AZ vs. CA:16 California Exhibits, Vol. XVI; Nos. 2600-2644

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120507 Statement of Fnct - Historical and Lpgnl The Colorado River Reservation was established for the express* purpose of colonizing some 10,000 Indiar.9 within its boundaries comprising the members of the Yuma, Navajo, Yampais, Walapal end Checiehuevi Tribes. The reservation was created under authority of a provision contained in the Act of Congresr approved March 3, 1865 (1.1 Stat., 559) reading as follows: All that part of the public domain in the Territory of Arizona, lying west of a direct line from Half-Way Bend to Corner Rock on the Colorado River, containing about seventy-five thousand acres of land, shall be sot apart for an Indian reservation for the Indiana of_ said river and its tributaries. (Underscoring supplied) This action by the Congress was bjised on a report by Col. Charles D. Poston, Superintendent of Indian Affair3 of Arizona Territory, dated September 30, 1864. Prior to making this report, Col. Poston had held a Council at La Paz, with the principal chiefs and head nen of the Yumas, Mojaves, Yavapais, Hualauais and Chemehuevin, tribes living on or near the Colorado River. ••A brief quotation from Col. Poston's report will show his reasons for selecting this particular tract as a home for the River Indians, and indicate the part that irrigation was intended to play in the development of the reservation as a means of self-support: "After a careful investigation of conditions among these Indians, it was determined to select a reservation for them on the bank of the Colorado and a3k the Government to aid them in opening an irrigation canal, so they may become industrious and self-supporting. . . . The valley selected for a reservation is called . . . the 'Great Valley of the Colorado1. . . . This reservation would include about 75,000 acres of land, all public domain and uncultivated. It is proposed to colonize some 10,000 Indians within its boundaries. The estimated expense of opening an irrigating canal here is $50,000 gold, or $100,000 currency. . . . The rapid influx of population in this region renders it necessary that some provision should be made for the original inhabitants." Soon after making his report and recommendation concerning this reservation, Col. Poston was selected as the Delegate to Congress from the newly * Report of Col. Charles D. Poston, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Arizona Territory, dated September 30, 1864.