The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-04-23
ALL THE WAY TO TUCSON.
CHAPTER III.

RIVERS - GENERAL ASPECT OF TIL
COUNTRY - OLD RUINS-THE ARI
ZoNIAE-PAULINE CUsHMAN - DUs-
STORMS, ETC
i From MaricopsS to the Mormon
Y settlement called Mesa City, on Sal
: River. the distance is iorty-fve miles
others say forty. The junction O.
g Salt River with the ella is about ter
a miles from Maricopa, 80 that the
!. elevation Of Mesa City must be greater
D than the desert part which may posi-
bly, render it more agreeable for the
/ purpose OF settlement. l am in
, formed that the settlers have plenty
Of water. The Gils River that drains
the southern part of Arizona is no
larger than the Jordan River in our
valley, at its junction with the
Colorado; In fact there are but three
or four rivers that run out of Arizona.
The principal ones are the Little
Colorado, Bill Williams Fork and
the Gils. The fret two drain the
mountainous parts OF the northern
part OF the territory. There is
another river called the San Pedro
upon whose banks there is another
Mormon settlement, but this stream
runs into the ella. l learned that
the settlers were shaking with ague
and thought of deserving the valley.
This point is about sixty-fiVe miles
southeast oil Tucson and in the region
OF Tombstone district.
Those who intend going into Ar.
l b
farming will have a heavy load OF ez1-
perieDce in getting a start; CT pine
| timber there is none available in the
bottoms bordering the Gila until it
gets into the mountains. All of the
mountains OF a less elevation than |
5000 feet are mostly barren and look |
like huge heaps of burnt rocks; here |
and there the stuuted iron wood, and |
IN the foot hills the cacti family in !
all It's thorny responsiveness. The |
mesquite timber il abundant in the
bottoms, and this, although no good |
for timbering, is fine fire wood. 1t ia
for this reason that the houses are SO
devoid of any lumber. Most of the
bouses OF the Mexican population are
built with sdobies about nine inches
wide by fourteen long and three
inches thick. At q certain height
the strsightest sticks of mesquite
form TaiterE; upon these smaller
sticks are placed close together; then
tempered clay is trod into the inter-
stiCes, it is then leveled Of smooth,
and when it rains it is conducted in
large tin pipes that project clear of
the wall into the street. With such
roofs second-slory houses are almost
impossible. This kind Of house pre-
walls in Yuma and Tucson and in
nearly al! OF the old towns in this re
gion. 4 traveller in the dry season in
such a COUNTRY has dry mud for the
floor, the walls, the ROOF, ard
has to swallow more than his
peck of dirt when strong winds
prevail. Where there is any travel
the roads soon become covered with a
fine. palpable dust that makes team
ing Of such a trying character that if
a man can drive 3 long distance with
out losing his patience, he must be a
saint indeed.
After all | have said Of dust and
heat, | must not omit to state that {
six inches of snow fell in Maricop8,
January %, this year. The result is [
that hundreds of pretty flowers were {
blooming this spring that had not
been seen before by some of the resi- {
dents-a strong proof that weeds are
difficult to kill of.
Arizona is emphatically q mining
territory. All the newspaper reports
give the asssys Of different mines q
very high rating. You never hear OF a
poor mine in the papers land who
can doubt them?); everywhere they
are spoken Of as being rich, and in t
my opinion they ought to be. for I
when one thinks of prospecting where 2
there ia little or no water for stretches c
of hundreds of miles, the bold miner
must have good nerve who essays |
it.
The old settlers and citizens of
Arizona are a fine, generous class Of {
men; you cannot name the mining
camps they have not seen. They 6
have roughed it in all the
phases of experience in mountain 8
regions. They have forgotten to black
their boots appearances with them
do not count for anything. They 6
seldom shave. A saudhili ID the |
softest bed they enjoy, when away
from home; you will find men with |
collegiate education in the roughest
gsrb. They are nearly all able to run
a newspaper, found city, or fill
government contract; can tell more
yarns and hair breadth escapes than )
any sailor you ever saw; coarse and !
uncouth to bis own sex, but gentle as
a lamb in the presence of ladies. a
lady travelling alone would be safer
amongst the worst class OF miners
and be more free from insult in the
widest regions of Arizona than she :
would in the cities of the east.
All over this section near the rivers
are found the remains of canals,
mounds and ancient buildings, which
serve to show that an intelligent race
once peopled this region, that under
stood how to build canals and ponder
Gus edifices. at Casa Grsnde is an
old ruin standing nearly forty-ive
feet high, but the enterprising tourist
is fast pulling it to pieces in the great
rage for gathering specimens. This
vandalism will coon wipe out what
ever Is curious and valuable pertain
ing to lost races II this territory. The
traditions concerning the ancient
inhabitants ssY that at one time this
section was densely peopled, but that
g period of drought ensued and the
inhabitants all persisted. There are
some pictured rocks in places and
hieroglyphics, but no man can
decipher them.
It was at Casa Grande. station to
the east of Msricopa, that I saw
lady whose experience would FL |
large volume. She was none other |
than the famous Pauline Cushman,
who, dressed in mans attire, bad !
played the par Of spy during the
great war between the north and |
south. She had also drifted into that |
country, and was playing the part of
hostess in a canvas hotel; her liege |
lord was seated near her. Report
saws she has had varied experience
in married life, having changed hands !
several times. She is still fine look
ing woman.