JUNnELRFF 



DITCHES AFFECTED BY FRESHETS. 



241 



1891 is not the first mishap of that kind which has befallen the settlers. 

 The ditch immediately preceding the current one passed nearly over 

 the center of the ancient ditch, then covered by 10 feet or more of allu- 

 vial soil, and if a ditch were placed today on the level of the ancient 

 structure it would certainly be destroyed every spring. The water 

 that flowed through the modern ditch was taken from the river at a 

 point about 3 miles farther northward, or just below Verde. The water 

 for the ancient ditch must have been taken out less than a mile above 

 the southern end of the section shown in the map. 



At first sight it would appear that the ancient ditch antedated the 

 deposit of alluvial soil forming the bottom land at this point, and this 



Fia. 300. — Part of old inigating ditch. 



hypothesis is supported by several facts of importance. It is said that 

 ten years ago the bottom land, whose edge now forms the bluff referred 

 to, extended some 25 or 30 feet farther out, and that the river then 

 flowed in a channel some 200 or 300 feet north of the present one. Be 

 this as it may, the bottom land now presents a fairly continuous sur- 

 face, from the banks of the river to the foothills that limit the valley 

 on the west and south, and it is certain that this bottom land extended 

 over the place occupied by the ancient ditch; nor is it to be supposed 

 that the ancient ditches ended abruptly at the point where they now 

 enter the bluff. The curves in the line of the ancient ditch might indi- 

 cate that it was constructed along the slope of a hill, or on an uneven 

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