REPORT OF THE GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO. EXECUTIVE OFFICE, SANTA FE, N. MEX., September 15, 1902. SIR: In obedience to your request I have the honor to transmit herewith my annual report on the Territory of New Mexico, its present status, progress, and development for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1902. I desire respectfully to call special attention to subjects contained therein as follows: Population, education, statehood, financial condition, work of the land commission, immigration, industrial advancement, irrigation, railroad construction, mining, agriculture and horticulture, forest reserves, the live-stock interests, and public buildings. I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. New Mexico covers 5 of the north temperate zone, extending from the thirty-second to the thirty-seventh parallel. Thus it corresponds in length and latitude with the two Carolinas and the major part of Georgia on the Atlantic coast, or with Tennessee and the upper twothirds of Alabama and Mississippi coming inland. Only Florida, of all the States in the Union, lies wholly south of New Mexico's lower boundary, while but 74°, or one and a half times the Territory's own length would extend that boundary to the northern limit of the torrid zone. In Europe but the extreme southern parts of Spain and Greece lie within New Mexico's latitudes. All of the great health resorts of France and Italy, Spain and Greece, with their celebrated skies, boasted climes, delicious fruits, and rare flowers, lie decidedly farther north. By location New Mexico is distinctly and emphatically a southern country. TOPOGRAPHY OF THE TERRITORY. The topography of the Territory is unique, interesting, and com plex. In shape a parallelogram, with an average breadth of 335 mile 8032-02-1 1 and length of 367 miles, it lies, so to speak, broadside to the sun, sloping from north to south, with an elevation of 7,000 feet above sea level in the former, sinking down to 3,500 feet in the latter, while many mountain peaks, with gently sloping sides, reach a height varying from 8,000 to 13,000 feet. These peaks and their connecting ranges are so scattered as to form the Territory into five distinct watersheds, with their respective valleys. The Rio Grande divides New Mexico from north to south into very nearly equal portions, and is, with its broad and fertile valley, to this country what the Nile is to Egypt. On the northeast the Canadian River forms an outlet for the waters of that section into a tributary of the Mississippi, while on the southeast the Pecos has eroded a valley second only in extent and richness of soil to that of the Rio Grande, of which it is the chief tributary leading to the Gulf of Mexico. In the northwest the San Juan and in the southwest the Gila rivers collect the waters ultimately reaching the Pacific Ocean. Each of these main rivers has quite a number of affluent streams; so great in fact that New Mexico is more largely supplied with water courses than is any other State or Territory in the Rocky MountainPacific group. Along each stream are valleys; beyond the valleys rolling foothills and high table-lands, called mesas, and beyond these the mountain ranges proper. In the mountains and in many of these mesas are deep gorges or canyons with almost perpendicular walls. These serve the useful purpose of collecting the water from the melting snows and conveying it to the streams ramifying the mountain sides and valleys in all directions, whence it is caught in storage reservoirs and held until wanted for use by the farmer or fruit grower in the irrigation of his crops, or taken up by the canals and conveyed through gently inclined laterals to the farms and orchards. Such, then, is the topography of New Mexico-sheltering mountain peaks and chains on the north and west, high table-lands, rolling foothills, and lower lying valleys, falling away to the south-the general slope of the country is on an average of about 10 feet to the milethus providing a southern exposure throughout its vast extent of 122,580 square miles, or an area 100 square miles greater than the land surfaces of all New England, New York, and Maryland combined, or 1,241 square miles larger than all England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. PECULIARITIES OF TOPOGRAPHY. Notwithstanding its southern geographic location, the general elevation of the Territory, averaging as it does about 5,000 feet above sea level, insures for it that purity of atmosphere and coolness, even in midsummer, characteristic of elevated regions. Another important feature also connected with the general southern slope of the whole country is that while it serves to interrupt and weaken the force of the cold northern currents, it admits the warm air