USA > Arizona > Arizona business directory and gazetteer : containing the names and post-office addresses of all merchants, manufacturers and professional men in the territory of Arizona; territorial, county, city and town officers, 1881 > Part 3
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The valley of the Gila, extending entirely across the Territory,
The J. M. Brunswick & Balke Co.
BILLIARD TABLE $ 653 & 655 Market St. MANUFACTURERS, San Francisco.
.
LORD & WILLIAMS CO., Tucson, A. T., Wholesale Dry Goods.
TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, AND RESOURCES. 21
from a few rods to ten miles in width, affords an immense quan- tity of land which can be irrigated and cultivated. The remains of old irrigating canals prove that the valley has been used by a populous race for agricultural purposes. From Gila Bend to the Colorado River it is estimated that there are 500,000 acres suit- able for cultivation that could be irrigated by the Gila. The val- ley about Florence is equal in quality to the Salt River Valley. Some fine farms and orchards are found in this neighborhood. All the ordinary grains and fruits grow luxuriantly. From Camp Thomas to the boundary of New Mexico there are a number of tributary valleys to the Gila, such as Pueblo Viejo, Ash Creek, etc., which are said to contain at least 100,000 acres that can be irrigated and farmed. The valley of the San Pedro affords a large amount of good farming land, and water enough, perhaps, if judiciously collected and used, to irrigate a large portion of it, as the rainfall in this valley averages from 8 to 10 inches, and irrigation once in two weeks is found sufficient. At Tres Alamos is an orchard in which apples, figs, grapes, apricots, and peaches grow luxuriantly. Below this point are several ranches where good crops of wheat and barley are raised.
The slopes and mesa land on both sides are covered with nutri- tious grasses most of the year, which renders it desirable for graz- ing purposes. Between the Galiuro Mountains and San Simon Valley is Hooker's large grazing ranch, where he keeps 5,000 head of cattle and 500 horses. San Simon Valley and the Pelon- cillo Mountains bounding it on the northeast, afford thousands of acres of good grazing lands. There are no running streams in this vicinity, but water is abundant near the surface, and in some places gives the appearance of wet lands. The Sulphur Spring Valley, lying between the Chiricahua and Dragoon mountains, derives its moisture from mountain brooks which empty into it. It is a long, wide valley, and covered with grass. The foot-hills on each side are also covered with a luxuriant growth, which makes this one of the finest cattle ranges in Arizona. What is said of these two ranges applies to most of the mountain ranges in Southern Arizona. They have more or less water, always suf- ficient for herds ; their foot-hills and slopes are covered with nu- tritious grass, and the climate is so mild that there is no danger from exposure at any time of the year. The Sonoita and Baba- comori are small valleys, with living streams running through them, which will afford some fine farms and orchards. The Santa Cruz affords considerable tillable land, and a large amount of good grazing land. Some parts of this valley have been culti- vated an indefinite length of time, and without any manuring shows no deterioration in its productiveness. The valley of the Little Colorado furnishes some 300,000 acres of land capable of cultivation. The Mormons from Salt Lake have commenced sev- eral settlements here. The valley of the Verde, though narrow,
GHIRARDELLI'S CHOCOLATE The Best.
E. IRVINE & CO., Phoenix, A. T., GENERAL MERCHANDISE. 2 H 2 1
WM. B. HOOPER & CO. {
n & Phoenix, A.T., EI P Tex., and Guaymas, Mexico.
·} Wines of all Kinds.
DESCRIPTIONS.
CO., Prescott, A. T., IRON AND STEEL OF ALL SIZES AND
L. BASHFORD
22
ARIZONA.
affords some excellent land, and abundanre of water for its irriga- tion. It extends from Salt River northerly into Yavapai County, and in that portion of it there is considerable land under cultiva- tion. Skull, Agua Fria, Date Creek, Peeples, Kirkland, Walnut Grove, Hassayampa, Williams Fork, Big Sandy, Big and Little Chino, Round, and Aubrey, are all valleys of from one to five miles in width and several miles in length, which afford good farming land and water for irrigation. All through the mount- ains are innumerable small valleys, from fifty to several hundred acres in extent, which afford good farming and orchard land, while the slopes and mesas around them are excellent ranges for cattle and sheep. In the Upper Tonto Basin and Mogollon Mount- ains are many such valleys.
