The Florence tribune., 1900-07-28
From the Los Angeles Times. July 1O.l


 Angeles of the Photographic Office of the United States Geographical Survey, fur nisheS The Times the following irrigation possibilities in Arizona:
 The Gila River Indian reservation is sltua ted about eighteen miles south of Phoe- nix, and extends along the Gila River for n distance of nearly fifty miles. Here are located the Pima and Maricopa Indians to the number of nearly five thousand, These Indians are known throughout the Terri tory as good Indians.' They have always been peaceful in their habits. and agricul- tural or pastoral in their pursuits They are now cultivating the lands where the prehistoric races built the now-ruined Casa Grande and it's neighboring canals. IrriSa- ton has been practiced in this valley from prehistoric times. Many ancient ditches can be traced across the plain showing evidences of engineering skill, and testifying to the fact that large volumes of water were at one time carried.
 The Pimas and Marieopas have been. until recently, self-sustaining nation. They raise their crops of grain and corn with skill equal to that of the whites. The settlers. seeing { he results which the h. dians have produced, through the operation of the desert land act, brought under eultf- vation much land in the valley of the Gila, adjacent to this reservation. and have built extensive canals between Florence and the raill pad station of Casa Grande. Under the provision of the United States law, all land bought under the desert-land act must he made productive by the application of
 
 ions of this law. the settler was compelled to make diversions from the Gila River at points above the Indian reservation. Other lands were taken up under similar condi- tIons on the upper portion of the Gila River These diversions by the whites quickly de- prived the Indians of their water sunDlv and for the past five years they have been left on the desert without water for their crops and scarcely enough for their horses They are put in the position of either having, to steal, starye or be fed as public wards and the government has been forced to issue rations to them and feed them as it does fhe soldiers. Numerous court decisions have been rendered establishing beyond con troversy the fact that the Indian has the prior and the better right to the water, but the whites have maintained their water supply despite the dictates of the eonrt The development of this newer civilization has become so extensive that to cut off it's water supply would mean the desolation of many thousands of acres of fine farms and orchards. Evidently, the situation is a diff cult one, and the Indian Bureau is hard pressed for proper answer.
 In lSso an allotment of $3500 was made rom the appropriation for the Indian Office for preliminary investigation of the avail able water supply for these Indians. Mir. Newell was instructed to make this inyesti- gation by the Secretary,of the Interior, and he delegated Arthur P. Davis to take the matter up in the field. The surveys were necessarily of apreliminary nature but the storage possibility of the Gila River was this stream drained about fifteen thousand square miles of the high plateau and moun- tain region of Eastern Arizona and that the river IS remarkable for it's exceedingly light grade. Consequently. the storage possibili- ties Of the stream are great. Recomnenda- tions were made by Mir. Davis calling for further and more accurate surveys, and in the spring ot ls;S Congress passed Q second appropriation of S20,000 for the completion of this investigation. The hydrosraphic de- partment of the Geological Survey was again delegated as the proper office to con duct these surveys.
 .'The Gila River derives its source from the White Mountains in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, which rise to elevations of from ten to twelve thousand feet At the point where it issues from it's mountainous basin, there are over twelve thousand square miles draining through its canons The basin has been extensively explored. and three large reservoir sites located and surveyed. The capacity of these reservoir sites has been determined and filings have been made under the United States laws for their segregation from the public domain At point known as the Buttes dam I50 feet Tn height above the bed of the stream will store enoueh h water to cover I74, coo acres one feet deep, or. as it is technically ex- pressed, lI4.0OO acre feet. 4 dam at this point would be approximately 300 feet long at the bed of the stream and 800 feet at it's crest. At Riverside. Ariz.. it was found that a dam $50 feet long at its base, and approxi- mately SOO feet long on top will store a much
 
 this site being still incomplete. Al San Carlos. on the Apache Reservation, the river passes through narrow gorge 100 feet wide, and dam at this point lJ0 feet high would be bun 200 feet long at the crest. Such dam would store S61 ,000 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 tbe he'd rock is disappointingIy deep the depths ranging in the center of the channel from 75 to lA feet beneath the surface of the stream. At Riverside the maximum depth on the axis of the dam is approximately seventy five feet, while at San Carlos the depth to bed rock is believed to be substantially less than at either of the other dam sites
 The records of the flow of the Gila River have been kept at the Buttes for number of years, and the estimates of available water supply are, therefore, based on actual measurements. not on surmise. The ordi- largest of these reservoirs, and on the driest years of which we have a record it has been us 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 the 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 ailroad facili- ties are perfect; while the other two sites also have features of merit.
 
 is greater than in California. For the rais- ing of the staple crop of alfalfa, depth of twenty-four inches of water is ordinarily applied to the land which is equivalent to q flow for six months of one miners inch to each three and one-half acres. On this basis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irrigate over 150,000 acres of land. If it is assumed that each two heres will sup port one inhBbitapt. this would permit of population of 75,00O souls to be sustained from this reservoir.
 These figures are more startling when the fact is realized that at the present time all of tho canGls 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 in a condition of W ithered drought, with it's inhabitants both white aud Indian reduced almost to the condition of abiect want. It is estimated that 10000 acres of land should be irrigated on the Gila Indian Reservation in order to relieve she condition of the Indians. This would leave over 100000 acres that could be irri- gated on the public domain. If 100,000 acres 1f these public lands could be so irrigated and being subdiyided into forty -acre tracts, f15 per acre, the condition of the Indian would be wholly relieved, and it is probable he government would be reimbursed for its entire outlay. In addition to this. district )ftering ideal conditions for irrigation, xith a soil which is unexceled, with a ilimate that will produce crops in continu- Dus rotation. will be made to support population Of 75.000, and will add to the public wealth of the Territory. on conser atiYe estimate. oyer S8000.000."