From the time when it first became known to Europeans, Arizona has been especially noted for its mineral wealth. There is no evidence that its mines were ever worked by the aborigines; but by the Spaniards its treasure of precious metals was much talked of, even before being found. It was enough to know that the country was in the mysterious north, and occupied by savage tribes; its wealth was taken for granted. On its partial exploration, however, and the establishment of missions and presidios on its borders early in the eighteenth century, abundant indications of gold and silver were found in all directions. Yet so broad and rich was the mineral field farther south, and so feeble the Spanish tenure in Alta Pimería by reason of Indian hostility, that not even the wonderfully rich ‘planchas de plata’ at the Arizona camp, giving name to the later territory though not within its limits, led to the occupation of the northern parts by miners. As I have already explained, the current traditions of extensive mining in Spanish times are greatly exaggerated. The Jesuits worked no mines; and in their period, down to 1767, nothing was practically accomplished beyond irregular prospecting in connection with military expeditions and the occasional working of a few veins or placers for brief periods, near the presidios. It is doubtful that any traces of such workings have been visible in modern times. Later, however, in about 1790-1815, while the Apaches were comparatively at peace and all industries flourished accordingly, mines were worked on a small scale in several parts of what is now Pima county, and the old shafts and tunnels of this period have sometimes been found, though the extent of such operations has been generally exaggerated. With Mexican independence and a renewal of Apache raids, the mining industry was entirely suspended, only to be resumed in the last years, if at all, on a scale even smaller than before 1790.

Still the fame of hidden wealth remained and multiplied; and on the consummation of the Gadsden purchase in 1854, as we have seen, Americans like Poston and Mowry began to open the mines. Eastern capital was enlisted; several companies were formed; mills and furnaces were put in operation; and for some six years, in the face of great obstacles —notably that of expensive transportation—the southern silver mines were worked with considerable success and brilliant prospects, until interrupted by the war of the rebellion, the withdrawal of troops, and the triumph of the Apaches in 1861. The mining properties were then plundered and destroyed, many miners were killed, and work was entirely suspended, not to be profitably resumed in this region for many years. During this period the Ajo copper mines in Papaguería were also worked with some success; and on the lower Gila from 1858 gold placers, or dry washings, attracted a thousand miners or more, being somewhat profitably worked for four years, and never entirely abandoned. In 1862 the placer excitement was transferred northward across the Gila, and up the Colorado to the region where La Paz, Olive City, and Ehrenberg soon came into existence. For several years these Colorado placers attracted a crowd of Californians, and a large amount of coarse gold was obtained; but as a rule the dry washing processes were too tedious for the permanent occupation of any but Mexicans and Indians; and the Americans pushed their prospecting north-eastward, under the pioneers Pauline Weaver and Joseph Walker, for whom new and rich districts in what is now Yavapai county were named in 1863. Not only was the placer field thus extended, but rich gold and silver bearing veins were found, giv­ing promise of a permanent mining industry for the future.

Such was the state of affairs in 1864-5, when the territory of Arizona was organized; and the mining excitement in Yavapai doubtless bad much influence in making Prescott the capital. This excitement continued for years, new and rich discoveries being frequent; but the richest lodes were always those to be discovered a little farther on in the Apache country. The Apache war soon made mining and even prospecting extremely perilous in most regions, at the same time preventing the influx of capital from abroad; and in many of the mines that could be worked it was soon found that the ores were too refractory for reduction by the crude processes and with the imperfect machinery of the pioneers. One or two mines of extraordinary richness were continuously profitable; a few others paid well at times; many men gained a living by working placers and small veins; and some mines near the Colorado made a profit by sending selected ores at enormous cost to San Francisco. Meanwhile every military expedition was also a prospecting tour; and the attitude of the people was one of most impatient waiting for the time when, with the defeat of the Apache and the return of peace, the development of mineral wealth might begin in earnest. Enthusiasm over the country’s prospects was unbounded; the local newspapers were full of rose-colored predictions; the governor and legislature were strong in the faith; and the government commissioners of mining statistics, Ross Browne and R. W. Raymond, gave some prominence to Arizona in their reports.

