The Florence tribune., 1899-12-09
From the Los Angeles Times, July lO.l


 he Gila River Indian reservation is situated about eighteen miles south of Phoe- nix, and extends along the Gila River for q distance of nearly fifty miles. Here are located the Pima and Maricopa Indians to the number of nearly five thousand. These Indians are known thronghout the Terri tory as good Indians They have always been peaceful in their habits, and agricul- tural or pastoral in their pursuits. They are now cultiYating the lands where the prehistoric races built the now-rliined Casa Grande and its neighhoring canals. Irripn- ton has been practieed in this valley iron, prehlstorlc times. Many ancient ditebes can be traced across the plain, showing evidences or engineering skill, and testifying 10 inc fact that large volumes of water were at one time carried.
 The Pimas and Maricopas have been. until recently, selT-sustaining nation They raise their crops of grain and corn with skill equal to that of the whites The settlers. seeing t he results which tbe In dians nave produced. through the operation of tke desert land act. brought rluder onIti- vation much land in the valley of fbe C.ila adJacent to this reservation. and have built extensive canals between Florence and tbe railroad station of Casa Grande. Under tbe provision or the United States law, all land bought under the desert-land act must be maae productive by the application of water; Tn order to comply with the provis- Ions of this law, the settler WAS eornrelledfo make diversions from the Giia River nj lfCA.NS AOOfO tHc reservation. tlf her lands were taken up under similar eonSi- lions on the upper portion of the Gila River
 These diversions by the whites quiekIy de priyed the Indians of their water sllpply. ana TOT tho past i've years they have heen left on the desert without water for their. crops and scarcely enough for their horses
 They are put in the position of either bav;ns, to steal, starve or be fed as public wards anu the government has been forced to issue ratious to them and feed them as it does the soldiers. Numerous court decisions hara been rendered establishing bevond aoro troyersy the fact that the Indian has inc Prlor ana the better right to the water but the whltes nave maintained their water supply despite the dictates of the cn,r+
 The development of this newer. eixrili1atio,, has become so extensive that to cuf off its water supply would mean the desolation of many thousands of acres of fine farn,e c,d orchards. Evidently, the situation is n 3iffi- cult one, and the Indian Burean is bard pressed for q proper answer,
 III le5o en allotment of S2J00 was made f.' rom Ihe appropriation for the Indian Office lor preliminary investigation of the avail 1Dle water supply for these Indians. Mir NeWeil was Instructed to make this inve1fi getion by the Secretary of the Interior. and ne aelegauea Arthur ?. Davis to take the necessarily of a preliminary nature but tIe storage possibility of the Gila River xvas fuiiy demonstrated. It was shown that this stream orained about fifteen thousaud " aAC HE DlaTe1lI and rnnUn- tain region of Eastern Arizona and tb.,t Fl. river IS remarkable for it's exceedinoIy Iight grade. Consequently, the storage possib5ii- ti ties oi the sfream are great. Recommenda tiVhS were maGe by Mir. Davis calling for. further and more accurate survevs a-sd S, ?, the spring or 1os9 Congress passed A seccnd appropriation of $20000 for the comDle4ion ol this iniestigation- The hydrocraphic de- again deiega1ed as the proper office fo cons duct these surveys.
 The Gila River derives its source from t1s hite -eeuataIns in western New Mexico pf rom ten to twelve thousand feet Attbe p9intNhere 1t issues from it's inountainous Dnsin, thefe are over twelve thousand square miles draining through it's canons. me pasln has been extensively explored, ana three large reserFoir sites located ,r,d surveyed. The capacity of tleee reservciT. sites has been determined and filings have been made under the United States lav,s fo,. tnelr segregation from the public domain. At point known as the Ru4tee {, da,, 1En feet in height above the bed of tbe straayo , VIII store enough water to cover IT.. coo acres one rect deep, or, as it is technically e5S pressed, li+CO0 acre feet. A dam at this point would be approximately g00 faef lone at the bed of the stream and s69 fert at as'; ;ts crest. At Riverside, Ariz., it was fouud tbaf dam sJ0 feet long at it's base. and anrroxi- mateiy oUO feet long on top will store a much greater quantity of water, the surveys at
 7-tI ft1A1t8 sDfll lncOInDlPte. At San Carlos. on the Apache lieseryation tha r;ge,. passes through narrow gorge 100 feet Wloe, and damsat this point I50 feet hirh would be but 290feet long at the crest Sueh d % uam would store S3l. 900 acres one foot deep.
 Extensive explorations have been made to determine the depth of bed rock at each me or these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed rock IS disapDointingly deep, the depths T ranging Tn the center of the channel from 75 70 iz4 feet beneath the surfaee of the stream. At Riverside the maximum denth on tbe axls or the dam is approximately seventy live feet, while at San Carlos the dentb fo ped rock is believed to be substantially less than at either of the other dan sites.
 The records of the flow of the Gila River have been kept at the Buttes for a number or years, and the estimates of available water supply are, therefore. based on gctnal heasnrements, not on surmise. The ordi- Iary now oI this stream is ample to fill the largest of these reservoirs, and on the driest years Of which we have a record if has heen as great as 200. eco acre feet.
 It will be seen by the above figures that sne possibility or storing water on this stream is very great. It is doubtful if ii has any equal in this line among all the streams of arid America. The San CarIos dam site, particularly, is one of unusual merit. The size of the necessary dam, the available water supply, tine great storage basin, and the proximity of railroad facili- ties are perfect; while the other two sites also :.;,,i nave features of merit.
 Ane uuty or water III Southern Arizona is i greater than in California. For the rais- tng or the staple crop of alfalfa, depth of ."eiii.Iy-Iour inches of water is ordinarily s...ppiled to the land, which is equivalent to HOW TOT SIX months of one miners inch to e1cn three and one-half acres. On this Dasis. the San Carlos site will furnish enough water ys to irrigate over 15Q000 acres of land 1T II IS assumed that each two acres will sup port one iuhabitant. this would permit of a population of 75:OO0 souls to be sustained from this reservoir.
 These figures are more startling when he fact is realized that at the present time all of the canals below the San Carlos dam site are absolutely dry, and that the country from the Apache Reservation to the mouth of the Salt River is in a condition of " ithered drought, with it's inhabitants both white aud Indian reduced almost to the condition of abject want. It is estimated that 10000 heres of land should be irrigated on the liila Indian Reservation in order to relieve the condition of the Indians. This would leave over 1O0,0G0 acres shat could be irri- gated on the public domain. If 100000 acres of these public lands could be so irrigated and being subdiyided into forty-acre tracts, sold to actual settlers, at the rate of $1D to SIS per acre. the condition of tho Indian xoHld be wholly relieved, and it is probable the government would be reimbursed for it's offering idenl conditions for irrigation xith a soil which is unexcelled. with a climate that will produce crops in coutinu- Ous rotation. will be made to support a reputation of 75,000 and will add to the public wealth of the Territory. on a oonser- fafIPe estimate. over S6. .s00,C00.'