The Florence tribune., 1899-09-23
What Recent Government Investigations Disclose in Regard to Irrigation
 Possibilities in Arizona.
Good Indians and Industrious White Men Who Are Practically Destitute
 for Lack of Water.
An Exceptionally Favorable Opportunity to IrGugurato tho Mueh-talked- of System Of Federal Irri-
 gation.
IFrom tho Los Angeles Times, July lo.l

J. B. Lippincott, the representative in Los Angeles of the Photographic Office of the United States Geographical Survey fnr- | nishes The Times the following irrigation possibilities in Arizona:
 The Gila River Indian reservation is | situated about eighteen miles south of Phoe- [ nix, and extends along the Giia River for | distance of nearly fifty miles. Here are | located the Pima and Maricopa Indians to | the number of nearly five thousand. These | Indians are known throughout the Terri | tory as good Indians They have always | been peaceful in their habits. and agricuI- | tural or pastoral in their pursuits. They | are now eultivEting the lands where the l prehistoric races built the noW-ruined Casa | Grande and it's neighboring canals. Irriea- tion has been practiced in this valley from l prehistoric times. Many ancient ditches can | be traced across the plain, showing evidences | of engineering skill, and testifyins to the l fact that large volumes of water were at l one tine carried The Pimes and Maricopas have been nntil recently, a self-sustaining nation. i They raise their crops of grain and corn with q skill equal to that Of the whites l The settlers, seeing t he results which the h. dians have produced, through the operation of the desert land act. brought under cuiti- 1 vation much land in the valley of the Gila 1 adiaeent tn this reservation. and have built extensive canals between Florence and the railI oad station of Casa Grande Under the provision of the United States law, all land bought under the desert-land net must be made productive by the application of water. In order to comply with the provis- ions of this law, the settler was compelled to make diversions from the Gila River at points above the Indian reservation Other lands were taken mp under similar condi- l ticns on the upper portion of the Gila River These diversions by the whites quickly de- 1 priyed the Indians of their water supply, l, and for the past five years they have been left on the desert without water for their crops and scarcely enough for their horses They are put in the position of either having to steal, starve or be fed as public wards and the government has been forced to issue ratlons to them and feed them Rs it does the soldiers. Numerous court decisions have been rendered establishing beyond con- troyersy the fact that the Indian has the prior and the better right to the water but the whites have maintained their water supply despite the dictates of the court. The development of this newer civilization mas become so extensive that to cut of its water supply would mean the desolatiou of many thousands of acres of fine farms and orchards. Evidently the situation is a diffi- cult one, and the Indian Bureau is hard pressed for q proper answer.
 In l5so an allotment of S35O0 was made 1romthe appropriation for the Indian Office Tor preliminary investigation Of the avail able water supply for these Indians. Mir. NeWeii was instructed to make this iuyesti- gation by the Secretary of the Interior and he delegated Arthur P. Davis to take tho matter up in the field. The surveys were necessarily ot preliminary nature, but the storage possibility of the t5iia River was Tuliy demonstrated. It was shown that this stream drained about fifteen thousand square miles of the high plateau and noun taln reSsicn of Eastern Arizona, and that the river IS remarkable for its exceedingly light grade Gonsequentiy, the storage possibiii- lies of the stream are great. Recolnrnenda- tlons were made by sir. Davis calling for lHF1Der and more accurate surveys. and in tho spring of 1893 Congress passed a second appropriation of S2e,0e0 for tilc completion oi this InYest1sation. The hydrosraphic de- partment of the Geological Survey was again delegated as tine proper office to con duct these surveys
 The Gila River derives is source from the " hite Mountains in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona " hieh rise to elevations of from ten to twelve thousand feet. At the point where it issues from its mountainous basin, there are over twelve thousand square miles draining through it's canons, The basin has been extensively explored, and three large reservoir sites located and surveyed. The capacity Of these reservoir sites has been detorniBed and filings have been made under the United States laws for their segregation from the public domain. At point known as the Buttes a dam f50 feet III height above the bed of rhe stream Will store enough water to cover 1T4. .G09 acres one feet deep, or, as it is techeically ex- pressed, 1T4Ge0 acre feet. dam at this point would be approximately 800 feet long af tie bed of the stream and 50J feet at it's crest. At Riverside, Ariz., 1t was found hat dam 5s0 feet long at it's base, and epDroSi- Hiateiy oe0 feet long On top will store q much greater quantity of water, the surveys at this site being still incomplete. At San Carlos. on tie paehe Reservation, the river 1yt-19So wide and q dam at this point 150 feet high would be bus 200 feet long at the crest. Such dam would store 36i 600 acres one foot deep.
 Extensive explorations have been made to determine the depth of bed rock at each one oi ttese dam sites. at the Buttes tho bed rock IS disapDointingiy deep. the 6epths ranging in the center of the channel from D to124 feet beneath the surface of the stream. At Riverside the maximum depth On the axis Of tho cam Is approximately seventy live feet, while at San Carlos the depth to ra 1.ssa s-tT.r than at either of the other dam sites.
 The records of the flow of the Gila River have been kept at the Buttes for number Of years. and the estimates of available water supply are, therefore, based on actual measurements. not on surmise. The ordi- nary How of this stream is ample to fill the largest Of these reservoirs, and on the driest years of which we have a record it has been as great as 200, 600 acre feet.
 Tt will be seen by the above figures that the possibility Of storing water on this stream is very great. It is doubtful if it has any equal in this line among all the streams Of arid America. The San Carlos merit. Tho size of tine necessary dam the available water supply, the great storage basin, and the proximity of railroad faeili- ties arc perfect; while the other two sites also have features of merit.
 The duty of water in Southern Arizona is greater than in California. For the rais- twenty-tour inches of water is ordinarily applied to the land. which is equivalent to How Tor six months of one miners inch to each three and o1e-half acres. On this Dasis tue SanCarlos site will furnish enough water to irrigate over 150.000 acres of land. lit Is assumed that each two acres will sup port one inhabitant. this would permit of population of 75000 souls to be sustained Iron this reservoir.
 I'll h6sc figures arc more startling when tbe fact Is realized that at the present time all of the canals below the San Carlos dam sife 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 abjeet want. It Is estimated that 10000 acres of land should be irrigated on the fiila Indian Reservation in order to relieve the condition of the Indians. This would leave over 100000 acres that could be irri- gated on the public domain. If l00,000 acres ofthese public lands oetIld be SO irrigated aud being subdivided into forty acre tracts sold to actual settlers, at the rate of S10 to SIS per acre. the condition of the Indian vould be wholly relieved, and it is probable. thc government would be reimbursed for it's entire outlay. In addition to this. district offering ideal conditions for irrigation with q soil which is unexcelled. with a cliu.ete that will produce crops in continu- oue rotation. will be made to support -opals..on ot 7b000 and will add to the fi,:s,llc wealth cf the Territory. on 3 conser- Yatlse esan.a.e, over S3 ,oc1o 600