The Florence tribune., 1900-03-17
THE FIRST IRRIGAToRs.
Gross Injustice to tho Friendly Pima h.
 dians Of Arizona.
lFron the New York Tribune.l


 occupied by the Gila Indian reserya- ton grew luxuriant crops of fruit aud maize for the friendly Pima In- dians. This explorer describes them much us they are to-day. They occu- pied the same lands as at present and were industrious farmers and irrigators as they continued to be for many years after the acquisition of Arizona by the United States. They have raised corn, wheat, pumpkins, beans, sorghum and vegetables in profusion; they. have lived in small villages and held their lands in severalty and they are expert wcavers of fine blankets and cotton fabrics. All this has been accomplished through irrigation, practiced by them before the discovery of the new world. l What is the situation in this reser- vation to-day? Those philanthropists who bewail the passing of tue Ameri- can Indian may we'll turn their atten- ton to the destitute condition of the Pima Indians, brought about by the push of the white settler and the crim- inal neglect of the government, whose wards the Indians are.
 The Pimas have always been friends of the whites and enemies of the Apaches. They gave aid and succor to the early white pioneers and their tepees were always open to peaceable whites or Indians when hard. pressed by the savage foe. It is to-day their boast that their hands have never been stained by the white mans blood. It was under these conditions that they were joined about a century ago by the Maricopas, who came IS fugitives from the more powerful Yuma tribe. When the belligerent Apaches broke out upon the warpath the troops of the United States often obtained substantial aid and subsistence from the gentle Pimas. 1 Their agriculture has been carried on entirely by irrigation with water di- verted from the Gila river. The tribes have always supported not only them- selves, but nave shared their worlds goods with the poorer Indians to tue south of them not favored by irrigation. They have learned readily at the gov ernment Indian school and their prog ress toward modern civilization has been regarded as one of the encourag- ing features of the Indian problem. During the last ten years their irrigat- ing water-their life blood-has been taken away from them and they are perforce lapsing into incidence, misery and vice.
 The waters of the Gila above them have been diverted by white settlers, and instead of waving fields of green, they now, during the summer, look out upon the dry, parched earth. Year af- ter year they ploughed and sowed and
 irrigated their crops, only to sac them wither and die before maturity, owing to lack of sufficient irrigation water in the drier months. A few who are fa- vorably located at points where water l appears in the dry bed of the Gila can still mature their crops others can eke
 out a bare existence by hauling wood
 or by other preearious employments,
 while the. larger number have become
 more or less dependent upon charity or
 have degenerated into thieves and vag-
 abonds.
 About six thousand of these Indians are dependent for their subsistence up on the lands of the reservation, which contains 360, ,O0O acres, while the water supply in the .Gila last year. owing tc use for lands above, has not been suff- cient to irrigate one thousand acrel belonging to the Indians. Fully hal. the crops planted have not produced enough for seed, notwithstanding thf great fertility of the soil. Two acre: per Indian of irrigated land has beer I shown by competent authority al ] ample land for their use and comfort Government engineers have pointed \ out the solution of the problem througl the building of a storage reservoir ol the Gila, which will supply water no g only for the Pinias, but for thousand J of other Indians whom the governmen
 could then move to this reservation an 2 commence the process of educated ant
 agricultural civilization. Statesmen s have urged upon the government tn z necessity for such action, from stand 2 points of justice, humanity and eye , economy, but thus far congress ha i turned a acareless ear to such entreaties : Had the Indians been private America z citizens they could have claimed thei z rights and enforced them, but bein Z: wards of the nation, others have com ,. in and taken their water, to which the ' have had undisputed title for four hur s dred years, and the government turn s indifferently away, even directing il z attention to new wards thousands { z miles distant, while it's original friend