The Arizona sentinel., 1908-09-02
POSSIBILITIES OF YUMA
REGION UNFATHOMED
The Soil Simply Marvellous in Its
PrOduCtiveneSS
| tt G Climlts is IntOxicatigIy
SdIubriO S
BY GEORGE n. BURTON,
IN Los Angeles Times.

1t is very far from n Semi-lnilenium since
three little open boats under the flag OF Spain
| first touched the waters OF the western hemi-
sphere and revealed the new world to the
eyes of Europeans. 1t is only little over a
century since the United States of America
sprang, so to speak, like Pallas Athene from
the brain of Jove, a completely armed ad-
dltion to the family Of nations. 1t is but
little 4ver half a century since California be-
came a part of these United States of America,
and less than a generation since the settle
ment of the Great South vest began.
In all the l25 years since the Republic was
founded, also in the half century since Cali
fornia became one of the States of the Union.
and during every year of the last thirty, re-
alization Of the vast riches of the American
continent, OF the territory OF the United
States and of this Great Southwest has been
more and more astonishing to the minds OF
men. One would suppose that by today we
knew pretty thoroughly what the undeveiop-
ed resources of the Great Southwest might
reasonably be expected to become. We have
not reached the depths of this great ocean of
wealth with our plummet line yet.
In residence of forty years on the Coast
the writer thought he knew little about
what there is on the Coast, and as most of
these years have been spent in and around
Los Angeles, he naturally had little con-
ceit that he was pretty well acquainted with
the Great Southwest. Last week q trip to the
Colorado River bottoms. below Yuma made
HIM feel as tenderfoot who had come in on
the last train. New to him, this wonderful
region and its possibilities are pretty well
known to a great many readers of The Times
by the stories published, if not by the demon
StratiOn of their own eyes.
Yuma lies on the map just twelve miles
from where the government is putting in the
great Laguna dam, at the confluence of the
Gila and Colorado Rivers. 1t is twelve miles
from Yuma down the river to the Mexican
boundry line on the Arizona side of the river
AT one point, just below Yuma. the interna-
tional boundry line runs up along the river
which there takes a westerly trend and from
Yuma to Mexico is only few miles.
ONCE A MIGHTY STREAM
Ages ago when the mountain ranges of
Arizona and California lowered toward the
stars, at least twice as high as they do now,
rains were very freduent and came down in
torrcntial volumes all along these mountain
was mighty stream, sweeping down debris
in tons every second of its flow. The Colora-
do sink was at that time a great inland sea,
which spread over the country on both sides
of where the river now runs. AS the erosion
of winds and storms, landslideS and glaciers
wore down the mountain ridges year by year,
the great river carried down Il vast amount
of silt, erosion from the rocks full of phos.
pilates, lines and dlsintergrated grantees as
well as the vegetation along its banks; and
this was all deposited in what are now the
sinks of the Colorado.
As the mountain tops were worn down, the
rains became less frequent and less i'll volume
but the erosion of rocks and river banks, the
trees and vegetable mould torn from the
banks still came down and settled into the
bottom of the great inland lake. This geogical
process went on from age to age to our time,
leaving the Colorado at Yuma Il stream about
half mile wide and being at the present
time about twenty feet deep ia the deepest
portion.
1t is not necessary to remind Calfornians
that the Spanish missionaries and explorers
called this river the Colorado because of the
reddish color of its waters. 1t is the Colorado
up in the Grand Canyon in Arizona and
down past The Needles. But at this time of
the year. after passing the mouth OF the Gila,
instead of the red river it becomes the brown
river. 1t actually looks today as if ten per
cent of its flow was silt and only ninety per
cent water