The Arizona sentinel., 1900-04-11
THE FERTILE DESERT.

i the irrigation or large SectlOn Ol the Colorado Desert, to which re- ference is made in another depart me1t of The Times today, reminds one that has coming quarter of the century may witness as marvellous a transportation in that great sec tion of the arid Southwest as we have seen accomplished during the past twenty-five years in San Der
 nardino and Riverside counties. It would not be any new thing to in- troduce water for irrigation in that desert, which Is only 8 desert be-
 cause it is dry, tEe land being eaeg nous fertile. Along the foot- hills may be seen traces of pre- historic canals, built by people whose very name is now forgotten. Here, as in New Mexico and Ari- zona, these ancient settlers set an example to modern enterprise.
 Notwithstanding their crude facili- ties, so accurate was their work that in some eases engineers in Arizona have followed the route of these old canals with scarcely the variation of an inch. It is difficult to over estimate the change that may be wrought in the appearance of that section should the proposed irrigation project be carried out. Before long w may see dozen Ontarios and Riversides and Pc
 monas where now is nothing but shifting sand. The soil of large portion of the Colorado Desert, composed of humus that has been brought down by the Colorado River during ages, is wonderfully deep and rich. This has been shown whenever there has been an overflow of the river, when within an incredibly short time the previ- ously arid land would be covered with a mass of herbage waist high, on which thousands of cattle have been pastured. Along the river in the neighborhood of Yuma the In dians drill shallow holes in the soil after the river goes down, just as they do along the banks of the Nile, and plant corn, melons and other seeds, which grow up with the rapidity of Jacks bean stalks.
 While the reclamation and settle ment of the Lower Colorado Valley is being discussed, there are signs of revival along the Upper Colorado
 This river-the nearest approach to a real river with real water in Southern California-Was the scene of lively development work from twenty-five to thirty years ago, when there were half a dozen i'm portant mining camps between Yuma and the Needles, such as Ehrenberg and La Paz, both of which are at present little more than ruins. A number of steamers used to ply regularly along the river, carrying large quantities of supplies and bringing down ore. A revival of this section is promis- ed through the discovery ofthe fact that the gravel banks along the Colorado contain gold, It is true that the precious metal is found in small qual titles, but it is distribut- ed over an immense area, and ex-
 perts believe that with modern processes of extraction 1t will be possible to secure an amount of gold that will even put the KIon- dike and the Transvaal into the shade. One enthusiast dec. ares that there are 5,000,000 acres of clay soil between the Gulf of Colo rado and the Grand Canyon, vary ing from one to 100 feet thick. He estimates that these clays contain more gold than nas ever been coin ed by all countries in the world It is said that you can dip up hncket of water in the Colorado anywhere between the Grand Calor
 and the Gulf, and after letting il
 settle and pouring off the water th'
 mud in the bottom will assay from 25 to 75 cents per ton in gold
 What with gold dredging on th'
 Upper Colorado and farming in th' lower valleys, we may yet see hun 3 di eds of thousands ofmen proitabl, employed in that arid and at pres
 ent uninhabited corner of the Unite( -
 States. Naturally this would be
 big thing for Los Angeles which with due apologies to San Diego-i