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pack animals. Crossing the river a mile below the canyon, we continued our march East to a branch of the Rio Verde, striking it about six miles from the mouth. This branch is called Clear Creek, and is about thirty miles in length. It runs from the northeast and three miles above where we camped, it canyons and for fifteen miles passes through one of the roughest and most impassable canyons in the territory. At Clear Fork I divided the command, sending the pack trains with thirty-three men southward to seek a passage through the mountains, while with the remaining sixty men I continued in an easterly course, toward the great Tonto Basin, where the pack train was directed to meet us. That train was under the command of M. Lewis, an experienced mountaineer and one of the original Walker party of explorers. Our way was over very rough country, through which a pack train could hardly have gone. After a fatiguing trip of two days, we arrived at the top of the mountain or table-land overlooking a great basin and standing at its upper or eastern end. This basin is occupied by Tonto and Pinal Apaches, and I confidently expected a fight with them.

"The next morning we descended into the basin, not without much difficulty and we began a search for the redskins, but were unable to find any, though traces of their recent presence were numerous. For three days we continued the search, beating up the small streams and ravines about the basin, but in vain. In the afternoon of the fifth day, after leaving Clear

Their

Fork, we were joined by the pack train, upon a stream that we called the East Fork of the Verde. The train had followed the course of the river about eight miles nearly south over the foothills and had then struck across the Mesa southeasterly about eight miles to Fossil Creek, thence south thirty degrees east, about eighteen miles through Fossil Canyon and over the mountains, thence East about six miles to the East Fork of the Verde where they joined us. route is reported as practical for wagons. This portion of the country is a lava bed, covered with timber and excellent grass upon the mountains. On the morning of the eighth of June, we took our march in a southerly direction over the hills and at noon reached a stream, which I called Tonto Creek, running south thirty degrees east and being about thirty miles in length. The rock hereabouts changes to a bluish granite. Our stopping place was at a very pretty Cienega with an excellent spring of water. In the afternoon we moved to Tonto Creek, about nine miles and camped at some tanks. There is no water in the creek so high We continued down Tonto Creek to a up. point about five miles from its mouth where we turned East and struck across a mesa to Salt River, at a point four miles above the junction of the creek. On Tonto Creek we prospected in several places for gold, and found color, but not in paying quantities. All along it are the ruins of ancient fortifications and houses indicating a former large population. The walls of the

buildings are of stone laid in cement which is yet quite firm.

"Finding our stock of provisions was getting low, I started a pack train to the Pimo Villages. It consisted of thirty-six animals with an escort of twenty-three men, under the command of Henry Jaycox. The water of Salt River is very brackish and there being but little grass at our camp, I went out with a small mounted party to hunt a better. I first went down the run to the mouth of the creek, where we found a large Indian village of some fifty huts. It had been abandoned but a few hours before. This was beyond doubt the headquarters of Wa-poo-i-ta, or Big Rump, the Tonto Chief. The next day the Indians fired the village, utterly destroying it. Not finding a camp in this direction, on the following day I went up the river about four miles and discovered an excellent point. A large spring of pure water, grass in abundance and of excellent quality, and wood at a convenient distance. The next day we moved to the inviting point and named it Grapevine Springs. About this Spring are about 600 acres of good tillable land and the water is sufficient for very large herds of stock.

"As the pack train would not return from Pimo for several days, and I was confident there was a large number of Indians in the vicinity, I determined to hunt them and on the following day, after dark, I started at the head of thirtysix men with six days rations for a scout on the north side of the river. By two o'clock the next morning we reached a high mountain, since

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