Histories

The following extracts from the Alta California published during the month of April, 1864, present a summary of the condition and prospects of the mining region of the Colorado. It says:

In consequence of movements in San Francisco to secure the full and cheap navigation of the Colorado River, mining operations throughout that section are being pushed with energy. Many tunnels and inclines are being run, and shafts sunk. Assays of different ores indicate values per ton of $85, $170, $70, and $30. One mill is already at work, crushing chiefly gold ores, and arrangements are in progress for the erection of a first-class mill, with the necessary machinery for working silver ores, near the mouth of the river. Large piles of rich ore have been taken out of the various tunnels and shafts, of which there are nine mentioned in the report before us. Extensive discoveries of salt, free from impurities, have been made. It is found in veins similar to the mineral veins, underlying at an angle of 45 degrees, and varying in width from eighteen inches to three feet. Discoveries of coal are also reported. Several mining districts are organized, the San Francisco, Williams's Fork, La Paz, etc. The mines on the extreme lower river are chiefly valuable for copper; farther up, silver and gold predominate. The San Francisco Mining Press, from the columns of which we condense the above, closes its article thus:

"The river, which is now attracting a large share of attention, is destined to become one of the most important rivers on the Pacific coast. Its topography and general characteristics are certainly most remarkable. Taking its rise, as we have already said, in the Pike's Peak mining region, it constitutes simply a mountain stream until it reaches the vicinity of Black Canon, about eighty miles above El Dorado Canon. From this point to its mouth, a distance of a little over 600 miles, this river is navigable for river steamers of a small draught; and for 500 miles of this distance the entire country is rich in minerals - gold, silver, and copper - down to its very banks, and to an unknown and unexplored distance into the interior. All kinds of miners' supplies will soon be delivered along this river, via the Gulf of California, for a price not greater than that now charged for the delivery of goods at Nevada City or Placerville. Freight has already been delivered at La Paz for three cents per pound."

The Alta California then famishes the following detailed description of the mining districts upon the Colorado, and the modes of working in use there:

The mining districts on the banks of the Lower Colorado continue to preserve their attractions for s considerable number of miners who have been in them for several years. They have as yet produced little bullion, but they promise to increase in importance, and to furnish no small portion of the gold, silver, and copper crop of this coast.

The Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California in latitude 31° 40, and for ninety-five miles above that point the river runs through a low plain. At Fort Yuma, as we ascend the river, the mineral region commences. The various districts are as follows:

I. Yuma or Pichaco District, on the western side of the river, near Fort Yuma. There may be 100 miners, mostly Mexicans, engaged in dry washing for placer gold. There are some rich lodes of silver and copper, and a few veins of auriferous quartz.

II. Castle Dome District, on the eastern side of the Colorado, between that stream and the Gila. There may be 100 miners here engaged in silver mining. The ores are rich, but they are from eighteen to thirty-five miles from the river. Some furnaces are now building for smelting the ores. The chief town is Castle Dome City, which has four or five houses, and is thirty miles above Fort Yuma, by the river.

III. Eureka District, on the eastern side of the Colorado, twenty-five miles, by land, above Fort Yuma, is twenty-eight miles long on the river bank, and twelve miles wide. There are 100 miners there, of whom a majority are Mexicans. The mines are silver, lead, and copper, and. very near the river. The country or bed rock is granite and slate; the silver veins are in pink and white quartz ; the lodes are from two to ten feet thick. The chief town is Williamsport, which contains one stone house and many tents, and is forty-five miles, by the river, above Fort Yuma.

IV. Weaver District, on the eastern side of the river, ninety miles above Fort Yuma. The mines are copper, silver, and gold. The principal town is Olive City, which has twenty houses, and is 150 miles, by the river, above Fort Yuma. The ledges which are now being worked are situated at from six to fifteen miles of the steam-boat landing at Olive City. Among these are the Great Central, Colorado, Blue Ledge, American Pioneer, Weaver, Henry Barnard, and others.

V. La Paz District, on the eastern bank of the Colorado, 100 miles above Fort Yuma. It contains 500 miners, who are engaged in silver, copper, and lead veins, and in gold placers. There are some Mexican smelting furnaces at La Paz, the chief town of the district, and ore is regularly shipped to San Francisco. La Paz City has 150 houses, and is 155 miles, by the river, from Fort Yuma.

VI. Chemahueva District, on the western side of the river, opposite La Paz.

VII. El Dorado Canyon District, on the western side of the river, 250 miles, by land, above Fort Yuma, contains a population of about 300 miners, and has some rich silver and copper lodes.

There are several other districts along the river, but some of them are almost unknown save to a few prospectors, who are wandering about in them. The Walker Placer Mines, on the foot-hills of the San Francisco Mountains, are 150 miles east of La Paz. The diggings are good there, but the Indians are troublesome. Persons bound for those mines, from California, usually go through La Paz.

Freight for the Colorado mines, from San Francisco, goes by sailing vessels, in a voyage of three or four weeks ordinarily, to the mouth of the Colorado, at a cost of $20 per ton. There are four steam-boats on the Colorado River; and they charge $25 per ton to Williamsport, and $75 to La Paz, from the mouth. The stream is about 350 yards wide, and the channel averages five feet deep, but it has a swift current, and a bed of quicksand, which is constantly shifting. In the dry season, the steamers have much difficulty above Williamsport in ascending the rapid stream, in which no experience can enable a pilot to know where the channel will be tomorrow, however familiar he may be with it to-day. The steamers take six days in low water in going from the mouth up to La Paz. It is thought the price of freight will fall, in consequence of competition and opposition. Flour at La Paz is worth $9 per 100 pounds.

