"That country is
no good," they said; "there is nothing but copper there, even the
water is poisoned with it." Those were the black hills where there is
now the prosperous town of Jerome and one of the great mines of the
earth, the famous United Verde Mine, the property of Senator William
Clark.
The following day, about noon, we rounded a sharp bend of the road
and Fort Whipple and the town of Prescott came into view. A pretty
and gratifying sight truly, but imagine my astonishment! Here to the
right was the identical mysterious hill which I had seen in that
memorable night from the height of the Mogollon mesa and behind it
was the black range, the Sierra Prieta, which had formed a part of
the encircling horseshoe.
Never in my lifetime have I come to a town where the people were as
hospitable and kindly disposed toward strangers as here. It is no
wonder that I got no farther, for here the people vied with each
other to welcome the wayfarer to the gates of their city. The town
was then young and isolated. The inhabitants had come by teams or
horseback from as far away as the State of Kansas, where the nearest
railway connection was eastward, or from California, via Yuma and
Ehrenberg on the Colorado River.
Pages:
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123