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Show ARKANSAS RIVER LITIGATION 505 tributed so much to secure the steady control of the French in Algiers as the fact that after taking possession of that territory they sank artesian wells on the borders of the desert, and thus reclaimed portions of it, for the Arabs believed that people who could reclaim the desert were possessed of a power that could not be withstood. Further, adjacent barren ground is slowly but surely affected, and itself begins to increase its vegetation. We may not be entirely sure as to the methods by which this change is accomplished, although the result is undoubted. It may be that water percolating under the surface has reached this adjacent ground. Perhaps the vegetation, which we know attracts moisture from the air, may increase the rainfall, and thus affect the adj acent barren regions. It appears that prior to 1885 there was comparatively little water taken from the Arkansas for irrigation purposes-certainly not enough to make any perceptible impression on the flow of the river- but about that time certain corporations commenced the work of irriga- tion on a large scale, with ditches, some of which might well be called canals. Thus, in 1884 work was commenced on ditches capable of carry- ing off 450 cubic feet; in 1887 others capable of carrying off 1,481 cubic feet, and in 1890 still others carrying 1,705 cubic feet. Most of these were completed within two years after the commencement of the several works. By the year 1902, according to the report of the Census Bureau of the United States, there were 300,115 acres, in 4,557 farms, actually irrigated. The counties in Colorado, from Canon City eastward, through which the Arkansas runs are Fremont, Pueblo, Otero, Bent, and Prowers. The following tables prepared by the defendants from various census reports show the population, number of acres cultivated and total value of farm products in these several counties for the years 1880, 1890, and 1900: 94-497-69-------33 Population County ---------------------------------------------------- 1880 1890 1900 Fremont......____.__________..............................________ 4,735 9,156 15,636 Pueblo...............................__________....................... 7,617 31,491 34,448 Otero______.....___________.....______....................___________________ 4,192 11,522 Bent_________________.....______...............-................... 1,654 1,313 3,049 Prowers........................................................_________.....____ 1,969 3,766 Making in the aggregate.........____________............_______ 14,006 48,121 68,421 Number of Acres Cultivated Value of Farm Products County --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------:---------- 1880 1890 1900 1880 1890 1900 Fremont........................... 16,160 52,868 109,488 $76,900 $237,980 $472,293 Pueblo............................. 51,984 100,697 478,821 136,184 244,580 691,693 Otero-..............................._________ 61,347 244,594__________ 208,860 1,089,344 Bent.............................. 30,921 30,058 118,485 105,621 35,070 670,541 Prowers........................................ 46,447 217,332......_____ 60,500 465,688 Total........................ 98,975 291,417 1,168,720 $318,705 $786,990 $3,389,559 |
