The Florence tribune., 1900-09-29
pod Indians and Industrious White Men
 Who Are Practically Destitute for Lack of Water.
l Exceptionally Favorable Opportunity to Inaugurate the Much-talked- of System of Federal Irri-
 gation.
From the Los Angeles Times, July 1o.l

T X, and extends along the Gila River for a stance Of nearly fifty miles. Here are eated the Pima and Marieopa Indians to enumber of nearly five thousand. These dians are known throughout the Terri ry as good ludians.' They have always en peaceful in their habits, and agricnl ral or pastoral in their pursuits. They e, now cultiyating the lands where the ehistorlc races built the now-ruined Casa 'ande and its neighboring canals. Irriga- Jn has been practiced in this valley from ehistOric times. Many ancient ditches can traced across the plain, showing evidences engineering skill, and testifying to the tt that large volumes of water were at e time carried.
 The Pimas and Maricopas have been ltil recently, self-sustaining nation. iey raise their crops of grain and corn th Sklll equal to that of the whites. le settlers, seeing the results which the h. ans have produced. through the operation the desert land act, brought under cuiti- tion much land in the valley of the Gila, Jaeent to this reservation. and have built nehsive canals between Florence and the i'll oad station of Casa Grande Under the ovision of the United States law, all land nght under the desert-land act Inust he ade productive by the application of ater: In order to comply with the provis- ms Of this law, the settler was compelIed to ake diversions from the Gila River at iints above the Indian reservation. Other nds were taken up under similar eondi- lns on the upper portion of the GiIa River. iese dlverslons by the whites quickly de- ived the Indians of their water supply. d for the past five years they have been 1t on the desert without water for their ops and scarcely enough for their horses. ieyare put ill the position of either having steal, starve or be fed as public wards. d the government has been forced to issue tlons to them and feed them as it does the ldlers. Numerous court decisions have. en rendered establishing beyond con oversy the fact that the Indian has the for and the better right to the water, hut e whites have maintained their water pply despite the dictates of the court. le development of this newer civilization s become so extensive that to cut of its lter supply would mean the desolafion Inf any thousands of acres of fine farms and ehards. Evidently, the situation is difi It one, and the Indian Bureau is hard essed for proper answer.
 In lo96 an allotment of S95O0 was made om the appropriation for the Indian Office preliminary investigation of the avail 'le water supply for these Indians. Mir. well was instructed to make this inyesti tion by the Secretary of the Interior, and delegated Arthur P. Davis to take the alter up in the field. The surveys were cessarily of a preliminary nature. but the )rage possibility of the Gila River was Ny demonstrated. It was shown that this -eam drained about fifteen thousand nare mics oI the high plateau and moun-
 
 ger Is remarkable for its exceedingly light ade. Consequently, the storage possibili- ss Of the stream are great. Recommenda- ms were made by Mr. Davis calling for rther and more accurate surveys and in spring of 1898 Congress passed a second 'propr1ation Of S2O,0O0 for the completion this investigation. The hydrographic de- rtment of the Geological Survey was ain delegated as the proper office to con- The Gila River derives it's source from e White Mountains in western New Mexico d eastern Arizona, which rise to elevations rom ten to twelve thousand feet. At the int where 1t issues from its mountainous sin, there are over twelve thousand uare miles draining through it's canons. le basin has been extensively explored. three large reservoir sites located and rveyed. The capacity of these reservoir es has been determined and filings have en made under the United States laws for cir segregation from the public domain. point known as the Buttes a dam I50 # Tn height above the bed of the stream II store enough h water to cover I74, GOO acres e feet deep, or. as 1t is technically ex- essed, 1l4.0O0 acre feet. A dam at this int would be approximately 300 feet long the bed or the stream and 800 feet at it's est. At Riverside. Ariz., it was found that lam S50 feet long at it's base, and approxi- ately 6OO feet long on top will store a much eater quantity of water, the surveys at IS site being still incomplete. At San rlos' on the Apache Reservation, the river sses through narrow gorge 100 feet de. and dam at this point I5O feet high luld be buy 200 feet long at the crest Such lam would store 361, GOO acres one foot deep. Extensive explorations have been made to termine the depth of bed rock at each one these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed elk is disapDointingly deep, the depths nging in the center of the channel from 75 12 feet beneath the surface of the stream. Riverside the maximum depth on the ie nf tho darn ic e feet. while at San Carlos the depth to q rock is believed to be substantially less an at either of the other dam sites.
 The records of the How of the GiIa River ve been kept at the Buttes for number years, and the estimates of available tier supply are, therefore, based on actual sasurements, not On surmise. The ordi- ry How of this stream is ample to fill the gest of these reservoirs, and on the driest ars of whichwe have record it has been great as 2000 eco acre feet.
 It will be seen by the above figures that possibility of storing water on this cam is very great. It is doubtful if it s any equal in this line amonrv ,,II fhe cams of arid America. The San Carlos m site, particularly, is one of unusual grit. The size of the necessary dam. the ailable water supply. the great storage sin, and the proximity of railroad facili- s are perfect; while the other two sites o have features of merit.
 The duty of water in Southern Arizona greater than in California. For the rais- Of the staple crop of alfalfa, depth of enty-four inches of water is ordinarily piled to the land. which is equivalent to a V for six months of one miners inch to eh three and One-haIf acres On this sis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough ter to irrigate over 150,000 acres of land, t is assumed that each two acres will sup rt one inhabitant. this would permit of a puiation of 75:OOO souls to be sustained Bm this reservoir.
 These figures are more startling when sfect is realized that at the present time of the canals below the San Carlos dam are absolutely dry. and that the country am the Apache Reservation to the mouth the Salt River is in condition of withered ought, with it's inhabitants both white | Indian reduced almost to the condition Rbject want, It is estimated that 10000 'es of land should be irrigated on the q Indian Reservation in order to relieve condition of the Indiang. This would ye over 100000 acres that could be irri- ed on the public domain, If 1OO.OD0 acres sbese public lands could be SO irrigated being subdiyided into forty -acre tracts d to actual settlers, at the rate of S10 to per acre. the condition of the Indian {. lild be wholly relieved. and 1t Is probable government would be reimbursed for it's ire outlay. In addition to this, district ering ideal conditions for irrigation h soil which is unexcelled, with a nate that will produce crops in continu- rotation. will be made to support Julnftou of 75,000 and will add to the tlfo ss-oa1fa of fla fcaprt&Crxy cr, .t of,r,aA,.