The Florence tribune., 1900-10-13
IFrom the Los Angeles Times Ink v1ol

flcoASA4AltC1 III AIlEOn0.
 "Tbe Gila River Indian reservation iss ttuated about eighteen miles south of Phoe- IN. and extends along the Gila River for iisteEce or nearly fifty miles. Here are ceated the Pima and Maricopa Indians to he number of nearly five thnusani Tbase indians are known throughout tbe Terri oiy as good lndiaus.' They have alwavs ieen peaceful in their habits and a.rric5iI- ural or pastoral in their pursuits, They re now euitiyatirg the lands where fha ,-ehistoric races built the now-ruined Casa srande and its neighboriRg canals. Irriea Ion has been practiced in this valley from prehistoric times Many ancient litcbes cnn e traced across the plain, showing evidences h engineering skill. and testifying to the dct that large, volumes of water were at ne time carried.
 ''rhe Pimas and Naricopas have been Intil recently, Q self-sustaining nation. hey raise fieir crops of grain and corn with skill equal to that of the whites. he settlers. seeing he results which tb, In lanS have produced. through the oDeration f the desert land act. brought under clilti- 9.lon inI'en land in the valley of the Gila, dlaeent to this reservation. and have builf XtenSiye canals between Florence and fhe a1iI pad station of Casa Grande Uuder the rovision of the United States law. nll land 'Hnght under the desert-land act must be made productive by the application of water. ln order to comply with inc 1rry-iS ons or this law. the settler was eon,pelled to make diversions from the Gila River at lolnts above the Indian reservation Other ands were taken up under similar capdi- ions on the upper portion of the Gila River heSe diversions by the whites oriclylx da rived the Indians of their water slInnly nd for the past i've years they have been sft or the desert without water foy tbair rops and scarcely enough for their bo-ses hey are put Tn the position of either havina. steal. staTTe or be fed as public wards nd the government has been forced to issIe atlons to them and feed them as it does fhe OtffInIE- A4fnaFnTHE .-e s.,
 cen rendered establishing beyond com roFsrSy the fact that the Indian has the ,rlor and the better right to the water. but he whites have maintained their wee, upply despite the dictates of inc eo,,r+ he development of this newer ciyilization as become so extensive that to cuf off its Fafer supply would mean the desolation of lany thousands of acres of fine farms and richards Evidently. the situation is n fiiii- ut one, and the Indian Bureau is hard ressec for proper answer
 In 1886 an allotment of Ss500 was rnada rom the appropriation for the Indian Office pr 'ei a Preliminary investigation of the avail Die water supply for these Indians Mr. eweii was instructed to make this iuyesti- ation by the Secretary of the Interior and delegated Arthur P. Davis to take fbe laeter np in the neld- The surveys were ecessarily of apreliminary nature but the forage possibility of the Gila River was ully demonstrated. It was shown that this sream drained about fifteen fhousand inere miles of the high plateau and noun tin region of Eastern Arizona and that fhe iver Is remarkable for its exceedingly iignf rade. Consequently. the storage possibiIi- tes of the stream are great Reeomrneuda- 'oiis were made by Mr. Davis calling for artBer and more accurate surveys and in he spring of 1898 Congress passed a second appropriation of S20,OO0 for the eon,nla+ior this investigation. The hydroeraphie de- artment of the Geological Survey was gam aeiegated as the proper office to con-
 
 The Gila River derives it's source from ne hlte Mountains in western New Mexico nd eastern Arizona, which rise to elevations f from ten to twelve thousand feef A. fLe oint where it issues from is rr1onnt a;no,,s asln- there are over twelve thousand iuare miles draining through its canons he basin has been extensively expiored no tnree iarse reservoir sites located and irveyed; The capacity of these reservoir tes has been determined and filings have cen made under the United States laws for reir segregation from the public domain pom. known as the Buttes dam 159 set Tn height above the bed of rhe stream I'll store enough water to cover IT. .O0ll acres ne rect deep, or. as it is technically ex- ressed, 1l4.gOO acre feet. dam af fhis ont would be approximately s90 feet long me ped or the stream and 800 feet af ifs rest. At Riverside. Ariz., it was found that dam SJO feet long at it's base, and approxi- iately eOO feet long on top will store a much reater quantity of water, the surveys at lIEOfUDlGFR. A arlos, on the Apache Reservation. the river nsseS through narrow gorge I0d feet ide- and dam at this point lJ9 feet high fould be Ous 200 feet long at the crest. Such sa aaIn wonla store s6l :e00 acres one foot deep.
 Extensive explorations have been made to etermine the depth of bed rock at each one 1 these dam sites. At the BfIttes fhe he'd pck IS disaappointingly deep. the depths znging n the center of the channel iron, "a D1z4 feet beneath the surface of fhe strea,n riverside the maximum depth on the Xis of the dam IS approximately seyentv- ve feet. while at San Carlos the depth to ed rock is believed to be substantially less lan at either of the other dam si4es. -
 The records of the How of the f4iIa River ave been kept tt the Buttes for a humber years, and the estimates of available ater supply are, therefore based on gefIlal ieasstrements- not on surmise. The ordi- ary now ot this stream is ample to i'll the irgest of these reservoirs and on the dYieef ears ot which we have record it has been great es 2J9, eco acre feet
 Tt will he seen by the above figares that ne possibility Of storing water on this ream IS very great. It is doubtful if it as any equal in this line among all the reams or arid America. The San Carlos am site. particularly, is one of unusual crit The size of the necessary dam. the 9ailabIe water supply, the great storage asin, and the proximity of Iaiiroad facili9 es are perfect; while the other two sifes so have features of merit.
 The duty of water in Southern Arizona greater than in California For the rnie- tg of the staple crop of alfalfa, depth of Teuty-four inches of water is ordinarily 1plied to the land, which is equivalent to 2 DIV Tor six months of one miners inch to ich three and one-half acres. On this isis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough ater to irrlgate oyer 150.009 acres of land. if is assumed that each two acres " i'll s11r1- )rt one inhabitant. this would permit of n )pulatiOn of 75.0B0 souls to be susfained om this reservoir.
 These hgures are more startling when ie fact is realized that at the present tirne ! of the canals below the San Carlos dam te are absolutely dry. and that the country oln tne Apache Reservation to the mouth
 the Salt River is in condition of withered ought. with it's inhabitants both white Id Indian reduced almost to the condition
 aDJeet want. It is estimnted that f0O0o res of land should be irrigated on the ila Indian Reservation in order to relieve ,e condition of the IndianS This would ave over i00,00D acres that could be irri- tted on the public domain. If I0O.00O aeres
 these public lands could be so irrirafed ld being subdivided into forty-acre tracts. Id to actual settlers at the rate of Sl0 to 3 per acre, the condition of the Indian Ouid be wholly relieved, and it is probable egoternment would be reimbursed for ifs ltlre outlay. In addition to this, a district ier1ng ideal conditions for irrigation lth a soil which is unexceied, with a Innate that will produce crops in contiuu
 IS rotation. will be made to support n )puiasion of 75.e00. and will add 10 fbe iillie wealth of the Territory. on a conser- tiFe estimate. over s6 ,n00,10A'