Memoir of the Proposed Territory of ArizonaMowry, Sylvester
History
Memoir of the Proposed Territory of Arizona
Mowry, Sylvester
Arizona -- History -- To 1912; Arizona -- Politics and government; Gadsden Purchase
The population of the new Territory of Arizona is at present not far
from eight thousand, and is rapidly increasing. The Mesilla Valley and
the Rio Grande are probably the most thickly populated, containing
about five thousand people. A majority of the Mesilla inhabitants are
Mexicans, but they will be controlled by the American residents, whose
number and influence is constantly on the increase. The Santa Cruz
Valley, in which are situated the towns of Tueson, Tubac, Tumacacari,
and the mining settlement of Sopori and others, is, next to Mesilla,
the most thickly settled. Tueson was formerly a town of three thousand
inhabitants; but the majority have been driven off by the Apache
Indians. It is fast becoming a thriving American town, and will before
long be a place of more importance than ever before. Real estate is
already held at high rates, and the erection of buildings shows that
American energy is about to change the face of the last half century.
Tubac had been completely deserted by the Mexicans. It has been
reoccupied by the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company, and now boasts a
population of several hundred. The Calabazas valley is also fast
filling up with an American population, and another year will see the
whole centre of the Territory dotted with settlements. Many of the fine
claims on the San Pedro River have already been located by emigrants
under the general pre-emption law, but until protection is afforded to
the settlers, but little progress will be made in agricultural
pursuits. The Apache Indian regards the soil as his own, and having
expelled the Spanish and Mexican invader, he feels little inclination
to submit to the American. A small settlement of Americans is growing
up at Colorado city, opposite Fort Yuma, at the junction of the Gila
and Colorado rivers. This point is destined to be one of great
commercial and pecuniary importance. Situated at the present head of
navigation, at the point where the overland mail route crosses the
Colorado, and where the Southern Pacific Railroad must bridge the
stream, it is a necessary stopping place for all travel across the
country. Here are transhipped all the ores coming from the Territory,
which find their way to market down the Colorado to the Gulf of
California, thence by steamer or sailing vessel to their destination.
Here all supplies of merchandise for the Territory are landed, and from
this point forwarded to their various owners. A thriving commerce has
already sprung up between Arizona and San Francisco. In almost any
daily paper in San Francisco may be seen vessels advertised for the
mouth of the Colorado. Two steamers find active employment in
transporting government stores from the head of the Gulf of California
to Fort Yuma, and goods to Colorado city for the merchants of Tueson,
Tubac, Calabazas, and for the mining companies. Should the exploration
of the Upper Colorado by Lieutenant Ives, United States Army, now in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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