Arizona republican., 1899-03-31
SANTA MARIA DISTRICT.
indications of former Mining ACtiv-
 iiY Nofed By ProSpeCfors.

Within the last year there has beer
 a number of small prospects located 1T
 the Santa Maria district. The belt is situated below the Bill Williams fork
 of the Colorado river and extends along it's banks for ever forty mfles. It lies beyond an immense box canyon which iii the judgment of men qualified c
 pass an opinion, is admirably situated for the storage of water; or, as has
 been suggested the waters might be
 utilized in furnishing thousands of
 horse power in the shape Of electric
 currents to innumera ble mines
 throughout the section.
 It is surprising that so rich and we'll
 defined mineral region has not only
 been lying dormant, but has hereto
 fore been practically unexp}ored. It
 is literally checkersd with veins bear
 ing copper and gold and also some Si!-
 yer. A close examination will reveal
 a good grade of gold and silver, but
 there is no likelihood that phenom-
 enally rich strike could be made. How ever, the ore may be easily mined, and
 it is of a nature to. satisfy the capital
 which seeks an abundance of low grade ore in preference to concealed pockets, though rich
 The few explorers who have been through the country have discovered arrastraS and other indications which denote that either the Mexicans or ln- dians at one time were not ignorant of the mineral wealth There are now a few prOspectOrs who are working small claims with crude machinery and it is reported that they are meeting with all the success that could well be expected. Some of them are expecting 1nv- hi 4 T. ,i,, prospects in the near future.
 One drawback which is at first ap- parent is the lack of transportation fla cilities and the exorbitant prices charged for supplies from the neigh boring towns. The former difficulty can only be overcome by the estab- fishing of plant Of sufficient capacity to justify regular system of freight ing. The Congress mine is only fifTy miles distant and with no cor siderable expense a road could be built over the toughest ranges and the tranSpCrta- tion problem would be solved. With the present road there is no doubt that many mines could be established as a practical busiRess proposition The freighting Iat6 even now, if the sup ply freighted is plentiful, would not prevent a fair profit if the copper glances were worked. The recent jump in the copper markets has presented rare opportunities for just such re- gions as the ona under description. and they only await the arrival ot capital to surmount the comparatively noMi- nal natural disadvantages. Another deposit which has been noted to some extent is the lead. In quality it. is al- most pure and in contrast with the usual deposits Of lead in Arizona. a large number of the veins contain ab- no silver.
 It is thought that smelter centrally located would be practical business These mining opportuni- ties alone do not form the entire base for the predictions which are made that at no great length of time a rail road will be introduced The land is thoroughly adapted to agricultural purposes and the storage of an abun- dance of water fer irrigating purposes would not be difficult measure A scheme was once attempted to store he water in the box canyon below the Bill Williams Fork, but from the na- -ure of the surroundings the scheme was thought to be impracticable and was dropped, but the attempt was sug- 5eSIlve that the water might be used 1t different place. The first motive vas to water an entirely different tract of land, and the agricultural value If he Santa Maria region was not con ;idered.