LAS CRUCES—Continued, their settlements and planted their missions before Plymouth and the Atlantic coast settlements were thought of.
CAMPBELL HOTEL is good; leads. Also AMADOR and DON BERNARDO. Frequently fill early. Free camp space. Inf.—Chamber of Commerce.
RIO GRANDE RIVER, crossed westward.
THE DESERT NOT DESERTED
In fnr West Texas and across New Moxlco and parts of Arizona and California are arid areas crossed by the Old Spanish Trail often referred to as deserts. They are not deserted. Cities of refinement reaeli hands across these lands for many love the mystery and life and sunshine of tho Southwest while the soils need only the ningic touch of water to spring into life ns fruitful ns the oases of Bislcra or the garden spots of Arabia. Mountains rear their crests with friendly greeting and nature plays her undcfinnblc colors on their rugged sides. The sands are redeemed by tl-c graceful inesquite, the tangled visnaga, the bayonet shaped yucca and its bouquet of white bloom in spring, tho cncti of a hundred mystic types and their delicate flowering, the iron wood blossoms, the flaming flower of tho ocatlllas that grow mysteriously and proudly among the rocks. Strangeness. mystery and vnstness; it is the dwelling place of the Great Spirit!
Irrigation is spreading its broad mnntle, joining with sunshine and fertility, and the sands leap to life and send products of incredible variety to the tables of the frozen north. Ft. Stock-ton nnd Balmorhea. Texas, arc gnrdcns in the desert watered by great springs. The Rio Grande Valley thru Ft. Hancock, Fal>ens, Ysleta, Juarez, El Paso. Mesilla and Las Cruces is redeemed and enriched by the big Elephant Butte reservoir in New Mexico, 110 mi. north of El Paso, Southern Now Mexico is still unredeemed but underground reservoirs reached by shallow wells underlie great areas. On westward Mormons are irrigating along the San Pedro River. Irrigation Is around Tucson. Westward at Florence the great Coolidgo Dam is building to transform more areas of hot sands into semi-tropical gardens of wealth. The Salt River Valley around Phoenix and Its green fields and colorful life breaks on the desert traveler like a benediction; the Roosevelt reservoir that mothers It all seems a distant sacrament. Over in California the sandy bed of the old Sulton Sea is now the Imperial Valley growing green gold. The desert is not deserted. A great highway gives comfortable travel thru It and travel service is plentiful along tho way. Soft, fine drinking water prevails in this snndy country with but a few places not so fortunate.
NEW M EX I CO-ARIZONA STATE LINE
3 ml. W,«Ht of ltodoo
ARIZONA—501 MILES Road Conditions
The road across Arizona Is well built and well maintained; gravel prevails. 125 nil. nrc paved.
Description of Country
The scenery thru the eastern part Is varied and Interesting— majestic mountains nnd rich mining districts; deserts that attract by tlioir varied cacti growths nnd deserts turned to green fields by irrigation. West of Buckeye dry sands and a drab country are traveled to Yuma but small hotels, auto service, camp sites and cabin camps have developed along the way. The people are hospitable. Tbe drive Is an interesting experience.
Arizona is but 15 yrs. old ns n state. Its industry, mining, agriculture, education, road and city building are examples of American enterprise. Numerous ranch resorts are In the mountains nnd valleys. In summer the elevation cools the temperature. In winter southern sunshine instead of snow and ice.
Old History
Tho Santa Cruz Valley—Tucson, Nogales, and into Mexico— was ono of tho great seats of mission and colonizing effort by tho Spaniards. Numerous missions were in that territory. Some still remain In Mexico south of Nogales. The beginning in Arizona was In 1092. Tho Mission San Xavier del Bac, 9 mi. south of Tucson, was apparently founded in 1700. The building, which still stands and functions ns a church, restored after years of disaster and neglect, was ono of the finest structures erected by the padres in the New World. From tho Santa Cruz Valley mission works were extended across Arizona to Yuma, down tho Gila Valley of the Old Spanish Trnll of today. From this base also tho expedition started that founded San Francisco in 1770. The great mission chain along tho California coast had been started in 1769 nt San Diego.
In this Arizona, Now Mexico and Northwest Texas country Coronado and his princely expedition spent three yours, 1510-12, searching for the Cities of Gobi and the land of the Gran Qulvlra.
*DEMING. An interesting city in the midst of an apparent desert but those plains are underlaid with abundant water for irrigation and the sands are fertile. Mines, forests and cattle ranches are around. Three railroads. Pure, soft drinking water is characteristic of this country—and most of the Old Spanish Trail territory.
PARK HOTEL loads. HOTEL BAKER, lower priced, good. Five cabin and apmt. camps. Free camp space, also cabins, 20 mi. west at Gage: Camp space at Wilna. Inf.— Chamber of Commerce.
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. 82.5 ini. west of Doming; 27.5 mi. east of Lordsburg. Elevation 4,584 ft. East, the water goes to the Atlantic: west, to the Pacific.
^LORDSBURG. A railroad division point. Lead, copper and silver mines in the surrounding country. .IIOLLEN and VENDOME hotels, fair. Two cabin camps.
GRANITE GAP. Elevation -1,400 ft. West of Lordsburg 2S mi., east of Rodeo 20 mi. Out thru granite mountains that rise in beauty out of the desert. The ocatilla, the spindling cactus of the arid, rocky places, is seen in this section; ils flowers in spring a scarlet flame and one of the mystic beauties of the desert.
RODEO. A railroad station village. Mining and ranch interests around. Country hotel. Camp space, camp house.
DOUGLAS. A thoroly modern city, the smelting center for the copper mines of the Plielps-Dodge and the Calumet & Arizona companies at Eisbce. The monthly production -1,000,000 lbs. Near is the Cliiricfiliua National Monument in the Coronado National Forest where Nature and her genii have fashioned fantastic figures in the rocks. Rauch camps and resorts in the mountains. Across the Mexican border fence is Agua Prieta with a pleasant welcome to the traveler. HOTEL PALOMAR. the leading hotel. HOTEL WINTON, lower priced, good. Three good cabin camps. Inf.—Chamber of Commerce.
B1SBEE. Plielps-Dodge and the Calumet & Arizona copper mines; three of the greatest in the country. Production reaches $57,000,000 monthly. Eisbee is built in a canyon with the houses over one another, clinging to the canyon walls; a never-to-be-forgotten picture. The Warren District around these mines including Eisbee embraces over 15.000 people. The crowded highway thru the crooked canyon is essentially the city of Bisbee. Mountain spring water at Eisbee.' Cattle and goat ranches in the mountains and valleys, mountain and ranch resorts for 5 stop-over. COPPER QUEEN HOTEL leads. GOLDEN HOTEL, modern rooms. Two cabin camps. Free caiup at Lowell, i nii. east. Inf.—Chamber of Commerce.
BISBEE SUMMIT 3 mi. west of Eisbee. 0.080 ft. bigb-ost Point on the Old Spanish Trail. The highway here is a beautiful piece of engineering, easily driven, while the mountain peaks and canyons are impressive pictures.
, Bbrec other OST summits are: S.5 mi. west of A au Horn, l°xas. 4,630 ft.—the Continental Divide between Doming m»d Lordsburg, N. M. *1.584 ft.—7 mi. west of Boulevard, California 4,103 ft.
/TOMBSTONE. Once a turbulent city as men sought the riches in silver buried in the mountains: $40,000,000 "’ore taken from the mines. One pocket produced about