The Detroit times., 1914-11-18
STAKED PLAIl(
OF TEXAS RESI-
ON WATER BED
Secret known to Indians ond
Buffaloes, Long Sealed 70
White Man

PLAINvIEw. Tex. Nov. b-0uq
Of tho sights Of the great tableland a.
western Texas. formerly known -
the Staked Plains. 10 great streamo
OF water forced from many shallow
wells by powerful pumps. In the
early days the region was 3 treeIeGG
and waterless waste, and how The
Indians and buffaloea lived there WA
long mystery to the few white men
who had followed the trails. The
secret finally was revealed by mule.
A family OF mowers" were travel
ling through the uninhabited region
when their water gave out. Near the
present town OF Plainview they halt
ed under Q little cIump Of blackberry
trees the only vegetation they had
seen for days. and turned the mules
loose to shift for themselves. One of
the animals put It's nose 10 the ground
and seemed to be following some kind
Of scent. After going along for Z
few yards Il stopped and began paw
Ing into the earth. The man saw that
the soil was moist aud with 3 spade
he dug down q few feet The hole
quickly filled with water. clear. sweet
and cold.
II appears that Il was the practise
Of the Indians to obtain their water
supply by digging into the sands a.
the draws that run through the rogion
and after satisfying their wants %
carefully Ill the holes 20. that their
secret would not be discovered b.
whites. The buffaioes also got wator
by paving into the earth when thoro
was no water hole near. Often thoy
were hundred miles apart.
While surface wella and windmfl1o
solved the rAnching problem, e va
not considered . practical way Of
obtaining water for the purpose Of
irrigating the land. BY degrees e
was established that the whole plRins
territory was splendidly adaptsd =
agriculture.
Some four years ago the discovery
was made that the water basin from
which the windmills obtained their
supply was Of vast area and practi-
cally inexhaustible IN its. stcruge o.
pacity; also. that lying not Tar below
this hrst water strata was one or
more other lakes or rivers. Then
came the first utilization OF the dis-
covery through the centrifugai pump
upon the wells. The now from the
many pumps that now dot the land
are evidences that the underground
SUPPLY has really incredsed. This Il
indicated by the rising Of the water
In the wells. Water from these wells
is now being utilized for irrigating the
level lying land. One concern bought
$4,000 acres of land In the Plainviow
territory two years ago, and already
has installed 81 pumps In as many
wells. The company plans to drill SAC
moro wells.
The water IL found In almost alb
solute purity and inexhaustible guam
titles at depths ranging from 30 to
100 feet. That this big sea of under
ground water has constant move
ment toward the south 10 claimed by
men Of science who have investigated
the matter. No one knows for GER
tainty where the supply has fits source.
except that It must come from rain
fall or snow,
Most of the wells are 1000 to 1900
gallons per minute capacity. II Is
calculated that each OF these smaller
wells Is capable Of irrigating 100
acres of land. The cost of pumping
Is from 20 cents to 81 for an acre-foot
of water. II IL estimated that moro
that one million acres have been re-
claimed through this underground
water supply.