With the end of Apache war in 1874 came the expected revival and development of mining industry, old mines being worked with profit, and many new lodes being brought to light, notably in the central region of Gila and Pinal counties. The revival extended to the old districts of Pima county in the south, where the mines had been practically abandoned for thirteen years. While, however, there was marked progress in discoveries and workings, and in the influx of population, the output of bullion beginning also to assume proportions, yet the grand ‘boom’ was hardly so immediate or complete as Arizonans, in their long pent enthusiasm, had hoped for. Capital was still somewhat timid and tardy in its approach; the Indians became again to a certain extent troublesome; and above all, the cost of transportation was enormous. The railroad then became the prospective panacea for all the territory’s ills. It reached the Colorado border in 1878, and five years later two lines extended completely across the country from east to west. The railroad, with its policy of demanding “all the traffic will bear,” by no means put an end to excessively high rates, yet it afforded some relief; and meanwhile the discovery of the Tombstone bonanzas, aided by the failure of the Comstock lode as a paying property, gave to Arizona in 1880-4 a very high and previously unexcelled degree of prosperity. In 1884-6, however, the extremely low price of silver and copper bullion, together with labor troubles and a disastrous fire in the south-east, and the bursting of the Quijotoa babble, have thrown over the country’s progress a cloud, which it is hoped will soon disappear.

The total gold and silver product of the Arizona mines has been perhaps about $60,000,000. For the decade ending in 1869 it was estimated, on no very secure basis, at $1,000,000 per year on an average. Then it fell off to $800,000, to $600,000, and in 1873-4 to $500,000, being $750,000 in 1875. For the next four years it averaged about $2,000,000. For 1880 the amount is given as $5,560,000; for 1881 it was $8,360,000; and for 1882 over $8,500,000. In 1883-4 the production fell off to about $6,000,000, and to a still less figure probably in 1886. Down to the end of the Apache war the amount of gold largely ex­ceeded that of silver, but later was only about one sixth, though exceeding $1,000,000 in 1881-2.

The most notable general characteristics of the Arizona lodes would seem to be the great extent of mineral-bearing lands, the extremely varied and complicated nature of the deposits, and their extraordinary richness, especially on and near the surface. No description even en résumé is possible within my limits. Arizona resembles a kind of laboratory where nature has tried experiments preliminary to a general distribution of minerals in the Pacific states. The experienced miner from abroad is puzzled by the array of new combinations and strange geologic conditions, though he generally finds, sooner or later, all that he has known in other states. To a greater extent than in other regions, rich veins near the surface have been worked on a small scale, but profitably, by individuals with limited capital; but the prospects for deep mining in the future are understood to be encouraging on the whole. The natural facilities for mining, in the supply of wood and water—except in a few sections, and for placer mines—and especially in climate for continuous working, are excellent in comparison with those of other states; while agricultural resources more than suffice for the support of a dense mining population. Of the whole area, about 72,000,000 acres, nearly one half is described as mineral-bearing. Ores producing from $1,000 to $20,000 per ton in gold and silver have been of frequent occurrence; but here, as elsewhere, such are not the deposits that promise the greatest permanent results. Nowhere has more money been wasted in blundering mismanagement; and even rascality in certain directions has not been wanting; yet Arizona has not been famous as the field of stock-board swindles; and her record has been for the most part one of dividends rather than assessments

In the north-eastern section of the territory, the region tributary to the Colorado, above the big bend, an area of about 40,000 square miles out of the entire 100,000, including northern Mojave, about three fourths of Yavapai, and nearly all of Apache counties no rich deposits of the precious metals have been found; yet the extreme north-east, beyond the Colorado Chiquito, with the region of Fort Defiance and the Moqui towns as a centre, contains immense coal fields that can hardly fail to assume great importance in time. All the rest of the territory, except a broad tract of the Gila valley, and adjoining deserts, is dotted with mines; but the great silver and gold belt may be described as a tract from 60 to 70 miles wide, and 400 miles long, adjoining the non-metallic region above described on the south-west, extending from the Colorado, just below the big bend, south-eastward to Gila county, and thence south to the Mexican boundary. The principal mines of this belt may be noticed briefly in four groups.

