Arizona weekly citizen., 1884-03-15

the Santa Cruz at a point above San Xavier, is favorably entertained by all who have considered the question. It Is among the possibilities Of the future. When 1t shall be constructed. thousands nf acres of waste land will be utilized and now where the coyote roams and the rabbit finds hiding place, will be the home of happy people.
 En the south and east Of Tucson IS corner of the Santa Cruz valley, inclUd- ing over SIX hundred square miles O. arabic land, a very small fraction Oi which has ever been pre-empted. Every foot of 1t is good for vines. fruits and grams.
 With a view toutilizing this vast mesa land, MT. Calvin E. Elliott explored the southern slope of the Santa Catalinas for the purpose of finding a stream of water. He found the Sabino canyon, the mouth of which is eleven miles mort heast of Tucson. This canyon drains some four hundred square miles of territory. IL k what is known as a box canyon, being cut out down through the solid granite bases of the mountains. Its waters come down from the pine forests on the sum mits. By throwing a dam across the
  two large. rocky bluffs are opposite, an uul.mited supply of water can be Ob- taired. Mr. Elh0tt's first intention was Co procure water only for the irrigation of the mesa lands. and be indeed has enough for thousands of acres. But the quality of tine water being so pure and so free from vegetable substance he de- cidsd to supply the city of Tucson with
 I srl he a. ments.
 Not only can water be procured from the Santa Catalinas for the irrigation Of this SIX hundred mIle tract, but also from the Rincon and the Santa HItas. Indeed, 1t seems from the formation of the valley that artesian wells could be procured m the eastern part, near Pantano.
 To illustrate how every gulch sur rounding the Santa Cruz valley contains a mine of wealth" let the case or l Messrs. Miller and Warmers be cited Finding that the 'rawhide,' or pioneer method of dividing the waters m the IT, ri-ating ditches in the Santa Cruz pre- vented them from running theIr hour and quartz mills with any certainty or regularity, they cast about for other help. On the south side of Picket Post | butte there is a small guich running | around tue hill. In this gulch were cer- tain small springs, as indicated by the | cienegas. These gentlemen went to work last November and built an earthen dam a quarter of mile wIde across the mouth ot this gulch. The effect was that ia very few days they had a pond of water covering sixty acres, and that averaged eight feet ID depth. They nov have sufficient water on hand to not only | guarantee a continuous run of theIT mills, but also to irrigate and render | valuable many hitherto unused acres below them. They also procured lot ot carp from the government and put ID l -heir pond. From the well-known breed l .ng character of these fish these gentle men will soon have one of the finest fish | farms in America
 If. therefore, all the water in and sur rounding the Santa Cruz valley could be utilized, her broad mesas would be cultivated. and afford homes for thous- snds of people. It k theering to see
 people taking hold of tbese enterprises | We have shown that t IS reasonable.
 that these things could le. Is it a UtO-
 plan dream that they vii be?