There is not a good silver mill in the whole Colorado county, and not one mine is opened so that a large amount of ore could be supplied at a short time, but the vein stone is known to be good. The Apache Chief and the Providencia Mines, in the La Paz District, and the Carmel, in the Eureka District, among others, have shipped ores to this city. The Arizona Company, in the Eureka District, has sent down sacks to hold 500 tons of their ore, rich argentiferous galena, which is to be shipped. The Margarita, River, Norma, Enterprise, Rockford, Gray Eagle, Cache Knob, Cocomongo, and Rosario, of the same district, have smelted rich ores in Mexican furnaces. The ores of the two last-named mines yielded seventy ounces of silver to the ton.

The silver ores of the Colorado Valley, or nearly all of them, contain large quantities of either copper or lead, both of them unfitted for amalgamation. No attempt has yet been made to reduce the cupriferous ores; those are either neglected or shipped to Europe. The chief attention of the miners is turned, therefore, to the argentiferous galena. That found in the Cache Knob and Arizona Mines contains sixty per cent, of lead and sixty to 100 ounces of silver to the ton. This and similar ores are reduced by smelting, which is managed by Mexicans in the rudest manner.

The rock is crushed, not with stamps or arastras, but between two flat stones, the upper one being worked by hand. Some of the workmen stop when there are no pieces of ore larger than a hazel-nut, and others will not have a piece larger than a pea; very few insist on reducing the ore to a fine flour, as is done in good silver mills. The finer the ore, the quicker the smelting, and the more thorough the separation of the metal.

The furnace is built of stone and adobes, ten feet long, four feet wide, and eight feet high. The inside is lined with clay mixed with bone-dust, this being the best material to be had there for resisting the action of the fire. The bellows is worked by hand. It is made of canvas, and has two horizontal chambers, each about as wide and half as long as a barrel. These two chambers or bellows are put on a level with a man's breast; and the workman pulls out the board end of one bellows, while he pushes in the board end of the other. Each chamber has its own pipe, but the two unite, and thus, by the alternate movements of the arms, a constant stream of air is kept up.

The fuel used in smelting is charcoal, made of mesquite, which gives a fire of intense heat. Twenty-five or thirty pounds of ore are put in at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes, and at the end of an hour and a half or two hours they tap the furnace, let out the metal, clean out the slag, and commence anew. The metal which has run out, called a plancha, weighs from 125 to 150 pounds, and contains only about one half of one per cent, of silver to ninety-five per cent, of lead, with a few other base substances.

After all the ore on hand is smelted, refining commences. Two or three planchas are put into the furnace and melted, and kept at a high heat. The lead* turns to litharge, which is raked off, and, as the molten metal decreases in quantity, more planchas are added, until the lead has all been converted into litharge, and the silver remains pure enough to be sent to the market. The litharge is worth seven cents per pound, and brings nearly as much as the silver.

There are numerous furnaces of this kind in the Colorado region, nearly all of them worked by Mexicans. It is plain that, if ore will pay for such working, there must be silver in it. The Mexicans offer to pulverize, smelt, and refine for $40 per ton. Some Frenchmen at Olive City have a better class furnace, and rumor says they are doing well. The Americans are anxious to get stamps and good furnaces. The Recorder of the Eureka District, Mr. Spann, is now in this city for the purpose of getting fire-brick for furnaces, for the clay and bone-dust will not last long in a heat hot enough to smelt silver.

The Colorado valley may not be equal to Paradise for a home, but it is rich in silver, and silver mines arc not generally found in the most fertile valleys and the most genial climes. There are probably no silver mines in the world so near the level of the sea as those at Eureka.

1890 History

Page 47

The possibilities of agricultural development in Yuma County have been demonstrated at the ranch of H. W. Blaisdell, about eight miles east of Yuma. Mr. Blaisdell upon a bare piece of "desert" land has for a number of years been engaged in the cultivation of hundreds of varieties of trees and shrubs with special reference to their adaptability to the locality, and has so improved a thirty-acre tract as to make it one of the sights of Yuma. Irrigating water is furnished in abundance by a well, fitted with a centrifugal pump of a capacity of about forty miner's inches flow. One of the four Agricultural Department experimental stations has here been established, and under the superintendency of Professor Gulley, of the University of Arizona, valuable results may be expected from the critical observation of the details of vegetable growth.

Page 49 – MINING.

The first mining operations ever conducted in Yuma County were by Colonel Snively on some placers located on the Gila river, about twenty miles from its mouth, in 1858. These are now being re-worked. Excellent placers were found at La Paz, on the Colorado, four years later, and in many of the washes gold digging has been prosecuted with success for many years, during the rainy season. Several millions of dollars have been extracted from the auriferous sands of the County, and the industry is still flourishing. Should any of the many "dry washers" prove effective, there is no portion of the world where their use would become so general and profitable as in Southwestern Arizona.

The major portion of the great expanse of Yuma County, occupying the triangular space between the Colorado and Gila rivers, is occupied by rough, parched and barren mountain ranges, generally of but inconsiderable heighth. They are unique for the most part in the fact that they rise abruptly, without foothills, from the level plain and have no connection with any other similar elevations. They are buttes, rather than mountains or mountain chains.

As might be imagined, the difficulties of prospecting in these waterless hills are many, yet the research that has been made has disclosed many bodies of ore that will become valuable whenever reached by any adequate system of transportation.

