The Miracle of Water in the West... Part II: The Larger Dream

The Miracle of Water in the West

The story of the irrigation project in the Salt River Valley of Arizona, the most successful the world has ever known. Drought, the terror of the arid West, caused the unified action that resulted in the Salt River Valley Water Users Association and started the long march toward victory over the desert.

Part 2... The Larger Dream

THE LONG DROUGHT, beginning in the late of water storage made a voluminous report to '90's, was the blackest period in the histhe people. tory of the Salt River Valley, a greater scourge than Indians or outlaws, yet out of this adversity the Water Users' Project was born. The settlers in the Valley were united by a common fear against a common enemy. During all the years when water was plentiful, farsighted men had predicted the need for water storage development. Considerable preliminary work had been done on four available dam sites, but so long as water was plentiful the Valley's loyalties were divided. Self-interest prevented any unified action. In 1889, W. M. Breakenridge, County Surveyor, accompanied by John Norton and James McClintock were sent to explore the canyons along the Salt River. Eighty-five miles from Phoenix, they found what they were seeking. Here the Salt River passes through a narrow canyon with hard rock walls. Above the canyon there is a wing shaped, double valley where Tonto Creek flows into the Salt. On April 10, 1900, the Board of Trade Committee appointed to investigate the possibilities The committee, composed of S. M. McCowan, B. Heyman, J. E. Walker, Vernon L. Clark, and B. A. Fowler, had made an exhaustive study of the situation. A mass meeting was called, to be held in the Dorris Opera House on Friday, August 31, at 10 A. M. Every farmer in the Valley was urged to attend, to receive the full report of the Water Committee. On the appointed day, more than two hundred rigs and wagons were drawn up on Central Avenue. Travel-stained teams waited patiently in the shade of the great cottonwoods. Men and women and children thronged into the Opera House. The August sun was hot, the tempers of men were strained by years of dryness, and by conflicting rumors. The meeting was called to order by Walter Talbot, president of the County Board of Trade, and Col. McCowan was appointed chairman. There were four possible reservoir sites to be considered: The Horseshoe on the Verde; the Tonto Basin on the Salt; the Buttes on the Gila near Florence, and the Lower Gila Dam to be constructed in the gorge below Oatman Flats near the railroad station of Sentinel. The respective merits of each project had been outlined and soundly documented in the Water Committee's report. Of them all, the Tonto Basin site held the most promise for the farmers in the Valley of the Salt. It was an audacious plan, contemplating the construction of a dam sixty miles from the nearest railroad, eighty-five miles from the land it was to water, at a cost variously estimated from two to five million dollars. Engineer Arthur Powell Davis, of the U. S. Geological Survey, had described the Tonto Basin site as one possessing every requirement for a successful reclamation project, but Davis had an engineer's viewpoint. Physically, the project was feasible; to finance it was a different matter. Certainly two million dollars could not be found in Arizona. Territories, and their political subdivisions, were limited by a federal prohibition from incurring any debt beyond a certain limit. President McKinley's attitude was well known, and it was conceded there was no possibility of direct federal aid.

Here then was the situation which confronted the desperate farmers, who for seven years had seen their crops wither and their cattle die: a dam could be built, and water could be stored if the money could be found. Private capital had tried twice to build a dam (The Hudson Company, on the Tonto site, a British company on the Horseshoe site). Both attempts had failed. The Territorial government could not advance the necessary money. Even if all the citizens of the county agreed to it, and there was certainly no agreement, bonds could not be issued or sold without the consent of an antagonistic Congress.

Every farmer in the Valley jealously guarded the priority of his own water right. The canal companies, representing at least a million dollar investment, were suspicious of any project which might control flood waters to their disadvantage.

But those farmers assembled in the Dorris Opera House denied the possibility of failure. Other men in troubled times had met and resolved their differences, faced greater odds, and been victorious. The money could be had; they'd get the money, somewhere, somehow.

The leaders of that discussion were men whose names are remembered today as synonymous with the progress of Arizona. B. A. Fowler of Glendale, Col. William Christy, and George B. Christy, Dr. Redewill, Gov. Murphy, Dave Goldberg, M. W. Messenger, John Norton, James McClintock, Billy Breakenridge, Captain Hancock, John Adams, and a host of others.

Governor Murphy proposed that an effort be made to induce the Federal Government to cede public lands to the Territory, these lands to be sold and the money used for reclamation projects. There were some members of Congress, Senator William Stewart of Nevada, Senator Regan of Texas, and Representative Newlands from Nevada, who had indicated their willingness to support such a measure.

The principal draw-back to this plan, considering the attitude of the President, was the inevitable delay. The need was for action now.

