USA > Arizona > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 64
USA > New Mexico > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 64
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Mexican land grants in Arizona are much less nu- merous than in California and New Mexico, being all in Pima county and in the territory ceded to the United States in 1853. Troubles resulting from these claims are similar to those arising in California, though on a much smaller scale. Most of the claims are doubtless equitably valid and will eventually be confirmed, though some are fraudulent. Not much is known of them in detail, though since 1879 the sur-
14 Land Office Reports, 1864 et seq., including annual reports of the sur- veyor-general. In U. S. Govt Doc., 47th cong. 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. 72, p. 145, is a statement of the lands disposed of from 1872 to 1882 as follows: 3,857 acres in '72, 6,790 in '73, 7,124 in '74, 9,034 in '75, 8,862 in '76, 52,500 in '77, 63,585 in '78, 28,281 in '79, 17,057 in '80, 19,203 in '81, 21,156 in '82, and (acc. to Elliott & Co.) 33,878 in '83. Under the timber-culture act in 1377-9, the entries were 7,320 acres. Possibly the total of surveys should be over 9,000,000, as there are in each set of annual reports two or three con- flicting totals which might perhaps be understood if life were a little longer. It was said in 1SSO that the 5,800,000 acres surveyed included nearly all the irrigable agricutural land; 13 military reservations in 1881 included 197,052 acres, acc. to a newspaper résumé of the land-office report in 1886, 534,139 acres were disposed of in that year. The peculiar situation of large portions of the farming lands in narrow strips along the streams added greatly to the practical difficulties of surveying by the rectangular system, one instance be- ing mentioned in which one claim included 44 corners ! The lack of a law, by which the grazing lands-valueless in tracts of 160 acres-could be sur- veyed and sold, has been the subject of constant complaint. The timber lands have also caused some trouble. The territory contains a broad extent -perhaps 15 or 20 thousand square miles-of magnificent forests, but these grow on mineral and mountain land useless for agriculture, and not subject to purchase or entry under the laws. In 1878, after much urging, congress passed an act permitting the cutting of timber for home use, except by rail- roads, on U. S. mineral lands in Ariz .; and in 1873 the legislature forbade the shipping of such lumber out of the territory. Ariz., Acts, 1873, p. 262. The A. & P. R. R. grant, however, opens a vast lumbering region; and there can be no doubt that the country's forests are to be an important element of its natural wealth.
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ARIZONAN INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
veyor-general has investigated fourteen of them or more, and recommended them for approval or rejec- tion. This delay on the part of the government has been entirely inexcusable, as the matter might have been easily settled fifteen years ago. Since that time lands have increased in value; conflicting interests have come into existence ; probably fraudulent schemes have been concocted; and even a hope has been de- veloped that all the Mexican titles might be defeated. Owners have no real protection against squatters, cannot sell or make improvements, and in fact have no other right than that of paying taxes; while on the other hand the rights of settlers are jeopardized by possibly invalid claims, and a generally unsettled and unsatisfactory system of land tenure is produced.15
15 The Land Office Reports contain nearly all that is known about this sub- ject, though the newspapers have something to say about it. In 1865 the legislature passed a law, apparently inoperative, requiring all claims to be recorded in the county recorder's office before Jan. 1, 1866. There was no national law on the subject until 1870, when the surveyor-gen. was required by act of congress to investigate the titles and report to congress for the final issuing of patents. But no definite instructions were issued or means fur- nished until 1877, and the investigation was not begun till 1879, though the surveyor-gen. constantly urged the importance of the matter, at the same time declaring his inability to do justice to the subject, and recommending the creation of a commission, or the devising of some other means of prompt action. In 1875, however, an act was passed, on the governor's recommen- dation, authorizing patents for small tracts occupied by Mex. claimants in the Sta Cruz valley, on proof before the register and receiver of the land-office that these tracts had been occupied for 20 years by claimants or their ances- tors. Zabriskie's Land Laws, suppl. 1877, p. 75; Governor's Mess., 1873. I suppose that some of these patents were issued, though I have found no record of the fact. Meanwhile also, in 1873-4, corresp. was had with Mex. national authorities, and R. C. Hopkins was sent to Mex. and Guadalajara, with a view to find records of the Arizona grants; but none were found-in Mexico because Ariz. had belonged to the Provincias Internas, and in Gua- dalajara because most of the records had been destroyed by fire. U. S. Govt Doc., 43d cong. 2d sess., Sen. Doc. 3. The claims favorably reported by Surv .- gen. Wasson in 1879-82 were as follows: S. Rafael del Valle, 4 leagues, Camon brothers; Tumacácori and Calabazas, 11 1., Sykes and Currey; S. José Sonoita, 12 1., Alsua; S. Ignacio de la Canoa, 4 1., Maish et al .; Arivaca, 2 1., Poston and Ainza; S. Juan Boquillas y Nogales, 4 1., Howard and Hearst; Los Nogales de Elias, 2 1., Camon and Elias; unnamed small tracts of 4-500 acres, Otero et al .; Buena Vista, 4 1., Maish and Driscoll; Rancho de Mar- tinez, small tract, Martinez et al. Those rejected as fraudulent were Paso de Algodones, 5 1., Colorado comp .; and El Sopori, 31 1., Sopori Land Co .; while S. Ignacio Babocomari, 8 1., Perrin et al .; and S. Rafael de la Zanja, 16 1., Romero et al., were cut down from the area claimed to that granted. In the report of 1882 it is stated that most claims were not presented at all, holders of valid ones being confident they must be finally confirmed, and others not desiring investigation. Probably more have been investigated
601
MANUFACTURES AND TRADE.
