Mohave County miner., 1889-11-02
4 rr.spsslsrs S.sss ~ tAs way

Leaving the Salt river turned In the
direction Of Florence. After passing the
last ditch the road led through an open
plain covered with quite heavy growth
Of iron wood and other trees peculiar 10
this region. I was told that ! could get
water at station on the road where
there was well. arrived at the we'll in
the middle Of the afternoon, and learning
that there was no water between there
and Florence, . distance Of forty miles, 1
concluded to stop until morning. They
were hosting water with q whim 242 feet,
and the man in charge told me they were
watering $50 head Of cattle and 1t took
them all the time, day and night, with
two mules to do it. There appeared TO
be plenty Of feed but dried mp, as there
had been no rain for a month. 1t ID al
most incredible what an amount Of water
an animal will drink under such circum-
stances. He pointed out an old COW,
there" said he, sis one l have timed,
she drinks forty gallons day" They
charge travellers twenty-five cents span
for watering horses, not extrayagant con-
sidering all things. After leaving the
station the road continued over an un-
broken plain, the soil in every respect as
good as that cultivated in the Salt river
valley.
Arriving at Florence you descend
short distance into q bottom about mile
wide. The Gila is crossed by a bridge
and the only cultivation as yet is in this
bottom; the soil appears to be an exceed
ingly rich, black mould; the crops looked
fine. II you were dropped into Florence
without knowing where you were you
would swear you were In Mexico, the
town, the streets, the buildings and the
people would convince you that you were
not mistaken. II person had visited
Florence twenty years ago he would not
see much difference to-day. The Mexi-
cans, like all Spanish-Americans, are not
9 pushing race, they take the world easy
and are satisfied ii they can make both
ends meet.
To me Florence was delightful, as it
was the first time since I came 10 this
coast in 40, that / have seen . Spanish
town. It looked so natural. There is
one error wish to c,rrect. have heard
1t asserted that the language in Southern
Arizona was badly spoken, this Is not
true. In all the towns / visited l found
the Spanish remarkably good, it is true
there were modes Of expressing them
selves that were new to me, but with that
exception their Spanish would pass
muster anywhere. A few years will wit
ness great change az there has been a
great ditch taken out Of the river several
miles above and they were busy working
on it when was there. was told that
81, 900 acres Of land had been taken up
under it. A few years hence there viii
be alfalfa and cottonwoods galore. ! also
learned that site had been surveyed for
Q storage darn that wien completed would
be the largest reservoir in the United
States, Il wonld make lake ten miles
in length by two miles in width. When
II IL considered that all the land us vet
irrigated in these valleys is from the
natural flow Of the water in it's lowest
stages, it will be seen at glance what an
important part storage water will play in
the development Of this country.
have often been asked the question,
where would be good place for man
Of limited means to settleY should say
that II q man could stand the heat, that
Florence and the Gila valley offer the
greatest inducements to such man, as
cultivation may be said to have just com
menced and that at present he can get
land at a moderate price, while in the
Salt river country land is higa. was
told while there that for unimproved land
under the ditch 40 an acre was asked,
while in the Gila valley land can be
bought for less than tenth. So far as
the two valleys are concerned could see
little to choose, in climate, soil and loca-
ton they are about equal but the water is
better In the Gila valley. A man can
start in here with limited means, grow
alfalfa and cottonwood timber and grow
up with the country.
As for fruit, am told that peaches,
grapes and figs do well. as TO citrus fruits
! cannot say as there Is but little planted
- yet. Oranges may do we'll here, they
will grow there Is no doubt but II Of in
ferior quality they will be Of little adyant-
age, it cannot be told until thoroughly
tried Whist quality they will be Of. The
orange IL singular fruit, it will do we'll
in some places and in others apparently
with the same conditions 1t will be merely
an ornamental tree.
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