A TRUE PICTORIAL STORY 
 
Book 
 
 phi SExn n in 
 
YUJTLA. 
 
 ancl 
 
 YUi^A VALLEY 
 a. trtxe pictorial story 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MOST PROMISING 
 
 CITY AND THE MOST 
 
 RICHLY ENDOWEDSEC- 
 
 TION OFTHE GREAT 
 
 SOUTHWEST 
 
 FOR CONFIRMATION OF ANY REPRESENTATION HEREIN MADE THE 
 FULLEST INVESTIGATION IS INVITED, AND READERS ARE REFERRED TO 
 THE VARIOUS AUTHORITIES AND INDIVIDUALS QUOTED OR MENTIONED 
 
 
 YIFIA OOIMYCOMMEKCIAL CLUB 
 
 YTIMA., ARIZONA. 
 1909 
 

 "A Date with a Yuma Valley Fis Ti 
 (Fig Tree in the Background) 
 
 i you 
 
 •t 
 
"T first thought it seems a long stretch of imagination from the Chaldaea, the Media and the Canaan 
 of the ancients to the United States of today. 
 
 From the periodically afflicted peoples of Assyria, Mesopotamia and the Holy Land, who 
 were wont to journey down into Pharaoh's Egypt in years of drouth to buy the corn which their rebellious 
 soil and untoward climate denied them, it would appear a far cry to the present-day inhabitants of the most 
 prosperous, the farthest advanced and the greatest nation of the world. 
 
 And yet the simile is not misplaced, nor the comparisons we would draw far-fetched. 
 
 For the average locality of our Union, prosperous though the country as a whole may be, knows its 
 seasons of drouth, its rigors of winter, its impoverished or unfertile soil, its periods of struggle for the 
 necessaries of life. 
 
 And here in the great Southwest, traversed by another Nile, stretches the Egypt of the New World 
 — land of plenty, home of contentment — where neither seasons nor water fail; where the vine and fig tree 
 flourish side by side with the date and the olive, the orange and the lemon ; where balmy breezes and Italian 
 skies invite alike the seeker after an ideal home spot and the searcher after health; where Opportunity awaits 
 the touch of Industry and Capital; where waving fields beckon the husbandman of less favored localities and 
 proclaim that in seasons of drouth the road to well-filled granaries leads down into the beautiful Yuma 
 Valley of Arizona, in the center of which and on the banks of the wealth-laden Colorado sits Yuma, 
 future metropolis of a peerless commonwealth. 
 
 To tell of this valley and town the present volume was designed. To tell, without exaggeration or 
 striving after high-sounding phrases, of the many truly wonderful advantages and resources of a unique and 
 beautifully endowed portion of God's footstool ; to describe the great project by which the Government of 
 the United States is harnessing the waters of the Colorado, even as the British Government has after similar 
 fashion converted to man's uses and convenience the waters of the Egyptian Nile ; to herald the news, in few 
 words and truthful illustration, of a country which may as nearly approach the proverbial land of milk and 
 honey as any under the sun, is the aim of this Pictorial Story. 
 
ffi 
 
 us. reclamation: SERVICE 
 
 YUMA PROJECTi 
 
 
 
 v.-*^ 
 
 !i*~ 
 
 'ITH agricultural, horticultural and viticultural pos- 
 sibilities equalling, if not excelling those of any 
 similar area of the earth's surface, certainly sur- 
 passing all other sections of the United States; 
 with a climate seemingly made expressly for growing things 
 — growing them quickly, early, in fact continuously, and in 
 marvelous abundance and quality; with a soil endowed by 
 nature in unprecedented manner with the essentials of effective 
 fertilization ; with a wealth of elixir-laden water flowing by 
 and needing but the harnessing, it is not strange that the 
 Yuma Valley attracted early attention from the United 
 States Reclamation Service. 
 
 These things amply proven to the government's pains- 
 taking experts — agriculturists, economists, engineers — it nat- 
 urally followed that the Yuma Project, with its great Indian 
 Weir dam across the mighty Colorado, its miles of protect- 
 ing levees and its comprehensive system of canals, should 
 have been among the first enterprises authorized by the De- 
 partment of the Interior under the terms of the wise and 
 beneficent Reclamation Act. Map of the Yuma Project 
 
 With the vital portions of this great project practically 
 completed, the permanent and dependable wedding of soil and water assured and beamed upon by the same 
 kindly sky which justly inspired the earliest settler's enthusiasm ; with a period of progress and develop- 
 ment such as few countries have known looming immediately before; with a truthful story to unfold 
 which should mean much to judicious investors no less than to the nation's industrious searchers 
 after homes, we Yumaites claim justification for this effort to tell the world of the riches that are 
 ours and the great good that has come to us. 
 Of the Yuma Project itself many pages might be written and the story but half told. Of its influence 
 and effect upon Yuma and Yuma Valley, the situation may be briefly and yet most accurately 
 described by acknowledging that it means — Everything. Rich soil, marvelous climate and life- 
 laden waters were here before the Reclamation Service, but the Colorado bears great problems 
 on its turbulent wave, and private capital is timid and ofttimes inefficient. But for the hand 
 of the government this booklet might have been years delayed. Of the Project's physical 
 features — what it is, how constructed and the land it will cover — the reader is referred 
 to the descriptive article on another page by Project Engineer Francis L. Sellew. 
 
