Arizona weekly enterprise., 1890-07-26
Buckeyes Resources. B11ckpye Blade

ries outside of Maricopa county may not know where the town of Buckeye is They may imagine it is some mining hamlet. having sprung into existence by rich mineral prospects, only to fade into insignifcance when such richness van ishes. Such has been the fate of the average mining town. In order to dispel such coniectures from the minds of our readers as regards the town of Buckeye and its futurity, a brief description of our surroundings, resources and future anticipations, may be found expedient. The Buckeye country. by which our sur rounding country is known. has for it's boundaries: on the east the Agua Fria river on the south the Gila river. on the west the Eagle Tail mountains, which en- circles the broad eXpanse of territory Iy- ing on the west side of the Hassayampa. near its confluence with the Gila, while on the north nature has given us the White Tank mountains as barriers against the frosts of winter and affording ample protection to our orange orchards. A glance at the map will show the extent of the country as having length of forty miles by an average breadth of fifteen miles, equal to 384, ,000 acres, and as pro ductive as any land in the world when
 
 Between 10000 and 25,000 acres of this body of land have been reclaimed and brought under cultivation by the Buckeye canal Another canal of great dimensions has been surveyed and if constructed will reclaim over 100000 acres of land and will cost over half million dollars On the oppoaite side of the Gila. river there IS body of land of about 30,000 acres 5000 of which has been put in cultivation by Messrs. Franklin, Thomas X Cox and irrigated by pumps, but the whole lies under the line of the great Gila Bend canal, one of the most magnificent enter prises of it's kind in the southwest, hay ing capacity for the reclamation of 250,- GOO acres of land. The head of this canal is located five miles above the town of Buckeye, where a rock cemented dam will be constructed. The course of the canal is along the foothills and parallels the river and the Buckeye country for a distance of fifteen miles, then it crosses the divide eight miles below town at the Buttes and takes in the whole Gila Bend country and some miles beyond. We are informed that work on this enterprise will shortly be commenced and as the heavy rock work of this canal Is in front of our town, we cannot but derive much benefit from it, as half a million of dollars will be necessary to complete the first fiji teen miles in our front With such con templated enterprises in our front and rear. spending vast amounts of money. we would ask what town has a better surroundings or brighter prospects, situ- ated in this vast body of land with no competitor? We are equally distant from Phenix and Gila Bend, and fear no rival " from either. as we will have control of the best markets, the Harqua Hala, Vul- ture, Congress and Copper mines, for our produce, which always sells for more than at Phenix. We have not as yet a railroad, but our freighting to and from the Southern Pacific railroad costs us no more than it does to Phenix, the distance | being the same. Although Phenix has ] the proud distinction of being the terni- nus of railroad, having the general of 1 fees of one. and its name emblazoned with gold on the tail end of the corporate title one. It is much better for the con- munity to have freighters do such haul | ing, then the country retains it's wealth. and We will not be impressed with night mare or phantom of a railroad manager disturbing our slumbers Our town is laid out in blocks and our streets and lots are not of small dimensions Improve ments have been going on steadily since M. E. Hurley, the pioneer merchant, 5 laid down his first load of lumber and commenced erecting his store some eight cen months ago. Since then other stores have been added, private residences, first class hotel, commodious church. school house, corrals, saloon, wagon and black smith shops, The business interests of the town are in the hands of energetic young men. There is not never-smelt- ] powder captain, major or colonel in the town. They are all privates, young and ambitious, MT, Clanton, the owner of the townsite, has given block for park and an aquarium Another block has been set apart for court house site, when our town becomes the county seat of Buckeye county. In stating this 1t is not our purpose to antagonize other parts of our county or create any filibustering movement to sever the connecting ties that bind us to good Mother Phenix In the course of a few years. when this vast country we have described becomes thick ly settled, rich in orchards and vineyards with continental line of railway running through 1t, 1t will be necessary to have the Agua Fria form a county line, and the country west of 1t be divided into two counties. Yuma county giving slice toward one. We will always remember our dear Mother Phenix who has taugh-
 us from early youth how to reclaim these desert wastes.