Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-10
faoecial Correspondence OF
The Argus).

Tne AIe0ej.
r.esoa. Aris.. In Camp. March 8.
r..,e are several things that we
....c.iaus. and especially Tucson
10, point to with considerable
80 land l speak advisedly when
, - the first person for 1t is .
II..riIar Characteristic Of the coun-
- M however much we may love
w. ~, illinois, there is fascination
~. thst 1t once makes one speak
= q a our country. Foremost
Oao.s these is sunshine famed the
. .o"rtrv over for its life-giving
osonsrties. and then there is the
s,,rste just enough rain and the
s.s.hsst. purest, sweetest air ever
msSe. and mountain and desert
.csnerv and history. The former
sutice or lure, the latter hold. en-
chant, entertain.
IA Arizona, nature reveals herself
4, many ways Of unusual grandeur
IA beauty, everywhere she seems
~ mite indescribable loneliness.
me desert flooded in moonlight
With the giant cactus standing
.usrd like ghostly sentinels over
The wide expanse Of plain is a
.i,ht never to be erased; the glory
~ The pictures in the early morn
ins when purple shadows rest on
tho varied colored rocks and
stretches of red and brown noun
tain ranges has the effect of a gor-
seous. delicately woven intricate
fashioned mosaic. One sensitive to
form and color can but stand spell
hound in admiration Of the beauty
Of Il all beneath sky of sapphire
blue.
You know in this country the
sun hangs low and shadows are
lons and ever changing lights give
10 the mountains strange and beau
tjful effects. Shadows are thrown
by neecy clouds that rise and shift
like great white balloons and each
hour sees some new angle to rugged
peaks, some new canyon comes into
relief where there seemed hone 9
moment ago. And a trip through
their passes is a perpetual source
OF surprise to the traveller who has
always associated Arizona only witt
barren desert and the ella monster
rattlers, centipedes, tarantulas.
Arizona abounds in history-no
OF the kind alone which deals will
dates as to when it was admitted al
q state to the union in such ant
such a year Il believe it was OF
St. Valentines day, 1922, but il
real romance, true stories, the thrill
Of which makes any Diamond Dicl
hair-raiser seem tame in compari
son.
Tucson Is Center.
And the center of all this blood
curdling history is Tucson and it
environs. 1t was first an India
rancheria. then the environ of tn
famous mission, San Agustin, an
still later the adobe walled preside
Of the Spaniards, when with it
little garrison of soldiers, it wa
the one place that could withstan
the wsr-like Apaches-the norther
outpost of white civilization. The
came the period of the bad mel
when the place was PRACTICAL
without law and therefore the re-
use for all kinds of desperadot
from other localities. In Tucsol
in its early days, the saloon an
gambling den was not only the poo
mans club. but almost every man
club and it came perilously nes
being many mems home as wei
The border was infested wit
Mexican outlaws who found it I
great trouble to invade this sectio
and robberies and murders commi
ted by them might easily be laid
the savage Apaches who were s
Jealous in the plying Of their depr'
!, dations.
Tucson, as l have said, was IL
northern outpost of civilization ar
lying between it and the Mexica
border are villages and spots tn
oristle with interest, though no
they but little resemble or contaI
evidences Of past glories.
Among other trips this week
vas privileged to visit Nogales,
miles south of Tucson and on Il
Mexican border. In fact the eli
Is nall American. half Mexican,
nigh wire fence marking the boul
ery between Nogales, Ariz., ar
Nosales. Sonora, Mexico. The ros
tnefe carries one through COUNT
every foot Of which is soaked wi
history and interest as we'll.
Leaving Tucson by auto on IL
south We at once come to a sma
iaqui Indian village swarming wit
children and the inevitable dog
mere are rude mud huts, fiat rooft
ana with but one opening, the dool
saacxs somehow thrown togeth
With patches Of corrugated iron al
rusty tin to form dwellings f,
human habitation, and it beats n
Snere the Indians get SO much o
rusty tin.
Have Coyote Defenses.
Surrounding the houses a
. .slces made Of spines from the oc
UNA cactus. really quite artistic
themselves and sure defense again
:ue pfowling coyote. From rafte
N fudely constructed sheds ha1
sulps OF beef to dry; skins festot
%e FENCES and covering the creoso
vuaues and mesquite trees are Il
,, present articles fresh from Il
,au'An sQuaw's wash tub. There
Sas tning certain, if the Indial
,aek anything in cleanliness it
s0 because their women folks dor
In Tor drying clothes seem
me naSs Of the tribes.
,, nut We vhizzed by the villas
49, Arizona boulevard highwa
xuns to speeding and we we
n;. .t ~ nme upon reaching the m