The Florence tribune., 1897-07-10
HOUSE MEMORIAL No. 4.
To the Senate and House of Representa- lives of the United States in Con
 gress Assembled:

We, your. Memorialists, the Nine teenth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Arizona, respectfully rep resent that the National Irrigation Congress, held in Phoenix, Arizona, on the 18th of December, A. D. 1896, unanimously adopted the following:
 Whereas The Pima and Maricopa Indians tribes numbering in the aggregate ten thousand souls have been deprived of the waters used by them in irrigation before the the appropriation of such waters by settlers on the headwaters of the Gila river; and
 Whereas. Through the loss of such waters the lands once cultivated by these tribes have become barren and worthless. and the mem- bers of such tribes have become a charge on the Government. and forced by the loss of their fields into lives of degradation and penury; and
 Whereas, Such tribes have from the car Hest days been the friends and allies of the white race; and
 Whereas The people of the United States have pledged themselves by solemn treaty to protect such tribes in their property and property rights; and
 Whereas, The Government of the United States has and now is engaged in the expendi ture of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the construction of works of irrigation for the reclamation of lands belonging to other Indian tribes; therefore, be it
 Resolved. That this Congress do approve 4Az .--a.>-,--s ---.-.-.--ti,- srs.do. tfsv pfunI of the U. s. Geological Survey. of the Buttei reservoir, in Pinal county, Arizona, recent, 1 reported, to again reclaim the lands of these tribes, believing that by so doing can tht Government alone honorably redeem tn, broken pledges made by it to these people and thus preserve from further want ant degradation two of the surviving Indian always been the constant friends of the white race.
 Resolved. That we approve the proposed construction of such reservoir not only a just and philanthropic, but as economica and good policy as in comparatively shor time the expense of maintaining such In dians as Government charges will far excees the cost of the irrigation works required t. make them self-supporting and self-re specting community.
 1 Now, therefore, your Memorialists the Nineteenth Legislative Assembl, of the Territory of Arizona, desire to 2 on record as earnestly endorsing tn above recommendations of the Sixtl National Irrigation Congress for tn following reasons:
 l. Tho reservoir site referred t having been withdrawn from entry b Government authorities, cannot nov be utilized by any private corporation and the Government therefore occupie the indefensible position of doing nosR ing itself or allowing any one else x improve this great natural reservoir site.
 2. We firmly believe that the inter ests of humanity dictate that the In. dians should be gathered on the reser vations, have lands allotted to them iu severalty, and that they be furnished with farming implements and an mex haustible supply of water for irriga- tion of their lands, to the end that they may become self supporting. By this means will a home life be furnished for the Indian and he will more rapidly advance in civilization as consequence. He win abandon his nomadic life his children will be kept at home and educated in neighborhood schools, instead of being sent to large Indian schools at a dis tance where they are kept Gas it would seem) for mere pursoses of show. After being instructed in the arts of civilization for time they arereturned to savagery, to become more unhappy and discontented than if they had never received the questionable advan- tages. We feel that the present policy of the Indian department is all wrong in this regard.
 3. The Pima and Maricopa Indian reservation contains s50,0O0 acres of as fertile land as lies within the bound aries of Arizona, and is admirably adapted for homes for these people, as