The Pay- 
master is a fine-looking property; the vein being three feet in 
width, and the assay value $60 per ton. The veins in this camp 
are large, and have every mark of permanency. 

Cerbat camp is seven miles south of Mineral Park. The ores 
are of high grade, the ledges are regular, and well-defined, and 
there is sufficient wood and water for their reduction. The 
camp has produced a great deal of bullion, but its isolated posi- 
tion has brought mining almost to a standstill. Now that the 
railroad is completed the work of development is being renewed, 



MINES AND MINING. 12/ 

and Cerbat promises to become one of the liveliest camps in 
Mohave. It would occupy too much space to mention all the 
meritorious properties located here, therefore allusion can only 
be made to a few of the most prominent. The Fontenoy has 
produced over $30,000. It h^s been opened by two shafts, one 
being over lOO feet. The vein is two feet wide, and assays $[0O 
per ton. The Cerbat is a strong vein of sulphuret ore and has 
yielded over $25,000. It is opened by several shafts. 

The Seventy-eight carries some very rich chloride ore. The 
mine has produced nearly $300,000, the average of the ore ship- 
ped to San Francisco has been $350 per ton. The claim is 
more thoroughly developed than any in the camp, showing more 
than 1,000 fejt of shafts and tunnels. The Flores carries gold 
and silver, and has yielded over $40,000 from the arastra pro- 
cess. It is opened by 300 feet of shafting and tunneling. The 
Black and Tan is opened by a 250-foot shaft. It shows a two- 
foot vein and has yielded over $25,000. The Silver, Vanderbilt, 
New London, Bay State, and Tulare are all fine prospects. 
Cerbat has paid its way from the start. Nearly all the ores 
taken out have been shipped to San Francisco by poor miners, 
who had no capital except muscle and determination. 

Stockton is three miles east of Cerbat, on the wooded slopes 
of the range above the wide Hualapai valley. It has a delight- 
ful situation, and is not over seven miles from the railroad. The 
veins' are silver-bearing and the formation granitic. There is 
plenty of wood, and no scarcity of water. As in Cerbat, the 
ores from this camp have been'shipped to San Francisco, there 
being no reduction works in the vicinity. Some of the ship- 
ments have been marvelously rich, and it is estimated the Cupel 
has produced $1 50,000, by this mode of working. It shows a two- 
foot ledge, and is opened by 500 feet of shafts and drifts. The 
Little Chief is a small but very rich vein. The ore shipments 
from this claim have gone from $400 to $1,200 per ton, and the 
total yield has been over $50,000. The Tigress shows an 
eighteen inch vein, that assays over $100 per ton. It has yield- 
ed more than $25,000. The Prince George, IXL, Infallible, 
Silver Monster, and dozens of other encouraging prospects are 
met with here. 

Maynard Distrect is in the Hualapai range on the east 
side of the Hualapai valley, through which the Atlantic & 
Pacific Railroad passes. The mountains are covered with a 
heavy growth of pine, o-^k and juniper timber, and the water 
supply is abundant. The ores are a sulphuret, and of high 
grade. The American F"lag is opened by over 2,500 feet of 
shafts, drifts and tunnels. It has produced over $80,000 from 
ore shipped to San Francisco. The vein is not large, but the 
product is very rich. The Dean is a large ledge carrying 
sulphuret ore. It is opened by 600 feet of tunnels and 200 feet 
of shafting. The Antelope is also a strong ledge, averaging 



128 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

four feet in width, and opened by 400 feet of shafting. It has 
produced $20,000. There are many more fine properties in 
this district, which is only ten miles from the railroad, and has, 
besides its wood and water supply, a perfect climate. 

Hackberry. — This camp is in the Peacock range, about three 
miles from the railroad. The discovery of the Hackberry mine 
attracted a large number of miners and prospectors to this point, 
some years ago, and for a long time it was the most prosperous 
spot in Mohave county. A ten-stamp mill was erected on the 
mine and ran successfully for several years, producing over $300,- 
000. The Hackberry ledge is nearly forty feet wide in a forma- 
tion of granite and porphyry. The pay-streak is confined to 
about eighteen inches, which has averaged $200 per ton. The 
mine is opened by nearly 1,000 feet of shafting. The property 
has been idle for several years, but work has lately been resumed 
and is being pushed forward with a large force of men. The 
mine has long been considered one of the leading properties of 
Mohave, and under proper management will again become a 
regular bullion producer. The Hester and the Hackberry South 
are extensions, and have produced over $30,000. 

Gold Basin is some forty miles north of Mineral park. The 
ledges are large, gold-bearing dykes, the ores being of a high 
grade and free from base surroundings. A five-stamp mill has 
been put up in the district and has turned out a considerable 
amount of bullion. Water is scarce, but an abundant supply 
can be had at the Colorado, some thirty miles away. A narrow- 
gauge road from the mines to the river has been projected and 
will doubtless be built. The supply of ore seems inexhaustible, 
and with cheap facilities for reducing it. Gold Basin will become 
one of the most productive camps in the Territory. The North- 
ern Belle, Golden Rule, El Dorado and Indian Boy, are among 
the principal claims. 

Owens District. — This district is situated in the southern 
part of the county, near the line of Yuma. The discovery of 
the McCracken mine, in the latter part of 1874, created a lively 
excitement, not only in Arizona, but outside of it, and a "rush" 
ensued to this part of the Territory. The McCracken lode> 
which cuts across the country for several miles, is one of the 
great mines of the coast, and wherever opened, shows from five 
to forty feet in width. The ores are mainly chlorides and 
bromides, with some sulphides and galena. In the extent of 
its ore body the mine has few equals on the coast. A large 
amount of work has been done, and the fact demonstrated that 
it is a permanent fissure. For several years the McCracken 
was one of the leading bullion producers of the Territory, and the 
yield during the period of its activity reached $1,000,000 

The property is owned by a San Francisco company, who 
put up two mills, one of twenty, and another of ten stamps. 
The cost of supplies and the heavy charges on freight compelled 




SEE PAGE 37 



SOME NATURAL PRODUCTIONS-"'^ 



CnftFT -UTH-5.F. 



MINES AND MINING. 129 

the owners to suspend operations, and for several years nothing 
has been done. The deepest workings are about 400 feet, the 
vein at that depth showing a large and regular lode. There are 
thousands of tons in sight in this mine and on the dumps, which 
will yield $30 per ton. Now that the railroad lessens the cost 
of material it is expected that work will again be resumed on 
this fine property. East of Owens district, on Burro creek, is 
the Burro mine, a vein over thirty feet wide, and carrying ore 
that assays from $5 to $300 per ton. There is a shaft 250 feet 
and several open cuts. 

San Francisco District is in the Union Pass range, ten 
miles east of the Colorado river. Here is located the famous Moss 
mine, whose extraordinary richness created such an excitement 
some years ago. The noted frontiersman, John Moss, after 
whom the mine is named, was guided to it by a Mohave 
Indian. The mine has produced some magnificient specimens 
of gold quartz, and has yielded over $200,000. It has been 
worked at intervals, since its discovery, in 1863, but no attempt 
at systematic development has been made. Drifts, cross-cuts, 
and coyote holes have been run in search of the rich pockets, 
leaving the larger ore bodies untouched. The ledge will aver- 
age nearly thirty feet in width and is said to yield $10 per ton. 
With such an immense mass of free-milling ore, and with the 
water-power of the Colorado only ten miles distant, this should 
yet become a valuable property. 

Cedar Valley District. — The mining camp of Cedar Val- 
ley is sixty miles east of the Colorado, and about the same dis- 
tance south of Mineral Park. There is a good supply of wood, 
and all the veins carry water. The formation is a granite, the 
ledges being regular and continuous. The ore is a sulphuret of 
silver. A ten-stamp mill has been put up in the district, and 
many of the mines show a large amount of development. 
The camp has produced over $60,000, with very crude and im- 
perfect appliances for ore reduction, and with careful and intel- 
ligent management promises to become a steady shipper of 
bullion. The Hibernia, Hope, Silver Queen, and Bunker Hill 
are the principal mines. 

Pima county is the oldest mining region of the United States, 
and before a pound of ore was worked in any other State or 
Territory of the Union, silver bullion was produced here. At 
what time the first discoveries were made is a matter of con- 
jecture, but it is known that the Jesuit Fathers opened mines in 
this region as early as the latter part of the seventeenth century. 
When the bells of Independence Hall tolled out the immortal 
Declaration, mining was prosecuted with vigor in this remote 
corner of the continent, and in the Baboquivari, the Santa Rita, 
Arivaca and Patagonia, silver bricks were being manufactured 
and many mines worked. On the borders of Pima county were 
found the famous planchas de plata, the largest lumps of the 
9 



130 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

pure metal ever discovered. The causes which brought to an 
ending this prosperous industry in Pima, have already been 
alluded to, and it was not until after the American occupation 
that it began to revive. In 1856, American capital was enlisted 
in the development of the rich silver veins in the Santa Rita 
and Arivaca districts, and the venture was meeting with marked 
success, when the breaking out of the civil war brought the 
enterprise to an abrupt ending. 

For more than ten years thereafter, but little mining was 
attempted in Pima, and it was not until after the hostile Indians 
were placed on reservations, in 1874, that operations were again 
resumed on a scale of any magnitude. The opening of the 
Southern Pacific railroad gave a marked impetus to mining in 
this county and throughout southern Arizona. A large amount 
of capital sought investment, and many valuable claims were 
opened up. Ignorance and dishonesty in the management of 
mining properties have done much to retard the advancement 
of the county, and injured its reputation abroad. But despite 
these drawbacks, the industry is in a healthy condition, and is 
steadily advancing. Gold, silver and copper are found in almost 
every hill and mountain range. 

Outside of the Papago country there is abundance of wood 
and water, and even there a sufficient supply of the latter can 
always be had by sinking. Granite and porphyry are the pre- 
vailing formations, but lime, slate and eruptive rocks occur in 
many places. The ores are of high grade, and the ledges 
generally compact and well-defined. 

Empire District. — This district is seven miles south of 
Pantano station, on the Southern Pacific railroad, and twenty- 
five miles east of Tucson. The ores are found in a formation 
of limestone, and are large and rich. The Total Wreck is the 
leading mine of the camp, and has been one of the foremost 
bullion producers of the Territory. The ore body will average 
six feet wide, and has been opened to a depth of 360 feet by an 
incline shaft, which follows the foot-wall. Levels have been 
run every fifty feet, and a tunnel from the surface taps the shaft 
at a depth of 200 feet. The mine is worked through this 
tunnel. A great deal of stoping has been done, and the mine 
is thoroughly opened by winzes, crosscuts, etc. The ore is a 
chloride, carrying considerable carbonate of lead, manganese 
and iron, the average mill test being about $60 per ton. One 
hundred yards from the hoisting works a fine twenty-stamp 
mill has been erected. It is furnished with all the latest im- 
provements, and has a capacity equal to three and a-half tons 
per stamp, in twenty-four hours. The ore has been worked to 
eighty-four per cent, and the tailings concentrated and saved. 
It is estimated the cost of mining and milling does not exceed 
$8 per ton. Water is brought to the mill from a spring about 
four miles away. At this point a pump has been put in place, 



MINES AND MINING. I3I 

which raises the water 500 feet to a reservoir on the summit of 
a hill, three miles distant. From this reservoir, which overlooks 
the mill, the water is conveyed in pipes. During a run of five 
months the mill produced $450,000. It is now stopped, for 
what cause is not known, as work still goes on in the mine, and 
large ore bodies are in sight. 

The Forty-nine claim is about three miles west of the Total 
Wreck, and on the same lime-belt. It is opened by an incline 
shaft, .116 feet in depth. The vein will average eight feet in 
width. It is of the same character as the Total Wreck. Aver- 
age assays, across the vein, give $40 per ton. The mine is pa- 
tented, and has 350 tons of ore on the dump. The Empire 
shows a good-sized ledge of argentiferous galena. It is also 
patented. 

Arivaca District, is about sixty-five miles .south of Tuc- 
son, and is one of the oldest mining camps in the Territory, hav- 
ing been established long before the settlement of the country by 
the Americans. It has a delightful situation among the rolling, 
grassy hills bordering the valley of La Aribac, has a fine climate, 
and abundance of wood and water. Two or three mills have 
been erected in the district, but for some cause they are not 
running at present. The veins are strong and regular, and the 
ores of a high grade. There has been a good deal of misman- 
agement in this camp, and to this cause more than to anything 
else must be attributed the present condition of affairs. 

The famous Cerro Colorado is about ten miles north of Ari- 
vaca. It was one of the first mines worked by the Americans 
in Arizona, and has produced over $2,000,000. At the breaking 
out of the Civil War the Apaches destroyed the buildings and 
hoisting works, and compelled the abandonment of the prop- 
erty. Large quantities of ore have been stolen from this mine 
by the Mexicans, and it is said the town of Saric, in Sonora, was 
built up on the proceeds of the plunder. There is a large num- 
ber of patented mines in the district, upon which considerable 
development has been done. Among the most prominent are 
the Arizona Consolidated, with a 200-foot shaft; the Arkansas, 
with a shaft 1 50 feet and a four-foot vein of chlorides and sul- 
phurets of silver; the Longarine, assaying $80 per ton, with 
three shafts, the deepest being 100 feet; the Union, a four-foot 
vein of milling ore worth $50 per ton. The Silver Queen is a 
new discovery, and a very encouraging prospect. 

The Albatross is one of the most promising mines in Pima 
county. It has been incorporated under the laws of the State 
of New York, under the name of the Inca Gold and Silver 
Mining Company. The place of business is Tombstone, and 
the directors, L. B. Pomeroy, Alpheus and Robert A. Lewis. 
Several shafts have been sunk on the property, the deepest being 
120 feet, showing an ore body from five to twelve feet in width 
at the bottom. There is an adit level on the vein which con- 



132 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

nects with the shaft at a distance of 195 feet. There are between 
300 and 400 tons of high-grade ore on the dumps. The ore is a 
chloride carrying gold, the average assays being $88 in silver 
and $34 in gold. The owners will soon commence extensive 
developments on this fine property. 

In the Baboquivera range, west of Arivaca, there is a number 
of fine prospects, assaying from $50 to $100 per ton, silver. The 
most promising are the Black Hawk and the Silver Chief 

Org Blanco. — This district is seven miles southeast of 
Arivaca, and contains many good mines. The ores carry silver 
and gold, and there is abundance of wood and water for reduc- 
tion purposes. The San Jose is opened by 400 feet of shafts, 
drifts and tunnels. The ledge is nearly 100 feet wide, the ore 
occurring in seams. Some of this ore has assayed as high as 
$i5,doo in silver per ton. Over $10,000 has already been taken 
out, and the work of development is being pushed steadily. The 
Yellow Jacket has been opened to a depth of 120 feet, showing 
good ore all the way. A cross-cut on the eighty-five foot level 
shows the vein to be twenty-five feet wide. Large quantities of 
ore are in sight, estimated to be worth $15 per ton. The mine 
has produced over $25,000. The Old Stiff has produced lOO 
tons of ore, which yielded at the rate of $100 per ton, at the 
Arivaca mill. As yet but little work has been done on this 
property. The Montana is an immense vein, 100 feet between 
walls, and is opened by several hundred feet of drifts, shafts, etc. 
The St. Patrick has over 100 tons of ore on the dump, worth 
$150 per ton. The Warsaw is a vein from three to four feet 
wide. The ore has worked $So per ton, and the mine has pro- 
duced over $30,000. The Nil Desperandum shows a strong vein 
of free gold, that has yielded $40 per ton. The Ostrich, VVateree, 
Herman, Idaho and California, are all fine prospects. The Orion 
mill, so long idle, is being overhauled and will soon start up on 
the rich ores of this camp. 

Harshaw District. — This district is about seventy miles 
southeast of Tucson, in the Patagonia mountains, and was one 
of the most active camps in the county two years ago. The 
Hermosa mill was then running and the mine being worked. It 
is estimated this property has produced over $700,000. The 
mill is idle at present, but some work is being done in the mine. 
The ledges of this district are large and the ores generally easily 
reduced. Patents have been obtained to the following claims: 
American, Blue Nose, Garfield, Iron Cap, Commonwealth, Cos- 
mopolitan, Salvador and Bluff With plenty of wood and water 
and large bodies of milling ores, Harshaw must again become a 
prosperous camp. 

Washington Camp is nine miles south of Harshaw, and has a 
delightful situation in a heavily-timbered region overlooking the 
valley of the Santa Cruz. The ledges are large, but the ores 
are low grade, carrying a heavy percentage of lead. There is 
abundance of water at the Santa Cruz, four miles away. 



MINES AND MINING. 133 

The Old Mowry Mine is in this neighborhood, and was 
worked extensively before the breaking out of the war, employ- 
ing, it is said, at one time over 400 men. The Apaches de- 
stroyed the buildings and reduction works, and all that remains 
of a once prosperous camp is the tall brick chimney which yet 
stands a monument to the energy and enterprise of Lieut. 
Mowry. A great deal of development has been done here and 
several attempts made to work the ores, but, owing mainly to 
bad management, these ventures have not proved a success. But 
the opening of the Arizona and New Mexican railroad has con- 
siderably lesened the cost of material, and no doubt many of the 
mines now idle will start up. The leading mines are the Davis, 
opened by several shafts, Belmont, San Antonio, Holland, Blue 
Jay, Grasshopper and scores of others. With its water and 
wood facilities and immense veins, this camp should yet become 
a steady bullion producer. 

Papago District. — This district lies southwest of Tucson. 
It contains some large ledges of copper and silver ores, which 
show very encouragingly, as far as developed. The Pichaco 
mine shows a vein four and a half feet \vide, carrying silver, cop- 
per and lead. The Montezuma is a three-foot vein ot copper 
and silver ore. There is a fifty-foot shaft on the property which 
has been patented. The Silver Crown is also a promising prop- 
erty, but has only been developed sufficiently to obtain a pat- 
ent; it carries gold, silver and copper. 

Cababi District, is west of the last-named mines, and em- 
braces a large area of the Papagueria. It has produced some 
exceptionally rich ore, large quantities of which were packed on 
mules to the reduction works in Northern Mexico, before the 
American occupation. The Pichaco mine was worked many 
years ago by Mexicans, and a great deal of high grade ore ex- 
tracted. This ore carries silver and copper, native silver occur- 
ring in considerable quantities. The mine has been opened by 
several shafts, and is now owned by a company who intend to 
put up hoisting works at an early day. The Desert mine has 
been explored to a depth of seventy feet, and shows a strong 
ledge of silver and copper-bearing ore. El Cantivo, Santa To- 
mas, Copeska and Cabriza are in this district, and arc all prom- 
ising prospects. West of this group of mines are the famous 
Ajo copper properties, which were worked extensively in early 
times, and the ores shipped from Port Libertad to San Fran- 
cisco. Those mines have recently changed hands, and it is ex- 
pected that work will soon be resumed. The principal claims 
are the Pinto, Pinto No. 2 and Pinto No. 3, all carrying some of 
the richest copper ore yet found in the Territory. 

Myers District. — This camp is in the heart of the Papago 
country, seventy five miles west of Tucson, and on the line of 
the proposed road to Port Lobos. Some very high grade ore 
has been found, but, outside of the Gunsight, little work 



134 I'^E RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

ihas been done. A shaft has been sunk on this mine to a depth 
'Of 380 feet, when water was encountered. The ore body is 
Jarge, but the grade is not high. A ten-stamp mill has been 
erected on the property, but has not yet started up. The East- 
ern, Silver Girt, Crescent, Glance, Southern Belle and Keystone 
are very flattering prospects, but show very little development. 
On the Burro Burro mine two reverbatory furnaces have just 
.been erected for the working of its ores. 

in Pima district, the prominent mines are the Patterson, Ari- 
zona King, Arizona Queen, San Xavier and Democrat. On the 
San Xavier there are about 300 feet of development. A large 
body of somewhat rebellious ore has been struck, and a smelter 
is now being erected for its reduction. 

Silver Bell District has many fine copper 'properties, 
upon some of which a great deal of work has been done. The 
Young America Copper Company have a twenty-ton smelter, 
which is kept steadily at work, and has already turned out a 
large quantity of bullion. The Blue Coat, Old Boot, Navajo, 
Aztec and Young America have been patented. 

Old Hat District. — This camp is in the northern end of 
the Santa Catalina range, thirty-five miles from Tucson. It has 
an abundant wood and water supply and a charming situation. 
On the Ada a five-stamp mill has been erected, and is producing 
about $10,000 per month. The Bonanza is a large vein opened 
by two tunnels; it carries gold and silver. The Braganza has 
produced ore worth $300 per ton. The Old Hat, Bandit, 
American Flag, Palmetto, Pioneer, Lookout, Black Bear and 
many more are located in this neighborhood. 

The Helvetia camp is on the eastern slope of the Santa Ritas. 
It is well supplied with wood and water, and contains some rich 
placer claims. It has also some large copper deposits, which 
are being worked successfully. On the Omega claim a smelter 
has been erected, and, although in operation but a short time, 
has produced a considerable amount of bullion. The ores are 
high grade and easily reduced. 

Tyndall District. — The mines of this district are situated 
south of the high peaks of the Santa Rita Mountains, sixty miles 
south of Tucson. The mines are favorably located near the 
Santa Cruz river, and there is plenty of wood, close at hand. 
The camp has suffered much from bad management and un- 
scrupulous speculation. The bonanza mines, known as the Day- 
ton, Mills and Tizwin, have shafts from 50 to 100 feet in depth, and 
carry gold, silver and copper. The California claim is a very 
promising property, and shows some magnificent ore. The Con- 
gress of Beauty, Thunderer, Delta, Bradford, Sandwich, Magno- 
lia, North Star and a large number of other promising properties 
arc in this district. A mill is shortly to be erected here, and 
with the abundance of high grade ore will no doubt give satis- 
factory returns. 



MINES AND MINING. 135 

The Aztec district may be considered a continuation of the 
Tyndall. The ore bodies are large and regular, but not so high 
grade. Among the claims deserving mention are the Missouri, 
General Craig, Montezuma, Empress of India, Old Salero Mine, 
Rosario, Toltec, Coronado, Santa Rita and Yuma. 

In the Quijotoa mountains, ninety miles west of Tucson, a 
discovery of rich silver-bearing ledges has lately been made, 
which promise to become very valuable. The formation of the 
mountain is quartz, prophyry and conglomerate. The ore bodies 
are exceptionally large, and assays go into the thousands. A 
working test has been made of several lots, the yield being from 
$300 to $500 per ton. The ore is rich in chloride and silver 
glance. The principal claims are the Wide West, Piper, Ibex, 
Peerless and Crocker. The Emerald is an immense copper de- 
posit, which has been explored a length of 120 feet, and a cross- 
cut run thirty-five feet, and is said to average eighteen per cent., 
copper. There are many other promising properties in this 
neighborhood on which work is now being prosecuted with the 
most encouraging results. Water has been struck at a depth 
of sixteen feet. The minos can be reached over a natural wagon 
road, and there is every indication that a prosperous camp will 
spring up here. 

The history of mining in Yuma county begins with the dis- 
covery of the placers at Gila, twenty-five miles east of the 
Colorado, by Col. Snively, in 1858. The diggings were found 
to be rich, but a scarcity of water has prevented their profitable 
working. The first mining, north of the Gila, by Americans, 
began at La Paz, in this county, in 1862, and has been carried 
on with varying success ever since. From this placer ground, 
and from the dry diggings along the Colorado, it is estimated 
that over $2,000,000 has been taken. With the decline of the 
placers, valuable deposits of silver ores have been found in the 
ranges bordering the Colorado. Many of these discoveries are 
proving to be among the most valuable in the Territory. Gold, 
silver, copper, lead and all the minerals found in other parts of 
Arizona exist in Yuma county ; and on the gravelly mesas 
along the Colorado, beautiful specimens of opal, blood-stone 
and agates are found. In the variety, richness and extent of 
her mineral deposits, Yuma will compare favorably with her 
sister counties, and like them, all that she requires is capital to 
develope them. 

Castle Dome district is situated twenty miles north of 
Yuma, and sixteen miles east of the Colorado, surrounding the 
lofty natural " Dome " after which the range has been named. 
These mines were discovered by the eminent geologist. Prof. 
Blake, in 1863, but, owing to Indian hostilities, work was not 
begun until 1869. Since then they have been sending out 
bullion almost continuously, and have proved to be among the 
most valuable mines in the Territory. Although the grade is low, 



136 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

their proximity to the Colorado and the cheap rates of freight 
to San Francisco, have made them yield a handsome profit. 
These mines have produced over $2,000,000. The formation in 
which they occur is a porphyritic slate, and the matrix is flour- 
spar and talcose slate. The ores are a galena and carbonate of 
lead, carrying about $35 in silver. They are concentrated, 
hauled to the Colorado river, and shipped to San Francisco, 
where they command a good price for their fluxing qualities. 
The principal mines are, the Flora Morrison, Railroad, William 
Penn, Caledonia and Pocahontas. On the Flora Morrison a 
depth of nearly 500 feet has been reached, and a great deal of 
ore taken out. The William Penn, Railroad and Pocahontas 
have also been opened by shafts, averaging 300 feet in depth, 
and by drifts and winzes. Preparations are now being made to 
erect hoisting works, the mines having thus far been operated 
by horse whims. 

The Montezuma district is south of the Castle Dome. 
Although but little work has been done, the veins are shown to 
be large and well-defined, carrying gold, silver and copper. 
There is one main ore channel, with six claims located on it, 
several of which have shafts from thirty to fifty feet deep. 

Silver District. — This is the leading mining camp of Yuma 
county, and was discovered about sixteen years ago. The early 
discoverers abandoned their claims after doing a little work, and 
they remained undisturbed until about five years since. At that 
time George Sills, Neils Johnson, George W. Norton and Gus 
Crawford re-located many abandoned claims, and organized the 
district. Since then many valuable discoveries have been made, 
several important sales consummated, and a great deal of work 
done. The camp is five miles east of the Colorado river, and 
about forty miles above the town of Yuma. The formation in 
which the veins are found is mostly granite and porphyry. The 
surface of the country is covered in many places with volcanic 
debris, and a conical-shaped peak in the northern end of the dis- 
trict has evidently been at one time an active volcano. The 
croppings on nearly every ledge in the camp show the action of 
the fiery flood, while the hills and rugged mountains bear evi- 
dences of the same eruptive agencies. 

The ores are principally carbonates and chlorides. There is 
also considerable argentiferous galena. The ore is found in 
combination with spar and quartz, with large quantities of iron. 
The veins are wide and well-defined, and maintain a regular 
course — northeast by southwest — across the country. Outside 
of Tombstone there is no other district in the Territory that can 
show such immense ore bodies, and few that are so regular and 
continuous. There are four well-defined ore channels in the dis- 
trict, separated by rocky ridges, and known as the Red Cloud, 
the Princess, the Nine Mile and the New York ore channels, 
running parallel, and lying in the order named from the river. 



MINES AND MINING. 137 

The Red Cloud is the principal mine in the ore channel of the 
same name. It shows an immense outcrop, and has been sunk 
upon to a depth of 150 feet. From the croppings over $30,000 
in black metallic silver was taken by the discoverers. This line 
property passed into the hands of an Eastern company, who put 
up a smelter to reduce the ores. The venture proved a failure, 
as the ores cannot be treated by that process. The mitie was 
wretchedly handled, and is now lying idle, a monument to igno- 
rant and incompetent management. But it cannot long remain 
so, for it has intrinsic merit, and will yet become a steady 
bullion producer. 

The Black Rock is south of the Red Cloud, and is another im- 
m.ense dyke, showing a hill ore over 150 feet wide. It has been 
opened by several shafts, one of which is over 450 feet in depth. 
The property is owned by an Eastern company, who paid $135,000 
for it. They put up a furnace on the Colorado, and made an 
effort to smelt, only discovering, after having gone to heavy ex- 
pense, that the ores are milling and not smelting. The property 
is now idle, but there is no reason why it should continue so. 
There is abundance of ore which, with proper treatment, can be 
made to pay. When the mine is conducted by men who thor- 
oughly understand their business, it will become a profitable 
proposition. 

The Iron Cap, Remnant, Silver Glance, Pacific, Nellie Ken- 
yon, and many other locations are on this ore channel. Several 
of them have been opened by shafts from 50 to 200 feet in depth. 
The ore bodies are large, though not of a high grade. With 
proper concentrating works they could all be made to pay hand- 
somely; and, in fact, there is no better opening for such works 
in any district in the Territory. 

The Princess ore channel is about a mile eastward of the Red 
Cloud. The Princess is a fine-looking claim, which has been 
sunk upon to a depth of 100 feet. The Caledonia is down 100 
feet, and carries large quantities of rich galena. The Yuma 
Chief, Hamburg, and many other encouraging prospects, are on 
this channel. 

The Nine Mile channel is about one mile and a half east of 
the last-named ore belt. It embraces the Klara Group and the 
Great Western, Silver Brick, Camel's Teat, Rooster, Mandeville, 
Empire, Klara, No Name, Lost Mine, and many more. These 
claims are all on one immense ledge, which holds a straight 
course across the broken country for miles. The Klara is over 
thirty feet in width, and assays forty ounces to the ton in silver. 
But little development has been done on this great silver belt. 
Every claim thus far sunk upon has improved with depth. 

Still east of the last named group is the New York ore chan- 
nel. The principal mine in this group is the Clip It is opened 
by several cuts and by a tunnel 150 feet, from the end of which 
drifts have been run on the vein. The ledre is from four to six 



138 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

feet wide, and is principally a chloride of silver. A ten-stamp 
mill has been put up on the banks of the Colorado, ten miles 
away, and the ore hauled thither for treatment. Under careful 
management the mill has been a success from the start, and has 
paid handsomely. Work is carried forward steadily, and there 
is no decrease in the size or richness of the ore body. The suc- 
cess achieved by the Clip Company shows what can be done 
with intelligent and economical management. There are a score 
of other mines in Silver district, which only require proper 
handling to make them steady producers of bullion. 

Hacuvar District. — This camp is in the northeastern cor- 
ner of Yuma county, and about sixty miles east of the Colorado. 
The veins are copper, the ore being of a high grade. Water is 
not plentiful, but there is a good supply of wood. Work is being 
carried on in the district on the following mines : Emperor, 
Regent, King, Queen and Prince. As far as developed these 
properties are looking well, and some exceedingly rich ore is 
being taken out. 

Plomosa District, is about thirty-five miles east of Ehren- 
berg. The ledges were discovered in 1862, and are large veins, 
carrying copper and silver. There is plenty of wood in the 
neighborhood of the mines, and v.^ater is only eight miles away. 
The formation is made up of granite, porphyry, slate and lime- 
stone. The Miami shows an immense outcrop running through 
a hill which is seamed with parallel veins. The ore carries silver 
and copper. The Apache Chief has been opened by a shaft 200 
feet, and shows a large ore body. The Pichaco is a very fine 
prospect, and there are many others equally as promising in this 
district. 

Bill Williams Fork. — This is the oldest copper district in 
northern Arizona, and has shipped over 6,000 tons of copper ore 
to San Francisco, which has yielded from twenty to sixty per 
cent. The Planet, the principal mine, was discovered in 1863, 
and has been worked at intervals ever since. The Centennial 
and Challenge are also fine properties. 

Centennial District. — This district is in the eastern por- 
tion of Yuma county, and about sixty miles over a good natural 
road, from Agua Calienta station, on the Southern Pacific rail- 
road. The ledges are principally gold-bearing, but they carry 
silver and copper. The rolling hills in which the mines are 
found are covered with grass, palo verde and mesquite wood, 
and an abundance of water can be had by sinking. The veins 
are large and well-defined in a formation of granite and por- 
phyry. 

The Oro Mining Company expended over $40,000 in putting 
up a mill and opening mines, but their treatment of the ore 
could not save the gold. The Snow-bird is a large vein carrying 
quartz that goes $20 per ton. The Yuma ledge is six feet wide 
and averages $16 in gold. 



MINES AND MINING. 139 

The Socoro, Nabob, Richards, and Eells, Argenta, Last 
Chance, and numerous other claims, show large ore bodies. 

Maricopa county has been looked on as an agricultural and 
not a mining region. While true to some extent, it yet contains 
some of the richest mines in the Territory, and almost every 
mountain range bordering the great Salt river valley is seamed 
with precious metals. There is no county in Arizona which 
offers superior advantages for the prosecution of mining enter- 
prises. The rich valley of the Salt produces in abundance 
everything in the way of provisions, which can be had at reason- 
able prices, and the roads leading to the railroad are among the 
best in the country. 

The Vulture mine is situated in the northeastern portion of 
the county. It is the largest and richest gold mine yet opened 
in Arizona, and has a reputation all over the coast. The mine 
was discovered in 1863, by Henry Wickenburg, and operated 
almost continuously up to 1873, when the work was suspend- 
ed. During these long years of Apache domination, the mine 
shipped over $3,000,000 in gold, and its stamped bars of the 
royal metal were current all over central and northern Arizona. 
It was the only mine in the Territory that kept up the reputa- 
tion of the country abroad, and sent out its regular shipments of 
bullion. But bad management finally caused a stoppage, and 
for years it remained idle. Five years ago, the property passed 
into the hands of the Arizona Central Mining Company, and 
since that time has been worked continuously and profitably. 

The new company brought water in iron pipes from the 
Hassayampa, sixteen miles distant, and have erected an eighty- 
stamp mill at the mine. By this arrangement, large quantities 
of ore which would not pay when the reduction works were at 
Wickenburg, now yield a handsome profit. The ledge crops 
out on a low hill, and has been thoroughly opened by shafts and 
open cuts. A deep pit, excavated on the surface, shows the ore 
body to be nearly 100 feet wide. The vein is enclosed between 
a hanging wall of porphyry and a foot wall of talcose slate. 
The ore is hoisted on cars from an incline shaft, and dumped 
before the batteries. 

With the present appliances it is calculated the ore can be 
extracted and milled for $2.50 per ton. As no information can 
be had from the superintendent, the present yield cannot be 
given, although it is supposed the ore averages from $4 to $5 
per ton. The mill reduces 240 tons every twenty-four hours. 
The Vulture has produced some wonderfully rich gold ore, and 
no doubt will continue to yield for many a year to come. 

Cave Creek. — Thirty miles north from Phoenix in the foot- 
hills of the Verde mountains, there is a group of mines, which give 
promise, at no distant day, of becoming valuable properties. The 
country rock is slate and granite, the ledges are of good size 
and have every appearance of permanency. They carry gold and 
silver. 



I40 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA- 

The Red Rover has a shaft over lOO feet, exposin^r a large 
vein of rich carbonate and chloride ore. Several tons of this ore 
shipped to San Francisco have yielded over $500 per ton. This 
is a very valuable property and negotiations are now pending 
for its sale. 

The Panther Mining Company own the Panther and Carbonate 
Chief. They are both large veins and are opened by several 
shafts and tunnels. The Rackensack, shows a two-foot vein of 
exceedingly rich quartz, and has yielded over $10,000 by the 
arastra process. The Golden Star has had a mill erected on it, 
and has produced over $20,000. The Lion is also a fine pros- 
pect, showing a three-foot vein of quartz from which over 
$10,000 has been taken. The Hunter's Rest, Chico, Maricopa, 
Catherine, and many other very promising claims are to be seen 
in Cave Creek district. 

WiNNiFRED District is about fifteen miles north of 
Phoenix. The ledges are a gold-bearing quartz, and some of 
them have produced very rich ore. A five-stamp mill was erected 
on the Grand Canal to reduce the ores from the Union mine, but 
by some disagreement among the owners, the enterprise was 
abandoned. The rock worked yielded over twenty-five dollars 
per ton, and there is over three feet of it. The Scarlet, Gila 
Monster, Red Dog and San Diego, all show good ore. 

Northeast of Cave creek, on the head of New river, a tribu- 
tary of the Agua Fria, a group of ledges have been lately dis- 
covered, which show remarkably rich ore and promise to become 
valuable. What is known as the Holmes claim is the most 
prominent. It has been opened by two shafts, each 100 feet, 
and shows a strong vein as far as explored. The ore carries sil- 
ver and gold, some of it assaying into the thousands. Those 
claims are supposed to be in Yavapai, near the boundary of 
Maricopa. 

Southwest from the Vulture and not far from the line of the 
Southern Pacific railroad, are a number of copper claims known 
as the "Osborn group." Several of them have been opened by 
shallow shafts and cuts. Wherever the veins are exposed, they 
show rich ore. Their proximity to the railroad will yet make 
these properties valuable. 

Although no important discoveries of gold, silver or copper 
have yet been made in Apache county, it has, what is equally 
as valuable, vast measures of coal. Next to Pennsylvania, there 
is probably no such immense deposit on the continent. This 
coal region embraces the northern division of Apache, and that 
portion of Yavapai north of the Little Colorado. This coal belt 
also extends into New Mexico on the east and Utah on the 
north. It is estimated that the area covered by these great 
beds is equal to half the area of the coal measures of the United 
States. Mr. C. P. Stanton, a competent geologist who visited 
the fields, writes as follows: 



MINES AND MINING. I4I 

"Close to Fort Defiance a vein exists nine feet thick, and it 
seems to possess all the qualities of excellent bituminous coal, 
and to rank next to anthracite for domestic purposes. * * * 
I see no reason why it should not be pre-eminently useful for 
generating steam and for smelting ores. * * * This descrip- 
tion will apply to all the coal in the great Arizona coal basin. 
* * * The next great bed of coal encountered is situated 
about twenty miles northwest from the Moquis villages, and 
close to the northern verge of the Painted Desert. * * * j|- 
is twenty-three feet thick, and boldly crops out for a distance of 
three miles. This coal is close, compact, and close-burning; 
melts and swells in the fire, and runs together, forming a very 
hot fire, and leaves little residium. It resembles, in external ap- 
pearance, the Pennsylvania bituminous coal. * * * The 
trend of the coal-beds is north and south, and overlying this 
great deposit is drab clay, passing up into areno-calcareous grits, 
composed of an aggregation of oyster shells, with numerous 
other fossils which must have existed in this great brackish 
inland sea about the dawn of the tertiary period, probably in the 
eocene age." 

The Atlantic and Pacific railroad passes a few miles south of 
this deposit, in New Mexico, and the company are finding it an 
excellent fuel for their locomotives. But the main belt is nearly 
fifty miles north of their line. The coal in this vast basin is 
practically inexhaustless ; and there is here the motive power to 
supply the mills and furnaces of the United States for ages to 
come. 

On Deer creek a tributary of the Gila, in Pinal county, bitu- 
minous coal of an excellent quality has been discovered. The 
extent of the deposit is about four miles long by two miles wide. 
The veins are from three to eight feet thick. The coal makes 
excellent coke, and for domestic purposes is said to be un- 
equaled. The late survey of the San Carlos reservation brings 
these coal beds within its limits. The work of development has 
been stopped, and the discoverers, who have expended labor and 
money on their claims, have been forcibly dispossessed by 
United States troops, and this valuable property given over to a 
horde of worthless savages. These coal measures will yet be- 
come a necessity for the reduction of ores, and it is not likely 
they will long be allowed to remain misappropriated by a band 
of Indians. 

Large deposits of salt are found in different parts of the Ter- 
ritory. Along the Salt river caflon, in Gila county, there are a 
number of bluffs from which salt oozes through the rocks and 
crystalizes. A small creek, whose waters are heavily impreg- 
nated with salt, flows into the river near those bluffs. It has its 
source in a spring about thl-ee miles north of the stream. The 
river above this point is clear and sweet, but after passing 
through this salt deposit its waters become impregnated with 



142 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

the saline matter and have a brackish taste. This salt is of an 
excellent quality for all domestic purposes, and will no doubt 
yet be utilized for dairjnng and stock-raising. There are also 
large salt deposits in the neighborhood of Fort Verde, Yavapai 
county. This salt contains quantities of soda and magnesia, 
and is used largely by stock-growers. 

Besides the mineral deposits here described, there are many 
other rare and beautiful varieties, which, to treat in detail, would 
require a volume. Mica is found in every county in the Ter- 
ritory, and some very clear and beautiful sheets, three by six, are 
frequently encountered. In the Tonto Basin, near Salt river, 
there are large deposits of asbestos ; the fibres are long, white 
and of a delicate texture. No attention is now paid to the 
article, but cheap transportation will yet make it valuable. Iron 
exists in all parts of the Territory, and some very fine deposits 
of hematite are found in Gila county. Beds of fine, clear alabas- 
ter have been discovered in the Graham mountain, and marble 
of a fine quality is encountered in the Santa Catalina range. 
Antimony assaying eighty per cent, has been located in the 
Chiricahuas, and tellurium has been found in the Sierra Prieta. 

Turn where we will throughout the length and breadth of 
this mineral domain, fresh surprises await us. A soap mine is 
the latest discovery. It is located in the Patagonia mountains; 
is a soft greasy stone, said to make an excellent substitute for 
the manufactured article, in removing dirt and grease from cot- 
ton and linen fabrics. Although tin has not yet been discovered 
many a sanguine prospector believes it exists, and he will be the 
lucky one to find it. Petroleum has been struck near the 
Apache county coal fields, and boring for oil yet promises to 
become a profitable industry in Arizona. 




AGRICULTURE. 

The Farming Lands of the Territory — The Salt River Valley — Profits on Grain — 

Fruit Culture — Dairying and Bee keeping — The Manufacture of Bacon — 

Cotton and Sugar — Alfalfa— Trees and Shrubbery — Canals and 

Water Supply — Mode of Cultivation — Prices of Land — 

Agricultural Resources of Pinal, Graham, Yavapai, 

Cochise, Apache, etc. — Lands of Gila 

Bend — Total Number of Acres under 

Cultivation, etc., etc. 

IT is not many years since popular belief considered Ari- 
zona's agricultural resources hardly equal to the task of 
producing the traditional " hill of beans." It was looked 
upon as a barren, sandy waste, as incapable of cultivation as 
the Desert of Sahara, and valuable only for the minerals it was 
supposed to contain. The same opinion prevailed as to Cali- 
fornia, and even so high on authority as Daniel Webster asserted 
that a bushel of grain would never be raised within the limits 
of the Golden State. To-day, the traveler through the valleys 
of Arizona will see as handsome farms as are to be found any- 
where in the West. He will see a rich soil, and a climate so 
perfect, that the husbandman could not suggest an improve- 
ment. He will find cereals, fruits and vegetables of as fine 
quality as are grown in any country on earth. He will find 
comfortable homes, and all the pleasant surroundings of garden 
and orchard which adorn and beautify the farmer's abode in 
older lands. He will see, literally, the desert made to blossom 
as the rose, and produce bountifully everything which blooms 
and ripens under tropic or temperate suns. 

The grand capabilities of Arizona, as an agricultural region, 
are only beginning to be understood. Experiments made 
within the last few years have shown that the soil is of wonder- 
ful richness and fertility. The dry, arid valleys, which, were 
supposed to be incapable of production, will grow magnificent 
crops of cereals and fruits. Wherever water can be had its 
magic touch brings about a transformation as sudden as it is 
beautiful. The desert waste dons its robes of green, smiles 
with verdure, and rejoices in productiveness. Vegetation has 
a most rapid growth, and in the southern valleys, two crops a 
year reward the labors of the husbandman. Nowhere through- 



144 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

out the great West does Nature so generously aid the tiller of 
the soil, and nowhere does she give so much and ask so little 
at his hands. Here are broad and beautiful valleys, whose 
level outlines and unbroken regularity delight the eye of the 
practical farmer. No laborious clearing is required, and no 
weary years of toil in digging out stumps, and draining swamps. 
Ready for the plough and the seed is the rich, friable and loamy 
soil, and light the labor which it exacts in return for its bounte- 
ous yield. 

Here no inhospitable snows, no freezing winds, and no 
fierce tornadoes, make life a burden for half the year. Bright 
sunshine, balmy air, a temperature of remarkable evenness, and 
an atmosphere clear, pure and bracing are the gifts which 
Nature lavishes on the farmer's home in Arizona. There are iaw 
portions of the West where less labor is expended on new lands. 
The great richness of the soil requires no aids in the production 
of a crop, save irrigation. A shallow ploughing, a dropping of 
the seed, from three to four irrigations, and the fields of wav- 
ing grain are ready for the header and the thresher. Year after 
year the same crop is planted, but there seems to be no falling 
off in the yield or deterioration in the quality. Perhaps 'no 
better evidence of the fertility of the soil in the valleys of 
Arizona can be found, than in the Pima farms on the Gila. We 
know to a certainty that these people have cultivated the same 
land for three hundred and fifty years, and doubtless for many 
centuries more. Yet, the soil which has been called upon to 
produce a crop each year, for so many centuries, is rich, vigor- 
ous and productive to-day, yielding the finest wheat raised in 
the Territory, besides fruits and vegetables. There does not 
seem to be any " wear out " to the valley lands of Arizona. 
The soil possesses remarkable recuperative properties, and with 
careful irrigation seems to renew its strength and vigor each 
year. 

The farming lands of Arizona are confined mainly to the val- 
leys of the principal rivers. At the present time the cultivated 
area is mostly along the Gila, the Salt, the Verde, the Santa Cruz, 
and the San Pedro. Besides these rich valley lands, there are mil- 
lions of acres with a fine soil, among the hills and on the plains 
and mesas of the Great plateau, which could be made to yield 
abundantly if there was water for irrigation. The valley of the 
Gila and the Salt rivers contain the. largest and most prolific 
body of land within the Territory. 

