The Arizona sentinel., 1911-06-01
POSSIBILITIES OF YUMA
 REGlOH UNEMPLOYED The Soil Simply Marvellous in its
 ProduCtiVeneSS And the Climate is IntOXiCatiagly
 SdIabriOuS
BY GEORGE N. BURTON. In Los Angeles Times.


 It is very far from semi-millenium since three little open boats under the flag of Spain first touched the waters of the western hemi 1 sphere and revealed the new world to the eyes of Europeans. It is only little oyer 8 century since the United States of Americe sprang, so to speak, like Pallas Athene from the brain of love, a completely armed ad dition to the family of nations. It is but little aver half a century since California be- came part of these United States of America and less than a generation since the settle ment of the Great South west began. In all the 125 years since the Republic was founded, also in the half century since Cali rornia became one Of the States of the Union and during every year of the last thirty, re alization O fthe 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 o1 men. One would suppose that by today we knew pretty thoroughly what the undevelop. ed resources of the Great Southwest might reasonably be expected to become. We have not reached the depths of this great ocean o1 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 a little con- ceit that he was pretty well acquainted with the Great Southwest. Last week 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 lyrO fo If hn 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. It 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 westerly trend and from Yuma to Mexico is only a 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 ridges. The Colorado River in these past ages was mighty stream, sweeping down debris in tons every second of its flow. The Cobra 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, landslides and glaciers wore down the mountain ridges year by year, the great river carried down a vast amount of silt, erosion from the rocks full of phos. pilates, times and disintergrated granites, as well as the vegetation along It's banks; and this was ali deposited in what are now the sinks of the Colorado.
 AS the mountain tops were worn down, the rains became less frequent end less in 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 a stream about half a mile wide and being at the present time about twenty feet deep in the deepest portion.
 It is not necessary to remind Californians that the Spanish missionaries and explorers called this river the Colorado because of the reddish color of its waters. It 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. It actually looks today as if ten per cent of its flow was silt and only ninety per cent water.