The first group in the north-west includes the mines of Mojave county explored to some extent from 1858, and worked in considerable numbers from 1863, though operations were much interrupted in 1866-70 by Hualapai hostilities. The number of claims recorded down to 1882 was about 2,700. All the mountain ranges are rich in minerals, promising discoveries have been made each year, and the county has often seemed on the verge of great developments, which from one cause or another—mainly the great cost of transportation preventing the working of ores producing less than $500 per ton—have never come. The completion of the railroad in 1883, however, seems to have removed the worst of Mojave’s disadvantages. Off the main belt, and not included in the four groups, are the Yuma county mines of gold, silver, lead, and copper. The gold placers of the Gila and Colorado, which caused great excitement in 1858-64, and have been worked with some profit ever since, have been noticed elsewhere. The silver lodes near the junction of the two rivers, though the ores are of low grade, have had the advantage of comparatively cheap river transportation, are near the railroad, and in recent years are attracting renewed attention.

The second group, hardly separated from the first, includes the mines of southern Yavapai and northern Maricopa, in the region south of Prescott, on the head­waters of the Hassayampa and Agua Fria. These mines were discovered during the placer ‘rush’ of 1863-4, and have been the chief gold-producers of Arizona. Down to 1876 there had been recorded 7,300 mines. Gold was found everywhere; the placers yielded richly for years, and are still worked with profit in wet seasons; immensely rich gold veins were worked near the surface; but with increasing depth the lodes became chiefly silver-bearing. Apache raids, and ores that proved refractory under the rude process in vogue, were the earlier obstacles to perfect success; and in later years remoteness from the railroad has been a serious drawback, soon to be remedied now. The leading districts are Weaver, Hassayampa, Lynx Creek, Turkey Creek, Humbug, Peck, and Martinez or Date Creek. But the most famous mine of all was the Vulture in Maricopa county, discovered in 1863 by Henry Wickenburg—for whom the town nearby was named—and in the next ten years producing over $3,000,000 in gold, though the ore had to be hauled some 15 miles to mills on the Hassayampa. Large quantities of low-grade ore were left when work was suspended; and from 1879, with water brought in iron pipes for an 80-stamp mill, the mine started on a new career of prosperity.

Still farther south-east, across the Verde, in Gila and Pinal counties, between the Gila and Salt rivers, is the third group of the belt; the leading districts being Pioneer and Globe, and the veins being remark­able for their variety and richness in silver, gold, and copper. Development began in 1875 with the discovery of the famous Silver King, and the equally wonderful lodes at Richmond Basin and McMillanville. The Silver King lode differs from any other known, being a circular chimney of ore, with thousands of veins centring in it. The mine has reached a depth of over 800 feet, and though the ores are refractory, the production has been over $6,000,000 in silver, and nearly $2,000,000 have been paid in dividends. The Mack Morris mine, in Richmond Basin, and the Stonewall Jackson, at McMillanville, are among the best of other mines, but the mountains in all this region abound in rich lodes, and the prospects are most encouraging, though railroad facilities are sadly needed. The product of this Gila and Pinal group in 1884, when work at Tombstone was partially suspended, is said to have been greater than that of any other in the territory.

Southward across the Gila, and past the Casa Grande and Arivaipa, or Defreese, districts, we find the fourth and final group in Pima and Cochise counties, mainly in the ranges bordering on the Santa Cruz and San Pedro valleys. This was the exclusive field of all Spanish and Mexican mining down to 1854, and but for the lower Gila placers, of all American operations down to 1861. From that date to 1873-4 the mines were for the most part abandoned, but in later years have been worked in great numbers with constantly increasing profits, producing more bullion than all others in Arizona combined. The Tombstone mines, the most productive of all, having yielded about $30,000,000, were discovered in 1878 by Ed. Schieffelin, and named from the dismal forebodings of his friends on his departure from Fort Huachuca. The first stamps began to run in 1879, and from 1880 bullion in large quantities was produced. The veins are larger than elsewhere, and the ore is easily worked, yielding, in one of the principal mines, $73 in silver and $4 in gold per ton on an average. There are over 3,000 locations in the district, the most famous mines or companies being the Contention, Grand Central, and Tombstone. The depth reached is over 750 feet, and extensive pumping machinery for working below the water level was completed in 1883. Little doubt is entertained respecting the future productiveness of the lodes at greater depths. The Bisbee copper mines of Cochise county produced, in 1881, over $3,000,000; and other prominent districts of the county are the California, Turquoise, and Swisshelm. The Quijotoa silver mines of Papaguería, Pima county, were discovered by Alexander McKay in 1883, and passing into the hands of the great ‘bon­anza firm’ of California, were confidently expected to become the richest in all Arizona. Respecting the results of extensive workings, not much is definitely known; but the general impression is, that Quijotoa has proved a complete failure, though many still believe that vast treasures will be uncovered when silver shall be restored to its legitimate value, or when the public shall be deemed ripe for plunder by a stock ‘boom’. Other districts in Pima county, as the Empire, Arivaca, Harshaw or Patagonia. Silver Belt, Oro Blanco, and Aztec, rival the famous lodes discovered by Schieffelin.