The region of the San Francisco mountains in Yavapai County is thus described by Lieut. Beale :
" It is the most beautiful region I ever remember to have seen in any part of the world. A vast forest of gigantic pines, inter- sected frequently by extensive open glades, sprinkled all over with mountain meadows and wide savannahs, filled with the richest grasses was traversed by our party for many successive days."
Dr. Parry, also of the United States Exploring Expedition, says of this region :
" We have in these elevated districts a climate favoring a growth of trees, a more equable distribution of rain and dew throughout the year, especially adapted to the production of nutritious grasses, and the cultivation of grain without resorting to the expensive processes of irrigation. These desirable climatic features are especially noticeable along the elevated slopes of the San Fran- cisco mountains, where magnificent pine slopes are agreeably interspersed with beautiful grassy valleys and parks, numerous springs and delightfully invigorating atmosphere." The White Mountains in the southern part of Apache County are thus de- scribed by Dr. Rothrock :
" Arizona is, emphatically, a land of contrasts in scenery ; its tropical climate either parching the soil and vegetation or under a fair supply of water causing the flora to deck the surface with a luxuriaut covering of verdure. Nowhere is this statement more strikingly true than in the Sierra Blanca and the adjoining plains south. On the latter the ensemble of the vegetation is dwarfed and hardened from the aridity of the soil and rapidity of evaporation. In the mountains, however, dense forests alternate with well watered glades, covered with a luxuri- ant growth of grass and flowers. Between the ranges are well watered valleys, producing grass ·enough for all the herds of the territory."
When the extent of our mountain territory is considered, it will be seen that the number of these small mountain valleys reach thousands, and that their agricultural and pastoral resources
The J. M. Brunswick & Balke Co.
BILLIARD TABLE §653 & 655 Market St. MANUFACTURERS, ? San Francisco.
LORD & WILLIAMS CO., Tucson, A. T.,
WHOLESALE BOOTS AND SHOES.
TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, AND RESOURCES.
23
in the agregate perhaps surpass the resources of the large val- leys.
MINERALS.
The Territory of Arizona is pre-eminently mineral in its natural resources. No doubt it has sufficient arable lands to furnish a large population with all the grain, fruit, meat and dairy products required, and farmers will find these productions profitable, be- cause a ready market will be at their door. Many articles will, no doubt, be manufactured profitably for Home consumption, as our population increases ; still, we do not claim that Arizona is either a manufacturing or agricultural Territory. With the ex- ception of cattle and sheep raising, the conditions for successful farming on a large scale do not exist. In all countries, mining is an attractive industry, and in a new country, like this, where the land is open to all, where the prospector's pick may at any blow disclose the rich silver vein, and where so many have found fortunes, all other pursuits are sure to become secondary. The mineral region is not confined to a few localities, as in Colorado, or to a narrow belt of a few miles in extent, like the famous Com- stock of Nevada, but on the contrary, it embraces the entire Ter- ritory, 325 miles square. Nowhere else in the world, has there been found so many veins of silver. Every range of mountains, and in some sections every ridge and hill discloses these veins. They have been found from the Mexican boundary to a point north of Prescott, a distance of 250 miles, and from the Colorado to the boundary of New Mexico. No limit can be given of their extent, and a catalogue of their locations would be a large volume of more than 100,000 records.
The term mineral includes all the inorganic substances which are taken from the earth, such as clay for brick, granite and mar- ble for building purposes, etc., but we shall refer only, with the exception of salt and coal, to the metalliferous veins.
The silver mines of Arizona were discovered and worked more than a hundred years ago, while Mexico, including our Territory, belonged to Spain. Excavations have been found which ap- pear to have been made at even an earlier date, and have been attributed to the Aztecs, and its not improbable that a part of the glittering mass of gold, silver and turquoise which excited the cupidity of Cortez and his followers, was collected in Arizona. Old Mexican traditions locate Arizuma, an Aztec name, signify- ing land of silver, in the valley of the Santa Cruz. Wonderful stories were told of the amount of gold and silver to be seen in the seven cities of Cibola, and expeditions were sent by the Viceroy of Mexico to find and seize the coveted treasure. Nothing was accomplished by these expeditions but the partial destruction of a peaceful, native race, who had made considerable progress in civilization. Afterwards, that order, whose piety and zeal have
GHIRARDELLI'S CHOCOLATE The Best.
E. IRVINE & CO., Phoenix, A. T., AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
Wm. B. Hooper & Co. {
cson & Phoenix, A. T., El Pas Tex., and Guaymas, Mexico,
·} Teas & Candles at Wholesale.