E&asa 
 
 =OceG23^2SS 
 
 CJ 
 
 HE kernel of our 
 story is Yuma 
 Valley's wealth 
 of vegetation 
 producing ingredients, the 
 versatility of its conditions, 
 the wonderful range of its 
 producing powers. Follows 
 in sequence the opportuni- 
 ties thus afforded to health- 
 seekers, wealth- seekers and 
 home-seekers, on the farm 
 lands or in the town they 
 surround ; follows the story 
 of that town, its splendid 
 location ; alluring prospects 
 and inviting field for invest- 
 ment; comes in turn the tale 
 of our wealth-lined hills, 
 with their stores of gold 
 and silver, copper and lead, 
 iron and cinnabar, while 
 over all looms the fact of the world's most 
 nearly perfect all-year climate — perpetual sun- 
 shine, no snow, almost no frost, and never a 
 heat that will hurt anyone. 
 
 When the evidence shall all be in there will 
 appear nothing strange or unbelievable in Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt's estimate of lands in the lower 
 valleys of the Colorado River, which in a mes- 
 sage to Congress he made in these words: 
 
 "A most conservative estimate, after full 
 development, must place the gross products from 
 this land at not less than $700 per acre per 
 year; every ten acres of which will support a 
 family when under intense cultivation. Much of 
 the land will be worth from 
 $500 to $1500 per acre to 
 
 #» 
 
 individual owners." But to the kernel: The proud and exceptional boast is made that 
 every month of the calendar produces in Yuma Valley something of profit to the husband- 
 man, ample verification of which the following pages will provide: 
 
"LFALFA. which is 
 rapidly becoming 
 the standard forage 
 plant ol the world, 
 has its home in ^ uma Valley. 
 Every month in the year sees 
 it being cut in this favored lo- 
 cality, while seven cuttings is 
 considered the minimum when 
 harvested for hay alone. Prop- 
 erly tended fields average ten 
 tons per acre. For several 
 years past the price of baled al- 
 falfa has not fallen below $13 
 per ton. 
 
 The growing of alfalfa seed 
 is becoming an important indus- 
 try, 500 pounds per acre being 
 a normal yield. Growers fre- 
 quently report higher averages, B. L. Hansberger 
 reporting 700 pounds per acre from one field. 
 
 A typical instance of alfalfa profit is that of 
 W. W. Woodman, who reported that from four- 
 teen acres he sold 7280 pounds of seed for twelve 
 cents per pound, which, after deducting $123.60, 
 the c»st of hulling and sacking, left him 
 $750; then sold $50 worth of 
 alfalfa straw, and before and 
 after the seed crop cut sixty 
 tons of fine hay on which 
 the average profit was $ 1 0, 
 thus figuring a net profit 
 of approximately $100 
 per acre. This is not an 
 exceptional case. 
 
 The Home of Alfalfa 
 
 Stacking Alfalfa in Ja 
 
 
 
2£3§^S8S0ec- 
 
 A Midwinter Garden 
 
 
 
 The Esculent Onior 
 
 Out-Berm 
 
 udas Ber 
 
 muda 
 
 
 
 . • :-■>-.'. 
 
 
 'INTER gardening in Yuma 
 Valley is certain to ac- 
 quire a world-wide fame. 
 The accompanying photo- 
 graph of a flourishing garden contain- 
 ing peas — matured, young and in 
 blossom — spinach, radishes, beets, 
 turnips, onions, cabbages, lettuce and 
 many other garden products, was 
 taken December 22, 1 908, on the 
 place of Edward Reider. A similar 
 picture might be taken on any fall, 
 winter or spring day. The industry 
 is proving a great profit to Mr. Reider 
 as well as to other thrifty gardeners. 
 Saxon P. Huss, one of the Val- 
 ley's substantial farmers, had string 
 beans and strawberries from his home 
 garden, grown without protection, on 
 Christmas day. Nobody would blame the North- 
 erner or Easterner whose mouth waters at this infor- 
 mation. 
 
 Onion growing was begun in 1907 upon the 
 initiative of the Arizona University Experimental 
 Station, and here again Yuma Valley soil, water 
 and weather were found not wanting. The White 
 Bermuda, in particular, proved the adaptability of 
 the section. One and two-tenths acres, under intel- 
 ligent cultivation yielded a net profit of about $400. 
 Onions are strictly a winter crop, the seed being 
 planted in September, transplanted in December and 
 harvested in April and May, thus securing the ad- 
 vantage of a high-priced early market. From 
 eight to twelve tons of White Bermuda on- 
 ions is considered an average yield. 
 
 ^!S^e^ 
 
In addition to the advantages of winter gar- 
 dening, early spring vegetables are a source of 
 phenomenal profit to Yuma Valley farmers. 
 Cantaloupes, watermelons and tomatoes, given 
 the advantage of an exceptionally early growing 
 season are placed on the market in May and June, 
 at a time which practically relieves them of com- 
 petition. K. S. Yowell sold $1363 worth of 
 watermelons from eight acres, without 
 hauling them off the ground, and in- 
 stances of greater returns are 
 known. From an acre of canta- 
 loupes E. L. Crane proved the 
 
 © 
 
 ARLEY and wheat are Yuma Val- 
 ley staples, both yielding excep- 
 tionally well. An average of fifty 
 bushels of barley to the acre, sown 
 any time between September 1 and March 1 , 
 may be depended upon. The favorite method 
 of growing barley and wheat is to sow early 
 and harvest in March or April. The splendid 
 utility of a grain crop will be better realized 
 when it is understood that a crop of corn, maize, 
 pumpkins or melons may be grown on the same 
 ground during the same season. 
 
 possibility of a net return of $41 8.92, while the same grower, from an acre of tomatoes, 
 realized $551.88 net. These latter, with slight protection, may be had every day 
 in the year. Celery, cauliflower and asparagus are also successful crops. 
 
