304 CASAS GRANDES TO 
expected to describe every town he visits; but as for 
this God-forsaken place, when I have said that it con- 
tains a few dilapidated buildings, and an old church, 
with a miserable population, I have said about all. It 
was established as a presidio almost a century and a 
half ago, and usually maintained a population of four 
hundred souls. It was abandoned a year before our 
arrival, but had since been repopulated, and might 
have comprised at the time of our visit a hundred 
souls. The bottom-lands near it, along the Santa Cruz 
River, are quite rich, and can be made to produce the 
same grain, fruit, and vegetables as at Tucson. At the 
rancho of Calabasa, in the same district, is a gold 
mine which was once productive, but the fear of the 
Apaches led to its abandonment. 
As an example of the uncertainty of crops from 
artificial irrigation in this country, I will mention a’ 
circumstance which occurred at Tubace. | 
The preceding fall, after the place had been again 
occupied, a party of Mormons in passing through on 
their way to California was induced to stop there by 
the representations of the Comandante. He offered 
them lands in the rich valley, where acequias were 
already dug, if they would remain and cultivate it; 
assuring them that they would find a ready market 
for all the corn, wheat, and vegetables they could 
raise, from the troops and from passing emigrants. 
The offer was so good, and the prospects so flattering, 
that they consented to remain. They therefore set to 
work, and ploughed and sowed their lands, in which they 
expended all their means, anticipating an abundant 
harvest. But the spring and summer came without 