24
ARIZONA.
L. BASHFORD & CO., PRESCOTT, A. T., Prospecting Outfits Complete.
furnished throughout the New World, so many pioneers, the Jesuits began founding missions in this unknown land. Through one of these missions, located near the Santa Rita Mountains, the discov- ery of rich silver mines was made. A Yaqui Indian is said to have made the discovery in 1769. On, and immediately below the surface of the ground, pure silver in large pieces was found, many of which weighed twenty-five and fifty lbs., several 500 lbs., and one mass is particularly spoken of, which gave 3 500 lbs. after being fused, and divided on the spot where it was discov- ered in order to remove it. A large population was immediately attracted to these mountains by this discovery, and the valley of the Santa Cruz became the center of active mining operations. The town of Tubac was probably the largest mining village. Within a circuit of fifteen miles around this town. one hundred and fifty silver mines were more or less worked. Other rich dis- tricts were found in this range of mountains, and worked at great profit, large quantities of silver being taken out and carried into the towns of Sonora. Seven years after the first discovery, the king of Spain, who had seized considerable of the treasure first taken out, decided that all the silver pertained to the private patri- mony of the crown, and that the mines in future should be worked for his special profit. This decree did much to discourage min- ing, although considerable was carried on more or less secretly by the Jesuits, but often entirely interrupted by the hostility of the In- dians. When the revolution in Mexico occurred, these missionaries were banished, and their property confiscated, then mining entirely ceased, and now, even the exact location of such mines as the Tuma- cacori, Salero, and Plancha de la Plata, the richness of which is a matter of record, is unknown. „ Recent prospectors claim to have rediscovered them; whether or not they have done so, it is cer- tain that their search has been rewarded by new discoveries, which, in importance, may exceed those of old.
In 1857, this Territory having been purchased by the United ' States, the Americans turned their attention to this rich silver district, and commenced work on several mines. During the next four years, many new mines were located. The rebellion caused a total cessation of work, and very little attention was paid to the mines in this section till 1875, when the discovery of wonderfully rich districts in the Pinal and Apache ranges of mountains, north of the Gila River, gave a new impetus to mining throughout the Territory. These discoveries were followed in 1877 by what appears to be a still more important one in the southeastern part of our Territory, that of the Tombstone mines, which have already given evidence of being among the richest in the world.
The developments already made leave no doubt as to the perma- nency of the mines of Arizona. Innumerable ledges have been found containing rich ore near the surface, but in many cases as depth is attained the ores grow richer. The veins dive into the
The J. M. Brunswick & Balke Co.
BILLIARD TABLE §653 & 655 Market St. MANUFACTURERS, ¿ San Francisco.
-
E. IRVINE & CO., Phoenix, A. T., FURNITURE, CARPETS AND WALL PAPER. 2 O
LORD & WILLIAMS CO., Tucson, A. T., MILL SUPPLIES.
TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, AND RESOURCES. 25
earth at all angles of inclination, giving us vertical lodes and blanket lodes, as they do in other countries. They pinch into narrow seams, give out, come in again, swell into large masses, the same as mineral veins all over the world. Every known vari -. ety of silver ore is found divided into the two classes, in reference to reduction, of milling ore and smelting ore, and these two classes are found in the same kind of formation with the same general differences as are recognized in other sections. The word fissure in its application to mineral veins is founded on a theory in regard to their formation by no means generally accepted, and we think the tendency is to reject the theory and retain the word only as descriptive of a large and permanent vein. Still using it in its old sense, all the important mines here give, so far as they have been developed, the same evidence of being true fissure veins as the mines of Nevada and Mexico. No known case of giving out has yet occurred, though several mines which have paid from the surface have reached a depth of 600 feet. The large amount of float ore found here might be cited as an evidence of the perma- nence of the veins, indicating not only the length of time which nature has been tearing them down, but also the great period during which circumstances were favorable for their formation. Those who believe that mineral veins are the result of infiltration or segregation from, or near the surface, will be likely to consider the depth to which such veins might reach in a country which has been drained to so great a depth. Wherever a number of veins giving good promise have been found within a neighborhood of a few miles, the section has been formed into a mining district. These districts are of all sizes, containing from 25 to 2,000 square miles. Over eighty have been formed, and additions are con- stantly being made. They contain from 100 to 3,000 locations each. Every location indicates the appearance of ore in greater or less quantities, and we may thus obtain an idea of the vast ex- tent of country which is permeated by mineral veins in this Terri- tory.
