817 M3M2 MARICOPA COUNTY BANCROFT LIBRARY BANCROFT LIBRARY [BRARY UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA MARICOPA "COUNTY ARIZONA, This folder is issued by J. \V. Crenshaw, Commissioner of Immigration forlMaricopa /• "" * •• "^"^5^ 1 County, Anzo*«K by authority of the Board of Supervisors, and is endorsed by tbe Phoenix and Mancopa County Board of Trade. Designed, Engraved and Printed by Norman Pierce Company San Francisco 1905 A valley of farm land witb soil of unsurpassed fertility walled in by lulls rick in minerals, tnat, in brief, is Maricopa County, Arizona. To it are invited tbe borne-seeker and tbe investor wbo are looking for golden opportunities amid tbe most favorable surroundings. Maricopa County contains 7,500 square miles, or an area equal to tbat of tbe states of Connecticut and Rbode Island combined, yet it is not tbe largest county in tbe great Territory of Arizona, but only one of tbe tbirteen counties making up tbe 113,000 square miles witbm tbe boundaries of tbe Territory. ^iVitbin tbe county lies tbe largest body of cultivated land in tbe Territory, known as tbe Salt River Valley, irrigated by tbe Salt, Verde, and Gila Rivers, wbicb are tbe largest flood streams of tbe Soutbwest, barring tbe Colorado. Situated in tbe soutb central portion of tbe Territory, and witb railroad lines tapping tbe neb mineral sections surrounding it, Maricopa County is tbe natural garden spot of Arizona and the chief source of agricultural products for the Territory. Naturally, too, her cities and towns have become the principal distributing points for all classes of supplies going to the surround- ing mining camps and settlements. ^Vithm the principal valleys of the county are over 500,000 acres of tillable land. In this connection it is -well to remember that one acre in an irrigated district is equal to at least four acres in a ram country owing to the multiplying of crops and the constantly renewed fertility of the soil. Based upon the solid foundation of agriculture is the pros- perity of Maricopa County, and underlying this foundation is the constancy and regularity of irrigation water supply in the Salt River Valley now assured by the building of the 1 onto Dam by the Reclamation Service of the national government. For years the Salt River Valley has been irrigated and culti- vated by the settlers of modern times. So level is its surface that it is believed the land was smoothed by ancient irrigators. probably the Toltecs or pre- Aztec lineage. At tKe present time great canals, some of them respectable rivers in capacity, take the river's supply of life- giving -water far off upon the thirsty plain to distribute it upon fertile farms. Formerly the -water supply -was inter- mittent, in that the river at times carried great floods -which ran to the sea owing to the lack of means to store them. Only a certain volume of -water could be carried by the canals, and the remainder, flowing through the rivers to the Gulf of California, was wasted so far as the people of the Salt River Valley were concerned. ^iVith the passage of the National Irrigation Law came opportunity to end the uncertainty of water sup- ply by the promise of means to store the flood -waters for future use. One of the first to be decided upon by the Secretary of the Interior, and also one of the largest — the Salt River project, as it is officially known — is the solution of the problem of irrigation water supply in this valley. The Tonto Dam and Reservoir, as they are known locally from their location just below the junction of Tonto Creek -with Salt til a ectric River, will give an assured supply of water for about 200,- 000 acres of land in Salt River Valley. This includes several thousand acres which will he irri- gated with water pumped from underground supply hy means or el power generated at the dam. The Tonto Dam, •which will he the highest in the world and the next largest to the great Assouan Dam across the Nile, is seventy miles from Phoenix, hut the land to he irrigated from it lies within a radius of twenty miles around the city. The dam is reached hy a -wonder- ful wagon road from Mesa, huilt through magnificent mountain scenery hy means of honds to the amount of $75,000 voted hy the people of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. At the dam site is the construc- tion camp of Roosevelt which will he flooded" -when the reservoir is filled, hut -which now serves its purpose as the headquarters for hundreds of husy workmen. Built of huge hlocks of hard, red sandstone laid in cement in the most permanent of masonry construction, the Tonto Dam -will tower 270 feet ahove its foundations on hedrock thirty feet helow low- water