USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 63
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soon becomes blinded unless protected by goggles. On these gypsum sands is the playground of the mirage, and here it plays its greatest pranks with distance, perspective, and color. Sometimes it raises the white hills high above the surrounding flat country, making them exceptionally con- spicuous, and at other times covers them with verdure and nodding shad- ows, and again hides them behind an opaque wall.
"The gypsum sands have been analyzed at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Mesilla Park, and their constituents are gypsum, 97 per cent; calcium carbonate, 2.06 per cent; magnesium sulphate, 0.12 per cent ; magnesium carbonate, 0.06 per cent; potassium sulphate, 0.07 per cent; sodium carbonate, trace; sodium chloride, trace. The lake bed from which this gypsum sand is derived was probably the mouth of an ancient river which traversed the valley from north to south and carried the gypsum in solution. Experiments made with the sands for fertilizing purposes found them to be especially adapted for that use on certain soil. The experiments at the agricultural college demonstrated that the application of white sand in considerable quantities improved cer- tain soils a great deal. In addition to the uses mentioned above, the sands are valuable for the manufacture of plaster of Paris and its various by- products. Sulphuric acid, which is largely used in leaching copper ores, can be manufactured from the sands, and with the advantages of cheap fuel and corresponding cheap power the great desert 20 miles west of Alamogordo may some day be utilized in commerce and be found a great source of wealth. Cement is now made of the gypsum, at a factory at Alamogordo. and is used for building."
In 1905 a gigantic field of native soda, 8,000 acres in extent, was opened in Otero county, near the plain of the White Sands. Twelve feet beneath the surface a vein 60 feet deep was found, composed of 68 per cent of pure soda. The locality is thirty-five miles west of Alamogordo, and A. J. King is at the head of the development and manufacturing com- pany, which is largely backed by capitalists of that place.
Building Stones and Materials .- The stones found in New Mexico, which may be used for building and ornamental purposes, are of such variety and abundance that their value has been to a large extent over- looked. The locations of some of the important deposits and quarries may only be briefly mentioned. East of Albuquerque, in the Sandia moun- tains, are splendid quarries of granite, sandstone and limestone. From the vicinity of Las Cruces comes a handsome mottled marble, and from near Silver City a dark colored curly marble. Lordsburg ships to Chicago and other large cities the pretty ornamental stone known as ricolite, which presents beautiful blended shades and is susceptible of a high polish. The quarries near Las Vegas supply the red, gray and brown sandstone, and those of Raton a gray variety, which are unexcelled as building material. Santa Fé county produces the cream colored sandstone, used in the Terri- torial capitol. In the vicinity of Roswell are good sandstone and lime- stone. There are marble quarries near Alamogordo, and others supplying the necessary stone for building purposes and ornamentation are found near most of the centers of population in New Mexico.
New Mexico abounds in clays of various qualities and geological va- rieties, good plants for the manufacture of brick having been established at Las Vegas, Gallup, Albuquerque, Socorro, and the Territorial Peniten-
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tiary at Santa Fé. The only paving brick is made at the institution named, by convict labor, and is largely used in the walks and streets of Santa Fé, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and other places. The Socorro manufactories turn out fire brick, and have also been utilizing the beds of kaolin near the mouth of Blue canyon. At several points in New Mexico, notably Albu- querque, the manufacture of cement bricks, or blocks, has become quite an industry.
The raw materials for the manufacture of cement, plaster and lime are found everywhere in the Territory. The beds of marl in the Estancia plain and in many other parts of New Mexico might furnish the supply for the manufacture of the famous Portland cement, which is now im- ported into the Territory at considerable cost. A plant was erected. sev- eral years ago at Springer, Colfax county, but, after a short active period, was closed indefinitely. From the gypsum deposits (already mentioned) are made cement, plaster of Paris, dental plaster, stucco, etc., and there are manufactories at Ancho, Lincoln county, Alamogordo, Otero county, and other places. The principal lime kilns of New Mexico are at Tijeras, . twenty miles east of Albuquerque, and at Las Vegas, near the Hot Springs, although, on account of the widely scattered and inexhaustible supplies of limestone, they are found in the vicinity of all the important centers of population.
