Weekly journal-miner., 1910-03-02
ARIZoNA'S WEALTH
 KNOWN CENTURIES

having conquered Mexico, heard stor- ies of fabulous treasure among the tribes toward the north and turned
 their expeditions in that direction, is recent discovery, says the Tucson
 Star.
 In 1539 Viceroy Mendoza of Mexico sent an expedition under Marcas de Niza, a Franciscan friar, to investi. gate the tales of great riches among the northern Indians. Niza crossed what is now the southern boundary of the territory, hear the present town of Nogales, was received in a friendly manner by the Pima Indians, along the Gila, and travelled northward across the Little Colorado; but here natives became so hostile that he abandoned further advance and re- turned to Mexico. This was about the time the French were conducting explorations in the St. Lawrence val ley. In 1540 a second expedition left Mexico under command of Francisco Coronado, following nearly the same route as Niza, but penetrating far ther north, one of the scouting par ties discovering the Grand Canyon. Coronado returned, discouraged at finding none of the treasure which he sought, but had opened the way for the spread of the Christian religion among the tribes, which was now in augurated, although no further ex- plorations were attempted in this di- rection for some forty years.
 While these examinations were be- ing made in the eastern part of Ari- zona, expeditions were also fitted out for operation in the west. In 1539, Francisco de Ulloa sailed to the head of the Gulf of California, but did not ascend the Colorado river. not even seeing it, but assumed from appear ances that such a river existed and in- dicated it on a rough map which he prepared. The discovery of the Colo rado was saved for another Spanish explorer, Hernando de Alareon, who in 1540 sailed up the river a dis tance of eighty-fve Spanish leagues (234 miles), the exploration ending probably near the present town of Eh- renberg.
 Along the Colorado river little of interest appears to have been accom- plished until about 1900 to 17O2, when Father Kino spent most of this per iod travelling the Gila and Colorado rivers and mapping the country. In the eastern portion of the territory, following the expedition of Coronado, in 1540, there were years of little historical importance, although the parties were making constant efforts to convert the savage tribes. The hostility of the Apaches made their effort practically fruitless until about 1732, when the mission of San Kay fer was established, few miles south of Tucson. The main portion of this mission is still standing. Subsequent to 1732 the events of interes ito the present article relate mainly to the Colorado river
 In 1771 Father Garces travelled down the Gila to its confluence with the Colorado, and thence down this latter stream to its mouth. In 1774 this same priest was a member of an expedition which followed the Gila to its mouth, crossed the Colorado near Yuma, and then journeyed across the desert to San Gabriel and Monterey, in California.
 In 1775-6 Father Garces explored the Colorado from the Gila to the present site of Camp Mohave, and in 17sO he established the mission of Purisima Conception opposite the mouth of the Gila and on the site where Fort Yuma was constructed seventy years afterward. During the same year he also established the mission of San Pedro and San Pablo, which was situated upon the right bank of the river, a few miles below the town of Yuma. Both of these missions were destroyed in 17S1 by the Indians, and about fifty Spaniards, includgin Garees and three other priests, were killed. The first Amer jeans appeared on the Colorado about 1895, when James o. Pattie, trapper, made two trips down the Gila, and in 1926 went up the Colorado from the Gila and across the Rocky Mountains. In 1926, another trapper, Jebediah $. Smith. on his second overland trip to California. traversed the Colorado from the mouth of the Virgin river to the present crossing of the Santa Fe rail road.
 PREPARING TO SHIP ORE.
 (From Fridays Daily.)
 Jesse Robcson, after a business visit