Arizona citizen., 1871-12-02
LETTER FROM THE CHA.

LETTER FROM HE U1LAs Te Water for hrigation-The Settlers
 Rights Theret0-Why the Indians hdoe
 lad no Water for Some Years-State-
 naent Regardi1ag the PimGs' Purposes
 Aqainst the Whites-A Hint or tuo to
 Indian Agents.
 CHA RIVER (NEAR FLoRENCE), AT, 1
 November 25, 1871.
 To the Editor of THE ARIZONA CITIZEN: In your issue of November 18th, have read an extract from a letter of Indian Agent Stout, at the Pima Reservation, to the notorious Vincent Colyer, of the date of Octo- Der 18th, in which Agent Stout say that the "White men at the head of the river have taken the water for themselves, so that the Indians were deprived of the means of irrigating the ground for agricultural purposes. :"
 There are great many Indian sympathisers in the East who, if this statement were allowed to pass uncon- tradicted, would really believe that the white men on the Gila river were inn posing on the poor Indians, and de- priving them as usual of their rights.
 Now the facts in the case are these :: The Gila river last July and part of August was very low on account of the long continued drouth, and the water did not run in the river beyond what is known as the mouth of the Ruggles' ditch. Above this there are three other ditches Stiles, on the opposite side of the river, in Maricopa county, and Wheat's ditch, and Gay & Hollands on this side, in Pima county, which is the upper ditch on the river, and about eighteen miles above the mouth of the upper ditch of the Pima Reservation, although the Pimas claim ditch which they have above, and cultivate lands which are not on the reserve. My claim which l am culti- gating is about five miles below the mouth of the uppermost ditch-that is to say, Gay & Hollands, and there was no water running in the Gila in front of my claim for nearly seven weeks.
 The oldest ditch in the settlement is the one belonging to Whites ranch and now owned by Ambrosio Arviser, some four and half miles below my claim, and about six miles below where the water gave out last Sum- mer.
 According to the laws of this Terri tory, in regard to the distribution of water where there is scarcity for ag- ricultural purposes, it says: " During "years when a scarcity of water shall exist, owners of fields shall have precedence of the water for irriga- tion according to the dates of their respective titles, or their occupation "of the lands, either by themselves GOT their grantors. The oldest titles "shau have preference always" " Now, according to this law, Ambrosio Arviser, at Whites ranch, had the best right to the water in the river. Above this claim there are five dams in the river, and if Arviser had insisted upon it he could have compelled the owners of the different dams above to let the water follow its natural course and run toward his ditch, but being a practical man and man of common sense and experience in such matters, he very well knew that the water ln- stead of reaching him, and only six miles to run, would be absorbed ill the sandy bed of the Gila and would not have been benefit to anyone.
 Now please take notice, that from where the water gave out to White s ranch, it is only six miles. What probability is there of the water (at that stage last July) ever reaching eleven miles further to the uppermost dam of the Pima's? None whatever, for everybody knows, and none better than the Indians themselves, that the valley of the Gila increases in width below Sanford, and the river bed in- creases also, and would necessarily ab- sorb the water when the river is at the stage that it was last Summer.
 On the night of the 26th of August last there was very heavy rain on the Gila, extending from above the r 1 I 4