- s: #•■ > 
 
 of the Field 
 
 ffi 
 
 'HILE the cutting and baling of succulent 
 alfalfa goes merrily on, in season and 
 out of season, other crops are steadily 
 demanding attention and yielding com- 
 mensurate returns. 
 
 Milo maize, Kaffir corn and sorghum are highly 
 successful and profitable forage crops. Yuma Val- 
 ley sunshine provides the fodder with an abundance 
 of saccharine matter, and the stock to which it is 
 fed does the rest. In point of prolificness, it 
 may be said with little exag- 
 geration that the main 
 item of expense is haul- 
 ing. All varieties of stock thrive on these fodders, and the market demand 
 at good prices has never been supplied. As a poultry feed the grain excels 
 and finds ready sale in the head at $30 per ton. Four and five tons of 
 grain per acre are not uncommon yields. Threshed seed of the Milo maize 
 and Kaffir corn bring $2 to $2.50 per hundred. A spring and a fall crop 
 may be grown in any season, the latter, however, being most prevalent. Sugar 
 cane is produced successfully, but in small quantities, being principally sold as 
 a confection. Millet may be grown any time from February to November. 
 
 "Sorghum Glist'i 
 
•UMA VALLEY corn asks no 
 odds of Kansas or Iowa. Here 
 we have a corn belt of our 
 own, and the testimony of 
 farmers who grow this cereal is enough to 
 stagger the Middle Westerner. Fifty bush- 
 els the acre is an average yield, for either 
 of the two crops which may be grown in 
 one season. If rotation is desired, corn 
 may be succeeded by barley or barley by 
 corn, and fifty bushels of each is considered 
 a not unlikely product from an acre of 
 ground. If desired, pumpkins or squashes 
 may be given the place of either crop. 
 
 Edward Reider tells of a thousand 
 dollar crop on an acre of his ranch which 
 was managed as follows: In January he 
 planted Irish potatoes and in March corn 
 was placed between the rows. Both were 
 harvested June 1 st. August 1 st he again 
 planted corn and the last of September 
 turnips were added between the rows. All 
 matured well and the commercial value was 
 a round thousand dollars. 
 
 Christmas roasting ears, it will be con- 
 ceded, are a delicacy, and in most 
 countries an impossible luxury, but 
 here they are not uncommon. 
 
 
 v--- 
 
 Valley's Corn Belt 
 
 
GOTTON culture promises to be 
 come an important industry in 
 Yuma Valley. The soil, climate 
 and water combine to produce 
 gross returns sixfold greater than the average 
 cotton lands of the South. 
 
 The United States Department of Agri- 
 culture has been experimenting the past two 
 seasons with Egyptian cotton, a variety that 
 is particularly well adapted to our climatic 
 conditions. The excellent length, strength 
 and fineness of the Egyptian cotton fiber 
 gives it a market value nearly twice that of 
 short staple upland cotton. Average gross 
 returns of $ 1 00 per acre can be depended 
 upon in cotton culture. — W. A. Peterson, 
 Superintendent Yuma Experiment Station. 
 
 Yuma Valley tales of sweet potatoes 
 tend to engender grave doubts in the minds 
 of those who don't know Yuma Valley. 
 But the toothsome Southern tubers speak for 
 themselves, and fatten the bank accounts of 
 those who grow them. Attaining tremendous 
 size, the Yuma Valley sweet potato does 
 not possess the stringiness and unpalatable- 
 ness of the large sizes grown elsewhere, but, 
 on the other hand, is deliciously sweet. Po- 
 tatoes of twenty pounds in weight are not 
 infrequent, while they have been known twice 
 as large. S. P. Huss dug four hills on Christ- 
 mas day, taking therefrom 1 1 6 pounds. K. S. 
 Yowell received $500 for an acre and 
 a quarter planted in April and dug 
 in October and November. Other 
 instances of great profit 
 could be cited 
 indefinitely. 
 
 ^y 
 
 

 Feeders for the Market 
 
 XN spite of the handsome profits tc 
 be realized from growing and mar- 
 keting in "original packages" of 
 the various grains, cereals, fodders 
 and hays to which attention has been directed, 
 there are nevertheless many who firmly hold 
 to the belief that still greater profits are to 
 be realized from the converting of these pro- 
 ducts into stock of various kinds — into beef 
 steers and hogs, or better still, into choice 
 dairy stock or fine horses. 
 
 Whichever line of industry may yield the 
 greater profit, certain it is that Yuma Valley 
 possesses ideal conditions for the growing of 
 
 livestock of any and every kind, and those who are devoting themselves to it profess to be contented 
 
 with their lot. Dairy herds are profitable and fine horses are in great demand at good prices. 
 
 Hogs are easily grown, being immune from disease under the healthful conditions 
 
 existing, while alfalfa, barley and corn constitute a feed which gives them both 
 
 early weight and delicious flavor. 
 
 rbacks. but Mortgage Raisers 
 
the Hen Fruit Gr 
 
 Making Money While You Sleep 
 
 QOULTRY 
 ranks high 
 up among 
 the Valley's 
 revenue producers. Of 
 course, all well regulated 
 farms have their chick- 
 ens and their ducks, 
 maybe their geese and 
 their turkeys, but in 
 Yuma Valley are nu- 
 merous farmers who put 
 most of their eggs in the 
 chicken basket — and 
 take many fold there- 
 from. There appears no danger of glutting the 
 chicken market, and a brighter prospect could hardly 
 be conceived than that which confronts the systematic 
 poultrymen of this section. 
 