The most important mining district is located in the northeastern part of the county, in the Haqua Hala mountains. In a recent issue of the Yuma Times the following excellent resume of operations in this district was given:

"The Haqua Hala mines were located on November 11, 1888, by Harry Walton, Robert Stein and Mike Sullivan. C. H. Gray bought Sullivan's interest, Walton sold to R. F. Kirkland and Tom Cochran, and Stein sold his interest to A. G. Hubbard. Two or three other parties acquired interests. About a year ago one Horne jumped the Golden Eagle claim, since which time thousands of dollars have been spent in lawsuits. The principal claims are in two camps, Harrisburg and Bonanza. They are all free-milling gold quartz, and run from $5 to $500 to the ton. It is said that Horne took out of one small hole in the Golden Eagle claim $5000 in a short time. About two months ago A. G. Hubbard and George W. Bowers bought the interest of C. H. Gray in the Bonanza group for $50,000 cash. The interests of several others were acquired at the same time. Litigation ended and the district took a new lease of prosperity. A twenty-stamp mill was at once contracted for together with the necessary pipe to supply water from a point six miles distant. The mill will be constructed so that forty stamps can be put in if necessary. In addition to the mill will be two hoisting plants capable of working 1000 feet depth. The deepest working at present is 200 feet. The present owners have taken out about $80,000, and the completion of their mill, water works, road making and purchase of claims will involve an expenditure of $275,000. It is believed the cost of mining and milling will be about $3 per ton.

"Harrisburg has a postoffice and several stores. A ten-stamp mill is also located here, which does custom work. The water works supply the needs of both camps. Harris & Bates and Major Clay are among the principal owners. The point of supply for this district has heretofore been Phoenix, but as the distance from Aztec, Yuma County, is only about fifty miles, as against one hundred from Phoenix, supplies are now going that way. The Yuma Supervisors recently authorized some money to be spent in improving the road between Aztec and Haqua Hala and the mine owners also contributed enough so that the road could be put in good condition. There are now employed in this district over one hundred men, which number will soon be increased. Those interested in Haqua Hala have great faith in its future."

South of Haqua Hala is Centennial District, containing many excellent properties, mostly of free-milling gold ore. Water and wood are easily to be had, and an early development is probable.

Up the Colorado river are a number of mineral deposits of large extent, the best developed being in Silver District, about forty miles north of Yuma. The ores are silver and lead, and somewhat refractory. There is one mill in the district, but it is idle, the ores being brought to Yuma and shipped to a California smelter.

There is no mining boom on in any part of the County, but development is active in all parts. With the accession of an agricultural population along the rivers mining will not be neglected, but will contribute in a most appreciable degree to the prosperity of the County's residents.

Page 51 - SETTLEMENT.

There is but one considerable settlement, the County seat, Yuma, located below the junction of the Colorado and Gila, at the point where the Southern Pacific Railroad enters the Territory from California. It has now about 1200 inhabitants, mostly Americans, of an excellent class. From the issue of the Yuma Times of January 1st the following description of the town and its industries is taken:

"Owing to the high prices of lumber the principal building material is adobe (sun-dried bricks), which is well adapted for this climate, where little rain falls. With few exceptions the buildings are one-story, with thick walls and flat roofs, giving a somewhat oriental appearance. The court house is a large one-story adobe building constructed about thirteen years ago. The school district owns a fine, large lot, but the present building is too small, and will no doubt be replaced by a roomy brick building soon. The Catholic is the only church organization represented with a building, and has also a convent school conducted by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. The Ancient Order of United Workmen is the only secret benevolent order having an organization, and it also owns a comfortable building containing a lodge hall.

"The Southern Pacific Railroad Company makes Yuma its division headquarters for this portion of its line. It has a large freight yard and keeps great quantities of road supplies, such as ties, rails, coal and ice. The company also owns the water-works, which supply its own needs and a good part of the town. A pumping plant on the bank of the river keeps a large reservoir filled, where the muddy water of the Colorado settles and becomes clear and sweet. The company has a twelve-stall round house, freight depot, cottages for employees, also a reading-room for employees, together with water tanks and a number of other buildings.

"The Arizona Territorial Penitentiary is located at Yuma and disburses between $50,000 and $60,000 a year in the town. This institution is located on high ground, having the Colorado on the north side and the Gila on the east. About three acres of ground have been leveled o f for the necessary buildings. The buildings are made of stone and adobe and are surrounded by a high, thick wall of the same materials. Outside the walls are the superintendent's residence, office, stables, etc. The prison has its own water-works and electric lights. The average number of prisoners is about 150. Blacksmith and machine shops, carpenter shop, tin shop, shoe shop, tailor shop and laundry, together with grading give employment to the men most of the time. Many of them have become very skillful in the manufacture of fine laces, canes and inlaid woodwork. A proposition is now on foot to employ prison labor in preparing wild hemp for market. This plant grows wild over thousands of acres south of Yuma and has a fibre superior to manilla.

"Yuma carries on considerable trade with the country to the northward by means of the steamers of the Colorado Steam Navigation Company. The business is carried on with two large steamers and a number of barges. Monthly trips are made as far north as El Dorado Canon, in the State of Nevada, 600 miles from Yuma. At Needles connection is made with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. Steamers take provisions, mining machinery and various supplies to the different points and take away their bullion and ores. A voyage up the Colorado is a delightful recreation and can be recommended to those who are tired of the worn out lines of travel. The scenery is magnificent, and many places of interest can be seen.

"Yuma is a port of entry and a custom-house is maintained, though little business now passes through it.

