El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-14
ReclaiE1aimg the Land By Pumping
By R. BEDICHEK.

Mans great foes says an editor
Ia writer on one OF our great metro
poltan dailies. in the struggle witt
which civilization has been born, have
been the desert. the sea and the cold
NO country with q natural rainfall ever
had any civilization worth mentioning
until the last few hundred years. Civ
llization flowed through an irrigation
ditch IN the early ages. Judea. is half
desert Egypt and Babylonia ere re-
claimed desert lands. Japan is an irri-
gated country. So is India. and so is
Italy"
But If II Is IN the struggle with these
forces that civilization is born. can
they properly called the great foes
OF MANI are they not rather, great
friends in disguise, put here by the
Creator 10 awaken and develop the
powers Of the soul2 The country of
natural rainfall, covered with green
and lixuriant vegetation, is an ex-
ample and inspiration to man; the
desert is a challenge, it aWakens his
fighting instincts and appeals to his
sense OF the heroic. Sterility is the
greatest curse, and the clarion an
nouncing battle with it has summoned
the most intrepid spirits of every age
There is a region in southern New
Mexico now being developed which
furnishes an Inspiring example of the
courage and ingenuity Of man pitted
against the cunning Of nature The
Mimbres river is clear mountain
stream, with its source Just east of
the great continental divide. If q drop
OF rain happens to hit on top of a Ger
tain ridge Of pointed rocks between
the head Of the ella and the head of
the Mimbres, the western half of the
drop is destined to find its way into
the Gulf Of California, while the east
ern half viii find its way down the
Mimbres and, finally, into the Gulf of
Mexico But nature has provided a
81 bway for the half a drop that goes
= II
issues from the mountains it disap-
pears, as does the famous OXus river
Of Turkestan, into the sands South
Ward,-7O miles, just below the line of
Old Mexico, it rises 10 the surface and
forms a tremendous lake.
The vast stretch of level valley lands
from the Cooks range Of mountains
south to the line of Old Mexico, and
comprising hundreds OF square miles,
was until recently, considered a good
II did not rain 1t was not considered
good for anything a few hardy plants
like the cactus, the Scrub1meSquite and
the sotol, managed somehow to store
aWaS, camel like, moisture enough dur
ing wet years to tide them over years
Of droUth. but this scant and thorny
vegetation only served to render the
general desolation more vivid and com
pletc- The range would become over
stocked by ambitious stOckmeE during
the years Of rainfall, and then the
years OF drouth would come and their
herds would be decimated- The
bleached bones Of thousands of cattle
which now StTeW the valley still attest
the enormous losses which the cattle
kings of those days sustained.
A few years ago, however, an engi- |
neer in the employ of the government ]
made a survey Of this region. He gave |
1t as his opinion that the Aimbres river |
was not entirely lost, but continued to !
flow at depth Of from 20 to 60 feet
through sand and gravel strata under |
this entire valley The soil of the MINI |
bres. he said, had been built up by the !
erosion Of mountains surrounding II. /
It seems that at one time in the history /
Of the world, what is now a great val l
ley was but an immense gorge in I
which were miles high, and 4
that the bottom of this gorge was a /
gigantic river over 20 miles wide in /
places when sufficient soil was built 1
Up. the valley supported vegetation,
tropical IN its Fuxuriance. There was |
also abundant animal life. This the
engineer proved by the fact that bones I
are encountered at a great depth all
over the valley In many places. hu-
man bones are found buried 10. % and
so feet deep, and it seems quite likely
that these are the remains OF some
prehistoric race. The oVerflOWs Of this !
great river during thousands OF years |
kept depOsiting their silt thus cover |
ing the river deeper and deeper until |
none Of the moisture of its hidden
waters could reach the surface The /
country then became a desert, except |
during years OF excessive rainfall /
when the naturally rich soil supported
bUDdant grass It thus took nature [
thousands of years to hide this river,
7Ut she did her work well. Fhe gov
eminent engineer expressed the belief
hat there was an abundance Of water
n this underground river TO irrigate