Water-right filings have been acquired by the Pinal Mutual Irrigation Co., and this company has done some construction work, locally known as "the rock cut," on a canal which is proposed to closely parallel the Florence Canal. An able report on this project was prepared in 1911 by the late James D. Schuyler,

In 1911 the Casa Grande Water Users Association was organized, principally by persons interested in the Casa Grande section of the Florence-Casa Grande Valley. After selling stock to homeseekers and others, this company, with the money thus obtained, began the construction of a large irrigation project.

The main canal of this project is located just above the old Florence Canal, and nearly all of the land proposed to be irrigated, some 70,000 acres, is practically the same land as was originally or formerly proposed to be irrigated by the Florence Canal. This Casa Grande Valley Canal was in course of construction until recently, when operations ceased after approximately 12 miles of the 25, the proposed length of the canal, had been completed.

Many recent desert entries were made under this canal, and stock subscriptions in this company have been submitted to the Land Office for final proof as evidence of the availability of water. An unfavorable report was made by a Carey Act inspector of the General Land Office, and the entrymen were notified that they would be allowed to make an affirmative showing. In the subsequent hearing the attention of the Land Office was directed to the water-right case of Lobb v. Avenete, which has heretofore been mentioned, and action by the Land Office has been suspended pending the outcome of the case referred to.

Since the failure of the Florence Canal project practically all of the irrigated area in the Florence-Casa Grande district has been confined to the territory in the vicinity of Florence. This area at present is served by nine canals, six of which are on the south side of the river, the other three on the north side.

The total area which is irrigated by the waters of the Gila River in the Florence-Casa Grande district, according to the survey made in the early part of 1914, amounted to 7,563.4 acres. In addition to this area, 12,217.7 acres were found to have been previously irrigated.

Of the above acreage, 7,008.1 acres of the area now under cultivation and 7,820.1 acres of the previously cultivated area are situated within the boundaries of the territory subject to irrigation under the San Carlos project, as proposed by the Army board and also as indorsed in this report.

The irrigated area tabulation which follows has been compiled from the results of the survey and investigation. The compilation of the analysis was rendered extremely difficult by the complicated sequence of the canals used to irrigate different areas in the vicinity of Florence. As has already been stated, the Florence section was originally irrigated by several small ditches, and afterwards a few of these ditches continued to operate, but were finally abandoned. With the failure of the Florence Canal to supply the necessary water, other ditches were taken out, and these ditches cover a portion of the area earliest irrigated.

In the analysis submitted efforts have been made to show under what particular canal and during what year the several areas were irrigated.

Much of the same condition obtains under the more recently constructed canal called the “O. T." Under this canal are lands which were formerly irrigated not only by the older ditches but also by the Florence Canal, so it may be seen that efforts to obtain the sequence of the irrigation of much of the land in the older irrigated districts were beset with difficulties.

A detailed description of irrigation under each of the canals in the Florence district, as well as other relevant data, is published in accompanying Appendix A.

IRRIGATION ON THE GILA RIVER RESERVATION.

The Gila River Indian Reservation, comprising 369,000 acres, occupies the lower portion of the Florence-Casa Grande Valley, and is situated partly in Pinal County and partly in Maricopa County. The present extent of the reservation, measured along the Gila River, is 52 miles in length, with an average width of about 12 miles.

The Arizona Eastern Railroad from Maricopa on the main line of the Southern Pacific to Phoenix, crosses the reservation near its central portion.

The first official Government notice taken of the Pimas was in 1859, when an appropriation of $10,000 was made by Congress to be used in the purchase of gifts for the Pima Indians, and an additional $1,000 was provided for a survey of their lands. The legislation concerning this survey was an act of February 28, 1859, which was included in the Indian appropriation act of the year ending June 30, 1860.

As a result of this legislation 64,000 acres of land was set aside by Executive order in 1859.

The original area selected for the reservation was close to the river and embraced all the lands then being cultivated by the Pimas. Subsequent additions to the original reservation have been made from time to time, until at present the reservation contains 369,000 acres. Of this area over 110,000 acres are considered irrigable and 96,000 acres suitable for grazing, while the balance of the reservation land is principally mountainous.

A complete census of the Pimas in the territory aftrwards reserved for the Indians was made in 1858 by Lieut. Chapman, who was connected with the militia. The census, covering nine Pima villages and two Maricopa villages, giving a population of 4,117 Pimas and 518 Maricopas. The present Indian population on the reservation, according to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated June 30, 1914, numbers 3,796 Pimas and 300 Maricopas.

Tentative allotments of 10 acres of land for each head of a family have been made of the greater portion of the irrigated lands on the reservation. These allotments have not been finally approved by the Government. Very few of the Indians on the reservation have attaind citizenship.

The climate in this section, as elsewhere in the Florence Valley, is adapted to diversified crops; the soil is exceedingly fertile, and the large amount of sediment deposited by the flood waters of the Gila keeps the land in a state of productiveness.

