Arizona republican., 1898-04-14
THE HOUSE THAT CANT BUILT.
 CHAPTER II.

brew in that otherwise peaceful and happy community. Trouble which ! cost MT. Cant many tug at the heart strings, many tug at the purse
 strings, many a tug at the old mares
 tug and many mile of travel. Trou- ble that actually threatened to in- volve the whole neighborhood. It is a
 long story and the bottom of it all
 might be called "The Ditch That Cant Bought"
 In 1886 the Goodwin boys went out south of Tempe and constructed a
 ditch from the end of the southern
 branch of the Tempe canal two miles south, thence one mile west and thence
 one mile south. In 'S8 Lon Harmon rented the section of land which MT. Cant now owns and also the quarter section which is known as the Daggs land and which lies at the southwest corner of the Cant section. MT. liar mon could not get water enough to suit him on the Cant and Daggs land through the Goodwin ditch, so he con- structed ditch of his own
 For the benefit of those who are not informed it will be stated that the Salt River valley was once inhabited perhaps by a more intelligent race than that which now gains subsistence in it. The handiwork of this extinct race can be seen everywhere, cut deep into the surface of the valley or piled conspicuously high above it in the form of great canal systems, through sections which as yet this civilization has utterly failed to water because of it's great elevation; sections, too, which if watered, would be as valuable as any farming or orchard land on earth i;
 in the form of silent, sombre ruins of
 public buildings, homes and work
 shops. In this district, which is un- der discussion, these proofs of the past are exceedingly numerous and a great
 many pieces of pottery, axes, skele- tons, ornaments, household imple-
 ments and many other things have l been found and are now part of many highly prized collections.
 MT. Harmon discovered an old water
 way lined with ruins, which takes it's course right down and diagonally
 through the Yaeger section, across a
 corner of what is now Zech's land, a corner of Gant's section which lies i'm
 mediately west of Zech, diagonally through the Daggs section which is at the southwest corner of Gant's, and diagonally through Miss Seass' quarter section, which is south of the Daggs land. So it is seen that this was a diagonal waterway according to the cardinal points of the present day and age and that this dead people con- structed ditches where they would sup ply water to all the land whether il ] spoiled the appearance of a section ol land or not. Were there no other l evidences in the case which took place 1 years after MT. Harmon discovered this
 waterway, this fact alone that the people who first subdued this desert
 waste constructed a canal down this
 ridge is proof enough that this is abso lutely the best natural waterway
 through that country.
 i MT. Harmon began at the corner where the Goodwin ditch turns wes 1 two miles south of the end of the south
 ern branch, and reconstructed this Az l tee waterway down to the Daggs cor
 ner and watered this land and tht
 Cant land for his sheep. Two year' later. in 1890, R. G. Goodwin filed o1
 the Zech section.
 Col. Shultz took Valentine Cant ou and showed him section 26, as MT Cant wanted to buy. Mr. Shult ! SnOWeu nlm the GOOuWln QlCcn WHICH
 as has been stated, ended at the cor
 ner of this section and which was il
 good condition. But MT. Cant, wht
 was a man of great experience il
 waterways, both for farming and min
 ing purposes, and who assisted il
 building one of the first irrigating ca
 nals in California, said he could no
 get water on enough of the lan'
 through this ditch and told MT. Shult
 he wouldn't buy. He was then show this Harmon ditch, which was in poo condition and half grown over witt
 brush. On seeing this Mir Cant bough
 the land on the spot, with all appur tenances thereto This was in 1S9l The new owner rented the land to tn Daggs brothers and went back to Cal
 ifornia. Fletcher Schureman and R G. Goodwin put the Goodwin Czech
 section into grain that year and plowe,
 in the Harmon ditch, none knowin
 much about waterways, thinking
 was a nuisance and therefore thinkin MT. Cant would have no objections
 fhpv duO ditch around tho pnrpo