We,
therefore, seem to have skirted the boundary of a country once populous, and worthy of becoming so again. Besides the advantages
already enumerated, the mountains in this vicinity bear
indications of mineral wealth. Vol. 3, p. 93."
The notes before referred to, in the possession of the writer,
speak of great farming and grazing establishments scattered over
the whole face of the Territory, between 1610 and 1800, which
produced abundant crops of cereals, fruits, and grapes. These
statements are confirmed by the testimony of Major Emory and his
report, where he enumerates several of the most extensive--by
Gray, Bartlett, Parke, and Col. Bonneville. Many of the Ranches,
deserted by the Mexicans on account of the Apache Indians, have
upon them large, well-built adobe houses which must have cost the
builders thousands of dollars. Many of these have been occupied
under squatter titles by emigrants within the last few years. Of
others, only the ruins remain, having been destroyed by the
depredations of the Indians, or by the heavy rains of the
succeeding years.
The greater portion of these lands on the Santa Cruz and San
Pedro are covered by Mexican titles-©and many of these again by
squatter claims. It is absolutely necessary that Congress should
by some wise and speedy legislation settle, upon some definite
basis, the land titles of Arizona.
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