THE GILA VALLEY. 79 
and wide, with a regular and gradual descent of from 8 to 
15 feet per mile. 
_ Ascending the bluffs which mark the limits of the valley 
_ proper, we come upon a vast desert plain, dotted here and 
_ there with isolated mountains rising abruptly from the general 
_ level, and presenting sharp, serrated outlines against the clear, 
'rainless sky. Almost entirely destitute of water, this region 
isa very uninviting one to the explorer, and but little is 
_ known of it save that its mountains are wonderfully rich in 
_ precious metals. 
_ The great mail road from Tucson runs in a north-westerly 
direction, striking the Gila River at Sacaton, a mail station. 
j Thence it follows down the river to Maricopa Wells, where 
_ the stream makes a great bend to the north, and does not strike 
Bt again till it reaches Gila Bend Station, from which point 
the road continues down the valley to Arizona City—a very 
‘small place with a very big name. 
_ The soil in the valley of the Gila in many places is so 
strongly alkaline as to be unfit for agriculture ; still there is — 
ar immense breadth of land susceptible of successful cultiva- 
tion. Maize, barley, wheat, cotton, and all the vegetables of 
j the temperate zone are already profitably cultivated by the 
few white settlers between the cafion and Sacaton, and by the 
) Pima and Maricopa Indians between Sacaton and Maricopa 
‘Wells. Below the latter station there is no cultivation except 
jin small gardens at some of the mail stations on the lower 
j viver. 
Not reckoning its tributary valleys, the Gila valley has 
| about 300,000 acres of arable land, capable of sustaining an 
‘agricultural and mining population of 200,000, which is, no 
doubt, a low estimate. During the same season the same 
- Upecsie two crops, one of wheat and another of maize. 
