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Arizoniques

The first extensive excavations carried on at Casa Grande took place in the winters of 1906-08 under the direction of the famous archeologist, J. W. Fewkes. The Smithsonian Institute supported the work. Frank Pinkley, who was to become superintendent of the Southwest National Monuments, was the caretaker of the Ruins and worked with Dr. Fewkes in the excavation.

That skunks can be tutored into the role of pets is shown in the experience of Fred Wilson, a resident of Yavapai county. He has a skunk which will eat out of his hand. A ranchman near Oatman, on the other hand, has a pet raccoon.

Three-fourths of the gross income of Yavapai county is derived from the mining industry.

Nature students respect the coyote as an animal of intelligence and resourcefulness, and despite every effort to exterminate him he is holding his own.

Coronado, on his march into the United States, had 250 mounted men in his army. He brought the first cattle, horses and sheep into this country from Compostela, Mexico, to the Zuni village of Hawikuh in 1540.

Producers of Arizona's unique specialty crop, American-Egyptian cotton, met in Phoenix early in March to crown Sam Joy of Glendale as King Cotton. He harvested 728 pounds of lint to the acre on his 40-acre "contest field."

With the Arizona wool clip of 1939 bringing $1,020,000, about $100,000 more than the 1938 clip, the industry chalked up one of its most successful seasons on record.

The crop of wool last year was 4,856,000 pounds sheared from 769,000 sheep.

The Mormon Battalion, organized in the summer of 1846, reached the San Pedro river in early December of that year on the trek from the middle west to California. Wild cattle roaming the range attacked the battalion. The fight is known as the "Battle of the Wild Bulls." One mule was gored, one man was thrown ten feet in the air, another was trampled and injured and the commander of the Battalion narrowly escaped death.

The territory that is now Arizona was the seat of prolonged Indian wars. Because of the presence of hostile natives, a number of Military Posts were established by the government. The first of these posts, Fort Defiance, was established in 1849. Fort Defiance is in northern Arizona and was used in the Navajo wars. In 1859 Fort Breckenridge was located near the junction of the Aravaipa Canyon with the San Pedro. This post was later called Fort Grant. Other early day military posts in Arizona were: Fort Buchanan, in the Sonoita Valley, 20 miles north of the Mexican boundary; Camp Mohave, on the Colorado River; Camp Lowell, near Tucson; Fort Bowie, located in Apache Pass, on the overland mail route; Fort Whipple, near Prescott; Camp Verde, forty miles east of Prescott; Camp Date Creek, near Skull Valley; Camp McDowell, on the west bank of the Verde River, seven miles above its junction with the Salt River settlement; Camp Hualpai, 45 miles northwest of Prescott; Fort Yuma, on the Colorado River; Fort Apache and Fort Thomas, in the San Carlos Indian country; Camp Wallen, which became Fort Huachuca; Fort Grant and Fort Goodwin, in Graham county.

When Columbus discovered America the Indian population of this country was probably around 900,-000. By 1900 this number had dwindled to about 270,000. Today, the population has increased to 351,878.

It has been estimated that four sevenths of the total agricultural production of the United States, measured in farm values, consists of economic plants domesticated by the Indian and taken over by the white man.

Fifty-one thousand tons of coal have been mined on the Navajo Indian reservation from twelve mines, five of which are in Arizona and seven in New Mexico, during 1939. Most of the coal is used by governmental agencies. About 65 Navajos are employed as miners.

Pueblo Indian tribes in New Mexico have elected their "governors" for the ensuing year. Almost every pueblo governor, on being elected, receives two silver-headed canes of historical significance which are the property of the pueblo and which are preserved, passing from one governor to the next. One cane was the gift of the Spanish throne, and the other is inscribed: "A Lincoln, Pres., U.S.A. 1863," followed by the name of the pueblo.

Mesa, Arizona, was founded in March, 1877. The community, founded by Mormon settlers, was first named Jonesville, after the leader of the party, Daniel W. Jones. When the town was laid out the main street was 130 feet wide, which showed the remarkable foresight used by the community planners.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, located south of Ajo, consists of a wild, primitive desert area of 516 square miles.

O. E. Meinzer, writing for the geological survey, says "The desert . . . has a peculiar fascination. Its soli-tude and silence are soothing to the man who comes to it from a busy life and much human contact . . . great distances and magnificent land-scapes tend to enlarge and ennoble the human mind. It is a land of abundant sunshine, of pure, bracing air . . its nights . . . with a sky over-head so intensely starry that it in-spires awe and reverence."

The U. S. geological survey defines the desert region of the United States as follows: "It is a great triangle whose base, 800 miles long, is the Mexican border from the Peninsular mountains, in Southern California, to the mouth of the Pecos River, in Texas, and whose apex is in north-central Oregon. The west side of this huge desert triangle is the mountain wall formed by the Peninsular mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascade range; the east or northeast side is a less definite line extending from north-central Oregon through Salt Lake City and Santa Fe to the mouth of the Pecos river. Its area is about 500,000 square miles, or about one sixth of the area of the United States.

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