Arizona weekly enterprise., 1889-08-24
THE BUTTE RESERVOIR.
MT. Henry Buehman Visits Pinal County, and Writes an Interesting Letter De- scliptive of What he Saw.
 TD,ilv Citizpn

Ir. Henry Buehman Visits Pinal County, and Writes an Interesting Letter De-
 scriptive of What he Saw.
 TDaily Citizen.l Ed. Citizen: The stride towards he upbuilding of our Territory, which has lately been made, can hardly be realized by one who is constantly pinned down to business in the city or town where he is located. The changes W hich have taken place in and around Florence since my last visit there, in 1887, are wonderful. The Florence Canal Company who have to within a few miles of Casa Grande completed their grand undertaking, have wrought wonders, by transforming the hereto fore
 DESERT LAND INTO FIELDS OF GRAIN, and orchards, and hundreds of families arc making comfortable homes, and surrounding themselves with all those which are the inevitable results of industry.
 Our young men or old fellows, either if you please, have an opportunity to settle on these lands and make them selves Independent within a few years. It is of course necessary that they possess the pluck and energy to settle down to hard work. The govern ment gives every man three years in which to pay for his land at $2.50 all acre of desert land. The Florence Canal Co.,, charge $500 for water rights, but the company is very liberal and holds out all the inducements possible, and give the opportunity of paying on the instailment plan oi $l.60 per acre for years. Now let us suppose a man having paid for three years the above ratio, if he has been industrious and spared no elbow grease, he has also cultivated his land and from the fruits of his labor he has realized more than what he has paiC out, and his land is worth here, nc less than it is in Californa, viz $10( per acre.
 THE OLD IDEA
 that our desert land will not be pro ductive even if plenty of water is ac cessible is HOW clearly laid the shade for miles before approaching Florence the land which formerly constituted one of the vast deserts of our sun kiss ed land, may now be seen crossed b, canal and laterals filled with wate from the Gila, and the land in ful state of cultivation, producing fully a well if not better than the bottom Ian Is.
 The enterprising citizens of Flor ence are already reaping the benefi of their risk and industry. The peo pie are fully aware that they have tn grandest country in the United State backing them, and all they need t do Is, to
 LET THE WORLD KNOW IT,
 and I assure you, Mir. Editor, no ston is left unturned by them. There i hardly day but what strangers ar coming into the city looking aroun for opportunities of investments. Tn 1 day l left Florence arrangements wer made to put several sections of lant at the end of the canal, into whea barley, alfalfa and fruits; for som eastern parties.
 The leading citizens of Florence al willing 10 give all possible induc, ments to a North and South railroa, but they are down with both feet on branch road, and right they are
 My visit to Florence was for til purpose of photographing
 THE WATER STORAGE SITES
 near that city, known as the Butte On Saturday morning, August 10tl in company with Mir. John Green, a old pioneer, and Hon. Geo. w. Browl Of THE ENTERPRISE, well known Tucson as the "whole-souled George
 we started for the field of operatio The wholesouled George graceful
 holding the ribbons of our plungir
 team, as we climbed the dizzy height
 showed, by his masterly skill ill dri
 ing, that we were perfectly safe whi under his guidance, and making goo time. he brought us by evening to u desired point. Following up the Gi river from Florence distance of
 miles, one is confronted by
 TWO SOLID WALLS,
 on either side of the river, rising to
 heighth of 200 feet On one side al l60 feet on the other, forming Il l grandest site for almost a natul f reservoir that one can imagine. He 1t seems that nature herself has pl vided place to store the vast wate
 of the Gila river for the fertilizati,
 of the immense body of land now lyi y idle below it. The cost of the co I struction of the dam is small col Q pared with the magnificent size of t
 reservoir. The width at the bottc r of the walls is 190 feet and at t s heighth of 160 feet, the walls are abe I 225 feet apart.
 l. Passing through the rocky gorge, beautiful valley opens up to view fire , to miles in width, with low hi e on either side, while through it {
 river leisurely flows toward the
 mense gorge. The fall of the river about 10 feet to the mile, so that if
 dam 160 feet in height is built, { U water would back 16 miles.
 U THE AMOUNT OF WATER e this reservoir would hold is almost e calculable. Mir. W. A. McGinnis, of civil engineer, who has been engae
 in surveying said: Should 1 ms
 an error in computation of six or [
 millions of cubic feet of water in e
 mating the capacity of the reserve et the amount would be insignifc; n compared with it's aggregate capacit Ie The question would naturally ar D. in the minds of some how can sucl V reservoir be filled? When we c oi sider the country it drains, this qu
 tion is easily answered, for the col ] Inv