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Show 10 C O ~ 8 S I O N E R OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. suggestion for the relief of the Indians, except the construction of a reservoir, which was considered wholly impracticable on account of the great expense involved. December 27,1894, this Office again gave to the Department a his-tory of the case and suggested that an expert from the Geological Survey be detailed to make experiments and prepare himself as a wit-ness in the snit which the Department of Justice had been asked to institute. The same letter stated that the director of the Arizona Agricultural College had informed this Office that underlying a considerable portion of the Pima Reservation, at a depth of from 25 to 100 feet, there was an inexhaustible supply of water, in fact an underground stream, and that it had been demonstrated, in a small way, that this water supply might he raised by steam pumps and profitably used for irrigating farm crops. It was suggested that possibly an expert of the Geological Survey might find this plan feasible, or at least he able to suggest some other method of supplying the Pima Indians with water. May 11,1895, this Office submitted to the Department a report from Agent J. Roe Young that the supply of water allowed to pass by the Hlorence and other canal companies and owners of irrigating ditches and reservoirs on the upper river was entirely exhausted, except at points where the sunken waters of the river were forced to the surface by a natural dam; that the Indiana had therefore failed to raise a crop and were destitute, and he suggested three alternative methods of securing a water supply. The report was referred to the Department with the recommendation that if it was found inexpedient to have the proposed investigation made by an expert of the Geological Survey, the agent be authorized to employ a competent engineer to make a thorough examination. September 6,1895, the Department returned Agent Young's report with a report by the Geological Survey which stated that there was not then sufficient information to justify the making of recommendations as to the best methods of supplying the Gila River Reservation with water, andthat the questions arising were not simply those of engineering, but demanded a broad comprehension of the underground structure and the behavior of water as iufluenced by geological conditions. October 7,1895, this Office recommended that the sum of $3,500 he set aside for the expense of an investigation by the Geological Survey, and Mr. Arthur ,P. Davis, hydrographer, was detailed November 25, 1895, to make the investigation. June 16.1896, the Department, in accordance with the recommendation of this Office, set aside the sum of $900 for continuing the investigation during the k l ye ar 1897. November 10, 1896, Mr. Davis submitted his report to the Geolog-ical Survey, which may be found in Senate Document No. 27, fifty-fourth Congress, second session. He indicated three possible methods |