Arizona republican., 1904-07-26
AN OVERLAND JOURNAL
An Alhambra Party TraverSing
 Northern Arizona.

Camp Verde. Ariz, July 9, 1904.- Especial correspondence to the Rcpub- lican.)-Your correspondent is few miles from home, bu. nevertheless of a writing frame of mind and enjoying himself up on the Verde. Our party consists Of five persons, viz: Miss Jessie P. Gibb, MT. D. T. Young, my self and family, ali of Alhambra and the Salt river valley.
 We left home July 9th, travelling overland via the Black canyon route journeying leisurely. arriving here cn the evening Of the 12th.
 A few lines aboIt the roads, water supply. etc, as we came may not be amiss in this so dry a country, and es- pecially in SO dry a season as this one is. We provided Oug aquIpment with two ten-galIon water kegs, one on each side of the wagon, besides two vell-coveTed CanteeEs, the former were to serve for water for the team cD route and the latter for our own use. The drive from the Arizona (NIr. Hsr-
 den's station) to New river. of tw.dty- five miles, was warm, although we got a starlight start. We found the " sll at
 New liver very low, but causeI by watering stock from the range above Doe" expected. however, 70 nave it lowered some to tide him ever till it really might rain. The next drive was | tn Mrs. Goddard's. where we found the we'll to be in good condition and a fair supply. X good rest was here taken.
 for both man and beast, IS the next
 pull over to Bumble Zee contained the
 well-knOwn Black canyon and Raster
 creek hills, which we took our time in
 ascending and which we fourd to be in
 fair condition. some work having been
 done on these roads this spring. I nights rest at Rumble Bee, where we found stock water in the creek and | hay at s1.5O per bale; we pulled out for i Cordes, the road up the creek was very
 sandy, and thus a hard pull, after a ! lunch and feed and water for the team 1 and a three-hours' rest Tt the foot of | Antelope hill, we slowly made the as~ cent although this hill is not as long as the black canyon, yet it is equally as rough We arrived, however. with no mishap at Cordes and went into l camp and spent Sunday.
 | While here we met MT. and Mrs. l Evans of Rancho Bonita, Mesa. Their party contained six, and they were 1 bound for the Grand canyon. In their party were two young men from the ! Ann ATbor Mich, university, who came out but a CIV days before from their home to join MT. Evans on the | trip They were surely tenderfeet and thought Arizona very different from their Michigan home, but were making 1 the most of it and trying to imagine green gress and beautiful lakes. Here 1 at COrdes the we'll was with plenty of water; also stock water in the creek. i We pulled out early Monday morning 1 for our next camp at Seneca Flats, on i the former Hance place. This is a 32
 mile drive although not a very rough road. It was on these long days drives | that we ound our water kegs to be SD useful, as we would halt every hour
 or two and Graw the horses a bucket i of water q piece, which was as refresh- | ing them as a drink from the can | teen was 10 us.
 1 A stop at noon in Ash creek, where there is plenty of good shade and drift | wood with which we had a cooked meal, feed and drink for the team and
 q good rest, and we were off again. As 1 the sun began to lower we hove in sight of the Flats and the spring. which con
 tained about it's normal flow of wa
 ter. Here we watered and pulled up i another mile and Camped over night at John Crosby's ranch and enjoyed a visit with our former valley neighbor 1 We now had but ten miles between us and the Verde valley, arriving at the post shortly before noon. The sight of 1 green, sweet scented alfalfa here was
 certainly an inspiring change from viewing bleak and barren hills for sev- eral days and passing SO many poor
 starving cattle along the route. We saw such numbers that were but skin | soVering q rack of bones and ready to
 stdgSer and join the long list of hun
 dreds died before
 l It is awful to hear the cattlemen
 speak of them and how they have near
 ly all died Two months more and they
 tell us that not a head of stock will
 be left in the hills.
 l We are pleasantly domiciled at the
 ranch of MT. and Mrs. l.. B. Bell. four miles down the Verde. and canned
 near their beautiful spring of clear
 cold water, and surrounded by cotton
 wood shade. The temperature is rnucb | lower here than at home, nearly each
 day a cool breeze springing m and 1 continuing until nearly sundown T5ls ] with the shade cold spring water and
 plenty to satisfy ones hunger. makes
 lie surely worht the living. All we
 lack now is rain and Wednesday
 night we received a start. when siy
 hours of a slow, steady rain fell. wet ting down into mother earth abo,,+ five inches
 MT. and Mrs. Aken of North Center
 street Che of piano fame) are spondinp
 the warm days camped at the RclI
 ranch. having arrived about four weeks
 ago. MT. Aiken is getting his hand in
 learning to ranch as the Verde farmers
 do put With a better water supply than