The herald., 1896-04-26

Acequias, QftcheS, Feeders and lateralS
upon whose plan no man has yet been
able to improve. are evidences of a civ
3lixatiOn older than the Montezumas
and the Moquis; the Pimas and the
Pueblos have strange traditions of a
race that dwelt there and cultivated the
fields centuries, yes, aeons, ago. But
the little we know of the Land of For
action History makes it to us "a new
country"
OF course there are some who have
preempted many privileges in this land
beyond where the swirling torrent of
the Rio Colorado flows southwark on
its way to the sea. There are always
some who are wise enough to peer into
the future and discern what lies behind
the dim and misty veil. And these men,
0ingularly enough, are men who nave
oarned fame and fortune in the outer
n orld, in the world of crowds. of seeth
1ng effort and stern .endeavor. Such men,
indeed as Marshal Field. Phil Armour
and Jack Philbin of Chicago. ID. NJ
Perry of Detroit, Francis Cutting, n.
X, Masten and c. d. Lane of San Fran
CISCO. These men are only few who
have invested in many things; in irri-
cation, in railroads, in lands and mines.
With the former mentioned j have
nothing to do, as at this time L shall
direct your attention solely to those vast
deposits of copper, with which the ter
fitory is literally fioored. In previous
article published in these columns eX-
haustively treated mining, as a general
term, and so at this time shall conflne
myself to the single metal. Precious
metals, as d mining term. is generally
applied to silver and gold, but ii seems
TO me that any metel is precious if there
rs q sufficient amount of 1t, providing
1T can be mined at a profit. If my view
of the matter is correct copper Is surely
q precious metal so far as Arizona IS
concerned, for the mining of it alone
WAnV Vys
dollars per year.
Now, do not make the mistake of sup
posing this a bit of new Information,
for it is not. The existence of this enor-
mous wealth has been known for CEN
turies. In the XVI century when Fran
els Vasquez de Coronado was appointed
Niceroy de Nueva Galicia he built his
palace upon the shores OF the Gull or
California and sent out an exploring
party under the leadership of Fray
Marcos de Mia, Generate del Padres
hranciscan,- who was the first white
man to cross the Colorado and enter
what is now known as Arizona. This
expedition was supposed to be for the
purpose of ChristianiZing the natives,
but the real end was the looting of the
cities of the Pueblos who dwelt in the
country upon which Phoenix, Prescott
Tucson and Tombstone now stand. In
their explorations they We're much
amazed to find the Indians using many
implements made of, pure copper. So
long as they We're treated kindly these
red men were disposed to return treat
ment in kind, but when the explorers de-
termined upon campaign OF blood the
children of the desert rebelled. and Es-
tevanico, a Spanish negro, whom DE
Mia had brought along, and who was
really the first foreigner to put 1oot
In Arizona, was burned at the stake
somewhere in the vicinity of Phoenix.
In time, however. the natives were con-
uuered and De Mia continued his loot
ing, pillaging village after village, until
in the course of their northward journey
they reached that country now known
as the Jerome mining district. where
they found the source of all the copper
weapons whose existence had so SUI
rrised him and his followers rms
mine is now known as the United Verde
and is owned by j. A. Clark of Montana.
De Mia made slaves of the Indians
and compelled them to Work tne
mines. The methods were crude, ana
tradition says that. overcome by the
foul air and arduous labor. thousands
Of them perished in the underground
vaults. But the hard old Spaniards eX-
tended neither clemency nor pity, and
with relentless purpose, enslaVed more
red men as more workmen were needed
In the fullnes of time. however the
natives tired of this inhumen treatment
and, rising in revolt against the white
gods who spoke with thunder and
killed with lightning, killed many and
pursued the Others even unto the neither
, confines on the burning sands of the
J. Colorado desert
And tradition says that Mus--Ton-o-
Nah, chief of the counsels, made an or
der that never again should Indians
mine, and commanded that all the
shafts that had been dug beneath the
, lash of the Spanish masters were
to be filled to the brim and the tools
destroyed, for it was superstition cur
rent among them from that time on that
by digging holes bad devils We're loosed
from the bosoms of the earth.
Whether the tradition is true or not,
lies not with me to say. I only know
that many mines have been discovered
dn Arizona, and that in nearly all in
stances the shafts have been filled
with boulders and covered with brush.
This is the case with the United Ver-
de, which was uncovered by party of
prospectOrs nearly seven years ago. The
, mouth was covered with dry brush and
filled to the very top with large stones
and the old trash that had been dug
from it by the Indians nearly three cen
,turies before. During the excavation
many old Spanish relics We're uncover
ed among them being a number of
. picks, a water jar. a copper bell and
helmet and many other traces of former
working.
!, After they mad gone down some dis
! tance the prospectors disposed of the
mine to Gov. Tritle. who put men to
work and went down two hundred feet
Ore he discovered, ore in plenty. but it
was not sufficiently rich to pay for the
working, so that after spending eight
cen months and much money sinking a
shaft he gave it up. and. compared with
its real value, sold it for a mere song
to James A. Clark, the Montana mill
ionaire. Mr.. Clark visited the mine,
and, in order to discover what kind of
, q prospect he had. put in blast When
the rocks had ceased falling and the
dust had cleared away. there lay un-
covered a vein of copper of dazzling
richness. IA
! Gov. eTritle had beggared himself
sinking a shaft through the trash left
by the Spaniards and thrown back in
the mines by the Indians. Machinery
was Immediately put in and opera
fiOn commenced upon a mine which now
/ employs 400 men and produces $780,
900, 900 per year. The ore is so rich in
gold and silver that enough of the latter
metals is obtained to pay the working of
l;the copper. 1t is one of the most Won
derful copper properties in the world
+, and enough ore is now uncovered to
warrant the assertion that enough re-
mains to employ the 400 men for fifty
years.
: Another wonderful property called
Copper Queen is located at Bisbee and
owned by the Copper Queen Consolida-
- iv,rr TI,s