Mica, Sulphur and Other Minerals .- Mica was mined near Santa Fé, in the early part of the nineteenth century, and used in the houses of that city as well as in the neighboring villages. In fact, up to nearly the middle of the century it was generally used in place of glass, the chief supply coming from Nambe, north of Santa Fé; Talco (the natives called all mica talc), in Moro county ; and from the vicinity of Petaca, Rio Arriba county. The chief mines in the Territory, known as the Cribbensville deposits, are still two and a half miles southwest of the place last named.
Sulphur was obtained from various springs, as well as from the Guada- lupe deposits, by the early Spaniards, and used in the manufacture of their powder. In modern times it has been made on a commercial scale by Mari- ano S. Otero, who, a few vears before his death in 1904, operated a five-ton plant. Near Guadalupe, White Oaks and Eastern New Mexico, along the Texas border, there are good supplies of sulphur.
The most important known deposits of pumice stone are near Grant, Valencia county, and opposite Socorro, on the Rio Grande. The former bed is being worked by the New Mexico Pumice Stone Company.
Valuable deposits of ocher, yielding beautiful red and yellow colors, are found near Coyote Springs, east of Albuquerque, and in the vicinity of San Pedro, Santa Fé county.
It is believed that New Mexico has one of the most extensive deposits of alum in the world, comprising nearly 2,000 acres, located about ten miles below the Gila Hot Springs, on the Upper Gila river, Grant county. The district is known as Alumina, and, although about two-thirds of the deposit has been patented by New York capitalists, lack of transportation facilities has prevented its development. Other deposits, but not so pure, exist in Eastern Mora county, some twenty-five miles from Wagon Mound ; in Northwestern Sandoval county, and southeast of Springer, Colfax county.
Among the numerous natural mineral springs of New Mexico, that
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which supplies to the world the Artesian Coyote mineral water lias become very widely and favorably known during the past few years. The original spring known by this name, located in Coyote Canon, in the Sandia moun- tains, about thirteen miles southeast of Albuquerque, was owned by San- tiago Baca, of Albuquerque, who sold it to his son-in-law, Mr. Chavez. George K. Neher, of Albuquerque, learning of the high medicinal value of the springs, leased it from Mr. Chavez and established a bottling plant on the property, which he operated until 1900. In that year Thomas J. Topham bought the bottling plant from Mr. Neher, and obtained some land from the government adjoining that of Mr. Chavez, and drilled an artesian well, from which he is getting his famous Artesian Coyote water.
The water is brought to Albuquerque in barrels, and there bottled. Mr. Topham has found an extensive and constantly increasing market for the water, and is at the present time ( 1906) the only man in New Mexico who ships water in carload lots.
The Coyote water is naturally charged with carbonic acid gas and has been pronounced by chemists to contain most wonderful medicinal properties, taking rank with the great health-producing waters of the world. Its analysis shows that it contains about the same properties as Apollinaris water. Its mineral ingredients are as follows: Iron carbonate, magnesium bicarbonate, calcium bicarbonate, sodium sulphate, sodium chloride, silica, potassium salts, lithia salts, calcium sulphates, and phos- phates, besides free carbonic acid gas.
Thomas J. Topham, who is responsible for the development of this widely known spring, has been a resident of Albuquerque since 1899. He is a native of England, but in boyhood was brought to Virginia by his par- ents, and there reared to manhood. In addition to the business he has established in Albuquerque, he has erected and conducts a summer re- sort on the property on which his spring is located. He is actively inter- ested in the work of St. John's Episcopal church of Albuquerque, in which he is a vestryman and treasurer of the board.
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IRRIGATION IN NEW MEXICO
To understand the supreme importance of irrigation in the future development of New Mexico, it is only necessary to show how large a proportion of her population is already depending upon the products of her soil for a livelihood; how small a fraction of her area has been culti- vated, and what a vast domain would be thrown open to new settlers and to the production of untold prosperity and wealth, if only the waste waters of her streams and underground supplies were generally utilized for irri- gation purposes. Although splendid work, in the face of general derision and almost insurmountable physical obstacles, has been accomplished by individuals within the past fifteen years, the subject has assumed such gigantic proportions as to take it beyond the reach of private enterprise and to classify it as among the great projects which can only be success- fully accomplished by the United States government. The creation of the Reclamation Service of the Interior Department, in 1902, and the subse- quent taking over by the government of several partially abandoned sys- tems, were commencements of a great historic era in the development of the latent agricultural and horticultural wealth of New Mexico.
