Arizona republican., 1898-02-26
APPEAL FOR PIMA INDIANS.
Construction of a Dam on the Gila
 River and Why It Is Needed.

| Construction of Dam on the Gila 1 River and Why It Is Needed. The Washington Post prints the fol- 1 lowing interview with J. c. White more of Arizona:
 f. Rev. J. c. Whittemore of Florence, Ariz, clerk and treasurer of the Pres with the Presbyterian board of home missions, was seen at the St. James Hotel, and had much of interest to say concerning the condition of the h. dians in Arizona, and much to suggest as to proper action by congress in their behalf The following facts and sug- gestions were submitted by him: "In the Indian appropriation bill, now before the senate committee, is a clause asking for an appropriation of $20,000 for the purpose of making pre- liminary investigations to construct a dam or reservoir at the Buttes, four teen miles east of Florence, Ariz, the object of which is to furnish water for irrigating the lands on the Pima res ervation for the support of 4,O0O Pima, and, subsequently,, 4,OOO Papago 1n- dians, and save them from starvation or support in indolence by the gov ernment.
 Col J. Roe Young, government ] agent at Sacaton, Pima reservation, wrote the Indian commission at Wash ington in March, 1895, as follows: T , have upon this reservation something like 5000 Indians, whose name throughout the whole country is a of frr %o white race. For such a grand tribe as this to be subjected to poverty and starvation, while other Indians who have murdered and pillaged all their lives are pampered and fed on the fat of the land, is disgrace to our civi- lized government. Years ago, when this tribe had all the water that flowed in the Gila river, they were the largest producers of wheat and other cereals in this territory, and they often raised from 15,0O0,O00 to 10000, 900 pounds of wheat alone, and supplied all the set tiers for hundreds of miles around. but since these waters have been di- verted they have been in great need of food and their clothing is of the | most scanty description
 "In reply to the above the depart | ment of the interior sent a corps of Photographic engineers in December of the same year, with MT. Arthur P. Davis at the head, who spent six months in taking measurements of the 1 water to be stored at said Buttes, cost of construction of said dam, etc., and his report was presented to congress in March, 1897, drought his chief, MT. F. H. Newell, as document 27, Fifty
 
 Through the able efforts of Delegate M. A. Smith and the honorable secre- tary of the interior, clause was in- serted in the Indian appropriation bill, now in the hands of the senate com 1 mittee for S20,000 to commence prelim- mary work, and to make further in- vestigations looking to the final con- struction of the reservoir MT. Smith has done well, the honorable secretary Of the interior has ably seconded his efforts, the house has passed the bill, l there is no dead lock- in the senate. for it is not yet before that body, but the committee has cut the said clause out. and the Indians are left on their backs! It is firmly believed that if the grave and honorable committee of the senate fully understood the condition Of these Indians and their environ ments, they could not and would not have done an act so cruel. When Gen Grant sent Gen: Howard to Arizona to quell the disturbances between the l White Mountain Apaches and the set tiers, when many of the settlers were murdered by the said Apaches, the P1mas came to the rescue. During the war to subjugate those savages from 1885 to 1887, first under Gen. Crook and later under Gen. Miles, resulting in capturing Geronimo and his hand and placing them in Alabama, Rev. C. H. cook, who has been a missionary to the Pimas since December "A, 1870 estimates that his Indians saved the government nearly $2,000,OO0. He has a church that was organized by the Presbytery of Arizona, at Sacaton April 2, 1889, with sixteen members now numbering 430, and has been un- der commission of the home mission 1 board of the general assembly for if teen years. Until that reservoir is constructed, all those Pimas and Papa goes, 5000 in all, must be supported in idleness and worthlessness or starve Gov. Hughes, in his report to the de partment of the interior in 1895. states the stockmen in Pima county lost ir five years over s3O0,OOO by the stealins of their cattle. They acknowledge that they stole them, but assert that their families were starving, and fol