Greenlee County, The Wonderland of Arizona

ARIZONA has much of beauty and grandeur to offer those who enter its borders, and it matters little in what direction one travels for something pleasing will be found to attract the attention of the artistic eye. Even the deserts are beautiful in their wild free places of solitude, while the mountains of the state are unsurpassed in rugged, awe-inspiring beauty. The scenic wonders to be found on a trip through Greenlee county are indeed a revelation to everyone fortunate enough to investigate this section of the state, and though on first thought it may appear to some to be too far distant for the usual sightseeing trip, in reality the distance is comparatively short, and the highways leading into this "Wonderland of Arizona" a pleasure to drive over and a treat long to be remembered.

Greenlee County, the fourteenth and youngest county in Arizona, was organized from the eastern part of Graham county January 1, 1911, a year before Arizona was admitted to statehood. The county is now one of the richest in the state. Its net assessed valuation for 1928 was $27,461,650 as against $12,000,000 in the year of its organization. The history of Greenlee county as a region is that of Arizona and New Mexico pioneer days when the rumor of gold brought many a prospector into this district in search of this glittering metal.

The fame of its mining activities, their rapid growth and the growth of farming and cattle raising has spread all through the southwest and is an interesting part of Arizona's most colorful history.

The principal industries of the county are mining, farming and cattle raising. Of these mining comes first with the Phelps-Dodge corporation the prin cipal producer, with its smelter at Clifton and its mines and concentrator at Morenci. Farming is second with some of the richest farms in the state found in the irrigated area known as the Duncan valley, of which the town of Duncan, in the extreme southern end of the county is the center. The total irrigated land area of the county is more than 5500 acres and is steadily increasing. This year the Duncan valley produced more potatoes and more cotton than ever before in the history of this irrigation project on the upper Gila river, and the many fruit orchards in the county broke all records for yearly fruit crops. One apple orchard on the Blue river marketed more than 10,000 pounds of winter apples.

By FORREST E. DOUCETTE

Cattle, which takes third place in the county's industries, is on the increase and the industry is growing rapidly. One of the largest cattle ranges left in the west is the celebrated "Double Circle" in the Eagle river country west of the Coronado Trail. It is served by the Woolaroc postoffice on Eagle river. Many sheep have been brought into the country within the past year, two large cattle ranches within the past six months changing their permits from cattle to sheep so as to enter into this business on a large scale.

Clifton, the county seat of Greenlee county, located between towering cliffs on the San Francisco river, is one of the most picturesque cities of the south west and enjoys one of the most even and attractive climates in the country. It is the oldest continuous producing copper camp in the southwest, and a community exceptionally rich in frontier history.

For years Clifton was the battle ground of the rugged white pioneers and the fierce Apache Indians and later, when it flourished as a typical town of the west, it included among its inhabitants some of the most noted bad men of the west, killers, gamblers and highwaymen.

Clifton's first jail, where such desperate characters were kept, if captured alive, was blasted out of the mountainside and escape from this bastile was impossible. At present, in striking contrast to those colorful six-shooting frontier days, the town of Clifton has no jail, the percentage of crime being too small to justify the maintenance of such an institution. The old jail still remains in the mountainside, a relic and a source of great interest to all who come this way.

THE HOPI SNAKE DANCE, A PRAYER FOR RAIN

(Continued from page 44) and his companion again get into place to receive a snake and repeat the per-formance. As soon as the snake drops to the ground, it naturally tries to es-cape; here comes the duty of the third one of the group, called "The Gatherer." With a pinch of the sacred meal in one hand a snake whip on the other, he quickly advances, sprinkles the meal upon the snake and with a rapid movement has the snake in his hands.

Sometimes a vicious rattler will resent the treatment and coil ready to strike. With a dab of the meal and the tickling feathers of the snake whip he gently touches the reptile and it uncoils and starts to escape, then quicker than a flash the gatherer catches the escaping creature. When a gatherer has more snakes than he can handle he gives them to the Antelope Priests, who are in line continuing the chanting.

When all the snakes are brought forth the dance stops and the Chief describes a circle of the sacred meal on the ground, and at a given signal all the priests of both clansrush to the circle and drop all the snakes they have in it. After a prayer by the Chief Priest, the snake priests dart forth, gather all the intermingled mass of wriggling reptiles, and taking all they can carry start down the precipitous trail on a swift run for the valley, reverently depositing the snakes and praying over them, then they return as quickly as possible, removing their dance paraphernalia as they come.

One by one the snake priests return from their long run up the steep side of the high mesa and when all have returned the ceremony is concluded by the sacred rite of internal purification, produced by an emetic prepared by the Chief Woman of the Clan, which is an unfailing antidote for the poisonous bite of the reptiles.

"How long you in jail fo', Mose?" "Two weeks." "What am de cha'ge?" "No cha'ge; everything am free." "Ah mean, what has you did? " "Done shot my wife." "You kill yo' wife and only in jail fo' two weeks?" "Dat's all-den I gits hung."

REST IN PEACE

They're pickin' up the pieces, With a dustpan and a rake, Because he used his horn When he oughta used his brake.