Gold .- Gold placers are found throughout every portion of the Territory. They have been worked by Mexicans for many years past, and a considerable number are still engaged in this branch of mining. The scarcity of water in many localities renders the washing of the earth on a large scale impossible, most of the work being done by individual effort, or two persons working together. A small shaft is sunk a few feet in depth to the bed rock, which is scraped, the earth sacked and carried to the nearest spring or stream and there washed. In this rude way considerable gold in the aggregate is taken from the placers every year. They yield from $1.50 to $3.00 per day, but occasionally a very rich spot is found and a much larger amount taken out. There are several sections where water might be introduced by canals, as on the placers of the San Francisco and in the Horseshoe Basin south of
GHIRARDELLI'S CHOCOLATE The Best.
3
WM. B. HOOPER & CO. {
son & Phoenix, A.T., El Paso Tex., and Guaymas, Mexico,
Lubricating Oils.
26
ARIZONA.
PRESCOTT, A. T., GENERAL MERCHANDISE.
the Gila, and in others water might be collected in reservoirs made by damming gulches or small streams, and sufficient ob- tained to wash the earth in paying quantities. The Santa Rita Mountains contain many gulches and small valleys where gold is found in paying quantities. Horseshoe Basin, now organized into a district called Gold Mountain, lying in the central part of Pima County, includes many thousand acres of surface diggings. In 1862 placers were discovered near La Paz, a short distance east of the Colorado River, which have been more or less worked ever since. It is estimated that they yielded a million of dollars the first two years. Several of the mining districts around Prescott were first located on account of their placers, and some are still being worked, giving employment to quite a number of men. The Weaver District in the southern part of Yavapai County has a large area of placer diggings, where mining is now car- ried on.
Surface diggings are also found in the Bradshaw Basin, Tonto Basin, White Tank Mountains, and in many of the ravines and gulches on the northern slope of the Salt River Valley. In Gra- ham County on the San Francisco River is a large scope of coun- try containing rich placers, and recently very rich deposits have been found in Maricopa County, near Seymour. When the extent of territory is considered which the above enumeration indicates, it will be seen that our placers must for a long time to come afford an important resource of gold production.
The more permanent resource of gold will undoubtedly be gold quartz. These veins, like the silver veins, have been found in nearly every part of the Territory, the only limit so far being the limit of exploration. A large proportion of the mines of Yavapai, Pima, and Graham counties are worked exclusively for gold, while all the silver veins carry a greater or less per centage of this royal metal.
Copper .- Copper ores are found in all parts of the Territory in quantities unequaled by any other portion of the United States. Perhaps nowhere else in the world has such immense ledges of high grade ores been found. They are of that class which is easily reduced by smelting, consisting of red oxides, gray carbonates and copper glance. The red oxides frequently carry pure copper, of which many large masses have been found. The ores carry so little gangue that only a small amount of labor is required in dress- ing them for the furnace, which is no inconsiderable consideration in their economical reduction.
L. BASHFORD
The Copper Queen in Warren District, near the town of Bisbee, has a ledge of over a hundred feet in width, all fine ore, yielding from twenty to sixty per cent. of copper. A thirty-ton furnace at this mine yields seven tons of pure copper per day, and the quality of the metal is equal to that of the well known Lake Superior copper. Six men have taken out of the mine and dressed ready for the fur-
The J. M. Brunswick & Balke Co.
BILLIARD TABLE $ 653 & 655 Market St. MANUFACTURERS, ? San Francisco.
LORD & WILLIAMS CO., Tucson, A. T., General Merchandise.
TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, AND RESOURCES. 27
nace ten tons of ore in a day. The smelting is done with English coke, and yet we are told the profit is eight cents per pound on the copper.
In the Santa Rita Mountains is another copper region now being explored, in which the ledges are said to be of immense size and equal in quality of ore to those of Bisbee.
