Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-10-16
CASTLES OF CASA DE GRANDE.
The Old Man Speaks Again--Eis Voice Heard in the EillS of o.bial.Er, Just Twenty 5-Ees Away.

In previous communication tO you l promised that as soon as my in-
 firmities would permit that would fa-
 vor your readers with an epistolam
 hteratum epistolarum. CIhese last are
 big words, Mir. Editor.) But when you consider my extreme age and the many
 iterati with whom I have compared
 notes, having as q youth swung upon
 the swings that hung upon the limbs of
 the aged oaks that ornamentally over-
 shadowed the village school house, long
 before Oliver Goldsmith penned his
 beautifully plaintive and transitory de- scriptive poem of the Deserted Village;' and later on, as a playmate of Thomas Babbington, whose latter name was Mac auley, the historian, who "purposed to
 write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to the ages in the memory of men still living" As Tat, plump boy of ten my recreatoTy hours were enthusiastic cally employed energetlcaiIy combating
 Macauiey III England's great play oI "MarUlelsni, before the tune of ''Orlck- etIsm- Amusing were my experience Iu ti4e different sludles wlth hiacaulev, Whose LauuIe to ms name was lhunis.s baUblngtUn. Extremely dumpIsh would ne sUIneGIme berUme and the ui-nlfled school masteT would glye nun a bass from the Lead tU Ine loot Ui hls citssl- cal standing; then suddenly 1 would md myself eIevaJed tO classical ascend ancy. Uut my enjoyment Was lnUm enudrN, for my elevation lnvesled me wIJh Ideas or iuealsm, and d spirit of dictatorship 80 far galned pOssessIOn of me Iuat 1 assuneu the prerUgatlNe of ceLsur and proceeded lndIscrlmlndtely to muttie all utterances or my hIeratic colleagues and chumlcal classmates. 1hls dlctaTorlal and unbecJmlng conduct on my part drew down upon me fnsIladlcdl icprl- ! mand from tue othclaIIng teacher as uut and pungent as the CTrfZEN's crusade against the shoulder straps of ArlzOua's ] Incoming military ala taoticlan Al ache nnters.
 Later on Tn life found me ds steamboat engineer on the Mlss,ssIppI steamer upon ! winch Twain SD neatly cieaIsed dlsnes. . l nave ln manner colessuely and rs- [ sUcIaTely budwelserized with the gifted ! man of the Detroit Free Press; was pres l ent at Laramie Long Bridge when t-e | 0 jmerRng man hung the other man l that was Lot hung; Was a partial obser- l yer and probable prospective hand to | hand comDatant with the desperate gang of train wreckers that sought to convert the beautiful Cape 10 n II to giastiy
 .rFF FH=.a a.H~srs sN wa.N
 suggestions, as borne witness 10 Ce -urc . and de racto by numbers uudispuIed, l. that the expert detectives of San Fran !. cIscO tJUS h. the whO.e posse cOmitdtus. ! ou you vii observe tlat N hIle lLClyiou- . ally giving preference to the memUri, ! of my associations m the venerable . castles of Casa tie Grande, 1 au Lot 1 narrowed down to q vegetarian of uue particular spot, but have been enJb.,d ! Io take III tue great part of an universe . whose features were instructive and . cIvLIZing. In view of these facts, l trust . that the CITIZEN will gISe ear tu my say . lnGs, place reliance in my writings and ! vouch for my etymOlosy, syntax and . prOsody.
 Arizona Is a name significant Of arid . zones tdry or parched count-yJ The | Ruler of the universe, in the cUnstruc- l uon of the hemispheres, has at no time | except upon instances miraculous fed | men with mama, nor so constructed the | earth that all the comforts and neces- ] saries of life were the products of one . particular locality. Agriculture and . vast water supplies are synonyms oi each 1 other. Metal becs and aqCutical deaTth ! are also synonyms, for ages have proven 1 that nature never 50 arranged the metal | fields as to have them bounded by large | rivers or intersected by abundant | streams. On the contrary she has placed | them Tn the midst of mountains and | .iIH Tn the midst of what appears to be | the most intOlerable deserts. For if this | were not the case, gold and silver to-day ! would be as plentiful as coal, and the . valuable urn of silver caste that orna- mentS the table of society's best, would ! o.cOme as a cast-aside appeudage, more 1 useiul than ornamental ID kitcht ser 1 vice. It Is verified by this problem, and l 1. problem indisputable, that Providence ! galnted the landscape of Arizona and ! covered her over with fields of metal sc 1 enormous and so seemingly uncohjectur- able hat infantile and energetic Ameri- 1 ,a has not yet woke up to the realization | of its extent.
 It Was Tn the mysterious mountains, 1 nigh t. the great King mine on the ! north thdt old Casa swoTe hls allegiance and it was in the hills of Gibraltar . wherein rests the queenly Orizaba of the . South that he allied himself m Argen- une wediock. and as proof of it his cas- l es m ruins mark the pathway that ! leads from one to the other. Casa the 1 Grande became vastly rich, but his ex- lrdyagance was as vast as his riches and | his pr. d. was so great that 1t proved aEe.- ! wOrk for his enemies to trip him. Casa ! had a redeeming quality that shone . nigh over hIs faults. He trusted in | Providence for supply of water, and as | d p.oof of bis resignment to providen- 1 Cal decrees he built immense water l tanks that stood in frowhing antagOn- | lsm against all water famines and bac- | cnanalianly drank from every threaten | ing cloudburst. These tanks are not | only relics, but are to-day III actual use. ! There Is pathway leading from Casa 1 Grande to the Hills of Gibraltar. Peak l after peak, mountain after mountain, | hills small, hills large, symmetrical, in- ! symmetrical, sugar-lOafed, half sugar. | loafed, big boulders, then dIsappear- ! ance of bOulders, great high peaks l0om- ! ing up and looking at distance as for ! midable as the turrets of Gibraltar, then 1 long range of Us pretty hills us ever 1 graced any country, one following the | other in sceneric cadence for miles, ull ! the end is reached. All have be,n past 1 but the last, which has not been over- ! looked, for the qulck eye ot the nlue- ! teenth century miner discovers mineral ! Mineral that IS rich.
 Here 1t Is that the grandeur of the qu enly Orizaba has been established. 1 uei e s tine Cave, the Calab.ae, tLe Ram |. and JulIus, whose other name was Caesar, stands guard at the foot of the ! hill Located upon the last hill n a long range of hills overlooking the great valley of Santa Rosa, rich in mineral as are the Oil Regions of Pennsyl- l vania ] s in oil productions, as extensive in its ore belt as are the great coal hearing belt of the above State, this haunt and camping ground of Casa Nanches for a futurity of notOuety un- eaualled even in the reign of Casa him. self. and eclpsed in the present age not even by the world famed Comstock of Nevada I hope that none will accuse me, Mir. Editor, of diverging from the original subject. My object has been to lay before the readers of your paper the locality wherein Casa The Grande abided most frequently whilst he trod this mundane sphere in the form tieshl- cal. 1 shall at a future day endeavor to amuse by true representation of the peculiarilies and enormous wealth of a strange people, of whose mrnners and customs the inhabitants of this decade know comparatively nothing, and con