The Arizona sentinel., 1879-01-18
Notes on Arizona.
TCoyresDondencc of the Bulletin.l

In writing of country sd in-
 comparably romantic, picturesque e
 and contradictory as Arizona, it
 is exceedingly difficult to con-
 dense one's views and observa-
 tlohs according to newspaper de-
 imands. I shall attempt, how
 ever, to give the readers of these
 "Notes " a bird's-eye view of the
 agricultural tracts along tie Gila
 and Salinas rivers in this article,
 and conclude said "Notes" with
 respective chapters on Flor
 ence, Tucson and surrounding
 sections. When I use the words
 romantic, picturesque and contra dictcry, I mean romantic from a standpoint of history, for there.is
 no doubt but that the ruins along the Salt river, and other eviden- ces. of the existence of pre-his- toric race, are relics of civilized and enlightened continuity which fiourished upon the banks of the above named river many hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. I say picturesque, be- cause Arizona is kaleidoscopic from one end to the other; and contradictory from the fact that her locking mountains are loaded with precious metals; her rivers sink into a subterranean course in one place, and will float a gunboat iii another: her very deserts in some places are trans formed into orchards, and gar dens, and fields of grain. The Terriroty contains some of the most treacherous, Warlike and blood thirsty savages in America, and it also contains tribes of In- dians who live by a system of ag- riculture, and who boast that they have never stained their hands with the blood of white man.
 Emerging from the caHon of the Hassayampa, the mostcurious stream, 1 believe, on the globe, desert of some thirty miles is crossed, and Ph9niX, the heart of the agricultural section. wat cred by th5 Gila and its tributa- ries, is reached. It was in this particular section, hundreds of years ago, that the prehistoric man of Arizona bad his being (now known as the Aztec and Toltec races). The Verde and Salinas (SalD rivers, tributaries of the Gila, abound in interesting and imposing evidences of a for mer civilization. Some of the ruins are extensive and imbres- sfve, and constitute relics of cities; irrigating canals, aqueducts of mining operations, and of various employments, indicating an in- duStrious and entetprising peo- pie.
 The Salt River Valley lies at the junction. and in a measure forms the delta of the Gila and Salinas rivers. What is now known as the Salt river country is a valley about fifty miles in ex- treme length and varying in width from six to ten miles. At least one-third of this vast bot tom. containing as rich soil as I have ever seen in my life, is or can be irrigated, and is or can be placed under cultivation. The main irrigating canals have no superior in California. The near est approach to them are the Hag- gin & Carr canals in Kern County; but none of them carry the vol umes of water carried by these sturendOus aqueducts in the wilds of Arizona, I am informed that the smaller canals are more than a hundred miles in length, and that nearly 10000 acres of choice arabic lands are under cultivation or in process of Improvement. The first settlement in this val ley took place abott ten years aoO olthOuOb tho Ifnoo Tr1ionc