222 The National Geographic Magazine 



A Noted Apache Chief employed on the Salt River Project (see page 226) 



In the midst of a vast stretch of desert a 

 wonderful oasis has risen, its vivid green 

 standing out in marked contrast with the 

 dusty plain and the distant purple hills. 

 Three fair cities lie in the heart of this 

 emerald island — Phoenix, Tempe, and 

 Mesa. Their future growth and prosper- 

 ity depend upon the success of the work 

 now going on under the supervision of 

 the Reclamation Service. 



Sixty miles away from Mesa a thou- 

 sand men are toiling night and day to 

 make that growth and prosperity en- 

 during. 



Let us now enter the automobile and 

 speed away to those distant mountains, 

 where the silence of ages is being broken 

 by man's machinery. It is early dawn, 

 and eastward the summits of the hills are 

 glowing richly red, their western faces 

 covered with a soft, nebulous veil that 

 trembles in the morning breeze. 



For half a dozen miles we traverse a 

 region of almost tropical luxuriance, 

 where there is a riot of vegetation. Then, 

 with a suddenness that is almost start- 

 ling, we enter upon a wide expanse of 

 desolation wherein the giant cactus, the 

 gnarled and distorted mesquite, and the 

 dusty green sage-brush are prominent 

 features of the landscape. Every living 

 thing bears mute evidence of a fierce bat- 

 tle for life. For twenty miles the gov- 

 ernment road stretches out across the 

 plain to the foot of Superstition Moun- 

 tains, which stand like desert sentinels, 

 immutable and everlasting. 



Entering the mountain area, the gov- 

 ernment road winds by easy grades up 

 the range, aiJording views on every hand 

 of wonderful beauty painted in marvelous 

 colors. 



For twenty miles we journey see-saw 

 fashion, up and down, through a region 



