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A hasty trip through the country by rail gives no adequate idea ofits intrinsic value, as such a limited view only affords a superficialglimpse of what should be leisurely and carefully examined to beproperly understood or appreciated. At the first glance it presents theappearance of a desert, but to one who is acquainted with itspeculiarities it is by no means desolate. It furnishes a strongcontrast to the rolling woodlands of the far east, and to the boundlessprairies of the middle west; and, though it may never develop on theplan of the older states, like California, it has an individuality andcharm of its own; and its endowment of natural wealth and beautyrequires no borrowing from neighbors to give it character orsuccess.
It has grand scenery, a salubrious climate, productive soil, richmineral deposits and rare archaeological remains. It also has adiversified fauna and flora. The peccary, Gila monster, tarantula,centipede, scorpion and horned toad are specimens of its strange animallife; and, the numerous species of cacti, yucca, maguey, palo verde andmistletoe are samples of its curious vegetation. It is, indeed, thescientist's Paradise where much valuable material can be found toenrich almost every branch of natural science.
Hitherto its growth has been greatly retarded by its remote positionin Uncle Sam's domain; but, with the comparatively recent advent of therailroad, the influx of capital and population, and the suppression ofthe once dreaded and troublesome Apache, a new life has been awakenedthat is destined to redeem the country from its ancient lethargy andmake it a land of promise to many home seekers and settlers.
When the Spaniards under Coronado first entered the land more thanthree hundred and fifty years ago in search of the seven cities ofCibola, they found upon the desert sufficient evidence of an extinctrace to prove that the land was once densely populated by anagricultural and prosperous people. When or how the inhabitantsdisappeared is unknown and may never be known. It is even in doubt whothey were, but, presumably, they were of the Aztec or Toltec race; or,perhaps, of some civilization even more remote.
The Pueblo Indians are supposed to be their descendants, but, if so,they were, when first found, as ignorant of their ancestors as theywere of their discoverers. When questioned as to the past they couldgive no intelligent answer as to their antecedents, but claimed thatwhat the white man saw was the work of Montezuma. All that is known ofthis ancient people is what the ruins show, as they left no writtenrecord or even tradition of their life, unless it be some inscriptionsconsisting of various hieroglyphics and pictographs that are foundpainted upon the rocks, which undoubtedly have a meaning, but for lackof interpretation remain a sealed book. The deep mystery in which theyare shrouded makes their history all the more interesting and givesunlimited scope for speculation.
Arizona is a land that is full of history as well as mystery andinvites investigation. It has a fascination that every one feels whocrosses its border. Paradoxical as it may seem it is both the oldestand newest portion of our country—the oldest in ancientoccupation and civilization and the newest in modern progress. Innatural wonders it boasts of the Grand Canon of Arizona, the painteddesert, petrified forest, meteorite mountain, natural bridge,Montezuma's well and many other marvels of nature. There are also ruinsgalore, the cave and cliff dwellings, crumbled pueblos, extensiveacequias, painted rocks, the casa grande and old Spanish missions.Anyone who is in search of the old and curious, need not go to foreignlands, but can find right here at home in Arizona and the southwest, agreater number and variety of curiosities than can be found in the samespace anywhere else upon the globe.
Arizona is a land of strong contrasts and constant surprises, whereunusual conditions prevail and the unexpected frequently happens.
From the high Colorado plateau of northern Arizona the land slopestoward the southwest to the Gulf of California. Across this long slopeof several hundred miles in width, numerous mountain ranges stretchfrom the northwest to the southeast. Through the middle of theTerritory from east to west, flows the Gila river to its confluencewith the Colorado. This stream marks the dividing line between themountains which descend from the north and those that extend south,which increase in altitude and extent until they culminate in the grandSierra Madres of Mexico.
The traveler in passing through the country never gets entirely outof the sight of mountains. They rise up all about him and bound thehorizon near and far in every direction. In riding along he alwaysseems to be approaching some distant mountain barrier that ever recedesbefore him as he advances. He is never clear of the encirclingmountains for, as often as he passes out of one enclosure through a gapin the mountains, he finds himself hemmed in again by a new one. Thepeculiarity of always being in the midst of mountains and yet nevercompletely surrounded, is due to an arrangement of dovetailing oroverlapping in their formation. His winding way leads him across barrenwastes, through fertile valleys, among rolling hills and into shelteredparks, which combine an endless variety of attractive scenery.
An Arizona landscape, though mostly of a desert type, is yet full ofinterest to the lover of nature. It presents a strangely fascinatingview, that once seen, will never be forgotten. It stirs a rapture inthe soul that only nature can inspire.
Looking out from some commanding eminence, a wide spreading anddiversified landscape is presented to view. Though hard and rugged, thepicture, as seen at a distance, looks soft and smooth and its detailsof form and color make an absorbing study.
The eye is quick to note the different hues that appear in the fieldof vision and readily selects five predominating colors, namely, gray,green, brown, purple and blue, which mingle harmoniously in variouscombinations with almost every other color that is known. The mostbrilliant lights, sombre shadows, exquisite tints and delicate tonesare seen which, if put on canvas and judged by the ordinary, would bepronounced exaggerated and impossible by those unfamiliar with theoriginal.
The prevailing color is gray, made by the dry grass and sandy soil,and extends in every direction to the limit of vision. The gramma grassof the and region grows quickly and turns gray instead of brown, asgrasses usually do when they mature. It gives to the landscape asubdued and quiet color, which is pleasing to the eye and makes theideal background in a picture.
Into this warp of gray is woven a woof of green, spreading inirregular patches in all directions. It is made by the chaparral, whichis composed of a variety of desert plants that are native to the soiland can live on very little water. It consists of live oak, pinion,mesquite, desert willow, greasewood, sage brush, palmilla, maguey,yucca and cacti and is mostly evergreen.
The admixture of gray and green prevails throughout the year exceptduring the summer rainy season, when, if the rains are abundant, thegray disappears almost entirely, and the young grass springs up as bymagic, covering the whole country with a carpet of living green. In themidst of the billowy grass myriads of wild flowers bloom, and standsingle or shoulder to shoulder in masses of solid color by theacre.
Upon the far mountains is seen the sombre brown in the bare rocks.The whole region was at one time violently disturbed by seismic forceand the glow of its quenched fires has even yet scarcely faded away.Large masses of igneous rocks and broad streams of vitrified lava bearmute testimony of the change, when, by some mighty subterranean force,the tumultuous sea was rolled back from its pristine bed and, in itsstead, lofty mountains lifted their bald beads above the surroundingdesolation, and stand to-day as they have stood in massive grandeurever since the ancient days of their upheaval. Rugged and bleak theytower high, or take the form of pillar, spire and dome, in someseemingly well-constructed edifice erected by the hand of man. But themountains are not all barren. Vast areas of fertile soil flank the barerocks where vegetation has taken root, and large fields of forage andextensive forests of oak and pine add value and beauty to the land.
The atmosphere is a striking feature of the country that is aspleasing to the eye as it is invigorating to the body. Over all thelandscape hangs a veil of soft, purple haze that is bewitching. Itgives to the scene a mysterious, subtle something that is exquisite andholds the senses in a magic spell of enchantment.
Distance also is deceptive and cannot be estimated as under otherskies. The far-off mountains are brought near and made to glow in ahalo of mellow light. Manifold ocular illusions appear in the mirageand deceive the uninitiated. An indefinable dreamy something stealsover the senses and enthralls the soul.
Arching heaven's high dome is a sky of intense blue that looks sowonderfully clear and deep that even far-famed Italy cannot surpass it.The nights are invariably clear and the moon and stars appear unusuallybright. The air is so pure that the stars seem to be advanced inmagnitude and can be seen quite low down upon the horizon.
The changing lights that flash in the sky transform both the sunriseand sunset into marvels of beauty. In the mellow afterglow of thesunset, on the western sky, stream long banners of light, and fleecyclouds of gold melt away and fade in the twilight.
At midday in the hazy distance, moving slowly down the valley, canbe seen spiral columns of dust that resemble pillars of smoke. Theyascend perpendicularly, incline like Pisa's leaning tower, or are beatat various angles, but always retaining the columnar form. They rise togreat heights and vanish in space. These spectral forms are caused bysmall local whirlwinds when the air is otherwise calm, and are,apparently, without purpose, unless they are intended merely to amusethe casual observer.
A cloudy day is rare and does not necessarily signify rain. Usuallythe clouds are of the cumulus variety and roll leisurely by in billowymasses. Being in a droughty land the clouds always attract attentionviewed either from an artistic or utilitarian standpoint. When out onparade they float lazily across the sky, casting their moving shadowsbelow. The figures resemble a mammoth pattern of crazy patchwork in astate of evolution spread out for inspection.
The impression that is made while looking out upon such a scene isthat of deep silence. Everything is hushed and still; but, by listeningattentively, the number of faint sounds that reach the ear in anundertone is surprising. The soft soughing of the wind in the trees;the gentle rustle of the grass as it is swayed by the passing breeze;the musical ripple of water as it gurgles from the spring; the pipingof the quail as it calls to its mate; the twitter of little birdsflitting from bush to bough; the chirp of the cricket and drone of thebeetle are among the sounds that are heard and fall soothingly upon theear.
The trees growing upon the hillside bear a striking resemblance toan old orchard and are a reminder of home where in childhood the handdelighted to pluck luscious fruit from drooping boughs. A walk amongthe trees makes it easy to imagine that you are in some such familiarbut neglected haunt, and instinctively you look about expecting to seethe old house that was once called home and hear the welcome voice andfootfall of cherished memory. It is no little disappointment to beroused from such a reverie to find the resemblance only a delusion andthe spot deserted. Forsaken as it has been for many years by the nativesavage Indians and prowling wild beasts, the land waits in silence andpatience the coming of the husbandman.
I recall with vivid distinctness my first trip to Arizona andintroduction to ranch life in the spring of 1884. The experience made adeep impression and has led me to repeat the visit many times sincethen, with increased interest and pleasure.
During the previous year my brother located a cattle ranch for us inRailroad Pass in southeastern Arizona. The gap is one of a series ofnatural depressions in a succession of mountain chains on thethirty-second parallel route, all the way from New Orleans to SanFrancisco over a distance of nearly twenty-five hundred miles. TheSouthern Pacific Railroad is built upon this route and has the easiestgrade of any transcontinental line.
Railroad Pass is a wide break between two mountain ranges and is afine grazing section. It is handsomely bounded and presents amagnificent view. To the north are the Pinaleno mountains, withtowering Mt. Graham in their midst, that are nearly eleven thousandfeet high and lie dark in the shadows of their dense pine forests. Farto the south rise the rugged Chiricahuas, and nearby stands bald DosCabezas, whose giant double head of granite can be seen as aconspicuous landmark over a wide scope of country. The distance acrossthe Pass as the crow flies is, perhaps, fifty miles. Beyond these peaksother mountains rise in majestic grandeur and bound the horizon inevery direction. At the time that the ranch was located the Passcountry was considered uninhabitable because of the scarcity of waterand the presence of hostile Indians. No permanent spring nor stream ofwater was known to exist in that whole region, but fine gramma grassgrew everywhere. Its suitability as a cattle range was recognized andcaused it to be thoroughly prospected for water, which resulted in thediscovery of several hidden springs. All of the springs found, but one,were insignificant and either soon went dry or fluctuated with theseasons; but the big spring, known as Pinaleno, was worth finding, andflows a constant stream of pure, soft water that fills a four-inch ironpipe.
When the spring was discovered not a drop of water was visible uponthe surface, and a patch of willows was the only indication ofconcealed moisture. By sinking a shallow well only a few feet deepamong the willows, water was struck as it flowed through coarse gravelover a buried ledge of rock that forced the water up nearly to thesurface only to sink again in the sand without being seen. A ditch wasdug to the well from below and an iron pipe laid in the trench, throughwhich the water is conducted into a reservoir that supplies the watertroughs.
Again, when the ranch was opened the Indians were bad in thevicinity and had been actively hostile for some time. The ranch is on apart of the old Chiricahua reservation that was once the home andhunting grounds of the tribe of Chiricahua Apaches, the most bold andwarlike of all the southwest Indians. Cochise was their greatestwarrior, but he was only one among many able Apache chieftains. He wasat one time the friend of the white man, but treachery aroused hishatred and caused him to seek revenge on every white man that crossedhis path.
His favorite haunt was Apache Pass, a convenient spot that wasfavorable for concealment, where he lay in wait for weary travelers whopassed that way in search of water and a pleasant camp ground. Ifattacked by a superior force, as sometimes happened, he invariablyretreated across the Sulphur Spring valley into his stronghold in theDragoon mountains.
Because of the many atrocities that were committed by the Indians,white men were afraid to go into that country to settle. Even as lateas in the early eighties when that prince of rascals, the wilyGeronimo, made his bloody raids through southern Arizona, the men whodid venture in and located ranch and mining claims, lived in dailyperil of their lives which, in not a few instances, were paid as aforfeit to their daring.
The Butterfield stage and all other overland travel to California bythe southern route before the railroads were built, went through ApachePass. Although it was the worst Indian infested section in thesouthwest, travelers chose that dangerous route in preference to anyother for the sake of the water that they knew could always be foundthere.
The reputation of Apache Pass, finally became so notoriously badbecause of the many murders committed that the Government, late in thesixties, built and garrisoned Ft. Bowie for the protection of travelersand settlers. The troops stationed at the post endured much hardshipand fought many bloody battles before the Indians were conquered. Manysoldiers were killed and buried in a little graveyard near the fort.When the fort was abandoned a few years ago, their bodies weredisinterred and removed to the National cemetery at Washington.
Railroad Pass is naturally a better wagon road than Apache Pass, butis without water. It was named by Lieut. J. G. Parke in 1855 whileengaged in surveying for the Pacific Railroad, because of its easygrade and facility for railroad construction.
I timed my visit to correspond with the arrival at Bowie station onthe Southern Pacific Railroad, of a consignment of ranch goods that hadbeen shipped from St. Louis. I was met at the depot by the ranch force,who immediately proceeded to initiate me as a tenderfoot. I inquired ofone of the cowboys how far it was to a near-by mountain. He gave aquien sabe shrug of the shoulder and answered me in Yankee fashion byasking how far I thought it was. Estimating the distance as in aprairie country I replied, "Oh, about a mile." He laughed and said thatthe mountain was fully five miles distant by actual measurement. I hadunwittingly taken my first lesson in plainscraft and prudentlyrefrained thereafter from making another sure guess.
The deception was due to the rarefied atmosphere, which is peculiarto the arid region. It not only deceives the eye as to distance, butalso as to motion. If the eye is steadily fixed upon some distantinanimate object, it seems to move in the tremulous light as ifpossessed of life, and it is not always easy to be convinced to thecontrary. However, by putting the object under inspection in line withsome further object, it can readily be determined whether the object isanimate or still by its remaining on or moving off the line.
Another peculiarity of the country is that objects do not alwaysseem to stand square with the world. In approaching a mountain andmoving on an up grade the plane of incline is suddenly reversed andgives the appearance and sensation of going downhill. In someinexplicable manner sense and reason seem to conflict and the discoveryof the disturbed relation of things is startling. You know very wellthat the mountain ahead is above you, but it has the appearance ofstanding below you in a hollow; and the water in the brook at yourfeet, which runs down the mountain into the valley, seems to be runninguphill. By turning squarely about and looking backwards, the misplacedobjects become righted, and produces much the same sensation that a manfeels who is lost and suddenly finds himself again.
We immediately prepared to drive out to the ranch, which was tenmiles distant and reached by a road that skirted the Dos Cabezasmountains. The new wagon was set up and put in running order andlightly loaded with supplies. All of the preliminaries being completed,the horses were harnessed and hooked to the wagon. The driver mountedhis seat, drew rein and cracked his whip, but we didn't go. The horseswere only accustomed to the saddle and knew nothing about pulling inharness. Sam was a condemned cavalry horse and Box was a native bronco,and being hitched to a wagon was a new experience to both. The startwas unpropitious, but, acting on the old adage that "necessity is themother of invention," which truth is nowhere better exemplified than onthe frontier where conveniences are few and the most must be made ofeverything, after some delay and considerable maneuvering we finallygot started.
The road for some distance out was level and smooth and our progresssatisfactory. As we drove leisurely along I improved the opportunity tolook about and see the sights. It was a perfect day in April and therenever was a brighter sky nor balmier air than beamed and breathed uponus. The air was soft and tremulous with a magical light that producedstartling phantasmagoric effects.
It was my first sight of a mirage and it naturally excited mycuriosity. It seemed as if a forest had suddenly sprung up in the SanSimon valley where just before had appeared only bare ground. Withevery change in the angle of vision as we journeyed on, there occurreda corresponding change in the scene before us that produced a charmingkaleidoscopic effect. The rough mountain was transformed into asymmetrical city and the dry valley into a lake of sparklingwater,—all seeming to be the work of magic in some fairyland ofenchantment.
In a ledge of granite rock by the wayside were cut a number of roundholes which the Indians had made and used as mills for grinding theircorn and seeds into meal. Nearby also, were some mescal pits used forbaking the agave, a native plant that is in great demand as food by theIndians. The spot was evidently an old rendezvous where the maraudingApaches were accustomed to meet in council to plan their bloody raids,and to feast on mescal and pinole in honor of some successful foray orvictory over an enemy.
We next crossed several well-worn Indian trails which the Apacheshad made by many years of travel to and fro between their rancherias inthe Mogollon mountains and Mexico. The sight of these trails brought usback to real life and a conscious sense of danger, for were we not inan enemy's country and in the midst of hostile Indians? Nearly everymile of road traveled had been at some time in the past the scene of abloody tragedy enacted by a savage foe. Even at that very time theApaches were out on the warpath murdering people, but fortunately wedid not meet them and escaped unmolested.
The road now crossed a low hill, which was the signal for moretrouble. The team started bravely up the incline, but soon stopped andthen balked and all urging with whip and voice failed to make anyimpression. After several ineffectual attempts to proceed it wasdecided not to waste any more time in futile efforts. The horses wereunhitched and the wagon partly unloaded, when all hands by a unitedpull and push succeeded in getting the wagon up the hill. Afterreloading no difficulty was experienced in making a fresh start on adown grade, but a little farther on a second and larger hill wasencountered, when the failure to scale its summit was even greater thanthe first. No amount of coaxing or urging budged the horses an inch.They simply were stubborn and would not pull.
Night was approaching and camp was yet some distance ahead. Thedriver suggested that the best thing to do under the circumstances wasfor the rest of us to take the led horses and ride on to camp, while hewould remain with the wagon and, if necessary, camp out all night. Wereluctantly took his advice, mounted our horses and finished ourjourney in the twilight. Aaron, who was housekeeper at the ranch, gaveus a hearty welcome and invited us to sit down to a bountiful supperwhich he had prepared in anticipation of our coming. Feeling wearyafter our ride we retired early and were soon sound asleep. The onlything that disturbed our slumbers during the night was a coyote concertwhich, as a "concord of sweet sounds was a dismal failure" but as amedley of discordant sounds was a decided success. The bark of thecoyote is particularly shrill and sharp and a single coyote when infull cry sounds like a chorus of howling curs.
We were all up and out early the next morning to witness the birthof a new day. The sunrise was glorious, and bright colors in many huesflashed across the sky. The valley echoed with the cheerful notes ofthe mocking bird and the soft air was filled with the fragrance of wildflowers. The scene was grandly inspiring and sent a thrill of pleasurethrough every nerve.
While thus absorbed by the beauties of nature we heard an halloo,and looking down the road in the direction of the driver's bivouac wesaw him coming swinging his hat in the air and driving at a rapid pacethat soon brought him to the ranch house. In answer to our inquiries asto how he had spent the night he reported that the horses stood quietlyin their tracks all night long, while he slept comfortably in thewagon. In the morning the horses started without undue urging as iftired of inaction and glad to go in the direction of provender. Theywere completely broken by their fast and after that gave no furthertrouble.
After a stay of four weeks, learning something of the ways of ranchlife and experiencing not a few exciting adventures, I returned homefeeling well pleased with my first trip to the ranch.
Arizona is in the arid belt and well adapted to the range cattleindustry. Its mild climate and limited water supply make it the idealrange country. Indeed, to the single factor of its limited watersupply, perhaps, more than anything else is its value due as an openrange. If water was abundant there could be no open range as then theland would all be farmed and fenced.
