Arizona weekly journal-miner. [volume] (Prescott, Ariz.) 1885-1903, 1900-03-28
VERDE VALLEY WATER SITUATION.
The Journai-Miner's Correspondent
Furnishes Some More Interesting
Data Concerning the Water
Rights There.
EDITOR JouRNAL.M1NER:

Rights There.
EDITOR JOURNAL MINER:
Since l wrote you in regard to the
water question IN reply to the item
in your paper copied from the Ari-
iona Enterprise | have looked up
data and gone back into memory and
old books and memorandum, aud |
find that in 1872 C. 2. Head q Co.
had the grain contracts for the en-
tire territory and that | was their
general run about boy or man, and
for a good portion Of the summer
and fall l STAYED in Phenix aud ship
ped barley 20 Date Creek, Whippie
and Verde. and at that time there
were constructed in Salt River val
lev the SwiilIog. Griffin and Mari
copa bitches ON the north side CT the |
river, and the Tempe and Wormser !
on the south side of the
river. At that time .he Verde val
ley was an Indian reservation, by |
proclamation of the president, aud
Wales Arnold, Joe Burroughs, Bob
Bell and Peter Arnold owned AMI /
had fine farms on Beaver creek, with .
the waters of tie creek ali appropri |
ated; also that lie nard Carroll ST, /
J. o. Bristow, Captain Jackson, Nike /
Burns, VIM. Fain, Matt Burch and |
B. F. Couple had fine farms aud IT.
rigating bitches on Oak creek, and |
that Joe Melvin, NJ K Lunty, Peter
Eiche John Wood. Abe KoOntz,
John DAVIS, e. c. Campbell and I'm
Gle Jack Thompson had fine farms, /
with bitches from Clear creek and /
the Verde river upon them; also,
Uncle Johnny Miller. Peter WInkler,
James O'Brien and Henry Miller
took out water and famed what is
now kno 4n as the Osborne place, on |
lower Verde, and that the Indians. |
under the direction of the military |
and interior department officer, con-
structed what Is known as the In
dian or Cotto' wood ditch on upper /
Verde, aud way back in the winter OF
1868, when the Wr.t4r hereof was a
beardless boy, Wales Arnold located I
the farm he now owns at Camp Yer I
de and located and took out al irri-
and by some hocus pocus clause III
the L. s. Revised Statutes Uncle
Sam took the land. which at that
time was DOt urYeyed-water, water
right and all-aBd kept aud main
tanned the ditch for water works and
irrigation purposes for over 20 years
and as long as this was kept as a
military post; that about the time of
the ai4au Comment of the post MT.
Arnold resumed possession OF the |
land, and that at the same time the
head of tie Verde ditch washed out
and John Wood and others made
connections between the old mil /
tary ditch and the Verde ditch,
which Is the Verde or Woods duch !
of today. In 1874 the o. K. or
Middle Verde ditch was built, about
the same time the Peck's Lake coun-
try WIS settled. Right here I want
to mention that Hon. r. G. McCor-
mick, our delegate to congress, made
arrangements with the government
at the time this valley was an Indian
reservation by which the settlers on
Beaver and Oak creeks, although |
within The boundaries of the reser-
walton, were not disturbed. Other
bitches were built on the Verde. |
Oak and Beaver creeks soon after
the Indians were taken to San Car
los ami long before the Grad, Buck |
eye or Mesa City canals were built.
OF the bitches or canals already
mentioned, they take fully three |
fOurths OF all water now used IN
this valley, and in point of numbers
about ihree-fourths of the SO bitches
OF the valley are on Oak, Beaver and |
Clear creeks. The waters of the
two last mentioned streams never
reach the Verde river except when
there Is a flood in summer.
l clerked in the Sutler store at
Camp Verde when Hugo Richards
was post trader, and when he sold
out Il Head q Co. stayed with
them u business nearly four years.
and j s. reference to their books IN
my own handwriting the facts as
herein stated can be fully substan-
tiated. There was not enough wa
ter in Salt River valley for the ditch
as thai were already III use before
the Grand canal or Mesa City canal
was built, to say nothing about the
Arizona canal and c. Myer Nincom-
poOp's Highland canal scheme NiAe
years out of ten they have not wat r
enough for winter use. so how are
they to store it for summer use? So
far as priority Is concerned, we. by
ali odds, hold the edge, and l do
not speak of it boastingly, but as
matter of fact, right, justice, equity
and all that sort of thing, aud |
hope that some Phenix paper will |
copy this letter or so much thereof
as pertains to the history of this val
ley as well as their own.
The waters of the Verde valley art
lower today than they have been at
this time OF year for the past thirty
three years, as the writer hereof can
testify by actual observance, and
unless the destruction of the forests
by lumbermen and forest fires is
stopped in the San Francisco aud
Mogcllon mountains the waters of
the Verde river will not be sufficient
to irrigate the land already in cult
walton, and that country will b.
come a mountain desert. I want it
understood that | do not
court newspaper notoriety, if so my
could be in print every week
for pay. My sole object is to show
the folly of any danger of our water
being taken from US by the people Of
the Salt river country. Such talk
has tendency to keep out settlers
and may to a certain extent have a
depreciating effect on our property.
This is my SD degree in years as a
member of the Ancient and honor
able Order of Hassayampers, most
Of the time il this valley and its i'm
vicinity.
Now, l know l am not fussy in
newspaper way, but like the populist
when at funeral at the conclusion
Of the reading of the services got up
and said he did not have the pleas
IRE of the acquaintance of the de-
ceased but if the audience would in
1ulge him for few moments he
would like to speak to them on the
U. S. Sub-Treasury scheme, I want 1
you to indulge me long enough to |
inish up ny sentence about Hon. II.
J. Allen, of jerome, that the {
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