Arizona is almost as famous for its copper mines as for its deposits of silver and gold. The ores are widely distributed and of high grade, often yielding from 60 to 80 per cent of metal. Production on a large scale began in 1881, from which date the total product per year was about six, seventeen, twenty-five, and perhaps thirty-five million pounds in 1884. Leading mines, or groups, are the Planet, Centennial, and Copper King of Bill Williams River in northern Yuma; the United Verde Company’s mines in the Black Hills of Yavapai; the Globe district lodes of Gila; the old Ajo mines in western Pima; and the Copper Queen and others of Bisbee in southern Cochise. But at the head of all stand the wonderful copper deposits near Clifton in Graham county, where rich ore is quarried rather than mined, and whence a railroad has been built to carry the product to the main line of the Southern Pacific.

In 1872 the alleged discovery of diamond-fields in Arizona created a great excitement throughout the nation. Arnold and Slack were the discoverers; splendid diamonds and rubies were exhibited in New York and San Francisco; Harpending, Lent, Roberts, Dodge, and other capitalists became sponsors for the great find; Henry Janin visited the fields as an expert, reporting them rich in diamonds; a company with a capital of ten millions was formed, with such men as Latham, Selby, Ralston, Sloss, Barlow, and General McClellan as directors; a title to 3,000 acres was obtained; large sums were paid for interests in the scheme; and all was made ready, not only to work the claim, but to offer the stock to a credulous and excited public. Meanwhile the papers were full of the matter, though there was less excitement in Arizona than elsewhere; a dozen parties visited the fields, some connected with the Harpending Company, and others not; and most of them, finding the spot without difficulty, brought back a variety of beautiful stones. All agreed that the place was in the region of Fort Defiance, some locating it across the line in New Mexico, but most in the extreme north of Apache county, near the junction of the Chelly and San Juan, where the inscription Diamond Fields is to be seen on modern maps. Arnold, however, said the spot was south of the Moqui towns near the Colorado Chiquito. Finally, Clarence King, United States geologist, visited the fields, and discovered that the claim had been artfully ‘salted’ with rough diamonds from Africa, Brazil, and other parts of the world. Fortunately, the exposure came in time to prevent the swindling of the general public. Of the capitalists involved, who were victims and who culprits was never exactly known. The point of the whole matter, however, lies in the fact that, while in all that was written, it was the Arizona diamond-fields that were described, and the ‘Arizona diamond swindle’ that was denounced, not only were there no diamonds in Arizona, but the salted claim was in north-western Colorado, hundreds of miles from the Arizona line!

In closing what I have to say of mining industries in Arizona, it is proper to acknowledge my indebtedness to the works of Hinton, Elliott, and Hamilton, who have treated the subject more minutely than I have had space to do. And not only on the subject of mining, but on all others pertaining to the history of late years, and to the country’s resources and condition, do these works deserve much praise, comparing very favorably with such works of the better class relating to other parts of the country. Of the three, Hinton’s work is the earliest, and on many points is followed by the others; Elliott’s folio is the largest, and has perhaps the greatest percentage of defects, resulting mainly from its class rather than from any fault of its editors; and Hamilton’s book is the most compact and readable presentment of the subject. On aboriginal, Spanish, and Mexican annals these works, as I have already had occasion to point out, are very faulty, the author who has least to say being the least inaccurate; but their defects in this respect were to a large extent unavoidable, since the writers had no access to the veritable sources.

