Arizona Good Roads Association Favors Amendment to State Constitution to Provide Means for Road Financing

Travel To The Grand Canyon

ARIZONA, by reason of having the Grand Canyon within its borders, not only is possessed of the most remarkable of all our splendid national parks, but can boast of a spectacle unquestionably more widely known than any other example of Nature's wonder working in the entire world. There is not a civilized country, where word of the supreme glory of this indescribable tangle of chasms has not penetrated. Those who are touched by that message form the silent resolve to see the Grand Canyon some day. Hence the crowd of visitors inevitably increases year after year, and seemingly with but little regard for those shifting conditions that annually affect so many other major travel currents.

Nearly thirty years have passed since the Grand Canyon was first made easily accessible through the building of the Santa Fe spur line northward from Williams. In that period approximately 1,500,000-a yearly average of 50,000have journeyed to its rims. In 1929 the number exceeded 185,000. In 1930, for the first time, it should pass the 200,000 mark. It requires little imagination to estimate that for the next thirty years the total may well reach ten millions.

Ageless as is the Canyon itself, there are hundreds of Arizonans still living who can measure within the span of their residence nearly all the milestones in its modern history. Vividly the writer's memory travels backward to the days when its only visitors were prospectors of the old breed, disappearing for months at a time among its painted gorges and sunken mountains-stray cattlemen; Hava-supais and Hualapais, wandering Hopis, Piutes and Navajos; the members of a bicycle club from the frontier town of Flagstaff, 65 miles away, or occasional hardy travelers, who paid $20 for a Canyon round trip in a sway-backed four-horse stage coach. Those were the hey-days of the old log structure at Grand View, then the only hotel on the Canyon rims, and of the Grand View "dude" trail, now unused and forgotten; of the curious controversy that gave the railroad branch line to Williams instead of Flagstaff; of the building of the line itself and the subsequent completion of the famous El Tovar and Bright Angel hotels.

It is but twenty-eight years ago since Al Doyle, beloved Arizona pioneer, undertook to guide the first automobile over the rutted wilderness wagon tracks between Flagstaff and the Canyon. Three days later the primitive steam-driven smoke-belching vehicle, with its occupants half dead from exposure and hunger, completed its epoch-making journey behind a span of Pete Berry's mules and was proudly photographed on the very tip of Grand View Point, with the canyon depths as a background. There was then but one other automobile in the great Territory of Arizona and we can forgive these pioneering enthusiasts if they did not envision 37,858 cars, Canyon bound, that in 1929 were to roll ceaselessly over the trailways they had blazed.

Canyon travel by stage coach reached its peak about 1900, only to disappear almost overnight in favor of the infinitely greater speed and comfort of the railroad. The first Grand Canyon passenger train was run on September 18, 1901, and thereafter the railroad dominated the situation for a quarter-century, until in turn reluctantly forced to concede first place to the automobile. By 1926, when the Santa Fe carried 65,501 Canyon passengers, the two were running neck and neck. By 1929 the proportion was two to one in favor of motor transportation. What it will be ten years hence is anybody's guess. And there is still the new factor of travel by airplane to reckon with.

In the face of shrinking passenger travel everywhere, the railroad will do well to maintain a reasonable growth in its own totals. No one, on the other hand, seems as yet to have set a peak for motorists, whose calls apparently will be limited only by the development of all-year approach roads and the scope of Canyon accommodations provided. From a travel standpoint the future of the Grand Canyon lies in the handling of these two major problems.

On the South Rim, which now attracts nearly ninety per cent of the visitors, what the Canyon has to offer may be enjoyed every month of the twelve. Yet until recently motorists approaching the Park boundaries often have faced the inconveniences of winter snows or the short, sharp storms of the summer rainy season. On the North Rim, where the elevation is 1,200 feet higher, approach road conditions often have been even more unfortunate during the four months open season. Happily this situation rapidly is becoming a thing of the past.

Great strides have been made in the last two years in improving not only the roads within the Park itself, but the main arteries of approach. The latter at last figures prominently in a definite and ambitious federal program, already well under way, that promises a complete system of splendid Canyon highways in the very near future. Two results unquestionably will follow: swift increase in the visitors' total and, on the South Rim at least, a heavier growth in winter travel.

