Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-11-03
ARTESIAN WELLS

The Denver Tribune of a recent date
 has a long article on artesiaa wells ID
 Denver, where they have thirty-eight
 flowing wells with estimated capacities
 of from 45,OOO to 3o0,0OO gallons per
 day each, and with an estimated total
 flow of f, l60,000 gallons in twenty-four
 hours. The Tribune discusses the prob
 ability Of retaining the arid lands of
 eastern Colorado by system of irriga-
 tlon from artesian water. "Ihe first
 effort to obtain artesian water in the
 west was made by the government in
 lo55, when the expedition under the
 command of Captain Pope was sent out
 to the Llano Estacado, near the borders
 of Texas and New Mexico. The first
 well was sunk at point fifteen miles
 due east of the river Pecos on the third
 parallel of latitude At a depth of 360
 feet the first stream of water was struck,
 which rose to the height of seventy feet n the tubing. At G4l feet a second
 stream, which rose 400 feet, was struck. Five miles east of this point a second
 well was bored to inc depth of $50 feet, in which the water rose 7j0 feet. It is seen, therefore, that these first experi- ments of the government were not suc- cessful in the west. And the nearest approach to a true artesian well in the west was the partial success Of the Pa cihc Railway company in 1882 when a well was bored at the Point of Rocks, S05 miles west of Denver, in the alkah district Tn which the water rose to within eleven feet Of the surface. and served to furnish all the engines. What can be done has already been more than proved. From the numerous wells now | flowing each their hundreds of thous- i ands of gallons per day, II the water was properly utilized with such a purpose in l view, the entire city could be supplied | for all purposes. And yet there are en- terprises on foot too numerous to men ton for sinking of other wells. So far as l Denver is concerned, so bountiful is the | supply that artesian water will, few | months hence, become thing of con convenience and luxury, valued above all l else for its medicinal qualities. That 1t | possesses this merit is attested by the | most reputable physicians Of Denver, who are forced to acknowledge that the 1 introduction of artesian water has caused a falling off in their prescriptions for kidney and liver diseases, while the drug msn complain of a dull market for patent medicines. Stimulated by tn rapid multiplication and splendid sue cess of these wells in the city, the spirit Of business enterprise has taken wings to the plains and already there are num- erous schemes on loot to establish wells on the recently acquired farm lands to the south and east of Denver.
 There rs a reason for the faith of such men more patent han a the theories that have been urge by those who be- heve in change of climate in Cobra do,' and that moisture must Of necessr rty follow habiIation and agriculture. The reason is found in the eternal fact that nature has provided itself for all the ot man, and though hr stores are bouutiful she distributes her favors only when they are needed"
 What has been done in developing aries.an water in Colorado, can be done with equa! success in many localities in Arizona. Arteslan water has already been discovered in the San Simon val ley in Cachise county. The supply is abundant, and its discovery Is of great value to that section of country. We trust that the day Is not far distant when our people will take this matter in hand and develop water in all of the large valleys where the soil IS rich and the grazing good.