USA > Arizona > The resources of Arizona; a description of its mineral, farming, grazing and timber lands; its rivers, mountains, valleys and plains; its cities, towns and mining camps; its climate and productions; with brief sketches of its early history etc > Part 16
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CASTLE DOME district is situated twenty miles north of Yuma, and sixteen miles east of the Colorado, surrounding the lofty natural "Dome" after which the range has been named. These mines were discovered by the eminent geologist, Prof. Blake, in 1863, but, owing to Indian hostilities, work was not begun until 1869. Since then they have been sending out bullion almost continuously, and have proved to be among the most valuable mines in the Territory. Although the grade is low,
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their proximity to the Colorado and the cheap rates of freight to San Francisco, have made them yield a handsome profit. These mines have produced over $2,000,000. The formation in which they occur is a porphyritic slate, and the matrix is flour- spar and talcose slate. The ores are a galena and carbonate of lead, carrying about $35 in silver. They are concentrated, hauled to the Colorado river, and shipped to San Francisco, where they command a good price for their fluxing qualities. The principal mines are, the Flora Morrison, Railroad, William Penn, Caledonia and Pocahontas. On the Flora Morrison a depth of nearly 500 feet has been reached, and a great deal of ore taken out. The William Penn, Railroad and Pocahontas have also been opened by shafts, averaging 300 feet in depth, and by drifts and winzes. Preparations are now being made to erect hoisting works, the mines having thus far been operated by horse whims.
The Montezuma district is south of the Castle Dome. Although but little work has been done, the veins are shown to be large and well-defined, carrying gold, silver and copper. There is one main ore channel, with six claims located on it, several of which have shafts from thirty to fifty feet deep.
SILVER DISTRICT .- This is the leading mining camp of Yuma county, and was discovered about sixteen years ago. The early discoverers abandoned their claims after doing a little work, and they remained undisturbed until about five years since. At that time George Sills, Neils Johnson, George W. Norton and Gus Crawford re-located many abandoned claims, and organized the district. Since then many valuable discoveries have been made, several important sales consummated, and a great deal of work done. The camp is five miles east of the Colorado river, and about forty miles above the town of Yuma. The formation in which the veins are found is mostly granite and porphyry. The surface of the country is covered in many places with volcanic debris, and a conical-shaped peak in the northern end of the dis- trict has evidently been at one time an active volcano. The croppings on nearly every ledge in the camp show the action of the fiery flood, while the hills and rugged mountains bear evi- dences of the same eruptive agencies.
The ores are principally carbonates and chlorides. There is also considerable argentiferous galena. The ore is found in combination with spar and quartz, with large quantities of iron. The veins are wide and well-defined, and maintain a regular course-northeast by southwest-across the country. Outside of Tombstone there is no other district in the Territory that can show such immense ore bodies, and few that are so regular and continuous. There are four well-defined ore channels in the dis- trict, separated by rocky ridges, and known as the Red Cloud, the Princess, the Nine Mile and the New York ore channels, running parallel, and lying in the order named from the river.
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The Red Cloud is the principal mine in the ore channel of the same name. It shows an immense outcrop, and has been sunk upon to a depth of 150 feet. From the croppings over $30,000 in black metallic silver was taken by the discoverers. This fine property passed into the hands of an Eastern company, who put up a smelter to reduce the ores. The venture proved a failure, as the ores cannot be treated by that process. The mine was wretchedly handled, and is now lying idle, a monument to igno- rant and incompetent management. But it cannot long remain so, for it has intrinsic merit, and will yet become a steady bullion producer.
The Black Rock is south of the Red Cloud, and is another im- mense dyke, showing a hill ore over 150 feet wide. It has been opened by several shafts, one of which is over 450 feet in depth. The property is owned by an Eastern company, who paid $1 35,000 for it. They put up a furnace on the Colorado, and made an effort to smelt, only discovering, after having gone to heavy ex- pense, that the ores are milling and not smelting. The property is now idle, but there is no reason why it should continue so. There is abundance of ore which, with proper treatment, can be made to pay. When the mine is conducted by men who thor- oughly understand their business, it will become a profitable proposition.
