| OCR Text |
Show 14 COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. west is not widely known. There are now fifty Indian reservations on which have been developed irrigation systems. The aggregate irrigable area on these reservations approximates 605,000 acres. Construction work on many of the projects which are yet incom-plete is being carried on from year to year by appropriations from Congress so that greater areas may be reclaimed, thus enhancing the value of the Indian's lands and at the same time increasing the crops of the country. A dam across the CTila River for the diversion of its natural flow was completed during the ast year, and on May 10 was formally dedicated as the Ashurst- I f ayden diversion dam. This entire pro- 'ect embraces 35,000 acres of land within the Gila River Indian keservation and 27,000 acres in white ownershis in the Florence- Casa Grande Valley. The cost of construction was $250,000. A diversion dam across the Big Horn River on the Crow Indian Reservation, Mont., was also completed at a cost of $132,000. There is now under construction a diversion dam with bridge superstructure across the Gila River on the Gila River Indian Reservation near Sacaton, Ariz., which will, no doubt, be completed this year. On June 24, 1922, a draft of a proposed contract with the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association was approved which, if executed, will provide means of augmenting the present water sup-ply of the Salt River Indians. The question of obtaining more water for these Indians has been under consideration for some time, and the present prospects of obtaining a much needed addi-tional supply are very gratifying. On June 27, 1922, an a,peement was ap roved with the South Tule Independent Ditch Co., of Porterville, Ealif., providing for the equitable distribution of the waters of the Tule River that ade-quately protects the Indian's rights, which brings to an amicable close a long-standing dispute. An agreement was also reached with the Southern Sierras Ditch Co. wherein adequate provision was made for the protection of the water rights of certain Indians along Birch Creek, Inyo County, Calif. A suit st.arted several ears ago for the purpose of determining the water rights of the hdians on the Uintah Reservation, Utah, will probably be satisfactorily settled out of court in the near future. Copies of proposed decree and court order protecting the Indians' rights have, in the main, been agreed upon and as soon as the State engineer's office has issued certificates of water rights on proof submitted, such certificates will be submitted to the court as a basis for the final decree. ALLOTMENTS. During the year, 5,774 allotments were made and approved to individual Indians embracing lands on various reservations cover-ing approximately 694,000 acres, of which 4,301, comprising 554,613 acres were in the Blackfeet Reservation, Mont 920 with an area of 123,457 acres in the Flathead Reservation, gent:, 374 including 2,777 acres in the Hoopa Valley Reservation, Calif., and the re- |
