Arizona republican., 1917-06-17
By Warren Pitcher

ella county was laid out by the fed
eral government in the fall of 1880 and
made into a separate county the fol-
lowing year. 1t was formed from parts
of Pinal and Maricopacounties and it
lies about in the center of Arizona The
valley of the Salt and Tonic rivers
drain the entire county. These rivers
supply most of the water for range
stock The Salt river carries a large
stream of water most of the time and
the Tonic is a medium sized stream,
except when it dries up in the dry sea-
son. Fortunately water along the Tonic
valley may be secured at shallow
depths by drilling or digging. 1t is in
this country that the cruel Apache
Indians were partly subjugated. The
country was not settled until after the
Indais were partly subjugated. The
district was very mountainous and Of
fered splendid protection COR the In
dian raiders.
Little is known about the history of
ella country previous to 1873. AT this
time active mining operations were be-
gun and the Indian troubles seemed
settled. The military camps which had
been installed at Fort Verde, Camp
Mcdowell, Camp Grant and the Nor
mon colony which located in the ella
river valley did much to force the In
dams into restricted areas and keeI
| them under control.
! 1t has been found that in the de-
velopment of practically all parts OF
E, the world livestock that had been i'm
ported in the old parts have been an
important factor in the development OF
new countries. This condition has ex-
listed in the various parts of Arizona
| and ella country has been no excep-
+ ton.
When the Spaniards came III to Ari-
IONA they brought with them animals
of various kinds. settling chiefly IL
/ the fertile valleys of the mountain
streams. Here their flocks of sheer
and goats as we'll as herds of cattle
and horses increased and became the
| chief business of the early settlers
Animals We're used because they coulC
be driven to market and sold for money
or traded for some of the necessities
In the very early days hides and tallov
were the chief livestock commoditie:
offered for sale.
The area of ella county is over three
times as large as that of the state o.
Rhode Island and almost as large al
the prominent state of Connecticut
Although ella county is eXceedingl!
large when compared with eastern
parts of the country, yet it is one of TIL
smallest counties in Arizona, and it i
very rough and mountainous. In are;
it is 1912 square miles, which enable
it to carry many animals. The who'll
county is a vast range grazed by live
stock which comes second in import
ance to that of mining.
l. The first settlement of the count,
was in the early seventies when pros
pectors began to work the mines.
was not until 1876, that a permanen
settlement was made in the county
This was made at Globe. In 1890 Their
were only eighteen farms in the coun
ty and fourteen of them ranged in siz
from 100 to 500 acres each. Their
were only $3.50 acres contained in tn
eighteen farms and only 694 acres Q
improved land. The average size c
the farms was As acres and there wer
23,12O stock in the county.
The Indians
Part of ella county is in the Whit
Mountain reservation and the Indian
, have long been stockmen. In 1888,
, is reported that they received 900 COW
, from the government to be used
improving the cattle. The earl
Apaches found that livestock were goo
for food and the animals maintaine
themselves on the range. They 500
began to steal animals from other d