The Iron Cap, Remnant, Silver Glance, Pacific, Nellie Ken- yon, and many other locations are on this ore channel. Several of them have been opened by shafts from 50 to 200 feet in depth. The ore bodies are large, though not of a high grade. With proper concentrating works they could all be made to pay hand- somely; and, in fact, there is no better opening for such works in any district in the Territory.
The Princess ore channel is about a mile eastward of the Red Cloud. The Princess is a fine-looking claim, which has been sunk upon to a depth of 100 fect. The Caledonia is down 100 feet, and carries large quantities of rich galena. The Yuma Chief, Hamburg, and many other encouraging prospects, are on this channel.
The Nine Mile channel is about one mile and a half east of the last-named ore belt. It embraces the Klara Group and the Great Western, Silver Brick, Camel's Teat, Rooster, Mandeville, Empire, Klara, No Name, Lost Mine, and many more. These claims are all on one immense ledge, which holds a straight course across the broken country for miles. The Klara is over thirty feet in width, and assays forty ounces to the ton in silver. But little development has been done on this great silver belt. Every claim thus far sunk upon has improved with depth.
Still east of the last named group is the New York ore chan- nel. The principal mine in this group is the Clip. It is opened by several cuts and by a tunnel 150 feet, from the end of which drifts have been run on the vein. The ledge is from four to six
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feet wide, and is principally a chloride of silver. A ten-stamp mill has been put up on the banks of the Colorado, ten miles away, and the ore hauled thither for treatment. Under careful management the mill has been a success from the start, and has paid handsomely. Work is carried forward steadily, and there is no decrease in the size or richness of the ore body. The suc- cess achieved by the Clip Company shows what can be done with intelligent and economical management. There are a score of other mines in Silver district, which only require proper handling to make them steady producers of bullion.
HACUVAR DISTRICT .- This camp is in the northeastern cor- ner of Yuma county, and about sixty miles east of the Colorado. The veins are copper, the ore being of a high grade. Water is not plentiful, but there is a good supply of wood. Work is being carried on in the district on the following mines : Emperor, Regent, King, Queen and Prince. As far as developed these properties are looking well, and some exceedingly rich ore is being taken out.
PLOMOSA DISTRICT, is about thirty-five miles east of Ehren- berg. The ledges were discovered in 1862, and are large veins, carrying copper and silver. There is plenty of wood in the neighborhood of the mines, and water is only eight miles away. The formation is made up of granite, porphyry, slate and lime- stone. The Miami shows an immense outcrop running through a hill which is seamed with parallel veins. The ore carries silver and copper. The Apache Chief has been opened by a shaft 200 feet, and shows a large ore body. The Pichaco is a very fine prospect, and there are many others equally as promising in this district.
BILL WILLIAMS FORK .- This is the oldest copper district in northern Arizona, and has shipped over 6,000 tons of copper ore to San Francisco, which has yielded from twenty to sixty per cent. The Planet, the principal mine, was discovered in 1863, and has been worked at intervals ever since. The Centennial and Challenge are also fine properties.
CENTENNIAL DISTRICT .- This district is in the eastern por- tion of Yuma county, and about sixty miles over a good natural road, from Agua Calienta station, on the Southern Pacific rail- road. The ledges are principally gold-bearing, but they carry silver and copper. The rolling hills in which the mines are found are covered with grass, palo verde and mesquite wood, and an abundance of water can be had by sinking. The veins are large and well-defined in a formation of granite and por- phyry.
The Oro Mining Company expended over $40,000 in putting up a mill and opening mines, but their treatment of the ore could not save the gold. The Snow-bird is a large vein carrying quartz that goes $20 per ton. The Yuma ledge is six feet wide and averages $16 in gold.
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The Socoro, Nabob, Richards, and Eells, Argenta, Last Chance, and numerous other claims, show large ore bodies.
Maricopa county has been looked on as an agricultural and not a mining region. While true to some extent, it yet contains some of the richest mines in the Territory, and almost every mountain range bordering the great Salt river valley is seamed with precious metals. There is no county in Arizona which offers superior advantages for the prosecution of mining enter- prises. The rich valley of the Salt produces in abundance everything in the way of provisions, which can be had at reason- able prices, and the roads leading to the railroad are among the best in the country.
