The Florence tribune., 1900-08-25
From tho Los Angeles Times. Julv Io.l

fishes The Times the following irrigation possibilities in Arizona:
 The 6iila River Indian reservation is ituated about eighteen miles south of Phoe- TX, and extends along the Gila River for a distance of nearly fifty miles, Here are coated the Pima and Marieopa Indians to he number of nearly five thousand These ndians are known throughout the Terri ory as good In6ians.' They have always ieen peaceful in their habits and aerieuI- aral or pastoral in their pursuits. They
 re now cultivatlng the lands where the prehistoric races built the now-ruined Casa Irande and it's neighboring canals Irriga- Ion has been practiced in this valley from prehistoric times. Many ancient ditehes can e traced across the plain, showing evidences lf engineering skill. and testifyine to the act that large. volumes of water were at sne time carried.
 The Pimas and Maricopas have been. lntll recently, q self-sustaining nation. hey raise their crops of grain and corn gIth skill equal to that of the whites
 he settlers. seeing he results which the h. Hans have produced. through the operation lf the desert land act. brought under culti-
 ation much land in the valley of the GiIa adjacent to this reservation and have built 'xtensiye canals between Florence and the
 aiil pad station of Casa Grande. Under the provision of the United States law, all land Snught under the desert-land act must he made productive by the application of water: Tn order to comply with the proyis- ons or this law. the settler was compelled to
 
 joints above the Indian reservation Other ands were taken up under similar condi- ions on the upper portion of the Gila River shese diversions by the whites quickly de- 'riTed the Indians of their water supply, and for the past five years they have been eft on the desert without water for their .rops and scarcely enough for their horses. they are put In the position of either having steal starve or be fed as public wards and the government has been forced to issue 'atlons to them and feed them as it does the 'oidlers- Numerous court decisions have 5een rendered establishing beyond con royersy the fact that the Indian has the ,ri0r and the better right to the water hut he whites have maintained their water ;upply despite the dictates of the court. the development of this newer civilization las become so extensive that to cut of it's water supply would mean the desolation of many thousands of acres of fine farms and orchards Evidently, the situation is a diff- sult one, and the Indian Bureau is hard 'ressed for proper answer.
 In iS95 an allotment of Ss5OO was made rom the appropriation for the Indian Office or a preliminary investigation of the avail sDle water supply for these Indians. Mir. satIon by the Secretary of the Interior. md 1e delegated Arthur P. Davis to take the natter up in the field. The surveys were necessarily of apreliminary nature, but the :torage possibility of the Gila River was ully demonstrated. It was shown that this 'tream drained about fifteen thousand iqnare miles of the high plateau and moun- ain region Of Eastern Arizona, and that the -iFer IS remarkable for it's exceedingly light trade. Consequently, the storage possibili- iles of the stream are ereaf. Recommenda- ions were made by Mir. Davis calling for further and more accurate surveys, and in lie spring Of l69o Congress passed a second appropriation of S29,000 for the Completion )f this investigation. The hydrograDhict de- 'artment of the Geological Survey was lgain delegated as the proper office to con luct these surveys.
 ''The Gila River derives it's source from he White Mountains in western New Mexico md eastern Arizona, which rise to elevations T from ten to twelve thousand feet. At the 'oint where It issues from its mountainous basin, there are over twelve thousand square miles draining through it's cauons The basin has been extensively explored md three large reservoir sites located and iurveyed; The capacity of these reservoir sites has been determined and filings have been made under the United States laws for -heIr segregation from the public domain 1t point known as the Buttes dam I5O eet ln height above the bed of rhe stream will store enoug h water to covef TAG acres 9ne feet deep, or, as it is technically ex- pressed, 174.0O0 acre feet. A dam at this point would be approximately 300 feet long crest. At Riverside. Ariz., it was found that l dam $50 feet long at it's base. and approxi- nately 800 feet long on top will store a much sreater quantity of water the surveys at
 
 Carlos. on the Apache Reservation, the river passes through a narrow gorge 100 feet wide. and dam at this point I50 feet high would be but POO feet long at the crest. Such dam would store SB1 600 acres one foot deep
 Extensive explorations have been made to determine the depth of bed rock at each one of these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed rock is disapDointingiy deep, the depths ranging in the center of the channel from 75 to lz4 feet beneath the surface of the stream. At Riverside the maximum depth on the axis of the dam is approximately seventy- i've feet. while. at San Carlos the depth to bed rock is believed to be substantially less han at either of the other dam sites.
 The records of the flow of tine GiIa River have been kept at the Buttes for a number of years, and the estimates of available water supply are, therefore, based on actual not on surnlise. The ordi- nary flow of this stream is ample to fill the largest of these reservoirs, and on the driest years of which we have record it has been as great as 200, eco 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 tho streams Of arid America. The San Carlos dam site, particularly, is one of unusual merit. The size of the necessary dam. the available water supply, the great storage basin, and the proximity of railroad facili- ties are perfect; while the other two sites also have features of merit.
 The duty of water in Southern Arizona is greater than ill California For the rais- ing of the staple crop of alfalfa, depth of 5wenty-four inches of water is ordinarily applied to the land, which is equivalent to a How for six months of one miners inch to each three and oae-half acres. On this basis. ths San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irrigate over l50.000 acres of land. If it is assumed that each two acres will sup port one inhnbitant. this would permit of Dopulatien of 75,000 souls to be sustained from this reservoir.
 These Agures are more startling when the fact is realized that at the present time. all of tho canals below the San Carlos dam site are absolutely dry. and that the country from the Apache Reservation to the mouth of the Salt River is ill condition of " ithered drought. with it's inhabitants both white aud Indian reduced almost to the condition of abjeet want. It is estimated that 10O00 aeres of land should be irrigated on the Isila Indian Reservation in order to relieve the condition of the Indians. This would cave over 100000 acres that could be irri- gated on the public domain. If 100000 acres if these public lands could be so irrigated and being sRbdivided into forty -aere tracts, sold to actual settlers, at the rate of SlD to SI5 per acre. the condition Of the Indian would bc wholly relieved, and it is probable he government would be reimbursed for its entire outlay. In addition to this, q district 3.fering ideal conditions for irrigation, rftIl soil which is unexceiled. with u .limatn that will produce crops i'll continu- ms rotation win be made to support a emulation of 75C00. and will add to the ,ublic wealth of the Territory. on conser- -. fs..,o@, <,xox. 2a 00a a00