 Poultrymen of otherwheres will be justified in 
 sitting up and taking notice when they read that 
 H. W. and S. T. Merrill, who keep accurate track 
 of results, realized $2.40 net per hen during the 
 season of 1906 and increased this to $2.43 during 
 the season of 1907. 
 
 Apiculture has for several years claimed no 
 little attention, and the industry is rapidly becoming 
 more popular. A score of apiaries are 
 without exception producing handsome 
 revenue for their owners. The native 
 
 
 mesquite and other growths, coupled with the ever-present alfalfa bloom, produce a white 
 honey unequalled in looks and excellence. It commands the top price and enjoys an 
 unlimited market. 
 
 
H^^HE deciduous fruit industry 
 ■ ] has not yet been developed 
 
 ^^^^^ to an extent which is 
 
 plainly possible, but enough 
 has been accomplished to prove that 
 a great future is in store for it. By 
 catering to the early market, Yuma 
 Valley fruit will occupy a class by 
 itself and bring handsome returns to 
 the horticulturists. J. M. Thacker's 
 pear orchard produces a revenue of 
 $450 per acre. Apricots reach the 
 market ahead of all competitors and 
 bring handsome prices. Delicious figs 
 ripen during the early days of May 
 and command almost unbelievable 
 prices, while a regular second crop adds 
 to the profit. Three distinct crops of high-grade 
 Maiden Blush apples were picked in one season by 
 S. P. Huss, the first crop amounting in instances to 
 1 00 pounds per tree. Peaches, plums and persim- 
 mons do well, and some varieties of almost every 
 sort of deciduous fruit grown anywhere. From 
 one of Mr. Huss' five-year-old plum trees 
 he picked 200 pounds. 
 
 Some of the commercial nuts have been 
 proven, notably almonds and pecans. 
 
 Grape culture will soon be numbered 
 among the important industries of the Valley. Con- 
 ditions are ideal for raisin making, while table 
 grapes of the highest quality are marketed from 
 May to December. 
 
 

 
 A Young Pear Orchard 
 
 Five-Year-Old Plum Tree 
 
 a result of extensive 
 experiments being con- 
 ducted by the United 
 States Department of 
 Agriculture, the success of date cul- 
 ture in this sun-kissed spot is assured, 
 thus adding to the avenues of profit 
 in which other sections of the Union 
 may not enter. The choicest varie- 
 ties of Persian and Arabian dates 
 come to perfect maturity, and the vast 
 sums of money which annually go for 
 the importing of this popular fruit 
 will in a few years be diverted to the 
 small area of country in which the 
 date may be grown at home, besides 
 having a delicacy — fresh dates — at 
 present unknown to but few Ameri- 
 cans. Estimates of $1000 a year 
 
 profit from an acre of date palms is thought 
 
 to be conservative. 
 
 Olives grow to perfection, both oil and 
 
 the pickled fruit equalling the similar pro- 
 ducts of any country in the world. 
 Of the small fruits, strawberries 
 
 and blackberries have been the 
 
 most thoroughly proven. 
 
 Strawberries ripen all the 
 
 way from January — and 
 
 even a little earlier — to 
 
 June, and the market is 
 
 unlimited. Blackberries 
 
 are great croppers 
 
 and find ready 
 
 sale. 
 
 ^^^^seascD^sOT^^s^sossi 
 
XN citrus fruits the mesa 
 land separating the val- 
 ley below Yuma and 
 that above Yuma, and 
 which will also come under the 
 V uma Project, excel. The or- 
 anges, lemons and pomelos, or 
 grape fruit, here grown are ac- 
 knowledged to have no superior, 
 generally commanding from $1 to 
 $3 per box more in the Eastern 
 markets than the fruit from other 
 semi-tropical states, its superiority 
 and earliness combining to this end. 
 Ripe oranges were shipped this 
 season on October 8th, lemons 
 October 20th, and grape fruit 
 November I 1 th. 
 
 The best authorities are unanimous in declaring that 
 the Yuma grape fruit, by reason of its exceeding juici- 
 ness and freedom from the excessive bitter which char- 
 acterizes that grown elsewhere, is the choicest in the 
 world. 
 
 Limes and the famous Sicilian citrons of commerce 
 also command attention. 
 
 At the Arizona Fair of 1 908, first prizes were taken 
 by Yuma grape fruit, lemons, Mediterranean sweet 
 oranges, Bartlett pears, egg plant, Mexican June corn, 
 yams, Louisiana sugar cane, pumpkins and peanuts. 
 And be it understood that these honors were attained 
 in competition with the products of the only sec- 
 tion in the United States which can com- 
 pare in favorable conditions with the 
 Yuma district. 
 
 Do Not Come 
 
 Pride of the Pomelo Orchard 
 
The World's Choicest Grape Fruit 
 
 fi 
 
 ROM the evidence thus of- 
 fered it will be seen that 
 Yuma Valley, with per- 
 petual growing weather, 
 marvelously productive soil and an 
 almost limitless range of products, 
 must necessarily and essentially be- 
 come a section of small holdings and 
 the most intensive cultivation. Not 
 only may ten acres, thriftily and in- 
 telligently handled, be made to yield 
 a living for the average family, but 
 the utmost independence, comfort, 
 education and a competence for old 
 age are not too much to add to the 
 estimate. If personal testimony is in order, 
 here is what Mr. F. E. Elliott says: 
 