Arizona is sometimes spoken of as belonging to the plains, but it isnot a prairie country. Mountains are everywhere, but are separated inmany places by wide valleys. The mountains not only make fine scenery,but are natural boundaries for the ranches and give shade and shelterto the cattle.
There are no severe storms nor blizzard swept plains where cattledrift and perish from cold. The weather is never extremely cold, themercury seldom falling to more than a few degrees below freezing,except upon the high plateaus and mountains of northern Arizona. If itfreezes during the night the frost usually disappears the next day;and, if snow flies, it lies only on the mountains, but melts as fast asit falls in the valleys. There are but few cloudy or stormy days in theyear and bright, warm sunshine generally prevails. There has never beenany loss of cattle from cold, but many have died from drought as aresult of overstocking the range.
The pastures consist of valley, mesa and mountain lands which, in anormal season, are covered by a variety of nutritious grasses. Of allthe native forage plants the gramma grass is the most abundant andbest. It grows only in the summer rainy season when, if the rains arecopious, the gray desert is converted into a vast green meadow.
The annual rainfall is comparatively light and insufficient to growand mature with certainty any of the cereal crops. When the summerrains begin to fall the rancher is "jubilant" and the "old cow smiles."Rain means even more to the ranchman than it does to the farmer. In anagricultural country it is expected that rain or snow will fall duringevery month of the year, but on the range rain is expected only incertain months and, if it fails to fall then, it means failure, in ameasure, for the entire year.
Rain is very uncertain in Arizona. July and August are the rainmonths during which time the gramma grass grows. Unless the rain fallsdaily after it begins it does but little good, as frequent showers arerequired to keep the grass growing after it once starts. A settled rainof one or more days' duration is of rare occurrence. During the rainyseason and, in fact, at all times, the mornings are usually clear. Inthe forenoon the clouds begin to gather and pile up in dark billowymasses that end in showers during the afternoon and evening. But notevery rain cloud brings rain. Clouds of this character often look verythreatening, but all their display of thunder and lightning is onlybluff and bluster and ends in a fizzle with no rain. After such ademonstration the clouds either bring wind and a disagreeable duststorm, or, if a little rain starts to fall, the air is so dry that itevaporates in mid air, and none of it ever reaches the earth. In thisfashion the clouds often threaten to do great things, only to breaktheir promise; and the anxious rancher stands and gazes at the sky withlonging eyes, only to be disappointed again and again.
As a rule water is scarce. A long procession of cloudless days mergeinto weeks of dry weather; and the weeks glide into months during whichtime the brazen sky refuses to yield one drop of moisture either of dewor rain to the parched and thirsty earth. Even the rainy season is notaltogether reliable, but varies considerably one year with another inthe time of its appearance and continuance.
The soil is sandy and porous and readily absorbs water, except wherethe earth is tramped and packed hard by the cattle. One peculiarity ofthe country as found marked upon the maps, and that exists in fact, isthe diminution and often complete disappearance of a stream after itleaves the mountains. If not wholly lost upon entering the valley thewater soon sinks out of sight in the sand and disappears and reappearsat irregular intervals, until it loses itself entirely in someunderground channel and is seen no more.
Many a pleasant valley in the range country is made desolate bybeing destitute of any surface spring or running brook, or water thatcan be found at any depth. Occasionally a hidden fountain is struck bydigging, but it is only by the merest chance. Wells have been dug togreat depths in perfectly dry ground in an eager search for waterwithout finding it, and such an experience is usually equivalent to afailure and the making of a useless bill of expense.
A never-failing spring of good water in sufficient quantity tosupply the needs of a ranch in the range country is of rare occurrence,considering the large territory to be supplied. Only here and there atlong intervals is such a spring found, and it is always a desirable andvaluable property. It makes an oasis in the desert that is an agreeablechange from the surrounding barrenness, and furnishes its owner, ifproperly utilized, a comfortable subsistence for himself and herds. Hisfields produce without fail and the increase of his flocks and herds issure.
The isolated rancher who is well located is independent. He is in nodanger of being crowded by his neighbors nor his range becoming overstocked with stray cattle. His water right gives him undisputed controlof the adjacent range, even though he does not own all the land, whichis an unwritten law of the range and respected by all cattlemen.
Because of the scarcity of water the range country is sparselysettled and always will be until more water is provided by artificialmeans for irrigation. Even then a large portion of the land will beworthless for any other purpose than grazing, and stock-growing on theopen range in Arizona will continue to be a staple industry in thefuture as it has been in the past.
The range is practically all occupied and, in many places, isalready over stocked. Where more cattle are run on a range than itsgrass and water can support there is bound to be some loss. In stockinga range an estimate should be made of its carrying capacity in a badyear rather than in a good one, as no range can safely carry morecattle than it can support in the poorest year; like a chain, it is nostronger than its weakest link.
A good range is sometimes destroyed by the prairie dog. Wherever heestablishes a colony the grass soon disappears. He burrows in theground and a group of such holes is called a dog town. Like thejack-rabbit he can live without water and is thus able to keep his holdon the desert. The only way to get rid of him is to kill him, which isusually done by the wholesale with poison. His flesh is fine eating,which the Navajo knows if the white man does not. The Navajo considershim a dainty morsel which is particularly relished by the sick. If apatient can afford the price, he can usually procure a prairie dog inexchange for two sheep.
The Navajo is an adept at capturing this little animal. The hunterplaces a small looking-glass near the hole and, in concealment near by,he patiently awaits developments. When the prairie dog comes out of hishole to take an airing he immediately sees his reflection in the glassand takes it
for an intruder. In an instant he is ready for a fight and pouncesupon his supposed enemy to kill or drive him away. While the prairiedog is thus engaged wrestling with his shadow or reflection the huntershoots him at close range with his bow and arrow—never with agun, for if wounded by a bullet he is sure to drop into his hole and islost, but the arrow transfixes his body and prevents him from gettingaway. He has been hunted so much in the Navajo country that he hasbecome very scarce.[1]
[1] This statement is made on the authority of Mr. F. W. Volz, wholives at Canon Diablo, and is familiar with the customs of theNavajos.
Much of the ranch country in southern Arizona is destitute of trees,and shade, therefore, is scarce. Upon the high mountains and plateausof northern Arizona there are great forests of pine and plenty ofshade. But few cattle range there in comparison to the large numbersthat graze on the lower levels further south. What little tree growththere is on the desert is stunted and supplies but scant shade. In thecanons some large cottonwood, sycamore and walnut trees can be found;upon the foot hills the live oak and still higher up the mountain thepine. Cattle always seek the shade and if there are no trees they willlie down in the shade of a bush or anything that casts a shadow. Thecattle are so eager for shade that if they can find nothing better theywill crowd into the narrow ribbon of shade that is cast by a columnarcactus or telegraph pole and seem to be satisfied with ever so littleif only shade is touched.
Twenty years ago before there were many cattle on the southwesternrange, the gramma grass stood knee high everywhere all over thatcountry and seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of feed for anunlimited number of cattle during an indefinite term of years. It wasnot many years, however, after the large herds were turned loose on therange until the grass was all gone and the ground, except in a fewfavored spots, left nearly as bare of grass as the traveled road. Atthe present time whatever grass there is must grow each year which,even in a favorable year, is never heavy. If the summer rains fail, nograss whatever can grow and the cattle are without feed. The grassabout the springs and water holes is first to disappear and then thecattle must go farther and farther from water to find any grass. Whencattle are compelled to travel over long distances in going from grassto water, they naturally grow thin from insufficient food and are wornout by the repeated long journeys. A cow that is thin and weak willpostpone making the trip as long as possible— two, three and evenfour days in the hottest weather she will wait before attempting thetrip. At last, when the poor creature reaches water, she is so famishedfrom thirst that she drinks too much. In her feeble condition she isunable to carry the enormous load of water which she drinks and liesdown by the side of the friendly water trough to die fromexhaustion.
If cattle are turned loose upon a new range they act strange and areinclined to scatter. Until they become accustomed to the change theyshould be close herded, but after they are once located they are notliable to stray very far.
As they are only worked by men on horseback they are not frightenedat the sight of a horse and rider; but let a stranger approach them onfoot, in a moment after he is sighted every head is raised in surpriseand alarm and the pedestrian is, indeed, fortunate if the herd turnstail and scampers off instead of running him down and tramping himunder foot in a wild stampede.
Nowhere else can be found a finer sight than is witnessed in therange country. In every direction broad meadows stretch away to thehorizon where numberless cattle roam and are the embodiment of bovinehappiness and contentment. Scattered about in irregular groups they areseen at ease lying down or feeding, and frisking about in an overflowof exuberant life. Cow paths or trails converge from every point of thecompass, that lead to springs and water holes, on which the cattletravel.
It is an interesting sight to watch the cattle maneuver as they formin line, single file, ready for the march. They move forward in aneasy, deliberate walk one behind the other and may be seen coming andgoing in every direction. They make their trips with great regularityback and forth from grass to water, and vice versa, going to water inthe morning and back to the feeding grounds at night.
Cows have a curious fashion, sometimes, of hiding out their calves.When a cow with a young calf starts for water she invariably hides hercalf in a bunch of grass or clump of bushes in some secluded spot,where it lies down and remains perfectly quiet until the motherreturns. I have many times while riding the range found calves thussecreted that could scarcely be aroused or frightened away, whichbehavior was so different from their usual habit of being shy andrunning off at the slightest provocation. The calf under suchcircumstances seems to understand that it is "not at home," and cannotbe seen.
At another time a lot of calves are left in charge of a young cow orheifer that seems to understand her responsibility and guards hercharge carefully. The young calves are too weak to make the long tripto water and thus, through the maternal instinct of the mother cow, sheprovides for the care of her offspring almost as if she were human.
After viewing such a large pasture as the open range presents, whichis limitless in extent, the small fenced field or pasture lot of a fewacres on the old home farm back east, that looked so large to boyisheyes in years gone by, dwindles by comparison into insignificance andcan never again be restored to its former greatness.
Ranch life on the open range may be somewhat wild and lonely, but itis as free and independent to the rancher as it is to his unfetteredcattle that roam at will over a thousand hills. As a place of residencefor a family of women and children it is undesirable because of itsisolation and lack of social and educational privileges; but for a manwho cares to "rough it" it has a rare fascination. Its freedom may meanlonesomeness and its independence monotony, yet it is very enjoyablefor a season. Like anything else it may become wearing and wearisome ifcontinued too long without a change, but its novelty has a charm thatis irresistible.
Ranch life is untrammeled by social conventionalities and is notburdened by business cares, but is an easy, natural life that is freefrom all kinds of pressure. It relieves the tension of an artificialexistence, and worry and vexation are forgotten. Time loses its rapidflight and once more jogs on at an easy pace; and its completeisolation and quiet gives nature a chance to rest and recuperate
"Away from the dwellings of careworn men."
The environment of ranch life is highly conducive to good health.The scenery is delightful, the air pure and bracing, the food wholesomeand nutritious, the couch comfortable and the sleep refreshing. Walkingand riding furnish the necessary exercise that nature demands. Indeed,there is no better exercise to be found than riding horseback tostimulate sluggish organs, or excite to healthy action the bodilyfunctions. It stirs the liver, causes deep breathing, strengthens theheart and circulation, tones the nerves and makes an appetite thatwaits on good digestion. An outdoor life is often better than medicineand is a panacea for the "ills that human flesh is heir to."
The ranchman, if he is in tune with his surroundings, finds anever-failing spring of pleasure. If he is company for himself he iswell entertained and if he is a lover of nature he finds interestingsubjects for study upon every hand. His wants are few and simple andthe free life that he lives develops in him a strong and sturdymanhood. He is the picture of health and is happy and contented as theday is long.
However, such a life does not suit everyone, as individual tastesdiffer. Prejudice also exerts an influence and is apt to estimate allwestern life as crude and undesirable, being in a transition state ofchange from savagery to civilization. Be it even so; for, if the savagehad never existed to furnish the ancestry that civilized man boasts,civilization would not have been possible. It is only natural that thisshould be so as, in the order of nature, evolution begins at the bottomand works up.
There is perhaps no condition in life that can be called perfect,yet of the two extremes we choose to believe that civilization ispreferable to barbarism; but an intermediate state has the advantageover both extremes by avoiding native crudeness upon the one hand andexcessive refinement upon the other, both being equallyundesirable.
Happiness, which we all profess to seek, exists in some degreeeverywhere but we are always striving to acquire something more. In ourconstant struggle for improvement, progress undoubtedly is made in theright direction. With refinement comes increased sensibility and anenlarged capacity for enjoyment. But, such a state in itself is not oneof unalloyed bliss, as might be supposed, since it is marred by itsantithesis, an increased amount of sickness and suffering, which is theinevitable penalty of civilization. In such a progression the pleasuresof life become more, but the acuteness of suffering is also increased.The mistake lies in the fact that in our eager pursuit after theartificial we forget nature and not until we acquire a surfeit of thatwhich is artificial and grow weary of the shams and deceits of theworld do we stop and think or turn again to nature to find thetruth.
In the early days the frontier was the rendezvous for rough andlawless characters of every description. That time has gone by never toreturn in the history of the nation, as the rustlers have eitherreformed and become good citizens or long ago left the country by thelead or hemp routes. The change in the times has been such that neveragain will it be possible to return to the conditions that existed inthe early settlement of the west which gave to desperadoes a safehiding place.
The people now living on what is left of the frontier will, as aclass, compare favorably with those of any other community. There maybe small surface polish, as the world goes, but there is much genuinegold of true character that needs only a little rubbing to make itshine.
The population being sparse there is comparatively littleopportunity or inclination for wrongdoing. Whatever anybody does isnoticed at once and everything that happens is immediately found out.The favorite haunt of vice and crime is not in a sparsely settledcommunity, public opinion to the contrary notwithstanding, but in thecenters of population, in, our large cities where temptation to do evilis strong and dark deeds find ready concealment in the mingling andconfusion of the throng.
The ranchman deserves to be correctly judged by his true characterand not by any false standard that is artfully designed to misrepresenthim or to unjustly bring him into contempt. He may have a roughexterior, not intending to pose in a model fashion plate, but in reallife where he is tried there is found under his coarse garb a heartthat is honest and true which responds with sympathy and kindness foranyone in distress; and his generosity and hospitality are proverbialand stand without a rival. Men from every position in life, includingcollege graduates and professional men, are engaged in ranching andwhoever takes them to be a lot of toughs and ignoramuses is egregiouslymistaken.
The strength, virtue and intelligence of the nation is found in itslarge middle class of laboring people that is largely composed offarmers and mechanics, men who work with their hands and live naturallives and are so busy in some useful occupation that they have no timeto think of mischief. In this favored land of freedom all of our greatmen have been of the common people and struggled up from some humbleposition. A life of toil may seem to be hard, but it conforms to natureand natural laws and favors the development of the best that is in man;and he who shirks toil misses his opportunity. Whatever tends to weanmen from work only weakens them. Luxury and indolence travel on thedownward road of degeneracy. They may make pleasant temporaryindulgence, but are fatal to ultimate success.
Locomotion on a ranch consists almost entirely of horseback ridingas walking is too slow and tiresome and wheeled conveyance is ofteninconvenient or impossible for cross-country driving. When the ranchmanmounts his horse in the morning to make his daily rounds he has a clearfield before him. He is "monarch of all he surveys" and practicallyowns the earth, since his neighbors live many miles away and his roadleads in any direction clear to the horizon.
The average ranch is not intended to furnish luxuries, but to servethe best interests of the business in hand, that of growing cattle. Itis usually a "stag camp" composed entirely of men who occupy a rudecabin near some convenient spring or stream of water, where they keephouse in ranch style and live after a fashion. No money is everexpended in unnecessary improvements, but every dollar spent in repairsis put where it will do the most good. The house furnishings are all ofthe plainest kind and intended to meet only present necessities. Thelarder is not supplied with luxuries nor is the cuisine prolific ofdainties, but there is always on hand a supply of the necessaries oflife.
Every man has his particular work to perform, but unless it be onsome large ranch where the force of men employed is sufficiently largeto require the services of a chef, he is also expected to assist inkeeping house. It is an unwritten law of the ranch that everybody onthe place must share in this work and if anyone shirks his duty he musteither promptly mend his ways or else quit his job. It is seldom,however, that this rule has to be enforced, as the necessities of thecase require that every man shall be able to prepare a meal as he isliable to be left alone for days or weeks at a time when he must eithercook or starve.
The equipment of the cowboy is his horse and reata. They are hisconstant companions and serve his every purpose. His work includes muchhard riding, which he greatly enjoys if no accident befalls him. Butdashing on in heedless speed while rounding up cattle he is ever liableto mishaps, as his horse, although sure footed, may at any time stepinto a prairie dogs' hole or stumble on a loose rock that is liable tothrow both horse and rider to the ground in a heap. He is, indeed,fortunate if he escapes unhurt, or only receives a few bruises and nota fractured bone or broken neck.
His work consists in riding over the range and marking the conditionof the cattle; line riding to prevent the stock from straying; lookingafter the springs and water holes and keeping them clean; brandingcalves, gathering steers for market and assisting in the general workof the round-up. Every day has its duty and every season its particularwork, yet there are times of considerable leisure during the year.After his day's work is done he repairs to the ranch house, or to someoutlying camp, whichever happens to be nearest when night overtakeshim, for every large ranch has one or more such camps posted at someconvenient point that furnishes temporary shelter and refreshment,where he rests and eats his frugal meal with a relish that only healthand rough riding can give.
If he is at the home ranch in winter he spends the long eveningsbefore an open hearth fire of blazing logs and by the light of the fireand the doubtful aid of a tallow dip lounges the hours away in readingand cogitation; or, if in the company of congenial companions, engagesin conversation and pleasantry or any amusement that the party mayselect. At an early hour he turns in for the night and after a soundand refreshing sleep is up and out with the dawn. After breakfast hemounts his horse and in his striking and characteristic costume ofbroad sombrero, blue flannel shirt, fringed chaperejos and jinglingspurs he rides forth to his work a perfect type of the gallantcaballero.
In the range cattle business it is important for every owner of livestock to have some mark by which he can tell his own cattle. It isimpossible for any man to remember and recognize by natural marks everyanimal in a large herd. On the open range there are no fenced pasturesto hold the cattle, but all are permitted to run free and mixpromiscuously. To distinguish the cattle of different owners a systemof earmarks and brands has been devised by which each ranchman canidentify and claim his own stock.
The branding is usually done during a round-up when every calf foundis caught and branded in the brand of its mother. If a calf remainsunbranded until after it is weaned and quits its mother, it becomes amaverick and is liable to be lost to its owner. A calf, if left toitself, will follow its mother for several months and then leave her toseek its own living. Occasionally a calf does not become weaned when itshould be, but continues the baby habit indefinitely. If a yearling isfound unweaned it is caught and "blabbed" which is done by fitting apeculiarly shaped piece of wood into its nose that prevents it fromsucking but does not interfere with feeding.
If a calf loses its mother while very young it is called a "leppy."Such an orphan calf is, indeed, a forlorn and forsaken little creature.Having no one to care for it, it has a hard time to make a living. Ifit is smart enough to share the lacteal ration of some more fortunatecalf it does very well, but if it cannot do so and has to dependentirely on grazing for a living its life becomes precarious and is aptto be sacrificed in the "struggle for the survival of the fittest."
If it survives the ordeal and lives it bears the same relation tothe herd as the maverick and has no lawful owner until it is branded.If an unbranded calf has left or lost its mother it has lost itsidentity as well and finds it again only after being branded, althoughit may have swapped owners in the process. Theoretically, a maverickbelongs to the owner of the range on which it runs, but, practically,it becomes the property of the man who first finds and brands it.
Although the branding is supposed to be done only during a round-upthere is nevertheless some branding done in every month of the year.The ranchman is compelled to do so to save his calves from beingstolen. Therefore early branding is generally practiced as it has beenfound to be the best safeguard against theft. Either the spring or fallis considered a good time to brand, but the only best time to brand acalf is when you find it.
