Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-03-02
SAN JUAN COUNTY, N. M.

The last issue of the Aztec Index
contains a review of the resources OF
that section. and we gladly give same
space in the columns OF The Herald
What benefits Aztec and San Juan
county aids Durango. There is moth.
ing too good for our southern neigh
bors. and We ~ant to see that section
blossom like the rose. careful per
usal of the article will prove bene
fetal:
In this land of buoyancy and
dreams; in this lend where the sun
shines almost perpe;ually; in this
land where the spirit sighs for room
and power TO go forth on the wings
of time and fly into the eternal
realms OF space and look beyond the
fields of earth into the great beyond
wnere have gone so many races of
people whose history to MS In only
imagination. there is one word which,
while being a misnomer, has a more
weird and though uncertain. yet
more enchanting meaning than any
other word in our language. and that
word is Indian"
BY that word Indian" we mean
the people who vera living h4e
when Columbus came To these
shores in 1892. and In the same
sense. the people whose bones lie
moudering along the shores OF the
Animas, on the mesas OF the sur
rounding magnificent valley and the
citidal of the Aztecs across the river.
Less than thirty years ago the
Indians, like Alexander Selkirk were
not only monarchs of this valley, but
of all they surveyed: no paleface
TO say tnam nay in the bent of their
hunts. feasts, rites and inclInations
Presto! February. 1905. no saw
agery, verdant hills. productive val
leys: enlightened people; one rail-
road building: two others surveyed
and another in sight. This is, how
ever, divergence. The Index start
ed out to write up
| History Of San Juan County,
Its resources and possibilities, with
out exaggeration, varnish or plausi-
bilitles.
San Juan county Is In the nOrtn-
western corner OF the territory. The
government monument which marks
its northwestern corner marks the
corners of New Mexico. Arizona,
Utah and Colorado. 1t is adjacent
to the richest mining fields in the
United States.
San Juan county is an empire
| in Itself 1t covers 5,742 square
miles, or to be exact, 3,697 900 acres,
OF which 1858, 400 acres are included
in the Navajo reservation. 1,475,0 900
acres are subject to entry under the
federal land laws, a portion OF which
is temporarily withdrawn; about &c.,
900 acres have been appropriated and
| about 100000 acres are irrigable.
The county is four and one-half times
as large az the state OF Rhode Is
land; three times as large as Della
ware. and 1t contains 900 square
miles more tnan the state OF Connec-
ticut.
| Native grasses grow luxurlantly on
the mesas. Attitudes range from
| D,lOV lctt 10 D,ouO. Iett.
On the La Plata valley. extending to
the San Juan river is a large body
of land called THE Meadows" con-
sisting of about 10000 acres Of un-
broken land, which slopes gently
| from both sides to a dry run or ar
roya in the center. 1t is hve miles
wide in some places and 10 situated
Il ...,ht far. tr,, Inv
The county's greatest wealth lies
in its water for irrigation. Tho
waters are furnished by the rivers
San Juaa, Las Animas and La Plata
The farmers have Joined In con
structing canals and bitches suffic-
lent to irrigate nearly all of the til
liable lands in the first or immediate
bottoms OF the rivers, and also on
some of the mesa lands on the sec
ond bottoms. While the various
bitches and canals under the law
are called corporation or community
bitches, they are owned exclusively
by the farmers and the land owners
having land under them.
The irrigable areas are found on
| thC VI ZIG ASoo Ahi"eD
San Juan and La Plata rivers.
Climate.
There Is no spot on tine globe that
is known to us that is SO eQuable in
climatic conditions. While summer
days are warm. they are not oppres-
sive and the nights are all that could
be desired. Winters are mild, with an
absence Of dampness, with the ex-
ception OF this season, which has
had more than Its usual precipitation
OF rain. while the north and east
have suffered from snow and cold.
This county may be called ths
great sanitarium Of the globe. Those
afflicted with pulmonary diseases.
who come when the disease 10 In the
early stages. are Immediately bene
flied.
Malaria is not known here neither
are chills and fever, while the pure
atmosphere is preventative Of
kindred diseases. There has never
been known case Of native con
sumption. The days Of sunshine aver
| a1a from p16 IN 29O NOR vaar The