mark. This means 240 feet of structure ahove the surface, making it the highest dam in the United States. As an outlet for the reservoir, a tunnel 450 feet long has heen constructed through the canyon -wall around the point where one end of the dam -will he huilt into the rock side wall. During construction this tunnel -will carry the diverted -waters of the river so that excavations for the foundations may go on uninterruptedly. The tunnel is closed hy a series of six mammoth gates of steel, weighing, -with their operating machinery, nearly 800,000 pounds, and which will regulate the emptying of the reservoir water. To carry flood waters around the ends of the dam when the reservoir is full, two spill-ways, each 200 feet in width, are cut in the solid rock twenty feet lower than the crest of the dam. Concrete steel arch hndges 200 feet long will span the spillways and carry a road-way across the top of the dam. Behind the dam will stretch the greatest artificial reservoir in the -world, — a hody of -water twenty-five miles long and with an average width of one and one-naif miles, and with a capacity for im- pounding 1,100,000 acre feet of water. This means that the water, if spread out one foot deep, would cover over a million acres, or an area equal to that of the land surface of the •whole state of Rhode Island and 700 square miles in Con- necticut in addition. For thirty miles helow the dam Salt River flows through a precipitous canyon and this natural waterway will be the outlet for the reservoir. At the mouth of the canyon, and just below the junction of the Verde with Salt River, is a diver- sion dam which turns the -water from its natural course into giant canals to be thence distributed over the valley. By the time the Tonto Dam is completed this diversion dam -will be replaced by a masonry dam, set permanently upon bedrock, to turn the combined flow of these two rivers into a dozen main canals by means of huge headgates on each side of the river. It is not expected that the whole supply of the reservoir be used in any one year, ^Hiile it takes about over naif or this supply is received from the natural filled, •would suffice for about three years supply IT natural sources. Tne cost or tne reservoir project — about $4,000, without interest, in ten annual instalments beginning acres to be benefited this would make the cost twent district has been withdrawn from entry in connection about 125,000 acres are in cultivation, which will deficiency in tbeir annual supply. Trie remainder of once reclaimed but for which water has been lacki The first object is to protect homes already made, an( reclaimed land to 160 acres or less. Intensive farmir \Vhen the water is supplied to tne soil through then furrows or flooding, tbe question arises, what maj •will grow in temperate and semi-tropic regions will 1 crop, and with good water conditions five or six crop; two tons to the acre, and the hay in the stack is woi thousands of cattle are driven down from the mountain valley and then sold for beef. Dairying is another into readily marketable products of milch herds. -wheat, barley, oats, corn, and sorghum vallev, the farmers excel in special products. Orange be marketed a month earlier 1 the finest known in the Eas and, pickled or pressed into oil Apricots, figs, lemons, peaches, berries, watermelons, and can products of the Salt River V the United States Agricultu the success of date culture, an happy result. Conditions ar poultry raiser -who has a nev A word about climate winters with their accompan; Maricopa County frost is ra Salt River V alley it is scare. dom in this valley that during r acre feet of water to carry a crop through the year, - of the river. At this rate, the reservoir, when once more -water should he added to it in that time from ,-- is to he repaid the national government as a loan :n the dam is completed. Divided among the 200,000 •liars an acre. All the puhlic land within the reservoir th this reclamation project. Under present conditions receive the benefits or stored water to make up the area in the reservoir district will he made up of lands under natural conditions in recent years of drought, en to make new ones hy limiting individual holdings or rill then he the rule, and not ^tensive, distributing system of main canals, laterals, ditches, and raised? In brief, the answer is, that anything which re in the Salt River Valley. Alfalfa is the foundation .y be cut in a year. Each cutting averages from one to about five dollars a ton for cattle feeding. Every year iges to be fattened on the 50,000 acres of alfalfa in the ns of realizing large returns from alfalfa when turned grown in quantities more than the necessities