PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 227 



I believe I have given you some data about the Tucson meteorites in a 

 monogram published by the War Department in 1860 ; Medical Statistics of 

 United States Army, 1855-'60. 



I wish I could give you full information on this matter. Please let me know 

 when you receive it, and be assured that when I go to Washington I will pay 

 my respects in person to you and it. 



I am very busy, so you will excuse this hurried letter, and believe me 

 Yours, very respectfully, 



B. J. D. IRWIN, 

 Surgeon United /States Army. 





San Francisco, Cal., July 2, 1863. 



Dear Sir : The aerolite which had remained so long at Alamito, for want 

 of a proper person to bring it here, was brought by one of my brothers, Jesus 

 M. Ainsa, who visited Sonora lately. We have been induced to retain it here 

 for a short time, to satisfy the curiosity of the San Francisco people. The 

 State Geological Society asked to be allowed to have a small piece for their 

 collection, which request was, of course, granted. With this exception the 

 aerolite has been preserved entirely in the same condition in which it was found 

 in Arizona, and by the 13th of this month we will have the pleasure to ship it 

 to New York, under the care of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. 

 I take this opportunity to offer my services to the Institution. 

 I remain, respectfully, 



SANTIAGO AINSA. 

 Professor Henry, 



Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 



San Francisco, Cal., August 26, 1863. 



Dear Sir : I have the pleasure to acknowledge your favor of July 31, and 

 I take pleasure in complying with your request. In fact I intended to do this 

 before, but, owing to many engagements on hand, I have been postponing it to 

 this moment. 



I announced in my last that the meteorite would be sent by the following 

 steamer from that date ; but we were asked to retain it some time longer by 

 some scientific men, who wished to examine it closely. 



The history of this aerolite we have from our grandmother, Dona Ana Anza 

 de Islas, daughter of Don Juan Bautista Anza, our great grandfather. The 

 Jesuit missionaries had the earliest knowledge of this curiosity. There were 

 various theories entertained about it ; but it was generally believed to proceed 

 from some iron mine in the vicinity, which belief holds to this day in Sonora. 

 In an expedition made by Don Juan Bautista Anza, then "Gran Capitan de 

 las Provincias del Occidente," about the year 1735, to the country about 

 Tucson, he was induced to visit the aerolite, and ho undertook the work of 

 transporting it to Spain. The place where it was found is called " Sierra de 

 la Madera," on a spot called Los Muchadios. Through the want of proper 

 means and the bad state of the roads, (having to carry it to San Bias, then the 

 nearest port of entry,) the work of transportation was given up, and they were 

 satisfied to take it as far as Tucson. There it remained ever since, until my 

 brother, Agustine Ainsa, undertook to transport it, in 1860, and present it to the 

 Institute. His intentions, however, were never carried out until May last, 



