Arizona republican., 1899-10-26
ABOUT ARIZONA WEATHER
An Interesting Letter From an Old
Timer on the Subject.

The following letter to the Journal
Miner by Captain w. H. Hardy of
Kingman, who is well known as a vet
eran Hassayamper, is especially inter-
esting to residents of this valley. where
he is well known:
I notice that none OF the first settlers
have made any reference to the wealth
| er in the days that have passed. Ari-
IONA, like northern California, is sub
| ject to great extremes. During the
winter of 1S63-64 1 came to Arizona. In
crossing the desert on the Mohave
river there were several settlers and
they told me it had not rained for two
years 1 crossed the Colorado river
January 3 1864. 1 soon met parties
who had been mining on Lynx creek
and they told me it had not rained for
one year past On March II a party of
four, three of them being Thomas Mat
thews, William King and Ned Morris
started from Lynx creek (there was no
settlement in Prescott) with a train of
mules to go to Fort Mohave to get sup
plies, as provisions had given out at
the river. 1t commenced showing
when they camped at Williamson val
ley and in five days over four feet of
damp snow had fallen. Had 1t not
been that the party struck a trail made
by a band of about 100 antelope in go
ing to a lower altitude, the party would
have lost their mules 1t rained on the
Colorado river for three days and the
ground was so soft we could not get
about for nirinS down.
In 1865, the latter part of November,
I started for Prescott. We reached
Williamson valley the last day of No
vember and the next morning the snow
nj. L
at Fort. Whipple and built the first
sleigh in Arizona There was good
sleighing all during December and the
thermometer registered below zero
every morning. Soon after January /
it moderated and on the eth we start
ed for home. We found Louie St. James
near Williamson valley. He had an OK
team and had wintered in the hills.
Some soldiers who We're located at
Flagstaff came into Prescott about the
middle of December and reported six
feet of snow at that place They lost
their horses and made themselves snow
shoes out of horse hides, but came near
losing their lives.
In the spring of 1865, with seven 9th
er men. visited Salt River valley. We
found Jack Swilling camped a little
east of where the asylum now stands
We picketed our horses and took turns
standing guard. One of the guard shot
at an Indian. Next morning we found
moccasin tracks made by Pinal Indians
the mOccasins being peculiar in that
they had peaked toes. We went over
the ground where Jack proposed to dig
a ditch. We found the ancient ditch
where the water had been taken from
Salt river. The river had washed the
channel nearly thirty feet deep, so that
dam would have to be built thirty
feet high in order to use this ditch that
had probably been dug by race of
people thousands of years previous /
The prospect of having to guard .
against Indians and the distance from !
a market caused US to give up the idea
Of investing there, but soon others did
and today we behold there the flourish
ing and modern city of Phoenix and the
lovely ranches and orchards surround
ing it.
The winter of 1S66-67 was a wet one
General Mcdowell made a tour OF the
territory to inspect and locate military
posts. He found the Hassayampa river
a river indeed. He lost, two men in at
tempting to cross it and had to wait
a few days in order to construct boats
out of wagon beds. He also had great
difficulty in crossing the Salt and ella
rivers.
So, after all these years of close OBJ
servation of the climatic conditions and
changes, and taking the past for a cri-
terion. 1 think we may reasonably ex-
and wet.