Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-05-20
Millions Of Wooded Acres.

-..
In Arizona, despite the vast reaches
Of treeless desert, there are millions of
acres Of timbered land belonging to the
present age instead of the prehistoric.
1t is the prehistoric past Of Arizona,
however, that holds first thrau for the
scientist and student Arizona is an
Client of days not only geologically, but
anthropologically. Traces Of people
who perished ages ago have left their
relics in that region. Even now some
Of the curious Indian tribes inhabiting
Arizona dwell in cliff cut abodes, make
and use pottery of very ancient pat
tern and have habits and customs,
rites and ceremonies which may have
come down from period already an
cient when the oldest Egyptian mum
my was placed in his cerements.
There's nothing new about Arizona
except the 10000 people who inhablt
the coming state. Most of them who
profess any religion are Mormons. The
Roman Catholic church comes next
in number of communicates. Jesuit
schools in the territory date from 1857.
jamestown, Va, was settled only 300
years ago. Plymouth welcomed, though
not warmly, the pilgrim fathers, moth
ers and children in 1920. Do Virginia
and Massachusetts, wear extra feath-
ers to plume themselves upon their an
hQuity as antiquity goes In America
Very well. Pluck large fowl for
Arizona's pluming, for in 1889, nearly
a century before Jamestown and
Plymouth, the Padre Marco de tNizan
and his Spanish followers came up
from the south and explored Arizona.
The next year Coronado led an expedi-
ton through the heart Of the arid zone
into Utah looking for the traditional
seven cities Of Cibola. These Span
iards found that the ancient Aztecs
had made settlements in Arizona and
worked the copper mines. Later the
Spaniards worked the mines, long be-
fore Captain John Smith was saved by
Pocahontas or Captain Miles Standish
was cut out by John Alden.
Has a Mind of Her Own.
After the Mexican war Arizona and
New Mexico were ceded by Mexico to
the United States, except a southern
strip, which was acquired In 1853
through the Gadsden purchase. In
1858 Arizona was divorced from New
Mexico and became a separate terri
tory. The recent effort Of the admins
tration to force a remarriage was
something, as we have seen, not to be
''stood for" by Arizona, who has a
mind of her own.
AL things come to those who wait
long enough. Arizona has been knock
ing at the doors of the republic for
admission these twenty years past. In
1891 she went so far as to frame and
adopt state constitution, but Uncle
Sam refused to accept her as q new
star Politics, 1t is said, makes strange
bedfellows. Politics has tried to make
bedfellows Of New Mexico and Ari-
zona-one distinctly American, the 9TH
er largely Mexican-but In this In
stance has not been successful.
4 Now that Miss Arizona Is to come
into the fold as maiden lady 1t is
pleasing to know that she is biz
enough to take care Of herself. The
new state-it VIII be state In a few
months no doubts about $50 miles
square, It's shape being approximately
square. Railroads are building rapid
" through the state. Tourists. too few,
1t is true, go to see the petrifed forest
and the Grand canyon in increasing
numbers. When Arizona sends pair
of senators to Washington they may
tell us things about their wonderful
state Of which we have not dreamed
The new state is Democratic In poll.
tics.