The Florence tribune., 1900-09-15
| Exceptionally Favorable Opportunity to Inaugurate the Much-talked- of System of Federal Irri-
 gation.
IFrom the Los Angeles Tirnes. Inlr 1n.l

Ssibilities in Arizona:
 The Gila River Indian reservation is uated aGeut eig hteen miles south of Phoe- \. and extends along the Gila River for a .tance of nearly fifty miles. Here are ;ated the Pima and Maricopa Indians to number of nearly five thousand. These lians are known throughout the Terri Y us good Indians.' They have always sn peaceful in their habits. and agricnl- ral or pastoral in their pursuits. They now eultivating the lands where the shistoric races built the now-ruined Casa ande and it's neighboring canals Irriga- n has been practioed in this valley from ehistOrIc times. Many ancient ditches can traced across the plain, showing evidences engineering skill. and testifying to the t that large volumes of water were at 9 time carried.
 The Pimas and Marieopas have been. til recently, self-sustaining nation. ey raise their crops of grain and corn th skill equal to that of the whites. settlers, seeing the results which the h. ms have produced. through the operation the desert land act, brought under culti- ion much land in the valley of the Gila. iaeent to this reservation and have built 5ensive canals between Florence and the hoad station of Casa Grande. Under the )vision of the United States law, all land 1ght under the desert-land act must be de productive by the application of ter. In order to comply with the proyis- IS of this law, the settler was compelled to Ike diversions from the Gila River at nts above tue Indian reservation. Other ds were taken up under similar condi- ms on the upper portion of the Gila River csc diversions by the whites quickly de- ved the Indians of their water supply. l for the past five years they have been on the desert without water for their 'ps and scarcely enough for their horses. sy are put in the position of either having steal, starve or be fed as public wards. l the government has been forced to issue ions to them and feed them as it does the diers- Numerous court decisions have m rendered establishing beyond con versy the fact that the Indian has the or and the better right to the water but whites have maintained their water ply despite the dictates of the court. development of this newer civilization become so extensive that to cut of its ter supply would mean the desolation of ny thousands of acres of fine farms and hards- Evidently. the situation is a difsi- one and the Indian Bureau is hard ssed for proper answer.
 In 166 an allotment of S35OO was made m the appropriation for the Indian Office preliminary investigation of the ayail- 9 water supply for these Indians Mr. yell was instructed to make this investi- ion by the Secretary of the Interior, and delegated Arthur P. Davis to take the tier up in the field. The surveys were esserily of a preliminary nature, but the age possibility of the Gila River was demonstrated. It was shown that this am drained about fifteen thousand are miles ot the high plateau and moun- region of Eastern Arizona and that the IT is remarkable for it's exceedingly light de. Consequently. the storage possibiH- of the stream are great. Recommenda- IS were made by Mir. Davis calling for ther and more accurate surveys. and in spring Of 1898 Congress passed a second reputation of S20000 for the completion his investigation. The hydrographic de- tment of the Geological Survey was in delegated as the proper office to con- these surveys.
 The Gila River derives it's source from White Mountains in western New Mexico eastern Arizona, W hieh rise to elevations rom ten to twelve thousand feet. At the Itwhere it issues from its mountainous In, there are over twelve thousand are miles draining through its canons
 basin has been extensively explored, three large reservoir sites located and eyed. The capacity of these reservoir has been determined and filings have made under the United States laws for r segregation from the public domain point known as the Buttes a dam 150 in height above the bed of The stream store enough water to cover 174.e0 acres feet deep, or, as it is technically ex- ised. 174.00O acre feet. A dam at this 1t would be approximately 300 feet long le bed of the stream and 800 feet at it's f. At Riverside. Ariz., it was found that m $50 feet long at it's base, and approxi- ely 500 feet long on top will store n much tier quantity of water, the surveys at site being still incomplete. At San os. on the Apache Reservation the river es through narrow gorge 100 feet ?. and dam at this point 150 feet high Id be bu- 20O feet long at the crest. Such ID would store S61, GOO acres one foot deep. xtensive explorations have been made to rmine the depth of bed rock Ut each one lese dam sites. At the Buttes the bed is disappointingly deep, the depths >ing in the center of the channel from 75 feet beneath the surface of the stream. riverside the maximum depth on the of the dam is approximately seventy Feet while at San Carlos the depth to rock IS believed to be substantially less at either of the other dam sites.
 he records of the flow of the Gila River been kept at the Buttes for a number ears, and the estimates of available srsupply are, therefore, based on actual surements. not on surmise. The ordi- flow of this stream is ample to fill the est Of these reservoirs, and on the driest of which we have a record it has been eat as 2D0, eco acre feet.
 will be seen by the above figures that possibility of storing water on this am is very great. It is doubtful if 1t any equal in this line among all the ans of arid America. The San Carlos
 site. particularly, is one of unusual t. The size of the necessary dam, the able, water supply, the great storage !. and the proximity of railroad facili- ire perfect; while the other two sites have features of merit.
 ic duty of water in Southern Arizona eater than in California. For the rais- f the staple crop of alfalfa, depth of fy-fOur inches of water is ordinarily ed to the land. which is equivalent to a for six months of one miners inch to
 three and one-half acres. On this the San Carlos site will furnish enough r to irrigate over 150000 acres of land. < assumed that each two acres will sup one inhabitant. this would permit of a lation of 75,0O0 souls to be sustained this reservoir.
 lesc figures are more startling when sct is realized that at the present time
 the canals below the San Carlos dam re absolutely dry, and that the country
 the Apache Reservation to the mouf h
 Salt River is in condition of withered ght, with it's inhabitants both white ndian reduced almost to the condition jecf want. It is estimated that 10000
 of land should be irrigated on the ndian Reservation in order to relieve ondition of the Indians. This would
 over 100000 acres that could be irri-
 on the public domain. If 100000 acres
 SC public lands could be so irrigated cling subdivided into forty-aere tracts, O actual settlers, at the rate of $10 to CT acre, the condition of the Indian be wholly relieved, and it is probable )yernment would be reimbursed for it's outlay. In addition to this. a district ng ideal conditions for irrigation,
 a soil which is unexcelled, with a te that will produce crops in continu-
 ofation. will be made to support q
 afion of 7S,00O. and will add 10 tho
 wenh h of the Territory. on a coIscr- .r1tiulfe. over *G, ,OOpOo