As stated in another place, there is ample evidence that these 
valleys were once densely populated, and the traces of irrigating 
canals, which are found far beyond the present limits of cultiva- 
tion, would show that the area under cultivation in the old days 
was much greater than at present. Nearly all the land is as 
level as a floor, with a gradual slope from the mountains to the 
river, making it perfect for irrigation. This uniformity of surface 



AGRICULTURE. I45 

and gentle slope shows the handiwork of the ancient cultivator, 
and would indicate that the labor of centuries was required to 
bring it about. There can be no doubt that those people were 
masters in the art of irrigation, and utilized every drop of the 
precious fluid. Although their system of farming was doubtless 
crude, they reclaimed an immense stretch of land, and raised large 
crops. o'^-i2'»i 

Irrigation is the life of agriculture in the Territory. Without 
it scarcely anything can be raised ; with it the soil is the most 
prolific in the west. Water, therefore, is the most precious element 
for the farmer in Arizona. Without it the soil is worthless. It 
follows from this that the amount of land that can be brought 
under cultivation depends on the water supply. The limit of 
production will always depend on this supply, but with care, 
economy, and system in its management, there is enough to 
support a large agricultural population, who will always be able 
to meet the home demand. This chapter will give the reader 
some idea of the extent and character of the arable lands of the 
Territory, the present condition of the farming industry and its 
possibilities for the future. 

When the obstacles which stood in the way of the early settler 
are considered, it will be acknowledged that commendable prog- 
ress has been made; and a glance over the fair and fruitful fields 
in the valleys of the Salt and Gila, 

" Where the luscious fruits and golden grain 
Make glad the heart of the toiling swain," 

will show the grand possibilities of Arizona as a farming countrjr^ 
For the purpose of conveying this information more clearly the 
agricultural resources of the different counties are given sepa- 
rately. 

Maricopa is the leading agricultural county of the Territory, 
and the valley of Salt river has been well-named the "Garden of 
Arizona." Besides the fine valley on this stream, the county also 
embraces a large stretch of rich lands in the valley of the Lower 
Gila. It has been estimated that the total area of arable land in; 
Maricopa will exceed 400,000 acres, nearly all of which can be 
brought under cultivation. The valley of the Salt river from the 
junction of the Gila to the canon, contains nearly 230,000 acres,, 
with as fine a soil as can be found in any country on earth. The 
river flows through this immense tract, and carries sufificient 
water, averaging one year with another, to irrigate every acre of 
it. The land in this magnificent valley is generally a sandy 
loam, light and porous, and especially adapted to fruit. That 
nearer the river is inclined to a heavy, rich adobe. The first set- 
tlement by Americans was made in 1868. It was then a barren 
waste, covered with grease-wood, mesquite and cactus. The 
sun beat down on the arid plain, scorching and blistering the 
struggling vegetation. Outside of a narrow strip along the 
10 



146 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

river, there was not a single spot of verdure to relieve the eye 
A more perfect picture of nature in her wildest and most savage 
mood, it would be hard to find. 

But what a transformation has been wrought by the labors of 
a few sturdy pioneers! What once was an uninviting wilder- 
ness, is now one of the loveliest spots on the Pacific coast. For a 
distance of nearly thirty miles along the stream, and for over 
four miles back from it, on the north side, is a succession of grain- 
fields, gardens and orchards. In the early spring, when the land- 
scape dons its most attractive dress, the sight is surpassingly 
beautiful. As far as the eye can reach in every direction, it is 
met by fields of waving grain and blooming alfalfa; orchards, 
reveling in all the glory of blossom and bud; gardens, beautiful 
with their abundance of roses and other floral wealth. Groves 
of cottonwoods, giving a glimpse of tasteful homes, lines of the 
graceful Lombardy poplar and the handsome Osage orange, 
mark the boundaries of the different farms, and from garden and 
orchard and alfalfa field there comes floating on the air an odor 
of delicious fragrance, as pleasant as a breeze from the vales of 
Araby the Blest. 

Through these green fields and delightful groves, canals and 
acequias run in all directions, and from shady arbor, orchard and 
thicket is heard the cooling murmur of sparkling waters. Sur- 
rounding this Arcadia, and serving as a frame to set off the 
charming picture, the rugged mountains rear their jagged and 
serrated fronts, their outlines wrapped in an atmosphere of 
wonderful beauty and softness, whose purple haze invests them 
with so strange and weird a fascination. This is not too highly 
colored a picture of the Salt River valley of to-day, and as yet 
its productive capacity has scarce been touched. 

It is estimated there are at present 300,000 acres of land under 
cultivation in Maricopa county, some 1,500 acres being farmed 
bv the Pimas on the Gila, and along the valley of the Salt. 
This shows an increase in the acreage under cultivation within 
two years of nearly one hundred per cent. The yield of cereals 
for the year of 1883 was as follows : 

Wheat 14,000,000 lbs. 

Barley 1 8,000,000 " 

Making a total of 32,000,000 lbs. 

Wheat averages about twenty-five bushels to the acre, and 
barley about twenty-six, though instances are not rare where, 
by careful cultivation, a yield of forty bushels to the acre has 
been secured. The grain grown in the valley is large and 
plump, and is equal to any raised on the coast. Of cultivated 
grasses alfalfa, or Chilian clover, is cultivated extensively, and 
attains a wonderfully productive growth. Four crops are cut 
during the year, the yield being nearly two tons to the acre, at 



AGRICULTURE. 14/ 

a cutting, or eight tons to the acre during the year. It makes 
excellent feed for horses, cattle and hogs, keeping the animals 
in prime condition all the year round. It is also cut and baled, 
making a rich and succulent feed. Of fruit trees there are over 
30,000 in the county, and nearly 300,000 vines. 

The planting season in the Salt River valley is from the first 
of November to the first of March. The heavy black loam is 
ploughed dry, while light sandy soils are first irrigated. Many 
farmers summer-fallow their land, which is considered an im- 
provement, and will no doubt yet come into general use. Every- 
thing is raised by the aid of irrigation. Small grain is flooded 
on an average four times during the season. The amount of 
artificial irrigation depends much on the rainfall and the 
character of the soil. New land will require more water than 
that wliich has been under cultivation for some time. The 
harvesting of the grain begins by the first of June, and is com- 
pleted by the middle of July. The latest improved machinery 
has been introduced, and here, as elsewhere, steam threshers and 
headers have destroyed all the poetry of the harvest-field. The 
price of wheat will average about $1.75 per hundred pounds, 
and of barley about $1.50 per hundred. The following would 
be a fair estimate of the expense of cultivating one hundred 
acres of wild land : 

Clearing, sowing, cultivating and harvesting per acre.$io 
Sacking, freighting, storing, etc., say 5 

Total per acre $15 

Estimating the yield at 1,500 pounds to the acre, and the 
price at $1.50 per hundred, we have a total of $22.50, or a clear 
profit of $7.50 to the acre. These are conservative figures, and 
the profits will go above instead of falling below them. The 
expense of cultivation is much lessened after the land has been 
reclaimed, and where no hired labor is required, except at 
harvesting, the cost will not be over $10 per acre, leaving a clear 
profit of $12.50. Alfalfa is one of the most profitable crops 
raised in the valley, the yield being eight tons to the acre, which 
sells readily at $6 per ton, baled. It is estimated there are now 
nearly 3,000 acres devoted to the cultivation of this plant in, 
Maricopa county. 

The fattening of hogs is also a profitable business. They are 
kept on the alfalfa fields until the grain is harvested in the latter 
part of July, when they are turned into the stubble and allowed 
to glean the scattered grain which has been lost by the headers. 
A run on these fields puts them in prime condition for the 
butcher in the fall, the pork being solid, sweet, and finely-flavored. 
Disease is unknown, and but little work is required in fattening 
them for market. They are very prolific, having two litters a 
year. Hogs on foot delivered at the railroad, twenty-eight miles 



148 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

away, bring eight cents per pound, and are worth eleven cents 
when dressed. The bacon cured in the valley commands a 
ready sale at eighteen cents per pound. It is of good quality, 
the liams being equal to the best California. The mesquite 
wood, used in the curing, gives to the meat a clear, brown color 
and an agreeable flavor. The market is almost unlimited, no 
bacon being cured anywhere else in the Territory. Over 2,000.- 
000 pounds are annually imported, which will yet be produced 
at home. It has been demonstrated that the article can be raised 
and sold in the Salt River valley cheaper than it can be brought 
from California or the East. There is a fine opening for this 
branch of business in Arizona. 

But little corn is grown in the valley owing to the uncertainty 
of rains; yet the soil is well-adapted for it in many places, and 
under favorable conditions, as high as seventy bushels to the 
acre have been harvested. But wheat and barley will continue 
to be the staples grown for some years to come. The labor and 
cost of production is light, while the market is always an active 
and remunerative one. The Salt river and Gila valleys are 
peculiarly adapted to horticulture. The climate, soil, and situa- 
tion are all favorable, and some of the finest fruit grown west of 
the Rocky mountains is raised in Arizona. The grape of all 
varieties, apple, peach, pear, nectarine, almond, fig, plum, pome- 
granate, quince, grow thriftily and yield large returns. The 
citrus fruits, such as the orange, lemon, lime, etc., will do well 
by careful cultivation and close attention. Even the olive, the 
most valuable tree known to man, thrives in the valley of the 
Gila, and in a garden at Florence are several trees that have at- 
tained a strong and vigorous growth. 

There are at present about 500 acres devoted to fruit culture 
in the valley, the greater portion being planted in peaches. The 
fruit is large, juicy, and of excellent flavor. The varieties grown 
are mostly from California cuttings, and the mode of cultivation 
similar to that practiced in the southern portion of that State. 
Fruit trees, after being planted, require to be irrigated at least 
once in every two weeks, but after they have begun to yield 
they do not require one-fourth of the moisture. Peaches begin 
bearing the second year and yield a good crop the third year, 
after planting. The profits on peach culture are large, and 
steadily increase as the tree attains age. The following is a fair 
statement of the cost and profits of peach growing in Maricopa 
county : 

3 50 trees @ 20 cents $70 

Planting, labor, etc 50 

Water 3 

Total $123 

The second year the cost of labor, water, etc., will be $53, 
and the yield five pounds to the tree, which at five cents per 



AGRICULTURE. I49 

pound, would amount to $87.50, leaving a balance of $34.50, over 
the second years' expenditure. 

Tlie yield the third year will be twenty-five pounds to the tree, 
which, at four cents per pound would amount to $350 per acre. 
The increase for the next three years can be safely put down at 
fifty per cent. 

This is a reasonable estimate of the profits from the culture 
of the peach in the valley of the Salt. The market is at the 
very door, and the price seldom falls below four cents per pound. 
Pears, plums, apricots, quinces, and all other fruits are equally 
profitable, and the cost of cultivation not greater. 

Grape culture is making rapid strides in this valley. It is 
estimated there are now nearly 300,000 vines, and new vine- 
yards are being constantly planted. The varieties grown are 
the Mission, the Muscat and the Black Hamburg. On the 
light gravelly soils their growth is remarkably thrifty and pro- 
lific. The Muscat attains a large size, and has a magnificent 
flavor. As a table grape it is unequaled. On the dry, gravelly 
plateau, on which the Mormon colony of Mesa City stands, over 
70,000 vines have been planted and all are growing wonderfully 
well. The light, porous, gravelly soil seems specially adapted 
to the vine, and this spot yet promises to become famous for the 
quality of its wine. It is a well-established fact that cuttings 
from vines in bearing, planted in this soil, have been known to 
produce inside of eighteen months. Some wine has already 
been made in the colony, equal to the best California. Climate, 
soil, situation and water are all that could be desired, and this 
portion of the valley promises to become one immense vine- 
yard. 

The profits of grape culture are said to be greater than that 
from peaches ; and farmers all over the county are turning 
their attention to it more earnestly every year. Vines planted 
from cuttings begin to yield the second year, and it is safe to 
estimate that the product of each plant for the third year will 
be twenty pounds. Averaging 500 vines to the acre, this would 
be 10,000 pounds; and at three cents a pound, $300 per acre. 
The cost of cultivation is very little more tnan that of peaches. 
Grape-vines, however, require more attention, but the yield is 
larger and the profits greater. 

The fruit culture of Arizona is yet in its infancy, but it 
promises in a few years to become the leading industry of the 
Salt river valley. There are few spots on the Pacific coast so 
favored by nature, and none where the horticulturalist receives 
larger profits for his labor. The fruit grown here is ripe and 
ready for sale fully three weeks before the California product. 
This gives the Arizona fruit-raiser an immense advantage. He 
has a virtual monopoly of the market during this period, and his 
early crop commands fancy prices wherever they are offered. 
With a railroad tapping the Salt river valley its fruits will yet 



ISO THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

be shipped to the East, and ofirered for sale in the markets of 
California, nearly a month before the products of the Golden 
State are ready for the table. It has been demonstrated that 
the raisin-grape can be grown here successfully, and no doubt 
that branch of the fruit industry will yet be gone into on an 
extensive scale. The canning of fruit, which has proved so 
profitable a business in California, will yet be carried on with 
success in Arizona. 

In fact, the possibilities of fruit culture in the valleys of the 
Gila and the Salt, seem almost without limit. Year by year the 
area devoted to it is being enlarged, and as the country is 
settled up, vineyards and orchards increase and multiply. The 
profits are much greater than from grain-growing, while the 
labor of cultivation is much lighter and pleasanter. It requires 
no stretch of the imagination to see the valley of the Salt 
one immense orchard and vineyard in a few short years ; to see 
the large farms, now in grain, subdivided into smaller .tracts, 
with happy homes embowered in groves of refreshing shade ; 
to see mile after mile of the luscious grape pendant from vine, 
trellis and arbor, and orchards bending beneath the weight of 
their ripening treasures ; to see the orange, the lemon, the olive 
and the fig growing side By side with the fruits of a more 
northern clime ; to see this lovely vale one immense garden, 
the home of a happy and prosperous people. 

This is not an overwrought picture of what this region is des- 
tined to become within a few years. All the adjuncts in the 
way of soil, climate, and water, are already here, and labor alone 
is required to bring about the change. Besides the fruits we 
have mentioned, strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries, currants, 
and other small varieties grow thriftily and give a prolific yield. 

Dairying and bee keeping are two other sources of profitable 
industry in the valley. The alfalfa keeps green the whole year, 
and the milk and butter from cows fed on it is rich and of a prime 
flavor. The demand for butter is always steady, and the price 
seldom ever falls below fifty cents per pound. The Arabian 
millet is also being introduced, and is said to be an excellent 
butter producer. With abundance of cheap feed, the Salt river 
country should meet a large portion of the home demand which 
is now supplied from California. Bee keeping, which has proved 
so profitable in Southern California, was introduced into the 
valley a few years ago by Mr.Tvy H. Cox. The remarkable 
success which has attended his efforts proves the country to be 
well adapted to the business. The blossom of the alfalfa is an 
excellent honey producer, as are also the mesquite and the sun- 
flower. As there are almost unlimited quantities of all three in 
the valley, the bees do not have to go far to get their food. 

Disease among them is unknown ; they require but little care, 
and the product is equal to the best-made on the coast. It is 
white, clear, of a delicious flavor, and readily commands from 



AGRICULTURE. I 5 I 

1 8 to 20 cents per pound. The business has passed its experi- 
mental period, and the time is not far distant when the larger 
portion of the Territory will be supplied with the honey grown 
in the valleys of Central Arizona. 

The sugar cane and the cotton plant thrive in the rich valleys 
of the Salt and the Gila. Of the former it is estimated there 
are nearly 500 acres now devoted to the business. The stalks 
grow strong and thriftily, and will yield 1,000 pounds of sugar 
per acre. At present the product is turned into syrup, which is 
of a good quality, and finds a ready sale at $1 per gallon. The 
stalks are fed to hogs and cattle, their fattening qualities being 
unsurpassed. The Territorial legislature, at the session of 1883, 
passed an act, offering a bonus of $500 for the best crop of cot- 
ton raised on five acres in Arizona. Several parties are com- 
peting for the prize; the growth is strong, and the cotton 
promises to be of superior quality. Cotton culture is not an ex- 
periment in Arizona. Long before Europeans raised a single 
pound in the valley of the Mississippi or along the Sea Islands, 
the Pimas manufactured fabrics from cotton grown in the valley 
of the Gila. There can be no doubt that the soil and climate of 
these valle)^s favor its successful cultivation. 

In enumerating the products of the Salt river valley, it will not 
do to overlook its vegetable yield. The fame of its pumpkins 
has extended all over ths Territory, and the prolific growth of 
its squashes, turnips, onions, beets, cabbages, carrots, lettuce, 
asparagus and all other varieties, is something phenomenal. 
But little labor is required to secure these crops. The quality 
is not excelled anywhere, while the yield is very large. Pota- 
toes, which it was thought at one time could not be raised here, 
are of as fine a quality as if grown beneath the blue skies of the 
Green Isle. They are large, mealy and of excellent flavor. 
Sweet potatoes are most prolific. They are grown extensively 
and attain a large size. 

After building a home, the first wish of the new-comer is to 
surround it with a cluster of trees to temper the rays of the sum- 
mer sun. The cottonwood is now the principal tree. It has the 
most rapid growth and makes a refreshing shade. The first set- 
tlers being mostly poor men, set out the tree nearest to hand 
and native to the soil. Nearly the entire cultivated portion of 
the valley is now adorned by this tree, and a great many farm- 
ers have live fences of the same material. But as population 
increases, and the farmer finds himself in easier circumstances, 
others are being introduced ; among them the willow, locust, 
ash, walnut, mulberry, pepper tree, Lombardy poplar, ailanthus 
and many other varieties. It is believed that the eucalyptus, 
magnolia, palm, cypress and other semi-tropic trees can be suc- 
cessfully produced along the Salt and Gila. Many homes are 
being made beautiful and attractive by groves of such trees; 
and green, cool and inviting carpets of Bermuda and blue grass 



152 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

give to them all that restful charm which should surround every 
homestead. 

No matter how humble the home, flowers beautify and adorn 
it. No matter how poor the immigrant, the flowers and shrub- 
bery around his abode will always proclaim his thrift and good 
taste. The rose, of all varieties, the oleander, with its beautiful 
■-white blossoms, the mignonette, the honeysuckle, the geranium, 
the heliotrope, the fuchsia and nearly every flower that sheds its 
fragrance through the temperate and tropic zones, grows in these 
valleys. As permanent homes are being established, flower cult- 
ure is receiving more attention, and a stroll through the shady 
lanes and byways in the suburbs of Phoenix, when the atmos- 
phere is laden with their delightful fragrance, is like a vision of 
that land — 

" Where the liglit wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume, 
Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her bloom." 

And now, reader, after having learned something about the 
capabilities and products of this favored region, if you think of 
emigrating, you will naturally desire to know what are the op- 
portunities for securing a piece of land and making a home 
there. As has been before stated, everything is grown by irri- 
gation, and the land is utterly valueless without water. At the 
present time eight canals convey the water from the river over 
the land. The names of these canals, and their respective ca- 
pacities, are as follows: 

Grand canal, capacity 7,000 inches. 

Salt river " " 3,000 " 

Maricopa " " 3,000 " 

Farmers " " 1,000 " 

These are all on the north side of the river. On the south 
side there are the 

Tempe canal, capacity 3,ooo inches. 

Prescott " " 500 " 

Wormser " " 500 " 

Mesa " " 2,000 " 

Jonesville " " 2,000 " 

Making a total of 22,000 inches of water now appropriated. The 
Joresville and the Mesa canals are owned by Mormon colonies 
which have settled in the upper portion of the valley. They 
claim more water than they are at present taking out, and are 
enlarging their ditches and making preparations for a larger 
acreage. At present both colonies cultivate about 5,000 acres, 
devoted mainly to fruit an<j alfalfa. The area of land under the 
several canals is about 45,000 acres, of which about 30,000 are 
under cultivation, leaving 15,000 unculti\ated. With care and 
economy in its use, the quantity of water now brought from the 



AGRICULTURE. 153 

river is sufificient to cultivate all the land within the lines of the 
irrigating ditches. 

The volume of water flowing in the Salt river, in the dryest 
season, has been put at 60.000 inches, and it is claimed the 
stream will average, one year with another, looooo inches. 

At one-half inch to the acre, which is about the quantity re- 
quired to raise a crop of grain, there is water enough in the 
river to cultivate 120,000 acres of cereals. If devoted to fruit, a 
quarter of an inch will suffice. From this it will be seen that 
not much more than one-sixth of all the land that could be re- 
claimed is now under cultivation. The canals are owned by in- 
corporated companies, who are nearly always farmers who have 
invested their own money and labor in building them.. There 
are so many shares in each canal, each share representing what 
is known as a "water-right." This "right" entitles the owner to 
sufficient water to irrigate 160 acres of land. In the sale of 
land, under a ditch, the water generally goes with it; and the 
value of land is always determined by its water facilities, as 
without them it is worthless. 

At present a water-right in any of the canals can be had at 
from $300 to $500. This "right" once acquired, the owner of 
it is entitled to water so long as there is any in the canal. The 
occupant of a piece of land is further required to pay $2 per inch 
for the water used in raising a crop. For a quarter section in 
grain this would be eighty inches, or $160 per year. This tax 
goes to keeping the canal in good repair, the pay of a zanzaro, 
or overseer, and for such other incidental expenses as may be 
incurred. At present there is great wastage, owing to a lack of 
anything like a regular system in the handling of the precious 
fluid. Among the different canals priority of location governs 
the right to appropriate the water from the river. The earliest 
claim takes precedence, and the others follow in their regular 
order. They are each entitled to the amount which their canal 
is capable of carrying ; but there is no regulation by which they 
shall be compelled to prevent waste. 

A company has lately been organized under the title of the 
"Arizona Canal Company," who propose to take out the largest 
waterway yet opened in the valley, and which will reclaim nearly 
all the arable land on the north side of the stream. It taps the 
Salt river a few miles below the mouth of the Verde where the 
stream is confined to a narrow channel, and flows over a rocky 
bottom. By taking the water at this point, a supply is assured 
at all seasons as it cannot loose itself in the thirsty sands. The 
canal will sweep around by the foot-hills of the mountains which 
wall in the valley on the northern side, where the traces of an 
old pre-historic ditch arc yet plainly visible. Its total length 
will be forty miles. It will be thirty-six feet wide on the bottom 
and will have a capacity of 40,000 inches. The estimated cost 
of this great work is put at $400,000. A large force of men are 



154 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

now employed upon it, and it is expected to be finished by the 
first of January, 1885, It will reclaim from the desert and 
make susceptible of cultivation nearly 80,000 acres of land now 
a barren waste. 

Most of this land has a soil equal to any now tilled, and will 
produce as fine crops of cereals, fruits and vegetables as any 
portion of the great valley. It is now covered with a light 
growth of sagebrush and grease-wood, which only requires to 
be burnt off when it is ready for the plough. This encerprisc is 
the only intelligent step which has yet been taken to develop 
the latent resources of this garden spot of the Territory. It will 
reclaim from the wilderness and add to the domain of civiliza- 
tion, an immense tract of fertile land which will furnish homes 
for hundreds of families. 

Nearly all the public lands in the valley, under the present 
canals and those that are projected, have been taken up. The 
Southern Pacific railroad claims every alternate section, under a 
grant to the Texas Pacific. Most of this land is vacant, im- 
migrants not wishing to take the risk of settling upon and im- 
proving it, and then being compelled to pay an exorbitant price 
or be driven from the home which their toil and industry had built 
up. Lands which have not been improved are worth from $5 to 
$10 per acre. Improved land from $15 to $30 per acre, accord- 
ing to the character of soil and location. This price includes a 
water-right sufficient for crop-raising. The new canal will open 
up a vast stretch of country which can be had on reasonable 
terms. 

A {ew years ago land went begging in this valley; to-day, 
choice tracts in vines and orchards, near the town of Phoenix, 
sell readily for $100 per acre. As population increases, there is 
a corresponding rise in value; and it is not unreasonable to sup- 
pose that within a few years lands in the valleys of the Gila and 
Salt will command the fancy prices now paid in Los Angeles. 
South of the Mormon settlement at Mesa city, and extending 
across to the Gila river is a splendid body of rich land which at 
one time was under cultivation. Large groves of mesquite grow 
on the tract, a sure indication of the strength and fertility of the 
soil. This portion of the valley is well situated for irrigation, 
and no doubt a canal on the south side of the river will yet 
transform it into an immense grain-field and orchard. 

Besides the great valley of the Salt, Maricopa county has an 
extensive tract of good land on the lower Gila. At this point 
the river makes a sharp turn and flows almost directly southeast 
for several miles, the sharp curve being known as Gila Bend. 
It is estimated that in this vicinity and extending down the 
stream there are 150,000 acres of as rich bottom lands s can 
be found in the Territory, capable, by the aid of water, of pro- 
ducing all the grains, grasses, fruits and vegetables grown in 
Arizona. An effort is now being made to reclaim this vast area 



AGRICULTURE. 155 

and make it productive. Four companies have been formed to 
construct canals and bring the waters of the Gila over the val- 
ley. The most prominent of these organizations is the Gila 
Bend Canal Company. The canal which this incorporation are 
now engaged in constructing, taps the eastern bank of the stream, 
fifty miles southwest of Phoenix. For the past ten years the 
river at this point has been 240 feet wide and has maintained an 
average depth of two feet. The canal will be twelve feet wide 
at the bottom, and the amount of land it will enclose is put at 
30,000 acres. Work is now being steadily prosecuted on this 
enterprise, and it is expected the water will be on the land in 
time for putting in a crop in 1884. 

What is known as the Webb Canal is on the other side of the 
river. This water-way will be about fifteen miles long and is 
intended to reclaim 5,000 acres of rich bottom-lands. This com- 
pany expect to finish their canal during the present year, and be 
in readiness for a crop next season. These lands, and also those 
of the Gila Bend company, are only twenty-five miles north of 
the Southern Pacific railroad, at Gila Bend station. Most of the 
valley is being taken up under the "desert act," but by securing 
a water-right, the immigrant will have no difficulty in getting 
land at reasonable rates. In the Webb Company canal a water 
supply can be had at a cost of about $3 per acre. 

About ten miles above Oatman Flat, on the south side of the 
river, the Cox and Norcross Company have completed their sur- 
veys, and will soon commence work on a canal which will reclaim 
10,000 acres of magnificent land. The Rumburg canal, which 
begins below the mouth of the Agua Fria, on the north side of 
the river, will, when completed, bring under cultivation 25,000 
acres. All this land is of prime quality, and, where it has been 
farmed, has yielded as high as forty bushels of wheat to the acre. 
Fruit also does remarkably well and it is the intention to set out 
a large number of trees the coming season. Immigrants look- 
ing for a home in Arizona, will find few spots offering better ad- 
vantages than the rich valley of Gila Bend. 

Pinal, next to Maricopa, is the most important farming divi- 
sion of the Territory. The Gila river flows through the county 
from east to west, forming one of the finest valleys in Arizona. 
Beginning at the point where the river emerges from the moun- 
tains, above the town of Florence, its length is nearly fifty miles 
to the line of Maricopa. This magnificent valley is from one to 
three miles in width, with a rich loamy soil, and a climate 
similar in all respects to that of the Salt river. A large part of 
it has been set apart for the Pima and Maricopa Indians, and is 
therefore closed against settlement. From the line of the re- 
servation to the canon it is estimated there are 25,000 acres of 
fine land which can be brought under cultivation. At present 
the area under tillage is not much more than 6,000. 

There is abundance of water to irrisfate at least four times the 



156 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

number of acres now reclaimed. But the present water system, 
if indeed it can be called a system, is most imperfect. Nearly 
all of the canals tap the river where it flows over gravel and sand, 
and where, in the dry seasons, it nearly all disappears beneath 
the surface. Although the volume of water has never been 
definitely ascertained there is known to be a sufficient quantity 
to flood the area mentioned. But to bring this water over the 
land it is necessary that it be taken from the river bed, where it 
is confined between solid walls, and flows over a rocky bottom. 
There are several points in the canon, above Florence, where this 
can be done, the entire stream carried into a ditch of sufficient 
capacity, and the whole of it properly utilized. That this will 
be the plan ultimately adopted, there is scarcely a doubt. 

At present the water is in much the same condition as in 
Maricopa county. Those who have priority of right take out 
all they require, and if there is a surplus it is allowed to go to 
waste. Where water is the very life and soul of the land, as in 
Arizona, the waste of the precious fluid should be punished as 
an offence against tlie welfare of society. When a water system 
based upon the broad principles of equity and exact justice to 
all shall be inaugurated in the Territory, its agricultural re- 
sources will take a grand stride forward. 

The land in the valley of the Gila is of a superior quality. It 
is mostly a rich adobe, or a heavy, dark, sandy loam. The de- 
tritus, which the river floods have been depositing for ages in 
this valley, have given a soil of remarkable fertility. A repeti- 
tion of crops does not seem to have the least effect in lessening 
its productiveness. Cereals, fruits, vegetables and grass crops 
grow luxuriantly and yield largely. The planting season is the 
same as on the Salt. The mode of cultivation is similar. The 
yield of grain is a trifle higher, while the cost of seeding, har- 
vesting, sacking, etc., is about the same. The land requires a 
like quantity of water; the product is of a very fine quality, es'- 
pccially the wheat, and the prices obtained are equal to those 
which rule in the valley of the Salt. There are at present about 
6,000 acres under cultivation, the yield of grain for 1883 being 
as follows: 

Wheat 3,000,000 pounds. 

Barley 2,000,000 " 

Corn 400 " 

The hay crop for the same year will exceed 1,200 tons of 
wheat and barley hay, and over 6dd tons of alfalfa. This shows 
an increase of nearly two hundred per cent, in the last two years. 
With proper irrigating facilities this yield could be increased 
five-fold. There is evidence that this portion of Arizona sup- 
ported a dense population in ages past, and the extensive ruins 
of the Casa Grande and the traces of large aceqiiias, which are 
found in the vicinity, show that the line of cultivation extended 
eight miles back from the river. 



AGRICULTURE. 1 5/ 

Fruit culture is receiving much attention in the Gila valley. 
Near the town of Florence are several fine orcnards and vine- 
yards, whose yield is most prolific. Grapes, peaches, pears, 
plums, pomegranates, figs, quinces, apples, and such semi-trop- 
ical fruits as the orange, the lemon, the olive and the almond, 
attain a strong and healthy growth. The fruit is of an excep- 
tionally fine flavor, while the orange and lemon seem to do bet- 
ter here than at any point in the Territory. The climate is 
most equable, and the valley is sheltered from the chilling winds 
of the early spring. The Mission and the Muscatel grapes are 
the varieties principally grown. They yield largely and are of 
a peculiarly rich and agreeable flavor. 

Vines and fruit trees are increasing each year. Farmers have 
begun to discover that they are more profitable, and the valley 
of the Gila, like that of the Salt, will yet become one immense 
vineyard and orchard. The Gila, near Florence, is one of the 
most beautiful spots in the Territory. With its green fields of 
grain and alfalfa, its orchards, gardens, and groves of shade 
trees, it is as pleasant a locality to make a home as the immi- 
grant could wish to find. Improved land now brings from $io to 
$25 per acre, but there is a great deal of government land open 
for settlement. Here, as in the Salt river valley, the railroad 
company makes a claim to every alternate section, and, pending 
the settlement of the question, some of the finest land is lying 
idle. Farming is a remunerative business here. There is always 
a good market in the mining camps of Silver King, Pinal, Butte, 
and Owl Heads, and everything raised commands a good price. 

The lower portion of the San Pedro, above its junction with 
the Gila, is included within the limits of Pinal county. It is a 
narrow valley, with a soil of great richness and fertility. All the 
cereals, fruits, grasses, and vegetables do well, and return a large 
yield. A number of comfortable homes have been established 
here, and some 500 acres have been brought under cultivation. 
Owing to the sheltered condition of the valley, it has many ad- 
vantages for the growth of fruit, and the cultivation of the vine, 
peach, apple, plum, pomegranate, quince, and other varieties is 
receiving much attention. There are not less than 5,000 acres 
of government land in this charming valley open for pre-emption ; 
and with a careful system of irrigation, ten times the number of 
acres now reclaimed could be made productive. There is a flour- 
ing mill at Saffbrd, near Plorence, which turns out a superior 
article. 

The agricultural capabilities of Pinal are only beginning to be 
understood. It has an abundant water supply, large valleys, 
with a soil of durable fertility, a climate which brings health, 
strength and elasticity, and a home market with a demand al- 
ways equal to the production. That it will yet be the home of 
a large agricultural population, and that its beautiful and fertile 
valleys will once again wear those robes of verdure in which 



158 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

their pre-historic occupants decked them, there is no reason to 
doubt. 

Graham county, which adjoins Pinal on the east, and em- 
braces the upper Gila valley, has some of the finest farming 
lands in the Territory. It is estimated that along the Gila and 
its tributaries, in this county, there are over lOD.ODO acres of 
fertile land which can be brought under cultivation. As nearly 
one-fourth of Graham county is included in the San Carlos 
Indian reservation, some of its richest lands along the San 
Carlos, Bonita, Eagle creek and other tributaries of the Gila, 
are occupied by these savages, and closed against the in- 
dustrious settler. The county is well-watered, having besides 
the Gila, the Francisco, San Carlos, Arivaipai, Blue, Bonita and 
the numerous springs which bubble out at the foot of the Graham 
mountains, and find an underground channel to the Gila. The 
largest body of arable land in the county is known as the 
Pueblo Vtejo (old town). It extends from the upper end of the 
Gila caiion some thirty-five miles along the stream, until it is 
again shut in by a mountain range. Its width is from one to 
three miles, its average being about two, thus giving an area of 
nearly 45,000 acres. Every inch of this valley is capable of 
producing magnificent crops of grain, fruits and vegetables. 
Along that portion near the river, the soil is a heavy, rich 
adobe, while back towards the hills it is a light loam of great 
fertility, well adapted for horticulture. 

This fine valley was once densely populated, and every foot 
of it brought under cultivation. The ruins of towns, and the 
traces of large canals, are yet visible in every direction. The first 
settlement, by Americans, was made about twelve years ago, 
but, owing to its comparatively isolated situation, population 
increased .slowly, and even now there are few people in the 
Territory who have any idea of the extent, richness, and grand 
possibilities of this charming valley. Fort Thomas is situated 
near its lower end, and Safford, Solomonville, Smithville and 
San Jose are the other settlements. 

Of this fertile tract only about 5,000 acres are at present 
under cultivation. Several canals have been taken out, and it 
is estimated they carry water sufficient to irrigate three times 
the area now reclaimed. The yield per acre is exceptionally 
large. Barley gives from thirty to forty bushels, wheat about 
the same, and corn from thirty to fifty. Corn is found to be 
well-adapted to the soil and climate, the quality being equal to 
any grown in the east. Potatoes yield, on an average, eight 
tons to the acre ; are large, solid, and, when cooked, of a fine 
flavor. Turnip, cabbages, beets, melons, pumpkins, onions, and 
all vegetables grow large, and are of an excellent quality. The 
yield of grain in this valley for the year 1883 was in the 
neighborhood of 5,000,000 pounds, half of which was wheat, 
and the other half corn and barley. A large quantity of alfalfa 



AGRICULTURE. 159 

and grain-hay has likewise been harvested. The former 
thrives in the Pueblo Viejo, four crops being cut during the 
year. It sells readily on the ranch for $io per ton. 

The farmers in this valley are fortunate in having such good 
markets close at hand. The military posts of Thomas, Grant 
and Bowie, receive nearly all their grain and forage from here. 
Wheat and barley scarcely ever sells below $2 per hundred, 
corn the same ; beans bring from five to six cents per pound, 
onions from four to six, potatoes from three to five, and all 
other vegetables at similar prices. There is no better market in 
the Territory, and the mining camps on the San Francisco 
river have made an increased demand for everything grown in 
the valley. 

Two crops are raised here. Wheat and barley is sown in 
January, and harvested in June. Corn is then planted on the 
same land and is ready for the sickle in October. Small grain 
receives from four to six irrigations, corn from two to three. 
The valley is beautifully situated for irrigation, sloping gently 
from the mountains to the river, and showing, after the lapse of 
centuries, the labors of the early husbandman. 

There are in the Pueblo Viejo nearly 30,000 acres of fine 
land now open to settlement. The railroad grant casts its 
shadow over this beautiful spot, as on all the valleys of the Gila 
and the Salt. The company claim every alternate section, and 
while their claim has not been confirmed, it keeps out immigra- 
tion and retards the advancement of the country. 

Improved land can be purchased at from $10 to $15 per acre. 
Unimproved land, under a canal, at from $5 to $10, according 
to character of soil and location. Land can be had on easy 
terms, and the poor immigrant, if he is industrious, temperate 
and energetic, will have no difficulty in obtaining assistance to 
make a fair start. Land can be leased on shares on most ad- 
vantageous terms, or can be purchased on the installment plan. 

The water supply is sufficient to irrigate every acre of arable 
land in the entire valley; its soil is of the richest; its climate as 
salubrious as any portion of the Territory. It escapes the heat 
of the lower valleys in summer, and it enjoys a cool, bracing 
atmosphere during the winter months. A light fall of snow 
sometimes covers the ground, but it disappears within a day or 
two. Its situation is delightful. South and southwest the mas- 
sive Graham mountain walls in the valley, and raises its lofty 
peak over I0,000 feet above tide-water. Its summit and sides 
are clothed with a heavy growth of pine, which supplies the set- 
tler with all the lumber required. Around its base many springs 
bubble forth, and flow out into the plain, forming beautiful 
green meadows, where herds of cattle roam the whole year. 
Shutting in the view on the west. Mount TurnbuU rears its grand 
and imposing crest above the dark outlines of the Galiuro range; 
to the north the barren hills of the Gila range obstruct the view, 



l6o THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

while to the east the serrated ridges of the Sierra Natanes stand 
out in clear relief against the horizon. In the center sits this 
beautiful valley, the line of the Gila being traced by the heavy 
growth of cottonwoods which fringes its clear and sparkling 
waters. 

It is as pretty a picture as one would care to look upon ; and 
in the early spring, when the summits of Mount Graham are 
yet wrapped in their snowy mantle, and when the valley smiles 
in all the glory of waving grain, blooming alfalfa and blossom- 
ing orchard, the sight is one to inspire the painter's brush or the 
poet's pen. To the farmer who desires to make a home in this 
Territory, there is no place that offers superior attractions than 
the Pueblo Viejo valley. 

On the Blue river, a tributary of the San Francisco, m the 
eastern part of the county, there is a beautiful and fertile valley, 
containing several thousand acres, with an ample water supply 
for irrigation. Some 6oo acres of this land have been taken up 
and are now under cultivation. 

Yavapai county embraces the larger portion of the great 
Colorado plateau, and contains some very rich farming lands. 
The elevation is from two to three thousand feet above the 
valleys of the Gila and Salt, and consequently the rainfall is 
greater. Outside of the Verde the farming lands of the county 
are confined to many small and beautil'ul valleys, which are 
found through the county between the thirty-fourth and thirty- 
fifth parallels of latitude. These mountain vales have been en- 
riched by the detritus which has been washed down from the 
surrounding hills for ages past, making the soil exiceedingly 
rich and fertile. They are watered by springs and streams, and 
many of them are under a high state of cultivation. Corn, 
wheat, barley, oats and all varieties of vegetables are grown and 
attain a strong and thrifty growth. Among the most important 
are Williamson, Chino, Peeples, Agua Fria, Skull, Kirkland and 
Walnut Grove. 

Nearly all of them depend on the rainfall for raising a crop. 
As this is somewhat irregular, and as late and early frosts are of 
frequent occurrence, farming here is attended with a good many 
risks. Corn is the principal crop. It is generally planted in 
the latter part of May, and if all conditions are favorable, it is 
ready for the harvest in October. The farmer depends on the 
summer rains, which usually begin about the first of July. If 
the rain comes in season a good crop is harvested ; if it should 
come late, the crop is lost. In some of the valleys where there 
are running streams, irrigation is practiced to some extent, and 
good crops are assured every season. The average yield of corn 
is from twenty-five t«) thirty bushels to the acre. Potatoes 
attain a large growth and a prolific yield. Ten tons to the acre 
is not an uncommon crop. Alfalfa, and large quantities of hay 
are grown, and return the farmer a higher profit than any other 
crop harvested. 



AGRICULTURE. l6l 

The climate is not adapted to fruit, and, except in some 
sheltered nooks, every effort at horticulture has been a failure. 
The season is too short, and the late spring and early autumn 
frosts are fatal to the successful growth of any but the hardiest 
varieties. In some localities, where the conditions are favorable, 
and where the trees are sheltered from the chilling winds, ex- 
cellent apples are produced ; and in the Walnut Grove valley 
peaches of a fair quality sometimes mature. These valleys 
have been settled for years, and many pleasant homes have 
been made in them. Besides farming, many of the settlers 
have turned their attention to stock-raising and dairying. The 
butter produced from the succulent grasses, so abundant in this 
region, is the best in the Territory, and will compare with the 
finest California. 

The climate is cool and bracing in winter, and not too warm 
in summer, resembling that of the Atlantic States. In the 
early summer, when the crops are in bloom, and when hill and 
plain are carpeted with wild flowers, these beautiful vales look 
like emerald gems set in a wilderness of hill, plain and mesa. 

There are thousands of acres with a soil capable of producing 
all the cereals and vegetables if there was a water supply. 
With flowing wells the agricultural interests of Yavapai would 
receive an impetus which would place them second to no other 
county of the Territory. 

The valley of the Verde is the finest body of farming land in 
this county. From its source in Chino valley to its junction 
with the Salt, it passes through several canons, and again widens 
out into stretches of rich bottom land. These spots will average 
from two hundred yards to a half mile in width. The soil is a 
rich black mold and a sandy loam of great fertility. There is 
an abundance of water for irrigation, and fine crops are insured 
every season. Corn does remarkably well in this valley, as high 
as sixty bushels having been raised to the acre. Some of the 
farms have produced corn crops for the past sixteen years and 
yet the soil seems to have lost none of its vigor and productive- 
ness. Fruit can be grown here, it being much lower than the 
surrounding plateau, and well sheltered from chilling winds and 
early frosts. At present there are about 3,000 acres under 
cultivation along the Verde, and there are nearly as many 
more open to occupation. The number of acres under cultiva- 
tion in Yavapai county is about 6,500. 

Besides the farming lands we have alluded to there are many 
small valleys in the Sierra Prieta, Bradshaw, Bill Williams, and 
other mountain ranges. These secluded glens grow the finest 
of vegetables, and sometimes good crops of corn. The potatoes 
raised in them are the best in the Territory. No irrigation is 
practiced, the rain and snow-fall being all-sufficient. 

The farming lands of Pima county are mostly confined to the 
valley of the Santa Cruz and the Soniota. The former stream, 



r62 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

which takes its rise in the Huachuca mountains, and enters the 
Gila east of the Sierra de Estrella, has some peculiarities which 
are all its own. For more than two-thirds of its course it dis- 
appears in the sands. "Where it flows on the surface, the land 
has been brought under cultivation, and produces large crops of 
grain, fruits and vegetables. The soil is exceedingly rich, and 
of wonderful durability, portions of it having been cultivated for 
centuries. Near Tubac and Calabasas, and opposite Tucson, 
and the old Mission church of San Xavier, the stream forces its 
way to the surface, and the valley in the vicinity is in a high 
state of production. The Santa Cruz drains a large area of 
mountain country, and no doubt beneath its sands there flows a 
large volume of water. A project is being agitated among 
some citizens of Tucson to force to the surface this underground 
river, divert its waters into suitable canals, and convey it over 
the adjacent land. If such a proposition should assume tangible 
shape, it would be the means of making thousands of acres pro- 
ductive which are now dreary wastes. 

The limited area now under cultivation yields fire crops of 
wheat, barley and vegetables. Grapes and all varieties of fruit 
are also grown, and in yield and quantity will compare with any 
portion of the Territory. The valley of the Santa Cruz was the 
first 'and cultivated by Europeans in Arizona. Wherever the 
Mission fathers gained a foothold, their converts were first taught 
the peaceful arts of agriculture. Fields were ploughed, and the 
vine and other fruit trees set out, and so unerring was the judg- 
ment of these old padres, that nearly every spot they chose for 
the founding of a Mission has become the site of a flourishing 
town; climate, soil and situation being, in nearly every instance, 
as perfect as could be wished. And so it is with the Santa Cruz 
valley. The lands tilled by the neophytes of the Missions, over 
200 years ago, are yet as productive as when first touched by 
the plough. 

The Sonoita is a tributary of the Santa Cruz, which it joins 
near Calabasas. It is about sixty-five miles southeast of Tuc- 
son, and is one of the most productive spots in the southern por- 
tion of the Territory. From old Fort Buchanan to the Santa 
Cruz is nearly thirty miles, and settlements have been made 
wherever wat&r can be had, the entire distance. The valley is 
narrow, but the soil is a heavy rich mold, which yields fine crops 
of corn, wheat, barley and vegetables. Fruit is also cultivated in 
considerable quantities. At the breaking out of the civil war 
when a garrison was maintained at Buchanan, this valley was 
under a high state of productiveness. 

But when the troops were withdrawn the Apache came down 
from his strongholds and the Sonoita was swept by fire and 
drenched with blood. Nearly half the settlers were murdered, 
and the rest fled for their lives. The savages burned and 
destroyed everything. Sonoita is the dark and bloody ground 



• AGRICUL.TURE. 163 

of Arizona, and the graves of its pioneers mark the hillsides 
from one end of it to the other. The valley of the Arivaca, 
near the Sonora line, contains some good land estimated at 
10,000 acres. It is claimed under a grant, thus keeping out 
actual settlers, and is at present utilized for grazing purposes. 

