Arizona republican., 1914-03-29

cli lllt lag III pOSStSSIoli of California and New MeXico-but between the rich missiOn-set coast state and the towns of New Mexico, stretched wide reach of desert an1 ountain-unmapped, unvalued, un- considered. It was part of the United States, but not a dozen Americans had been beyond its borders-there l were vague rumOrS of copper, silver and gold in the mountains, but the only certainty was the fierceness or the Apaches, who swooped down on the little Mexican settlements in the Santa Cruz Valley and all but eXter . minated them. There was no settle ment of any sort in this unknown, unnamed country till the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 added the hard held Mexican towns along the So- nora border The very day of the treaty, December IA, 1853, an explOr- ing party headed by Charles D. Pos ton. the man who was to carve q derness, give it name and force for lit recognition from protesting country and congress. The Pima In- dians on the Gila river, numbering at that time about ten thousand, were the only producing and friendly pop ulation. There were no settlements north of the Gila river nearer than the Mormon towns in Utah, and the nearest military post was Fort Yuma on the California bank of the Colo lado river
 The two years following Poston spent in Washington. preaching the greatness of this nameless land-stil the "Gadsen purchase, and part o' New MexicO-to the president wal department. spectators. anybody who would listen. or who could be made to listen.
 Finally the Texas Pacific railway came to his aid with hundred thousand dollars in cash and a capi- tal of two million dollars for the new mining and exploring company. In April. 1856 Poston and party, out fitted in princely fashion at San An tonic. then the greatest outfittine station in the west. It was slow rrogress with wagon train. and the rarty reached Fl Paso in time fo; the Fourth of July.
 Upon reaching the southern part of the country along the v Mexican line they opened mines that had been worked during the Mexican oc- cupation. There they found ole drifts. shafts and crude smelters an6 arrastras. Their prosperity attracted numerous transients, until they hat quite settlement. They made theil own laws. were prosperous ano happy. Their bars of silver were current with the merchants of Sonora and Tucson. Another mine wa. opened which yielded fabulously- assaying eight thousand dollars pc ton.
 In the autumn of 1857 detach ment of the First Dragons arrived in the valley. Poston took advan tage and sent back to Kansas Cit. twelve wagon loads of ore packed il rawh:de sacks. Upon it's arrival i was scattered near and far for exam nation and assay. and gave the ter ritory it's first reputation in the east
 Time went On. as time now does and the civil war and it's results SC Arizona back twenty years. Il Washington. where Poston went il the fall of '61. there was no time O heart to consider the woes of
 nameless wilderness.
 What the devil did you go to suc a God-fOrsaken place for, anyway? vas the only sympathy one pionee got from congressman to whom h tried to recount the difficulties o life in the Dew land. PostOn, how ever, had many friends in Washing ten, and the Texas Pacific Railwa company still hoped toN make a sue cess of their venture. The romano of the $S000 to the ton still floate like a mirage in the air for nor than a year. and ended at last in a act of congress creat ting the terri tory of Arizona. but reversing tn boundaries, so that it comprised tn western part of what had been Ne' Mexico. instead of the southern.
 On February 23. 1863, Presider Lincoln placed his signature to tn act and on December 29, 1869. Ari zOna came into existence at Naval Springs. You will notice that sin has just passed her fiftieth mile stone. The proclamation was req by Governor Goodwin and the cere monies of organization carried ol by the little handful of officers an others who had accompanied the e, petition from the eastern states
 In selecting this point for the ot servance of the congressional ac authorized a few months before, u eubernatorial party was said to | in grave doubts as to whether the
 were on the soil to be include | V ithin the boundaries of the zone