Dishonest men are found in the cattle business the same as in otheroccupations and every year a large number of cattle are misappropriatedand stolen from the range. Cattle have been stolen by the wholesale andlarge herds run off and illegally sold before the owner discovered hisloss. Calf stealing, however, happens more frequently than the stealingof grown cattle and many ingenious devices have been invented to makesuch stealing a success. A common practice is to "sleeper" a calf by apartial earmark and a shallow brand that only singes the hair but doesnot burn deep enough to leave a permanent scar. If the calf is notdiscovered as an imperfect or irregular brand and becomes a maverick,it is kept under surveillance by the thief until he considers it safeto finish the job when he catches it again and brands it with his owniron.
Different methods are employed to win a calf and fit it for unlawfulbranding. Sometimes the calf is caught and staked out in some secludedspot where it is not liable to be found and away from its mother untilit is nearly starved when it is branded by the thief and turned loose;or, the calf's tongue is split so that it cannot suck and by the timethat the wounded tongue has healed the calf has lost its mother, andthe thief brands it for himself. Again, the mother cow is shot andkilled, when the orphan calf is branded in perfect safety as "the deadtell no tales."
The owner of cattle on the open range must be constantly on hisguard against losses by theft. Usually the thief is a dishonestneighbor or one of his own cowboys who becomes thrifty at hisemployer's expense. Many a herd of cattle was begun without a singlecow, but was started by branding surreptitiously other people'sproperty. It is not an easy matter to detect such a thief or to convicton evidence when he is arrested and brought to trial. A cattle thiefseldom works alone, but associates himself with others of his kind whowill perjure themselves to swear each other clear.
The cow ponies that are used in range work are small but active andpossessed of great power of endurance. They are the descendants of thehorses that were brought into Mexico by the Spaniards, some of whichescaped into the wilderness and their increase became the wild horsesof the plains. They are known by the various names of mustang, broncoand cayuse according to the local vernacular of the country in whichthey roam. They are wild and hard to conquer and are sometimes neverfully broken even under the severest treatment. Bucking and pitchingare their peculiar tricks for throwing a rider and such an experienceinvariably ends in discomfort if not discomfiture, for if the rider isnot unhorsed he at least receives a severe shaking up in thesaddle.
The native cattle, like the horses, are small and wild, but arehardy and make good rustlers. The native stock has been greatlyimproved in recent years by cross breeding with thoroughbred Durham andHereford bulls. Grade cattle are better suited for the open range thanare pure bred animals, which are more tender and fare better in fencedpastures. By cross breeding the quality of range cattle has steadilyimproved until the scrub element has been almost bred out.
As a breeding ground Arizona is unsurpassed, but for maturing beefcattle the northern country is preferable. Thousands of young cattleare shipped out annually to stock the ranges of Wyoming and Montana andto fill the feed lots of Kansas, Missouri and other feeding states. Adash of native blood in range cattle is desirable as it enables them toendure hardships without injury and find subsistence in seasons ofdrought and scant forage.
The general round-up occurs in the fall, just after the summerrains, when there is plenty of grass and the horses and cattle are ingood condition. The ranchmen of a neighborhood meet at an appointedtime and place and organize for systematic work. A captain is chosenwho is in command of the round-up and must be obeyed. Each cowboy hashis own string of horses, but all of the horses of the round-up not inuse are turned out to graze and herd together. A mess wagon and team ofhorses in charge of a driver, who is also the cook, hauls the outfit ofpots, provisions and bedding.
The round-up moves from ranch to ranch rounding up and marking thecattle as it goes and is out from four to six weeks, according to thenumber of ranches that are included in the circuit.
When camp is made and everything ready for work the cowboys ride outin different directions and drive in all the cattle they can find.After the cattle are all gathered the calves are branded and the cattleof the several owners are cut into separate herds and held until theround-up is finished when they are driven home.
Every unbranded calf is caught and branded in its mother's brand. Ina mix-up of cattle as occurs at a round-up, a calf sometimes getsseparated from its mother so that when caught its identity isuncertain. To avoid making a mistake the calf is only slightly marked,just enough to hurt it a little, and is then turned loose. A calf whenit is hurt is very much like a child, in that it cries and wants itsmamma. As quick as it is let go it immediately hunts its mother andnever fails to find her. When cow and calf have come together the calfis again caught and the branding finished.
The pain produced by the hot branding iron makes the calf bawllustily and struggle to free itself. The mother cow sometimes resentsthe punishment of her offspring by charging and chasing the men who aredoing the branding; or, if she is of a less fiery disposition, showsher displeasure by a look of reproach as much as to say, "You bad men,what have you done to hurt my little darling?"
A peculiarity of brands is that they do not all grow alike.Sometimes a brand, after it is healed, remains unchanged during thelife of the animal. At other times it enlarges to several times itsoriginal size. Various reasons are assigned to account for thisdifference. Some claim that the brand only grows with the calf; othersassert that it is due to deep branding; and, again, it is ascribed tolunar influence. But, as to the real cause of the difference, noexplanation has been given that really explains the phenomenon.
The cowboy's work is nearly all done in the saddle and calls formuch hard riding. He rides like a Centaur, but is clumsy on his feet.Being so much in the saddle his walking muscles become weakened, andhis legs pressing against the body of his horse, in time, makes himbowlegged. In addition he wears high-heeled Mexican boots which throwhim on his toes when he walks and makes his already shambling gait evenmore awkward.
A cowboy's life has little in it to inspire him with high ideals orarouse his ambition to achieve greatness. He leads a hard life amongrough men and receives only coarse fare and rougher treatment. His lifeis narrow and he works in a rut that prevents him from taking a broadview of life. All that he has is his monthly wages, and, possibly, ahope that at some future day he may have a herd of cattle of hisown.
Managing a herd of range cattle successfully is an art that can onlybe acquired by long practice, and it is surprising how expert men canbecome at that business. All the work done among cattle is onhorseback, which includes herding, driving, cutting and roping. Thetrained cow pony seemingly knows as much about a round-up as hismaster, and the two, together, form a combination that is invincible ina herd of wild cattle. The cow or steer that is selected to be roped orcut out rarely escapes. While the horse is in hot pursuit the riderdexterously whirls his reata above his head until, at a favorablemoment, it leaves his hand, uncoiling as it flies through the air, and,if the throw is successful, the noose falls over the animal's head.Suddenly the horse comes to a full stop and braces himself for theshock. When the animal caught reaches the end of the rope it is broughtto an abrupt halt and tumbled in a heap on the ground. The horse standsbraced pulling on the rope which has been made fast to the horn of thesaddle by a few skillful turns. The cowboy is out of the saddle and onhis feet in a jiffy. He grasps the prostrate animal by the tail and ahind leg, throws it on its side, and ties its four feet together, sothat it is helpless and ready for branding or inspection. The cowboyshave tying contests in which a steer is sometimes caught and tied inless time than a minute.
It is a comical sight to see an unhorsed cowboy chase his runawayhorse on foot as he is almost sure to do if caught in such apredicament. He ought to know that he cannot outrun his fleet steed insuch a race, but seems to be impelled by some strange impulse to makethe attempt. After he has run himself out of breath he is liable torealize the folly of his zeal and adopt a more sensible method forcapturing his horse.
The cowboy who works on the southwestern range has good cause tofear the malodorous hydrophobia skunk. At a round-up all of the cowboyssleep on the ground. During the night, while they are asleep, thelittle black and white cat-like animal forages through the camp forsomething to eat. Without provocation the skunk will attack the sleeperand fasten its sharp teeth in some exposed portion of his anatomy,either the nose or a finger or toe and will not let go until it iskilled or forcibly removed. The wound thus made usually heals quicklyand the incident is, perhaps, soon forgotten; but after several weeksor months hydrophobia suddenly develops and proves fatal in a shorttime.
The only known cure for the bite of the skunk is the Pasteurtreatment and, since its discovery, as soon as anyone is bitten, he isimmediately sent to the Pasteur Institute in Chicago for treatment.
Ranch life is often full of thrilling incidents and adventures. Thecowboy in his travels about the country looking after cattle, huntingwild game or, in turn, being hunted by yet wilder Indians, finds plentyof novelty and excitement to break any fancied monotony which might beconsidered as belonging to ranch life. In a number of visits to therange country during the past twenty years, the writer has had anopportunity to observe life on a ranch, and experience some of itsexciting adventures.
One day in the summer of 1891, Dave Drew, our foreman, Tedrow, oneof the cowboys, and myself, made a trip into East Canon in the DosCabezas mountains, in search of some large unbranded calves which hadbeen seen running there. We rode leisurely along for some time andpassed several small bunches of cattle without finding what we werelooking for. As we neared a bend in the canon, Dave, who rode inadvance, saw some cattle lying in the shade of a grove of live oaktrees. Instantly he spurred his horse into a run and chased after thecattle at full speed, at the same time looking back and shouting thathe saw two mavericks and for us to hurry up and help catch them. It wasa bad piece of ground to cover and we found it difficult to makeprogress or to even keep each other in sight. Tedrow hurried up as fastas he could while I brought up the rear.
In trying to get through in the direction that Dave had gone, wetried to make a short cut in order to gain time, but soon found our waycompletely blocked by immense boulders and dense thickets of cat-clawbushes, which is a variety of mesquite covered with strong, sharp,curved thorns. We turned back to find a better road and after some timespent in hunting an opening we discovered a dim trail which soon led usinto a natural park of level ground hidden among the foothills. Here wefound Dave who alone had caught and tied down both the calves and waspreparing to start a fire to heat the branding irons. What he had doneseemed like magic and was entirely incomprehensible to an inexperiencedtenderfoot.
Dave explained afterwards that to be successful in such a race muchdepended on taking the cattle by surprise, and then by a quick, bolddash start them running up the mountain, when it was possible toovertake and rope them; but if once started to running down hill it wasnot only unsafe to follow on horseback but in any event the cattle werecertain to escape. Taking them by surprise seemed to bewilder them andbefore they could collect their scattered senses, so to speak, andscamper off, the work of capture was done.
Another adventure, which did not end so fortunately for met happenedin the fall of I 887 when the country was yet comparatively new to thecattle business. I rode out one day in company with a cowboy to lookafter strays and, incidentally, to watch for any game that might chanceto cross our path. We rode through seemingly endless meadows of finegramma grass and saw the sleek cattle feeding on plenty and enjoyingperfect contentment. Game, also, seemed to be abundant but very shy andas we were not particularly hunting that kind of stock, we foreboregiving chase or firing at long range.
After riding about among the hills back of the Pinaleno ranch andnot finding anything we concluded to return home. On starting back weseparated and took different routes, going by two parallel ravines inorder to cover more ground in our search. I had not gone far until Ifound the cattle we were looking for going to water on the home trail.Jogging on slowly after them and enjoying the beauty of the landscape,I unexpectedly caught a glimpse of a deer lying down under a mesquitetree on the brow of a distant hill. I was in plain sight of the deer,which was either asleep or heedless of danger as it paid no attentionwhatever to my presence.
Deer and antelope soon become accustomed to horses and cattle andoften mix and feed familiarly with the stock grazing on the open range.The deer did not change its position as I quietly rode by and out ofsight behind the hill. There I dismounted and stalked the quarry onfoot, cautiously making my way up the side of the hill to a point whereI would be within easy shooting distance. As I stood up to locate thedeer it jumped to its feet and was ready to make off, but before itcould start a shot from my Winchester put a bullet through its head,and it scarcely moved after it fell. The deer was in good condition andreplenished our depleted ranch larder with some choice venison steaks.The head, also, was a fine one the horns being just out of velvet andeach antler five pointed, was saved and mounted.
The shot and my lusty halloo soon brought my cowboy friend to thespot. Together we eviscerated the animal and prepared to pack it tocamp on my horse. As we were lifting it upon his back the bronco gave avicious kick which hit me in the left knee and knocked me down. Theblow, though severe, glanced off so that no bone was broken. What madethe horse kick was a mystery as he was considered safe and had carrieddeer on other occasions. But a bronco, like a mule, is never altogetherreliable, particularly as to the action of its heels. With some delayin getting started and in somewhat of a demoralized condition wemounted and rode home.
Soon after the accident I had a chill which was followed by a feverand there was much pain and swelling in the knee that was hit. A ranchhouse, if it happens to be a "stag camp" as ours was, is a cheerlessplace in which to be sick, but everything considered, I was fortunatein that it was not worse. By the liberal use of hot water and suchother simples as the place afforded I was soon better; but not untilafter several months' treatment at home did the injured knee fullyrecover its normal condition.
The excitement of running cattle or hunting game on the open rangein those days was mild in comparison to the panicky feeling whichprevailed during every Indian outbreak. The experience of many yearshad taught the people of Arizona what to expect at such a time and theutter diabolical wickedness of the Apaches when out on the warpath.During the early eighties many such raids occurred which wereaccompanied by all the usual horrors of brutality and outrage of whichthe Apaches are capable.
When it became known in the fall of 1885 that Geronimo was again offthe reservation and out on another one of his bloody raids the peoplebecame panic-stricken. Some left the Territory until such time when theIndian question would be settled and the Government could guaranteefreedom from Indian depredations. Those who remained either fled tosome near town or fort for protection, or prepared to defend themselvesin their own homes as best they could.
What else could the settlers in a new country do? They hadeverything invested in either mines or cattle and could not afford toleave their property without making some effort to save it even if ithad to be done at the risk of their own lives. They had no means ofknowing when or where the stealthy Apaches would strike and could onlywait for the time in uncertainty and suspense. Many who were in thisuncomfortable predicament managed to escape any harm, but others fellvictims to savage hatred whose death knell was sounded in the crack ofthe deadly rifle.
Some personal experiences may help to illustrate this feeling ofpanic, as I happened to be at the ranch during the time and know how itwas myself.
One day in the month of October, 1885, while Geronimo was making hisraid through southern Arizona, my brother and I rode through RailroadPass from Pinaleno ranch to the Lorentz Place, a distance of fifteenmiles. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon that we ascended tothe top of a hill to take observations and see if anything washappening out of the ordinary. We saw nothing unusual until we wereabout to leave when we noticed somewhat of a commotion on the oldWillcox and Bowie wagon road which parallels the Southern Pacifictrack. The distance was too great to see distinctly with the naked eye,but looking through our field glasses, which we always carried when outriding, we could plainly see three loaded wagons standing in the road.The drivers had evidently unhitched their teams and, mounted upon thehorses' backs, were riding furiously in a cloud of dust down the roadtowards Bowie.
I asked the judge, who was a resident and supposed to be familiarwith the customs of the country while I was only a tenderfoot, whattheir actions meant. He admitted that he did not understand theirconduct unless it was that they had concluded that they could not makeWillcox on that day and were returning to some favorable camp groundwhich they had passed on their way up, to spend the night; but themanner of their going was certainly peculiar. After watching themdisappear down the road we rode on and reached our destination insafety.
The incident was forgotten until a few days later when we were inWillcox a friend inquired what had become of the Indians which hadlately been seen on our range. We replied that we had not seen anyIndians nor known of any that had been there. He then related to us howonly a few days before three freighters had seen two Indians ride upona hill and halt. The sight of Indians was enough and their only careafter that was to get away from them. They quickly unhitched theirhorses from the wagons and rode ten miles to Bowie where they gave thealarm and spent the night. The next morning, having heard nothing morefrom the Indians during the night, they took fresh courage and venturedto return to their wagons, which they found as they had left themunmolested, when they continued their journey. When the freighters wereasked why they did not stand off the Indians they said that they onlyhad one gun and not knowing how many more redskins there might bedecided that to retreat was the better part of valor. It was my brotherand I whom they had seen and mistaken for Indians.
A few days after this event I had a similar scare of my own andafter it was over I could sympathize with the poor, frightenedfreighters. I was alone at the ranch house packing up and preparing toleave for home. While thus occupied I chanced to go to the open doorand looking out, to my dismay, I saw Indians. "My heart jumped into mymouth" and for a moment I felt that my time had surely come. Two menwere seen riding horseback over the foot hills followed by a packanimal. As I stood watching them and took time to think, it occurred tome that I might be mistaken, and that the men were not Indians afterall. As they drew nearer I saw that they were dressed like white menand, therefore, could not be Indians; but my scare while it lasted waspainfully real. The men proved to be two neighboring ranchmen who wereout looking for lost cattle.
In this raid, the Apaches, after leaving their reservation in theWhite mountains, traveled south along the Arizona and New Mexico line,killing people as they went, until they reached Stein's Pass. Fromthere they turned west, crossed the San Simon valley and disappeared inthe Chiricahua mountains. When next seen they had crossed over themountains and attacked Riggs' ranch in Pinery canon, where they woundeda woman, but were driven off.
The next place that they visited was the Sulphur Spring ranch of theChiricahua Cattle Company, where they stole a bunch of horses. Thecowboys at the ranch had received warning that there were Indians aboutand had brought in the horse herd from the range and locked them in thecorral. The Apaches came in the night and with their usual adroitnessand cunning stole the corral empty. The first intimation which theinmates had that the ranch had been robbed was when the cowboys went inthe morning to get their horses they found them gone.
From the Sulphur Spring ranch they crossed the Sulphur Spring valleyin the direction of Cochise's stronghold in the Dragoon mountains.Before reaching the mountains they passed Mike Noonan's ranch wherethey shot its owner, who was a lone rancher and had lived alone in thevalley many years. He was found dead in his door yard with a bullethole in the back of his head. He evidently did not know that theIndians were near and was seemingly unconscious of any danger when hewas killed.
The Indians were not seen again after entering the stronghold untilthey crossed the line into Mexico, where they were pursued by UnitedStates soldiers. After a long, stern chase Geronimo surrendered himselfand followers to General Miles, who brought them back to Arizona. Asprisoners they were all loaded into cars at Bowie and taken to Florida.The general in command thought it best to take them clear out of thecountry in order to put an effectual stop to their marauding. Laterthey were removed to the Indian Territory where they now live.
The rest of the Apaches remain in Arizona and live on the San Carlosreservation on the Gila river where they are being inducted intocivilization. Since the disturbing element among them has been removedthere has been no more trouble. They seem to have settled down with asincere purpose to learn the white man's way and are quiet andpeaceable. They are laborers, farmers and stockmen and are making rapidprogress in their new life.
Any one who has been in Arizona and failed to visit the SierraBonita ranch missed seeing a model ranch. Henry C. Hooker, the owner ofthis splendid property, was born in New England and is a typicalYankee, who early emigrated west and has spent most of his life on thefrontier.
He went to Arizona at the close of the Civil War and engaged incontracting for the Government and furnishing supplies to the army. Itwas before the days of railroads when all merchandise was hauledoverland in wagons and cattle were driven through on foot. He outfittedat points in Texas and on the Rio Grande and drove his cattle andwagons over hundreds of miles of desert road through a country that wasinfested by hostile Indians.
Such a wild life was naturally full of adventures and involved muchhardship and danger. The venture, however, prospered and proved afinancial success, notwithstanding some losses in men killed, wagonspillaged and cattle driven off and lost by bands of maraudingApaches.
In his travels he saw the advantages that Arizona offered as agrazing country, which decided him to locate a ranch and engage in therange cattle business.
The ranch derives its name from the Graham or Pinaleno mountainswhich the Indians called the Sierra Bonita because of the manybeautiful wild flowers that grow there. It is twenty miles north ofWillcox, a thriving village on the Southern Pacific Railroad, and tenmiles south of Ft. Grant, that nestles in a grove of cotton trees atthe foot of Mt. Graham, the noblest mountain in southern Arizona.
The Sierra Bonita ranch is situated in the famous Sulphur Springvalley in Cochise County, Arizona, which is, perhaps, the only allgrass valley in the Territory. The valley is about twenty miles wideand more than one hundred miles long and extends into Mexico. Itswaters drain in opposite directions, part flowing south into the Yaquiriver, and part running north through the Aravaipa Canon into the Gilaand Colorado rivers, all to meet and mingle again in the Gulf ofCalifornia.
Fine gramma grass covers the entire valley and an underground riverfurnishes an inexhaustible supply of good water. In the early days ofoverland travel before the country was protected or any of itsresources were known, immigrants, who were bound for California by theSouthern route and ignorant of the near presence of water, nearlyperished from thirst while crossing the valley.
The water rises to within a few feet of the surface and, since itsdiscovery, numerous wells have been dug and windmills and ranch housesdot the landscape in all directions; while thousands of cattle feed andfatten on the nutritious gramma grass. Its altitude is about fourthousand feet above the sea and the climate is exceptionally fine.
