Sylvester Mowry

“ The Indians at length, thoroughly aroused by the cruelties of the Spaniards, by whom they were deprived of their liberty, forced to labor in the silver mines with inadequate food, and barbarously treated, finally rose, joined with tribes who had never been subdued, and gradually drove out or massacred their oppressors. A superior civilization disappeared before their devastating career, and to day there is scarcely a trace of it left, except scarcely visible ruins, evidence everywhere, of extensive and hastily-deserted mining operations, and the tradition of the country. ”

“ The agricultural resources of Arizona, are sufficient to sustain a large mining population, and afford abundant supplies for the great immigration which will follow the development of its mineral resources. The whole valley of the Gila, more than four hundred miles in length, can be made with proper exertion to yield plentiful crops. The Pimos Indians, who live in villages on the Gila, one hundred and seventy miles from its mouth, raise large crops of cotton, wheat, and corn, and have for years supplied the thousands of emigrants who traverse the Territory en route to California. ”

“ It is astonishing with what precision they construct their acequias—irrigating canals—some of them, the acequias madre, of very large size, and without the use of levelling apparatus, but simply by the eye. Their gardens and farms too are regularly ditched and fenced off into rectangles and circles, with hedges and trees planted as if done by more enlightened people. ”

“ The silver mining companies will be only too glad to get their ores to market at so cheap a rate, as their proportion of the subscription to the railroad. Iron and coal are both found in the Territory,—the former especially in great abundance. Texas has guaranteed the road to El Paso, by her generous legislation; Arizona will build it, with her mineral wealth, to Fort Yuma, the eastern boundary of California, and California will do the rest. The first terminus of the Southern Pacific Railroad will doubt less be on the Gulf of California, at the Island of Tiburon, or more probably Guyamas. ”

“ Petitions with thousands of signatures from leading citizens of the majority of the states of the Union, will be presented to Congress asking for the immediate organization of the new Territory as the best means to at once open a highway to the Pacific; and so important has this view of the question been deemed as to call from the President of the United States a recommendation in his message to Congress. No opposition has been made to the most just prayer of the people of Arizona, and it is believed that none will be made, unless it comes from New Mexico. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If, as proposed, the Northern boundary of the Arizona Territory should enclose the Northern branches of the Gila, an agricultural region will be opened to settlement sufficient in itself to sustain the population of an immense agricultural State. Col. Bonneville, who is now at the head of a large force exploring this region, writes to the Secretary of War that it is the finest country he has ever seen, "valleys capable of sustaining a population of twenty thousand each, teeming at every step with evidences of an immense population long ago-and an ancient and superior civilization." ”

“ The remainder of the country should then be thrown open to settlers. No better code of mining law exists than the Spanish, adopted in the Senate bill introduced by the late General Rusk, and passed at the last session of Congress. A judicious and liberal donation law, giving to the actual settler a homestead, and to the enterprising miner and "prospector" a fair security for the fruit of his labors, will at once make of Arizona a popular, thriving and wealthy State, affording new markets for the productions of our Atlantic States, and yielding annually millions in silver and copper. ”

“ Already Guyamas is owned in great part by English and American capitalists. A port on the Gulf of California is necessary to our Pacific possessions, and must be ours sooner or later. The longer it is delayed, the worse for American progress on the Pacific. Arizona needs it at once, as a depot for the export of her ores, and for the import of goods for the supply of her population. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In addition to the produce of Arizona, the immediate vicinity of the agricultural region of Sonora affords an abundant market for all necessary supplies, including sugar, which is manufactured by the Mexicans in great quantities from the cane. Guyamas, which one day will be ours, is one of the largest ports for the export of flour on the Pacific coast north of Chili. She also exports several millions in silver annually, which finds its way direct to the English market. Under an intelligent system, the Sonora mines would yield a hundred millions a year, and the supply is inexhaustible. ”

“ THAT THERE IS MUCH SILVER IN THE TERRITORY THERE IS NO DOUBT, but it requires capital to develop it. As yet but little progress has been made in mining. Evidences of old works are seen on many of the water courses, but operations have not yet been recommenced, except at Arizona, Sopori, and Ariaola, principally because the country is very partially settled, and it is not safe to be at any distance from the mass of the population, and the troops. Copper ore is found in many localities, but little gold is yet discovered. ”