"Nearly every branch of business is represented in Yuma. Everything in the necessary line can be obtained at reasonable prices, considering our remoteness from general markets."

There are two able weekly newspapers published. The Yuma Sentinel was the pioneer of such enterprises in Arizona, having been established in 1871. It is published by Hon. John Dorrington. The Yuma Times is a sprightly sheet that made its appearance a year ago, and appears to prosper under the management of the Yuma Publishing Company.

Ehrenburg, in the northwestern part, in early days was the ferrying point upon the Colorado river for the greater portion of the traffic of Northern and Central Arizona, but since the coming of the railroad, has lapsed into a small mining hamlet. The canal operations in the Gila Valley have caused the starting of a few stores at different points along the Southern Pacific, but they can as yet hardly be termed any more than stations.

A description of the county would not be complete without a reference to the Yuma Indians, who in sparse raiment form an important and picturesque feature of the landscape. They are as peaceable as a like number of whites, and, though not energetic, except when in chase of the fleeting jack-rabbit, are not averse to earning an honest quarter-of-a-dollar by the performance of the many odd jobs around the local residences. They live along the bottoms of the Colorado river for many miles, a large reservation occupying the northwestern part of the County, set aside for the benefit of the Yumas, Mojaves and Cocopahs. The latter tribe are far superior to the generality of the Territory's Indians. All are self-supporting.

The town of Yuma is ambitious in the extreme, relying much upon her position, at the "Gateway of Arizona," for future prominence. In addition to the railroad it now has, there is a line projected to connect the Atlantic and Pacific with the Southern Pacific, another to Silver District, another to Port Isabel, on deep water at the mouth of the Colorado, and another, the Cuyamaca road, from San Diego. The last named is now in process of construction, and there is little doubt of its completion within a few years. It is proposed to extend it, on the line of the old Scott survey, up the Gila and Salt rivers, through Phoenix and eastward to Silver City, and the project may eventually be consummated.

But, aside from these, the capabilities of the County for agriculture will alone place her upon a high plane of prosperity, and upon the tillage of the soil does she found her greatest hopes for success.

Source: Arizona, The Land of Sunshine and Silver, Health and Prosperity, the Place for Ideal Homes, by John A Black, published in 1890

1891 History

Yuma County is in the extreme southwest of the Territory. Its western boundary is the great Colorado River; its northern, Mohave County; its eastern, Maricopa and part of Pima County; and its southern, Sonora. It contains about 10,180 square miles. The only really fertile portion of the county is that through which the Gila River flows. The rest is arid and treeless and destitute of water, except a few stretches along the Colorado River. In the northeast portion there are some very fine grass lands. Yuma, the county seat, lies on the Colorado just below where the Gila joins it. A mission was established there by the Jesuit Fathers in 1771, but the Indians soon laid it in ruins. A ferry was established there in 1849 to accommodate the crowds who were flocking to the California gold mines over the Southern route, but that scheme, too, was frustrated by the raids of the Apaches. A second attempt, made the following year, to set the ferry running, also resulted in failure. In 1852 Fort Yuma was established by Colonels Heintzelman and Stevenson, and the ferry again started. It was maintained by the protection afforded by the fort until the Southern Pacific Railroad Company spanned the river with a bridge, when, of course, the usefulness of the ferry ceased. The town did quite an amount of shipping of freight to Tucson and the various military forts of the Territory for a time, but that business stopped when the railway came through, and now Yuma has to depend on the comparatively limited trade with the surrounding country. Two of its most important institutions, at the present time, are the Territorial prison and the Arizona Sentinel, and both are doing excellent work - though on entirely different lines. The old fort has been abandoned to decay, there being no longer any necessity for its maintenance by the Government.

Source: Arizona, A Comprehensive Review of It's History, Counties, Principal Cities, Resources and Prospects, Together with Notices of the Business Men and Firms Who Have Made the Territory, by H C Stinson, published in 1891

1907 History

Page 4

Arizona remained under Spanish rule until 1821, when Mexico gained her independence. In 1816, during the war between the United States and Mexico, General Kearny, with his dragoons, crossed the southern part of what is now Arizona, following the Gila River to its junction with the Colorado, on his way to California.

Following Kearny, in the same year, came a battalion of Mormon troops who entered the present bounds of Arizona near the southeast corner, and, following the Gila and San Pedro rivers, crossed the Colorado near what is now Yuma, establishing the first wagon route across the southern Cordilleras.

Page 19 - Other Minerals.

The Castle Dome district, northeast of Yuma, yields very pure lead, which is shipped to San Francisco to be manufactured into paint. The rare metal, tungsten, valuable for toughening steel, is found in considerable quantities in the mountains north of Dragoon. Quicksilver occurs a few miles east, of Ehrenberg. Beds of gypsum 200 feet thick are found in the Santa Catalina Mountains, and gypsum occurs in many other localities.

Page 20 - Fruit Growing.

In northern Arizona and in the higher valleys of the mountain region, apples, cherries, pears, and peaches of excellent quality are grown. In the Salt and Gila valleys, apricots, grapes, and plums grow to perfection. Superior oranges and lemons are produced in the Salt River valley and near Yuma. The oranges ripen early, and therefore command high prices in eastern markets. Figs, almonds, and pomegranates grow well in the warmer sections, and strawberries are a profitable crop. Olives raised near Phoenix yield the highest grades of oil. The raising of dates has been proven a success, the trees requiring little care, and producing heavily.

Page 23

The rivers of Arizona are not suited to navigation. Light-draught steamers can usually ascend the Colorado as far as Yuma, but little or no traffic is carried on by this means.

