Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1904-01-04
GROWING
RAPIDLY
Past Year Has Been Productive
ofMany Material improvements
In San Juan County.
GENERAL PROSPERITY
Bureau Of immigration Has Done More
to Advertise the Section Than
Any Factor.

Judge Granville Pendleton of Aztec
San Juan County, who has been q
Capitai City visitor for the past few
days having important business before
the territorial Supreme Court, was in
terviewed by the New Mexican regard
ing conditions in his home county. Be
ing vice president of the Bureau of I'M
migration and an indefatigable work
er for the Territory, especially for San
Juan County, his discussion on the
progress that has been made is of gen.
eral interest
"The county of San Juan is growing
very rapidly both in wealth and popu-
lation," said Judge Pendleton. "The
past year has been productive of many
material changes in the general pros
perity Of the county. Through the ex-
cellent work of the Bureau of Immi-
grafton from Is to 100 families have
been added to the population of the
county many of whom are we'll to do
and add materially to the wealth of
the county. The majority of the new
comers are farmers ranchmen and
fruit growers, who invest their money
and add to the material improvements
Among some of the material i'm
provements may be mentioned the
new two story brick structure built
by the Odd Fellows of Aztec, the COM
pletion of the new city hall and large
Touring mill at Aztec, and the estab
lishment by the San Juan Stores Com
pany of a bank and general mercan-
tile store at both Pennington and Az
tee under the general management of
Joe Prewitt of Aztec.
"The San Juan Stores Company hav-
ing absorbed the whole capital stock
and all the business of the late Hyde
Exploring Expedition and having much
new capital added together with all
the holdings of the Hyde Company,
Sand being under the general manage
nent and supervision of Joe Prewitt
with a paid up capital stock of about
and complete stocks of general mer-
chandise, the company has become an
important factor in San Juan County
and is filling long felt want.
The ability, energy and push of Joe
Prewitt, who by the way is probate
clerk and ex-oficio recorder, with his
well known thrift and enterprise is the
guarantee that the San Juan Stores
Company banks and mercantile stock
are to become prime factors in the
growth of the county.
Both Aztec and Pennington are
growing rapidly and the whole county
is making rapid strides in advance
ment. In many Of the school districts
during the past year new brick school
houses have been constructed and sew
eral new school districts have been or
ganized and new and substantial
school houses have been built Many
new farms and ranches have been
opened up, and the whole county pres
ents the appearance of thrift and enter
prise.
Con the San Juan River near Bloom
field the Townsend Ditch is being
much enlarged, under which the First
National Bank of Durango, Colorado.
Fred Bunker of Aztec Henry Schultz
of Bloomfield, and myself have large
tracts of fine rich. fertile lands max
ing in all about seventeen hundred
and sixty acres. While this is small
enterprise, these gentlemen have
from ten to twelve teams and fourteen
to sixteen men at work, and as a result
this large tract of fine rich land will be
ready for farming this spring. This is
the forerunner of other small enter.
prises.
Then a company or syndicate
headed by DR.. J. c. Thurman of Du-
range is now at work making a pre-
1iminary survey for an extensive reser-
voir and canal system in the upper
San Juan River. the head of which is
near the mouth Of Pine River. 1t is
intended to reclaim from thirty to forty
thousand acres of land on the west
side of the San Juan River for q dis
tance of thirty or forty miles above
Pennington. Deputy United States
Surveyor Jay Turley is in charge of
the preliminary survey, with a corps
of engineers.
"The crops of San Juan County have
been good during the past year. The
fruit crop is very fair and many cars
of fruit, especially winter apples have
been shipped from Durango to local
points in Colorado and the west, while
quite large shipments have gone to
Chicago and other eastern points. DIR.
John w. Coolidge shipped his immense
crop of apples to Scranton, Pennsyl-
vania, where they were pronounced
the finest ever seen in any markets Of
the Keystone state.
'eNew Mexico, Colorado, Utah and
Wyoming consume large amounts Of
San Juan County fruits. Many new
orchards growing the finest and most
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