The Vulture mine is situated in the northeastern portion of the county. It is the largest and richest gold mine yet opened in Arizona, and has a reputation all over the coast. The mine was discovered in 1863, by Henry Wickenburg, and operated almost continuously up to 1873, when the work was suspend- ed. During these long years of Apache domination, the mine shipped over $3,000,000 in gold, and its stamped bars of the royal metal were current all over central and northern Arizona. It was the only mine in the Territory that kept up the reputa- tion of the country abroad, and sent out its regular shipments of bullion. But bad management finally caused a stoppage, and for years it remained idle. Five years ago, the property passed into the hands of the Arizona Central Mining Company, and since that time has been worked continuously and profitably.
The new company brought water in iron pipes from the Hassayampa, sixteen miles distant, and have erected an eighty- stamp mill at the mine. By this arrangement, large quantities of ore which would not pay when the reduction works were at Wickenburg, now yield a handsome profit. The ledge crops out on a low hill, and has been thoroughly opened by shafts and open cuts. A deep pit, excavated on the surface, shows the ore body to be nearly 100 feet wide. The vein is enclosed between a hanging wall of porphyry and a foot wall of talcose slate. The ore is hoisted on cars from an incline shaft, and dumped before the batteries.
With the present appliances it is calculated the ore can be extracted and milled for $2.50 per ton. As no information can be had from the superintendent, the present yield cannot be given, although it is supposed the ore averages from $4 to $5 per ton. The mill reduces 240 tons every twenty-four hours. The Vulture has produced some wonderfully rich gold ore, and no doubt will continue to yield for many a year to come.
CAVE CREEK .- Thirty miles north from Phoenix in the foot- hills of the Verde mountains, there is a group of mines, which give promise, at no distant day, of becoming valuable properties. The country rock is slate and granite, the ledges are of good size and have every appearance of permanency. They carry gold and silver.
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The Red Rover has a shaft over 100 feet, exposing a large vein of rich carbonate and chloride orc. Several tons of this ore shipped to San Francisco have yielded over $500 per ton. This is a very valuable property and negotiations are now pending for its sale.
The Fanther Mining Company own the Panther and Carbonate Chief. They are both large veins and are opened by several shafts and tunnels. The Rackensack, shows a two-foot vein of exceedingly rich quartz, and has yielded over $10,000 by the arastra process. The Golden Star has had a mill erected on it, and has produced over $20,000. The Lion is also a fine pros- pect, showing a three-foot vein of quartz from which over $10,000 has been taken. The Hunter's Rest, Chico, Maricopa, Catherine, and many other very promising claims are to be seen in Cave Creek district.
WINNIFRED DISTRICT is about fifteen miles north of Phoenix. The ledges are a gold-bearing quartz, and some of them have produced very rich ore. A five-stamp mill was erected on the Grand Canal to reduce the ores from the Union mine, but by some disagreement among the owners, the enterprise was abandoned. The rock worked yielded over twenty-five dollars per ton, and there is over three feet of it. The Scarlet, Gila Monster, Red Dog and San Diego, all show good ore.
Northeast of Cave creek, on the head of New river, a tribu- tary of the Agua Fria, a group of ledges have been lately dis- covered, which show remarkably rich ore and promise to become valuable. What is known as the Holmes claim is the most prominent. It has been opened by two shafts, each 100 feet, and shows a strong vein as far as explored. The ore carries sil- ver and gold, some of it assaying into the thousands. Those claims are supposed to be in Yavapai, near the boundary of Maricopa.
Southwest from the Vulture and not far from the line of the Southern Pacific railroad, are a number of copper claims known as the "Osborn group." Several of them have been opened by shallow shafts and cuts. Wherever the veins are exposed, they show rich ore. Their proximity to the railroad will yet make these properties valuable.
Although no important discoveries of gold, silver or copper have yet been made in Apache county, it has, what is equally as valuable, vast measures of coal. Next to Pennsylvania, there is probably no such immense deposit on the continent. This coal region embraces the northern division of Apache, and that portion of Yavapai north of the Little Colorado. This coal belt also extends into New Mexico on the east and Utah on the north. It is estimated that the area covered by these great beds is equal to half the area of the coal measures of the United States. Mr. C. P. Stanton, a competent geologist who visited the fields, writes as follows:
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"Close to Fort Defiance a vein exists nine feet thick, and it seems to possess all the qualities of excellent bituminous coal, * and to rank next to anthracite for domestic purposes. * I see no reason why it should not be pre-eminently useful for generating steam and for smelting ores. * * * This descrip- tion will apply to all the coal in the great Arizona coal basin.
