208 THE FORESTS AND DESERTS OF ARIZONA 



Then when the heavy up-grade puffing of the engine and the 

 rumbling of the cars cease and we ahght at the terminus of the 

 raih'oad journey and the beginning of our camping tour in the 

 oddly-named town, Flagstaff, in the midst of this lovel}^ pinery, 

 we feel at home at once, without any misgivings as to the com- 

 fort or interest of the expedition. 



Coming to study the forests, we are naturall}'' attracted by the 

 chimneys and lumber piles in the distance, which suggest what 

 becomes of the grand pines that we have just learned to admire. 

 Although the sun is low — the train arriving late in the after- 

 noon — the sawmills, which, with the cattle and sheep interests, 

 form the raison d'etre of the little settlement of 1,500 people, call 

 for immediate inspection. At the mills and offices we learn that 

 of the 24,000.000 feet of lumber now cut in the territory annually, 

 the various sawmills of Flagstaff, supplied by a logging road of 

 20 miles, p.roduce about one-half, besides some 200,000 railroad 

 ties, supplying the local demands of the northern part of the 

 territory and also of southern California and New Mexico. We 

 learn from inspection of the yards that the pine lumber of the 

 pine {Pinus ponderosa) is only of medium quality, yet good 

 enough for all local uses. W^ith a lumberman's eye we have 

 noticed that the trees cannot yield much clear timber, and this 

 impression is verified by the books of the sawmill men, which 

 show that not more than 6 to 7 per cent of the logs reaching the 

 mill yield first-class material; and we have also noted that the 

 cut per acre must be far below what eastern lumbermen would 

 expect. These conditions are fully realized in Flagstaff. The 

 opinion of the president of the Arizona Lumber Company, con- 

 veyed to the governor of the territory and printed by him in his 

 report for 1893, is suggestive : 



I believe that it is the duty of every person who can give the matter 

 thought and who is in position to influence any one's action in the prem- 

 ises, to make some endeavor to perpetuate oui* forest conditions for the 

 benefit of future generations in the territory. Upon the rational use of 

 our forests will depend the happiness and welfare, and I may say the ab- 

 solute existence, of any large population in this territory ; and the time 

 to act is the present, when the least possible injury will be done to vested 

 rights. 



I believe the government ought to withdraw all timber lands it pos- 

 sesses and ought to appoint a competent forester who would make it his 

 sole duty to see that the covering which nature has afl'orded our moun- 

 " tain tops should be preserved, to the end that the valley land of the terri- 

 tory be protected either from droughts or floods in the years to come. 