The Sierra Bonita ranch is located on a natural cienega of moistland that has been considerably enlarged by artificial means. In anaverage year the natural water supply of the ranch is sufficient forall purposes but, to guard against any possible shortage in a dry year,water is brought from the mountains in ditches that have beenconstructed at great labor and expense and is stored in reservoirs, tobe used as needed for watering the cattle and irrigating the fields.The effect of water upon the desert soil is almost magical and eventhough the rains fail and the earth be parched, on the moist land ofthe cienega the fields of waving grass and grain are perenniallygreen.
The owner has acquired by location and purchase, title to severalthousand acres of land, that is all fenced and much of it highlycultivated. It consists of a strip of land one mile wide and ten mileslong, which is doubly valuable because of its productiveness and as thekey that controls a fine open range.
The original herd of cattle that pastured on the Sierra Bonita ranchthirty years ago was composed of native scrub stock from Texas andSonora. This undesirable stock was sold at the first opportunity, andthe range re-stocked by an improved grade of Durham cattle. The changewas a long stride in the direction of improvement, but, later on,another change was made to Herefords, and during recent years onlywhitefaces have been bred upon the ranch.
Col. Hooker has a strong personality, holds decided opinions andbelieves in progress and improvement. He has spent much time and moneyin experimental work, and his success has demonstrated the wisdom ofhis course. Just such men are needed in every new country to developits resources and prove its worth.
He saw that the primitive methods of ranching then in vogue must beimproved, and began to prepare for the change which was coming. What hepredicted came to pass, and the days of large herds on the open rangeare numbered.
Many of them have already been sold or divided up, and it is aquestion Of only a short time when the rest will meet the samefate.
When this is done there may be no fewer cattle than there are nowbut they will be bunched in smaller herds and better cared for. Scrubsof any kind are always undesirable, since it has been proved thatquality is more profitable than quantity. A small herd is more easilyhandled, and there is less danger of loss from straying orstealing.
The common method of running cattle on the open range is recklessand wasteful in the extreme and entirely inexcusable. The cattle aresimply turned loose to rustle for themselves. No provision whatever ismade for their welfare, except that they are given the freedom of therange to find water, if they can, and grass that often affords themonly scant picking.
Under the new regime the cattle are carefully fed and watered, ifneed be in a fenced enclosure, that not only gives the cattle humanetreatment but also makes money for the owner. The men are instructed tobring in every sick or weak animal found on the range and put it into acorral or pasture, where it is nursed back to life. If an orphan calfis found that is in danger of starving it is picked up, carried homeand fed. On the average ranch foundlings and weaklings get no attentionwhatever, but are left in their misery to pine away and perish fromneglect. The profit of caring for the weak and sick animals on theSierra Bonita ranch amounts to a large sum every year, which the ownerthinks is worth saving.
Another peculiarity of ranch life is that where there are hundredsor, perhaps, thousands of cows in a herd, not a single cow is milked,nor is a cup of milk or pound of butter ever seen upon the ranch table.It is altogether different on Hooker's ranch. There is a separate herdof milch cows in charge of a man whose duty it is to keep the tablesupplied with plenty of fresh milk and butter. No milk ever goes towaste. If there is a surplus it is fed to the calves, pigs andpoultry.
During the branding season the work of the round-up is all done incorrals instead of, as formerly, out upon the open range. Each calfafter it is branded, if it is old and strong enough to wean, is takenfrom the cow and turned into a separate pasture. It prevents the weakmother cow from being dragged to death by a strong sucking calf andsaves the pampered calf from dying of blackleg by a timely change ofdiet.
Instead of classing the cattle out on the open range as is the usualcustom, by an original system of corrals, gates and chutes the cattleare much more easily and quickly classified without any cruelty orinjury inflicted upon either man or beast. Classing cattle at around-up by the old method is a hard and often cruel process, thatrequires a small army of both men and horses and is always rough andsevere on the men, horses and cattle.
Besides the herds of sleek cattle, there are also horses galore,enough to do all of the work on the ranch as well as for pleasureriding and driving. There is likewise a kennel of fine greyhounds thatare the Colonel's special pride. His cattle, horses and dogs are all ofthe best, as he believes in thoroughbreds and has no use whatever forscrubs of either the human or brute kind.
The dogs are fond of their master and lavish their caresses on himwith almost human affection. In the morning when they meet him at thedoor Ketchum pokes his nose into one of his master's half open handsand Killum performs the same act with the other hand. Blackie nips himplayfully on the leg while Dash and the rest of the pack race aboutlike mad, trying to express the exuberance of their joy.
In the bunch is little Bob, the fox terrier, who tries hard but isnot always able to keep up with the hounds in a race. He is active andgets over the ground lively for a small dog, but in a long chase iscompletely distanced and outclassed to his apparent disgust. Aside fromthe fine sport that the dogs afford, they are useful in keeping theplace clear of all kinds of "varmints" such as coyotes, skunks and wildcats.
How much Col. Hooker appreciates his dogs is best illustrated by anincident. One morning after greeting the dogs at the door, he was heardto remark sotto voce.
"Well, if everybody on the ranch is cross, my dogs always greet mewith a smile."
There appears to be much in the dog as well as in the horse that ishuman, and the trio are capable of forming attachments for each otherthat only death can part.
The ranch house is a one-story adobe structure built in the Spanishstyle of a rectangle, with all the doors opening upon a central court.It is large and commodious, is elegantly furnished and supplied withevery modern convenience. It affords every needed comfort for a familyand is in striking contrast with the common ranch house of the rangethat is minus every luxury and often barely furnishes the necessariesof life.
Much of the vegetation that is indigenous to the southwest is uniqueand can only be seen at its best in the Gila valley in southernArizona. The locality indicated is in the arid zone and is extremelyhot and dry. Under such conditions it is but natural to suppose thatall plant life must necessarily be scant and dwarfed, but such is notthe fact. Upon the contrary many of the plants that are native to thesoil and adapted to the climate grow luxuriantly, are remarkablysucculent and perennially green.
How they manage to acquire so much sap amidst the surroundingsiccity is inexplicable, unless it is that they possess the function ofabsorbing and condensing moisture by an unusual and unknown method. Itis, however, a beneficent provision of nature as a protection againstfamine in a droughty land by furnishing in an acceptable form,refreshing juice and nutritious pulp to supply the pressing wants ofhungry and thirsty man and beast in time of need.
Another peculiarity of these plants is that they are acanaceous;covered all over with sharp thorns and needles. Spikes of all sorts andsizes bristle everywhere and admonish the tenderfoot to beware. Guardedby an impenetrable armor of prickly mail they defy encroachment andsuccessfully repel all attempts at undue familiarity. To be torn by acat-claw thorn or impaled on a stout dagger leaf of one of these plantswould not only mean painful laceration but, perhaps, serious or evenfatal injury. Notwithstanding their formidable and forbiddingappearance they are nevertheless attractive and possess some valueeither medicinal, commercial or ornamental.
The maguey, or American aloe, is the most abundant and widelydistributed of the native plants. It is commonly known as mescal, butis also called the century plant from a mistaken notion that itblossoms only once in a hundred years. Its average life, under normalconditions, is about ten years and it dies immediately afterblossoming.
It attains its greatest perfection in the interior of Mexico whereit is extensively cultivated. It yields a large quantity of sap whichis, by a simple process of fermentation, converted into a liquor calledpulque that tastes best while it is new and is consumed in largequantities by the populace. Pulque trains are run daily from the mescalplantations, where the pulque is made, into the large cities to supplythe bibulous inhabitants with their customary beverage. In strength andeffect it resembles lager beer, and is the popular drink with allclasses throughout Mexico where it has been in vogue for centuries andis esteemed as "the only drink fit for thirsty angels and men."
The agave is capable of being applied to many domestic uses. Underthe old dispensation of Indian supremacy it supplied the natives theirprincipal means of support. Its sap was variously prepared and servedas milk, honey, vinegar, beer and brandy. From its tough fiber weremade thread, rope, cloth, shoes and paper. The strong flower stalk wasused in building houses and the broad leaves for covering them.
The heart of the maguey is saccharine and rich in nutriment. It isprepared by roasting it in a mescal pit and, when done, tastes muchlike baked squash. It is highly prized by the Indians, who use it astheir daily bread. Before the Apaches were conquered and herded onreservations a mescal bake was an important event with them. It meantthe gathering of the clans and was made the occasion of much feastingand festivity. Old mescal pits can yet be found in some of the secludedcorners of the Apache country that were once the scenes of noisyactivity, but have been forsaken and silent for many years.
The fiery mescal, a distilled liquor that is known to the trade asaguardiente, or Mexican brandy, is much stronger than pulque, but lessused. Both liquors are said to be medicinal, and are reputed to possessdiuretic, tonic and stimulant properties.
Next in importance to the mescal comes the yucca. There are severalvarieties, but the palm yucca is the most common, and under favorableconditions attains to the proportions of a tree. Fine specimens ofyucca grow on the Mojave desert in California that are large andnumerous enough to form a straggling forest.
The tree consists of a light, spongy wood that grows as a singlestem or divides into two or more branches. Each branch is crowned by atuft of long, pointed leaves that grow in concentric circles. As thenew leaves unfold on top the old leaves are crowded down and hang inloose folds about the stem like a flounced skirt. When dry the leavesburn readily, and are sometimes used for light and heat by lost orbelated travelers. White threads of a finer fiber are detached from themargins of the leaves that are blown by the wind into a fluffy fleece,in which the little birds love to nest.
A grove of yucca trees presents a grotesque appearance. Ifindistinctly viewed in the hazy distance they are easily mistaken forthe plumed topknots of a band of prowling Apaches, particularly if theimagination is active with the fear of an Indian outbreak.
The wood of the yucca tree has a commercial value. It is cut intothin sheets by machinery which are used for surgeon's splints, hygienicinsoles, tree protectors and calendars. As a splint it answers anadmirable purpose, being both light and strong and capable of beingmolded into any shape desired after it has been immersed in hot water.Its pulp, also, makes an excellent paper.
Another variety of yucca is the amole, or soap plant. Owing to thepeculiar shape of its leaves it is also called Spanish bayonet. Itsroot is saponaceous, and is pounded into a pulp and used instead ofsoap by the natives. It grows a bunch of large white flowers, andmatures an edible fruit that resembles the banana. The Indians call itoosa, and eat it, either raw or roasted in hot ashes.
A species of yucca called sotal, or saw-grass, grows plentifully inplaces, and is sometimes used as food for cattle when grass is scarce.In its natural state it is inaccessible to cattle because of its hardand thorny exterior. To make it available it is cut down and quarteredwith a hoe, when the hungry cattle eat it with avidity. Where the plantgrows thickly one man can cut enough in one day to feed several hundredhead of cattle.
There are several other varieties of yucca that possess noparticular value, but all are handsome bloomers, and the mass of whiteflowers which unfold during the season of efflorescence adds much tothe beauty of the landscape.
The prickly pear cactus, or Indian fig, of the genus Opuntia is acommon as well as a numerous family. The soil and climate of thesouthwest from Texas to California seem to be just to its liking. Itgrows rank and often forms dense thickets. The root is a tough woodfrom which, it is said, the best Mexican saddletrees are made.
The plant consists of an aggregation of thick, flat, oval leaves,which are joined together by narrow bands of woody fiber and coveredwith bundles of fine, sharp needles. Its pulp is nutritious and cattlelike the young leaves, but will not eat them after they become old andhard unless driven to do so by the pangs of hunger. In Texas the plantis gathered in large quantities and ground into a fine pulp bymachinery which is then mixed with cotton-seed meal and fed to cattle.The mixture makes a valuable fattening ration and is used for finishingbeef steers for the market.
The cholla, or cane cactus, is also a species of Opuntia, but itsstem or leaf is long and round instead of short and flat. It is thicklycovered with long, fine, silvery-white needles that glisten in the sun.Its stem is hollow and filled with a white pith like the elder. Afterthe prickly bark is stripped off the punk can be picked out through thefenestra with a penknife, which occupation affords pleasant pastime fora leisure hour. When thus furbished up the unsightly club becomes anelegant walking stick.
The cholla is not a pleasant companion as all persons know who havehad any experience with it. Its needles are not only very sharp, butalso finely barbed, and they penetrate and cling fast like a burr themoment that they are touched. Cowboys profess to believe that the planthas some kind of sense as they say that it jumps and takes hold of itsvictim before it is touched. This action, however, is only true in theseeming, as its long transparent needles, being invisible, are touchedbefore they are seen. When they catch hold of a moving object, be ithorse or cowboy, an impulse is imparted to the plant that makes it seemto jump. It is an uncanny movement and is something more than an ocularillusion, as the victim is ready to testify.
These desert plants do not ordinarily furnish forage for live stock,but in a season of drought when other feed is scarce and cattle arestarving they will risk having their mouths pricked by thorns in orderto get something to eat and will browse on mescal, yucca and cactus andfind some nourishment in the unusual diet, enough, at least, to keepthem from dying. The plants mentioned are not nearly as plentiful nowas they once were. Because of the prolonged droughts that prevail inthe range country and the overstocking of the range these plants are indanger of being exterminated and, if the conditions do not soon change,of becoming extinct.
The saguaro, or giant cactus, is one of nature's rare and curiousproductions. It is a large, round, fluted column that is from one totwo feet thick and sometimes sixty feet high. The trunk is nearly of aneven thickness from top to bottom but, if there is any difference, itis a trifle thicker in the middle. It usually stands alone as a singleperpendicular column, but is also found bunched in groups. If it hasany branches they are apt to start at right angles from about themiddle of the tree and curve upward, paralleling the trunk, which formgives it the appearance of a mammoth candelabrum.
The single saguaro pillar bears a striking resemblance to aCorinthian column. As everything in art is an attempt to imitatesomething in nature, is it possible that Grecian architecture borrowedits notable pattern from the Gila valley?
Southern Arizona is the natural home and exclusive habitat of thismost singular and interesting plant and is, perhaps, the only thinggrowing anywhere that could have suggested the design. Wherever itgrows, it is a conspicuous object on the landscape and has beenappropriately named "The Sentinel of the Desert."
Its mammoth body is supported by a skeleton of wooden ribs, whichare held in position by a mesh of tough fibers that is filled with agreen pulp. Rows of thorns extend its entire length which are resinousand, if ignited, burn with a bright flame. They are sometimes set onfire and have been used by the Apaches for making signals. The cactustree, like the eastern forest tree, is often found bored full of round,holes that are made by the Gila woodpecker. When the tree dies its pulpdries up and blows away and there remains standing only a spectralfigure composed of white slats and fiber that looks ghostly in thedistance.
Its fruit is delicious and has the flavor of the fig and strawberrycombined. It is dislodged by the greedy birds which feed on it and byarrows shot from bows in the hands of the Indians. The natives esteemthe fruit as a great delicacy, and use it both fresh and dried and inthe form of a treacle or preserve.
The ocotillo, or mountain cactus, is a handsome shrub that grows inrocky soil upon the foothills and consists of a cluster of nearlystraight poles of brittle wood covered with thorns and leaves. Itblossoms during the early summer and each branch bears on its crest abunch of bright crimson flowers.
If set in a row the plant makes an ornamental hedge and effectivefence for turning stock. The seemingly dry sticks are thrust into yetdrier ground where they take root and grow without water. Its bark isresinous and a fagot of dry sticks makes a torch that is equal to apineknot.
The echinocactus, or bisnaga, is also called "The Well of theDesert." It has a large barrel-shaped body which is covered with longspikes that are curved like fishhooks. It is full of sap that issometimes used to quench thirst. By cutting off the top and scoopingout a hollow, the cup-shaped hole soon fills with a sap that is notexactly nectar but can be drunk in an emergency. Men who have been indanger of perishing from thirst on the desert have sometimes been savedby this unique method of well digging.
Greasewood, or creasote bush as it is sometimes called on account ofits pungent odor, grows freely on the desert, but has little or novalue and cattle will not touch it. Like many other desert plants it isresinous and if thrown into the fire, the green leaves spit and sputterwhile they burn like hot grease in a frying pan.
The mesquite tree is peculiarly adapted to the desert and is themost valuable tree that grows in the southwest. As found growing on thedry mesas of Arizona, it is only a small bush, but on the moist land ofa river bottom it becomes a large forest tree. A mesquite forest standsin the Santa Cruz valley south of Tucson that is a fair sample of itsgrowth under favorable conditions.
Its wood is hard and fine grained and polishes beautifully. It isvery durable and is valuable for lumber, fence posts and firewood. Onthe dry mesas it seems to go mostly to root that is out of allproportion to the size of the tree. The amount of firewood that issometimes obtained by digging up the root of a small mesquite bush isastonishing.
It makes a handsome and ornamental shade tree, having gracefulbranches, feathery leaves and fragrant flowers, and could be cultivatedto advantage for yard and park purposes.
Its principal value, however, lies in its seed pods, which grow inclusters and look like string beans. The mesquite bean furnishes asuperior article of food and feeds about everything that either walksor flies on the desert. The Indians make meal of the seed and bake itinto bread. Cattle that feed on the open range will leave good grass tobrowse on a mesquite bush. Even as carnivorous a creature as the coyotewill make a full meal on a mess of mesquite beans and seem to besatisfied. The tree exudes a gum that is equal to the gum arabic ofcommerce.
The palo verde is a tree without leaves and is a true child of thedesert. No matter how hot and dry the weather the palo verde is alwaysgreen and flourishing. At a distance it resembles a weeping willow treestripped of its leaves. Its numerous long, slender, drooping branchesgracefully criss-cross and interlace in an intricate figure of filigreework. It has no commercial value, but if it could be successfullytransplanted and transported it would make a desirable addition togreen-house collections in the higher latitudes.
The romantic mistletoe that is world renowned for its magicinfluence in love affairs, grows to perfection in southern Arizona.There are several varieties of this parasitic plant that are veryunlike in appearance. Each kind partakes more or less of thecharacteristics of the tree upon which it grows, but all have theglossy leaf and waxen berry.
Arizona has several hot springs within her borders but, perhaps,none are more valuable nor picturesquely located than Hooker's hotsprings. These springs are located in the foothills on the westernslope of the Galiura mountains in southeastern Arizona, thirty-fivemiles west of Willcox on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The spot isbeautifully situated, commanding an extended view of valley andmountain scenery.
There are a dozen springs, big and little, in the group and arescattered over several acres of hillside. The temperature of the wateris 130 degrees Fahrenheit and too hot to drink but, if sipped slowly,it makes an admirable hot-water draught. The springs evidently havetheir source deep down in the earth and the flow of water never varies.When the water from the different springs is all united it forms a goodsized brook. The water is conducted through pipes into the bath house,where it supplies a row of bath-tubs with water of any desiredtemperature. The surplus water flows into a large earthern tank orartificial lake and is used for irrigating a small farm that producesgrain, fruits and vegetables.
The water from these springs is in great demand and is not onlysought by the human biped, but is also in favor with the equinequadruped. Every morning after the stable doors are thrown open and thehorses turned loose they invariably, of their own accord, proceed tothe lake, wade out into shallow water and take a bath. They lie downand splash the water about like a lot of schoolboys taking a swim.
The water from all the springs is perfectly soft and pure. It cannotbe called a mineral water, as an analysis shows that it contains only atrace of any kind of mineral matter. This peculiarity of the water isno damage to the springs, since purity is the best recommendation thatany water can have. Water that is heavily mineralized may be medicinal,but is not necessarily remedial, or even wholesome, notwithstanding thepopular belief to the contrary. Water that is charged with much mineralis spoiled for drinking. Moderately hard water need not be injurious toanybody, but is especially beneficial to children. The assimilativefunction in the child appropriates mineral water tardily and sometimesabsorbs it altogether too slowly for the child's good. Its absence inthe system causes a disease called rickets, in which, from all lack oflime, the bones of the child become soft and yielding. The bones of arickety child will bend rather than break. It is slow to walk andinclines to become bow-legged.
It is entirely different in old age. As the years multiply thesystem absorbs an abnormal and ever increasing amount of calcareousmatter. The bones become unduly hard and brittle and are easily broken.Bony matter is liable to be deposited in and about the joints, whenthey become stiff and painful. It also lodges in the various softtissues of the body, and ossification of the valves of the heart andwalls of the arteries sometimes happens. It weakens the blood vesselsso that they easily rupture, which causes apoplexy, paralysis anddeath. Calcareous concretions in the kidneys and bladder, also, comefrom the same cause, and are called gravel. Such deposits are not onlyannoying and painful to the patient, but in time may prove fatal if notremoved by surgery.