Although Cochise county has been looked upon as a mining 
and grazing region, it contains large bodies of fine farming lands 
nearly all being unoccupied. The class of immigration which 
has filled up this portion of the Territory during the past four 
years were attracted by its marvelous mineral wealth, and have 
almost overlooked all else in their eager search for the hidden 
treasures. Yet, along the San Pedro and in the Sulphur Spring 
valley, there are large tracts of good land. The soil is exceed- 
ingly fertile, producing, with proper cultivation, large crops of 
everything grown in the Territory. 

At St. Davids, some ten miles above the railroad station of 
Benson, a Mormon colony have established themselves, and 
already reclaimed a large body of land. They have built 
pleasant homes, raise good crops of corn, wheat, barley and 
vegetables. E.Kperiments with the vine and other varieties of 
fruit has proved that the soil and climate is well-adapted for the 
successful prosecution of the industry. Small farms are cul- 
tivated in this colony, and every drop of water utilized. 

That portion of the San Pedro, north of the railroad, which is 
included within the boundaries of Cochise, has been farmed suc- 
cessfully for nearly twenty-five years. This settlement known 
as Tres Alamos (Three Cottonwoods), has several fine farms 
which yield good crops of grain, fruits, and vegetables. The 
corn grown here is said to be the finest in Arizona, and the 
fruits are especially rich and luscious. Alfalfa and other grasses 
yield large returns. Several canals have been taken from the 
San Pedro which supplies the settlement with water. The 
volume of the stream is not large, and the area of land along 
its banks, which can be brought under cultivation, will always 
be limited. 

The Sulphur Spring valley, which extends through the eastern 
portion of the county, contains 15,000 acres of good land, which 
can be made productive. This great valley, which is nearly lOO 
miles in length, and fifteen miles in width, drains an immense 
area of country. Over nearly its entire length, and within a 
few miles of each other, springs are found, and by sinking 
a few feet the underground river is tapped, and an abundant 
water supply secured. Although the valley is at present 
devoted principally to stock raising, its agricultural capa- 
bilities are gradually beginning to be understood, and several 
farms are already under cultivation. There are large tracts 
where no irrigation is required, the moisture from the water 
below being sufficient to insure a crop. Corn, wheat, barley, 
alfalfa, and all kinds of vegetables are now grown, the yield being 



l64 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

large, and the quality being equal to any in Arizona. Thcreis 
hardly a doubt that flowing wells will yet be had in this valley, 
and at no great distance from the surface. Windmills can also 
be utilized for gardens and orchards. There is abundance of 
water just below the surface, and the industry and ingenuity of 
man will yet force its clear and sparkling currents to the sun- 
light, and make of the Sulphur Spring valley one of the most 
productive spots in the Territory. 

The San Simon valley, which runs paralelled to the Sulphur 
Spring, and is separated from it by the Chiricahua range, contains 
at least 15,000 acres that can be cultivated. The soil is rich, and 
will grow anything planted in it. In the center of the valley, a 
short distance below the surface, the Rio del Sur flows on its 
way to the Gila. This stream forms several springs in its course, 
and an abundant supply can be had by sinking from three to 
ten feet. Some twenty farms have been taken up, and the 
yield of cereals and vegetables is something phenomenal. 
Running into this valley from the eastern slope of the Chiri- 
cuhuas are several mountain streams, with small but exceedingly 
rich stretches of land, which will yet be the sites of many happy 
homes. On the Babacomari, a tributary of the San Pedro, 
which drains the northern slopes of the Huachuca mountains 
there are several fine farm.s, on which good crops of grain and 
vegetables are grown every year. The acreage under cultivation 
in Cochise is put at 5,000. There is no better market in the 
Territory. Hay, grain, and all farm products bring a ready 
sale in Tombstone and adjacent camps. Corn and barley bring 
from one and a half to two cents per pound, and everything else 
at like rates. 

Yuma county contains some of the richest lands within the 
limits of Arizona Territory, a very small fraction of which are 
under cultivation. The Colorado of the West, which washes the 
western border of the county, forms some large and fertile val- 
leys. The lower Gila is bordered by large tracts of rich bottom 
lands, with abundance of water to irrigate the same, at nearly 
all seasons. The total area of irrigable lands on the Gila and 
Colorado, within the borders of the county, has never been cor- 
rectly estimated, but it is safe to say that it will not fall short of 
200,000 acres. The valley of the Colorado, like that of the Nile, 
is subject to annual overflows, and has been enriched by the de- 
posits carried down by the stream for ages. Under its semi- 
tropic sun vegetation is very rapid. Weeds, grasses and wild 
plants reach an amazing height within a short time after the 
waters recede. 

After the overflow the Indians, who cultivate a few patches 
along the stream, dig shallow holes with a sharp-pointed stick 
in the rich soil, and drop the seed. Although no attempt is 
made at cultivation, the growth is something marvelous, and in 
less than three months, corn and vegetables have fully ripened. 



AGRICULTURE. 165 

No better soil for cotton, rice, sugar, tobacco and hemp, can be 
found on the continent. The latter fibre is found growing in 
large quantities in a wild state below Yuma and along the Gulf. 
The orange, lemon, olive, pineapple, grape, fig, almond, peach, 
pomegranate, and every other fruit grown in the tropic or semi- 
tropic zone, are at home in the valley of the Colorado. 

This large body of land, whose marvelously rich soil is the 
wonder of all who have examined it, remains unreclaimed. The 
cost of erecting suitable levees to prevent the sudden overflow, 
and the difficulties in opening canals, are the obstacles which 
stand in the way. To the poor immigrant these are unsurmount- 
able barriers. Capital alone can make the great valley produc- 
tive. The late Thomas Blythe, of San Francisco, expended 
large sums in this direction, and made many experiments on the 
capabilities of the soil. Opposite Ehrenberg, he constructed a 
wide canal, and was almost ready to begin planting when his 
sudden death brought the enterprise to an ending. He also es- 
tablished a colony at Lerdo, below Yuma, and within the line of 
Sonora. This was to become a great cotton, sugar, tobacco and 
hemp-growing region, and no doubt a brilliant success would 
have crowned the efforts of the projector, had he lived to carry 
out his plans. 

There is a grand opportunity for capital in the Colorado val- 
ley. The rich lands are open for pre-emption, and experiments 
have shown that the staples we have mentioned, and all tropic 
fruits, can be grown here, which in quality and quantity, will 
compare with any portion of the Union. 

Between the junction of the Colorado and the Gila there is a 
body of fertile bottom-land, estimated at 25,000 acres, open for 
settlement. Canals can be constructed from the Gila, at a mod- 
erate cost, and most of this land brought under cultivation. 
About 1,000 acres of this tract was reclaimed some years ago,' 
and it is stated the largest crops of grain ever grown in the 
Territory were raised here. 

The agricultural resources of Mohave county are limited to 
those lying along its western border, in the valley of the 
Colorado, but the great river in its course to the Gulf does not 
form such wide stretches of bottom-land in this county, as in 
Yuma. The soil is identical in both, and the difficulties to-be 
overcome in reclaiming it, the same. Save a few patches where 
the Mohave Indians raise corn, melons and pumpkins, the land 
remains as nature left it. On the Big Sandy, a tributary of the 
Colorado, there are about 1000 acres in corn, barley alfalfa and 
vegetables. There are several thousand acres of fine land on 
this stream and on Williams Fork, but scarcity of water prevents 
its cultivation. 

In Gila county, the area of agricultural land is not large. The 
county is mostly a mining and grazing region. Yet, along the 



l66 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Salt river and its tributaries, above the caiion, and on the small 
streams that flow down from the Matatzals and the Sierra 
Ancha, there are several thousand acres with a sufficient water 
supply, well-adapted to the growth of cereals, fruits and veget- 
ables. The Gila in its course through this county, forms some 
very fine valleys, but nearly all of them are included in the San 
Carlos Indian reservation. There are at least 5,000 acres on 
the Salt river, of which only about 1,500 are now being culti- 
vated. There is plenty of water and the lands are among the 
richest in the Territory, their equable climate and sheltered 
situation being exceptionally favorable to the raising of grapes 
and all other fruits. 

Along Tonto creek many small farms have been brought under 
cultivation, and a fine quality of grapes, peaches, pears and 
apricots are produced. On Pine, Wild Rye and other streams 
which make into the Salt from the north, are many acres of 
alluvial bottom-land now lying idle. The projected Mineral 
Belt railroad, which will pass through this region, will open a 
permanent and profitable market for its agricultural productions. 
At present there are about 2,000 acres under cultivation in Gila 
county, which will yet be increased five-fold. 

Apache county has a good body of farming land along the 
valley of the Colorado Chiquito and the numerous tributaries 
which flow into it. In the Mogollon and Sierra Blanca ranges, 
which traverse this county, there are many beautiful glens and 
mountain glades, well adapted to the cultivation of grain and 
vegetables. Nearly all the available land along the Little 
Colorado, and many of the streams that flow into it, have been 
secured by Mormon colonists. From Springerville to Brigham 
City the valley has been brought under cultivation wherever 
water can be obtained. Dams have been erected, and several 
canals constructed, and a great deal of labor expended in bring- 
ing the land under cultivation. 

Under the co-operative system of labor adopted by the Mor- 
mon church, a great many obstacles were overcome, and a large 
area has been brought under cultivation. Good crops of corn, 
wheat, barley, alfalfa and vegetables are raised. Attempts at 
fruit culture arc meeting with marked success, and many farm- 
ers are putting out vineyards and orchards. A flour mill is in 
operation at St. Johns, and will turn out this year over a quar- 
ter of a million pounds. On Silver creek, the Nutriosa and 
other tributaries of the Little Colorado, there is some rich bot- 
tom-land, a large portion of it being under cultivation. There 
is little vacant land in Apache upon which water can be got, nearly 
all the desirable locations having been taken up by the Mor- 
mon colonists, and the desirable farming lands of the county are 
rapidly passing into their hands. As near as can be ascertained, 
the number of acres under cultivation in Arizona at the present 
time is as follows: 



AGRICULTURE. 1 6/ 

Maricopa county 30,000 acres. 

Pinal " 6,000 " 

^Graham " 6,000 " 

Yavapai " 6,500 " 

Yuma " 2,000 " 

Mohave " 1,500 " 

Cochise " 4,000 " 

Gila " 2,000 " 

Pima " 3,000 " 

Apache " 7,000 " 

Making a total of 68,000 acres. 

To this should be added some 4,000 acres tilled by the Pimas, 
Maricopas, Papagos, Moquis, Ave Supies and San Carlos Apa- 
ches. Along the valleys of the Gila and Salt there are at least 
500,000 acres, with a sufficient water supply to make them as 
productive as any portion of the Union. Of this vast tract only 
a little over 40,000 acres, or one-twelfth, are now under cultiva- 
tion. To bring every acre of this land under tillage requires 
but the construction of irrigating canals, and a careful, judicious 
and economical use of water. 

With a water system as perfect as that which has made the 
plains of Lombardy and Castile, among the most fruitful spots 
of earth, the valleys of the Salt and the Gila will yet support as 
dense a population as any like area on the globe. The large 
tracts now held by individuals will be subdivided, small farms 
will be brought under a high state of cultivation, and where one 
family finds a home to-day, twenty will abide ten years hence. 
There is no soil more prolific, no climate more genial, and such 
a region is again destined to be the home of teeming thousands. 

The conditions which the immigrant to this Territory must 
meet are here stated. We have given the facts and exaggerated 
in nothing. We have shown the mode of tillage and the gener- 
ous returns which will crown his labors. If he elects to choose 
some of these valleys for his future home, he will receive a 
hearty welcome and generous assistance from those already 
here ; he will find a soil whose fatness equals the Delta of old 
Nile; he will find sunny skies, and a climate unsurpassed 
for healthfulness. The agricultural possibilities of the Ter- 
ritory are at last beginning to be understood, and a few 
short years will transform many a dreary waste into fields of 
verdure adorned by many a happy home. 




GRAZING. 




Advantages of Arizona as a Stock Country — The Native Grasses and their Fattening 
Qualities — The Water Supply — Number of Cattle the Country can Sup- 
port — Markets and Profits of the Business — The Yearly Increase — 
Prices of Cattle and Beef — The Ranges in the several 
Counties — Number of Cattle in the Territory — 
Breeding of Horses — Wool - growing, 
Number of Sheep, Profits, etc., etc. 

I^HE pastofal life is natural to man, and in all ages, and 
among all peoples it has had a fascination which no 
other occupation possesses. It is one which does not 
require much manual labor, which yields large returns, and 
which offers an existence free from the cares, vexations and 
perplexities that attend nearly every other calling. 

Of late years the western continent has become the gi"and 
grazing ground of the world. The vast plains of North and 
South America have been covered wath millions of horned 
cattle and sheep. The toiling masses in the busy hive of 
European industry now depend on the New World for thjir 
supply of cheap, wholesome meat ; and the shipping of beef 
from the United States to England and continental countries 
has already assumed vast proportions, and is rapidly increasing. 
So long as man remains a carniverous animal, so long will a 
pastoral life be not only a pleasant but a profitable one. The 
millions who turn the wheels of human industry must be fed, 
and to the western hemisphere must they hereafter look for 
their beef, pork and mutton. Europe has long since ceased to 
supply one-half of the demand. 

The crowding mass of humanity, in their fierce struggle for 
bread, have long since occupied nearly all the grazing grounds, 
and the raising and fattening of cattle in private enclosures is 
an expensive business. So to the great West must Britain 
hereafter look for the roast beef of old England. And not 
only Europe, but the millions along the Atlantic seaboard, and 
in the great Mississippi valley. There, as in the older conti- 
nent, tlie farmer has crowded out the stock-grower, and the 
ranges which were once covered by immense herds are now 
fertile fields, dotted with pleasant homes. Year by year the 



GRAZING. 169 

stockman is being forced back, and the farmer sets his stakes, 
rears his humble home, and turns into a fruitful field the virgin 
soil. 

While other western states and territories boast of their graz- 
ing resources, their rich grasses, salubrious climate and pure 
water, Arizona possesses more natural advantages for stock- 
growing, and offers more inducements to those who wish to en- 
gage in it, than any portion of the United States. Her ranges 
are of vast extent. Of the 1 14,000 square miles which consti- 
tute her area it is safe to say that 60,000, or more than one-half, 
are excellent grazing lands. From the borders of Utah to the 
boundary of Sonora, and from the line of New Mexico almost 
to the Colorado, Arizona is one vast grazing ground. Except a 
strip of country along the Great river, and a portion of that 
region north of the Little Colorado, there is no part of the Ter- 
ritory without a growth of grass. Valley, plain, mountain and 
mesa are alike carpeted with the rich, sweet and succulent 
grasses peculiar to this Territory. Black and white gramma, 
bunch and mesquite grasses are the principal varieties. On the 
Colorado plateau they attain a strong and vigorous growth. 
After the summer rains — which usually begin in July and end 
in August — valley, plain and hillside is a rolling sea of living 
green. The grass shoots up with wonderful luxuriance, and 
myriads of wild flowers lend a charm to the landscape. 

Cattle roam where they list, and revel in the green and bound- 
less pastures which surround them on every side. The fatten- 
ing qualities of the Arizona grasses almost passes beyond belief. 
When green the gramma is exceedingly sweet, juicy and nu- 
tritious, and when dry seems to lose none of these qualities. 
The curing process is a trick of Nature's handiwork, and is as 
perfect as if done by the labor of man. No cultivated hay re- 
tains the rich and juicy qualities of gramma dried and cured by 
the sun. Cattle like it as well in winter as in summer, and keep 
fat on it one season as well as another. 

This grass is found growing from one end of Arizona to 
the other, and is the principal food for cattle in the Territory. 
The quality of beef made from it is unequaled for tenderness, 
flavor, and juiciness. No such meat is raised anywhere in the 
United States, and travelers are enthusiastic when discussing a 
juicy steak or a tender roast grown on the native grasses of Ari- 
zona. No better article, even though stall-fed, is found in the 
eastern markets, and John Bull has a treat in store when he 
smacks his lips over a round of Arizona beef On this grass 
stock feed the season round, roaming o'er hill valley, and plain, 
and keeping in prime condition every month of the year. Here 
the climate is most favorable for the stock-raiser's calling. No 
blinding snowstorms, no Texas northers, no intense cold robs 
him of half his profits, and sometimes in a night destroys his 
entire herd. Here he does not incur the heavy expense of build- 



170 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

ing corrals and barns to shelter his stock from the snows and 
biting winds of the winter months. Here he is not compelled 
to put up large quantities of feed to keep his stock during that 
period. Here he runs scarcely one of the many risks that attend 
the stockman's calling in less favored lands. Here the climate 
is almost perpetual spring, and even in the dryest season the 
feed never fails, and the owner can sit under the shade of his 
comfortable hacienda and see his herds thrive and increase win- 
ter and summer. 

Arizona has been well called the stock-grower's paradise, and 
there is no region in the United States that better deserves the 
name. There is no country where the labor and expense is so 
hght, or where the profits are so high; there is no country where 
the percentage of loss is so small, or where the percentage of in- 
crease is greater, and there is none where a fortune can be more 
quickly realized. 

The water supply is ample. Thus far the cattle-man has de- 
pended upon streams and living springs. In the immense dry val- 
leys, covered with rich grasses, which occur in all parts of the Terri- 
tory, scarcely an effort has been made to obtain water by sinking. 
In the few localities where wells have been dug an abundant 
supply has been secured. There can hardly be a doubt that ar- 
tesian water will yet be found in these valleys, and millions of 
acres reclaimed and made valuable grazing ground. When that 
is done — as it surely will be — Arizona will ho. the leading stock 
country on the continent. Those broad valleys and immense 
plains will be covered with millions of cattle, and ten times the 
present number will be pastured within the Territory. The sink- 
ing of artesian wells will confer almost illimitable benefits on 
the stock industry, and will add millions of dollars to her 
material wealth. It will make valuable the countless acres 
now given over to solitude and desolation ; it will make plain, 
and mesa and mountain-side animate with the sights and 
sounds of active industry; it will make of Arizona a grand pas- 
toral region, where sleek herds will cover ten thousand hills; it 
will bring population, industry and prosperity where now are 
solitary desert wastes. 

Besides artesian wells, windmills will also be utilized in many 
of the valleys where the depth to the water supply is not great. 
This system is already being pursued and with success, and no 
doubt will come into general favor in some localities. Large 
herds can be watered by this means, and the cost is not heavy. 
In many localities where the conditions are favorable, immense 
bodies of water can be caught and stored during the rainy 
season, for the use of stock during the period of drought. In 
some places but little work will be required to erect dams and 
reservoirs and thus secure an abundant supply. In several of the 
valleys of the plateau farmers adopt this plan of procuring an 
abundance for irrigation. During the rainy season great volumes 



GRAZING. 171 

of water fall all over the Territory, and the dry creeks and 
gulches become foaming torrents. There is reason to believ^e 
that the old race who once flourished here utilized a large share 
of this bounteous rain-fall, and their modern successors should 
certainly be able to do as much. 

Epidemic diseases among cattle in this Territory are scarcely 
known. Winter and summer, autumn and spring, the animals 
are in the best possible condition. The fatal maladies which 
affect stock in other countries are never heard of in Arizona. 
Under its clear skies and pure atmosphere, man and beast revel 
in robust and vigorous health. The frightful destruction which 
often decimates the stock-grower's herds in a less favored 
clime never occurs here. The pure water and the bracing air 
of valley, mountain, and plain are the remedies, and the only 
ones, which the cattle-owner requires to keep his bands sleek, 
fat, and healthy, year after year. The loss from disease, it is 
estimated, do not exceed more than one-half of one per cent, 
and from all sources not more than two and a half per cent. 

Let cattle-men who have seen half their herd destroyed by 
one night's pitiless snowstorm ponder over these facts. Let 
men who are following the business in countries where their 
property is always at the mercy of the elements, compare their 
lot with those whose lines have been so pleasantly cast under 
an Arizona sky. This one advantage alone makes the Territory 
the favored pastoral region of North America. 

Arizona has also one other great advantage for the stock-man. , 
While in other countries the area of grazing ground is becoming 
narrowed, and its limits circumscribed by the steady advance of 
the farmer, here, the immense plains, table-lands and foot-hills 
will never be utilized for any other purpose than grazing. The 
agricultural industry will always be confined to the valleys bor- 
dering the streams, and the vast area included in the rolling 
plains and elevated hill-sides will always be devoted to cattle. 
Most of this land is valueless for agriculture, but its wealth of 
rich grasses makes of it a magnificent stock-range. The 
cattle-owner who thinks of embarking in the business here, need 
have no fear of being "crowded out" by the farmer. The domain 
of each is clearly marked by nature, and beyond the bounds 
which she has set, the tiller of the soil may not go. A good 
range once secured, the owner can turn out his lowing herds 
over the broad savannahs and rolling foot-hills, and rest assured 
that the farmer will not in a few years drive him out, and force 
him to seek fresh fields and new pastures. 

Nor need he have any fear about "eating up" the range. After 
being grazed down to the roots, the sweet gramma grass shoots 
up next season with fresh vigor and luxuriance. Ranges over 
which cattle have roamed for years show no falling off in the 
quantity or quality of the feed. In fact, it is claimed by some 
that the ground is enriched by the cattle, and that the native 



172 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

grasses attain a stronger growth after being pastured for a few 
years. 

It is estimated that 60,000 square miles, or more than one- 
half of the entire area of the Territory is grazing land. 
Reduced to acres, this vast area would amount to 38,- 
400,000, an area almost equal to the whole of New England. 
Liberal estimates allow from five to ten acres of grass land to 
maintain an animal during the year. Taking the lowest figure, 
which is a very conservative one, we have a total of 7,680,000 
head, which the grazing lands of Arizona are capable of main- 
taining. But even allowing ten acres to each head, and we have 
the vast total of 3,840,000. These figures are very reasonable, 
and with the present growth of the cattle industry, it is very 
probable that the latter number will be grazing within the Ter- 
ritory inside of ten years. The rapid increase in herds already 
here, and the numbers which are being steadily driven hither, 
makes it nearly certain that this prophecy will be realized. 

Ranges in other countries are difficult to find, and costly, 
while in Arizona many fine ones are yet open to location, and 
others can be had at reasonable rates. Capital is also making 
heavy investments in the stock business, and is constantly on 
the lookout for new and more extensive ranges. Large syndi- 
cates have been formed for the purchase of immense herds, and 
many of them are looking towards Arizona as the country which 
offers the best inducements for profitable stock-growing. These 
favorable conditions will pour into Arizona, within the next few 
years, millions of hoofs and horns. 

The railroads will also give an impetus to the cattle business. 
The two transcontinental lines now passing through the Tcrri| 
tory have done wonders in developing the industry, but when 
the network of branches and side lines, now under way and 
projected, are completed, cattle-raising will enter on the high 
road that leads to wonderful prosperity and enormous growth. 
The iron rail will afford that cheap and rapid transportation" 
which is essential to profitable cattle-growing. They will opeil 
to the Arizona stockman the markets of the world. To the east 
and to the west, to the metropolis by the Golden Gate, as well 
as to the great cities by the Atlantic seaboard, Arizona beef can 
be shipped cheaply and expeditiously. And even the European 
markets can be reached. With railroad communication Arizona 
beef can be laid down in Liverpool or London as cheaply as the 
Texas or Montana product. And even cheaper, for it must be 
remembered that the cost of production is less in Arizona than 
in any other portion of the United States. 

The day is not far distant when the fat and succulent cargoes 
will be shipped across the ocean, and when the English work- 
man will build up his thews and sinews on the prime article 
grown on the plains and mesas of Arizona. \x\ fact the market 
is steadily enlarging, while the area of grass land is being stead- 



GRAZING. 173 

ily curtailed. San Francisco alone, is as fine a market as the 
Arizona cattle-man could desire. Her demand is always grow- 
ing, and the localities she formerly depended upon for her sup- 
ply are gradually falling off in their production. In Oregon, in 
Washington, and other Territories, the farmer is taking up the 
land once devoted to stock, lessening .the supply and increasing 
the price. To Arizona must the Queen city of the Pacific here- 
after look for beef and mutton. The home market is also stead- 
ily growing, and as mines are developed, farms taken up and 
population increases, the domestic consumption will always be 
an item of considerable importance. 

The profits and increase in the stock business in Arizona are 
something phenomenal. There is no industry or calling where 
the returns are so large on the capital invested, where the chances 
for success are greater, or the risk of failure less. Poor men who 
started with fifty or a hundred head, eight or ten years ago, are 
now " fixed " for life. There is not an instance of failure in 
the history of stock-growing in the Territory. Every man who 
engaged in it has grown rich, or is fast becoming so. Prices 
have more than doubled within the past three years, with yet an 
upward tendency. A man who is so fortunate as to own a herd 
of cattle and a good range is the most independent in Arizona. 

Asleep or awake, at home or abroad, his droves multiply and 
his wealth increases. While other callings require constant at- 
tention and unremitting care, the stockman can lie down con- 
tentedly, assured that no serious accident can interfere with his 
steady accumulation. While the slumbers of the miner are dis- 
turbed by visions of a "porphyry horse," a heavy fliow of water, 
or his mine with the "bottom falling out;" while the merchant is 
haunted by thoughts of dull trade, low prices and bad debts; 
while the artisan is troubled by the nightmare of hard times, 
scarcity of work, and low wages, the cattle raiser can enjoy the 
slumbers of the blest, attended by pleasant visions of growing 
herds and full coffers. The yearly increase in the cattle business 
in Arizona is from eighty to ninety per cent; in most cases 
nearer the latter than the former figure. The following table 
will give an idea of the increase in stock in this Territory. It 
is furnished by a cattle-grower of long experience, and can be 
relied upon as strictly correct. Starting with 100 head, the in- 
crease for five years will be as follows: 

First year 194 head 

Second " 314 " 

Third " 495 " 

Fourth " 782 " 

Fifth " 1,302 " 

These figures will convey some idea of the enormous profits 
of stock-raising in Arizona. There is no business which the 
man of limited means can engage in that leads so speedily to 



174 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

fortune. This seems incredible but it is a fact that is being demon- 
strated every year. When it is remembered that the losses from 
all sources will not exceed three per cent, it cannot be wondered 
that cattle-men grow rich so rapidly. 

The prices for cattle are high, good beef cattle being worth 
from seven to eight cents per pound, neat. This price has 
prevailed for the past two years, and there is no reason to be- 
lieve it will get any lower. The following are the ruling prices 
at present: 

Beef cattle (three year olds) $35@40 

Three year olds (heifer) ^5@3S 

Two year olds (steers and heifers) 25^130 

Yearlings (steers and heifers) I5@20 

Stock cattle are worth $30 per head. The grade of cattle in 
the Territory is being steadily improved. At first a very in- 
ferior stock of Mexican and long-horned Texan steers and 
cows was bred, but the introduction of fine Durham bulls and 
droves of superior American cattle has almost driven out the 
poor scrubby stock of the early days. And the good work is 
still going on. Every stock-grower takes a pride in improving 
his herd, and in a few years the grade of Arizona cattle will 
compare with any portion of the Union. For the purpose of 
giving the reader a clear idea of the grazing capabilities of the 
Territory, and assisting the cattle-grower who thinks of driving 
his herds hither, a short description of the ranges in the several 
counties is here given. 

Yavapai county, which embraces the larger portion of the 
great Colorado plateau, and contains more than one-fourth of 
the entire area of the Territory, has within its borders some of 
the finest grazing grounds in Arizona. The elevated plains, 
table-lands, foot-hills, and mountain-sides, from the thirty-fourth 
parallel to the Little Colorado, arc all covered with a heavy 
growth of black and white gramma, mesquite, pine, and buffalo, 
grass. The heavy snow-falls of winter and the copious summer 
showers cover this whole region with rich, nutritious feed, on 
which stock keep in prime condition at all seasons. While the 
snow-fall in the elevated mountain ranges sometimes reaches a 
depth of from four to five feet, it disappears from the mesas, 
foot-hills and valleys within a very short time. The finest beef 
in the Territory, it is claimed, grows on the Colorado plateau. 
The grass is richer, more juicy and nutritious than in other 
parts of the country where the moisture is not so great. 

The ranges of Yavapai extend all over the county. In nearly 
every valley and mountain glen, on the rolling plains and table- 
lands, and even on the sides and summits of the mountain 
ranges, excellent feed for stock is four^d. In fact the county 
may be considered one vast stock range, its capabilities only be- 
ing limited by its water supply. Where living water can be 



GRAZING. 175 

had, there a range can always be found ; and in many locaHties 
the possession of the water gives the owner undisputed control 
of a pasture extending in every direction as far as the eye can 
reach. 

The principal ranges now occupied in this county are along 
the water-courses and around permanent springs. No effort has 
been made to sink artesian wells. Many of the large, grassy 
valleys on the plateau are surrounded by mountain ranges, and 
drain the annual rain and snow-falls which descend upon them. 
These valleys are vast reservoirs, holding in their underground 
channels the immense bodies of water, which for ages have 
rushed down from the surrounding hills. The chances for find- 
ing artesian water in many of them are most encouraging, but 
hitherto no attempt has been made to solve the problem. So 
long as plenty of unoccupied grazing ground and living water 
is open for the stockman he will not go to the expense of seek- 
ing for an artesian supply. But as the number of cattle increases, 
and grass lands along the water-courses become overcrowded, 
the attempt to utilize those vast stretches of grass-covered plains 
will no doubt be made, and, we believe, successfully. 

The Tonto basin, the Verde valley and the foot-hills adjacent, 
the region of country around the base of Bill Williams moun- 
tain, and the valleys and grass-covered hills of the San Fran- 
cisco, the wide grassy plain, known as Chino valley, the rolling 
hills skirting the Agua Fria, the extensive plains along Date 
creek, the rich slopes of the Mogollon and the Juniper, and the 
scores of little valleys and mountain glens all over the county, 
are at present the stock-ranges of Yavapai. In many of the 
valleys, windmills have been erected, and owners of small bands 
supply their stock with water by this means. The building of 
the railroad along the thirty-fifth parallel has been of great 
benefit to the stock interests of Yavapai county. It has opened 
markets both east and west, and largely increased the home 
consumption. Stock throughout the county is rapidly increasing, 
and large droves are constantly changing hands at from $25 to 
$30 per head. This includes three and two-year olds, yearlings 
and calves. The number of cattle in the county at the present 
time is estimated at 65,000. 

Mohave county, which joins Yavapai on the west, and extends 
to the Colorado river, has some magnificent grazing ranges, 
the larger portion of which must remain unoccupied until flow- 
ing water can be had. The Hualapai, the Sacramento, and 
many other extensive valleys, east of the Colorado, are covered 
with a thick growth of rich grasses, capable of sustaining hun- 
dreds of thousands of cattle. These valleys drain large areas of 
mountain country, and, no doubt, contain large bodies of water 
beneath the surface. At present they are utterly valueless, but 
if water can be found they will be among the very best cattle- 
ranges in Arizona. Along the Big Sandy and Bill Williams 



176 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA, 

Fork, there is a fine grassy county, and many portions of the 
Colorado valley are well-adapted for stock-growing. On the 
western slopes of the Cottonwood mountain there are many 
fine ranges, and also in the rolling grass-covered hills northeast 
from Hackberry. 

Mohave, like Yavapai, is a grazing county from one end to 
the other, and with a regular water supply her grassy plains, 
valleys and foot-hills could support almost countless herds. The 
Atlantic and Pacific railroad, which crosses the county from east 
to west, gives her all the advantages of a market which it has 
conferred on her sister county. The number of cattle in Mohave 
is put at 8,000. 

Yuma county has some excellent stock ranges along her east- 
ern border and in portions of the great Colorado valley, but 
here as in Mohave, a scarcity of water prevents them from be- 
ing utilized. Her vast grassy plains bordering on Maricopa and 
Yavapai are at present solitary wastes. In some valleys wells 
have been sunk and good water found, but the clumsy and tedi- 
ous plan of hoisting with a bucket, can only supply a small 
number of cattle. No effort has yet been made to get flowing 
water in this region, but the rich and extensive country that 
would thus be made valuable, is certainly worth the effort. The 
valley and adjoining plains of the lower Gila is a fine cattle 
country and a large number are now being pastured there. The 
number of cattle in Yuma county is about 5,000. 

The grazing lands of Gila county at present occupied, are situ- 
ated along the Gila and Salt rivers and in the lower end of the 
Tonto basin. Tonto, Wild Rye and the other tributaries of the 
Salt which flow through the basin, are excellent stock-ranges. 
The slopes of the Sierra Ancha and the Mazatzal are covered 
with rich grasses, noted for their fattening qualities. Bordering 
the Gila river in its course through this county, are some of the 
most desirable pastures to be found in the Territory. There is 
an abundance of fine water, and the hillsides, valleys and table- 
lands are covered with a magnificent carpet of succulent grasses. 
This is one of the very best ranges in Arizona, and there is room 
for ten times the number at present occupying it. All that roll- 
ing, hilly country extending from the northern slope of the Pinal 
mountains to Salt river, is a fine stock country. The narrow 
valleys, low hills and mesas are covered at all times by a 
heavy growth of gramma and other grasses and cattle fed upon 
them are ready for the market at all seasons of the year. 

Gila offers many advantages to the stock-raiser, and, in fact, 
the entire county is one vast range clothed from end to end with 
some of the richest grasses to be found in the Territory. At 
present but little of the field is occupied, and vast tracts capable 
of sustaining large herds, where water could be secured at very 
little cost, are open to occupation. The number of cattle in the 
county is put at 10,000. 



GRAZING. 177 

The pastoral lands of Graham county are found along the 
Gila, near the new Mexican line, the Arivapai canon, the foot- 
hills and valleys surrounding the Graham mountains, the lower 
Sulphur Spring valley. Eagle, Bonita, and other tributaries of the 
Gila river, from the north, and the immense grassy plains of the 
lower San Simon valley. This great plain has an underground 
river flowing through its entire length. The stream forces its 
way through the bank and falls into the Gila, near Safford. No 
effort has yet been made to utilize it for stock purposes, and 
hundreds of thousands of acres of magnificent grass land is 
given over to the wild deer and the coyote. The lower end of 
the Sulphur Spring valley contains some of the best ranges in 
the Territory, and here, and on the slopes of the Graham and 
Galiuro mountains, which bound it on the east and west, large 
herds have been pastured for years. The water supply is 
abundant, and the . feed rich and nutritious. The Arivapai 
caiion, which pierces the Galiuro range and extends from the 
San Pedro to the Gila, is also an excellent stock country. It is 
nearly forty miles in length, has abundance of pure water, and a 
splendid growth of gramma, mesquite and bunch grass. The 
rolling hills and mesas which border it on either side are among 
the most desirable ranges in Arizona. The climate is delight- 
ful, and the quality of beef grown has long been noted for its 
juicy tenderness and fine flavor. A great many cattle are 
pastured here, but there is room for many more. 

The upper Gila is also a fine cattle-growing region. From 
the boundary of New Mexico to the mouth of the San Fran- 
cisco, the narrow valley of the stream is bordered with rolling 
hills and plains, always covered with excellent feed. The climate 
is superb, and the abundant water supply in the river can be 
approached by stock at any point. The narrow-gauge railroad 
from Clifton to Lordsburg passes through this region, thus offer- 
ing every facility for the shipment of the product to market 
Stockmen looking for a range cannot find a more suitable one 
than along this portion of the Gila. There is room for many 
thousands of cattle along the valley. 

On the eastern and northern foot-hills of the Graham mountain 
are some beautiful stock-ranges. At the foot of this massive 
elevation many clear, cold springs burst forth, and flow out for 
some distance before they are lost in the dry plain. These 
springs form charming meadows, green and inviting all the year. 
On \h(t?,&cienegas, and on the adjacent hills and plains, cattle keep 
sleek and fat summer and winter. When tired of roaming over 
the plains and foot-hills they seek the moist, springy meadows, 
and crop the rich green grass which grows thereon. On Eagle 
creek is one of the finest ranges in the county. The grass is re- 
markably luxuriant, often reaching to the knee as the horseman 
gallops over its green expanse. There is always an abundant 
water supply, and it was estimated that 20,000 head can be 



178 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

pastured on this one creek and its tributary. Much of the best 
grazing land in Graham is included within the San Carlos reser- 
vation,' and closed to the white man. 

In this brief sketch of the grass lands of the county many 
matters of detail have been omitted, but enough has been said 
to show that it is one of the foremost grazing regions of the Ter- 
ritory. Its plains, valleys, hills, and table-lands are capable of 
supporting ten times the number that now feeds upon them. 
According to the best information obtainable, Graham has 30,000 
head. 

The grazing lands of Pinal county arc along the Gila and 
San Pedro rivers, on the northern slopes of the Santa Catalina 
range, and on the foot-hills of the Tortilla and Tortillita moun- 
tains. On both sides of the Gila, from Florence to the line of 
the San Carlos reservation, there is one of the best stock coun- 
tries in the Territory. The rolling foot-hills, valleys and plains 
are covered with a thick growth of gramma, bunch grass, and a 
species known as chemise, which cattle are exceedingly fond of. 
There are many fine ranges unoccupied in this region, and yet 
room for large herds. On the tributaries which flow into the 
river from the north and the south, there are some very desirable 
locations, with a luxuriant growth of grass everywhere, and 
hving water in many places. On the extensive plains which 
stretch from the Superstition mountains to the Gila, and from 
that stream south to the railroad, the grass is rich and abundant, 
but the scarcity of water has thus far prevented cattle-men from 
utilizing it. 

Along the lower San Pedro the feed is plentiful, and the 
water supply abundant. A large number of cattle are pas- 
tured in this region, which is one of the most favored spots for 
stock-raising in Arizona. Except on some of the rugged.moun- 
tain ranges, there is not an acre within the limits of Pinal county 
that is not covered with excellent feed. Valley and plain and table- 
land all bear a vigorous and luxuriant growth, and the climate is 
among the most delightful in the Territory. Close estimates 
place the number of cattle within the borders of Pinal at 12,000, 
but these figures are being rapidly increased as new droves are 
steadily finding their way to. so desirable a field. 

Maricopa county possesses some fine grass lands on the lower 
Verde, New river. Cave creek. Camp creek, the Hassayampa 
and the lower Agua Fria. The ranges along these water-courses 
are covered with the very best varieties of gramma and bunch 
grass, and the beef fattened on them is equal in tenderness and 
flavor to any in the Territory. In that portion of Tonto basin, 
within the limits of Maricopa county, there are some very 
desirable pastures many of them being at present occupied by 
large herds. This mountain region is noted for the rich quality 
of its grasses, and is becoming a favorite spot with cattle-men. 
The valley of the Salt river will eventually be the scene of a 



GRAZING. 



^79 




l80 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

profitable grazing industry. A number of settlers are already- 
devoting their farms to the business, and find it more profitable 
than the raising of grain. The immense fields of alfalfa, which 
can be grown here with so little labor and expense, will yet be 
covered with thousands of cattle. On this rich and succulent 
plant, which blooms in verdure ever}^ month of the year, beef, 
equal to the primest stall-fed of the East, will yet be grown. 
Although the business may be considered an experiment as yet, 
enough has been done to prove that it can be carried on success- 
fully and profitably. 

It is estimated that a half acre of alfalfa is all-sufficient to 
keep an animal all the year. By dividing the pasture with 
light fences the herd can always have an abundance of new 
feed. When they have cropped the green and juicy plant in 
one enclosure they can be driven to another, and by the time 
they have gone the round of the ranche the first field is again 
covered by a luxuriant growth. Such a stock-farm has many 
advantages over the natural ranges of the country. No herd- 
ing or " rounding-up " is required ; tliere is no loss from "strayed 
or stolen ;" the percentage of increase is greater ; the water 
supply is always sure and abundant. The stock is securely en- 
closed, and the owner, from his cool coign of vantage under his 
broad verandah, can look over his wide pastures and see his 
fat herds revelling amid the blossoming fields, or resting peace- 
fully beneath the shade of the spreading cottonwood. Alfalfa is 
equal to the best clover, and the beef now fattened from it in 
the valley cannot be excelled in the United States. As near as 
can be ascertained, the number of cattle in the county is 8,000. 

The grazing lands of Cochise county are among the most ex- 
tensive in the Territory, and its grassy plains, valleys and hill- 
sides, are capable of supporting large droves. There is no por- 
tion of the Territory that offers greater advantages for stock- 
growing. The climate is almost a perpetual spring, and diseases 
among cattle are hardly known. The natural water supply is 
good, and the opportunity for increasing it by artificial aids are 
unsurpassed in Arizona. Two railroads passing through the 
county offer every facility for shipping the product to market, 
while the domestic consumption is large and steadily increasing. 
Although the business during the past two years has been ha- 
rassed by border troubles it has grown rapidly and bids fair 
within a short time to assume vast proportions. A large number 
-of stock from Texas and California have been driven into the 
county, but one-fifth of the extensive ranges are not yet occupied. 
There is no reason why Cochise should not be able to sustain 
ten times her present number, and in all likelihood a few years 
will see o\'er half a million head grazing on her grassy plains 
and valleys. Cattle-raisers who are thinking of driving their 
herds to Arizona will find no better opportunities for securing a 
range than in Cochise. 



GRAZING. l8l 

The principal pastures now utilized in this county, are the 
Sulphur Springs and San Simon valleys, the- upper San Pedro, 
and the slopes, foot-hills and valleys of the Huachuca, Chiricahua 
and Dragoon mountains. The farming possibilities of the Sul- 
phur Spring valley have been alluded to in another place. Its 
grazing resources surpass those of any stretch of country of like 
extent in the Territory. A vast grass-covered plain nearly one 
hundred miles in length, and over fifteen miles in width, and ex- 
tending from the northern spurs of the Sierra Madre, in Sonora, 
nearly to the Gila river, it is one of the most magnificent stock- 
ranges in the West. Throughout its entire length water is found 
within a few feet of the surface, and fine springs are met with 
every few miles. These springs form beautiful green meadows, 
where cattle love to stray during the heat of the noonday sun. 
A luxuriant growth of nutritious grass covers nearly the whole 
of this vast domain, and after the summer rains, when its level 
expanse is carpeted with green and decked with myriads of wild 
flowers, it looks like a vast ocean of verdure, with the sunbeams 
glinting from its sparkling surface. 

The valley will no doubt yet be cultivated extensively, but 
there will always be room for thousands of cattle. No spot in 
the Territory gives more certain assurance of containing artesian 
water. The springs that dot its surface, and the strong flow 
found only a few feet below, prove conclusively that an immense 
reservoir is stored here, and that flowing wells will yet transform 
the Sulphur Spring into one of the most beautiful spots on the 
the coast. Windmills can also be utilized to advantage, and 
a steady supply be always assured. A large number of cattle 
are now pastured in the valley but there are vast tracts yet un- 
occupied. 

The San Simon, fifteen miles east of the Sulphur spring and 
separated from it by the massive chain of the Chiricahuas, is 
another magnificent grazing region. It also, begins in the north- 
ern foot-hills of the Mother of Mountains and extends to the Gila 
river, a distance of over sixty miles. A rich and heavy growth 
of grass, similar to that in the Sulphur Spring, covers nearly its 
entire extent. The Rio del Sur finds its way to the Gila, a few 
feet below the surface ; and wherever wells are sunk from ten to 
twenty feet, an abundant supply is secured. A portion of this 
great valley will yet be devoted to agriculture, but the larger 
part will always remain a stock range. Although several large 
droves are now roaming over its rich pastures, the greater por- 
tion remains unoccupied, a great plain whose oppressive solitude 
is scarcely undisturbed by a living creature. 

On the foot-hills of the Chiricahuas, both on the San Simon 
and Sulphur Spring side, are many excellent ranges where an 
abundance of green grass, refreshing shade and pure water is 
found at nearly all seasons. Cattle love to roam these shady 
glens and feed on the sweet grass that grows among the oaks 



l32 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

and pines. Several herds are pastured here winter and summer. 
The Upper San Pedro, from the boundary line to the town of 
'Charleston, is a rich grazing region, as are also the rolling hills 
and table-lands adjacent. A large number of cattle are pas- 
tured here. In the narrow valleys and hills of the Hua- 
chuca mountains, there are some very excellent stock-ranges. 
'\Water is abundant in springs and streams, and the grass is sweet 
;and luxuriant. The country which slopes from the Huachucas 
to the San Pedro is an excellent cattle region. The grass is 
rich and plentiful, and the distance to water at the river, or to 
the springs along the f,,ot- hills, is not great. In short, Cochise 
is especially favored by nature for stock-raising, and few more 
desirable spots can be found on the Pacific coast. The county 
is rapidly filling up, and the choice ranges will soon be all occu- 
pied. The number of cattle now in the county is reckoned at 
50,000. 

Pima county has large tracts of excellent grazing lands along 
the Santa Cruz, the Arivaca, the Cienega, and in the rolling, 
grassy country southeast and southwest from Tucson. Large 
bands of cattle have been pastured on these plains and table- 
lands for years, and there is yet no apparent diminution in the 
quantity of feed. Here, as in nearly every other part of the 
Territory the principal grasses are black and white gramma, the 
growth being heavy and thrifty. Stock-raising in Pima has 
been prosecuted under many disadvantages, since the time of 
the Mission fathers. Up to the year 1874, when the .hostile 
Indians were placed on a reservation, through the efforts of 
General George Crook, the pastoral calling could not be called 
a profitable one. The red marauder was ever on the alert to 
swoop down from his mountain fortress and drive off every hoof 
which grazed on the valley below. Within an hour the accum- 
ulations of years were swept away, and the prosperous ranchero 
reduced to beggary. It was for years the boast of these free- 
booters that the Americans supplied them with beef, and the 
Mexicans with horses. 

