Arizona citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Pima County, A.T. [i.e. Ariz.]) 1870-1880, 1876-04-15
sOUTHEAsTERN ARIZONA.
Its General TOpOgraphy-Mag
Icent Seenery-Fine and Extensive
Timhsr-AgricuItu and Graz
ing ResOu-ees-Water Supplies
Sanitary Conditions.

sanitary Conditions.
The report of DR.. ]. T. Rothrock, act
ing assistant surgeon United State:
! army, attached to the exploration party
Of Lieutenant George VI. Wheeler, Corp.
lOf Engineers, forms a very interesting
part Of the report of the latter Officer
] for the year 1875. Believing that the
matter will more generally reach tn,
local public if published in a news
paper, we make interesting extract:
from the government published report
and give them herewith. After stating
the developments Of the surveys of hi:
detachment elsewhere, Dr.. Rothrocb
says:
Leaving Fort Wlngate for Camp
Apache, in Arizona, our course Law
more to the south. Thence we crossed
the Zuni Mountains Immediately back
Of the post. Our ascent lay through
dense forests of pine and FIR. The wants
Of the fort have, however, somewhat
thinned it out It least Of the best tim
Der.
Gaining the summit, thousand feet
above Fort Wingate, we were at an
altitude of about 5000 feet above the
sea, a fine open, park-like region, with
large growth of yellow pine and fir
covering the hill-sIdes. y diversified
herbaceOds vegetation was out in the
most brilliant cOlOrs, beautifying alike
the woods and open grounds. 1t was u
perfect garden Of PentstemOns, and
among them, for the first time on the
Tourney, we saw the most striking of
them all, p Torreyi Already the flora
/ had fairly assumed a southern aspect.
| ArecenthObium on the pines and mis-
| tletOes On the oaks became, among
other new features, at once a FREEDOM
inant element of the vegetation. Amid
such a wealth of flowers, we could for
the time forget the weary, dreary cOun-
try we had passed through. Good for
| age was abundant.
Descending the southern slope, we
passed through oak groves, and finally
entered q winding valley, camping for
the night at a spring which is one of
the heads of rhe Zuni River. The Ma
vajO Indians had here large herds of
cattle, Of sheep, and horses, all looking
as though they found abundant ndtri-
ment in the grass of the region. Tim
Der continued in abundance on the hill
sides a few miles south Of this. BY the
time we had reached PeScadO, it was
again dwarted ia size and less abundant.
Ar altitude of less than 1000 feet is al
once manifested in the country by the
depaupeTate remains of what were, at
from 5000 to 10000 feet magnificent
forests.
OF me Rfifad9,t9 Sf5-ea2l rpttfy 4fptfe
while, . herd of cattle, band of sheep,
or a well-cared-for field, belonging 10
these industrious Indians. Along the
river they had utilized every foot OF the
soil they could irrIgate, and their crops
were the best we had seen. On the
table-land, q few miles south Of their
village, we saw the first fair-lOoking
crops growing without irrigation. APP
parently, this point was a center of sur
face-drainage, and a substratum Of clay
made the soil more tenacious OF
its moisture. During July and August
there Is a well-maTked rainy season
here. The rain is precipitated IN tor
rents, and most effeCtually sets at rest
all doubt as TO the rainfall in those
months. The vegetation, alre9 dy Ian
gushing under the intense heat, re-
yves, as if by magic, and presents a
yerdancy the more cheering by con-
trast with its parched appearance few
DAYS before. We experienced a severe
hail-storm, that, if a regular accom-
paniment of the rainy season, must at
times do great damage to the growingI
crops. In fact, we saw some that were
actually beaten flat by it.
Near Deer Spring, in Arizona, the
country became better timbered again,
pinOn and cedar covering the lower
grounds, and larger pines the higher.
In tact, the general appearance of the
region promised well for Its future.
A deserted ranch at Deer Spring in
dictated that this desirable locality had
not passed unnOticed. There is an
abundance of good water, with a strip
of meadOw-land that, when once drain
ed. could be made very productive.
For several miles south of this place.
the road lay through a valley from two
to ten miles wide, the surrounding
mesas absolutely hemming 1t IN on all
sides with their precipitous walls
Skirting the edge of this valley there
was q fair supply of timber, and at sew
eral points springs appeared at the
bases of the mesas. The soil, though IN
some places somewhat alkaline, was.
black with decaying vege-
table matter, and seemed in point of
fertility like a vast mass OF compost
Il certainly is a fine situation for herds
at any season of the year, and might
even prove favorable farming location,
though on this point | am unable tol
sneak with certainty. From the abCnd-I
ance of water on the sides OF the valley
it is not improbable that water III
could be had by digging:
Twelve miles south of Deer Spring
the scene changed, and we entered a
waste of sand-hills, which stretched OF
south to the Little Colorado. They
were covered with the usual desert
growth of grease-woOd, sand-graSs, and
saCe-brush. An occasional clump eff
DinOn pines survived the desperate
struggle for existence, serving 10 show
at least how hardy the tree is.
The Little Colorado is, where we
crossed It, deep, narrow stream, with
water enough for irrigating purposes
hence the immediate valley may be re-
rarded as belonging to the domain Of
agriculture. In July the heat of the
sand-hills on either side is almost in
tolerable. Nearer its head, the river
drains a valley that now produces fair
crops of corn and barley. The proximity
Dftbe Sierra Blanca, with their accumu-
.ated winter SHOWS melting away until
IN the spring, and the frequent showers
If .Julv and August, make a certainty