Manufacturing industries in Arizona call for no special mention in an historical work, being confined to a few establishments, chiefly flouring and lumber mills, for the partial supply of territorial needs. Future developments will naturally be limited for a long time by home requirements, most of which may eventually be supplied; yet with the growth of stock-raising it would appear that tanning and the manufacture of leather goods should assume larger proportions; and doubtless other industries will in time produce articles for export.16 Commerce may be disposed of for the most part as summarily. The territory's trade has consisted of the bringing from abroad and the distributing to towns and camps of the various supplies required. Each settlement has its shops for the supply of local demands, and each of the dozen larger centres its wholesale establishments, whence goods are hauled in all directions. In these establishments, some of them doing business on a large scale, many a fortune has been made. There are no available statistics of value or interest, except in local phases of the subject, for which I have no space. The great question has always been one of transportation routes and rates, and the latter have been invariably high, with the natural result of excessive prices. Before the build- ing of the transcontinental railroads of the south, a considerable amount of freight was brought in at
since 1882. A search of the archives in Son. and Chih. is recommended, not only on account of the Ariz. grants, but in view of 'manifest destiny ' farther south. No patents have been granted so far as I know, and difficulties will probably be permitted to assume still larger proportions before the matter is settled. Hinton, Hand-book, 303, points out the facts that while sec. 5 of the Gadsden treaty reenacts the provisions of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, yet sec. 6 provides that no titles shall be valid unless recorded in the Mex. archives. Also, that a Mex. law of 1853, repealed in 1855, declared invalid all grants by states and territories. Therefore, the Ariz. grants must, he thinks, be defeated. Evidently there are legal quibbles enough on which to found such action if the U. S. govt cares to engage in that kind of business.
16 Statistics of manuf. showing increase in 1870-80, from 10th U. S. cen- sus: no. of estab. 18-C6, capital $150,700-$272,600, employés 84-220, wages $15,580-$111,180, products $185,410-$618,365, raw material $110,090-$380,- 023. Of the estab., 13 were saw-mills, 8 flour-mills, 2 butter and cheese, 1 brickyard. There are also some distillerics and breweries, and tobacco and cigar factories.