Until recent years few people had seen the Grand Canyon from the north. There the rim is nearly 200 miles from the nearest convenient transcontinental railway.

Then came the new Grand Canyon Lodge, on the North Rim opposite El Tovar, and the consequent improvement of the northern approaches. With similar developments occurring at Bryce and Zion National Parks the problem of safe and certain intercommunication between these northern attractions and the main Arizona wonderlands took on added importance.

Between the two lay the Grand Canyon system, the mightiest natural barrier on earth. A letter mailed from Grand View Lodge at El Tovar, in clear sight fourteen miles away, must travel more than 1,000 miles through four states for delivery. Motorists must follow the same circuitous western route or turn eastward to risk hundreds of miles of "natural" desert and mountain roads that included the hazardous crossing of the Colorado River by means of the current-driven scow at Lee's Ferry.

But development in the Grand Canyon region will not be denied. Last June the United States Indian Service, the National Park Service, State and local bodies and 10,000 citizens of Arizona and Utah joined in the dedication of one of the world's engineering triumphs, the mighty Grand Canyon Bridge across Marble Gorge and the Colorado. With the river conquered, good approach roads through magnificently scenic country are only a question of time. The highways of Utah will feed new wealth to the Southwest; and the dammed up travel currents of Arizona will find a longed-for northern outlet. And to the Grand Canyon will come still other worshippers over routes undreamed of a decade ago.

The Tonto National Forest

THE Tonto National Forest, with an area of more than two and onequarter million acres, located in Central Arizona, includes the Sierra Ancha, Mazatzal and Superstition mountain ranges, as well as parts of the watershed basin of the Salt River. This drainage basin is largely included in the Tonto Basin the upper edge of which is formed by a natural barrier known as the Mogollon Rim.

While much of the mountain country on the forest supports a valuable stand of western yellow pine, Douglas fir and white fir timber, there has been included a large area of brush or grass covered foothills reaching down into the semidesert country. This more open country was made a part of the Tonto Forest at the request of the United States Reclamation Service as a means of protecting the watersheds of the Salt River reservoirs which are used in connection with the Salt River Valley irrigation project. This project, covering up to the present time the construction of three dams at a cost of about $18,000,000, furnishes irrigation waters for some 240,000 acres of fertile valley soil on which agricultural crops valued at more than $25,000,000 are produced annually. In addition to the storage of irrigation water, these reservoirs supply power for large hydroelectric plants which furnish electric energy to the Salt River Valley and to the mining towns of Globe, Miami and Superior.

Resources:

The total stand of saw timber on the Tonto Forest is estimated at 593,000,000 board feet. This is mostly western yellow pine, with some Douglas fir and white fir, confined to the region under the Mogollon Rim and at the higher ele-vations in the Sierra Ancha and Mazat-zal Mountains. At present this timber is inaccessible to the general market be-cause of lack of transportation facili-ties. The limited local market is sup-plied by several small portable sawmills. In 1927 a total of 326,000 board feet was cut.

The so-called woodland type, consisting of pinon, juniper and oak, is estimated at 1,087,000 cords. These species are valuable as fuel, posts and poles, for local consumption. In 1927, 518 cords were sold and 2,432 cords were taken under free-use permits.

The forage is an important resource on this forest. In 1927 it supported 50,-000 cattle, 67,000 sheep and 400 head ofhorses, which grazed under permit from the Forest Service. The revenue from this use amounted to $40,000 in that year, and one-fourth of it was returned to the local counties for roads and schools. Some parts of the forest are used chiefly during early spring, when there is a growth of short-lived plants which furnish excellent forage. Peren-nial shrubs and grasses supply feed on other types of range during the sum-mer, fall and winter periods.

horses, which grazed under permit from the Forest Service. The revenue from this use amounted to $40,000 in that year, and one-fourth of it was returned to the local counties for roads and schools. Some parts of the forest are used chiefly during early spring, when there is a growth of short-lived plants which furnish excellent forage. Perennial shrubs and grasses supply feed on other types of range during the summer, fall and winter periods.

