Ground was broken at a point on the west side of the river, on land that had been visited and located October 14, by P.C. Merrill on an exploring trip. The first camp was about a half mile south of the present St. David and soon was given permanency by the erection of a small stone fort of eight rooms. That winter, for the common interest, was planting of 75 acres of wheat and barley, irrigated from springs and realizing very well. Malaria Overcomes a Community As was usual in early settlement of Arizona valleys, malarial fever appeared very soon. At one time, in the fall of 1878, nearly all the settlers were prostrated with the malady, probably carried by mosquitoes from stagnant water. That year also it was soberly told that fever and ague even spread to the domestic animals. At times, the sick had to wait on the sick and there was none to greet Apostle Erastus Snow when he made visitation October 6, 1878. His first address was to an assembly of 38 individuals, of whom many had been carried to the meeting on their beds. It is chronicled by Elder McRae that, "notwithstanding these conditions, the Apostle blessed the place, prophesying that the day would come when the San Pedro Valley would be settled from one end to the other with Saints and that we had experienced the worst of our sickness. When he left, all felt better in body and in spirit." It was a decidedly hot season. "Vegetation grew so rank that a horseman mounted on a tall horse could hardly be seen at a distance of a quarter of a mile. Hay could be cut a stone's throw from our door." The first death was on October 2, 1878, of the same A.O. Williams whose money had brought the people to the new land. Possibly the settlement needed the mental and spiritual encouragement of Apostle Snow, for more than a year had passed of hardships and of labor, and, including the Lehi experience, there had been no recompense, unless it might have been in the way of mental and moral discipline. The early malaria of the Arizona valleys nearly all has disappeared, with the draining of swampy places, the eradication of beaver dams and mosquitoes and the knowledge of better living conditions. Elsewhere has been told of the abandonment of Obed and other early Little Colorado settlements, because of chills and fever. Something of the same sort was known on the upper Gila, from 1882 to 1890, around Pima, Curtis and Bryce. In this same upper Gila Valley, Fort Goodwin had to be abandoned on account of malarial conditions. The same is true of old Fort Grant, across the divide, on the lower San Pedro. The upper Verde, the Santa Cruz and nearly all similar valleys knew malaria at the time of settlement.