The Indians seem always to have known the fertilizing value of the silt-laden flood waters. They knew that the Gila River during

its lower stages carried large quantities of alkali and salt; that their lands, to be rid of these injurious salts, must be frequently flooded and washed. The fact that the reservation lands have been irrigated for unknown centuries without any perceptible deterioration of the soil is striking proof of the knowledge which these primitive agriculturists possessed of these essential precautions.

It has long been a custom among the Pimas to plant their first crop to grain, which was harvested in June or July; the next or second crop to corn or beans. Annually a portion of each field would be planted to pumpkins, squash, and melons. Prior to the introduction of calico by the early traders, the Pimas grew quantities of cotton, which they spun and wove into rude clothing. That the Pimas produced crops largely in excess of their own needs and supplied quantities of wheat and other foodstuffs to travelers and to traders is a well-known fact.

The overland route from El Paso via Tucson to the Pacific coast, established in 1858, passed through the Pima villages on the reservation. The choice of this route was largely due to the productivity of the reservation as well as the protection afforded by the Pimas. They have always been friends of the whites and enemies of the Apaches. Besides the supplies furnished, they also rendered great assistance to the militia in the field campaign against the Apaches.

The broad, level valley of the Gila west of Florence, a large portion of which is now included within the boundaries of the Gila River Indian Reservation, has been irrigated for many centuries. This is evidenced by the remains of many prehistoric canals, traces of which can be observed for miles along both banks of the Gila. Whether the Pimas are descendants of the ancient irrigators is not certain, but it is known, through the reports and narratives of the early Spanish explorers, that the Pimas were living on this reservation as early as 1539, when the first Jesuit father penetrated to this territory.

Many Spanish explorers and missionaries visited this section of the country in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the report of the early Spanish padres much has been written concerning the industry and the agricultural activities of the Pimas. Early in the nineteenth century American beaver trappers reached this territory, and they were soon followed by the military. In 1848, through the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the territory north of the Gila was annexed to the United States; and in 1854, through the Gadsden Purchase, the area south of the Gila became the property of this Government.

The military occupation and the subsequent rush of gold seekers to California in the early fifties marked the coming of the whites in increasing numbers; and as early as 1870 this territory was being settled and farmed by the whites. These pioneers, as has been previously stated, depended largely upon the Pimas for supplies and forage, as well as protection from the intractable Apaches.

The first resident agent on the reservation was Ammie White, appointed in 1864. Prior to this time, beginning in 1857, Indian agents had been appointed for the whole Arizona superintendency, with headquarters in Tucson. The first agency buildings were constructed at Sacaton in 1870, and the first school among the Pimas was opened in 1871. With the settlement and consequent diversions of the water

of the Gila by the settlers above the reservation, the water supply of the Pimas soon began to fail, and as early as 1870 the Indians were much concerned over the diminished flow at the reservation. Shortly after this, in 1872, several bands of the Pimas left the Gila River Reservation and went over to the Salt River.

When the Florence Canal was constructed in 1887, the water supply was still further diminished, and many Indians were reduced to a state of poverty and want.

None of the descriptions of the earlier explorers is sufficiently accurate to aid in determining the area the Pimas had under irrigation. The" folklore" and traditions of the Pimas themselves, which received attention during the compilation of data for this report, are also vague regarding this matter. The earliest accounts of the Spaniards as well as Indian traditions would point, however, to the conclusions that the Pimas in the earliest days of the Spanish exploration were distributed over a much larger territory than they occupied at the time of the American occupation, and that at a later period the Apaches, or perhaps Mexican slave hunters, caused them to confine their agricultural activities and their habitations within a smaller

area.

The coming of the whites, with the consequent decrease in the water supply, caused the Indians to cease to cultivate many of their old fields and reclaim land at places favorable to the use of the return or seepage flow of the river. Peace with the Apaches, together with conformity to tribal customs and superstitions (tending to scatter the Pimas formerly banded together), are other causes responsible for the present rather widely scattered locations of the irigated districts. Obviously these changes, whether enforced or voluntary, have rendered exceedingly difficult the determination at this date of the area previously under cultivation at one time.

There is also evidence to show that the channel of the Gila formerly was considerably narower than at present. Destructive floods of recent and comparatively recent times have swept hundreds of acres of irrigated or previously irrigated lands down the river.

From the chart which follows and which has been compiled from all the evidence and data gathered during the progress of this investigation and survey, it is seen that prior to the coming of the whites the Indians on the Gila River Reservation were irrigating an estimated area of 13,000 acres, served by nine large ditches. The largest area cultivated at any one time (about 1885) was estimated at 15,800 At the time (1914) of the survey in connection with this investigation, 15,627 acres were being cultivated, and this area was served by 21 different canals, including the Little Gila. Of this area 1,271 acres were irigated by a ditch diverting water from the Salt River, so that the total area at present under cultivation and using water from the Gila River amounts to 14,356 acres.

In addition to the above surveyed areas, 11,315 acres were found to have been previously irrigated, at one time and another.

In Appendix A is published a historical sketch of irrigation on the reservation, containing a number of references from the reports and narratives of the early Spanish and American explorers concerning irrigation by the Pimas. A detailed historical description of irrigation under each canal, together with statements from Indians themselves, is also given in the appendix.