Middle-aged and elderly people should never drink anything but softwater. If a natural supply of soft water cannot be obtained distilledwater should be substituted. If neither natural soft water nordistilled water are available, and there is doubt as to the purity ofthe water that is being used, it should be boiled and then let stand tocool and settle. Boiling not only destroys and renders harmless anyorganic germs that may be present, but also precipitates and eliminatesmuch of its inorganic salts.
A few drops of a weak solution of nitrate of silver added to a glassof water will quickly determine its quality. If the water that is beingtested is free from mineral matter no change is produced, but if itcontains mineral it turns the water opaque or milky.
The value of mineral water as a healthful or necessary drink hasbeen greatly exaggerated. While it may do good in some instances, it isnot nearly as beneficial as is commonly supposed. Instead of it alwaysdoing good the contrary is often true.
If a mineral water is desired there is no necessity of visiting amineral spring to obtain it, as it can be made artificially at home orat the nearest pharmacy in any quantity or of any quality desired, withthe additional advantage of having it contain exactly the ingredientswanted. There are nearly as many mineral waters on the market as thereare patent medicines, and both are about equally misrepresented anddeceiving. All classes of people would undoubtedly be greatly benefitedin health, strength and longevity if more attention was given to thequality of our domestic water supply. Any one who needs a change, otherthings being equal, should seek a resort that furnishes pure, softwater rather than choose a spring that only boasts of its mineralproperties. Not all of the benefit that is derived from a course atwatering place is due to the virtues of the water, be it ever sopotent. The change of environment, climate, diet, bathing, etc., areeach factors that contribute something towards a cure.
Next to using pure water as a beverage it is important to know howto bathe properly, such knowledge being simple and plain enough if onlycommon sense is used. Usually the more simply a bath is administeredthe better are the results. Some people seem to think that in order toderive any benefit from a bath it is necessary to employ some unusualor complicated process. Nothing is further from the truth. The plain,tepid bath is the best for general use. It thoroughly cleanses the bodyand produces no unpleasant shock. A hot bath is rarely needed but, ifit is used, enough time should be given after it to rest and cool offbefore going out into the open air in order to avoid taking cold. Thegood or harm of a bath must be judged by its effects.
A bath is only beneficial when it is followed by a healthy reaction,which is indicated by an agreeable feeling of warmth and comfort, andis injurious if the subject feels cold, weak or depressed. A bath doesnot affect all people alike; what will do one person good may injureanother. It is never wise to prescribe a stereotyped treatment forevery patient. The disease, temperament and constitution of eachindividual must be taken into account and the temperature and frequencyof the bath must be determined and regulated by the necessity andidiosyncrasies of each case. The amount of bathing that a strong,full-blooded person could endure would mop out the life of a thin,bloodless weakling.
Locally, these springs have become famous because of the remarkablecures they have effected, and are sought by many sick people who havefailed to find relief by other means. Before the white man came theIndians used the water for curing their sick. The water is curative inrheumatism, neuralgia, dyspepsia, blood and skin disorders and kidneycomplaint. The water cure is all right even if it does not alwaysfulfill every expectation.
Hooker's hot springs is a pleasant place to visit for people who arenot invalids. It is off the beaten path of travel and is an ideal spotfor the tired man who needs a rest. It has not yet been overrun by thecrowd, but retains all of the natural charm of freshness which the oldresorts have lost. Here nature riots in all of her wild beauty and hasnot yet been perceptibly marred by the despoiling hand of man.
Aside from the luxury of the baths which the place affords thevisitor can find a great deal to please him. The climate is healthfuland the weather pleasant during most of the year. In the near vicinitymuch can be found in nature that is interesting. Never-failing mountainstreams, deep canons and dark forests wait to be visited and explored,while curiosities in animal and vegetable life abound. Not far off is aplace here perfect geodes of chalcedony are found.
Mining and ranching are the leading industries of the country and avisit to some neighboring mine or cattle ranch is not without interestto the novice. But, if he starts out on such a trip he must decide tomake a day of it, as the country is sparsely settled and the distanceslong between camps. If the accommodations where he stops are not alwaysluxurious the welcome is cordial and the entertainment comfortable. Thenew experience is also delightfully romantic.
The Colorado Plateau, in northern Arizona, is the union of the Rockyand Sierra Nevada mountains in their southward trend, and forms thesouthern rim of the Great Basin. This depression was once a vast inlandsea, of which nothing remains but the Salt Lake of Utah, and is drainedby the Colorado river. The entire plateau region is remarkable for itsgrand scenery—abysmal chasms, sculptured buttes and toweringcliffs, which are "brightly colored as if painted by artist Gods, notstained and daubed by inharmonious hues but beautiful as flowers andgorgeous as the clouds." The plateau is an immense woodland of pinesknown as the Coconino Forest.
The San Francisco mountains, nearly thirteen thousand feet high,stand in the middle of the plateau which is, also, the center of anextensive extinct volcanic field. The whole country is covered withcinders which were thrown from active volcanoes centuries ago. Thetrack of the Santa Fe Pacific railroad, clear across Arizona, isballasted with cinders instead of gravel that were dug from pits on itsown right of way.
Near the southern base of the San Francisco mountains is the town ofFlagstaff built in a natural forest of pine trees. It is sometimescalled the Skylight City because of its high altitude, rarefiedatmosphere and brilliant sky. It is said to have been named by acompany of soldiers who camped on the spot while out hunting Indians,when the country was new. It happened to be on the Fourth of July andthey celebrated the day by unfurling Old Glory from the top of a pinetree, which was stripped of its branches and converted into aflagstaff. Here is located the Lowell Observatory, which has made manyvaluable discoveries in astronomy. It is a delightful spot and offersmany attractions to the scientist, tourist and health seeker.
One of the many interesting objects of this locality is the Ice Cavesituated eight miles southwest of the town. It not only attracts thecurious, but its congealed stores are also drawn on by the people wholive in the vicinity when the domestic ice supply runs short. The caveis entered from the side of a ravine and its opening is arched by lavarock. How the ice ever got there is a mystery unless it is, as Mr. Volzclaims, glacial ice that was covered and preserved by a thick coat ofcinders which fell when the San Francisco Peaks were in activeeruption. As far as observed the ice never becomes more nor ever getsless, except what is removed by mining.
The region is unusually attractive to the naturalist. It is the bestfield for the study of entomology that is known. But all nature riotshere. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, in his report of a biological survey of theSan Francisco mountains and Painted Desert, states that there are sevendistinct life zones in a radius of twenty-five miles running the entiregamut from the Arctic to the Tropic.[2] The variety of life which hefound and describes cannot be duplicated in the same space anywhereelse upon the globe.
[2] Results of a Biological Survey of the San Francisco MountainRegion and Painted Desert of the Little Colorado, Arizona. 1890.
But the greatest natural wonder of this region and, it is claimed bycompetent judges of the whole world, is the Grand Canon of Arizona,which is seventy-two miles north of Flagstaff. Thurber's stage line,when it was running, carried passengers through in one day, but afterthe railroad was built from Williams to Bright Angel the stage wasabandoned. However it is an interesting trip and many people make itevery summer by private conveyance who go for an outing and can travelleisurely. It is a good natural road and runs nearly the entiredistance through an open pine forest.
Two roads leave Flagstaff for the Canon called respectively thesummer and winter roads. The former goes west of the San Franciscomountains and intersects with the winter road that runs east of thepeaks at Cedar Ranch, which was the midway station of the old stageline. The summer road is the one usually travelled, as the winter roadis almost destitute of water.
The road ascends rapidly from an elevation of seven thousand feet atFlagstaff to eleven thousand feet at the summit, and descends moregradually to Cedar Ranch, where the elevation is less than fivethousand feet and in distance is about halfway to the Canon. Here cedarand pinon trees take the place of the taller pines. Cedar Ranch is onan arm of the Painted Desert, which stretches away towards the eastover a wide level plain to the horizon. From this point the roadascends again on an easy grade until it reaches an elevation of eightthousand feet at the Canon.
During the long drive through the pine woods the appearance of thecountry gives no hint of a desert, but beautiful scenery greets the eyeon every hand. The air is filled with the fragrance of pine and ozonethat is as exhilarating as wine. No signs of severe windstorms are seenin broken branches and fallen trees. If an occasional tree is foundlying prostrate it was felled either by the woodman's ax or one ofnature's destructive forces, fire or decay, or both. But the largenumber of shattered trees which are encountered during the day giveevidence that the lightning is frequently very destructive in its work.The bark of the pine trees is of a reddish gray color, which contrastsbrightly with the green foliage.
The winter road furnishes even more attractions than the summer roadon which line a railroad should be built through to the Canon. Soonafter leaving town a side road leads to the cliff dwellings in WalnutCanon. Along the wayside a signboard points the direction to theBottomless Pit, which is a deep hole in the ground that is only one ofmany such fissures in the earth found on the Colorado Plateau. Fourmiles east of Canon Diablo a narrow fissure from a few inches toseveral feet wide and hundreds of feet deep has been traced in acontinuous line over one hundred miles.
Further on a group of cave dwellings can be seen among the rocksupon a distant bill. A turn in the road next brings the Sunset Mountaininto view. Its crest glows with the colors of sunset, which unusualeffect is produced by colored rocks that are of volcanic origin. Blackcinders cover its steep sides and its brow is the rim of a deep crater.Between Sunset Peak and O'Leary Peak is the Black Crater from whichflowed at one time thick streams of black lava that hardened into rockand are known as the lava beds. Scores of crater cones and miles ofblack cinders can be seen from Sunset Mountain, and lava and cinders ofthis region look as fresh as if an eruption had occurred butyesterday.
A peculiarity of the pine trees which grow in the cinders is thattheir roots do not go down but spread out upon the surface. Some of theroots are entirely bare while others are half buried in cinders. Theyare from an inch to a foot thick and from ten to fifty feet long,according to the size of the tree which they support. The cause of thequeer root formation is not apparent.
The whole plateau country is scarce of water. The Grand Canon drainsthe ground dry to an unusual depth. The nearest spring of water to theCanon at Grand View is Cedar Spring, forty miles distant. Untilrecently all the water used at the canon was either packed upon burrosfrom springs down in the canon or caught in ponds or reservoirs fromrains or melted snow. Since the completion of the railroad the water ishauled in on cars constructed for that purpose.
The watershed of the canon slopes away from the rim and instead ofthe storm water running directly into the river it flows in theopposite direction. Only after a long detour of many miles does itfinally reach the river by the Little Colorado or Cataract Creek.
Now that the Grand Canon is made accessible by rail over a branchroad of the Santa Fe from Williams on the main line, it is reached incomparative ease and comfort. But to stop at the Bright Angel Hotel andlook over the guard rail on the cliff down into the canon gives merelya glimpse of what there is to see. A brief stay of one day is betterthan not stopping at all, but to get even an inkling of its greatnessand grandeur days and weeks must be spent in making trips up and downand into the canon.
After having seen the canon at Bright Angel the next move should beto go to Grand View fourteen miles up the canon. An all day's stageride from Flagstaff to the canon was tiresome, but the two hours' drivethrough the pine woods from Bright Angel to Grand View is only pleasantrecreation.
Seeing the Grand Canon for the first time does not necessarilyproduce the startling and lachrymose effects that have been describedby some emotional writers, but the first sight never disappoints andalways leaves a deep and lasting impression.
As immense as is the great chasm it is formed in such harmoniousproportions that it does not shock the senses. But as everything aboutthe canon is built on such a grand scale and the eyes not beingaccustomed to such sights it is impossible to comprehend it—tomeasure its dimensions correctly or note every detail of form and colorat the first glance. As the guide remarked, "God made it so d—big that you can't lie about it."
To comprehend it at all requires time to re-educate the senses andmake them accustomed to the new order of things. But even a cursoryview will always remain in the memory as the event of a lifetime in theexperience of the average mortal.
Distance in the canon cannot be measured by the usual standards.There are sheer walls of rocks that are thousands of feet high and asmany more feet deep, but where the bottom seems to be is only thebeginning of other chasms which lie in the dark shadows and descendinto yet deeper depths below. The canon is not a single empty chasm,which is the universal conception of a canon, but consists of a complexsystem of sub and side canons that is bewildering. Out of its depthsrise an infinite number and variety of castellated cliffs andsculptured buttes that represent every conceivable variety ofarchitecture. They have the appearance of a resurrected city of greatsize and beauty which might have been built by an army of Titans thenburied and forgotten.
A trip into the canon down one of the trails makes its magnitudeeven more impressive than a rim view. The distance across the chasm isalso much greater than what it seems to be, which is demonstrated bythe blue haze that fills the canon. The nearby buttes are perfectlydistinct, but as the distance increases across the great gorge the hazegradually thickens until the opposite wall is almost obscured by themist.
The myriads of horizontal lines which mark the different strata ofrocks have the appearance of a maze of telegraph wires strung throughthe canon.
A ride leisurely on horseback along the rim trail from Thurber's oldcamp to Bissell's Point, seven miles up the canon, and back is easilymade in a day. It presents a panorama of magnificent views all alongthe rim, but Bissell's is conceded to be the best view point on thecanon. From this point about thirty miles of river can be seen as itwinds in and out deep down among the rocks. The Colorado river is alarge stream, but as seen here a mile below and several miles out, itdwindles into insignificance and appears no larger than a meadow brook.The river looks placid in the distance, but is a raging, turbulenttorrent in which an ordinary boat cannot live and the roar of its wildwaters can be distinctly heard as of the rushing of a distant train ofcars.
A second day spent in riding down the canon to Grand View Point andback is equally delightful. Looking across a bend in the canon fromGrand View Point to Bissell's Point the distance seems to be scarcelymore than a stone's throw, yet it is fully half the distance of thecircuitous route by the rim trail.
There are three trails leading into the canon and down to the river,the Bright Angel, Grand View and Hance trails, which are at intervalsof eight and twelve miles apart. They are equally interesting andcomparatively safe if the trip is made on the back of a trained pony orburro with a competent guide.
The Hance trail is a loop and is twenty miles long. It is sevenmiles down to the river, six miles up the stream and seven miles backto the rim. It was built single handed by Captain John Hance, who haslived many years in the canon. The trail is free to pedestrians, butyields the captain a snug income from horse hire and his own servicesas guide for tourists who go over the trail.
Captain Hance is an entertaining raconteur and he spins manyinteresting yarns for the amusement, if not the edification, of hisguests. The serious manner in which he relates his stories makes itsometimes hard to tell whether be is in jest or earnest. Hisacknowledged skill in mountaineering, and felicity in romancing has wonfor him more than a local reputation and the distinguished title ofGrand Canon Guide and Prevaricator.
He relates how "once upon a time" he pursued a band of mountainsheep on the rim of the canon. Just as he was about to secure hisquarry the sheep suddenly turned a short corner and disappeared behindsome rocks. Before he realized his danger he found himself on the brinkof a yawning abyss and under such a momentum that he could not turnaside or stop his horse. Together they went over the cliff in an awfulleap. He expected to meet instant death on the rocks below and bracedhimself for the shock. As the fall was greater than usual, being over amile deep in a perpendicular line, it required several seconds for thedescending bodies to traverse the intervening space, which gave him afew moments to think and plan some way of escape. At the criticalmoment a happy inspiration seized and saved him. On the instant thathis horse struck the rock and was dashed to pieces, the captain sprangnimbly from the saddle to his feet unharmed. To prove the truth of hisstatement he never misses an opportunity to point out to the touristthe spot where his horse fell, and shows the white bones of his defunctsteed bleaching in the sun.
At Moran's Point there is a narrow cleft in the rocks which he callsthe Fat Woman's Misery. It received its name several years ago from acircumstance that happened while he was conducting a party of touristsalong the rim trail. To obtain a better view the party essayed tosqueeze through the opening, in which attempt all succeeded except onefat women who stuck fast. After vainly trying to extricate her from heruncomfortable position he finally told her that there was but one oftwo things to do, either remain where she was and starve to death ortake one chance in a thousand of being blown out alive by dynamite.After thinking a moment she decided to try the one chance in athousand" experiment.
A charge of dynamite was procured and the fuse lighted. After theexplosion he returned to the spot and found the result satisfactory.The blast had released the woman, who was alive and sitting upon arock. He approached her cheerfully and said:
"Madam, how do you feel?" She looked up shocked, but evidently verymuch relieved, and replied "Why, sir, I feel first rate, but the joltgave me a little toothache."
He tells another story of how he once took a drink from the Coloradoriver. The water is never very clear in the muddy stream but at thatparticular time it was unusually murky. He had nothing with which todip the water and lay down on the bank to take a drink. Being verythirsty he paid no attention to the quality of the water, but only knewthat it tasted wet. The water, however, grew thicker as he drank untilit became balled up in his mouth, and stuck fast in his throat andthreatened to choke him. He tried to bite it off but failed because histeeth were poor. At last becoming desperate, he pulled his huntingknife from his belt and cut himself loose from his drink.
Different theories have been advanced to account for the origin ofthe Grand Canon, but it is a question whether it is altogether due toany one cause. Scientists say that it is the work of water erosion, butto the layman it seems impossible. If an ocean of water should flowover rocks during eons of ages it does not seem possible that it couldcut such a channel.
Water sometimes does queer things, but it has never been known toreverse nature. By a fundamental law of hydrostatics water always seeksits level and flows in the direction of least resistance. If water evermade the Grand Canon it had to climb a hill and cut its way through thebackbone of the Buckskin mountains, which are not a range of peaks buta broad plateau of solid rock. Into this rock the canon is sunk morethan a mile deep, from six to eighteen miles wide and over two hundredmiles long.
In order to make the theory of water erosion tenable it is assumedthat the Colorado river started in its incipiency like any other river.After a time the river bed began to rise and was gradually pushed upmore and more by some unknown subterranean force as the water cutdeeper and deeper into the rock until the Grand Canon was formed.
Captain Hance has a theory that the canon originated in anunderground stream which tunneled until it cut its way through to thesurface. As improbable as is this theory it is as plausible as theerosion theory, but both theories appear to be equally absurd.
At some remote period of time the entire southwest was rent and tornby an awful cataclysm which caused numerous fissures and seams toappear all over the country. The force that did the work had its originin the earth and acted by producing lateral displacement rather thandirect upheaval. Whenever that event occurred the fracture which marksthe course of the Grand Canon was made and, breaking through theenclosing wall of the Great Basin, set free the waters of an inlandsea. What the seismic force began the flood of liberated water helpedto finish, and there was born the greatest natural wonder of the knownworld.
There are canons all over Arizona and the southwest that resemblethe Grand Canon, except that they were made on a smaller scale. Many ofthem are perfectly dry and apparently never contained any runningwater. They are all so much alike that they were evidently made at thesame time and by the same cause. Walnut Canon and Canon Diablo arefamiliar examples of canon formation.
The rocks in the canons do not stand on end, but lie in horizontalstrata and show but little dip anywhere. Indeed, the rocks lie so plumbin many places that they resemble the most perfect masonry.
The rim rock of the Mogollon Mesa is of the same character as thewalls of the Grand Canon and is an important part of the canon system.It is almost a perpendicular cliff from one to three thousand feet highwhich extends from east to west across central Arizona and divides thegreat northern plateau from the southern valleys. It is one side of animmense vault or canon wall whose mate has been lost or droppedcompletely out of sight.
In many of the canons where water flows continuously, effects areproduced that are exactly the opposite of those ascribed to watererosion. Instead of the running water cutting deeper into the earth ithas partly filled the canon with alluvium, thereby demonstratingnature's universal leveling process. Even the floods of water whichpour through them during every rainy season with an almost irresistibleforce carry in more soil than they wash out and every freshet only addsnew soil to the old deposits. If these canons were all originally madeby water erosion as is claimed, why does not the water continue to actin the same manner now but, instead, completely reverses itself asabove stated? There can be but one of two conclusions, either thatnature has changed or that scientists are mistaken.
The Aravaipa in southern Arizona is an interesting canon and istypical of its kind. Its upper half is shallow and bounded by lowrolling foothills, but in the middle it suddenly deepens and narrowsinto a box canon, which has high perpendicular walls of solid rock likethe Grand Canon. It is a long, narrow valley sunk deep into the earthand has great fertility and much wild beauty. It measures from a fewfeet to a mile in width and drains a large scope of rough country. Thesurface water which filters through from above reappears in numeroussprings of clear cold water in the bottom of the canon. In the moistearth and under the shade of forest trees grow a variety of rareflowers, ferns and mosses.