“ New Mexico has never encouraged American population. She is thoroughly Mexican in sentiment, and desires to remain so.
As a matter of State policy, the organization of Arizona is of the first importance. Situated between New Mexico and Sonora, it is possible now to make it a thoroughly American State, which will constantly exert its influence in both directions, to nationalize the other two. New Mexico is at present thoroughly Mexican in its character and vote. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Fifty thousand souls will move towards the Pacific early in the spring, if the route is opened to a secure passage.
The present condition of Arizona Territory is deplorable in the extreme. Throughout the whole country there is no redress for crimes or civil injuries—no courts, no law, no magistrates. The Territory of New Mexico, to which it is attached by an act of Congress, affords it neither protection nor sustenance. ”

“ The establishment of a firm government in Arizona will extend the protection of the United States over American citizens resident in the adjoining Mexican provinces. This protection is most urgently demanded. Englishmen in Sonora enjoy not only perfect immunity in the pursuit of business, but also encouragement. Americans are robbed openly by Mexican officials, insulted, thrown into prison, and sometimes put to death. No redress is ever demanded or received. ”

“ The great riches of the country, however, are a total waste at the present time, but which the Pacific railroad will at once develop, and make to itself the foundation of a vast revenue. I refer to its metallic wealth, the silver, gold, and copper mines that abound in almost every mountain and valley, between the Rio Grande and the Gulf of California. ”

“ The fine cotton region of the Gila, the rich copper, silver, and gold mines of New Mexico and Sonora would be at once developed, bringing a vast district of country into cultivation which now presents a fruitless waste, owing to Indian depredations and the absence of means of communication and protection. Mexico has tried for a century past to insure safety to her inhabitants in this region, but notwithstanding the expense she has incurred in keeping up her garrisons, she has failed to afford them protection. ”

“ There is sufficient water in the Gila and its branches for all the purposes of irrigation when it is wanted, the streams being high during the season most needed. The Rio Salado, a tributary of the Gila, is a bold and far more beautiful river than the Gila itself, and, from the old ruins now seen there, must have had formerly a large settlement upon its banks. "To many persons merely travelling or emigrating across the country, with but one object in view, and that the reaching their destination on the Pacific, the country would generally present a barren aspect. ”

“ Many believed, at first, from the cold and sterile look of the hills, and the parched appearance of the fields and valleys, over which the starving coyote is often seen prowling in search of something to subsist on, that California could never become an agricultural district, but must depend upon her other resources for greatness, and trust to distant regions for the necessaries of life required for her increased population. ”

“ That the highways of the Territory are stained with the blood of citizens of the United States, shed by Indians and by public marauders, who commit their crimes in open day, knowing there is no law to restrain and no magistrate to arrest them. ”

“ Should the exploration of the Upper Colorado by Lieutenant Ives, United States Army, now in progress, prove successful, Colorado city will become still more important, as the surplus products of the rich valleys of New Mexico, Utah, and California to the north, will all find a market down the Colorado. Property in this new city is held at high rates, and by the last San Francisco News Letter is quoted at an advance. The population of Arizona Territory has much increased within a few months by emigration from California. ”

“ The vicinity of the Colorado, and the abundance of wood and water, give the proprietors facilities for conducting their operations at small cost.
Silver mining is also carried on in the vicinity of Mesilla Valley, and near the Rio Grande. Many other mining operations are constantly being commenced; but the depredations of the Apache Indians have almost entirely snatched success from the hard-working miner, who, besides losing his all, is often massacred in some ferocious manner.
No protection, either civil or military, is extended over the greater portion of Arizona. ”

“ The present condition of California is in a great degree to be attributed to the want of any title to the most valuable real property in the State, and the millions which have been spent in fruitless litigation should teach a lesson of great practical value. Let those Spanish grants and Mexican titles which have been occupied in good faith be affirmed in the most expeditious and economical manner to the claimants, and they will immediately pass into American hands, and become productive. ”

“ The incentives to emigration to Arizona, in addition to the charm which the discovery of mineral wealth carries to every mind, are very great. The writer, in an extended tour through the Southern States, found many people, mostly young men of moderate means, ready and anxious to emigrate. The movement is still stronger in Southwestern States, and already many a train of wagons is on its way. ”