Weekly Phoenix herald., 1884-03-06
The NIesquit District ..

The NIesquit District.
 Either accident or incident, IS is always the case, are great ,on~ tributors towards filling the columns of paper, and it is by these agents ] that 1 am moved to to pen these lines descr. ping the deeds and dos ings of one of the most productive and fertile regions of the great Salt River valley known as the Mesquit, or ''the district with black eye" Mesqui; land always las been cons sidercd and really is the richest and most productive land in this Terri tory. In order 10 avail themselves of this great advantage, the old pio- ncer, though laboring under great difficulties and haTdships opened for settlement this part of the country in the year 1871. The comforts and commodities of the present day were entirely unknown to the early set tiers, The iucessant labor on their ditches had almost completely eX. hausted their funds and, therefore, no time could be devott d to put up houses for shelter and even material for constructing a house was very scarce in those days. A good, shady mesquit tree was chosen to ward oil the fierce rays of midsummer sun and the drizzling rain in the winter The glimmeripg lights of thc firma- ment or the blazing campfires aYonld serve us as iiluminators. By that gleaming shine we would read otr letters from home or the Prescott Miaer, wbich was always q welc" me visitor Its columns were always full of startling news and outrages committed hy the hands of the dev~ ilish Apaches. But the Mesqult was quiet and serene, and such horrible deeds and doings as have occurred here in latter days were entirely un- known.
 The nearest furniture house was only 500 miles in the rear and as a matter of caution to prevent tum- bin out, we spread our beds down on good cid terra firma, to repose in peaceful slumbcr and dreams of he "old fo ks at home" or better times a-coming.
 Wagon paths in those woods We're just as scarce as the wagon itself and the win CT has known many a poor fellow to go to that then almost un- known Phoenix, after perfor ming hard days labor with pick and show el, to carry home on his shoulders a sack of flour or beans a distance of four or five miles. Any kind of an old rattle trap of a secondhand farm wacon would sell for $250 or $500, ani the purchaser was only too glad to get It even at that figure.
 Provisions coald only be procured at enormously high prices and very scarce and hard to get at that. Flour sold at SIP per cwt.; beans, 25 cents per pound, sugar, coffee, bacon, $1 per round, etc.
 After the di;ches had been com> pleted, these sturdy old pioneers soon laid the ax to the roots of brush and trees, and ere one year had ~nlo,Dca1 rrraot-,oOrf,Ono Of tbot or.,11I mesquit forest was. as if by magic, changed into broad, green fields of wheat and barley, which brought the farmer the well deserved price of 3115 to 4 ents per pound, which of course made everybody feel happy; 1880 was also very prosperous year and enabled the farmers to provide a little for their comforts, and to ex- tend their ditches further down the valley.
 But the year 1874 wrought great change in the prospects and welflre of this community, and cast I heavy cloud of darkness and gloom over the whole settlement. The number of acres under cultivation that sea- son exceeded that of former years by over oue-half. The spring months had been very favorable to grain crops, which yielded therefor better and more to the acre than ever before, and Dame Ceres smiled as she presented to the boys her ccrnu- copia; but despite the gods favored us, King Fortune d1d not crown the brave.
 Owing to the diminutivcness of government contracts, tog. ther with
 he shutting down of the Vulture mine, the demand for grain was somewhat less. and consequently had a paralyzing effect on the wheat and barley market.
 Barley sold for 75 cents to s1 per centa!. The price of burlap sacks was $350 per 1 GOO; $40 per 100, Or 50 cents per sack, which left the farmer. after hauling it to Phoenix, the beggarly little sum of 25 to 50 cents per cental.
 This unfortunate event, together with the disastrous flood which Oc- cured in the month of January. the ensuing winter, so discouraged these noble-hearted, hard-working pion eers that they buried all their fond hopes for bright and happy future, abandoned their houses and homes, and bid adieu to their field of toll and labor.
 Some of them left the Territnrv