The Florence tribune., 1898-02-26
APPEAL FOR THE PIMA INDIANS.
Construction of Dam on the Gia River
 and Why lt Is Needed.
From the Washington post.l

bytery of Arizona, and in connection 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 Indians in Arizona, and much to suggest as to proper action by Congress in their be- half. The following facts and sugges- tions were submitted by him.
 ''In the Indian appropriation bill, now before the Senate committee, is clause asking for an appropriation of S20,0O0 for the purpose of making preliminary investigations to construct 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 re- servation for the support of 4,000 Pima, and, subsequently, 1000 Papago h. dians, and save them from starvation or support in indolence by the govern ment
 "Col. J. Roe Young, Government Agent at Sacaton, Pima reservation, wrote the Indian Commissioner at Washington in March, 1895, as follows: I have upon this reservation some thing like 5000 Indians, whose name throughout the whole country is a synonym of truth and feality to the white race. For such 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 civiliz- ed 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 l5,o0O,0 900 to 10000, 900 pounds of wheat alone, and supplied all the settlers 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 corps of photographic engineers in December of the same year, with Mir. Arthur P. Davis at the head, who spent six months in taking measurements of the water to be stored at said Buttes, cost of construction of said dam, &c., and his report was presented to Congress in March. 1897, through his chief, Mir. F. II. Newell, as document 27, Fifty fourth Congress, second session. Through the able efforts of Delegate NJ. A. Smith and the honorable Secre- tary of the Interior, a clause was inserted in the Indian appropriation bill, in the hands of the Senate Com mittee for $20, 900 to commence prelimi- nary work, and to make further in- vestigation looking to the final con struction of the reservoir. Mir. Smith has done well the honorable Secre- tary of the Interior has ably seconded his efforts; the House has passed the bill; 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 baclzsl It is firmly be- lieved that if the grave and honorable committee of the Senate fully under stood the condition of these Indians and their environments, they could not and would not have done an act so cruel. When Gen. Grant sent Gen. Howard to Arizona to quell the dis turbances between the White Noun tain Apaches and the settlers, when many of the settlers were murdered by the said Apaches, the Pilnas came to the rescue. During the war to subju- gate those savages from 1883 to 1887, first under Gen. Crook, and later under Gen. Miles, resulting in capturing Geronimo and his band and placing them in Alabama. Rev. c. H. Cook, who has been a missionary to the Pimas Since December 24, 1879, esti- mates that his Indians saved the government nearly $2,O0O,0OO He has church that was organized by the Presbytery of Arizona, at Sacaton, April 2, 1889, with sixteen members, now numbering 43O, and has been under commission of the Home Mission Board of the General Assembly for fifteen 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 Department of the Interior, in 1895, states the stockmen in Pima county | lost in five years over s300,0O0 by the stealing of their cattle. They acknow- ledge that they stole them, but assert that their families were starving, and for the crime CD many were caught, tried, and sentenced to the prison at Yuma.
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