of this id pomelos, or "grape fruit," not only ripen in time to . from other localities, but are L markets. The olive thrives, of the finest quality and flavor, pes, pears, pomegranates, straw- •upes are standard horticultural y. In an orchard near T empe Department has demonstrated idividuals have reached the same xceptionally favorable for the failing market for his products. • those who are tired of cold nt of frost, snow, and ice. In and in the foothills of the great ever seen. Snow falls so sel- ; past twenty-two years of the •writer s residence here there have been but two very light snows,-- so light in fact that the next day after there -was no sign of snow on the ground. The -winters are ideal, with a maximum of sunshine and a minimum of cold winds. The -wind movement rarely exceeds five miles an hour, -while the average yearly rainfall is only seven inches. This valley is free from hurricanes, cyclones, and tornadoes. Such disasters have never visited this section of the country, and expert observers declare that it is impossible for them to reach the Salt River Valley. Although the temperature reaches high figures in summer, it is accompanied by little humidity and in consequence sunstrokes and heat prostrations are unknown among men or animals. This county is free from malaria, chills and all such complaints. PHOENIX — Capital city of Arizona and county seat of Mari- copa County. Permanent population, 12,000, to which are added bet-ween 3,000 and 4,000 tourist visitors every -winter. The city comprises over 2,000 acres within its corporate limits and is laid out with wide streets and side-walks. Beautiful parks surround the public buildings, -while the residence streets are nicely shaded. Phoenix has a high school, grammar school, and five ward schools in the public sys- railway tern in which ah out 1,700 children attended school last year, while 250 were enrolled in private schools. Twelve church denominations are represented and all have commodious houses of worship. The city has miles 01 pleasant drives leading to the surround agricultural districts. Four lines of street with twenty miles of track make access convenient to all parts of the city and suhurhs. Electric communication with the outside world is kept up through the lines of hoth the great telegraph systems and hy long distance telephone. The city has over 900 suh- scrihers in the local telephone exchange. The people of Phoenix have a domestic supply of pure water from a system with capacity of three million gallons a day pumped from a deep -well, and having no connec- tion whatever -with the irrigating system supplied with water from Salt River. The altitude of Phoenix is only 1076 feet, and this, com- hined with the location of the city in a valley almost surrounded hy hills, makes what is considered an ideal winter resort. The mean annual temperature is 69.3 degrees, and the average wind velocity is less than five miles an hour. Frosts are infrequent and then light. The finances of Phoenix residents and visitors are -well looked after hy five hanking institutions with correspondents all over this country and abroad. The assessed valuation or property in the city is over five millions and this represents probably sixty per cent of tne actual value. Phoenix has all the conveniences and equipment of the most modern city, including electric light and power, gas for illuminating and tor fuel, ice factories, creameries, steam laun- dries, machine shops, foundries, and various other manufacturing plants. Three daily papers give the news of the -world, aided by several weekly publications. A. well-equipped public library, which has been in use for several years, will soon be transferred to a $25,000 building now being erected through the gift of Andrew Carnegie. Three theaters, various halls, and two natatoriums afford places of amusement and recreation. Golf and tennis grounds are maintained at the Country Club, the links being among the finest and most popular in the Southwest for winter playing. All of the fraternal orders have flourishing lodges in Phoenix, some of them owning their own rooms and buildings. The post-office equipment or the city is the most up- to-date and is supplemented by four rural routes. At Phoenix is located the Territorial Fair Association with commodious show grounds and a well-laid-out track with all accommodations for the best winter care of thoroughbred horses in training. Three miles from the city is the Phoenix Industrial Indian School, where over 700 Indian children from thirty different trihes are taught manual dexterity and how to he self-supporting. Three railroads make their terminus in Phoenix. The Santa Fe, Pres- cott and