Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-12-19
SAN JUAN COUNTY.
Rich in All That Goes to Make for Pros
perity and Industrial Development.

pCllly dliu AlluuoLlldl DCVClOpiHCAt'
San Juan county occupies the eXtrem
northwestern corner of the territory
being bounded on the north by Cole
RADIO, on the west by Arizona, on tn
east by Rio Arriba, and on the south b.
Bernalllo county. The total area i
3,542000 acres, the western portion o
the county being included in the Navajo
reservation.
The first settlers were cattle men
but in due time the fertile valley
attracted the agriculturist, who came
with his fences to cut up the wide ranges
of the cowboy, and induce that conflic
between these two branches OF industry
that has at one time or another beer
known to all sections of the west. The
result has always been the same, anC
here, as elsewhere, the COW -puncher has
been forced to retreat before the pillow
and the harvester, and to give over the
range to the permanent settler fol
homes, orchards and farms.
The agricultural lands Of the county are
embraced in the valleys of the San Juan
the Animas. the La Plata and the Rio
de los Pinos. These valleys are watered
by rivers of the same name, which fur
nish an inexhaustable supply of water
for agricultural purposes; and herein
lies the chief advantage of San Juan
county as a farming section. The water
question, of such serious import to most
parts of New Mexico, has here been
solved by nature, for, with the single ex-
ception of the La Plata, these rivers
have never been known to go dry.
The San Juan, for example, is 275 feet
wide, has an average fall of thirteen feet
to the mile, it's lowest depth being three
feet. 1t is forbade in only few places,
and even as late as November it's waters
at the fords will reach above a wagon
bottom. The very lowest flow of this
river will be about 1000 cubic feet per
second, sufficient, at low estimate, to
irrigate 100000 acres.
At Largo the river widens into rich
bottom lands, available for cultivation,
and capable of the highest production.
The Bloomfield and Solomon tracts will
about 10000 acres, and lie on
the north side of the river. On the op-
posite side, between the mouth of the
Animas and Pennington, is another tract
of valuable bottom land, twenty five
miles long and from one to two and a
half miles wide.
The Animas and the La Plata rise
in the San Juan mountains of Colo
RADIO, and flow south until they unite
with the San Juan. In additions to the
of acres OF rich mesa and bot
tom lands, lying along the course of
these rivers. there are extensive tracts of
grain and fruit land lying back from the
rivers in plateaus and mesas, which can
be irrigated from the streams at slight
expense. At low estimate there are
10000 acres of land lying along these
rivers, which streams, will always fur
nish a supply of water, far in excess Of
possible demands.
Something has been done in the way
of an irrigation system in these valleys,
but much more remains to be done, be-
fore any considerable portion of the val
ley lands can be put under water. The
largest scheme perhaps is the Grand
Canal" which taps the Animas near
Aztec, extending in a westerly direction
to the La Plata, and covering from 1000
to 10000 acres.
The Coolidge ditch taps the Animas
near Pennington and covers several
thousand acres near Olio. The Canon
Largo is taken from the San Juan near
Largo, covers large tract opposite
and the high line ditch taps
the La Plata near the Colorado State
line, and traverses wide tract between
the La Plata and the Hogback.
Traces of immense canals. most of
them constructed upon higher ground
than those now under way, may be
followed for miles through the San
Juan and Animas valleys. The ruins
IF hundreds of community dwell
ngs, some of them showing as high as
1000 apartments. being from six to ten
stories in height, further attest the pres
ence in these valleys at one time, of a
population that depended almost entire
ly upon the soil for subsistence. At
Aztec especially several of these ancient
habitations seem to have been partic-
ularly we'll preserved. Aztec is built
upon the ruins of an ancient city that
must have had a population of at least
100000 souls, but whether Toltec, Aztec
or some earlier race or tribe, built this
now buried metropolis, history does not
inform us.
San Juan county is a verltable para
disc for the agriculturist and horticul-
turist. The soil is deep and rich. eli
matte conditions are favorable and there
is plenty of water. Alfalfa is the great
crop. Cereals of all kinds do excellently
well. Wheat yields from thirty to forty
bushels to the acre; oats fifty to eighty
bushels; barley forty to sixty; rye twenty
to thirty five; corn thirty to fifty. Vege-
tables flourish, all varieties from the
harder kinds, such as potatoes, tur-
nips and beets to melons, tomatoes and
egg plants. Many are engaged in the
bee industry, which in the Animas val
ley particularly, has given exceptional
returns.
Fruit raising is carried on extensively
and with better results than has been
attained elsewhere in New Mexico. No
where else in the territory are conditions