Several tribes of aborigines in Arizona were found by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, supporting themselves wholly or in part by tilling the soil These tribes occupied but a limited area, but widely scattered groups of ruins prove that in earlier centuries all the principal valleys were inhabited by a numerous people who could have lived only by agriculture; and indeed, in many districts clear traces of their irrigating canals are still to be seen. From the eighteenth century, the Spaniards irrigated and tilled small tracts in the Santa Cruz valley, producing such grain, vegetables, and fruits as were required for home consumption; and they also introduced the new industry of stock-raising. During the period of peace with the Apaches in 1790-1815, many flourishing farms and haciendas were established in the southern region; and mean­while the Indians, from the southern Pápagos and Pimas to the Moquis of the north, including some bands of the Apaches, continued to depend to greater or less extent on their crops. Some of the tribes raised cattle and sheep on a small scale after the Spaniards came; other tribes preferred to steal their live­stock.

To Americans in the earliest years, Arizona seemed, except a small portion of the later acquired Gadsden purchase, an utterly barren and worthless waste of sandy deserts and rocky mountains, probably rich in minerals, but of no agricultural value whatever. There was no thought of seeking farms in Arizona; but having come there in search of silver and gold, they began to till the soil in spots to supply their necessities, and found it wonderfully productive wherever water could be obtained. Progress has been constant if not very rapid from the first; the press never tired of exalting the country’s advantages in soil and climate; the gov­ernor and legislature often called attention to the subject; the Mormons came in as agricultural immigrants; and finally, about 100,000 acres have been brought under cultivation with the most encouraging results. The climate, agreeable in winter and in the mountains, the mean temperature at Prescott ranging from 30º in January to 72° in July, though disagreeably hot in the lower valleys and in summer, frequently over 100° from May to September at Phoenix and Tucson, and over 115° for the same period at Yuma, is remarkably healthful, and altogether favorable to farming operations. The soil, a sandy loam with rich adobe on the banks of streams, is easily worked; and its strength and recuperative power are shown by the undiminished yield in spots cultivated by the Indians for centuries. All the cereals, vegetables, and fruits of temperate and semi-tropic climes are successfully produced; cotton has always been raised in small quantities; in recent years the culture of oranges, grapes, and olives has passed far beyond the stage of experiment; and sugar-cane is produced in considerable quantities for the manufacture of syrup.

Still the area of farming lands, as limited by the supply of water for irrigation, without which practically nothing can be produced, does not probably exceed 2,000,000 acres out of a total of 72,000,000; though in the distant future, with constant cultivation lessening the amount of water required, with the planting of trees, with artesian wells and other devices for irrigation, a surprising encroachment on what is still regarded as a desert may be expected. In the Colorado bottoms of Yuma and Mojave counties is a broad tract of land that in time, with the construction of expensive reclamation works on a large scale, bids fair to produce large quantities of sugar, rice, tobacco, cotton, and other crops. The largest body of available land, however, is found in the Gila and Salt River valleys of Maricopa and Pinal counties, about Phoenix and Florence as centres. Here also have been made the greatest improvements, though only about 50,000 of the 500,000 acres have been brought under cultivation. A dozen canals have been constructed to take water from the rivers, and their number and extent are being constantly increased. Here we have already a prosperous agricultural community, which must grow rapidly. In Pima county, the field of early Spanish and Mexican cultivation, the lands lie chiefly in the Santa Cruz, Sonoita, and Arivaca valleys. Cochise has a limited but fertile area in the San Pedro, Sulphur Spring, and San Simon valleys. Pueblo Viejo valley in Graham has some 40,000 acres of excellent land in a body. Yavapai’s largest body is on the Rio Verde, but here many small tracts are cultivated without irrigation. Apache has a fertile tract of 13,000 acres on the Colorado Chiquito, nearly all taken up by the Mormons. Other agricultural tracts are scattered in small pieces.

A large portion of the agricultural area is still government land, and open to settlement; though part of it in the south was burdened down to 1885 by a doubtful railroad title to the alternate sections, other parts are included in Indian reservations, and still others held in grants not yet confirmed. Wild lands in private ownership are sold at five to ten dollars per acre, and improved lands at $15 to $40, prices that are rapidly increasing. Limited as they are in extent, it will be seen that Arizona’s lands, if the water supply is properly utilized, are amply sufficient for the requirements of a population ten or twenty times that of the present. A country of mining camps, such as Arizona promises to be for many years, affords the best possible market for small farmers. In the export of agricultural products—pending wide-spread reclamation of the Colorado bottoms—not much can be expected from grain and the other ordinary crops; but fruits ripen nearly a month earlier than in California, and if the industry of fruit-shipping in the latter state proves as successful as it promises, there is no apparent reason why Arizona should not receive a rich share of the profits. The country also is admirably fitted for the production and curing of raisins; and the export of olive-oil may yet prove profitable.

