The Florence tribune., 1898-06-25
HOUSE MEMORIAL No. 4.
To the Senate and House of Representa- lives Of the United States in Con
 cress 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 Marieopa Indians tribes numbering in the aggregate ten thousand souls. have been deprived of the waters used by them in irrigation before tho advent of the whlte race In America through the appropriation of such waters by settlers on the headwaters of theGila 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 Q charge on the Government. and forced by tho loss of their fields into lives of degradation and penury; and
 Whereas. Such tribes have from the ear- 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 thcir property and property rights; and
 Whereas. The Government of the United ! States has and now Is engaged in the expendi turs of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the construction of works of irrigation for ths reclamation of lands belonging to other Indian tribes; therefore. be It
 Resolved. That this Congress do approve the proposed construction, under the plans of the U. s. Geological Survey. of the Buttes reservoir, in Pinal county. Arizona, recently reported, to again reclaim the lands of these tribes. believing that by so doing can the 1 Government alone honorably redeem the | broken pledges made by it to these people, and thus preserve from further want and degradation two of the surviving Indian tribes of the American continent that have always been the constant friends of the white race.
 Resolved. That We approve the proposed
 construction of such reservoir not only as
 just and philanthropic, but as economical
 and good policy as in a comparatively short
 time the expense of maintaining such In- dians as Government charges will far exceed the cost of the irrigation works required to make them Q self-supporting and self-re- , specting community.
 Now, therefore, your Memorialists, , the Nineteenth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Arizona, desire to go on record as earnestly endorsing the above recommendations of the Sixth National Irrigation Congress for the
 following reasons;
 l. The reservoir site referred to having been withdrawn from entry by
 Government authorities, cannot now
 be utilized by any private corporation, and tho Government therefore occupies . the indcfensible position of doing noth- ing itself or allowing any one else to improve this great natural reservoir site.
 ] 2. We firmly believe that the inter- ests of humanity dictate that the h. dians should be gathered on the reser- vations, have lands allotted to them in
 severalty, and that they be furnished
 with farming implements and an inex- 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 a consequence He will
 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 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 e of the Indian department is all wrong t in this regard.
 5. The Pima and Maricopa Indian
 reservation contains 350, 900 acres of as n fertile land as lies within the bound I aries of Arizona, and is admirably 1 adapted for homes for these people, at 1 well as the wandering Papagoes, whc {. are now compelled to prey upon the q q herds of our farmers and ranchmen fol 9 subsistence.
 y 4. The construction of storage res Q ervoir ct the Buttes by the Govern 3. ment offers plain business proposi e tion for the correction of these evils.
 Resolved, That the Secretary of the
 Territory be instructed to transmit . ,- copy of the foregoing Memorial to oul ,, Delegate and Delegate-elect in Con y gross, and also copy each 10 the Presi |. dent of the Senate and Speaker of tht : House ot Representatives. .