The Florence tribune., 1900-01-06
IFrom the Los Angeles Times. July iO.I

lrrohl lhe Los Angeles Times, July 1U.l J. B. Lippincott, the representative in Los Angeles of the Photographic Office of the United States Geographical Survey. fnr- nishes The Times the following irrination possibilities in Arizona:
 The (iila River Indian reservation iS situated about eighteen miles south of Phoe- nlX, and extends along the Gila River for n distance Of nearly fifty miles, Here ore located the Pima and Maricopa Indians to tho 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 aaricnl tural or pastoral in their pursuits Thav are now eultivating the lands where the prehistoric races built the now-ruined Casa Grande and its neighboring canals. Irriga- taon has been practiced in this valley from prehistoric times, Many ancient ciitches can be traced across the plain, showing evidences of engineering skill. and testifying to the tact that large volumes of water were at one time carried.
 The Pimas and Marieopas have beep until recently, self-sustainiug nation They raise their crops of grain and corn with skill equal to that of the whites The settlers. seeing t he results which the T, dians have produced, through the operation of the desert land net. brought under ct1lti vation much land in the valley of the GiIa adjacent to this reservation. and have built extensive canals between Florence and fbe ram oad station ot Iasa Grande. Under the provision of the United States law. all land bought under the desert-land act Tnust he made productive by the uppIication Cf water: In order to comply with the proyis- ions of this law, the settler was comreIled to make diversions from the Gila River at points above the Indian reservation. Other lands were taken up under similar coudi- lions lions on the upper portion of the Gila River These diversions by the whites quickly de- prived the Indians of their water supply and for the past five years thev have Lecn Ieft on the oesert without water for their crops and scarcely enough for their horses They ire put i'll he position of either bavin,, to steal, starve or be fed as public wards and the government has been forced to iss,1e rations to them and feed them as it does the 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 court The development of this newer civilization has become so extensive that to cut off its water supply would mean the desolation of many thousands Of acres of fine farms and orchards. Evidently. the situation is n diff fcult one. and the Indian Bureau is hard pressed for proper answer.
 In lS& an allotment of S350O y,ynS made from the appropriation for the Indian Office for preliminary investigation of the avail able water supply for these Indians Mr. Newell was instructed to make this inyesti- gatlon by the Secretary of the Interior and he delegated Arthur P Davis to take tbe matter up in the field. The surveys were necessarily of a preliminary nature, but the
 
 tfnlly demonstrated. It was shown that this stream drained about fifteen fhausand square mics Of the high plateau and Im0rp- tain region of Eastern Arizona and Lba+ 4ba river Is remarkable for its exceedinJgiv Ii,,bt grade. Consequently, the storage r5ossibiiie ties of the stream are great .S~I2Secon,nenda ~I2S tl9IIS WeFe made Dy-@Alr. Davis calling for ~J[f1id1et ii1el more accurate surveys and in the spring of 1898 Congress passed a second appropriation of S20,000 for the completion oi thls investigation. The photographic de- parthfSht or the Geological Survey was i3galn delegated as the proper office to con duct these surveys.
 The Gila River derives its source from the l" hlte Mountains in western New Mexico ana eastern Arizona, which rise to elevations Of rom ten to twelve thousand feet Al tbe point where it issues from it's nountainous basin, there are over twelve thousand square miles draining through ifs caDoDs The basin has been extensively exnjored and three large reservoir sites located and surveyed. The capacity of these reservrir sltes mas Deen determined and filings have been made under the United States laws for thelr segregation from the public domain At point known as the Buttes a dam l5O feet in height above the bed of the stream VIII store s enough water to cover 17i, 600 acres one Ieet ueep, or, as 1t is technically ex- pressed, 14.O0O acre feet. dam at this point would be approximately BOG feet long at the ped of the stream and 800 feet at it's crest. At Riverside, Ariz., it was found that dam $50 feet long at it's base and aDnroxi mately oO0 feet long on top will store a much greater quantity of water. the surveys at 1lis sue pelng still incomplete. At San Carlos' on the Apache Reservation, the river passes through narrow gorge 100 feet wide, and dam at this point 15O feet high would be bus 200 feet long at the crest. Such aaia No:ild store Sol OO0 acres one foot deep.
 Extensive explorations have been made to determine the dcrth of bed rock at each one Of these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed rock IS disappointingIy deep, the depths ranging Tn the center of the channel from 75 to I4 feet beneath the surface of the stream At Riverside the maximum depth on the a'% axls % of the dam is approximately seventy nVe feet, while at San Carlos the depth to bed rock is believed to be substantially less than at either of the other dam sites
 me records Of the flow of the Gila River nave been Kept at the Buttes for a number or years, and the estimates of available water supply are, therefore based on actual measurements, not on surmise The ordi- nary How of this stream is ample to fill the largest ot these reservoirs, and on the driest years of which we have record it has been as great as 2O0,0e0 acre feet.
 1t will be seen by the above figures that the possibility of storing water on this 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 railroad 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, a depth of twenty-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 aEd One-haf acres. On this basis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irrigate over 15g,000 acres of land. If it is assumed that each two acres will sup port one sphabitapt. this would permit of population of 75,0o0 souls to be sustained from this reservoir.
 'Tbese 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 iH condition of withered drought, with it's Inhabitants both white aud IEsdian red1Ieed almost to the condition of abiect want. It is estimated that 10000 of land should be irrigated on the CiIa 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 SD irrigated and being subdiYidsd into forty -acfe tracts, sold to actual settlers, at the rate of S10 to S15 per acre. the condition of the Indian would be wholly relieved. and it is probable the government would be reimbursed for it's entire outlay. In addition to this, district offering ideal conditions for irrigation, with q soil which is unexcelled, with climate that will produce crops i'll conting- ous rotation, will be made to support reputation of 75,090. and will add to the public wealth of the Territory. on a conser- y9tiYc estimate, over S6,OO0.00O