As may be supposed, the stock business in those days was 
not a very successful one. The herds had to be heavily guard- 
ed day and night, and time and again the hardy settler saw his 
stock in full career for the mountains, with a band of yelling 
savages behind them. But, despite these many drawbacks, the re- 
markable adaptability of this region for stock-growing caused 
the number to steadily increase, and to-day some of the largest 
herds in the Territory are found in Pima county. As in all 
other portions of Arizona, cattle-owners depend for water on 
springs and running streams. No effort has been made to ob- 
tain a supply by sinking, although it is believed such an attempt 
would be crowned with success. All that vast region south and 
west of Tucson contains some of the finest grazing ground in 
the Territory, but, owing to the scarcity of water, not a single 



GRAZING. 183 

hoof strays over its grassy hills and dales, where there is room 
for thousands. 

Some of the largest droves in Pima are pastured on the 
Cienega. This stream has its rise near the divide that extends 
from the Santa Rita to the Patagonia mountains, and flows 
north to the Santa Cruz. It is not a continuous stream, as it 
sinks in many places, to again reappear for a short distance. It 
forms many large pools, and springs during its course which 
furnish an abundant supply of water. The country along its 
entire length is composed of level plains and rolling hills, covered 
with fine grasses. It is one of the very best stock-ranges in the 
Territory. The climate is exceptionally fine, and the water 
supply all that could be wished. The traveler over the South- 
ern Pacific railroad passes' through a portion of this range a few 
miles east of Tucson, and its green meadows and clear running 
stream are an agreeable relief from dusty plain and jagged 
mountain. The Arivaca valley is another magnificient grazing 
ground. 

From the Arizona mountains west to the Baboquivari 
range, a distance of more than forty miles, the whole country is 
covered with fine gramma and other rich grasses. There is 
always an abundance of water in the stream that flows through 
the valley, and north and east the range extends as far as cattle 
care to feed. The valley is claimed under a grant, and so the 
vast grassy region which surrounds it on every side is tributary 
to the little stream which murmurs through the "vale of 
flowers." The capabilities of this great stock region have never 
been thoroughly tested. It is a spot to delight the heart of the 
stockman, and no doubt the old Padres, who built a mission 
here, saw that the land was good,. and rich in every gift from the 
hands of the Creator. Several thousand head are now grazed 
in the Arivaca range, but there is feed for ten times the num- 
ber. 

On the Upper Santa Cruz and on the foot-hills of the Santa 
Rita, Patagonia and the Atascoso mountains, there is abundance 
of feed and a fair supply of water. Here as elsewhere the grass 
grows in wonderful luxuriance, and after the summer rains it 
reaches to the horse's girth in many localities. In fact this por- 
tion of Pima county has not its equal in the Territory for its 
vigorous and abundant growth of rich gramma. The region 
has long been a favorite range for stockmen and large herds 
have been pastured here for many years. Around the base of 
the Santa Catarinas the plains and rolling hills afford excellent 
feed, water being found in many of the canons and gorges that 
make down from the mountain side. The cattle industry in 
Pima is assuming a prominence hardly second to that of mining, 
and a large amount of capital is being invested in it. The num- 
ber of cattle in the county is put at 65,000. 

Apache is one of the leading stock-raising counties of the Ter- 



184 THE RESOURCES OF AR^ONA. 

ritory. It has an abundant water supply, and the feed on its 
elevated table-lands and mountain valleys is sweet, nutritious 
and noted for its fattening qualities. The winter snow-falls and 
the summer rains, which are very general in this county, bring 
forth a vigorous growth of green grass. Sheep also do re- 
markably well in this county, and the wool clip is increasing 
steadily year by year. The principal ranges are along the Little 
Colorado and its numerous tributaries. On the White, Blue and 
Black rivers, on Silver, Nutrioso and numerous other smaller 
creeks, there is prime feed and clear, cold water. In the ele- 
vated valleys and on the low hills of the Sierra Blanca 
and the Mogollon mountains, there is room for thousands 
of cattle. During a few weeks in the winter months, when 
the snow-fall happens to be heavy, cattle are driven down to the 
lower foot-hills and plains. 

The elevated valleys and glens throughout this mountain 
region m.ake some of the most desirable ranges to be found any- 
where within the Territory. The grass is green and fresh nearly 
all the year, and abundance of shade and pure water are most 
favorable to the production of fine beef The country south 
and cast from Fort Apache has grand stretches of grass-covered 
lands capable of sustaining large droves. That portion of the 
county included within the San Carlos reservation is nearly all 
good grazing land, capable of fattening many thousands of 
cattle, if the Indians were removed from it. 

The number of cattle in the county is rapidly increasing. The 
Atlantic and Pacific railroad, which crosses it from east to 
west, has given an outlet to foreign markets, and the industry has 
received a marked impetus thereby. 

Many large herds have been- driven in from New Mexico, and 
the ranges are rapidly filling up. But there are yet many 
locations unoccupied, and many that can be had for a reasonable 
figure. To the stock-raiser, who thinks of moving to Arizona, 
Apache offers many advantages not possessed by other localities. 
The industry is but yet in an inceptive state, but the time is not 
far off when her pine-shaded mountains, valleys, and glens will 
be alive with cows and steers. The number of cattle in Apache 
county will reach 35,000. 

From this necessarily brief sketch of the stock industry of 
Arizona it will be seen that the business has already assumed 
respectable dimensions. The opening of another transcontinental 
railway has given stock-growing a grand impetus on the 
road of prosperity. Prices have doubled within the past two 
years, while the demand for beef cattle is steadily increasing. A 
large share of this demand is from California, and it is certain to 
attain grand proportions. The following recapitulation will show 
the number of cattle at present in the Territory: 



GRAZING. 185 

Yavapai county ' 65 000 



Pima 

Cochise 

Apache 

Graham 

Pinal 

Gila 

Maricopa 

Mohave 

Yuma 



65,000 

50,000 

35,000 

30,000 

1 2,000 

10,000 

8,000 

8,000 

5,000 



Making a grand total of 288,000 

These figures show an increase of more than 300 per cent, 
within two years. No other industry in Arizona has made such 
rapid strides, and none has yielded such large returns on the 
capital invested. Averaging every animal at $25 per head, 
which is a low estimate, we have a total of $7,200,000, as the 
value of the horned cattle now in Arizona. 

This is not a bad showing for a country that five years ago did 
not have 40,000 head within her borders. With the present 
rapid growth the stock industry will soon rival mining in the 
amount of capital invested, the profits derived, and in its extent 
and importance generally. Stringent laws for the protection of 
stock-raising have been passed by the Territorial legislature, and 
severe penalties are imposed on cattle-thieves. In many of the 
counties associations composed of stock-growers have been 
formed for mutual protection, the exchange of views and the de- 
semination of intelligence affecting the business. The stock- 
growing industry is on a firm basis. It has already gained a 
good start, and has every natural advantage in its favor. To 
those who desire to engage in it, we say, come to Arizona. For- 
tune beckons you on, and certain success awaits you. 

The breeding of fine horses is being carried on successfully at 
many points in the Territory. In Yavapai county several bfeed- 
ing farms have been established and the results have been most 
gratifying. The climate, water, grass and ranges are all favor- 
able. Thoroughbred stallions, from the most famous stock, 
have been introduced, and trotters, running horses and fine 
roadsters are being raised from blooded mares. The pure bracing 
air and fine grasses of the Colorado plateau are well-adapted 
to the breeding of fine stock. Diseases among them are 
unknown, and thoroughbred stock can always command fancy 
prices. In Graham county the business is being gone into 
extensively, the largest breeding farm in the Territory being 
situated here. The colts raised on this farm are being in- 
troduced in many parts of the country, and are noted for 
their beauty, docility, bottom and speed. For roadsters and 
the saddle, they are in every way superior to the best grades 



1 86 



THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 



from California or" the East. They are thoroughly acclimated, 
and their endurance and staying qualities make them much 
more valuable for service in the Territory. 

The breeding of horses in Arizona is yet merely tentative, 
but enough has been done to prove that it can be carried on 
with success and profit. That it will yet be extensively en- 
gaged in, and that Arizona-bred stock will command remunera- 
tive prices abroad as well as at home, is beyond a doubt. 

According to the most reliable data which could be obtained, 
the number of horses, mules and hogs in the several counties of 
the Territory, is as follows: 





county 


HORSES. 


MULES. 


HOGS. 


Yavapai 

Maricopa 

Cochise 


6,000 
5,000 
4,000 
3,000 
2,000 
1,000 
800 
1,000 
6,000 
3,000 


2,000 

1,500 

3,000 

1,000 

1,000 

800 

300 

500 

2,000 

1,500 


1,000 


ti 


7,000 
500 
^00 




Graham 




Pinal 




600 


Gila 




300 
200 


Yuma 




Mohave 




200 


Pima 




1,100 


Apache 






Total 






31,800 


I 3,600 


I 1 ,400 



Wool-growing, next to cattle-raising, is the most important * 
live stock industry in Arizona. It has been prosecuted 
successfully for many years, and is steadily growing in import- 
ance. The climate in certain portions of the Territory is 
peculiarly adapted to the business. As with cattle, no fierce 
snow-storms, no freezing winds or destructive "northers" sweep 
away entire flocks in a single night. Here the shepherd can let 
his bands roam over hill and dale, winter and summer alike. 
No region on the continent is better adapted foi" wool-growing 
than the elevated plateau of Yavapai and Apache counties. 
The short, sweet grass, which grows on the foot-hills and valleys 
and of which they are particularly fond, keeps green nearly the 
whole year. While the wool-grower in northern regions sees 
thousands of his flock destroyed by snows and icy winds, and 
is compelled to provide food and shelter for his shivering flocks, 
here in Arizona they roam at will over hill, mountain and dale 
from January to December. 

With his dog and gun the sheepman follows his bands over 
the grassy plains and hillsides, and at evening they are "bunched" 
by the side of a stream or spring. The herder kindles a fire, 
and soon has ready his tempting evening meal. After enjoying 



GRAZING. 187 

it, as only those can who have had their appetite sharpened by 
a tramp over the hills, blankets are spread on the greensward, 
pipes are lit, and after a recital of the day's events and a 
mapping out of the route for the morrow, the tired shepherd 
enjoys the refreshening slumber which a clear conscience and a 
good digestion always brings. Myriads of brilliant stars flash 
in the blue canopy above him ; the" air is soft with the faint 
breeze of a summer night ; around his camp the tired flock 
form a white semicircle against the green background of wooded 
hill and grassy plain. It is a beautiful picture of quiet repose, 
and aptly illustrates the shepherd's life in Arizona. 

In Yavapai and Apache counties the sheep are pastured dur- 
ing the spring, summer and autumn in the glens and foot-hills 
of the San Francisco, Mogollon and Sierra Blanca ranges, and 
on their outlying spurs and parallel ridges. The short, sweet 
pine grass of the mountain country is eagerly sought after by 
the sheep, and they grow fat very rapidly upon it. Late in the fall 
the flocks are driven to the valleys and mesas of the warmer 
regions farther south. In the spring they are taken to the shear- 
ing grounds, and then to their mountain pastures for the re- 
mainder of the year. Besides the grass we have alluded to, the 
alfileria, or wild clover, has been introduced by sheep driven 
from California, and is rapidly spreading over the country. It 
is a species of feed sheep are especially fond of and on which 
they keep in prime condition at all seasons. 

Diseases among sheep in Arizona are rarely ever heard of, and 
the wool-grower is saved the expense and constant annoyance 
of "doctoring" his flock, as is the case in other countries. The 
pure air and clear, cold water of the mountain region, has a re- 
markably healthy effect, and in the winter months as well as in 
summer, they keep in excellent condition. 

The fearful droughts so fatal to sheep in California and the 
regions east of the Rocky mountains, is never known in Arizona. 
Here, year after year, there is abundance of feed ; green grass 
always covers 'the plains and hillsides, the water supply is always 
abundant, and although Arizona is considered a dry country, 
deaths among stock on account of a scarcity of feed or water are 
hardly ever known. In other lands, which are looked upon as 
especially favored for cattle and wool-growing, thousands of fes- 
tering carcasses often cover the plains, perished for want of food 
or drink. In the Territory such a spectacle is never witnessed; 
and sheep-owners from neighboring States and Territories have 
often saved a portion of their flocks by driving them to the cool, 
shady mountain regions and sparkling springs of northern Ari- 
zona. 

As in cattle, the increase in sheep is something wonderful. 
The average, year after year, is fully sixty-five per cent, and not 
unfrequently it goes as high as one hundred. The genial nature 
of the climate well suits the young lambkin, and the percentage 



1 88 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

of loss among them is very light. In a few days after making 
their appearance they arc frisking over the plain and cropping 
the sweet, tender herbage. The owner has little trouble with 
his lambs. They require scarcely any attention, being 
left entirely to the mother's care. This, and a balmy air and 
genial Arizona sun, soon puts strength and vigor in the limbs of 
the youngsters and very few are lost. 

The grade of sheep in the Territory is being steadily improved 
by the introduction of many fine Merino, Southdown and Cots- 
wold rams. The stock first brought to the country were driven 
from New Mexico, and were a poor lot, reduced to mere runts 
by inter-breeding. But a better grade has been driven from 
California, and by careful crossing the Arizona sheep will com- 
pare favorably with any in the Rocky mountain region. They 
are fine wool-growers and make delicious mutton. The yield 
per head averages about eight pounds per year. Sheep are 
shorn twice a year; in the spring and fall. 

The price of wool on the shearing ground is about eighteen 
cents, and delivered in the markets of New York or Boston, 
from twenty to twenty-five cents. Since the building of the 
Atlantic and Pacific railroad freight on wool has been greatly re- 
duced, and the Arizona product can be marketed cheaply and 
expeditiously. Eastern buyers lavish many enconiums on 
the long silky fibre of the Arizona crop and its remarkable 
exemption from the dirt which is so objectionable a feature of 
wool grown in the western country. 

Sheep in Arizona are worth from $3 to $4 per head, and year 
by year, as the grade is being improved, the price grows higher. 
The number is rapidly increasing and the sheep industry in the 
north and northeastern portions of the Territory is assuming 
large dimensions. Regions which are too rough and precipi- 
tous for cattle are the favorite grazing grounds of sheep. They 
require much less water, and large areas which would be value- 
less for stock are the choice feeding grounds of the wool-pro- 
ducer. While there is always something like jealously existing 
between the wool-grower and the cattle-man, there is no cause 
for contention. This grand domain is wide enough for all, and 
the boundaries which divide the grazing grounds of the cattle- 
grower from the owner of fleecy flocks, are as clearly defined as 
those which separate them both from the agriculturist. Besides, 
the industry is always likely to be confined to certain limits, 
and can in no way interfere with the cattle business. 

The quality of Arizona mutton has a well-deserved reputation 
for juicy tenderness and exquisite flavor. Fed on the wild 
grasses the year round, it is equal to the best fattened in en- 
closures for the eastern market. Travelers have declared that 
the famous mutton grown on the English downs is but little 
superior to the Arizona product. Sheep keep fat all the year, 
and at all seasons a juicy chop or tender roast can be found in 



GRAZING. 189 

market. There are still many fine ranges in Yavapai, Apache 
and Graham counties open to location, but they will not long 
remain so. Large bands are being driven from California every 
year, and the choice ranges are being taken up. The area of 
grazing ground in the Golden State is being steadily curtailed, 
and the wool-grower is compelled to seek fresh fields for his 
flocks. Arizona presents the most inviting pastures, and hither 
he is fast driving his wealth in mutton and fleeces. The num- 
ber of sheep in the several counties at the present time is 
estimated as follows : — 

Yavapai county 50,000 

Apache " 600,000 

Graham " 10,000 

Pima " 5,000 

Cochise " 5,000 

Pinal " 3,500 

Gila " 3,000 

Maricopa " 1,500 

Mohave " 2,000 

Making a total of 680,000 head. 

Averaging the yearly clip of each sheep at eight pounds, and 
we have a total of 5,440,000 pounds. Putting this at twenty- 
two cents per pound in the eastern market, and the yearly 
value of the Arizona wool crop shows the respectable sum of 
1,196,800 dollars. Placing the valuation of each sheep at $3.50 
and the total would represent $2,380,000. This is a handsome 
showing for an industry of so recent a growth, and which had 
to struggle against the disadvantage of high freights, until 
within the past year. If we include the crop of the Navajo 
Indians the wool product of the Territory will be largely 
increased. 

And it is only in its infancy. The large profits realized are 
an inducement not easily withstood, and the remarkable success 
which has attended those who have engaged in it will naturally 
attract others. Nearly every man who has gone into the busi- 
ness has already become, or is fast getting rich. The failures 
in nearly every instance are due to ignorance and mismanage- 
ment. With some practical knowledge and a good start, a man 
with average energy and a fair share of industry will find him- 
self independent in a few years. There are yet fine ranges 
unoccupied in many portions of the Territory, capable of sus- 
taining thousands of sheep, while very desirable locations can 
be secured at reasonable figures. In eastern Yavapai and 
Apache counties the sheep pastures are not excelled by any in 
the Southwest, while the facilities for shipping the crop are 
everything that could be desired. In Graham, Gila and Pinal 



190 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

are also many choice ranges where fortunes can be accumulated 
within a few years. 

For those wool-growers who are compelled to battle with the 
rigors of a northern clime, who, year after year, see a large part 
of their flocks destroyed by the elements, who are put to a heavy 
expense in their struggle against adverse surroundings, we say 
come to Arizona. Here is a land where nature is always in a 
genial mood, where the grass is green and the sun shines nearly 
every day in the yeir, where the profits are high, the labor light 
and the risks reduced to the minimum. If, like Jason of old, you 
are searching for a Golden Fleece, Arizona is the modern 
Colchis where you will find it. No fierce dragons guard it, and 
no perils are encountered in reaching it. Industry, energy, 
good management and good sense are the aids which will assist 
you in gaining it. Thus equipped you will find yourself in a few 
short years the possessor of countless flocks, the owner of a 
respectable bank account and can boast "the glorious privilege 
of being independent." 





WOOD AND WATER. 

Popular Opinion Regarding Arizona — The Timber Lands of the Territory; their 

Area and General Character — The Water Supply of the Territory — 

Irrigation — the System Adopted in Other Countries — Th? 

Plan of Irrigation in Los Angeles — The 

System in Arizona — Artesian 

Water, etc., etc. 

POPULAR Opinion long considered Arizona a portion of 
the great American Desert, a treeless and waterless 
waste, where the principal productions were cacti, 
rattlesnakes and Gila monsters. People in the East who had 
obtained their knowledge of the Territory from the reports of 
some disappointed adventurer, or the highly-colored letters of 
some veracious newspaper correspondent, had an idea that it 
was altogether devoid of vegetation, and so destitute of water 
that the unfortunate traveler ran the risk of perishing from 
thirst in traversing its plains and mountains. Until within a 
few years this was the general impression, and even the opening 
of two transcontinental railroads and the influx of travel have 
not yet entirely dispelled it. Throughout the land, to-day, 
many people will shake their heads when Arizona is mentioned, 
and warn their friends against emigrating to a country where 
they are sure to perish from heat and thirst, even if they should 
escape the tomahawk of the Apache. 

These wiseacres are of the same class with those who included 
all that vast and fertile domain west of the Missouri in the 
"American Desert," and asiierted that it was incapable of cultiva- 
tion and unfit for the abode of civilized man. But the fruitful 
fields, the happy homes, and the rich and populous cities which 
cover the vast plains from the Big Muddy to the Rocky moun- 
tains, show that the so-called "desert" is one of the most produc- 
tive portions of the great Republic. And so it will be with 
Arizona. She has the soil, she has the climate, she has the 
water, and she has the timber to make her agricultural resources 
scarcely second to her vast mining and grazing interests 
Although we have before alluded to the matter in a general 
way, we propose in this chapter to speak in detail of the timber 
and water facilities, and of the system of irrigation upon which 



192 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

the farmer must always rely for the raising of crops in this Ter- 
ritory. 

Although no data can be had from the Surveyor-General's 
office, it is safe to assert that at least twenty thousand square 
miles of the entire area of Arizona are covered by a heavy 
growth of timber. This vast belt may be said to extend from 
the thirty-sixth parallel of latitude to the line of Sonora, follow- 
ing in its course the principal mountain ranges. This timber is 
not continuous. It occurs on the sides and slopes of the high 
mountains, which have a general northwest and southeast course. 
The largest body of timber in Arizona is the Mogollon forest. 
It begins at the San Francisco peak and extends in south- 
westerly direction to the thirty-third parallel, a distance of 
nearly two hundred miles. Its average width is about sixty 
miles, making the entire area over 12,000 square miles. Think 
of it, you who have imagined Arizona, as a- rocky, barren 
desert. Here is a body of magnificient timber land nearly as 
large as the State of Maryland, and yet almost untouched by 
the woodman's axe. 

In this grand cathedral of nature the. pinus pondej'osa rears his 
lordly head sometimes to a height of 200 feet; and specimens 
arc not uncommon of 100 feet without a limb, and from four to 
six feet in diameter at the butt. The pine is of the pitch and 
sugar varieties, and makes fine, clear lumber, well adapted for 
building and all other purposes. Reduced to acres, this vast 
belt contains 7,680,000, and estimating twenty trees -to the acre, 
and 1,000 feet to the tree— a very moderate estimate — we have 
the enormous total of 153,600,000,000 feet of lumber in this 
forest alone! In the Sierra Prieta range, near Prescott, where 
from one to four sawmills have been at work since 1864, there 
are yet millions of feet untouched. 

The large pine forest that crowns the Santa Catalina range 
remains undisturbed, while the wide stretches of timber-lands in 
the Santa Ritas, the Huachucas, the Chiricahuas, and the Pinale- 
nos contains thousands of acres of virgin forest. In fact, Ari- 
zona has been favored by nature beyond most of her sister terri- 
tories in the matter of timber. Besides possessing enough for 
her own wants, she is in a position to supply her neighbors for 
generations to come. Besides the pine, there are also large belts 
of oak and ash in the Sierra Blanca. The oak is of the white 
variety, the trees being tall, straight and remarkably free from 
limbs. The grand forest of the Mogollon has scarcely been 
touched ; but it is not likely to remain long in that condition. 
Already a mill has been established near its northern boundary, 
and just south of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad, and the 
Mineral Belt road, which is now under construction, will pass 
through it for over 100 miles. When this road is built the timber 
to supply the mills, mines, farms, cattle-ranges, cities and towns 
of Arizona will be drawn from this grand pinery. Many articles 




SEE PAGE 218 



NATURAL BRIDGE, TONTO BASIN. 



9*KtR0PT LrTH S I 



WOOD AND WATER. 1 93 

of wooden-ware and lines of furniture, which are now brought 
from abroad, will be produced at home. For building material 
the timber is equal to the best Oregon pine, and here is enough 
to supply homes for Arizonans until the latest generation. The 
glory of the Territory are the magnificent pines which crown her 
mountains and lofty vtesas. With the richest of mines, the finest 
of grazing and farming lands, extensive coal deposits, and thou- 
sands of square miles of timber, Arizona has all the resources to 
make a rich, populous, and prosperous State. 

Nor has the Territory been neglected in the supply of water. 
The Colorado, the Gila, the Salt, the San Pedro, the Verde, and 
scores of other streams are capable of irrigating vast stretches of 
land. We have seen that the Territory was at one time the home 
of a dense population. The remains of aceqiiias, or irrigating 
canals, are found in almost every valley, showing that hundreds 
of thousands of acres now relegated to the desert, were once 
under cultivation. There is no reason to suppose that the rain 
or snow-fall was greater then than now, but there can hardly be 
a doubt that ten times the acreage was cultivated. And the 
same result can be achieved again. The water supply of Ari- 
zona is sufficient to irrigate nearly all the arable lands within 
her borders, and with a system as perfect as that which once 
prevailed, as large an area can be reclaimed. 

But the fact is apparent that the ancient tillers of the soil had 
a much better knowledge of the irrigating problem than their 
modern successors. They evidently utihzed every drop, and 
allowed none to go to waste. The present occupants have not 
yet attained the same degree of perfection in this respect, but it 
is only a question of a very short time when some regular sys- 
tem must prevail. As the farming industry depends for its suc- 
cess entirely on irrigation, and as the system is little known or 
practiced anywhere in the United States, outside the Pacific- 
States and Territories, some brief data regarding it is here in- 
serted, which may be of benefit to those who think of coming to^ 
the Territory and engaging in farming. 

Irrigation is probably the oldest system of agriculture known 
to man. In the cradle of our race, the dry elevated plains of 
Persia, Assyria and Babylon, it is practiced at the present day,, 
and it is not unlikely that Adam, after being driven out of the 
Garden and compelled to earn his bread by the sweat of his 
brow, learned to construct canals and raise crops by irrigation 
on the plains of Mesapotamia. Some of the richest and most, 
productive regions on the globe have been cultivated in this 
manner ever since man learned the arts of tillage. The greater 
portion of India, the plains of Lombardy, the valley of the Nile 
and the fruitful fields of Castile, have always depended on irriga- 
tion for the raising of crops. And although subject to such a 
system for thousands of years, they are to-day the most produc- 
tive spots on earth, and support a dense population. 
13 



194 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

In India, where irrigation has been most successful, there are 
from 200 to 600 persons to every square mile. In Italy we find 
an average of 270 persons for Piedmont, and 390 persons for 
Lombardy. The irrigated portions of Spain have populations 
ranging in number from 200 to 430 souls per square mile. 
Egypt, which for ages was called the " granary of the world," 
has a population equivalent to 484 persons upon every square 
mile of her cultivated territory. In these countries the govern- 
ments have framed laws regulating the entire irrigating system, 
and defining clearly what shall be the "duty of water," that is, 
what quantity each occupant is entitled to in the raising of a crop. 
The measurement is by the cubic foot, flowing at a uniform rate 
through the irrigating season. 

In the several provinces of Spain the quantity of' water re- 
quired to raise crops is as follows : Murcia, one cubic foot per 
second will flood 96 acres ; in Granada the same quantity will 
supply 244 acres; in Henares, 157 acres; in Valencia, 280 
acres ; in Reoja, on low, clayey soil, 350 acres. For cereals and 
grasses generally, the "duty" is placed at 280 acres ; for gardens, 
85 acres. In Spain, whose soil and climate is not materially 
different from Arizona, the number of waterings given to each 
crop per year is as follows : 

Wheat, three irrigations, in March, April and the latter part 
of May. 

Barley is only irrigated once, in April. 

Corn is flooded eight times during its growth, from the 
twentieth of June to the end of September. 

Alfalfa requires, on an average, thirty irrigations during the 
season. 

Vegetables are subjected to eight waterings before they are 
.gathered. 

In Italy the average duty of water is about 80 to no acres 
per cubic foot, but in the valleys of Lombardy and Piedmont 
the meadows and rice-fields require a constant sheet of water 
running over them for several months of their growth. 

In India, wheat requires five waterings to insure a crop, and 
the average number of acres flooded by a cubic foot, during the 
season, is given at from 160 to 180. 

In the United States irrigation is practiced in Southern Cali- 
fornia, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and the great 
Utah basin. The system has, perhaps, reached its highest 
development in Los Angelos and San Bernardino counties, and 
the crude modes of the Mission fathers have been gradually 
improved upon, until every drop of the precious liquid is made 
to do some service, and a cubic foot will sometimes irrigate as 
many as 300 acres of the loamy soils of the mesa lands ; while 
in exceptional cases, where scarcity 'of water requires the 
utmost economy in its use and distribution by means of pipes, 



WOOD AND WATER. 195 

as high as 1,500 acres are cultivated by one cubic foot. The 
careful and judicious use of the water in these counties has 
accomplished wonders, and although the supply is at all times 
limited, its proper application has made of Los Angeles the 
" Garden of California." 

But here the water is under municipal regulations, and is 
measured out to the irrigator, who prepares his land well to 
receive it ; he takes as much as is required and no more, and 
he is careful in the use of it. The supply of water in Los 
Angeles county is from natural streams, springs and artesian 
wells. The streams are small and uncertain in their supply, 
the total available volume of the Los Angeles river in May last, 
being only seventy-eight and a half cubic feet per second ; 
while from the San Gabriel river and its tributaries was but 191 
cubic feet. The Santa Anna, which waters the flourishing 
settlement of Anaheim, carried 203 cubic feet, and the Trabuco 
and San Juan creeks eight cubic feet per second. Yet from 
this comparatively small flow of water the following acreage 
was cultivated in 1879 : 

Los Angeles river 9-435 acres 

San Gabriel " 24,833 

Santa Anna " 23,200 

Trabuco and San Juan creeks 400 

This gives an average of nearly 200 acres to each cubic foot ot 
water flowing per second, through the irrigating season. 

Another great source of supply for irrigation in Southern Cal- 
ifornia is derived from artesian wells. The number of wells in 
Los Angeles county is estimated at nearly 600, and new ones are 
being constantly added. The flow from them is variable ; and 
while some will irrigate from lOO to 200 acres, from forty to fifty 
is the general average. It is estimated there are 17,000 acres of 
land in Los Angeles county irrigated by this means. The water 
of the Los Angeles river, controlled by the city government, is 
divided into irrigating " heads " by placing board partitions in 
the flumes of the main ditches, where the depth is uniform. The 
amount of each 'head' is about three cubic feet per second, and 
the prices fixed by the city council are as follows: For one day, 
$2; one half day, $1.25 ; for one hour, 50 cts. The canals are all 
under the charge of a sanzaro, who has entire supervision, and 
supplies each individual with the water he requires, and at spec- 
ified times. 

The loss by absorption in Los Angeles and throughout 
California is very great. From actual measurements made on 
the main ditch entering the city, there was shown to be a loss 
of thirty-three per cent in a distance of 6,000 feet. On the dry 
plains of the San Joaquin it is still greater. As a preventative 
against this waste a method has been adopted in some places of 



196 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

paving the bottom of the ditches with cobble-stones snugly fitted 
together; but the most perfect method is the lining of the bot- 
tom and sides with concrete. This plan was adopted centuries 
ago in India, Persia, Spain and Lombardy. Another great loss 
of water is by evaporation. It has been estimated that the 
evaporation from Kings river, in the San Joaquin, for a length 
of sixty-two miles, during a year, has reached the enormous 
quantity of 487,821,412 cubic feet. There is a great loss from 
this cause by the unnecessary duplication of works, and the 
building of four or five small canals, where one of moderate 
dimensions would serve the purpose more effectually, at less ex- 
pense, and at far less loss of water. 

Irrigated land, the world over, has always commanded a 
higher price than that which depends on rainfall. Unimproved 
land in portions of Los Angeles county, under irrigating canals, 
is worth from $100 to $200 per acre, while that improved finds 
ready sale at $350 per acre. Before the construction of irrigat- 
ing ditches it would not bring $5 per acre. And such land 
cannot compare with some of the rich valleys of Arizona. On 
land supplied by artificial irrigation there is more certainty of a 
crop, and the yield is generally larger. On sandy soils irrigation 
has a marked effect in increasing their fertility ; in filtering 
through the porous soil all the sedementary matter contained in 
the water is retained and acts as a perpetual restorative. 

These in brief are the salient features of the California system 
of irrigation, and by a clear understanding of it the reader will 
have some idea of the manner of producing crops by the aid of 
irrigating canals. It is the system which prevails in Arizona, 
but in a crude and imperfect form. As yet there has been no 
effort made to devise any plan regulating the supply. The first 
settlers in the valleys of the Territory took out ditches and laid 
claim to certain quantities of water. Companies were formed 
and stock issued, each share entitling the owner to what is 
called a water right. These rights are generally intended 
to be sufficient for the watering of 160 acres, but in most cases 
more than double the quantity required is taken. This water is 
allowed to run over the land, when in many instances there is 
no need of it. Owing to the number of ditches a large quantity 
is lost by evaporation and by absorption. Besides the streams 
through the valleys of Arizona, sink in many places in their 
sandy beds during the summer months, and most of the canals 
which have been constructed fail to carry away but a small por- 
tion of the water. This could be remedied by tapping the 
river bed where it is confined by rocky banks and where the 
bed rock is exposed. 

It has been estimated that the Salt river where it emerges 
from the plain above Phoenix, carries during the irrigating sea- 
son 60,000 miners' inches of water. By building suitable canals 
this immense volume can all be utilized. Yet, at the present 



WOOD AND WATER. 197 

time, there is nearly 25,000 inches taken from the river, and 
only a little over 30,000 acres under cultivation in the entire 
valley. On the Gila, Verde, San Pedro, and other streams, the 
same waste and extravagance in the use of water prevails. The 
system adopted by the first settlers, if indeed it can be called a 
system, still maintains, and the owner of a water right generally 
presumes he has the privilege to waste all the water he pleases. 
These men have acquired riparian rights, which they cannot be 
divested of, and no steps have yet been taken to regulate a 
most vital question affecting the future prosperity of the Territory. 

As we have said, there is water enough in the streams of Ari- 
zona to supply all the lands adjacent to them. With a proper 
use of the article the immense valleys of the Gila and the Salt 
rivers can all be brought under cultivation. But there must be 
system, economy and intelligent management. Whether this 
shall be brought about by local regulations or by Territorial leg- 
islation, is a question yet to be determined. In a country like 
Arizona where every pound of grain raised depends on artificial 
moisture for its growth, the water with which nature has blessed 
the country, will not long be permitted to go to waste. 

It is believed that artesian water can be found in the Terri- 
tory, but no efforts to seek it in localities where it is likely to 
exist, have yet been made. In the large valleys of the Salt River 
and the Gila and in the Sulphur Spring and the San Simon, 
there is every indication of an abundant supply. These valleys 
drain a vast extent of country, and the waters which flow through 
them have their source in the lofty ranges, thousands of feet 
above. 

They are vast reservoirs for the mountains behind them, and 
contain inexhaustible quantities of water. Nearly all the large 
valleys throughout Northern, Central and Southern Arizona are 
immense basins, which retain a portion of the rain and snow-fall 
of the Territory. The attention of Congress has been called to 
the question, and certainly a small portion of the public money 
could be put to no better use than in the effort to find flowing 
water on these dry plains and valleys. The benefits to the stock- 
raising and farming industries would be almost incalculable, and 
the area of grazing and agricultural land would be increased ten- 
fold. 

Those who are unaccustomed to the process will have some idea 
after reading the foregoing, of the conditions which exist in the 
Territory. We have shown what has been done with a limited 
water supply in California, and the waste and extravagance 
which prevails in Arizona. We know there are valleys here in 
fertility equal to any in the Golden State; and we know 
that nature has provided water sufficient to make them 
bloom with productiveness. It only remains for man to use 
with care and judgment the precious boon which has been con- 
ferred upon him. 



CLIMATE 



The jPopiilar Idea of Arizona's Climate — Its Ilealthfulness — Climate of Northern 

Arizona — Temperature of Prescott, Apache and Fort Grant — Climate 

of Salt River Valley — Of Tueson and Yuma — Of Southern 

Arizona — The "Sunset Land" — Sunshiny 

Days, etc., etc. • 




rlf MONG the many errors concerning Arizona, which for 
years have received the sanction of popular behef, there 
is none greater than that relating to its climate. To 
most people the very name is suggestive of desert wastes devoid 
of vegetation, scorched by the fierce heat of a southern sun whose 
blinding glare neither man nor beast can withstand. A region 
where the temperature during the summer months is almost un- 
bearable and where outdoor labor is impossible. A country 
where everything dries up under the consuming heat; where, to 
quote the language of that facetious traveler, Ross Browne, 
"bacon is eaten with a spoon, chickens come out of their shells 
already cooked, and the bones of mules rattle within their shriv- 
eled hides." 

This, for years, has been the popular opinion of Arizona's cli- 
mate; and even the opening of two transcontinental railroads, 
and a diffusion of reliable information regarding the Territory, 
has not entirely dispelled it. The eastern correspondent who 
happened to make a hurried trip to the country in the summer 
months has always made it a point to astonish his eastern read- 
ers with a description of the intense heat ; and where the actual 
facts were not strong enough to suit his taste, he has never hesi- 
tated to draw upon his imagination to supply the deficiency. 
In fact, travelers and tourists through Arizona would consider 
they were derelict in their duty to their friends at home if they 
failed to embellish their impressions of the Territory with blood- 
curdling tales of its savage Apaches, minute discriptions of its 
venomous snakes and reptiles, and highly-colored pictures of the 
fearful heat of its burning suns. 

And yet nothing can be farther from the truth. Arizona is 
blest with one of the healthiest climates on the American conti- 
nent. She has brighter skies, purer air, a more bracing atmos- 
phere, more lovely cloudless days, more brilliant starlit nights 



CLIMATE. .199 

than any like division of the great RepubUc. She possesses a 
cUmate suitable to all constitutions, ranging from the soft semi- 
tropic mildness of the south to the cool, bracing air of the north. 
Every breeze wafted across her mountains, valleys and plains 
bears upon its wings health, strength, vigor of mind and body. 
In the pure dry atmosphere of its mountains and vales diseases 
are unknown, and beneath its glorious skies a man can camp in 
the open air every month in the year, and gather new life and 
strength from quaffing deep draughts of the ozone which fills 
mountain, and plain, and mesa. 

Probably the first question which nine out of ten emigrants will 
ask is in relation to the climate of the country where they intend to 
make their future abode. And it is a matter of the first importance, 
and deserving of careful consideration. Health and strength are 
generally the only capital which the new-comer brings with him 
to his western home; upon them he depends for success and 
prosperity, and with them, aided by temperance and industry, he 
can meet and overcome the obstacles of his new surroundings, 
and in a few short years gain the goal of independence. But no 
matter how rich or productive the soil, how generous the yield, 
how beautiful the surroundings, or how desirable the location, if 
health does not bless the scene they can have no allurements for 
those in search of new-abiding places. For the information of 
people who may seek homes in Arizona this chapter is devoted, 
and the statements made are facts which can be relied upon. 

Arizona may be said to possess two distinct climatic zones. 
In that portion of the Territory extending from the thirty-fourth 
parallel to the boundary of Utah, and east of the Colorado val- 
ley, embracing the great plateau, the climate in summer is among 
the most delightful to be found in the United States. Elevated 
from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea-level, the average tem- 
perature during June, July, August and September is about 
seventy degrees. The nights are deliciously cool and pleasant 
in this region, insuring perfect rest to which a pair of blankets, 
during the hottest season, is always an agreeable auxiliary. There 
are no more delightful retreats on the Pacific coast than the 
mountains and glens of northern Arizona during the summer 
season, and with increased railroad facilities the region will yet 
become a favorite resort for tourists. During the winter months, 
snow sometimes falls on the elevated mountain peaks to a depth 
of five and six feet. It quickly disappears from the lower hills, 
but remains on some of the higher ranges until the middle of 
May. These winter snows feed the rivers and water-courses 
which carry life and fertility to the lower valleys, and upon 
which the farmer must always depend for the raising of a crop. 

The winters in northern Arizona have that cool, bracing, 
healthful quality which people in the East are familiar with. The 
wonderful purity of the air makes it a positive luxury to breathe 
it; and those who have once drank in its exhilarating draughts 



200 



THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 



will agree that few places are blessed with a climate possessing 
■the golden mean — not too cold in winter nor too warm in sum- 
mer — of the northern Arizona plateau. With its towering pine- 
clad mountains, its lovely grassy glades, shady glens, beautiful 
streams, clear, cold springs and abundance of game and fish, 
there is no more delightful region to pass the summer months 
in all North America. 

As showing the mean temperature and the rain and snow- 
fall at Prescott, each month for the three years ending July 
31, 1883, the following tables copied from the records of the 
Signal Service Bureau, are herewith presented : 



MONTH AND YEAR. 



August, 1880. 

September, " , 

October, " , 

November, " . 

December, " , 

January, 1881, 

February, " 

March, 

April, 

May, 

June, 

July, 

August, " 

September, " 

October, " 

November, " 

December, " 

January, 1882 

February, " 

March, 

April, 

May, 

June, 



1 


1 

c 


3 ,A 





« ^ 


c! in 




w D 


K.s> 


.S-u 


r>Q 


c 

(U 1— 1 


H 


Cu 


69-3 


2.80 


63-5 


I .26 


51-7 


0.18 


37-0 


0.42 


38.1 


1.84 


35-1 


0. 16 


41. 1 


0. 10 


40.6 


2.91 


54-7 


0.67 


58.7 


0.44 


67.4 


0.00 


72.0 


3-27 


68.4 


5.25 


61 .4 
52.9 


1 .69 
0.33 


38-4 


0.30 


39-7 


0.33 


30.4 


2.53 


33-5 


2.04 


43-2 


0.28 


48.8 


0.45 


57-3 


0.45 


65-9 


0.47 



MONTH AND YEAR. 



July, 1882, 
August, " , 
September" 
October, " 
November," , 
December, " 
January, 1883 
February, " 
March, 
April, 
May, 
June, 
July, 






64 

34 
2.57 
0.39 
1-55 
0.00 
0.31 
0.63 

2.33 
0.86 

5|0.i5 
ojo.09 
413.20 



This shows the highest mean 
temperature for any month 
during three years to be 72.9, 
and the lowest 30.4. The av- 
erage precipitation (rain and 
snow) for the three years has 
been a fraction over 15.30 each 
year. Prescott is 5,600 feet 
above sea-level, possesses one 
continent, and is one of the 
Malarial diseases are unknown, 



of the finest climates on the 

healthiest towns in the West. 

and the clear, crisp, air which sweeps down from the mountains, 

laden with the balsamic odor of the pines, is one of the best in 

the world for consumptives. 

Fort Apache is situated in the Sierra Blanca, in the north- 
eastern portion of the Territory, and about the same elevation 



CLIMATE. 



201 



above sea-level as Prescott. The following table will show the 
temperature and precipitation at that point for the past three 
years and a half: 



1880. 


1881. 


1882. 


1883. 




Temp 


Precip. 


Temp. 


Precip. 


Temp. 


Precip. 


Tern. 


Precip 


January 


34^6 
29.9 
41.7 
49.4 
58.5 

^7-7 
70.7 
69.7 
63.6 
52.3 
37^5 
36.6 


1^31 

•95 
.80 

•46| 

'".'aI 

5.83 
1.44 

■55! 
.56 

•03 
2.38 


33^3 
40. 1 
41 .6 
53-6 

59-7 
69.8 
72.6 
68.3 
60.9 
53-7 
37-4 
38.3 


.20 
I. 17 

2.45 

1^53 
•35 

"5^63 
8.31 
5-41 
4.68 

.85 
.54 


34^5 
37-5 
44.0 
48.6 
55.8 
64.8 
72.1 
69.8 
60.9 
50.2 
41.9 
36.0 


2.82 

2.85 

I .09 

•91 

•94 
3-27 
4.79 

7^36 
1 .02 


31^9 
39-3 

47^5 
48.0 
56.4 
69.0 

70.3 
69.4 


.8^ 


February. 
March. . . . 




2.46 
2.03 


April .... 




.22 


May 




.86 


June 




.02 


July 




5.46 


August. . 
Septembei 
October 




4.26 










2.34 

•23 


















Total 




14-77 




31.12 




27.62 














Mean .... 




51.0 


1.23 


i 52.4 


2-59 


51^3 


2.30 







Barred by the peninsular 
from the northwest trade 
moisture on these winter 



It will be seen from this that the average yearly rain and 
snow-fall in this portion of the Territory is a fraction over 
twenty-four inches a year. Upon the winter snows which fall 
upon the mountains of Northern Arizona the entire Territory 
depends almost entirely for its water supply. When this snow- 
fall is heavy, the rivers through the southern valleys carry an 
abundant water supply and a bountiful crop is assured. The 
snow-fall on the mountains of the upper plateau sometimes 
reaches a depth of five and six feet, 
continuation of the Sierra Nevada 
winds, Arizona has to depend for 
snows and on the summer rains which are borne hither on the 
wings of the southwest trade winds. These cloud-bearing 
winds, after sweeping over northern Mexico, reach Arizona 
about the first of July, when the rainy season commences, and 
generally lasts until the first of September. 

With the coming of these summer rains a transformation as 
sudden as it is beautiful takes place. Grass and vegetation of 
all kinds spring up as if by magic; flowers cover the hills, 
plains, mesas and mountain-sides; all nature rejoices under the 
life-giving fluid, and the whole country, decked in its robes of 
green and adorned with myriads of wild flowers, presents as 
charming an appearance as one could wish to look upon. Life 
on the Arizona plateau at this season is a luxury found but in 



202 



THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 



few spots on earth. There is a delicious softness and elasticity 
in the air by day, while at night the blue heavens are gemmed 
with countless stars, whose brilliant light flashes down upon the 
beholder, impressing him anew with the might and omnipotence 
of Him who set them in their separate spheres. 

The winter months of this portion of the Territory are cool 
and healthful. Sleighing is sometimes indulged in on the streets 
of Prescott, and a visitor to Northern Arizona at this time of the 
year is apt to have his notions concerning the country materially 
changed as he gazes upon the snow-clad mountains which stretch 
south and east from the capital to the Territory. He will realize 
that the country is not the dry desert which some have painted it ; 
and the nipping night-air will be apt to dissipate any notions he 
may have entertained as to the oppressiveness of the heat. 
Such a thing as epidemic diseases are never heard of, and, in 
fact, disease of any kind is so little known and sickness so rarely 
occurs that medical men find their occupation all but gone, and 
quickly seek fresh fields where death, the reaper, finds a richer 
harvest. 

Fort Grant is fifty miles north of Tucson, in the foot-hills of 
the Graham mountains, and some 5,000 feet above sea-level. 
It is only a short distance west of the fine agricultural 
valley known as the Pueblo Vicjo, a description of which has 
been given in another place. The tables below give the temper- 
ature for the years 1881 and 1882, and for seven months of 
1883. As will be seen, the climate is delightful, while the yearly 
moisture will average fifteen inches each year: 





Temperature. 


