Chapter 3

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 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 massacre of Henry A. Crabbe and his party by the Mexicans at Cavorca created a desire for revenge throughout all California. Companies have been formed, and large parties are settling in Arizona, near the Mexican line, with the ulterior object of overrunning Sonora, and revenging the tragedy in which was shed some of the best blood of the State. The appropriation by the last Congress of two hundred thousand dollars for the construction of a wagon road from El Paso to Fort Yuma, and the two mail contracts, semi-monthly and semi-weekly, which involve an expenditure of nine hundred thousand dollars per annum, will afford employment to a host of people, and draw at once to the neighborhood of the route an active and energetic population. The new wagon and mail route traverses the Territory of Arizona throughout its entire length. Along the mail route, at intervals, military posts will be established. These and the necessary grazing stations will create points around which settlements will at once grow up, and the country, now bare, will show everywhere thriving villages. The Southern Pacific Railroad, which will be built because it is necessary to the country, will find its way easily through Arizona.

It is no exaggeration to say that the mining companies, in their own interest, will be forced to subscribe enough to the stock of the company to insure its success. The Arizona Copper Mining Company is now paying $100 per ton for the transportation of its ores from the mines to Colorado city. One year's freight money at this rate would build many miles of the road. 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. A steam ferry across the Gulf, a short railroad across the peninsula of Lower California to a secure harbor on the Pacific, (where a steamer will take passengers and freight in four days to San Francisco,) is the most natural course of this route. In view of this probability, all the available points for such a terminus on the Gulf have been, or are in progress of being, secured by capitalists, either by obtaining grants from the Mexican Government, or by purchase from private individuals. 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 Mormon war has closed for years the great emigrant road to California and Oregon, over the South Pass and Salt Lake valley, leaving open only the route along the 32d parallel of latitude, through Arizona. This route is by far the most practicable at all seasons of the year, and the closing of the South Pass route by the Mormon difficulty is an additional and urgent argument in favor of the early organization of this Territory. 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 following extracts from letters received by the writer tell the story of the necessity for early action on the part of Congress, in urgent terms.

TUBAC, GADSDEN PURCHASE, August 15, 1857.

Affairs in the Territory have not improved. A party of Americans (our countrymen) had made an "excursion" into Sonora, captured a train of mules, and killed several Mexicans. Upon their return to the Territory with their ill-gotten booty, the citizens formed a company and took the property away from them, and returned it to the owners in Magdalena, [a town of Sonora--Ed.] and delivered the robbers up to Major Steen, commanding first dragoons, to be held in custody until Courts should be organized. They have again been turned loose upon the community. In justice to Major Fitzgerald I must say he was in favor of retaining them in custody, and has generally maintained favoring law and order in the Territory, but as he is only second in command he has no absolute authority.

We have no remedy but to follow the example so wide spread in the Union, and form a "Vigilance Committee"--contrary to all good morals, law, order, and society. Can you do nothing to induce the government to establish authority and law in this country, and avert this unhappy alternative?

It is not desired by any good citizens, and tends to anarchy and mobocracy, causing disloyalty in our own citizens and bringing the reproach of foreigners upon our republican institutions. It is impossible to progress in developing the resources of the country under this state of affairs. The greatest objection the capitalists of San Francisco have to aiding me in the development of silver mines, is the insecurity of property, want of protection from government, and general distrust of fair and honest legislation.

They have no confidence that the guarantees of the GADSDEN TREATY will be respected by the United States, in regard to land titles under the Mexican government.

The silver ore brought to San Francisco from our mines, has been tested by a dozen different officers, in as many different ways, and no result falls BELOW FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER TON OF ORE.

Senator Gwin goes on to Washington soon, and will corroborate my statements. He has a piece of the silver, the first smelted in San Francisco, showing $8,735 20--EIGHT THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE 20-100 DOLLARS PER TON OF ORE. Mr. Dunbar is getting the petition to Congress signed--and moving in the affairs of the Territory in connection with Mr. Ehrenberg and our friends--but the government came near "crushing us out" by sending a Custom House Collector to consume and destroy what little we had saved from the Apaches. Can nothing be done to rid us of a Custom House? It is no protection. The Territory (as yet) produces nothing but minerals--and we have to pay duty upon every article of consumption. This is a very onerous tax upon our first feeble efforts to develop the resources of this remote and unprotected country.

Very truly yours, C. D. Poston.

To Lieut. Mowry, U. S. A., Washington, D. C.

"We are living without the protection of law or the ameliorations of society. New Mexico affords us no protection. We have not even received an order for election. Every one goes armed to the teeth, and a difficulty is sure to prove fatal. In this state of affairs it is impossible to hold a convention."

Tueson, Oct. 1, 1857.

We are pleased to hear that the prospect for Arizona is so bright. If you should succeed in getting a separate organization for Arizona, you will lay the people under many obligations to you. You have no doubt received many petitions for Congress, and also your certificate of election as delegate for this purchase. You received the entire vote; there was no difference of opinion among the voters.

