OCR Text |
Show -20- plan or provision was made for irrigating lands elsewhere for them. Col. Chas. D. Poston, first Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Arizona Territory, and his assistants, labored diligently and with some success among the Indians of the Lower Colorado to induce them to peacefully remove from their former hunting grounds to the Colorado River Reservation, where an irrigation system was to be constructed. In 1869, when the irrigation canal on the Colorado River Reservation was nearing completion, Iretaba, head chief of the Mojaves, with about 820 followers moved from the Mojave Valley to the Reservation. This exodus of Iretaba and his band from the Mojave Valley was brought about partly thru the benefits to be derived from the irrigation work in progress on the Colorado River Reservation, and partly thru a division in the tribe brought about by a rival chief. After the departure of Iretaba and his followers, there remained about 700 Mojaves in the Mojave Valley. These continued to live as formerly, by growing small patches of corn, beans, and pumpkins on the overflow lands, which were supplemented by the beans of the mesquite. There was always much visiting back and forth between these Indians and those who had lately moved to the Colorado River Reservation, and later, on the failure of the first attempt at irrigation, a number of them returned to the Mojave Valley. Until quite recently, the Indians in the vicinity of Ft. Mojave and Needles have enjoyed a greater degree of prosperity than those on the Colorado River Reservation as many were employed by the Railway Company and |
Source |
Original book: [State of Arizona, complainant v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Coachella Valley County Water District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of Los Angeles, California, City of San Diego, California, and County of San Diego, California, defendants, United States of America, State of Nevada, State of New Mexico, State of Utah, interveners] : California exhibits. |