118 



r 



LIEUTENANT MICHLER^S REPORT 



^^Picacho/' or peak, an upheaval of volcanic rocks. Tinajas are here found which, remain filled 

 with water for short periods after the rainy season. 



Several miles hefore reaching Tucson you strike the bed of the Santa Cruz river^ hut the 

 stream is subterraneous until you reach the town. The latter is inhabited by a few Mexican 

 troops and their families, together with some tame Apache Indians. It is very prettily situated 

 in a fine fertile valley at the base of the Sierra de Santa Catarina. Some fine fields of wheat 

 and corn were ready for the sickle. Many varieties of fruit and all kinds of vegetables were 

 also to be had, upon which we indulged our long-famished appetites. The Ajoaches, under the 

 direction of the Mexicans, do most of the labor in the fields. 



Circumstances were such that my party and escort were compelled to remain encamped near 

 this town for nearly the entire month of June. During this time we became the recipients of 

 every attention and civility from Captain Garcia, who commanded the place, and from his 

 family. We cannnot find words to express our thanks for their uniform kindness and constant 

 efforts to make the time pass pleasantly. 



The month was judiciously occupied in repairing the train and recruiting the mules. Having 

 learned previously on the Gila of the presence of the commissioner and the parties immediately 

 under his charge at his camp near Los Nogales, sixty-nine miles distant from Tucson, my party 

 was directed to stop, while I continued on to have an interview with him. 



The road lay in the valley of the Santa Cruz as far as the ^^ Kancho de las Calabasas," 

 between high mountains. On the east are the Santa Catarina, with its top covered with lofty 

 pines, and the Santa Rita rich in minerals ; and on the west are the Sierra Rica and the Sierra 

 Atascosa. 



A fine specimen of meteoric iron brought from the Santa Rica is to be seen at Tucson, and is 

 used as a blacksmith's anvil. It is massive, and quite malleable. 



You pass through the towns of San Javier and Tubac, and the mission of Tomocacari. The 

 first place has been ceded by the Mexicans to the Papago Indians. A beautiful church, with 

 its exterior walls richly ornamented, carved, and stuccoed, and the interior handsomely deco- 

 rated and painted in bright colors, with many paintings in fresco, still stands as a monument 

 to the zealous labor and religious enthusiasm of the Jesuits of the past century. 



Tubac is a deserted village. The wild Apache lords it over this region, and the timid 

 husbandman dare not return to his home. 



The mission of Tomocacari, another fine structure of the mother church, stands, too, in the 

 midst of rich fields ; but fear prevents its habitation, save by two or three Germans, who have 

 wandered from their distant fatherland to this out of the way country. 



Leaving the Santa Cruz river at the rancho, and following up the pretty little valley of Los 

 Xugales for several miles, brought me to the camp of the United States commissioner. It was a 

 gratifying sight, and refreshing to the senses, as I traversed these valleys, to see them clothed with 

 rich green verdure, and contrast them with the bleached barrenness of the Colorado and Gila. 



On my arrival, I found the observations for determinintr the latitude and longitude of the 



^ vx»w .«,..^v.^^ . *-"0 



intersection of the parallel and meridian nearly completed, under the order of the United States 

 commissioner, and, a short time after, a pyramidal monument of dressed stone was erected to 

 mark its position. At this point Mr. Jimenez and myself again commenced operations, on the 26th 

 of June, to trace and mark the azimuth line running westward. By this time there were some 

 indications of the commencement of the rainy reason, for which we had been anxiously waiting. 

 At any other period of the year it would have been impossible to attempt this section of the work; 



