The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-02-24
LIEUT.. MoWRY ON ARIZONA

Lieut.. Sylvester Mowry, delegate from
Arizona, Thursday evening read a paper on
Arizona, before the Geographical and Sta
tistical Society. The lecture room, in spite
of the extreme inclemency of the weather,
was well filled, and the gcntleman's re-.
marks listened to throughout with unaba.
ted interest. Mr.. Mowry said that the
word Arizona signified silver bearing. The
Territory was about twice ns largo as the
State of New York, and contained within
its borders three large rivers-tlc Gila, the
Colorado Of the West and Upper Rio
Grandc. The principal silver region and
principal population Of the Territory is in
the centre. The principal outlet for its pro-
ductions is through the Gulf of California.
The whole country is vast plain, inter
rupted by the Guadalupe and Sierra Madrc
mountains. The fertile valleys include
those of the Upper Rio Grande and Meslla
For three hundred miles West of the Rio
Grand the grass is good nearly all the year
round, and the cattle grower fluids his
stock i'll better condition in January than
the stall fed cattle Of the East. The val.
lcys Of San Pedro and Santa Cruz are
fruitful. The Town of Tucson now con.
tans about 900 inhabitants. Tubac, fifty
miles below it, is in the centre of a vast
mineral district, rich in silver. Mcsi!a, at
tho head Of the valley Of the same name,
is the largest town in the territory, and
contains over four thousand people. Twcn
ty miles from this is one Of the wealthiest
mines of the Territory. The crops in the
Santa Cruz Valley and San Pedro arc plcn.
l'tul, and nutritious grass is plenty all the
year round. The speaker alluded to scy-
eral psoductiyc mines, which he said were
cinincntly remuncrative to their owners.-
The Arina mine, particularly, he thought
would pay exce!lenlly. The Colorado val
ley is fruitful, though the hottest portion of
tho territory. The land OH the Gla is cx-
cceding'y fertile, and can produce crops Of
the same grain for many successive years,
with no other care than irrigation. The
friendly In'lians arc the Pimos and Mari.
copas. The Pmos have extensively cult,
waited lands on the ella, and are particular.
y friendly with the Maricopas. These are
other minor tribes. The principal prcda.
tory Indians are the Apaches. From the
Gla to the Guaymas the while country has
suffered from their ravages, and it has been
been estimated that at least one third OF
their number are captive Mexicans. The
country can have no peace until these saw.
ages are either fed or killed. The crops
are profuse throughout the territory, and
the rainy season is from June to Septcm-
Der. The yield is two crops per year. The
population exceeds ten thousand, and of
this there are two thousand Americans.
There is no law but the pistol and knife.
The overland mail has established a Series
of posts which must soon grow to be villa
ges. They range through the entire length
of the Territory. The mineral wealth of
the country has but just begun to he dcvel
oped. There arc many mining companies
waiting for government protection before
going into operation; others arc waiting
for capital. Gold and silver are found on
the Colorado river. The recent discoveries
of gold on the Gila were anticipated by
Major Emory in 1910, who reported to the
government that there were evidences of
old mines that had been worked, and of
new ones which were yet undevelopcd.-
The existence of gold on the Gila was dis
covered about twenty miles from the Colo
RADIO, in September last, and from his own
observations, the speaker concluded that the
average yield vas $40 per day for each
man. The gold mines of California, Chi
huahua, Sonora, Arizona and Pixies Peak
were altogether sufficient proof of the vast
mineral wealth of the United States. lie
drew, as conclusion, that Arizona, while
not calculated for an entirely agricultural
t'SoPiS3 haS JCI SulASICuL dIdOIc laUQ 10 SCS-
tain large population for the develop
ment Of its vast mineral resources. The
speaker considered that Sonora would an
propriately be noticed while speaking of
Arizona, and thercupon proceeded to speak
Of the agricultural and mineral resources
of that country, the hospitality of the peo.
pie, the excrably bad government and the
terrible incursions Of the bloodthirsty
Apaches. lie considered that Sonora and
Arizona afforded the richest mining district
in the known world. lie concluded by ad
Vocating the thirty y-second parallel route for
4 Pacific Railroad.
The Speaker advocated forcibly the
Pacific Railroad route, predicting
That its terminus would be Guaymas on tho
Gulf of California. The road could be
built from II Paso to Guaymas $50 miles,