Where the canon begins to box a large spring of pure cold waterissues from the sand in the bottom of a wash which is the source of theAravaipa creek. It flows through many miles of rich alluvial land andempties into the San Predo river. The valley was settled many years agoby men who were attracted to the spot by its rare beauty, fertility ofsoil and an abundance of wood and water.
The land is moist and covered by a heavy growth of forest trees,which will average over one hundred feet high. The trees are as largeand the foliage as dense as in any eastern forest. Being sunk deep inthe earth the narrow valley at the bottom of the canon can only be seenfrom above. When viewed from some favorable point it has the appearanceof a long green ribbon stretched loosely over a brown landscape. Thesight of it is a pleasant surprise to the weary wayfarer who, aftertraveling over many miles of dreary desert road, finds himself suddenlyushered into such pleasant scenes.
The canons of Arizona are unrivaled for grandeur, sublimity andbeauty, and will attract an ever increasing number of admirers.
Ten miles southeast of Canon Diablo station on the Santa Fe PacificRailroad, stands the Meteorite Mountain of Arizona, on a wide, openplain of the Colorado Plateau. It is two hundred feet high and, as seenat a distance, has the appearance of a low, flat mountain. Its topforms the rim of an immense, round, bowl-shaped hole in the ground thathas almost perpendicular sides, is one mile wide and over six hundredfeet deep. The hole, originally, was evidently very much deeper than itis at the present time, but it has gradually become filled with debristo its present depth. The bottom of the hole has a floor of about fortyacres of level ground which merges into a talus.
This formation is sometimes called the Crater, because of its shape,but there is no evidence of volcanic action. Locally it is known asCoon Butte, which is a misnomer; but Meteorite Mountain is a name witha meaning.
It is not known positively just how or when the mountain was formed,but the weight of evidence seems to favor the meteorite theory, whichis that at some remote period of time a monster meteorite fell from thesky and buried itself in the earth.
Mr. F. W. Volz, who has lived in the country twenty years and is anintelligent observer of natural phenomena, has made a careful study ofthe mountain, and it is his opinion that such an event actuallyoccurred and that a falling star made the mountain. When the descendingmeteorite, with its great weight and terrific momentum, hit the earthsomething had to happen. It buried itself deep beneath the surface andcaused the earth to heave up on all sides. The effect produced is aptlyillustrated, on a small scale, by throwing a rock into thick mud.
The impact of the meteorite upon the earth not only caused anupheaval of the surface, but it also crushed and displaced the rocksbeneath. As the stellar body penetrated deeper into the earth its forcebecame more concentrated and either compressed the rocks into a densermass or ground them to powder.
The plain on which the mountain stands is covered by a layer of redsandstone of variable thickness, as it is much worn in places byweather erosion. Below the top covering of red sandstone lie threehundred feet of limestone and beneath the limestone five hundred feetmore of white sandstone. This arrangement of the rocks is plainly seenin the walls of Canon Diablo.
The displaced strata of rocks in the hole are tilted and standoutwards and great boulders of red sandstone and limestone liescattered all about. If the hole had been made by an explosion frombelow large pieces of rock from each one of the different rock stratawould have been thrown out; but, while as just stated, there are plentyof huge blocks of red sandstone and limestone, there are no largepieces of white sandstone. After the superficial layers of rock hadbeen broken up and expelled en masse, the deeper rock of whitesandstone, being more confined, could not reach the surface in theshape of boulders, but had first to be broken up and ground to powderbefore it could escape. Then the white sandstones in the form of finesand was blown skywards by the collision and afterwards settled downupon the mountain. The mountain is covered with this white sand, whichcould only have come out of the big hole as there is no other whitesand or sandstone found anywhere else upon the entire plain.
In the vicinity of the mountain about ten tons of meteorites havebeen found, varying in size from the fraction of an ounce to onethousand pounds or more. Most of the meteorites were found by Mr. Volz,who searched diligently every foot of ground for miles around. Thesmaller pieces were picked up on or near the rim, and they increased insize in proportion as they were distant from the mountain until, on acircle eight miles out, the largest piece was found. Meteorites werefound upon all sides of the mountain but they seemed to be thickest onthe east side.
The writer first visited the mountain in the summer of 1901 and itwas the greatest surprise of his six weeks' trip sightseeing innorthern Arizona where are found many natural wonders. He was fortunateenough to find a three pound meteorite within five minutes afterarriving on the rim, which Mr. Volz said was the first specimen foundby anyone in over four years.
Professor G. K. Gilbert of the United States Geological Surveyvisited the mountain several years ago to investigate the phenomenonand, if possible, to determine its origin by scientific test. He gavethe results of his researches in a very able and comprehensiveaddress,[3] delivered before the Geological Society of Washington, D.C.The existing conditions did not seem to fit his theories, and heconcluded his work without arriving at any definite conclusion.
[3] The Origin of Hypotheses. 1895.
After disposing of several hypotheses as being incompetent to provethe origin of the mountain he decided to try the magnetic test. Heassumed that if such a meteorite was buried there the large mass ofmetallic iron must indicate its presence by magnetic attraction. Bymeans of the latest scientific apparatus he conducted an elaboratemagnetic experiment which gave only negative results.
He discussed at length the various hypotheses which might explainthe origin of the crater and concluded his notable address asfollows:
"Still another contribution to the subject, while it does notincrease the number of hypotheses, is nevertheless important in that ittends to diminish the weight of the magnetic evidence and thus toreopen the question which Mr. Baker and I supposed we had settled. Ourfellow-member, Mr. Edwin E. Howell, through whose hands much of themeteoric iron had passed, points out that each of the iron masses,great and small, is in itself a complete individual. They have none ofthe characters that would be found if they had been broken one fromanother, and yet, as they are all of one type and all reached the earthwithin a small district, it must be supposed that they were originallyconnected in some way.
"Reasoning by analogy from the characters of other meteoric bodies,he infers that the irons were all included in a large mass of somedifferent material, either crystalline rock, such as constitutes theclass of meteorites called 'stony,' or else a compound of iron andsulphur, similar to certain nodules discovered inside the iron masseswhen sawn in two. Neither of these materials is so enduring as iron,and the fact that they are not now found on the plain does not provetheir original absence. Moreover, the plain is strewn in the vicinityof the crater with bits of limonite, a mineral frequently produced bythe action of air and water on iron sulphides, and this material ismuch more abundant than the iron. If it be true that the iron masseswere thus imbedded, like plums in an astral pudding, the hypotheticburied star might have great size and yet only small power to attractthe magnetic needle. Mr. Howell also proposes a qualification of thetest by volumes, suggesting that some of the rocks beneath the buriedstar might have been condensed by the shock so as to occupy lessspace.
"These considerations are eminently pertinent to the study of thecrater and will find appropriate place in any comprehensive discussionof its origin; but the fact which is peculiarly worthy of note at thepresent time is their ability to unsettle a conclusion that wasbeginning to feel itself secure. This illustrates the tentative naturenot only of the hypotheses of science, but of what science calls itsresults.
"The method of hypotheses, and that method is the method of science,founds its explanations of nature wholly on observed facts, and itsresults are ever subject to the limitations imposed by imperfectobservation. However grand, however widely accepted, however useful itsconclusions, none is so sure that it cannot be called into question bya newly discovered fact. In the domain of the world's knowledge thereis no infallibility."
After Prof. Gilbert had finished his experiments, Mr. Volz triedsome of his own along the same line. He found upon trial that themeteorites in his possession were non-magnetic, or, practically so. Ifthese, being pieces of the larger meteorite which was buried in thehole, were non-magnetic, all of it must be non-magnetic, which wouldaccount for the failure of the needle to act or manifest any magneticattraction in the greater test.
Mr. Volz also made another interesting discovery in this sameconnection. All over the meteorite zone are scattered about smallpieces of iron which he calls "iron shale." It is analogous to the truemeteorite, but is "burnt" or "dead." He regards these bits of iron asdead sparks from a celestial forge, which fell from the meteorite as itblazed through the heavens.
In experimenting with the stuff he found that it was not only highlymagnetic, but also possessed polarity in a marked degree; and wasentirely different from the true meteorite. Here was a curiosity,indeed; a small, insignificant and unattractive stone possessed ofstrong magnetic polarity, a property of electricity that is asmysterious and incomprehensible as is electricity itself.
Another peculiarity of Canon Diablo meteorite is that it containsdiamonds. When the meteorite was first discovered by a Mexican sheepherder he supposed that he had found a large piece of silver, becauseof its great weight and luster, but he was soon informed of hismistake. Not long afterwards a white prospector who heard of thediscovery undertook to use it to his own advantage, by claiming that hehad found a mine of pure iron, which he offered for sale. In an attemptto dispose of the property samples of the ore were sent east forinvestigation. Some of the stone fell into the hands of Dr. Foote, whopronounced it to be meteorite and of celestial origin.
Sir William Crookes in discussing the theory of the meteoric originof diamonds[4] says "the most striking confirmation of the meteorictheory comes from Arizona. Here, on a broad open plain, over an areaabout five miles in diameter, were scattered from one to two thousandmasses of metallic iron, the fragments varying in weight from half aton to a fraction of an ounce. There is little doubt that these massesformed part of a meteorite shower, although no record exists as to whenthe fall took place. Curiously enough, near the center, where most ofthe meteoritics have been found, is a crater with raised edges threequarters of a mile in diameter and about six hundred feet deep, bearingexactly the appearance which would be produced had a mighty mass ofiron or falling star struck the ground, scattering in all directions,and buried itself deep under the surface. Altogether ten tons of thisiron have been collected, and specimens of Canyon Diablo Meteorite arein most collectors' cabinets.
[4] Diamonds. Wm. Crookes, F.R.S. Smithsonian Report. 1897.
"An ardent mineralogist, the late Dr. Foote, in cutting a section ofthis meteorite, found the tools were injured by something vastly harderthan metallic iron, and an emery wheel used in grinding the iron hadbeen ruined. He examined the specimen chemically, and soon afterannounced to the scientific world that the Canyon Diablo Meteoritecontained black and transparent diamonds. This startling discovery wasafterwards verified by Professors Friedel and Moissan, who found thatthe Canyon Diablo Meteorite contained the three varieties ofcarbon—diamond (transparent and black), graphite and amorphouscarbon. Since this revelation the search for diamonds in meteorites hasoccupied the attention of chemists all over the world.
"Here, then, we have absolute proof of the truth of the meteorictheory. Under atmospheric influences the iron would rapidly oxidize andrust away, coloring the adjacent soil with red oxide of iron. Themeteoric diamonds would be unaffected and left on the surface to befound by explorers when oxidation had removed the last proof of theircelestial origin. That there are still lumps of iron left in Arizona ismerely due to the extreme dryness of the climate and the comparativelyshort time that the iron has been on our planet. We are here witnessesto the course of an event which may have happened in geologic timesanywhere on the earth's surface.
About a year ago several mineral claims were located in the craterby a company of scientific and moneyed men. The required assessmentwork was done and a patent for the land obtained from the government.The object of the enterprise is for a double purpose, if possible tosolve the mystery of the mountain, and if successful in finding the"hypothetic buried star " to excavate and appropriate it for itsvaluable iron.
A shaft has been sunk one hundred and ninety-five feet deep, where astrong flow of water was encountered in a bed of white sand whichtemporarily stopped the work. A gasoline engine and drill were procuredand put in operation and the drill was driven down forty feet furtherwhen it stuck fast in white quicksand. It is the intention of thecompany to continue the work and carry it on to a successfulfinish.
Nothing of value was found in the hole dug, but some of the workmenin their leisure hours found on the surface two large meteoritesweighing one hundred and one hundred and fifty pounds respectively,besides a number of smaller fragments.
The Meteorite Mountain is in a class by itself and is, in a way, asgreat a curiosity as is the Grand Canon. It is little known and has notreceived the attention that it deserves. It is, indeed, marvelous andonly needs to be seen to be appreciated.
In the canons of the Colorado river and its tributaries are foundthe ruins of an ancient race of cliff dwellers. These ruins arenumerous and are scattered over a wide scope of country, which includesArizona and portions of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Many of them areyet in a good state of preservation, but all show the marks of age anddecay. They are not less than four hundred years old and are, in allprobability, much older. Their preservation is largely due to theirsheltered position among the rocks and an exceptionally dryclimate.
The houses are invariably built upon high cliffs on shelving rocksin places that are almost inaccessible. In some instances they can onlybe reached by steps cut into the solid rock, which are so old and wornthat they are almost obliterated. Their walls so nearly resemble thestratified rocks upon which they stand, that they are not easilydistinguished from their surroundings.
The cliffs are often sloping, sometimes overhanging, but morefrequently perpendicular. The weather erosion of many centuries hascaused the softer strata of exposed rocks in the cliffs to disintegrateand fall away, which left numberless caverns wherein this ancient andmysterious people chose to build their eyrie homes to live with theeagles. The houses are built of all shapes and sizes and, apparently,were planned to fit the irregular and limited space of theirenvironment. Circular watch towers look down from commanding heightswhich, from their shape and position, were evidently intended to servethe double purpose of observation and defense.
In the search for evidence of their antiquity it is believed thatdata has been found which denotes great age. In the construction ofsome of their houses, notably those in the Mancos Canon, is displayed atechnical knowledge of architecture and a mathematical accuracy whichsavages do not possess; and the fine masonry of dressed stone andsuperior cement seem to prove that Indians were not the builders. Onthe contrary, to quote a recent writer, "The evidence goes to show thatthe work was done by skilled workmen who were white masons and whobuilt for white people in a prehistoric age." In this connection it issingular, if not significant, that the natives when first discoveredbelieved in a bearded white man whom they deified as the Fair God ofwhose existence they had obtained knowledge from some source and inwhose honor they kept their sacred altar fires burning unquenched.
The relics that have been found in the ruins are principallyimplements of the stone age, but are of sufficient variety to indicatea succession of races that were both primitive and cultured and aswidely separated in time as in knowledge.
The cliff dwellings were not only the abodes of their originalbuilders, but were occupied and deserted successively by the chippedstone implement maker, the polisher of hard stone, the basket maker andthe weaver.
Among the relics that have been found in the ruins are some veryfine specimens of pottery which are as symmetrical and well finished asif they had been turned on a potter's wheel, and covered with an opaqueenamel of stanniferous glaze composed of lead and tin that originatedwith the Phoenicians, and is as old as history. Can it be possible thatthe cliff dwellers are a lost fragment of Egyptian civilization?
The cliff ruins in Arizona are not only found in the canons of theColorado river, but also in many other places. The finest of them areMontezuma's Castle on Beaver creek, and the Casa Blanca in Canon deChelly. Numerous other ruins are found on the Rio Verde, Gila river,Walnut Canon and elsewhere.
The largest and finest group of cliff dwellings are those on theMesa Verde in Colorado. They are fully described in the great work[5]of Nordenskiold, who spent much time among them. The different housesare named after some peculiarity of appearance or construction, likethe Cliff Palace, which contains more than one hundred rooms, LongHouse, Balcony House, Spruce Tree House, etc.
[5] The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, by F. Nordenskiold,Stockholm. 1893.
He obtained a large quantity of relics, which are also fullydescribed, consisting of stone implements, pottery, cotton and feathercloth, osier and palmillo mats, yucca sandals, weaving sticks, boneawls, corn and beans.
Many well-preserved mummies were found buried in graves that werecarefully closed and sealed. The bodies were wrapped in a fine cottoncloth of drawn work, which was covered by a coarser cloth resemblingburlap, and all inclosed in a wrapping of palmillo matting tied with acord made of the fiber of cedar bark. The hair is fine and of a browncolor, and not coarse and black like the hair of the wild Indians.Mummies have been exhumed that have red or light colored hair such asusually goes with a fair skin. This fact has led some to believe thatthe cliff dwellers belonged to the white race, but not necessarily so,as this quality of hair also belongs to albinos, who doubtless livedamong the cliff dwellers as they do among the Moquis and Zunis at thepresent day, and explains the peculiarity of hair just mentioned.
These remains may be very modern, as some choose to believe, but, inall probability, they are more ancient than modern. Mummies encased inwood and cloth have been taken from the tombs of Egypt in an almostperfect state of preservation which cannot be less than two thousandyears old, and are, perhaps, more than double that age. As there is nopositive knowledge as to when the cliff dwellers flourished, one man'sguess on the subject is as good as another's.
An important discovery was recently made near Mancos, Colorado,where a party of explorers found in some old cliff dwellings gravesbeneath graves that were entirely different from anything yetdiscovered. They were egg-shaped, built of stone and plastered smoothlywith clay. They contained mummies, cloth, sandals, beads and variousother trinkets. There was no pottery, but many well-made baskets, andtheir owners have been called the basket makers. There was also adifference in the skulls found. The cliff dwellers' skull is short andflattened behind, while the skulls that were found in these old graveswere long, narrow and round on the back.[6]
[6] An Elder Brother of the Cliff Dwellers, by T. M. Prudden, M.D.Harper's Magazine, June, 1897.
Rev. H. M. Baum, who has traveled all over the southwest and visitedevery large ruin in the country, considers that Canon de Chelly and itsbranch, del Muerto, is the most interesting prehistoric locality in theUnited States. The Navajos, who now live in the canon, have a traditionthat the people who occupied the old cliff houses were all destroyed inone day by a wind of fire.[7] The occurrence, evidently, was similar towhat happened recently on the island of Martinique, when all theinhabitants of the village of St. Pierre perished in an hour by theeruption of Mont Pelee.
[7] Pueblo and Cliff Dwellers of the Southwest. Records of the Past,December, 1902.
Contemporaneous with the cliff dwellers there seems to have lived arace of people in the adjoining valleys who built cities and tilled thesoil. judged by their works they must have been an industrious,intelligent and numerous people. All over the ground are strewn brokenpieces of pottery that are painted in bright colors and artisticdesigns which, after ages of exposure to the weather, look as fresh asif newly made, The relics that have been taken from the ruins aresimilar to those found in the cliff houses, and consist mostly of stoneimplements and pottery.
In the Gila valley, near the town of Florence, stands the now famousCasa Grande ruin, which is the best preserved of all these ancientcities. It was a ruin when the Spaniards first discovered it, and is atype of the ancient communal house. Its thick walls are composed of aconcrete adobe that is as hard as rock, and its base lines conform tothe cardinal points of, the compass. It is an interesting relic of apast age and an extinct race and, if it cannot yield up its secrets toscience, it at least appeals to the spirit of romance and mystery.
Irrigating ditches which were fed from reservoirs supplied theirfields and houses with water. Portions of these old canals are yet inexistence and furnish proof of the diligence and skill of theirbuilders. The ditches were located on levels that could not be improvedupon for utilizing the land and water to the best advantage. Modernengineers have not been able to better them and in many places the oldlevels are used in new ditches at the present time.
Whatever may have been the fate of this ancient people theirdestruction must be sought in natural causes rather than by humanwarfare. An adverse fate probably cut off their water supply and laidwaste their productive fields. With their crops a failure and allsupplies gone what else could the people do but either starve or move,but as to the nature of the exodus history is silent.
Just how ancient these works are might be difficult to prove, butthey are certainly not modern. The evidence denotes that they haveexisted a long time. Where the water in a canal flowed over solid rockthe rock has been much worn. Portions of the old ditches are filledwith lava and houses lie buried in the vitreous flood. It is certainthat the country was inhabited prior to the last lava flow whether thatevent occurred hundreds or thousands of years ago.
It is claimed that the Pueblo Indians and cliff dwellers areidentical and that the latter were driven from their peaceful valleyhomes by a hostile foe to find temporary shelter among the rocks, butsuch a conclusion seems to be erroneous in view of certain facts.
The cliff dwellings were not temporary camps, as such a migrationwould imply, but places of permanent abode. The houses are too numerousand well constructed to be accounted for on any other hypothesis. Apeople fleeing periodically to the cliffs to escape from an enemy couldnot have built such houses. Indeed, they are simply marvelous whenconsidered as to location and construction. The time that mustnecessarily have been consumed in doing the work and the amount ofdanger and labor involved— labor in preparing and getting thematerial into place and danger in scaling the dizzy heights over analmost impassible trail, it seems the boldest assumption to assert thatthe work was done by a fleeing and demoralized mob.