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ARIZONAN INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
times by mule-teams from the terminus of the Denver railroad, from Austin, Texas, by way of Mesilla, and to a slight extent from Salt Lake City and through Sonora from Guaymas; while there was frequent agi- tation of a project to open a route from Tucson to the nearer port of Libertad on the gulf; but the bulk of all freight came in teams across the desert from San Francisco via Los Angeles, or by the gulf and Colo- rado River in boats. But the railroads gave the whole- sale trade mainly to the eastern cities, and destroyed, for the most part, the prominence of Yuma as a dis- tributing centre in favor of Tucson and other inland stations. It should also be noted that a flourishing branch of Arizona commerce has been an extensive contraband trade with Sonora, a large part of that territory's supply of dry goods being smuggled across the line from Tucson. According to the census, 591 persons in Arizona were engaged in trade in 1870, and in 1880 the number had increased to 3,252.17
17 Hinton gives the most complete details on routes of trade and transpor- tation. In the early years there was much agitation of projects for improving the navigation of the Colorado; but very little was ever done. The begin- ning of steam navigation has been noted elsewhere. Down to 1871-2 sailing vessels plied irregularly to the head of the gulf, and freight was towed in barges by small steamers up to Yuma and Hardyville. Subsequently, the Col. Steam Nav. Co. ran a line of steamers regularly from S. F. to Yuma. Hodge, Ariz., 210, gives the amount of freight brought to Yuma in 1875 as over 4,500 tons, and exports as over 10,000 tons, the largest item being hides. On the efforts and explorations of 1864-70, including the operations of Capt. S. Adams, see Ariz., Acts, 1864, p. 79; 1865, p. 73, 77-8; 1866, p. 61; Id., Jour., 1864, p. 161-2; 1865, p. 43; U. S. Govt Doc., 38th cong. 2d sess., H. Mis. Doc. 17, 142, 153; Rept Sec. War, 865-6; 41st cong. 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. 281; Sen. Mis. Doc. 17; 41st cong. 3d sess., H. Mis. Doc. 12; 42d cong. Ist sess., H. Mis. Doc. 37; 42d cong. 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. 166; 43d cong. Ist sess., H. Jour., p. 1257; H. Ex. Doc. 154; 44th cong. 2d sess., Sen. Rept 624; 56th cong. 3d sess., vol. xvi., pt 1, p. 842; U. S. Rept Chief of Engin., 1868, p. 1188-96; Hayes' Scraps, Ariz., i. 105-6, 120, 125, 239, 268; v. 141; Id., S. Diego, i. 203-10, 213; ii. 193; Ariz. Scraps, 437-43; S. F. Times, Nov. 6, 17, 1866; March 23, April 15, May 11, Sept. 28, Oct. 15, 16, 18, Nov. 2, 18, 1867.
In large partions of the territory the natural roads are excellent, so far at least as grade is concerned, stage routes being practicable wherever watering- places can be found. Many good mountain roads have also been constructed from time to time, as mining and military needs have demanded. The legis- lature from year to year incorporated many road companies; but only com- paratively few of the enterprises were carried out. At each session of congress also various mail routes were opened; but for a long time the mails were carried on horseback. In his message of 1866 the gov. states that there is not a stage running in the territory. Indian hostilities naturally interfered
603
RAILROADS.
With two of the great transcontinental lines passing through the territory from east to west, and a connect- ing line to Guaymas on the gulf, Arizona is in a sense, for so new a region, well supplied with railroads. Branch roads in several directions are urgently needed, and some of these have been or are being con- structed. The complicated history of the main lines pertains but very slightly to Arizona, though the mili- tary necessities and prospective resources of that territory may be supposed to have had some little influence in favor of their construction. Therefore that history is not given here, nor is any attempt made to chronicle the hopes and fears and rumors respecting routes current for many years among the people on this vital matter. Early surveys, by which the practicability of the routes by the 25th and 32d parallels was ascertained, have been recorded. From 1864 the subject was always under discussion, and vari- ous projects took more or less definite shape ; but there was a broad region to be crossed before the iron road should even approach Arizona. In 1866 the Atlan- tic and Pacific was chartered with a land grant on the 35th parallel, but no western progress was made. In 1870-1 this company was reorganized, making some show of active work; and the Texas and Pacific was
seriously with the mails and stages; bnt progress was constant, if not so rapid as the people desired, and before 1870 the service was tolerably com- plete. The main stage line corresponded with the overland route of 1859-61 from Los Angeles, via Yuma and Tucson to Mesilla, N. Mex. Another line was from Yuma to Wickenburg and Prescott, connecting with others to Alburquerque in the east and Mojave in the west. At times, however, the Prescott stage left the Cal. route west of the Colorado, crossing at Ehrenberg. A line from Tucson afforded communication with Sonora. As the railroads approached, of course the stage lines were constantly changed, until the sys- tem became one of comparatively short routes from R. R. stations to the various towns and districts. The most important have been those from the A. & P. to Prescott, from the S. P. to Phoenix, Florence, Globe, and Graham Co. in the north, and to Tombstone in the south. B. C. Truman was sent to Ariz. as mail agent in 1867. The subject of mails and stages was naturally in all years, and especially in early times, one of great popular interest to Arizonans, and therefore I find in public doc., newspapers, etc., a bulky mass of data; but I have no space to chronicle details, and do not deem it neces- sary to present even the latest catalogue of routes, mail statistics, etc. The annual reports of the P. M. general contain most that is essential on this matter.