The proper control and use of the range in the Salt River watershed portion of the Tonto National Forst has an important bearing on the amount of silting which occurs. This factor has been considered carefully and grazing management plans have been drawn with a view to insuring the greatest possible protection to the watershed.

Administration

For the convenient and proper administration of the forest the Tonto is divided into eight ranger districts, each directly in charge of a ranger, who has his headquarters on the district. The rangers and the forest as a whole are under the direction of a forset supervisor and an assistant forest supervisor, who have headquarters at Phoenix, Arizona. The regular force of district rangers is augmented in the spring and early summer by a force of guards and lookout men employed during the season of forest-fire hazard.

Lookout stations on McFadden and Colcord Peaks and Diamond Point are connected by telephone with the headquarters of the local district ranger so that fires may be reported promptly.

Besides forest-fires detection and suppression a district ranger has a wide variety of duties. Among these are the supervision of grazing on the forest range and the construction and maintenance of trails and secondary or local roads, telephone lines and other improve-ments. The duties of the ranger take him into all parts of his district and he is therefore able to give reliable information to travelers.

The ranger districts on the forest, with the address of each, are as follows: Salt River District, Roosevelt, Ariz. Pine District, Pine, Ariz. Pleasant Valley District, Young, Ariz. Payson District, Payson, Ariz. Sierra Ancha District, Globe, Ariz. Cave Creek District, Cave Creek, Ariz. Verde Dist., P.O. Box, 516, Mesa, Ariz. Mazatzal District, Roosevelt, Ariz.

The three reservoirs on the Salt River formed by dams built for irrigation and water power are an outstanding scenic feature of the Southwest. Beginning with the Roosevelt, the largest of the three, the waters pass next over Apache Lake above the Horse Mesa Dam, and finally reach Canyon Lake above the Mormon Flat Dam, forming a continuous body of water fully 40 miles long in semidesert country where water means life. The azure hue of the sparkling lake waters is in vivid contract with the drab colors of the surrounding desert, and the water pouring over the spillways or the outlet valves below the dams is a refreshing sight. In the lower country the breezes blowing off the waters tend also to reduce the high summer temperature.

The Tonto Natural Bridge

At the northern end of the Tonto Basin, near the settlement of Pine, is the Tonto Natural Bridge. It is formed of calcareous rock resting on limestone walls. The top of the arch is nearly 400 feet in width north and south, while the ends of the bridge are from 125 to 150 feet above Pine Creek. The width of the arch varies from 100 to 150 feet.

In the canyon walls under and beyond the bridge proper are a number of caves. Some are formed of silicate with glistening white stalagmites and stalactites. Above the bridge there is a small waterfall where articles placed in the spray become impregnated with silica, and while retaining their form, become in weight and appearance like the stone itself.

The Mogollon Rim

A few miles to the north of the natural bridge is the Mogollon Rim, which forms the upper line of the Tonto Basin and the northern boundary of the Tonto National Forest. This escarpment rises from a few hundred feet to a thousand feet above the woodland foothills to a pine and fir crested plateau. In winter the contrast is especially interesting, as the lower country at the base of the rim is often free from snow, while up above the trees are crested with hoar frost and the upper edge of the cliffs is sharply outlined by heavy patches and drifts of dazzling white snow.

The old military road along the upper edge of the Mogollon Rim, which was used in pioneer days for travel between the Army posts of Fort Apache on the east and Camp Verde on the west, can scarcely be traversed by automobilesin its present state, but it is well worth a horseback trip for the sake of the view.

Page Fourteen History

The Spaniards discovered this region in 1540. In pioneer times raids by Apaches and other warlike tribes were common. The rough character of the country and the general lack of water and subsistence for man and beast gave the raiding Indians great advantage over the soldiers. Much of the travel between two important Army posts of the early days was maintained over the Fort Apache-Camp Verde wagon road on top of the Mogollon Rim, on what is now the Coconino National Forest. In the eighties one of the bloodiest feuds in the West, the Pleasant Valley War, was waged between cattle and sheep men almost to the extermination of both factions, a total of fifteen lives being lost in the sanguinary conflict.

