Bisbee daily review., 1907-06-18
TUCSON AMERICAS
 ANCIENT PUEBLO

tBy Dr. Alexander Craig in Tucson
 Star)
 I wish to furnish your readers with some items of information about Tue son. which l. have taken some pains to collect and which I think are ap- proximately correct.
 That large block Of Uncle Sam's domain, lying in the southwestern corner of the United States, includ- ing the Territory of Arizona and the
 southern half of California, and ern- bracing nearly 200, 900 square miles is destined to be the pleasure ground of this great Republic It is the land of
 almost perpetual sunshine; it is the land of health, wealth and golden op- portunities One of the most fayoured
 spots in this large area is Tucson, Arizona.
 This beautiful and interesting town
 is situated on slightly rolling plain, containing about 120 square miles, and having an elevation of 2 400 feet above the level of the sea. This great plain or amphitheatre, is almost entirely surrounded by majestic mountain ranges, some of which rise to an alti- tude og 10000 feet. 1t is 300 miles
 west of Fl Paso. the gate city of Old Mexico. 800 miles east of Los Ange- les, and on the main line of the South
 ern Pacific Railroad There can be no doubt that Tucson enjoys the dis tinction of being the oldest city in the
 United States. When that intrepid
 Spaniard. Meiendez, discovered the cost of Florida. planted the standard of his country and founded the city of
 fr.T TIaa.x <.f. I
 15C5. Tucson was a struggling and growing Pueblo, and had been for twenty-four years. This is not ac- cording to our text books on geogra- phy, but it is just as much a fact, for all that, and the proof of it may be found in a well authenticated history of New Mexico. Arizona and Colorado, by the Right Reverend J. B. Salpointe. Archbishop of Time, formerly Arch bishop of Santa Fe. The data for this history was secured from the archives of the Roman Catholic Church in Old Mexico. This writer gives in his book, entitled. Notes on the Ecclesiastical history of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado a graphic account of what he regarded as the first exploring ex- petition of the Spaniarls in these northern regions The date of the organization of the first expedition, under Fray Marcas, a Spaniard, and priest of high repute in the City of Mexico, was August 27th, 153S. This explorer was the first to raise the flag of his country and the standard of his church over the ancient pueblo of "Tusayan" as it was then spelled and pronounced. On the seventeenth of April, 1540, in letter to the em- peror, Charles Fifth, Fray Marcas gave full account of his explorations and the disposition of the Indians toward his majesty, and toward Christ ianity.
 A much more important expedition was organized under the leadership of Francisco Favques Coronado, who was then governor of the Province Culiacan. This more able and intre- 1 pid explorer made Tusaya his head quarters for several months. and laid he cornerstone of the first Christian church with his own hands in the year of our Lord 1541.
 These facts give the residents of i Tucson the right to claim that their l city Is the oldest in the United States. ! There may be no commercial value to this assumption, but it is an interest ing fact that should be more generally known.
 Agricultural operations are neces- sarily limited to the area that can be | irrigated. Farming here is both fas- cinating and profitable. The land is perpetually doing service, crops grow all the year round, and some impor- 1 taont crops yield four or five harvests | in one year The testimony of t!le | farmer is that he greatly prefers farm | ing by irrigation than to depend on |