St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1910-06-24
TEXAS FIRST IN IRRIoATIoN.


Bystens Used by IaSisas Long De-
dsSe the Coming OF the whites.
'Texas, although one OF the young
est states In the Union In develop
ment, Ia the pioneer In irrigation. a
Fort Worth correspondent OF the New
York Herald says The beginning OF
irrigation In western Texas antcdates
any records so far found and IL In
probable that In no portion OF the
United States IL the practice older. Ia
the claim made by J. q. Nagle. who u
professor OF civil engineering ut the
Agricultural and Mechanical College
OF Texas. scanty and irregular distri'
button OF rainfall was doubtless the
cause OF its use In the beginning and
even at later dates. when unnumbered
acres OF fertile lands could be had for
little more than the trouble OF prepar'
Ing them for cultivation. Coronado,
ON his Journey northward IN the early
part OF the sixteenth century. no his
tory tells us. found woll'es,abllshed
systems OF irrigation In the vicinity
OF El Paso, utilizing water from the
Rio Grande ON both sides OF Its pres
ont channel.
Tradition tells us that the Pueblo
Indians OF Yseleta claimed that an
Client irrigation systems OF great ex'
tent were built centuries ago by the
Yuma Indians on the Pecos river In
the vicinity OF pecos and Grand Falls.
but the constant raids by the Com
manehe and Apache Indians caused
them 10 move on 10 the valley OF the
Rio Grande. only 60 be followed there
by their old enemies and forced to
West In the vicinity OF the Toyah
springs evidence Is found indicating
that these waters were used for irri
cation purposes long before the first
white man found his way there,
Al San Antonio. where the Francis.
can fathers founded their missions.
they directed the construction OF ca.
mails by the indians These canals
were used not only for supplying
water TO the missions for domestic
purposes. but for irrigation as well.
Among the bitches constructed be,
tween the years l7l6 and l77i may
be mentioned the Conception. Alamo,
San Jose San Juan and Espada. In
1880 the San Pedro ditch was built by
immigrants from the Canary Islands
and was used for conducting water 10
the cultivated fields For many years
this ditch was conducted for field lrri.
gatlon on farms and even To this day
this old ditch is In operation and be.
Ing used constantly, II supplied water
for large percentage OF the city
lawns a few years ago In San Antonio.
and was extensively used for domestic
purposes.
At old Fort San Saba, near Menard-
vile. the present home OF James Cal.
lain. president OF the Texas Cattle
Raisers' Association. the remains OF
an irrigation system constructed In
IVA. also by the Franciscan fathers,
can still be traced At this time Texas
was under Spanish rule. but since then
has sworn allegiance TO and fioated
fiye different flags
AS early as 1852 the fourth legisla,
ture passed an act relative TO irriga
tion. In 1882 the seventeenth legisla
ture passed an act making large
grants OF land for the construction OF
irrigation bitches. There were sey.
eral classes and number OF sections
OF land granted per mile OF ditch va.
ried with the class. In 1889 and 1895
additional regulations were establish,
ed with a view OF encouraging irriga-
tion. The result OF some OF these en-
actments was the projection OF numer.
Gus irrigation schemes. many OF which
were "boom" propositions from the
start. while others proved failures
Uhen constructed because Of the lsck |