Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-01-16
OVERLAND ID
 ROOSEVELT
Contributor to Phoenix Paper Tells of Beauties of Trip from Mesa to Roose- velt-Places of Historic Interest All Along the Stage Route.

The following is contribution to the Phoenix Gazette:
 In this age of palace cars and state rooms, real stage ride is indeed a novelty, and the one from Mesa to Roosevelt is perhaps the most interest ing and beautiful stage ride to be had in the United States today,
 At Mesa we find good aceommoda- tions for the night at the Alhambra hotel, where we are called in time for nice breakfast, before the stage dashes up to the door and we mount for real oldtime stage trip that re- minds us of the stories that our par ents told of fifty years ago,
 At the crack of the whip we are off. For ten miles we pass through one of valley, with its green fields and fat cat tie. Then comes the desert, the desert that is to be reclaimed by the great Tonto basin and dam project which we are to visit. At Desert Wells our four tired horses are exchanged for four fresh ones.
 Starting from there we see the old Superstition mountains and Goldfeld in the distance, both of which are of inter. est to the historian. Goldfeld is one of the first places that made Arizona ia nous for its gold mines.
 Superstition mountain was pointed out to the early settlers with awe by the Indians on account of the complete annihilation of one of their tribes there by the Apaches, who, after stealing their cattle and horses, killed them all except two small children, a boy and a girl. The boy and girl were rescued by man living near where the town of Florence now is. He took them as his own and educated them. The boy is now a prominent physician in Chi cago.
 So completely was everything de stroyed that the other tribes were afraid of the mountain and warned the white man whom he wished to be- friend that it was "bad medicine. v The mountain is in sight long time, giving a fine view from many points. On the opposite side of the road are vast stretches of Palo Verde trees.
 Continuing, we enter the real noun tain country and again procure fresh horses at Government Wells. The time goes on so rapidly, as we are enjoying the mountain scenery, that we reach Mormon Flat quickly. This place also gets its name from an awful night of Apache slaughter. A company of emi, grant Mormons were completely de. stroyed here and all their property stol- en. Here we change horses again, and as we climb the grade we begin to see beautiful Fish Creek mountains, and as we come nearer we have a small part of the Grand Canyon spread before us.
 As we begin to descend into the creek valley we see the cosy little hotel where we know nice dinner is await ing us. After refreshing ourselves and securing fresh horses we are again off for a long climb to Roosevelt, passing mines that were worked thirty years ago, and when everything was packed in and out on burros. We pass the old Christmas mine, but with the later discoveries of gold and copper these places have been abandoned until the electric ear can reach them and carry their great wealth to market. At many places the road runs along the river, with high mountain peaks on either side.
 So we reach Roosevelt, with all its fine scenery and interesting work, after a drive of sixty-five miles in less than twelve hours, feeling as though we have had a delightful trip to dream and talk about always