Again, it would be a physical impossibility for a people who wereonly accustomed to agricultural pursuits to suddenly and completelychange their habits of life such as living among the rocks wouldnecessitate. Only by native instinct and daily practice from childhoodwould it be possible for any people to follow the narrow and difficultpaths which were habitually traveled by the cliff dwellers. It requiresa clear head and steady nerves to perform the daring feat insafety—to the truth of which statement modern explorers cantestify who have made the attempt in recent years at the peril of lifeand limb while engaged in searching for archaeological treasures.
Judged by the everyday life that is familiar to us it seemsincredible that houses should ever have been built or homes establishedin such hazardous places, or that any people should have ever livedthere. But that they did is an established fact as there stand thehouses which were built and occupied by human beings in the midst ofsurroundings that might appall the stoutest heart. Children played andmen and women wrought on the brink of frightful precipices in a spaceso limited and dangerous that a single misstep made it fatal.
It is almost impossible to conceive of any condition in life, orcombination of circumstances in the affairs of men, that should driveany people to the rash act of living in the houses of the cliffdwellers. Men will sometimes do from choice what they cannot be made todo by compulsion. It is easier to believe that the cliff dwellers,being free people, chose of their own accord the site of theirhabitation rather than that from any cause they were compelled to makethe choice. Their preference was to live upon the cliffs, as they werefitted by nature for such an environment.
For no other reason, apparently, do the Moquis live upon their rockyand barren mesas away from everything which the civilized white mandeems desirable, yet, in seeming contentment. The Supais, likewise,choose to live alone at the bottom of Cataract Canon where they arecompletely shut in by high cliffs. Their only road out is by a narrowand dangerous trail up the side of the canon, which is little traveledas they seldom leave home and are rarely visited.
To affirm that the cliff dwellers were driven from their strongholdsand dispersed by force is pure fiction, nor is there any evidence tosupport such a theory. That they had enemies no one doubts, but, beingin possession of an impregnable position where one man couldsuccessfully withstand a thousand, to surrender would have been basecowardice, and weakness was not a characteristic of the cliffdwellers.
The question of their subsistence is likewise a puzzle. Theyevidently cultivated the soil where it was practicable to do so asfragments of farm products have been found in their dwellings, but inthe vicinity of some of the houses there is no tillable land and theinhabitants must have depended upon other means for support. The wildgame which was, doubtless, abundant furnished them with meat and edibleseeds, fruits and roots from native plants like the pinon pine andmesquite which together with the saguaro and mescal, supplied them witha variety of food sufficient for their subsistence as they do, in ameasure, the wild Indian tribes of that region at the present day.
The Indians of Arizona are, perhaps, the most interesting of any ofthe American aborigines. They are as unique and picturesque as is theland which they inhabit; and the dead are no less so than theliving.
The Pueblo Indians, with which the Moquis are classed, numberaltogether about ten thousand and are scattered in twenty-six villagesover Arizona and New Mexico. They resemble each other in many respects,but do not all speak the same language. They represent several whollydisconnected stems and are classified linguistically by Brinton asbelonging to the Uto-Aztecan, Kera, Tehua and Zuni stocks. He believesthat the Pueblo civilization is not due to any one unusually giftedlineage, but is altogether a local product, developed in independenttribes by their peculiar environment, which is favorable to agricultureand sedentary pursuits.[8]
[8] The American Race, by D. G. Brinton, 1891.
The houses are constructed of stone and adobe, are several storieshigh and contain many apartments. None of the existing pueblos are aslarge as some that are in ruins which, judging by the quantity ofdebris, must have been huge affairs. Since the advent of the Spaniardthe style of building has changed somewhat to conform to modern ideas,so that now some families live in separate one-story houses havingdoors and windows, instead, as formerly, only in large communal housesthat were built and conducted on the communal plan.
Their manners and customs are peculiar to themselves and make aninteresting study. Their civilization is entirely original, thoughmodified to some extent by centuries of contact with the whites. Theyunderstand the Spanish language, but have not forgotten their mothertongue. They hold tenaciously to their old customs and have not changedmaterially during the past four hundred years.
During that time the Catholic missionaries endeavored to convertthem to Christianity, but with only partial success. While theyappeared to acquiesce, by giving formal obedience to the requirementsof the new religion, they yet held sacred their old beliefs and in theprivacy of the estufa practiced in secret the rites and ceremonies oftheir ancient faith.
The Spaniards undertook to conquer a free and independent people byteaching them dependence and submission, but signally failed. After astruggle of two hundred and eighty years Spanish civilization withdrewand left the Pueblo civilization victorious.
Under successive Spanish, Mexican and American rule the Pueblo haspreserved itself intact which fact stamps the Pueblo people as beingeminently valiant, self-reliant and persevering. They are peaceable,industrious and hospitable and are said to be the best governed peoplein the world. As nearly as can be ascertained they are free from everygross vice and crime and Mr. C. F. Lummis, who knows them well,believes them to be a crimeless people.
The Moquis of Arizona are the most primitive of the Pueblo Indiansand are worthy representatives of their race. They are of the Aztecanbranch of the Shoshonean family and probably the lineal descendents ofthe cliff dwellers. Their home is on the Painted Desert in northeasternArizona where they have lived for many centuries. It is a barren anddesolate spot and has been likened to Hades with its firesextinguished. Nevertheless it is an exceedingly interesting region andfurnishes many attractions. The landscape is highly picturesque and thephantasmagoric effects of the rarified atmosphere are bewitching.
In the early Spanish days Moqui land was designated as the Provinceof Tusayan and was shrouded in mystery. The seven Moqui towns were atone time regarded as the seven Cities of Cibola, but later it wasdecided that Zuni and not Moqui was the true Cibola.
When Coronado, at the head of his intrepid army, marched through theland in the year 1540, he procured native guides to aid him inexploring the country, hoping to find fabulous wealth which failed tomaterialize. He heard of a race of giants whom he wished to meet, butinstead of finding them discovered a river with banks so high that they"seemed to be raised three or four leagues into the air." What he sawwas the Colorado River with its gigantic canon walls and wealth ofarchitectural grandeur and beauty. The bewildering sight naturallyastonished him as it does every beholder. Think of a fissure in theearth over a mile deep! But the Grand Canon of Arizona is more that asimple fissure in the earth. It is composed of many canons which form aseemingly endless labyrinth of winding aisles and majesticavenues—fit promenades for the Gods.
The land of the Moquinos is full of surprises and, although they arenot all as startling as the Grand Canon, they are sufficiently strikingto make Arizona a wonderland that is second to none on thecontinent.
The Moquis live in seven towns or pueblos which are built upon threerocky mesas that are many miles apart. The mesas are about seventhousand feet above sea level and from six to eight hundred feet higherthan the surrounding plain. Upon the first or eastern mesa are locatedthe three towns of Te-wa, Si-chom-ovi and Wal-pi. Tewa is the newest ofthe three towns and was built by the Tehuan allies who came as refugeesfrom the Rio Grande after the great rebellion of 1680. They weregranted permission to build on the spot by agreeing to defend the Gap,where the trail leaves the mesa, against all intruders.
Upon the second or middle mesa are the towns of Mi-shong-novi,Shi-pauli-ovi and Shong-o-pavi; and on the third mesa is 0-rai-bi,which is the largest of the Moqui villages, and equal to the other sixin size and population. The entire population of the seven Moqui townsnumbers about two thousand souls.
In 1583 Espejo estimated that the Moquis numbered fifty thousand,which, doubtless, was an over estimate, as he has been accused ofexaggeration. However, since their discovery their numbers have greatlydiminished and steadily continue to decrease, as if it were also to betheir fate to become extinct like the ancient cliff dwellers.
The Moqui Pueblos are well protected by natural barriers upon allsides except towards the south. Perched upon their high mesas thepeople have been safe from every attack of an enemy, but their fieldsand flocks in the valley below were defenseless. The top of the severalmesas can only be reached by ascending steep and difficult trails whichare hard to climb but easy to defend. The paths on the mesas have beencut deep into the hard rock, which were worn by the soft tread ofmoccasined feet during centuries of travel, numbering, perhaps, severaltimes the four hundred years that are known to history.
The houses are built of stone and mortar, and rise in terraces fromone to five stories high, back from a street or court to a sheer wall.Some of the remodeled and newly built houses have modern doors andwindows. The upper stories are reached from the outside by ladders andstone stairways built into the walls. The rooms are smoothly plasteredand whitewashed and the houses are kept tidy and clean, but the streetsare dirty and unsanitary.
In these sky cities the Moquis live a retired life that is wellsuited to their quiet dispositions, love of home life and tirelessindustry. The men are kind, the women virtuous and the childrenobedient. Indeed, the children are unusually well behaved. They seldomquarrel or cry, and a spoiled child cannot be found among them. TheMoquis love peace, and never fight among themselves. If a disputeoccurs it is submitted to a peace council of old men, whose decision isfinal and obeyed without a murmur.
They are shy and suspicious of strangers, but if addressed by themagic word lolomi, their reserve is instantly gone. It is the opensesame to their hearts and homes, and after that the house containsnothing too good to bestow upon the welcome guest. They are truechildren of nature, and have not yet become corrupted by the vices ofwhite civilization. The worst thing they do is that the men smoketobacco.
Their industries are few, but afford sufficient income to providefor their modest needs. They are primarily tillers of the soil, and asagriculturists succeed under circumstances that would wholly baffle anddiscourage an eastern farmer. Several years ago a man was sent out fromWashington to teach the Moquis agriculture, but before a year hadpassed the teacher had to buy corn from the Indians. They make basketsand pottery, weave cloth and dress skins for their own use and tobarter in trade with their neighbors. They like silver and have skilledworkmen who make the white metal into beads and buttons and varioustrinkets for personal adornment. They care nothing for gold, and silveris their only money. Chalchihuitl is their favorite gem and to own aturquoise stone is regarded as an omen of good fortune to the happypossessor.
Just how the Spaniards got the notion that the Moquis loved gold andpossessed vast stores of that precious metal is not apparent unless itbe, as Bandelier suggests, that it originated in the myth of the ElDorado, or Gilded Man.[9] The story started at Lake Guatanita inBogota, and traveled north to Quivera, but the wealth that theSpaniards sought they never found. Their journey led them over desertsthat gave them but little food and only a meager supply of water, andended in disaster.
[9] The Gilded Man, by A. F. Bandelier, 1893.
The mesas are all rock and utterly barren, and their supplies areall brought from a distance over difficult trails. The water is carriedin ollas by the women from springs at the foot of the mesa; wood ispacked on burros from distant forests; and corn, melons and peaches arebrought home by the men when they return from their work in the fields.A less active and industrious people, under similar circumstances,would soon starve to death, but the Moquis are self-supporting and havenever asked nor received any help from Uncle Sam.
In the early morning the public crier proclaims in stentorian tonesfrom the housetop the program for the day, which sends everyone to hisdaily task. They are inured to labor and do not count work as ahardship. It is only by incessant toil that they succeed at all inearning a living with the scanty resources at their command, and theonly surprise is that they succeed so well. There is scarcely an hourduring the day or night that men and women are not either coming orgoing on some errand to provision the home.
The men travel many miles every day going to and from their work inthe fields. If a man owns a burro he sometimes rides, but usuallyprefers to walk. What the burro does not pack, the man carries on hisback. He often sings at his work, just as the white man does in anyfarming community, and his song sounds good.
The burro is the common carrier and, because of his sterlingqualities, is a prime favorite in all of the pueblos. If he has anyfaults they are all condoned except one, that of theft. If he is caughteating in a corn field he is punished as a thief by having one of hisears cut off; and if the offense is repeated he loses his other ear inthe same manner.
The area of tillable land is limited and is found only in smallpatches, which cause the farms to be widely scattered. The soil ismostly sand which the wind drifts into dunes that sometimes cover anddestroy the growing crops. The peach trees are often buried in sand oronly their top branches remain visible. There are no running streams ofwater and rains are infrequent.
Corn is the principal crop and support of the Moquis. If there is agood crop the surplus is stored away and kept to be used in the futureshould a crop fail. The corn is planted in irregular hills andcultivated with a hoe. It is dropped into deep holes made with a stickand covered up. There is always enough moisture in the sand to sproutthe seed which, aided by an occasional shower, causes it to grow andmature a crop. The corn is of a hardy, native variety that needs butlittle water to make it grow. The grain is small and hard like popcornand ripens in several colors.
It is carried home from the field by the men, and ground into mealby the women. The sound of the grinding is heard in the street and isusually accompanied by a song that sounds weird but musical. The mealis ground into different grades of fineness and when used for bread ismixed with water to form a thin batter which is spread by the hand upona hot, flat stone. It is quickly baked and makes a thin wafer that isno thicker than paper. When done it is removed from the stone by thenaked hand and is rolled or folded into loaves which makes their prizedpici bread. It is said to be only one of fifty different methods whichthe Moquis have of preparing corn for the table, or about twice thenumber of styles known to any modern chef.
The Moqui woman is favored above many of her sex who live in foreignlands. As a child she receives much attention and toys galore, as theparents are very fond of their children and devote much time to theiramusement. They make dolls of their Katcinas which are given to thechildren to play with. A Katcina is the emblem of a deity that isrepresented either in the form of a doll carved out of wood, woven intoa plaque or basket, or painted on tiles and pottery. There are betweenthree and four hundred Katcina dolls each one representing a differentdivinity. When a doll is given to a child it is taught what it means,thus combining instruction with amusement. The method is a perfectsystem of kindergarten teaching, which the Moquis invented and usedcenturies before the idea occurred to Froebel.
When the girl is ten years old her education properly begins and sheis systematically inducted into the mysteries of housekeeping. Atfifteen she has completed her curriculum and can cook, bake, sew, dye,spin and weave and is, indeed, graduated in all the accomplishments ofthe finished Moqui maiden. She now does up her hair in two large coilsor whorls, one on each side of the head, which is meant to resemble afull-blown squash blossom and signifies that the wearer is ofmarriageable age and in the matrimonial market. It gives her a strikingyet not unbecoming appearance, and, if her style of coiffure wereadopted by modern fashion it would be something unusually attractive.As represented by Donaldson in the eleventh census report the handsomeface of Pootitcie, a maiden of the pueblo of Sichomovi, makes a prettypicture that even her white sisters must admire. After marriage thehair is let down and done up in two hard twists that fall over theshoulders. This form represents a ripe, dried squash blossom and meansfruitfulness.
Her dress is not Spanish nor yet altogether Indian, but is simple,comfortable and becoming, which is more than can be said of somecivilized costumes. She chooses her own husband, inherits her mother'sname and property and owns the house in which she lives. Instead of theman owning and bossing everything, as he so dearly loves to do in ourown civilization, the property and labor of the Moqui husband and wifeare equally divided, the former owning and tending the fields andflocks and the latter possessing and governing the house.
The Moquis are famous for their games, dances and festivals, whichhave been fully described by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes in various reports tothe Smithsonian Institution. They have many secret orders, worship thesupernatural, and believe in witchcraft. Their great fete day is theSnake Dance, which is held in alternate years at Walpi and Oraibi, atthe former place in the odd year and at the latter place in the evenyear, some time during the month of August. It is purely a religiousceremony, an elaborate supplication for rain, and is designed topropitiate the water god or snake deity.
Preliminary ceremonies are conducted in the secret Kiva several dayspreceding the public dance. The Kiva is an underground chamber that iscut out of the solid rock, and is entered by a ladder. It has but asingle opening on top on a level with the street, which serves as door,window and chimney. The room is only used by the men, and is, in fact,a lodge room, where the members of the several secret orders meet andengage in their solemn ceremonials. It is a sacred place, a holy ofholies, which none but members of a lodge may enter, and is carefullyguarded.
The snakes used in the dance are all wild, and captured out on theopen plain. Four days prior to the dance the snake men, dressed inscanty attire and equipped with their snake-capturing paraphernalia,march out in squads and scour the surrounding country in search ofsnakes. One day each is spent in searching the ground towards the fourpoints of the compass, in the order of north, west, south and east,returning at the close of each day with their catch to the Kiva, wherethe snakes are kept and prepared for the dance. The snakes caught areof several varieties, but much the largest number are rattlesnakes.Respect is shown for serpents of every variety and none are everintentionally harmed, but the rattlesnake is considered the most sacredand is proportionately esteemed. Its forked tongue representslightning, its rattle thunder and its spots rain-clouds. The number ofsnakes they find is surprising, as they catch from one to two hundredduring the four days' hunt on ground that might be carefully searchedby white men for months without finding a single reptile.
The snake men are very expert in catching and handling serpents, andare seldom bitten. If one is bitten it is nothing serious, as they havea secret medicine which they use that is both prophylactic andcurative, and makes them immune to the poison so that no harm everresults from a bite. The medicine is taken internally and also appliedlocally. Efforts have been made to discover its composition but withoutsuccess. If a snake is located which shows fight by the act of coilingit is tickled with a snake-whip made of eagle's feathers, which soonsoothes its anger and causes it to uncoil and try to run away. It isthen quickly and safely caught up and dropped from the hand into a bagcarried for that purpose.
Visitors who attend the dance are under no restrictions, but arefree to come and go as they please, either sightseeing or in search ofcurios. If the visitor has a supply of candy, matches andsmoking-tobacco to give away he finds frequent opportunities to bestowhis gifts. The children ask for "canty," the women want "matchi," andthe men are pleased with a "smoke."
On the morning of the dance both the men and women give their hairan extra washing by using a mixture of water and crushed soap-root. Thewhite fibers of the soap-root get mixed with the hair, which gives it atinge of iron gray. The children also get a bath which, because of thegreat scarcity of water, is not of daily occurrence.
To the Moquis the snake dance is a serious and solemn affair, but tothe visitors it is apt to be an occasion for fun and frolic. Owing to amisunderstanding of its true meaning, and because of misconduct in thepast on similar occasions, notice is posted on the Kiva asking visitorsto abstain from loud laughing and talking. In other words it is apolite request made by the rude red man of his polished (?) whitebrother to please behave himself.
The dance begins late in the afternoon and lasts less than one hour,but while it is in progress the action is intense. The snakes arecarried in a bag or jar from the Kiva to the Kisa, built of cotton-woodboughs on one side of the plaza, where the snakes are banded out to thedancers. After much marching and countermarching about the plaza,chanting weird songs and shaking rattles, the column of snake priests,dressed in a fantastic garb of paint, fur and feathers, halts in frontof the Kisa and breaks up into groups of three.
The carrier takes a snake from the Kisa puts it in his mouth, andcarries it there while dancing. Some of the more ambitious young menwill carry two or more of the smaller snakes at the same time. Thehugger throws his left arm over the shoulder of the carrier and withhis right hand fans the snake with his feather whip. The gathererfollows after and picks up the snakes as they fall to the ground.
After the snakes have all been danced they are thrown into a heapand sprinkled with sacred corn meal by the young women. The scatteringof the meal is accompanied by a shower of spittle from the spectators,who are stationed on, convenient roofs and ladders viewing theceremony. Fleet runners now catch up the snakes in handfuls and dashoff in an exciting race over the mesa and down rocky trails to theplains below where the snakes are returned unharmed to their nativehaunts.
While the men are away disposing of the reptiles the women carry outlarge ollas, or jars, filled with a black liquid, which is the snakemedicine that is used in the final act of purification by washing. Whenthe men return to the mesa they remove their regalias and proceed todrink of the snake medicine which acts as an emetic. With the remainderof the concoction, and assisted by the women, they wash their bodiesfree from paint. After the men are all washed and puked they re-enterthe Kiva, where the long fast is broken by a feast and the formalceremonies of the snake dance are ended.
The snake dance is annually witnessed by many visitors who gatherfrom different sections of the country and even foreign lands. As thereare no hotels to entertain guests every visitor must provide his ownoutfit for conveyance, eating and sleeping. Even water is scarce. Localsprings barely furnish enough water to supply the native population;and when the number of people to be supplied is increased from one totwo hundred by the visitors who attend the dance, the water questionbecomes a serious problem.
On the lower portion of the road which leads up from the spring tothe gap at Walpi on the first mesa, the trail is over drifted sandwhich makes difficult walking. To remedy this defect in the trail, apath has been made of flat stones laid in the sand, which shows thatthe Moquis are quick to recognize and utilize an advantage thatcontributes to their convenience and comfort.
