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Part Third
[[underline]] The Mahhaos or Mohaves Indians [[/underline]]
Although an historical notice of its inhabitants hardly comes within the scope of a report on the "Forestry" of any particular section it may be safely [[averred??]] that any paper on the upper part of the Colorado Valley which would fail to include the Mohaves Indians within its limits would be, to use a somewhat hackneyed figure, very much like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. It has been thought that after casting a retrospective glance at their early history a short description of their customs, mode of living, etc, might prove interesting, if not valuable, and in order to further elucidate the subject and throw some light upon the obscure points of an article of this nature, necessarily hurried, a few pen-sketches have been appended, which, at best, crude like the text, possess, at least, the merit of being true to nature.
In the year 1519 Fernando Cortez landed with his fleet at Tabasco and began his famous conquest of the Aztec empire and in August 1521 the strong hold of the Montezumas was overthrown and Mexico became a Spanish province.
Thence the Spaniards explored the entire coast from the Isthmus of Darien to Port Royal in South Carolina and became acquainted with the country west of the Mississippi (the ancient Meschacébé) as far north as New Mexico and Missouri and east of that river traversed the Gulf States as far as the mountain ranges of Tennessee and North Carolina.
We read in the old Spanish records of that period that fabulous stories of treasure supposed to be found in the "terra incognita" now comprised within the territory of Arizona inflamed the cupidity of the Spaniards and these exploring parties were equipped and started for the new El Dorado.
The first of these parties struck the Colorado river at the point near the "El vado de los Padres" - the Priests' Ford - and on their return described the