 "On May 15, 1906, I bought twenty acres 
 of Yuma Valley land, ten acres of which was 
 in barley. This was cut May 25th and yielded 
 some twenty-five sacks (about fifty bushels) per 
 acre. August 1 st this same land was planted 
 to corn and averaged thirty-five bushels per acre. 
 On March 15, 1907, three-eighths of an acre 
 was planted to watermelons and from it $225 
 worth of melons were sold, while from 378 
 Muscat grape vines I sold $275 worth of grapes, 
 the birds destroying about $50 worth." 
 
the Navigable Colorado 
 
 'DMA of today, with its 3000 population, 
 macadamized streets, cement sidewalks, 
 modern lighting and other conveniences, 
 creditable business establishments, beau- 
 tiful homes, schools, churches and excellent society, 
 is a long stride in advance of the Yuma of yes- 
 terday. But if natural advantages argue for aught, 
 if there is potency in a perfect location, if sur- 
 roundings such as have builded the best cities of 
 the country are of worth, then surely the Yuma 
 of tomorrow must needs be the metropolis of the 
 Great Southwest. 
 
 Situate on the navigable Colorado River, at 
 the transcontinental Southern Pacific Railroad's 
 
 Main Street on the Fourth of July 
 
 crossing of that waterway; southern gateway to California; objective point of a railroad building 
 from San Diego, which will open a direct route to the illimitable markets of the Orient; pos- 
 sessed of a water outlet to the Gulf of California and the Pacific; center of an agricultural 
 and horticultural region beyond compare; headquarters for a mining district rivalling the Klondike 
 in extent and excelling it in richness; blessed with a health-giving atmosphere and skies such 
 as Italy cannot boast, Yuma has in her own right the making of a city of a hundred thousand 
 
 and that in a few years. 
 
 
/I 
 
 ujiiiimiiiiimiiiir 
 
 
 i 
 
 Looking Do 
 
 ■HBHHMH 
 
 On <2& OyT> 
 
 
 
 HERE have been drawbacks and 
 delays, disappointments and fail- 
 ures, such as all towns are heir 
 to, but by and all, through good 
 report and ill, the prosperity of Yuma has 
 been more faithful and the effect of finan- 
 cial stringencies less apparent, than most 
 towns can boast. With the approach to 
 completion of the Yuma Project, life and 
 vigor are noticeable in every walk and every 
 quarter. Yuma's future is assured. 
 
 Today there are openings for numerous 
 business enterprises, particularly of a manu- 
 facturing character. With the growth in population which has already set in, these opportunities will 
 correspondingly increase. 
 
 A goodly number of cultured and well-to-do families, attracted by Yuma's balmy winters and 
 the life-giving properties of her ozone, annually come as to a haven of refuge from the ice and snow and 
 chilling blasts, the pneumonia and the "rheumatiz" of North and East; but when the beauties of our 
 climate and the health in our air shall become matters of more common information, the tide of travel 
 will be a regular and an important social, commercial and industrial condition. 
 
 A Section of Or 
 
 iiiiiimimumiiiiiu 
 
 
'UMA has five churches 
 
 — Baptist. Methodist, 
 
 Episcopal, Christian 
 
 and Catholic. The 
 Valley has four — two Methodist 
 and two Baptist. 
 
 A splendid educational sys- 
 tem affords the youth of the town 
 with high school and grammar 
 school advantages, while seven 
 grammar schools in the Valley 
 give the rural children an equal 
 
 New 
 
 snow. 
 
 There are active and flourish- 
 ing lodges of all the principal secret societies, such as Masons, 
 Elks, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Workmen, Woodmen, 
 Foresters, Eagles, Spanish-American Alliance, Eastern Star, 
 Pythian Sisters, Rebekahs and others. 
 
 1 wo women's clubs — the Yuma Women's Club and the 
 Ocotillo Club — are well organized and important features of 
 local social and civic life. 
 
 An incorporated Sportsmen's Association furnishes athletic 
 amusements, especially baseball, for those who enjoy that sort 
 of diversion. 
 
 And last, but not least in the shape of permanent organiza- 
 tions of a public or semi-public nature, the Commercial Club 
 is an enthusiastic body of business men who sincerely believe 
 that Y uma is destined to rapidly become a great city. Every 
 possible effort of this body is being unselfishly exerted toward 
 that end. 
 
 High School Building 
 
 Calling the Pupils 
 
 Drinking Water from the 
 
 
MONG the important projects 
 for the upbuilding of Yuma 
 now being promoted by the 
 Commercial Club are the se- 
 curing of terminal freight rates from 
 Eastern manufacturing points; the enact- 
 ment of Congressional legislation looking 
 toward the deepening of the Colorado's 
 channel to the Gulf of California; and 
 the building of a free wagon bridge across 
 the river at this point, for the purpose 
 of bringing the body of Indian land soon 
 to be open to entry, and other points 
 naturally tributary, into most intimate re- 
 lationship with Yuma. 
 
 In the matter of securing terminal rates 
 the Club has powerful backing and a just 
 cause, and there is every hope of success. Located 
 as the town is, on a waterway to the Pacific, and be- 
 ing a port of entry from Mexico, it is urged by good 
 authorities that the rates asked must be granted. 
 Once possessed of the advantage of freight accom- 
 modations similar to those enjoyed by Los Angeles 
 and coast points, Yuma will speedily become a whole- 
 sale center of importance, distributing supplies to prac- 
 tically all of Arizona and a considerable portion of 
 Southern California. 
 