* * The next great bed of coal encountered is situated about twenty miles northwest from the Moquis villages, and close to the northern verge of the Painted Desert. It is twenty-three feet thick, and boldly crops out for a distance of three miles. This coal is close, compact, and close-burning; melts and swells in the fire, and runs together, forming a very hot fire, and leaves little residium. It resembles, in external ap- pearance, the Pennsylvania bituminous coal.
* The trend of the coal-beds is north and south, and overlying this great deposit is drab clay, passing up into areno-calcareous grits, composed of an aggregation of oyster shells, with numerous other fossils which must have existed in this great brackish inland sea about the dawn of the tertiary period, probably in the eocene age."
The Atlantic and Pacific railroad passes a few miles south of this deposit, in New Mexico, and the company are finding it an excellent fuel for their locomotives. But the main belt is nearly fifty miles north of their line. The coal in this vast basin is practically inexhaustless ; and there is here the motive power to supply the mills and furnaces of the United States for ages to come.
On Deer creek a tributary of the Gila, in Pinal county, bitu- minous coal of an excellent quality has been discovered. The extent of the deposit is about four miles long by two miles wide. The veins are from three to eight feet thick. The coal makes excellent coke, and for domestic purposes is said to be un- equaled. The late survey of the San Carlos reservation brings these coal beds within its limits. The work of development has been stopped, and the discoverers, who have expended labor and money on their claims, have been forcibly dispossessed by United States troops, and this valuable property given over to a horde of worthless savages. These coal measures will yet be- come a necessity for the reduction of ores, and it is not likely they will long be allowed to remain misappropriated by a band of Indians.
Large deposits of salt are found in different parts of the Ter- ritory. Along the Salt river cañon, in Gila county, there are a number of bluffs from which salt oozes through the rocks and crystalizes. A small creek, whose waters are heavily impreg- nated with salt, flows into the river near those bluffs. It has its source in a spring about three miles north of the stream. The river above this point is clear and sweet, but after passing through this salt deposit its waters become impregnated with
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the saline matter and have a brackish taste. This salt is of an excellent quality for all domestic purposes, and will no doubt yet be utilized for dairying and stock-raising. There are also large salt deposits in the neighborhood of Fort Verde, Yavapai county. This salt contains quantities of soda and magnesia, and is used largely by stock-growers.
Besides the mineral deposits here described, there are many other rare and beautiful varieties, which, to treat in detail, would require a volume. Mica is found in every county in the Ter- ritory, and some very clear and beautiful sheets, three by six, are frequently encountered. In the Tonto Basin, near Salt river, there are large deposits of asbestos ; the fibres are long, white and of a delicate texture. No attention is now paid to the article, but cheap transportation will yet make it valuable. Iron exists in all parts of the Territory, and some very fine deposits of hematite are found in Gila county. Beds of fine, clear alabas- ter have been discovered in the Graham mountain, and marble of a fine quality is encountered in the Santa Catalina range. Antimony assaying eighty per cent. has been located in the Chiricahuas, and tellurium has been found in the Sierra Prieta.
Turn where we will throughout the length and breadth of this mineral domain, fresh surprises await us. A soap mine is the latest discovery. It is located in the Patagonia mountains; is a soft greasy stone, said to make an excellent substitute for the manufactured article, in removing dirt and grease from cot- ton and linen fabrics. Although tin has not yet been discovered many a sanguine prospector believes it exists, and he will be the lucky one to find it. Petroleum has been struck near the Apache county coal fields, and boring for oil yet promises to become a profitable industry in Arizona.
AGRICULTURE.
The Farming Lands of the Territory-The Salt River Valley-Profits on Grain- Fruit Culture-Dairying and Bee keeping-The Manufacture of Bacon --- Cotton and Sugar-Alfalfa-Trees and Shrubbery-Canals and Water Supply-Mode of Cultivation-Prices of Land- Agricultural Resources of Pinal, Graham, Yavapai, Cochise, Apache, etc. - Lands of Gila Bend-Total Number of Acres under Cultivation, etc., etc.