Your ob't serv't, J. A. Douglas.

Lt. Mowry, U. S. A. Tucson, Oct. 25, 1857.

I send you the last petition from the Territory. The work is now in your hands, and we say, God speed it.

G. H. Oury.

Tueson, Arizona Territory, Oct. 17, 1857.

Every thing begins to look up in the Territory notwithstanding the difficulties we labor under. The Indians the other day came within eight hundred yards of Fort Buchanan and remained some time, and when they left carried off with them all the horses and mules in the valley for six or eight miles below. Try your hand in this matter of our Territory, and see if some change cannot be wrought to some benefit--we need it greatly.

Very truly yours, G. H. Oury.

Tueson, Oct. 2, 1857.

We have heard from Mesilla and they fully concur with us in all we have done, showing that you are the person chosen to act for them and to represent their interest in this matter. The people here are very much elated at the turn things are taking, and every one seems to be highly pleased with the course you have pursued. An election was held on the first Monday in September, at which you received all the votes given, and a certificate of your election, signed by the judges and clerks, has been forwarded to you. The country is being settled very fast, and there is somewhat of a stir to obtain cultivated lands. The lands already under cultivation are now fifty per cent. higher than a short time back. The great misfortune we labor under is want of protection. Thousands and thousands of acres of land, as rich and fertile as any on the face of the globe, lie idle and useless because they are not protected from the Apaches. We want only one thing besides the Territorial organization, and that is PROTECTION.

Very truly yours, S. Warner.

Oct. 8, 1857.

The guerilla warfare on the Sonora frontier continues with increased aggravation. We look for the happiest result from the exploration of this interesting region of the Colorado, about to be explored by Lieut. Ives, U. S. A. The ores from the Heintzelman mine took the premium at the mechanics' fair in San Francisco, just closed, where the ores from California and the western coast were on exhibition. So, Arizona leads California, the great mineral State.

All we need is good government and honest, liberal legislation to make Arizona equal in production of precious metals, if not exceed, California.

Yours truly, C. D. Poston.

Lt. Mowry, U. S. A. Fort Yuma, June 2, 1857.

News has just come in from the Arizona which represent an awful state of affairs. During the time Mr. Belknap was below at Sonora it was unsafe for him to go out unless accompanied by his friend, Don Gaudaloupe Orosco, and even then it was very dangerous. No news from Sonora nor even an arrival for the last twenty days. God knows what is going on; though of one thing we are certain--no American, never mind whatsoever he may be, can go into Sonora, with or without a passport.

Very sincerely yours, P. R. Brady.

Aug. 5, 1850.

The condition of the purchase has been extremely bad since the unfortunate and injudicious expedition of Crabbe into Sonora, and at the present time is but little better than a field of guerilla warfare, robbery and plunder.

The exasperated state of feeling between the Mexicans and Americans prevents intercourse and commerce, upon which the Territory is dependent. Americans are afraid to venture into Sonora for supplies, and Mexicans afraid to venture over the line. Americans who had nothing to do with the fillibustering invasion have been treated badly in Sonora and driven out of the country, and Mexicans coming into the purchase with supplies and animals have been robbed and plundered by the returned fillibusters.

The Americans in the Territory are by no means harmonious on these subjects--some in favor of filibustering and others opposed to it; some in favor of murdering and robbing Mexicans wherever found, and others opposed to it.

It results that we are in a state of anarchy, and there is no government, no protection to life, property, or business; no law and no self-respect or morality among the people. We are living in a perfect state of nature, without the restraining influence of civil or military law, or the amelioration of society.

There have not been many conflicts and murders, because every man goes armed to the teeth, and a difficulty is always fatal on one side or the other. In the midst of all this, the Government has blessed us with a custom house at Calabazos to collect duties upon the necessaries of life which, by chance and "running the gauntlet," we may get from Sonora.

God send that we had been left alone with the Apaches. We should have been a thousand times better off in every respect.

In this state of affairs it is scarcely to be expected that the people will meet together in a convention; there was no arrangement for that purpose up to the time of my leaving, and none could be made.

We have never had any orders of election from Santa Fe, nor heard of any convention.

Yours truly, C. D. Poston.

Major Fitzgerald, U. S. A., whose long experience on the Pacific coast makes his opinion very valuable, in a letter dated Fort Buchanan, Arizona, Sept. 17th, 1854, says:

"The citizens of this country are very desirous of a territorial organization, with its courts, &c. Murders are committed and stock is stolen by white men with impunity. There is no court nearer than the Rio Grande (300 miles) to take cognizance of crime. Some few of the emigrants of this year have remained in the Santa Cruz valley. More would have done so, no doubt, if they had not started from the States originally with stock for the California market.

The country around us is now beautiful. It has been raining almost daily since the 1st of July, and the vegetation is most luxuriant. Many of the Mexican citizens come over the line for purposes of trade, bringing flour, fruit, and leather. If there was no custom house at Calabazas, these articles could be had very cheaply.

