Arizona republican., 1899-12-05
ARIZONA INDIANS
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 permanent site for the pump is about one and a half miles from the main tract Of land to be irrigated. and for portion of this distance the ditch runs on an embankment from one to five feet above surrounding territory. This portion of the ditch requires a patrol for every hundred feet Tn spite Of this precaution several had breaks have occurred. requiring force of fifty to sixty Indians a half day to mend in each instance. This embankIuent has been slowly strengthened until now it is practically safe with watchfulness, made necessary by the work of gOphers.
 II was impossible to get the Indians to realize the immense volume of water which the new pump would furnish. as they had nothing but the work of the defective old pump for a criterion. Hence for several weeks they could not control the water by the crude methods in vogue after it reached their land. Lateral ditches and Ievees dividing their beds disappeared like ropes of sand. By reason of this much water was at first wasted. By building sluice gates at the heads of laterals and by further strengthening the ditches, the Indians are now able to handle the water in fair shape.
 1t is the intention to get two hundred acres more land under the ditches this fall. This amount will be sown to wheat. the most successful of all crops here. After one crop of wheat is grown I see nothing to prevent these Indians from being on practically a self-sup- porting basis. They cut the wood to run the pump. and the only expense the government is under to maintain the plant is the salary of the engineer Qndian), $40, and the necessary oil and repairs. At present the wood is all hauled by agency teams, the Indians having no horses in condition to do the work.
 For the information of those interest ed in irrigation it is well to state that the average lift of water from the river into the ditches is but twelve feet, and wood for fuel is had for cutting and hauling. Under such conditions there is no doubt of the practicability of steam irrigation with a centrifugal pump. But where the lift is greater than thirty feet, where fuel is expensive, or where the water supply is scanty or irregu- lar, this method is not available. On this reservation it now appears that the means of supplying water for the necessary amount of land to grow sub sistence for the Indians here is at hand. Of the willingness of the Indians to work their land and to raise crops there can be no doubt, unless. as some have suggested, prosperity will make them lazy. So far all is well, and the h. Gians are happy, contended and indus trious. The present state of their crops far exceeding in extent anything they ever saw-is certainly an object lesson to them.
 Of the two hundred Indians who left the reservation last fall to join their kindred at Needles I believe every one has rturned h addition to these q horde of others have ''smelled the flesh pots in Egypt" and are now he-e' Whether the majority Of these intend to locate permanently on the reserva- ton or whether they only intend re- raining during tn season of green corn and watsrmel0ns is difficult to ascer- tain. They profess to be trying to see how they will like to live on the reser- vation," with a view to permanent re- movaI if satisfied. While I am anxious to have as many of the nOn-reservatiOn Mohaves as possible locate on the res ervatiOn. I am q little suspicious of the good intentions of these newcomers and shall feel justified in driving off such as do not go to work very soon. The presence of a lot Of loafers (under the guise Of visitoTs) is not calculated to have a very good effect on the old residents. every one of whom does something toward general support.
 The large body of non-reservation NIohaves, estimated to number 1900. settled near Needles and Fort Mohaye, continue a reproach to the government, a detrinent to their more civilized kin dred on the reservation, and general source of vocation. They are practi- calIy beyond the control of the agent by distance, difficulties of travel, and lack of means of enforcing authority. They continue to practice all their ola superstitions and barbarisms, with the added vices of drunkenness, prostitu- ton, beggary, etc, as picked up from contact with border civilization.
 The department in April authorized the agent to employ q temporary farmer to look after the welfare of these Indians. \ young man Of high character was secured for the place. While his presence tended to decrease drunkenness and to make less friction btween Indians and whites, yet the lack of sympathy on the part of the majority Of the whites at Needles, the high cost of living. the lack of means of enforcing any authority tended to discourage this empIGye and led him to resign on July l. I am not prepared at present writing to give an opinion as to the pTacticability of securing an other man for the place. Certainly it is Q trying position to fill and get re- suits. Surely 1t will be necessary to take radical steps to abate the condi- Jions existing there-either compelling the Indians to remove to the reserva- ton or establishing a reservation near Needles that would give an agent some legal power over them. Here are about 1900 Indians without government con- trol and direction-a prey to the vices a r1J breed Cf n hO7.fla,. sIrood nd min