Mohave County miner., 1898-07-02
WoBaVE
 COUNTY.
BRIEF SRETcB OF ITS HISTORY
 END RESOURCE.

Mohave county Is one of the four original political divisions into which Arizona was di yided aftet Its segregation from New Mexico fin 1854 It Is bounded on the west by the Col orsdo river; on the south by Yuma county Bill Williams Fork of the Colorado being the dividing line: on the east by Yavspai and Co conino counties. and on the north by Utah and Nevada. It Is traversed from north to south by high ranges of mountain, between which are broad and fertile valleys.
 From the earliest discovery of the precious metals until the advent of the railroad in 1882 the county's progress was handicapped by its isolation. All machinery and supplies had to he hauled across the desert from Los Angeles or San Bernardino or shipped from San Fran cisco down through the Pacific and into the Gulf of California At Port Isabell the cargo was transferred to fiat bot.omed boats which nayis ated the Colorado to a distance of five hundred miles from its mouth. owing to low water in the river boats would be compelled to await rise before they could start for the camps and mining villages on its upper waters. ca many occasions six and eight months elaps- ed between trips and on these occasions the inhabitants were sometimes reduced to . diet of beans, seasoned with tallow candle or an ill-fayored jack rabbit In these early years the Indians evinced q decided partiality to keep the white population from increasing too rapidly. and many prospector met horrible death at their hands in the lonely mountain fastnesses Harsssed by the Indians, with poor food and poorer shelter. and hundreds of miles of waterless desert between them and civilization the lot of the Mohsve county pio- neer was not an enyiable one. Now all Is changed. The Indian is at peace with the whites and his copper colored offspring is be- ing educated at three government institutions of learning within the county, while 6 great transeontinental railway traverses the county from east to west.
 The area of Mohsve county Is 16,oOo square miles.
 The population of the county at the present time is estimated to be 2,5O0 and increasing at the rste of about 500 per year.
 Klngman, a village situated on the line of the Santa Fe Pacific railroad, is the county seat. Its population is about 700. The town nestles in little valley, between the low roll ing foothills of the Cerbat and the towering peaks of the wsllapsi mountain ranges. At the present time Kingman is the supply point for the greater portion of the county. The town has many residences that would do credit to villages In the eastern states. Flow CTS of every variety are grown In profusion. Here we have handsome brick schoolhouse, capable of seating 300 pupils; one church (M E.); two newspapers: three wholesale and re- tail mercantile houses; lodging houses, restau- rants and hotels sufficient to accommodate the requirements of the people; and the compile ment of saloons usually found in q western mining village. Two meat markets supply the inhabitants with the juicie of stallfed beef. One drugstore supplies all the drugs. medicines and druggists sundries to the peo- pie of the whole county. Two physicians look after the physical welfare of the populace. There are tour practicing attorneys resident of the town. Prices of all staples are very req sonable. Two sampling works, operated by L. J. Lassell. sample aud purchase all ores from the nelghboring mining camps offered for sale Tn Kingmsn. Surrounding the town in every direction are the mines and mining camps of the county which in the past twenty Ave years have produced fully forty million dollars in gold and silver. Besides this pro. 8uct of the precious metals the baser mstsls such as lead and copper have be,n produced
 
 time the production of lead amounted to two hundred and fifty tons per mouth. but owing to the low price of pig lead in later years its production has only been in connection with the richer ores of gold and silver.
 Mohave county Is essentially mining coun- try. From north to south thcee distinct mouu- tain ranges traverse the country and the rocky sides of all of them are ribbed and seams sd with lodges carrying mineral of every descrip- ton. Nowhere on earth can a greater variety of the worlds minerals be found than here. Twas here that Humboldt expressed his belief that the great treasure vault of the world ex- isted and to obtain this treasure, thousands of men sacrificed their lives m those early days of Americas civilization No savage Indians. no burning desert sands could keep the hardy prospsctor away from the land of treasure. He blazed the way for a new ciyilization-~he gave to the world untold wealth We are today reaping the fruits of his labors, and will con tinue to reap until the end of time.
 The earliest settlers of Mohaye claim that the first mineral found in the county was in the San Francisco mining district east ot camp Mohave. A great deal of gold was taken from these first locations aud today they are ac cOunted FaluaOie prOperby. The couhuss Oi the district were too limited and the prospec tor soon found his way across the valley into the Cerbat and wallapsi mountain ranges. Tn these ranges the production of the precious metals was chiefly confined to that of silver. The surface ores was wonderfully rich. Thou sands of tons of ore was shipped by the river route to San Francisco. thence to Swansea, England. for reduction. It took good ore to stand the great expense of shipment, but the ores were rich enough to return to the pro-