Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-09
Prehistoric Peoples Traced


abandoned their ancestral homes and
sought an honest living ulling small
patches of soil opposite white settle
mentS on the Rio Salado.
And now, 80 years after it was first
proposed, the San Carlos project be-
comes a reality. The Pimas are happy
once more as they anticipate such peace
and prosperity as their forefathers
never knew. Out on the new farm
lands, grubbing palo verde and mesquite
roots from the sandy soil or following
giant steel drags, Pima workmen fire.
quently expose the silt-flled channels
Of ancient canals, the presence OF
which was unknown even to the Indians
themselves.
How old these former irrigation
bitches really are no one knows. Nor
can any one say who planned and
dug them. They are the work Of the
Ho-ho-kam-the old people--according
to the Pimas, and you can learn Moth
ing more by questioning. Except that
the Pimas have always dwelt here on
the ella since the world was made.
From the northwestern foot Of the
Tortilla Mountains these ancient ella
canals stretch westward to the EStrel-
las. Some of them curve northward to
pass below the present little Indian VIII
lage Of Santan; others turn southwark
to Casa Grande, a huge earthen-Walled
structure that stood in ruins when
Father Kino passed by over 200 years
ago.
The ella River Valley is less tanned
than that of the Rio Salado despite
the fact that it was settled earlier.
1t was the Roosevelt Dam that brought
Phoenix and its neighbors so rapidly
out of the brambles. And now the
dusty towns along the ella are to have
their poisoning.
A Mosaic Of Titled Gardens.
From far above Florence and the
Pima agency at Sacaton, one looks
down upon a mosaic of titled gardens
and wild, unkept desert. On winding
brown threads bug-like autos seem to
creep at go miles an hour. Westward
some 70-odd miles, the sandy bed of
the ella turns sharply to join the Rio
Colorado. Sixty miles to the north,
Tempe Butte and the newer buildings
Of Phoenix are clearly visible. on on
the right, as we sail back to port, the
Superstition Mountains lift their ragged
heads to remind us of the murderouS
Victoria, of the willy Geronimo and
other less well known Apache leaders
whose depredations cost hundreds Of
good American lives before Crook set
out upon trail that knew no quarter.
Further to the northeast, stretched
out between bare mountain masses that
show blood red under the setting sun,
Roosevelt Dam stands ready to tmpound
the waters that shall I'LL the canals
which lead far away across Salt River
Valley.
Mean stuff to land IN, tJaooo Inns.
and I readily confess q sigh Of relief
as the lieutenant turned the nose Of
the ship out over more level country.
From few thousand feet the desert
at least looks smooth, for its dusty
cover blends so easily with the drab
abode soil. One sees their shadows
rather than the thorny trees and
shrubs.
make no pretense at being good
sailor, especially when the air is bumpy.
And an open rear cockpit, while it
might provide all an Army flyer desires,
nevertheless tends to discourage my
habit of looking around as I go.
Every time peered over the side the
rather prominent elastic nose have in
herited from my paternal ancestors
would be fattened out against my
| cheek. The propeller, driving along at
lis miles an hour, creates too great
draft. I don't like it.
Cameraman Stands Up.
It was this propeller slip that in
creased my admiration for Sergt. Stock
well and his Photographic ability.
Stockwen Is husky young man; he is
SO much at home in the air and he
knows his camera so well that he never
bothers to use the special mounting on
the side of the rear cockpit. He Just
stands up holds the 42-pound Fairchild
to his eye and shoots his obliques down
across the tail. It takes a real man to
do that, and it takes Army training and
long years of experience to be sure you
are getting what you want to get under
new conditions in an unfamiliar country.
Across the Rio Salado from Tempe
Butte lies the Observation-Disclosures, a red
sandstone mass that looks quite as
though it had been shot full Of holes by
some playful ogre Of geological anti
guilty. Just beyond, Camel Back squats
on the open plain to guard new groves of
grapefruit, oranges and dates. A few
miles to the northwest Squaw Peak
trowns down upon the sprawling gray
buildings of the new Biltmore Hotel.
Artists studios and the sumptuouS Win.
ter homes of other outlanders lie here
and there among the sahuaro forests.
We became familiar with most of
these lonely looking places during the
course OF our aerial survey, for each
has its own individuality; each served
well as landmark on the carefully
charted courses we were to fly. We be-
came familiar, too, even intimate. with
the jagged igneouS and sandstone buttes
That border the wide valley floor.
At midday these colossal rock piles
natten out and are lost among their sur
round1ngS But in late afternoon thev
turn red and then wrap themselves in a
blanket OF soft purple haze. Across their
irregular crests sun rays streak down
rays so solid one could almost coast
their full length. The sahuaro cast
long, slim-fngered schadows eastwardly.
Indian Custom Recalled.
In times past-times still unmeas-
ured as to years-brown- bodied Indian
farmers came in from their fields to
stand while on their roof tops and
gaze prayerfully upon these same eve
ming shadows. For the sun was then. as
now, the great Sky Father who made all
life possible; who brought forth the
newly planted seeds in Springtime, saw
them mature and ripen for the harvests.
But without water, gardens withered
and died under the warmth of the suns
tlrelesS rays. Where rain rarely falls
canals were needed to convey water
from the river to the fields. The people
who cultivated those fields are gone:
their former homes are RACED and for
gotten.
Only disconnected remnants Of the
canals they dug with such infinite pa
t1ence remain today as evidence of their
industry; OF the civilization they reared
on the sturdy foundation of Agriculture
BY aid of skilled airmen and an army
Photographic plane those ancient canals
have finally been charted as thorourhIv
as may be. Henceforth we shall have
additional and more trustworthy data
with which to compile the prehistory Of
Central Arizona of the Southwestern
United States.
(copyriEht 1880, by the New York Times Col
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