round it, and Mount Edgecumbe, on Crooze Island, immediately opposite the town, an extinct volcano, 8000 feet in height, is the great land-mark of this port-the most northern harbor on the Pacific shores of America. The coloring of the town is gay, and the surroundings picturesque. The houses yellow, with sheet iron roofs painted red; the bright green spire and dome of the Greek church, and the old battered hulks, roofed in and used as magazines, lying propped up on the rocks at the water's edge, with the antiquated buildings of the Russian Fur Company, give Sitka an original, foreign, and fossilized kind of appearance." ARIZONA. Area, Population in 1870, 113,916 square miles. THE Territory of Arizona lies between 31° 20' and 37° N. latitude, and between 109° and 114° W. longitude. Its extreme length, from north to south, is about 400 miles, and its extreme width, from east to west, about 330 miles. It is bounded on the north by Utah Territory and Nevada; on the east by the Territory of New Mexico; on the south by the Republic of Mexico; and on the west by California and Nevada. A large part of the Territory is mountainous. Numerous ranges traverse it in a generally northwest and southeast direction. The principal ranges are the Sierra del Carrizo, in the northern part; the Mogollon Mountains, in the eastern part; the Pinaleno, or Pinon Llano mountains, in the southeastern part; Mt. San Francisco, in the northern part of the central portion, and the Aztec Mountains, in the west. As a general rule, the surface of the Territory is elevated and mountainous, and a large portion is believed to be of volcanic origin. It also contains a number of extensive plains without trees. The principal rivers are the Colorado, which forms a part of the northern and western boundaries, the Little Colorado, the Gila, which flows westward across the southern part of the Territory, the Santa Cruz, the Bill Williams Fork of the Colorado, the Rio Verde, the Rio San Pedro, and the Rio Salinas. The Colorado is navigable for Its navisteamers for about 600 miles within the limits of Arizona. gation is difficult and dangerous, however, in consequence of the force. of the current, and the frequent shifting of the channel. In spite of these obstacles the water communication which it furnishes from por tions of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, to the sea, is of the greatest value to those regions. Gold, silver, copper, mercury, and lead, are found in the Territory. Valuable silver mines are worked in the central and southern portions. of Arizona, especially along the Colorado and Gila rivers. The great drawbacks to the success of mining enterprises in this Territory are the scarcity of water in the vicinity of the mines, and the hostility of the Indians. It is believed that the mineral wealth of Arizona largely exceeds the discoveries that have thus far been made. very A very large part of the land is utterly barren. The basin of the Colorado consists of elevated table-lands, broken by mountain ranges. The valleys of these ranges are fertile. South of the Gila, and west of the 112th meridian, the country is sandy, and not generally fertile, except along the river. In other portions, there are many rich valleys and fertile prairies, containing millions of acres, and producing wheat, barley, oats, tobacco, vegetables, and fruits. Cotton and sugar grow well in the south, and grazing lands, of the finest quality, are abundant. Wood is scarce throughout the Territory, and, in many parts, is entirely absent. In the north-central portion is a large forest of yellow pine, interspersed with oak. Cottonwood grows along the shores of the streams. In the southeast part grows a low, stunted tree, called the Mezquit. It is of no use for building, but is said to be valuable for mining purposes. The climate is mild. In southern Arizona, and along a portion of the Colorado, the summers are too warm to allow the performance of work in the open air. In the central portion the sun is rarely so oppressive. In the mountain regions the nights are always cool. Snow falls in the central and northern portion, but does not remain long upon the ground. The Territory is sparsely inhabited, the settlements being confined to the southern portion. Its population in 1870 is no larger than that of 1850. The inhabitants consist of American settlers, miners, Spanish, half-breeds, and Indians. The towns are built chiefly of adobe, or sun-dried bricks, and bear a close resemblance to the Mexican towns, having but few marks of American civilization about them. The greatest obstacle to the settlement of the Territory has been the merciless depredations of the Apachee Indians. The military force of the United States stationed in the Territory is small, and the people are obliged to protect themselves by volunteer companies. The Governor, in his last message, urges the people to form military companies in all the settlements, and to exterminate the Apachees as far as possible. There are no railways or telegraphs, and no public schools in the Territory. The Governor and Secretary are appointed by the President. The Legislature and other officials are all elected by the people. The principal towns are Tucson, containing 3000 inhabitants, Prescott, with 1200 inhabitants, and Arizona City, with a population of 600. They are all wretched places, built of adobe, and filled with dirt and half civilized people. Ross Browne thus describes Tucson: "A city of mud boxes, dingy and dilapidated, cracked and baked into a composite of dust and filth; littered about with broken corrals, sheds, bake-ovens, carcasses of dead animals, and broken pottery; barren of verdure, parched, naked, and grimly desolate in the glare of a southern sun. Adobe walls without whitewash inside or out, hard earthen floors, baked and dried Mexicans, sore-backed burros, Coyote dogs, and terra-cotta children; soldiers, teamsters, and honest miners lounging about the mescal shops, soaked with the fiery poison; a noisy band of Sonoranian buffoons, dressed in theatrical costume, cutting their antics in the public places to the most diabolical din of fiddles and guitars ever heard; a long train of Government wagons preparing to start for Fort Yuma or the Rio Grande-these are what the traveller sees, and a great many things more, but in vain he looks for a hotel or lodging house. The best accommodations he can pos sibly expect are the dried mud walls of some unoccupied outhouse, with a mud floor for his bed; his own food to eat, and his own cook to prepare it; and lucky is he to possess such luxuries as these." Arizona was settled by the Spanish missionaries from Mexico as early as 1687. Their missions were located principally on the Lower Colorado and Lower Gila. It formed a part of Mexico until its purchase in 1850 by the United States. On the 24th of February, 1863, Congress organized the present Territory of Arizona, adding to the original Gadsden purchase a considerable part of New Mexico. |