 Yuma has now transcontinental railroad advan- 
 tages via the Southern Pacific; a line to Laguna, 
 site of the great irrigation dam; a road to Calex- 
 ico, in Imperial Valley, which it is said will be 
 extended to the Gulf, and still another line is building from San Diego. A survey has also been made 
 for a railroad through Yuma Valley to the Mexican boundary. There is steamer transportation to the 
 Gulf of California and wagon roads lead to the numerous interior towns and mining camps of the county. 
 
 Steamer at the Dock 
 
m 
 
 'HILE the great agricultural 
 country tributary to ^ uma 
 is of the utmost importance 
 to the business life and 
 progress of the town, the county s min- 
 ing industry contributes in very great 
 degree to the distribution of wealth. 
 It is probable that there is not a sec- 
 tion of the world of like area possessed 
 of greater mineral richness, and the 
 attention of mining investors is being 
 attracted as it never has before. In 
 a dozen mining districts east and north 
 of Yuma valuable deposits of gold, 
 silver, copper, lead, iron and cinnabar 
 are being opened, and numerous pro- 
 ducing mines are helping to make Arizona what 
 it is today — the leading copper producer of the 
 United States. 
 
 In a short time the Yuma Indian Reserva- 
 tion, lying immediately across the river from 
 Yuma, will be thrown open to entry, an event 
 which will attract many visitors. Although the 
 tract is comparatively small, the fertility of the 
 soil and the fact that when thrown open the 
 government canal will be conveying water to 
 every parcel of it combine to make this one of 
 the most important drawings of Indian lands 
 yet conducted by the government. At present 
 the land is in its raw state, as shown by the 
 accompanying illustration. 
 
 nty Gold Produc 
 
=S3!§SgES( 
 
 MONG the conveniences 
 Yuma enjoys may be 
 mentioned electric lights 
 and power, fuel and 
 lighting gas, adequate water facilities, 
 an ice plant of seventy tons daily 
 capacity and a well-regulated cream- 
 ery. A three-story reinforced con- 
 crete post office building is in course 
 of construction. There are modern 
 department stores as well as those 
 carrying special lines, and three well 
 appointed and conducted hostelries. 
 Notwithstanding the last named item 
 there is a magnificent opening for a 
 mammoth tourist hotel, which would 
 be filled with guests the year around. 
 Two substantial banks and four newspapers attest 
 to the town's financial ana educational status. 
 
 From an esthetic standpoint Yuma occupies 
 a position of which many older cities might well 
 feel proud. Given the same advantages of rich 
 soil and kindly sun which combine to make her 
 agricultural industries the pride of the community, 
 scores of her homes and residence lots are veri- 
 table flower gardens. Not only does this condition 
 maintain to render pleasing to the eye the town's 
 beautiful residence sections during the summer 
 months, but throughout fall, winter and spring 
 wildernesses of bloom greet the sight and 
 fragrant perfumes scent the air. 
 
 -\A- 
 
'ND in closing, just a word about the cli- 
 mate — our much maligned and misrep- 
 resented climate. 
 
 Sunny days? Yes, indeed; in fact, 
 if the quip may be pardoned, that's where we shine. 
 To quote the record of the United States Weather 
 Bureau on the subject of cloudless days would be 
 to invite smiles of incredulity; suffice it to say, our 
 sunshine is as near perpetual as the world produces. 
 For eight months the weather is perfect — the other 
 four are hot. And that's the great secret of our 
 long growing season. The heat, however, neither 
 kills nor prostrates. It makes a high thermometer, 
 but the air is dry and pure, and the sensible heat does 
 not approach an Eastern day of eighty-five or ninety 
 
 degrees. 1 he best sleepers take their night rest in conveniently arranged summer houses which are not 
 more nor less than frames covered with cheese cloth, and cool breezes from the Gulf of California complete 
 the most delicious and restful sleeping accommodations known. In the day time, all manner of indoor 
 and outdoor workmen, from clerical men to farmers, ply their vocations uninterruptedly and without suffering. 
 Not a statement has been made in this booklet but can be amply verified. The fullest investigation 
 is invited, with entire confidence that the result will only magnifiy the merits of the most promising city and 
 the most richly endowed section of the Great Southwest. 
 
 of Departing Day 
 
1 
 
 stant, mountainous country; _. 
 
 oth rivers empty into great land-locked arms of the ocean at a little less than 32° 
 
 the Nile, the Colorado has, for long distances along its lower courses, created a 
 
 ,ile soil in the midst of the desert through which it flows, and has deposited a great 
 
 st by its skj Yuma and the Gulf of California. This delta is chiefly Mexican territory. Like 
 
 The Colorado River 
 
 bulk of the 
 wned canal 
 n in a most 
 
 ike through! 
 
 stream ab 
 
 main irriga| 
 
 ly from th< 
 weir, bringii 
 ill further 
 
 the greater 
 the surface 
 liceways, th 
 
 from the tc[ 
 immense 
 
 e river belo 
 
 Yuma, Ariz., November 9, 1908. 
 President, 
 
 lunty Commercial Club, Yuma, Ariz, 
 your inquiry of even date, I have to inform you that the Colorado River is formed 
 rt of Utah by the union of the Grand and the Green Rivers. The Green is the larger 
 upward continuation of the Colorado. Including the Green, the entire length of the 
 10 miles. The drainage ground is about 800 miles long, varying in width from 300 
 to 500 miles and containing 300,000 square miles of 
 area. It comprises the southwestern part of Wy- 
 oming, the western part of Colorado, the eastern 
 half of Utah, practically all of Arizona, and small 
 portions of California, Nevada, New Mexico and 
 Old Mexico. 
 
