The Florence tribune., 1900-02-10
Good Indians and Industrious White Men Who Are Practically Destitute
 for Lack of Water.
An Exceptionally Favorable Opportunity to InauguPate the Mueh-talked- ofsystem Of Federal Irpi-
 gation.
From the Los Angeles Times, JuIy IO.l


 possibilities in Arizona:
 The Gila River Indian reservation is situated about eighteen miles south of Phoe- nix, and extends along the Gia River for n distance of nearly fifty miles. Here arc located the Pima and Maricopa Indians to the number of nearly five thousand These Indians are known throughout the Terri tory as good Indians They have alwnys Leen peaceful in their habits, and agricnI- tural or pastoral i'll their pursuits They are now eultiYating the lands where the prehistoric races built the now-ruined Casa Grande and it's neighboring canals. Irrira- ton has been practieed in this valley from prehistoric times. Many ancient ditches can be traced across the plain, showing evidences of engineering skill, and testifying to the Iaet that large, volumes of water were at one time carried.
 The Pimas and Maricopas have bean nntn recently, self-sustaining nation hey raise their crops of grain and corn with skill equal to that of the whites The settlers, seeing he results which the In dIans have produced, through the operation of the desert land act, brought under cuIfi- sa.lon much land In the valley of the Gila extensive canals between Florence and fhe raisi pad station of Casa Grande. Under the bnught under the desert-land act must he made productive by the application of water. In order to comply with tho proviS lons Of this law, the settler was compelled to make diversions from the Gila River at points above the Indian reservation Otber lands were taken up under similar condi- StcIl9 ol eHe opFer portion of the Gila River. 4hese diversions by the whites quickly de- prlyed the Indians of their water suInly and for the past five years they have Reen leIt on tne uesert without water for their crops and scarcely enough for their horses 1hey are put III the position of either hat-ippr 10 steal. st0rye or be fed as pubIic vyorfs and the government has been forced to issue rations to them and feed them as it does fhs soldiers. Numerous court decisions have been rendered establishing beyond con. sr3Fefsy the Iact that the Indian has the prlor and the better right to the water but the whites have maintained their watar supply despite the dictates of the couTt he development of this newer civilization he's become so extensive that to cut off ife water supply would mean the deSoIation of many thousauds Of acres of fine farms and orcnafsis. Evidently. the situation is a diff- rat one, and the Indian Bureau is hard pressed for proper answer
 In lS.6 an allotment of S350O was made rom the appropriation for the Indian Office Tor preliminary investigation of the avail able water supply for these IndianS- Mr neweil was instructed to make this iuvesti- gatlon by the Secretary of the Interior and he delegated Arthur P Davis fo talre tba matter up in the field The s,lrvevs u,e,.1 necessarily of preliminary nature. but inc storage possibility of the Gila River was fully demonstrated. It was shown that this stream drained about fifteen fbonsar5 square miles of the high plateau and moun tain region of Eastern Arizona. and that tLa J rlseI is rTsInarkaDle for its exceedingly light ties of the stream are great. Recommenda- tions were made by Mr. Davis calIine for Inrther and more accurate surveys, and in the spring or les5 Congress passed a second appropriation of S20,000 for the eompletion of this investigation. The hydrogranhicd de- partment Of the Geological Survey was aaga1n te tneiegatea as the proper office to con- The Gila River derives its source from tne hite Mountains in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, which rise to eIeyafiors of from ten to twelve thousand feet. A. inc point where it issues from it's mountainous basin, there are over twelve thousand square miles draining through it's canons The basin has been extersiyelv exnIored and three large reservoir sites located and surveyed; The capacity of these reservoir sites has been determined and fiiiugS have been made under the United States lews far the1r segregation from the public domain At point known as the Buttes a dam 150 rect Tn nelght above the bed Of rhe stream will store enoug h water to cover IT. .OOl acres one rect deep, or, as 1t is technically ex- pressed, lltCO0 acre feet 4 dam ef this point would De approximately 800 feet long at the bed or the stream and S00 feet at it's crest. At Riverside, Ariz., it was found that dam 35O feet long at it's base and annroxi mateiy oOO feet long on top will store much greater Quantity of water, the surveys at this site being still incomplete. Al San Carlos. on tho Apache Reservation. the river passes through narrow gorge 100 feet wide, and dam at this point l50 feet hieb would be but POO feet long at the crest. Such dam would store 361, 900 acres one foot deer. Extensive explorations have been made to
 
 of these dam sites. At the Buttes the bed rock is disappointingly deep, the depths ranging in the center of the channel from 75 to 1A feet beneath the surface of fhe stream At Riverside the maximum dentb m tbe axis of the dam is approximately seyenfv- live feet, while at San Carlos the depth to pea rcek IS IS believed to be substantially less
 The records Of the How of the GiIa River have been kept at the Buttes for number of years and the, estimates of available water e1InpiV fl1rafr~a Ao~< measurements. not surmise. The ordi- nary How of this stream is ample to fill the largest oi these reservoirs, and on the driest ns great as 100000 acre feet.
 1twiH be 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 Ill this line among all the streams of arid America The San Carlos dam site; particularly is one of unusual available, water supply, the great storage basin, and the proximity of railroad faciii 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, a depth of 5wenty-four inches of water is ordinarily implied to the land. which is equivalent to a flow for six months of one miners inch to each three and ene-half acres. On this basis, the San Carlos site will furnish enough water to irrlgate over 150,000 acres of land, Tit is assumed that each two acres will sup- port one inhabitant. this would permit of a population of 75,0O0 souls to be sustained from this reservoir.
 These figures are more startling when the fact IS realized that at the present time nll 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 condition of withered drought, with it's inhabitants both white aud Indian reduced almost to the condition of abject want. It is estimated that 10000 acres of land should be. irrigated or the the condition Of the Indians. This would leave over .100,0e0 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-acre tracts sold to actual settlers, pt the rate of SIO to Sl5 per acre, the condition of the Indian would oe wholly relieved and it is probable the government would be reimbursed for it's entire outley. In addition to this, district offering ideal conditions for irrigation with soil which is unexeelled, with a climate that will produce crops in continu- ous rotation. will be made to support a l,0eulafioD of 75,000, and will add to the pulaie naaitl of the Territory on a conser-
 Iaar frr