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ARIZONAN INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
organized to reach San Diego by the Gila route, with a land grant like that of the Atlantic and Pacific, in- cluding the alternate sections for a width of 80 miles throughout the whole extent of Arizona from east to west. For a few years from 1872 Arizonans be- lieved their railroad future assured from this source ; but financial obstacles proved insuperable, and Scott's line never reached the eastern line of the territory. In 1877, however, the Southern Pacific from Cali- fornia was completed to the Arizona line at Yuma, and in the following years, not without some serious complications with the rival company, was rapidly continued eastward, reaching Tucson in 1880, and in 1881 effecting a junction with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé road at Deming, New Mexico. Prac- tically by the latter company the Sonora road, con- necting Guaymas with the Southern Pacific at Benson, was completed in 1882; and the company is accredited with the intention of securing a through- line to Guaymas, by building a new road from Deming to Benson or Fairbanks. Meanwhile the completion of the Atchison line down the Rio Grande valley en- abled the Atlantic and Pacific to resume operations in the west, and in 1880-3 this road was completed from Isleta to the Colorado at the Needles, connecting there with the California Southern. As all these roads were built, so they have been operated without any special regard to the interests of Arizona; yet they have necessarily-even as masters instead of servants of the people, as they should be-been immensely bene- ficial to the territory.1
18 Mowry's Ariz. and Sonora, 217-31, gives a good idea of the R. R. situa- tion in 1863-4. In the governor's messages to the legislature may be found a résumé of progress and prospects from time to time. Newspaper files of Arizona and Cal., many clippings from which are found in Hayes' Scraps, contain a large amount of R. R. information and rumor. For incorporation and subsidies to railroads in the territory, with some slight attempts by the legislature to regulate fares and freights, see Ariz., Acts, 1864, p. 25-7, 51-3; 1865, p. 45-7, 78; Id., Jour., 1865, p. 49-50, 216-17; Id., Acts, 1879, p. 42-60; Id., Laws, 1881, p. 80, 118, 133; 1883, p. 61-5, 137, 150-5, 160-71, 221-3, 244-51, 423-6.
On most of the branch roads incorporated, no work has ever been done. The Ariz. Copper Co. has built a narrow-gauge road of 71 miles from Lords-
605
SCHOOLS AND. EDUCATION.
The importance of education has been realized in Arizona from the beginning. In early years, the sisters of St Joseph maintained a small but useful school at Tucson. The first legislature of 1864 not only provided in the code for the establishing of com- mon schools when needed, but appropriated small sums for the mission school at Bac, and for public schools at the larger towns. Prescott alone took ad- vantage of this appropriation, maintaining a private school in 1865. But no progress was made for years. In 1871 the governor announced that with 1,923 chil- dren Arizona had not a single public school, though 1868 is generally given as the date when the first was founded, because in that year was passed an "act to establish public schools," levying a tax of ten cents on each hundred dollars, and creating a board of edu-
burg, N. Mex., on the S. P. R. R., to their mines at Clifton. On a road from Tucson to Globe a few miles have been graded, the line receiving a subsidy of $200,000 from Pima co. A road is also projected from Tucson up the Sta Cruz to Calabazas, connecting the S. P. R. R. by a direct line with the Guay- mas road; and another from Tucson to Port Lobos on the gulf in Sonora. Roads from Maricopa to Phoenix, and from Casa Grande to Florence and Silver King, are talked of and needed. A line to connect Tombstone with one of the main lines is among the probabilities of the near future; or perhaps the Atchison extension may touch Tombstone on its way to Fairbanks. In the north the Central Ariz. R. R. Co. is building a road from the A. & P. at a point near Ash Fork sonthward. Some 30 miles have been completed, and the road is expected to reach Prescott early in 1887. A branch is to be built to Jerome; and the road is to be continued down the Agua Fria to Phoenix. Among other possibilities are a road from Flagstaff on the A. & P., through the lumber region to Globe and Benson, and an extension of the Cal. Southern from the Needles to Wickenburg, Phoenix, and Florence. Predictions re- specting these projected roads are very hazardous; but if the county is to prosper, many branch roads must and will be built.
The telegraph was talked of from 1866, but nothing was done until 1873, when with an appropriation from congress, and primarily for military purposes, a line was constructed from S. Diego to Yuma, and thence to Prescott and Tucson, being in a few years extended to all the military posts and to Sta Fé. Three successive appropriations amounted to $120,000; and before the R. R. reached Yuma in 1877 there were about 1,000 miles of wire in operation within the territory. This military telegraph was regarded as an especial benefit to Ariz., as the rates were much lower than on corporation lines. Western Union wires were however added, and to some extent substituted, on the completion of the R. R .; and there are some private or mining co. lines in operation. See gov.'s messages, 1864-71, 1875, 1877; U. S. Govt Doc., 42d cong. 2d sess., Sen. Jour. 305, - 445; Sen. Doc. 14; 3d sess., Sen. Doc. 12; 43d cong. Ist sess., H. Ex. Doc. 204, 232, 270; 2d sess., Rept Sec. War, i. 195-6; 47th cong. Ist sess., H. Ex. Doc., vol. vii., p. 217-27, being a sta- tistical table; see also Ariz. and Cal. newspapers, especially of 1873; Hamil- ton's Resources, 129; Hinton's Hand-book, 318-19; Hodge's Ariz., 213-14; Elliott & Co., 317.
