The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1923-04-07
SEAPORT FOR
INLAND STATE
Arizona Wants Slice of Mexico to
Gain Access to Sea for Its
Huge Shipments of Minerals.

AAOSe "a luC WOIIu uSn ana 20 Keep
all its builders and glass factories
busy-these, says bulletin issued
by the National Geographic society,
are some Of the by-products, valuable
and otherwise, that the United States
would acquire If 1t successfully acted
on recently reported resolution of
the Arizona house of representatives.
The resolution seeks to add to the
state q small triangle OF northern
Mexico.
1T Is for quite different reason,
however" continues the bulletin,
shat Arizona desires what might be
called this second Gadsden Purchase
of one Of the most desolate and least
known regions Of North America.
The map shows that while the south
ern boundary Of the state extends
due west for space from the south
western corner of New Mexico, 1t
then strikes northwestward at q very
slight angle. The resolution seeks an
arrangement with Mexico by which
this bend in the southern boundary
Of the state would be eliminated so
that the line would continue as It
started, in due east and west direc-
ton. The triangular area that would
be added to the state would be about
$40 miles long by about so miles wide
at the point Of greatest breadth.
Bottled Up by Marrow Strip.
'The important consideration is
that this long narrow triangle is all
that separates Arizona from the sea-
the Gulf Of California, huge arm of
the Pacific. Add 1t to Arizona, and
overnight the state would desert the
~ inland commonwealth and Join
the 81 that border on salt water. With
its hundreds Of thousands Of tons of
minersals to ship, the state is now
bottled up by a narrow region unde-
veloped and little likely to be devel-
oped by its present owner. It is felt
that even the desolate, practically
trailless desert, and the lack Of nat
ural harbors on the gulf would not
deter Yankee enterprise and Yankee
engineering ability from laying down
a trail of steel and constructing quays
or piers at which ocean steamers
would soon be loading, furnishing the
cheap transportation that bulky prod
ucts demand.
'The areas Of most states are well
known, even the parts sparsely popu-
lated. It Is hard for dwellers In many
other portions Of the United States to
realise, therefore, that not only is this
triangle Of Mexico a terra incognita,
but that the portion Of Arizona which
adjoins it Is almost equally so. Most
Of the region south of the Southern
Pacific railroad may be thought Of as
a desert on which small broken rocky
ranges Of mountains have been super
imposed.
"Both north and south Of the Dor
der, this region Is given over almost
wholly to a handful Of Papago Indians
with communistic customs who range
as freely as did their remote ances-
tors, needing to give IN their desolate
homeland little or no thought to Dor
ucT-IAucS VI " tu0 SVfCAAIAOAtoA Auo-
chinery Of states and nations. The
region-both American and Mexican
Is known roughly as 'Papagueria,' and
Is seldom traversed by white men.
Through it the international boun-
Diary extends, the ultimate in arbi-
trary lines. Swerving neither to the
right nor to the left It extends, a
straight, geometrical line, running up
sheer cliffs and over craggy peaks,
hurdling great valleys and tiny arrovos,
crossing deserts, lava flows, and sand
dunes, until It strikes the Colorado
river some fifteen miles below Yuma.
Indian "Noah" Saved Wolf and Beetle.
1.-THE Mexican triangle Of Papa
guerra. which 1t is proposed to add to
Arizona, is even a more inhospitable
country than the border region. In
addition to the features Of the latter,
it embraces district 80 by 40 miles
covered by extinct volcanic craters
and an ancient lava flow, and hun
dreds of square miles Of great tower
ing sand dunes that create land
SCdpc Ike IAdI VI pdk 10 VI tifC oohesi a.
On the highest lava peaks Of Pinacate,
say the old Papago legends, their FL
der Brother landed from his eask
after the deluge and after floating
around the world four times. While
his solicitude for animals was not as
extensive as that Of the Hebraic Noah,
he at least managed to save coyote
and d beetle. The Papagos formerly
were sand people living in the sand
dune region near the lava fields, with
headquarters at the few small water
holes. This region Is now practically
deserted, the Papagos living by dry
farming and stock-raising farther east
and north.
: There is no general knowledge Of
good natural harbors along the portion
OF the Gulf Of California that would
be included In the proposed triangular
addition to Arizona, but probably
there would be little difficulty In con-
structing harbor facilities either along
Bahia Arair, which would mark the
southern boundary of the addition, or
northward toward the head Of the
gulf. The larger sand dunes are 20
miles from the shore near the gulf
head and an equal distance from the
Colorado river. The most feasible
railroad route probably would be from