1 

c 
_o 

■^ QJ 

.2" u 
c 

CJ 1— ( 
>^ 
P-, 


1882. 


Temperature. 




I88I. 


c 


a 


s 

_S 
'S 

17.0 
19.0 

31.0 
30.0 
42.0 
56.0 
56.0 
57.0 

52.0 
35-0 
20.0 
18.0 

36.1 


c 

1) 


65.0 
62.8 
79.0 
85.0 
86.0 
94.9 
99.0 

93-9 
88.4 

77^9 
76.9 
65.9 

81.2 


s 

3 

21.0 

23.0 

21.0 

32.0 

37-0 
51.0 
61.5 
55^o 
51-5 
34-0 
31.0 
22.2 

36.7 


c 
.2 

S i 

U C 

11 1— 1 


January. . . 
February. . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August. . .. 
September. 
October. . . 
November. 
December . 

An. means 
Total . . . 


45^7 
38^9 
48.3 
55-9 

77-9 
75.8 
71.6 

71.5 
61.0 

47-4 
45-3 

58.9 


68.0 
65.0 

75-0 
80.0 
90.0 
98.0 
1 00.0 
93-0 
91.0 
88.0 
680 
69.0 

82.1 


.60 
•48 
.85 
.08 
.00 
1.32 

5-63 
3-73 

I.OI 

•47 
.00 

1-57 
15-74 


January... . 
February. . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August. . . . 
September. 
October. . . 
November. 
December . 

An. means 
Total . . . 


41.6 

43^7 
51^4 
56.4 
65.2 
72.5 

77^9 
72.1 
67.9 
59-4 
50.7 
44-5 

58.6 


.86 
1.26 
1.84 
.07 
.81 
1.47 
2.02 

4-73 
.80 
.00 
•79 
•17 

14.82 



CLIMATE. 



1883. 



January.. . 
February. . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August . . . 



Temperature. 


c 
.2 

a 
1) 1— 1 


d 


s 
s 


g 

3 

s 

'S 


S 


S 


s 


Oh 
1. 21 


40.5 


64.6 


1 0.0 


43-9 


65.8 


17.0 


1.40 


52.2 


75-9 


37-0 


1.27 


557 


78.4 


32.0 


•03 


64-5 


89.9 


39-0 


1. 16 


77-7 


101.5 


54-0 


1.26 


75-1 


95-4 


61.3 


2.90 


73.« 


91.2 


61.2 


3-07 



South of the thirty-fourth 
parallel there is a marked 
change in the climate of the 
country. There is a difference 
in altitude of from 2,000 to 
4,000 feet. This portion of the 
Territory embraces the large 
agricultural valleys of the Salt 
and the Gila rivers, and the wide 
open plains which stretch away 
beyond the Sonora border. In 
this part of Arizona the cli- 
mate is warmer than on the 
— northern plateau. Snow rarely 
falls in the valleys, and the temperature for nine months in the 
year is unequaled for mildness, salubrity and healthfulness. 
While the heat during June, July and August is sometimes great, 
so dry, pure and exhilarating is the atmosphere that no injuri- 
ous effects are experienced. When the thermometer reaches 
110°, men are at work in the harvest-fields of the Salt 
River valley, and do not feel any inconvenience from the sun's 
rays. Sunstrokes are unknown. The air is so free from moist- 
ure that the oppressed sensation experienced in the crowded 
cities of the East under excessive heat, is never felt in 
Arizona. 

During the autumn and winter months the climate of the 
southern portion of the Territory cannot be surpassed. In the 
warm, dry, balmy air there is a sense of new life and a buoyancy 
of spirit unknown to those who have never drank their fill of the 
pure, elastic atmosphere which wraps the mountains and plains 
of southern Arizona. In the great farming valleys of the Salt and 
Gila rivers, the fields are in bloom in the middle of winter; and 
when snow and ice wrap the landscape in their chilly embrace 
in other lands, in this favored region trees and shrubbery are in 
bloom, the fields are a sea of waving green, and the husband- 
man goes about his out-door labors in his shirt-sleeves! This is 
southern Arizona during the winter months, and there are few 
spots of earth blessed by nature with so genial a climate. 

Phoenix, the center of the largest body of agricultural land in 
the Territory, has a winter climate such as has been described. 
Although the thermometer registers rather high during the sum- 
mer months, yet so healthful is the atmosphere, that no serious 
results are ever experienced from exposure to the heat. Below 
is a table showing the maximum and minimum temperature and 
the rain-fall in the valley, for the year 1882 and for six months 



of the present year, 
destroyed by fire. 



The records for a longer period have been 



204 



THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 



1882. 



January... . 
February.. . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August. . . . 
September.. 
October . . 
November . 
December. 



Total rain-fall, 



74-5 

81.5 

100.9 

102.3 

101.3 

1 1 1.7 

1 12.5 

105.2 

97-3 

91-5 

94.6 



19.0 
23.0 
40.2 
37-0 
51-0 
56.0 
70.2 
64.7 
45.0 
44.2 
24-5 
23-5 



1.52 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 

0-37 
0.32 
1.81 
1.25 

O.IO 

1.30 

0.00 

6.67 



1883. 



January , 
February. 

March 

April 

May 

J 



une, 



Total rain-fall 4.70 



86.7 
80.2 
91.6 
98.6 
107.2 
112.5 



15.0 

22.7 

38.4 
30.1 
40.7 
55.2 






0.83 

1.27 

1. 16 

0.00 

0.44 

0.00 



The city of Tucson is 2,500 
feet above the sea-level. The 
annexed table gives the maxi- 
mum, minimum and mean tem- 
perature for a year, together 
with the rain-fall. 



Month. 



January . . . 
February . . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August . . . 
September 
October . . 
November. 
December . 



Annual means 



78.0 
77.0 
87.0 
88.0 
104.0 

I lO.O 

108.0 

106.0 

106.0 

94.0 

73-0 

80.0 



92.6 



14.0 
20.0 
35-0 
36.0 
44.0 
60.0 
65.0 
66.0 
58.0 
40.0 
30.0 
28.0 



41-3 



o > 

c o 






0.56 

0.15 

0.41 
0.04 
0.00 
0.00 
1.62 

1.28 
1.89 

0.09 
0.00 

0.57 



6.61 



The winter climate of this city is making it a favorite resort 
for invalids, who find in its equable atmosphere rest and recuper- 
ation. 

The climate of Yuma has long been a subject of facetious 
comment, and ever since "John Phoenix" told the story of the 
soldier and his blanket, a good deal of funny (?) capital has been 
made out of the subject. That the temperature of the 
place is a trifle hot during the summer months cannot be 



CLIMATE. 



205 



gainsayed, but during six months of the year there is 
no more perfect ch'mate on the continent. The clear 
sunshiny days, and the delicious mildness of its bright star- 
lit nights, make this a most desirable place for those 
troubled with pulmonary complaints to pass the winter 
months. There is probably not another spot in the Union 
blessed with so many days of bright sunshine during the year. 
Out of the 365, it is estimated there are not over twenty that are 
cloudy. So high an authority as Ross Browne has written: 
"The climate in winter is finer than that of Italy. It would 
scarce be possible to suggest an improvement. I never exper- 
ienced such exquisite Christmas weather as we enjoyed during 
our sojourn." This is the verdict of a traveler who saw many 
lands, and experienced all varieties of temperature. 

Below is a statement showing the maximum, minimum, and 
mean temperatures, and the precipitation, in inches and hun- 
dredths, at Yuma, Arizona, for each month from the commence- 
ment of observations to January, 1883, compiled from the 
records on file at the office of the Chief Signal Officer, U. S. 
Army, Washington, D. C, April 9, 1883. 

MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES. 



Year. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


1879 


80. 


90. 


100. 


103. 


102. 


111. 


116. 


115. 


".3- 


102 . 


91- 


"4- 


1880 


77- 


73- 


84. 


94. 


104. 


I 10. 


1 10. 


I 1 I. 


108. 


97- 


86. 


76 


1881 


76. 


89. 


97. 


102. 


102,4 


109.4 


1I5-.3 


1O9.6 


107.4 


98.2 


«3-4 


79.=; 


188276.4 


78.1 


91.7 


102.8 


103-5 


108.7 


III. 8 


114. 


107.3 


90 


82. 


79-8 



MINIMUM TEMPERATURES. 



Year. 



1879. 
1880. 
1881. 
1882. 



Jan. 



30.0 
30.0 

33-0 
27.2 



Feb. 



37-0 
25.0 

37-0 
35-8 



Mar. 



46.0 

37-0 
31.0 

38.9 



Apr. 



480 
44.0 
50.0 

437 



May 



53-0 

57-2 
53-8 



June. 

59-0 
61.0 
62.2 
58.2 



July. Aug 



61.064.0 
69.067.0 
71.2 65.6 

72.7172.2 



Sep. 



59-0 
58.0 
58.8 
50.0 



Oct. 



44.0 
46.0 
47.2 

49-5 



Nov. 



38.0 
31.0 

35-5 
37-0 



Dec. 



27.0 

37-0 

36.8 

31-5 



MEAN MONTHLY TEMPERATURES. — [Computed from the 
three telegraphic observations.] 



Year. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. Aug.'. *5ept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 

.S9-3 


.Means 


1876. 


50.9 


59-5 


61.9 


72.7 


81.8 


89-3 


93.990.386.3 


77-c 


65.4 


74.0 


1877. 


60.3 


65.0 


7L8 


68.4 


75-3 


88.7 


94.092783.3 


71.4 


.S8.5 


S4o 


7^>7 


1878. 


54.8 


59-6 


64.6 


66.7 


76.8 


85.1 


9339L683.C 


73-4 


62.C 


5 3-4 


72.0 


1879. 


53-1 


(^3-7 


70.5 


71.8 


77-7 


85.5 


92.092.587.7 


72.8 


.S9-9 


S2.b 


7,3-3 


1880. 


55-2 


52.2 


58.3 


67.5 


76.6 


85.689.690.083.2 


71.2 


56.7 


S6.1 


70.2 


1881. 


52.3 


62.1 


63-5 


72.6 


78.1 


84.891.988.682.7 


70.4 


58.3 


5 7-C 


71-9 


1882. 


50.2 


54-4 


62.3 


67.1 


77-2 


83.093.092.082.7 


69.6 


59-5 


58.C 


70.8 


Means. 


5 3-8 


59-5 


64.7 


69.5 


77.6 


86.092.59 1. 1 84. 1 


72.8 


60.4 


56.C 


72.3 



206 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

PRECIPITATION. — [In inches and hundredths.] 



Year. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Annuftl 
AmouDt. 


1876 
1877 
1878 

1879 
1880 


0.44 
0.09 
0.00 
0.59 

0.00 

1-35 


0.46 
1.72 
0.06 
1,21 

0.00 
0.0 1 


0.04 
0.00 
0.13 
0.48 
0.00 

0.00 


0.00 
0.00 
0.02 
0.15 

0.55 
0.00 


0.00 
0.06 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 


0.00 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 

0.05 


0.00 
0.50 

0.55 
0.00 


0.00 
0.06 
1.50 
0.00 


0.00 

0.37 
O.II 


0.00 
0.00 
0.00 
0.33 


0.00 
0.00 
0.02 
0.15 
0.00 
0.00 
0.09 


0.00 
1.23 
0.14 
0.27 
0.74 
O.IO 
0.00 


0.94 
3-66 
2.88 

3-29 
0.74 
0.98 
1.78 


I881 
1882 


0.20 
0.20 


0.08 
0.03 


0.05 
0.04 


0.0 1 


Mean 


0.35 


0.49 


0.09 


O.IO 


0.0 1 


0.0 1 


0.21 


0.25 


0.08 


0.04 


0.03 


0.31 


2.04 



The winter cHmate of southern Arizona is indeed as near 
perfection as one can expect to find anywhere on the globe. 
The mild, bahny air, the days with their clear cloudless skies, 
and the nights brilliant beyond description with the lustre of 
countless stars, like diamonds set in an azure field, present a 
picture which not even the vaunted clime of sunny Italy can rival. 
The lack of moisture and the peculiar dry elasticity of the air make 
this the most healthy region on the Pacific coast. In such an 
atmosphere disease cannot live or germinate. Those constitu- 
tions shattered by hardships and exposure to the severity of 
northern winters, will find no climate more mild, salubrious and 
strengthening than that of Yuma, Tucson, Florence, Phoenix, 
and other points in southern Arizona during the greater por- 
tion of the year. 

There is no climate more conducive to longevit}'. This is 
proved by the great age reached by Mexicans and Indians born 
and bred here. Centenarians are not uncommon among these 
people, and there are many of them who have passed the one 
hundred mile-stone. Diseases among them are scarcely ever 
known ; and although few of them observe hygienic laws, they 
seldom know a day's sickness and travel down the vale of life 
with health and faculties unimpaired, and die at last of old age. 

Arizona has been called the "Sunset Land," and well does it 
deserve the name. There is no region on the globe, not even 
excepting the Italian peninsula, that can show such grand 
effects of light and shade, such gorgeousness of coloring, or 
such magnificent sun-bathed landscapes. When the God of 
Day sinks to rest behind some rugged mountain, lighting up the 
western heavens with a blaze of gold, and pink, and crimson, 
and orange, and wrapping the jagged peaks of the bare and 
forbidding mountains in a soft and dreamy haze of purple and 
violet ; when the banks of clouds around the western horizon 
look like masses of burnished gold set in a sea of silver, then is 
presented a picture to which neither pen nor pencil can do 
justice. And when the last ray has disappeared, and the west- 
ern sky is yet blushing with the mellow radiance of the last 



CLIMATE. 207 

glorious caress, the stars begin to peep out from the clear, blue 
canopy, and in a short time the vault of heaven's dome is lit up 
by the brilliant beams from the countless creations that gem the 
firmament. No artist has yet undertaken to paint an Arizona 
sunset, but for him who can transfer to canvass its wonderful 
colors and its inexpressible grandeur, there is both fame and 
fortune in store. 

There is no portion of the Union that can show so many 
cloudless sunshiny days as Arizona. In the southern part of the 
Territory there is scarcely a day in the year when the sun is not 
visible at some time during the twenty-four hours. A cloudy 
day is an anomaly in this region, and, except during the rainy 
season, the warm sunshine bathes hill, mountain and plain every 
month in the year. Think of this, ye unfortunates, condemned 
to drag out an existence under the fogs and frosts of less-favored 
regions, where life is a continual struggle for existence. 

The healthfulness of the country is proverbial. The extreme 
purity and dryness of the air does away with malarial diseases, 
and prevents the spread of anything like epidemics. It is safe to 
say there is not a population of equal numbers in the United 
States where the mortality from natural causes is less than in 
Arizona. In the valley of the Salt, where irrigation is exten- 
sively practiced, and where, owing to the numerous water- 
ways, one would expect malarial fevers to prevail, such a thing 
is unknown, men work in the fields and in the water, winter and 
summer, and enjoy the best of health. No better evidence of 
the virtues of Arizona's climate can be found than this. 

The tables here presented, and the facts given, will convey to 
the reader an idea of the climatic conditions of the Territory. 
Instead of the sun-scorched desert, which some have pictured it, 
he will see that it is a land blessed beyond most countries with 
a climate whose health-giving qualities few can equal. The 
summers of northern Arizona reach as near a perfect tempera- 
ture as any on the continent, while the winters in the southern 
part of the Territory possess all those desirable features of 
mildness, salubrity and recuperative power which so many seek 
for in vain in foreign lands. 

The emigrant who thinks of casting his lot in this growing 
Territory need have no misgivings about the climate. Under 
its genial skies he can follow his calling in the open air every 
month in the year. He will find bright sunshine, pure and in- 
vigorating air that will bring the flush of health to his cheek, 
and send the warm blood bounding through his veins; he will 
find strength and vigor in every breeze, and long life and happiness 
in a favored land which combines all the beauties of the tropic 
and all the virtues of the temperate zones. Such a land is 
Arizona, endowed by nature with every gift to make a powerful, 
prosperous and happy State, and blessed with a clim.ate unsur- 
passed in either hemisphere. 



WAGES AND COST OF LIVING. 




Rates of Wages for Mechanics — Prices of Provisions — Of Clothing — Rents — Prices 

of Lumber and Cost of Building — The Class of 

Immigrants not wanted, etc. 

''O the immigrant of limited means, who thinks of remov- 
ing to a new country, these are important items for 
consideration. If he is a mechanic, or follows some 
other calling where manual labor supplies him with his daily- 
bread, he will be desirous of knowing what his labor is worth 
in the region where he contemplates making a new home. If 
he has other resources besides his hands to depend upon for a 
livelihood, he will naturally wish to learn what it costs to live in 
the new land. If he has a family, he will want to know the ex- 
pense of building a little home, and the prevailing rates of rent 
in the principal towns; the price of the staple articles of con- 
sumption and wear, and all other matters connected with do- 
mestic economy. In this short chapter will be found the in- 
formation sought and the answer to the scores of inquiries 
which are being received daily from all parts of the United 
States. The rates given have obtained for several years, and 
there is not much probability of any material change for some 
years to come. 

The following are the rates of wages for skilled labor which. 
prevails, generally, throughout the 1 erritory. 

PER DAY. 

Miners $4 oo 

Carpenters 5 00 

Blacksmiths 4 OO to 6 OO 

Bricklayers 5 00 " 6 oo 

Masons 5 00 " 6 00 

Engineers 4 00 " 5 00 

Painters 4 OO " 5 OO 

And other trades in like proportion. Mechanics should not 
forget that the supply of labor, in their several lines, is always 
in excess of the demand. While the rates of wages are tempt- 
ingly high, they should remember that the opportunities for se- 
curing employment are limited. To a mechanic, who has 




SEE PAGE 240 



A GROUP OF YUMA INDIANS. 



dhntfUin -uiM-^r. 



WAGES AND COST OF LIVING. 209 

steady work, where he is, we would say, stay. While your labor 
commands a much higher price in Arizona, you should not lose 
sight of the fact that the field is circumscribed. As has been 
before remarked, manufactures of all kinds are yet in their in- 
fancy in this Territory, and a man who casts his lot here now, 
must come prepared to turn his hand to anything that presents 
itself. 

For miners, who understand their business, there is always a 
demand, but the supply is generally equal to it. This class of 
workers are sure to find their way to every new mineral region, 
and if they cannot secure employment at their regular calling, 
they have the Western faculty of "rustling," which always brings 
them right side up. They are the men whose indomitable cou.- 
age, patience and energy brings to light the resources of new 
lands, and opens the way for capital and immigration. To them 
Arizona owes her present prosperity, and to them she offers un- 
limited opportunities in the future. There are yet rich mines 
to be discovered, and fortunes to be made in the quest for the 
treasures which lie hidden in every hill and mountain range. 

The wages paid for other branches of labor are about as fol- 
lows: Clerks, $50 to $100 per month, and board; teamsters, $40 
to $60 per month, and board; farm laborers, from $30 to $40 
per month, and board; and day laborers, from $2.50 to $3.50 
per day, without board. 

The cost of the necessaries of life in Arizona are very reason- 
able, when the distance from the great markets of the East and 
the West is taken into consideration. If we except flour, meat 
and vegetables, nearly everything worn or consumed in the Ter- 
ritory is brought from abroad. Groceries, hardware, clothing, 
boots and shoes and all staples are imported from California or 
the East. Yet notwithstanding the cost of freight, prices are 
not high. In Tucson, Tombstone and Phoenix, the prices of 
groceries, provisions, hardware, clothing, etc., are nearly the 
same and rule about as follows: 

Flour, (imported) $5 to $6 per 100 pounds. 

(domestic) 4 " 5 " 

Coffee 20 cts. per pound. 

Sugar 20 " " " 

Tea 50 cts. to $1 

Bacon I2>^ " " 

Beef 10 to 20 " " " 

Mutton 8 " 12 " " 

Potatoes 2 " 5 " " " 

And all other vegetables in like proportion. Board can be 
had in these towns at from $6 to $10 per week. A suit 
of clothes can be bought as low as fifteen dollars, or as high as 
the length of your purse will stand. Rents are not unreajcm;ilily 
high, when the cost of building is considered. A house of three 
14 



2IO THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

or four rooms can be had at from $20 to $30 per month. Fur- 
nished single rooms will command from $10 to $20 per month. 
The rates for board and the cost of supplies are very little higher 
in Prescott, Globe, Pinal and other towns farther from a 1 ail- 
road. More than half the flour consumed in the country is of 
home manufacture, and it will be but a short time when the val- 
leys of Arizona will produce sufficient to supply the entire home 
demand. In Tucson, Tombstone, Phoenix or Prescott, you can 
buy a pair of boots at from $4 to $10; a hat from $1 to $5, and 
all other articles of clothing at similar prices. Hardware and 
furniture are all imported and the cost of transportation makes 
such articles come rather high, but with the building of railroads, 
the price is being materially lessened. 

Good merchantable lumber can be bought in Prescott at from 
$20 to $30 per thousand, and in Tucson, Tombstone, and Phoe- 
nix, California and Texas lumber can be had at from $40 to $60 
per thousand, according to quality. A cosy little home can be 
built in any of the principal towns or valleys at from $400 to 
$600. This of lumber; but in the southern towns and farming 
valleys most people prefer the adobe, or sun-dried brick, as being 
better suited for the climate, and less costly. This is the material 
which the first settlers in southern Arizona used in the con- 
struction of buildings, and it has given entire satisfaction. 
Houses built of the adobe are cool and roomy, and when prop- 
erly plastered and finished, with a wide veranda running all 
around them, make as comfortable a home as one could wish, in 
a dry climate. 

These, in brief, will convey to the reader an idea of the cost of 
living in Arizona Territory. It is not higher than that which 
prevails throughout the Pacific States and Territories. If the 
immigrant should think the prices rather steep, he should re- 
member that hefe the laborer is worthy of his hire; that every 
calling and profession receives a generous remuneration, and he 
should not forget that the products of the garden and farm com- 
mand much higher prices than in the States nearer the rising 
sun. And before we close this chapter, a word on the class of 
immigrants which Arizona don't want. Of lawyers, doctors and 
professional men generally, there are already more than enough, 
and an influx of the learned professions is not desired. They 
are overcrowded, and sharp competition has made the practice 
of them anything but profitable. It is true there is always room 
for a man at the top, but, unless he has the acquirements to 
gain that position, he had better remain where he is. Of clerks 
and all others who are seeking positions where the labor is light 
and the salary high, the supply on hand always exceeds the de- 
mand. The truth is, to Arizona, as to all new countries, comes 
a class who expect to grow suddenly rich, without much effort on 
their part. To all such we would say, remain at home. 

Here, as everywhere else, energy, perseverance and hard work 



WAGES AND COST OF LIVING. 



211 



lead to success, and he who expects to reach it by any other 
way should stay where he is. No drones in the hive of industry 
are wanted in Arizona. Vim, enterprise and industry are the 
roads to fortune, and those who sit quietly down and wait for the 
goddess to bid them good-morrow, will be apt to remain in the 
shade of poverty all their lives. But for those with stout hands 
and brave hearts, who are not afraid of work, and can "rough" 
in a new country; who will fight the battle of life, and not give 
up the contest because Fortune does not always smile on them; 
who can turn their hands to anything that presents itself; who 
are sober, steady and industrious, Arizona is a field where the 
opportunities for securing a competence are unequaled in the 
West. 




BY RAILROAD AND STAGE. 

The Comforts and Conveniences of the Present Compared with the Hardships and 

Dangers of the Past — Tiie Southern Pacific — Benefits it has Conferred on the 

Country — How to reach Southern Arizona from the West — And from 

the East — Branches from the Southern Pacific — How to reach 

Northern Arizona from the East — The Route of the 

Atlantic and Pacific — Scenery along the Route — 

Benefits to Northern Arizona — Branches — 

The Arizona Mineral Belt Railroad — 

A Network of Roads Projected — 

Telegraph Lines. 




'he opening of two transcontinental railways through 
the Territory of Arizona has removed the barriers of 
"^^^ isolation which so long separated it from the active, 
bustling, prpgressive world. It is no longer an unknown land, 
as far removed from the centers of civilization as the distant 
regions of Central Africa. No longer is the traveler compelled 
to undergo the hardships, discomforts and dangers of long, 
dreary and dusty stage rides ; no longer is he subjected to the 
miseries of a " buckboard," and exposed to the burning suns by 
day and the chilling winds by night ; no longer does hunger, 
thirst, loss of sleep and weariness of mind and body accompany 
the visitor who journeys to the marvelous country. 

Those features of travel in the early days are now but remi- 
nescences of the past, and a trip to Arizona at the present time 
can be made as comfortably and as pleasantly as to any part of 
the Union. The palace car has superseded the ricketty stage, 
and the railroad hotel has taken the place of the wayside 
station ; and instead of bacon and beans, bread and black 
coffee served up by a picturesque individual with slouched hat, 
unkempt beard and big six-shooter, the traveler sits down to 
an inviting table, and dines as well as at the best city restaurant. 
A jaunt to the Territory now is one of pleasure and recreation. 
Lolling in a luxuriously cushioned seat, the sightseer can enjoy 
the ever-changing panorama of mountain, plain and mesa, the 
brilliant sunshine, and the wonderful atmospheric tints which 
soften the rugged outlines of many a barren mountain and 
jagged peak. The journey of a month across the continent has 



BY RAILROAD AND STAGE. 213 

been shortened to six days ; and the time when the adventurous 
visitant to the wilds of the southwest deemed a small arsenal 
an indispensable part of his outfit, and nervously watched 
every caiion and curve, and rock and bush along the roadside, is 
passed, never to return. 

The shriek of the locomotive has sounded the death-knell of 
isolation and savagery, and those twin relics of an unprogressive 
past have been swept aside by the irresistible tide of civilization. 
The dark shadow which their presence cast over this fair land 
has been dispelled by the rising sun of modern progress, and 
the advent of the iron rail heralds the brightest epoch in 
Arizona's history. 

The Southern Pacific railroad enters the Territory at Yuma, and 
follows the wide, rolling plains that skirt the Gila river, to Mar- 
icopa Wells. From this point it trends southwesterly to the city 
of Tucson. After leaving Tucson the road runs in a northeast- 
erly direction for some distance, thence turning due east it passes 
the Dragoon, the Chiricahua and the Steins Peak ranges to 
Deming in New Mexico, where it forms a junction with the At- 
chison, Topeka and Sante F"e road. Its length through the Ter- 
ritory is 384 ,\lo miles, and its course is between the thirty-second 
and thirty-third degrees of latitude. 

The region through which it passes is not a very inviting tne 
and a stranger gazing at the vast stretches of dry, treeless plains 
and barren mountains is not apt to be favorably impressed with 
the country. But nearly everyone of those rocky and forbidding 
mountain masses is rich in precious metals, and north and south 
of the line the country presents an entirely different appearance. 
The building of this road has been of great benefit to southern 
Arizona. Every industry has felt the advantages of quick and reli- 
able rail connection, and mining, more especially, shows a marked 
improvement since its completion. Many prosperous towns and 
camps have sprung into existence; cattle-ranges have been es- 
tablished; prospectors, speculators and traders have poured into 
the country; capital has sought investment, and Tucson has 
grown from a sleepy old himlet to an active, wide-awake city of 
10,000 inhabitants. All this has been brought about by the 
building of the railroad, and is a fair sample of the beneficial 
change to be wrought in other portions of the Territory, when 
they, too, are in possession of rail facilities. 

To reach southern or central Arizona from San Francisco the 
traveler takes the Southern Pacific railroad to Yuma, on the 
Colorado river, distant 730 miles from the city. From this point 
boats run up the river to Silver district, Aubrey, La Paz, and 
other camps. From Yuma to Silver district there is also a well- 
appointed stage line, which makes tri-weekly trips, the fare being 
$6 each way. From Yuma to Maricopa is 157 miles, the fare 
over the road in Arizona being ten cents per mile. At Maricopa 
the stages of the California and Arizona Company are always 



214 1'HE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA, 

ready to convey passengers to Phoenix, twenty-eight miles dis- 
tant, and to the towns and camps of northern and central Ari- 
zona. The coaches of this Company are large and commodious, 
the stock good, and the drivers careful. The fare to Phoenix, the 
handsomest town in Arizona, is $5, and from there to Prescott, 
the capital of the Territory, $20, time twenty-four hours. A line 
is also run to the Vulture mine and by the famous Antelope 
Peak, on top of which was found the wonderful deposit of placer 
gold. 

Twenty-six miles east of Maricopa is the station of Casa 
Grande. From this point the Kerns and Griffith Stage Com- 
pany run a line of commodious coaches to Florence, the county 
seat of Pinal county, twenty-five miles distant. At Florence 
the line branches, one to Pinal and Silver King, and the other 
to Globe, by way of Riverside. From Florence to the King is 
thirty-five miles over a good natural road. If the traveler 
desires to reach Globe by this route he will find saddle animals 
at the mine, and can take the trail over the Pinal mountains, 
passing through the rocky gorge of the Devil's canon, and other 
wild and picturesque mountain scenery en route. The road 
from Florence to the Globe mines passes by the Pioneer camp 
and over the lofty and heavily-timbered Pinal mountains, by a 
broad smooth grade. The magnificent views of mountain, 
valley and plain which are seen along this route are not sur- 
passed in the Territory. Fine stock and competent drivers are 
employed by this company, and a trip on one of their comfort- 
able coaches is a treat to the new-comer who gazes for the first 
time on the wild and striking beauty of Arizona mountain 
scenery. 

At Tucson, 978 miles from San Francisco, a daily line of 
coaches run to Tubac, Calabasas, Arivac , and all points in 
northern Sonora. This is a well-equipped line, six-norse coaches 
being used, and the road being one of the finest natural thorough- 
fares in the Territory. At Benson, forty-six miles east of 
Tucson, the Arizona and New Mexico railroad branches from 
the main line for Guaymas. The traveler for Tombstone and 
the adjacent mining camps changes cars here, and a ride of an 
hour brings him to Contention station, where he takes stage for 
Tombstone, nine miles distant. At Wilcox, eighty-five miles 
east of Tucson, and also at Bowie, twenty miles further east, 
stages run to Globe and the San Carlos Indian Agency. That 
from Bowie also passes through the Pueblo Viejo valley, one of 
the finest bodies of farming lands in the Territory, only thirty-five 
miles north of the railroad. 

To reach southern Arizona from the east the traveler has 
choice of routes by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe or by 
the Texas Pacific via El Paso. At Deming, in New Mexico, 
1,149 rniles from Kansas City, the Atchison and Topeka forms 
a junction with the Southern Pacific. The fare to Deming, from 



BY RAILROAD AND STAGE. 21 5 

Kansas City, is $70. From Deming to Benson it is 173 miles, 
fare $17.30, and from Benson to Tombstone the fare is $3. From 
Deming to Tucson is 219 miles, fare $21.90 — thus making the 
entire distance from Kansas City to Tucson, 1,368 miles. At \ 
Lordsburg, New Mexico, sixty miles west of Deming, a narrow-'^ 
gauge road leaves the main line for the rich copper mining 
region of Clifton, seventy miles north. This road passes through 
the valley of the Gila, and over a rich grazing and agricultural 
county. 

From the Southern Pacific, branch roads have been projected 
from Maricopa to Phoenix, from Casa Grande to Florence and 
Silver King, and from Tucson to Globe and Port Lobos. The 
branch from Maricopa.to Phoenix will open up the finest farm- 
ing valley in the Territory and afford an outlet for the large 
quantities of flour, grain, hay, fruits and live stock now pro- 
duced there. Such a road would be a paying enterprise from 
the start, and its business would steadily increase. There is 
every likelihood that the branch will be built in a short time. 
The proposed line from Casa Grande to the Silver King will 
pass through the valley of the Gila, and tap the rich mineral 
belt of which the great Silver King is the centre. With a railroad 
to the Gila river, and reduction works erected on that stream, 
there are scores of claims in Pinal county which could be pro- 
fitably worked. The Gila is the natural mill-site for the mines 
of Pinal, and with such a railroad as we have mentioned, mills 
and furnaces would line its banks above and below the crossing. 

Work is now being pushed on the road from Tucson to Globe, 
and about ten miles of the distance has been graded. This line 
receives a subsidy of $200,000 in bonds of Pima county. It will 
tap the important coal deposits on Deer creek, pass through the 
I'ich mineral country near Riverside, and afford an outlet for the 
extensive mining region of Gila county. 

^The railroad from Tucson to Port Lobos, on the California 
gulf, will pass through the Papagueria, and bring that extensive 
mineral field into direct rail communication with the outer 
world. The harbor at Port Lobos is reported to be an excellent 
one, and by this route goods can be laid down in Tucson at such 
rates as will effectually bar out competition from California or the 
East. It is said the Mexican government endowed this road with 
a subsidy of $10,000 per mile, besides granting the right of way 
and several other minor concessions. It is expected that the 
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe company, who are now running 
over the Southern Pacific from Deming to Benson, will soon 
commence the building of a line from the former point, to con- 
nect at Fairbanks with the road running into Sonora. This 
road will pass by Tombstone, and place that flourishing camp on 
the line of a transcontinental railroad. 

To reach Northern Arizona from San Francisco, the traveler 
takes the Southern Pacific railroad for the Needles via Mohave 



2l6 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Station. The Needles are 2^ miles west of the Colorado river, 
and 622 miles from San Francisco. At this point the passen- 
ger takes the Atlantic and Pacific road for the towns and min- 
ing camps of the northern part of the Territory. From the 
Needles to Ash Fork, the station for Prescott, is 174 miles. 

Parties desiring to visit northern Arizona from the East, take 
the Atchi.son, Topeka and Santa Fe road to Albuquerque. At 
this point the Atlantic and Pacific railroad turns westward and 
enters the Territory by the valley of the Fucrco. It follows 
that valley to its junction with the Little Colorado, near the 
town of Holbrook. P^'om this point there is connection by 
stage with St. Johns, the county seat of Apache county. From 
Holbrook the road crosses the plains of the Canon Diablo and 
the deep chasm of the same name, over which a bridge has been 
thrown, 225 feet above the bed of the creek. The road then 
climbs the southern slopes of the San Francisco peak at an ele- 
vation of 7,355 feet, and the northern spurs of the Bill Williams 
range, and then descends to Ash Fork. 

From Ash Fork there is a daily line of stages to Prescott, the 
capital of Arizona, distant fifty-two miles. This line is owned 
by the Gilmer and Salisbury Stage Company, and is one of the 
best-equipped and conducted of any in the Territory. Close 
connections are made with trains from the East and the West, 
and the drive to Prescott is made in about ten hours. After 
leaving Ash Fork the road passes westward through Mohave 
county, and down the broad Sacramento valley to the Colorado 
of the West, which it crosses by a wooden bridge 1,600 feet in 
length, connecting on the western bank with the branch of the 
Southern Pacific from Mohave station, in California. 

This road traverses the Territory, almost on the line of the 
thirty-fifth parallel of north latitude. It passes through the rich 
valley of the Little Colorado for a distance of nearly forty miles, 
and will prove of great benefit to the agricultural industry of 
that region. The sheep and cattle interests of this part of the 
Territory will likewise feel the effects of cheap and rapid trans- 
portation to the great markets, east and west. In Yavapai 
county the road passes through the northern end of the great 
Mogollon forest, which is here some fifty miles in width. Sev- 
eral saw-mills are now at work in this magnificent pinery, ship- 
ping the product by rail. The scenery along the line in Arizona 
is, much of it, new and novel and can not fail to have many 
attractions for the tourist. The rocky escarpments of the cliffs 
along the New Mexican divide, have a weird beauty and pic- 
turesqueness only found in Arizona. The petrified forest south- 
west of Holbrook, where former monarchs of the wildwood five 
and si.x feet in diameter lay prone upon the ground, turned to 
solid stone, will always be worthy of a visit from the scientist 
and the sightseer. 

At Peach springs the track is within eighteen miles of the 



BY RAILROAD AND STAGE. 21/ 

canon of the Colorado, and conveyances are always in readiness 
for tourists who desire to view the wonders of this mighty chasm, 
before which all other scenes in either hemisphere are tame and 
commonplace. 

Already the completion of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad is 
beginning to show its beneficial effects in the renewed activity 
visible in the mining camps of Mohave and Yavapai counties. 
The work of development has been stimulated and encouraged 
by low rates on freight, and the facilities for the shipment of 
ores. The connections made by this road with the California 
and Eastern systems, the great valleys of the Mississippi and 
the Ohio, and the populous cities of the Atlantic sea-board, must 
bring to northern Arizona a rapid growth and development 
within the next few years. 

From Ash fork to Prescott a line has been projected, and the 
road is expected to be completed before the first of January, 
1885. The country over which it passes is made up principally 
of rolling hills and valleys, and no engineering difficulties stand 
in the way of its speedy completion. This road will be of vast 
benefit to the mining regions south and east of Prescott, and 
cannot but have a marked effect in stimulating the work of 
development. 

From Winslow, on the Atlantic and Pacific, a line has been 
surveyed to Globe, and work already commenced. The dis- 
tance is 160 miles, through one of the finest grazing, the richest 
mineral, and the most magnificent timber-lands of the Terri- 
tory. The route for the greater portion of the way will skirt 
the western slope of the great Mogollon forest. Careful esti- 
mates place the whole area of timber land tributary to this 
road at more than 7,000 square miles — an area as large as the 
whole State of Massachusetts. Low estimates put the total 
quantity of lumber in this vast area at 78,000,000,000 feet. A 
railroad tapping this great pinery would not only meet the home 
demand, which must eventually look here for its lumber supply, 
but could find a ready and profitable market east and west. 

Along the line of this road there are nearly 6,000 square 
miles of as fine grass-lands as can be found in the west, amply 
able to sustain 200,000 head of cattle. This industry will be 
one of the main sources of revenue to the road, and is sure to 
attain important proportions. 

The mineral resources of the region through which this line 
passes are among the most extensive in the Territory. Gold, 
silver and copper are found in nearly all the mountain ranges, 
and in the neighborhood of Globe the copper deposits are among 
the largest and richest in the Territory. With direct rail com- 
munication and cheap freights, the development of the mines 
would receive a powerful stimulus, and make a profitable business 
for the road. In fact, there is no railroad project yet suggested 
that offers so many inducements for the investment of capital, 



2l8 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

or presents so many elements of success. Two companies have 
been organized to carry out the enterprise. One is known as 
the " Construction and Development Company," organized under 
the laws of the State of Virginia; the other is the "Arizona 
Mineral Belt Railroad," incorporated under the laws of Ari- 
zona. The former company intend to erect extensive works on 
Salt river, where the low-grade ores of Tonto basin and Globe dis- 
trict can be cheaply worked by the never-failing power of that 
stream. 

The scenic beauties of this road through the Tonto basin, are 
unequaled in the Territory. On Pine creek is the great natural 
bridge of Arizona, one of the most remarkable curiosities in the 
West. A recent visitor thus describes it in the Phccnix Gazette: 

" Saddling our horses one lazy afternoon, we soon left several 
miles of mountain trail behind us, and found ourselves on the 
summit of a cypress-crowned mountain, whose steep, eastern 
slope descended abruptly, 500 feet to a cosy little valley, 
hemmed in on the opposite side by an abrupt precipice of still 
greater height. Descending with difficulty, we find ourselves 
on a large flat, with an area of probably sixty acres, with cul- 
tivated fields, in which corn and potatoes were already well 
grown. 

"We stood on the crown of the bridge, and did not know it, 
for this beautiful garden patch is fringed on all sides with shrub- 
bery and graceful trees, and one has to go 100 yards south and 
descend into a precipitous canon before he is aware of the huge 
tunnel which nature has cut through the solid rock beneath his 
feet. 

"We ascertained, by the aid of a long fish line, that the crown 
of the bridge at its southern spring was 168 feet, and the span 
was eighty feet. Its total width up and down the creek, is about 
1 50 yards. About eight feet from its southern edge, exactly in 
the center of the arch, is a natural hole, cut into the interior, 
and, by looking down this, a bird's-eye view is obtained of the 
bed of Pine creek, far below, at a perpendicular depth of 168 
feet. But a full idea of the grandeur of this arch is not obtained 
until one stands beneath it and looks aloft. The gigantic lime- 
stone walls spring in perfect curves to the perfect arch above, 
and the fluted columns meeting in the semi-obscurity above, re- 
minds tiic beholder of the interior of some vast cathedral. 

"The stream which winds among the huge boulders, that strew 
the bottom, lies here and there in deep, dark pools of unknown 
depth, and its precipitous sides are pierced by caves and grottoes, 
whose numerous windings and alley-ways, lead one far into the 
bowels of the mountains. Many of these have been explored, 
and many more have never been trodden by the foot of 
the white man ; though from arrow-heads, pottery and 
scraps of matting, mingled with bones and charred wood, we 
can see that our Indian brother has long been acquainted with 



BY RAILROAD AND STAGE. 219 

these retreats. These grottoes are all hung with beautiful sta- 
lactites, which take all imaginable forms, and any article, 
whether of wood or other soft substance, if placed beneath the 
streams which continually trickle from the roofs of these caverns, 
will, in a short time, become petrified. We gathered several 
petrified pine cones and branches of trees, which were as hard 
as rock, and as perfect in form and outline, as if they had lately 
fallen from the trees." 

From Globe it is proposed to continue the road south to 
Benson, thus making a connecting link between the Atlantic 
and Pacific and the Southern Pacific and opening a continuous 
line of rail from the thirty-fifth parallel to Guaymas, on the Gulf 
of California. The benefits of such a line through the heart of 
the Territory, cannot be over-estimated, and the many and varied 
industries which would spring into life and grow up around it, 
assure a large and profitable business. Work is now being 
prosecuted between Globe and Winslow, and the character and 
standing of the men who are at the head of the enterprise insures 
its speedy completion. Besides the roads mentioned, the South- 
ern Pacific Railroad company is said to have in contemplation 
the building of a line from the present terminus of their Mohave 
branch at the Needles, to Tucson. This line would pass west 
of Prescott by the Sinks of Date creek, by Wickenburg, through 
Phoenix and up the rich valley of Salt River to Florence, and 
from thence south to Tucson. If this branch should be built, it 
would afford rail connection to a rich mining region in northern 
and central Arizona, and pass through the largest body of farm- 
ing land in the Territory. 

From this brief summary of the roads now in operation, and 
in course of construction, and those projected, it will be seen that 
the country promises in a few years to be gridironed by the iron 
rail. From the two transcontinental lines which cross the Ter- 
ritory, north and south, feeders will soon branch out to every 
principal town and mining camp, and there will hardly be a point 
of any importance in Arizona not linked with iron bands to the 
outside world. This wished-for consummation means cheap ma- 
terial and cheap supplies for mines, mills and furnaces, an in- 
creased production of the precious metals, and a wonderful 
development of the mining industry; it means a permanent and 
lucrative markets for beef, mutton, and wool, and a rapid and 
•healthy growth for the grazing interests; it means for the farmer 
in the Salt and the Gila valleys low rates on his grain, flour, 
fruits and vegetables, brings him in direct communication with 
the consumer, will stimulate production, and cause many a bar- 
ren acre to bloom and blossom. 

The benefits which a net-work of railroads will confer on the 
country are almost incalculable. Every branch of industry and 
every calling will feel its healthful effects. Population will in- 
crease, capital will seek investment, the productive powers of 



220 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

the Territory will be stimulated and assisted, and Arizona will 
take that place among the sisterhood of States which her grand 
resources entitle her to. 

The telegraph, next to the railroad, is the leading factor in our 
modern civilization. While the Territory is not as well pro- 
vided in this respect as could be desired, yet nearly all the princi- 
pal towns are linked with that girdle which has annihilated 
time and space, and bound the earth with a circle of lightning. 
The Western Union Company have a line along the track of the 
Southern Pacific railroad, connecting at Yuma, Tucson and 
Tombstone with all points east and west. The War Depart- 
ment has built a line to connect all the military posts in the 
Territory. This line passes through Phoenix, Wickenburg, 
Florence and other towns, and joins them with the W'estcrn 
Union. Globe is connected by a wire with San Carlos, built and 
owned by a private corporation. At the latter place it joins the 
military line from Wilcox, on the Southern Pacific. Clifton has 
a line to Lordsburg, owned by the Arizona Copper Company. 
A line has been built along the Atlantic and Pacific by the com- 
pany, but is entirely devoted to their private business. The 
telephone has been introduced in Arizona, and is in general use 
in Tombstone and Tucson, and connects the principal mines, 
their reduction works and ofifices, in all parts of the Territory. 




SCHOOLS, CHURCHES AND SOCIETY. 



The School System of the Territory — The Mission Fathers the Pioneers of Educa- 
tion — The First School in Tucson — The School Laws — Number of Schools 
in the Different Counties — Churches in the Territory — Number 
Owned by Different Denominations — Society throughout 
the Territory — Security of Life and Property, 

IN nothing does the liberal, progressive and enlightened 
spirit of the people of Arizona manifest itself so strongly 
as in their public schools. Believing in the axiom that in 
free schools rests the safety of republican institutions, they have 
laid broad and deep the foundations for public instruction, and 
take a pardonable pride in the success which has attended 
their efforts. The early settlers who planted the standard of 
civilization in this remote region were a good type of the intel- 
ligence, enterprise and daring of the western pioneer. They 
had the honesty, the courage, the unflagging energy, the innate 
love of justice and fair play, the native good sense and intelli- 
gence, and all the rude but sterling virtues native and to the 
frontier manner born. Although most of them were attracted to 
the promised land of the southwest by the reports of its won- 
drous mineral wealth, and expected only to remain long enough 
to unearth some hidden bonanza which would bring them riches 
and rest for the remainder of their days, yet they were not un- 
mindful of the duties they owed to those who should come after. 
The seed which they planted has borne good fruit. The school- 
master is at home in the land ; in every remote settlement, farm- 
ing valley and mining camp, the modest country school-house 
raises its head, a noble monument to its founders, and the pride 
and glory of the Great Republic. 

