The Florence tribune., 1900-02-17

SUMMARY.
 l. The available records of the dis charge of Queen Creek at Whitlow's ranch indicates that this stream would not afford a sufficient and reliable water supply for the irrigation of an area as large as is required for the relief of the Indians on the Gila River Indian Reservation.
 ?. Because of the large amont of annual discharge of water by the Gila River aad the high percentage of silt which it contains, it is not advisable to construct a reservoir Of small capacity on this stream on account of the rspidity with which it would fill with silt.
 3. In case of the construction of any of the dams on the Gila River the cost of putting the foundations down to bed rock is one of the principal clements of expense. This cost would be almost as large if small dam was built as in the case of large one.
 4. The greatest economy to the Government, whether tine relief of the Indian alone is considered, or the gen eral development of the arid lands in the neighborhood of the reservation is taken as basis, lies in the construc- tion of large reservoir. It is shown that the Government can build such large reservoir, give water to the h. dians without charging them for it, and sell the remainder of the water impounded at such figure as would rapidly return all the original invest ment made by the Federal authorities.
 5. In the event of the construction of large dam there will be built up in the valley of the Gila River, where a desert now exists, a community of fully 40.000 souls, and the creation of many million dollars of taxable wealth without permanent outlay on the part of the Government.
 6. The cost per aere-foot of storage capacity of the dams as planned in this report at the three principal reservoir sites upon which estimates have been made is as follows:
 Location. Amount Cost per 1 Acre-feet.
 The Buttes ... 174,O4O $l5 19 Riverside ........... 22I, ,13S 9.01 San Carlos ..... 24I, ,396 4.3O
 From this it will be seen that the cost of storing water at the Buttes per acre-foot is 3.5 times the cost at San Carlos, and that the cost at Riverside is times the cost at San Carlos.
 The capacity of the reservoir, the character of the foundations at the dam site, the conservative and we'll known type of dam planned, and the economy of construction all point to the selection of the San Carlos reservoir site as the place for the construction of the dam.
 Perhaps the most notable result of this investigation of the water supply of the Gila River has been the dis covery of three large reservoir sites the existence of which heretofore has been unknown. They are the River side, the San Carlos, and the Guthrie sites. Relative capacities of these are shown graphically on p. XXXII, B.
 The argument in favor of the con struction of a reservoir for the storage of the waters of the Gila River by the United States Government is stronger, perhaps, than for any other project in the country.
 l. The Government has expended large sums of money fer the introduc- tion of irrigation on the Indian reserva- tions where it is desired to educate the Indian into agricultural habits as a means of his civilization. This is well-established and wise. public policy, and has already been pro ductive of much good, but is always in the nature of an experiment, and more or less difficulty aud uncertainty is att tendant upon the attempt to induce the Indians to accept this mode of livelihood. In the present case we have tribe of Indians who have for centuries been engaged in agriculture by irrigation, and who were until re- gently the only successful irrigators in Arizona. These Indians have been deprived of their water supply through the agency of the white man, directly encouraged by the United States Government. It is an imperative obligation of honor that their supply should be restored to them, and the only practical means of this restora- tion is by storage oh the Gila River. h addition to this, there is held out the certainty that unless this is done these Indians will retrograde from a condi- tion Of industry and prosperity to one of mendicancy and vice. Instead of an uncertain possibility of elevating a savage tribe, we are confronted with