Page 29

Yuma (population 2500 in 1907) is the shipping point for the rich farming and fruit-raising district of the lower Colorado River, and is the base of supplies for the mines of the Castle Dome, Fortuna, and other districts.

1913 Yuma

The first copper smelter in the State, built of adobe bricks, is said to have been located at the Ajo mines in Yuma County, and to have been operated about 1852. [page 8]

In transportation facilities Arizona is well to the front, having within its limits more than two thousand miles of railroad, consisting of great trunk lines, branch lines connecting all the important cities and mining camps, and intimate connection with Mexican business. The first railroad to build through the State was the Southern Pacific, which entered from the west at Yuma in 1878, and extends across the southern portion. The Atlantic & Pacific, now a portion of the Santa Fe, was built five years later. Next in importance is the El Paso & Southwestern, with lines now reaching many of the important cities, one into Tucson recently opened, and others building. [page 11]

Yuma County, one of the four original sub-divisions of the Territory of Arizona, has been almost totally dependent on mining and cattle raising as sources of revenue, but with the installation of the Yuma project, one of the greatest of irrigation projects, it is confidently expected that its agricultural possibilities will be thoroughly developed, and fanning assume the place as one of the county's resources that it can only where there is the amount of sunshine and growing weather that Yuma County affords. This land in its natural state is comparatively worthless, the rainfall at Yuma being only 2.50 inches per annum, but supplied with abundant water by irrigation, it becomes the most fruitful in the world. The Yuma Valley and the South Gila Valley and the Yuma Mesa are parts of the Gadsden purchase, having been acquired by the United States from Mexico shortly after the close of the Mexican war, at which time the boundary line between the two countries was definitely and permanently fixed. That part of the Yuma project lying north of the Gila river and on the Arizona side of the river were acquired from Mexico by conquest, in the war of 1847-48. These five parcels of land, the Indian reservation on the California side of the river, the North Gila, the South Gila, the Yuma Mesa and the Yuma Valley on the Arizona side of the Colorado, make up the Yuma project, or the land which is to be irrigated by water taken from the Colorado at Laguna dam.

The greatest development under the Yuma project has taken place, up to this time, in the Yuma Valley, that part of the project lying immediately south of the town of Yuma. This valley contains some 53,000 acres. It extends from the corporate limits of Yuma to the Mexican line, twenty-one miles down the river, and is bounded on the west by the Colorado, and on the east by the mesa. Practically all of this land is in private ownership. There is some school land which can be leased from the state, and a few T scattered small tracts of government land and Indian holdings.

Since the completion of the siphon, under the Colorado river, and the turning of the water through that giant concrete tube, June 28, 1912, gravity water has been furnished by the Reclamation Service to those farms and to all others that were ready to receive the water. The water is now cheap and abundant for this valley. Dozens of farmers are engaged in clearing and levelling their land, and it is believed that 15,000 acres of land in the Yuma Valley will be in cultivation during the season of 1913. More land will be brought in, year by year, until every acre of this unit of the project will be contributing its part to the fruitfulness and prosperity of the valley. The Yuma Valley part of the project will be the first of the project on the Arizona side of the river to be completed.

The land in the North Gila Valley, about 15,000 acres, is largely in private ownership, although there is some government land which will be thrown open to entry when the project is completed. These lands are now receiving water from Laguna dam, and the development of this beautiful valley is well under way.

The lands covered by this project are most favorably situated for agriculture, the soil and climate being unsurpassed, and the water supply unlimited. In the bottom lands the following products may be grown with excellent yields: barley, corn, alfalfa, wheat, milo maize, alfalfa seed, potatoes, onions and other vegetables, cantaloupes, Egyptian and upland cotton. It is also a most favorable dairy country. Figs, dates, grapes, and various fruits are grown in small quantities, the returns indicating that good results can be obtained with this class of crop, and it is anticipated that the areas now covered by these products will be extended. At the present time there is one citrus grove of about 75 acres, on the mesa, producing grape fruit and oranges of a very high quality. Because of the dry climate, the Arizona trees are remarkably free from scale and other kindred diseases which affect these growths in less favored spots.

The value of land in this section has already increased rapidly. That worth from $15 to $50 an acre seven years ago is now worth from $60 to $200, as people realize that the water supply is cheap, abundant and permanent, and there will be further notable increases in these values. There are thousands of acres of land in Southern California on which are grown orange and lemon orchards and walnut groves, that are selling in the open market from $1,000 to $2,500 an acre, and that produce an income that makes the investment attractive in that high-priced land. The great need of Yuma County is capital and real farmers.

Of this irrigation project which is to mean so much to the future of Yuma County, the following by F. L. Sellew, engineer of the project, is very comprehensive and to date:

“The Yuma Irrigation Project is one of the results of the Reclamation Act passed by Congress in June, 1902. Developments under way and now about 75 per cent, completed, provide for the irrigation of approximately 140,000 acres, 16,000 acres being in California, along the Colorado river, and the remainder on the opposite side of the stream, in Arizona. The principal features of the work are: Laguna Dam, nearly one mile in length, which provides for the diversion of water from the river about fourteen miles above Yuma; over 400 miles of main and lateral canals, ranging in capacity from 1,700 second-feet to 10 second-feet; an inverted siphon of 14 feet internal diameter, conveying the water from the main canal, under the Colorado river; numerous canal structures, and some seventy-five miles of levee for the defense of the bottom lands against the periodic rises of the stream.