Briefly stated, more than one-third of the entire population of the Territory consists of agriculturists, and out of a total area of over 78,000,000 acres, only about 400,000 acres, lying in a few river and mountain valleys, are under cultivation. Of this latter amount some quarter of a million acres are under irrigation ditches. It is estimated that about 6,000,000 acres of land are under fence, or available farm land. According to the latest re- turns, there are 12,311 farms in New Mexico, of which 9,128 are irri- gated. Of the total improved acreage some 70 per cent is irrigated.
The average number of acres of irrigated land for each mile of ditch reported is 86, and the area under ditch averages 272 acres per mile. In many states where there is a larger percentage of new irrigation enter- prises than in this Territory the area irrigated bears a much smaller ratio to the area under ditch. In the sections of New Mexico where irrigation has been practiced for centuries, the effect on the old canals of the diver- sion of water at points further up the stream is shown by the difference between acreage under ditch and the area actually irrigated. This is espe- cially evident along the Rio Grande. On the other hand, in the valleys of the Pecos and San Juan rivers and their tributaries, the difference is due to new enterprises which have not been sufficiently developed to furnish water to all the lands under them. In the newer districts this difference indicates that an increase in the irrigated area is possible. In the older districts further development without water storage is unlikely.
Prices of Irrigated Lands .- The average size of all farms in the Terri- tory, excluding Indian holdings, is 464 acres, and of irrigated farms, 360 acres; of the latter, there is an average irrigation of 26 acres. The value
Las Cruces Diversion Dam
Showing the character of construction work undertaken by Americans in New Mexico during the past twenty years. This is a view of the present Las Cruces diversion dam, which
. ·supplies water to the farmers of the Mesilla Valley.
Old Diversion Dam
Old Mexican diversion dam near El Paso, three hundred years old. A fair sample of the best irrigation structures of earlier days.
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of all lands in the irrigated farms, exclusive of buildings, is $13,551,000, and in the unirrigated, $3,772,000. The average value per acre for irri- gated land is $29.26, while that for the best irrigated alfalfa land is from $50 to $100 per acre. Irrigated fruit land runs as high as $400 to $500 per acre.
Of the 78,000,000 acres which embrace the area of New Mexico, 52,- 000,000 acres are included in the public domain of the United States, and of the latter, 5,000,000 are within the forest reserves, and the Indian and military reservations. As to the prices which obtain throughout the Terri- tory, and the best methods by which settlers may obtain irrigable lands, and those naturally watered, the following is interesting and valuable in- formation from Governor Otero:
"The citizen of the United States who wants to come to New Mexico to settle can either purchase land now held under private title or secure a homestead or desert land entry under the land laws of the United States, if he is entitled to do so," said Governor Otero. "The 52,000,000 acres of government land remaining are what might be called (the majority portion, at least) the public range, which theoretically is open to every citizen who possesses live stock. Good private range, however, can only be secured to-day at considerable ontlay. The man who owns the water on the public domain to all intents and purposes owns the public range surrounding it for many miles. To be sure, there is much development of water going on. I know of one sheep-raiser, who, within the past four years, has dug or drilled eight wells on the public domain, thus supplying all the water needed for his extensive sheep herds.
Lands under cultivation and irrigation, with water rights, can be purchased, es- pecially in the valleys with streams, at from $10 an acre up, according to location near railroads or towns, water rights, supply of water, conditions as to crops, etc. Locations of this kind can be found in many sections of the Territory, but they will have to be paid for. For instance, I know of a fruit farm twenty miles north of Santa Fé of less than twenty acres, the trees in actual bearing, which may be pur- chased for $3,000, and I know of land in the Rio Grande Valley with water rights and irrigation ditches located between Los Lunas and Belen, which can be bought for from $15 to $20 an acre. Upon the public domain I doubt if there are any quarter sections left containing living water, but there are thousands upon thousands of quarter sections upon which the energetic, thrifty farmer or ranchman who under- stands his business could develop water by the drilling of artesian wells, by the driv- ing or digging of common wells, by the construction of reservoirs and dams or by pumping the overflow or seepage. Much of such development of water is now going on in the eastern portion of the territory, and many homesteads have been taken up in that section in the last three years upon lands heretofore considered absolutely unfit for cultivation or the production of agricultural crops. In some cases intensive and dry farming is being successfully practiced on land over which I rode twenty or twenty-five years ago, and which at that time I considered worthless for even a poor cattle or sheep range.
