Weekly journal-miner., 1915-04-14
(From Saturdays Daily.)

ing of the speeches of Hon. R. E.. Morrison and United States Senator Henry F. Ashurst, at the dedication ceremonies surrounding the compile ton of the Granite Creek dam, Thurs day, at o'clock.
 Mr. Morrison, who for five years has been attorney for the Arizona Land & Irrigation Company, paid a fine tribute to the energy and devo- ton of the projectors of the enter prise. His speech, in part, is as fol- lows:
 Since the time when the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, the turbulent flood waters of Granite creek have been running in haste to the Gulf of California, or have been swallowed by the thirsty sands of the desert.
 During time these gigantic granite monuments have been standing, in viting the construction of dams ir their midst to check the impetuous flow of these waters all the storing oi the same for the beneficial use of mankind in the cultivation of the lands below, and the establishment oi hundreds of American households.
 TO the north of us are thousands of acres of arabic lands, containing those fructifying elements, awaiting cnly the union herewith of water to generate vegetable life and bring forth splendid crops of grain, hay and fruit
 For over half a century we Ameri- cans and others from foreign coun- tries have been living in the presence oi these natural conditions, familiar with the topography of the country, and the annual bountifuf prccipita- tion, but our activities have been dc voted first to claiming the lands from the Fcdman and second to developing our great mineral resources.
 "The early pioneers, the men and women of the eos and 70's, who cut and fought their way through the Coconino forests, and whose blood las sanctihed the Point of Rocks, where we stand today, shed in fight ing the Apaches and driving them to other places, made it possible for those of us who followed to live and have our peaceful being in the land of tcauty and glorious sunshine.
 All of these great possibilities lay 1 dormant and useless although within the grasp of those who would appro- priate them, but it was not until about | five years ago when George A. Thay- | CT and Major Hargrovc came to us ia search of conditions which would justify the expenditure of money in the creation of irrigation systems. The natural damsitcs on Granite and | Willow creeks attracted their immedi- | ate attention, the record of rain and | snow fall on these watersheds con vinccd them that ample water could | be stored, the productive areas to the north of the damsites gave self-cvi- dent proof of tho crops which could, by the marriage of the water to the | land cause abundant production and bring to us class of farmers and | horticulturists who would take ad- vantage of the opportunities, cultivate the soil, and make it blossom and bring forth quantities of grains and fruits.
 These men knew it would take money by the hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring under subjugation these flood waters and prepare the way for the farming of the lands, and they communicated with their friends and relatives in the State of Indiana, and told them of what they had found in thc great Southwest
 They gained the attention of men of brains and capital: the statesman. James E. Watson, Barbazctte, and Fred Smith, the successful business mcn, and amongst others Jake Fink clstein, the persistent and active man of affairs.
 These mcA caused their engineers to go over the ground, many surveys were made and practical irrigation project was worked out. Many thou sands of acres were purchased. K. $. Cookinham was installed as chicf. en- ginccr, and AIr Rosecrans as con sulting engineer Nancy Bros. & Company the experienced builders of dams, were engaged to construct the Granite Creek dam. The genial, hard-worlling Herbert G. Wells, con stituting the company part of the be- aforementioned firm, took command of the construction.
 And now we arc standing in the presence of the dam which Wells has erected, g feet in height, strong and 1 firm as the granite cliffs themselves.