726 



TEKRITOKIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



proved very profitable. New mines have been 

 discovered between Wickenburg and Prescott, 

 which are said to be very rich. A large por- 

 tion of the inhabitants of this Territory are 

 Indians and Mexicans. Tucson, the capital, is 

 an old Mexican town settled about a hundred 

 years ago, and contains a population of three 

 or four thousand souls. The regular election 

 for a delegate to Congress, and for members to 

 the Legislature, was held on the 3d of June. 

 No nominating conventions assembled, bat the 

 Democrats of Yavapai County met at Wicken- 

 burg, and put up the name of John A. Rush as 

 a candidate. Richard 0. McCormick, the Gov- 

 ernor of the Territory, was brought forward as 

 the Independent Union candidate, and received 

 1,263 votes out of a total of 2,093. In Yavapai 

 County, Democrats only were chosen to the Le- 

 gislature ; in the other four counties the tickets 

 were made up without regard to party, and the 

 members elected were about equally divided 

 in respect to political sentiments. 



Colorado. Although efforts have been sev- 

 eral times made to have Colorado admitted 

 into the Union as a State, it is still numbered 

 among the Territories. Considerable advance- 

 ment has been made in our knowledge of the 

 physical characteristics of this Territory. It 

 extends 260 miles from north to south and 375 

 miles from east to west, and has three natural 

 subdivisions. The eastern third is a region of 

 lofty rolling plains, 4,000 or 5,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea, watered with numerous 

 streams, and containing much fine land for agri- 

 cultural and grazing purposes. Beyond this 

 plateau is a mountain-belt, varying from 100 to 

 200 miles in width, within whose limits peaks 

 rise to a height of 15,000 or 16,000 feet. 

 The forms of the ranges and peaks exhibit a 

 great variety, and in their combinations produce 

 some of the grandest mountain scenery in the 

 world. Among the mountains are several 

 broad expanses of plain or diversified territory, 

 which have received the name of the " Parks 

 of Colorado." These vary in size from 20 by 

 50 miles, to 100 by 200, and the principal ones 

 are four in number, viz. : North Park, Middle 

 Park, South Park, and San Luis Park. The last 

 mentioned of these is the largest, and contains 

 an area of about 18,000 square miles, or double 

 that of the State of Massachusetts. It is a vast 

 elliptical-bowl, shut in by mountains varying in 

 height from 10,000 to 16,000 feet. The general 

 level of the plain itself is 6,000 feet above the 

 sea-level. The climate is one of the finest and 

 most salubrious in the world, and the whole 

 region is believed to be rich in minerals and 

 the other undeveloped resources of nature. 

 San Luis Park has a population of 24,000, for the 

 most part a mixture of Mexicans and Indians, 

 who have adopted in a great measure the hab- 

 its and customs of Europeans. The western 

 part of the Territory is almost an unknown 

 land, uninhabited and unvisited save by adven- 

 turous miners. 



The mining interests of Colorado are im- 



proving, and as a consequence the cities and 

 towns of the Territory are increasing rapidly. 

 A railroad is in progress to connect Denver 

 City with the Pacific Railroad in Nebraska. 

 The Governor of Colorado is A. C. Hunt. A 

 delegate to Congress was elected this year, and 

 both parties held nominating conventions in 

 June. The whole vote cast for delegate was 

 8,167. Of these, Bradford, Republican, received 

 4,092, and Belden, Democrat, 4,075, which 

 gave the former a majority of 17. Conven- 

 tions were held by both parties on the 1st of 

 December, to consider the question of the ad- 

 mission of the Territory into the Union. The 

 Republicans adopted resolutions requesting 

 Congress to admit it at once on such terms as 

 were deemed expedient. The Democrats were 

 divided on the subject, some of them being in 

 favor of immediate admission on any terms, 

 others being opposed if negro suffrage was to 

 be made a condition. 



Dakota. This- Territory is as yet but 

 thinly settled. The Government owns nearly 

 all the land. Not more than twenty settle- 

 ments make any pretension to the name of 

 towns. Nothing has been done to develop any 

 mineral wealth in the country, and agriculture 

 has scarcely made a beginning. Sufficient ad- 

 vancement in industry has, however, been 

 made to prove that it is an excellent country 

 for raising cattle. Landed property about 

 the capital, Yankton, is said to have increased 

 in value 300 per cent, during the past year. 

 Eight years ago, when the land was ceded to 

 the Government by the Indians, not a white 

 inhabitant was to be found. The present Gov- 

 ernor is Andrew J. Faulk, and J. S. Spink rep- 

 resents the Territory in Congress. 



Idaho. Owing to the remoteness of this 

 Territory, and the want of ready means of ac- 

 cess, its growth as yet has not been so rapid as 

 that of several of the other Territories. The 

 Northern Pacific Railroad will, however, lead 

 to immigration and a rapid development of 

 its resources. There are already a number of 

 enterprising towns and considerable mining 

 business. Frequent reports are received of the 

 discovery of new silver-mines. The Governor 

 is D. "W. Ballard, who is also the United States 

 Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Terri- 

 tory. At the election for delegate to Congress 

 in August, 5,320 votes were cast, of which J. 

 K. Shafer, the Democratic candidate, received 

 3,102, and T. K. Butler, the Republican, 2,218. 

 Shafer's majority, 884. . The members of the 

 Council are Democrats, and the House of Rep- 

 resentatives contains three Republicans and 

 nineteen Democrats. 



The following are the counties of Idaho : 



Name. County Seat. 



Ada Boise City 



Alturas Kocky Bar 



Boise Idaho City 



Idaho Florence 



Kootenai .... (Unorganized.) 



Name. County Seat. 



Lah Toh (Unorganized.) 



NezPerce Lewiston 



Owyhee Silver City 



Oneida Malade City 



Shoshone Pierce City 



Montana. The progress of settlement in 

 Montana has been chiefly from the Pacific coast, 