 The rivers receive their main supply from the 
 melting snows on the high mountains of Wyoming, 
 Utah and Colorado. In the upper reaches the 
 streams flow through canyons of practically inac- 
 cessible depth, which results in preserving their fer- 
 tile waters for the irrigation of the rich bottom 
 lands below. 
 
 In Bulletin No. 44 of the Arizona Experiment 
 
 Station, Prof. R. H. Forbes thus describes the river: 
 
 "The Colorado River is in many respects 
 
 remarkably similar to the historic Nile. Like the 
 
 its lower courses traverse a subtropical and nearly 
 
 Jirough the 
 This long 
 ses not affe(| 
 water, 
 nt of the d 
 ith will hav 
 1th is increas| 
 So River is r 
 eter, placed 
 
 Mighty Colorado" 
 
 ypt, the Colorado is subject to an annual summer rise sufficient to overflow great 
 d delta lands. These high waters are rich in fertilizing sediments, are exceptionally 
 :s, and come at an opportune time for irrigation. When the Colorado floods are 
 Yuma Indians fail of satisfactory crops, just as do the Egyptians with a low Nile, 
 climatic conditions in winter are slightly more severe in the Colorado Delta than 
 pet these two regions closely resemble each other agriculturally. Some common 
 r be), alfalfa, wheat and grains of the surghum class; the date palm, fig, orange, 
 :e; cotton, melons and sugar cane. 
 
 orado is understood and utilized as successfully as is its greater and better known 
 als, one ne 3 cogn i ze d as the American Nile, the creator of a new country for the irrigator, and 
 
 asterly cana 
 rable point 
 le Reservat: 
 ) per cent o 
 
 .ital Egypt." 
 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 FRANCIS L. SELLEW, 
 
 Project Engineer. 
 
 33SC2^S2£2 
 
Yuma Project Engineering Features 
 
 The Yuma County Commercial Club, Yuma, Ariz.: 
 
 Gentlemen: The following statement concerni 
 
 submitted in response to the recent request of your '. 
 
 The ultimate area which will be under the 
 
 Mr. C. D, Bake 
 
 will be reached. 
 
 The 
 
 i the Lower Gila Valley ai 
 
 orks at present under const 
 ' and the 
 
 1 Califoi 
 
 Construction an area of 71.392 acres— and also i 
 
 15,000 acres on the Mesa near the 
 completed an area of about 8C.00O acres will be available foi 
 for the small canal which later will serve the Gila Valley areas. 
 
 The principal feature of the Yuma Project, viewed froi 
 LACUNA Dam. which lies across the Colorado River about fou 
 DAM point the high granite hills of both Califorr 
 
 cd. a grand total of about I. 
 
 n will serve I » v gravity < ..dials 
 it Yuma Valley in Arizona- 
 ides for |jLini|iiii|; in the ftitu 
 n of Yuma. TIiub \ ' 
 
 also provided 
 standpoint, is Lagun; 
 
 ■ for 
 
 material e 
 material for a dam was found ; 
 cived the approval of the t 
 
 .,1 t.lhci 
 
 inn! t.-iij;ii 
 
 
 ■ built, and so Lagun. 
 
 the kind of s 
 
 construction which originated in India s 
 
 numerous places in that country, on large rivers wil 
 
 physical characteristics to the Colorado. Three such 
 
 Egypt during recent years. Thus, while Laguna Dam 
 
 
 At this 
 
 and Arizona border the river for a short distance 
 ) serve the fertile lands below. Diamond drill 
 nation upon which a high dam could be built, the 
 
 :cn placed across the Nile 
 c of its type to be built in tl 
 r a design which has proved i 
 
 before the canals arc reached. Obsen 
 sediment is near the bottom, so it is d 
 , while there may be a 
 
 milium the canal supply i 
 
 Lagun 
 
 of the sluiceway prisms. The down 
 which will be opened periodically an 
 
 It is seen from the above that the supply for the Yu 
 through the lake above the dam: it is further clarified by i 
 and then the top only of this sluiceway supply is allowed 
 sedimentation, while it removes a large amount of earthy n 
 as a fertilizing agent, which is one of the most valuable fui 
 al of the project will havi 
 
 dmirable 
 
 lake through which the 
 of the stream above. Thus 
 :d. The main irrigation canals 
 immediately from the river, but 
 bove the weir, bringing water to 
 :sult in still further silt deposits 
 has shown that in a flowing stream the greater volume of 
 : to take a canal supply from as near the surface as possible; 
 of 12 to 15 feet of water in the sluiceways, the regulator 
 ,at the irrigating water shall all come from the top 15 inches 
 nds of the sluiceways are closed by immense sluice gates 
 way deposits washed back i 
 
 rith the norma 
 
 before the head works are read 
 
 I will not take their supplj 
 
 tream several hundred feet 
 
 which will 
 
 ; it passes through the : 
 
 ■ /the limits of the s 
 
 ugh the Indian Re; 
 
 Canals the first 7000 f< 
 
 width of about 45 fe 
 75 feet, which dimension contin 
 stream will be crossed by an in' 
 
 the river bottom. Below the siphon Yuma Valley will be served by two main 
 on the west and the other following the foot of the Mesa land on the east. T 
 the water for the Mesa, which will be pumped to the higher land at the most 
 a portion of this pumping can be developed along the line of the main canal 
 first installation will create about 1000 net horsepower, which will provide f 
 
 1 canals is clarified first by its slow r 
 still slower progress through the slui 
 3 enter the canals. This lone pre 
 ter from the water, does 
 ions of the Colorado water, 
 the westerly abutment of th< 
 
