BANCROFT LIBRARY NEW MEXICO. TERRITORIAL BUREAU OE IMMIGRATION REPORT AS TO MOKA COUNTY. THIS REPORT WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY PREPARED BY WM. KROENIG, COMMISSIONER, OF WATROUS, MORA COUNTY. LAS VEGAS, N. M. DAILY GAZETTE PRINT. 1881. BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION OFFICERS. L. BRADFORD PRINCE, RAFAEL ROMERO, L. SPIEGELBERG, JNO. H. THOMPSON, President. Vice-President. Treasurer. Secretary. MEMBERS AT LARGE. Gov. Lew Wallace, ex-officio, Santa Fe. L. Bradford Prince, Santa Fe. Lehman Spiegelberg, Santa Fe. T. F. Conway, Santa Fe. William Kroenig, Watrous. BY COUNTIES, For Coif ax Harry Whigham, Cimarron. For Dona Ana A. J. Fountain, Mesilla. For Grant W. H. Lawrence, Silver City. For Lincoln J. C. Lea, Roswell. B. T. Ellis, Lincoln. For Mora Rafael Romero, La Cueva. For Rio Arriba Samuel Eldodt, San Juan. For Santa Fe Romulo Martinez, Santa Fe. Samuel Ellison, Santa Fe. For San Miguel Trinidad Romero, Las Vegas. J. H. Koogler, Las Vegas. For Socorro Antonio Abeytia y A., Socorro. Michael Fisher, Socorro. For Taos Anthony Joseph, Taos. For Valencia Tranquilino Luna, Los Lunas. For Bernalillio Wm. C. Hazledine, Albuquerque. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF MORA COUNTY. Mora County is situated in the north eastern part of the Territory, lying immediately south of Colfax County and stretching from the Panhandle o^ Texas on the east, to the mountains on the west. It has an area of about 3,698 square miles or 2,366.124 acres. The population, according to the last census amounts to 12,000 those of Spanish ancestry constituting by far the larger number. The prairies occupy about three-fourths of the surface, the mountains with the exception of the "Turkey Mountains 1 ' lies altogether in the western part of the county. The altitude gradually rises from 4,000 feet in the extreme east to 7,000 feet, at the base of the mountains, which rise to an altitude "of 11,000 feet, a few individual peaks attaining a height of 12,500 feet. The prairie lands are at present, while thu mines are still undeveloped, the principal sources of wealth of the county, furnishing pasturage for 75,000 head of cattle. 125,000 sheep, 10,000 goats and 1,500 horses. So far, only the natural water courses, springs and water holes have been used to water the stock and consequently immense tracts of the best grazing lands are only pastured when abundant rains till the numerous natural depressions with water; experiments have proved, that in these depressions by sinking *vel!s water can be obtained within a reasonable distance. Wind mills could be erect- | ed at a small cost to furnish an inexhaustable supply of water. In this man- ner the stock interests could be fully trebled. The sinking of wells would also be advantageous in the herding of stock, as they would soon become accustomed to return to the watering places. The native breed of cattle is of an inferior quality, but is being improved by the importation of graded bulls and already entire herds of improved cattle can be found. The original stock bear well, and as mildew is unknown, all varieties of gooseberries can be grown with certainty of success. The first improved fruit trees were planted about fifteen years ago in the central and western parts of the county ; the late blooming trees have proved to be the best and surest of success. The Ger- man prune has produced fine crops of superior fruit. Of cherries the early Richmond is the safest. Peaches and apricots will only bear in very sheltered lo- cations It is generally necessary to protect the orchards against the prevail- ing south-west winds by strips of quick-growing trees, and it is believed that the white willow will give the best protection in the shortest time. On Red River peaches, apricots, pears, grapes, and in fact all the more tender varieties of fruit, give abundant crops. Natural meadows are limited, but any piece of prairie land can. in the course of two or three years, be converted. into a good meadow by irrigation. The prairies are covered with gramma and blue joint grass. The latter forms a very heavy sod and drives out the gramma. The hay of the blue joint grass is very heavy and is considered of far better quality than any of the cultivated grasses. All the mountain streams abound with trout. So far no effort has been made to breed them artificially, although many fine springs offer all the induce- ments wished for. A number of reservoirs have been made, and as they are fed by rivers which have their sources in the mountains, some trout find their way into the lakes, where they have been caught, weighing as much as five and a half pounds. Antelopes, turkeys, white-tailed deer, quails, sage hens, etc., are still found on our prairies, and in the recesses of the mountains *are various wild animals. The county shows in many places traces of former occupation by an agri- cultural people. Their mode of building differed in so far from that of the present Pueblo Indians that their villages were of smaller dimensions, and as in all the excavations made earthenware pots, filled with charred corn, were un- earthed, it may be presumed that these villages were destroyed by the wild In- dian tribes of the prairies. All these ruins show large quantities of pottery, well made arrow points of flint and obsidian, hand mills (metates), etc. The canons also show the remains of cliff houses. There is one woolen mill in the county, which has not been run for some time, owing to some differences among the proprietors. The property consists of a good substantial three-story stone edifice, an additional one -story adobe building roofed with tin, out-houses for operatives, stables, and about two hundred acres of land. The power is supplied by an overshot wheel. The property is for sale, and would be a safe investment to any one under- standing the business ; it is situated on the Mora river, four miles from a rail- road station. The mineral wealth of this county is believed to be enormous, but bcin" 1 on the "Mora grant" is thus far undeveloped ; alluvial gold has been found in various places, also silver, copper, antimony, iron and coal. A coal oil spring has recently been discovered twelve miles from Mora, the county seat of the county. The prevailing rock in the eastern and central part of the county is sandstone, which is ve y suitable for building purposes, and, as in many places, limestone of superior quality crops out. There is no lack of building material. In different parts around the craters of extinct volcanoes is found lav-* ( mal pais) which makes excellent mill stones. In beauty of scenery, and everything required to make charming country homes, no place on earth is superior to this county. The valley near Watrous attracts the attention of every one entering the Territory from the Eist, and the scenery around Mora, La Cueva, Agua Negra, Ocate, etc., is of surpassing beauty. For market gardening and fine farming these valleys present extraor- dinary inducements. The termination of the legal proceedings necessary to establish the title to the Mora grant (which contains nearly 800,000 acres), now expected very shortly, will throw open to purchase and improvement large tracts of admirable land, hitherto unobtainable, and this adds still further to the inducements offered in this county to immigration. Yours respectfully, WM. KROENIG, Commissioner of Mora County. Makers Stockton, Calif. , PM. IAH 21. ^ 8