"The water supply from the Colorado river is unfailing; the lowest known discharge of the stream being 2,700 second-feet, which lasted but a few days. Seldom is the discharge lower than 5,000 second-feet for any material period. In freshets the volume rises, at times, to 150,000 second-feet.

"The government works, which control the diversion of water and its delivery to the farms, are of the most permanent and lasting character. Laguna Dam creates no storage, is merely for the purposes of diversion and to furnish the means by which silt may be removed from the water before the supply enters the canals, and later, sluiced back to the river below the dam. The structure is practically 250 feet broad across its base, resting upon alluvial deposits of the stream, except at its ends, where it is firmly connected to the rock abutments. The down-stream side of the structure is protected from damage by erosive currents by a substantial apron, composed of rock from one to two tons in weight. About ten miles below the dam a drop of ten feet occurs, which is at present accomplished by means of a siphon spillway. Later a power plant will be constructed at this point from which about 1,200 horse power of electric energy may be developed. Some 2,000 feet above the entrance to the Colorado siphon, a waste-way is constructed, leading to the Colorado river. This makes an advantageous point of control for the bulk of the project. Control at this point also allows a uniform quantity to run through the wheels at the powerhouse above, giving a constant load on the plant.

"This structure was completed in March, 1909. In June of that year the annual freshet was sending 150,000 second-feet over its crest. The floods of 1909 and 1912 are probably as large as any that have ever come down the Colorado River, and it is unlikely that the future will see them greatly exceeded. The main canal, which originates at the Arizona end of the structure, provides for but a few thousand acres of ground above Yuma, crossed by the Gila River. This canal has a capacity of 250 second-feet, and concrete gates control the various lateral canals which receive their supply from it. Although the bulk of the land to be irrigated is in Arizona, the main canal leaves the dam from the California end, because on this side was found the most favorable route."

The cold wave which swept over the entire Southwest in January, 1913, and did such damage to many orange groves, left the Yuma orange orchards unscathed, neither the trees nor the fruit having been damaged in the least. In addition to this evidence that the orange lands here are absolutely frostless, this freeze demonstrated that the valley lands under the Yuma project are safe for orange culture. Two nurseries of orange trees from two to three years old and from three to five feet high, located in the coldest spots in the valley, passed through that trying period without damage and the early spring finds them in full fruit and flower. [pages 78-82]

1915 History

For several years the Territory of Arizona and the State of California carried on a dispute as to which one the land upon which the city of Yuma was located belonged. In a preceding volume an account of the location of a survey of the town is given, and it will be remembered that this survey was filed in the proper Government office at San Diego, California. This led to the dispute as to whether the Territory of Arizona or the State of California owned this particular piece of land. Bancroft, in his History of Arizona & New Mexico, speaking of the matter, says: "It had doubtless been the original intention that the Colorado River should be the boundary between Arizona and Calilfornia, but owing to a peculiar bend of the river, the lines as correctly surveyed from the Gila junction towards San Diego, left a small area south and west of the Colorado opposite Fort Yuma, technically in California. On this area was a considerable amount of desirable property, including the Ferry Buildings."

"The Arizoan Legislature indiscreetly asked Congress for the land in 1864-65; California took the hint; the property was desired by both Yuma and San Diego counties, and a spirited controversy was carried on from about 1867, each claimant ridiculing the other's absurd pretesnions. In 1871 there seems to have been some kind of a decision at Washington in favor of Arizona, and after 1873 I find no trace of the dispute." [Volume 4, Page 203]

About the year 1862 King S. Woolsey and George Martin bought the Agua Caliente ranch from a man by the name of Jacobson and his partner, for eighteen hundred dollars in gold. Around the springs, for some distance, was a kind of cienega, an oasis in the desert, where the grass grew green and fresh, and it was a favorite camping place for teamsters en route to Tucson and other points in the Territory. Woolsey and Martin wer the first to take out a ditch on private account for irrigating purposes. This ditch is still in existence, and was afterward the subject of litigation between the widow of King Woolsey, and Neahr, which litigation will be treated fully further on in this history. The biography of King Woolsey has been given in a previous volume, and from members of his family and others I have been able to secure the following in regard to Mr. Martin:

George Martin was one of the earliest settlers of the Territory and identified to a great extent with its subsequent history. He was born in Loughrea, County Galway, Ireland, on teh 4th of July, 1832, and received his education in his native land at the Jesuit schools and through private tuition. He came to America in 1851, and enlisted in the Second United States Infantry in New York, coming to California the following year. He remained in the army until 1856, his knowledge of drugs gaining him the position of hospital steward. After his discharge from the army in 1856, Mr. Martin located in Yuma, assuming control of the sutler's store at that place, which position he held until 1859. When the placer mines were discoverd at Gila City, he opened a general merchandise store, taking advantage of the need for supplies. After the war between the states broke out he went into partnership with King S. Woolsey on the Agua Caliente ranch, and at the end of three yars disposed of his interest in the ranch to Woolsey. He then entered the employ of Hooper & Company at Yuma, having charge of their store there until 1872, when he established a drug business in Yuma, which he transferred to Tucson in January, 1884. He was a resident of that city until the time of his death. He was prominent in local affairs, serving as county supervisor and county treasurer of Yuma County, and also as city treasurer and member of the city council of Yuma.

While a resident of Yuma Mr. Martin married Miss Delfina Redondo, a daughter of Stevan Redondo, one of the leading men of Sonora, Mexico, and a member of an old Spanish family. To Mr. and Mrs. Martin were born eight children; one of them, Andrew, served in the Upper House of the second State Legislature of Arizona.

