156 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



June 



this lavish display of western flora 

 to revel in the splendor of the scene 

 and to wonder at the productiveness 

 of the desert soil. 



While the copious snows and rains 

 have proven of inestimable value to 

 the stock ranges on the high plateaus 

 and to the agricultural interests in 

 the valleys, incalculable damage has 

 been inflicted by floods to property of 

 all kinds. In the populated districts 

 of Arizona, and in the Salt River Val- 

 ley more in particular, the excessive 

 precipitation has been the cause of 

 washouts along the railroads, wagon- 

 roads, canals, ditches, telegraph and 

 telephone lines, to an extent unparal- 

 leled in the history of the valley. The 



be washed out by a subsequent rise 

 of the Gila River, and although no 

 expense was spared by the railroad 

 company in rebuilding the structure, 

 it met with the same misfortune time 

 and again, until on March 31 the 

 bridge has been successively destroyed 

 and rebuilt eight times. The same 

 company on April 13 lost the south 

 approach to its bridge across Salt 

 River. This bridge, at the time the 

 accident occurred, was the only means 

 then available for crossing the Salt 

 River for many hundred miles either 

 up or down the river, and its partial 

 failure for a while made all crossing 

 impracticable. The line of the Phoe- 

 nix and Eastern Railroad, extending 





View of the Capitol, Phoenix, Ariz., February 4, showing how the grounds were flooded 



by waters from Cave Creek. 



city of Phoenix, situated in the center 

 of Salt River Valley, and dependent 

 on branch railroads for connection 

 with the main lines of the Southern 

 Pacific and Santa Fe systems, has 

 been a principal sufferer from the re- 

 peated interruptions in traffic and 

 means of communication during the 

 months of January, February, March 

 and April. Early in January the 

 Maricopa, Phoenix and Salt River 

 Valley Railroad lost its pile bridge 

 across the Gila River near Sacation 

 station during a flood, and up to April 

 i but little traffic was had over that 

 line. The bridge was rebuilt only to 



from Phoenix to Kelvin, Arizona, lost 

 its bridges across both Salt and Gila 

 Rivers, the former a steel bridge, be- 

 ing partly destroyed March 20 through 

 the shifting of the river bed and un- 

 dermining of two of its piers. Much 

 depended on the maintenance of the 

 two railroad bridges across Salt River, 

 for during five months that stream 

 was unfordable and the only means of 

 crossing it were aforded by these 

 bridges. The Santa Fe, Prescott and 

 Phoenix Railway met with a number 

 of washouts, but succeeded, in spite of 

 delays, in running trains. The main- 

 lines of the Southern Pacific and the 



