Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1891-02-20
ANCIEHT IRRIGATION.

AiOW tAitiiNiFt ulft tubiIt hYNNtui .
irrigation in the Salt River vale,
alone was may be inferred from
the fact that the amount of land prac
tically covered by the canal was over
quarter OF q million acres, nearly trebl,
the area of the land at present actual
ly cultivated within the county OF Lo,
Angeles, California. The population
supported must have been very great
for it is almost impossible to flnd az
acre withif the line Of ancient ace
quias on which fragments of pottery
shell ornaments or stone implements
cannot be found, while the ruins Of
ancient adobe habitations can be seer
in every direction where they have
not been obliterated by the settler
These are always OF the style still tC
be found among the Zuni, Moqui and
other Pueblo Indians OF the southwest
thick, strong walls with few openings
for doors and windows, and small
rooms, with the buildings clustering
so closely together as to form almost
one tenement.
Estimating the acreage Of the past
as being one acre to two persons, the
present rule among the Pueblo tribes,
the population supported by the
bitches would not fall short Of 100000
an estimate the best authorities con-
slider conservative. The canals them
selves with their principal laterals
must have exceeded a thousand miles
in length, and the ruins of many OF
them give evidences Of the vast labor
Of their construction. Chief in this
respect is without doubt the canal at
at present supplying Mesa City and
vicinity with the water required for
irrigation. This acequia, now known
as the Mesa canal, is taken from the
south bank. of the Salt River about
twenty-five miles east of Phenix, and
after leaving the river runs for several
miles through a formation Of hard vol
canic rock.
SO far as known without explosives
OF any kind and with the simple tools
OF stone age. the aboriginal con-
constructors Of this ditch excavated it
through the rock to a depth ranging
from twenty to thirty feet. The
width Ct the canal is about twenty
feet and It's capacity with the ordinary
amount OF water in the river would
probably be from 10000 to Is, coo inches.
The evidence Of the chipping process
which gradually wore away the rock
through which the canal passes, is
very plain, while the enormous num-
ber Of wornout stone axes and ham
mers to be found along the canal at
this point for several miles tell how
long and ardUCus the task was. Con-
yinced by the ruins of the old ditcn of
the possibility Of irrlsating the sur
rounding country a Mormon mission
ary called the attention of his con
freres to it.
A colony was at once sent out from
Utah, and the work Of cleaning the
ditch Of the debris and heavy mesquite
timber that centuries OF neglect had
caused to accumulate was commenced,
and 50 successfully carried forward
with that intelligence and energy
which always distinguish the Nor
mons in their colonization projects
That at present, though the agency Of
this ruined" canal, population of
several thousand is found where IF
teen years ago the eye grew wearied
with the monotony Of the seemingly
cacti.
Two miles farther ease on the north
bank Of the same river is the head Of
the Arizona canal, the largest acequia
in the southwest, if not on the Pacific
coast, carrying as it does nearly $4,000 |
inches of water. 1t is the extreme
outer ditch Of the entire irrigation |
system in and around Phenix, yet less
than six years ago when its construc-
lion was first seriously proposed it was
impracticable and vision
lry. Originally suggested by the re-
mains of a canal that could be traced |
for miles, its builders pluckily refused |
10 consider it 50, and firm in the be-
lief that what had been done could |
under like conditions be repeated,
they had at last the pleasure Of seeing |
a canal which reclaimed |
1ver a hundred thousand acres OF
and and made a fortune for its
builders.
Forty miles west Of the head Of the
Arizona canal, few miles below the
uncture Of the Salt river with the
Ella, on the north bank Of the latter
liver, is the head of another prehistoric |
hitch, which is, from its capacity and |
position-lOcated as it is just
below the mouth of the Aqua Fria, in
% which stream the waste waters Of
he prehistoric old acequia, now known
IS the Arizona canal emptied- sup
)Osed to be a continuation of the same
ystem; commencing where it can take
rom the ella not only all the water Of
hat stream desired, but the waste
waters Of all the canals north and