THE IRRIGA I ION A GE 225 



and am often confronted with the solicitous queries, What are we to do? If we plant 

 what we have, what assurance hive we of getting it back? Under favorable condi- 

 tions these Indians, being agricultural and pastoral, would soon become independent, 

 prosperous, civilixed citizens. Otherwise, discouragement, hunger, and destitution 

 are their lot. A nomadic life being taken on, their old tribal nature asserts itself, 

 and the expenditures hitherto made and being made by the Government for their edu- 

 cation and improvement prove a curse to them rather than a blessing. 



"It is now necessary to issue considerable subsistence to the Indians whose 

 crops have been a failure, and this aid will have to be largely increased under the 

 existing limited water supply. A supply of water would permit of the Pima board- 

 ing school establishing a model farm, greatly reducing the cost of maintaining the 

 school of 200 pupils, and be a most valuable educational factor in the school life of 

 the pupils. The available Indian labor in the construction of the reservoir is an 

 important factor, as it is much better to provide them labor with pay than keep them 

 as paupers. These Indians are willing to work and their moral status is good. 

 Their attitude toward the United States has always been friendly. They have saved 

 the Government in protecting the early settlers from the ravages of the Apaches. 

 They have kept themselves within the bounds of law and order, and they are now 

 left upon the desert without water. Humanity speaks, economical administration 

 for the sustenance of the Indians speaks, and nature in her wise provisions says: 

 'Let man's means and intelligence be made operative, that these Indians, whose 

 claims are meritorious, be reinstated in self-sustenance and lifted to the plane of 

 prosperous American citizens." 



Again (page 17): 



In order to determine the amount of water that will be required for the Indians 

 on the Gila River Indian Reservation, Mr. Elwood Hadley, United States Indian 

 agent at Sacaton, was requested to make a statement on the subject. In his reply, 

 dated October 12, 1899, he writes: 



"It is estimated that there are nearly 4,500 Pima and Maricopa Indians on the 

 reservation dependent for their subsistence upon its lands. South of this reserva- 

 tion, in the country lying between the Southern Pacific railroad and the border line 

 of Mexico, it is estimated that there are nearly 2,000 nomadic Papagos, who derive 

 mueh of their subsistence from the Pimas of this reservation (Gila River) in exchange 

 for their labor. The Pimas are liberal and kind to their more unfortinate brothers, 

 and give them a share of their products in return for their labor in harvesting the 

 crops. 



"The estimated number of Indians under my care is as follows: Pimas, 4,200; 

 Maricopas, 350; Papagos, 2,700; total, 7,250. 



"The number named above who live on reservations away from here would gladly 

 come here if they could be furnished with water. It is estimated that 2 acres of 

 land will sustain an Indian." 



There has been an investigation of this matter. All the matters 

 that the Senator from Connecticut complained of have been investi- 

 gated. I read again from this report: 



In November 1895, the Secretary of the Interior instructed the Director of the 

 Geological Survey to detail a civil engineer to make the examination recommended, 

 and Mr. Arthur P. Davis, hydrographer. was accordingly assigned to this task, in 

 which he was assisted by Mr. Cyrus C. Babb, assistant hydrographer, and Mr. J. B. 

 Lippincott, resident hydrographer for California. Six months of time and $3,500 

 were expended in the field on the preliminary investigation, and a report was sub- 

 mitted in 1896, entitled The Report on Irrigation Investigation for the Benefit of the 

 Pima and Other Indians on the the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona. 



We find in the appropriation act of two years ago the following 

 provision: 



