GANNETT.] CULTIVABLE AREAS OP ARKANSAS DRAINAGE. 



327 



southeast, then to east-northeast at the foot of Pleasant Yalley, then 

 again to a course slightly south of east at the mouth of Currant Creek, 

 and continues thus far out into the i)lains. At La Junta it turns to the 

 eastward, and pursues an east course out of the State. It collects water 

 rapidly in the mountains, while in the plains very little reaches it, even 

 such streams as the Purgatoire, Apishpa, Saint Charles, and Fontaine 

 qui Bouille running very low in the dry season. 



The area of arable land on the Arkansas and its branches is estimated 

 to be 1,979 square miles, or 7 per cent, of its drainage-area. Like the 

 South Platte and Eio Grande areas, this is limited entirely by the amount 

 of water available. Of this arable area nearly all, or 1,740 square miles, 

 are in the plains, while the remainder is distributed in small mountain 

 valleys on the main river and some of its mountain branches. 



The important affluents of this river in the plains are, from the south, 

 the Purgatoire (in vernacular, Picket Wire), the Apishpa, the Huerfano, 

 with its branch, the Cucharas; the Saint Charles, with its branch, the 

 Greenhorn, and Hardscrabble Creek. 



On the north, the Fontaine qui Bouille is the only important branch. 

 Beaver, Ute, and Turkey Creeks are of secondary importance. All 

 these streams head in high mountains, and carry considerable amounts 

 of water where they reach the plains. Their courses in the plains are 

 long, and, through evaporation, sinking, and the present needs of irri- 

 gation, most of their volume is lost before reaching the main stream. 



In the mountains the tributary streams are short, and most of their 

 courses are down mountain slopes. The most important of them are 

 Grape and Texas Creeks, the South Arkansas, Chalk, Cottonwood, Clear 

 Lake, and Elbert Creeks, from the south and west; and Oil, Currant, 

 Badger, Trout, and East Arkansas Creeks from the north and east. 

 The Arkansas River has been gauged several times at Cafion City and 

 Pueblo, at different stages of water. The results are presented in the 

 following table: 



Locality. 



Date, • 



Cubic feet 

 per second. 



Authority. 



Canon City 



End of August.., 



2,050 

 670 

 608 



4,614 



Gannett. 



Do .- 



E. S. Xettleton. 



Paeblo 



do 



Do. 



Do 





Do. 









From these measurements it would appear that the amount of water 

 carried by this stream at the end of July is about 2,600 cubic feet per 

 second, an amount sufficient to irrigate about 870 square miles. This 

 is much more than the area of bottom-land on this stream, but the slope 

 of the bed is amply sufficient to take water up on the bench-land. 



The Purgatoire is estimated to have 145 square miles of irrigable 

 area ; the Apishpa, 87 square miles ; the Huerfano about the same in 

 the plains, and the Cucharas 145 square miles. In these cases, the most 

 economical placing of the arable land will be near the debouchure of 

 these streams into the plains, as thus the great loss by sinking and 

 evaporation will be avoided. 



Huerfano Park, in which the Huerfano collects most of its drainage, 

 is an elevated valley between the Sangre de Cristo Kange on the west 

 and the north end of the Wet Mountains on the northeast. Its average 

 elevation is 7,000 feet. The surface is somewhat broken with benches 

 and long swells. It is mainly valuable as a grazing area, there being 



