The Washington weekly post., 1899-07-25
Eron TIE ssn Francisco cal

From the san Francisco Cali
There are several interesting illustra-
lions OF the advanced new woman in Ari-
zCna TerritOry-fOT instance. women
rsnehers, women vaqueros. Dank cashiers,
stable-keeDers and butchers-but the one
whose occupation most thoroughly inter-
ests newcomers to Arizona is Miss Sarah
u. Burks. She is a jolly. blonde, sturdy,
and brave little body of about twenty-five
years and her occupation is carrying the
United States mail over the star route
from ST. Johns TO Jimtown twice week.
The distance from st. Johns TO the end OF
the route is fifty-two miles. and IL re-
quires good deal of stout-heartedness, a
liberal supply of self-cOnfidence. with
dash Of love for adventure. for any one
10 make the trip. For young woman
TO make it, why. il requires the very es
senCe Of daring and COHlnesS.
The mail route leads through as wild
and desolate and God-forsaken a region
as one may well imagine Rocky. barren,
mountainous. bleak and blasted are weak
Hng adjectives for description. Tiny
streams there are poisoned with alkali.
Navajo Indians and occasionally an
Apache who has burst the restraint of
the reservation over to the southwest are
somewhat plentiful in that region, but
white mon seldom 60 there. and then only
70 get the silver and copper which have
been literally strewn throughout this
bIghting. fierce region. Nothing in the
way of vegetation can grow there. II l.,
simply a region Of rich minerals deposited
by titantic volcanic action long cons ago.
\ jagged, barren surface of volcanic
rock, mountainous heaps of volcanic
ashes, broad rivers of solicited lava, miles
in length and so rough of surface as to be
impossible by man or beast. tell of the
forces that once made all that havoc
Springs so strongly alkaline as to be fatal
10 whatever drinks Of them rise here and
there from the rocky earth. Mountains
jagged and bare burst abruptly from the
rough and broken plain.
Her DesoIate Route
Along the western border Of this ieso-
late, unCanny wilderness Miss Sarah
Burks rides twice week Generally she
is alone, and If she has a companion he Is
miner, commercial traveller. or may
hap Territorial lawyer who has rented a
horse from Miss Burks father, and she Is
10 collect payment Tor the same, and see
to the care of the horse. Notwthstand-
ing her uncommon occupation, and the de-
pressing lOneSomeneSS and affrighting
qualities of the long rides over the route.
Miss Burks is always light-hearted. and
although she realizes that constant watch
fulneSS and GOODNESS are very requisite in
the performance of her duties and for her
self-prOtectiOn in such a region, she is
seldom nervous. She is simply a resOlute
girl who knows that she has a duty to
perform, however hazardous il may be-
for the benefit of her invalid father and
her little brothers and sisters. She says
she IS a fatalist, and that no matter how
much danger may environ she will not
come to her death until the appointed
hour She is always armed with shooting
irons, and when a mere child she was the
crack shot of the mining camp at Harqua
Hala.
! In 1885 Joseph BUrks and his family
came from 21 Keap street, near Division
avenue, RrOoklyn, to Flagstaff, Ariz, be-
cause Of Mrs. Burks' lung disease. She
died in 1892, and Mr.. Burks engaged In
wool growing just in time TO lose all of his
S21 900 in the industry when the Wilson
tariff law went into effect. The Burks
/ family moved to st. Johns. in Apache
county, and the father opened little liv-
| cry stable, while the family lived in
/ tent.
Driven to the Work.
/ Two years ago Mr.. Burks took the
/ United States mail contract over the
/ star route from st. Johns to the COP
( per and silver camp Of Jimtown and on
( the Showlow, in Navajo County. Mr..
Burks hesftated long about taking the
/ contract, because of the hazardous char
} acter OF the route. But the family was
/ in a sad financial plight and the six
/ children needed care. So the contract for
; carrying the mails was signed, and Mr.
/ BuTks became the pOStman across the
/ lonely, blighted region from ST. Johns to
Jimtown, where he hired man to carry
. the mail On to ShOwlOw. In June, 1898,
Mr. Burks was severely I'll, and for q
time his life was despaired Of. The con-
tract to carry the mail had to be filed
or the bondsmen would be liable. There
+ was but one thing to DO, when Mr.. Burks
l. cfrLy uppnpSoinuu at homo