Evidences of a prehistoric people who inhabitated this region are found ever the entire forest. Picture writings, bits of brightly colored pottery, remains of terraces, reservoirs, irrigation ditches, as well as fragments of sandals, bone, awls, arrowheads and similar objects are mute evidences of a fairly large population in prehistoric days.

The most accessible prehistoric ruins are those on the Tonto National Monument a few miles to the east of Roosevelt post office, just off the Roosevelt Globe highway. The ruins are situated in two drainage areas, the one lying to the the southwest of the auto road being the most frequented by tourists, as it can be reached by trail. The other ruin lies on the west side of the canyon and can be reached only by a scramble over a steep. rocky slope. In the wash below and to the east of this cliff ruin is a spring of cool, clear water which has now been developed for the use of range stock.

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

Both of the ruins show signs of late Indian occupancy, but are undoubtedly of prehistoric origin. They consist of two and three storied walls of adobe, with the supporting beams and lintels of windows and low doors still in place.

Fire

Since a large proportion of the Tonto National Forest is either grass-covered land or brushy slopes where the amount of inflammable litter is large, it is very important that great care be taken to prevent fires. Most of the forest fires in the past have been caused by camp fires left burning or by unextinguished matches or tobacco dropped on the forest floor. Fires started in such ways are preventable, since they are caused by carelessness or intentional disregard of public safety.

May, 1930

Before building a camp fire, Government Forest Service advises, always clear away all rubbish and dry material for a distance of two or three feet from the spot where the fire is to be built. Then dig a trench about 18 inches long, 12 inches wide and 8 inches deep. A fire may be easily built in this trench and there is very little danger that a sudden gust of wind will blow the sparks into the surrounding litter. When leaving camp, bury the fire under fresh earth devoid of twigs and needles, or drench it thoroughly with water.

Lighted matches and cigarette stubs should be pinched out, and pipe heels should be deposited only in places where there is no inflammable material.

The practice of these safeguards will keep the forest green to enjoy from year to year. If a fire is accidentally started it can usually be put out while small with very little difficulty. If, however, the fire becomes too large to be handled, the local ranger should be notified promptly. Since the national forests are public property, any service rendered in their protection is not only a public duty but a public benefit as well.

Need For Improvement of Secondary Roads Stressed By U. S. Bureau Chief in Radio Talk

Need for improvement on secondary roads was stressed in a radio talk recently by Thomas H. MacDonald, Chief of the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads.

Mr. MacDonald pointed out that the need for money is not so pressing as the need for greater efficiency in county and township road construction, other wise termed as farm to market roads.

Mr. MacDonald said in part: "When people speak of farm-to-market roads, I often wonder just what kind of roads there may be that are not properly to be described as farm-to-market roads. It puzzles me a little, because I have always thought of all our rural roads as farm-to-market roads; and the more I study the character of highway traffic, the more am I convinced that that is right.

"To be sure, there are some roads that serve not much traffic except that which originates on the farms, and some that carry a tremendous traffic; and, by and large, it has been my observation that the city roads are likely to serve also the heaviest farm traffic, and are, therefore, the most important farm-to-market roads.

"Certainly it is true that the farmers' markets for buying as well as selling are in the cities; and the bigger the city the better the market. So I think the principal distinction to be drawn between roads is one rather of importance than of kind. And when my friends tell me that "really we shall have to do something about the farm-to-market roads, the local or secondary roads as they are called. And so it is.

"It is time to extend to the secondary or local roads some more effective improvement, and I am sure the time has arrived when the more effective improvement will be extended. It not only will be done; it is being done, and the process is already well advanced. There are very definite reasons why progress in the improvement of the secondary roads under the supervision of

Secondary roads under the supervision of

the local authorities has been slow in the past.

"First, there has been a lack of order and plan in the efforts of the local authorities and their organization and equipment for the work have been seriously deficient. I wonder how many people realize that nearly half of the do have at least the most essential equipment and the basis of an engineering or ganization, not more than half again are really adequately equipped and organized to handle the difficult task of buiding roads for modern traffic.

"Thus poorly equipped, these counties have been trying, year after year, to improve all of their local roads,