Weekly Arizona citizen., 1880-10-16
A Visit to the Home of an Ar lzona Cattle King. Il. C. Rockers Great Ranch on the Head Waters of
 the Yaqui River. Cattle on 8 Thousand Hills and Horses by the
 Hundreds. some Famous Stock Bred on Our Arizona Plains. An Enterprise Which Bids Fair to Surpass Even
 Our Bonanzas.
speeIaI Cor-esgonasnee ef rrr c.r1Lr.

CuL DDldlLaS.
 Special Correspondence of TIE CIr1zgs
 SIERRA BONITA RANCH, Oc,obeT G.
 Is there not reason to believe that as a
 people we are going inning mad ! On al! sides We see nothing but spec
 linens of lodges and pay-streaks and | shafts and winzes. Our friends con-
 hde n Us regarding the last strike in ! the favorite, and we respond in sim
 liar strain. We are all tO be million | aires " in the due time. g and we for | get that m our great broad Arizona there have crept up great enterprises | which bid fair tO rival even our mines and there would be more were itnot | Tor the prevalent idea, even among the best-iut0rmed, that there is uoth-
 ing worth speaking of in tLe Terri
 tory but minerals. We are forgetting and overlooking our farms Jsnd thev | are not so few, after alb and stock l ranges; and it was with the wish to | learn something of the latter that ! accepted in limited sense the genial | invitation Co " come out Co the ranch ! and stop a month extended by Nr. II. C. Hooker, the proprietor Of the ! well-known Sierra Bonita Ranch Having come, it is impossible to re- sist the temptation 10 tell the CITIZENS readers all about it, especially as ] firmly believe that, despite Mr. Hook | CTS genuine hospitality and the num- ! Der of people who have visited the vi- | Cinity, not twenty men in all Arizona ! have an adequate idea of the extent l and resources of this delightful ranch. In the first place. il is situated
 at the head of sulphur Spring 1 Valley look on the map and l sec where that is) at the point
 where a low watershed separates the ] EeadWaters of the Yagui River from the drainage which flows into Arivai- pa Canyon. This watershed is about | twenty-five miles north of the new railroad station of NillcoX-Or Point of Mountain, either, for that matter. ! The magnificent valley at this point averages fully twenty miles in width, and the Sierra Bonita stock range Oc- cupies fully twenty miles in length, making in round figures 400 square miles. Phewi' l hear some af your readers say, that's land mtnOOply with a vengeance" Its nothing Oi ! the kind. You will see presently that ! in Natures system of economy; as it obtains in this valley, this ran 5e IS Of
 necessity practically one and Sndivis- able. Separated into fragmGnts, :t would be useless; as whfe it is
 magnificent.
 This vast stretch of land inearly level. Running through itss entire length, with branches to the fopt- hllls on either side. is a strip of headow land varying in width-avjaging. nrobablv. nearly a mile. Thii mead 6w land is almost invalUabla to the stock-raisCr. Its grasses are rich and strong. and # would be difficult to estimate the amount of stofk it ls capable of supporting. Is ebnTse Is | sharply defined,and probably ir;dlcales the general course and eXtcu5 oi the water drainage beneath. Despite the fact that 1t is the favOrite grazing rround of the large bands oE cattle MT. Hooker annually sends his moW-- inp machines over it's level surface and cuis all the hay, of splendid quality, necessary for his large staoFs ana corrals. But this meadow larsi, Vasl
 as if is in extent, Is less thaI tune of the available grazing land.S mere
 is not. SO far could ascertains a spoi oc any considerable extent .5n the
 whole sweep between the loo'-5ill-7 CH | either side where there Is noF excel | lent grazing at one season or .no'her'
 In some places On the mesa tl9EIasses ] seemed sparse, but at no p0Ini IS the
 rround barren. Here, then, y9u have l fbe valley. but that is by no u3caDs all | of tbis remarkable ranch. To fhe east
 and west are what Mir. Hookir calls bYs "fences. -" respectively the EInallno | and Galiuro ranges of mounta4ns. me l foothills of the former range are CA | tansive but in no measure to r com nored with those of the Galiiros on | The onDosite side of the valley
 For the past three dayst nave | been accorded the especlal ia'oI ol heinz allowed to accompany MT | Hooker in hls regular tour oi lnSpec--
 tion of tbe ranch. He travels around
 in a lirht buggy, behind pair oI ia5l | horses fit would break his heart l l think to ride behind as low teaml and | tbis sninuing over the great mesa Is ! evbilarating in the extreme. Inc ] frst dav we "toOk in the northern
 and northeastern portions of this small
 tjnrdom. and passed within two O, or three miles of Camp Grant. WHICH
 I;aS S;,-o o+ tbe foot of the Graha.p range,
 lIes a5ont at fe9 ie6 'UG miles to the Sof Mr
 ITOJ. HooErr's residence. We drove by cattle innumerable and horse ehousn, 1 ii seemed to me, 10 stock all me .,t sta5' | lines and livery stables m \ i,I. ieIIi-
 tory Our path lay almost ihoiy on on he mesa and rolling praItll anu "o
 rat,rned home by way of tbe Upper .S;onego-tbe principal water suppiy oftbe northern part ofthe rench: inc
 II-t ,wo days we have spent ln me s-n,l,;lls to the west and southwest
 a,5 T do believe there IS no more
 %no,t;fnI 'i-e country in all Arizona than
 .I,ose same foothills of ih4 GaI uIa
 SIoTp,oins. Every little 1lley be-
 -Irocn tbe hills is a lovely pfrk' Nl'h
 1hoDnl,, and large oak and r. eamore
 trees. and higle waving sTass dl,6o dHI5o marks are of course as nuhlei us "s s-'e bi11s and here the cattle gati1eI C '-' liIs Inc heat of the day for thf iIiSliGIg ,
 sheIter of the thick foliage iAhu, ul
 inc way. curiously enough i!e pestl
 ientiaI tlv does not exist her9ln nun. .i.l.
 i'ars s'-s', sr rfficicnt to be annoying, so tha,
 this is a paradise for the iotnI-iooteu -. ooEaI
 boasts ie.r as well as for the his.aer orael
 of aoimal In these foothills gam.T;
 v. aii finds-antelope. dger, quail
 and turley-abounds, as wei as many n!
 of of the beasts of prey-wolves, cayo,cs cay -o
 be bears, IT'S etc.-although the tatier 'sI.a a1s T.
 t"nted down with the sanse care as