Mr. Martin died in Los Angeles, California, March 30th, 1907, and is buried in Tucson. [Volume 4, Page 277]

Source: History of Arizona, by Thomas E. Farish, published in 1915, volume 4 of 8 volumes.

Newspaper Articles

Arizona Sentinel

"The fourth newspaper started in Arizona was the Arizona Sentinel at Yuma. The plant was owned by James M. Barney and Judge Wm. J. Berry was the editor. The Sentinel was started in November, 1870. In 1875 J. M. Barney sold the plant to John W. Dorrington. It was republican in politics from start to finish. Mr. Dorrington sold the old Sentinel in 1911 to W. H. Shorey, owner of the Yuma Examiner, with which paper it was consolidated by Mr. Shorey." Arizona Newspapers Past and Present, by A. F. Banta

Weekly Arizonian, 03 Mar 1859

Shooting Affray. At the Overland Mail station near Fort Yuma, not long since, a shooting affray took place between Edward George, and a man named Buchanan. George was badly wounded and Buchanan killed.

Weekly Arizonian, 24 Mar 1859

Table of Distances. For the benefit of travelers, we give the following table of distances between the stations on the Overland Mail Route from San Francisco to St. Louis, via Arizona: San Francisco to Clark's 12, ....
Fort Yuma to Swiveler's 20, Fillibuster Camp 18, Peterman's 19, Griswell's 12, Flap Jack Rancho 15, Oatman Flat 20, Murderer's Grave 20, Gila Ranche 17, Maricopa Wells 40, Socatoon 22, Picachio 37, Pointer Mountain 22, Tucson 18. Total 280 miles; time 71 hours 45 minutes.

Weekly Arizonian, 07 Apr 1859

Horses Stolen. On the night of the 1st of March, five horses were stolen from the corral of Mr. Yerger, near Fort Yuma. The thieves were supposed to be Mexicans.

Decatur Republican, Thursday, 31 Mar 1870

Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas

The telegraph brings the announcement of the death of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, of the United States army. This event, which will cast a sadness into millions of American hearts, occurred suddenly at San Francisco, California, on the evening of the 28th last. Gen. Thomas was in San Francisco in the performance of his official duties, having been for about a year in command of the Department of the Pacific. He died, suddenly, of apoplexy.

George Henry Thomas was born in the month of July, 1816, and had, therefore, reached the ripe age of full and vigorous manhood with all its powers at full development, at the time of his unexpected death. He was educated at the West Point Military Academy, where he was graduated in the year 1840. His first military service was in Florida, where he served in what is called “the Florida war,” in the Second Artillery. He served with great gallantry in the Mexican war, receiving honorable mention and brevets for meritorious services at Monterey and Buena Vista. After the conclusion of the war, he returned to Florida, and again assisted in the desultory hostilities against the Indians for a year or two, when he was appointed Instructor of Artillery and Cavalry in the Military Academy, which position he filled for about three years. He was then ordered to California, and there commanded Fort Yuma until 1855, when he was promoted to the rank of Major of the Second Cavalry. In command of a battalion, he served from 1856 to 1860 in Texas, making exploring expeditions and campaigns against hostile Indians.

At the breaking out of the rebellion, Major Thomas, though a Virginian, and though a personal friend and military comrade of Robert E. lee, his Lieutenant Colonel, stood fast by the Union. Upon the reorganization of the army he was appointed Colonel of the Fifth cavalry – a regiment which greatly distinguished itself throughout the war, fighting well, where many fought ill, at Bull Run, in other battles in the neighborhood of the Potomac, in the Shenandoah Valley, under Sheridan, and some of its most gallant officers falling under the last shots of the war in the woods near Five Forks. Its Colonel, meantime, had been promoted a Brigadier General, and ordered to Kentucky.

His first notable service in the war for the Union was at the battle of Mill Springs, January 19, 1862, where Gen. Thomas commanded the Union army, and completely whipped the rebels under Zollicoffer, who was slain. For his valuable services at Mill Springs, Gen. Thomas was promoted to the rank of Major General, in April of 1862. Meantime he had joined the army in command of Buell, and was with it when Buell marched to the reinforcement of Grant at Shiloh. But General Thomas was in the reserve and did not actively participate in the greatest pitched battle of the West. He afterward served with Buell in the army of the Ohio, and then with Rosecrans in the army of the Cumberland, always performing his duties in camp, and march, and battle, with conscientious devotion to his country and his soldiers. At the battle of Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863, the distinguishing military abilities of Gen. Thomas were gloriously illustrated. It was here that his wonderful steadiness under reverses that had demoralized and defeated the rest of the army, and “stampeded” Rosecrans himself, gave him the appellation of “the Rock of Chickamauga,” and actually saved the army, enabling it to retire to Chattanooga with safety and in such a way that Bragg was unable to follow it.

At the remarkable battle of Chattanooga, embracing the engagements known as “Lookout Mountain” and “Missionary Ridge,” Thomas commanded the right centre, and did gallant work, where all did more than well. This is the battle which broke the back-bone of the rebellion, in many respects one of the most important battles of history, and the prominent part Taken in its plan and execution by General Thomas will forever give him high rank among military men.

His services during the campaign of Atlanta, and afterward at the great battle of Nashville, are fresh in the recollection of the public. It is probably true that no great battle was ever more skillfully planned, or more energetically carried out, than the battle of Nashville. Nor should it be forgotten that the great steadiness of the General commanding was in this instance even brilliantly illustrated. A rain came on just as Thomas was ready to begin the fight, and, freezing as it fell, covered the ground with a sheet of glaring ice on which neither man nor horse could stand. With sublime patience Thomas waited for “the thaw,” and when it came he let drive his thunderbolts of war upon the rebel hosts as had rarely been done before. He literally trampled out his enemy, or sent his broken army over the country, all broken up into disorganized _ying bands. Hood’s rebel army was ground to powder. Every movement in General Thomas’s plan was accurately executed, and Grant and Sherman were left free to use all their forces against the armies opposed to them, knowing that the west had been fully secured by the victory of Nashville.