Stock-raising was for many years unprofitable, on account of Apache hostilities; but the country’s natural advantages for this industry have long been known, and since 1875 flocks and herds have increased rapidly. Over half of Arizona’s area, or nearly 40.000.000 acres is available for grazing lands of a superior quality, the native gramma, bunch, and mezquite grasses affording an abundance of the most nutritious food, the climate being peculiarly favorable, both to the healthful development and inexpensive care of animals, and their various diseases being as yet for the most part unknown. Considerable progress has already been made in the introduction of improved breeds of cattle, sheep, and horses. The best ranges, with natural water supply, are already occupied, but by means of an artesian supply, for which the conditions are favorable, and of surface wells and windmills, nearly the whole extent of grazing land may be utilized; and it is believed that in most sections agricultural operations can never encroach greatly on the ranges. As in all countries where alfalfa flourishes, the fattening of cattle and hogs on the valley farms also promises to become profitable. Apparently the exportation of meat and wool must increase rapidly, becoming, after—perhaps eventually before—mining, the territory’s leading industry.

A surveyor-general for Arizona was appointed in 1863, and made a report on the country’s resources; but in 1864 the territory was attached to the New Mexico land district, whose surveyor-general made a tour with some estimates and suggestions, selecting an initial point on the Gila opposite the mouth of Salt River, finally adopted as fixing the base line and meridian of Arizona surveys. In 1867 a land-office was created at Prescott, but the territory was attached to the California surveying district. It was not until 1868 that a beginning of surveys was made, and the work was continued somewhat slowly from that year. In 1870 a separate district was created, and John Wasson appointed surveyor-general, holding the office for twelve years. The Gila district was created in 1873, with office at Florence, removed in 1882 to Tucson. The total area of public land surveyed down to 1883 was a little over 8,000,000 acres, and that disposed of by the various methods of sale, homestead, timber-culture entry, etc., was about 270,000 acres.

Mexican land grants in Arizona are much less numerous than in California and New Mexico, being all in Pima county and in the territory ceded to the United States in 1853. Troubles resulting from these claims are similar to those arising in California, though on a much smaller scale. Most of the claims are doubtless equitably valid and will eventually be confirmed, though some are fraudulent. Not much is known of them in detail, though since 1879 the surveyor-general has investigated fourteen of them or more. and recommended them for approval or rejection. This delay on the part of the government has been entirely inexcusable, as the matter might have been easily settled fifteen years ago. Since that time lands have increased in value; conflicting interests have come into existence: probably fraudulent schemes have been concocted; and even a hope has been developed that all the Mexican titles might be defeated. Owners have no real protection against squatters, cannot sell or make improvements, and in fact have no other right than that of paying taxes; while on the other hand the rights of settlers are jeopardized by possibly invalid claims, and a generally unsettled and unsatisfactory system of land tenure is produced.

Manufacturing industries in Arizona call for no special mention in an historical work, being confined to a few establishments, chiefly flouring and lumber mills, for the partial supply of territorial needs. Future developments will naturally be limited for a long time by home requirements, most of which may eventually be supplied; yet with the growth of stock-raising it would appear that tanning and the manufacture of leather goods should assume larger proportions; and doubtless other industries will in time product articles for export. Commerce may be disposed of for the most part as summarily. The territory’s trade has consisted of the bringing from abroad and the distributing to towns and camps of the various supplies required. Each settlement has its shops for the supply of local demands, and each of the dozen larger centres its wholesale establishments, whence goods are hauled in all directions. In these establishments, some of them doing business on a large scale, many a fortune has been made. There are no available statistics of value or interest, except in local phases of the subject, for which I have no space. The great question has always been one of transportation routes and rates, and the latter have been invariably high, with the natural result of excessive prices. Before the building of the transcontinental railroads of the south, a considerable amount of freight was brought in at times by mule-teams from the terminus of the Denver railroad, from Austin, Texas, by way of Mesilla, and to a slight extent from Salt Lake City and through Sonora from Guaymas; while there was frequent agitation of a project to open a route from Tucson to the nearer port of Libertad on the gulf; but the bulk of all freight came in teams across the desert from San Francisco via Los Angeles, or by the gulf and Colorado River in boats. But the railroads gave the wholesale trade mainly to the eastern cities, and destroyed, for the most part, the prominence of Yuma as a distributing centre in favor of Tucson and other inland stations. It should also be noted that a flourishing branch of Arizona commerce has been an extensive contraband trade with Sonora, a large part of that territory’s supply of dry goods being smuggled across the line from Tucson. According to the census, 591 persons in Arizona were engaged in trade in 1870, and in 1880 the number had increased to 3,252.

