Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-08-04
CAMP THOMAS.


 A Description Of the Place and Vicinity.
 Camp Thomas derives its name from a
 military fort near by, which was so-cslled in honor of the late General Thomas of
 the U. s. army.
 Camp Thomas IS a country village m Graham country, and is situated in the Gila valley on the Gils river, adjoining
 Fort Thomas on the west. As near as can be determined by our msps, the vIi- lsge IS in longitude 32 deg. go min.. west of Washington, and latitude g deg. north.
 The county seat, Solmonville, is situ- ated m the same valley 30 miles further east.
 The nearest railroad station IS not in our county; 1t is Bowle in Cochise county, about loo miles from here.
 The altitude of our pl7ce Is probably 2OOO above the level of the ses, and the climate generally IS arid and hot.
 The thermometer rises to l2US in sum mer and 1t falls 10 1S3 iu winter.
 We generally have very iit.le rain ex- cept during ihe rsIny season ID July and August, which however, is not regular and fails almost entirely ID scme yeRrs. The rainfall Is certainly not above seven inches per Bnnum. Snow is rare Oc- currepce in the valley sBd never remains on the ground The mountains in our neighborhood. however, are clad in snow nearly the year arosnd,
 The summers are extremely hot, though the nights are con pnratIvely cool.
 The winters are mild and pleasant and frost during the day is very scarce.
 The mountains that enclose this valley Grs the Graham range in She south and the Gila range in the north, both running from east to west.
 The Gils range Is sboat ten miles from the rIver, but the foot hills extend near to the rivers edge.
 The Graham range IS further distant from here, but the foot hills also are near the river, although there is more bottom land thIs side of the river than on the north side.
 The site of Camp Thomas must have been inhsbi:el in past ages, as the rock foundations of houses can be traced all over. "Who were the inhabitants" cen not now be told; however, they must have been more civilized than the h. dIsns of the present day, as old poitesy and old furnaces are found and daily excsvated, sbundsntly prove. Abou; 30 miles from here Is the Indian reser- vstion of San Carlos where Bbout 2OU0 Indians are oongregGted, they are sll Apsches of different tribes, such Gs the Tontos, Mohsves, the Yum .s and so forth.
 Formerly these tribes gave Q crest deal of trouble to the settlers hercabouts and made life and property very inse- cure, and 1t IS only two yesTs ago when | the Chircahua tribes, winch the United | States government has since transferred | 10 Florida. committed murders n this | immediate vicinity. but since that time | there has been peace, and the Indians at | the agency busy themselves nov some what with stock raising and ngucultu-e. although II IS the prevailing opinion | among the white settlers here. that the | Apache race IS capable of civilization.
 In the mountains near ty there + much mineral, such & copper and sil. Ter; many mines have been located, but here has been very little work 6oac on hem on account of scarcity of money.
 The loot hills on both sides of the river are covered with nutritious mes quite grass, which gives abundant pgs- ure to sIl kinds of animals. The lands ID the river are all cultivated.
 Farmers raise plenty of alfalfa, corn nd barley, but they have to irrigate heir farms on account of scarcity Of am.
 The three principal irrig8tlng ditches ere are the Thompson Bros, the Me- lurrIn and the Collins.
 The tirst settlement made ID this alley was in 1876 by Thomas Me lurrIn. There IS DO church here yet, but we re Tn hopes of getting one of She Catho- 0 denomInstion soon, and there are no ubhc buildings except the jail and chool, and neither one IS n good cOa- ition. There Gre about fifty or sixty houses ere and most of them are built cut of 1oees (thBt ls sun dried brcks). some ave tn roofs: some have irUn, sore llngle and rubber roofs, tlt the most -e covered with dirt. The name of our oldest inhabited is le same as our eldest settler, Thomas : lcMurrin. who was born ID Pennsylys. g ia. He IS about 70 years old. O Near the river there are plenty Of cot 'nvood trees and willows, hut further il Fsy from the river there gre tSe me n luite and the walnut tree, end also I fferen; varieties of cactus.
 The wild animals of ihis vicinity are e bear, the deer, the coyote, the pole o !. the wild cat. wolf. gopher and rat. n The tame animals are the horse=, COWS, eep, males, dogs, cats and donkeys. The wild birds are the crows, the s ioken hawk. the buzZsrd, the mocking I I'd, the blue bird, the red bird. the e rk, the snow bird, the black bird. the T and the wild canary.
 The domestic bIr1s are the duck, ickens, turkeys, geese and guinea wls. VI The principal fish here are the Gila lmon and the trout. The reptiles are Glla monster, which is very poIson- h, us. the rsttlesnske and the horned ri 7d.
 There was terrific earthquake here F the 3l of May 1887, which shook fr VII many houses, il wss the first one of 1t has ever been experienced ID this n Ice. and many people wish il 10 be the i, t. Then later on thcre was 8 hail io nm, If was nearly Rs had as the earth In ake only it did more damage. tb