Condition of the Navajo Indian Country, page 10

OS7000, 8 bit, 400 dpi, 8,260,000 bytesthat the region is without water, and if a boring apparatus is sent up anywhere near this section of the country, it would seem advisable to bore wells at or near the points marked 21 and 22 on the general map. On arriving at the San Juan River, where, as a matter of course, there is an abundance of water for stock, attention was directed to the matter of irrigation. The advantages of ditches along the river are: (1) A permanent and abundant water supply(2) The whites and Indians, in the section which I visited at least, are on quite amicable terms, and with the example constantly before them of the fine farms and orchards owned by the white across the river, they are likely to advance more rapidly in agricultural pursuits than if left to themselves. Here I secured the services of Mr. F. J. Coolidge, civil engineer, of Olio, N. Mex., one of the owners of the Coolidge ditch constructed on the opposite side of the river at a cost of $75,000. I learned that before this section was taken for an addition to the Indian reservation, the white settlers had constructed what is known as the old Virdin ditch. Locating a good heading about half a mile below the mouth of the Animas River, Mr. Coolidge, civil engineer, of Olio, N.Mex., one of the owners of the Coolidge ditch constructed on the opposite side of the river at a cost of $75,000. I learned that before this section was taken for an addition to the Indian reservation, the white settlers had constructed what is known as the old Virdin ditch. Locating a good heading about half a mile below the mouth of the Animas River, Mr. Coolidge ran the levels for me for a ditch which I have designated as the Francis ditch, which in its upper part coincides very nearly with the course of the Virdin ditch, only that it is much longer and covers a greater area. THE FRANCIS DITCH This ditch was surveyed under my direction by Mr. Coolidge. As he has at hand a complete plant for constructing ditches, I requested him to make notes as we went along in order to be able to make a proposal for the construction of the ditch. The length of this ditch is 56,628 feet and the grade assumed as 4 feet to the mile;area irrigated, 2,317 acres. For a ditch of this cross section, 44,105 cubic yards of earth would have to be removed at a cost of- 10 cents per cubic yard .......... $4,410.50 Boulder work, 4,800 cubic yards, at 50 cents per yard .......... 2,400.00 Gravel work, 4,800 cubic yards, at 50 cents per yard .......... 560.00 7,370.50 Flumes, head gate, etc. .......... 730.00 Total cost .......... 8,100.50 The grade of this ditch will keep it well up on the side hills along the lower part, and it may be found best to extend the ditch about a mile farther at a cost of perhaps $2,000, irrigating about 680 acres of mostly fine mesa land st below Fruitland post-office (Burnham), on the south bank of the San Juan. In order to get the water from the San Juan out onto the land where wanted. It was found necessary to go about 3 1/4 miles above (east) of the reservation line, and if the ditch is constructed it will be necessary for the Government to either condemn so much land as necessary to run the ditch here, or add to the reservation a triangular piece of land bounded on the south by an east and west line from the mouth of the Animas River west to the present eastern boundary of the reservation, and to include all land between this land and the San Juan River. The only improvements in this section are two small ranches. Sandival's farm on the San Juan was next visited, and here was found an amount of work spent in the digging of ditches and building of fences which shows that these Indians are making earnest efforts to become successful farmers, and they certainly deserve encouragement. I find, however, that the Indian almost invariably makes a poor ditch heading, on which the efficiency and permanency of a ditch largely depends. Then, too, in order to handle only a minimum amount of earth, the cross section of his ditch is usually shaped thus