With two of the great transcontinental lines passing through the territory from east to west, and a connecting line to Guaymas on the gulf, Arizona is in a sense, for so new a region, well supplied with railroads. Branch roads in several directions are urgently needed, and some of these have been or are being constructed. The complicated history of the main lines pertains but very slightly to Arizona, though the military necessities and prospective resources of that territory may be supposed to have had some little influence in favor of their construction. Therefore that history is not given here, nor is any attempt made to chronicle the hopes and fears and rumors respecting routes current for many years among the people on this vital matter. Early surveys, by which the practicability of the routes by the 25th and 32d parallels was ascertained, have been recorded. From 1864 the subject was always under discussion, and various projects took more or less definite shape; but there was a broad region to be crossed before the iron road should even approach Arizona. In 1866 the Atlantic and Pacific was chartered with a land grant on the 35th parallel, but no western progress was made. In 1870-1 this company was reorganized, making some show of active work; and the Texas and Pacific was organized to reach San Diego by the Gila route, with a land grant like that of the Atlantic and Pacific, including the alternate sections for a width of 80 miles throughout the whole extent of Arizona from east to west. For a few years from 1872 Arizonans believed their railroad future assured from this source; but financial obstacles proved insuperable, and Scott’s line never reached the eastern line of the territory. In 1877, however, the Southern Pacific from California was completed to the Arizona line at Yuma, and in the following years, not without some serious complications with the rival company, was rapidly continued eastward, reaching Tucson in 1880, and in 1881 effecting a junction with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé road at Demihg, New Mexico. Practically by the latter company the Sonora road, connecting Guaymas with the Southern Pacific at Benson, was completed in 1882; and the company is accredited with the intention of securing a through-line to Guaymas, by building a new road from Deming to Benson or Fairbanks. Meanwhile the completion of the Atchison line down the Rio Grande valley enabled the Atlantic and Pacific to resume operations in the west, and in 1880-3 this road was completed from Isleta to the Colorado at the Needles, connecting there with the California Southern. As all these roads were built, so they have been operated without any special regard to the interests of Arizona; yet they have necessarily—even as masters instead of servants of the people, as they should be—been immensely beneficial to the territory.

The importance of education has been realized in Arizona from the beginning. In early years, the sisters of St Joseph maintained a small but useful school at Tucson. The first legislature of 1864 not only provided in the code for the establishing of common schools when needed, but appropriated small sums for the mission school at Bac, and for public schools at the larger towns. Prescott alone took advantage of this appropriation, maintaining a private school in 1865. But no progress was made for years. In 1871 the governor announced that with 1,923 children Arizona had not a single public school, though 1868 is generally given as the date when the first was founded, because in that year was passed an “act to establish public schools,” levying a tax of ten cents on each hundred dollars, and creating a board of education, with the governor and probate judges as ex­officio territorial and county superintendents. Governor Safford, particularly, distinguished himself by his efforts in this direction; a good beginning had been made by 1873; and from the close of the Apache wars, progress was rapid. A new act was passed in 1875, increasing the tax to 15 cents, and requiring a county tax of 35 cents—subsequently increased to 50 cents—and making school attendance compulsory, though this proved for the most part a dead letter. Various supplemental acts were passed from session to session; and in 1883 a new school law was framed, under which M. H. Sherman became superintendent. Still another law, with no very radical changes, was enacted in 1885, and in that year R. L. Long became superintendent. The system seems fully equal to that in other states and territories, and the schools are reported as prosperous. As in all new territories, children in the more remote districts are inadequately provided for; but in all the towns there are commodious school buildings and competent teachers.