ARIZONA. 



31 



ARIZONA, a Territory of the United States, 

 organized Feb. 14, 1863; area, 113,020 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census, was 9,658 in 1870; 40,440 in 1880; 

 and 59,620 in 1890. Capital, Phoenix. 



Government. The following were the Terri- 

 torial officers during the year: Governor, N. 0. 

 Murphy; Secretary, Charles H. Akers; Treasurer, 

 F. W. Pemberton; Auditor, G. W. Vickers; Adju- 

 tant General, H. F. Robinson; Attorney-General, 

 C. A. Ainsworth; Superintendent of Education, 

 R. L. Long; Geologist, W. P. Blake; Chief Justice 

 of the Supreme Court, Webster Street; Associate 

 Justices, Richard E. Sloan, Fletcher M. Doan, 

 George R. Davis; Clerk, Lloyd Johnston all Re- 

 publicans. 



Finances and Valuations. The 'following 

 items are taken from the Governor's message to 

 the Legislature of 1899: The assessed valuation 

 of the taxable property is $31,473,540. The rate 

 of taxation differs in the counties, but the aver- 

 age rate throughout the Territory is $3.50 on the 

 $100, 80 cents of which is for Territorial purposes 

 solely. The bonded and floating debt, Dec. 31, 

 1898, was $2,680,000. Deducting from this county 

 and city funded indebtedness, leaves a bonded 

 Territorial debt of $1,045,972.43; adding the float- 

 ing debt, $255,112.73, makes a total Territorial 

 debt of $1,301,085.16; less cash in hands of Treas- 

 urer, $161,950, leaves a net Territorial indebted- 

 ness of $1,139,135.16. 



The total city and county funded indebtedness 

 amounts to $1,634,027.57. The Territory still has 

 bonds outstanding bearing a higher rate of in- 

 terest than 5 per cent., amounting to $281,000. 

 These can be funded into fifty-year 5-per-cent. 

 refunding bonds. L T nless Congress renews the 

 refunding act, no more bonds can be sold to take 

 up unpaid warrants since Jan. 1, 1897. 



Education. In February the enrollment at 

 the Territorial University was 130, not including 

 some who are pursuing special studies. The class- 

 rooms and dormitories are not large enough for 

 the present attendance. 



The Normal School at the same date had 180 

 pupils, and it graduated. 32 in June. A new nor- 

 mal school is located at Flagstaff, in the north- 

 ern part of the Territory. 



The Indian School near Phoenix has about 600 

 pupils. The Government appropriates to it $140,- 

 000. Three new buildings have been added re- 

 cently. The superintendent's report gives the 

 scholastic population of the tribes immediately 

 adjacent to the school as 8,170. In addition to 

 pupils from these tribes, advanced students are 

 drawn from other Indian schools in Arizona, Cali- 

 fornia, and Nevada. 



The New Capitol. Ground was broken in 

 February for the foundation of the new Capitol. 

 It is to be 84 by 184 feet, and three stories in 

 height. The legislative halls and chambers for 

 the Supreme and Federal Courts will occupy the 

 upper floor. 



Fort Whipple. The Secretary of War issued 

 an order in November for the immediate restora- 

 tion of Fort Whipple, so that troops may be sta- 

 tioned there as soon as possible. The troubles in 

 the Navajo country had made the people of the 

 Territory anxious to have this important station 

 well manned. It is the only post in the Terri- 

 tory that has railroad communication with the 

 outside world. 



Railroads. The Arizona and Utah road was 

 completed Aug. 16 amid great rejoicing at the 

 camp of Chloride, which the new line brings into 

 closer touch with its markets. 



The Territorial Board of Equalization fixed the 



valuation of the nine railroads this year at a 

 total of $5,246,018.17. 



Public Lands. The report of the Surveyor 

 General shows that the area of public lands, to- 

 gether with the reserve land appropriated to the 

 Territory, at the close of the year was : Surveyed, 

 10,887,865 acres; unsurveyed, 41,337,590 acres; 

 total, 52,225,461 acres. There was 99,445 acres 

 granted for Indian reservation patents. The num- 

 ber of mineral and mill-site patents during the 

 year was 36. The report says: 



" The special deposits made by individuals for 

 office work and stationery in connection with the 

 survey of mineral claims for the year ending 

 June 30, 1899, amounted to $3,945; mineral sur- 

 veys ordered, 89; locations embraced in said 

 order, 166; mill sites, 4; mineral orders amended, 

 20; mineral surveys approved, 50; mineral sur- 

 veys pending, 60; mineral plats prepared, 209; 

 transcripts of mineral surveys, notes, reports, 

 etc., 50. 



" The number of miles surveyed during the 

 year embraced an area containing 162,850.74 

 acres. 



" There is a large immigration to Arizona on 

 account of her valuable and almost undeveloped 

 mineral resources. This has created a large home 

 market for agricultural products, and made it 

 possible for a profitable increase in the number 

 of people engaged in agricultural pursuits. 



"The lands when irrigated are wonderfully pro- 

 ductive, but on account of the cost of transporta- 

 tion of farm products it does not pay to ship 

 them a great distance." 



It was announced in June that the decision 

 of the United States Supreme Court in the Alga- 

 dones land grant case would have the effect of 

 opening for entry a great portion of a very rich 

 valley in Yuma County, which has been held back 

 from prosperity for many years by the uncer- 

 tainty as to this final decision, which is now ren- 

 dered in favor of the Government. 



The following dispatch was published in April : 

 " Special- Agent Holsinger, of the Interior De- 

 partment, is about to bring suit for the recovery 

 from a number of mining companies for the value 

 of immense quantities of mesquite wood. He 

 estimates that 20,000 cords of mesquite have been 

 cut from the Gila valley in the vicinity of Solo- 

 monville and Safford during the last few years, 

 and all of it illegally. It is also charged that the 

 Papago Indians and Mexicans supplying Tucson 

 with wood are daily violating the law. A man 

 may cut mesquite legally for firewood for his 

 personal use, but for anything more extensive he 

 must apply to the Land Office at Washington." 



Water Storage. The greatest storage basin 

 in the world is to be built in the mountains, 60 

 miles from Phoenix. The United States Govern- 

 ment has granted to the Hudson Reservoir and 

 Canal Company this basin, known as the " Tonto 

 Basin," to be used as a storage reservoir. The 

 company proposes to build a dam at the head 

 of the canon, where the river emerges from the 

 basin, thus creating a lake, which will cover 18 

 square miles to a depth of 100 or 200 feet. It 

 will be necessary to build a dam 200 feet high 

 and some 600 feet in length at the top, although 

 the canon is only 200 feet wide from the first 

 100 feet from the bottom. The Territory of Ari- 

 zona has granted the company the use of the 

 channel of Salt river in which to convey the 

 waters thus stored to the valley, and the stored 

 waters will therefore be turned back into the 

 channel as needed, and conveyed through the 

 canon for 30 miles to the head of the valley, where 

 the first diverting dam is found. To construct 



