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Show 246 Bankhead-Jones Act Amendment.-Under this 1949 legis- lation, provision was made for extending loan assistance to homestead entrymen and purchasers of lands on reclamation projects.570 Its purpose was to enable settlers to obtain addi- tional capital needed for farm development and purchase.571 Indian Irrigation As we earlier noted, the Southwest bears testimony to the practice of irrigation by Indians even in ancient times.672 Acting through the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Depart- ment of the Interior, the Federal Government has long been engaged in numerous activities connected with irrigation of Indian lands.578 Confined to areas within Indian reservations and primarily for the benefit of Indians, this activity is separate from the irrigation responsibilities of the Bureau of Reclama- tion, already discussed.574 The Government's "first venture in irrigation construction" was provided for in 1867 by an appropriation of funds for the construction of a canal for irri- gating the Colorado River Reservation in Arizona.575 With This program was designed to provide wells for stock, farmstead and farm- garden use, and for irrigation of crops, stock ponds and stock tanks, diver- sions and water spreaders, and small dams and reservoirs. Most of the projects are on individual farms and ranches and cost less than $1,000 each, although facilities for small groups are also provided. Hearings before the House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation on H. R. 10122, 76th Cong., 3d sess., p. 45 (1940). 670 Act of October 19, 1949, 63 Stat. 883, 7 U. S. C. 1006a-1006b (Supp. Ill). See also infra, p. 380. 871H. Rep. No. 478, 81st Cong., 1st sess., p. 4 (1949). 572 See supra, pp. 175-176. 878 Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law, p. 248 (1945) ; Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on H. R. 3123, 80th Cong., 1st sess., p. 637 (1948). 674 Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appro- priations on H. R. 3123, 80th Cong., 1st sess., p. 637 (1948). But see Hear- ings before a Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations on Interior Department Appropriation Bill, 1936, 74th Cong., 1st sess., pp. 819-820 (1986). 8711 Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law, p. 248 (1945) ; Act of March 2, 1867, 14 Stat. 492, 514-515; Annual Report of the Secretart of the Interior, p. 377 (1940). |