The Santa Fe Pacific is the nearest railroad, which runs about onehundred miles south of the Moqui villages. The tourist can securetransportation at reasonable rates of local liverymen either fromHolbrook, Winslow, Canon Diablo or Flagstaff. The trip makes anenjoyable outing that is full of interest and instruction from start tofinish.
Some years ago the government, through its agents, began to civilizeand Christianize these Indians and established a school at Keam'sCanon, nine miles east of the first mesa, for that purpose. When theschool was opened the requisition for a specified number of childrenfrom each pueblo was not filled until secured by force. As freecitizens of the United States, being such by the treaty made withMexico in 1848 and, indeed, already so under a system ofself-government superior to our own and established long beforeColumbus discovered America, they naturally resented any interferencein their affairs but, being in the minority and overpowered, had tosubmit.
When the object of the school was explained to them, they consentedto receive secular instructions but objected to any religious teaching.They asked to have schools opened in the pueblos on the plan of ourpublic schools where the children could attend during the day andreturn home at night, and their home life be not broken up, but theirprayer was denied.
The reservation school was opened for the purpose of instructing theMoqui children in civilization, but the results obtained have not beenentirely satisfactory. The methods employed for enforcing disciplinehave been unnecessarily severe and have given dissatisfaction. Asrecently as the year 1903 the children of this inoffensive and harmlesspeople were forcibly taken from their homes and put into the schools.The time selected for doing the dastardly deed was during the night inmidwinter when the weather was cold and the ground covered with snow.Under the orders of the superintendent the reservation police made theraid without warning or warrant of any kind. While the people slept,the police entered their houses, dragged the little children from theircomfortable beds and drove them naked out into the snow and cold, wherethey were rounded up and herded like cattle.
The indignity and outrage of this and other similar acts haveembittered the Moquis until they have lost what little respect theyever had for Christianity and civilization. The policy of thegovernment is to make them do whatever they do not want to do, to breakup the family and scatter its members. The treatment has created twofactions among the Moquis known as the "hostiles" who are only hostilein opposing oppression and any change in their religious faith andcustoms; and the "friendlies" who are willing to obey the boss placedover them and comply with his demands.
Religion is the dearest treasure of mankind, and when assailedalways finds ready defenders. Possessed by this innate feeling of rightand rankling with the injustice of the past, is it surprising that theyshould spurn any proffered help? They remember what they have sufferedin the past and do not care to repeat the experiment. To this day theMoquis hold the mission epoch in contempt and nothing could induce themto accept voluntarily any proposition that savored ought of the oldregime. Every vestige of that period has been obliterated from thepueblos that nothing tangible should remain to remind them of theirundeserved humiliation.
They are a highly religious people worshiping after their own creed,and are sincere and conscientious in their devotions. Almost everythingthey do has some religious significance and every day its religiousobservance. Their religion satisfies them and harms no one, then whynot leave them in peace? We believe that we can benefit them, which isdoubtless true, but might they not also teach us some useful lessons?It would sometimes be more to our credit if we were less anxious toteach others, and more willing to learn ourselves.
Next to their religion they love their homes most. The rocks uponwhich they live, are they not dear from associations? Is it not theland of their birth and the home of their fathers during manygenerations? They cling with stubborn tenacity to their barren mesasand nothing thus far has succeeded in driving them away; neither war,pestilence nor famine. Repeated attempts have been made to induce themto leave, but without success.
Tom Polaki, the principal man of Tewa, was the first man to respondto the call to come down. He left the mesa several years ago, and wentto the plain below to live. Having captured the bell wether it waspresumed that the balance of the flock would soon follow, but thecontrary proved to be true. At the foot of the bluff near a spring onthe road that leads up to the gap Tom built a modern house and tried toimitate the white man. But the change did not suit him, and afterliving in his modern house for a number of years, he finally sold itand returned to his old home on the mesa. A few others at differenttimes have tried the same experiment with no better success. The manwould stay for a short time in the house provided for him, but nevermade it a permanent home for his family.
That the Moquis are changing is best illustrated by reference to oneof their marriage customs. It is the custom when a youth contemplatesmatrimony to make a marriage blanket. He grows the cotton, spins theyarn and weaves the cloth, which requires a year or more of time tofinish. Since the children have gone to school it is not deemednecessary for a young man to go to so much trouble and expense as tomake a marriage blanket, but instead, he borrows one from a friend inthe village, and after the ceremony is over returns it to the owner.Even now it is not easy to find such a blanket, and very soon they willbe priceless as no more such garments will be made.
The only reasonable explanation why any people should select alocation like that of the Moquis is on the hypothesis of choice. Thereis much of the animal in human nature that is influenced by instinct,and man, like the brute, often unconsciously selects what is mostcongenial to his nature. Thus instinct teaches the eagle to nest on thehighest crag and the mountain sheep to browse in pastures which onlythe hardiest hunter dare approach. For no better reason, apparently, dothe Moquis occupy their barren mesas; they simply prefer to live thereabove any other place.
Safety has been urged as a motive for their conduct but it alone isnot a sufficient reason for solving the problem. Their position is safeenough from attack but in the event of a siege their safety would onlybe temporary. With their scant water supply at a distance andunprotected they could not hold out long in a siege, but would soon becompelled either to fight, fly or famish.
Again, if safety was their only reason for staying, they could haveleft long ago and had nothing to fear, as they have been for many yearsat peace with their ancient enemy the predatory Navajo. But rather thango they have chosen to remain in their old home where they have alwayslived, and will continue to live so long as they are left free tochoose.
The modern iconoclast in his unreasonable devotion to realism has,perhaps, stripped them of much old time romance, but even with all ofthat gone, enough of fact remains to make them a remarkable people.Instead of seeking to change them this last bit of harmless aboriginallife should be spared and preserved, if possible, in all of its nativepurity and simplicity.
The climate of Arizona as described in the local vernacular is "surefine." The combination of elements which make the climate is unusualand cannot be duplicated elsewhere upon the American continent. The airis remarkably pure and dry. Siccity, indeed, is its distinguishingfeature. That the climate is due to geographical and meteorologicalconditions cannot be doubted, but the effects are unexplainable by anyordinary rules.
The region involved not only embraces Arizona, but also includesportions of California and Mexico and is commonly known as the ColoradoDesert. Yuma, at the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, isapproximately its geographical center. The general aspect of thecountry is low and flat and in the Salton sink the dry land dipsseveral hundred feet below the level of the ocean. Only by extremesiccity is such land possible when more water rises in evaporation thanfalls by precipitation. There are but few such places in the world, thedeepest one being the Dead Sea, which is about thirteen hundred feetlower than the ocean.
The Colorado Basin is the dry bed of an ancient sea whose shore lineis yet visible in many places upon the sides of the mountains whichsurround it. Its floor is composed of clay with deposits of sand andsalt. Strong winds sometimes sweep over it that shift and pile up thesand in great dunes. The entire region is utterly bare and desolate,yet by the use of water diverted from the Colorado river it is beingreclaimed to agriculture.
The rainfall is very scant the average annual precipitation at Yumabeing less than three inches. The climate is not dry from any lack ofsurface water, as it has the Gila and Colorado rivers, the Gulf ofCalifornia and the broad Pacific Ocean to draw from. But the singularfact remains that the country is extremely dry and that it does notrain as in other lands.
Neither is the rainfall deficient from any lack of evaporation. Uponthe contrary the evaporation is excessive and according to the estimateof Major Powell amounts fully to one hundred inches of water per annum.If the vapors arising from this enormous evaporation should all becondensed into clouds and converted into rain it would create a rainyseason that would last throughout the year.
The humidity caused by an abundant rainfall in any low, hot countryis usually enough to unfit it for human habitation. The combined effectof heat and moisture upon a fertile soil causes an excess of bothgrowing and decaying vegetation that fills the atmosphere with noxiousvapors and disease producing germs. The sultry air is so oppressivethat it is more than physical endurance can bear. The particles ofvapor which float in the atmosphere absorb and hold the heat until itbecomes like a steaming hot blanket that is death to unacclimated life.All of this is changed where siccity prevails. The rapid evaporationquickly dispels the vapors and the dry heat desiccates the diseasecreating germs and makes them innocuous.
The effect of heat upon the body is measured by the difference inthe actual and sensible temperatures, as recorded by the dry and wetbulb thermometers. When both stand nearly together as they are apt todo in a humid atmosphere, the heat becomes insufferable. In the dryclimate of Arizona such a condition cannot occur. The difference in thetwo instruments is always great, often as much as forty degrees. Forthis reason, a temperature of 118 degrees F. at Yuma is less oppressivethan 98 degrees F. is in New York. A low relative humidity givescomfort and freedom from sunstroke even when the thermometer registersthe shade temperature in three figures.
A dry, warm climate is a stimulant to the cutaneous function. Theskin is an important excreting organ that is furnished with a largenumber of sweat glands which are for the dual purpose of furnishingmoisture for cooling the body by evaporation and the elimination ofworn out and waste material from the organism. As an organ it is noteasily injured by over work, but readily lends its function in anemergency in any effort to relieve other tired or diseased organs ofthe body. By vicarious action the skin is capable of performing muchextra labor without injury to itself and can be harnessed temporarilyfor the relief of some vital part which has become crippled until itsfunction can be restored.
A diseased kidney depends particularly upon the skin for succor morethan any other organ. When the kidneys from any cause fail to act theskin comes to their rescue and throws off impurities which natureintended should go by the renal route. For this reason diabetes andalbuminuria, the most stubborn of all kidney diseases, are usuallybenefited by a dry, warm climate. The benefit derived is due to anincrease of the insensible transpiration rather than to profuseperspiration. The air of Arizona is so dry and evaporation so rapidthat an increase in perspiration is scarcely noticeable except when itis confined by impervious clothing. The disagreeable feeling of wetclothes which accompanies profuse perspiration in a damp climate ischanged to an agreeable sensation of coolness in a dry one.
The atmosphere of Arizona is not only dry but also very electrical,so much so, indeed, that at times it becomes almost painful. Wheneverthe experiment is tried, sparks can be produced by friction or thehandling of metal, hair or wool. It affects animals as well as man, andliterally causes "the hair to stand on end." The writer has on variousoccasions seen a string of horses standing close together at awatering-trough, drinking, so full of electricity that their manes andtails were spread out and floated in the air, and the long hairs drawnby magnetic attraction from one animal to the other all down the linein a spontaneous effort to complete a circuit. There are times when thefree electricity in the air is so abundant that every object becomescharged with the fluid, and it cannot escape fast enough or find "a wayout" by any adequate conductor. The effects of such an excess ofelectricity is decidedly unpleasant on the nerves, and causes annoyingirritability and nervousness.
The hot sun sometimes blisters the skin and burns the complexion toa rich, nut-brown color, but the air always feels soft and balmy, andusually blows only in gentle zephyrs. The air has a pungent fragrancewhich is peculiar to the desert, that is the mingled product of avariety of resinous plants. The weather is uniformly pleasant, and theelements are rarely violently disturbed.
In the older settled sections of our country, whenever there is anysudden or extreme change in the weather of either heat or cold, wet ordry, it is always followed by an increase of sickness and death. Theaged and invalid, who are sensitive and weak, suffer mostly, as theyfeel every change in the weather. There is, perhaps, no place on earththat can boast of a perfect climate, but the country that can show thefewest and mildest extremes approaches nearest to the ideal. Thesouthwest is exceptionally favored in its climatic conditions, and isbeneficial to the majority of chronic invalids.
Atmospheric pressure is greatest near the earth's surface, andexerts a controlling influence over the vital functions. Atmosphericpressure is to the body what the governor is to the steam engine, orthe pendulum to the clock. It regulates vital action, insures safetyand lessens the wear and tear of machinery. Under its soothinginfluence the number of respirations per minute are diminished, theheart beats decreased in frequency, and the tired brain and nervesrested. It is often better than medicine, and will sometimes giverelief when all other means fail.
Arizona has a diversity of altitudes, and therefore furnishes avariety of climates. The elevations range from about sea level at Yumato nearly thirteen thousand feet upon the San Francisco mountains. Bymaking suitable changes in altitude to fit the season it is possible toenjoy perpetual spring.
Because Arizona is far south geographically it is only natural tosuppose that it is all very hot, which is a mistake. In the low valleysof southern Arizona the summers are hot, but it is a dry heat which isnot oppressive, and the winters are delightfully pleasant. In northernArizona the winters are cold and the summers cool. There is no finersummer climate in the world than is found on the high plateaus andpine-topped mountains of northern Arizona. Prescott, Williams andFlagstaff have a charming summer climate, while at Yuma, Phoenix andTucson the winter weather is simply perfect.
A mountain residence is not desirable for thin, nervous people orsuch as are afflicted with any organic disease. A high altitude is toostimulating for this class of patients and tends to increasenervousness and aggravates organic disease. Such persons should seek acoast climate and a low altitude, which is sedative, rather than riskthe high and dry interior. Any coast climate is better than themountains for nervous people, but the Pacific Coast is preferable toany other because of its freedom from electrical storms and every otherform of disagreeable meteorological disturbance that tries the nerves.The nervousness that is produced by a high altitude does not, as arule, develop suddenly, but grows gradually upon the patient. Those ofa sensitive nature feel it most and women more than men. After making achange from a low to a high altitude sleep may be sound for a time, butit soon becomes fitful and unrefreshing.
It has been discovered that altitude increases the amount ofhemoglobulin and thus enriches the blood and is particularly beneficialto pale, thin people. It also sharpens the appetite and promotesdigestion and assimilation.
Persons suffering from rheumatism, neuralgia, advanced pulmonaryconsumption, organic heart disease and all disorders of the brain andnerves should avoid a high altitude. Patients that are afflicted withany of the above-mentioned diseases are more comfortable in a lowaltitude and should choose between the coast of California and the low,dry lands of the lower Gila and Colorado rivers, according to theseason of the year and the quality of climate desired.
The diseases which are especially benefited by the climate ofArizona are consumption, bronchitis, catarrh and hay fever. Anyonegoing in search of health who has improved by the change should remainwhere the improvement took place lest by returning home and being againsubjected to the former climatic conditions which caused the diseasethe improvement be lost and the old disease re-established withincreased severity.
Most sick people who are in need of a change live in a humidatmosphere where the winters are extremely cold and the summersuncomfortably hot, and to be benefited by a change must seek a climatein which the opposite conditions prevail. The climate of the southwestfurnishes just what such invalids require. The sick who need cold ordamp weather, if there be any such, can be accommodated almostanywhere, but those who want a warm, dry climate must go where it canbe found. Not every invalid who goes in search of health finds a cure,as many who start on such a journey are already past help when theyleave home. When a case is hopeless the patient should not undertakesuch a trip, but remain quietly at home and die in peace amongfriends.
As already intimated the climate of the Colorado basin is ideal inwinter, but becomes very hot in summer. Its low altitude, rainlessdays, cloudless skies and balmy air form a combination that isunsurpassed and is enjoyed by all either sick or well. The heat ofsummer does not create sickness, but becomes monotonous and tiresomefrom its steady and long continuance. Many residents of the Territorywho tire of the heat and can afford the trip take a vacation during thesummer months and either go north to the Grand Canon and the mountainsor to the Pacific Coast. Every summer witnesses a hegira of sun bakedpeople fleeing from the hot desert to the mountains or ocean shore insearch of coolness and comfort.
Life in the tropics, perhaps, inclines to indolence and languor,particularly if the atmosphere is humid, but in a dry climate like thatof Arizona the heat, although sometimes great, is never oppressive ordebilitating. It has its lazy people like any other country and for thesame reason that there are always some who were born tired and neveroutgrow the tired feeling, but Arizona climate is more bracing thanenervating.
The adobe house of the Mexican is a peculiar institution of thesouthwest. It may be interesting on account of its past history, but itis certainly not pretty. It is nothing more than a box of dried mudwith its roof, walls and floor all made of dirt. It is never free froma disagreeable earthy smell which, if mingled with the added odors ofstale smoke and filth, as is often the case, makes the air simply vile.The house can never be kept tidy because of the dirt which falls fromthe adobe, unless the walls and ceilings are plastered and whitewashed,which is sometimes done in the better class of houses. If the house iswell built it is comfortable enough in pleasant weather, but as oftenas it rains the dirt roof springs a leak and splashes water and mudover everything. If by chance the house stands on low ground and issurrounded by water, as sometimes happens, after a heavy rain the wallsbecome soaked and dissolved into mud when the house collapses. Theadobe house may have been suited to the wants of a primitive people,but in the present age of improvement, it is scarcely worth savingexcept it be as a relic of a vanishing race.
In order to escape in a measure the discomforts of the midday heatthe natives either seek the shade in the open air where the breezeblows, or, what is more common, close up tight the adobe house in themorning and remain indoors until the intense heat from the scorchingsun penetrates the thick walls, which causes the inmates to move out.In the cool of the evening they visit and transact business and whenthe hour comes for retiring go to bed on cots made up out of doorswhere they sleep until morning, while the house is left open to cooloff during the night. This process is repeated every day during the hotsummer months and is endured without complaint.
The natives, also, take advantage of the dry air to operate a novelmethod of refrigeration. The cloth covered army canteen soaked in waterand the handy water jug of the eastern harvest field wrapped in a wetblanket are familiar examples of an ineffectual attempt atrefrigeration by evaporation. But natural refrigeration find its bestillustration in the arid regions of the southwest by the use of anolla, which is a vessel made of porous pottery, a stout canvas bag or aclosely woven Indian basket. A suitable vessel is selected, filled withwater and suspended somewhere in midair in the shade. If it is hung ina current of air it is all the better, as any movement of theatmosphere facilitates evaporation. A slow seepage of water filtersthrough the open pores of the vessel which immediately evaporates inthe dry air and lowers the temperature. The water in the olla soonbecomes cold and if properly protected will remain cool during theentire day.
The dry air also acts as a valuable preservative. During the winter,when the weather is cool but not freezing, if fresh meat is hung out inthe open air, it will keep sweet a long time. A dry crust soon formsupon its surface which hermetically seals the meat from the air andkeeps it perfectly sweet. In the summer it is necessary to dry the meatmore quickly to keep it from spoiling. It is then made into "jerky" bycutting it into long, thin strips and hanging them up in the sun todry. After it is thoroughly dried, it is tied up in bags and used asneeded, either by eating it dry from the pocket when out on a tramp,or, if in camp, serving it in a hot stew.
Even the carcass of a dead animal that is left exposed upon theground to decompose does not moulder away by the usual process ofdecay, but what is left of the body after the hungry buzzards andcoyotes have finished their feast, dries up into a mummy that lasts foryears.
Climate everywhere unquestionably influences life in its evolution,but it is not always easy to determine all of its effects in detail. InArizona, which is but a comparatively small corner of our country, liveseveral races of men that are as different from each other as naturecould make them, yet all live in the same climate.
The Pueblo Indian is in a manner civilized, peaceable andindustrious. He is brave in self-defense, but never seeks war norbloodshed. Quite different is his near neighbor, the bloodthirstyApache, who seems to delight only in robbing and killing people.Cunning and revenge are pronounced traits of his character and theGovernment has found him difficult to conquer or control. The Mexicanleads a shiftless, thriftless life and seems satisfied merely to exist.He has, unfortunately, inherited more of the baser than the betterqualities of his ancestors, and, to all appearance, is destined tofurther degenerate. The American is the last comer and has alreadypushed civilization and commerce into the remotest corners and, asusual, dominates the land.
As diverse as are these several races in many respects, each one ofthem furnishes splendid specimens of physical manhood. The Indian hasalways been noted for his fine physique, and is large bodied, wellmuscled and full chested. One advantage which the southwest has overother countries is that the climate is mild and favorable to an outdoorlife, which is conducive to health and physical development.
No single race of men flourish equally well everywhere, but each oneis affected by its own surroundings; and, what is true of a race, isalso true of an individual. The pioneer in any country is always aninteresting character, but he differs in peculiarities according to hisenvironment of mountain, plain or forest. Occupation also exerts aninfluence and in time develops distinct types like the trapper, miner,soldier and cowboy, that only the graphic pencil of a Remington canaccurately portray. The eccentricities of character which are sometimesmet in men who dwell on the frontier are not always due alone todisposition, but are largely the product of the wild life which theylive, that inclines them to be restless, reckless and evendesperate.
There is no better field for observing and studying the effects ofenvironment upon human life than is furnished by the and region of thesouthwest.
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