Safford

Safford CONCERNING GRAHAM COUNTY AND THE LIFE AND TIMES ALONG THE UPPER GILA RIVER

The Gila River starts up in the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico, pushes through a lot of scenery, irrigates a small agricultural empire in Graham County, Arizona, then crosses the state and loses its identity and personality in the Colorado near Yuma. For a little river, it does a big river's job, and no stream of its size has more history, legend or romance wrapped up in, about and around it. It is a strange river, too, and even its name is hard to pronounce. Folks along the Gila call it "Hee-la!" and just in case you tumble over "Mogollon" if you say "Muggy-yown!" you'll be understood.

The Gila travels fast as it leaves the mountains of New Mexico but when it gets to Graham County it slows down, broadens out, and becomes a right able farmland. Graham County is known as a farming county and thanks to the Gila this county has about 40,000 acres under cultivation, which produced such crops as alfalfa, cotton, barley, corn, grain sorghum, wheat and truck crops, fruit, pecans, for a cash value of about four million dollars in 1946, and it will be a lot larger this year.

The county seat of Graham County is Safford, on the south banks of Gila, in the center of the upper Gila Valley, which is also called the Safford Valley. Located in southeastern Arizona, Safford is 238 miles by highway from El Paso, Texas; 188 miles from Phoenix; 140 miles from Tucson and 580 miles from Los Angeles.

"The Fields are Green"

Safford is in a green valley, surrounded by cool mountains. The valley is full of farms and cattle are on the ranges. From the Gila River comes the water for the farms. Mt. Graham, overlooking the valley, is a popular summer and winter play area.

"Big Country, Big Beef"

Continued from page thirty.

Safford, according to the historian, McClintock, was first settled by Americans in 1872. These first settlers had originally passed through the valley as members of the California Column in the Civil War. On being mustered out some of them started a farming venture near what is now Gila Bend. The soil did not respond to their husbandry and the river proved unreasonable and cantankerous; so they moved to the upper Gila Valley, where the soil was better and conditions were more favorable for a permanent settlement. Joshua A. Bailey named the village after Territorial Governor Anson Pacely Killen Safford. Whether he was an admirer of Governor Safford, or whether it was a case of political expediency to secure for the village some recognition from the territorial government is not recorded.

Life along the upper Gila had existed for centuries before that, however. Lieutenant William H. Emory, in charge of the first American scientific expedition into the Southwest, reported in October, 1846, that his party found in the valley many prehistoric ruins, indicating at one time a large and flourishing community. Spanish padres in the days of the Conquest followed the Gila, trappers came through, and occasionally a prospector, but past the middle of last century it was a dark and avoided region. The reason: Apaches.

As Ross Calvin points out in his classic volume, "River of the Sun."

"The Gila is the River of the Apaches. They lived beside its waters in aboriginal time, and they are still here. Far more truly than the Pueblos ever owned the upper Rio Grande, they owned the Gila, and their tenacious grasp upon their patrimony was not broken until, as it were, late yesterday. So the Apache people have to be studied by all who would understand the Southwest; and in any historical account of the country's development, their retarding influence on ranching, farming and mining must be described, or else the omission will leave little value to the story." He tells of Cochise, Mangas Colorado, Victorio, and Geronimo, dreaded and magnificent warriors and leaders.

"Most significant aspect of the struggle," he continues, "is not so much its unequalled ferocity as its unparalleled duration. In the final hundred years, there was hardly a break in it long enough to afford a good breathing spell for them. And, meantime, the great deposits of silver and copper lay in the earth unworked, the rich, hot valleys continued to produce only worthless desert scrub instead of cotton and oranges, while the wide-flung mantle of pasturage stood ungrazed. In the whole wide domain of Apacheria, not a herd of cattle nor even a prospect hole could escape the scrutiny of the savages, and the loss of labor and money expended was not a mere gamble it was a certainty."

The shadow of the Apache was a long shadow and it darkened the river and the land through which the river flowed. Today near Lordsburg, New Mexico, less than two hours of easy driving from Safford, a motorist can read on a bronze tablet these eloquent words: "Near here Geronimo surrendered, thus ending Indian wars in America forever."

And Geronimo surrendered September 3, 1886. You can rest assured that event caused jubilation in the little village of Safford, on the south banks of the Gila, the river the Apaches dominated for centuries. Peace, at last, had come to the land!

Less than a decade and a half before Geronimo bowed to fate and the relentless pursuit of the U. S. Cavalry, a resolute group of pioneers came into the valley to wrest from

the river and the selfish desert, land that is just as fertile as any land on earth. They were the industrious Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, humble before God, fearing neither the wilderness nor the Apache, resolving to find for themselves a home in a rich but savage land. They worked hard and they worked together. They could not fail; they did not fail.

