Arizona republican., 1911-03-19
HISTORICAL SKETCH
 PROJECT MILE POSTS

The beginning of the first irriga- tion canal in the Salt River valley was in 1867. before the town of Phoe- nix came into being From that date to the middle sos numerous canals were undertaken. some of them form ing q part of the present system. while some of them served their day and disappeared As fast as canal
 was dug the lands under it were filed upon, until their area exceeded the ! ability of the casal to water them.
 That called for another canal Thus
 the old private ownership system grew
 up until more water was appropriated
 from the river than it eyer carried
 except in flood time. The result was acrimonious disse3Sion in all parts of
 the valley. hardship for those who
 had prior and full rights by an over
 division of the supply and equal hard
 ship for those who settled on new
 lands expecting to receive water.
 These hardships continued until years
 of special drOuth in a country known
 to be of Incompatible climate and
 wonderful fertility. wrought bank
 ruptcy for many who possessed a
 competence, stringency and defeated
 ambition for many who had every
 right to expect prosperity and sue
 cess. This was further complicated
 by the frequent loss through floods of
 unstable dams. brush diversions and
 ruined canal heads
 Meanwhile the idea of storing the flood waters of winter for use during
 the drouths of summer had taken hold and though there seemed no human method of financing such a work. it was the only and the last forlorn
 hope Of the future. a something that had to be accomplished. The region around the present site of the Roose- Welt dam was practically a terra in- cognita. IL had been traversed for years by the prospector, the stockman and the Indian hunter. but never with an engineering eye having in mind the thought of a storage basin, though 1t was general conviction that suit able sites might be found.
 In 1SS9' the county board of super visors. of which C. R. flakes was chairman. authorized J. II. McClin- : tock. now the postmaster of Phoenix. l but in those days a peregrnating i printer and school teacher. quite fa- i miliar with the country; W. M Break | enridge. then the county surveyor, and i John R. Norton then in the employ | of the Arizona Canal company as su- 1 perntendent. to explore the upper l reaches of the Salt and Verde rivers | in quest of suitable reservoir sites. 1 They did so. and were the first men | to gaze on the present site of the | Roosevelt dam. studying it's possibili- ties as a means of storage.
 |. Not long after. the United States senate committee on irrigation and arid lands. headed by William Stew art. visited Phoenix. heard the report of these men and held a memorable meeting on the city hall plaza. Mat ters remained in abeyance. the people ofS the valley still clinging fondly to their hope until 1896. when Arthur F. Davis. a skilled engineer of the Unit ed States geological survey. was sent into the field to report upon the prac- ticability of the site. or at least to determine the engineering facts and lay them before the Washington au- ihorities who might be interested.
 Matters continued to grow worse with greater settlement in the valley mtiI 1900, when. under the authority pf the legislature. Chief Justice Web ,ter Street appointed a water storage , consisting of J T Priest