The Arizona sentinel., 1909-08-26
POSSIBILITIES OF YUMA
REGION UhFATH0MED
The Soil Simply Marvellous In Its
Pr0dgCtiveHeSS
And the Climate is fatOAiCatiagIy
SasSbriOSs
BY GEORGE ". BURTON,
Ia Los Angeles Times.

II is very far from q senai-InFslenfGHs sinCy
three uttle open boatS rRSssr SAC f4a= OF SI7Sil
crst touclcd the waters OF the western hcRei-
sphere and revealed the new world to tho
eyes or Europeans. 1t is only p lityle over "a
century since the EJnfte3 States of 3nseric,
spraBs, SO "a speak, like P5llas AthsRe from
the brain of Jevc, completely armed ad-
diiion ia Che family of nations. 1t il bat
little -vcr half a century since California be-
came a part os these United Statesof America,
and less than a generation smee the SETTLE
ment OF the Great South west began.
In all the 10 years since the Republic was
founded also in tlse half century silrcc CaA-
sDrnia became one of the States of the Union.
and daring every year OF the last thirty, "a re-
sslization OF the vast riches of the Americas
continent, OF the territory Of the United
states and of this Great Southwest has been
suore and more astonishing TO the minds OF
men. One would sappose that by today VIC
knew pretty thoroughly what the undcvcIop-
cd resources of the Great Southwest might
reasonably he expected to become. We have
not reached the depths or this great ocean OF
wealth with our plummet line vet.
In a residence Of forty years on the Coast
The writer thought he knew little about
what :here is on the Coast, and as most Of
these years have been spent in and around
Dos Angeles, he nsriural1y had a littls corr
eeit that he was pretty weh acquainted with
the Great Southwest. Last week trip - The
Cclurss47c Ri-er bottoms. fse1ew Iarsl s4asssSe
lrra seel rs u tentscESooa he he'd eoS7~ ~ oh
tho last train. Nc0 10 hi.ss gli= -ygi2ss rsu%
FegieR rad IT'S pseSsJsitfttes sGS pTctty welt
known ~ Il great asaEy readers efFfe Times
by the stsites prslishGtA, if not ss she dsrsesa
sstratfoN Of their oy<1 eyes.
Yuma lies on tl4c map fast twelve miles
srom wiiers the government is putting in the
great Laguna dam, at the confluence of the
ella and Colorado Rivers. II 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 intcrna-
fional boundry line runs up along the river
which there takes westerly trend ana 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, al least twice rs high as they do now,
rains were very frcduent and came down in.
torrcntial volumes ala along these mountain
ridges. The Colorado River in these past ages
WdS a IllIhty SMccpiHS NDNIl u6bIlS
in tons every second OF its flow. The Colora-
do sink was at that time great inland sea,
which spread. over the country on both sides
Of where the river now runs. AS the erosion
Of winds and storms. landsiidcS and glaciers
wore down the mountain ridges year by year,
The great river carried down vast amount
of silt, erosiOn'froi0 the rocks full OF phos.
pilates, lines and dIsintergrated GRANTEES, as
well as the vegetation along Its banks; and
this was aAA dcposItedta what are Row tse
sinks of slas Colorado.
Asfiao mountaia tops =eTc EossA down, the
rains became less fScQtsent and less n >no!sESss
but t.ae erosion 81 rocks and Fiv2T bG1aSsa she
trees and. vegetable mould torn S.erS Sfs7-
banks still came down and settsed isf5xs the
bottom OF the great inland lake. This geOsical
process went on from age TO age to our time,
leaving the Colorado at Yuma stream about
time about twcn1y feet deep in the deepest
portion.
Ii is not necessary to remind CaiforHians
mat the Spanish missionaries and explorers
called this river the Colorado because of the |
reddish color of it's waters. 1t is the Colorado
down past The Needles. But at this tiine OF
the year, after passing the mouth of the ella, |
instead of the red river il becomes the brown |
river II actually looks today as if ten per
cent of its flow was silt and only ninety per |
cent water