Such is the merest outline of General Thomas’s history. Always careful of his troops, they loved him like a father. Though terrible in battle, General Thomas was personally a most amiable man, as tender-hearted as a woman. No deed of cruelty, no act of meanness, stains the record of his long and invaluable services. His life, both public and private, is an example which all fathers may safely set before their sons. Having done most illustrious service for his country, his memory will forever be held in grateful recollection by all who honor intellectual ability, patriotic deeds, and the grand old name of gentleman. – Chicago Evening Post.

Contributed 02 Feb 2015 by Pattie Carter-Davis

Arizona Sentinel, 20 Jul 1872

Clarence Gray, Attorney at Law and Notary Public, Arizona City
O. F. M'Carty, Attorney at Law, Arizona City
Isham Reavis, Attorney at Law, Arizona City
Dr. A. A. Mix offers his professional services to the citizens of Yuma county. Office in Mrs. Jone's building, Main Street, ...
R. B. Kelley, County Surveryor, Arizona City, A. T.
Colorado Hotel, Gila Street, Arizona City, Wm. Sam, Proprietor.

Probate Notice. Territory of Arizona, County of Yuma, In Probate Court. In the matter of the estate of James F. Dana, deceased. It appearing to the Court by the petition presented and filed by J. W. Stwart, administrator of the estate of James F. Dana, deceased, praying for an order to sell real estqte, that it is necessary to sell the whole of the real estate to pay the debts and expenses of adminsitration ...

Probate Notice. ... Territory of Arizona, County of Yuma, In Probate Court. In the matter of the estate of M. D. Dobbins, deceased. It appearing to the Court, by the petition of A. A. Mix, Public Administrator ....

C. L. Jones beg leave to announce to his friends and former patrons that he has again resumed business. The Saloon heretofore occupied by J. O'Hara is now kept by the undersigned, where the best of wines and liquors and cigars are always kept. Mr. Jones also wishes to inform the public that he has still the Corral, where hay and grain of nrst quality is kept on hand for the accommodation of teamsters and others. C.L.Jones

I. Lyons, Watch and Clock Maker, First St., adjoining Hughes' Saloon, Arizona City, A. T. ....

A Short Honeymoon. About two weeks ago we announced the union of two "loving hearts" - Mr. Fischer and Mrs. Carmel Carerras. Now it has become our painful duty to chronicle the fact that porr Fischer is again alone in the world. The fair bride, after an experience of about a week's matrimonial "bliss," saw proper to desert her lord, and has returend to her own house.

Notice. The following named persons are hereby notified that their assessments have been raised the amounts set opposite their respective anmes, by the Board of Equalization of the County of Yuma, A. T., at the regular July term, 1872:
1 - George Angel, on improvements, $150.
2 - Jacob Fisher, on drays, $50.
3 - Charles Gross, on cattle, $500.
4 - W. W. Jones, on mules, $600; on wagons, $400.
5 - Francisco Noriega, on wagons, $100; on mules, $250.
6 - D. C. Robinson, on house and lot at depot, $330.
7 - Estate of W. B. Roods, deceased, $300.
8 - George A. Johnson, on mortgage not canceled, $2,000.
9 - Hall Hanlon, on mortgage, $500.
10 - Manuel Ravens, on mortgage $1,500.
11 - John Palmer, on mortgage, $105.50.
12 - Milton Ward, on mortgage, $900.
13 - Wm. Maize, on mortgage, $150.25.
14 - J. W. Dorrington, on mortgage, $85.
15 - James M. Barney, on mortgage, $282.
16 - James M. Barney, $671.13
By order of the Board, Jas. S. Spann, Clerk of Board

Notice. We have this day sold our entire retail stock to Henry S. Fitzgerald and Charles H. Kenyon, who have opened one door above our old stand "on the corner." ... Wm. B. Hooper & Co., Arizona City, May 13, 1872.

George Martin, Wholesale and retail Druggist, Main Street, Arizona City
Arizona City Meat Market, Main Street, J. M. Redondo & Bro. Keep a fresh supply of Beef, Veal, Mutton, Pork, etc., and Game in its season. Also Hay and Grain at reasonable prices.
American Bakery, Main St., Arizona City, G. M. Knight, Proprietor. Fresh Bread, Pies, Cakes, Candies, etc., constantly on hand. Parties and families supplied on short notice and most reasonable terms.
James S. Spann - County Recorder, Yuma Co.

Arizona Sentinel, 07 Feb 1874

Published Every Saturday, by Wm. J. Berry, Editor and Proprietor.
C. W. C. Rowell, Attorney at Law, Yuma, Arizona.
Henry N. Alexander, Attorney at Law, Yuma, Arizona.
George Martin, Wholesale & Retail Druggist, Main Street, Yuma, A.T.
Golden Eagle, Hotel & Restaurant, Main Street, Yuma, A.T., ... John Haggee, Proprietor.
Golden Eagle Hotel Saloon, Main Street, Yuma, A.T., B. D. Jones, Proprietor.
Colorado Hotel, Gila Street, Yuma, ... William Burke.
American Bakery ... G. M. Knight.

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