Graham guardian. [volume] (Safford, Ariz.) 1895-1923, 1911-06-09
THE CHA VALLEY
A Graphic Description of
liost Leauti:ul Valley
in Arizona

The beautiful ella valley of Ari-
IONA is not known to the world ex-
cepting the thousands that live in it
and the people having active bust
ness relations in the. valley. One
has to travel no farther east than
Ell Paso and he will find many prom
inent business men that have never
heard of the ella Valley in Ari-
zona." Yet it is one of the oldest
and thickest populated valleys of
of the whole western United States,
and yes, one of the most beautiful
to look upon.
Leaving Bowie, Arizona, on the
main line of the Southern Pacific,
over the Arizona Eastern Railroad,
the train runs over very straight
and we'll built road with eighty
pound rails, in northwesterly d.
rection for 33 miles. In that dis
lance the road makes very few
turns and the train travels across
a country of barren waste with moth
ing but gravel, sand. sage brush,
mesquite, and an occasional cactus
to look upon. In the distance, per-
haps 30 miles on either side of the;
road, the traveller has a range of
mountains to stare at.
About the 33 mile post the train
runs through a few small cuts in the
foothills. then drops into the heauti-
full ella valley just above the Solo
knoxville station. Before reaching
the station the traveller Strengthens
up in his seat, shakes off the tire
some feeling brought upon him by
looking at sage brush, sand and
gravel, and stares through the win
dows at the beautiful green fields
to the north. What change and
how restful to the eyes to see hum
dreds of acres of alfalfa in one field
and the same acreage in barley or
wheat in the next. A smile of Joy
is taken on by all passengers and
everybody is wide awake looking to
see what the next field of beauty
will present to their eyes.
When the train stops at Solomon
vile you look north and see the
small town nestled among the i'm
mense cottonwood trees a mile from
the station. The trees are so thick
and so large that one can't see very
much of the town, but can imagine
it must be a beautiful place to live
in. Solomonville is the county seat
of Graham county and is a town
which, if it could talk, could relate
some very wild and thrilling exper-
fences of olden times.
AS the train pulls out from the
station it begins running through
the valley and the fields for two
miles on each side of the track are
beautiful fields Of hay and grain.
At this time of the year one sees the
farmers cutting their alfalfa. In
every case it is all cut, dried and
hauled to one end of the field to be
baled, then hauled to either the hay
sheds or the cars. The farmer
pressed for money is hauling his hay
to the cars and shipping, while the
farmer that doesn't need the money
right now is hauling his hay to the
sheds to hold for better prices.
On account of the late frosts in
the valley this spring the first cut
ting of alfalfa was two weeks later
than usual. Travelling on. the train
winds its way through the beautiful
fields shaded by big cottonwood trees
for five miles. 1t then pulls into
Stafford, the metropolis of the val
ley. Here one is met at the sta
ton by the two livery people of the
town and hurried by the one he
chooses to either of the hotels, and |
asked to call around if going to
want rig while stopping in town.
If intending to see any of the coun-
try while in Stafford one will surely
want horse and carriage because
there are no street cars as yet, and |
only two joy wagons to let for pub
lie use. Stafford is much larger than
many towns that do have street cars,
but being country and farming
community almost everybody have
their own horses and carriages,
which leaves very little need of
street cars.
Stafford is very active town be-
ing the supply point Of the valley, ]
and doing great deal of shipping |
to Ell Paso. 1t has shipped so far
this spring to Ell Paso about 70 cars
of alfalfa. Stafford has several mer-
camille establishments, drug stores,
restaurants, blacksmith shops. i'm
plement houses, furniture stores and
all that goes to make up busy lit
tie town. The saloons were voted
out of town short while ago. One
of the oldest banks in Arizona is in
Stafford and the town is the proud
possessor of two live banking insti-
tutions. The Jones Hotel is the
commercial travellers stopping place,
while there are others that have
lower rates. One Of the Oldest and
and largest flour mills in the valley
is located in Stafford and has been
of great benefit to the farmers on
both sides of the river. The dairy