Mohave County miner., 1909-02-13
BEAUTIES OF THE FLEGSTAF F
 QUADRANGLE.
Geological Surveyors Spend Fled
 Season In Arizona.

zona, one of the highest points on the s .nta Fe route to the Land of Sun shine" on the Pacific Coast, has been under survey during the past season by party of United States Geological Survey topographers. Flagstaff town, however, is not high as compared with much of the country covered by the Government surveyors. Flagstatf's al titude is 6907 feet, but to the north the San Francisco peaks, a group of ti- tanic sentinels, rise above the sea level l2,O0O to 13,000 feet, standing forth in bold and majestic relief. Within their shadows, in a very pretty situation, lies Flagstaff, a thriving little place of about 5000 inhabitants and distributing point for a large numbering and grazing section. The name Flagstaff was given to this point long before there was was any town. The early travellers in this almost arid region discovered a beautiful spring bubbling to the surface at point just within the limits of the present town and this was a favorite camping place in the old days. Once when some sol diers were encamped there, one of them trimmed the branches from a tall straight pine tree and fastened a United States flag to the top; from that time the place has been known as Flagstaff.
 The southern half of the Flagstaff quadrangle is a high plateau which slopes off on the east to Little Col orado River and on the south to Verde River. This plateau is very deeply eroded by three main canyons and their numerous tributaries-Walnut Canyon, draining to the east and Oak Creek Canyon and Sycamore Canyon draining to the south. Sycamore can yon is the deepest of the three and the most picturesque. It carries no per manent stream but supports several good springs on the east side just un- der the rim. Big game such as bear, deer and wildcats are found in the re- zion and it is a favorite resort for hunters in the late fall. Walnut Car yon is of special interest because it contains prehistoric cliff dwellings, still in a very fair state of preserva- spring flow into it and any surface storm-water soon disappears in crev- ices in the limestone rock, flowing off by underground passages. Oak Creek Canyon is a deep and picturesque gorge, the cliffs in some places rising 1000 feet above the cIe4k, a fine stream of water, which was soon dis covered by the surveyors to abound in trout. In several places the bed of the canyon widens considerably and affords opportunity for a number of prosperous httle fruit ranches which in season become summer resorts for people from the southern part of the Territory.
 "The region generally is covered by a fine growth of pine timber, with the exception of those sections which were numbered over a few years ago, and it may be noted that they were stripped very bare indeed" said Mr. T. Foster Slaughter, in charge of the Survey party. II have been told that this timber belt is the largest area in the world which is covered by one species of pine alone, the Pinus ponderosa. This timberland furnishes fine grazing for horses, cattle and sheep, and the stock seen was of high grade and in good condition"
 The Flagstaff sheet when engraved and printed Sometime next year. will show the location of all roads, rail roads, houses, lakes, streams, moun- tains and hills-in fact, all the physical features of the region, as well as t. e works of man. To accomplish this a line of primary levels has been run oyer all the principal roads, and per manent benchmarks in the shape of alu- minum tablets or Iron posts, with the elevation stamped thereon, were set every three miles. From these bencl . marks vertical angles were taken to the principal mountain peaks and then other angles were taken from these peaks to other prominent points, which were located by the plane-table