Conditions favored them. A Jewish merchant by the name of Isaac Solomon, a heroic frontier figure, came to the valley and started a store at a place now known as Solomonville, not far from Safford. The new smelter at Clifton needed charcoal. Mr. Solomon bought mesquite wood from the Mormon farmers, clearing the land, burned it and sold it as charcoal to the smelter. Both profited. Especially the farmers. Land clearing was costly and arduous. Thanks to Mr. Solomon they received something for their efforts. They raised farm products as soon as the land was cleared and these products were sold to the miners in Greenlee County and to the Army posts scattered throughout southeastern Arizona. Several villages sprang up on the banks of the Gila-Thatcher, Pima, Central, Eden, Bryce-farming communities. Ranchers brought herds into the hills and mountains. Things were looking up on the Gila. They've been looking up ever since.

Graham County was created in 1881, carved out of Pima and Apache Counties. Safford was the first county seat, then it was shifted to Solomonville and in 1915 back to Safford. Graham County, with an area of 4,630 square miles, had (1940 census) 12,113 population and the figure is slightly larger now. That same census reported Safford with a population of 2,266. The Chamber of Commerce reports that the metropolitan population of Safford is, as of this day, 5,500, including people outside of the city limits. The merchandising and shopping area takes in practically all of Graham County. the fabulous Phelps Dodge mining center in the CliftonMorenci district of Greenlee County, part of the Duncan Farming area of Greenlee County and part of Hidalgo County, New Mexico. The statistical department of the Valley National Bank, one of whose many branches serves Safford and the Safford or upper Gila Valley, informs us that the retail sales in Graham County for 1947 were $9,931,000 as compared to $3,138,000 in 1939. Safford's retail sales for 1947 were approximately $6,500,000, an increase of 16% over the previous year. By the yardstick of cold, dry statistics, Safford and Graham County have grown steadily throughout the years and the statistics indicate steady expansion and healthy growth. When we speak of retail sales we do not include the seven and a half million dollars of business that Once deadly enemies now live in friendship, mutually helpful to each other. This writer first went to Safford years ago as substitute guard on the Miami High School basketball team. Safford was then and has been a traditional enemy of Miami. What an exciting trip that was, the first that particular substitute guard had ever made for his dear old alma mater, Miami High School. And what a lovely town Safford appeared to him then, and the years have not changed one bit that first impression. A clean busy town, with wide streets and lots of trees, and pretty girls! A wholesome town, with friendly people, modern and progressive. A town where a stranger does not too long feel a stranger. And a town where a stranger immediately senses the pride that the residents have in their town. Safford has much to be proud of, and much of which to boast. Climate? Superb! The elevation of Safford is 2,906 feet, but the valley of which it is the center is bounded by the Gila Range on the north and the Pinaleno Range of mountains on the south. That means that hot summer days are followed by cool summer nights, making Safford very pleasant. The mountains surrounding Safford act as an air-cooling system. The city boasts of an average maximum temperature of 78.4 degrees, an average minimum temperature of 47.3 degrees and an average humidity of 29%. January, the coldest month of the year, recorded a maximum temperature of 62.5 degrees, and a minimum of 29.8 July, the hottest month, showed a maximum of 93.4 degrees and a minimum of 66.1. Not too hot, not too cold! Just comfortable! Average rainfall at Safford is 12.30 inches per year. Schools? The best! The residents of Safford have supported every suggested improvement program to make their schools as fine as possible. Fifteen hundred pupils are enrolled in the public schools of Safford. The faculty consists of 50 teachers whose average salary (1948-49) is $3,340.00 per year. Citizens of Safford recently voted a $275,000 bond issue to add to the public school facilities of their community. Graham County operates Gila Junior College at Thatcher, a first rate, accredited institution, which gives two years of college training. Safford is served by the Southern Pacific Railroad, by Pacific Greyhound Lines, by Arizona Airways, and numerous truck lines. U. S. Highway 70, one of the great transcontinental highways, passes through the town, east and west, and U. S. 666, north and south, puts Safford close to the Coronado Trail, the scenic White Mountains of Arizona and colorful Mexico.

As follows: "If you would like to get lost for three weeks and want to go 600 miles to do it, visit the Graham Mountains, also known as the Pinalenos in southern Arizona overlooking the Gila River Valley and not far from the New Mexico border."

