Arizona republican., 1898-12-22

barometer of approaching rough wealth
 CT. When the cattle reached the basin
 the storm was on and the snow was drifting and blowing in all directions. The Tonto creek began to freeze early in the evening and the water supply
 was shut off completely. Over three
 feet of snow fell in the lower portion
 of Tonto Basin, and the stock was left
 without any iced. They would have fared better had they remained in the
 mountains as the snowfall was not so great there as it was in the valleys.
 ''In Pleasant valley there are six
 bands of sheep caught without feed,
 and I believe that they will perish un-
 the way of relief There are 20,000
 head in these bands and they are owned
 by Archie Campbell and a number of other Navajo county sheepmen. The
 sheep were in three feet of snow, and
 below them at Clover Springs there is
 still greater depth of snow, SD that the
 herders are unable to move and afford
 relief to the bands. If they can move
 the sheep into the bushes on the mesas they may be able to save their sheep from starvation, but the snow is almost
 too deep to move in any direction.
 understand that there are 30,000 sheep in Tonto Basin en route to this valley, and 150,000 are coming by way of the Verde valley. We measured the snow in Tonto Basin and found that the av- craze depth was three feet and five inches, so you can readily understand the difficulty of driving sheep under such conditions. I apprehend that the losses to the bands in Tonto Basin will be very heavy, but those sheepmen who are taking their bands by way of the Verde will not suffer to any grea; eX- tent from all I can learn. It was the worst storm we have ever seen in Arl- Zona, and it is wonder that more stock was not killed.
 The deer and small game took ref uge in the valleys when the storm be- gan. After the snow feii a light rain came up and a crust formed on the snow which enabled the small game to move with considerable rapidity, but the deer had a tough time getting into the valleys through the deep snow banks, The mountain lions and bears went farther into the recesses of the mountains, and there will be just as many of these beasts to make trouble for the cattlemen as ever before. Storms do not decrease taheir numbers in the least. On the crust of the snow we saw hundreds Of quail frozen stiff, and large numbers of birds were killed by the fury of the storm, which ragged for two days and nights. A rancher in Ecnto Basin told me that h. found sixty quail in his house one morning during the storm, which were driven to shell ter, and the most of them were dead ur in dying condition. The thin crust was perforated With the tracks Of deer. and there ought to be great sport over mere for hunters now Up in the Mazatzat mountains there is not as much snow as there $ in he valleys and in some places il is beginning al ready to melt and if the bands of sheep mad bsen caught higher up they would not have suffered as much I noticed in The Republican that there was no snow on Mount Ord, and 1 would like to know where you go, your informa- tion. On the contrary you can't see 9 dike or a tree anywhere on the big and the gulches are regular glaciers of snow"