currents from the south to precipitate their moisture on the higher slopes in the form of summer rains and winter snows. Hence we have in these elevated districts a climate favorable to the growth of trees and a fairly equable distribution of moisture throughout the year, especially adapted to the production of nutritious grasses and the cultivation of grain, without resorting to irrigation in some localities, especially in the higher altitudes, but always giving a two-fold greater yield where irrigation is provided. The most desirable climatic features are especially noticeable always along the elevated mountain slopes, where magnificent pine forests are agreeably interspersed with beautiful grassy valleys and parks, numerous springs, and a delightfully invigorating atmosphere. The general course of the mountains, valleys, and streams is from north to south, with the tendency to a deflection from northwest to southeast, or toward Mexico and the Isthmus of Panama; hence the climate is considerably varied by the changes of latitude and by the elevation of the surface of the country, though at all times salubrious to a remarkable degree, and constitutes in reality one of the Territory's most attractive features. The malarious maladies common in some localities of the Mississippi Valley and elsewhere, where the soil is imperfectly cultivated and rank vegetation allowed to decay on the surface, are entirely unknown in New Mexico. Numerous thermal and other springs, both hot and cold, abound, and the natural scenery is beautiful and most attractive. The principal forests of the Territory are confined to the mountain ranges, being constituted chiefly of pine, cedar, spruce, and other varieties of evergreens, also ash, box elder, and scrub oak, but on the foothills extensive tracts of pinon, cedar, and mesquite are found, and in the river bottoms, fringing the margins of streams, are belts of cottonwood, sycamore, and other deciduous trees, while in the southern part of the Territory groves of oak and black walnut abound. CAUSES OF ARIDITY. The aridity of New Mexico arises partly from her location, partly from her altitude, and partly from her topography. Her location is in the midst of the formerly so-called "Great American Desert," her borders about equidistant, or 500 miles each from the Gulf of Mexico. and the Pacific Ocean at their nearest approach. The Gulf of California at its northern extremity lies some 150 miles closer, but its water surface is inconsiderable. The low-lying plains east of the Rocky Mountains draw the moistureladen winds from the Gulf of Mexico, causing them to pass eastward of this section, but at the same time drawing over the Territory the winds from the Pacific and from the Gulf of California. Before these can reach New Mexico, however, they must climb, height by height, the ascending plateaus of Arizona, culminating in the bald-faced peaks of the Continental Divide. All know that the warmer the air the more water it will hold, and on the other hand the more the air is chilled the more it parts with its moisture. Every succeeding altitude but wrings more water from the air, just as each stronger grip of the hand squeezes more water from the sponge. When these almost desiccated winds reach New Mexico only the mountain chains and peaks can draw further moisture from them, leaving the valleys and table-lands with but the scantiest of scant supplies. This is why the average rainfall in the valleys of this Territory will not exceed an inch per month, two-thirds of the entire supply falling during the summer. Compare this with an average yearly precipitation at New York of 43 inches, Boston 45, Savannah 48, and the smallness of the rain supply will begin to be appreciated. But altitude increases aridity by decreasing atmospheric pressure, and thus accelerating evaporation. The elevation of New Mexico averaging about 1 mile above sea level and reaching in the higher valleys to nearly 2 miles, it can be seen at once that water here most readily gives off its vapor. Especially is this true when taken in connection with the dry condition of the air and the almost ceaseless movements of the winds. The moisture that falls is immediately taken up into the air again. A snow of 2 or 3 inches in depth will pass away in a few hours, leaving the ground dry, having apparently returned into the air instead of melting. A refreshing shower in a day or two will have disappeared, leaving no mud behind. This is why any kind of a cloud is rare, and a day during some part of which the sun does not shine is almost unknown. Then, too, it must be remembered that the general slope of the country is on an average of about 10 feet to the mile, causing water, even in the streams (unless im pounded), to run quickly away. For these reasons the humidity