"The Grahams, thirty-five miles long and massive, rise to 10,720 feet at High Peak. They are real mountains and something the outsider would not expect in southern Arizona. The forests are the forests of the High Sierra, Oregon and Colorado. As one rises through this part of the Crook National Forest one finds huge Ponderosa pine, Arizona pine, Chihuahua pine, Mexican white pine, white fir, Douglas fir,quaking aspen, Englemann spruce and finally alpine fir. Through these forests flow trout streams and there is an abundance of meadows filled with bright green grass and lovely flowers.

Places to stay? You have a choice of many! Three hotels, the Buena Vista, Hotel Olive and the Claremont, and adequate auto court facilities of which the San Jose Lodge, the Sea Shell Motel, Valley Motel and Country Manor are outstanding and as nice as you'll find along any road.

Indian Hot Springs, at Eden nineteen miles west of Safford and reached by paved highway, is one of Arizona's noted health resorts. Hot mineral springs, recognized centuries ago by the Apaches for their healing properties, feed into a large pool and individual Roman baths. The resort, in beautifully landscaped three hundred acres of land, accommodates from thirty to fifty people. Rates are reasonable and the service that of any well-appointed, well-managed resort or hotel.

Things to do? In summer or winter, Safford residents have a natural playground practically in their back yard. The Pinalenos, or the Graham Mountains as they are sometimes called, maintain a patient watch over the town. From Safford to High Peak, the serene Mt. Graham, the distance is thirtyseven miles. The elevation of this high point in the mountains is over ten thousand feet, and the ranges surrounding it offer themselves as a convenient and spacious playground. One visitor to the Grahams last summer, Chuck Perlee of the Pasadena Star-News, reports his trip rather enthusiastically "The beauty of the mountains overwhelmed us. But we were still more amazed by two things-the road up the mountains and the fact that extensive lumbering operations are carried on. The road, called Swift Trail and thirty miles long and seven miles out from the thriving town of Safford, is all dirt but one of the most successful engineering jobs I've ever seen.

"So few people visit the Grahams that they remain one of the wildest areas in the country. There are all kinds of wild life, deer and bear mainly. We saw a cute brown bear ambling through the woods. The wild life hasn't become acquainted with humans yet. Even the insects, including the mosquitoes, don't know enough to bite a human.

"There are several fine campgrounds, clean and wellequipped. They make a chain through the mountains so that hikers can spend about a week traveling from one to another."

How do the folks in Safford and the upper Gila Valley make their living? First, agriculture. Their Long Staple Cotton (Egyptian SXP) commands top prices in American cot-ton markets, and other products of the farm are varied and many. The ranges produce quantities of Hereford cattle, with Brahmas also appearing on the scene. The Arizona Flour Mills operates a plant in Safford producing flour for southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. A new meat packing plant, with feeder facilities, turns out beef ready for the kitchen. Poultry and sheep are raised. A breakdown of retail businesses in Safford is this: thirteen restaurants, three drug stores, twenty-two service stations, four department stores, six clothing stores, four lumber yards, one tile manufacturer, three variety stores, nine tractor equipment and supply houses, three furniture stores, nine groceries, two hard-

aware stores

and no matter what happens people will have to eat. We share and will continue to share with all of Arizona the in-creasingly-important tourist and travel business. We are in the center of a great scenic area, becoming more and more appreciated by the traveling public. Safford and the valley have grown steadily through the years. There is no reason that growth will not continue in the future." As he said this he was working with a committee getting ready for the annual Graham County Fair late this month. The Fair will be "bigger and better." That seems to be the way all the folks up along the Gila seem to regard the future: "bigger and better."-R. C. aware stores, eleven automobile agencies, two bakeries, nine electrical supply firms and five plumbing establishments. In the professional field there are in Safford three dentists, seven doctors, one optician, one chiropractor, one osteopath and a number of attorneys. Safford and the valley is blessed with a superior newspaper, the Graham County Guardian, established in 1896. It is the kind of paper you are pleased to have in your home. Churches represent eleven denominations. The area is served by KGLU, a radio station with a power output of one thousand watts, eighteen hours daily, on 1450 kilocycles. This station is an outlet for the National Broadcasting Company and the Arizona Broadcasting Company for a large part of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. Safford's water supply comes from underground springs in Bonita Creek. Electric service is supplied by the Munic-ipal Utilities Company, and natural gas fuel is distributed throughout the entire Gila Valley by the El Paso Natural Gas Company. And the future? One Safford businessman puts it this way: "Safford and the upper Gila Valley have never ex-perienced a boom or a too-severe depression. The natural resources of this area are varied. Our basic industry is farming