probably the Toltecs or pre- 

 Aztec lineage. At tKe present 

 time great canals, some of them 

 respectable rivers in capacity, 

 take the river's supply of life- 

 giving -water far off upon the thirsty 

 plain to distribute it upon fertile farms. 

 Formerly the -water supply -was inter- 

 mittent, in that the river at times carried 

 great floods -which ran to the sea owing to the lack 

 of means to store them. Only a certain volume of -water could be 

 carried by the canals, and the remainder, flowing through the rivers 

 to the Gulf of California, was wasted so far as the people of the Salt 

 River Valley were concerned. ^iVith the passage of the National 

 Irrigation Law came opportunity to end the uncertainty of water sup- 

 ply by the promise of means to store the flood -waters for future use. 

 One of the first to be decided upon by the Secretary of the Interior, 

 and also one of the largest the Salt River project, as it is officially 

 known is the solution of the problem of irrigation water supply 

 in this valley. 



The Tonto Dam and Reservoir, as they are known locally from 

 their location just below the junction of Tonto Creek -with Salt 



