Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-16
ARIZONA.
A LETTER FROM TOMBSTONE SOME Ac-
COUNT OF ARIZONA.
The Climate, Society, Products, Mines,
People, and General Features of the
Sand-hills" Territory,

To write an intelligent letter from, and |
of this country, one should first give
at least cursory description of it to dis
abuse the minds of the readers of the pre-
vailing idea that people abroad too often
have of it. Generally, those not acquainted
with this section of Arizona, consider it a
dry, sandy, herbless, waterless desert,
without vegetation, and where life, with
the best the country affords, would be
without comforts, much less luxuries-in
| fact, burden. People abroad involun-
tarily construe the name "Arizona to a
descriptive word of the whole country,
and torture the word "Arizonan into
"arid-zone, and recall
THE MISTAKEN NOTION
Of the Congressional DICTATOR, who said it
was ga far off country, that can be ap-
preached only at the risk of life /; barren
waste Of trackless desert, UNEMPLOYED and
impossible, of which but little is known
where the herbs and flowers are without
scent; where the vegetation has no juice
where every bush or sprig has thorn
where every man is thief and every woman
a prostitute. Those utterances were
made years ago. Now let us look at the
facts of to-day. Southeastern Arizona,
country sufficient In extent to hold a
European empire, is not desert it is I'M
| like the southeastern portion of California
and western Arizona. The surface features
OF the country are made upof a succession
| of mountains, or broken chains of noun
tains, with WIDE plains, mesas, and valleys
| intervening. Two of the mountains are
very high, rugged and precipitous. None
OF their maximum attitudes will exceed
10000 feet. The Santa Ritas, Catarina,
Huachuca, Dragon and Chircahua noun.
tains, being the only ones that approach the
maximum, are rugged and difficult to
traverse.
ADJOINING THE MOUNTAINS
On all sides, for the mountains are none of
them in continuous ranges, are generally
a series of high mesas or high bench lands,
rolling with heavy undulation. Below
these and along the streams are bottom
lands, and all, mountain, mesa, bench and
bottom lands, are covered all the year
round with a luxuriant growth of several
varieties of grasses. Stock grazes all the
year round and keeps fat Fuel is sup
piled by the mesquite, that is abundant in
all parts, and very many of the high mesas
adjoining the mountains are covered with
orchards of oak trees. l say orchards, -
because they resemble the old-time apple
orchards of Pennsylvania. In many of
the mountains the gorges are filed with
pines, juniper and, | believe, yew trees
There are several mills at work, doing
an extensive business, cutting lumber in
the Santa Ritos, Huachuca and Chiricahua
mountains. Lumber sells at SO per NJ.
AGRICULTURE
Is becoming feature Of the county Along
! the Santa Cruz, San Pedro, San Simeon
and upper ella, and in Arivaypa valley,
are very many and extensive ranches, where
large crops are annually raised; but the
country is not yet self-supporting. Stock
raising is quite a feature, and is carried on
extensively. Beef cattle sell for about five
cents per pound, but beefsteaks at the
butcher shops are fifteen cents. The eli
mate is quite even and mild, much like
that of southern Utah or Central Califor-
MIA. | have found the summer heat in the
Dixie of Utah-that portion of that Terri
tory south of the rim of the basin -
more intense by far than it was either here
or in northeastern Sonora during the
months of July and August last past. 1t
is now called exceedingly cold here for this
country, and yet ice will not freeze to the
thickness of half an inch over a pail of
water standing out doors all night. PEG.
pie here are complaining of suffering with
this cold weather, but the fault must be
with them, and not with the weather: the
thermometer is all right, but their blood or
system is at fault. As to the people,
SOCIETY,
Morality and other kindred things, will
say that the country in these respects is
not what it has been. If it ever was the
last and safest refuge of the fugitive assas.
sin, thief or defaulter it is so no longer
Society is as a general thing, as good in
this portion of Arizona as in any new min.
ing section on the Pacific slope. Churches
are established in Tucson, and soon will be
here. Schools are in existence in all parts
of the country, and Arizona is blest with
good, judicious and liberal school law. The
country is being very rapidly settled up
with sober and industrious people, Not
alone the wild, rowing rakes of broken for
tunes and morals, but good men with their
families from the East West, North and
South, from Maine, California, Minnesota
and Transformers, mechanics and profess
slonal men-are settling in the towns and in
thecountry, opening farms, vineyardsand
nurseries, establishing stores, shops and Of
| fees. The laws are enforced life and prop
erty are secure and Protected crime is
not tolerated or winked at, nor is it fire.
quent the memorable, unhinching and
unyielding ethics of both fashion and soci-
ETY. are obtaining their dominion here :;
peace prevails politics dc not rage the
mines are rich, large and plentiful food is
cheap; everybody is happy, and generally
the Arizona goose hangs high" But all |
this is as nothing to
THE GREAT MATTER
That the whole people want to know more
about, that is, the mines. My letter is
now sufficiently long, so that must defer
mines, men and things in general until an
other time, only saying here that we have |
mines, and good ones, too. Bullion is be- |
ing daily shipped, but milling facilities are |
as yet quite limited; only one mill, and |
that only a l0-stamp mil, being in opera
ton. Two other mills, both l0-stamp |
mills, will soon start up, and then our bull !
ion shipments will be items that will fad
their way into the papers daily.
To close with word for this EMBRYO |
city, with the "most reverend, grave
and, I might say, solemn and sepulchral
name of Tombstone, as name for a CITY.
being one that bring up thoughts of skulls |
and bones, bats and owls ghosts, ghouls
and hobgobliEs, epidemics, yellow levers,
cholera and scourges yet for all that, it is
live town, full of live men, situate in the |
midst OF rich mines, in good country,
with good climate, soon to be approached
by railroad, and is growing faster than
pumpkin vine on the Wabash bottoms
It is even now called the Virginia City of
Arizona. SPICER.
It is on record that last week, in a New
York club where poker runs high, just as
a lucky player was leaving he was ad-
dressed by religious-looking stranger,
who said "Sir, have noticed your game,
and have seen that you cheat most skill.