Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1904-12-14
IMPRESSIONS OF PIONEER
 ON CONDITIONS OF TODAY
After Nearly Third of Century Pilgrim of the Bradshaws Returns to Investigate The Old
 and We'll Known Mineral Field

section Of Arizona in mines and mln-
 ing, is that attached to the visit to
 Prescott this week of Joe c. Stewart,
 Of Xenia, Ohio.
 The pioneer element of nearly a
 third of a century ago will recall in
 name this gentleman, and they will
 likewise revive the scenes of that day
 as they are so unmIstakably in con-
 trast with the present in every way
 imaginable.
 MT. Stewart, who comes again to
 this section after so long an absence,
 submitted to an interview yesterday,
 and to a representative of this paper,
 he recounted many interesting remi-
 niscences of the early days of the
 seventies, especially signalling the
 mining conditions and what has been
 accomplished sinse that time. As pe-
 culiar as it may seem, this gentleman
 was one of the first miners to go to the
 Bradshaw region to pursue as an op-
 orator the development of its resources | in mining, and after so long time to | intervene he again becomes sieZed
 with the same spirit and is imbued
 with the same ardor as of the days of
 so long ago. He is agreeably disap- pointed all round, to- use his own
 language. Prescott, the shanty town
 of the pioneer has pushed away it's crude habitetIons, and modern city structures supplant the old log huts. Railroads carry one to any point de- sired, and the tortuous stage coach or the pack animal remain only in mem- ory. Silver has passed away as lost art, and copper and gold mining with great depth insure the stability of the industry. Practical work supplants the theoretical dreamer in hunting for pocket of the pure yellow stuff. These and many more are the changes. About the only thing realistic that this gentleman can recall is the senti- ment prevailing that even in the days of the '70's the belief prevailed that time would exemplify the old timers prophecy that when primitive methods were discarded. and the treatment of refractory ores was solved and the transportation problem was accom- plished, the Bradshaw region would come to the front as a district of per manency and richness.
 This has been proven. Mir. Stewart says in connection with his early ex- perience there as miner, he worked the old Hidden Treasure mine, laying near what is now the Grown King, but when the free ore played out, he and | his companions moved to other sec- tiOns, there being at that time no known method by which the base ores could be handled. That was the prin- ciple followed universally in that day, ! when free gold played out on the sur face. property was abandoned because | it could not be made to pay under the conditions in vogue of treating the product. It is due to the regen- { erative principle that has come in re cent years that he goes to that region i to again become identified with it. i Briefly he says that the nearest railroad . in 1873 was over 500 miles away. Out ! rageous prices prevailed iD every ave- 1 nue for the operative expenses of min | ing, and in addition the miner would l pay DO attention to anything unless it i the opposite. Backed with his past experience, his practical knowledge gained accordingly thereby, he is just as enthusiastic and more confident than ever as to the possibilities of that sction and more so now than to any other subdivision of the mining field of this county. The railroad to the Grown King strikes him as forcible and unanswerable argument in the mining possibilities of the future of that region. On this subject he be- comes all the more favorably impressed because the building of this highway is all the more evident that there must be substantial asset to warrant not only the building of this great and piece of railroad work, but it's maintenance must also be linked to the mining development of that section and it must draw on that in dustry exlusively for support. Aside from the scenic beauties viewed along , the route and from the car window, , MT. Stewart crystalizes this feature as one kindred solely to mining, and 1 that it substantially to his mind ce i ments the future of the Bradshaws as , az accomplished fact in energetic { mining. He was somewhat surprised I that this road was less than six months { old, but that Git was better late than ( never" in going into such a well known and highly rated section.