It is said, and with truth, that the western pioneer first builds 
a school-house and afterwards a church. This will hold good 
in Arizona, and long before churches were considered at all 
necessary, schools were established in different parts of the Ter- 
ritory, supported by private contributions. To the mission 
fathers must be given the credit of introducing schools in what 
is now Arizona Territory. While being taught the truths of 
Christianity the neophytes were also instructed in the rudiment- 
ary branches of secular knowledge. But the sacred and profane 



222 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

branches were so mingled that it was difficult to say where the 
one began and the other ended. As may be imagined, the in- 
struction was mainly of a religious nature, but its effects were 
good, and the fruit it bore, lasting. After the abandonment of 
the missions, and up to the time of the Gadsden purchase, there 
was not a school or educational establishment of any kind 
within the Territory. During these long years a mental and 
material darkness brooded over the land, and ignorance and 
savagery held joint sway. 

The first regular educational establishment was opened by 
the Sisters of St. Joseph, in Tucson. For years this was the only 
school in the Territory, and from many isolated towns and set- 
tlements parents sent their children to the Academy of St. 
Joseph. Although the institution was under the control of the 
Catholic Church, and the instruction given partook somewhat of 
a religious character, yet no discrimination was shown by the 
good sisters. The children of poor people of all denominations, 
who were unable to pay for tuition, were received and taught 
gratis. So apparent were the benefits conferred on the people 
by this school — which is yet in a flourishing condition — that the 
Legislature at the session of 1877 voted it $300 out of the Ter- 
ritorial treasury. 

It was not until the year 1868 that public schools were estab- 
lished. At that time the population was less than 10,000, and 
was scattered over a vast extent of territory. Owing to these 
causes, and the lack of funds, their growth at first was slow, but 
as population increased, new school districts were established 
and revenues augmented. Fine brick structures were erected in 
Prescott and Phoenix, competent teachers were employed, and 
the attendance steadily increased. Congress by an Act, dated 
February 18, 188 1, has set apart seventy-two sections of the 
public domain in Arizona for university purposes. This land 
has been located in the San Francisco mountain country, is 
heavily timbered, and should yet be a considerable source of 
revenue to the schools of the Territory. The public schools of 
Arizona are maintained by a direct tax, levied on all property. 

According to the new school law framed by the Legislature 
of 1883, a Territorial tax of fifteen cents upon each one hundred 
dollars of taxable property is collected annually, for school 
purposes. A county tax of not more than eighty cents on 
each one hundred dollars of valuation, is also imposed for 
the same purpose. The schools are under the control of a 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, at a salary of two thous- 
and dollars a year, and the Governor and Territorial Treasurer, 
who form a Board of Education. The Superintendent is required 
to visit the schools of each county at least once a year. He also 
apportions the school moneys among the several counties, accord- 
ing to the number of children of school age in each, and is the 
executive head of the public school system of the Territory. 



SCHOOLS, CHURCHES AND SOCIETY. 223 

The Probate Judge of each county is ex-officio Superintendent, 
and exercises a general supervision over the schools in his county, 
making his reports to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
Each school district is under the control of a Board of Trus- 
tees, consisting of three members, elected by the qualified elect- 
ors of the district, including women, who have the right to vote 
for these officers. The Trustees provide school-houses, employ 
teachers, prescribe rules, and do all other things required for 
successfully conducting the schools under their charge. A Cen- 
sus Marshal is appointed for each district, who makes a proper 
enumeration each year of the number of children between the 
ages of six and twenty-one, in his district, and on which census 
the apportionment of the public moneys to each county, is 
based. The school year begins on the first day of September 
and ends on the last day of August, and is open for all children 
between the ages of six and twenty-one years. The course of 
study embraces the following branches : Reading, writing, 
orthography, arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, physi- 
ology, drawing, chemistry, elements of book-keeping and such 
other studies as the Territorial Board of Education may pre- 
scribe. No books, tracts or papers of a sectarian character, 
are allowed to be used or introduced in any public school of the 
Territory, and any school under the control of any religious 
denomination or teaching any sectarian doctrine, is not entitled 
to receive any portion of the moneys set apart for public 
instruction. 

The law of compulsory attendance is in force in Arizona, but 
owing to the condition of the country and the long distances 
between settlements, its provisions are a dead letter. According 
to the report of the Superintendent of Instruction, the total re- 
ceipts from all sources for school purposes in Arizona for the 
year 1882, amounted to $101,967.35, and the expenditures for 
the same period $98,267.93, showing a balance on hand of 
$3,699.42, The same report gives the total number of children 
of school age in the Territory at 10,283; ^"d the whole number 
of teachers employed at 126. The number of school districts 
in the several counties is as follows : 

Yavapai county 29 

Pima " 10 

Cochise " 1 1 

Apache " 15 

Maricopa " 10 

Graham " 6 

Pinal " 7 

Gila " 3 

Yuma " 3 

Mohave " 3 

Total 97 



224 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

The total valuation of school property in the Territory for the 
same year was $ 1 16,750.50. As population increases, new dis- 
tricts are being constantly organized, and there is scarcely a 
camp or settlement in any portion of the country without a 
school for at least three months in the year. In the large towns 
fine school-houses have been erected, and those of Prescott and 
Phrenix, already alluded to, would be a credit to any city in the 
land. The immigrant with a family to educate, who thinks of 
settling in Arizona, will find here as perfect school facilities as 
exist in any of the Territories. In every town, village, farming 
settlement and mining camp, the people are keenly alive to the 
blessings of the public school system, and are liberal in its sup- 
port. It has taken a firm root in the soil, and will grow and 
prosper as the country advances in wealth and population. 
Although but yet in its infancy, it has done much good and 
gives promise of incalculable benefits in the future. A country 
that maintains and fosters it is on the high road where culture 
and progress walk hand in hand with prosperity. 

Although Arizonans have not been considered a church-going 
people, yet the number of churches in the Territory, and the 
liberal manner in which they are supported would go to dis- 
approve this idea. The cheap wit which has been indulged in 
on the wickedness and depravity of the old residents is hardly 
borne out by the sight of handsome houses of worship in all 
the principal towns. If churches and schools are the criterion 
of a people's intellectual condition, then surely does Arizona 
compare favorably with older and more pretentious communities. 
The tasteful edifices, which are springing up in every town 
show that the people have brought with them to this remote 
region an attachment for that Christian civilization in which they 
were born and nurtured. Arizonans are a liberal people, and 
care very little what a man's religious opinions may be, provid- 
ing he does not intrude thern upon his neighbors. 

All possible religious beliefs can be found in the Territory. 
Christian and heathen, Jew and infidel. Mormon and idolator 
live side by side in peace and harmony. A man may worship 
the sun, or believe the moon is made of green cheese if he so 
lists. There is perfect freedom, and a man's religious principles 
are only circumscribed by the bounds of his imagination. 
Before the American occupation the Catholic faith was the 
prevailing belief in the Territory. It was the religion first 
established in the country by the Jesuit Fathers, and all the 
Mexican portion of the population, together with the Papagos, 
yet worship at the same shrine. It is only within the last ten 
years that the sects of the reformed faith have established 
churches in Arizona, now they are found in all the leading towns 
in the Territory. Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, 
Congregationalists and Mormons have erected places of worship, 
many of them large and imposing structures, with considerable 




SCHOOL HOUSE, PHCENIX. 



BAXCIiOn-LirH-S I 



SCHOOLS, CHURCHES AND SOCIETY. 225 

pretensions to architectural beauty. The number of churches 
owned by the different sects is as follows : 

Catholics 8 

Methodists 6 

Presbyterians 4 

Baptists 4 

Congregationalists 2 

Episcopalians 2 

The Mormons have places of worship at their settlements on 
the Little Colorado, on the Salt, and on the Gila rivers. The 
Catholics have the largest and finest churches — including that 
of San Xavier del Bac, already described. Arizona forms a 
diocese under the charge of an Archbishop, resident at Tucson. 
The Methodists have a strong organization and are under the 
jurisdiction of a Bishop who lives at Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Most of the churches have flourishing Sunday-schools and 
charitable societies which do much good in a quiet unos- 
tentatious manner. They all have a humanizing effect in the 
community, and even those whose religious convictions are of 
the most vague and undefinable sort, must acknowledge the 
benefits which they confer. A country where churches and 
schools flourish, always attracts the best and most desirable class 
of immigration. Men with families will naturally seek a home 
where those civilizing influences exist. They know that such a 
country offers the best safeguards against lawlessness and the 
best security for a peaceful and a happy life. 

From what we have written about churches and schools the 
reader will readily infer that Arizona is not that land of 
lawlessness the sensational head-lines in Eastern newspapers 
would lead him to believe it is. The truth is, life and property 
are more secure than in the great centers of civilization. While 
the nightly wayfarer in the large cities is in constant danger of 
being waylaid, garroted, robbed and perhaps murdered, a man 
can travel through the streets of an Arizona town without fear 
of danger, any hour of the day or night. In the newest mining 
camp as in the older towns law and order prevail, and the rough 
elements which flock to every new mining region, are compelled 
to observe a decorous and mild-mannered attitude. With the 
exception of the late Indian raid, which was confined to one cor- 
ner of the Territory, Arizona has enjoyed perfect peace and the 
best of order for the past eight years. The strong arm of the 
la jv has asserted itself everywhere ; bad men from whatever quar- 
ter they came, were made to understand that their lawless deeds 
would not be tolerated here. In the "live" mining camps, where 
"toughs" most do congregate and where affrays are looked for 
as a matter of course, the best of order has been maintained. 
Even the doings of the "Cowboy" have been tame and trifling; 
and despite the efforts of correspondents to cast a halo of 
15 



226 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

romance about his commonplace pilfering, and hold him up as a 
daring mosstrooper of the Sonora border, h6 remains but a com- 
mon cattle-thief, whose exploits have been greatly exaggerated. 
The settlers of Arizona are of a class that will not tolerate 
outrages on law, order or decency. They believe in equal and 
exact justice to all men, and they most always get it. Sur- 
rounded by churches, schools and newspapers, the people are 
among the most intelligent, progressive and liberal-minded of 
any like number in the Union. In the leading towns will be 
found a society whose culture and refinement will be an agreeable 
surprise to the stranger who comes to Arizona to make a home. 
All the comforts and luxures of our modern civilization will be 
found here as in older and more populous communities ; and law, 
order and enlightened public opinion control the Territory from 
the Utah line to the Sonora border. 




CIVIL AND MILITARY. 

Executive Officers of Territory — Powers and Privileges of a Delegate in Congress — 

The Legislature and Judiciary — Land Offices — List of Territorial 

Officers — Military Department of Arizona — Posts in 

the Territory — Number of Troops, 

etc., etc. 




RIZONA, as one of the Territories of the Federal Union, 
has her Governor and leading executive and judicial 
officers, appointed by the President, and confirmed by 
the Senate. These officers hold their places during the pleasure 
of the Chief Executive of the nation, and until their successors 
are appointed and qualified. The Territory is entitled to one 
delegate in Congress, who is elected every two years. This rep- 
resentative has no vote in the national councils, and has 
not even the privilege of speaking, unless some member of Con- 
gress should extend that courtesy by allowing him a portion of 
his own time. In fact, under the present system, a delegate 
from a Territory is little more than a figure-head in the halls of 
Congress. Being deprived of both voice and vote, he has few 
opportunities to make known the wants and requirements of 
his distant constituents, and is compelled to beg for those favors 
which in right and justice he should demand. The present 
delegate system works serious hardship to the people of the 
Territories, depriving them of their only legitimate means of 
making known their wants, and setting forth their grievances to 
the Federal Government. 

A Territorial legislature and all county officers are elected 
every two years. The session of the legislature is limited by 
congressional enactment to sixty days. They receive a per diem 
of $4, which is paid out of the federal treasury. They are clothed 
with power to frame all needful laws, subject, however, to ap- 
proval or rejection by Congress. The Territory is divided into 
three judicial districts, each of which is presided over by one of 
the three judges, who compose the federal judiciary of the Ter- 
ritory. Terms of court are held at the county seats of the dif- 
ferent counties, at least once a year, and in the more thickly 
populated counties two terms are held, one in the spring, and the 



228 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Other in the fall. Owing to the immense area over which popula- 
tion is scattered, and the rapid increase of legal business during 
the past threp years, the present number of judges is inadequate 
to the task of meeting it, and litigants are subjected to heavy 
costs and vexatious delays. There is a universal demand for 
another judge, and Congress, by appointing him, will only have 
performed an act of simple justice to the people. 

Two land offices have been established in the Territory, one 
being located at Tucson, and the other at Prescott. Persons de- 
sirous of entering the lands of the public domain, can do so at 
either of these points, where all information regarding their lo- 
cation and the mode of procedure may be obtained. 

The federal officers of the Territory at the present time are as 
follows : 

Governor F. A. Tritle 

Territorial Secretary H. M. Van Arman 

Chief-Justice C. G. VV. French 

Associate Justices Daniel Pinney, A. W. Sheldon 

United States Marshall Z. L. Tidball 

Surveyor-General J. W. Robbins 

Tucson Land Office : 

Register B. M. Thomas 

Receiver C. E. Daily 

Prescott Land Office: 

Register W. N. Kelly 

Receiver George Soatell. 

The present delegate in Congress is Granville H. Oury, of 
Florence, who is now in his second term. 

The following Territorial officers are appointed by the Gov- 
ernor, with the consent of the Legislature : 

Territorial Auditor E. P. Clark, Prescott. 

" Treasurer T. J. Butler, " 

" Attorney-General .... Clark Churchill " 

W. B. Horton is Territorial Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, his office being at Tucson. This officer is elected at each 
general election, and holds his place for two years. As has 
been before stated he has entire supervision of the public 
schools of the Territory. 

With the present rapid growth in population and material 
wealth, it is not too much to expect that within two years 
Arizona will be applying for admission to the honors and 
privileges of Statehood. In a territorial condition the country 
is compelled to suffer that neglect which seems to be the 
fate of all the political wards of the government. But with 
representatives on the floors of both houses of Congress she 
will be in a position to command the ear of the general govern- 



CIVIL AND MILITARY. 229 

ment, and compel recognition where now she is obliged to sue 
for favors. 

One of the most pressing wants of the Territory is a branch 
mint and assay office. Arizona is already second on the list of 
silver-producing States and Territories, and with the present 
rapid increase the day is not far distant when she will occupy 
the first place. If the product of her mines could be coined at 
home it would give a grand impetus to the mining industry, 
and also be a source of large revenue to the government. An 
appropriation for the finding of artesian water in the dry, grassy 
valleys of the Territory is also a matter deserving the attention 
of the Federal law-makers; and no wiser act could be passed by 
that body than the making of such an appropriation, and the 
effort to reclaim the millions of acres of fine grazing and agri- 
cultural lands now valueless and unoccupied. These, and other 
matters of vital importance to the country, demand the prompt 
and favorable consideration of the national government, but so 
long as Arizona wears her territorial swaddling-clothes, Con- 
gress is not apt to give a very attentive ear to the wants of 
her people. 

The Territory of Arizona constitutes a separate military de- 
partment, with headquarters at Fort Whipple, near Prescott, 
Brigadier-General George Crook is the present commander. 
Ever since the country was acquired from Mexico, the govern- 
ment have maintained garrisons at several points within its 
borders. It can be truthfully said that to the military arm of 
the government the Territory is indebted for much of its present 
prosperity. It conquered a permanent peace and brought to 
terms the hitherto unsubdued Apache. The many posts which 
have been established throughout the country have been the 
nucleus around which have gathered thriving settlements. With- 
out the aid and protection of the military, Arizona would 
have made slow progress on the road to prosperity. The officers 
and men who for years battled against the savages, and at last 
brought them to terms, who opened to settlement and civiliza- 
tion this region of the southwest, will always be held in grateful 
remembrance by the people of Arizona, and their long struggle 
with the savage foe will make one of the brightest pages in her 
history. 

The first military posts established in the country were known 
as Forts Buchanan and Breckenridge, and were situated east of 
Tucson, in the southern part of the Territory. From the time 
these posts were first garrisoned down to the year 1874 — a period 
of nearly twenty years — the troops stationed here were nearly 
always engaged in active hostilities with the Apache. Many 
an officer who afterwards rose to high command during the 
Civil War, gained his first experience of campaigning in the wilds 
of Arizona. The famous rebel, General Ewell, was for a long 
time in command at Fort Buchanan, and had many an encoun- 



230 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

ter with the savages, and Heintzelman gave the Yumas so 
thorough a chastisement that they have never since shown any 
disposition to go on the warpath. 

Probably there never was a band of Indians in the United 
States, of equal numbers, that gave the government more 
trouble to put down than the Chiricahua Apaches. No tribe on 
the continent have been guilty of more fiendish and atrocious 
murders — none have shown more daring and ingenuity. Their 
leader, Cochise, possessed all the savage characteristics of his 
race. An adept in all the strategems of Indian warfare ; brave^ 
cunning and sagacious, he proved no mean adversary, and in 
his many encounters with the troops, he showed skill and 
audacity, and often proved more than a match for his white 
foes. The history of the Apache wars yet remains to be writ- 
ten, but he who shall undertake the task will be called upon 
to record many a gallant fight, and many a daring exploit per- 
formed by the officers and men who took part in that long and 
bloody struggle. 

At the present time there are ten military posts in the Ter- 
ritory garrisoned by troops. They are situated as follows : 

Fort Whipple, the headquarters of the department and the 
residence of the commanding general, is on Granite creek, one 
mile east of Prescott. 

Fort Mohave is built on a bluff overlooking the Colorado 
river, and in the county of the same name. 

Fort Verde is forty miles east of Prescott, and has a pleasant 
situation on a mesa overlooking the Verde valley. 

Fort Apache is in the foot-hills of the Sierra Blanca ; has a 
delightful location, and a fine climate. 

Fort Grant is fifty miles north of Tucson, on a bench of the 
Graham mountain. It is one of the most important posts in the 
Territory, and is usually garrisoned by four or five companies. 

Fort Thomas is near the Gila river, at the lower end of the 
Pueblo Viejo valley. It is the nearest post to the San Carlos 
reservation, and consequently an important military point. 

Fort Bowie is situated in Apache Pass, the former stronghold 
of Cochise. It is about eight miles south of the railroad at 
Bowie station. 

Fort Iluachuca is situated in a delightful valley on the north- 
ern slope of the Huachuca range. It is one of the largest posts 
in the Territory, and its site, near the Sonora border, makes it a 
point of much strategical importance. Quarters to accommo- 
date ten companies are now being erected at this place. 

Fort McDowell is near the junction of the Salt and the Verde 
rivers, and about twenty-five miles east of Phoenix. 

Fort Lowell is situated about seven miles from Tucson, in 
the midst of pleasant surroundings, at the base of the Santa 
Catalina mountains. It was formerly the headquarters of the 
Department before they were removed to Whipple. 



CIVIL AND MILITARY, 23 1 

The total number of troops in the Department is about 1,200, 
distributed among the posts we have mentioned. Considering 
the importance of the trust confided to their keeping and the 
multifarious duties to be performed, the number is entirely- 
inadequate. To securely keep the long line on the Mexican 
border and watch that nest of marauding thugs on the San 
Carlos reservation, is no easy task; but in justice to the 
General in command and his able lieutenants, it must be said 
they have done all that was possible with the limited number of 
men at their disposal. 

Once the Apaches are removed from the Territory — which is 
a consummation most earnestly desired by every friend of Ari- 
zona — there will be little necessity for maintaining troops in the 
Territory, except, perhaps, at some few points along the Sonora 
border. As population increases, as railroads are built and the 
hills and valleys become dotted with mining camps and farming 
settlements, the soldier will find his occupation gone in Arizona. 
It has been so in all the Territories and States of the West, and 
so it will be here. The frontier posts which twenty years ago 
marked the line of civilization are now flourishing towns and 
cities, and the country around them filled with thrifty and pros- 
perous people. 

And so, no doubt, in a few years will disappear those land- 
marks around which has grown up the towns, settlements and 
prosperous communities now scattered throughout the length 
and breadth of Arizona. But though they disappear, the work 
they have accomplished will stand as a monument commanding 
the homage of future ages ; and the memory of the gallant sol- 
diers who wrested this Territory from the grasp of savage do- 
minion will be treasured by its people, and their bravery and 
devotion find a fitting place in the pages of its history. 




THE INDIAN TRIBES. 

The Bloody Work of the Savages — The Slaughtered Pioneers — Our First Glimpse 
of the Apache — Their Numbers and History — San Carlos Reservation — The 
System of Tribal Government — Habits, Customs and Religious Beliefs — 
The Chiricahua Tribe — The Pima and Maricopa Tribes — Their His- 
tory, Mode of Life, Religious Ceremonies, Tribal Relations, Cus- 
toms, Etc. — The Papagos — The Colorado River Reservation. 
— The Yumas — The Hualapais — The Ava Supies — The 
Moquis and Their "Seven Cities" — The Warlike 
Navajos — Number of Indians in the Territory — 
The Reservation System. 



RIZONA has long been considered the home of the 
^^11 most savage and bloodthirsty tribe of Indians on the 
North American conti.ient. The tales of their sickening 
tortures, fiendish inassacres, and deeds of deviltry and daring, 
Avhich have been sent broadcast over the land, have given the 
Territory a most unenviable reputation abroad. Looking 
through the lurid atmosphere which the reports of death and 
devastation have thrown about Arizona, people at a distance 
have long regarded the region as the dark and bloody ground of 
the West; a countiy where every man went armed to the teeth; 
where every bush and rock sheltered a savage foe, and where life 
and property was entirely at the mercy of a murderous horde. 

And it must be confessed that this opinion was once well- 
grounded. The neglected graves which mark every road and 
mountain trail speak mutely, but eloquently, of the fierce strug- 
gle waged here for years. The pioneers who rest in bloody 
shroud on plain and mountain side, attest the nature of the con- 
test, and the list of those who fell victims to savage treachery 
tell how fierce was the battle between civilization and barbarism, 
and how stubbornly the red-man resisted the advance of the 
pale-face. From the time of the American occupation up to 
the year 1875, it is estimated that not less than 1,000 men, 
women and children were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Apache. 
The few whites in the country, isolated from the centres of pop- 
ulation, and surrounded on all sides by the ever-watchful foe, 
were always in a state of siege and were never without their 
arms. 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 233 

But they were of the stuff which no dangers could daunt or 
no obstacles could deter. Surrounded by a wall of fire, they 
bravely pressed on, and blazed the path over which progress and 
ci\-ilization have since moved hand in hand. The story of their 
deeds of daring, their privations, their pluck and their indomit- 
able perseverance, would make the most thrilling chapter in the 
history of the border. No writer of Indian romance ever imag- 
ined such a struggle whose thrilling facts outstep the wildest 
dreams of fiction. The lonely ambush, the hand-to-hand en- 
counter, the midnight attack, the shrieks of helpless women and 
children, the flames of burning dwellings, the terrible tortures 
and the terrible sufferings of unfortunate captives, would make 
a volume, horribly fascinating in its record of murder, rapine and 
robbery. 

But the red-man had to yield to his destiny. Here, as every- 
where else, the light of civilization blinds and consumes him. 
The survival of the fittest holds here as elsewhere, and the dom- 
inant race has asserted itself. But of all the aboriginal tribes in 
North America the Apache has most stubbornly resisted the 
march of progress. He has successively opposed the advance 
of Spaniard, Mexican and American, and has only submitted 
after being thoroughly beaten and subdued. Our first glimpse 
represents him as a veritable Ishmaelite, with his hand against 
all his neighbors; a born murderer and marauder, who delighted 
in blood and pillage. This was the character he bore with the 
Pimas and other peaceful tribes when the Spaniards entered the 
country, 350 years ago. He was then, as now, a wild man, 
making his home in the rugged and most inaccessible mountain 
regions, and often swooping down on the fields and flocks of his 
industrious neighbors. The early Mission colonics were subject 
to his constant raids, and nearly all of them were at last de- 
stroyed by this wild freebooter. 

It has been thought by many that the ancient race which once 
flourished here were wiped out by this horde of savage banditti. 
And it is not an unreasonable proposition when we consider how 
persistently they have resisted the advance of a more perfect and 
vigorous civilization. But his power for evil is past, and in a 
few short years there will be nothing left of the fierciest race of 
savages that ever roamed in North America, save a name linked 
with a thousand deeds of savage ferocity, and unadorned by a 
single virtue, save perhaps, that of savage courage. 

The Apache tribe in Arizona number about 5,000. Since the'^ 
year 1874 these Indians have lived on the San Carlos reserva- 
tion. This reservation is situated north of the Gila river, in the 
eastern part of the Territory. It embraces portions of Gila, | 
Graham, and Apache counties, is watered by the San Carlos, ' 
Cibicu, Eagle creek, Rio Bonita and other tributaries of the 
Gila, and contains 4,440 square miles. It embraces some of the 
finest farming lands in the Territory, and some of the most ex- 



234 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA, 

tensive grazing ranges. It is also known to be rich in minerals, 
of gold, silver and copper; has some extensive forests of fine 
timber, and is in all respects one of the fairest portions of the 
Territory. The streams are alive with fish, the forests are full 
of game, the soil is of the richest and the climate superb. It is 
estimated there are at least 50,000 acres of land within 
this reservation that could easily be brought under cultivation. 
Of this immense tract not over 1,000 acres have been reclaimed 
by the aboriginal agriculturists. After all the expense which the 
government has incurred in purchasing tools and agricultural 
machinery, a beggarly 1,000 acres is all that can be shown after 
nearly ten years of trial. 

A large school-house has been built and fitted up with dor- 
mitories, bath-rooms, and other civilized conveniences. Some 
thirty scholars receive board and tuition at this institution. The 
effort to teach the young Apache idea how to shoot in the 
peaceful paths of learning has not proved much of a success, 
and the study of orthography is far less interesting than the 
knowledge of how to make away with some neighboring cattle- 
grower's stray stock. The reservation at San Carlos is in charge 
of an agent, with the modest salary of $1,500 per year. As 
assistants he has one clerk, one store-keeper, one physician, one 
chief of scouts, one blacksmith, one carpenter, three butchers 
three teamsters and two interpreters. The agent has sole con 
trol over the Indians, and is responsible only to the Interior 
Department for his conduct. 

The Apache nation is divided into a number of sub-tribes of 
which the following are the most prominent : — Coyoteres, White 
Mountain, Chiricahuas, Finals, Tontos, Aguas Calientas, Apache- 
Yumas, Apache-Mohaves. These sub-tribes are again divided 
into bands. Each tribe is governed by a chief, and each band 
by a captain. As far back as we have any knowledge of them, 
this system of tribal government prevailed. At no time was 
there one head chief acknowledged by the whole nation, al- 
though the chiefs of sub-tribes, like Cochise, Mangus Colorado 
and Francisco, exerted a strong influence over all the nation, 
and often led to war contingents from many bands. In their civil 
polity the Apaches are republicans of the most advanced type. 
The chief is elected by the popular voice, and when his course 
becomes obnoxious to the majority he is requested to resign, 
and another is chosen in his place. The chieftainship is heredi- 
tary in one family, only so long as the succeeding heirs have the 
ability to perform its duties satisfactorily. Where an incompe- 
tent succeeds his father he is often displaced to make room for 
some obscure captain, whose deeds as an accomplished thief 
and successful raider commend him to the suffrages of his 
tribesmen. 

As may be imagined from this, the authority of the chief is 
merely in name. The Apache is jealous of all restraint, and 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 235 

will brook no interference with the exercise of his individual 
license, and there is probably no tribe of Indians on whose 
shoulders the cares of government sit so lightly. The Apaches 
are polygamists, and keep as many wives as their fancy may 
dictate, or as they can induce to live with them. No marriage 
ceremony is indulged in. The bridegroom, having made his 
choice, visits the abode of his inamorata, and after making a 
present to her father, according to his financial standing, carries 
her off from the parental zvickmp. The women are the hewers 
of wood and the drawers of water, the Apache braves, like all 
other Indians, disdaining all manual labor. Their morals have 
not been improved by contact with the whites, but in their wild 
state they observed a code almost Draconian in its severity. 
Infidelity on the part of the wife, among the Coyoteros, was 
punished by cutting off the nose, but this has been done away 
with since their intercourse with the pale-faces, as its strict 
observance threatened the mutilation of the entire female por- 
tion of the tribe. 

The Apaches, like all other American Indians, believe in a 
Great Spirit and another existence in the " happy hunting- 
grounds." They are very superstitious, believe in witchcraft and 
spiritualism, and have almost implicit confidence in their medi- 
cine men. They are cremationists and burn their dead. Their 
habits are filthy; they are lazy, indolent and thievish. The lat- 
ter accomplishment they have reduced to a fine art, and the 
tales of their exploits would put to the blush the most expert 
cattle-riever that ever swung a lariat on the border. 

Physically, the Apaches are below the medium height, but 
sinewy and well put together. Their complexion is a dirty 
black, and the expression of their features tells of their villainous 
and bloodthirsty' natures. They are capable of standing much 
fatigue and hardship and can make long journeys over the bar- 
ren plains and mountains without food or drink. They are 
thieves by nature and murderers by instinct. In their wild state 
they had no fixed habitation, and roamed through the mount- 
ains, improvising a rude shelter for a few days where game or 
mescal was abundant. Yet this handful of savages have vir- 
tually maintained a reign of terror in Arizona and northern 
Mexico until within the last few years. They are adepts at 
savage warfare and are masters of every stratagem to entrap 
the unwary traveler. Never giving battle on the open plain, 
they always lay hidden behind some rock or bush and surprised 
their victim when he least expected an attack. Of all Indians, 
the Apache seems less disposed to adopt the habits and mode 
of life of the white man. He is a savage, pure and simple, and 
can no more be tamed than a tiger or a wild-cat. 

Of all the Apache race the Chiricahuas are the most warlike. 
Their country in southern Arizona extended from Tucson east 
to the line of New Mexico, and south of the old Overland Stage 



236 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Line. Under the leadership of their famous chief, Cochise, they 
marked every mile of the old overland road with the grave of 
some victim, and carried their forays all over the northern States 
of Mexico, even spreading dismay to the very gates of Durango. 
It is believed that this band of savages have murdered more 
persons — American and Mexican — than any tribe of the same 
number in North America. It is this b.ind which has caused 
all the trouble in southern Arizona for the past two years, and 
who are now raiding through Mexico. For such demons there 
can be only one treatment — extermination — and the authorities 
on both sides of the border have at last arrived at this conclus- 
ion. They have done more to retard the progress of the 
Territory than all else combined, and the brightest day in her 
history will be the one that sees the last of them pass over to 
the happy hunting-grounds. The Apaches are gradually 
decreasing; their power is forever broken; the contact with civ- 
ilization is too much for them, and this savage autocrat, who for 
centuries kept Pima, Moquis and Papago on the defensive, will 
soon pass away. 

The Pima and Maricopa tribes have a reservation set apart 
for them on the Gila river. It begins about nine miles below 
the town of Florence, and extends down the stream to its junc- 
tion with the Salt, a distance of nearly thirty-five miles, embrac- 
ing some of the richest valley land in the Territory. By an ex- 
ecutive order, dated July 14, 1878, another tract of rich land on 
the north side of Salt river, was set apart for their use. The 
Pimas number about 4,500; the Maricopas, about 500. Both 
tribes are semi-civilized, till the soil, own cattle and horses, live 
in permanent abodes, and are peaceful and industrious. They 
cultivate about 400 acres on the Salt and 800 acres on the Gila. 
Their wheat crop will average about 2,000,000 pounds a year. It 
is much superior to that of their white neighbors on the Salt, 
both in cleanliness and quality, makes a better article of flour 
and commands a higher price. 

Besides wheat, corn, pumpkins, beans, sorghum and vegetables 
are raised in large quantities. They manufacture ollas, or 
earthen jars, for holding water, baskets and other articles of 
stone and willow-ware. They formerly made some very fine 
blankets and cotton fabrics. Their farming is of the most 
primitive style ; the grain is cut with sickles, and threshed by 
being laid on a smooth earthen floor and driving a band of 
ponies over it. They live in small villages, the inhabitants of 
each holding their lands in severalty. Their houses are built 
by placing a number of poles in a circle, arched at the top. 
These poles are then covered with grass and mud, a small open- 
ing being left for a door. When completed, they look like a 
gigantic beehive. 

The Pimas were settled in their present abode when first 
visited by the Spaniards, three centuries and a half ago. Then, as 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 23/ 

now, they cultivated the soil, manufactured earthen vessels and 
fabrics of cotton and wool. They had no knowledge of their 
origin, and could tell their visitors nothing of their history. 
They have not changed, in any way, in the past 350 years, and 
are the same in manners, customs and habits, to-day, as they 
were when Cabeza de Vaca dropped in amongst them in his 
tramp from the everglades of Florida. They are governed by 
one head chief, the position being hereditary in one family. The 
tribe is subdivided into bands, each band being ruled by a cap- 
tain, who is elected by the popular vote. Each village has a 
council hut, where the leading men frequently meet and discuss 
the " affairs of State." In cases of trouble or disagreement 
among members of the tribe, a council of the old men is called, 
and the matter settled by arbitration. 

They observe the family tie, and are very particular about 
marrying near relatives. They believe in monogamy, but some- 
times a plurality of wives is allowed, as when a brother's wife is 
left without support it is considered the correct thing for the 
surviving brother to take charge of her. The marriage cere- 
mony is simple. A young man goes with a friend to the 
residence of his intended, and asks the "old man" for the 
hand of his daughter, at the same time stating his own pros- 
pects for the future. The old party replies, and sometimes the 
future mother-in-law expresses her views. If the verdict is 
favorable, he takes his bride by the hand, leads her to his 
wickiup, and from that time on they are considered man and 
wife. Divorces are common among the Pimas. When either 
party becomes dissatisfied, through infidelity or any other cause, 
he or she, as the case may be, packs traps and leaves the rajicJieria. 
The party to blame loses all the common property ; the mother 
takes care of the children, if there are any. 

In case of murder among them, the task of avenging the 
victim is left to his relatives. But crime is little known, and 
the best of order always prevails. They have great faith in 
their medicine-men — so long as they are successful in effecting 
cures. Repeated failures, however, are apt to lead to unpleas- 
ant consequences. A case lately occurred where an unfortunate 
disciple of Galen, having sent three patients in succession to the 
happy hunting-grounds, was summarily dealt with by having 
his brains knocked out with a club. They have some dim notion 
of a Creator and a hereafter. They are also strong belie\ers in 
witchcraft, and club to death those whom they believe guilty of 
it. They bury their dead. The Pimas have a tradition that 
the Casa Grande and the other towns which once existed on 
the Salt and the Gila rivers were destroyed by an army who 
came from the east. They were at one time a large and power- 
ful nation, with villages extending down as far as the center of 
Sonora. The entire country, to the Gulf of California, was called 
by the Spanish explorers, Pimiera Alta and Pimiera Abajo. 



238 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

The Pimas have always been friends of the whites, and 
the enemy of the Apaches. They gave succor and assistance to 
the early settlers and their doors were always open to the unfor- 
tunate American hard-pressed by the savage foe. They are a 
peculiar race and for centuries have lived and labored, and passed 
away in their quiet valley under the shadow of the Sierra de 
Estrella. Empires have been founded and overturned; wonder- 
ful discoveries have been made; the earth has undergone vast 
changes, but nothing has disturbed the peaceful serenity of the 
Pima's life. Shut out from the rush and roar of the busy world, 
he is to-day as he was ages ago. 

The Maricopas are on the same reservation with the Pimas, 
but live separately. They were once a part of the Yuma tribe, 
but were driven out, and joined the Pimas, over eighty years 
ago. They have intermarried with their protectors, and adopted 
their habits and many of their customs. Their language is differ- 
ent and both tribes but imperfectly understand each other. In 
one particular they resemble the Apaches, they cremate their 
dead. Both the Pimas and Maricopas are expert warriors, and 
have nearly always worsted the Apache. In 1857, the Yumas, 
Mohaves and Apache-Mohaves, came up the Gila and attacked 
the Maricopas near Maricopa Wells. The Pimas came to the 
assistance of the latter, and a bloody battle ensued. The Yumas 
were surrounded and, being deserted by their allies, were 
cut to pieces. Only two or three lived to carry the dismal tale 
to the Colorado. When the battle ended, ninety Yuma braves 
lay stretched stark and stiff on the sandy plain. Since then 
the Yumas have never ventured far up the Gila river. 

The Papagos were once a part of the Pima nation, but were 
converted to Christianity by the Spanish missionaries, and took 
the name Papago, (baptized) after being received into the 
church, of which they yet remain faithful members. Of all the 
Indian tribes of the Territory they are the most industrious, 
peaceful, virtuous, temperate and thrifty. Like all Indians who 
are inclined to peace and industry, they receive no aid from the 
Department; it is only the bad Indians who are pampered and 
coddled by our paternal government. The Papagos are farm- 
ers and stock-raisers. They speak the same language as the 
Pimas, and the only thing that distinguishes them from the lat- 
ter is the manner of cutting the hair; they also wear hats and 
dress after the manner of the lower class of Mexicans. The 
tribe have a reservation on the Santa Cruz which includes the 
old Mission church of San Xavier. This is one of the finest 
tracts of farming land in the Territory. A large part of it has 
been brought under cultivation and fine crops of wheat, barley, 
corn, pumpkins, melons, etc., are raised. 

The tribe own a great many cattle and horses. They have 
also a settlement on the Gila, below the mouth of the Salt, 
where they cultivate about 400 acres. During the long and 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 239 

bloody contest with the Apache, the Papagos done good ser- 
vice, fighting side by side with the whites. In their combats 
with the common enemy they have always come off victorious. 
They are good laborers, and numbers of them are employed by 
the farmers of the Salt and Gila river valleys during the harvest 
season. 

Papagueria, the land of the Papagos, extends west from Tuc- 
son to the head of the Gulf. It is a wild and uninviting region; 
water is scarce, and vegetation not abundant. Isolated, barren 
mountains and dry plains are the striking features of the country. 
At certain points the Indians have dug wells and established 
villages around them. Little patches of corn and pumpkins are 
planted, and shallow reservoirs formed to catch the rain-fall, 
which sometimes pours down on these arid plains with tropic fury. 
A great many of the tribe still live in this, their old home. The 
Sisters of St. Joseph have established a school at the old church 
of San Xavier, which is largely attended, and is doing much 
good for the tribe. 

The Colorado river reservation was established by Act of Con- 
gress, March 3, 1865. It is situated between Ehrenberg and La 
Paz, and embraces an area of about 600 square miles, and a total 
Indian population of 1,010, composed of the following tribes: 
Chim-e-hue-vis, 208; Mohaves, 802. The Mohaves, who have 
lived along this portion of the Colorado ever since we have any 
knowledge of them, are a tall, muscular and rather handsome 
race. They were once in active hostility to the whites, but the 
crushing defeat which they sustained at the hands of Col. Hoff- 
man, of the regular army, in 1859, completely broke their spirit, 
and ever since they have evinced no desire to go on the war- 
path. Morally, they have long been considered among the most 
degraded of all the Arizona Indian tribes. Prostitution is almost 
universal, and the marriage tie is scarcely regarded. Contact with 
the whites has brought disease and death, and the powerful tribe 
of Mohaves are but an insignificant band of tatterdemalions 
whose days are already numbered. 

The Chim-e-hue-vis, on the reservation are much farther ad- 
vanced than the Mohaves. They dress in light cotton stuffs, 
aud their women are especially noted for their good looks. 
Their country is on the California side of the Colorado, oppo- 
site Ehrenberg and La Paz. The government has expended 
a large sum in constructing irrigating canals on this reservation, 
with the hope of making the occupants self-sustaining, but it 
appears to have been money thrown away. The Indians culti- 
vate a few small patches and raise a little corn and wheat, and a 
few melons, pumpkins, etc. 

An agent is in charge of them, besides a physician, clerk, 
farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, teacher, matron and cook. With 
such an imposing staff it would be expected that some tangible 
results would be obtained ; but the effort to light the torch of 



240 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

civilization on the Colorado river reservation has proved a 
lamentable failure, and the people are compelled to support a 
lot of worthless vagabonds, too lazy to earn their own liveli- 
hood. Formerly the Mohaves were in close intercourse with 
the Apaches. Through their intermarriages sprung the tribe of 
Apache-Mohaves, who inhabited the country between the Colo- 
rado and the mountain region of northern Arizona. This mon- 
grel race inherited all the savage vices of the Apache, without 
his courage and daring. The remnant of them are now on the 
San Carlos reservation. 

The Yuma tribe live on the lower Colorado, ranging from 
Castle Dome dwwn to the Gulf. They number about 1,200; 
are a tall, well-proportioned race, with a strong liking for 
whiskey and tobacco. The name "Yuma" signifies "son of the 
river," they having always made their home in the valley of the 
Colorado. They were once a strong and warlike tribe, and gave 
the early settlers in this region much trouble. Missions were 
established among them by the Spanish fathers, but they did 
not take kindly to the new doctrines, and after two years of ex- 
istence the mission buildings were destroyed and the inmates 
massacred. Colonel Heintzelman inflicted severe chastisement 
upon them in 185 i, and ever since they have been docile and 
well disposed. They cultivate small patches on the Colorado 
bottoms, and raise some corn and vegetables. Their morals are 
on a par with the Mohaves, and like them, they are becoming 
fewer every year. They spend most of their time loafing around 
the streets of Yuma, doing small jobs for the pale faces. There 
is a rumor that the government intends to establish a reservation 
for these Indians near the junction of the Gila and the Colo- 
rado. There is plenty of rich bottom-land in that vicinity, 
amply sufficient to sustain the tribe, by constructing irrigating 
canals. Something should certainly be done for the Yumas, 
who have long shown such a friendly disposition toward the 
whites, and who now are on the verge of starvation more than 
half the time. They are not indisposed to work, and many of 
them are employed on the boats which ply on the waters of the 
Colorado. 

The Hualapai tribe are an offshoot of the Apache nation, and, 
in appearance, much resemble the latter. They live in the bar- 
ren mountain regions of Mohave county, eking out a precarious 
existence on roots, lizards, rats, mesquite beans, 7>iescal, and the 
little wild game which the country affords. They also hang 
around the different mining camps, doing odd jobs and 
picking up any crumb which may fall from the table of 
of the miner or prospector. They were at one time on the Colo- 
rado reservation, but the enervating climate of the river bottoms 
was fatal to Indians born and bred in the pure, bracing air of 
the mountains, and they returned to their native hills. 

The Hualapajs are a brave and warlike race, and caused the 




SEf PAGC ij4- 



GROUP OF APACHES. 



aANCIIOFT-I.ITN-S.K 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 24I 

early settlers of northern Arizona much trouble. They number 
about 800, with a head chief, and many small bands ruled by 
captains. They did crood service against the hostile Apaches, 
many of them enlisting as scouts and fighting bravely by the 
side of the troops. They are experts in the use of the rifle, and 
long intercourse with the whites has taught them all the vices 
of the paleface. These Indians have been several times on the 
brink of starvation, and have to depend nearly altogether on the 
bounty of the settlers. Although they " have done the State 
some service," and earned the gratitude of the people by their 
services against the common enemy, they are neglected by the 
government, and allowed to gain a subsistence as best they may. 
But it does not seem to be the policy of the Indian department 
to reward or encourage peaceful tribes. Flour, beef, coffee, 
sugar, clothing and other good things are only given to those 
" gentle savages " who can point with pride to the white scalps 
which adorn their te/>es on the San Carlos. But such is our In- 
dian policy. 

The Ava-Supies are one of the most interesting tribes in the 
Territory, or in the United States. They have their homes in 
the deep canon of Cataract creek, a tributary of the Little Colo- 
rado, and which has its source in Bill Williams mountain. The 
narrow valley in which they live, averages from 100 to 500 
yards wide, with walls of sandstone rising perpendicularly on 
either side, to a height of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet. The descent 
from the level of the plateau is by a steep trail, which winds 
along the walls of the towering cliff. Through the center of the 
narrow valley, runs a cold, clear stream. The soil is rich, and 
produces grain, fruits and vegetables. Down in this lovely vale 
the climate is almost perpetual summer; and while the icy winds 
of winter sweep over the plateau above, this sequestered glen 
sees the flowers bloom and the grass green, all the year round. 

The tribe numbers about 300, men, women and children, and 
is made up of a heterogeneous mixture of many tribes, who, it is 
said, were driven out or fled from their former homes on account 
of some misdeed. However this may be, it is certain that the 
Ava-Supies are peaceable and industrious. The few whites 
who have been down to their village were kindly treated, and 
found them intelligent and thrifty. They cultivate the soil, and 
do a brisk trade with the Moquis, exchanging dried peaches and 
buckskins for cotton stuffs and other articles. Thus, literally 
shut out from the world, the Supies live in their beautiful home, 
blessed with everything to supply their simple wants. They are 
ruled by a chief who is elected by- the popular voice, but their 
customs and civil polity are but little known. They seldom 
emerge from their secure retreat, and neighboring tribes do not 
trouble them, knowing their prowess with the rifle and the bow. 

