Arizona sentinel and Yuma weekly examiner., 1912-07-25

or 0dnQllnS I0e SllI pTODleIn VIII le
 move most of the suspended matte
 from the water before it begins it
 journey to the cultivated lands below
 it Goes not take out those fertilizin!
 elements for which the Colorado is s
 justly famed.
 "A canal system on the Arizona sid
 amply supplies the Glia Valley, north
 east of Yuma, consisting of about 20 900 acres. The Gila river and gen
 eral topography prevent canal eXten
 sions through to the mesa land anC Yuma Valley on the Arizona side. Fol
 this reason a different route has beer arranged and larger headgates and {
 more elaborate canal system have been built on the California side tC
 conduct the water of Yuma Valley and
 the Yuma Mesa, irrigating at the same
 time nearly 1000 acres on the Cali
 fOrnia side, known as the San Pas
 cual Valley, or the Yuma Indian Res
 ervation. The main, or high-line canal
 follows along the outskirts of this val
 ley and arriving opposite Yuma dips down through an inverted siphon and comes up on the Arizona side of the river and thence via canals to the 5000 acres in lower Yuma Valley.
 "The work on the siphon under the Colorado River is completed and the vast stream of water running through it on it's mission of reclamation The entire length of the siphon is over 900 feet and 40 feet below the river bed. The siphon is IA feet, inside diameter, and the walls of concrete are two feet in thickness. This work is a marvel of engineering skill and too much credit cannot be given to those directly responsible for it's sue cessful completion.
 After passing through the siphon the water is conducted through the main canal, which is 80 feet across he bottom, 120 feet across the top md 10 feet in depth, along the upper portion of the valley for a short dis tance, when it is separated into two channels. That on the west side of the valley will be located along the high ground near the river and the one on the east side will follow alons he elevated areas near the Mesa Both these canals reach southward to the Mexican boundary and command III the irrigable bottom lands in this portion of the project.
 "The east branch of the Big Canal is of sufficient capacity to carry water 'or the future Mesa extension. Pro- visions have been made for a pumping station to supply the 10000 acres of Mesa land. The Mesa, one of the largest frostless belts in the United States, is 70 feet higher thon the valley and in order to 'aise the water that height this pump ng station, the next feature of the Yuma project, is to be installed. Pow er plants are to be built at the Laguna Dam, as well as at the artificial drop, llready completed, located between he Dam and the Siphon. It is eX )ected sufficient power will be gener- lted to light the entire valley aside rom supplying energy for the Mesa plant.
 What this unlimited supply of wat ar will mean for the Yuma Valley is lot a supposition, nor is it an eXperi- nent. That part of Yuma Valley which has been cultivated has demon itrated beyond doubt the agricultural, and viticultural possibili- ies, equalling, if not excelling, those f any other section of the United States. The climate, seemingly made for growing things grow ng them quickly, continuously and abundance and quality; the oil endowed with all the essentials | if effective fertilization, is ample as urance of the unusual opportunities Yuma Valley offers to the Home eeker.
 "The learned and lofty dissection f the Yuma Indian by MT. Koch 1 unused none so greatly as the Indi- ms themselves, who read the article. With an exception of possibly fifty or iXty of the very aged, every Indian n the reservation can read and write; T fact, nearly all the younger genera ion are college graduates. The writer as often noticed the amused tolera- ion with which the educated Indians ood-naturedly treat the condescend- lg tourist whose "Wild Indian, scalp Ou-fOr-a-nickel' manner certainly is musing in the extreme. Nothing 1ore can be said of the Yuma In ian than he is industrious, honorable,