Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-26
FOUND IN MINES
Population Increased. by 81 ,423 in
the Past Ten Years.
APACHE INDIANS AS LAB0RERS
Employees in Ranches Drawn From
Same Tribe-Mechanics in De-
mand-Statistica1 Showing.
By WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence OF Tho Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.

Special Correspondence OF Tho Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
PHOENIX. Ariz, April 10, 1911.
Only a few weeks ago when Arizona
was mentioned the minds eye called UP
vision Of cowboys, cactus and Apache In
dams on the war path burning the homes
Of peaceful ranchmen and scalphg ba-
bies snatched from the cradle. Yet to-
day President Taft and Congress are
scrutinizing constitution for this state
which contains all the 'isans'' and ''olo-
gies'' and altruistic theories Of the most
progressive theorists in the country and
the most radical ideas ever proposed in
| the science of government.
A few weeks after that constitution was
adopted Theodore Roosevelt turned on
the water Of the greatest irrigation prof.
ect in America and probably in the world,
although perhaps the recent additions to
the Assuan dam system, in Egypt, may
be excepted.
The reservoir created by the reclama
ton service above q canyon Of the Salt
river. in the Tonic basin. covers the IA
vorite camping ground Of Geronimo and
his band Of cutthroats, which were the
| most cruel and relentless and the most
difficult to overcome of all the Indian
enemies of civilization
No more striking and significant Illus
tration OF the changed conditions can be
found than the employment of those same
savages and Their sons and grandsons
with picks and spades. hods and trowels
by the contractors who built the great
dam. The Apache clans furnished nearly
all the manual labor for its construction
and for the building Of the wonderful
road which leads through the canyon
for nearly forty miles to the villages on
the banks Of the great artificial lake that
has been created. Near the dam and In
the outskirts Of the little town of Roose-
welt the Apache laborers' live with their
families, most Of them in the traditional
tepees of their tribe.
Children Attend School.
They cling to many of Their tribal Gus
toms, but send their children to the
school at Roosevelt, where we saw the
coal-eyed parooses swarming around in
red and yellow dresses and wide ribbons
of the same color braided into their lus-
| guard pay day and manage to get the
| larger part Of the wages of their hus-
| bands. which they spend at the stores for
| canned fruits and other provis ons. con-
fectionery, sweet cakes and finery Tor
| the adornment Of themselves and their
| daughters. The merchants of Roosevelt
| have large stocks of the class Of goods
mostly admired by Indian matrons and
maidens and charge rather high prices,
| but the souaws are as persistent in bar
gaining for better terms as the typical
Yankee and the faculty of patience IS
highly developed in them all.
The Apaches make excellent worknen
and if whisky is kept away from them
they are Industrious, reliable and effi-
cient. but a few drinks of firewater will
infiame their savage natures beyond con-
troll. A drunken Indian is bound to kill
somebody or something if he is not him
R~ff lot, b. NlHn pIny, <Srp
officials and the contractors are very vigi-
liant in trying to keep temptation from
| their workmen. and when they catch a
| "boot-legger' peddling whisky around the
camp it goes hard with him. There is a
negro In the calaboose now awaiting trial
for that crime. He was formerly en-
ployed as a waiter at the mess hall in
the contractors camp, and, whether he
was instigated by outsiders or undertook
the enterprise on his own initiative. he
must suffer the penalty. Two or three
Indians employed on the works got
drunk: there were several fights and a
| murder, as there always is when the fire.
| water can be obtained: the poison was
traced directly to this colored waiter. and
he will go to the penitentiary, where he
belongs.
The care of the road which leads I'D to
! Roosevelt through the canyon is in
trusted to an Apache superintendent who
has gang of his acknowledgment keep
Ing 1t in repair. and all Of the subordi-
nate positions on the works are occu-
pied by the warriors of Geronimo and
their sons.
Indian Labor on Railways.
All of the railways in this part of the
| country depend upon the Apaches for
labor, and they make excellent section
hands. Nearly all the employees on the
| ranches are also from the Apache tribe
10
ard cowmen, and are steady and faith
fIliS ionu &c