We have very excellent gardens, and plenty of vegetables. There is said to be a good deal of cultivable land on the upper Gila, and if a territory is created, it should embrace this. This would also include a large part of the Colorado valley above the junction of the Gila. That you may succeed in your wishes with regard to Arizona, is the sincere desire of

Your friend and obliged serv't, E. H. Fitzgerald."

Lt. Mowry, U. S. A.

A subsequent letter from Major Fitzgerald dated Oct. 1st, says Tueson contains rising five hundred inhabitants, the remainder of the Santa Cruz altogether enough to make considerable over a thousand, independent of the population towards and upon the Gila and Colorado, of which he remarks,

"You know more than I." "There is not a doubt but that upon the location of the mail route, there will be a considerable emigration to this country, and if a portion of Sonora be organized, large numbers will come both from the East and West. The country is an excellent one for stock of all kinds, of which there were great numbers where the Apaches were gathered under the wing of the Catholic church. The valleys of Santa Cruz, San Pedro, and Upper Gila, and also that of Messilla, contain large bodies of productive lands, and all the cereals grow luxuriantly therein. 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. If the road from El Paso to Fort Yuma be located by Parke's route, as many suppose, A FINE COUNTRY WILL BE OPENED on the Gila and Lower San Pedro, which will produce ample supplies. The Territory presents no difficulties of importance to the successful establishment of the road. Frequent stations and PROPER PROTECTION ARE ONLY REQUISITE TO ENSURE SUCCESS AS COMPLETELY AS THE MOST SANGUINE ANTICIPATE. Should Sonora, or even a portion of it be organized, this will be one of the most pleasant localities of our country. A delightful climate, plenty of fine fruit, facility of supply by a port on the Pacific, semi-weekly mails from the east and west,--are only some of the attractions which it would possess.

Sonora is quiet. Many of the wealthy men there are in favor of annexation, it is said, but they have to keep silent on the subject for fear of noisy patriots, who would proclaim them traitors at once, if they made a parade of their inclinations. The San Antonio and San Deigo mail passes through Tueson once a fortnight, and seems to have met with no important obstacle yet. A drove of mules accompanies it, which are harnessed in turn. When regular stations are established its speed will be much increased. My last letter was not written with a view of the use being made of it you mentioned, yet if it answers a good purpose, I have no objection. It was but a careless note, but its contents were truths, nevertheless." (This note demonstrated the facility of supply for the Territory from the Pacific.)

"Most truly your friend, (Signed,) E. H. Fitzgerald."

Tubac, Gadsden's Purchase, 22d Oct., 1857.

"We have of late been seriously annoyed by the Apaches. Nearly all the animals belonging to the citizens residing around Fort Buchanan have been driven off by the Apaches. They are very impudent, and commit their depredations in broad day-light, talk to the people while they are driving off the animals, and always escape without being molested.

The other day they came within 800 yards of the Fort and looked down upon it.

In order to bring them to terms the Government ought to enlist 1000 Pinos and Papagos to accompany the military. Indians are the only persons who can successfully traverse these mountains and hunt up their hiding places. If this is not done, they will surely break up our settlements here. Forts ought to be established in the very heart of the Apache country, in the places fit, and used by them for cultivation. If this is done we will soon bring them to terms.

Until now, our mining establishments have not been molested by them, and we are going on in high glee. This is undoubtedly the richest silver mining country in the world. If the United States will make just and liberal laws for us; give us protection; remove those trifling and unprofitable custom houses on the frontier, at least for 5 or 6 years; procure us a transit through Sonora to Guaymas, and hasten along the rail-road to California, this will indeed be a prosperous country, and will astonish the world with its production of silver and copper. But with such terrible obstacles as those mentioned above and the great length of transit to transport goods over the roads which we have to take at present, progress only is possible for such as find mines of the extraordinary and incredible richness of the Heintzelman vein. If the present promises of few of these mines are realized, by working them on a scale commensurate with their extent and richness, I have no doubt but that they will equal in production the whole silver exports of Mexico.

I think an appropriation ought to be made to sink artesian wells through the Papagos country, between San Xavier and the lower Gila. This route cuts off about 100 miles from the best route via the Pinos villages. It is laid down on my map, as a rail-road route, now at the office of the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company, at Cincinnati, Ohio.

The country consists of a succession of plains and isolated mountain ridges, none of which need to be crossed. In fact it is a dead level to Fort Yuma, and, in consequence, no grading is necessary. There is scarcity of water, but the soil in general is excellent and grass abounds all along the line, while the mountains teem with minerals of the richest description. The oxides and the sulphurets of copper are the most beautiful and richest in the world. Silver undoubtedly exists of equal richness.

All the foothills contain gold, but I hardly think it will be extracted by the whites, as the localities are devoid of water, and they are not probably rich enough to pay without sluicing on an extensive scale."

I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, Herman Ehrenberg.

To Lieut. S. Mowry, U. S. A., Delegate elect from Arizona, Washington, D. C.