Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-11-24
THE STONE CHURCH.
A Romance or the santa Catalinas Just
 Brought to Light.

Few men have been ID Tucson any longer than Charles H. Meyer, our worthy city recorder, and ex-officio clerk Of the common council He is well posted in all traditions and history of Tucson. There is no one that is disposed to ques- non the Judges veracity. He is relic gatherer and has large collection Of coins. The Judge is very f'nd of relat- ing stories he has heard from the old people of Tucson, and among others IS that of the old stone church.
 The story goes that many years ago about the lime the Pilgrims landed on the rock, there was a thriving Mexican village on the San Pedro. There WAS wood from the Santa CataliUas and water from the river. The valleys fer tile soil produced all the corn and beans they could use. Abundance of mescsl grew On the hills. The lodges were rich | ID minerals. The colony was prosperous and accordingly 1t was happy. On a fatal day the Apaches made @ | LAs l people. 1 remnant escaped and came through Q long. deep natural cut that 1 goes through the Santa Catalinas and comes out on the western side of the mountains, some twenty-four miles north of Tucson. Mar there they founded e town and again prospered There was water, grass and wood from Canada de Ou0. They worked the mlnes
 ..N @N a.H N..- 1 uaces and the abundance of slag t-stify
 The Apaches am desceEded upor
 them, and nothing remains of theil
 work but heap Oi rulus called Puehl, Viejo. A few escaped out of this second
 massacse, and inhabited the mountain tops betwe n the Finger mountain ana
 La Ventana. Here is q large long can yon fnll of grass, with plenty of woo, } and water. bere these poor people | lived. Their tribulaiions seemed t. | unite them closer to their faith, an,
 tley went to work to erect . temple to thEt Deity who in time make all things work together for the good @
 those who love HIm. They bmit larg
 stone church out of the granite of th' -
 mighty hIils. The blocks were Lewl
 and polished by their patient toil Tn floor was lad in mosaic, and it WAS hon
 ored with an arched roof. Here they worshiped God according to the dictate
 of their own conscieDces.
 What became of them Is unknowI
 They were probably all killed by thin T massacre committed by their iuveterRt
 foes, the Apaches, who had followe them from the San Pedro to Puebl ! VIejo.
 D All old residents of Tucson will T,
 member a Mexican named Geronimo z who killed h.s wife's paramour nea where the residence of E. B. Pomro
 now IS. This Geronimo, few year
 ego, while hunting cattle between th
 Finger mountain and La Nentaua "a
 riding down canyon, and dlscovere T the old stone church. He reported th - fact to the priests here, who O U inquiriug found some old people, wh
 knew of it, and something of Its hi To tory. The matter was referred f Bishop Salpoiute just befere he lei v for Rome, and he snid he would atten "A to it on his return. Investigation ma o prove that the Santa Catalinas contai : a greater wonder than San Xavier.
 1hare are placer digEings near thi
 church which were worked by tles 5 San Pedro Mexicans. In the beglnnln ~ of the present centurya lot of Apache 7 broke away from their tribes and gel
 tied near the church They had fe
 cattle, and worked the placers. Tie ? eviuced a desir- 10 be clvIlizel. Tn
 smallpox swept them away m ls6 , Tw. of these Indians, Colorado an 70 Charco Carbon, were well known Tucson. Judge Meyer has often see f. the gold and silver these Indians bFougl = ID for barter.