In order to obtain a homestead the intending homesteader must first select the 160 acres he desires, get the number of the section (that is, the description according to the United States surveys, quarter section. section, township and range), then pro- ceed to make his entry at the land office of the district where his selected location is situated. The land office fees are merely nominal, but the settler is required to live upon his homestead for five years, make it his home, and cultivate it, before he is allowed to make final proof and receive patents.
It is a fact that the only irrigated and cultivated lands of the territory are in the valleys of its rivers and streams. The second and third benches and the vast stretches of high table lands are used only for stockraising purposes. There are many im- proved farms for sale in the valleys of the Rio Grande and its tributaries, on the Pecos River, the San Juan River, the Red River and their tributaries; in any of the river valleys in this territory and many of the scattered mountain valleys. Prices for these will range all the way from $15 to $200 an acre. This territory is as vast in extent and is a country of such magnificent distances that no general rule can be laid down. and conditions are so different also, that each section (one might say) is almost sufficient unto itself. No man need come to New Mexico expecting to pur-
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chase land under irrigation ditches and with water rights for less than $10 an acre, and with annual rental either in money or labor of from $1 per acre up.
Vacant farm lands may be found all over the Territory. They are in every county. There is not a single county out of the twenty-five in the Territory that contains less than 450,000 acres of public domain, while there are several which contain 5,000,000 acres and over. Of these I think quite a percentage might be used for agricultural and stockraising purposes, could water be secured. Of late it has been secured by deep wells and artesian wells and the construction of reservoirs and ditch systems in many sections where it was deemed impossible to do so, even as late as three years ago.
Irrigation in General .- As intimated by Governor Otero, irrigation ditelies and wells are to be the salvation of New Mexico, and in order to "make good," every agriculturist must first look to his water supply. Until the larger projects are perfected, each farmer and ranchman must become a member of some community system, by which a ditch is held and controlled by the owners of the land it irrigates. Those who are members of one community system usually live together in a village or pueblo. In the fall of each year a mayordomo is elected, who has full control of the diteh for the following season. He assesses the land for the labor necessary to clean the ditch and keep it in repair during the irri- gation season, apportions the water to each consumer according to the local conditions, and in general supervises all matters pertaining to irriga- tion. While the apportionment of labor varies, it is generally such that a farmer holding a tract of six acres is required to furnish the labor of one man in cleaning and repairing the entire diteh in the spring, while he who holds twelve aeres furnishes a man's labor whenever necessary dur- ing the entire season. Usually the ditches have no regulating gates, or sluices, and flooding is the only means of irrigation; consequently, the use of water is extremely wasteful. These remarks especially apply to the Rio Grande valley.
The Irrigation Districts .- Physically. New Mexico may be divided into the eastern plains, watered by the Pecos and Canadian rivers-the former draining the eastern and southeastern sections and flowing into the Rio Grande, and the latter. the northeastern portion, and emptying into the Arkansas; the great central valley of the Rio Grande, with nu- merous tributary valleys, formed by the affluent streams and the mountain ranges on either side; and, lastly, the western plateaus, the northern sec- tions drained by the San Juan, and its southern by the San Francisco and Gila rivers, all tributaries of the Colorado. A small section of the plateau region in southwestern New Mexico is drained by the Mimbres, which rises in the mountains of that name, near the Gila, but flows toward the Rio Grande, its waters being often lost in the sands of New and Old Mexico.