The Moquis occupy several villages in the northeastern por- 
tion of the Territory. They were the ancient "Cities of Cibola," 
16 



242 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

of which Cabeza de Vaca and Padre de Niza told such wondrous 
tales, and which Coronado found to be but a collection of 
wretched hovels. The Moquis of to-day occupy the same vil- 
lages their ancestors did, centuries ago; and there is no change 
in their customs or mode of life since they were first visited by 
the Spaniards. Their pueblos are situated on rocky mesas, 
which rise from 300 to 600 feet above the level of the surround- 
ing plain. On one of these isolated mesas are situated four of 
their villages; three other villages occupy as many bluffs. The 
houses are built of rough stones, laid in mud and fashioned like 
terraces. These terraces are approached by ladders, the entrance 
to the dwellings being from the upper story. At night the lad- 
ders are drawn up, and all access to the interior cut off. Like 
the Pimas, the Moquis are partly civilized, cultivate the soil 
and manufacture many articles of earthenware and coarse woolen 
fabrics. Although the soil at the base of the rocky bluffs on 
which they make their homes is sandy and barren-looking, it 
produces good crops of corn, melons, pumpkins and peaches. 
Heavy rains fall in this locality, and no irrigation is required. 
They have large flocks of sheep and goats, which at night are 
driven into stone corrals around the base and rocky sides of the 
mesas, and carefully guarded. Their warlike neighbors, the 
Navajoes, who live to the north, have very loose notions respect- 
ing the rights of property, and frequently sweep down on the 
unguarded flocks. 

It is generally conceded that the Moquis are of the same race 
as the Zunis and other pueblo Indians of New Mexico. Trav- 
elers whose imaginations have more than made up for their 
paucity of facts, have supposed they are a part of the Aztec 
race, and in their religion, customs, and form of government, 
have traced a resemblance with the people who inhabited the 
city of Mexico. But there is nothing to show that there ever 
was any affinity between the two peoples, and save a dim tradi- 
tion respecting Montezuma, which some visitors assert exists 
among them, there is nothing to prove that they had any knowl- 
edge of the powerful nation which fell before the conquering 
sword of Hernando Cortez. A communal government prevails 
among the Moquis. Each village holds the land in severalty, 
and each is ruled by a chief, whose office is elective. 

In religion they are said to be sun-worshipers; they also in- 
dulge in idolatrous ceremonies and incantations, and are firm 
believers in witchcraft. The government has provided an agent 
for them, and established a school which is said to be proving a 
success. For several years Mormon missionaries have been 
among them, and have made many proselytes. The tribe num- 
bers about 1,000. 

The Navajoe tribe have a reservation in the northeastern cor- 
ner of the Territory, adjoining the line of New Mexico, and 
embracing an area of about 5,000 square miles. This reserva- 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 243 

tion contains some fine farming and grazing lands. The tribe 
also roam over all that region between the Moquis villages and 
the Rio San Juan, and west to the Colorado. There is some 
fine grazing land in this locality, and every summer large herds 
of horses and sheep are pastured on it. The Navajoes are the 
main branch of the Apache nation, and are the most intelligent, 
active, and enterprising of all the Indians in Arizona. They 
are a lithe, sinewy and rather handsome race, with keen eyes 
and a proud and independent carriage. For years they were on 
the warpath, and it was only after the expenditure of millions of 
dollars and the loss of many men that they were finally subdued. 
After being conquered they were removed to a reservation on 
the Pecos river, but the climate proved unhealthy, and after many 
had died they were allowed to return to their old home. Since 
then they have made rapid progress in population and wealth, 
and are to-day the richest tribe outside of the Indian nation. 
They number about 15,000, and are one of the few tribes that 
are increasing. 

Th.y own over 15,000 fine horses, nearly 500,000 head of 
sheep, some 5,000 head of cattle, besides mules, burros, goats, 
etc. "Navajoe blankets" are famous all over the west, and as 
high as $150 is not unfrequently paid for those of fine work- 
manship. Besides blankets they manufacture sashes, saddle 
cloths, fancy bridles, lariats, and other articles. Over $30,000' 
per annum is derived from the sale of these articles. Every 
family has its loom, where the women are constantly employed. 

Near their agency, at fort Defiance, they have a large tract 
of land under cultivation, and raise fine crops of corn, wheat 
barley, vegetables and fruits. Some members of the tribe are 
wealthy, one old chief having several hundred acres under culti- 
vation, and quite an army of peons about his Jiacienda. Before 
their submission to the government they were nearly always at 
war with their Mexican neighbors, and for years terrorized the 
whole Rio Grande valley, often capturing important towns, and 
carrying the women and children into slavery. From this 
source the tribe have received a large infusion of Mexican blood. 
The Navajoes are born warriors, adroit thieves, and the finest 
horsemen in the west. They have always been a thorn in the 
side of their peaceful Zuni and Moquis neighbors, who enter- 
tain a well-grounded fear of their prowess. Although the gov- 
ernment supplies them with annuities, the tribe is self-sustaining,, 
and rapidly growing rich. The Navajoe reservation extends 
into New Mexico, so that the whole tribe cannot be said to 
properly belong to Arizona, Of all the Indians in the Territory 
the Apache is the only one who continues to give any trouble. 
Although the tribe was subdued and placed on their present 
reservation in 1874, the events of the past two years have 
shown that there is no sure guarantee for permanent security 
so long as one of them remains within its borders. It is true, the 



244 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

outbreak was made by a small band, and did not extend 
beyond a narrow strip along the Sonora border; it is true 
that life and property in the rest of the Territory was as safe 
as in New York city; it is true that the damage done was 
grossly exaggerated, but all these circumstances do not over- 
come the fact that the outbreak has injured every material 
interest and seriously retarded the Territory's advancement 

The handful of renegade Chiricahuas who have been raiding 
in northern Mexico and a portion of southern Arizona for two 
years past, have brought the Territory into bad prominence 
abroad once more ; and her unenviable reputation as a hostile 
Indian country, which was gradually being forgotten, has come 
back with all its former force since the Cibicu fight. Capital, 
ever timid, has taken the alarm and hesitates to invest in a 
country where there seems to be no protection for property; 
immigration halts in its onward course, doubtful about making 
a home where life is at the mercy of murderous savages. All 
branches of industry suffer from the deadly blight of savage out- 
breaks. It makes no difference that the rising was quickly put 
down and that the devilish work of the red fiends was confined 
to a very small portion of the Territory; people abroad who 
read of it, believe the whole country overrun with savages, and 
imagine the principal towns besieged and the people fleeing for 
their lives to places of safety! It is thus that an Indian out- 
break affects the progress and prosperity of Arizona. 

The number of Indians in Arizona is nearly as follows: 

Apaches 5,ooo 

Navajoes 1 5,000 

Moquis 800 

Ava-Supies 300 

Yumas 1,200 

H ualapais 800 

Papagos 6,000 

Pimas 4,500 

Maricopas 500 

Mohavcs 1,000 

Total 35,100 

The reservation system has been tried and proved a failure. It 
has become a breeding-place for assassins, an asylum for murderers 
and marauders, a home for thieves and outlaws, a shelter for the 
most bloodthirsty villains that ever cumbered the earth. For 
years the government has expended money with a lavish hand 
in maintaining these wretches in idleness and ease. Abundance 
of food and clothing, and the best medical care have been theirs. 
Living in one of the finest farming regions in the Territory, and 
provided with the latest improved and costliest of farming ma- 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 245 

chinery, no effort has been made to compel these lazy vagabonds 
to till the soil and make themselves self-sustaining. 

The people are taxed to support a horde of banditti who 
learn nothing but the vices which spring from idleness and sloth. 
Into the hands of these untamed thugs the government has placed 
arms and ammunition. Whenever life on the reservation be- 
comes too monotonous, they hie themselves forth, killing and 
destroying everything in their path. When hard-pressed they 
cross the border into Mexico, and there indulge in the same 
deviltry. When they tire of this pastime, and rations run short, 
they steal back to the San Carlos, there to rest and feast until 
they get ready for another raid. This is the way the reservation 
system has worked in Arizona, and is it any wonder the people 
have become exasperated, and that many of them demand total 
extermination as the only solution of the Indian problem. 

The people of Arizona demand a radical change. They be- 
live the presence of so large a body of Apaches almost in the 
heart of the Territory, is a constant menace to its peace, and a 
steady drawback to its material advancement. They know that 
some of the finest grazing and farming, and the richest mineral 
lands are closed to occupation and settlement on account of 
the presence of these worthless savages. They also know that 
a large portion of the public domain has been set apart for 
the exclusive use of Indians, and believe thither they should 
be sent. There is abundance of room in the Indian Territory 
and there let the Apaches go. Let them be made to work 
and learn to become self-sustaining. This is the true solu- 
tion of the Arizona Indian problem, and the one which will 
meet the approbation of every citizen who has the interests of 
the Territory at heart. A few thousand savages, whose worth- 
less lives, all combined are not worth that of one honest white 
man, have too long retarded the advancement of one of the rich- 
est regions of the West, too long have obstructed the path of 
progress, and cast a shadow on the Territory's prosperity. 
The Apache must go. The land he has so long cursed with his 
presence will rejoice when the last of his race shall have passed 
beyond her borders. 

The total area of the several reservations in the Territory is 
as follows : 

Navajoe 4,452 square miles. 

San Carlos 4,440 

Moquis 4,000 

Colorado 600 

Pimas and Maricopas 275 

Papago 19s 

Supies 60 



Total 17,822 square miles, 



246 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Or nearly one- seventh of the entire area of the Territory given 
over to savages. The people find no particular objection to any 
-but the Apache tribe. The other Indians are peaceable and 
well-disposed, and inclined to earn a livelihood by their own 
exertions. While it is true that the Reservation set apart for the 
Pimas and Maricopas contains some of the finest farming lands 
in the Territory, and is much larger than they will ever bring 
under cultivation, still their white neighbors do not complain at 
their petty pilfering, and the trouble and annoyance which they 
often cause to settlers. But for the Apache they have no room. 
For long years they have suffered at his hands and seen some 
of their best and bravest offered as a sacrifice to his insatiable 
hate. His history is written in blood, and his presence is a 
continual menace to the peace, and an obstacle in the path 
of the country's every interest. He occupies one of the most 
desirable regions in the entire Territory, and prevents the coming 
of immigration and the investment of capital. Let him be 
removed and his power for mischief will be at an end. 




THE EARLY SPANISH MISSIONARIES. 



The Pioneers of the Cross in Arizona — Padre Marco de Niza — The First Mission in 

Arizona — The Labors of Father Kino — Prosperity of the Missions at the Time 

of his Death — Uprising of the Pimas — Expulsion of the Jesuits — 

Raids of the Apache — The Franciscans take Charge of the 

Missions — Establishment of Missions on the Colorado — 

Destroyed by the Indians — Pedro Font and Padre 

Escalante — Abandonment of the Missions — 

San Xavier del Bac — San Jose de 

Tumacacori. 

MO work on Arizona Territory would be complete with- 
out some account of the labors, the hardships, the 
^J sufferings and the triumphs of the Mission fathers. 

Following in the wake of that band of daring adventurers, 
whose conquest of the vast and powerful empire of the Monte- 
zumas will never lose its romantic interest, came a few earnest 
and pious men, whose standard was the Cross, and whose 
mission the spreading of the doctrines of the Nazarene. While 
the mail-clad warriors who followed Cortez and Coronado were 
filled with the thirst for gold and glory, the humble disciples of 
Loyola and Francis of Assisi had a higher motive in penetrat- 
ing these western wilds, and looked for their reward, not in the 
treasures they might discover, but in the savage souls they 
might redeem from barbarism and idolatry. To those sincere 
and self-sacrificing men belongs the honor of first planting the 
germ of Christian civilization in what is now known as Arizona. 
Although they did not come with the pride and circumstance 
of an invading host, the peaceful conquest they achieved has 
been far moi"e lasting. While Coi'onado and Espejo swept over 
the land, and left behind only a name linked with avarice and 
brutality, the poor friars who came after sowed the seeds of 
honesty, virtue, temperance and industry, which bear fruit even 
to the present day. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Padre 
Marco de Niza was the pioneer of the Cross in this remote 
region. On hearing the tales told by Cabeza de Vaca, of the 
great cities of Cibola, the zealous father set out on his perilous 
journey to discover them. We have already given an account 
of his trip, and the fate which befell his blackamoor attendant, 



248 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Estevan. Evidently the good friar did not think the time pro- 
pitious, or the temper of the Moquis in a suitable condition to 
receive the gospel truths, so he contented himself with setting 
up the Cross, and returned to Sinaloa. 

It is but charitable to suppose that the glowing accounts 
which the good father gave of the riches and extent of the 
Moquis villages, was done with the object of having an expedi- 
tion sent thither, thus affording an opportunity of spreading the 
true faith among the natives. If this was his object, he succeeded 
in part, at least, and the expedition of Coronado was the result. 
But the rough soldier cared more for the treasures he expected 
to gather than for the conversion of the heathen. When he 
found a collection of stone and mud hovels instead of gorgeous 
palaces flashing wnth gold and precious stones, he turned his 
back with disgust and disappointment on the "Cities of the Bull," 
and Father de Niza was compelled, in sorrow, to abandon a field 
where the harvest was ripe and ready for the reaper. 

More than a hundred years elapsed, after the expedition of 
Coronado before the' first mission was founded in "Arizuma," 
although the Cross had been planted as far north as Sonora and 
the Valley of Taos, some time before. It is claimed by some 
that the first efforts were made at the Moquis villages, and were 
undertaken under the direction of the Duke of Albuquerque, 
then Viceroy of Mexico. It is said that after professing the 
religion of Christianity, the Moquis apostatized, and joined the 
general revolt among the tribes of New Mexico in 1680. All 
efforts after this to convert them proved abortive, and unto this 
day they adhere to the idolatry of their fathers. This is given 
on the authority of Manuel Variegas in his History of California, 
but as there are no proofs to sustain it, and as the Moquis have 
no knowledge of the religion of the Redeemer, it is not entitled 
to much credence. 

The first mission established in Arizona was at Guevavi, some 
thirty miles south of Tucson, in the year 1687. Francisco Kino 
and Juan Maria Salvatieraz were the pious pioneers who laid 
the foundation stone. Although the exact date is not at hand, 
it is supposed that the missions of Tumacacori and San Xavier 
del Bac were founded about the same time, or shortly after. 
According to authentic documents we know the latter existed 
in 1694, and was then the most northern of the Sonora missions. 
While establishing these missions. Father Kino and his compan- 
ion pushed north, and were the first to preach the doctrines of 
Christianity to the Indians living along the Gila. An effort was 
made to establish a mission among them at Casa Grande in 
1695, but was frustrated by an uprising of the Indians, who 
assassinated some of the fathers and compelled the others to 
flee. No efforts were afterwards made to convert the Gila tribes. 

On the seventh of February, 1699, Father Kino visited the 
Yumas and Maricopas of the Colorado river, but no permanent 



THE EARLY SPANISH MISSIONARIES. 249 

missionary establishments were made among them at that time. 
This was the last work of the good father; death soon after re- 
moved him from the scene of his earthly labors. He was the 
animating spirit of the Arizona missions, and his zeal, self-sac- 
rifice and untiring energy was proof against every obstacle. 
Like the illustrious Las Casas, he was the friend of the Indians, 
and labored unceasingly to ameliorate their condition. He pro- 
cured an order from the Audience of Guadalajara that his neo- 
phytes among the Pimas should not be parceled out to work in 
the mines, under the system that then existed under the vice- 
regal government of Mexico. 

Under the paternal and humane care of the good priest, the 
Papagos made rapid advancement in the arts of civilized indus- 
try. In 1 7 10 this noble man yielded up his pure and unselfish 
spirit to his Maker, and was sincerely mourned by the people 
among whom he had labored so successfully for nearly a quarter 
of a century. At the death of Father Kino there were eight 
missions in a flourishing condition within the Territory of Ari- 
zona. These were named, respectively, Guevavi, San Xavier 
del Bac, St. Joseph de Tumacacori, St. Gertrude of Tubac, San 
Miguel of Sonoita, Calabasas, Arivaca and Santa Ana. They 
possessed herds of cattle, sheep and horses ; cultivated a large 
area of land, which yielded cereals, fruits and vegetables. Many 
rich silver mines near the missions were worked extensively, 
and with the rude reduction facilities at hand, produced large 
quantities of the precious metals. 

This was the most prosperous era in the history of the Ari- 
zona missions; but the elements of discord and decay were 
already at work. The wise counsel and directing hand of their 
founder was missing, and in 1721 the Indians rose in rebellion, 
killed a number of the priests, and destroyed many of the mis- 
sions. From this blow they never entirely recovered. In 1743, 
Father Ignacio Keller was commissioned to proceed to the Mo- 
quis villages and make an attempt to win the inhabitants to the 
Christian faith. He was thoroughly qualified for the enterprise, 
having passed several years among the Indians of the Gila. In 
September he set out, accompanied by several Pimas, as guides. 
He passed the Gila and the Salt rivers, and journeyed north 
into a mountainous country, where he encountered hostile Apa- 
ches, who attacked and compelled him to retrace his steps. 

In October, 1744, Father Jacob Sedelmeyer again made an 
attempt to reach the Moquis, He went no further than the 
Gila, being dissuaded from the expedition by the Pimas, who 
assured him that the mountains to the north were infested with 
fierce Apaches, who would certainly massacre his whole party. 
So the father had to give up his project, and resign the Moquis 
to their sun-worshipping idolatry. He explored portions of 
the Rio Salado and the Verde, and ascended the Gila some 
distance, but was driven back by the Apaches. He then de- 



250 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

scended the stream to the Colorado, and visited the Coco- 
Maricopas and Yumas. 

The Arizona Missions received a visit from Don Benito Crespo, 
Bishop of Durango, in 1727, who wrote to Philip V, giving a 
detailed account of them. The Spanish monarch ordered that 
they should be afforded every protection, and aided from the 
public treasury. It is believed that the funds thus obtained 
were used in the erection of the beautiful church of San Xavier, 
as it was completed a few years later. In 1767 the prosperity of 
the missions received a terrible blow from the decree ordering 
the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain and her colonies. With 
heavy hearts the members of the Order took leave of their 
charges, and left the land which for years had been the scene of 
their unselfish labors, and which the disciples of the soldier monk 
were the first to redeem from barbarism. 

In May, 1768, fourteen Franciscan Fathers from the College 
of Santa Cruz de Queratero, arrived at Guaymas, destined to 
take the place of the expelled Jesuits in the missions of Pimiera 
Alta, as Arizona was then called. They found the several 
establishments in a declining condition; life and energy seemed 
to have departed with the Jesuits, and, where once all w'as order 
and industry, slothfulness and confusion now reigned supreme. 
The Apache, until then but little known, made constant raids 
on the more exposed of the missions, driving off their herds of 
sheep and cattle. The Franciscans set themselves to work in- 
dustriously, and in some measure succeeded in bringing back 
the order and prosperity so long enjoyed by their predecessors. 
It is very probable that the mission of San Augustin, in Tucson, 
(now called the old pueblito), was one of the first founded by 
the Franciscans. The author of the Riido Ensayo says that in 
1762 there were at Tucson a sufficient number of Indians to 
form a good mission, but that the priest of San Xavier could 
not take charge of them, having more than he could do to 
attend to his own flock. 

The Franciscan fathers visited the tribes on the Gila and 
Colorado, and after many failures they at last succeeded in 
founding two missions on the last named stream. In January, 
1774, Captain Juan Bautista Ainsa, in pursuance of orders from 
the Viceroy, undertook to establish communication by land be- 
tween Sonora and Alta California. He was accompanied by 
Fathers Garccz, Pedro and Elrach, who visited the Maricopas, 
Yumas, and other river tribes, and for nearly two years labored 
persistently among them. Father Garcez visited the Mohaves 
and Yavapais, and explored a large portion of Central Arizona, 
everywhere preaching the doctrines of Christianity among the 
wondering saxages. 

In 1776 Captain Ainsa returned from California, bringing with 
him from the Colorado Palma, and other chiefs of the Yuma 
tribe, praying for the establishment of missions among them. 



THE EARLY SPANISH MISSIONARIES. 25 1 

In compliance with their request, Father Garcez was selected as 
the man best fitted for the task, and in 1779 three missions stood 
on the banks of the Colorado — two on the western and one on 
the eastern. One was on the hill opposite the junction of the 
Gila, where Fort Yuma now stands, and was known as La 
Conception ; another was established near Chimney Peak, and 
was called San Pablo, and the last was opposite the Castle Dome 
mountain, and named San Pedro. A presidio was established 
on the hill of La Conception, and a small garrison, for the pro- 
tection of the missions, maintained therein under the command 
of Don Jose Maria Ortega. On the 17th day of July 1781, the 
Yumas rose against the Spanish authorities, massacred the offi- 
cers and soldiers of the garrison of La Conception, and the 
priests and civilian employees of all the missions. The 
women and children were made captives, the buildings destroyed, 
and thus ended the missions of the Colorado. After a brief ex- 
istence of three years, the beacon-fires of Christianity which 
flashed across its turbid waters, were quenched in blood, and 
no effort was afterwards made to rekindle the flame. 

Among the adventurous pioneers of the Cross who explored 
Arizona from 1773 to 1776, mention should be made of Fathers 
Pedro Font, Francisco Garcia, Sylvestre Escalante and Fran- 
cisco Dominguez. These zealous sons of Saint Francis visited 
and made a thorough examination of the Casa Grande, trav- 
ersed a large part of Central Arizona, penetrated to the Moquis 
villages, but it does not appear any attempt was made to found 
missions there. Escalante's party crossed the Colorado above 
the Grand cafion, and reached the Uintah mountains. He also 
explored the country as far east and south as Moro, in New 
Mexico. He published an interesting account of the region 
through which he passed, and the different tribes he encountered. 

Escalante appears' to have been the last of that pious and 
zealous band who followed in the footsteps of Marco de Niza, 
and carried the Cross among the savage tribes of Arizona for 
nearly 250 years. After the destruction of the missions on the 
Colorado, the depredations of the Apaches became more fre- 
quent. They swept down from their mountain strongholds, 
leaving death and destruction in their track, and keeping the 
peaceful neophytes in a constant state of alarm. The breaking 
out of the Mexican War of Independence was a heavy blow 
to their prosperity. Deprived of the fostering care and pro- 
tection of the vice-regal rule, they languished and declined. 
The government of the republic did not exhibit a friendly spirit, 
and in 1827 a decree was published, ordering their suppression. 
Shortly after they were abandoned to the tender mercies of the 
Apache, and the fruits of 150 years of patient industry, unremit- 
ting toil, privation and self-denial, were given back to the savag- 
ery from which they had sprung. 

That the missions of Arizona at one time attained a high de- 



252 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

gree of prosperity and gathered about them a large Indian 
population, is shown by their baptismal records, several of which 
arc in a perfect state of preservation to-day. From 1720 until 
their abandonment in 1827, the missions ot Tubac, Tumacacori, 
San Xavier and Tucson, have had in succession forty-seven 
priests, many of whom fell martyrs to their faith, and moistened 
with their blood the seeds of Christian truth planted in the wild 
regions of "Arizuma." As showing the mode of life among the 
Indian neophytes, we insert the following, written by Bishop 
Salponite, of Tucson. 

" Early in the morning the Indians had to go to church for 
morning prayers and to hear mass. Breakfast followed this ex- 
ercise. Soon after a peculiar ring of the bell called the work- 
men. They assembled in front of the church, where they were 
counted by one of the priests, and assigned to the different 
places where work was to be done. When the priests were in 
sufficient numbers they used to superintend the work, laboring 
themselves, otherwise they employed some trustworthy Mexi- 
can to represent them. Towards /evening, a little before sun- 
down, the workmen were permitted to go home. On their 
arrival in the houses, which weref located around the plaza, one 
of the priests, standing in the middle of this plaza, said the 
evening prayer, in a loud voice, in the language of the tribe. 
Every word he pronounced was repeated by some selected 
Indians, who stood between him and the houses, and last, by all 
the Indians present in the tribe." An alphabet of the Pima 
language was prepared, and the converts had made some pro- 
gress in learning to read and write. They were taught the arts 
of agriculture, and under the direction of the fathers large tracts 
were reclaimed and made productive, and many a smiling grain 
field and fruitful vineyard and orchard flourished where now all 
is ruin and desolation. 

Of all the mission churches, built by the Jesuits and Fran- 
ciscans in Arizona, that of San Xavier del Bac is the only one 
remaining in a state of preservation. This mission was among 
the first established in the Territory, but the present building is 
supposed to date from 1727. When the priests were driven from 
the missions in 1827 the Papagos took charge of the church, 
and preserved it from destruction by the Apaches. In 1863, 
thirty-five years after its abandonment, it was again taken 
possession of by two members of the order who founded it. 
These priests were from Los Angeles, California, and accom- 
panied the first Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Mr. Poston, 
when he visited the Territory. 

Great was the joy of the simple Papagos at having the "black 
gowns" once more among them. The gold and silver vessels of 
the altar, and all the other valuable ornaments, were brought 
forth from the secure hiding-places where they had remained 
undisturbed all these long years; nave, chancel and altar were 



THE EARLY SPANISH MISSIONARIES. 253 

gaily decorated ; lights flashed from every column, and the voices 
of the happy Papagos filled the dim aisles and lofty arches of 
the old church with songs of joy and gladness. Since then re- 
ligious services are held regularly, and a school has been estab- 
lished by the Sisters of St. Joseph, but the pastor resides in 
Tucson, and the edifice is left entirely in charge of the Indians, 
who take the greatest care of it. 

The church of San Xavier del Bac has the form of a cross. 
It has a length of 105 and a width of twenty-seven feet, inside 
the walls. The foundation is of stone and the upper walls of 
brick, covered with a coating of fine cement. The style is that 
peculiar type of church architecture met with in Spain and all 
Spanish-American countries. It has been called the Spanish 
Rennaisance, and its predominating features are one of the 
legacies which the Moorish invaders left to Castil<3 and Leon. 
The building faces to the south, with a beautiful facade, highly 
ornamented in scroll-work and ' adorned with the arms of the 
Franciscan order. Two lofty towers surmount the front, one of 
which remains in an unfinished condition. Over the main 
chapel, in the north end, is a massive dome, whose strength, 
lightness, and perfect proportions are the admiration of all who 
gaze upon it. Around the walls of the roof, from which springs 
the dome, is a balustrade of brick coated with cement, with 
griffins' heads, also in cement, at each angle and corner. The 
interior fairly dazzles the beholder, being a mass of elaborate 
gilding, painting, and frescoe-work. The nave is divided into 
six parts, marked by as many arches. On the right-hand side 
as you enter, and between the door and the main altar, there is 
a frescoe representing the "Coming of the Holy Ghost," and on 
the left a work of similar style illustrating the "Last Supper." 
These frescoes are still in a good state of preservation, and 
show no little artistic ability. The main altar is dedicated to 
St. Francis Xavier and is adorned with small-sized figures of 
the Saint, the Virgin, and the Holy Family. 

Four frescoes near the altar represent the "Adoration of the 
Wise Men," the "Flight into Egypt," the "Adoration of the 
Shepherds," and the "Annunciation," all still well-preserved. 
Statues of the twelve apostles are placed in niches in the massive 
columns along the main aisle, while the main altar, and those 
on either side are decorated with columns and arabesques in 
relief, gilded and painted in the Moorish style. The lofty ceiling 
was once a mass of brilliant frescoe-work, much of which has 
been defaced by moisture trickling through the roof 

Near the main door are two small openings leading to the 
stairs, which conduct the visitor to the towers. The first flight 
leads to the choir, which is decorated with some fine frescoes. 
Two flights more and the belfry is reached. Here hang four 
small home-made bells, whose chime is said to be remarkably 
sweet and musical. A few steps more and the visitor is in the 



254 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

little dome, covering the tower, about seventy-five feet above tlu:r 
ground. From this coign of vantage there is a fine view of the 
Santa Cruz valley and the peaks and mountains which surround 
it on every side. At this point the valley is under a high 
state of cultivation, and its green fields of grain form an 
agreeable contrast to the barren plain, and bare and rugged 
mountain, which meets the eye in every direction. 

When we consider the age in which it was built, and the 
facilities at hand for its construction, the church of San Xavier 
del Bac must always appear a remarkable structure As has 
been well said, " the entire edifice is perfect in the harmony of 
its proportions, and in every point of view the eye is satisfied." 
The traveler who first beholds its graceful outlines standing in 
solitary grandeur on the edge of the desert waste, is astonished 
to find in this. remote region a building, which would adorn any 
capital in Christendom. ^'^' '~fr-' 

It stands a noble and impressive monument to the zeal, 
energy and self-sacrificing devotion of the Mission fathers, who 
were the first to open to civilization and settlement the wild 
region, now known as Arizona. They were no ordinary men, and 
were inspired by no ordinary motives, who could rear so imposing 
a structure as this in the southern wilds fifty years before the 
immortal Declaration was read from the steps of Independence 
Hall. And although the bones of its founders have long 
since mingled with the dust, the fruits of their labors are 
seen in the happy and prosperous tribe they redeemed from 
barbarism, and taught the arts of peace and civilized industry. 

The ruins of San Jose de Tumacacori is the only other relic 
of the numerous missions which flourished in Arizona. It stood 
on a gentle slope within a few hundred feet of the Santa Cruz, 
near the old presidio of Tubac. This mission was taken by the 
Apaches in 1820, and all the occupants massacred. The church 
was smaller and less pretentious in its style of architecture than 
San Xavier. Its shape was that of a Greek cross, with a basil- 
ica. The latter is still standing, crowned with the emblem of 
Christianity. The material used in the construction was adobe, 
or sun-dried brick, which was plastered with cement and coped 
with burnt brick. The roof was flat and covered with 
tiles. The rich valley adjacent was brought under a high 
state of cultivation, and bloomed in richness and beauty. 
The remains of crude smelting works, and the slag 
from the same, go to show that the old Jesuits practiced the 
mining industry here, long before a pound of bullion was pro- 
duced in any portion of the vast territory now known as the 
United States. 

Of all the other Mission churches reared by the pious hands 
of Jesuit and Franciscan, nothing remains but piles of shapeless 
ruins, the work of the red fiends. But while hardly one stone re- 
mains upon another and the outlines of the former structures 



THE EARLY SPANISH MISSIONARIES. 



255 



can scarcely be traced, the truths which they taught and the 
germs which they planted have bloomed and blossomed, and 
are to-day bearing the fruits of a vigorous and progressive civil- 
ization. 

Tumacacori at one time was the richest of all the Arizona 
missions, but the Apache "came down like a wolf on the fold," 
and nothing remains of Jesuit enterprise and endeavor save the 
crumbling ruin of the old church, and the abandoned shafts and 
tunnels, overgrown \vith brush and filled with debris, which are 
frequently met with in the surrounding mountains. The old 
padres sleep in bloody graves ; but so long as piety, zeal, cour- 
age, energy and self-denial shall command the admiration of 
men, Arizonans will remember the struggles and triumphs of 
the early Mission fathers. 




PRE-HISTORIC ARIZONA. 



The Traces of an Unknown Race — The Ruins of Casa Grande — The Ruins 
Pueblo Viejo, and along the Gila — Of Salt River and Tonto Basin — 
Ruins about Prescott, and along the Verde — Remains of Towns 
and Irrigating Canals in the Salt River Valley — A 
Remarkable Cave — The Cosonino Cliff Dwell- 
ings — Who were the Ancient Race and 
what has been their Fate ? 



of 




I^HE traveler through Arizona cannot fail to notice the 
peculiar mounds and the traces of immense acequias, or 
canals, which he encounters in the large valleys. Along 
the cliffs, bordering many of the water-courses, he will find ex- 
cavations in the solid rock, which were evidently at one time the 
abode of human beings. Fragments of coarse pottery are gen- 
erally found scattered about near mounds and caves. In dig- 
ing into these tuinili, stone hammers, and axes, rudely fash- 
ioned earthen jars, often filled with charred corn and beans, 
and in some instances hurnan skeletons, have been unearthed. 
The evidence is indisputable that the valleys of the Gila, the 
Salt, the Verde, the San Pedro, the Colorado Chiquito, and all 
the principal water-courses throughout the Territory, were, at 
some time in the dim past, filled with a dense population. 

The outlines of artificial water-courses, which are found near 
every stream, and the smooth and perfect configuration of the 
land — with an almost imperceptible slope toward the river bed — 
leaves no doubt that a teeming population once lived and labored 
here. Not unfrequently the modern husbandman upturns from 
the soil some rude implement, used by his unknown predecessor, 
or cuts, with his plough, into some old adobe wall, once the hab- 
itation of the ancient tiller of the soil, whose bones have long 
since mouldered to their kindred dust. 

In many a valley, now a desolate waste, these mute evidences 
of thrift and industry are seen on every hand ; and vast regions, 
now given over to the solitude of nature, were, at some remote 
period, the homes of a race who made them bloom with beauty 
and smile with industry. There is every reason to believe that 
where one acre is cultivated in the Territory to-day, twenty were 
made productive by the people who once occupied the land. 



PRE-HISTORIC ARIZONA. 25/ 

This may well be called the pre-historic period of Arizona, when 
the country presented a far different appearance from what it 
does to-day. It was a period when valley, vale and glen 
blossomed with the fruits of peaceful industry; when com- 
fortable homes dotted the plain and mountain side, and when 
a happy people dwelt in peace and plenty, surrounded by 
everything which could gratify their simple wants. But the race 
which once made these arid plains and deserted valleys to smile 
with verdure, have passed away, leaving behind no trace of their 
origin, their history or their extinction. A few crumbling and 
shapeless ruins is all that remains to tell the tale of their exist- 
ence; and the flickering and uncertain gleam of conjecture is all 
that is left to guide the explorer in discovering the fate that be- 
fell them. As helping to cast some light on the life of these un- 
known people, a short description of some of the principal ruins 
they left behind them, is here appended : 

First among these pre-historic relics, both in its extent and 
state of preservation, is the famous Casa Grande. It is situated 
in the valley of the Gila, about five miles south of the river, and 
six miles below the town of Florence. Th^ ruins were first dis- 
covered by Cabeza de Vaca, in his journey across the continent, 
of which mention has heretofore been made, and was thoroughly 
explored by Coronado, when he led his famous expedition 
northward, two years later. It was then (1540) four stories high, 
with walls six feet in thickness. Around it were many other 
ruins, with portions of their walls yet standing, which would go 
to prove that a city of no inconsiderable dimensions once existed 
here. As showing its great antiquity, it is mentioned that the 
Pima Indians, who then, as now, were living in the immediate 
vicinity, had no knowledge of the origin or history of the struc- 
ture, or of the people who built it. It had been a ruin as long 
as tradition existed in the tribe, and when or by whom erected, 
was as much of a mystery to the Pimas as to their European 
visitors. Fathers Kino and Mange visited the Casa Grande 
in 1694, S-'id gave a detailed description of the ruins as they 
then appeared. 

They found the remains of a great edifice, having a large 
room in the middle, four stories in height, with walls six 
feet in thickness. They also give an account of twelve other 
ruins in the vicinity. Father Pedro Font visited the ruins in 
1777, and found them much in the condition they were when 
seen by Kino and Mange. He describes the main building as 
"an oblong square, facing to the cardinal points of the compass. 
The exterior wall extends from north to south 420 feet, and 
from east to west 260 feet. The interior of the house consists 
of five halls, the three middle ones being of one size, and the ex- 
treme ones longer. The three middle ones are twenty-six feet 
in length from north to south, and ten feet in breadth from east 
to west." This was Casa Grande over 100 years ago, but the 
17 



258 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

rains and winds of a century have left their mark on its crumb- 
hng wall. The building stood upon a slight eminence, and was 
no doubt the main structure in the city which once existed here. 
The walls were composed of a concrete, made of mud and gravel, 
held together by a hard cement. This concrete was made in 
large blocks, which were put in place and firmly cemented to- 
gether. The inner surface was coated with this peculiar cement, 
and is as hard and smooth to-day as when it dried under the 
hands of the ancient builders. 

The dimensions of the ruin still standing are about fifty by 
thirty feet. Each succeeding year sees a gradual diminishing, 
and it is only a question of a short period when Casa Grande 
will be an undistinguishable mass of mud and gravel, like the 
mounds that surround it. The walls still standing show round 
holes in which are found pieces of cedar poles which supported 
the floors. The ends of these poles show that they were cut with 
some blunt instrument, and as a number of stone axes, bone 
awls and other implements of the stone age have been excavated 
from the ruins, it is evident the people who built these re- 
markable structures had no knowledge of the use of iron. In 
the immediate vicinity the traces of an immense irrigating canal 
have been followed to the Gila river, forty miles distant. This 
canal no doubt brought water to the city, and irrigated the rich 
valley which surrounds the ruins in every direction. 

Casa Grande is one of the most interesting remains of the pre- 
historic age to be found on the continent. In gazing upon its 
weather-beaten front, which has so bravely withstood the storms 
and floods of centuries, the question so often asked, but never 
answered, instinctively comes to the lips: "Who were the peo- 
ple that raised so massive a structure? From whence did they 
come, and what has been their fate.?" But, sphynx-like, the 
mysterious ruin stands amid the solitude of the desert plain, 
while from its weather-beaten crest voiceless centuries look down 
upon the curious inquirer. 

Along the valley of the Gila, for nearly its entire length in 
Arizona, ruins of buildings and irrigating canals are met with. 
Wherever the river forms a valley of any size it was evidently 
cultivated. On the Upper Gila is a large and rich body ot land, 
known as Pueblo Viejo (Old Town). In this valley extensive 
mounds, traces of buildings, canals, broken pottery, etc., are met 
with in every direction, and it is certain that the entire valley — 
containing between 40,000 and 50,000 acres — was at one time 
under cultivation. Stone hammers and axes, broken ollas, or 
earthen jars, are found in nearly all these ruins. On Eagle 
creek, Bonita and all the principal streams running into the 
stream, are found the same evidences of an older and cruder civili- 
zation. On the San Pedro, near its junction with the Gila, are 
the remains of what must have been a large city. The founda- 
tions were of stone, laid in a hard, coarse cement, and some of 



PRE-HISTORIC ARIZONA. 



259 




CLIFF DWELLINGS 



26o THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

the ruins show that the buildings were large and solidly con- 
structed. In the Tonto Basin, situated between the Mazatzal 
and Mogollon ranges, and north of Salt river, extensive ruins 
are found. These are of stone, many of them showing the ma- 
terial dressed, and laid in cement equal to that in use at the 
present day. Many cliff dwellings are also found in this region, 
and the valleys of all the streams running into the Salt show the 
same style of building. 

On Coon creek, at the foot of the Sierra Ancha, in this basin, 
are many cliff dwellings hewed out of the solid rock. On the 
south side of Salt river, near the mouth of Tonto creek, are 
also many caves in the rock, which were evidently the abode of 
man in ages past. On the Mazatzal range, near the Four 
Peaks, are found the ruins of many stone dwellings, and the 
remains of what appear to have been fortifications. The solid 
walls of the buildings that once stood on this lofty perch can be 
traced along the range for a distance of nearly fifteen miles. 

In one of the caves on the south side of Salt river the bones 
of a large animal, evidently of the mastodon species, have been 
found. One massive piece was more than three feet in length, 
and over eighteen inches through at the thickest part. 

In another cave, on removing the debris, pieces of cotton 
and cotton-cloth have been discovered six feet below the 
present floor. These relics were in a good state of preservation, 
the cotton being of a fine silky fibre. One of the pieces of 
cloth showed a rude attempt at ornamentation, having small 
eyelets worked by some sharp-pointed instrument. A piece of 
coarse matting, made doubtless from native grasses, and in a 
good state of preservation, was also found. Numerous ruins of 
houses, cliff dwellings, fortifications, etc., are met with along the 
Verde river and its tributaries, also in the Agua Fria valley, 
and in nearly every mountain and valley for a distance of more 
than fifty miles north, cast, south and west from Prescott. 
Nearly all these remains are of stone, showing that the ancient 
builders used that material in preference to the adobe or 
concrete whenever they could get it. 

The Verde valley must at one time have contained a very 
large population. Traces of the early inhabitants can be found 
on all sides. Opposite the fort are a number of stone ruins 
overlooking the river ; and two miles below, on an elevated 
mesa, an ancient burial-ground has been discovered ; and some 
excavations made therein show that a large number of this 
ancient race sleep their last sleep within its boundaries. On 
Beaver creek, which empties into the Verde four miles above 
the Fort, the cliffs on cither side are lined with cave dwellings. 
They are walled up in front resembling the rocky bluffs out of 
which they have been excavated, and were no doubt reached by 
ladders, which at night were drawn up by the occupants. 
Large cisterns, made of cement, and still in a good state of 



PRE-HISTORIC ARIZONA. 261 

preservation, are found near many of these dwellings. One of 
the caves is eighty feet across its front, and nearly 100 feet 
above the base of the cliff. The interior shows a number of 
rooms cut out of the rock — a coarse kind of felsite. The wall 
in front is pierced by loopholes, through which a view of the 
country for some distance around can be obtained. 

On Oak creek, near its junction with the Verde, there rises a 
round, rocky hill, which is literally honey-combed with small 
rooms, and which is one of the most singular and interesting of 
the pre-historic remains found to be in the Territory. In fact, 
along the entire length of the Verde to its junction with the 
Salt, cliff dwellings, and the ruins of stone houses, are of 
frequent occurrence. They all show a uniformity in form and 
structure, and all about them are scattered quantities of broken 
pottery. Occasionally a stone implement of some kind is 
unearthed, but no metal instrument has yet been discovered in 
any of them. 

In Chino valley, twenty miles north of Prescott, many inter- 
esting stone ruins have been discovered; several human skeletons 
have been exhumed from them, and also many large alias filled 
with charred corn and beans. The doors and windows of these 
dwellings were partially walled up, evidently as a protection 
against a foe who had besieged the inmates, who, there is every 
reason to believe, met a violent death. In the vicinity of Wal- 
nut Grove, twenty-five miles south of Prescott, the ruins of large 
stone buildings are found crowning the elevated mountain tops, 
some of them being from thirty to forty feet square. On the Has- 
sayampa, and all through' the mountainous country south of the 
Prieta range these ruins are encountered everywhere ; and were 
evidently built on their commanding positions by people con- 
stantly harassed by foes. That the race who left these ruins 
behind them followed the business of mining as well as farming, 
is proved by the gravel beds of the Hassayampa ; and the large 
pine trees, whose age is numbered by hundreds of years 
found growing where the ancient miner once searched for the 
yellow metal, will give the reader a faint idea of the ages that 
have elapsed since he occupied the land. 

Prescott, the modern capital of Arizona, is built, it is believed, 
on the site of a pre-historic city and the many relics of its 
former inhabitants, which are occasionally brought to light, 
serve to strengthen this theory. Near Fort McDowell, above 
the junction of the Verde with the Salt river, are the remains of 
a large fortification, and near it the outlines of an immense irri- 
gating canal. This canal brought under cultivation a fine body 
of rich land. Near this point, the bones of a man, estimated to 
have been over seven feet tall, were unearthed. That the anci- 
ent race were of this gigantic stature, is hardly probable, as bones 
exhumed in other localities would go to show that they were 
not above the ordinary size. The valley of the Colorado 



262 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

Chiquito, shows traces of mounds and irrigating canals over its 
entire extent, and it is certain that a large population once 
flourished there. 

Near Tempe, in Salt River valley, are found the remains of 
extensive buildings which are supposed to have been even 
larger than the Casa Grande. They are now a mass of mounds, 
but the foundations of one which has been traced, measures 275 
feet in length and 130 feet in width. Excavations made in 
these mounds have brought to light several ollas filled with 
charred bones and many stone implements. The mounds cover 
a wide area, and are, no doubt, the remains of a large city. The 
marks of a canal are traced from the ruins to the banks of Salt 
river, showing how the water was brought to the ancient pueblo. 
All over the valley of Salt river and on the immense plain, 
which stretches between it and the Gila, west of the Superstition 
mountain, the ruins of dwellings and the lines of old canals are 
plainly discernable. Everything goes to show that this fine 
valley was at one time thickly populated ; and where to-day the 
American farmer has built a pleasant home and ploughs, sows 
and reaps with the aid of all the modern improvements, the 
ancient agriculturist crudely cultivated the soil centuries before 
Columbus sighted the shores of San Salvador. 

On the Rio Bonita, about fifteen miles above its junction with 
the Gila, the ruins of many buildings are yet found in a good 
state of preservation. These structures were of a square form 
and were built of round stones laid in a peculiar coarse cement. 
On the shelving rocks along the river are the ruins of dwellings, 
which cannot be reached except by the aid of ropes, but were evi- 
dently at one time approached by a stairway cut in the sandstone 
cliff. At the foot of the Sierra Natues, in Graham county, there 
is a cave nearly 100 feet square. There is one large chamber in 
the centre, surrounded by small rooms with doors and passage 
ways excavated in the solid rock. The walls are adorned 
with many hieroglyphics in red and yellow paint. At the end, 
and nearly opposite the main entrance, a clear, cool spring bub- 
bles up and flows in a tiny stream through the cave to the sun- 
light. The rock is a soft sandstone, and must have taken years 
of labor to excavate, as nothing save some flint and stone instru- 
ments have been found in or near it. 

Many of the narrow valleys and canons of northeastern Ari- 
zona show evidences of being once densely inhabited by a race of 
cliff" dwellers. In the neighborhood of the Rio de Chellyand its 
tributaries, as also along the streams which flow into the Little 
Colorado, the ruins of these cliff dwellings are numerous. In the 
canon of Cosnino creek, in Apache county, there was once a 
large settlement of this pre-historic race. The cafion is nearly 
2,000 feet in depth, and averages from 100 yards wide in the 
bottom, to 300 at the top. Along the walls of this gorge, ledges 
of rock project outward from ten to twenty feet. Between these 



PRE-HISTORIC ARIZONA. 263 

layers of rock seven tiers of buildings can yet be traced, many of 
them in a good state of preservation. Several thousand people 
must have made their home here at one time. From the lower 
tier to the bottom of the caiion is 200 feet, showing the immen- 
sity of time it has taken the water to wear away the rock that 
depth. The front and side walls are of solid masonry and are 
yet well preserved. 

