Weekly journal-miner., 1909-10-13


 eight per cent, and that too, from | the surface. The new fields are at | traetively located for railroad com munieatiOn, the country being an easy one to reach and is of rolling make and along which a light per centage in graue prevails from Hol- brook. Timber values on this group are also of paramount consideration.
 It has openly been said and re- iterated from time to time that Ari- zona was not a coal field. This was the accepted judgment and some of the most capable engineers in the country were behind this assertion. Every section that was supposed to harbor this commodity with the ex- eeption of this particular field, was examined and reported upon ad. versely.
 The discovery of this land is one in which a tale of the thrilling past is revived. The story as it goes, and which is recalled from the days of 1886 by George Merwin, who after so many years is to share in his good fortune, is as follows:
 Early in 1886 I was in Gallup, New Mexico. At that time there were several railroad men there and fha iptaufion xroa to rrn o ,roI,r,., ary line of survey from that town | to Phoenix. Before that would be undertaken, they called upon me and asked that make a reconnaissance of the country to the south. They wanted information as to the land, timber, mineral, grazing and other resources, together with the water supply. I had been over that strip in going to the Navajo reservation, and accordingly I accepted employ ment. I went from Gallup alone and in the course of a few weeks ran onto this identical outerop. I return ed and reported and the coal that l brought back was sent to St. Louis. "After this trip l went to Camp Apache and in that section stayed but short time The Indians were committing depredations and like in the coal country that I discovered, fell back fearing that some rene gade Apaehes would pick me off if l persisted in staying in that see tiOn. After leaving Gallup I re- turned to Prescott, anxiously waiting to hear from the railroad project The route was abandoned and that was the last I heard of the propo- sition. In 1887 with T. c. Lewis, a resident at the present time of Ash Fork, I returned to the same spot l visited the year previous and he will substantiate the discovery. At the time of our arrival in that field the Tonto Basin vendetta between the Graham and Tewksbury factions was under headway. In addition to that bloody affair, the country was swarm ing with rustlers from New Mexico and Texas. Our position was a hazardous one. If we were neutral, we were considered as spies. If we were open in our favoritsm it was sure shot that either one or the other of the two factions would sooner or later get us.
 "So after we were in one of the camps of the two factions one night 1 and after seeing two bix boxes of | Winchester rifles unpaeked and two boxes of ammunition unloaded, we held a council and the next morning | we made tracks for Camp Verde at | the iveliest clip that two men ever accomplished. The Graham -Tewksbury war ragged for over a year, and in that time over 100 men fell on both sides, not to mention non-eom- batants. Since that day have never visited the place where the coal was located. But at many times I have endeavored to enlist capital, but with out success, until the present effort has taken place.
 "My recent visit showed the iden- tieal conditions that I saw in 1886 to be in evidence, only the many years that have flown has made the outerop more distinct, which I at tribute to the heavy flow of water that has passed alongside of the out eroppings in the ravine below which is deeper than when first saw it so many years. ago. am decidedly pleased that the beds are now be- fore the public. Backed with this knowledge of the actual conditions of coal being proven, the theory that Arizona does not contain this com modity is disproven- and dissipated
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