VACATION LAND, 1929 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Page Forty-seven THE MOTOR VEHICLE DIVISION

(Continued from page 32) Application for plates until after the date set annually by the Tax Commission as the expiration date for payment of current personal property tax. However, when he makes application for plates, his certificate of title may show development on a date which will allow him to avail himself of the above exemption, but if the county assessors will scrutinize the date of lien as set up in the Certificate of Title, they will find, in many instances, the lien date shows car purchased before the aforesaid exemption date, and will collect the personal property tax. In this connection, we may add that the vast majority of cars are purchased under sales contract.

Application for transfer of title must be accompanied by registration card and receipt for plates, or, if car is from a state that does not have Certificate of Title law, bill of sale from original vendor must accompany application. Properly assigned certificate is acceptable from states that have the aforementioned law. In the case of cars from states that do not have the Certificate of Title law, if carrying more than transfer from original vendor, then the application must be accompanied by bills of sale from the two last preceding owners.

When application is made over the counter for development of title, seven separate and distinct operations are required before certificate is completed for delivery to applicant. These operations consist of the application being checked by a clerk to see if the proper documents accompany the application; it is then motor checked; if discovered to have been in Arizona registry, registered owner's title file is checked; if in Arizona registry, the signature of the transferor is compared with that of the registered owner on the previous application for title. If everything is found in proper form, title is typed and motor card made at the same time in the new ownership; both title and motor card are then proof read; then countersigned; as a final step, title is delivered to the cashier for delivery to applicant.At the time application for title is made over the counter, a rider is attached to the application, and each clerk initials the step in development for which he or she is responsible. Should difficulty arise later regarding a particular step in such development, it is easily and quickly traceable to the per son responsible for the handling of such phase of the transaction. This we find to be a most salient feature.

When applications are received through the mail, upon opening the mail, a rider is attached and notation made as to whether the fee accompany ing same is in coin, currency, or other wise; the rider is identified by a docu ment number; the fee is then placed in an envelope bearing a corresponding number, and held in a suspense file. After checking and found in proper form, title is developed, and this fee is then pulled from the envelope and placed to the credit of the department. If application develops trouble, the original fee accompanying the application is returned, together with file, to the applicant for further information, thus eliminating need for writing refund checks and putting such receipts through our records. These riders attached to mail applications carry the initials of the clerks responsible for the various phases of development, in the same manner as the counter applications.

There were April 17th applications retained in the "Hold File" for additional information or other papers, 306, in which 83 dealers are involved. We have 186 titles on hand, unclaimed, and second requests for additional information have been sent out from this office covering 198.

NEW UTAH HIGHWAY SHORTENS DISTANCE BETWEEN ZION PARK AND GRAND CANYON

(Continued from page 41) Included in the park section east of the main tunnel, three and one-half miles, is a second tunnel 479 feet long.

Altogether the park section involves the removal of 500,000 cubic yards of unclassified excavation and 76,000 cubic yards of rock from tunnels and galleries; bridges total 400 linear feet.

Construction of the State's section of the project from Mount Carmel Junction to the east boundary of Zion Park commenced May 10, 1928, with 6.6 miles (including Wye connections at Mt. Carmel Junction) under contract to J. T. Ralegh and Lang Transportation Company, of Ventura, California, and ten miles to the Reynolds-Ely Construction Company of Springerville, Utah.

This work, which included grading and structures, is nearly complete at this time (April) and the work of placing the gravel surfacing of the entire section is in progress; this work being under contract to A. G. Young & Company of Richfield, Utah.

The country traversed is rough and broken, covered for the first nine miles with a heavy growth of cedars, thence descending via Meadow Brook and Pine Creek to park line and a tie in with the Bureau of Roads' section. The last four miles are chiefly through rock and amid scenery similar to that which characterizes the park. The contractors found it practicable to commence grading operations at several points along the line except for the last mile and a half, which was quite inaccessible except as construction advanced.

Estimated costs of the State's section are divided as follows:

Of this total the federal aid share is approximately $390,000. Aside from structures and surfacing the major items of work include the moving of 400,000 cubic yards of material of which 75,000 yards are classed as solid rock. This makes a total, with the section in the Park, of nearly 1,000,000 cubic yards of rock and earth to be moved in building this highway.

Construction at the western end of the Park section began October 1, 1927. If no unforeseen obstacles intervene it is considered that the highway will be completed and opened to traffic during the latter part of the present season.

Although it is the scenic and interstate significance of this project that possesses the greatest interest, the local importance of the new road may be briefly noted: There is no rail point in or near Kane County.

From Kanab, the county seat, to the terminus of the Union Pacific branch at Cedar City, the present road crosses the Cedar Breaks plateau at 10,000 ft. elevation. The new highway has a summit crossing nearly 4,000 feet lower, and is also 1500 feet lower than the summit on U. S. Route 89 between Glendale and Panguitch, on the highway connecting Kane county with Marysvale, a branch terminal of the Denver & Rio Grande Westetrn Railroad. The new highway will, therefore, serve as a very satisfactory all-year road for Kane county points.

Young woman customer-I want a pair of garters, please.

Salesman-Something like those you have on?