And now the question again recurs : Who were those people 
who built imposing structures, dug immense canals, and redeemed 
from the desert such vast stretches of land.? From whence did 
they come, and what has been the cause of their extinction .-' Did 
war, pestilence, famine, or some mighty convulsion of nature de- 
stroy them.? Nothing is left to tell the story of their existence,, 
save the few earthen vessels which have been found in the ruins, 
the stone implements occasionally met with, and the fragments of 
pottery which lie scattered about their former abode. As to their 
customs and religious beliefs, all is conjecture, but from the few 
hieroglyphics which they have left behind, it has been supposed 
they were sun-worshipers. 

As to their pursuits and mode of life, it is clear they were a 
pastoral and mining, as well as an agricultural people. As has 
been before remarked, the evidence is conclusive that many of 
the rich gulches in the Sierra Prieta range were worked for their 
golden treasures, ages ago. That this unknown people, who 
have left such interesting remains of their skill and industry 
behind them, had made considerable progress in the arts of 
civilization, there can be no doubt; but that their condition 
was materially different from that of the Zuni and other pueblo 
Indians of the present day, there is no reason to believe. 
They have left nothing to show they had got beyond that con- 
dition which may be best expressed by the word semi- 
civilized. 

The age in which they flourished is as yet a matter of specu- 
lation, but from the total absence of anything like metal tools or 
instruments, we may well imagine that its antiquity is great. 
That they were subject to constant attack, and were surrounded 
by enemies, would be judged from the style of their cave dwell- 
ings and fortifications in the mountains. These were evidently 
built for defense, and from the commanding positions which they 
occupied, it can well be imagined the people were always on 
guard against a sudden attack. 

Some have advanced the theory that the foe, against whom 
they were ever on the alert, was the Apache, and that he at last 
compassed their destruction. But it could hardly be possible 
that a people, so numerous as those ancient dwellers in Arizona 
undoubtedly were, and so far superior to the savage Apache, 
would allow themselves to be overmastered by the latter. They 
have been called Toltees and Aztecs, and many learned theories 
have been advanced as to their origin and history, but all is 



264 



THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 



conjecture and speculation, and nothing is yet absolutely known 
of one of the most remarkable pre-historic races of the western 
world. They lived and labored and p.issed away, and a new 
and more vigorous civilization has redeemed the land ; but 
there will always be a glamour of romantic interest attached to 
those early Arizonans, which the mystery that enshrouds them 
helps to intensify. 

There is here an interesting field for the savant who desires 
to trace the growth of a civilization whose origin is shrouded 
by the mists of time, and whose crumbling monuments yet 
proclaim its ancient vigor and wide extent. 




WHAT CAN I DO ? 




The Class of Immigration Desired — The Opening for Farmers — For the Horticultu- 
rist — For Stock-raising — For Wool-growing — For the Dairyman — Oppor- 
tunities for Manufacturing Enterprises — Openings for Investment 
in Mining Enterprises — Demand for Female Labor — 
A Field for Men of Energy and Industry. 

'his is the first question which the reader, who may have 
some thought of emigrating to Arizona, will naturally 
ask, after a perusal of the foregoing pages. And it is a 
very important one. People who desire to seek homes in new 
lands, and who are about to sever the ties and associations which 
years have woven around them, want to know what will be the 
opportunities for engaging in the business or calling for 
which experience has best fitted them, in their new home. In 
this chapter we will try and answer the question ; and hope to 
be able to show that in Arizona to-day, the man of enterprise 
and energy will find a field for the exercise of these qualities, 
equal to any within the broad limits of the Republic. 

And let it be understood even the following remarks are ad- 
dressed to people of moderate means and with some little capital. 
It is not the object of this publication to encourage a large immi- 
gration of poor people to this Territory. While a man who is in 
the possession of health and strength, is temperate, frugal and 
industrious, has the capital which insures success the world over, 
it is not the intention to hold out any specious inducements for 
such a class of immigration to Arizona. To every new country 
there will always come more than enough of poor men. With 
the opening of mines, the establishment of manufacturing indus- 
tries, and the full development of the varied resources of the 
country, there will be an increased demand for labor, skilled and 
unskilled. But at present the supply is fully equal to the de- 
mand. For those, however, who have some means, and are de- 
sirous of making a home in a new land, we say, come to Ari- 
zona. 

"But what can I do there.?" Almost anything and every- 
thing. Are you a farmer, here are hundreds of thousands of 
acres of as fine land as the sun ever shone on, capable of pro- 
ducing nearly everything grown in the temperate and tropic 



266 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

zones. Here is a climate of perpetual summer; a balmy air, 
a bright sunshine, and an atmosphere of wonderful purity and 
healthfulness. Here no freezing gales or inhospitable snows 
make life a burden for half the year. Here no epidemics, 
cyclones, plagues or floods, destroy the fruits of the farmer's 
toil and sweep away in an hour the labor of years. 

For the husbandman nature has done everything in Arizona. 
The soil is fertile, the yield is large, the cost of cultivation light 
and the market always a sure and profitable one. The demand 
for everything grown is steadily on the increase; and it has 
been demonstrated that the farmers of Arizona are able to com- 
pete against their eastern and western neighbors, and can pro- 
duce grain, vegetables and fruits as cheaply as in California or 
Kansas, thus having the important item of freight in their favor, 
and always insuring a ready market and a good price. So, if 
you follow the trade of Adam, and till the soil for your daily 
bread, Arizona offers as inviting a field as you will find in the 
West. Good land can yet be had at low rates. In its broad 
valleys the industrious immigrant can make a beautiful home, 
and in a few short years surround himself with every comfort 
in a country where the temperate and tropic zones unite to pro- 
duce the most perfect climate on the continent. 

" Are you a horticulturist ? " Here in the broad valleys and 
beautiful mountain glens of Arizona is one of the finest fruit 
regions of North America. Here the orange, the lemon, the 
olive, and other fruits of the tropics grow side by side with the 
apple, the peach, and the pear of a more northern clime. Here 
is a land where, in a few years, the thrifty settler can, literally, 
sit under the shadow of his own vine and fig tree, and, assured 
of a steady income from his orchard or vineyard, pass his days 
with pleasure and profit. The fruit-raising industry is yet in 
its infancy in the Territory, but it promises to become an im- 
portant branch of industry. It has been demonstrated that the 
soil and climate are especially adapted for it, and in a few years 
Arizona fruits will find their way to the markets of the east. 
Wine-making, fruit-canning and raisin-making are all profitable 
pursuits for those who have the experience and the capital to 
engage in them. Good land, suitable for vineyards or orchards, 
can be had at a nominal figure. So, reader, if you are 
acquainted with fruit culture, and arc looking for a country 
with the requisites of soil, climate, and a ready market, come to 
the Territory. You will here find all these favorable conditions, 
and in a few years you will have a pleasant home and a re- 
spectable bank account. 

"Arc you a stock-raiser?" If so, here is a veritable paradise 
for your calling. Millions of acres of fine grass lands are yet 
unoccupied, and can be had for the taking. Here are no 
northern snows, no Texas blizzards, no disease. Here your 
cattle can roam over hill, mountain and plain, and keep in 



WHAT CAN I DO? 267 

prime condition during every month in the year. Here you are 
not required to lay up large stores of winter feed, and do not 
run the risk of losing your herd by the freezing snow and 
storms of more northern regions. Here the increase is some- 
thing phenomenal, and the profits enormous. Here the quality 
of beef is unequaled for richness and flavor. The market is 
at your door, the local demand is steadily on the increase, and 
two transcontinental railroads give you the choice of shipping 
either to the east or the west. Good ranges can be had at low 
figures, while in many of the large, dry valleys, covered with 
rich grasses, water in abundance can be had by sinking. 

There is yet room for millions of cattle in Arizona, and no 
business which the new-comer can engage in promises larger or 
surer returns. The stock interests of the Territory are only 
second in importance to its mineral wealth; and the fortunate 
man who is in possession of a good range and a few hundred 
head of cattle has found a short and easy road to fortune. He 
can sit in the shade of his Jiacienda, enjoy the good things of 
life, and see his wealth increase on every hill and valley that 
surrounds him. If you are a stock-grower, come to Arizona 
and grow up with the country. There is no shorter, surer or 
safer road to wealth. 

"Are you a wool-grower?" The remarks on cattle-raising will 
also apply to the business of sheep husbandry. The northern 
portion of the Territory is especially adapted to sheep. The grass 
keeps green and nutritious the entire year; sheep are remarkably 
free from disease; the increase is very great; the quality of the 
wool excellent, and the profits from the business are remarkably 
large. Rail communication gives you cheap and rapid facilities 
for sending your product to market. There is money in sheep 
in Arizona; and there is room for five times the number now in 
the country. If your' line is wool, you will find 'i&v^ regions of 
the west better suited for your business, and none where the risks 
are less and the profits larger. 

"Are you in the dairying business?" If so, you cannot do 
better than come to Arizona. Although grass and other feed is 
plentiful and cheap, butter is worth from fifty cents to one dol- 
lar per pound, and even at these figures, three-fourths of the 
butter consumed in the country is imported from California and 
the east. The grasses in the mountain regions and on the Upper 
Colorado plateau are sweet and nutritious and make a finely 
flavored article, while in the cultivated valleys the alfalfa, which 
keeps green all the year round, makes very fine feed for cows. 
The country should produce all the butter required for home 
consumption, and that at a handsome profit to the dairyman. 
There is always a steady demand and a good price ; and those 
who are engaged in the business are making money. Cheese 
could also be profitably manufactured as cheaply and of as good 
a quality as that made in California. Heretofore the dairying 



268 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

business has been nej^lectcd in Arizona, but there is a fine open- 
ing for men who understand it. 

If you are desirous of engaging in manufacturing interprises 
and have the requisite capital to do so, Arizona offers as de- 
sirable a field as you will find in the west. Outside of lumber 
and flour there are no manufactories in the Territory. Every- 
thing else that is worn or consumed is brought from abroad. 
Thousands of hides are annually shipped away, and sent back 
again in the shape of boots and shoes. This one item alone is 
one which could be turned to profitable account by men who 
have the skill and the experience. There is no good reason 
why all the leather needed in the country should not be made 
here at home. 

The raw material in abundance is ready to hand ; the water- 
power is here, and the tanning material also. As has been 
stated before, there are among the native plants and shrubs of 
the Territory several rich in tanning qualities, which, it has been 
demonstrated, make as fine leather as any manufactured on the 
coast. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are annually sent out 
of the country for foot-wear, nearly all of which could be kept 
at home if tanneries were established. Leather can be pro- 
duced here as cheaply as abroad, and the number of men to 
whom steady employment would be given would be another 
source of prosperity to the Territory. Capital can find no safer 
investment, or one which will yield more lucrative returns than 
the establishment of tanneries in Arizona. 

Millions of pounds of wool are sent out of the country every 
year, and yet every woolen fabric used or worn is imported. 
Here is another profitable opening for the investment of capital. 
Why should not the raw material be manufactured here, and the 
money now sent abroad be kept in circulation at home ? There 
is no good reason why it should not. The wool grown in the 
territory is of a good quality, suitable for the manufacture of 
blankets and woolen goods of every variety. Every facility for 
the successful prosecution of such an enterprise is at hand. 
There is water-power in abundance, and labor can be had as 
cheaply as in California. The cost of shipping the raw material 
out of the country and bringing back the manufactured article, 
will be in favor of the home-producer. Here is an opportunity 
which is not often found. The outlay required for a suitable 
"plant" will not be large, while the profits will be sure, and the 
market steadily growing. 

There is a large and increasing demand for paper, rope, mats, 
etc., all over the United States. Arizona has the raw material 
in any desired quantity for the manufacture of such articles. The 
leaves of the mescal and of the amole, or soap weed, contain a 
fibre from which a very good quality of paper, rope and coarse 
cloth can be made. The Indians, in their crude way, have been 
making the two last articles ever since we have any knowledge 



WHAT CAN I DO? 269 

of them. Late experiments have demonstrated that an excellent 
quality of paper can also be produced. The price of this article 
has risen very rapidly within the past few years, and as the de- 
mand has increased, various substitutes, such as wood pulp and 
straw, have been used in its manufacture instead of rags. But 
they have not given satisfaction, and the product has not been 
of a first-class quality. But from the native plants of Arizona, 
an article of superior texture and finish can be produced ; and 
there is enough raw material in the Territory to supply the peo- 
ple of the United States with all the paper they require for years 
to come. On every valley, viesa and mountain-side, the mate- 
rial is found growing in profusion. 

Mexico has already begun to realize what a treasure she has 
in her mescal fields, and besides making them a source of large 
revenue to the State, has fostered and built up several profitable 
industries from them. There is no reason to doubt that the 
ancient race who once had their home here, utilized these plants, 
and made from them cloth, ropes, matting and other fabrics. 
But little attention has yet been paid to the grand possibilities 
of this branch of manufacturing industry in Arizona. Such valu- 
able raw material will not much longer be allowed to remain 
idle. The cultivation of the mescal plant, and the manufactures 
which will grow from it, will yet be a leading industry, and many 
articles useful to man will be produced from its valuable fibre. 

Soap, candles, matches, several lines of furniture, straw-goods 
and wooden-ware, can be profitably manufactured, and the 
capital required will not be large. It is well-known that straw 
from irrigated grain is much tougher than that grown by rain- 
fall, and for the coarser variety of straw goods is unequaled. 
These are some of the -enterprises which present themselves to a 
man of means and energy in Arizona. Who will be the first to 
engage in some of them, reap this virgin field and glean a golden 
harvest? 

The grand opportunities for the investment of capital in 
mining enterprises have been alluded to in another place. There 
is no mining region on the globe that has yielded better returns 
for capital invested than Arizona. This is indisputable. Taking 
the total amount invested within the Territory, and then com- 
paring the dividends with the assessments, she can make a 
better showing than any country on the coast. In ne irly all 
other mining regions the amount required to get a dollar out of 
the ground has in nearly every instance equaled, and in most 
cases exceeded, the dollar ; but in Arizona the reverse has been 
the case, dividends have been the rule and assessments the ex- 
ception. 

In this short chapter we have told many of our readers what 
they can do in Arizona. It is presumed they are in posses- 
sion of some surplus cash, and in a position to take advan- 
tage of th3 many opportunities which we have pointed out to 



2/0 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

them. For those who have only strong hands, stout hearts, tem- 
perance and industry there is always an opening here as in 
every land under the sun. A man may be poor in purse, but so 
long as he possesses the qualities we have mentioned he is sure 
to make his way in the world; and while Arizona docs not wish 
to encourage people without any means to come here, she will 
always have a welcome for those who bring to the development 
of her grand resources, health, strength, industry and sobriety. 
For immigrants of such character, who are not afraid of work, 
and can "rough it" in a new country, there are grand opportun- 
ities which they can hope to find nowhere else. 

In the foregoing, nothing has been said about the inducements 
which the Territory offers to women. The right of the weaker 
sex to compete with man in almost every walk of life is now 
generally conceded, and the people of this Territoiy cheerfully 
accord them such a privilege. As will be seen by the census, 
there is a great disparity in the sexes in Arizona. Female labor 
is scarce, difficult to be had, and commands a good price. In 
the towns and settlements Chinamen have taken the place of 
women, and nearly all domestic service is done by them. This 
labor is of a character performed by women in civilized coun- 
tries, and would be done by them here, if there were a sufficient 
number to be had. The difficulty of obtaining female domes- 
tics is a constant source of annoyance to people throughout the 
Territory, and if a family is fortunate enough to secure one, she 
is sure to be taken in the matrimonial net in a short time. 

It is safe to say that 400 or 500 female servants — cooks, 
chambermaids, nurses, etc. — could find steady employment in 
.the Territory, and at wages ranging from $30 to $40 per month. 
For women who are not afraid to work, and are willing to cast 
their lot with Arizona, there are opportunities here to better 
their condition which they can never hope to find in the crowded 
centres of population. 

Besides the openings for labor and capital here mentioned, 
there are many others growing out of the conditions and sur- 
roundings of life in a new and progressive country, which are 
continually presenting themselves. A man with energy and 
industry can always find something to turn his hand to, and 
those seeking investment will find no safer or better oppor- 
tunities in the west. The vast forests in the eastern part of the 
Territory, which railroads will soon penetrate, are mines of 
wealth to those who have the capital to engage in the many 
enterprises soon to be presented here. There are vast deposits 
of iron ore in the Territory, which will yet become valuable, 
and with the steadily increasing demand for the manufactured 
product on the coast, the day is not far distant when the raw 
material can be profitably worked here. 

To enumerate all the advantages which Arizona offers for the 
investment of capital, or the inducements it holds out for immi- 



WHAT CAN I DO? 2/ 1 

gration, would occupy more space than can be given in a pub- 
lication of this nature. Suffice it to say that in the leading 
branches of industry — mining, farming and grazing — there are 
opportunities for industrious, energetic and active men, which 
they will look for in vain elsewhere. 

But the man who comes to Arizona from the East must be 
prepared to meet different conditions from those he has been 
accustomed to in his old home. He must come prepared 
to turn his hand, if necessary, to anything that offers ; 
but if he has the grit and the determination to win, he is 
bound to succeed. Should he come poor in purse he need not 
long remain so, and he will find in no part of the United 
States a more generous reward for his labor, or an easier road to 
fortune. 




A LOOK AHEAD. 



The Past and the Future — All the Elements of Prosperity here- 
Ilomes — Arizona's Future, Etc. 




-A Land for Happy 



I^HUS far our chronicle." Our pleasant task is fin- 
® ished, and there remains but to make our bow and 
retire. In the preceding pages, necessarily brief, 
we have endeavored to give the reader a fair and impartial de- 
scription of Arizona Territory as it is to-day. No attempt has 
been made at coloring, everything like exaggeration has been 
carefully avoided, and a plain and simple statement of actual 
facts set forth. We have shown the opportunities which the 
country presents to the immigrant and the capitalist ; we have 
shown its many grand resources, now lying dormant, and only 
awaiting the magic touch of capital, skill and industry. We 
have given a glimpse of its dim and misty past, and before 
parting, may be pardoned if we cast a glance ahead and catch 
a beam from the sun of its prosperity, already beginning to 
flash above the horizon. 

Arizona has all the natural resources which build up prosper- 
ous and powerful States. Since the dawn of time, agriculture, 
mining and stock-raising have been the chief occupations of 
man. They have been the corner-stones of prosperity in every 
a""c, and in all nations. Few countries are so blessed as to 
possess all three, and those so favored by Nature have reached 
the highest pinnacle of power and prosperity. 

Arizona contains all these sources of wealth ; she has rich 
mines, fertile farming lands and extensive cattle-range-s. She 
has a climate unsurpassed for salubrity, and a soil capable of 
producing nearly everything grown in the tropic and temperate 
zones. Generous nature has done everything for this sunny 
land, but thus far man has done but little. Like the first 
American settlers of California, the pioneers of Arizona enter- 
tained the idea that the country was unfit for the home of a 
white man. They came here to dig and delve after the buried 
treasures in her rugged mountains, " make their pile," and then 
hie them away to some other country for a home. It is only 
within a few years that the fertility, productiveness and magni- 
ficent climate of the valleys of the Gila and the Salt rivers 
have been understood and appreciated, or any attempt made to 
build permanent hem is therein. Yet these valleys have all the 




THE CHURCH OF SAN XAVIER. 



■ANe«i>r7-iiTH->.r 



A LOOK AHEAD. 2/3 

gifts of a most favored clime, and under the hand of cultivation 
will yet become gardens of beauty and fruitfulness. As pleas- 
ant homes can be established there as in any portion of the great 
West or the Pacific coast, and man can surround himself with 
every comfort and luxury found in older lands or more densely 
settled communities. 

As we have seen, Arizona was the home of a vast population 
in the past; there is no good reason why she should not support 
as many in the future. With all the aids and appliances of a 
new and more perfect civilization, the latent resources of the 
country will be more thoroughly developed. Where the pre- 
historic man followed, in a crude way, agricultural pursuits, and 
depended mainly upon the products of the soil, the modern 
occupant will wrench from the rocky hills the treasures so long 
held in their grasp, and cover mountain, valley and plain with 
flocks and herds. He will erect manufactories, build railroads, 
sink artesian wells, excavate canals, and make valley and plain 
bloom with beauty as in ages past. Pleasant homes embowered 
in groves of living green, adorned with flowers, and furnished 
with all the luxuries of modern civilization, will beautify the 
plain; lowing herds will cover hill and dale; the music of the 
quartz-mill will awaken the echoes in mountain and glen, and 
a happy, prosperous and progressive people will dwell beneath 
these sunny skies. 

Railroads are being built or projected through all parts of the 
Territory; population is following in the wake of the iron steed, 
and capital is beginning to appreciate the many opportunities 
which the country offers for investment. Peace and security 
reign throughout the land; the war-whoop of the savage is 
heard no more, and the domain over which for centuries he was 
the absolute lord and master, will soon know him no more. 

The elements of power and prosperity are here, and it requires 
but the skill and industry of man to fashion from them one of the 
richest and most prosperous States in the American Union. The 
great natural resources of the country have long remained un- 
known and unnoticed ; isolation and savagery have long stood 
in the way and barred the path of its advancement. But both 
are being swept aside by the onward march of enterprise and 
industry. The dawn of a newer and more perfect civilization 
for Arizona has already been ushered in. On the ruins of a 
past age and an unknown race there rises a structure of social, 
material and intellectual strength, perfect in all its proportions. 

To the man of means seeking safe and profitable investments, 
there is no region of the west that offers so many advantages. 
Mining, cattle-raising, manufacturing and many other branches 
of industry, invite investment and guarantee large returns. No 
mining country on the continent has made better returns for 
the outlay than Arizona, and there is no richer or safer field for 
the mining man. To the immigrant desirous of making a home 
17 

/ 
/ 



2/4 THE RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 

in the west, we say, come to Arizona; cast your lot with its 
liberal, enterprising, and progressive people, enjoy the heritage 
which its future has in store, and pass your days in a land where 
health and happiness walk hand in hand with progress and 
prosperity. 

Arizona's past has been a dark and a bloody one. Its history 
is written in the crimson tide from the hearts of its slaughtered 
pioneers, and their lonely graves, on hill, plain and mountain side, 
silently attest the sacrifice made to wrest this rich domain from 
the grasp of the murderous savage. For many a long and 
dreary year his shadow fell across the land, obscuring the sun 
of its progress and prosperity. Under this dark cloud murder 
and robbery held high carnival, life and property were at the 
mercy of a band of red fiends, who made of the country a 
perfect Pandemonium. It seemed as if the flickering light of 
civilization would be quenched in blood, and the country aban- 
doned to savagery. But against all obstacles the undaunted 
pioneer bravely battled. The Apache was subdued, and the 
country redeemed from his barbarous sway ; the barriers of 
isolation have been cast aside ; the iron rail has drawn the 
Territory into closer intercourse with her sister States and 
Territories, and Arizona has entered on the high road that leads 
to power and prosperity. 

The past is but the memory of some horrid nightmare ; the 
future is bright with the halo of promise. No Territory in the 
United States is endowed with grander gifts, and there is no 
region on the continent where man can make a happier home, 
and more thoroughly enjoy the many blessings which generous 
Nature has showered on this favored land. With wealth beyond 
computation in her vast mineral beds, with the finest grazing 
grounds in all North America, and with immense stretches of 
arable lands, unsurpassed for richness by any on the Pacific 
coast, the country has all the resources to build up a great 
State. With a climate among the healthiest of any on the 
globe, and with all this great natural wealth, it is not unreason- 
able to believe that the country will yet be the home of a large 
population. 

The building of the network of railroads, already projected, 
throughout the Territory, and the influx of immigration, will 
reclaim many a valley now given over to solitude, and many a 
vast plain, now a desolate waste, will be covered by cattle and 
sheep. Mills and reduction works will spring up in camps 
where now there is no sign of life ; prosperous towns will 
spring into existence on mountain and plain ; the shriek of the 
locomotive will be heard in every town and mining camp ; the 
smoke from many a manufacturing enterprise will float over 
hill and plain, and the State of Arizona, populous, prosperous 
and happy, will add another star to the flag of the Union. 
This is not an overdrawn picture of what this Territory is to 
be, and within a few years. 



A LOOK AHEAD. 2/5 

There is no region that holds out more flattering inducements 
to the immigrant, there is none where the opportunities are so 
favorable for making a home and securing a competency. Come 
to a land whose sunny skies and perfect climate make life worth 
living for, and where the mental and physical traits reach their 
highest development. Come while the openings for the exercise 
of your skill and industry are so many, and the chances for better- 
ing your condition so much greater than in older communities. 

Come to a new land and take a fresh start in the race of life. 
The course is open to all, and if you have health, strength and 
industry you are sure to win a prize. You are offered a gener- 
ous welcome, and will find a free-hearted and open-handed peo- 
ple ready to give you a helping hand. Come to a country 
that has a future bright as its own cloudless skies, blessed 
with every gift conducive to the welfare of man, and which 
possesses every element to build up a powerful and prosperous 
commonwealth ; a land whose matchless wealth will yet make 
it one of the brightest gems in Columbia's diadem. 

" The State of every State the pride, 

Beloved of heaven and all the world beside." 




^iiOTtlteftiiftmite. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



JAMES H. TOOLE 



CHARLES HUDSON 



HUDSON & CO., 

BANKERS, 

ARIZONA. 



Draw exchange and make Telegraphic Transfers of 
money to and from the principal points in the United 
States and Europe. BulHon shipments made to ourselves, 
or correspondents, for our account, can be checked against 
immediately. 



CORRESPONDENTS. 



San Francisco, 
Los Angeles, 
Santa Fe, 
St. Louis, - 
Ciiicago, 
Boston, 

Piiiladelpliia, • 
New Yorli, - 
Hermosillo, 



AnglO'Californian Banf<. 

First National Bank. 

' First National Bank. 

Bank of Commerce. 

Merchants' Loan & T. Co. 

Massachusetts' National Bank. 

Central National Bank. 

- J. &W. Seligman & Co. 

- A. A. Pesquiera. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



lU 



HERCULES 



Blasting & Sportin 

POWDERS, 



^k^. 



-0MPP WWB mum 



NO TROUBLE TO SUPPLY PROSPECTORS. 

WM. A. SCOTT, Jr. 

* ^ Agent CALIFORNIA POWDER WORKST ^ <» 

Hi Mmm Btm^% tmmm^ 4o l*o 
J. G. GOODMAN & CO. 



A SPECIALTY OF FILIGREE JEWELRY MANUFACTURING. 




DEALERS IN 



Diamonds, Watches, 

Clocks, Fine Jewelry, 
Silver and Plated Ware, 

Optical Goods, Etc. 
At Reasonable Prices. 



■C '^"'Gi'^ 



"0^' 



A SPECIALTY OF FINE WATCH REPAIRING- WORK WARRANTED IN EVERY RESPECT. 

All orders of work by Mail or Express promptly attended to at reasonable prices. 

^i^ 6®mMi@g)S! Sice l^nesoffis ^£l^®m®« 



IV ADVERTISEMENTS. 



W. M. GRIl'FITH, President D. C. STEVENS, Superintendent 

Texas and California 

STAGE COMPANY'S 




FOUR HORSE LINE OF COACHES 

LEAVES 

CASA GRANDE, DAILY 

FOR 

FLORENCE, 

BUTTE CITY, 

RIVERSIDE, 

PIONEER, 
and GLOBE CITY. 

Also, connect at FLORENCE, with the Company's daily line of Coaches 

FOR 

PINRL f^^ SILVER KING. 

GOOD STOCK, 

FAST TIME, 

^' LOW FARES. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



PUBLISHED IN TUCSON, AEIZONA TEREITOEY. 



Is acknowledged as the best authority on the great silver and copper mining 

interests, as uuell as the rapidly developing stock interests of Arizona 

in general, and Pima County in particular. 



Its Editorial Columns Treat on the Leading Topics 

of the Day. 

Keliable correspondents from every important mining district report all new 
developments and discoveries, so that the readers of the Star are always well 
and reliably informed. 

OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENTS 

In Sonora, Mexico, add a valuable feature to the Star. Inasmuch as the vast 
mineral fields which are now being discovered and developed in our sister republic 
are attracting universal interest, full and authentic reports from this source can 
always be found in the columns of the Star. 

HINT TO ADVERTISERS. 

For Machinery men, Manufacturers, Importers and Wholesale Dealers, Ari- 
zona opens a new and promising field. Two transcontinental railroad lines — the 
Southern Pacific and the Atlantic and Pacific — traverse the Territory. The 
former of which passes through Tucson. The N. M. and A. R. R., which is con- 
nected with the Sonora Limited, unites our city with the Gulf of California at 
Guaymas, and Hermosillo, Magdalena and other important points in Sonora, 
Mexico. The Tucson & Globe Narrow-Gauge railroad is being constructed, which 
when completed Avill make Tucson the trade center of all southeastern Arizona. 

Stock industry is becoming one of the leading industries on account of the 
vast plains of everlasting nutritious grasses upon which cattle tlirive during the 
entire year. Agriculture is also attracting much interest, and thousands of acres 
of land are being reclaimed for farming purposes, yielding large profits to the 
husbandman. There are yet millions of acres of fine agricultural land unclaimed, 
and over three-fourths of the grain consumption of tlie Territory is imported 
from foreign markets at large cost, which argues the great profit in the farming 
industry. The Star will continue to give full and reliable data of the stock, 
farming and mining interests of both Arizona, New Mexico, and Sonora, Mexico. 

Eastern cities are competing with San Francisco for the trade of this southern 
El Dorado. Population has doubled within the last year. The bullion output 
has been over $12,000,000 for 1882. 

All kinds of new industries have sprung up. Tucson has over 10,000 inhabi- 
tants — Arizona over 80,000. This prosperous population opens a great market to 
producers. To reach this trade 

ADVERTISE IN THE ARIZONA "STAR." 

Will be mailed to any part of the United States at the following rates : 



daily. 

One Year $10 00 

Six Months 6 00 



WEEKLY. 

One Year $3 00 

Six Months 2 00 



SAMPLE COPIES SENT FREE ON APPLICATION. 

Iv. C. HUQHES, 

Publisher and Proprietor. 



vi ADVERTISEMENTS. 



C. T. ETCHELLS, 



SOLE AGENT KOR THE 



^CELEBEATED: 



Studebaker Wagon. 



SHOF>:- 



Corner Pearl and Congress Streets. 



WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN 
ALL KINDS OF 

WAGON MATERIAL 




Wagon and Carriage Repository, 

CONGRESS STREET, 

ONE DOOR EAST OF HUDSON & GO'S BANK. 

Tucson, Arizona. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. Vll 



J. N. MASON, TOWLE BROS, 

Tucson, A, T. Dutch Flat, Cal. 



ArizonaiCalifornia Lumber Co, 

TUCSON, A. T. 

Dealers in all kinds of 

LUMBER 



-AND- 



JBiziZdJjzg JS£cLterial, 



DOORS, WINDOWS, BLINDS, SHINGLES, 

Shakes, Mouldings, California Lime, Plaster, Hair, 
and Cement Constantly on Hand. Mill and 
Mining Timbers. a Specialty. 



We are always prepared to fill all orders on 
the Shortest Notice. 



Office and Yard directly opposite the S. P. R. R. Depot. 



VIU ADVERTISEMENTS. 



LEO GOLDSCHMIDT, 



-DEALER IN- 



Furniture, Bedding, 



CARPETS AND OIL CLOTHS, 



AGENT FOR THE 



AUTOMATIC 



-OR- 



If-f olios Sekol Stat 



SCHOOL FURNITURE AND SUPPLIES, 



AND FOR THE 



Eldredge SeWing Machines, 



FOR 



ARIZONA, U. S. A., AND SONORA, MEXICO. 



TUCSON, ARIZONA. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. IX 



L. ZECKENDORF & CO. 

TUCSON, A. T. 



The Largest Mercantile House in Arizona. 



MAKE A SPECIALTY OF 



Hardware, Mining/^Farming 

IMPLEMENTS. 

CARRY FULL AND COMPLETE LINES OF 

GROCERIES, PROVISIONS, 

DRY GOODS, 

Fancy Goods, Clothing, Gents' Furnishing Goods, 
BOOTS AND SHOES. 

SOLE AGENTS FOR THE 

Anheusep Busch Brewing Co. 
FISH BROS' FARM AND FREIGHT WAGONS. 

Orders and Correspondence Respectfully Solicited. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



G. GINOCCHIO, San Francisco. G. GANDOLFO, Yuma. 



^^'"^I'SP^^^^^-;"^-'. "^^yr^' ^^ ^^w*^ 



The largest Mercantile Establishment in Yuma County, Arizona Territory. 

We call special attention to our large and well selected stock of the follow- 
ing, \N-hich we wholesale and retail, at such low prices as to be the topic of 
conversation : 

DRY GOODS, FANCY GOODS, NOTIONS, 

Gents' and Boy's ClotMng', 

Gents' Furnisliing' Goods, 

Valises and Trunks, 

Mil i mi iliii^ 

For Ladies, Gents and Children, 

FROM THE CHEAPEST TO THE BEST. LATEST STYLES OF 

HATS AND CAPS, 

For Ladies, Gents and Children, 

'Watclies and Chains, 

Gold and Plated Celulloid 

and Filigree Jewelry, 

Silver and Plated Ware, 
Pistols, Guns and Cartridges, 

Cigars and Tobacco, 

Wines and Liquors, 

FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. 

Mil^raukee and Boca Beer, 

Crockery and Glass^vare, 

Hard'ware and Tinware, 

MINING AND FARMING IMPLEMENTS. 

A full assortment of IRON, STEEL, OILS and PAINTS, 
LUMBER, WOOD and COAL, HAY and BARLEY, FRESH 
GROCERIES and PROVISIONS, and many otlier articles to make up a 
complete assortment for a GENERAL MERCHANDISE STORE. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. XI 



J. M. ELLIS, ) H. ELLIS, 

} Ph(enix, a. T. 122 AND 124 Market St. 

GUSS ELLIS, ) San Francisco. 

GUSS ELIilS <fe GO. 

BRICK BUILDING, 

Cor. Washington and Montezuma Sts. 

PH(ENIX, A. T. 

Importers, Uliolesale and Jietail Dealers in 

- < MERCHANDISE ^ 

OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 

THE LARGEST MERCANTILE HOUSE IN PHffiNIX. 

The most spacious and eleg-antly appointed 

SALESROOMS. 



Especial attention paid to wholesale trade, 
having extensive Eastern and Western connec- 
tion, thereby offering inducements superior to 
any other house, and equal to the best in Arizona. 



Iron, Steel, Wagon Material, 

Hardware, Stoves and Tinware 

A SPECIALTY. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



i) *i]f) 



DEALER IN DRY GOODS, BOOTS, SHOES, 

CANNED GOODS, CLOTHING, GROCERIES, 
LIQUORS AND CIGARS, 

FLOUR AND GRAIN, 

And a full line of supplies for Miners, Farmers and Freighters. 

Lands for Sale or Rent, on easy terms, in the beautiful Pueblo Viejo Valley, and 
all information in regard to the same furnished on application. There is a black- 
smith and wagon shop on the premises conducted by competent workmen. 



SHERMAN HOUSE, 

Goodwin Street, South side Plaza, Prescott, Arizona. 
THE ONLY HOTEL IN NORTHERN ARIZONA. 

Everything New, Clean and Elegant. All parties traveling through, wishing to 
stop over a few days or weeks, can find the Best of Accommodations. 

MEAL HOURS : 6 A. M. to 8 P. M. 
Board, per week, $8.00. Single Meals, 50 cts. 

H. M. HUGHES, Proprietor. 

OCCIDENTAL HOTEL, 

Cor- Fourth and Allen Sts., Tombstone, A .T. 

PASCHOLY & TRIBOLET, Proprietors, 

JOSEPH PASCHOLY, Manag-er. 

The Hotel is Conducted on the European Plan. Open day and Night. 

Rooms new, clean and comfortable. Rooms from 

SO cts. to $ 2.00 per day. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. XIU 



GILIVIER, SALISBURY & GO'S 

Staore Lines. 




■Carrying- 



U. S. Mails and Wells, Fargo & Go's Express 

•..^=:BETWEEN;:5<— ■ 

PRESCOTTI/ MARICOPA 



(VIA GILLETT.) 



Leave PreSCOtt Daily at 8:30 a. ni. ) Connecting with S. P. R. R. trains for 

Arrive Phoenix " 11:40 a m. c Cr|c+ CI n rl lAl£kC + 
Arrive Maricopa " 7:30 p.m.) CclbL dllU YwUoLb 



Stages for th^^^^^^_ r Arrival of trains from West at 3:30 a. m. 

MARICOPA Arrive at Phoenix daily at 10:35 a. m. 

-ON— V Arrive at Prescott " 2:30 p.m. 



BETWEEN PRESCOTT AND PHCENIX 

(VIA WICKENBURG AND VULTPRE) 

Leave Prescott Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 a. m. 
Arrive at Phoenix Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 3:30 p. m. 

Making connection with our late stage for Maricopa, which leaves Pha:nix at 4 p. m. and arrives at 
Maricopa in time to connect with R. R, trains. 

Returning Leave Phoenix Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12 m. 
Arrive at Prescott Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 10 p. m. 



BETWEEN PRESCOTT and the A. & P. 

Leave Prescott daily at 1:30 p. m. 
Arrive at Ash Fork daily at 4:30 a. m. 

CONNECTING WITH A. & P. TRAINS EAST AND WEST. 

Leave Ash Fork upon arrival of train daily at 8:30 p. m. 
Arrive at Prescott daily at 10:45 a. m. 



JAMES STEWART, Superintendent. 

19 



XIV ADVERTISEMENTS. 



K. L. WKTNIORK, 

Aisajer # MetallMrglst. 



Gold and Silver Assays $1.00. 

Lead " , 1.00. 

Antimony " 1.00. 

Copper " 1.00. 

Iron " 1.00. 

Special Rates for other Metals, Earths and Salts. 

Gold and Silver amalgam retorted, smelted, and fineness of bars given. 

Ores sampled and actual working test made by any process. 

Assaying in all its branches. 

Analysis of ores, minerals, etc. 

Examination of mining properties and of mills a specialty. 

Orders from the interior promptly attended to. 

Assaying taught practically and theoretically. 

Laboratory, No. 10 3Ieyer St., Tucson. 

L. W. BLINN LUMBER COMPANY, 

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN 

Building and Mining Lumber, 

Laths, Shakes, Doors, Windows, Blinds. 
FULL STOCK OF BUILDERS' HARDWARE. 



Branch Yards at Benson and Willcox, Arizona; Lordsburg and Deming, 

New Mexico. 



Orders for carloads promptly filled Irom our yards in California to and 
and all points east. We guarantee promptness, and satisfaction given in 
all instances and the lowest possible prices. All communications should 
be addressed to 

L. W. BLINN, General Manager, 

TOMBSTONE ARIZONA. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. XV 



GOLDMAN & CO., 



-^-^ PHdNIX, ARIZONA. \^ i 

DEALERS IN 

General Merchandise, 

AND AGENTS FOR 

ANHEUSER BUSCH 

ST. LOUIS LAGER BEER 

AGENTS FOR 

STaDEB^KE^ B^03' W^68N3, 

AGENTS FOR 

DOMESTIC SEWING MACHINES. 



^^ 



E. GANZ, - PROPRIETOR. 



ON THE EUROPEAN PLAN. 

Nicely furnished rooms, by the day, week or month. A first-class 
Restaurant is located in the hotel building. 

FBCENIX, ARIZONA. 




PIONEER NEWS DEPOT 



OF ARIZONA. 

5*^ 



Establistieci ISTO. 
By J. S. MANSFELD - - OF TUCSON. 

This oldest Establishment in the Territory keeps the largest and best assortment of Books, 
Stationery, Yankee Notions and everything that is usually kept in a first-class Bookstore. 

The circulating Library contains several thousand Books in English, Spanish and German. 
All orders for subscription of papers promptly filled. 

J. S. MANSFELD, Pioneer News Dealer of Arizona. 



XVI 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



BAY STATE IRON WORKS 



ERIE, PENNA. 



[0®1; 



Alifi: 



f) 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



-STATIONARY- 



AND 



portable Engine? and Boiler'?, 

STAMP MILLS AND SMELTERS. 



Single and Double Reversible Hoisting 

Machines, Mining Machinery 

and Supplies. 

GENERAL SOUTHWESTERN AGENTS. 

Blake Crusher, Blaker Blower, Ingersoll Rock 
Drill, Russell & Go's Circular Saw Mills, Knowles' 
Steam Pumps, Improved Howe Scales, National 
Tube Works Company, Rcebling's Sons' Steel Wire 
Rope, Iron Turbine and Eclipse Wind Mills, Horse 
Whims. 



Detroit Safe Company, 

IRON ROOFING and "T" RAIL. 




£. S. HAIiL, Manag'er, 

Branch House, Tucson, A. T. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



xvii 



A. L. BANCROFTS CO. 

Printers, Lithographers, 



ENGRAVERS AND BINDERS. 




Fine Book Printing, 



Fine Job Printing, 



LABELS AND SHOW CARDS A SPECIALTY. 



MAIN OFFICE: 721 Market Street. 
BRANCH: S. E. Corner Sacramento and Davis Streets, 

SAN FRANCISCO. 



xvill ADVERTISEMENTS. 



PACIFIC STATES 

Advertising Bureau. 

PALMER & REYJprL^s%anufacturersJ Prop FS, 

SAN FRANCISCO. CAL. 

Poundry Address : Advertising Bureau : 

405-7 SANSOME ST., S. P., OAL. 320 SANSOME ST., S. P. OAL. 

114 PKONT STREET, POKTLAND, OKEGON, 

AND 

Proprietors San Francisco Newspaper Union. 



SOLICITS ADVERTISEMENTS 

For Papers Published in 

CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, NEVADA, OREGON, 

WASHINGTON, UTAH, IDAHO, MONTANA, 

ARIZONA, MEXICO, ATLANTIC STATES, 
EUROPE, BRITISH POSSESSIONS, 
NEW ZEALAND, and the AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. 



Will receh'e advertisements for any Newspaper published in the United 
States, and insert them on the most reasonable terms. 

Will furnish promptly estimates on the costs of advertisements in any num- 
ber of the papers published in the above-named States and Territories. 

Address, 

PALMER & KEY'S 

Pacific States Advertising Bureau, 

320 SANSOME STREET, 

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



XIX 



1850-1884. 



THE PACIFIC IRON WORKS, 



RANKIN, BRAYTON & CO. 




THE PACIFIC WATER JACKET SMELTERS 

Embrace many features that are entirely new and of great practical utility, -which are covered 
by Letters Patent in nearly all mining countries. No other Furnace can compare with them for 
durability and in capacity for uninterrupted work. More than one hundred and fifty of them 
are now running in the various mining districts of the United States, as also in many foreign 
countries, giving results never before obtained as regards continuous running, economy of fuel, 
grade and quality of bullion produced. 

From a large number of favora ble notices received , 
we submit the follouuing: 

THE PAOIFIO WATER JACKET SMELTERS. 

" The vast mineral deposits of smelting ore now being developed in all parts of Arizona has 
created a large demand fur the most approved means of redudion. Tlie Water Jacket Smelt- 
ers for both lead and Copper ores made by the Pacific Iron Works, Kankin, Brayton & Co., of 
San Francif , seem to have met all requirements in this way, and have so far been univer- 
sally Bucce. al in working every class ot ores found in this Territory. All onr most enterpris- 
ing companits are using them in preference to any other make, and so far as we can learn, with 
the most satisfactory results. We recall uo instances in which anything like a failure has been 
made with these smelters, while many others have wrecked the fortunes of those who have 
put their trust in them 

" These Smelters unquestionably embrace the most perfect mechanical appliances now 
known for the treatment of all classes of smelting ores, and their general adoption has greatly 
stimulated mining development, and contiibuted much to the material advancement of this 
interest in all the mining States and Territories."— .Arizona Citizen. 

COPPER SMELTING-REMARKABLE RESULTS. 

A correspondent of the Boston Herald, writing from Bisbee, Arizona, says : " The Copper 
Queen Company, with the Kant in & Brayton Pacific Copper Smelters, can handle ores carry- 
ing not m' re than 5 per cent, with a profit, even with coke costing $37 per ton, and heavy 
transpiirtation charges on bullion. This gives some indication of the value and productive- 
ness of the many copper mines in all parts of the country now operated with this system of 
reduction, the most of which will run from 12 per cent, to 30 per cent. It is evident from this 
that even a large decline in the price of copper would not seriously impair the margin of the 
copper producers of our Western mining States and Territories." 



XX ADVERTISEMENTS. 



WHOLESALE 

PAPER WAREHOUSE, 

BONESTELL, ALLEN & CO. 

Nos. 413 & 415 SANSOME STREET, 
SAN FRANCISCO. 

KEEP FULL LINES OF 

News, Print and Book Papers, 

FLAT CAPS, mi, mi AID BIIL-SEAD PAPERS, 

CARD STOCK and COVER PAPERS, 

MANILLA, HARDWARE &, STRAW WRAPPING PAPERS. 

PAPER BAGS. - 

ElSr VELOPES, TTVINES, Etc., Etc. 

Good News Print at Low Prices! 

JS^- SEND FOR SIMPLES. jg$ 




B^NOiOFT-UTH -S-F- 



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