National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1879-11-20
SOUTHERN ARIZONA.
Over the Line of The Southern Pa
CifiC Railroad.
Staging from Tucson to Cassn Grande-DIs
appearance of tho santa Cruz River
Traces of Former settlement--The
Prospects of Maricopa
Appearance of Yuma
At Los Angeles, Sc.


To the Editor Of Tie National Rcgubiicdn:
SIR We left Tucson for trim over th,
Great Southern Pacific road OH the 4th, an,
the stage left for CASA Grande for rail connec
tiOn mt o'clock. The distance to the termin
oil the road is but Il short gap of sixty.fvt
miles, much OF which lies on the margin of the
Santa Cruz river, with the waving, changing
outline of the Tucson mountains, lying against
sweet blue sky OIL the left of us, and the
san Catarlna, with its lofty and rugged tops,
away oil to the right. Numerous half.tillet
farm lands lie along the Santa Cruz, which ar,
rich and produce two crops per year Five
miles below Tucson its waters sink not to rise
again for many miles. What little timber We
see is the shadcess mosquito, and tree called
the val-dc vcrdo--wood hard az rose or mahog
any, takes fine polish, perfectly green bark
body, leaf and limb, and not very largo-say
not over eight inches in diameter Flowers
abound, some magnifcentshru white bloom
and willow bearing purple flower very
beautiful. Water can be had ut twenty-five
| feet almost anywhere on the river, or beyond
on sandy mesa, where sagebrush and grease
| wood grow.
| At Casa Grandc, the terminus now of tho
railroad, we find hundreds of tons of rails piled
up, and thousands of tics, only now awaiting
orders to be laid down. and when the order is
made, which promises to be done soon, we
shall in thirty.fvc days thereafter have the
road into Tucson, with all the magnificent re-
suits we believe will follow to the town.
From tho present terminal point of rail- the
ancient ruins of Casa Grande, ten miles
distant, may be espied by some ele-
walton from the plain. More than two
centuries ago the carly Spanish explorers
found it and its crumbling walls vet attest
ing civilization of which nothing is known.
Old irrigating bitches are traced for miles, aud
mounds indicate the ruins of former habita-
tiOns, and occasional travellers are forwarded
by parts of broken ware, found amidst sur
rounding surface washings Adobe walls pre-.
vailed then rs now, and the threc-story walls
of one large structure still standing attest
strength and some architectural display The
interior of this large building has been burned
away, the roof gone, but the charred ends of
ratters and joice are yet seen in the walls,
which are of great thickness and strength,
| finished bard and smooth inside, us if made of
cement.
Wherever rooms are traceablc in this
once unquestionably large city, they are
small, with very small windows, and
narrow passage, for doubtless the same
reason that has governed the Next
can-danger; for the Apache may even then
have fought against entertainments on his
mountain and valley homes where, blanket
less and naked, the bright seasons wonld allow
him to roam. There will be no town of i'm
portance at Casa Grande, for it lies on u sandy
waste IL will remain IL station however, for
but few miles away lies Florence, on the
Gila river, where its best strength is shown,
having before reaching here, gathered its only
continent streams, the San Pedro and Salt
river; these not greater in volume, however,
than u good.sizcd Ohio creek. On all these
streams there are tens of thousands of acres
of rich land, some Of which arc titled by the
Pima Indians, who are sufficiently civilized
TO let the sword alone and to pillow with u
stick: but they look dress and act like an
Indian. They love to hang in numbers
around the stations, aud ride like boys on the
cars, with little more than fig leaf cover
iugs. They can run like an antelope. They
have more regularity of features than the
Pfpagos, hair black as ravens wings and
cut to hang over tho eyes to the tip of the
nose. They live on reservation to the
number of several thousand, and arc harmless
A marvellous feature of these plains is the
infinite variety of cacti growing over them,
beginning with little pink tinted bulb up
to the enormous serdrd, sometimes fifty feet
in perpendicular, with futed columns often
two feet in diameter and, like everything
that grows in Arizona, protected by thorns
stout MS a ROSTERS spurs and twice us long.
This variety grows like forest in numbers
and bears delicious fruit, purple in color
and pear-shaped, the growth of which is i'm.
mediately around its apex. II sometimes pro-
Jects enormous arms or oranches Another
variety IS as iortnluaple III spurs ana thicK-
ness, ca'ieu hisser hcaus; ihese contain
III inc centre great coiiecton OF sap or
water which inc MeXicahs ana INDIANS allke
drink wheh beyond tne reach oil springs or
streams. III Is sweetish, Dut Pheasant To the
taste Inc pilchiy pear, Us seen mere would
astonish the women VINO tram the lttle
piaht IKE u III snape III ohe states IL reaches
mere height OF twenty OF twenty-five leet
ana bears hundreds Oh us req, pear-snaped
iruit, which, l must say, Is very delicious
when RIPE Dut hard 10 Jackie, an account
oil the minute prickles winch cover IL. Be-
tween tucson ana cassa urahue is remark
aDie LANDMARK or picturesque mountain, ris-
ing alone from inc mesa caiied IN span
ish flcacho, TOT ihhes e'ch way It's TAU
stony s'ues room up Oh tho IraVeiers gazo,
pointing MN MS way, anu gloriiyihB inc
lahuscape over Whten Vhe sun wehI uVWn, as
Wo saw IL iasc' III InaI spicnuor ohiy Known
III Ar|oha SKIES
Dut we must hot jump ao3aru inc ,r"lh,
whICh mas JUST oackcu III. now much we
loved iocolnoIlVo We hever peiore khew'
~ was tne slllhPse ol Ions'apsehI freud
lls "mis',e M''a 'no toho VI uoar la,n'iar
Vo'co' ~ W"e melooi''eu Us " lllehu. ~
ooinos 40 sno e'NliiNyi' ."1 G"io PLoy, etor VI
our ~" ohose" "po"o !" ,"'s WIN western
"oi'u' ~ 70 vle Sohh the palt'su Vi our peace
anu inspiration VI ou' nope. oaNageIy moves
pacN before , Gho rumble OF us wheeiS, ana
prosperity iol'oWs lts h"JestG power. FROM
,aS'H HIahue our route ~ W hWIlcoVai ALSO u