 ,]fic L t 1 
 
 and for 
 bottom 
 
 nd hills this bottom 
 
 rvation until the Colorado River is reached; the 
 .1 diameter, placed well below 
 
 land. Radiating from these 
 
 Levees arc an essential feature of this 
 LEVEES project, because the rich bottom lands 
 
 are subject to overflow during the an- 
 nual Colorado flood and also during the erratic 
 rises of the Gila. A complete levee system has been 
 designed and is now well advanced; that in the 
 
 the dam. This lev 
 
 nnual inundation 
 The levee from Yuma toward 
 for over 22 miles, and the re- 
 of embankment reaching 
 
 mainder of this long li 
 
 to the Mexican boundary is in such shape that its 
 completion is probable during the season of 1909. 
 This levee protects the entire Yuma Valley, 
 
 on the Mississippi during the past sixty years h; 
 'e the highest known floods. The levees have t 
 t frequent intervals by brush defenses t 
 
 has been 1 
 
 The lands behind the I 
 
 
 
 :>f the river se 
 
 
 
 irrigation. Very fortu 
 
 lately nature 1 
 
 matter of drainage, for a system of sloughs e 
 
 xtends from tl 
 
 as to intercept the drainage of the entire are 
 
 a and this slou 
 
 expense to meet all requirements. A similar 
 
 slough also ex 
 
 1 the 
 
 he Me: 
 
 :an be amplified artificially at slight 
 :ends through the Indian Reservation, and so 
 while the drainage of these lands cannot be said to have been accomplished, its manner of accomplishment 
 at very reasonable expense is clearly indicated by the topography of the country. During most of the year 
 the drainage system can discharge into the river at the low 
 during floods the discharge of these canals will have to b< 
 provided for this purpo: 
 
 Gene 
 
 Work upon the Yuma Project has r 
 further delay on the part of the 
 
 ettle: 
 
 by the Service, supplies water for 4000 
 canal, formerly under private management, is now in i 
 been constructed: this heading has supplied the syste: 
 
 cached such a state that there is no necessity for 
 n preparing his land for irrigation. Laguna Dam 
 ; practically done; a centrifugal^ pump, _ 
 
 the present time; the Fan 
 
 ailed, which 1 
 is about 10,000 acres. T 
 t of the Yuma Valley to begin at once and c 
 nake further operation of these temporary plai 
 
 supply during the low stages of 
 ) pumps will allow the cultivation 
 until the completion of the dam 
 :essary. Thirty per cent of Yuma 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 The Colorado River 
 
 MR. C. D. BAKER. President, 
 
 Yuma County Commcrcia 
 
 Sir: In reply to your inquiry of 
 
 in the southeastern part of Utah by thi 
 
 of the two and is the upward continuation of the Colorado. Including the Green, the < 
 
 Colorado is about 2000 miles. The drainage ground is about S00 miles long, varying 
 
 Club. Yuma, Ariz. 
 
 ven date, I have to inform you that the Colorado Riv 
 
 union of the Grand and the Green Rivers. The Green 
 
 is formed 
 :cn is the larger 
 re length of the 
 width from 300 
 
 Nile, 
 
 1 a distant, 
 and both riv 
 Like the N 
 
 ■ 500 miles and containing .uio.mm square miles of 
 area. It comprises the southwestern part of Wy- 
 oming, the western part of Colorado, the eastern 
 half of Uuih, practically all of Arizona, and small 
 portions of California, Nevada, New Mexico and 
 Old Mexico. 
 
 The rivers receive their main supply from the 
 melting snows on the high mountains of Wyoming. 
 Utah and Colorado. In the upper reaches the 
 streams flow through canyons of practically inac- 
 cessible depth, which results in preserving their fer- 
 tile waters for the irrigation of the rich bottom 
 lands below. 
 
 In Bulletin No. 44 of the Arizona Experiment 
 Station, Prof. R. H, Forbes thus describes the river: 
 
 "The Colorado River is in many respects 
 arkably similar to the historic Nile. Like the 
 
 low 
 
 subtropical and nearly 
 
 s empty into great land-locked arms of the ocean at a little less than 32 
 
 , the Colorado has, for long distances along its lower courses, created a 
 
 ribbon of fertile soil in the mi. 1st of tin- desert llin.ni ( ;h which ii Mows, .mil lias deposited a great 
 
 alluvial delta between Yuma and the Gull <>[ California. This delta is chiefly Mexican territory. Like 
 
 the great river of E^ypt, the Colorado is subject to an annual summer rise sufficient to overflow great 
 
 i border and'delta lands, These high 
 free from alkaline Balls, and come at an opportu 
 less than normal, the Yuma Indiana 
 
 "Although the climatic conditions in Wl 
 in that of the Nile, yet these two regions cl 
 
 fail of satisfactory crops, j 
 
 
 may be), alfalfa, wlic; 
 
 the Colorado is understood and utilized as 
 11 be recognized as the American Nile, the 
 Occidental Egypt." 
 
 re rich in fcrtili 
 
 r.lli'.lltly 
 
 tach otl 
 
 irghum 
 
 rssfully 
 
 eptionally 
 When the Colorado floods are 
 do the Egyptians with a low Nile, 
 evcrc in the Colorado Delta than 
 er agriculturally. Some common 
 class; the date palm, fig, orange. 
 
 Very 
 
 espectfully. 
 FRANC I 
 
Looking toward Arizona. California Sluiceway in foreground 
 
 ^ 
 
 looking down stream, showing entrance to Canal 
 on right 
 
 California Sluiceway during Construct 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 017 135 412 2 # 
 
 im 
 
 
 ^*»."^