Phoenix is a branch from the Santa Fe system, connect- ing -with the main line at Ash Fork, 197 miles to the north. From Maricopa, thirty-five miles to the south, runs the Mari- copa &? Phoenix &* Salt River V alley, a branch connection ot the Sunset Route or the Southern Pacific, and also connecting with the transcontinental trains of the Rock Island system. The Phoenix &* Eastern is another Santa Fe line in construction southeastward from Phoenix, now in operation for ahout 100 miles and destined to he a link in a low-grade main line. TEMPE--A heautiful little town of 1,500 inhabitants lo- cated on the south side of Salt River nine miles east of Phoenix, and in the center of a rich agricultural district. Here is located the Normal School of Arizona, with a commodious group of buildings and well-laid-out grounds, affording accommodations for an enrollment of over 200 pupils. A municipal plant supplies an abundant water service for domestic and fire purposes. Light is furnished by an electric plant. Churches, schools, and fraternal organizations are representative and adequate. A condensed milk plant is a recently established industry. MESA CITY — Sixteen miles east from Phoenix is the "Gem City , but now better known as the gateway to the Tonto res- ervoir. Mesa is the nearest railroad point to the dam site and construction camp of Roosevelt and from here runs a magnifi- cent mountain road with superb scenery along nearly tbe whole of its 60 miles. Over the road travel daily lines of stage coaches, while numerous freighting teams are engaged in carrying -work- men and supplies to the great engineering work in the heart of the mountains. Mesa has a high school and contributary graded schools with over 700 children enrolled. The population of the town is about 1200. As the center of a country especially favorable for growing fruit, grapes, melons, and cantaloupes, car- loads of these products are shipped every year from Mesa, besides live stock, hogs, and sheep. Mesa is the center of the largest operations in pumping for irrigation purposes from the almost inexhaustible underground supply of water. Several large plants are established in this vicinity and are in successful operation; one alone irrigating over 3,000 acres of alfalfa. BUCKEYE — A favorable gram and alfalfa growing and cattle feeding district 30 miles southwest of Phoenix, with which city the district is connected by stage line and wagon road. The -Buckeye canal receives an abundant supply of water by means of a diversion dam across the Gila River, below its confluence with the Salt and just west of the Agua Fria River. Range cattle are driven in for feeding in thousands each year and the exports are fat cattle, besides hay, gram, and hogs. ARLINGTON — "\Vest of Buckeye and also receiving its irrigation supply from the Gila River, west of the Hassay- ampa. Cattle fattening, hay and gram growing are the chief means of support of a growing and thriving population. AiVICKENBURG — Center camp of a mining district of promise, -which includes parts of Mancopa and Yavapai counties, is located on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad, about 50 miles from Phoenix. The town is the northernmost in Mar- icopa County. Through discoveries of gold in the near-by hills the town is growing rapidly. A custom smelter is promised at an early date. ALHAMBRA-- A suburban hamlet, 4 lies north-west of hoe nix, surrounded by comfortable rural homes. Here are sit- uated the kilns of the Alhambra Brick Co. ALE — Another suburban hamlet, 9 miles northwest of Phoenix, center of a considerable fruit growing section, and in the heart of the beet sugar land of the Salt River Valley. PEORIA — Yet farther northwest from Phoenix and a hamlet surrounded by ranches or promise. SCOTTSDALE — A settlement devoted chiefly to health-seekers, in the shelter of the hills, 12 miles northeast of Phoenix and separated from the principal irrigated section b> a wide expanse of virgin land over which the pure, dry air circulates freely. AGUA CALIENTE — Hot Springs are located in the south-western part of Maricopa County, one and a half miles north of the Gila River and 12 miles north of Sentinel Station on the Southern Pacific, with which the place is connected by stage. The hot water from the springs is used for drinking as -well as bathing. The temperature of the -water is from 98 to 104 degrees Fahr., and the resort is patronized by those seeking rest and recuperation as well as by those -who desire restoration to health. For further information and beautifully illustrated booklet, send four cents in stamps to Commissioner of Immigration, Phoenix, Arizona, or Secretary Board of Trade, Phoenix, Arizona.