The Florence tribune., 1900-01-13
lFrom the Los Angeles Times. July lo.l

possibilities Tn AIlEOn2:
 The Gin River Indian reservatio, is situa ted about eighteen miles south oF pkoe- nix, and extends along the Gila River for a distance of nearly fifty miles. Here are located the Pima and Marieopa Indians to the number Of nearly five thousand These Indians are known throughout the Terri sory us good Indians' They have aIuraxe been peaceful in their habits, and arricIil- turai or pastoral Tn their pursuits. They are now eultiveting tho lands where tbe prehistoric races built the nov-ruinefl CaSa Grande and it's neighboring canals Trriga ton has been prectieed in this valley from prehistoric times. Many ancient ditches can be traced across the plain, showing evidences ot engineering skill, and testifying to inc fact that large volumes of water were a+ one time carried.
 until recently, q self-sustainiug nation They raise their crops of grain and corn With skill equal to that of the whites me settlers seeing { he results which the h. dians have produced, through the operation of the desert land act brought under cuJti vGtion much land iu the valley of fbe C;iIa adjacent to this reservation. and have built extensive canals between Florence and tLe railI oad station of Casa Grande. Under tbe provision of the United States law aJl land bought under the desert-laud act nnust ba made productive by the application of water. In order to comply wifh tbe ,l,,o.,iS- ions of this law, the settler was compeIIed fo make diversions from the Gila River ot points above the Indian reservation. Other itlus we're tuEen up under similar pnr1i- tons on the upper portion of the Gila River These diversions by the hites ouiclgIv de priyed the Indians of their water snYTi,, 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 ha,i.'e- to steal. starre or be fed as D;lifia v-o-7S ana tAe soFerFment has been forced 10 iss,,c rattons to them and feed them as tdoas +3,, soldiers. Numerous court deoisio,,s bs--- been rendered establishing hevon-. -l,-, troversy the fact that the Indian has fSa prior and the better right to the yva+sz. t,+ the whites have rnairtafned +brir -'a't supply despite the dictates of inc cc1,~4 The development of this newer ef.iligat;oy, has become so extensive that to cut off ;t water supply would mean the fiesola+i'7, l,f many thousands of acres of fine farT,s ar,d orchards. Evidently, the situation is n diff cult one, and the Indian Bureau is hard pressed for a proper answer
 In lSS5 allotment of S35na was rrola rom the appropriation for the Indian Office Tor preliminary investigation of the await able water supply for these Indians. Nr. Ne. M ell WHs llstfucted to make this inFesti- getion by the Secretary of the Interior. and he delegated Arthur P. Davis to faITe tbs matter up in the field. The surveys were necessarily oi a preliminary nature, but the storage possibility of the Gila River --ss fully demonstrated. It was shown fha4 ff,ie stfFanI trained about fifteen fhoT,sa+-I square < ef the high plateau and u,05Ir1 tain region Cl..4 ern Arizona and +Ea+ .E,,
 
 grade Consequently, the st5Pa{ss 1oss7fiii ties Of the stream are great Rerofnfnouri, tionSi were, made by Mr. Davis calling for further and more accurate suTvaYs arsJ ;,, the spring of 1898 Congress f;lssefi a Se.ao.,5 appropriation of S20,0G0 for the oomr,ie4jor, of this investigation. The hydroerfTibic ,ie parfIneHt Of the Geological Survey was again delegated as the proper office fo corr, duet these surveys.
 The Gila River derives it's soerce iron, the White Mountains in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona which ri SC fr fsisv,,ti,r,e Of from ten to twelve thousape! feef Eftbo Polnt where Ii issues from its mountainous basin, there are over twelve thousand square miles dFaining through it's canons The basin has been extensively explored and three large reservoir sites located and surveyed. The capacity of these reserolo,i4e sites has been determined and filinos have been made under the United States Is,--s fl,,. their segregation from the puhIic dor,7ai, At point known the Btttes q dam I5g feet in height above the bed of fhe sfrearn VIII store enough water to cover III. eco acres one rect deeiJ, CT, as it is techEicailv ex- pressed, ltloOO acre feet. dam nt this point would be approximately 3CD feef Ioup at the bed of the stream and stg feet at its cfssI. 9 Al riverside. Ariz 1t was found that a dam 55O feet long at its base and aDproxi- nately SO feet long 0n top will store a much sfsa1er quaiitity of water, the surveys at this site being still incomplete. At San Carios, on the Apache Reservation. the river passes through narrow gorge I0O. f.ef wide, and dam at this point l5O feet bi0b would be bu- Al6 feet long at the crest. Such saih Wo.ld store S5l ,OtJ 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 Entities tbe he'd rock. IS disappointingly deep, the depths ranging lD the center of he channel frCf,, 75 to 124 feet beneath the surface of he strear, At Riverside the maximum depth on tbe axis of the dam is approximately seventy nye Iye Iee5, wnlle at San Carlos the depth to than at either of the other dam sites
 The records of the flow of the GiIa River have been kept at the Buttes for a number oi years, ana the estimates of available water supply are, therefore, based on actual measurements, not surmise The ordi- nary How of this stream is ample to fiII the largest of these reservoirs, and on the driest years of which we have record it has been as great as POO, ,0c0 acre feet
 Tt will be seen by the above figures that the possibility of storing water on this stream i IS very great. It is doubtful if it streams of arid America. The San Carlos dam site. particularly, is one of unus1IaI merit, The size of the necessary dam, the available water supply, the great storage basin, and the proximity of lailroad faeilj ties are perfect; while the other two sites also have features of merit
 The duty of water in Southern Arizona 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 n inch each three and one-half acres. On this basis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irrlgate over 150000 acres of land If it Is assumed that each two acres will sl1p- port one inhabitant. this would permit of a population of 75,000 souls to be sustained from this reservoir.
 These figures are more startling when the fact IS realized that at the present time all of the 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 in a condition of withered drought, with it's inhabitants both white and Indian reduced almost to the condition of abject want. It is estimated that 10000 acres of land should be irrigated on the Gila Indian Reservation in order to relieve the condition of the Indians. This would leave over 100000 acres that could be irri- gated on the public domain, If 100000 acres of these public lands could be SO irrigated and being subdivided into forty-aere tracts, sold to actual settlers, at the rate of S10 to Sl5 per acre, the condition of the Indian world be wholly relieved, and 1t is probable the government would be reimbursed for it's entire outlay. In addition to this, district offering Heal conditions for irrigation with soil which is une1celed with a climate that viii produce crops iH continu- ous rotation. will be made to support a reputation of 73,g90, and will cad 10 fhe l public weahh of the Territory, on a eonssr- gative estimate, over 55,o00,o3o.'