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ARIZONAN INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
cation, with the governor and probate judges as ex- officio territorial and county superintendents. Gov- ernor Safford, particularly, distinguished himself by his efforts in this direction; a good beginning had been made by 1873; and from the close of the Apache wars, progress was rapid. A new act was passed in 1875, increasing the tax to 15 cents, and requiring a county tax of 35 cents-subsequently increased to 50 cents-and making school attendance compulsory, though this proved for the most part a dead letter. Various supplemental acts were passed from session to session; and in 1883 a new school law was framed, under which M. H. Sherman became superintendent. Still another law, with no very radical changes, was enacted in 1885, and in that year R. L. Long became superintendent. The system seems fully equal to that in other states and territories, and the schools are reported as prosperous. As in all new territories, children in the more remote districts are inadequately provided for; but in all the towns there are commo- dious school buildings and competent teachers.19
19 School statistics of 1882 show 98 districts, 126 teachers, 10,283 school children, and value of school-houses $116,750. The average salary of teach- ers is $75 per month. The territorial apportionment of 1884 was $8,096, or 86 cents for each of 9,376 scholars. County taxes for schools amount to about $100,000. A uniform series of text-books has been used since 1882. The percentage of persons unable to read, .135 in 1880, is large, but this is largely due to the Mex. population. There are as yet no institutions for a higher education, though there are a dozen private schools. In 1864-5 provision was made for a university and regents were appointed, but nothing was accomplished. In 1881 congress granted 72 sections of govt land for a univ., which were selected in the timber region of the S. Francisco Mountains. Finally, in 1885, an act was passed by the legislature to organize such an in- stitution at or near Tucson, with 6 regents, including the gov and supt ex officio. A loan of $25,000 was authorized on condition of Pima co. giving 40 acres of land. What prospects of success this enterprise may have, I do not know. The school law in its final form may be found in Ariz., Laws, 13th sess., 138-70. Complete information on the progress of schools, etc., is given in the governor's messages, in Ariz., Jour., 1864 et seq .; Ariz., Acts (and Laws), 1864 et seq .; U. S. Commissioner of Educ. Reports, 1869 et seq .; U. S. Cen- sus, 9th and 10th, 1870-80; U. S. Statutes, 46th cong. 3d sess., 326; U. S. Gort Doc., 43d cong. 1st sess., H. Mis. Doc. 83; see also Ariz., Hist. (E. & Co.), 147-9; Hamilton's Resources, 247-51; Hinton's Hand-book, 378; Hodge's Ariz., 196-9; Hoyt's Ariz., MS., 5-7; Safford's Arizona, in S. F. Spirit of the Times, Dec. 25, 1877; Ariz. Scraps, 57; Hayes' Scraps, Ariz., v. 10; vi. 91, 206.
Provision was made by the first legislature in 1864 for a territorial library at the capital, to contain miscellaneous as well as law books; through the in- fluence of McCormick, a considerable quantity of books was obtained from
607
LIBRARY AND NEWSPAPERS.
the east, as a beginning; and the journals of the early sessions contain cata- logues of the collection. According to the governor's message of 1877, the library then contained 2,200 vols, worth $8,200. Respecting the status of this institution in recent years, I have found no information.
The library was to have a 'historical department' for the especial perser- vation of all written and printed matter pertaining to the territory. When- ever the accumulation of MS. was sufficient for a vol. of 200 p., it was to be published at the public expense. At the same time an Historical Society was organized and chartered. A few years later this society and a Pioneer Association had united and opened a library and reading-room at Prescott; but in the bloody ordeal through which Ariz. was called to pass, all these praiseworthy enterprises come to naught. At the beginning of 1884, how- ever, a new Pioneer Society was organized, which, I think, still exists, with some prospects of usefulness. Ariz. Hist. Soc., Charter, etc., Prescott, 1864, 12mo, 16 p .; Id., Comp. Laws, 541; Howell Code, 171; Hayes' Scraps, Ariz., ii. 38-9, 120; Hoyt's Ariz., MS., 3-4; Sac. Record-Union, Feb. 2, 1884.
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