Arizona citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Pima County, A.T. [i.e. Ariz.]) 1870-1880, 1876-04-15

y Ut COulu NaFulY De called spring. OF
water was found. 1t appeared to be
!. well known to those who were in the
habit of passing oyer the road, as the
signs indicated that il was regular
camping ground. From the number of
deer tracks about the place, it is prob
ably the only water-hOle within miles
! to which they could safely venture
i Pasturage was about the same as at
\ Cottonwood, but the soil was more
sandy and unpromising in character.
/ Clumps of grama-grass grew between
chico and creOsOte plant The only
tree was the inevitable pifOn. which
occasionally, in the most favored spots,
managed to survive
Here the trail turned off to Camp
Grant At one or two points, in the
/ distance of twenty-five miles to that
post water could be found sufficient
for camping purposes. There was no
/ lack of grass along the trail and some
timber, too, existed along ii in the ar
royOs and on the adjacent foothills Of
| Graham Peak. We however kept the
road, which was through a country of
the same character to Eureka. The
valley in which this is situated, without
having a cOnstantfiowing stream, APP
pears to have enough of water to meet
/ all the demands OF a large herd. The
ground is at several points quite Doggy,
/ indicating ready means OF obtaining
more water than appears on the surface.
In fact, it is a sort Of drainage-b basin
for the neighboring hills. A strip of
fertile soil exists above the ranch. Tim
Der of good quality can be had in any
abundance within few miles. With
on; having anything to make this an
attractive location for a home, there Is
no doubt that it will yet be an i'm
pOrtant point in the stOck-raising in
terests of the country.
Camp Grant, altitude 4,753 feet
Twelve miles east of Eureka, Is on the
southern slope from Graham Peak, in
IN a region far from attractive in its ap-
pearance, vet in reality promising all
the essentials of a desirable location
in Arizona. Wood, water, and grass Is
an expression suggestive TO a frontiers
man Of plenty and comfort for man and
beast; and these are all present IN
abundance at Camp Grant Much of
tie winter-supply Of hay is from the
grama-grass, which grows so abundant
" on the hills at the foot of the peak.
The proximity of Graham Peak ,(10,jl6
feet high,) which is densely covered
with fOrestgrOwth, and on which there
is an immense precipitation Of snow
and rain, causes many springs and
streams to reach the edge of the plain
ON which Camp Grant stands.
Twenty miles across the country is
the well known "HOoker's Ranch, "
where, with abundant water and good
grass, large droves OF cattle are now
thriving.
The timber on Graham Peak is SIM
ply magnificent. The pine of he re-
zion covers thousands of acres, cunsti-
tuting a most valuable lumber. Under
Al sfG an probable Tifsf tfs ' sGbPlv u viii be-
exhausted for many years. The oaks
so common on the lower hills of the
Sierra Blanca are not so abundant, and
do not range higher on Graham Peak
than $500 feet Between the oak and
pine belts the manZanita grows rather
abundantly. In some portions Of the
country the red berries of this shrub
are utilized by the natives in making
an acid drink. The northern or ella
slope of Graham Peak has barren
aspect the timber apparently not
reaching so low an altitude as on the
southern. oactual observation (barO
mericl was taken to determine this
fact which may be only apparent,
as the seeming greater elevation of the
lowest limit OF tree growth may be due
to the more rapid falling away of the
land toward the river. Bunch-grasS
grows luxufiant among the timber on
the dry hills from 1000 to 5000 feet
In the moist valleys leading from
the main peak toward the plain, rushes
and sedges grow luxuriantly, and make
probably thousands OF acres Of valu-
able forage during the summer months. |
am aware of the general statement
that plants of this class have little or
no value as forage, and was inclined to
adopt this current teaching, until, in /
1878, l saw in the San Luis Valley of
Southern Colorado bands of stock liv-
ing entirely on these and remaining as
fat as loose stock could possibly be.
had never seen more magnificent
cattle OF sedges.
During the winter months there is a
heavy snowfall Oh the higher portions
of this peak. In summer its thunder
storms are of a character we may well
call terrific.
[ have already given the altitude of
Graham Peak as 1856 feet Hence it
is heavily timbered TO its very summit.
This, however, may be proper place
to allude to a fact not popularity known,
i. e., the height to which trees continue
growing on a mountain-side in the cor
dilleras of the western continent does
not increase as we approach the equator
from the fOrtv-first parallel, where IL Is
between 100 and 1900 feet. Thus in
Colorado the average highest limit of
timber, as deduced from observations
on six peaks, is 11.533 feet On the
summit of Sierra Blanca, in Arizona,
between the thirtv-thIrd and thirty
fourth parallels of latitude, after grad
ually increasing III size, the trees dis
appear entirely at an elevation of H.
100 feet.
From Camp Grant TO Camp Bowie
sixty niles the road lay over a roll
ing plain in all respects similar to that
about Grant. A spur of the Plnaleno
gradually disappeared toward the south
east. in the direction Of a similar one
advancing from the Chiricahua range.
This tendency to union Of the two
ranges left the country dotted over
with low, disjointed mesas, which rose
above the general level OF the plain as
islands do from the ocean. The soil
was largely made up Of detritus from
the adjacent ranges, and was in itself
fertile enough, but water could only be
found (and that rather uncertainty at
two or three points along the road
At Camp Bowie, which Is situated
in a limestone formation, we found