264 



THE IRRIGATION 1 AGE. 



THE SAN CARLOS vs. THE TONTO RESERVOIR. 



AN EXPOSE OF A SCHEME TO CONVERT THE NATIONAL 

 IRRIGATION FUNDS TO PRIVATE USE. 



BY HON. THOS. F. WEEDIN, 



Editor Arizona Blade. 



The San Carlos reservoir was the breastwork behind 

 which the national irrigation forces successfully fought 

 . the battle for government aid in the reclamation of the 

 arid public domain of the west. 



It was the one slogan that could enthuse alike the 

 practical business and the religious and philanthropic 

 elements of the country, because it was the only possible 

 water-storage project that could be made to serve the 

 dual purpose of giving permanent relief to and making 

 self-sustaining eight thousand industrious but starving 

 Pima Indians, and at the same time effectually demon- 

 strated the feasibil- 

 ity and beneficent 



results of national , 



irrigation by re- 

 claiming one hun- 

 dred thousand acres 

 of the arid public 

 domain in a local- 

 ity where the soil 

 and climatic condi- 

 tions combine to 

 produce the greatest 

 results that are 

 possible under the 

 best-regulated irri- 

 gating system. 



It had received 

 the unqualified en- 

 dorsement of the 

 leading hydro- 

 graphic, reservoir 

 and irrigation en- 

 gineers of the 

 United States. 



The Geological 

 Survey had, after 

 two years' careful 

 investigation of its 

 engineering and 

 hydrographic fea- 

 tures, etc., made a 

 most elaborate re- 

 port on this reser- 

 voir, in which it was 

 shown that there 



were neither engineering nor legal difficulties in the way 

 of the construction and operation of this reservoir and 

 the irrigation system to be connected with it. Also that 

 the unappropriated water supply was sufficient, in years 

 of minimum flow, to fill a reservoir of the capacity pro- 

 posed, namely, two hundred and forty-one thousand 

 acre-feet and fully irrigate one hundred thousand acres 

 of government land in addition to the Indian lands. 

 This report had received the official approval of Sec- 

 retary Hitchcock, of the Interior Department, who 

 earnestly prcsesd Congress for an appropriation provid- 

 ing for the immediate construction of the reservoir. 

 This was prior to the passage of the irrigation act. 



HON. THOS. 



Editor Art: 



The continual discussion of this San Carlos reser- 

 voir, both in and out of Congress, did more than any 

 other one thing to enlighten the public on the subject 

 (if national irrigation and crystallize public sentiment in 

 favor of that movement. When the final struggle came 

 on the Newlands-Hansbrough bill it was the unanswera- 

 ble facts and figures that the Geological Survey had 

 compiled in support of the San Carlos storage proposi- 

 tion that broke down the opposition and carried the bill 

 through Congress. 



But the moment the bill became a law the rich land 

 owners and speculators of the Salt river valley, who 

 had been pronounced and persistent opponents of this 

 beneficent measure and equally as pronounced advocates 

 of cession of the arid lands to the states and territories, 

 inaugurated a scheme to gather the first fruits of the 

 national irrigation victory and divert the reclamation 

 fund from the legitimate purpose for which it was cre- 

 ated. The most exasperating feature of this diabolical 



scheme, and the 

 only thing that 

 makes its consum- 

 mation possible, is 

 the fact that Direc- 

 tor Walcott and 

 Chief Hydrogra- 

 pher Newell, 

 through George H. 

 Maxwell, seem to 

 be aiding and abet- 

 ting it. While the 

 evidence of this 

 truth is only cir- 

 cumstantial, it is 

 sufficiently clear 

 and convincing to 

 carry conviction to 

 the mind of a dis- 

 interested and un- 

 prejudiced person. 

 It is as follows : 



As soon" as the 

 National Irrigation 

 Act passed. Colonel 

 Christy, one of the 

 leading bankers 

 and landowners of 

 the Salt .river val- 

 ley, wrote Chief 

 Hydrogra pher 

 Newell, asking if 

 there was any way 

 l)v which the Salt 

 river vnllv roviM 



be made a beneficiary of the national irrigation fund. 

 Mr. Newell replied that he had no control in the matter 

 of selecting reservoir sites beyond passing upon their 

 feasibility from an engineering standpoint, but that he 

 would refer the writer to his friend, George II. Max- 

 well, for the information desired. This letter was pub- 

 lished in the Phoenix papers, hence there can be no 

 question of doubt on this point. It is quite evident 

 that Mr. Maxwell pointed out "a way" to the satisfac- 

 tion of the land barons, for a few weeks later he ar- 

 rived in Phoenix, as he now states, on an invitation sent 

 him by Mr. Fowler and other "friends" of the valley. 

 He has remained there since, almost continuously, for 



F. WEEDIN., 



ona Blade. 



