"We are in the pleasantest region we have seen since leaving the Choctaw country. Here are clear rivulets, with fertile valleys and forest trees. The wide belt of country that borders the Black Forest, and probably extends along the Rio Verde to the Salinas and Gila, bears every indication of being able to support a large agricultural and pastoral population. The valley of the Rio Verde is magnificently wooded with furs and oaks, affording excellent timber. Ancient ruins are said by trappers to be scattered over its whole length to the confluence with the Salinas. We, therefore, seem to have skirted the boundary of a country once populous, and worthy of becoming so again. Besides the advantages already enumerated, the mountains in this vicinity bear indications of mineral wealth. Vol. 3, p. 93."The notes before referred to, in the possession of the writer, speak of great farming and grazing establishments scattered over the whole face of the Territory, between 1610 and 1800, which produced abundant crops of cereals, fruits, and grapes. These statements are confirmed by the testimony of Major Emory and his report, where he enumerates several of the most extensive--by Gray, Bartlett, Parke, and Col. Bonneville. Many of the Ranches, deserted by the Mexicans on account of the Apache Indians, have upon them large, well-built adobe houses which must have cost the builders thousands of dollars. Many of these have been occupied under squatter titles by emigrants within the last few years. Of others, only the ruins remain, having been destroyed by the depredations of the Indians, or by the heavy rains of the succeeding years.
The greater portion of these lands on the Santa Cruz and San Pedro are covered by Mexican titles-゛nd many of these again by squatter claims. It is absolutely necessary that Congress should by some wise and speedy legislation settle, upon some definite basis, the land titles of Arizona. Until this is done, disorder and anarchy will reign supreme over the country. 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 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.
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. If any reader doubts this statement, refer him to the statistics of Humboldt, Ward, and Wilson, most unquestioned and valuable authorities. Both Humboldt and Ward note the fact that the silver deposites grow richer as they are traced farther North. There can be no doubt that the most extensive and valuable mines, both of pure silver and silver mixed with copper and lead, are within the limits of Arizona.
The yield of the silver mines of Mexico, as computed by Ward and Humboldt from the actual official returns to the Government, from the conquest to 1803, amounts to the enormous sum of $2,027,955,000, or more than two BILLIONS Of dollars. Again, Ward says: "I am aware that many of the statements in this and the preceding books respecting the mineral riches of the North of New Spain, (Sonora, including the 'Gadsden Purchase,' Chihuahua, and Durango,) will be thought exaggerated. THEY ARE NOT SO; they will be confirmed by every future report, and in after years, the public, FAMILIARIZED WITH facts which are only questioned because they are new, will wonder at its present incredulity, and regret the loss of advantages which may not always be within its reach."Of the present mining operations in the Territory of Arizona, the most considerable, in point of labor performed and results, is "The Arizona Copper Mining Co." This company is incorporated by the California Legislature, with a capital of one million of dollars. The President is Major Robert Allen, U. S. A. The mines are old, and very celebrated in Mexico under the name of El-Ajo.
