Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-09-02
AN ARIZONA DELUGE,
Preceded by an American Kind
Of Simeon.
MESA CITY IsA PARADISE.
A Vine aud Fig Tree fr Every Set
tler-But Wntered T. nd is No,
Going BegginE


an illustration Of the wonderful trans
FORMATION Of COUNTS when brought
under the effects Of irrigation, a. II
witnessed in this pert u Arizona l
have seen In Utah. the sage brush
growing In its priu sval majesty upon
its native soil hesiie waving fields Of
grain, and l tho' ght the widest con-
trast e.. wesr dcfcft waste and a
frultiu, Told there fully exempli'
fed; but whr one stands upon the
banks OF IL 80 Arizona canals anu
sees on one Dc nothing growing amid
the bprr'n. sands but the thorny
member { the cactus family AMI on
the other side the fig, the pomegranaie,
tho orange ana the grapevine laden
with their luscious fruit II seems to mo
the contrast has reached IT. widest
limit.
Salt River valley IL the richest part
Of Arizona. 10 Is ifomifhoen 10 thirty
miles wide and about sixty miles long.
and IL watered by the Salt liver, Rio
Verde, and In the valley by the Ola.
Phmnix, Tempe and Mesa are iis
largest towns. Pbwnlx 10 a beautiful
city. Its streets are widor than u
usual in other towns In this country,
aud they are lined on each side with
rows Of umbrella trees, while IT,
houses are Loot amid a perfect Sea Of
fruit and shade trees. II has many
fine buildings, both public ana private.
IL claims n population of 10000. For
miles out In every direction eirctcu
tho farming districts. Almost every
farm IL surrounded by n row OF cotton
wood trees that give the whole ouun.
try from little distance the appear.
anoe OF forest. Broad pastures Of
alfalfa are seen on every hand, on
which numerous herds OF cattle are
fed.
The sun was getting low IN the west
when we resumed our journey, our
course took W. along the canal east.
ward COR some distance anu then down
long avenue by the Indian school
and out past the insane asylum to-
wards Tempe. The day had been mn
unusually hot one. Way or to the
that threatened thunuerstorm. AZ
the day closed we noticed the clouds
spread rapidly over the sky anu ~
they did 70 n great cloud Of yellow
dust ross from the desert and spread
over thu valley. As It approached us
II presented one Of the most beautiful,
most unnatural, sights I ever saw.
High up ABOVE the earth were the
strata OF snow-white clOuuH, below aud
forminKa link between earth and sky
was the whirling mass Of yellow sands.
have seen pictures representing ths
great sandstOfm6 40 common on tho
deserts OF Africa, and read OF travellers
who were caught In them being
wrapped IN n cloud Of darkness aud
smothered and buried midst thu sea Of
shifting enDd. This was the nearest
approach 10 anything Of the kind |
ever saw, but / am now ready 10 be-
lieve all that / have read concerning
them.
We were fording the Salt river hnd
Just entering Tempe when tho storm
struck ". We were sheltered from the
force Of the VIM, but the cloud oil sand
made everything ~ dark as night IN
Less than minute. We followed the
road a. best we could aud got into the
town. Being warned by the great scat.
teTing drops that fell, Of the approach
OF n shower, we made camp In the
street and, tying our horses under the
shelter VI some trees, just had time 10
get under the wagon cover ne the
storm broke upon US. The rain fell In
torrents and as there seemed no im-
mediate prospects OF let.up, we
made up our bed ~ beet We could and
tried TO sleep. When we cuwlsd out
next morning the rain had ceased, but
the whole country seemed TO be n lake
OF moving water. All around us was
Whitewater every where. The horses
stood In II nAlf way to the knee; our
harness that we had thrown under tue
wagon was covered; our "gruh.box"
was iull; tbs water barrel was floating
Ia II. After surveying the situation
for minute or two, came 10 the
conclusion that tho lrishman was
about right when no said that II rains
with less judgment In this country
than any country he ever saw.
We rolled up our bTetches and wal.
ing about gathered up our traps aud
hiiching up the horses pulled out. A.
4 am, we reached Mesa, sos miles
from home. Ms we drove through the
structure the old familiar legend,
~. @, NJ. l." There Ia no mistaking
the meaning OF those letters. They
are exclusively Mormon,
Mesa CITY IL the center OF the upper
Salt River valley. IL has a popu alton
ofbstween 1900 and 1000. Until quite
recently the majority Of the people
were MormOns, Tut VI late Mormon
immigration has almost ceased, while
that Of nou.Mormons has increased
until now they nfe IN the majority.
We cannot understand how II Ia mat
there are every year large numbers OF
people leaving Utah anu coming south
10 seek homes, who no RICH by this
Valley tbs richest, In climate con.
eiuered, that there IL In the entire
West; and where for the last hiteub
years there has been excellent oppOr.
tunltieb fOr milking hOmpf, aud where
today | would rather take my chances
OF making a home than 1 would many
other part Of tue south have stem. /
cannot account for the seeming avoid.
hnCe of thus valley 10y our people, only
that It's climate IA misrepresented ana
misunderstood, b fore leaving Utah
was told TO stay away from
this section Of Arizona, that
the heat was just simply awful,
and that | could never endure II. Now
on tho contrary ! do not fnd the neat
at all oppressive. have ielt the
elects Of the lun far more in Cache
county than / felt Il here, and for
sultry neat duriup July and August,
Salt Lade City boats tins place All To