For the construction of a dam on the Tonto site 215 feet long on top, with a storage capacity for 800,000 acre feet of flood water. Wells Hendershott, president of the company, Sims Ely, and representatives of the New York law firm of Mann and Mann, which had invested heavily in the Hudson Company, worked out an agreement to transfer their rights to anyone able and willing to build the dam. A schedule of compensation for owners of land in the Tonto Valley, which would be flooded by the reservoir, was established.

The Water Committee continued its deliberations for more than a year. The Territorial Legislature authorized a special county tax levied of $30,000 for preliminary engineering. Chief Justice Webster Street appointed a Territorial Committee to work with the Water Storage Committee.

In the spring of 1901, the level of the water in the river reached an all-time low, less than 800 miner's inches was available for irrigation in April.

The Water Committee had completed its work. The good points of the various plans had been combined. Development of the storage project was to be a public affair. All lands in the county were to bear their pro rata share of the cost. The problem of water rights and delivery were to be settled when the dam was built. The county was to be bonded to finance the development.

B. A. Fowler of Glendale was selected to go to Washington to petition Congress for permission to bond the county. The railroads, who were selfishly interested in western land development, put up a substantial sum of money to pay Fowler's expenses.

Fowler found official Washington completely indifferent to any aspect of reclamation. Leading senatorial figures described the plan as fantastic. Members from the well-watered East classified the basic principal of irrigation as "flying in the face of nature."

There was ample argument to support the irrigation theory ably presented by Mr. Fowler. The British had invested $360,000,000 in India for reclamation projects. More than 35,000,000 acres had been successfully reclaimed. The spectre of famine, which had constantly threatened a conquered population of fifty million people had been mitigated by the wise action of a central government.

Even those Congressmen who admitted the merits of reclamation denied the practicability of building a dam so far from the land it was to serve. They said that every territory in the nation would go on a wild spending spree if a precedent was established by permitting the people of Maricopa County to work out their own salvation.

The reports of Fowler's failure were printed in the Republican. Men talked bitterly of the Federal Government's inadequate excuses.

Some men said Congress opposed the proposition because it did not include spoils for the greedy legislature. Others thought that statehood held the only offer of relief. But in all this Valley not one man accepted the attitude of Congress as final.

In Washington, Fowler was introduced to a tall slender young man whose deep set twinkling blue eyes burned with the zeal of a crusader. George H. Maxwell was possessed of those two qualities rarely found in the same man. He was both a dreamer and a doer.

As some men dedicate their lives to the church, George Maxwell had dedicated his energies to the cause of reclamation.

Fowler was discouraged. The professional politicians had exhausted his patience. After months of effort he had arrived at the bitter conclusion that the federal government was not the least concerned over the plight of a few farmers in the territory of Arizona.

"I understand you're from Arizona," Maxwell said when the introductions were over.

"I am, and it's time I went home. I've certainly accomplished nothing here."

"I think you'd better stay," Maxwell told him. "I've heard of you. You and I believe in the same things. Stay another month and we'll get the water for your valley."

Fowler could scarcely credit his own ears. These were the first words of encouragement he had heard in Washington, but what could one man do? Fowler was sure that Maxwell was not an important figure.

Fowler learned that Maxwell and Representative Newlands of Nevada had a reclamation bill ready to present to Congress. Their plan was a refinement of Governor Murphy's original one that the federal government should cede government lands to the territory, these lands to be sold and the money used for irrigation development.

Maxwell proposed the government should make available for reclamation projects money then on hand from the sale of public lands.

This idea appealed to Fowler. It would obviate the necessity of a county debt. It offered all the advantages of private financing, yet removed the penalty of profit which private money would demand.

In George Maxwell the representative of the desperate people in the Salt River Valley found a kindred spirit. Maxwell was a lawyer with an engineering background. When it suited his purpose he was a masterful politician.

In the great Salt River project today there is not a dam or a building or even an acknowledgement of any kind to commemorate the name of George Maxwell. Yet he contributed more than any other man to the successful formation and operation of the Water Users' Association.

Fowler and Maxwell united. They haunted the Senate cloak-room; they preached irrigation to all who would listen; they found some individual senators and congressmen receptive to the plan. Slowly they gathered their strength for a final show-down.

When Col. Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency after the death of President McKinley, Arizona found a new and powerful friend. In his first message to Congress, President Roosevelt included a clause favoring federal irrigation law. On June 17, 1902, The Hansbrough-Newlands Act was sent to the president for signature.

A torch-light procession paraded through the hot, dusty streets of Phoenix. Men cheered themselves hoarse. Toasts were drunk to the new president, to the new prosperity. To the optimistic celebrators, it appeared that the fight was won. The dam was as good as built. There would be water for all. The land in the Valley would grow green again.

But their optimism was premature. The money was available, but the Federal Govern-- ment would not organize the machinery for its application. The Federal Government would not arbitrate between the claimants of prior rights. The Federal Government would not treat with an individual, nor with a group until all local differences had been settled.

There was some doubt as to the actual wording of the bill.

