Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1905-08-07

used by them in addition to that requir
ed for the government works.
During the campaign for the voting
of the Tonic road bonds a great deal
was said pro and con about the value
of that great thoroughfare to this val
ley. Mr.. Fowler having been one of the
foremost in favoring that enterprise he
very naturally had a great deal Of
curiosity to know whether the enter
prise is making good" whether the
traffic is al that was expected. With
that in mind he made a note of a few
things as he Travelled over the line. On
the day he went up from Mesa to
Roosevelt with Mr. Hill. they passed
fifty-four outfits on the road. That
does not include the teams that left
Mesa after them; only the teams they
met and caught up with during the
day. On the return trip Mr.. Hill ac-
companied Mr.. Fowler back as far as
Fish Creek. They left the dam site
about 8 o'clock in the afternoon, stop
ped at various places to inspect things
along the road and got to Fraser's at
6: 80 o'clock in the evening. Between
the dam site and Frasers they passed
twenty seven outfits. On Saturday
between F'raser's and Mesa Mr.. Fow-
Ter passed fifty-nine more outfits. And
on every outfit there were two men.
That is the different teams averaged
two men, Some had several and some
only one. But in any event it shows
that there are daily between one and
two hundred men travelling over the
thorOughfare beside the wagons and
stock Another thing that impressed
Mr. Fowler was a casual look up the
Tonic creek road while he was at the
dam site. A year or two ago when he
visited the same place there wasn't a
living thing in sight. When he took
his observation this time, up the same
road. he counted from the one view
point. thirty different outfits. In a
casual way these facts give one a very
fair conception of the traffic that is
going on over these new roads and the
freaI busy part of the work is only fair
ly commencing.
It is unnecessary perhaps to say that
the government officials are satisfied
with results so far and they propose
to Keep the road in fine condition, that
it will not only be a great business
| thOroughfare but a desirable route for
| tourists as well. They have taken
steps to keep its control within their
| power so it may not become a lair for
! highwaymen or an inviting place for
/ the establishment of saloons and road
! houses of an immoral nature. When the
+ enterprise was undertaken the govern
ment withdrew from entray tract
/ Of land extending one mile south from
! the center of the river between the
/ dam site and GOldfield. It was found
( that IN. some instances this did not en-
! tirely protect the road and there were
nIacas where road houses might be
1 al md % %
out the government reserve. There
unon a. wider tract was deemed desir-
able and Mr. Hill has just been noti-
fled that two more miles have been
withdrawn from entry making the strip
/ three miles wide south from the center
of the river. The government has full
control of this territory and the gin MIL
man has no friends ia the reclamation
/ service.
/ Another feature of the storage pro-
/ iect that too much cannot be SAID
! about is its value in the education of
the Indian. the ward of the govern
ment. The government having under
/ taken to civilize the red man 1t was
| confronted with the necessity OF IND
ing something for him to do for the
| business of scalping and rObbing white
men was so badly interfered with II
was no longer pIoilldble- F'I tAe N''
educated Indian there was no field of
endeavor except manual labor and that
was a limited one. The storage project
opened an avenue of employment toI
many men in unskilled lines, parucu-
| larly in road making, shovelers, etc
Wherever it was practicable to do Sc
these Jobs were offered to the ApacheS
of that section and many Of them were
glad to accept them. Some of the fore
men report that their Apache shovel
ers are willing workers and can do as
much or more work than a white man
They are glad to get the work and seen
to be proud of the privilege anC
faithful in its performance. There is
nothing quite so restraining from evi
/ influences as plenty of good hard work
and there is no longer doubt that {
great many of the natives will be made
into good Indians long before they die