very respect.

In this state of affairs it is scarcely to be expected that the people
will meet together in a convention; there was no arrangement for that
purpose up to the time of my leaving, and none could be made.

We have never had any orders of election from Santa Fe, nor heard of
any convention.

Yours truly,
C. D. Poston.

Major Fitzgerald, U. S. A., whose long experience on the Pacific coast
makes his opinion very valuable, in a letter dated Fort Buchanan,
Arizona, Sept. 17th, 1854, says:

"The citizens of this country are very desirous of a territorial
organization, with its courts, &c. Murders are committed and stock is
stolen by white men with impunity. There is no court nearer than the
Rio Grande (300 miles) to take cognizance of crime. Some few of the
emigrants of this year have remained in the Santa Cruz valley. More
would have done so, no doubt, if they had not started from the States
originally with stock for the California market.

The country around us is now beautiful. It has been raining almost
daily since the 1st of July, and the vegetation is most luxuriant. Many
of the Mexican citizens come over the line for purposes of trade,
bringing flour, fruit, and leather. If there was no custom house at
Calabazas, these articles could be had very cheaply.

We have very excellent gardens, and plenty of vegetables. There is said
to be a good deal of cultivable land on the upper Gila, and if a
territory is created, it should embrace this. This would also include a
large part of the Colorado valley above the junction of the Gila. That
you may succeed in your wishes with regard to Arizona, is the sincere
desire of

Your friend and obliged serv't,
E. H. Fitzgerald."

Lt. Mowry, U. S. A.

A subsequent letter from Major Fitzgerald dated Oct. 1st, says Tueson
contains rising five hundred inhabitants, the remainder of the Santa
Cruz altogether enough to make considerable over a thousand,
independent of the population towards and upon the Gila and Colorado,
of which he remarks,

"You know more than I." "There is not a doubt but that upon the
location of the mail route, there will be a considerable emigration to
this country, and if a portion of Sonora be organized, large numbers
will come both from the East and West. The country is an excellent one
for stock of all kinds, of which there were great numbers where the
Apaches were gathered under the wing of the Catholic church. The
valleys of Sa