I T is not many years since popular belief considered Ari- zona's agricultural resources hardly equal to the task of producing the traditional "hill of beans." It was looked upon as a barren, sandy waste, as incapable of cultivation as the Desert of Sahara, and valuable only for the minerals it was supposed to contain. The same opinion prevailed as to Cali- fornia, and even so high on authority as Daniel Webster asserted that a bushel of grain would never be raised within the limits of the Golden State. To-day, the traveler through the valleys of Arizona will see as handsome farms as are to be found any- where in the West. He will see a rich soil, and a climate so perfect, that the husbandman could not suggest an improve- ment. He will find cereals, fruits and vegetables of as fine quality as are grown in any country on earth. He will find comfortable homes, and all the pleasant surroundings of garden and orchard which adorn and beautify the farmer's abode in older lands. He will see, literally, the desert made to blossom as the rose, and produce bountifully everything which blooms and ripens under tropic or temperate suns.
The grand capabilities of Arizona, as an agricultural region, are only beginning to be understood. Experiments made within the last few years have shown that the soil is of wonder- ful richness and fertility. The dry, arid valleys, which. were supposed to be incapable of production, will grow magnificent crops of cereals and fruits. Wherever water can be had its magic touch brings about a transformation as sudden as it is beautiful. The desert waste dons its robes of green, smiles with verdure, and rejoices in productiveness. Vegetation has a most rapid growth, and in the southern valleys, two crops a year reward the labors of the husbandman. Nowhere through-
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out the great West does Nature so generously aid the tiller of the soil, and nowhere does she give so much and ask so little at his hands. Here are broad and beautiful valleys, whose level outlines and unbroken regularity delight the eye of the practical farmer. No laborious clearing is required, and no weary years of toil in digging out stumps, and draining swamps. Ready for the plough and the seed is the rich, friable and loamy soil, and light the labor which it exacts in return for its bounte- ous yield.
Here no inhospitable snows, no freezing winds, and no fierce tornadoes, make life a burden for half the year. Bright sunshine, balmy air, a temperature of remarkable evenness, and an atmosphere clear, pure and bracing are the gifts which Nature lavishes on the farmer's home in Arizona. There are few portions of the West where less labor is expended on new lands. The great richness of the soil requires no aids in the production of a crop, save irrigation. A shallow ploughing, a dropping of the seed, from three to four irrigations, and the fields of wav- ing grain are ready for the header and the thresher. Year after year the same crop is planted, but there seems to be no falling off in the yield or deterioration in the quality. Perhaps 'no better evidence of the fertility of the soil in the valleys of Arizona can be found, than in the Pima farms on the Gila. We know to a certainty that these people have cultivated the same land for three hundred and fifty years, and doubtless for many centuries more. Yet, the soil which has been called upon to produce a crop each ycar, for so many centuries, is rich, vigor- ous and productive to-day, yielding the finest wheat raised in the Territory, besides fruits and vegetables. There does not seem to be any "wear out" to the valley lands of Arizona. The soil possesses remarkable recuperative properties, and with careful irrigation seems to renew its strength and vigor each year.
The farming lands of Arizona are confined mainly to the val- leys of the principal rivers. At the present time the cultivated area is mostly along the Gila, the Salt, the Verde, the Santa Cruz, and the San Pedro. Besides these rich valley lands, there are mil- lions of acres with a fine soil, among the hills and on the plains and mesas of the Great plateau, which could be made to yield abundantly if there was water for irrigation. The valley of the Gila and the Salt rivers contain the largest and most prolific body of land within the Territory.
As stated in another place, there is ample evidence that these valleys were once densely populated, and the traces of irrigating canals, which are found far beyond the present limits of cultiva- tion, would show that the area under cultivation in the old days was much greater than at present. Nearly all the land is as level as a floor, with a gradual slope from the mountains to the river, making it perfect for irrigation. This uniformity of surface
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and gentle slope shows the handiwork of the ancient cultivator, and would indicate that the labor of centuries was required to bring it about. There can be no doubt that those people were masters in the art of irrigation, and utilized every drop of the precious fluid. Although their system of farming was doubtless crude, they reclaimed an immense stretch of land, and raised large crops. A314.2
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