When Mr. Fowler arrived home, he found the same conflicting division of interest in the Valley. There were those who believed his The dreams of men are mighty things.

trip to Washington had been wasted effort. But the facts examined today prove otherwise. The original Hansborough-Newlands Bill applied only to the development of lands in public ownership. Fowler had succeeded in inserting two words: "And private," thus securing the benefits of the law for the land in Arizona.

Wise men realized that before any steps could be taken towards the actual construction of the reservoir, the people must be convinced of the necessity of uniting. There was a terrible urgency, action must be taken before the available funds were all allocated to other projects. George Maxwell was invited to address a mass meeting and outline the federal requirements.

This meeting was held August 8, 1902, in the Court House Plaza.

The proposition as outlined by Mr. Maxwell required a united request from all of the people. There must be no legal obstacles and the Government would do nothing towards the settlement of any local differences.

Once again, a committee was appointed, faced with the monumental problem of evolving a plan which would be fair to all and acceptable to all, which would be self-supporting, and selfliquidating.

There was no pattern to follow. There was no similar organization anywhere in the world to be copied. There were the rights of the canal companies to be considered; the question of prior water rights must now be settled; the distribution of the economic burden and the legal machinery necessary to such a venture to be established.

Thirty years of litigation had failed to settle the problem of water rights. To assess a man's land against his will appeared incompatible with democracy. But the men who had faced the Apaches and the drought and the outlaws, who had met, but had never recognized failure, were not to be stopped now.

George Maxwell was invited to join the committee's deliberations. As an outsider, free from prejudicial self interest, Maxwell's interpretations of the Reclamation Act were accepted without question. He could understand and appreciate the motives that placed men in opposition. When tempers flared, it was Maxwell who quieted them. When men despaired. Maxwell gave them new courage.

without question. He could understand and appreciate the motives that placed men in opposition. When tempers flared, it was Maxwell who quieted them. When men despaired. Maxwell gave them new courage.

The men on that committee were not erecting stumbling blocks merely to be obstinate. The charge that selfish greed delayed their operations was entirely without foundation. The entire future welfare of the Valley was at stake. Once they were committed there could be no withdrawal. They were willing to sacrifice for the good of the Valley, but they wanted the burden of construction costs equitably distributed. They believed that no man should be required to beggar himself for the success of the project.

Typical of the problems to be solved was the case of one man who owned five thousand acres, served by one of the oldest ditches in the Valley. Only a fraction of this acreage was in cultivation. Even in times of drought this farmer's established prior rights to the water had made irrigation possible.

If this land owner joined the project, he must assume an assessment of $50,000 for water storage which he didn't need and couldn't use unless he put all his acres into cultivation.

Some of the holders of large acreage offered lump sum payments in lieu of accepting pro rata assessments. Their water supply was safeguarded by prior rights, but if an assessment were forced upon them, they would in effect be penalized to benefit owners of land with dubious water rights.

There was a certain logic to these arguments, but Clark and Maxwell, Fowler, Norton and all those men who had visioned water development as a cooperative effort counseled the committee against making concessions. Equal pro rata assessment might be a hardship in a few cases, but the land demanded and warranted the investment. Each acre, considered individually, would derive benefits immeasurably greater than the cost. Now that the solution of the water problem was in sight the storage development dominated the thoughts and conversations of the men in the Valley. Every resident, land owner, renter, business man and farmer was vitally interested in the water committee's deliberation.

Men campaigned ardently, attempting to swing their neighbor's support to the settlement they desired. The canal companies and those interested in them formed one faction, the owners of large land holdings another, business men and city men a third.

This was no mere political campaign, an election where mistakes could be rectified at the end of one or two or four year terms. This project was forever. Once the money was borrowed, the machinery of administration could not be changed.

In every community there is always a divergence of opinion. In times of crisis the breach is widened. The committee was in this position. It must devolve a plan which would be fair to all and acceptable to all.

Judging from this dispassionate distance, the problem of determining a course of action which would be just to all parties concerned seems enormous, and that second condition that it be acceptable to all becomes an almost insurmountable obstacle.

Yet knowing the obstacles, aware of the partisan interest, the people in the Valley were optimistic. The committee met, rumors were whispered. It was said that Judge Joseph Kibbey had worked out a plan that the leaders of the opposing faction were willing to accept.

Probably no man in all of Arizona was more fitted to the task of effecting a compromise than Judge Kibbey. He had served on the territorial bench with distinction. He enjoyed the high esteem of every resident. He was a fair man, a friendly man, an old timer who knew and sympathized with the people's problems.

And on the farms, in the stores and saloons people said, "Judge Kibbey will work it out. What he says is good enough for me. We'll get that dam."

Editor's Note-The concluding article in this series, devoted to the history of water development in the Salt River Valley, will appear in the October issue of Arizona Highways.