The principal irrigation development in western New Mexico has been in the region of the San Juan, and its tributaries in the northern part of the county by that name. The sources of this river are in the San Juan and La Plata mountains in Colorado, and the affluents which it re- ceives from the south are unimportant and have little bearing on the irri- gation problem. Near the Colorado line the San Juan has a mean flow of 960 eubie feet per second, and the Las Animas, its most important tributary, of 856 feet at a point below Bloomington. The Rio La Plata has an estimated flow of 50 feet. While the flow of all these streams is
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perennial, it fluctuates with the seasons, being especially increased by the melting snows of spring and the rains of the early fall. In the drainagt basin of the San Juan there are 52 ditches, located as follows: On the Las Animas 20 ditches, irrigating 7.132 acres ; on the San Juan 19, irri gating 3.999 acres; and on the La Plata 13, irrigating 3,063 acres. The total area irrigated by the San Juan and its tributaries is 14.734 acres. The valleys of the La Plata and the Las Animas, especially where they blend with the main valley of the San Juan, are among the most fertile districts in the Territory, and noted for their fine fruits. The Reclamation Service has a project under investigation in the La Plata valley, which promises to he of great benefit to that section.
A large irrigation project has lately been published which is designed to bring into the market many thousand acres of land along the Upper Mimbres. It is said that the Rio Mimbres Irrigation Company, which for a dozen years has been experimenting on the adaptability of lands in this section to the raising of fruit, melons, vegetables ( especially sugar beets ) and canaigre, has acquired 110,000 acres of choice lands extending 28 miles up the valley from Deming, with a width of twelve townships. The land lies mainly in Luna county. The plan of the irrigation company is to construct a dam at a point twenty-four miles north and west of Deming, known as Rock canyon, or Geronimo's postoffice. It is to be 900 feet wide, 115 feet high, secure a depth of about 80 feet of water, and form a reser- voir three miles long and three miles wide, gathering the drainage from an area of 750 square miles. It is estimated that the construction of the dam, reservoir, and 75 miles of canals will cost about $1,000,000. The engineers believe that the water-shed thus utilized will furnish irrigation for 300,000 acres. Of this quantity the reservoir will actually hold a supply neces- sary for the irrigation of 80,000 acres.
Irrigation in the Canadian River Region .- The northeastern portion of New Mexico is a thick network of streams, rising in the Las Vejas and Taos ranges and flowing in a general southeastward direction into the Canadian river, that also being the main course of the parent stream. With- in the Territory the valley of the Canadian river is 200 miles in length, and there is no section of New Mexico where the irrigation systems have been more extensively developed, although the projects have not been on so extensive a scale as those undertaken in the Pecos and Rio Grande valleys. The ditches in this drainage basin are confined almost wholly to the tributaries of the Canadian, as the course of the main stream is gen- erally through a canyon from which it does not emerge until it passes the Territorial boundary. Important irrigation is supplied by the Cimarron, Vermejo. Mora, and Conchas rivers, those on the two first-mentioned streams being the most extensive in the Territory. Two large canals, constructed by a corporation, are located on the Maxwell grant, a tract containing 1.491,765 acres of grazing and agricultural lands, and including within its boundaries the headwaters of the Canadian, Vermejo, and Cimar- ron rivers. Along the line of these canals is a series of natural basins or ancient lake beds, favorably situated, in which large quantities of water are stored. Many smaller natural reservoir sites, located at elevations where evaporation is comparatively slight, are found near the headwaters of nearly all the streams which originate in this basin. Eleven reservoirs, with a combined capacity of 6,000 acre-feet have been constructed on the Ver-
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mejo. On the Cimarron there are thirteen individual ditches and one cor- poration ditch. Connected with these are four storage reservoirs, with an aggregate capacity of 6,000 acre-feet. The area irrigated by the ditches of this stream is 7,629 acres. Mora river and its tributaries supply water for practically all the irrigation systems in Mora county. None of the normal flow of this stream reaches the Canadian river during the irrigating season, and there is a general scarcity of water throughout its entire drain- age basin. The insufficient water supply has greatly retarded agricultural development and has caused the abandonment of many acres of valuable land. As a partial relief from these conditions two ditches have been built, by which, during the periods of greatest scarcity, water is taken from the Rio del Pueblo in Taos county and diverted through passes in the mountains. All the ditches along the Mora and its tributaries are either private or community ditches, and the methods of management and dis- tribution are those commonly found in all Mexican settlements.
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