of the air in New Mexico averages about 36 per cent, while in New England it is 73 per cent, Florida 75 per cent, San Francisco 76 per cent, and the Gulf States 79 per cent. POPULATION. Excepting the Indians, who occupy reservations or pueblos of their own, the inhabitants of New Mexico are like those of any other American commonwealth, only that a majority of them are of Spanish or Mexican descent, as those of lower New York are of Dutch; of eastern Pennsylvania of German, or lower Louisiana of French blood. This population of Spanish or Mexican descent is well scattered throughout the Territory, but is rapidly assimilating with the newcomers from the States, especially in and around the towns and cities, where the splendid public-school facilities are contributing much to this result. The counties in which the natives of the Territory of Spanish or Mexican parentage are in excess are Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Guadalupe, Mora, Rio Arriba, Socorro, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Taos, Union, and Valencia; while in Lincoln, Colfax, Chaves, Eddy, Grant, Luna, McKinley, Otero, Sierra, and San Juan they are in the minority, or very evenly balanced. But the greater part of this population now speaks English, and the younger generation especially is rapidly amalgamating with the complex American of Anglo-Saxon, Teutonic, Celtic, and other origins. There are in the Territory about 144,000 descendants of the original Spanish and Mexican settlers, and about 90,000 people who have come or whose parents on both sides came from the States since the date of the so-called American occupation, some fifty-two years ago. There are 12,700 Indians here, about 9,200 being Pueblo, living in village communities of their own, while the remainder are Apache, living on the Jicarilla and Mescalero Indian reservations, and Navaho on the Navaho Reservation. Compared with the States of the Union New Mexico is sparsely inhabited, having only 1.6 inhabitants to the square mile; but nevertheless its increase in population has been steady since the first census after the American occupation in 1850, when the population was only 61,547. The census of 1900, which did not come within 25,000 of the true figures, credits the Territory with a population of 195,310, showing an increase during the decade of 1890 to 1900 of 27.2 per cent, considerably greater than the increase of the population of the United States as a whole in that time, and of 220 per cent since 1850. During the decade previous the increase was 28.5 per cent, which, however, represented only 34,000 people, while the increase during the past decade was 42,000. Since the last census was taken the Ter ritory has been adding considerably to its population, owing to the building of many miles of new railroad and the persistent advertisement of her resources, advantages, and attractions, and the increasing recognition of the fact that New Mexico is the sanitarium of the world, and that its climate offers the best chances for recovery to consumptive and other invalids. There is no way of making accurate estimates of the population on June 30, 1902, and its growth since the census. year except by comparing the registration returns, the vote cast at elections, and the annual school census. These, though subject to imperfections, by comparing them from year to year give a very good idea of the growth and present population of the Territory. It is from these sources that the following estimate of the population on June 30, 1902, is made. From 1898 to 1900 there was an increase in registration of 6,340 voters. From 1900 to 1902 the increase is about 7,500. At a conservative estimate, each registered vote represents 3.5 persons, so that from 1898 to 1900 the increase of population was 19,000, and from 1900 to 1902 it was 26,250. The population of the Territory, according to these figures, on June 30, 1902, was 234,000, to which must be added 12,700 Indians, making a total of 246,700. The figures available from the annual school census taken in each county, as well as the number of votes cast, bear out the accuracy of these figures. On this basis the population of each county at present is as follows: The census of 1900 does not give an accurate idea of the population and the importance of New Mexico's cities, because the legal city limits in very few cases cover the entire city. The following are conservative estimates of the population of the twelve principal towns: Albuquerque, Old Albuquerque, and suburbs... Las Vegas, East Las Vegas, and suburbs Santa Fe and suburbs.. Raton and suburbs Las Cruces and suburbs. Gallup and suburbs Silver City. Alamogordo Deming.. 12,000 10,000 9,000 6,000 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,800 3,500 3,000 2,000 1,500 |