OCR Text |
Show Both the irrigation inspectors believe that it is possible to develop a system of irrigation along the San Juan which will reclaim enough land to supply at least one-third of the Navaho Indians and that it is simply a question of the construction of the necessary ditches. They are of opinion that the irrigation possibilities of the Navaho Reserva-tion have by no means been exhausted, and that storage reservoirs may be constructed within reasonable cost to supply fine bodies of land. Crow Reservation, &font.-May 17, 1901, the Department granted authority for Snpt. Walter B. Hill to continue the construction of the Big Horn ditch, the expendituve during the prevent working season to be limited to $65,000, to be taken fro111 the grazing fund as far as practicable, and then from the annuity fund belonging to the Crow Indians, as provided in the agreement concluded with them by Inspec-tor Graves June 23, 1899. In a report dated September 2, 1901, Superintendent Hill says: During the past year there has been expended in ditch construction on the Crow Reservation $52,096.43. With this expenditure in the construction of the Bighorn canal, as shown by the tabulated statement, 155,878.8 cubic yards of material has , been removed to form channels, 1,200 cubic yards of limestone masonry has been laid in the walls of the main head gate, and a waste gate and cheak have been wn-stmcted 2 miles below the main regulating gstes. The work has been carried on as fast as was possible under the prevailing condi-tions, the Indians doing all the work which they were capable of performing, and in so doing they are deserving of seat credit, as the work upon which we have been engaged during the past season was done with water running through the excave tion, and was very wet and disagreeable throughout the entire cutting. In fact, it was impossible to keep white labor upon this work for any length of time. The principal results accomplished in the construction of the Bighorn canal during the last year are the completion of the main regulating weir or head gateand the removal of the main obstacle to running water through the finished portion of the canal, viz, the Fort Smith cut. The headgate of the Bighorn canal ia a. permanent masonry structure,. ~. rohablva s fine a structure of its kind as can be found in the United States. 'Pllr flow through thia weir is controllet1 1)). fire rrgulating guw~of'A S1 iron, whivll arc raiaed by 3cn.n.e am1 haod wheelr n.itll ball-l~arir~agtr avllrnent.. The work upon this structurehas been carried on at great expense and difficulty on aecount of frequent landslidesand the excessive inflow of water into the excavation. The Fort Smith cut is three-fourths of a mile long and contained over 21K),OM) cubic yards of material, consieting of loose mck, cemented gravel, and gravel with an underlying strata of shale and solid rock-very expensive material to remove. This cut is now entirely completed, and the only obstacle to running water through the first 10 miles of the canal ia a small amount of material in front of and below the head gate, wbich we are now engaged in removing. Work has also been wmmenced on the Soap Creek and Mountain Pocket flumes, which will be completed within the next'two months. When these Anrnes are con-structed and 2f miles of ditch built between Soap Creek and Rotten Grass Creek the Bighorn Valley can he irrigated for a distance of 18 miles from the head. Unless some unforeseen obstacle is encountered, this result willsurely be accomplished this season, and will place more land under ditch in the Bighorn Valley than can possibly be.cultivated during the next season. Another short season should witnegs the completion of the Bighorn canal, when the Crow Indians will be possessed of ! |