The Florence tribune., 1900-02-17
Good Indians and Industrious White Men Who Are Practically Destitute
 for Lack of Water.
An Exceptionally Favorable Opportunity to Inaugurate the Mpch-talked- of System of Federal Irri-
 gntion.
From the Los Angeles Times. yuly 10,


 J. B. Lippincott, the representative in Los United States Geographical Survey, fur nishes The Times the following irrigation possibilities in Arizona:
 The Gia River Indian reservation is sltuaaed about eighteen miles south of PhOe- nix, and extends along the Gila River for a distance of nearly fifty miles. Here are located the Pima and Maricopa Indians to fhe number of nearly five thousand. These tory as good Indians They have always been peaceful in their habits, and agricuI- tural or pastoral in their pursuits. They are now cultivating the lands where the prehistoric races built the now-ruined Casa 1rnnde and its neighboring canals. Irriga- ton has been praeticed in this valley from prehistoric times. Many ancient ditahes can De 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 Maricopas have been. nntil recently, a seif-sustafniug 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.
 ans have produced, through the operation
 tie desert land act, brought under cuiti-
 .tion much land in the valley of the Gila.
 iJacent to this reservation. and have built
 .tensiye canals between Florence and tho
 i'll load station of Casa Grance. Under the
 ovision of the United States law. all land
 ught under the ceseTt-land act must he
 de productive by the application of
 ter. In order to comply with the provis- ions of this law. the settler was compelled to make diversions from the Gila River Ut points above the Indian reservation. Other lands were taken up under similar condi- stions on the upper portion of the tsilo River These diversions by the whites quickly de- prlyed the Indians Of their water supply. and for the past Eve years thcv have been left on the desert without water for their crops and scarcely enough for tncir horses They are put in the position of either having to steal, starVe or be fed as public wards. and the government has been forced fo isSfyf, rations to them and feed them as it does the soldiers. Numerous court decisions have been rendered establishing beyond con troyersy 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 desolatiop of many thousands of acres of fine farms and orchards. Evidently. the situation fs a e5iIfi cult one, and the Indian Bureau is hard pressed for proper answer.
 Tn lsso an allotment of Ss500 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 iuvesti- Ea.55oin py the secretary of the Interior. and he delegated Arthur P. Davis to take the matter up in the field. The surveys were necessarily of preliminary nature but tha storage possibility of the Gila River was fully demonstrated. It was shown that this stream drained about fifteen thousand square mi les Of the high plateau and r,1or.D- tain region or Eastern Arizona, and that the river Is remarkable for its exceedingly light grade. Consequently, the storage riossihili- ties of the stream are great Recofnmenda- tlons were made by Mir. Davis calling for lfnrtner lf and more a. accurate surveys, and in the spring Of 1sS5 Congress passed a second appropriation of S20,0O0 for the conDletion of this investigation. The hvdroera,,hic fIe- partment of the Geological Survey was duct these surveys.
 The Gila River derives it's source from the White Mountains in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, which rise to elevations Of rom ten to twelve thousand feet A. fba point where it issues from it's mountaiuons basin, there are over twelve thousand square miles draining through it's eanons- me pasln has been extensively explored, and three large reservoir sites located and surveyed. The capacity of these reservoir, sites has been determined and Hines heve been made under the United States laws for their segregation from the public domain. At point known as the Ruttes a dam 1sn feet in height above the bed of The stream willstore enough water to cover I74. .O00 acres one rect deep, or, as it is technically ex- pressed, l.4teD acre feet. 4 dam at this point would be approximately 300 feat lone at the bed of the stream and e00 fee4 al its crest. At Riverside. Ariz. it was found that dam s9g @ feet long at its base. and approxi-
 
 greater quantity of water, the surveys af this site being still incomplete. At San Carlos, on the Apache Reservation. the river passes tnfough narrow gorge 100 feet wide, and dam at this point I50 feet high would be bus POO feet long at the crest. s;ueh dam would store S6I ,0JO acreSoue foot lean-
 Extensive explorations have been made to oetermine the depth of bed rock at each one of these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed rock is disapDointingly deep. the dentbs ranging in the center of the channel iron, 75 to l4 feet beneath the surface of the stream. at hIseTsids the maxlinum depth on the axis of the dam IS approximately seyenty- live feet while at San Carlos the denthf fo 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 a number of years, and the estimates of avaiIebje water supply are, therefore based on ctuaI measIfements.. not on surmise. The ordi- nary how of this stream is ample to fill the largest oi these reservoirs and on fine dl.ies+ years of which we have record if nae baan as great as 200, eco acre feet.
 It will De seen by the above figures that the possibility of storing water on this stream is very great. It is doubtful if if has any equal in this line among ;,1 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 ofIaiIroad facili- ties are perfect; while the other two sites
 
 ''The duty of water in Southern Arizona is greater than in California. For the rais- ing of the staple crop of alfalfa q depth of twenty-foHr 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 and one-half acres. On this basis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irrlgate over 150.O30 acres of land. lift is assumed that each two acres will stsD- port one iuhahitant. this would permit of a population of l5.O00 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 " ithered drought, with it's inhabitants both white aud Indian reduced almost to the condition of abject want. It is estimated that lO.090 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 i00,000 acres of these public lants could be so irrigated and being subdivided into forty-acre tracts sold to actual settlers, nt the rate of sI0 to 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 uucxeelied, with a climate that will produce crops iii eontinu- ous rotation. wi.l De made to support a reputation ef 75,UeH and will odd fo the public weaiti of the Territory on . eonscf- Vatiye estimate, over Sd,o90-ooe