In the northeastern part of Pima County, in the Silver Bell Dis- trict, some very rich and extensive copper ledges have been dis- covered, and smelting works erected. In the western part of this county is another copper district, in the center of which are the noted Ajo mines, which were discovered and worked several years since. In the northern part of Yuma County is a large region be- tween the Granite Wash Mountains and Bill Williams Fork which affords copper ores. The Planet mines, situated in the northern part of this district, have yielded about 8,000 tons of cop- per. In Gila County, near the town of Globe, are situated the mines of the Old Dominion Company, which are remarkably rich. Other mines in this vicinity have large quantities of paying ore. Four smelting furnaces are in operation here On Cave Creek, in the eastern slope of the Verde Mountains, is another copper dis- trict, in which there is an immense ledge said to average thirty- four per cent. East of Agua Fria Valley, Yavapai County, at the foot of the Black Hills, is an unexplored region of copper which promises to equal anything yet found in the Territory. It is said that hundreds of tons of good float ore may readily be gathered from the surface of the ground. At Riverside, Pinal County, smelters have been erected by the Pinal Copper Mining Company for the reduction of ores taken from their mines about six miles distant.
The Clifton copper district, in the eastern part of Graham County, near the Rio San Francisco, has long been known. _ The copper developments here are truly wonderful; ledges from 30 to 100 feet in width crop out of the ground for thousands of feet in length, and where they are cut by the cañon to the depth of a thousand feet, the same quality and quantity of ore is exhibited. The ores are red oxide, gray and green carbonates, and copper glance. Smelting furnaces have been erected at the town of Clifton, and are now running on these ores. It will be readily observed from this condensed sketch of the copper regions that this metal is to become one of the large resources of the Territory.
Coal .- Coal has recently been discovered in the eastern part of Pinal County, on Deer Creek. The vein, where prospected, is ten feet thick, and croppings have been traced several miles, giving evidence of a large coal field. The quality is said to be good. This discovery is regarded as most important, as it gives assur. ance of cheaper fuel for the smelting furnaces. Some three years ago coal was discovered in the Aravaipa Cañon, and it is quite probable that the Deer Creek coal field is extensive, going as far
GHIRARDELLI'S CHOCOLATE The Best.
E. IRVINE & CO., Phoenix, A. T., AGENTS FOR THE CALIFORNIA POWDER WORKS.
WM. B. HOOPER & CO.{
Tucson & Phoenix, A. T., El Paso, } Wholesale Liquor Dealers .. 'l'ex., and Guaymas, Mexico,
28
ARIZONA.
-
south as this point. Coal is known to be in various parts of Yavapai and Apache Counties. Near Fort Defiance, a vein is reported nine feet in thickness ; twenty miles west of the Moqui villages, two veins, one above the other, crop out in a cañon, one eight feet, and the other four feet in thickness. A short distance from these, another vein is reported twenty-five feet in thickness. Immediately at the Oraybe, a large vein crops from the mesa. The United States Exploring Expedition also reports coal in Mesa La Vaca and in the White Mountains near Fort Apache. These reports are considered reliable, and show the appearance of coal over a large extent of territory, and renders it altogether probable that when the northern portion of the territory shall become ac- cessible a vast quantity of this mineral will be found.
Lead .- Probably no other two metals enter as extensively into economical uses as lead and iron. The uses about the homestead, and in all mechanical constructions and in the arts, are so mani- fold and continuous, that the quantity required to supply the de- mand is almost beyond computation. These, with copper and tin, may be called the industrial metals. While gold and silver are valuable accessories in the arts and necessities, for currency, as well as for ornamental purposes, these metals are the sin- ews of all mechanical agencies-the indispensables. In social econ- omy, they represent the laborers and producers, while gold and silver represent the capitalists. Without lead and iron, the world would retreat to the age of wood and stone. These eco- nomical metals are the real precious metals, growing more precious the greater their quantity and the lower their price. Indeed much of their value depends upon their abundance and cheapness, as general use requires both conditions, and also insures a market at remunerative prices. Demand may sometimes fall behind sup- ply, and the article falls in price, this renders its application to many new uses, profitable. Fluctuations in demand and supply, as we have lately experienced in silver and copper, are likely to occur with any metal to an extent that will render for a short time, their production unprofitable; such a period in the econom- ical metals is inevitably short, as the old demand goes steadily on and new ones are created, while the supply decreases. The price then rises or the means of production is cheapened, and in either case the industry prospers. A country which possesses large de- posits of these industrial metals, has a resource which lasts a long time, and gives employment to a large population. But a year or two ago our copper mines received but little attention, notwith- standing their richness was known. The price of copper and the expense of freight rendered its production unprofitable. Now we begin to see that the production of copper is to become immedi- ately one of our chief resources. No doubt a considerable time will elapse before we shall turn our attention to the manufacture of iron, the ore of which is abundant in many places in our Terri-
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